From TOPEX/Poseidon to Jason-2/OSTM in the Amazon basin

A major interest of radar altimetry over rivers is to monitor water resources and associated risk in basins where there is little or no conventional in situ data. The objective of the present study is to calibrate altimetry data in a place where conventional data are available, and use the results to estimate the potential error committed in the estimation of water levels in an ungauged or poorly gauged basin. The virtual stations extracted with Jason-2 in this study concern a very broad sample of river channel width and complexity. Minimum channel width has been estimated at 400 m. Unlike TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P), Jason-2 seems to have the capability to distinguish the river bed from its floodplain. The quality of the results obtained with Jason-2 is incomparably better than that obtained with T/P. Despite the fact that no absolute calibration has been assessed for river in this study, the bias calculated converge around 0, 35 m, which could be then the error estimated on the water stage derived from Jason-2 ranges, when no other validation is available. ICE3 algorithm seems to be performing as well as ICE1, and further research is needed to design retracking algorithm specifically for continental water.     

A point-wise least squares spectral analysis (LSSA) of the Caspian Sea level fluctuations,using TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1 observations

The Caspian Sea has displayed considerable fluctuations in its water level during the past century. Knowledge of such fluctuation is vital for understanding the local hydrological cycles, climate of the region, and construction activities within the sea and along its shorelines. This study established a point-wise satellite altimetry approach to monitor the fluctuations of the Caspian Sea using a complete dataset of TOPEX/Poseidon for the period 1993 to the middle of 2002, and its follow-on Jason-1 for the period 2002 to August 2009. Therefore, 280 virtual time-series were constructed to monitor the fluctuations. The least squares spectral analysis (LSSA) method is, then employed to find the most significant frequencies of the time-series, while the statistical method of principle component analysis (PCA) is applied to extract the dominant variability of level variations. The study also used the observations of TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1 over the Volga River along with 5 years of Volga’s water discharge to study its influence on the Caspian Sea level changes. The LSSA results indicate that the lunar semidiurnal (M2) and the Sun semidiurnal (S2) frequencies are the main tidal frequencies of the Caspian Sea with the mean amplitude of 4.2 and 2.8 cm, respectively. A statistically significant long-term frequency (12.5-years period) is also found from altimetry and tide gauge observations. A phase lag, related to the inter-annual frequencies of the Volga River was detected from the point-wise time-series showing level propagation from the northwest to the southeast of the sea. The cross-correlation between the power spectrum of Volga and that of the northern-most, middle, and southern-most points within the Caspian Sea were respectively 0.63, 0.51 and 0.4 of zero-lag correlation, corroborating the influence of the Volga River. The result of PCA also shows that different parts of the Caspian Sea exhibit different amplitudes of level variations, indicating that the point-wise approach, when employing all available satellite measurements could be a suitable method for a preliminary monitoring of this inland water resource as it gives accurate local fluctuations.     

Preparation of the Biochip experiment on the EXPOSE-R2 mission outside the International Space Station

Biochips might be suited for planetary exploration. Indeed, they present great potential for the search for biomarkers – molecules that are the sign of past or present life in space – thanks to their size (miniaturized devices) and sensitivity. Their detection principle is based on the recognition of a target molecule by affinity receptors fixed on a solid surface. Consequently, one of the main concerns when developing such a system is the behavior of the biological receptors in a space environment. In this paper, we describe the preparation of an experiment planned to be part of the EXPOSE-R2 mission, which will be conducted on the EXPOSE-R facility, outside the International Space Station (ISS), in order to study the resistance of biochip models to space constraints (especially cosmic radiation and thermal cycling). This experiment overcomes the limits of ground tests which do not reproduce exactly the space parameters. Indeed, contrary to ground experiments where constraints are applied individually and in a limited time, the biochip models on the ISS will be exposed to cumulated constraints during several months. Finally, this ISS experiment is a necessary step towards planetary exploration as it will help assessing whether a biochip can be used for future exploration missions.     

Low latitude nighttime ionospheric vertical E × B drifts at African region

The nighttime vertical E × B drifts velocities of the F2-region were inferred from the hourly hmF2 values obtained from ionosonde data over an African equatorial station, Ilorin (8.50^oN, 4.68^oE; dip lat. 2.95^o) during period of low solar activity. For each season, the plasma drift Vz is characterized by an evening upward enhancement, then by a downward reversal at 1900 LT till around 0000 LT, except for June solstice. This was explained using the Rayleigh–Taylor (R-T) instability mechanism. The occasional drift differences in Vz obtained by inferred and direct measurement over Ilorin and Jicamarca, respectively are reflective of the importance of chemistry and divergent transport system due to both the E region electric and magnetic fields instead of simple motions. The pre-reversal enhancement (PRE) magnitude is higher during the equinoctial months than the solsticial months over Jicamarca, highest during December solstice and the equinoctial months over Ilorin, suggesting the dominance of higher E × B fountain during equinoxes at both stations. The lowest PRE magnitude was in June solstice. The appearance of post-noon peak in NmF2 around 1700 LT is highest during the equinoctial months and lowest during the solsticial period. A general sharp drop in NmF2 around 1800 LT is distinct immediately after sunset, lowest during June solstice and highest in March equinox. Our result suggests that between 0930 and 2100 LT, the general theory that vertical drifts obtained by digisonde measurements only match the E × B drift if the F layer is higher than 300 km is reliable, but does not hold for the nighttime period of 2200–0600 LT under condition of solar minima. Hence, the condition may not be sufficient for the representation of vertical plasma drift at nighttime during solar minima. This assertion may still be tentative, as more equatorial stations needed to be studied for better confirmation.     

Effects of sintering temperature and time on defect evolution and compression properties of Ti-Al3Ti laminated composites

For metal-intermetallic laminated composites, various types of defects often occur during the preparation process. This paper studied the evolution and formation mechanism of defects,such as pores, tunnel cracks, and delamination cracks in Ti-Al₃Ti laminated composites prepared by vacuum hot-pressing method. Moreover, quasi-static and dynamic compression tests were performed to study the effects of pores and delamination cracks on the compression properties of the composites. The resu...     

LEO/MEO双层空间信息网中基于身份的群组密钥管理方案

由于空间信息网中结点的移动性,在空间信息网中实现传统的群组密钥管理面临许多困难.根据空间信息网的特点,分析了空间信息网中群组密钥管理方案的需求,设计了一个适用于LEO/MEO双层空间信息网络的群组密钥管理方案,采用基于身份的思想,消除了对证书系统的依赖,能在空间信息网中灵活高效地实现.将空间信息网中的结点根据其逻辑位置划分为簇,其中簇头为MEO卫星,在密钥交换阶段中共享密钥仅由所有簇头结点决定,这种机制大大减少了通信量.方案能有效抵抗外部攻击者,并且具有前向保密性和后向保密性.仿真实验表明,方案具有很高的通信效率.     

基于鲁棒自适应反步法的航天器姿态跟踪控制

针对存在未知惯量矩阵和外干扰的刚体航天器姿态跟踪,提出了一种鲁棒自适应控制方法。综合自适应反步法和非线性L2增益干扰抑制方法,用自适应反步法构造系统的Lyapunov函数,获得了具L2增益的鲁棒自适应控制器,以保证姿态跟踪误差系统为一致最终有界稳定,确保估计的航天器惯量参数的有界性,并使从外干扰输入到评价输出的L2增益不大于给定值。仿真结果验证了方法的有效性和可行性。     

基于无源光网络的高速光纤总线技术研究

随着航天遥感类载荷性能的提高,其数据量大幅增加,对高速数据传输提出了更高要求.针对航天环境的高可靠性要求,提出了一种基于命令响应式协议的新型高速光纤总线结构,即把无源光网络技术与FC-AE-1553协议相结合,采用高生存性的逆向双环的冗余拓扑结构搭建了地面演示验证系统.实验表明,新的光纤总线系统通信速率可达2.5Gbps,容易隔离失效节点,所用设备简单,可靠性高,满足航天工程应用需求,具有较强的实用价值.     

载人航天空空通信子系统及其关键技术

介绍了实现神舟运输飞船与天宫目标飞行器间数据通信和传输的空空通信子系统的构成,以及空空通信机的功能及其主要性能指标。空空通信子系统采用抗干扰能力强、保密性优的直接序列扩频通信技术。分析了其中的核心中频解扩解调中的伪码同步和载波同步等关键技术,应用数字解调方案降低了子系统调试难度,提高了可靠性。