Planetary wave coupling of the atmosphere–ionosphere system during the Northern winter of 2008/2009

This paper presents the global spatial (latitude and altitude) structure and temporal variability of the ∼23-day ionospheric zonally symmetric (s = 0) planetary wave (PW) seen in the Northern winter of 2008/2009 (October 2008–March 2009). It is shown that these ∼23-day ionospheric oscillations are forced from PWs propagating from below. The COSMIC ionospheric parameters f_oF2 and h_mF2 and electron density at fixed altitudes and the SABER temperatures were utilized in order to define the waves which are present simultaneously in the atmosphere and ionosphere. The long-period PWs from the two data sets have been extracted through the same data analysis method. The similarity between the lower thermospheric ∼23-day (s = 0) temperature PW and its ionospheric electron density response provides valuable and strong experimental evidence for confirming the paradigm of atmosphere–ionosphere coupling.     

A simulation of Martian gravity field recovery by using a near equatorial orbiter

An improvement to the Martian gravity field may be achieved by means of future orbiting spacecraft with small eccentricity and low altitude exemplified through a newly proposed mission design that may be tested in upcoming reconnaissance of Mars. Here, the near equatorial orbital character (with an inclination approximating 10°, eccentricity as 0.01 and semi-major axis as 4000 km) is considered, and its contribution to Martian gravity field solution is analyzed by comparing it with a hypothetical polar circular orbiter. The solution models are evaluated in terms of the following viewpoints: power spectra of gravity field coefficients, correlations of low degree zonal coefficients, precise orbit determination, and error distribution of both Mars free air gravity anomaly and areoid. At the same time, the contributions of the near equatorial orbiters in low degree zonal coefficients time variations are also considered. The present results show that the near equatorial orbiter allows us to improve the accuracy of the Martian gravity field solution, decrease correlation of low degree zonal coefficients, retrieve much better time variable information of low degree zonal coefficients, improve precise orbit determination, and provide more accurate Mars free air gravity anomaly and areoid around the equatorial region.     

Characterization of GPS-TEC over African equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) region during 2009–2016

This study characterizes total electron content (TEC) measured by Global Positioning System (GPS) over African equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) region for 2009–2016 period during both quiet geomagnetic conditions (Kp?≤?1) and normal conditions (1?>?Kp?≤?4). GPS-TEC data from four equatorial/low-latitude stations, namely, Addis Ababa (ADIS: 9.04°N, 38.77°E, mag. lat: 0.2°N) [Ethiopia]; Yamoussoukro (YKRO: 6.87°N, 5.24°W, mag. lat: 2.6°S) [Ivory Coast]; Malindi (MAL2; 3.00°S, 40.19°E, mag. lat: 12.4°S) [Kenya] and Libreville (NKLG; 0.35°N, 9.67°W, mag. lat: 13.5°S) [Gabon] were used for this study. Interesting features like noontime TEC bite-out, winter anomaly during the ascending and maximum phases of solar cycle 24, diurnal and seasonal variations with solar activity have been observed and investigated in this study. The day-to-day variations exhibited ionospheric TEC asymmetry on an annual scale. TEC observed at equatorial stations (EIA-trough) and EIA-crest reach maximum values between ～1300–1600 LT and ～1300–1600 LT, respectively. About 76% of the high TEC values were recorded in equinoctial months while the June solstice predominantly exhibited low TEC values. Yearly, the estimated TEC values increases or decreases with solar activity, with 2014 having the highest TEC value. Solar activity dependence of TEC within the EIA zone reveals that both F10.7?cm index and EUV flux (24–36?nm) gives a stronger correlation with TEC than Sunspot Number (SSN). A slightly higher degree of dependence is on EUV flux with the mean highest correlation coefficient (R) value of 0.70, 0.83, 0.82 and 0.88 for quiet geomagnetic conditions (Kp?≤?1) at stations ADIS, MAL2, NKLG, and YKRO, respectively. The correlation results for the entire period consequently reveals that SSN and solar flux F10.7?cm index might not be an ideal index as a proxy for EUV flux as well as to measure the variability of TEC strength within the EIA zone. The estimated TEC along the EIA crest (MAL2 and NKLG) exhibited double-hump maximum, as well as post-sunset peaks (night time enhancement of TEC) between ～2100 and 2300 LT. EIA formation was prominent during evening/post-noon hours.     

利用数字高程模型自动检测火星表面陨石坑

为了克服利用影像识别陨石坑的诸多限制因素,利用"火星全球勘探者"(MGS)火星激光高度计(MOLA)得到的火星三维DEM数据,转换获得地形曲率,然后利用设定阈值将曲率图转换为二值图像,结合图像分割floodin算法可以得到待检测陨石坑,最后利用Hough变换可以检测出陨石坑。其成功率达到73.4%,可以有效地从DEM中识别陨石坑。利用DEM识别陨石坑的方法可以识别更多新的陨石坑,为现存的陨石坑目录提供新的数据信息。     

VLF电波渗透到卫星高度电离层传播的全波计算

考虑斜向地磁场的影响将电离层设为多层水平分层各向异性有耗介质, 利用传播矩阵法求解全波方程, 进而研究分析VLF频段电离层反射系数随电波频率的变化, 电离层中两种特征极化波的折射和极化特性, 两特征波的电磁场水平分量以及坡印廷能流密度随传播高度的变化. 数值计算结果表明, 地—电离层波导中的垂直极化波比平行极化波易渗透进入电离层; 电离层中两种特征极化波可分为左旋和右旋圆极化波, 左旋分支由于D层强吸收作用表现为速衰减模, 而右旋分支表现为可传播模, 在传播过程中电磁波的能量主要存储在磁场中; 电波频率越低, 其在电离层中的传播损耗越小. 由数值模拟结果发现, 卫星监测VLF频段的低频部分及更低频段的水平磁场变化对于发现地震电离层电磁前兆异常可能更为有效.      

用高分辨率地磁资料考察磁层耦合的特征

用取自１００°Ｅ和３００°Ｅ的两条地磁经度链附近１１个台站的１ｍｉｎ均值地磁资料,分析了１９９４年１１月２６日磁暴期间的磁扰特征,由Ｈ和Ｚ分量变得知,一区和二区场向电流的变化发展是磁层－电离层电动耦合中的重要过程,它们对于极光区和中纬区电离层的作用效果有很大差异。     

中性风和垂直漂移对低纬F区电离层影响初析

利用二维低纬电离层－等离子体层时变理论模式,模拟太阳活动高年春分条件下垂直漂移和中性风强度改变对低纬F区电离层参量的影响.模式在所考察的磁子午面内求解等离子体输运方程,给出离子浓度和速度随纬度、高度、地方时的变化.模式计算结果显示,调整垂直漂移和中性风强度对低纬F区电离层电子浓度的影响与电离层所处磁纬、垂直漂移和中性风作用时段等有关,呈现出一些新特点.结果对分析不同条件下垂直漂移和中性风对低纬F区电离层影响具有一定的指导意义.      

YingHuo-1——Martian Space Environment Exploration Orbiter

This paper gives a brief introduction of YingHuo-1 (YH-1), a Chinese Martian Space Environment Exploration Orbiter. YH-1 is a micro-satellite developed by Chinese Aerospace Industry,and will be launched together with Russian spacecraft, Phobos-Grunt, to orbit Mars in September,2009. Four payloads are selected for the mission, plasma package, including of electron analyzer, ion energy and mass analyzer; sat-sat occultation receiver; flux-gate magnetometer; and optical monitor.YH-1 mission focus on the investigation of the characteristics and its evolution of the Martian space Environment, and identifying major plasma processes, which provide channels for Martian volatiles escaping.      

A New Optimal Hatch Filter to Minimize the Effects of Ionosphere Gradients for GBAS

At present, the main problem faced by ground-based augment system （GBAS） is that though carder smoothing filter and local differential global positioning system （LDGPS） improve the accuracy of the pseudorange by reducing the noise in it and eliminating almost all the common errors between the user and the reference station, they also cause extra errors on account of the effects of the ionosphere temporal and spatial gradients. Based on the analysis of these errors as well as the smoothing noise, this article suggests a new algorithm to design the optimal Hatch filter, whose smoothing window width varies real-time with the satellite elevation, ionosphere variation, and distance from the user to the reference station. By conducting the positioning process in the GBAS emulation platform for several hours and after its comparison with the performances of traditional Hatch filters, it is found that the errors in the differential correction become smaller and the positioning accuracy gets heightened with this new method.     

局域增强系统级联双频平滑技术研究(英文)

针对电离层误差时间梯度和空间梯度对局域增强系统的不利影响,提出使用级联双频平滤波方法解决此问题。级联双频平滤波先使用一个双频平滑滤波器精确估计电离层误差,利用得到的估计值修正码伪距观测量中的电离层误差,再使用一个双频平滑滤波器削弱噪声。这样,电离层误差被完全从平滑过程中移出,由L2码观测量引入的附加的噪声也被压制。基于中国民航新航行系统实验室的局域增强系统测试平台所采集的数据对级联双频平滤波的有效性和基于级联双频平滤波的局域增强系统的精度进行了分析。结果表明级联双频平滤波技术可以同时消除电离层误差时间梯度和空间梯度导致的平滑滤波残差和差分校正残差,并具有较低的滤波噪声。