Improvement of Link 16 Navigation Via Real-Time Atmospheric Modeling
Abstract
This study examines an algorithm, called the Atmospheric Filter, which improves upon the current method employed in the Unk-16 MIDS terminal to compensate for the effects of atmospheric refraction on the range estimation to a Unk- 16 emitter. It is implemented in the form of a Kalman Filter to estimate the parameters of the refractivity modeled as an exponentially decaying function of altitude above sea level. The refractivity is used to correct the time a signal takes to travel from the emitter to the receiver. This then is used to estimate the range to the emitter. A truth model is used in this study to create realistic pseudo-measurements of the true range in order to determine the range errors due to the AF refractivity corrections. The goal is to reduce these errors by an order of magnitude and thus improve the performance of the existing navigation algorithms. It is shown in this report that this simple exponential model agrees well with the well known, much more elaborate models of tropospheric refractivity. These models require large amounts of detailed meteorological data using up considerable computing resources, both in data storage and also processing.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA419378
Entities
People
- Joel D. Reiss
- Ralph R. Demarco