A geopause satellite system concept

The forthcoming 10 cm range tracking accuracy capability holds much promise in connection with a number of Earth and ocean dynamics investigations. These include a set of earthquake-related studies of fault motions and the Earth's tidal, polar and rotational motions, as well as studies of the gravity field and the sea surface topography which should furnish basic information about mass and heat flow in the oceans. The state of the orbit analysis art is presently at about the 10 m level, or about two orders of magnitude away from the 10 cm range accuracy capability expected in the next couple of years or so. The realization of a 10 cm orbit analysis capability awaits the solution of four kinds of problems, namely, those involving orbit determination and the lack of sufficient knowledge of tracking system biases, the gravity field, and tracking station locations. The Geopause satellite system concept offers promising approaches in connection with all of these areas. A typical Geopause satellite orbit has a 14 hour period, a mean height of about 4.6 Earth radii, and is nearly circular, polar, and normal to the ecliptic. At this height only a relatively few gravity terms have uncertainties corresponding to orbital perturbations above the decimeter level. The orbit s, in this sense, at the geopotential boundary, i.e., the geopause. The few remaining environmental quantities which may be significant can be determined by means of orbit analyses and accelerometers. The Geopause satellite system also provides the tracking geometery and coverage needed for determining the orbit, the tracking system biases and the station locations. Studies indicate that the Geopause satellite, tracked with a 2 cm ranging system from nine NASA affiliated sites, can yield decimeter station location accuracies. Five or more fundamental stations well distributed in longitude can view Geopause over the North Pole. This means not only that redundant data are available for determining tracking system biases, but also that both components of the polar motion can be observed frequently. When tracking Geopause, the NASA sites become a two-hemisphere configuration which is ideal for a number of Earth physics applications such as the observation of the polar motion with a time resolution of a fraction of a day. Geopause also provides the basic capability for satellite-to-satellite tracking of drag-free satellites for mapping the gravity field and altimeter satellites for surveying the sea surface topography. Geopause tracking a coplanar, drag-free satellite for two months to 0.03 mm per second accuracy can yield the geoid over the entire Earth to decimeter accuracy with 2.5° spatial resolution. Two Geopause satellites tracking a coplanar altimeter satellite can then yield ocean surface heights above the geoid with 7° spatial resolution every two weeks. These data will furnish basic boundary condition information about mass and heat flows in the oceans which are important in shaping weather and climate.     

A high-capacity aeronautical mobile satellite system

A conceptual system design is described for a satellite-based aeronautical safety communications system capable of serving both general aviation (GA) aircraft and commercial aviation (CA) aircraft in the contiguous US (CONUS) in the mid-1990s. It is shown how the large system capacity that is required can be obtained using a 15-m deployable antenna onboard a high-power commercial communications satellite expected to be available in the mid-1990s     

Ship-mounted satellite tracking antenna with fuzzy logic control

A robust satellite tracking antenna is designed to cope with the sensor imprecision and the highly noisy sea environment. Fuzzy logic is utilized for the controller imprecision and the highly noisy sea environment. Fuzzy logic is utilized for the controller design as well as inaccurate data interpretation. The fuzzy-rule based controller eliminates the need to model the nonlinear and noisy ship-mounted antenna system. With Global Positioning System and the tracking controller the antenna can be brought to a neighborhood of the desired orientation. Spiral search with signal power feedback can then servo the antenna to the true orientation. Computer simulations and antenna experiments verify our design is indeed robust and effective     

欠驱动直连式三体绳系卫星非线性姿态跟踪控制

针对存在外部有界干扰和控制饱和的欠驱动直连式三体旋转绳系卫星系统姿态跟踪控制问题,提出了一种分布式非线性控制方法。首先考虑单体欠驱动绳系卫星姿态模型,由于其复杂的非完整动力学特性,应用微分同胚映射的方法先将模型进行转换,进一步基于反步法设计了欠驱动姿态跟踪滑模控制器,并结合抗饱和方法解决了控制受限的问题。然后应用Lyapunov稳定性定理证明了其闭环系统的一致最终有界性。进一步考虑绳系卫星系统的运动同步性,将欠驱动单体绳系卫星姿态控制器设计扩展至直连式三体绳系卫星姿态系统,设计了分布式欠驱动非线性控制器。最后进行了数学仿真,验证了本文所设计控制方法的有效性。     

A multisensor tracking system with an image-based maneuver detector

Rapid and reliable decisions about the onset and termination of maneuvers are critical for accurate tracking of maneuvering targets. Given the appropriate filter model, the use of multiple sensors of different capabilities and strengths can improve the quality and the reliability of the tracking system A multisensor tracking system where the usage of the image sensor is two fold is presented. First, if is used to perform maneuver detection using minimum computation and storage. Second, its bearing and elevation measurements are used along with 3-D radar observations to improve the tracking quality. The advantages of the proposed multisensor tracking system are discussed and demonstrated via simulations     

介质阻挡放电对增升装置气动性能的影响

增升装置是传统构型飞机的重要组成部分,对飞行器气动性能有重要影响。将高效、简便、节能的介质阻挡放电(Dielectric Barrier Discharge,DBD)等离子体激励器布置在增升装置附近,通过对流场进行控制来达到提高增升装置气动性能的作用。选取二维翼型GAW-1及其29%襟翼作为研究对象,在分析基础流场的基础上,固定激励器放电频率等参数不变,将单级介质阻挡放电激励器放置在几个不同位置,用数值模拟的方法研究其对翼型总体气动特性的影响。仿真结果表明,主翼上表面后缘处的激励器增升效果最好,增升达12.8%且将失速迎角推迟约2°,主翼下表面后缘的升阻比增加可达15%。     

Basic performance of BeiDou-2 navigation satellite system used in LEO satellites precise orbit determination

The visibility for low earth orbit（LEO） satellites provided by the BeiDou-2 system is analyzed and compared with the global positioning system（GPS）. In addition, the spaceborne receivers＇ observations are simulated by the BeiDou satellites broadcast ephemeris and LEO satellites orbits. The precise orbit determination（POD） results show that the along-track component accuracy is much better over the service area than the non-service area, while the accuracy of the other two directions keeps at the same level over different areas. However, the 3-dimensional（3D） accuracy over the two areas shows almost no difference. Only taking into consideration the observation noise and navigation satellite ephemeris errors, the 3D accuracy of the POD is about30 cm. As for the precise relative orbit determination（PROD）, the 3D accuracy is much better over the eastern hemisphere than that of the western hemisphere. The baseline length accuracy is 3.4 mm over the service area, and it is still better than 1 cm over the non-service area. This paper demonstrates that the BeiDou regional constellation could provide global service to LEO satellites for the POD and the PROD. Finally, the benefit of geostationary earth orbit（GEO） satellites is illustrated for POD.     

Taxonomic performance evaluation for multitarget tracking systems

A scoring scheme based on an object track classification which facilitates performance evaluation for multiple-target tracking systems is derived and applied to specific test cases involving a comparison of operational and modified tracking system performance. The performance measures derived can be applied both to comparative evaluations of tracking system alternatives where relative performance is the issue, and to evaluations of system performance relative to what can be achieved in any given target object environment     

A high performance automotive radar for automatic AICC

The paper describes a recent effort to design, build, and test a 77 GHz radar to be used for “intelligent” cruise control of automobiles. An analysis of requirements is given, design trade-offs are accounted for, and main features of prototypes in manufacturing are detailed. The radar has been thoroughly tested and evaluated both under “controlled” conditions and on roads, also in dense traffic. Results so far are very promising     

A satellite interference location system using differential timeand phase measurement techniques

The design and development of a system for inferring the position of terrestrial satellite uplink stations using existing domestic satellites with minimal disruption to normal satellite operation are described. Two methods are presented by which a quantity measured at a terrestrial receiving site is mapped into a curve of possible uplink locations on the Earth's surface. One method involves measuring differential time delays of a single uplink signal observed through two adjacent spacecraft. The other uses a short baseline interferometer composed of the two cross-polarized and spatially separated antenna feeds aboard an affected satellite. A unique location is obtained by using an appropriate combination of the two methods. A system for measurement of the required differential delays and phases and experimental work performed to demonstrate the feasibility of the location methods are described     

A new high rate lead acid battery

A new approach to the design of lead acid batteries has been developed based on the use of very thin lead foil current collectors. The basic cell construction and the performance characteristics for the new cell are described. Spiral wrap cells based on this electrode concept exhibit extremely high power output with excellent capacity maintenance. Additionally, these cells exhibit very flat voltage at all currents, and are capable of very rapid recharge. Applications for this high power technology cover a broad spectrum such as portable power tools, UPS systems, electrically heated catalytic converters, military pulse power applications and electric and hybrid vehicles     

Torque disturbance rejection in high accuracy tracking systems

The possibility of rejecting torque disturbances that degrade the pointing and tracking accuracy of electromechanical pedestals and general two-axis systems used for target acquisition and robotics is discussed. Torque rejection achieved through disturbance estimation and compensation results in a vast improvement in pointing accuracy. For the class of disturbances considered, comparisons of a classical loop configuration of a tracker, modeled as a two-mass system, with the state-space solution indicate that at least an order-of-magnitude improvement in tracking error can be achieved     

面向航天器系统级测试的虚拟测试方法及应用

航天器总体设计正确性和接口实现正确性的及时验证,是提高航天器这类复杂系统可靠性的重要手段。本文提出一种基于模型检测的虚拟测试方法。方法采用窗口树模型(WTM)对复杂系统进行建模,采用状态转移图(STG)作为系统规约刻画系统行为的正确性。方法通过提出基于自动机的模型检测机制,实现了一种面向航天器系统级测试的虚拟测试平台(VTP)原型系统。该平台支持虚拟测试准备、虚拟测试执行和虚拟测试评估等功能,模拟并实现复杂系统总体设计正确性的验证和接口实现正确性的验证。     

低轨卫星对高轨卫星仅测角初轨计算方法

针对我国地面测站对高轨卫星监视能力缺乏的问题,提出一种低轨卫星对高轨卫星仅测角初轨计算方法。该算法引入天基跟踪坐标系,消除测距信息影响,建立仅测角观测方程;引入法向运动,增加摄动因素影响,建立扩展拉普拉斯动力学模型;推导分析观测模型和动力学模型的关系方程,将初轨计算问题转换为非线性方程求解问题,利用高斯全主元消去法完成方程求解。通过实战和仿真测角数据对方法进行检验,结果表明,该方法能利用仅测角数据对非合作目标进行初轨确定,精度在公里量级,可为我国地基监视系统提供补充参考。     

Exploitation of the W-band for high capacity satellite communications

The scientific mission DAVID (Data and Video Interactive Distribution) of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) will pioneer the use of the W-band for a challenging telecommunications experiment. The unavailability of channel measurements and the technological limitations in that frequency range imply a system assessment based on channel extrapolation and a wise error control strategy. In that frame, a system approach is proposed that will allow the exploitation of the W-band for high capacity satellite communications. The results obtained through that approach in the assessment of the DAVID W-band experiment are provided and their perspectives identified and discussed.     

Air motions in the tropical stratosphere deduced from satellite tracking of horizontally floating balloons

Between June and November of 1970, 26 constant level balloons were released from Ascension Island (8 S) for flight at 30 and 50 mb. The balloons were positioned by the Interrogation, Recording and Location System (IRLS) aboard the Nimbus D satellite. In general, balloon positioning appeared to be accurate to within a few kilometers, although occasionally there was doubt as to whether the balloon position was to the right or left of the satellite subtrack. Eight of the flights at 50 mb and three of the flights at 30 mb were tracked for more than one month, and one 50 mb flight was tracked continuously for more than 5 months while making 7 circumnavigations of the Earth. From the satellite-determined 12-hourly balloon positions in the tropics, 223 smoothed 24-hour-average zonal and meridional winds were obtained at 30 mb and 693 such winds were obtained at 50 mb. Near the equator the balloons moved from east to west at a speed of about 23 ms^–1 at 50 mb and 28 ms^–1 at 30 mb, while undergoing a mean northward drift of approximately 0.1 ms^–1. The northward drift was a maximum in the Northern Hemisphere winter, suggesting a weak upward extension of the Hadley Cell to 50 mb. Superimposed on this drift were oscillations in meridional velocity of about 2-month period, with these oscillations also most pronounced in the Northern Hemisphere winter. Small (1–3 ms^–1) short-period fluctuations in meridional velocity were evident directly above the equator at 50 mb. These waves appear to move westward at speeds of 30–40 ms^–1 and to have a wavelength of about 90° longitude. They were responsible for transporting small amounts of westerly momentum into the winter hemisphere. Fluctuations in zonal velocity (Kelvin waves) were also delineated by flights near the equator. These waves appear to move eastward at speeds of 30–40 ms^–1 and to have a wavelength of 360° longitude. Some comparisons are made between these IRLS data and the data obtained from GHOST balloon flights at the same heights in early 1969.     

A target cueing and tracking system (TCATS) for smart videoprocessing

A smart system that uses state-of-the-art image processing techniques to detect and track targets moving in video or infrared imagery is presented. It is a general-purpose system that was developed to be independent of the application and the user interface. TCATS has successfully demonstrated a high detection capability and the ability to ignore exterior environmental conditions, such as cloud shadows moving through the scene, snow, blowing dust, rain and moderate camera motion. TCATS can handle many targets and retain the identity of each object from one frame to the next. Special rugged hardware has been developed to reduce the size, cost, and power consumption and to increase the processing rate, reliability, and environmental operating capability of the system. TCATS can be incorporated into an existing video assessment system without a major cost outlay intruder. The TCATS algorithms, custom-developed hardware, and preliminary field test results are described     

Maneuvering target tracking using IMM method at high measurementfrequency

The problem of tracking a maneuvering target with a high measurement frequency is considered. The measurement noise is significantly correlated when the measurement frequency is high. A simple decorrelation process is proposed to enhance the interacting multiple model (IMM) algorithm to track a maneuvering target with correlated measurement noise. It is found that the decorrelation process may improve system performance significantly, especially in velocity and acceleration estimations