Application of Endfire Arrays at Contemporary Glide-Slope Problem Sites

The application of the endfire-type, compatible instrument landing system (ILS) glide slope is discussed in the context of providing increased capability to install facilities without requirements for extensive terrain modification. Costs of preparing a site for glide-slope operation can be reduced many times by eliminating the requirement for the usual image-forming ground plane. An example is given where the first endfire glide slope has been installed at an airdrome on a mesa giving a high quality path in space in spite of the limited real estate. Recent flight data from this glide slope are presented.     

Exploration of the solar corona by high resolution solar decametric observations

In this review, current state of knowledge of high resolution observations at decameter wavelengths of the quiet Sun, the slowly varying component (SVC), type I to V bursts and noise storms is summarized. These observations have been interpreted to yield important physical parameters of the solar corona and the dynamical processes around 2R from the photosphere where transition from closed to open field lines takes places and the solar wind builds up. The decametric noise bursts have been classified into (i) BF type bursts which show variation of intensity with frequency and time and (ii) decametric type III bursts. The angular sizes of noise storm sources taking into account refraction and scattering effects are discussed. An attempt has been made to give phenomenology of all the known varieties of decametric bursts in this review. Available polarization information of decametric continuum and bursts has been summarized. Recent simultaneous satellite and ground-based observations of decametric solar bursts show that their intensities are deeply modulated by scintillations in the Earth's ionosphere. Salient features of various models and theories of the metric and decametric noise storms proposed so far are examined and a more satisfactory model is suggested which explains the BF type bursts as well as conventional noise storm bursts at decametric wavelengths invoking induced scattering process for 1 t conversion. Some suggestions for further solar decametric studies from the ground-based and satellite-borne experiments have been made.     

Shock sensitivity of nitromethane with well defined hot spots distribution

The behavior of nitromethane under the action of a plane shock wave presenting local overpressures is experimentally analysed. The role of hot spots and the successive activation of new reaction sites are clearly evidenced. The optical observations made during the build-up to detonation and the measured shock sensitivities support a model of initiation for heterogeneous explosives.     

Absolute IR-spectra from the measurement of Fourier-spectrometers aboard Meteor 25 and 28

It is well known that temperature- and watervapour-profiles, ozone concentration, other atmospheric constituents and the surface-radiation of the Earth can be determined by remote sensing in the IR radiation range with the aid of a satellite.

The narrow-band radiation measurements for remote sensing of the atmosphere and the Earth-surface can be realized either by various radiometers working in selected frequency channels or, continuously in a given frequency range, by spectrometers with fixed spectral resolution.

Fourier-spectrometers (FS) have been used in Earth-orbit only four times up to now: Nimbus 3, Nimbus 4, Meteor 25 and Meteor 28.

The most important technical parameters, the working regime and some aspects of date processing of the FSs working aboard of Meteor 25 and Meteor 28 are given. For the determination of calibrated absolute spectra a method is used that is based on the experience of the first experiment and on the long time stability of the spectrometers. The results obtained in laboratory calibration tests and in the orbit are described.     

The Effects of Defruiting on the ATCRBS

The defruiter that is employed in the Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS) to prefilter asynchronous replies has a complex impact on the detection, estimation and validation properties of the detection subsystem. Its positive and negative effects are quantitatively enumerated via a simulation of the beacon processing subsystem of the Automated Radar Terminal System (ARTS III). It is concluded that the disadvantages of using the present-day defruiter in the ARTS III digital processing channel outweigh the advantages when fruit rates are below several thousand per scan. As an alternative to the total elimination of the defruiter a more general class of preprocessors is defined and their input-output relationships are derived using a Markov Chain formulation. These are found to represent an improvement over the current defruiter in that the positive effects of defruiting are retained while some of the negative effects are reduced.     

Maximum Theoretical Angular Accuracy of Planar and Linear Arrays of Sensors

A study has been made of the maximum theoretical accuracy in the angular location of a radiating object that is achievable by using a planar or linear array. The elements are assumed to have identical radiation patterns and the complex voltages observed at their ports are assumed to be subject to phase measurement errors, having normal probability density. An optimum scheme for the statistical extraction of the parameters defining the direction is established. It consists of combining the observed phases linearly with weights depending upon the element locations. It is shown that the presence of thermal noise, for sufficiently high signal-to-noise ratio, does not change the structure of the estimator. Comparison with conventional multiple interferometric techniques indicates the superiority of the proposed scheme. Finally, a limited numerical study on a small linear array vertically located on a reflecting terrain is performed. Although in such a situation the scheme proposed is not the theoretical optimum, it leads to errors that, for most directions of the target, are smaller than those found for the same array when using conventional multiple interferometer techniques.     

Device for mass measurement under zero-gravity conditions.

The problem considered in this paper is the investigation of the properties of a mass-meter, i.e. the device for determining the mass of cosmonaut's body under zero-gravity conditions. The estimates of accuracy of mass measurement by this device are given, and the results of measuring the masses of cosmonauts' bodies on the Salyut 5 and 6 orbital stations are presented.     

Charge exchange lifetimes for ring current ions

In applying the charge exchange mechanism to ion phenomena within the Earth's magnetosphere it is critical to the proper interpretation of observations that the charge exchange lifetimes for the ions be known as accurately as possible. Various new results have been published which significantly modify the charge exchange lifetimes which have been used in space physics research during the past decade and a half. Some of the newer results have been used in the application of the charge exchange decay mechanism but the use has been limited and for the most part incomplete. The neutral hydrogen density distribution now yields lifetimes which are shorter than previously calculated, while the functional dependence of the lifetimes on pitch angle provides for slower decay for ions mirroring off the geomagnetic equator. This review coalesces and summarizes the latest and best measurements of the physical quantities involved in the complete calculation of the charge exchange lifetime of the mirroring magnetospheric ions.     

Steady State Results for the X, Y, Z Kalman Tracking Filter

An X, Y, Z Kalman tracking filter is described and its steady state characteristics are analytically determined when the radar sensor meaures range, bearing, and elevation (?, ?, ?) at uniform intervals of time, T seconds. The relationship between the quantities measured by the sensor (?, ?,?) and the Cartesian coordinate system (X, Y, Z) is explicitly considered.