Numerical Simulations for Optimizing Small Satellite Constellations for TGF Studies

Abstract

The detection of Terrestrial Gamma ray Flashes (TGFs) from space is mostly made by astrophysics satellites, which only provide single-point measurements. Future TGF missions could consist in performing simultaneous detection by a detector array in space. In order to prepare such a scientific objective, we simulate the detection of TGFs by a nanosatellite, or small satellite, constellation. The objective is to quantify the impact of six parameters defining such a constellation, in order to maximize the scientific return of the mission. The parameters characterized in this work are the number of satellites, their relative distance, their altitude, their orbital configuration, the effective detection surface, and their orbital inclination. We use a Monte Carlo simulation code to propagate photons in the atmosphere and simulate the satellite positions and photons hits on satellites. Finally, we quantify the number of TGFs detected by the fleet, multi-detected, the number of photons received, and draw conclusions about the impact of each parameter.