An experiment with an S-band radar using pulse compression andrange sidelobe suppression for meteorological measurements

A major technology barrier to the application of pulse compression for the meteorological functions required by a next generation ATC radar is range/time sidelobes which mask and corrupt observations of weak phenomena occurring near areas of strong extended meteorological scatterers. Techniques for suppressing range sidelobes are well known but without prior knowledge of the scattering medium's velocity distribution their performance degrades rapidly in the presence of Doppler. Recent investigations have presented a “doppler tolerant” range sidelobe suppression technique. The thrust of the work described herein is the extension of previous simulations to actual transmitted dispersed/coded waveforms using the S-band surveillance radar located at Rome Laboratory Surveillance Facility. The objectives of the experiment are: 1) to extend the verification of the simulation of the Doppler tolerant technique; and 2) to demonstrate that the radar transmitter, waveform generator, and receiver imperfections do not significantly degrade resolution, performance or reliability of meteorological spectral moment estimates     

CC—高阶通信系统的并发演算

并发演算CC(Concurrent Calculus)是高阶并发通信系统的数学模型,它把λ-演算作为子理论并包含一阶通信系统演算CCS、活动进程演算CMP、和高阶通信系统演算CHOCS的主要特征。在CC中,通信端口可为任意表达式并且进程和通信端口都可以作为在通信中传递的一等对象(First-class Objects)。从而CC不仅可以描述一阶通信行为而且可以刻划通信网络的动态自修改行为。另外,由于CC把λ-演算和进程演算纳入同一形式系统,故CC可以作为并发函数式程序设计的核心语言和理论模型。本文首先给出CC的语法、语义和例子,然后研究CC的高阶双向模拟等价关系以及CC的代数定律。最后简单讨论了相关的工作和今后的研究方向。     

Application of Gram-Schmidt algorithm to fully adaptive arrays

The Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization (GSO) algorithm has excellent numerical performance and is readily applicable to systolic implementations such as in a field of adaptive cancellation systems. A modified GSO algorithm for a fully adaptive array is proposed and computer simulations show that the proposed algorithm gives superior performance. A systolic implementation of the proposed GSO algorithm for fully adaptive array is presented. A feedback mode GSO algorithm for use with analog weights is also presented and has been shown to have excellent performance in the presence of weight errors     

ERS-1 radial position refinement by dual crossover analysis with TOPEX/Poseidon

Achieving orbital accuracies in the radial direction for ERS-1 commensurate with those for TOPEX/Poseidon is of utmost importance for the integration of the two altimeter data sets. This paper outlines a procedure whereby the radial orbit error for ERS-1 is recovered as a time series expansion in the form of a finite Fourier series with additional terms for atmospheric drag, solar radiation pressure, and initial state vector mismodelling. Using a least squares collocation method with constraints derived from the JGM2 gravity field co-variance matrix, the radial error is recovered using both dual crossovers and ERS-1 single satellite crossovers. Aggregate arcs are then used to derive the ERS-1 orbit error over the repeat period of 35 days. The results are presented in the improvement of fit in the dual crossover, ERS-1 crossover and altimetry data sets as well as the recovery of an altimeter bias for the two satellites.     

Stability of resonance rotation of a satellite with respect to its center of mass in the orbit plane

The stability of resonance oscillations and rotations of a satellite in the plane of its orbit in the case when the difference of the moments of inertia with respect to the principal axes lying in the orbit plane is small is determined at a given rotation number m by the sign of function Φ_m(e), introduced by F.L. Chernous’ko in 1963. In this paper, convenient analytical representations of functions Φ_m(e) are described in the form of integrals and series of Bessel functions regular at e → 1^?. Values of Φ_m(1) are calculated in explicit form. A theorem about the double asymptotic form of functions Φ_m(e) at m → ∞ and e → 1^? is proved by the saddlepoint method.     

Public Attitudes Towards Space Science

Astronomy and space science, including their associated basic research activities, enjoy broad popular backing. People generally support them, and say that they follow their results with interest. This article summarizes some of the detailed results of public surveys in the United States, focusing on popular opinions and attitudes, and the somewhat paradoxical finding that despite being interested and supportive, people are often ignorant about the basic facts. I explore some of the reasons for the popularity of space science, and suggest ways of justifying space science research in the broader context of science research. I argue that vigorous and innovative education and outreach programs are important, and can be made even more effective. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

First estimations of the aerosol optical thickness using Langley Method at Southern Brazil (29.4°S, 53.8°W)

The first estimations of the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) using Langley Method at Southern Space Observatory (SSO) at Southern Brazil (29.4°S, 53.8°W) are presented. In addition to ozone and sulphur dioxide columns, AOT can be obtained using Brewer Spectrophotometer at specific wavelengths: 306.3, 310.1, 313.5, 316.8 and 320.1 nm. The AOT was obtained for the period from November/2002 to May/2003. Very low AOT averages were obtained, whose values were about 0.21 ± 0.03 at 306.3 nm, 0.21 ± 0.02 at 310.1 nm, 0.19 ± 0.02 at 313.5 nm, 0.20 ± 0.02 at 316.8 nm and 0.20 ± 0.02 at 320.0 nm for all period analysed. Different behaviour of AOT were obtained at two daily specific periods of aerosol accumulation, one in the afternoons from November/2002 to February/2003, caused mainly by a mild biomass burning season’s in the region and other in the mornings from March to May/2003, due the high relative humidity presented in the region studied.     

Problem of precision missile guidance: LQR and H/sup /spl infin// control frameworks

Addressed here is the precision missile guidance problem where the successful intercept criterion has been defined in terms of both minimizing the miss distance and controlling the missile body attitude with respect to the target at the terminal point. We show that the H/sup /spl infin// control theory, when suitably modified, provides an effective framework for the precision missile guidance problem. The existence of feedback controllers (guidance laws) is investigated for the case of finite horizon and non-zero initial conditions. Both state feedback and output feedback implementations are explored.     

Relative positioning of multiple moving platforms using GPS

To obtain subdecimeter level accuracy in relative kinematic positioning, the use of double differenced GPS carrier phase measurement with carrier phase ambiguities fixed to their correct integer values must be adopted. If multiple platforms are available in the configuration, the redundancy provided by the multiplicity of platforms can speed up the time to integer ambiguity fixing while at the same time improve the reliability of the solution. An approach to effectively construct ambiguity constraints through the multiplicity of platforms is presented herein. The use of these ambiguity constraints to position multiple moving platforms with respect to each other is then discussed. A series of simulations and field tests are designed and conducted to investigate the effects of different system parameters on this approach, with a configuration of up to 10 moving platforms. The test results show that the use of ambiguity constraints can improve the time to integer ambiguity fixing by up to 67%, relative to the case when no constraints are used. In addition, the use of ambiguity constraints is found to enhance the ability of the multiple platform system to detect wrong ambiguity fixes.     

Automated video protection, monitoring & detection

The latest generation of computer vision technology is revolutionizing concepts, applications, and products in video surveillance and CCTV. This is of prime relevance to security for large outdoor facilities such as commercial airfields, refineries, power plants, and office/industrial campuses. Most airfields, for example, have open (unfenced) perimeters, high volume heterogeneous traffic, are easily accessed on foot or by water, and exist in areas where regulations providing a safety buffer are difficult to legislate or enforce. And all airfields require 24/7 outdoor monitoring - snow, fog, rain, or shine. Likewise, most high-value facilities appealing to criminals and terrorists are in close proximity to public areas (roads, residences, city, etc.). The appeal of automated real-time surveillance is obvious $maximizing efficiency and effectiveness of security personnel and resources while increasing the probability of preventing a serious security breach. Computer vision based solutions have the potential for very discriminating detection and very low false alarms. The bottom line is that applied computer vision has the potential for the greatest return on investment (ROI), both short-term and long-term.