The nondominated sorting genetic algorithm III (NSGA-III) is used to design nonsymmetric satellite constellations to observe large-scale high-frequency gravity variations that would serve as complementary systems to other dedicated gravity field mapping missions such as the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and GRACE Follow-On missions. The functionality of the NSGA-III method is validated by reproducing optimal surface-coverage satellite constellations from the literature. Then, NSGA-III is used to generate nondominated constellations tuned to detect short-term long-wavelength gravity field variations. The constellations are used to generate subweekly gravity field solutions from clock frequency comparison measurements. The effectiveness of NSGA-III for optimizing nonsymmetric constellations was demonstrated because the constellations obtained from NSGA-III were consistently superior in performance than traditional symmetric constellations. Furthermore, the results showed that the time-varying signals of interest (that is, gravity coefficients through the spherical harmonic degree and order of seven at daily intervals) can be unambiguously resolved by assuming an optical clock with a 4.8 × 10 18 fractional frequency uncertainty representative of current technology. The ability to monitor these short-term long-wavelength signals on a global scale would observe a spectrum of the gravity field inherently undetectable by GRACE-like missions, and it would provide new insight to the understanding of global mass redistribution processes.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Designing Satellite Constellations to Observe Earth’s Time-Varying Gravity from Clock Frequency Comparisons


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2023-04-24


    Size :

    11 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English





    Using Satellite Constellations for Improved Determination of Earth's Time-Variable Gravity

    Gunter, B.C. / Encarnacao, J. / Ditmar, P. et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2011


    Designing good partial coverage satellite constellations

    Hanson, John M. / Evans, Maria J. / Turner, Ronald E. | NTRS | 1992


    Designing good partial coverage satellite constellations

    HANSON, JOHN / EVANS, MARIA / TURNER, RONALD | AIAA | 1990


    Satellite constellations

    HERMAN JONATHAN F C / MANCE STEPHEN / FORQUERA PAUL A et al. | European Patent Office | 2022

    Free access