Summary of Geoide 2008

Precise Point Positioning (PPP) Workshop

27 May, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Niagara Falls, Ontario

(Download this summary in PDF form.)

Program

• 9:00 - 9:15 : Welcome


• 9:15 - 12:00 : Status of PPP R&R and Usage Presentations
• 9:15 - 10:30

* François Lahaye - Precise Point Positioning developments at GSD: products and services.
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* Henri Avers - Leica SmartNet in Canada.
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* Yang Gao - PPP research progress at the University of Calgary.
Download presentation


• 10:30 - 11:00 : Break


• 11:00 - 12:00

* Hamad Yousif and Ahmed El-Rabbany - Precise orbit prediction for PPP.
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* Simon Banville - PPP efforts at UNB.
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* Sunil Bisnath and Paul Collins - PPP-related progress at York Univeristy and NRCan
Download presentation 1
Download presentation 2


• 12:00 - 13:00 : Lunch


• 13:00 - 15:00 : Future of PPP Discussion: Global phase products, post-mission/real-time access, end-user algorithms, integrated positioning solutions, applications

* Who computes their own global products for PPP? Who is interested in computing their own global phase products? Why? Why not?
* Who does: Mainly post-mission PPP? Mainly real-time PPP? Whose goal is post-mission PPP? Why? Whose goal is real-time PPP? Why?
* Who is investigating their own end-user algorithms versus implementing a "standard algorithm"? What is the focus / intent of your end-user algorithm?
* Can you envisage PPP being integrated with other positioning solutions, e.g. RTK, INS, etc.?
* What applications do you see PPP being used for? E.g. engineering, geosciences, etc.


• 15:00 - 15:30 : Break


• 15:30 - 17:00 : Future Collaborative Strategy and Funding Opportunities Discussion

* Are there potential collaborations that are apparent from our earlier discussions?
* Would we all benefit from common datasets to process with out PPP packages? If so, who will coordiante this effort and how will it be carried out?
* How do we better frame our work to secure funding, resources, support, recognition, etc.? I.e., given that recent funding success for positioning-focused proposals has not been high.


• 17:00 - 17:15 : Conclude

Attendees

• Ahmed El-Rabbany, GEOIDE PI, Ryerson University
• Alexander Dolgansky, York University
• François Lahaye, NRCan
• Hamed Yousif and colleagues, Ryerson University
• Henri Ayers and colleague, Leica Geosystems
• Marc Cocard, GEOIDE Investigator, Université Laval
• Paul Collins, NRCan / York University
• Simon Banville, University of New Brunswick
• Sunil Bisnath, GEOIDE Investigator, York University
• Yang Gao, GEOIDE PI, University of Calgary

Presentations

Available from links above, or upon request from Sunil Bisnath (sbisnath@yorku.ca).

Discussion

Global phase products

• GSD seen as Canadian lead
• Identified as potential for collaborative projects between academia and government
• Service should be provided on a day-by-day basis
• Discussed Ryerson university activities as a producer and provider
  • Research purpose discussion
  • End-consumer purpose discussion
  • NRCan collaboration using Bernese software
• Private sector mostly not interested in providing certain infrastructure, such as global phase products
• Private sector seen as a service provider
• For most universities: research yes, but production no

Post-mission / real-time PPP

• Discussion of different real-time systems: e.g., NavCom, Fugro, RTK
• We should be heading for real-time
• Real-time PPP might be more attractive to end users
• PPP performance in Canada better than CORS RTK in U.S.
• PPP can compliment RTK in areas with no reference station coverage
• If / since real-time, what communication for, e.g., HP•GPS•C? Satellite, Internet, etc.?
• Post-mission can be used as a check for or testing of real-time solutions
• Real-time is more costly than post-mission
  • Discussion of dependency of post-mission to real-time

End-user algorithms

• If products (e.g., orbits and clocks) are provided, who is the end-user for that product?
• Academia and industry most interested in developing user algorithms
• Defined ”standard algorithm“ roughly as ionosphere-free code / phase linear combination algorithm
• Industry tending towards ”standard algorithm“
• End-user algorithm selection depends on the accuracy required
• User algorithms will somewhat depend on models used to generate products
• Satellite and receiver biases need to be defined and their importance described to all user applications → Actionable item: Write a journal paper describing / defining satellite and receiver biases, including initial fractional phase biases
• Government requires user needs to satisfy, not to build infrastructure and users will come
• Many additional applications will support further PPP developments and new / improved products

PPP integration

• Can we integrate the processing of double-differenced and undifferenced data?
• Undifferenced data isn't really different from double-differenced data
• No current commercial product integrating PPP and INS, just RTK or DGPS with INS
• Could PPP be used like RTK in the foreseeable future? Probably not.
• Current situation of local (NRTK) and global (PPP) GPS may be adequate

PPP applications

• To avoid use of infrastructure, e.g., radios, reference stations, personnel, etc.
• Double-differencing has some problems: common satellites, height differences needed to be modelled correctly for atmospheric refraction, etc.
• PPP can be used to extend RTK network
• Airborne mapping; general engineering; surveying; machine control
• Geoscience: tsunami, ice melt monitoring, earthquake, sea level monitoring (tide gauge)
• Sovereignty of Canadian North

Potential collaborations

• This meeting already a good starting point
• New IAG PPP/NRTK WG chaired by Sunil Bisnath will ask for GEOIDE participants
• NSERC Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) Program:
  • Up to 6 years; ~$150 K / year; 80% student salaries / 20% student-related training expenses; no non-academic collaborators nor support required
  • Provides funds for training of HQP
  • All university participants interested in applying to CREATE program, with various PPP / GPS applications
  • Deadlines: letter of intent: 15 July; application 15 September → Actionable item: Discuss a letter of intent and submit an application to CREATE program
• Better frame our proposals: application / user driven, not PPP-focused
• Must show benefits to Canada; user applications
• Is PPP too small a research area? For a particular application? Do we need / want multiple applications? Need ”strong“ PPP applications. Even though this is a PPP workshop, we shouldn't limit ourselves to PPP in proposal collaborations
• Canada want to maintain its lead in this technology
• Common PPP dataset:
  • We all see the need for a PPP user algorithm training / validation dataset:
    • Standard dataset for testing and validation
    • Used to test developed software
    • Improve collaboration of results between different developers
  • Creation of the standard dataset: → Actionable item: Submit a formal request from Canadian academia to GSD, NRCan for the creation of such a PPP dataset
    • NRCan has a large number of datasets that can be used
    • Creation of standard documentation for the dataset
    • Dataset does not need to be created by one party, it can be grown by all the parties
    • Discussion of having both simulated and real data for different GNSSs
    • The data can be stored on, e.g., an FTP site for quick access

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