Abstract
We examine the impact of using seasonal and long-period time-variable gravity field (TVG) models on GPS orbit determination, through simulations from 1994 to 2012. The models of time-variable gravity that we test include the GRGS release RL02 GRACE-derived 10-day gravity field models up to degree and order 20 (grgs20x20), a 4 × 4 series of weekly coefficients using GGM03S as a base derived from SLR and DORIS tracking to 11 satellites (tvg4x4), and a harmonic fit to the above 4 × 4 SLR–DORIS time series (goco2s_fit2). These detailed models are compared to GPS orbit simulations using a reference model (stdtvg) based on the International Earth Rotation Service (IERS) and International GNSS Service (IGS) repro1 standards. We find that the new TVG modeling produces significant along, cross-track orbit differences as well as annual, semi-annual, draconitic and long-period effects in the Helmert translation parameters (Tx, Ty, Tz) of the GPS orbits with magnitudes of several mm. We show that the simplistic TVG modeling approach used by all of the IGS Analysis Centers, which is based on the models provided by the IERS standards, becomes progressively less adequate following 2006 when compared to the seasonal and long-period TVG models.
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Acknowledgments
We acknowledge the International GNSS Service (IGS) for its support and leadership in providing precise GPS orbits as well as Jim Ray, one anonymous reviewer and Prof. Alfred Leick for their suggestions and remarks. J.-P. Boy (University of Strasbourg, France) provided the atmospheric gravity time series derived from ECMWF pressure fields. This research was supported by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under the program “IDS Program in Mean Sea Level.”
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Melachroinos, S.A., Lemoine, F.G., Chinn, D.S. et al. The effect of seasonal and long-period geopotential variations on the GPS orbits. GPS Solut 18, 497–507 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-013-0346-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-013-0346-4