A Road Map for GPS-Based Civil Aviation in the Next Century

Mohan Ananda, Prem Munjal, and K. T. Woo

Abstract:	GPS has become the primary worldwide navigation system for both positioning and time distribution for civil users. It is expected that civil navigation systems for aviation both in the U.S. and abroad will be based on GPS and will be fully operational in the next century. However, studies are being conducted to determine whether GPS can be used as a primary means of navigation for civil aviation because of the possibility of both unintentional and intentional interference. In the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently developing the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), which will be deployed in the year 1999 as phase 1, and will serve as a supplemental system for all flight phases of civil aviation including nonprecision approach. Subsequently, the WAAS in phase 2 by 2000 and in phase 3 by 2002 will be enhanced to provide primary-means navigation including Category 1 precision approach. However, there are several outstanding issues such as the incorporation of a second frequent y on GPS to mitigate the effect of the ionosphere. This will further enhance system availability, especially in coastal areas, in Alaska and Hawaii, and during periods of high solar activity. There are also activities related to GPS modernization and the DOD concerns regarding the availability of the total system accuracy of potential adversaries. The current plans indicate that civil aviation navigation systems all over the world in the next century will be based on GPS. There are several institutions supporting an interagency GPS working group between the DOD and FAA to define the evolution of the future GPS. The Aerospace Corporation has been an integral part of these efforts. The purpose of this paper is to provide a road map for both the near-term (2000-2003) and far-term (2006- 2012) activities to achieve the objectives of both civil aviation and the DOD. These objectives include a common space segment for DOD and civilian, separate GPS military and civilian data channels, and separate ground segments for national and international civil aviation to provide integrity and other safety data, under the control of FAA and other international civil aviation agencies. Seamless interoperability is provided by the common signal in space and standardized user equipment. International acceptance is promoted by independent control and responsibility of ground assets providing GPS uplink integrity and safety data for separate regional coverage. Neither the DOD nor the FAA has fully endorsed the GPS evolution plan presented in this paper. However, the plan presented in this paper is consistent with the recommendations of the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security, joint recommendations of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and the Air Transport Association (ATA) representing the nation’s airline industry on satellite navigation, the DOD future worldwide positioning, navigation, and timing acquisition master plan, and GPS modernization objectives. The road map presented in this paper is a natural extension of the FAA plans regarding the acquisition of WAAS and the current DOD acquisition of GPS Block IIF satellites and possible changes to the GPS modernization scenarios. It is also recognized that the GPS evolution plan presented in this paper not only supports the broad interest of civil aviation all over the world and the U.S. military interests, but also will be cost effective to the American taxpayer.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 54th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1998) June 1 - 3, 1998 The Adams Mark Hotel Denver, CO
Pages:	75 - 85
Cite this article:	Ananda, Mohan, Munjal, Prem, Woo, K. T., "A Road Map for GPS-Based Civil Aviation in the Next Century," Proceedings of the 54th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1998), Denver, CO, June 1998, pp. 75-85.
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