Individual geopotential coefficients of order 15 and 30, from resonant satellite orbits

Abstract

The analysis of variations in satellite orbits when they pass through 15th-order resonance (15 revolutions per day) yields values of lumped geopotential harmonics of order 15, and sometimes of order 30. The 15th-order lumped harmonics obtained from 24 such analyses over a wide range of orbital inclinations are used here to determine individual harmonic coefficients of order 15 and degree 15,16,…35; and the 30th-order lumped harmonics (from eight of the analyses) are used to evaluate individual coefficients of order 30 and degree 30,32,…40. The new values should be more accurate than any previously obtained. The accuracy of the 15th-order coefficients of degree 15, 16,…23 is equivalent to 1 cm in geoid height, while the 30th-order coefficients of degree 30, 32 and 34 are determined with an accuracy which is equivalent to better than 2 cm in geoid height. The results are used to assess the accuracy of the Goddard Earth Model 10B.