Space Solutions for Aviation Dr Lee-Anne McKinnell Managing Director Space Science South African National Space Agency (SANSA)

INTRODUCTION “South Africa to be an international Hub for Space Solutions for the world of the future” SANSA’s VISION CONTENTS Space Weather Impact; Navigation Solution - SBAS; Magnetic Technology Solutions;

Space Weather – Impact on Aviation

Space Weather refers to conditions on the Sun and in the solar wind, magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere that can influence the performance and reliability of space-borne and ground-based technological systems. WHAT IS SPACE WEATHER? Space weather is a consequence of the behaviour of the sun, the nature of Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere, and our location in the solar system.

IMPACT ON AVIATION HF Communication only For 15 and 11-hour periods in Oct 2003, the vertical error limit (50 meters), was exceeded. Commercial aircraft were unable to use WAAS for precision approaches. Airline communication (HF) Airline Navigation Radiation doses (particularly for polar routes)

Space weather events that affects Aviation sectors

Align with international standards for the provision and access to space weather information in order to meet the ICAO recommendations. Create awareness of the space weather information requirements within the national aviation sector. Data, statistics and information on aviation events, concerns, and legislative requirements are needed in order to ensure that the right information can be prepared at the right time to enable safe decision-making. Requirements

TYPICAL PRODUCTS and SERVICES for AVIATION  Daily space weather bulletins (in ICAO approved format)  Warnings and alerts on adverse space weather and its potential impact  Radiation dose calculations for given routes  Predictions of Ionospheric Propagation Conditions  Real time TEC maps that indicate ionospheric disturbance Note  SANSA is part of the International group working with ICAO to determine a set format for space weather information that is usable by all areas of aviation  To assess what would be useful to the South African aviation sector, data and information from aviation partners is required

SBAS - Enhancing aviation safety and better serving remote rural areas

RSA-SBAS South African Satellite Based Augmentation Service A collaborative SANSA / AVANTI / UKSA project

the partnership Led by: Avanti Applied Technologies In partnership with: United Kingdom Space Agency South African National Space Agency Teamed with: GMV NSL PildoLabs Wessex Adroit Economics Thales Alenia Space Osprey Consulting University of Bath CSIR Ghana ASECNA 2016 © Avanti Communications 11

What is an SBAS? Satellite-based augmentation services (SBAS) improve the performance of GPS – They provide corrections to improve accuracy to around 1m horizontal and 1.5m vertical – They provide integrity information within 6s to confirm service status SBAS systems broadcast these data from a geostationary satellite using a GPS-like signal SBAS data can be used by many existing low-cost GPS receivers without the expense of an additional data-link 12 GEO & SBAS Payload GPS GPS look- alike signal

the test-bed infrastructure 2016 © Avanti Communications 13 End-to-end SBAS process duration: 6 seconds

A commercial aviation perspective SBAS-Africa has developed a preliminary business case for the RSA Government based on the RSA National Treasury Capital Planning Guidelines. SBAS-Africa benefits are driven mainly by agriculture and land-mobile logistics. SBAS-Africa has ignored commercial aviation (e.g. including a Category 1 precision approach or similar with a 200-foot decision height) because the associated cost is unaffordable and the additional benefits are very limited. SBAS-Africa has considered a general / business aviation precision approach capability with a 400-foot decision height to mitigate controlled flight into terrain. SBAS-Africa has considered four aviation market segments (airports, general and business aviation, helicopters and drones) that together contribute around 3% of the total SBAS-Africa benefit. SBAS-Africa has considered in part the cost of benefit realisation including the development of SBAS approach procedures for aviation. 14

Results 15 GPS onlyGPS + SBAS IntegrityNo integrity providedIntegrity granted Accuracy

Magnetic Technology Products & Services for Aviation

GEOMAGNETIC FIELD MODELLING Studies of secular variation over Southern Africa using magnetometer data from low-Earth orbit satellites and ground based stations  Magnetic inclination and declination maps; variations at certain points etc.

Calibration and maintenance of Landing (reference) compasses Magnetic survey of compass swing areas Presentation of training courses relating to the execution of aircraft compass swings Execution of magnetic tests on newly developed avionics equipment (RTCA/DO-160G and 3G.100:Part 2: Section 2 MAGNETIC NAVIGATION GROUND SUPPORT

North South East West NE SE NW SW Reciprocal bearing compass swing procedure being executed of an ORYX helicopter of the SAAF 8-Point Reciprocal bearing compass swing procedure using an external magnetic compass as a reference Handheld Landing or reference compass Magnetic survey of compass swing areas

CALIBRATION OF MAGNETOMETERS / ELECTRONIC COMPASSES Characteristics of magnetometers: Noise levels Non-linearity Temperature effects Calibration of magnetometers: Sensitivity e.g. 12 nT/mV Electronic offsets Mechanical non-orthogonalities Misalignment with enclosure Specialised Helmholtz Coils System has homogeneous area of 0.01% variation in the middle – 25cm diameter

COMPENSATION FOR PLATFORM MAGNETISM Pre-flight and in-flight calibration routines Rotating the platform on a 2D / 3D non-magnetic test jig Rotation of a user-defined magnetic field around a stationary platform

Magnetically clean environment, expertise & quality assured data Large tri-axial Helmholtz Coil system - used to evaluate and calibrate various magnetic sensors and systems Zero-field (< 10nT) magnetic shielding chamber for magnetic evaluation of sensors Non-magnetic temperature chamber for functional temperature evaluation of magnetic sensors High temperature Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) for the recording of very faint geomagnetic signals Various high sensitive scalar and vector research grade magnetometers for measurement and evaluation of magnetic environments UNIQUE FACILITIES AT SANSA

Helmholtz Coils System Provide training in the use of magnetic survey and calibration equipment

Thank you in service of humanity

Magnetic tests on avionics equipment RTCA/DO-160G – Section 15 and similar tests being executed to determine the magnetic effect of equipment on the magnetic navigation system of manned aircraft

Calibration and maintenance of landing compasses Training courses such as aircraft compass swing procedures Magnetic Navigation Ground Support Geomagnetic data and field modelling Calibration and evaluation of systems containing magnetometers Acquisition, Evaluation and Calibration of magnetometers for space and other navigation applications Magnetic and electrical field measurements and management Execution of magnetic tests according to international standards WHAT SANSA OFFERS…

Platforms have various sources of magnetism: Permanent or hard iron magnetism Induced or soft iron magnetism Magnetism due to DC currents Magnetic shielding These sources cause errors as magnetometer measures total field including these sources Permanent magnetism and DC currents cause offsets on the magnetometer Induced magnetism cause changes in sensitivity CALCULATING THE MAGNETISM OF DYNAMIC PLATFORMS X m = ? Y m = ? Z m = ? Volt or nT Geomagnetic field Sources of magnetic fields

Magnetic Survey of compass swing areas – used during the calibration process for aircraft compasses Two very accurate declinometers is used to determine the variation in declination across the area – procedure compensates for external magnetic field variations during the survey Variation in declination is calculated – must adhere to a specification Current SACAA legislation is lacking in terms of the above specification