Quad-Tree Visual-Calculus Analysis of Satellite Coverage

An improved method of analysis of coverage of areas of the Earth by a constellation of radio-communication or scientific-observation satellites has been developed. This method is intended to supplant an older method in which the global-coverage- analysis problem is solved from a ground-to-satellite perspective. The older method is suitable for coarse-grained analysis of coverage of a constellation of a few satellites, but the algorithms of the older method are too slow and cumbersome for the large scope of the problem of analysis of coverage of a modern constellation of many satellites intended to provide global coverage all the time. In contrast, the present method provides for rapid and efficient analysis. This method is derived from a satellite-to-ground perspective and involves a unique combination of two techniques for multiresolution representation of map features on the surface of a sphere.