The Cold-Dense Plasma Sheet: A Geotail Perspective

GEOTAIL observations of the low-latitude boundary layer (LLBL) in the tail-flanks show that they are the region where the cold-dense plasma appears with stagnant flow signatures accompanied by bi-directional thermal electrons (< 300 eV). It is concluded from these facts that the tail-LLBL is the site of capturing the cold-dense plasma of the magnetosheath origin on to the closed field lines of the magnetosphere. There are also cases that strongly suggest that the cold-dense plasma entry from the flanks can be significant to fill a substantial part of the magnetotail. In such cases, the cold-dense plasma is not spatially restricted to a layer attached to the magnetopause (that is, the LLBL), but continues to well inside the magnetotail, constituting the cold-dense plasma sheet. Inspired by the fact that these remarkable cases are found for northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), a statistical study on the status of the near-Earth plasma sheet is made. The results show that the plasma sheet becomes significantly colder and denser when the northward IMF continues than during southward IMF periods, and that the cold-dense status appears most prominently near the dawn and dusk flanks. These are consistent with the idea that, during northward IMF periods, the supply of cold-dense ions to the near-Earth tail from the flanks dominates over the hot-tenuous ions transported from the distant tail.     

电子环束流对航天器表面电位和等离子体鞘层的影响

采用二维三分量静电粒子模拟程序研究了电子环束流对低轨道磁化等离子体中运行的航天器表面电位和等离子体鞘层结构的影响.当有电子束流平行磁场入射时,航天器表面所带负电位的绝对值将增大.电子束流的速度和密度的增加将使航天器表面负电位绝对值增加很快.与此同时等离子体鞘层的尺度也将增大,形状将由向尾部延伸的“泪滴”状变成向两侧展开的“机翼”状.当电子环束流以相对于磁场成一定角度斜入射时,由于磁场的约束作用,航天器表面负电位的绝对值将随入射角增大而减小.      

小功率电弧等离子体发动机试验及性能研究

电推进技术已应用于航天的多个领域,电弧等离子体发动机（Arcjet)因其高比冲、高推力／功率比以及大的推进剂选择范围等特点成为当前国际上电火箭研究和应用的热点。文章总结小功率Arcjet实验及性能研究,介绍了实验研究系统的主要组成,给出初步的发动机工作性能参数及实验结果分析。     

Charge-product control approach to electrostatic leader-follower formations in LEO plasma wakes

The feasibility of using electrostatic forces to stabilize a close-proximity leader-follower formation is investigated. The leader craft is equipped with a set of affixed spheres whose charge is modulated to hold the charged follower craft along a proscribed trajectory to its nominal leader-relative position. This charge structure and the follower craft are constrained to remain in the plasma wake generated behind all LEO craft because the more-dense ambient plasma outside the wake prevents object charging and electric field propagation. Once the formation is achieved, a controlled electric field is generated by the leader to counter relative accelerations from perturbations like differential drag and solar radiation pressure, holding the follow near its nominal position. Two controllers are derived for the system described, incorporating Coulomb accelerations and linearized gravity and drag accelerations. Simulations are run under unmodeled perturbations and sensor noise for different scenarios, demonstrating the challenges and benefits associated with electrostatic actuation.     

基于碱金属辅助电离的等离子鞘套模拟方法

为解决再入过程中通信黑障与探测异常问题，对等离子体鞘套地面模拟方法进行了研究。以RAM C-II 飞行试验为依据，计算了等离子体鞘套的参数范围。分析现有模拟设备，概括提出了高焓低速风洞的模拟方案，选取相适应的放电方式，并对流量功率进行了计算。针对高温环境对电磁设备造成损坏以及所需功率难以实现的问题，提出添加碱金属的解决方案，并进行了试验验证。试验结果表明，添加碱金属可以使电子密度提升约一个数量级。对方案效果进行评估，预期功率需求降至兆瓦量级。     

A method for automatic detection and characterization of plasma bubbles using GPS and BDS data

Detecting and characterizing Total Electron Content (TEC) depletion is important for studying the ionospheric threat due to the Equatorial Plasma Bubble (EPB) when applying the Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS) at low latitudes. This paper develops a robust method to automatically identify TEC depletion and derive its parameters. The rolling barrel algorithm is used to automatically identify the TEC depletion candidate and its parameters. Then, the depletion candidates are screened by several improved techniques to distinguish actual depletions from other phenomena such as Traveling Ionospheric Disturbance (TID) or abnormal data. Next, based on the depletion signals from three triangular receivers, the method derives EPB parameters such as velocity, width and gradient. The time lag and front velocity are calculated based on cross-correlation using TEC depletions and the geometrical distribution of three triangular receivers. The width and gradient of slope are then determined by using TEC depletion from a single receiver. By comparison, both the station-pair method and proposed method depend on the assumption that the EPB morphology is frozen during the short time when the plasma bubble moves between the receivers. However, our method relaxes the restriction that the baseline length should be shorter than the width of slope required by the station-pair. This relaxation is favorable for studying small-scale slope of depletions using stations of a longer baseline. In addition, the accuracy of the width and gradient is free of impact from hardware biases and small-scale disturbance, as it is based only on the relative TEC variation. The method is demonstrated by processing Global Positioning System (GPS) and BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) data on 15 August, 2018, in a solar minimum cycle.     

等离子体激励器流场测量及诱导推力实验

为了深入了解等离子体激励器流动控制原理,采用PIV技术获得了静止空气中的等离子体激励器上表面诱导气流及其末端引射气流流场的流速分布和流态,并对由此产生的诱导推力进行了测量实验;研究了等离子体激励器上表面诱导气流加速机理和尾部流场形态以及电极对数对诱导气流加速的影响,并与推力实验结果进行比较。研究结果表明,等离子体激励器上表面空气被诱导产生定向流动,并在多对平行电极的作用下被逐渐加速;诱导气流在激励器末端的引射作用形成射流,增加等离子体激励器电极对数可以增大该射流的流速;所产生的诱导推力也随诱导气流流速的加速相应增大。     

Results of measurements of the response of a delta-doped CCD to neutral and charged particle beams

We report the measurements of the response of a delta-doped Charge Coupled Device (CCD) in imaging mode to beams of charged and neutral particles. That is, the detector imaged the incident beam over its 1024 × 1024 pixels, integrating the number of particles counted in each pixel during the exposure period. In order to count individual particles the exposure time would have had to be reduced considerably compared to the typical ?5 s used in these studies. Our CCD thus operated in a different manner than do conventional particle detectors such as the CEM and MCP that normally are used in a particle counting mode. The measurements were carried out over an energy range from 0.8 to 30 keV. The species investigated include H, H⁺, He⁺, N⁺, N₂⁺, and Ar⁺. The energy and ion mass covered wider ranges than previous measurements for the CCD. The results of these measurements show, as in the case of the previous measurement, for a given ion the CCD response increases with energy and for a given particle energy the response decreases with increasing mass of the particle. These results are in agreement with predictions of the theory of the range of ions in solids. The results also show the possibility for the application of the delta doped CCD as a detector for low energy particle measurements for space plasma physics applications.     

Unusually strong magnetic fields in Titan’s ionosphere: T42 case study

Observations of unusually large magnetic fields in the ionosphere indicate periods of maximum stress on Titan’s ionosphere and potentially of the strongest loss rates of ionospheric plasma. During Titan flyby T42, the observed magnetic field attained a maximum value of 37 nT between an altitude of 1200 and 1600 km, about 20 nT stronger than on any other Titan pass and close to five times greater in magnetic pressure. The strong fields occurred near the corotation-flow terminator rather than at the sub-flow point, suggesting that the flow which magnetized the ionosphere was from a direction far from corotation and possibly towards Saturn. Extrapolation of solar wind plasma conditions from Earth to Saturn using the University of Michigan MHD code predicts an enhanced solar wind dynamic pressure at Saturn close to this time. Cassini’s earlier exits from Saturn’s magnetosphere support this prediction because the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer instrument saw a magnetopause crossing three hours before the strong field observation. Thus it appears that Titan’s ionosphere was magnetized when the enhanced solar wind dynamic pressure compressed the Saturnian magnetosphere, and perhaps the magnetosheath magnetic field, against Titan. The solar wind pressure then decreased, leaving a strong fossil field in the ionosphere. When observed, this strong magnetic flux tube had begun to twist, further enhancing its strength.