Impact of Crowded Sky on GNSS Positioning

Abstract

Presently, there is a huge number of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites in orbit, and
it is possible for users to have a clear view with a high number of satellites at a single epoch. This large
number of satellites results in a significant improvement in satellite geometry, visibility, Dilution of
Precision (DOP), and simultaneously, reduction of occupation time and sufficient time to fix the integer
ambiguity. The static method is the most accurate method to establish geodetic networks using
satellites, but the duration of time required for the survey and the post-processing of the data may
restrict its applicability. This paper investigated the impact of increasing number of satellites, regardless
the type of the system, on occupation time and evaluating accuracy in static method with a 13 km
baseline length. The observations were assessed and compared to the accuracy obtained from different
satellite numbers in different periods. The results indicate that by increasing number of satellites from
4 to 20, the occupation time reduces by 83% from 30 min. to 5 min., and position dilution of precision
(PDOP) reduces from 5.30 to 1.4.