Assessment of the close approach frequency and collision probability for satellites in different configurations of large constellations

The Earth orbital environment is drastically changing due to an intensification of the space activities. In particular, several projects of large constellations, proposed for the next years for communications purpose like global internet access, Internet of Things, or for Earth observations, will lead to the deployment of several thousands of new satellites at an unprecedented rate. It is a crucial challenge for space traffic management, which will deal with a great number of satellite conjunctions, potentially causing a collision with damaging consequences for the constellation itself and the space environment sustainability.In this paper, we investigate the close approach frequency and the cumulative collision probability for each referenced constellation. For this purpose, we compute the orbital evolution of satellites in different constellations during the lifecycle, from the deployment to the decommissioning, and we apply the CUBE algorithm and the Foster method to assess the collision probability with the background space debris population assuming a constant uncertainty in position. We show the variation of risk defined by the close approach frequency and the cumulative collision probability as a function of the proposed configuration. In particular, satellites of the Iridium and Kuiper constellation, but also satellite of the Telesat constellation on polar orbits are the most exposed at a collision. Moreover, the decommissioning phase contribute for a major part to the final cumulative collision probability.     

A comprehensive survey on the methods of angle of attack measurement and estimation in UAVs

Angle of Attack (AOA) is a crucial parameter which directly affects the aerodynamic forces of an aircraft. The measurement of AOA is required to ensure a safe flight within its designed flight envelop. This paper intends to summarise a comprehensive survey on the measurement techniques and estimation methods for AOA, specifically in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) applications. In the case of UAVs, weight constraint plays a major role as far as sensor suites are concerned. This results in selecting a suitable estimation method to extract AOA using the available data from the autopilot. The most feasible and widely employed AOA measurement technique is by using the Multi-Hole Probes (MHPs). The MHP measures the AOA regarding the pressure variations between the ports. Due to the importance of MHP in AOA measurement, the calibration methods for the MHP are also included in this paper. This paper discusses the AOA measurement using virtual AOA sensors, their importance and the operation.     

基于CFD高精度算法的雷电电磁场研究

雷电空间电磁场一直是电磁领域研究的热门，成熟的算法例如有限时域差分法（FDTD），传输线矩阵法（TLM）以及频域的矩量法（MoM）在计算雷电问题方面都有广泛的应用。由于计算流体力学（CFD）中的Euler方程与电磁学中的Maxwell方程有着相同的守恒形式，而且采用间断伽辽金方法（DG）已经在流场问题上得到广泛的尝试，因此引入了基于计算流体力学的DG方法来离散时域Maxwell方程，并采用网格分区并行技术加速计算，使用基于DG的圆球雷达散射截面积（RCS）算例进行测试，数值结果一致表明DG算法在求解电磁场问题上的可行性，之后通过计算一段近场雷电通道的电场分布并与解析解、某算法仿真解对比，数据基本吻合，说明该方法适合于雷电电磁场的计算。     

Orbit-attitude-vibration coupled dynamics of tethered solar power satellite

A new orbit-attitude-vibration coupled dynamic model of the tethered solar power satellite (Tethered SPS) is established based on absolute nodal coordinate formulation. The Hamilton’s equation of the system is derived by introducing generalized momentum through Legendre transformation. The correctness of the proposed model is verified by an example. The dynamic characteristics of the Tethered SPS are studied using the symplectic Runge-Kutta method. Simulation results show that the orbital radius and the total energy of the system are well preserved. The attitude of the system is unstable when the mass of the bus system is small. However, the attitude stability is dependent on some other parameters of the system, which requires further studies. It is also found that the average tether force/deformation can be roughly estimated by simplifying the solar panel as a particle. The proposed model can be used to study the orbit-attitude-vibration coupled dynamics and control problems.     

机载托架自动校准系统的设计与实现

为了解决机载托架传统校准方法精度低、耗时、费力等问题,设计了一种高精度、高效率并且操作简单的成品托架自动校准系统。该系统运用调平精度较高的"循环多次"最高点不动调平方法,建立高精度机载托架校准的静力学数学模型,运用VC与Matlab的COM接口编程技术开发机载托架自动校准系统,并建立良好的人机交互界面。试验结果表明,利用该方法对机载托架进行校准,无论是校准精度还是校准效率都较传统方法有很大提高。     

Topology optimization in lightweight design of a 3D-printed flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle

Topology optimization is an effective method to obtain a lightweight structure that meets the requirements of structural strength. Whether the optimization results meet the actual needs mainly depends on the accuracy of the material properties and the boundary conditions, especially for a tiny Flapping-wing Micro Aerial Vehicle (FMAV) transmission system manufactured by 3D printing. In this paper, experimental and numerical computation efforts were undertaken to gain a reliable topology optimization method for the bottom of the transmission system. First, the constitutive behavior of the ultraviolet (UV) curable resin used in fabrication was evaluated. Second, a numerical computation model describing further verified via experiments. Topology optimization modeling considering nonlinear factors, e.g. contact, friction and collision, was presented, and the optimization results were verified by both dynamic simulation and experiments. Finally, detailed discussions on different load cases and constraints were presented to clarify their effect on the optimization. Our methods and results presented in this paper may shed light on the lightweight design of a FMAV.     

Effect of moderate geomagnetic storms on equatorial plasma bubbles over eastern Africa in the year 2012: Evolution and electrodynamics

Equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) are common features of the equatorial and low-latitude ionosphere and are known to cause radio wave scintillation which leads to the degradation of communication and navigation systems. Although these structures have been studied for decades, a full understanding of their evolution and dynamics remains important for space weather mitigation purposes. In this study, we present cases of EPBs occurrences around April and July 2012 geomagnetic storm periods over the African equatorial sector. The EPBs were observed from the Communications/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) and generally correlated well to the ionospheric irregularities observed from the Global Positioning System total electron content (GPS-TEC) measurements (rate of TEC change, ROT). This study revealed that the evolution of the EPBs during moderate storms is controlled by the strength of the daytime equatorial electrojet (EEJ) currents regardless of the strength of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA), the latter is observed during the July storm case in particular. These effects were more evident during the main and part of the early recovery phases of the geomagnetic storm days considered. However, the evening hours TEC gradients between regions of the magnetic equator and ionization crests also played roles in the existence of ionospheric irregularities.     

一种基于虚拟页地址映射的NAND Flash管理算法

本文提出了一种基于虚拟页地址映射的NAND Flash管理算法.该算法通过定义坏块表、对应表等结构，以及设计的坏块替换策略和虚拟页地址到实际物理页地址的转换算法，实现上层软件采用虚拟地址对NAND Flash的无坏块连续页地址访问.该算法是一种高效的地址映射算法，能高效地对数据进行索引，占用SRAM空间较少，使系统达到高性能，并使得闪存使用的更加稳定持久.     

A robust object-based shadow detection method for cloud-free high resolution satellite images over urban areas and water bodies

Unwanted contrast in high resolution satellite images such as shadow areas directly affects the result of further processing in urban remote sensing images. Detecting and finding the precise position of shadows is critical in different remote sensing processing chains such as change detection, image classification and digital elevation model generation from stereo images. The spectral similarity between shadow areas, water bodies, and some dark asphalt roads makes the development of robust shadow detection algorithms challenging. In addition, most of the existing methods work on pixel-level and neglect the contextual information contained in neighboring pixels. In this paper, a new object-based shadow detection framework is introduced. In the proposed method a pixel-level shadow mask is built by extending established thresholding methods with a new C₄ index which enables to solve the ambiguity of shadow and water bodies. Then the pixel-based results are further processed in an object-based majority analysis to detect the final shadow objects. Four different high resolution satellite images are used to validate this new approach. The result shows the superiority of the proposed method over some state-of-the-art shadow detection method with an average of 96% in F-measure.