Laser Retroreflector Experiment on Navstar 35 and 36
Abstract
In GPS one of the primary errors contributing to positioning inaccuracy is the performance of the on-board atomic clock. To determine and predict the performance of this atomic clock has been a problem due to the ambiguity of the orbital position error and clock uncertainity in the Radio Frequency (RF) tracking of the navigation signals. The Laser Retroreflector Experiment (LRE) on-board NAVSTAR 35 and 36 provides a means of separating these ambiguious errors by enabling highly precise and accurate satellite positions to be determined independently of the RF signals. The results of examining onboard clock behavior after removing the orbital position signatures will be discussed. GPS RF tracking data from various Doll and other sites are used to reconstruct the onboard clock data and examine the clock behavior. From these data, the effects of clock performance on GPS positioning performance can examined.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA508392
Entities
People
- E. C. Pavlis
- Ronald L. Beard
Organizations
- University of Maryland