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Robustness analysis of nonlinear filters for aircraft state estimation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2025

M. Elenchezhiyan  and
A. Kumar Open the ORCID record for A. Kumar [Opens in a new window]
M. Elenchezhiyan
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, PSG Institute of Technology and Applied Research, Coimbatore, India
A. Kumar*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, IITRAM, Ahmedabad, India
*
Corresponding author: A. Kumar; Email: ajit.aeiitk@gmail.com
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Abstract

This paper presents a detailed robustness analysis of three nonlinear filtering algorithms: the unscented Kalman filter, the cubature Kalman filter, and the ensemble Kalman filter, applied to aircraft state estimation for fixed-wing flight dynamics. The study focuses on estimating critical longitudinal flight parameters such as true airspeed, angle-of-attack, pitch angle and pitch rate using pitch angle measurements. A nonlinear aircraft model is formulated, and each filtering technique is implemented and evaluated under multiple scenarios, including sensor noise, initial state mismatches and plant-model uncertainties. Simulation results across four cases, ranging from ideal conditions to $95{\mathrm{\% }}$ mismatch, demonstrate that the unscented Kalman filter consistently delivers the most accurate and robust estimates, especially for velocity and pitch rate. The cubature Kalman filter offers a trade-off between estimation accuracy and computational efficiency, while the ensemble Kalman filter shows significant sensitivity to uncertainties but performs relatively better in estimating the angle-of-attack under severe mismatch conditions. This comparative study provides valuable insights for selecting appropriate filtering strategies in aerospace applications, particularly where robustness and reliability under uncertainty are crucial.

Keywords

aircraft state estimationflight dynamicsnonlinear filteringrobustness analysisunscented Kalman filter (UKF)

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 130 , Issue 1343 , January 2026 , pp. 65 - 77
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal Aeronautical Society

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