Symmetry and asymmetry of ionospheric weather at magnetic conjugate points for two midlatitude observatories

Variations of the ionospheric weather W-index for two midlatitude observatories, namely, Grahamstown and Hermanus, and their conjugate counterpart locations in Africa are studied for a period from October 2010 to December 2011. The observatories are located in the longitude sector, which has consistent magnetic equator and geographic equator so that geomagnetic latitudes of the line of force are very close to the corresponding geographic latitudes providing opportunity to ignore the impact of the difference of the gravitational field and the geomagnetic field at the conjugate points on the ionosphere structure and dynamics. The ionosondes of Grahamstown and Hermanus provide data of the critical frequency (foF2), and Global Ionospheric Maps (GIM) provide the total electron content (TECgps) along the magnetic field line up to the conjugate point in the opposite hemisphere. The global model of the ionosphere, International Reference Ionosphere, extended to the plasmasphere altitude of 20,200 km (IRI-Plas) is used to deliver the F2 layer peak parameters from TECgps at the magnetic conjugate area. The evidence is obtained that the electron gas heated by day and cooled by night at the summer hemisphere as compared with the opposite features in the conjugate winter hemisphere testifies on a reversal of plasma fluxes along the magnetic field line by the solar terminator. The ionospheric weather W-index is derived from NmF2 (related with foF2) and TECgps data. It is found that symmetry of W-index behavior in the magnetic conjugate hemispheres is dominant for the equinoxes when plasma movement along the magnetic line of force is imposed on symmetrical background electron density and electron content. Asymmetry of the ionospheric storm effects is observed for solstices when the plasma diffuse down more slowly into the colder winter hemisphere than into the warmer summer hemisphere inducing either plasma increase (positive phase) or decrease (negative phase of W-index) in the ionospheric and plasmaspheric plasma density.     

气相色谱法检测无水肼中水含量的不确定度评定

对气相色谱法检测无水肼中水含量过程的不确定度进行评定,系统分析检测过程中不确定度来源和各不确定度分量对分析结果的影响,通过对不确定度的分量进行分析和合成,可知标准溶液配制的过程、标准曲线的拟合和测量样品时的重复操作带来的不确定度分量是影响无水肼中水含量测定不确定度的主要来源.     

树脂膜熔渗工艺用FRP模具的设计与制备

通过模具材料的选择、分型和模具中加热装置的合理设计，制备出树脂膜熔渗工艺（RFI）实验用FRP模具。实验发现：自带加热系统可将模具和产品加热到110℃以上，模具可在85℃左右长期工作，并初步探索了RFI工艺参数，制备出了性能优异的板材。为制备大型RFI工艺用FRP模具提供了依据。     

Thermo-mechanical properties of RTM-made carbon fibre/polyimide composite attaching collar under transient heating

This study focuses on the thermo-mechanical properties of Carbon Fibre/Polyimide Composite (CFPC) attaching collars under transient heating. The CFPC attaching collars were fabricated by a high-temperature resin transfer moulding process, and their thermo-mechanical properties under the conditions of simultaneous transient heating and bending load were investigated. The results show that the attaching collar tends to fail at 118% of the limit load. The failure mode includes the fracture of the connecting screws, local extrusion damage of the hole edges, and slight ablation damage at the outer plies. And there is no observable residual deformation in the composite attaching collar. Furthermore, considering that the material properties vary with temperature, a progressive damage model based on the sequential thermo-mechanical coupling method was established to study the failure mechanism of the attaching collar. Finally, the damage factor of the CFPC was calculated to assess the safety status of the attaching collar. The results show that the primary damage modes of the composite attaching collar are intralaminar failure, which mainly occurs at the heat insulation layer and the hole edges, and these slightly affect the structural bearing capacity. A good correlation between the experiment and FEA is obtained. The test methods and analysis models proposed contribute to the safety assessment of composite structures under transient heating.     

热固性树脂浇注体试样的制备

介绍了６４８＃环氧树脂／ＢＦ３ＭＥＡ体系树脂浇注体的制备方法，讨论了固化剂的加入方法、模具尺寸和脱泡温度对试样制备质量的影响。发现固化剂融熔后加入树脂中经１００°Ｃ真空脱泡４５ｍｉｎ，再浇注固化，试样的制备质量最好。研究还发现，模具尺寸设计不合理，可能导致试样在冷却阶段发生在长度方向的收缩受阻，导致试样在模具中断裂，因此模腔尺寸设计应合理。     

水分对碳－环氧复合材料Ⅱ型分层韧性的影响

通过研究不同湿热条件下Ｔ３００／９１４Ｃ和Ｔ３００／Ｍ１０两种复合材料的玻璃化转变温度、层间剪切强度和分层断口形貌，分析了水分影响复合材料Ⅱ型分层韧性的机理。结果表明，水分对强界面和弱界面基体体系的作用机理不同，对两类复合材料的分层韧性也有不同的影响。对强界面纤维－基体体系，水分的增塑作用使得其分层韧性增强，而对弱界面体系这种韧性降低。而水分的溶胀作用对两类复合材料的分层韧性都不利。     

β Cephei stars from a photometric point of view

This is an observational review, with an emphasis on photometric data and their interpretation. Two lists are presented, one containing Cephei stars, and the other, Cephei suspects. These lists then serve as a basis for discussing such topics as the location of Cephei stars in the observational and theoretical H-R diagrams, the evolutionary state of these stars, the period-luminosity and period-luminosity-color relations, and observational identification of pulsation modes. The paper also includes references to recent work connected with the theoretical discovery that an opacity mechanism is responsible for the excitation of Cephei-star pulsations. Finally, observational programs for verifying the consequences of this discovery are suggested.Belgian Fund for Scientific Research (NFWO).     

GPS total electron content and surface latent heat flux variations before the 11 March 2011 M9.0 Sendai earthquake

The present paper describes the variations of the GPS total electron content (TEC) from the International GNSS service network and surface latent heat flux (SLHF) from the Scientific Computing Division of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) before the 11 March 2011 M9.0 Sendai earthquake, respectively. The analysis shows pronounced enhancements in the GPS TEC and SLHF a few days prior to the earthquake event. The maximum increase in the GPS TEC was about 30 TECu with an extended spatial distribution on a geomagnetically quiet day (Dst ? −20 nT, between two moderate geomagnetic storms), 8 March, 3 days prior to the earthquake. This giant positive disturbance was possibly associated with the impending disastrous earthquake and contributed from the enhanced solar radiation. Moreover, there were several anomalous regions of SLHF on the global map, but an area of enhanced SLHF very close to the epicenter. The purpose of this paper is to report the existence of the changes in surface and ionosphere, and show the potential application of multi-source data to identify seismic precursors.     

Plasmaspheric electron content derived from GPS TEC and FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC measurements: Solar minimum condition

The plasmaspheric electron content (PEC) was estimated by comparison of GPS TEC observations and FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC radio occultation measurements at the extended solar minimum of cycle 23/24. Results are retrieved for different seasons (equinoxes and solstices) of the year 2009. COSMIC-derived electron density profiles were integrated up to the height of 700 km in order to retrieve estimates of ionospheric electron content (IEC). Global maps of monthly median values of COSMIC IEC were constructed by use of spherical harmonics expansion. The comparison between two independent measurements was performed by analysis of the global distribution of electron content estimates, as well as by selection specific points corresponded to mid-latitudes of Northern America, Europe, Asia and the Southern Hemisphere. The analysis found that both kinds of observations show rather similar diurnal behavior during all seasons, certainly with GPS TEC estimates larger than corresponded COSMIC IEC values. It was shown that during daytime both GPS TEC and COSMIC IEC values were generally lower at winter than in summer solstice practically over all specific points. The estimates of PEC (h > 700 km) were obtained as a difference between GPS TEC and COSMIC IEC values. Results of comparative study revealed that for mid-latitudinal points PEC estimates varied weakly with the time of a day and reached the value of several TECU for the condition of solar minimum. Percentage contribution of PEC to GPS TEC indicated the clear dependence from the time with maximal values (more than 50–60%) during night-time and lesser values (25–45%) during day-time.     

Comparison of model and experimental ionospheric parameters at high latitudes

Modern use and study of the auroral region needs to attract a wider class of models for describing conditions of radio wave propagation in the ionosphere. In this paper the possibilities of the International Reference Ionosphere model, well-proven and widespread in the mid-latitudes, are investigated in the high latitude zone. Model and measured values of the critical frequency foF2 for two mid-latitude stations (Juliusruh and Goosebay) and four high-latitude ones (Loparskaya, Sodankyla, Sondrestrom, Thule) are compared. Deviations of medians, variations from day to day and solar activity trends seemed to be similar for both areas. This similarity is irrespective of the RZ12 index. Special attention is paid to the TEC parameter and its determination using 6 versions of models, a new version of the model IRI2010 (IRI-Plas) among them. It is shown that the IRI-Plas model significantly improves the definition of TEC in contrast to the versions of IRI2007 and the new model NeQuick. The use of the median of the experimental equivalent slab thickness, together with the current values of the TEC, increases by a factor of two the agreement between calculated and measured foF2 values as compared with the variations from day to day. This allows foF2 to be defined in near-real time.