A NEW METHOD FOR COMPUTING THE SPECTRUM OF THE GRAVITATIONAL PERTURBATIONS ON SATELLITE ORBITS

Some aspects for efficient computation of the tidal perturbation due t o the ellipticity effects of the Earth, the luni-solar potential on an Earth-orbiting satellite and the perturbations of the satellite's rad ial, transverse and normal position components due to the effects of t he Earth's gravitational and ocean tide fields are presented. A straig htforward method for computing the spectrum of the geopotential and th e tidal-induced perturbations of the orbit elements and the radial, tr ansverse and normal components is described.