Theory and Modeling for the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission

The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission will provide measurement capabilities, which will exceed those of earlier and even contemporary missions by orders of magnitude. MMS will, for the first time, be able to measure directly and with sufficient resolution key features of the magnetic reconnection process, down to the critical electron scales, which need to be resolved to understand how reconnection works. Owing to the complexity and extremely high spatial resolution required, no prior measurements exist, which could be employed to guide the definition of measurement requirements, and consequently set essential parameters for mission planning and execution. Insight into expected details of the reconnection process could hence only been obtained from theory and modern kinetic modeling. This situation was recognized early on by MMS leadership, which supported the formation of a fully integrated Theory and Modeling Team (TMT). The TMT participated in all aspects of mission planning, from the proposal stage to individual aspects of instrument performance characteristics. It provided and continues to provide to the mission the latest insights regarding the kinetic physics of magnetic reconnection, as well as associated particle acceleration and turbulence, assuring that, to the best of modern knowledge, the mission is prepared to resolve the inner workings of the magnetic reconnection process. The present paper provides a summary of key recent results or reconnection research by TMT members.     

Comparative study of productivity of the Rosetta target Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

In an attempt to evaluate correlations between several properties of comets we report the results of a cometary research involving a criterious analysis of gas and dust mass production rates in Comets 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (main target of Rosetta Mission), 1P/Halley, Hyakutake (C/1996 B2), and 46P/Wirtanen and make a comparison between them.     

Reference Loop Phase Shift in Adaptive Arrays

Adaptive arrays for use in communication systems require the generation of a so-called reference signal, which is usually derived from the array output. A particular problem associated with this technique, the problem of reference loop phase shift, is discussed. It is shown that phase shift in the reference loop causes the array weights to cycle, and also causes the array to frequency-modulate the signal. In spite of this frequency change, the array maintains a maximum SNR at the output.     

Frequency-hopping signal detection using partial band coverage

The performance of a channelized radiometer in detecting a frequency-hopping signal is analyzed for a variable number of parallel radiometers not necessarily covering the entire hopping band. The full band may not be covered because of an attempt to avoid interfering signals, limited radiometer resources, lack of knowledge of the band frequency location, or combinations of these factors. The analysis provides for calculation of the value of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) required to achieve a given probability of detection for a specified false-alarm rate, assuming an observation interval equivalent to N hops using either a fixed or a moving observation window. The dependence of the probability of detection on a misalignment of the detector observation intervals with the hop transitions is also analyzed. Numerical results are presented and discussed. Applied to a typical slow-hopping VHF radio, the results imply that a 150-hop transmission can be detected by a channelized radiometer covering half the hopping band when the SNR is about 2 dB     

A technique for numerical modeling of liquid film disintegration in the pneumatic injector of aircraft engines

A technique for calculating the two-phase flows in the pneumatic injector of the aircraft engine is developed based on solving the model problem, namely, on verification of the two-phase flow model by means of solving the problem of liquid column disintegration under the effect of an incident airflow. We determine the turbulence models that satisfactorily describe the biphase flow processes.     

Automatic target recognition of time critical moving targets using1D high range resolution (HRR) radar

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging and Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) of moving targets pose a significant challenge due to the inherent difficulty of focusing moving targets. As a result, ATR of moving targets has recently received increased interest. High Range Resolution (HRR) radar mode offers an approach for recognizing moving targets by forming focused HRR profiles with significantly enhanced target-to-(clutter+noise) (T/(C+N)) via Doppler filtering and/or clutter cancellation. A goal of HRR ATR transition is the implementation and evaluation of algorithms exhibiting robustness under extended operating conditions (EOC). The public domain Moving and Stationary Target Acquisition and Recognition (MSTAR) data set was used to study 1D template-based ATR development and performance. Due to the unavailability of a statistically significant moving ground target data set, this approach was taken as an interim step in assessing the separability of ground targets when using range only discriminants. This report summarizes the data and algorithm methodology, simulated performance results, and recommendations     

The ionospheres and plasma tails of comets

The present understanding of cometary ionospheres and plasma tails is critically evaluated. Following a brief introduction of the significance of the study of cometary ionospheres and tails (Section 1), the observational statistics and spectroscopic observations are summarized in Sections 2 and 3.The complicated and time varying morphology of the plasma tail and the ionosphere as revealed both by photographs as well as visual drawings is discussed in Section 4.The evidence for a strong comet-solar wind interaction, the possible nature of this interaction and also the use of comets as probes of the solar wind are considered in the next 3 sections (5, 6, 7). This is followed by a discussion of the various processes so far proposed for the ionization of cometary gases and their limitations (Section 8).Hydrodynamic models of the solar wind-comet interaction, which refers essentially to the region outside the tangential discontinuity, are presented and evaluated in Section 9. A discussion of the ion chemistry and structure of the region inside the tangential discontinuity (which is here referred to as the cometary ionosphere) follows in Section 10.The largely indirect evidence for the existence of substantial magnetic fields in cometary ionospheres and type 1 tails is evaluated and their likely origin is considered in Section 11. The associated electric currents; their size and closure as well as their importance as sources of ionization in the inner coma are also discussed.Finally in Section 12, some of the directions in which future research should progress, in order to provide a more complete and secure knowledge of cometary ionospheres and plasma tails, are stressed.     

State of the art in adaptive control of robotic systems

An up-to-date assessment of adaptive control technology as applied to robotics is presented. Although the field is relatively new and does not yet represent a mature discipline, considerable attention for the design of sophisticated robot controllers has occurred. In this presentation, adaptive control methods are divided into model reference adaptive systems and self-tuning regulators with further definition of various approaches given in each class. The similarity and distinct features of the designed controllers are delineated and tabulated to enhance comparative review