• Question: How does RAIM work?

    Asked by owens dog to Samuel, Robson, Reshma, Alison on 5 Nov 2018. This question was also asked by Messiah.
    • Photo: Alison Dufresne

      Alison Dufresne answered on 5 Nov 2018:

      Wow, firstly, thank you! That is an awesome question to which, I admit, I did not know the answer! I did some research and asked one of our chief engineers and here’s what I can gather about it – RAIM is a process of analysing GPS data which compares signals from individual clusters of satellites to other clusters. It works by finding outliers which point out the satellites that are broadcasting incorrect data. I hope that answers your question and thank you for prompting me to learn something new!

    • Photo: Reshma Vora

      Reshma Vora answered on 6 Nov 2018:

      Hi, it’s basically measuring the availability of GPS. Because Satellites are in constant movement there are areas in the world that for a few minutes may not have GPS available. (So kind of like when your google maps suddenly stops working). Each satellite gives of signals allowing us to work out its location and with this information, we can predict if GPS will be available during a flight. Legally, every flight needs to check GPS availability before it takes off, and if GPS is not available the pilot will have to demand on some other form of navigation system. – I hope that answers your question. It is quite complicated so if you don’t understand let me know and I’ll try again 🙂

Comments