Joint systematic error estimation algorithm for radar and automatic dependent surveillance broadcasting

Systematic error of radar cannot be accurately determined solely with the use of an automatic dependent surveillance broadcasting (ADS-B) device. This is largely, because of the device´s inability to obtain the exact transmitting time of ADS-B data packets. In order to study and establish an efficient and accurate error registration algorithm for radars based on the ADS-B system, a joint systematic error estimation model of the radar and ADS-B was built. The authors showed that when receiving time is known, the time difference between radar measuring time and ADS-B data transmitting time is consistently biased, a feature that can be used to calculate the systematic error of the ADS-B receiving system. Then, they established an error estimation model based on the joint systematic error of the radar and ADS-B. The generalised least squares estimation method was adopted to solve the model. Finally, data samples verified the accuracy and effectiveness of the error registration algorithm.