Collects, merges, analyzes, archives and distributes satellite and lunar laser ranging. Fifty years ago, nasa announced the first successful tracking of a satellite using a laser, a technique now standard for precisely determining satellite orbits. The normal points are calculated by three different. For our purposes, well assume it travels at 8exactly 3. The oscillator output picosecond pulses resulting from both the saturable absorber dye and. The most common form of laser rangefinder operates on the time of flight principle by sending a laser pulse in a narrow beam towards the object and measuring the time taken by the pulse to be reflected off the target and returned to the sender.
Satellite laser ranging and its applications springerlink. Mansour et al development of the stability on the laser system used at satellite laser ranging station figure 1. Effective expansion of satellite laser ranging network to. First successful satellite laser ranging with a brebased. Mlro is one of the most advanced satellite and lunar laser ranging facility in the world and has been conceived to be. The concept and preliminary results of use of satellite. National aeronautics and space administration nasa.
Satellite laser ranging slr provides an important capability for precise orbit determination and for geophysical parameter estimation to support a number of contemporary geodynamic and oceanographic investigations. How satellite laser ranging got its start 50 years ago nasa. In this system, instrumentation was mounted on a large unpowered trailer of 15 m in length, 2. During the past three decades, the global satellite laser ranging slr network. The dzriii satellite laser ranging device wuhan station 7231, small scaled vehicular trosi satellite laser ranger international station number 7343, 7355, 7356 and the tros mobile satellite laser ranging instrument have been developed until now. Pdf this paper is intended to be a nonmathematical tutorial on the subject of satellite laser ranging slr with an emphasis on the characteristics. Working to extend application of communications and ranging technologies into deep space. Satellite laser ranging slr, very long baseline interferometryvlbi, and. First laser ranging measurement in 1964 slr present. Jun 24, 2015 the paper concerns on the satellite laser ranging slr in egypt. Satellite laser ranging slr in satellite laser ranging slr, a station fires a laser to an orbiting satellite equipped with special reflectors the station then measures the round trip time of flight of the pulses of light the orbit of the satellite can then be determined when several stations perform these measurements. The laser satellites communications and laser noises. For similar reasons, the international laser ranging service ilrs satellite laser ranging lengthofday lod values have not been used in generating space2018.
The aim of this study is to find an effective way to expand the ground tracking network of satellite laser ranging on the assumption that a new station is added to the existing network. The weak equivalence principle is at the foundation of general relativity and of most gravitational theories. Satellite laser ranging lageos satellite orbiting laser reflector extremely stable orbit high density. Merge into hourlydaily files transmit data to data centers stations flow of data and information, from station to user, utilized by the ilrs to. Simultaneous laser ranging to a nearearth satellite from two sites is used to determine the coordinates of one laser site relative to the fixed position of the other site and simultaneously the intersite distance. The laser geodynamics satellite lageos was designed by nasa and launched may 4, 1976. The measurement uncertainty is typically 7 cm in distance, which implies subcentimeter uncertainties in all three vector components of relative position between. Since that time, ranging precision, spurred by scientific requirements, has improved by a factor of a thousand from a few metres to a few millimetres, and more satellites equipped with retroreflectors have been launched. Satellite laser ranging data processor was used for the data processing. The international laser ranging service sciencedirect. History of laser ranging and mlrs university of texas at. Determination of global geodetic parameters using satellite laser. Satellite laser ranging slr measures the roundtrip distance between an instrument on the ground and a reflective, massive, spherical satellite in low 5001200 km altitude orbit. Research nextgeneration satellite laser communications system i ntroduction recent years have seen the emergence of a number of interna.
Satellite laserranging as a probe of fundamental physics nature. Knowing the position and orientation of the sensor, the xyz coordinate of the reflective. It is uniquely suited to accurately determining the variation of the earths centre of mass, along with the orbit parameters of satellites orbiting the. Effects of chinese laser ranging on imaging satellites science. Merge into hourlydaily files stations flow of data and information, from station to user, utilized by the ilrs to support scientific research. The basic observable is the precise timeofflight of an. Nextgeneration satellite laser communications system 1 free. Satellite laser ranging an overview sciencedirect topics. It was the first spacecraft dedicated exclusively to highprecision laser ranging and provided the first opportunity to acquire laserranging data that were not degraded by errors originating in the satellite orbit or satellite array. Pdf on the vlbi satellite laser ranging iron triangle.
Hermann drewes, significance of kinematic plate parameters derived from actual satellite laser ranging data, advances in space research, 10. The basic observable is the precise timeofflight of an ultrashort laser pulse to and from a retroreflector array on a satellite. Laser ranging applied to space geodesy is a conceptually simple technique using short laser pulses from small astronomical telescopes on the ground to retroreflectors on artificial satellites slr or the moon llr, reflecting the incoming laser light back to the source. The ilrs collects, merges, analyzes, archives and distributes satellite laser ranging slr and lunar laser ranging llr observation data sets of sufficient accuracy to satisfy the objectives of a wide range of scientific, engineering, and operational applications and experimentation. High repetitionrate satellite laser ranging slr offers new possibilities for the postprocessing of the range measurements.
Satellite laser ranging how is satellite laser ranging. Dec 12, 2018 laser ranging uses ultrashort pulse lasers to measure the instantaneous roundtrip timeofflight from ground stations to orbiting targets equipped with special retroreflectors. Application of satellite laser ranging techniques for space situational. The slr station at the sgf is unique in the uk and a major system in the international laser ranging service global network of around 40 slr stations. The energy stability of the laser output can improve the accuracy and reliability of the satellite laser ranging station. Riede german aerospace center, institute of technical physics, pfa enwaldring 3840, 70569 stuttgart abstract satellite laser ranging slr is an established technology used for geodesy, fundamental science. Later designated an official service of the international association for geodesy iag coordinates the activities of approximately 30 countries in mission planning, tracking, data.
Both standalone laserranging transponders, and lasercommunications systems configured to provide millimeterlevel ranging data are analyzed. Laser ranging to a nearearth satellite was initiated by nasa in 1964 with the launch of the beaconb satellite. The three generations which can be loosely defined by their single shot root mean square precision, are discussed. Progress of the satellite laser ranging system tros. General information general information general information. Satellite laser ranging slr is a widely used technique for determining the orbits. Observing tectonic plate motions and deformations from. The mass of the atmosphere is only about 106 that of the earth, so the atmospheres contributions to the earths static gravity field, although observable, are much smaller than those from the solid earth. How satellite laser ranging got its start 50 years ago.
International laser ranging service ilrs ilrs was created in 1998 as a successor organization to the cstg satellite and lunar laser ranging subcommission. Apr 11, 2015 satellite laser ranging slr to the satellites of the global navigation satellite systems gnss provides substantial and valuable information about the accuracy and quality of gnss orbits and allows for the slrgnss colocation in space. We bounce lasers off of satellites and the moon to determine their distance from us. Ilrs collects, merges, analyzes, archives and distributes satellite and lunar. Following the creation of the small mobile satellite ranging system trosi, the institute of seismology, china earthquake administration, successfully developed a largescale mobile satellite laser ranging slr system in 2010 called tros. Solutions design adjusted parameters interval of validity or estimated. Satellite laser ranging to gps and glonass springerlink. Satellite laser ranging slr slr measures the time intervals required for pulses emitted by a laser transmitter to travel to a satellite and return to the transmitting site. Satellite orbit predictions slr data slr data slr data slr products receive data from stations qc incoming data merge into hourlydaily files transmit data to data centers stations flow of data and information, from station to user, utilized by the ilrs to support scientific research. Satellite laser ranging slr is an optical spacegeodetic technique, which. The estimated errors are compared between the cases with. This provides instantaneous range measurements of millimeter level precision, which can be used to provide accurate orbits and a variety of. The international laser ranging service ilrs provides global satellite and lunar laser ranging slr and llr data and their. Satellite laser ranging slr as its name suggests ranges or measures distance to earth orbiting satellites using a powerful laser to detect a satellite s variation from its predicted orbit.
Sep 11, 2017 what does satellite laser ranging mean. Laser ranging togps satellites with centimeter accuracy. Current trends in satellite laser ranging ilrs nasa. Yesno l ol l 02 l 03 orbital state vector solar radiation coefficient along track acceleration eop. Satellite laser ranging lageos satellite orbiting laser reflector extremely stable orbit high density known, constant distance from earth mass 400 kg diameter 60 cm image used with permission from nasa. It was the first spacecraft dedicated exclusively to highprecision laser ranging and provided the first opportunity to acquire laser ranging data that were not degraded by errors originating in the satellite orbit or satellite array. Satellite laser ranging slr as its name suggests ranges or measures distance to earth orbiting satellites using a powerful laser to detect a satellites variation from its predicted orbit. The invention of the laser, with its precise wavelength and beam divergence characteristics, coupled with the technique of qswitching to produce laser pulse lengths on the order of only a few nanoseconds, caused a rethinking of the artificial satellite photography experiment and ushered in the era of optical laser ranging.
Satellite laser rangingslr, very long baseline interferometryvlbi, and. The data produced is used by the satellite mission providers and the analyst community. A method to calculate zerosignature satellite laser ranging. Satellite laser ranging bulgarian academy of sciences. Satellite laser ranging measurements in south authors. During the satellitemoon pass, the times of laser emission and photon detection are recorded with an accuracy of a few. Highresolution active laser ranging systems for moon, mars and beyond are analyzed. Laser ranging to a nearearth satellite was first carried out by nasa in 1964 with the launch of the beaconb satellite. The author has been engaging in development and research of system equipments. The invention of the laser, with its precise wavelength and beam divergence characteristics, coupled with the technique of qswitching to produce laser pulse lengths on the order of only a few nanoseconds, caused a rethinking of the artificial satellite photography. A laser rangefinder is a rangefinder that uses a laser beam to determine the distance to an object. On the vlbi satellite laser ranging iron triangle intercomparison experiment. The service collects, merges, analyzes, archives and distributes satellite and lunar laser ranging data to satisfy a variety of scientific, engineering, and. Satellite laser ranging slr is a highprecision measurement technique for the twoway distance between a ground station and an artificial satellite, and it has been regarded as one of the key elements of globalscale geodesy pearlman et al.
The satellite ranging started with the station sao1, built in 1972 by the smithsonian astrophysical observatory, and then continued, from 2000 on, with the matera laser ranging observatory mlro which replaced the old system. It is shown that a combined dualfunction lasercommunications and laserranging system is feasible. The latter is generated in a much coarser comb of strong pulses 10hz repetition rate and 100mj pulse energy whose seed is taken from the same comb used for the qubits. Development of the stability on the laser system used at. Two nonpolarizing beam splitters were used in the optical path in order to merge and. Flight center in maryland, usa, which collects, merges, analyzes, and. The anti satellite federation of american scientists. International laser ranging service the international laser ranging service ilrs provides global satellite and lunar laser ranging slr and llr data and their related products to support geodetic and geophysical research and other applications. Development of the stability on the laser system used at satellite laser ranging station h.
Moblas7 built in 1978 and still operating slr future. History of laser ranging and mlrs at the confluence of. The measurement uncertainty is typically 7 cm in distance, which implies subcentimeter uncertainties in all three vector components of relative position. The paper concerns on the satellite laser ranging slr in egypt. On october 31, 1964 the worlds first satellite laser. The global positioning system iii satellite laser ranging gps iii slr implementation team received special recognition from the institute of navigation. Gps iii satellite laser ranging implementation team. These stations track the same satellites over different points on the earths surface. Laser ranging uses ultrashort pulse lasers to measure the instantaneous roundtrip timeofflight from ground stations to orbiting targets equipped with special retroreflectors.
The range, or distance between the satellite and the observing site, is approximately equal to one half of the twoway travel time multiplied by the speed of light. Satellite laser ranging slr to the satellites of the global navigation satellite systems gnss provides substantial and valuable information about the accuracy and quality of gnss orbits and allows for the slrgnss colocation in space. This format change was required to incorporate higher precision fire times for transponder ranging and to more. This requires a very accurate knowledge of how fast light is moving. Consolidated laser ranging data format crd, which accommodates full rate, sampled engineering, and normal point data types for artificial satellite, lunar, and now, oneway transponder ranging data. Satellite laser ranging nerc space geodesy facility. Laser ranging can be performed to earthorbiting targets satellite laser ranging, slr and to targets on the moons surface lunar laser ranging, llr. We analyze 11 years of khz slr passes of the geodetic satellite ajisai delivered by graz slr station austria in order to improve the accuracy and precision of the principal slr data product normal points. Satellite laser ranging calculate the distance to the moon given. Laser ranging is possible even when the satellite is in the earths shadow and during daylight hours. A method to calculate zerosignature satellite laser. Pdf determining the range to a satellite in orbit around the earth utilising the technique of satellite laser ranging slr was pioneered in the early.
The concept and preliminary results of use of satellite laser ranging for glonass accuracy improvement v. The laser geodynamic satellite lageos was designed by nasa and launched may 4, 1976. In the framework of the navstarslr experiment two gps satellites of blockiia were equipped with laser retroreflector arrays lras, whereas all satellites. In satellite laser ranging slr a global network of stations measure the instantaneous round trip travel time of flight of ultrashort pulses of light to satellites equipped with special retroreflectors. Since that time, ranging precision, spurred by scientific requirements, has improved by a factor of a thousand from a few meters to a few millimeters.
The reflection of that pulse is detected and the precise time is recorded. We currently bounce lasers off of satellites and measure the amount of time it takes for the light to return to the source in order to measure distance. Slr data have been used to determine satellite orbits and retrieve globalscale geodetic products. Ngslr prototype in final development the slr technique the goddard space flight center is the birthplace of satellite laser ranging. In this paper we develop detailed expressions for the range and pulse width measurement accuracies and use the results to evaluate the ranging performances of several satellite laser altimeters. The primary mission of the ilrs is to support, through satellite laser ranging slr and lunar laser ranging llr data as well as related products, geodetic and geophysical research activities. Shargorodskiy open jointstock company researchandproduction corporation precision systems and instruments rpc psi.
The sm3 is designed to intercept warheads in the midcourse phase of flight, when they are above the atmosphere. Iers iers international laser ranging service ilrs. Wesnousky, earthquakes, quaternary faults, and seismic hazard in california, journal of geophysical research. Satellite laser ranging technique unambiguous timeofflight measurement 1 to 2 mm normal point precision passive space segment reflector simple refraction model night day operation near realtime global data availability satellite altitudes from 400 km to 20,000 km gps, glonass and the moon centimeter accuracy satellite. First successful satellite laser ranging with a brebased transmitter d. Realistic numbers of observations for a new station are numerically simulated, based on the actual data acquisition statistics of the existing stations.
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