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.     

Evolution of the orbital elements for objects with high area-to-mass ratios in geostationary transfer orbits

A new population of uncatalogued objects in geosynchronous Earth orbits (GEO), with a mean motion of about 1 rev/day and eccentricities up to 0.6, has been identified recently. The first observations of this new type of objects were acquired in the framework of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) search for space debris in GEO and the geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) using the ESA 1-m telescope on Tenerife. Earlier studies have postulated that the perturbations due to the solar radiation pressure can lead to such large eccentricities for GEO objects with a high area-to-mass ratio (A/M). The simulations showed that the eccentricities of GEO objects with large A/M exhibit periodic variations with periods of about one year and amplitudes depending on the value of A/M. The findings of these studies could be confirmed by observations from the ESA 1-m telescope on Tenerife.     

DPOD2005: An extension of ITRF2005 for Precise Orbit Determination

For Precise Orbit Determination of altimetry missions, we have computed a data set of DORIS station coordinates defined for specific time intervals called DPOD2005. This terrestrial reference set is an extension of ITRF2005. However, it includes all new DORIS stations and is more reliable, as we disregard stations with large velocity formal errors as they could contaminate POD computations in the near future. About 1/4 of the station coordinates need to be defined as they do not appear in the original ITRF2005 realization. These results were verified with available DORIS and GPS results, as the integrity of DPOD2005 is almost as critical as its accuracy. Besides station coordinates and velocities, we also provide additional information such as periods for which DORIS data should be disregarded for specific DORIS stations, and epochs of coordinate and velocity discontinuities (related to either geophysical events, equipment problem or human intervention). The DPOD model was tested for orbit determination for TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P), Jason-1 and Jason-2. Test results show DPOD2005 offers improvement over the original ITRF2005, improvement that rapidly and significantly increases after 2005. Improvement is also significant for the early T/P cycles indicating improved station velocities in the DPOD2005 model and a more complete station set. Following 2005 the radial accuracy and centering of the ITRF2005-original orbits rapidly degrades due to station loss.     

基于连续同伦算法的天基仅测角初定轨方法

要进一步提高天基短弧初定轨的精度,在观测资料精度较高的情况下,仅考虑二体问题是不够的,还应考虑轨道摄动的影响。因此,基于无摄初轨的单位矢量法原理和矢量斜分解方法,给出了考虑摄动的天基仅测角初定轨单位矢量法。针对天基仅测角观测条件方程组求解过程中易出现迭代不收敛或收敛到平凡解的问题,引入连续同伦算法求解观测条件方程组,提出了单星观测方式下的空间目标天基仅测角初定轨方法,并通过数值仿真算例验证了该算法在较大范围的收敛性和数值稳定性。     

锚固站数量及布局对导航星座自主定轨影响分析

针对导航星座自主定轨中的星座整体旋转问题,采用增设少量地面锚固站的方法可有效解决该问题。通过推导星地距离对卫星轨道升交点赤经的偏导数,证明了星地距离对卫星轨道升交点赤经可观。仅考虑在我国大陆范围内布设锚固站的条件下,仿真分析了锚固站数量以及布局对导航星座自主定轨精度的影响。仿真实验结果表明:采用3个以上的锚固站,即可有效控制星座整体旋转,在14d的仿真时段内卫星自主定轨精度保持4m以内;锚固站数量越多,自主定轨精度越高,但随着锚固站数量的增加,自主定轨精度改善程度越来越小;在保持4个锚固站的情形下,采用不同的锚固站布局方案,自主定轨精度并无明显差别。     

基于粒子群算法的极短弧定轨

针对经典的初轨计算方法在极短弧定轨中不适用的情况,建立了一种基于粒子群算法的极短弧(TooShort-Arc,TSA)定轨的计算方法。该方法将问题转化为两个三变量的分层优化问题,采用(a,e,M)作为优选变量,在保持问题维数较低的同时,实现了计算结果和观测资料的解耦。由于实测资料处理中的野值剔除方法不适用于粒子群算法,所以,采用稳健估计法,通过在适值函数中使用最小中值二乘准则,实现了稳健的极短弧计算方法。同时,应用MATLAB计算软件,选用缺省参数实现该算法,以进行数据验证。基于实测数据的数值验证表明,方法对于近圆轨道目标30s以下的弧段仍可以获得有效的结果,10s弧段误差仅为16km。此精度满足后续处理的需要,且方法稳健,具有很高的崩溃点。     

平面动力系统的ω（α）极限集的一些性质

本文论述了平面动力系统的ω(α)极限集在轨道有界时的一些性质，并对轨道无界情形下其极限集的结构做了一些初步研究。     

基于GPS/IMU/太阳敏感器的空间飞行器组合姿态确定

GPS定姿是GPS在空间飞行器上应用的一个重要方向 ,本文在建立GPS 惯性组件 太阳敏感器组合定姿系统的非线性模型的基础上 ,采用扩展卡尔曼滤波实现了该组合定姿方案。通过理论分析和仿真结果均验证了方案的可行性。为GPS定姿在空间飞行器的实际应用提供一定的参考。     

J2轨道模型对月地激光通信预瞄准精度影响研究

基于J_2轨道预测模型,设计了不同倾角和轨道高度圆轨道月球卫星,通过将J_2轨道预测模型预瞄准仿真结果与直接积分RKF7(8)法仿真结果相对比,研究了不同类型月球卫星轨道对-Y面卫星舱板激光通信终端瞄准精度的影响。仿真结果表明,J_2轨道预测模型可以满足月球极地卫星月地激光通信要求,当轨道高度为1 000 km和2 000 km的时候,10 min方位角偏差不超过40μrad,而俯仰角偏差仅为7μrad时,在一定程度上J2轨道预测模型可以满足月地激光通信预瞄准要求。     

“龙江2号”月球轨道微卫星定轨分析

微纳卫星深空探测任务中,通常所分配的测控资源有限,因此有必要对有限测控资源条件下微纳卫星的定轨精度进行分析。以微纳卫星深空探测为背景,采用"龙江2号"微卫星的轨道测量数据对其定轨精度进行了分析。"龙江2号"微卫星只有USB轨道测量数据,且环月段测控资源相对紧张,每天有两站跟踪,共约3～4 h的轨道测量数据。首先介绍了"龙江2号"微卫星飞行任务及其飞行过程中影响测定轨的因素;其次给出了定轨的动力学模型,对微卫星地月转移段的定轨精度进行了分析;最后通过分析摄动力、动量轮卸载以及数据弧段长度的影响,给出了微卫星环月阶段所使用的定轨策略,并通过重叠弧段比较的模式,给出了微卫星环月段的定轨精度。研究结论可以为后续微纳卫星深空探测任务提供有益参考。