Improved Single-frequency Orbit Determination for the CYGNSS Spacecraft

Alex V. Conrad, Penny Axelrad, Bruce Haines, Cinzia Zuffada, Andrew O’Brien, Eric Loria

Abstract:	The accuracy of GNSS-R altimetry significantly depends on the knowledge of the spacecraft orbit. The GRACE-A satellite was used to assess the orbit determination errors of CYGNSS using a single-frequency code-only and GRAPHIC approach. Orbit overlap RMS values were lower using GRAPHIC than code-only for both GRACE and CYGNSS indicating a more precise orbit solution. With GRACE, the orbit errors for GRAPHIC were smaller for all three components, radial, cross-track, and in-track. Based on the GRACE error analysis, we conclude that the 1sigma CYGNSS GRAPHIC orbit accuracy is 3 – 5 cm for radial, 5 – 10 cm for cross-track, and 10 – 15 cm for in-track placing the 3-D accuracy between 12 – 20 cm.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 33rd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2020) September 21 - 25, 2020
Pages:	3875 - 3887
Cite this article:	Conrad, Alex V., Axelrad, Penny, Haines, Bruce, Zuffada, Cinzia, O’Brien, Andrew, Loria, Eric, "Improved Single-frequency Orbit Determination for the CYGNSS Spacecraft," Proceedings of the 33rd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2020), September 2020, pp. 3875-3887. https://doi.org/10.33012/2020.17753
Full Paper:	ION Members/Non-Members: 1 Download Credit Sign In