[IGSMAIL-2138] FAA Press Release (fwd)

[forwarded by Jim Ray]

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IGS Electronic Mail      Mon Feb  1  5:18:33 PST 1999      Message Number 2138
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Author: FAA (forwarded by Jim Ray)
Subject: FAA Press Release (fwd)


Forwarded message:

   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
   APA 20-99
   January 29, 1999
   Contact: Tammy L. Jones
   Phone: 202-267-8521

   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
www.jhuapl.edu/transportation/aviation/gps/

                                    # # #

An electronic version of this news release is available via
the World Wide Web at: www.faa.gov


[Mailed From: Jim Ray (USNO 202-762-1444) <jimr at maia.usno.navy.mil>]