Aerial Navigation in GPS-denied Environments using a Closed-feedback Error Loop Between the Navigation and Imaging Sensors

Dorota A. Grejner-Brzezinska, Charles K. Toth, Young-Jin Lee, Jaehong Oh

Abstract:	Compared to ground and indoor navigation, the navigation of airborne platforms is usually considered as a rather straightforward task, facing almost no challenges. The GPS (Global Positioning System) signal reception in open-sky conditions is always assumed and perhaps only high-dynamic aircraft maneuvering, such as sharp banking, could present temporary loss of signals. In military applications, however, the GPS signal can be jammed and, therefore, alternative navigation tools are required to maintain a basic navigation performance. The augmentation typically used in military applications is an inertial navigation system, which, however, drifts in time if not calibrated by GPS. Thus, to assure that navigation errors are bounded, another augmentation might be needed. With improving imaging sensor performance as well as growing worldwide availability of terrain data, terrain-based navigation is becoming a viable option to support navigation in GPS-denied environments. Furthermore, the feedback from the imaging sensors can be used even during GPS availability, which increases the redundancy at data input to the navigation filter, enabling more reliable integrity monitoring at this stage. This paper investigates some aspects of terrain-based navigation, including the concept, the extension of the navigation filter, and performance analysis with respect to LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) and hyperspectral optical imagery. The initial results indicate that, compared to EO (electro-optical) sensors, LiDAR currently offers a better potential, as the data content is explicit (i.e., requires limited or no processing at all).
Published in:	Proceedings of the 21st International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2008) September 16 - 19, 2008 Savannah International Convention Center Savannah, GA
Pages:	2638 - 2644
Cite this article:	Grejner-Brzezinska, Dorota A., Toth, Charles K., Lee, Young-Jin, Oh, Jaehong, "Aerial Navigation in GPS-denied Environments using a Closed-feedback Error Loop Between the Navigation and Imaging Sensors," Proceedings of the 21st International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2008), Savannah, GA, September 2008, pp. 2638-2644.
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