Abstract
Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) is a differential technique observing radiation of compact extra-galactic radio sources with pairs of radio telescopes. For these observations, the frequency standards at the telescopes need to have very high stability. In this article we discuss why this is, and we investigate exactly how precise the frequency standards need to be. Four areas where good clock performance is needed are considered: coherence, geodetic parameter estimation, correlator synchronization, and UT1 determination. We show that in order to ensure the highest accuracy of VLBI, stability similar to that of a hydrogen maser is needed for time-scales up to a few hours. In the article, we are considering both traditional VLBI where extra-galactic radio sources are observed, as well as observation of man-made artificial radio sources emitted by satellites or spacecrafts.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Z. Altamimi, P. Rebischung, L. Métivier, X. Collilieux, ITRF2014: a new release of the international terrestrial reference frame modeling nonlinear station motions. J. Geophys. Res. 121, 6109–6131 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JB013098
J.M. Anderson, G. Beyerle, S. Glaser, L. Liu, B. Männel, T. Nilsson, R. Heinkelmann, H. Schuh, Simulations of VLBI observations of a geodetic satellite providing co-location in space. J. Geod. 2018, in press. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-018-1115-5
Y. Bar-Sever, B. Haines, W. Bertiger, S. Desai, S. Wu, Geodetic reference antenna in space (GRASP)—a mission to enhance space-based geodesy, in Proc. 2nd Colloquium Scientific and Fundamental Aspects of the Galileo Programme, Padova, Italy (2009)
R. Biancale, A. Pollet, D. Coulot, M. Mandea, E-GRASP/eratosthenes: a mission proposal for millimetric TRF realization, in EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts, vol. 19 (2017), p. 8752
J.S. Border, Innovations in Delta Differential One-way Range: from Viking to Mars Science Laboratory, in Proc. 21st Int. Sym. Space Flight Dynamics, Toulouse, France, 28 Sept.–02 Oct., 2009, http://issfd.or/ISSFD_2009/OrbitDeterminationI/Border.pdf
D.A. Duev, G. Molera Calvés, S.V. Pogrebenko, L.I. Gurvits, G. Cimó, T. Bocanegra Bahamon, Spacecraft VLBI and Doppler tracking: algorithms and implementation. Astron. Astrophys. 541, A43 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201218885
D.A. Duev, S.V. Pogrebenko, G. Cimo, G. Molera Calvés, T.M. Bocanegra T.M. Bahamon, L.I. Gurvits, M.M. Kettenis, J. Kania, V. Tudose, P. Rosenblatt, J.-C. Marty, V. Lainey, P. de Vicente, J. Quick, M. Nickola, A. Neidhardt, G. Kronschnabl, C. Plötz, R. Haas, M. Lindqvist, A. Orlati, A.V. Ipatov, M.A. Kharinov, A.G. Mikhailov, J.E.J. Lovell, J.N. McCallum, J. Stevens, S.A. Gulyaev, T. Natush, S. Weston, W.H. Wang, B. Xia, W.J. Yang, L-F. Hao, J. Kallunki, O. Witasse, Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiment (PRIDE) technique: a test case of the Mars express phobos y-by. Astron. Astrophys. (2016). https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201628869
E. Himwich, A. Bertarini, B. Corey, K. Baver, D. Gordon, L. La Porta, Impact of station clocks on UT1-TAI estimates, in Proc. 23rd European VLBI Group for Geodesy and Astrometry Working Meeting, ed. by R. Haas, G. Elgered (Gothenburg, Sweden, 2017), pp. 12–176
T. Nilsson, R. Haas, Impact of atmospheric turbulence on geodetic very long baseline interferometry. J. Geophys. Res. 115(B03), 407 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JB006579
T. Nilsson, B. Soja, M. Karbon, R. Heinkelmann, H. Schuh, Application of Kalman filtering in VLBI data analysis. Earth Planets Space 67, 1–9 (2015)
A. Pany, J. Böhm, D. MacMillan, H. Schuh, T. Nilsson, J. Wresnik, Monte Carlo simulations of the impact of troposphere, clock and measurement errors on the repeatability of VLBI positions. J. Geod. 85, 39–50 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-010-0415-1
B. Petrachenko, A. Niell, D. Behrend, B. Corey, J. Böhm, P. Charlot, A. Collioud, J. Gipson, R. Haas, T. Hobiger, Y. Koyama, D. MacMillan, T. Nilsson, A. Pany, G. Tuccari, A. Whitney, J. Wresnik, Design Aspects of the VLBI2010 System. Progress Report of the VLBI2010 Committee. NASA Technical Memorandum, NASA/TM-2009-214180, 58 pp. (June 2009)
W.T. Petrachenko, A.E. Niell, B.E. Corey, D. Behrend, H. Schuh, J. Wresnik, VLBI2010: next generation VLBI system for geodesy and astrometry, in Geodesy for Planet Earth, International Association of Geodesy Symposia, vol. 136, ed. by S. Kenyon, M.C. Pacino, U. Marti (Springer, Berlin, 2012), pp. 999–1006. ISBN 978-3-642-20337-4
L. Plank, VLBI satellite tracking for the realization of frame ties. PhD Thesis, Technische Universität Wien, Vienna, Austria (2013)
L. Plank, J. Böhm, H. Schuh, Precise station positions from VLBI observations to satellites: a simulation study. J. Geod. 88(7), 659–673 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-014-0712-1
L. Plank, A. Hellerschmied, J. McCallum, J. Böhm, J. Lovell, VLBI observations of GNSS-satellites: from scheduling to analysis. J. Geod. 91(7), 867–880 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-016-0992-8
C. Rieck, R. Haas, P. Jarlemark, K. Jaldehag, VLBI frequency transfer using CONT11, in Proc. of the 26th European Frequency and Time Forum, Gothenburg, Sweden (2012). http://publications.lib.chalmers.se/records/fulltext/171390/local_171390.pdf
A.E.E. Rogers, Very long baseline interferometry with large effective bandwidth for phase-delay measurements. Radio Sci. 5(10), 1239–1247 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1029/RS005i010p01239
A.E.E. Rogers, J.M. Moran, Coherence limits for very-long- baseline interferometry. IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. IM-30(4), 283–286 (1981)
O.J. Sovers, J.L. Fanselow, C.S. Jacobs, Astrometry and geodesy with radio interferometry: experiments, models, results. Rev. Mod. Phys. 70(4), 1393–1454 (1998)
J. Sun, J. Böhm, T. Nilsson, H. Krásná, S. Böhm, H. Schuh, New VLBI2010 scheduling strategies and implications on the terrestrial reference frames. J. Geod. 88(5), 449–461 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-014-0697-9
G. Tang, J. Cao, S. Han, S. Hu, T. Ren, L. Chen, J. Sun, M. Wang, Y. Li, L. Li, Research on lunar radio measurements by Chang’E-3, in IVS 2014 General Meeting Proceedings “VGOS: The New VLBI Network”, ed. by D. Behrend, K.D. Baver, K.L. Armstrong (Science Press, Beijing, 2014), pp. 473–477. ftp://ivscc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/general-meeting/2014/pdf/101_Tang_etal.pdf
A.R. Thompson, J.M. Moran, G.W. Swenson, Interferometry and Synthesis in Radio Astronomy, 2nd edn. (Wiley, New York, 2007)
O. Titov, Estimation of the subdiurnal UT1-UTC variations by the least squares collocation method. Astron. Astrophys. Trans. 18(6), 779–792 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1080/10556790008208172
V. Tornatore, R. Haas, S. Casey, D. Duev, S. Pogrebenko, G. Molera Calvés, Direct VLBI observations of global navigation satellite system signals, in International Association of Geodesy Symposia. Proc. IAG General Assembly, Melbourne, 2011, vol. 139 (2014), pp. 247–252. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37222-3_32. ISBN/ISSN: 978-3-642-37221-6
A.R. Whitney, Precision Geodesy and Astrometry Via Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry. Ph.D. Thesis, MIT (1974)
Acknowledgements
We are very grateful to the reviewer of this article for providing many very detailed comments and suggestions beyond the normal level of a review. These helped us to significantly improve the quality of the paper.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
High Performance Clocks with Special Emphasis on Geodesy and Geophysics and Applications to Other Bodies of the Solar System
Edited by Rafael Rodrigo, Véronique Dehant, Leonid Gurvits, Michael Kramer, Ryan Park, Peter Wolf and John Zarnecki
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nothnagel, A., Nilsson, T. & Schuh, H. Very Long Baseline Interferometry: Dependencies on Frequency Stability. Space Sci Rev 214, 66 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-018-0498-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-018-0498-1