Using the average air temperature along the trace for atmospheric correction in laser ranging: accuracy analysis

One of the factors affecting the results of laser ranging measurements on ground-level traces is the difference between the speed of light propagation in the Earth’s atmosphere and the speed of light in vacuum. This difference is accounted for by the introduction of a correction for the mean integral refractive index of air along the measured trace. Research to improve the accuracy of such a correction is one of the most important scientific fields in geodesy and metrology. At the same time, the empirical approach to accounting for the atmospheric influence, which does not have a strict justification, is used in geodetic practice and involves determining the mean integral refractive index by the average air temperature along the measured trace. The paper is dedicated to the analysis of the accuracy of this empirical approach and to the estimation of the possibility of its application for providing traceability in the practice of linear measurements.