Enhancement of Continuity and Accuracy by GPS/GLONASS Combination, and Software Development

GPS in the United States and GLONASS of the old Soviet Union are used currently as satellite navigation systems. Plans are being made to use the Galileo satellite system in Europe, and these plans focus on a combined application of the satellite navigation systems. In this study, we examined the possibility of effective application of a combination of GPS/GLONASS in urban areas, where 3-dimensional positioning is impossible with GPS alone. We analyzed the 3-D coordinate deviation of a GLONASS satellite by integration interval and compared it with GLONASS satellite coordinates in precise ephmerides by transforming it into WGS84. We also programmed GPS/GLONASS, analyzed 3-D positioning accuracy by static surveying and kinematic surveying with Ashtech Z18 receivers and Legacy receivers, and then compared the results to those of GPS surveying. As a result, we are able to decide the integration interval for producing GLONASS satellite coordinates in navigation and geographical information and construct a GPS/GLONASS data processing system by developing a DGPS/DGLONASS positioning program. If more than four GLONASS satellites are observed, the accuracy of GPS/GLONASS is better than that of GPS positioning. As a result of kinematic surveying in a congested urban area with skyscrapers, we discovered that the GPS/LONASS combination is very effective.