Corrections for atmospheric refractivity in satellite laser ranging.

The range correction calculated from ground-level meteorological measurements is shown to consist of a series of terms. The zeroth order term of this series corresponds to the correction obtained under the assumption of a spherically symmetric refractivity profile. The higher order terms arise due to departures from the spherical-symmetry assumption. The range correction is also shown to have residual errors, and an analytic expression for these errors is derived. Pertinent surface data are analyzed to obtain the magnitudes of the higher order corrections and the residual errors.