Gravity field modeling using space frequency signal transfer technique between satellites

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel space-based method using frequency signals between satellites and precise clocks to model Earth's external gravity field with high accuracy, potentially reaching decimeter-level precision.

Contribution

It introduces an alternative approach utilizing satellite signal transfer and atomic clocks to determine Earth's gravitational potential, enhancing existing gravity field modeling techniques.

Findings

Potential field accuracy reaches decimeter level with 30-day data collection.

Method effectively determines Earth's external gravity field from satellite signals.

Simulation confirms feasibility with advanced atomic clocks.

Abstract

Here we provide an alternative approach to determine the Earth's external gravitational potential field based on low-orbit target satellite (TS), geostationary satellites (GS), and microwave signal links between them. By emitting and receiving frequency signals controlled by precise clocks between TS and GS, we can determine the gravitational potential (GP) at the TS orbit. We set the TS with polar orbits, altitude of around 500 km above ground, and three evenly distributed GSs with equatorial orbits, altitudes of around 35000 km from the Earth's center. In this case, at any time the TS can be observed via frequency signal links by at least one GS. In this way we may determine a potential distribution over the TS-defined sphere (TDS), which is a sphere that best fits the TS' orbits. Then, based on the potential distribution over the TDS, an Earth's external gravitational field can be determined. Simulation results show that the accuracy of the potential filed established based on 30-days observations can achieve decimeter level if optical atomic clocks with instability of $1\times 10^{-17}\tau^{-1/2}$ are available. The formulation proposed in this study may enrich the approachs for determining the Earth's external gravity field.