Assessment of ionospheric gradient impacts on ground-based augmentation system (GBAS) data in Guangdong Province, China

Ionospheric delay is one of the largest and most variable sources of error for Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS) users because inospheric activity is unpredictable. Under normal conditions, GBAS eliminates ionospheric delays, but during extreme ionospheric storms, GBAS users and GBAS ground facilities may experience different ionospheric delays, leading to considerable differential errors and threatening the safety of users. Therefore, ionospheric monitoring and assessment are important parts of GBAS integrity monitoring. To study the effects of the ionosphere on the GBAS of Guangdong Province, China, GPS data collected from 65 reference stations were processed using the improved “Simple Truth” algorithm. In addition, the ionospheric characteristics of Guangdong Province were calculated and an ionospheric threat model was established. Finally, we evaluated the influence of the standard deviation and maximum ionospheric gradient on GBAS. The results show that, under normal ionospheric conditions, the vertical protection level of GBAS was increased by 0.8 m for the largest over bound σ_vig(sigma of vertical ionospheric gradient), and in the case of the maximum ionospheric gradient conditions, the differential correction error may reach 5 m. From an airworthiness perspective, when the satellite is at a low elevation, this interference does not cause airworthiness risks, but when the satellite is at a high elevation, this interference can cause airworthiness risks.