Precision Signal-in-space Measurements of Terrestrial Navigation Systems using Multicopter

Precision Signal-in-space Measurements of Terrestrial Navigation Systems using Multicopter

Schrader, Thorsten (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Fachbereich Hochfrequenz und Felder)
Bredemeyer, Jocchen (FCS Flight Calibration Services GmbH)
Mihalachi, Marius (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Fachbereich Hochfrequenz und Felder)
Kleine-Ostmann, Thomas (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Fachbereich Hochfrequenz und Felder)

2018-12-06

The project WERAN aimed to determine the interaction of wind turbines (WT) with signals of terrestrial navigation systems such as VHF omnidirectional radio ranges (VOR) and RADAR. One of the main goals of the project was to quantify the additional VOR bearing error caused by wind turbines by means of measurement and numerical simulations. In this presentation we will discuss the results of on-site measurements and compare those with numerical simulations. A remote- controlled multicopter with precision localization has been used as measurement platform. It carries a compact but capable high frequency instrumentation and integrated antennas to measure simultaneously both the AM reference signal and the FM signal of a Doppler VOR as true signal-in- space. Actual position, time stamp and measurement data are simultaneously stored at the platform. These measurements give insight into the signal content and signal integrity of VOR with and without WT. Furthermore, varying operational conditions of WT such as rotation vs idle state or angular movement of the nacelle may have different influence on the additional bearing error. During the follow-up project WERAN plus we will use the measurement data and simulation results to derive a model-based assessment tool. This will allow for prediction of the degree of interference (additional bearing error) of additional WT in the area around VOR with given topology.

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:fc019c04-b297-48f9-81e3-49340466439f

Conference proceedings

conference paper

(c) the authors