Mirko Navara (Czech Technical University in Prague), Martin Matousek (Czech Technical University in Prague), Ondrej Drbohlav (Czech Technical University in Prague)
Keywords: Doppler radar, orbit determination, data fusion
Abstract:
We study the possibilities of observations of satellites at circular LEO orbits simultaneously by a telescope and a bistatic continuous-wave Doppler radar. Telescopic images allow for trajectory determination except for its distance (and hence height). Assuming a circular orbit, the height can be computed from the angular speed, but this is often impossible for LEO objects which do not remain in the field of view during the whole exposure time. To restore the missing information, we use Doppler radar data from a radio astronomy network, originally designed for detection of meteors. Using simulated perturbations of real radar data we studied their influence on the estimates of (i) permanent parameters of trajectory (orbital elements), (ii) instantaneous parameters of trajectory, (iii) distance and height estimates if the other parameters are given by the telescopic data. We derived recommendations for the optimal positions of the transmitter and receivers leading to the best resolution. We also discuss possible ways of improvement of this technique. Fusion results are shown on a suite of several matched radar and telescopic satellite fly-over data.
Date of Conference: September 9-12, 2014
Track: Poster