Precise flight trajectory reconstruction based on time-differential GNSS carrier phase processing

The development of a positioning approach based on miniaturized GNSS (GPS) receivers for precisely measuring flight trajectories is the first of the two central objectives of the present work. This development is striving to realize high relative precision while overcoming the need for a second nearby base receiver (D-GPS) or any kind of (static) initialization patterns. This goal is achieved by the design and implementation of a relative positioning method based on processing time-differences of raw L1 carrier phase observations. This monograph provides a comprehensive analysis of the time-difference method: The core equations are exposed, theoretical aspects of error propagation are discussed, an efficient integrity monitoring algorithm is presented and the evaluation of various (flight) tests allows for an elaborate practical validation. Offering decimeter precision, the time-difference positioning method opens up a wide range of applications. This is the basis for the achievement of the second central objective of the work: the measurement of flight trajectories of feral Wandering Albatrosses with a precision and resolution sufficient for locally analyzing the dynamic soaring flight of the birds from a flight mechanical point of view. Only the combination of the time-difference method, which is easy to apply even in adverse field conditions (no second receiver, no initialization), with the use of miniaturized and rugged hardware firstly allowed the realization of a suchlike project. The efficiency of the dynamic soaring flight reveals interesting perspectives also for technical applications. With the in-depth energetic and flight mechanical analysis of individual closed flight cycles a contribution is made to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying this fascinating flight.