Abstract
Satellite drag coefficients are a major source of uncertainty in predicting the drag force on satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). Among other things, accurately predicting the orbit requires detailed knowledge of the satellite drag coefficient. Computational methods are important tools in computing the drag coefficient but are too intensive for real-time predictions. Therefore, analytic or empirical models that can accurately predict drag coefficients are desired. This work uses response surfaces to model drag coefficients. The response surface methodology is validated by developing a response surface model for the drag coefficient of a sphere. The response surface model performs well in predicting the drag coefficient of a sphere with a root mean square error less than 0.3% over the entire parameter space. For more complex geometries, such as the GRACE satellite, the model error is only slightly larger with an error less than 0.7%.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Astrodynamics 2013 - Advances in the Astronautical Sciences |
| Subtitle of host publication | Proceedings of the AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference |
| Publisher | Univelt Inc. |
| Pages | 2609-2622 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780877036050 |
| State | Published - 2014 |
| Event | 2013 AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference, Astrodynamics 2013 - Hilton Head Island, SC, United States Duration: Aug 11 2013 → Aug 15 2013 |
Publication series
| Name | Advances in the Astronautical Sciences |
|---|---|
| Volume | 150 |
| ISSN (Print) | 0065-3438 |
Other
| Other | 2013 AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference, Astrodynamics 2013 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | United States |
| City | Hilton Head Island, SC |
| Period | 8/11/13 → 8/15/13 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding for this work was provided by the US Department of Energy through the Los Alamos National Laboratory/Laboratory Directed Research and Development program as part of the IMPACT (Integrated Modeling of Perturbations in Atmospheres for Conjunction Tracking) project. The authors would also like to thank the Los Alamos National Laboratory Institutional Computing for the computational resources utilized for the simulations. The authors would also like to thank UCAR for providing the CDAAC precise orbit data.