CQSSP: A New Technique for Establishing the Tie Between the Stellar and Quasar Celestial Reference Frames

AbstractUsing artificial satellites as transfer objects the project “Coupled Quasar-Satellite-Star Positioning” represents an independent method for linking quasar and stellar reference frames. Optical observations of close approaches between reference stars and satellites yield satellite positions in the stellar reference frame. On the other hand high precision satellite orbits in the International Earth Rotation Service (IERS) terrestrial reference frame are obtained from laser or radiometric observations. Using IERS earth rotation parameters and adopted transformation models the satellite and eventually the star positions can be expressed in the IERS quasar celestial reference frame. In this paper we describe the CQSSP project and assess its capability for providing an accurate tie between tho two metioned celestial reference frames.

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The Present Status of Preparing the New Reduction of the Past Astrometric Observations to Obtain the Earth Orientation Parameters in the Hipparcos Reference System

Symposium - International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s0074180900173000 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 156 ◽

pp. 95-100

Author(s):

J. Vondrák ◽

C. Ron

Keyword(s):

Reference Frame ◽

Present Status ◽

Earth Rotation ◽

Main Idea ◽

Earth Tides ◽

Star Catalog ◽

Earth Rotation Parameters ◽

Set Up ◽

The Individual ◽

Celestial Reference Frame

The IAU Working group on Earth rotation in the Hipparcos reference frame, set up by IAU Commission 19 in 1988, is presently preparing the algorithms and collecting the data obtained by optical astrometry since the beginning of the century. The main idea is to use the observations of individual stars rather than group results, all recalculated in the unique system of astronomical constants and algorithms. The final solution will be referred to the celestial reference frame realized by the Hipparcos star catalog presently under preparation. All known geophysical influences (as e.g. solid and oceanic Earth tides or plate tectonic movements) will be included into the model. In addition to traditional Earth rotation parameters (polar motion, universal time), also the pole offset components in the celestial reference frame will be solved for, as well as other relevant parameters (systematic seasonal deviations of the individual stations, instrumental constants etc.). The present status of the solution and the time evolution of its expected accuracy are described.

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The Effects of the Reference Frames and of their Realization on the Earth Rotation Parameters Computed from Different Observational Techniques

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100081185 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 56 ◽

pp. 135-144

Author(s):

Nicole Capitaine ◽

Martine Feissel

Keyword(s):

Reference Frame ◽

Earth Rotation ◽

High Frequency ◽

Reference Frames ◽

The Earth ◽

Earth Rotation Parameters ◽

Rotation Parameters ◽

Using Data ◽

Observational Techniques ◽

Numerical Estimations

AbstractThe inaccuracies in the reference frames actually realized by the different techniques for measuring the Earth’s rotation are theoretically investigated. The intercomparison of the available series of measurements provides numerical estimations of these defects. Using data corrected for reference frame effects high frequency fluctuations of UT1 are detected.

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Formation of The International Celestial Reference Frame

Highlights of Astronomy ◽

10.1017/s153929960002075x ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 281-286

Author(s):

C. Ma ◽

E.F. Arias ◽

T.M. Eubanks ◽

A.L. Fey ◽

A.-M. Gontier ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reference Frame ◽

Reference Frames ◽

Terrestrial Reference Frame ◽

Naval Research ◽

Dual Frequency ◽

Cooperative Effort ◽

Space Navigation ◽

Vlbi Observations ◽

Crustal Dynamics ◽

Celestial Reference Frame

The goal of the work described here is to create the definitive catalogue for the new International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF) using the best data and methods available at the time the work was done. This work is the joint cooperative effort of a subgroup of the IAU Working Group on Reference Frames which was formed expressly for this purpose in February 1995. The authors of this report constituted the subgroup. A fuller account of this report can be found in the introduction to the ICRF catalog (IERS 1997). The ICRF of 608 sources presented here is based on essentially all the VLBI observations accu-mulated over about 15 years in several worldwide programs. Dual frequency Mark III data have both geodetic and astrometric applications. Most of the data (95% of nearly 2 million observations) were acquired primarily for geodetic purposes. The major geodetic programs include: NASA’s Crustal Dynamics Project/Space Geodesy Program and USNO’s NAVEX sessions for the terrestrial reference frame, as well as IRIS, NAVNET and NEOS sessions for monitoring Earth rotation. The geodetic programs have used the brightest radio sources, gradually concentrating on the most com-pact as sensitivity improved. These geodetic sources were also the foundation of astrometric work because of the large number of observations for the ~150 most commonly used. The astrometric programs which densify the sky include the Radio-Optical Reference Frame sessions done by US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and USNO and the space navigation efforts of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

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Commision 19: Earth Rotation (Rotation de la Terre)

Transactions of the International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s0251107x00010014 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

pp. 169-186

Keyword(s):

Reference Frame ◽

Earth Rotation ◽

Very Long Baseline Interferometry ◽

International Association ◽

High Accuracy ◽

Terrestrial Reference Frame ◽

International Earth Rotation Service ◽

Long Baseline ◽

Compact Sources ◽

Celestial Reference Frame

The period has been marked by the start of the new International Earth Rotation Service (IERS), which benefits from a tight cooperation between astronomers, geodesists, and specialists in satellite geodesy, as well as meteorologists. The scope of the IERS covers not only the Earth’s rotation per se, but also the conventional terrestrial reference frame, of direct interest to the International Association of Geodesy, and a high accuracy (0.001”) celestial reference frame based on extragalactic compact sources observed in Very Long Baseline Interferometry. The IERS conventional celestial reference frame is consistent with the FK5 within the uncertainties of the latter (0.04”). The IERS Standards (1989) which contain the current best estimates of astronomical models and constants are used in many fields of astronomy and geodesy.

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The Possibility to Link Radio and Optical Reference Frames With Artificial Satellites

Symposium - International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s0074180900086794 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 141 ◽

pp. 194-194

Author(s):

Tong Fu

Keyword(s):

Reference Frame ◽

Reference Frames ◽

Artificial Satellites ◽

Radio Sources ◽

Bl Lac Objects ◽

Extragalactic Radio Sources ◽

Bl Lac ◽

Optical Reference ◽

Radio Stars ◽

Fundamental Reference

Based on extragalactic radio sources, a new high precision extragalactic radio reference frame can be established from radio interferometric measurements. To link the optical fundamental reference frame presently represented by the FK4/5 to the extragalactic radio frame, the optical counterparts of extragalactic radio sources (quasars, BL Lac objects etc.) and radio stars are the most important classes of objects. Besides these two classes of objects, are there any other objects which can be used to link the optical and radio frames? A posible answer is that artificial satellites could be a candidate class of objects contributing to this subject.

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Impact of network constraining on the terrestrial reference frame realization based on SLR observations to LAGEOS

Journal of Geodesy ◽

10.1007/s00190-019-01307-0 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 93 (11) ◽

pp. 2293-2313 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

R. Zajdel ◽

K. Sośnica ◽

M. Drożdżewski ◽

G. Bury ◽

D. Strugarek

Keyword(s):

Reference Frame ◽

A Priori ◽

Terrestrial Reference Frame ◽

Laser Ranging ◽

Potential Core ◽

North East ◽

The North ◽

Station Coordinates ◽

Earth Rotation Parameters ◽

Variable List

Abstract The Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) network struggles with some major limitations including an inhomogeneous global station distribution and uneven performance of SLR sites. The International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) prepares the time-variable list of the most well-performing stations denoted as ‘core sites’ and recommends using them for the terrestrial reference frame (TRF) datum realization in SLR processing. Here, we check how different approaches of the TRF datum realization using minimum constraint conditions (MCs) and the selection of datum-defining stations affect the estimated SLR station coordinates, the terrestrial scale, Earth rotation parameters (ERPs), and geocenter coordinates (GCC). The analyses are based on the processing of the SLR observations to LAGEOS-1/-2 collected between 2010 and 2018. We show that it is essential to reject outlying stations from the reference frame realization to maintain a high quality of SLR-based products. We test station selection criteria based on the Helmert transformation of the network w.r.t. the a priori SLRF2014 coordinates to reject misbehaving stations from the list of datum-defining stations. The 25 mm threshold is optimal to eliminate the epoch-wise temporal deviations and to provide a proper number of datum-defining stations. According to the station selection algorithm, we found that some of the stations that are not included in the list of ILRS core sites could be taken into account as potential core stations in the TRF datum realization. When using a robust station selection for the datum definition, we can improve the station coordinate repeatability by 8%, 4%, and 6%, for the North, East and Up components, respectively. The global distribution of datum-defining stations is also crucial for the estimation of ERPs and GCC. When excluding just two core stations from the SLR network, the amplitude of the annual signal in the GCC estimates is changed by up to 2.2 mm, and the noise of the estimated pole coordinates is substantially increased.

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Fundamental radio reference frame from VLA observations of minor planets

Symposium - International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s0074180900119333 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 128 ◽

pp. 97-97 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

G. H. Kaplan ◽

K. J. Johnston ◽

P. K. Seidelmann ◽

C. M. Wade ◽

T. S. Carroll

Keyword(s):

Reference Frame ◽

Reference Frames ◽

Thermal Emission ◽

Optical Observations ◽

Minor Planets ◽

Very Large Array ◽

Test Particles ◽

Optical Reference ◽

Microwave Regime

The weak thermal emission from the largest minor planets can be detected in the microwave regime by the Very Large Array (VLA). Signal-to-noise ratios are sufficiently high to permit precise measurement of the positions of these objects at all points in their orbits with respect to background extragalactic sources. We are in the process of obtaining observations of astrometric accuracy for minor planets 1 Ceres, 2 Pallas, 4 Vesta, and 10 Hygeia.Minor planets have historically served as “test particles” in the solar system, and optical observations of these objects have been valuable in the determination of fundamental astronomical constants. In particular, optical observations of minor planets have played an important role in the establishment of the fundamental optical reference frame by permitting the determination of the orientation of the Earth's orbit relative to the stars defining the frame.Similarly, radio observations of these bodies can play a corresponding role in the establishment of a fundamental radio reference frame. Our observations will provide a direct link between the dynamical and radio reference frames, and provide important information on the relationship between the radio and optical reference frames.

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Towards the Definition of a Unified Celestial Optical/Radio Reference Frame

Symposium - International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s0074180900134825 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 129 ◽

pp. 317-318

Author(s):

K. J. Johnston ◽

J. Russell ◽

Ch. de Vegt ◽

J. Hughes ◽

D. Jauncey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reference Frame ◽

Reference Frames ◽

Radio Observations ◽

Minimum Density ◽

Optical Reference ◽

Definition Of ◽

Celestial Reference Frame

An almost inertial celestial reference frame based upon extragalactic sources is in the process of being established. This reference frame is to be global with a minimum density of one source/100 square degrees. The source positions will be based upon radio observations and will allow optical reference frames to be related to this frame at the 0.03 arc second level.

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GPS Satellite State Vector Determination in ECI Coordinate System using the Civil Navigation Message

Journal of Navigation ◽

10.1017/s0373463313000386 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 67 (1) ◽

pp. 1-16

Author(s):

Ghangho Kim ◽

Sanghoon Jeon ◽

Changdon Kee ◽

Tae Soo No ◽

Kiho Kwon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Closed Form ◽

Reference Frame ◽

Calculated Data ◽

Terrestrial Reference Frame ◽

Navigation Data ◽

Numerical Result ◽

Resolution System ◽

Satellite Velocity ◽

Celestial Reference Frame ◽

Simple Rotation

A closed form of an algorithm to determine a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite's position, velocity and acceleration is proposed, and an Earth Centred Earth Fixed (ECEF) to Earth Centred Inertial (ECI) transformation result using the Civil Navigation (CNAV) message is presented in this paper. To obtain the closed form of the GPS satellite velocity and acceleration determination algorithm using the CNAV, we analytically differentiated the IS-GPS-200F position determination function. The calculated data are transformed from the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) to the Geocentric Celestial Reference Frame (GCRF) using an equinox-based transform algorithm that is defined in the IAU-2000 resolution system using the Earth Orientation Parameter (EOP) data. To verify the correctness of the proposed velocity and acceleration determination algorithm, the analytical results are compared to the numerical result. The equinox-based transformation result is compared to simple rotation about the z-axis, which does not use the EOP. The results show that by using the proposed algorithm and the equinox-based transformation together, the user can obtain more accurate navigation data in the ECI frame.

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Simulation studies on single-satellite space ties and their potential to achieve the Global Geodetic Observing System goals.

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-7991 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Patrick Schreiner ◽

Nicat Mammadaliyev ◽

Susanne Glaser ◽

Rolf Koenig ◽

Karl Hans Neumayer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reference Frame ◽

Precise Orbit Determination ◽

Terrestrial Reference Frame ◽

German Research Foundation ◽

Station Coordinates ◽

Earth Rotation Parameters ◽

German Research ◽

Space Geodetic Techniques ◽

The Impact ◽

Space Ties

<p>The German Research Foundation (DFG) project GGOS-SIM-2, successor of project GGOS-SIM, is a collaboration between the Helmholtz Center Potsdam - German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) and the Technische Universit&#228;t Berlin (TUB). The project aims at investigating the feasibility of meeting the requirements specified by the Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS) for a global terrestrial reference frame (TRF) with the help of simulations. In GGOS-SIM-2 the potential of so-called space ties is examined in relation to the GGOS targets, 1 mm accuracy in position and 1 mm / decade long-term stability, which have not yet been achieved by the recent International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF). Space ties are provided by a satellite that carries two, three or all the four main space-geodetic techniques, i.e. DORIS, GPS, SLR and VLBI. This allows for a quantification of the impact of systematic errors on the derived orbits and subsequent results of the dynamic method as the TRF. Proposed co-location in space missions such as GRASP and E-GRASP anticipate such a scenario. We therefor simulate the space-geodetic observations based on Precise Orbit Determination (POD) with real observations from various missions and evaluate their potential for determining a TRF. So far, we simulated DORIS and SLR observations to six orbit scenarios, including a GRASP-like and an E-GRASP-like one, and generated TRFs based on each scenario either technique-wise or combined via the space-ties or in combination with ground data. We quantify the effect on the TRF in terms of changes of origin and scale and of formal errors of the ground station coordinates and of the Earth rotation parameters.</p>

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