Earth conical shadow modeling for LEO satellite using reference frame transformation technique: A comparative study with existing earth conical shadow models

In this article, we propose an Earth conical shadow model predicting umbra and penumbra states for the low Earth orbiting satellite considering the spherical shape of the Earth. The model is described using the umbra and penumbra cone geometries of the Earth's shadow and the geometrical equations of these conical shadow regions into a Sun centered frame. The proposed model is simulated for three polar Sun-synchronous Indian Remote Sensing satellites: Cartosat-2A, Resourcesat-2 and Oceansat-2. The proposed model compares well with the existing spherical Earth conical shadow models such as those given by Vallado (2013), Wertz (2002), Hubaux et al. (2012), and Srivastava et al. (2013, 2014). An assessment is carried out of the existing Earth conical shadow models with Systems Tool Kit (STK), a high fidelity commercial software package of Analytic Graphic Inc., and the real time telemetry data.