Achieving traceability to UTC through GNSS measurements
Pascale Defraigne, Joseph Achkar, Michael J. Coleman, Marina Gertsvolf, Ryuichi Ichikawa, Judah Levine, Pierre Uhrich, Peter Whibberley, Maurice G.A.J. Wouters, A. Bauch
Abstract
Abstract Coordinated universal time (UTC) is the international reference for time and frequency measurement, and the basis of civil timekeeping world-wide. The reception of signals from global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) as a source of time and frequency (synchronization and syntonization) has found widespread use in virtually all user sectors, including electrical power supply, telecommunications, and financial institutions. This paper summarizes the concept of metrological traceability and the practices employed in the time and frequency metrology community for achieving it. Practical steps are proposed to ensure that traceability to UTC from GNSS signal reception is available to a wide community of users, addressing different levels of required uncertainty in time and frequency offset from UTC. We suggest some practical measures that can be followed by users, and improvements to the services provided by National Metrology Institutes (NMIs).