An improved neutron transport algorithm for HZETRN

Long-term human presence in space requires the inclusion of radiation constraints in mission planning and the design of shielding materials, structures and vehicles. It is necessary to expose the numerical tools commonly used in radiation analyses to extensive verification, validation and uncertainty quantification. In this paper, the numerical error associated with energy discretization in HZETRN is addressed. An inadequate numerical integration scheme in the transport algorithm is shown to produce large errors in the low energy portion of the neutron and light ion fluence spectra. It is further shown that the errors result from the narrow energy domain of the neutron elastic cross section spectral distributions and that an extremely fine energy grid is required to resolve the problem under the current formulation. Since adding a sufficient number of energy points will render the code computationally inefficient, we revisit the light ion and neutron transport theory developed for HZETRN and focus on neutron elastic interactions. Two numerical methods (average value and collocation) are developed to provide adequate resolution in the energy domain and more accurately resolve the neutron elastic interactions. An energy grid convergence study is conducted to demonstrate the improved stability of the new methods. Based on the results of the convergence study and the ease of implementation, the average value method with a 100 point energy grid is found to be suitable for future use in HZETRN.     

Semi-analytical theory of mean orbital motion for geosynchronous space debris under gravitational influence

This paper provides a hamiltonian formulation of the equations of motion of an artificial satellite or space debris orbiting the geostationary ring. This theory of order 1 has been formulated using canonical and non-singular elements for eccentricity and inclination. The analysis is based on an expansion in powers of the eccentricity and of the inclination. The theory accounts for the influence of the Earth gravity field expanded in spherical harmonics, paying a particular attention to the resonance occurring for geosynchronous objects. The luni-solar perturbations are also taken into account. We present the resonant motion and its main characteristics: equilibria, stability, fundamental frequencies and width of the resonant area by comparison with a basic analytical model. Finally, we show some results concerning the long term dynamics of a typical space debris under the influence of the gravitational field of the Earth and the luni-solar interactions.     

An improved Green's function for ion beam transport.

Ion beam transport theory allows testing of material transmission properties in the laboratory environment generated by particle accelerators. This is a necessary step in materials development and evaluation for space use. The approximations used in solving the Boltzmann transport equation for the space setting are often not sufficient for laboratory work and those issues are the main emphasis of the present work. In consequence, an analytic solution of the linear Boltzmann equation is pursued in the form of a Green's function allowing flexibility in application to a broad range of boundary value problems. It has been established that simple solutions can be found for high charge and energy (HZE) ions by ignoring nuclear energy downshifts and dispersion. Such solutions were found to be supported by experimental evidence with HZE ion beams when multiple scattering was added. Lacking from the prior solutions were range and energy straggling and energy downshift with dispersion associated with nuclear events. Recently, we have found global solutions including these effects providing a broader class of HZE ion solutions.     

Two-dimensional phase plane structure and the stability of the orbital motion for space debris in the geosynchronous ring

Based on the orbital resonance model, we study the two-dimensional phase plane structure of the motion of space debris orbiting the geosynchronous ring under the combined effects of the tesseral harmonics J₂₂, J₃₁ and J₃₃ of the Earth’s gravitational field. We present the main characteristic parameters of the two-dimensional phase plane structure. We also analyze the stability of the two-dimensional phase plane structure with numerical method. Our main findings indicate that the combined effects of the tesseral harmonics J₂₂, J₃₁ and J₃₃ fully determine the two-dimensional phase plane structure of the space debris, and it remains robust under the effect of the Earth’s actual gravitational field, the luni-solar perturbations and the solar radiation pressure with the normal area-to-mass ratios.     

An improved approach to model ionospheric delays for single-frequency Precise Point Positioning

PPP with low-cost, single-frequency receivers has been receiving increasing interest in recent years because of its large amount of possible users. One crucial issue in single-frequency PPP is the mitigation of ionospheric delays which cannot be removed by combining observations on different frequencies. For this purpose, several approaches have been developed, such as, the approach using ionospheric model corrections with proper weight, the GRAPHIC (Group and Phase Ionosphere Calibration) approach, and the method to model ionospheric delays over a station with a low polynomial or stochastic process. From our investigation on the stochastic characteristics of the ionospheric delay over a station, it cannot be precisely represented by either a deterministic model in the form of a low-order polynomial or a stochastic process for each satellite, because of its strong irregular spatial and temporal variations. Therefore, a novel approach is developed accordingly in which the deterministic representation is further refined by a stochastic process for each satellite with an empirical model for its power density. Furthermore, ionospheric delay corrections from a constructed model using GNSS data are also included as pseudo-observations for a better solution. A large data set collected from about 200 IGS stations over one month in 2010 is processed with the new approach and several commonly adopted approaches for validation. The results show its significant improvements in terms of positioning accuracy and convergence time with a negligible extra processing time, which is also demonstrated by data collected with a low-cost, handheld, single-frequency receiver.     

An improved approach to model regional ionosphere and accelerate convergence for precise point positioning

Given the severe effects of the ionosphere on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals, single-frequency (SF) precise point positioning (PPP) users can only achieve decimeter-level positioning results. Ionosphere-free combinations can eliminate the majority of ionospheric delay, but increase observation noise and slow down dual-frequency (DF) PPP convergence. In this paper, we develop a regional ionosphere modeling and rapid convergence approach to improve SF PPP (SFPPP) accuracy and accelerate DF PPP (DFPPP) convergence speed. Instead of area model, ionospheric delay is modeled for each satellite to be used as a priori correction. With the ionospheric, wide-lane uncalibrated phase delay (UPD) and residuals satellite DCBs product, the wide-lane observations for DF users change to be high-precision pseudorange observations. The validation of a continuously operating reference station (CORS) network was analyzed. The experimental results confirm that the approach considerably improves the accuracy of SFPPP. For DF users, convergence time is substantially reduced.     

The development of focusing optics for the hard-X-ray region

Grazing-incidence optics has revolutionized soft-X-ray astronomy yet the scientifically important hard-X-ray region has gone relatively unexplored at high sensitivity and fine angular scales. This situation is now changing with several flight-ready balloon-borne focusing telescopes and planned satellite-borne observatories. This review discusses some of the developments in mirror and focal plane technologies that are making these payloads possible.     

Advanced fractal approach for unsupervised classification of SAR images

Unsupervised classification of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images is the alternative approach when no or minimum apriori information about the image is available. Therefore, an attempt has been made to develop an unsupervised classification scheme for SAR images based on textural information in present paper. For extraction of textural features two properties are used viz. fractal dimension D and Moran’s I. Using these indices an algorithm is proposed for contextual classification of SAR images. The novelty of the algorithm is that it implements the textural information available in SAR image with the help of two texture measures viz. D and I. For estimation of D, the Two Dimensional Variation Method (2DVM) has been revised and implemented whose performance is compared with another method, i.e., Triangular Prism Surface Area Method (TPSAM). It is also necessary to check the classification accuracy for various window sizes and optimize the window size for best classification. This exercise has been carried out to know the effect of window size on classification accuracy. The algorithm is applied on four SAR images of Hardwar region, India and classification accuracy has been computed. A comparison of the proposed algorithm using both fractal dimension estimation methods with the K-Means algorithm is discussed. The maximum overall classification accuracy with K-Means comes to be 53.26% whereas overall classification accuracy with proposed algorithm is 66.16% for TPSAM and 61.26% for 2DVM.     

An adaptive threshold method for improving astrometry of space debris CCD images

Optical survey is a main technique for observing space debris, and precisely measuring the positions of space debris is of great importance. Due to several factors, e.g. the angle object normal to the observer, the shape as well as the attitude of the object, the variations of observed characteristics for low earth orbital space debris are distinct. When we look at optical CCD images of observed objects, the size and brightness are varying, hence it’s difficult to decide the threshold during centroid measurement and precise astrometry. Traditionally the threshold is given empirically and constantly in data reduction, and obviously it’s not suitable for data reduction of space debris. Here we offer a solution to provide the threshold. Our method assumes that the PSF (point spread function) is Gaussian and estimates the signal flux by a directly two-dimensional Gaussian fit, then a cubic spline interpolation is performed to divide each initial pixel into several sub-pixels, at last the threshold is determined by the estimation of signal flux and the sub-pixels above threshold are separated to estimate the centroid. A trail observation of the fast spinning satellite Ajisai is made and the CCD frames are obtained to test our algorithm. The calibration precision of various threshold is obtained through the comparison between the observed equatorial position and the reference one, the latter are obtained from the precise ephemeris of the satellite. The results indicate that our method reduces the total errors of measurements, it works effectively in improving the centering precision of space debris images.     

An optimal beam alignment method for large-scale distributed space surveillance radar system

Large-scale distributed space surveillance radar is a very important ground-based equipment to maintain a complete catalogue for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) space debris. However, due to the thousands of kilometers distance between each sites of the distributed radar system, how to optimally implement the Transmitting/Receiving (T/R) beams alignment in a great space using the narrow beam, which proposed a special and considerable technical challenge in the space surveillance area. According to the common coordinate transformation model and the radar beam space model, we presented a two dimensional projection algorithm for T/R beam using the direction angles, which could visually describe and assess the beam alignment performance. Subsequently, the optimal mathematical models for the orientation angle of the antenna array, the site location and the T/R beam coverage are constructed, and also the beam alignment parameters are precisely solved. At last, we conducted the optimal beam alignment experiments base on the site parameters of Air Force Space Surveillance System (AFSSS). The simulation results demonstrate the correctness and effectiveness of our novel method, which can significantly stimulate the construction for the LEO space debris surveillance equipment.     

Validation of an active transponder for KOMPSAT-5 SAR image calibration

This paper describes the development and validation of a transportable active transponder designed for the image calibration of Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite-5 (KOMPSAT-5) with a synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Ground targets are essential in SAR image calibration. The environment for the deployment of ground targets for SAR image calibration should provide uniformity and minimum interference. The Amazon or deserts are regarded as desirable environments. However, such environments for SAR image calibration are difficult to find in Korea. Thus, it will be advantageous to have an active transponder whose performance will not be severely limited by the absence of such uniform environment. We have therefore developed an active transponder which has an adjustable internal delay and into which the orbit data of an arbitrary satellite can be loaded. The stored obit data with the aid of an internal global positioning system (GPS) receiver and gyroscope enables the active transponder to point to a selected satellite. In addition, a virtual deployment of the active transponder is possible due to its adjustable internal delay. Thus, the developed active transponder can be deployed at any place without environmental constraint. The performance of the developed active transponder is validated using the satellite TerraSAR-X, which is already in operation. The test results show that the active transponder is successfully compliant with the requirements for KOMPSAT-5 image calibration.     

Hard X-ray focusing optics up to 80 keV for the future missions

X-ray telescopes have been providing high sensitivity X-ray observations in numerous missions. For X-ray telescopes in the future, one of the key technologies is to expand the energy band beyond 10 keV. We designed depth-graded multilayer, so-called supermirrors, for a hard X-ray telescope in the energy band up to 40 keV using lightweight thin-foil optics. They were successfully flown in a balloon flight and obtained a hard X-ray image of Cyg X-1 in the 20–40 keV band. Now supermirrors are promising to realize a hard X-ray telescope. We have estimated the performance of a hard X-ray telescope using a platinum–carbon supermirror for future satellite missions, such as NeXT (Japan) and XEUS (Europe). According to calculations, they will have a significant effective area up to 80 keV, and their effective areas will be more than 280 cm² even at 60 keV. Limiting sensitivity will be down to 1.7 × 10⁻¹³ erg cm⁻² s⁻¹ in the 10–80 keV band at a 100 ks observation. In this paper, we present the results of the balloon experiment with the first supermirror flown and projected effective areas of hard X-ray telescopes and action items for future missions.     

An assessment of a method for recovering atomic oxygen density profiles from column integrated nightglow intensity measurements

In this paper we evaluate a novel technique for recovering atomic oxygen density profiles in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region from measurements of column integrated nightglow emissions. The technique, originally proposed by Sharp and McDade (1996), exploits the differences between the molecularities of specific nightglow emission features to recover a parameterized atomic oxygen density profile. To test this technique, we generate simulated column integrated nightglow intensities arising from atomic oxygen density profiles that do not fully conform with the assumed parameterization. The simulated intensities are then inverted through the technique to recover the underlying atomic oxygen density profiles. We find that the technique does a very good job of retrieving the general features of the atomic oxygen density profiles. As an added bonus, the recovered atomic oxygen density profiles can be used to reconstruct the vertical profiles of the specific nightglow volume emissions, thus producing vertical profiles from measurements of their integrated intensities. This is important for vertical location of temperatures inferred from ground-based nightglow observations.     

An improved,near real time water vapor path delay correction of Cryosat-2 sea surface height measurements

This paper presents improvements of a method (Stum et al., 2011) aimed at computing the water vapor path delay correction of altimeter sea surface height, using total precipitable water measurements from scanning microwave radiometers. The main interest of this improved method is for the Cryosat-2 mission over the ocean. Focus is made on the applicability of the method in near real time. An experiment to produce an operational path delay correction for Jason-2 and Cryosat-2 Interim Geophysical Data Records (IGDR) has been set up. Results confirm that the new correction, although less accurate than the one attainable with an embarked radiometer, improves the Cryosat-2 sea surface height accuracy.     

An improved cyclic multi model-eXtreme gradient boosting (CMM-XGBoost) forecasting algorithm on the GNSS vertical time series

The study of GNSS vertical coordinate time series forecasting is helpful for monitoring the crustal plate movement, dam or bridge deformation monitoring, and global or regional coordinate system maintenance. The eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) algorithm is a machine learning algorithm that can evaluate features, and it has a great potential and stability for long-span time series forecasting. This study proposes a multi-model combined forecasting method based on the XGBoost algorithm. The method constitutes a new time series as features through the fitting and forecasting results of the forecasting model. The XGBoost model is then used for forecasting. In addition, this method can obtain higher precision forecasting results through circulation. To verify the performance of the forecasting method, 1095 epochs of data in the Up coordinate of 16 GNSS stations are selected for the forecasting test. Compared with the CNN-LSTM model, the experimental results of our forecasting method show that the mean absolute error (MAE) values are reduced by 30.23 %～52.50 % and the root mean square error (RMSE) values are reduced by 31.92 %～54.33 %. The forecasting results have higher accuracy and are highly correlated to the original time series, which can better forecast the vertical movement of the GNSS stations. Therefore, the forecasting method can be applied to the up component of the GNSS coordinate time series.     

New improved orbit solutions for the ERS-1 and ERS-2 satellites

Improved orbit solutions of the European Remote Sensing Satellites ERS-1 and ERS-2 have been computed in the ITRF2005 terrestrial reference frame using the recent models based mainly on IERS Conventions 2003. These solutions cover the periods 3 August 1991 to 8 July 1996 for ERS-1, and 3 May 1995 to 4 July 2003 for ERS-2. For each satellite, the final orbit solution is based on a combination of three separate orbit solutions independently computed at the Delft Institute of Earth Observation and Space Systems (DEOS) of the Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands), the Navigation Support Office of the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC, Germany) and the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences (Germany) using three different software packages for precise orbit determination, but using the same models in the same terrestrial reference frame within the European Space Agency (ESA) project ‘Reprocessing of Altimeter Products for ERS (REAPER)’. Validation using radar altimeter data indicates that the new combined orbits of ERS-1 and ERS-2 computed by us are significantly more accurate, approaching the 2–3 cm level in radial direction, than previously available orbit solutions.     

Unmixing method for hyperspectral data based on sub-space method with learning process

An unmixing method for hyperspectral Earth observation satellite imagery data is proposed. It is based on a sub-space method with learning process. The proposed method utilizes a sub-space for feature space during unmixing. It is used to be done in a feature space which consists of spectral bands of observation vectors. As the results from the experiments with airborne based hyperspectral imagery data, AVIRIS, it is found that the proposed unmixing is superior to the other existing method in terms of decomposition accuracy and the process time required for the decompositions.     

A method for estimating cross radiance

When imaging the surface from satellites or aircraft, “cross radiance” diminishes the information content of the pictures. In this paper a simple method is presented to estimate the value of cross radiance. This method includes a height-dependent aerosol size distribution model and the calculations refer to the single scattering approximation. The height variation of aerosol size distribution has significant effect on the value of cross radiance, while the areal distribution does not change much in comparison with that of the height-independent aerosol model.     

噪声系数的直接测量技术

介绍一种噪声系数的直接测量技术。叙述了测量原理,分析了噪声系数的测量误差,指出了提高测量精度的途径,并给出了测量结果的实例。     

The method for predicting solar proton events

Dynamic processes in the interplanetary space have been investigated using time variations in time parameters of the cosmic-ray rigidity spectrum. Change of heliosphere electromagnetic characteristics has been found out to precede sporadic phenomena on the Sun. In particular, it is shown that sporadic phenomena are followed by generation of local polarization electric fields, decrease of the magnetic-field strength in small-scale heliospheric structures, and increase of the potential difference between the pole and the plane of the ecliptic. These features allow prediction of solar proton events in advance (from several hours to several tens of hours) with a high degree of confirmation.