玉树地震前的电离层异常现象分析

分析了玉树地震前地基电离层探测临界频率、GPS TEC和卫星探测原位等离子体参量等多个参数的扰动变化信息, 研究了不同高度异常变化的时空关联性. 分析发现, 在地震前一天的4月13日, 多个电离层参量出现同步扰动异常, 电离层临界频率f₀F₂异常相对滑动中值增大40%, 异常空间上存在从震中东南向西南漂移的特性; GPS TEC异常增强15TECU (1TECU=1016m-2)左右, 分布于震中南部经度15°范围内, 且有明显的磁共轭效应; DEMETER观测的原位氧离子密度N_i(O+) 4月13日为1-4月中最强的一天, 异常分布偏向赤道区, 但仅局限在30°-50°左右的经度范围内. 综合三个参量的异常特征发现, 无论是空间的局地性还是时间上的密切关联均反映这次电离层扰动可能与玉树地震孕育有关. 结合其他观测信息, 进一步探讨了这次地震孕育过程的地震电离层耦合机理.      

An alternative Shell inversion technique - Analysis and validation based on COSMIC and ionosonde data

Multi-channel Global Positioning System (GPS) carrier phase signals, received by the six low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites from the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) program, were used to undertake active limb sounding of the Earth’s atmosphere and ionosphere via radio occultation. In the ionospheric radio occultation (IRO) data processing, the standard Shell inversion technique (SIT), transformed from the traditional Abel inversion technique (AIT), is widely used, and can retrieve good electron density profiles. In this paper, an alternative SIT method is proposed. The comparison between different inversion techniques will be discussed, taking advantage of the availability of COSMIC datasets. Moreover, the occultation results obtained from the SIT and alternative SIT at 500 km and 800 km, are compared with ionosonde measurements. The electron densities from the alternative SIT show excellent consistency to those from the SIT, with strong correlations over 0.996 and 0.999 at altitudes of 500 km and 800 km, respectively, and the peak electron densities (N_mF₂) from the alternative SIT are equivalent to the SIT, with 0.839 vs. 0.844, and 0.907 vs. 0.909 correlation coefficients when comparing to those by the ionosondes. These results show that: (1) the N_mF₂ and h_mF₂ retrieved from the SIT and alternative SIT are highly consistent, and in a good agreement with those measured by ionosondes, (2) no matter which inversion technique is used, the occultation results at the higher orbits (∼800 km) are better than those at the lower orbits (∼500 km).     

GNSS多频观测对定姿精度的影响分析

针对单历元定姿的精度问题,对多频双差观测模型下的定姿精度进行了理论推导,分析了影响定姿精度的各种因素,并着重研究了GPS和Galileo系统下多频观测值对定姿精度的改善程度。理论分析和仿真实验均表明．相比于单频定姿,多频观测可以显著提高定姿精度。     

绳系太阳能发电卫星姿态机动的主动振动控制

针对绳系太阳能发电卫星大角度回转机动时太阳能板的振动抑制问题,提出了主姿态控制和基于绳中张力的主动振动控制技术相结合的复合控制方法。建立了绳系太阳能发电卫星系统的动力学方程,并基于任务函数控制算法设计了主控制器保证卫星姿态的渐近稳定和挠性结构振动的衰减性;考虑到绳的非线性特性,基于任务函数控制算法设计了绳系卫星系统的主动振动抑制辅助控制器来抑制挠性结构的振动。设计的同时证明了系统的稳定性。将该方法应用于绳系卫星的大角度单轴回转机动的仿真研究,结果表明:该方法不仅能够使绳系卫星完成姿态机动,而且能够有效地抑制太阳能板的振动。     

基于相位单差精密测速的动态精密单点定位算法

利用相邻历元间的载波相位单差可求得动态载体的高精度三维速度向量,基于此提出了可精确描述载体运动变化的扩展卡尔曼滤波动态精密单点定位算法。该算法克服了高动态条件下采用简化动力学模型可能引起的系统状态描述失实问题,同时还可输出动态载体的精密速度信息。飞机动态试验结果表明,用该算法的动态单点定位结果与TRACK双差解计算互差得到的三维RMS值,平面分量精度优于3cm,高程分量精度优于6cm,速度测量精度可达mm/s级。     

多径干扰下GPS/INS跟踪环路的一种高斯码相位鉴别器

针对载体在多径信号的影响下,传统码相位鉴别器不能实时有效鉴别出码相位误差,提出一种高斯码相位鉴别器构建方法。在GPS/INS深组合模式中,接收机码相位鉴别器的构建将改变传统设计方法。INS系统利用GPS接收机产生的即时码相位信息,建立INS系统码相位鉴别器,该INS码相位鉴别器用于辅助GPS接收机码相位鉴别器,构建高斯码相位鉴别器,有效降低码相位跟踪误差。仿真结果表明,与传统的码鉴相器相比,高斯码相位鉴别器减小了噪声方差,能有效提高鉴相精度,从而在多径干扰下提高定位精度。     

Coordinated in situ measurements of plasma irregularities and ground based scintillation observations at the crest of equatorial anomaly

First comparison of in situ density fluctuations measured by the DEMETER satellite with ground based GPS receiver measurements at the equatorial anomaly station Bhopal (geographic coordinates (23.2°N, 77.6°E); geomagnetic coordinates (14.29°N, 151.12°E)) for the low solar activity year 2005, are presented in this paper. Calculation of the diurnal maximum of the strength of the equatorial electrojet, which can serve as precursor to ionospheric scintillations in the anomaly region is also done. The Langmuir Probe experiment and Plasma Analyzer onboard DEMETER measure the electron and ion densities respectively. Irregularities in electron density distribution cause scintillations on transionospheric links and there exists a close relationship between an irregularity and scintillation. In 40% of the cases, DEMETER detects the irregularity structures (dNe/Ne ? 5% and dNi/Ni (O⁺) ? 5%) and GPS L band scintillations (S4 ? 0.2) are also observed around the same time, for the low solar activity period. It is found that maximum irregularity intensity is obtained in the geomagnetic latitude range of 10–20° for both electron density and ion density. As the GPS signals pass through this irregularity structure, scintillations are recorded by the GPS receiver installed at the equatorial anomaly station, Bhopal it is interesting to note that in situ density fluctuations observed on magnetic flux tubes that pass over Bhopal can be used as indicator of ionospheric scintillations at that site. Many cases of density fluctuations and associated scintillations have been observed during the descending low solar activity period. The percentage occurrence of density irregularities and scintillations shows good correspondence with diurnal maximum of the strength of electrojet, however this varies with different seasons with maximum correspondence in summer (up to 66%) followed by equinox (up to 50%) and winter (up to 46%). Also, there is a threshold value of EEJ strength to produce density irregularities ((dNe/Ne)_max ? 5%) and for moderate to strong scintillations (S4 ? 0.3) to occur. For winter this value is found to be ∼40 nT whereas for equinox and summer it is around 50 nT.     

Atmosphere sounding by GPS radio occultation: First results from TanDEM-X and comparison with TerraSAR-X

On 21 June 2010 the TerraSAR-X satellite was joined by the TanDEM-X satellite. A Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation (RO) experiment using the twin satellites has been carried out to estimate the precision of GPS atmospheric soundings. For the Day Of Year (DOY) 330–336, 2011, we analyze phase and amplitude data recorded by GPS receivers separated by a few hundred meters in a low earth orbit and derive collocated atmospheric refractivity profiles. In the altitude range 10–20 km the standard deviation between TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X refractivity does not exceed 0.15%. The standard deviation is rapidly increasing for lower and higher altitudes; close to the surface and at an altitude of 30 km the standard deviation reaches 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively. Systematic deviations between TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X refractivity in the considered altitude range (0–30 km) are negligible. The results confirm the anticipated high precision of the GPS RO technique. However, the difference in the retrieved refractivity in the lower troposphere for different Open Loop (OL) signal tracking parameters, altered onboard TanDEM-X for DOY 49–55, 2012, calls for an in depth analysis. At the moment we can not exclude that a potential bias in the OL Doppler model introduces a bias in our retrieved refractivity at altitudes <8$<8$ km.     

Investigation of ionospheric response to two moderate geomagnetic storms using GPS–TEC measurements in the South American and African sectors during the ascending phase of solar cycle 24

The responses of the ionospheric F region using GPS–TEC measurements during two moderate geomagnetic storms at equatorial, low-, and mid-latitude regions over the South American and African sectors in May 2010, during the ascending phase of solar cycle 24, are investigated. The first moderate geomagnetic storm studied reached a minimum Dst value of −64 nT at 1500 UT on 02 May 2010 and the second moderate geomagnetic storm reached a minimum Dst value of −85 nT at 1400 UT on 29 May 2010. In this paper, we present vertical total electron content (VTEC) and phase fluctuations (in TECU/min) from Global Positioning System (GPS) observations from the equatorial to mid-latitude regions in the South American and African sectors. Our results obtained during these two moderate geomagnetic storms from both sectors show significant positive ionospheric storms during daytime hours at the equatorial, low-, and mid-latitude regions during the main and recovery phases of the storms. The thermospheric wind circulation change towards the equator is a strong indicator that suggests an important mechanism is responsible for these positive phases at these regions. A pre-storm event that was observed in the African sector from low- to the mid-latitude regions on 01 May 2010 was absent in the South American sector. This study also showed that there was no generation or suppression of ionospheric irregularities by storm events. Therefore, knowledge about the suppression and generation of ionospheric irregularities during moderate geomagnetic storms is still unclear.     

Instantaneous BeiDou–GPS attitude determination: A performance analysis

The advent of modernized and new global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) has enhanced the availability of satellite based positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) solutions. Specifically, it increases redundancy and yields operational back-up or independence in case of failure or unavailability of one system. Among existing GNSS, the Chinese BeiDou system (BDS) is being developed and will consist of geostationary (GEO) satellites, inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO) satellites, and medium-Earth-orbit (MEO) satellites. In this contribution, a BeiDou–GPS robustness analysis is carried out for instantaneous, unaided attitude determination.