Navigation Performance of BeiDou in Polar Area

The strategic position of Arctic area and its rich natural resources are becoming increasingly important, while the northeast and northwest passages through the Arctic are receiving much attention as glaciers continue to melt. Hence, GNSS will play a significant role due to its unique advantages as Arctic navigation and positioning are particularly significant to guarantee the security of activities in that environment. The Beidou regional satellite navigation system was established successfully, and is developing into a global system enveloping the Polar Regions. In order to evaluate Beidou performance in the polar area, Beidou availability with present and future constellations, and the combination of Beidou with GPS are analyzed. The latent challenges to the navigation services provided by GNSS in polar area are discussed and possible solutions provided. We argue that the current BD2 can not satisfy the navigation requirements, but with a global BDS, it is possible to provide navigation services independently in Arctic area.