AAS 95-368

TOPEX/Poseidon Precision Orbit Determination: "Quick-Look" Operations with GPS and SLR Data

L. A. Cangahuala, R. J. Muellerschoen, D. N. Yuan, E. J. Christensen, E. J. Graat and J. R. Guinn, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Abstract

This paper presents a summary of the TOPEX/Poseidon "quick-look" orbit determination using Global Positioning System (GPS) and satellite laser ranging (SLR) tracking data. The primary feature of this endeavor is that orbits are produced with small radial position errors (< 5 cm RMS), on a short production schedule (< 4 days), with minimal resources. With the two data types, there are five data combination scenarios which occur during operations: (i) GPS (w/Anti-Spoofing) & SLR, (ii) GPS (w/o Anti-Spoofing) & SLR, (iii) GPS (w/ Anti-Spoofing), (IV) GPS (w/o Anti Spoofing), and (v) SLR only. Orbits created under all five scenarios are compared to existing precision orbit ephemerides to demonstrate their relative accuracy as an orbit product.