Implementation of the variation of the luni-solar acceleration into GLONASS orbit calculus

In the differential equation system describes the motion of GLONASS satellites (rus. Globalnaya Navigazionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema, or Global Navigation Satellite System ), the acceleration caused by the luni-solar traction is often taken as a constant during the period of the integration. In this work-study, we assume that the acceleration due to the luni-solar traction is not constant but varies linearly during the period of integration following this assumption; the linear functions in the three axes of the luni-solar acceleration are computed for an interval of 30 min and then implemented into the differential equations. The use of the numerical integration of Runge-Kutta fourth-order is recommended in the GLONASS-ICD (Interface Control Document) to solve for the differential equation system in order to get an orbit solution. The computation of the position and velocity of a GLONASS satellite in this study is performed by using the Runge-Kutta fourth-order method in forward and backward integration, with initial conditions provided in the broadcast ephemerides file.