Application of a Highly Parallel Processor to Radar Data Processing

The application of a highly parallel computer known as PEPE (Parallel Element Processing Ensemble) to radar data processing is described. The PEPE computer consists of a large number of identical processing elements which operate in parallel and are controlled by a common control unit. Each of the processing elements is assigned to a particular radar target such that many targets can be tracked in parallel. PEPE is designed to augment a conventional computer rather than to stand alone. The total data processing load associated with a radar tracking system is distributed between PEPE and the sequential machine in a manner than maximizes the overall system efficiency and desensitizes the system performance to fluctuations in traffic levels. The use of PEPE provides very high data processing throughput potential to a radar data processing system.     

Cosmic Rays and Earth – A Summary

Cosmic rays provide a diagnostic tool to analyze processes in interplanetary space and at the Sun. Cosmic rays also directly affect the terrestrial environment and serve as indicators of solar variability and non anthropogenic climatic changes on Earth at present and in the distant past. After the invention of the neutron monitor by John A. Simpson in 1948, an international network of cosmic ray detectors developed in a cooperative effort to examine temporal and spatial variations in our space environment. The resulting datasets represent the longest continuous, high time resolution series of particle radiation measurement in space science. At present, the neutron monitor network is complemented by spacecraft instrumentation to study solar-terrestrial correlated phenomena. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

From Dust to Terrestrial Planets – Introduction

Terrestrial planets are accreted in a disk orbiting a central star. The basic challenge of their formation consists of assembling micron-sized or smaller dust grains to bodies with over 10⁴ km in diameter. This formation process, ultimately based on collisions, occurs in three very different physical regimes depending upon the size of the bodies present: 1) Early on, micron- to mm-sized dust grains, chondrules and chondrites are strongly coupled to the gas. 2) As they grow larger, gravity increases the collisional cross section allowing runaway growth to occur. 3) After this runaway phase stops from exhaustion of matter in the immediate surroundings of the protoplanets, further growth occurs on timescales typical of mutual gravitational perturbations. The emphasis of this book is on the timescales corresponding to these formation phases as well as the characteristic chemical and isotopic composition of the bodies involved. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

New results on spin determination of nanosatellite BLITS from High Repetition Rate SLR data

The nanosatellite BLITS (Ball Lens In The Space) demonstrates a successful design of the new spherical lens type satellite for Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR). The spin parameters of the satellite were calculated from more than 1000 days of SLR data collected from 6 High Repetition Rate (HRR) systems: Beijing, Changchun, Graz, Herstmonceux, Potsdam, Shanghai.     

ENGINE SENSOR FAULT DIAGNOSIS USING MAIN AND DECENTRALIZED NEURAL NET WORKS

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Coupling at the Atmosphere-Ionosphere-Magnetosphere Interface and Resonant Phenomena in the ULF Range

We discuss the electromagnetic processes in the ULF range which are important for the coupling between the atmosphere, ionosphere, and magnetosphere (AIM). The main attention is given to the Pc1–2 frequency ranges (f≈0.1–10 Hz) where some natural resonances in the AIM system are located. In particular, we consider the resonant structures in the spectra of the magnetic background noise related to the Alfvén resonances in the ionosphere as a possible diagnostic tool for studies of the ionospheric parameters. We also discuss the self-excitation of Alfvén waves in the ionosphere due to the AIM coupling and the role of such waves in the acceleration of electrons in the upper ionosphere and magnetosphere. Precipitation of magnetospheric ions due to their interaction with the ion-cyclotron waves is analyzed in relation to the ionospheric current systems, formation of partial ring current, and the influence of the ionosphere-magnetosphere feedback on the generation of such waves.     

Epilogue: Cosmic Rays in the Active Heliosphere

Space Science Reviews -     

Aircraft Stores Interface Manual (ASIM) adopts paperlessinformation technology

During recent years, defense budgets have been cut across all services while the cost of maintaining current standards has risen. The Aircraft Stores Interface Manual (ASIM) Program Office found that maintaining a staff for paper updates was no longer feasible and was tasked by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Air Armament Working Party (AAWP) to digitize the ASIM manuals. Converting this information from paper to electronic media presented several challenges which are discussed. Adopting Paperless Information Technology and replacing “Snail Mail” with the World Wide Web is presented     

Coastal salinity measurement using a Doppler Radiometer

Coastal salinity is characterised by large and variable salinity contrasts on relatively small scales. Measurements of salinity at a resolution compatible with these coastal regions on a regular basis would provide a rich source of information that could be used for a number of applications that have a fundamental bearing on the world’s lifestyle. Doppler radiometry offers an approach to capture such measurements, as it reduces the number of required antennas needed to form an image, compared with an Interferometer type instrument.     

An overview of RADOM results for earth and moon radiation environment on Chandrayaan-1 satellite

The RADiatiOn Monitor (RADOM) is a miniature dosimeter-spectrometer that flew onboard the Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission in order to monitor the local radiation environment. Primary objective of the RADOM experiment was to measure the total absorbed dose, flux of surrounding energetic particles and spectrum of the deposited energy from high energy particles both en-route and in lunar orbit. RADOM was the first experiment to be switched on after the launch of Chandrayaan-1 and was operational until the end of the mission. This paper summarizes the observations carried out by RADOM during the entire life time (22 October 2008–31 August 2009) of the Chandrayaan-1 mission and compares the measurement by RADOM with the radiation belt models such as AP-8, AE-8 and CRRESS.