Modern Navigation and Positioning Techniques

Abstract

During the last two decades, significant developments have taken place in navigation and positioning techniques. These have occurred not only in the more classical radio and acoustic methods, but also in satellite and inertial techniques. Radio navigation is still the most commonly used surface navigation and positioning method. It spans a wide range of applications from the more localized high-accuracy positioning systems (e.g. Trisponder, Maxiran, Syledis) to worldwide navigation (e.g. Omega). The proliferation of systems reflects their relative merits and drawbacks, there being, in particular, a trade-off between range and accuracy. Moreover, the different techniques may not only be based on different co-ordinate systems, but also differ from one another by systematic biases. This can lead to ambiguities, especially in the determination of international and commercial concession boundaries. This is where a satellite-based navigation system comes into its own.