What is the purpose of resolving phase ambiguities in carrier-phase measurements?

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Multiple Choice

What is the purpose of resolving phase ambiguities in carrier-phase measurements?

The essential point is that carrier-phase measurements are known in cycles, but there’s an unknown integer number of full carrier cycles between the satellite and receiver. This integer is the cycle ambiguity. Without knowing it, the phase observation constrains distance only modulo a wavelength, so you can’t recover the true range precisely and the solution stays at a coarse level. By determining and fixing these integer ambiguities, the phase data becomes an unambiguous, highly precise range measurement. This unlocks centimeter- or millimeter-level positioning accuracy when combined with proper processing and models. The other items involve separate effects (like delays, clock biases, or Doppler) and do not address this fundamental unwrapping of the phase to get an exact range.

The essential point is that carrier-phase measurements are known in cycles, but there’s an unknown integer number of full carrier cycles between the satellite and receiver. This integer is the cycle ambiguity. Without knowing it, the phase observation constrains distance only modulo a wavelength, so you can’t recover the true range precisely and the solution stays at a coarse level. By determining and fixing these integer ambiguities, the phase data becomes an unambiguous, highly precise range measurement. This unlocks centimeter- or millimeter-level positioning accuracy when combined with proper processing and models. The other items involve separate effects (like delays, clock biases, or Doppler) and do not address this fundamental unwrapping of the phase to get an exact range.

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