INDRA to implement a GNSS monitoring system to back up Air Traffic in Germany

Indra, the premier IT company in Spain and a leading IT multinational in Europe, will implement a station network to measure Global Navigations Satellite Systems (GNSS) signals in order to supervise that data used by aircrafts in the German territory are accurate and reliable.

The German air navigation services provider, the DFS (Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH), commissioned AC-B (Air Traffic Control & Business Systems), as Indra subsidiary in Germany, with the modernisation of the GNSS-Ü (Global Navigation Satellite Systems Monitoring). It consists of a critical system which calculates errors and determines the accuracy, integrity, continuity and availability of the data provided by the positioning systems GPS and EGNOS for the different flight phases.

Indra’s network will come into service in a year and will consist initially of three-sensor station conveniently distributed from the North of the country to the South and a redundant central server system in Langen (near Frankfurt). They will collect all the GPS and EGNOS information. The system will monitor the satellite signals, will analyse them in search of possible errors and will record them.

By using navigation algorithms and calculations, the system will feed the DFS control centre in Langen data regarding the quality of the service achieved by the global navigation satellite systems.

Indra will be supported by its German subsidiary AC-B to implement the systems and guarantee maintenance and performance.

GPS is used in Germany for navigation from en-route down to NPA (Non-Precision Approach) at more than 40 airports. EGNOS is expecting certification for air navigation beginning 2011.

The system to be implemented by Indra in Germany will be one of the first ones to enter service and to back up air traffic.