Systematic Tasking

Systematic tasking allows users to request continuous satellite coverage over an area of interest. Unlike Automated Tasking, which aims to cover an area with the minimum number of activities needed to meet a target, systematic tasking instructs the optimisation system to schedule as many activities as possible that meet the user's constraints over the given acquisition window. This makes it well suited to applications that benefit from frequent revisits, such as environmental monitoring, change detection, and time-series analysis.

Systematic tasking requests are always one-off (not recurrent). They follow a similar submission flow to automated requests, including a feasibility check and a pricing step before the request is confirmed.

Draw an area of interest

Before selecting a tasking mode, draw the area of interest on the map. Once the area has been defined, select the "Systematic" button to begin configuring a systematic tasking request.

Configure tasking constraints

Constraints define the conditions that the optimisation system must respect when scheduling activities. For systematic requests the following constraint types are supported:

• Acquisition Date: Defines the start and end of the acquisition window. This constraint is mandatory — a systematic request cannot be submitted without it.
• Sun Zenith Angle (SZA): The angle between the ground zenith vector and the sun vector at the observation point. Setting this to 0–90° ensures acquisitions always occur in daylight.
• Observation Zenith Angle (OZA): The angle between the satellite vector and the local zenith measured at the observation point. Lower OZA values improve image quality; higher values increase area coverage.
• Roll Angle: Restricts the off-nadir roll angle used during acquisition. Tighter roll angle limits result in more nadir-pointing acquisitions.
• Cloud Cover: Sets the maximum acceptable cloud coverage percentage (0–100%). Opportunities that exceed this threshold are excluded.

All constraints are applied globally across all selected satellites and instruments.

Select the acquisition date window

Use the calendar view to set the start and end dates of the acquisition window. The end date must be in the future. The optimisation system will schedule as many qualifying passes as possible within this window.

Select satellite platform

Select the satellites and instruments to task from the dropdown menus. Multiple satellites and instruments from the same satellite can be selected. After selecting the desired satellite and instrument, click Add to include it in the request.

Price estimate

Before submitting the request, a price estimate is generated based on the expected number of acquisition opportunities within the configured window. The estimate shows:

• Estimated total: The total price for the full acquisition window.
• Price per month: A monthly breakdown of the estimated cost.

This is an estimate only. The final price is confirmed at the payment step.

Request summary and feasibility check

Once the configuration is complete, select the "Request" button to proceed to the request summary overlay. Here you can review the selected constraints, acquisition window, instrument details, and the price estimate before confirming.

A feasibility check runs automatically at this stage. While it is in progress, a loading spinner is shown and the "Continue to Payment" button is disabled.

If the feasibility check fails, an overlay displays the reason and may suggest actions to make the request feasible, such as extending the acquisition window or relaxing a constraint.

If the feasibility check passes, the "Continue to Payment" button becomes available. Selecting it submits the request and redirects to the payment page. Payment is taken at this point.

After submission

Once payment is confirmed the request moves to Pending status. Open Cosmos will schedule activities to fulfil the request over the acquisition window. Activities appear as they are confirmed.

A systematic request is not marked as fulfilled or failed based on individual activity outcomes alone. Instead, the final status is determined when the acquisition window end date is reached:

• Fulfilled: All scheduled activities were delivered successfully.
• Partially Fulfilled: Some activities were delivered; others failed or were cancelled.
• Failed: No activities were successfully delivered.
• Cancelled: The request was cancelled by the user or the system.

The list of submitted requests and their current status can be viewed from the existing tasking requests panel by opening the dropdown in the top-left and selecting "Existing".

If there is an issue with creating tasking requests, please contact the DataCosmos helpdesk at: datacosmos-help@opencosmos.odoo.com

Where to next