Orbital Accelerometry by LEO GNSS Tracking: Theory and Practice

Da Kuang, Shailen Desai, Bruce Haines and Anthony Sibthorpe

Abstract:	A Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite moves in space under the influence of various natural forces (including gravitational and non-gravitational) and man-made forces such as thruster firing. LEO GNSS tracking measures the orbital motion of LEO satellites governed by all these forces. The availability of LEO GNSS tracking with good temporal and spatial coverage and with good resolution allows us to derive the perturbing acceleration produced by those forces with reasonably good quality. In fact, force parameters and/or acceleration time series estimates are part of the orbit solution in dynamic or reduced-dynamic orbit determination processes. However, the use of the orbital force estimates has not been typically as well explored as the orbital position estimates. In this paper we assess the accuracy of the accelerations that can be determined by LEO GNSS tracking data using the reduced-dynamic precise orbit determination (POD) method, and explore ways of utilizing the acceleration estimates from reduced-dynamic POD for satellite geodesy and Earth environment monitoring. By separating the effect of one leading perturbing source from others we can measure the individual accelerations produced by that particular source and subsequently extract the relevant underlying physical information from them. We provide three examples of the application (with the signal level of the perturbation ranging from high to low): automatic thruster firing detection, atmospheric drag measurement, and calibration of the accelerometer onboard the GRACE satellites.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 27th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2014) September 8 - 12, 2014 Tampa Convention Center Tampa, Florida
Pages:	1524 - 1535
Cite this article:	Kuang, Da, Desai, Shailen, Haines, Bruce, Sibthorpe, Anthony, "Orbital Accelerometry by LEO GNSS Tracking: Theory and Practice," Proceedings of the 27th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2014), Tampa, Florida, September 2014, pp. 1524-1535.
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