Investigation of natural and artificial stimulation of the ionospheric Alfvén resonator at high latitude

A brief review is provided of recent progress in understanding the ionospheric Alfvén resonator (IAR) at high latitude. Firstly, naturally occurring resonances of the IAR as detected by pulsation magnetometers in the auroral zone at Sodankylä and in the polar cap at Barentsburg are considered. The characteristics of the IAR in the two regions are broadly similar, although the effects of solar illumination are less clear at the higher latitudes. Secondly we review recent attempts to stimulate the IAR through high-power radio frequency experiments both in the auroral zone at Tromsø with the European Incoherent SCATter (EISCAT) heater, and within the polar cap at Longyearbyen with the Space Plasma Exploration by Active Radar (SPEAR) facility. In the auroral zone at, Tromsø the stimulated IAR has been observed by ground-based magnetometers, and through electron acceleration observed on the FAST spacecraft. At SPEAR in the polar cap, the stimulated IAR has been investigated, with ground magnetometers, with the first results indicative of a positive detection.     

ISEE-1 and 2 observations of field-aligned currents in the distant midnight magnetosphere

Magnetic field measurements obtained in the nightside magnetosphere by the co-orbiting ISEE-1 and 2 spacecraft have been examined for signatures of field-aligned currents (FAC). Such currents are found on the boundary of the plasma sheet both when the plasma sheet is expanding and when it is thinning. Plasma sheet boundary layer current structure and substorm associated dynamics can be determined using the two spacecraft, although for slow traversals of the FAC sheet the spatial/temporal ambiguity is still an issue. We often find evidence for the existence of waves on the plasma sheet boundary, leading to multiple crossings of the FAC sheet. At times the boundary layer FAC sheet orientation is nearly parallel to the X-Z GSM plane, suggesting ‘protrusions’ of plasma sheet into the lobes. The boundary layer current polarity is, as expected, into the ionosphere in the midnight to dawn local time sector, and outward near dusk. Current sheet thicknesses and velocities are essentially independent of plasma sheet expansion or thinning, having typical values of 1500 km and 20–40 km/s respectively. Characteristic boundary layer current densities are about 10 nanoamps per square meter.     

UWB Perimeter Surveillance

This program will develop an automated and unmanned ultra-wide band (UWB) perimeter surveillance sensor designed to provide detection and tracking of personnel and vehicles at the perimeter of critical areas such as military installations and other such facilities. This effort describes the work being done for the protection of high value assets using a compact system which incorporates two technologies to enhance the probability of detection in stressing environments     

Survey of earth orbital telescopes and their potential for exobiology

A series of Workshops on Exobiology in Earth Orbit held at NASA Ames Research Center has recently concluded. The draft of the final report from these Workshops contains a prioritized list of telescopic observations (possible only from above the Earth's atmosphere) that relate to the origin and evolution of the biogenic elements and compounds from their nucleosynthetic creation within stars to their inclusion in living systems. These orbital observations and the ground based laboratory and theoretical research necessary to support them have been termed Observational Exobiology. The details available on spacecraft, platforms and instrumentation most likely to be launched in the near future by the U.S. and Europe were considered in the Workshops. The purpose was to determine what observational programs would be tractible and what area of interest to exobiology required hardware and/or mission capabilities not yet envisioned. This paper summarizes the exciting opportunities that exist for Observational Exobiology.     

Advances in non-linear apodization

Selected new methods and applications of non-linear apodization for irregularly-shaped and parse coherent apertures and arrays are presented. The benefits include unproved impulse response performance, i.e., reduced peak sidelobes and integrated sidelobe power, along with improved mainlobe resolution, compared to classic windowing techniques. Nonlinear apodization (NLA) techniques can also serve as powerful engines for effective superresolution and bandwidth extrapolation of coherent data for filling sparse apertures. The sparse aperture filling property of superresolution algorithms for radar data forms the basis for a new concept which is introduced here: synthetic multiple aperture radar technology (SMART). Increased swath and/or reduced antenna size are some of the benefits postulated for SMART applied to synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. The benefits of these new methods and applications for nonlinear apodization are then demonstrated for two specific applications: 1) sidelobe control for Y-type synthetic aperture radiometers, such as the European Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) system (Kerr et al.) and JPL's proposed GeoSTAR (Lambrigsten) concept; and, 2) filling of sparse synthetic aperture radar data by exploiting the bandwidth extrapolation properties of nonlinear apodization based superresolution techniques. The methods that have been developed and demonstrated herein have potential application to a wide range of passive and active microwave remote sensing and radar systems.     

Security Systems Research and Testing Laboratory at Edith Cowan University

The testing and evaluation of sophisticated security systems has remained in the domain of governments in national facilities and the commercial security industry through manufacturers and engineering consultants. As well, the production of testing protocols and industry standards has been developed by national organisations, professional security, and engineering bodies in the appropriate security fields. The Security Systems Research and Testing Laboratory in the School of Engineering and Mathematics at Edith Cowan University (ECU), Perth, Western Australia has commenced operations in research, testing, and evaluation of security systems. This paper wir describe the first year of operation of the Security Systems Research and Testing Laboratory, and will describe the role that testing and evaluation of security systems plays in the education and training of Security Science graduates, as well as the benefits that the Laboratory brings to the security industry through its testing programme.     

Effects of heavy ions on inactivation and DNA double strand breaks in Deinococcus radiodurans R1.

Inactivation and double strand break (dsb) induction after heavy ion irradiation were studied in stationary phase cells of the highly radiation resistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans R1. There is evidence that the radiation sensitivity of this bacterium is nearly independent on energy in the range of up to 15 MeV/u for lighter ions (Ar). The responses to dsb induction for charged particles show direct relationship between increasing radiation dose and residual intact DNA.     

Dark matter in the outer solar system.

There are now a large number of small bodies in the outer solar system that are known to be covered with dark material. Attempts to identify that material have been thwarted by the absence of discrete absorption features in the reflection spectra of these planetesimals. An absorption at 2.2 micrometers that appeared to be present in several objects has not been confirmed by new observations. Three absorptions in the spectrum of the unusually red planetesimal 5145 Pholus are well-established, but their identity remains a mystery.