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Abstract

The continuous development of low-cost Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) chipsets and advances in processing algorithms that address the limitations of such hardware enable the exploitation of this equipment in new fields of engineering and science. In this study, we verify whether recent low-cost antennas and receivers may be employed in precise geodetic applications, such as deformation monitoring at a local scale. We focus on the actual positioning performance and examine if the low-cost equipment may reach an accuracy level close to that of a high-grade one. The results reveal that with the optimal GNSS data processing strategy and state-of-the-art scientific software, the latest low-cost equipment might be considered a mature complement to high-grade receivers in engineering applications.The second goal of this research is to analyze the potential usability of low-cost GNSS receivers for weather monitoring. Multi-GNSS data from low-cost receivers are processed in Precise Point Positioning mode with ambiguity resolution to retrieve tropospheric estimates. Zenith tropospheric delays, integrated water vapor, and horizontal gradients restored from GNSS data of mass-market receivers are validated against those of the high-grade receivers and the fifth-generation reanalysis for the global climate and weather – ERA5 and regional CERRA reanalysis. A strong correspondence between GNSS-derived tropospheric parameters and these of the reanalysis is proved.