Multipath Effects on an Azimuthal Monopulse System

The first topic considered is an analysis of the conditions under which the conventional definition of length of the glistening surface, as given by Beckmann and Spizzichino, is not valid. For some conditions, significant amounts of incoherent scattered power can be received from areas beyond the conventional length. A second topic is the investigation of the effect on azimuthal angular tracking accuracy due to such scattering factors as shadowing, surface height distribution, standard deviation in surface height ?, surface correlation length T, unevenness and inhomogeneity of the terrain, antenna heights, and signal polarization. A number of interesting results have been observed. The amount of additional incoherent power not included under the conventional definition depends on the ratio ?/T, except for the case where both transmitter and receiver are very close to the surface. The trends in the behavior of the glistening surface are similar for vertical or horizontal polarization, for Gaussian or exponential surface height distributions, and for different signal frequencies in the S-band to L-band range.     

Theory and Modeling for the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission

The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission will provide measurement capabilities, which will exceed those of earlier and even contemporary missions by orders of magnitude. MMS will, for the first time, be able to measure directly and with sufficient resolution key features of the magnetic reconnection process, down to the critical electron scales, which need to be resolved to understand how reconnection works. Owing to the complexity and extremely high spatial resolution required, no prior measurements exist, which could be employed to guide the definition of measurement requirements, and consequently set essential parameters for mission planning and execution. Insight into expected details of the reconnection process could hence only been obtained from theory and modern kinetic modeling. This situation was recognized early on by MMS leadership, which supported the formation of a fully integrated Theory and Modeling Team (TMT). The TMT participated in all aspects of mission planning, from the proposal stage to individual aspects of instrument performance characteristics. It provided and continues to provide to the mission the latest insights regarding the kinetic physics of magnetic reconnection, as well as associated particle acceleration and turbulence, assuring that, to the best of modern knowledge, the mission is prepared to resolve the inner workings of the magnetic reconnection process. The present paper provides a summary of key recent results or reconnection research by TMT members.     

Time variations of cosmic-ray helium isotopes with BESS-Polar I

The Balloon-borne Experiment with a Superconducting Spectrometer (BESS) is configured with a solenoidal superconducting magnet and a suite of precision particle detectors, including time-of-flight hodoscopes based on plastic scintillators, a silica-aerogel Cherenkov detector, and a high resolution tracking system with a central jet-type drift chamber. The charges of incident particles are determined from energy losses in the scintillators. Their magnetic rigidities (momentum/charge) are measured by reconstructing each particle trajectory in the magnetic field, and their velocities are obtained by using the time-of-flight system. Together, these measurements can accurately identify helium isotopes among the incoming cosmic-ray helium nuclei up to energies in the GeV per nucleon region. The BESS-Polar I instrument flew for 8.5 days over Antarctica from December 13th to December 21st, 2004. Its long-duration flight and large geometric acceptance allow the time variations of isotopic fluxes to be studied for the first time. The time variations of helium isotope fluxes are presented here for rigidities from 1.2 to 2.5 GV and results are compared to previously reported proton data and neutron monitor data.     

New line profiles of Li–H2 for brown dwarfs

In order to calculate the opacity of a gas it is necessary to consider how its constituent atoms are perturbed by the surrounding medium. This is required both in order to calculate the equation of state, and in order to determine the profiles of the spectrum lines. In this work we report new theoretical Li line profiles perturbed by H₂ and their dependence with temperature.     

Spin parameters of Low Earth Orbiting satellites Larets and Stella determined from Satellite Laser Ranging data

Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) measurements contain information about the spin parameters of the fully passive, geodetic satellites. In this paper we spectrally analyze the SLR data of 5 geodetic satellites placed on the Low Earth Orbits: GFZ-1, WESTPAC, Larets, Starlette, Stella, and successfully retrieve the frequency signal from Larets and Stella only. The obtained signals indicate an exponential increase of the spin period of Larets: T = 0.860499·exp(0.0197066·D) [s], and Stella: T = 13.5582·exp(0.00431232·D) [s], where D is in days since launch. The initial spin periods calculated from the first month of the SLR observations are: Larets: T_initial = 0.8239 s, Stella: T_initial = 13.2048 s. Analysis of the apparent effects indicates the counter-clockwise spin direction of the satellites. The twice more heavy Stella lost its rotational energy more than four times slower than Larets. Fitting the spin model to the observed spin trends allows determination of the spin axis orientation evolution for Larets and Stella before their rotational period becomes equal to the orbital period.     

Mapping orbits around the asteroid 2001SN263

The present paper has the goal of mapping orbits, with respect to the perturbations, for a spacecraft traveling around the asteroid 2001SN₂₆₃. This asteroid is a triple system, which center of mass is in an elliptic orbit around the Sun. The perturbations considered in the present model are the ones due to the oblateness of the central body, the gravity field of the two satellite bodies (Beta and Gamma), the Sun, the Moon, the asteroids Vesta, Pallas and Ceres and all the planets of the Solar System. This mapping is important, because it shows the relative importance of each force for a given orbit for the spacecraft, helping to make a decision about which forces need to be included in the model for a given accuracy and nominal orbit. Another important application of this type of mapping is to find orbits that are less perturbed, since it is expected that those orbits have good potential to require a smaller number of station-keeping maneuvers. Simulations under different conditions are made to find those orbits. The main reason to study those trajectories is that, currently, there are several institutions in Brazil studying the possibility to make a mission to send a spacecraft to this asteroid (the so-called ASTER mission), because there are many important scientific studies that can be performed in that system. The results showed that Gamma is the main perturbing body, followed by Beta (10 times smaller) and the group Sun–Mars-oblateness of Alpha, with perturbations 1000 times weaker than the effects of Gamma. The other bodies have perturbations 10⁷ times smaller. The results also showed that circular and polar orbits are less perturbed, when compared to elliptical and equatorial orbits. Regarding the semi-major axis, an internal orbit is the best choice, followed by a larger external orbit. The inclination of the orbit plays an important role, and there are values for the inclination where the perturbations show minimum and maximum values, so it is important to make a good decision on those values.     

An object-level strategy for pan-sharpening quality assessment of high-resolution satellite imagery

Current satellite imaging systems offer a trade-off between high spatial and high spectral resolution providing panchromatic images at a higher spatial resolution and multispectral images at a lower spatial resolution but rich in spectral information while a wide range of applications need the highest level of this information, simultaneously. Image fusion techniques as means of enhancing the information content of initial panchromatic and multispectral images produce new images, titled pan-sharpened, which inherent the advantages of the initial images. Considering the impact of fusion accuracy on the quality of corresponding applications, it is necessary to evaluate the quality of these processed images. During the last decade, a lot of quality evaluation metrics have been proposed which are mostly inspired by traditional image quality metrics. These methods are mostly based on applying quality metrics at the pixel level and evaluating final quality value based on averaging of obtained metric values through the whole image. However, obtained results clearly show that the behaviour of image fusion quality is inconsistent amongst different image objects. In this article, by applying image fusion quality metrics (IFQMs) to image objects, an object-level strategy for quality assessment of the image fusion process is proposed. The proposed strategy is applied to different satellite imagery covering residential and agricultural areas. Experimental results show higher capabilities of object-level quality assessment strategy in the quality assessment of the fusion process. Evaluating fusion quality at the object level provides the potential of fusion quality assessment for each individual image object in compliance with different parameters such as the type of objects and the effective size of objects in data set.     

Spectroscopic evaluation of polyurea crosslinked aerogels,as a substitute for RTV-based chromatic calibration targets for spacecraft

Room temperature vulcanizing (RTV)-based components have been used on Mars Pathfinder, the Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, as well as the Phoenix Lander as a support matrix for pigmented panoramic camera calibration targets. RTV 655 has demonstrated superiority to other polymers due to its unique range of material properties namely mechanical stability between −115 and 204 °C and UV radiation tolerance. As a result, it has been the number one choice for many space-related missions. However, due to the high mass density and the natural tendency for electrostatic charging RTV materials have caused complications by attracting and retaining dust particles (Sabri et al., 2008). In the current project we have investigated the relevant properties of polymer-reinforced (crosslinked) silica aerogels with the objective of substituting RTV-based calibration targets with an aerogel based design. The lightweight, mechanical strength, ability to accept color pigments, and extremely low dust capture makes polyurea crosslinked aerogels a strong candidate as a chromatic standard for extraterrestrial missions. For this purpose, the reflection spectra, gravimetric analysis, and low temperature response of metal oxide pigmented, polyurea crosslinked silica aerogels have been investigated and reported here.