Low-density Constellation Design of LEO CubeSatellite for Fog Monitoring and Other Agricultural Applications in Regions of Interest

Continuous real-time monitoring of specific regions through satellite is a highly sought-after technology due to its minimal maintenance needs, ability to monitor remote areas, and other diverse potential applications. Traditionally, GEO stationary satellites were used for this purpose. However, they involve complex technologies and are difficult to deploy. Recently, preference has shifted towards LEO CubeSats due to the ease of deployment and lower costs involved. Nevertheless, large constellations of these CubeSats are required to provide coverage of specific regions due to their short orbital periods, making coverage challenging. In this paper, we propose a low-density constellation of CubeSats, that are not only cost-effective but also provide near-continuous coverage with a revisit time of less than one hour. Our proposed constellation provides coverage of 91030.85 km<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> area with 12 satellites, each costing under USD 250,000. The application of satellite is focused on fog monitoring of the Central Punjab region of Pakistan.