X-ray emission from Be star/X-ray binaries

Observations of X-ray emission from Be star/X-ray binaries are reviewed. Some optical characteristics of these binaries are also presented. Theoretical aspects pertaining to the X-ray emissions are given.     

The plasma mantle: Composition and other characteristics observed by means of the PROGNOZ-7 satellite

A brief summary of the main results of magnetospheric ion composition measurements in general is first presented. PROGNOZ-7 measurements in the nightside plasma mantle are then described and analyzed. Some of the results are the following: In the nightside mantle not too far from midnight the properties of the mantle are sometimes consistent with the open magnetosphere model. However during most magnetic storm situations O⁺ ions appear in the mantle in large proportions and with high energies. The acceleration process affecting the ions has been found in several cases to give equal amounts of energy to all ions independent of mass. Along the flanks of the magnetosphere the flow of the plasma is often low or absent. The O⁺ content is high (up to 20%) and the energy spectrum of both ions and electrons may be very hot, even up to the level of the ring current plasma in the keV range.The O⁺ content in the plasma mantle is positively correlated with the magnetospheric activity level. The mantle, however, does not appear to be the dominating source for the storm time ring current. Direct acceleration of ionospheric ions onto the closed field lines of the plasma sheet and ring current is most likely the main source. The magnetopause on the nightside and along the flanks of the magnetosphere appears to be a fairly solid boundary for mantle ions of ionospheric origin. This is especially evident during periods with high geomagnetic activity, when the mantle is associated with fairly strong fluxes of O⁺ ions.An interesting observation in most of the mantle passages during geomagnetically disturbed periods is the occurrence of intense, magnetosheath like, regions deep inside the mantle. In some cases these regions with strong antisunward flow and with predominant magnetosheath ion composition was observed in the innermost part of the mantle, i.e. marking a boundary region between the lobe and the mantle. These magnetosheath penetration events are usually associated with strong fluxes of accelerated ionospheric ions in nearby parts of the mantle. Evanescent penetration regions with much reduced flow properties are frequently observed in the flank mantle.     

Mismatched Filtering of Sonar Signals

A replica correlator (matched filter) is an optimum processor for a receiver employing a pulse of continuous wave (CW) signal in a white Gaussian noise background. In an active sonar, however, when the target of interest has low Doppler shift and is embedded in a high reverberation background, this is not so. High sidelobes of the correlator frequency response pass a significant portion of the signal contained in the mainlobe of the reverberation spectrum. In order to reduce the sidelobes of the correlator output spectrum and at the same time keep the increase in its 3 dB bandwidth to a small amount, we propose lengthening of the replica of the transmitted signal and weighting it by a Kaiser window. It is demonstrated that by extending the weighted replica by 50 percent compared with the transmitted signal, it is possible to reduce the sidelobe levels to at least 40 dB below the mainlobe peak, with the concomitant increase of the 3 dB band-width by less than 5 percent. The degradation in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) performance for such a ?mismatched? filter receiver with respect to the matched filter is less than 1.5 dB.     

Nondestructive Characterization of RBSOA of High-Power Bipolar Transistors

Reverse-bias safe operating area (RBSOA) of high-power Darlington transistors is characterized using a 120 A/1000 V nondestructive reverse-bias second breakdown tester designed and fabricated at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Elaborate RBSOA characteristics are generated with different forward/reverse base drives and collector current levels. The effects of elevated case temperature and second-base drive on RBSOA of four-terminal Darlington devices are also discussed.     

Radar Target Detection and Map-Matching Algorithm Studies

Results of a study of adaptive threshold target detection and map-matching algorithms are presented. Log threshold processing is shown to be preferred over linear threshold processing when the clutter data surrounding the target cell is contaminated by other targets, decoy corner reflectors, or bright clutter cells. Whereas previous studies have resorted to extensive Monte-Carlo simulations of log threshold algorithms, the results were obtained using a novel analytical approach based upon Parseval's theorem.     

Automated Tracking for Aircraft Surveillance Radar Systems

An improved moving target detector (MTD) (a digital signal processor) has been designed, constructed, and tested which successfully rejects all forms of radar clutter while providing reliable detection of all aircraft within the coverage of the radar. The MTD is being tested on both terminal and enroute surveillance radars for the FAA. This processor has been integrated with automatic tracking algorithms to give complete rejection of ground clutter, heavy precipitation, and angels (birds).     

Magnetic Position and Orientation Tracking System

Three-axis generation and sensing of quasi-static magneticdipole fields provide information sufficient to determine both the position and orientation of the sensor relative to the source. Linear rotation transformations based upon the previous measurements are applied to both the source excitation and sensor output vectors, yielding quantities that are linearly propotional to small changes in the position and orientation. Changes are separated using linear combinations of sensor output vectors, transformed to the desired coordinate frame, and used to update the previous measurements. Practical considerations for a head-tracking application are discussed.