Improving Aircraft Flight Guidance through Exploitation of Satellite-based Performance Based Navigation and Precision Approach Methods

Abstract

The habilitation thesis consists of 7 independent chapters, each one containing a post print scientific publication: Advancement in augmented satellite navigation enables a new class of instrument approach procedures for aircraft using regional augmentation systems. This enables cost effective and simple procedure generation with low descent minima and high precision en-route navigation and future high precision flight guidance applications. Ground based augmentation systems (GBAS) for satellite navigation are intended to replace the instrument landing system for pre-cision approach of aircraft into an airport in the near future. Here, we show an evaluation of data collected during flight trials with the GBAS testbed of the German aerospace center with respect to requirements for the GBAS ap-proach service type D. Ionospheric disturbances present a considerable hazard to single frequency satellite naviga-tion systems for airborne users. We discuss our implementation of three ionospheric threat models in the DLR MAS-TER GNSS Simulator. We report on the flight test results during novel advanced required navigation performance (RNP) procedures which contain a fixed radius turn that delivers the aircraft onto a short instrument landing system precision final. Moreover, the advanced RNP part contains altitude constraints and/or a coded vertical path angle. The recent publication of the advanced Required Navigation Performance (RNP) specifications enable constantly precise aircraft path guidance without demanding expensive equipment and crew certification from the operator. Combined with the operational roll-out of satellite based regional augmentation for GNSS, it enables new possibilities such as implementing instrument approach procedures at airports, whose location previously forbade such. We derived a concept for a four-dimensional RNP by extending the existing lateral RNP into the vertical and along-track dimensions. Lastly, many commercial airline aircraft cannot perform 3D type A or B approaches based on SBAS. We propose a system to rebroadcast the correction and integrity data via a data link as provided by the GBAS. Then, air-craft equipped with a GPS Landing System can use the wide area corrections and perform Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance approaches whilst maintaining the same level of integrity.