INTERGEO Agenda - english

The European Space Agency (ESA) will launch the Genesis mission in 2028 as the first space-based co-location of the four main space geodetic techniques in an effort to address and contribute to a better understanding of challenges to improve the accuracy and stability of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF). In order to assess the potential benefits that this mission will bring, simulation studies are needed to investigate the observability of Genesis and its impact on the recovery of geodetic parameters. Satellite laser ranging (SLR), one of the techniques planned for co-location on Genesis, plays a fundamental role in establishing global terrestrial references frames. In particular by defining the origin and contributing to the scale definition of the ITRF. However, the SLR network has a heterogeneous performance: it is limited by local weather conditions and site-specific operational capabilities. Furthermore, the station network has an unbalanced global distribution. Nevertheless, the SLR network will be expanded in the future, so that by 2028, 20 new stations will be operational. Seven of these will replace existing stations, while 13 will be at new locations. This study analyzes the impact of this future network expansion on the estimation of geodetic parameters based on SLR observations. To reflect the variable nature of SLR observations, the simulated performance of the 20 new stations takes into account local cloud cover in an effort to reflect a realistic number of observations. This simulation framework is intended to assess the capabilities of an expanded SLR network in light of the new Genesis mission. This simulation study investigates various scenarios to ensure the greatest possible improvement in geodetic parameter estimation by SLR.