Propagation of plasma bubbles observed in Brazil from GPS and airglow data

Equatorial spread-F is a common occurrence in the equatorial ionosphere that is associated with large variations in plasma density that often cause scintillation and interference in communication signals. These events are known to result from Rayleigh–Taylor instability, but the day-to-day variability of their occurrence is not well understood. The triggering mechanism of plasma depletions is still a matter of debate, but may be linked to gravity waves that under favorable conditions propagate to the middle atmosphere. Understanding the triggering of ESF was the focus of the SpreadFEx campaign near Brasilia, Brazil in 2005. The campaign provided co-located airglow and GPS observations to study the onset of plasma depletions and their evolution as they traversed the region. Comparisons between the 630.0 nm airglow data and GPS data demonstrate the ability of the compact dual frequency GPS array to detect the plasma bubbles and retrieve reliable propagation characteristics of the depletions. In this case study, a plasma depletion was detected and moved over the array at velocities of 85–110 m/s, slowing as it moved towards the east. Correlation of consecutive airglow images gives consistent estimates of the eastward drift over the same time period. Mapping the airglow data to the GPS line-of-sight geometry allows direct comparison and reveals a resolvable westward tilt of the plasma depletion that may be due to vertical shear. The uniqueness of this study is the ability to resolve locally the characteristics of the plasma depletion without relying on assumptions about the mapping of the depletion along magnetic field lines to large latitudinal distances. It presents new information for understanding ESF development and the development of depletions strong enough to produce scintillation.     

A review of observed variability in the dayside ionosphere of Mars

Recent measurements by Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Express have greatly increased the number of observations of the martian dayside ionosphere available for study. Together with earlier measurements from the Viking era, these datasets have been used to investigate variations in well-known properties of the martian dayside ionosphere and to discover new ionospheric features. The dayside ionosphere includes the main peak, called the M2 layer, and a lower layer, called the M1 layer. In the topside, above the M2 layer, electron densities exponentially decrease with increasing altitude.     

宽体客机飞控电作动系统设计

为研究飞控电作动(EPA)系统技术,分析目前服役的国外多电客机空客A380、A350XWB飞控电作动系统、波音Boeing 787飞控电作动系统能源配置、作动器配置及技术特点,提出了国外多电客机飞控电作动系统发展趋势。结合中国电作动研制技术情况,提出中国宽体客机飞控电作动系统2H/2E能源配置方案及电作动系统配置方案,对电作动系统安全性、作动系统电功率、质量进行分析,为中国宽体客机飞控电作动系统研制提供有益参考。     

日冕背景下的等离子体尾场效应

计算了高能脉冲电子束在冷背景和热背景等离子体条件下产生的等离子体尾场(PWF)大小,讨论了高能电子束的速度、密度、长度对等离子体尾场分布的影响。在这基础上,研究了太阳耀斑脉冲相产生的向外逃逸高能脉冲电子束在日冕背景等离子体条件下激发的等离子体尾场分布以及对其捕获电子的加速。      

High-Latitude Particle Precipitation and its Relationship to Magnetospheric Source Regions

Two central issues in magnetospheric research are understanding the mapping of the low-altitude ionosphere to the distant regions of the magnetsphere, and understanding the relationship between the small-scale features detected in the various regions of the ionosphere and the global properties of the magnetosphere. The high-latitude ionosphere, through its magnetic connection to the outer magnetosphere, provides an important view of magnetospheric boundaries and the physical processes occurring there. All physical manifestations of this magnetic connectivity (waves, particle precipitation, etc.), however, have non-zero propagation times during which they are convected by the large-scale magnetospheric electric field, with phenomena undergoing different convection distances depending on their propagation times. Identification of the ionospheric signatures of magnetospheric regions and phenomena, therefore, can be difficult. Considerable progress has recently been made in identifying these convection signatures in data from low- and high-altitude satellites. This work has allowed us to learn much about issues such as: the rates of magnetic reconnection, both at the dayside magnetopause and in the magnetotail; particle transport across the open magnetopause; and particle acceleration at the magnetopause and the magnetotail current sheets.     

ISEE Ion Composition Data with Implications for Solar Wind Entry into Earth's Magnetotail

Energetic (0.1-16 keV/e) ion data from a plasma composition experiment on the ISEE-1 spacecraft show that Earth's plasma sheet (inside of 23 RE) always has a large population of H+ and He++ ions, the two principal ionic components of the solar wind. This population is the largest, in terms of both number density and spatial thickness, during extended periods of northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and is then also the most "solar wind-like" in the sense that the He++/H+ density ratio is at its peak (about 3% on average in 1978 and 79) and the H+ and He++ have mean (thermal) energies that are in the ratio of about 1:4 and barely exceed the typical bulk flow energy in the solar wind. During geomagnetically active times, associated with southward turnings of the IMF, the H+ and He++ are heated in the central plasma sheet, and reduced in density. Even when the IMF is southward, these ions can be found with lower solar wind-like energies closer to the tail lobes, at least during plasma sheet thinning in the early phase of substorms, when they are often seen to flow tailward, approximately along the magnetic field, at a slow to moderate speed (of order 100 km s-1 or less). These tailward flows, combined with the large density and generally solar wind-like energies of plasma sheet H+ and He++ ions during times of northward IMF, are interpreted to mean that the solar wind enters along the tail flanks, in a region between the lobes and the central plasma sheet, propelled inward by ExB drift associated with the electric fringe field of the low latitude magnetopause boundary layer (LLBL). In order to complete this scenario, it is argued that the rapid (of order 1000 km s-1) earthward ion flows (mostly H+ ions), also along the magnetic field, that are more typically the precursors of plasma sheet "recovery" during substorm expansion, are not proof of solar wind entry in the distant tail, but may instead be a time-of-flight effect associated with plasma sheet redistribution in a dipolarizing magnetic field.     

微波与等离子体之间的相互作用

根据微波和等离子的基本理论以及它们之间相互作用的原理,建立了由微波能、谐振腔内电场、工质流场、等离子体平衡场等组成的轴对称偏微分方程组。通过对模型的计算,获得了放电管内等离子体区的形状、电场、电子浓度和温度场,以及气体温度场。     

微波等离子推力器同轴谐振腔内的电磁场特性

为了研究同轴谐振腔内导体的头部形状、位置对腔内电磁场分布的影响规律,用时域有限差分法(FDID)对微波等离子推力器(MPT)TEM谐振模式的同轴谐振腔中的电磁场进行了数值模拟,并结合实验现象对数值模拟的结果进行了分析讨论。结果表明,内导体头部形状的改变,改变了同轴腔内电磁场的分布规律和电场强度最大集中区域的位置。内导体位置的改变,只改变电磁场强度的大小,且内导体愈接近同轴腔的底面(即：放电间隙δ愈小),腔内电场强度愈强。同时,锥形头部的内导体,更有利于MPT的启动和稳定工作,为采用同轴谐振腔的MPT工程样机的研制提供了依据。     

等离子射流在圆柱充液室中扩展、掺混的实验及数值模拟

为了研究等离子射流与液体工质相互作用特性,设计了圆柱型充液室,运用数字高速录像系统观察了等离子射流的扩展过程,重点研究了放电电压对等离子射流扩展特性的影响。实验结果表明,等离子射流在液体中扩展时,两相流体存在较大的速度差,Taylor-helmholtz不稳定效应导致强烈的两相湍流掺混,Taylor空腔的亮度在时空上呈非单调分布;放电电压越大,Taylor-helmholtz不稳定效应越强。在实验基础上,建立了等离子射流扩展的二维轴对称非稳态可压缩流的数学模型,并进行了数值模拟,获得了射流场中Taylor空腔界面的形态变化,以及流场中压力、速度、温度、湍动能和湍流耗散率的分布特性。由Taylor空腔界面扩展云图计算得到的Taylor空腔轴向扩展位移与实测值吻合较好。     

等离子体气动激励诱导空气流动的PIV研究

为了揭示等离子体气动激励与边界层相互作用的物理机制,作者进行了等离子体气动激励诱导空气流动的PIV研究.实验结果表明:毫秒、微秒等离子体气动激励诱导空气流动以“启动涡”和“壁面射流”的形式出现;当激励电压为12kV时,最大诱导速度约为3m/s;激励电压越大,“启动涡”和“壁面射流”的强度越大;脉冲激励的作用强度和作用范围要强于定常激励.该结论为提高等离子体流动控制的作用能力提供了指导.