Performance comparison of PRF schedules for medium PRF radar

Previous work has shown how evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are an effective tool in optimising the selection of pulse repetition frequency (PRF) values of medium PRF schedules in an airborne fire control radar (FCR) application requiring target data in three PRFs. The optimisation is driven by the requirement to minimise range/Doppler blindness whilst maintaining full decodability. In this paper we detail work in which the optimisation process is applied to design novel short medium PRF schedules requiring target data in just two PRFs. The paper reports on the testing of a variety of near-optimum schedules to compare their blindness, decoding, and ghosting performances. The results show that in many situations, the 2 of N schedules are a practical alternative to conventional 3 of N processing.     

Feasibility,and Contribution to Ocean Circulation Studies,of Ocean Bottom Pressure Determination

An assessment is presented of the probable magnitude of ocean signals causing aliasing in ocean bottom pressure measurements from the GRACE satellite mission. Even after modelling as much of the high frequency signal as possible, variability between 1 mbar (in quiet ocean regions) and 10 mbar (on some shelves) is likely to remain. Interpretation of the resulting retrievals will therefore rely on the facts that the satellite sampling will average the aliasing signal to some extent, and that the spatial patterns of aliased signal and true signal will be different. To this end, a theoretical argument is given, and supported by model diagnostics, suggesting that observable bottom pressure signals will be strongly constrained by the shape of the ocean floor. The modelled magnitudes offer the prospect of significant detectable signals and, while the model accuracy can be called into question, there are hints from Earth rotation and satellite orbit measurements that significant mass redistributions occur in the ocean. It seems certain that we will learn something new about the oceans from GRACE. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Magnetospheric electric field variations caused by storm-time shock fronts

On January 20, 2005 there was an X 7.1 solar flare at 0636 UT with an accompanied halo coronal mass ejection (CME). The resultant interplanetary shock impacted earth ∼36 h later. Near earth, the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft observed two impulses with a staircase structure in density and pressure. The estimated earth-arrival times of these impulses were 1713 UT and 1845 UT on January 21, 2005. Three MINIature Spectrometer (MINIS) balloons were aloft on January 21st; one in the northern polar stratosphere and two in the southern polar stratosphere. MeV relativistic electron precipitation (REP) observed by all three balloons is coincident (<3 min) with the impulse arrivals and magnetospheric compression observed by both GOES 10 and 12. Balloon electric field data from the southern hemisphere show no signs of the impulse electric field directly reaching the ionosphere. Enhancement of the balloon-observed convection electric field by as much as 40 mV/m in less than 20 min during this time period is consistent with typical substorm growth. Precipitation-induced ionospheric conductivity enhancements are suggested to be (a) the result of both shock arrival and substorm activity and (b) the cause of rapid (<6 min) decreases in the observed electric field (by as much as 40 mV/m). There is poor agreement between peak cross polar cap potential in the northern hemisphere calculated from Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) echoes and horizontal electric field at the MINIS balloon locations in the southern hemisphere. Possible reasons for this poor agreement include (a) a true lack of north–south conjugacy between measurement sites, (b) an invalid comparison between global (SuperDARN radar) and local (MINIS balloon) measurements and/or (c) radar absorption resulting from precipitation-induced D-region ionosphere density enhancements.     

Finite Element Modelling of Failure of a Multi-Material Target due to High Velocity Space Debris Impacts

Lagrangian finite element methods have been used extensively in the past to study the non-linear transient behaviour of materials, ranging from crash tests of cars to simulating bird strikes on planes. However, as this type of space discretisation does not allow for motion of the material through the mesh when modelling extremely large deformations, the mesh becomes highly distorted. This paper describes some limitations and applicability of this type of analysis for high velocity impacts. A method for dealing with this problem by the erosion of elements is proposed, where the main driver is the definition of element failure strains. Results were compared with empirical perforation results and were found to be in good agreement. The results were then used to simulate high velocity impacts upon a multi-layered aluminium target in order to predict a ballistic limit curve. LS-DYNA3D was used as the FE solver for all simulations. Meshes were generated using Truegrid.     

A physical interpretation of the jet-like X-ray emission from supernova remnant W49B

In the framework of the study of supernova remnants and their complex interaction with the interstellar medium and the circumstellar material, we focus on the galactic supernova remnant W49B. Its morphology exhibits an X-ray bright elongated nebula, terminated on its eastern end by a sharp perpendicular structure aligned with the radio shell. The X-ray spectrum of W49B is characterized by strong K emission lines from Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe. There is a variation of the temperature in the remnant with the highest temperature found in the eastern side and the lowest one in the western side. The analysis of the recent observations of W49B indicates that the remnant may be the result of an asymmetric bipolar explosion where the ejecta are collimated along a jet-like structure and the eastern jet is hotter and more Fe-rich than the western one. Another possible scenario associates the X-ray emission with a spherical explosion where parts of the ejecta are interacting with a dense belt of ambient material. To overcome this ambiguity we present new results of the analysis of an XMM-Newton observation and we perform estimates of the mass and energy of the remnant. We conclude that the scenario of an anisotropic jet-like explosion explains quite naturally our observation results, but the association of W49B with a hypernova and a γ-ray burst, although still possible, is not directly supported by any evidence.     

Multiaspect classification of airborne targets via physics-basedHMMs and matching pursuits

Wideband electromagnetic fields scattered from N distinct target-sensor orientations are employed for classification of airborne targets. Each of the scattered waveforms is parsed via physics-based matching pursuits, yielding N feature vectors. The feature vectors are submitted to a hidden Markov model (HMM), each state of which is characterized by a set of target-sensor orientations over which the associated feature vectors are relatively stationary. The N feature vectors extracted from the multiaspect scattering data implicitly sample N states of the target (some states may be sampled more than once), with the state sequence modeled statistically as a Markov process, resulting in an HMM due to the “hidden” or unknown target orientation. In the work presented here, the state-dependent probability of observing a given feature vector is modeled via physics-motivated linear distributions, in lieu of the traditional Gaussian mixtures applied in classical HMMs. Further, we develop a scheme that yields autonomous definitions for the aspect-dependent HMM states. The paradigm is applied to synthetic scattering data for two simple targets     

Planck satellite 70 GHz EBB-version back end module

The first complete 70 GHz back end module (BEM) of the coming Planck satellite is described. It includes an H-plane waveguide band pass filter, an InP HEMT amplifier, a diode detector made on 0.1 mm alumina substrate, and video amplifiers. RF parts are designed, manufactured, and measured individually and then the complete BEM is tested. Stringent requirements are set through the mechanical layout of the entire functional unit. Most specifications have already been met with the exception of conversion loss in band ripple which must be further reduced.     

Theory of hydromagnetic waves in the magnetosphere

Space Science Reviews - Many of the significant theoretical advances in understanding the origin and behaviour of low frequency hydromagnetic waves originating in the magnetosphere in the last...