Ionospheric F2-Layer critical frequency retrieved from COSMIC radio occultation: A statistical comparison with measurements from a meridional ionosonde chain over Southeast Asia

In this paper, we compared the F2-Layer critical frequency (foF2) derived from FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC radio occultation (RO) and ionosondes at Chiang Mai, Chumphon and Kototabang during the years 2008–2015 to evaluate the performance of COSMIC RO over Southeast Asia region. The results show that the time development of foF2 values derived from COSMIC RO generally agrees well with those from ionosonde measurements. However, the differences between the foF2 derived from COSMIC RO and that derived from ionosonde observations display latitudinal dependence. COSMIC RO tends to underestimate foF2 at Chiang Mai and Kototabang, which is near to the north EIA crest and the south one, respectively, while a little overestimate foF2 at Chumphon, which is close to the geomagnetic equator. COSMIC RO agrees best with ionosonde at Chumphon and worst at Chiang Mai. At each ionosonde station, the quality of COSMIC RO data degrades with the increase of solar activity. In addition, at the station Chiang Mai and Kototabang, COSMIC RO performs better in summer than in equinox and winter. Furthermore, the differences in foF2 derived from COSMIC RO and that from ionosonde measurements vary with local time, i.e., the differences in foF2 are generally smaller at night and larger in noontime when equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) is well developed.     

叶片式预旋喷嘴出口流场实验研究

叶片式预旋喷嘴具有尺寸小,落后角大的特点。为了详细研究小尺寸预旋喷嘴的预旋性能,采用五孔探针对叶片式预旋喷嘴的出口流场进行了实验研究。测量了Ma=0.2,0.3时喷嘴出口的压力分布、速度分布和出口气流角度分布,实验获得了喷嘴的落后角和预旋效率,并进行了与实验工况相同的数值计算。通过实验获得的总压云图以及速度云图,可以发现叶片式预旋喷嘴的端壁二次流损失、尾迹损失严重,有明显的边界层分离现象。Ma=0.2时,喷嘴Re数为5.76×104,落后角2.84°,实验测得的预旋效率为0.73;Ma=0.3时,喷嘴Re数为1.06×105,预旋效率提高至0.77。实验模型端壁的影响使预旋效率实验结果偏低6.5%左右。数值结果与实验测得各参数符合较好:数值结果与测得的喷嘴出口截面平均总压、静压偏差在1%以内;出气速度、周向速度以及出气角度与实验结果偏差在4%以内。数值计算表明,叶片式预旋喷嘴的预旋效率基本不受压比影响,随Re数增大先增大后基本不变,最后基本稳定在0.85。     

Equatorial anomaly according to the Interkosmos-19 data and IRI model: A comparison

The comparison of the IRI model with the foF2 distribution in the equatorial anomaly region obtained by topside sounding onboard the Interkosmos-19 satellite has been carried out. The global distribution of foF2 in terms of LT-maps was constructed by averaging Intercosmos-19 data for summer, winter, and equinox. These maps, in fact, represent an empirical model of the equatorial anomaly for high solar activity F10.7 ~ 200. The comparison is carried out for the latitudinal foF2 profiles in the characteristic longitudinal sectors of 30, 90, 210, 270, and 330°, as well as for the longitudinal variations in foF2 over the equator. The largest difference between the models (up to 60%) for any season was found in the Pacific longitudinal sector of 210°, where there are a few ground-based sounding stations. Considerable discrepancies, however, are sometimes observed in the longitudinal sectors, where there are many ground-based stations, for example, in the European or Indian sector. The discrepancies reach their maximum at 00 LT, since a decay of the equatorial anomaly begins before midnight in the IRI model and after midnight according to the Interkosmos-19 data. The discrepancies are also large in the morning at 06 LT, since in the IRI model, the foF2 growth begins long before sunrise. In the longitudinal variations in foF2 over the equator at noon, according to the satellite data, four harmonics are distinguished in the June solstice and at the equinox, and three harmonics in the December solstice, while in the IRI model only two and one harmonics respectively are revealed. In diurnal variations in foF2 and, accordingly, in the equatorial anomaly intensity, the IRI model does not adequately reproduce even the main, evening extremum.     

50吨级氢氧火箭发动机的设计与研制

系统性地回顾了长征五号运载火箭芯一级50t级氢氧火箭发动机YF-77的设计与研制历程。通过分析氢氧发动机的特点以及国内外氢氧发动机的发展现状，阐述了国内新一代运载火箭研发的技术路线和50t级氢氧火箭发动机的研制背景；对50t级氢氧火箭发动机的总体技术方案及其特点进行了分析与总结，并在此基础上对发动机主要组件的技术方案及其特点开展分析；对发动机热试车情况、可靠性验证情况和故障排除情况进行了分析；对50t级氢氧火箭发动机的研制情况、技术特点进行了总结，并对国内氢氧发动机和液氧/甲烷发动机的发展进行了展望。     

Ionospheric total electron content response to annular solar eclipse on June 21, 2020

The effects of physical events on the ionosphere structure is an important field of study, especially for navigation and radio communication. The paper presents the spatio-temporal ionospheric TEC response to the recent annular solar eclipse on June 21, 2020, which spans across two continents, Africa and Asia, and 14 countries. This eclipse took place on the same day as the June Solstice. The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) based TEC data of the Global Ionosphere Maps (GIMs), 9 International GNSS Service (IGS) stations and FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 (F7/C2) were utilized to analyze TEC response during the eclipse. The phases of the TEC time series were determined by taking the difference of the observed TEC values on eclipse day from the previous 5-day median TEC values. The results showed clear depletions in the TEC time series on June 21. These decreases were between 1 and 9 TECU (15–60%) depending on the location of IGS stations. The depletions are relatively higher at the stations close to the path of annular eclipse than those farther away. Furthermore, a reduction of about ?10 TECU in the form of an equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) was observed in GIMs at ~20° away from the equator towards northpole, between 08:00–11:00 UT where its maximum phase is located in southeast Japan. Additionally, an overall depletion of ~10% was observed in F7/C2 derived TEC at an altitude of 240 km (hmF2) in all regions affected by the solar eclipse, whereas, significant TEC fluctuations between the altitudes of 100 km ? 140 km were analyzed using the Savitzky-Golay smoothing filter. To prove TEC depletions are not caused by space weather, the variation of the sunspot number (SSN), solar wind (V_SW), disturbance storm-time (Dst), and Kp indices were investigated from 16th to 22nd June. The quiet space weather before and during the solar eclipse proved that the observed depletions in the TEC time series and profiles were caused by the annular solar eclipse.     

非恒定增压式微尺度拉瓦尔喷管流动特性

针对微尺度喷流在航天器运动状态切换时出现的非恒定增压变化,采用直接模拟蒙特卡洛(DSMC)方法对阶跃式增压和线性式增压两种模式下的微尺度拉瓦尔喷管流场进行了模拟,并对其变化过程中的流动特性进行了对比分析。结果显示：阶跃式增压会导致流动特性出现较大幅值的峰谷式波动,而线性式增压下的流动特性则呈现出线性变化的特点;黏性力对微尺度喷流的非恒定增压变化产生了重要的黏滞作用,在喉部扩张段至出口的流场中尤为明显;在设定的条件下,阶跃式增压过程中喷流产生的总冲量较线性式增压高59.5%,质量流量高74.7%,单位工质提供的冲量低约8.6%,波动性也高于线性式模型,阶跃式增压适用于系统需要较大推力改变运动状态且推进剂充足的情况,而线性式增压在系统精确微调或需要推进剂产生更高效能时具有明显的优势。     

哨兵2卫星综合水质指标的河流水质遥感监测方法

上海市河流水污染监测是当前研究的热点问题。针对上海市河流水质监测的需求,提出了一种基于因子分析的河流综合水质遥感反演的方法。以欧洲航空局发射的哨兵-2A(Sentinel-2A)卫星搭载的多光谱成像仪获取的遥感影像,以及准同步获取的河流断面实测水质参数数据为例,研究对象为上海市青浦区和松江区部分河道。选取高锰酸盐指数、氨氮等5项主要水质参数为监测指标,在因子分析的基础上建立水质遥感反演的模型,得到综合水质指标用于确定水质类别。实验结果表明:综合水质指标值越小,内陆河流水质状况越良好,水体更清洁。该方法能够应用于内陆河流水质遥感监测,为水环境管理部门提供参考信息。     

The adjusted optical properties for Galileo/BeiDou-2/QZS-1 satellites and initial results on BeiDou-3e and QZS-2 satellites

Solar Radiation Pressure (SRP) is the dominant non-gravitational perturbation for GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) satellites. In the absence of precise surface models, the Empirical CODE Orbit Models (ECOM, ECOM2) are widely used in GNSS satellite orbit determination. Based on previous studies, the use of an a priori box-wing model enhances the ECOM model, especially if the spacecraft is a stretched body satellite. However, so far not all the GNSS system providers have published their metadata. To ensure a precise use of the a priori box-wing model, we estimate the optical parameters of all the Galileo, BeiDou-2, and QZS-1 (Quasi Zenith Satellite System) satellites based on the physical processes from SRP to acceleration. Validation using orbit prediction proves that the adjusted parameters of Galileo and QZS-1 satellites exhibit almost the same performance as the corresponding published and “best guess” values. Whereas, the estimated parameters of BeiDou-2 satellites demonstrate an improvement of more than 60% over the initial “guess” values. The resulting optical parameters of all the satellites are introduced into an a priori box-wing model, which is jointly used with ECOM and ECOM2 model in the orbit determination. Results show that the pure ECOM2 model exhibits better performance than the pure ECOM model for Galileo, BeiDou-2 GEO and QZS-1 orbits. Combined with the a priori box-wing model the ECOM model (ECOM+BW) results in the best Galileo, BeiDou-2 GEO and QZS-1 orbits. The standard deviation (STD) of satellite laser ranging residuals reduce by about 20% and 5% with respect to the pure ECOM2 model for Galileo and BeiDou-2 GEO orbits, while the reductions are about 40% and 60% for QZS-1 orbits in yaw-steering and orbit-normal mode respectively. BeiDou-2 IGSO and MEO satellite orbits do not benefit much from the a priori box-wing model. In summary, we suggest setting up a unified SRP model of ECOM+BW for Galileo, QZS-1, and BeiDou-2 orbits based on the adjusted metadata. In addition, we estimate the optical parameters of BeiDou-3e and QZS-2 satellites using a limited number of tracking stations. Results regarding the unified SRP model indicate the same advantages, the STD of satellite laser ranging residuals reduces by about 30% and 20% for QZS-2 and BeiDou-3e orbits respectively over orbit products without a priori model. The estimation procedure is effective and easy to apply to the new emerging satellites in the future.     

Evaluation of the IRI-2016 and NeQuick electron content specification by COSMIC GPS radio occultation,ground-based GPS and Jason-2 joint altimeter/GPS observations

We examined performance of two empirical profile-based ionospheric models, namely IRI-2016 and NeQuick-2, in electron content (EC) and total electron content (TEC) representation for different seasons and levels of solar activity. We derived and analyzed EC estimates in several representative altitudinal intervals for the ionosphere and the plasmasphere from the COSMIC GPS radio occultation, ground-based GPS and Jason-2 joint altimeter/GPS observations. It allows us to estimate a quantitative impact of the ionospheric electron density profiles formulation in several altitudinal intervals and to examine the source of the model-data discrepancies of the EC specification from the bottom-side ionosphere towards the GPS orbit altitudes. The most pronounced model-data differences were found at the low latitude region as related to the equatorial ionization anomaly appearance. Both the IRI-2016 and NeQuick-2 models tend to overestimate the daytime ionospheric EC and TEC at low latitudes during all seasons of low solar activity. On the contrary, during high solar activity the model results underestimated the EC/TEC observations at low latitudes. We found that both models underestimated the EC for the topside ionosphere and plasmasphere regions for all levels of solar activity. For low solar activity, the underestimated EC from the topside ionosphere and plasmasphere can compensate the overestimation of the ionospheric EC and, consequently, can slightly decrease the resulted model overestimation of the ground-based TEC. For high solar activity, the underestimated EC from the topside ionosphere and plasmasphere leads to a strengthening of the model underestimation of the ground-based TEC values. We demonstrated that the major source of the model-data discrepancies in the EC/TEC domain comes from the topside ionosphere/plasmasphere system.     

Mapping lunar surface chemistry: New prospects with the Chandrayaan-2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS)

Surface chemistry of airless bodies in the solar system can be derived from remote X-ray spectral measurements from an orbiting spacecraft. X-rays from planetary surfaces are excited primarily by solar X-rays. Several experiments in the past have used this technique of X-ray fluorescence for deriving abundances of the major rock forming elements. The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter carries an X-ray fluorescence experiment named CLASS that is designed based on results from its predecessor C1XS flown on Chandrayaan-1. We discuss the new aspects of lunar science that can be potentially achieved with CLASS.