Configuration Analysis of European Navigational Aids Network

Navigational aids network is an important component of a modern air navigation system which supports airplane navigation in airport areas by standard schemes and provides stand-by positioning capability for scenarios of primary on-board positioning system lock or malfunction. In the paper we consider a navigational aids network of each Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) within European airspace to provide overall configuration analysis. A network of Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) is analyzed based on the impact of particular ground transponder on positioning performance. An amount of DME pairs and impact of each transponder into the effective area of RNAV1 are used as criterions for configuration analysis of the network. The service area of navigational aids network is estimated based on the Standard service volume model of ground transponder. Also, we provide navigational aids network analysis based on graph theory. Navigational aids network is represented in the form of weighted graph to estimate centrality and betweenness for ranging network nodes. A graph of navigational aids includes edges between DMEs, which form pairs based on ICAO Doc. 1396 requirements. Obtained results of graph analysis help to identify service quality in the boundary area of the network. Graph analysis identifies network performance across European coastline, where DME service is limited. At the final stage, we provide an estimation of Horizontal dilution of precision coefficient to evaluate influence of the geometry of ground network configuration on positioning performance. Structure of each national network is composed in a different manner, due to variety of ANSP roadmaps and different periods of development that affect overall positioning performance. Obtained results of the analysis helps to highlight point for improvement in the development of European navigational aids network.