Statistically Linearized Estimation of Reentry Trajectories

Several filters are applied to the problem of state estimation from inertial measurements of reentry drag. This is a highly nonlinear problem of practical significance. It is found that a filter based on the technique of statistical linearization performs better than the extended Kalman in this application. This is believed to be the first application of the statistically linearized filter to a practical dynamics problem. A sensitivity analysis is performed to demonstrate the relative insensitivity of this filter to modeling errors and approximations.