An improved wind quality control for the China-France Oceanography Satellite (CFOSAT) scatterometer

Quality control(QC)is an essential procedure in scatterometer wind retrieval,which is used to distinguish good-quality data from poor-quality wind vector cells(WVCs)for the sake of wind applications.The current wind processor of the China-France Oceanography Satellite(CFOSAT)scatterometer(CSCAT)adopts a maximum likelihood estimator(MLE)-based QC method to filter WVCs affected by geophysical noise,such as rainfall and wind variability.As the first Ku-band rotating fan-beam scatterometer,CSCAT can acquire up to 16 observations over a single WVC,giving abundant information with diverse incidence/azimuth angles,as such its MLE statistical characteristics may be different from the previous scatterometers.In this study,several QC indicators,including MLE,its spatially averaged value(MLE_(m)),and the singularity exponents(SE),are analyzed using the collocated Global Precipitation Mission rainfall data as well as buoy data,to compare their sensitivity to rainfall and wind quality.The results show that wind error characteristics of CSCAT under different QC methods are similar to those of other Ku-band scatterometers,i.e.,SE is more suitable than other parameters for the wind QC at outer-swath and nadir regions,while MLE_(m) is the best QC indicator for the sweet region WVCs.Specifically,SE is much more favorable than others at high wind speeds.By combining different indicators,an improved QC method is developed for CSCAT.The validation with the collocated buoy data shows that it accepts more WVCs,and in turn,improves the quality control of CSCAT wind data.

On-orbit Geometric Calibration and Preliminary Accuracy Evaluation of GF-14 Satellite

GF-14 satellite is a new generation of sub-meter stereo surveying and mapping satellite in China,carrying dual-line array stereo mapping cameras to achieve 1∶10000 scale topographic mapping without Ground Control Points(GCPs).In fact,space-based high-precision mapping without GCPs is a challenging task that depends on the close cooperation of several payloads and links,of which on-orbit geometric calibration is one of the most critical links.In this paper,the on-orbit geometric calibration of the dual-line array cameras of GF-14 satellite was performed using the control points collected in the high-precision digital calibration field,and the calibration parameters of the dual-line array cameras were solved as a whole by alternate iterations of forward and backward intersection.On this basis,the location accuracy of the stereo images using the calibration parameters was preliminarily evaluated by using several test fields around the world.The evaluation result shows that the direct forward intersection accuracy of GF-14 satellite images without GCPs after on-orbit geometric calibration reaches 2.34 meters(RMS)in plane and 1.97 meters(RMS)in elevation.

Satellite-observed significant improvement in nearshore transparency of the Bohai Sea during pollution control

The Bohai Sea(BS)is the unique semi-closed inland sea of China,characterized by degraded water quality due to significant terrestrial pollution input.In order to improve its water quality,a dedicated action named“Uphill Battles for Integrated Bohai Sea Management”(UBIBSM,2018–2020)was implemented by the Chinese government.To evaluate the action effectiveness toward water quality improvement,variability of the satelliteobserved water transparency(Secchi disk depth,Z_(SD))was explored,with special emphasis on the nearshore waters(within 20 km from the coastline)prone to terrestrial influence.(1)Compared to the status before the action began(2011–2017),majority(87.3%)of the nearshore waters turned clear during the action implementation period(2018–2020),characterized by the elevated Z_(SD)by 11.6%±12.1%.(2)Nevertheless,the improvement was not spatially uniform,with higher Z_(SD)improvement in provinces of Hebei,Liaoning,and Shandong(13.2%±16.5%,13.2%±11.6%,10.8%±10.2%,respectively)followed by Tianjin(6.2%±4.7%).(3)Bayesian trend analysis found the abrupt Z_(SD)improvement in April 2018,which coincided with the initiation of UBIBSM,implying the water quality response to pollution control.More importantly,the independent statistics of land-based pollutant discharge also indicated that the significant reduction of terrestrial pollutant input during the UBIBSM action was the main driver of observed Z_(SD)improvement.(4)Compared with previous pollution control actions in the BS,UBIBSM was found to be the most successful one during the past 20 years,in terms of transparency improvement over nearshore waters.The presented results proved the UBIBSM-achieved remarkable water quality improvement,taking the advantage of long-term consistent and objective data record from satellite ocean color observation.

Learning-Based Admission Control for Low-Earth-Orbit Satellite Communication Networks

Satellite communications has been regarded as an indispensable technology for future mobile networks to provide extremely high data rates,ultra-reliability,and ubiquitous coverage.However,the high dynamics caused by the fast movement of low-earth-orbit(LEO)satellites bring huge challenges in designing and optimizing satellite communication systems.Especially,admission control,deciding which users with diversified service requirements are allowed to access the network with limited resources,is of paramount importance to improve network resource utilization and meet the service quality requirements of users.In this paper,we propose a dynamic channel reservation strategy based on the Actor-Critic algorithm(AC-DCRS)to perform intelligent admission control in satellite networks.By carefully designing the longterm reward function and dynamically adjusting the reserved channel threshold,AC-DCRS reaches a long-run optimal access policy for both new calls and handover calls with different service priorities.Numerical results show that our proposed AC-DCRS outperforms traditional channel reservation strategies in terms of overall access failure probability,the average call success rate,and channel utilization under various dynamic traffic conditions.

Software defined satellite networks:A survey

In recent years,satellite networks have been proposed as an essential part of next-generation mobile communication systems.Software defined networking techniques are introduced in satellite networks to handle the growing challenges induced by time-varying topology,intermittent inter-satellite link and dramatically increased satellite constellation size.This survey covers the latest progress of software defined satellite networks,including key techniques,existing solutions,challenges,opportunities,and simulation tools.To the best of our knowledge,this paper is the most comprehensive survey that covers the latest progress of software defined satellite networks.An open GitHub repository is further created where the latest papers on this topic will be tracked and updated periodically.Compared with these existing surveys,this survey contributes from three aspects:(1)an up-to-date SDN-oriented review for the latest progress of key techniques and solutions in software defined satellite networks;(2)an inspiring summary of existing challenges,new research opportunities and publicly available simulation tools for follow-up studies;(3)an effort of building a public repository to track new results.

Advances in dynamics and control of tethered satellite systems

The concept of tethered satellite system （TSS） promises to revolutionize many aspects of space exploration and exploitation. It provides not only numerous possible and valuable applications, but also challenging and interesting problems related to their dynamics, control, and physical implementation. Over the past decades, this exciting topic has attracted significant attention from many researchers and gained a vast number of analytical, numerical and experimental achievements with a focus on the two essential aspects of both dynamics and control. This review article presents the historic background and recent hot topics for the space tethers, and introduces the dynamics and control of TSSs in a progressive manner, from basic operating principles to the state-of-the-art achievements.

Impact dynamics analysis of free-floating space manipulator capturing satellite on orbit and robust adaptive compound control algorithm design for suppressing motion

The impact dynamics, impact effect, and post-impact unstable motion sup- pression of free-floating space manipulator capturing a satellite on orbit are analyzed. Firstly, the dynamics equation of free-floating space manipulator is derived using the sec- ond Lagrangian equation. Combining the momentum conservation principle, the impact dynamics and effect between the space manipulator end-effector and satellite of the cap- ture process are analyzed with the momentum impulse method. Focusing on the unstable motion of space manipulator due to the above impact effect, a robust adaptive compound control algorithm is designed to suppress the above unstable motion. There is no need to control the free-floating base position to save the jet fuel. Finally, the simulation is proposed to show the impact effect and verify the validity of the control algorithm.

Shift control method for the local time at descendi ngnode based on sun-synchronous orbit satellite

This article analyzes the shift factors of the descending node local time for sun-synchronous satellites and proposes a shift control method to keep the local time shift within an allowance range. It is found that the satellite orbit design and the orbit injection deviation are the causes for the initial shift velocity, whereas the atmospheric drag and the sun gravitational perturbation produce the shift acceleration. To deal with these shift factors, a shift control method is put forward, through such methods as orbit variation design, orbit altitude, and inclination keeping control. The simulation experiment and practical application have proved the effectiveness of this control method.

Predictive control for satellite formation keeping

Based on a Hill equation and a nonlinear equation describing the desired and real dynamics of relative motion separately, a predictive controller is brought forward, which makes the real state track the desired ones to keep satellite formation. The stability and robustness of the controller are analyzed. Finally, comparing the simulation results of the proposed controller with that of the traditional, proportional-differential controller shows that the former one is capable of keeping the satellite formation more favorably, considering the disturbances such as the J2 perturbations.

Control of chaotic oscillations of a satellite

Analytical conditions and practical methods of their realization are proposed to solve a problem of a command signal tracking for a nonlinear disturbed system. Nonlinear disturbed plants consisting of linear dynamic block and nonlinear block in feedback are considered. Nonlinear part of the plant and disturbance are unknown and bounded. The paper illustrates a possibility of applications of proposed algorithms to control libration angle of satellite.

Design and simulation of fault diagnosis based on NUIO/LMI for satellite attitude control systems

This paper presents a scheme of fault diagnosis for flexible satellites during orbit maneuver. The main contribution of the paper is related to the design of the nonlinear input observer which can avoid false alarm arising from the disturbance from orbit control force. The effects of orbit control force on the fault diagnosis system for satellite attitude control systems, including the disturbing torque caused by the misalignments and the model uncertainty caused by the fuel consumed, are discussed, where standard Lu- enberger observer cannot work well. Then the nonlinear unknown input observer is proposed to decouple faults from disturbance, Besides, a linear matrix inequality approach is adopted to reduce the effect of nonlinear part and model uncertainties on the observer. The numerical and semi-physical simulation demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed observer for the fault diagnosis system of the satellite during orbit maneuver.

Attitude control for part actuator failure of agile small satellite

The stability and singularity problem of agile small satellite （ASS） with actuator failure is discussed in this paper. Firstly, the three-axis stabilized controller of an ASS is designed, where micro control moment gyros （MCMG＇s） in pyramid configuration （PC） is used as the actuator. By using the same controller and steering law, the control results before and after one gyro fails are compared by simulation. The variation of singular momentum envelope before and after one gyro fails is also compared. The simulation results show that the failure intensively decreases the capacity of output torque, which leads to the emergence of more singular points and the rapid saturation of MCMG＇s. Finally, the parameters of system controller are changed to compare the control effect.

Sensor fault-tolerant observer applied in satellite attitude control

The observing failure and feedback instability might happen when the partial sensors of a satellite attitude control sys- tem （SACS） go wrong. A fault diagnosis and isolation （FDI） method based on a fault observer is introduced to detect and isolate the fault sensor at first. Based on the FDI result, the object system state-space equation is transformed and divided into a correspon- sive triangular canonical form to decouple the normal subsystem from the fault subsystem. And then the KX fault-tolerant observers of the system in different modes are designed and embedded into online monitoring. The outputs of all KX fault-tolerant observers are selected by the control switch process. That can make sense that the SACS is part-observed and in stable when the partial sen- sors break down. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method.

On-orbit target tracking and inspection by satellite formation

A new type of estimator is developed for the satellite formation to track and inspect on-orbit targets. The follower satellite in the formation works without relative sensors, and its target pointing commands are derived based on relative orbital dynamics. The centralized estimator based on truth measurement is designed, however, this estimator is proved unstable because of the lack of necessary measurement information. After that, an alternative estimator based on pseudo measurement is designed, and its observability and controllability are analyzed to qualitatively evaluate the convergence performance. Finally, an on-orbit target inspection scenario is numerically simulated to verify the performance of the estimator based on pseudo measurement.

A New Generation of Intelligent Mapping and Remote Sensing Scientific Test Satellite Luojia-301

With the continuous improvement of the performance and the increasing variety of optical mapping and remote sensing satellites,they have become an important support for obtaining global accurate surveying and mapping remote sensing information.At present,optical mapping and remote sensing satellites already have sub-meter spatial resolution capabilities,but there is a serious lag problem in mapping and remote sensing information services.It is urgent to develop intelligent mapping and remote sensing satellites to promote the transformation and upgrading to real-time intelligent services.Firstly,based on the three imaging systems of the optical mapping and remote sensing satellites and their realization methods and application characteristics,this paper analyzes the applicable system of the intelligent mapping and remote sensing satellites.Further,according to the application requirements of real-time,intelligence,and popularization,puts forward the design concept of integrated intelligent remote sensing satellite integrating communication,navigation,and remote sensing and focuses on the service mode and integrated function composition of intelligent remote sensing satellite.Then expounds on the performance and characteristics of the Luojia-301 satellite,a new generation of intelligent surveying and mapping remote sensing scientific test satellite.And finally summarizes and prospects the development and mission of intelligent mapping remote sensing satellites.Luojia-301 satellite integrates remote sensing and communication functions.It explores an efficient and intelligent service mode of mapping and remote sensing information from data acquisition to the application terminal and provides a real service verification platform for on-orbit processing and real-time transmission of remote sensing data based on space-ground internet,which is of great significance to the construction of China’s spatial information network.

Dynamic Modeling and Adaptive Fast Nonsingular Terminal Sliding Mode Control for Satellite with Double Rotary Payloads

A robust attitude control methodology is proposed for satellite system with double rotary payloads.The dynamic model is built by the Newton-Euler method and then the dynamic interconnection between satellite′s main body and payloads is described precisely.A nonlinear disturbance observer is designed for satellite′s main body to estimate disturbance torque acted by motion of payloads.Meanwhile,the adaptive fast nonsingular terminal sliding-mode attitude stabilization controller is proposed for satellite′s main body to quicken convergence speed of state variables.Similarly,the adaptive fast nonsingular terminal sliding-mode attitude maneuver controller is designed for each payload to weaken the disturbance effect of motion of satellite′s main body.Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Full-State-Constrained Non-Certainty-Equivalent Adaptive Control for Satellite Swarm Subject to Input Fault

Satellite swarm coordinated flight(SSCF)technology has promising applications,but its complex nature poses significant challenges for control implementation.In response,this paper proposes an easily solvable adaptive control scheme to achieve high-performance trajectory tracking of the SSCF system subject to actuator efficiency losses and external disturbances.Most existing adaptive controllers based on the certaintyequivalent(CE)principle show unpredictability and nonconvergence in their online parameter estimations.To overcome the above vulnerabilities and the difficulties caused by input failures of SSCF,this paper proposes an adaptive estimator based on scaling immersion and invariance(I&I),which reduces the computational complexity while improving the performance of the parameter estimator.Besides,a barrier Lyapunov function(BLF)is applied to satisfy both the boundedness of the system states and the singularity avoidance of the computation.It is proved that the estimator error becomes sufficiently small to converge to a specified attractive invariant manifold and the closed-loop SSCF system can obtain asymptotic stability under full-state constraints.Finally,numerical simulations are performed for comparison and analysis to verify the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method.

Unified Modeling Approach of Kinematics, Dynamics and Control of a Free-Flying Space Robot Interacting with a Target Satellite

In this paper a unified control-oriented modeling approach is proposed to deal with the kinematics, linear and angular momentum, contact constraints and dynamics of a free-flying space robot interacting with a target satellite. This developed approach combines the dynamics of both systems in one structure along with holonomic and nonholonomic constraints in a single framework. Furthermore, this modeling allows consid-ering the generalized contact forces between the space robot end-effecter and the target satellite as internal forces rather than external forces. As a result of this approach, linear and angular momentum will form holonomic and nonholonomic constraints, respectively. Meanwhile, restricting the motion of the space robot end-effector on the surface of the target satellite will impose geometric constraints. The proposed momentum of the combined system under consideration is a generalization of the momentum model of a free-flying space robot. Based on this unified model, three reduced models are developed. The first reduced dynamics can be considered as a generalization of a free-flying robot without contact with a target satellite. In this re-duced model it is found that the Jacobian and inertia matrices can be considered as an extension of those of a free-flying space robot. Since control of the base attitude rather than its translation is preferred in certain cases, a second reduced model is obtained by eliminating the base linear motion dynamics. For the purpose of the controller development, a third reduced-order dynamical model is then obtained by finding a common solution of all constraints using the concept of orthogonal projection matrices. The objective of this approach is to design a controller to track motion trajectory while regulating the force interaction between the space robot and the target satellite. Many space missions can benefit from such a modeling system, for example, autonomous docking of satellites, rescuing satellites, and satellite servicing, where it is vital to limit the con-tact force during the robotic operation. Moreover, Inverse dynamics and adaptive inverse dynamics control-lers are designed to achieve the control objectives. Both controllers are found to be effective to meet the specifications and to overcome the un-actuation of the target satellite. Finally, simulation is demonstrated by to verify the analytical results.

On-orbit Geometric Calibration of Linear Push-broom Optical Satellite Based on Sparse GCPs

The paper presents a geometric calibration method based on the sparse ground control points (GCPs), aiming to the linear push-broom optical satellite. This method can achieve the optimal estimate of internal and external parameters with two overlapped image pair along the charge-coupled device (CCD), and sparse GCPs in the image region, further get rid of the dependence on the expensive calibration site data. With the calibrated parameters, the line of sight (LOS) of all CCD detectors can be recovered. This paper firstly establishes the rigorous imaging model of linear push-broom optical satellite based on its imaging mechanism. And then the calibration model is constructed by improving the internal sensor model with a viewing-angle model after an analysis on systematic errors existing in the imaging model is performed. A step-wise solution is applied aiming to the optimal estimate of external and internal parameters. At last, we conduct a set of experiments on the ZY-3 NAD camera and verify the accuracy and effectiveness of the presented method by comparison.

A modeling and simulation of control system of satellite tracking platform antenna

Based on the platform of mobile carrier satellite tracking has a wide range of applications. The paper adopts the advanced method of to step response identify, using the data obtained by the experiment model of high-speed acquisition, using the method of the least squares, finally the antenna control system model function was identified. Make use of integral separation algorithm, simu- link simulation and experiment analysis to set the control parameters of it. Stimulate the signal antenna control system under inter- fering. The experiment of the simulation experiment showed that the antenna control system model is stable with little error.