Positional accuracy of the Wide Area Augmentation System in consumer-grade GPS units

Global Positioning System devices are increasingly being used for data collection in many fields. Consumer-grade GPS units without differential correction have a published horizontal positional accuracy of approximately 10–15 m (average positional accuracy). An attractive option for differential correction for these GPS units is the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Most consumer-grade GPS units on the market are WAAS capable. According to the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), the WAAS broadcast message provides integrity information about the GPS signal as well as accuracy improvements, which are reported to improve accuracy to 3–5 m. Limited empirical evidence has been published on the accuracy of WAAS-enabled GPS compared to autonomous GPS. An empirical study was conducted comparing the horizontal and vertical accuracy of WAAS-corrected GPS and autonomous GPS under ideal conditions using consumer-grade receivers. Data were collected for 30-min time spans over accurately surveyed control points. Metrics of median, 68th and 95th percentile, Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), and average positional accuracy in the horizontal and vertical dimensions were computed and statistically compared. No statistically significant difference was found between WAAS and autonomous position fixes when using two different consumer-grade units. When using WAAS, a third unit type exhibited a statistically significant improvement in positional accuracy. Analysis of data collected for a 27-h time span indicates that while WAAS is altering the estimated position of a point compared to an autonomous position estimate, WAAS augmentation actually appears to decrease the positional accuracy.