GNSS Airborne Multipath Error Modeling Under UAV Platform and Operating Environment

Abstract

In the case of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a GNSS sensor, a boundary line where the vehicle can actually exist can be calculated using a navigation error model, and safe navigation (e.g., precise landing and collision prevention) can be supported based on this boundary line. Therefore, for the safe operation of UAV, a model for the position error of UAV needs to be established in advance. In this study, the multipath error of a GNSS sensor installed at UAV was modeled through a flight test, and this was analyzed and compared with the error model of an existing manned aircraft. The flight test was conducted based on a scenario in which UAV performs hovering at an altitude of 40 m, and it was found that the multipath error value was well bound by the error model of an existing manned aircraft. This result indicates that the error model of an existing manned aircraft can be used in operation environments similar to the scenario for the flight test. Also, in this study, a scenario for the operation of multiple UAVs was considered, and the correlation between the multipath errors of the UAVs was analyzed. The result of the analysis showed that the correlation between the multipath errors of the UAVs was not large, indicating that the multipath errors of the UAVs cannot be canceled out.