Covariance Analysis Study for KOMPSAT Attitude Determination System

The attitude knowledge error model is formulated for specifically KOMPSAT attitude determination system using the Lefferts/Markley/Shuster method, and the attitude determination(AD) error analysis is performed so as to investgate the on-board attitude determination capability of KOrea Multi-Purpose SATellite(KOMPSAT) using the covariance analysis method. Analysis results show there is almost no initial value effect on Attitude Determination (AD) error and the sensor noise effects on AD error are drastically decreased as is predicted because of the inherent characteristic of Kalman filter structure. However, it shows that the earth radiance effect of IR-sensor(earth sensor) and the bias effects of both IR-sensor and fine sun sensor are the dominant factors degrading AD error and gyro rate bias estimate error in AD system. Analysis results show that the attitude determination errors of roll, pitch and yaw axes are 0.056, 0.092 and 0.093 degrees, respectively. These numbers are smaller than the required values for the normal mission of KOMPSAT. Also, the selected on-orbit data of KOMPSAT is presented to demonstrate the designed AD system.