Instantaneous velocity determination and positioning using Doppler shift from a LEO constellation

To provide backup and supplementation for the Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS),Doppler shift from Low Earth Orbit(LEO)satellites can be used as signals of opportunity to provide positioning,navigation,and timing service.In this contribution,we frst investigate the model and performance of instantaneous velocity determination and positioning with LEO satellites.Given a LEO constellation with 288 satellites,we simulate Doppler shift observations at nine multi-GNSS experiment stations.Owing to the lower orbit,the performance of LEO velocity determination is much more sensitive to the initial receiver position error than that of GNSS.Statistical results show that with the initial receiver position error increased from 0.1 to 10 m,the Root Mean Square Errors(RMSEs)increase from 0.73 to 2.65 cm/s,0.68 to 2.96 cm/s,and 1.67 to 4.15 cm/s in the east,north,and up directions,respectively.The performances with GPS are compared with GPS+LEO,and it is found that LEO Doppler shift observations contribute to GPS velocity determination.As for LEO Doppler positioning,even if more than 30 visible LEO satellites are available,the position dilution of precision values can reach several hundreds.Assuming that the error of LEO Doppler measurements is 0.01 m/s,the instantaneous Doppler positioning accuracy can achieve about a few meters,which is comparable to that of GNSS pseudorange positioning.A constant velocity model is adopted for state transition.Static LEO Doppler positioning results show that an accuracy at centimeter to decimeter level can be achieved after solution convergence.For a static simulated kinematic positioning test,the RMSEs range from a few decimeters to several meters in diferent regions by giving diferent constraints.For a dynamic positioning test,the RMSEs are about 2–3 m in high latitude region.

Angular velocity determination of spinning solar sails using only a sun sensor

The direction of the sun is the easiest and most reliable observation vector for a solar sail running in deep space exploration. This paper presents a new method using only raw measurements of the sun direction vector to estimate angular velocity for a spinning solar sail. In cases with a constant spin angular velocity, the estimation equation is formed based on the kinematic model for the apparent motion of the sun direction vector; the least-squares solution is then easily calculated. A performance criterion is defined and used to analyze estimation accuracy. In cases with a variable spin angular velocity, the estimation equation is developed based on the kinematic model for the apparent motion of the sun direction vector and the attitude dynamics equation. Simulation results show that the proposed method can quickly yield high-precision angular velocity estimates that are insensitive to certain measurement noises and modeling errors.

Crustal structure and accurate hypocenter determination along the Longmenshan fault zone

A P and S wave velocity model is obtained for the crust in the region along the Longmenshan fault zone, Sichuan Province, China, by using data from a refraction profiling survey carried out in this region and those from local earthquakes. 202 local earthquakes along the fault zone are based on this velocity model, location errors being estimated to be about 1.5 km. The present relocations fairly improved the accuracy of hypocenter locations for earthquakes in this area, which is recognized from small scatter of data in the arrival time distance diagram compared with that for the original locations in the Earthquake Catalogue of Sichuan Seismic Network. The obtained hypocenter distribution shows that shallow earthquakes, confined to the upper crust in the depth range from 3 km to 22 km, are actively occurring along the main fault of the Longmenshan fault zone. The velocity model and the location method are presently used quite effective for precisely locating local earthquakes such as those in Sichuan Province. Installation of these with the real time processing system developed by Tohoku University in the Sichuan Telemetered Seismic Network would help to improve the location accuracy of events beneath the network.

Evaluation of the performance of GNSS-based velocity estimation algorithms

Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS)based velocity estimation is one of the most cost-effective and widely used methods in determining velocity in geodesy and transport applications.Highly accurate and reliable velocity measurements can be obtained by exploiting the raw Doppler,carrier phase,and pseudorange measurements with a GNSS receiver.There are several approaches to GNSS-based velocity determination.This paper investigates the characteristics of the approaches which are currently popular and applicable to the observations of Global Positioning System(GPS),BeiDou Navigation Satellite System(BDS),and their combination(GPS/BDS).Specifically,it evaluates the performance of the velocity estimated based on the Raw Doppler method,the Time-Differenced Pseudorange method,the Time-Differenced Carrier Phase method,and the Double-Differenced Carrier Phase method,in both static and dynamic modes and in open and urban scenarios.The experiments show that BDS has the advantages in delivering accurate velocity determinations over GPS in the Asia–Pacific region,and the effectiveness of the GPS/BDS in improving the overall accuracy of velocity determination in complex urban scenarios.