nmbu.rinex 1.0.1

Reader for RINEX v3 and v4 formats for both observation and navigation files

RINEX Reader

Introduction

This document describes RinexReader software, that was developed as part of author's master thesis at NMBU. The application was written in Python, version 3.8. The purpose of this library is to provide future users necessary tools to parse Rinex file and be able to develop their own applications using obtained data.

The library supports parsing of RINEX version 3 and 4 of Navigation and Observation files. It uses numpy to parse the data and build output structure.

Prerequisites

Following packages need to be available for the runtime:

• numpy - for executing the main function
• pytest - for running the tests

Package Structure

• src/nmbu/rinex/common
  • Contains common utility methods and RinexData class that represents the complete data set read from file
• src/nmbu/rinex/navigation/v3
  • Contains classes and methods for reading Rinex ver 3 navigation files
• src/nmbu/rinex/navigation/v4
  • Contains classes and methods for reading Rinex ver 4 navigation files
• src/nmbu/rinex/observation/v3
  • Contains classes and methods for reading Rinex ver 3 observation files
• src/nmbu/rinex/observation/v4
  • Contains classes and methods for reading Rinex ver 4 observation files
• src/nmbu/rinex/reader.py
  • Contains method read_rinex_file that is the main method for reading Rinex files

Additionally, code base contains file examples.py, which provides some examples of library usage.

Packaging is done using official pypi package guide: https://packaging.python.org/en/latest/tutorials/packaging-projects/

Usage

Entry point

In order to use RinexReader library, one will have to install it locally, e.g. using terminal:

$ pip install nmbu.rinex

After that read routing can be used inside a python script as follows:

from nmbu.rinex.reader import read_rinex_file

result = read_rinex_file(rinex_file_path='path/to/file.22o')

Input parameters

Read function takes following input parameters:

Parameter name	Required	Type	Description
rinex_file_path	Yes	String	Path to the Rinex file as string
start_epoch	No	String or datetime	Epoch time filter. Specifies start of the period that should be included in the result. If specified, must be a datetime string in ISO8601 format, e.g. '2022-01-01T00:00:00'. If used together with end_epoch, all blocks within the given timeframe will be read. If used alone, the result will contain at most one block - the one that matches provided
end_epoch	No	String or datetime	Epoch time filter. Specifies end of the period that should be included in the result. If specified, must be a datetime string in ISO8601 format, e.g. '2022-01-01T00:00:00'. When used, must be a date after the start_epoch date.
gnss	No	List of strings	GNSS filter. Specifies GNSS types (e.g. 'G' or 'E') that will be included into the result. All other GNSS will be ignored.
obs_types	No	String or list of strings	Observation types filter. If a single string is provided, it is treated as regex and used to filter obs types for all satellites. If a list of strings is provided, then only that list is used to filter obs types. If a GNSS does not have any obs types from that list, then that GNSS is not included in the result.
verbose	No	Boolean	Flag to control debug output from the script. Set to True if debug output should be printed to console.

Important note about filters:

• gnss filter accepts values specified in Rinex format (see correct version specification):
  • G: GPS
  • R: GLONASS
  • E: Galileo
  • J: QZSS
  • C: BDS
  • I: NavIC/IRNSS S: SBAS payload
• obs_types filter accepts values specified in Rinex format (see correct version specification)
  • Values consist of three parts:
    1. Type: C, L, D, S, X
    2. Band: Number between 0 and 9
    3. Attribute: A, B, C, D, E, I, L, M, N, P, Q, S, W, X, Y, Z
  • Example: C1C, L2X

Output data structure

After the read is done, resulting variable will have following data structure:

result = read_rinex_file('path/to/file.22o')

result: {
		  'header': <header fields>,
		  'data': <observation record data>
	    }

Header

The result.header object will contain all fields from the header. All the required fields will be accessible as separate objects, whereas non-required fields (for example, Rinex comments) will be gathered under other field.

Observation

result.header:
{
      "antenna": {
         "number": "1451-12216",
         "type": "TPSHIPER_VR     NONE",
         "height": 1.3142,
         "east": 0.0,
         "north": 0.0
      },
      "approximate_position": {
         "X": 3172507.4901,
         "Y": 603208.4428,
         "Z": 5481884.1614
      },
      "file_type": "O",
      "gnss": "M",
      "marker_name": "K004",
      "obs_types": {
         "R": ["C1C","L1C","D1C","C2C","L2C","D2C"],
         "E": ["C1X","L1X","D1X","C5X","L5X","D5X"],
		. . .
      },
      "other": {
         "COMMENT": "Win64 build Jun 01, 2022 (c) Topcon Positioning Systems ...,
		. . .
      },
      "system_time": "GPS",
      "time_of_first_observation": "2022-09-29T11:00:00.000000000",
      "version": 3.05
}

To access various fields, one can use following syntax:

antenna_h = result.header.antenna.height
approximate_pos_x = result.header.antenna.approximate_position['X']
rinex_version = result.header.version
rinex_comment = result.header.other['COMMENT']
obs_types_r = result.header.obs_types['R']
time = result.header.time_of_first_observation

Navigation

result.header:
{
    "file_type": "N",
    "gnss": "M",
    "created_by": "Author",
    "agency": "Agency",
    "creation_time": "2022-01-01T00:00:00",
    "version": 3.05,
    "corrections": {
        "ION": {
            "E": {
                "NO_TIME": {
                    "ai0": 123.123,
                    "ai1": 123.123,
                    "ai2": 123.123,
                    "ai3": 123.123
                }
            },
            "C12": {
                "NO_TIME": {
                    "Alpha0": 123.123,
                    ...
                    "Beta3": 123.123
                }
            },
            ...
        }
    },
    "other": {
        "COMMENT": "Win64 build Jun 01, 2022 (c) Topcon Positioning Systems ...", 
        ...
    }
}

RINEX V3 specifies ION corrections as optional header fields. Thus, if V3 Navigation header contains corresponding lines, they will be parsed into correct structure.

RINEX V4 specifies corrections in the records, thus V4 Navigation header will not contain corrections part.

To access various fields, one can use following syntax:

c11_ion_Alpha0 = result.header.corrections['ION']['C11']['M'].Alpha0
e_ion_ai0 = result.header.corrections['ION']['E']['NO_TIME'].ai0
time = result.header.created_time

Data

The result.data object will contain a list of satellites that were present in the file and matched any given filter condition. The structure will depend on the file type and version of the given file.

Observation V3 / V4

result.data:
{
      "satellites": {
         "R02": {
            "2022-09-29T11:00:00": [
               [23121980.8,-1,-1],
               [123470115.813,-1,6],
			. . .
            ]
         },
         "E01": {
            "2022-09-29T11:00:00": [
               [23121980.8,-1,-1],
               [123470115.813,-1,6],
			. . .
            ]
         }
      }
}

Navigation V3

result.data:
{
    "satellites": {
        "R02": {
            "2022-09-29T11:00:00": {
                SV_pos_X,
                URAI,
                msg_frame_time,
                ...
            }
        },
        "E01": {
            "2022-09-29T11:00:00": {
                Crs,
                omega,
                clock_bias,
                ...
            }
        }
    }
}

Navigation V4

result.data:
{
    "satellites": {
        "R02": {
            "2022-09-29T11:00:00": {
                SV_pos_X,
                URAI,
                msg_frame_time,
                ...
            }
        },
        "E01": {
            "2022-09-29T11:00:00": {
                Crs,
                omega,
                clock_bias,
                ...
            }
        }
    },
    "corrections": {
        "STO": {
            "R02": {
                "2022-09-29T11:00:00": {
                    time_offset,
                    A0,
                    ...
                }
            }
        },
        "EOP": { ... },
        "ION": { ... }
    }
}

Note, that various parameters for the Navigation records for v3 and v4 were intentionally given similar names, even though in the corresponding RINEX specifications, those parameters can have slight differences. For example, C_us and Cus are called just Cus in this library. This was done to simplify usage in methods like SPP, so that one could use the same code for different GNSS.

Examples

Applying filters

Rinex reader allows to specify various filters to reduce time and memory needed to process the file, however this is only applied to observation files. Navigation files are typically pretty small, so they are read as is without any filters.

Here are some examples that demonstrate possible options To read only desired GNSS from the file, use:

# use gnss filter to read only data for GPS (G) and Galileo (E) systems
result = read_rinex_file(
	rinex_file_path="path/to/rinex/file",
	gnss=['G’,’E’]
)

To read only data observed at given timestamp, use

# use epoch time filter to read only data for given timestamp
result = read_rinex_file(
	rinex_file_path="path/to/rinex/file",
	start_epoch="2022-09-29T11:00:00",
)

To read data observed during a given interval, use

# use epoch time filter to read only data within a time interval
result = read_rinex_file(
	rinex_file_path="path/to/rinex/file",
	start_epoch="2022-09-29T11:00:00",
	end_epoch='2022-09-29T12:00:00'
)

To read data only for certain observation types, use

# use obs_types filter to list desired observation types
result = read_rinex_file(
	rinex_file_path="path/to/rinex/file",
	obs_types=["C1C", "L1C"]
)

# use obs_types filter to specify regex to match several types
# use '.’ as wildcard character 
result = read_rinex_file(
	rinex_file_path="path/to/rinex/file",
	obs_types='.1.'
)
# result will contain data for all types that have band value = 1

Different filters can be combined to achieve more precise result.

Extracting values

To obtain a single value for the C1C type for satellite R02 at 2022-09-29T11:00:00, use

# C1C value for the R02 satellite observed at 2022-09-29T11:00:00:
val = result.data.satellites['R02']['2022-09-29T11:00:00']['C1C]['value']
# val = 23121980.8

To obtain SSI or LLI value for C1C type for the same satellite, use

# C1C SSI value for the R02 satellite observed at 2022-09-29T11:00:00:
ssi = result.data.satellites['R02']['2022-09-29T11:00:00']['C1C]['ssi']
# ssi = -1, which means that there was no value in the file

# C1C LLI value for the R02 satellite observed at 2022-09-29T11:00:00:
lli = result.data.satellites['R02']['2022-09-29T11:00:00']['C1C]['lli']
# lli = -1, which means that there was no value in the file

It is possible to get all types for the given satellite for the given time

# All types for the R02 satellite observed at 2022-09-29T11:00:00:
R02 = result.data.satellites['R02']['2022-09-29T11:00:00']
# R02 = [(23121980.8, -1, -1),(…),(…)]
# Values have in the same order as listed in result.header.obs_types['R']

To use only values for observation types without corresponding SSI/LLI parameters, use

# List of obs_type values for the R02 satellite observed at T0:
all_values = list(map(
    lambda x: x["value"], result.data.satellites["R04"]["2022-09-29T11:00:00"])
  ))
# all_values = [20279832.26, 108597600.752, 2741.776, 20279835.24, ...]

When handling navigation data, RinexData class provides additional utility methods:

• find_closest_match - to search for the closest time block for a given satellite
• find_closest_correction_match - to search for the closest correction block for a given satellite

block = result.find_closest_match(sv='R02', timestamp='2022-09-29T11:00:00')
# block will contain fields based on the GNSS. In this example, one can use
# block.SV_pos_X or block.msg_frame_time, since GLONASS satellite was used.

block = result.find_closest_correction_match(correction_type='ION', sv='G01', timestamp='2020-01-01T00:00:00')
# block will contain fields based on the GNSS. In this example, one can use ION Klobuchar variables
# block.Alpha0 or block.Beta0, since ION corrections for GPS were requested.