GNSS receivers collect the signals from orbiting satellites to determine their location in three dimensions and calculate precise time. GNSS receivers detect, decode, and process both pseudorange (code) and phase transmitted by the GNSS satellites. The satellites transmit the ranging codes on two or more radio-frequency carriers, allowing the locations of GNSS receivers to be determined with varying degrees of accuracy, depending on the receiver and post-processing of the data. The receivers also calculate current local time to high precision facilitating time synchronization applications.

This dataset consists of ground-based Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) GLONASS Compact Observation Data (30 second sampling, daily, 24 hour files) from the NASA Crustal Dynamics Data Information System (CDDIS). GNSS provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning with global coverage. The GLONASS data sets from ground receivers at the CDDIS consist of observations from the Russian GLObal NAvigation Satellite System (GLONASS); Russia's GLONASS is similar to the U.S. GPS in terms of the satellite constellation, orbits, and signal structure. The daily GLONASS compact observation data files contain one day of GLONASS observation (30-second sampling) data in RINEX format from a global permanent network of ground-based receivers, one file per site.