A Passive GPS Bistatic Radar Altimeter for Aircraft Navigation

D. Masters, P. Axelrad, V. Zavorotny, S.J. Katzberg and F. Lalezari

Abstract:	The principles of GPS bistatic radar have been established over the last several years, with application to remote sensing of ocean surface winds, sea surface heights, and other surface properties. Most of the altimetry investigations carried out by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) have been focused on scientific applications, with the objective of determining sea surface heights from satellite platforms. The use of GPS reflections as navigation signals for aircraft altimetry was discussed by Katzberg et al. [1], who showed preliminary experimental evidence of the expected performance. Because the signal source is the GPS satellite transmission, a completely passive aircraft altimeter based upon GPS bistatic radar would be beneficial for covert operations and applications limiting weight and power. We further investigated the experimental performance of aircraft altimetry using GPS bistatic radar, focusing on flights over both water and land surfaces. Using data collected with a C/A code delay-mapping receiver, we estimated the delay of the reflected signal relative to the direct signal and converted this measurement into a geometric receiver height estimate. Several retrieval methods were compared using experimental data. The height estimates were compared with concurrent data collected by onboard radar altimeters and a P-code GPS receiver. Measurement biases were investigated and RMS errors quantified.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 14th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 2001) September 11 - 14, 2001 Salt Palace Convention Center Salt Lake City, UT
Pages:	2435 - 2445
Cite this article:	Masters, D., Axelrad, P., Zavorotny, V., Katzberg, S.J., Lalezari, F., "A Passive GPS Bistatic Radar Altimeter for Aircraft Navigation," Proceedings of the 14th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 2001), Salt Lake City, UT, September 2001, pp. 2435-2445.
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