Ultraviolet spectrometer experiment for the Voyager mission

The Voyager Ultraviolet Spectrometer (UVS) is an objective grating spectrometer covering the wavelength range of 500–1700 Å with 10 Å resolution. Its primary goal is the determination of the composition and structure of the atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and several of their satellites. The capability for two very different observational modes have been combined in a single instrument. Observations in the airglow mode measure radiation from the atmosphere due to resonant scattering of the solar flux or energetic particle bombardment, and the occultation mode provides measurements of the atmospheric extinction of solar or stellar radiation as the spacecraft enters the shadow zone behind the target. In addition to the primary goal of the solar system atmospheric measurements, the UVS is expected to make valuable contributions to stellar astronomy at wavelengths below 1000 Å.     

Third-Order Loop Filter Design for Acceleration-Rate Tracking

A perfect third-order loop filter design that can be implemented as a digital filter is obtained which minimizes the noiseless steady-state acceleration rate (jerk) error for a fixed loop noise bandwidth. Simulations were performed to obtain transient responses of the third-order loop plus a sample fourth-order loop under a jerk input. The results enable one to obtain a loop design that minimizes the loop noise bandwidth required for a given steady-state jerk error and thus obtain better noise jitter performance.     

Direct Evaluation of Radar Detection Probabilities

A simple and effective procedure for evaluating detectionperformances in radar and sonar detection problems is derived forboth fixed-threshold and adaptive-threshold detection. Using theprocedure, the cumulative probabilities of the test statistic can bedirectly evaluated from the moment generating functions bycalculating residues. The exact formulae for computing the detectionperformances for the chi-square family of fluctuating targets withan integer fluctuation parameter are given in a finite sum formwithout any special functions for both fixed threshold and cellaverageconstant false-alarm rate detection by using the methoddeveloped here.     

Observations of loops and prominences

We review recent observations by the Yohkoh-SXT in collaboration with other spacecraft and ground-based observatories of coronal loops and prominences. These new results point to problems that SoHO will be able to address. With a unique combination of rapid-cadence digital imaging (32 s full-disk and 2 s partial-frame images), high spatial resolution (2.5 arcsec pixels), high sensitivity (EM 10⁴² cm^–3), a low-scatter mirror, and large dynamic range, SXT can observe a vast range of targets on the Sun. Over the first 21 months of Yohkoh operations, SXT has taken over one million images of the corona and so is building up an invaluable long-term database on the large-scale corona and loop geometry. The most striking thing about the SXT images is the range of loop sizes and shapes. The active regions are a bright tangle of magnetic field lines, surrounded by a network of large-scale quiet-Sun loops stretching over distances in excess of 10⁵ km. The cross-section of most loops seems to be constant. Loops displaying significant increase in the ratio of the footpoint to loop-top diameter () are the exception, not the rule, implying the presence of widespread currents in the corona.All magnetic structures show changes. Time scales range from seconds to months. The question of how these structures are formed, become filled with hot plasma, and are maintained is still open. While we see the propagation of brightenings along the length of active-region loops and in X-ray jets with velocities of several hundred km/s, much higher velocities are seen in the quiet Sun. In XBP flares, for example, velocities of over 1000 km/s are common. Active-region loops seem to be in constant motion, moving slowly outward, carrying plasma with them. During flares, loops often produce localized brightenings at the base and later at the apex of the loop. Quiescent filaments and prominences have been observed regularly. Their coronal manifestation seems to be an extended arcade of loops overlying the filament. Reliable alignment of the ground-based data with the X-ray images make it possible to make a detailed intercomparison of the hot and cold plasma structures over extended periods. Hence we are able to follow the long-term evolution of these structures and see how they become destabilized and erupt.     

Stellar flares

Radio and X-ray observations of stellar flares provide the most direct probes of energy relaase particle acceleration, and energy transport on stars other than the Sun. In this review, the observational basis for our understanding of the flare phenomenon on other stars is briefly described and outstanding interpretive and theoretical issues are discussed. I shall confine my attention to objects which are solar-like, to the extent that they possess deep convective envelopes and display activity which is presumed to be magnetic in origin. These include pre-main sequence objects, classical flare stars, and close binaries. Future directions are briefly discussed.     

An Overview of the Fast Auroral SnapshoT (FAST) Satellite

The FAST satellite is a highly sophisticated scientific satellite designed to carry out in situ measurements of acceleration physics and related plasma processes associated with the Earth's aurora. Initiated and conceptualized by scientists at the University of California at Berkeley, this satellite is the second of NASA's Small Explorer Satellite program designed to carry out small, highly focused, scientific investigations. FAST was launched on August 21, 1996 into a high inclination (83°) elliptical orbit with apogee and perigee altitudes of 4175 km and 350 km, respectively. The spacecraft design was tailored to take high-resolution data samples (or `snapshots') only while it crosses the auroral zones, which are latitudinally narrow sectors that encircle the polar regions of the Earth. The scientific instruments include energetic electron and ion electrostatic analyzers, an energetic ion instrument that distinguishes ion mass, and vector DC and wave electric and magnetic field instruments. A state-of-the-art flight computer (or instrument data processing unit) includes programmable processors that trigger the burst data collection when interesting physical phenomena are encountered and stores these data in a 1 Gbit solid-state memory for telemetry to the Earth at later times. The spacecraft incorporates a light, efficient, and highly innovative design, which blends proven sub-system concepts with the overall scientific instrument and mission requirements. The result is a new breed of space physics mission that gathers unprecedented fields and particles observations that are continuous and uninterrupted by spin effects. In this and other ways, the FAST mission represents a dramatic advance over previous auroral satellites. This paper describes the overall FAST mission, including a discussion of the spacecraft design parameters and philosophy, the FAST orbit, instrument and data acquisition systems, and mission operations.     

Langmuir Turbulence and Solar Radio Bursts

Langmuir waves and turbulence resulting from an electron beam-plasma instability play a fundamental role in the generation of solar radio bursts. We report recent theoretical advances in nonlinear dynamics of Langmuir waves. First, starting from the generalized Zakharov equations, we study the parametric excitation of solar radio bursts at the fundamental plasma frequency driven by a pair of oppositely propagating Langmuir waves with different wave amplitudes. Next, we briefly discuss the emergence of chaos in the Zakharov equations. We point out that chaos can lead to turbulence in the source regions of solar radio emissions. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Blind adaptive decision fusion for distributed detection

We consider the problem of decision fusion in a distributed detection system. In this system, each detector makes a binary decision based on its own observation, and then communicates its binary decision to a fusion center. The objective of the fusion center is to optimally fuse the local decisions in order to minimize the final error probability. To implement such an optimal fusion center, the performance parameters of each detector (i.e., its probabilities of false alarm and missed detection) as well as the a priori probabilities of the hypotheses must be known. However, in practical applications these statistics may be unknown or may vary with time. We develop a recursive algorithm that approximates these unknown values on-line. We then use these approximations to adapt the fusion center. Our algorithm is based on an explicit analytic relation between the unknown probabilities and the joint probabilities of the local decisions. Under the assumption that the local observations are conditionally independent, the estimates given by our algorithm are shown to be asymptotically unbiased and converge to their true values at the rate of O(1/k/sup 1/2/) in the rms error sense, where k is the number of iterations. Simulation results indicate that our algorithm is substantially more reliable than two existing (asymptotically biased) algorithms, and performs at least as well as those algorithms when they work.     

Steady magnetospheric convection: A review of recent results

Theoretical pressure balance arguments have implied that steady convection is hardly possible in the terrestrial magnetotail and that steady energy input necessarily generates a cyclic loading-unloading sequence, i.e., repetitive substorms. However, observations have revealed that enhanced solar wind energy input to the magnetospheric system may either lead to substorm activity or enhanced but steady convection. This topic is reviewed with emphasis on several recent case studies of the Steady Magnetospheric Convection (SMC) events. In these cases extensive data sets from both satellite and ground-based instruments from various magnetospheric and ionospheric regions were available.Accurate distinction of the spatial and temporal scales of the magnetospheric processes is vital for correct interpretation of the observations during SMC periods. We show that on the large scale, the magnetospheric configuration and plasma convection are stable during SMC events, but that both reveal considerable differences from their quiet-time assemblies. On a shorter time scale, there are numerous transient activations which are similar to those found during substorms, but which presumably originate from a more distant tail reconnection process, and map to the poleward boundary of the auroral oval. The available observations and the unresolved questions are summarized here.The tail magnetic field during SMC events resembles both substorm growth and recovery phases in the neartail and midtail, respectively, but this configuration may remain stable for up to ten hours. Based on observations and model results we discuss how the magnetospheric system avoids pressure balance problems when the plasma convects earthward.Finally, the importance of further coordinated studies of SMC events is emphasized. Such studies may shed more light on the substorm dynamics and help to verify quantitatively the theoretical models of the convecting magnetosphere.     

Radial and meridional trends in solar wind thermal electron temperature and anisotropy: Ulysses

Ulysses plasma measurement from 1.15 to 5.31 AU and from S6.4° to S48.3° solar latitude are used to assess the trends in the solar wind thermal electron temperature and anisotropy. Improved spacecraft potential corrections and data products have been incorporated. The radial temperature gradient is steeper than in previous determinations, but flatter than adiabatic. When normalized to 1 AU, temperature decrease with increasing latitude. Little change in the average thermal anisotropy has been seen during the mission.