Nominal and Real Accuracy of the GPS Position Indicated by Different Maritime Receivers in Different Modes

Nowadays on the ship’s bridge two or even more GPS receivers are installed. As in the major cases the coordinates of the position obtained from these receivers differ the following questions can be posed – what is the cause of this divergence, which receiver in the first must be taken into account etc. Based on information published in annual GPS and GNSS receiver survey it was estimated the percentage of GPS receivers designed for marine and/or navigation users. The measurements of GPS position based on the four different stationary GPS receivers were realized in the laboratory of Gdynia Maritime University in Poland in the summer 2012. The coordinates of the position of all these receivers were registered at the same time. The measurements in mode 3D were made for different input data, the same for all receivers. The distances between the individual unit’s antenna were considered also. Next measurements in mode 3D also were realized on two ships in different European ports. Additional measurements were made in mode 2D with three receivers for different their’s antenna heights. The results showed that the GPS position accuracy depends on the type of the receiver and its technical parameters particularly.