2020-09-22, 14:00–14:30, Room 1
This talk will give an overview of ongoing work on Satellite Orbits and Terrestrial Reference Frames in our Software package Where.
Where is a Python software package used for analysing geodetic data, developed at the Norwegian Mapping Authority. The Where software is made available to the geodetic community as an open source, MIT-licensed project.
The focus of this talk will be on satellite laser ranging and precise orbit determination. Satellite laser ranging use short-pulse lasers, optical receivers and timing electronics to measure the two-way time of flight from ground stations to retroreflector arrays on Earth orbiting satellites. This data is analysed in order to determine satellite orbits and station coordinates. Satellite laser ranging is one of the four geodetic techniques that are used to compute accurate coordinates in the International Terrestrial Reference Frame, a world spatial reference system co-rotating with the Earth in its diurnal motion in space.