Tidal associated temperature disturbances observed at the middle atmosphere (30–65 km) by a Rayleigh lidar at 23°S

A lidar has been operated in São José dos Campos, Brazil (23.2°S, 45.8°W) since 1972, mainly dedicated to the study of mesospheric sodium at the 589 nm resonant line. The molecular Rayleigh scattering can also be used provided we limit the height to ∼75 km where the sodium scattering begins. Nevertheless, the weak signal obtained only permits the determination of density and temperature profiles by accumulating a large number of shots giving only nocturnal average profiles. Temporal variations in density and temperature on the scale of hours can however, be obtained by performing a superposed epoch analysis for a given time interval and covering a period of several days. In this way we obtained hourly mean profiles grouped by months, seasons and overall, with data acquired from 1993 to 2004. The difference between the hourly temperatures and the nocturnal means shows for some months, with enough data coverage, downward propagating structures that apparently have tidal origin. The seasonal averages show a recurrent feature with high temperatures before and low temperatures after midnight above 50 km. Some similarity is found with the GSWM model, but the observed temperature amplitudes are twice of that for the model.     

Using sunshine for elementary space science education: A model for IHY scientist–teacher partnerships

An elementary science education professional development partnership between Culver City Unified School District teachers and UCLA has been formed. The project was designed to assist teachers to comfortably present introductory space science concepts, to support them in their efforts, and to aid them in encouraging their students to develop inquiry skills related to space sciences. The project encourages teacher use of observational science techniques in their classrooms, the use of NASA solar mission images and enhanced use of astronomical observation to facilitate discovery learning. The integrated approach of the project has fostered collegial learning activities among the participating teachers and offered them opportunities for continued renewal and professional development of teacher competencies in astronomy and space science. The activities used in the classroom were developed by others, classroom tested, and specifically address National Science Education and California Science Content Standards. These activities have been sustained through on-going collaboration between the scientist and the teachers, a summer Research Experience for Teachers program, and on-going, grade-specific, district-sponsored workshops. Assessment of the value of the program is done by the school district and is used to continuously improve each workshop and program component. Culver City (California) Unified School District is a small urban school district located on the Westside of Los Angeles. This paper describes the program and the plans for incorporating IHY-themed science into the classroom.     

Observing the earth radiation budget from satellites: Past,present, and a look to the future

Satellite measurements of the radiative exchange between the planet Earth and space have been the objective of many experiments since the beginning of the space age in the late 1950's. The on-going mission of the Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) experiments has been and will be to consider flight hardware, data handling and scientific analysis methods in a single design strategy. Research and development on observational data has produced an analysis model of errors associated with ERB measurement systems on polar satellites. Results show that the variability of reflected solar radiation from changing meteorology dominates measurement uncertainties. As an application, model calculations demonstrate that measurement requirements for the verification of climate models may be satisfied with observations from one polar satellite, provided we have information on diurnal variations of the radiation budget from the ERBE mission.     

An empirical model of electron density for low and middle latitudes below 200 km

Our empirical model of electron density (n_e) for quiet and weakly disturbed geomagnetic conditions (Kp not greater 4) takes account of comparative analysis of existing models and of experimental data obtained by rockets and incoherent scatter radar. The model describes the n_e distribution in the 80 to 200 km height range at low and middle latitudes, and to some extent, in the subauroral region. It is presented in analytical form thus allowing one to calculate electron density profiles for any time. The electron density distribution at 140 km depends on the season (day of the year) and on the solar zenith angle. Profile variations during the day are for one season shown. Different from other models, ours specifies the variations during sunrise and sunset and reflects the particular profile shape at night admitting the occurrence of an intermediate layer.     

A method of airfoil shape completing

An iteration method for airfoil shape completing using the pressure coefficient distribution specified on its sought part is proposed. The incompressible flow viscosity is taken into account by the boundary layer model, the iteration process is constructed with the use of G.Yu. Stepanov’s idea. The solution algorithm is compiled and a set of numerical calculations is carried out. It is shown that the method proposed offers advantages over the well-known numerical-analytical scheme of solving mixed inverse boundary-value problems of aerohydrodynamics in the case of viscous incompressible fluid.     

Determination of surface parameters and fluxes for climate studies from space observation. Methods,results and problems

Climate being the result of many interconnected processes, it can hardly be understood without models which describe these various processes as quantitatively as possible and define the parameters which are relevant for climate studies. Among those, surface processes and therefore surface parameters are now recognized to be of great importance. Some examples are discussed in the first part, showing the great interest to measure the relevant parameters on a multi-year basis, over large areas with sufficiently dense array and on a stable basis, in order to monitor climate changes or to study the impact on climate of the modifications of some relevant parameters which are analysed. Since space observations from satellites fulfil these requirements, it is clear that they will become very soon a fundamental tool for climate studies. Unfortunately, as it is discussed in the second part, satellites do measure only spectral radiances at the top of the atmosphere and the determination of the relevant surface parameters (or fluxes) from these radiances still raises many problems which have to be solved, although many progresses have already been made.The aim of this paper is therefore to review and discuss these problems and the various ways they have been tackled until now. The first part is devoted to an overview of what needs to be measured and why, while the existing methods for determining the most important surface parameters from space observations are presented in the second part where a particular attention is given to the theoretical and experimental validations of these methods, their limits and the problems still to be solved.     

The Exact Cramer-Rao Bound for Gaussian Autoregressive Processes

An explicit expression is derived for the Cramer-Rao bound(CRB)on unbiased estimates of the parameters of autoregressiveprocesses, given a finite number of measurements. The expressionconverges to the well-known asymptotic form of the CRB when thenumber of measurements tends to infinity. The behavior of thebound is illustrated by some numerical examples.     

Maps of hydrogen isotopes at low altitudes in the inner zone from sampex observations

The PET instrument aboard the SAMPEX satellite has provided us with long-term intra-calibrated observations of geomagnetically trapped protons and deuterons in the inner zone, suitable for use in constraining the low-altitude portions of radiation belt models being developed as successors to AP-8. These observations have been summarized elsewhere (Looper et al., 1996). Here we report a detection of geomagnetically-trapped tritium at energies from 14 to 35 MeV/nuc below L = 1.2, at about 1/8 the flux of deuterium previously reported at that location and at similar energy per nucleon. We also demonstrate the utility of the SAMPEX/PET observations for measuring the east-west anisotropy in the trapped particle flux at low altitudes, which is due to displacement of particle gyrocenters from the position of observation in a region of strong flux gradients. This anisotropy is implicitly ignored in omnidirectional radiation-flux models, but it can be important to mission planners considering how to distribute shielding over the surface of oriented spacecraft in low Earth orbit.     

Aeronautical use of semiconductor lasers for short optical pulses

In this paper, we investigate the feasible schemes to generate periodic optical pulses of width between several picoseconds (ps) and tens ps. Gain-switched semiconductor laser diodes are shown to be more suitable for avionics applications than mode-locked laser diodes. In the experiment, we use a low-cost Fabry-Perot laser diode to generate short optical pulse streams. A simple optical injection-locking scheme is then used to reduce the timing jitter and frequency chirp in such laser diodes, which in turn can improve the transmission performance of the generated optical pulses. It is expected that the use of gain-switched semiconductor lasers can meet the requirement of high-speed airborne communication networks or ground supporting systems at airports. Moreover, we discuss the possibility of using the pulsed semiconductor lasers to generate millimetre-wave (mm-wave) signals for future applications to airborne high-resolution, mm-wave radars.     

Biological UV dosimeters in simulated space conditions.

Polycrystalline uracil thin layers participate in the phage and uracil response (PUR) experiment, assigned to the biological dosimetry of the extraterrestrial solar radiation on the International Space Station (ISS). In ground based experiments (experiment verification tests), the following space parameters were simulated and studied: temperature, vacuum and short wavelength UV (UV-C, down to 200 nm) radiation. The closed uracil samples proved to be vacuum-tight for 7 days. In the tested temperature range (from -20 to +40 degrees C) the uracil samples are stable. The kinetic of dimer formation (dimerization) and reversion (monomerization) of uracil dimers due to short wavelength UV radiation was detected, the monomerization efficiency of the polychromatic deuterium lamp is higher than that of the germicidal lamp. A mathematical model describing the kinetic of monomerization-dimerization was constructed. Under the influence of UV radiation the dimerization-monomerization reactions occur simultaneously, thus the additivity law of the effect of the various wavelengths is not applicable.