AN INTRODUCTION TO ORBIT DYNAMICS AND ITS APPLICATION TO SATELLITE-BASED EARTH MONITORING MISSIONS

摘要

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.