GBAS airport availability simulation tool

A global navigation satellite system augmentation system availability analysis tool has been developed to simulate a ground-based augmentation system (GBAS) prototype, an integrity monitor test bed, to evaluate its operational benefits at an airport of interest. The proposed availability simulation tool includes all GBAS ground facility algorithms as well as a graphical user interface that allows the user to modify simulation options and parameters. The output of the simulation tool is presented in a Stanford chart to help visualize the performance. The chart indicates the availability and integrity. The performance is evaluated primarily in the vertical position domain because of the weaker satellite geometry and more stringent required navigation performance as compared to those of the horizontal position domain. The simulation tool is implemented in Qt (http://www.qt.io/), an open-source cross-platform toolkit, allowing the tool to run on various devices. The computations are performed in the associated C++ code. The Newark Liberty International Airport (ICAO code: KEWR) is used as a simulation example to demonstrate the utility of the developed tool for investigating how reduced error models impact GBAS availability at the airport.