This paper introduces a highly detailed radar altimeter simulation model, considering geometric and signal processing aspects. The simulation model is deployed in a simulation environment for a better understanding of the different error sources of radar altimeters. To characterize the strengths and weaknesses of the altimeter simulation model, the simulation results are compared to recorded altimeter flight test data. A slant range compensation algorithm is introduced applying the altimeter simulation model inflight. The performance of the slant range compensation algorithm is shown on recorded flight test data of an octocopter trajectory as well as on a fixed‐wing aircraft trajectory. Copyright © 2016 Institute of Navigation

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Knowledge of the propagation of sensor errors in strapdown inertial navigation is crucial for the design of inertial and integrated navigation systems. The propagation of initialization errors and deterministic sensor errors is well covered in the literature. If considered at all, the propagation of inertial sensor noise has typically been assessed for un-correlated (white) Gaussian noise. Real inertial sensor noise, however, is time-correlated (colored) and best described by a combination of different stochastic processes. In this paper, we demonstrate how a navigation system’s response to colored noise input differs from the response to bias-like or white noise inputs. We present a method for assessing the navigation error from various inertial sensor noise processes without the need for time-consuming Monte Carlo simulations and demonstrate its application and validity with real sensor data. The proposed method is used to determine in which scenarios the sensor’s real noise can be approximated by simple white Gaussian noise. The results indicate that neglecting colored sensor noise is justified for many applications, but should be checked individually for each sensor configuration and mission.

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