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Geocenter variations derived from a combined processing of LEO- and ground-based GPS observations

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Abstract

GNSS observations provided by the global tracking network of the International GNSS Service (IGS, Dow et al. in J Geod 83(3):191–198, 2009) play an important role in the realization of a unique terrestrial reference frame that is accurate enough to allow a detailed monitoring of the Earth’s system. Combining these ground-based data with GPS observations tracked by high-quality dual-frequency receivers on-board low earth orbiters (LEOs) is a promising way to further improve the realization of the terrestrial reference frame and the estimation of geocenter coordinates, GPS satellite orbits and Earth rotation parameters. To assess the scope of the improvement on the geocenter coordinates, we processed a network of 53 globally distributed and stable IGS stations together with four LEOs (GRACE-A, GRACE-B, OSTM/Jason-2 and GOCE) over a time interval of 3 years (2010–2012). To ensure fully consistent solutions, the zero-difference phase observations of the ground stations and LEOs were processed in a common least-squares adjustment, estimating all the relevant parameters such as GPS and LEO orbits, station coordinates, Earth rotation parameters and geocenter motion. We present the significant impact of the individual LEO and a combination of all four LEOs on the geocenter coordinates. The formal errors are reduced by around 20% due to the inclusion of one LEO into the ground-only solution, while in a solution with four LEOs LEO-specific characteristics are significantly reduced. We compare the derived geocenter coordinates w.r.t. LAGEOS results and external solutions based on GPS and SLR data. We found good agreement in the amplitudes of all components; however, the phases in x- and z-direction do not agree well.

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Notes

  1. An averaged SLR station distribution of 60, 65 and 70% for the +x, +y and +z hemisphere is present in the weekly ILRS solution between 2010.0 and 2013.0.

  2. http://ggosatm.hg.tuwien.ac.at/, Dec.2015.

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Acknowledgements

The authors want to thank IGS, ILRS, CODE, TU Vienna and the satellite missions GOCE, GRACE and OSTM/Jason-2 for providing the necessary observations and products. We would also like to thank three anonymous reviewers for their assistance in evaluating this paper and their helpful recommendations. This work was done within the projects SNF 200021E-160421 (funded by Swiss National Science Foundation) and “Co-location of Space Geodetic Techniques on Ground and in Space” which is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft funded research unit on reference systems (DFG FOR 1503).

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  1. Benjamin Männel

    Present address: Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ, Telegrafenberg, 14473, Potsdam, Germany

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  1. Institute of Geodesy and Photogrammetry, ETH Zurich, 8093, Zurich, Switzerland

    Benjamin Männel & Markus Rothacher

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Correspondence to Benjamin Männel.

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Männel, B., Rothacher, M. Geocenter variations derived from a combined processing of LEO- and ground-based GPS observations. J Geod 91, 933–944 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-017-0997-y

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