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Flight test results of the Earth Observing-1 Advanced Land Imager

July 7, 2002
  |
Conference Paper
Author:
Jeffrey A. Mendenhall
…
Published in:
SPIE, Vol. 4814, Earth Observing Systems VII, 7-10 July 2002, pp. 296-305.
Topic:
satellites
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) is the primary instrument on the Earth Observing-1 spacecraft (EO-1) and was developed under NASA's New Millennium Program (NMP). The NMP mission objective is to flight-validate advanced technologies that will enable dramatic improvements in performance, cost, mass, and schedule for future, Landsat-like, Earth Science Enterprise instruments. ALI contains a number of innovative features designed to achieve this objective. These include the basic instrument architecture, which employs a push-broom data collection mode, a wide field-of-view optical design, compact multi-spectral detector arrays, non-cryogenic HgCdTe for the short wave infrared bands, silicon carbide optics, and a multi-level solar calibration technique. The sensor includes detector arrays that operate in ten bands, one panchromatic, six VNIR and three SWIR, spanning the range fiom 0.433 to 2.35 um. Launched on November 21, 2000, ALI instrument performance was monitored during its first year on orbit using data collected during solar, lunar, stellar, and earth observations. This paper will provide an overview of EO-1 mission activities during this period. Additionally, the on-orbit spatial and radiometric performance of the instrument will be compared to pre-flight measurements and the temporal stability of ALI will be presented.
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Summary

The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) is the primary instrument on the Earth Observing-1 spacecraft (EO-1) and was developed under NASA's New Millennium Program (NMP). The NMP mission objective is to flight-validate advanced technologies that will enable dramatic improvements in performance, cost, mass, and schedule for future, Landsat-like, Earth Science Enterprise...

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Flight test results of the Earth Observing-1 Advanced Land Imager

GLONASS performance in 1992: a review

May 1, 1993
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Journal Article
Author:
Pratap N. Misra
…
Published in:
GPS World, Vol. 4, No. 5, May 1993, pp. 28-39.
Topic:
satellites
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

Researchers at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory reviewed GLONASS developments during 1992, focusing on the requirements of civil aviation and the issues related to position estimation. The results show that the overall performance remains substantially the same as observed in 1991.
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Summary

Researchers at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory reviewed GLONASS developments during 1992, focusing on the requirements of civil aviation and the issues related to position estimation. The results show that the overall performance remains substantially the same as observed in 1991.

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GLONASS performance in 1992: a review

Integrated use of GPS and GLONASS in civil aviation navigation I: coverage and data models

September 19, 1990
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Conference Paper
Author:
Pratap N. Misra
…
Published in:
Institute of Navigation, 3rd Int. Technical Mtg. of the Satellite Division, 19-21 September 1990, pp. 425-435.
Topic:
satellites
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

Pursuant to a bilateral agreement signed in 1988, both US and USSR are currently in the process of examining integrated use of GPS and GLONASS for sole-means civil aviation navigation. This paper presents results from the initial phase of a program underway at MIT Lincoln Laboratory to support this effort. Specifically, we present results on satellite coverage and quality of the range measurements from GPS and GLONASS. The coverage results highlight the extent to which each system alone falls short of providing a self-contained system integrity check. In integrated use, however, there are enough redundant measurements to make receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM) practical. The data quality results are based on statistical analysis of the range measurements from GPS, at various levels of selective availability (SA), collected over extended periods. We present empirical cumulative distribution function of the range error, and RMS value of its component, defined as the 'effective' range error, relevant to position estimation. These results are used to project the position estimation. These results are used to project the position estimation accuracy achievable globally with GPS, when operational. Comparable results for GLONASS are being developed. The coverage and data quality results together provide a basis for development of the navigation and RAIM algorithms for the integrated use. This will be addressed in the next phase of the program. The important considerations in the design of these algorithms, including the differences in the reference systems for space and time employed by the two systems, are briefly reviewed.
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Summary

Pursuant to a bilateral agreement signed in 1988, both US and USSR are currently in the process of examining integrated use of GPS and GLONASS for sole-means civil aviation navigation. This paper presents results from the initial phase of a program underway at MIT Lincoln Laboratory to support this effort...

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Integrated use of GPS and GLONASS in civil aviation navigation I: coverage and data models

Effects of common band (3500-3700 MHz) operation of geostationary satellites and the FAA limited-surveillance radar

November 9, 1979
  |
Project Report
Author:
David Karp
…
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-92
Topic:
surveillance
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

The study reported investigates the likelihood of interference by FDM/FM transmissions from geostationary satellites operating in the frequency range 3500-3700 MHz upon proposed FAA limited-surveillance radars operating in the same band. It is concluded, based upon the analysis, that the FAA limited-surveillance radars and the geostationary satellites can function in a common band, 3500-3700 MHz with only slight degradation to the radar coverage.
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Summary

The study reported investigates the likelihood of interference by FDM/FM transmissions from geostationary satellites operating in the frequency range 3500-3700 MHz upon proposed FAA limited-surveillance radars operating in the same band. It is concluded, based upon the analysis, that the FAA limited-surveillance radars and the geostationary satellites can function in...

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Effects of common band (3500-3700 MHz) operation of geostationary satellites and the FAA limited-surveillance radar

Improved satellite constellations for CONUS ATC coverage

May 1, 1974
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Project Report
Author:
Harry B. Lee
…
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-23
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

This report examines the problem of designing a constellation of orbiting satellites capable of supporting an aircraft navigation/surveillance service over CONUS. It is assumed that the aircraft positions are determined by hyperbolic multilateration using all satellites visible at elevation angles exceeding a minimum angle. Comprehensive analyses are presented of three "baseline" constellations. The constellations are representative of previous large, medium, and small constellations. The analyses include calculation of The Geometric Dilution of Precision (GDOP) during level flight, calculation of GDOP after a key satellite is deleted, and calculation of GDOP during aircraft banking. Comparison of the resulting GDOP's with the theoretical minimum values indicates that there is considerable room for improvement. A new method of calculating GDOP is described. The method suggests that improved GDOP's can be obtained by placing satellites in retrograde orbits rather than the previous posigrade orbits. Accordingly, nine new constellations are designed that employ retrograde orbits. When subjected to the same analyses as the baseline constellations, the new constellations exhibit significantly improved GDOP's.
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Summary

This report examines the problem of designing a constellation of orbiting satellites capable of supporting an aircraft navigation/surveillance service over CONUS. It is assumed that the aircraft positions are determined by hyperbolic multilateration using all satellites visible at elevation angles exceeding a minimum angle. Comprehensive analyses are presented of three...

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Improved satellite constellations for CONUS ATC coverage

Technical Assessment of Satellites for CONUS Air Traffic Control, Volume II - Random Access Aircraft-To-Satellite Techniques

February 28, 1974
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Project Report
Author:
Kenneth S. Schneider
…
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-26,II
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

A number of satellite system techniques have been suggested as candidates to provide ATC surveillance, communication, and/or navigation service over CONUS. All techniques perform postion determination by multilateration using a constellation of satellites. They can be categorized as follows: 1) Coordinated Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (CAST), 2) Random Access Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (RAST), and 3) Satellite-to-Aircraft Techniques (SAT). A technical assessment is made of the various techniques with no one particular technique emerging as superior; several feasible alternatives are identified. The assessment indicates that satellite bases techniques for CONUS ATC can be developed without relying on high risk technology. This volume deals with RAST, CAST and SAT are treated in companion volumes. A system employing RAST could operate by having each aircraft transmit a unique signature periodically, without any coordination of transmissions. The position of the aircraft is then obtained by multilateration using the arrival times of its signature at four or more satellites. Since aircraft transmissions are not coordinated, there is the possibility that different signatures may overlap at a satellite receiver. The resulting mutual interference is a factor in the performance of systems employing RAST. The critical technical aspects of RAST are explored with special emphasis on signaling formats, satellite coverage issues, degradation due to mutual interference and susceptibility to jamming.
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Summary

A number of satellite system techniques have been suggested as candidates to provide ATC surveillance, communication, and/or navigation service over CONUS. All techniques perform postion determination by multilateration using a constellation of satellites. They can be categorized as follows: 1) Coordinated Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (CAST), 2) Random Access Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (RAST)...

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Technical Assessment of Satellites for CONUS Air Traffic Control, Volume II - Random Access Aircraft-To-Satellite Techniques

Technical Assessment of Satellites for CONUS Air Traffic Control, Volume III - Satellite-To-Aircraft Techniques

February 19, 1974
  |
Project Report
Author:
Harry B. Lee
…
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-26,III
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

A number of satellite system techniques have been suggested as candidates to provide ATC surveillance, communication, and/or navigation service over CONUS. All techniques perform postion determination by multilateration using a constellation of satellites. They can be categorized as follows: 1) Coordinated Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (CAST), 2) Random Access Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (RAST), and 3) Satellite-to-Aircraft Techniques (SAT). A technical assessment is made of the various techniques with no one particular technique emerging as superior; several feasible alternatives are identified. The assessment indicates that satellite bases techniques for CONUS ATC can be developed without relying on high risk technology. This three-volume report is a technical assessment of all three techniques. The present volume examines satellite-to-aircraft techniques (SAT). The remaining two volumes treat CAST and RAST. The assessment has shown that workable systems could be configured using any one of the three techniques without reliance on high risk technology. No one technique has emerged as superior. Rather several viable alternatives have been identified. All techniques appear to require more costly avionics than today's ground-based system.
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Summary

A number of satellite system techniques have been suggested as candidates to provide ATC surveillance, communication, and/or navigation service over CONUS. All techniques perform postion determination by multilateration using a constellation of satellites. They can be categorized as follows: 1) Coordinated Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (CAST), 2) Random Access Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (RAST)...

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Technical Assessment of Satellites for CONUS Air Traffic Control, Volume III - Satellite-To-Aircraft Techniques

Technical Assessment of Satellites for CONUS Air Traffic Control, Executive Summary

January 31, 1974
  |
Project Report
Author:
Irvin G. Stiglitz
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-26
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

A number of satellite system techniques have been suggested as candidates to provide ATC surveillance, communication, and/or navigation service over CONUS. All techniques perform postion determination by multilateration using a constellation of satellites. They can be categorized as follows: 1) Coordinated Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (CAST), 2) Random Access Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (RAST), and 3) Satellite-to-Aircraft Techniques (SAT). A technical assessment is made of the various techniques with no one particular technique emerging as superior; several feasible alternatives are identified. The assessment indicates that satellite bases techniques for CONUS ATC can be developed without relying on high risk technology. This volume summarizes the results of a technical assessment of all three techniques. The detailed assessment is presented in companion volumes. The assessment has shown that workable systems could be configured using any one of the three techniques without reliance on high risk technology. No one technique has emerged as superior. Rather several viable alternatives have been identified. All techniques appear to require more costly avionics than today's ground-based system.
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Summary

A number of satellite system techniques have been suggested as candidates to provide ATC surveillance, communication, and/or navigation service over CONUS. All techniques perform postion determination by multilateration using a constellation of satellites. They can be categorized as follows: 1) Coordinated Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (CAST), 2) Random Access Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (RAST)...

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Technical Assessment of Satellites for CONUS Air Traffic Control, Executive Summary

Technical Assessment of Satellites for CONUS Air Traffic Control, Volume I - Coordinated Aircraft-To-Satellite Techniques

January 31, 1974
  |
Project Report
Author:
Richard S. Orr
…
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-26,I
Topic:
air traffic control
R&D area:

Summary

A number of satellite system techniques have been suggested as candidates to provide ATC surveillance, communication, and/or navigation service over CONUS. All techniques perform postion determination by multilateration using a constellation of satellites. They can be categorized as follows: 1) Coordinated Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (CAST), 2) Random Access Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (RAST), and 3) Satellite-to-Aircraft Techniques (SAT). A technical assessment is made of the various techniques with no one particular technique emerging as superior; several feasible alternatives are identified. The assessment indicates that satellite bases techniques for CONUS ATC can be developed without relying on high risk technology. This volume deals with CAST, RAST and SAT are treated in companion volumes. A system employing CAST could operate by having each aircraft transmit only in response to interrogation from a satellite. The position of the aircraft is then obtained by multilateration using the arrival times of its response at coordinating the interrogations, mutual interference between different response can be avoided. The critical technical aspects of CAST are explored with special emphasis on signaling formats, avionics, the satellite antenna and susceptibility to jamming.
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Summary

A number of satellite system techniques have been suggested as candidates to provide ATC surveillance, communication, and/or navigation service over CONUS. All techniques perform postion determination by multilateration using a constellation of satellites. They can be categorized as follows: 1) Coordinated Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (CAST), 2) Random Access Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (RAST)...

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Technical Assessment of Satellites for CONUS Air Traffic Control, Volume I - Coordinated Aircraft-To-Satellite Techniques

Surveillance aspects of the Advanced Air Traffic Management System

June 22, 1972
  |
Project Report
Author:
Adrian E. Eckberg Jr
…
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-10
Topic:
surveillance
R&D area:
R&D group:

Summary

Three topics with impact on the performance of Air-to Satellite-to-Ground Systems for Air Traffic Control Surveillance are addressed in detail: 1) vulnerability to intentional jamming; 2) performance degradation due to the multiple access noise which results from uncoordinated aircraft transmissions, and 3) tracking techniques for improved surveillance accuracy and reduced short-term outages.
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Summary

Three topics with impact on the performance of Air-to Satellite-to-Ground Systems for Air Traffic Control Surveillance are addressed in detail: 1) vulnerability to intentional jamming; 2) performance degradation due to the multiple access noise which results from uncoordinated aircraft transmissions, and 3) tracking techniques for improved surveillance accuracy and reduced...

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Surveillance aspects of the Advanced Air Traffic Management System
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