Analysis of BDS Coverage Performance in the Arctic and High-Latitude Regions and Methods for Optimization

The Arctic region holds immense strategic value in terms of scientific expedition, maritime transportation, and resource development, which makes reliable and secure satellite navigation services in this area crucial. This study first calculates and analyzes key performance indicators of BeiDou System (BDS). These indicators include the number of visible satellites, Position Dilution of Precision (PDOP) values, and observation elevation angles at typical monitoring points in the Arctic region. To improve BDS’s coverage capabilities and further enhance its contribution to global satellite navigation in the Arctic region, two methods are proposed in this paper: (1) to introduce regional services such as PPP, SABS and a regional short message service to BDS Inclined Geosynchronous Orbit (IGSO) satellites and (2) to increase the inclination angle of BDS IGSO satellites to 60 degrees. A comparative analysis between the proposed design and the existing system was conducted. The results show that: (1) utilizing IGSO satellites for regional services can significantly improve coverage in the Arctic region, and (2) adjusting the IGSO satellite inclination to 60 degrees could enhance the performance of BDS’s Radio Navigation Satellite Service (RNSS) and other regional services.