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2020-09-01

Australia and New Zealand to Develop Joint SBAS

The Governments of Australia and New Zealand recently announced that they plan to invest $160 million to develop a joint Space Based Augmentation System (SBAS) – the Southern Positioning Augmentation Network.

Australians and New Zealanders rely on satellite and positioning technology every day in almost every aspect of their lives. From air traffic control to directions to the supermarket, more precise positioning technology makes businesses more productive and lives safer. It also creates opportunities to explore and harness previously unknown technologies and developments.

The investment of both governments in creating the Network could unlock more than $7.6 billion in economic benefit over 30 years according to a 2019 report by EY and FrontierSI. This will be shared across every economic and social sector and create more globally competitive businesses. It will spark the next wave of technology and start-ups, generating economic benefit across both Australia and New Zealand.

The SBAS solution offered by Thales will deliver a sovereign, high-integrity, high-reliability positioning solution of metre-level accuracy for the aviation industry and decimetre (10 – 15cm) accuracy for other sectors such as agriculture, construction, mining, freight, and, critically, defence and national security.

The Network required for Australia and New Zealand will deliver a number of different types of signals that will enable ‘Safety of Life’ and Precise Point Positioning applications.

The Safety of Life applications are the hardest to achieve and will require formal certification by the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in order for AirServices Australia and its equivalent, Airways New Zealand, to utilise the services for aviation applications.

What is a SBAS?

SBAS is essential for applications where accuracy and integrity are critical. In particular, it is indispensable in situations where people’s lives are at stake or where a form of legal or commercial guarantee is required and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is being used. For example, in the aviation sector GPS does not satisfy the strict operational requirements set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for use in such critical flight stages as final approaches. However, with the addition of SBAS, ICAO standards are satisfied.

Beyond the aviation sector, SBAS improves and extends the scope of such GNSS applications as precision farming, on-road vehicle fleet management, among others.

Moreover, SBAS improves the accuracy and reliability of GNSS information by correcting signal measurement errors and by providing information about the accuracy, integrity, continuity and availability of its signals.

SBAS uses GNSS measurements taken by accurately located reference stations deployed across an entire continent. All measured GNSS errors are transferred to a central computing centre, where differential corrections and integrity messages are calculated. These calculations are then broadcast over the covered area using geostationary satellites that serve as an augmentation, or overlay, to the original GNSS message.

Several countries have implemented their own SBAS. These include:

• U.S.: Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)

• Europe: European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), has been in operation since 2011, without a single second of down time

• Japan: Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS)

• India: Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geostationary Earth Orbit or INMARSAT Geostationary satellite (GEO) Augmented Navigation (GAGAN)

• China: Satellite Navigation Augmentation System (SNAS) (in development)

• South Korea: Wide Area Differential Global Positioning System (WADGPS) (in development)

• Russia: System for Differential Corrections and Monitoring (SDCM) (in development).

By establishing this capability, Australia and New Zealand can leverage previously developed systems to de-risk the Network’s delivery. The Network is more than a project; it is a transformational piece of social and economic infrastructure.

For example, Europe’s SBAS system has become an integral part of smart, connected and integrated farm management solutions and a key driver for precision farming across the whole crop cycle.

All of these systems comply with a common global standard and are therefore, compatible, so they do not interfere with each other. They are also interoperable – a user with a standard receiver can benefit from the same level of service and performance, regardless of what coverage area they are located in.

Reference Text/Photo:

www.thalesgroup.com

ESA EGNOS book SP-1303

www.agrotic.otg

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