Gps Time Clock Offset

Gps global positioning system time is the atomic time scale implemented by the atomic clocks in the gps ground control stations and the gps satellites themselves.

Gps time clock offset.

The gps navigation message includes the difference between gps time and utc. Before looking at the effect of the receiver clock offset on performance it helps to remind ourselves what the clock offset actually is. In order to be more useful for timing applications gps messages contain an offset between gps and utc time which allows current utc time to be calculated by a low cost ground based receiver. The lack of corrections means that gps time remains at a constant offset with international atomic time tai tai gps 19 seconds.

Periodic corrections are performed to the on board clocks to keep them synchronized with ground clocks. The onboard satellite clocks are independent of one another. The lack of corrections means that gps time remains at a constant offset with international atomic time tai tai gps 19 seconds. In brief the offset represents the difference between what time the receiver thinks it is and the true time with the latter determined by the underlying gnss atomic time scale.

As leap seconds are introduced over time gps time diverges further and further from utc. Gps time was set to match utc in 1980 but has since diverged. Periodic corrections are performed to the on board clocks to keep them synchronized with ground clocks.