Model-independent large-scale magnetohydrodynamic quantities in magnetic clouds

Magnetic clouds are the interplanetary manifestation of coronal mass ejections, which are transient expulsions of major quantities of magnetized plasma, from the Sun toward the heliosphere. The magnetic flux and helicity are two key physical magnitudes to track solar structures from the photosphere-corona to the interplanetary medium. To determine the content of flux and helicity in magnetic clouds, we have to know their 3D structure. However, since spacecrafts register data along a unique direction, several aspects of their global configuration cannot be observed. We present a method to estimate the magnetic flux and the magnetic helicity per unit length in magnetic clouds, directly from in situ magnetic observations, assuming only a cylindrical symmetry for the magnetic field configuration in the observed cross-section of the cloud. We select a set of 20 magnetic clouds observed by the spacecraft Wind and estimate their magnetic flux and their helicity per unit length. We compare the results obtained from our direct method with those obtained under the assumption of a helical linear force-free field. This direct method improves previous estimations of helicity in clouds.     

空间太阳能电站微波能量传输验证方案设计

微波能量传输技术作为空间太阳能电站（SpaceSolarPowerStation,SSPS）的关键技术之一,目前的研究和验证工作均集中在各单项技术的突破和验证,缺乏针对SSPS系统特点的全面优化设计。文章根据SSPS的工作模式给出了全面验证空间太阳能电站微波能量传输的验证系统方案设计,对收发天线进行了一体化设计,利用了幅度近似高斯分布的发射阵列场分布设计和低反射的接收整流阵列设计,以高精度来波方向测量和高精度移相控制为波束指向控制的技术途径。对验证系统的波束收集效率进行了分析,收集效率可达94.2%,比传统均匀分布系统高出17.6%。验证系统可从系统规模缩比、波束扫描范围、发射天线口径场分布、整流天线处功率密度、反向波束控制方法等方面模拟SSPS微波能量传输工作模式,推动SSPS系统技术的发展。     

微波能量传输系统设计及试验

面向空间太阳能电站应用,进行了固态体制微波能量传输技术研究。针对能量传输波束扩散导致收集效率低的问题,研究了基于人工媒质理论设计的完美匹配层的能量接收整流表面,通过调节人工媒质单元的结构参数实现天线输出阻抗与整流电路输入阻抗的共轭匹配,同时抑制整流电路高次谐波,省去原有匹配及低通滤波器,简化电路结构、实现高效微波能量吸收与转换。以空间太阳能电站规定的波束中心传输微波功率密度限制作为能量接收整流表面设计的约束条件,设计能量接收整流表面,结合固态体制微波能量发射端,搭建5.8GHz小规模微波能量传输系统开展了地面试验验证,实测结果显示整流表面能量转换效率最高为57.7%。此次试验验证了先进的固态能量传输试验系统,为空间太阳能地面缩比试验及未来空间太阳能电站的建设提供了技术支撑。     

太阳发电机理论研究

太阳活动主要是由磁场产生的, 因此, 对太阳磁场性质和起源的研究具有重要意义. 太阳发电机理论主要研究的是太阳上观测到的与太阳活动相关的磁场起源、磁场特征、各种活动现象之间的相关性及其变化规律. 其是太阳物理学中有待解决的最基本、最重要的问题. 根据太阳黑子及太阳周期的相关观测, 介绍了构成发电机的基本要素, 具体描述了各种典型发电机模型, 并对其分别进行评述, 进而探讨了目前存在的问题及发展方向.      

Microwave Type U and RS Bursts in the X2.2 Solar Flare on 15 February 2011

Two groups of microwave type U and Reverse-Slope (RS) bursts after the Soft X-Ray (SXR) maximum were observed with the 2.6～3.8GHz spectrometer of Chinese Solar Broadband Radio Spectrometers (SBRS/Huairou) on 15 February 2011, when an X2.2 solar flare occurred in the Active Region (AR) NOAA11158. A Shear-driven Quadrupolar Reconnection (SQR) model was utilized to analyze these bursts and the two loops involved were found to be basically in the same spatial scale and have a height difference of about 1300km. These bursts were interpreted to be a result of a new reconnection process between the two similar-scaled loops.      

飞行器太阳能源计算方法

介绍了空间飞行器典型电源系统组成,通过对影响太阳能源输出的各项参数因素分析,提出了空间飞行器太阳能源计算方法,该方法包括由功率计算所需太阳阵面积的公式和由太阳阵面积计算输出功率的公式,达到了准确计算太阳能源的效果,解决了以往空间飞行器太阳能源估算误差大,在总体回路设计中电源参数难以闭环的问题。     

Solar proton events recorded in the stratosphere during cosmic ray balloon observations in 1957–2008

Long-term balloon observations have been performed by the Lebedev Physical Institute since 1957 up to the present time. The observations are taken several times a week at the polar and mid latitudes and allow us to study dynamics of galactic and solar cosmic ray as well as secondary particle fluxes in the atmosphere and in the near-Earth space. Solar energetic particles (120) – mostly protons – (SEP) events with >100 MeV proton intensity above 1 cm⁻² s⁻¹ s⁻¹ were recorded during 1958–2006. Before the advent of the SEP monitoring on spacecraft these results constituted the only homogeneous series of >100 MeV SEP events. The SEP intensities and energy spectra inferred from the Lebedev Physical Institute observations are consistent with the results taken in the adjacent energy intervals by the spacecraft and neutron monitors. Joint consideration of the SEP events series recorded by balloons and by neutron monitors during solar cycles 20–23 makes it possible to restore the probable number of events in solar cycle 19, which was not properly covered by observations. Some correlation was found between duration of SEP event production in a solar cycle and sunspot cycle characteristics.     

Forward and reverse CIR shocks at 4–5 AU: Ulysses

In this article, we study fast shocks at CIR boundaries during an extended interval of 15 consecutive major high speed solar wind streams in 1992–1993. Ulysses was 4–5 AU from the sun. The Abraham-Schrauner shock normal method and the Rankine-Hugoniot relations were used to determine fast shock directions and speeds. Out of 33 potential CIR shocks, 14 were determined to be fast forward shocks (FSs) and 14 were fast reverse shocks (RSs). Of the remaining 5 events, 2 were forward waves and 3 were reverse waves. CIR edges at latitudes below ∼30^o were, for the most part, bounded by fast magnetosonic shocks. The forward shocks were generally quasi-perpendicular (average θ_nBo = 67^o). The reverse shocks were more oblique (average θ_nBo = 52^o), but they extended to all angles. Both FSs and RSs had magnetosonic Mach numbers ranging from 1 to 5 or 6. The average Mach numbers were 2.4 and 2.6 for FSs and RSs, respectively. The shock Mach numbers were noted to generally decrease with increasing latitude. The non-shock events or waves were noted to occur preferentially at high (∼−30° to −35°) heliolatitudes where stream-stream interactions were presumably weaker. These results are consistent with expectations, indicating the general accuracy of the Abraham-Schrauner technique.     

High vertical resolution water vapour profiles in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere retrieved from MAESTRO solar occultation spectra

An algorithm has been developed that retrieves water vapour profiles in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere from optical depth spectra obtained by the Measurements of Aerosol Extinction in the Stratosphere and Troposphere Retrieved by Occultation (MAESTRO) instrument onboard the SCISAT satellite as part of the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) mission. The retrieval relies on ro-vibrational absorption of solar radiation by water vapour in the 926–970 nm range. During the iterative inversion process, the optical depth spectra are simulated at the spectral resolution and sampling frequency of MAESTRO using the correlated-k approximation. The Chahine inversion updates the water vapour volume mixing ratio (VMR), adjusting all retrieval layers simultaneously, to match the observed differential optical depth due to absorption by water vapour and ozone at each tangent height. This approach accounts for significant line saturation effects. Profiles are typically obtained from ∼22 km down to the cloud tops or to 5 km, with relative precision as small as 3% in the troposphere. In the lower stratosphere, the precision on water vapour VMR is ∼1.3 μmol/mol in an individual retrieval layer (∼1 km thick). The spectral capability of MAESTRO allows for the clear separation of extinction due to water vapour and aerosol, and for the fitting quality to be quantified and used to determine an altitude-dependent convergence criterion for the retrieval. In the middle troposphere, interhemispheric differences in water vapour VMR are driven by oceanic evaporation whereas in the upper troposphere, deep convection dominates and a strong seasonal cycle is observed at high latitudes.