UNIT 4

INTRODUCTION TO NAVIGATION SYSTEMS

RADIO NAVIGATION

1.AUTOMATIC DETECTION FINDER (ADF)

 Automatic direction finding (ADF) is an electronic aid to navigation that identifies the relative
bearing of an aircraft from a radio beacon such as an NDB.
 Essentially, ADF consists of a loop aerial which is rotated physically or electronically and detects the
direction of aircraft.
 The ADF/NDB navigation system is one of the oldest air navigation systems still in use today.
 It works from the most simple radio navigation concept: a ground-based radio transmitter (the NDB)
sends an omnidirectional signal that an aircraft loop antenna receives. The result is a cockpit
instrument (the ADF) that displays the aircraft position relative to an NDB station, allowing a pilot to
"home" to a station or track a course from a station.

ADF/NDB Errors

 Ionosphere Error: Specifically during periods of sunset and sunrise, the ionosphere reflects NDB
signals back to Earth, causing fluctuations in the ADF needle.
 Electrical Interference: In areas of high electrical activity, such as a thunderstorm, the ADF needle
will deflect toward the source of electrical activity, causing erroneous readings.
 Terrain Errors: Mountains or steep cliffs can cause bending or reflecting of signals. The pilot should
disregard erroneous readings in these areas.
 Bank Error: When an aircraft is in a turn, the loop antenna position is compromised, causing the
ADF instrument to be off balance.

General characteristics

 Pilots have found the ADF/NDB system to be reliable in determining position, but for a simple
instrument, an ADF can be very complicated to use.
 To begin, a pilot selects and identifies the appropriate frequency for the NDB station on his ADF
selector.
 Tracking to an NDB station in an aircraft can be done by "homing," which is simply pointing the
aircraft in the direction of the arrow.

Types of ADF Indicator

Four types of ADF Indicators are in use. In every case, the needle points to the navigation beacon.

 Fixed Compass Card.

 Rotatable Compass Card.
 Single-needle Radio Magnetic Indicator.
 Dual-needle Radio Magnetic Indicator.

Fixed Compass Card

The Fixed Indicator's compass card is exactly as the name says. It is fixed to the
face of the instrument and cannot rotate; 0° is always straight up—the nose of
the aircraft.

Rotatable Compass Card

In this type, the pilot can now rotate the compass

card with the heading knob to display the aircraft’s magnetic heading "straight
up." Then the ADF needle will directly indicate the magnetic bearing to the
NDB.

Single-needle Radio Magnetic Indicator

The Single-Needle Radio Magnetic Indicator is the best of all worlds. The Radio
Magnetic Indicator, as its name implies, is an instrument that combines radio and
magnetic information to provide continuous heading, bearing, and radial information. It
is an extremely simple indicator.

Dual-needle Radio Magnetic Indicator

The dual-needle RMI is similar to the single-needle RMI except that it has a
second needle. The dual-needle indicator is particularly useful in fixing the
location of an aircraft. The two lines of position appear right on the face of
the gauge.

Advantages

• ADF does not suffer from LOS since it operates at the MF band.

Disadvantages
• Error in ground wave .
• During night time, ionosphere layer is low and hence strong sky waves lead to large error. To minimize
the errors at this point of time it is recommended to limit the use of ground stations.
• Terrain has effect on the use of this technology due to reflection from mountains as well as coastal region.
• Rain, snow and thunderstone will affect operation of antenna and hence this ADF system.

2.DISTANCE MEASURING INSTRUMENT(DME)

 Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) is defined as a navigation beacon, usually coupled with a
VOR beacon, to enable aircraft to measure their position relative to that beacon.
 The aircraft DME transmits interrogating radio frequency (RF) pulses, which are received by the
DME antenna at the ground facility. The signal triggers ground receiver equipment to respond to the
interrogating aircraft. The airborne DME equipment measures the elapsed time between the
interrogation signal sent by the aircraft and reception of the reply pulses from the ground station.
This time measurement is converted into distance in nautical miles (NM) from the station.
 Some DME receivers provide a groundspeed in knots by monitoring the rate of change of the
aircraft’s position relative to the ground station. Groundspeed values are accurate only when tracking
directly to or from the station.
 Distance measuring equipment (DME) is a system requiring both aircraft-installed and ground-based
equipment, with the latter normally co-located with a VHF omnidirectional radio range (VOR) or,
sometimes, an instrument landing system (ILS).
 It provides the pilot with the slant-range distance to the DME transmitter. Slant-range distance will
always be slightly greater than the flight-planned distance to a DME station, because it also includes
the aircraft’s height above the station.
 When used in conjunction with the VOR system, DME makes it possible for pilots to determine an
accurate geographic position of the aircraft, including the bearing and distance TO or FROM the
station.

 On the Ground DME has following features:

• It operates in the UHF frequency band from 960 to 1215 MHz with 100 number of channels.
• Each ground station is able to handle 100 Aircrafts simultaneously.
 As we know DME system is also referred as Integrator. It operates in UHF band. It operates in the
range from 150 to 200 miles.
DME Components
The pilot-controllable features of the DME receiver include:

Channel (Frequency) Selector

Many DMEs are channeled by an associated VHF radio, or there may be a selector switch so a pilot can
select which VHF radio is channeling the DME.

ON/OFF/Volume Switch
The DME identifier is heard as a Morse code identifier with a tone somewhat higher than that of the
associated VOR or LOC. It is heard once for every three or four times the VOR or LOC identifier is heard.
If only one identifier is heard about every 30 seconds, the DME is functional, but the associated VOR or
LOC is not.

Mode Switch
The mode switch selects between distance (DIST) or distance in NMs, groundspeed, and time to station.
There may also be one or more HOLD functions that permit the DME to stay channeled to the station that
was selected before the switch was placed in the hold position. This is useful when you make an ILS
approach at a facility that has no collocated DME, but there is a VOR/DME nearby.

Function of DME
A DME is used for determining the distance from a ground DME transmitter. Compared to other VHF/UHF
NAVAIDs, a DME is very accurate. The distance information can be used to determine the aircraft position
from the station. This is referred to as a DME arc.

Advantages

DME system is rarely affected by precipitation static and thunderstorms.

Disadvantages
• The system will provide slant distance(S) . Error between actual distance D and S is less when slant
distance(S) is taken larger than the Aircraft altitude.
• DME system is limited to LOS due to UHF band of operation.

3.VHF

 The VHF Omnidirectional Range navigation system, VOR, was probably the most significant
aviation invention other than the jet engine. With it, a pilot can simply, accurately, and without
ambiguity navigate from Point A to Point B.
 The widespread introduction of VORs began in the early 1950s and 50 years later it remains the
primary navigation system in the overwhelming majority of aircraft.
Principle

 The basic principle of operation of the VOR is very simple: the VOR facility transmits two signals at
the same time. One signal is constant in all directions, while the other is rotated about the station.
The airborne equipment receives both signals, looks (electronically) at the difference between the
two signals, and interprets the result as a radial from the station.

Elements of VOR

The VOR display has four elements:

A. A Rotating Course Card, calibrated from 0 to 360°, which indicates the VOR bearing chosen as the
reference to fly TO or FROM.
B. The Omni Bearing Selector, or OBS knob, used to manually rotate the course card.
C. The CDI, or Course Deviation Indicator -This needle swings left or right indicating the direction to
turn to return to course. When the needle is to the left, turn left and when the needle is to the right,
turn right, When centered, the aircraft is on course.
D. The TO-FROM indicator- This arrow will point up, or towards the nose of the aircraft, when flying
TO the VOR station. The arrow reverses direction, points downward, when flying away FROM the
VOR station. A red flag replaces these TO-FROM arrows when the VOR is beyond reception range,
has not been properly tuned in, or the VOR receiver is turned off. Similarly, the flag appears if the
VOR station itself is inoperative, or down for maintenance. Here, the aircraft is flying TO the station.

Working

 The ground station is aligned with magnetic north and emits two signals—a 360-degree sweeping
variable signal and an Omni-directional reference signal. The signals are compared by the aircraft's
receiver, and a phase difference between them is measured, giving a precise radial position of the
aircraft and display.
 VORs come with high, low, and terminal service volumes and dimensions. High-altitude VORs can
be used up to 60,000 feet and 130 nautical miles wide. Low-altitude VORs service aircraft up to
18,000 feet and up to 40 nautical miles wide. Terminal VORs go up to 12,000 feet and 25 nautical
miles. The network of VORs typically provides thorough coverage along published visual flight rules
(VFR) and instrument flight rules (IFR) routes
 VOR can also find voice codes
  The VOR transmitter sends a Morse ID code to the aircraft VOR receiver. VOR transmitter is also
used for two way voice communication.

Errors

 VORs are still a line-of-sight instrument. Pilots flying in low or mountainous terrain may find it
difficult to successfully identify a VOR facility.
 Also, there exists a "cone of confusion" when flying near a VOR. For a brief period when an aircraft
flies near or over the top of a VOR station, the aircraft instrument will give erroneous readings.
 Finally, VOR ground systems require constant maintenance, and they commonly are out of order for
short periods of time while maintenance is performed.

Advantages
 VOR is more efficient than ADF since its indicator point to the ground VOR transmit system.
Disadvantages

• Error is approx about +/- 2 Degree.

• It is limited to LOS due to VHF band operation.
• VOR signals are either reflected or blocked or distorted due to buildings,Mountains,Fences, power lines
etc.
• At higher altitude interference may occur between two ground stations operated at the same frequency.
• VOR does not provide the aircraft heading, it only points to the ground station.

4.LORAN

 LORAN, short for long range navigation, was a hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in
the United States during World War II.
.

BASIC CONCEPT
 Hyperbolic navigation systems can be divided into two main classes, those that calculate the time
difference between two radio pulses, and those that compare the phase difference between two
continuous signals. Here we will consider the pulse method only.
 Consider two radio transmitters located at a distance of 300 kilometers (190 mi) from each other,
which means the radio signal from one will take 1 millisecond to reach the other.
 One of these stations is equipped with an electronic clock that periodically sends out a trigger signal.
When the signal is sent, this station, the "master", sends out its transmission. 1 ms later that signal
arrives at the second station, the "slave". This station is equipped with a receiver, and when it sees
the signal from the master arrive, it triggers its own transmitter. This ensures that the master and
slave send out signals precisely 1 ms apart, without the slave needing to have an accurate timer of its
own. In practice, a fixed time is added to account for delays in the electronics.
 A receiver listening for these signals and displaying them on an oscilloscope will see a series of blips
on the display. By measuring the distance between them, the delay between the two signals can be
calculated.
 When plotted on a chart, the collection of possible locations for any given time difference forms a
hyperbolic curve. The collection of curves for all possible measured delays forms a set of curved
radiating lines, centred on the line between the two stations, known as the "baseline".
 In order to take a fix, the receiver takes two measurements based on two different stations. The
intersections of the two sets of curves normally results in two possible locations. Using some other
form of navigation, dead reckoning for instance, one of these possible positions can be eliminated,
thus providing an exact fix.
LORAN stations

 The signal from a single LORAN transmitter will be received several times from several directions.
This image shows the weak groundwave arriving first, then signals after one and two hops off the
ionosphere's E layer, and finally one and two hops off the F layer. Operator skill was needed to tell
these apart.

 LORAN stations were built in pairs, one master and one slave, typically separated by about 600
miles (970 km). Each pair broadcast on one of four frequencies, 1.75, 1.85, 1.9 or 1.95 MHz (as well
as the unused 7.5 MHz).
 In any given location it was common to be able to receive more than three stations at a time, so
some other means of identifying the pairs was needed. LORAN adopted the use of varying the pulse
repetition frequency (PRF) for this task, with each station sending out a string of 40 pulses at either
33.3 or 25 pulses per second.
 Stations were identified with a simple code, with a number indicating the frequency band, a letter for
the pulse repetition frequency, and a number for the station within the chain.
Advantages
 LORAN was deliberately designed to allow skywaves to be used, and the resulting received signal
was far more complex.
 LORAN-C does not suffer from LOS since it operates at LF band.
 Signal propagation is based on GND waves; therefore large travel ranges are possible.

Disadvantages
 Error will be about +/- 150 m.
 Ground wave propagation error, the velocity at which the signal travels may vary, and hence some
offset may be introduced in calculating the aircraft position fix.
 There are not enough LORAN-C ground stations in the world to cover all possible air routes.
  Since the pattern depended on the atmospherics between the transmitter and receiver, the received
pattern was different for the two stations. One might receive a two-bounce skywave from one station
in the same time as a three-bounce wave from another, making interpretation of the display quite
difficult.
 Although LORAN deliberately used the same display as Gee, the signals were so much longer and
more complex than Gee that direct measurement of the two signals was simply not possible.
 Only one master/slave measurement could be made at once; to produce a "fix", the entire
measurement procedure had to be repeated a second time using a different set of stations.

5.DECCA

 The Decca Navigator System was a hyperbolic radio navigation system which allowed ships and
aircraft to determine their position by receiving radio signals from fixed navigational beacons

OPERATION

 The Decca Navigator System consisted of a number of land-based radio beacons organised
into chains.
 Each chain consisted of a master station and three (occasionally two) secondary stations, termed Red,
Green and Purple. Ideally, the secondaries would be positioned at the vertices of an equilateral
triangle with the master at the centre.
 The baseline length, that is, the master-secondary distance, was typically 60–120 nautical miles
(110–220 km). The transmitted signal frequency is between 70 to 130 KHz.
 Each station transmitted a continuous wave signal that, by comparing the phase difference of the
signals from the master and one of the secondaries, resulted in a set of hyperbolic lines of
position called a pattern.
 As there were three secondaries there were three patterns, termed Red, Green and Purple. The
patterns were drawn on nautical charts as a set of hyperbolic lines in the appropriate colour.
Receivers identified which hyperbola they were on and a position could be plotted at the intersection
of the hyperbola from different patterns, usually by using the pair with the angle of cut closest to
orthogonal as possible.

 When two stations transmit at the phase-locked frequency, the difference in phase between the two
signals is constant along a hyperbolic path. Of course, if two stations transmit on the same frequency,
it is practically impossible for the receiver to separate them; so instead of all stations transmitting at
the same frequency, each chain was allocated a nominal frequency.
 Since the wavelength of the common frequency was small compared with the distance between the
Master and Slave stations there were many possible lines of position for a given phase difference,
and so a unique position could not be arrived at by this method.
  Other receivers, typically for aeronautical applications, divided the transmitted frequencies down to
the basic frequency (1f) for phase comparison, rather than multiplying them up to the LCM
frequency.
 During daylight, ranges of around 400 nautical miles (740 km) could be obtained, reducing at night
to 200 to 250 nautical miles (460 km), depending on propagation conditions.
 The region between two iso-phase lines representing zero degree phase difference is called a lane.

The accuracy depended on:

 Width of the lanes

 Angle of cut of the hyperbolic lines of position
 Instrumental errors
 Propagation errors (for example, Skywave)

ADVANTAGE

 The ability of small craft to return to and enter harbours with relative safety under conditions of
reduced visibility.
 Accurate identification of the position of vessels in distress during search and rescue operations.
 Avoidance of commercial shipping lanes by small craft.
 Reliability of the system, covering both fixed and airborne equipment.
 The convenience of various cockpit displays.
 Pilot training requirements.
 Advantages of Decca at lower altitudes.
 Ability to deviate from and return to course for weather avoidance.
 Use as a primary aid for instrument and low visibility approaches.
 Overall effect on safety.

APPLICATIONS

1. DELRAC
This was known as Delrac, short for "Decca Long Range Area Cover".In the immediate post-war era,
Decca began studying a long-range system, but using much lower frequencies to enable reception
of skywaves at long distances.
2. DECTRA
The system was known as Dectra, short for "Decca Track". Unlike the Delrac system, Dectra was
essentially the normal Decca Navigator system with the modification of several existing transmitter
sites. The main advantage of Dectra compared to other systems was that it could be used for both
medium-range navigation over land, as well as long-range navigation over the Altlantic. In
comparison, the VOR/DME system that ultimately won the competition offered navigation over
perhaps a 200 mile radius, and could not offer a solution to the long-distance problem.

6.OMEGA

 OMEGA avionic system is a long range navigational aids and it stands for Optimized Method for
Estimated Guidance Accuracy.
  It provides 2D Aircraft position fix.
 This technology is based on navigation using a hyperbolic grid, which is quite similar to the
LORAN-C.
 To obtain the Aircraft position fix at least two LOPs are required. The only difference is that in the
OMEGA process we need three ground stations without tagging them as master or slave like we did
using LORAN-C.
 Consider two radio transmitters located at a distance of 300 kilometers (190 mi) from each other,
which means the radio signal from one will take 1 millisecond to reach the other.
 One of these stations is equipped with an electronic clock that periodically sends out a trigger signal.
When the signal is sent, this station, sends out its transmission. 1 ms later that signal arrives at the
second station. This station is equipped with a receiver, and when it sees the signal from the first
sation arrive, it triggers its own transmitter. This ensures that both stations send out signals precisely
1 ms apart, without second station needing to have an accurate timer of its own. In practice, a fixed
time is added to account for delays in the electronics.
 A receiver listening for these signals and displaying them on an oscilloscope will see a series of blips
on the display. By measuring the distance between them, the delay between the two signals can be
calculated.
 When plotted on a chart, the collection of possible locations for any given time difference forms a
hyperbolic curve. The collection of curves for all possible measured delays forms a set of curved
radiating lines, centred on the line between the two stations, known as the "baseline".
 In order to take a fix, the receiver takes two measurements based on two different stations. The
intersections of the two sets of curves normally results in two possible locations.

FEATURES

Following are features of OMEGA system on the Ground:

• Only 8 OMEGA transmit systems exist in the world.
• Frequency of operation: VLF from 10.2 to 13.6 kHz
• OMEGA signals propagate using sky waves.
• Each GND station could transmit 4 possible time shared signals.
• Transition time from one signal Freq to another is approx. 0.2 seconds.
• The signal transmission scheme repeats every 10 seconds.
• GND based atomic clocks are used to synchronize stations among each other.
• Range of Operation: 6,000 miles (approx. 10,000 km)

ADVANTAGES

• OMEGA does not suffer from LOS since it operates at VLF band.
• Sky wave propagation uses the reflective property of the ionosphere layer; hence large travel ranges are
possible.
DISADVANTAGES

• Error in this system can be about+/-- 0.5 miles (approx.+/-1 1km)

• Sky Wave Propagation Error: The velocity at which the signal travels may vary, and hence some offset
may be introduced.
• Diurnal Error: The ionosphere layer varies in height during day and night and therefore errors are
generated. That is for position fix, 3-stations are needed, and in most cases these GND stations are not
aligned within the same time zone; therefore different ionosphere heights will result at different
geographical locations.
• Maintenance of the OMEGA GND stations is quite costly.

7.ILS

 An instrument landing system (ILS) enables pilots to conduct an instrument approach to landing if
they are unable to establish visual contact with the runway.
 A radio navigation system which provides aircraft with horizontal and vertical guidance just before
and during landing and, at certain fixed points, indicates the distance to the reference point of
landing.
PRINCIPLE

 An instrument landing system operates as a ground-based instrument approach system that provides
precision lateral and vertical guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a
combination of radio signals and, in many cases, high-intensity lighting arrays to enable a safe
landing during instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), such as low ceilings or reduced
visibility due to fog, rain, or blowing snow.
 An instrument approach procedure chart (or 'approach plate') is published for each ILS approach to
provide the information needed to fly an ILS approach during instrument flight rules
(IFR) operations. A chart includes the radio frequencies used by the ILS components or nav aids and
the prescribed minimum visibility requirements.
 Radio-navigation aids must provide a certain accuracy (set by international standards of
CAST/ICAO); to ensure this is the case, flight inspection organizations periodically check critical
parameters with properly equipped aircraft to calibrate and certify ILS precision.
SUB SYSTEMS
 An aircraft approaching a runway is guided by the ILS receivers in the aircraft by performing
modulation depth comparisons. Many aircraft can route signals into the autopilot to fly the approach
automatically. An ILS consists of two independent sub-systems. The localizer which provides lateral
guidance; the glide slope which provides vertical guidance.
Localizer
 A localizer (LOC, or LLZ until ICAO standardisation) is an antenna array normally located beyond
the approach end of the runway and generally consists of several pairs of directional antennas.
 The localizer will allow the aircraft to turn and match the aircraft with the runway. After that, the
pilots will activate approach phrase (APP).
Glide slope of ILS (G/S)
 The pilot controls the aircraft so that the glide slope indicator remains centered on the display to
ensure the aircraft is following the glide path of approximately 3° above horizontal (ground level) to
 remain above obstructions and reach the runway at the proper touchdown point (i.e., it provides
vertical guidance).

LIMITATIONS

 Localizer systems are sensitive to obstructions in the signal broadcast area, such as large buildings or
hangars.
 Glide slope systems are also limited by the terrain in front of the glide slope antennas. If terrain is
sloping or uneven, reflections can create an uneven glidepath, causing unwanted needle deflections.
 Additionally, since the ILS signals are pointed in one direction by the positioning of the arrays, glide
slope supports only straight-line approaches with a constant angle of descent.
 Installation of an ILS can be costly because of siting criteria and the complexity of the antenna
system.
 ILS critical areas and ILS sensitive areas are established to avoid hazardous reflections that would
affect the radiated signal. The location of these critical areas can prevent aircraft from using certain
taxiways leading to delays in takeoffs, increased hold times, and increased separation between
aircraft.
 There are only 40 channels available worldwide.
 The azimuth and glideslope beams are fixed and narrow. As a result, aircraft have to be sequenced
and adequately separated which causes landing delays.
 There are no special procedures available for slower aircraft, helicopters, and Short Take Off and
Landing (STOL) aircraft.
  ILS cannot be sited in hilly areas and it requires large expanses of flat, cleared land to minimise
interference with the localiser and glideslope beams.
 Vehicles, taxying aircraft, low-flying aircraft and buildings have to be kept well away from the
transmission sites to minimise localiser and glideslope course deviations (bending of the beams).

BENEFITS
 Pilot actions for GLS approaches are exactly the same for ILS approaches. This eliminates the need
for any dedicated pilot training. The only significant difference between an ILS and GLS approach,
for a pilot, is they dial in a channel number rather than and ILS radio frequency.
 The system can provide significant safety, capacity, efficiency and environmental benefits for
airlines, airports and air navigation service providers.
 For airlines, the benefits include less flight disruptions and associated cost caused by ILS
interference and requires minimal pilot training to achieve this.
 Airports will also benefit from improved airport capacity from accurately-guided, simultaneous
operations to parallel runways and reduced runway exit times therefore increasing capacity.
8.MLS

 MLS avionic system is a approach landing navigational aids and it stands for Microwave Landing
System.
 It provides Aircraft guidance for curved or straight or segmented flight path landing.
 The main outputs obtained using MLS are bearing, slant distance, and altitude in the approach
terminal area.
 MLS system is exclusively used by military due to its flexibility in Approach Landing as opposed to
the civilian ILS.

FEATURES
The Microwave Landing System (MLS) has the following features:
 There are 200 channels available worldwide.
 The azimuth coverage is at least ± 40° of the runway on-course line (QDM) and glideslopes from .9°
to 20° can be selected. The usable range is 20-30 nm from the MLS site.
 There is no problem with back-course transmissions; a secondary system is provided to give
overshoot and departure guidance .
 It operates in the SHF band, 5031 - 5090 MHZ. This enables it to be sited in hilly areas without
having to level the site.
  Course deviation errors (bending) of the localiser and glidepath caused by aircraft, vehicles and
buildings are no longer a problem because the MLS scanning beam can be interrupted and therefore
avoids the reflections.
 Because of its increased azimuth and elevation coverage aircraft can choose their own approaches.
This will increase runway utilisation and be beneficial to helicopters and STOL aircraft.
 The MLS has a built-in DME.
 MLS is compatible with conventional localiser and glidepath instruments, EFIS, auto- pilot systems
and area navigation equipment.
 MLS gives positive automatic landing indications plus definite and continuous on/off flag indications
for the localiser and glideslope needles.
 The identification prefix for the MLS is an ‘M’ followed by two letters.
PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
 MLS employs the principle of Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) whereby only one frequency is
used on a channel but the transmissions from the various angle and data ground equipments are
synchronised to assure interference free operations on the common radio frequency.
 Azimuth location. Time referenced scanning beam (TRSB) is utilised in azimuth and elevation as
follows: the aircraft computes its azimuth position in relation to the runway centre-line by measuring
the time interval in microseconds between the reception the ‘to’ and ‘fro’ scanning beams. The beam
starts the ‘to’ sweep at one extremity of its total scan and travels at a uniform speed to the other
extremity. It then starts its ‘fro’ scan back to its start position. The time interval between the
reception of the ‘to’ and ‘fro’ pulses is proportional to the angular position of the aircraft in relation
to the runway on-course line. The pilot can choose to fly the runway on-course line (QDM) or an
approach path which he selects as a pre-determined number of degrees ± the runway direction.
 Glideslope location. Another beam scans up and down at a uniform speed within its elevation limits.
The aircraft’s position in relation to its selected glideslope angle is thus calculated in the same
manner by measuring the time difference between the reception of the pulses from the up and down
sweep. The transmissions from the two beams and the transmissions from the other components of
the MLS system are transmitted at different intervals i.e. it uses ‘ time multiplexing’.
Other components of the system are:
• Flare- Although the standard has been developed to provide for flare elevation, this function is not
intended for future implementation
• Back azimuth.- Gives overshoot and departure guidance ± 20° of runway direction up to 15° in elevation.
• DME Range along the MLS course is provided not by markers but by a DME.

ADVANTAGES

• Improved guidance accuracy with greater coverage area.

• Provide flexible landing path.
• Offers guidance for missed approaches and departure.
• MLS has low sensitivity from weather conditions and airport GNS traffic as oppose to ILS.
• MLS offers 200 frequency channels, 10-times more than ILS.
• Maintenance and installation of MLS is cheaper.

DISADVANTAGES

The use of Microwave Landing System is not much in use in civilian aircrafts.
9.INS

 INS avionic system is a long range navigational aids and it stands for Inertial Navigation System. It
provides aircraft velocity (3D) and position fix (3D).
 INS is based on DR, i.e. we first need to obtain the aircraft vectorial acceleration, then integrate
once to obtain the velocity, and finally integrate a second time to get the position.
 Also, what makes this technology quite amazing is that it is a self contained system. Hence no
ground stations are required for operation.
TYPES OF INS
 In the Aircraft there are two types of INS as mentioned below.
1. Stable-Platform INS or Gimballed INS:
The stable platform isolates the gyroscopes and accelerometers from the aircraft angular motion, and
hence remains in-synch with the earth co-ordinate system. The system contains 3 Gyroscopes(G) viz.
GROLL, GPITCH and GYAW. It contains 3 movable Accelerometers.

2. Strap Down INS:

This type of INS has no moving parts; and therefore, the accelerometers are solidly connected to the
airframe and gyroscopes are well aligned with the aircraft X-Y-Z coordinate system. It contains three laser
gyroscopes viz. GROLL (Gx), GPITCH (Gy), GYAW (Gz). The two laser light beams are sent one clockwise, and
the other counter clockwise. It contains 3 non movable accelerometers.
3. In addition to velocity and position, INS provides following parameters:
• Track to fly
• Off-track distance
• Distance between 2 points
• Stores alternate destination positions
• Determines true North direction
• Recalculates ETAs

IRS
 Modern INS systems are known as IRS.
 They are completely solid-state units with no moving parts.
 Three-ring, laser gyros replace the mechanical gyros in the older INS platform systems.
 This eliminates precession and other mechanical gyro shortcomings.
 The use of three solid-state accelerometers, one for each plane of movement, also increases accuracy.
 The accelerometer and gyro output are input to the computer for continuous calculation of the
aircraft’s position.
 The most modern IRS integrate is the satellite GPS. The GPS is extremely accurate in itself. When
combined with IRS, it creates one of the most accurate navigation systems available.
 The GPS is used to initialize the IRS so the pilot no longer needs to do so. GPS also feeds data into
the IRS computer to be used for error correction.
 Occasional service interruptions and altitude inaccuracies of the GPS system pose no problem for
IRS/GPS.
 The IRS functions continuously and is completely self contained within the IRS unit.
 Should the GPS falter, the IRS portion of the system continues without it.
 The latest electronic technology has reduced the size and weight of INS/IRS avionics units
significantly

ADVANTAGES

1.) Following are advantages of INS avoinic system.

• INS is a self-contained airborne system that does not need any outside NAV source.
• It displays in real-time the Aircraft velocity and position.
• It operates at all the altitudes.
• Sometimes GPS is used as an aid to INS in order to correct or attenuate errors.

2) Stable-Platform INS:
• It gets aligned with the earth coordinate system despite aircraft angular motion.
• Accelerometers and gyros are protected from malfunctioning due to severe maneuvers since they are not
directly connected to the airframe.
3) Strap Down INS:
• Mechanically simple to realize.
• Laser gyros are more robust than traditional ones.

DISADVANTAGES

1.) In General:
• Drift Error is approx. about +/- 0.5 kts (+/-k 1 Km/hr)
• Errors are generated by non orthogonality of accelerometers.
• Vibration and thermal variation may cause flaws in information data.
• INS is an expensive technology.

2) Stable-Platform INS:
• Mechanically more complicated to realize.
• Errors generated by non-orthogonality of gyros.
• Gyros may suffer from EMI.

3) Strap-Down INS:
• NAV accuracy is highly dependant on the A/C maneuver, given that the accelerometers and gyros
are directly connected to the airframe.
• Demands more computations as first need to convert accelaration from Aircraft coordinates to the
earth coordinates Then perform DR to get the velocity and position.

INERTIAL SENSORS

1. Inertial sensor is an electronic device that measures and reports a body's specific force, angular rate,
and sometimes the magnetic field surrounding the body, using a combination of accelerometers and
gyroscopes, sometimes also magnetometers
2. Accelerometers Measures the rate of change of velocity
3. MEMS employed inside IC of accelerometer
4. Contains capacitors
5. Gyroscopes • Measures orientation and angular velocity .Contains capacitors
6. Magnetometer • Detects magnetic field around the body • Finds north direction • Magnetic field is
expressed as a electrical quantity • Measured using Hall effect

10.SATELLITE NAVIGATION SYSTEM

 A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-
spatial positioning.
  It allows small electronic receivers to determine their location (longitude, latitude,
and altitude/elevation) to high precision (within a few metres) using time signals transmitted along
a line of sight by radio from satellites.
 The system can be used for providing position, navigation or for tracking the position of something
fitted with a receiver (satellite tracking).

 For accurately locating the position, a minimum of four satellites would be required.
 Electronic receivers make use of signals for analyzing the current local time to high precision.
 Satellite navigation capable of global coverage is called a global navigation satellite system.
 The electronic receiver analyzes the time and the distance from each of the satellites to reach the
user's receiver antenna. The fourth satellite in the navigation system helps in removing the distance
ambiguity involved in the case of three satellites. In fact, the more satellites involved in a satellite
navigation system, the higher precision the accuracy that can be achieved.
 Satellite navigation systems are more accurate than other navigation options. Being a broadcast
system based on radio signals, an unlimited number of people can use it an unlimited number of
times, regardless of location. Satellite navigation systems aid in air and sea traffic as well.

WORKING

 A satellite navigation system (also known as a sat nav system) is a system of satellites, usually
managed by one company or country that provides geo-spatial positioning, which is a technical term
for a specific location on or above the Earth in 3 dimensions.
 The satellite uses an atomic clock (most accurate time and frequency standards known) to maintain
synchronization of all the satellites in the constellation. The receiver compares the time of broadcast
encoded in the transmission with the time of reception measured by an internal clock, thereby
measuring the time-of-flight to the satellite.
 The receiver measures signals from several satellites at the same time so that it can use triangulation
to determine its location. Triangulation is the process of determining the location of a point by
measuring the angles to it from two known points. The precise satellite locations are included in the
transmission and the time-of-flight of the signal is used to calculate the distance to each satellite. The
receiver then does some math and calculates its location on the Earth. The more satellites the
receiver can track, the more accurate the location calculation.
 The receiver calculates 4 parameters; latitude, longitude, altitude and time. As a result, the receiver
generally needs to see at least 4 satellites to calculate the 4 unknowns. It can give estimates for the
values with fewer satellites, but the potential error increases.
 GPS is comprised of three segments:
control segment
space segment
user segment.
 CONTROL SEGMENT:
 The master control station, is responsible for overall management of the remote monitoring and
transmission sites.
 Monitor Stations: Each of the monitor stations checks the exact altitude, position, speed, and overall
health of the orbiting satellites. The control segment uses measurements collected by the monitor
stations to predict the behavior of each satellite's orbit and clock. The prediction data is up-linked, or
transmitted, to the satellites for transmission back to the users. The control segment also ensures that
the GPS satellite orbits and clocks remain within acceptable limits. A station can track up to 11
satellites at a time. This "check-up" is performed twice a day, by each station, as the satellites
complete their journeys around the earth. Noted variations, such as those caused by the gravity of the
moon, sun and the pressure of solar radiation, are passed along to the master control station.
 Ground Antennas: Four ground antennas monitor and track the satellites from horizon to horizon.
They also transmit correction information to individual satellites.
  SPACE SEGMENT

 The space segment includes the satellites and the Delta rockets.
 Internal components such as atomic clocks and radio transmitters. Each satellite contains four atomic
clocks. These clocks are accurate to at least a billionth of a second or a nanosecond. An atomic clock
inaccuracy of 1/100th of a second would translate into a measurement (or ranging) error of 1,860
miles to the GPS receiver.
 The space segment consists of total 28 operational satellites around the earth in 6 different orbital
planes. The orbits are about 20180 Km above the surface of earth and are enclined at 55 degree with
the equator. GPS satellite usually takes about 12 hours to complete the one round of its orbit, but due
to rotation of earth, it takes about 24 hours for the GPS satellite to come to its originatin place in the
orbit. Total four GPS satellites are needed to determine the position in 3D space.

 USER SEGMENT

 User segment can be divided as aviation and non-aviation. The user segment includes the equipment
of the military personnel and civilians who receive GPS signals. Military GPS user equipment has
been integrated into fighters, bombers, tankers, helicopters, ships, submarines, tanks, jeeps, and
soldiers' equipment. In addition to basic navigation activities, military applications of GPS include
target designation, close air support, "smart" weapons, and rendezvous.

ADVANTAGE
1. Flexible tracking
2. User preffered routes
3. Dynamic airborn reroute procedure
TYPES

 In the early days of the U.S. run NAVSTAR GPS system, an error code was transmitted with the
satellite signal. These beacons were built along the coast and waterways by the United States Coast
Guard and similar organizations in other countries to help ships navigate local coastlines and
waterways. This required a separate receiver, which increased the cost and really prevented the
systems from becoming commercially viable.
 Other agencies in the United States and around the world created their own augmentation systems to
improve accuracy. This includes the Federal Aviation Administration for commercial aircraft
navigation and the Coast Guard for maritime navigation. Similar systems were created in Europe,
Russia, Japan, India and others.
 The error code was deactivated in 2000 and GPS has since become very widely used. However, the
fact that the United States could turn the error code back on at any time or even turn off the signals
entirely has prompted other countries to begin to develop satellite navigation systems of their own.

11.GPS

 GPS stands for Global Positioning System.

 It is developed and managed by US Defence.
 It is only fully operational Global Navigation Satellite System in the globe.
 The system has about 24 to 32 earth orbit satellites which transmit radio signals. These signals help
GPS receivers to determine location, time and velocity. The devices are embedded with GPS receiver
chip to have this functionality.
 GPS satellites are usually located at the height of 20,000 Km above the earth and orbits with speed of
14000 Km/Hr. Signals are transmitted at the speed of light by these GPS satellites. .
WORKING
 There are three segments in Global Positioning System viz. space segment (GPS satellites), control
segment(e.g. ground stations comprised of master control station, monitor stations and ground
control stations) and user segment (e.g. GPS users).
 The space segment consists of total 28 operational satellites around the earth in 6 different orbital
planes. The orbits are about 20180 Km above the surface of earth and are enclined at 55 degree with
the equator. GPS satellite usually takes about 12 hours to complete the one round of its orbit, but due
to rotation of earth, it takes about 24 hours for the GPS satellite to come to its originatin place in the
orbit. Total four GPS satellites are needed to determine the position in 3D space.

 The GPS satellite transmits following information in a navigation message at 50 bps.

• Satellite time and synchronized signals• orbital data• time correction information • approx. orbital
data for all satellites • data on ionosphere • correction signals to calculate transit time of signal •
information on satellite health
  The control segment of the Global Positioning System is a network of ground stations that monitors
the shape and velocity of the satellites' orbits. The GPS Control Segment consists of a global network
of ground facilities that track the GPS satellites, monitor their transmissions, perform analysis, and
send commands and data to the constellation

 User segment can be divided as aviation and non-aviation. The user segment includes the equipment
of the military personnel and civilians who receive GPS signals. Military GPS user equipment has
been integrated into fighters, bombers, tankers, helicopters, ships, submarines, tanks, jeeps, and
soldiers' equipment. In addition to basic navigation activities, military applications of GPS include
target designation, close air support, "smart" weapons, and rendezvous.

ADVANTAGES
➨The GPS signal is available anywhere on the globe. Hence user will not deprive of GPS facility anywhere.
➨There is no charge to utilize the GPS service as US Defence bears cost of GPS system. It is maintained
and upgraded by US Department of Defence. It is cheaper compare to other navigational systems.
➨The GPS system gets calibrated by its own and hence it is easy to be used by anyone.
➨It provides user with location based information. This will be helpful in various applications such as
mapping (used in cars), location (geocaching), performance analysis (used in sports), GIS etc.
➨GPS helps find retail outlets in new visitor location.

DISADVANTAGES

Following are the disadvantages of GPS:

➨GPS chip is power hungry which drains battery in 8 to 12 hours. This requires either battery replacement
or recharge.
➨GPS signal does not pierce through the solid walls or structures. Moreover it is affected by large buildings
or structures. Due to this, user will not be able to utilize GPS service in indoors or under water or in dense
tree regions or in underground stores or places etc.
➨GPS accuracy depends on sufficient received signal quality. GPS signal gets affected due to multipath,
atmosphere (i.e. ionosphere), electromagnetic interference etc. This leads to error of about 5 to 10 meters in
GPS signal.
➨Though currently system is managed by US DoD and users are utilizing the system free of cost, it is in the
hand of US to allow or deny the GPS service at anytime.
➨It is better not to rely completely on GPS system. Backup travel maps with directions will help in the
event of GPS system failure.