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Satelliteorbits

This document describes methods for coordinate system transformations and calculating look angles for satellite orbits. It includes: 1) Equations to transform between orbital coordinates and geocentric coordinates, and between geocentric and rotating coordinates attached to Earth. 2) Definitions of look angles azimuth and elevation that specify the direction an antenna must point to communicate with a satellite. 3) Methods to calculate the elevation and azimuth angles based on the subsatellite point coordinates and location of the ground station. Simplified equations are provided for geostationary satellites.

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Suruchi Kale
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66 views

Satelliteorbits

This document describes methods for coordinate system transformations and calculating look angles for satellite orbits. It includes: 1) Equations to transform between orbital coordinates and geocentric coordinates, and between geocentric and rotating coordinates attached to Earth. 2) Definitions of look angles azimuth and elevation that specify the direction an antenna must point to communicate with a satellite. 3) Methods to calculate the elevation and azimuth angles based on the subsatellite point coordinates and location of the ground station. Simplified equations are provided for geostationary satellites.

Uploaded by

Suruchi Kale
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 14

ORBITAL TO GEOCENTRIC EQUATORIAL

COORDINATE SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION

( cos sin

(cos cos
sin
sin
i

sin cos i sin ) sin cos i cos )


xi

(sin
cos
(
sin
sin

+
y =
cos sin i
i
cos cos i sin ) cos cos i cos )

zi sin i sin

sin i cos
cos i

xo
y
o
zo

GEOCENTRIC EQUTORIAL TO ROTATING COORDINATE


SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION
e

The equatorial plane coincides with


the plane of the paper.
The earth rotates anti-clockwise with
angular velocity e.
xr and yr axes are attached to the earth
and rotate with it.
zi and zr axes coincide.

yr

zi
zr

yi

xr
xi

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Dr. M. M. Dawoud

xr cos(e Te ) sin(e Te ) 0 xi
y = sin( T ) cos( T ) 0 y `
e e
e e
r
i
0
0
1 zi
zr
Te is the time elapsed since the xr axis coincided with the xi axis.
The value of eTe at any time t, expressed in minutes after
midnight UT is given by:

eTe = g ,0 + 0.25068447 t

degrees.

Where g ,0 is the right ascension of the Greenwich meridian at


0 h UT at Julian day JD and is given by:

g ,0 = 99.690983 + 36000.7689 Tc + 0.00038708 Tc2 degrees


where Tc is the elapsed time in Julian centuries between 0h
UT on Julian day JD and noon UT on January 1, 1900.

Tc = ( JD 2415020) / 36525
Add 0.5 to the JD value used in this equation before
substituting in the previous equation ( since it is calculated
at 0h UT).
JULIAN DAYS AND JULIAN DATES
Standard time is Universal time UT
(mean solar time at Greenwich observatory near London).
Astronomers use Julian days and Julian dates.
Julian days start at noon.
Julian date time reference is 1200 noon UT on January 1, 4713
BC
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Dr. M. M. Dawoud

Examples:
Noon on December 31, 1899 was the beginning of Julian
day 2,415,020
Noon UT on December 31, 1984 was the start of Julian
day 2,446,066
00:00:00 hours UT on January 1, 1985 was Julian date
2,446,066.5
JULIAN DATES AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH YEAR
FOR (1986-2000)

Year

1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992

Julian date

Year

Julian date

2400000 +
46 430.5
46 795.5
47 160.5
47 526.5
47 891.5
48 256.5
48 621.5

1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000

48 987.5
49 352.5
49 717.5
50 082.5
50 448.5
50 813.5
51 178.5
51 543.5

DAY NUMBER FOR NOON ON THE LAST DAY


OF EACH MONTH

Date

Jan 31
Feb 28/29
March 31
Apr 30
May 31
June 30

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Day No.

Leap year

Date

Day No.

Leap year

31.5
59.5
90.5
120.5
151.5
181.5

31.5
60.5
91.5
121.5
152.5
182.5

July 31
Aug 31
Sept 30
Oct 31
Nov 30
Dec 31

212.5
243.5
273.5
304.5
334.5
365.5

213.5
244.5
274.5
305.5
335.5
366.5

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Dr. M. M. Dawoud

Example of Julian date calculation:


1. Find the Julian date JD corresponding to 3 h UT on Oct
11,1986.
Oct 11 is day number 273.5 + 11 = 284.5
Start of Oct 11 (0h UT) is 284
At 03:00:00 UT is (3/24) = 0.125 day
Day and time will be 284.125
Add this to the Julian date for Jan 1, 1986
We get: 2,400,000 + 46,430.5 + 284.125

2,446,714.625

2. Find the Julian date JD corresponding to 15:00:00 h UT on


March 10, 1999.
March 10 is day number 59.5 + 10 = 69.5
At 15:00:00 UT is 0.125 day after noon
Day and time will be 69.5 + 0.125 = 69.625
Add this to the Julian date for Jan 1, 1999
We get: 2,400,000 + 51,178.5 + 69.625 =
2,451,248.125

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Dr. M. M. Dawoud

LOOK ANGLE DETERMINATION


Definition: Look angles are the coordinates to which an earth
station antenna must be pointed to communicate with
the satellite.
Local vertical
North

Az
El

East

Azimuth (Az) The angle measured eastward from geographic


north to the projection of the satellite path on a locally
horizontal plane at the earth station.
Elevation (El) The angle measured upward from the horizontal
plane to the satellite path.

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Dr. M. M. Dawoud

THE SUBSATELLITE POINT


The point where a line drawn from the centre of the earth to the
satellite passes through the earths surface.

Ls The north latitude of the subsatellite


point.
ls The west longitude of the subsatellite
point.

Ls = 90 cos 1 [

zr
xr2 + yr2 + zr2

1 yr
tan
( )

xr

180 + tan 1 yr
x

r
ls =
90 + tan 1 xr

yr

y
tan 1 r

xr

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Ls

Subsatellite point
ls

first quadrant

yr 0 xr 0 sec ond quadrant

yr 0 xr 0 third quadrant

yr 0 xr 0 fourth quadrant

yr 0 xr 0

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Dr. M. M. Dawoud

ELEVATION EVALUATION

Satellite

Local horizontal
rs
d

Subsatellite point (Ls, ls)


El

)
Earth station (Le, le)

re Centre of earth

cos( ) = cos( Le ) cos( Ls ) cos(ls le ) + sin( L e ) sin( Ls )

d = rs

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r 2 r
e
e
1 + 2 cos( )

rs
rs

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Dr. M. M. Dawoud

El = 90
Using the law of sines :

cos( El ) =

rs
d
=
sin( ) sin( )

rs sin( )
=
d

sin( )
2

r
r
1 + e 2 e cos( )
rs
rs

These equations permit the evaluation of the


elevation angle from a knowledge of the subsatellite
point and earth station coordinates.

AZIMUTH CALCULATION
The satellite, sub-satellite point and the earth
station lie on the same vertical plane. Therefore the
azimuth angle can be measured from the north
direction going eastward towards the sub-satellite
point.
The geometry used for the calculation depends on
whether the sub-satellite point is east or west of the
earth station and which hemisphere contains the
sub-satellite point and the earth station.
This calculation is simplified for the ideal geostationary orbit.

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Dr. M. M. Dawoud

Pole

Pole

C
Y

C
Y

X
X

Northern hemosphere, A west of B

Northern hemosphere, B west of A

A
X

B
CY

X
B

Pole
Southern hemosphere, A west of B

Y C
Pole

Southern hemosphere, B west of A

Either point A or point B can be the earth station; the


other must be the sub-satellite point.
B is closer to the pole that is nearer to both points.
Points A, B, and the pole form a spherical triangle
with polar angle C and angles X and Y at the
vertices A and B.

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Dr. M. M. Dawoud

C = l l
A B

C = 360 l l
A B

or

Whichever makes C 180 deg rees

Case 1: At least
hemisphere.

one

point

in

the

northern

B is chosen to be closer to the north pole.


LB >LA

The bearings X and Y may be found from:

tan[0.5(Y X )] =

cot(0.5C ) sin[0.5( LB LA )]
cos[0.5( LB + LA )]

tan[0.5(Y + X )] =

cot(0.5C ) cos[0.5( LB LA )]
sin[0.5( LB + LA )]

X = 0.5(Y + X ) + 0.5(Y X )
Y = 0.5(Y + X ) 0.5(Y X )

The relationship between X, Y, and the azimuth Az


depends on the identity of points A and B and on
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Dr. M. M. Dawoud

their geographical relationship. These are given in


the following table.

Formulas for calculating the azimuth.

At least one point in the northern hemisphere


Sub-satellite
point

Earth Station

Relation

Azimuth

A west of B

360 - Y

A west of B

B west of A

B west of A

360 - X

Both points in the southern hemisphere


Sub-satellite
point

Earth Station

Relation

Azimuth

A west of B

180 + Y

A west of B

180 - X

B west of A

180 - Y

B west of A

180 + X

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Dr. M. M. Dawoud

CALCULATION OF LOOK ANGLES


FOR GEO-STATIONARY SATELLITES

Sub-satellite point is at the equator. therefore


Ls = 0.
The geo-synchronous radius rs = 42242 Km
The earth's radius re = 6370 Km
The central angle is given by:
cos( ) = cos( Le ) cos(ls le )

The distance d from the earth station to the satellite


is given by:

d = 42242 [1.02274 .301596 cos( )]1 / 2

Km

The elevation angle is then given by:

cos( El ) =

Satellite Orbits

sin( )
[1.02274 0.301596 cos( )]1 / 2

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Dr. M. M. Dawoud

zimuth calculation is simpler than the general case,


because the sub-satellite point lies on the equator.
We refer to the following figure for this calculation.
E

a = l s le

c = Le Ls

Considering the half perimeter of


the triangle = s

s = 0.5(a + c + )

The angle a at the vertex may be obtained from:

sin( s ) sin( s c)
tan 2 ( ) =
sin( s ) sin( s a )
2

and = 2 tan 1

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sin( s ) sin( s Le
sin( s ) sin( s le ls

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Dr. M. M. Dawoud

c
a

SSP south-east of ES

G
c

SSP south-west of ES

S
G

a
c
E

SSP north-west of ES

SSP north-east of ES

Equations for calculating azimuth from spherical triangle angle


SSP Sub-satellite point
ES

Earth Station

Situation

Equation

1. SSP South-west of ES

Az = 180 +

2. SSP South-east of ES

Az = 180 -

3. SSP North-west of ES

Az = 360 -

4. SSP North-east of ES

Az =

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Dr. M. M. Dawoud

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