AAS 97-622
UPH CONSTELLATIONS FOR CONTINUOUS REGIONAL COVERAGE
C. Ulivieri, G. Laneve, S.M. Hejazi M. - University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Abstract
The detection of environmental contingencies is possible only if a sufficient number of sensors is available; then the constellation appears the only solution in order to limit the temporal gaps of acquisition caused by the utilization of a single spacecraft mission. The paper describes the use of Uniformly Phased Homogeneous (UPH) constellations of small remote sensing satellites to guarantee a complete high-revisit coverage of a target geographical zone. The paper first details the constellation design (orbital characteristics and number of satellites) to perform the desired revisit frequency and the necessary number of groundtraces that guarantee a complete spatial coverage; then the configuration maintenance criteria are described.