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.     

星载加速度计增强北斗自主定轨性能

卫星自主定轨是提高全球卫星导航系统(GNSS)可靠性、稳健性、完整性和生存能力的重要保证。新一代的北斗卫星已可以进行星间链路测距,从而达到提高卫星全球跟踪能力以及实现整个卫星导航系统的自主定轨。然而由于卫星运行会受到多种摄动力的影响,如果不能对这些摄动力进行精密的改正,在没有地面或其他天体提供绝对约束的条件下,导航系统会随着自主定轨时间的延长出现星座整体旋转。卫星所受摄动力分为保守力和非保守力两部分:对于保守力,如地球非球形摄动、潮汐摄动、太阳月球和其他三体引力,现在已有的力学模型可以很精确地进行改正;而非保守力(如太阳光压摄动),则难以用精确的模型进行改正,因此成为影响卫星定轨精度的主要因素。星载加速度计可以高精度地测量非保守力,并已成功应用于重力卫星(CHAMP、GRACE、GOCE)的重力场反演与大气研究中。本文研究主要探讨采用星上加速度计提高北斗卫星自主定轨精度和延长自主定轨时长的可行性。利用模拟的卫星轨道和星间链路数据,以及现有的星载加速度计误差模型,对北斗卫星系统分别使用星间链路数据和星间链路与加速度计组合数据,进行自主定轨与精度评定。计算结果表明,使用星间链路与星载加速度计数据进行自主定轨,较单纯使用星间链路数据精度具有明显改进。在模拟的星间测距观测数据具有0.33m随机噪声以及分米级系统误差,自主定轨两个月的情况下,联合使用加速度计数据的自主定轨IGSO和MEO卫星精度为分米级,而仅使用星间链路数据的定轨精度约为3~6m,比使用加速度计精度低一个量级。     

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.     

Black sea annual and inter-annual water mass variations from space

This study evaluates the performance of two widely used GRACE solutions (CNES/GRGS RL02 and CSR RL04) in deriving annual and inter-annual water mass variations in the Black Sea for the period 2003–2007. It is demonstrated that the GRACE derived water mass variations in the Black Sea are heavily influenced by the leakage of hydrological signals from the surrounding land. After applying the corresponding correction, we found a good agreement with water mass variations derived from steric-corrected satellite altimetry observations. Both GRACE and altimetry show significant annual water mass variations of roughly 7 cm amplitude peaking in May and a semi-annual signal of roughly 3 cm peaking in June and in December. The amplitude of the annual water mass signal varies significantly from year to year and is significantly larger during 2004–2006 than in 2003 and 2007. This is also in agreement with the steric corrected altimetry.     

Determination of polar motion by Doppler tracking of artificial satellite

Doppler tracking of artificial satellites has been applied to determine the pole components through an experiment called MEDOC. In addition to developing scientific aspects dealing with polar motion, it is proposed to promote new observational techniques and to investigate the possibility of operating an international permanent service. So far, nearly two years of bi-daily solutions have been derived. Each improvement of computational procedures, data processing and station component determination has contributed to better precision in the computed pole positions. MEDOC pole coordinate solutions show good agreement with DMA and BIH global solutions corrected for annual terms. Differences of the smoothed values are less than one meter for both components. The MEDOC experiment was initiated by the GRGS (Groupe de Recherches de Géodésie Spatiale) and took place in 1977 and 1978. The experiment as presently organized will continue up to 1980. Future improvements are still foreseen by increasing the number of observing sites and refinement of the force models, but already international involvement is taking place in the MEDOC experiment.     

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     

基于GRACE卫星数据的高精度全球静态重力场模型

应用GRACE卫星数据反演高精度静态地球重力场是大地测量学界的热点之一。考虑到经典动力学法线性化误差随弧长拉长而迅速增长,本文以GRACE卫星轨道观测值为初值的线性化方法,建立了应用GRACE卫星轨道和星间距离变率反演地球重力场的改进动力学法理论模型。利用2003年1月至2010年12月的GRACE卫星姿态、轨道、星间距离变率和非保守力加速度等观测数据,解算了一个180阶次的无约束全球静态重力场模型Tongji-Dyn01s和一个采用Kaula规则约束的全球重力场模型Tongji-Dyn01k。与国际不同机构最新发布的纯GRACE数据解算的重力场模型(包括AIUB-GRACE03S、GGM05S、ITSG-Grace2014k和Tongji-GRACE01)进行比较,并利用DTU13海洋重力异常和GPS/水准高程异常进行外部检核,结果表明,Tongji-Dyn01s与国际最新模型精度处于同一水平,然而Tongji-Dyn01k模型总体上更加靠近EIGEN6C2重力场模型。     

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。     

Improving BeiDou precise orbit determination using observations of onboard MEO satellite receivers

In recent years, the precise orbit determination (POD) of the regional Chinese BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) has been a hot spot because of its special constellation consisting of five geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellites and five inclined geosynchronous satellite orbit (IGSO) satellites besides four medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites since the end of 2012. GEO and IGSO satellites play an important role in regional BDS applications. However, this brings a great challenge to the POD, especially for the GEO satellites due to their geostationary orbiting. Though a number of studies have been carried out to improve the POD performance of GEO satellites, the result is still much worse than that of IGSO and MEO, particularly in the along-track direction. The major reason is that the geostationary characteristic of a GEO satellite results in a bad geometry with respect to the ground tracking network. In order to improve the tracking geometry of the GEO satellites, a possible strategy is to mount global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers on MEO satellites to collect the signals from GEO/IGSO GNSS satellites so as that these observations can be used to improve GEO/IGSO POD. We extended our POD software package to simulate all the related observations and to assimilate the MEO-onboard GNSS observations in orbit determination. Based on GPS and BDS constellations, simulated studies are undertaken for various tracking scenarios. The impact of the onboard GNSS observations is investigated carefully and presented in detail. The results show that MEO-onboard observations can significantly improve the orbit precision of GEO satellites from metres to decimetres, especially in the along-track direction. The POD results of IGSO satellites also benefit from the MEO-onboard data and the precision can be improved by more than 50% in 3D direction.     

Precise relative orbit determination of twin GRACE satellites

When formation flying spacecrafts are used as platform to gain earth oriented observation, precise baselines between these spacecrafts are always essential. Gravity recovery and climate experiment (GRACE) mission is aimed at mapping the global gravity field and its variation. Accurate baseline of GRACE satellites is necessary for the gravity field modeling. The determination of kinematic and reduced dynamic relative orbits of twin satellites has been studied in this paper, and an accuracy of 2 mm for dynamic relative orbits and 5 mm for kinematic ones can be obtained, whereby most of the double difference onboard GPS ambiguities are resolved.     

Measuring rapid variations in Earth orientation,geocenter and crust with satellite laser ranging

This analysis was performed with the GEOSAT software developed at NDRE for high-precision analysis of satellite tracking and VLBI data for geodetic and geodynamic applications. To determine the amplitudes of the tidally coherent daily and sub-daily variations in the Earth's orientation, geocenter, and crust, we have analyzed twelve months of SLR tracking data from the LAGEOS I & II and ETALON I & II satellites, obtained between October 1992 and September 1993. Station coordinates and mean geocenter are determined with an accuracy of 1 to 2 cm. Amplitudes of diurnal and semidiurnal variations in UT1, polar motion, and geocenter are determined with a precision of ~2µts, ~20µas, and 1–3 mm in each component. It is demonstrated that it is possible to determine a one-year continuous high-precision series in UT1 using multi-satellite laser ranging.     

Self-consistent treatment of tidal variations in the geocenter for precise orbit determination

We show that the current levels of accuracy being achieved for the precise orbit determination (POD) of low-Earth orbiters demonstrate the need for the self-consistent treatment of tidal variations in the geocenter. Our study uses as an example the POD of the OSTM/Jason-2 satellite altimeter mission based upon Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking data. Current GPS-based POD solutions are demonstrating root-mean-square (RMS) radial orbit accuracy and precision of \({<}1\)  cm and 1 mm, respectively. Meanwhile, we show that the RMS of three-dimensional tidal geocenter variations is \({<}6\)  mm, but can be as large as 15 mm, with the largest component along the Earth’s spin axis. Our results demonstrate that GPS-based POD of Earth orbiters is best performed using GPS satellite orbit positions that are defined in a reference frame whose origin is at the center of mass of the entire Earth system, including the ocean tides. Errors in the GPS-based POD solutions for OSTM/Jason-2 of \({<}4\)  mm (3D RMS) and \({<}2\)  mm (radial RMS) are introduced when tidal geocenter variations are not treated consistently. Nevertheless, inconsistent treatment is measurable in the OSTM/Jason-2 POD solutions and manifests through degraded post-fit tracking data residuals, orbit precision, and relative orbit accuracy. For the latter metric, sea surface height crossover variance is higher by \(6~\hbox {mm}^{2}\) when tidal geocenter variations are treated inconsistently.     

Systematic errors in the Z-geocenter derived using satellite tracking data: a case study from SPOT-4 DORIS data in 1998

Within the scope of the Global Geodetic Observing System, Doppler Orbit Determination and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite – as a geodetic technique – can provide precise and continuous monitoring of the geocenter motion related to mass redistribution in the Earth, ocean and atmosphere system. We have reanalyzed 1998 DORIS/SPOT-4 (Satellite pour l’ Observation de la Terre) data that were previously generating inconsistent geocenter positions (?65 cm offset). We show here that this error is due to an incorrect phase center correction provided with the DORIS preprocessed data resulting from a +12 cm offset in the cross-track direction that has been confirmed since. We also conclude that a 1 mm error in the cross-track offset of non-yawing sun-synchronous SPOT satellites will generate a ?6.5 mm error in the derived Z-geocenter. Other non-yawing satellites would also be affected by a similar effect whose amplitude could be easily estimated from the orbit inclination     

Quality assessment of FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC and GRACE GPS observables: analysis of multipath, ionospheric delay and phase residual in orbit determination

The precise orbit determination antennas of F3/C and GRACE-A satellites are from the same manufacturer, but are installed in different configurations. The current orbit accuracy of F3/C is 3 cm at arcs with good GPS data, compared to 1 cm of GRACE, which has a larger ratio of usable GPS data. This paper compares the qualities of GPS observables from F3/C and GRACE. Using selected satellites and time spans, the following average values for the satellite F3/C and satellite A of GRACE are obtained: multipath effect on the pseudorange P1, 0.78 and 0.38 m; multipath effect on the pseudorange P2, 1.03 and 0.69 m; occurrence frequency of cycle slip, 1/29 and 1/84; standard error of unit weight, 4 and 1 cm; dynamic–kinematic orbit difference, 10 and 2 cm. For gravity determination using F3/C GPS data, a careful selection of GPS data is critical. With six satellites in orbit, F3/C’s large amount of GPS data will make up the deficiency in data quality.     

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。     

Orbit determination of the SELENE satellites using multi-satellite data types and evaluation of SELENE gravity field models

The SELENE mission, consisting of three separate satellites that use different terrestrial-based tracking systems, presents a unique opportunity to evaluate the contribution of these tracking systems to orbit determination precision. The tracking data consist of four-way Doppler between the main orbiter and one of the two sub-satellites while the former is over the far side, and of same-beam differential VLBI tracking between the two sub-satellites. Laser altimeter data are also used for orbit determination. The contribution to orbit precision of these different data types is investigated through orbit overlap analysis. It is shown that using four-way and VLBI data improves orbit consistency for all satellites involved by reducing peak values in orbit overlap differences that exist when only standard two-way Doppler and range data are used. Including laser altimeter data improves the orbit precision of the SELENE main satellite further, resulting in very smooth total orbit errors at an average level of 18 m. The multi-satellite data have also resulted in improved lunar gravity field models, which are assessed through orbit overlap analysis using Lunar Prospector tracking data. Improvements over a pre-SELENE model are shown to be mostly in the along-track and cross-track directions. Orbit overlap differences are at a level between 13 and 21 m with the SELENE models, depending on whether 1-day data overlaps or 1-day predictions are used.     

不同经验太阳光压模型对于北斗卫星定轨的适用性分析

当前的北斗卫星导航系统尚缺乏合适的太阳光压模型,由GPS的ECOM模型衍生而来的多种经验光压模型常被用于北斗定轨中。从观测值残差、轨道内、外符精度以及外推精度等方面比较分析了目前常用的4种经验光压模型对于北斗卫星定轨的适用性。结果表明,不同(类型)卫星适用不同的经验光压模型,但总体来看,9参数模型的适用性最差,而5参数和7参数模型的适用性相对较好。     

Systematic biases in DORIS-derived geocenter time series related to solar radiation pressure mis-modeling

As any satellite geodesy technique, DORIS can monitor geocenter variations associated to mass changes within the Earth–Atmosphere–Continental hydrosphere–Oceans system. However, especially for the Z-component, corresponding to a translation of the Earth along its rotation axis, the estimated geocenter is usually affected by large systematic errors of unknown cause. By reprocessing old DORIS data, and by analyzing single satellite solutions in the frequency domain, we show that some of these errors are satellite-dependent and related to the current DORIS orbit determination strategy. In particular, a better handling of solar pressure radiation effects on SPOT-2 and TOPEX satellites is proposed which removes a large part of such artifacts. By empirically multiplying the current solar pressure model with a single coefficient (1.03 for TOPEX/Poseidon after 1993.57, and 0.96 before; and 1.08 for SPOT-2) estimated over a long time period, we can improve the measurement noise of the Z-geocenter component from 47.5 to 30.4 mm for the RMS and from 35 to 6 mm for the amplitude of the annual signal. However, the estimated SRP coefficient for SPOT-2 presents greater temporal variability, indicating that a new, dedicated solar radiation pressure model is still needed for precise geodetic applications. In addition, for the TOPEX satellite, a clear discontinuity of unknown cause is also detected on July 27, 1993.     

北斗卫星超短弧运动学定轨方法优化与试验分析

针对北斗卫星姿轨控后的轨道快速确定难题,系统地研究了基于多项式拟合和基于星历拟合两种运动学定轨方法,推导建立了相应的运动学定轨模型。同时针对接收机系统差和顽固多径问题,利用基于并置比对的接收机系统差解算方法和CNMC的多径削弱方法,实现了超短弧跟踪条件下接收机数据质量的有效控制。利用北斗GEO/IGSO/MEO卫星的实测伪距数据进行了试验验证,结果表明在10min超短弧跟踪条件下,GEO、IGSO和MEO卫星的运动学定轨位置精度分别为3.27m、8.19m和5.90m,实现了超短弧跟踪条件下的北斗卫星快速定轨,满足了卫星机动期间的北斗RDSS服务对轨道精度的需求,为北斗RDSS服务走向全球提供了技术支撑。