Optimal Placement of a GEODSS (Ground-Based Electrooptical Deep-SpaceSurveillance) Sensor. A Follow-On Report for 14 Candidate Sites Worldwide

摘要

A follow-on report to USAFETAC/PR--91/018, which provided site-specific data for12 proposed Canadian Ground-Based Electrooptical Deep-Space Surveillance (GEODSS) stations. The follow-on provides much of the same general data, but with site-specific data for 14 different candidate GEODSS locations around the world. Successful operation of the system, basically an optical video camera that tracks objects in high Earth orbit, requires that the following five conditions are met: Sun at least 6 degrees below horizon; surface wind speed less than 25 knots; temperature more than -50 deg C; satellite elevation at least 15 deg above horizon; and a 5-minute cloud-free line-of-sight between satellite and sensor. This follow-on report gives the probabilities of combinations of those conditions at 14 proposed GEODSS sites; seven in Australia, four in Indonesia, and one each in Italy, the Philippines, and the Netherlands Antilles. It includes a review of fundamentals, a discussion of computer model results, and a comparison of results for each candidate location.