Terrestrial and Satellite-based Positioning and Navigation Systems – A Review with a Regional and Global Perspective

Abstract

Satellite-based navigation techniques have revolutionized modern-day surveying with unprecedented accuracies along with the traditional and terrestrial-based navigation techniques. However, the satellite-based techniques gain popularity due to their ease and availability. The position and attitude sensors mounted on satellites, aerial, and ground-based platforms as well as different types of equipment play a vital role in remote sensing providing navigation and data. The presented review in this paper describes the terrestrial (LORAN-C, Omega, Alpha, Chayka) and satellite-based systems with their major features and peculiar applications. The regional and global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) can provide the position of a static object or a moving object i.e., in Kinematic mode. The GNSS systems include the NAVigation Satellite Timing And Ranging Global Positioning System (NAVSTAR GPS), of the United States of America (USA); the Globalnaya navigatsionnaya sputnikovaya sistema (GLObal NAvigation Satellite System, GLONASS), of Russia; BEIDOU, of China; and GALILEO, of the European Union (EU). Among the initial satellite-based regional navigation systems included are the TRANSIT of the US and TSYKLON of what was then the USSR which became operational in the 1960s. Regional systems developed in the last decade include the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) and the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). Currently, these global and regional satellite-based systems provide their services with accuracies of the order of 10–20 m using the trilateration method of surveying for civil use. The terrestrial and satellite-based augmented systems (SBAS) were further developed along with different surveying techniques to improve the accuracies up to centimeters or millimeter levels for precise applications.