Impact of geomagnetic variation over sub-auroral ionospheric region during high solar activity year 2014

The present work is an attempt to evaluate the impact of changing space weather condition over sub-auroral ionosphere during high solar activity year 2014. In view of this, the GPS based TEC along with Ionosonde data over Indian permanent scientific base “Maitri”, Antarctica (70°46′00″S, 11°43′56″E) has been utilized. The results suggested that the nature of ionospheric responses to the geomagnetic disturbances not only depended upon the status of high latitudinal electro-dynamic processes but also influenced by the seasonal variations. The results revel both negative and positive type of ionospheric response in a single year but during different seasons. The study suggested that the combination of equator-ward plasma transportation along with ionospheric compositional changes causes a negative ionospheric impact especially during summer and equinox seasons. However, the combination of pole-ward contraction of the oval region along with particle precipitation may lead to exhibit positive ionospheric response during the winter season. The plasma transportation direction has been validated with the help of convection boundary (HM boundary) deduced with the help of SuperDARN observations. The ground based ionosonde observations clearly provided the evidence of deep penetration of high energetic particles up to the E-layer heights which results a sudden and strong appearance of E-layer. The strengthening of E-layer is responsible for modification of auroral electrojet and field-aligned current system. Also, the sudden appearance of E-layer along with a decrease in F-layer electron density suggested the dominance of NO⁺ over O⁺ in a considered region under geomagnetic disturbed condition.     

Active Design Method of Tooth Profiles for Cycloid Drive Based on Meshing Efficiency

An active design method of tooth profiles for cycloid gears based on their meshing efficiency is proposed.This method takes the meshing efficiency as one of the design variables to determine the tooth profiles. The calculation method for the meshing efficiency of planetary transmission is analyzed and the equation of the meshing efficiency is deduced. Relationships between the meshing efficiency,the radius of the pin wheel and the eccentric distance are revealed. The design constraint quations and the strength constraint quations are deduced. On the basis of this,a design procedure is laid out. Some examples using different input parameters are conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach. A dynamic simulation of the rigid-flexible coupling of cycloid gears is also presented. The results show that the proposed design method is more flexible to control the tooth profiles by changing the input values of the transmission efficiency.     

Fault mode probability factor based fault-tolerant control for dissimilar redundant actuation system

This paper presents a Fault Mode Probability Factor (FMPF) based Fault-Tolerant Control (FTC) strategy for multiple faults of Dissimilar Redundant Actuation System (DRAS) composed of Hydraulic Actuator (HA) and Electro-Hydrostatic Actuator (EHA). The long-term service and severe working conditions can result in multiple gradual faults which can ultimately degrade the system performance, resulting in the system model drift into the fault state characterized with parameter uncertainty. The paper proposes to address this problem by using the historical statistics of the multiple gradual faults and the proposed FMPF to amend the system model with parameter uncertainty. To balance the system model precision and computation time, a Moving Window (MW) method is used to determine the applied historical statistics. The FMPF based FTC strategy is developed for the amended system model where the system estimation and Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) are updated at the end of system sampling period. The simulations of DRAS system subjected to multiple faults have been performed and the results indicate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

Impact of rain on wave retrieval from Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar images in tropical cyclones

The main objective of our work was to investigate the impact of rain on wave observations from C-band (~5.3 GHz) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) in tropical cyclones. In this study, 10 Sentinel-1 SAR images were available from the Satellite Hurricane Observation Campaign, which were taken under cyclonic conditions during the 2016 hurricane season. The third-generation wave model, known as Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) (version 41.31), was used to simulate the wave fields corresponding to these Sentinel-1 SAR images. In addition, rainfall data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite passing over the spatial coverage of the Sentinel-1 SAR images were collected. The simulated results were validated against significant wave heights (SWHs) from the Jason-2 altimeter and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts data, revealing a root mean square error (RMSE) of ~0.5 m with a 0.25 scatter index. Winds retrieved from the VH-polarized Sentinel-1 SAR images using the Sentinel-1 Extra Wide-swath Mode Wind Speed Retrieval Model after Noise Removal were taken as prior information for wave retrieval. It was discovered that rain did indeed affect the SAR wave retrieval, as evidenced by the 3.21-m RMSE of SWHs between the SAR images and the SWAN model, which was obtained for the ~1000 match-ups with raindrops. The raindrops dampened the wave retrieval when the rain rate was < ~5 mm/hr; however, they enhanced wave retrieval for higher rain rates. It was also found that the portion of the rain-induced ring wave with a wave number > 0.05 rad/m (~125 m wavelength) was clearly observed in the SAR-derived wave spectra.     

面向快速响应产品的星上目标定位及识别方法

针对遥感卫星星上目标的定位及识别，本文面向快速响应应用需求，首先对星上目标定位及识别工作模式进行研究，总结出狭义和广义两种模式，其次重点对像方-物方坐标双向定位算法进行梳理，并针对典型地物目标星上自动识别算法提出研究思路，最后给出算法的应用方法流程。本文研究为快速响应产品星上智能处理提供方法参考。     

Accurate approximation of in-ecliptic trajectories for E-sail with constant pitch angle

Propellantless continuous-thrust propulsion systems, such as electric solar wind sails, may be successfully used for new space missions, especially those requiring high-energy orbit transfers. When the mass-to-thrust ratio is sufficiently large, the spacecraft trajectory is characterized by long flight times with a number of revolutions around the Sun. The corresponding mission analysis, especially when addressed within an optimal context, requires a significant amount of simulation effort. Analytical trajectories are therefore useful aids in a preliminary phase of mission design, even though exact solution are very difficult to obtain. The aim of this paper is to present an accurate, analytical, approximation of the spacecraft trajectory generated by an electric solar wind sail with a constant pitch angle, using the latest mathematical model of the thrust vector. Assuming a heliocentric circular parking orbit and a two-dimensional scenario, the simulation results show that the proposed equations are able to accurately describe the actual spacecraft trajectory for a long time interval when the propulsive acceleration magnitude is sufficiently small.     

Detection of Molecular Scattering Field from a Polarization Analysis of the Sky Background during Transitive Twilight and Temperature Measurements near the Stratopause

The simplest version of the method of detecting the single molecular scattering field based on the polarization measurements of the twilight sky background by all-sky cameras has been considered. The method can be used during transitive twilight (with solar zenith angles of 94°–98°), when effective single scattering occurs in the upper stratosphere and lower mesosphere. The long-term measurements conducted using this method in the Moscow region and Apatity make it possible to determine the temperature of these atmospheric layers and estimate the contribution and properties of multiple scattering during the transitive twilight.     

Water Partitioning in Planetary Embryos and Protoplanets with Magma Oceans

The water content of magma oceans is widely accepted as a key factor that determines whether a terrestrial planet is habitable. Water ocean mass is determined as a result not only of water delivery and loss, but also of water partitioning among several reservoirs. Here we review our current understanding of water partitioning among the atmosphere, magma ocean, and solid mantle of accreting planetary embryos and protoplanets just after giant collisions. Magma oceans are readily formed in planetary embryos and protoplanets in their accretion phase. Significant amounts of water are partitioned into magma oceans, provided the planetary building blocks are water-rich enough. Particularly important but still quite uncertain issues are how much water the planetary building blocks contain initially and how water goes out of the solidifying mantle and is finally degassed to the atmosphere. Constraints from both solar-system explorations and exoplanet observations and also from laboratory experiments are needed to resolve these issues.     

Research on navigation of satellite constellation based on an asynchronous observation model using X-ray pulsar

Pulsar navigation is a promising navigation method for high-altitude orbit space tasks or deep space exploration. At present, an important reason for restricting the development of pulsar navigation is that navigation accuracy is not high due to the slow update of the measurements. In order to improve the accuracy of pulsar navigation, an asynchronous observation model which can improve the update rate of the measurements is proposed on the basis of satellite constellation which has a broad space for development because of its visibility and reliability. The simulation results show that the asynchronous observation model improves the positioning accuracy by 31.48% and velocity accuracy by 24.75% than that of the synchronous observation model. With the new Doppler effects compensation method in the asynchronous observation model proposed in this paper, the positioning accuracy is improved by 32.27%, and the velocity accuracy is improved by 34.07% than that of the traditional method. The simulation results show that without considering the clock error will result in a filtering divergence.     

Mapping mean lake surface from satellite altimetry and GPS kinematic surveys

Lake water height is a key variable in water cycle and climate change studies, which is achievable using satellite altimetry constellation. A method based on data processing of altimetry from several satellites has been developed to interpolate mean lake surface (MLS) over a set of 22 big lakes distributed on the Earth. It has been applied on nadir radar altimeters in Low Resolution Mode (LRM: Jason-3, Saral/AltiKa, CryoSat-2) in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mode (Sentinel-3A), and in SAR interferometric (SARin) mode (CryoSat-2), and on laser altimetry (ICESat). Validation of the method has been performed using a set of kinematic GPS height profiles from 18 field campaigns over the lake Issykkul, by comparison of altimetry’s height at crossover points for the other lakes and using the laser altimetry on ICESat-2 mission. The precision reached ranges from 3 to 7 cm RMS (Root Mean Square) depending on the lakes. Currently, lake water level inferred from satellite altimetry is provided with respect to an ellipsoid. Ellipsoidal heights are converted into orthométric heights using geoid models interpolated along the satellite tracks. These global geoid models were inferred from geodetic satellite missions coupled with absolute and regional anomaly gravity data sets spread over the Earth. However, the spatial resolution of the current geoid models does not allow capturing short wavelength undulations that may reach decimeters in mountaineering regions or for rift lakes (Baikal, Issykkul, Malawi, Tanganika). We interpolate in this work the geoid height anomalies with three recent geoid models, the EGM2008, XGM2016 and EIGEN-6C4d, and compare them with the Mean Surface of 22 lakes calculated using satellite altimetry. Assuming that MLS mimics the local undulations of the geoid, our study shows that over a large set of lakes (in East Africa, Andean mountain and Central Asia), short wavelength undulations of the geoid in poorly sampled areas can be derived using satellite altimetry. The models used in this study present very similar geographical patterns when compared to MLS. The precision of the models largely depends on the location of the lakes and is about 18 cm, in average over the Earth. MLS can serve as a validation dataset for any future geoid model. It will also be useful for validation of the future mission SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) which will measure and map water heights over the lakes with a high horizontal resolution of 250 by 250 m.