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.     

Big Earth data: disruptive changes in Earth observation data management and analysis?

ABSTRACT

Turning Earth observation (EO) data consistently and systematically into valuable global information layers is an ongoing challenge for the EO community. Recently, the term ‘big Earth data’ emerged to describe massive EO datasets that confronts analysts and their traditional workflows with a range of challenges. We argue that the altered circumstances must be actively intercepted by an evolution of EO to revolutionise their application in various domains. The disruptive element is that analysts and end-users increasingly rely on Web-based workflows. In this contribution we study selected systems and portals, put them in the context of challenges and opportunities and highlight selected shortcomings and possible future developments that we consider relevant for the imminent uptake of big Earth data.     

基于北斗卫星的水汽探测性能分析

本文利用北斗试验网的数据,结合探空观测,对北斗系统与GPS系统,北斗、GPS与探空系统之间进行详细的比较分析,对北斗水汽探测性能及精度给出初步分析结果。北斗系统与GPS系统及探空系统大气可降水量的探测结果较一致,很好地反映了大气可降水量的变化情况;北斗系统解算出的大气可降水量大于GPS系统,两个系统间存在2~3.3 mm的系统误差,水汽含量较低时,一致性更好;北斗系统与探空的系统误差和标准偏差较大,定位定轨模型有待优化,系统稳定性有待提高。     

大连湾牡蛎的染色体数目

以大连湾牡蛎的早期胚胎为材料。经染色体数目分析,首次提出大连湾牡蛎的染色体数目为2n=20。为牡蛎遗传育种工作提供依据。     

Analysis of threshold and incipient conditions for sediment movement

Prediction of threshold conditions and incipient motion is the essential issue for the study of sediment transport. This work compares existing empirical threshold curves proposed for Shields diagram, a method based on the concept of probability of sediment movement, and an empirical method based on movability number. These methods are used to predict the incipient motion conditions for experimental runs taken from various studies. Most of the experimental data, used in this work, have not been used before in derivation of alternative formulations for Shields diagram and other methods. The empirical threshold curves based on the Shields entrainment function was the least successful at predicting the measured incipient motion conditions, while the use of the movability number gives good predictions of critical shear velocity compared with experimental data.     

Status of Satellite Orbit Determination and Time Synchronization Technology for Global Navigation Satellite Systems

In the form of satellite ephemerides and clock parameters, the space datum and system time information of one global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is transferred to users. With the continuous updating in the satellite payload such as the high-precision atomic clock, the monitoring and tracking technique such as the inter-satellite link, and in the data processing technique, the accuracy and real-time performance of the satellite ephemeris and clock error products are steadily improved. Starting from December 27th, 2018, the BeiDou Navigation System 3, or BDS-3, has provided the accurate and reliable basic positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) service for the users in the countries within the “one belt and one road”. This paper has summarized the faced challenges of the precise orbit determination and time synchronization from the regional BDS-2 system to the BDS-3 global system, and the specific solutions at the control segment. In addition, this paper has compared the BDS with other GNSS systems in terms of technical characteristics. Finally, aiming at a higher accuracy and more reliable PNT service, the road map of precise orbit determination and time synchronization technique for the next generation navigation systems is discussed, which will provide a reference for developing the global navigation satellite systems with an even higher accuracy.     

利用卫星遥感技术监测赤潮的研究

赤潮灾害的频繁发生，给海洋生态环境和海洋渔业经济造成了严重危害。卫星遥感技术的不断完善，为快速、有效地动态监测赤潮灾害提供了可能，通过卫星图片的校正、合成、分析、解释、判断分析，可以迅速连续地掌握赤潮的发生状况，对于研究防控和治理赤潮灾害有着十分重要的意义，本文就如何利用卫星遥感技术监测赤潮进行了探讨。     

基于T/P 和Jason-1 高度计数据的渤黄东海潮汐信息提取

对19 a 的TOPEX/POSEIDON(以下称T/P)和Jason-1 卫星高度计测高数据进行调和分析, 得到渤黄东海海域的8 个主要分潮(M2、S2、N2、K2、K1、O1、P1 和Q1)。提出一种将两类卫星高度计数据统一的方法, 消除了因两类卫星高度计校正算法等不同所导致的相互之间的偏差。变轨后的T/P与Jason-1 卫星加密了高度计对潮汐观测的空间分布。通过对交叉点处升轨与降轨的潮汐调和分析结果进行比较, 检验调和分析方法及高度计数据的可靠性; 将基于高度计数据的调和分析结果与验潮站资料进行比较, 以检验其正确性。4 个主要分潮(M2、S2、K1、O1)振幅之差的均方根介于1.0~1.8 cm, 迟角之差的均方根介于4.1°~7.8°。与已有研究结果相比, 调和分析结果的精确性有所提高。在此基础上, 综合变轨前后两类高度计测高数据的调和分析结果, 给出并分析了渤黄东海4 个主要分潮的同潮图。     

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH WIND DISTRIBUTION IN CHINA'S COASTAL REGION AND THEIR CAUSES

This work investigates the distribution of high winds above Beaufort scale 6 in the offshore zones of China using high-resolution satellite measurements.A numerical experiment is carried out in order to find out the effects of Taiwan Island on the formation of strong winds.The analysis indicates that the distribution of high wind occurrence is similar to that of the average wind velocity in winter.High winds tend to be anchored in special topographical regions,such as the Taiwan Strait,the Bashi Channel and the southeast coast of Vietnam.High winds occur much more frequently over the warmer than the colder flank of Kuroshio front as it meanders from Taiwan to Japan.The frequency of high winds decreases drastically in spring.The Taiwan Strait maintains the largest high wind occurrence.Besides,high winds remain frequent in the Bashi Channel,the southeast tip of Taiwan Island and the warmer flank of Kuroshio front.In summer,high winds generally occur infrequently except over a broad region off the southeast coast of Vietnam near 10°N and the frequency there decreases from southwest to northeast.High winds around Taiwan Island present near axisymmetric distribution with larger frequency along southeast-northwest direction and smaller frequency along southwest-northeast direction.The dominant direction of high winds exhibits a counterclockwise circulation surrounding the island.The frequency of high winds increases rapidly in autumn and almost repeats the distribution that appears in winter.The simulation results suggest that the effects of Taiwan Island topography on high winds vary with seasons.In winter,topography is the major cause of high winds in the surrounding oceanic zones.High winds in both Taiwan Strait and the southeast corner of the island disappear and the frequency decreases gradually from south to north when the terrain is removed.However,in summer,high wind frequency derived from two simulations with and without terrain is almost identical.We attribute this phenomenon to the factors which are responsible for the formation of high winds.     

Coseismic and post-seismic signatures of the Sumatra 2004 December and 2005 March earthquakes in GRACE satellite gravity

The GRACE satellite mission has been measuring the Earth's gravity field and its temporal variations since 2002 April. Although these variations are mainly due to mass transfer within the geofluid envelops, they also result from mass displacements associated with phenomena including glacial isostatic adjustment and earthquakes. However, these last contributions are difficult to isolate because of the presence of noise and of geofluid signals, and because of GRACE's coarse spatial resolution (>400 km half-wavelength). In this paper, we show that a wavelet analysis on the sphere helps to retrieve earthquake signatures from GRACE geoid products. Using a wavelet analysis of GRACE geoids products, we show that the geoid variations caused by the 2004 December ( M _w= 9.2) and 2005 March ( M _w= 8.7) Sumatra earthquakes can be detected. At GRACE resolution, the 2004 December earthquake produced a strong coseismic decrease of the gravity field in the Andaman Sea, followed by relaxation in the area affected by both the Andaman 2004 and the Nias 2005 earthquakes. We find two characteristic timescales for the relaxation, with a fast variation occurring in the vicinity of the Central Andaman ridge. We discuss our coseismic observations in terms of density changes of crustal and upper-mantle rocks, and of the vertical displacements in the Andaman Sea. We interpret the post-seismic signal in terms of the viscoelastic response of the Earth's mantle. The transient component of the relaxation may indicate the presence of hot, viscous material beneath the active Central Andaman Basin.