Using GPS multipath to measure soil moisture fluctuations: initial results

Measurements of soil moisture are important for studies of climate and weather forecasting, flood prediction, and aquifer recharge studies. Although soil moisture measurement networks exist, most are sparsely distributed and lack standardized instrumentation. Measurements of soil moisture from satellites have extremely large spatial footprints (40–60 km). A methodology is described here that uses existing networks of continuously-operating GPS receivers to measure soil moisture fluctuations. In this technique, incoming signals are reflected off and attenuated by the ground before reception by the GPS receiver. These multipath reflections directly affect signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) data routinely collected by GPS receivers, creating amplitude variations that are a function of ground reflectivity and therefore soil moisture content. After describing this technique, multipath reflection amplitudes at a GPS site in Tashkent, Uzbekistan are compared to estimates of soil moisture from the Noah land surface model. Although the GPS multipath amplitudes and the land surface model are uncalibrated, over the 70-day period studied, they both rise sharply following each rainfall event and slowly decrease over a period of ∼10 days.     

Low multipath antennas for GNSS-based attitude determination systems applied to high-altitude platforms

High-altitude platforms (HAPs) are a flexible and attractive technology for providing innovative wireless services. These aerial platforms can be successfully employed for mobile or broadband communications and for disaster monitoring or response. However, one of the open issues is whether HAP stations can provide reliable services without temporal outages owing to stratospheric winds that can cause positional and attitude instabilities thus affecting the communication system operation. To counteract this issue, one possible solution is to use reconfigurable antennas whose pointing direction can be adjusted depending on the platform spatial orientation. However, this would require real-time three-axial attitude data. As a possible solution, this paper will review the potential of GNSS-based attitude determination systems with reference to HAP stations. In particular, it will be shown how the use of a particular class of low multipath and lightweight antennas can provide a high degree of accuracy without altering the avionic ballast.     

An approach to aid INS using time-differenced GPS carrier phase (TDCP) measurements

This paper presents a simple and effective approach that incorporates single-frequency, L1 time-differenced GPS carrier phase (TDCP) measurements without the need of ambiguity resolution techniques and the complexity to accommodate the delayed-state terms. Static trial results are included to illustrate the stochastic characteristics and effectiveness of the TDCP measurements in controlling position error growth. The formulation of the TDCP observation model is also described in a 17-state tightly-coupled GPS/INS iterative, extended Kalman filter (IEKF) approach. Preliminary land vehicle trial results are also presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the TDCP which provides sub-meter positional accuracies when operating for more than 10 min.     

GPS signal acquisition using the repeatability of successive code phase measurements

This paper introduces a new method for GPS signal acquisition, which is based on the repeatability of successive code phase measurements and the M-of-N search algorithm. The performance of the proposed method in terms of probability of signal detection is similar to that of traditional methods, except that the calculation of the probability of detection does not rely on the noise distribution or the Carrier-to-Noise ratio (C/N₀). The code phase repeatability-based method is presented along with equations for probability of detection and probability of false detection. If the distribution of the noise is known, it also provides an estimate of the C/N₀. The proposed method is illustrated for coherent and non-coherent acquisition and C/N₀ estimation.     

GIS软件符号功能特点

讨论当前国内外GIS软件的符号功能及花纹图案填充功能的特点,指出实际应用中不足,为现有软件平台进行符号设计、编辑以及制图等提供参考。     

Cross-scale analysis of cluster correspondence using different operational neighborhoods

Cluster correspondence analysis examines the spatial autocorrelation of multi-location events at the local scale. This paper argues that patterns of cluster correspondence are highly sensitive to the definition of operational neighborhoods that form the spatial units of analysis. A subset of multi-location events is examined for cluster correspondence if they are associated with the same operational neighborhood. This paper discusses the construction of operational neighborhoods for cluster correspondence analysis based on the spatial properties of the underlying zoning system and the scales at which the zones are aggregated into neighborhoods. Impacts of this construction on the degree of cluster correspondence are also analyzed. Empirical analyses of cluster correspondence between paired vehicle theft and recovery locations are conducted on different zoning methods and across a series of geographic scales and the dynamics of cluster correspondence patterns are discussed.      

岩石圈中热压系数的计算

中国中西部地区发育众多前陆冲断带,它们具有构造变形复杂、油气潜力大和有别于经典前陆盆地的沉积和油气地质特征,但其成因过程和动力学并不清楚。文中利用中西部盆地区的地温、岩石热物性参数和地热学模拟技术,分析该区岩石圈热状态和流变学特征,进一步结合其他地质、地球物理资料,揭示盆地区的深部构造特征和岩石圈性质。研究表明,中西部各主要盆地的岩石圈具有厚度大、强度高、地温低等热-流变学特征,表现为刚硬块体;而其周缘和造山带区却表现为温度高、强度低和厚度小等特征,是构造变形的易发区。在此基础上讨论了岩石圈性质和变形过程等深部构造对前陆盆地成因演化的控制作用,进而初步归纳这类陆内再生前陆盆地的成因演化机制:发育于小型克拉通块体的边缘,其就位受控于岩石圈热-流变学非均质性和构造继承性,其动力来源是新生代印度-欧亚大陆碰撞及其持续的挤压作用。上述研究为探讨中国中西部地区的前陆盆地成因机制提供了深部资料和岩石圈热-流变学约束。     

Income distribution dynamics and cross-region convergence in Europe

This paper presents a continuous version of the model of distribution dynamics to analyse the transition dynamics and implied long-run behaviour of the EU-27 NUTS-2 regions over the period 1995–2003. It departs from previous research in two respects: first, by introducing kernel estimation and three-dimensional stacked conditional density plots as well as highest density regions plots for the visualisation of the transition function, based on Hyndman et al. (J Comput Graph Stat 5(4):315–336, 1996), and second, by combining Getis’ spatial filtering view with kernel estimation to explicitly account for the spatial dimension of the growth process. The results of the analysis indicate a very slow catching-up of the poorest regions with the richer ones, a process of shifting away of a small group of very rich regions, and highlight the importance of geography in understanding regional income distribution dynamics.

叠层石衰减事件及臼齿构造作用幕：形成机制与研究进展

叠层石和臼齿构造碳酸岩的兴衰是沉积学界倍受关注的研究主题.地史中叠层石经证实发生了5次比较重要的衰减事件,分别在2 000 Ma、1 250 Ma、1 000 Ma、675 Ma、450 Ma.最近,根据燕山地区非叠层石碳酸盐岩序列,认为在1450 Ma又发生过叠层石衰减,所以存在6次叠层石衰减事件.现今叠层石的丰度已经非常稀少.究其原因主要在于:叠层石的形成与微生物钙化作用有关,而其钙化作用又受周围海水化学变化所影响.显生宙后生动物及海水饱和态共同影响了叠层石的形成.著名的"前寒武纪谜"表明,海水化学条件及微生物的进化则是叠层石发展的主要控制因素.臼齿构造(MT)仅出现在前寒武地层中,具有一定的时代限制,其形成及消失受海洋中CaCO3沉淀的影响,而且似乎主要发育在叠层石衰减事件之后,在空间上臼齿构造多产出于比叠层石更深的水体环境.所以古海洋化学的变化影响着地球表面生物演化及生物沉积的历史,上述研究进展对深入了解海洋化学在地质历史时期的长期变化具有重要意义,而且也有利于解开地质历史上的种种谜团.