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Precise Orbit Determination with GNSS

A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2022) | Viewed by 6915

Special Issue Editor

Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica – Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali (INAF-IAPS), 00133 Roma, Italy
Interests: experimental tests of general relativity theory and alternative theories of gravitation; precise orbit determination: data analysis, celestial mechanics, modelization of gravitational and non–gravitational perturbations; gravitation physics; development of instrumentation and procedures for planetary exploration missions: calibration, data handling, analysis, and archiving; geodesy and geophysics: gravitational field and rotation of celestial bodies; navigation: GNSS systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the last twenty years, global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) have steadily grown in terms of coverage, reliability, accuracy, and widespread use by countless users worldwide. Although a very complex and diversified service network has been built over GNSS, all these services definitely rely on the capability of precisely and almost continuously determining the position and velocity of each GNSS spacecraft, by routinely performing what is called a precise orbit determination (POD).

This is a well-established research and operation field in space activities, but the appearance of GNSS carries along with it a series of challenges which are at the core of current research. Perhaps the most critical among these challenges is the development of effective models for the forces acting on often complex spacecraft bodies.

On another side, the various GNSS networks are increasingly integrating with important research areas in geodesy and geophysics (think about the ongoing global geodetic observing system—GGOS), and generally in Earth system sciences. The importance of GNSS data for fundamental physics must also be noted. The consistent functioning of a satellite navigation system rests on a series of physical properties which are tested every day. The “eccentric orbit” Galileo spacecraft are a paradigmatic example in this sense: what could have been a serious and costly fault has been turned into an opportunity for testing our view of spacetime and gravitation in novel ways.

The aim of this Special Issue is to host both research and review articles related to the POD of satellites belonging to the various GNSS constellations, including (but not limited to):

  • Orbit determination status of a given constellation;
  • Dedicated procedures for orbit determination and parameter estimation;
  • Contributions to geodesy and geophysics;
  • Satellite dynamics modelization;
  • Constellation-specific issues (e.g., biases);
  • Advanced techniques (e.g., inter-satellite link);
  • Future use of on-board accelerometers;
  • Current and future implementations of laser ranging tracking;
  • Orbit determination software;
  • Ground segment for satellite tracking.

Dr. Roberto Peron
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Global navigation satellite systems
  • Precise orbit determination
  • Satellite tracking
  • Satellite dynamics
  • Geodesy
  • Geophysics
  • Global geodetic observing system
  • Satellite laser ranging
  • Accelerometers
  • Orbit determination software

Published Papers (4 papers)

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25 pages, 9501 KiB  
Article
Simulation of the Use of Variance Component Estimation in Relative Weighting of Inter-Satellite Links and GNSS Measurements
by Tomasz Kur and Tomasz Liwosz
Remote Sens. 2022, 14(24), 6387; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14246387 - 17 Dec 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1197
Abstract
Inter-satellite links (ISLs) can improve the performance of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) in terms of precise orbit determination, communication, and data-exchange capabilities. This research aimed to evaluate a simulation-based processing strategy involving the exploitation of ISLs in orbit determination of Galileo [...] Read more.
Inter-satellite links (ISLs) can improve the performance of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) in terms of precise orbit determination, communication, and data-exchange capabilities. This research aimed to evaluate a simulation-based processing strategy involving the exploitation of ISLs in orbit determination of Galileo satellites, which are not equipped with operational ISLs. The performance of the estimation process is first tested based on relative weighting coefficients obtained with methods of variance component estimation (VCE) varying in the complexity of the calculations. Inclusion of biases in the ISL measurements allows evaluation of the processing strategy and assessment of the impact of three different sets of ground stations: 44 and 16 stations distributed globally and 16 located in Europe. The results indicate that using different VCE approaches might lower orbit errors by up to 20% with a negligible impact on clock estimation. Depending on the applied ISL connectivity scheme, ISL range bias can be estimated with RMS between 10% to 30% of initial bias values. The accuracy of bias estimation may be associated with weighting approach and the number of ground stations. The results of this study show how introducing VCE with various simulation parameters into the processing chain might increase the accuracy of the orbit estimation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise Orbit Determination with GNSS)
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14 pages, 1145 KiB  
Article
Sub-Decimeter Onboard Orbit Determination of LEO Satellites Using SSR Corrections: A Galileo-Based Case Study for the Sentinel-6A Satellite
by Francesco Darugna, Stefano Casotto, Massimo Bardella, Mauro Sciarratta and Paolo Zoccarato
Remote Sens. 2022, 14(23), 6121; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14236121 - 02 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1303
Abstract
In GNSS-based navigation onboard Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, typical accuracy requirements are 10 cm and 0.1 mm/s for 3D position and velocity, respectively. Previous works have shown that such performance is achieved by including Galileo measurements in the estimation process. Here, we [...] Read more.
In GNSS-based navigation onboard Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, typical accuracy requirements are 10 cm and 0.1 mm/s for 3D position and velocity, respectively. Previous works have shown that such performance is achieved by including Galileo measurements in the estimation process. Here, we aim to evaluate the impact of employing State Space Representation (SSR) corrections, i.e., GNSS satellite orbit, clock, and biases, to be applied to the broadcast ephemerides. In this framework, the Precise Onboard Orbit Determination (P2OD) software (SW) tool developed at the University of Padua (UNIPD) is used to investigate the needs of onboard navigation. The UNIPD SW employs an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) using a reduced-dynamics approach. The force model implemented is adapted to onboard processing, and empirical accelerations are included to take into account residual force mismodeling. Actual observation data from the LEO Sentinel-6A satellite are processed along with SSR corrections from the CNES service. Galileo-based solutions are compared to ground-based POD reference orbits. The analysis suggests that the use of SSR corrections provides sub-decimeter and below 0.1 mm/s accuracies in 3D position and velocity, respectively. Such results indicate a P2OD solution quality close to that achievable by adopting precise orbits and clocks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise Orbit Determination with GNSS)
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17 pages, 4967 KiB  
Article
Advancing the Solar Radiation Pressure Model for BeiDou-3 IGSO Satellites
by Fengyu Xia, Shirong Ye, Dezhong Chen, Longjiang Tang, Chen Wang, Maorong Ge and Frank Neitzel
Remote Sens. 2022, 14(6), 1460; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14061460 - 18 Mar 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1950
Abstract
In the absence of detailed surface information, empirical solar radiation pressure (SRP) models, such as the five-parameter Empirical CODE Orbit Model (ECOM1) and its extended version-ECOM2, are widely used for modeling SRP forces acting on GNSS satellites. This study shows that the orbits [...] Read more.
In the absence of detailed surface information, empirical solar radiation pressure (SRP) models, such as the five-parameter Empirical CODE Orbit Model (ECOM1) and its extended version-ECOM2, are widely used for modeling SRP forces acting on GNSS satellites. This study shows that the orbits of BeiDou-3 Inclined Geosynchronous Orbit satellites (IGSOs) determined with the ECOM1 model suffer from systematic once-per-revolution radial orbit errors, which can be partly reduced by the ECOM2 model. To eliminate such orbit errors, the BeiDou-3 IGSO optical coefficients are solved by using an adjustable box-wing (ABW) model and then introduced into an a priori box-wing SRP model to enhance the ECOM1 model (ECOM1 + BW). In the ABW solution, in addition to satellite body and solar panels, the contributions of the communication payloads installed on BeiDou-3 IGSO ±X panels on the SRP are also considered, which markedly improves the stability of the optical coefficient estimates. The efficiency of the developed a priori box-wing model is demonstrated through eliminated once-per-revolution radial orbit errors and decreased day boundary discontinuities. However, the orbit solutions still show significant degradations during eclipse seasons. The results of the first yaw-attitude analysis for eclipsing BeiDou-3 IGSOs show that their yaw behaviors are the same as those of BeiDou-3 CAST (China Academy of Space Technology) MEOs (Medium Earth Orbit satellites), and have been well considered in the study. This rules out the possibility that attitude errors are the potential reason for the orbit deterioration. By introducing a once-per-revolution sine term in the Sun direction (Ds term) and keeping Ds active during the Earth’s shadow transitions to the ECOM1 + BW model, the orbit performance inside the eclipse seasons is significantly improved and can be comparable to that outside the eclipse seasons. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise Orbit Determination with GNSS)
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13 pages, 3486 KiB  
Technical Note
Orbit Predictions for Space Object Tracked by Ground-Based Optical and SLR Stations
by A. M. Abdelaziz, Makram Ibrahim, Zhipeng Liang, Xue Dong and S. K. Tealib
Remote Sens. 2022, 14(18), 4493; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14184493 - 09 Sep 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1431
Abstract
In many cases, we have few optical observations over a short time span, and most of the information generated is too limited to compute a full orbit according to the angles-only method. This study aims to develop a mathematical model to determine the [...] Read more.
In many cases, we have few optical observations over a short time span, and most of the information generated is too limited to compute a full orbit according to the angles-only method. This study aims to develop a mathematical model to determine the precise orbit from the optical observation data by the least squares method. We have used a set of the Global Navigational Satellite Systems, which are tracked by the Optical Satellite Tracking Station (OSTS) at the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG), Egypt, to access high-quality predictions for the orbits. We analyzed the orbit predictions from the observations of these satellites that are tracked from seven world stations using the laser ranging method, and the obtained results are compared with orbital elements produced using the Two-Line Element (TLE). The results showed that the orbital prediction accuracy differs for optical observations from laser observations because of the inaccuracy of the NORAD catalog information used; this is due to the difference between the time of observation and the epoch time of TLE. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise Orbit Determination with GNSS)
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