Angle and polarization estimation in a coherent signal environment

It is shown how a uniform linear array of crossed dipoles may be used with the ESPRIT algorithm and spatial smoothing techniques to estimate the arrival directions and polarizations of incoming coherent plane waves. Some examples showing typical performance are presented. One method of smoothing can be used where it is necessary to estimate both the arrival angles and polarizations of signals. Two other methods can be used when only the arrival angles are of interest     

Understanding plant-soil relationships using controlled environment facilities.

Although soil is a component of terrestrial ecosystems, it is comprised of a complex web of interacting organisms, and therefore can be considered itself as an ecosystem. Soil microflora and fauna derive energy from plants and plant residues and serve important functions in maintaining soil physical and chemical properties, thereby affecting net primary productivity (NPP), and in the case of contained environments, the quality of the life support system. We have been using 3 controlled-environment facilities (CEF's) that incorporate different levels of soil biological complexity and environmental control, and differ in their resemblance to natural ecosystems, to study relationships among plant physiology, soil ecology, fluxes of minerals and nutrients, and overall ecosystem function. The simplest system utilizes growth chambers and specialized root chambers with organic-less media to study the physiology of plant-mycorrhizal associations. A second system incorporates natural soil in open-top chambers to study soil bacterial and fungal population response to stress. The most complex CEF incorporates reconstructed soil profiles in a "constructed" ecosystem, enabling close examination of the soil foodweb. Our results show that closed ecosystem research is important for understanding mechanisms of response to ecosystem stresses. In addition, responses observed at one level of biological complexity may not allow prediction of response at a different level of biological complexity. In closed life support systems, incorporating soil foodwebs will require less artificial manipulation to maintain system stability and sustainability.     

Structure and UV absorption of QCCs: carbonaceous dust analogues.

"Quenched Carbonaceous Composites (QCCs)" are carbonaceous interstellar dust analogues synthesized in the laboratory from a hydrocarbon plasma. We produced new types of carbonaceous condensates from the ejecta of plasma with mixtures of methane and hydrogen as source gases. We find that QCC with an absorbance peak at 220 nm is composed of onion-like spherules, and QCCs with an absorbance peak at 230-240 nm are composed of polyhedral particles. The onion-like QCC contains aromatic hydrogen bonds, and it shows the 3.3 and 11.4 micrometers absorption bands. The QCC with an absorbance peak at 230-240 nm is composed of ribbons with bent graphitic layers. This suggests that the carrier of the interstellar 220 nm extinction band might also be an emitter of the interstellar diffuse emission bands.     

Astrometric positioning and orbit determination of geostationary satellites

In the project titled “Astrometric Positioning of Geostationary Satellite” (PASAGE), carried out by the Real Instituto y Observatorio de la Armada (ROA), optical observation techniques were developed to allow satellites to be located in the geostationary ring with angular accuracies of up to a few tenths of an arcsec. These techniques do not necessarily require the use of large telescopes or especially dark areas, and furthermore, because optical observation is a passive method, they could be directly applicable to the detection and monitoring of passive objects such as space debris in the geostationary ring.     

Structure and NIR feature of QCC: a laboratory analog of carbon dust.

We have produced thin films of quenched carbonaceous composite (QCC) by hydrocarbon plasma deposition. The effect of thermal annealing on QCC has been investigated to understand how QCC, as a laboratory analog of carbon dust, is transformed in the warm environment around evolved stars. Spectroscopic measurements have indicated that, by heating, the proportion of aromatic sp2 CH bonds increases relative to sp3 CH bonds. Carbon onion-like spherules of approximately 10 nm in diameter are found with electron microscopic images after "graphitization" of thermal annealing.     

The Magnetospheric Multiscale Magnetometers

The success of the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission depends on the accurate measurement of the magnetic field on all four spacecraft. To ensure this success, two independently designed and built fluxgate magnetometers were developed, avoiding single-point failures. The magnetometers were dubbed the digital fluxgate (DFG), which uses an ASIC implementation and was supplied by the Space Research Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the analogue magnetometer (AFG) with a more traditional circuit board design supplied by the University of California, Los Angeles. A stringent magnetic cleanliness program was executed under the supervision of the Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory. To achieve mission objectives, the calibration determined on the ground will be refined in space to ensure all eight magnetometers are precisely inter-calibrated. Near real-time data plays a key role in the transmission of high-resolution observations stored on board so rapid processing of the low-resolution data is required. This article describes these instruments, the magnetic cleanliness program, and the instrument pre-launch calibrations, the planned in-flight calibration program, and the information flow that provides the data on the rapid time scale needed for mission success.     

Some qualitative manifestations of the physical libration of the Moon by observing stars from the lunar surface

Targets and problems of the future Japanese project ILOM (In situ Lunar Orientation Measurement), which is planned to be realized as one kind of observations of lunar rotation at the second stage of SELENE-2 mission, are briefly described in the article. Inverse problem of lunar physical libration is formulated and solved. Accuracy of libration angles depending on accuracy of measuring selenographic coordinates is estimated. It is shown that selenographic coordinates of polar stars are insensitive to longitudinal librations τ(t). Comparing coordinates calculated for two models of a rigid and deformable Moon is carried out and components sensitive to Love number k₂ and to anelastic time delay are revealed.     

Trace — The transition region and coronal explorer

TRACE is a single-instrument solar mission that will be put into a Sunsynchronous polar orbit and will obtain continuous solar observations for about 8 months per year. It will collect images of solar plasmas at temperatures from 10⁴ to 10⁷ K, with 1-arcsec spatial resolution and excellent temporal resolution and continuity. With such data, we expect to gain a new understanding of many solar and stellar problems ranging from coronal heating to impulsive magnetohydrodynamic phenomena.     

The evolution of the anomalous component of the cosmic rays during the Ulysses mission

We have studied the evolution of the anomalous cosmic ray component at ULYSSES using observations of the quiet time helium fluxes obtained with the COSPIN Low Energy Telescope during the years from launch in October 1990 to the latest data in 1994. Shown are preliminary results of measurements in the energy range from 4.0 to 19 MeV/n. Following the drop in solar activity in late 1991, the low energy cosmic ray helium flux started to increase and continue to rise until the end of 1993, signifying the appearance of the anomalous component at ULYSSES.     

Low-angle tracking using a multifrequency sampled aperture radar

The improvements that can be achieved in low-angle radar by using a sampled aperture radar (SAMPAR) and a maximum likelihood (ML) algorithm are discussed. The SAMPAR system described is unique in that it has a wide-ranging multifrequency capability. The ML technique is also unique because its estimation is based on the use of a highly refined signal model. It is shown, by using both simulated data and real data, that this combination, i.e., a SAMPAR system and the modified ML algorithm, provides a multiple signal resolution that exceeds any reported in the open literature. The measured data used in this study were recorded using a 32-element sampled aperture antenna on an over-water path