19780004170

NASA-RP- 1009
78N12113

An introduction to orbit dynamics and its application to satellite-based

earth monitoring systems
NASA Reference Publication 1009

An Introduction to Orbit
Dynamics and Its Application
to Satellite-Based Earth
Monitoring Missions

David R. Brooks

Langley Research Center

Hampton, Virginia

National Aeronautics
and Space Administration

Scientific and Technical

Informalion Office

1977
 PREFACE

This report provides, by analysis and example, an appreciation of the long-

term behavior of orbiting satellites at a level of complexity suitable for the
initial phases of planning Earth monitoring missions. The basic orbit dynamics
of satellite motion are covered in detail. Of particular interest are orbit
plane precession, Sun-synchronous orbits, and establishment of conditions for
repetitive surface coverage. Orbit plane precession relative to the Sun is
shown to be the driving factor in observed patterns of surface illumination,
on which are superimposed effects of the seasonal motion of the Sun relative
to the equator. Considerable attention is given to the special geometry of Sun-
synchronous orbits, orbits whose precession rate matches the average apparent
precession rate of the Sun. The solar and orbital plane motions take place
within an inertial framework, and these motions are related to the longitude-
latitude coordinates of the satellite ground track through appropriate spatial
and temporal coordinate systems. It is shown how orbit parameters can be chosen
to give repetitive coverage of the same set of longitude-latitude values on a
daily or longer basis. Several potential Earth monitoring missions which illus-
trate representative applications of the orbit dynamics are described. The
interactions between orbital properties and the resulting coverage and illumina-
tion patterns over specific sites on the Earth's surface are shown to be at the
heart of satellite mission planning. A requirement for global surface coverage
is seen to be a potentially severe constraint on satellite systems, depending
on the mission objectives. In some contexts, this requirement strongly sug-
gests multiple-satellite systems, whereas in less restrictive situations,
"global coverage" can be redefined such that a single satellite can provide
adequate data. The approach taken in the examples stresses the need for consid-
ering mission output as a whole, treating the entire data base as an entity
rather than a series of separate measurements. This is consistent with use of
this type of data as input to large-scale, long-term activities which can best
justify the use of satellite systems.

iii
 CONTENTS

PREFACE
.................................. iii

I. INTRODUCTION............................ I

II. DYNAMICSOF EARTH-ORBITING SATELLITES................ 2

Coordinate Systems in Space .................... 2
Coordinate Systems for Time and the Relationship Between
Longitude and Right Ascension .................. 5
Equations for the Propagation of Satellite Orbits ......... 9
Sun-SynchronousOrbits ...................... 15
III. ESTABLISHING PATTERNSOF SURFACE COVERAGE FROMA SATELLITE ..... 20
Ground Tracks for Circular Orbits ................. 20
Designing Orbits for Repetitive Longitude-Latitude Coverage .... 22
Solar Illumination Considerations in Satellite Orbit Analysis . 25
Pointing Angle Geometries for Locating the Sun .......... 28
The Geometry of Sunrise and Sunset as Viewed From a Satellite . 30
IV. SOMEEXAMPLES OF GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE
ANDSOLARILLUMINATION
PATTERNS FORLONG-DURATION EARTHMONITORING
MISSIONS ....... 33
Establishing a Need for Repetitive Coverage Patterns ....... 33
Yearly Illumination Patterns Over a Single Site .......... 34
Yearly Variations in Illumination Angle as a Function of
Latitude ............................ 37
Solar Illumination Effects on Global Surface Coverage ....... 38
Tangent-Point Distributions For Solar Occultation Experiments 41
V. SYMBOLS
............................... 47

APPENDIXA - "BASIC" LANGUAGE ALGORITHMS

FORCALCULATING
ORBIT
PARAMETERS ............................... 51

APPENDIX
B - ORBITELEMENTS
FORTHEEARTH'SMOTIONAROUND
THESUN ..... 55

APPENDIX
C - DETERMINING THECONDITIONS
UNDER
WHICHTHESUNIS
OCCULTEDBY THEEARTHRELATIVETO A SATELLITEHAVINGFIXEDORBIT
ELEMENTS................................ 56

REFERENCES ................................ 59

TABLES .................................. 60

v
 I. INTRODUCTION

Since the beginning of the space age, satellites have been employed to
examine our own planet. There is currently an abundanceof missions - specula-
tive, planned, and operational - to exploit the capabilities of a variety of
space-based sensing systems in order to understand, monitor, control, and uti-
lize the Earth and its atmosphere. One of the initial steps in designing such
missions is, invariably, to gain an understanding of howa satellite orbit can
best be matched to the requirements for meeting one or more objectives. This
matching involves not just selecting the best initial or instantaneous orbit
parameters but also attempting to maximize the useful return of data over the
desired range of conditions for the entire life of the mission. The purpose of
this report is to provide, by analysis and example, an appreciation of the long-
term behavior of orbiting satellites at a level of complexity suitable for the
initial phases of planning Earth monitoring missions.
Section II of the report, "Dynamics of Earth-Orbiting Satellites," deals
with the basic orbit dynamics required to depict the motion of satellites in
their orbits. The time scale of interest for Earth observation ranges typi-
cally from a few months to a few years. This meansthat the major effects of
the Earth's nonsymmetrical gravitational field must be accounted for but some
less significant orbital perturbations can be ignored at this stage of analy-
sis. With these limits in mind, it is possible to achieve a sufficiently rep-
resentative and self-consistent picture of satellite motion which allows an
analyst to study and comparevarious orbit options while avoiding the complexi-
ties and loose ends of higher order orbit dynamics. A subsection of Section II
deals with Sun-synchronous orbits, which have important implications because of
their special geometrical relationship to the Sun's apparent motion about the
Earth.

Section III, "Establishing Patterns of Surface Coverage From a Satellite,"

deals with viewing the Earth's surface and the ways in which orbits can be modi-
fied to produce particular patterns of coverage. The problems of keeping track
of the Sun's apparent motion with respect to a satellite are examined in detail.
This involves such requirements as looking at (or not looking at) the Sun for
measurementsor calibration as well as accounting for variations in lighting con-
ditions beneath the path of a satellite during the entire course of a mission.

Section IV, "SomeExamples of Geographical Coverage and Solar Illumination

Patterns for Long-Duration Earth Monitoring Missions," presents sometypical
applications of the orbit analyses of the previous sections. Several differ-
ent types of missions are considered, each with its own sampling and coverage
requirements. The limitations of a single satellite in satisfying someglobal
coverage requirements are illustrated, and the alternative of multiple-satellite
systems is briefly discussed.

The general aim of the analytic sections of this report is to present a

tutorial approach to orbit dynamics around which a mission analyst, starting
with no previous knowledge of orbital mechanics, can construct a set of self-
contained and self-consistent computing tools. The requirements for the exact
form of such tools will vary with circumstance, so that no attempt has been made
here to formulate specific computer programs, although some BASIC language algo-
rithms have been given in appendix A for a few standard calculations. In the
applications section (Section IV) the aim has been not to exhaust the possibil-
ities of analysis for each topic of interest, but to provide, through typical
situations, a feeling for the potential and limitations of space-based Earth
monitoring missions. In particular, Section IV is intended to provide some
insight into several types of coverage patterns and how they develop over
seasonal and yearly time periods.

II. DYNAMICS OF EARTH-ORBITING SATELLITES

In this section, the equations required to propagate a satellite along its

orbit are considered. First, the necessary coordinate systems are derived for
locating a satellite in time and space relative to the Earth and Sun. Then,
first-order perturbations are introduced to take into account the well-known
oblateness of the Earth, the result of which is that orbital paths are not fixed
in inertial space but precess about the Earth.

Coordinate Systems in Space

As outlined in the Introduction, analysis for Earth observations involves

locations on the Earth's surface (the satellite ground track, for example) and
also the Sun's position relative to a satellite in space or its viewing point on
the Earth's surface or elsewhere. Thus, it is natural to assume that two basic
coordinate systems for locating points will be required. One is a system of
locating points on the Earth's surface - longitudes and latitudes - and the
other describes the apparent motion of the Sun through space relative to the
Earth.

The longitude-latitude L-k system is described in figure I. The equator

forms the x-y plane, and the x-axis is arbitrarily defined by a vector in the

f/

i \

meridian/ / / i
Greenwich /

Figure I.- Definition of a longitude-latitude coordinate system.

equatorial plane which passes through the samemeridian that passes through
Greenwich, England. This meridian has a longitude of 0° by definition. The
latitude of a point P is defined as the angle between the equator and P, mea-
sured along the meridian passing through P. Longitude is defined as the angle
between the Greenwich meridian and the meridian passing through P. Latitude is
usually defined as having values between 90° (North Pole) and -90° (South Pole).
Longitude usually takes positive values between 0° and 180° for points east of
Greenwich and between 0o and -180° for points west of Greenwich, although it is
often convenient in computer applications to define longitude between 0° and
360° measured east from Greenwich.

The Earth-Sun geometry is illustrated in figure 2. The ecliptic plane is

defined by the Earth's motion around the Sun. The x-axis of an Earth-centered

/ Ecliptic _S_-'-- /

/ n°rth A p°le //_ -_'_''_ /

o . ox /

Equatorial plane

Figure 2.- Earth's motion around the Sun.

Cartesian coordinate system is defined by the vector pointing from the Earth to
the Sun at the instant of the vernal equinox, that is, the instant at which the
subsolar point crosses the equator moving from south to north. This Earth-
centered geometry is shown in figure 3. The celestial sphere is a fictitious
globe of apparently infinite radius which contains the "fixed "I stars against
which the Sun, the planets, and the satellite appear to move as viewed from the
Earth. The projection of the Earth's equator onto the celestial sphere is
called the equinoctial and the ecliptic is defined by the Sun's trace as it

IAs used herein, "fixed "means that the motion of stars against the celes-
tial sphere is too small to be noticed on the time scales of importance in this
analysis.
 North
Pole

Figure 3.- Celestial sphere and right-ascensionmdeclination

coordinate system.

appears to move among the stars. The vernal equinox represents a particular
location on the celestial sphere, determined by the intersection of the equinoc-
tial and the ecliptic, as the Sun moves from south to north. From the signs of
the zodiac, this intersection is called the first point of Aries and is repre-
sented by the symbol for the ram's head T. This definite point in the heavens
is now located about 15 ° west of the constellation Pleiades. (The directions
east and west on the celestial sphere are defined in the same way as an observer
would identify these directions on a globe model of the Earth.)

The reference planes and directions thus established depend on the motion
of the Earth about the Sun and about its own axis. The Earth can be thought of
as an orbiting gyroscope which maintains the reference systems and their inter-
relationships. For many purposes, this is a sufficiently accurate mental pic-
ture, but in fact the gyroscope analogy suffers from some irregularities.
Chiefly because of the small unsymmetrical forces of the Sun and the Moon on
the Earth's equatorial bulge and secondarily because of the perturbing effects
of the other planets, the Earth's axis precesses in space at the rate of about
50.25 seconds of arc in a year, advancing the time of the vernal equinox by
about 20 minutes per year. This results in a slow but steady westward motion
in the location of the first point of Aries, with a period of about 25 725
years. An additional secondary effect is the variation of the obliquity (incli-
nation) of the Earth's equator to the ecliptic plane. The obliquity is cur-
rently about 23°.44 and is decreasing at a rate of about 47 seconds of arc per
century. Detailed discussions of these effects are given in reference I.

4
 It is easy to see from figure 3 that the position of a point P on the
celestial sphere can be defined by two angles relative to the vernal equinox
vector and the equinoctial. The right ascension _ is measured along the equi-
noctial positive to the east from T, and the declination _ is measured north
from the equinoctial. The dizzying change in perspective from figure 2 to fig-
ure 3 is actually simply accomplished by vector transformations. Starting with
an Earth ephemeris (a table of or an analytic expression for Earth positions
relative to the Sun as a function of time), the negative of the Earth's position
vector in heliocentric space is the Sun's position in a geocentric ecliptic sys-
tem. Since the ecliptic and equatorial systems share the same x-axis (that is,
T), the transformation into the equatorial (equinoctial) system involves only a
vector rotation about T. Note now that the L-k and _-6 coordinate systems both
have the equatorial plane as their basis, with only the difference in x-axis to
distinguish them. Note too, that values of right ascension and declination,
although defined against the celestial sphere, are as suitable for defining
points on the Earth's surface as are longitudes and latitudes. For this analy-
sis, declination and latitude are, in fact, equivalent and can be used inter-
changeably. Finally, note that the right ascension-declination system is an
inertial coordinate system in space as perceived by an observer having the van-
tage point implied by figure 2. That is, although the origin of the coordinate
system rotates around the Sun with the Earth, the directions of the three axes
remain fixed in space. From the vantage point of an observer on Earth, an iner-
tial system is one whose axes are pointed at fixed positions on the celestial
sphere. The discussion of the previous paragraph shows that this inertial frame-
work is only an approximation, as could eventually be determined (and has been)
by patient observation of the Earth-Sun system as shown in figure 2. However,
for present purposes, the inertial framework is a useful and very good approxi-
mation for analysis and will henceforth be accepted as valid. The relationship
between the inertial (right-ascension--declination) and rotating (longitude-
latitude) systems depends on the location of the Greenwich meridian relative to
T, the specification of which requires definition of a coordinate system for
time. This problem is dealt with in the next section, which digresses long
enough to present the necessary background information and ends with the equa-
tions which allow transformation back and forth between longitude and right
ascensi on.

Coordinate Systems for Time and the Relationship

Between Longitude and Right Ascension

The definition of a time-measuring system requires an agreed-upon starting

point and a set of periodic events which can be used to measure intervals of
time. Fundamental to an understanding of the physical sciences is an acceptance
of the existence of a uniform time which corresponds to the time variable in
dynamical equations. However, in practice, it is necessary to admit that mea-
sures of time exist only as matters of definition, that these definitions are
imperfect ones applied to particular situations, and that discrepancies will
always exist at some level of application.

If the Earth-Sun-celestial sphere system is used as the means of defining

a time system, there are two conventional ways to proceed - sidereal time and

5
solar time. Sidereal time is governed by the rotation of the Earth relative to
the stars. If the instant of passage of a particular star over a meridian is
noted, the star will cross the samemeridian again in exactly one sidereal day,
by definition. This definition is complicated by the motion of the vernal equi-
nox, but for most purposes the problems are not worth considering.

Solar time is governed by the rotation of the Earth relative to the Sun.
If the instant of passage of the Sun over a meridian is noted, the Sun will
cross the samemeridian again in exactly one solar day, by definition. This
observable solar day is the basis of what is called apparent solar time. It
is not hard to see the difficulties in applying this definition to practical
measurements. It is complicated by the slightly elliptical motion of the Earth
around the Sun and by the fact that the Sun does not move in the equatorial
plane, with the result that the observed length of solar days is only approxi-
mately constant. To circumvent this problem, "meansolar time" is defined rela-
tive to a fictitious "mean sun" which moves along the equinoctial (the projec-
tion of the equator on the celestial sphere) at a constant rate equal to the
average apparent rate of motion of the real Sun. Although the meansolar time
system is the basis of all civil time measurements- the time by which people
set their watches - it is still full of inconsistencies because of the variable
rotation rate of the Earth, the fact that the fictitious meansun cannot be
observed, and the fact that the accepted description of the fictitious meansun
is based on another time system (ephemeris time), which dependson the internal
consistency of the gravitational theories describing the entire solar system.
However, at somepoint it is necessary to cease worrying about discrepancies
and accept meansolar time as a precise and uniform method of relating nonsimul-
taneous events. Hereinafter, "time" meansmeansolar time unless stated other-
wise. A "day" is 86 400 meansolar seconds, by definition, and a "second" is
always a meansolar second.

The meaning of a "year" is complicated by the variety of choices available.

Thus, a sidereal year is based on the motion of the Earth relative to the stars -
the cycle time for astronomical observation. A year defined relative to the Sun
is based on the passage of the Earth from one vernal (or autumnal) equinox to
the next. This interval of time is called a tropical year - the cycle time for
Earth seasons. It is nearly constant, but not quite, because of the interaction
of the planets in the solar system. It is slowly decreasing linearly with time
at a rate of 0.53 sec/century (ref. I); a current approximate length, good for
the pertinent time frame, is 365.24220 days. This discussion makesclear that
calendar systems are bound to be complicated, as they seek to maintain seasonal
relationships by using units (days) which are not exact subdivisions of the
tropical (seasonal) year.
Within the framework of meansolar days, there are two time systems of
interest in the bookkeeping sense. The first is universal time (UT), a unit of
which is, for all practical purposes, equal to the corresponding unit of mean
solar time. Universal time is the practical basis of civil time. It is
expressed in hours, minutes, and seconds or in fractions of a meansolar day.
The zero reference for a universal time day is Greenwich midnight, at the start
of a calendar day. Hence, Jan. 1.0 is the start of calendar day Jan. I, at
Greenwich midnight.
 The other system of interest, and an important one for analysis, is the
Julian date (J.D.) system, which is a method of counting meansolar days consec-
utively. Its origin was set long enough ago that all recorded astronomical
events can, in principle, be assigned an unambiguousJulian date. Since the
system was devised by astronomers for their own purposes, the Julian day starts
at Greenwich noon so that all astronomical observations during a night of view-
ing activity have the sameJulian date. One standard reference epoch for Julian
date tables is Jan. 0.5, 1900 (UT). This is Greenwich noon on calendar day
Dec. 31, 1899, or Julian date 241 5020.0. Julian dates are used extensively
for keeping track of days in preference to the more cumbersomecalendar system.
A Julian year is exactly 365.25 days, the average length of the calendar year
according to the Julian calendar, and, advantageously, is an exact decimal frac-
tion. A Julian century is 36 525 days. Table I, from reference I, lists Julian
dates for the first day of each month in the last half of the 20th century. Note
that the calendar day starts at a Julian date of XXXXXXX.5, so that Jan. 1.0,
1950, is J.D. 243 3282.5.

Returning now to the relationship between right ascension and longitude,

it can be expressed in terms of a constant related to a particular epoch, the
Earth's rotational rate, and somemeasure of time. Reference I gives the fol-
lowing equation for the right ascension of the Greenwich meridian at 12 midnight
(0 hours UT):

_g,o = 99°'6909833 + 36000°'7689T + 0°'00038708T2 (I)

where T is the time in Julian centuries from Jan. 0.5, 1900:

T = J.D. - 241 5020.0 (2)

36 525

The appearance of a second-order term in T is due to the accumulated effects

of small secular and periodic variations in the Earth's rotational rate and
cannot be accounted for in terms of the previous discussion; this part of equa-
tion (I) must just be accepted as fact. Note that although equation (I) appears
to give ag,o as a continuous function of T, it does not actually do so. The
value of T must correspond to a time of O h UT, that is, to Julian dates of the
form XXX XXXX.5. A detailed discussion of equation (I) and its relationship to
the mean solar time system may be found in reference I.

At this point, it is useful to reconsider the concept of sidereal time,

that is, time relative to a "fixed" x-axis - the vernal equinox. In this sense,
the angular position of any meridian is equivalent to some fraction of a side-
real day, with 360 ° = 24 sidereal hours. Thus, sidereal time and right ascen-
sion are equivalent measurements of angular position. To determine the sidereal
time (right ascension) of any meridian at any time, it is only necessary to know
the rotational rate of the Earth @. Then

a = eg,o + (t - to)e + Lm- ag + Lm (3)

where t - to is the universal time of interest and Lm is the longitude of

the meridian. The Sun's apparent sidereal rate is 360 ° in 365.2422 mean Solar
days, so that the Earth must rotate 360 + 360/365.2422 = 360.9856473 degrees

7
per mean solar day or 0.25068447 degree per mean solar minute. An example (from
ref. 2) will make clear the necessary computations: What is the local sidereal
time !right ascension _) of a point at 298°.2213 east longitude, at 10h15m30 s UT
on Oct. 12, 1962? (The superscripts show the conventional notations for hours,
minutes, and seconds.)

Convert to Julian days:

243 7938.0 J.D., Oct. 0.5, 1962 (from table I)

+0.5 Add 0.5 day to obtain J.D., Oct. 1.0, 1962
+11.0 Add 11 days to obtain J.D., Oct. 12.0, 1962
243 7949.5 J.D., O h UT, Oct. 12, 1962

From equations (I) and (2),

T = 243 7949.5 - 241 5020.0 = 0.62777549 Julian century

36 525

_g,o : 99°'69098 + 280°'40033 + 0°'0001525 = 20°'0915

10h15m30 s : 615.5 min

And from equation (3),

eg = 20o.0915 + (615.5 - 0)(0°.25068447) = 174°.3878

Thus,

= 174o.3878 + 298°.2213 = 112o.6091

Note the convention of expressing sidereal "time" in terms of an angle. It

could be expressed as 112o.6091 = (24)(112.6091/360) hours = 7h30m26 s, but the
time units are not the same as mean solar time unitsl Therefore, to avoid con-
fusion, the angular notation is used.

A final topic of practical interest in a discussion of time systems is

the matter of converting back and forth between the Julian date system and a
calendar-clock system. This is a somewhat tedious procedure for hand calcula-
tions but is easily taken care of in computerized orbit analysis with the aid
of transformation subroutines. It is necessary only to keep in mind that clock
times derived from Julian dates are Greenwich times, so that the local clock
hour, if that is desired, depends on the time zone of the point of interest.
There are 24 such zones, 15 ° wide, one of which is centered about the Greenwich
meridian, ±7.5 ° • For the purposes of analysis, all time zones are considered to
follow meridians, so that local geographical and "daylight savings" fluctua-
tions, such as are common over populated areas of the Earth, are ignored. For
example, eastern standard time is 5 hours behind Greenwich mean time, being in
the time zone centered at -75 °. Therefore, local noon EST occurs at
J.D. XXX XXXX.O + 5/24 = XXX XXXX.208333.
 Equations for the Propagation of Satellite Orbits

In an unperturbed spherically symmetric gravitational field, orbiting

objects follow the classical laws of Keplerian dynamics. The position of a
satellite In a Cartesian coordinate system can be specified completely either
by a set of six orbit elements or by six vector components - a position vector
plus a velocity vector. (For a basic review of elliptic orbital motion, see
ref. 3.) Figure 4 shows the orientation of an orbit in the right ascension-

z ra

r
(
rp

a= rP + ra
2
Y
rp = a(1- e)
Equator r a = a(1 + e)
p = a(1 - e 2)

x T

Figure 4.- Defining the position and velocity of a satellite

in orbit around the Earth.

declination system previously discussed in detail. Two of the orbit elements,

right ascension of the ascending node _ and inclination i, position the orbi-
tal plane in space. The remaining angular elements, argument of perigee m and
true anomaly f, specify the angular position of a satellite at point P along
its orbital path relative to the x-y (equatorial) plane. The size and shape of
the orbital path are determined by the semimaJor axis a and eccentricity e.
(Many orbits of interest for Earth monitoring have semimajor axes between about
6600 and 8000 km and are circular, or nearly so, with eccentricities in the
range 0.0 to 0.1.) The semimajor axis a is the average of the perigee and
apogee rp and ra (minimum and maximum radii relative to the source of the
gravitational field), as shown in figure 4. The eccentricity e can be thought
of as a dimensionless measure of the departure from a circular orbit of radius
a, re]ating a to rp and ra as shown. The semilatus rectum p is a
derived quantity which will be used in the following analysis; it is measured
through the gravitational center along a line perpendicular to a line from peri-
gee to apogee and is equal to the semimaJor axis for a circular orbit. Knowl-
edge of all six Keplerian elements - a, e, i, _, _, and f - is equivalent
to knowing the satellite's state vector (position and velocity), which may be
obtained in terms of orbit elements as follows (ref. 3):

rx = [cos f(cos _ cos _ - cos i sin _ sin _) + sin f(-sin _ cos

- cos i sin _ cos _ P (4a)

I + e cos f

ry = [cos f(cos _ sin _ + cos i cos _ sin _) + sin f(-sin _ sin

+ cos i cos _ cos _ P (4b)

I + e cos f

P (4c)
r z = Lrc°s f sin i sin _ + sin f sin i cos _71- + e COS f

rx : \_ [(cos f + e)(-sin _ cos _ cos i sin _ cos _) - sin f(cos _ cos

Vr
- cos i sin _ sin _)] (4d)

_y : _cos f + e)(-sin _ cos _ + cos i cos _ cos _) - sin f (cos m sin

+ cos i cos _ sin _)] (4e)

(4f)
rz : _p___cos f + e)(sin i cos _ - sin f sin i sin _

The gravitational constant _ is equal to 398 601.2 km3/sec 2 for the Earth; it
is this quantity which takes into account the mass associated with a gravita-
tional source and, hence, determines the magnitude of the velocities associated
with orbits around a particular body. The inverse of the transformation in equa-
tions (4), from state vector to orbit elements, and many other relationships
referring to Keplerian orbits and their elements are summarized in reference 3.

Because of the Earth's oblateness, not all the Keplerian elements are con-
stant for Earth satellites. In particular, the orientation of the orbital plane
and the argument (location) of the perigee m precess as a result of the
effects of the bulge around the Earth's equator. These precessions, which can
be understood in terms of gyroscopic analogies, were thoroughly discussed in the
late 1950's. Reference 3 contains an extensive bibliography. The perturbations
in _ and _ are significant, amounting to several degrees per day, and there-
fore must be accounted for.

The usual treatment of gravitational potential involves expansion of the

potential in a series. The following discussion utilizes the first-order theory
of Kozai (ref. 4), involving the so-called J2 term in the gravitational repre-
sentation. In this formulation

I0
 =3 J2 r@-2 M(2 - 2.5 sin 2 i) (5a)
2 p2

: _ 3 J2 r_2 _ cos i (5b)

2 p2

where

J2 = 1.6238235 × 10-3 (a dimensionless constant)

2

r@ Earth's mean equatorial radius, 6378.145 km

perturbed mean motion of the satellite in its orbit, rad/sec

The perturbed mean motion M (in radians per second) is based on a modification
of the unperturbed (Keplerian) value, which is

Mo : 2__ (6)
To

where

To : 2_aV_ (7)

Then, according to Kozai,

M = MO_ + _ J2 _]_--
r_2 _ - e2_ - _ sin2 (8)

The mean anomaly at any time is, by definition, just the constant value of
multiplied by the time interval from perigee. It is equal to the true anomaly
f only for circular orbits, since according to Kepler's laws of orbital motion,
the time derivative of true anomaly f is a function of position in an orbit
when e # 0, being larger (faster) at perigee than at apogee. (If this were
not so, orbiting objects in elliptical orbits could not sweep out equal areas
in equal time, as required by Kepler's laws.) By definition, the time required
for the mean anomaly to proceed from 0 to 2w tad (0 ° to 360o), that is, from
perigee to perigee, is called the anomalistic period TA:

_A - Z. (9)

There is another equally valid definition of period brought about by the motion
of the perigee - the nodal period T N. Figure 5 illustrates the geometry.
According to this figure,

2_ (10)
TN - _ +

11
 Anomalistic
Nodal period
per iod

Initial __

condition: o)o,__

Perigee Node
to perigee to node

Figure 5.- Anomalistic and nodal orbit periods.

For perigee precession in the direction shown, the anomalistic period is a lit-
tle longer than the nodal period. Note that the nodal period is the one by
which equator crossings of an object in a circular orbit would be counted.
That is, if a satellite started at its ascending node on the equator, it would
cross again after one nodal period. Note, too, that TN as defined only
describes the observable behavior of objects in circular orbits, or the mean
motion for elliptical orbits. That is, the nodal crossing times of an object
in an elliptical orbit - what might be called the observed nodal periods - are
not constant but vary with the location of the perigee. Such an object does
not cross a given latitude after a length of time TN" Therefore, a distinc-
tion must in general be made between the actual position (true anomaly) andthe
"average" position described by the preceding equations for the mean anomaly.
The relation between the two involves the solution of a transcendental equation,
Kepler's equation, a discussion of which can be found in any textbook on orbital
mechanics. Briefly,

M" : E - e sin E (11)

where M and E must be expressed in radians and E is called the eccen-

tric anomaly; E can be directly related to true anomaly in a number of ways
(ref. 3). For example,

f : cos-l{ cos E- e (12)

_I - e cos E/

There are many ways to solve equation (11) iteratively for E. For example, an
easily programed "graphical" solution is given in reference 5. In many cases, a
series expanslon to the required accuracy can be done without iteration to get
directly from M to f. (See ref. 3.)

Equations (5) can be used to propagate Earth orbit elements in the absence
of additional perturbations. Of course, a consideration of atmospheric drag
would introduce such perturbations - specifically, a secular (nonperiodic)
change in semimaJor axis. There are.other sources which could be considered
too, in addition to those due to the neglected higher order gravitational terms.

12
 One example would be the effects of solar radiation, which are known to cause
substantial orbit perturbations on hollow balloon satellites. These effects
will be ignored for analysis of Earth observation mission, as they will add
little to understanding patterns of surface coverage and other pertinent
relationships.

At any time t after some initial orbit configuration,

(13a)

(13b)

A useful formulation gives the changes A_ and A_ corresponding to a mean-

anomaly step AM:

A_ = (1.6238235 x I0-3)r_ 2 (2 - 2.5 sin 2 i) AM

(14a)
p2

(-1.6238235
x 10-3)rm2.cos
i (14b)
p2

Expressing AM in degrees gives _,_ and A_ units of degrees. The time

required for a step AM is

t : T A AM
360 (15)

Note that for AM : 360 ° , the time required for a step will be one anomalis-
tic period. Often it is desirable to use nodal periods to generate conditions
at successive crossings of a particular latitude. Then AM should be modified:

AM N : AM T--_
N (16)
TA

Thus, in a computer program for generating orbits, AM = 360 ° could he input to

produce one orbit revolution, and if desired, it could be modified in the pro-
gram by an input flag to generate nodal instead of anomalistic revolutions. Of
course, any fraction or multiple of either anomalistic or nodal revolutions can
be generated with equations (14) to (16) by the appropriate choice of AM.

As a final comment on the generation and propagation of orbits with the

first-order equations, note that the concept of a perigee must be retained even
for circular orbits. It must be assigned an initial value and its motion must
be accounted for with equation (14a). This follows from figure 5, which shows
that from the point of view of an observer on the Earth, the precession of the
perigee in a circular orbit is part of, and cannot be distinguished from, the
motion of the satellite around its orbit. Thus, if an observer timed successive
equator crossings of a satellite in a circular orbit, he would measure the nodal
period, which can only be related to the orbit dynamics through both the mean
motion and the perigee precession. The distinction would become clear to the
observer only if the satellite were in an eccentric orbit, in which case he

13
would note that the altitude at each crossing and the time between crossings
undergo a periodic cycle with a period equal to the time for the perigee to
precess 360 ° .

In order to illustrate the magnitude of first-order effects on typical

Earth orbits, table 2 lists Keplerian (unperturbed) and perturbed periods for
a range of satellite altitudes h and inclinations i, and table 3 lists pre-
cession rates _ and _ as a function of inclination over the same range of
altitudes. For the usually small values of e associated with Earth observa-
tion studies, the restriction of tables 2 and 3 to circular orbits does not pre-
vent the values from being representative, as can be seen by examining the con-
tribution of e (through p) in equations (5). The information in tables 2 and
3 is also plotted in figures 6 and 7, respectively.

7000

/
6800 /"

6600 ./

6400 /

6200 /

°'
sec 6000 /
/
5800 /
/
5600 /

5400

52OO
2O0 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500
Alti_de, km

(a) Keplerian period.

Figure 6.- Keplerian period and deviations from the Keplerian period TO
as a function of orbit altitude and inclination.

14
 10
TN - To, h = 200 km
TN - ¢o, h = 1500 km
TA - TO, h = 200 km
_'A - To' h = 1500 krn

-2

h = 1500 k_ I

TN
::__or-- To,
TO -10
-6:2::::::_ /
TA h = 200 km
sec

_14
h_-
I o0 7
-18

__rh_ 200 km
-22 -- /

-26 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

i, deg

(b) Deviations from a Keplerian period.

Figure 6.- Concluded.

Sun-Synchronous Orbits

For many types of Earth observation it would be desirable to view the same
surface regions repeatedly under constant lighting conditions. If it were possi-
ble to establish an orbit whose nodal precession matched the solar precession,
then the Sun-orbit plane geometry would be fixed, with the lighting conditions
at a particular latitude dependent only on the north-south movement of the Sun
with the seasons. The best available way to accomplish this is to set the orbi-
tal precession rate equal tothe average solar precession rate. Recall that the
Sun precesses 360 ° in I tropical year of 365.2422 days. Therefore, from equa-
tion (5b), the orbital precession rate, in degrees per day, is

360 : 0.9856473 : _ : (-1.6238235 x 10-3)r@2_ cos i

365.2422 p2

Substituting for M from equation (8) and converting the units of M from
radians per second to degrees per day yields:

0.9856473 : -2.0645874 x 1014 cos iF1 + 6.605833 x 104 )_

a3.5(i _ e2)2 [ _(_ _ e2_3/2 (I - 1.5 sin 2 i.j (17)

15
 h, km
18

16 00

14
\
12
\
10
\
o\
\
Precession
6

4
\ \
\
\
rate,
deg/day
.

15oo ///

-6 _ //
/
200 _/
-8 f
I

-I0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
i , deg

Figure 7.- Precession rates for perigee and right ascension of the ascending
node for perturbed circular orbits, as a function of inclination.

16
Note that because of the minus sign appearing in the expression for _, the Sun-
synchronous inclination will always be greater than 90 °. For many purposes it
may be sufficient to ignore the bracketed term in equation (17). As an example,
for a = 7000 km and e = O, the Sun-synchronous inclination is is found to
be 97°.874474 with this term ignored. Iterating once by substituting this value
for i in the bracketed term and recomputing yield i s = 97°.879528. The sin-
gle iteration procedure gives a Sun-synchronous orbit precession which matches
the Sun's position after I year to better than 10 -5 deg. The variation of Sun-
synchronous orbit inclination for circular orbits up to an altitude of 1600 km
is given in figure 8.

103

102

i01

100

i s , deg
99

98

97j
96
200 400 600 800 I000 1200 1400 1600

h, km

Figure 8.- Variation of Sun-synchronous orbit inclination

for circular orbits as a function of altitude h.

It is interesting to consider how well a Sun-synchronous orbit actually

maintains a constant relationship to the Sun throughout the year. To do this,
first assume a fictitious sun 2 that travels at a constant rate along the ecliptic
projection on the celestial sphere (fig. 3). This would mean that the ficti-
tious sun travels around the celestial sphere at a constant rate of 0.9856473
deg/day. Figure 9 shows how to compare the right ascension of the ascending
node of a satellite orbit with the right ascension of the fictitious subsolar

2This "fictitious sun" is an ad hoc mathematical entity for the purposes of

this discussion, and is not the same as the fictitious mean sun which forms the
basis for the mean solar time system. (See p. 6 and ref. I.)

17
 Celestial

/ X Fictiti_
ous subsolar point

Eclip ht ascension of satellite

[_-" I-__.LL:-----'_.._-.. ascending node after time t
Equinoc tial_._._------"_
_c
x
T

c = 0.9856473t
tan _ = cos 23°.44 tan c
c
a c = right ascension of fictitious subsolar point after time t

Figure 9.- Relationship between a Sun-synchronous orbit and the subsolar

point for a fictitious sun which moves at a constant rate along the
ecliptic.

point. It assumes that a Sun-synchronous orbit is started at the vernal equi-

nox, so that the subsolar point is initially in the orbital plane. For constant
motion of this fictitious sun, the right ascensions must be equal at each equi-
nox (where the ecliptic intersects the equinoctial) and at each solstice (where
the ecliptic reaches its highest or lowest point relative to the equinoctial).
For the fictitious sun in its circular orbit, the vernal equinox, summer sol-
stice, autumnal equinox, and winter solstice occur at exactly I/4-year
intervals.

In figure 10 the dashed line gives the resulting difference between the
right ascension of the ascending node of a Sun-synchronous orbit and that of
the fictitious subsolar point for one-fourth of the yearly cycle. The solid
line in figure 10 shows the difference between the same satellite quantity and
the right ascension of the real subsolar point throughout I year. Also shown
in the figure is the actual subsolar declination 6® as the real Sun passes
through the summer solstice, autumnal equinox, and winter solstice. The points
at which _ = 0 define the equinoxes, and the maximum and minimum values of
6_ define The summer and winter solstices, respectively. The three separate
o_dinates for _Q in figure 10 show when these events occur during the year
relative to I/4, I/2, and 3/4 of a year, as denoted by the three tick marks on
the time axis. The greater than expected lagging of the real subsolar point is
due to the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit around the Sun; the tick marks show

18
 c_
o
•_ 0

o_ co
I

+o

L._

+o

oo
0
.H

0
0
_ 0

_._
r-4

co 0
o_
•-- o

m
o !

c_

•H o
_o o
c_
_-_ I
o ._

O_

0
eJ
0 ._..I
_ _- 0
0
\
\ 0
C_J _ 0

0
o,I _._ o P4
I I

goo
I o I _J ,el
_d

19
that the autumnal equinox occurs more than 6 months after the vernal equinox,
implying that the Earth moves through its aphelion (farthest point from the Sun)
during this period. During the time between autumn and the next spring, the Sun
,catches up" as the Earth moves through its perihelion (closest point to the
Sun). Thus the satellite leads the Sun for most of the year, by as much as
about 6° . Although these data are typical for the time periods of interest,
they are, strictly speaking, a function of time, since the perihelion of the
Earth is precessing around the Sun at a rate of approximately 1.7 degrees per
century. Hence the year for which the calculations have been made (1981) is
specified.

III. ESTABLISHING PATTERNS OF SURFACE COVERAGE FROM A SATELLITE

The underlying assumption for this section is that any Earth observation
mission requires some type of repetitive surface coverage pattern to achieve its
goals. To establish these patterns, it is necessary to couple the motion of a
satellite in inertial space (that is, with respect to the inertial right-
ascension--declination coordinate system) with its motion over the surface of
the rotating Earth. For a randomly chosen orbit, there is no reason to expect
the satellite ground track (that is, the longitude-latitude history) of the sub-
satellite point to be repetitive. This is because, in general, the satellite
period bears no useful relationship to the Earth's rotational period unless it
is specifically selected for a particular purpose.

Ground Tracks for Circular Orbits

Several typical ground tracks are shown in figure 11 for circular orbits
with a semimajor axis of 7000 km and varying inclinations. One-fourth of the

I
8o I I_. ..-..__-- ........._
_.--- -85
-,.80

70 J'_

_ -
60 ,_r

50 50

= . ,,... ..--

71 ._.__.
2o
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Longitude, deg

Figure 11 .- Ground tracks for circular orbits, through

one-fourth of a nodal period.

2O
track is shown - the track over one-fourth of a nodal period. The satellite
does not cover a longitude of 90° during this time because of the rotation of
the Earth and, secondarily, the orbital precession terms. The longitude-
latitude history relative to an initial point on the equator can be calculated
as a function of mean-anomalystep AM (in degrees) according to the following
equations:
1 sin-IFsin i sin (AM+ _OAM)7
J
(18)
t

AM _A(360.9856473)
AL = tan-1[cos i tan(AM + A_AM _ + A_AM - (19)
(360)(86 400)

Note that these equations work only for circular orbits, or the mean motion for
elliptical orbits, for the reasons discussed earlier in reference to the defini-
tion of nodal period (eq. (10)). Since orbits for coverage of the Earth's sur-
face are commonly circular anyhow, for a variety of reasons, this is not a par-
ticularly restrictive limitation. The longitudes and latitudes are referenced
to a fictitious spherical earth, even though the dynamical equations of the
orbit reflect the fact that the Earth is oblate. Transformation of longitude-
latitude data from a sphere to points on an oblate spheroidal surface is easily
achieved (ref. 6) but is not considered necessary for the present objective of
understanding and modifying patterns of surface coverage.

The cumulative effect of the apparent westward drift of the ground track
is further illustrated in figure 12, which shows the longitude-latitude trace of

la ='7000 km
'i 33 °
9O TN

7O

5O

3O

10

-10 29 28 27 26 25 24 ¥_3 22 21 I 20 19 18

_a -30 /
-5o

-7o

-9o
0 60 120 180 240 300 36O

Longi_de, deg

Figure 12.- Ground track for I revolution of a circular orbit

and starting longitudes for subsequent orbits.

21
a _ircular orbit with i = 63 ° and a = 7000 km. (The reason for the choice of
these particular orbit elements will be made clear in a subsequent section. It
is immediately clear, however, that the 63 ° inclination covers, in latitude at
least, most of the inhabited areas of the Earth.) The longitudes at which suc-
cessive orbits cross the equator are shown in figure 12 by the numbered marks
along the axis. The westward movement of each successive orbital track is, for
any orbit, an obvious consequence of the Earth's rotation. The gaps in longi-
tude between successive orbits constitute one of the basic restrictions in obtain-
ing surface coverage. There is not much that can be done to alter the magnitude
of the gaps, as can be seen from table 4. This shows, as a function of altitude,
the change in longitude AL between successive orbital passes over the same lat-
itude. To simplify construction of the table, the orbital precession effects,
which are considerably less than I degree per orbit, have been neglected. Hence
the quantity AL is the rotation of the Earth under a hypothetical unperturbed
(Keplerian) circular orbit during one Keplerian period. More exact calculations
would require the use of nodal periods and inclusion of the precession effects.
Table 4 also illustrates the range of orbital periods available for Earth obser-
vation. In principle, any orbital period between about 16 and I or less orbits
per day can be obtained; however, for reasons of sensor resolution and launch
system capability, most Earth observation orbits will remain at below about
1500 km, or a period of less than about 7000 see. The lower limit on period
is set by the lowest altitude which is practical in terms of coping with atmo-
spheric drag - about 200 km. The last nine columns of table 4 show the longitu-
dinal displacement in kilometers at nine different latitudes for a spherical
earth whose radius is equal to 6378.145 km (the mean equatorial radius of the
Earth).

Designing Orbits for Repetitive Longitude-Latitude Coverage

The satellite ground track and successive equator crossings presented in

figure 12 at least suggest that the longitude-latitude history will not repeat
itself in any useful way; that is, there is no discernible repetitive coverage
pattern for this particular orbit. According to table 4, the ground track can-
not possibly repeat itself any more often than once a day, as it takes about I
day for the Earth's Surface to rotate once under the orbital trace. Except for
that restriction, however, it is easy to redesign the orbit to pass over the
same longitude-latitude points every day, every 2 days, and so forth. Again,
because of the general differences between mean and true anomaly, this discus-
sion is valid only for circular orbits, or the "mean" location of satellites in
elliptical orbits.

Consider the geometry shown in figure 13. At some given time a satellite
passes over longitude L, which is shown on the equator but could be at any lati-
tude. For repetitive coverage of L, the point L must undergo n revolutions
under the orbit trace in the time required for the satellite to undergo m nodal
revolutions (where n and m are integers!. The point L moves with respect
to the orbit plane at an angular rate e - _, and the satellite's orbital rate
is M + _. (Recall that e is the Earth's rotational rate.) Therefore,

(m)(360) = (n)(360) (20)

22
 _ North

AS
Orbit trace _ I_ 1VI + I_x'_
¢b "\ \

Figure 13.- Earth-orbit geometry for defining

the repetition factor Q.

The repetition factor Q is defined as the number of satellite revolutions

divided by the number of revolutions of the point L:

Q_m:_+_ (21)
n e-_

Note that except for the _ and _ terms, Q would be exactly equal to the
number of orbits per day; however, because of the need to maintain repeated cov-
erage over a long period of time, it is necessary to retain these small terms
when designing for a particular repetition factor. An integer value of Q, for
example, Q = 14/I, means that the longitude and latitude points covered by a
particular ground track will be exactly duplicated 14 orbits later, the next day.
What is lost to gain this advantage is that other longitudes, those not covered
during the first day, will never be covered If Q is given the value
29 = 14_, the initial longitude coverage will be duplicated on every other
2 2

day after launch, with longitude points halfway in between being covered on the
alternate days.

Sun-synchronous orbits present a special case in defining Q. Since the

Earth's rotation rate e is 360 ° plus the average.solar precession in one day,
by definition, and the orbit is designed so that _ is the average solar pre-
cession in one day, the synchronous repetition factor is

Qs - _ + _ (22)
360

where the units of M and _ are degrees per day. That is, for Sun-synchronous
orbits, Qs is numerically identical with the number of nodal revolutions per
day.

23
 The range of circular orbit altitudes required to produce specified values
of Q (convertible to semimajor axis, in the average sense discussed previ-
ously) is shown in figure 14, which also illustrates the small inclination

1700

1600 _

1500 _

1400 __= 90°

13oo _\

1200 0£_

II00

h, km
9O0
1000

800

700
6OO

500

400

3OO

2OO
12 12½ 13 13_ 14 14_ 15 15½ 16
Q
Figure 14.- Circular orbit altitudes h to achieve specified
repetition factors.

24
dependence (through 6). An extensive listing of circular orbit parameters for
particular values of Q is given in table 5. Repetition rates of I to 10 days
and 2 or 3 weeks are considered. Table 6 gives the same data for Sun-synchronous
orbits, in which case both semimajor axis and inclination must have a particular
value to satisfy two independent constraints: the correct precession rate,
dependent on the satellite-Sun geometry, and repetitive ground coverage, depen-
dent on the satellite-Earth geometry.

Appendix A presents several computing algorithms written in BASIC language

for the Wang 2200 computer system. These can be used to calculate many useful
orbit parameters based on the first-order perturbations discussed in the preced-
ing sections. In particular, orbit parameters which produce orbits having
desired repetition factors can be generated; the necessary computations are very
tedious to do by hand to the accuracy required for internally self-consistent,
long-term orbit propagation.

Solar Illumination Considerations in Satellite Orbit Analysis

Previously it has been shown that the apparent motion of the Sun about the
Earth is not coupled in any discernible way with the Earth's rotation. As a
result, the specification of orbit parameters for a particular type of repeti-
tive ground coverage must be made independently of what the solar illumination
conditions will be during the specified repeat cycle. Even for Sun'synchronous
orbits, which maintain a "fixed" geometry with respect to the Sun, figure 4
serves as a reminder that the resulting illumination geometry is not really
fixed at all and actually varies in a more complex way than might be expected.

As a basis for consideration of solar illumination patterns, table 7 pre-

sents a summary of solar position information, starting at the beginning of a
calendar year and continuing through the vernal equinox of the following year.
The calculations are based on equations for the Earth's motion around the Sun,
presented in appendix B. Note that figure 10 can be obtained from these data.
It should be emphasized that the large number of significant figures shown in
the position data is merely for the sake of internal consistency when working
with the data in other contexts (as in computer programs) and need not necessar-
ily represent actual solar positions to the indicated accuracy.

As an illustration of the relationship between the Sun's apparent motion in

its nearly inertial framework and the Earth's rotation about its own axis, con-
sider the following problem: It is well known that local clock noon does not in
general correspond to high noon - the instant at which the subsolar point crosses
an observer's meridian. For an arbitrary date, say May I, 1981, find the actual
local clock time at which high noon occurs for an observer at a longitude Lm
of -70 ° . The first step in the solution is to locate both the Sun and the
observer in a common coordinate system. The latitude (declination) does not
matter, as the location of high noon only involves lining up the observer's
meridian with the subsolar point. The right ascension of the observer is cal-
culated from equations (I) to (3). The Julian date for O h UT, May I, 19BI, is
244 4725.5. In the following calculations, note the practice of removing inte-
ger multiples of 360 ° from the angular values, and of converting negative angles
to their positive equivalents between 0 ° and 360o:

25
 T= 244 4725.5 - 241 5020.0 = 0.813292 Julian century
36 525

ag,o : 990.6909833 + 36000°.7689T + 0o.00038708T 2 : 218o.838139

mobs : _g,o + Lm : 148°'838139

The right ascension of the Sun at O h UT is given in table 7:

eQ : 38°.127349

The observer's right ascension changes at a rate equal to the sidereal rotation
of the Earth. The corresponding motion of the subsolar point is not constant
but changes with the seasons and the position of the Earth in its heliocentric
orbit. The rate can be determined to sufficient accuracy by examining the
change in solar right ascension as given in table 7. The average of the 5-day
changes prior to and following May I, 1981, is

Finally, the time at which the Sun crosses the observer's meridian is given by

148°.838139 + 360.9856473t = 38o.127349 + 0.9545191t

360.0311282t = -110°.71079 = 2490.28921

t = 0.69241016 day

Therefore, high noon occurs at J.D. 244 4726.19241016 = May I, 1981, 16h37m04 s
UT, or 11h37m04 s EST (local clock time).

Also of interest in table 7 is the variation of solar declination 6_ as

a function of time. Clearly, this seasonal variation has a dominant effect on
solar illumination during any Earth observing mission. Figure 15 illustrates
the range of Sun elevation angles available throughout the year as a function
of latitude. (A geometrical description of the elevation angle is given in the
following section.) Variation of Sun elevation angle _ with time is shown for
summer, winter, and the equinoxes in table 8. The time system used in this
table is an hour-angle (B) system; the elevation angle _ is given at any lati-
tude X by

(23)
: 90 ° - cos-1(cos 6® cos X cos B ÷ sin 6® sin X)

where B is the equatorial angle from the subsatellite meridian to the subsolar
meridian. The reference (0 hours) is local high noon (B = 0°). For example, at
a relative time of +2 hours or -2 hours (10 a.m. or 2 p.m., respectively, in a
"clock" terminology), the Sun is on a meridian +30 ° or -30 ° away from the local
meridian. The use of this relative time system serves as a warning to exercise
care when dealing with orbit timing. A "9:00 a.m." orbit could mean that a

26
 90

7O

5O

30

Sun
elevation 10

angle,
deg -10

-30

-5O

-70

-90
-90 -70 -50 -30 -10 10 30 50 70 90
Subsatellite latitude, deg

Figure 15.- Range of Sun elevation angles as a function of subsatellite

latitude, with subsolar declination (time of year) as a parameter.

satellite crosses the equator at 9:00 a.m. local time, but such a description
might just as well be loosely used to mean that at the equator crossing, the
subsolar meridian is 45 ° to the east of the subsatellite meridian. These condi-
tions are not, in general, exactly equivalentl The reason for belaboring these
distinctions will be apparent in a later example, where care is taken to sepa-
rate actual Sun lighting conditions at the Earth's surface from the intuitive
feelings about sunlight that an observer from the northern temperate latitudes
tends to associate with a given local clock time.

As an example of the use of figure 15 or equation (23) to provide limiting

values for Sun lighting conditions, consider an observer at 50 ° latitude. The
range of available elevation angles is bounded by the intersection of the edges
of the rectangle appropriate to the subsolar declination at the date of observa-
tion with a vertical line at 50 ° . The subsolar declination is directly related
to the date of observation. Using table 7, for example, the observer could
relate a particular date to the corresponding subsolar declination for use with

27
figure 15, interpolating as required in the table and figure. Suppose the date
is around June 20, near the summer solstice. Then the subsolar declination is
at its maximum of 23o.44; there is an appropriate boundary indicated in fig-
ure 15 for this value which may be used without interpolation. The maximum and
minimum values of _ occur for 8 = 0° and 8 = 180 ° , respectively (0 and
12 hours). Thus, either approximately from figure 15 or more accurately from
equation (23), the maximum and minimum values of _ at the time of the summer
solstice are found to be 63o.44 and -16°.56, respectively, for an observer at
50 ° latitude.

Before examining solar illumination patterns during long-duration missions,

it is first necessary to establish the reference systems for specifying solar
position from the ground and from a satellite. Following that, some special
attention will be given to the problem of solar occultation, since the observa-
tion of sunset and sunrise relative to a satellite - at the beginning and end
of periods of darkness - has particular significance for many types of atmo-
spheric profile measurements.

Pointing Angle Geometries for Locating the Sun

To account for the Sun's location relative to a satellite or its subpoint

on the Earth's surface, it is necessary to have three pieces of information:
(I) a reference system, (2) the solar elevation or zenith angle, and (3) the
direction from which the Sun is shining. The geometry selected for locating
the Sun from the Earth's surface is shown in figure 16. The point P is the

x
T

Figure 16.- Pointing angles for the Sun relative

to the Earth's surface.

28
subsatellite point, _ is the unit vector to the satellite, and __ is a unit
vector in the direction of the Sun. The zenith angle _ is measured downward
from the local vertical _, and the elevation angle _ is measured upward from
the local horizon. The angle n, measured counterclockwise from the parallel
of latitude through P (that is, from a unit vector pointing east from P),
defines th_ direction from which the Sun is shining.

Note that P is a point of right ascension and declination, so that a sub-

satellite point given in terms of longitude and latitude must be transformed to
the proper coordinate system. Note, too, that since the Sun appears to be infi-
nitely far away, _ has essentially constant components regardless of the
location of P. Th_s, P could Just as well be at the satellite, in which case
n and _ or _ could serve as pointing angles to the Sun from the satellite.
However, for this purpose other reference systems, such as those described in
the following paragraph, are more convenient.

Figure 17 illustrates a coordinate system for defining pointing angles

relative to a satellite. The unit vector _ is normal to the orbit, in the

yy

F
x
T

I_ = (sin 9sin i, -cos _sin i, cos i)

Figure 17.- Definition of a Cartesian coordinate system

for pointing relative to a satellite.

direction of the angular momentum vector. For circular orbits the heading vec-
tor H is in the same direction as the velocity vector. These two vectors,
with _, form a Cartesian coordinate system.

29
 A ^

One way to find the Sun relative to H, N, and _ is to rotate first

about _ and then about N. Figure 18(a) shows the pointing angles A and
B which result. Note that A is identical with the sun elevation angle _.
Another useful way to find the Sun is to rotate first about 9, with results
as shown in figure 18(b); I is rotation in the plane of satellite motion and
0 is rotation out of plane.

_0 _0

.//
/

/
f
i
i
i
r

<:> I= tan-l(_

A = 90 ° - cos -I(@ • _,).

O : 90 ° - cos-I(N • _®).

Figure 18.- Pointing angles for locating the Sun relative to a satellite.

For noncircular orbits it may be useful to consider a coordinate system

which retains N, replaces H with the unit velocity vector @, and replaces
with a new unit vector @ x N to give a Cartesian system.

The Geometry of Sunrise and Sunset as Viewed From a Satellite

As previously mentioned, the times during which the Sun rises and sets on
the Earth's horizon as viewed from a satellite have a special significance for
many types of atmospheric observations. The usual astronomical definitions of
sunrise or sunset, based on the appearance of the solar image to an observer on
the ground, are not the same as employed here. It is perfectly satisfactory for
the present to define sunrise or sunset as the instant at which the center of
the solar image (as located by a unit vector _ in the right-ascension--
declination system) is coincident with the horiz'Von of a spherical earth of
radius 6378.145 km. During sunrise or sunset it is, in principle, possible to
obtain vertical profiles of many different atmospheric constituents which atten-
uate the Sun's radiation. Of interest during these measurements is the tangent
point on the Earth (or on a concentric spherical shell) at which the measurement
is made. The geometry is shown in sketch (a). A vector rT from the Earth's

3O
 V

/_0 -
S
Satellite

Sketch (a)

center is constructed perpendicular to the line from the satellite to the Sun
(along _). The path from the satellite to the point of intersection of _T
along _(_ is given by the vector 3. The tangent latitude and longitude are
the coordinates of the point at which _T pierces the Earth's surface. Depend-
ing on the orbit parameters (and hence the apparent sunrise or sunset rate) and
the time required for measurements, the tangent point may or may not change sig-
nificantly during the course of a series of measurements made as the Sun's image
passes through the atmosphere. Thus, although the problem of interpreting solar
occultation measurements is, per se, beyond the scope of this paper, the orbital
information necessary for taking these effects into account can easily be
supplied.

Since _ and __ are known, the triangular geometry for finding _ and
_T is straightforward:

(24)

_T = g + _ (25)

The apparent sunrise or sunset rate along _T is given by

R : _ • eT (26)

which can conveniently be expressed as the rate, in kilometers per second, at

which the solar image appears to move vertically with respect to the .horizon at
the tangent point, or as an angular rate by using the magnitude of _.

To provide a feeling for the magnitude of the sunrise and sunset rates,
assume that the Sun is just rising directly in front of and below a satellite in
a circular orbit with a radius of 7000 km. In terms of the angles defined in

31
figure 18, B and 0 are zero and A and I are negative. The geometry is
given in sketch (b).

FT (6378.145 km)
F
(7000 k

Sketch (b)

For this simple case:

S = \/70002 - 6378.1452 = 2884 km

W

and

I = A = -[90 ° - cos-I(s/7000)] = -24o.3

The Keplerian period of this orbit To is 5828.5 sec, so that (to a good approx-
imation even for the perturbed case):

v : 2_(7000/5828.5) : 7.546 km/sec

The projection of this velocity onto _T is v • rT, given by

R : v sin A : 3.11 km/sec : 0.062 deg/sec

It is easy to see from this case that the Sun's image appears to pass through
50 km or so of atmosphere in less than 20 sec. At the other extreme, however,
when the satellite is travelling along the terminator, as when the orbit is
entering a period of no occultation for several orbits, the sunrise or sunset
rate approaches zero. Then vertical profiles of the atmosphere become more
difficult to obtain because the tangent point as previously defined undergoes
large excursions across the Earth's surface.

The equations for determining the time of sunrise and sunset relative to
perigee in an inertially fixed orbit are worked out in appendix C. Strictly
speaking, this procedure must be an iterative one, since the orbit actually
moves in inertial space between the instant of perigee passage and the calcu-
lated time of entry into and exit from a period of darkness. As a practical
matter, the iteration is usually not worth the effort. With appendix C, it is

32
possible to propagate an orbit in steps of one anomalistic period, from perigee
to perigee, computing the sunrises and sunsets at each step and determining
those periods of continuous solar exposure. This information has obvious impor-
tance for the scientific objectives of any mission as well as for the engineer-
ing design of the satellite and its systems.

IV. SOMEEXAMPLES
OF GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE AND SOLAR ILLUMINATION

PATTERNS FOR LONG-DURATION EARTH MONITORING MISSIONS

It should be clear from the preceding sections that the discussions of

orbit analysis were intended to encompass mission situations extending for a
year or so - long enough for orbits to precess completely through several
cycles, for the Sun to go through an annual illumination cycle, and for repeti-
tive coverage of locations on the Earth's surface. The dynamic relationships
between a satellite and the targets of its sensors are often decisive factors in
assessing the worth of a mission. It is not so much a question of establishing
a particular set of viewing conditions at a particular time as it is a question
of assessing and optimizing the total output from all measurement opportunities
over the nominal course of the mission. This section presents some representa-
tive patterns of coverage based on actual orbit analysis experience with several
proposed Earth observation missions. The examples are intended to illustrate
some important types of coverage and their associated problems. They include
(I) yearly illumination patterns over a single site, (2) yearly variations in
illumination angle as a function of latitude, (3) solar illumination effects
on global surface coverage, and (4) tangent-point distributions for solar
occultation experiments.

Establishing a Need for Repetitive Coverage Patterns

Each of the following examples requires, in some form, the establishment

of repeatable patterns; therefore, it is appropriate at this point to consider
the general necessity for repetition. The quantities or features of interest
for measuring or viewing from a spacecraft have one property in common: they
all vary in at least three dimensions - longitude, latitude, and time. If they
did not, there would be little justification for viewing them from spaceborne
platforms. In order to separate the contributions of each dimension, it is
clearly necessary to have repetition - repetition of two quantities to isolate
the third. Repeated measurements over the same location (longitude and lati-
tude) to isolate a dependence on time is one important example. Note that other
desirable repetitive pairings - longitude or latitude with time to isolate the
dependence on a space dimension - are not possible with a single satellite,
which can repeat itself in space but not in time. Thus, it must be sufficient
to match repetition in space coordinates with later but presumably identical
conditions in the time coordinate. If the time dependence is obvious or domi-
nating, as _n a diurnal cycle, identical conditions may be easy to establish.
Otherwise, interpretation of a set of sequential measurements is one of the
major problems in utilizing spacecraft data.

33
 A less obvious reason for repetitive measurements is the need to determine
error associated with measurements. Assuming that the errors resulting from
making and interpreting measurements are randomly distributed, multiple measure-
ments under the same conditions are required to isolate error from the other
factors influencing the value of the measured quantity. The extent to which
this can be done depends on the feasibility of substituting equivalent values
in the time dimension for identical ones. Spatially distributed quantities are
not exempt from similar considerations, as it is often necessary to group nearly
identical spatial coordinates with the assumption that variations of interest
exist only over spatial scales that are large compared with the differences
among such a grouping of available data points.

Yearly Illumination Patterns Over a Single Site

A straightforward application of the previous analyses is to establish a

satellite orbit that gives repetitive coverage over a selected site or group of
sites, determine one or more parameters of interest, and study their behavior
over the course of a year. This type of parametric study has practical applica-
tions in Earth resource management; pollution monitoring; land-use planning; and
many other research, survey, or inventory tasks. The example in this section is
based on a 1973 study of orbit requirements for observing the eastern coast of
the continental United States (ref. 7). In this study, an orbit was selected
that gives good coverage of the entire east coast and its performance was
assessed by reference to a single site at Norfolk, Virginia, which is roughly
midway along the Atlantic Coast.

The orbit inclination of 63 ° was selected by minimizing the off-nadir point-

ing required to cover 25 east coast sites of interest. This orbit has been
noted previously, in the section "Establishing Patterns of Surface Coverage From
a Satellite," as covering in latitude most of the inhabited areas of the Earth.
A ground track is plotted in figure 12; however, it is a "random" orbit in the
sense that its other elements were not selected to give a particular repetition
factor for regular coverage of a selected site. For a circular orbit, this
means just changing the semimajor axis to the appropriate value. This is easily
done with the algorithms described in appendix A. Table 9 gives a list of orbit
parameters for a 63 ° circular orbit which gives daily coverage over a particular
site (Q = 15). The list includes the starting conditions which will cause the
satellite to pass over Norfolk at the desired time on its initial orbit (local
clock noon). Note that the anomalistic and nodal periods are nearly identical,
as the inclination of 63 ° is very close to the value at which perigee precession
is zero. (See fig. 7.) The ground track of this orbit is plotted for the first
15 revolutions in figure 19, as seen from a vantage point in space directly over
Norfolk.

The parameter of interest in reference 7, and of general interest for any

similar mission, is the variation of Sun elevation angle during the repeated
passages over the site. Clearly, some of the passes will take place in darkness
because of the nodal precession of the orbit. The precession rate relative to
the Sun is about 4! deg/day; therefore, it would be reasonable to expect a com-
2

plete illumination cycle to take about 80 days. "On top" of this cycle should

34
 la" = 28_7.371 kra
Q= 15
L o =-760.289
k o = 36°.853

."

/ .........i.....

Figure 19.- Ground track history of a 63 ° orbit started at Norfolk, Virginia,

with a l-day repeat cycle. Q = 15.

be an elevation-angle envelope resulting from the seasonal variation of the

Sun's declination. The actual variation in Sun elevation angle over Norfolk at
the time of satellite passage is illustrated in figure 20. The points show the
elevation angle for an orbit initially passing over Norfolk on Jan. I, 1981, at
17h UT (12:00 noon EST). Bear in mind that the curve is really not continuous
but is a set of 365 discrete points, one for each pass over Norfolk during the
year. The solid lines show the maximum and minimum available Sun elevation

35
 a = 6887.371 km
i = 63 °
Q= 15
8O to = 12:00 noon EST,
Maximum available Jan. 1, 1981
elevation an L o = -760.289
Norfolk, Virginia
6O ;t o * 360.853

Minimum available
elevation angle

-8o I l I
0 30 60 90 120 150 210 240 270 300 330 360
Time, days from t o

Figure 20.- Sun elevation angle over Norfolk, Virginia,

for a satellite in a 63 ° circular orbit.

angles at this site as calculated from equation (23). It is interesting to

consider how little control can be exercised over the resulting illumination
pattern. By starting the orbit at a different time of day, the patterns can
be shifted within the envelope of available elevation angles; except for this,
there are no available parameters for altering the pattern in any significant
way. A different inclination will speed up or slow down the illumination cycle
without altering its basic behavior. A different value of Q will alter the
coverage of other places, all of which will have their own latitude-dependent
illumination patterns similar to those in figure 20. The price for repetitive
coverage over more sites is, as always, less frequent coverage of each site.
The resulting trade-off is a standard study for any Earth-oriented mission with
multiple objectives, each of which may have to be compromised for the total
optimization of the mission.

There is also the possibility of using a Sun-synchronous orbit. Then, most

of the rest of the east coast coverage will be lost because orbits at synchro-
nous inclination no longer follow the coastline. In this case, the initial tim-
ing of the orbit is important, as it can be used to regulate the Sun elevation
pattern for the rest of the year, within the allowable envelope. If it is
desired to view the nadir at the maximum Sun elevation angle (not necessarily
a desirable situation), this condition can be approximately met by starting the
orbit at local clock noon. Indeed, the elevation angle for such an orbit started
at Norfolk would follow the top solid line in figure 20 and would be indistin-
guishable from it on the scale of this figure. Curves for other local times
would have the same shape as the maximum-minimum envelopes in figure 20 but

36
would be displaced within these envelopes by an amount proportional to the local
time, between noon and midnight.

Yearly Variations in Illumination Angle as a Function of Latitude

The specific example of a 63 ° orbit discussed in the previous section can

easily be generalized to predict the illumination conditions encountered by any
orbit. The envelope of available Sun elevation angles apparent in figure 20 is
but one of a family of such curves which are a function of latitude and time.
Figure 21 gives 10 such yearly curves for latitudes from 0o to 90 ° in 10° incre-

-"---C""-'---
I I I I I I i i I I f i 1 I _"_ "'=_

120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360

Time, days

Figure 21 .- Available Sun elevation angle as a function

of time at various latitudes,

ments. The data may be calculated with the aid of equation (23); they are an
extension of the data listed in table 8. It is within these envelopes, and of
course their corresponding southern hemisphere equivalents, that the Sun eleva-
tion angles vary.

As usual, Sun-synchronous orbits present a special case, as their orbital

planes do not precess on the average relative to the Sun. Assume that a satel-
lite in a Sun-synchronous orbit has been started on the equator at the point
and time of the vernal equinox. The Sun elevation angles observed as the satel-
lite passes several different latitudes are recorded in figure 22. These curves,
for a "high noon" configuration, closely resemble the elevation-angle envelopes
of figure 21, but small differences are detectable, especially at lower lati-
tudes. These differences arise from the peculiarities of the Sun's apparent
motion around the Earth, as previously discussed in conjunction with figure 10.
It is often of interest to adjust the initial geometry of Sun-synchronous orbits
away from high noon to accommodate sensor_ - photographic, for example - for
which longer shadows might be desired to provide contrast in the observed sur-
face features.

37
 Nadir latitude,deg

80
:-..
• \\ /
//i /
//
60 v /
J---4-_
50

'_ 40
f
\ /
,_ 30. f
\
20
/

0 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 320 360

(T) Time from launch, days

Figure 22.- History of observed Sun elevation angle for a Sun-synchronous

orbit started at the location and time of the vernal equinox.

Solar Illumination Effects on Global Surface Coverage

One possible line of background justification for the examples in this sec-
tion is the desire to monitor, on a global scale, the radiation balance of the
Earth. It is a problem which has widespread appeal because of the importance of
the radiation balance in predicting long-term trends in the Earth's weather and
climate. The present state of knowledge of the Earth's radiation processes is
such that significant advances require accurate measurements on a global scale
of the emitted and reflected radiation, in particular. At least one of these,
the reflected radiation, presents an exceedingly complex problem in data inter-
pretation and requires not just global coverage on a longitude-latitude grid of
5 ° or so but repetitive coverage of the same locations over a wide range of Sun
geometries. This particular problem has been explored in an analysis of orbit
requirements for Earth radiation monitoring (ref. 8). It can be viewed more
generally as a problem that imposes the most severe possible requirements on the
ability to extract adequate data from Earth-orbiting satellites.

For the moment, consider the performance of a single nadir-viewing satel-

lite in covering longitude, latitude, and time (or equivalently, illumination
angle). At the outset it can be stated that coverage of the longitude-latitude
grid, within the latitude limits of the orbit, is easy to obtain. In fact, by
appropriately specifying the repetition factor Q, it is possible to get exten-
sive coverage in these two dimensions over as fine a grid as required. The
problem lies in the time coverage, for reasons which are made qualitatively
clear by considering the relative slowness with which a satellite orbit moves
with respect to the Sun or, put another way, the slowness with which the satel-

38
lite orbit plane changes its position relative to the plane of the solar termina-
tor. It has already been demonstrated in previous sections that it is possible
to cover a particular site at most on a once per day basis, thereby giving up a
fine longitude-latitude grid in favor of a coarse one (with longitude points
roughly 25 ° apart according to table 4). The illumination on subsequent passes
will change daily (recall the coverage of Norfolk, Virginia, detailed in
fig. 20), but the coverage does not even approach the requirements for estab-
lishing diurnal changes in radiation patterns. The best that can be hoped for is
that over a sufficiently long period of time, say a month, adequate coverage will
be achieved to allow extrapolation in both space and time to the desired quanti-
ties. This process requires extensive modeling of (for example) the radiation
environment and an appreciation for the orbit constraints; it poses a problem
sufficiently complex to have defied satisfactory solution up to the present time.

Since it is really the Sun elevation angle which is of interest for the
radiation problem, rather than clock time per se, the single satellite coverage
is first expressed in terms of an hour-angle system relative to the satellite,
as a function of latitude. (It is the same system previously defined for use
in eq. (23), where 8 is the hour angle.) For each part of table 10, the globe
has been divided into thirty-six 5 ° latitude strips and the horizontal scale is
divided into twenty-four "l-hour" segments. Thus, each step on the horizontal
scale represents 15 ° of separation between the subsatellite and subsolar meri-
dians. The contents of a latitude-time "box" are increased by one each time a
measurement at the satellite nadir point is assumed to have been made within the
space and time boundaries of that box. It is assumed that measurements are made
from orbit at a constant rate, which amounts to one measurement every 5° of mean
anomaly. The results of 30 000 such measurements (about 30 days) are given in
tables 10(a), (b), and (c), for 50 ° , 80 °, and Sun-synchronous orbits, respec-
tively, at an altitude of 800 km.

To make the orbit geometry as easy as possible to visualize, the initial

conditions are very special ones: in each case the satellite starts on the equa-
tor at the location and time of a vernal equinox so that the first measurement
records an hour angle of zero. The boxing algorithm truncates hour-angle values
rather than rounding them off, so that the hour-angle equivalent time of "zero"
might go into either the first or last box, depending on its precise value. It
can be seen that with the given initial condition, the hour angle will then be
6 (a zenith angle of 90 °) at a mean anomaly of 90o; 12, at 180°; 18, at 270o;
and 0(24) again, at 360 ° . The imprecision of ignoring the distinction between
anomalistic and nodal revolutions is of no noticeable consequence for making
this point. The change in the coverage pattern over 30 days is due to orbital
plane precession relative to the Sun and, to a smaller extent over this short
period of time, the seasonal motion of the Sun into the northern hemisphere.
For the 50 ° orbit this relative precession rate is about -5.2 deg/day; for the
80 ° orbit it is about -2.1 deg/day; and for the Sun-synchronous orbit it is,
by design, zero.

Eventually, the nonsynchronous satellites will make measurements at all

hour angles for each available latitude. The question is whether or not the
necessary extrapolations can be made to determine diurnal variations and aver-
age out or otherwise account for their effects. The difficulty in doing this
over the required time scale (say, within 30 days) provides the argument in

39
favor of multiple satellites, which will cause the latitude-time grid to be
filled in much more quickly than will a single satellite. The trade-off between
the cost of additional satellites and increased mission capability is at the
heart of the justification process for this type of spaceborne monitoring pro-
gram. One attempt at presenting the options for multiple satellite missions
may be found in reference 8, where the ability of various satellite systems to
fill in the latitude-time grid in 30 days is examined. A two-satellite config-
uration of one 50 ° and one 80 ° orbit was recommended in this study for "zonal"
coverage over latitude bands, but such a system still may not be able to pro-
vide total latitude-time coverage as quickly as desired for accurate interpre-
tation of radiation data. Another solution to this problem is to use multiple
Sun-synchronous satellites to give continuous coverage of a particular local
illumination condition. Four such satellites might be sufficient to allow con-
fident modeling of the diurnal radiation cycle. However, the expense of such
an extensive system has so far been an insurmountable obstacle to its
implementation.

There is another way of looking at the latitude-illumination grid. It can

be argued that not only is clock time an insufficient measure of illumination
coverage, but relative solar time (hour angle) by itself is not much better, as
it still does not unambiguously specify the illumination conditions at the nadir
point. 3 Thus, an additional parameter of real interest is the solar zenith angle.
These data are shown in table 11 for the same three orbits previously used - 50 °,
80 °, and Sun-synchronous - and may be compared with the corresponding parts of
table 10. The pattern of zenith-angle coverage can best be visualized by first
considering the Sun-synchronous orbit from which is viewed a dawn or dusk condi-
tion (zenith angle of 90 ° ) near the South or North Pole, respectively. The other
orbits initially have the same type of pattern, but they precess away from this
geometry. In 30 days the 50 ° orbit has precessed about -156 ° relative to the
Sun, and thus has viewed dawn and dusk conditions over every available latitude.
The 80 ° orbit will fill in its "hole in the middle" in a similar fashion if
given enough time - it has precessed only about -63 ° in 30 days.

The foregoing discussion of the problem of radiation-balance coverage may

appear quite discouraging from the point of view of the mission analyst, who
apparently cannot exercise sufficient control over orbital properties to achieve
the desired results with reasonable satellite systems. However, the definition
of global coverage is to some extent a flexible one which can be expected to
relax considerably under different circumstances. (Such a situation will be
dealt with in the following section.) In the present case, it is clear that
sensors with sufficiently wide fields of view will allow global coverage in
some sense. Then, the problem becomes not one of obtaining sufficient data
but one of interpreting the available information in an unambiguous way. The
implied trade-off between flight hardware for measurements and computer soft-
ware for analysis is an important consideration in mission planning but lies
outside the scope of this analysis.

3Interpretation of the reflections of solar energy by the Earth's surface

requires such an unambiguous two-parameter specification of solar position.

4O
 Tangent-Point Distributions For Solar Occultation Experiments

The three previous sections have dealt with someof the coverage patterns
resulting from a nadir-looking satellite system. Another basic type of sensing
involves looking not at the Earth but at the Sun under specialized conditions.
It has long been recognized that in studies of atmospheric constituents, it is
profitable to use the Sun as a radiation source. It is easy to visualize a
process whereby solar radiation received by a satellite when the Sun is well
above the horizon is comparedwith the radiation attenuated by the atmosphere
as the Sun rises or sets through the Earth's atmosphere. In keeping with previ-
ous general discussions, it is important to examine not just one or a few of
these measurementsin isolation, but to view a set of such measurementsin the
context of a total mission.

The data to be presented here are applicable to any solar occultation

experiment; they were generated originally in support of a proposed mission for
measuring halogens in the stratosphere (ref. 9). The question in this case is
a typical one: Is the coverage resulting from a flight project (assumedto last
I year) sufficient in space and time to permit useful interpretation of the
underlying distributions of the variable of interest? The particular example of
stratospheric halogens allows an immediate but qualified "yes" to this question,
as do many other proposed experiments, since information of any kind about the
distribution of many stratospheric constituents is virtually nonexistent. How-
ever, the problem of justifying the return of the mission relative to its cost
is another obstacle which must be overcome.

Because of the paucity of worldwide stratospheric data, the definition of

global coverage can indeed be relaxed, as suggested in the previous section. It
may at first be sufficient merely to establish average levels over various parts
of the globe, taking note of only the coarsest features of the underlying fac-
tors which drive the distributions. But it is at this point that the qualifica-
tion of the "yes" becomesapparent: What is "coarse"? Howwell can time aver-
ages be made? Can spatial and temporal distributions be separated, and to what
extent? To help answer these questions, several pertinent sets of solar occulta-
tion data are presented in figure 23. In figure 23(a) the distribution of tan-
gent latitudes during I year is presented for a 70° orbit, chosen because it
is approximately the lowest orbit inclination at this moderate altitude
(a = 6978 km) which will allow somepolar coverage. The curves appear to be
continuous, but in reality they are madeup of the discrete contributions of
the sunrises and sunsets viewed from the satellite throughout the year: 9600
separate occurrences at the rate of about 14.9 per day. The orbit is deliber-
ately started during a period of total solar exposure, and its subsequent pre-
cession through cycles of occultation and exposure is dependent in a complex
way on the time of year of the launch and the precession rate of the orbit rela-
tive to the Sun. The small dots represent sunrises; the crosses, sunsets, a
convention which also applies to the rest of figure 23. Note that in contrast
to nadir-looking coverage, the latitude limits of the tangent point are not
restricted to ±70° , but extend northward and southward depending on the solar
position. The length of the cycles can be altered, similarly to surface illu-
mination cycles previously discussed, by choosing orbits with faster or slower
precession rates. However, since the precession rate is mostly a function of
inclination, this choice cannot be madeindependently of the coverage in
41
 • Sunrise

+ Sunset
9O

6O
il I}
-30

0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360

Time from launch, days

(a) Tangent latitude on the Earth's surface at sunrise or sunset.

nset
120

_ 0

-120

0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270

? 300 330 360
Time from launch, days

(b) Pointing (yaw) angle to the Sun relative to the plane

of satellite motion at sunrise or sunset.

Figure 23.- Solar occultation data during a l-year flight

for a 70 ° orbit at h = 600 km.

42
 3.5
Sunrise

2.5

1.5
o

.5 4.
-.5 -_-
1
Sunset
oF-4
-1.5

>
-2.5, k

i {
30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360
Time from launch, days

(c) Apparent vertical rate of the solar image through

the atmosphere at sunrise and sunset.

Figure 23.- Concluded.

latitude. Also, the exact shape of the cycles and the location of the periods
of total sunlight are determined by the timing and initial geometry of the
launch. Therefore, figure 23 must be considered to be only representative in
details, while retaining generality in overall cyclic patterns.

Figure 23(b) illustrates another important facet of solar occultation exper-

iments which must be considered in mission design: tracking the Sun. The quan-
tity plotted is a "yaw" angle, previously defined as B, which locates the solar
image on the Earth's horizon relative to the direction of satellite motion. The
constantly changing satellite-Sun geometry causes an expected variation of B
over a range of ±180 °, a characteristic feature of Sun-tracking measurements.
A question clearly framed by the figure is: What level of sophistication is
warranted in designing a Sun tracker? The problem of finding the Sun when it
is "up" and following it as it sets is easier than predicting where it will be
just as it rises - a differentiation which carries with it the prospect of los-
ing half of all the occultation opportunities. The sunrise-sunset symmetry
evident in the pointing requirements relative to 900 and -90 o is encouraging,
however, with the possibility of utilizing a sunset to predict the value of B
for the following sunrise.

A third cyclic pattern of interest during the mission is the variation in

the vertical rate R at which the Sun rises or sets. A useful approximation
is to consider the value of R at the horizon as characteristic of a particu-

43
lar measurement opportunity, even though the rate is not actually constant dur-
ing the entire residence time of the solar image within the vertical limits of
the atmosphere. This quantity is plotted in figure 23(c). It is clear from
previous discussions that the maximum values of IRI occur when the Sun is
ahead of or behind the satellite (B = 0 ° or ±180 ° ) and that the minimum values
occur at B = 90 ° or -90 ° . Whereas the significance of this number depends on
the nature of the experiment being performed, it is easy to see that vertical
profiles of the atmosphere over a well-defined spot on the Earth can best be
achieved when IRI is as large as possible. At the other extreme the longitude-
latitude coordinates can vary considerably during the passage of the solar image
through the stratosphere. Without going into details of data reduction, it is
reasonable to conclude that the distribution of R over the life of a mission
will affect the overall accuracy of the resulting global distributions. The
distribution of measurements of IRI in 0.5 km/sec intervals is given in fig-
ure 24 for the 9600 measurements of this l-year mission.

3000

Total: 9600 measurements

2500

2OOO

Number of
measurements 1500

1000

500

0 .5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5

[R[, km/sec

Figure 24.- Distribution of apparent rate of the solar image vertically through
the atmosphere as viewed from a satellite during sunrise or sunset.

Up to now, no mention has been made of longitude coverage; in the previous

section it has been assumed to be less critical than latitude coverage. Tangent
latitude is plotted against tangent longitude in figure 25, where it is clear
that in some sense the coverage in longitude is uniform at least over a time
span of I year; that is, there are no obvious gaps in this plot. It is useful

44
 90 Sunset

60

30

-_ 0

_ -30

-60

0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 3G0

Tangent longitude, deg

Sunrise
90 _-_. ,....-, ... ¢ ,.,.. _... _, ..._.,., .,. _-..._• , ",,,,., ",. :, ..::, ,.,.9., ,:"t:...,:,_, .r. ,;,...-., ,-..
• •.' •.....-"
I._.';.._ .',,; -..-."• .,,,. ,-.': .-,..,, _: ,--...'.,
" "'-.'
..... -,,"./ ".,..-'.-.....'C
.-'.•. ." ... .•
...... m;. ..
*-.... •,..:....'-.-..-':.....
.-. .... ,.... ".,....;-• ".- -....•%".".-.-,,.
'.. .'.

{:--""" .... " • i • "" _...... * "'* * ° • . • L. . - t... ., • t*...... %% 'klk._. . .P .. • %. ., . ".-. .. . ,. ... .
•. • . . -. .t.. • ... .,,. -.. -.. , ,. -',, • . -*. . • ".-, .* ",-•
• , - ".,• . •-. •,'. • "-;.
. ..o... ..'... •.'•.. .°;.

60 •_._:_,.;._;..;.._,•.,...;_.,.;
.< :... • :., . _: ".': ,.:,_:':,. ,.',_:., _:_.:_, ..;,..'..,..._,.:..,
.... '_',..'_.;,-._._.•'%.,, _,',.,,_:
"&._" :.,.,-,¢ ,_,,,'--._,.'-,--.._:.,,,-.,
"4.-'..'T':4:."..%". N.-. ,*..,,-.,
_2.-.._."'_i."""
._m." .. ._r. % .-w.. "..._.- ...._. .. "'iLn ._ %. ;" .• •" .*_a "1 .JA I' o.%_ .m.[l" ;.*_e b .. - ._..

• ;'- ".'' "''' ", • ".*. • _.". ",';'" " :L"" _• •o'." ".'_" "," ".". ._4 ,,_.. •

_ 30-,-"_. - ,". ." • . " . • . ." • • . • . " .,. .,. ., :. '

0

.,_. • . ." . : • •. • ., .• • ,• , ,. ,• , . . :" ,• ;" . ,., , ... • ..

.4-)
0 __
". " •. ...... .. . .*. _ • • ;
• ... ........
.. * . - •
,'" ., • • *
•" .
.."• . •
""
. . .
.... • .•. .

...... • ;. -;.. ...._. . , •.. _,. :,. %. ,.. -. :,,- "_.' :. •

:. • ".,. " ..,,. -,,. "". "k .. . ,,." . .,... .. ,,... ." ,,.. ." -.' • .." ''.. " ",,,. .
. • , ... ... .• . .. _• • .. .. - .o . ..% :. ° :.• • .. _ ; , • • ,.•.
_. • . ...,
.. .* ......
,... . ...
I.'. ......
." . ."_ : .,:
'_
-30 _,,," . ." . .,." . ;" , .*. ., ,-. .; ,,. ,",., ,., • , •. , ,,,, , .-,, - :_ •

c_ • .'.m _-_- _'"" t.''"' ." ;" m _'• .e _ .: ._ ..-"-%. ..:',I, . .'.._...,'...,, . ....%. °..._...... ...

...._'. .;,...._
• :.,<. . ,.,.* . ... .... _,a._ • .:,,..- .'¢:..: .._..,. ._:..',,: "._,* .._,__," :a,r.. • ,_ ..,,• "_,._ ..,., "-'.¢.... *_;,;'.
• _,_ _. "e,,_,,,,. "-_,¢,, ..,," ,¢.._.., " "_ .:. .,* _.:
• • .r.: • _ _ , ,_ " • -" -" _-" ., ,, ,*
-60 lr""_l" .."7'". ".'7"_: .." ",. ..... -". "" - • .'' ,,'--'" -. • "" .." "" ." "" -'.*" ..-.'" . .,.o'" • .',,
•..:..,,-•:,
:._;,".../_;.../_.o_..s.
_.,_..__.:_-.._,
,.:_.4 ,:.:_ .:,_._ ":,_.:._.",,_.:_--_
._-':5"__",::,-
'_","_.
-9O [,;'"I'" ""'I'":" ": I'" "I I r 'I I ,,1 I I
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360

Tangent longitude, deg

Figure 25.- Distribution of tangent longitude and latitude on the Earth's

surface at sunrise or sunset after a _-year, solar occultation mission
for a 70 °, 600-km orbit•

45
to look at smaller time intervals, however, to see how the longitude-latitude
coverage is built up. In figure 26, about 400 orbits from the beginning of the

A- Sunset

O Sunrise
90 I

_3 ,_ 4- " * 4- 4"4- 4. 44. -4-..,. 4- 4. 4.4. 4.4. .4.4. ..i. 4. F-. 4..4."
@,_ .4- 4- .4- -4- ..4- 4- 4- 4- -4- 4- .4- 4- .4- 4- .4-

30_- * * * * * * * +15 "14 +13 "12 *11 *10 *9

"_ *8 *7 *6 *5 +4
• 3 *2
01 q)l

O9 O8
__ 07 06 05 04 03 02

1 l 1 I l 1 l l I
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360
Tangent longitude, deg

Figure 26.- Distribution of tangent longitude and latitude at sunrise and

sunset for about 400 orbits during the first period of occultation.

first period of occultation are considered. The first 15 occulted orbits are
numbered, starting from the point where the Sun just reaches the horizon so
that sunrise and sunset occur at essentially the same time and place. It can
be seen that the longitude points are fairly regularly spaced throughout a
day - a time interval during which the latitude changes relatively little.
This is encouraging from the point of view of taking averages over bands of
latitude, a procedure which is commonly used for modeling the stratosphere.

The ability of th_s mission to achieve yearly averages of a single strato-

spheric quantity as a function of latitude is shown in figure 27. The solid
line gives the actual yearly averages of a dimensionless parameter F, produced
by a hypothetical stratospheric model which varies in longitude, latitude, and
time and has random components to account for measurement and analysis errors
and natural random fluctuations. (It can be thought of as representing a total
vertical burden of some stratospheric constituent.) A l-year mission which
extracts 9600 measurements from this model is flown, and the resulting 36 lati-
tude band averages are calculated with standard statistical procedures for
grouping and weighting the available data. Although a detailed statistical
analysis of the measurements is beyond the scope of this report, the lack of
agreement in figure 27 between "theory" (perfect sampling) and "experiment"
(available sampling) near both poles can readily be attributed to an insuffi-
cient number of temporally spaced measurements near the poles, as is evident
in figure 23(a). In any event, the solar occultation technique has obvious
potential for space-based stratospheric measurements and may allow global model-
ing in certain restricted circumstances.

46
 4O

-- O A: atUsa_r (ePe_fs_:u lat_Sampling) .O

F 30

20 I ] ] I I I I I I I ] ] ] I ] ] ]
-90 -60 -30 0 30 60 90

Latitude, deg

Figure 27.- Actual and measured (simulated) yearly averages of a hypo-

thetical stratospheric constituent as a function of latitude.

V. SYMBOLS

a semimajor axis, km

A,B pointing angles to Sun relative to a satellite, deg (see fig. 18(a))

C location of a fictitious sun along the celestial ecliptic, deg (see

fig. 9)

Julian days since Jan. 1.0, 1900

= d/10000

eccentricity

eccentric anomaly, rad

true anomaly, deg or rad

dimensionless parameter used for evaluating ability of a solar occul-

tation mission to extract information on global distribution of
stratospheric constituents

h altitude above surface of a fictitious spherical earth of radius r_,

km
^

H unit heading vector (see fig. 17)

47
i inclination of an orbit, deg

I,O pointing angles to Sun relative to a satellite, deg (see fig. 18(b))

J2 term in expansion of Earth's gravitational potential (see eqs. (5))

J.D. Julian date or day

L longitude, deg

m,n integers (see eq. (20))

M mean anomaly, deg or tad

unit vector normal to an orbit (see fig. 17)

P semilatus rectum, km

P point on Earth's surface, along a satellite orbit, or on the celestial

sphere

Q orbit repetition factor

r,r satellite distance from center of Earth or a position vector, km

Earth's mean equatorial radius, 6378.145 km

re
R rate at which solar image appears to rise or set on the horizon as
viewed from a satellite; km/sec or deg/sec

-9
S vector in direction of Sun as viewed from a satellite, with length as
defined in sketch (a), km

t time; days, min, or sec, as defined in context

T Julian centuries since Jan. 1.0, 1900

.9
V,V speed, km/sec, or a velocity vector

unit vector pointing toward Sun, defined in right-ascension--

declination coordinate system

x,y,z Cartesian coordinates

right ascension, deg

8 hour angle of subsolar meridian relative to a satellite meridian, deg

declination, deg

obliquity of Earth's equator to the ecliptic, deg

48
 solar zenith angle, deg (see fig. 16)

n direction from which Sun is shining relative to Earth's surface, deg

(see fig. 16)

6 rotation rate of Earth, 0.25068447 deg/min or 360.9856473 deg/day

latitude, deg

Earth's gravitational constant, 398601.2 kmS/sec 2

Sun elevation angle, deg (see fig. 16)

T period, sec or orbits/day

T referring to vernal equinox (as when indicating direction of the first

point of Aries)

argument of perihelion, deg

right ascension of ascending node, deg

Subscripts:

A anomalistic periods

g Greenwich meridian

m meridian

AM evaluated for a mean-anomaly step size of AM degrees

N nodal periods

o initial or unperturbed (Keplerian) quantities

s Sun-synchronous quantities

Earth

® Sun

obs observer

x,y,z components of a position vector

Superscripts:

h,m,s hours, minutes, seconds

d/dt

49
 dimensioned vector

A
unit vector

5O
 APPENDIX A

"BASIC" LANGUAGE ALGORITHMS FOR CALCULATING ORBIT PARAMETERS

Many of the equations of previous sections on orbital dynamics may easily

be incorporated into small computer programs for calculating relevant orbit
properties. Table AI gives a BASIC language algorithm written for the Wang 2200
computer system. With an input of semimaJor axis, eccentricity, and inclination,
plus the desired mean-anomaly step size, the precession rates and other data are
calculated. The Sun-synchronous inclination is also calculated; all the orbit
data can be obtained for synchronous orbits by setting I = S and rerunning the
program. The last two lines of printout will show that the inclination for syn-
chronous orbits as calculated from just one iteration does, in fact, give very
nearly the desired result. An example of the output is given in the table.

Table A2 lists another useful BASIC algorithm. With inputs of Q (in terms
of an integer plus a fraction), eccentricity, inclination, and a guess at the
semimaJor axis, a simple iterative technique causes the semimajor axis to con-
verge to the correct value for the desired Q. For Sun-synchronous orbits the
inclination is calculated internally and adjusted to maintain the synchronous
precession rate as semimajor axis is varied. This algorithm will generate data
such as those presented in tables 5 and 6. It can be modified to vary eccentri-
city instead of semimajor axis, but simultaneous freedom of these two variables
would lead to an infinite number of solutions for each value of Q.

51
 APPENDIX
A

TABLEAI.- "BASIC" ALGORITHM

FORGENERATING
ORBITPARAMETERS

ONTHEWANG
2200 SYSTEM

10SELECT ])
20XI=66058. 33128
30X2=6. 283185308
40](3=398601.2
50X4=57.29577951
60X5=.9856473
701NPUT "lEAN ANOIALY STEP" ,D
80 INPUT "UNPERTURBEDSEHI:IAJOR AXIS", A0
90INPUT "ECCENTRICITY", E
1001NPUT "INCLINATION" , I
IIOPRINT "D ",D
120PRINT "A0" , A0
130PRINT "E ",E
140PRINT "I ", I
150PO--(A0*(I-E*E)) !2
160T0=X2*AO*SQR(AO/X3)
170110=X2/T0
180'II=M0" (I+XI/P O*SQR(I-E*E)*(I-I.5*SIN(1)!2))*X4*86400
190DI=XI/PO*MI* ( 2-2.5"SIN(I)!2)
200D2=-XI/P0*MI * cos(z)
210TI=X2/MI*IS0/ #PI.86400
220T2=X2/(MI+OI) .180/#PI.36400
230S0=-A0 ! i. 5*P0 *X5/_1/SQR(X3)/X4/86400
240S=S0/ (I+XI/PO *SQR(I-E*E)*(I-I.5*SIN(ARCCOS(S0))!2))
250SO--ARCCOS (SO)
260S=ARCCOS (S)
270D3=XI/ P0"(2-2.5*SIN (I) !2)*D
28004=-XI /PO*COS (I)*D
290D5=II0* I I+XI/P0*SQR(I-E*E)*(I-I.5*SIN(S) !2))
300D6=-XI P0*D5*COS (S) *X4"36400
310DT=D6*365. 2422
320Q:(:II+DI)/(.7292115061E-4*ISO/#PI*86400-D2)
340PRINT "UNPERTURBED PERIOD,SEC ",T0
35OPRINT "UNPERTURBED MEAN :IOTION,RAD/SEC ",MO
36OPRINT ":lEAN IOTION,DEG/DAY ",MI
370PRINT "PERIGEE RATE,DEG/DAY ",DI
330PRINT "NODE RATE,DEG/DAY ",D2
390PRINT "PERIGEE STEP,DEG/MEAN ANOMALY STEP ",D3
400PRINT "NODE STEP,DEG/>IEAN ANO:'IALY STEP ",D4
410PRINT "ANOMALISTIC PERIOD ",TI
420PRINT "NODAL PERIOD ",T2
430PRINT "REPETITION FACTOR Q ",Q
440PRINT "UNPERTURBED SYNCHRONOUS INCLINATION "_SO
450PRINT "SYNCHRONOUS INCLINATION ",S
455MI=MO*(I+XI/P0*SQR(I-E*E)*(I-I.5*SIN(S) !2))*X4"86400
460DI=XI/PO*MI*(2-2.5*SIN(S) !2)
470QI= (MI+DI)/360
480PRINT "SYNCIIRONOUS REPETITION FACTOR ",QI
490PRINT "DALLY SYNCHRONOUS ORBIT PRECESSION ",D6
500PRINT "YEARLY SYNCHRONOUS ORBIT PRECESSION ",D7

52
 APPENDIX
A

TABLEAI.- Concluded

D 360
AO 7000
E 0
I 60
UNPERTURBEDPERIOD,SEC 5828.5110951
UNPERTURBEDMEAN !_OTION,RAD/SEC 1.07800863E-03
MEAN_IOTION,DEG/DAY 5335.626538
PERIGEE RATE,DEG/DAY .8991392485551
NODE RATE,I)EG/DAY -3.596556994221
PERIGEE STEP,DEG/MEANANOI_ALYSTEP 6.06658144E-02
NODE STEP,DEG/MEANANOIIALY STEP -.2426632577633
ANO:_ALISTIC PERIOD 5829.493459208
NODAL PERIOD 5828.511260928
REPETITION FACTORQ 14.63737447681
UNPERTURBEDSYNCHRONOUS INCLINATION 97.87448384351
SYNCIIRONOU S INCLINATION 97.87952788402
SYNCHRONOUS REPETITION FACTOR 14.80520669859
DALLY SYNCHRONOUS ORBIT PRECESSION .9856473476633
YEARLY SYNCHRONOUS ORBIT PRECESSION 360.0000056847

(Set I=S and rerun - RUNIO - to get synchronous orbit data)

D 36O
A0 7000
E 0
I 97.87952788402
UNPERTURBEDPERIOD,SEC 5828.5110951
UNPERTURBEDIEAN :[OTION,RAD/SEC I®07800863E-03
MEAN _OTION,DEG/DAY 5333.131479134
PERIGEE RATE,DEG/DAY -3.25706764226
NODERATE,DEG/DAY .9856473476636
PERIGEE STEP,DEG/MEANANO_ALY STEP -.2198603870542
NODE STEP,DEG/_IEANANOMALYSTEP 6.65337141E-02
ANO_IALISTIC PERIOD 5832.22073668
NODAL PERIOD 5835.78478641
REPETITION FACTORQ 14.80520831492
UNPERTURBEDSYNCIIRONOUS INCLINATION 97.87448384351
SYNCHRONOUS INCLINATION 97.87952788402
SYNCHRONOUS REPETITION FACTOR 14.80520669859
DALLY SYNCHRONOUS ORBIT PRECESSION .9856473476633
YEARLY SYNCIIRONOUS ORBIT PRECESSION 360.0000056847

53
 APPENDIX A

TABLE A2.- "BASIC" ALGORITHM FOR GENERATING ORBITS WITH SPECIFIED

REPETITION FACTORS ON THE WANG 2200 SYSTEM

i0 PRIHT
20 SELECT D
30 XI=66058.33128:X2=6.283185308:X3=398601.2:X4=57.29577951
40 INPUT "REPETITION FACTOR: INTEGER,NUM,DENO_I",Q,N,U
50 FO--Q+N/U
60 II_PUT "GUESS AT SE_|IMAJOR AXIS",AI
70 A2=AI+IO
80 INPUT "ECCENTRICITY", E
90 INPUT "INCLINATION-USE 999 FOR SUN SYNC",I
i00 IF I=999THEN 130
Ii0 11=1:12=1:13=1
120 PRINT
130 PRII{TUSING 390,F0,N,U;
140 PI=(AI*(I-E*E)) !2:P2=(A2*(I-E*E)) !2
150 TI=X2*AI*SQR(AI/X3) :T2=X2*A2*SQR(A2/X3)
160 MI=X2/TI:M2=X2/T2:IF I[]999THEN 190
170 GOSUB 'I(AI,PI):II=S
180 GOSUB 'I(A2,P2):I2=S
190 SI=_II*(I+XI/PI*SQR(I-E*E)*(I-I.5*SI_4(II) E2))*X4*86400
200 S2--M2*(I+XI/P2*SQR(I-E*E)*(I-I.5*SIN(12) !2))*X4"86400
210 DI=XI/PI*SI*(2-2.5*SIN(II) !2) :D2=XI/P2*S2*(2-2.5*SIN(12) !2)
220 CI---XI/PI*SI*COS(II) :C2=-XI/P2*SI*COS(12)
230 F1 =(SI+DI)/(.729211506E-4*IS0/#PI*86400-Ci)-FO
240 F2=(S2+D2)/(.72921iSO6E-4*I80/#PI*86400-C2)-FO
250 IF ABS(FI)[IE-6 TIIEN 360:IF ABS(F2)[IE-6 THEN 370
260 A3=(A2-AI)*F2/ (FI-F2)+A2
270 P3 =(A3*(I-E*E)) !2:T3=X2*A3*SQR(A3/X3):A3=X2/T3:IF I[]999THEN 290
280 GOSUB 'I(A3,P3):I3=S
290 S3=II3*(I+XI/P3*SQR(I-E*E)*(I-I 5"SIl{(13)!2))*X4"84600
300 D3=XI/P3*S3*(2-2.5*SIN(13) !2) :C3=-XI/P3*S3*COS(13)
310 F3= ($3+D3) / (. 7 292115061E-4*IS0/#PI*86400-C3)-F0
320 IF ABS(F3)[IE-6 TIIEN 340
330 AI=A2 :A2=A3 :GOTO 140
340 A=A3:F=F3+F0
350 GOTO 380
360 A=AI:F=FI+F0:GOTO 380
370 A=A2 :F=F2+F0
380 I=I3:PRI_[TUSI:_G 400,A+.0000005;I+.0000005
390,'## ##/##
400Z ####.###### ###. #####_'
410 GOTO 40
420 END
430DEFFN'I(A,P)
440 SO=-A!I.5*Pe.9856473/XI/SQR(X3)/X4/86400
450 S=S0/(I+XI/P*SQR(I-E*E)*(I-I.5*SIN(ARCCOS(S0))!2))
460 S=ARCCOS(S)
470 RETU Rq

(Sample case for a = 7000, e = O, i -- 60, Q = 13 1/2)

13 II 2 7396.373144 60.000000
(i = 999)
13 i/ 2 7445.166714 q9.793197

54
 APPENDIX B

ORBIT ELEMENTS FOR THE EARTH'S MOTION AROUND THE SUN

The equations for the Earth's orbit elements can be obtained by inverting
the equations for the apparent motion of the Sun obtained from astronomical
observation. The time-varying orbit elements of the Sun can be found in refer-
ence I, and inverted orbit elements for the Earth, or more specifically, mean
elements for the gravitational center of the Earth-Moon system (barycenter) are
given explicitly in reference 6:

d = J.D. - 241 5020.0

D = d/10000

T = d/36 525

a_ = 1.00000023 AU

e@ = 0.01675104 - 0.0000418T - 0.000000126T 2

= 101o.220833 + 0o.0000470684d + 0o.0000339D 2 + 0o.00000007D3

M_ = 358o.475845 + 0°.985600267d - 0°.0000112D 2 - 0°.O0000007D 3

e_ = 23°.452294 - 0°.0035626D - 0°.000000123D 2 + 0°.0000000103D 3

Reference 6 gives the value of I AU (astronomical unit) as 149 597 893 ± 5 km.
The true anomaly of the Earth can be obtained from implementation of any of the
many available iterative solutions to Kepler's equation, or by expansion
(ref. 3, eq. (6-15)):

f : M + 2e sin M + 5e--_
2 sin 2M + e3(13 sin 3M - 3 sin M) + e4(I03 sin 4M
4 12 96

- 44 sin 2M) + e5 (I097 sin 5M - 645 sin 3M + 50 sin M) + e6 (1223 sin 6M

960 960

-902 sin 4M + 85 sin 2M) + .

In this expression, both f and M must be in radians.

55
 APPENDIX C

DETERMINING THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH THE SUN IS OCCULTED BY THE EARTH

RELATIVE TO A SATELLITE HAVING FIXED ORBIT ELEMENTS

Solution of the occultation problem involves determining the points on its

orbit at which a satellite enters or leaves the Earth's shadow. The geometry
is shown in sketch (CI). The symbols used for this appendix form a self-

Sketch (CI)

contained set, and they are not all defined in or consistent with the symbol
list in the body of the report. All the vector quantities are expressed in a
system whose x-y plane lies in the plane of the satellite orbit, with x and
y oriented as indicated in sketch (CI). Such a coordinate system is called the
PQW system. Vectors can be rotated into the PQW system by standard procedures.
(See, for example, ref. 2.)

A0 to A4 constants as defined below

vector perpendicular to the terminator, extending from the terminator

to the satellite, km

e eccentricity

56
 APPENDIX C

f true anomaly, deg

P semilatus rectum, km

F radius vector to satellite, km

^
unit vector to the Sun
%
% Earth radius vector to the terminator, km

unit vector in direction of the perigee of the satellite orbit

unit vector at right angles to _ along the semilatus rectum

angle between r® and 3, deg

The geometric constraint is the requirement that at a point where the satellite
enters or leaves the Earth's shadow,

• d = -d = -(r 2 - r@2) I/2 : r cos

r®

That is, __ and d are antiparallel. This restriction can be written in

another way_

rQ
^ • d
_ : _® (_ - F_) : _ • _ : rr®
^ (_ cos f + 9 sin f) : r cos ¢

The x- and y-components of the unit vector to the Sun are

r(Dx = _® " _

r(Dy : r(D" 9

Then,

I/2

rGx cos f + r(Dy sin f : -

Since r : p/(1 + e cos f),

P ( cos f + F p2 =0
(I + e cos f) rGx roy sin f) + k(1 + e cos f)2

This can be rewritten in terms of cos f:

A 0 cos 4 f + A I cos3 f + A2 cos 2 f + A 3 cos f + A4 = 0

The constants are

A 0 = (_---_)
4e4 - 2 (_--_)2(r_y - r_x)e2 + (r_x+ r_y) 2

57
 APPENDIX C

A, r2
A2 = 6 - 2 - - r_y)

A3 = 4(____)4e- 4(____)2(I- r_y)e

4 2

The fourth-order equation may be solved by standard procedures. The two spuri-
ous roots may be rejected by noting that
A
Ir@ × _I = r sin @ = I_@I and
r@ • _/r < 0 for occultation to occur.

58
 REFERENCES

I. Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Ephemeris and the American

Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac. H.M. Naut. Alm. Off., 1961.

2. Escobal, Pedro Ramon: Methods of Orbit Determination. John Wiley & Sons,
Inc., c.1965.

3. Orbital Flight Handbook. Part I - Basic Techniques and Data. NASA SP-33,
Pt. I, 1963.

4. Kozai, Yoshihide: The Motion of a Close Earth Satellite. Astron. J.,

vol. 64, no. 9, Nov. 1959, pp. 367-377.

5. McCuskey, S. W.: Introduction to Celestial Mechanics. Addison-Wesley Pub.

Co., Inc., c.1963.

6. Melbourne, William G.; Mulholland, J. Derral; Sjogren, William L.; and

Sturms, Francis M., Jr.: Constants and Related Information for Astrody-
namic Calculations, 1968. Tech. Rep. No. 32-1306 (Contract NAS 7-100),
Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. Technol., July 15, 1968.

7. Harrison, Edwin F.; and Green, Richard N.: Orbit Analysis for Coastal Zone
Oceanography Observations. AIAA Paper No. 73-207, Jan. 1973.

8. Harrison, Edwin F.; Brooks, David R.; and Gibson, Gary G.: Mission Analysis
To Define Satellite Orbits for Earth Radiation Budget Measurements. AIAA
Paper 76-811, Aug. 1976.

9. Russell, James M., III; Park, Jae H.; and Drayson, S. Roland: Global Monitor-
ing of Stratospheric Halogen Compounds From a Satellite Using Gas Filter
Spectroscopy in the Solar Occultation Mode. Appl. Opt., vol. 16, no. 3,
Mar. 1977, pp. 607-612.

59
 TABLE I.- JULIAN DAY NUMBER, 1950-1999, OF DAY COF_4ENCING

AT GREENWICH NOON ON:

Year Jan. 0.5 a Feb, 0,5 Mar. 0.5 Apr. 0,5 May0.5 June0.5 JulyO.5 Aug. 0.5 Sept. 0.50ct, O.5 Nov, 0,5 Dec. 0._

1950 243 3282 3313 3341 3372 3402 3433 3463 3494 3525 3555 3586 3616
1951 3647 3678 3706 3737 3767 3798 3828 3859 3890 3920 3951 3961
1952 4012 4043 4072 4103 4133 4164 4194 4225 4256 4286 4317 4347
1953 4378 4409 4437 4468 4498 4529 4559 4590 4621 4651 4682 4712
1954 4743 4774 4802 4833 4863 4894 4924 4955 4986 5016 5047 5077

1955 243 5108 5139 5167 5198 5228 5259 5289 5320 5351 5381 5412 5442
1956 5473 5504 5533 5564 5594 5625 5655 5686 5717 5747 5778 5808
1957 5839 5870 5898 5929 5959 5990 6020 6051 6082 6112 6143 6173
1958 6204 6235 6263 6294 6324 6355 6385 6416 6447 6477 6508 6538
1959 6569 6600 6628 6659 6689 6720 6750 6781 6812 6842 6873 6903

1960 243 6934 6965 6994 7025 7055 7086 7116 7147 7178 7208 7239 7269
1961 7300 7331 7359 7390 7420 7451 7481 7512 7543 7573 7604 7634
1962 7665 7696 7724 7750 7785 7816 7846 7877 7908 7938 7969 7999
1963 8030 8061 8089 8120 8150 8181 8211 8242 8273 8303 8334 8364
1964 8395 8426 8455 8486 8516 8547 8577 8608 8639 8669 8700 8730

1965 243 8761 8792 8820 8851 8881 8912 8942 8973 9004 9034 9065 9095
1966 9126 9157 9185 9216 9246 9277 9307 9338 9369 9399 9430 9460
1967 9491 9522 9550 9581 9611 9642 9672 9703 9734 9764 9795 9825
1968 9856 9887 9916 9947 9977 _0008 _0038 _0069 50100 _0130 _0161 *0191
1969 244 0222 0253 0281 0312 0342 0373 0403 0434 0465 0495 0526 0556

1970 244 0587 0618 0646 0677 0707 0738 0768 0799 0830 0860 0891 0921
1971 0952 0983 IOll i042 1072 1103 i133 I164 I195 1225 1256 1286
1972 1317 1348 1377 1408 1438 1469 1499 1530 1561 1591 1622 1652
1973 1683 1714 1742 1773 1803 1834 1864 1895 1926 1956 1987 2017
1974 2048 2079 2107 2138 2168 2199 2229 2260 2291 2321 2352 2382

1975 244 2413 2444 2472 2503 2533 2564 2594 2625 2656 2686 2717 2747
1976 2778 2809 2838 2869 2899 2930 2960 2991 3022 3052 3083 3113
1977 3144 3175 3203 3234 3264 3295 3325 3356 3387 34_7 3448 3478
1978 3509 3540 3568 3599 3629 3660 3690 3721 3752 3782 3813 3843
1979 3874 3905 3933 3964 3994 4025 4055 4086 4117 4147 4178 4208

1980 244 4239 4270 4299 4330 4360 4391 4421 4452 4483 4513 4544 4574
1981 4605 4636 4664 4695 4725 4756 4786 4817 4848 4878 4909 4939
1982 4970 5001 5029 5060 5090 5121 5151 5182 5213 5243 5274 5304
1983 5335 5366 5394 5425 5455 5486 5516 5547 5578 5608 5639 5669
1984 5700 5731 5760 5791 5821 5852 5882 5913 5944 5974 6005 6035

1985 244 6066 6097 6125 6156 6186 6217 6247 6278 6309 6339 6370 6400
1986 6431 6462 6490 6521 6551 6582 6612 6643 6674 6704 6735 6765
1987 6796 6827 6855 6886 6916 6947 6977 7008 7039 7069 7100 7130
1988 7161 7192 7221 7252 7282 7313 7343 7374 7405 7435 7466 7496
1989 7527 7558 7586 7617 7647 7678 7708 7739 7770 7800 7831 7861

1990 244 7892 7923 7951 7982 8012 8043 8073 8104 8135 8165 8196 8226
1991 8257 8288 8316 8347 8377 8408 8438 8469 8500 8530 8561 8591
1992 8622 8653 8682 8713 8743 8774 8804 8835 8866 8896 8927 8957
1993 8988 9019 9047 9078 9108 9139 9169 9200 9231 9261 9292 9322
1994 9353 9384 9412 9443 9473 9504 9534 9565 9596 9626 9657 9687

1995 244 9718 9749 9777 9808 9838 9869 9899 9930 9961 9991 *0022 _0052
1996 245 0083 0114 0143 0174 0204 0235 0265 0296 0327 0357 0388 0418
1997 0449 0480 0508 0539 0569 0600 0630 0661 0692 0722 0753 0783
1998 0814 0845 0873 0904 0934 0965 0995 I026 i057 1087 Ill8 i148
1999 245 I179 1210 1238 1269 1299 1330 1360 1391 1422 1452 1483 1513

2000 245 1544 1575 1604 1635 1665 1696 1726 1757 1788 1818 1849 1879

ajan. 0.5 = Greenwioh noon (12 h) UT, Dec. 31.

60
 TABLE 2.- KEPLERIAN AND PERTURBED ORBITAL PERIODS AS A FUNCTION OF ALTITUDE AND INCLINATION

h, To, TA' TN' TA " TO, and TN - To,a see, fop i, deE, of -
km sec
0 I0 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

200 5309.6 5301.6 5301.9 5303.0 5304.6 5306.6 5308.7 5310.7 5312.3 5313.3 5313.7
-3.I -7.7 -6.7 -5.1 -3.1 -i.0 1.0 2.6 3.7 4.1
5285.4 5286.4 5289.2 5293.5 5290.7 5304.4 5309.6 5314.0 5316.8 5317.8
-24.2 -23.3 -20.5 -16.2 -10.9 -5.3 0.O 4.3 7.1 3.1

300 5431.2 5423.1 5423.5 5424.6 5426.2 5428.1 5430.2 5432.2 5433.8 5434.8 5435.2
-8.0 -7.7 -6.6 -5.0 -3.1 -I.0 1.0 2.6 3.7 4.0
5407.1 5408.1 5410.9 5415.1 5420.4 5425.9 5431.2 5435.5 5438.3 5439.2
-24.1 -23.1 -20.3 -16 .i -i0.8 -5.2 0.0 4.3 7.1 8.1

400 5553.6 5545.7 5546.0 5547.1 5548.6 5550.6 5552.7 5554.6 5556.2 5557.3 5557.6
-8.0 -7.6 -6.6 -5.0 -3.0 -1.0 1.0 2.6 3.6 4.0
5529.8 5530.7 5533.5 5537.7 5542.9 5548.4 5553.6 5557.9 5560.7 5561.6
-23.9 -22.9 -20.2 -15.9 -10.7 -5.2 0.0 4.3 7.0 8.0

500 5677.0 5669.1 5669.4 5670.5 5672.0 5674.0 5676.0 5678.0 5679.6 5680.6 5680.9
-7.9 -7.6 -6.5 -4.9 -3.0 -0.9 1.0 2.6 3.6 4.0
5653.3 5654.2 5657.0 5661.2 5666.3 5671.8 5677.0 5681.2 5684.0 5684.9
-23.7 -22.8 -20.0 -15.8 -10.7 -5.2 0.0 4.2 7.0 7.9

600 5801.2 5793.4 5793.7 5794.8 5796.3 5798.2 5800.3 5302.2 5803.8 5304.8 5805.2
-7.9 -7.5 -6.5 -4.9 -3.0 -0.9 1.0 2.6 3.6 3.9
5777.7 5778.6 5781.4 5785.5 5790.6 5796.1 5801,2 5305.4 5808.2 5809.1
-23.5 -22.6 -19.9 -15.7 -I0.6 -5.1 0.0 4.2 6.9 7.9

700 5926.4 5918.6 5918.9 5919.9 5921.5 5923.4 5925.4 5927.4 5928.9 5929.9 5930.3
-7.8 -7.5 -6.4 -4.9 -3.0 -0.9 1.0 2.5 3.6 3.9
5903.0 5904.0 5906.6 5910.3 5915.9 5921.3 5926.4 5930.5 5933.3 5934.2
-23.4 -22.4 -19.7 -15.6 -10.5 -5.1 0.0 4.2 6.9 7.3

800 6052.4 6044.7 6045.0 6046.0 6047.6 6049.5 6051.5 6053.4 6054.9 6055.9 6056.3
-7.7 -7.4 -6.4 -4.8 -2.9 -0.9 1.0 2.5 3.5 3.9
6029.2 6030.1 6032.8 6036.9 6:)42.0 6047.4 6052.4 6056.5 6059.2 6060.2
-23.2 -22.3 -19.6 -15.5 -I0.4 -5.1 0.0 4.1 6.8 7.3

9006179.3 6171.6 6172.0 6173.0 6174.5 6"176.4 6173.4 6180.3 6181.8 6132.8 6183.2
-7.7 -7.3 -6.3 -4.8 -2.9 -0.9 1.0 2.5 3.5 3.9
6156.3 6157.2 6159.9 6164.0 6169.0 6174.3 6179.3 6183.4 6186.1 6187.0
-23.1 -22.1 -19.5 -15.4 -10.4 -5.0 0.0 4.1 6.8 7.7

1000!6307.1 6299.5 6299.8 6300.8 6302.3 6304.2 6306.2 6308.1 6309.6 6310.6 6311.0
-7.6 -7.3 -6.3 -4.8 -2.9 -0.9 1.0 2.5 3.5 3.8
6284.2 6285.1 6287.8 6291.8 6296.8 6302.1 6307.1 6311.2 6313.9 6314.8
-22.9 -22.0 -19.3 -15.3 -10.3 -5.0 0.0 4.1 6.7 7.7

1100!6435.3 6428.2 6428.5 6429.5 6431.0 6432.9 6434.9 6436.7 6438.3 6439.2 6439.6
-7.6 -7.3 -6.3 -4.7 -2.9 -0.9 1.0 2.5 3.5 3.8
6413.0 6414.0 6416.6 6420.6 6425.6 6430.8 6435.8 6439.8 6442.5 6443.4
-22.7 -21.8 -19.2 -15.2 -10.2 -5.0 0.0 4.0 6.7 7.6

1200 6565.3 6557.8 6558.1 6559.1 6560.6 6562.4 6564.4 6566.2 6567.8 6568.7 6569.1
-7.5 -7.2 -6.2 -4.7 -2.9 -0.9 0.9 2.5 3.4 3.8
6542.7 6543.6 6546.2 6550.2 6555.1 6560.4 6565.3 6569.3 6572.0 6572.9
-22.6 -21.7 -19.1 -15.1 -i0.2 -4.9 0.0 4.0 6.6 7.6

1300 6695.7 6688.2 6688.5 6639.5 6691.0 6692.8 6694.8 6696.6 6698.1 6699.1 6699.4
-7.5 -7.2 -6.2 -4.7 -2.9 -0.9 0.9 2.4 3.4 3.8
6673.2 6674.1 6676.7 6630.7 6685.6 6690.3 6695.7 6699.7 6702.3 6703.2
-22.4 -21.5 -19.0 -15.0 -10.1 -4.9 0.0 4.0 6.6 7.5

1400 6826.9 6819.5 6819.8 6820.8 6822.3 6824.1 6826.0 6827.8 6329.3 6330.3 6830.6
-7.4 -7.1 -6.1 -4.7 -2,8 -0.9 0.9 2.4 3.4 3.7
6804.6 6805.5 6808.1 6812.0 6816.9 6822.1 6826.9 6830.9 6833.5 6834.4
-22.3 -21.4 -18.8 -14.9 -i0.0 -4.9 0.0 4.0 6.6 7.5

1500 6959.0 6951.6 6951.9 6952.9 6954.4 6956.2 6953.1 6959.9 6961.4 6962.4 6962.7
-7.4 -7.1 -6.1 -4.6 -2.8 -0.9 0.9 2.4 3.4 3.7
6936.8 6937.7 6940.3 6944.2 6949.0 6954.2 6959.0 6962.9 6965.5 6966.4
-22.2 -21.3 -18.7 -14.8 -10.0 -4.8 0.0 3.9 6.5 7.4

akt each value of altitude h, the first llne of data is TA; the second line, _A - To; the third line,
TN; and the fourth line, z N - TO, all in seconds.

61
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62
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63
 TABLE 5.- CIRCULAR ORBIT PARAMETERS FOR SPECIFIED REPETITION FACTORS

Orbit altitude, km, for inclination, i, deE, of -

Q 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70" 80 90

12 1616.2 1616.5 1617.6 1619.6 1622.7 1627.1 1633.0 1640.6 1649.9 1660.7

12 1/ 2 1395.9 1396.3 1397.5 1399.8 1403.3 1408.2 1414.7 1423.O 1433.O 1444.6

12 I/ 3 1467.7 1468.1 1469.3 1471.5 1474.8 1479.5 1485.9 1493.9 1503.7 1515.0

12 2/ 3 1325.6 1326.0 1327.3 1329.7 1333.3 1338.3 1345.1 1353.6 1363.8 1375.7

12 i/ 4 1504.2i 1504.6 1505.8 1507.9 1511.2 1515.8 1522.0 1530.O 1539.6 1550.8

12 3/ 4'1291.01291.4 1292.8 1295.2 1298.8 1304.O 1310.8 1319.4 1329.8 1341.8

12 i/ 5 1526.3 1526.7 1527.8 1529.9 1533.2 1537.8 1543.9 1551.8 1561.4 1572.5

12 4/ 5 1270.4 1270.8 1272.2 1274.6 1278.3 1283.6 1290.4 1299.1 1309.6 1321.7

12 I/ 6 1541.1 1541.5 1542.6 1544.7 1547.9 1552.5 155_.6 1566.4 1575.9 1587.0

12 5/ 6 1256.7 1257.2 1258.6 1261.0 1264.8 1270.0 1276.9 1285.7 1296.2 1308.3

12 i/ 7 1551.7 1552.1 1553.2 1555.3 1558.5 1563.0 1569.1 1576.9 1586.4 1597.4

12 6/ 7 1247.0 1247.5 1248.9 1251.3 1255.1 1260.4 1267.3 1276.111286.6 1298.8

12 i/ 3 1559.7 1560.1 1561.2 1563.3 1566.5 1571.O 1577.1 1584.8 1594.3 1605.3

12 7/ 3 1239.8 1240.2 1241.6 1244.1 1247.9 1253.1 1260.1 1268.9:1279.5 1291.7

12 I/ 9 1565.9 1566.3 156;.4 1569.5 1572.7 1577.2 1583.2 1591.O 1600.4 1611.4

12 8/ 9 1234.1 1234.6 1236.0 1233.5 1242.2 1247.5 1254.5 1263.3i1274.O 1286.2

12 I/I0 1570.9 1571.3 1572.4 1574.5!1577.6 1532.1 15SJ.2 1595.911605.3 161b.3

12 O/lO 1229.6 1230.1 1231.5 1234.O 1237.8 1243.1 1250.1 1258.911269.5 1281.8

12 i/II 1575.0 1575.4 1576.5 157_.5 1531.7 1536.2 1592.2 1599.9 1609._ 1620.3

12 I0/ii 1225.9 1226.4 1227.8 1230.3 1234.1 1239.411246.4 1255.3 1265._ 127S.2

12 1/12 1578.4 1578.8 1579.9 1581.9 1585.1 1589.611595.6 1603.3 1612.7 1623.6

12 11/1211222.9 1223.3 1224.7 1227.2 1231.O 1236.4 1243.4 1252.2 1262.9 1275.2

12 1/13 1581.3 1581.7 1582.8 1584.8 1588.O 1592.5 1598.5 1606.2 1615.6 1626.5

12 12/13 1220.3 1220.7 1222.1 1224.7 1228.5 1233.8 1240.811249.7 1260.4 1272.6

12 1/14 1583.8 1584.1 1585.3 1587.3 1590.4 1594.9 1600.9 1608.6 1618.O 1628.9

12 13/14 1218.1 1218.5 1219.9 1222.4 1226.3 12_1.6 1238.6 1247.5 1258.2 1270.5

12 1/15 1535.9 1586.3 1587.4 1589.4 1592.6 1597.1 1603.1 1610.7 1620.1 1631.0

12 14/15 1216.1 1216.61218.O 1220.5 1224.3 1229.7 1236.7 1245.6 1256.3 1268.6

12 1/16 1587.8 1588.211589.3 1591.3 1594.5 1598.9 1604.9 1612.6!1622.0 1632.9

12 15/16 1214.4 1214.9 1216.3 1218.8 1222.7 1228.O 1235.1 1243.9 1254.6 1267.0

12 1/17 1589.5 15G9.8 1591.0 1593.0 1596.1 1600.6 1606.6 1614.2 1623.6 1634.5

12 16/17 1213.0 1213.4 1214.8 1217.4 1221.2 1226.5 1233.6 1242.5 1253.2 1265.5

12 I/I_ 1591.O 1591.3 1592.4 1594.4 1597.6 1602.0 1608.0 1615.7 1625.1 1636.0

12 17/18 1211.6 1212.1 1213.5 L216.1 1219.9 1225.2!1232.3 1241.2 1251.9 1264.2

12 1/19 1592.3 1592.6 1593.7 1595.8 1598.9 1603.411609.4 1617.0 1626.4'1637.2

12 18/19,1210.5 1210.9 1212.4.1214.9 1218.7 1224.1 1231.1 1240.0 1250.7 1263.1

12 1/20 1593.5 1593.S 1594.9 1597.O 16OO.1 1604.5 1610.5 1618.2 1627.5 163S.4

12 19/20 1209.4 1209.9 1211.3 1213.8 1217.7 1223.0 1230.1 1239.0 1249.7 1262.0

12 1/21 1594.5 1594.9 1596.0 1598.0 1601.2 1605.6 1611.6 1619.3 1628.6 1639.5

12 20/21 1208.5 1208.9 1210.3 1212.9 1216.7 1222.1 1229.1 1238.0 1248.7 1261.1

64
 TABLE 5.- Continued

Orbit altitude, _, for inclination, ir de_1 of -

Q 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

13 1189.3 1189.8 1191.2 1193.8 1197.7 1203.1 1210.2 1219.2 1230.0 1242.4

13 I/ 2 995.2 995.7 997.4 1000.2 1004.5 1010.5 1018.2 1027.9 1039.5 1052.8

13 i/ 3 1058.6 1059.1 1060.7 1063.4 1067.6 1073.4 1080.9 1090.4 1101.7 1114.7

13 2/ 3 933.0 933.6 935.3 938.2 942.7 948.8 956.8 966.7 978.6 992.1

13 i/ 4 1090.8 1091.3 1092.8 1095.5 1099.6 1105.3 1112.7 1122.1 1133.2 1146.1

13 3/ 4 902.4 903.0 904.7 907.7 912.2 918.4 926.5 936.6 945.6 962.3

13 I/ 5 1110.3 1110.8 1112.3 1115.0 ii19.0 1124.6 1132.0 i141.3ii152.3 1165.1

13 4/ 5 884.2 884.7 386.5 889.5 894.1 900.4 908.5 918.7 930.7 944.5

13 I/ 6 1123.3 1123.8 1125.3 1128.0 1132.0 1137.6 1144.9 1154.1 1165.1 1177.8

13 5/ 6 872.1 872.7 874.4 877.5 882.1 888.4 896.6 906.8 918.9 932.7

13 I/ 7 i132.7 1133.1 1134.6 1137.3 1141.3 1146.8 1154.1 1163.3 1174.3 1187.0

13 6/ 7 863.5 864.0 865.8 868.9 873.5 879.8 888.1 898.3 910.4 924.3

13 i/ 8 1139.7 1140.2 1141.7 1144.3 1148.3 I153.8 1161.1 1170.2 1181.2 1193.9

13 7/ 3 857.0 857.6 859.4 862.5 867.1 873.41 881.7 891.9 904.1 918.0

13 i/ 9 1145.2 1145.7 1147.1 1149.8 1153.7 1159.2 1166.5 1175.6 1186.6 1199.2

13 8/ 9 852.0 352.6 854.4 857.5 862.1 868.5 876.8 857.0 899.2 913.2

13 I/i0 1149.6 1150.0 1151.5 1154.1 1158.1 1163.6 1170.9 i180.0 1190.9 1203.5

13 9/10 848.0 848.6 850.4 853.5 858.1 864.5 872.8 883.1 895.3 909.3

13 I/II 1153.2 1153.6 1155.1 1157.7 1161.7 1167.2 1174.4 I183.51194.4 1207.0

13 I0/ii 844.8 845.3 347.1 850.2 854.9 861.3 869.6 879.9 892.1 906.1

13 1/12 1156.2 1156.6 1158.1 1160.7 1164.7 1170.2 1177.4 1186.5 1197.4 1209.9

13 11/12 842.0 _42.6 844.4 847.5 852.2 858.6 866.9 877.2 889.5 903.4

13 1/13 1158.7 1159.2 1160.6 1163.2 1167.2 1172.7 1179.9 1189.0 1199.9 1212.4

13 12/13 _39.7 G40.3 842.1 845.2 849.9 856.3 864.6 874.9 887.2 901.2

13 1/14 1160.9 1161.3 1162.8 1165.4 1169.3 I174._ 1182.1 1191.1 1202.O 1214.6

13 13/14 837.8 838.4 840.Iu 843.3 847.9 854.3 862.7 873.0 885.3 899.3

13 1/15 1162.8 1163.2 1164.7 1167.3 1171.211176.7 1183.9 1193.0 1203.9 1216.4

13 14/15 836.1 836.6 838.4 841.6 846.2 852.7 861.0 871.3 883.6 897.6!

13 1/16 1164.4 1164.9 1166.4 1169.0 1172.9 1178.4 1185.6 1194.6 1205.5 1218.0

13 15/16 834.6 835.2 836.9 840.1 844.8 851.2 859.5 369.9 882.2i 896.2

13 1/17 1165.9 1166.4 1167.8 I170.4 1174.3 1179.8 I187.0 i196.1 1206.911219.5

13 16/17 333.3 333.8 835.6 838.8 843.4 849.9i 358.2 863.6 880.9 894_9

13 1/18 1167.2 I167.7 I169.1 1171.7 1175.6 1181.1 1188.3 1197.3 1208.2 1220.7

13 17/13 832.1 832.7 834.5 837.6 842.3 848.7 857.1 867.4 879.7 893.8

13 1/19 1168.3 1168.8 1170.3 1172.9 I176.8 1182.2 i189.4 1198.5 1209.4!1221.9

13 18/19 831.0 831.6 833.4 836.6 841.2 847.7 856.0 866.4 878.7 892.7

13 1/20 L169.4 1169.9 1171.3 I173.9 1177.8 I183.3 I_90.5 1199.5 1210,4 1222.9

13 19/20 830.1 830.7 832.5 835.6 840.3 046.7 855.1 865.5 877.8 891.8

13 1/21 1170.3!1170.8 1172.3 1174.9 1178.8 1184.2 1191.4 1200.5 1211.311223.8

13 20/21 829.3 829.8 831.6 834.8 839.5 845.9 354.3 864.6 877.0 891.0

65
 TABLE 5.- Continued

Orbit altitude, km, for inclination, i, deg, of -

Q 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

14 812.3 812.9 814.7 817.9 322.6 829.1 837.5 348.0 860.3 _74.5

14 I/ 2 639.5 640.1 642.2 645.7 650.9 657.9 667.0 678.2 691.5 706.5

14 1/ 3 696.0 696.7 698.6 702.0 707.0 713.9 722.3 733.7 746.7 761.4

14 2/ 3 534.0 584.7 586.7 590.4 595.7 603.0 612.3 623.8 637.3 652.6

14 1/ 4 724.7 725.3 727.2 730.6 735.5 742.3 751.1 761.9 774.7 789.3

14 3/ 4 556.6 557.3 559.4 563.1 568.5 575.9 535.3 596.9 610.6 626.1

14 1/ 5 742.0 742.6 744.5 747.8 752.7 759.4 763.1 778.9 791.6 806.1

14 4/ 5 540.3 541.0 543.1 546.8 552.3 559.7 569.3 580.9 594.7 610.3

14 1/ 6 753.6 754.2 756.1 759.4 764.3 770.9 779.6 790.3 803.0 817.4

14 5/ 6 529.5 330.2 532.3 536.1 541.6 549.0 553.6 570.3 584.1 599.3

14 1/ 7 761.9 762.5 764.4 767.7 772.5 779.2 7°7.8 798.5 311.1 325.5

14 6/ 7 521.8 522.5 524.6 528.4 533.9 541.4 351.0 562.8 576.6 592.3

14 1/ 8 768.2 763.8 770.6 773.9 773.7 735.4 794.0 804.6 817.2 831.5

14 7/ 3 516.0 516.7 518.9 522.6 528.2 535.7 545.3 557.1 571.0 586.7

14 1/ 9 773.0 773.6 775.5 778.8 733.6 790.2 793.3 309.4 022.0 836.3

14 8/ 9 511.5 512.2 514.4 518.2 523.7 531.3 540.9 552.7 566.6 532.4

14 1/10 776.9 777.5 779.4 732.6 787.5 794.1 302.6 313.2 825.8 340.1

14 9/I0 507.9 508.6 510.8 514.6 520.2 527.7 537.4 549.2 563.2 573.9

14 1/11 780.1 780.7 782.6 785.3 790.6 797.2 805.8 316.4 828.9 843.2

14 I0/11 505.0 505.7 507.9 511.7 517.3 524.8 534.5 546.4 560.3 576.1

14 1/12 782.8 783.4 785.3 788.5 793.3 799.9 803.4 819.0 831.5 845.3

14 11/12 502.6 503.3 505.5 509.3 514.8 522.4 532.1 544.0 557.9 573.7

14 1/13 785.1 785.7 787.5 790.7 795.5 802.1 810.6 321.2 833.7 848.0

14 12/13 500.5 501.2 503.4 507.2 512.8 520.4 530.1 542.0 555.9 571.7

14 1/14 737.0 787.6 789.4 792.7 797.5 804.0 812.6 323.1 835.6 349.9

14 13/14 498.8 499.5 501.7 505.5 511.0 518.6 528.3 540.2 554.2 570.0

14 1/15 788.7 789.3 791.1 794.3 799.1 805.7 814.2 824.8 837.3 851.5

14 14/15 497.2 497.9 500.1 503.9 509.5 517.1 526.3 538.7 552.7 568.5

14 1/16 790.1 790.7 792.6 795.8 800.6 307 .2 315.7 826.2 838.7 352.9

14 15/16 495.9 496.6 498.8 502.6 508.2 515._ 525.5 537.4 551.4 567.2

14 1/17 791.4 792.0 793.9 797.1 801.9 808.4 816.9 827.5 840.0 354.2

i4 16/17 494.7 495.4 497.6 501.4 507.0 514.6 524.4 536.3 550.3 566.1

14 1/18 792.6 793.2 795.0 798.2 803_0 809.6 818.1 828.6 841.1 355.3

14 17/18 493.7 494.4 496.6 500.4 506.0 513.6 523.3 535.2 549.3 565.1

14 1/19 793.6 794.2 796.1 799.3 304.1 810.6 819.1 829.6 042.1 856.3

14 18/19 492.7 493.4 495.6 499.5 505.1 512.7 522.4 534.3 548.3 564.2

14 1/20 794.6 795.2 797.0 800.2 805.0 811.5 820.0 830.5 843.0 357.2

14 19/20 491.9 492.6 494.8 498.6 504.2 511.3 521.6 533.5 547.5 563.3

14 1/21 795.4 796.0 797.8 801.0 805.8 812.4 820.9 831.4 343.8 358.0

14 20/21 491.1 491.8 494.0 497.9 503.5 511.1 520.3 532.8 546.8 562.6

66
 TABLE 5.- Concluded

Orbit altitude, km, for inclination, i, deg, of -

Q
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

13 475.9 476.0 47S.9 492.7 4,;g.4 496.0 505.9 517.9 532.0 547.9

15 i/ 2 320.g 321.6 324.0 328.2 334.3 342.6 353.2 366.0 381.0 397.S

15 I/ 3 371.6 372.4 374.7 378.8 3G4.g 392.9 403.2 415.7 430.4 447.0

15 2/ 3 270._ 271.6 274.1 27g.4 234.8 293.2 304.0 317.2 332.4 349.6

15 I/ 4 397.3 39S.i 400.4 404.4 410.4 418.3 428.5 440.9 455.5 471.8

15 3/ 4 246.1 246.9 249.5 253.9 260.3 268.9 279.3 293.0 303.5 325.8

15 I/ 5 412.9 413.6 415.9 419.9 425.8 433.7 443.8 456.1 470.6 486.9

15 4/ 5 231.4 232.2 234.8 239.2 245.7 254.3 265.3 278.7 294.2 311.6

15 I/ 6 423.3 424.1 426.3 430.3 436.1 444.0 454.1 466.3 480.7 497.0

15 5/ 6 221.6 222.5 225.1 229.5 236.0 244.7 255.7 269.1 284.7 302.2

15 I/ 7 430.G 431.5 433.8 437.7 443.5 451.4 461.4 473.6 438.0 504.2

15 6/ 7 214.7 215.5 218.1 222.6 229.1 237.8 248.9 262.3 27_.0 295.5

15 i/ 8 436.4 437.1 439.4 443.3 449.1 456.9 466.9 479.1 493.4 509.6

15 7/ 3 209.5 210.3 212.9 217.4 223.9 232.7 243.8 257.3 272.9 290.5

15 i/ 9 440.7 441.5 443.7 447.7 453.4 461.2 471.2 483.4 497.7 513.8

15 3/ 9 205.4 206.3 203.9 213.4 219.9 228.7 239.8 253.3 269.0 286.6

15 1/10 444.2 445.0 447.2 451.2 456.9 464.7 474.7 486.8 501.1 517.2

15 9/10 202.2 203.0 205.7 210.2 216.7 225.5 236.7 250.2 265.9 283.5

15 1/11 447.1 447.8 450.i 454.0 459.8 467.5 477.5 489.6 503.9 520.0

15 10/II 199.6 200.4 203.0 207.5 214.1 222.9 234.1 247.6 263.3 281.0

15 1/12 449.5 450.2 452.5 456.4 462.1 469.9 479.8 492.0 506.2 522.3

15 11/12 197.4 19G.2 200.8 205.3 211.9 220.7 231.9 245.4 261.2 278.8

15 1/13 451.5 452.3 454.5 458.4 464.1 471.9 481.8 494.0 508.2 524.3

15 12/13 195.5 196.4 199.0 203.5 210.1 218.9 230.1 243.6 259.4 277.0

15 1/14 453.3 454.0 456.2 460.i 465.9 473.6 483.5 495.7 509.9 525.9

15 13/14 193.9 194.8 197.4 201.9 208.5 217.3 228.5 242.1 257.8 275.5

15 1/15 454.8 455.5 457.7 461.6 467.4 475.1 435.0 497.1 511.4 527.4

15 14/15 192.5 193.4 196.0 200.5 207.1 216.0 227.2 240.7 256.5 274.2

15 1/16 456.1 456.8 459.1 463.0 468.7 476.4 486.3 498.4 512.6 523.7

15 15/16 191.3 192.2 194.8 199.3 205.9 214.8 226.0 239.6 255.3 273.0

15 1/17 '457.2 458.0 460.2 464.1 469.8 477.6 487.5 499.6 513.3 529.8

15 16/17 190.3 191.1 193.8 198..3 204.9 213.7 224.9 233.5 254.3 272.0

15 1/18 458.3 459.0 461.3 465.1 470.9 478.6 488.5 500.6 514.8 530.3

15 17/18 189.3 190.2 192.8 197.3 203.9 212.8 224.0 237.6 253.4 271.1

15 1/19 459.2 459.9 462.2 466.1 471.8 479.5 489.4 501.5 515.7 531.7

15 18/19 188.5 189.3 192.0 196.5 203.1 212.0 223.2 236.8 252.6 270.3

15 1/20 460.0 460.8 463.0 466.9 472.6 480.3 490.2 502.3 516.5 532.5

15 19/20 187.7 188.6 191.2 195.7 202.4 211.2 222.4 236.0 251.8 269.5

15 1/21 460.8 461.5 463.8 467.6 473.4 431.1 491.0 503.0 517.2 533.2

15 20/21 187.0 187.9 190.5 195.1 201.7 210.5 221.8 235.3 251.2 268.9

67
 TABLE 6.- CIRCULAR SUN-SYNCHRONOUS ORBIT PARAMETERS FOR

SPECIFIED REPETITION FACTORS

Q as, kln is, deg

12 8054.630 102.944
12 1/ 2 7837.948 I01. 748
12 1/ 3 7908.546 102.128
12 2/ 3 7768.903 i01. 385
12 II 4 7944.445 102.325
12 3/ 4 1734.9A6 101.210
12 I/ 5 7966.181 102.445
12 4/ 5 7714.749 101.106
12 i/ 6 7980.754 102.526
12 5/ 6 7701. 357 101 .O38
12 i/ 7 7991.204 102.585
12 61 7 7691.827 100.990
12 11 8 7999.064 102.629
12 7/ 8 7684.698 100.954
12 11 9 8005. 190 102.663
12 3/ 9 7679.165 i00.926
12 1/lO 8010.100 102.691
12 9/10 7674.746 lOO .904
12 1/14 8022.761 102. 762
12 13/14 7663.412 i00.84 7
12 1121 8033. 349 102.822
12 20/21 7653.999 100.800

13 7635. 259 100. 706

13 11 2 7445.167 99.793
13 11 3 7507.209 100.085
13 21 3 7384. 389 99.514
13 ii 4 7538.717 100.235
13 31 4 7354.462 99,378
13 i/ 5 7557.781 100. 327
13 4/ 5 7336.650 99,298
13 11 6 7570.558 100. 389
13 5/ 6 7324.835 99.246
13 1/ 7 7579.717 IO0.433
13 61 7 7316 .425 99.208
13 1/ 8 7586 .604 100.467
13 7/ 8 7310 .133 99.180
13 1/ 9 7591 .972 100.493
13 81 9 7305 .248 99.159
13 1110 7596 .273 100.514
13 9/10 7301 .347 99.141
13 1114 7607 .361 I00.569
13 13/14 7291 .338 99.097
13 1121 7616.632 100.614
13 20121 7283,023 99.061

68
 TABLE6.- Concluded

Q as, km i s, deg

14 7266.465 98.988
14 i/ 2 7098.096 98.275
14 1/ 3 7153.130 98.504
14 2/ 3 7044.107 98.056
14 1/ 4 7181.049 98.621
14 3/ 4 7017.493 97.949
14 1/ 5 7197.932 98.693
14 4/ 5 7001.646 97.886
14 1/ 6 7209.242 98.741
14 5/ 6 6991.130 97.844
14 1/ 7 7217.348 98.776
14 6/ 7 6983.643 91.815
14 1/ 8 7223.442 98.802
14 71 8 6978.0t_0 97.793
14 I/ 9 7228.191 98.822
14 8/ 9 6973.691 97.776
14 1/10 7231.996 98.839
14 9/10 6970.216 97.762
14 1/14 7241.802 98.881
14 13114 6961.301 97.727
14 i121 7250 .O00 98.917
14 20/21 6953.893 97.698

15 6939.136 97.641
15 1/ 2 6788.770 97.074
15 1/ 3 6837.983 97.256
15 21 3 6740 .430 96.899
15 11 4 6862 .926 97.350
15 31 4 6716 .58O 96.813
15 1/ 5 6878 .001 97.407
15 41 5 6702 .371 96.763
15 1/ 6 6888 .097 97.445
15 5/ 6!6692 .940 96.729
15 1/ 76895 .331 97.473
15 6/ 7 6686 .224 96.706
15 1/ 8 6900 .769 97.493
15 7/ 8 6681 .197 96.688
15 1/ 9 6905 .005 97.5i0
15 8/ 9 6677 .294 96.674
15 i/i0 6908 .400 97.523
15 9/10 6674 .176 96.663
15 1/14 6917 .147 97.556
15 13/14 6666 .175 96.635
15 1/21 6924 ,457 97.584
15 20/21 6659 .525 96.612

16 6646. 276 96.566

69
 TABLE 7.- SOLAR POSITION DATA AS A FUNCTION OF TIME

J.D. Calendar Days from Days from x-, y-, and z-components of _;a
_44 xxxx.5 day 1981T Jan. 1.0, 1981 right ascension and declination

4605.5 81/ 1/ 1/ 0 -78.6992631 0 0.1821703 -0.9021130 -0.3911599

-78.583370 -23.026691
4610.5 81/ 11 6/ 0 -73.6992631 5 0.2687963 -0.8836995 -0.3831757
-73.081722 -22.530532
4615.5 gl/ l/ill 0 -68.6992631 i0 0.3532844 -0.8583031 -0.3721637
-67.627542 -21.849120
4620.5 _1/ 1/16/ 0 -67.6902631 15 0.4349470 -0.8261368 -0.3582162
-62.233954 -2o.g90690
4625.5 31/ 11211 0 -58.6Q92631 20 0.5131237 -0.7874736 -0.3414516
-56.911432 -19.965343
4630.5 _11 11261 n -Sq.6gg2631 25 0.5871874 -0.7426430 -0.3220129
-51.667547 -18.7R4701
4635.5 _11 11311 o -4R.6992631 30 0.6565507 -0.6920272 -0.3000657
-46.506911 -17.461549
4640.5 _11 21 51 o -43.6gg2631 35 0_72_6715 -0.6360570 -0.2757967
-41.43127" -16.009503
4645.5 '_11 21101 o -3R.69g2631 40 0.7780581 -0.5757062 -0.2494116
-36.439765 -14.442697
4650.5 811 21151 0 -33.6992631 45 0.8_12727 -0.5099864 -0.2211320
-31.579148 -12.77553_
4655.5 _1/ 2/20/ 0 -2n.6992631 50 0.376Q352 -0.44OQ415 -0.1911938
-26.694212 -11.022466
4660.5 81I 21251 0 -23.6992631 55 0.9157256 -0.36R6411 -0.15g8441
-21.928099 -9.197850
4665.5 _11 31 21 o -I_.6902631 60 0.9473857 -0.2936752 -0.1273386
-17.222644 -7.315830
4670.5 8II 3I 71 o -13.6992631 65 0.9717197 -0.2166476 -0.0939392
-12.568691 -5.390267
4675.5 81/ 3/12/ 0 -8.6992631 70 0.9885947 -0.1381703 -0.0599111
-7.956371 -3.434713
4680.5 811 31171 0 -3.6992631 75 0.9979401 -0.0588577 -0.0255209
-3.37534g -1.462399
4685.5 811 31221 0 1.3007369 80 0.9997459 0.0206790 0.0089665
1.184954 0.513750
4690.5 811 11271 0 6.3007369 35 0.9940616 0.0998369 0.0432896
5.735175 2.481089
4695.5 all 41 II 0 11.3007369 gO 0.980q934 0.1780259 0.0771926
10.285819 4.427217
4700.5 811 41 61 0 16.3007369 95 0.9607014 0.2546732 0.1104271
14.847094 6.339941
4705.5 _II 41111 0 21.3007369 I00 0.9333973 0.3292274 0.1427541
19.428741 8.207247
4710.5 _ll 41161 o 26.3007369 105 0.8993399 0.4011617 0.1739450
24.039855 10.017274
4715.5 811 41211 0 31.30_7368 II0 0.85R8_27 0.4699771 0.2037836
2R.6R8705 11.75_304
4720.5 81/ 4/26/ 0 36.300736g 115 n.812219_ 0.5352049 0.2320666
33.382532 13.418772
4725.5 81/ 51 1/ n 41.3007369 120 0.75q8_13 0.5g64090 0.2586048
38.127349 14.987297
4730.5 _1/ 51 _/ o 46.3007369 125 0.7022320 0.6531877 0.2832242
42.927723 16.452734
4735.5 _11 51111 o 51.3007369 130 0.6397148 0.7051751 0.3057661
47.786575 17.804262
4740.5 _11_51161 0 56.3007369 135 0.5727992 0.7520423 0.3260878
52.704987 19.031497
4745.5 811 51211 0 61.3007369 140 0.5019768 0.7934983 0.3440633
57.682053 20.124629
4750.5 811 5/261 0 66.3007369 145 0.4277578 0.8292908 0.3595830
62.7147R8 21.074589

aRespeetively (top line).

bin degrees (bottom line).

7O
 TABLE 7.- Continued

J.D. Calendar Days from Days from X-_ y-, and z-components of _a
244 xxxx .5 1981T Jan. 1.0, 1981 right ascension and declinatio_ u
day

4755.5 811 51311 0 71.3007360 150 0.3506685 0.8592n50 0.3725542

67.7_8107 71.373232
4760.5 811 61 51 o 76.3007369 155 0.2712473 0.8830692 0,3829014
72.924913 22.513521
4765.5 811 61101 0 81.3007369 160 0.1900419 0.9007454 0.3905658
7_.086287 22.080713
4770.5 311 61151 0 86.3007369 165 0.1076068 0.91213_I _.3955057
81.271794 21.207518
4775.5 811 6120/ 0 91.3007369 170 0.0244908 0.9171809 0.3976061
88.469887 23,414235
4780.5 81/ 6125/ 0 96.3007369 175 -0.05_7201 0.9158823 0.39712QI
93.66_3q3 23.398829
4785.5 81/ 613o/ o 101.3007369 180 -0.1414958 0.9082146 0.3938130
98.855048 23.1_1968
4790.5 811 7/ 5/ o I06.3007360 185 -0.2232742 0,8943046 0._877729
104.018036 22.815Q95
4795.5 81/ 71101 0 111.3007369 190 -0.3035090 0.8741872 0.3790499
109.146491 22.274847
4800.5 811 7/15/ 0 116.3007369 195 -0.3816632 0.8480146 0.3677014
114.230930 21.573926
4805.5 811 7/20/ o 121.3007369 200 -0.4572113 0.8159553 0.3538003
119.263594 20.719940
4810.5 81/ 7/25/ 0 126.3007369 205 -0.5296418 0.7782138 0.3374355
12_.238676 19.720709
4815.5 81/ 7/30/ 0 131.3007369 210 -0.5984601 0.7350298 0.3187108
129.152429 18.584977
482O .5 811 81 41 0 136.3007369 215 -0.6631906 0.6866775 0.2977450
134.003190 17.322218
4825.5 81/ 3/ 0/ 0 141.3007360 220 -0.7233793 0.6334647 0.2746718
139.791302 15.942462
4_30.5 _I/ 8/14/ 0 146.1007369 225 -0.7785067 0.5757321 0.2&963_8
143.518081 14.456144
4a35.5 all 8/19/ 0 151.3007360 230 -0.828_401 0.5138519 0.2228074
148.190143 12.87_081
4840.5 :81/ 81241 o 156.3007369 235 -0.8725366 0.4482265 0.1943521
152.810199 II.20687_
4845.5 811 81201 0 161.3007360 240 -0.9105459 0.3792875 0.1644599
157.385851 9.465863
4850.5 81/ 91 31 o 166.3007360 245 -0.9421629 0.3074934 0.1333298
161.924887 7.662054
4855.5 81/ 9/ 8/ o 171,3007369 250 -0.9671206 0.2033281 0.1011716
166.435989 5.806641
4860.5 Sll 91131 0 176.3007369 255 -0.9851929 0.15729_7 0.0682051
170.928554 3.910901
4865,5 811 91181 0 181.3007369 260 -0.9961975 0.0799329 0.0346590
175.412528 1.986217
4870.5 811 91231 o 186.3007369 265 -0.9999981 0.0017759 0.0007700
179.898247 0.044119
4875.5 81/ 9/28/ 0 191.3007369 270 -0.9965074 -0.0766122 -0.0332192
-175.603707 -1.903671
4880.5 81/lO/ 3/ o 196.3007369 275 -0.9856891 -0.1546602 -0.0670610
-171.082670 -3.845198
4885.5 81/10/ 8/ 0 201.3007369 280 -0.9675600 -0.2317897 -0.1005044
-166.528047 -5.768222
4890.5 811101131 0 20_.3007369 285 -0.9421917 -0.3074189 -0.1332974
-161.929496 -7.660183
4895.5 811101181 0 211.3007369 2"0 -0.9097123 -0.3809676 -0.1651883
-157.277130 -9.508174
4900.5 81110123/ 0 216.3007369 295 -0.8703065 -0.4518614 -0.1959279
-152.561749 -11.298939

aRespectively (top line).

bin degrees (bottom line).

71
 TABLE
7.- Concluded

J.D. Calendar Daysfrom Daysfrom ^ a

x-, y-, and z-components of xc_
244xxxx.5 day 19_IT Jan. 1.0, 1981 right ascension and declinatiofi u

4905.5 81/10/28/ 0 221.3007369 30O -0.8242168 -0.5195372 -0.2252723

-147.775111 -13.018892
4910.5 81/ii/ 2/ 0 226.3007369 305 -0.7717430 -0.5834481 -0.2529841
-142.910226 -14.654172
4915.5 81/iii 7/ 0 231. 3007369 310 -0.7132410 -0.6430690 -0.2788359
-137.961694 -16.190740
4920.5 81/11/12/ 0 236.3007369 315 -0.6491219 -0.6979018 -0.3026114
-132.926046 -17.614522
4925.5 81111/17/ 0 241. 3007369 320 -0.5798494 -0.7474810 -0.3241090
-127.802092 -18.911607
4930.5 81/Ii/22/ 0 246.3007369 325 -0.5050370 -0.7913788 -0.3431431
-122.591224 -20.068490
4935.5 81/11/27/ 0 251.3O07369 330 -0.4279443 -0.8292102 -0.35q5469
-117.297654 -21.072375
4940.5 81/12/ 2/ o 256.3007369 335 -0.3464723 -0.8606381 -0.3731740
-111.92_537 -21.911505
4945.5 811121 7/ o 261.3q07369 340 -0.2621588 -0.8853772 -0.3839000
;106.493941 -22.575527
495O.5 81/12/12/ n 266.3007369 345 -0.1756723 -0.90319R0 -0.301_2_0
-101.006626 -23.055840
4055.5 81112117/ 0 271.3007369 350 -0.007705 _ -0.q139303 -0.3962815
-95.4P1630 -23.345q26
4960.5 81/12/22/ 0 276.3007_69 355 O.OOl0301 -0.0174653 -0.397_143
-89.935665 -23.441613
4965.5 81112127/ 0 281.3007369 360 o.0808142 -0.9137579 -0.3962067
-84.306367 -23.341258
4970.5 82/ 1/ 1/ 0 286.3007369 365 0.1770221 -0.902fl273 -0.3914671
-78.851454 -23.0_5823
4975.5 82/ 11 61 0 291.30O7369 370 0.2646340 -0.8847572 -0.3R36319
-73.347fl86 -22.558835
4980.5 821 1/11/ 0 296.3007160 375 0.3492_19 -0.8596054 -0.3727650
-67.891082 -21.886248
4985.5 821 11161 0 301. 3007369 38O 0.4310573 -0.8278510 -0.3599576
-62.494286 -21.036198
4990.5 821 1/21/ 0 306.3007369 385 0.5094182 -0.7894969 -0.3423268
-57.168107 -20.018702
4995.5 82/ 1/26/ 0 311. 3007369 390 0.5836956 -0.7449571 -0.3230143
-51.920262 -18.845316
5000.5 821 11311 o 316.3007369 395 0.6533003 -0.6946124 -0.3011847
-46.755505 -17.528777
5005.5 !82/ 2/ 5/ o 321. 3007369 400 0.7176877 -0.6388912 -0.2770239
-41.67572_ -16.082665
5010.5 s2/ 2/10/ 0 326. 3007369 405 0.7763635 -0.5782654 -0.2507365
-36.680157 -14.521100
5015.5 82/ 21151 0 331.3O07369 410 0.828_872 -0.5132449 -0.2225435
-31.765689 -12.858472
5020.5 82/ 2/20/ O 336. 3007369 415 0.8748758 -0.4443720 -0.1926802
-26.927193 -11.109239
5O25.5 82/ 2/25/ O 341. 3007369 420 0.9140064 -0.3722156 -0.1613930
-22.157883 -9.207763
5030.5 s_l 31 21 0 346. 3007369 425 0.9_60176 -0.2973645 -0.1289375
-17.449650 -7.408200
5035.5 82/ 31 7/ o 351.3o07369 430 0.9707107 -0.2204221 -0.0055752
-12.793379 -5.484429
5040.5 821 31121 o 356.3007360 435 0.9879498 -0.1420002 -0.0615714
-8.179231 -3.530015
5045.5 821 3/17/ q 361. 3007369 440 0.9976610 -0.0627131 -0.0271Q24
-3.596808 -1.558205
5050.5 82/ 31221 0 366. 3007369 445 0.99O8317 0.0168276 0.0072964
0.964222 0.418060

aRespectively (top line).

bin degrees (bottom line).

72
 TABLE8.- AVAILABLESUNELEVATION ANGLE AS A FUNCTION OF LATITUDE

FOR THE WINTER AND SUMMER SOLSTICES AND THE EQUINOXES

Sun elevation angle, _, deg, at local time

relative to high noon, sidereal hours, of -
Sea son deg
6 I0 12

Winter 0 66.6 52.6 27 .3 0.0 -27.3 -52.6 -66.6

solstice i0 56.6 45.5 22 .5 -4.0 -31.4 -58.4 -76.6
20 46.6 37.6 17 .2 -7.8 -3t,.6 -62.0 -86.6
30 36.6 29.3 11.4 -11.5 -36.6 -62.5 -83.5
4O 26.6 20.7 5.5 -14.8 -37.4 -59.8 -73.5
50 16.6 11.9 -0.6 -17.7 -36.8 -54.6 -63.5
60 6.6 3.t7 -6.6 -20.2 -35.0 -47.9 -53.5
7O -3.5 -5.9 -12.5 -22.0 -32.1 -40.2 -43.4
8O -13.5 -14.7 -18.2 -23.1 -2_q.1 -32.0 -33.5
90 -23.4 -23.4 -23.4 -23.4 -23.4 -23.4 -23.4

Vernal or 0 90.0 60.0 30.0 0.0 -30.0 -60.0 -90.0

autumnal i0 80.0 58.5 29.5 q. 0 -2q. 5 -5S.5 -80.0
equinox 20 70.0 54.5 28.0 0.0 -28.0 -54.5 -70.0
30 60.0 48.6 25.7 0.0 -25.7 -43.6 -60.0
4O 50.0 41.6 22.5 0.0 -22.5 -41.6 -50.0
50 40.0 33.8 18.7 0.0 -18.7 -33.8 -40.0
6O 30.0 25.7 14.5 0.0 -14.5 -25.7 -30.0
7O 20.0 17.2 9.8 0.0 -9.8i -17.2 -20.0
8O i0.0 8.6 5.0 0.0 -5.0 -8.6 -10.0
90 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Summer o 66.6 52.6 27 .3 0.0 -27.3 -52.6 -66.6

solstice i0 76,6 58.4 31 .4 4.0 -22.5 -45.5 -56.6
20 86.6 62.0 34 .6 7.8 -17.2 -37.6 -46.6
30 83.5 62.5 36 .6 ii .5 -11.4 -20.3 -36.6
40 73.5 59.8 37 .4 14.8 -5.5 -20.7 -26.6
50 63.5 54.6 36 .8 17.7 0.6 -11.9 -16.6
60 53.5 47.9 35 .0 20.2 6.6 -3.0 -6.6
70 43.4 40.2 32 .I 22.0 12.5 5.9 3.5
80 33.5 32.0 28 .I 23.1 18.2 14.7 13.5
oO 23.4 23.4 23 .4 23.4 23.4 23.4 23.4

Hour angle,
B, deg ..... 30 6O 9O 120 150 180

73
 TABLE 9.- ORBIT PARAMETERS FOR A CIRCULAR ORBIT WHICH PASSES

OVER THE SAME SITES ON THE EAST COAST ONCE PER DAY,

WITH NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, AS INITIAL CONDITION

Inclination, deg ............................. 63.0

Eccentricity ............................... 0.0

Semimajor axis, km .......................... 6887.371

Anomalistic period, sec ....................... 5689.92

Nodal period, see .......................... 5689.80

Mean motion:
5446.5085
deg/day .............................
Anomalistic revolutions per day ................. 15..184746

Perigee precession rate:

0.OO7654
deg/orbit ............................
0.116232
deg/day .............................

Nodal precession rate:

-0.227599
deg/orbit ............................
deg/day ............................. -3.456029

Repetition factor, Q .......................... 15.0

Initial conditions to pass over Norfolk, Virginia (L = -76.289 °, k = 36.853 °)

at 12:00 noon EST on Jan I, 1981:
Longitude of ascending node: -98°.741
J.D. = 244 4605.2083333
= 42o.309

74
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8O
 I, Relx_t No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No.

NASA RP-IO09
41 Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date
AN INTRODUCTION TO ORBIT DYNAMICS AND ITS APPLICATION November 1977
TO SATELLITE-BASED EARTH MONITORING MISSIONS
6. Performing Organization Code

7. Author(s} 8. Performing Orgamzation Report No.

David R. Brooks L-11710

10. Work Unit NO.

9. Performing Organization Name and Addre_ 683-75-33-02

NASA Langley Research Center
'11. Contract or Grant No.
Hampton, VA 23665

13. Type of Report and Period Covered

12. S_nsoring Agency Name and Addr_s

Reference Publication
_ationaIAeronautics and Space Administration
Washington, DC 20546 14. Sponsoring Agency Code

15. Supplementary Notes

16. Abstract

A self-contained tutorial treatment is given to the long-term behavior of satel-

lites at a level of complexity suitable for the initial planning phases of Earth
monitoring missions. First-order perturbation theory is used to describe in detail
the basic orbit dynamics of satellite motion around the Earth and relative to the
Sun. Surface coverage capabilities of satellite orbits are examined. Several
examples of simulated observation and monitoring missions are given to illustrate
representative applications of the theory. The examples stress the need for devis-
ing ways of maximizing total mission output in order to make the best possible use
of the resultant data base as input to those large-scale, long-term Earth monitor-
ing activities which can best justify the use of satellite systems.

17. Key Words (Suggested by Authoris)) 18. Dislribution Statement

Orbit dynamics Unclassified - Unlimited

Remote sensing
Satellite monitoring

Subject Category 13

19. Security Cla_if. (of this report] 20. Security Classif. (of this page} 21. No, of Pages 22. Price"

Unclassified Unclassified 84 $5. O0

* For sale by the National Technical Information Serwce, Springfield, Virgima 22161

NASA-Langley, 1977