Earth Radiation Pressure Modelling for Beidou IGSO Satellites

This study shows ERP (Earth Radiation Pressure) is significant for precise orbit determination of BeiDou satellites, systematic error is observable in the orbit products if it is ignored in the orbital dynamics. Through subdividing CERES (Cloud and Earth Radiation Energy System) 1° by 1° earth radiation grid into 6 levels of triangles, a precise and runtime configurable earth radiation model has been obtained. The results reveal that level 4 subdivision can make the relative error of both longwave and shortwave radiation less than 1%. ERP acceleration for BeiDou IGSO satellite(C08) and its effects on orbit have been analyzed through modelling the earth radiation using a box-wing geometry model. The acceleration in radial is about 2-4 times larger than the along track and normal with magnitude 10-10m/s2 . 30-hour orbit prediction shows the 3D RMS error due to ERP is 0.638 m and its maximum can reach 0.9 m.