The DORIS system was primarily designed for the precise orbit computation required for observing the oceans by altimetry.
The Diode navigator enables to provide the precise satellite position on its orbit in real time.
DORIS unique network of ground stations and its highly accurate positioning capability have also proven greatly valuable for geodesy and geophysics applications.
It contributes to the observation and determination of variables that characterize the properties of Earth, whether geodetic, geophysical or atmospheric.
Here is a list of the variables that the system can observe and that have been published since the 2000s.
- Tectonic plate parameters [Kraszewska et al., 2018]
- Horizontal and vertical velocities of the stations [Moreaux et al., 2016]
- Glacial Isostatic Adjustment [King et al., 2010]
- Long-time series of station positions, records of events affecting the DORIS stations such as:
- Earthquakes (eg Gorkha Earthquake recorded at Everest’s station) [Moreaux et al., 2019],
- present day ice melt of nearby glaciers (eg uplift acceleration in Thule, Greenland) [Moreaux et al., 2019],
- volcanic activity (eg deflation of the Mt. Evermannn volcano observed at Socorro) [Briole et al., 2009],
- subsidences (eg slow subsidence of the Tahiti island) [Fadil et al. 2011], …
- Contribution to the realization of the ITRF [Moreaux et al., 2016]
- Geocenter motion [Couhert et al., 2018] and Scale of the Terrestrial Reference Frame [Štěpánek and Filler, 2018]
- Earth Pole coordinates and estimation of LOD [Štěpánek et al., 2018]
- Precise orbits for altimeter missions contributing to determination of the Mean Sea Level [Rudenko et al., 2019]
- Contour of the South Atlantic Anomaly [Capdeville et al., 2016]
- Vertical Total Electron Content of the Earth’s ionosphere [Dettmering et al., 2014]
- Global ionospheric maps [Liu, 2023]
- Detection of scintillations (eg CITRIS project) [Siefring et al., 2011]
- Thermosphere perturbations during severe geomagnetic conditions [Willis et al., 2005]
- Long time-series of tropospheric delays and precipitable water [Bock et al., 2014]
