EGU2020-5613, updated on 09 Jan 2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-5613
EGU General Assembly 2020
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recent Progress and Plans for Improvement of ILRS Infrastructure and Data Product Delivery

Michael R. Pearlman1, Carey Noll2, Erricos Pavlis3, Toshimichi Otsubo4, Jean-Marie Torre5, Ulrich Schreiber6, Georg Kirchner7, and Michael Steindorfer Steindorfer7
Michael R. Pearlman et al.
  • 1Center for Astrophysics, Radio and Geoastronomy, Cambridge, United States of America (mpearlman@cfa.harvard.edu)
  • 2NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 61A, Greenbelt MD, United States
  • 3University of Maryland, Baltimore MD, United States
  • 4Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan
  • 5Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Nice, France
  • 6Technische Universität München, Forschungseinrichtung Satellitengeodäsie Wettzell, Bad Kötzting, Germany
  • 7Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria

The International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) is improving its services through network expansion and continuous upgrades of its modeling and analysis approaches. New ground stations are being deployed with higher repetition rate systems, more efficient detection, and increased automation; new technologies are also being adopted at some of its legacy stations. In addition, the roster of tracking missions is rapidly expanding. The top priority for the Service continues to be its contribution to the reference frame development, but of increasing importance is also the tracking of GNSS satellites, including the anticipated deployment of the new GPS III constellation over this decade. These requirements are being reflected in new system designs and updates. Stations are also being adapted to accommodate ground and space-time synchronization. A few stations continue with their lunar laser ranging activities while several others have begun testing their ability to do lunar ranging in the future. About a dozen stations are active in space-debris tracking for studies of orbital dynamics and reentry predictions. New tools and procedures have been implemented to improve the quality of SLR data and derived products, and to expedite the resolution of engineering issues. Work also continues on the design and building of improved retroreflector targets to maximize data quality and quantity.

 This paper will give an overview of activities underway within the Service, paths forward and presently envisioned, and current issues and challenges.

How to cite: Pearlman, M. R., Noll, C., Pavlis, E., Otsubo, T., Torre, J.-M., Schreiber, U., Kirchner, G., and Steindorfer, M. S.: Recent Progress and Plans for Improvement of ILRS Infrastructure and Data Product Delivery, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-5613, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-5613, 2020.

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