Disclosed is a method for joint
estimation of stellar
atmospheric refraction and
star tracker attitude, including: capturing, by a
star tracker, an image of
stars, and recognizing the image to obtain a matching relationship between an observed star and a reference star; transforming the reference star to a terrestrial
reference frame based on time and position of observation to obtain a true
zenith distance of the reference star; calculating an estimated stellar
atmospheric refraction based on a simplified
atmospheric refraction model, the true
zenith distance, and an initial atmospheric refractive coefficient, and subjecting the reference star to stellar atmospheric
refraction compensation; calculating the
star tracker attitude, and re-projecting the observed star to the terrestrial
reference frame to calculate the observed stellar atmospheric
refraction and the stellar atmospheric
refraction error; if the observed stellar atmospheric refraction is misaligned with the estimated stellar atmospheric refraction, adjusting the atmospheric refractive coefficient based on the stellar atmospheric refraction error, and then recompensating the reference star and calculating the attitude, till the observed stellar atmospheric refraction is aligned with the estimated stellar atmospheric refraction, whereby joint
estimation results of the stellar atmospheric refraction and the star tracker attitude are obtained. The disclosure realizes real-time, autonomous
estimation and cancelation of stellar atmospheric refraction without being limited by external sensors or empirical formulae.