Systems and methods for aircraft landing guidance during GNSS denied environment

A system comprising:

• a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) sensor onboard an aerial vehicle;
• a monitor warning system in operative communication with the GNSS sensor, the monitor warning system operative to determine whether the aerial vehicle is in a GNSS denied environment where GNSS signals are weak or lost, such that GNSS signal strength falls below a user selected threshold level;
• a flight management system onboard the aerial vehicle, the flight management system including at least one processor that hosts a landing guidance module, and a navigation database that includes location coordinates of one or more landing sites;
• one or more vision sensors mounted on the aerial vehicle and in operative communication with the landing guidance module;
• a radar velocity system (RVS) onboard the aerial vehicle and in operative communication with the landing guidance module, the RVS operative to obtain a set of parameters that comprise:
• position, velocity and altitude data for the aerial vehicle;
• and
• depth mapping data and ground avoidance data for a surrounding environment;
• and
• an inertial navigation system onboard the aerial vehicle and in operative communication with the RVS;
• wherein when the monitor warning system determines that the aerial vehicle is located in a GNSS denied environment, the landing guidance module is activated and is operative to calculate an optimal flight path by a process that comprises:
• receive image data from the one or more vision sensors, the image data corresponding to one or more terrain images over which the aerial vehicle is traveling;
• receive the position, velocity and altitude data for the aerial vehicle from the RVS and the inertial navigation system;
• receive the depth mapping data and the ground avoidance data from the RVS;
• receive location coordinates of a landing site selected by a user from the navigation database;
• process the image data, the position, velocity and altitude data, and the depth mapping data, to determine a real time location of the aerial vehicle and provide three-dimensional (3D) imaging of a route to the landing site;
• and
• calculate a landing flight path angle with respect to the landing site when the aerial vehicle approaches the landing site, using current location coordinates of the aerial vehicle and the location coordinates of the landing site.