CFOSAT Orbit
The CFOSAT orbit is repetitive with a 13-day cycle, sun-synchronous, at an altitude of 520 km and a inclination of 97.4°.
Localisation of Measurements: To identify the SWIM data to use for specific areas, a localization tool using google earth is available: download the user manual with the Google Earth CFOSAT file and the txt file giving the UTC starting dates of each cycle. The combined use of these two files allows the computation of CFOSAT passes over dates and times, within five to ten minutes’ precision, which should be sufficient for product selection or for campaign preparation.
Orbit requirements
A global coverage and a more frequent sampling lead to a good compromise on the repetitivity at 13 days.
The inclination allows a sun-synchronous orbit in order to minimize tides aliasing and monitor main water bodies on continents.
Orbit parameters
| Main characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Semi-major axis | 6891.984 km |
| Eccentricity | 0.000123 |
| Inclination (non-sun-synchronous) | 97.4779° |
| Argument of perigee | 90° |
| Auxiliary data | |
| Reference altitude (equatorial) | 520 km |
| Nodal period | 94.9 min |
| Repeat cycle | 13 days |
| Ground track separation at Equator | 2645 km |
| Number of revolutions per day | 15 + 2/13 |
Video showing CFOSAT ground tracks and ground stations.
Past missions 
