Synthetic vision for enhancing poor visibility flight operations

Visibility is important for the pilot controlling an aircraft in flight conditions close to the ground, particularly when landing. Therefore, poor visibility yields a great restriction for aircraft operations. Restrictions exist for landing sites which are equipped with facilities providing a landing approach aid like ILS since a minimum is required for visibility. For landing sites providing no approach aids, restrictions are much more severe. This holds even if aircraft are equipped with modern instrumentation and navigation devices. The natural view of the pilot is dependent on various meteorological conditions like darkness, dust, fog, rain etc. The degradation in view caused by these conditions can be compensated for partially or even completely by technical means providing artificial vision cues. Such technical means may be based on radar or optical sensor information. Concepts which employ these techniques are known as “Synthetic Visual Systems” or “Enhanced Visual Systems,” . The present paper is concerned with computer generated vision as a further technique providing visual cues for the pilot. Computer generated vision may be used in combination with the aforementioned sensor based techniques. Thus, it is possible to compensate for limitations which sensor based visual systems have in providing sufficient visibility range or in generating a normal looking image. In addition, computer generated imagery has the potential providing additional information to the pilot for controlling the flight path or for warning purposes. This potential can yield improved and/or more information as compared with the natural view when looking out of the cockpit window     

The development of a series hybrid electric vehicle for near-termapplications

The design of a feasible hybrid electric vehicle for use in near-term applications is presented. The challenge involved cost effectiveness, acceleration, range, safety, and emissions, which were incorporated into the vehicle design. The relationship of the design goals was studied, and compromises were made to provide near-optimal system design. This process resulted in the selection and design of the major vehicle components. The design decisions and the actual vehicle components are reviewed     

Super-optimal CO2 reduces wheat yield in growth chamber and greenhouse environments.

Seven growth chamber trials (six replicate trials using 0.035, 0.12, and 0.25% CO2 in air and one trial using 0.12, 0.80, and 2.0% CO2 in air) and three replicate greenhouse trials (0.035, 0.10, 0.18, 0.26, 0.50, and 1.0% CO2 in air) compare the effects of super-optimal CO2 on the seed yield, harvest index, and vegetative growth rate of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cvs. USU-Apogee and Veery-10). Plants in the growth chamber trials were grown hydroponically under fluorescent lamps, while the greenhouse trials were grown under sunlight and high pressure sodium lamps and in soilless media. Plants in the greenhouse trials responded similarly to those in the growth chamber trials; maximum yields occurred near 0.10 and 0.12% CO2 and decreased significantly thereafter. This research indicates that the toxic effects of elevated CO2 are not specific to only one environment and has important implications for the design of bio-regenerative life support systems in space, and for the future of terrestrial agriculture.     

Infrared spectrometer PFS for the Mars 94 orbiter

Thin films containing a mixture of aliphatic (glycine) and aromatic (tryptophan or tyrosine) amino acids were exposed to a vacuum ultraviolet radiation (VUV) with wavelenghts 100–200 nm. Dipeptides (glycyl-tryptophan and glycyl-tyrosine) were synthesized in these conditions. We compared the actions of VUV and γ-radiation. Polymerization is an essential step in prebiological evolution and we have shown that this stage probably occured over an early Solar system history.     

Long-term modulation of Galactic Cosmic Radiation and its model for space exploration.

As the human exploration of space has received new attention in the United States, studies find that exposure to space radiation could adversely impact the mission design. Galactic Cosmic Radiation (GCR), with its very wide range of charges and energies, is particularly important for a mission to Mars, because it imposes a stiff mass penalty for spacecraft shielding. Dose equivalent versus shielding thickness calculations, show a rapid initial drop in exposure with thickness, but an asymptotic behavior at a higher shielding thickness. Uncertainties in the radiobiology are largely unknown. For a fixed radiation risk, this leads to large uncertain ties in shielding thickness for small uncertainties in estimated dose. In this paper we investigate the application of steady-state, spherically-symmetric diffusion-convection theory of solar modulation to individual measurements of differential energy spectra from 1954 to 1989 in order to estimate the diffusion coefficient, kappa (r,t), as a function of time. We have correlated the diffusion coefficient to the Climax neutron monitor rates and show that, if the diffusion coefficient can be separated into independent functions of space and time: kappa (-r,t)=K(t)kappa 0 beta P kappa 1(r), where beta is the particle velocity and P the rigidity, then (i) The time dependent quantity 1/K(t), which is proportional to the deceleration potential, phi(r,t), is linearly related to the Climax neutron monitor counting rate. (ii) The coefficients obtained from hydrogen or helium intensity measurements are the same. (iii) There are different correlation functions for odd and even solar cycles. (iv) The correlation function for the Climax neutron monitor counting rate for given time, t, can be used to estimate mean deceleration parameter phi(t) to within +/- 15% with 90% confidence. We have shown that kappa(r,t) determined from hydrogen and/or helium data, can be used to fit the oxygen and iron differential energy spectra with a root mean square error of about +/- 10%, and essentially independent of the particle charge or energy. We have also examined the ion chamber and 14C measurements which allow the analysis to be extended from the year 1906 to 1990. Using this model we have defined reference GCR spectra at solar minimum and solar maximum. These can be used for space exploration studies and provide a quantitative estimate of the error in dose due to changes in GCR intensities.     

High energy particle dispersion events observed by interball-1 and -2

Time period from October 1996 until January 1998 was checked on high energy resolution DOK2 energetic particle instrument measurements on Interball-1 and Interball-2 for the ion (> 20 keV) dispersive events (EDIS) with the exclusion of Interball-1 orbit parts in the tail. A variety of energy dispersive events, both in ion and electron spectra with different duration is found in the auroral regions, in the outer magnetosphere and near the cusp. While EDIS were observed in all sectors of MLT, the best conditions for their observation were in the afternoon local time. The characteristics of dispersive events observed by DOK2 are consistent with their explanation by the gradient-curvature drift of particles from the injection point(s) in the night local time sector given in Lutsenko at al., 2000a, b.     

Local Radiation Belts of the Sun (Quasi-Stationary Coronal and Heliospheric Giant Traps for Solar Cosmic Rays)

The local radiation belts of the Sun are defined as giant quasi-stationary coronal and heliospheric traps for solar cosmic rays. These traps are formed by loop magnetic fields, both solar and interplanetary. Using observational data, some experimental examples of the local radiation belts of the Sun are considered. The hypotheses on the origin of energetic particles in the outer heliosphere and on the local radiation belts of the Sun are discussed.     

Evolution of the sun''s near-surface asphericities over the activity cycle

Solar oscillations provide the most accurate measures of cycle dependent changes in the sun, and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) data are the most precise of all. They give us the opportunity to address the real challenge — connecting the MDI seismic measures to observed characteristics of the dynamic sun. From inversions of the evolving MDI data, one expects to determine the nature of the evolution, through the solar cycle, of the layers just beneath the sun's surface. Such inversions require one to guess the form of the causal perturbation — usually beginning with asking whether it is thermal or magnetic. Matters here are complicated because the inversion kernels for these two are quite similar, which means that we don't have much chance of disentangling them by inversion. However, since the perturbation lies very close to the solar surface, one can use synoptic data as an outer boundary condition to fix the choice. It turns out that magnetic and thermal synoptic signals are also quite similar. Thus, the most precise measure of the surface is required.

We argue that the most precise synoptic data come from the Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) Solar Disk Photometer (SDP). A preliminary analysis of these data implies a magnetic origin of the cycle-dependent sub-surface perturbation. However, we still need to do a more careful removal of the facular signal to determine the true thermal signal.     

Energy storage solutions for premium power

Most utility power quality problems are caused by sags, surges, and momentary outages which last from several cycles to several seconds. Modern loads are very sensitive to these short duration glitches resulting in major losses in revenue through system down-time and loss of product from work in process. Many of these problems are caused by normal transients as equipment and factories go on-line or shut down. Others are caused by lightening strikes and faults on the distribution system. Although power utility companies attempt to minimize the interruptions through filtering and system management, power quality problems continue to cost American industry billions of dollars a year. Batteries have been used for many years in uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) to protect critical loads. However, because many new facilities have a network of broadly distributed critical loads, a UPS on the order of one to several megawatts is needed to support the total plant rather than several small kilowatt installations. This paper reports on the implementation of such a utility scale power quality management system