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Analysis of orbital configurations for geocenter determination with GPS and low-Earth orbiters

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Abstract

We use a series of simulated scenarios to characterize the observability of geocenter location with GPS tracking data. We examine in particular the improvement realized when a GPS receiver in low Earth orbit (LEO) augments the ground network. Various orbital configurations for the LEO are considered and the observability of geocenter location based on GPS tracking is compared to that based on satellite laser ranging (SLR). The distance between a satellite and a ground tracking-site is the primary measurement, and Earth rotation plays important role in determining the geocenter location. Compared to SLR, which directly and unambiguously measures this distance, terrestrial GPS observations provide a weaker (relative) measurement for geocenter location determination. The estimation of GPS transmitter and receiver clock errors, which is equivalent to double differencing four simultaneous range measurements, removes much of this absolute distance information. We show that when ground GPS tracking data are augmented with precise measurements from a GPS receiver onboard a LEO satellite, the sensitivity of the data to geocenter location increases by more than a factor of two for Z-component. The geometric diversity underlying the varying baselines between the LEO and ground stations promotes improved global observability, and renders the GPS technique comparable to SLR in terms of information content for geocenter location determination. We assess a variety of LEO orbital configurations, including the proposed orbit for the geodetic reference antenna in space mission concept. The results suggest that a retrograde LEO with altitude near 3,000 km is favorable for geocenter determination.

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Acknowledgments

The work described in this paper is carried out by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Detailed review and valuable suggestions from the anonymous reviewers are very much appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Da Kuang, Yoaz Bar-Sever & Bruce Haines

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  1. Da Kuang
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  2. Yoaz Bar-Sever
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  3. Bruce Haines
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Correspondence to Da Kuang.

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© 2015 California Institute of Technology. Government sponsorship acknowledged.

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Kuang, D., Bar-Sever, Y. & Haines, B. Analysis of orbital configurations for geocenter determination with GPS and low-Earth orbiters. J Geod 89, 471–481 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-015-0792-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-015-0792-6

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