Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1131-1143 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Journal of geodesy |
| Volume | 83 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2009 |
Abstract
In this paper, the influence of the ground track coverage on the quality of a monthly gravity field solution is investigated for the scenario of a high-low satellite- to-satellite tracking mission. Data from the CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload (champ) mission collected in the period April 2002 to February 2004 has been used to recover the gravity field to degree and order 70 on a monthly basis. The quality is primarily restricted by the accuracy of the instruments. Besides, champ passed through a 31/2 repeat mode three times during the period of interest resulting in an insufficient spatial sampling and a degraded solution. Contrary to the rule of thumb by Colombo (The global mapping of gravity with two satellites, Publications on Geodesy, vol 7(3), Netherlands Geodetic Commission, The Netherlands, 263 pp, 1984), see also Wagner (J Geod 80(2): 94-103, 2006), we found that the monthly solutions themselves could be recovered to about degree 30, not 15. In order to improve the monthly gravity solutions, two strategies have been developed: the restriction to a low degree, and the densification of the sampling by the introduction of additional sensitive measurements from contemporaneous satellite missions. The latter method is tested by combining the champ measurements with data from the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (grace). Note that the two grace satellites are considered independent here, i.e. no use is made of the K-band ranging data. This way, we are able to almost entirely remove the influence of the ground track leaving the accuracy of the instruments as the primary restriction on the quality of a monthly solution. These findings are especially interesting for the upcoming swarm-mission since it will consist of a similar configuration as the combined champ and (grace) missions.
Keywords
- Aliasing, Champ, Energy balance approach, Orthogonality, Variance component estimation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)
- Geophysics
- Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)
- Geochemistry and Petrology
- Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)
- Computers in Earth Sciences
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In: Journal of geodesy, Vol. 83, No. 12, 12.2009, p. 1131-1143.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - On the influence of the ground track on the gravity field recovery from high-low satellite-to-satellite tracking missions
T2 - CHAMP monthly gravity field recovery using the energy balance approach revisited
AU - Weigelt, Matthias
AU - Sideris, Michael G.
AU - Sneeuw, Nico
PY - 2009/12
Y1 - 2009/12
N2 - In this paper, the influence of the ground track coverage on the quality of a monthly gravity field solution is investigated for the scenario of a high-low satellite- to-satellite tracking mission. Data from the CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload (champ) mission collected in the period April 2002 to February 2004 has been used to recover the gravity field to degree and order 70 on a monthly basis. The quality is primarily restricted by the accuracy of the instruments. Besides, champ passed through a 31/2 repeat mode three times during the period of interest resulting in an insufficient spatial sampling and a degraded solution. Contrary to the rule of thumb by Colombo (The global mapping of gravity with two satellites, Publications on Geodesy, vol 7(3), Netherlands Geodetic Commission, The Netherlands, 263 pp, 1984), see also Wagner (J Geod 80(2): 94-103, 2006), we found that the monthly solutions themselves could be recovered to about degree 30, not 15. In order to improve the monthly gravity solutions, two strategies have been developed: the restriction to a low degree, and the densification of the sampling by the introduction of additional sensitive measurements from contemporaneous satellite missions. The latter method is tested by combining the champ measurements with data from the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (grace). Note that the two grace satellites are considered independent here, i.e. no use is made of the K-band ranging data. This way, we are able to almost entirely remove the influence of the ground track leaving the accuracy of the instruments as the primary restriction on the quality of a monthly solution. These findings are especially interesting for the upcoming swarm-mission since it will consist of a similar configuration as the combined champ and (grace) missions.
AB - In this paper, the influence of the ground track coverage on the quality of a monthly gravity field solution is investigated for the scenario of a high-low satellite- to-satellite tracking mission. Data from the CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload (champ) mission collected in the period April 2002 to February 2004 has been used to recover the gravity field to degree and order 70 on a monthly basis. The quality is primarily restricted by the accuracy of the instruments. Besides, champ passed through a 31/2 repeat mode three times during the period of interest resulting in an insufficient spatial sampling and a degraded solution. Contrary to the rule of thumb by Colombo (The global mapping of gravity with two satellites, Publications on Geodesy, vol 7(3), Netherlands Geodetic Commission, The Netherlands, 263 pp, 1984), see also Wagner (J Geod 80(2): 94-103, 2006), we found that the monthly solutions themselves could be recovered to about degree 30, not 15. In order to improve the monthly gravity solutions, two strategies have been developed: the restriction to a low degree, and the densification of the sampling by the introduction of additional sensitive measurements from contemporaneous satellite missions. The latter method is tested by combining the champ measurements with data from the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (grace). Note that the two grace satellites are considered independent here, i.e. no use is made of the K-band ranging data. This way, we are able to almost entirely remove the influence of the ground track leaving the accuracy of the instruments as the primary restriction on the quality of a monthly solution. These findings are especially interesting for the upcoming swarm-mission since it will consist of a similar configuration as the combined champ and (grace) missions.
KW - Aliasing
KW - Champ
KW - Energy balance approach
KW - Orthogonality
KW - Variance component estimation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=71049179077&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00190-009-0330-5
DO - 10.1007/s00190-009-0330-5
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:71049179077
VL - 83
SP - 1131
EP - 1143
JO - Journal of geodesy
JF - Journal of geodesy
SN - 0949-7714
IS - 12
ER -