Ag Leader Technology Blog

As we discussed in last week’s lessons about GNSS, a very high level of navigational accuracy is necessary to utilize precision ag technologies. Because GNSS alone does not provide positioning signals that are accurate enough for precision farming, differential correction is used to allow for better accuracy.

Differential correction is a technique to improve the accuracy of your GNSS signal by using a base station in a known location to determine GNSS errors and broadcast correction data.

Differential correction works by using two GNSS receivers to determine your position. One receiver is a base station that is in a fixed location. Because its location is constant, the base station can determine timing errors from the GNSS satellites by calculating the GNSS signal backwards and comparing the signal to what the base station knows the signal should be. The base station then transmits correction data for each satellite to the rover – the GNSS receiver on your tractor. This allows the rover to be much more accurate than if it were to rely solely on the signals received directly from satellites without any correction data. Rather than having accuracy within a few feet, differential correction allows accuracies within a few inches or less.

There are several service options for differential correction, and there are many differences among these services. Just like all precision farming technologies, the differential correction service you use depends on your operation and what you want to achieve. Some of the most commonly used differential correction services are RTK, CORS, OmniSTAR, and SBAS services, such as WAAS in the U.S., EGNOS in Europe, and MSAS in Japan. Over the next few days, we will post more information about these specific differential correction options.

LESSONS IN PRECISION AG: Differential Correction (Part 2)

LESSONS IN PRECISION AG: Differential Correction (Part 3)

Tags: Ag Leader, Ag Leader Technology, Differential Correction, EGNOS, GNSS, GPS, MSAS, precision agriculture, precision farming, RTK, WAAS
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