BeiDou-3 orbit and clock quality of the IGS Multi-GNSS Pilot Project

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the quality of BeiDou-3 satellite orbit and clock products generated by multiple analysis centers within the IGS MGEX project, using various comparison methods to assess accuracy and stability.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive assessment of BDS-3 orbit and clock product performance, highlighting their accuracy and identifying systematic effects in clock modeling.

Findings

Orbit consistency is 4-8 cm for medium Earth orbit satellites.

SLR residuals range from 3 to 9 cm RMS.

PPN solutions achieve 7-8 mm 3D RMS accuracy.

Abstract

Within the Multi-GNSS Pilot Project (MGEX) of the International GNSS Service (IGS), precise orbit and clock products for the BeiDou-3 global navigation satellite system (BDS-3) are routinely generated by a total of five analysis centers. The processing standards and specific properties of the individual products are reviewed and the BDS-3 orbit and clock product performance is assessed through direct inter-comparison, satellite laser ranging (SLR) residuals, clock stability analysis, and precise point positioning solutions. The orbit consistency evaluated by the signal-in-space range error is on the level of 4-8 cm for the medium Earth orbit satellites whereas SLR residuals have RMS values between 3 and 9 cm. The clock analysis reveals sytematic effects related to the elevation of the Sun above the orbital plane for all ACs pointing to deficiencies in solar radiation pressure modeling. Nevertheless, precise point positioning with the BDS-3 MGEX orbit and clock products results in 3D RMS values between 7 and 8 mm.