High energy particle dispersion events observed by interball-1 and -2

Time period from October 1996 until January 1998 was checked on high energy resolution DOK2 energetic particle instrument measurements on Interball-1 and Interball-2 for the ion (> 20 keV) dispersive events (EDIS) with the exclusion of Interball-1 orbit parts in the tail. A variety of energy dispersive events, both in ion and electron spectra with different duration is found in the auroral regions, in the outer magnetosphere and near the cusp. While EDIS were observed in all sectors of MLT, the best conditions for their observation were in the afternoon local time. The characteristics of dispersive events observed by DOK2 are consistent with their explanation by the gradient-curvature drift of particles from the injection point(s) in the night local time sector given in Lutsenko at al., 2000a, b.     

Local Radiation Belts of the Sun (Quasi-Stationary Coronal and Heliospheric Giant Traps for Solar Cosmic Rays)

The local radiation belts of the Sun are defined as giant quasi-stationary coronal and heliospheric traps for solar cosmic rays. These traps are formed by loop magnetic fields, both solar and interplanetary. Using observational data, some experimental examples of the local radiation belts of the Sun are considered. The hypotheses on the origin of energetic particles in the outer heliosphere and on the local radiation belts of the Sun are discussed.     

Evolution of the sun''s near-surface asphericities over the activity cycle

Solar oscillations provide the most accurate measures of cycle dependent changes in the sun, and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) data are the most precise of all. They give us the opportunity to address the real challenge — connecting the MDI seismic measures to observed characteristics of the dynamic sun. From inversions of the evolving MDI data, one expects to determine the nature of the evolution, through the solar cycle, of the layers just beneath the sun's surface. Such inversions require one to guess the form of the causal perturbation — usually beginning with asking whether it is thermal or magnetic. Matters here are complicated because the inversion kernels for these two are quite similar, which means that we don't have much chance of disentangling them by inversion. However, since the perturbation lies very close to the solar surface, one can use synoptic data as an outer boundary condition to fix the choice. It turns out that magnetic and thermal synoptic signals are also quite similar. Thus, the most precise measure of the surface is required.

We argue that the most precise synoptic data come from the Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) Solar Disk Photometer (SDP). A preliminary analysis of these data implies a magnetic origin of the cycle-dependent sub-surface perturbation. However, we still need to do a more careful removal of the facular signal to determine the true thermal signal.     

Energy storage solutions for premium power

Most utility power quality problems are caused by sags, surges, and momentary outages which last from several cycles to several seconds. Modern loads are very sensitive to these short duration glitches resulting in major losses in revenue through system down-time and loss of product from work in process. Many of these problems are caused by normal transients as equipment and factories go on-line or shut down. Others are caused by lightening strikes and faults on the distribution system. Although power utility companies attempt to minimize the interruptions through filtering and system management, power quality problems continue to cost American industry billions of dollars a year. Batteries have been used for many years in uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) to protect critical loads. However, because many new facilities have a network of broadly distributed critical loads, a UPS on the order of one to several megawatts is needed to support the total plant rather than several small kilowatt installations. This paper reports on the implementation of such a utility scale power quality management system     

Doppler imaging based on radar target precession

A unique form of target motion reminiscent of the precession of a rotating top is investigated. Images are generated with the radar looking either along the precession axis or orthogonally to it. Features of the two methods are discussed and demonstrated by imaging simulated point target scenes     

The status of qualification of a new separator system for advancedaerospace battery cells

A nickel cadmium cell system which utilizes a polypropylene separator impregnated with polybenzimadazole, and which shows promise of providing an aerospace battery with performance equivalent to Super NiCd, and yet is more cost effective, is described. Background information, cell construction information, detailed test program information and data, and status of qualification are given     

Plasma production by secondary impacts: Implications for velocity measurements by in-situ dust detectors

A number of in-situ cosmic dust detectors derive the dust particle velocities from measurement of the risetimes of the impact plasma signal. Extensive calibration of these instruments has established a reliable empirical relationship but a quantitative explanation has not been available, with the result that confidence in flight data outside the range of the calibration data is hard to assess. Recent measurements taken at the dust accelerator facilities at the University of Kent (UK) and at MPI-K (Germany), supported by a theoretical analysis, have demonstrated that the relationship results from the time-spread of secondary impacts coupled with the mobility of ions in the impact plasma cloud, which is in turn determined by the magnitude and geometry of the applied electric field and on the ion species present. Results of the current investigations are presented, and the implications of measurements based on this principle at high particle velocities, at masses unobtainable in calibration studies, and for other instrument geometries, are considered.     

Fuzzy logic applications to multisensor-multitarget correlation

A consistent tactical picture requires data fusion technology to combine and propagate information received from diverse objects and usually vague situations. The information may be contained in two types of data; numerical data received from sensor measurements, and linguistic data obtained from human operators and domain experts. In real world situations, the numerical data may be noisy, inconsistent, and incomplete, and the linguistic information is imprecise and vague. To deal with these two types of data simultaneously, fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic provide a methodology to obtain an approximate but consistent tactical picture in a timely manner for very complex or ill-defined engineering problems. A functional paradigm for fuzzy data fusion is presented. It consists of four basic elements: (1) fuzzification of crisp elements, (2) fuzzy knowledge base derived from numerical input/output relations and humans, (3) fuzzy inference mechanism based on a class of fuzzy logic, (4) defuzzification of fuzzy outputs into crisp outputs for use by a plant. For real-time practical systems, the on-line determination of a fuzzy membership function from a given set of crisp inputs is vital. To this end, a methodology for estimating an optimal membership function from crisp input data has been implemented. This is based on the possibility/probability consistency principle as proposed by L.A. Zadeh. A relationship between the fuzzy membership function and the confidence level of statistical input data has been developed and it serves as a design parameter for fuzzification. This technique has been applied to a two-dimensional multisensor-multitarget tracking system. Fuzzy system performance evaluations have been presented. With simulated data in the laboratory environment, the simulation has been performed to evaluate the Mission Avionics Sensor Synergism (MASS) Systems. These results show better performance for the data correlation function using the fuzzy logic techniques.