Estimation of SLR station coordinates by means of SLR measurements to kinematic orbit of LEO satellites

• Published in: Earth, planets, and space Vol. 70; no. 1; pp. 1 - 11
• Main Authors: Guo, Jinyun, Wang, Youcun, Shen, Yi, Liu, Xin, Sun, Yu, Kong, Qiaoli
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.12.2018; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: 6. Geodesy; Design and construction; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Geographical research satellites; Geology; Geophysics/Geodesy; Global navigation satellite system; GRACE (experiment); Kinematic orbit; Kinematics; Low Earth orbiting satellite; Low earth orbits; Maintenance and repair; Navigation; Navigation satellites; Navigation systems; Satellite communications; Satellite laser ranging; Satellite observation; Satellites; Space-based connection; Stations; Global navigation satellite system; Space-based connection; Satellite laser ranging; Kinematic orbit; Low Earth orbiting satellite
• ISSN: 1880-5981; 1343-8832; 1880-5981
• DOI: 10.1186/s40623-018-0973-7

Generally, the dynamical model is used to estimate coordinates of satellite laser ranging (SLR) stations. In this paper, we put forward a kinematic method to estimate the coordinates of SLR stations by using global navigation satellite system (GNSS) technique onboard a low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellite. We applied it to the processing of SLR and GNSS observations of the GRACE-A satellite from January to December 2012. We found that the LEO satellite as a space-based connection between SLR and GNSS techniques allowed the precise estimation of SLR site positions with the agreement level of 2–3 cm with respective to SLRF2014. The SLR network can be attached to the IGS network at the centimeter level. The results show that the proposed method is feasible for determining the coordinates of SLR stations as an idea for the satellite-based integration of different space geodetic techniques.