Precise orbit determination of Haiyang-2 using satellite laser ranging

Abstract

With the successful launch and official commissioning of China's first dynamic ocean environment satellite Haiyang-2 (HY-2), China's capabilities for oceanic environment monitoring and oceanic resource detecting have been further improved and enhanced. Precise tracking and orbit determination are not only key technical concerns in the ocean dynamic environment satellite project but also necessary conditions for carrying out related oceanic science research using observational data obtained using spaceborne instruments including radar altimeter. In this study, the current available status of international satellite laser ranging (SLR) monitoring on HY-2 was introduced. Six-months of SLR data from HY-2 were processed to obtain precise satellite orbit information using the dynamic orbit determination method. We carried out a detailed assessment of the SLR orbit accuracy by internal evaluation, comparisons with the orbit derived by the French Doppler orbitography and radio-positioning integrated by satellite (DORIS) system, and station-satellite distance validation. These assessments indicate that the three-dimensional orbital accuracy of HY-2 is about 12.5 cm, and the radial accuracy is better than 3 cm. It provides a good example of the application of international SLR monitoring and precise orbit determination in China's earth observation satellite project.

Quality assessment of onboard GPS receiver and its combination with DORIS and SLR for Haiyang 2A precise orbit determination

“…The ILRS network stations have supplied between 10 and 20 SLR passes per day on average. The similar results have been shown in figure 3 of Zhao et al (2012). Although the tracking priority of HY2A is not higher than that of Jason series satellites for the ILRS network, the number of passes per day increases gradually, resulting in sufficient observations available for this study.…”

“…Particularly, Yarragadee provided more than 600 passes during the selected period, more than twice of that provided by Changchun. Similar result has been shown in Zhao et al (2012), but the number and the statistics are slightly different due to different analysis period used.…”

“…The ILRS network is not well distributed over the northern and southern as well as the eastern and western hemispheres (Pearlman et al, 2002;Zhao et al, 2012). A subset of the ILRS stations supplies the bulk of the SLR tracking, whereas others provide only a few (see Figure 9).…”

“…In addition, HY2A also carries DORIS and LRA instruments for POD. Zhao et al (2012) determined the POD for HY2A, and 3 cm accuracy was achieved for radial component using SLR data only. Guo J Y et al (2013) used the simulated GPS, DORIS and SLR data to demonstrate that the cm level accuracy could be achieved for HY2A POD.…”

HY-2A Altimeter Data Initial Assessment and Corresponding Two-Pass Waveform Retracker

“…The major payload of the HY-2A satellite is a dual-frequency radar altimeter operating at both Ku and C band for acquiring geophysical parameters such as sea surface height (SSH), significant wave height (SWH), and wind speed (WS) over sea surface. Firstly, HY-2A provides different orientations of ground tracks since its planned orbital inclination is 99.34 • and the planned repetitive period is almost 14 days during the early stage of designed life, which are obviously different from other altimeter satellites [13]. Secondly, the geodetic mission phase (~168 days) with drifting orbits planned during the end stage of design life provides another gratifying aspect of denser spatial coverage for marine gravity recovery studies (Table 1).…”