Albedo perturbation models: General formalism and applications to LAGEOS

The force due to radiation pressure on a satellite of arbitrary shape is written in a general form within a formalism similar to that used in the theory of radiative transfer in atmospheres. Then the corresponding integrals are evaluated for the simple case of a spherically symmetric satellite, and applied to model the perturbation due to the Earth-reflected radiation flux on LAGEOS. For this purpose, the optical behaviour of the Earth's surface and atmosphere is described as a combination of Lambertian diffusion (continents), partial specular reflection consistent with Fresnel law (oceans) and anisotropic diffusion according to Chandrasekhar's radiative transfer theory (clouds). The in-plane Gauss componentsT andS vs. mean anomaly are computed for a simple orbital geometry and for different models of the Earth's optical properties. A sensitive dependence is found on the assumed cloud distribution, with significant perturbations possibly arising from oceanic specular reflection when the satellite is close to the Earth's shadow boundaries.On leave from Astronomical Institute, Charles University, védská 8, 15000 Prague 5, Czechoslovakia