COUNTERFOIL: a new high security optical surface technology

This paper presents a new optical surface technology known as COUNTERFOIL. The COUNTERFOIL technology provides a means of covert information storage and is used as the basis for a range of security seals and labels. The technology has obtained Australian Government Endorsement (SCEC Endorsement) for use in high security applications. It provides a convenient, low cost means to determine authenticity and detect tampering or surreptitious access     

Analysis of an adaptive CFAR detector in non-Gaussian interference

Coherent signal detection in non-Gaussian interference is presently of interest in adaptive array applications. Conventional array detection algorithms inherently model the interference with a multivariate Gaussian random vector. However, non-Gaussian interference models are also under investigation for applications where the Gaussian assumption may not be appropriate. We analyze the performance of an adaptive array receiver for signal detection in interference modeled with a non-Gaussian distribution referred to as a spherically invariant random vector (SIRV). We first motivate this interference model with results from radar clutter measurements collected in the Mountain Top Program. Then we develop analytical expressions for the probability of false alarm and the probability of detection for the adaptive array receiver. Our analysis shows that the receiver has constant false alarm rate (CFAR) performance with respect to all the interference parameters. Some illustrative examples are included that compare the detection performance of this CFAR receiver with a receiver that has prior knowledge of the interference parameters     

Large-scale Coronal Heating, Clustering of Coronal Bright Points, and Concentration of Magnetic Flux

By combining quiet-region Fe XII coronal images from SOHO/EIT with magnetograms from NSO/Kitt Peak and from SOHO/MDI, we show that the population of network coronal bright points and the magnetic flux content of the network are both markedly greater under the bright half of the large-scale quiet corona than under the dim half. These results (1) support the view that the heating of the entire corona in quiet regions and coronal holes is driven by fine-scale magnetic activity (microflares, explosive events, spicules) seated low in the magnetic network, and (2) suggest that this large-scale modulation of the magnetic flux and coronal heating is a signature of giant convection cells. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Antideuterons as an indirect dark matter signature: Si(Li) detector development and a GAPS balloon mission

The General AntiParticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is a novel approach for indirect dark matter searches that exploits cosmic antideuterons. GAPS complements existing and planned direct dark matter searches as well as other indirect techniques, probing a different and unique region of parameter space in a variety of proposed dark matter models. The GAPS method involves capturing antiparticles into a target material with the subsequent formation of an excited exotic atom. The exotic atom decays with the emission of atomic X-rays and pions from the nuclear annihilation, which uniquely identifies the captured antiparticle. This technique has been verified through the accelerator testing at KEK in 2004 and 2005. The prototype flight is scheduled from Hokkaido, Japan in 2011, preparatory for a long duration balloon flight from the Antarctic in 2014.     

Long period magnetospheric oscillations at discrete frequencies: The results of a multi-station analysis

A multi-station analysis of geomagnetic field measurements conducted for a remarkable case event, at a European and an American array shows that, although several aspects of the geomagnetic field observations show a clear latitudinal and local time dependence, simultaneous oscillations at discrete frequencies (f ≈ 1.0, 1.3, 2.2 and 3.2 mHz) are almost ubiquitously detected, from low to high latitudes both in the light and dark sector. They are driven by fluctuations of the solar wind density and dynamic pressure at the same frequencies, via the modulation of the magnetopause current. We also report clear evidence for the occurrence of resonant coupling (at f ≈ 2.2 and 3.2 mHz) between such modes and high latitude field lines. Due to the variable length of the field line through the day, oscillation modes at the same frequencies resonate at different latitudes in the daytime and nighttime region, respectively.     

Simulation of the flow around a stationary circular cylinder taking into account laminar-turbulent transition

We consider a problem of a stationary incompressible viscous fluid flow around a flat circular cylinder. In the vicinity of the critical Reynolds number Re _cr a stepwise drop of the cylinder drag takes place, which is called the drag crisis.     

Energy Release and Particle Acceleration in Flares: Summary and Future Prospects

RHESSI measurements relevant to the fundamental processes of energy release and particle acceleration in flares are summarized. RHESSI??s precise measurements of hard X-ray continuum spectra enable model-independent deconvolution to obtain the parent electron spectrum. Taking into account the effects of albedo, these show that the low energy cut-off to the electron power-law spectrum is typically ?tens of keV, confirming that the accelerated electrons contain a large fraction of the energy released in flares. RHESSI has detected a high coronal hard X-ray source that is filled with accelerated electrons whose energy density is comparable to the magnetic-field energy density. This suggests an efficient conversion of energy, previously stored in the magnetic field, into the bulk acceleration of electrons. A new, collisionless (Hall) magnetic reconnection process has been identified through theory and simulations, and directly observed in space and in the laboratory; it should occur in the solar corona as well, with a reconnection rate fast enough for the energy release in flares. The reconnection process could result in the formation of multiple elongated magnetic islands, that then collapse to bulk-accelerate the electrons, rapidly enough to produce the observed hard X-ray emissions. RHESSI??s pioneering ??-ray line imaging of energetic ions, revealing footpoints straddling a flare loop arcade, has provided strong evidence that ion acceleration is also related to magnetic reconnection. Flare particle acceleration is shown to have a close relationship to impulsive Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events observed in the interplanetary medium, and also to both fast coronal mass ejections and gradual SEP events. New instrumentation to provide the high sensitivity and wide dynamic range hard X-ray and ??-ray measurements, plus energetic neutral atom (ENA) imaging of SEPs above ??2 R_??, will enable the next great leap forward in understanding particle acceleration and energy release is large solar eruptions??solar flares and associated fast coronal mass ejections (CMEs).     

Dawn Science Planning, Operations and Archiving

The Dawn science operations team has designed the Vesta mission within the constraints of a low-cost Discovery mission, and will apply the same methodology to the Ceres mission. The design employs proactive mapping mission strategies and tactics such as functional redundancy, adaptability to trajectory uncertainties, and easy sequence updates to deliver reliable and robust sequences. Planning tools include the Science Opportunity Analyzer and other multi-mission tools, and the Science time-ordered listings. Science operations are conducted jointly by the Science Operations Support Team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Dawn Science Center at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The UCLA Dawn Science Center has primary responsibility for data archiving while the JPL team has primary responsibility for spacecraft and instrument operations. Constraints and uncertainties in the planning and sequencing environment are described, and then details of the science plan are presented for each mission sub-phase. The plans indicate that Dawn has a high probability of meeting its science objectives and requirements within the imposed constraints.