Fundamentals of the route theory for satellite constellation design for Earth discontinuous coverage. Part 3: Low-cost Earth observation with minimal satellite swath

Continuing the series of papers with description of the fundamentals of the Route Theory for satellite constellation design, the general method for minimization of the satellite swath width required under given constraint on the maximum revisit time (MRT), the main quality characteristic of the satellite constellation discontinuous coverage, is presented. The interrelation between MRT and multiplicity of the periodic coverage - the minimum number of the observation sessions realized for the points of observation region during the satellite tracks' repetition period - is revealed and described. In particular, it is shown that a change of MRT can occur only at points of coverage multiplicity changing. Basic elements of multifold Earth coverage theory are presented and used for obtaining analytical relations for the minimum swath width providing given multifold coverage. The satellite swath width calculation procedure for the multifold coverage of rotating Earth using the iterations on the sphere of stationary coverage is developed. The numerical results for discontinuous coverage with minimal satellite swath, including comparison with some known particular cases and implementations of the method, are presented. (C) 2016 IAA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.