Visual
SAT-Flare Tracker 3D
1.0 SATELLITE MODELLING AND FLARE TRACKING
This
section shows how to model the surface of a common stabilized satellite
in order to track its flares. Assuming that, the satellite to be
modelled is already displayed around the globe and that a flare
has been observed, the following steps show how to model its surface
and how to generate the visibility ground track for future flares:
- Make sure that the observer coordinates correspond to those of the site from where the satellite has been observed flaring.
- By means of either the Time Control frame or the Keyboard set the program time to the moment of the observed flare.
- Activate the flare plotting function, by means of the Show Satellite Flares/Shadows option in the Tracking menu bar item, or simply by pressing the [I] key on the main graphical Work Window.
- Activate the Show Flaring Surface ID option in the Tracking menu bar item, to see the name of the flaring surfaces
- Open the Satellite Surface Modelling window by means of the Model Satellite Surface entry in the Tracking menu bar item.
- Choose the correct satellite orientation by means of the Satellite Orientation frame. If the orientation is not known, first try with the Vertical, along Track option (the actual satellite orientation may not be supported by the program).
- Add a mirror to the satellite's surface model by clicking on the Add Mirror button in the Satellite Surfaces frame. The new surface will appear in the list of that frame along with the UM1 default name and the current program time.
- If desired, assign a new name to the created surface editing the Mirror Name field in the Surface Parameters frame.
- Orient
the new surface in order to have the reflected light right on the
observer site. To achieve this, use one of the following modes:
- enter manually the surface angles in the Angle/RA and Tilt/DEC fields
- adjust the Angle/RA and Tilt/DEC values by means of the first two sliders of the Mirror Trimming frame
- simply click on the Auto Orient Mirror to Flare button and let the program compute the correct angle values
- Check on the main graphical Work Window that the reflected ray impacts the
ground exactly on the observer site. If it does, the distance
indicator should mark 0 km next to the flare representation, as shown in the following picture:

- It
is now possible to predict the visibility ground track, which is the
track on the ground where the flare will take place. To see such a
track, enable the Show Flare/Transit Tracks in the Tracking menu bar item.
- If day-time tracks are requested as well, make sure the Include Day-Time Tracks option in the Tracking menu bar item appear selected.
- The ground
track is usually generated for a whole orbit, but if a different
interval is requested, simply adjust the Orbit Turn parameter in the Orbit Plotting frame.
- If the track has to be shown by means of the Google Earth / Google Maps applications, simply export the track by means of the Export Flare/Transit Track command in the Tracking menu bar item. The exported file will be saved into the working directory with the name Track.kml.
To publish the model, or just to send it to another observer, please export the model by means of the Export Model button at the right of the Satellite Surface Modelling window and then copy and past the printed text.
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By
Simone Corbellini
