ON THE FEASIBILITY OF APPLYING ORBITAL CORRECTIONS TO SAOCOM-1 DATA WITH FREE OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE (FOSS) TO GENERATE DIGITAL SURFACE MODELS: A CASE STUDY IN ARGENTINA

In this work we present an orbital correction workflow developed with FOSS tools to compensate for orbital errors present in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) interferograms. The technique is tested in forested areas in Argentina, using full polarimetric images from the argentinean SAR constellation SAOCOM-1 (Satélite Argentino Con Microondas). The results are contrasted with field measurements of canopy height provided by local producers, and the results show that the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of the satellite measurements is significantly reduced after the orbital correction. Moreover, forest plantation become more distinguishable in the retrieved Digital Surface Models, especially in those pairs with larger spatial baseline. A section of this article is also dedicated to the discussion on which are the best parameters to run the module, and how different configurations can affect the result.

Isolated frontosphenoidal synostosis: a rare cause of synostotic frontal plagiocephaly

Object Unilateral fusion of the frontoparietal suture is the most common cause of synostotic frontal plagiocephaly. Localized fusion of the frontosphenoidal suture is rare but can lead to a similar, but subtly distinct, phenotype. Methods A retrospective chart review of the authors' craniofacial database was performed. Patients with isolated frontosphenoidal synostosis on CT imaging were included. Demographic data, as well as the clinical and radiographic findings, were recorded. Results Three patients were identified. All patients were female and none had an identifiable syndrome. Head circumference was normal in each patient. The mean age at presentation was 4.8 months (range 2.0–9.8 months); 2 fusions were on the right side. Frontal flattening and recession of the supraorbital rim on the fused side were consistent physical findings. No patient had appreciable facial angulation or orbital dystopia, and 2 patients had anterior displacement of the ipsilateral ear. All 3 patients were initially misdiagnosed with unilateral coronal synostosis, and CT imaging at a mean age of 5.4 months (range 2.1–10.8 months) was required to secure the correct diagnosis. Computed tomography findings included patency of the frontoparietal suture, minor to no anterior cranial base angulation, and vertical flattening of the orbit without sphenoid wing elevation on the fused side. One patient underwent CT scanning at 2.1 months of age, which demonstrated a narrow, but patent, frontosphenoidal suture. The patient's condition was assumed to be a deformational process, and she underwent 6 months of unsuccessful helmet therapy. A repeat CT scan obtained at 10.7 months of age demonstrated the synostosis. All 3 patients underwent fronto-orbital correction at mean age of 12.1 months (range 7.8–16.1 months). The mean duration of postoperative follow-up was 11.7 months (range 1.9–23.9 months). Conclusions Isolated frontosphenoidal synostosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of atypical frontal plagiocephaly.

Effects of the Eccentricity of a Perturbing Third Body on the Orbital Correction Maneuvers of a Spacecraft

The fuel consumption required by the orbital maneuvers when correcting perturbations on the orbit of a spacecraft due to a perturbing body was estimated. The main goals are the measurement of the influence of the eccentricity of the perturbing body on the fuel consumption required by the station keeping maneuvers and the validation of the averaged methods when applied to the problem of predicting orbital maneuvers. To study the evolution of the orbits, the restricted elliptic three-body problem and the single- and double-averaged models are used. Maneuvers are made by using impulsive and low thrust maneuvers. The results indicated that the averaged models are good to make predictions for the orbital maneuvers when the spacecraft is in a high inclined orbit. The eccentricity of the perturbing body plays an important role in increasing the effects of the perturbation and the fuel consumption required for the station keeping maneuvers. It is shown that the use of more frequent maneuvers decreases the annual cost of the station keeping to correct the orbit of a spacecraft. An example of an eccentric planetary system of importance to apply the present study is the dwarf planet Haumea and its moons, one of them in an eccentric orbit.

Low-Thrust Out-of-Plane Orbital Station-Keeping Maneuvers for Satellites

This paper considers the problem of out of plane orbital maneuvers for station keeping of satellites. The main idea is to consider that a satellite is in an orbit around the Earth and that it has its orbit is disturbed by one or more forces. Then, it is necessary to perform a small amplitude orbital correction to return the satellite to its original orbit, to keep it performing its mission. A low thrust propulsion is used to complete this task. It is important to search for solutions that minimize the fuel consumption to increase the lifetime of the satellite. To solve this problem a hybrid optimal control approach is used. The accuracy of the satisfaction of the constraints is considered, in order to try to decrease the fuel expenditure by taking advantage of this freedom. This type of problem presents numerical difficulties and it is necessary to adjust parameters, as well as details of the algorithm, to get convergence. In this versions of the algorithm that works well for planar maneuvers are usually not adequate for the out of plane orbital corrections. In order to illustrate the method, some numerical results are presented.

On-the-Fly Prediction of Orbit Corrections for RTK Positioning

In this study, a method is presented to maintain real-time positioning at the decimetre-level accuracy during breaks in reception of the measurement corrections from multiple reference stations. The method is implemented at the rover by estimating prediction coefficients of the corrections during normal RTK positioning, and uses these coefficients to predict the corrections when reception of the corrections is temporarily lost. The paper focuses on one segment of this method, the on-the-fly prediction of orbital corrections. Frequently, only a few minutes of data representing short orbit ‘arcs’ are available to the user before losing radio transmission. Thus, it would be hard for the rover to predict the satellite positions using equations of motion. An alternative method is proposed. In this method, GPS orbital corrections are predicted as a time series and are added to the initial positions computed from the broadcast ephemeris to compute relatively accurate satellite positions. Different prediction approaches were investigated. Results show that the double exponential smoothing method and Winters' method can be successfully applied. The latter, however, has a better performance. The impact of the data length used for estimation of the prediction coefficients and the selection of seasonal lengths in Winters' method were investigated and some values were recommended. In general, the method can give orbital correction estimation accuracy of less than 5 cm after 15 minutes of prediction. This will result in a positioning accuracy better than 5 cm.