The gravity field dedicated satellite missions like CHAMP, GRACE, and GOCE are supposed to map the Earth’s global gravity field with unprecedented accuracy and resolution. New models of Earth’s static and time-variable gravity field will be available every month as one of the science products from GRACE. Here we present an alternative method to estimate the gravity field efficiently using the i...

How to cite this article: Botai CM, Combrinck L. Global geopotential models from Satellite Laser Ranging data with geophysical applications: A review. S Afr J Sci. 2012;108(3/4), Art. #662, 10 pages. http:// dx.doi.org/10.4102/sajs. v108i3/4.662 The launch of artificial satellites (as early as in 1957), specifically the launch of the first laser tracked satellite, Beacon-B, in 1964, has provide...

The current bounds on the PPN parameters γ and β are of the order of 10−10. Various missions aimed at improving such limits by several orders of magnitude have more or less recently been proposed like LATOR, ASTROD, BepiColombo and GAIA. They involve the use of various spacecraft, to be launched along interplanetary trajectories, for measuring the post-Newtonian effects induced by the solar gra...

The new satellite missions CHAMP, GRACE and GOCE will provide significantly improved global gravity field information in terms of quality and spatial resolution. In order to quantify the quality of these gravity field models independently from the estimation procedure, new validation concepts are necessary using external information. Validation requires the processing of selected level 3 produc...

This work describes global gravity field modeling from observations of the CHAMP and the GOCE satellite mission. In the case of CHAMP the so-called Energy Balance Approach is applied to measurements of GPS high-low tracking of the low orbiting CHAMP spacecraft. In the case of GOCE gravity gradiometry is the main observable. The experience gained processing real data of the CHAMP satellite missi...

The physical characterization of exoplanets will require to take spectra at several orbital positions. For that purpose, a direct imaging capability is necessary. Direct imaging requires an efficient stellar suppression mechanism, associated with an ultrasmooth telescope. We show that before future large space missions (interferometer, 4-8 m class coronograph, external occulter or Fresnel image...