ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) Science Ground Segment (SGS)

The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) Science Ground Segment (SGS), comprised of payload Instrument Team, ESA and Russian operational centres, is responsible for planning the science operations of the TGO mission and for the generation and archiving of the scientific data products to levels meeting the scientific aims and criteria specified by the ESA Project Scientist as advised by the Science Working Team (SWT). The ExoMars SGS builds extensively upon tools and experience acquired through earlier ESA planetary missions like Mars and Venus Express, and Rosetta, but also is breaking ground in various respects toward the science operations of future missions like BepiColombo or JUICE. A productive interaction with the Russian partners in the mission facilitates broad and effective collaboration. This paper describes the global organisation and operation of the SGS, with reference to its principal systems, interfaces and operational processes.     

基于有限时间理论的临近空间拦截器末制导律PWPF调节器研究

针对拦截临近空间高速机动目标,基于有限时间理论,设计了有限时间收敛末制导律和脉冲宽度脉冲频率（PWPF）调节器。首先,介绍了加入PWPF调节器的末制导数学模型及工作原理;其次,设计了有限时间收敛制导律,应用有限时间理论证明了收敛条件和性质,并推广到推力受限条件下;最后,考虑视线（LOS）角速率快速收敛和发动机最小工作时间要求,设计了PWPF调节器参数。仿真结果表明,视线角速率在制导结束前的有限时间收敛至零,对目标机动具有鲁棒性,具有较高的制导精度,避免了发动机频繁开启,节省了燃料。     

转子叶栅非同步振荡发声特性研究

轴流压气机转子叶片排振荡疲劳失效是常见的气动弹性失稳问题。当转子叶栅处于非同步振荡状态下时,压气机管道内部将伴随着异常噪声的产生,这类噪声的频率既不是分布在叶片通过频率及其谐波上,也不是分布在转子轴频率及其谐波上,同时也不满足简单多普勒效应。为了解释这种异常噪声现象,以三维升力面理论为基础,讨论叶片对其附近流体施加非定常载荷的发声问题,给出了转子叶栅振荡异常发声问题的物理解释,建立了声场频率及模态特性与转子声源特性的直接关系式,并给出了频率特性不同于叶片通过频率且不符合简单多普勒效应的完整解释。在此基础上,通过机理性实验研究证实了该模型的正确性。实验结果表明,理论预测声场的频率和周向模态特性与实验结果完全一致。     

Effects of uncertainties and flexible dynamic contributions on the control of a spacecraft full-coupled model

One of the most important problems for performing a good design of the spacecraft attitude control law is connected to its robustness when some uncertainty parameters are present on the inertial and/or on the elastic characteristics of a satellite. These uncertainties are generally intrinsic on the modeling of complex structures and in the case of large flexible structures they can be also attributed to secondary effects associated to the elasticity. One of the most interesting issues in modeling large flexible space structures is associated to the evaluation of the inertia tensor which in general depends not only on the geometric ‘fixed’ characteristic of the satellite but also on its elastic displacements which of course in turn modify the ‘shape’ of the satellite. Usually these terms can be considered of a second order of magnitude if compared with the ones associated to the rigid part of a structure. However the increasing demand on the dimension of satellites due to the presence for instance of very large solar arrays (necessary to generate power) and/or large antennas has the necessity to investigate their effects on their global dynamic behavior in more details as a consequence. In the present paper a methodology based on classical Lagrangian approach coupled with a standard Finite Element tool has been used to derive the full dynamic equations of an orbiting flexible satellite under the actions of gravity, gravity gradient forces and attitude control. A particular attention has been paid to the study of the effects of flexibility on the inertial terms of the spacecraft which, as well known, influence its attitude dynamic behavior. Furthermore the effects of the attitude control authority and its robustness to the uncertainties on inertial and elastic parameters has been investigated and discussed.     

Homologous flare–CME events and their metric type II radio burst association

Active region NOAA 11158 produced many flares during its disk passage. At least two of these flares can be considered as homologous: the C6.6 flare at 06:51 UT and C9.4 flare at 12:41 UT on February 14, 2011. Both flares occurred at the same location (eastern edge of the active region) and have a similar decay of the GOES soft X-ray light curve. The associated coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were slow (334 and 337 km/s) and of similar apparent widths (43° and 44°), but they had different radio signatures. The second event was associated with a metric type II burst while the first one was not. The COR1 coronagraphs on board the STEREO spacecraft clearly show that the second CME propagated into the preceding CME that occurred 50 min before. These observations suggest that CME–CME interaction might be a key process in exciting the type II radio emission by slow CMEs.     

Assessment of precision in ionospheric electron density profiles retrieved by GPS radio occultations

The Constellation Observing System for Meteorology Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) is a six satellite radio occultation mission that was launched in April 2006. The close proximity of these satellites during some months after launch provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the precision of Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation (RO) retrievals of ionospheric electron density from nearly collocated and simultaneous observations. RO data from 30 consecutive days during July and August 2006 are divided into ten groups in terms of daytime or nighttime and latitude. In all cases, the best precision values (about 1%) are found at the F peak height and they slightly degrade upwards. For all daytime groups, it is seen that electron density profiles above about 120 km height exhibit a substantial improvement in precision. Nighttime groups are rather diverse: in particular, the precision becomes better than 10% above different levels between 120 and 200 km height. Our overall results show that up to 100–200 km (depending on each group), the uncertainty associated with the precision is in the order of the measured electron density values. Even worse, the retrieved values tend sometimes to be negative. Although we cannot rely directly on electron density values at these altitudes, the shape of the profiles could be indicative of some ionospheric features (e.g. waves and sporadic E layers). Above 200 km, the profiles of precision are qualitatively quite independent from daytime or latitude. From all the nearly collocated pairs studied, only 49 exhibited a difference between line of sight angles of both RO at the F peak height larger than 10°. After analyzing them we find no clear indications of a significant representativeness error in electron density profiles due to the spherical assumption above 120 km height. Differences in precision between setting and rising GPS RO may be attributed to the modification of the processing algorithms applied to rising cases during the initial period of the COSMIC mission.     

Investigation of ionospheric response to two moderate geomagnetic storms using GPS–TEC measurements in the South American and African sectors during the ascending phase of solar cycle 24

The responses of the ionospheric F region using GPS–TEC measurements during two moderate geomagnetic storms at equatorial, low-, and mid-latitude regions over the South American and African sectors in May 2010, during the ascending phase of solar cycle 24, are investigated. The first moderate geomagnetic storm studied reached a minimum Dst value of −64 nT at 1500 UT on 02 May 2010 and the second moderate geomagnetic storm reached a minimum Dst value of −85 nT at 1400 UT on 29 May 2010. In this paper, we present vertical total electron content (VTEC) and phase fluctuations (in TECU/min) from Global Positioning System (GPS) observations from the equatorial to mid-latitude regions in the South American and African sectors. Our results obtained during these two moderate geomagnetic storms from both sectors show significant positive ionospheric storms during daytime hours at the equatorial, low-, and mid-latitude regions during the main and recovery phases of the storms. The thermospheric wind circulation change towards the equator is a strong indicator that suggests an important mechanism is responsible for these positive phases at these regions. A pre-storm event that was observed in the African sector from low- to the mid-latitude regions on 01 May 2010 was absent in the South American sector. This study also showed that there was no generation or suppression of ionospheric irregularities by storm events. Therefore, knowledge about the suppression and generation of ionospheric irregularities during moderate geomagnetic storms is still unclear.     

The Big Pine Creek watershed and climate change: A trend analysis of Landsat surface reflectance and PRISM datasets over the last 3 decades

Recent variations in normal meteorological conditions indicate the earth’s climate is changing in ways that may impact delicate ecological balances in sensitive regions. Identifying how those changes are affecting the biosphere is essential if we are going to be able to adapt to those changes and to potentially mitigate their harmful consequences. This paper presents a time series study of an alpine ecosystem in the Big Pine Creek watershed in California’s Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountain’s. Raw Landsat data covering the years 1984 through 2011 is converted to observed surface reflectance and analyzed for trends that would indicate a change in the ecosystem. We found that over the time period of the study, observed surface reflectance shows a general decline across the spectrum while our analysis of environmental data demonstrates statistically significant increases in temperatures. While declining reflectance in the visible and short wave bands are indicators of increased surface cover, the fact that the IR band also shows declines is consistent with a decline in tree density. This study provides a useful insight into the ecological response of the Big Pine Creek watershed to recent climate change. These findings suggest that alpine ecosystems are particularly sensitive to increasing temperatures. If these results are replicated in other alpine watersheds it will demonstrate that the biosphere is already showing the effects of a warmer environment.     

Safety implications of unscheduled situations in the operation of tethered satellite systems from the international space station

Space based experiments involving the use of tethers were examined with a view to identifying the implications of unscheduled events such as tether severance and interference between the tether and other hardware. It is the authors opinion that these type of events, which have important consequences for the operation of tethers in space, have received insufficient consideration in the extensive literature on the subject. In particular, the investigation of the interference event appears to be completely new. The examination focussed on tether experiments planned for the forthcoming International Space Station (ISS). Results were obtained through the use of a highspeed, non-linear, computer simulation model specifically designed for use with tethered satellite systems. Simulations showed that both severance and interference were possible during retrieval of the tether, particularly if ‘skip-rope’ motion is initiated. The motion following each of these incidents is predicted and shows that these unscheduled events are potentially very hazardous for the ISS. While the results of these simulations are not directly applicable to specific operations on the ISS, they fulfill the primary purpose of this paper which is the demonstration of this new technology.     

Observational Aspects of Particle Acceleration in Large Solar Flares

Solar flares efficiently accelerate electrons to several tens of MeV and ions to 10 GeV. The acceleration is usually thought to be associated with magnetic reconnection occurring high in the corona, though a shock produced by the Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) associated with a flare can also accelerate particles. Diagnostic information comes from emission at the acceleration site, direct observations of Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs), and emission at radio wavelengths by escaping particles, but mostly from emission from the chromosphere produced when the energetic particles bombard the footpoints magnetically connected to the acceleration region. This paper provides a review of observations that bear upon the acceleration mechanism.