DORIS geodesy: A dynamic determination of geocentre location

Geoscience Australia contributed a multi-satellite, multi-year weekly time series to the International DORIS Service combined submission for the construction of International Terrestrial Reference Frame 2008 (ITRF2008). This contributing solution was extended to a study of the capability of DORIS to dynamically estimate the variation in the geocentre location. Two solutions, comprising different constraint configurations of the tracking network, were undertaken. The respective DORIS satellite orbit solutions (SPOT-2, SPOT-4, SPOT-5 and Envisat) were verified and validated by comparison with those produced at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), DORIS Analysis Centre, for computational consistency and standards. In addition, in the case of Envisat, the trajectories from the GA determined SLR and DORIS orbits were compared. The results for weekly dynamic geocentre estimates from the two constraint configurations were benchmarked against the geometric geocentre estimates from the IDS-2 combined solution. This established that DORIS is capable of determining the dynamic geocentre variation by estimating the degree one spherical harmonic coefficients of the Earth’s gravity potential. It was established that constrained configurations produced similar results for the geocentre location and consequently similar annual amplitudes. For the minimally constrained configuration Greenbelt–Kitab, the mean of the uncertainties of the geocentre location were 2.3, 2.3 and 7.6 mm and RMS of the mean uncertainties were 1.9, 1.2 and 3.5 mm for the X, Y and Z components, respectively. For GA_IDS-2_Datum constrained configuration, the mean of the uncertainties of the geocentre location were 1.7, 1.7 and 6.2 mm and RMS of the mean uncertainties were 0.9, 0.7 and 2.9 mm for the X, Y and Z components, respectively. The mean of the differences of the two DORIS dynamic geocentre solutions with respect to the IDS-2 combination were 1.6, 4.0 and 5.1 mm with an RMS of the mean 21.2, 14.0 and 31.5 mm for the Greenbelt–Kitab configuration and 4.1, 3.9 and 4.3 mm with an RMS 8.1, 9.0 and 28.6 mm for the GA_IDS-2_Datum constraint configuration. The annual amplitudes for each component were estimated to be 5.3, 10.8 and 11.0 mm for the Greenbelt–Kitab configuration and 5.3, 9.3 and 9.4 mm for the GA_IDS-2_Datum constraint configuration. The two DORIS determined dynamic geocentre solutions were compared to the SLR determined dynamic solution (which was determined from the same process of the GA contribution to the ITRF2008 ILRS combination) gave mean differences of 3.3, −4.7 and 2.5 mm with an RMS of 20.7, 17.5 and 28.0 mm for the X, Y and Z components, respectively for the Greenbelt–Kitab configuration and 1.1, −5.4 and 4.4 mm with an RMS of 9.7, 13.3 and 24.9 mm for the GA_IDS-2_Datum configuration. The larger variability is reflected in the respective amplitudes. As a comparison, the annual amplitudes of the SLR determined dynamic geocentre are 0.9, 1.0 and 6.8 mm in the X, Y and Z components. The results from this study indicate that there is potential to achieve precise dynamically determined geocentre from DORIS.     

DORIS processing at the European Space Operations Centre

This paper gives an overview of the DORIS related activities at the Navigation Support Office of the European Space Operations Centre. The DORIS activities were started in 2002 because of the launch of the Envisat satellite where ESOC is responsible for the validation of the Envisat Precise Orbits and a brief overview of the key Envisat activities at ESOC is given. Typical orbit comparison RMS values between the CNES POE (GDR-C) and the ESOC POD solution is 6.5, 18.8 and 23.1 mm in radial-, along- and cross-track direction. In the framework of the generation of the ITRF2008 ESOC participated in the reprocessing of all three space geodetic techniques; DORIS, SLR, and GPS. Here the main results of our DORIS reprocessing, in the framework of the International DORIS Service (IDS), are given. The WRMS of the weekly ESOC solution (esawd03) for the 2004–2009 period compared to the IDS-1 combined solution is of the order of 12 mm. Based on the long time series of homogeneously processed data a closer look is taken at the estimated solar radiation pressure parameters of the different satellites used in this DORIS analysis. The main aim being the stabilization of the Z-component of the geocentre estimates. We conclude that the ESOC participation to the IDS ITRF2008 contribution has been beneficial for both ESOC and the IDS. ESOC has profited significantly from the very open and direct communications and comparisons that took place within the IDS during the reprocessing campaign.     

IDS contribution to ITRF2008

For the first time, the International DORIS Service (IDS) has produced a technique level combination based on the contributions of seven analysis centers (ACs), including the European Space Operations Center (ESOC), Geodetic Observatory Pecny (GOP), Geoscience Australia (GAU), the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), the Institut Géographique National (IGN), the Institute of Astronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences (INASAN, named as INA), and CNES/CLS (named as LCA). The ACs used five different software packages to process the DORIS data from 1992 to 2008, including NAPEOS (ESA), Bernese (GOP), GEODYN (GAU, GSC), GIPSY/OASIS (INA), and GINS (LCA). The data from seven DORIS satellites, TOPEX/Poseidon, SPOT-2, SPOT-3, SPOT-4, SPOT-5, Envisat and Jason-1 were processed and all the analysis centers produced weekly SINEX files in either variance–covariance or normal equation format. The processing by the analysis centers used the latest GRACE-derived gravity models, forward modelling of atmospheric gravity, updates to the radiation pressure modelling to improve the DORIS geocenter solutions, denser parameterization of empirically determined drag coefficients to improve station and EOP solutions, especially near the solar maximum in 2001–2002, updated troposphere mapping functions, and an ITRF2005-derived station set for orbit determination, DPOD2005. The CATREF software was used to process the weekly AC solutions, and produce three iterations of an IDS global weekly combination. Between the development of the initial solution IDS-1, and the final solution, IDS-3, the ACs improved their analysis strategies and submitted updated solutions to eliminate troposphere-derived biases in the solution scale, to reduce drag-related degradations in station positioning, and to refine the estimation strategy to improve the combination geocenter solution. An analysis of the frequency content of the individual AC geocenter and scale solutions was used as the basis to define the scale and geocenter of the IDS-3 combination. The final IDS-3 combination has an internal position consistency (WRMS) that is 15 to 20 mm before 2002 and 8 to 10 mm after 2002, when 4 or 5 satellites contribute to the weekly solutions. The final IDS-3 combination includes solutions for 130 DORIS stations on 67 different sites of which 35 have occupations over 16 years (1993.0–2009.0). The EOPs from the IDS-3 combination were compared with the IERS 05 C04 time series and the RMS agreement was 0.24 mas and 0.35 mas for the X and Y components of polar motion. The comparison to ITRF2005 in station position shows an agreement of 6 to 8 mm RMS in horizontal and 10.3 mm in height. The RMS comparison to ITRF2005 in station velocity is at 1.8 mm/year on the East component, to 1.2 mm/year in North component and 1.6 mm/year in height.     

GSFC DORIS contribution to ITRF2008

The NASA GSFC DORIS analysis center has provided weekly DORIS solutions from November 1992 to January 2009 (839 SINEX files) of station positions and Earth Orientation Parameters for inclusion in the DORIS contribution to ITRF2008. The NASA GSFC GEODYN orbit determination software was used to process the orbits and produce the normal equations. The weekly SINEX gscwd10 submissions included DORIS data from Envisat, TOPEX/Poseidon, SPOT-2, SPOT-3, SPOT-4, SPOT-5. The orbits were mostly seven days in length (except for weeks with data gaps or maneuvers). The processing used the GRACE-derived EIGEN-GL04S1 gravity model, updated modeling for time-variable gravity, the GOT4.7 ocean tide model and tuned satellite-specific macromodels for SPOT-2, SPOT-3, SPOT-4, SPOT-5 and TOPEX/Poseidon. The University College London (UCL) radiation pressure model for Envisat improves nonconservative force modeling for this satellite, reducing the median residual empirical daily along-track accelerations from 3.75 × 10⁻⁹ m/s² with the a priori macromodel to 0.99 × 10⁻⁹ m/s² with the UCL model. For the SPOT and Envisat DORIS satellite orbits from 2003 to 2008, we obtain average RMS overlaps of 0.8–0.9 cm in the radial direction, 2.1–3.4 cm cross-track, and 1.7–2.3 cm along-track. The RMS orbit differences between Envisat DORIS-only and SLR & DORIS orbits are 1.1 cm radially, 6.4 cm along-track and 3.7 cm cross-track and are characterized by systematic along-track mean offsets due to the Envisat DORIS system time bias of ±5–10 μs. We obtain a good agreement between the geometrically-determined geocenter parameters and geocenter parameters determined dynamically from analysis of the degree one terms of the geopotential. The intrinsic RMS weekly position repeatability with respect to the IDS-3 combination ranges from 2.5 to 3.0 cm in 1993–1994 to 1.5 cm in 2007–2008.     

Contributions of the French Institut Géographique National (IGN) to the International DORIS Service

DORIS is one of the four geodetic space techniques participating to the Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS). Since the early development of this system, the Institut Géographique National played a specific and active role. Within, the International DORIS Service (IDS), IGN is in a particular position. While it is responsible for the installation and the maintenance of the DORIS ground tracking stations, it also handles one of the two IDS data center delivering DORIS data and products and has been an IDS Analysis Center for years, providing all possible IDS products, in particular the latest ignwd08 time series in preparation of ITRF2008. This paper explains the different aspects of the IGN contribution to IDS from an historical point of view, presents current activities and scientific results and provides a perspective for future activities. Recent DORIS results show a 10 mm precision or better when more than four DORIS satellites are available. Comparisons between recent DORIS solutions (ign07d02 and ign09d02) and past ITRF realizations show that errors are shared between the DORIS and the ITRF realizations. Some problems related to DORIS data processing are also discussed and possible ways to solve them in the future are discussed. In particular, we can now reject the tropospheric origin of the problem detected in the Envisat data after the software upload of October 12, 2004. A few applications in geodesy (terrestrial reference frame, Earth’s polar motion) and geophysics are also discussed as a natural extension of these service-type activities.     

Studies of the geocenter motion using 16-years DORIS data

An accuracy of geocenter motion estimation is strongly dependent on the geodetic network size and stations distribution over the Earth’s surface. From this point of view DORIS system has an advantage, as its ground network of beacons consists of more than 50 sites, equally distributed over the Earth’s surface. Aiming to study variations of the geocenter movements, the results of DORIS data analysis for the time span 1993.0–2009.0 (inawd06.snx series), performed at the Analysis Centre of the Institute of astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, have been used. DORIS data processing was made with GIPSY/OASIS II software, developed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory and modified for DORIS data processing by Institute Géographique National. Standard deviations of stations coordinates are estimated at the level 0.5–4.0 cm (internal consistency), depending on the number of satellites used in the solution. RMS of estimated components of the DORIS satellites orbits, compared with the solutions of other IDS analysis centres, do not exceed 1–2 cm. Weekly solutions for coordinates have been transformed from free network solutions (inawd06.snx series) to a well defined terrestrial reference frame ITRF2005 with the use of seven parameters of Helmert transformation, which were examined with a view to study variations of the geocenter movements (ina05wd01.geoc time series). In order to estimate linear trend, amplitudes, periods and phases of geocenter variation a method of linear regression was applied. The evaluated amplitudes of annual variations are of the order of 5–7 mm for X and Y components and 27–29 mm for Z component. Semi-annual amplitudes are also noticeable in all components (1–34 mm for X, Y and Z components). Secular trends in the DORIS geocenter coordinates are: −1.2, −0.1 and −0.3 mm/year for X, Y and Z directions respectively.     

Refining DORIS atmospheric drag estimation in preparation of ITRF2008

In preparation of ITRF2008, all geodetic technique services (VLBI, SLR, GPS and DORIS) are generating new solutions based on combination of individual analysis centers solutions. These data reprocessing are based on a selection of models, parameterization and estimation strategy unique to each analysis center and to each technique. While a good agreement can be found for models between groups, thanks to the existence of the IERS conventions, a great diversity still exist for parameter estimation, allowing possible future improvements in this direction. The goal of this study is to focus on the atmospheric drag estimation used to generate the new DORIS/IGN ignwd08 time series prepared for ITRF2008. We develop here a method to inter-compare different processing strategies. In a first step, by analyzing single-satellite solutions for a few weeks of data but for a large number of possible analysis strategies, we demonstrate that estimating drag coefficient more frequently (typically every 1–2 h instead of previously every 4–8 h) for the lowest DORIS satellites (SPOTs and Envisat) provides better geodetic results for station coordinates and polar motion. This new processing strategy also solved earlier problem found when processing DORIS data during intense geomagnetic events, such as geomagnetic storms. Differences between drag estimation strategies can mostly be found during these few specific periods of extreme geomagnetic activity (few days per year). In such a case, when drag coefficient is only estimated every 6 h or less often for single-satellite solution, a significant degradation in station coordinate accuracy can be observed (120 mm vs. 20 mm) and significant biases arose in polar motion estimation (5 mas vs. 0.3 mas). In a second step, we reprocessed a full year of DORIS data (2003) in a standard multi-satellite mode. We were able to provide statistics on a more reliable data set and to strengthen these conclusions. Our proposed DORIS analysis is easy to implement in all software packages and is now already used by several analysis centers of the International DORIS Service (IDS) when submitting reprocessed solutions for ITRF2008.     

Towards development of a consistent orbit series for TOPEX,Jason-1, and Jason-2

The TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1 and Jason-2 set of altimeter data now provide a time series of synoptic observations of the ocean that span nearly 17 years from the launch of TOPEX in 1992. The analysis of the altimeter data including the use of altimetry to monitor the global change in mean sea level requires a stable, accurate, and consistent orbit reference over the entire time span. In this paper, we describe the recomputation of a time series of orbits that rely on a consistent set of reference frames and geophysical models. The recomputed orbits adhere to the IERS 2003 standards for ocean and earth tides, use updates to the ITRF2005 reference frame for both the SLR and DORIS stations, apply GRACE-derived models for modeling of the static and time-variable gravity, implement the University College London (UCL) radiation pressure model for Jason-1, use improved troposphere modeling for the DORIS data, and apply the GOT4.7 ocean tide model for both dynamical ocean tide modeling and for ocean loading. The new TOPEX orbits have a mean SLR fit of 1.79 cm compared to 2.21 cm for the MGDR-B orbits. These new TOPEX orbits agree radially with independent SLR/crossover orbits at 0.70 cm RMS, and the orbit accuracy is estimated at 1.5–2.0 cm RMS over the entire TOPEX time series. The recomputed Jason-1 orbits agree radially with the Jason-1 GDR-C orbits at 1.08 cm RMS. The GSFC SLR/DORIS dynamic and reduced-dynamic orbits for Jason-2 agree radially with independent orbits from the CNES and JPL at 0.70–1.06 cm RMS. Applying these new orbits, and using the latest altimeter corrections for TOPEX, Jason-1, and Jason-2 from September 1992 to May 2009, we find a global rate in mean sea level of 3.0 ± 0.4 mm/yr.     

DPOD2014: A new DORIS extension of ITRF2014 for precise orbit determination

To support precise orbit determination of the altimetry missions, the International DORIS Service (IDS) regularly estimates the DPOD (DORIS terrestrial reference frame for Precise Orbit Determination) solution which includes mean positions and velocities of all the DORIS stations. This solution is aligned to the current realization of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) and so, can be seen as a DORIS extension of the ITRF. In 2016, moving to the IDS Combination Center, the DPOD construction scheme changed. The new DPOD solution is produced from a DORIS cumulative position and velocity solution. We present the new methodology used to compute DPOD2014 and its validation procedure. In order to present geophysical applications and interpretations of these results, we show two examples: (1) the Gorkha earthquake (M7.8 – April 2015) generates a 3-D mis-positioning of nearly 55?mm of the EVEB DORIS station at the Everest base camp 90?km from the epicenter. (2) Applying the results the DPOD2014 realization, we show that the most recent vertical velocity of Thule, Greenland is similar to that observed between 2006 and 2010, indicating further ongoing ice mass loss in the Thule region of northwest Greenland.     

The crustal dynamics data information system: A resource to support scientific analysis using space geodesy

Since 1982, the Crustal Dynamics Data Information System (CDDIS) has supported the archive and distribution of geodetic data products acquired by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as well as national and international programs. The CDDIS provides easy, timely, and reliable access to a variety of data sets, products, and information about these data. These measurements, obtained from a global network of nearly 650 instruments at more than 400 distinct sites, include DORIS (Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite), GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), SLR and LLR (Satellite and Lunar Laser Ranging), and VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry). The CDDIS data system and its archive have become increasingly important to many national and international science communities, particularly several of the operational services within the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) and its observing system the Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS), including the International DORIS Service (IDS), the International GNSS Service (IGS), the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS), the International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS), and the International Earth rotation and Reference frame Service (IERS). Investigations resulting from the data and products available through the CDDIS support research in many aspects of Earth system science and global change. Each month, the CDDIS archives more than one million data and derived product files totaling over 90 Gbytes in volume. In turn, the global user community downloads nearly 1.2 Tbytes (over 10.5 million files) of data and products from the CDDIS each month. The requirements of analysts have evolved since the start of the CDDIS; the specialized nature of the system accommodates the enhancements required to support diverse data sets and user needs. This paper discusses the CDDIS, including background information about the system and its user communities, archive contents, available metadata, and future plans.     

Generating precise and homogeneous orbits for Jason-1 and Jason-2

Driven by the GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) and GGOS (Global Geodetic Observing System) initiatives the user community has a strong demand for high-quality altimetry products. In order to derive such high-quality altimetry products, precise orbits for the altimetry satellites are a necessity. With the launch of the TOPEX/Poseidon mission in 1992 a still on-going time series of high-accuracy altimetry measurements of ocean topography started, continued by the altimetry missions Jason-1 in 2001 and Jason-2/OSTM in 2008. This paper contributes to the on-going orbit reprocessing carried out by several groups and presents the efforts of the Navigation Support Office at ESA/ESOC using its NAPEOS software for the generation of precise and homogeneous orbits referring to the same reference frame for the altimetry satellites Jason-1 and Jason-2. Data of all three tracking instruments on-board the satellites (beside the altimeter), i.e. GPS, DORIS, and SLR measurements, were used in a combined data analysis. About 7 years of Jason-1 data and more than 1 year of Jason-2 data were processed. Our processing strategy is close to the GDR-C standards. However, we estimated slightly different scaling factors for the solar radiation pressure model of 0.96 and 0.98 for Jason-1 and Jason-2, respectively. We used 30 s sampled GPS data and introduced 30 s satellite clocks stemming from ESOC’s reprocessing of the combined GPS/GLONASS IGS solution. We present the orbit determination results, focusing on the benefits of adding GPS data to the solution. The fully combined solution was found to give the best orbit results. We reach a post-fit RMS of the GPS phase observation residuals of 6 mm for Jason-1 and 7 mm for Jason-2. The DORIS post-fit residuals clearly benefit from using GPS data in addition, as the DORIS data editing improves. The DORIS observation RMS for the fully combined solution is with 3.5 mm and 3.4 mm, respectively, 0.3 mm better than for the DORIS-SLR solution. Our orbit solution agrees well with external solutions from other analysis centers, as CNES, LCA, and JPL. The orbit differences between our fully combined orbits and the CNES GDR-C orbits are of about 0.8 cm for Jason-1 and at 0.9 cm for Jason-2 in the radial direction. In the cross-track component we observe a clear improvement when adding GPS data to the POD process. The 3D-RMS of the orbit differences reveals a good orbit consistency at 2.7 cm and 2.9 cm for Jason-1 and Jason-2. Our resulting orbit series for both Jason satellites refer to the ITRF2005 reference frame and are provided in sp3 file format on our ftp server.     

An inter-comparison of zenith tropospheric delays derived from DORIS and GPS data

Doppler Orbitography Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) techniques are similarly affected by propagation delays in the neutral atmosphere (troposphere) and hence make use of similar data processing strategies for reducing this effect. We compare Zenith Tropospheric Delays (ZTDs) estimated from 52 DORIS and GPS station pairs co-located at 35 sites over the 2005–2008 period. We find an overall systematic negative mean bias of −4 mm and a median bias of −2 mm, with a large site-to-site scatter and especially stronger biases over South America, potentially linked to remaining problems related to the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) in the current DORIS data processing. The standard deviation of ZTD differences is in the range 4–12 mm over the globe (8 mm on average), with larger values located in the southern hemisphere. The spatial variability of differences is consistent with previous work but remains largely unexplained. DORIS is shown to be much less sensitive to instrumental changes than GPS (only the switch from Alcatel to Starec antenna at Toulouse is detected as an offset of −4 mm in the ZTD time series). On the opposite, discontinuities and spurious annual signals are found in the GPS ZTD solutions. A discontinuity of +5 mm is found on 5 November 2006, linked to the switch from relative to absolute GPS antenna models used in the data processing. The use of modified GPS antennas (e.g. at GODE) or improved antenna models is shown to reduce the spurious annual signal (e.g. from 5 mm to 2 mm at METS). Overall, the agreement between both techniques is good, though DORIS shows a significantly larger random scatter. The high stability and good spatial and temporal coverage make DORIS a potential candidate technique for meteorology and climate studies as long as reasonable time averaging can be applied (e.g. differences are reduced from 8.6 to 2.4 mm with 5-day averages) and no real-time application is considered. This technique could be considered as a potential contributor to Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS) for climatology.     

Impact of Jason-2/T2L2 Ultra-Stable-Oscillator Frequency Model on DORIS stations coordinates and Earth Orientation Parameters

Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) is a tracking technique based on a one-way ground to space Doppler link. For Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, DORIS shows a robust capability in terms of data coverage and availability, due to a wide and well-distributed ground network, where data are made available by the International Doris Service (IDS). However, systematic errors remain in the DORIS data, such as instabilities of the on-board clock due to radiation encountered in space, which limit the accurate determination of station positions.The DORIS on-board clock frequency stability is degraded by the increased radiation found in the region of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) and has been shown to degrade station position estimation. This paper introduces a new model correction to the DORIS data for the frequency of the Jason-2 Ultra Stable Oscillator (USO), derived from the Time Transfer by Laser Link (T2L2) experiment (Belli and Exertier, 2018). We show that a multi-satellite DORIS solution including this T2L2-corrected data applied to the frequency modelling for The DORIS data, improves the estimation of station coordinates. We show the tie residuals with respect to collocated GPS stations are improved by several millimeters. We also demonstrate that the 117-day (Jason-2) draconitic signal in the geophysical parameters is reduced, implying that the origin of this signal is not just solar radiation pressure mis-modeling, but also radiation-induced clock perturbations on the Jason-2 DORIS Ultra-Stable-Oscillator (USO). Finally we demonstrate through comparisons with the International Earth Rotations and Reference Systems Service (IERS) C04 series for Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP), that the estimation of EOP is improved in both a Jason-2 DORIS-only and a multi-satellite DORIS solution for EOP.     

DORIS and GPS monitoring of the Gavdos calibration site in Crete

Due to its specific geographical location as well as its geodetic equipment (DORIS, GNSS, microwave transponder and tide gauges), the Gavdos station in Crete, Greece is one of the very few sites around the world used for satellite altimetry calibration. To investigate the quality of the Gavdos geodetic coordinates and velocities, we analyzed and compared here DORIS and GPS-derived results obtained during several years of observations. The DORIS solution is the latest ignwd11 solution at IGN, expressed in ITRF2008, while the GPS solution was obtained using the GAMIT software package. Current results show that 1–2 mm/yr agreement can be obtained for 3-D velocity, showing a good agreement with current geophysical models. In particular, the agreement obtained for the vertical velocity is around 0.3–0.4 mm/yr, depending on the terrestrial reference frame. As a by-product of these geodetic GPS and DORIS results, Zenith Tropospheric Delays (ZTDs) estimations were also compared in 2010 between these two techniques, and compared to ECMWF values, showing a 6.6 mm agreement in dispersion without any significant difference between GPS and DORIS (with a 97.6% correlation), but with a 13–14 mm agreement in dispersion when comparing to ECMWF model (with only about 90% correlation for both techniques). These tropospheric delay estimations could also provide an external calibration of the tropospheric correction used for the geophysical data of satellite altimetry missions.     

DORIS system: The new age

The boarding of the first DGXX DORIS instrument on Jason-2 mission gives us the opportunity to present the improvements that have been implemented on the DORIS system. The goal of this paper is to present information about the new capacities of the DORIS system and to give the current status of its components. An overview of the DORIS system, the International DORIS Service and the Jason-2 satellite mission are first presented. Then the new characteristics of the on-board instrument are detailed. The capacity to track up to seven ground beacons simultaneously dramatically increases the number of measurements performed: a factor of three increase over Jason-1 is observed at the altitude of 1330 km. It also increases the diversity of directions of observation and allows low elevation measurements from 0°. The new phase measurements capability allows now phase processing. The instability of the Jason-1 USOs (Ultra-Stable Oven-controlled quartz oscillator) while crossing the South Atlantic Anomaly has been solved by decreasing the sensitivity to radiation by a factor of 10. New features of the on-board software enhance the coastal and inland water altimetry and increase the robustness of the data. The new software also improves the real time orbit accuracy for operational altimetry. The improvements introduced concurrently on the ground segment have also significantly enhanced capability. The new RINEX exchange formats provide simultaneous phase and pseudo-range measurements. The maintenance of the DORIS Beacons Network and the work done by the DORIS Signal Integrity monitoring team lead to an increased availability of the Network from 75% to 90% and so to a more homogenous orbit coverage.     

Midday bottomside electron density profiles during moderate solar activity and comparison with IRI-2001

Bottomside electron density (Ne-h) profiles during midday (10–14 h) are analyzed using modern digital ionosonde observations at a low-middle latitude station, New Delhi (28.6N, 77.2E, dip 42.4N), for the period from January 2003 to December 2003, pertaining to moderate solar activity (MSA). Each individual profile is normalized with respect to the peak height and density (hmF2, NmF2) of the F2-region. These profiles are compared with those obtained from the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-2001) model. Bilitza [Bilitza, D. International Reference Ionosphere 2000. Radio Sci. 36 (2), 261–275, 2001] using both the options namely: Gulyaeva’s model [Gulyaeva, T.L. Progress in ionospheric informatics based on electron density profile analysis of ionograms. Adv. Space Res. 7 (6) 39–48, 1987] and B0 Tab. option [Bilitza, D., Radicella, S.M., Reinisch, B.W., Adeniyi, J.O., Mosert Gonzalez, M.E., Zhang, S.R., Obrou, O. New B0 and B1 models for IRI. Adv. Space Res. 25 (1), 89–95, 2000]. The study reveals that during summer and equinox, the IRI model with B0 Tab. option in general, produces better agreement with the observed median profiles, while the IRI predictions using Gulyaeva’s option, overestimate the electron density distribution at all the heights below the F2-peak. However, during winter, in general, the IRI model, using both the options, reveals shows fairly good agreement with the observations.     

Status of the T2L2/Jason2 Experiment

The T2L2 (Time Transfer by Laser Link) project, developed by CNES and OCA will permit the synchronization of remote ultra stable clocks and the determination of their performances over intercontinental distances. The principle of the experiment derives from Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) technology with dedicated space equipment. T2L2 was accepted in 2005 to be on board the Jason2 altimetry satellite. The payload consists of both event timer and photo detection modules. The system uses the ultra-stable quartz oscillator of DORIS as on-board reference clock on one hand, and the Laser Reflector Array, making T2L2 a real two-way time transfer system on the other hand. The expected time stability of the T2L2 instrument (detection and timing), referenced by the DORIS oscillator and including all internal error sources should be at the level of 10–12 ps at 1 s and <1 ps at 1000 s. The metrological specifications of T2L2 should permit to maintain a precision of 1 to a few ps when measuring the phase of a clock during around 1000 seconds.     

Imaging Global Electron Content backwards in time more than 160 years ago

The Global Electron Content, GEC, represents the total number of electrons in the spherical layer over the Earth restricted by orbit of Global Positioning Satellite system (20,200 km). GEC is produced from Global Ionospheric Map of Total Electron Content, GIM-TEC, transformed to the electron density varying with height using the International Reference Ionosphere and Plasmasphere model, IRI-Plas. The climatologic GEC model is developed from GIM-TEC maps for a period 1999–2012 including the solar activity, annual and semiannual cycles as the most important factors affecting daily GEC variation. The proxy R_zp of the international sunspot numbers, R_i, is used as a measure of solar activity composed of 3 day smoothed R_i, 7 day and 81 day backwards mean of R_i scaled to the range of 1–40 proxy units, p.u. The root mean square error of the GEC climatologic model is found to vary from 8% to 13% of GEC. Taking advantage of a long history of sunspot numbers, the climatologic GEC model is applied for GEC reconstruction backwards in time for more than 160 years ago since 1850. The extended set of GEC values provides the numerical representation of the ionosphere and plasmasphere electron content coherent with variations of solar activity as a potential proxy index driving the ionosphere models.