Array-Aided Multivariate Model for Long-Range RTK
摘要
The long-range high precision RTK positioning relies on the fast integer ambiguity resolution (IAR) and the efficient mitigation of systematic observation bias that dominantly refers to ionospheric error. However, the underlying long-range RTK model with mitigated ionospheric effect is too weak to fairly solve IAR and precision positioning. The array-aided precise point positioning (A-PPP) is a measurement concept that uses GNSS data, from multiple antennas on a platform with known geometry in platform body-frame, to realize the enhanced GNSS model and then the improved baseline solution. In this contribution, we explore the benefits of A-PPP to the long-range RTK positioning, which is referred to as array-aided RTK (ARTK). The dual-frequency GPS data collected on an 80 km baseline with 4-antenna equipped stations are carried out to demonstrate the superior performance of ARTK in the fast IAR, the precise RTK solutions, as well as the high robustness, comparing with the conventional RTK (CRTK) with 1-antenna, equipped baseline stations. The results show that the IAR success rate is significantly improved in ARTK, especially for the scenarios with few epochs. The precisions of RTK solutions are improved by about 2 times in all three coordinate components so that the millimeter level of horizontal precision is feasible in ARTK, which is consistent with the theoretical expectation. Moreover, as a crucial requirement of safety utilization, the integrity (robustness) is markedly enhanced with its horizontal and vertical protection levels in ARTK being reduced by half.