Preliminary Analysis of Skywave Effects on MF DGNSS R-Mode Signals During Daytime and Nighttime

TL;DR

This study investigates how skywave effects influence MF DGNSS R-Mode signals during day and night, highlighting the impact of ionospheric conditions on positioning accuracy in marine navigation.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of skywave effects on R-Mode signals during different times, introducing the impact of nighttime signal enhancement on measurement accuracy.

Findings

Skywave effects cause significant accuracy variation between day and night.

Nighttime signal enhancement improves measurement precision.

Skywave impact is more pronounced during daytime.

Abstract

Accurate positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) performance are prerequisites for several technologies today. In a marine environment, it is difficult to visually identify one's position accurately, leading to safety concerns. Currently, PNT information is provided mainly from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS); however, it is vulnerable to radio frequency interference, spoofing, and ionospheric anomaly. Therefore, research on a backup system is needed. Ranging Mode (R-Mode), a terrestrial integrated navigation system, is being investigated for use in a marine environment. R-Mode is a positioning technology that integrates terrestrial signals of opportunity such as medium frequency (MF) differential GNSS (DGNSS), very high frequency (VHF) automatic identification system (AIS), and enhanced long-range navigation (eLoran) signals. Previous studies in Europe show that signals in the MF band differ greatly in accuracy between daytime and nighttime. This difference is primarily caused by skywave. In this study, the MF DGNSS R-Mode signal transmitted from Chungju, Korea was received in Daesan and Daejeon, Korea. The skywave effect during daytime and nighttime was compared and investigated. In addition, the continuous wave intensity of the R-Mode signal was increased during the nighttime to compare its effect on the measurement accuracy.