Rho Theta Navigation Explained

Rho-theta is a term used in aviation navigation for a location method (or even a group of locating methods) based on the measurement of coordinates (direction and distance to a ground station beacon or beacons). Many automated Aids to Navigation, such as a VORTAC, use the Rho-Theta data as the primary method to calculate relative position of an aircraft to the reference beacon(s). Rho-Theta methodology is a key component in Area Navigation (RNAV). ^[1]

The term "Rho-Theta" consists of the two Greek letters corresponding to Rho and Theta:^{[2] [3] [4]}

• Rho (Greek ρ) as a synonym for distance measurement, e.g. Rho would be the equivalent to the English abbreviation "R" for Range
• Theta (Greek θ) for the associated heading (direction or bearing) measurement.

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Airline Pilots Forum and Resource.
2. Web site: A navigation primer . Flightglobal.com. 11 October 2018.
3. Rho-theta system. 10.1036/1097-8542.587300. Access Science. 2020. Dodington. Sven H.. Greenspan. Richard L..
4. Web site: - YouTube. YouTube.