Satellite navigation in the U.S. Coast Guard.

This thesis investigates many of the issues surrounding the civil maritime navigation dilemma facing the USCG. At present, LORAN-C and OMEGA, which are hyperbolic radionavigation systems and TRANSIT, a Doppler shift satellite-based system, are the main systems employed in the civil maritime field. NAVSTAR GPS, a passive ranging satellite navigation system is, in the meantime, showing great promise as the replacement system for primary radionavigation in the U.S. There are several key questions, one involving national security, which must be answered, however, before NAVSTAR becomes operational. What positional accuracy will be made available to the civil community? What are the economics of the user equipments? Will NAVSTAR be accepted as a successful replacement for LORAN by the civil community? To aid in answering some of these questions, the results of an informal survey of the civil maritime industry are presented. The final outcome remains to be seen. These issues will require careful thought by this country's top leaders before any final committment to NAVSTAR can be made or prior to any decision to discontinue LORAN-C or OMEGA.
http://archive.org/details/satellitenavigat1094518859
Lieutenant, United States Coast Guard
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