Geophysical Constraints on the Evolution of Mars

The evolution of Mars is discussed using results from the recent Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and Mars Pathfinder missions together with results from mantle convection and thermal history models and the chemistry of Martian meteorites. The new MGS topography and gravity data and the data on the rotation of Mars from Mars Pathfinder constrain models of the present interior structure and allow estimates of present crust thickness and thickness variations. The data also allow estimates of lithosphere thickness variation and heat flow assuming that the base of the lithosphere is an isotherm. Although the interpretation is not unambiguous, it can be concluded that Mars has a substantial crust. It may be about 50 km thick on average with thickness variations of another ±50 km. Alternatively, the crust may be substantially thicker with smaller thickness variations. The former estimate of crust thickness can be shown to be in agreement with estimates of volcanic production rates from geologic mapping using data from the camera on MGS and previous missions. According to these estimates most of the crust was produced in the Noachian, roughly the first Gyr of evolution. A substantial part of the lava generated during this time apparently poured onto the surface to produce the Tharsis bulge, the largest tectonic unit in the solar system and the major volcanic center of Mars. Models of crust growth that couple crust growth to mantle convection and thermal evolution are consistent with an early 1 Gyr long phase of vigorous volcanic activity. The simplest explanation for the remnant magnetization of crustal units of mostly the southern hemisphere calls for an active dynamo in the Noachian, again consistent with thermal history calculations that predict the core to become stably stratified after some hundred Myr of convective cooling and dynamo action. The isotope record of the Martian meteorites suggest that the core formed early and rapidly within a few tens of Myr. These data also suggest that the silicate rock component of the planet was partially molten during that time. The isotope data suggest that heterogeneity resulted from core formation and early differentiation and persisted to the recent past. This is often taken as evidence against vigorous mantle convection and early plate tectonics on Mars although the latter assumption can most easily explain the early magnetic field. The physics of mantle convection suggests that there may be a few hundred km thick stagnant, near surface layer in the mantle that would have formed rapidly and may have provided the reservoirs required to explain the isotope data. The relation between the planform of mantle convection and the tectonic features on the surface is difficult to entangle. Models call for long wavelength forms of flow and possibly a few strong plumes in the very early evolution. These plumes may have dissolved with time as the core cooled and may have died off by the end of the Noachian.     

The Marginal Rao-Blackwellized Particle Filter for Mixed Linear/Nonlinear State Space Models

In this paper, the marginal Rao-Blackwellized particle filter （MRBPF）, which fuses the Rao-Blackwellized particle filter （RBPF） algorithm and the marginal particle filter （MPF） algorithm, is presented. The state space is divided into linear and non-linear parts, which can be estimated separately by the MPF and the optional Kalman filter. Through simulation in the terrain aided navigation （TAN） domain, it is demonstrated that, compared with the RBPF, the root mean square errors （RMSE） and the error variance of the nonlinear state estimations by the proposed MRBPF are respectively reduced by 29% and 96%, while the unique particle count is increased by 80%. It is also found that the MRBPF has better convergence properties, and analysis has shown that the existing RBPF is nothing more than a special case of the MRBPF.     

The Emergence of Life

The Rosetta observations have greatly advanced our knowledge of the cometary nucleus and its immediate environment. However, constraints on the mission (both planned and unplanned), the only partially successful Philae lander, and other instrumental issues have inevitably resulted in open questions. Surprising results from the many successful Rosetta observations have also opened new questions, unimagined when Rosetta was first planned. We discuss these and introduce several mission concepts that might address these issues. It is apparent that a sample return mission as originally conceived in the 1980s during the genesis of Rosetta would provide many answers but it is arguable whether it is technically feasible even with today’s technology and knowledge. Less ambitious mission concepts are described to address the suggested main outstanding scientific goals.

     

Image Smearing Modeling and Verification for Strapdown Star Sensor

To further extend study on celestial attitude determination with strapdown star sensor from static into dynamic field, one prerequisite is to generate precise dynamic simulating star maps. First a neat analytical solution of the smearing trajectory caused by spacecraft attitude maneuver is deduced successfully, whose parameters cover the geometric size of optics, three-axis angular velocities and CCD integral time. Then for the first time the mathematical law and method are discovered about how to synthesize the two formulae of smearing trajectory and the static Gaussian distribution function (GDF) model, the key of which is a line integral with regard to the static GDF attenuated by a factor 1/ L s (L s is the arc length of the smearing trajectory) along the smearing trajectory. The dynamic smearing model is then obtained, also in an analytical form. After that, three sets of typical simulating maps and data are simulated from this dynamic model manifesting the expected smearing effects, also compatible with the linear model as its special case of no boresight rotation. Finally, model validity tests on a rate turntable are carried out, which results in a mean correlation coefficient 0.920 0 between the camera images and the corresponding model simulated ones with the same parameters. The sufficient similarity verifies the validity of the dynamic smearing model. This model, after parameter calibration, can serve as a front-end loop of the ground semi-physical simulation system for celestial attitude determination with strapdown star sensor.     

Asymptotic Performance of Sparse Signal Detection Using Convex Programming Method

The detection of sparse signals against background noise is considered. Detecting signals of such kind is difficult since only a small portion of the signal carries information. Prior knowledge is usually assumed to ease detection. In this paper, we consider the general unknown and arbitrary sparse signal detection problem when no prior knowledge is available. Under a Neyman-Pearson hypothesis-testing framework, a new detection scheme is proposed by combining a generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT)-like test statistic and convex programming methods which directly exploit sparsity in an underdetermined system of linear equations. We characterize large sample behavior of the proposed method by analyzing its asymptotic performance. Specifically, we give the condition for the Chernoff-consistent detection which shows that the proposed method is very sensitive to the 2 norm energy of the sparse signals. Both the false alarm rate and the miss rate tend to zero at vanishing signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), as long as the signal energy grows at least logarithmically with the problem dimension. Next we give a large deviation analysis to characterize the error exponent for the Neyman-Pearson detection. We derive the oracle error exponent assuming signal knowledge. Then we explicitly derive the error exponent of the proposed scheme and compare it with the oracle exponent. We complement our study with numerical experiments, showing that the proposed method performs in the vicinity of the likelihood ratio test (LRT) method in the finite sample scenario and the error probability degrades exponentially with the number of observations.     

Defect Recognition in Thermosonic Imaging

This work is aimed at developing an effective method for defect recognition in thermosonic imaging.The heat mechanism of thermosonic imaging is introduced,and the problem for defect recognition is discussed.For this purpose,defect existing in the inner wall of a metal pipeline specimen and defects embedded in a carbon fiber reinforced plastic(CFRP) laminate are tested.The experimental data are processed by pulse phase thermography(PPT) method to show the phase images at different frequencies,and the characteristic of phase angle vs frequency curve of thermal anomalies and sound area is analyzed.A binary image,which is based on the characteristic value of defects,is obtained by a new recognition algorithm to show the defects.Results demonstrate good defect recognition performance for thermosonic imaging,and the reliability of this technique can be improved by the method.     

The STEREO/IMPACT Magnetic Field Experiment

The magnetometer on the STEREO mission is one of the sensors in the IMPACT instrument suite. A single, triaxial, wide-range, low-power and noise fluxgate magnetometer of traditional design—and reduced volume configuration—has been implemented in each spacecraft. The sensors are mounted on the IMPACT telescoping booms at a distance of ～3 m from the spacecraft body to reduce magnetic contamination. The electronics have been designed as an integral part of the IMPACT Data Processing Unit, sharing a common power converter and data/command interfaces. The instruments cover the range ±65,536 nT in two intervals controlled by the IDPU (±512 nT; ±65,536 nT). This very wide range allows operation of the instruments during all phases of the mission, including Earth flybys as well as during spacecraft test and integration in the geomagnetic field. The primary STEREO/IMPACT science objectives addressed by the magnetometer are the study of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), its response to solar activity, and its relationship to solar wind structure. The instruments were powered on and the booms deployed on November 1, 2006, seven days after the spacecraft were launched, and are operating nominally. A magnetic cleanliness program was implemented to minimize variable spacecraft fields and to ensure that the static spacecraft-generated magnetic field does not interfere with the measurements.     

The Magnetic Field Pile-up and Density Depletion in the Martian Magnetosheath: A Comparison with the Plasma Depletion Layer Upstream of the Earth's Magnetopause

Using magnetometer and electron observations from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and the Wind spacecraft we show that the region of magnetic field pile-up and density decrease located between the Martian ionosphere and bow shock exhibit strong similarities with the plasma depletion layer (PDL) observed upstream of the Earth's magnetopause in the absence of magnetic reconnection when the magnetopause is a solid obstacle in the solar wind. A PDL is formed upstream of the terrestrial magnetopause when the magnetic field piles up against the obstacle and particles in the pile-up region are squeezed away from the high magnetic pressure region along the field lines as the flux tubes convect toward the magnetopause. We here discuss the possibility that at least part of the region of magnetic field pile-up and density depletion upstream of Mars may be formed by the same physical processes which generate the PDL upstream of the Earth's magnetopause. More complete ion, electron, and neutral measurements are needed to conclusively determine the relative importance of the plasma depletion process versus exospheric processes.     

基于区域分割的红外与可见光图像融合算法的研究(英文)

由于红外图像和可见光图像的成像特点不同,因此在航空监视领域红外图像和可见光图像融合有重要的研究意义。由于非下采Contourlet变换具有更好的方向性、较高的逼近精度和更好的稀疏表达性能,能有效的提取图像的特征信息。因此我们在非下采Contourlet域,以空间频率为度量标准对红外图像进行阈值分割,经过分割将红外图像和可见光图像分别划分为目标区域以及背景,随后对红外图像和可见光图像进行边缘检测从而得到边缘区域,针对三个不同区域分别选择不同的融合规则进行融合。通过两组不同灰度差异的红外与可见光图像的实验,将基于像素点,窗口策略的融合算法和本文所提出基于区域算法进行了主观和客观的对比,试验结果表明基于区域分割的红外与可见光图像融合算法不仅能有效提取出红外图像中的目标信息还能有效的保持可见光图像的所反映的光谱信息,因此本文提出的算法是一种有效且可行的图像融合算法。