THE EFFECTS OF CORS NETWORK GEOMETRY AND DIFFERENTIAL NRTK CORRECTIONS ON GNSS SOLUTIONS

Abstract

: The widespread availability of Continuosly Operating Reference Station (CORS) all over the world, allows to improve more scientific and technical studies on the use of satellite positioning techniques. The aim of this paper is to understand the effects of a GNSS CORS network geometry and differential corrections on the solutions. The analysis is carried out using ten different network configurations, with different inter-distances between the stations within GNSMART Geo++ software. The coordinates of one control point placed on the top of the Department of Engineering (University of Palermo, Italy) have been used to perform several static positioning mode test within fourthy hours. Different surveys have been performed, including four separate session tests, with acquisitions of one hour each. The analysis has been carried out using the traditional network solutions, such as the Virtual Reference Station (VRS), the Flächen Korrektur Parameter (FKP) and other two more recent techniques, which use the satellite corrections from the nearest (Near) and the farest (Far) stations. Results confirmed the great reliability of the GNSS network, with centimetre precision in terms of coordinates (North, East and Ellipsoidal Height), whether changing the geometric configuration of the network or the corrections.