Coherent integration time limit of a mobile receiver for indoor GNSS applications

There is an emerging requirement for processing global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals indoor where the signal is very weak and subjected to spatial fading. Typically, longer coherent integration intervals provide the additional processing gain required for the detection and processing of such weak signals. However, the arbitrary physical motion of the handset imputed by the user limits the effectiveness of longer coherent integration intervals due to the spatial decorrelation of the multipath-faded GNSS signal. In this paper, limits of coherent integration due to spatial decorrelation are derived and corroborated with experimental verification. A general result is that the processing gain resulting from direct coherent integration saturates after the antenna has moved through a certain distance, which for typical indoor propagation, is about half a carrier wavelength. However, a refined Doppler search coupled with a prolonged coherent integration interval extends this limit, which is effectively a manifestation of selective diversity.     

Simplification and Validation of a Spectral-Tensor Model for Turbulence Including Atmospheric Stability

A spectral-tensor model of non-neutral, atmospheric-boundary-layer turbulence is evaluated using Eulerian statistics from single-point measurements of the wind speed and temperature at heights up to 100 m, assuming constant vertical gradients of mean wind speed and temperature. The model has been previously described in terms of the dissipation rate \(\epsilon \), the length scale of energy-containing eddies \(\mathcal {L}\), a turbulence anisotropy parameter \(\varGamma \), the Richardson number Ri, and the normalized rate of destruction of temperature variance \(\eta _\theta \equiv \epsilon _\theta /\epsilon \). Here, the latter two parameters are collapsed into a single atmospheric stability parameter z / L using Monin–Obukhov similarity theory, where z is the height above the Earth’s surface, and L is the Obukhov length corresponding to \(\{Ri,\eta _\theta \}\). Model outputs of the one-dimensional velocity spectra, as well as cospectra of the streamwise and/or vertical velocity components, and/or temperature, and cross-spectra for the spatial separation of all three velocity components and temperature, are compared with measurements. As a function of the four model parameters, spectra and cospectra are reproduced quite well, but horizontal temperature fluxes are slightly underestimated in stable conditions. In moderately unstable stratification, our model reproduces spectra only up to a scale \(\sim \) 1 km. The model also overestimates coherences for vertical separations, but is less severe in unstable than in stable cases.     

Magnetic Fields of Neutron Stars

This article briefly reviews our current understanding of the evolution of magnetic fields in neutron stars, which basically defines the evolutionary pathways between different observational classes of neutron stars. The emphasis here is on the evolution in binary systems and the newly emergent classes of millisecond pulsars.     

Characteristics of pegmatoidal granite exposed near Bayalan,Ajmer district,Rajasthan

The study involves the characterization of pegmatoidal granite, southeast of Beawar, Ajmer district, Rajasthan. Earlier researchers had described this granite as part of the BGC, basement to the Bhim Group of the Delhi Super Group rocks. However, the present study indicates that it is younger than the rocks of Bhim Group of South Delhi Fold Belt, into which it is intrusive. The intrusion is structurally controlled and the outcrop pattern is phacolithic. The granite had intruded post-D₂ deformation of the Delhi orogeny along the axial planes of D₂ folds. The intrusion has also resulted in the formation of a contact aureole about the calc gneisses.     

Comparative phylogeography of African rain forest trees: A review of genetic signatures of vegetation history in the Guineo-Congolian region

The biogeographic history of the African rain forests has been contentious. Phylogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of genetic lineages within species, can highlight the signatures of historical events affecting the demography and distribution of species (i.e. population fragmentation or size changes, range expansion/contraction) and, thereby, the ecosystems they belong to. The accumulation of recent data for African rain forests now enables a first biogeographic synthesis for the region. In this review, we explain which phylogeographic patterns are expected under different scenarios of past demographic change, and we give an overview of the patterns detected in African rain forest trees to discuss whether they support alternative hypotheses regarding the history of the African rain forest cover. The major genetic discontinuities in the region support the role of refugia during climatic oscillations, though not necessarily following the classically proposed scenarios. We identify in particular a genetic split between the North and the South of the Lower Guinean region. Finally we provide some perspectives for future study.     

Eutrophication,health risk assessment and spatial analysis of water quality in Gucheng Lake,China

The water characteristics of the Gucheng Lake, such as eutrophication, health and spatial distribution, were investigated. On the basis of the trophic state index (TSI) and entropy weight, a synthesized trophic state index (STSI) model was established to assess lake eutrophication condition through calculating STSI, choosing TP, TN, COD, BOD and NH₃-N as trophic variables. The STSI ranged from 50.58 to 62.44, which showed that the water has been between eutrophic and supereutrophic. A histogram was applied to health risk assessment which was analyzed from carcinogenic substances (Cr⁺⁶, As and Cd) and non-carcinogenic substances (hydroxybenzene, Pb, Hg, CN⁻ and NH₃), and the results showed that the former was much greater than the latter for effect. The total risk for each resident caused by all pollutants ranged from 5.18E-05 to 8.34E-05, which is far higher than the standard, recommended by Sweden Bureau of Environment Protection and Holland Ministry of Building and Environment Protection (1.0E-05). Cluster analysis was used to detect similarities and dissimilarities among the seven sampling sites and explain the observed clustering in terms of affected conditions. Twenty-one variables were used to divide seven sampling sites into three groups, namely, north lake, south lake and lake center.     

Microstructure characteristics and forming environment of late Quaternary Period loess in the Loess Plateau of China

Since the late Quaternary Period, the rapid rising of the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau has greatly changed the East Asian climate and formed different regional monsoon climates. Various microstructures of the loess in northern China have formed under a variety of climatic conditions. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy spectrum analysis are used in this paper to study the relationship between the indexes of loess microstructures and the forming climates, and the indexes include the diameter of sand grains, Ca/Fe value and the characteristic shapes of the loess from SEM microstructures pictures. In terms of their respective climatic circumstances, the major microstructures of regional loess may be classified into nine categories according to their forms and particle sizes, such as loess formed in near-sand source, loess of granule sand dropping, and loess formed in hot and rainy places, i.e. with the loess SEM pictures, climates of about 15 ka b.p. in different places may be evaluated. In conclusion, the clear and distinguishable loess microstructures and their indexes in the Loess Plateau of China can also deduce the evolution of climate, such as warm or cold and wet or dry, and even sandstorm activities when the loess is deposited.