Satellite laser ranging

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Laser Ranging System of the geodetic observatory Wettzell, Bavaria Wettzell Laser Ranging System.jpg
Laser Ranging System of the geodetic observatory Wettzell, Bavaria

In satellite laser ranging (SLR) a global network of observation stations measures the round trip time of flight of ultrashort pulses of light to satellites equipped with retroreflectors. This provides instantaneous range measurements of millimeter level precision which can be accumulated to provide accurate measurement of orbits and a host of important scientific data. The laser pulse can also be reflected by the surface of a satellite without a retroreflector, which is used for tracking space debris. [1]

Contents

Satellite laser ranging is a proven geodetic technique with significant potential for important contributions to scientific studies of the earth/atmosphere/ocean system. It is the most accurate technique currently available to determine the geocentric position of an Earth satellite, allowing for the precise calibration of radar altimeters and separation of long-term instrumentation drift from secular changes in ocean topography.

Its ability to measure the variations over time in Earth's gravity field and to monitor motion of the station network with respect to the geocenter, together with the capability to monitor vertical motion in an absolute system, makes it unique for modeling and evaluating long-term climate change by: [2]

SLR provides a unique capability for verification of the predictions of the theory of general relativity, such as the frame-dragging effect.

SLR stations form an important part of the international network of space geodetic observatories, which include VLBI, GPS, DORIS and PRARE systems. On several critical missions, SLR has provided failsafe redundancy when other radiometric tracking systems have failed.

History

Satellite Laser Tacking at the Lustbuhel Observatory near Graz, Austria Lustbuhel Satellite Laser Tacking.jpg
Satellite Laser Tacking at the Lustbühel Observatory near Graz, Austria

Laser ranging to a near-Earth satellite was first carried out by NASA in 1964 with the launch of the Beacon-B satellite. Since that time, ranging precision, spurred by scientific requirements, has improved by a factor of a thousand from a few metres to a few millimetres, and more satellites equipped with retroreflectors have been launched.

Several sets of retroreflectors were installed on Earth's Moon as part of the American Apollo and Soviet Lunokhod space programs. These retroreflectors are also ranged on a regular basis (lunar laser ranging), providing a highly accurate measurement of the dynamics of the Earth/Moon system.

During the subsequent decades, the global satellite laser ranging network has evolved into a powerful source of data for studies of the solid Earth and its ocean and atmospheric systems. In addition, SLR provides precise orbit determination for spaceborne radar altimeter missions mapping the ocean surface (which are used to model global ocean circulation), for mapping volumetric changes in continental ice masses, and for land topography. It provides a means for subnanosecond global time transfer, and a basis for special tests of the Theory of General Relativity.

The International Laser Ranging Service was formed in 1998 [9] by the global SLR community to enhance geophysical and geodetic research activities, replacing the previous CSTG Satellite and Laser Ranging Subcommission.

Applications

SLR data has provided the standard, highly accurate, long wavelength gravity field reference model which supports all precision orbit determination and provides the basis for studying temporal gravitational variations due to mass redistribution. The height of the geoid has been determined to less than ten centimeters at long wavelengths less than 1,500 km.

SLR provides mm/year accurate determinations of tectonic drift station motion on a global scale in a geocentric reference frame. Combined with gravity models and decadal changes in Earth rotation, these results contribute to modeling of convection in the Earth's mantle by providing constraints on related Earth interior processes. The velocity of the fiducial station in Hawaii is 70 mm/year and closely matches the rate of the background geophysical model.

List of satellites

List of passive satellites

Several dedicated laser ranging satellites were put in orbit: [10]

List of shared satellites

Several satellites carried laser retroreflectors, sharing the bus with other instruments:

See also

Related Research Articles

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The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radio navigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geolocation and time information to a GPS receiver anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. It does not require the user to transmit any data, and operates independently of any telephone or Internet reception, though these technologies can enhance the usefulness of the GPS positioning information. It provides critical positioning capabilities to military, civil, and commercial users around the world. Although the United States government created, controls and maintains the GPS system, it is freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geodesy</span> Science of planetary measurement

Geodesy or geodetics is the science of measuring and representing the geometry, gravity, and spatial orientation of the Earth in temporally varying 3D. It is called planetary geodesy when studying other astronomical bodies, such as planets or circumplanetary systems. Geodesy is an earth science as well as a discipline of applied mathematics, and many consider the study of Earth's shape and gravity to be central to the science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galileo (satellite navigation)</span> Global navigation satellite system

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Retroreflector</span> Device to reflect radiation back to its source

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lunar Laser Ranging experiments</span> Measuring the distance between the Earth and the Moon with laser light

Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) is the practice of measuring the distance between the surfaces of the Earth and the Moon using laser ranging. The distance can be calculated from the round-trip time of laser light pulses travelling at the speed of light, which are reflected back to Earth by the Moon's surface or by one of several retroreflectors installed on the Moon. Three were placed by the United States' Apollo program, two by the Soviet Lunokhod 1 and 2 missions, and one by India's Chandrayaan-3 mission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BeiDou</span> Chinese satellite navigation system

The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System is a satellite-based radio navigation system owned and operated by the China National Space Administration. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geolocation and time information to a BDS receiver anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more BDS satellites. It does not require the user to transmit any data, and operates independently of any telephonic or Internet reception, though these technologies can enhance the usefulness of the BDS positioning information.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gravity Probe B</span> Orbital gravitational observatory

Gravity Probe B (GP-B) was a satellite-based experiment to test two unverified predictions of general relativity: the geodetic effect and frame-dragging. This was to be accomplished by measuring, very precisely, tiny changes in the direction of spin of four gyroscopes contained in an Earth-orbiting satellite at 650 km (400 mi) of altitude, crossing directly over the poles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LAGEOS</span> Scientific research satellites

LAGEOS, Laser Geodynamics Satellite or Laser Geometric Environmental Observation Survey, are a series of two scientific research satellites designed to provide an orbiting laser ranging benchmark for geodynamical studies of the Earth. Each satellite is a high-density passive laser reflector in a very stable medium Earth orbit (MEO).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satellite geodesy</span> Measurement of the Earth using satellites

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satellite navigation</span> Use of satellite signals for geo-spatial positioning

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medium Earth orbit</span> Earth-centered orbit above low Earth orbit and below geostationary orbit

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">LARES (satellite)</span>

LARES is a passive satellite system of the Italian Space Agency.

Frame-dragging is an effect on spacetime, predicted by Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, that is due to non-static stationary distributions of mass–energy. A stationary field is one that is in a steady state, but the masses causing that field may be non-static ⁠— rotating, for instance. More generally, the subject that deals with the effects caused by mass–energy currents is known as gravitoelectromagnetism, which is analogous to the magnetism of classical electromagnetism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BLITS</span> Russian satellite

BLITS is a Russian satellite launched on September 17, 2009, as a secondary payload on a Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The satellite is totally passive and spherical, and is tracked using satellite laser ranging (SLR) by the International Laser Ranging Service. The design of BLITS is based on the optical Luneburg lens concept. The retroreflector is a multilayer glass sphere; it provides uniform reflection characteristics when viewed within a very wide range of angles, and can provide a cross-section sufficient for observations at low to medium orbit heights. A similar design was already tested on a smaller laser reflector carried on board of the METEOR-3M spacecraft launched on December 10, 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geodetic Observatory Wettzell</span>

The Geodetic Observatory Wettzell is located atop the 616 meter-high mountain Wagnerberg, west of the village Wettzell in the German district Cham in the Bavarian Forest.

Starlette and Stella are nearly identical French geodetic and geophysical satellites. Starlette was launched on 6 February 1975 and Stella on 26 September 1993. Starlette was the first passive laser satellite developed.

Susanna Zerbini is an Italian geophysicist, geodesist, and geodynamicist. She is known as a pioneer in developing and applying satellite geodesy for research in geodynamics and Earth system sciences.

References

  1. ↑ Kucharski, D.; Kirchner, G.; Bennett, J. C.; Lachut, M.; Sośnica, K.; Koshkin, N.; Shakun, L.; Koidl, F.; Steindorfer, M.; Wang, P.; Fan, C.; Han, X.; Grunwaldt, L.; Wilkinson, M.; Rodríguez, J.; Bianco, G.; Vespe, F.; Catalán, M.; Salmins, K.; del Pino, J. R.; Lim, H.-C.; Park, E.; Moore, C.; Lejba, P.; Suchodolski, T. (October 2017). "Photon Pressure Force on Space Debris TOPEX/Poseidon Measured by Satellite Laser Ranging: Spin-Up of Topex". Earth and Space Science. 4 (10): 661–668. doi: 10.1002/2017EA000329 .
  2. ↑ Pearlman, M.; Arnold, D.; Davis, M.; Barlier, F.; Biancale, R.; Vasiliev, V.; Ciufolini, I.; Paolozzi, A.; Pavlis, E. C.; Sośnica, K.; Bloßfeld, M. (November 2019). "Laser geodetic satellites: a high-accuracy scientific tool". Journal of Geodesy. 93 (11): 2181–2194. Bibcode:2019JGeod..93.2181P. doi:10.1007/s00190-019-01228-y. S2CID   127408940.
  3. ↑ Zajdel, R.; Sośnica, K.; Drożdżewski, M.; Bury, G.; Strugarek, D. (November 2019). "Impact of network constraining on the terrestrial reference frame realization based on SLR observations to LAGEOS". Journal of Geodesy. 93 (11): 2293–2313. Bibcode:2019JGeod..93.2293Z. doi: 10.1007/s00190-019-01307-0 .
  4. 1 2 Sośnica, Krzysztof; Jäggi, Adrian; Meyer, Ulrich; Thaller, Daniela; Beutler, Gerhard; Arnold, Daniel; Dach, Rolf (October 2015). "Time variable Earth's gravity field from SLR satellites". Journal of Geodesy. 89 (10): 945–960. Bibcode:2015JGeod..89..945S. doi: 10.1007/s00190-015-0825-1 .
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  20. 1 2 3 4 Pearlman, M.; Arnold, D.; Davis, M.; Barlier, F.; Biancale, R.; Vasiliev, V.; Ciufolini, I.; Paolozzi, A.; Pavlis, E. C.; Sośnica, K.; Bloßfeld, M. (November 2019). "Laser geodetic satellites: a high-accuracy scientific tool". Journal of Geodesy. 93 (11): 2181–2194. Bibcode:2019JGeod..93.2181P. doi:10.1007/s00190-019-01228-y. S2CID   127408940.
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  29. ↑ Costes, Vincent; Gasc, Karine; Sengenes, Pierre; Salcedo, Corinne; Imperiali, Stéphan; du Jeu, Christian (2017-11-01). "Development of the Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) for SARAL". In Kadowaki, Naoto (ed.). International Conference on Space Optics — ICSO 2010. Vol. 10565. pp. 105652K. Bibcode:2017SPIE10565E..2KC. doi: 10.1117/12.2309261 . ISBN   9781510616196.

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