Enhancing Precise Point Positioning Under Active Ionosphere Using Wide-Range Ionospheric Corrections Derived from MADOCA Service

The performance of the MADOCA-PPP (Multi-GNSS Orbit and Clock Augmentation-Precise Point Positioning) wide-range ionospheric correction requires further investigation during periods of high ionospheric activity, particularly regarding its impact on the convergence time and positioning accuracy of both PPP and PPP with Ambiguity Resolution (PPP-AR). Thus, the present study selects the month with the highest average Kp index between January 2023 and May 2025 and conducts positioning analyses at nine stations. Results indicate that applying wide-range ionospheric corrections reduces PPP convergence time by 47% in static mode and 54% in kinematic mode. When these corrections are integrated into PPP-AR, they shorten the convergence time by 69% in static mode and 72% in kinematic mode. Moreover, PPP-AR enhanced with wide-range ionospheric corrections achieves the highest positioning accuracy across both modes: in static mode, the horizontal and vertical root mean square errors (RMSEs) are approximately 5.2 cm and 6.9 cm, respectively, while in kinematic mode, these values are 5.6 cm and 8.0 cm. These findings demonstrate that the wide-range ionospheric corrections provided by the MADOCA-PPP service effectively enhance PPP performance during periods of heightened ionospheric activity.