Detection of small objects in clutter using a GA-RBF neural network

Detection of small objects in a radar or satellite image is an important problem with many applications. Due to a recent discovery that sea clutter, the electromagnetic wave backscatter from a sea surface, is chaotic rather than purely random, computational intelligence techniques such as neural networks have been applied to reconstruct the chaotic dynamic of sea clutter. The reconstructed sea clutter dynamical system which usually takes the form of a nonlinear predictor does not only provide a model of the sea scattering phenomenon, but it can also be used to detect the existence of small targets such as fishing boats and small fragments of icebergs by observing abrupt changes in the prediction error. We applied a genetic algorithm (GA) to obtain an optimal reconstruction of sea clutter dynamic based on a radial basis function (RBF) neural network. This GA-RBF uses a hybrid approach that employes a GA to search for the optimum values of the following RBF parameters: centers, variance, and number of hidden nodes, and uses the least square method to determine the weights. It is shown here that if the functional form of an unknown nonlinear dynamical system can be represented exactly using an RBF net (i.e., no approximation error), this GA-RBF approach can reconstruct the exact dynamic from its time series measurements. In addition to the improved accuracy in modeling sea clutter dynamic, the GA-RBF is also shown to enhance the detectability of small objects embedded in the sea. Using real-life radar data that are collected in the east coast of Canada by two different radar systems: a ground-based radar and a satellite equipped with synthetic aperture radar (SAR), we show that the GA-RBF network is a reliable detector for small surface targets in various sea conditions and is practical for real-life search and rescue, navigation, and surveillance applications     

The importance of anisotropic interstellar turbulence and molecular-cloud magnetic mirrors for galactic cosmic-ray propagation

Recent studies suggest that when magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence is excited by stirring a plasma at large scales, the cascade of energy from large to small scales is anisotropic, in the sense that small-scale fluctuations satisfy the inequality k k , where k and k are, respectively, the components of a fluctuations wave vector and to the background magnetic field. Such anisotropic fluctuations are very inefficient at scattering cosmic rays. Results based on the quasilinear approximation for scattering of cosmic rays by anisotropic MHD turbulence are presented and explained. The important role played by molecular-cloud magnetic mirrors in confining and isotropizing cosmic rays when scattering is weak is also discussed.     

Intergalactic magnetic fields, and some connections with cosmic rays

An overview is presented of the methods of probing for the geometry, and strength of intergalactic magnetic fields. Recent results are briefly surveyed for galaxy halos, galaxy clusters, and the intergalactic medium on various scales, and some rele vant physical processes and radiation processes are mentioned, as well as the coupling between intergalactic magnetic fields and cosmic rays.The general trend of recent results indicates that, wherever we detect intergalactic hot gas and galaxies, we also find magnetic fields at levels of 10^–7 G, or higher. The hitherto undetected, weaker fields in the ratified i.g.m. and in large intergalactic voids could be probed by both Faraday rotation, and possibly using very energetic CR nuclei (> 10²⁰eV), and/or transient extragalactic ray bursts.     

Tracking in clutter with nearest neighbor filters: analysis andperformance

The measurement that is “closest” to the predicted target measurement is known as the “nearest neighbor” (NN) measurement in tracking. A common method currently in wide use for tracking in clutter is the so-called NN filter, which uses only the NN measurement as if it were the true one. The purpose of this work is two fold. First, the following theoretical results are derived: the a priori probabilities of all three data association events (updates with correct measurement, with incorrect measurement, and no update), the probability density functions (pdfs) of the NN measurement conditioned on the association events, and the one-step-ahead prediction of the matrix mean square error (MSE) conditioned on the association events. Secondly, a technique for prediction without recourse to expensive Monte Carlo simulations of the performance of tracking in clutter with the NN filter is presented. It can quantify the dynamic process of tracking divergence as well as the steady-state performance. The technique is a new development along the line of the recently developed general approach to the performance prediction of algorithm with both continuous and discrete uncertainties     

Design of a Correlator for Real-Time Video Comparisons

The problem of locating a reference image within a larger image using a correlation technique is discussed. Although the particular application discussed is that of locating a reference image obtained from one video sensor or a photograph, within the larger field of view obtained from a second video sensor in real time (i.e., at the TV field rate), the results are general and useful for a number of applications. The tradeoffs necessary to obtain real time correlat are discussed and their effect on correlation accuracy is given.     

无穷观问题的研究(Ⅲ)——‘每一''与‘所有''

本组系列论文（I）－（Ⅴ）从数学和认识论的角度系统地研究了无穷观问题的历史发展和现状，确立了无穷观背景世界的三分法原则，指出了两种穷观相互排斥的局限性，形成了统一两种无穷于同一框架中的基本观点，并建立了一个统一实无限与潜无限于同一框架中的公理集合论系统APAS。     

华东地区围护结构节能研究

根据南京市的典型年逐时气象参数，对于该市的某一座高层建筑物，应用自编的逐时动态负荷模拟程序，输入围护结构（窗户、墙体和屋顶）相关的物理参数及其与周围环境的关系（地点及朝向等），计算围护结构冬季采暖期散热量及夏季制冷得热量。结果表明，采用双层塑窗代替单层塑窗，使用节能墙体代替传统墙体能够使得冬季围护结构传散热量减少51％，夏季围护结构总得热量减少46％。因此，这一结果为华东地区建筑节能技术提供了理论依据。     

金属载体上线天线阻抗与辐射特性的矩量法研究

用线网格模拟金属载体表面，应用矩量法求出天线及载体网格上的电流分布，据此研究在该金属载体影响下的天线特性，在计算阻抗矩阵元素时，利用了非对称正弦偶极子辐射场的精确表达式，并采用了直接复数积分，简化了计算公式，本文给出了几种金属载体上线天线的阻抗与辐射特性的计算结果，它们与有关文献上的数据或实验结果一致，最后计算了一种舰船简单模型上两根线天线的远区辐射场及它们的自阻抗与互阻抗。     

生物组织光学参数：优化散射系数（μ’s）的实时在位测定

利用了一套特殊设计光纤探头组成的稳定态光纤光谱仪测试生物组织的光学参数，从悬乳液(Intralpid)与模拟胶(Phantom)实验推导出优化散射系数(Reduced scattering coeffcient：μ’s)近红外谱测量经验公式。测量反射系数就可以计算出优化散射系数谱。计算结果用模拟胶作了验证，并对大鼠脑组织μ’s进行了实时在位测量，从而得到了一种μ’s在位测量的有效方法。