Density corrections for the NRLMSIS-00 atmosphere model

Previously the authors described a technique for estimating the fluctuations between the actual atmosphere density and a chosen atmosphere density model. The observation data is the Two Line Element set data associated with catalogued inactive payloads and debris. The total number of such drag-perturbed space objects reaches several hundred at any given time. The element sets for these space objects are updated as an ordinary routine operation by the space surveillance system. The TLE data allows the construction of operative corrections to the modeled atmosphere density. Time series for the density corrections for the Russian operational GOST atmosphere density model were obtained on a one-day grid over a four-year interval. The effectiveness of this process was evaluated by comparison of the orbit determination and prediction results obtained with and without the estimated density variations. In the current paper, corrections to the NRLMSIS-00 atmosphere density model are estimated with the same technique. Accounting for the constructed NRLMSIS-00 density corrections in the orbit determination. process resulted in a 3.6-fold decrease in the scattering of the ballistic coefficient estimates. The GOST and NRLMSIS-00 results are compared.