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Add optional solar beta angle to collect orbit track #131

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Merged
ptgrogan merged 2 commits into from
Oct 15, 2025
Merged

Add optional solar beta angle to collect orbit track #131

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933a784
initial implementation (untested)
ptgrogan Jul 9, 2025
fa3f13e
files reformatted with black
Sep 12, 2025
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12 changes: 12 additions & 0 deletions src/tatc/analysis/track.py
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
import geopandas as gpd
from skyfield.api import wgs84
from skyfield.framelib import itrs
from skyfield.functions import angle_between

from shapely.geometry import (
Polygon,
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -88,6 +89,7 @@ def collect_orbit_track(
orbit_output: OrbitOutput = OrbitOutput.POSITION,
sat_sunlit: bool = False,
solar_altaz: bool = False,
solar_beta: bool = False,
) -> gpd.GeoDataFrame:
"""
Collect orbit track points for a satellite of interest.
Expand All @@ -104,6 +106,7 @@ def collect_orbit_track(
orbit_output (OrbitOutput): The output option.
sat_sunlit (bool): `True` to include whether the satellite is sunlit.
solar_altaz (bool): `True` to include solar altitude/azimuth angles.
solar_beta (bool): `True` to include solar beta angles.

Returns:
geopandas.GeoDataFrame: The data frame of collected orbit track results.
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -219,6 +222,15 @@ def collect_orbit_track(
)
track["solar_alt"] = solar_altaz[0].degrees
track["solar_az"] = solar_altaz[1].degrees
if solar_beta:
# append solar beta column
# based on https://github.com/skyfielders/python-skyfield/issues/1054
plane_normal = np.cross(
orbit_track.position.m, orbit_track.velocity.m_per_s, axis=0
)
sun = de421["earth"].at(orbit_track.t).observe(de421["sun"]).position.m
beta = np.pi / 2 - angle_between(plane_normal, sun)
track["solar_beta"] = np.degrees(beta)
if mask is not None:
track = gpd.clip(track, mask).reset_index(drop=True)
return track
Expand Down