Performance Analysis of Low-Order Surface Methods for Compact Network RTK: Case Study

Compact Network Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) is a method that combines compact RTK and network RTK, and it can effectively reduce the time and spatial de-correlation errors. A network RTK user receives multiple correction information generated from reference stations that constitute a network, calculates correction information that is appropriate for one's own position through a proper combination method, and uses the information for the estimation of the position. This combination method is classified depending on the method for modeling the GPS error elements included in correction information, and the user position accuracy is affected by the accuracy of this modeling. Among the GPS error elements included in correction information, tropospheric delay is generally eliminated using a tropospheric model, and a combination method is then applied. In the case of a tropospheric model, the estimation accuracy varies depending on the meteorological condition, and thus eliminating the tropospheric delay of correction information using a tropospheric model is limited to a certain extent. In this study, correction information modeling accuracy performances were compared focusing on the Low-Order Surface Model (LSM), which models the GPS error elements included in correction information using a low-order surface, and a modified LSM method that considers tropospheric delay characteristics depending on altitude. Both of the two methods model GPS error elements in relation to altitude, but the second method reflects the characteristics of actual tropospheric delay depending on altitude. In this study, the final residual errors of user measurements were compared and analyzed using the correction information generated by the various methods mentioned above. For the performance comparison and analysis, various GPS actual measurement data were collected. The results indicated that the modified LSM method that considers actual tropospheric characteristics showed improved performance in terms of user measurement residual error and position domain residual error.