Real-Time Determination for Kwajalein Missile Range (KMR) Tracking Development

Current KMR experience is that the complexity and uniqueness of some reentry objects cause atmospheric drag profiles to deviate significantly from model predictions. The possible result is loss of track. As a consequence, there is a need to develop a tracking filter which allows for the accurate real time estimation of drag. The objective of the proposed Phase I effort is to investigate the performance of an empirical method for real time drag estimation based on the use of a modified Euler method to predict object location combined with the use of the Rauch-Tung-Streibel smoother to estimate total body acceleration a. The deceleration due to drag ad can then be estimated from a and the known gravitationa acceleration ag. The primary Phase I taks proposed include: (1) the design of the tracking algorithm, (2) the adaptation of existing test bed software to support the testing of the tracking a lgorithm, (3) preliminary algorithm testing, and (4) documentation of the algorithm design and test results.