Effects of tropospheric mapping functions on GPS data processing

Abstract

In processing space geodetic data, mapping functions are used to convert the tropospheric signal delay along the zenith direction to the line of sight direction. In this study, we compared three mapping functions by evaluating their effects on the tropospheric signal delay and position estimates in GPS data processing. The three mapping functions tested are Niell Mapping Function (NMF), Vienna Mapping Function 1 (VMF1), and Global Mapping Function (GMF). The tropospheric delay and height estimates from VMF1 and GMF are compared with the ones obtained with NMF. The differences among mapping functions show annual signals with the maximum occurring in February or August. To quantitatively estimate the discrepancies among mapping functions, we calculated the maximum difference and the amplitude using a curve fitting technique. Both the maximum difference and amplitude have high correlations with the latitude of the site. Also, the smallest difference was found around 30°N and the amplitudes increase toward higher latitudes. In the height estimates, the choice of mapping function did not significantly affect the vertical velocity estimate, and the precision of height estimates was improved at most of the sites when VMF1 or GMF was used instead of NMF.