Reference orbits from range and Doppler observations

The paper is concerned with the height accuracy of reference orbits obtained by a system composed of one laser and three Doppler stations. It is thought that reference orbits obtained by this system could be used for altimeter evaluation, although height errors increased up to 50% over those from the orbits with four lasers. Simulation studies and real data results are analyzed, and the implications for the GEOS-3 project are considered.