The White Sands Range and Range-Rate System

This paper discusses the concept, design, and design verification of the White Sands Range and Range-Rate System. Development of the system has been completed only through the design phase. The system is designed to meet requirements for high-accuracy midcourse tracking under severe target dynamics at the White Sands Missile Range. It is a multistatic Doppler and range tracker which operates at X band and incorporates transmitter, transponder, receiver, and baseline subsystems. The transmitter includes specially designed digital circuitry to synthesize test signals for target simulation during checkout of the system. The transponder signal is processed by a receiver which has been established theoretically to be the optimum realizable processor of continuous tracking data. The receiver incorporates specially designed carrier acquisition circuitry and digital VCO, and directly provides digital Doppler and tone phase data to facilitate real-time processing. The system utilizes data from other tracking systems at the Range for spatial acquisition, for aiding carrier acquisition in the receiver, and for resolving range ambiguities.     

Prediction of solar particle event proton doses using early dose rate measurements

A methodology for predicting solar particle event doses using Bayesian inference is being developed. As part of this development, we have tested criteria for categorization of new solar particle events (SPE) using calculated asymptotic doses and dose rates for the 22 SPEs that occurred in 2001. In 9 out of 22 events, our criteria for categorization would have over-predicted the range of asymptotic doses in which the tested events would have fallen. In two cases, our methodology under-predicted the dose range in which the event would have fallen. In order to better predict a new event's group category and thus, to better restrict the Bayesian inference predictive model parameter space, we have reexamined our dose rate criteria for categorization of new events. We report the updating of the grouping criteria using data from the 22 SPEs of 2001, as well as five additional SPEs. Using the revised grouping criteria, we present an analysis of group categorization prediction results for the first ten SPEs of 2002.     

Acceleration of the High Speed Solar Wind in Coronal Holes

We outline a theory for the origin and acceleration of the fast solar wind as a consequence of network microflares releasing a spectrum of high frequency Alfvén waves which heat (by cyclotron absorption) the corona close to the Sun. The significant features of our model of the fast wind are that the acceleration is rapid with the sonic point at around two solar radii, the proton temperatures are high (~ 5 million degrees) and the minor ions are correspondingly hotter, roughly in proportion to their mass. Moreover we argue that since the energy flux needed to power the quiet corona in closed field regions is about the same as that needed to drive the fast solar wind, and also because at deeper levels (< 2 × 10⁵ K) there is no great difference in the properties of supergranules and network in closed and open field regions, the heating process (i.e., dissipation of high frequency waves) must be the same in both cases. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Thin Current Sheets in the Magnetotail Observed by Cluster

The dynamics of the current sheet is one of the most essential elements in magnetotail physics. Particularly, thin current sheets, which we define here as those with a thickness of less than several ion inertia lengths, are known to play an important role in the energy conversion process in the magnetotail. With its capability of multi-point observation, Cluster succeeded to obtain the current density continuously and therefore identify structures of thin current sheets. We discuss characteristics of the thin current sheets by showing their temporal evolution and the spatial structures based on several Cluster observations.     

Fixed-interval retrodiction approach to Bayesian IMM-MHT formaneuvering multiple targets

In a Bayesian framework, we propose a hierarchy of suboptimal retrodiction algorithms that generalize Rauch-Tung-Striebel (RTS) fixed-interval smoothing to multiple hypothesis tracking (MHT) applications employing interacting multiple model (IMM) methods (IMM-MHT). As a limiting case we obtain new simple formulae for suboptimal fixed-interval smoothing applied to Markovian switching systems. Retrodiction techniques provide uniquely interpretable and accurate trajectories from ambiguous MHT output if a certain (small) time delay is tolerated. By a simulated example with two maneuvering targets that operate closely spaced under relatively hard conditions we demonstrate the potential gain by fixed-interval retrodiction and provide a quantitative idea of the achievable track accuracy and mean time delay involved