The Effect of GPS Ephemeris on the Accuracy of Precise Orbit Determination of LEO Satellite-borne GPS

The satellite-borne GPS receivers dedicated to precise orbit determination are now being carried by more and more low earth orbit (LEO) satellites and the satellite-borne GPS has become one of the main means for the precise orbit determination of low earth orbit satellites. The accuracy of satellite-borne GPS precise orbit determination depends on the accuracies of the GPS ephemeris and the clock error. Based on the orbit determination function of SHORDEIII zero-difference dynamics and using the observational data obtained by the GRACE satellites for the week from 2005 August 1 to 7 as an example, three versions of GPS ephemerides (igs, igr and igu) are used to carry out orbit determination under the same conditions and to estimate the effect of the GPS ephemeris accuracy on the accuracy of orbit determination of low earth orbit satellites. Our calculated results show that the two ephemerides, igs and igr, are equivalent to each other in orbit determination accuracy (about 9.5 cm), while igu is slightly less accurate, at about 10.5 cm. The effect produced by the data of the high frequency GPS satellite clock error on the accuracy of orbit determination is 1–6 cm.