Abstract This paper presents the results of STRATONAV experiment to test the precision of the VOR (VHF Omni Range) aircraft navigation system in stratosphere. The experiment has been conducted by the S5Lab research group at Sapienza University of Rome in the framework of the REXUS/BEXUS Programme. STRATONAV has been successfully launched on-board the BEXUS 22 stratospheric balloon from Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden, in 2016. The main payload was composed by two typologies of VOR receivers, a commercial portable receiver and a Software Defined Radio (SDR), alongside the bus and positioning, attitude and temperature sensors. STRATONAV succeeded in collecting VOR radials for the whole duration of the balloon flight. The results prove that VOR can be used as back-up navigation system for stratospheric platforms, ensuring a reliability improvement, while being applied to smaller payloads as primary system for a cost and complexity reduction of experiment developments. The paper analyzes the collected VOR data during the balloon flight. Accuracy and performance plots with respect to distance from the VOR stations and altitude are presented and discussed. The mean errors and standard deviations from all stations for both the receivers are shown with an analysis over the recorded errors. Finally, future perspectives, analyses and applicability of the research are exposed.

中文翻译：

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用于平流层飞行的 VOR（VHF Omni Range）导航系统的实验验证

摘要 本文介绍了 STRATONAV 实验的结果，以测试 VOR（VHF Omni Range）飞机在平流层导航系统的精度。该实验由罗马 Sapienza 大学的 S5Lab 研究小组在 REXUS/BEXUS 计划的框架内进行。STRATONAV 于 2016 年在瑞典基律纳 Esrange 航天中心的 BEXUS 22 平流层气球上成功发射。 主要有效载荷由两种类型的 VOR 接收器组成，一种是商用便携式接收器，一种是软件定义无线电 (SDR)，旁边还有公交车和定位、姿态和温度传感器。STRATONAV 成功地在气球飞行的整个过程中收集了 VOR 径向线。结果证明VOR可作为平流层平台的备用导航系统，确保提高可靠性，同时作为主要系统应用于较小的有效载荷，以降低实验开发的成本和复杂性。本文分析了气球飞行过程中收集到的 VOR 数据。介绍并讨论了与 VOR 站的距离和高度相关的精度和性能图。两个接收器的所有站点的平均误差和标准偏差与对记录误差的分析一起显示。最后，揭示了研究的未来观点、分析和适用性。介绍并讨论了与 VOR 站的距离和高度相关的精度和性能图。两个接收器的所有站点的平均误差和标准偏差与对记录误差的分析一起显示。最后，揭示了研究的未来观点、分析和适用性。介绍并讨论了与 VOR 站的距离和高度相关的精度和性能图。两个接收器的所有站点的平均误差和标准偏差与对记录误差的分析一起显示。最后，揭示了研究的未来观点、分析和适用性。