Ground Station Siting Consideration for DGPS

James D. Waid

Abstract:	Aircraft guidance and positioning in the final approach and landing phases of flight requires a high degree of accuracy. The Global Positioning System operating in differential mode (DGPS) is being considered for this application. Prior to implementation, all sources of error must be considered. Multipath has been shown to be the dominant source of error for DGPS and theoretical studies have verified that multipath is particularly severe within the final approach and landing regions. Because of aircraft dynamics, the ground station segment of DGPS is the part of the system where multipath can most effectively be reduced. Ground station siting will be a key element in reducing multipath errors for a DGPS system. This situation can also be improved by using P-code or narrow correlator C/A-code receivers along with a multipath rejecting antenna. This paper presents a study of GPS multipath errors for a stationary DGPS ground station. A discussion of GPS multipath error characteristics will be presented along with some actual multipath data. The data was collected for different ground station siting configurations using P- code, standard CIA-code and narrow correlator CIA- code receiver architectures and two separate antenna constructions.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 1993 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 20 - 22, 1993 Parc 55 Hotel San Francisco, CA
Pages:	363 - 373
Cite this article:	Waid, James D., "Ground Station Siting Consideration for DGPS," Proceedings of the 1993 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, San Francisco, CA, January 1993, pp. 363-373.
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