The OrbitTools Libraries
NORAD SGP4/SDP4 Implementations in C++ and C#
by
Michael F. Henry

Track Library C++ Source Code Example #2
 

//
// This program illustrates how to use the OrbitTools Track Library to
// create a set of LAT/LON points that represent a satellite ground
// track.
// 
// Copyright © 2014 Michael F. Henry
// 2014-07-04
//

#include "stdafx.h"

// These header file provide access to the main functionality
// of the OrbitTools software libraries.
#include "coreLib.h"
#include "orbitLib.h"
#include "trackLib.h"

using namespace Zeptomoby::OrbitTools::Track::Tracks;

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
   // Create the TLE object and a satellite object
   string line0 = "GPS BIIF-2  (PRN 01)";
   string line1 = "1 37753U 11036A   12043.26600496  .00000050  00000-0  00000+0 0  1793";
   string line2 = "2 37753  55.0122 178.4391 0003903  34.9135 325.0832  2.00565114  4219";

   cTle tle(line0, line1, line2);
   cSatellite sat(tle, cWgs84::Instance());

   // The times t1 and t2 are the start/stop times of the ground track
   cJulian t1(2012, 02, 14, 1, 30); // UTC: 2012-02-14 01:30
   cJulian t2 = t1;

   t2.AddSec(sat.Orbit().Period());

   // There are several overloads of the GroundTrack() method, to allow:
   //    - Specifying times with cJulian objects;
   //    - Specifying times with minutes-past-epoch values;
   //    - Obtaining LAT/LON points that are equally-spaced in distance;
   //    - Obtaining LAT/LON points that are equally-spaced in time.
   // In this example a list of ground track points are created for the
   // time window t1..t2 with a distance spacing of 100 kilometers.
   vector<cGeoTime> points = GroundTrack(sat, t1, t2, 100.0);

   printf("Total number of ground track points: %d\n", points.size());

   for (const cGeoTime& pt : points)
   {
      double lat = pt.LatitudeDeg();   // negative values = south
      double lon = pt.LongitudeDeg();  // negative values = west

      printf("%.3f, %.3f\n", lat, lon);
   }
   
	return 0;

// Program output:
//
// Total number of ground track points: 309
// -29.767, 215.922
// -30.633, 216.230
// -31.489, 216.553
// -32.341, 216.892
// -33.188, 217.250
//    ( output truncated... )
// -26.768, 34.984
// -27.639, 35.239
// -28.507, 35.507
// -29.372, 35.790
// -29.776, 35.928
//
}


Return to Track Library Resources

Copyright  © 2014 Michael F. Henry.