Performance Evaluation of Low-Cost Dual-Frequency GNSS Receivers for Precise Positioning in Senegal: Issues and Challenges

Abstract

The development of this technology has favored the advances noted in recent years in the field of precise positioning. It has also paved the way for a wide range of research into the evaluation of their performance and reliability, their potential use in different fields, the improvement of performance and combined systems, etc. Single-frequency GNSS receivers, which for a long time remained the only category of low-cost GNSS receivers, often limited by their level of accuracy (metric) mainly due to their single-frequency nature, have been joined in the last decade by dual-frequency GNSS receivers developed by certain manufacturers of positioning equipment. These receivers now offer possible alternatives to the relatively expensive conventional (topographic quality) or geodetic receivers and. In this study, the performance of these low-cost dual-frequency receivers was evaluated in static and real-time kinematic GNSS positioning modes. Static positioning was carried out on three points with sessions of 2 h and 4 h over three days with antenna swapping (CHC i50, Leica GS14 and Emlid Reach RS2+). Real-time observations were carried out on eleven (11) points in open, poorly open and not at all open environments, in order to assess not only performance but also receiver sensitivity in environments with a high risk of multipath. The results obtained showed an average agreement of 2 cm in planimetry between the low-cost Emlid RS2+ receiver and the Leica GS14 and CHC i50 receivers. The differences in altimetry are nevertheless greater (sometimes up to decimetres for certain points). Real-time positioning results provided an average convergence of around 1 cm on the E, N and H components with the results from the low-cost Emlid Reach RS2+ and Ublox ZED-F9P receivers and the CHC i50 receiver. Analysis of the results obtained has enabled us to highlight the various issues and challenges associated with this new generation of GNSS receivers, with a view to enhancing their appropriation and optimal integration in the professional and research worlds.