Bernese GPS Software Version 5.0 - Bernese GNSS Software

1. Introduction and Overview
The Bernese Processing Engine (”Menu>BPE”) is a tool operating on top of these programs
and is ideally suited to set up automated processing procedures, like, e.g., the processing
of data stemming from a permanent array. The processing strategy is set up once and for
all from the RINEX files to the final results with all necessary programs. It is even possible
to set up a parallel processing on different machines. A number of supporting tools (”Menu
>Service>Automated processing”) and a collection of scripts (${BPE}/bpe utils.pm) are available
for easy building of complex processing chains.
1.4 About this Document
This document is structured in two parts. The first part focuses on theory, models, the
use of the programs for data import and preparation, as well as for the estimation of the
various parameter types. The second part emphasizes on the technical aspects of the use of
the Bernese GPS Software (e.g., the menu system and the Bernese Processing Engine). In
addition, it contains a description of several processing examples demonstrating the use of
the software for different applications.
The introduction is followed by Chapter 2 (”Fundamentals”, page 11) giving a short technical
introduction into GNSS (Section 2.1: ”GPS and GLONASS—A Short Review”, page
11), an overview on celestial mechanics (Section 2.2: ”GNSS Satellite Orbits”, page 24), and
a short development of the observation equations and the linear combinations used in the
Bernese GPS Software (Section 2.3: ”Observation Equations”, page 35). Chapter 3 (”Campaign
Setup”, page 43), Chapter 4 (”Import and Export of External File Formats”, page
51), and Chapter 5 (”Preparation of Earth Orientation, GNSS Orbit, and Satellite Clock
Information”, page 83) describe the preparation of a campaign for the processing, where to
get input information and how to import them into the Bernese GPS Software, and how to
prepare the orbit information for the processing. In Chapter 6: ”Data Preprocessing” (page
101) the preprocessing programs are introduced.
The basics of the two main programs of the Bernese GPS Software, GPSEST and ADDNEQ2
are given in Chapter 7: ”Parameter Estimation” (page 139) and Chapter 9: ”Combination of
Solutions” (page 183), respectively. Information on phase ambiguity resolution is provided
in Chapter 8: ”Initial Phase Ambiguities and Ambiguity Resolution” (page 167). Depending
on your particular interests the following Chapters on ”Station Coordinates and Velocities”
(page 211), ”Troposphere Modeling and Estimation” (page 239), ”Ionosphere Modeling and
Estimation” (page 253), ”Differential Code Biases” (page 279), ”Clock Estimation” (page
289), ”Estimation of Satellite Orbits and Earth Orientation Parameters” (page 309), and
”Antenna Phase Center Offsets and Variations” (page 327) are more or less central for your
work. All of them start with a theoretical introduction to the topic and demonstrate the
specific use of the software. The first part of this documentation is closed by the description
of the simulation tool in Chapter 17: ”Data Simulation Tool GPSSIM” (page 347).
The second part of the documentation is focusing on technical aspects: In Chapter 18: ”The
Menu System” (page 355) the features of the menu system and its efficient use are explained.
Chapter 19: ”Bernese Processing Engine (BPE)” (page 381) details on the basic functions
of the Bernese Processing Engine and shows how to adapt it to your own applications. It
contains also a list of useful tools, programs and options for automated processing with the
Bernese GPS Software, Version 5.0 .
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