How do you compare and validate the results of different GPS receiver calibration techniques?

1 Why calibrate GPS receiver?

Calibration is important for GPS receivers because it can improve their performance and reduce their errors. GPS receivers can have errors due to various factors, such as atmospheric conditions, satellite geometry, clock drift, antenna orientation, multipath, and noise. These errors can affect the quality and accuracy of the GPS measurements and cause deviations from the true position, speed, and time. By calibrating your GPS receiver, you can identify and eliminate or minimize these errors and ensure that your GPS receiver is aligned with the reference system.

3 How to compare and validate the results?

After calibrating your GPS receiver using one or more methods, you need to compare and validate the results to ensure that your calibration was successful and effective. To do this, you can assess accuracy, precision, and reliability. Accuracy is the degree of closeness of your GPS measurements to the true or reference values, which can be calculated as the root mean square error (RMSE) or the standard deviation (SD) of the differences between your measurements and the reference values. Precision is the degree of consistency or repeatability of your GPS measurements, which can be calculated as the RMSE or SD of the differences between repeated measurements. Reliability is the degree of confidence or trustworthiness of your GPS measurements, which can be determined by checking the quality and availability of satellite signals, DOP values, SNR values, and other factors relating to your GPS receiver.

4 How to improve the calibration results?

If you are looking to improve your calibration results, there are a few tips and tricks that can help. Choosing a clear and open sky with no buildings, trees, mountains, or other obstacles that can block or reflect the signals is important. Additionally, selecting a time and duration with a high number and good distribution of satellites is beneficial. Finally, using a method and tool that matches your GPS receiver type, model, and purpose is essential. Examples of such tools include calibration software, reference stations, or calibration fields that have high quality and compatibility with your device.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?