Horizontal and vertical thermospheric cross-wind from GOCE linear and angular accelerations

Journal article (2019)

Authors

T. Visser Astrodynamics & Space Missions - Aerospace Engineering
G. March Astrodynamics & Space Missions - Aerospace Engineering
E.N. Doornbos Astrodynamics & Space Missions - Aerospace Engineering
P Visser Astrodynamics & Space Missions - Aerospace Engineering
Research Group
Astrodynamics & Space Missions (Aerospace Engineering) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2019 T. Visser, G. March, E.N. Doornbos, C.C. de Visser, P Visser
DOI
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2019.01.030
Thermospheric wind Vertical wind Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) Angular accelerations
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Published Date

15-05-2019

Language

English

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Faculty

Aerospace Engineering

Department

Space Engineering

Research Group

Astrodynamics & Space Missions

Abstract

Thermospheric wind measurements obtained from linear non-gravitational accelerations of the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite show discrepancies when compared to ground-based measurements. In this paper the cross-wind is derived from both the linear and the angular accelerations using a newly developed iterative algorithm. The two resulting data sets are compared to test the validity of wind derived from angular accelerations and quantify the uncertainty in accelerometer-derived wind data. In general the difference is found to be less than 50 m/s vertically after high-pass filtering, and 100 m/s horizontally. A sensitivity analysis reveals that continuous thrusting is a major source of uncertainty in the torque-derived wind, as are the magnetic properties of the satellite. The energy accommodation coefficient is identified as a particularly promising parameter for improving the consistency of thermospheric cross-wind data sets in the future. The algorithm may be applied to obtain density and cross-wind from other satellite missions that lack accelerometer data, provided the attitude and orbit are known with sufficient accuracy.