A GPS/GNSS dense network used to monitor ionospheric positioning error

GPS/GNSS networks are, for the last few years, quickly expanding their density all over the surface of the globe. The present idea is to use this density in order to assess the effect of ionospheric disturbances on relative positioning but also to monitor their propagation patterns. Local variability in the ionospheric electron density can dramaticaly affect the reliability of GPS/GNSS real time applications. In particular, Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TID's) or plasma instability due to geomagnetic storms can induce strong disturbances in relative positioning. It is therefore useful to develop an integrity monitoring service based on a GPS/GNSS dense network. To assess the effects of ionospheric activity on relative positioning, the SoDIPE-RTK software (Software for Determining the Ionospheric Positionning Error on RTK) has been developed at the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium. The approach consists in computing the positioning error due to the ionosphere and has been applied, as a proof of concept, on the Belgian dense network. This network called Active Geodetic Network (AGN) is composed of 66 GPS (dual-frequency) stations. In order to ensure a successful ambiguity resolution for both L1 and L2 carriers, baselines larger than 40 km are not taken into account in the analysis. In a first step, we assess the nominal RTK precision for each baseline during quiet ionospheric conditions (i.e. a background of low Total Electron Content (TEC) variability). The observed positioning accuracy is ~1 cm and depends mainly on baseline length and satellite geometry at the two considered stations. In a second step, the impact of two ionospheric events on positioning error (a medium scale TID and a powerful geomagnetic storm) is evaluated. As expected, the study demonstrates that the largest effects are observed during the occurrence of the geomagnetic storm with an ionospheric positioning error reaching 0.9 m. The maximal positioning error observed during the TID is around 0.15 m, depending on baseline orientation. This is due to the fact that the sharpest TEC gradients are observed for baselines oriented parallel to the direction of disturbance propagation. Finally, we propose a web service dedicated to GPS/GNSS relative positioning users based on SoDIPE-RTK. Every 15 minutes, a thematic map is produced showing each AGN baseline in a given color ranging from green (quiet conditions) to red (extreme conditions). This user-friendly application allows registered users to access and visualize current ionospheric conditions in the area covered by the whole network. This service based on the AGN is therefore an useful application of a GPS/GNSS dense network and will be extended to other networks in a near future.