Comparison of the CHAMP radio occultation data with the Canadian advanced digital ionosonde in the Polar Regions

In this paper we present the results of the comparison of the retrieved electron density profiles of the Ionospheric Radio Occultation (IRO) experiment on board CHAMP (CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload), with the ground ionosonde profiles for the Polar Regions. IRO retrieved electron density profiles from CHAMP are compared with Canadian Advanced Digital Ionosonde (CADI) measurements at two vertical sounding stations well within the Polar Cap, Eureka (geog. 80°13′ N; 86°11′ W) and Resolute Bay (geog. 74°41′ N; 94°54′ W). We compared the ionospheric parameters such as the peak electron density of the F-layer (NmF₂) and the peak height of the F-layer (h_mF₂) for a 3-year period, 2004–2006. CHAMP derived NmF₂ shows reasonable agreement with the ionosonde retrieved NmF₂ for both the stations (0.76 and 0.71 correlation coefficient, for Eureka and Resolute Bay, respectively) whereas the h_mF₂ agreement is not that acceptable (0.25 and 0.37 correlation coefficient, respectively). The h_mF₂ from vertical sounding showed less spread than the CHAMP h_mF₂.     

The GFZ real-time GNSS precise positioning service system and its adaption for COMPASS

Motivated by the IGS real-time Pilot Project, GFZ has been developing its own real-time precise positioning service for various applications. An operational system at GFZ is now broadcasting real-time orbits, clocks, global ionospheric model, uncalibrated phase delays and regional atmospheric corrections for standard PPP, PPP with ambiguity fixing, single-frequency PPP and regional augmented PPP. To avoid developing various algorithms for different applications, we proposed a uniform algorithm and implemented it into our real-time software. In the new processing scheme, we employed un-differenced raw observations with atmospheric delays as parameters, which are properly constrained by real-time derived global ionospheric model or regional atmospheric corrections and by the empirical characteristics of the atmospheric delay variation in time and space. The positioning performance in terms of convergence time and ambiguity fixing depends mainly on the quality of the received atmospheric information and the spatial and temporal constraints. The un-differenced raw observation model can not only integrate PPP and NRTK into a seamless positioning service, but also syncretize these two techniques into a unique model and algorithm. Furthermore, it is suitable for both dual-frequency and sing-frequency receivers. Based on the real-time data streams from IGS, EUREF and SAPOS reference networks, we can provide services of global precise point positioning (PPP) with 5–10 cm accuracy, PPP with ambiguity-fixing of 2–5 cm accuracy, PPP using single-frequency receiver with accuracy of better than 50 cm and PPP with regional augmentation for instantaneous ambiguity resolution of 1–3 cm accuracy. We adapted the system for current COMPASS to provide PPP service. COMPASS observations from a regional network of nine stations are used for precise orbit determination and clock estimation in simulated real-time mode, the orbit and clock products are applied for real-time precise point positioning. The simulated real-time PPP service confirms that real-time positioning services of accuracy at dm-level and even cm-level is achievable with COMPASS only.     

基于荧光油膜的全局表面摩阻测量技术研究

针对表面摩阻传统测量方法的单点性和间接性,探索了荧光油膜进行全局表面摩阻分布的直接测量方法.建立了表征荧光油膜厚度与表面摩阻之间关系的油膜控制方程,引入附加约束和积分最小化方法,采用变分迭代方法求解表面摩阻分布.研制了可用紫外光激发的荧光油膜,采用紫外光源和高分辨率CCD相机,建立荧光油膜表面摩阻测量硬件系统.针对特定的三角翼模型进行了表面摩阻分布测量实验,获得了高分辨率的表面摩阻分布和相对幅值分布,并与文献理论进行比较分析.实验结果与理论分析完全一致,表明了基于荧光油膜的全局表面摩阻测量技术的有效性.     

Variability of the behavior of the bottomside (B0, B1) parameters obtained from the ground-based ionograms at China’s low latitude station

In this paper, data of (B0, B1) parameters deduced from the electron density profiles that are inverted from the ionograms recorded at Hainan (19.4°N, 109.0°E), China during a three year period from March 2002 to February 2005 are used to study the diurnal and seasonal variation of (B0, B1) parameters at low latitude. The observational results are compared with the IRI2001 model predictions. Variability study of (B0, B1) in terms of percentage ratio of the inter-quartiles to the median values and correlative analysis between (B0, B1) parameters and other ionospheric characteristics such as hmF2 and M(3000)F2 are also made. Our present study showed that: (1) for daytime hours, the IRI2001 model results with new table option (B0_Tab) is in a better agreement with the observational results (B0_Obs) than the IRI2001 model results with Gulyaeva option (B0_Gul) for summer season, whereas B0_Gul is in a better agreement with B0_Obs than B0_Tab for winter season. For nighttime, in general, B0_Gul is in a better agreement with B0_Obs than B0_Tab. For other occasions, both B0_Tab and B0_Gul showed some systematic deviations from the observational ones. Moreover, the deviations of B0_Tab and B0_Gul from B0_Obs showed opposite trends; (2) the monthly upper (lower) quartiles of (B0, B1) parameter showed a good linear relationship with the monthly median values, this makes it possible to do the regression analysis between the monthly upper (lower) quartiles and the monthly median values, which can give a measure of the variability of these parameters. In terms of the percentage ratio of the inter-quartiles to the median values, the variability of B0 showed a diurnal variation ranging between 22% and 36% with maximum value occurring at pre-sunrise hours, whereas the variability of B1 showed a diurnal variation ranging between 15% and 30% with higher value by daytime than at night; (3) B0 shows high linear correlative relationships with hmF2 and M(3000)F2 for most of the local time period of a day except for a few hours around midnight, whereas B1 showed high linear correlations with B0, hmF2 for daytime hours, but not for nighttime hours. This suggests that it maybe is possible to obtain the synthetic database of (B0, B1) parameter or to construct the model of (B0, B1) using database of hmF2 or M(3000)F2 which is much easier to obtain from experimental measurements.     

Total electron content measurements in ionospheric physics

With the advent of modern global networks of dual-frequency Global Positioning System (GPS), total electron content (TEC) measurements along slant paths connecting GPS receivers and satellites at 22,000 km have become the largest data set available to ionospheric scientists. The TEC can be calculated from the time and phase delay in the GPS signal using the GPS Toolkit, but an unknown bias will remain. In addition, UHF/VHF radio beacons on board low-Earth-orbiting satellites can also be used to measure the electron content. However, the TEC measurements are obtained by integrating TEC differences between slant paths, but also contain biases. It is often necessary to use data assimilative algorithms like the Ionospheric Data Assimilation Three-Dimensional (IDA3D), and to treat both GPS- and LEO-beacon TEC measurements as relative data in order to conduct ionospheric studies.     

Numerical simulation of equatorial plasma bubbles over Cachimbo: COPEX campaign

The problem of day-to-day variability in onset of equatorial spread F (ESF) is addressed using data from the 2002 COPEX observational campaign in Brazil and numerical modeling. The observational results show that for values of virtual height of the F layer base less than 355 km at around 18:35 LT, and for the prereversal peak enhancement of the vertical plasma drift (Vp) less than 30 m/s, the spread-F (ESF) was absent on four nights over Cachimbo (9.5°S, 54.8°W, dip latitude = −2.1°). In this work we analyze the geophysical conditions for the generation of the irregularities by comparing the nights with and without the ESF. In the comparison a numerical code is used to simulate plasma irregularity development in an extended altitude range from the bottom of the equatorial F   layer. The code uses the flux corrected transport method with Boris–Book’s flux limiter for the spatial integration and a predictor–corrector method for the direct time integration of the continuity equation for O⁺${\mathrm{O}}^{+}$ and the SOR (Successive-Over-Relaxation) method for electric potential equation. The code is tested with different evening eastward electric fields (or vertical drifts Vp < 30 m/s and Vp > 30 m/s) in order to study the influence of the prereversal enhancement in the zonal electric field on plasma bubble formation and development. The code also takes into account the zonal wind, the vertical electric field and the collision frequency of ions with neutrals and the amplitude of initial perturbation. The simulation shows a good agreement with the observational results of the ESF. The results of the code suggest that the instability can grow at the F layer bottomside by the Rayleigh–Taylor mechanism only when the Vp > 30 m/s. In the analyzed cases we have considered the competition of other geophysical parameters in the generation of plasma structures.     

Surface latent heat flux anomalies quasi-synchronous with ionospheric disturbances before the 2007 Pu’er earthquake in China

One of various mechanisms of pre-earthquake lithosphere–atmosphere–ionosphere coupling as possible explanation of the seismo-ionospheric effects is connected with the release of latent heat. Abnormal variations of ionospheric electromagnetic parameters possibly related to the 2007 Ms 6.4 Pu’er earthquake in China were reported. This paper attempts to examine whether there were abnormal changes of surface latent heat flux (SLHF) linked with this pre-earthquake ionospheric disturbances. The spatio-temporal statistical analyzes of multi-years SLHF data from USA NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis Project reveal that local SLHF enhancements appeared 11, 10 and 7 days before the Pu’er earthquake, respectively. As contrasted to the formerly reported local ionospheric Ne enhancement 9 days before the shock observed by DEMETER satellite, it is discovered that the SLHF and Ne anomalies are quasi-synchronous and have good spatial correspondence with the epicentre and the local active faults. This is valuable for understanding the seismogenic coupling processes and for recognizing earthquake anomaly with multiple parameters from integrated Earth observation system.     

模糊等价关系下滚动轴承振动性能变异分析

在小样本且概率分布未知条件下,提出模糊等价关系和自助最大熵模型,并通过变异概率分析滚动轴承振动性能变异过程。对滚动轴承振动加速度原始数据分组得到样本,选定本征样本,计算各样本间的模糊等价系数;运用自助最大熵模型建立各样本的概率密度函数,通过交集法得到各样本相对于本征样本的变异概率,建立模糊等价系数和变异概率的关系曲线以实现对变异过程的监控;通过仿真和实验案例验证了所提模型的可行性和正确性。实验结果表明:随着磨损直径的逐渐增大,变异概率曲线呈“躺椅状”非线性上升趋势,对应滚动轴承磨损的3个阶段,即初级磨合阶段、正常性能退化阶段和性能恶化阶段。      

Harmonic analysis of the ionospheric electron densities retrieved from FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC radio occultation measurements

In order to investigate the regular variations of the ionosphere, the least-squares harmonic estimation is applied to the time series of ionospheric electron densities derived from about five years of Global Positioning System radio occultation observations by FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC satellites. The analysis is done for different latitudes and altitudes in the region of Iran. The least-squares harmonic estimation is found to be a powerful tool for the frequency analysis of the completely unevenly spaced time series of radio occultation measurements. Although the obtained results are slightly different from the exact expected cycles (i.e. annual and diurnal components with their Fourier decompositions, and the 27-day period) due to the low horizontal resolution of radio occultation measurements, high vertical resolution of the observations enables us to detect not only the total electron content variations but also periodic patterns of electron densities at different altitudes of the ionosphere. The dominant diurnal and annual signals together with their Fourier series decompositions are obtained, which are consistent with the previous analyses on the total electron content. In the equatorial anomaly band, the annual component is weaker than its Fourier decomposition periods. In particular, the semiannual period dominates the annual component, indicating the relationship between the semiannual variation of the electron densities and the ionospheric equatorial anomaly. From detection of the phases of the components, it is revealed that the annual signal generally has its maximum value in summers at high altitudes, and in the winters at low altitudes. This is probably due to the higher [O/N₂] ratios in winter than in the summer in the lower ionosphere. Furthermore, the semiannual component mostly peaks around solstices or about a month before/after them.     

驾驶舱语音控制指令的设计问题讨论

文章以机载语音控制的实时性、准确性、方便性的实际应用要求为出发点,深入讨论既适合于机载语音人机交互特性,又符合机载语音识别技术特点的语音指令的设计思想.提出机载语音控制的命令语言应该是建立在在现有汉语陆空通话语言语法及驾驶舱显控系统按键功能提示信息词汇基础之上,通过修改补充,进而形成一套有功能完整、富有层次的机载语音控制指令系统.文章同时提出,通过恰当选择控制指令的词汇读音和发音力度,能够为语音识别器提供更充分的识别信息量,提高声音信号的信噪比,有助于其在机载噪声和变异的条件下发挥出最佳的识别性能.