[Spice_discussion] how are the long-term predicts made for ITRF93?

Bachman, Nathaniel J (US 392N) nathaniel.j.bachman at jpl.nasa.gov
Wed Jul 13 13:49:03 PDT 2022


Hi Troy,

Here's the complete comment section of the file

    earth_200101_990628_predict.bpc 

>>>
 
Low accuracy, long term predict earth PCK
=========================================
 
Original file name:         earth_200101_990628_predict.bpc
Creation date:              2020 April 11 18:17:00 PDT
Created by:                 Nat Bachman (JPL/NAIF)
 
Data Sources
 
 Input file:  extended EOP created from
 
   JPL EOP file latest.long
   (Copied from WWW URL
   http://epic.jpl.nasa.gov/nav/eop/latest.long)
 
 Source EOP metadata:
 
    $  JPL Earth Orientation Parameter File
    $  Last Data Point  6-APR-2020
    $  Predicts to     28-JUN-2020
    $
    EOPLBL='EOP. LAST DATUM  6-APR-2020. PREDICTS->28-JUN-2020, UT1TYP=UT1.   '
    EOPFNG='Enter MAKE_EOP  6-Apr-2020 11:04:43      linked 12-Jan-2017 00:15:37  '
    EOPUT1='UT1'
    EOPTYP='EOP'
    EOPTIM=' 6-Apr-2020 11:04:43     '
    EOPTRF='ITRF93'
    EOPCRF='ICRF93'
 
 Input file: leapseconds kernel naif0012.tls
 
 
Coverage
 
   Start time:             2020 JAN 01 00:01:09.183 TDB
   Stop time:              2099 JUN 28 00:01:09.182 TDB
 
   UTC Epoch of last datum:  6-APR-2020
 
Particulars
 
   This is low-accuracy predict PCK file giving the orientation of the Earth as
   a function of time for the interval shown above. This PCK file is made from
   an extended EOP file which consists of the JPL EOP file named above, with
   four extra records appended. These records are designed to add 79 years to
   the coverage of the EOP file without affecting interpolated data values for
   times within the coverage interval of the original EOP file. Data values
   of records in the extended interval are constant, with the exception of
   the TAI-UT1 offsets. Those are adjusted so that the corresponding values
   of TAI-UT1R are constant.
 
   The terrestrial frame whose orientation is given by this file is ITRF93; the
   inertial base frame is Ecliptic of J2000. Rotational effects included are:
 
      -Precession (1976 IAU model)
      -Nutation   (1980 IAU model)
      -Nutation corrections
      -Rotation through true sidereal time
      -Polar motion
      -Nutation corrections
 
   Euler angles have been extracted from the Ecliptic-to-ITRF93 rotation matrix,
   and Chebyshev polynomials were fit to the Euler angles. The Chebyshev
   expansion degree was 49; the degree of the retained polynomials is 20.
   The coverage interval for each set of polynomials is 1 day or less.
 
   This file represents the same earth orientation as does the input EOP file
   for the time range:
 
      01-JAN-2020 UTC
      28-JUN-2020 UTC
 
   For epochs after the end of EOP coverage, polar motion and nutation
   corrections from the EOP file are held constant at values obtained by
   extrapolating 1 day from the last source EOP record. TAI-UT1 values are
   set so that the corresponding TAI-UT1R values at each epoch of the
   extrapolated records are equal. Details of the EOP extrapolation process
   are given below.
 
      Let n be the number of data records in the original EOP file. Let
      MJD(i) be the epoch of the ith record expressed as a modified
      Julian date. The added records have the following
      characteristics:
 
         Record n+1:  Epoch is MJD(n) + 1. Nutation correction and polar
                      motion values are obtained by extrapolating to the
                      epoch a cubic Lagrange interpolating polynomial
                      fitted to the corresponding data in records n-3 : n.
                      TAI-UT1 is obtained by converting to TAI-UT1R the
                      TAI-UT1 data in records n-3 : n, extrapolating an
                      interpolating polynomial as for the other data, then
                      converting the extrapolated TAI-UTR1 value to TAI-UT1.
                      UTC string is consistent with the MJD epoch.
 
         Record n+2:  Epoch is MJD(n) + 2. Nutation correction and polar
                      motion values match those of record n+1. TAI-UT1 is
                      set so that the corresponding value of TAI-UT1R at
                      this epoch is that corresponding to TAI-UT1 at the
                      epoch of record n+1. UTC string is consistent with the
                      MJD epoch.
 
         Record n+3:  Epoch is MJD(n) + 3. Data values are as described for
                      record n+2, adjusted for this epoch.
 
         Record n+4:  Epoch is MJD(n) + 28854. Data values are as described
                      for record n+2, adjusted for this epoch.
 
      In all of the four records described above, the values of TAI-UT1
      have been selected so the corresponding values of TAI-UT1R are
      constant and equal to the value resulting from extrapolating the cubic
      interpolating polynomial for TAI-UT1R, fitted to the final four values
      of TAI-UT1R derived from the original EOP file, to the epoch of
      record n+1.
 
      The expected behavior of the interpolation algorithm is as follows:
 
         Time range               Interpolation characteristics
         ============             =============================
 
         Epoch of record 1 to
         epoch of record n-1:     Interpolation is identical to standard EOP
                                  file.
 
                                  Orientation error relative to that provided
                                  by a binary PCK derived from the source EOP
                                  file is non-zero due to differences in the
                                  Chebyshev fitting process. Error is at the
                                  1.1 nanoradian level.
 
         Epoch of record n-1 to
         epoch of record n:       Nearly identical to standard EOP file;
                                  small round-off error will occur.
 
                                  Orientation error is at the 1.1 nanoradian
                                  level.
 
         Epoch of record n to
         epoch of record n+1:     Some ringing of interpolated data
                                  will occur. This interval has duration 1 day.
 
                                  Orientation error relative to that provided
                                  by a binary PCK derived from a JPL EOP
                                  released 4 days after the source JPL EOP file
                                  (thereby providing accurate predicted data
                                  4 days further into the future--up to 2020
                                  July 2) is at the 225 nanoradian level.
 
         Epoch of record n+1 to
         epoch of record n+2:     Some ringing of interpolated data will occur.
                                  This interval has duration 1 day.
 
                                  Orientation error measured as for the
                                  interval described above is at the
                                  245 nanoradian level.
 
         Epoch of record n+2 to
         epoch of record n+3:     Ideally nutation corrections and polar
                                  motion will be constant, as will TAI-UT1R
                                  derived from TAI-UT1 values in the file.
                                  Some round-off error should be expected.
                                  This interval has duration 1 day.
 
                                  Orientation error measured as for the
                                  interval described above is at the
                                  265 nanoradian level.
 
         Epoch of record n+3 to
         epoch of record n+4:     Data are as described for records n+2 to
                                  n+3. This interval has duration 79 years.
 
                                  Orientation difference relative to the
                                  IAU_EARTH reference frame's rotation model
                                  ranges from the 1.25 milliradian level at
                                  the interval start to the 4.75 milliradian
                                  level at the end.
 
>>>

So, as you see, the only data source is the cited JPL EOP file. 

Since TAI-UT1 is frozen at the end of the EOP coverage interval, the orientation
from the PCK for times after that epoch will be off by, on average, about 1 arcsecond for 
each future leapsecond. Nutation and polar motion will be off too, but the magnitudes
of those errors are dominated by that of the spin error.

This file enables operation of applications that require Earth binary PCKs
having very long coverage, but that require only very low accuracy. For example, 
using this file, view periods can be computed with an accuracy of a few minutes. 

Please let me know if you have further questions.

Best regards,

  -Nat Bachman (JPL/NAIF) 

Nathaniel.Bachman at jpl.nasa.gov




________________________________________
From: Spice_discussion <spice_discussion-bounces at naif.jpl.nasa.gov> on behalf of Goodson, Troy D (US 392C) <troy.d.goodson at jpl.nasa.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2022 12:23 PM
To: spice_discussion at naif.jpl.nasa.gov
Subject: [Spice_discussion] how are the long-term predicts made for ITRF93?

The tutorial https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/naif/toolkit_docs/Tutorials/pdf/individual_docs/23_lunar-earth_pck-fk.pdf
as well as https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/naif/generic_kernels/pck/aareadme.txt
describe long-term predicts for ITRF93:

   Low accuracy, long term predict kernel. The extended predict region of this
   kernel---the time interval following the end of the predict region of the
   input EOP file---does not estimate changes in UT1-TAI. The dates in the
   file name are the file's coverage start and stop times:

      earth_200101_990628_predict.bpc


But, I believe IERS only provides predicts for 1 year. See https://www.iers.org/IERS/EN/DataProducts/EarthOrientationData/eop.html
and EOP2 files from https://eop2-external.jpl.nasa.gov are only predicted for about 78 days.

What is the source for the long-term prediction in a BPC kernel like earth_200101_990628_predict.bpc?

Thanks,

Troy.
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