Strategies for high-precision Global Positioning System orbit determination

Various strategies for the high-precision orbit determination of the GPS satellites are explored using data from the 1985 GPS field test. Several refinements to the orbit determination strategies were found to be crucial for achieving high levels of repeatability and accuracy. These include the fine tuning of the GPS solar radiation coefficients and the ground station zenith tropospheric delays. Multiday arcs of 3-6 days provided better orbits and baselines than the 8-hr arcs from single-day passes. Highest-quality orbits and baselines were obtained with combined carrier phase and pseudorange solutions.