Radar Imaging of Mercury

Earth-based radar has been one of the few, and one of the most important, sources of new information about Mercury during the three decades since the Mariner 10 encounters. The emphasis during the past 15 years has been on full-disk, dual-polarization imaging of the planet, an effort that has been facilitated by the development of novel radar techniques and by improvements in radar systems. Probably the most important result of the imaging work has been the discovery and mapping of radar-bright features at the poles. The radar scattering properties of these features, and their confinement to permanently shaded crater floors, is consistent with volume backscatter from a low-loss volatile such as clean water ice. Questions remain, however, regarding the source and long-term stability of the putative ice, which underscores the need for independent confirmation by other observational methods. Radar images of the non-polar regions have also revealed a plethora of bright features, most of which are associated with fresh craters and their ejecta. Several very large impact features, with rays and other bright ejecta spreading over distances of 1,000 km or more, have been traced to source craters with diameters of 80–125 km. Among these large rayed features are some whose relative faintness suggests that they are being observed in an intermediate stage of degradation. Less extended ray/ejecta features have been found for some of the freshest medium-size craters such as Kuiper and Degas. Much more common are smaller (<40 km diameter) fresh craters showing bright rim-rings but little or no ray structure. These smaller radar-bright craters are particularly common over the H-7 quadrangle. Diffuse areas of enhanced depolarized brightness have been found in the smooth plains, including the circum-Caloris planitiae and Tolstoj Basin. This is an interesting finding, as it is the reverse of the albedo contrast seen between the radar-dark maria and the radar-bright cratered highlands on the Moon.     

空间微波交会雷达总体构想

结合我国载人航天工程未来发展的需要,分析了国外微波交会雷达技术的发展方向,提出了我国微波交会雷达的总体实施方案构想。     

Ground experiments of Chang’e-5 lunar regolith penetrating radar

The Lunar Regolith Penetrating Radar (LRPR) is an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) array-based Ground penetrating radar (GPR) onboard the lander of Chang’e-5 (CE-5) mission. The primary scientific objectives of the LRPR are to probe the thickness and structure of lunar regolith of the landing site, and support the drilling and sampling process. In order to evaluate the performance of the LRPR, a series of ground experiments are performed using the LRPR prototype mounted on a CE-5 lander model. The performance of the LRPR is evaluated by comparing the experimental data with the simulated data. Data processing and imaging method are verified, and the interferences from the lander and other aspects are analyzed. The results of the ground experiments and simulation demonstrate that the LRPR is able to meet the design requirement of 2-m detection depth. They also indicate that the upper and lower interfaces of the stratified structure in the lunar regolith can be well distinguished by the LRPR when the dielectric constant difference is greater than 0.3, and the imaging effect of the location under the dense antennas is better than that of other positions. However, the identification capability of the LRPR to the independent blocky objects is relatively poor mainly due to the clutters caused by the lander, the sparsity of the antenna elements compared to the size of the basalt block, the limited aperture of the antenna array, and the tail of the transmitted waveform.     

差分 GPS 鉴定地基雷达测量系统精度的方法研究

提出了利用差分ＧＰＳ分析地面雷测系统跟踪误差的思想,详细分析了各种误差源,建立了一组简洁的差分ＧＰＳ模型,构造了测量数据的比对分析算法以及具有良好抗野值能力的误差偏差最优统计算法,并利用模拟数据进行了仿真计算     

RCS测试系统几何量参数综合校准技术研究

本文针对RCS测试系统的计量需求,阐述了RCS测试系统几何量参数校准技术研究情况。围绕雷达反射面型面参数、设备空间几何位置参数、定标体几何参数的有限目标开展了校准技术研究,研制了RCS测试系统的几何参数综合校准系统,并在国内几个典型的RCS测试系统进行了应用验证,初步建立了RCS测试系统几何量参数量值溯源体系,为国内RCS测试系统的量值统一、数据准确打下了坚实的技术基础。     

Instantaneous rainfall estimation using neural network from multispectral observations of SEVIRI radiometer and its application in estimation of daily and monthly rainfall

In the present paper, an artificial neural network (ANN) based technique has been developed to estimate instantaneous rainfall by using brightness temperature from the IR sensors of SEVIRI radiometer, onboard Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite. The study is carried out over north of Algeria. For estimation of rainfall, weight matrices of two ANNs namely MLP1 and MLP2 are developed. MLP1 is to identify raining or non-raining pixels. When rainy pixels are identified, then for those pixels, instantaneous rainfall is estimated by using MLP2. For identification of raining and non raining pixels, 7 input parameters from the IR sensors are utilized. Corresponding data of raining/non-raining pixels are taken from radar. For instantaneous rainfall estimation, 14 input parameters are utilized, where 7 parameters are information about raining pixels and 7 parameters are related with cloud features. The results obtained show the neural network performs reasonably well.     

Synergetic use of SAR and Thermal Infrared data to study the physical properties of the lunar surface

The surface layer of the Moon preserves vital evidences of lunar impact and cratering processes due to the absence of any Aeolian and fluvial erosion processes acting on it. By examining these evidences, which are recorded throughout the evolutionary history of the Moon, several basic aspects of lunar science can be understood, and this has direct relevance to the surfaces of other airless bodies within the solar system. In this study, rock abundance data obtained from Thermal Infrared (TIR) observations and radar Circular Polarization Ratio (CPR) data sets obtained from polarimetric SAR observations were correlated at some sample sites on the lunar surface. Preliminary results yielded qualitative and quantitative estimates for surface rock abundances. Except at distal ejecta deposits of young, bright craters a general correlation was observed between the two datasets. Mixed results were observed from the impact melt flows where the situation is complex due to the possible subsurface-volume and volume-subsurface interactions of the radar waves. But the flow features were clearly separated from the interior and ejecta regions of their parent craters in terms of CPR and rock abundances. The extent and distributions of pyroclastic deposits and dark haloed regions could not be distinctly identified at the resolution of datasets utilized. Near Gerasimovich D crater, the Diviner Radiometer has provided the first TIR observations of a newly discovered impact melt flow which was not visible in the optical imagery. This facilitated the first ever quantitative comparisons of the radar CPR and rock abundance values near such a region. Also, significant differences in spatial patterns between the radar and rock concentration data sets were observed, owing to the differences in the sensitivity of the two observations.     

测速雷达信标测量数据复原新方法

给出了一种测速雷达信标测量多普勒频率复原的新方法,此方法与目标运动的初始轨道参数无关。与已有方法相比较,新方法解决了已有数据复原方法对初始轨道参数的依赖性,理论上消除了初始轨道参数精度对数据复原精度的影响。通过与已有方法计算结果的比对分析表明,新方法能够满足数据处理精度要求,具有较好的适用性,是实现信标测量数据复原的有效途径。     

用于新型雷达/红外无源复合诱饵的等离子体参数选择

根据电磁波在分层介质中阻抗匹配原理,计算了非均匀非磁化等离子体平行与垂直极化波的功率反射系数。基于碱金属盐的高温电离特性,以功率反射系数为研究对象,对雷达无源诱饵用等离子体的厚度、温度和电子密度分布等参数选择进行了分析,并根据所选择的参数讨论了入射角对无源诱饵应用的影响。     

Investigation of vertical profile of rain microstructure at Ahmedabad in Indian tropical region

The microstructure of rain has been studied with observations using a vertical looking Micro Rain Radar (MRR) at Ahmedabad (23.06°N, 72.62°E), a tropical location in the Indian region. The rain height, derived from the bright band signature of melting layer of radar reflectivity profile, is found to be variable between the heights 4600 m and 5200 m. The change in the nature of rain, classified on the basis of radar reflectivity, is also observed through the MRR. It has been found that there are three types of rain, namely, convective, mixed and stratiform rain, prevailing with different vertical rain microstructures, such as, Drop Size Distribution (DSD), mean drop size, rain rate, liquid water content and average fall speed of the drops at different heights. It is observed that the vertical DSD profile is more inhomogeneous for mixed and stratiform type rain than for convective type rain. It is also found that the large number of drops of size <0.5 mm is present in convective rain whereas in stratiform rain, drops concentration is appreciable up to 1 mm. A comparison of measurements taken by ground based Disdrometer and that from the 200 m level obtained from MRR shows good agreement for rain rate and DSD at smaller rain rate values. The results may be useful for understanding rain structures over this region.