Satellite coverage assessment considering cloud cover

McGrath, Ciara N. and Werkmeister, Astrid and Gribben, Joshua and Lowe, Christopher J. and Macdonald, Malcolm (2023) Satellite coverage assessment considering cloud cover. In: 2023 AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference, 2023-08-13 - 2023-08-17, Big Sky Resort.

[thumbnail of McGrath-etal-AASAIAA-2023-Satellite-coverage-assessment-considering-cloud-cover]
Preview
 Text. Filename: McGrath_etal_AASAIAA_2023_Satellite_coverage_assessment_considering_cloud_cover.pdf
Accepted Author Manuscript
License: Strathprints license 1.0
Download (316kB)| Preview

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.

CORE (COnnecting REpositories)