Power management and distribution system for a more-electricaircraft (MADMEL)

A five-phase Power Management and Distribution System for a More-Electric Aircraft (MADMEL) program was awarded by the Air Force to Northrop/Grumman Military Aircraft Division in September 1991. The objective of the program is to design, develop, and demonstrate an advanced electrical power generation and distribution system for a More-Electric Aircraft (MEA). The MEA emphasizes the use of electrical power in place of hydraulics, pneumatic, and mechanical power to optimize the performance and life cycle cost of the aircraft. This paper presents an overview of the MADMEL program and a top-level summary of the program results, development and test of major components to date. In Phase I and Phase II studies, the electrical load requirements were established and the electrical power system architecture was defined for both near-term (NT-year 1996) and far-term (FT-year 2003) MEA application. The detailed design and specification for the Electrical Power System (EPS), its interface with the Vehicle Management System, and the test set-up were developed under Phase III. Phase IV, fabrication and testing of the subsystem level hardware, has been completed. Overall system level integration and testing, Phase V, is scheduled to be completed by September 1999     

Donald Hamilton,The Evolving Universe,Astrophysics and Space Science Library,volume 321

Space Science Reviews -     

UVCS/SOHO Observations of Spectral Line Profiles in Polar Coronal Holes

Ultraviolet emission line profiles have been measured on 15-29 September 1997 for H I 1216 Å, O VI 1032, 1037 Å and Mg X 625 Å in a polar coronal hole, at heliographic heights ? (in solar radii) between 1.34 and 2.0. Observations of H I 1216 Å and the O VI doublet from January 1997 for ? = 1.5 to 3.0 are provided for comparison. Mg X 625 Å is observed to have a narrow component at ? = 1.34 which accounts for only a small fraction of the observed spectral radiance, and a broad component that exists at all observed heights. The widths of O VI broad components are only slightly larger than those for H I at ? = 1.34, but are significantly larger at ? = 1.5 and much larger for ? > 1.75. In contrast, the Mg X values are less than those of H I up to 1.75 and then increase rapidly up to at least ? = 2.0, but never reach the values of O VI.     

Soho Observations of Density Fluctuations in Coronal Holes

In recent UVCS/SOHO White Light Channel (WLC) observations we found quasi-periodic variations in the polarized brightness (pB) in the polar coronal holes at heliocentric distances of 1.9 to 2.45 solar radii. The motivation for the observation is the 2.5D MHD model of solar wind acceleration by nonlinear waves, that predicts compressive fluctuations in coronal holes. In February 1998 we performed new observations using the UVCS/WLC in the coronal hole and obtained additional data. The new data corroborate our earlier findings with higher statistical significance. The new longer observations show that the power spectrum peaks in the 10–12 minute range. These timescales agree with EIT observations of brightness fluctuations in polar plumes. We performed preliminary LASCO/C2 observations in an effort to further establish the coronal origin of the fluctuations. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A Parallel Adaptive 3D MHD Scheme for Modeling Coronal and Solar Wind Plasma Flows

A parallel adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) scheme is described for solving the governing equations of ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) in three space dimensions. This solution algorithm makes use of modern finite-volume numerical methodology to provide a combination of high solution accuracy and computational robustness. Efficient and scalable implementations of the method have been developed for massively parallel computer architectures and high performance achieved. Numerical results are discussed for a simplified model of the initiation and evolution of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in the inner heliosphere. The results demonstrate the potential of this numerical tool for enhancing our understanding of coronal and solar wind plasma processes. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Coronal Heating by Magnetic Explosions

From magnetic fields and coronal heating observed in flares, active regions, quiet regions, and coronal holes, we propose that exploding sheared core magnetic fields are the drivers of most of the dynamics and heating of the solar atmosphere, ranging from the largest and most powerful coronal mass ejections and flares, to the vigorous microflaring and coronal heating in active regions, to a multitude of fine-scale explosive events in the magnetic network, driving microflares, spicules, global coronal heating, and, consequently, the solar wind. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Large-scale Coronal Heating, Clustering of Coronal Bright Points, and Concentration of Magnetic Flux

By combining quiet-region Fe XII coronal images from SOHO/EIT with magnetograms from NSO/Kitt Peak and from SOHO/MDI, we show that the population of network coronal bright points and the magnetic flux content of the network are both markedly greater under the bright half of the large-scale quiet corona than under the dim half. These results (1) support the view that the heating of the entire corona in quiet regions and coronal holes is driven by fine-scale magnetic activity (microflares, explosive events, spicules) seated low in the magnetic network, and (2) suggest that this large-scale modulation of the magnetic flux and coronal heating is a signature of giant convection cells. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Studies of Comets in the Ultraviolet: The Past and the Future

The remote sensing of comets in the ultraviolet bandpass has been a valuable tool for studying the structure, composition, variability, and physical processes at work in cometary comae. By extension, these studies of comae have revealed key insights into the composition of cometary nuclei. Here we briefly review the ultraviolet studies of comets, and then take a look toward the future of such work as anticipated by the advent of several key new instruments. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.