Observations of high altitude objects from multiple sites

Paper number

IAC-06-B6.P.1.04

Author

Dr. Reto Musci, Astronomical Institute University of Bern (AIUB), Switzerland

Coauthor

Dr. Thomas Schildknecht, Astronomical Institute University of Bern (AIUB), Switzerland

Coauthor

Prof. Gerhard Beutler, Astronomical Institute University of Bern (AIUB), Switzerland

Coauthor

Dr. Vladimir Agapov, Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics, RAS, Russia

Year

2006

Abstract

The Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern (AIUB) was and is conducting several search campaigns for space debris in the geostationary ring (GEO) and the geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). First tests and studies to build up a catalogue of satellites and space debris were performed in the previous years. The studies included only observations from one site. The benefit of using several sites is studied in this article.

The main task of building up a catalogue is the acquisition of a “secured” orbit, i.e., of an orbit allowing a safe recovery of the object after several weeks to months after the epoch of the last observation used for the orbit determination. Observations from additional sites may help to reduce the number of follow-up observations that are needed to determine a “secured” orbit. The formal errors of the orbital elements resulting from the orbit determination using simultaneous observations from two and three sites are analyzed. In order to study the influence of the observation geometry, the longitude and latitude differences between the sites were varied.

Truly simultaneous observations are difficult to realize. Additional sites can, however, also be used to perform the first follow-up tracks after a short time interval. This time interval between the initial track and the follow-up track was systematically varied and the dependency of the acuracy of the orbits on the time interval analysed. The formal errors of the orbital elements resulting from simulations for two sites were compared with those resulting from simulations for only one site with the same time interval between the tracks. Our studies show that the formal errors of the obtained orbital elements also depend on the position of the object with respect to the observing sites.

Abstract document

IAC-06-B6.P.1.04.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-06-B6.P.1.04.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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