MANAGEMENT OF RISKS TO GPS SIGNAL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APA 20-99
January 29, 1999
Risks To GPS Signal Can Be Managed, Independent Assessment Concludes
WASHINGTON - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said today that an independent
risk assessment of the Global Positioning System (GPS) conducted for the FAA and others
found that with some improvements, augmented GPS can be "the only navigation system
installed in the aircraft and the only navigation service provided by the FAA."
"We’re encouraged by this finding. It tells us we’re on the right course
and GPS navigation is achievable," FAA Administrator Jane F. Garvey said.
The planned augmentations include the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) and the
Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS), both developed by the FAA, which use Geostationary
satellites and a network of ground stations to improve the accuracy, integrity, and
availability of the GPS satellite navigation signals.
The six-month assessment was conducted by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics
Laboratory of Laurel, Md. It was co-sponsored by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots
Association, which represents general aviation aircraft owners and pilots, and the Air
Transport Association, representing the scheduled major U.S. airlines.
Garvey thanked the Hopkins study team for "identifying the necessary improvements
and for helping lay out a plan for implementing them." However, she cautioned that a
"significant amount of cooperative effort with the aviation community, including the
Department of Defense (DOD), and additional investments will be required to make the
needed changes."
Garvey said the revised schedule for Phase I will provide additional time to make the
recommended improvements for the later stages of GPS/WAAS. Recently, the FAA delayed the
commissioning date for Phase I of WAAS by 14 months to allow more time to complete
development of a critical software safety package that monitors, corrects, and verifies
the performance of the WAAS system.
One of the primary purposes of the study was to assess the risk to the augmented GPS
signal from intentional interference, or jamming, and unintentional interference, such as
heightened solar activity and interference from certain commercial TV and VHF broadcast
signals. Essentially, the study found that a combination of procedural and technical
measures to mitigate the effects of both types of interference are achievable and must be
implemented as part of the future augmented GPS system to ensure acceptable performance.
The report also identifies the need for closer cooperation with the DOD in investigating
more efficient combinations of DOD and the Department of Transportation systems, including
the possibility of additional GPS satellites.
Johns Hopkins will publish study results at
http://www.jhuapl.edu/transportation/aviation/gps/
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An electronic version of this news release is available via
the World Wide Web at: leaveSite.php?http://www.faa.gov
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