A regional tropospheric model for airborne GPS applications

A regional tropospheric model can be constructed using surveys from GPS ground networks. Using this model the tropospheric delays of a kinematic station within the region can be interpolated. However, such a model is generally not suitable for an airborne platform high above the ground networks. In this paper, a method of constructing a regional tropospheric model for airborne GPS applications is described. First, the kinematic station in the air is projected onto the ground. Then the tropospheric delays at projected point are interpolated from those of the ground networks. Finally, the tropospheric delays at projected point are extended upward to the airborne platform using pressure and temperature gradients and humidity exponential function. For validation of this method, the data of airborne campaign carried out by BKG in cooperation with GFZ and BGR 2008 in the northern Alps are used. The results show that GPS kinematic positioning precision in height component can be improved using this method.     

Study of thin-walled parts shaping process based on flanging and embossing

This paper presents the results of analyzing the shaping of thin-walled conical parts with the uniform thickness along generatrix.     

An Artificial Neural Network based approach for estimation of rain intensity from spectral moments of a Doppler Weather Radar

By using a Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) at Shriharikota (13.66°N & 80.23°E), an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based technique is proposed to improve the accuracy of rain intensity estimation. Three spectral moments of a Doppler spectra are utilized as an input data to an ANN. Rain intensity, as measured by the tipping bucket rain gauges around the DWR station, are considered as a target values for the given inputs. Rain intensity as estimated by the developed ANN model is validated by the rain gauges measurements. With the help of a developed technique, reasonable improvement in the estimation of rain intensity is observed. By using the developed technique, root mean square error and bias are reduced in the range of 34–18% and 17–3% respectively, compared to Z–R approach.     

Nonlinear deforming of laminated composite shells of revolution under finite deflections and normal’s rotation angles

The discretization of the boundary value problem for laminated composite shells is based on the finite difference approach using the regular mesh with the constant grid step and the difference operators of the second order of accuracy. The dynamic relaxation method is proposed for the solution of the nonlinear problem. The evolutionary equations of the dynamic relaxation are constructed, and the optimum parameters of the converging linear iterative process are estimated.     

Analytical construction of interception trajectories in atmosphere

For an interception strategy of a removable target by a return space vehicle (RSV), we propose a structure of the control law by the aerodynamic efficiency that determines a chain of the three standard trajectories: nosing-up–free flight–nosing-down. A solution of the terminal problem is to determine numerical values of the control parameters that define moments to switch the RSV flight from one standard trajectory to another.     

Concept of monitoring for thermostressed state and service life of aircraft gas turbine engine blades

A concept of monitoring for material properties with residual life estimation of rotor blades for gas turbine engines is proposed. The structure of on-board control and conditionmonitoring system based on the intelligent pyrometer module with the algorithm for calculating the residual life of turbine rotor blades is described.     

关于多目标气动优化设计中伴随方法与对策理论的耦合研究(英文)

本文研究了多目标气动优化设计中伴随方法和对策理论的耦合问题,给出了伴随方法在每个对策策略中的具体应用和数值方法。在合作对策中伴随方法被并行地执行以共同得到Pareto阵面上的最优解;相反在Nash对策中伴随方法在Nash策略的最后被耦合起来以互相竞争的形式得到各自目标的最优解;而在Stackel-berg对策中伴随方法被分层耦合进"领头人"和"跟随者"的策略中以求解他们相互依赖的平衡解。文末的优化算例表明了本文耦合算法及其数值过程在求解多目标气动优化设计问题中的有效性。     

The Magnetic Field of Mercury

The magnetic field strength of Mercury at the planet’s surface is approximately 1% that of Earth’s surface field. This comparatively low field strength presents a number of challenges, both theoretically to understand how it is generated and observationally to distinguish the internal field from that due to the solar wind interaction. Conversely, the small field also means that Mercury offers an important opportunity to advance our understanding both of planetary magnetic field generation and magnetosphere-solar wind interactions. The observations from the Mariner 10 magnetometer in 1974 and 1975, and the MESSENGER Magnetometer and plasma instruments during the probe’s first two flybys of Mercury on 14 January and 6 October 2008, provide the basis for our current knowledge of the internal field. The external field arising from the interaction of the magnetosphere with the solar wind is more prominent near Mercury than for any other magnetized planet in the Solar System, and particular attention is therefore paid to indications in the observations of deficiencies in our understanding of the external field. The second MESSENGER flyby occurred over the opposite hemisphere from the other flybys, and these newest data constrain the tilt of the planetary moment from the planet’s spin axis to be less than 5°. Considered as a dipole field, the moment is in the range 240 to 270 nT-R _M ³ , where R _M is Mercury’s radius. Multipole solutions for the planetary field yield a smaller dipole term, 180 to 220 nT-R _M ³ , and higher-order terms that together yield an equatorial surface field from 250 to 290 nT. From the spatial distribution of the fit residuals, the equatorial data are seen to reflect a weaker northward field and a strongly radial field, neither of which can be explained by a centered-dipole matched to the field measured near the pole by Mariner 10. This disparity is a major factor controlling the higher-order terms in the multipole solutions. The residuals are not largest close to the planet, and when considered in magnetospheric coordinates the residuals indicate the presence of a cross-tail current extending to within 0.5R _M altitude on the nightside. A near-tail current with a density of 0.1 μA/m² could account for the low field intensities recorded near the equator. In addition, the MESSENGER flybys include the first plasma observations from Mercury and demonstrate that solar wind plasma is present at low altitudes, below 500 km. Although we can be confident in the dipole-only moment estimates, the data in hand remain subject to ambiguities for distinguishing internal from external contributions. The anticipated observations from orbit at Mercury, first from MESSENGER beginning in March 2011 and later from the dual-spacecraft BepiColombo mission, will be essential to elucidate the higher-order structure in the magnetic field of Mercury that will reveal the telltale signatures of the physics responsible for its generation.     

The Time Structure of Ground Level Enhancements in?Solar Cycle 23

In a recent paper McCracken et al. (J. Geophys. Res. 113:A12101, 2008) proposed that the Ground Level Enhancement (GLE) of 20 January 2005 may have been produced by more than one acceleration mechanism, with the first acceleration due to the solar flare and the second one due to the CME associated with that event. They also noted several other GLEs with similar multiple pulse structures. This paper systematically investigates all the GLEs of solar cycle 23, from GLE 55 on 6 November 1997 to GLE 70 on 13 December 2006, to study their morphology and pulse structure, and to determine whether the multiple structures that may be found in these events are qualitatively similar to that of the GLE of 20 January 2005. We use all the data of all NMs that saw each event, to have as much directional and spectral information as possible. It is shown that three of these 16 events do contain such double-pulse structures, and the properties of these three are discussed in some detail.