Influence of Solar Activity on Precise Orbit Prediction of LEO Satellites

The perturbations of low earth orbit(LEO)satellites operating in the orbit of 300~2000 km are complicated.In particular,the atmospheric drag force and solar radiation pressure force change rapidly over a short period of time due to solar activities.Using spaceborne global positioning system(GPS)data of the CHAMP,GRACE and SWARM satellites from 2002 to 2020,this paper studies in depth the influence of solar activity on LEO satellites’precise orbit prediction by performing a series of orbit prediction experiments.The quality of GPS data is more susceptible to being influenced by solar activity during years when this activity is high and the changes in dynamic parameters are consistent with those of solar activity.The effects of solar activity on LEO orbit prediction accuracy are analyzed by comparing the predicted orbits with the precise ones.During years of high solar activity,the average root-mean-squares prediction errors at 10,20,and 30 minutes are 0.15,0.20,and 0.26 m,respectively,which are larger than the corresponding values in low-solar-activity years by 59%,63%,and 68%,respectively.These results demonstrate that solar activity has a great influence on the orbit prediction accuracy,especially during high-solar-activity years.We should strengthen the real-time monitoring of solar activity and geomagnetic activity,and formulate corresponding orbit prediction strategies for the active solar period.

Analysis of the wide area differential correction for BeiDou global satellite navigation system

The regional BeiDou Satellite System, or BDS2, broadcasts a differential correction as Equivalent Satellite Clock Correction to correct both orbit and satellite clock errors. For the global BDS, or BDS3, satellite orbit and clock corrections conforming with RTCA standards will be broadcast to authorized users. The hybrid constellation and regional monitoring network pose challenges for the high precision separation of orbit and satellite clock corrections. Three correction models of kinematic,dynamic and Two-way Satellite Time Frequency Transfer(TWSTFT)-based dynamic were studied to estimate the satellite orbit and clock corrections. The correction accuracy of the three models is compared and analyzed based on the BDS observation data. Results show that the accuracies(root mean square, RMS) of dual-frequency real-time positioning for the three models are about 1.76 m, 1.78 m and 2.08 m respectively, which are comparable with the performance of WAAS and EGNOS. With dynamic corrections, the precision of Precise Point Positioning(PPP) experiments may reach about 23 cm after convergence.

Combination of terrestrial reference frames based on space geodetic techniques in SHAO:methodology and main issues

Based on years of input from the four geodetic techniques(SLR, GPS, VLBI and DORIS),the strategies of the combination were studied in SHAO to generate a new global terrestrial reference frame as the material realization of the ITRS defined in IERS Conventions. The main input includes the time series of weekly solutions(or fortnightly for SLR 1983–1993) of observational data for satellite techniques and session-wise normal equations for VLBI. The set of estimated unknowns includes 3-dimensional Cartesian coordinates at the reference epoch 2005.0 of the stations distributed globally and their rates as well as the time series of consistent Earth Orientation Parameters(EOPs) at the same epochs as the input. Besides the final solution, namely SOL-2, generated by using all the inputs before 2015.0 obtained from short-term observation processing, another reference solution, namely SOL-1, was also computed by using the input before 2009.0 based on the same combination of procedures for the purpose of comparison with ITRF2008 and DTRF2008 and for evaluating the effect of the latest six more years of data on the combined results. The estimated accuracy of the x-component and y-component of the SOL-1 TRF-origin was better than 0.1 mm at epoch 2005.0 and better than 0.3 mm yr^(-1) in time evolution, either compared with ITRF2008 or DTRF2008. However, the z-component of the translation parameters from SOL-1 to ITRF2008 and DTRF2008 were 3.4 mm and –1.0 mm, respectively. It seems that the z-component of the SOL-1 TRF-origin was much closer to the one in DTRF2008 than the one in ITRF2008. The translation parameters from SOL-2 to ITRF2014 were 2.2,-1.8 and 0.9 mm in the x-, y-and z-components respectively with rates smaller than 0.4 mm yr^(-1). Similarly, the scale factor transformed from SOL-1 to DTRF2008 was much smaller than that to ITRF2008. The scale parameter from SOL-2 to ITRF2014 was –0.31 ppb with a rate lower than 0.01 ppb yr^(-1). The external precision(WRMS) compared with IERS EOP 08 C04 of the combined EOP series was smaller than 0.06 mas for the polar motions, smaller than 0.01 ms for the UT1-UTC and smaller than 0.02 ms for the LODs. The precision of the EOPs in SOL-2 was slightly higher than that of SOL-1.

The use of laser altimetry data in Chang'E-1 precision orbit determination

Accurate altimetric measurement not only can be applied to the calculation of a topography model but also can be used to improve the quality of the orbit reconstruction in the form of crossovers. Altimetry data from the Chang'E-1(CE-1) laser altimeter are analyzed in this paper. The differences between the crossover constraint equation in the form of height discrepancies and in the form of minimum distances are mainly discussed. The results demonstrate that the crossover constraint equation in the form of minimum distances improves the CE-1 orbit precision. The overlap orbit performance has increased using only tracking data. External assessment using the topography model～30% compared to the orbit also shows orbit improvement. The results will be helpful for recomputing ephemeris and improving the CE-1 topography model.