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Effects of horizontal refractivity gradients on the accuracy of laser ranging to satellites
Author(s) -
Gardner C. S.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
radio science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1944-799X
pISSN - 0048-6604
DOI - 10.1029/rs011i012p01037
Subject(s) - radiosonde , zenith , ranging , atmospheric refraction , geodesy , optics , remote sensing , lidar , refraction , satellite , atmospheric models , geology , meteorology , physics , atmosphere (unit) , astronomy
Numerous formulas have been developed to partially correct laser ranging data for the effects of atmospheric refraction. These formulas all assume the atmospheric refractivity profile is spherically symmetric. The effects of horizontal refractivity gradients are investigated by ray tracing through spherically symmetric and three‐dimensional refractivity profiles. The profiles are constructed from radiosonde data. The results indicate that the horizontal gradients introduce an rms error of approximately 3 cm when the satellite is near 10° elevation. The error decreases to a few millimeters near zenith.