A STUDY ON ORBIT-ERROR IN PSEUDO-RANGE GNSS POSITIONING USING SIMULATED SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS

This study investigates orbit error effects on pseudo-range GNSS positioning using simulated satellite constellations. The research methodology adopted in this study was basically empirical, wherein simulated satellites constellations, GPS Time, and pseudo-range positions were used to estimate the average positional errors obtainable from absolute GNSS point positioning technique using the GPS and GLONASS satellite constellations. By employing MATLAB-based simulations, the study analyzes the positional deviations due to orbital perturbations. From the findings of the study, it was identified that orbital errors in satellite constellations affect pseudo-range position determination by varying magnitude at different time epochs depending om the number of available satellites at the time of observation. Based on a simulated wobble value of ±20m, the effects of orbital error on pseud-orange positions range between -0.61m to +2.026m. The findings from this study have provided empirical evidence to assumed limitations of the single receiver GNSS receiver