Calibration observations of Fomalhaut with the VLTI

An investigation of the stability of the transfer function of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope Interferometer has been carried out through observations of Fomalhaut, which was observed over a range in hour angle from 21:50–05:24 on 20 October 2002. No significant variation in the transfer function was found for the zenith angle range 5°–70°. The projected baseline varied between 139.7 m and 49.8 m during the observations and, as an integral part of the determination of the transfer function, a new accurate limb‐darkened angular diameter for Fomalhaut of 2.109 ± 0.013 mas has been established. This has led to improved values for the emergent flux = (3.43 ± 0.10)×10⁸ Wm⁻², effective temperature = 8819 ± 67 K and radius = (1.213 ± 0.011)×10⁹ m (R/R_⊙ = 1.744 ± 0.016). The luminosity has been found to be (6.34 ± 0.20)×10²⁷ W (L/L_⊙ = 16.5 ± 0.5). (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

基于参考DEM的机载InSAR定标方法

研究无人工靶标的干涉定标方法对促进机载InSAR技术在山区等复杂地形的测绘、制图等定量应用有重要的实用价值。本文提出一种新的基于参考DEM的干涉定标方法,在InSAR定标中用已知高程精度的参考DEM与待定标的InSAR系统生成的DEM进行比较,利用参考DEM模拟SAR图像,获得大量定标所需的控制点坐标来建立敏感度矩阵,并对敏感度方程的解算进行了改进,同时将干涉处理与定标过程相结合,改进了干涉处理过程,最后得到定标后的干涉参数并生成DEM,利用机载数据进行了实验验证,并分析了无人工靶标干涉定标实验结果的误差。     

森林地上生物量的极化相干层析估计方法

基于微波的后向散射系数估计森林地上生物量(AGB)易受后向散射系数饱和的影响,而利用森林高度,根据生长方程估计AGB,却没有考虑和AGB密切相关的林分密度、树种组成、林层垂直分布等空间结构特征的作用,针对这些问题,提出一种基于极化相干层析(Polarization Coherence Tomography,PCT)技术的AGB估计方法。基于德国宇航局(DLR)机载SAR系统(ESAR)获取的特劳斯坦(Traunstein)试验区L-波段极化干涉SAR(PolInSAR)数据,通过对具有不同AGB水平的典型林分的相对反射率函数曲线的分析,定义了9个与AGB具有相关性的特征参数。然后基于20个林分的实测AGB数据,以林分尺度上这9个特征参数的平均值为自变量,以实测林分平均AGB为因变量,采用逐步回归分析法构建了AGB估测模型,并对该模型进行评价,对影响模型估计精度的因素进行分析,结果表明,由PCT提取的相对反射率函数特征参数对AGB很敏感,充分利用相对反射率函数信息可提高AGB估计精度。     

Interferometric Observation at Mid-Infrared Wave-lengths with MIDI

MIDI, the MID-Infrared Interferometricnterferometric Instrument for ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), will be the first instrument for combining mid-infrared light directly in order to obtain angular resolution up to 10 mas (assuming a 200 m baseline) in a wavelength range from 8 to 13 μm. Currently in the phase of commissioning at Paranal, the start of its scientific operation is expected for summer 2003. Direct interferometry at thermal infrared wavelengths demands special requirements on the instrument and also on the procedures of preparation of data reduction. Hereafter MIDI's different observing modes are described and an example for an interferometric observation is given. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The VLTI – A Status Report

The Very Large Telescope (VLT) Observatory on Cerro Paranal (2635 m) in Northern Chile is approaching completion. After the four 8-m Unit Telescopes (UT) individually saw first light in the last years, two of them were combined for the first time on October 30, 2001 to form a stellar interferometer, the VLT Interferometer. The combination in pairs of all four UTs was completed in September 2002. In this article, we will describe the subsystems of the VLTI and the planning for the following years. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Maximum-likelihood astrometric geometry calibration of interferometric telescopes: application to the Very Small Array

Interferometers require accurate determination of the array configuration in order to produce reliable observations. A method is presented for finding the maximum-likelihood estimate of the telescope geometry, and of other instrumental parameters, astrometrically from the visibility timelines obtained from observations of celestial calibrator sources. The method copes systematically with complicated and unconventional antenna and array geometries, with electronic bandpasses that are different for each antenna radiometer, and with low signal-to-noise ratios for the calibrators. The technique automatically focuses on the geometry errors that are most significant for astronomical observation. We apply this method to observations made with the Very Small Array and constrain some 450 telescope parameters, such as the antenna positions, effective observing frequencies and correlator amplitudes and phaseshifts; this requires only ∼1 h of CPU time on a typical workstation.     

Offline, multidetector intensity interferometers – II. Implications and applications

Intensity interferometry removes the stringent requirements on mechanical precision and atmospheric corrections that plague all amplitude interferometry techniques at the cost of severely limited sensitivity. A new idea we recently introduced, very high redundancy, alleviates this problem. It enables the relatively simple construction (∼1 cm mechanical precision) of a ground-based astronomical facility able to transform a two-dimensional field of point-like sources to a three-dimensional distribution of microarcsec resolved systems, each imaged in several optical bands. Each system will also have its high-resolution residual timing, high-quality (inside each band) spectra and light curve, emergent flux, effective temperature, polarization effects and perhaps some thermodynamic properties, all directly measured. All the above attributes can be measured in a single observation run of such a dedicated facility. We conclude that after three decades of abandonment, optical intensity interferometry deserves another review, also as a ground-based alternative to the science goals of space interferometers.     

The accurate determination of stellar angular diameters using broad-band stellar interferometry

The angular diameter of a star can be estimated from interferometric observations by fitting the data with the visibility function for a uniformly illuminated disc and then using published correction factors to convert the uniform-disc angular diameter to the limb-darkened angular diameter. The correction factors are strictly valid only for monochromatic light. We investigate the effect of using a broad bandwidth, and present a simple method for calculating broad-band correction factors from the monochromatic factors.
The technique of fitting the data with a uniform-disc visibility function is only useful for stars with compact atmospheres and 'typical' limb-darkening profiles. It should not be applied to stars with extended atmospheres or that show extreme limb darkening. These stars have visibility functions that are qualitatively different from a uniform-disc visibility function, so they can be distinguished observationally from compact-atmosphere stars.     

The Cotton-Schwab Clean At Ultra-High Dynamic Range

We present a study of the dynamic range limitations in images produced with the proposed Square Kilometre Array (SKA) using the Cotton-Schwab CLEAN algorithm for data processing. The study is limited to the case of a small field of view and a snap-shot observation. A new modification of the Cotton-Schwab algorithm involving optimization of the position of clean components is suggested. This algorithm can reach a dynamic range as high as 10⁶ even if the point source lies between image grid points, in contrast to about 10³ for existing CLEAN-based algorithms in the same circumstances. It is shown that the positional accuracy of clean components, floating point precision and the w-term are extremely important at high dynamic range. The influence of these factors can be reduced if the variance of the gradient of the point spread function is minimized during the array design.