A

Seminar Report
ON

INTRODUCTION OF GPS AND STORM

DETECTION USING INDIAN NAVIGATION
SATELLITE SYSTEM

submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of

Bachelor of Technology

in
Electronics and Communication Engineering

by

Nikhil Sharma
(Roll no: 16EUCEC031)

Rajasthan Technical University

October 2020
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Nikhil Sharma a student of B.Tech. (Electronics and Com-
municatoin Engineering) VIII semester has submitted his Seminar entitled "INTRO-
DUCTION OF GPS AND STORM DETECTION USING INDIAN NAVIGATION
SATELLITE SYSTEM" under my guidance.

Seminar Guide
Dr. Jankiballabh Sharma
Associate Professor
Department of Electronics Engineering
Rajasthan Technical University
Kota (Rajasthan)

i
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I owe my profound gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Jankiballabh Sharma for his valuable
guidance, supervision, constant support and encouragement which have made me as a
constant oasis of ideas and passion in science which exceptionally inspire and enrich my
knowledge to complete this report work.

The Seminar Report on “INTRODUCTION OF GPS AND STORM DETECTION

USING INDIAN NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEM” has been done under the
kind guidance of my mentor Dr. Jankiballabh Sharma, Associate Professor, Department
of Electronics Engineering, Rajasthan Technical University, Kota. I wish to acknowledge
my gratitude for his valuable guidance and splendid supervision without which it would
not have been possible to complete the report. I also thank all the respected faculty mem-
bers of the Department of Electronics Engineering.

Finally, I express my sincere gratitude to all the members of faculty and my friends who
contributed their valuable advice and helped to complete the report successfully.

Date: Nikhil Sharma (16/368)

ii
 ABSTRACT

GPS known as Global Positioning System is a collection of number of satellites in the

space sending the precise location details in the space back to Earth. Signals are obtained
by the GPS instrument which uses to calculate its location, speed, and time at the location,
height of the location and other info. It is very popular in the military world and was
first developed by the USA military during the Cold war period. After early 1980 GPS
technology is available to the public. Before the military use, 1960 was the year when
GPS was first used for ship navigation by USA navy.

The GPS AIDED GEO AUGMENTED NAVIGATION (GAGAN) is an implementation

of a regional satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) by the Government of India. It
is a system to improve the accuracy of a GNSS receiver by providing reference signals.
The main objectives of GAGAN are to provide Satellite based Navigation services with
accuracy and integrity required for civil aviation applications and to provide better Air
Traffic Management over Indian Airspace.

NAVIGATION INDIAN CONSTELLATION SYSTEM (NavIC) is an independent re-

gional navigation satellite system developed by India. It is designed to provide accurate
position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500
km from its boundary, which is its primary service area.
Navigation satellites provide a good opportunity to monitor both ionospheric and tro-
pospheric conditions by using propagation delays in the L-band signal. However, the
availability of S-band frequency in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, Nav-
igation with Indian Constellation (NavIC), provide a unique opportunity to utilize signal
strength for monitoring thunderstorms. This article, for the first time, demonstrates that
NavIC satellite signal strength measurements can be used to detect thunderstorms. A dy-
namic time warping technique has been used to detect the presence of thunderstorm cloud
systems. The method has been tested with case studies measurements. The results indi-
cate suitability of such techniques for monitoring and forecasting of thunderstorms using
a navigation satellite.

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 CONTENTS

CERTIFICATE i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

CONTENTS iv

LIST OF FIGURES vi

Chapter 1 Global Positioning System (GPS) 1

1.1 Definition of GPS 1
1.2 Evolution of the GPS 1
1.3 GPS Segments/ Components of GPS/ Principles of GPS 4
1.3.1 The Control Segment 4
1.3.2 The Space Segment 5
1.3.3 The User Segment 6
1.4 Applications or Uses of GPS 7
1.5 Navigation Satellite System 8
1.5.1 Global Navigation Satellite System 8
1.5.2 Regional Navigation Satellite Systems 10

Chapter 2 Jamming and Spoofing of GNSS 12

2.1 GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems 12
2.1.1 How GNSS Works 12
2.2 Jamming of GPS 13
2.2.1 Detection and Mitigation - Jamming 14
2.3 Spoofing of GPS 15
2.3.1 Detection and Mitigation - Spoofing 16

Chapter 3 GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) 18

3.1 Introduction 18
3.2 Implementation 18
3.3 Technology demonstration 19
3.3.1 Study of Ionosphere 20
3.4 Technology Integration 20
3.5 Developments 20
3.6 GAGAN Satellites 21
3.7 Applications of GAGAN Satellites 22

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Chapter 4 Navigation With Indian Constellation (NavIC) 24
4.1 The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) 24
4.2 System description 24
4.2.1 Space segment 25
4.2.2 Ground segment 25
4.2.3 Signal 27
4.2.4 Accuracy 27
4.2.5 NavIC Features 27
4.3 NavIC Performance Observations 28
4.4 List of satellites 28
4.5 How India built NavIC, the country’s own GPS network 29
4.5.1 Applications of NavIC 33

Chapter 5 Detection of Thunderstorm Using Indian Navigation Satellite NavIC 34

5.1 System Description 34
5.2 Methodology 35
5.2.1 Simple Template Matching in S-Band 35
5.2.2 Correlation Analysis 36
5.2.3 DTW Algorithm 36
5.3 Results and Discussion 37
5.3.1 Seasonal Variation of Signal Strength 37
5.3.2 Case Study: Monitoring a Thunderstorm System 38

REFERENCES 40

v
 LIST OF FIGURES

1.1 Different Earth Orbital Satellites 2

1.2 Different GPS signal for the different Blocks 3
1.3 Global Positioning System Segments 4
1.4 Frequency allocation and spectrum of all the different GNSS signals 9
2.1 Global Navigation Satellite System 12
2.2 Working of GNSS 13
2.3 Jamming of GNSS 14
2.4 Spoofing of GNSS 16
3.1 GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (Navigation) 18
3.2 GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (Indian SBAS) 19
3.3 GNSS Constellation 21
3.4 GAGAN TDS Configuration (Technology Demonstration System) 21
3.5 GAGAN FOP Configuration (Final Operation Phase) 22
4.1 Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System 24
4.2 Navic- India’s GPS System 25
4.3 IRNSS Space Segment 26
4.4 IRNSS Ground Segment Architecture 26
4.5 NavIC Performance observations I 29
4.6 NavIC Performance observations II 29
4.7 IRNSS 1A test in clean room 30
4.8 IRNSS 1A Liftoff 31
4.9 GPS and NavIC 31
4.10 ISRO NavIC on Qaulcomm phones 32
5.1 Navigation from Space 34
5.2 DTW Technique 36
5.3 WL variation of three sessions of the day and movement of the cloud
system as observed by the Doppler radar cloud imagery. (NR: nonrainy
day and R: rainy day). (a) 0-8 UTC (b) 8-16 UTC (c) 15-23 UTC 38
5.4 L and S-band signal strength variation of two months 39

vi
 Chapter 1

Global Positioning System (GPS)

1.1 Definition of GPS
• The GPS is a satellite-based navigation system made up of a network of 24 satellites
placed into orbit by the U.S. Department of Defense. GPS was originally intended
for military applications, but in the 1980s, the government made the system avail-
able for civilian use. GPS works in any weather conditions, anywhere in the world,
24 hours a day. There are no subscription fees or setup charges to use GPS.

• The global positioning system is a satellite-based navigation system consisting of

a network of 24 orbiting satellites that are eleven thousand nautical miles in space
and in six different orbital paths. The satellites are constantly moving, making two
complete orbits around the Earth in 24 hours i.e. 2.6 kilometers per second.

• The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally NAVSTAR GPS, is a satellite-

based radio navigation system owned by the United States government and operated
by the United States Space Force (USSF). It is one of the Global Navigation Satellite
Systems (GNSS) that provides geo location and time information to a GPS receiver
anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or
more GPS satellites. Obstacles such as mountains and buildings block the relatively
weak GPS signals.

• The Global Positioning System is a space-based navigation and positioning system

that was designed by the U.S. Military to allow a single soldier or group of soldiers
to autonomously determine their position to within 10 to 20 meters of truth. The
concept of autonomy was important in that it was necessary to design a system that
allowed the soldier to be able to determine where they were without any other radio
(or otherwise) communications.

• The GPS project was started by the U.S. Department of Defense in 1973, with the
first prototype spacecraft launched in 1978 and the full constellation of 24 satellites
operational in 1993. Originally limited to use by the United States military, civilian
use was allowed from the 1980s following an executive order from President Ronald
Reagan. The system provides critical capabilities to military, civil and commercial
users around the world. It is maintained by the United States government and is
freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver.

1.2 Evolution of the GPS

Like so many other high-tech developments, GPS is maintained by the United States gov-
ernment and is freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver.

1
 Figure 1.1: Different Earth Orbital Satellites

• During the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, the U.S. Navy sponsored two satellite-
based positioning and navigation systems: Transit and Timation. The Transit sys-
tem became operational in 1964 and was made available to the public in 1969.
Timation was a prototype system that never left the ground. Simultaneously, the
U.S. Air Force was conducting concept studies for a system called the System 621B.
Ground tests were performed to validate the concept but before the system could be
implemented, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, in April 1973, designated the
Air Force as the executive service to coalesce the Timation and 621B systems into
a single Defense Navigation Satellite System (DNSS).

• From this emerged a combined system concept designated the NAVSTAR (Naviga-
tion System with Timing and Ranging) Global Positioning System, or simply GPS.
The 1970’s saw the implementation of Phase I, the concept validation phase, during
which the first prototype satellites were manufactured and tested.

• In 1973, decision to development a satellite navigation system for military.

• In 1974-1979, conducted system tests US air force and navy.

• The first functional NAVSTAR prototype satellite launch occurred in June 1977,
and was called the NTS-2 (Navigation Technology Satellite 2, which was actually
a modified Timation satellite). While the NTS-2 only survived some 7 months,
the concept was shown to be viable, and in February 1978 the first of the Block I
NAVSTAR satellites was launched.

• In 1977, first receiver test was conducted without placing the satellite in the orbit.
Signal received from pseudo- satellites. The concept started in the late ’60s but the
first satellite was launched in February 1978.

• In 1979, Phase II, full-scale development and testing of the system, was imple-
mented with nine more Block I satellites launched during the following six years.

2
• This was followed in late 1985 by Phase III, the full-scale production and deploy-
ment of the next generation of Block II satellites.

• In 1978-85, a total of 11 Block I satellites were launched.

• In 1979, decision to expand GPS with 18 satellites in space.

• In 1980-1982, financial crisis occurs when the sponsors questioned the usefulness
of the system.

• In 1983, civilian use of GPS was allowed after soviet union shot down Korean
airplane that get lost over soviet territory.

• In 1986, GPS Programme suffered a setback due to the accident of challenger,

which was supposed to carry block II satellites to the orbit. Then delta rockets
were used for the purpose.

• In 1988, numbers of satellites were increased to 24.

• In 1992 GPS was used in Operation Desert Storm 1993- Initial operation capability
(IOC) was announced and decided worldwide civilian use free of cost.

• In 2005, Launching of the II RM GPS satellite that supports the new military M
signal and the second civil signal L2C. GPS project was developed in 1973, to
overcome the limitations of previous navigation systems, integrating ideas from
several predecessors, including a number of classified engineering design studies
from the 1960s. The current system became operational on June 26, 1993 when
the 24th satellite was launched. Bradford Parkinson, Roger L. Easton, and Ivan A.
getting are credited for inventing the GPS.

Figure 1.2: Different GPS signal for the different Blocks

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1.3 GPS Segments/ Components of GPS/ Principles of GPS
The Global Positioning System consists of three major segments: the Space Segment, the
Control Segment, and the User Segment. The space and control segments are operated by
the United States Military and administered by the U.S. Space Command of the U.S. Air
Force.

Basically, the control segment maintains the integrity of both the satellites and the data
that they transmit. The space segment is composed of the constellation of satellites as
a whole that are currently in orbit, including operational, backup and inoperable units.
The user segment is simply all of the end users who have purchased any one of a variety
of commercially available receivers. While the user segment obviously includes military
users, this book will concentrate on the civilian uses only. Each of the segments will be
examined more closely in the following pages[1].

Figure 1.3: Global Positioning System Segments

1.3.1 The Control Segment

• The control segment of the Global Positioning System consists of one Master Con-
trol Station (MCS) located at Falcon Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Col-
orado, and four unmanned monitor stations located strategically around the world
e.g. Hawaii Monitor Station, Ascension Monitor Station, Diego Garcia Monitor
Station, Kwajalein Monitor Station.

• In addition, the Air Force maintains three primary ground antennas, located more
or less equidistant around the equator.

• Observation and controlling the satellite system regularly.

• To check the satellite functions and it’s accurate position in the space.

4
 • The unmanned monitor stations passively track all GPS satellites visible to them
at any given moment, collecting signal (ranging) data from each. This informa-
tion is then passed on to the Master Control Station at Colorado Springs via the
secure DSCS (Defense Satellite Communication System) where the satellite posi-
tion ("ephemeris") and clock-timing data (more about these later) are estimated and
predicted.

• The Master Control Station then periodically sends the corrected position and clock-
timing data to the appropriate ground antennas which then upload those data to each
of the satellites.

• The CS is responsible for maintaining the satellites and their proper functioning.
This includes maintaining the satellites in their proper orbital positions (called sta-
tion keeping) and monitoring satellite subsystem health and status.

• The CS updates each satellite’s clock, ephemeris, and almanac and other indica-
tors in the navigation message at least once per day. Updates are more frequently
scheduled when improved navigation accuracies are required. (Frequent clock and
ephemeris updates result in reducing the space and control contributions to range
measurement error.

• The Master control station uploads ephemeris and clock data to the SVs. The SVs
then send subsets of the orbital ephemeris data to GPS receivers over radio signals.
The MCS also monitor the position of satellites at any instant of time, the functional
capacity of the satellites and variation of the navigation data. The computation of
satellite’s Ephemeris and Clock errors are most important tasks of control stations,
as both variables are important to get high accuracy.

1.3.2 The Space Segment

• The space segment consists of the complete constellation of orbiting NAVSTAR
GPS satellites. The current satellites are manufactured by Rockwell International
and cost approximately 40$ million each.

• To each satellite must be added the cost of the launch vehicle itself which may be
as much as 100$ million. To date, the complete system has cost approximately 10$
billion. Each satellite weights approximately 900 kilograms and is about five meters
wide with the solar panels fully extended. There were 11 Block I prototype satellites
launched (10 successfully), followed by 24 Block II production units. Currently,
only one of the Blocks I satellites is still operational, while four Block II backups
remain in ground storage. The base size of the constellation includes 21 operational
satellites with three orbiting backups, for a total of 24. They are located in six orbits
at approximately 20,200 kilometers altitude.

• Each of the six orbits is inclined 55◦ S up from the equator, and is spaced 60◦ S apart,
with four satellites located in each orbit. The orbital period is 12 hours, meaning

5
 that each satellite completes two full orbits each 24-hour day.

• The space segment is the constellation of satellites from which users make ranging
measurements. The SVs (i.e., satellites) transmit a PRN-coded signal from which
the ranging measurements are made. This concept makes GPS a passive system
for the user with signals only being transmitted and the user passively receiving the
signals.

• The Space Segment of the system consists of the GPS satellites. These Space Ve-
hicles (SVs) send radio signals from space. The Space Segments - consists of the
group of minimum 24 Satellites and the signals -that are broadcast by them, which
allow user to determine position velocity and time. The basic functions of satellites
are - To receive and store data uploaded by Control Segment. Maintain accurate
time by means of on board ATOMIC CLOCKS and Transmit information and sig-
nals to users on TWO L-band frequencies. Out of 52 constellations of GPS Satel-
lites, the 11 were launched as an experimental satellite in Feb 1978 under so-called
Block 1 Phase, Block 2 and Block 2 A were launched from 1989 onwards. Full
operational capability was declared on 17 July in 1995.

• Currently 12 of these satellites are re-designed as the part of GPS Modernisation

Programme.

1.3.3 The User Segment

• Information that comes from space and sends to satellites is the most important part
of GPS.

• The part that does this work is User Segment. It has the GPS receiver section.

• GPS collect and stored the all information that has come from space. For this, 4
satellites are required.

• The GPS user segment consists of the GPS receivers and the user community. GPS
receivers convert SV signals into position, velocity and time estimates. Four satel-
lites are required to compute the four dimensions of X (latitude), Y (longitude), Z
(altitude) and T (time). GPS receivers are used for navigation, positioning, time
dissemination and other research.

• The user receiving equipment comprises the user segment. Each set of equipment
is typically referred to as a GPS receiver, which processes the L-band signals trans-
mitted from the satellites to determine user PVT (Position, Velocity and Time).

• While PVT determination is the most common use, receivers are designed for other
applications, such as computing user platform attitude (i.e., heading, pitch, and roll)
or as a timing source.

• Navigation in three dimensions is the primary function of GPS. Navigation receivers

are made for aircraft, ships, and ground vehicles and for hand carrying by indi-

6
 viduals. Precise positioning is possible using GPS receivers at reference locations
providing corrections and relative positioning, geodetic control and plate tectonic
studies are example.

• Time and frequency dissemination, based on the precise clocks on board the SVs
and controlled by the monitor stations, is another use for GPS, Astronomical ob-
servatories, telecommunications facilities, and laboratory standards can be set to
precise time signals or controlled to accurate frequencies by special purpose GPS
receivers. Research projects have used GPS signals to measure atmospheric param-
eters.

1.4 Applications or Uses of GPS

The United States government created the system, maintains it and makes it freely ac-
cessible to anyone with a GPS receiver. The global positioning system provides critical
capabilities to military, civil and commercial users around the world.

GPS and Satellite Image : GPS has been widely used to prepare map from Satellite im-
ages especially topographic surveys and thematic mapping.

Road Traffic Congestion : A navigation device has a GPRS receiver for receiving real
time information about or slow average speed on a stretch of motorway, indicating
congestion. The device calculates a new itinerary to avoid the congestion, based on
historically record speeds on secondary roads weighed by the current average speed
in the congestion area.

GPS and Terrorism : GPS is very important to determine the location of terrorist at-
tacks. For example, on the surgical strike, Indian intelligence agencies had using
the GPS and Indian Army carried out surgical strike against terror launch pads on
and along the Line of Control (LoC) on 2016.

Navigation : Navigators value digitally precise velocity and orientation measurements.

With the help of GPS roads or paths available, traffic congestion and alternative
routes, roads or paths that might be taken to get to the destination. If some roads are
busy then the best route to take, The location of food, banks, hotels, fuel, airports or
other places of interests, the shortest route between the two locations, the different
options to drive on highway or back roads etc. are easily getting better result using
GPS.

Surveying : Surveyors use absolute locations to make maps and determines property
boundaries. The surveying and mapping community was one of the first to take
advantage of GPS because it dramatically increased the productivity and resulted
in more accurate and reliable data. Today, GPS is a vital part of surveying and
mapping activities around the world.

7
Astronomy : Both positional and clock synchronization data is used in astrometry and
celestial mechanics calculations. It is also used in amateur astronomy using small
telescope to professionals observations, for example, which finding extra solar plan-
ets.

GPS and Forestation : GPS Technology Makes Tree Planting More efficient. Defor-
estation and disappearing wildlife habitats are a big problem in the modern world.
Manufacturing industries use state-of-the- art technologies to produce and sell more
paper and wood products, but there is growing concern over the devastation wrought
by their methods of obtaining materials. The rate with which large, luscious forests
are being cut down. The trees are being removed much more quickly than we can
hope to replant, as trees take many years to grow to their full potential. One solution-
orientated man is leading team, developing ways to replant forests as quickly and
efficiently as possible, using GPS technology.

1.5 Navigation Satellite System

1.5.1 Global Navigation Satellite System
1. GPS: The United States Global Positioning System (GPS) consists of up to 32 medium
Earth orbit satellites in six different orbital planes with the exact number of satellites
varying as older satellites are retired and replaced. Operational since 1978 and globally
available since 1994, GPS is the world’s most utilized satellite navigation system.

2. GLONASS (Russia): The formerly Soviet, and now Russian, Global’naya Navigat-
sionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema, (Global Navigation Satellite System or GLONASS), is a
space-based satellite navigation system that provides a civilian radio navigation-satellite
service and is also used by the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces and is the Second al-
ternative navigational system in operation. GLONASS became operational in year 1993
with 12 satellites in 2 orbits at the height of 19,130 km..

3. Galileo (EU): The European Union and European Space Agency agreed in March 2002
to introduce their own alternative to GPS, called the Galileo positioning system. Galileo
became operational on 15 December 2016 (global Early Operational Capability (EOC)).
At an estimated cost of $10 billion, the system of 30 MEO satellites was originally sched-
uled to be operational in 2010. The original year to become operational was 2014. The
first experimental satellite was launched on 28 December 2005. Galileo is expected to be
compatible with the modernized GPS system. The receivers will be able to combine the
signals from both Galileo and GPS satellites to greatly increase the accuracy. Galileo is
expected to be in full service in 2020 and at a substantially higher cost. Galileo is global
navigation system available for civilian and commercial use. The fully deployed Galileo
system will consist of 30 operational satellites and 6 in-orbit spares. As of now 22 out of
30 satellites are in orbit. Galileo started offering Early Operational Capability from 2016

8
 Figure 1.4: Frequency allocation and spectrum of all the different GNSS signals

and is expected to reach full operational capability by 2020.

4. BeiDou (China): BeiDou is Satellite Navigation System of China. It has total 22 Op-
erational satellites in orbit and the full constellation is scheduled to comprise 35 satellites.
BeiDou has two separate constellations, BeiDou-1 and BeiDou-2. BeiDou-1 also known
as first generation was a constellation of three satellites. BeiDou-2, also known as COM-
PASS, is the second generation of the system. Beidou started as the now-decommissioned
Beidou-1, an Asia-Pacific local network on the geostationary orbits. China has indicated
their plan to complete the entire second generation Beidou Navigation Satellite System
(BDS or BeiDou-2, formerly known as COMPASS), by expanding current regional (Asia-
Pacific) service into global coverage by 2020. This BeiDou-3 system is proposed to con-
sist of 30 MEO satellites and five geostationary satellites (IGSO). A 16-satellite regional

9
version (covering Asia and Pacific area) was completed by December 2012. Global ser-
vice was completed by December 2018. It became operational in year 2000 and offered
limited coverage and navigation services, mainly for users in China and neighboring re-
gions. Beidou-1 was decommissioned at the end of 2012. It became operational in the
year 2011 with a partial constellation of 10 satellites in the orbit. Next generation of it is
BeiDou-3. The first BDS-3 satellite was launched in March 2015. As of January 2018,
nine BDS-3 satellites have been launched. BeiDou-3 is expected to be fully functional by
the end of 2020.

1.5.2 Regional Navigation Satellite Systems

1. NavIC (India): The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), which
was later given the operational name of NavIC or Navigation with Indian Constellation
(NavIC), is the regional satellite navigation system of India. Launched and operated by
the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), IRNSS covers India and nearby regions
extending up to 1,500 km.
The NavIC or Navigation with Indian Constellation is an autonomous regional satellite
navigation system developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) which would
be under the total control of Indian government. The government approved the project in
May 2006, with the intention of the system completed and implemented on 28 April 2016.
It consists of a constellation of 7 navigational satellites. 3 of the satellites are placed in
the Geostationary orbit (GEO) and the remaining 4 in the Geosynchronous orbit (GSO)
to have a larger signal footprint and lower number of satellites to map the region. It is
intended to provide an all-weather absolute position accuracy of better than 7.6 meters
throughout India and within a region extending approximately 1,500 km around it. A goal
of complete Indian control has been stated, with the space segment, ground segment and
user receivers all being built in India. All 7 satellites, IRNSS-1A (1 July 2013), IRNSS-1B
(4 April 2014), IRNSS-1C (16 October 2014), IRNSS-1D (28 March 2015), IRNSS-1E
(20 January 2016), IRNSS-1F (10 March 2016), and IRNSS-1G (28 April 2016) of the
proposed constellation were precisely launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

It covers India and a region extending 1,500 km (930 mi) around it, with plans for fur-
ther extension. An Extended Service Area lies between the primary service area and a
rectangle area enclosed by the 30th parallel south to the 50th parallel north and the 30th
meridian east to the 130th meridian east, 1,500-6,000 km beyond borders. The system
at present consists of a constellation of seven satellites, with two additional satellites on
ground as stand-by.

The constellation was in orbit as of 2018, and the system was operational from early 2018
after a system check. NavIC provides two levels of service, the "standard positioning ser-
vice", which will be open for civilian use, and a "restricted service" (an encrypted one)
for authorized users (including military). There are plans to expand NavIC system by
increasing constellation size from 7 to 11.

10
2. QZSS (Japan): The Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) is the regional satellite
navigation system from Japan which is still under construction by the Satellite Position-
ing Research and Application Center, Japan. As per plans, the QZSS constellation will
have 7 satellites, out of which 4 are already in orbit. The Quasi-Zenith Satellite Sys-
tem (QZSS) is a four-satellite regional time transfer system and enhancement for GPS
covering Japan and the Asia-Oceania regions. QZSS services were available on a trial
basis as of January 12, 2018, and were launched in November 2018. The first satellite
was launched in September 2010. An independent satellite navigation system (from GPS)
with 7 satellites is planned for 2023.

11
 Chapter 2

Jamming and Spoofing of GNSS

GPS has been in use for two decades for military and commercial positioning and navi-
gation. In recent years, additional constellations have been added - GLONASS, Galileo
and Beidou. These four Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) provide reliable,
accurate worldwide coverage.

Over the years, accuracy and reliability have evolved so that one-meter accuracy is rou-
tinely achievable, and downtime events are extremely rare. Through international co-
operation, these GNSS systems share common frequency bands, and affordable, multi-
constellation navigation can be accomplished with a single receiver. The various signals
are spaced close enough together to make reception efficient, but not so close as to inter-
fere with each other.

Reliance on GNSS is now commonplace. However, all these GNSS systems share a com-
mon vulnerability: their signals are very weak. GNSS satellites operate from Mid-Earth
Orbit (MEO), approximately 20,000- 25,000 km above the earth, to provide the best cov-
erage and geometry for triangulation. As such, the transmitted signal is extremely weak
upon arrival at the surface of the earth - so weak that it is weaker than the surrounding
radio noise. Special signal processing techniques recover the GNSS signal from the back-
ground noise, but the weak signal strength at the user’s receivers makes GNSS navigation
very susceptible to interference[2].

2.1 GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems

Figure 2.1: Global Navigation Satellite System

2.1.1 How GNSS Works

Each GNSS constellation consists of approximately 20-30 orbiting satellites. Typically,
a user on the earth can see six to ten satellites at any one time from any given constella-
tion.

12
These satellites do not track the user. Rather, they behave like a set of lighthouses, all
sending out a radio pulse at the same time. The user receives each of these pulses at
different times, based on his or her distance from each satellite. This Time Difference
Of Arrival (TDOA) provides a measurement of distance based on the known propagation
velocities of radio signals. The satellites also send data reporting their precise positions in
the sky, so that by knowing your distance from each satellite and the satellites’ positions,
you can calculate your position on earth.

Figure 2.2: Working of GNSS

A side benefit of this method is precise time determination. The fact that all the satellites
transmit at exactly the same instant (within one billionth of a second or nanosecond) yields
a precision time mark.

2.2 Jamming of GPS

Jamming is the presence of a competing signal that prevents the GNSS receiver from
decoding the true satellite signal. Remember, the GNSS signals are so weak at the earth’s
surface that they are below the surrounding background noise level. Consequently, it does
not take much of an interfering signal to jam the receiver.

Jamming from other radio transmission sources can be intentional (malicious) or unin-
tentional. For example, radars or communications transmitters, though operating in a
different frequency band, may leak a tiny bit of energy into the GNSS bands. Conversely,
the GNSS receiver, though it has filters tuned to listen to the GNSS bands only, may
"hear" energy from these other transmitters because they are relatively strong by compar-
ison.

There are four main bands dedicated to Radio Navigation Satellite Service (RNSS), in
which the GNSS constellations operate:

1. L1/E1/G1 1559 - 1610 MHz

2. L2/G2 1215 - 1254 MHz

3. L5/E5/G3 1164 - 1214 MHz

4. E6 1260 - 1300 MHz

13
 Figure 2.3: Jamming of GNSS

Most commercial receivers today only operate in the L1 band. This was the first band
deployed and has been operational for several decades. Historically, the L2 band was
the encrypted band for GPS and GLONASS that the military used. In recent years, how-
ever, the L5/E5, E6, and L2C (Civilian) bands have started being deployed, and the next
generation of GNSS receivers will operate in all these bands.

Unfortunately, with today’s commercial L1 band-only receivers, it is easy to jam the en-
tire L1 band and defeat all the GNSS constellations. Cheap one-watt jammers, though
illegal in most countries, are readily available on the internet. Advertised as privacy
jammers, they can defeat GNSS reception for several kilometers around their radiation
pattern.

As the next generation of new, multi-frequency receivers begins to be deployed, it will be

necessary to jam all the GNSS bands to defeat position and navigation. That being said, it
will also be fairly easy to build a multifrequency jammer. Doing so will be only slightly
more complex, so the threat will still be present.

2.2.1 Detection and Mitigation - Jamming

Jamming is relatively easy to detect, and there are several ways to guard against it. Be-
cause the valid signals from the true GNSS satellites are below the surrounding back-
ground noise level, detecting any energy in these bands means that there is interference.
The difference between intentional and unintentional jamming is an operational concern
only - with cooperation, the unintentional jammer may be mitigated at the transmission
side, whereas with intentional jamming, there is no cooperation.

The first line of defense for jam resistance is at the antenna: Do not allow the jamming
signal into the receiver in the first place. A simple defense method is to use a horizon-
blocking antenna. Most interference, whether intentional or unintentional, comes from
the surface whereas the valid signals come from the satellites at higher elevation angles.

14
An antenna that blocks energy from below approximately 20-30◦ S elevation will block
surface interferers at all frequency bands.

However, there are two limitations to this approach:

• The best geometry for horizontal position triangulation is obtained from the horizon-
based satellites. By eliminating these satellites from the navigation solution, ac-
curacy decreases. We call this Geometric Dilution of Precision (GDOP). With
modern multi-constellation receivers, this effect is minimized compared to older
single-constellation receivers, because many more satellites are now in view. The
degradation is typically only a few meters.

• For vehicles such as aircraft or ships, the horizon can change as the vehicle pitches
and rolls, interfering with the antenna’s view. As the antenna’s horizon varies, even
some of the higher elevation satellites may be blocked and multipath reflections
may increase, further degrading accuracy.

Better performance can be achieved with smart antenna technology. Controlled Radiation
Pattern Antennas (CRPA) are devices that have multiple focused beams under software
control that can steer these beams to track the real satellites and steer away from interfer-
ence. These devices are expensive, though - $20,000 or more. Used on military vehicles
today, this technology could be applied to commercial navigation for highvalue or critical
applications, where many lives are at risk.

The next line of defense is signal filtering. When powerful, wideband jammers are used,
there is little that can be done with filtering, but the cheap jammers that are prevalent
today are low power and narrow in frequency, sweeping through the GNSS band to wreak
havoc. Modern Digital Signal Processing (DSP) techniques can eliminate these types of
interference. In-line filtering devices can be placed between existing antenna and receiver
installations and achieve a high degree of rejection. The next generation of receivers is
expected to have some of this filtering capability already installed as standard.

2.3 Spoofing of GPS

Spoofing is the intentional transmission of fake GNSS signals to divert users from their
true position. Spoofing requires sophisticated equipment to recreate the satellite signals,
so it is more difficult to do. But, if done correctly, it is more difficult to detect than
jamming. The growth in capability of Software Defined Radios (SDR) and the increase in
their affordability is making spoofing easier to implement.

Another method of spoofing is to record a valid signal at one location at a specific time
and then to replay it at a different time and location. This is sometimes called meaconing,
or a playback attack, and can also be a dangerous threat.

15
 Figure 2.4: Spoofing of GNSS

2.3.1 Detection and Mitigation - Spoofing

Spoofing detection is more difficult, especially when the spoofer is high quality. It is
very difficult to discern between fake and real satellite signals when the simulated signals
are recreated with high fidelity. Again, CRPA(Controlled Radiation Pattern Antennas)
antennas are the best defense here, because a spoofer typically generates and transmits all
the various (fake) satellites signals at one location; the real satellites signals come from all
over the sky. Therefore, the CRPA antenna, which tracks the real signals in elevation and
azimuth angles, will reject fake multiple signals coming from a single direction.

Even without a CRPA antenna, there are other techniques to recognize fake signals:

• The signal strength from the real satellites does not vary much, since the satellites
always remain relatively far away. However, fake signals generated by a spoofer
can be very strong when transmitted nearby at the surface and will vary greatly
as objects moves. Only the most sophisticated spoofer can account for motion and
adjust its transmitted signal level accordingly. To do so requires tracking the object’s
course.

• Receivers will receive both fake and real signals simultaneously. When the nav-
igation processing becomes fooled by the fake signals, range measurements will
typically jump to the new erroneous values. Step changes are not possible in real
physical systems, so this is usually an indication of spoofing.

• The data streams from each satellite may also indicate discontinuities as the receiver
switches from tracking the real signal to the fake; the same goes for time indication.
This will be especially detectable with a meaconing or playback attack, because
time will jump backwards when the replay starts.

16
 • Radio waves experience Doppler shifts the same as sound waves do as objects move.
The Doppler shifts for the real satellites will all be different as the object moves ei-
ther towards or away from them depending on their position in the sky. However,
the Doppler shift caused by the object’s motion due to a spoofer is the same for
all the satellites signals because they are all arriving from the same direction. This
uniformity of Doppler is another indication of spoofing. Again, only the most so-
phisticated spoofer can account for an object’s motion to adjust its Doppler shift for
each individual satellite, and to do so requires tracking the object’s course.

Detection software can be added to existing systems to detect and protect against jamming
and spoofing.

17
 Chapter 3

GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN)

3.1 Introduction
The GPS-aided GEO augmented navigation (GAGAN) is an implementation of a regional
satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) by the Government of India. It is a system
to improve the accuracy of a GNSS receiver by providing reference signals. The AAI’s
efforts towards implementation of operational SBAS can be viewed as the first step to-
wards introduction of modern Communication, navigation and surveillance/Air Traffic
Management system over Indian airspace.

The project has established 15 Indian reference stations, 3 Indian navigation land uplink
stations, 3 Indian mission control centers, and installation of all associated software and
communication links. It will be able to help pilots to navigate in the Indian airspace by an
accuracy of 3 m. This will be helpful for landing aircraft in marginal weather and difficult
approaches like Mangalore and Leh airports[3].

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)
have collaborated to develop the GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) as a
regional Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS). The GAGAN’s goal is to provide
a navigation system to assist aircraft in accurate landing over the Indian airspace and in the
adjoining area and applicable to safety-to-life civil operations. GAGAN is inter-operable
with other international SBAS systems.

Figure 3.1: GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (Navigation)

3.2 Implementation
The 7.74 billion (US109$ million) project was created in three phases through 2008 by
the Airport Authority of India with the help of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s
(ISRO) technology and space support. The goal is to provide navigation system for all

18
 Figure 3.2: GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (Indian SBAS)

phases of flight over the Indian airspace and in the adjoining area. It is applicable to
safety-to-life operations, and meets the performance requirements of international civil
aviation regulatory bodies.

The space component became available after the launch of the GAGAN payload on the
GSAT-8 communication satellite, which was successfully launched. This payload was
also part of the GSAT-4 satellite that was lost when the geosynchronous satellite launch
vehicle (GSLV) failed during launch in April 2010. A final system acceptance test was
conducted during June 2012 followed by system certification during July 2013.

3.3 Technology demonstration

A national plan for satellite navigation including implementation of technology demon-
stration system (TDS) over the Indian air space as a proof of concept had been prepared
jointly by Airports Authority of India (AAI) and ISRO. TDS was successfully completed
during 2007 by installing eight Indian Reference Stations (INRESs) at eight Indian air-
ports and linked to the Master Control Center (MCC) located near Bangalore. Prelimi-
nary system acceptance testing has been successfully completed in December 2010. The
ground segment for GAGAN, which has been put up by the Raytheon, has 15 reference
stations scattered across the country. Two mission control centres, along with associated
uplink stations, have been set up at Kundalahalli in Bangalore. One more control centre

19
and uplink station are to come up at Delhi. As a part of the programme, a network of
18 total electron content (TEC) monitoring stations were installed at various locations in
India to study and analyse the behaviour of the ionosphere over the Indian region.

GAGAN’s TDS signal in space provides a three-metre accuracy as against the requirement
of 7.6 metres. Flight inspection of GAGAN signal is being carried out at Kozhikode, Hy-
derabad, Nagpur and Bangalore airports and the results have been satisfactory so far[4].

3.3.1 Study of Ionosphere

One essential component of the GAGAN project is the study of the ionospheric behaviour
over the Indian region. This has been specially taken up in view of the uncertain nature of
the behaviour of the ionosphere in the region. The study will lead to the optimisation of
the algorithms for the ionospheric corrections in the region.
To study the ionospheric behaviour more effectively over entire Indian airspace, Indian
universities and Research and Development labs, which are involved in the development
of regional based ionotropic model for GAGAN, have suggested nine more TEC sta-
tions.

3.4 Technology Integration

GAGAN is now in operational phase and is compatible with other SBAS systems such
as the wide-area augmentation system (WAAS), the European Geostationary Naviga-
tion Overlay Service (EGNOS) and the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation Sys-
tem (MSAS) and will provide seamless air navigation service across regional boundaries.
While the ground segment consists of eight reference stations and a master control center,
which will have sub systems such as data communication network, SBAS correction and
verification system, operations and maintenance system, performance monitoring display
and payload simulator, Indian land uplinking stations will have dish antenna assembly.
The space segment will consist of one geo-navigation transponder.

3.5 Developments
The first GAGAN transmitter was integrated into the GSAT-4 geostationary satellite, and
had a goal of being operational in 2008. Following a series of delays, GSAT-4 was
launched on 15 April 2010, however it failed to reach orbit after the third stage of the
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk.II that was carrying it malfunctioned.

In 2009, Raytheon had won an 82$ million contract. It was mainly dedicated to mod-
ernise Indian air navigation system. The vice president of Command and Control Systems,
Raytheon Network Centric Systems, Andy Zogg commented:

"GAGAN will be the world’s most advanced air navigation system and further reinforces
India’s leadership in the forefront of air navigation. GAGAN will greatly improve safety,
reduce congestion and enhance communications to meet India’s growing air traffic man-
agement needs."

20
 Figure 3.3: GNSS Constellation

Figure 3.4: GAGAN TDS Configuration (Technology Demonstration System)

n 2012, the Defence Research and Development Organisation received a "miniaturised

version" of the device with all the features from global positioning systems (GPS) and
global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). The module weighing just 17 gm, can be used
in multiple platforms ranging from aircraft (e.g. winged or rotor-craft) to small boats,
ships. Reportedly, it can also assist "survey applications". It is a cost-efficient device
and can be of "tremendous" civilian use. The navigation output is composed of GPS,
GLONASS and GPS+GLONASS position, speed and time data. According to a statement
released by the DRDO, G3oM is a state-of-the-art technology receiver, integrating Indian
GAGAN as well as both global positioning system and GLONASS systems.

3.6 GAGAN Satellites

GSAT-8 It is an Indian geostationary satellites, which was successfully launched using
Ariane 5 on 21 May 2011 and is positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 55◦ SE lon-

21
 Figure 3.5: GAGAN FOP Configuration (Final Operation Phase)

gitude.

GSAT-10 It is envisaged to augment the growing need of Ku and C-band transponders

and carries 12 Ku Band, 12 C Band and 12 Extended C Band transponders and a
GAGAN payload. The spacecraft employs the standard I-3K structure with power
handling capability of around 6 kW with a lift off mass of 3400 kg. GSAT-10 was
successfully launched by Ariane 5 on 29 September 2012.

GSAT-15 It carries 24 Ku band transponders with India coverage beam and a GAGAN
payload. was successfully launched on 10 November 2015, 21:34:07 UTC, com-
pleting the constellation.

3.7 Applications of GAGAN Satellites

1. Karnataka Forest Department has used GAGAN to build a new, accurate and pub-
licly available satellite based database of its forestlands. This is a followup to the
Supreme Court directive to states to update and put up their respective forest maps.
The geospatial database of forestlands pilot has used data from the Cartosat-2 satel-
lite. The maps are meant to rid authorities of ambiguities related to forest bound-
aries and give clarity to forest administrators, revenue officials as also the public,
according to R.K. Srivastava, chief conservator of forests (headquarters).

2. The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) along with
AAI has launched a new satellite-based GEMINI(Gagan Enabled Mariner’s Instru-
ment for Navigation and Information) system that will alert deep-sea fishermen of
upcoming disasters.The GEMINI app on the cellphone decodes the signals from
GEMINI device and alerts the user on imminent threats like cyclones, high waves,
strong winds along with PFZ and search and rescue mission.

22
3. Various Indian manufactured missiles including the BrahMos will use GAGAN for
guidance.

4. Navigation and Safety Enhancement in Railways, Roadways, Ships, Spacecraft Ge-

ographic Data Collection.

23
 Chapter 4

Navigation With Indian Constellation (NavIC)

4.1 The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)
The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), with an operational name of
NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) is an autonomous regional satellite navi-
gation system that provides accurate real-time positioning and timing services. It covers
India and a region extending 1,500 km (930 mi) around it, with plans for further exten-
sion. An extended service area lies between the primary service area and a rectangle area
enclosed by the 30th parallel south to the 50th parallel north and the 30th meridian east
to the 130th meridian east, 1,500-6,000 km (930-3,730 mi) beyond borders. The system
currently consists of a constellation of seven satellites, with two additional satellites on
ground as stand-by.

The constellation is in orbit as of 2018, and the system was expected to be operational
from early 2018 after a system check. NavIC will provide two levels of service, the "stan-
dard positioning service", which will be open for civilian use, and a "restricted service"
(an encrypted one) for authorised users (including the military).NavIC based trackers are
compulsory on commercial vehicles in India and it is planned to become available in
consumer mobile phones in the end of 2020[5].

Figure 4.1: Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System

4.2 System description

In April 2010, it was reported that India plans to start launching satellites by the end of
2011, at a rate of one satellite every six months. This would have made NavIC func-
tional by 2015. But the program was delayed, and India also launched 3 new satellites to

24
supplement this.

Seven satellites with the prefix "IRNSS-1" will constitute the space segment of the IRNSS.
IRNSS-1A, the first of the seven satellites, was launched on 1 July 2013. IRNSS-1B was
launched on 4 April 2014 on-board PSLV-C24 rocket. The satellite has been placed in
geosynchronous orbit. IRNSS-1C was launched on 6 October 2014, IRNSS-1D on 28
March 2015, IRNSS-1Eon 20 January 2016, IRNSS-1F on 10 March 2016 and IRNSS-
1G was launched on 28 April 2016.

The eighth satellite, IRNSS-1H, which was meant to replace IRNSS-1A, failed to deploy
on 31 August 2017 as the heat shields failed to separate from 4th stage of the rocket.
IRNSS-1I was launched on 11 April 2018 to replace it.

Figure 4.2: Navic- India’s GPS System

4.2.1 Space segment

The constellation consists of 7 satellites. Three of the seven satellites are located in geosta-
tionary orbit (GEO) at 32.5◦ SE, 83◦ SE, and 131.5◦ S E longitude, approximately 36,000
km (22,000 mi) above earth surface. Remaining four satellites are in inclined geosyn-
chronous orbit (GSO). Two of them cross equator at 55◦ SE and two at 111.75◦ SE. The
four GSO satellites will appear to be moving in the form of an "8".

4.2.2 Ground segment

Ground Segment is responsible for the maintenance and operation of the IRNSS constel-
lation. The Ground segment comprises :

• IRNSS Spacecraft Control Facility (IRSCF)

• ISRO Navigation Centre (INC)

• IRNSS Range and Integrity Monitoring Stations (IRIMS)

• IRNSS Network Timing Centre (IRNWT)

25
 Figure 4.3: IRNSS Space Segment

• IRNSS CDMA Ranging Stations (IRCDR)

• Laser Ranging Stations

• IRNSS Data Communication Network(IRDCN)

Figure 4.4: IRNSS Ground Segment Architecture

The INC established at Byalalu performs remote operations and data collection with all
the ground stations. 14 IRIMS are currently operational and are supporting IRNSS oper-
ations. CDMA ranging is being carried out by the four IRCDR stations on regular basis
for all the IRNSS satellites. The IRNWT has been established and is providing IRNSS

26
system time with an accuracy of 2 ns (2 sigma) w.r.t UTC. Laser ranging is being carried
out with the support of ILRS stations around the world. Navigation Software is opera-
tional at INC since 1 August 2013. All the navigation parameters viz. satellite ephemeris,
clock corrections, integrity parameters and secondary parameters viz. iono-delay correc-
tions, time offsets w.r.t UTC and other GNSS, almanac, text message and earth orientation
parameters are generated and uploaded to the spacecraft automatically. The IRDCN has
established terrestrial and VSAT links between the ground stations. Seven 7.2-metre (24
ft) FCA and two 11-metre (36 ft) FMA of IRSCF are currently operational for LEOP and
on-orbit phases of IRNSS satellites.

4.2.3 Signal
NavIC signals will consist of a Standard Positioning Service and a Precision Service. Both
will be carried on L5 (1176.45 MHz) and S band (2492.028 MHz). The SPS signal will
be modulated by a 1 MHz BPSK signal. The Precision Service will use BOC(5,2). The
navigation signals themselves would be transmitted in the S-band frequency (2-4 GHz)
and broadcast through a phased array antenna to maintain required coverage and signal
strength. The satellites would weigh approximately 1,330 kg (2,930 lb) and their solar
panels generate 1,400 W.

4.2.4 Accuracy
The system is intended to provide an absolute position accuracy of better than 10 metres
(33 ft) throughout Indian landmass and better than 20 metres (66 ft) in the Indian Ocean
as well as a region extending approximately 1,500 km (930 mi) around India. The Space
Applications Centre in 2017 said NavIC will provide standard positioning service to all
users with a position accuracy up to 5 m. The GPS, for comparison, had a position ac-
curacy of 20-30 m. Unlike GPS which is dependent only on L-band, NavIC has dual
frequency (S and L bands). When low frequency signal travels through atmosphere, its
velocity changes due to atmospheric disturbances. US banks on atmospheric model to as-
sess frequency error and it has to update this model from time to time to assess the exact
error. In India’s case, the actual delay is assessed by measuring the difference in delay of
dual frequency (S and L bands). Therefore, NavIC is not dependent on any model to find
the frequency error and is more accurate than GPS.

4.2.5 NavIC Features

• Indigenous, Independent, Regional System.

• Provide Navigation Services to Indian Landmass extending 1500 Kms beyond the
geopolitical boundary.

• Extended Service, in future to a service area bounded by 3030◦ S to 5050◦ N latitude

4040◦ to 140140◦ E longitude.

• All Weather 24 7 Operations with high availability 99.99%.

27
4.3 NavIC Performance Observations
The NavIC L5 and S band satellites data is acquired by the Accord NavIC receiver
given by Space Application Centre (SAC), ISRO, Ahmedabad for the data utilization pro-
gramme announcement of opportunity for IRNSS/GAGAN navigation.

The NavIC L5 and S band satellites data for the Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of
Technology (SVNIT), Surat (21.16◦ N, 72.78◦ E) station is collected by the Accord dual-
frequency NavIC receiver, which is located at the Communication Research Laboratory
(CRL) of Electronics Engineering Department (EED). The range between the user re-
ceiver and observed NavIC L5 and S band satellites (1A to 1G) is estimated by take out
the time to travel information from the logged observation file. After that the NavIC L5
and S-band Ionodelay are calculated using the dual-frequencymethod given by Equation
(1).

(40.3 ∗ (1016 ) ∗ c ∗ ST EC)

Ionodelay = (4.1)
f2
where c is the speed of light, f is the frequency of L5 or S band. The Slant TEC (STEC)
electrons/metre2 is measured by

1 f 2 ∗ f 2)
ST EC = ∗ 12 2 2 ∗ (PL5 − PS ) (4.2)
40.3 (f1 − f2 )

where PL5 and PS are the satellite clock corrected pseudo ranges of the NavIC signal f1
(L5 band) frequency and f2 (S band) frequency, respectively.More Information about the
research methodology and the data extraction procedure is available[6]. Data analysis has
been carried out using the software tool MATLAB 2014.

4.4 List of satellites

The constellation consists of 7 active satellites. Three of the seven satellites in constella-
tion are located in geostationary orbit (GEO) and four in inclined geosynchronous orbit
(IGSO). All satellites launched or proposed for the system are as follows :

IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system being developed by India.

It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well
as the region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service
area. An Extended Service Area lies between primary service area and area enclosed by
the rectangle from Latitude 30◦ S South to 50◦ S North, Longitude 30◦ S East to 130◦ S East.

IRNSS will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS)
which is provided to all the users and Restricted Service (RS), which is an encrypted

28
 Figure 4.5: NavIC Performance observations I

Figure 4.6: NavIC Performance observations II

service provided only to the authorised users. The IRNSS System is expected to provide
a position accuracy of better than 20 m in the primary service area[7].

4.5 How India built NavIC, the country’s own GPS network
India’s regional satellite navigation system has had a difficult incubation, but it is finally
ready. The unplanned cost of replacing two satellites, poor procurement decisions and
administrative failings have increased the initial budget and resulted in a delay of around
7 years.

Today, multiple constellations of navigation satellites from the U.S., Russia, China and

29
 Table 4.1: List of Satellites

Satellite Launch Date Launch Vehicle Orbit Status

IRNSS-1A 1 July 2013 PSLV-XL-C22 Geosynchronous (IGSO) Partial Faliure
IRNSS-1B 4 April 2014 PSLV-XL-C24 Geosynchronous (IGSO) Operational
IRNSS-1C 16 October 2014 PSLV-XL-C26 Geostationary (GEO) Operational
IRNSS-1D 28 March 2015 PSLV-XL-C27 Geosynchronous (IGSO) Operational
IRNSS-1E 20 January 2016 PSLV-XL-C31 Geosynchronous (IGSO) Operational
IRNSS-1F 10 March 2016 PSLV-XL-C32 Geostationary (GEO) Operational
IRNSS-1G 28 April 2016 PSLV-XL-C33 Geostationary (GEO) Operational
IRNSS-1H 31 August 2017 PSLV-XL-C39 - Launch Failed
IRNSS-1I 12 April 2018 PSLV-XL-C41 Geosynchronous (IGSO) Operational
IRNSS-1J - - Geosynchronous (IGSO) Planned
IRNSS-1K - - Geosynchronous (IGSO) Planned
IRNSS-1L - - Geosynchronous (IGSO) Planned
IRNSS-1M - - Geosynchronous (IGSO) Planned
IRNSS-1N - - Geosynchronous (IGSO) Planned

Figure 4.7: IRNSS 1A test in clean room

Europe orbit the Earth, providing multiple location-based services for consumers, busi-
nesses, militaries and civil aviation. With the arrival of India’s IRNSS-1I in orbit, In-
dia now has a functioning regional satellite navigation service, initially called the Indian
Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), but changed to NavIC in 2016. (NavIC
stands for NAVigation with Indian Constellation, and also means "sailor" in Sanskrit.)

Of all modern space-based services, navigation satellites touch the lives of most of the
people on the planet, even if they may not be directly aware of it. Financial services, avi-
ation, military, transport and more are dependent on super-accurate GPS timing signals.
Navigation was one of the earliest applications ushered in by the space race. In March
1958, scientists at Johns Hopkins University listened to the beep-beep signals from Sput-
nik that had been launched just a few months earlier. In their attempts to locate its position

30
 Figure 4.8: IRNSS 1A Liftoff

Figure 4.9: GPS and NavIC

in space they realised that if they knew the precise position of the satellite in space, they
could calculate their own location on Earth. This is perhaps not very useful in a built-up
city, but critical if you happen to be out in the open sea, a featureless desert or a remote
mountain range. The strategic value of such critical information was clear, so with the
backing of the Indian military, the proposal for an Indian satellite navigation system re-
ceived all the political and financial support it needed.

India’s NavIC provides service equivalent to the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS),
the United States’ GPS, China’s Beidou, Russia’s Glonass, and Europe’s Galileo. How-
ever, India’s NavIC offers regional, not global coverage. Once fully operational, NavIC
is intended to provide two specific services: unencrypted Standard Positioning Service
(SPS) with an accuracy of less than 10 meters for all users, and an encrypted Restricted
Service (RS), with an undisclosed but higher accuracy for use by India’s security ser-
vices.

31
 Figure 4.10: ISRO NavIC on Qaulcomm phones

NavIC is a large, complex project reliant on multiple agencies working collaboratively to

solve technical problems spanning several disciplines. Delays and expenditure overruns
are not unexpected. Integrating input from numerous ISRO teams, government agencies
and the private sector is required. ISRO’s contribution was assessed by an official audit
report published in March 2018. The report highlighted delays in "sites not being ready,
revisions in the technical specifications, non-compliance with contract specifications by
the contractor, delays in shipment and delays in completion of civil works" Absence of
coordination between government and other agencies and "sheer administrative laxity"
resulted in the delays. Cost overruns included the purchase of 7 modems at 500,000$
(INR 3.7 crore) for use by the ground segment that were not capable of performing the
desired function.

NavIC, along with other navigation satellite services, was designed primarily to support
applications here on Earth. A new and exciting avenue is now open that makes satellite
navigation services available to spacecraft in Earth orbit. NavIC is well-placed to provide
emerging services for space-based commercial and scientific uses in the not-too-distant
future. Hardware manufacturers are developing satellite receiver modules that operate
with India’s NavIC, as well as those from other countries.

India’s journey to develop an independent and indigenous nationwide satellite-based nav-

igation system is pretty much complete. By the time the full constellation is declared
operational, it will be approaching the halfway mark of its 10-to-12-year predicted life-
time. India always had plans to increase the constellation to around a dozen from the
initial seven to improve accuracy and resilience. That increase will involve the private
sector, which was already tapped to build both IRNSS-1H and IRNSS-1I. ISRO is now in
the final stages of selecting an Indian company to source its Rubidium clocks for future
navigation satellites.

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4.5.1 Applications of NavIC
ISRO indicates that eventually NavIC applications will support:

• Terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation

• Disaster management

• Vehicle tracking and fleet management

• Integration with mobile phones

• Precise timing

• Mapping and geodetic data capture

• Terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travellers

• Visual and voice navigation for drivers

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 Chapter 5

Detection of Thunderstorm Using Indian Navigation Satellite NavIC

5.1 System Description

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) with an operational name of
NavIC is a regional navigation satellite system. It provides real time positioning and
timing services with its seven satellites’constellation. Four of these seven satellites are
geosynchronous (i.e., not in equatorial plane and having orbital movement though time
synchronizes with the rotation of the Earth) and the rest are geostationary (i.e., apparently
fixed in orbit and in equatorial plane). NavIC facilitates standard positioning service and
precision positioning service operated at two widely separated frequencies, in L5-band
(1176.45 MHz) and S1-band (2492.028 MHz).

Figure 5.1: Navigation from Space

The navigation data for studies described here obtained from an IRNSS/GPS/SBAS SPS
user receiver (make: ACCORD) installed on the roof top of the Indian Statistical Insti-
tute, Kolkata. This is a dual frequency GNSS receiver which is capable of acquiring and
tracking NavIC (dual frequency L5- and S1-bands), GPS (L1 C/A), and SBAS (GAGAN)
signals. Data have been logged with 1-Hz resolution. Continuous observations of one year
from November 2017 to November 2018 have been considered for the study[8].

Doppler radar images from IMD were used for tracking the movement of thunderstorm
systems. This S-band Doppler weather radar (DWR) provides information regarding re-
flectivity (Z), radial velocity (V), and spectral width (ω) in both plan-position indicator
(PPI) and range height indicator (RHI) modes. Based on these parameters and standard
algorithms, various products of practical utility for issuing forecasts and warnings are
generated (http://www.imd.gov.in). Among various data products provided by this DWR,
the MAX (Z) or maximum (reflectivity) product has been used in this study as it can effi-
ciently indicate cloud movement. The study location, Kolkata, is situated in the lower
Ganges Delta of eastern India. The city has a tropical wet and dry climate and gets

34
most of its rain during June-September due to the south-east monsoon wind flow. The
study location is very rich from the observational point of view because of the frequent
weather extremes. Nor’westers is one such extreme event which occurs during the month
of March to May over Eastern India, causing considerable damages to life and property.
Nor’westers is specially accompanied by strong squalls, lightning, and sometimes by hail
[9].

5.2 Methodology
GNSS observables such as pseudo range, carrier phase, or the Doppler frequency are
commonly used in GNSS atmospheric applications. However, in this article, instead of
these commonly used observables, the signal strength related to the value of C/N0 is
considered for the detection of thunderstorm system. The C/N0 indicates the carrier-to-
noise ratio and is indicative of the channel impairment if the path geometry and other
conditions remain unchanged. For a static receiver, it then becomes a function of only
propagation effects due to both ionosphere and troposphere.

The C/N0 values have both slow and rapid fluctuations which are caused by several factors
such as ionospheric scintillation, troposphere, multipath, and elevation angle. Ionospheric
contribution is more prominent on the L-band signal than that in the S-band. So any iono-
spheric total electron content (TEC) variation (particularly scintillation) will degrade the
L-band signal more than the S-band one. Moreover, the scintillation effect can be easily
identified as the rapid fluctuation of the signal. The multipath phenomenon, however, af-
fect both the signals in a similar way as the elevation and azimuth are the same at these two
frequencies as well as the surrounding environment of the receiver. The relative degrada-
tion of C/N0 in the L and S-band signals will essentially then indicate the atmospheric and
ionospheric contributions. To separate out the tropospheric contributions from the iono-
spheric part is then based on two criteria: we need to look for signatures where the S-band
is more degraded than the L-band and focus only on slow moving components.

For this article, three similarity measure techniques are investigated, namely, simple tem-
plate matching, Pearson correlation, and DTW technique. First, the outlier data points
(spikes) were removed with a low pass filter. These outliers arise due to instrument or
other effects and are not necessarily related to the propagation characteristics.

5.2.1 Simple Template Matching in S-Band

One of the primary hypotheses in this work is that the relative change between the S and
L-bands can detect only the thunderstorm. However, it is worth investigating whether only
S-band information can be used for this purpose. As multipath remains unchanged for a
static receiver, simple template matching in the S-band between consecutive rainy (R)
and non rainy (NR) days also indicates the thunderstorm. Hence, the template matching
between two consecutive days is applied with different time windows (60, 30, and 1 min)
on a 18-day long time series which involve two thunderstorm days in between.

35
5.2.2 Correlation Analysis
Next, the Pearson correlation analysis has been done for both the L and S-band signals
between two consecutive days. Correlation is calculated for different time windows (60,
30, and 1 min). Then the difference between correlations of two consecutive pair of days
is compared. This approach is tested on the same 18-day long time series.

5.2.3 DTW Algorithm

Dynamically time warping algorithm is used between two temporal sequences of the L and
S-bands. The data have been averaged over 1 min for DTW study. The DTW calculation
is carried out for all instances over a specified time period and then restarted for the next
time span. In each calculation, the warping line (WL) is obtained by considering ten
instances of the second time series. DTW matches patterns of two temporal sequences
and has been widely utilized in speech recognition. It finds the closest match between two
sequences by using their cumulative difference. Here, two temporal sequences are taken
and the value of each index in a sequence is matched with values of all indices of another.
For this article, a window of ten instances has been used to minimize the time complexity.
Instead of matching all indices it matches up to ten indices of the second sequence with
every index of the first sequence. The detailed description of the DTW algorithm can be
found in [10] and [11], a short description of the algorithm is provided in the following
paragraphs.

Figure 5.2: DTW Technique

Two temporal sequences of observation can be arranged along the two sides of a grid,
i.e., one at the bottom and another along the left-hand side as shown in Fig. 5.2 (marked
in red). Both the sequences start from the bottom left corner of the grid. The distances,
finding the difference of corresponding elements of the two sequences, are placed inside
each cell of the grid. This measured distance is a dynamic recurrence relation based on
the cumulative distance between the two points of interest which can be stated as follows:

ξ(i + 1, j + 1) = δ(i + 1, j + 1) + min[ξ(i, j + 1), ξ(i, j), ξ(i + 1, j)] (5.1)

36
where ξ(i , j) defines the values of each grid points, and δ(i , j) is the measured distance
between two points of sequences.

Warping path is then computed by backtracking the minimum of the accumulated distance
matrix and is helpful for pattern matching. However, for our case, it was necessary to
match the timing information as well and hence a slight modification of this technique
is done here. Instead of a warping path, a WL is computed by considering the leading
diagonal terms of the grid in order to preserve the timing information (marked in blue in
Fig. 5.2). For example, the nth difference will contain the cumulative sum of minimum
neighborhood values in (n-1) to nth point differences.

This cumulative distance-based recurrence relationship automatically reduces the higher

frequency rippling effects present in the signal strength due to the ionospheric scintilla-
tion, multipath, or other instrumental errors, and enhances slowly moving changes by a
very small amount due to the tropospheric effect. Since DTW measures the index-wise
difference between (i.e., at the same time instant two time-series cumulatively, this small
attenuation spanning over a long duration is amplified to a comprehensible level.

5.3 Results and Discussion

5.3.1 Seasonal Variation of Signal Strength
Signal strength may depend on several factors as already mentioned. Before utilizing the
signal strength variation for detecting thunderstorm, the seasonal variation has been stud-
ied. In Fig. 5.3, the probability distribution of signal strength variation of two months
from two different seasons has been shown for three different satellites. June indicates
the monsoon season (increased water vapor in the atmosphere) and November represents
winter season (dry weather). The signal strength variations in the L-band are very sim-
ilar to each other. However, one can note that there are significant differences of signal
strength in the S-band between these two months.

There is a left shift of S-band signal strength for the month of June comparative to Novem-
ber which is not prominent for L-band signal strength. This clearly indicates that S-band
signal strength is affected more during the month of June in comparison to the month of
November.

Since the L-band does not show much variation, we can neglect the change in the mul-
tipath effect. The ionospheric activities during these two months are also very simi-
lar with respect to disturbance storm time (Dst) and Kp indices [http://wdc.kugi.kyoto-
u.ac.jp/wdc/Sec3.html]. Dst index is a measure of Earth’s magnetic activity and computed
from the measurements of a network of near-equatorial geomagnetic observatories. The
Kp-index also indicates the global geomagnetic activity and is based on 3-h measurements
by groundbased magnetometers spread all over the world.

Presence of large numbers of cloud system due to the monsoon makes the month of June
distinct from November. It can be concluded that the apparent cause of S-band signal

37
Figure 5.3: WL variation of three sessions of the day and movement of the cloud system
as observed by the Doppler radar cloud imagery. (NR: nonrainy day and R: rainy day).
(a) 0-8 UTC (b) 8-16 UTC (c) 15-23 UTC

strength variation, which is negligible in the lower frequency band (L-band), is primarily
due to troposphere.

5.3.2 Case Study: Monitoring a Thunderstorm System

• Monitoring a Thunderstorm System (April 12, 2018)

A thunderstorm day (April 12, 2018) is considered for this purpose. The thunderstorm
system developed on the said day and gradually moved over the observation point. Two
clear days (April 10 and 11, 2018) are chosen for a comparative analysis. The whole day
is segmented for a detailed study into three different time sessions of 8-h duration. As
DTW is cumulative technique, the very purpose of dividing each day into three parts is
just to avoid the accumulation of the difference throughout the day, so that the effect can
be seen clearly. Session 1 indicates a time span of 0-8 UTC, session 2 indicates 8-16 UTC,
and session 3 indicates 15-23 UTC. DTW is applied between signal strength of the L and
S-bands for every session of each day and the obtained WLs are compared between the
same session of the two consecutive days [i.e., between two NR days (April 10 and 11,
2018) and between rainy and its consecutive NR day (April 11 and 12, 2018)]. This WL
difference for every session of three satellites are shown in Fig. 5.4. It is observed that
during all three sessions there are no significant deviations in the NR-NR WL difference
while rainy-NR (R-NR) WL difference shows significant variations. It is observed that
during session 1, R-NR line of IRNSS 1C has deviated from the zero level which is not
seen for IRNSS 1B and IRNSS 1E. In session 2, it can be seen that R-NR line has deviated
for all of the satellites but this deviation in IRNSS 1B and 1C started before the IRNSS 1E.
Whereas in session 3, R-NR line of only IRNSS 1E and 1C deviated significantly.

38
 Figure 5.4: L and S-band signal strength variation of two months

To understand the nature of this variation, IMD Doppler radar data of the event are also
shown in Fig. 5.4. It is clearly visible from the NavIC orbital constellation and Doppler
radar cloud coverage picture that the cloud has moved from the direction of IRNSS 1C.
This finds good agreement with the WL variation shown in Fig. 5.4. The starting time
of such a deviation corresponded well with the cloud overcast as IRNSS 1B and 1C are
affected earlier than IRNSS 1E. IRNSS 1E has only been affected after the cloud moved
over the study location.

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