Navigational Systems

1. Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN) - a tactical air navigation system, commonly referred to by
the acronym TACAN, is a navigation system used by military aircraft. It provides the user with bearing
and distance (slant-range) to a ground or ship-borne station. It is a more accurate version of
the VOR/DME system that provides bearing and range information for civil aviation.

2. Simplified Directional Facility (SDF) - a localizer-based instrument non-precision approach to an
airport, which provides final approach course similar to instrument landing system(ILS) and localizer
type directional aid (LDA) approaches, although not as precise. The SDF signal is fixed at either 6 or 12
degrees, as necessary to provide maximum flyability and optimum course quality. Unlike an ILS, an SDF
does not provide vertical guidance in the form of a glideslope. The SDF course may or may not be
aligned with the runway because its antenna may be offset from the runway centerline. Usable off-
course indications are limited to 35 degrees either side of the course centreline.

3. Microwave Landing System (MLS) - The MLS is a system of precision approach for landing by
instruments and constitutes a kind of an alternative to the ILS system. It provides information about
the azimuth, optimal angle of descent and the distance, as well as data about the reverse course in
case of an unsuccessful approach. It has several advantages compared to the ILS, for example a greater
number of possible executed approaches, a more compact ground equipment, and a potential to use
more complicated approach trajectories.

4. Long Range Navigation (LORAN) - hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in the United
States during World War II. It was similar to the UK's Gee system but operated at lower frequencies in
order to provide improved range up to 1,500 miles (2,400 km) with accuracy of tens of miles. It was
first used for ship convoys crossing the Atlantic Ocean, and then by long-range patrol aircraft, but
found its main use on the ships and aircraft operating in the Pacific theatre.

5. Inertial Navigation System (INS) - Inertial navigation is a self-contained navigation technique in which
measurements provided by accelerometers and gyroscopes are used to track the position and
orientation of an object relative to a known starting point, orientation and velocity. Inertial
measurement unit (IMUs) typically contain three orthogonal rate-gyroscopes and three orthogonal
accelerometers, measuring angular velocity and linear acceleration respectively. By processing signals
from these devices it is possible to track the position and orientation of a device.




6. Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) - provides 3D orientation by integrating gyroscopes
and fusing this data with accelerometer data and magnetometer data. With sensor fusion, drift from
the gyroscopes integration is compensated for by reference vectors, namely gravity and the earth
magnetic field. This results in a drift-free orientation, making an AHRS a more cost effective solution
than conventional high-grade IMUs (Inertial Measurement Units) that only integrate gyroscopes and
rely on a very high bias-stability of the gyroscopes.

7. Global Positioning System (GPS) - a satellite-based navigation system made up of a network of 24
satellites placed into orbit by the U.S. Department of Defense. GPS was originally intended for military
applications, but in the 1980s, the government made the system available for civilian use. GPS works in
any weather conditions, anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day. There are no subscription fees or
setup charges to use GPS. The 24 satellites that make up the GPS space segment are orbiting the earth
about 12,000 miles above us. They are constantly moving, making two complete orbits in less than 24
hours. These satellites are travelling at speeds of roughly 7,000 miles an hour.

8. Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) - it is the most precise location-providing service that is
available in North America. The WAAS uses 25 ground-based stations across America to monitor
satellites. There are two Wide Area Master Stations and 23 Wide Area Reference Stations. Satellite
data is collected at the reference stations and sent to a master station. At the master station, data is
augmented and corrected. This adjusted data is sent back to the stationary satellites through an uplink
station, where it is broadcast to WAAS-enabled GPS receivers as position data.

9. Ground-based Augmentation System (GBAS) - a civil-aviation safety-critical system that supports local
augmentation at airport level of the primary GNSS constellation(s) by providing enhanced levels of
service that support all phases of approach, landing, departure and surface operations. While the main
goal of GBAS is to provide integrity assurance, it also increases the accuracy with position errors below
1 m (1 sigma).

10. Galileo - Europes own global navigation satellite system, providing a highly accurate, guaranteed
global positioning service under civilian control. It is inter-operable with GPS and Glonass, the US and
Russian global satellite navigation systems. The fully deployed Galileo system consists of 30 satellites
(27 operational + 3 active spares), positioned in three circular Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) planes at 23
222 km altitude above the Earth, and at an inclination of the orbital planes of 56 degrees to the
equator.

11. Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) - a Russian satellite-based navigation system that works
alongside GPS (Global Positioning System) to provide position information to compatible devices. With
an additional 24 satellites to utilize, GLONASS compatible receivers can acquire satellites up to 20%
faster than devices that rely on GPS alone.

12. BeiDou Navigation Satellite System - Chinas global navigation satellite system which has been
developed independently. It is composed of three parts: the space section, the ground section and the
user section. The space section contains 5 geostationary orbit satellites and 30 non-geostationary orbit
satellites. The ground section consists of a certain number of stations: including the main control
stations, the injection stations and the monitoring stations. And the user section includes terminators
of BeiDou system, and some compatible with other navigation satellite system.

13. European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) - the first pan-European satellite
navigation system. It augments the US GPS satellite navigation system and makes it suitable for safety
critical applications such as flying aircraft or navigating ships through narrow channels. Consisting of
three geostationary satellites and a network of ground stations, EGNOS achieves its aim by
transmitting a signal containing information on the reliability and accuracy of the positioning signals
sent out by GPS. It allows users in Europe and beyond to determine their position to within 1.5 metres.

14. Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) - is a regional satellite navigation system owned
by the Indian government. The system is being developed by Indian Space Research Organization
(ISRO). It will be an independent and autonomous regional navigation system aiming a service area of
about 1500 kilometers around India. The system will be under complete Indian control, with the space
segment, ground segment and user receivers all being built in India. It will have a range of applications
including personal navigation. IRNSS is planned to have 7 satellites complemented with the
appropriate ground infrastructure.

15. Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) - QZSS is a Japanese satellite positioning system composed
mainly of satellites in quasi-zenith orbits (QZO). However, the term Quasi-Zenith Satellite (QZS) can
refer to both satellites in QZO and geostationary orbits (GEO). For that reason, the name QZO
satellite is used when it is necessary to specifically refer to satellites in QZO. Satellite positioning is
possible with four or more satellites, but eight or more satellites are regarded as necessary for stable
position information. But since GPS satellites are stationed across the globe, some of these satellites
cannot be seen on the reverse side, and in general only six satellites are constantly visible at a given
location.

16. Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS) - provides augmentation information, which
improves the accuracy, reliability and safety of GPS, for aircraft using GPS navigation. MSAS receives
GPS signal at the Ground Monitor Stations and the Monitor & Ranging Stations, checks operational
status of GPS, analyze GPS error and ionospheric delay, and then broadcasts augmentation information
through MTSAT (Multi-functional Transport Satellite) from the Master Control Stations.






References:


https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/aim/aim0101.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactical_air_navigation_system

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_directional_facility

http://microwave.landingsystem.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LORAN

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inertial_navigation_system

http://www.xsens.com/tags/ahrs/

http://www8.garmin.com/aboutGPS/

http://aviation.about.com/od/New-Technology/g/Wide-Area-Augmentation-System-Waas.htm

http://www.navipedia.net/index.php/Ground-Based_Augmentation_System_(GBAS)

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Navigation/The_future_-_Galileo/What_is_Galileo

https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId=%7Ba3bcf150-1fa1-11e1-73d0-000000000000%7D

http://www.beidou.gov.cn/2012/12/14/201212142e8f29c30e0d464c9b34d6828706f81a.html

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Navigation/The_present_-_EGNOS/What_is_EGNOS

http://www.navipedia.net/index.php/IRNSS

http://www.qzs.jp/en/

http://www.nec.com/en/global/solutions/cns-atm/navigation/msas.html

http://www.navipedia.net/index.php/Main_Page