The Lunar Terrestrial Observatory: Observing the Earth using photometers on the Moon’s surface

The Earth’s albedo is one of the least studied fundamental climate parameters. The albedo is a bi-directional variable, and there is a high degree of anisotropy in the light reflected from a given terrestrial surface. However, simultaneously observing from all points on Earth at all reflecting angles is a practical impossibility. Therefore, all measurements from which albedo can be inferred require assumptions and/or modeling to derive a good estimate. Nowadays, albedo measurements are taken regularly either from low Earth orbit satellite platforms or from ground-based measurements of the earthshine from the dark side of the Moon. But the results from these different measurements are not in satisfactory agreement. Clearly, the availability of different albedo databases and their inter-comparisons can help to constrain the assumptions necessary to reduce the uncertainty of the albedo estimates. In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the development of robotic and manned exploration missions to the Moon. Returning to the Moon will enable diverse exploration and scientific opportunities. Here we discuss the possibility of a lunar-based Earth radiation budget monitoring experiment, the Lunar Terrestrial Observatory, and evaluate its scientific and practical advantages compared to the other, more standard, observing platforms. We conclude that a lunar-based terrestrial observatory can enable advances in Earth sciences, complementary to the present efforts, and to our understanding of the Earth’s climate.     

Dynamical evolution of high area-to-mass ratio debris released into GPS orbits

A large set of simulations, including all the relevant perturbations, was carried out to investigate the long-term dynamical evolution of fictitious high area-to-mass ratio (A/M) objects released, with a negligible velocity variation, in each of the six orbital planes used by Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. As with similar objects discovered in near synchronous trajectories, long lifetime orbits, with mean motions of about 2 revolutions per day, were found possible for debris characterized by extremely high area-to-mass ratios. Often the lifetime exceeds 100 years up to A/M ∼ 45 m²/kg, decreasing rapidly to a few months above such a threshold. However, the details of the evolution, which are conditioned by the complex interplay of solar radiation pressure and geopotential plus luni-solar resonances, depend on the initial conditions. Different behaviors are thus possible. In any case, objects like those discovered in synchronous orbits, with A/M as high as 20–40 m²/kg, could also survive in this orbital regime, with semi-major axes close to the semi-synchronous values, with maximum eccentricities between 0.3 and 0.7, and with significant orbit pole precessions (faster and wider for increasing values of A/M), leading to inclinations between 30° and more than 90°.     

Thermal cyclotron radiation from a hot coronal loop with helical magnetic field

The spectral and polarization properties of thermal cyclotron radio emission from a hot coronal loop with a current along the axis are computed. The magnetic field is supposed to have a component along the loop axis as well as a poloidal part due to the current, both components being of comparable magnitude. In this specific configuration a helical magnetic field is present with a remarkable minimum of its absolute value along the loop axis and a maximum at its periphery. The presence of one or two maxima of magnetic field value along the line of sight results in increasing optical thickness of the gyroresonance layers at appropriate frequencies in the microwave band and, therefore, in enhanced radio emission at those harmonics which are optically thin (for example,s=4). These cannot be observed in models with the commonly employed magnetic field configuration (longitudinal along the loop axis).We show that the frequency spectrum of thermal cyclotron radiation from a hot coronal loop with a helical magnetic field differs from that of the standards-component source (with smooth frequency characteristics and polarization corresponding toe-mode) in that plenty of fine structures (line-like features and cut-offs) are present and theo-mode is prevalent in some frequency intervals. The enhanced radio emission at high harmonics and the complicated form of frequency spectrum in the model considered imply that some microwave sources, which are poorly explained in traditional models of solar active regions, may be associated with helical magnetic fields in hot coronal loops. Computations allow one to indicate spectral and polarizational peculiarities of local sources testifying to the presence of a helical magnetic field.     

On a non-primordial origin of the cosmic background radiation and pregalactic density fluctuations

Dusty pregalactic Population III objects may provide a mechanism for an effective thermalization of the star radiation. They may generate the observed microwave background and so the high cosmic photon entropy. Assuming a tepid universe a smaller primordial entropy contribution results in reasonable mass scales and amplification factors of pregalactic density fluctuations.     

Hi content in cluster and supercluster galaxies

In this lecture I review part of the published and unpublished observational evidence showing that cluster spiral galaxies are hydrogen deficient. Always using observational data, it is argued that the deficiency is due to the interaction between the galaxies and the intergalactic medium. Furthermore it is shown that the stellar population of deficient galaxies has also been affected and a brief discussion is given of the mechanisms at work.     

First results from the LUCID-Timepix spacecraft payload onboard the TechDemoSat-1 satellite in Low Earth Orbit

The Langton Ultimate Cosmic ray Intensity Detector (LUCID) is a payload onboard the satellite TechDemoSat-1, used to study the radiation environment in Low Earth Orbit ($～$635?km). LUCID operated from 2014 to 2017, collecting over 2.1 million frames of radiation data from its five Timepix detectors on board. LUCID is one of the first uses of the Timepix detector technology in open space, with the data providing useful insight into the performance of this technology in new environments. It provides high-sensitivity imaging measurements of the mixed radiation field, with a wide dynamic range in terms of spectral response, particle type and direction. The data has been analysed using computing resources provided by GridPP, with a new machine learning algorithm that uses the Tensorflow framework. This algorithm provides a new approach to processing Medipix data, using a training set of human labelled tracks, providing greater particle classification accuracy than other algorithms. For managing the LUCID data, we have developed an online platform called Timepix Analysis Platform at School (TAPAS). This provides a swift and simple way for users to analyse data that they collect using Timepix detectors from both LUCID and other experiments. We also present some possible future uses of the LUCID data and Medipix detectors in space.     

The adjusted optical properties for Galileo/BeiDou-2/QZS-1 satellites and initial results on BeiDou-3e and QZS-2 satellites

Solar Radiation Pressure (SRP) is the dominant non-gravitational perturbation for GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) satellites. In the absence of precise surface models, the Empirical CODE Orbit Models (ECOM, ECOM2) are widely used in GNSS satellite orbit determination. Based on previous studies, the use of an a priori box-wing model enhances the ECOM model, especially if the spacecraft is a stretched body satellite. However, so far not all the GNSS system providers have published their metadata. To ensure a precise use of the a priori box-wing model, we estimate the optical parameters of all the Galileo, BeiDou-2, and QZS-1 (Quasi Zenith Satellite System) satellites based on the physical processes from SRP to acceleration. Validation using orbit prediction proves that the adjusted parameters of Galileo and QZS-1 satellites exhibit almost the same performance as the corresponding published and “best guess” values. Whereas, the estimated parameters of BeiDou-2 satellites demonstrate an improvement of more than 60% over the initial “guess” values. The resulting optical parameters of all the satellites are introduced into an a priori box-wing model, which is jointly used with ECOM and ECOM2 model in the orbit determination. Results show that the pure ECOM2 model exhibits better performance than the pure ECOM model for Galileo, BeiDou-2 GEO and QZS-1 orbits. Combined with the a priori box-wing model the ECOM model (ECOM+BW) results in the best Galileo, BeiDou-2 GEO and QZS-1 orbits. The standard deviation (STD) of satellite laser ranging residuals reduce by about 20% and 5% with respect to the pure ECOM2 model for Galileo and BeiDou-2 GEO orbits, while the reductions are about 40% and 60% for QZS-1 orbits in yaw-steering and orbit-normal mode respectively. BeiDou-2 IGSO and MEO satellite orbits do not benefit much from the a priori box-wing model. In summary, we suggest setting up a unified SRP model of ECOM+BW for Galileo, QZS-1, and BeiDou-2 orbits based on the adjusted metadata. In addition, we estimate the optical parameters of BeiDou-3e and QZS-2 satellites using a limited number of tracking stations. Results regarding the unified SRP model indicate the same advantages, the STD of satellite laser ranging residuals reduces by about 30% and 20% for QZS-2 and BeiDou-3e orbits respectively over orbit products without a priori model. The estimation procedure is effective and easy to apply to the new emerging satellites in the future.     

An empirical solar radiation pressure model for satellites moving in the orbit-normal mode

We present a family of empirical solar radiation pressure (SRP) models suited for satellites orbiting the Earth in the orbit normal (ON) mode. The proposed ECOM-TB model describes the SRP accelerations in the so-called terminator coordinate system. The choice of the coordinate system and the SRP parametrization is based on theoretical assumptions and on simulation results with a QZS-1-like box-wing model, where the SRP accelerations acting on the solar panels and on the box are assessed separately. The new SRP model takes into account that in ON-mode the incident angle of the solar radiation on the solar panels is not constant like in the yaw-steering (YS) attitude mode. It depends on the elevation angle of the Sun above the satellite’s orbital plane. The resulting SRP vector acts, therefore, not only in the Sun-satellite direction, but has also a component normal to it. Both components are changing as a function of the incident angle. ECOM-TB has been used for precise orbit determination (POD) for QZS-1 and BeiDou2 (BDS2) satellites in medium (MEO) and inclined geosynchronous Earth orbits (IGSO) based on IGS MGEX data from 2014 and 2015. The resulting orbits have been validated with SLR, long-arc orbit fits, orbit misclosures, and by the satellite clock corrections based on the orbits. The validation results confirm that—compared to ECOM2—ECOM-TB significantly (factor 3–4) improves the POD of QZS-1 in ON-mode for orbits with different arc lengths (one, three, and five days). Moderate orbit improvements are achieved for BDS2 MEO satellites—especially if ECOM-TB is supported by pseudo-stochastic pulses (the model is then called ECOM-TBP). For BDS2 IGSOs, ECOM-TB with its 9 SRP parameters appears to be over-parameterized. For use with BDS2 IGSO spacecraft we therefore developed a minimized model version called ECOM-TBMP, which is based on the same axis decomposition as ECOM-TB, but has only 2 SRP parameters and is supported by pseudo-stochastic parameters, as well. This model shows a similar performance as ECOM-TB with short arcs, but an improved performance with (3-day) long-arcs. The new SRP models have been activated in CODE’s IGS MGEX solution in Summer 2018. Like the other ECOM models the ECOM-TB derivatives might be used together with an a priori model.     

高能(450 kV)X射线参考辐射场附加过滤研究

利用MCNP程序对450kV X光机建立模型，计算各参考辐射质下的原级谱、平均光子能量。对ISO 4037-1中已有范围的管电压与附加过滤片厚度关系曲线进行二次拟合，确定模拟厚度范围。利用MCNP计算各附加过滤组合下的平均光子能量值，并与外推法得出的平均光子能量值进行对比，将相对偏差最小时的附加过滤作为最终确定值。从部分能量点的模拟与测量结果的对比可看出，模拟得出的平均光子能量在2%以内与PTB及中国计量院测量结果保持一致，附加过滤最大相对偏差为18%。     

三轴承矢量喷管红外辐射特性

针对涡扇发动机用三轴承矢量喷管（3BSN）,通过数值模拟的方法研究了在巡航和垂直起降（VTOL）状态即非矢量和90°矢量状态下三轴承矢量喷管的红外辐射空间分布特征,并分析了其影响机理。结果表明,在非矢量状态下由于特殊的几何型面使得喷管下壁面出现了局部高温区,喷流形状也变成椭圆锥形,造成垂直探测面上正探测角壁面红外辐射较负探测角最大增加44.6%,水平探测面上的燃气红外辐射大于垂直探测面;90°矢量状态下,由于偏转的喷管结构对前端高温部件的遮挡,总辐射峰值仅为非矢量状态的43.3%;喷管90°矢量偏转使得远离曲率中心一侧的气流速度降低温度升高,喷管外侧出现了大范围的局部高温区,导致垂直探测面负探测角范围的壁面辐射大于正探测角范围,最大相对差值达到71.9%。喷管偏转也遮挡了部分喷管内部的高温燃气,垂直探测面负探测角的仅能覆盖喷管出口处的高温燃气区域,明显小于正探测角,造成燃气辐射出现了20%的最大相对差值。