Analysis of Orbit Errors Induced by Multipath for the ICESat Observatory

Penina Axelrad, Kenneth Gold, Premal Madhani, Angela Reichert

Abstract:	An analysis of the multipath errors expected for the ICESat Observatory and the influence on orbit determination accuracy is presented. Multipath errors for the spacecraft are simulated using an Geometric Theory of Diffraction (GTD) modeling code developed by Ohio State University. The response of a simplified GPS receiver channel is computed and a map of multipath phase errors is generated for various antennas and solar panel orientations. This result provides input to a simulation based upon Gipsy Oasis II (GOA II) developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which provides estimates of the final orbit determination accuracy. If multipath is the only source of error, the overall orbit errors are on the order of 1-2 cm. In the presence of other error sources such as gravitational field uncertainties and atmospheric drag, the final contribution of multipath to the overall error budget is on the order of 2 mm. Editing data from regions of high solar panel blockage provides the best final performance with almost no difference from simulations that do not include multipath errors at all.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 12th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1999) September 14 - 17, 1999 Nashville, TN
Pages:	875 - 884
Cite this article:	Axelrad, Penina, Gold, Kenneth, Madhani, Premal, Reichert, Angela, "Analysis of Orbit Errors Induced by Multipath for the ICESat Observatory," Proceedings of the 12th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1999), Nashville, TN, September 1999, pp. 875-884.
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