Dependence of ESP intensity on collisionless shock wave characteristics

Flux variations of 1 – 5 MeV protons are studied in energetic storm particle events with respect to the preshock solar wind plasma parameters and to the thickness of the collisionless interplanetary shock wave. It is found that the peak intensity in ESP events depends on pre-shock plasma density and on the thickness of the transition region. These relations predict, in agreement with recent observations, the increase of ESP events at larger heliocentric distances.     

European present and future scientific activities in the field of low gravity research

This report deals with the present plans and philosophy of the European Space Agency as regards the interest and the justification for a European Experimental Research Program in Space. It offers recommendations to be considered by both the space investigators and the E.S.A. executive in order to achieve the most urgent needs.     

Artificial gravity: a possible countermeasure for post-flight orthostatic intolerance

Four payload crewmembers were exposed to sustained linear acceleration in a centrifuge during the Neurolab (STS-90) flight. In contrast to previous studies, otolith–ocular reflexes were preserved during and after flight. This raised the possibility that artificial gravity may have acted as a countermeasure to the deconditioning of otolith–ocular reflexes. None of the astronauts who were centrifuged had orthostatic intolerance when tested with head-up passive tilt after flight. Thus, centrifugation may also have helped maintain post-flight hemodynamic responses to orthostasis by preserving the gain of the otolith–sympathetic reflex. A comparison with two fellow Neurolab orbiter crewmembers not exposed to artificial gravity provided some support for this hypothesis. One of the two had hemodynamic changes in response to post-flight tilt similar to orthostatically intolerant subjects from previous missions. More data is necessary to evaluate this hypothesis, but if it were proven correct, in-flight short-radius centrifugation may help counteract orthostatic intolerance after space flight.     

Influence of the gravitational vertical on geometric visual illusions

The occurrence of geometric orientation illusions and the perception of ambiguous figures were analyzed in 24 subjects during static body tilt relative to gravity on Earth. Results showed that illusions such as the Rock's diamond/square, the Ponzo illusion, and orientation contrast illusions occurred less frequently, and that depth reversal of ambiguous figures took more time when subjects were lying on their side or supine compared to upright, thus suggesting that the gravitational reference plays a significant role in these “visual” illusions. The structure of images, our representation of the environment, and orientation relative to gravity are all integral parts in interpreting visual images. In a weightless environment where no gravitational reference can be used, it is expected that similar alterations in visual perception will occur.     

ExoMars 2016 Schiaparelli Module Trajectory and Atmospheric Profiles Reconstruction

On 19^th October 2016 Schiaparelli module of the ExoMars 2016 mission flew through the Mars atmosphere. After successful entry and descent under parachute, the module failed the last part of the descent and crashed on the Mars surface. Nevertheless the data transmitted in real-time by Schiaparelli during the entry and descent, together with the entry state vector as initial condition, have been used to reconstruct both the trajectory and the profiles of atmospheric density, pressure and temperature along the traversed path.The available data-set is only a small sub-set of the whole data acquired by Schiaparelli, with a limited data rate (8 kbps) and a large gap during the entry because of the plasma blackout on the communications.This paper presents the work done by the AMELIA (Atmospheric Mars Entry and Landing Investigations and Analysis) team in the exploitation of the available inertial and radar data. First a reference trajectory is derived by direct integration of the inertial measurements and a strategy to overcome the entry data gap is proposed. First-order covariance analysis is used to estimate the uncertainties on all the derived parameters. Then a refined trajectory is computed incorporating the measurements provided by the on-board radar altimeter.The derived trajectory is consistent with the events reported in the telemetry and also with the impact point identified on the high-resolution images of the landing site.Finally, atmospheric profiles are computed tacking into account the aerodynamic properties of the module. Derived profiles result in good agreement with both atmospheric models and available remote sensing observations.     

The Delivery of Water During Terrestrial Planet Formation

The planetary building blocks that formed in the terrestrial planet region were likely very dry, yet water is comparatively abundant on Earth. Here we review the various mechanisms proposed for the origin of water on the terrestrial planets. Various in-situ mechanisms have been suggested, which allow for the incorporation of water into the local planetesimals in the terrestrial planet region or into the planets themselves from local sources, although all of those mechanisms have difficulties. Comets have also been proposed as a source, although there may be problems fitting isotopic constraints, and the delivery efficiency is very low, such that it may be difficult to deliver even a single Earth ocean of water this way. The most promising route for water delivery is the accretion of material from beyond the snow line, similar to carbonaceous chondrites, that is scattered into the terrestrial planet region as the planets are growing. Two main scenarios are discussed in detail. First is the classical scenario in which the giant planets begin roughly in their final locations and the disk of planetesimals and embryos in the terrestrial planet region extends all the way into the outer asteroid belt region. Second is the Grand Tack scenario, where early inward and outward migration of the giant planets implants material from beyond the snow line into the asteroid belt and terrestrial planet region, where it can be accreted by the growing planets. Sufficient water is delivered to the terrestrial planets in both scenarios. While the Grand Tack scenario provides a better fit to most constraints, namely the small mass of Mars, planets may form too fast in the nominal case discussed here. This discrepancy may be reduced as a wider range of initial conditions is explored. Finally, we discuss several more recent models that may have important implications for water delivery to the terrestrial planets.     

A boundary vector cell model of place field repetition

Hippocampal place cells are thought to form the neural substrate of a global cognitive map. However, in multicompartment mazes, these cells exhibit locally repeating representations, undermining the global cognitive map view of place cells. This phenomenon appears to be related to the repetitive layout of these mazes, but still no hypothesis adequately explains it. Here, we use a boundary vector cell (BVC) model of place cell firing to model the activity of place cells in numerous multicompartment environments. The activity of modeled place cells bears a striking resemblance to experimental data, replicating virtually every major experimental result. Our results support the BVC model and indicate that locally repeating place cell firing could result purely from local geometry.     

Fundamental (f) oscillations in a magnetically coupled solar interior-atmosphere system – An analytical approach

Solar fundamental (f) acoustic mode oscillations are investigated analytically in a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model. The model consists of three layers in planar geometry, representing the solar interior, the magnetic atmosphere, and a transitional layer sandwiched between them. Since we focus on the fundamental mode here, we assume the plasma is incompressible. A horizontal, canopy-like, magnetic field is introduced to the atmosphere, in which degenerated slow MHD waves can exist. The global (f-mode) oscillations can couple to local atmospheric Alfvén waves, resulting, e.g., in a frequency shift of the oscillations. The dispersion relation of the global oscillation mode is derived, and is solved analytically for the thin-transitional layer approximation and for the weak-field approximation. Analytical formulae are also provided for the frequency shifts due to the presence of a thin transitional layer and a weak atmospheric magnetic field. The analytical results generally indicate that, compared to the fundamental value ($\omega =\sqrt{\mathit{gk}}$), the mode frequency is reduced by the presence of an atmosphere by a few per cent. A thin transitional layer reduces the eigen-frequencies further by about an additional hundred microhertz. Finally, a weak atmospheric magnetic field can slightly, by a few percent, increase the frequency of the eigen-mode. Stronger magnetic fields, however, can increase the f-mode frequency by even up to ten per cent, which cannot be seen in observed data. The presence of a magnetic atmosphere in the three-layer model also introduces non-permitted propagation windows in the frequency spectrum; here, f-mode oscillations cannot exist with certain values of the harmonic degree. The eigen-frequencies can be sensitive to the background physical parameters, such as an atmospheric density scale-height or the rate of the plasma density drop at the photosphere. Such information, if ever observed with high-resolution instrumentation and inverted, could help to gain further insight into solar magnetic structures by means of solar magneto-seismology, and could provide further insight into the role of magnetism in solar oscillations.     

Midlatitude ionospheric F2-layer response to eruptive solar events-caused geomagnetic disturbances over Hungary during the maximum of the solar cycle 24: A case study

In our study we analyze and compare the response and behavior of the ionospheric F2 and of the sporadic E-layer during three strong (i.e., Dst?<??100nT) individual geomagnetic storms from years 2012, 2013 and 2015, winter time period. The data was provided by the state-of the art digital ionosonde of the Széchenyi István Geophysical Observatory located at midlatitude, Nagycenk, Hungary (IAGA code: NCK, geomagnetic latitude: 46.17° geomagnetic longitude: 98.85°). The local time of the sudden commencement (SC) was used to characterize the type of the ionospheric storm (after Mendillo and Narvaez, 2010). This way two regular positive phase (RPP) ionospheric storms and one no-positive phase (NPP) storm have been analyzed. In all three cases a significant increase in electron density of the foF2 layer can be observed at dawn/early morning (around 6:00 UT, 07:00 LT). Also we can observe the fade-out of the ionospheric layers at night during the geomagnetically disturbed time periods. Our results suggest that the fade-out effect is not connected to the occurrence of the sporadic E-layers.