Measuring Aircraft Carrier Flexure in Support of Autonomous Aircraft Landings

Author

Petovello, Mark G. ; O´Keefe, Kyle ; Lachapelle, Gérard ; Canno, M. Elizabeth

Author_Institution

Dept. of Geomatics Eng., Univ. of Calgary, Calgary, AB

Volume

45

Issue

2

fYear

2009

fDate

4/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

523

Lastpage

535

Abstract

This paper quantifies the experimental measurements of aircraft carrier flexure (deformation) at sea in support of the United States Department of Defense sea-based Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) that aims to deliver automatic landing capabilities to inbound aircraft aboard aircraft carriers. The methodology for measuring ship flexure using the Global Positioning System (GPS) and inertial sensors is described. Results indicate that flexure on the aircraft carrier used for testing has a standard deviation of approximately 1-2 cm. For the ship tested, the most significant flexure effects are in the port/starboard direction and correlate best with roll or lateral acceleration.

Keywords

aircraft landing guidance; aircraft carrier flexure; automatic landing capabilities; autonomous aircraft landings; Aircraft; Global Positioning System; Life estimation; Marine vehicles; Position measurement; Sea measurements; Sensor phenomena and characterization; Sensor systems; Testing; US Department of Defense;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Aerospace and Electronic Systems, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9251

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TAES.2009.5089539

Filename

5089539