Canberra DSN Twin Telescope Tests: Assessing Station Oriented Systematic Errors
Abstract
Each of NASA's three Deep Space Network sites has multiple large antennas capable of acquiring VLBI data.The long range plan is to have four 34-meter antennas at each site. At present Goldstone has three; Canberra has three, and Madrid has two with two more under construction. These antennas offer the opportunity to do connected element interferometry (CEI) over the few hundred meter baselines within each complex.Given that all antennas within a site are of nominally the same structural design, are run off the same clock, observe through almost the same atmosphere, and are subject to almost the same geophysics, doing CEI experiments is an excellent way to probe the limits of VLBI accuracy and expose station specific systematic errors.
This paper will report the results of just such tests at the DSN Canberra site which achieved about 0.2 mm baseline precision per pass. Some stations exhibit more than 1 mm systematics. Based on this data we will discuss the implications for whether the IAG's goal of 1mm station stability in VLBI geodesy is possible for large antennas.- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the 10th IVS General Meeting
- Pub Date:
- June 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018ivs..meetE...4H
- Keywords:
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- VLBI;
- TRF;
- station location;
- geodesy;
- AGN;
- quasar