Optimal Selection of GPS Sets to Minimize Emitter Location Errors

Stephen G. Peters, Zdzislaw H. Lewantowicz

Abstract:	This paper examines the Global Positioning System (GPS) selection for a set of three aircraft used to locate a ground-based electromagnetic energy emitter. With the estimate of the emitter location as the objective, the satellite geometry which yields the minimum horizontal mean squared miss distance (MSMD) in the emitter location estimation error is shown to be a function of the relative aircraft and emitter geometry. This geometry is different from that which yields individual aircraft minimum navigation errors. The problem is examined within the context of a Kalman filter covariance analysis, where a single Kalman filter jointly processes all measurements received by each collector aircraft and retransmitted, with appropriate time tags, to a central processor. These measurements consist of navigation solution outputs from each aircraft inertial navigation system (INS), barometric altimeter, pseudorange measurements for each observer from a common set of G:PS space vehicle set, and the times of arrival of the emitter signal. A steepest descent gradient vector search is used to find the geometry which minimizes the MMSD, a function in the estimate of the emitter horizontal position. It in turn is a function of the satellite-observer-emitter geometry. Additionally, results of emitter location with three and two satellites are analyzed and presented.
Published in:	Proceedings of the International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1988) September 19 - 23, 1988 The Broadmoor Hotel Colorado Spring, CO
Pages:	243 - 252
Cite this article:	Peters, Stephen G., Lewantowicz, Zdzislaw H., "Optimal Selection of GPS Sets to Minimize Emitter Location Errors," Proceedings of the International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1988), Colorado Spring, CO, September 1988, pp. 243-252.
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