Spaceborne Altimeter Calibration System With Calibration Satellites

Spaceborne altimeters are indispensable tools in the aerospace and Earth science fields, and ensuring their accuracy is paramount. However, their accuracy is affected by various factors, including systematic and atmospheric attenuations. This study explores an altimeter calibration system based on a calibration satellite equipped with a transponder. When the altimeter passes directly over the calibration satellite, the transponder facilitates signal interaction with the altimeter, serving as a stable reference point to effectively calibrate the altimeter's systematic errors. In addition, a network optimization scheme based on the nondominated sorting generic algorithm-II is proposed to enhance the calibration accuracy and networking efficiency of the calibration system. Error analysis and network simulation results prove the feasibility of the proposed system.