METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY PLANNING AND SCHEDULING A REMOTE SENSING SATELLITE MISSION

• US 20120029812A1
• Filed: 07/29/2010
• Published: 02/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: King Abdul AZIZ City For Science and Technology
• Original Assignee: King Abdul AZIZ City For Science and Technology
• Inventors: Altwaijry, Hani Abdulaziz, Alfaleh, Hussam Abdulrahman, Azmi, Aqil Mohammad Mustafa
• Application Number:
  US12/846,016
• Publication Number:
  US 20120029812A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/226
• CPC Class Codes: B64G 1/1021 Earth observation satellites
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202

Abstract

The present invention provides method and system for automatically planning and scheduling a remote sensing satellite mission. A swath coverage of a remote sensing satellite at a specified time interval is determined from a ground station. Thereafter, a set of points-of-interest lying within the swath coverage of the remote sensing satellite at the specified time interval is identified. The method further includes associating a goodness factor to each point-of-interest of the set of points-of-interest based on a satellite mission requirement. An artificial intelligence searching algorithm is utilized to select a sub-set of points-of-interest from the set of points-of-interest based on a satellite resource constraint and a corresponding goodness factor associated with each point-of-interest. Finally, the method schedules the remote sensing satellite to capture at least one image for each point-of-interest of the sub-set of points-of-interest.

Claims

1. A method for automatically planning and scheduling a remote sensing satellite mission from a ground station at a specified time interval, the method comprising:

determining a swath coverage of the remote sensing satellite on Earth at the specified time interval;

identifying a set of points-of-interest lying within the swath coverage of the remote sensing satellite at the specified time interval;

associating a goodness factor to each point-of-interest of the set of points-of-interest based on a satellite mission requirement, wherein a goodness factor associated with a point-of-interest indicates utility level of the point-of-interest with respect to the remote sensing satellite mission;

selecting a sub-set of points-of-interest from the set of points-of-interest based on a satellite resource constraint and a corresponding goodness factor associated with each point-of-interest using an artificial intelligence searching algorithm; and

scheduling the remote sensing satellite to capture at least one image for each point-of-interest of the sub-set of points-of-interest.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining further comprises calculating velocity of the remote sensing satellite, position of the remote sensing satellite, and orbit of the remote sensing satellite at specified time intervals

3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying comprises querying a spatial database using the swath coverage of the remote sensing satellite for information corresponding to the set of points-of-interest lying within the swath coverage at the specified time interval.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the information corresponds to geographic information of the set of points-of-interest.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the satellite mission requirement comprises at least one of a user defined criteria, and a user defined constraints.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the satellite resource constraint comprises at least one of a weather constraint, a constraint associated with memory of the remote sensing satellite, and a constraint associated with power supply of the remote sensing satellite.

7. A system for automatically planning and scheduling a remote sensing satellite mission from a ground station at a specified time interval, the system comprising:

a satellite tracker for determining a swath coverage of the satellite at the specified time interval; and

a mission planner adaptively coupled to the satellite tracker, wherein the mission planner is configured to;

identify a set of points-of-interest lying within the swath coverage of the remote sensing satellite at the specified time interval;

associate a goodness factor to each point-of interest based on a satellite mission requirement, wherein a goodness factor associated with a point-of-interest indicates utility level of the point-of-interest with respect to the remote sensing satellite mission;

select a sub-set of points-of-interest from the set of points-of-interest based on a satellite resource constraint and a corresponding goodness factor associated with each point-of-interest using an artificial intelligence searching algorithm; and

schedule the remote sensing satellite to capture at least one image for each point-of-interest of the sub-set of points-of-interest.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the satellite tracker is further configured to calculate velocity of the remote sensing satellite, position of the remote sensing satellite, and orbit of the remote sensing satellite.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the mission planner is further configured to query a spatial database using the swath coverage of the remote sensing satellite for information corresponding to the set of points-of-interest lying within the swath coverage at the specified time interval.