Measuring atmospheric density using GPS–LEO tracking data

We present a method to estimate the total neutral atmospheric density from precise orbit determination of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. We derive the total atmospheric density by determining the drag force acting on the LEOs through centimeter-level reduced-dynamic precise orbit determination (POD) using onboard Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking data. The precision of the estimated drag accelerations is assessed using various metrics, including differences between estimated along-track accelerations from consecutive 30-h POD solutions which overlap by 6 h, comparison of the resulting accelerations with accelerometer measurements, and comparison against an existing atmospheric density model, DTM-2000. We apply the method to GPS tracking data from CHAMP, GRACE, SAC-C, Jason-2, TerraSAR-X and COSMIC satellites, spanning 12 years (2001–2012) and covering orbital heights from 400 km to 1300 km. Errors in the estimates, including those introduced by deficiencies in other modeled forces (such as solar radiation pressure and Earth radiation pressure), are evaluated and the signal and noise levels for each satellite are analyzed. The estimated density data from CHAMP, GRACE, SAC-C and TerraSAR-X are identified as having high signal and low noise levels. These data all have high correlations with anominal atmospheric density model and show common features in relative residuals with respect to the nominal model in related parameter space. On the contrary, the estimated density data from COSMIC and Jason-2 show errors larger than the actual signal at corresponding altitudes thus having little practical value for this study. The results demonstrate that this method is applicable to data from a variety of missions and can provide useful total neutral density measurements for atmospheric study up to altitude as high as 715 km, with precision and resolution between those derived from traditional special orbital perturbation analysis and those obtained from onboard accelerometers.     

Long term changes of altimeter range and geophysical corrections at altimetry calibration sites

Accurate sea level trend determination is fundamentally related to calibration of both the instrument as well as to investigate if there are linear trends in the set of standard geophysical and range corrections applied to the sea level observations. Long term changes in range corrections can leak into the observed sea level record and be interpreted as part of the sea level trend. Particularly if these exhibit anomalous trend close to the satellite calibration sites.     

Detection of volcanic gases and particles by satellite

In this paper the detection of components of volcanic eruption has been carried out investigating, in appropriate bands of the electromagnetic spectrum (6.25, 8.7, 10.8, 12 μm), the values of the brightness temperature. The analysis has been performed in the Thermal Infrared Region (TIR) studying both the absorption–emission and scattering phenomena related to the interactions between electromagnetic radiation and volcanic emissions. The results have been achieved by means of a combined use of numerical simulations, devoted to examining the behaviour of the atmosphere gases and volcanic components, and remotely sensed satellite images. The proposed methodologies allow an estimate of the amount of gaseous and solid components, of the size of the emitted particles, of the height of the volcanic plume and of the distance of the volcanic components from the crater. The processed images come from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) sensor on board the geo-stationary satellite Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) and take into consideration an eruption of the Etna volcano as a study case (1st of April 2012, 04:30 and 05:30 UTC). The procedures are general and may therefore be extended to any other similar case.     

Using the Global Navigation Satellite System and satellite altimetry for combined Global Ionosphere Maps

For deriving global maps of the Total Electron Content (TEC) from space geodetic techniques usually observations from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) are taken. However, the GNSS stations are inhomogeneously distributed, with large gaps particularly over the sea surface.     

Recovery of the Earth’s gravity field from formation-flying satellites: Temporal aliasing issues

Temporal and mean gravity field models derived from the twin-satellite, leader–follower mission GRACE have provided a new type of information for Earth sciences. In this contribution, we study the potential of various alternative satellite formations for gravity field determination in the post-GRACE era in a simulation environment. In particular, the effects of spherical harmonic truncation and of temporal aliasing in the processing of gravity products from such future formations are investigated.     

耦合运动非定常气动模型对飞机飞行特性仿真的影响

 在大振幅偏航滚转单自由度强迫振荡和耦合强迫振荡运动风洞试验的基础上,分别运用准定常气动力建模方法和非定常气动力建模方法,获取飞机的气动力模型;运用两种不同的气动力模型,对飞机的纵向正弦振荡机动飞行进行了仿真。结果表明,准定常模型在小迎角下的仿真结果与非定常模型的结果基本一致;在较大迎角时,准定常模型仿真结果趋于稳定,而非定常模型仿真结果使飞机进入横航向振荡飞行状态,这一现象与F-16XL的试飞结果类似,其主要原因是耦合运动的非定常模型与准定常模型所产生的阻尼特性不一致。这也表明,分析大迎角飞行特性时应考虑耦合运动下的非定常气动特性。     

圆锥运动及其影响的3种描述方法

从旋转矢量方法、欧拉角方法及刚体有限转动方法出发对圆锥运动及其影响进行了阐述,得到了各方法下的等效陀螺漂移公式以及三者之间的关系;并对圆锥补偿算法在每种方法下的补偿效果进行了研究.结果表明: 刚体有限转动方法与旋转矢量方法是完全等价的,欧拉角方法仅在小角度振动情况下与它们等价;圆锥补偿算法在旋转矢量方法和欧拉角方法下均有效,并在振动角较小时补偿效果一致.旋转矢量方法和刚体有限转动方法重点在于圆锥补偿算法的开发,而欧拉角方法重点则在于指导圆锥运动转台实验设计以验证圆锥补偿算法.      

编队卫星相对运动描述方法综述

对于近地轨道卫星编队飞行的相对运动理论研究,可以采用的方法包括直角坐标法和 轨道要素法。利用直角坐标法得到的相对运动动力学方程可以用于编队队形控制研究,轨道 要素法能够给出相对运动的运动学描述,便于定量研究摄动影响和进行编队队形设计。分析 了直角坐标法在描述卫星长期编队飞行方面的局限性,综述了利用轨道要素描述编队卫星相 对运动的各种研究方法,包括轨道要素差法、相对轨道要素法和参照轨道要素法等。     

固体推进剂受潮对其力学性能的影响

阐述了通过试验与理论分析得到的固体推进剂试件受潮后力学性能的变化规律;通过干燥措施可以恢复受潮试件的力学性能;给出了其恢复度并在此基础上分析了其湿度老化机理。     

一种基于分组截短PN码的SOFDM信道估计方法

基于PN序列的信道估计方法的特点是计算过程简明,已被广泛应用在地面无线局域网系统中。在卫星正交频分多路复用传输体制(SOFDM)系统中引入传统PN序列信道估计方法的主要问题在于卫星信道的多径延时远大于SOFDM数据符号的持续时间,信道特性比较复杂,使得传统方法的估计精度严重下降。提出了一种改进的方法,根据信道的近似周期特性对数据帧进行合理的等长度分组,并把长PN序列改为短PN码来跟踪信道局部特性的变化,再对分组后的数据子帧分别进行信道估计。对该方法的设计思想进行了理论分析,并通过仿真验证了该方法的估计精度比传统方法至少提高了10倍。