THE FAA's WIDE-AREA AUGMENTATION SYSTEM (WAAS) FOR GPS
Edward B. Sheppard Jr.
University of Texas at Austin
Aerospace Engineering Department
ASE 389 P 7 - Dr. Glenn Lightsey
May 9, 2001
BIOGRAPHY
Ed Sheppard is a Master's Student in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT in 1993. Ed is currently serving as a Lieutenant and Aeronautical Engineering Officer on active duty in the U.S. Coast Guard. Additionally, he is a commercially instrument rated pilot and U.S. Coast Guard Helicopter Aircraft Commander. Ed Sheppard can be contacted at eshep@mail.utexas.edu
ABSTRACT
Stand-alone GPS fails to satisfy the three basic requirements as a precise aircraft navigation reference: Availability, Integrity, and Accuracy. The FAA is aggressively augmenting the GPS with the Wide-Area Augmentation System (WAAS). WAAS is capable of satisfying strict system requirements by augmenting raw GPS with satellite health monitoring, correction data, and additional ranging information. WAAS is capable of achieving position errors less than 7.6 meters 95% of the time and warn users when position information is invalid. Eventually, WAAS will become the primary aircraft navigation system for transoceanic flights, enroute domestic flights, non-precision instrument approaches, and Category I precision instrument approaches.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the following individuals for their assistance in guaranteeing a successful research project.
Richard J. Hartnett, CAPT, U.S. Coast Guard, Head of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, for procuring the NovAtel receiver and assigning me the initial familiarization. http://www.cga.edu/acd/eng/EE/facstaff/hartnett.html
Timothy Waldie, Senior Chief Petty Officer, U.S. Coast Guard, Electrical & Computer Engineering Staff, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, for shipping the WAAS receiver from New London, CT to Austin, TX and for arranging my travel plans to present my findings to the U.S. Coast Guard in late May.
Chris Pettigrew, Geomatics Engineer, NovAtel GPS Customer Support, for providing professional technical support regarding the theory of WAAS and the uses and limitations of the WAAS receiver.
Bobby Cisneros, Utilities Drafting Supervisor, Planning & Facilities, University of Texas at Austin, for providing surveyed locations on the campus at UT.
Jerry Bailey, Information Technologies Group (ITG), College of Engineering, University of Texas at Austin for providing me with a laptop to collect data and interface with the WAAS receiver.
[HOME]
[PROJECT OBJECTIVES - METHODOLOGY]
[BACKGROUND - PRECISION APPROACHES - IS GPS THE ANSWER?]
[WAAS SYSTEM OVERVIEW - HISTORY - SIGNAL - BENEFITS ]
[EXPERIMENTAL
DATA COLLECTION & RESULTS
[APPENDIX]