ATMOSPHERIC DENSITY DETERMINATION FROM LOW HEIGHT SATELLITES.

Abstract

The report describes the third in a series of computer programs designed to determine atmospheric density from an analysis of satellite observations. The particular approach being reported upon consists of a numerical integration procedure combined with a differential correction scheme where discrepancies between computed and observed satellite position and velocity are reconciled by adjusting the assumed atmospheric model, thereby yielding corrected or refined density data. An important advantage of this technique is its applicability to satellites entering the decay stage where the effects of atmospheric drag are considerable and where a relatively short time span of observations may be available. Numerical results obtained from the program are presented along with an interpretation and an evaluation of these computer results. Finally, a complete user's manual is included as a separate appendix. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 1966
Accession Number
AD0646584

Entities

People

  • Arnold S. Bramson
  • Jack Slowey

Organizations

  • International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, NY)

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Artificial Satellites
  • Atmospheric Density
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Numerical Integration
  • Observation
  • Physical Properties
  • Test And Evaluation

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Business Analytics
  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris