Difference Between GPS and DGPS

What is the difference between GPS and DGPS?

Global Positioning System is known as GPS. Differential global positioning is referred to as DGPS. Satellite-based navigation systems use GPS and DGPS. The main distinction between both GPS & DGPS is that although GPS's equipment has a global coverage area, DGPS's instrument range is local.

What is GPS?

GPS provides the exact positioning of an object. Timely messages sent by satellites orbiting the planet are used by GPS. The GPS includes a constellation comprising 24 satellites as well as backup satellites. Four satellites are used in trilateration, a technique for pinpointing a position.

With the use of a standalone receiver, GPS technology uses a direct location calculation. Unfixed satellite clock errors, geometric errors, orbital parameter satellite errors, tropospheric and ionospheric delays, multi-path errors, and datum selection problems are some of the drawbacks that could occur while utilizing this method. 

To minimize these mistakes, new technology has been developed. The theoretical precision range of GPS is between 10 and 15 meters.

What is DGPS?

Differential Global Positioning System is referred to as DGPS. It improves GPS in some way. DGPS technology has an accuracy of up to 10 cm. By minimizing or eliminating signal decay, accuracy is raised. Instead of attempting to discover a location directly, divergent GPS identifies a location in respect to a fixed point of reference. For DGPS, the reference receiver, also known as the stationary receiver, and the rover, which acts as the user, are both required.

A fixed receiver that is stationary is one that the system is cognizant of. The base station structure and the rover are both constantly receiving satellite data. The base station mast uses its known position to establish the precise timing. The data is sent from the static receiver to the rover receiver to adjust the measurements based on the position relative to the stable receiver.

Important distinctions between GPS and DGPS

Unlike DGPS, which has two receivers, the standard receiver, and the rover, GPS only has one receiver that gets signals from the satellite. The reference receiver provides the rover with a calibrated signal.

The GPS does have a 15-meter accuracy range. On the other hand, DGPS precision can reach a maximum of 10 cm.

A GPS is much less expensive than a DGPS system.

The WGS84 temporal coordinate system, which is a geodetic datum fixed to the earth & centered on the planet, is the one used by the GPS. The local coordinate reference is used by DGPS.

The accuracy of the GPS is impacted by factors such as troposphere, ionosphere, atmospheric conditions, satellite timing, selective availability, & multipath. Different variables, including multipath, the ionosphere, the troposphere, and the separation between the transmitter as well as the rover, have a much smaller impact on the DGPS system.

The Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) has greater accuracy than the Global Positioning System (GPS). Using two receivers as opposed to one increases the accuracy of DGPS, which determines the precise location using relative positions.