The Ground Vehicle Object

The Ground Vehicle object models the properties and behavior of a vehicle that travels on the surface of the earth. Select one or more of the following to model a ground vehicle, impose constraints, and define the ground vehicle's subobjects:

Basic Properties

Property Description
Route Define the ground vehicle's route using one the following propagators:
Attitude Define an attitude profile for the ground vehicle.
Lighting Define the eclipse central body list used for lighting computations.
Ground Ellipses Add a set of ellipses for the ground vehicle.
Description Record useful information about the ground vehicle.
EOIR Shape Specify EOIR image generation properties for the ground vehicle. This works with STK's Electro-Optical Infrared (EOIR) capability.

2D Graphics Properties

Property Description
Attributes Define color, line style, and other graphics characteristics for the ground vehicle, and choose whether to inherit or override global attributes defined at the scenario level.
Route Define the graphical display of the ground vehicle in the 2D Graphics window.
Range Define range contours representing the various regions of the surface that can see an object at the specified level.
Lighting Define the graphical display of lighting conditions for the ground vehicle during animation.
Ground Ellipses Set display graphics for an ellipse set defined for the ground vehicle.
Radar Cross Section Define the 2D contour graphics for the desired frequency.

3D Graphics Properties

Property Description
Route Define route properties for the ground vehicle.
Attitude Sphere The Attitude Sphere is a visualization aid that, when combined with vector display, constitutes a powerful tool for displaying the ground vehicle's attitude and for tracking attitude changes over time.
Vector Control the display of vectors and other geometric elements related to the ground vehicle.
Covariance Define the graphical display of a 3D ellipsoid.
Model Specify a model to represent the ground vehicle in the 3D Graphics window and then scale the model and adjust the position of any model articulations.
Offsets Position a model and marker representing the ground vehicle in the 3D Graphics window by offsetting the object from its reference frame.
Model Pointing Point parts of the ground vehicle model toward a target, such as the Sun or Earth.
Range Display range contours for the ground vehicle. Range contours display in accordance with the values set for 2D Graphics Range Contours for the ground vehicle.
Data Display Display dynamic data for the ground vehicle in the 3D Graphics window.
Ground Ellipses Set display graphics for an ellipse set defined for the ground vehicle.
Radar Cross Section Control the 3D display of RCS contour lines.

Constraints

Property Description
Basic Impose a variety of standard access constraints (azimuth and elevation angle and rate, range and range rate, propagation delay, etc.) from the ground vehicle to another object.
Sun Impose a variety of access constraints from the vehicle to another object based on the position of the Sun and the Moon.
Temporal Impose time-based access constraints from the vehicle to another object.
Targeting Define the relationship between the ground vehicle and its target.
Vector Constrain access computations with respect to any valid vector or angle.
Special Special access constraints are defined in terms of geostationary belt exclusion, height above horizon, terrain grazing angle, and exclusion of other scenario objects.
Search/Track

Radar Search/Track Constraints property pages enable you to enter minimum and maximum values for several parameters. You can also choose from the following Doppler options:

  • Search/Track. These parameters correspond to the radar's main channel. These parameters account for the polarization mismatch, if you select polarization on the Basic Polarization page.
  • ST w/Jamming. These parameters correspond to the main channel radar receiver that is under the influence of jamming. When the radar receiver polarization is set and the jammers are polarized, the search/track parameters take polarization mismatch into account. Most of these parameters are re-computed under the impact of jamming on the radar receiver main channel. For more information on the effects of jamming on constraints, see Constraints with Jamming.
  • S/T OrthoPol. These parameters correspond to the radar's orthogonal polarization channel.
  • S/T OrthoPolJam. These parameters correspond to the radar's orthogonal polarization channel under the threat of jamming.

You can extend the STK Radar SAR computation and constraints with the Search/Track plugin constraint. See Search/Track User Plugin.

SAR

SAR property pages enable you to impose certain constraints on synthetic aperture (SAR) radar.

  • SAR. These parameters correspond to the main channel (SAR).
  • SAR w/Jamming. These parameters correspond to the main channel under jamming. For more information on the effects of jamming on constraints, see Constraints with Jamming.
  • SAR OrthoPol. These parameters are enabled when you select the receiver side orthogonal polarization.
  • SAR OrthoPolJam. These parameters are enabled when you select the receiver side orthogonal polarization. For more information on the effects of jamming on constraints, see Constraints with Jamming.

You can extend the STK Radar SAR computation and constraints with the Search/Track plugin constraint. See SAR User Plugin.

Plugins An interface is available for defining custom constraints in terms of user-supplied scripts created in VBScript and MATLAB.

RF Properties

Property Description
Environment Apply environmental factors that affect the performance of a communications link or a radar system.
Radar Cross Section Specify the radar cross section (RCS) parameters.

LASER Properties

Property Description
Environment Apply environmental factors that affect the performance of a laser communications link.

Subobjects

You can attach the following subobjects to a Ground Vehicle: