Reliability of the GPS carrier-phase fix solution under harsh condition

Abstract

Once the unknown integer ambiguity values are resolved, the GPS carrier phase observation will be transformed into a millimeter-level precision measurement. However, GPS observation are prone to a variety of errors, making it a biased measurement. There are two components in identifying integer ambiguities: estimation and validation. The estimation procedure aims to determine the ambiguity's integer values, and the validation step checks whether the estimated integer value is acceptable. Even though the theory and procedures for ambiguity estimates are well known, the topic of ambiguity validation is still being researched. The dependability of computed coordinates will be reduced if a false fixed solution emerges from an incorrectly estimated ambiguity integer value. In this study, the reliability of the fixed solution obtained by using several base stations in GPS positioning was investigated, and the coordinates received from these bases were compared. In a conclusion, quality control measures such as employing several base stations will improve the carrier phase measurement's accuracy.