The ionospheric response to high-intensity long duration continuous AE activity (HILDCAA) event (13–15 April 2005) over mid-latitude African region

The ionospheric responses to High-Intensity Long Duration Continuous Auroral Electrojet Activity (HILDCAA) event which happened following the CIR-driven storm were studied over the southern hemisphere mid-latitude in the African sector. The 13–15 April 2005 event was analysed to understand some of the mechanisms responsible for the ionospheric changes during HILDCAA event. The ionosonde critical frequency of F2 layer (foF2) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Total Electron Content (TEC) were used to analyse the ionospheric responses. The daytime increase in foF2 and TEC values were observed on 13 April 2005. The TEC and foF2 enhancement could be attributed to Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (LSTIDs), increase in thermospheric neutral composition changes, Prompt Penetration Electric Field (PPEF) and an expansion of Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) to the mid-latitude.     

Early morning enhancement in ionospheric electron density during intense magnetic storms

This study reports on ionospheric disturbances that occurred in the early morning hours in the South American–Atlantic sector during a few intense/super storm events. The events were observed at latitudes close to the southern crest of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) as an unusual intensification of the F region electron density peak at local times when the EIA is not usually developed. All the events were observed at pre dawn-morning hours, under conditions of northward interplanetary geomagnetic field. Large scale traveling ionospheric disturbances that are launched during highly disturbed conditions and/or equatorward surges in the thermospheric meridional winds seem to be the most probable causes of the observed disturbances.     

Omnidirectional Instantaneous Direction Finding System

A system for providing near-instantaneous determination of the azimuthal angle of arrival of a received signal has been designed and fabricated at L band. Direction is determined by phase measurement of the outputs of a multimode antenna, which has no moving parts. Effects of multipath interference are reduced to a minimum through a combination of signal processing techniques. The position of the transmitting source is presented on a PPI display.     

Navigation in outdoor environments as an embodied,social, cultural,and situated experience: An empirical study of orienteering

This study investigated novices' “lived experiences” of navigation within the sport of orienteering from an enactive and phenomenological approach. The objective was to qualitatively characterize elements of task-related situations that were meaningful for orienteers. The results showed that the participants continuously made judgments about the reliability of their estimations about whether they were on “the right route” on the course. When the participants judged that they were only approximately on the right route or were unable to locate themselves, elements of the situation other than map and terrain features became meaningful for them. These results demonstrate that, for novice orienteers, navigation activity must extend beyond navigation as a logical, computational way-finding problem to include embodied, social, cultural and situated dimensions.     

Matched-Filter Responses of the Linear FM Waveform

Although the properties of the linear FM signal have been studied previously in considerable detail, such studies have involved rather narrow aspects of the theory. This paper extends the work in several respects. By presenting three-dimensional projections of the conventional ambiguity function of the linear FM signal in more detail than was available before, we can study the sidelobe behavior off as well as on the axes, without weighting, with unilateral weighting in the receiver, and with bilateral weighting. These plots reveal interesting properties related to the signal symmetry in time and frequency. The matched-filter response is then extended to include Doppler distortions of the modulation function. The results show that Woodward's ambiguity function is valid only for signals with relatively modest sophistication, even though in most practical situations one is interested only in those undistorted parts of the matched-filter response in the vicinity of the delay axis. Plots of the response are presented for various degrees of distortion, for signals with and without weighting. Lastly, we consider the effects of a mismatch in range acceleration, again for the various cases of interest. The results convey a thorough insight into the properties of chirp radar under a broad range of operational conditions.     

Geochemical Consequences of Widespread Clay Mineral Formation in Mars’ Ancient Crust

Clays form on Earth by near-surface weathering, precipitation in water bodies within basins, hydrothermal alteration (volcanic- or impact-induced), diagenesis, metamorphism, and magmatic precipitation. Diverse clay minerals have been detected from orbital investigation of terrains on Mars and are globally distributed, indicating geographically widespread aqueous alteration. Clay assemblages within deep stratigraphic units in the Martian crust include Fe/Mg smectites, chlorites and higher temperature hydrated silicates. Sedimentary clay mineral assemblages include Fe/Mg smectites, kaolinite, and sulfate, carbonate, and chloride salts. Stratigraphic sequences with multiple clay-bearing units have an upper unit with Al-clays and a lower unit with Fe/Mg-clays. The typical restriction of clay minerals to the oldest, Noachian terrains indicates a distinctive set of processes involving water-rock interaction that was prevalent early in Mars history and may have profoundly influenced the evolution of Martian geochemical systems. Current analyses of orbital data have led to the proposition of multiple clay-formation mechanisms, varying in space and time in their relative importance. These include near-surface weathering, formation in ice-dominated near-surface groundwaters, and formation by subsurface hydrothermal fluids. Near-surface, open system formation of clays would lead to fractionation of Mars’ crustal reservoir into an altered crustal reservoir and a sedimentary reservoir, potentially involving changes in the composition of Mars’ atmosphere. In contrast, formation of clays in the subsurface by either aqueous alteration or magmatic cooling would result in comparatively little geochemical fractionation or interaction of Mars’ atmospheric, crustal, and magmatic reservoirs, with the exception of long-term sequestration of water. Formation of clays within ice would have geochemical consequences intermediate between these endmembers. We outline the future analyses of orbital data, in situ measurements acquired within clay-bearing terrains, and analyses of Mars samples that are needed to more fully elucidate the mechanisms of martian clay formation and to determine the consequences for the geochemical evolution of the planet.     

Living plant systems: How robust are they in the absence of gravity?

The following hierarchical levels can be recognised in plant systems: cells, organs, organisms and gamodemes (interbreeding members of a community). Each level in this ‘living hierarchy’ is both defined and supported by a similar set of sub-systems. Within this framework of plant organization, two complementary questions are relevant for interpreting plant-oriented space experiments: 1) What role, if any, does gravity play in enabling the development of each organizational level? and 2) Does abnormal development in an altered gravity environment indicate sub-system inefficiency? Although a few representatives of the various organizational levels in plant systems have already been the subject of microgravity experiments in space laboratories—from cells in culture to gamodemes, the latter being found in some Closed Environment Life Support Systems—it would be of interest to investigate additional systems with respect to their response to microgravity. Recognition of the sub-systems at each level might be relevant not only for a more complete understanding of plant development but also for the successful cultivation and propagation of plants during long-term space flights and the establishment of plants in extra-terrestrial environments.     

Optical oxygen sensor instrumentation based on the detection of luminescence lifetime.

Optical oxygen sensors are mainly based on the principle of luminescence quenching. In contrast to arready existing intensity-based systems, the measurement of the luminescence lifetime provides certain advantages, such as insensitivity to photobleaching or leaching of the dye, or changes in the intensity of excitation light. This facilitates the use of simple optical systems or optical fibres. A new family of oxygen-sensitive dyes, the porphyrin-ketones, has been introduced, which exhibits favorable spectral properties and decay times in the order of tens and hundreds of microseconds. This allows the use of simple optoelectronic circuitry and low-cost processing electronics. An optical oxygen sensor module has been developed with the dimensions of only 120 x 60 x 30 mm. The prototype is based on the measurement of the decay time of the luminophore by measuring the phase shift between the square-wave excitation and the detected square-wave of the emission coming from the sensor. The instrument is based on semiconductor devices (light-emitting diodes, photodiodes) and may be used for the detection of oxygen in gaseous or liquid samples. The measurement range of the device is from 0 to 200 hPa oxygen partial pressure with a resolution of < 1 hPa over the whole measurement range. The overall measurement accuracy of < +/- 1 hPa has been obtained for periods of 24 h of continuous measurement in a thermostatted environment. The sensor response times t90 are typically < 1 s for gases and 0.5 to 5 min for liquid samples.