Satellite coverage assessment considering cloud cover

Ciara N. McGrath; Astrid Werkmeister; Joshua Gribben; Christopher J. Lowe; Malcolm Macdonald

Satellite coverage assessment considering cloud cover

Ciara N. McGrath, Astrid Werkmeister, Joshua Gribben, Christopher J. Lowe, Malcolm Macdonald

Electronic And Electrical Engineering

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

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Abstract

Due to cloud cover, the performance provided by optical or lidar satellite systems may differ from the predicted performance. This work presents a means of rapidly assessing the coverage that can be expected from a satellite constellation considering cloud probability. A latitude-specific pseudo-circumference is defined and calculated using a cloud factor to provide insights into the relative coverage available to different regions. Comparison of the results from the presented method with simulated and historical data collected by the Sentinel-2 constellation shows the potential of the proposed method to calculate expected time between cloud free images when averaged over the long-term. Appropriate choice of cloud model is found to be an important consideration to ensure the validity of the method.

Original language	English
Pages	1-13
Number of pages	13
Publication status	Published - 17 Aug 2023
Event	2023 AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference - Big Sky Resort, Big Sky, United States Duration: 13 Aug 2023 → 17 Aug 2023 https://space-flight.org/docs/2023_summer/2023_summer.html

Conference

Conference	2023 AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference
Country/Territory	United States
City	Big Sky
Period	13/08/23 → 17/08/23
Internet address	https://space-flight.org/docs/2023_summer/2023_summer.html

Keywords

satellite coverage
cloud cover
cloud factor
cloud model

Access to Document

McGrath-etal-AASAIAA-2023-Satellite-coverage-assessment-considering-cloud-coverAccepted author manuscript, 309 KBLicence: Strath_1

Matryoshka Orbital Networks (MatrON)
Macdonald, M., Clark, R., Lowe, C. & Gribben, J.
Air Force Office of Scientific Research AFOSR (the)
1/09/22 → 31/12/26
Project: Research

Cite this

@conference{24ab438cbfba4dadac4e2a1bf1f0b7b4,

title = "Satellite coverage assessment considering cloud cover",

abstract = "Due to cloud cover, the performance provided by optical or lidar satellite systems may differ from the predicted performance. This work presents a means of rapidly assessing the coverage that can be expected from a satellite constellation considering cloud probability. A latitude-specific pseudo-circumference is defined and calculated using a cloud factor to provide insights into the relative coverage available to different regions. Comparison of the results from the presented method with simulated and historical data collected by the Sentinel-2 constellation shows the potential of the proposed method to calculate expected time between cloud free images when averaged over the long-term. Appropriate choice of cloud model is found to be an important consideration to ensure the validity of the method.",

keywords = "satellite coverage, cloud cover, cloud factor, cloud model",

author = "McGrath, {Ciara N.} and Astrid Werkmeister and Joshua Gribben and Lowe, {Christopher J.} and Malcolm Macdonald",

year = "2023",

month = aug,

day = "17",

language = "English",

pages = "1--13",

note = "2023 AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference ; Conference date: 13-08-2023 Through 17-08-2023",

url = "https://space-flight.org/docs/2023_summer/2023_summer.html",

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TY - CONF

T1 - Satellite coverage assessment considering cloud cover

AU - McGrath, Ciara N.

AU - Werkmeister, Astrid

AU - Gribben, Joshua

AU - Lowe, Christopher J.

AU - Macdonald, Malcolm

PY - 2023/8/17

Y1 - 2023/8/17

N2 - Due to cloud cover, the performance provided by optical or lidar satellite systems may differ from the predicted performance. This work presents a means of rapidly assessing the coverage that can be expected from a satellite constellation considering cloud probability. A latitude-specific pseudo-circumference is defined and calculated using a cloud factor to provide insights into the relative coverage available to different regions. Comparison of the results from the presented method with simulated and historical data collected by the Sentinel-2 constellation shows the potential of the proposed method to calculate expected time between cloud free images when averaged over the long-term. Appropriate choice of cloud model is found to be an important consideration to ensure the validity of the method.

AB - Due to cloud cover, the performance provided by optical or lidar satellite systems may differ from the predicted performance. This work presents a means of rapidly assessing the coverage that can be expected from a satellite constellation considering cloud probability. A latitude-specific pseudo-circumference is defined and calculated using a cloud factor to provide insights into the relative coverage available to different regions. Comparison of the results from the presented method with simulated and historical data collected by the Sentinel-2 constellation shows the potential of the proposed method to calculate expected time between cloud free images when averaged over the long-term. Appropriate choice of cloud model is found to be an important consideration to ensure the validity of the method.

KW - satellite coverage

KW - cloud cover

KW - cloud factor

KW - cloud model

M3 - Paper

SP - 1

EP - 13

T2 - 2023 AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference

Y2 - 13 August 2023 through 17 August 2023

ER -

Satellite coverage assessment considering cloud cover

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

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Projects

Matryoshka Orbital Networks (MatrON)

Cite this