A New Navigation Force Model for the Earth’s Albedo and Its Effects on the Orbital Motion of an Artificial Satellite

Yehia A. Abdel-Aziz, Afaf M. Abdel-Hameed, Khalil I. Khalil

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DOI: 10.4236/am.2011.27107                

Abstract

In this paper, we developed a new approach of an analytical model to calculate the radial and transversal components of the acceleration due to the effects of Earth’s albedo. Its effects on the orbital motion of an artificial satellite are introduced. It is assumed that the satellite’s horizon is illuminated and the sun lies on the equator. The magnitudes of those components are obtained and their effects on orbital evolution have been tested for different satellites elements. The perturbations in orbital elements due to Earth’s albedo have been obtained using Lagrange Planetary equation in Gaussian form, in particular the case of LAGEOS satellite, have been found using this new analytical formalism.

Keywords

Satellite Dynamics, Non-Gravitational Forces, Albedo Effect, Orbital Perturbations, Lagrange Planetary Equations

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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