Precise orbit determination of the Fengyun-3C satellite using onboard GPS and BDS observations

The GNSS Occultation Sounder instrument onboard the Chinese meteorological satellite Fengyun-3C (FY-3C) tracks both GPS and BDS signals for orbit determination. One month’s worth of the onboard dual-frequency GPS and BDS data during March 2015 from the FY-3C satellite is analyzed in this study. The onboard BDS and GPS measurement quality is evaluated in terms of data quantity as well as code multipath error. Severe multipath errors for BDS code ranges are observed especially for high elevations for BDS medium earth orbit satellites (MEOs). The code multipath errors are estimated as piecewise linear model in \(2{^{\circ }}\times 2{^{\circ }}\) grid and applied in precise orbit determination (POD) calculations. POD of FY-3C is firstly performed with GPS data, which shows orbit consistency of approximate 2.7 cm in 3D RMS (root mean square) by overlap comparisons; the estimated orbits are then used as reference orbits for evaluating the orbit precision of GPS and BDS combined POD as well as BDS-based POD. It is indicated that inclusion of BDS geosynchronous orbit satellites (GEOs) could degrade POD precision seriously. The precisions of orbit estimates by combined POD and BDS-based POD are 3.4 and 30.1 cm in 3D RMS when GEOs are involved, respectively. However, if BDS GEOs are excluded, the combined POD can reach similar precision with respect to GPS POD, showing orbit differences about 0.8 cm, while the orbit precision of BDS-based POD can be improved to 8.4 cm. These results indicate that the POD performance with onboard BDS data alone can reach precision better than 10 cm with only five BDS inclined geosynchronous satellite orbit satellites and three MEOs. As the GNOS receiver can only track six BDS satellites for orbit positioning at its maximum channel, it can be expected that the performance of POD with onboard BDS data can be further improved if more observations are generated without such restrictions.     

重力卫星星载GPS简化动力学精密定轨

利用GRACE和SWARM重力卫星星载GPS观测数据,基于简化动力学方法进行精密定轨,通过相位观测值残差分析、重叠轨道对比和科学轨道对比进行轨道精度检核。GRACE和SWARM卫星相位观测值残差RMS值稳定在6 mm左右,重叠轨道对比差值RMS在径向、切向和法向均优于1.24 cm;通过与GFZ和ESA提供的GRACE卫星与SWARM卫星精密轨道对比,GRACE卫星简化动力学轨道在R,T,N方向的轨道精度分别达到1.3 cm、2.1 cm和1.3 cm;SWARM卫星简化动力学轨道在径向、切向和法向的轨道精度分别达到0.8 cm、1.3 cm和1.6 cm。实验表明,基于简化动力学方法,GRACE和SWARM卫星定轨精度均到达厘米级。     

Characterization of Compass M-1 signals

An analysis of observations from China’s first medium earth orbit satellite Compass M-1 is presented, with main focus on the first orbit and clock solution for this satellite. The orbit is computed from laser ranging measurements. Based on this orbit solution, the apparent clock offset is estimated using measurements from two GNSS receivers, which allow Compass tracking. The analysis of the clock solutions reveals unexpectedly high dynamics in the pseudorange and carrier-phase observations. Furthermore, carrier-to-noise density ratio, pseudorange noise, and multipath are analyzed and compared to GPS and GIOVE. The results of the clock analysis motivate further research on the signals of the geostationary satellites of the Compass constellation.     

Precise orbit determination for the FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC satellite mission using GPS

The joint Taiwan–US mission FORMOSAT-3/ COSMIC (COSMIC) was launched on April 17, 2006. Each of the six satellites is equipped with two POD antennas. The orbits of the six satellites are determined from GPS data using zero-difference carrier-phase measurements by the reduced dynamic and kinematic methods. The effects of satellite center of mass (COM) variation, satellite attitude, GPS antenna phase center variation (PCV), and cable delay difference on the COSMIC orbit determination are studied. Nominal attitudes estimated from satellite state vectors deliver a better orbit accuracy when compared to observed attitude. Numerical tests show that the COSMIC COM must be precisely calibrated in order not to corrupt orbit determination. Based on the analyses of the 5 and 6-h orbit overlaps of two 30-h arcs, orbit accuracies from the reduced dynamic and kinematic solutions are nearly identical and are at the 2–3 cm level. The mean RMS difference between the orbits from this paper and those from UCAR (near real-time) and WHU (post-processed) is about 10 cm, which is largely due to different uses of GPS ephemerides, high-rate GPS clocks and force models. The kinematic orbits of COSMIC are expected to be used for recovery of temporal variations in the gravity field.     

Precise orbit determination for the GRACE mission using only GPS data

The GRACE (gravity recovery and climate experiment) satellites, launched in March 2002, are each equipped with a BlackJack GPS onboard receiver for precise orbit determination and gravity field recovery. Since launch, there have been significant improvements in the background force models used for satellite orbit determination, most notably the model for the geopotential. This has resulted in significant improvements to orbit accuracy for very low altitude satellites. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how well the orbits of the GRACE satellites (about 470 km in altitude) can currently be determined using only GPS data and based on the current models and methods. The orbit accuracy is assessed using a number of tests, which include analysis of orbit fits, orbit overlaps, orbit connecting points, satellite Laser ranging residuals and K-band ranging (KBR) residuals. We show that 1-cm radial orbit accuracy for the GRACE satellites has probably been achieved. These precise GRACE orbits can be used for such purposes as improving gravity recovery from the GRACE KBR data and for atmospheric profiling, and they demonstrate the quality of the background force models being used.     

北斗全球卫星导航系统试验卫星测距信号质量分析

目前,北斗全球卫星导航系统有5颗试验卫星发射试验信号。试验卫星数据质量分析是北斗全球系统信号体制验证的重要内容。基于单测站北斗试验卫星观测数据,采用伪距相位差组合和伪距多径组合方法,初步分析了试验卫星民用信号以及Bs频点信号伪距测量噪声和多径误差。结果表明,倾斜同步轨道卫星伪距测量精度优于中轨道卫星;在各导航信号中,B2a+b信号伪距测量精度最高,具有最优的抗多径性能;B1C信号伪距测量精度最低,抗多径性能最差;Bs信号伪距测量精度较差,但优于B1C信号,且其伪距多径存在一个与高度角相关的系统误差,在高度角最大时可达0.5 m。     

星载GPS伪距多路径误差与观测噪声对自主定轨的影响分析

对搭载美国BlackJack接收机的CHAMP/GRACE-A/Jason-2卫星和搭载国产接收机的HY2A/ZY3/TH1卫星的星载GPS数据的伪距多路径误差与观测噪声进行了研究,重点分析了国产接收机伪距多路径误差的变化特性,并研究了多路径误差与观测噪声对星载GPS自主定轨的影响。结果表明:国产接收机的C/A码与P1码伪距观测精度要整体差于美国的BlackJack接收机,而P2码伪距观测精度要整体优于BlackJack接收机;国产接收机P1码伪距受多路径效应影响较大,其多路径误差随高度角减小存在单调递增的变化趋势,其中HY2A、ZY3与TH1卫星的多路径误差最大分别可达3.6 m、1.8 m与0.7 m;这种单调递增变化的多路径误差会导致星载GPS自主定轨位置结果在径向与切向产生系统性偏差。     

BDS-3数据质量及SPP定位性能分析

北斗三号（BDS-3）已完成建设,在此之际对BDS-3观测数据质量及定位性能进行研究分析是一项很有意义且必要的工作. 本文利用MGEX（Multi-GNSS Experiment）站的观测数据评估分析了BDS-3的观测数据质量及伪距单点定位精度,并同时与北斗二号（BDS-2）、GPS的定位精度进行对比分析. 结果表明:BDS-3在各测站的数据完整率都在95%以上;各频段的信噪比均值均高于45 dB·Hz,但地球静止轨道（GEO）卫星信噪比频繁大幅波动;各类型卫星的伪距多路径平均值都低于35 cm,大部分卫星的伪距观测值噪声普遍小于0.3 m. BDS-2/BDS-3组合定位精度相较于BDS-2、BDS-3均有不同幅度的提升,但在高纬度地区对BDS-3定位精度提升幅度很小. BDS-3在全球各区域均能获得水平优于3 m、高程优于4 m的定位精度,与GPS定位性能大致相当.      

基于平方根推广卡尔曼滤波的星载GPS定轨

本文探讨了利用星载GPS数据实现平方根推广卡尔曼滤波(SR-EKF)定轨的方法,采用SR-EKF对两颗GRACE卫星进行了定轨试验计算,并将计算结果与Bernese5.0的计算结果进行了比较,比较分析表明:采用SR-EKF方法进行GRACE卫星定轨可以得到优于10cm的定轨精度;经验力参数可以平衡几何观测信息和动力模型信息,但增大了观测异常对定轨结果的影响;对位置和速度进行噪声补偿可以减弱观测异常对定轨结果的影响,但有可能使轨道出现系统性偏差。     

Improved GRACE kinematic orbit determination using GPS receiver clock modeling

Kinematic positions of Low Earth Orbiters based on GPS tracking are frequently used as pseudo-observations for single satellite gravity field determination. Unfortunately, the accuracy of the satellite trajectory is partly limited because the receiver synchronization error has to be estimated along with the kinematic coordinates at every observation epoch. We review the requirements for GPS receiver clock modeling in Precise Point Positioning (PPP) and analyze its impact on kinematic orbit determination for the two satellites of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission using both simulated and real data. We demonstrate that a piecewise linear parameterization can be used to model the ultra-stable oscillators that drive the GPS receivers on board of the GRACE satellites. Using such a continuous clock model allows position estimation even if the number of usable GPS satellites drops to three and improves the robustness of the solution with respect to outliers. Furthermore, simulations indicate a potential accuracy improvement of the satellite trajectory of at least 40 % in the radial direction and up to 7 % in the along-track and cross-track directions when a 60-s piecewise linear clock model is estimated instead of epoch-wise independent receiver clock offsets. For PPP with real GRACE data, the accuracy evaluation is hampered by the lack of a reference orbit of significantly higher accuracy. However, comparisons with a smooth reduced-dynamic orbit indicate a significant reduction of the high-frequency noise in the radial component of the kinematic orbit.     

Interferometric Baseline Performance Estimations for Multistatic Synthetic Aperture Radar Configurations Derived from GRACE GPS Observations

Recent studies have demonstrated the usefulness of global positioning system (GPS) receivers for relative positioning of formation-flying satellites using dual-frequency carrier-phase observations. The accurate determination of distances or baselines between satellites flying in formation can provide significant benefits to a wide area of geodetic studies. For spaceborne radar interferometry in particular, such measurements will improve the accuracy of interferometric products such as digital elevation models (DEM) or surface deformation maps. The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of relative position errors on the interferometric baseline performance of multistatic synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites flying in such a formation. Based on accuracy results obtained from differential GPS (DGPS) observations between the twin gravity recovery and climate experiment (GRACE) satellites, baseline uncertainties are derived for three interferometric scenarios of a dedicated SAR mission. For cross-track interferometry in a bistatic operational mode, a mean 2D baseline error (1σ) of 1.4 mm is derived, whereas baseline estimates necessary for a monostatic acquisition mode with a 50 km along-track separation reveal a 2D uncertainty of approximately 1.7 mm. Absolute orbit solutions based on reduced dynamic orbit determination techniques using GRACE GPS code and carrier-phase data allows a repeat-pass baseline estimation with an accuracy down to 4 cm (2D 1σ). To assess the accuracy with respect to quality requirements of high-resolution DEMs, topographic height errors are derived from the estimated baseline uncertainties. Taking the monostatic pursuit flight configuration as the worst case for baseline performance, the analysis reveals that the induced low-frequency modulation (height bias) fulfills the relative vertical accuracy requirement (σ<1 m linear point-to-point error) according to the digital terrain elevation data level 3 (DTED-3) specifications for most of the baseline constellations. The use of a GPS-based reduced dynamic orbit determination technique improves the baseline performance for repeat-pass interferometry. The problem of fulfilling the DTED-3 horizontal accuracy requirements is still an issue to be investigated. DGPS can be used as an operational navigation tool for high-precision baseline estimation if a geodetic-grade dual-frequency spaceborne GPS receiver is assumed to be the primary instrument onboard the SAR satellites. The possibility of using only single-frequency receivers, however, requires further research effort.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) research fellow until Sept. 2004 at the Microwaves and Radar Institute, Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) e.V., 82234 Weßling, Germany     

北斗三号系统信号质量分析及轨道精度验证

北斗三号卫星导航系统（BeiDou-3 navigation satellite system,BDS-3）的信号体制经过重新设计,提供B1I、B3I、B1C、B2a以及B2b 5个频点的公开服务信号。从伪距多路径、信噪比、无几何无电离层相位组合（geometry-free ionosphere-free phase combination,GFIFP）观测值特性等方面,对BDS-3卫星公开服务信号的观测数据质量进行分析评估。结果表明,BDS-3卫星信号的多路径噪声水平优于北斗二号系统卫星,且未发现与高度角相关的系统偏差,B1C受多路径及噪声的影响更为显著;不同信号组合的GFIFP序列都呈现出与卫星相关的周期性系统误差,峰值约为2 cm。对BDS-3卫星采用“一步法”精密定轨,分别采用B1I&B3I与B1C&B2a的双频无电离层组合,使用轨道边界不连续性以及卫星激光测距进行轨道精度检核,结果表明,在可用观测数少于B1I&B3I的情况下,B1C&B2a解算的轨道精度达到与B1I&B3I相当的水平,轨道径向的内符合精度分别为6.1 cm、6.6 cm...     

Antenna phase center calibration for precise positioning of LEO satellites

Phase center variations of the receiver and transmitter antenna constitute a remaining uncertainty in the high precision orbit determination (POD) of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites using GPS measurements. Triggered by the adoption of absolute phase patterns in the IGS processing standards, a calibration of the Sensor Systems S67-1575-14 antenna with GFZ choke ring has been conducted that serves as POD antenna on various geodetic satellites such as CHAMP, GRACE and TerraSAR-X. Nominal phase patterns have been obtained with a robotic measurement system in a field campaign and the results were used to assess the impact of receiver antenna phase patterns on the achievable positioning accuracy. Along with this, phase center distortions in the actual spacecraft environment were characterized based on POD carrier phase residuals for the GRACE and TerraSAR-X missions. It is shown that the combined ground and in-flight calibration can improve the carrier phase modeling accuracy to a level of 4 mm which is close to the pure receiver noise. A 3.5 cm (3D rms) consistency of kinematic and reduced dynamic orbit determination solutions is achieved for TerraSAR-X, which presumably reflects the limitations of presently available GPS ephemeris products. The reduced dynamic solutions themselves match the observations of high grade satellite laser ranging stations to 1.5 cm but are potentially affected by cross-track biases at the cm-level. With respect to the GPS based relative navigation of TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X formation, the in-flight calibration of the antenna phase patterns is considered essential for an accurate modeling of differential carrier phase measurements and a mm level baseline reconstruction.

Combination of GNSS and SLR observations using satellite co-locations

Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) observations to Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites may be used for several purposes. On one hand, the range measurement may be used as an independent validation for satellite orbits derived solely from GNSS microwave observations. On the other hand, both observation types may be analyzed together to generate a combined orbit. The latter procedure implies that one common set of orbit parameters is estimated from GNSS and SLR data. We performed such a combined processing of GNSS and SLR using the data of the year 2008. During this period, two GPS and four GLONASS satellites could be used as satellite co-locations. We focus on the general procedure for this type of combined processing and the impact on the terrestrial reference frame (including scale and geocenter), the GNSS satellite antenna offsets (SAO) and the SLR range biases. We show that the combination using only satellite co-locations as connection between GNSS and SLR is possible and allows the estimation of SLR station coordinates at the level of 1–2 cm. The SLR observations to GNSS satellites provide the scale allowing the estimation of GNSS SAO without relying on the scale of any a priori terrestrial reference frame. We show that the necessity to estimate SLR range biases does not prohibit the estimation of GNSS SAO. A good distribution of SLR observations allows a common estimation of the two parameter types. The estimated corrections for the GNSS SAO are 119 mm and −13 mm on average for the GPS and GLONASS satellites, respectively. The resulting SLR range biases suggest that it might be sufficient to estimate one parameter per station representing a range bias common to all GNSS satellites. The estimated biases are in the range of a few centimeters up to 5 cm. Scale differences of 0.9 ppb are seen between GNSS and SLR.     

Geocenter variations derived from GPS tracking of the GRACE satellites

Two 4.5-year sets of daily geocenter variations have been derived from GPS-LEO (Low-Earth Orbiter) tracking of the GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment) satellites. The twin GRACE satellites, launched in March 2002, are each equipped with a BlackJack global positioning system (GPS) receiver for precise orbit determination and gravity recovery. Since launch, there have been significant improvements in the background force models used for satellite orbit determination, most notably the model for the geopotential, which has resulted in significant improvements to the orbit determination accuracy. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential for determining seasonal (annual and semiannual) geocenter variations using GPS-LEO tracking data from the GRACE twin satellites. Internal comparison between the GRACE-A and GRACE-B derived geocenter variations shows good agreement. In addition, the annual and semiannual variations of geocenter motions determined from this study have been compared with other space geodetic solutions and predictions from geophysical models. The comparisons show good agreement except for the phase of the z-translation component.     

Single receiver phase ambiguity resolution with GPS data

Global positioning system (GPS) data processing algorithms typically improve positioning solution accuracy by fixing double-differenced phase bias ambiguities to integer values. These “double-difference ambiguity resolution” methods usually invoke linear combinations of GPS carrier phase bias estimates from pairs of transmitters and pairs of receivers, and traditionally require simultaneous measurements from at least two receivers. However, many GPS users point position a single local receiver, based on publicly available solutions for GPS orbits and clocks. These users cannot form double differences. We present an ambiguity resolution algorithm that improves solution accuracy for single receiver point-positioning users. The algorithm processes dual- frequency GPS data from a single receiver together with wide-lane and phase bias estimates from the global network of GPS receivers that were used to generate the orbit and clock solutions for the GPS satellites. We constrain (rather than fix) linear combinations of local phase biases to improve compatibility with global phase bias estimates. For this precise point positioning, no other receiver data are required. When tested, our algorithm significantly improved repeatability of daily estimates of ground receiver positions, most notably in the east component by approximately 30% with respect to the nominal case wherein the carrier biases are estimated as real values. In this “static” test for terrestrial receiver positions, we achieved daily repeatability of 1.9, 2.1 and 6.0 mm in the east, north and vertical (ENV) components, respectively. For kinematic solutions, ENV repeatability is 7.7, 8.4, and 11.7 mm, respectively, representing improvements of 22, 8, and 14% with respect to the nominal. Results from precise orbit determination of the twin GRACE satellites demonstrated that the inter-satellite baseline accuracy improved by a factor of three, from 6 to 2 mm up to a long-term bias. Jason-2/Ocean Surface Topography Mission precise orbit determination tests results implied radial orbit accuracy significantly below the 10 mm level. Stability of time transfer, in low-Earth orbit, improved from 40 to 7 ps. We produced these results by applying this algorithm within the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL’s) GIPSY/OASIS software package and using JPL’s orbit and clock products for the GPS constellation. These products now include a record of the wide-lane and phase bias estimates from the underlying global network of GPS stations. This implies that all GIPSY–OASIS positioning users can now benefit from this capability to perform single-receiver ambiguity resolution.     

GRACE卫星非差简化动力学定轨研究

本文基于卫星精密定轨的基本理论,研究了GRACE卫星非差简化动力学定轨的方法;并用自行研制的定轨软件CASMORD对实测的星载GPS数据进行非差数据的简化动力学定轨,通过比较GRACE卫星解算的轨道与JPL事后轨道及SLR测距信息,结果表明:利用非差观测值进行CRACE卫星的简化动力学定轨,三维位置精度(3D-RMS)...     

基于SLR的GRACE卫星定轨中重力场模型对轨道精度的影响

以GRACE卫星为例,分析比较利用SLR观测资料进行卫星定轨时,采用不同重力场模型对GRACE卫星定轨精度的影响;以及重力场截断阶引起的积分轨道差异;同时,将定轨结果与采用GPS确定的定轨结果进行比较,分析与GPS定轨结果的差异.实验证明.重力场模型选择GGM02C的定轨结果优于选择JGM-3的定轨结果,基于SLR的定...     

Integrated adjustment of CHAMP, GRACE, and GPS data

Various types of observations, such as space-borne Global positioning system (GPS) code and phase data, accelerometer data, K-band range and range-rate data, and ground-based satellite laser ranging data of the CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) and GRAvity Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite missions, are used together with ground-based GPS code and phase data in a rigorous adjustment to eventually solve for the ephemerides of the CHAMP, GRACE, and GPS satellites, geocenter variations, and low-degree gravity field parameters. It turns out that this integrated adjustment considerably improves the accuracy of the ephemerides for the high and low satellites, geocenter variations, and gravity field parameters, compared to the case when the adjustment is carried out stepwise or in individual satellite solutions.Acknowledgments. This study has been supported by the German Ministry of Education and Research through the Geotechnologies Programme grants 03F0333A/CHAMP and 03F0326A/GRACE.     

Precision real-time navigation of LEO satellites using global positioning system measurements

Continued advancements in remote sensing technology along with a trend towards highly autonomous spacecraft provide a strong motivation for accurate real-time navigation of satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) sensors nowadays enable a continuous tracking and provide low-noise radiometric measurements onboard a user spacecraft. Following the deactivation of Selective Availability a representative real-time positioning accuracy of 10 m is presently achieved by spaceborne global positioning system (GPS) receivers on LEO satellites. This accuracy can notably be improved by use of dynamic orbit determination techniques. Besides a filtering of measurement noise and other short-term errors, these techniques enable the processing of ambiguous measurements such as carrier phase or code-carrier combinations. In this paper a reference algorithm for real-time onboard orbit determination is described and tested with GPS measurements from various ongoing space missions covering an altitude range of 400–800 km. A trade-off between modeling effort and achievable accuracy is performed, which takes into account the limitations of available onboard processors and the restricted upload capabilities. Furthermore, the benefits of different measurements types and the available real-time ephemeris products are assessed. Using GPS broadcast ephemerides a real-time position accuracy of about 0.5 m (3D rms) is feasible with dual-frequency carrier phase measurements. Slightly inferior results (0.6–1 m) are achieved with single-frequency code-carrier combinations or dual-frequency code. For further performance improvements the use of more accurate real-time GPS ephemeris products is mandatory. By way of example, it is shown that the TDRSS Augmentation Service for Satellites (TASS) offers the potential for 0.1–0.2 m real-time navigation accuracies onboard LEO satellites.