Using observations from the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites to determine a three dimensional (3-D) geodetic control network are considered. The repeatability of individual baselines and 3-D vector closures are examined, in order to investigate refraction effects on GPS networks. The effect on GPS baselines of a height bias in the reference point's coordinates is also investigated. A least squares adjustment program is developed and used to obtain a single consistent set of 3-D coordinates for the Tygerberg Test Network (TTN). The results of two GPS processing packages are compared by means of a conformal transformation. It is concluded that single frequency measurements produce better results than the ionospheric free observable on short baselines. Furthermore, a standard atmospheric model shows an improvement over the Marini model to account for tropospheric refraction.

An important goal in modern weather prediction is to improve short-term weather forecasts, especially of severe weather and precipitation. However, the ability to achieve this goal is hindered by the lack of timely and accurate observations of atmospheric water vapour, which is one of the most poorly measured and least understood constituents of the Earth's atmosphere due to its high temporal and spatial variability. This situation is being addressed by the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. GPS radio signals are slowed and bent by changes in temperature, pressure and water vapour in the atmosphere. Traditionally, the GPS signal propagation delay is considered a nuisance parameter that is an impediment to obtaining precise coordinates using GPS. Recent development in GPS precise positioning and orbit determination has enabled the atmospheric parameters to be determined to a high degree of accuracy on a routine basis, using continuous tracking data from ground-based GPS receivers. The aim of this research is to address several critical scientific challenges in estimating the atmospheric water vapour content in near-real-time (NRT) in Australia. Contributions are made to the field of GPS meteorology in the following five areas: First of all, research efforts were made to develop a technical platform for the ground-based GPS meteorology studies and demonstration of GPS Precipitable Water Vapour (PWV) estimation using observations from Australian Regional GPS Networks (ARGN). Methods of estimation of water vapour from GPS and radiosonde data have been developed and tested. GAMIT-based GPS data processing strategies and compare analysis with radiosonde water vapour solutions from the Australia Upper Air Network (AUAN) were undertaken, providing an effective technical basis for further studies. Secondly, the research has developed techniques to allow estimation of atmospheric water vapour from GPS data and surface meteorological observations collected around the GPS sites. Ideally a dedicated meteorological sensor is installed adjacent to the GPS antenna. However, meteorological sensors are normally not installed at most Australian GPS stations. Installing a new meteorological sensor at each GPS station would involve additional cost at the level of one-third or half of the geodetic GPS receiver cost. We have experimentally developed and demonstrated interpolation methods for making use of hourly collected surface meteorological data from the Australian Automatic Weather Station (AWS) network operated by the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) to estimate atmospheric water vapour. Thirdly, the research has studied ocean tidal loading and its effects on GPS derived precipitable water vapour estimates. The periodic motion of the Earth's surface due to ocean loading is one of the largest periodic motions. However, very little work has been done to quantify their effects on GPS-derived solutions at the GPS sites in the Australian region surrounded by ocean waters. The research presents the theoretical analysis and experimental results from the ARGN network, focusing on ocean loading and its effects on GPS derived precipitable water vapour estimates. The fourth important effort was the development of techniques for estimating highrate Slant Water Vapour (SWV) values for future operational meteorological applications in Australia, including addressing such issues as slant-path delay recovery from post-fit double-difference residuals, and overcoming site multipath effects. The experimental results have demonstrated the efficiency of the proposed methods. Finally, in order to address the meteorological applications with the existing and anticipated GPS reference stations in the Australian region, and measure the atmospheric water vapour content in near-real-time, the technical issues to implement NRT GPS water vapour estimation were identified and discussed, including the data requirements for meteorological and climate applications, NRT data processing and quality control procedures for GPS orbits. The experimental GPS PWV results from NRT and post data processing are compared and presented.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:22:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-10-31Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:48:44Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 rosa_gps_me_prud.pdf: 9069576 bytes, checksum: d425dc3fdddbb18d5468027b620176e1 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / As redes ativas GPS tem se tornando cada vez mais utilizadas nos levantamentos geodésicos. As estações que fazem parte dessas redes têm suas coordenadas determinadas com alta precisão que, devido à estabilidade na sua construção e disponibilidade de dados, são chamadas estações de referência. Os dados podem ser empregados numa diversidade de pesquisas e projetos, sendo um dos mais comuns atualmente os de levantamentos geodésicos. O estudo e monitoramento do vapor d’água na atmosfera e movimento de placas litosféricas são exemplos de aplicações. Dentre os métodos de posicionamento GPS, o Posicionamento por Ponto Preciso (PPP) vem apresentando resultados muito promissores. Uma característica do PPP está relacionada com a modelagem e/ou estimação de todos os erros envolvidos nesse método. A acurácia obtida para as coordenadas pode ser da ordem de poucos milímetros, tal como no método de posicionamento relativo. Efeitos sazonais podem afetar esta acurácia caso não sejam considerados. Desta forma, é desejável dispor do conhecimento de todos os fatores sazonais (movimento do pólo, marés terrestres e cargas oceânicas) que interferem na posição da estação, visando minimizá-los ou modelá-los. Contudo, há evidências da existência de outros efeitos dessa natureza ainda não levados em consideração no PPP. Nesta pesquisa, foram realizados alguns experimentos com a finalidade de investigar os efeitos sazonais presentes nas séries temporais das coordenadas das estações Brasília (BRAZ), Euzébio (BRFT) e Manaus (NAUS) pertencentes à Rede Brasileira de Monitoramento Contínuo (RBMC)... / The active GPS networks have being more and more used in the geodetic surveying. The stations that belong to these networks have the coordinates determined with high precision, due to the construction stability and data availability, so they are called reference stations. The reference station data can be employed in a diversity of researches, where the geodetic positioning is one of the most common. The study and monitoring of the water vapor in the atmosphere and the lithosphere plates movement are examples of applications. Among the existent methods of GPS positioning, the Precise Point Positioning (PPP) has been presented great results. The accuracy obtained for the coordinates can reaches few millimeters, such as in the relative positioning. An important aspect concerning PPP is related to the modeling and / or estimation of all errors that affect this method. Among the errors, the seasonal effects can affect PPP accuracy if they are not considered. In this way, it is desirable to take care of all the seasonal factors (polar motion, solid tides and ocean loading) that interfere in the station position, aiming to minimize or to model them. Besides, there are evidences of other seasonal effects that still remain in PPP. In this research, some experiments were carried out with the finality of investigating the seasonal effects in the coordinate time series of the stations Brasília (BRAZ), Euzébio (BRFT) and Manaus (NAUS), that belong to the Rede Brasileira de Monitoramento Contínuo (RBMC). The coordinates of these stations were estimated daily using... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Resumo: As redes ativas GPS tem se tornando cada vez mais utilizadas nos levantamentos geodésicos. As estações que fazem parte dessas redes têm suas coordenadas determinadas com alta precisão que, devido à estabilidade na sua construção e disponibilidade de dados, são chamadas estações de referência. Os dados podem ser empregados numa diversidade de pesquisas e projetos, sendo um dos mais comuns atualmente os de levantamentos geodésicos. O estudo e monitoramento do vapor d'água na atmosfera e movimento de placas litosféricas são exemplos de aplicações. Dentre os métodos de posicionamento GPS, o Posicionamento por Ponto Preciso (PPP) vem apresentando resultados muito promissores. Uma característica do PPP está relacionada com a modelagem e/ou estimação de todos os erros envolvidos nesse método. A acurácia obtida para as coordenadas pode ser da ordem de poucos milímetros, tal como no método de posicionamento relativo. Efeitos sazonais podem afetar esta acurácia caso não sejam considerados. Desta forma, é desejável dispor do conhecimento de todos os fatores sazonais (movimento do pólo, marés terrestres e cargas oceânicas) que interferem na posição da estação, visando minimizá-los ou modelá-los. Contudo, há evidências da existência de outros efeitos dessa natureza ainda não levados em consideração no PPP. Nesta pesquisa, foram realizados alguns experimentos com a finalidade de investigar os efeitos sazonais presentes nas séries temporais das coordenadas das estações Brasília (BRAZ), Euzébio (BRFT) e Manaus (NAUS) pertencentes à Rede Brasileira de Monitoramento Contínuo (RBMC)... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The active GPS networks have being more and more used in the geodetic surveying. The stations that belong to these networks have the coordinates determined with high precision, due to the construction stability and data availability, so they are called reference stations. The reference station data can be employed in a diversity of researches, where the geodetic positioning is one of the most common. The study and monitoring of the water vapor in the atmosphere and the lithosphere plates movement are examples of applications. Among the existent methods of GPS positioning, the Precise Point Positioning (PPP) has been presented great results. The accuracy obtained for the coordinates can reaches few millimeters, such as in the relative positioning. An important aspect concerning PPP is related to the modeling and / or estimation of all errors that affect this method. Among the errors, the seasonal effects can affect PPP accuracy if they are not considered. In this way, it is desirable to take care of all the seasonal factors (polar motion, solid tides and ocean loading) that interfere in the station position, aiming to minimize or to model them. Besides, there are evidences of other seasonal effects that still remain in PPP. In this research, some experiments were carried out with the finality of investigating the seasonal effects in the coordinate time series of the stations Brasília (BRAZ), Euzébio (BRFT) and Manaus (NAUS), that belong to the Rede Brasileira de Monitoramento Contínuo (RBMC). The coordinates of these stations were estimated daily using... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Orientador: João Francisco Galera Monico / Coorientador: João Carlos Chaves / Banca: Marcelo Tomio Matsuoka / Banca: Ailton Pagamisse / Mestre