The Measurement of Echo Direction in a Phased-Array Radar

For a planar-array antenna with a monopulse feed horn, this study describes a simple algorithm for the determination of the direction of target echoes. Antenna pattern measurements of the array indicate that the direction sines of a received wavefront can be independently obtained with one simple relation between a normalized difference channel output and a direction sine. This paper determines the accuracy of the algorithm.     

On-Line Computer for Transient Turbine Cascade Instrumentation

A 32-channel computer based data acquisition and processing system em has been developed for use with the new type of transient cascade facility at Oxford. This is used for testing turbine blades and nozzle guide vanes at full-scale engine Reynolds and Mach numbers ers with correct wallto-flow temperature ratios. A novel technique for processing transient heat transfer data from thin film surface resistance thermometers has been developed. Measurements of surface ace pressure around blades, and of the upstream turbulence level have been made. The cascade and instrumentation are shown to have advantages both in cost and effectiveness over continuous running cascades.     

Medium PRF radar PRF selection using evolutionary algorithms

Evolutionary algorithms are applied to the optimization of pulse repetition frequency (PRF), for both eight-and nine PRFs, in medium PRF radar while considering the detailed effects of sidelobe clutter and many other technical factors. The algorithm presented also ensures that all the solutions produced are fully decodable and have no blind velocities. The evolutionary algorithm was able to identify near-optimum PRF sets for a realistic radar system with only a modest computational effort.     

Observational Manifestation of Chaos in the Gaseous Disk of the Grand Design Spiral Galaxy NGC 3631

The main goal of the paper is to demonstrate the presence of chaotic trajectories in the gaseous disk of a real spiral galaxy. As an example we have chosen NGC 3631. First, we show the stationarity of the 3-D velocity field restored from the observed line-of-sight velocity field of the gaseous disk. That allows to analyse behaviour of the trajectories of the fluid particles (gas clouds) in the disk, calculating the corresponding observed streamlines. We estimate the Lyapunov characteristic numbers using their independence of the metrics and show the existence of chaotic trajectories outside the vortices which are present in the velocity field, and in the vicinity of the saddle point. Related spectra of the stretching numbers for some trajectories are also calculated.     

Review of flow control mechanisms of leading-edge vortices

Vortex control concepts employed for slender and nonslender delta wings were reviewed. Important aspects of flow control include flow separation, vortex formation, flow reattachment, vortex breakdown, and vortex instabilities. The occurrence and relative importance of these phenomena strongly depend on the wing sweep angle. Various flow control methods were discussed: multiple vortices, control surfaces, blowing and suction, low-frequency and high-frequency excitation, feedback control, passive control with wing flexibility, and plasma actuators. For slender delta wings, control of vortex breakdown is achieved by modifications to swirl level and external pressure gradient acting on the vortex core. Effects of flow control methods on these two parameters were discussed, and their effectiveness was compared whenever possible. With the high-frequency excitation of the separated shear layer, reattachment and lift enhancement in the post-stall region is observed, which is orders of magnitude more effective than steady blowing. This effect is more pronounced for nonslender wings. Re-formation of vortices is possible with sufficient amplitude of forcing at the optimum frequency. Passive lift enhancement on flexible wings is due to the self-excited wing vibrations, which occur when the frequency of wing vibrations is close to the frequency of the shear layer instabilities, and promote flow reattachment.     

Topological defects and highest energy cosmic and gamma rays

In this paper we review the hypothesis that a substantial part of the cosmic ray flux observed above about 10¹⁹ eV may be produced by decaying or annihilating topological defects left over from phase transitions in the early universe at grand unification energy scales ( 10¹⁶ GeV). Possible signatures of cosmic ray producing defect models are discussed which could be tested experimentally in the near future. We thereby focus on model independent universal spectral properties of the predicted particle fluxes.     

Hydra — A 3-dimensional electron and ion hot plasma instrument for the POLAR spacecraft of the GGS mission

HYDRA is an experimental hot plasma investigation for the POLAR spacecraft of the GGS program. A consortium of institutions has designed a suite of particle analyzers that sample the velocity space of electron and ions between 2 keV/q – 35 keV/q in three dimensions, with a routine time resolution of 0.5 s. Routine coverage of velocity space will be accomplished with an angular homogeneity assumption of 16°, appropriate for subsonic plasmas, but with special 1.5° resolution for electrons with energies between 100 eV and 10 keV along and opposed to the local magnetic field. This instrument produces 4.9 kilobits s^–1 to the telemetry, consumes on average 14 W and requires 18.7 kg for deployment including its internal shielding. The scientific objectives for the polar magnetosphere fall into four broad categories: (1) those to define the ambient kinetic regimes of ions and electrons; (2) those to elucidate the magnetohydrodynamic responses in these regimes; (3) those to assess the particle populations with high time resolution; and (4) those to determine the global topology of the magnetic field. In thefirst group are issues of identifying the origins of particles at high magnetic latitudes, their energization, the altitude dependence of the forces, including parallel electric fields they have traversed. In thesecond group are the physics of the fluid flows, regimes of current, and plasma depletion zones during quiescent and disturbed magnetic conditions. In thethird group is the exploration of the processes that accompany the rapid time variations known to occur in the auroral zone, cusp and entry layers as they affect the flow of mass, momentum and energy in the auroral region. In thefourth class of objectives are studies in conjunction with the SWE measurements of the Strahl in the solar wind that exploit the small gyroradius of thermal electrons to detect those magnetic field lines that penetrate the auroral region that are directly open to interplanetary space where, for example, the Polar Rain is observed.     

Multiposition alignment of strapdown inertial navigation system

The authors demonstrate that the stationary alignment of strapdown inertial navigation system (SDINS) can be improved by employing the multiposition/technique. Using an observability analysis, it is shown that an optimal two-position alignment not only satisfies complete observability conditions but also minimizes alignment errors. This is done by analytic rank testing of the stripped observability matrix and numerical calculation of the error covariance. It is also shown that an optimal three-position alignment accelerates the convergence of the alignment error compared with two-position alignment     

Instrument Failure Detection in Partially Observable Systems

Instrument failure detection using the dedicated observer scheme (DOS) depends on partial state observability through each instrument which is monitored. For instrument fault detection by the DOS technique, a quantitative measure of partial state observability is established for each instrument and used to determine a necessary condition on the output structure of the system. This measure, called the internal redundancy of the instrument, indicates the complexity of the logic required for failure detection, and it also indicates where some hardware redundancy can be introduced into the system to improve the fault detection capability of the DOS. The principles developed are applied to a simulation of the pitch axis autopilot of the A7 jet aircraft.     

Adaptive Tracking Filter for Maneuvering Targets

A general method of continually restructuring an optimum Bayes-Kalman tracking filter is proposed by conceptualizing a growing tree of filters to maintain optimality on a target exhibiting maneuver variables. This tree concept is then constrained from growth by quantizing the continuously sensed maneuver variables and restricting these to a small value from which an average maneuver is calculated. Kalman filters are calculated and carried in parallel for each quantized variable. This constrained tree of several parallel Kalman filters demands only modest om; puter time, yet provides very good performance. This concept is implemented for a Doppler tracking system and the performance is compared to an extended Kalman filter. Simulation results are presented which show dramatic tracking improvement when using the adaptive tracking filter.