Airborne Pseudolite aiding BeiDou System to improve positioning precision in low latitude area

The BeiDou System (BDS), which has three satellites in Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO), is a regional satellite navigation system of China and its positioning performance is notorious in low latitude areas. The two mending plans using Airborne Pseudolite (APL) aiding BDS to improve navigation precision in such areas are put forward. Plan I uses three BDS satellites and one APS to supply navigation data and Plan II employs two BDS satellites, one APS and altimeter to work. Both of the plans adopt point positioning with code pseudo-range algorithm. Geometric Dilution of Precision (GDOP), which is calculated by Positioning Error Transfer Coefficient Matrix (PETCM), is used to evaluate the positioning performance of new plans. PETCM is predigested when user is in low latitude areas. The key elements of predigested PETCM that effect the Geometric Dilution of Precision (GDOP) are analyzed. The character of GDOP is forecasted easily with the predigested PETCM. The simulations show that the precision of plans are expected to be hundreds of meters except some region where the latitudes of user and APL are close to each other and Plan II is better than plan I. The phenomenal consists with the theoretical analysis.