OSTM/Jason2BoostProfile

Platformsand
SatelliteOrbits

TypesofPlatform
Thevehicleorcarrierforremotesensorsiscalledtheplatform.Typicalplatformsaresatelliteand
aircraft,buttheycanalsoincluderadiocontrolledairplanes,balloons,kitesforlowaltituderemote
sensing,aswellasladdertrucksor"cherrypickers"forgroundinvestigations.
PlatformswiththehighestaltitudearegeosynchronoussatellitessuchastheGeosynchronous
MeteorologicalSatellite(GMS),whichhasanaltitudeof36,000kmattheEquator.
Mostoftheearthobservationsatellites,suchasLandsat,SPOT,MOSetc.areatabout900km
altitudewithasunsynchronous orbit.
Fromlowerorbit,therearespaceshuttle(240280km),radiosonde( 100km),highaltitudejet
plane(10km),lowormiddlealtitudeplane(0.58km),radiocontrolledplane(~0.5km)andsoon.
Thekeyfactorfortheselectionofaplatformisthealtitudewhichdeterminesthegroundresolution
IFOV(instantaneousfieldofview)ofthesensor.
Theselectionofplatformalsodependsonthepurpose whichissometimerequestedforexamplea
constantaltitudeisrequiredforaerialsurveys,whilevariousaltitudesareneededtosurveyvertical
atmosphericdistribution,forexample.

Variousplatforms,altitudesand
objectsbeingsensed

AtmosphericConditionandAltitude
Atmosphericconditionisdifferentdependingonthealtitude.Thisfactormustbeconsidered
intheselectionofplatformsorsensors.Inthissection,airpressure,airdensityand
temperatureareconsidered.

Theverticalstructureoftheatmosphereiscomposedofthefollowinglayers.
Troposphere:fromthegroundsurface(10 17km)to11km,
Stratosphere:from10 17kmtoabout50km
Mesosphere:fromabout50kmtoabout90km
Thermosphere:fromabout80kmto500km

Exosphere

Aboveaheightofabout500kmistheexosphere,alayerwherethe
atmospheremergesintospace.Satellitesarestationedinthisarea,
500kmto1000kmfromEarth.

Thethermosphere isthefourthlayerintheatmosphere,between
80kmand110kmabovetheEarth.Spaceshuttlesflyinthisareaandit
Thermosphere isalsowheretheauroralightsarefound.Aurorasarewispycurtainsof
lightcausedwhenthesunstrikesgasesintheatmosphereabovethe
Poles.
Mesosphere

Beyondthestratospheretheairisverythinandcold.Thisareais
knownasthemesosphere,andisfoundbetween50kmand80km
abovetheEarthssurface.

Thestratosphere isthesecondlayerofairabovetheEarthssurface
andextendstoaheightof50km.Itisherethatwefindtheozone
Stratosphere
layer.Theozonelayerabsorbsmuchofthesunsharmfulradiation
thatwouldotherwisebedangeroustoplantandanimallife.

Troposphere

Thetroposphere isthelayerclosesttotheEarth,approximately
11kmhigh.Weatheroccursonlyinthetropospherebecauseitisthis
layerthatcontainsmostofthewatervapour.Weatheristheway
waterchangesintheair,andsowithoutwatertherewouldbeno
clouds,rain,snoworotherweatherfeatures.

AttitudeofPlatform
Thegeometricdistortiondependsonnotonlythegeometry ofthesensorbutalsotheattitude ofthe
platform.Thereforeitisveryimportanttomeasuretheattitudeoftheplatformfortheconsequent
geometriccorrection.
Theattitudeoftheplatformisclassifiedbythefollowingtwocomponents.
Rotationanglesaroundthethreeaxes;roll, pitch and yaw;
Randomandunsystematicvibrationwhichcannotbemeasured.
Therotationangles;roll(),pitch()andyaw( )aredefinedastherotationanglesaroundtheflight
direction,themainwingandtheverticallinerespectively,asshowninthenextslide.Thebottom
panel(nextslide)showsthesatelliteattitudeparameters.
Inthecaseofsatellites,thevariationoftheposition andtheattitudewillbecontinuous,
Incaseofaircraft,thevariationwillnotalwaysbesmooth,whichmakesthegeometriccorrection
moredifficult.
Thetypicalattitudesensorsforaircraftareasfollows.
Speedometer
Altimeter
Gyrocompass(forattitudemeasurement)
Dopplerradar(formeasurementofaltitude)
GPS(forpositioning)
Gyrohorizon
TVcamera
Flightrecorder

Theaircraftandsatelliteattitudeparameters.

OrbitalElementsofSatellite
Asetofnumericalvaluestodefineanorbitofasatelliteorplanetarecalledorbitalelements.The
independentorbitalelementsoftheearthobservationsatellitearesixelementsoftheKeplerian
orbit(satellitesorbitinanellipseofconstantshapeandorientation).
Asatellitecanbeconsideredtorotatearoundtheearthinaplane,calledtheorbitalplane,because
theinfluenceofgravityofthemoonandthesuncanbeneglectedascomparedwiththegravityof
theearth.
Apointinspacecanbeexpressedinthe equatorialcoordinatesystem asfollows.Theoriginof
equatorialcoordinatesystemisthecenteroftheearth.
Thereferencegreatcircle:theequatorialplane
Theoriginofastronomicallongitude(rightascension):thevernalequinox
Theastronomicallongitude(rightascension):0 24hourstotheeastfromthevernalequinox
Theastronomicallatitude(declination):anglefromtheequatorialplane(+90degreeinthenorth
pole;90degreeinthesouthpole)
ThesixelementsofKeplerianorbitare;
(1)Thesemimajoraxis (A):
(2)Eccentricity oforbit(e):
(3)Inclinationangle (i):
(4)Rightascensionofascendingnode(h)
(5)Argumentofperigee (g)
(6)Timeofpassageoftheperigee(v)

Figure(below)showstheaboveelements.Theshape andsize ofanorbitcanbedefinedby

Aande,whiletheorbitplanecanbedefinedbyiandh.Thelongeraxisoftheorbitellipse
canbedeterminedbyg.Theposition ofasatellitecanbelocatedbyT.
ArgumentofPerigee(g):Theanglebetweenthe
ascendingnodeandperigee,measuredcounter
clockwisealongtheplaneoftheorbit.
Apogee(A):Pointinanorbitwhenthesatelliteis
farthestfromtheEarth
Perigee(P):Thepointinanorbitwhenthesatellite
isclosesttotheEarth.
Eccentricity(e):Halfofthedistancebetweenthe
fociofanellipsedividedbythesemimajoraxis.
Inclination(i):Theanglebetweentheplaneofthe
orbitandtheplaneofthecelestialequatorforEarth
orbitingsatellites(ortheplaneoftheeclipticforsun
orbitingsatellites).
RightAscensionoftheAscendingNode(h):
AnothertermforLongitudeoftheAscendingNode,
ItistheangleoftheascendingnodemeasuredEAST
ofthevernalequinoxalongthecelestialequator.
SemiMajorAxis(A):Thehalfofthelongerofthe
twoaxesoftheorbitalellipse
VernalEquinox:Oneoftwopointswherethe
ellipticcrossesthecelestialequator,theotherbeing
theAutumnalEquinox.
CelestialEquator:TheplaneoftheEarth'sequator
projectedontothecelestialsphere.Thecelestial
equatoristilted23.5degreesinrelationtothe
planeoftheEarth'sorbit(theelliptic).
Ecliptic:TheplaneoftheEarth'sorbitaroundthe
sun.

OrbitalelementofKepler

Satelliteorbits
Thepathfollowedbyasatelliteisreferredtoasitsorbit.
Orbitselectioncanvaryintermsofaltitude(theirheight
abovetheEarth'ssurface)andtheirorientationand
rotationrelativetotheEarth.
ThreeprincipallyemployedtypesofEarthobservation
orbitsare(1)geosynchronous,(2)sunsynchronousand
(3)nearpolarorbits.
(1)Satellitesatveryhighaltitudes,whichviewthesame
portionoftheEarth'ssurfaceatalltimeshave
geostationaryorbits(ataltitudesofapproximately36,000
km).
Thesesatellitesrevolveatspeedswhichmatchthe
rotationoftheEarth,sotheyseemstationary,relativeto
theEarth'ssurface.Thisallowsthesatellitestoobserve
andcollectinformationcontinuouslyoverspecificareas.
Examplesareweatherandcommunicationssatellitesthat
commonlyhavethesetypesoforbits.

(2)Manyremotesensingplatformsaredesignedtofollowan
orbit(basicallynorthsouth)which,inconjunctionwiththe
Earth'srotation(westeast),allowsthemtocovermostofthe
Earth'ssurfaceoveracertainperiodoftime.Thesearenear
polarorbits.
(3)Manyofthesesatelliteorbitsarealsosunsynchronous such
thattheycovereachareaoftheworldataconstantlocaltimeof
daycalledlocalsuntime.Ifasatelliteisinpolarorbitatan
altitudeof800km,itwillbetravellingataspeedof
approximately7.5kmpersecond.
Atanygivenlatitude,thepositionofthesunintheskyasthe
satellitepassesoverheadwillbethesamewithinthesame
season.Thisensuresconsistentilluminationconditionswhen
acquiringimagesinaspecificseasonoversuccessiveyears,or
overaparticularareaoveraseriesofdays.Thisisanimportant
factorformonitoringchangesonthesurface.
Mostoftheremotesensingsatelliteplatformstodayareinnear
polarorbits,whichmeansthatthesatellitetravelsnorthwards
ononesideoftheEarthandthentowardthesouthernpoleon
thesecondhalfofitsorbit.Thesearecalledascendingand
descendingpasses,respectively.

AsasatelliterevolvesaroundtheEarth,thesensor
"sees"acertainportionoftheEarth'ssurface.The
areaimagedonthesurface,isreferredtoasthe
swath.

swath

Imagingswathsforspacebornesensorsgenerally
varybetweentensandhundredsofkilometreswide.
AsthesatelliteorbitstheEarthfrompoletopole,its
eastwestpositionwouldn'tchangeiftheEarth
didn'trotate.However,asseenfromtheEarth,it
seemsthatthesatelliteisshiftingwestwardbecause
theEarthisrotating(fromwesttoeast)beneathit.
Thisapparentmovementallowsthesatelliteswath
tocoveranewareawitheachconsecutivepass.
Thesatellite'sorbitandtherotationoftheEarth
worktogethertoallowcompletecoverageofthe
Earth'ssurface,afterithascompletedonecomplete
cycleoforbits.

Mercatormapofthesatellitegroundtrackfortheorbit
for(a)nonrotatingEarth,and(b)rotatingEarth.

Theintervaloftimerequiredforthe
satellitetocompleteitsorbitcycleisthe
sameastherepeativityororbitcycle
time.

Orbitalvelocitiesandperiods
Tocalculatethevelocityandorbitalperiodofthesensor,weequatethegravitational
andcentripetalforcesonthesatelliteattheorbitalaltitudeofinterest,

Gm s me
m s v s2

(r H ) 2 r H
Where,
G=gravitationalconstant=6.671011 Nm2 kg2
ms=massofthesatellite
me=massoftheearth=5.976 1024 kg
r =meanradiusoftheearth=6.371 106m
H=orbitalaltitudeinmeters(h=a(1e2)/1+ecos)
v s =velocityofthesatellite
Therefore,
Wederivetheasfollows,
vs

Gme
vs

r H

1/ 2

ms 1

Thesubsatellite velocityattheground,vg ,isgivenby

vr
vg s
rH

r (Gme )1 / 2
vg
(r H ) 3 / 2

1.272 1011
1
vg
kms
(6.371 10 6 H ) 3 / 2
Usingthisequation,wecancalculatevg forvarious
satellites.Forexample,vg andvs forLandsatTM
havingantheEarthorbitaltitudeof705103 mis
6.76and7.51kms1 respectively.