Satellite Orbits

Satellite Orbits
At what location is the satellite looking?
When is the satellite looking at a given
location?
How often is the satellite looking at a
given location?
At what angle is the satellite viewing a
given location?

Atmospheric
AtmosphericRemote
RemoteSensing
SensingSensors,
Sensors,
Satellite
SatellitePlatforms,
Platforms,and
andOrbits
Orbits

Satellite orbits and platforms

Low Earth orbit
Sunsynchronous and repeat coverage
Precessing
Geosynchronous orbit
Sensor scanning modes
Whiskbroom and pushbroom scanners
Active and passive microwave radiometers

Special Orbits

Orbital parameters can be tuned to produce

particular, useful orbits
Geostationary

Geosynchronous
Sunsynchronous
Altimetric

Types of orbits

Sunsynchronous orbits: An orbit in which the

satellite passes every location at the same time
each day
Noon satellites: pass over near noon and midnight
Morning satellites: pass over near dawn and dusk
Often referred to as polar orbiters because of the
high latitudes they cross
Usually orbit within several hundred to a few
thousand km from Earth

Types of orbits

Geostationary (geosynchronous) orbits : An

orbit which places the satellite above the
same location at all times
Must be orbiting approximately 36,000 km
above the Earth
Satellite can only see one hemisphere

Altimetric Orbits

Ascending

and descending orbits should

cross at 90
Designed so that orthogonal
components of surface slope will have
equal accuracy

Orbital inclination depends on location of

altimetric needs

Geosynchronous Meteorological Satellites

WMO Member States

Sector
West-Pacific
East-Pacific
West-Atlantic

East-Atlantic

Indian Ocean

Satellites in Orbit
(+mode)
MTSAT-1R (Op)
MTSAT-2 (B)
GOES-9 (B)

Operator
Japan
Japan
USA/NOAA

Location
140E
145E
160E

Launch
date
2/26/05
2/18/06
5/99

GOES-11 (Op)
GOES-10 (B)
GOES-12 (Op)
GOES-13 (P)
Meteosat-6 (B)
Meteosat-7 (B)
Meteosat-8 (Op)
Meteosat-9 (P)
Meteosat-5 (Op)

USA/NOAA
USA/NOAA
USA/NOAA
USA/NOAA
EUMETSAT
EUMETSAT
EUMETSAT
EUMETSAT
EUMETSAT

135E
60W
75W
89.5W
10E
0E
3.4W
6.5W
63E

5/00
4/97
7/01
5/06
11/93
2/97
8/28/02
12/21/05
3/91

GOMS-N1 (B)
FY-2C (Op)
Kalpana-1 (Op)
INSAT-3A (Op)

Russia
China/CMA
India
India

76E
105E
74E
93.5E

11/94
10/19/04
9/12/02
4/10/03

Status
Fully functional
Back-up to MTSAT-1R
Dissemination not
activated
GOES-West
South America coverage
GOES-East
In commissioning
Rapid scan anomaly
To be relocated to 57.5E
EUMETCAST
In commissioning
Functional but high
inclination mode
Standby since 9/98
Functional
Dedicated
Operational

Low Earth Orbit Concepts

Descending node

Ascending node

Perigee

Ground track
Orbit
Inclination
angle

Equator

Orbit

South Pole

Apogee

Sun-Synchronous Polar Orbit

Earth
Revolution
Equatorial
illumination
angle

Satellite
Orbit

Satellite orbit precesses (retrograde)

360 in one year
Maintains equatorial illumination angle constant throughout the year
~10:30 AM in this example

Sun-Synchronous Orbit of Terra

Spacing Between Adjacent Landsat

5 or 7 Orbit Tracks at the Equator

Timing of Adjacent Landsat 5 or 7

Coverage Tracks

Adjacent swaths are imaged 7 days apart

Polar-Orbiting Satellite in Low

Earth Orbit (LEO)
Example from Aqua

Tropical Rainfall Measuring

Mission Orbit (Precessing)

A precessing lowinclination (35), lowaltitude (350 km)

orbit to achieve high
spatial resolution and
capture the diurnal
variation of tropical
rainfall
Raised to 402 km in
August 2001

TRMM Coverage
1 day coverage

2 day coverage

Definition of Orbital Period of a

Satellite

The orbital period of a satellite around a

planet is given by
T0 2( R p H )

R p H
gs R p

where

0 = orbital period (sec)

Rp =

planet radius (6380 km for Earth)

H =
gs =

orbit altitude above planets surface (km)

acceleration due to gravity (0.00981 km s-2

Orbital Characteristics of Selected Missions

Low Earth Orbit & Precessing Missions
Satellite
Jason-1
Meteor-3M/SAGE III
Landsat 1-3
SPOT
NOAA
QuikScat
ACRIMSAT
Landsat 4-7
Terra, Aqua, Aura
ICESat
UARS
ERBS
SORCE
TRMM
TRMM

Altitude
(km)
1336
1020
907-915
832
850
803
720
705
705

Inclination
()
66
99.5
99.2
98.7
98-99
98.6
98.1
98.2
98.2

Orbital Period
(min)
112.3
105.5
103.1
101.5
102-104
100.9
99.1
98.8
98.8

Repeat
Coverage
10

16
16

Orbits/day
12.8
13.7
14.0
14.2
14.0
14.3
14.5
14.6
14.6

600
585
610
640
402
350

94
57
57
40
35
35

96.6
96.3
96.8
97.5
92.6
91.5

14.9
14.9
14.9
14.8
15.6
15.7

18
26
11

Ellipse

An ellipse is defined as follows: For two given points, the foci,

an ellipse is the locus of points such that the sum of the
distance to each focus is constant.

BTW, Locus-A word for a set of points that forms a geometric

figure or graph

Keplers laws
1. Satellites follow an elliptical orbit with the Earth as one focus

Foci
Apogee

Perigee

Period of orbit
Period of orbit

2
4

T2=
r3
Gme

Gravitational constant

Radius of the orbit

Mass of the Earth

Valid only for circular orbits (but a good

approximation for most satellites)
Radius is measured from the center of the Earth
(satellite altitude+Earths radius)
Accurate periods of elliptical orbits can be
determined with Keplers Equation

Sunsynchronous image (SMMR)

Geostationary Image (GOES-8)

Geostationary satellites

Meteosat
GOES

Operational
Specific wave bands
Specific use
High temporal frequency

Space-time sampling

Geostationary
Fixed (relatively) field of view
View area of about 42% of Earths surface

Sunsynchronous
Overlapping views
See each point at several viewing angles

Other orbits (walking orbits)

Passes each location at a different time of day
Earth Radiation Budget Satellite
Useful when dirunal information is needed

Imaging Systems

Cross-track scanner
Whiskbroom scanner
Pushbroom sensor

Cross-track Scanner
back and forth motion of the foreoptics
scans each ground resolution cell one-by-one
Instantaneous Field of View (IFOV) of
instrument determines pixel size
Image is built up by movement of satellite
along the orbital track and scanning acrosstrack

Along-track scanner
(Pushbroom)
Linear array of detectors (aligned cross-track)
reflected radiance passes through a lens and onto a line of
detectors
Image is built up by movement of the satellite along its orbital
track (no scanning mirror)
Area array can also be used for multi-spectral remote sensing
dispersion used to split light into narrow spectral
bands and individual detectors

Scanning techniques

Vidicom
Like television camera; sees everything at once

Swinging
Results in a zig-zag pattern of scanning

Spinning
Satellite spins in order to create image

Pushbroom
Multiple scanning elements, relies on forward motion of satellite

Getting the Data to the Ground

On-board

recording and pre-processing

Direct telemetry to ground stations

receive data transmissions from satellites
transmit commands to satellites (pointing,
turning maneuvers, software updating
Indirect transmission through Tracking
and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS)