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Geometry and treatment of fiducial networks: Effect on GPS baseline precision in South America
Author(s) -
Freymueller Jeffrey T.,
Golombek Matthew P.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl015i013p01467
Subject(s) - fiducial marker , global positioning system , geodesy , baseline (sea) , satellite , calibration , reference frame , sensitivity (control systems) , remote sensing , orbit (dynamics) , geography , computer science , frame (networking) , geology , mathematics , statistics , physics , artificial intelligence , telecommunications , engineering , oceanography , astronomy , electronic engineering , aerospace engineering
A covariance analysis shows that Global Positioning System (GPS) baseline precision in northern South America is substantially improved when fiducial stations (used to improve satellite orbit solutions and establish a reference frame) in North America are supplemented by stations in Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand. The formal errors for a variety of fiducial networks, some including stations in South America, are almost identical when their locations are held fixed. However, the consider error, which is the computed sensitivity to uncertainties in the fiducial station locations and is an estimate of the systematic error, is strongly dependent on the fiducial network geometry. If fiducial station locations are estimated with small a priori uncertainties, the various networks are practically identical, although the total uncertainty is slightly larger for the fiducials‐fixed networks. The sensitivity analysis indicates that the baselines of interest are very sensitive to uncertainties in the locations of the closest fiducial stations. If the uncertainty in the fiducial station locations is reduced to approximately 1 cm from the 4 cm assumed, any of the networks used in this analysis would be acceptable for GPS geodesy in northern South America.