Satellite navigation is critical in signal-degraded environments where signals are corrupted and GNSS systems do not guarantee an accurate and continuous positioning. In particular measurements in urban scenario are strongly affected by gross errors, degrading navigation solution; hence a quality check on the measurements, defined as RAIM, is important. Classical RAIM techniques work properly in case of single outlier but have to be modified to take into account the simultaneous presence of multiple outliers. This work is focused on the implementation of random sample consensus (RANSAC) algorithm, developed for computer vision tasks, in the GNSS context. This method is capable of detecting multiple satellite failures; it calculates position solutions based on subsets of four satellites and compares them with the pseudoranges of all the satellites not contributing to the solution. In this work, a modification to the original RANSAC method is proposed and an analysis of its performance is conducted, processing data collected in a static test.

This paper shows an interesting case of coastal landscape reconstruction by using innovative marine robotic instrumentation, applied to an archaeological key-site in the Campi Flegrei (Italy), one of the more inhabited areas in the Mediterranean during the Roman period. This active volcanic area is world famous for the ancient coastal cities of Baiae, Puteoli, and Misenum, places of military and commercial excellence. The multidisciplinary study of the submerged Roman harbour at Nisida Island was aimed at reconstructing the natural and anthropogenic underwater landscape by elaborating a multiscale dataset. The integrated marine surveys were carried out by an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) foreseeing the simultaneous use of geophysical and photogrammetric sensors according to the modern philosophy of multi-modal mapping. All instrumental measurements were validated by on-site measurements performed by specialised scuba divers. The multiscale analysis of the sensing data allowed a precise reconstruction of the coastal morpho-evolutive trend and the relative sea level variation in the last 2000 years by means of a new type of archaeological sea-level marker here proposed for the first time. Furthermore, it provided a detailed multidimensional documentation of the underwater cultural heritage and a useful tool for evaluating the conservation state of archaeological submerged structures.

This research aims to evaluate the amount of vertical ground movements during Roman times inside the archaeological area of Portus Julius (Gulf of Pozzuoli) using high-precision surveys on the most reliable archaeological sea-level markers. Measuring the submersion of ancient floors, structural elements belonging to a former fish tank, and several roman pilae, two different relative sea levels (RSLs), related to the beginning and the end of the first century BCE, respectively, −4.7/−5.20 m and −3.10 m MSL (mean sea level), were detected. A photogrammetric survey was carried out in order to produce a 3D model of the fish tank. The results in terms of the RSL variations have enabled us to reconstruct a morpho-evolution of the ancient coastal sector during the last 2.1 kyBP. At the beginning of the first century BCE, the area was characterized by a sheltered gulf with numerous maritime villae located along the coast. In 37 BCE, the construction of the military harbour of Portus Julius strongly modified the paleogeography of the sector, which was also affected by a prevailing subsidence at least until the end of the first century BCE (year 12 BCE), when the port was converted into a commercial hub.

The GNSS measurements are strongly affected by ionospheric effects, due to the signal propagation through ionosphere; these effects could severely degrade the position; hence, a model to limit or remove the ionospheric error is necessary. The use of several techniques (DGPS, SBAS, and GBAS) reduces the ionospheric effect, but implies the use of expensive devices and/or complex architectures necessary to meet strong requirements in terms of accuracy and reliability for safety critical application. The cheapest and most widespread GNSS devices are single frequency stand-alone receivers able to partially correct this kind of error using suitable models. These algorithms compute the ionospheric delay starting from ionospheric model, which uses parameters broadcast within the navigation messages. NeQuick is a three-dimensional and time-dependent ionospheric model adopted by Galileo, the European GNSS, and developed by International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) together with Institute for Geophysics, Astrophysics, and Meteorology of the University of Graz. The aim of this paper is the performance assessment in single point positioning of the NeQuick Galileo version provided by ESA and the comparison with respect to the Klobuchar model used for GPS; the analysis is performed in position domain and the errors are examined in terms of RMS and maximum error for the horizontal and vertical components. A deep analysis is also provided for the application of the exanimated model in the first possible Galileo only position fix.