Lumped geopotential harmonics of order 14, from the orbit of 1967-11G

The satellite 1967-11G, which had an orbital inclination of 40°, passed through the 14th-order resonance with the Earth's gravitational field in 1974. The changes in its orbital inclination at resonance have been analysed to obtain values for four lumped 14th-order harmonics in the geopotential, with accuracies equivalent to about 5 cm in geoid height. Analysis of the eccentricity was also attempted, but did not yield useful results.As no previous satellite analysed at 14th-order resonance has had an inclination near 40°, the results have proved to be valuable in determining individual 14th-order harmonics in the geopotential.     

29Th-order harmonics in the geopotential from the orbit of ariel 1 at 29: 2 resonance

In analysing the orbit of Ariel 1 to determine upper-atmosphere winds, it was observed that the orbital inclination underwent a noticeable perturbation in November 1969 at the 29:2 resonance with the Earth's gravitational field, when the satellite track over the Earth repeats every 2 days after 29 revolutions. The variations in the inclination and eccentricity of the orbit between July 1969 and February 1970 have now been analysed, using 35 US Navy orbits, and fitted with theoretical curves to obtain lumped values of 29th-order harmonic coefficients in the geopotential.     

Orbit determination and analysis for Cosmos 58 at 15th-order resonance, to evaluate geopotential harmonics of order 15 and 30

The orbital parameters of Cosmos 58 have been determined at 65 epochs from some 4500 observations, between March 1982 and September 1983, using the RAE orbit refinement program, PROP. During this time, the satellite passed slowly through 15th-order resonance, and the orbital inclination and eccentricity have been analysed. Six lumped 15th-order geopotential harmonic coefficients have been evaluated, with an accuracy equivalent to between 0.8 and 2.0cm in geoid height. Six 30th-order coefficients have also been determined, with accuracies between 2 and 7 cm in geoid height. The coefficients have been compared with those from the GEM 10B and 10C models. There is good agreement for nine of the twelve coefficients.     

Geopotential harmonics of order 29, 30 and 31 from analysis of resonant orbits

The Earth's gravitational potential is usually expressed as an infinite series of tesseral harmonics, and it is possible to evaluate “lumped harmonics” of a particular order m by analyses of resonant satellite orbits—orbits with tracks over the Earth that repeat after m revolutions. In this paper we review results on 30th-order harmonics from analyses of 15th-order resonance, and results on 29th- and 31st-order harmonics from 29:2 and 31:2 resonance.The values available for 30th-order lumped harmonics of even degree are numerous enough to allow a solution for individual coefficients of degree up to 40. The best-determined coefficients are those of degree 30, namely

$\text{10}{}^9\text{C}{}_{\mathrm{30,30}}\text{= ?1.2±1.1 10}{}^9\text{S}{}_{\mathrm{30,30}}\text{= 9.6±1.3}$

The standard deviations here are equivalent to 1 cm in geoid height.For the 29th- and 31st-order harmonics, and for the 30th-order harmonics of odd degree, there are not enough values to determine individual coefficients, but the lumped values from particular satellites can be used for “resonance testing” of gravity field models, particularly the Goddard Earth Model 10B (up to degree 36) and 10C (for degree greater than 36). The results of applying these tests are mixed. GEM 10B/C emerges well for order 30, with s.d. about 3×10^?9; for order 31, the GEM 10B values are probably good but the GEM 10C values are probably not; for order 29, the test is indecisive.     

Evaluation of harmonics in the geopotential of order 15 and odd degree

When a satellite orbit decaying slowly under the action of air drag experiences 15th-order resonance with the Earth's gravitational field, so that the ground track repeats after 15 rev, the orbital inclination suffers appreciable changes due to the perturbations from the harmonics in the geopotential of order 15 and odd degree (15,17,19 …). In this paper the changes in inclination at resonance of 11 satellites at inclinations between 30° and 90° have been analysed to determine values of the geopotential coefficients of order 15 and degree $\text{l,}\text{C}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{l,15}}$ and $\text{S}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{l,15}}$ in the usual notation. The recommended solution, going up to l = 31, is:

     

6.

Geopotential harmonics of order 15 and 30, from analysis of the orbit of satellite 1971-10B     

Doreen M.C. Walker 《Planetary and Space Science》1985,33(1):97-107

The satellite 1971-10B passed through exact 15th-order resonance on 30 March 1981 and orbital parameters have been determined at 52 epochs from some 3500 observations using the RAE orbit refinement program, PROP, between September 1980 and October 1981. The variations in inclination and eccentricity during this time have been analysed, and six lumped 15th-order harmonic coefficients and two 30th-order coefficients have been evaluated. The 15th-order coefficients are the best yet obtained for an orbital inclination near 65°; and previously there were no 30th-order coefficients available at this inclination. The lumped coefficients have been used to test the Goddard Earth Model GEM 10B: there is good agreement for seven of the eight coefficients.     

7.

The orbit of Cosmos 307 rocket and its use in atmospheric research     

H. Hiller 《Planetary and Space Science》1972

About 1500 observations from 46 observing stations were used to determine the orbit of Cosmos 307 rocket (1969-94B) at 25 epochs spread throughout its nine-month orbital life. The determination was made using the RAE computer program for the refinement of orbital parameters, PROP.     

8.

Geopotential coefficients of order 29, from analysis of the orbit of satellite 1967-104B     

Doreen M.C. Walker 《Planetary and Space Science》1984,32(6):717-725

The orbit of the satellite 1967-104B has been analysed as it passed through 29:2 resonance with the Earth's gravitational field between January 1977 and September 1978. From the changes in inclination and eccentricity the following lumped 29th-order geopotential harmonic coefficients were obtained: $\text{10}{}^9\text{C}\text{?}{}_{29}{}^{0.2}\text{= 4.1 ± 0.8}$, $\text{10}{}^9\text{S}\text{?}{}_{29}{}^{0.2}\text{= 10.3 ± 2.4}$, $\text{10}{}^9\text{C}\text{?}{}_{29}{}^{1.1}\text{= ? 160 ± 19}$, $\text{10}{}^9\text{S}\text{?}{}_{29}{}^{1.1}\text{= 79 ± 10}$, $\text{10}{}^9\text{C}\text{?}{}_{29}{}^{\mathrm{?1.3}}\text{= 38 ± 14}$, $\text{10}{}^9\text{S}\text{?}{}_{29}{}^{\mathrm{?1.3}}\text{= 19 ± 5}$. These values have been compared with existing comprehensive geopotential models: the best agreement is with the model of Rapp (1981).     

9.

Evaluation of 14th-order harmonics in the geopotential     

D.G. King-Hele  Doreen M.C. Walker  R.H. Gooding 《Planetary and Space Science》1979,27(1):1-18

The Earth's gravitational potential is now usually expressed in terms of a double series of tesseral harmonics with several hundred terms, up to order and degree at least 20. The harmonics of order 14 can be evaluated by analysing changes in satellite orbits which experience 14th-order resonance, when the track over the Earth repeats after 14 revolutions.In this paper we describe our first evaluation of individual 14th-order coefficients in the geopotential from analysis of the variations in inclination and eccentricity of satellite orbits passing through 14th-order resonance under the action of air drag. Using results from eleven satellites, we find the following values for normalized coefficients of harmonics of order 14 and degree l, C?_{l, 14} and S?_{l, 14}, for l=14, 154. 22:

l	109C?l,15	109S?l,15
15	?21.5 ± 0.9	?8.4 ± 0.9
17	4.4 ± 1.6	9.0 ± 1.5
19	?15.6 ± 2.6	?14.1 ± 2.7
21	10.4 ± 3.0	7.3 ± 3.5
23	22.5 ± 2.8	1.2 ± 4.4
25	?0.9 ± 4.7	?3.8 ± 5.3
27	?11.2 ±3.3	9.1 ± 3.2
29	?20.5 ± 5.4	?1.2 ± 6.1
31	17.7 ± 6.6	?1.0 ± 7.1

     

10.

Individual geopotential coefficients of order 15 and 30, from resonant satellite orbits     

D.G. King-Hele  Doreen M.C. Walker 《Planetary and Space Science》1985,33(2):223-238

The analysis of variations in satellite orbits when they pass through 15th-order resonance (15 revolutions per day) yields values of lumped geopotential harmonics of order 15, and sometimes of order 30. The 15th-order lumped harmonics obtained from 24 such analyses over a wide range of orbital inclinations are used here to determine individual harmonic coefficients of order 15 and degree 15,16,…35; and the 30th-order lumped harmonics (from eight of the analyses) are used to evaluate individual coefficients of order 30 and degree 30,32,…40. The new values should be more accurate than any previously obtained. The accuracy of the 15th-order coefficients of degree 15, 16,…23 is equivalent to 1 cm in geoid height, while the 30th-order coefficients of degree 30, 32 and 34 are determined with an accuracy which is equivalent to better than 2 cm in geoid height. The results are used to assess the accuracy of the Goddard Earth Model 10B.     

11.

Geopotential harmonics of order 15 and odd degree from analysis of resonant orbits     

D.G. King-Hele  Doreen M.C. Walker  R.H. Gooding 《Planetary and Space Science》1975,23(9):1239-1256

We have analysed the variations of inclination in 13 satellite orbits as they pass slowly, under the action of air drag, through 15th-order resonance with the geopotential, when successive equatorial crossings are 24° apart and the ground track repeats after 15 rev. The size and form of the change in inclination are determined mainly by the values of the geopotential harmonics of 15th order and odd degree, $\text{C}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{l,15}}$ and $\text{S}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{l,15}}$ (with l = 15, 17, 19, …) in the usual notation. Our analysis gives values of these coefficients up to l = 33 as follows:

$\text{l}$	109C?$\text{l,14}$	109S?l,14
-	-	-
14	?38.5 ±2.9	?7.8 ±2.2
15	4.5 ±1.1	?23.8 ±0.3
16	?22.3 ±3.6	?36.0 ±3.8
17	?15.0 ±2.6	16.8 ±1.2
18	?24.0±4.9	?3.2 ±3.7
19	?1.6 ±2.8	?7.6 ±1.0
20	8.8 ±5.8	?15.4 ±4.6
21	18.2 ±3.6	?10.6 ±1.9
22	?14.5 ±8.1	9.9 ±6.4

     

12.

GEOS-II and 13th order terms of the geopotential     

Bruce C. Douglas  James G. Marsh 《Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy》1970,1(3-4):479-490

The resonance of GEOS-II (1968-002A) with 13th-order terms of the geopotential is analyzed. The odd-degree geopotential coefficients (13, 13), (15, 13), and (17, 13) given by Yionoulis most accurately model the resonance effects on GEOS-II of any of the published sets of 13th-order coefficients. However, this set is not adequate for precision orbit determination; additional even-degree coefficients are required.Values ofC _14,13(=0.57×10^–21) andS _14,13(=6.5×10^–21) to be used with the odd-degree set of Yionoulis were obtained from an analysis of the observed along-track position variation of GEOS-II. These coefficients, when used with those of Yionoulis, yield greatly improved fits to the data and orbital prediction capability. However, further refinement is possible because the small effects of the remaining even-degree resonant terms were not modeled.The composite coefficientsC _13,13(=1.7×10^–20) andS _13,13(=+2.7×10^–20) were obtained under the assumption that the (13, 13) spherical harmonic of the geopotential is responsible for all of the observed along-track variation of GEOS-II due to resonance. The good agreement of these deliberately composite values with some published values ofC _13,13 andS _13,13 suggests that some of the published values may also be composite to some extent.These coefficients are hereinafter referred to as the APL coefficients.     

13.

Analysis of 27 satellite orbits to determine odd zonal harmonics in the geopotential     

D.G. King-Hele  G.E. Cook 《Planetary and Space Science》1974,22(5):645-672

The odd zonal harmonics in the geopotential are the terms independent of longitude and antisymmetric about the Equator: they define the ‘pear-shape’ effect. The coeffecients J₃, J₅, J₇,…of these harmonics have been evaluated by analysing the variations in eccentricity of 27 orbits covering wide range of inclinations. We use again most of the orbits from our previous (1969) evaluations, but we now have the advantage of 3 accurate orbits at inclinations between 60° and 66°, where the variations in eccentricity become very large, and 3 near-equatorial orbits, at inclinations between 3° and 15°, whereas previously there were none at inclinations lower than 28°. The new data lead to much more accurate and reliable values for the coeffecients. Our recommended set, which terminates at J₁₇, is

$\text{10}{}^9\text{J}{}_3\text{= ?2531 ± 7}\text{10}{}^9\text{J}{}_{11}\text{= 159 ± 16}\text{J}{}_5\text{= ?246 ± 9}\text{J}{}_{13}\text{= ?131 ± 22}\text{J}{}_7\text{= ?326 ± 11}\text{J}{}_{15}\text{= ?26 ±24}\text{J}{}_9\text{= ?94 ± 12}\text{J}{}_{17}\text{= ?258 ± 19}$

. With this new set of values the pear-shape tendency of the Earth amounts to 44.7 m at the poles, instead of the previous 40 m, though the new geoid is within 1 m of the old at latitudes away from the poles.     

14.

Analysis of the orbit of 1970-65D,cosmos 359 rocket     

Doreen M.C. Walker 《Planetary and Space Science》1974,22(3):391-402

Cosmos 359 rocket 1970-65D, was launched on 22 August 1970 into an orbit inclined at 51·2° to the Equator, with an initial perigee height of 209 km: it decayed on 6 October 1971 after a lifetime of 410 days. The orbit has been determined at 42 epochs during the lifetime, using the RAE orbit refinement program, PROP, with over 2600 observations. Observations from the Hewitt cameras at Malvern and Edinburgh were available for 10 of the 42 orbits.Ten values of density scale height, at heights between 185 and 261 km, have been determined from analysis of the variations in perigee height.Upper-atmosphere zonal winds and 15th-order harmonics in the geopotential have been evaluated from the changes in orbital inclination. The average atmospheric rotation rate, for heights near 220 km, is found to be 1·04 rev/day; but there are striking departures from the average, with well-established values of 1·30, 0·75, 1·35 and 0·95 over four successive 75-day intervals. The changes in inclination at the 15th-order resonance in November 1970 give values of lumped 15th-order harmonics, which will provide equations for evaluating coefficients of order 15 and even degree (16,18,…) and also show that useful results on the geopotential can be obtained from satellites with perigee as low as 200 km.     

15.

Air density at heights near 300 km,from analysis of the orbit of China 2 rocket (1971-18b)     

C.J. Brookes  F.C.E. Ryland 《Planetary and Space Science》1977,25(11):1011-1020

China 2 rocket, 1971-18B, was launched on 3rd March 1971 into an orbit inclined at 69.9° to the Equator, with an initial perigee height of 265 km. Analysis of its orbit has yielded values of air density at average intervals of 6 days between July 1971 and January 1972. When corrected to a fixed height, the density exhibits a correlation with the geomagnetic index A_p and the solar 10.7-cm radiation. With values of density extending over seven months it is possible to examine a complete cycle of the semi-annual variation at a height near 300 km. The values of density, corrected for the day-to-night variation and for solar and geomagnetic activity, reveal minima in mid-August and late January; at the intervening maximum, in early November, the density is almost 40% higher than at the minima.     

16.

Geopotential harmonics of order 15 and 30, derived from the orbital resonances of 25 satellites     

《Planetary and Space Science》1987,35(1):79-90

The recent accurate analysis of the satellite 1965-14A at 15th-order resonance has allowed significantly improved solutions to be derived for the individual harmonic coefficients in the geopotential of order 15 and 30. For order 15, coefficients of degree 15–36 have been evaluated (Tables 3 and 5); for degree 15–23, the mean accuracy is equivalent to 0.6 cm in geoid height; but the accuracy is poorer for degree 24–36, averaging 2.4 cm. For order 30, only the coefficients of even degree, from 30 to 40, have been evaluated (Table 8): for degree 30 and 32 the accuracy is equivalent to 1 cm in geoid height, but deteriorates to 2 cm for higher degree. The accuracies for 15th order, though in need of improvement for high degree, are better than tl ose available for any other order, and are already of the standard required for achieving in the 1990s the very difficult goal of a comprehensive geoid accurate to 10cm.     

17.

Comments on the summations of spherical harmonics in the geopotential evaluation theories of Deprit and others     

Peter J. Melvin 《Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy》1985,35(4):345-355

Deprit's approach to the summation of the Legendre series in the geopotential evaluation problem is modified to accomodate normalized spherical harmonics and coefficients. Normalization avoids the floating point overflow encountered with high order geopotential models when the computer floating point arithmetic does not provide for large enough exponent. Deprit's algorithm is then appropriate for trajectory generation on-board an autonomous satellite system or for gravity compensation in an inertial navigation system.     

18.

Features of the upper atmosphere revealed by analysis of the orbit of cosmos 1009 rocket, 1978-50B     

H. Hiller  D.G. King-Hele 《Planetary and Space Science》1981,29(1):35-45

COSMOS 1009 rocket was launched on 19 May 1978 into an orbit with initial perigee height 150 km and apogee 1100 km: its lifetime was only 17 days. The orbit has been determined daily during the final 14 days of its life, using the RAE orbit refinement program PROP6,with about 1100 observations supplied by NORAD. An average accuracy of about 60 m, radial and cross-track, was achieved.The orbits were analysed to reveal three features of the upper atmosphere at heights between 125 and 175 km. From the decrease in perigee height, five values of density scale height, accurate to ±4%, were obtained. The first three were within 10% of those from CIRA 1972; the fourth, after a magnetic storm, was higher than expected; the fifth gave evidence of the decrease in drag coefficient at heights below 130 km.Atmospheric oblateness produced a change of 4° in perigee position during the last four days of the life. Analysis showed that the ellipticity of the upper atmosphere was approximately equal to that of the Earth, f, for the first two of the four days, and about $\text{1}\text{2}\text{f}$ in the last two.The orbital inclination decreased during the 14 days by about 50 times its standard deviation, and the observed variation was analysed to determine zonal winds at heights of 150–160 km at latitudes near 47° north. The zonal wind was very weak (0±30 m/s) for 23–28 May at local times near 03h; and 90±30 m/s east-to-west for 29 May to 4 June at local times near 01 h.     

19.

Analysis of the orbit of 1968-90A (Cosmos 248)     

C.I. Brookes  D. Holland 《Planetary and Space Science》1978,26(7):611-618

The satellite 1968-90A (Cosmos 248), was launched in October 1968 into an orbit inclined at 62.25° to the equator, with an initial perigee height of 475 km, apogee height 543 km, and orbital period 94.8 min. The orbit has been determined at 57 epochs over nearly one and a quarter cycles of the argument of perigee from January 1972 until December 1975 with the aid of the RAE orbit refinement program PROP, using nearly 3000 observations. For most of these orbits the standard deviations in inclination are less than 0.0009° (corresponding to about 100m in cross-track distance). The values of eccentricity give perigee heights accurate to between 30 and 120m.The main purpose of the orbit determination was to provide accurate values of the eccentricity for use in determining the odd zonal harmonics in the Earth's gravitational potential. These values have been analysed to determine the amplitude of the oscillation in eccentricity, which is found to be 0.00433 ± 0.00001.     

20.

Analysis of the orbit of 1970-87a (Cosmos 373)     

C.J. Brookes 《Planetary and Space Science》1976,24(8):711-715

Cosmos 373, 1970-87A, was launched on 20 October 1970 into an orbit inclined at 62.9° to the Equator, with an initial perigee height of 472 km. The orbit has been determined at 25 epochs covering a period of just over 4 yr using the RAE orbit refinement program PROP, with over 1500 observations. Observations from the Hewitt camera at Malvern were available for all 25 orbits.The main purpose of the orbit determination was to provide accurate values of the eccentricity for use in determining the odd zonal harmonics in the Earth's gravitational potential. The analysis has resulted in extremely accurate values of e with S.D.'s down to 0.000005 and has indicated an amplitude of the oscillation in eccentricity of 0.0085, equivalent to almost 60 km in perigee height—the largest yet recorded for any near-Earth orbit of high accuracy.     

l	109C?l,15	109S?l,15
15	?23.5 ± 0.8	?7.7 ± 0.8
17	6.3 ± 1.5	5.6 ± 1.5
19	?25.1 ± 2.5	?7.3 ± 2.3
21	27.8 ± 3.6	?0.7 ± 3.4
23	17.1 ± 4.1	13.9 ± 4.8
25	?1.1 ± 3.0	8.5 ± 4.2
27	10.0 ± 3.3	6.7 ± 2.7
29	?9.4 ± 3.5	0.1 ± 4.7
31	10.1 ± 5.4	3.8 ± 5.6
33	1.1 ± 5.7	3.1 ± 5.8

Geopotential harmonics of order 15 and 30, from analysis of the orbit of satellite 1971-10B

The satellite 1971-10B passed through exact 15th-order resonance on 30 March 1981 and orbital parameters have been determined at 52 epochs from some 3500 observations using the RAE orbit refinement program, PROP, between September 1980 and October 1981. The variations in inclination and eccentricity during this time have been analysed, and six lumped 15th-order harmonic coefficients and two 30th-order coefficients have been evaluated. The 15th-order coefficients are the best yet obtained for an orbital inclination near 65°; and previously there were no 30th-order coefficients available at this inclination. The lumped coefficients have been used to test the Goddard Earth Model GEM 10B: there is good agreement for seven of the eight coefficients.     

The orbit of Cosmos 307 rocket and its use in atmospheric research

About 1500 observations from 46 observing stations were used to determine the orbit of Cosmos 307 rocket (1969-94B) at 25 epochs spread throughout its nine-month orbital life. The determination was made using the RAE computer program for the refinement of orbital parameters, PROP.     

Geopotential coefficients of order 29, from analysis of the orbit of satellite 1967-104B

The orbit of the satellite 1967-104B has been analysed as it passed through 29:2 resonance with the Earth's gravitational field between January 1977 and September 1978. From the changes in inclination and eccentricity the following lumped 29th-order geopotential harmonic coefficients were obtained: $\text{10}{}^9\text{C}\text{?}{}_{29}{}^{0.2}\text{= 4.1 ± 0.8}$, $\text{10}{}^9\text{S}\text{?}{}_{29}{}^{0.2}\text{= 10.3 ± 2.4}$, $\text{10}{}^9\text{C}\text{?}{}_{29}{}^{1.1}\text{= ? 160 ± 19}$, $\text{10}{}^9\text{S}\text{?}{}_{29}{}^{1.1}\text{= 79 ± 10}$, $\text{10}{}^9\text{C}\text{?}{}_{29}{}^{\mathrm{?1.3}}\text{= 38 ± 14}$, $\text{10}{}^9\text{S}\text{?}{}_{29}{}^{\mathrm{?1.3}}\text{= 19 ± 5}$. These values have been compared with existing comprehensive geopotential models: the best agreement is with the model of Rapp (1981).     

Evaluation of 14th-order harmonics in the geopotential

The Earth's gravitational potential is now usually expressed in terms of a double series of tesseral harmonics with several hundred terms, up to order and degree at least 20. The harmonics of order 14 can be evaluated by analysing changes in satellite orbits which experience 14th-order resonance, when the track over the Earth repeats after 14 revolutions.In this paper we describe our first evaluation of individual 14th-order coefficients in the geopotential from analysis of the variations in inclination and eccentricity of satellite orbits passing through 14th-order resonance under the action of air drag. Using results from eleven satellites, we find the following values for normalized coefficients of harmonics of order 14 and degree l, C?_{l, 14} and S?_{l, 14}, for l=14, 154. 22:

Individual geopotential coefficients of order 15 and 30, from resonant satellite orbits

The analysis of variations in satellite orbits when they pass through 15th-order resonance (15 revolutions per day) yields values of lumped geopotential harmonics of order 15, and sometimes of order 30. The 15th-order lumped harmonics obtained from 24 such analyses over a wide range of orbital inclinations are used here to determine individual harmonic coefficients of order 15 and degree 15,16,…35; and the 30th-order lumped harmonics (from eight of the analyses) are used to evaluate individual coefficients of order 30 and degree 30,32,…40. The new values should be more accurate than any previously obtained. The accuracy of the 15th-order coefficients of degree 15, 16,…23 is equivalent to 1 cm in geoid height, while the 30th-order coefficients of degree 30, 32 and 34 are determined with an accuracy which is equivalent to better than 2 cm in geoid height. The results are used to assess the accuracy of the Goddard Earth Model 10B.     

Geopotential harmonics of order 15 and odd degree from analysis of resonant orbits

We have analysed the variations of inclination in 13 satellite orbits as they pass slowly, under the action of air drag, through 15th-order resonance with the geopotential, when successive equatorial crossings are 24° apart and the ground track repeats after 15 rev. The size and form of the change in inclination are determined mainly by the values of the geopotential harmonics of 15th order and odd degree, $\text{C}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{l,15}}$ and $\text{S}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{l,15}}$ (with l = 15, 17, 19, …) in the usual notation. Our analysis gives values of these coefficients up to l = 33 as follows:

GEOS-II and 13th order terms of the geopotential

The resonance of GEOS-II (1968-002A) with 13th-order terms of the geopotential is analyzed. The odd-degree geopotential coefficients (13, 13), (15, 13), and (17, 13) given by Yionoulis most accurately model the resonance effects on GEOS-II of any of the published sets of 13th-order coefficients. However, this set is not adequate for precision orbit determination; additional even-degree coefficients are required.Values ofC _14,13(=0.57×10^–21) andS _14,13(=6.5×10^–21) to be used with the odd-degree set of Yionoulis were obtained from an analysis of the observed along-track position variation of GEOS-II. These coefficients, when used with those of Yionoulis, yield greatly improved fits to the data and orbital prediction capability. However, further refinement is possible because the small effects of the remaining even-degree resonant terms were not modeled.The composite coefficientsC _13,13(=1.7×10^–20) andS _13,13(=+2.7×10^–20) were obtained under the assumption that the (13, 13) spherical harmonic of the geopotential is responsible for all of the observed along-track variation of GEOS-II due to resonance. The good agreement of these deliberately composite values with some published values ofC _13,13 andS _13,13 suggests that some of the published values may also be composite to some extent.These coefficients are hereinafter referred to as the APL coefficients.     

Analysis of 27 satellite orbits to determine odd zonal harmonics in the geopotential

The odd zonal harmonics in the geopotential are the terms independent of longitude and antisymmetric about the Equator: they define the ‘pear-shape’ effect. The coeffecients J₃, J₅, J₇,…of these harmonics have been evaluated by analysing the variations in eccentricity of 27 orbits covering wide range of inclinations. We use again most of the orbits from our previous (1969) evaluations, but we now have the advantage of 3 accurate orbits at inclinations between 60° and 66°, where the variations in eccentricity become very large, and 3 near-equatorial orbits, at inclinations between 3° and 15°, whereas previously there were none at inclinations lower than 28°. The new data lead to much more accurate and reliable values for the coeffecients. Our recommended set, which terminates at J₁₇, is

$\text{10}{}^9\text{J}{}_3\text{= ?2531 ± 7}\text{10}{}^9\text{J}{}_{11}\text{= 159 ± 16}\text{J}{}_5\text{= ?246 ± 9}\text{J}{}_{13}\text{= ?131 ± 22}\text{J}{}_7\text{= ?326 ± 11}\text{J}{}_{15}\text{= ?26 ±24}\text{J}{}_9\text{= ?94 ± 12}\text{J}{}_{17}\text{= ?258 ± 19}$

. With this new set of values the pear-shape tendency of the Earth amounts to 44.7 m at the poles, instead of the previous 40 m, though the new geoid is within 1 m of the old at latitudes away from the poles.     

Analysis of the orbit of 1970-65D,cosmos 359 rocket

Cosmos 359 rocket 1970-65D, was launched on 22 August 1970 into an orbit inclined at 51·2° to the Equator, with an initial perigee height of 209 km: it decayed on 6 October 1971 after a lifetime of 410 days. The orbit has been determined at 42 epochs during the lifetime, using the RAE orbit refinement program, PROP, with over 2600 observations. Observations from the Hewitt cameras at Malvern and Edinburgh were available for 10 of the 42 orbits.Ten values of density scale height, at heights between 185 and 261 km, have been determined from analysis of the variations in perigee height.Upper-atmosphere zonal winds and 15th-order harmonics in the geopotential have been evaluated from the changes in orbital inclination. The average atmospheric rotation rate, for heights near 220 km, is found to be 1·04 rev/day; but there are striking departures from the average, with well-established values of 1·30, 0·75, 1·35 and 0·95 over four successive 75-day intervals. The changes in inclination at the 15th-order resonance in November 1970 give values of lumped 15th-order harmonics, which will provide equations for evaluating coefficients of order 15 and even degree (16,18,…) and also show that useful results on the geopotential can be obtained from satellites with perigee as low as 200 km.     

Air density at heights near 300 km,from analysis of the orbit of China 2 rocket (1971-18b)

China 2 rocket, 1971-18B, was launched on 3rd March 1971 into an orbit inclined at 69.9° to the Equator, with an initial perigee height of 265 km. Analysis of its orbit has yielded values of air density at average intervals of 6 days between July 1971 and January 1972. When corrected to a fixed height, the density exhibits a correlation with the geomagnetic index A_p and the solar 10.7-cm radiation. With values of density extending over seven months it is possible to examine a complete cycle of the semi-annual variation at a height near 300 km. The values of density, corrected for the day-to-night variation and for solar and geomagnetic activity, reveal minima in mid-August and late January; at the intervening maximum, in early November, the density is almost 40% higher than at the minima.     

Geopotential harmonics of order 15 and 30, derived from the orbital resonances of 25 satellites

The recent accurate analysis of the satellite 1965-14A at 15th-order resonance has allowed significantly improved solutions to be derived for the individual harmonic coefficients in the geopotential of order 15 and 30. For order 15, coefficients of degree 15–36 have been evaluated (Tables 3 and 5); for degree 15–23, the mean accuracy is equivalent to 0.6 cm in geoid height; but the accuracy is poorer for degree 24–36, averaging 2.4 cm. For order 30, only the coefficients of even degree, from 30 to 40, have been evaluated (Table 8): for degree 30 and 32 the accuracy is equivalent to 1 cm in geoid height, but deteriorates to 2 cm for higher degree. The accuracies for 15th order, though in need of improvement for high degree, are better than tl ose available for any other order, and are already of the standard required for achieving in the 1990s the very difficult goal of a comprehensive geoid accurate to 10cm.     

Comments on the summations of spherical harmonics in the geopotential evaluation theories of Deprit and others

Deprit's approach to the summation of the Legendre series in the geopotential evaluation problem is modified to accomodate normalized spherical harmonics and coefficients. Normalization avoids the floating point overflow encountered with high order geopotential models when the computer floating point arithmetic does not provide for large enough exponent. Deprit's algorithm is then appropriate for trajectory generation on-board an autonomous satellite system or for gravity compensation in an inertial navigation system.     

Features of the upper atmosphere revealed by analysis of the orbit of cosmos 1009 rocket, 1978-50B

COSMOS 1009 rocket was launched on 19 May 1978 into an orbit with initial perigee height 150 km and apogee 1100 km: its lifetime was only 17 days. The orbit has been determined daily during the final 14 days of its life, using the RAE orbit refinement program PROP6,with about 1100 observations supplied by NORAD. An average accuracy of about 60 m, radial and cross-track, was achieved.The orbits were analysed to reveal three features of the upper atmosphere at heights between 125 and 175 km. From the decrease in perigee height, five values of density scale height, accurate to ±4%, were obtained. The first three were within 10% of those from CIRA 1972; the fourth, after a magnetic storm, was higher than expected; the fifth gave evidence of the decrease in drag coefficient at heights below 130 km.Atmospheric oblateness produced a change of 4° in perigee position during the last four days of the life. Analysis showed that the ellipticity of the upper atmosphere was approximately equal to that of the Earth, f, for the first two of the four days, and about $\text{1}\text{2}\text{f}$ in the last two.The orbital inclination decreased during the 14 days by about 50 times its standard deviation, and the observed variation was analysed to determine zonal winds at heights of 150–160 km at latitudes near 47° north. The zonal wind was very weak (0±30 m/s) for 23–28 May at local times near 03h; and 90±30 m/s east-to-west for 29 May to 4 June at local times near 01 h.     

Analysis of the orbit of 1968-90A (Cosmos 248)

The satellite 1968-90A (Cosmos 248), was launched in October 1968 into an orbit inclined at 62.25° to the equator, with an initial perigee height of 475 km, apogee height 543 km, and orbital period 94.8 min. The orbit has been determined at 57 epochs over nearly one and a quarter cycles of the argument of perigee from January 1972 until December 1975 with the aid of the RAE orbit refinement program PROP, using nearly 3000 observations. For most of these orbits the standard deviations in inclination are less than 0.0009° (corresponding to about 100m in cross-track distance). The values of eccentricity give perigee heights accurate to between 30 and 120m.The main purpose of the orbit determination was to provide accurate values of the eccentricity for use in determining the odd zonal harmonics in the Earth's gravitational potential. These values have been analysed to determine the amplitude of the oscillation in eccentricity, which is found to be 0.00433 ± 0.00001.     

Analysis of the orbit of 1970-87a (Cosmos 373)

Cosmos 373, 1970-87A, was launched on 20 October 1970 into an orbit inclined at 62.9° to the Equator, with an initial perigee height of 472 km. The orbit has been determined at 25 epochs covering a period of just over 4 yr using the RAE orbit refinement program PROP, with over 1500 observations. Observations from the Hewitt camera at Malvern were available for all 25 orbits.The main purpose of the orbit determination was to provide accurate values of the eccentricity for use in determining the odd zonal harmonics in the Earth's gravitational potential. The analysis has resulted in extremely accurate values of e with S.D.'s down to 0.000005 and has indicated an amplitude of the oscillation in eccentricity of 0.0085, equivalent to almost 60 km in perigee height—the largest yet recorded for any near-Earth orbit of high accuracy.