精密星历和TLE数据融合的大气阻力特性分析
ANALYSIS OF ATMOSPHERIC DRAG CHARACTERISTICS BASED ON FUSION OF PRECISE EPHEMERIDES AND TLE DATA
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摘要: 为有效分析超低轨空间大气阻力特性、修正传统经验模型偏差, 研究依托SpaceX Starlink星座7天CCSDS OCM(Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems Orbit Comprehensive Message, 国际空间数据系统咨询委员会轨道综合报文)预报星历与TLE(Two-Line Element, 两行轨道根数)数据, 筛选350 km、450 km两个典型轨道高度层的卫星样本开展仿真研究, 构建了一套全新的低轨卫星大气阻力特性分析框架. 该框架充分利用公开预报星历自带的机动信息, 实现推力与大气阻力效应的分离和交叉验证, 摆脱了传统方法对加速度计数据的依赖. 首先采用高精度瞬平根转换算法, 减小瞬时根数导致的轨道高度衰减估算误差; 接着通过策略性选点优化的最小二乘数值拟合方法, 提升大气阻力加速度拟合精度; 同时挑选预报星历的非机动段数据精密定轨, 解算卫星弹道系数; 最后利用TLE历史数据, 实现低轨真实大气密度的反演, 可同步实现卫星在轨姿态评估与空间大气密度动态变化分析. 试验结果表明, 通过预报星历反演的NRLMSISE-00大气模型密度与模型本身数据吻合度较高, 验证了弹道系数估计与大气密度反演方法的有效性; TLE数据反演的真实大气密度与NRLMSISE-00经验模型整体偏差约30%, 经验模型存在随高度变化的系统性偏差; 高度每下降100km大气密度约提升为原来的5 ~ 7倍, 同一高度层近半年的大气密度变化近3倍. 该研究体系可为大气密度修正、轨道预报精度提高提供参考.Abstract: To effectively analyze the atmospheric drag characteristics in Very-low Earth orbit (VLEO) and mitigate biases of traditional empirical models, this study conducts simulation experiments on satellite samples at two typical orbital altitudes of 350 km and 450 km. Relying on 7-day predictive ephemerides in the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems Orbit Comprehensive Message (CCSDS OCM) format and measured two-line element (TLE) data of the SpaceX Starlink constellation, a novel analytical framework for atmospheric drag characteristics of low-Earth orbit satellites is established. The main innovations of this framework lie in fully exploiting the maneuver information contained in the public predictive ephemerides, so that thrust and atmospheric drag effects can be separated and cross-validated without relying on accelerometer data. First, a high-precision transformation algorithm between osculating and mean orbital elements is adopted to reduce estimation errors of orbital altitude decay induced by osculating elements. Subsequently, a least-squares numerical fitting method optimized via strategic point selection is utilized to improve the fitting precision of atmospheric drag acceleration. Meanwhile, precise orbit determination is performed using non-maneuver segment data extracted from predictive ephemerides to solve for the satellite ballistic coefficient. Finally, historical TLE data are applied to retrieve the true atmospheric density in low Earth orbit, enabling simultaneous evaluation of satellite on-orbit status and dynamic analysis of spatial atmospheric density variations.Experimental results demonstrate that the atmospheric density of the NRLMSISE-00 model retrieved from predictive ephemerides achieves high consistency with native model outputs, which verifies the validity of the proposed ballistic coefficient estimation and atmospheric density retrieval methods. The overall deviation between the true atmospheric density retrieved from TLE data and the NRLMSISE-00 empirical model is approximately 30%, revealing altitude-dependent systematic biases within the empirical model. Atmospheric density increases by 5 to 7 times when the orbital altitude decreases by 100 km, and the atmospheric density at a fixed altitude can vary by nearly threefold over half a year. The proposed research system can provide references for atmospheric density correction and the improvement of orbital prediction accuracy.
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