Heterodyne spectroscopy of astronomical and laboratory sources at 8.5 μm using diode laser local oscillators

The first 8.5m infrared heterodyne spectrometer has been constructed using tuneable semiconductor (PbSe) diode lasers and was used to measure absorption line profiles of N₂O in the laboratory and black body emission from the Moon and from Mars. Spectral information was recorded over a 200 MHz bandwidth using an 8-channel filter bank. The resolution was 25 MHz (6 × 10^–6 m) and the minimum detectable (black-body) power was 1 × 10^–16 W for 8 min of integration. The results demonstrate the usefulness of heterodyne spectroscopy for the study of remote and local sources in the infrared.We wish to thank Dr Jack Butler and Craig Simpson (Arthur D. Little, Inc.) for their continuing (and successful) efforts to grow better diode lasers during the course of this experiment. We thank the National Radio Astronomy Observatory for the loan of a 40-channel filter bank and associated mini-computer.We thank en masse the dozens of people who loaned equipment to us for the duration of this experiment, and the commercial firms (especially Harshaw, Inc.) which expedited orders for crucial equipment. We thank Dr Bertram Donn, Dr Norman Ness, and Dr George Pieper for administrative, scientific, and financial support; and we thank Mr James Faris for technical assistance and Dr Sol Glicker for preparation of sample gas cells. We thank Dr Thomas Clark for providing the Kohoutek ephemeris, sighting printout, and predicted molecular line positions and for advice and the loan of some equipment. Finally, we wish to acknowledge the strong support accorded us by our wives and families who scarcely saw us during this period.     

Generalized Response of a Linear FM Pulse Compression Matched Filter

A pulse compression matched filter is analyzed so that the response may be computed when the pulse width, FM rate, and center frequency simultaneously differ from design conditions. Unilateral and bilateral time domain amplitude weighting for sidelobe reduction is included. A general cross-ambiguity function is defined to include these effects and some basic computed results are presented for the peak envelope response with various degrees of Hamming weighting. Computer evaluation of this cross-ambiguity function allows one to choose a combination of mismatches for signal design trade-off between resolution and detection performance. Since no restrictions are placed upon the mismatch parameters, this analysis may also be used to evaluate the filter discrimination against various interfering signals.     

Single event upset investigations on the “Flying Laptop” satellite mission

The radiation effects in electronic parts are called single-event effects, which are deemed to be critical for space missions. This paper presents the Single Event Upsets that were observed in an onboard memory device of the Low Earth Orbit “Flying Laptop” satellite mission during its in-orbit operation. The Single Event Upsets were carefully mapped on the satellite orbital space itself and their root causes were investigated together with their rates of occurrence. Subsequently, the events were traced to show several root cause sources such as (i) trapped energetic protons leaking to low altitudes within the South Atlantic Anomaly, (ii) Solar Energetic Particles emitted by an impulsive event on 10 September 2017, and (iii) Galactic Cosmic Rays. A profound analysis was carried out on the observed flight data, and its corresponding results are actually in agreement with the standard energetic particle models. The presented results provide another important insight on the Single Event Upsets for future Low Earth Orbit satellite missions.     

The Radio Observatory on the Lunar Surface for Solar studies

The Radio Observatory on the Lunar Surface for Solar studies (ROLSS) is a concept for a near-side low radio frequency imaging interferometric array designed to study particle acceleration at the Sun and in the inner heliosphere. The prime science mission is to image the radio emission generated by Type II and III solar radio burst processes with the aim of determining the sites at and mechanisms by which the radiating particles are accelerated. Specific questions to be addressed include the following: (1) Isolating the sites of electron acceleration responsible for Type II and III solar radio bursts during coronal mass ejections (CMEs); and (2) Determining if and the mechanism(s) by which multiple, successive CMEs produce unusually efficient particle acceleration and intense radio emission. Secondary science goals include constraining the density of the lunar ionosphere by searching for a low radio frequency cutoff to solar radio emission and constraining the low energy electron population in astrophysical sources. Key design requirements on ROLSS include the operational frequency and angular resolution. The electron densities in the solar corona and inner heliosphere are such that the relevant emission occurs at frequencies below 10 MHz. Second, resolving the potential sites of particle acceleration requires an instrument with an angular resolution of at least 2°, equivalent to a linear array size of approximately 1000 m. Operations would consist of data acquisition during the lunar day, with regular data downlinks. No operations would occur during lunar night.     

Middle atmosphere electrical structure,dynamics and coupling

The ram current to ion traps and the insensitivity of ion conductivity to compressibility provide the basis of robust techniques for middle atmosphere measurements. Gerdien condensers are more difficult to implement but provide more information. Mesospheric electrical conductivity shows many orders of magnitude variability, with depressions below gas phase model values indicating dominance by aerosol particles. The mobility of these ions has been directly measured and indicates particles of thousands of AMU. Large mesospheric fields have come into question, and diagnostic measurements show that many such measurements may be artifacts. However, some measurements of V/m fields with symmetrical and redundant sensors appear to be real. These fields complicate the “mapping” picture of electrical coupling and may also modulate the transport of aerosol particles. They are probably related to neutral atmosphere dynamics and/or the aerosol particles. Lightning couples much more energy to the middle atmosphere and above than previously suspected, primarily in the ELF-ULF range. There are many important unanswered questions in this relatively unexplored frontier area which may be answered with low cost balloon and sounding rocket experiments.     

Solar Elemental Composition Based on Studies of Solar Energetic Particles

Solar abundances can be derived from the composition of the solar wind and solar energetic particles (SEPs) as well as obtained through spectroscopic means. Past comparisons have suggested that all three samples agree well, when rigidity-related fractionation effects on the SEPs were accounted for. It has been known that such effects vary from one event to the next and should be addressed on an event-by-event basis. This paper examines event variability more closely, particularly in terms of energy-dependent SEP abundances. This is now possible using detailed SEP measurements spanning several decades in energy from the Ultra Low Energy Isotope Spectrometer (ULEIS) and the Solar Isotope Spectrometer (SIS) on the ACE spacecraft. We present examples of the variability of the elemental composition with energy and suggest they can be understood in terms of diffusion from the acceleration region near the interplanetary shock. By means of a spectral scaling procedure, we obtain energy-independent abundance ratios for 14 large SEP events and compare them to reported solar wind and coronal abundances as well as to previous surveys of SEP events.     

Biosignatures from Earth-like planets around M dwarfs

Coupled one-dimensional photochemical-climate calculations have been performed for hypothetical Earth-like planets around M dwarfs. Visible/near-infrared and thermal-infrared synthetic spectra of these planets were generated to determine which biosignature gases might be observed by a future, space-based telescope. Our star sample included two observed active M dwarfs-AD Leo and GJ 643-and three quiescent model stars. The spectral distribution of these stars in the ultraviolet generates a different photochemistry on these planets. As a result, the biogenic gases CH4, N2O, and CH3Cl have substantially longer lifetimes and higher mixing ratios than on Earth, making them potentially observable by space-based telescopes. On the active M-star planets, an ozone layer similar to Earth's was developed that resulted in a spectroscopic signature comparable to the terrestrial one. The simultaneous detection of O2 (or O3) and a reduced gas in a planet's atmosphere has been suggested as strong evidence for life. Planets circling M stars may be good locations to search for such evidence.     

Long-term manipulations of intact microbial mat communities in a greenhouse collaboratory: simulating earth's present and past field environments

Photosynthetic microbial mat communities were obtained from marine hypersaline saltern ponds, maintained in a greenhouse facility, and examined for the effects of salinity variations. Because these microbial mats are considered to be useful analogs of ancient marine communities, they offer insights about evolutionary events during the >3 billion year time interval wherein mats co-evolved with Earth's lithosphere and atmosphere. Although photosynthetic mats can be highly dynamic and exhibit extremely high activity, the mats in the present study have been maintained for >1 year with relatively minor changes. The major groups of microorganisms, as assayed using microscopic, genetic, and biomarker methodologies, are essentially the same as those in the original field samples. Field and greenhouse mats were similar with respect to rates of exchange of oxygen and dissolved inorganic carbon across the mat-water interface, both during the day and at night. Field and greenhouse mats exhibited similar rates of efflux of methane and hydrogen. Manipulations of salinity in the water overlying the mats produced changes in the community that strongly resemble those observed in the field. A collaboratory testbed and an array of automated features are being developed to support remote scientific experimentation with the assistance of intelligent software agents. This facility will permit teams of investigators the opportunity to explore ancient environmental conditions that are rare or absent today but that might have influenced the early evolution of these photosynthetic ecosystems.     

GMM-based target classification for ground surveillance Doppler radar

An automatic target recognition (ATR) algorithm, based on greedy learning of Gaussian mixture model (GMM) is developed. The GMMs were obtained for a wide range of ground surveillance radar targets such as walking person(s), tracked or wheeled vehicles, animals, and clutter. Maximum-likelihood (ML) and majority-voting decision schemes were applied to these models for target classification. The corresponding classifiers were trained and tested using distinct databases of target echoes, recorded by ground surveillance radar. ML and majority-voting classifiers obtained classification rates of 88% and 96%, correspondingly. Both classifiers outperform trained human operators.