Fig. 4: Space debris laser ranging, 1 MHz, bistatic.
From: Space debris and satellite laser ranging combined using a megahertz system
Observed minus calculated (O-C) residuals vs. seconds of day and satellite elevation to four different rocket bodies: a SL-16 R/B, b ARIANE 40 R/B, c H-2A R/B, d SL-14 R/B. The noise variation within the data to SL-16 corresponds to the target entering the penumbra of Earth’s shadow at second 75175 (vertical green line). The overall noise level is represented by the cyan curve. Denser regions of data correspond to reflected photons from the target in front of the uniformly distributed noise. Range residuals represent the deviation of the data from the reference orbit. The panel in the lower left of each plot shows a radar plot of the full pass over Graz SLR station (red) and the displayed segment (green). The center of the radar plot corresponds to 90° elevation, upwards direction to 0° azimuth or Northern direction.
