5 Satellite Orbit and Platform

Satellites and Orbits
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Orbit of a Satellite
 Satellite Orbit : The path followed by a satellite in the
space
 Circular or near-circular
 Elliptical
Characteristics of a Satellite Orbit
1. Orbital period
2. Altitude
3. Apogee and perigee
4. Inclination
5. Nadir, zenith and ground track
6. Swath
7. Side lap and overlap
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Characteristics of a Satellite Orbit…
1. Orbital period
 Time taken by a satellite to complete one revolution
around the earth
 Spatial and temporal coverage of the imagery depends on the
orbital period
 It varies from around 100 minutes to 24 hours
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2. Altitude
 Altitude of a satellite is its height with respect to the
surface immediately below it
 Low altitude ( altitude < 2000 km)
 Moderate altitude
 High altitude (altitude ~36000 km)
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3. Apogee and perigee

 Apogee: Point in the orbit where the satellite is at maximum
distance from the Earth
 Perigee: Point in the orbit where the satellite is nearest to the
Earth
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4. Inclination
 Inclination of the orbit is measured clockwise from the equator
 Inclination of a remote sensing satellite is typically 99o
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5. Nadir, Zenith and Ground track

 Nadir : Point where radial line connecting the centre of the Earth and
the satellite intercepts the surface of the Earth
 Point of shortest distance from the satellite to the Earth’s surface

 Zenith : Any point just opposite to the nadir, above the satellite
 Ground track: The circle on the Earth’s surface described by the nadir
point as the satellite revolves
 Projection of the satellites orbit on the ground surface
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6. Swath
 Swath of a satellite is the width of
the area on the surface of the Earth,
which is imaged by the sensor
during a single pass
7. Side lap and Overlap
 Overlap: Common area on
consecutive images along the flight
direction
 Side lap: Overlapping areas of the
images taken in two adjacent flight
lines
 Increase in side lap helps to
achieve more frequent coverage
of the areas in the higher
latitudes
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Types of Satellite Orbits
1. Geo-synchronous orbit
2. Polar orbit
3. Sun-synchronous orbit
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1. Geo-synchronous Orbit
 Geo-stationary or Geo-synchronous orbit
From any point on the equator, the satellite
appears stationary
Time required for the satellite Time required for the Earth to
to cover one revolution = rotate once about its polar axis
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Geo-synchronous Orbit…
 Geo-stationary or Geo-synchronous orbit
 Located in the equatorial plane
(Inclination = 180o)
 Located above any particular longitude to view any selected region
 Satellite revolves in the same direction as that of the Earth : West

to East
 Geo-synchronous orbits are at very high altitude : ~36,000 km
 Foot prints are very high : 45-50% of the globe
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Geo-synchronous Orbit…
 Geo-stationary or Geo-synchronous satellites
 Communication and meteorological applications
 GOES
• GOES East at 75o W and GOES West at 135o W longitude
 GMS
• Located over New Guinea
 MeteoSAT
• Located over Europe
 INSAT
• INSAT-3A located at 93.5o E longitude
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2.Polar Orbit
 Polar or Near-Polar orbit
Inclined at nearly 90 degrees
 Usually low altitude orbits

• Typically 700-800 km
 Orbit period is less

• Typically 90-103 min
 Satellites make more than one revolution around the

Earth in a single day
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Polar Orbit…
• Revisit period: Time lapsed between two successive
views of the same area by a satellite
• Revisit time need not be the same as the orbit cycle
• Off-nadir viewing capabilities using steerable sensors helps to

achieve revisit time less than the orbit cycle
• In near-polar orbits, orbit paths come closer together near the

poles.
• More overlap in adjacent swaths at high latitude
• More frequent imaging near the polar region compared to the

equatorial zone
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3. Sun-synchronous Orbit
 Sun-synchronous orbits
 Special case of polar orbit
 Satellite passes over the same part of the Earth at roughly at the
same local time each day
 Used for satellites that need a constant amount of sunlight
 Satellites revolvoing in sun-synchronous orbits : Landsat, IRS

satellites
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Sun-synchronous Orbit …
 Typical Sun-synchronous satellite
 Completes 14 orbits a day
 Successive orbits are shifted by around 2875 km at the equator
 Satellite’s path is shifted in longitude by 1.17o everyday towards

west
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Sun-synchronous Orbit …
 Landsat orbits
14 orbits per day, Repeat cycle = 18 day

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Satellite Orbits for Remote Sensing
 Remote sensing applications generally use orbits that are
 Near polar
• For global coverage
 Sun-synchronous
• For constant angle between the solar incident and satellite
viewing
 Near circular
• For uniform swath
 Inclined
• For differences in gravitational pull
 Medium period
• For global coverage
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Thank You
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Satellites and Orbits

 Satellite Orbit : The path followed by a satellite in the

3. Apogee and perigee

5. Nadir, zenith and ground track

7. Side lap and overlap

 It varies from around 100 minutes to 24 hours

 High altitude (altitude ~36000 km)

3. Apogee and perigee

5. Nadir, Zenith and Ground track

 Point of shortest distance from the satellite to the Earth’s surface

From any point on the equator, the satellite

 Satellite revolves in the same direction as that of the Earth : West

 Foot prints are very high : 45-50% of the globe

 Communication and meteorological applications

Inclined at nearly 90 degrees

 Usually low altitude orbits

 Orbit period is less

 Satellites make more than one revolution around the

• Off-nadir viewing capabilities using steerable sensors helps to

• In near-polar orbits, orbit paths come closer together near the

• More overlap in adjacent swaths at high latitude

• More frequent imaging near the polar region compared to the

 Satellites revolvoing in sun-synchronous orbits : Landsat, IRS

 Completes 14 orbits a day

 Successive orbits are shifted by around 2875 km at the equator

 Satellite’s path is shifted in longitude by 1.17o everyday towards

14 orbits per day, Repeat cycle = 18 day

 Remote sensing applications generally use orbits that are

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