APPLICATION OF DIFFERENTIAL GPS TO EXPEDITIONARY AIR FIELD NAVIGATION AND SURVEILLANCE REQUIREMENTS

A DIFFERENTIAL GPS GROUND STATION ASSOCIATED WITH A DATA LINK IS PROPOSED AS A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS NAVIGATION DATA FOR AIRCRAFT AND AS A SOURCE OF DEPENDENT SURVEILLANCE DATA IN SUPPORT OF ATC OPERATIONS AT EXPEDITIONARY AIR FIELDS SERVED BY MATCALS. OBTAINABLE AIRBORNE POSITIONAL ACCURACIES IN A SELECTED AVAILABILITY DEGRADATION OF GPS C/S SIGNAL ACCURACY ENVIRONMENT ARE DETERMINED IN RELATION TO MILITARY STANDARD GPS AIRBORNE RECEIVERS. GROUND DIFFERENTIAL GPS STATION RECEIVER, PROCESSOR, CLOCK AND ANTENNA REQUIREMENTS ARE ASSESSED AND GROUND SYSTEM COST IS ESTIMATED. AVAILABLE DATA LINK ALTERNATIVES, I.E., JTIDS AND TADIL-C ARE EVALUATED FOR SUITABILITY TO THE CONCEPT. ADDITIONALLY, THE MERIT OF USING THE JTIDS RELNAV CAPABILITY IN LIEU OF THE PROPOSED DIFFERENTIAL GPS FUNCTION IS EVALUATED.