On the Simulation of the Laser Ranging Instrument for GRACE Follow-on

Abstract:

GRACE Follow-On will be the first satellite mission to use inter-satellite laser interferometry
in space. The laser ranging instrument (LRI) will provide two additional measurements compared to GRACE mission:
Interferometric inter-satellite ranging with nanometer precision
and inter-satellite pointing information from Differential wavefront Sensing.
We will discuss these two LRI measurements and errors;
and present models how to simulate two major noise sources in LRI, namely pointing jitter and laser frequency noise.

The LRI simulated data will be available to the geodesy community by
Geo-Q (Relativistic Geodesy and Gravimetry with Quantum Sensors) project before the GRACE Follow-On launch to enable the timely development of data analysis tools around the world.

The LRI simulation will demonstrate potentials and limitations of the LRI measurements for gravity field recovery.