Will Galileo Benefit the Mariner?

Alan Grant, Nick Ward and Michael Fairbanks

Abstract:	The past decade has seen the continued growth of GPS and its many different applications. Recently, the European Union and the European Space Agency announced the development of the European Global Navigation Satellite System – Galileo. Clearly acceptance of additional satellite systems into markets that successfully use GPS will require identification of those key areas where Galileo is capable of providing added-value, either standalone or more likely as a component of an overall integrated suite of navigation systems. These key areas are often termed the key differentiators for Galileo. This paper introduces the project; “Maritime use of Galileo” – MarGal. One of MarGal’s aims is to promote the maritime use of Galileo by identifying where it has the potential to benefit the mariner. The project is partfunded through the European Union (EU) Sixth Framework Research and Development Programme and is being administered on behalf of the EU by the Galileo Joint Undertaking (GJU). MarGal is running over a twoyear period, commencing from early 2004. This paper aims to provide an introduction to, and an overview of the project, whilst focusing on coastal and harbour phases of the voyage and associated applications. As with most projects of this type, a consortium is completing MarGal. The paper starts by reviewing the current service requirements for many maritime applications as defined by the competent international and national bodies. These needs are then compared quantitatively to the performance levels achieved by current navigation systems to identify those applications where their requirements cannot be met by the current systems. Further analysis identified those applications, whose requirements are not met by current solutions but can be met through the inclusion of Galileo into the suite of systems available. These applications point to the Galileo key service differentiators and highlight reasons why mariners should consider seriously the used of the service when it becomes available. The paper then illustrates how the service performance parameters of several current solutions are demonstrated through a series of trials and describes how these trials will be extended to hint at the performance expected when Galileo is online. The MarGal project also aims to demonstrate the concept for a new harmonised navigation solution integrating Galileo and AIS, - the MarGal system. This new use of AIS should enable mariners and vessel traffic services to work closely to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of both ship and port operations. It is also the aim to enable the mariner to maintain a single navigation unit that is suitable for both harbour / port navigation extendable to inland waterways. This paper reports on the development of a measurement program to identify where Galileo has the potential to benefit the mariner along with the development of the MarGal system for harmonised navigation. Applications to be used to demonstrate the service differentiators are identified through consolidating various maritime applications into sensible groups and the selection of 5 applications that can be used to identify where Galileo should overcome the limitations of current GPS. A trial program is outlined identifying when and where ongoing trials will occur along with details of how the perceived increase in accuracy and continuity from Galileo will be evaluated. The first of these trials was conducted in late December 2004 from which processing of the data is still continuing and no firm conclusions can be drawn at this time. This paper is the first of a series planned for the project to keep the mariner and other stakeholders abreast of developments and to solicit feedback and guidance.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 2005 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 24 - 26, 2005 The Catamaran Resort Hotel San Diego, CA
Pages:	394 - 403
Cite this article:	Grant, Alan, Ward, Nick, Fairbanks, Michael, "Will Galileo Benefit the Mariner?," Proceedings of the 2005 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, San Diego, CA, January 2005, pp. 394-403.
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