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Normal Point Data (CSTG)

Within the ILRS Operation Center (OC) the following fields of Normal Points (CSTG) are checked.

Header Record

1 - 7ILRS Satellite Identification Number - 7 digit number based on COSPAR ID 
 → Satellite ID must be in official list (link)EH0011
8 - 9Year of century 
 → [ 0, ..., 99 ]EH0021
10 - 12Day of year 
 → [ 0, ..., 366 ]EH0031
13 - 16Crustal Dynamics Project Pad ID- a 4-digit monument identification 
 → Crustal Dynamics Project Pad ID as part of SOD must be in the official list (link)EH0041
17 - 18Crustal Dynamics Project 2-digit system number 
 → Crustal Dynamics Project 2-digit system number as part of SOD must be in the official list (link)EH0041
19 - 20Crustal Dynamics Project 2-digit occupancy sequence number 
 → Crustal Dynamics Project 2-digit occupancy sequence number as part of SOD must be in the official list (link)EH0041
21 - 24Wavelength of the laser
The user of the data should interpret the value given as follows:
3000 - 9999: units are 0.1 nanometer
1000 - 2999: units are 1.0 nanometer
For the station generating the data, the rule is:
Wavelength in rate 0.3000 - 0.9999 microns: unit 0.1 nanometer
Wavelength in rate 1.000 - 2.999 microns: unit 1.0 nanometer
 
 → [ 1000, ..., 9999 ]EH0071
25 - 32Calibration system delay (two-way value in picoseconds) 
33 - 38Calibration delay shift (two-way value in picoseconds) 
39 - 42Root Mean Square (RMS) of raw system delay values from the mean. Two-way value in picoseconds. If pre- and post- pass calibrations are made,use the mean of the two RMS values, or the RMS of the combined data set. 
43Normal Point window indicator (an integer from 0 to 9)
0: not a normal point
1: 5-second normal point (GFZ-1)
2: LLR normal point
3: 15-second normal point (TOPEX)
4: 20-second normal point
5: 30-second normal point
6: 1-minute normal point
7: 2-minute normal point (LAGEOS)
8: 3-minute normal point
9: 5-minute normal point (ETALON)
 
 → [ 0, ..., 9 ]EH0111
44Epoch time scale indicator
3: UTC (USNO)
4: UTC (GPS)
7: UTC (BIPM) (BIH prior to 1988)
 
 → [ 3, 4, 7 ]EH0121
45System calibration method and delay shift indicator. Indicates the type of calibration and the type of calibration shift given in columns 33-38 
46System CHange indicator (SCH).
A flag to increment for every major change to the system (hardware or software). After the value '9' return to '0', and then continue incrementing. The station and data centers should keep a log in a standard format of the value used, the date of the change, and a description of the change.
 
47System Configuration Indicator (SCI).
A flag used to indicate alternative modes of operation for a system (e.g., choice of alternative timers or detectors, or use of a different mode of operation for high satellites). Each value of the flag indicates a particular configuration, which is described in a log file held at the station and at the data centers. If only a single configuration is used then use a fixed value. If a new configuration is introduced then use the next higher flag value. If value exceeds '9' then return to '0', overwriting a previous configuration flag (it is not likely that a station will have 10 current possible configurations).
 
48 - 51Pass RMS from the mean of raw range values minus the trend function, for accepted ranges (two-way value in picoseconds) 
52Data quality assessment indicator
For LLR data:
0: Undefined or no comment.
1: Clear, easily filtered data, with little or no noise.
2: Clear data with some noise; filtering is slightly compromised by noise level.
3: Clear data with a significant amount of noise, or weak data with little noise. Data are certainly present, but filtering is difficult.
4: Un-clear data; data appear marginally to be present, but are very difficult to separate from noise during filtering. Signal to noise ratio can be less than 1:1.
5: No data apparent
 
 → [ 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ]EH0171
53 - 54Checksum - an integer value equal to the sum of integers in columns 1-52, modulo 100 (optional) 
55Format revision number indicator.
Value '1' for the 1997 revision. Implied value '0' or 'space' for original 1990 release.
Revision 2 and above, use byte 49 in data record to indicate power of ten with which to multiply the number stored in bytes 44-47 of data record.
 
Additional Checks
 → The header record must have length of 55 charactersEH0041

Data Record

1 - 12Time of day of laser firing, from 0 hours UTC in units of 0.1 microseconds.
Value is given module 864000000000 if pass crosses 24 hours UTC
 
 → [ 0, ..., 864000000000 [ED0011
13 - 24Two-way time-of-flight corrected for system delay, in picoseconds. Not corrected for atmospheric delay, nor to the center-of-mass of the satellite 
25 - 31Bin RMS from the mean of raw range values minus the trend function, for accepted ranges. Two-way value in picoseconds. If point is a single raw data point, then use pass RMS 
32 - 36Surface pressure, in units of 0.1 millibar 
 → [ 6000, ..., 11000 ]ED0041
37 - 40Surface temperature in units of 0.1 degree Kelvin 
 → [ 2000, ..., 3400 ]ED0051
41 - 43Relative humidity at surface in percent 
 → [ 0, ..., 100 ]ED0061
44 - 47Number of raw ranges (after editing) compressed into the normal point. 
48A flag to indicate the data release:
0: first release of data
1: first replacement release of the data,
2: second replacement release, etc.
 
 → [ 0, ..., 9 ]ED0081
49For SLR data: not used before revision 2. Revision 2 and above, indicates power of ten with which to multiply number stored in bytes 44-47 in order to provide a very close approximation to the total number of returns for high yield systems (kHz systems).
For LLR data: integer seconds of the two-way time of flight (columns 13-24 contain the fractional part)
 
50For SLR data: not used
For LLR data: normal point window indicator. Indicates the time span of the normal point (can be variable from point to point).
1: <= 5 minutes
2: 10 minutes
3: 15 minutes
4: 20 minutes
5: 25 minutes
6: 30 minutes
7: 35 minutes
8: 40 minutes
9: >= 50 minutes
 
51 - 52For SLR data: not used
For LLR data: signal to noise ratio, in units of 0.1, e.g.,
00: No information
01: Signal/noise = 0.1
...
99: Signal/noise = 9.9 or greater
 
53 - 54Checksum - integer value = to the sum of digits in columns 1-52, modulo 100 (optional) 

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