A fast pulse phase estimation method for X-ray pulsar signals based on epoch folding

X-ray pulsar-based navigation (XPNAV) is an attractive method for autonomous deep-space navigation in the future. The pulse phase estimation is a key task in XPNAV and its accuracy directly determines the navigation accuracy. State-of-the-art pulse phase estimation techniques either suffer from poor estimation accuracy, or involve the maximization of generally non-convex object function, thus resulting in a large computational cost. In this paper, a fast pulse phase estimation method based on epoch folding is presented. The statistical properties of the observed profile obtained through epoch folding are developed. Based on this, we recognize the joint prob-ability distribution of the observed profile as the likelihood function and utilize a fast Fourier transform-based procedure to estimate the pulse phase. Computational complexity of the proposed estimator is analyzed as well. Experimental results show that the proposed estimator significantly outperforms the currently used cross-correlation (CC) and nonlinear least squares (NLS) estima-tors, while significantly reduces the computational complexity compared with NLS and maximum likelihood (ML) estimators.     

A cost driven predictive maintenance policy for structural airframe maintenance

Airframe maintenance is traditionally performed at scheduled maintenance stops.The decision to repair a fuselage panel is based on a fixed crack size threshold,which allows to ensure the aircraft safety until the next scheduled maintenance stop.With progress in sensor technology and data processing techniques,structural health monitoring (SHM) systems are increasingly being considered in the aviation industry.SHM systems track the aircraft health state continuously,lead ing to the possibility of planning maintenance based on an actual state of aircraft rather than on a fixed schedule.This paper builds upon a model-based prognostics framework that the authors developed in their previous work,which couples the Extended Kalman filter (EKF) with a first order perturbation (FOP) method.By using the information given by this prognostics method,a novel cost driven predictive maintenance (CDPM) policy is proposed,which ensures the aircraft safety while minimizing the maintenance cost.The proposed policy is formally derived based on the trade-off between probabilities of occurrence of scheduled and unscheduled maintenance.A numerical case study simulating the maintenance process of an entire fleet of aircrafts is imple mented.Under the condition of assuring the same safety level,the CDPM is compared in terms of cost with two other maintenance policies:scheduled maintenance and threshold based SHM maintenance.The comparison results show CDPM could lead to significant cost savings.     

Evaluation and improvement of coastal GNSS reflectometry sea level variations from existing GNSS stations in Taiwan

Global sea level rise due to an increasingly warmer climate has begun to induce hazards, adversely affecting the lives and properties of people residing in low-lying coastal regions and islands. Therefore, it is important to monitor and understand variations in coastal sea level covering offshore regions. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) data of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) have been successfully used to robustly derive sea level heights (SLHs). In Taiwan, there are a number of continuously operating GNSS stations, not originally installed for sea level monitoring. They were established in harbors or near coastal regions for monitoring land motion. This study utilizes existing SNR data from three GNSS stations (Kaohsiung, Suao, and TaiCOAST) in Taiwan to compute SLHs with two methods, namely, Lomb–Scargle Periodogram (LSP)-only, and LSP aided with tidal harmonic analysis developed in this study. The results of both methods are compared with co-located or nearby tide gauge records. Due to the poor quality of SNR data, the worst accuracy of SLHs derived from traditional LSP-only method exceeds 1?m at the TaiCOAST station. With our procedure, the standard deviations (STDs) of difference between GNSS-derived SLHs and tide gauge records in Kaohsiung and Suao stations decreased to 10?cm and the results show excellent agreement with tide gauge derived relative sea level records, with STD of differences of 7?cm and correlation coefficient of 0.96. In addition, the absolute GNSS-R sea level trend in Kaohsiung during 2006–2011 agrees well with that derived from satellite altimetry. We conclude that the coastal GNSS stations in Taiwan have the potential of monitoring absolute coastal sea level change accurately when our proposed methodology is used.     

强不确定系统“全系数之和等于1”的实现方法

摘要： 研究强不确定系统“全系数之和等于1”的实现方法，强不确定系统指的是系统的静态增益及其界不完全确知且范围较大.“全系数之和等于1”是吴宏鑫院士20世纪80年代发现的，该原理表明，对于未知连续系统，其离散化系统的系数的和在一定条件下是1.该原理的发现对于解决闭环辨识和自适应控制的瓶颈问题具有关键作用.“全系数之和等于1”是在一定条件下成立的.为了实现系统的“全系数之和等于1”，需要对系统进行一定的变换，以满足所需条件.其中，采用静态增益的标称值的倒数进行输入变换的方法在实际中得到了广泛应用.但是，当系统的不确定性较大时，该变换将带来较大偏差.针对该问题开展了深入研究，明确给出了系统静态增益的不确定性与标称值的比值的关系对于实现“全系数之和等于1”的影响.当不确定性与标称值的比值较小时，可以近似实现“全系数之和等于1”；当比值较大时，进一步给出了通过选取合适的采样周期，近似实现“全系数之和等于1”的方法.本文的研究对于特征模型理论在实际中的应用提供了一定的基础.     

可控曲率半径的圆柱形叶片逐点绘型方法

针对中低比转速离心泵,根据叶片进出口边界条件,以逐点绘型方法为基础,提出了一种新的曲率半径可控的叶片绘型方法。该方法的主要特点是曲率半径比值可作为设计常量由设计人员根据需要事先给定,随后分析了曲率半径及比例因子对叶片安放角、叶片包角、相对速度及速度矩等的影响。结果表明,不同曲率半径比值下的叶型参数及流动参数变化范围很大,曲率半径比值较大时,节流损失较大,泵扬程较低,曲率半径比值较小时,脱流损失较大,泵效率较低,存在较优的曲率半径比值区间[1.4,2.4],使叶片安放角平滑变化,泵的综合性能较优,在该优化区间内,取较大的曲率半径比值有利于获得较优的汽蚀性能,比例因子为0时叶片安放角的变化较为平稳,可用于开展离心泵的初步设计。     

基于层次分析法的综合射频架构选取技术研究

综合射频系统是作战飞机航空电子系统的重要组成部分，它们是作战飞机通过无线电方式感知外界信息的重要系统。系统架构的选取直接影响了飞机的作战性能，针对以往架构选取依赖大量定性分析而缺乏定量对比问题，提出了基于层次分析法的综合射频架构选取技术，该技术能够有效地根据不同的任务需求和平台需求，综合考虑定量和定性因素，给出更为合理对比分析结果，为综合射频系统的系统设计提供技术支撑。该技术也可推广到航空领域其他多目标决策问题的应用。     

新一代战斗机非定常流动数值研究综述

新一代战斗机强调超机动能力和强隐身性，其中大攻角下的静态失速、动态失速及内埋弹仓绕流是与高机动和强隐身密切相关的、极具挑战的几类典型的非定常流动，它们对数值方法提出了极高的要求。为了高精度地仿真流场、清楚地揭示流动机理，有效地控制非定常流动，非常有必要发展高精度且高效率的RANS-LES混合方法体系，包含RANS-LES混合方法本身、与RANS-LES混合方法匹配的高精度自适应耗散格式、基准湍流模式、高质量计算网格、高精度时间推进方法、非定常量的统计方法等，具有极强的紧迫性。提出、发展、验证并应用该类方法数值仿真新一代战斗机（包括单独部件、组合体、甚至全机）的非定常流动，数值预测结果与风洞实验数据吻合良好；此类方法可为新型战斗机设计提供理论依据和分析手段。     

微分法在定位误差分析与计算中的应用

介绍了微分法分析计算定位误差的原理和适用范围,通过生产实例分析,证明了该方法在解决多误差因素定位误差分析与计算中的简便与快捷,从而有效简化了复杂定位方案定位误差的分析与计算,提高了夹具的设计效率。     

Is the phenology-based algorithm for mapping deciduous rubber plantations applicable in an emerging region of northern Laos?

Updated information of rubber plantations is essential for assessing socioeconomic and environmental impacts, especially in the emerging region of northern tropics. Here, a phenological method was modified to detect rubber plantations using Landsat Operational Land Imager (OLI) imagery in Phongsaly Province of northern Laos, where it begun a rubber boom in the mid-2000s due to geo-economic cooperation. It highlighted the landscape and pixel differences of deciduous rubber plantations in the tri-temporal phases (i.e., pre-defoliation, defoliation, and foliation) during the dry season due to phenological changes. Six commonly used vegetation indices (VIs), including the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Land Surface Water Index (LSWI), Atmospherically Resistant Vegetation Index (ARVI), Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR and NBR2) derived from OLI imagery during 2013–2016 were compared to determine the most suitable VI for discriminating the phenological differences of rubber plantations from natural forests. Then, the Differences of Normalized Burn Ratio (DNBR) was applied to generate the 30 m map of rubber plantations in 2016, by combining two masks of Landsat-derived forest and suitable elevation for rubber trees cultivation. The resultant map of rubber plantations had a classification accuracy of 93.7% and the Kappa coefficient of 0.848. Our study demonstrated the usefulness of the Landsat-derived tri-temporal phenological DNBR approach in an emerging region of northern Laos, despite requiring more scenes compared with single- and double temporal window methods.