Subspace array processing for the suppression of FM jamming in GPS receivers

The mitigation of FM interference in GPS receivers is considered. In difference to commonly assumed wideband and narrowband interferers, the FM interferers are wideband, but instantaneously narrowband, and as such, have clear time-frequency (TF) signatures that are distinct from the GPS coarse acquisition (C/A) spread spectrum code. In the proposed technique, the estimate of the FM interference instantaneous frequency (IF) and the interference spatial signature are used to construct the spatiotemporal interference subspace. The IF estimates can be provided using existing effective linear or bilinear TF methods. The undesired signal arrival is suppressed by projecting the input data on the interference orthogonal subspace. With a multisensor receiver, the distinctions in both the spatial and TF signatures of signal arrivals allow effective interference suppressions. The deterministic nature of the signal model is considered and the known underlying structure of the GPS C/A code is utilized. We derive the receiver signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) under exact and perturbed IF values. The effect of IF estimation errors on both pseudorange measurements and navigation data recovery is analyzed. Simulation results comparing the receiver performances under IF errors in single and multiantenna GPS receivers are provided.     

Performance evaluation for MAP state estimate fusion

This paper presents a quantitative performance evaluation method for the maximum a posteriori (MAP) state estimate fusion algorithm. Under ideal conditions where data association is assumed to be perfect, it has been shown that the MAP or best linear unbiased estimate (BLUE) fusion formula provides the best linear minimum mean squared estimate (LMMSE) given local estimates under the linear Gaussian assumption for a static system. However, for a dynamic system where fusion is recursively performed by the fusion center on local estimates generated from local measurements, it is not obvious how the MAP algorithm will perform. In the past, several performance evaluation methods have been proposed for various fusion algorithms, including simple convex combination, cross-covariance combination, information matrix, and MAP fusion. However, not much has been done to quantify the steady state behavior of these fusion methods for a dynamic system. The goal of this work is to present analytical fusion performance results for MAP state estimate fusion without extensive Monte Carlo simulations, using an approach developed for steady state performance evaluation for track fusion. Two different communication strategies are considered: fusion with and without feedback to the sensors. Analytic curves for the steady state performance of the fusion algorithm for various communication patterns are presented under different operating conditions.     

Optimal number of phased array faces and signal processors for horizon surveillance

The problem of the optimal number of phased array faces for performing 360/spl deg/ horizon surveillance is considered. Assuming the detection performance is the same in all beam positions and the total number of T/R modules is constant, it is shown that the optimal number of array faces is three. This is true whether the arrays are operating simultaneously or sequentially. A parametric analysis is performed between the number of array faces operating simultaneously and the associated cost of simultaneous operation in terms of the size of the array.     

Ultrastructural analysis of organization of roots obtained from cell cultures at clinostating and under microgravity.

Data are presented of a comparative analysis on rhizogenesis in the Arabidopsis thaliana tissue culture growing in a solid nutrient medium under stationary conditions, clinostatic conditions and microgravity. Tissue samples weighing 100 mg. were set in the Petri dishes and placed in a horizontal slow clinostat /2 revs/min/. After 14 days of growth they were analyzed. On clinostating the number of roots formed from the callus cells was approximately one half the control. The formed root cap manifested no essential differences, in comparison with the stationary control, in the number of layers and cell sizes in its layers. In callusogenic roots, formed from clinostated cells, differentiation including root cap cells, proceeds without noticeable deviations from the norm. At the same time, gravireceptor cells do not function under these conditions. This is clearly displayed at a structural level in the location of amyloplasts-statoliths throughout the cytoplasm. The callus cell cultures experienced microgravity for 8 days. The number of formed roots under the influence of this factor was 36% relative to the stationary control. Root cap formation was abnormal. Gravireceptor cells did not formed under microgravity.     

Carbon dioxide and oxygen budgets of a plant cultural system in a CELSS--a case of cultivation of lettuce and turnips.

In order to collect basic data about CO2 and O2 budgets of a plant cultural system in a CELSS, the variation of the CO2 absorption rates of lettuce and turnips were observed during the growing period, under different conditions. The O2 release rates were deduced from the CO2 absorption rates multiplied by 32/44. As a result, when the light intensity, the photoperiod and the atmospheric CO2 concentration increased, the rates also increased. The effects on the turnips were more significant than those on the lettuce. Turnips at 310 micromoles/m2/s of PPFD, 24 hours of photoperiod and 1100 ppm of CO2 concentration grew most actively in the present experimental conditions. One turnip absorbed 32.3 g CO2 and released 23.5 g O2 for 6 days between 24 days and 30 days after sowing.     

First estimations of the aerosol optical thickness using Langley Method at Southern Brazil (29.4°S, 53.8°W)

The first estimations of the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) using Langley Method at Southern Space Observatory (SSO) at Southern Brazil (29.4°S, 53.8°W) are presented. In addition to ozone and sulphur dioxide columns, AOT can be obtained using Brewer Spectrophotometer at specific wavelengths: 306.3, 310.1, 313.5, 316.8 and 320.1 nm. The AOT was obtained for the period from November/2002 to May/2003. Very low AOT averages were obtained, whose values were about 0.21 ± 0.03 at 306.3 nm, 0.21 ± 0.02 at 310.1 nm, 0.19 ± 0.02 at 313.5 nm, 0.20 ± 0.02 at 316.8 nm and 0.20 ± 0.02 at 320.0 nm for all period analysed. Different behaviour of AOT were obtained at two daily specific periods of aerosol accumulation, one in the afternoons from November/2002 to February/2003, caused mainly by a mild biomass burning season’s in the region and other in the mornings from March to May/2003, due the high relative humidity presented in the region studied.     

Relative positioning of multiple moving platforms using GPS

To obtain subdecimeter level accuracy in relative kinematic positioning, the use of double differenced GPS carrier phase measurement with carrier phase ambiguities fixed to their correct integer values must be adopted. If multiple platforms are available in the configuration, the redundancy provided by the multiplicity of platforms can speed up the time to integer ambiguity fixing while at the same time improve the reliability of the solution. An approach to effectively construct ambiguity constraints through the multiplicity of platforms is presented herein. The use of these ambiguity constraints to position multiple moving platforms with respect to each other is then discussed. A series of simulations and field tests are designed and conducted to investigate the effects of different system parameters on this approach, with a configuration of up to 10 moving platforms. The test results show that the use of ambiguity constraints can improve the time to integer ambiguity fixing by up to 67%, relative to the case when no constraints are used. In addition, the use of ambiguity constraints is found to enhance the ability of the multiple platform system to detect wrong ambiguity fixes.     

Limits in tracking with extended Kalman filters

The classical linearized conversion of measurements from polar or spherical coordinates to Cartesian ones generates a bias restricting the use of this conversion to cases where the bias can be neglected. In this work, the validity limits for the classical 2D transformation from polar to Cartesian coordinates, as derived in previous work, are shown to be too restrictive and the limits for the 3D transformation from spherical to Cartesian coordinates are introduced. Furthermore, quantitative measures for the performance degradation of the commonly used extended Kalman filter (EKF) in comparison with the best linear unbiased estimation (BLUE) filter are obtained by simulating typical tracking scenarios.     

Solar and Heliospheric Modulation of Galactic Cosmic Rays

The significance of external influences on the environment of Earth and its atmosphere has become evident during recent years. Especially, on time scales of several hundred years, the cosmogenic isotope concentration during the Wolf-, Spoerer-, Maunder- and Dalton-Minimum indicates an increased cosmic ray flux. Because these grand minima of solar activity coincide with cold periods, a correlation of the Earth climate with the cosmic ray intensities is plausible. Any quantitative study of the effects of energetic particles on the atmosphere and environment of the Earth must address their transport to Earth and their interactions with the Earth’s atmosphere including their filtering by the terrestrial magnetosphere. The first problem is one of the fundamental problems in modern cosmic ray astrophysics, and corresponding studies began in the 1960s based on Parker’s cosmic ray modulation theory taking into account diffusion, convection, adiabatic deceleration, and (later) the drift of energetic particles in the global heliospheric magnetic field. It is well established that all of these processes determining the modulation of cosmic rays are depending on parameters that are varying with the solar magnetic cycle. Therefore, the galactic cosmic ray intensities close to Earth is the result of a complex modulation of the interstellar galactic spectrum within the heliosphere. The modern view of this cosmic ray modulation is summarized in our contribution.     

Covariance matrix estimation for adaptive CFAR detection incompound-Gaussian clutter

We address the estimation of the structure of the covariance matrix and its application to adaptive radar detection of coherent pulse trains in clutter-dominated disturbance modeled as a compound-Gaussian process. For estimation purposes we resort to range cells in spatial proximity with that under test and assume that these cells, free of signal components, can be clustered into groups of data with one and the same value of the texture. We prove that, plugging the proposed estimator of the structure of the covariance matrix into a previously derived detector, based upon the generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT), leads to an adaptive detector which ensures the constant false alarm rate (CFAR) property with respect to the clutter covariance matrix as well as the statistics of the texture. Finally, we show that this adaptive receiver has an acceptable loss with respect to its nonadaptive counterpart in cases of relevant interest for radar applications