A challenge to the highest balloon altitude

Development of a balloon to fly at higher altitudes is one of the most attractive challenges for scientific balloon technologies. After reaching the highest balloon altitude of 53.0 km using the 3.4 μm film in 2002, a thinner balloon film with a thickness of 2.8 μm was developed. A 5000 m³ balloon made with this film was launched successfully in 2004. However, three 60,000 m³ balloons with the same film launched in 2005, 2006, and 2007, failed during ascent. The mechanical properties of the 2.8 μm film were investigated intensively to look for degradation of the ultimate strength and its elongation as compared to the other thicker balloon films. The requirement of the balloon film was also studied using an empirical and a physical model assuming an axis-symmetrical balloon shape and the static pressure. It was found that the film was strong enough. A stress due to the dynamic pressure by the wind shear is considered as the possible reason for the unsuccessful flights. A 80,000 m³ balloon with cap films covering 9 m from the balloon top will be launch in 2011 to test the appropriateness of this reinforcement.     

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.     

C/C喉衬热化学烧蚀的高维不确定量化分析

为了定量化地评估SRM喷管喉衬烧蚀这一复杂物理化学过程中,不同因素相互制约或激励对喉衬烧蚀整体情况产生的耦合影响,并探寻影响喉衬烧蚀率的关键因素,应用自主研发的高维不确定量化算法,有效解决“维度灾难”问题,研究了燃烧室压强、燃气比热比等７个因素对烧蚀的耦合影响规律,并通过全局敏感度分析技术探究了不同关键因素对烧蚀率变化的贡献程度。研究发现:就烧蚀模型物理机制本身而言,影响烧蚀率的关键因素为燃气比热比、喉部马赫数和燃气温度;考虑实验实际中相关物理量的不确定性输入后,燃烧室压强由于自身较大的不确定度输入成为影响烧蚀率的首要因素。     

Radio observations of total solar eclipse of November 3, 1994 at Chapecó (Brzil)

Radio observations of the eclipse on November 3, 1994, were carried out at Chapecó, Brazil by using a decimetric spectrograph having high spectral and time resolution. The light curve shows that: (1) Time variation of the radio flux before the totality was more compared to that after. (2) During the totality radio emission at 1.5 GHz was observed. Advantage of high spatial resolution ( 3.2 arc sec) possible during solar eclipse enabled us to determine the height of radio emission at 1.5 GHz. (3) Microwave bursts were observed associated with metric Type III-RS bursts. The source size of one of the microwave bursts was 7 arc sec and its physical parameters have been estimated. (4) The time difference between radio and optical contacts suggested for the first time asymmetrical limb brightening at 1.5 GHz.     

Analysis of dynamics of a passive line-of-sight stabilization system with four-axis gimbal suspension

A mechanical model of the line-of-sight stabilization system for the optical device mounted on a movable carrier vehicle is considered. The nonlinear Lagrange equations of motion for a four-axis gimbal suspension are derived. Requirements on design and parameters for the passive line-of-sight shock absorption system of the optoelectronic payload are worked out.     

Route optimization of the aircraft flight

A method of finding the aircraft optimal route by means of task-oriented replacement of the functional being optimized is proposed.     

Weight effects on the periodic ambiguity function

CW radar signals and processors are discussed. The use of the periodic ambiguity function (PAF) to analyze the delay-Doppler performance of CW signals and their corresponding correlation receivers, is extended to include weight function effects. This work provides tools which can predict the delay-Doppler response of almost any phase-coded CW radar. Examples demonstrate that a combination of CW signals having perfect periodic autocorrelation, a matched reference signal with a large number of modulation periods and a smooth weight function, can create a delay-Doppler response with extremely low sidelobes, strongly resembling the response of a coherent pulse train     

An efficient SAR parallel processor

A parallel architecture especially designed for a synthetic-aperture-radar (SAR) processing algorithm based on an appropriate two-dimensional fast Fourier transform (FFT) code is presented. The algorithm is briefly summarized, and the FFT code is given for the one-dimensional case, although all results can be immediately generalized to the double FFT. The computer architecture, which consists of a toroidal net with transputers on each node, is described. Parametric expressions for the computational time of the net versus the number of nodes are derived. The architecture allows drastic reduction of the processing time, preserving elaboration accuracy and flexibility     

Mathematical modeling of response of ecosystems with different structure to external impact.

A mathematical model was used to study the response of ecosystems of different structures to external impact. The response was measured as a sensitivity coefficient: the magnitude of the system's response vs. the change of the factor in the inflow. The formula has been obtained to calculate the sensitivity coefficient for ecosystems containing different numbers of trophic links. The derived sensitivity coefficients demonstrate that the degree of compensation for the external impact can differ depending on the type of system regulation and the length of the trophic chain. E. g. the sensitivity coefficient decreases with complexity of trophic links in an ecosystem for top-down controlled systems and impact of degree of openness on sensitivity e.g. closed ecosystems show higher sensitivity then fully open ecosystem to impacts also bottom-up control system show less sensitivity then top-down. Grant numbers: N99-04-96017, N25.