Toward Accurate Physics-Based Specifications of Neutral Density using
GNSS-Enabled Small Satellites
Abstract
Satellite-atmosphere interactions cause large uncertainties in low-Earth
orbit determination and prediction. Thus, knowledge of and the ability
to predict the space environment, most notably thermospheric mass
density, are essential for operating satellites in this domain. Recent
progress has been made toward supplanting the existing empirical,
operational methods with physics-based data-assimilative models by
accounting for the complex relationship between external drivers such as
solar irradiance, Joule, and particle heating, and their response in the
upper atmosphere. Simultaneously, a new era of CubeSat constellations is
set to provide data with which to calibrate our upper-atmosphere models
at higher spatial resolution and temporal cadence. With this in mind, we
provide an initial method for converting precision orbit determination
(POD) solutions from global navigation satellite system (GNSS) enabled
CubeSats into timeseries of thermospheric mass density. This information
is then fused with a physics-based, data-assimilative technique to
provide calibrated model densities.