Single Antenna GPS Based Aircraft Attitude Determination

Richard P. Kornfeld, R. John Hansman, John J. Deyst

Abstract:	A method for synthesizing aircraft attitude information from single antenna GPS velocity measurements using analytical redundancy techniques is described. The attitude information consists of flight path angle and roll angle about the aircraft velocity vector axis. This pseudo-attitude is compared to the conventional attitude consisting of pitch and roll angle about the body axis. Flight path angle is calculated from GPS velocities given in a north, east and down reference frame. Roll angle is inferred from estimates of north, east and down accelerations, obtained from GPS velocity measurements, under the assumption of coordinated flight. The acceleration estimates are generated by a Kalman Filter with triple integrator plant. In addition, a pseudo-attitude display is presented. The pseudo-attitude display shows flight path angle and roll angle instead of the traditional pitch and roll information, thus yielding direct indications of the desired flight path state. It is further shown that with additional availability of estimated or measured angle of attack, conventional roll and pitch angles can be synthesized. Flight tests in a Piper Arrow aircraft showed that pseudo-attitude is equivalent in performance to conventional attitude, with no subjective or objective differences between them. The results demonstrate that a single antenna GPS receiver provides a useful source of attitude information and consequently may be used as a back up attitude system or for fault diagnostics in redundant systems.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 1998 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 21 - 23, 1998 Westin Long Beach Hotel Long Beach, CA
Pages:	345 - 354
Cite this article:	Updated citation: Published in NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation
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