12-15 July 2011
Saint George Hotel
Africa/Johannesburg timezone

Evaluation of satellites LAGEOS I and II; general relativistic accelerations in the Schwarzschild field of Earth

15 Jul 2011, 11:45
15m
Acro2

Acro2

Oral Presentation Track D2 - Space Science APSS

Speaker

Prof. Ludwig Combrinck (HartRAO)

Description

Solutions of General Relativity Theory (GRT) pertaining to space geodesy are weak field, slow motion approximations. These approximations are valid as the gravitational field in which the solutions are performed has a potential of small magnitude and the velocities involved for any of the satellites are much smaller than the velocity of light. The basic effects of GRT on space geodetic measurements are related to how GRT affects the observables and dynamics of satellite orbits. We evaluate the GRT accelerations ascribed to the Schwarzschild field, as well as those due to Lense-Thirring precession (frame dragging) and de Sitter precession. The Shapiro delay for a laser pulse as applied to Satellite LAser Ranging (SLR)is calculated and the importance of including this GRT correction in the range corrections for SLR is described in terms of evaluation of the Observed-Computed residuals. Post-post Newtonian corrections are calculated and their relevance discussed in terms of accuracy improvements.

Level (Hons, MSc, <br> &nbsp; PhD, other)? other
Consider for a student <br> &nbsp; award (Yes / No)? no
Would you like to <br> submit a short paper <br> for the Conference <br> Proceedings (Yes / No)? yes

Primary author

Prof. Ludwig Combrinck (HartRAO)

Presentation Materials

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