THE MEAN INTEGRAL REFRACTIVE INDEX OF AIR IN HIGH-PRECISION RANGING

What is it about?

Aim. The purpose of this work is to improve (improve accuracy) methods of taking into account the influence of the Earth's atmosphere on the results of measurements of large lengths carried out by electromagnetic waves on the near-earth tracks.

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Photo by M. B. M. on Unsplash

Photo by M. B. M. on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Method. The influence of the earth's atmosphere on the speed of propagation of the electromagnetic signal is considered. This effect is taken into account by introducing the correction of the mean refractive index of the air along the measured track in result of the measurements. Methods for determining this correction are selected for analysis, based on the replacement of the exact integral, which determines its value, by approximate quadrature formulas. These quadrature formulas allow us to represent the exact integral for the mean integral refractive index of air as a function of the local values of the refractive index on the track being measured. The focus is on the quadrature formulas that underlie the recently proposed gradient method (based in particular on the use of the Euler–Maclaurin integration formula or the Hermite polynomials). Results. It is shown that the gradient method of determining the mean integral refractive index of air, which uses the Hermite interpolation polynomials, has the better precision capabilities, than the gradient method based on the Euler–Maclaurin integration formulas. Scientific novelty and practical importance.

Perspectives