The Role and Contributions of Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) Imaging in Magnetospheric Substorm Research

Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) imaging has contributed substantially to substorm research. This technique has allowed significant advances in areas such as observation and quantification of injected particle drift as a function of energy, observation of dynamics in the tail that are directly related to the effects of imposed (growth phase) and induced (expansion phase) electric fields on the plasma, the prompt extraction of oxygen from the ionosphere during substorms, the relationship between storms and substorms, and the timing of substorm ENA signatures. We present discussion of the advantages and shortcomings of the ENA technique for studying space plasmas. Although the technique is in its infancy, it is yielding results that enrich our understanding of the substorm process and its effects.     

Progress in battery technology since the first CSULB annual batteryconference and prospects for the future

Significant advances in and applications of battery technology are outlined. Factors driving future developments are identified     

The heliolongitudinal distribution of solar flares associated with solar proton events.

We find that the heliolongitudinal distribution of solar flares associated with earth-observed solar proton events is a function of the particle measurement energy. For solar proton events containing fluxes with energies exceeding 1 GeV, we find a Gaussian distribution about the probable root of the Archimedean spiral favorable propagation path leading from the earth to the sun. This distribution is modified as the detection threshold is lowered. For > 100 MeV solar proton events with fluxes > or = 10 protons (cm2-sec-ster)-1 we find the distribution becomes wider with a secondary peak near the solar central meridian. When the threshold is lowered to 10 MeV the distribution further evolves. For > 10 MeV solar proton events having a flux threshold at 10 protons (cm2-sec-ster)-1 the distribution can be considered to be a composite of two Gaussians. One distribution is centered about the probable root of the Archimedean spiral favorable propagation path leading from the earth to the sun, and the other is centered about the solar central meridian. For large flux solar proton events, those with flux threshold of 1000 (cm2-sec-ster)-1 at energies > 10 MeV, we find the distribution is rather flat for about 40 degrees either side of central meridian.     

AFIT neural network research

A brief summary of research done at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in the area of neural networks is provided. It has been shown that backpropagation, used for feedforward artificial neural networks, is just a degenerate version of an extended Kalman filter, and that networks can do about as well as the optimum statistical classification technique. A method of finding the importance of features for use by a neural network classifier has been determined. Techniques for using neural networks for image segmentation have been developed. In optical pattern recognition, techniques that allow the processing of real FLIR (forward-looking infrared) images with existing binary spatial light modulators have been devised. An optical direction of arrival detector applicable to laser illumination direction determination has been designed and tested; the design is similar to a fly's eye. Coated mirrors for the optical confocal Fabry-Perot interferometer have been designed, specified, fabricated, and installed. Significant progress has been made in the use of neural networks for processing multiple-feature sets for speech recognition     

A wavelet multiresolution analysis for spatio-temporal signals

The wavelet filters of the conventional 3D multiresolution analysis possess homogeneous spatial and temporal frequency characteristics which limits one's ability to match filter frequency characteristics to signal frequency behavior. Also, the conventional 3D multiresolution analysis employs an oct-tree decomposition structure which restricts the analysis of signal details to identical resolutions in space and time. This paper presents a 3D wavelet multiresolution analysis constructed from nonhomogeneous spatial and temporal filters, and an orthogonal sub-band coding scheme that decouples the spatial and temporal decomposition processes     

Spiral evolution applied to legacy avionics systems

The US Department of Defense (DoD), through the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), has determined that evolutionary acquisition is their strategy of choice for future software-intensive systems, and that the spiral development model (SDM) is the preferred method/process for software-intensive development life cycles. Electronic Systems Command (ESC) at Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts, has written a draft handbook on the use of Spiral Development for all future Command and Control (C2) systems, including reference to the DoD 5000 series and Air Force Program Directive 63-1, Acquisition System, which deploys this OSD mandate for future C2 systems. Barry Boehm's continued work on SDM which he conceived in the 1980s, is heavily biased toward development of new systems that are software-intensive, as noted in a workshop he gave at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) in 2000.     

Automotive-grade MEMS sensors used for general aviation

The attitude heading reference system (AHRS) provides data for primary flight instruments, head-up displays, autopilots, and moving map navigation systems. Advances in solid-state MEMS rate sensors, coupled with Kalman filter algorithms designed to mitigate high drift rates, provide the basis for low-cost, high-performance AHRS for general aviation. This paper describes the performance of a low cost, miniaturized AHRS using automotive-grade MEMS sensors. The performance of the system is detailed. The implications for certification of this class of system and fault tolerance are discussed.     

SETI education programs in Australia

This paper discusses and evaluates two innovative SETI education programs conducted at the University of Western Sydney, viz: the SETI Pathways Program and the Life in the Universe Curriculum Project.     

An experiment with an S-band radar using pulse compression andrange sidelobe suppression for meteorological measurements

A major technology barrier to the application of pulse compression for the meteorological functions required by a next generation ATC radar is range/time sidelobes which mask and corrupt observations of weak phenomena occurring near areas of strong extended meteorological scatterers. Techniques for suppressing range sidelobes are well known but without prior knowledge of the scattering medium's velocity distribution their performance degrades rapidly in the presence of Doppler. Recent investigations have presented a “doppler tolerant” range sidelobe suppression technique. The thrust of the work described herein is the extension of previous simulations to actual transmitted dispersed/coded waveforms using the S-band surveillance radar located at Rome Laboratory Surveillance Facility. The objectives of the experiment are: 1) to extend the verification of the simulation of the Doppler tolerant technique; and 2) to demonstrate that the radar transmitter, waveform generator, and receiver imperfections do not significantly degrade resolution, performance or reliability of meteorological spectral moment estimates