The impact of spherical symmetry assumption on radio occultation data inversion in the ionosphere: An assessment study

‘Onion-peeling’ is a very common technique used to invert Radio Occultation (RO) data in the ionosphere. Because of the implicit assumption of spherical symmetry for the electron density (N(e)) distribution in the ionosphere, the standard Onion-peeling algorithm could give erroneous concentration values in the retrieved electron density profile. In particular, this happens when strong horizontal ionospheric electron density gradients are present, like for example in the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) region during high solar activity periods. In this work, using simulated RO Total Electron Content (TEC) data computed by means of the NeQuick2 ionospheric electron density model and ideal RO geometries, we tried to formulate and evaluate an asymmetry level index for quasi-horizontal TEC observations. The asymmetry index is based on the electron density variation that a signal may experience along its path (satellite to satellite link) in a RO event and is strictly dependent on the occultation geometry (e.g. azimuth of the occultation plane). A very good correlation has been found between the asymmetry index and errors related to the inversion products, in particular those concerning the peak electron density NmF2 estimate and the Vertical TEC (VTEC) evaluation.     

月球电离层掩星探测研究

日本SELENE/KAGUYA探测任务提供了研究月球电离层的机会。采用无线电掩星探测技术和趋势外推算法,消除地球电离层和行星际等离子体的干扰影响,残余的信号相位信息的变化反映了月球电离层的信息,估算出月球周围附近近似对称分布的稀薄电离层中电子总含量(TEC)约为每立方米10-14个。     

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.     

大气折射率干项引起电波折射误差的简便算法

提出了大气折射率干项引起电波折射误差的简便算法。重点给出了在现有条件下获得大气折射率干项的等值高度与地面温度实用模型的方法, 并给出了中国某地的模型系数     

简析B757飞机RA故障的关联影响及维护建议

RA系统测量飞机到地面的真实高度。本文介绍了B757飞机RA系统的工作情况,对因RA系统故障引起其他飞机系统工作异常的典型现象进行了分析,介绍了排除故障过程,最后总结了在RA系统实际维护中需要注意的方面,并给出了维护建议。     

基于射频的导航卫星星间链路信息传输与仿真研究

星间链路是导航卫星实现精密定轨和自主导航的关键技术之一。导航卫星通过星间链路完成伪距测量和数据交换,维持系统稳定运行的时空基准,保证系统持续提供精准导航服务。根据全球导航卫星系统的建设情况和发展趋势,首先介绍星间观测和信息传输频段,并从天线特征、多址控制方式和网络拓扑结构等角度分析了射频链路的工作体制。最后,针对实际导航卫星星座,应用OPNET平台建立导航信息传输仿真模型,通过分析信息传输效率,验证了基于射频链路导航信息传输的可行性和有效性,对全球导航卫星系统的星间链路研究具有一定的参考价值。     

火星电离层探测

火星已经成为深空探测的重要目标之一, 登陆火星并在火星生存是人类探测火星的终极目标, 因此电离层是必须了解的火星电磁环境. 火星电离层探测包括直接探测和间接探测. 直接探测精度高, 有较高的空间分辨率, 但是观测时间短, 无法提供长期稳定的探测结果. 对火星电离层的间接探测结果主要来自无线电掩星探测和顶部雷达探测. 无线电掩星探测可实现对火星电离层整个电子密度剖面的长期稳定探测, 但其空间水平分辨率较低, 且可探测的电离层太阳天顶角范围受到地球与火星轨道的限制. 顶部雷达探测对火星电离层的探测具有很高的时间分辨率和空间分辨率, 且同样可进行长期稳定探测, 为火星电离层研究提供了最新的支持. 通过对火星电离层探测的基本方法及典型观测结果的分析, 提出通过几种探测方法适当结合的方式, 同时对火星电离层进行观测, 能够大大推进对火星电离层的研究.      

基于面元分组的电磁遮挡算法及其优化

用物理光学法计算复杂目标的雷达散射截面(RCS,Radar Cross Section)时,通过面元沿电磁波入射方向的重叠关系和景深来判断面元之间的遮挡.将面元投影在与电磁波入射方向垂直的平面上进行分组,使同组的面元距离相近.在计算中只需对同组的面元判断遮挡关系,避免了所有面元的两两遮挡判断,从而节省计算时间,并对分组进行了优化,使计算时间最少.算例表明,基于面元分组的遮挡判断方法可行,能够大大提高计算效率.     

Obtaining more accurate electron density profiles from bending angle with GPS occultation data: FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC constellation

Since 1995, with the first GPS occultation mission on board Low Earth Orbiter (LEO) GPS/MET, inversion techniques were being applied to GPS occultation data to retrieve accurate worldwide distributed refractivity profiles, i.e. electron density profiles in the case of Ionosphere. Important points to guarantee the accuracy is to take into account horizontal gradients and topside electron content above the LEO orbit. This allows improving the accuracy from 20% to 50%, depending on the conditions, latitude and epoch regarding to Solar cycle as reported in previous works.     

Imaging interplanetary CMEs at radio frequency from solar polar orbit

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) represent a great concentration of mass and energy input into the lower corona. They have come to be recognized as the major driver of physical conditions change in the Sun–Earth system. Consequently, observations of CMEs are important for understanding and ultimately predicting space weather conditions. This paper discusses a proposed mission, the Solar Polar Orbit Radio Telescope (SPORT) mission, which will observe the propagation of interplanetary CMEs to distances of near 0.35 AU from the Sun. The orbit of SPORT is an elliptical solar polar orbit. The inclination angle between the orbit and ecliptic plane should be about 90°. The main payload on board SPORT will be an imaging radiometer working at the meter wavelength band (radio telescope), which can follow the propagation of interplanetary CMEs. The images that are obtained by the radio telescope embody the brightness temperature of the objectives. Due to the very large size required for the antenna aperture of the radio telescope, we adopt interferometric imaging technology to reduce it. Interferometric imaging technology is based on indirect spatial frequency domain measurements plus Fourier transformation. The SPORT spacecraft will also be equipped with a set of optical and in situ measurement instruments such as a EUV solar telescope, a solar wind ion instrument, an energetic particle detector, a magnetometer, a wave detector and a solar radio burst spectrometer.