Effects of Tropospheric Refraction on Precise Point Positioning in Brazil

Abstract

Troposphere is one of the most limiting sources of error in the accuracy of 15 Precise Point Positioning method. This work aims to analyze the effects of tropospheric 16 delay on this positioning technique by applying the Bernese scientific program to GNSS 17 data belonging to the Brazilian Network for Continuous Monitoring of GNSS Systems. 18 GNSS data are related to several climatic zones, including Amazon region, referring to four 19 seasons. The data were processed considering six strategies, each one using different 20 troposphere models and mapping functions for analysis. Results were evaluated according 21 to the Root Mean Square, estimated for 15 processing days for each season, involving 89 22 GNSS stations. Results show that the greatest effects of the tropospheric delay occurred in 23 the equatorial region, related to the altimetric component, in all seasons of the year. This 24 climatic zone is under a strong influence of the Amazon region, which presents high annual 25 humidity values. In addition, it can occur a great humidity variation in this region, which 26 can compromise the process of estimating wet component of tropospheric delay. Finally, 27 results showed that the best processing strategy was the use of the Vienna mapping function 28 in conjunction with corrections based on the Numerical Weather Forecast model.