Reciprocal radar waveforms

Digitally coded radar waveforms can be used to obtain large time-bandwidth products (pulse compression ratios). It is demonstrated that periodic radar waveforms with zero sidelobes or almost zero sidelobes can be defined. A perfect periodic code is a periodic code whose autocorrelation function has zero sidelobes and whose amplitude is uniform (maximum power efficiency=1). An asymptotically perfect periodic code has the property that as the number of elements in the code goes to infinity the autocorrelation function of the code has zero sidelobes and its power efficiency is one. The authors introduce a class of radar waveforms that are either perfect or asymptotically perfect codes. These are called reciprocal codes because they can be derived through a linear transformation of known codes. The aperiodic performance of the reciprocal code is examined     

Energy deposition rates by charged particles measured during the energy budget campaign

Measurements of the precipitation of electrons and positive ions (in the keV to MeV range) detected aboard eight rockets launched from Northern Scandinavia are reported together with corresponding satellite data. The downgoing integral fluxes indicate the temporal fluctuations during each flight. Height profiles of the energy deposition into the atmosphere at different levels of geomagnetic disturbance are given.     

Instrumentation and data systems for high-time resolution study of space plasma shocks

This paper deals with the principal methods of achieving high-time resolution measurements for the study of fine structure of shocks and other discontinuities in space plasmas. In the measurements of ion energy spectra, we have obtained the time resolution about 1s.In the Soviet-Czechoslovak INTERSHOCK project we will obtain temporal resolution better than 0.1s in the measurement of the main plasma parameters. This will be obtained with the multichannel energy spectrometer and the on-board data acquisition and processing system triggered by the shock signature. This system controls the data sampling rate from some scientific instruments and switches on a high-sampling rate near the shock. The method implies detecting a shock by means of on-board processing of magnetic field and plasma parameters. The algorithm for this detection uses both parameters separately as well as in combinations.     

Multiple Target Effects on Monopulse Signal Processing

Analysis of a typical amplitude-comparison monopulse angle-tracking radar shows that gain variation and bias in the radar error signal can occur under certain conditions involving multiple targets. The general behavior depends on the Doppler separation of the targets relative to system bandwidths; for a specific situation, the gain variation and bias are functions of the relative strengths of the targs. The analysis is shown to be consistent with experimental observations.     

Statistical analysis of the total electron content observed at 23°S in the Brazilian sector

The vertical total electron content (VTEC) time series obtained at São José dos Campos (23.2°S, 45.9°W), Brazil, were statistically analyzed to study the low latitude ionosphere in the Brazilian sector during the year of 2006 (a period of low solar activity). Statistical analysis showed that Probability Density Functions (PDFs) and kurtosis have an intermittent behavior on small-scales (periods from minutes to one day) and presence of two functions on large-scales (periods from 3 to 30 days). The skewness result suggests the presence of some kind of waves due to the action of tropospheric sources (lower atmospheric origin). Results obtained by wavelet transform show strong oscillations with scale-sizes between 3 and 30 days, possibly associated with the planetary oscillations. According to these statistical and wavelet analyses we conjecture that there exist two important factors regarding the ionospheric effects: one factor is due to turbulent states found in small scales and the other factor consists in a more or less deterministic state provided by planetary waves (3–16 days or full solar rotation (27–28 days)). Further, these strong oscillations were also noted in multifractal analysis. We found a decrease of multifractality degree of the same scale-sizes.     

Recent Progress in Physics-Based Models of the Plasmasphere

We describe recent progress in physics-based models of the plasmasphere using the fluid and the kinetic approaches. Global modeling of the dynamics and influence of the plasmasphere is presented. Results from global plasmasphere simulations are used to understand and quantify (i) the electric potential pattern and evolution during geomagnetic storms, and (ii) the influence of the plasmasphere on the excitation of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves and precipitation of energetic ions in the inner magnetosphere. The interactions of the plasmasphere with the ionosphere and the other regions of the magnetosphere are pointed out. We show the results of simulations for the formation of the plasmapause and discuss the influence of plasmaspheric wind and of ultra low frequency (ULF) waves for transport of plasmaspheric material. Theoretical models used to describe the electric field and plasma distribution in the plasmasphere are presented. Model predictions are compared to recent Cluster and Image observations, but also to results of earlier models and satellite observations.     

Matched subspace CFAR detection of hovering helicopters

A constant false alarm rate (CFAR) strategy for detecting a Gaussian distributed random signal against correlated non-Gaussian clutter is developed. The proposed algorithm is based on Scharf's matched subspace detector (MSD) and has the CFAR property with respect to the clutter amplitude probability density function (apdf), provided that the clutter distribution belongs to the compound-Gaussian family and the clutter covariance matrix is known to within a scale factor. Analytical expressions of false alarm and detection probabilities are derived. An application to the problem of detecting hovering helicopters against vegetated ground clutter is reported     

Lava cave microbial communities within mats and secondary mineral deposits: implications for life detection on other planets

Lava caves contain a wealth of yellow, white, pink, tan, and gold-colored microbial mats; but in addition to these clearly biological mats, there are many secondary mineral deposits that are nonbiological in appearance. Secondary mineral deposits examined include an amorphous copper-silicate deposit (Hawai'i) that is blue-green in color and contains reticulated and fuzzy filament morphologies. In the Azores, lava tubes contain iron-oxide formations, a soft ooze-like coating, and pink hexagons on basaltic glass, while gold-colored deposits are found in lava caves in New Mexico and Hawai'i. A combination of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and molecular techniques was used to analyze these communities. Molecular analyses of the microbial mats and secondary mineral deposits revealed a community that contains 14 phyla of bacteria across three locations: the Azores, New Mexico, and Hawai'i. Similarities exist between bacterial phyla found in microbial mats and secondary minerals, but marked differences also occur, such as the lack of Actinobacteria in two-thirds of the secondary mineral deposits. The discovery that such deposits contain abundant life can help guide our detection of life on extraterrestrial bodies.