[Spice_discussion] Dynamic frames for heliospheric coordinate systems

William Thompson William.T.Thompson.1 at gsfc.nasa.gov
Wed Feb 23 07:08:47 PST 2005


Folks:

With the introduction of dynamic frames in version N0058 of the SPICE toolkit, 
I've been looking into how to use this to implement various standard 
heliospheric coordinate systems for the upcoming STEREO mission.  Since these 
coordinate systems are applicable to any heliospheric mission, I decided to 
share these definitions.  The attached text frame kernel allows one to derive 
coordinates in:

HAE_D	Heliospheric Aries Ecliptic (of date)
GSE	Geocentric Solar Ecliptic
HCI	Heliocentric Inertial
HEE	Heliocentric Earth Ecliptic
HEEQ	Heliocentric Earth Equatorial

Note that the definition of GSE is somewhat different than the example given in 
the SPICE documentation.  In the example, Earth's velocity vector is used as a 
proxy to determine the ecliptic plane, while here the ecliptic plane of date is 
determined using an intermediate dynamic frame.  This second approach should be 
more accurate, with only a slightly higher (~20%) computational cost.

Many other standard heliospheric coordinate systems can be realized natively 
within SPICE, such as HAE_J2000, Geocentric Equatorial Inertial (GEI), 
Geographic (GEO), and Carrington Heliographic.

I'd like to end by thanking the SPICE team for introducing dynamic frames.  It 
makes implementation of these standard frames much easier.

-- 
William Thompson
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Code 612.1
Greenbelt, MD  20771
USA

301-286-2040
William.T.Thompson.1 at gsfc.nasa.gov
-------------- next part --------------
Dynamic Heliospheric Coordinate Frames developed for the NASA STEREO mission

The coordinate frames in this file all have ID values based on the pattern
18ccple, where

	18 = Prefix to put in the allowed 1400000 to 2000000 range
	cc = 03 for geocentric, 10 for heliocentric
	p  = Pole basis: 1=geographic, 2=geomagnetic, 3=ecliptic, 4=solar
	l  = Longitude basis: 1=Earth-Sun, 2=ecliptic
	e  = Ecliptic basis: 0=J2000, 1=mean, 2=true

     Author:  William Thompson
	      NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
	      Code 612.1
	      Greenbelt, MD 20771

	      William.T.Thompson.1 at gsfc.nasa.gov

History

    Version 1, 18-Feb-2005, WTT, initial release
	GSE and ECLIPDATE definitions from examples in frames.req by C.H. Acton
	HEE definition is based on the GSE example

    Version 2, 22-Feb-2005, WTT
	Modified HCI definition to tie to IAU_SUN frame
	Use RECTANGULAR specification in HEEQ frame

    Version 3, 23-Feb-2005, WTT
	Correct GSE and HEE definitions to use ECLIPDATE axis


Mean Ecliptic of Date (ECLIPDATE) Frame

     Definition of the Mean Ecliptic of Date frame:
 
              All vectors are geometric: no aberration corrections are
              used.
 
              The X axis is the first point in Aries for the mean ecliptic of
	      date, and the Z axis points along the ecliptic north pole.
 
              The Y axis is Z cross X, completing the right-handed
              reference frame.

	      This reference frame can be used to realize the HAE coordinate
	      system by using the sun as the observing body.

\begindata

        FRAME_ECLIPDATE              =  1803321
        FRAME_1803321_NAME           = 'ECLIPDATE'
        FRAME_1803321_CLASS          =  5
        FRAME_1803321_CLASS_ID       =  1803321
        FRAME_1803321_CENTER         =  399
        FRAME_1803321_RELATIVE       = 'J2000'
        FRAME_1803321_DEF_STYLE      = 'PARAMETERIZED'
        FRAME_1803321_FAMILY         = 'MEAN_ECLIPTIC_AND_EQUINOX_OF_DATE'
        FRAME_1803321_PREC_MODEL     = 'EARTH_IAU_1976'
        FRAME_1803321_OBLIQ_MODEL    = 'EARTH_IAU_1980'
        FRAME_1803321_ROTATION_STATE = 'ROTATING'

\begintext

Geocentric Solar Ecliptic (GSE) Frame
 
     Definition of the Geocentric Solar Ecliptic frame:
 
              All vectors are geometric: no aberration corrections are
              used.
 
              The position of the sun relative to the earth is the primary
              vector: the X axis points from the earth to the sun.
 
              The northern surface normal to the mean ecliptic of date is the
              secondary vector: the Z axis is the component of this vector
              orthogonal to the X axis.
 
              The Y axis is Z cross X, completing the right-handed
              reference frame.

\begindata

        FRAME_GSE                    =  1803311
        FRAME_1803311_NAME           = 'GSE'
        FRAME_1803311_CLASS          =  5
        FRAME_1803311_CLASS_ID       =  1803311
        FRAME_1803311_CENTER         =  399
        FRAME_1803311_RELATIVE       = 'J2000'
        FRAME_1803311_DEF_STYLE      = 'PARAMETERIZED'
        FRAME_1803311_FAMILY         = 'TWO-VECTOR'
        FRAME_1803311_PRI_AXIS       = 'X'
        FRAME_1803311_PRI_VECTOR_DEF = 'OBSERVER_TARGET_POSITION'
        FRAME_1803311_PRI_OBSERVER   = 'EARTH'
        FRAME_1803311_PRI_TARGET     = 'SUN'
        FRAME_1803311_PRI_ABCORR     = 'NONE'
        FRAME_1803311_SEC_AXIS       = 'Z'
        FRAME_1803311_SEC_VECTOR_DEF = 'CONSTANT'
        FRAME_1803311_SEC_FRAME      = 'ECLIPDATE'
        FRAME_1803311_SEC_SPEC       = 'RECTANGULAR'
        FRAME_1803311_SEC_VECTOR     = ( 0, 0, 1 )

\begintext

Heliocentric Inertial (HCI) Frame

     Definition of the Heliocentric Inertial frame:
 
              All vectors are geometric: no aberration corrections are
              used.
 
              The solar rotation axis is the primary vector: the Z axis points
	      in the solar north direction.
 
              The solar ascending node on the ecliptic of J2000 forms the X
              axis.
 
              The Y axis is Z cross X, completing the right-handed
              reference frame.

\begindata

        FRAME_HCI                    =  1810420
        FRAME_1810420_NAME           = 'HCI'
        FRAME_1810420_CLASS          =  5
        FRAME_1810420_CLASS_ID       =  1810420
        FRAME_1810420_CENTER         =  10
        FRAME_1810420_RELATIVE       = 'J2000'
        FRAME_1810420_DEF_STYLE      = 'PARAMETERIZED'
        FRAME_1810420_FAMILY         = 'TWO-VECTOR'
        FRAME_1810420_PRI_AXIS       = 'Z'
        FRAME_1810420_PRI_VECTOR_DEF = 'CONSTANT'
        FRAME_1810420_PRI_FRAME      = 'IAU_SUN'
        FRAME_1810420_PRI_SPEC       = 'RECTANGULAR'
        FRAME_1810420_PRI_VECTOR     = ( 0, 0, 1 )
        FRAME_1810420_SEC_AXIS       = 'Y'
        FRAME_1810420_SEC_VECTOR_DEF = 'CONSTANT'
        FRAME_1810420_SEC_FRAME      = 'ECLIPJ2000'
        FRAME_1810420_SEC_SPEC       = 'RECTANGULAR'
        FRAME_1810420_SEC_VECTOR     = ( 0, 0, 1 )

\begintext

Heliocentric Earth Ecliptic (HEE) Frame

     Definition of the Heliocentric Earth Ecliptic frame:
 
              All vectors are geometric: no aberration corrections are
              used.
 
              The position of the earth relative to the sun is the primary
              vector: the X axis points from the sun to the earth.
 
              The northern surface normal to the mean ecliptic of date is the
              secondary vector: the Z axis is the component of this vector
              orthogonal to the X axis.
 
              The Y axis is Z cross X, completing the right-handed
              reference frame.

\begindata

        FRAME_HEE                    =  1810311
        FRAME_1810311_NAME           = 'HEE'
        FRAME_1810311_CLASS          =  5
        FRAME_1810311_CLASS_ID       =  1810311
        FRAME_1810311_CENTER         =  10
        FRAME_1810311_RELATIVE       = 'J2000'
        FRAME_1810311_DEF_STYLE      = 'PARAMETERIZED'
        FRAME_1810311_FAMILY         = 'TWO-VECTOR'
        FRAME_1810311_PRI_AXIS       = 'X'
        FRAME_1810311_PRI_VECTOR_DEF = 'OBSERVER_TARGET_POSITION'
        FRAME_1810311_PRI_OBSERVER   = 'SUN'
        FRAME_1810311_PRI_TARGET     = 'EARTH'
        FRAME_1810311_PRI_ABCORR     = 'NONE'
        FRAME_1810311_SEC_AXIS       = 'Z'
        FRAME_1810311_SEC_VECTOR_DEF = 'CONSTANT'
        FRAME_1810311_SEC_FRAME      = 'ECLIPDATE'
        FRAME_1810311_SEC_SPEC       = 'RECTANGULAR'
        FRAME_1810311_SEC_VECTOR     = ( 0, 0, 1 )

\begintext

Heliocentric Earth Equatorial (HEEQ) Frame

     Definition of the Heliocentric Earth Equatorial frame:
 
              All vectors are geometric: no aberration corrections are
              used.
 
              The solar rotation axis is the primary vector: the Z axis points
	      in the solar north direction.
 
              The position of the sun relative to the earth is the secondary
              vector: the X axis is the component of this position vector
              orthogonal to the Z axis.
 
              The Y axis is Z cross X, completing the right-handed
              reference frame.

\begindata

        FRAME_HEEQ                   =  1810411
        FRAME_1810411_NAME           = 'HEEQ'
        FRAME_1810411_CLASS          =  5
        FRAME_1810411_CLASS_ID       =  1810411
        FRAME_1810411_CENTER         =  10
        FRAME_1810411_RELATIVE       = 'J2000'
        FRAME_1810411_DEF_STYLE      = 'PARAMETERIZED'
        FRAME_1810411_FAMILY         = 'TWO-VECTOR'
        FRAME_1810411_PRI_AXIS       = 'Z'
        FRAME_1810411_PRI_VECTOR_DEF = 'CONSTANT'
        FRAME_1810411_PRI_FRAME      = 'IAU_SUN'
        FRAME_1810411_PRI_SPEC       = 'RECTANGULAR'
        FRAME_1810411_PRI_VECTOR      = ( 0, 0, 1 )
        FRAME_1810411_SEC_AXIS       = 'X'
        FRAME_1810411_SEC_VECTOR_DEF = 'OBSERVER_TARGET_POSITION'
        FRAME_1810411_SEC_OBSERVER   = 'SUN'
        FRAME_1810411_SEC_TARGET     = 'EARTH'
        FRAME_1810411_SEC_ABCORR     = 'NONE'
        FRAME_1810411_SEC_FRAME      = 'IAU_SUN'

\begintext



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