Owing to the high demand for drone operation in high-elevation masked areas, it is necessary to develop a more effective method of transmitting and applying Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) messages for drones. This study proposes an onboard module including correction conversion, integrity information calculation, and fast initialization requests, which can enable the application of an online SBAS to drone operation. The proposed system not only improves the position accuracy with timely and proper protection levels in an open sky, but also reduces the initialization time from 70–100 s to 1 s, enabling a drone of short endurance to perform its mission successfully. In SBAS signal-denied cases, the position accuracy was improved by 40% and the uncorrected 13.4 m vertical error was reduced to 5.6 m by applying an SBAS message delivered online. The protection levels calculated with the accurate position regardless of the current location could denote the thrust level and availability of the navigation solution. The proposed system can practically solve the drawbacks of the current SBAS, considering the characteristics of the low-cost receivers on the market. Our proposed system is expected to be a useful and practical solution to integrate drones into the airspace in the near future.

The Hatch filter is a code-smoothing technique that uses the variation of the carrier phase. It can effectively reduce the noise of a pseudo-range with a very simple filter construction, but it occasionally causes an ionosphere-induced error for low-lying satellites. Herein, we propose an optimal single-frequency (SF) divergence-free Hatch filter that uses a satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) message to reduce the ionospheric divergence and applies the optimal smoothing constant for its smoothing window width. According to the data-processing results, the overall performance of the proposed filter is comparable to that of the dual frequency (DF) divergence-free Hatch filter. Moreover, it can reduce the horizontal error of 57 cm to 37 cm and improve the vertical accuracy of the conventional Hatch filter by 25%. Considering that SF receivers dominate the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) market and that most of these receivers include the SBAS function, the filter suggested in this paper is of great value in that it can make the differential GPS (DGPS) performance of the low-cost SF receivers comparable to that of DF receivers.

The performance of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers in dynamic modes is mostly assessed using results obtained from independent maneuvering of vehicles along similar trajectories at different times due to limitations of receivers, payload, space, and power of moving vehicles. However, such assessments do not ensure valid evaluation because the same GNSS signal environment cannot be ensured in a different test session irrespective of how accurately it mimics the original session. In this study, we propose a valid methodology that can evaluate the dynamic performance of multiple GNSS receivers in various positioning modes with only one dynamic test. We used the record-and-replay function of RACELOGIC's LabSat3 Wideband and developed a software that can log and re-broadcast Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) messages for the augmented systems. A preliminary static test and a drone test were performed to verify proper operation of the system. The results show that the system could efficiently evaluate the performances of stand-alone, differential GNSS, and real time kinematics positioning for three GNSS receivers in two different positioning modes by repeatedly re-radiating the recorded signals acquired through only one flight. Our proposed system is expected to be useful in evaluating dynamic navigation performance accurately and conveniently in a valid manner.

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