Slant Range Analysis and Inflight Compensation of Radar Altimeter Flight Test Data

This paper introduces a highly detailed radar altimeter simulation model, considering geometric and signal processing aspects. The simulation model is deployed in a simulation environment for a better understanding of the different error sources of radar altimeters. To characterize the strengths and weaknesses of the altimeter simulation model, the simulation results are compared to recorded altimeter flight test data. A slant range compensation algorithm is introduced applying the altimeter simulation model inflight. The performance of the slant range compensation algorithm is shown on recorded flight test data of an octocopter trajectory as well as on a fixed-wing aircraft trajectory.