: Japan has been investigating the use of an airship system that will function as a stratospheric platform (SPF) for applications such as environmental monitoring, communications and broadcasting. If pseudolites were mounted on the platforms, their GPS-like signals would be stable augmentations that would improve the accuracy, availability, and integrity of GPS-based positioning systems because the airship network would cover all of Japan. The accuracy of the pseudolite positions would be a limiting factor for such a service since the pseudolite 'ephemeris error' is more serious than GPS due to the lower height of the platform. In this paper, a conceptual design of the SPF-based augmentation system is first introduced. Then some schemes for estimating the pseudolite position are described.
The benefits of combined use of the GLONASS and GPS navigation satellite constellations have become obvious for applications such as open-cast mining operations and highly dynamic vehicles such as spaceplanes. Moreover, using GLONASS satellites in addition to GPS is useful for long baseline applications since it increases the numbers of satellites in common view. Japan's National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) has been conducting feasibility studies using combined GPS/GLONASS positioning for spaceplane landing systems and the precise navigation of stratospheric airships. This paper presents the results of the first Japanese kinematic GPS/GLONASS flight test. In the test, the difference in estimated position between dual frequency GPS and single frequency GPS/GLONASS systems was found to be within a few centimeters, indicating that GLONASS carrier phase ambiguities were correctly resolved. To demonstrate the benefits of combining GLONASS with GPS navigation, an on-the-fly (OTF) test of instantaneous ambiguity resolution with a 30 degree cutoff angle was performed. The OTF performance of the combined GPS/GLONASS system was found to be similar to that of a GPS system with a cutoff angle of 10 degrees, showing that augmentation of GPS with GLONASS will be useful for highly dynamic vehicle applications.
: Robust tracking of a GNSS signal in a harsh environment such as a severe ionospheric scintillation is a challenge for the civil aviation. The use of an inertial sensor would improve the tracking performance since the Doppler frequency caused by aircraft dynamics could be compensated by the inertial measurements. In order to evaluate such an aiding, an INS aided GPS tracking loop is developed by using a software receiver, and a preliminary flight test is conducted. A navigation grade INS tightly-coupled with GPS as well as a low-cost MEMS INS loosely-coupled with GPS are installed to provide aiding information. In addition, two GPS front end units with different clock (TCXO and OCXO) are installed to collect digitized IF data. Off-line analyses during aircraft take-off show that the noise band width in tracking loop can be reduced to three hertz by the aiding. Also, the Doppler aiding by a low-cost MEMS INS shows a similar performance with the aiding by a navigation grade INS.
We measured seafloor movement using a Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS)/Acoustic technique at the south of the rifting valley in the western end of the Okinawa Trough back‐arc basin, 60 km east of northeastern corner of Taiwan. The horizontal position of the seafloor benchmark, measured eight times between July 2012 and May 2016, showed a southeastward movement suggesting a back‐arc opening of the Okinawa Trough. The average velocity of the seafloor benchmark shows a block motion together with Yonaguni Island. The westernmost part of the Ryukyu Arc rotates clockwise and is pulled apart from the Taiwan Island, which should cause the expansion of the Yilan Plain, Taiwan. Comparing the motion of the seafloor benchmark with adjacent seismicity, we suggest a gentle episodic opening of the rifting valley accompanying a moderate seismic activation, which differs from the case in the segment north off‐Yonaguni Island where a rapid dyke intrusion occurs with a significant seismic activity.
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