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.     

翼型动失速和非定常载荷的综合翼型数据方法

本文给出受迫谐振翼型的动失速工程估算方法。本方法基于凤洞试验，综合分析翼型动、稳态特性之间的差别与动、稳态条件之间的关系，建立一套估算动、稳态特性之间差别的经验公式，修正稳态特性，得到相应的动态特性。用本方法计算了三种翼型不同动态条件（包括深失速和后掠）的动失速特性，并与测量和文献结果进行了比较，结果符合得相当好。     

环氧／聚氨酯涂料的研究

采用环氧树脂来固化聚氨酯涂料，可使涂层具有良好的刚性和耐蚀性，本文研究了涂料各组分对于涂料涂层性能的影响，拟定了最佳配方工艺，并对其机理进行了阐述。     

机场跑道耐冲磨混凝土的研究

针对机场跑道混凝土所处环境、受力特环以及对修补材料的性能要求，提出采用超塑化、膨胀、树脂掺入等复合手段，大幅度改善钢纤维混凝土基质材料的结构性能。通过高效粘结，充分发挥了钢纤维的增韧抗冲击作用，使这种有机无机复合、金属非金属复合的混凝土材料具有优异的抗冲击性和耐磨性。实验结果表明，机场跑道混凝土特别是飞机起降区域板块适合采用SPE－SFRC复合材料。在基础稳定的条件下，基本可在设计使用年限内无须大修，其社会、经济效益巨大。     

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。     

典型几何和流动参数对高超声速进气道性能的影响

用N-S方程模拟了一系列典型二元高超声速进气道内压缩通道及隔离段模型,模拟发现内压缩通道及隔离段增压比、温升比和总压恢复系数等性能参数主要受面积收缩比、内压缩通道收缩角、隔离段长高比等几何参数以及内压缩通道进口马赫数、密度、附面层厚度等流动参数的影响。内收缩比和内收缩通道收缩角的增大都会使压缩增强;隔离段内沿程平均温升比、马赫数和总压恢复系数曲线则均接近平行直线。内压缩通道进口马赫数的增大也会使压缩增强,但较小的进口马赫数可能引起分离,进而增大增压比;而进口密度增大使附面层变薄,对气流的压缩减弱;进口附面层厚度对沿程平均温升比、增压比以及马赫数的影响近似线性。