High Accuracy Global Positioning System Test: Phase II

Federal Railroad Administration2014PDFTech ReportWolgram, Travis ROmar, TarekTransportation Technology Center, Inc.United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research, Development and TechnologyUnited States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad AdministrationUnited StatesGlobal Positioning SystemAccuracyTestingPositive train controlRailroadsHigh Accuracy Nationwide DifferentialHA-NDGPSHigh Accuracy Global Positioning SystemGPSPTCDOT/FRA/ORD-14/08DTFR53-11-D-00008, Task Order 316Omar, TarekTechnical Report, December 2011The High Accuracy Nationwide Differential Global Positioning System (HA-NDGPS) is a prototype position location service that uses carrier phase and code measurement data to obtain precise geolocation information. This project was established to assess the feasibility of improving upon the accuracy of the NDGPS service using existing infrastructure to meet the requirements of additional applications without decreasing its availability and integrity, while still meeting the needs of existing users. The Transportation Technology Center developed this project to independently test the ability of the high accuracy portion of the HA-NDGPS system to achieve sub decimeter positional accuracy with only relatively minor modifications to an existing NDGPS site. This high accuracy capability may provide a low-cost positioning solution for railroad systems, such as Positive Train Control (PTC), which require precise tracking of trains in real time to ensure operational safety. Another railroad-related benefit may be the more efficient collection of track feature information needed for generating and maintaining track databases that support PTC operations. Other transportation applications include Federal Highway Administration applications such as those defined by the Vehicle Infrastructure Integration project of the Intelligent Transportation Systems initiative.119