European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service

Map of the EGNOS ground network

The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) is a satellite based augmentation system (SBAS) developed by the European Space Agency, the European Commission and EUROCONTROL. It supplements the GPS, GLONASS and Galileo systems by reporting on the reliability and accuracy of the positioning data. The official start of operations was announced by the European Commission on 1 October 2009.^[1]

According to specifications, horizontal position accuracy should be better than seven metres. In practice, the horizontal position accuracy is at the metre level. The EGNOS system consists of 3 geostationary satellites and a network of ground stations.

The system started its initial operations in July 2005, with accuracy better than two metres and availability above 99%; it was certified for use in safety of life applications in March 2011.^[2] An EGNOS Data Access Service became available in July 2012.

Similar service is provided in North America by the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), and in Asia, by Japan's Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS) and India's GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN).

In 2009, the European Commission, owner of the programme, announced it had signed a contract with the company European Satellite Services Provider, to run EGNOS. As of July 2005, EGNOS has been broadcasting a continuous signal, and at the end of July 2005 the system was again used to track cyclists in the Tour de France road race.^[3]

Initial work to extend EGNOS coverage to the Southern Africa region is being done under a project called ESESA - EGNOS Service Extension to South Africa.^[4]

The European Commission is defining the roadmap for the evolution of the EGNOS mission. This roadmap should cope with legacy and new missions:^[5]

• 2011-2030: En-route / NPA / APV1 / LPV200 service based on augmentation of GPS L1 only. The Safety Of Life (SoL) will be guaranteed up to 2030 in compliance with ICAO SBAS SARPS.
• 2020+: It is planned that EGNOS will experiment with a major evolution by 2020, EGNOS V3, including the fulfilment of the SBAS L1/L5 standard, expansion to dual-frequency, and evolution toward a multi-constellation concept.

Satellites

Similar to WAAS, EGNOS is mostly designed for aviation users who enjoy unperturbed reception of direct signals from geostationary satellites up to very high latitudes. The use of EGNOS on the ground, especially in urban areas, is limited due to relatively low elevation of geostationary satellites: about 30° above horizon in central Europe and much less in the North of Europe. To address this problem, ESA released in 2002 SISNeT,^[6][7] an Internet service designed for continuous delivery of EGNOS signals to ground users. The first experimental SISNeT receiver was created by the Finnish Geodetic Institute.^[8] The commercial SISNeT receivers have been developed by Septentrio.^[9]

Ground stations

EGNOS RIMS "BRN" (Berlin) close to Berlin

More than 40 ground stations are linked together to create EGNOS network which consists:

• 34 RIMS (Ranging and Integrity Monitoring Stations): receiving signals from US GPS satellites,
• 4 MCC (Mission Control Centers): data processing and differential corrections counting,
• 6 NLES (Navigation Land Earth Stations): accuracy and reliability data sending to three geostationary satellite transponders to allow end-user devices to receive them.

Aviation

In March 2011, the EGNOS Safety of Live Service was deemed acceptable for use in aviation. This allows pilots throughout Europe to use the EGNOS system as a form of positioning during an approach, and allows pilots to land the aircraft in IMC using a GPS approach. ^[17]

As of September 2014 LPV (Localizer performance with vertical guidance) landing procedures, which are EGNOS-enabled, were available at more than 114 airports across Europe.^[18]

See also

• European Satellite Services Provider (ESSP)

References

External links