4,326 research outputs found
Spacecraft applications of advanced global positioning system technology
The purpose of this study was to evaluate potential uses of Global Positioning System (GPS) in spacecraft applications in the following areas: attitude control and tracking; structural control; traffic control; and time base definition (synchronization). Each of these functions are addressed. Also addressed are the hardware related issues concerning the application of GPS technology and comparisons are provided with alternative instrumentation methods for specific functions required for an advanced low earth orbit spacecraft
The use of GPS-arrays in detecting shock-acoustic waves generated during rocket launchings
This paper is concerned with the form and dynamics of shock-acoustic waves
(SAW) generated during rocket launchings. We have developed a method for
determining SAW parameters (including angular characteristics of the wave
vector, and the SAW phase velocity, as well as the direction towards the
source) using GPS-arrays whose elements can be chosen out of a large set of
GPS-stations of the global GPS network. The application of the method is
illustrated by a case study of ionospheric effects from launchings of launch
vehicles (LV) Proton and Space Shuttle from space-launch complexes Baikonur and
Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in 1998 and 1999 (a total of five launchings). The
study revealed that, in spite of a difference of LV characteristics, the
ionospheric response for all launchings had the character of an N - wave
corresponding to the form of a shock wave, regardless of the disturbance source
(rocket launchings, industrial explosions). The SAW period T is 270--360 s, and
the amplitude exceeds the standard deviation of TEC background fluctuations in
this range of periods under quiet and moderate geomagnetic conditions by
factors of 2 to 5 as a minimum. The angle of elevation of the SAW wave vector
varies from 30 degree to 60 degree, and the SAW phase velocity (900-1200 m/s)
approaches the sound velocity at heights of the ionospheric F-region maximum.Comment: EmTeX-386, 23 pages, 6 figure
Satellite Emission Range Inferred Earth Survey (SERIES) project
The Global Positioning System (GPS) was developed by the Department of Defense primarily for navigation use by the United States Armed Forces. The system will consist of a constellation of 18 operational Navigation Satellite Timing and Ranging (NAVSTAR) satellites by the late 1980's. During the last four years, the Satellite Emission Range Inferred Earth Surveying (SERIES) team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has developed a novel receiver which is the heart of the SERIES geodetic system designed to use signals broadcast from the GPS. This receiver does not require knowledge of the exact code sequence being transmitted. In addition, when two SERIES receivers are used differentially to determine a baseline, few cm accuracies can be obtained. The initial engineering test phase has been completed for the SERIES Project. Baseline lengths, ranging from 150 meters to 171 kilometers, have been measured with 0.3 cm to 7 cm accuracies. This technology, which is sponsored by the NASA Geodynamics Program, has been developed at JPL to meet the challenge for high precision, cost-effective geodesy, and to complement the mobile Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) system for Earth surveying
Geomagnetic control of the spectrum of traveling ionospheric disturbances based on data from a global GPS network
In this paper an attempt is made to verify the hypothesis on the role of
geomagnetic disturbances as a factor determining the intensity of traveling
ionospheric disturbances (TIDs). To improve the statistical validity of the
data, we have used the based on the new GLOBDET technology method involving a
global spatial averaging of disturbance spectra of the total electron content
(TEC). To characterize the TID intensity quantitatively, we suggest that a new
global index of the degree of disturbance should be used, which is equal to the
mean value of the rms variations in TEC within the selected range of spectral
periods (of 20-60 min in the present case). It was found that power spectra of
daytime TEC variations in the range of 20-60 min periods under quiet conditions
have a power-law form, with the slope index k = -2.5. With an increase of the
level of magnetic disturbance, there is an increase in total intensity of TIDs,
with a concurrent kink of the spectrum caused by an increase in oscillation
intensity in the range of 20-60 min. It was found that an increase in the level
of geomagnetic activity is accompanied by an increase in total intensity of
TEC; however, it correlates not with the absolute level of Dst, but with the
value of the time derivative of Dst (a maximum correlation coefficient reaches
-0.94). The delay of the TID response of the order of 2 hours is consistent
with the view that TIDs are generated in auroral regions, and propagate
equatorward with the velocity of about 300-400 m/s.Comment: LaTeX2.09, 16 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, egs.cls, egs.bst (the style
files
A demonstration of high precision GPS orbit determination for geodetic applications
High precision orbit determination of Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites is a key requirement for GPS-based precise geodetic measurements and precise low-earth orbiter tracking, currently under study at JPL. Different strategies for orbit determination have been explored at JPL with data from a 1985 GPS field experiment. The most successful strategy uses multi-day arcs for orbit determination and includes fine tuning of spacecraft solar pressure coefficients and station zenith tropospheric delays using the GPS data. Average rms orbit repeatability values for 5 of the GPS satellites are 1.0, 1.2, and 1.7 m in altitude, cross-track, and down-track componenets when two independent 5-day fits are compared. Orbit predictions up to 24 hours outside the multi-day arcs agree within 4 m of independent solutions obtained with well tracked satellites in the prediction interval. Baseline repeatability improves with multi-day as compared to single-day arc orbit solutions. When tropospheric delay fluctuations are modeled with process noise, significant additional improvement in baseline repeatability is achieved. For a 246-km baseline, with 6-day arc solutions for GPS orbits, baseline repeatability is 2 parts in 100 million (0.4-0.6 cm) for east, north, and length components and 8 parts in 100 million for the vertical component. For 1314 and 1509 km baselines with the same orbits, baseline repeatability is 2 parts in 100 million for the north components (2-3 cm) and 4 parts in 100 million or better for east, length, and vertical components
SNR degradation in GNSS-R measurements under the effects of radio-frequency interference
©2016 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.Radio-frequency interference (RFI) is a serious threat for systems working with low power signals such as those coming from the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). The spectral separation coefficient (SSC) is the standard figure of merit to evaluate the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) degradation due to the RFI. However, an in-depth assessment in the field of GNSS-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) has not been performed yet, and particularly, about which is the influence of the RFI on the so-called delay-Doppler map (DDM). This paper develops a model that evaluates the contribution of intra-/inter-GNSS and external RFI effects to the degradation of the SNR in the DDM for both conventional and interferometric GNSS-R techniques. Moreover, a generalized SSC is defined to account for the effects of nonstationary RFI signals. The results show that highly directive antennas are necessary to avoid interference from other GNSS satellites, whereas mitigation techniques are essential to keep GNSS-R instruments working under external RFI degradation.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
The shock-acoustic waves generated by earthquakes
We investigate the form and dynamics of shock-acoustic waves generated by
earthquakes. We use the method for detecting and locating the sources of
ionospheric impulsive disturbances, based on using data from a global network
of receivers of the GPS navigation system and requiring no a priori information
about the place and time of associated effects. The practical implementation of
the method is illustrated by a case study of earthquake effects in Turkey
(August 17, and November 12, 1999), in Southern Sumatera (June 4, 2000), and
off the coast of Central America (January 13, 2001). It was found that in all
instances the time period of the ionospheric response is 180-390 s, and the
amplitude exceeds by a factor of two as a minimum the standard deviation of
background fluctuations in total electron content in this range of periods
under quiet and moderate geomagnetic conditions. The elevation of the wave
vector varies through a range of 20-44 degree, and the phase velocity
(1100-1300 m/s) approaches the sound velocity at the heights of the ionospheric
F-region maximum. The calculated (by neglecting refraction corrections)
location of the source roughly corresponds to the earthquake epicenter. Our
data are consistent with the present views that shock-acoustic waves are caused
by a piston-like movement of the Earth surface in the zone of an earthquake
epicenter.Comment: EmTeX-386, 30 pages, 4 figures, 3 tabl
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