An empirical solar radiation pressure model for satellites moving in the orbit-normal mode

We present a family of empirical solar radiation pressure (SRP) models suited for satellites orbiting the Earth in the orbit normal (ON) mode. The proposed ECOM-TB model describes the SRP accelerations in the so-called terminator coordinate system. The choice of the coordinate system and the SRP parametrization is based on theoretical assumptions and on simulation results with a QZS-1-like box-wing model, where the SRP accelerations acting on the solar panels and on the box are assessed separately. The new SRP model takes into account that in ON-mode the incident angle of the solar radiation on the solar panels is not constant like in the yaw-steering (YS) attitude mode. It depends on the elevation angle of the Sun above the satellite’s orbital plane. The resulting SRP vector acts, therefore, not only in the Sun-satellite direction, but has also a component normal to it. Both components are changing as a function of the incident angle. ECOM-TB has been used for precise orbit determination (POD) for QZS-1 and BeiDou2 (BDS2) satellites in medium (MEO) and inclined geosynchronous Earth orbits (IGSO) based on IGS MGEX data from 2014 and 2015. The resulting orbits have been validated with SLR, long-arc orbit fits, orbit misclosures, and by the satellite clock corrections based on the orbits. The validation results confirm that—compared to ECOM2—ECOM-TB significantly (factor 3–4) improves the POD of QZS-1 in ON-mode for orbits with different arc lengths (one, three, and five days). Moderate orbit improvements are achieved for BDS2 MEO satellites—especially if ECOM-TB is supported by pseudo-stochastic pulses (the model is then called ECOM-TBP). For BDS2 IGSOs, ECOM-TB with its 9 SRP parameters appears to be over-parameterized. For use with BDS2 IGSO spacecraft we therefore developed a minimized model version called ECOM-TBMP, which is based on the same axis decomposition as ECOM-TB, but has only 2 SRP parameters and is supported by pseudo-stochastic parameters, as well. This model shows a similar performance as ECOM-TB with short arcs, but an improved performance with (3-day) long-arcs. The new SRP models have been activated in CODE’s IGS MGEX solution in Summer 2018. Like the other ECOM models the ECOM-TB derivatives might be used together with an a priori model.     

Real-time clock comparison and monitoring with multi-GNSS precise point positioning: GPS,GLONASS and Galileo

The precise point positioning (PPP) technique is widely used in time and frequency applications. Because of the real-time service (RTS) project of the International GNSS Service, we can use the PPP technique for real-time clock comparison and monitoring. As a participant in the RTS, the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) implements the PPPWIZARD (Precise Point Positioning with Integer and Zero-difference Ambiguity Resolution Demonstrator) project to validate carrier phase ambiguity resolution. Unlike the Integer-PPP (IPPP) of the CNES, fixing ambiguities in the post-processing mode, the PPPWIZARD operates in the real-time mode, which is also called real-time IPPP (RT-IPPP). This paper focuses on applying the RT-IPPP for real-time clock comparison and monitoring. We review the principle of real-time clock comparison and monitoring, and introduce the methodology of the RT-IPPP technique. The observations of GPS, GLONASS and Galileo were processed for the experiments. Five processing modes were provided in the experiment to analyze the benefits of ambiguity resolution and multi-GNSS. In the clock comparison experiment, the average reduction ratios of standard deviations with respect to the G PPP mode range from 9.7% to 35.0%. In the clock monitoring experiment, G PPP mode can detect clock jumps whose magnitudes are larger than 0.9 ns. The RT-IPPP technique with GRE PPP AR (G) mode allows for the detection of any clock jumps larger than 0.6 ns. For frequency monitoring, G PPP mode allows detection of frequency changes larger than 1.1 × 10⁻¹⁴. When the RT-IPPP technique is applied, monitoring with GRE PPP AR (G) mode can detect frequency changes larger than 6.1 × 10⁻¹⁵.     

Carrier phase prediction method for GNSS precise positioning in challenging environment

Since the signals of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) are blocked frequently in challenging environments, the discontinuous carrier phases seriously affect the application of GNSS precise positioning. To improve the carrier phase continuity, this paper proposes a carrier phase prediction method based on carrier open-loop tracking. In the open-loop tracking mode, the carrier numerically controlled oscillator (NCO) is controlled by the predicted Doppler, but not by the loop filter output. To improve the phase prediction effective time, accurate receiver clock drift estimation is studied in the prediction method. The phase prediction performance is tested on GNSS software receiver. In the phase prediction effective time tests, open-loop processes were set for the tested channel. The test results show that, when some satellite signals are blocked in 15?s, the probability of carrier phase error less than quarter cycles is more than 94%. In the real time kinematic (RTK) positioning tests, some satellite signals are blocked in 10–15?s repeatedly. The test results show that, the carrier phase continuity is basically not affected by the signal interruption, and the RTK can almost keep continuous centimeter-level positioning accuracy without re-fixing the integer ambiguity.     

星历误差对双星定位系统定位精度的影响

双星定位系统是我国自行研制开发的一种区域性卫星定位系统,其定位体制与 GPS 不同,并且其定位精度受到诸多因素的影响,其中星历误差的影响是不可忽略的因素。文中重点研究了星历误差对其定位精度的影响,并推导出了其数学误差模型,在一定条件下给出了其仿真结果,为分析其他误差因素对其定位精度的影响奠定了基础。     

北斗三号系统卫星自主完好性监测技术

完好性对于全球卫星导航系统(GNSS)来说至关重要,关乎到其能否被放心应用。卫星自主完好性监测(SAIM)技术,是完好性监测技术发展的前沿趋势,国内外卫星导航系统均竞相发展。介绍了北斗三号系统SAIM技术设计与实现的重要意义,从功能设计和实现原理两个方面,阐述了北斗三号SAIM技术体制。针对SAIM实际在轨监测数据的正态分布特性服从程度和长期稳定性等问题,随机选取某一颗中圆轨道(MEO)卫星自2020年7月31日北斗三号系统正式开通服务以来至2021年7月31日连续1年期间的监测数据,得到真实在轨监测数据的分布特性。最后,提出了告警门限优化、分级告警策略设计、星历完好性自主监测等方面的后续发展必要性建议,旨在为北斗系统更好地为全球用户提供更优质的完好性服务提供参考。     

基于经验模分解的PPP时间比对数据消噪方法

精密单点定位(PPP)时间比对数据会受到观测噪声的影响,因此对时间比对数据进行消噪是一项重要工作。提出一种基于经验模分解(EMD)的PPP时间比对数据消噪方法,并将该方法与Vondrak滤波方法的消噪效果进行对比。结果表明,两种方法的消噪效果相当,均能有效滤除PPP时间比对数据中的随机噪声,明显改善时间比对的稳定度。     

The impact of orbital errors on the estimation of satellite clock errors and PPP

Precise satellite orbit and clocks are essential for providing high accuracy real-time PPP (Precise Point Positioning) service. However, by treating the predicted orbits as fixed, the orbital errors may be partially assimilated by the estimated satellite clock and hence impact the positioning solutions. This paper presents the impact analysis of errors in radial and tangential orbital components on the estimation of satellite clocks and PPP through theoretical study and experimental evaluation. The relationship between the compensation of the orbital errors by the satellite clocks and the satellite-station geometry is discussed in details. Based on the satellite clocks estimated with regional station networks of different sizes (∼100, ∼300, ∼500 and ∼700 km in radius), results indicated that the orbital errors compensated by the satellite clock estimates reduce as the size of the network increases. An interesting regional PPP mode based on the broadcast ephemeris and the corresponding estimated satellite clocks is proposed and evaluated through the numerical study. The impact of orbital errors in the broadcast ephemeris has shown to be negligible for PPP users in a regional network of a radius of ∼300 km, with positioning RMS of about 1.4, 1.4 and 3.7 cm for east, north and up component in the post-mission kinematic mode, comparable with 1.3, 1.3 and 3.6 cm using the precise orbits and the corresponding estimated clocks. Compared with the DGPS and RTK positioning, only the estimated satellite clocks are needed to be disseminated to PPP users for this approach. It can significantly alleviate the communication burdens and therefore can be beneficial to the real time applications.     

基于无奇异变换的卫星广播星历拟合算法

针对导航卫星轨道偏心率近似为0,致使卫星轨道的近地点角距定义模糊,在数据拟合过程中会导致法矩阵（H^TH）奇异的问题,本文提出基于无奇异变换的广播星历参数拟合算法,引入无奇异轨道根数代替经典开普勒根数,推导了空间目标位置矢量对基于无奇异轨道根数的广播星历参数偏导数矩阵,利用变换后的观测方程迭代拟合得到改进广播星历参数,再将结果归一化到基于开普勒根数的广播星历参数。最后利用仿真算例验证了所推公式和算法的合理性。     

A two-step robust adaptive filtering algorithm for GNSS kinematic precise point positioning

In kinematic navigation and positioning, abnormal observations and kinematic model disturbances are one of the key factors affecting the stability and reliability of positioning performance. Generally, robust adaptive filtering algorithm is used to reduce the influence of them on positioning results. However, it is difficult to accurately identify and separate the influence of abnormal observations and kinematic model disturbances on positioning results, especially in the application of kinematic Precise Point Positioning (PPP). This has always been a key factor limiting the performance of conventional robust adaptive filtering algorithms. To address this problem, this paper proposes a two-step robust adaptive filtering algorithm, which includes two filtering steps: without considering the kinematic model information, the first step of filtering only detects the abnormal observations. Based on the filtering results of the first step, the second step makes further detection on the kinematic model disturbances and conducts adaptive processing. Theoretical analysis and experiment results indicate that the two-step robust adaptive filtering algorithm can further enhance the robustness of the filtering against the influence of abnormal observations and kinematic model disturbances on the positioning results. Ultimately, improvement of the stability and reliability of kinematic PPP is significant.     

导航卫星的短弧运动学定轨

导航卫星在姿轨控和轨道恢复期间,由于观测数据有限,传统的统计定轨理论难以实现导航卫星精密定轨。本文尝试采用一种不依赖轨道动力学的、新的运动学定轨方法来处理短弧和复杂动力学过程中的定轨,提出了基于多项式拟合的短弧运动学定轨算法,并提出2种不同的实现方案。该算法充分利用了高采样率的测轨数据,减少了结果的噪声,其优点在于不需要长时间累积测轨数据,可以实现近实时快速计算,克服了动力学法定轨发散和单点定位无法获得卫星速度信息等不足。对COMPASS M-01导航卫星实测数据的处理表明,10min左右短弧运动学定轨的位置精度可以优于10m,速度精度优于4cm/s,满足了短弧跟踪条件下RDSS对卫星轨道精度的要求,实现了短弧跟踪条件下卫星精密定轨,但从轨道预报精度来看,该方法仅仅适用于短期预报。