A System Error Self-Correction Target-Positioning Method in Video Satellite Observation

Satellite-based target positioning is vital for applications like disaster relief and precision mapping. Practically, satellite errors, e.g., thermal deformation and attitude errors, lead to a mix of fixed and random errors in the measured line-of-sight angles, resulting in a decline in target-positioning accuracy. Motivated by this concern, this study introduces a systematic error self-correction target-positioning method under continuous observations using a single video satellite. After analyzing error sources and establishing an error-inclusive positioning model, we formulate a dimension-extended equation estimating both target position and fixed biases. Based on the equation, a projection transformation method is proposed to obtain the linearized estimation of unknown parameters first, and an iterative optimization method is then utilized to further refine the estimate. Compared with state-of-the-art algorithms, the proposed method can improve positioning accuracy by 98.70% in simulation scenarios with large fixed errors. Thus, the simulation and actual data calculation results demonstrate that, compared with state-of-the-art algorithms, the proposed algorithm effectively improves the target-positioning accuracy under non-ideal error conditions.