The determination of the Hermean gravity and topography from radio science and laser altimeter data of the mission BepiColombo

In this work, the determination of the gravity field and topography of a planetary body is analyzed with specific reference to Mercury and the mission BepiColombo. The onboard instruments considered in this work are the Ka-band (32.3 - 34.0 GHz) transponder of the MORE investigation (MORE is the acronym of Mercury Orbiter Radio science Experiment), and the BepiColombo Laser Altimeter (BELA). The design and planning of the MORE geodesy measurements were supported by extensive numerical simulations, based upon the use of radio tracking data only. The analysis led to the assessment of the attainable accuracies in the reconstruction of the spacecraft orbit, the Hermean reference ellipsoid and "geoid".