Performance Evaluation of Precise Absolute Navigation (PAN) Solutions over Four Test Courses

This report describes a method where the Global Positioning System (GPS) Precise Positioning Service (PPS) solutions recorded in the field can be reprocessed at a later time with the precise ephemerides without requiring that the observations be saved. The reprocessing with the precise ephemerides improves the quality of the navigation solutions compared with the solutions obtained when the real-time broadcast ephemerides are used. This report continues the investigation of the Precise Absolute Navigation (PAN) technique by exploring its accuracy under highway conditions. Ellipsoid height solutions from survey vehicles traveling at highway speeds have the potential to map terrain heights in a fast, efficient manner. The absolute terrain heights, determined from GPS ellipsoid height solutions, can be used to calibrate remote sensing devices, such as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images. The performance of PAN is compared with PPS solutions, range-corrected Standard Position Service (SPS) solutions, and relative solutions using smoothed pseudorange. The relative merits of each are discussed.Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Div VA is the author of 'Performance Evaluation of Precise Absolute Navigation (PAN) Solutions over Four Test Courses', published 1999 under ISBN 9781423553588 and ISBN 1423553586.