Investigation of the Residual Tropospheric Error Influence on the Coordinate Determination Accuracy in a Satellite Landing System

Abstract

This paper presents the results of the investigation of the residual tropospheric error influence on coordinate determination in a GNSS landing system. The ICAO recommended methodology for residual tropospheric error calculation is taken as a basis for the present research. Special attention is paid to the troposphere refractivity index and troposphere scale height, which are derived from the well-known troposphere refraction MOPS model. A computer simulation is performed for them for the whole year and the northern hemisphere latitudes. Hardware in the loop simulation has been performed to complement the computer simulation study and investigate the situation with the residual tropospheric error calculation for the experimental GNSS satellites configuration. The experimental measurement session with a duration of about 9 hours is recorded to obtain the configuration of real navigation satellites The residual tropospheric error in meters is calculated for each navigation satellite visible during the experiment. The authors investigate the residual tropospheric error influence on the accuracy of the coordinates determined in the GNSS landing system.

An Airspace Analysis According to Area Navigation Requirements

“…Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is the most commonly used positioning system because, in comparison with other systems, it can guarantee the high level of accuracy and availability regardless aircraft position in airspace (ICAO, 2012). However, the effect of factors such as ionospheric delays (Dabbakuti, Ratnam, & Sunda, 2016), tropospheric errors (Kutsenko, Ilnytska, & Konin, 2018), the interference of radio waves or an unintentional jamming of signals reduces the positioning characteristics in a particular limited area (Narins et al, 2012;Lubbers, Mildner, Onincx, & Scheele, 2015) or may cause a positioning system lock (Kasperovych, Shvets, & Ostrovsky, 2008). Inertial Navigational System or positioning by pairs of navigational aids are used as a stand-by positioning technique in case of GNSS malfunction (Han, Gong, Meng, Li, & Gu, 2016).…”

The Impact of Troposphere Correction for Designation of the Ellipsoidal Height of Aircraft at Approach to Landing Procedure

“…There is a vast amount of research worldwide aimed to determine the status of the troposphere and how it is applied in aviation, for example: determination of the tropospheric status in GBAS aircraft support system (Parameswaran et al, 2008); error determination for the troposphere correction in the height function of the aircraft's flight (Kutsenko et al, 2018); determination of the tropospheric state using Hopfield and RTCA MOPS models for GPS system (Sultana et al, 2013); determination of the tropospheric state using GPS and Galileo satellite navigation systems for air transport (Guilbert, 2016); evaluation of the tropospheric effect on the determination of the aircraft's geocentric coordinates (Krasuski et al, 2016); evaluation of the tropospheric effect using the MOPS RTCA model within the APV approach procedure in transport aviation (Neri, 2011); evaluation of the tropospheric effect on the determination of the aircraft's location (Boon et al, 1997); determination of the troposphere correction while in flight (Vyas et al, 2011); effect of the troposphere on the determination of the VPL reliability parameter in air transportation (Wang et al, 2017); testing of the tropospheric model developed by UNB researchers to determine airplane positioning in air navigation (Collins, 1999). The paper aims to evaluate the effect of the troposphere on the ellipsoidal height determination of the aircraft's flight.…”