Repurpose of In-Orbit Storage Meteorological Satellites (A Fifty-Day Study)

Abstract

Periodically, environmental monitoring satellites are moved into on-orbit storage to await a call to duty. With a contract cost for four satellites of $1.4 billion, alternatives to storage are investigated and suggested in this study. Assuming a readership unfamiliar with the civilian satellite program, significant elaboration of program details is presented in a mild brief review of the literature, extracting the current state-of-the art novel suggestions. Next, novel utilizations are proposed. Eight novel applications are found in the literature: Oil palm mapping, cloud mapping, cloud property and atmospheric state estimation, hurricane prediction and analysis, surface urban heat island, Earth distribution of solar radiation, fire location and burning area estimation, hail-producing storm detection. Five novel applications are proposed: Bio-radar, stereo winds, imager re-calibration using GOES-R, nuclear detonation detection, and communications relay.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2023
Accession Number
AD1224303

Entities

People

  • Timothy Sands

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Atmospheric Remote Sensing.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Satellites