CoAuthors

Nikita P Zelensky (SGT Inc., U.S.A.); Stavros Melachroinos (SGT Inc., U.S.A.); Douglas S. Chinn (SGT Inc., U.S.A.); Brian Beckley (SGT Inc., U.S.A.); Despina E. Pavlis (SGT Inc., U.S.A.); Jesse Wimert (SGT Inc., U.S.A.)

The Jason-2 (OSTM) spacecraft has now been in orbit for five years (since June 2008), and the full set of altimeter data from TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1, and Jason-2 now span more than twenty years. In order to properly use the altimeter data, especially for the most demanding applications such as the determination of mean sea level, we must develop a time series of precise orbits that are as accurate as possible over the entire 20-year time span, using a consistent set of modeling and geophysical standards. In this paper, we give an overview on the improvements we have incorporated into our latest release of orbits, std1402, which include application of the Vienna Mapping Function (VMF) to better correct the DORIS data for tropospheric refraction, improvement to the background geopotential modeling to account for the recent changes in the time-variable gravity field of the Earth, and improved measurement modeling for the DORIS measurement. We provide an overview of other improvements that improve the consistency between dynamic SLR/DORIS orbits, and those produced from GPS. We evaluate these improvements through the standard set of internal tests (RMS of fit, altimeter crossovers, orbit overlaps), but also through comparisons with other POD centers.