New improved orbit solutions for the ERS-1 and ERS-2 satellites

Improved orbit solutions of the European Remote Sensing Satellites ERS-1 and ERS-2 have been computed in the ITRF2005 terrestrial reference frame using the recent models based mainly on IERS Conventions 2003. These solutions cover the periods 3 August 1991 to 8 July 1996 for ERS-1, and 3 May 1995 to 4 July 2003 for ERS-2. For each satellite, the final orbit solution is based on a combination of three separate orbit solutions independently computed at the Delft Institute of Earth Observation and Space Systems (DEOS) of the Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands), the Navigation Support Office of the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC, Germany) and the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences (Germany) using three different software packages for precise orbit determination, but using the same models in the same terrestrial reference frame within the European Space Agency (ESA) project ‘Reprocessing of Altimeter Products for ERS (REAPER)’. Validation using radar altimeter data indicates that the new combined orbits of ERS-1 and ERS-2 computed by us are significantly more accurate, approaching the 2–3 cm level in radial direction, than previously available orbit solutions.     

Dynamic and non-dynamic ERS-1 radial orbit improvement from ERS-1/TOPEX dual-satellite altimetry

Dual-satellite altimeter crossover differences between ERS-1 and TOPEX/Poseidon have been included as supplementary tracking data in ERS-1 orbit computations from SLR and single-satellite crossover differences. It was found that including the dual-satellite crossover differences slightly improves the ERS-1 radial orbit accuracy of about 12 cm for orbits computed with the JGM-2 gravity field and also leads to a better ‘centering’ of the ERS-1 orbit in the terrestrial reference frame defined for TOPEX/Poseidon. In addition to this dynamic orbit improvement technique, a non-dynamic technique has been investigated that removes the larger part of the ERS-1 radial orbit error from the dual-satellite crossover difference residuals. For ERS-1 orbits computed with the GEM-T2 gravity field, it was found that the non-dynamic technique could improve the radial orbit accuracy from 140 cm to the same level of accuracy as the ERS-1 JGM-2 orbits.     

Preliminary study of differential force modelling on ERS-1 and ERS-2

The two near identical satellites ERS-1 and ERS-2 are orbiting the Earth in the same orbit and same orbital plane with ERS-1 some thirty-two minutes in the lead. If their altimetric datasets are differenced along the repeating ground-track any fixed geographically correlated signature will cancel. The residual signature of this differenced dataset will therefore arise from imprecise corrections to the altimetric dataset but more significantly from temporal variations in the forces affecting both satellites; in particular luni-solar attraction and aerodynamic force modelling. This study presents preliminary results of differential force modelling on the satellites with an emphasis on the aerodynamic effects.     

Analysis of radial orbit errors of ERS-1, and the development of super-tailored gravity models

The altimetry mission of the future ESA remote sensing satellite ERS-1 requires very accurate orbit solutions, of which in particular the radial position component should have an accuracy of approximately 10 cm. This paper presents some investigations into the possibility of reducing the radial position error due to the earth's gravity field, which is by far the largest contributing error source.With a detailed harmonic analysis of the ERS-1 orbit a number of gravity field model terms are identified which produce the major radial orbit perturbations. These dominant terms are adjusted in a least-squares orbit determination and parameter estimation procedure using actual SEASAT laser tracking observations and altimeter height measurements. The initial gravity model is the NASA GEM-L2 model derived from satellite tracking data only, with an emphasis on LAGEOS data. The resulting super-tailored model yields a significantly improved radial accuracy relative to GEM-L2, but fails to reach the accuracy of the SEASAT-tailored model PGS-S4.Finally, the SEASAT altimeter residuals and the residuals of the cross-over differences are analyzed in the frequency domain by applying a special filtering technique which separates the major radial orbit error and geoid error contributions.     

ERS-1 radial position refinement by dual crossover analysis with TOPEX/Poseidon

Achieving orbital accuracies in the radial direction for ERS-1 commensurate with those for TOPEX/Poseidon is of utmost importance for the integration of the two altimeter data sets. This paper outlines a procedure whereby the radial orbit error for ERS-1 is recovered as a time series expansion in the form of a finite Fourier series with additional terms for atmospheric drag, solar radiation pressure, and initial state vector mismodelling. Using a least squares collocation method with constraints derived from the JGM2 gravity field co-variance matrix, the radial error is recovered using both dual crossovers and ERS-1 single satellite crossovers. Aggregate arcs are then used to derive the ERS-1 orbit error over the repeat period of 35 days. The results are presented in the improvement of fit in the dual crossover, ERS-1 crossover and altimetry data sets as well as the recovery of an altimeter bias for the two satellites.     

“嫦娥4号”中继星任务轨道确定问题初探

"嫦娥4号"任务将采用着陆器、巡视器和绕飞地月拉格朗日L2点中继星进行月球背面的探测,中继星已先期发射,进入环绕地月L2点的晕(Halo)轨道。在中继星使命轨道动力学模型的基础上,通过相关仿真工作,开展了中继星在Halo轨道上的摄动源量级及影响定轨预报的主要因素分析,结果表明:太阳光压摄动是其主要影响因素。为降低其相关影响,提高定轨精度,在太阳光压球模型的基础上,结合中继星在轨运行特点及其星体结构特点,提出了一种求解光压等效面积的方法。经仿真分析,使用修正后的太阳光压球模型进行定轨求解,速度精度可提升约一个量级。     

基于经验加速度的低轨卫星轨道预报新方法

研究将定轨过程中的经验加速度应用于地球低轨卫星轨道预报的新方法. 利用GPS伪距观测数据和简化动力学最小二乘批处理方法对地球低轨卫星定 轨, 其中卫星位置、速度及大气阻力系数和辐射光压系数可以直接用于轨道预报. 作为简化动力学最重要特征的经验加速度呈现准周期、余弦曲线特点, 可通过 傅里叶级数拟合建模. 确定性动力学模型与补偿大气阻力模型误差的切向经验 加速度级数拟合模型组成增强型动力学模型用于提高轨道预报精度. 应用 GRACE-A星载GPS伪距观测数据和IGS超快星历定轨并进行轨道预报, 结果表明 轨道预报初值位置精度达到0.2m, 速度精度达到1×10-4m·s-1, 预报3天位置精度优于60m, 比只利用确定性动力学模型进行预报精度平 均提高2.3倍. 先定轨后预报的模式可用在星上自主精确导航系统中.      

Higher order ionospheric error correction in BDS precise orbit determination

The ionospheric error affects the accuracy of the Global Navigation Satellite Systems observation and precise orbit determination. Usually, only the first order ionospheric error is considered, which can be eliminated by the ionospheric-free linear combination observation. But the remaining higher order ionospheric error will affect the accuracy of observations and their applications. In this paper, the influence of the higher order ionospheric error have been studied by using the International Geomagnetic Reference Field 13 and the Global Ionosphere Maps model produced by the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe. Focus on ionospheric error, the experiment of paper at doy 302 in 2019, which show that the second order ionospheric error impacting BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) B1I and B3I observation is 6.3569 mm and 11.8484 mm, respectively. Whereas, the third order ionospheric error impacting BDS B1I and B3I observation is 0.1734 mm and 0.3977 mm, respectively. Due to the current measurement accuracy of BDS carrier-phase observation can reach 2 mm, the influence of high order ionospheric error on observation should be considered. For BDS precise orbit determination, the orbit overlapping results are indicated that its orbit accuracy can be improved approximately 5 mm with the higher order ionospheric error correction, which is also in agreement with the results of Satellite Laser Ranging in this work.     

基于固定模糊度PPP的低轨卫星实时精密定轨

传统动力学定轨法受制于动力学模型精度,传统几何定轨法精度受限,只能达到亚米级,而基于精密单点定位（PPP）模式的几何定轨法一般采用浮点解,定轨精度及可靠性较基于双差模式的相对定位较差。为提高PPP模式低轨定轨的定位性能,利用中国区域内外的IGS测站计算出当前所有卫星的宽巷和窄巷相位小数偏差产品,对经过中国大陆区域上空的国产低轨卫星海洋二号（HY-2）和资源三号 (ZY-3) 卫星进行固定模糊度PPP的定轨解算,与事后精密轨道结果进行比较,分析其外符合精度。结果表明：仅利用约10min弧段的HY-2和ZY-3卫星数据,切向与径向的定轨精度可达2cm左右,法向为5cm左右,较浮点解定轨精度大幅提升。基于固定模糊度PPP的定轨方法能够满足厘米级的实时精密定轨。     

微小推力下小卫星的轨道递推与推力标定

针对采用微小推力进行轨道机动的小卫星,考虑复杂摄动力的基础设计了一种高精度轨道外推和推力在轨标定算法.首先,建立了考虑地球复杂摄动力和微小推力的小卫星轨道动力学模型;然后基于动力学模型,利用变步长龙格库塔算法,设计了对微小推力小卫星进行高精度轨道外推的方法.随后通过无迹卡尔曼滤波器(UKF),设计在轨标定算法,对存在误...     

Impact of the orbital eccentricity on the attitude performance before and after the deorbiting phase for Alsat-1

Due to the presence of periodic forcing terms in the gravity gradient torque, orbit eccentricity may produce large response for the roll, yaw and pitch angles. This paper investigates the influence of the orbit eccentricity on the performance of the attitude determination and control subsystem (ADCS) pointing of passive Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites stabilized by a gravity gradient boom or having long appendages before and after the deorbiting operation. The contribution of this work is twofold. First, the satellite attitude dynamics and kinematics are modeled by introducing the orbit eccentricity in the equations of motion of a LEO satellite in order to provide the best scenario in which satellite operators can keep the nominal functionality of LEO satellites with a gravity gradient boom after the deorbiting operation. Second, a Quaternion-based Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is analyzed when the orbit eccentricity is considered in order to determine the influence of this disturbance on the convergence and stability of the filter. The simulations in this work are based on the true parameters of Alsat-1 which is a typical LEO satellite stabilized by a gravity gradient boom. The results show that the orbit eccentricity has a big influence on the pointing system accuracy causing micro-vibrations that affect the geocentric pointing particularly after the deorbiting phase. In this case, satellites have no orbital correction option. The Quaternion-based Extended Kalman Filter analyzed in this paper, achieved satisfactory results for eccentricity values less than 0.4 with respect to pointing system accuracy. However, singularities were observed for eccentricity values greater than 0.4.     

基于Gooding算法的天基光学目标跟踪定轨

开展了基于Gooding算法的400 km天基平台光学目标监测的轨道确定研究,当测量误差为3"和6"时,分别对800,1500及36 000 km轨道高度目标进行初始轨道确定及轨道改进分析.仿真结果表叽利用400 km轨道高度平台对800～1500 km轨道高度目标进行初定轨,测量数据误差为3"～6"时,4～15 mi...     

基于单站CCD漂移扫描光电设备的同步轨道目标测定轨

地基光电观测在同步轨道目标监测领域具有重要作用.为评估单站光电设备对同步轨道目标的实际测定轨能力,利用上海天文台佘山站1.56m望远镜,采用CCD漂移扫描光电技术,对3颗北斗同步卫星开展试验观测,基于卫星精密星历评估目标的测定轨外符精度.结果表明:同步轨道目标的天文定位在方位和俯仰方向上的外符精度均好于0.3";在单圈次观测情况下,尽管轨道预报精度较低,约为数千米量级,但是观测弧段内定轨精度可优于百米;在多圈次观测情况下,轨道改进效果显著,定轨精度优于50m,外推至4d的轨道预报精度为百米量级.此外,定量评估了每晚不同观测时间跨度下同步轨道目标的测定轨精度,为单站光电设备实际应用提供了参考.      

基于光学测角数据的风云四号同步轨道卫星精密定轨

针对风云四号同步卫星的精密定轨和精度评估需求,首先利用地面光学测角数据对FY-4A卫星进行精密定轨,定轨后方位角和高度角的残差rms分别为0.25＂和0.45＂。与基于测距数据的轨道相比,位置精度在有测角数据的弧段内小于50m。进一步联合测角数据和测距数据对FY-4A卫星进行联合定轨,定轨后轨道重叠精度优于15m。利用联合定轨结果评估了基于测距数据的实时轨道产品精度,可以明显发现轨道精度随着测距数据的积累而逐步提高。     

ESA’s process for the identification and assessment of high-risk conjunction events

ESA’s Space Debris Office provides an operational service for the assessment of collision risks of ESA satellites. Currently, the ENVISAT and ERS-2 missions in low Earth orbits are covered by this service. If an upcoming high-risk conjunction event is predicted based on analysis of Two-Line Element (TLE) data from the US Space Surveillance Network, then independent tracking data of the potential high-risk conjunction object are acquired to improve the knowledge of its orbit. This improved knowledge and the associated small error covariances derived from the orbit determination process scale down the position error ellipsoid at the conjunction epoch. Hence, for the same miss-distance, in most cases an avoidance manoeuvre can be suppressed with an acceptable residual risk.     

Orbit determination and prediction of GEO satellite of BeiDou during repositioning maneuver

In order to establish a continuous GEO satellite orbit during repositioning maneuvers, a suitable maneuver force model has been established associated with an optimal orbit determination method and strategy. A continuous increasing acceleration is established by constructing a constant force that is equivalent to the pulse force, with the mass of the satellite decreasing throughout maneuver. This acceleration can be added to other accelerations, such as solar radiation, to obtain the continuous acceleration of the satellite. The orbit determination method and strategy are illuminated, with subsequent assessment of the orbit being determined and predicted accordingly. The orbit of the GEO satellite during repositioning maneuver can be determined and predicted by using C-Band pseudo-range observations of the BeiDou GEO satellite with COSPAR ID 2010-001A in 2011 and 2012. The results indicate that observations before maneuver do affect orbit determination and prediction, and should therefore be selected appropriately. A more precise orbit and prediction can be obtained compared to common short arc methods when observations starting 1 day prior the maneuver and 2 h after the maneuver are adopted in POD (Precise Orbit Determination). The achieved URE (User Range Error) under non-consideration of satellite clock errors is better than 2 m within the first 2 h after maneuver, and less than 3 m for further 2 h of orbit prediction.     

基于移动站的转发式地面站设备时延标校方法

在转发式卫星测定轨系统中,基于伪码测距原理的星地距离测量是实现卫星精密定轨和高精度时间比对的基础。为获得高精度的星地距离,需要将地面站设备时延从伪码测距值中精确扣除。在转发式卫星测轨原理的基础上,提出了基于移动站的转发式地面站设备时延标校方法,实现了对转发式地面站设备时延的标校,标校精度能够优于0.5ns,对提高转发式卫星定轨精度和卫星双向时间比对精度具有重要作用。     

Analysis of GNSS clock prediction performance with different interrupt intervals and application to real-time kinematic precise point positioning

Continuous and timely real-time satellite orbit and clock products are mandatory for real-time precise point positioning (RT-PPP). Real-time high-precision satellite orbit and clock products should be predicted within a short time in case of communication delay or connection breakdown in practical applications. For prediction, historical data describing the characteristics of the real-time orbit and clock can be used as the basis for performing the prediction. When historical data are scarce, it is difficult for many existing models to perform precise predictions. In this paper, a linear regression model is used to predict clock products. Seven-day GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) final clock products sampled at 30 s are used to analyze the characteristics of GNSS clocks. It is shown that the linear regression model can be used as the prediction model for the satellite clock products. In addition, the accuracy of the clock prediction for different satellites are analyzed using historical data with different periods (such as 2 and 10 epochs). Experimental results show that the accuracy of the clock with the linear regression prediction model using historical data with 10 epochs is 1.0 ns within 900 s. This is higher accuracy than that achieved using historical data of 2 epochs. Finally, the performance analysis for real-time kinematic precise point positioning (PPP) is provided using GFZ final clock prediction results and state space representation (SSR) clock prediction results when communication delay or connection breakdown occur. Experimental results show that the positioning accuracy without prediction is better than that with prediction in general, whether using the final clock product or the SSR clock product. For the final clock product, the positioning accuracy in the north (N), east (E), and up (U) directions is better than 10.0 cm with all visible GNSS satellites with prediction. In comparison, the 3D positioning accuracy of N, E, and U directions with visible GNSS satellites whose prediction accuracy is better than 0.1 ns using historical data of 10 epochs is improved from 15.0 cm to 7.0 cm. For the SSR clock product, the positioning accuracy of N, E, and U directions is better than 12.0 cm with visible GNSS satellites with prediction. In comparison, the 3D positioning accuracy of N, E, and U directions with visible GNSS satellites whose prediction accuracy is better than 0.1 ns using historical data of 10 epochs is improved from 12.0 cm to 9.0 cm.     

Orbit determination of BeiDou navigation satellite system maneuvered satellites based on instantaneous velocity pulses parameters

The BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS) comprises geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellites as well as inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO) and medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites. Owing to their special orbital characteristics, GEO satellites require frequent orbital maneuvers to ensure that they operate in a specific orbital window. The availability of the entire system is affected during the maneuver period because service cannot be provided before the ephemeris is restored. In this study, based on the conventional dynamic orbit determination method for navigation satellites, multiple sets of instantaneous velocity pulses parameters which belong to one of pseudo-stochastic parameters were used to simulate the orbital maneuver process in the orbital maneuver arc and establish the observed and predicted orbits of the maneuvered and non-maneuvered satellites of BeiDou regional navigation satellite system (BDS-2) and BeiDou global navigation satellite system (BDS-3). Finally, the single point positioning (SPP) technology was used to verify the accuracy of the observed and predicted orbits. The orbit determination accuracy of maneuvered satellites can be greatly improved by using the orbit determination method proposed in this paper. The overlapping orbit determination accuracy of maneuvered GEO satellites of BDS-2 and BDS-3 can improve 2–3 orders of magnitude. Among them, the radial orbit determination accuracy of each maneuvered satellite is basically better than 1 m. simultaneously, the combined orbit determination of the maneuvered and non-maneuvered satellites does not have a great impact on the orbit determination accuracy of the non-maneuvered satellites. Compared with the multi GNSS products (indicated by GBM) from the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), the impact of adding the maneuvered satellites on the orbit determination accuracy of BDS-2 satellites is less than 9 %. Furthermore, the orbital recovery time and the service availability period are significantly improved. When the node of the predicted orbit is traversed approximately 3 h after the maneuver, the accuracy of the predicted orbit of the maneuvered satellite can reach that of the observed orbit. The SPP results for the BDS reached a normal level when the node of the predicted orbit was 2 h after the maneuver.     

基于轨道预报的热层模式评估

在太阳活动高低年的地磁平静/扰动环境下,利用不同热层大气模式J77,DTM78,MSIS00,JB2008和CHAMP加速度计反演密度,分析有无先验信息条件下的轨道预报误差.结果表明无先验信息的精密轨道预报中,热层模式的性能可能被弹道系数等参数偏差干扰,此时预报误差不能作为模式性能的评价标准.先验信息对轨道预报精度提升非常明显,尤其是地磁扰动期先进热层模式性能得以展现,轨道预报误差为无先验信息情况下的10%～25%.目前热层模式的主要缺陷存在于地磁扰动期.各模式之间的差异是:JB2008模式可以通过线性和单一频率周期项补偿,而J77及DTM78等模式还存在更多频率的误差.本文对不同情况下精密轨道预报的研究结果可为空间碎片碰撞预警等工程实践提供参考.