Bounds on Elevation Error Estimates of a Target in Multipath

The Cramer-Rao bound for an unbiased estimate of the elevation angle of a target in the presence of multipath is calculated for the symmetric (target and image symmetric about the elevation symmetry plane of antenna) and nonsymmetric cases for an antenna consisting of 21 elements. These bounds are compared to the maximum likelihood estimates and it is found that the rms error of the maximum likelihood estimate (which has a bias) is below the Cramer-Rao bound for unbiased estimates.     

An Automatic System for the Control of Multiple Drone Aircraft

A conceptual system is proposed and described for the control of a multiplicity of drone aircraft. Each target (drone) aircraft is controlled, during a given mission, over a separate preprogrammed path comprised of straight line and circular arc segments. Full control of each target's altitude, plan position, and velocity is available. Position measurement can be obtained by use of either a radar or a bilateration method where altitude is measured in either case by each aircraft and telemetered to a central control point. Velocity is obtained by smoothing position data in a central computer, which also controls the entire mission complex.     

Model-based segmentation of FLIR images

The use of gray-scale intensities together with the edge information present in a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) image to obtain a precise and accurate segmentation of a target is presented. A model of FLIR images based on gray-scale and edge information is incorporated in a gradient relaxation technique which explicitly maximizes a criterion function based on the inconsistency and ambiguity of classification of pixels with respect to their neighbors. Four variations of the basic technique which provide automatic selection of thresholds to segment FLIR images are considered. These methods are compared, and several examples of segmentation of ship images are given     

False alarm control using Doppler estimation

A technique which uses maximum-likelihood estimates (MLEs) of target Doppler and target amplitude is developed for rejecting clutter residues. Multiple estimates are made and consistency checks are applied to the estimates. Simulation results indicate that for large clutter-to-noise ratios (C/N⩾55 dB) the probability of false alarm from clutter residues is reduced from 1.0 to below 0.01     

Fundamental parameters of the W Serpentis stars

Application of digital cross-correlation spectroscopy to the spectra of the W Serpentis binaries SX Cas and RX Cas has allowed an accurate determination of the orbits and rotations of the (mass-losing) K-subgiant secondary components. The distortion of the primary radial-velocity curves due to the influence of the prominent accretion disks in these systems has been modelled to first order. This enables us to estimate k ₁, and thereby the mass ratio q ≈ 0.30, to within ～ ± 20%. The absolute radii of the secondaries are derived independently from the observed rotations and periods, assuming synchronous rotation. They show that the stars fill their Roche lobes, or at least very nearly so. Rough fits to the available photometry shows both primaries to be unevolved mid-B stars; that in RX Cas appears completely obscured by the disk. Preliminary spectroscopic data for W Ser and W Cru show some promise for similar analyses of these systems.     

Gravitation and celestial mechanics investigations with Galileo

The gravitation and celestial mechanics investigations during the cruise phase and Orbiter phase of the Galileo mission depend on Doppler and ranging measurements generated by the Deep Space Network (DSN) at its three spacecraft tracking sites in California, Australia, and Spain. Other investigations which also rely on DSN data, and which like ours fall under the general discipline of spacecraft radio science, are described in a companion paper by Howard et al. (1992). We group our investigations into four broad categories as follows: (1) the determination of the gravity fields of Jupiter and its four major satellites during the orbital tour, (2) a search for gravitational radiation as evidenced by perturbations to the coherent Doppler link between the spacecraft and Earth, (3) the mathematical modeling, and by implication tests, of general relativistic effects on the Doppler and ranging data during both cruise and orbiter phases, and (4) an improvement in the ephemeris of Jupiter by means of spacecraft ranging during the Orbiter phase. The gravity fields are accessible because of their effects on the spacecraft motion, determined primarily from the Doppler data. For the Galilean satellites we will determine second degree and order gravity harmonics that will yield new information on the central condensation and likely composition of material within these giant satellites (Hubbard and Anderson, 1978). The search for gravitational radiation is being conducted in cruise for periods of 40 days centered around solar opposition. During these times the radio link is least affected by scintillations introduced by solar plasma. Our sensitivity to the amplitude of sinusoidal signals approaches 10^-15 in a band of gravitational frequencies between 10^-4 and 10^-3 Hz, by far the best sensitivity obtained in this band to date. In addition to the primary objectives of our investigations, we discuss two secondary objectives: the determination of a range fix on Venus during the flyby on 10 February, 1990, and the determination of the Earth's mass (GM) from the two Earth gravity assists, EGA1 in December 1990 and EGA2 in December 1992.     

Polish radar technology

Polish radar research and development since 1953 is reviewed, covering the development and production of surveillance radars, height finders, tracking radars, air traffic control (ATC) radars and systems, and marine and Doppler radars. Some current work, including an L-band ATC radar for enroute control, a weather channel for primary surveillance radar, signal detection in non-Gaussian clutter, adaptive MTI filters and postdetection filtering, and a basic approach to radar polarimetry, is examined.<>     

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.     

ATS-6 Energetic Particle Radiation Measurement at Synchronous Altitude

The Aerospace Corporation energetic electron-proton spectrometer operating on Applications Technology Satellite-6 (ATS-6) detects energetic electrons in four channels between 140 keV and greater than 32 MeV, and measures energetic protons in five energy channels between 2.3 and 80 MeV and energetic alpha particles in three channels between 9.4 and 94 MeV. After more than a year of operation in orbit, the experiment continues to return excellent data on the behavior of energetic magnetospheric electrons as well as information regarding the fluxes of solar protons and alpha particles.     

Nonstochastic adaptive decision fusion in distributed-detection systems

Implementing the optimal Neyman-Pearson (NP) fusion rule in distributed detection systems requires the sensor error probabilities to be a priori known and constant during the system operation. Such a requirement is practically impossible to fulfil for every resolution cell in a multiflying target multisensor environment. The true performance of the fusion center is often worse than expected due to fluctuations of the observed environment and instabilities of sensor thresholds. This work considers a nonparametric data fusion situation in which the fusion center knows only the number of the sensors, but ignores their error probabilities and cannot control their thresholds. A data adaptive approach to the problem is adopted, and combining P reports from Q independent distributed sensors through a least squares (LS) formulation to make a global decision is investigated. Such a fusion scheme does not entail strict stationarity of the noise environment nor strict invariance of the sensor error probabilities as is required in the NP formulation. The LS fusion scheme is analyzed in detail to simplify its form and determine its asymptotic behavior. Conditions of performance improvement as P increases and of quickness of such improvement are found. These conditions are usually valid in netted radar surveillance systems.