SBIR Phase I: A Realtime Atmospheric Mapping and Monitoring System to Enable a Next-Generation Global Navigation Service

这项小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是改善定位、导航和授时基础设施。全球导航卫星系统（GNSS）每年用于为数十亿设备提供测绘功能，但估计有1.4亿设备对高安全性和/或准确性有关键需求。此外，未来的网络物理系统，如自动驾驶汽车和空中移动，将有更高的性能要求，包括安全关键操作、精确定位和数十亿设备的网络安全。这个项目将推进一种新的定位系统。SBIR第一阶段项目提出发展天基大气测绘和卫星完整性监测系统（AMSIM），以支持来自低地球轨道（LEO）卫星导航星座的高完整性、精确定位服务。这需要监测卫星的故障并绘制电离层和对流层状况，传统上是通过诸如广域增强系统（WAAS）等地面基础设施网络完成的。然而，为了达到自主系统所需的精度，地面监测站之间的间隔必须小于100公里，这限制了在海洋和其他偏远地区的性能。这项工作提出了一种基于空间的无处不在的服务监测方法的研究。它将利用卫星间通信链路进行完整性监测，利用GNSS无线电掩星（RO）技术进行对流层监测，并利用断层扫描进行电离层测绘。该第一阶段项目将使用物理模型、计算机模拟和来自RO和地面监测方法的可用大气数据产品进行验证。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to improve Position, Navigation, and Timing infrastructure. Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are used to provide mapping capabilities in billions of devices annually, but an estimated 140 million have critical needs for high security and/or accuracy. Furthermore, future cyber-physical systems, such as self-driving cars and aerial mobility, will have higher performance requirements, including safety-critical operation, precision positioning, and cyber-security for billions of devices. This project will advance a new positioning system. This SBIR Phase I project proposes the development of a space-based Atmospheric Mapping and Satellite Integrity Monitoring system (AMSIM) to support a high-integrity, precise positioning service from a Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellite navigation constellation. This requires monitoring satellites for faults and mapping ionospheric and tropospheric conditions, traditionally accomplished via a network of ground infrastructure, such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). However, to achieve the precision needed for autonomous systems, ground monitoring stations must be spaced less than 100 km apart, limiting performance over oceans and other remote areas. This work proposes the investigation of a space-based monitoring approach for a ubiquitous service. It will leverage inter-satellite communication links for integrity monitoring, techniques in GNSS Radio Occultation (RO) for tropospheric monitoring, and tomography for ionospheric mapping. This Phase I project will use physical models, computer simulation, and available atmospheric data products derived from RO and ground-based monitoring approaches for validation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.