Open AccessThermospheric density variations: Observability using precision satellite orbits and effects on orbit propagation
Author(s) -
Lechtenberg Travis,
McLaughlin Craig A.,
Locke Travis,
Krishna Dhaval Mysore
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
space weather
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.254
H-Index - 56
ISSN - 1542-7390
DOI - 10.1029/2012sw000848
Subject(s) - satellite , ephemeris , orbit (dynamics) , earth's magnetic field , temporal resolution , density of air , geodesy , environmental science , computational physics , orbit determination , physics , atmospheric sciences , meteorology , remote sensing , geology , optics , magnetic field , astronomy , engineering , aerospace engineering , quantum mechanics
This paper examines atmospheric density estimated using precision orbit ephemerides (POE) from the CHAMP and GRACE satellites during short periods of greater atmospheric density variability. The results of the calibration of CHAMP densities derived using POEs with those derived using accelerometers are examined for three different types of density perturbations, [traveling atmospheric disturbances (TADs), geomagnetic cusp phenomena, and midnight density maxima] in order to determine the temporal resolution of POE solutions. In addition, the densities are compared to High‐Accuracy Satellite Drag Model (HASDM) densities to compare temporal resolution for both types of corrections. The resolution for these models of thermospheric density was found to be inadequate to sufficiently characterize the short‐term density variations examined here. Also examined in this paper is the effect of differing density estimation schemes by propagating an initial orbit state forward in time and examining induced errors. The propagated POE‐derived densities incurred errors of a smaller magnitude than the empirical models and errors on the same scale or better than those incurred using the HASDM model.