| The goal of this interdisciplinary research is to design a mapping satellite system (to be named SULTAN) for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and its neighboring regions and to prove its mapping feasibility by a simulation study. SULTAN will be equipped with state-of-the-art imaging, positioning, and attitude determination technology that is either currently available or will be available in the near future. The satellite system should provide the users with spatial data capable of producing maps and map substitutes of scale 1:25,000 without the need for ground control.;Two options are suggested and analyzed--a system of one satellite or of two satellites. In the case of a one-satellite system, a threefold stereoscopic line scanner sensor will be investigated. The second mapping system consists of two satellites, both equipped in a similar manner. The orbits of both satellites are similarly inclined and separated by about 2.6 degrees in the right ascension of their ascending nodes. With this configuration, a specific scene can be covered by six images, three from each satellite.;The orbits of the system will be as low as possible, sun-synchronous, minimum-drift orbits, and nearly circular. The positions of the satellites will be determined by onboard GPS receivers, while the sensors' attitude will be determined by stellar sensors.;The general form of the collinearity equation is used, in which a linear and higher-order functions interpolate between orientation images, to relate image coordinates, sensor parameters, and ground coordinates.;The point positioning accuracy is investigated by a variance-covariance analysis to ensure that the required accuracy is achieved. The two systems were tested by means of several simulation experiments. The effects of different geometric configurations, image coordinate accuracies, and orientation parameter accuracies were studied.;The inability of the two-satellite system to determine the rotation parameters of the orientation images (relative orientation) is investigated. Both systems yield accuracy sufficient for the production of 1:25,000 maps. |
