Influence of Solar Activity on Precise Orbit Prediction of LEO Satellites

The perturbations of low earth orbit(LEO)satellites operating in the orbit of 300~2000 km are complicated.In particular,the atmospheric drag force and solar radiation pressure force change rapidly over a short period of time due to solar activities.Using spaceborne global positioning system(GPS)data of the CHAMP,GRACE and SWARM satellites from 2002 to 2020,this paper studies in depth the influence of solar activity on LEO satellites’precise orbit prediction by performing a series of orbit prediction experiments.The quality of GPS data is more susceptible to being influenced by solar activity during years when this activity is high and the changes in dynamic parameters are consistent with those of solar activity.The effects of solar activity on LEO orbit prediction accuracy are analyzed by comparing the predicted orbits with the precise ones.During years of high solar activity,the average root-mean-squares prediction errors at 10,20,and 30 minutes are 0.15,0.20,and 0.26 m,respectively,which are larger than the corresponding values in low-solar-activity years by 59%,63%,and 68%,respectively.These results demonstrate that solar activity has a great influence on the orbit prediction accuracy,especially during high-solar-activity years.We should strengthen the real-time monitoring of solar activity and geomagnetic activity,and formulate corresponding orbit prediction strategies for the active solar period.

The First Verification Test of Space-Ground Collaborative Intelligence via Cloud-Native Satellites

Recent advancements in satellite technologies and the declining cost of access to space have led to the emergence of large satellite constellations in Low Earth Orbit(LEO).However,these constellations often rely on bent-pipe architecture,resulting in high communication costs.Existing onboard inference architectures suffer from limitations in terms of low accuracy and inflexibility in the deployment and management of in-orbit applications.To address these challenges,we propose a cloud-native-based satellite design specifically tailored for Earth Observation tasks,enabling diverse computing paradigms.In this work,we present a case study of a satellite-ground collaborative inference system deployed in the Tiansuan constellation,demonstrating a remarkable 50%accuracy improvement and a substantial 90%data reduction.Our work sheds light on in-orbit energy,where in-orbit computing accounts for 17%of the total onboard energy consumption.Our approach represents a significant advancement of cloud-native satellite,aiming to enhance the accuracy of in-orbit computing while simultaneously reducing communication cost.

Performance evaluation of HY-2 series satellites in marine gravity field recovery

China has successfully launched four Haiyang-2(HY-2)series altimetry satellites.HY-2A has attracted significant attention in gravity field recovery,but the performance of other HY-2 series satellites,including HY-2B/C/D,is seldom discussed.This study evaluated the performance of all the HY-2 series satellites in recovering marine gravity field.First,the crossover discrepancies in sea surface height of the four satellites,HY-2A,HY-2B,HY-2C,and HY-2D,were analyzed to assess their altimetry stability.It was found that HY-2B had the best altimetry quality,followed by HY-2D.Subsequently,different combina-tions of altimetry data were used to calculate vertical deflections and gravity anomalies in the South China Sea(112°E-119°E,12°N-20°N).The results showed that combining data from HY-2B,HY-2C,and HY-2D improved the inversion accuracy of gravity anomalies by 0.3 mGal compared to using HY-2A data alone.HY-2C and HY-2D contributed to enhancing the accuracy of the east component of vertical deflections.

Evaluation of the Long-term Performance of Microwave Radiation Imager Onboard Chinese Fengyun Satellites

Accurate brightness temperature(BT)is a top priority for retrievals of atmospheric and surface parameters.Microwave Radiation Imagers(MWRIs)on Chinese Fengyun-3(FY-3)serial polar-orbiting satellites have been providing abundant BT data since 2008.Much work has been done to evaluate short-term MWRI observations,but the long-term performance of MWRIs remains unclear.In this study,operational MWRI BTs from 2012–19 were carefully examined by using simultaneous Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2(AMSR2)BTs as the reference.The BT difference between MWRI/FY3B and AMSR2 during 2012–19 increased gradually over time.As compared with MWRI/FY3B BTs over land,those of MWRI/FY3D were much closer to those of AMSR2.The ascending and descending orbit difference for MWRI/FY3D is also much smaller than that for MWRI/FY3B.These results suggested the improvement of MWRI/FY3D over MWRI/FY3B.A substantial BT difference between AMSR2 and MWRI was found over water,especially at the vertical polarization channels.A similar BT difference was found over polar water based on the simultaneous conical overpassing(SCO)method.Radiative transfer model simulations suggested that the substantial BT differences at the vertical polarization channels of MWRI and AMSR2 over water were partly contributed by their difference in the incident angle;however,the underestimation of the operational MWRI BT over water remained a very important issue.Preliminary assessment of the operational and recalibrated MWRI BT demonstrated that MWRI BTs were substantially improved after the recalibration,including the obvious underestimation of the operational MWRI BT at the vertical polarization channels over water was corrected,and the time-dependent biases were reduced.

A Large-Scale Scheduling Method for Multiple Agile Optical Satellites

This study investigates the scheduling problem ofmultiple agile optical satelliteswith large-scale tasks.This problem is difficult to solve owing to the time-dependent characteristic of agile optical satellites,complex constraints,and considerable solution space.To solve the problem,we propose a scheduling method based on an improved sine and cosine algorithm and a task merging approach.We first establish a scheduling model with task merging constraints and observation action constraints to describe the problem.Then,an improved sine and cosine algorithm is proposed to search for the optimal solution with the maximum profit ratio.An adaptive cosine factor and an adaptive greedy factor are adopted to improve the algorithm.Besides,a taskmerging method with a task reallocation mechanism is developed to improve the scheduling efficiency.Experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed algorithm over the comparison algorithms.

Spacecraft potential variations of the Swarm satellites at low Earth orbital altitudes

In this study, we provide the first detailed analysis of variations in the spacecraft potential (Vs) of the three Swarm satellites, which are flying at about 400-500 km. Unlike previous studies that have investigated extreme charging events, usually with spacecraft potentials as negative as −100 V, this study is focused on variations of Swarm Vs readings, which fall within a few negative volts. The Swarm observations show that spacecraft at low Earth orbital (LEO) altitudes are charged only slightly negatively, varying between −7 V and 0 V, with the majority of recorded potentials at these altitudes clustering close to −2 V. However, a second peak of Vs data is found at −5.5 V, though the event numbers for these more-negative observations are less, by an order of magnitude, than for incidents near the −2 V peak. These two distinct Vs peaks suggest two different causes. We have thus divided the Swarm spacecraft Vs data into two categories: less-negatively charged (−5 < Vs < 0 V) and more-negatively-charged (−6.5 < Vs < −5 V). These two Vs categories exhibit different spatial and temporal distributions. The Vs observations in the first category remain relatively closer to 0 V above the magnetic equator, but become much more negative at low and middle latitudes on the day side;at high latitudes, these first-category Vs readings are relatively more-negative during local summer. Second-category Vs events cluster into two bands at the middle latitudes (between ±20°-50° magnetic latitude), but with slightly more negative readings at the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) region;at high latitudes, these rarer but more-negative second-category Vs events exhibit relatively more-negative values during local winter, which is opposite to the seasonal pattern seen in the first category. By comparing Vs data to the distributions of background plasma density at Swarm altitudes, we find for the first category that more-negative Vs readings are recorded at regions with higher background plasma density, while for the second category the more-negative Vs data are observed at regions with lower background plasma density. This can be explained as follows: the electron and ion fluxes incident on Swarm surface, whose differences determine the potential of Swarm, are dominated by the background “cold” plasma (due to ionization) and “hot” plasma (due to precipitated particles from magnetosphere) for the two Vs categories, respectively.

Development of Integrated and Intelligent Geodetic and Photogrammetry Satellites with Corresponding Key Technologies

Aerospace surveying and mapping has become the main method of global earth observation.It can be divided into the geodetic observation satellites and the topographic surveying satellites according to the disciplines.In this paper,the geodetic satellites and photographic satellites are introduced respectively.Then,the existing problems in Chinese earth observation satellites are analyzed,and the comprehensive satellite with integrated payloads,the intensive microsatellite constellation and the intelligent observation satellite are proposed as three different development ideas for the future earth observation satellites.The possibility of the three ideas is discussed in detail,as well as the related key technologies.

A Positioning Method and Realization on Single Satellites in Different Orbits Using TDOA

The main geolocation technology currently used in COSPAS-SARSAT system is TDOA/FDOA or three-star TDOA,the principle is to determine the location of the signal source by using the difference in arrival time and frequency of the wireless signal between different receivers.Therefore,ground monitoring stations need to be equipped with more than two antenna receiving stations,and multiple satellites should be able to simultaneously relay the distress signal from the target source in order to achieve the geolocation function.However,when the ground receiving system has only one antenna receiving station,or the target source is in a heavily obscured environment,the ground side is unable to receive the forwarded signals from multiple satellites at the same time,which will make it impossible to locate.To address these problems,in this paper,a time-sharing single satellite geolocations method based on different orbits is proposed for the first time.This method uses one or several low-earth orbit satellites(LEO)and mediumearth orbit satellites(MEO)in the visible area,and the receiving station only needs one pair of receiving antennas to complete the positioning.It can effectively compensate for the shortcomings of the traditional TDOA using the same moment and have better positioning accuracy compared with the single satellite in the same orbit.Due to the limited experimental conditions,this paper tests the navigation satellite using different orbit time-sharing single satellite geolocations,and proves that the positioning method has high positioning accuracy and has certain promotion and application value.

Simulation for MSS-2 low-perigee elliptical orbit satellites:an example of lithospheric magnetic field modelling

A future constellation of at least four geomagnetic satellites(designated Macao Scientific Satellite-1(MSS-1)and Macao Scientific Satellite-2(MSS-2))was recently proposed,to continue high-quality geomagnetic observations in the post-Swarm period,focusing especially on collecting data that will provide a global,three-dimensional survey of the geomagnetic field.In this paper,we present a simulation of two years of orbits(2020.01.01-2022.01.01)of two satellites(tentatively denoted as MSS-2)that are constellated in elliptical(200×5,300 km)low-perigee orbits.By comparing error variances of Gauss coefficients,we investigate the sensitivity of lithospheric magnetic field modelling to data collected from various satellite orbits,including a near circular reference orbit of 300×350km,and elliptical orbit of 180×5,300 km,220×5,300 km,200×3,000 km and 200×1,500 km.We find that in two years the two MSS-2 satellites can collect 35,000 observations at altitude below 250 km,data that will be useful in advancing the quality of lithospheric magnetic field modelling;this number of observations reflects the fact that only 4.5%of the flight time of these satellites will be below250 km(just 6.4%of their flight time below 300 km).By combining observations from the MSS-2 satellites’elliptical orbits of 200×5,300km with observations from a circular reference orbit,the variance of the geomagnetic model can be reduced by a factor of 285 at spherical harmonic degree n=200 and by a factor of 1,300 at n=250.The planned lower perigee of their orbits allows the new satellites to collect data at unprecedentedly lower altitudes,thus dramatically improving the spatial resolution of satellite-derived lithospheric field models,(up to 80%at n=150).In addition,lowering the apogee increases the time interval during which the satellites fly at near-Earth altitudes,thus improving the model predictions at all spherical harmonic degrees(around 52%-62%at n=150).The upper limit of the expected improvement to the field model at the orbital apogee is not as good as at the perigee.However,data from the MSS-1 orbit can help fill the gap between data from the MSS-2 orbits and from the circular reference orbit for the low-degree part of the model.The feasibility of even lower-altitude flight requires further discussion with satellite engineers.

Evaluation of the Global Horizontal Irradiation (GHI) on the Ground from the Images of the Second Generation European Meteorological Satellites MSG

The measurement of solar irradiation is still a necessary basis for planning the installation of photovoltaic parks and concentrating solar power systems. The meteorological stations for the measurement of the solar flux at any point of the earth’s surface are still insufficient worldwide;moreover, these measurements on the ground are expensive, and rare. To overcome this shortcoming, the exploitation of images from the European meteorological satellites of the second generation MSG is a reliable solution to estimate the global horizontal irradiance GHI on the ground with a good spatial and temporal coverage. Since 2004, the new generation MSG satellites provide images of Africa and Europe every 15 minutes with a spatial resolution of about 1 km × 1 km at the sub-satellite point. The objective of this work was to apply the Brazil-SR method to evaluate the global horizontal GHI irradiance for the entire Moroccan national territory from the European Meteosat Second Generation MSG satellite images. This bibliographic review also exposed the standard model of calculation of GHI in clear sky by exploiting the terrestrial meteorological measurements.

Challenges,Opportunities,and Future Research in the Integration of 5G/6G Networks,LEO Satellites,and IoT for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development at ECSTAR

The rapid proliferation of connected IoT(Internet of Things)devices,along with the increasing demand for 5G mobile networks and ubiquitous high-speed connectivity,poses significant challenges in the telecommunications sector.To address these challenges,a comprehensive understanding of the integration of 5G/6G networks and LEO(Low Earth Orbit)satellite networks is required,forming the concept of“integrated networks”.Integration offers valuable advantages,including service continuity,wide-area coverage,and support for critical communications and emerging applications.This paper provides a high-level overview of the convergence of 5G/6G,LEO satellites,and IoT devices,shedding light on the technological challenges and standardization issues associated with the transition from 5G to 6G networks using NTNs(Non-Terrestrial Networks)based on LEO satellites.Furthermore,this research delves into the emerging social issues,potential possibilities,and the paradigm shift from the IoT to the IoI(Internet of Intelligence),which is poised to revolutionize the landscape of 6G wireless networks.By highlighting the interconnectedness of 5G/6G networks,LEO satellite systems,and IoT devices,it underscores the importance of leveraging these converging technologies to address environmental protection and achieve the United Nations SDGs(Sustainable Development Goals).In addition to providing valuable insights for readers seeking to comprehend the convergence of 5G/6G networks,LEO satellite systems,and IoT devices,this paper represents the outcomes of a comprehensive analysis conducted at the ECSTAR(Excellence Center of Space Technology and Research).Through an examination of technological challenges and advancements,it identifies future research directions and potential avenues for exploration at ECSTAR,thereby contributing to a broader understanding of integrated networks and their profound impact on future telecommunications systems.This research serves as a significant resource for advancing the knowledge and discourse surrounding the linkages between the convergence of these technologies,environmental protection,and the pursuit of the SDGs.

Ocean Observation from Haiyang Satellites: 2012–2014

During 2012 and 2014, China has two Haiyang(which means ocean in Chinese, referred to as HY) satellites operating normally in space which are HY-1B and HY-2A. HY-1B is an ocean color environment satellite which was launched in April 2007 to observe global ocean color and sea surface temperature, and HY-2A is an ocean dynamic environment satellite which was launched in August 2011 to obtain global marine dynamic environment parameters including sea surface height,significant wave height, ocean wind vectors, etc. Ocean observation data provided by HY-1B and HY-2A have been widely used by both domestic and international users in extensive areas such as ocean environment protection, ocean disaster prevention and reduction, marine environment forecast,ocean resource development and management, ocean investigations and scientific researches, etc.

FY-3 Meteorological Satellites and the Applications

FY-3 is the second generation polar-orbiting meteorological satellite of China. The first satellite named FY-3A of this series was launched on 27 May 2008. The first operational satellite named FY-3C of this series was launched on 23 September, 2013. The new generation satellites are to provide three-dimensional, quantitative, multi-spectral global remote sensing data under all weather conditions, which will greatly help the operational numerical weather prediction, global climate change research, climate diagnostics and prediction, and natural disaster monitoring. They will also provide help for many other fields such as agriculture, forestry, oceanography and hydrology. With the above-mentioned capability, the FY-3 satellites can make valuable contributions to improving weather forecasts, global natural-disaster and environmental monitoring.

Chinese GF-1 and GF-3 satellites observed the giant iceberg calving off the Larsen C Ice Shelf

A massive iceberg, named A-68 by National Ice Center （NIC） officially, calved away from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica on luly 12, 2017. The iceberg A-68 is about 5 800 km2, weighs more than a trillion tons and it is one of the biggest ever recorded icebergs. Chinese satellites Gaofen-1 （GF-1） and Gaofen-3 （GF-3） data was used to monitoring the propagation of the rift and the iceberg by National Satellite Ocean Application Service （NSOAS）.

Energetic electron detection packages on board Chinese navigation satellites in MEO

Energetic electron measurements and spacecraft charging are of great significance for theoretical research in space physics and space weather applications.In this paper,the energetic electron detection package(EEDP)deployed on three Chinese navigation satellites in medium Earth orbit(MEO)is reviewed.The instrument was developed by the space science payload team led by Peking University.The EEDP includes a pinhole medium-energy electron spectrometer(MES),a high-energy electron detector(HED)based onΔE-E telescope technology,and a deep dielectric charging monitor(DDCM).The MES measures the energy spectra of 50−600 keV electrons from nine directions with a 180°×30°field of view(FOV).The HED measures the energy spectrum of 0.5−3.0 MeV electrons from one direction with a 30°cone-angle FOV.The ground test and calibration results indicate that these three sensors exhibit excellent performance.Preliminary observations show that the electron spectra measured by the MES and HED are in good agreement with the results from the magnetic electron-ion spectrometer(MagEIS)of the Van Allen Probes spacecraft,with an average relative deviation of 27.3%for the energy spectra.The charging currents and voltages measured by the DDCM during storms are consistent with the highenergy electron observations of the HED,demonstrating the effectiveness of the DDCM.The observations of the EEDP on board the three MEO satellites can provide important support for theoretical research on the radiation belts and the applications related to space weather.

Initial orbit determination of BDS-3 satellites based on new code signals

For the two newly launched satellites(PRN number 27 and 28) of the future global BeiDou navigation satellite system(BDS-3), there is no available broadcast ephemeris data and other initial orbit information, but the initial orbit is the fundamental of the comprehensive analysis of the satellites and their signals. Precise orbit determination(POD) also requires determination of a priori initial value with a certain precision in order to avoid problems such as filter divergence during POD. Compared with the Newton iteration method, which relies on the initial value, this study utilizes the Bancroft algorithm to directly solve the nonlinear equations with the advantage of numerical stability. The initial orbits of these two satellites are calculated based on new code signals, and their results are analyzed and discussed. The experimental results show that, with the exception of very few epochs, when the new code signal is utilized, the median and robust variance factor of the observed residuals computed using pseudo-range observations and the solved initial orbits are less than 4 and 2 m, respectively. It also shows that this solution can be used for rapid initial orbit recovery after maneuvers of the new BeiDou satellites.

Eclipses and Occultations of Galilean Satellites Observed at Yunnan Observatory in 2003

We describe and analyze observations of mutual events of Galilean satellites made at the Yunnan Observatory in February 2003 from CCD imaging for the first time in China. Astrometric positions were deduced from these photometric observations by modelling the relative motion and the photometry of the involved satellites during each event.

A two-dimensional lithospheric magnetic anomaly field model of Egypt using the measurements from Swarm satellites

We use magnetic field data observed by the Swarm mission from 2014 to 2020 to construct,for the first time,a two-dimensional(2 D)lithospheric magnetic anomaly model of Egypt and its surrounding area.Nighttime data during quiet geomagnetic conditions has been expanded in terms of the Legendre polynomial in harmonic terms N=6-50.The damped least square method has been used to estimate the model coefficients based on the lithospheric magnetic data.Modeled data at two different altitudes(438-448 km and 503-511 km)were compared with the CHAOS model.Results exhibit that the 2 D model is superior to the CHAOS model in the capability of extracting more information about small-scale crustal anomaly field.At low altitudes(438-448 km),the strength of the anomaly field increases,but the noise of the external fields has greatly reduced at high altitudes(503-511 km).Besides,the magnetic anomaly field at low altitudes has illuminated short-scale anomalies that didn’t appear at high altitudes.Both the total and vertical magnetic anomaly vectors showed their ability to reveal tectonic structures compared with Moho depth map and the geological maps.

The influence from high-n dielectronic satellites to Kα resonance line in helium-like aluminium

Based on the multi-configuration Dirac-Fock method, this paper has made theoretical calculations for the dielectronic recombination cross-sections and the high-n dielectronic satellites to Kα resonance line in helium-like aluminium ions. It is found that high-n dielectronic satellites are seriously mixed with resonance line, which leads to a significant increase in both the apparent width and the intensity of Kα resonance line. They also induce a positional shift of Kα resonance line.

An estimation of groundwater storage variations from GRACE gravity satellites in the Heihe River Basin, northwestern China

There are only limited surface water resources available in the Heihe River Basin （HRB）, a typical inland river basin in the arid region of northwestern China, where groundwater overexploitation is a serious problem. Groundwater has become one of main resources of fresh water in the HRB. In this paper, temporal and spatial variations of groundwater in the HRB are estimated by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment （GRACE） satellites. Our analysis shows that groundwater storage in the HRB reaches its highest in the summer of 2005, and then begins to decline in the following years and reaches steady status in 2008. Spatially, groundwater shows a decline in the upper HRB in the first two years and a slight increase in the following years, while this phenomenon is reversed in the middle HRB where groundwater slightly increases in 2005 and then declines in the following three years. In the lower HRB, GRACE detects a continual increase in the full six-year period. This approach is proven successful when employed in the HRB and thus offers a new insight into monitoring groundwater variations in a river basin with limited or even without any observed data.