PHYSICS PROJECT

GEOSTAIONARY And POLAR SATELLITES

Name: Nishra Keshav

Class: XI-B
Roll NO: 9
Satellite is a heavenly body which revolving rounds the planet in a particular orbit from a
fixed point at approximately 35786km above the earth’s surface. A single geostationary
satellite is on a line of sight with about 40 percent of the earth's surface. Three such
satellites, each separated by 120 degrees of longitude, can provide coverage of the entire
planet, with the exception of small circular regions centered at the north and south
geographic poles. It provides the kind of continuous monitoring necessary for intensive
data analysis.

INTRODUCTION:
The heavenly body which revolving round the planet in the particular orbit is called
satellite. There are two types of satellite in nature.
a) Natural Satellite
b) Artificial Satellite
The satellite which creates automatically in nature is called natural satellite. For example,
Moon. The satellite which is created by human beings is called Artificial Satellite. For
example, Geo stationary satellite. GEO satellites primary purpose is weather imagery to
optimize forecasting. In addition to weather imagery, these satellites include
instrumentation used in environmental monitoring communications via a relay system. A
satellite in geosynchronous (or geostationary) are positioned a fixed point at
approximately 35,786 kilometers (19,323 nautical miles or 22,241 statute miles) above
the earth's surface. At this fixed height, the satellite matches the Earth’s rotation speed
and allows the satellites a full-disc view at a stationary position. To stay over the same
spot on earth, a geostationary satellite also has to be directly above the equator.
Otherwise, from the earth the satellite would appear to move in a north-south line every
day. A single geostationary satellite is on a line of sight with about 40 percent of the
earth's surface. Three such satellites, each separated by 120 degrees of longitude, can
provide coverage of the entire planet, with the exception of small circular regions
centered at the north and south geographic poles. A geostationary satellite can be
accessed using a directional antenna, usually a small dish, aimed at the spot in the sky
where the satellite appears to hover. The principal advantage of this type of satellite is
the fact that an earthbound directional antenna can be aimed and then left in position
without further adjustment. Another advantage is the fact that because highly directional
antennas can be used, interference from surface-based sources, and from other satellites,
is minimized.

GEO-STATIONARY SATELLITE:
A Geo-Stationary Satellite is any satellite which is placed in a geo-stationary orbit.
Satellites in geostationary orbit maintain a constant position relative to the surface of the
earth. Geostationary Satellites do this by orbiting the earth approximately 22,300 miles
above the equator. This orbital path is called the Clarke Belt, in honor of Arthur C. Clarke.
Its latitude stays at zero and its longitude remains constant. The typical service life
expectancy of a geostationary satellite is ten to fifteen years. As geostationary satellites
circle the earth at equator, they are not able to provide coverage at the Northernmost
and Southernmost latitudes. They are often referred to Geosynchronous or GEO.

It is classified in 3 parts:
1) LEO (Lower Earth Orbit)
2) MEO (Medium Earth Orbit)
3) GEO (Geostationary Orbit)
 LEO is 500-2000km above the earth
 MEO is 8000 – 20000km above the earth
 GEO is 35786 km above the earth

History:
The first appearance of a geostationary orbit in popular literature was in the first Venus
Equilateral story by George O. Smith, but Smith did not go into details. British science
fiction author Arthur C. Clarke disseminated the idea widely, with more details on how it
would work, in a 1945 paper entitled "Extra-Terrestrial Relays — Can Rocket Stations Give
Worldwide Radio Coverage?", published in Wireless World magazine. Clarke
acknowledged the connection in his introduction to The Complete Venus Equilateral. The
orbit, which Clarke first described as useful for broadcast and relay communications
satellites, is sometimes called the Clarke Orbit. Similarly, the Clarke Belt is the part of space
about 35,786 km (22,236 mi) above sea level, in the plane of the equator, where near-
geostationary orbits may be implemented. The Clarke Orbit is about 265,000 km
(165,000 mi) in circumference.

ADVANTAGAES:
1) High coverage area
2) Five geostationary satellites are enough to cover all regions of the earth.
3) One ground segments is enough for satellite monitoring
4) No problem with frequency changes
DIS-ADVANTAGAES:

1) Polar regions are not observed

2) They can’t see North and South poles
3) Limited use for greater than 60-70 degrees of North and South
4) Weak signal after travelling over 35,000 km.
5) Signal sending delay

Applications:

1) Telecommunication: worldwide operational telecommunication systems for

telephones, TV and digitized transmission lines.
2) ARMY
3) Alarm systems: detection of rocket launches
4) Geostationary Satellites are also commonly used for communications and
weather- observation.

Polar Satellite:
Polar was launched on February 24, 1996 by NASA in the Global Geospacer Science
project. It is the second satellite to be launched in that project. Polar is an atmospheric
studies satellite in polar orbit with an orbital period of 18 hours. The Polar satellite's
mission is expected to last 1.5 years. Polar carries several different instruments, and has
many different scientific studies to perform. One purpose of Polar is to gather information
that will help scientists protect future satellites from radiation and other atmospheric
dangers. Since the satellite is flying in the upper atmosphere, there is some concern that
the satellite's instruments may be affected in some way or damaged by the sun's harmful
radiation. One of the main atmospheric studies experiments on board the Polar satellite
is called the TIDE/PSI investigation. It is designed to observe ions in the Earth's
atmosphere, especially in the polar regions. These observations include measurements of
the partial pressure, wind velocity, and temperature of the ions. These ions include
hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, oxygen, and molecules of these species and their
compounds. These ionized gases make up what scientists call the plasma environment.
An example of a plasma is the extremely hot atmosphere of the Sun. That is, it is a gas
consisting of charged particles (mostly electrons and protons). The plasma being studied
by Polar is made up of ionized gases in the magnetosphere. Relatively low energy/high
density ionospheric plasmas and the higher energy/lower density plasmas are associated
with geomagnetic activity. This geomagnetic activity causes storm-like conditions in space
that can be dangerous to spacecraft. Polar's job, therefore, is to collect data that will help
engineers design future spacecraft that will be able to withstand the electromagnetic
activity in space. Polar's most notable recent achievement occurred when physicist Dr.
Louis Frank of the University of Iowa used images collected by Polar to support a theory
that "comet-like objects" of about 10 meters in diameter are hitting the Earth's
atmosphere and releasing nearly pure water as they break apart into larger clouds. These
"comet-like-objects", if they exist, will be the focus of much further study regarding their
chemical make-up. These "objects" could possibly have an effect on science's
understanding of the sources of water on the Earth, and the water cycle of the
atmosphere. Many scientists have recently joined Dr. Frank in encouraging NASA to
launch a satellite dedicated specifically to studying this phenomenon.

Applications of Polar Satellite:

A polar orbiting satellite closely parallels the earth's meridian lines, thus having a highly
inclined orbit close to 90°. It passes over the north and south poles each revolution. As
the earth rotates to the east beneath the satellite, each pass monitors an area to the west
of the previous pass at intervals of roughly 90 to 100 minutes. These strips can be pieced
together to produce a picture of a larger area.

1) monitoring the weather

2) observing the Earth’s surface
3) military uses including spying

Advantage: Polar satellites have the advantage of photographing clouds directly beneath
them. They also circle at a much lower altitude (about 850 km) providing more detailed
information about violent storms and cloud systems.

Difference between Polar and Geostationary

Satellite:
POLAR SATELLITE:
These satellites are mainly situated up to 200km to 2000km from the earth’s surface.
Some of the examples of polar satellites are PSLV, ASLV etc.
Main functions of polar satellites
 land mapping: polar satellites are used for land mapping and the availability of
useful land on the earth. In India for that CORTOSAT 1a is responsible for land
mapping. Also CORTOSAT 1b which gives info about agricultural aspects. some
other satellites which are involved in this are CORTOSAT 2.

 disaster management: After the disaster of Uttarakhand GOI launched a satellite

named SARSAT (save and rescue satellite). The main purpose of SARSAT was to find
missing people.

GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE:
The satellites which are located 20000 to 36000 km away from the surface of earth.
Main functions are:
 telecommunication
 navigation