The Effect of Correlator and Front-End Design on GNSS Pseudorange Biases for Geodetic Receivers

Kurzfassung

GNSS satellite signal deformations cause individual biases in the pseudorange observable. These biases are typically mitigated by using external correction values. However, the biases are the result of the correlator’s tracking response and thus depend on correlator and front-end design of the receiver. As a result, different receivers are likely to exhibit inconsistent biases, for which the available corrections may not be applicable. The residual errors lead to adverse effects for pseudorange-based positioning applications and can also hinder carrier-phase ambiguity resolution. Bias inconsistencies of modern GNSS receivers are studied in a zero-baseline test. Differential pseudorange biases between receivers are computed for GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou satellites for all commonly tracked signals. The effects on pseudorange-based positioning applications and carrier-phase ambiguity resolution are discussed.