The availability of the EGNOS LPV-200 (Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance) service level was announced today at the annual EGNOS Service Provision workshop in Copenhagen. It will enable aircraft approaches that are operationally equivalent to ILS CAT I: providing lateral and angular vertical guidance without the need for visual contact with the ground until a Decision Height (DH) of down to only 200 ft. above the runway. These new EGNOS-based approaches are considered ILS look-alike, but without the need for the expensive ground infrastructure required for ILS.
EGNOS LPV-200 based approaches, lowered from LPV-250, guarantee all the advantages provided by an ILS CAT I approach with the airspace design flexibility of a PBN approach. Benefits include:
Reduced risks associated with landing in bad weather conditions
Increased accessibility to airports
Reduced delays, diversions and cancellations (cutting costs)
Increased airspace capacity and reduction of both ATC and pilot workload
Improved efficiency of operations, lowering fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and decreasing aviation’s environmental impact
This new EGNOS Safety of Life (SoL) service level is available free of charge to all European users within the service coverage area. EGNOS LPV-200 supports civil aviation operations during approaches to airports and helipads. The service requires no upgrade to an airport’s ground infrastructure or to existing certified EGNOS receivers. The first LPV-200 procedures are currently under development in the UK, Austria and France.
“EGNOS LPV-200 is now the most cost effective and safest solution for airports,” said GSA Executive Director, Carlo des Dorides. “This is another big step forward for European satellite navigation and aviation.”
LPV-200 is a key milestone in the development of European Satellite Navigation and EGNOS, Europe’s SBAS, which has provided civil aviation-certified GPS augmentation over Europe since 2011. Today over 150 European Airports use EGNOS and it is estimated that by 2018 the number will increase to 440.
EGNOS is managed by the GSA, on behalf of the European Commission. ESSP SAS is the EGNOS Service Provider, under contract with the GSA.
BACKGROUND
The new EGNOS SoL Service offers approach procedures for both Type A and Type B 3D instrumentation. It provides both lateral and angular guidance and does not require any visual contact with the ground until 200 feet above the runway.
The EGNOS SoL service has been free and openly available since it was first introduced in March 2011. The service is compliant with APV-1 (Approach with Vertical Guidance) and CAT I PA (Precision Approach) signal in space requirements as defined by ICAO in Annex 10. The new LPV-200 service level is a key enabler in the implementation of the PBN concept in Europe within the Single European Sky (SES) framework.
The EGNOS SoL Service Definition Document (SDD) describing the characteristics, terms and conditions of access to the EGNOS SoL service offered to users, in particular for LPV-200, can be found at:
http://www.egnos-portal.eu/library/technical-documents
About EGNOS
EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) is Europe’s first concrete venture into satellite navigation. It uses geostationary satellites and a network of ground stations to receive, analyse and augment GPS – and soon Galileo – signals. EGNOS makes existing satellite navigation signals suitable for safety critical applications such as flying aircraft or navigating ships through narrow channels. EGNOS increases the accuracy of existing satellite positioning signals while providing a crucial ‘integrity message’, informing users in the event of signal problems. It also transmits an extremely accurate universal time signal.
About the European GNSS Agency (GSA)
As an official European Union Agency, the European GNSS Agency’s (GSA) mission is to support European Union objectives and achieve the highest return on European GNSS investment, in terms of benefits to users and economic growth and competitiveness, by:
· Designing and enabling services that fully respond to user needs, while continuously improving the European GNSS services and Infrastructure;
· Managing the provision of quality services that ensure user satisfaction in the most cost efficient manner;
· Engaging market stakeholders to develop innovative and effective applications, value-added services and user technology that promote the achievement of full European GNSS adoption;
· Ensuring that European GNSS services and operations are thoroughly secure, safe and accessible.
Source / Author: GSA
Photo: GSA