The container shipping industry uses between 20–25 million containers, only a small number of which are tracked. A company called Traxens is on the verge of changing that.
In July, the Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) joined worldwide container shipping company CMA CGM to invest in the French start-up. Under the deal, both CMA CGM and MSC will be represented on the board of directors of Traxens.
Traxens cargo tracker. (Photo: Traxens)
CMA CGM and MSC transport about 25 percent of the world’s shipping containers.
Established in 2012, Traxens has been developing solutions for the cargo logistics sector and has created a new multi-modal container monitoring and coordination system to provide real data for logistics.
By the last quarter of 2016, CMA CGM and MSC will have installed Traxens devices across their fleets.
“We see container monitoring as an important innovation in providing our customers with a high quality of service, while also being able to monitor our outputs accurately,” said MSC CEO Diego Aponte. “We believe that shipping lines should naturally compete on service, but should cooperate in the area of technology and innovation.”
“This should be the start of deployment on a massive scale,” said Tim Baker, Traxens director of marketing and communications.
CMA CGM, which has been backing Traxens since 2012, said that the investment is a part of its global digital strategy. Its 536 vessels call on more than 420 world ports. MSC operates an integrated network of road, rail and sea on more than 200 trade routes.
Each Traxens device has GPS on board, but other methods can be used to save battery life, which affects the overall cost of ownership of the solution. “For instance, once we have determined that a container is on board a ship, we can use the AIS ship-positioning data rather than the GPS on the device — especially as the device may be under deck with no view of the sky,” Baker said.
Also to save power, critical decisions on location are made by the devices locally rather than transmitting position up to the cloud and making decisions there. “It is much less power hungry to evaluate GPS position on the device, compare location with expected location, and then decide whether the information is worth transmitting than to send each position to the cloud just in case it happens to be interesting,” Baker explained.
Carlson Software has released the Carlson BRx6, a multi-GNSS, multi-frequency receiver. Each BRx6 contains a multi-constellation, multi-band 372-channel GNSS receiver, Athena RTK technology and an integrated Atlas L-band receiver.
In addition, the BRx6 contains electronic sensors that measure tilt, direction (electronic compass) and acceleration, supporting Carlson SurvCE’s advanced features such as LDL (live digital level or e-bubble), leveling tolerance, auto by level, tilted-pole correction and advanced stakeout features.
SurvCE contains sophisticated checks for compass and acceleration anomalies to ensure accuracy.
Designed for use by surveyors, contractors, builders and engineers, the Carlson BRx6 delivers the high positional accuracy at an affordable price.
Manufactured to Carlson’s exacting specifications by Hemisphere GNSS, the BRx6 provides robust performance and high precision in a compact and rugged package, Carlson said. With multiple wireless communication ports and an open GNSS interface, the BRx6 can be used as a precise base station or as a lightweight and easy-to-use rover.
The BRx6 receiver is powered by an Athena RTK (real-time kinematic) engine. RTK corrections can be received over UHF radio, cell modem, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or serial connection.
The BRx6 also works as a base and rover with the new Carlson Listen-Listen cloud-based low latency RTK correction delivery service. The Carlson Listen-Listen service taps the built-in cell modem and reduces the need for UHF radio communication.
Multiple RTK rovers of any type can “talk to” a single BRx6 base by cell modem or Wi-Fi hot spot over extreme long distances. It reduces or eliminates dependency on VRS systems. Listen-Listen is provided on a free, 30-day trial basis with each BRx6 base and rover package purchased.
The BRx6 receiver can also be used with the subscription-based Atlas service, Hemisphere’s industry leading global correction service provided over L-band communication satellites and the internet.
When this service is included in an upcoming release of Carlson SurvCE, BRx6 users can achieve sub-decimeter positioning performance anywhere on earth, without the need for a fixed base station, a virtual reference network or other communication infrastructure.
The BRx6 can be purchased as either a rover or as a base/rover package. The base/Rover package includes two BRx6 GNSS receivers, two hard-sided carrying cases, four BRx6 batteries with two chargers, one GPS tribrach and one tribrach adapter, and two Carlson GPS receiver poles. The Rover package includes the BRx6 GNSS receiver, carrying case, two BRx6 batteries with charger, and cables. The BRx6 rover is available as a network rover (GSM cell modem only) or as a complete rover with UHF radio and GSM cell modem.
The Carlson BRx6 GNSS receiver is designed to work seamlessly with most data collectors including Carlson’s rugged and popular data collectors: the Carlson MINI2, the Carlson Surveyor2 and the Carlson RT3ruggedized tablet.
The U.S. Air Force is holding a 2016 Public Interface Control Working Group and Open Forum for the Navstar GPS public documents Sept. 21-22 in El Segundo, California.
The meeting is intended to update the public on GPS public document revisions and collect issues and comments for analysis and possible integration into future Navstar revisions.
The forum will be held for the following documents:
IS-GPS-200 (Navigation User Interfaces).
IS-GPS-705 (User Segment L5 Interfaces).
IS-GPS-800 (User Segment L1C Interface).
ICD-GPS-240 (Navstar GPS Control Segment to User Support Community Interfaces).
ICD-GPS-870 (Navstar GPS Control Segment to User Support Community Interfaces).
The 2016 Interface Control Working Group and Open Forum is open to the general public. The meeting will be held in the Great Room at 100 N. Sepulveda Blvd., El Segundo, California, 90245.
Those planning to attend should register by Sept. 7. To register, send the registration information to [email protected], providing your name, organization, telephone number, email address and country of citizenship.
Swedish-based survey and GIS equipment maker Satlab Geosolutions is offering a multi-purpose handheld that sends centimeter-level NMEA position data to the user’s tablet or smartphone.
The SLC RTK handheld brings professional high-precision positioning in a new design concept with Bluetooth connectivity for Android, Windows and iOS Bluetooth low-energy (BLE) smart devices, according to the company.
Alternatively, it can be used as a fixed sensor for any compatible NMEA driven positioning application.
The design includes a mounting plate to attach the user’s tablet device so it acts as the SLC’s display. Connectivity also is available via a USB/RS232 port. With a built-in wireless modem and optional remote antenna and pole- or fixed-mount accessories, the SLC can be configured as a sensor for machine control or other mobile applications.
SLC is flexible — it can be paired with data-collection software running on Windows, Android or iOS BLE with compatible applications. Its RTK positioning information can be used in numerous markets including land surveying, high-accuracy GIS, web-based facility management, utilities, pipelines, precise farming, hydrography, geophysics or aeronautics. With 32-GB internal memory, the SLC is also able to record RAW data to be used for post-processed applications.
The SLC has a built-in lithium ion battery and GNSS antenna for up to 12 hours of portable operation. It includes a Telit 3.5G GSM modem for operation as an RTK base or rover, transmitting or receiving corrections from NTRIP networks or via Satlab’s free Internet RTK service. Satlab Internet RTK allows users to stream corrections via IP to any of three Satlab servers around the world; any Satlab rover device can then connect to that same IP connection to receive full GNSS constellation corrections.
“Our new Scandinavian-designed SLC handheld is a different concept, offering RTK centimeter-level positioning at an incredible price in a flexible form factor,” commented Bjorn Agardh, CEO of Satlab. “With our simple SLC Toolbox software utility, users set up the SLC once, and it remains configured every time it’s used.”
The SLC comes in two configurations: as a handheld in a soft case with two tablet/panel mounting plates and a charging USB cable; or bundled with external geodetic antenna, cable and pole mount.
It’s getting bigger all the time, GPS/GNSS business. And coming along in its wake, starting to grow like a sproutly little brother, is GPS anti-jamming, to safeguard the signal in various scenarios.
The anti-jamming market for GPS is expected to reach US$4.8 billion in value and 309.2 thousand units in volume by 2022, according to a newly released report by Research and Markets, a Dublin, Ireland-based market research “store.”
Anti-jam technology sales revenue will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.0 percent between 2016 and 2022, while volume goes up 10.1 percent. Major drivers at the moment lie in the military sector, but that could well change in the next decade. The proliferation of low-cost GPS jammers is seeing to that.
Meanwhile, any armed force that puts its faith in guided missiles now feels the acute need for a secured weapons system, something not easy to accomplish. Flight-control applications are especially vulnerable.
North America is the largest and most dynamic sector of the anti-jamming market, given its powerful military and the presence of three top players in the anti-jamming market for GPS: Rockwell Collins Inc. (U.S.), The Raytheon Company (U.S.) and NovAtel Inc. (Canada).
Other companies cited by the report, and given each their own subsection, are Cobham, Mayflower Communications, BAE Systems, Furuno Electric Company, Harris Corporation, Lockheed Martin, Thales Group, Boeing and u-blox.
Breaking down by receiver type, the report studies two major categories: military and government grade, and commercial transportation grade. The market is also analyzed geographically, with sub-sub-subsections devoted to “Threat From North Korea and Disputes With China,” “Dispute in the South China Sea,” and “The Crisis in Syria and Isis.”
Aside from looking — or deriving, more often — numbers according to Anti-Jamming Technique (nulling systems, beam-steering systems and civilian systems), the report does not concern itself overly with technical details. These usually are of little interest to investors, the report’s main target. Thus it will have little of interest for engineers, except for those practicing business development.
A market breakdown by application lists:
flight control
surveillance and reconnaissance
position, navigation and timing
targeting
casualty evacuation
timing installations
logistics tracking
law enforcement
From the Executive Summary:
“The nulling systems type of anti-jamming techniques accounted for a share of 70.0% in 2015; the market was valued at USD 2,180.3 million in the same year and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.7% between 2016 and 2022. The market for beam steering systems was valued at USD 662.8 million in 2015 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.9% during the forecast period. A major reason for beam steering systems holding such a low market share is that they are comparatively new in the market since the last decades and hence are not widely used. They are very expensive and are used only on high-end military vehicles such as strike aircrafts. For a long time nulling systems was the only known type of GPS anti-jamming technique. However, with the development of beam steering systems and the civilian anti jamming systems, the market for GPS anti-jamming is expected to increase.”
In July, GPS World asked the experts, “What percent of a GNSS designer or manufacturer’s R&D budget should be devoted to mitigation of jamming?”
“Solving for jamming, intentional or unintentional, in the design of any GNSS technology platform is no longer an option. How much any one company spends is largely a function of how much is spent on engineering overall and of how much has already been invested upfront on jamming mitigation. The required level of jamming resistance of any PNT solution also depends very much on the particular application, which in turn influences the budget allocated.”
“GNSS jamming is a growing concern, and an assessment of risks and an element of testing against the most applicable real world threats should be included as part of every developer’s engineering process. Spirent has decades of experience in providing test equipment and services to engineers working to understand and mitigate jamming threats. We have seen increased investment by designers and integrators of PNT systems that are driven to provide robust/resilient solutions to their customers.”
“While some receivers already incorporate jamming protection (e.g., CW excision), more sophisticated methods (for example, against broad-band jamming and spoofing) should be incorporated into perspective products. The percentage of R&D budget depends on a line of business. For manufactures pursuing applications such as military and critical infrastructure, the number can be as high as 50 percent. For many civilian applications a potential impact of jamming is less damaging. Yet, from 10 percent to 20 percent should be still allocated.”
A dense reference network facilitates low-cost carrier-phase differential GNSS positioning with rapid integer-ambiguity resolution. This could enable precise lane-keeping for automated vehicles in all weather conditions.
Strong demand for low-cost precise positioning exists in the mass market. Carrier-phase differential GNSS (CDGNSS) positioning, accurate to within a few centimeters even on a moving platform, would satisfy this demand were its cost significantly reduced. Low-cost CDGNSS would be a key enabler for many demanding consumer applications.
Centimeter-accurate positioning by CDGNSS has been perfected over the past two decades for applications in geodesy, precision agriculture, surveying and machine control. But mass-market adoption of this technology will demand much lower user cost — by a factor of 10 to 100 — yet still require rapid and accurate position fixing. To reduce cost, mass-market CDGNSS-capable receivers will have to make do with inexpensive, low-quality antennas whose multipath rejection and phase center stability are inferior to those of antennas typically used for CDGNSS.
Moreover, there will be a strong incentive to use single-frequency receivers, whereas almost all receivers used for CDGNSS in surveying and similar applications are multi-frequency. Despite these user-side disadvantages, mass-market precise positioning will be expected to demonstrate convergence and accuracy performance rivaling that of the most demanding current precise positioning applications: Users will be dissatisfied with techniques requiring more than a few tens of seconds to converge to a reliable sub-decimeter solution.
Meeting this challenge calls for innovation targeting both the rover (user) equipment and the reference network. Here we examine the challenge from the point of view of the reference network and offer demonstration results for a low-cost end-to-end system.
The recent trend in precise satellite-based positioning has been toward precise point positioning (PPP), whose primary virtue is the sparsity of its reference network. But standard PPP requires several tens of minutes or more to converge to a sub-10-centimeter 95 percent horizontal accuracy. Faster convergence can be achieved by recasting the PPP problem as one of relative positioning, thereby exposing integer ambiguities to the end user.
This technique, known as PPP-RTK or PPP-AR, is mathematically similar to traditional network real-time kinematic (NRTK) positioning. As the network density is increased, sub-minute or even instantaneous convergence is possible with dual-frequency high-quality receivers. Even single-frequency PPP-RTK is possible, with convergence times of approximately 5 minutes for a 40-kilometer network spacing.
For PPP-RTK and NRTK, convergence time is synonymous with the time required to resolve the integer ambiguities that arise in double-difference (DD) carrier-phase measurements, referred to here as time to ambiguity resolution, or TAR. As reference networks become denser, they can better compensate for spatially-correlated variations in signal delay introduced by irregularities in the ionosphere and, to a lesser extent, in the neutral atmosphere. Improvement is manifest as reduced uncertainty in the atmospheric corrections that the network sends to the user. Reduced uncertainty in the atmospheric corrections is key to reducing TAR.
Prior work has established an analytical connection between uncertainty in the ionospheric corrections (denoted σi ) and TAR. The existing literature does not, however, offer a satisfactory model for the dependence of σι on network density.
The prevailing model is based on single-baseline CDGNSS, which is inapt for PPP-RTK and NRTK. Moreover, prior work does not address the effect of network-side multipath on the accuracy of the corrections data, which becomes increasingly important as low-cost and poorly-sited reference stations are used to densify the network.
Here, we examine the relationship between ionospheric uncertainty and probability of correct ambiguity resolution, and present the results of an empirical investigation of the relationship between network density and the total uncertainty in network correction data. We developed a simple analytical model relating error variance in network corrections to network density. Our analysis and experiments indicate that for rapid TAR in challenging urban environments with low-cost receivers, network density must be significantly increased. We report on the design and deployment of a dense network in Austin, Texas, and demonstrate a new system that taps into the network to provide reliable vehicle lane-departure warning.
AMBIGUITY RESOLUTION
Reducing the ionospheric uncertainty σι allows a strong prior constraint to be applied in the ionosphere-weighted model, thereby increasing P( = z), the probability that the estimated and true integer ambiguity vectors are equivalent. It is instructive to consider single-epoch ambiguity resolution (AR), for two reasons.
First, for stationary users with low-cost equipment, multipath errors dominate in the carrier-phase measurement and are strongly correlated over 100 seconds or more. Thus, if single-epoch AR fails then a static user may have to wait an unacceptably long time for multipath errors to decorrelate enough to permit AR. In any case, singe-epoch performance is a strong predictor of multi-epoch performance over an interval short enough (a few tens of seconds) to satisfy impatient mass-market users.
Second, a convenient and accurate analytical model (by Dennis Odijk and PJG Teunissen) for single-epoch AR reveals the dependency of P( = z) on scenario parameters of practical interest: the standard deviation of ionospheric correction errors, the number of visible satellites, the standard deviation of undifferenced carrier- and code-phase measurement errors (including multipath-induced errors), a satellite geometry factor, the number p of free parameters to be estimated (p=3 for negligible tropospheric error, p=4 to estimate a single additional tropospheric parameter), and the number of carrier frequencies broadcast by each of the satellites (1, 2 or 3) along with each carrier’s wavelength.
The model is highly accurate for single-epoch AR, but only approximate for multiple epochs, with accuracy degrading as the data interval lengthens. The model’s inaccuracy results from its assumption that overhead satellites remain static from epoch to epoch, which yields pessimistic results for even fairly short data capture intervals (for example, 30 seconds). Fully accounting for satellite motion in an analytical model for P( = z) is an open problem, which is why studies that wish to account for satellite motion resort to simulation.
Figures 1 and 2 show single-epoch, single-frequency results from the analytical P( = z) model for parameters approximately reflecting the mass-market use case. The most important conclusion to draw from these figures is that for single-epoch, single-frequency AR to be even moderately reliable (PT⩾0.9) over the next few years, the ionospheric uncertainty σι must be held under 2 millimeters. This will relax somewhat as more Galileo and MEO BeiDou satellites come online, but signal blockage in built-up areas will raise the effective elevation mask angle significantly above the 15 degrees assumed here, reducing the number of available satellites. Thus, sub-2-mm ionospheric uncertainty remains desirable for urban environments even as GNSS constellations become fully populated.
Figure 1. Single-epoch single-frequency ambiguity fixing. Blue traces (left axis) indicate the probability P(z^=z) of correctly resolving all integer ambiguities with a single epoch of data as a function of the number of satellites m. Each trace represents P(z^=z) for a different value of ionospheric uncertainty σι. Green bars (right axis) represent the probability mass function P(m) for the number of satellites above an elevation mask angle of 15 degrees, assuming 31 GPS, 14 Galileo, and 3 WAAS satellites (projected mid 2017). Each blue trace is marked with the total probability of correct integer resolution PT, a function of both the trace itself and P(m). Other parameters of the scenario: geometry factor fg=2.5, standard deviation of undifferenced phase measurements σϕ=3mm, standard deviation of undifferenced pseudorange measurements σρ=50cm, and number of estimated parameters p=3.Figure 2 . Total probability of a correct fix for the scenario of Figure 1 as a function of ionospheric uncertainty σι.
Figures 3 and 4 offer results for a dual-frequency (L1-L2) single-epoch scenario. All other scenario parameters are held as for the single-frequency scenario except that, in an attempt to be somewhat more pessimistic, P(m) is based only on GPS satellites. It is assumed that from each satellite the user can extract dual-frequency measurements. As with the single-frequency case, it is evident that dual-frequency PT is strongly dependent on σι. The dual-frequency case is more forgiving, but substantial performance improvement can still be had by reducing σι to under 2 mm.
Figure 3. As Figure 1 except for dual-frequency (L1-L2) measurements and the probability mass function P(m) corresponds only to a constellation of 31 GPS satellites. The elevation mask angle is again taken to be 15 degrees. It is assumed that dual-frequency measurements can be obtained from every GPS satellite.Figure 4. Total probability of a correct fix for the scenario of Figure 3 as a function of ionospheric uncertainty σι.
Corrections Uncertainty and Network Density. A key question arises in connection with σi: How is related to reference network density? One expects to decrease with increased network density, but what is the exact relationship?
Dennis Odijk’s work adopts a linear relationship between σi and the distance l between the user and the nearest reference station:
σi = βl, 0.3 ≤ β ≤ 3 mm/km
Parameter β depends on ionospheric activity; Odijk recommends determining β empirically. Similarly, his other work adopts a linear relation, with β = mm/km. But there appears to be no justification for applying this linear model to ionospheric corrections provided to a user by a network of reference receivers. The linear trend corresponds to individual single-baseline solutions involving a single master reference station without network aiding; it is not representative of how σi varies for a rover within a reference network.
Instead of determining how σi varies throughout a reference network, it will be more useful to consider the spatial variation in the variance of aggregate error in network-provided corrections. The aggregate error variance, denoted , can be modeled as the sum of variances associated with (1) residual ionospheric delay error, (2) residual neutral atmospheric (hereafter tropospheric) error, and (3) error due to carrier-phase multipath at the reference network stations:
This model assumes that precise orbital ephemerides are used to eliminate spatially-correlated errors due to satellite ephemeris errors and that the contribution to from reference station carrier-phase thermal noise is negligible compared to reference station carrier-phase multipath error.
Focusing therefore on σv , consider its relationship to reference network density γ, expressed in stations per unit area. This relationship depends on the assumed model for the DD ionospheric and tropospheric delays. Let a denote the master reference station and let S = {s1, s2, …, sN} denote the set of all secondary stations available in the network. Then, for pivot satellite i and alternate satellite j , suppose that the true combined DD atmospheric delay at secondary station s∈S can be accurately modeled as follows, where xs, ys, and zs represent the secondary station’s east, north, and up displacement from the master: (1)
Dai et al. refer to this model as a linear interpolation model or first-order surface model. The quantities and are the model parameters for the satellite pair i, j.
Map showing trends in σv across a simulated reference network assuming a linear model for combined DD ionospheric and tropospheric delays and independent errors due to multipath at each station. The master station is marked in black; secondary reference stations are marked in white. Blue denotes low σv. Red denotes high σv.
For the linear model in (1), one can show that if stations are sufficiently uniformly distributed (i.e., no station clumping), then the average value of σv across a network, denoted , is approximately related to the network density γ by (3)
where q is a parameter related to the variance of the uncorrelated errors , s∈S. This approximation becomes highly accurate as γ increases. [See full paper for details.]
It is clear from (3) that, for the linear model (1),can be driven to an arbitrarily small value by increasing the network density γ, and this is true despite the presence of multipath in the reference station carrier-phase measurements. Whether (3) applies in practice depends on whether (1) can be considered an accurate model for , at least over a compact region. The following section examines this question empirically. It further seeks to identify, for an example dense reference network, the density γ beyond which further reduction inno longer matters (would no longer improve ) because rover multipath dominates.
ANALYSIS OF A DENSE REFERENCE NETWORK
We examined σι as a function of network density using data from several organizations providing GNSS reference station observations: National Geodetic Survey Continuously Operating Reference Stations, UNAVCO, and the California Real Time Network. This combination allowed analysis of a hypothetical reference network of 23 high-quality GNSS receivers with an overall network density of approximately 8 nodes/1,000 km2, or an average inter-station spacing of 14 km. The relative positions of the sites selected to comprise this reference network, located between Los Angeles and Pomona, California, are depicted graphically below.
Depiction of the placement of the 23 GNSS reference stations. Horizontal positions are relative to the master station, LONG of CRTN, in kilometers. The color map indicates the height of each station above the WGS 84 geoid in meters.
DD carrier-phase observations from GPS L1 C/A signals spanning GPS weeks 1850 through 1859 were used for the analysis. A minimum satellite elevation mask was enforced at 20 degrees. Any satellite not above the elevation mask and providing carrier-phase observations at both the beginning and end of each processing window was excluded. A step size of 10 minutes was used. The longest available sub-window, meeting the above requirements and providing a minimum of 6 satellite vehicles (1 pivot satellite and 5 others), was selected for processing.
To facilitate batch processing, integer ambiguities were assumed to be resolved correctly when the mean standard deviation of carrier-phase residuals for that solution was less than one quarter wavelength of the GPS L1 frequency. In application, this constraint resulted in rejecting only 0.6 percent of all solutions.
Network Corrections Estimation. Estimation of network corrections made use of least-squares estimation applied to carrier-phase residuals measured between master station LONG, denoted a hereafter, and secondary reference stations s∈S, where S is now taken to be the set of all stations other than LONG. Consider the following model for the DD carrier-phase measurement, expressed in meters, between master station a, secondary station s∈S, pivot satellite i, and alternate satellite j:
(4)
Here, λ is the carrier wavelength; is the DD carrier-phase measurement, in cycles; is the DD range; is the DD integer ambiguity; is the DD combined atmospheric delay, which includes tropospheric and ionospheric delays; and is the DD carrier-phase measurement error, which is dominated by carrier-phase multipath error at a and s.
Experimental analysis ofas a function of network density proceeded as follows. A subset of secondary stations Sk ⊂S was chosen, together with a, to act as the kth test network. A large number K of subsets Sk of various geographic size and density were analyzed. Let {S\Sk} denote the set of secondary stations not in the kth test network. For each Sk, k = 1, 2,…, K, all secondary stations in {S\Sk} were designated, one at a time, to act as a test station, or rover. Atmospheric delays estimated by the kth network for test station s∈{S\Sk} were then differenced from actual delays measured by s to evaluate the quality of the atmospheric delay estimates.
Details of the atmospheric delay estimation procedure for the kth test network are as follows. For each s∈Sk, a DD measurement residual was formed for each pivot satellite i and alternate satellite j as
(5)
where was assumed known to sub-millimeter accuracy and was assumed to have been resolved correctly. The true DD atmospheric error contributing to (5) was assumed to vary linearly with geometry over sufficiently short baselines as modeled in (2). The DD multipath error term was assumed to be zero mean, and the component due solely to s was assumed to be uncorrelated with all corresponding components .
Under these assumptions, can readily be estimated via least squares. Let be the vector containing the residuals for |Sk|x1. This residuals vector can be modeled as
(6)
where H is an |Sk|x4 matrix whose rows are of the form [xs ys zs1]. The 4 x 1 vector contains the parameters of the hyper-plane to be estimated at each epoch. The |Sk|x1 vector wijcontains DD measurement errors.
An estimate from a least-squares solution of (6) was used to produce a network correction for a test secondary station s∈{S\Sk}, acting as rover, at location xs, ys, zs :
(7)
The subscript l on the atmospheric correction indicates that the correction is based on a linear model for DD atmospheric errors; it is used to distinguish the correction from those produced by a quadratic model later on. The correction was applied at test station s∈{S\Sk} to produce a corrected DD phase measurement
This procedure was repeated at each epoch for each satellite pair i, j visible to each test station s∈{S\Sk} of the kth test network, k = 1, 2,…K.
If the assumed models hold, then in the limit as the network density increases, can be modeled as
(8)
where is DD phase measurement error due only to multipath at s. In other words, as network density increases, application of the network correction eliminates not onlybut also , the component of the DD phase measurement error due to multipath at the master.
Linear least-squares compared to quadratic-least squares estimation. To evaluate the assumption that DD tropospheric and ionospheric errors vary proportional to relative position, c1 was estimated with the full set of secondary stations S for single epochs at 300 second intervals. The probability distributions of the contributions of those parameters (e.g., cxlxs and not simply cxl) are shown below. For comparison, equivalent values are calculated for a quadratic least-squares estimate of the following form:
(9)
Here, the subscript q of denotes a quadratic model for DD atmospheric delays. The distributions of comparable terms from (9) are also shown in the next two figures. These data represent the collection of all satellites above the elevation mask angle. It is noted that when all satellites are considered together, the expected value of these terms is very near zero.
Probability densities of the terms estimated at the station location for SPMS of UNAVCO. As indicated by the legend, the linear components are shown for a linear least-squares estimation as well as the linear components for a quadratic least-squares estimation. These data represent the probability densities for all GPS satellites combined.
Probability densities of the terms calculated at the station location for SPMS of UNAVCO.
The next two figures show the same data as the two above, but with each GPS satellite plotted separately. It is noted that the linear parameters, when considering only a particular satellite, are not necessarily zero-mean. This is hypothesized to be a manifestation of the satellite orbit reflected in the tropospheric and ionospheric errors. It is interesting to note that the quadratic terms shown in the second figure below largely exhibit zero mean behavior despite non-zero mean for the associated linear terms.
Probability densities of the terms for every GPS satellite observed, calculated at the station location for SPMS of UNAVCO, where each plot line represents a different GPS satellite. This figure is intended to qualitatively illustrate the non-zero mean nature of these linear terms when considered for individual satellites.
Probability densities of the terms for every GPS satellite observed, calculated at the station location for SPMS of UNAVCO, where each plot line represents a different GPS satellite. This figure is included to qualitatively illustrate the largely zero mean nature of these quadratic terms when considered for individual satellites.Probability densities of the difference between linear least-squares and quadratic least-squares network correction estimates for representative reference stations. The red vertical lines denote boundaries between which 68.27% of the probability distribution is contained; displayed as a comparative proxy to lσ of the Gaussian-distribution (these distributions are non-Gaussian). Recall that CGDM has a distance to the master station of 15.1km, BGIS is at 21.6km, and LORS is at 23.1km.
The figure above shows the probability distributions of the difference between (7) and (9) (i.e., ) at three representative reference station positions. It can be noticed that despite the increasing baseline distance of LORS and BGIS as compared to CGDM, there is no apparent correlation in these estimation errors. Notice that CGDM and LORS have very similar distributions despite their difference in baselines. BGIS and LORS, with similar baselines, exhibit very different distributions. There is no apparent correlation found between reference station positions and these error terms. Additionally, these distributions are zero-mean for all s∈S (to within 0.5 mm in each case) with 68.27% boundaries positioned between 1.5-5.5 mm. Because these errors appear indistinguishable from multipath, it is concluded, for this specific network and time period, that linear least-squares estimation is sufficient for estimating tropospheric and ionospheric errors. This is fortunate, because the linear model for atmospheric DD delays provides an averaging effect on multipath present at the reference stations which minimizes the introduction of multipath errors into the estimates produced.
Uncorrected carrier-phase residuals. The figure below shows the expected values for DD carrier-phase residual standard deviations for all s∈S through use of uncorrected observations. These data were produced by averaging the standard deviation of the DD carrier-phase residuals calculated at each epoch across all satellites present in the solution. The fitted curve indicates a linear growth of DD carrier-phase residuals with β = 0.62 mm/km. Additionally, the mm-level scatter of these data points suggest that position biases of the resolved reference station positions are also mm-level. If the linear fit is shifted down by approximately 4 mm (e.g., taking the minimum data points as those with very little position bias) and extrapolated to 0 km, one can consider this as providing a rough estimate of DD multipath at the reference stations; 4.7 mm (DD) or 3.3 mm (single-difference equivalent).
Standard deviation of uncorrected DD carrier-phase residuals versus baseline distance between each of the 22 reference stations and the master reference station.
Uncorrected Carrier-Phase Residuals. Figure 5 shows the expected values for DD carrier-phase residual standard deviations for all secondary stations, based on observations that were not corrected for atmospheric delay. These data were produced by averaging the standard deviation of the DD carrier-phase residuals calculated at each epoch across all satellites present in the solution. The fitted curve indicates a linear growth of DD carrier-phase residuals with distance to the master. The mm-level scatter of these data points suggest that biases of the resolved reference station positions are also mm-level.
Figure 5. Standard deviation of uncorrected DD carrier-phase residuals versus baseline distance between each of the 22 reference stations and the master reference station.
Network-Corrected Residuals. Figure 6 displays similar data to Figure 5, except that the carrier-phase residuals are those that remain after network corrections are applied. Each data point corresponds to a particular subset of secondary stations together with the master, and a particular rover selected at random from the remaining stations. Both the size and specific selection of secondary stations comprising each subset were randomly selected. In all, 70 different network configurations and more than 3.67 million NRTK solutions were analyzed.
Figure 6. Standard deviation of carrier-phase residual remainders (the carrier-phase residuals which remain after application of network corrections) versus average network density. The fitted curve is simply a polynomial fit of these data; it is not based on any theoretically anticipated behavior.
Figure 6 shows that carrier-phase residuals after application of network corrections are considerably reduced compared to those original magnitudes seen in Figure 5. With increasing network density, the DD residuals’ deviation asymptotically approaches a minimum value of about 4 mm, which corresponds to an undifferenced deviation of 2 mm. This floor is due to multipath at the rover. Deviations in excess of this floor are caused by residual ionospheric errors and, to a lesser extent, neutral atmospheric errors.Attributing the excess deviation entirely to residual ionospheric errors, and assuming these are uncorrelated with multipath, one can estimate from Figure 6 the undifferenced ionospheric uncertainty. For example, for a 50-km inter-station distance, σι=(℘(142 – 42))/2=6.7mm. To achieve the σι<2 mm recommended earlier for fast and reliable AR, station separation should be no more than 22 km, which we round down to a recommended value of 20 km to provide a margin of station redundancy.
NETWORK DEPLOYMENT
We have developed and deployed a low-cost reference network testbed in Austin, Texas, with site hosting courtesy of the Texas Department of Transportation. The Longhorn Reference Network boasts a dozen stations, with plans for 20 (Figure 7). The network’s average inter-station spacing is far shorter than the 20-km spacing recommended earlier. The tighter spacing provides redundancy and flexibility of experimentation. The low-cost reference stations are deployed in environments with greater multipath and signal blockage than those of the high-quality stations studied earlier. Such non-ideal signal environments are to be expected in a dense low-cost reference network, for which choice of station siting is driven largely by opportunity.
Figure 7. Overview of the planned Austin area reference network (Google Maps).
The reference station design, pictured in Figure 8 and diagrammed in Figure 9, is novel. Each station is a self-contained, solar-powered node supporting a software-defined dual-frequency, dual-antenna GNSS receiver with an always-on cellular connection to university servers for data collection and software maintenance.
Figure 8. Low-cost reference station in the Longhorn Reference Network.Figure 9. Reference station components.
Live Vehicle Demonstration. In partnership with Radiosense, an Austin-based precise positioning startup, we have developed and demonstrated a low-cost vehicle lane departure warning system that receives corrections from our dense reference network. The system takes in lane widths from an external database and infers a safe driving corridor within each lane by analyzing the behavior of human drivers on the same road. A vehicle’s proximity to the lane boundary is displayed in real time to the driver and passengers.
For robustness against cycle slips and to provide a baseline against which to compare future improvements, the system currently employs single-epoch CDGNSS positioning without aiding from additional sensors. In choosing a single-epoch approach, the system naively discards information regarding the underlying integer ambiguities at the beginning of each measurement epoch. Still, the system performs well with the typical number of overhead signals in a light urban environment: correct and internally-validated solutions were available in over 92 percent of measurement epochs. When a second rover antenna is included to combat multipath with spatial diversity, this percentage improves to 96. Such good single-epoch performance suggests that, when armed with additional sensor aiding and proper integer ambiguity persistence, reliable and accurate vehicle positioning can be maintained in more challenging environments.
Demonstration setup. The live demonstration followed a predetermined route in the vicinity of the University of Texas campus. The 1-mile route (Figure 10) passed through both open-sky and partially-blocked environments.
Figure 10. Demonstration route.
Prior to the demonstration, the vehicle was driven several times on the same route collecting GNSS measurements to precisely map typical driving trajectories on the route. The ensemble of trajectories was used to build a centimeter-accurate model of the lane center along the route. The sensing equipment employed during this mapping phase is no different than that used during the demonstration, making feasible eventual crowd-sourcing, wherein end-user vehicles generate and update the centerline models.
The demonstration vehicle was outfitted with two dual-frequency GNSS antennas mounted with magnetic bases onto the roof. The first antenna, designated primary, operated as the rover in a single-baseline CDGNSS solution against the master reference station of the Longhorn Reference Network, as illustrated in Figure 11. This baseline provided the geo-referenced, centimeter-accurate vehicle position. The other antenna, designated secondary, was paired with the primary antenna to produce a constrained-baseline CDGNSS solution providing sub-degree-accurate vehicle heading. The secondary antenna also served as a backup when the primary antenna produced a result that did not pass the precise positioning engine’s internal validity testing.
Figure 11. GNSS antenna configuration. A single-baseline precise position solution between the primary antenna and the master reference station provides precise vehicle position. A constrained-baseline 2D attitude solution between the primary and secondary antennas provides heading.
The GNSS antennas were connected to a low-cost, dual-frequency front-end in the trunk of the vehicle (FIGURE 12)which downconverted and digitized the incoming signals and subsequently fed them to a low-cost single-board computer running the precise positioning engine. A cellular modem received real-time measurements from the master reference station, while a WiFi router streamed real-time solutions to several Android devices in the vehicle for real-time visualization of precise within-lane position.
Figure 12. Low-cost, dual-frequency rover system in the trunk of the vehicle.
Demonstration Results. Figures 13, 14 and 15 show snapshots of the Android application and a still frame of the side of the vehicle in three different scenarios. The large rectangle indicates vehicle position with respect to the modeled lane center, changing color from green, when the vehicle is within the safe driving corridor, to yellow as the vehicle nears the edge of the lane, and finally to red if the vehicle breaks the lane boundary. One could imagine wrapping a control loop around these signals to enable last-moment lane-keeping.
Figure 13. Vehicle position relative to lane edge (left) synchronized in time with video still frame (right), centered safely within the lane, as depicted by green rectangle.Figure 14. Vehicle nearing lane edge, as depicted by yellow rectangle.Figure 15. Vehicle crossing lane edge, as depicted by red rectangle.
Figure 16 reveals the precision with which the positioning engine was able to locate the vehicle’s driver-side antenna in four repeated passes along the test route. The variation between the four yellow traces is primarily due to driver non-repeatability; actual measurement precision is at the centimeter scale. A small bias in the traces’ registration to the picture is present because Google Earth imagery is only registered to the International Terrestrial Reference Frame with meter-level accuracy.
Figure 16. Four repeated traces of driver’s side antenna as vehicle made a turn.
Figure 17 shows a time history of the vertical deviation from the route mean, in meters. The zoomed view of the vertical deviation shown in Figure 18 allows one to appreciate the precision of the positioning engine: the vertical trajectory is smooth at the centimeter level. Figure 19 shows the DD residuals in carrier phase and pseudorange for GPS PRN 30 during the four loops in Figure 17. One-sigma undifferenced phase and pseudorange deviations are 3.4 mm and 42 cm, respectively.
Figure 17. Time history of the vertical deviation from the route mean, in meters.Figure 18. Zoomed view of the time history of the vertical deviation from the route mean, showing the centimeter-level precision in the 3.3 Hz positioning data.Figure 19. Double-difference carrier phase (top) and pseudorange (bottom) residuals for GPS satellite 30 at frequency L1 over the full time interval shown in Figure 17.
The figures demonstrate that the precise positioning engine fed by reference data from the Longhorn Reference Network maintained centimeter-accurate knowledge of the vehicle’s position during almost the entire trajectory, despite passing between a large football stadium and parking garage, each of which introduced significant signal blockage and multipath.
For the data shown in Figure 17, 96 percent of the 3.3-Hz measurement epochs resulted in a correct and internally-validated positioning solution. The majority of the remaining solutions were correct but did not pass internal validation. For only 0.6 percent of solutions were the carrier-phase integer ambiguities resolved incorrectly, but all of these incorrect solutions were caught and excluded by the validation algorithm.
Furthermore, the number of overhead signals during the time in which this particular dataset (set A) was taken was average, as seen in the upper plot of Figure 20. 16 signals above 15 degrees elevation were available during this time. In contrast, the number of overhead signals for a second dataset taken 8 days prior (set B) was much worse, with only 12 signals above 15 degrees elevation, as seen in the lower plot.
Figure 20. The number of signals above a 15-degree elevation mask. Each plot spans an entire day. The black arrows denote the time of day in which two different datasets, A and B, were taken. The dashed red line represents the mean number of signals above the mask over both days. Dataset A was taken during a nominal time when 16 signals were available, while dataset B was taken during a worst-case time when only 12 signals were available.
For insight into the performance of the positioning engine as a function of the number of overhead satellites, Table 1 details the performance of these two datasets (as well as a third dataset) in terms of the percentage of epochs that passed the positioning engine’s internal validation testing, based on a ratio test with a fixed threshold of 2.0. Results are shown for single- and dual-antenna positioning solutions and for dual-antenna vehicle heading solutions.
Table 1. The performance of each dataset in terms of the percentage of solutions that passed validation testing.
A large drop-off in positioning performance occurs when the number of overhead signals is reduced below 16, while the constrained-baseline heading determination performance remains good throughout. Fortunately, it will not be long until even more signals are available. Within the next 8 months, the Galileo constellation will add six fully operational satellites. These will bring the number of GPS L1, GPS L2C, Galileo E1, and SBAS signals that are above 15 degrees elevation to 16 or more 95 percent of the time, enabling high-reliability single-epoch CDGNSS positioning.
CONCLUSIONS
For a sufficiently dense reference network, linear least squares estimation can be applied to the task of reducing uncertainties due to tropospheric and ionospheric delays for the purposes of providing improved positioning accuracy as well as faster time to ambiguity resolution for carrier-phase differential positioning. High network density allows use of a strong linear model for atmospheric delays, which has the virtue of suppressing network-side multipath errors in the provided corrections.
A network of 23 high-quality reference stations in the vicinity of Los Angeles, California, was studied to determine what network density is sufficient to make all network-side error sources negligible compared to rover receiver multipath. A density of three stations per 1,000km2, or an average inter-station spacing of 20 km, was found to drive network-side ionospheric, tropospheric, and multipath errors well below rover receiver multipath.
These findings motivate a significant densification of permanent reference networks, at least in built-up areas where signal blockage and multipath are common, to support mass-market applications for which low user (rover receiver) cost and rapid convergence to a reliable sub-decimeter position are a priority. In a light urban setting, and with the kind of satellite coverage that will soon become the norm, we demonstrated vehicle lane departure warning in a field test that produced highly reliable instantaneous sub-decimeter positioning.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported in part by Samsung Research America, by the Data-Supported Transportation Operations and Planning Center (D-STOP), a Tier 1 USDOT University Transportation Center, and by the Texas Department of Transportation under the Connected Vehicle Problems, Challenges and Major Technologies project.
Dual Mode Plus uses inertial guidance with GPS updates to shape flight path for target engagement at desired impact heading and dive angle. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)
Lockheed Martin’s new Dual Mode Plus laser guided bomb (LGB) successfully completed two recent flight tests at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, California.
The tests demonstrated operation of the new linear optics, GPS/inertial navigation system (INS) guidance subsystem and the control actuation system, meeting all mission objectives.
Released from an F/A-18 Super Hornet, the two Mk-82 (500-lb.) inert warheads, fitted with Dual Mode Plus guidance kits, impacted fixed targets well within operational performance requirements.
“Lockheed Martin’s Dual Mode Plus benefits from the reliability and affordability of the Paveway II Plus LGB system while integrating a GPS/INS, all-weather moving target capability,” said Joe Serra, Precision Guided Systems director at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “This combination offers a precise and affordable direct attack weapon system to the U.S. and its allies.”
Effective against fixed, relocatable and moving targets, Dual Mode Plus will improve mission effectiveness by providing precision strike capabilities in all-weather conditions at extended standoff ranges.
Dual Mode Plus maintains Paveway II LGB physical dimensions and easily integrates with aircraft employing Paveway II LGBs or other similar direct attack weapons utilizing conventional MIL-STD-1760/1553 or Universal Armament Interfaces.
Lockheed Martin is a qualified provider of all three Paveway II MK-80 series LGB variants (GBU-10 MK-84 [2,000 lb.], GBU-12 MK-82 and GBU-16 MK-83 [1,000 lb.]) and is the sole provider of the Enhanced Laser Guided Training Round and Dual Mode LGB kits.
The company has delivered more than 150,000 training rounds, more than 75,000 Paveway II LGB kits and 7,000 dual-mode systems to the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and 23 international customers.
Harxon has released a utility beacon antenna — HX-CS7615A — to professionally solve marine satellite positioning challenges.
The HX-CS7615A supports GPS L1/L2, GLONASS L1/L2 BDS B1/B2/B3 and beacon frequencies (282.6 to 326 KHz), which greatly overcomes the defects of long-distance transmission limits, the company said. In addition, combining wide frequencies in one antenna makes the new device more cost effective.
Inside, a multipath rejection board significantly eliminates measurement error, Harxon said. The phase center of the antenna remains constant as the azimuth and elevation angle of the satellites change.
The HX-CS7615A Harxon marine antenna.
The HX-CS7615A is designed with high gain and wide beam width. It is test approved — even in some severe blocking situations, its reception remains stable.
A specialized antenna made for rugged environments, the HX-CS7615A beacon antenna is sealed against water and dust, is salt and fog resistant, and operates in extreme weather conditions.
Housed inside the construction trailer, the RTK Bridge-X with its Ethernet connectivity can physically connect to the internet via an Ethernet cable and then transmit corrections it obtains via both an internal and an external radio, simultaneously.
Intuicom has released the Intuicom 4G LTE RTK Bridge-X Communication Hub for the survey, machine control and precision agriculture markets.
Enhancing the extensive communication capabilities of the standard-setting RTK Bridge product line, the 4G LTE RTK Bridge-X lets users leverage the faster upload/download speeds, the expanded coverage and enhanced connectivity offered by 4G LTE providers including Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile.
Supporting all leading precision guidance systems and GNSS manufacturers, the 4G LTE RTK Bridge-X is different from less robust modems by allowing users to access, configure and manage their device from their smartphone, tablet or laptop without being connected by a physical cable.
With the 4G LTE RTK Bridge-X, productivity in the field can increase. Key features include:
The 4G LTE RTK Bridge-X by Intuicom.
Faster upload and download speeds.
Access, configure and manage without a cable.
Improved Wi-Fi and internet capabilities.
Enhanced connectivity.
Bluetooth functionality.
UHF and 900-megahertz radio options.
Expanded coverage.
Quicker access to real-time networks.
Ethernet interface for LAN (local area network) connectivity to the internet.
Compatible with all major precision guidance systems and GNSS manufacturers.
Cloud-based remote support available.
“Given the success of the RTK Bridge-X, some manufacturers might be tempted to leave well enough alone, but Intuicom has never been satisfied to sit on our laurels,” says Tom Foley, Intuicom president and CEO. “The 4G LTE RTK Bridge-X further extends our functionality while maintaining our commitment to robust communications in an easy to use device.”
Ethernet interface. Users can take advantage of the device’s Ethernet interface rather than the embedded cell modem to access the Internet. This capability enables the 4G LTE RTK Bridge-X to be connected via Ethernet to a LAN that has internet access, further enhancing flexibility and expanded functionality.
A status update released this month by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) underscores the need for railroads to implement Positive Train Control (PTC) as quickly and safely as possible. The update also highlights the Administration’s repeated calls for Congress to provide more significant funding to assist commuter railroads in implementing PTC.
“Positive Train Control should be installed as quickly as possible,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “This is lifesaving technology available now, and railroads should continue to aggressively work to beat the deadlines Congress has put in place.”
PTC prevents certain train-to-train collisions, over-speed derailments, incursions into established work zone limits and trains going to the wrong tracks because a switch was left in the wrong position.
The status update includes railroad-by-railroad quarterly data as of June 30 on track segments completed, employees trained, radio towers installed, route miles in PTC operation and other key implementation data. Some of this information is also displayed in infographics below. In March, FRA announced that it intended to require railroads to submit quarterly reports to FRA on their progress toward completing PTC implementation.
In 2008, Congress mandated PTC implementation on certain railroad main lines where railroads transport poisonous-by-inhalation hazardous or toxic-by-inhalation hazardous materials or any line where a railroad provides regularly scheduled passenger service. Following a derailment in May 2015 in the Northeast Corridor, in October Congress extended the original deadline from December 31, 2015, to at least December 31, 2018.
“The official deadline for Positive Train Control may be years away, but the urgency for railroads to activate it is now,” said FRA Administrator Sarah E. Feinberg. “Every day that passes without PTC, we risk adding another preventable accident to a list that is already too long. FRA will continue to push railroads to stay focused on implementation and urge Congress to fund this life-saving technology.”
Earlier this week, FRA awarded nearly $25 million in grants to help railroads complete full PTC implementation. Many of the awards will help railroads achieve interoperability among the different PTC systems that railroads are deploying. This follows DOT’s announcement in July that commuter railroads and states can apply for approximately $199 million in PTC grants.
President Obama has consistently made funding and assistance for commuter railroads to implement PTC a priority. In his Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 budget request, the president requested $1.25 billion. This follows requests of $825 million in both FY 2015 and FY 2016.
Since 2008, FRA has provided significant assistance to support railroads’ PTC implementation. Those efforts include:
Approving more than $650 million in grants to passenger railroads, including nearly $400 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funding
Issuing a nearly $1 billion loan to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority to implement PTC on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad
Building a PTC testbed at the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colorado
Working directly with the Federal Communications Commission and the Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation to resolve issues related to spectrum use and improve the approval process for PTC communication towers
Dedicating staff to work on PTC implementation, including establishing a PTC task force.
The Arctic SDI Board, — which includes mapping executives from Canada, Kingdom of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the U.S. — met June 14-16 in Anchorage, Alaska, to further develop a robust Arctic Spatial Data Infrastructure.
The Arctic SDI is a cooperation based on a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the eight National Mapping Agencies and is intended to ensure Arctic geospatial data is easier for users to access, validate and combine.
Erosion and climate change along Alaska’s Arctic Coast. (Photo: USGS)
A spatial data infrastructure (SDI) provides tools for data distributors to ensure geospatial data is easier for users to access, validate and combine with other data. Important data sets are produced and distributed by many stakeholders — in the public and private sector — and most of it can be geographically referenced.
“It’s important that scientists, resource managers, decision-makers and citizens can discover, access and use trusted data to conduct research, make informed decisions, and respond to emergencies in a changing Arctic,” said Kevin Gallagher, the USGS associate director for core science systems and current Arctic SDI Board chair. “The Arctic SDI initiative brings together geospatial experts and scientists in a voluntary cooperation between these country’s national mapping agencies in direct support of the priorities of the Arctic Council and other important stakeholders.”
The Arctic SDI cooperation has built a foundation on which important strategic work is being conducted by lead countries through several working groups in alignment with the five-year Arctic SDI Strategic Plan 2015-2020 adopted last year.
Polar bear mother and two cubs on the Beaufort Sea ice. (Photo: USGS)
The Arctic SDI Geoportal, launched in 2014, includes a continuously updated, harmonized pan-Arctic basemap using data delivered by the individual countries and national mapping agencies. Together they are working to increase the number of national authoritative datasets available through the Geoportal. The basemap, geoportal and access to data are continually being improved.
Additionally, an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Arctic Spatial Data Pilot, sponsored by Natural Resources Canada and the USGS is underway to test interoperability of standards, increase the inventory of available Arctic data, and advance the understanding of best practices for distribution and sharing of data by showcasing the value of a standards based, data rich environment.
In 2009, the Arctic Council Senior Arctic Officials gave unanimous formal support to the Arctic SDI initiative and while the Arctic Council represents its primary stakeholder group, the Arctic SDI is aligned with the global, regional and national geodata context, including:
The United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM),
The Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS),
The European Commission’s Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE)
The U.S Federal Geographic Data Committee National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI),
and Canada’s Spatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI).
Additionally, the work adheres to Open Data principles, including facilitation of open and interoperable data based on OGC and ISO standards, specifications, architecture and software.
Arctic SDI Working Groups are continuing communication and outreach with stakeholders, especially the Arctic Council Working Groups, to advance understanding of data sharing and management techniques, and best practices to improve data access and availability. This work also includes development of communication materials, user guides and a manual.
Additionally, elevation experts from the national mapping agencies have been cooperating with the National Science Foundation and Polar Geospatial Center to provide data and expert reviews in support of a high quality Pan-Arctic Digital Elevation Model being developed in support of a U.S. Chairmanship Arctic Council Initiative.
The Olympics are great for technology. Yes, the competition held every four years highlights amazing athletes. But its vast support network relies on numerous technologies, including GNSS.
GNSS technology helped fans follow the canoe sprint and rowing events in Rio in more detail than before. With GPS devices attached to every vessel, spectators were able to see key data such as speed and direction — information that helps when following a lengthy race taking place offshore.
For the first time, Olympic athletes used high-tech wearables to give them an edge. Solos Smart Eyewear was designed for the USA’s Cycling team with features that allowed cyclists to see key metrics such as speed, power, distance, cadence and heart rate, plus more data from any number of connected sensors.
Drones Aloft. Drone technology has exploded since the London 2012 Olympics. In Rio, broadcasters experimented with hovering cameras. The BBC worked with Open Broadcast Service to provide international broadcasters with drone coverage of the rowing.
As for hobbyists, drone-maker DJI updated its firmware with Olympic geofences, preventing drones from flying over events. Not every drone manufacturer implements geofences, so the Brazilian military was equipped with new devices to jam drone-control signals mid-flight. The IACT DroneBlockers blast incoming drones with radio signals, effectively jamming the signal from the controller.
Beware Zika. Meanwhile, mapping technology is helping to track the spread of the Zika virus. Before the games, the World Health Organization launched a Zika app to provide information about the disease.
After the Olympics, IBM will provide local authorities with ways to track weather, social media data and travel patterns. Esri is supporting local authorities and coordinating field workers to track and contain the disease in Brazil and elsewhere.