scholarly journals Evaluation of VLBI Observations with Sensitivity and Robustness Analyses

Mathematics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 939
Author(s):  
Pakize Küreç Nehbit ◽  
Robert Heinkelmann ◽  
Harald Schuh ◽  
Susanne Glaser ◽  
Susanne Lunz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frames ◽  
Robustness Analysis ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Internal Reliability ◽  
Long Baseline ◽  
Vlbi Observations ◽  
Station Coordinates ◽  
Minimum Displacement ◽  
Total Observation

Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) plays an indispensable role in the realization of global terrestrial and celestial reference frames and in the determination of the full set of the Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP). The main goal of this research is to assess the quality of the VLBI observations based on the sensitivity and robustness criteria. Sensitivity is defined as the minimum displacement value that can be detected in coordinate unknowns. Robustness describes the deformation strength induced by the maximum undetectable errors with the internal reliability analysis. The location of a VLBI station and the total weights of the observations at the station are most important for the sensitivity analysis. Furthermore, the total observation number of a radio source and the quality of the observations are important for the sensitivity levels of the radio sources. According to the robustness analysis of station coordinates, the worst robustness values are caused by atmospheric delay effects with high temporal and spatial variability. During CONT14, it is determined that FORTLEZA, WESTFORD, and TSUKUB32 have robustness values changing between 0.8 and 1.3 mm, which are significantly worse in comparison to the other stations. The radio sources 0506-612, NRAO150, and 3C345 have worse sensitivity levels compared to other radio sources. It can be concluded that the sensitivity and robustness analysis are reliable measures to obtain high accuracy VLBI solutions.

scholarly journals Some Considerations in the Use of Very-Long-Baseline-Interferometry to Establish Reference Coordinate Systems for Geodynamics

1980 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 205-216
Author(s):  
Douglas S. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frames ◽  
Geodetic Survey ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
National Geodetic Survey ◽  
Terrestrial Reference Frames ◽  
Long Baseline ◽  
Lithospheric Plates ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Stability

AbstractPresent knowledge of the number, distribution, proper motion and structures of extragalactic radio sources indicates that there should be no problem in defining a celestial reference frame with stabilities of a few milliseconds of arc over time spans of the order of a decade. One of the limiting factors appears to be the structure of the sources. By measuring and monitoring these structures, the stability could probably be improved by as much as one or two orders of magnitude. Even without this improvement, a network of properly distributed fixed observatories making regular interferometric observations of these radio sources could be used to define a terrestrial coordinate system that could be maintained at the few centimeter level over indefinitely long time periods. Such a stable terrestrial reference system would be useful for a host of modern geodetic and geodynamic applications, including, in particular, studies of the time varying deformations and relative motions of lithospheric plates. The National Geodetic Survey has already begun work on a three station base network of permanent observatories under project POLARIS as a first step toward implementing the new celestial and terrestrial reference frames. It is hoped that others will join in the effort and make the new reference frames a reality by the middle of this decade.

scholarly journals Opacity in compact extragalactic radio sources and its effect on radio-optical reference frame alignment

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (S248) ◽  
pp. 348-351
Author(s):  
Y. Y. Kovalev ◽  
A. P. Lobanov ◽  
A. B. Pushkarev ◽  
J. A. Zensus
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frames ◽  
Reference Sample ◽  
Physical Factors ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Positional Accuracy ◽  
Extragalactic Radio Sources ◽  
Long Baseline ◽  
Spectral Bands ◽  
Optical Reference ◽  
Primary Reference

AbstractAccurate alignment of the radio and optical celestial reference frames requires detailed understanding of physical factors that may cause offsets between the positions of the same object measured in different spectral bands. Opacity in compact extragalactic jets (due to synchrotron self-absorption and external free-free absorption) is one of the key physical phenomena producing such an offset, and this effect is well-known in radio astronomy (“core shift”). We have measured the core shifts in a sample of 29 bright compact extragalactic radio sources observed by Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) at 2.3 and 8.6 GHz. We report the results of these measurements and estimate that the average shift between radio and optical positions of distant quasars could be of the order of 0.1--0.2 mas. This shift exceeds the expected positional accuracy of Gaia and SIM. We suggest two possible approaches to carefully investigate and correct for this effect in order to align accurately the radio and optical positions. Both approaches involve determining a Primary Reference Sample of objects to be used for tying the radio and optical reference frames together.

scholarly journals Astrometry and Geodesy from VLBI

1993 ◽  
Vol 156 ◽  
pp. 159-171
Author(s):  
C. Ma ◽  
J. L. Russell
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frame ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Dual Frequency ◽  
Terrestrial Reference Frames ◽  
Vlbi Observations ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Celestial Reference Frame ◽  
Right Ascension ◽  
Better Than

Dual frequency Mark III VLBI observations acquired since 1979 by several geodetic and astrometric observing programs have been used to establish precise celestial and terrestrial reference frames. The program to establish a uniformly distributed celestial reference frame of ∼400 compact radio sources with optical counterparts was begun in 1987. Some 700 sources have been considered as part of this effort and a preliminary list of ∼400 has been observed. At present, 308 sources have formal 1σ errors less than 1 mas in right ascension and 308 have similar precision in declination. The astrometric results include some data acquired for geodetic purposes. The geodetic results using data to September, 1992 include the positions of 105 sites with formal 1σ horizontal errors generally less than 1 cm at 1992.6 and the velocities of 64 sites with formal 1σ horizontal errors generally better than 2 mm/yr.

Analysis of differential residuals of SLR observations to GNSS: Methodology and results from analyzing 25 years of data

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Ampatzidis ◽  
Daniela Thaller ◽  
Lin Wang
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frames ◽  
Systematic Errors ◽  
Satellite Orbits ◽  
Terrestrial Reference Frames ◽  
Station Coordinates ◽  
Systematic Effects ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Alternative Scenarios ◽  
Gnss Observations

<p>The SLR observations to GNSS play a significant role as space tie, and allow investigations of many quantities related to the global Terrestrial Reference Frames (TRF), e.g., satellite orbits, scale, station coordinates, local ties. The differences between the observed ranges (via SLR observations) minus the computed spatial distances (via GNSS orbits based on GNSS observations) form the so-called “SLR residuals”. The analysis of these SLR residuals offers the opportunity to investigate the biases of the SLR measurements, the quality of the GNSS orbits and the quality and consistency of station coordinates. However, the absolute residuals contain a various number of inconsistencies and systematics which are not straightforward to be identified and separated, and, therefore to be further investigated. The present study focuses on the derivation of three alternative scenarios/cases through the usage of differential residuals between epochs, satellites and stations. These differential SLR residuals are derived from the processing of 25 years of SLR observations to GNSS (using GPS and GLONASS). The advantage of using the differential residuals is the elimination of one or more sources of systematic errors, according to each scenario. The comparison between the absolute and the differential residuals, respectively, is proven to stand as a useful diagnostic tool for the assessment of the systematic effects.</p>

scholarly journals Models for Source Structure Corrections

2000 ◽  
Vol 180 ◽  
pp. 29-39
Author(s):  
P. Charlot
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frame ◽  
Very Long Baseline Interferometry ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
Long Baseline ◽  
Vlbi Observations ◽  
Spatially Extended ◽  
Astrometric Data ◽  
Celestial Reference Frame ◽  
Source Structure

AbstractAt the milliarcsecond scale, most of the extragalactic radio sources exhibit spatially-extended intrinsic structures which are variable in both time and frequency. Such radio structures set limits on the accuracy of source positions determined with the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) technique unless their effects in the astrometric data can be accounted for. We review the modeling scheme for calculating source structure corrections and discuss the magnitude and impact of these effects for the sources that are part of the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF). Results obtained by applying source structure corrections to actual VLBI observations on the time-varying source 4C39.25 (0923 + 392) are also presented.

scholarly journals Baseline-dependent clock offsets in VLBI data analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 95 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hana Krásná ◽  
Frédéric Jaron ◽  
Jakob Gruber ◽  
Johannes Böhm ◽  
Axel Nothnagel
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
Earth Orientation Parameters ◽  
Earth Orientation ◽  
Long Baseline ◽  
Station Coordinates ◽  
Vlbi Data ◽  
Group Delays ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Orientation Parameters

AbstractThe primary goal of the geodetic Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) technique is to provide highly accurate terrestrial and celestial reference frames as well as Earth orientation parameters. In compliance with the concept of VLBI, additional parameters reflecting relative offsets and variations of the atomic clocks of the radio telescopes have to be estimated. In addition, reality shows that in many cases significant offsets appear in the observed group delays for individual baselines which have to be compensated for by estimating so-called baseline-dependent clock offsets (BCOs). For the first time, we systematically investigate the impact of BCOs to stress their importance for all kinds of VLBI data analyses. For our investigations, we concentrate on analyzing data from both legacy networks of the CONT17 campaign. Various aspects of BCOs including their impact on the estimates of geodetically important parameters, such as station coordinates and Earth orientation parameters, are investigated. In addition, some of the theory behind the BCO determination, e.g., the impact of changing the reference clock in the observing network on the BCO estimate is introduced together with the relationship between BCOs and triangle delay closures. In conclusion, missing channels, and here in particular at S band, affecting the ionospheric delay calibration, are identified to be the dominant cause for the occurrence of significant BCOs in VLBI data analysis.

scholarly journals The Definition and Stability of Local Inertial Reference Frames

1990 ◽  
Vol 141 ◽  
pp. 253-260
Author(s):  
R. N. Treuhaft ◽  
S. T. Lowe
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frame ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
Broad Class ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Local Frame ◽  
Long Baseline ◽  
Angular Deflection ◽  
Limiting Error ◽  
Local Reference ◽  
Single Epoch

Inertial reference frames spanning approximately 10°-30° square on the sky and capable of locating objects to few-hundred microarcsecond accuracies are useful for a broad class of astrometric measurements. Deep space tracking and general relativistic angular deflection experiments are examples of astrometric measurements which can profitably reference the positions and/or motions of objects to a field of radio sources in a local frame. A method for defining local inertial reference frames has been developed based on Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) measurements of extragalactic radio sources. By observing the radio emission from the object to be located in the frame, as well as that from about five radio sources which define the frame, dominant systematic astrometric errors can be minimized through parameter estimation. The entire reference frame measurement is of the order of 30 minutes including all the sources in a frame. The limiting error for single-epoch position determination in a local frame is the unknown structure of both target and reference objects. Structure can cause systematic milliarcsecond-level errors. The limiting error for epoch-to-epoch differential position measurements is tropospheric fluctuations, assuming that the radio source structures do not change from one epoch to the next. Preliminary results of an epoch-to-epoch measurement of relativistic gravitational deflection by Jupiter, in which the total deflection was about 600 microarcseconds, suggest that the local reference frame is stable at the 240-microarcsecond level over twelve days. Data have been taken at longer time intervals to determine the annual stability of the frames. At the time of preparation of these proceedings, those data have not yet been analyzed.

BKG’s new series of 24-hour and 1-hour VLBI experiments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasiia Girdiuk ◽  
Gerald Engelhardt ◽  
Dieter Ullrich ◽  
Daniela Thaller ◽  
Hendrik Hellmers
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frames ◽  
Global Network ◽  
Time Intervals ◽  
Earth Orientation Parameters ◽  
Terrestrial Reference Frames ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Station Coordinates ◽  
Orientation Parameters

<p>With the VLBI technique radio sources are observed in dedicated time intervals. The most usual length of these observing sessions are 24 and 1-hour long. 24-hour long experiments usually incorporate a global network of stations, and, thus, are the prominent source of a consistent determination of all Earth Orientation Parameters (EOPs), celestial and terrestrial reference frames. The shorter experiments are designed to determine dUT1 parameter only. The number of short or intensive sessions is growing every year. Also some of them involve 3-4 stations in observation programs instead of standard 2-station mode. This leads to a larger number of observations per session, a better coverage of the Earth, and, consequently more accurate dUT1 estimates.</p><p>All 24-hour and 1-hour sessions since 1984 up to now were re-processed by BKG using the most up-to-date modelling within the parameter estimation. This results in new series of consistently estimated EOPs, station coordinates and troposphere parameters.</p><p>In this contribution we present our new series and investigate the quality of the obtained geodetic products, especially the EOPs. The work is focused on the consistency between dUT1 parameters derived from 24-hour and 1-hour sessions, respectively. In this study we pinpoint challenges and prospects of the inclusion of 1-hour experiments into the standard analysis of the 24-hour experiments.</p>

scholarly journals The Gould's Belt Distances Survey

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S289) ◽  
pp. 36-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Loinard
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Very Long Baseline Interferometry ◽  
Young Stars ◽  
Solar Neighborhood ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Proper Motions ◽  
Long Baseline ◽  
Trigonometric Parallax ◽  
Vlbi Observations ◽  
Better Than

AbstractVery Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations can provide the positions of compact radio sources with an accuracy of order 50 micro-arcseconds. This is sufficient to measure the trigonometric parallax and proper motions of any object within 500 pc of the Sun to better than a few percent. Because they are magnetically active, young stars are often associated with compact radio emission detectable using VLBI techniques. Here we show how VLBI observations have already constrained the distance to the most often studied nearby regions of star formation (Taurus, Ophiuchus, Orion, etc.) and have started to provide information about their internal structure and kinematics. We will then briefly describe a large project, the ‘Gould's Belt Distances Survey,’ which has been designed to provide a detailed view of star formation in the solar neighborhood using VLBI observations.

Investigation of the relationship between sensitivity level of the sources and the internal reliability value of VLBI observations during CONT14

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pakize Kurec Nehbit ◽  
Robert Heinkelmann ◽  
Harald Schuh ◽  
Haluk Konak
Keyword(s):  
Network Adjustment ◽  
Internal Reliability ◽  
Vlbi Observations ◽  
Gross Error ◽  
Sensitivity Level ◽  
Vlbi Data ◽  
The Mathematical Model ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Source Structure

<p>The quality of geodetic networks can be determined with the sensitivity and the internal reliability magnitudes when the mathematical model established for the network adjustment is questioned. Internal reliability is used for controlling an observation with the help of the other observations in the network and describes the magnitude of the undetectable gross errors by using hypothesis testing. The sensitivity level is explained as the minimum value of the undetectable gross error in the adjusted coordinate differences. In VLBI the observed sources are of major importance for the quality of the observations.  In this study, it is investigated how the sensitivity levels of the sources impact the internal reliability of the observations during the continuous VLBI campaign CONT14. It is aimed to detect the poor sources and their effects statistically in the VLBI data analysis. If the sources having worst sensitivity value such as 0506-612, 3C454.3, NRAO150, and 3C345  have been excluded, the internal reliability values of the observations get better. For the rest of the sources the sensitivity distributions have been obtained as better. It can be concluded that the source structure might be significant for the quality of the observations.</p>

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