Short-Range Super-Resolution Feature Extraction of Complex Edged Contours for Object Recognition by Ultra-Wideband Radar

This thesis contributes to the field of short-range ultra-wideband (UWB) Radar. In particular, an object recognition approach performed by a bi-static UWB Radar has been investigated in this thesis. The investigated objects consist of simple canonical and some polygonal complex objects which are scanned on a circular track at about 1 m distance. Geometrical features, texture features and moment based features are extracted from the Radar data to carry out the recognition. Yet, the precise temporal evolution is subject to massive distortions, mainly caused by severe interference conditions and transient effects of the hardware. Thus, super-resolution algorithms have been developed which go far beyond the classical bandwidth given resolution and asked for research on various fields: (i) An innovative wavefront extraction algorithm with polarimetric diversity exploitation has been developed to separate pulses which overlap almost the whole pulse duration; (ii) a highly precise feature extraction algorithm has been developed which localises significant scattering centres by processing the previously extracted wavefronts; (iii) a novel UWB object recognition algorithm has been developed to classify and discriminate the resulting microwave images. When scanning objects from all sides, exceptional recognition of objects was achieved by a minimum mean squared error classifier. Further improvement in recognition was obtained, especially at severly restricted tracks, by the application of Bayes theory which constitutes a superior classifier to the above. In addition to the main field of research, a novel stereoscopic 3D UWB imaging algorithm, based on a spatially spanned synthetic aperture in conjunction with ellipsoidal shaped wavefronts, has been developed. The ultimate test of any model and system is an experimental validation. Consequently in this thesis, all developed algorithms and the object recognition as a whole system are experimentally validated within an elaborate measurement campaign

Eighth Huntsville Gamma-Ray Burst Symposium : October 24–28, 2016, Huntsville, Alabama

The Eighth Huntsville Gamma-Ray Burst Symposium will cover all areas of GRB science with a particular emphasis on multi-messenger observations and theory. Topics will include prompt emission (observations and theory), afterglows (observations and theory), high redshift observations and early universe implications, central engine and jet physics, supernovae and progenitors, host galaxies, short and sub-energetic GRBs (observations and theory), multi-messenger observations, and future instruments. While the focus of the meeting is GRBs, we will discuss related topics, such as core-collapse supernovae, fast radio bursts, and tidal disruption events.Organizers, Institutional Support: Universities Space Research Association (USRA) NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Fermi and Swift Missions Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research (CSPAR), University of Alabama in Huntsville ; Conveners: Valerie Connaughton, Universities Space Research Association, Adam Goldstein, Universities Space Research Association, Neil Gehrels, NASA Goddard Space Flight CenterPARTIAL CONTENTS: Time-Resolved Spectral Shapes of Gamma-Ray Bursts--Manifestation of the Jet Photosphere in GRB Spectra--The Fastest Fermi GRBs--First Year Observations of GRBs with CALET Gamma Ray Burst Monitor--Gamma-Ray Bursts from the Swift Burst Alert Telescope: Instrumental Sensitivity and Implication on the High-Redshift GRBs--Testing the Energy Dependency of the Spectral Lag of GRBs with Fermi/GBM and LAT--Structure in the Light Curves of Short Gamma-Ray Burst Pulses--Investigating the Nature of Late-Time GeV Emission in GRBs Through Joint Fermi/Swift Observations--Fermi-LAT Observations of GRB 160509A--Features of > 130 Gamma-Ray Bursts at High Energy: Towards the 2nd Fermi/LAT GRB Catalog