Bayesian coronal seismology

In contrast to the situation in a laboratory, the study of the solar atmosphere has to be pursued without direct access to the physical conditions of interest. Information is therefore incomplete and uncertain and inference methods need to be employed to diagnose the physical conditions and processes. One of such methods, solar atmospheric seismology, makes use of observed and theoretically predicted properties of waves to infer plasma and magnetic field properties. A recent development in solar atmospheric seismology consists in the use of inversion and model comparison methods based on Bayesian analysis. In this paper, the philosophy and methodology of Bayesian analysis are first explained. Then, we provide an account of what has been achieved so far from the application of these techniques to solar atmospheric seismology and a prospect of possible future extensions.     

Interplanetary origin of geomagnetic storms

Around solar maximum, the dominant interplanetary phenomena causing intense magnetic storms (Dst<−100 nT) are the interplanetary manifestations of fast coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Two interplanetary structures are important for the development of storms, involving intense southward IMFs: the sheath region just behind the forward shock, and the CME ejecta itself. Whereas the initial phase of a storm is caused by the increase in plasma ram pressure associated with the increase in density and speed at and behind the shock (accompanied by a sudden impulse [SI] at Earth), the storm main phase is due to southward IMFs. If the fields are southward in both of the sheath and solar ejecta, two-step main phase storms can result and the storm intensity can be higher. The storm recovery phase begins when the IMF turns less southward, with delays of ≈1–2 hours, and has typically a decay time of 10 hours. For CMEs involving clouds the intensity of the core magnetic field and the amplitude of the speed of the cloud seems to be related, with a tendency that clouds which move at higher speeds also posses higher core magnetic field strengths, thus both contributing to the development of intense storms since those two parameters are important factors in genering the solar wind-magnetosphere coupling via the reconnection process. During solar minimum, high speed streams from coronal holes dominate the interplanetary medium activity. The high-density, low-speed streams associated with the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) plasma impinging upon the Earth's magnetosphere cause positive Dst values (storm initial phases if followed by main phases). In the absence of shocks, SIs are infrequent during this phase of the solar cycle. High-field regions called Corotating Interaction Regions (CIRs) are mainly created by the fast stream (emanating from a coronal hole) interaction with the HCS plasma sheet. However, because the B_z component is typically highly fluctuating within the CIRs, the main phases of the resultant magnetic storms typically have highly irregular profiles and are weaker. Storm recovery phases during this phase of the solar cycle are also quite different in that they can last from many days to weeks. The southward magnetic field (B_s) component of Alfvén waves in the high speed stream proper cause intermittent reconnection, intermittent substorm activity, and sporadic injections of plasma sheet energy into the outer portion of the ring current, prolonging its final decay to quiet day values. This continuous auroral activity is called High Intensity Long Duration Continuous AE Activity (HILDCAAs). Possible interplanetary mechanisms for the creation of very intense magnetic storms are discussed. We examine the effects of a combination of a long-duration southward sheath magnetic field, followed by a magnetic cloud B_s event. We also consider the effects of interplanetary shock events on the sheath plasma. Examination of profiles of very intense storms from 1957 to the present indicate that double, and sometimes triple, IMF B_s events are important causes of such events. We also discuss evidence that magnetic clouds with very intense core magnetic fields tend to have large velocities, thus implying large amplitude interplanetary electric fields that can drive very intense storms. Finally, we argue that a combination of complex interplanetary structures, involving in rare occasions the interplanetary manifestations of subsequent CMEs, can lead to extremely intense storms. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) Science Ground Segment (SGS)

The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) Science Ground Segment (SGS), comprised of payload Instrument Team, ESA and Russian operational centres, is responsible for planning the science operations of the TGO mission and for the generation and archiving of the scientific data products to levels meeting the scientific aims and criteria specified by the ESA Project Scientist as advised by the Science Working Team (SWT). The ExoMars SGS builds extensively upon tools and experience acquired through earlier ESA planetary missions like Mars and Venus Express, and Rosetta, but also is breaking ground in various respects toward the science operations of future missions like BepiColombo or JUICE. A productive interaction with the Russian partners in the mission facilitates broad and effective collaboration. This paper describes the global organisation and operation of the SGS, with reference to its principal systems, interfaces and operational processes.     

Three dimensional temperature field in a conducting sphere due to an arbitrarily located split ring heating source

Thermal control of spacecrafts plays an important role in space missions. In the design stage the preliminary thermal analysis of the spacecraft requires an estimate of the conductive thermal resistance between the various spacecraft components. With this in mind, the fully three dimensional problem of determining the thermal field in a conducting sphere with an asymmetric split ring current carrying heating source is resolved in an analytical or almost analytical form, implying either a closed form solution or utmost expressions involving a simple numerical integration. This has immediate application for evaluation of thermal resistance in spacecrafts. Green's function integral techniques are used. Comparisons are made with series solutions and also with purely numerical solutions to contrast the simplicity and highlight the elegance of the present method. Parametric studies reveal expected behavior.     

Modeling and Optimal Design of 3 Degrees of Freedom Helmholtz Resonator in Hydraulic System

Three degrees of freedom (3-DOF) Helmholtz resonator which consists of three cylindrical necks and cavities connected in series (neck-cavity-neck-cavity-neck-cavity) is suitable to reduce flow pulsation in hydraulic system. A novel lumped parameter model (LPM) of 3-DOF Helmholtz resonator in hydraulic system is developed which considers the viscous friction loss of hydraulic fluid in the necks. Applying the Newton’s second law of motion to the equivalent mechanical model of the resonator, closed-form expression of transmission loss and resonance frequency is presented. Based on the LPM, an optimal design method which employs rotate vector optimization method (RVOM) is proposed. The purpose of the optimal design is to search the resonator’s unknown parameters so that its resonance frequencies can coincide with the pump-induced flow pulsation harmonics respectively. The optimal design method is realized to design 3-DOF Helmholtz resonator for a certain type of aviation piston pump hydraulic system. The optimization result shows the feasibility of this method, and the simulation under optimum parameters reveals that the LPM can get the same precision as transfer matrix method (TMM).     

A Dual-driven Intelligent Combination Control of Heat Pipe Space Cooling System

Effective thermal control systems are essential for reliable operation of spacecraft.A dual-driven intelligent combination control strategy is proposed to improve the temperate control and heat flux tracking effects.Both temperature regulation and heat flux tracking errors are employed to generate the final control action;their contributions are adaptively adjusted by a fuzzy fusing policy of control actions.To evaluate the control effects,describe a four-nodal mathematical model for analyzing the dynamic characteristics of the controlled heat pipe space cooling system(HP-SCS) consisting of an aluminum-ammonia heat pipe and a variable-emittance micro-electromechanical-system(MEMS) radiator.This dynamical model calculates the mass flow-rate and condensing pressure of the heat pipe working fluid directly from the systemic nodal temperatures,therefore,it is more suitable for control engineering applications.The closed-loop transient performances of four different control schemes have been numerically investigated.The results conclude that the proposed intelligent combination control scheme not only improves the thermal control effects but also benefits the safe operation of HP-SCS.     

The Magnetic Field of Mercury

The magnetic field strength of Mercury at the planet’s surface is approximately 1% that of Earth’s surface field. This comparatively low field strength presents a number of challenges, both theoretically to understand how it is generated and observationally to distinguish the internal field from that due to the solar wind interaction. Conversely, the small field also means that Mercury offers an important opportunity to advance our understanding both of planetary magnetic field generation and magnetosphere-solar wind interactions. The observations from the Mariner 10 magnetometer in 1974 and 1975, and the MESSENGER Magnetometer and plasma instruments during the probe’s first two flybys of Mercury on 14 January and 6 October 2008, provide the basis for our current knowledge of the internal field. The external field arising from the interaction of the magnetosphere with the solar wind is more prominent near Mercury than for any other magnetized planet in the Solar System, and particular attention is therefore paid to indications in the observations of deficiencies in our understanding of the external field. The second MESSENGER flyby occurred over the opposite hemisphere from the other flybys, and these newest data constrain the tilt of the planetary moment from the planet’s spin axis to be less than 5°. Considered as a dipole field, the moment is in the range 240 to 270 nT-R _M ³ , where R _M is Mercury’s radius. Multipole solutions for the planetary field yield a smaller dipole term, 180 to 220 nT-R _M ³ , and higher-order terms that together yield an equatorial surface field from 250 to 290 nT. From the spatial distribution of the fit residuals, the equatorial data are seen to reflect a weaker northward field and a strongly radial field, neither of which can be explained by a centered-dipole matched to the field measured near the pole by Mariner 10. This disparity is a major factor controlling the higher-order terms in the multipole solutions. The residuals are not largest close to the planet, and when considered in magnetospheric coordinates the residuals indicate the presence of a cross-tail current extending to within 0.5R _M altitude on the nightside. A near-tail current with a density of 0.1 μA/m² could account for the low field intensities recorded near the equator. In addition, the MESSENGER flybys include the first plasma observations from Mercury and demonstrate that solar wind plasma is present at low altitudes, below 500 km. Although we can be confident in the dipole-only moment estimates, the data in hand remain subject to ambiguities for distinguishing internal from external contributions. The anticipated observations from orbit at Mercury, first from MESSENGER beginning in March 2011 and later from the dual-spacecraft BepiColombo mission, will be essential to elucidate the higher-order structure in the magnetic field of Mercury that will reveal the telltale signatures of the physics responsible for its generation.     

Digital signal processing and numerical analysis for radar in geophysical applications

Numerical solutions for signal processing are described in this work as a contribution to study of echo detection methods for ionospheric sounder design. The ionospheric sounder is a high frequency radar for geophysical applications. The main detection approach has been done by implementing the spread-spectrum techniques using coding methods to improve the radar’s range resolution by transmitting low power. Digital signal processing has been performed and the numerical methods were checked. An algorithm was proposed and its computational complexity was calculated.     

脉冲等离子体源控制航天器表面充电电位的研究

在空间环境运行的航天器存在表面充电现象,而航天器表面充电引发的静电放电是导致航天器异常及故障的重要原因之一。因此,在航天器设计和应用中,必须对航天器表面电位采取必要的控制和防护措施。文章介绍了用脉冲等离子体源进行航天器表面充电电位主动控制的研究。通过模拟实验和实验数据分析,证实了用脉冲等离子体源能有效地控制航天器表面充...     

Research into Configuration and Flow of Wall Oil Film in Bearing Chamber Based on Droplet Size Distribution

The lubrication design and heat transfer determination of bearing chambers in aeroengine require a sufficient understanding of the oil droplet-film interaction and physical characteristic in an oil/air two-phase flow state.The analyses of oil droplet movement,mass and momentum transfer during the impingement of droplet/wall,as well as wall oil film thickness and flow velocity are very important for the bearing chamber lubrication and heat transfer calculation.An integrated model in combination with droplet movement,droplet/wall impact and film flow analysis is put forward initially based on the consideration of droplet size distribution.The model makes a contribution to provide more practical and feasible technical approach,which is not only for the study of droplet-film interaction and physical behavior in bearing chambers with oil/air two-phase flow phenomena,but also useful for an insight into the essence of physical course through droplet movement and deposition,film formation and flow.The influences of chamber geometries and operating conditions on droplet deposition mass and momentum transfer,and wall film thickness and velocity distribution are discussed.The feasibility of the method by theoretical analysis is also verified by the existing experimental data.The current work is conducive to expose the physical behavior of wall oil film configuration and flow in bearing chamber,and also significant for bearing chamber lubrication and heat transfer study under oil/air two-phase flow conditions.