Scaling analysis and model estimation of solar corona index

A monthly average solar green coronal index time series for the period from January 1939 to December 2008 collected from NOAA (The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has been analysed in this paper in perspective of scaling analysis and modelling. Smoothed and de-noising have been done using suitable mother wavelet as a pre-requisite. The Finite Variance Scaling Method (FVSM), Higuchi method, rescaled range (R/S) and a generalized method have been applied to calculate the scaling exponents and fractal dimensions of the time series. Autocorrelation function (ACF) is used to find autoregressive (AR) process and Partial autocorrelation function (PACF) has been used to get the order of AR model. Finally a best fit model has been proposed using Yule-Walker Method with supporting results of goodness of fit and wavelet spectrum. The results reveal an anti-persistent, Short Range Dependent (SRD), self-similar property with signatures of non-causality, non-stationarity and nonlinearity in the data series. The model shows the best fit to the data under observation.     

The temporal variation of mean gravity of atmosphere

One of the precise widely used global Zenith Hydrostatic Delay (ZHD) model is based on the gravity value at the centroid of the atmospheric column at the station of observation and gravity value at the centroid is constant in this model for a specific location throughout the year. However, as the content and extent of atmosphere varies temporally, its centroid and consequently gravity value at the centroid also varies. Apart from this, the actual atmospheric condition of different region is not alike. Therefore, there is a need to develop a regional mean gravity model and development of such model has been discussed in this paper. To obtain the mean gravity model, first a regional model of centroid height of atmospheric column was developed as a function of the surface pressure and temperature. It was developed by multiple regressions between estimated centroid of the atmosphere and surface pressure, surface temperature using radiosonde data of five radiosonde stations spread over the Indian subcontinent. Three years radiosonde data from 2006 to 2008 was used for each station. The root mean square error in estimating centroid of the atmospheric column is about ±326 m, which is negligible considering the variability of the atmosphere and its content. The centroid height model has been used to formulate the mean gravity model, considering uniform lapse rate in gravity with height. It is found that proposed mean gravity model provides temporal variation of mean gravity values at the centroid and thus matches with the reality. The interesting advantage of the developed model is that the model shows diurnal variation of mean gravity. The accuracy of ZHD has shown of the order of about 0.3 mm using the developed regional mean gravity model. However, already developed ZHD model has shown a slight inferior result compared to the developed model. These models have shown accuracy of about 0.8 mm and 0.6 mm.     

Science objectives of the magnetic field experiment onboard Aditya-L1 spacecraft

The Aditya-L1 is first Indian solar mission scheduled to be placed in a halo orbit around the first Lagrangian point (L1) of Sun-Earth system in the year 2018–19. The approved scientific payloads onboard Aditya-L1 spacecraft includes a Fluxgate Digital Magnetometer (FGM) to measure the local magnetic field which is necessary to supplement the outcome of other scientific experiments onboard. The in-situ vector magnetic field data at L1 is essential for better understanding of the data provided by the particle and plasma analysis experiments, onboard Aditya-L1 mission. Also, the dynamics of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) can be better understood with the help of in-situ magnetic field data at the L1 point region. This data will also serve as crucial input for the short lead-time space weather forecasting models.The proposed FGM is a dual range magnetic sensor on a 6?m long boom mounted on the Sun viewing panel deck and configured to deploy along the negative roll direction of the spacecraft. Two sets of sensors (tri-axial each) are proposed to be mounted, one at the tip of boom (6?m from the spacecraft) and other, midway (3?m from the spacecraft). The main science objective of this experiment is to measure the magnitude and nature of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) locally and to study the disturbed magnetic conditions and extreme solar events by detecting the CME from Sun as a transient event. The proposed secondary science objectives are to study the impact of interplanetary structures and shock solar wind interaction on geo-space environment and to detect low frequency plasma waves emanating from the solar corona at L1 point. This will provide a better understanding on how the Sun affects interplanetary space.In this paper, we shall give the main scientific objectives of the magnetic field experiment and brief technical details of the FGM onboard Aditya-1 spacecraft.     

Hierarchical adaptive Kalman filtering for interplanetary orbitdetermination

A modular and flexible approach to adaptive Kalman filtering has recently been introduced using the framework of a mixture-of-experts regulated by a gating network. Each expert is a Kalman filter modeled with a different realization of the unknown system parameters. The unknown or uncertain parameters can include elements of the state transition matrix, observation mapping matrix, process noise covariance matrix, and measurement noise covariance matrix. The gating network performs on-line adaptation of the weights given to individual filters based on performance. The mixture-of-experts approach is extended here to a hierarchical architecture which involves multiple levels of gating. The proposed architecture provides a multilevel hypothesis testing capability. The utility of the hierarchical architecture is illustrated via the problem of interplanetary navigation (Mars Pathfinder) using simulated radiometric data. It serves as a useful tool for assisting navigation teams in the process of selecting the parameters of the navigational filter over various operating regimes. It is shown that the scheme has the capability of detecting changes in the system parameters and switching filters appropriately for optimal performance. Furthermore, the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm is shown to be applicable in the proposed framework     

On hydromagnetic flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid near a pulsating plate

An initial value investigation is made of the motion of an incompressible, viscoelastic, conducting Oldroyd-B fluid bounded by an infinite rigid non-conducting plate. The unsteady flow is generated from rest in the fluid due to velocity tooth pulses subjected on the plate in presence of an external magnetic field. It is assumed that no external electric field is acting on the system and the magnetic Reynolds number is very small. The operational method is used to obtain exact solutions for the fluid velocity and the shear stress on the plate. Quantitative analysis of the results are presented with a view to disclose the simultaneous effects of the magnetic field and the fluid elasticity on the flow and the wall shear stress for different periods of pulsation of the plate. It is shown that the classical and hydromagnetic Rayleigh solutions are limiting cases of the present analysis.