The Swift X-Ray Telescope

he Swift Gamma-Ray Explorer is designed to make prompt multiwavelength observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and GRB afterglows. The X-ray telescope (XRT) enables Swift to determine GRB positions with a few arcseconds accuracy within 100 s of the burst onset. The XRT utilizes a mirror set built for JET-X and an XMM-Newton/EPIC MOS CCD detector to provide a sensitive broad-band (0.2–10 keV) X-ray imager with effective area of > 120 cm² at 1.5 keV, field of view of 23.6 × 23.6 arcminutes, and angular resolution of 18 arcseconds (HPD). The detection sensitivity is 2×10⁻¹⁴ erg cm⁻² s⁻¹ in 10⁴ s. The instrument is designed to provide automated source detection and position reporting within 5 s of target acquisition. It can also measure the redshifts of GRBs with Fe line emission or other spectral features. The XRT operates in an auto-exposure mode, adjusting the CCD readout mode automatically to optimize the science return for each frame as the source intensity fades. The XRT will measure spectra and lightcurves of the GRB afterglow beginning about a minute after the burst and will follow each burst for days or weeks. Dedicated to David J. Watson, in memory of his valuable contributions to this instrument.     

The entropy in groups – a clue to galaxy formation

The entropy in the hot X-ray gas in groups of galaxies is a fossil of the process of galaxy formation The amount of entropy in these low mass systems considerably exceeds that predicted from structure formation models. To explain these results requires “extra” energy which is a relic of the process of star formation and active galaxy heating. We present new XMM results on the entropy and entropy profiles. These results are inconsistent with pre-heating scenarios which have been developed to explain the entropy floor in groups but are broadly consistent with models of structure formation which include the effects of heating and/or the cooling of the gas. The total entropy in these systems provides a strong constraint on all models of galaxy and group formation, and on the poorly defined feedback process which controls the transformation of gas into stars and thus the formation of structure in the universe.     

Two successive partial mini-filament confined ejections

Active region (AR) NOAA 11476 produced a series of confined plasma ejections, mostly accompanied by flares of X-ray class M, from 08 to 10 May 2012. The structure and evolution of the confined ejections resemble that of EUV surges; however, their origin is associated to the destabilization and eruption of a mini-filament, which lay along the photospheric inversion line (PIL) of a large rotating bipole. Our analysis indicate that the bipole rotation and flux cancellation along the PIL have a main role in destabilizing the structure and triggering the ejections. The observed bipole emerged within the main following AR polarity. Previous studies have analyzed and discussed in detail two events of this series in which the mini-filament erupted as a whole, one at 12:23 UT on 09 May and the other at 04:18 UT on 10 May. In this article we present the observations of the confined eruption and M4.1 flare on 09 May 2012 at 21:01 UT (SOL2012-05-09T21:01:00) and the previous activity in which the mini-filament was involved. For the analysis we use data in multiple wavelengths (UV, EUV, X-rays, and magnetograms) from space instruments. In this particular case, the mini-filament is seen to erupt in two different sections. The northern section erupted accompanied by a C1.6 flare and the southern section did it in association with the M4.1 flare. The global structure and direction of both confined ejections and the location of a far flare kernel, to where the plasma is seen to flow, suggest that both ejections and flares follow a similar underlying mechanism.     

Development and testing of a statistical texture model for land cover classification of the Black Sea region with MODIS imagery

A statistical model is proposed for analysis of the texture of land cover types for global and regional land cover classification by using texture features extracted by multiresolution image analysis techniques. It consists of four novel indices representing second-order texture, which are calculated after wavelet decomposition of an image and after texture extraction by a new approach that makes use of a four-pixel texture unit. The model was applied to four satellite images of the Black Sea region, obtained by Terra/MODIS and Aqua/MODIS at different spatial resolution. In single texture classification experiments, we used 15 subimages (50 × 50 pixels) of the selected classes of land covers that are present in the satellite images studied. These subimages were subjected to one-level and two-level decompositions by using orthonormal spline and Gabor-like spline wavelets. The texture indices were calculated and used as feature vectors in the supervised classification system with neural networks. The testing of the model was based on the use of two kinds of widely accepted statistical texture quantities: five texture features determined by the co-occurrence matrix (angular second moment, contrast, correlation, inverse difference moment, entropy), and four statistical texture features determined after the wavelet transformation (mean, standard deviation, energy, entropy). The supervised neural network classification was performed and the discrimination ability of the proposed texture indices was found comparable with that for the sets of five GLCM texture features and four wavelet-based texture features. The results obtained from the neural network classifier showed that the proposed texture model yielded an accuracy of 92.86% on average after orthonormal wavelet decomposition and 100% after Gabor-like wavelet decomposition for texture classification of the examined land cover types on satellite images.     

硅基底上外延生长过渡金属硅化物薄膜的研究

过渡金属与硅的接触系统一直被人们所关注,是因为它们在界面处具有肖特基势垒的形成、过渡金属硅化物的外延生长、制作器件的稳定和耐高温等重要性.因此在硅基底上形成金属硅化物薄膜也被广泛应用于半导体工业.对硅衬底上蒸发的Cr、Fe、Mn薄膜进行热处理,通过固相反应法(SPR)制备过渡金属硅化物薄膜,即经过对过渡金属硅化物(薄膜)/Si系统进行各种温度、不同时间的热处理,制备出各种过渡金属硅化物薄膜.对于制成的各种硅化物薄膜,用X射线衍射法(XRD)和软X射线发射分光光谱法(SXES)对它们的组成成分进行了分析和确认.并且,由这两种分析方法表明:各种过渡金属硅化物薄膜在硅衬底上各形成了单一相的均匀层硅化物薄膜.     

双能透照模式下涡轮叶片DR图像融合方法

为了提高单帧涡轮叶片DR(Digital Radiography)图像的信息量,首先在2个不同射线能量下对涡轮叶片进行DR成像,以获取不同厚度区域的质量信息;然后将2幅DR图像进行多分辨率小波分解,以最大局部方差为准则对二者的低频子带图像进行融合,以局部梯度的活性因子为尺度对二者的高频子带图像进行融合;最后基于小波融合系数的逆变换获得最终的融合结果.实验结果表明:基于此方法的涡轮叶片融合DR图像携带了更为丰富的细节信息,从而有利于叶片质量信息的快速、准确判读.      

Alta U9000图像数据由16位到8位的转换

科学级CCD图像一般是16位的,为了便于在Windows中显示处理过程中的16位图像,需要将16位图像转换为8位图像。介绍了2种转换算法:直接转换法和区间转换法。研究表明:直接转换法实现简单,但容易丢失信息,当原始图像中的有效信息区间较小时,应使用区间转换法;根据原始图像直方图确定用有效信息区间的算法,该算法与CCD的噪声点个数有关,通过对科学级CCD Alta U9000噪声情况的测试,给出了确定U9000图像有效信息区间的方法。     

基于分布式信源编码的高光谱图像无损压缩研究进展

有效的高光谱图像压缩技术已经成为航天高光谱遥感领域研究的焦点之一。对基于分布式信源编码（Distributed Source Coding,DSC）的高光谱图像压缩技术研究进展进行了综述。首先介绍了DSC的理论基础、实现方式及其在高光谱图像无损压缩应用中的优势;然后总结了基于DSC的高光谱图像无损压缩研究进展,在此基础上给出了一种基于多波段预测的高光谱图像分布式无损压缩算法,实验结果表明,该算法具有较低的编码复杂度,其无损压缩性能优于现有的分布式无损压缩算法;最后指出了DSC在高光谱图像压缩中需要进一步研究的问题。