0 °C isotherm height for satellite communication in Malaysia

The 0 °C isotherm height is an important parameter for prediction of rain attenuation of microwave and millimeter wave for Earth-space communication. The variations of 0 °C isotherm heights for two monsoon seasons have been studied based on an analysis of radiosonde over three stations. The exceedence probability statistics of rain height are compared between the two seasons. The results on the 0 °C isotherm height can be utilized for the estimation of attenuation of microwave and millimeter wave due to rain over Earth-space paths. Attenuations of radio wave due to rain at frequencies above 10 GHz and above have also been estimated using the 0 °C isotherm height so derived.     

Effective Coulomb force modeling for spacecraft in Earth orbit plasmas

Coulomb formation flight is a concept that utilizes electrostatic forces to control the separations of close proximity spacecraft. The Coulomb force between charged bodies is a product of their size, separation, potential and interaction with the local plasma environment. A fast and accurate analytic method of capturing the interaction of a charged body in a plasma is shown. The Debye–Hückel analytic model of the electrostatic field about a charged sphere in a plasma is expanded to analytically compute the forces. This model is fitted to numerical simulations with representative geosynchronous and low Earth orbit (GEO and LEO) plasma environments using an effective Debye length. This effective Debye length, which more accurately captures the charge partial shielding, can be up to 7 times larger at GEO, and as great as 100 times larger at LEO. The force between a sphere and point charge is accurately captured with the effective Debye length, as opposed to the electron Debye length solutions that have errors exceeding 50%. One notable finding is that the effective Debye lengths in LEO plasmas about a charged body are increased from centimeters to meters. This is a promising outcome, as the reduced shielding at increased potentials provides sufficient force levels for operating the electrostatically inflated membrane structures concept at these dense plasma altitudes.     

Leading-edge flow separation control over an airfoil using a symmetrical dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator

In order to promote an in-depth understanding of the mechanism of leading-edge flow separation control over an airfoil using a symmetrical Dielectric Barrier Discharge(DBD) plasma actuator excited by a steady-mode excitation, an experimental investigation of an SC(2)-0714 supercritical airfoil with a symmetrical DBD plasma actuator was performed in a closed chamber and a low-speed wind tunnel. The plasma actuator was mounted at the leading edge of the airfoil.Time-resolved Particle Image Velocimetry(PIV) results of the near-wall region in quiescent air suggested that the symmetrical DBD plasma actuator could induce some coherent structures in the separated shear layer, and these structures were linked to a dominant frequency of f0= 39 Hz when the peak-to-peak voltage of the plasma actuator was 9.8 kV. In addition, an analysis of flow structures without and with plasma actuation around the upper side of the airfoil at an angle of attack of18° for a wind speed of 3 m/s(Reynolds number Re = 20000) indicated that the dynamic process of leading-edge flow separation control over an airfoil could be divided into three stages. Initially, this plasma actuator could reinforce the shedding vortices in the separated shear layer. Then, these vortical structures could deflect the separated flow towards the wall by promoting the mixing between the outside flow with a high kinetic energy and the flow near the surface. After that, the plasma actuator induced a series of rolling vortices in the vicinity of the suction side of the airfoil, and these vortical structures could transfer momentum from the leading edge of the airfoil to the separated region, resulting in a reattachment of the separated flow around the airfoil.     

Decentralized formation pose estimation for spacecraft swarms

For spacecraft swarms, the multi-agent localization algorithm must scale well with the number of spacecraft and adapt to time-varying communication and relative sensing networks. In this paper, we present a decentralized, scalable algorithm for swarm localization, called the Decentralized Pose Estimation (DPE) algorithm. The DPE considers both communication and relative sensing graphs and defines an observable local formation. Each spacecraft jointly localizes its local subset of spacecraft using direct and communicated measurements. Since the algorithm is local, the algorithm complexity does not grow with the number of spacecraft in the swarm. As part of the DPE, we present the Swarm Reference Frame Estimation (SRFE) algorithm, a distributed consensus algorithm to co-estimate a common Local-Vertical, Local-Horizontal (LVLH) frame. The DPE combined with the SRFE provides a scalable, fully-decentralized navigation solution that can be used for swarm control and motion planning. Numerical simulations and experiments using Caltech’s robotic spacecraft simulators are presented to validate the effectiveness and scalability of the DPE algorithm.     

激光深熔焊接等离子体发射光谱诊断研究

综述了激光等离子体发射光谱诊断的基本假设;介绍了电子温度、密度光谱计算最常用的方法;同时综述了国内外激光焊接等离子体光谱诊断的研究进展.旨在对激光焊接等离子体光谱诊断基本理论和当前的研究进展进行全面的梳理,并对开展激光焊接等离子体光谱试验工作提供理论支持和技术参考.     

Numerical investigation of aerodynamic flow actuation produced by surface plasma actuator on 2D oscillating airfoil

Numerical simulation of unsteady flow control over an oscillating NACA0012 airfoil is investigated. Flow actuation of a turbulent flow over the airfoil is provided by low current DC surface glow discharge plasma actuator which is analytically modeled as an ion pressure force produced in the cathode sheath region. The modeled plasma actuator has an induced pressure force of about 2 k Pa under a typical experiment condition and is placed on the airfoil surface at 0% chord length and/or at 10% chord length. The plasma actuator at deep-stall angles(from 5° to 25°) is able to slightly delay a dynamic stall and to weaken a pressure fluctuation in down-stroke motion. As a result, the wake region is reduced. The actuation effect varies with different plasma pulse frequencies, actuator locations and reduced frequencies. A lift coefficient can increase up to 70% by a selective operation of the plasma actuator with various plasma frequencies and locations as the angle of attack changes. Active flow control which is a key advantageous feature of the plasma actuator reveals that a dynamic stall phenomenon can be controlled by the surface plasma actuator with less power consumption if a careful control scheme of the plasma actuator is employed with the optimized plasma pulse frequency and actuator location corresponding to a dynamic change in reduced frequency.     

Plasma sheet oscillations and their relation to substorm development: Cluster and double star TC1 case study

We examined two consecutive plasma sheet oscillation and dipolarization events observed by Cluster in the magnetotail, which are associated with a pseudo-breakup and a small substorm monitored by the IMAGE spacecraft. Energy input from the solar wind and an associated enhancement of the cross-tail current lead to current sheet thinning and plasma sheet oscillations of 3–5 min periods, while the pseudo-breakups occur during the loading phase within a spatially limited area, accompanied by a localized dipolarization observed by DSP TC1 or GOES 12. That is, the so-called “growth phase” is a preferable condition for both pseudo-breakup and plasma sheet oscillations in the near-Earth magnetotail. One of the plasma sheet oscillation events occurs before the pseudo-breakup, whereas the other takes place after pseudo-breakup. Thus there is no causal relationship between the plasma sheet oscillation events and pseudo-breakup. As for the contribution to the subsequent small substorm, the onset of the small substorm took place where the preceding plasma sheet oscillations can reach the region.     

Variations in the ionospheric scale height parameter at the F2 peak over Grahamstown,South Africa

The Grahamstown, South Africa (33.3°S, 26.5°E) ionospheric field station operates a Lowell digital pulse ionospheric sounder (Digisonde) whose output includes scaled parameters derived from the measured ionogram. One of these output parameters is the ionospheric scale height parameter (H), and this paper presents an analysis of the seasonal, diurnal, and solar activity variations of this parameter over the Grahamstown station. Ionosonde data from three years 2002, 2003, and 2004 were used in this study. The data was subjected to a general trend analysis to remove any outliers and then the monthly median data were used to explore the different variations. The results of this analysis were found to be similar to what has already been presented in the literature for low latitude stations, and are presented as well as the correlation at this mid-latitude station between the H parameter, the IRI shape parameter (B0), and the peak electron density (NmF2).     

房地产开发规模的优化决策

针对我国房地产供求失衡的状况，从需求管理的角度，以控制房地产投资规模、保持供需平衡为目标，利用经济控制论的库存理论，建立了房地产开发规模优化决策的数学模型，推导出模型的最优解。经实例分析验证，该数学模型对于确定最优的房地产开发规模而言，具有简洁、实用的特点，对于提高房地产市场管理及投资经营决策水平具有广泛的应用价值。