Determination of the Best Coverage Area for Receiver Stations of LEO Remote Sensing Satellites

During receiving data broadcasted by remote sensing satellites, ground stations are capable of gathering data up to a restricted area around the station location; this area is called receiving coverage area and its size is a critical parameter defining station performance. Receiving Coverage Area (RCA) is affected by various parameters such as satellite altitude, minimum elevation angle of receiver antenna, environmental restrictions of visibility in angles close to horizon line and economical concerns. The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of each of these parameters in RCA and also to better introduce the practical restrictions on way of designers deciding to extend the size of receiving coverage area in station. Having these pieces of information, the paper has obtained a best compromise between meeting requirements and construction cost of a Remote Sensing Satellite (RSS) station. The presented article is the result of one-year continuous effort conducted in ITRC Satellite Group for the design of remote sensing ground stations, considering the appropriate coverage area which is one of the most significant targets.