PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF MCDF GNSS-BASED AERIAL VEHICLE NAVIGATION SYSTEMS UNDER IONOSPHERIC SCINTILLATIO
Abstract
The goal of this project is to assess system performance of Multi-Constellation Dual-Frequency (MCDF) Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-based applications for aerial vehicle operations in the presence of ionospheric scintillation. One of the most detrimental effects of ionospheric disturbances on GNSS-based applications is ionospheric scintillation. Rapid fluctuations in amplitude and phase of GNSS signals under scintillation can cause frequent loss of lock due to deep signal fading, leading to degradation of satellite geometry and thus navigation availability. The impact of scintillation can be diminished via MCDF GNSS by providing redundant signals with advantages of geometry diversity from multiple GNSS constellations and dual-frequency diversity (Carrano et al. 2012; Jiao et al. 2016; Seo et al. 2011; Seo and Walter 2014). However, there still remains a concern in navigation availability when the effect of scintillation (e.g. signal deep fading) is temporally correlated between signals of different satellites and different frequencies. To assess the impact of scintillation on the system performance (e.g. navigation availability) of MCMF GNSS-based applications, we will develop a scintillation model to simulate scintillation effects on MCMF signals and to evaluate the navigation availability of MCMF GNSS-based applications under various scintillation conditions. Different scintillation conditions may have different characteristics of scintillation effects including occurrence rate, satellite-to-satellite or frequency-to-frequency correlation of deep fading. Therefore, our project will investigate the characteristics of scintillation in different temporal-spatial conditions (e.g. local time, season, longitudinal sector, year within solar cycle) in terms of navigation performance of MCMF GNSS-based applications. We plan to use the proposed simulation model and information of scintillation characteristics depending on different conditions to assess operational feasibility of MCMF GNSS-based applications under scintillation with possible mitigation techniques. We will closely work with the scientists in Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU-APL). The PI of this project have expertise in ionospheric impact on navigation systems, and the scientists in JHU-APL have expertise in ionospheric physics. The international collaboration through this project will provide an opportunity to exploit the expertise of both parties.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 04, 2023
- Source ID
- FA23862214002
Entities
People
- Jiyun Lee
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- KAIST
- United States Air Force