Measurements of the earth radiation budget from satellites during the first garp global experiment

Two special measurements of the energy exchange between earth and space were made in connection with the FGGE. A global monitoring program using wide-field-of-view and scanner detectors from NASA's NIMBUS-7 satellite successfully returned measurements during the entire FGGE. This experiment system also used a black cavity detector to measure the total energy output of the sun to very high precision. A second set of high frequency time and space estimates of the radiation budget were determined from selected geostationary satellite data. Preliminary results from both radiation budget data sets and the solar “constant” measurements will be presented.     

Photochemical initiation of gaseous detonations

Direct initiation of detonations in gaseous mixtures of C₂H₂-O₂, H₂-O₂ and H₂-Cl₂ in the pressure range of 10–150 torr using flash photolysis was studied. Similar to blast initiation using a concentrated powerful energy source, it was found that for photochemical initiation, there exists a certain threshold of flash intensity and energy for each mixture at any given initial pressure and composition below which a deflagration is formed. At the critical threshold, however, a fully developed detonation is rapidly formed in the immediate vicinity of the window of incident UV radiation. However, at super critical flash energies, the amplitude of the detonation formed decreases and combustion of the entire irradiated volume approaches a constant volume explosion. It was found that photo-chemical initiation requires both a certain minimum peak value of the free radical concentration generated by the photo-dissociation as well as an appropriate gradient of this free radical distribution. The minimum peak radical concentration permits rapid reaction rates for the generation of strong pressure waves, while the gradient is necessary for the amplification of the shock waves to a detonation. If the gradient is absent and the free radicals are uniformly distributed in the mixture, then the entire volume simply explodes as in a constant volume process. The present study reveals that the mechanism of photochemical initiation is one of proper temporal synchronization of the chemical energy release to the shock wave as it propagates through the mixture. In analogy to the LASER, the term SWACER is introduced to represent this mechanism of Shock Wave Amplication by Coherent Energy Release. There are strong indications that this SWACER mechanism is universal and plays the main role in the formation of detonations whenever a powerful concentrated external source is not used to generate a strong shock wave in the explosive.     

Wave measurements in active experiments on plasma beam injection

The paper presents the results and discussion of VLF wave measurements carried out in the course of two rocket experiments on injection of a dense cesium ion beam into the ionosphere at the heights of 165–240 km. The injection was accompanied by enhancement of the broad-band noise by several orders of magnitude. The wave measurements in the frequency range of 1–11 kHz revealed two pronounced frequencies somewhat exceeding that of the lower-hybrid resonance oscillations in the background plasma and the cesium beam. The oscillations were modulated by frequencies close to the ion-cyclotron frequencies of the background plasma.     

Sigma: A new gamma-ray space observatory with high angular resolution for 1985 and beyond

The SIGMA mission is designed to obtain images of the sky in the hard X-ray/low energy gamma-ray domain 30 keV - 2 MeV, with an angular accuracy a few arc min., and a sensitivity for point sources down to a level of a few UFU. The principal scientific objectives of the SIGMA mission are described, as well as the anticipated performance of the instrument.     

Review of basic medical results of the Salyut-7--Soyuz-T 8-month manned flight.

This paper presents the results of medical investigations performed in the Salyut-7 8-month mission in which a professional physician took part. The paper contains anthropometric measurements, results of investigating the vestibular function, cardiovascular function at rest and in response to multi-step tests (with emphasis on echocardiographic measurements), metabolic parameters and hormonal status. It also discusses medical aspects of the extravehicular activity. The medical investigations, although some new methods were applied, provided the continuity of methodical approaches and data accumulated in previous missions.     

Enhanced crop discrimination using the mid-IR (1.55–1.75μm)

Improvements in crop discrimination can be realized by using mid-IR bands (1.55–1.75 μm and 2.08–2.35 μm) which are sensitive to canopy moisture content. Analyses of data from two growing seasons in Webster County, Iowa clearly indicate that corn and soybeans are highly separable in the mid-IR from early season through harvest. This contrasts sharply with visible and near-IR bands where corn and soybeans are confused throughout much of the growing season. The mid-IR temporal reflectance behavior appears to result from differences between C₄ monocot and C₃ dicot internal leaf structure. If this hypothesis holds, mid-IR observations should improve discrimination in other instances where similar differences in internal leaf structure are present.     

Advanced communications satellite technology

Technology drivers for commercial communications satellites are examined based on the efficient use of spacecraft mass which is to be accomplished by increasing the efficiency of the microwave power amplifiers and antenna feed systems used for communications satellites, such as the INTELSAT series. The history of the INTELSAT series of satellites, the late 1980s market and available technology, and future directions of development are considered. Emphasis is on multibeam solid-state antennas, microwave switch matrices, solid-state power amplifiers, and the use of several filter modes in one physical cavity. By using quasimonolithic solid state techniques in a class B amplification mode they have achieved 40-60% efficiencies, compared with 20% for the conventional travelling wavetube amplifiers. It is concluded that technology directed towards improving the economics of satellite communications will continue to be a major driver of future communications satellite payloads. Through their use and their extension, the authors foresee more than doubling the telephone channels per satellite from the current 80000 to perhaps 200000 by the turn of the century     

Ion signatures of reconnection at the magnetopause

For a rotational MHD discontinuity the bulk flow is Alfvénic in the de Hoffmann-Teller frame. Using AMPTE/IRM data, we present ion distribution functions during three crossings of the dayside low-latitude magnetopause. For these crossings a well defined de Hoffmann-Teller frame can be found, but the field-aligned bulk flow is always slower than the Alfvén speed. Nevertheless, we find signatures in the distribution functions that provide clear evidence for magnetic reconnection: solar wind ions reflected off the magnetopause, “D-shaped” solar wind ion distributions in the boundary layer, and counterstreaming of solar wind ions and ionospheric ions in the boundary layer.     

Ionospheric effects caused by barium releases

Results of experimental studies of the ionospheric effects produced by CRRES barium releases are considered. The experimental observations of HF spectral characteristics by Doppler method are made by a network of long distance radio paths intersecting the L-shell of releases. The time dependence of their occurrence relative to the moment of release and the character of changes of spectral parameters produces signal effects (SE) which may be classified as: the unique burst, the quasiperiodic group of bursts, the regular changes of spectral parameters and wave processes. Observed types of SE are analogous to those seen when the releases were produced at the heights from 140 to 160 km. The result of experimental observations testify that there are special geophysical phenomena produced by barium releases.