Analysis of total least squares in estimating the parameters of a mortar trajectory

Abstract

Least Squares (LS) is a method of curve fitting used with the assumption that error exists in the observation vector. The method of Total Least Squares (TLS) is more useful in cases where there is error in the data matrix as well as the observation vector. This paper describes work done in comparing the LS and TLS results for parameter estimation of a mortar trajectory based on a time series of angular observations. To improve the results, we investigated several derivations of the LS and TLS methods, and early findings show TLS provided slightly, 10%, improved results over the LS method.