Lunar Observations and Geodetic VLBI – A Simulation Study

Other conference contribution, 2017

The recent OCEL (Observing the Chang’E Lander with VLBI) sessions allow the geodetic VLBI community to gain new experience concerning observations of an artificial lunar radio source. Although the analysis of obtained data is still ongoing, the performance of the OCEL sessions, in terms of lunar-based parameters, is still rather unclear. In order to address this and related questions, we carried out Monte Carlo simulations using the c5++ analysis software and OCEL schedules with the purpose to evaluate the accuracy with which the position of an artificial radio source on the surface of the Moon can be determined with geodetic VLBI. We present the results of our study and discuss the limiting factors of this concept. Our simulation results can provide valuable insights concerning global observations of lunar radio transmitters and stimulate new observing ideas for space geodesy.