One-Centimeter Orbits in Near-Real Time: The GPS Experience on OSTM/Jason-2

The advances in Precise Orbit Determination (POD) over the past three decades have been driven in large measure by the increasing demands of satellite altimetry missions. Since the launch of Seasat in 1978, both tracking-system technologies and orbit modeling capabilities have evolved considerably. The latest in a series of precise (TOPEX-class) altimeter missions is the Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM, also Jason-2). GPS-based orbit solutions for this mission are accurate to 1-cm (radial RMS) within three to five hours of real time. These GPS-based orbit products provide the basis for a near-real time sea-surface height product that supports increasingly diverse applications of operational oceanography and climate forecasting.