Daytime Sky Brightness Characterization for Persistent GEO SSA

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

9-14-2017

Abstract

Space Situational Awareness (SSA) is fundamental to operating in space. SSA for collision avoidance ensures safety of flight for both government and commercial spacecraft through persistent monitoring. A worldwide network of optical and radar sensors gather satellite ephemeris data from the nighttime sky. Current practice for daytime satellite tracking is limited exclusively to radar as the brightening daytime sky prevents the use of visible-band optical sensors. Radar coverage is not pervasive and results in significant daytime coverage gaps in SSA. To mitigate these gaps, optical telescopes equipped with sensors in the near-infrared band (0.75-0.9 microns) may be used. The diminished intensity of the background sky radiance in the near-infrared band may allow for daylight tracking further into the twilight hours. To determine the performance of a near-infrared sensor for daylight custody, the sky background radiance must first be characterized spectrally as a function of wavelength. Using a physics-based atmospheric model with access to near-real time weather, we developed a generalized model for the apparent sky brightness of the Geostationary satellite belt. The model results are then compared to measured data collected from Dayton, OH through various look and Sun angles for model validation and spectral sky radiance quantification in the visible and near-infrared bands. Abstract © AMOS.

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Copyright © 2017 Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference (AMOS)

The full paper is hosted at the conference publisher's archive using the "Link to Full Text" on this page, and is free to download. All other rights reserved.

Source Publication

Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies (AMOS), 2017

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