In this paper, a multi-antenna Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), multi-sensor attitude estimation algorithm is outlined, and its sensitivity to various error sources is assessed. The attitude estimation algorithm first estimates attitude using multiple GNSS antennas, and then fuses a host of other attitude estimation sensors including tri-axial magnetometers, Sun sensors, and inertial sensors. This work is motivated by the attitude determination needs of the Antarctic Impulse Transient Antenna (ANITA) experiment, a high-altitude balloon-lofted science platform. In order to assess performance trade-offs of various algorithm configurations, the attitude estimation performance of various approaches is tested using a simulation that is based on recorded ANITA III flight data. For GNSS errors, attention is focused on multipath, receiver measurement noise, and carrier-phase breaks. For the remaining attitude sensors, different grades of sensor are assessed. Through a Monte-Carlo simulation, it is shown that, under typical conditions, sub-0.1 degree attitude accuracy is available when use multiple antenna GNSS data only, but that this accuracy can degrade to degree-level in some environments warranting the inclusion of additional attitude sensors to maintain the desired level of accuracy.
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