Technological advancement has continued to be dynamic and exponential in every sense of the word. Researchers and scientists, keep developing and upgrading existing technological solutions, to further better the world and provide more efficient ways of living. In line with this narrative, at the Online Technical Session and Presentation, hosted by the NIEEE Abeokuta Chapter, Engr. Dr. Lasisi Salami Lawal gave an enlightening presentation on the strides being made in Africa, to “Facilitate the Adoption of SBAS (Satellite Based Augmentation System) Technology, as a Means of Navigation in Africa’s Aviation Sector”; a system that is acclaimed to be “less ambitious but providing further accuracy, integrity, availability to positioning, navigation, and timing for professional use and application in critical sectors that involves safety of life (SOL) and precise positioning” than the other existing and operational navigational infrastructures.
During his presentation, Engr. Dr. Lawal stated that “SBAS arose from the need to provide continuity, availability, integrity and accuracy of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) signals to eliminate errors and compensate for discrepancies associated with GPS and other navigation systems signals”, which when met, would be tremendous for the sectors in which it is applied. In an effort to meet this identified need, he emphasized that “there has been a call” for mixed cooperation with key partners, to ensure that the SBAS technology is implemented into all the sectors in and out of aviation, that would function better with it. Further speaking on the need for partnerships, the successful ones were highlighted during his presentation, such as the cooperative agreement between China Great Wall Industry Corporation, Spacestar Technology Company and Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd on an SBAS test bed phase trial and also the cooperative agreement between the Management of NIGCOMSAT Limited and Thales Alenia Space (TAS) with ASECNA as the potential end-user, in the aviation ecosystem.
According to Engr. Dr. Lawal, “less than 20% of runways are equipped with Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) in Africa”; a radio navigation system, used by aircrafts as it relates to short-range guidance, to safely approach a runway at night or during bad weather and based on statistics, the fatalities that have been recorded to have occurred in the approach/landing phase of flights, which is at 20% (2011-2015), have had imprecise approach, as an associated implicating factor. This he pointed out, to stress the need for more efficient accuracy and precision navigation tools, in aviation, such as the SBAS. In addition, he stated that “sensitization exercises and demonstrations” centred around the technology, are some of the efforts employed, to have the aviation sector buy into using SBAS. One of such exercises being the Demo encompassing a series of five (5) flights, with the aim to “show in real configuration, the efficiency of the technology developed in the frame of the early open service as part of SBAS for Africa and Indian Ocean” and to “demonstrate the ability of the system to allow landings on the two ends of the runway without deployment of local ground infrastructure and with a performance level close to the use of Instrument Landing System”, at the Lomé International Airport on the 27th of January 2021.
According to Engr. Dr. Lawal, the SBAS technology poses several benefits as it concerns improvement of safety and reduction in operational costs and environment, among which are; a reduction in controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) risk/accidents, a reduction in delays, diversions and cancellations due to weather conditions, a reduction in flight crew workload by eliminating RAIM (Receiver Autonomous Intergrity Monitoring) prediction requirements, a reduction in flight time, fuel consumption, CO2 and noise emissions and increasing airspace capacity. Furthermore, speaking on the benefits of SBAS, in relation to the non-aviation sector, he stated that “demonstrations showed the systems ability to achieve positioning accuracy to within centimeters across the entire African continent”, it also showed “the systems ability to broadcast a warning message via SBAS signal to mobile phones, without requiring a terrestrial network” and as a “world first, this satellite service paves the way for applications in a broad range of sectors, including precision agriculture, land and maritime transport, rail safety, drone navigation, mapping and surveying, mass-market applications etc” among many other benefits.
Engr. Dr. Lawal concluded his presentation by stating that “SBAS adoption in aviation sector in Africa aligns with the single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) agenda of African Union (AU); a flagship project of the AU agenda 2063 to advance the liberalization of civil aviation in Africa through a unified sky and acting as an impetus to the continent’s economic integration agenda”. He also stated that the development of SBAS is happening globally and as a continent, he charged us to keep up and not be left behind
