星载原子干涉技术用于地球重力场测量及其精度评估

重力梯度卫星GOCE通过搭载静电式重力梯度仪,将全球静态重力场恢复至200阶以上。目前GOCE卫星已结束寿命,亟须发展下一代更高分辨率的卫星重力梯度测量来完善200~360阶的全球静态重力场模型。原子干涉型的重力梯度测量在空间微重力环境下可获得较长的干涉时间,因此具有很高的星载测量精度,是下一代卫星重力梯度测量的候选技术之一。本文针对未来更高分辨率全球重力场测量的科学需求,提出了一种适用于空间微重力环境下的原子干涉重力梯度测量方案,其梯度测量噪声可低至0.85mE/Hz1/2。文中对不同类型的卫星重力梯度测量方案进行了重力场反演精度的对比评估,仿真结果表明,相比于现有静电式卫星重力梯度测量,原子干涉型的卫星重力梯度测量有望将重力场的恢复阶数提升至252~290阶,对应的累积大地水准面误差7~8cm,累积重力异常误差3×10-5 m/s2。     

Unveiling the Launching Region of YSO Jets with AMBER

The interplay between accretion and ejection in the environment of young stellar objects (YSOs) is believed to be a crucial element in the star formation process. Since most of the properties of the models are set up in the first few AUs from the source (below the so-called Alfvèn surface), to validate and constrain the models observationally we need very high angular resolution. With HST (resolution ∼ 0.'1, i.e. about 14 AU in Taurus)we have been able to access the external border of the acceleration region, for jets in the Taurus-Auriga cloud. Here we see an onion-like kinematic structure in the first 200 AU of the flow, and indications for rotation around the symmetry axis for the resolved low/moderate velocity component. We have now planned observations with AMBER on the VLTI to investigate at 1 mas resolution (in J) the core of the central engine, down to 0.1 AU from the source. Here we describe a joint project by several Institutes in the AMBER consortium dedicated to the study of the morphology and detailed kinematics of a few selected targets. On one hand we will use the large UV coverage of the ATs to explore at medium spectral resolution the structure of the flow. On the other hand the large collection area of the UTs combined with the high resolution mode (R=10000) of AMBER will allow us to search for interesting kinematic features, among which signatures of rotation around the axis, that would constitute an important validation of the proposed models for the jet launching. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.