Analysis of Parameter Correlations of the ECOM Solar Radiation Pressure Model for GPS Orbit

The modeling of solar radiation pressure is the most important issue in precision GNSS orbit determination and is usually represented by constant and periodic terms in three orthogonal axes. Unfortunately, these parameters are generally correlated with each other due to overparameterization, and furthermore, the correlation does not remain constant throughout a long-term period. A total of 500 weeks of GPS daily solutions were estimated with the empirical CODE orbit model (ECOM) to cover various block types of satellites. The statistics of the postfit residuals were analyzed in this study, which shows the dominant annual variation of the correlations over time. There is no significant difference between eclipsing and noneclipsing satellites, and the frequency of the correlation exactly corresponds to the GPS draconitic year. Based on the residual analysis, the ECOM is the most appropriate for the Block IIR/IIR-M satellites but does not properly account for the behavior of either older Block IIA or newer IIF satellites. In addition, the daily mean residuals show a different pattern for satellite orbital planes. Therefore, the orbit model should be customized for the block types and orbital plane for better representation of multi-GNSS orbits