SBAS Central
Welcome to FrontierSI’s SBAS Central.
Use the links and SBAS projects summary below to familiarise yourself with the Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) technology and discover why FrontierSI have become the SBAS technology experts across Australia and New Zealand.
We have tested the SBAS technology across 10 industry sectors in Australia and New Zealand including aviation, road, rail, maritime, agriculture, construction, consumer, resources, utilities, and spatial.
- What is SBAS?
- History of the SBAS Programme
- Current SBAS Research and Demonstration Projects
- SBAS Compatible Equipment
- Getting started | Low-cost SBAS Receiver Documentation
- FAQs
SBAS Projects Summary and FrontierSI’s Role
Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) Test-bed trials, promoting industry uptake of SBAS, and provision of specialist research and technical capability to contribute to the delivery of a fully operational SBAS for Australia and New Zealand.
The Challenge
Positioning data is fundamental to a range of applications and businesses worldwide. It improves productivity, increases safety and propels innovation. While highly accurate positioning technologies are already available, they are often expensive and only available in specific areas and to niche markets. A Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) augments and corrects Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals to improve the accuracy of positioning data and delivers corrections to the user without the need for mobile phone or internet coverage. FrontierSI has delivered a series of projects, trialling the SBAS Test-bed signals across Australia and New Zealand with the goal of demonstrating the economic, social and environmental benefits that SBAS would bring to both countries. After the completion of the Test-bed, this was followed by promoting industry uptake of SBAS and providing specialist research and technical capability to contribute to the delivery of a fully operational SBAS for Australia and New Zealand.
Partners
The SBAS Test-bed was jointly funded by the Australian and New Zealand governments, and included core partnerships with the premier national geospatial organisations in both countries; Geoscience Australia and Land Information New Zealand, including three global space companies: Lockheed Martin, Inmarsat and GMV. FrontierSI was responsible for managing and supporting user testing through the series of Test-bed projects in each industry sector. After the Test-bed, follow up SBAS demonstrator projects were also coordinated in partnership with Geoscience Australia and Land Information New Zealand.
The Solution
SBAS utilises space-based and ground-based infrastructure to augment and correct the positioning signals already transmitted by the GPS and Galileo satellite systems, improving accuracy, integrity, continuity and availability of information. The most precise service delivered by the system will improve the achievable positioning accuracy from 3-5 meters down to 10 centimetres under good observation conditions. SBAS delivers positioning information via satellite broadcast, and hence can overcome the current gaps in mobile and radio communications to deliver accurate and precise positioning information anytime, and anywhere within Australia and New Zealand, at no additional cost to the user.
The SBAS Test-bed Demonstrator Trial which ran throughout 2017-2019, engaged broadly for user testing with over 150 organisations through 27 projects across 10 industry sectors including aviation, agriculture, consumer, construction, maritime, rail, resources, road, spatial and utilities. Performance baselines from the demonstrator projects formed input for an economic benefits study, which forecast the expected financial impact of SBAS on each industry sector as well as the economies of both countries. The highly successful trial built the case for delivering an operational SBAS in coming years that will provide quick and reliable access to positioning and timing information anytime and anywhere across Australia and New Zealand.
Three reports were released following the SBAS Test-bed:
- SBAS Test-bed Demonstrator Trial Economic Benefits Report: provides assessment of the economic benefits of SBAS across Australia and New Zealand.
- SBAS Test-bed Project Report: provides detail on the technology, signals, completed projects, equipment and environment tested as well as the main challenges, findings and recommendations.
- SBAS Test-bed Technical Report: details performance results from a testing campaign of the SBAS services by FrontierSI.
Following completion of the trials, FrontierSI refocussed on promoting industry uptake of the SBAS for organisations and individuals in both Australia and New Zealand by providing expertise, test equipment, and technical support to help users get started. We are available for any inquiries related to SBAS and surrounding technologies and are available to provide information sessions, hands-on training, equipment recommendations, and technology demonstrations to suit the use case and budget of any user group.
Impact
Positioning data is fundamental to a widening range of professional use cases, and has experienced extensive and rapid adoption in applications such as enabling location on smartphones, providing safety-of-life navigation on aircraft, increasing water efficiency on farms, helping to locate vessels in distress at sea, and supporting intelligent navigation tools and advanced transportation management systems that connect cities and regions. The Test-bed has assessed the economic, social and environmental benefits of improved positioning technologies and has demonstrated tangible benefits across a range of industry sectors in both countries. Accurate and reliable positioning information has significant economic benefits with an expected value of $7.6b over 30 years for Australia and New Zealand.
Following the Test-bed, the Australian government’s 2018-19 Budget included $160.9 million to Geoscience Australia to secure a fully operational SBAS for the Australasian region, and the 2019 New Zealand budget included almost $2 million for Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) to work with Geoscience Australia to investigate in more detail ways to deliver the SBAS, and coordinate programs for industry outreach.
An SBAS will overcome the current gaps in mobile and radio communications to ensure that accurate positioning information can be received anytime and anywhere across Australia, New Zealand and their maritime zones. It will also support the aviation, maritime and road transport sectors which have a requirement for high-integrity positioning-guaranteed performance with metre level accuracy.
SBAS will be made available to all GNSS users throughout Australia and New Zealand, with no significant barriers to entry. The increased capabilities of SBAS-augmented GNSS have enabled new and unexplored user needs to be met using the technology and will further drive development in edge cases where GNSS was previously not capable of getting the job done. Innovative and forward-thinking organisations and individuals are already exploring new ideas made possible through the sub-metre accuracy and improved reliability that SBAS will provide to everyone.
Contact
To learn more, contact FrontierSI at contact@frontiersi.com.au, or or connect with Positioning and Geodesy Technical Lead, Eldar Rubinov, at erubinov@frontiersi.com.au, or Positioning Engineer, Chris Marshall, at cmarshall@frontiersi.com.au.