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This report summarizes investigations regarding tectonic motions. The topics discussed include statistics of crustal deformation, Earth rotation studies, using multitaper spectrum analysis techniques applied to both space-geodetic data and conventional astrometric estimates of the Earth's polar motion, and the development, design, and installation of high-stability geodetic monuments for use with the global positioning system.
Complexity of future manned space flight mission control can be significantly reduced by integrating GPS, the PTTI source, into telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C). Future telecommunications, space tracking electronic intelligence, metrology, navigation, and data acquisition will thereby be served, including: on-board ephemeris determination, reduced synchronization time for time division multiple access (TDMA) links, and in-flight clock calibration, increasing on-board autonomy and reducing ground support costs. Manned space transportation through the first quarter of the 21st century will probably depend on a mix of vehicles, including the Advanced Manned Launch System (AMLS), the Personnel Launch System (PLS), and continued use of the Shuttle Fleet. Precise Ephemeris is important on-board for mission success, status monitoring, also for rendezvous and docking. Use of GPS can eliminate ground based tracking/processing, enhancing autonomy and reducing communications bandwidth. GPS time can simplify complicated functions used in bandwidth efficient time division multiple access (TDMA) communications, such as: precise and realtime synchronization of receive reference timing, transmit-timing and acquisition control, unique synchronization word (UW) detection, and elastic buffering. High clock accuracy provides increased signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio during acquisition, permitting narrower acquisition frequency and time windows. Spaceborne systems requirements to provide capabilities such as: refinement of the GEM-72 gravity model based on satellite tracking observations from ATS-6 to GEOS-3, relativistic clock experiments, NASA crustal dynamics program for developing space geodetic techniques to study the earth's crust, its gravity field, and earthquake mechanisms, and multi-disciplinary space geodetic tracking for studying global climatic changes are also reviewed.
Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) has a rich history of development which began in the 1960s with 10 meter-level first generation systems. These systems evolved with order of magnitude improvements to the systems that now produce several millimeter single shot range precisions. What began, in part, as an interesting application of the new laser technology has become an essential component of modern, precision space geodesy, which in turn enables contributions to a variety of science areas. Modern space geodesy is the beneficiary of technological developments which have enabled precision geodetic measurements. Aside from SLR and its closely related technique, Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR), Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) has made prominent science contributions also. In recent years, the Global Positioning System (GPS) has demonstrated a rapidly growing popularity as the result of demonstrated low cost with high precision instrumentation. Other modern techniques such as DORIS have demonstrated the ability to make significant science contributions; furthermore, PRARE can be expected to contribute in its own right. An appropriate question is 'why should several techniques be financially supported'? While there are several answers, I offer the opinion that, in consideration of the broad science areas that are the benefactors of space geodesy, no single technique can meet all the requirements and/or expectations of the science areas in which space geodesy contributes or has the potential for contributing. The more well-known science areas include plate tectonics, earthquake processes, Earth rotation/orientation, gravity (static and temporal), ocean circulation, land, and ice topography, to name a few applications. It is unfortunate that the modern space geodesy techniques are often viewed as competitive, but this view is usually encouraged by funding competition, especially in an era of growing needs but diminishing budgets. The techniques are, for the most part, complementary and the ability to reduce the data to geodetic parameters from several techniques promotes confidence in the geophysical interpretations. In the following sections, the current SLR applications are reviewed in the context of the other techniques. The strengths and limitations of SLR are reviewed and speculation about the future prospects are offered.
The principal technical challenge in designing a millimeter accuracy satellite to support two color observations at high altitudes is to provide high optical cross-section simultaneously with minimal pulse spreading. In order to address this issue, we provide, a brief review of some fundamental properties of optical retroreflectors when used in spacecraft target arrays, develop a simple model for a spherical geodetic satellite, and use the model to determine some basic design criteria for a new generation of geodetic satellites capable of supporting millimeter accuracy two color laser ranging. We find that increasing the satellite diameter provides: a larger surface area for additional cube mounting thereby leading to higher cross-sections; and makes the satellite surface a better match for the incoming planar phasefront of the laser beam. Restricting the retroreflector field of view (e.g. by recessing it in its holder) limits the target response to the fraction of the satellite surface which best matches the optical phasefront thereby controlling the amount of pulse spreading. In surveying the arrays carried by existing satellites, we find that European STARLETTE and ERS-1 satellites appear to be the best candidates for supporting near term two color experiments in space.
Our objectives were to use modem geodetic data, especially those derived from space techniques like Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), and the Global Positioning System (GPS) to infer crustal deformation in southern California and relate it to plate tectonics and earthquake hazard. To do this, we needed to collect some original data, write computer programs to determine positions of survey markers from geodetic observables, interpret time dependent positions in terms of velocity and earthquake caused episodic displacements, and construct a model to explain these velocities and displacements in terms of fault slip and plate movements.
Maps of Venus based on Magellan data are being compiled at 1:50,000,000, 1:5,000,000 and 1:1,500,000 scales. Topographic contour lines based on radar altimetry data are overprinted on the image maps, along with feature nomenclature. Map controls are based on existing knowledge of the spacecraft orbit; photogrammetric triangulation, a traditional basis for geodetic control for bodies where framing cameras were used, is not feasible with the radar images of Venus. Preliminary synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image maps have some data gaps and cosmetic inconsistencies, which will be corrected on final compilations. Eventual revision of geodetic controls and of the adopted Venusian spin-axis location will result in geometric adjustments, particularly on large-scale maps.
During our participation in the NASA Crustal Dynamics Project under NASA contract NAS-27339 and grant NAG5-814 for the period 1982-1991, we published or submitted for publication 30 research papers and 52 abstracts of presentations at scientific meetings. In addition, five M.I.T. Ph.D. students (Eric Bergman, Steven Bratt, Dan Davis, Jeanne Sauber, Anne Sheehan) were supported wholly or in part by this project during their thesis research. Highlights of our research progress during this period include the following: application of geodetic data to determine rates of strain in the Mojave block and in central California and to clarify the relation of such strain to the San Andreas fault and Pacific-North American plate motions; application of geodetic data to infer post seismic deformation associated with large earthquakes in the Imperial Valley, Hebgen Lake, Argentina, and Chile; determination of the state of stress in oceanic lithosphere from a systematic study of the centroid depths and source mechanisms of oceanic intraplate earthquakes; development of models for the state of stress in young oceanic regions arising from the differential cooling of the lithosphere; determination of the depth extent and rupture characteristics of oceanic transform earthquakes; improved determination of earthquake slip vectors in the Gulf of California, an important data set for the estimation of Pacific-North American plate motions; development of models for the state of stress and mechanics of fold-and-thrust belts and accretionary wedges; development of procedures to invert geoid height, residual bathymetry, and differential body wave travel time residuals for lateral variations in the characteristic temperature and bulk composition of the oceanic upper mantle; and initial GPS measurements of crustal deformation associated with the Imperial-Cerro Prieto fault system in southern California and northern Mexico. Full descriptions of the research conducted on these topics may be found in the Semi-Annual status Reports submitted regularly to NASA over the course of this project and in the publications listed.
Canadian plans for precise time and time interval services are examined in the light of GPS capabilities developed for geodesy. We present our experience in establishing and operating a geodetic type GPS station in a time laboratory setting, and show sub-nanosecond residuals for time transfer between geodetic sites. We present our approach to establishing realistic standard uncertainties for short-term frequency calibration services over time intervals of hours, and for longer-term frequency dissemination at better than the 10(exp -15) level of accuracy.
By the middle of the decade, several new Laser Geodynamic Satellites will be launched to join the current constellation comprised of the laser geodynamic satellite (LAGEOS) (US), Starlette (France), Ajisai (Japan), and Etalon I and II (USSR). The satellites to be launched, LAGEOS II and III (US & Italy), and Stella (France), will be injected into orbits that differ from the existing constellation so that geodetic and gravimetric quantities are sampled to enhance their resolution and accuracy. An examination of various possible tracking strategies adopted by the network of laser tracking stations has revealed that the recovery of precise geodetic parameters can be obtained over shorter intervals than is currently obtainable with the present constellation of satellites. This is particularly important in the planning of mobile laser tracking operations, given a network of permanently operating tracking sites. Through simulations, it is shown that laser tracking of certain satellite passes, pre-selected to provide optimal sky-coverage, provides the means to acquire a sufficient amount of data to allow the recovery of 1 cm station positions.
Global Positioning System (GPS) data were used to estimate Earth rotation variations over an 11-day period during the Epoch '92 campaign in the summer of 1992. Earth orientation was measured simultaneously by several very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) networks. GPS and VLBI estimates of UT1 with 3-hour time resolution were then compared and analyzed. The high frequency behavior of both data sets is similar, although drifts between the two series of approximately 0.1 ms over 2-5 days are evident. The geodetic results were also compared with models for UT1 fluctuations at tidal periods and with estimates of atmospheric angular momentum made at 6-hour intervals. Most of the geodetic signal in the diurnal and semidiurnal frequency bands can be attributed to tidal processes, whereas UT1 variations over a few days are mostly atmospheric in origin.
The ability to predict short-term variations in the Earth's rotation has gained importance in recent years owing to more precise spacecraft tracking requirements. Universal time (UT1), that component of the Earth's orientation corresponding to the rotation angle, can be measured by number of high-precision space geodetic techniques. A Kalman filter developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) optimally combines these different data sets and generates a smoothed times series and a set of predictions for UT1, as well as for additional Earth orientation components. These UT1 predictions utilize an empirically derived random walk stochastic model for the length of the day (LOD) and require frequent and up-to-date measurements of either UT1 or LOD to keep errors from quickly accumulating. Recent studies have shown that LOD variations are correlated with changes in the Earth's axial atmospheric angular momentum (AAM) over timescales of several years down to as little as 8 days. AAM estimates and forecasts out to 10 days are routinely available from meteorological analysis centers; these data can supplement geodetic measurements to improve the short-term prediction of LOD and have therefore been incorporated as independent data types in the JPL Kalman filter. We find that AAM and, to a lesser extent, AAM forecast data are extremely helpful in generating accurate near-real-time estimates of UT1 and LOD and in improving short-term predictions of these quantities out to about 10 days.
Coseismic surface deformation associated with the M(sub w) 6.1, April 23, 1992, Joshua Tree earthquake is well represented by estimates of geodetic monument displacements at 20 locations independently derived from Global Positioning System and trilateration measurements. The rms signal to noise ratio for these inferred displacements is 1.8 with near-fault displacement estimates exceeding 40 mm. In order to determine the long-wavelength distribution of slip over the plane of rupture, a Tikhonov regularization operator is applied to these estimates which minimizes stress variability subject to purely right-lateral slip and zero surface slip constraints. The resulting slip distribution yields a geodetic moment estimate of 1.7 x 10(exp 18) N m with corresponding maximum slip around 0.8 m and compares well with independent and complementary information including seismic moment and source time function estimates and main shock and aftershock locations. From empirical Green's functions analyses, a rupture duration of 5 s is obtained which implies a rupture radius of 6-8 km. Most of the inferred slip lies to the north of the hypocenter, consistent with northward rupture propagation. Stress drop estimates are in the range of 2-4 MPa. In addition, predicted Coulomb stress increases correlate remarkably well with the distribution of aftershock hypocenters; most of the aftershocks occur in areas for which the mainshock rupture produced stress increases larger than about 0.1 MPa. In contrast, predicted stress changes are near zero at the hypocenter of the M(sub w) 7.3, June 28, 1992, Landers earthquake which nucleated about 20 km beyond the northernmost edge of the Joshua Tree rupture. Based on aftershock migrations and the predicted static stress field, we speculate that redistribution of Joshua Tree-induced stress perturbations played a role in the spatio-temporal development of the earth sequence culminating in the Landers event.
Azimuthal asymmetries in the atmospheric refractive index can lead to errors in estimated vertical and horizontal station coordinates. Daily average gradient effects can be as large as 50 mm of delay at a 7 deg elevation. To model gradients, the constrained estimation of gradient paramters was added to the standard VLBI solution procedure. Here the analysis of two sets of data is summarized: the set of all geodetic VLBI experiments from 1990-1993 and a series of 12 state-of-the-art R&D experiments run on consecutive days in January 1994. In both cases, when the gradient parameters are estimated, the overall fit of the geodetic solution is improved at greater than the 99% confidence level. Repeatabilities of baseline lengths ranging up to 11,000 km are improved by 1 to 8 mm in a root-sum-square sense. This varies from about 20% to 40% of the total baseline length scatter without gradient modeling for the 1990-1993 series and 40% to 50% for the January series. Gradients estimated independently for each day as a piecewise linear function are mostly continuous from day to day within their formal uncertainties.
During this quadrennium, very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) data acquisition and system development has focused on improving the accuracy of the system sufficiently to allow the determination of reliable estimates of height variations. Associated with this aim has been improvements in the determinations of horizontal velocity fields, monitoring water vapor delay using interferometric methods, and improvements to Earth rotation measurements. The primary aims of the improvements to height measurement accuracy have been to directly measure the contemporary magnitudes of post glacial rebound, and to determine a height reference system for measuring global sea level rise. High frequency Earth rotation studies have been carried out to better define the transformation parameters from an inertial coordinate system to an Earth fixed one, and to better understand the coupling between the components of the atmosphere-ocean-solid Earth system. Two major VLBI campaigns were carried out in support of these studies: (1) Epoch-92 in July 1992 and (2) Cont-94 in January 1994. Each of these campaigns lasted approximately two weeks and involved multiple VLBI networks operating simultaneously in addition to other space geodetic systems operating during these periods. Two major compilations of the VLBI results (and results from other space geodetic systems) have been published during this quadrennium.
The concept of testing Einstein's general theory of relativity by means of orbiting gyroscopes was first proposed in 1959, which lead to the development of the Gravity Probe B experiment. Einstein's theory concerns the predictions of the relativistic precession of a gyroscope in orbit around earth. According to his theory, there will be two precessions due to the warping of space-time by the earth's gravitational field: the geodetic precession in the plane of the orbit, and the frame-dragging effect, in the direction of earth rotation. For a polar orbit, these components are orthogonal. In order to simplify the measurement of the precessions, Gravity Probe B (GP-B) will be placed in a circular polar orbit at 650 km, for which the predicted precessions will be 6.6 arcsec/year (geodetic) and 42 milli-arcsec/year (frame-dragging). As the gyroscope precesses, the orientation of its spin-axis will be measured with respect to the line-of-sight to Rigel, a star whose proper motion is known to be within the required accuracy. The line-of-sight to Rigel will be established using a telescope, and the orientation of the gyroscope spin axis will be measured using very sensitive SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) magnetometers. The four gyroscopes will be coated with niobium. Below 2K, the niobium becomes superconducting and a dipole field will be generated which is precisely aligned with the gyroscope spin-axis. The change in orientation of these fields, as well as the spin-axis, is sensed by the SQUID magnetometers. In order to attain the superconducting temperatures for the gyroscopes and the SQUID's, the experiment package will be housed in a dewar filled with liquid helium. The helium flow through a GP-B micro thruster and into a vacuum is investigated using the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method.
We present a theoretical foundation for relativistic astronomical measurements in curved space-time. In particular, we discuss a new iterative approach for describing the dynamics of an isolated astronomical N-body system in metric theories of gravity. To do this, we generalize the Fock-Chandrasekhar method of the weak-field and slow-motion approximation (WFSMA) and develop a theory of relativistic reference frames (RF's) for a gravitationally bounded many-extended-body problem. In any proper RF constructed in the immediate vicinity of an arbitrary body, the N-body solutions of the gravitational field equations are formally presented as a sum of the Riemann-flat inertial space-time, the gravitational field generated by the body itself, the unperturbed solutions for each body in the system transformed to the coordinates of this proper RF, and the gravitational interaction term. We develop the basic concept of a general WFSMA theory of the celestial RF's applicable to a wide class of metric theories of gravity and an arbitrary model of matter distribution. We apply the proposed method to general relativity. Celestial bodies are described using a perfect fluid model; as such, they possess any number of internal mass and current multipole moments that explicitly characterize their internal structures. The obtained relativistic corrections to the geodetic equations of motion arise because of a coupling of the bodies' multiple moments to the surrounding gravitational field. The resulting relativistic transformations between the different RF's extend the Poincare group to the motion of deformable self-gravitating bodies. Within the present accuracy of astronomical measurements we discuss the properties of the Fermi-normal-like proper RF that is defined in the immediate vicinity of the extended compact bodies. We further generalize the proposed approximation method and include two Eddington parameters (gamma, Beta). This generalized approach was used to derive the relativistic equations of satellite motion in the vicinity of the extended bodies. Anticipating improvements in radio and laser tracking technologies over the next few decades, we apply this method to spacecraft orbit determination. We emphasize the number of feasible relativistic gravity tests that may be performed within the context of the parameterized WFSMA. Based on the planeto-centric equations of motion of a spacecraft around the planet, we suggested a new null test of the Strong Equivalence Principle (SEP). The experiment to measure the corresponding SEP violation effect could be performed with the future Mercury Orbiter mission. We discuss other relativistic effects, including the perihelion advance and the redshift and geodetic precession of the orbiter's orbital plane about Mercury, as well as the possible future implementation of the proposed formalism in software codes developed for solar-system orbit determination. All the important calculations are completely documented, and the references contain an extensive list of cited literature.
New algorithms are described covering the simulation, processing, and calibration of penetration angles of the Barnes static Earth sensor assembly (SESA) as implemented in the Goddard Space Flight Center Flight Dynamics Division ground support system for the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Observatory. The new treatment involves a detailed analysis of the measurements by individual quadrants. It is shown that, to a good approximation, individual quadrant misalignments can be treated simply as penetration angle biases. Simple formulas suitable for real-time applications are introduced for computing quadrant-dependent effects. The simulator generates penetration angles by solving a quadratic equation with coefficients uniquely determined by the spacecraft's position and the quadrant's orientation in GeoCentric Inertial (GCI) coordinates. Measurement processing for attitude determination is based on linearized equations obtained by expanding the coefficients of the aforementioned quadratic equation as a Taylor series in both the Earth oblateness coefficient (alpha approx. 1/150) and the angle between the pointing axis and the geodetic nadir vector. A simple formula relating a measured value of the penetration angle to the deviation of the Earth-pointed axis from the geodetic nadir vector is derived. It is shown that even near the very edge of the quadrant's Field Of View (FOV), attitude errors resulting from quadratic effects are a few hundredths of a degree, which is small compared to the attitude determination accuracy requirement (0.18 degree, 3 sigma) of TRMM. Calibration of SESA measurements is complicated by a first-order filtering used in the TRMM onboard algorithm to compute penetration angles from raw voltages. A simple calibration scheme is introduced where these complications are avoided by treating penetration angles as the primary raw measurements, which are adjusted using biases and scale factors. In addition to three misalignment parameters, the calibration state vector contains only two average penetration angle biases (one per each pair of opposite quadrants) since, because of the very narrow sensor FOV (+/- 2.6 degrees), differences between biases of the penetration angles measured by opposite quadrants cannot be distinguished from roll and pitch sensor misalignments. After calibration, the estimated misalignments and average penetration angle biases are converted to the four penetration angle biases and to the yaw misalignment angle. The resultant biases and the estimated scale factors are finally used to update the coefficients necessary for onboard computations of penetration angles from measured voltages.
The main objectives are: (1) To develop Pinon Flat Observatory (PFO) as a prototype 'integrated' FLINN station: one from which many types of data are collected, combined, and made available to the DOSE program to enhance studies of local and regional strains; (2) To develop the theoretical framework and methods to integrate the various types of auxiliary data which are to be collected by NASA at space-geodetic sites of the FLINN network, with the aim of learning as much as possible about the nature of earth deformation; (3) To develop procedures for the efficient and useful storage and retrieval of such auxiliary data so that they may be efficiently utilized by DOSE investigators; (4) To investigate the stability of ground monumentation now used in space-geodetic measurements, including the field testing of existing and new monument designs.