Systems and methods for determining a positional state of an airborne array antenna using distributed accelerometers

Abstract

Systems and methods for determining a positional state of an airborne array antenna using distributed accelerometers are described. One such method includes receiving and formatting acceleration data from each of a plurality of accelerometers mounted at different locations along the array antenna, receiving position and orientation data from an inertial navigation service (INS) mounted on the array antenna, generating an INS estimated position for each accelerometer based on the position and orientation data from the INS, generating an accelerometer estimated position for each accelerometer based on the acceleration data, determining a position and orientation of each accelerometer based on the respective INS estimated position and the respective accelerometer estimated position, determining an estimated position of a center and an orientation of the array antenna based on the determined position and orientation of each accelerometer, and adjusting a direction of the array antenna based on the estimated position of the array antenna.