Industry case studies
Last updated:7 June 2023
SouthPAN’s SBAS test-bed: Trial of accurate positioning
A trial of SouthPAN’s accurate positioning technology, known as the Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) test-bed project, ran between 2017 and 2019 to assess the economic, social and environmental benefits of improved positioning technology through a range of industry demonstrator use case projects. These projects tested how SouthPAN could improve existing technologies, or give rise to new innovation, across the economy. SouthPAN’s SBAS test-bed included 27 demonstrator projects across ten industry sectors including agriculture, aviation, construction, consumer, resources, road, rail, maritime, mining and utilities.
This was led by Geoscience Australia in partnership with the New Zealand Government’s Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand and managed by FrontierSI.
SouthPAN’s SBAS test-bed projects
SouthPAN economic benefits
To evaluate the effectiveness and application of an operational SouthPAN, an economic benefits analysis was conducted. The analysis found that through SouthPAN an accurate and reliable positioning capability has an expected value of $7.6 billion over 30 years for Australia and New Zealand based on tested applications. General benefits of an operational SouthPAN include wider coverage, enhanced accuracy, signal integrity and reduced commercial costs and infrastructure investment.
Expected value of $6.2 billion for Australia, $1.4 billion for New Zealand and a total of $7.6 billion for both countries over 30 years. SouthPAN has economic benefits across a range of sectors (Australia and New Zealand): Agriculture - $2.2 billion; Aviation - $404 million; Construction - $1.2 billion; Consumer – $34 million; Maritime - $588 million; Resources - $1.58 billion; Rail - $193 million; Road - $1.1 billion; Water utilities - $277 million