Augmented inertial navigation using cold atom sensing

Inertial sensing based on cold atom technologies has been proposed as a possible answer to the limited accuracy of current inertial navigation systems. Cold atom technologies offer measurements of inertial quantities that have unprecedented precision and accuracy. However, sensor accuracy is only one of the factors that limit the performance of purely inertial navigation systems. This paper reviews the possible benefits that cold atom quantum sensing may offer in navigation, and discusses a specific example where cold atom gravity gradiometers can be used to augment a standard inertial navigation system through gravitational map-matching.