Performance analysis of the spaceborne laser ranging system |
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| Authors: | W D Kahn F O Vonbun D E Smith T S Englar B P Gibbs |
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| Institution: | (1) Goddard Space Flight Center, 20771 Greenbelt, Maryland;(2) Business and Technological Systems, Inc, 20801 Seabrook, MD |
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| Abstract: | The Spaceborne Laser Ranging System is a proposed short pulse laser on board an orbiting spacecraft.1,2,3,4 It measures the distance between the spacecraft and many laser retroreflectors (targets) deployed on the Earth’s surface.
The precision of these range measurements is assumed to be about ±2 cm (M. W. Fitzmaurice, private communication). These measurements are then used together with the orbital dynamics of the spacecraft, to derive
the relative position of the laser ground targets. Assuming a six day observing period with 50% cloud cover, uncertainties
in the baseline for target separations of 50 km to 1200 km were estimated to be on the order of 1 to 3 cm and the corresponding
values in the vertical direction, ranged from 1 cm to 12 cm. By redetermining the measurements of the relative target positions,
the estimated precision in the baseline for a target separation of 50 km is less than 0.3 cm and for a separation of 1200
km is less than 1 cm. In the vertical direction, the estimated precision ranged from 0.4 cm to 4.0 cm respectively. As a result
of the repeated estimation of the relative laser target positions, most of the non-temporal effects of error sources as exemplified
by the errors in geopotential are reduced.
The Spaceborne Laser Ranging System’s capability of determining baselines to a high degree of precision provides a measure
of strain and strain rate as shown byCohen, 1979. These quantities are essential for crustal dynamic studies which include determination and monitoring of strain near
seismic zones, land subsidence, and edifice building preceding volcanic eruptions. It is evident that such a system can also
be used for geodetic surveys where such precisions are more than adquate. |
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