中俄联合火星电离层星-星掩星探测

中俄联合火星星-星掩星探测是人类首次在火星空间环境进行此类的联合试验。用于探测火星电离层的星-星掩星技术较以前星地间的探测技术相比,有可接收高信噪比信号,反演精度高,可探测火星上太阳天顶角大于43°,或者小于138°的区域电离层等优点。本文介绍了中俄联合火星星-星掩星探测方案、基本原理,给出了主要技术指标、地面模拟测试结果。     

月球电离层掩星探测研究

日本SELENE/KAGUYA探测任务提供了研究月球电离层的机会。采用无线电掩星探测技术和趋势外推算法,消除地球电离层和行星际等离子体的干扰影响,残余的信号相位信息的变化反映了月球电离层的信息,估算出月球周围附近近似对称分布的稀薄电离层中电子总含量(TEC)约为每立方米10-14个。     

火星探测 中国深空探测新征程——第三届中国空间技术论坛勾画中国火星探测蓝图

2010年10月21日,以"火星探测"为主题的第三届中国空间技术论坛在北京召开。月球探测和火星探测,一直是深空探测的重点领域。在嫦娥-2月球探测器成功运行、拉开中国月球探测二期工程序幕之际,中国航天及相关领域专家汇聚第三届中国空间技术论坛,共同勾画了中国火星探测蓝图。作为本届论坛的主办方,中国空间技术研究院院长杨保华在致辞中表示,实施自主火星探测将是中国继探月工程后的又一个具有重要里程碑意义的重大航天活动。开展火星探测是航天技术发展的必然趋势和重要使命,也是实现中国航天跨越式发展,推动科学研究深入的重要保证。所以,必须抓住历史机遇,乘势而上,以实际行动推动中国深空探测科学研究工作的发展,为实现中国航天持续发展、建设创新型国家作出更大的贡献。     

利用COSMIC数据研究顶部电离层O+扩散流的统计特征

从等离子体运动方程出发, 利用COSMIC星座的掩星数据, 借助相关经验模式, 计算了太阳活动低年顶部电离层O+场向扩散速度和扩散通量, 并分析了其全球分布和日变化特征. 结果表明, 白天等离子体扩散速度的方向随高度增加由向下(极向)逐步变为向上(赤道向), 方向转变的高度一般在hmF2+80 km以下. 在白天较高高度, 南北磁纬10º ~20 º存在着向上方向的最大扩散速度和扩散通量; 而在夜间, 南北磁纬30º~40 º存在向下方向的最大扩散速度和扩散通量. 在分点, 南北半球的扩散通量和扩散速度大致对称; 而在至点, 扩散通量存在着明显的南北半球不对称现象. 另外, 不同纬度的扩散速度有着不同的日变化特征.     

萤火一号火星探测器轨道设计与科学探测事件分析

针对萤火一号火星探测器在2011年发射窗口的轨道进行初步设计.在此基础上,分析了萤火一号火星探测器绕火星飞行的轨道特性,预报其穿越火星弓激波和磁堆积区域、CCD相机拍照时刻,其与深空站进行星-地掩星试验和与俄罗斯Phobos-Grunt火星探测器进行星-星掩星试验的时刻.结果表明,萤火一号火星探测器在与俄罗斯Phobos-Grunt分离后一年的环火飞行时间里,存在大量的科学探测机会.     

火星探测新动态

为了进一步认识火星,科学家们在现有航天探测和天文观测的基础上提出了多种研究工作方案,有的已经开始实施。现仅就火星生命实验、火星取样研究和派人登陆火星三个方面作一简介。     

火星探测的新起点

经过 2 0 0天的飞行 ,美国航宇局(NASA)的“奥德赛” (Odyssey)火星探测器终于在 2 0 0 1年 10月 2 3日晚上 7时 2 6分以 2 10 0 0 km/ h的速度进入火星轨道。“奥德赛”探测器上的主发动机点火使其减速 ,受火星重力吸引 ,该探测器进入火星椭圆轨道。这是“奥赛德”在经过 4.5 6亿千米的长途跋涉之后第一次点燃其主发动机。进入轨道被认为是保证此次任务成功开始的三个关键步骤中的第二步。第一步是2 0 0 1年 4月 7日进行的发射 ,第三步将是为期一周的空间制动 ,逐渐降低探测器 ,然后将其送入距火星表面上空约 40 0 km的最终轨道。从 2 0 …     

风云三号C星GNOS北斗掩星电离层探测初步结果

利用风云三号卫星C星GNOS掩星探测仪电离层数据,分析了2013年10月FY-3C GNOS探测的北斗掩星电离层廓线分布,将2013年10月1日至2015年10月10日期间FY-3C GNOS观测的F₂层峰值电子密度（N_mF₂）与地面电离层测高仪观测结果进行对比,验证了FY-3C GNOS北斗电离层掩星的探测精度.结果表明,FY3-C GNOS北斗电离层掩星与电离层测高仪探测的N_mF₂数据相关系数为0.96,平均偏差为10.21%,标准差为19.61%.在不同情况下其数据精度有如下特征：白天精度高于夜晚;夏季精度高于分季,分季精度高于冬季;中纬地区精度高于低纬地区,低纬地区精度高于高纬地区; BDS倾斜同步轨道（IGSO）卫星精度高于同步轨道（GEO）卫星和中轨道（MEO）卫星.FY-3C GNOS北斗电离层掩星与国际上其他掩星电离层数据精度的一致性对GNSS掩星探测资料的综合利用具有重大意义.     

首届中俄联合探测火星科学研讨会在莫斯科召开

<正>第一届中俄联合探测火星国际学术研讨会于2010年3月16—18日在莫斯科召开,会议由俄罗斯科学院空间科学研究所主办。参加研讨会的中方研究人员来自中国科学院空间科学与应用研究中心、上海天文台和中国航天科技集团公司八院。俄方参会人员分别来自俄罗斯科学院空间研究所、无线电电子学所、俄罗斯航天局莫动特种设计局和拉沃其金科研生产联合体等。此外,瑞典与荷兰的科学家也参加了会议。     

Characterisation of residual ionospheric errors in bending angles using GNSS RO end-to-end simulations

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio occultation (RO) is an innovative meteorological remote sensing technique for measuring atmospheric parameters such as refractivity, temperature, water vapour and pressure for the improvement of numerical weather prediction (NWP) and global climate monitoring (GCM). GNSS RO has many unique characteristics including global coverage, long-term stability of observations, as well as high accuracy and high vertical resolution of the derived atmospheric profiles. One of the main error sources in GNSS RO observations that significantly affect the accuracy of the derived atmospheric parameters in the stratosphere is the ionospheric error. In order to mitigate the effect of this error, the linear ionospheric correction approach for dual-frequency GNSS RO observations is commonly used. However, the residual ionospheric errors (RIEs) can be still significant, especially when large ionospheric disturbances occur and prevail such as during the periods of active space weather. In this study, the RIEs were investigated under different local time, propagation direction and solar activity conditions and their effects on RO bending angles are characterised using end-to-end simulations. A three-step simulation study was designed to investigate the characteristics of the RIEs through comparing the bending angles with and without the effects of the RIEs. This research forms an important step forward in improving the accuracy of the atmospheric profiles derived from the GNSS RO technique.     

Analysis of NASA’s DSN Venus Express radio occultation data for year 2014

The Venus Express Radio Science Experiment (VeRa) was part of the scientific payload of the Venus Express (VEX) spacecraft and was targeted at the investigation of Venus’ atmosphere, surface, and gravity field as well as the interplanetary medium. This paper describes the methods and the required calibrations applied to VEX-VeRa raw radio occultation data used to retrieve vertical profiles of Venus’ ionosphere and neutral atmosphere. In this work we perform an independent analysis of a set of 25 VEX, single-frequency (X-band), occultations carried out in 2014, recorded in open-loop at the NASA Deep Space Network. Our temperature, pressure and electron density vertical profiles are in agreement with previous studies available in the literature. Furthermore, our analysis shows that Venus’ ionosphere is more influenced by the day/night condition than the latitude variations, while the neutral atmosphere experiences the opposite. Our scientific interpretation of these results is based on two major responsible effects: Venus’ high thermal inertia and the zonal winds. Their presence within Venus’ neutral atmosphere determine why in these regions a latitude dependence is predominant on the day/night condition. On the contrary, at higher altitudes the two aforementioned effects are less important or null, and Venus’ ionosphere shows higher electron density peaks in the probed day-time occultations, regardless of the latitude.     

Evaluation of the IRI-2007 model options for the topside electron density

The International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) 2007 provides two new options for the topside electron density profile: (a) a correction of the IRI-2001 model, and (b) the NeQuick topside formula. We use the large volume of Alouette 1, 2 and ISIS 1, 2 topside sounder data to evaluate these two new options with special emphasis on the uppermost topside where IRI-2001 showed the largest discrepancies. We will also study the accurate representation of profiles in the equatorial anomaly region where the profile function has to accommodate two latitudinal maxima (crests) at lower altitudes but only a single maximum (at the equator) higher up. In addition to IRI-2001 and the two new IRI-2007 options we also include the Intercosmos-based topside model of Triskova, Truhlik, and Smilauer [Triskova, L., Truhlik, V., Smilauer, J. An empirical topside electron density model for calculation of absolute ion densities in IRI. Adv. Space Res. 37 (5), 928–934, 2006] (TTS model) in our analysis. We find that overall IRI-2007-NeQ gives the best results but IRI-2007-corrected provides a more realistic representation of the altitudinal–latitudinal structure in the equatorial anomaly region. The applicability of the TTS model is limited by the fact that it is not normalized to the F2 peak density and height.     

The topside sounder database – Data screening and systematic biases

The ionospheric topside sounder measurement database developed at the US National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) is a valuable source of information when investigating the composition and complex dynamics of the upper ionosphere. The database is increasingly used by many scientists around the world for both research and development of empirical models. However, there is always a danger of indiscriminately using the data without properly assessing the data quality and applicability for a given purpose. This paper is concerned with the issue of data screening and pre-processing of the Alouette/ISIS topside sounder database. An overview of the original database availability and formatting is given and the use of solar and geomagnetic indices is discussed. Data screening procedures, concerning detection and handling of erroneous profiles, are also presented. Special attention is drawn to the systematic biases observed in the database and the possibilities for their removal.     

Towards a new reference model of hmF2 for IRI

A numerical model of the peak height of the F2 layer, hmF2_top, is derived from the topside sounding database of 90,000 electron density profiles for a representative set of conditions provided by ISIS1, ISIS2, IK19 and Cosmos-1809 satellites for the period of 1969–1987. The model of regular hmF2 variations is produced in terms of local time, season, geomagnetic latitude, geodetic longitude and solar radio flux. No geomagnetic activity trends were discernible in the topside sounding data. The nighttime peak of hmF2_top evident for mid-latitudes disappears near the geomagnetic equator where a maximum of hmF2_top occurs at sunset hours when it can exceed 500 km at solar maximum. The hmF2 given by the IRI exceeds hmF2_top at the low solar activities. The hmF2_top, obtained by extrapolation of the first derivative of the topside profile to zero shows saturation similar to foF2 the greater the solar activity. The proposed model differs from hmF2 given by IRI based on M(3000)F2 to hmF2 conversion by empirical relationships in terms of foF2, foE and R12 with these quantities mapped globally by the ITU-R (former CCIR) from ground-based ionosonde data. The differences can be attributed to the different techniques of the peak height derivation, different epochs and different global distribution of the source data as well as the different mathematical functions involved in the maps and the model presentation.