Changchun SLR data analysis using different techniques

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to investigate three different techniques for fitting the SLR data observed from the Changchun observatory in China which is characterized by its huge amount of data points and to examine which of the three techniques is more proper for fitting such kind of data. The first technique is the interpolation using the Chebyshev polynomial for fitting the total number of satellite laser ranging (SLR) data points. The second technique is the spline technique which is used for matching continuous intervals for fitting the SLR data. The third technique is the method, which is used at Changchun observatory, known as the Iterative 4th order polynomial fit. The three techniques are applied to 100 samples; 50 samples for the satellite LAGEOS I and the other 50 samples for the satellite Starlette that were observed during the first quarter of 2018. From the obtained results, it is found that the first two techniques, namely the Chebyshev polynomial and Spline techniques provide better standard deviation in comparison to the Iterative 4th order polynomial fit technique that is used at Changchun observatory, with merit to Spline technique over the Chebyshev polynomial.