Obtaining earth surface gravity disturbances from a GPS-based 'high-low' satellite-to-satellite tracking experiment

The potentiality of a 'high-low' satellite-to-satellite tracking measurement process involving a single low orbiter and the GPS constellation to estimate earth surface gravity disturbances is examined. An error analysis based on signal-to-noise ratios of the spectra of intersatellite line-of-sight (LOS) accelerations possessing an assumed white noise process is conducted. A downward continuation technique was employed in conjunction with singular value decomposition methods to predict one degree mean disturbances over two separate regions on the earth's surface.