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EC520 Satellite Communications

Solved Problems on
Lect 5: Look Angle Determination
Lect.
Lecturer: Dr.
Dr Abdelhamid Gaafar
Tutor: Khalid Salim

Summary of Lecture 5

Angle Definitions
Sub-Satellite Point
Nadir
direction

Sub

Zenith
direction

Satellite Coordinate System


Latitude L:
Angle in deg. N or S of the equator.

L = -90o (90oS) +90o (90oN)

L
Longitude
it d l :
Angle in deg. from a the ref.
Greenwich line in London

l = 0o (180oW) 360oE (180oE)

Satellite Coordinate System


Local Horizontal:
Horizontal plane at the
earth station location or
the plane tangential to
earth at that point

Radius to the Satellite

S b S t llit Point
Sub-Satellite
P i t

Satellite Range

Latitude Ls
Longitude
ls
g

Elevation Angle

El = - 90o
Central Angle
Latitude Le
Longitude le

Earth Radius = R

Look Angles
Satellite

Elevation: Upward from


the local horizontal plane
at the earth station to the
satellite path.

Earth Station

Azimuth:
A
i th E
Eastward
t
d
(clockwise) from geo. N
to sat. path projection
on the local horizontal
plane at earth station.

The Central Angle & Satellite Range


Central Angle : Non-negative and generally calculated by

cos cos Le cos Ls cos l s l e sin Le sin Ls

In Case of GEO Sat (Equatorial):


Ls 0 cos cos Le cos l s l e
Range to Satellite d:
1/2

re
e
d rs 1 2 cos
rs

rs
2

d:The distance between the earth station and satellite

Elevation Calculation
Elevation Angle El:

cos El

sin

For a GEO Sat:


cos re rs
El tan

sin

1/2

re
e
1 2 cos
rs

rs
2

Azimuth Calculation in GEO


Intermediate Angle : Allows the correct quadrant of the earth station

location to be found since the azimuthal direction can lie anywhere from
0o (true N) 360o (back to true N again).
g
tan l s l e
tan
sin Le
1

Geometrically
Geometricall is defined as the Acute

Angle ( <90o) between the N-S axes and


W
the direction of the satellite ppath pprojection
j
on the local horizontal plane regardless of
the direction of measurement

NW

NE

E
Equator
t

E
SW

SE

Azimuth Calculation in GEO Case 1.a


Case 1: Earth station in the Northern Hemisphere
N

Az = 180o -

a: Satellite to the SE of the earth station

Local
Horizontal
Plane

A Z 180

Path
P h to Sat.
S

Earth St.
Equator
GEO Sat.
Projection

Azimuth Calculation in GEO Case 1.b


Case 1: Earth station in the Northern Hemisphere

N
Projection

b: Satellite to the SW of the earth station

A Z 180

Local
Horizontal
Plane
Path to Sat.

Az = 180o +

Earth St.
Equator

GEO Sat.

Azimuth Calculation in GEO Case 2.a


Case 2: Earth station in the Southern Hemisphere
N
a: Satellite to the NE of the earth station

AZ
Az =
GEO Sat.

Equator
Earth St.

Path to Sat.
Local
Horizontal
Pl
Plane

Projection

Azimuth Calculation in GEO Case 2.b


Case 2: Earth station in the Southern Hemisphere

b: Satellite to the NW of the earth station

A Z 360

GEO Sat.

Path to Sat.
Local
Horizontal
Plane

Equator

Earth St.

Az = 360o -

Projection

Visibility Test
Visibility Test: Determines if a satellite can operate in a given location.
location
For a satellite to be visible from the earth station, the Elevation must be

non negative
non-negative.
El 0
re
1 re
rs
cos
cos
rs
Operational Limitations:
For Geostationary Satellites
Usual limits are:

C-Band
K B d
Ku-Band
Ka- and V-Band

5o
10o
20o

81.3o

Solved Problems on Lecture 5

1. You are at York University (longitude 79o 35 W, latitude 44o N,

assume height
h i ht above
b mean sea llevell = 0 m)) andd wantt tto point
i t your
satellite antenna towards TELESATs new geostationary satellite
ANIK F2,
F2 now positioned at 111.1
111 1o WL (west longitude).
longitude) It is billed
as the worlds largest commercial communications satellite. Find the
look
oo angles
a g es and
a the
t e range
a ge to tthee sate
satellite.
te.
Given: Le = 44 N, le = 79 35 W, Ls = 0, ls = 111.1 W.
Req.:
Req : El,
El Az,
Az d.
d Assume rs = 42,164
42 164 km and re = 6,378.14
6 378 14 km.
km
Note:
N
Using
l e 79 35' W

Calculator

79.58333 W

The Elevation Angle:

Step 1 Get :
cos cos Le cos l s l e cos 44 cos 111.1 79.58333 0.6132

cos 1 0.6132 52.177

SStepp 2 G
Get El::
cos re rs
El tan

sin
i

6378.14
0.6132 42164

30.32
tan 1
sin 52.177

The Azimuth Angle:

Step 1 Get :

tan l s l e
tan
i Le
sin
1

1 tan 111.1 79.58333


tan
41.436
sin
i 44

Step 2 Get Az:


Earth St. N and Sat. SW (as ls > le in W Direction) Case 1.b
Az 180 180 41.436 221.436 Clockwise from true N

Range to Satellite:
1/ 2

r 2

r
d rs 1 e 2 e cos
rs

rs

1/2

6378.14

6378 14
6378 14
6378.14
42164 1
2
0.6132
42164
42164

38,583.29 km

2. You are stationed near Perth in Australia and installed your

satellite
t llit antenna
t
in
i your bbackyard
k d (l
(longitude
it d 115o 35
35 E,
E latitude
l tit d 31o
25 S, height above mean sea level = 100 m).You want to point your
antenna to Indonesias
Indonesia s PALAPA B2P geostationary satellite
positioned at 113.0o E. Find the look angles and the range to the
sate te.
satellite.
Given: Le = 31o 25 S, le = 115o 35 E, Ls = 0, ls = 113.0o E,
hsea = 100 m
Req.: El, Az, d. Assume rs = 42,164 km and re = 6,378.14 km.
Note:
Using
Le 31 25'S

Calculator

31.41667 S

Using

l e 115 35'E
Calculator

115.58333 E

re re hsea 6,378.24 km

The Elevation Angle:

Step 1 Get :
cos cos Le cos l s l e cos 31.41667 cos 113 115.58333 0.8525
cos 1 0.6132 31.512

Step 2 Get El:


cos re rs
El tan

sin

6378.24

0.8525

42164

53.3
tan 1
sin
i 31.512
31 512

The Azimuth Angle:

Step 1 Get :

tan l s l e
tan
i Le
sin
1

1 tan 113 115.58333


tan
4.947
i 31.41667
31 41667

sin

Step 2 Get Az:


Earth St. S and Sat. NW (as ls < le in E Direction) Case 2.b
Az 360 360 4.947 355.053

Clockwise from true N

Range to Satellite:
1/2

r 2

r
d rs 1 e 2 e cos
r
rs
s

1/2

6378.24

6378.24
42164 1
2
0.8525
42164
42164

36,877.576 km

THANK YOU

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