Optical chemical sensors for environmental control and system management.

Several fiber optic based chemical sensors have been developed for use in plant growth systems and enclosed life support systems. Optical chemical sensors offer several distinct advantages in terms of sensitivity, calibration stability, immunity to biofouling and electrical interference, and ease of multiplexing sensors for multipoint/multiparameter analysis. Also, the ability to locate fiber optic sensors in close proximity to plant roots or leaves should improve the measurement reliability by obviating the need for handling and transport which can compromise sample integrity. Polestar Technologies and GEO-CENTERS have developed and tested many types of optical chemical sensors which utilize novel glass and polymeric materials as the sensor substrate. Analytes are detected using immobilized colorimetric indication systems or molecular recognition elements. Typically transduction is via wavelength specific absorption changes with multiwavelength detection for drift compensation. Sensors have been developed for solution pH, NH3, ethylene, CO2, and dissolved metal ions. In addition, unique PC-compatible optoelectronic interfaces, as well as distributed measurement systems, so that integrated detection systems are now available. In this paper recent efforts to develop sensors for critical nutrient ions are presented.     

Retrieval of crop variables with field-based X-band microwave remote sensing of ladyfinger

Modeling in agriculture has been widely used to retrieve and monitor various soil and crop growth variables. Remote sensing, especially radar sensors can be useful for temporal and spatial monitoring of the soil and plant variables. Therefore, in this paper field measurements of crop ladyfinger were carried out to examine the dependency of radar backscatter on crop–soil variables and to develop a method for monitoring and retrieving crop variables for ladyfinger. A crop-bed was prepared to observe scatterometer response in the angular range of incidence angle 20–70° at 9.89 GHz in the X-band for VV- and HH-polarization. At the same time, soil moisture, plant height, leaf area index and aboveground biomass were measured at various growth stages of crop ladyfinger. The angular variation of scattering coefficient decreases with the age of crop ladyfinger shows the dominance of crop effect on soil moisture effect at the older age. Thus, angular trends are more flat as the plant grows since the effects of soil is masked by developing vegetation. Scattering coefficient increases with the increase of leaf area index for both polarizations (i.e. VV- and HH-). It was found that leaf area index and aboveground biomass of crop ladyfinger are highly correlated with microwave frequency more than with plant height and soil moisture. Leaf area index and biomass of ladyfinger crop were retrieved by polarization based model and non-linear least square optimization model. These two models gave very good results for the retrieval of leaf area index and aboveground biomass.     

三自由度球形电机位置测量研究

非接触位移测量对实现球电机的闭环运动控制十分重要.对基于微处理器的光学传感器的测量原理作了分析,阐述了利用二自由度光学传感器测量球电机三自由度位移的测量原理,提出了传感器的安装和位移计算方法.这种方法是通过球面的几何关系,由检测到的x和y坐标方向的位置数据计算出z坐标方向的数据,并根据旋量理论建立球电机运动的旋转矩阵和计算出旋转矩阵的旋转角度.通过仿真结果验证了所提方案的实用性.     

Remote sensing using GNSS signals: Current status and future directions

The refracted, reflected and scattered signals of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) have been successfully used to remotely sense the Earth’s surface and atmosphere. It has demonstrated its potential to sense the atmosphere and ionosphere, ocean, land surfaces (including soil moisture) and the cryosphere. These new measurements, although in need of refinement and further validation in many cases, can be used to complement existing techniques and sensors, e.g., radiosonde, ionosonde, radar altimetry and synthetic aperture radar (SAR). This paper presents the current status and new developments of remote sensing using GNSS signals as well as its future directions and applications. Some notable emerging applications include monitoring sea ice, dangerous sea states, ocean eddy and storm surges. With the further improvement of the next generation multi-frequency GNSS systems and receivers and new space-based instruments utilizing GNSS reflections and refractions, new scientific applications of GNSS are expected in various environment remote sensing fields in the near future.     

遥感卫星传感器的重复观测能力计算

遥感卫星传感器的重复观测能力是体现卫星系统动态监测能力的重要指标之一. 通过分析卫星星下点成像和侧视成像时的重访条件, 给出了卫星可能实现重访的轨道计算方法, 同时以HJ-1A/1B卫星(环境与灾害监测预报小卫星星座的光学星)为例, 给出了特定地区可以实现重访的优选轨道, 并讨论了由两颗卫星组成的卫星星座对重访的影响, 以及纬度对重访的影响.      

A root moisture sensor for plants in microgravity.

Development of components for bioregenerative life-support systems is a vital step toward long-term space exploration. The culturing of plants in a microgravity environment may be optimized by the use of appropriate sensors and controllers. This paper describes a sensor developed for determining the amount of fluid (nutrient solution) available on the surface of a porous ceramic nutrient delivery substrate to the roots of conventional crop plants. The sensor is based on the change in thermal capacitance and thermal conductance near the surface as the moisture content changes. The sensor could be employed as a data acquisition and control sensor to support the automated monitoring of plants grown in a microgravity environment.     

Impacting small Near Earth Objects

The design of a low-cost spacecraft to impact on a small, faint Near Earth Object (NEO), poses major challenges. This paper focuses on the terminal phase of such impact mission, analyzing the capability of autonomous Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) systems to compensate the deviations in the impact point to achieve a successful collision. The autonomous GNC system employs the information of the optical sensors to estimate the parameters allowing the computation of divert maneuvers to achieve the impact. GMV has developed a simulator, with different levels of sophistication, and a set of different GNC algorithms to help in the design process. This tool is used for different purposes such as: dimensioning the sensors and actuators, verifying mission requirements, computing figures of merit of different SC configurations and evaluating GNC performances. Four GNC algorithms are compared: low-thrust proportional navigation using a fading memory filter, high-thrust predictive guidance using either a Kalman filter or a batch-sequential least-squares filter, and a mid-thrust hybrid predictive-proportional guidance using a fading memory filter. Monte Carlo analysis using global-performances models of the optical sensors for each of these GNC algorithms are presented for two different asteroids (1989 ML and 2002 AT4), showing the mission parameters driving the mission performances. In addition, single-runs with high-fidelity optical sensors models are presented to validate the Monte Carlo simulations.     

Crop parameters estimation by fuzzy inference system using X-band scatterometer data

Learning fuzzy rule based systems with microwave remote sensing can lead to very useful applications in solving several problems in the field of agriculture. Fuzzy logic provides a simple way to arrive at a definite conclusion based upon imprecise, ambiguous, vague, noisy or missing input information. In the present paper, a subtractive based fuzzy inference system is introduced to estimate the potato crop parameters like biomass, leaf area index, plant height and soil moisture. Scattering coefficient for HH- and VV-polarizations were used as an input in the Fuzzy network. The plant height, biomass, and leaf area index of potato crop and soil moisture measured at its various growth stages were used as the target variables during the training and validation of the network. The estimated values of crop/soil parameters by this methodology are much closer to the experimental values. The present work confirms the estimation abilities of fuzzy subtractive clustering in potato crop parameters estimation. This technique may be useful for the other crops cultivated over regional or continental level.     

Synergies between plant research conducted for terrestrial and for space purposes.

During the past 10 years, the main part of CELSS studies has concerned the exploration of limits of plant productivity. Very high yields were obtained in continuous and high lighting, without reaching any limit. Concepts of mineral nutrition were renewed. CELSS activities now induce a development in the techniques of image processing applied to plants in order to follow the growth, to detect stresses or diseases or to pilot harvesting robots. Notable efforts concern the development of sensors, the study of trace contaminants and the micro-organisms monitoring. In parallel, several instruments for plant culture in closed Systems were developed. The advantages of closure are emphasised in comparison with open flow systems. The concept of Artificial Ecosystems developed for space research is more and more taken into account by the scientific community. It is considered as a new tool to study basic and applied problems related to ecology and not especially concerned with space research.     

Earth life support for aquatic organisms, system and technical aspects.

The importance of the research on Bioregenerative Life Support has increased dramatically in the last decade not only with regard to possible space flight application but also as a way to obtain a better understanding of our Earth's ecology. A major goal was to reach long-term stability of artificial model systems. Preliminary data are presented on the development of an improved aquatic system, currently dedicated for ground-based research. Closed aquatic ecosystems require reliability of the key parameters of pH, O2 and CO2 concentration and stability of sensors for monitoring. Besides the integration of an artificial lung (holofiber system and air pump with valves, allowing controlled oxygen uptake of air), in parallel to the oxygen producing water plants. Our new approach is to implement opto-chemical sensors, for such environmental monitoring. One major advantage of the new sensor technique is their better long-term reliability as compared to the electrochemical sensors. Our experiment with the new sensor technique has demonstrated satisfactory performance in closed aquatic ecosystems.     

火星尘埃与探测

火星表面尘埃与太阳辐射、热辐射的相互作用直接影响火星大气的结构、热平衡和动力学过程,并会产生改变火星表面反照率和火星地貌的长期效应.火星尘埃环境还对登陆于火星表面的着陆器能源系统和光学载荷等系统构成影响.为此需开展火星大气尘埃的直接就位探测.在介绍了火星的尘埃特性与主要探测方法基础上,提出了采用微质量计技术开展火星表面尘埃就位探测的综合探测器方案.探测器包含3种传感器.尘埃累积传感器通过设置其敏感晶体表面朝上,可以探测火星表面尘埃的沉积质量与速率;荷电尘埃传感器通过加置不同极性的偏置电压,可以探测荷正电尘埃和荷负电尘埃的累积特性;磁尘传感器通过在敏感晶体后加设小型永久磁铁,可以探测磁性尘埃的累积特性.传感器感测质量范围为10^-11~10^-4g.火星尘埃综合探测器可应用于未来的火星着陆探测计划.     

Particulated growth media for optimal liquid and gaseous fluxes to plant roots in microgravity.

An important and yet relatively under researched area of plant growth in microgravity, deals with the rooting environment of plants. A comprehensive approach for selecting the physical characteristics of root growth media which optimizes the dynamic availability of water and dissolved nutrients, and gases to plant roots was developed and tested. Physically-based and parametric models describing the relationship between content and fluxes of liquids and gases were used to cast a multi-objective optimization problem. This methodology reveals that a medium's ability to supply liquid and gas fluxes optimally is dependent upon physiological target values, system operation limits and root module design which dictate the medium's range of soil water characteristic and particle size distribution. Optimized media parameters designate a particle size distribution from which a particulated growth media was constructed and matched to the optimized media parameters. This methodology should improve the selection of optimal media properties for plant growth in microgravity as well as other porous media applications.     

Advances on Technology and Application of Ocean Color Remote Sensing in China (2004 - 2006)

China has great progress in the technology and application of ocean color remote sensing during 2004-2006. In this report, firstly, four major technical advances are displaying, including (1) the vector radiative transfer numerical model of coupled ocean-atmosphere system; (2) the atmospheric correction algorithm specialized on Chinese high turbid water; (3) systematical research of hyper-spectrum ocean color remote sensing; (4) local algorithms of oceanic parameters, like ocean color components, ocean primary productivity, water transparency, water quality parameters, etc. On the foundation of technical advances, ocean color remote sensing takes effect on ocean environment monitoring, with four major kinds of application systems, namely, (1) the automatic multi-satellites data receiving, processing and application system; (2) the shipboard satellite data receiving and processing system for fishery ground information; (3) Coastal water quality monitoring system, integrating satellite and airborne remote sensing technology and ship measurement; (4) the preliminary system of airborne ocean color remote sensing application system. Finally, the prospective development of Chinese ocean color remote sensing is brought forward. With Chinese second ocean color satellite (HY-1B) orbiting, great strides will take place in Chinese ocean color information accumulation and application.     

The Spacelab-Mir-1 "Greenhouse-2" experiment.

The Spacelab-Mir-1 (SLM-1) mission is the first docking of the Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-71) with the Orbital Station Mir in June 1995. The SLM-1 "Greenhouse-2" experiment will utilize the Russian-Bulgarian-developed plant growth unit (Svet). "Greenhouse-2" will include two plantings (1) designed to test the capability of Svet to grow a crop of Superdwarf wheat from seed to seed, and (2) to provide green plant material for post-flight analysis. Protocols, procedures, and equipment for the experiment have been developed by the US-Russian science team. "Greenhouse-2" will also provide the first orbital test of a new Svet Instrumentation System (SIS) developed by Utah State University to provide near real time data on plant environmental parameters and gas-exchange rates. SIS supplements the Svet control and monitoring system with additional sensors for substrate moisture, air temperature, IR leaf temperature, light, oxygen, pressure, humidity, and carbon-dioxide. SIS provides the capability to monitor canopy transpiration and net assimilation of the plants growing in each vegetation unit (root zone) by enclosing the canopy in separate, retractable, ventilated leaf chambers. Six times during the seed-to-seed experiment, plant samples will be collected, leaf area measured, and plant parts fixed and/or dried for ground analysis. A second planting initiated 30 days before the arrival of a U.S. Shuttle [originally planned to be STS-71] is designed to provide green material at the vegetative development stage for ground analysis. [As this paper is being edited, the experiment has been delayed until after the arrival of STS-71.]     

碳纳米管薄膜传感器及其应变传感特性

碳纳米管薄膜可作为应变传感器用于结构损伤的健康监测。采用机械搅拌、超声处理和高速离心等分散工艺将多壁碳纳米管单分散后,通过真空吸滤法制备碳纳米管薄膜。对碳纳米管薄膜传感器进行了深入的研究,设计了一种高灵敏度的碳纳管薄膜应变传感器,与结构基体一体成型。弯曲应变传感实验表明碳纳米管薄膜传感器在不同的应变范围、不同的循环次数、不同的温度范围等条件下都具有良好的应变传感特性。结果表明碳纳米管薄膜传感器灵敏度较高,灵敏度系数为188.31(0~22 500 με),且具有较好的应变传感可逆性和可重复性。      

Assessment of plant vitality detection through fluorescence and reflectance imagery

Recent studies of the vegetation fluorescence show that it can be successfully used as an intrinsic indicator of plant photosynthetic activity. With respect to the vegetation spectral reflectance, the chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence is more specific as an observable of basic biophysical processes in the plant cells. Laser induced fluorescence is widely used in near range remote sensing, but it is not suitable for the global monitoring of vegetation. Decades of active fluorometry studies have collected useful information of leaf reaction to natural and anthropogenic stress. Still the passive fluorescence, the one that could be registered from satellite orbit has still to prove its advantage over widely used reflectance signature. The weakness of the signal and the lack of experience with passive fluorescence measurements require extensive technical, theoretical and experimental studies. New imaging fluorometres are to be designed for measuring steady state fluorescence in controlled and natural conditions.

In order to compare reflectance and steady state fluorescence sensitivity to stress impact, a set of experiments have been conducted under controlled illumination conditions in a bio-chamber, designed by the author’s team. The equipment allows plant vitality to be monitored both by passive fluorescence and spectral reflectance imaging. Different types of stress factors (heat and drought stress, acid impact) were investigated to demonstrate equipments ability in monitoring changes of fluorescence signal. Selected fluorescence images of foliage illustrate an early detection of plant dysfunction and the temporal and spatial spreading of the stress impact. Analysis shows that fluorescence imaging of green plants can be developed as a highly effective early warning remote sensing method, which could have application for an ecosystems’ monitoring along with high-spectral reflectance imagery.     

准互易光学电压传感器的电场计算与误差分析

针对一种新型的具有准互易反射式光路结构的光学电压传感器,设计了基于锗酸铋(BGO,Bi₄Ge₃O₁₂)晶体横向调制方式的高压探头.采用ANSYS有限元分析软件对所设计的高压探头进行电场计算,得到了探头内的电场及电势分布;讨论了探头内电场分布不均匀及干扰电场导致的测量误差.计算结果表明:标准条件下探头的最高可测电压不低于15 kV;电场分布不均匀导致光沿着晶体内不同路径传输时,电场强度对路径的积分结果即测量电压不同,影响传感器的稳定性和测量精度;探头内干扰电场导致0~5 kV范围内最大测量误差达1.2‰,这一测量误差对于2‰精度的电压传感器是不可忽略的.      

The structure and function of microbial communities in recirculating hydroponic systems.

Strategies to control the microbial community associated with plant growth systems need to be based on a fundamental understanding of the factors which structure and regulate the community. Spatial and temporal patterns in the abundance and production rate of microorganisms in hydroponic systems containing wheat were examined to evaluate how root-derived carbon is processed. The relevance of results to monitoring and control strategies is discussed.