A Comparison of the Extended Kalman Filter and Weighted Least Squares in Early-Orbit Determination

Abstract

The problem of estimating the orbit parameters from early-orbit observations of an earth satellite is used to compare the accuracy and application of the extended Kalman filter and the classifical filtering method of weighted least squares. To obtain an absolute comparison, a treu two-body, drag-free Keplerian orbit is simulated, observations are computed and contaminated with noise, and the orbit parameters estimated by each filter are compared. The accuracy of the two filters was compared using the same set of observations to determine the effect of observation truncation and initial conditions on the results. Based on this study it was concluded that the weighted least squares filter and the extended Kalman filter yield about the same accuracy in the early-orbit determination problem.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1971
Accession Number
AD0741457

Entities

People

  • Jackson R. Ferguson Jr.

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Computational Science
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Coordinate Systems
  • Data Sets
  • Data Storage Systems
  • Differential Equations
  • Earth Models
  • Equations
  • Equations Of Motion
  • Filters
  • Kalman Filters
  • Mathematical Filters
  • Measurement
  • Plastic Explosives
  • Tracking Stations

Readers

  • Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Technology.
  • Radar Systems Engineering.
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris