Analysis of Comparability of PCV in Surveying-Grade GNSS Antenna – Topcon HIPER-VR Case Study

It is well known that the phase center of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) antenna is not a stable point. For any given GNSS antenna, the phase center will change with the direction of the incoming signal from a satellite, as well as the frequency. Ignoring these phase center variations (PCVs) in GNSS data processing can lead to notable errors, especially in vertical position component determination. To avoid the problem, antenna PCV together with the phase center offset (PCO) information are recommended to be used in GNSS observation processing. We currently distinguish between individual and type-mean phase center correction (PCC) models. These models describe the variations in the phase center of the antenna as a function of the elevation angle and azimuth. In general, the primary difference between individual and type-mean models lies in their specificity. Individual models are highly precise but are valid only for a particular antenna model, while the type-mean models are more general and can be applied to a broad range of antennas of the same type, but may suffer from a lower level of precision. This paper aims to analyze the comparability of PCV in surveying-grade GNSS antennas. For the analyses, we propose to use an originally designed bench with precisely defined relative positions of the seven antenna mounting points. Preliminary studies have been performed using GPS observations on L1 and L2 frequencies recorded by seven Topcon HIPER-VR antennas. The results proved that the comparability of PCV for this antenna is high. The position error did not exceed 3 mm. It could be assumed that the type-mean PCC model could describe PCV all antennas of this type with good accuracy.