Removal of arbitrary discontinuities in atmospheric density modeling

The use of discontinuous a P values, for the simultaneous sequential estimation of six spacecraft LEO parameters, atmospheric density, ballistic coefficient, and other observable paramters, results in the failure of McReynolds' Filter-Smoother Consistency Test. But this test is satisfied when input values of a P are splined (smoothed) before use. The three-hourly discontinuities in a P are always wrong in the sense that three-hourly …