An empirical solar radiation pressure model for satellites moving in the orbit-normal mode

We present a family of empirical solar radiation pressure (SRP) models suited for satellites orbiting the Earth in the orbit normal (ON) mode. The proposed ECOM-TB model describes the SRP accelerations in the so-called terminator coordinate system. The choice of the coordinate system and the SRP parametrization is based on theoretical assumptions and on simulation results with a QZS-1-like box-wing model, where the SRP accelerations acting on the solar panels and on the box are assessed separately. The new SRP model takes into account that in ON-mode the incident angle of the solar radiation on the solar panels is not constant like in the yaw-steering (YS) attitude mode. It depends on the elevation angle of the Sun above the satellite’s orbital plane. The resulting SRP vector acts, therefore, not only in the Sun-satellite direction, but has also a component normal to it. Both components are changing as a function of the incident angle. ECOM-TB has been used for precise orbit determination (POD) for QZS-1 and BeiDou2 (BDS2) satellites in medium (MEO) and inclined geosynchronous Earth orbits (IGSO) based on IGS MGEX data from 2014 and 2015. The resulting orbits have been validated with SLR, long-arc orbit fits, orbit misclosures, and by the satellite clock corrections based on the orbits. The validation results confirm that—compared to ECOM2—ECOM-TB significantly (factor 3–4) improves the POD of QZS-1 in ON-mode for orbits with different arc lengths (one, three, and five days). Moderate orbit improvements are achieved for BDS2 MEO satellites—especially if ECOM-TB is supported by pseudo-stochastic pulses (the model is then called ECOM-TBP). For BDS2 IGSOs, ECOM-TB with its 9 SRP parameters appears to be over-parameterized. For use with BDS2 IGSO spacecraft we therefore developed a minimized model version called ECOM-TBMP, which is based on the same axis decomposition as ECOM-TB, but has only 2 SRP parameters and is supported by pseudo-stochastic parameters, as well. This model shows a similar performance as ECOM-TB with short arcs, but an improved performance with (3-day) long-arcs. The new SRP models have been activated in CODE’s IGS MGEX solution in Summer 2018. Like the other ECOM models the ECOM-TB derivatives might be used together with an a priori model.     

Families of halo orbits in the elliptic restricted three-body problem for a solar sail with reflectivity control devices

Solar sail halo orbits designed in the Sun-Earth circular restricted three-body problem (CR3BP) provide inefficient reference orbits for station-keeping since the disturbance due to the eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit has to be compensated for. This paper presents a strategy to compute families of halo orbits around the collinear artificial equilibrium points in the Sun-Earth elliptic restricted three-body problem (ER3BP) for a solar sail with reflectivity control devices (RCDs). In this non-autonomous model, periodic halo orbits only exist when their periods are equal to integer multiples of one year. Here multi-revolution halo orbits with periods equal to integer multiples of one year are constructed in the CR3BP and then used as seeds to numerically continue the halo orbits in the ER3BP. The linear stability of the orbits is analyzed which shows that the in-plane motion is unstable while the out-of-plane motion is neutrally stable and a bifurcation is identified. Finally, station-keeping is performed which shows that a reference orbit designed in the ER3BP is significantly more efficient than that designed in the CR3BP, while the addition of RCDs improve station-keeping performance and robustness to uncertainty in the sail lightness number.     

Plasma polarization electric field derived from radio sounding of solar wind acceleration region with spacecraft signals

Presented is the analytical approximation of averaged solar wind velocity radial dependence in the solar wind acceleration region at heliolatitudes below 60° under low and moderate solar activity. This empirical approximation is based on the data of radio sounding of the solar corona with radio signals from various spacecraft. Deduced is an equation connecting the solar wind velocity radial dependence and the radial dependence of solar wind plasma polarization electric field intensity. This allows constructing a semi-empirical radial dependence of plasma polarization electric field corresponding to the empirical radial dependence of solar wind velocity. Main properties of the semi-empirical dependence, which is based on radio sounding data, are described.     

150kV逆变电源性能优化及其束源特性

为了进一步提高电子束流发生系统工作的可靠性和稳定性,提高电子束加工质量,采用AC-DC-AC-DC-AC-DC的拓扑电路、新型功率变压器、高压脉冲检测技术、优化的束流反馈控制与灯丝加热电流闭环反馈控制技术等,分别优化了高压加速电源、偏压电源与灯丝加热电源。将所研制逆变电源与150 k V/30 k W电子枪、真空系统等组成了一套电子束流发生系统,测试了该电子束流发生系统输出的高压、最大束流以及灯丝加热电流、偏压变化对束流输出的影响。试验结果表明:经过优化的逆变电源高压输出达到-150 k V,高压输出线性度较好,最大束流达到200 m A;高压、灯丝加热电流给定时,随着偏压降低,束流输出逐渐增大;高压、偏压给定时,随着灯丝加热电流增大,束流输出存在死区、线性增大区和恒流区。     

The heliospheric modulation of cosmic rays: Effects of a latitude dependent solar wind termination shock

Observations made with the two Voyager spacecraft confirmed that the solar wind decelerates to form the heliospheric termination shock and that it has begun its merger with the local interstellar medium. The compression ratio of this shock affects galactic cosmic rays when they enter the heliosphere. Hydrodynamic (HD) models show that the compression ratio can have a significant latitude dependence; with the largest value in the nose direction of the heliosphere, becoming significantly less towards the polar regions. The modulation effects of such large latitude dependence are studied, using a well-established numerical drift and shock modulation model. We focus on computing the modulated spectra for galactic protons with emphasis on the radial and polar gradients in the equatorial plane and at a polar angle of θ = 55°, corresponding to the heliolatitude of Voyager 1. Two sets of solutions are computed and compared each time; with and without a latitude dependence for the compression ratio. All computations are done for the two magnetic field polarity cycles assuming solar minimum conditions. Including the termination shock in the model allows the study of the re-acceleration of galactic protons in the outer heliosphere. We find that for the A < 0 polarity cycle the intensity between ∼200 MeV and ∼1 GeV in the vicinity of the shock in the heliospheric equatorial plane may exceed the local interstellar value specified at the heliopause. Unfortunately, at θ = 55°, the effect is reduced. This seems not possible during an A > 0 cycle because significant modulation is then predicted between the heliopause and the termination shock, depending on how strong global gradient and curvature drifts are in the heliosheath. The overall effect of the shock on galactic protons in the equatorial plane is to reduce the total modulation as a function of radial distance with respect to the interstellar spectrum. Making the compression ratio latitude dependent enhances these effects at energies E < 200 MeV in the equatorial plane. At larger heliolatitudes these effects are even more significant. The differences in the modulation between the two drift cycles are compelling when the compression ratio is made latitude dependent but at Earth this effect is insignificant. A general result is that the computed radial gradient changes for galactic protons at and close to the TS and that these changes are polarity dependent. In line with previous work, large polarity dependent effects are predicted for the inner heliosphere and also close to the shock’s position in the equatorial plane. In contrast, at θ = 55°, the largest polarity effect occurs in the middle heliosphere (50 AU), enhanced by the latitude dependence of the compression ratio. At this latitude, the amount of proton modulation between the heliopause and the termination shock is much reduced. If galactic cosmic rays were to experience some diffusive shock acceleration over the 100–1000 MeV range at the shock, the radial gradient should change its sign in the vicinity of the shock, how large, depends on the compression ratio and the amount of drifts taking place in the outer heliosphere. The effective polar gradient shows a strong polarity dependence at Earth but this dissipates at θ = 55°, especially with increasing radial distance. This tendency is enhanced by making the compression ratio latitude dependent.     

Ionospheric total electron content response to annular solar eclipse on June 21, 2020

The effects of physical events on the ionosphere structure is an important field of study, especially for navigation and radio communication. The paper presents the spatio-temporal ionospheric TEC response to the recent annular solar eclipse on June 21, 2020, which spans across two continents, Africa and Asia, and 14 countries. This eclipse took place on the same day as the June Solstice. The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) based TEC data of the Global Ionosphere Maps (GIMs), 9 International GNSS Service (IGS) stations and FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 (F7/C2) were utilized to analyze TEC response during the eclipse. The phases of the TEC time series were determined by taking the difference of the observed TEC values on eclipse day from the previous 5-day median TEC values. The results showed clear depletions in the TEC time series on June 21. These decreases were between 1 and 9 TECU (15–60%) depending on the location of IGS stations. The depletions are relatively higher at the stations close to the path of annular eclipse than those farther away. Furthermore, a reduction of about ?10 TECU in the form of an equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) was observed in GIMs at ~20° away from the equator towards northpole, between 08:00–11:00 UT where its maximum phase is located in southeast Japan. Additionally, an overall depletion of ~10% was observed in F7/C2 derived TEC at an altitude of 240 km (hmF2) in all regions affected by the solar eclipse, whereas, significant TEC fluctuations between the altitudes of 100 km ? 140 km were analyzed using the Savitzky-Golay smoothing filter. To prove TEC depletions are not caused by space weather, the variation of the sunspot number (SSN), solar wind (V_SW), disturbance storm-time (Dst), and Kp indices were investigated from 16th to 22nd June. The quiet space weather before and during the solar eclipse proved that the observed depletions in the TEC time series and profiles were caused by the annular solar eclipse.     

太阳质量损失对行星轨道的影响

本文利用Ｇｙｌｄｅｎ－Ｍｅｓｈｃｈｅｒｓｋｉｉ方程和Ｅｄｄｉｎｇｔｏｎ－Ｊｅａｎｓ定律，讨论太阳质量损失对行星轨道的影响，结果表明由于太阳质量损失会产生轨道半长径α的一阶周期项和二阶混合项；近日点角距ω的一阶周期项、二阶长期项和混合项，行星轨道半长径的长期变化会影响太阳系的稳定性。     

暴时极光区热层大气焦耳加热与F区电离耗空的EISCAT雷达观测

利用ＥＩＳＣＡＴ雷达探测数据，分析计算了太阳活动高年夏季发生的一次强磁暴期间，极光区电离层对流电场、电导率以及焦耳加热速率等着重考察了Ｅ区热怪大气焦耳加热和Ｆ区离子摩擦增温与Ｆ区电子密度耗空的关系发现在下午东向极光电集流期间，电子密度最大耗空出现在Ｆ区３００－３２５ｋｍ高度，时间恰在积分的Ｅ区大气焦耳加热量大值和Ｆ区最大离子增温之后５－１０ｍｉｎ，耗空率达７０％。     

Propagation and interaction of interplanetary transient disturbances. Numerical simulations

We study the heliocentric evolution of ICME-like disturbances and their associated transient forward shocks (TFSs) propagating in the interplanetary (IP) medium comparing the solutions of a hydrodynamic (HD) and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models using the ZEUS-3D code [Stone, J.M., Norman, M.L., 1992. Zeus-2d: a radiation magnetohydrodynamics code for astrophysical flows in two space dimensions. i – the hydrodynamic algorithms and tests. Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 80, 753–790]. The simulations show that when a fast ICME and its associated IP shock propagate in the inner heliosphere they have an initial phase of about quasi-constant propagation speed (small deceleration) followed, after a critical distance (deflection point), by an exponential deceleration. By combining white light coronograph and interplanetary scintillation (IPS) measurements of ICMEs propagating within 1 AU [Manoharan, P.K., 2005. Evolution of coronal mass ejections in the inner heliosphere: a study using white-light and scintillation images. Solar Physics 235 (1–2), 345–368], such a critical distance and deceleration has already been inferred observationally. In addition, we also address the interaction between two ICME-like disturbances: a fast ICME 2 overtaking a previously launched slower ICME 1. After interaction, the leading ICME 1 accelerates and the tracking ICME 2 decelerates and both ICMEs tend to arrive at 1 AU having similar speeds. The 2-D HD and MHD models show similar qualitative results for the evolution and interaction of these disturbances in the IP medium.