Metzhas to threaten, we will be a buffet GPS

In connection with the statement of the Deputy Chairman of the Government of Dmitry Rogozin on the ban on GPS in Russia [1], the editorial board of the TRV-hunger appealed to the head. Laboratory of modern geodynamics of the Institute of Earth's Czech RAS (Irkutsk), Ph.D. Geol.-Min. Sciences Vladimir Sankov and S.N.S. Institute of Sunny Earth Physics SB RAS (Irkutsk), Ph.D. physical mat. Sciences Yuri Yasyukevich . In his work, Vladimir uses GPS stations to monitor the movements of the earth's crust, Yuri - to study ionospheric phenomena.

- What stations are we talking about in Russia? What are they needed for?

V.S. On the territory of Russia there are 11 stations of differential correction of the GPS global network, the data of which serve as the basis for calculating accurate orbiting satellites. These stations were installed in the mid-90s of the XX century, have good spatial binding, which is used to increase the accuracy of determining the position of satellites. But they are auxiliary. The main 19 stations receiving signals and transmitting the exact parameters of orbit are outside the territory of the Russian Federation.

Yu.Ya. They allow you to clarify the position of the user near the station. In this sense, it is Russian users that will most strongly feel the government’s decree on themselves. It is worth saying that some of them, in addition to GPS, accepts GLONASS data and, thereby, can be used to calibrate the position of satellites of the domestic system. In addition, to reliable forecasting the position of satellites (which is necessary for high -precision navigation), a fairly accurate model for the distribution of Earth mass is needed. Such a model is built for both GPS and GLONASS. In principle, these stations can also be used to clarify this model, and attracting these GPS stations could increase the accuracy of our GLONASS system as a result.

- What threatens an ordinary user and will a ban on your work affect?

V.S. This practically does not threaten ordinary user of household equipment. But for the accuracy of geodetic works, the closure of auxiliary stations will definitely have some influence. However, it is not yet clear what. In the comments to the blog of Eldar Murtazin on the Echo of Moscow [2] confidently talk about a decrease in accuracy for geodesy. In addition, these GPS stations are used in the field of observation seismology. According to the director of the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexei Malovichko, data from 11 Russian stations in real time are received by American partners, and in return information comes from 150 stations [3]. In our studies, we use the specified data on satellites and ionospheric amendments, which are laid out on the website of the Skripps Oceanographic Institute, about two weeks after the flight, during the post -binding. Whether NASA experts will be able to stop the lack of auxiliary information in the most part of the northern hemisphere without losses for the accuracy of positioning is not yet clear. I want to be an optimist. If the geophysical service of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which is managed by the stations, will be able to save the antennas currently and even stop transferring data to the States, continue measurements, then we will have the opportunity to maintain the reference system in the future, if you have access to data,

which we carry out calculations of the movements of the blocks of the earth's crust in Asia and in its environment. Why is it important? Because northern Eurasia is the most “slow” large tectonic block, characterized by very insignificant internal deformations and therefore is an almost ideal reference system for measuring the movements of other tectonic blocks and plates. Otherwise ... I don't even want to speak.

Yu.Ya. In the absence of differential correction, the accuracy of the measurement of the receiver falls ten times. Both in Russia and the world today, commercial systems of differential correction are actively developing, which are not controlled by the military departments of the United States and Russia, and in the light of the statement made by the deputy chairman Rogozin it is completely not clear what fate awaits them.

For our research tasks, the ban on these stations is quite unpleasant, although not catastrophic. For comparison: in Japan there are 1,200 differential correction stations, and there are several dozen of them in Russia, and with the exception of the very stations that plan to ban, their data, as a rule, are not put into public access. As a result, for the study of the ionosphere, the experimental material measurements of complete electronic content over our own territory (which are already less than in Japan, USA or Europe) will sharply decrease, and we will be forced to conduct research on the territory of Europe and the USA, and then extrapolate the results to our territory. In addition, a number of scientific centers are building global ionospheric ionization distribution cards, which already have low quality above the territory of Russia. These maps are built on the basis of all the same stations, and low quality on our territory is due to an extremely small number of stations for such large open spaces. If the available stations are removed, then it will simply be impossible to rely on such data in our region.

-Do Russian GPS stations use the GLONASS signal in their work?

V.S. As far as I know, the positioning of these 11 stations is carried out according to the GPS system, and they also transmit the satellites of this system. But they also participate in the debugging of the GLONASS system. In general, modern receivers certified in the territory of the Russian Federation record signals both GPS and GLONASS. Great efforts are being made to improve the technology of joint use of signals of both systems, which can significantly increase the accuracy of positioning. A few years ago,

Lee Javad receivers wrote that they solved the problem of joint use of two positioning systems for practical geodesy. We do not yet use such processing, although the data accumulates. Perhaps when the additional specified information about GLONASS satellites, similar to the one that is available in GPS, will appear in the public domain, we will be able to improve existing solutions for our network. So far I have not seen the results of geodynamic studies based on the joint use of GPS and GLONASS in explicit form.

Yu.Ya. The joint use of GLONASS and GPS signals slightly increases the accuracy of determining the user coordinates compared with the use of GPS data (GLONASS has even less accuracy), so the current trend is to equip such stations with combined receivers receiving signals of both systems (and in the future).

- Dmitry Rogozin justifies the ban on the use of GPS stations located on the territory of the Russian Federation, by the fact that in the USA there is a ban on the use of GLONASS stations. At the same time, the site [4] provides a list of the entire global network of stations, where it is noted that 10 stations of this network in the United States are used by the GLONASS signal. What ban in the United States on Glonass is still being discussed?

V.S. As far as I understand, this is that the Americans banned the construction of the GLONASS systems on their territory of the network. Negotiations about this have been going on for a long time, but in the American Congress there are ardent opponents of this project who believe that the system will be used for intelligence purposes. This was written by "Vedomosti" [5]. But, as it became recently known, Iran agreed to install differential correction and monitoring (SDKM), as well as the GLONASS quantum-optical system on its territory. And 10 stations that appear in the list of the global network on the NASA website, apparently, can use GLONASS signals to clarify their positioning or for other purposes. Well, for example, for weather forecast according to tropospheric delay.

Questions were asked by Alexey Ivanov