In a brief earlier report (Brown, 1964d) we provided the preliminary conceptual development of the 'Method of Continuous Traces' according to which geodetic positions could in principle be recovered from uninterrupted optical observations of sun-illuminated passive satellites. The observational material for the method consists of sets of photographic plates on which unbroken traces of satellites are recorded against the stellar background. In the present report we continue the development of the Method of Continuous Traces and generate a series of numerical simulations designed to establish quantitatively its theoretical potential. We find that with suitable and altogether practical geometry, the method of continuous traces is sharply determinate and can recover geodetic positions to extremely high accuracies. Accordingly, we recommend that a comprehensive computer program be developed to permit full-scale operational testing of the method with actual data. Should the Method of Continuous Traces be found in practice to approach its theoretical expectations, it will clearly have far reaching implications in geodetic photogrammetry.
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