Task Scheduling for Geosynchronous Surveillance Using Radar Array

This study proposes a task scheduling method dedicated to fast patrol of geosynchronous surveillance airspace and observation of the satellites inside it using a reflector radar array. Satellite movement time, antenna movement time (point to target) and dwell time (target observation) are considered in modeling, which makes the problem time-dependent. The large surveillance airspace is divided into several sub-airspaces in terms of the distribution of target satellites, while the scheduling of each sub-airspace is performed seriatim following a certain direction. Genetic algorithm (GA) with some modifications is employed to solve the scheduling problem and optimize the patrol time of every single sub-airspace, so as to obtain the optimized total patrol time of the whole surveillance airspace. Simulation is carried out for validation. A notional radar array comprising 5 reflector radars is utilized to conduct a fast patrol of the surveillance airspace that span 20°S~20°N and 110°E~180°E. The results show that: all observation tasks, i.e., the 189 geosynchronous satellites within the surveillance airspace, are evenly distributed to each radar, while the total patrol time is diminished to 490 seconds, which proves the efficacy of the developed scheduling method in geosynchronous surveillance.