The paper presents the error characteristics of a vehicle dynamic model (VDM)-based integration architecture for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles. Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and inertial measurement unit measurements are fused in an extended Kalman filter (EKF) which uses the VDM as the main process model. Control inputs from the autopilot system are used to drive the navigation solution. Using a predefined trajectory with segments of both high and low dynamics and a variable wind profile, Monte Carlo simulations reveal a degrading performance in varying periods of GNSS outage lasting 10 s, 20 s, 30 s, 60 s and 90 s, respectively. These are followed by periods of re-acquisition where the navigation solution recovers. With a GNSS outage lasting less than 60 s, the position error gradually grows to a maximum of 8⋅4 m while attitude errors in roll and pitch remain bounded, as opposed to an inertial navigation system (INS)/GNSS approach in which the navigation solution degrades rapidly. The model-based approach shows improved navigation performance even with parameter uncertainties over a conventional INS/GNSS integration approach.

In recent years, global navigation satellite system (GNSS) precise point positioning (PPP) has become a standard positioning technique for many applications with typically favourable open sky conditions, e.g. precision agriculture. Unfortunately, the long convergence (and reconvergence) time of PPP often significantly limits its use in difficult and restricted signal environments typically associated with urban areas. The modernisation of GNSS will positively affect and improve the convergence time of the PPP solutions, thanks to the higher number of satellites in view that broadcast multifrequency measurements. The number and geometry of the available satellites is a key factor that impacts on the convergence time in PPP, while triple-frequency observables have been shown to greatly benefit the fixing of the carrier phase integer ambiguities. On the other hand, many studies have shown that triple-frequency combinations do not usefully contribute to a reduction of the convergence time of float PPP solutions.

This paper proposes novel GPS and Galileo triple-carrier ionosphere-free combinations that aim to enhance the observability of the narrow-lane ambiguities. Tests based on simulated data have shown that these combinations can reduce the convergence time of the float PPP solution by a factor of up to 2·38 with respect to the two-frequency combinations. This approach becomes effective only after the extra wide-lane and wide-lane ambiguities have been fixed. For this reason, a new fixing method based on low-noise pseudo-range combinations corrected by the smoothed ionosphere correction is presented. By exploiting this algorithm, no more than a few minutes are required to fix the WL ambiguities for Galileo, even in cases of severe multipath environments.

With the evolving Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) landscape, the International GNSS Service (IGS) has started the Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX) to produce precise products for new generation systems. Various analysis centres are working on the estimation of precise orbits, clocks and bias for Galileo, Beidou and Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) satellites. However, at the moment these products can only be used for post-processing applications. Indeed, the IGS Real-Time service only broadcasts Global Positioning System (GPS) and Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (GLONASS) corrections. In this research, a simulator of multi-GNSS observations and real-time precise products has been developed to analyse the performance of GPS-only, Galileo-only and GPS plus Galileo Precise Point Positioning (PPP). The error models in the simulated orbits and clocks were based on the difference between the GPS Real-Time and the Final products. Multiple scenarios were analysed, considering different signals combined in the Ionosphere Free linear combination. Results in a simulated open area environment show better performance of the Galileo-only case over the GPS-only case. Indeed, up 33% and 29% of improvement, respectively, in the accuracy level and convergence time can be observed when using the full Galileo constellation compared to GPS. The dual constellation case provides good improvements, in particular in the convergence time (47% faster than GPS). This paper will also consider the impact of different linear combinations of the Galileo signals, and the potential of the E5 Alternative Binary Offset Carrier (AltBOC) signal. Even though it is significantly more precise than E5a, the PPP performance obtained with the Galileo E1-E5a combination is either better or similar to the one with Galileo E1-E5. The reason for this inconsistency was found in the use of the ionosphere free combination with E1. Finally, alternative methods of ionosphere error mitigation are considered in order to ensure the best possible positioning performance from the Galileo E5 signal in multi-frequency PPP.

Field studies were conducted in 1988/89 and 1989/90 at two locations to determine the effect of rye, wheat, and triticale cover crop mulches on weed emergence patterns, weed biomass, and soybean development. Redroot pigweed and common lambsquarters emergence patterns were not altered by mulches. Early in the season, mulches reduced weed biomass; however, the results were inconsistent between locations and years. Under weed-free conditions, the cover crop mulches had no detrimental effects on soybean development and yields were not different from bare soil controls.

Indoor localisation has always been a challenging problem due to poor Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) availability in such environments. While inertial measurement sensors have become popular solutions for indoor positioning, they suffer large drifts after initialisation. Collaborative positioning enhances positioning robustness by integrating multiple localisation information, especially relative ranging measurements between local users and transmitters. However, not all ranging measurements are useful throughout the whole positioning process and integrating too much data will increase the computation cost. To enable a more reliable positioning system, an adaptive collaborative positioning algorithm is proposed which selects units for the collaborative network and integrates ranging measurement to constrain inertial measurement errors. The algorithm selects the network adaptively from three perspectives: the network geometry, the network size and the accuracy level of the ranging measurements between the units. The collaborative relative constraint is then defined according to the selected network geometry and anticipated measurement quality. In the case of trials with real data, the positioning accuracy is improved by 60% by adjusting the range constraint adaptively according to the selected network situation, while also improving the system robustness.

Many navigation services, such as car navigation services, provide users with praxic navigational instructions (such as “turn left after 200 metres, then turn right after 150 metres”), however people usually associate directions with visual cues (e.g. “turn right at the square”) when giving navigational instructions in their daily conversations. Landmarks can play an equally important role in navigation and routing services. Landmarks are unique and easy-to-recognise and remember features; therefore, in order to remember when exploring an unfamiliar environment, they would be assets. In addition, Landmarks can be found both indoors and outdoors and their locations are usually fixed. Any positioning techniques which use landmarks as reference points can potentially provide seamless (indoor and outdoor) positioning solutions. For example, users can be localised with respect to landmarks if they can take a photograph of a registered landmark and use an application for image processing and feature extraction to identify the landmark and its location. Landmarks can also be used in pedestrian-specific path finding services. Landmarks can be considered as an important parameter in a path finding algorithm to calculate a route passing more landmarks (to make the user visit a more tourist-focussed area, pass along an easier-to-follow route, etc.). Landmarks can also be used as a part of the navigational instructions provided to users; a landmark-based navigation service makes users sure that they are on the correct route, as the user is reassured by seeing the landmark whose information/picture has just been provided as a part of navigational instruction. This paper shows how landmarks can help improve positioning and praxic navigational instructions in all these ways.

This paper presents the second part of the research activities carried out to develop a novel Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Avionics-Based Integrity Augmentation (ABIA) system for manned and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) applications. The ABIA system's architecture was developed to allow real-time avoidance of safety-critical flight conditions and fast recovery of the required navigation performance in case of GNSS data losses. In more detail, our novel ABIA system addresses all four cornerstones of GNSS integrity augmentation in mission- and safety-critical avionics applications: prediction (caution flags), avoidance (optimal flight path guidance), reaction (warning flags) and correction (recovery flight path guidance). Part 1 (Sabatini et al., 2012) presented the ABIA concept, architecture and key mathematical models used to describe GNSS integrity issues in aircraft applications. This second part addresses the ABIA caution and warning integrity flags criteria and presents the results of a simulation case study performed on the TORNADO Interdiction and Strike (IDS) aircraft.

The Precise Point Positioning (PPP) concept enables centimetre-level positioning accuracy by employing one Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver. The main advantage of PPP over conventional Real Time Kinematic (cRTK) methods is that a local reference network infrastructure is not required. Only a global reference network with approximately 50 stations is needed because reference GNSS data is required for generating precise error correction products for PPP. However, the current implementation of PPP is not suitable for some applications due to the long time period (i.e. convergence time of up to 60 minutes) required to obtain an accurate position solution. This paper presents a new method to reduce the time required for initial integer ambiguity resolution and to improve position accuracy. It is based on combining GPS and GLONASS measurements to calculate the float ambiguity positioning solution initially, followed by the resolution of GPS integer ambiguities.

The results show that using the GPS/GLONASS float solution can, on average, reduce the time to initial GPS ambiguity resolution by approximately 5% compared to using the GPS float solution alone. In addition, average vertical and horizontal positioning errors at the initial ambiguity resolution epoch can be reduced by approximately 17% and 4%, respectively.

The aviation community has very stringent navigation integrity requirements that apply to a variety of manned and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operational tasks. This paper presents the results of the research activities carried out by the Italian Air Force Flight Test Centre (CSV-RSV) in collaboration with the Nottingham Geospatial Institute (NGI) and Cranfield University (CU) in the area of Avionics-Based Integrity Augmentation (ABIA) for mission- and safety-critical Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) applications. Based on these activities, suitable models were developed to describe the main causes of GNSS signal outage and degradation in flight, namely: antenna obscuration, multipath, fading due to adverse geometry and Doppler shift. Adopting these models in association with suitable integrity thresholds and guidance algorithms, the ABIA system delivers integrity caution (predictive) and warning (reactive) flags, as well as steering information to the pilot and electronic commands to the aircraft/UAV flight control system. These features allow real-time avoidance of safety-critical flight conditions and fast recovery of the required navigation performance in case of GNSS data losses. This paper presents the key ABIA concepts, architecture and mathematical models. A successive paper will address the ABIA integrity thresholds criteria and detailed results of a TORNADO simulation case-study.

Shoe mounted Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) are often used for indoor pedestrian navigation systems. The presence of a zero velocity condition during the stance phase enables Zero Velocity Updates (ZUPT) to be applied regularly every time the user takes a step. Most of the velocity and attitude errors can be estimated using ZUPTs. However, good heading estimation for such a system remains a challenge. This is due to the poor observability of heading error for a low cost Micro-Electro-Mechanical (MEMS) IMU, even with the use of ZUPTs in a Kalman filter. In this paper, the same approach is adopted where a MEMS IMU is mounted on a shoe, but with additional constraints applied. The three constraints proposed herein are used to generate measurement updates for a Kalman filter, known as ‘Heading Update’, ‘Zero Integrated Heading Rate Update’ and ‘Height Update’.

The first constraint involves restricting heading drift in a typical building where the user is walking. Due to the fact that typical buildings are rectangular in shape, an assumption is made that most walking in this environment is constrained to only follow one of the four main headings of the building. A second constraint is further used to restrict heading drift during a non-walking situation. This is carried out because the first constraint cannot be applied when the user is stationary. Finally, the third constraint is applied to limit the error growth in height. An assumption is made that the height changes in indoor buildings are only caused when the user walks up and down a staircase. Several trials were shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of integrating these constraints for indoor pedestrian navigation. The results show that an average return position error of 4·62 meters is obtained for an average distance of 1557 meters using only a low cost MEMS IMU.

New signals from the modernised satellite navigation systems (GPS and GLONASS) and the ones that are being developed (COMPASS and GALILEO) will present opportunities for more accurate and reliable positioning solutions. Successful exploitation of these new signals will also enable the development of new markets and applications for difficult environments where the current Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) cannot provide satisfying solutions. This research is aiming to exploit the improvement in monitoring, modelling and mitigating the atmospheric effects using the increased number of signals from the future satellite systems. Preliminary investigations were conducted on the numerical weather parameter based horizontal tropospheric delay modelling, as well as the ionospheric higher order and scintillation effects. Results from this research are expected to provide a potential supplement to high accuracy positioning techniques.

With reference to an ethnographic study of Aboriginal Australians in formal schooling, this paper focuses on the dynamism of the policy process. It argues that social policy is different in its performance from its formal articulation. It proposes that other discourses complicate policy discourse in its implementation, and that the Aboriginal objects of policy respond creatively to their representation in policy in ways that contribute to that complication. Aboriginal political leaders adopt the subject imagined in policy, elaborate its normativity and pressure their constituency to perform it. The routine performance of this subject works to compromise individuals’ capabilities to negotiate their lived interculturality and multiplicity, and confirms Aborigines in their marginalisation. Thus, policy becomes a central, authoritative catalyst in the real-world constitution of the subject initially imagined. The paper proposes that if social policy engages with this complexity, it can be effective in its aims of contributing to Aboriginal education and development, and management of the emerging condition of diversity. In both cases, it must account for the discursive and performative agency of the objects of policy, making it necessarily context-specific and revisable.

In environments where GNSS is unavailable or not useful for positioning, the use of low cost MEMS-based inertial sensors has paved a way to a more cost effective solution. Of particular interest is a foot mounted pedestrian navigation system, where zero velocity updates (ZUPT) are used with the standard strapdown navigation algorithm in a Kalman filter to restrict the error growth of the low cost inertial sensors. However heading drift still remains despite using ZUPT measurements since the heading error is unobservable. External sensors such as magnetometers are normally used to mitigate this problem, but the reliability of such an approach is questionable because of the existence of magnetic disturbances that are often very difficult to predict. Hence there is a need to eliminate the heading drift problem for such a low cost system without relying on external sensors to give a possible stand-alone low cost inertial navigation system. In this paper, a novel and effective algorithm for generating heading measurements from basic knowledge of the orientation of the building in which the pedestrian is walking is proposed to overcome this problem. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated through three field trials using only a forward Kalman filter that can work in real-time without any external sensors. This resulted in position accuracy better than 5 m during a 40 minutes walk, about 0·1% in position error of the total distance. Due to its simplistic algorithm, this simple yet very effective solution is appealing for a promising future autonomous low cost inertial navigation system.

Over the recent decades, there have been a number of trends that have driven the desire to improve the ability to position and navigate in all environments. While GPS has been the driving factor behind most of these trends, there are limitations to GPS that have become more evident over time as the World has increasingly come to rely on location. These limitations are mostly due to the low transmission power of GPS satellites, where navigation signals broadcast from space are comparatively weak, especially by the time they have travelled to receivers on the ground. This makes the signals particularly vulnerable to fading in difficult environments such as built-up urban areas. The low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) also means that the signals are susceptible to jamming, both hostile and accidental.

This motivates the need for non-GPS (or, more generally, non-GNSS) navigation technologies, for example, terrestrial based alternatives to GNSS such as eLoran. But, there is also significant interest in the exploitation of other non-navigation signals for positioning and navigation purposes. These so-called ‘Signals of Opportunity’ (SoOP) do not generally require any alterations to existing communications transmission infrastructure and often use alternative multi-carrier modulation techniques to those methods used by most GNSS services. The major challenge of using a SoOP for location purposes is that the transmitter network infrastructure has not generally been designed with positioning as a requirement.

An ongoing project, at the Institute of Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy (IESSG) of the University of Nottingham, is directed towards an investigation of the potential of the Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) signal for positioning purposes. A prototype Software Defined Radio (SDR) DAB positioning receiver has been developed and has now been tested. This paper presents a detailed review of the structure of the DAB signals and explains how these signals can be used as the basis of a positioning system. In addition the development of the prototype SDR receiver and the initial results are presented and discussed.

Alaska and Canada have recently been celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of those separate events, both occurring in 1867, which gave birth to their modern political alignment.

Because of its geographical position, Alaska's history, more than that of any other state of the union, developed in response to international events. Its original Russian occupation, and its acquisition by the United States a century ago, emerge from the history of eastern Siberia, and are related to events in the region of the river Amur, once a part of the ancient Chinese empire. Its purchase also carried with it a boundary dispute merging Alaska's history with that of western Canada.

During the summer of 1956 W. W. Phipps flew a Piper Super-Cub aircraft solo from Pelley Lake to Eureka, and there carried out a series of local flights in Ellesmere Island on behalf of the National Film Board of Canada. The aircraft was equipped with standard tandem wheel undercarriage. Carrying one passenger, Phipps landed at Fort Conger, Alert and Cape Columbia. The round trip from Pelley Lake took 11 days covering a distance of 4500 miles in fifty flying hours.

On 25 July 1958 the writer left Ottawa with a float-equipped Piper Super-Cub to fly to Eureka. Overnight stops were made at Moose Factory, Severn, Churchill (two nights on account of low cloud), an unnamed lake 50 miles short of Baker Lake, Baker Lake itself (because of strong N.W. winds), an unnamed pond 10 miles south-west of Bellot Strait, and at Resolute.