A Doppler enhanced TDCP algorithm based on terrain adaptive and robust Kalman filter using a stand-alone receiver

Abstract Time-differenced carrier phase (TDCP) is a commonly used method of precise velocimetry, but when the receiver is in a dynamic or complex observation environment, the estimation accuracy is reduced. Doppler velocimetry aims at estimating instantaneous velocity, and the accuracy is restricted by the accuracy of measurement. However, in such unfavourable cases, the Doppler measurement is more reliable than the carrier phase measurement. This paper derives the relationship between Doppler observation and TDCP observation, then proposes a Doppler enhanced TDCP algorithm, for the purpose of improving the velocity estimation accuracy in dynamic and complex observation environments. In addition, considering the error caused by the constant speed state update model in the robust Kalman filter (RKF), this paper designs a terrain adaptive and robust Kalman filter (TARKF). After three experimental tests, the improved TDCP algorithm can significantly increase the speed measurement accuracy to sub-metre per second, and the accuracy can be further improved after using TARKF.