The effect of realistic surface properties on low temperature space observatories

We highlight the effect on space-telescope temperatures of thedirectionality of the radiative properties of materials, by showing results from a Monte-Carlo simulation of telescope cooling. The need for further measurements of directional properties is stressed.     

Planetary Accumulation with a Continuous Supply of Planetesimals

Previous calculations of the accumulation of small (∼10 km) planetesimals at ∼1 AU to form Mars-sized bodies assumed that the initial assemblage of planetesimals were all present at the outset. This is an obviously reasonable assumption in systems in which the time scale for growth time of ∼10²⁶ g planetary bodies is long compared to estimates of the evolutionary time scale of a protosolar disk, as was the case in the pioneering work of Safronov (1969). It is now found that as a result of the preplanetary assemblage being unstable with respect to the runaway growth of the largest bodies, this is unlikely to be the case. The more realistic alternative of adding the initial planetesimals on a ∼10⁵ year time scale is considered here, as well as the consequences of the initial planetesimals being considerably smaller than those assumed previously. It is found that although the time scale for runaway growth is now actually controlled by the availability of planetesimals, for planetesimal production time scales of ∼10⁵ yrs, the final consequences are very similar. These calculations do show, however, that as a consequence of continuous infall during the runaway growth process, the late initial planetesimals are likely to be catastrophically disrupted by mutual collisions. For this reason, a more detailed treatment of the growth of planetesimals into planetary embryos will require a better understanding of the difficult problem of formation of the initial planetesimals themselves. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Testing the Stability of the Fine Structure Constant in the Laboratory

In this review we discuss the progress of the past decade in testing for a possible temporal variation of the fine structure constant α. Advances in atomic sample preparation, laser spectroscopy and optical frequency measurements led to rapid reduction of measurement uncertainties. Eventually laboratory tests became the most sensitive tool to detect a possible variation of α at the present epoch. We explain the methods and technologies that helped to make this possible.     

Multiple hypothesis track maintenance with possibly unresolved measurements

In surveillance problems dense clutter/dense target situations call for refined data association and tracking techniques. In addition, closely spaced targets may exist which are not resolved. This phenomenon has to be considered explicitly in the tracking algorithm. We concentrate on two targets which temporarily move in close formation and derive a generalization of MHT methods on the basis of a simple resolution model.     

Theoretical analysis of the sequential lobing technique

A theoretical analysis of the sequential lobing technique for target angle tracking is presented. The signal power received by each antenna beam is assumed to pass through a logarithmic amplifier. A rigorous statistical approach is adopted in the analysis for both non-fluctuating and fluctuating targets. Closed form expressions are derived for the normalized mean error and rms error of the angle estimate for Swerling 0, I, II, and III targets. Results are compared with those obtained using a simplified approach for the non-fluctuating target     

Effects of Modulation Nonlinearity on the Range Response of FM Radars

The effect of modulation nonlinearity on the range response of FM radars with harmonic processing and ?triangle? modulation is derived. The nonlinearity may be desirable or undesirable; that is, the sidelobe level of the range response may be decreased or increased depending on the shape and amount of nonlinearity. The results of this paper may be used to predict the actual range laws of existing ?linear? FM radars; or, alternately, to specify the desired amount of modulation nonlinearity for new FM radars so that superior sidelobe suppression can be realized.     

On the Radar Echo from Aircraft

The nonstationarity of the low-frequency radar echo envelope observed from an aircraft is shown and a simple model of the echo is suggested. This model, devised specifically for simulation studies using computers, reproduces the characteristics of the observed envelope, demonstrating the correlation between the observed nonstationarity and aircraft motion relative to the receiver.     

Testing the Independence of Nonhomogeneous Rayleigh Clutter

Two attractive real-time implementation tests are presented that discriminate between correlated and uncorrelated clutter. A clutter model is assumed in which the envelope distribution within a cell is Rayleigh, but the mean clutter level fluctuates from cell to cell. Both the tests utilize observations made in pairs on two clutter envelopes corresponding to two consecutive azimuth sweeps. The results are applicable to real-time testing of the effectiveness of various decorrelation techniques employed by radar systems.