23,705 research outputs found
Detecting Targets above the Earth's Surface Using GNSS-R Delay Doppler Maps: Results from TDS-1
: Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) reflected signals can be used to remotely sense
the Earth’s surface, known as GNSS reflectometry (GNSS-R). The GNSS-R technique has been applied
to numerous areas, such as the retrieval of wind speed, and the detection of Earth surface objects.
This work proposes a new application of GNSS-R, namely to detect objects above the Earth’s surface,
such as low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. To discuss its feasibility, 14 delay Doppler maps (DDMs) are
first presented which contain unusually bright reflected signals as delays shorter than the specular
reflection point over the Earth’s surface. Then, seven possible causes of these anomalies are analysed,
reaching the conclusion that the anomalies are likely due to the signals being reflected from objects
above the Earth’s surface. Next, the positions of the objects are calculated using the delay and
Doppler information, and an appropriate geometry assumption. After that, suspect satellite objects
are searched in the satellite database from Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). Finally, three objects
have been found to match the delay and Doppler conditions. In the absence of other reasons for these
anomalies, GNSS-R could potentially be used to detect some objects above the Earth’s surface.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
A Probabilistic Analysis of the Power of Arithmetic Filters
The assumption of real-number arithmetic, which is at the basis of
conventional geometric algorithms, has been seriously challenged in recent
years, since digital computers do not exhibit such capability.
A geometric predicate usually consists of evaluating the sign of some
algebraic expression. In most cases, rounded computations yield a reliable
result, but sometimes rounded arithmetic introduces errors which may invalidate
the algorithms. The rounded arithmetic may produce an incorrect result only if
the exact absolute value of the algebraic expression is smaller than some
(small) varepsilon, which represents the largest error that may arise in the
evaluation of the expression. The threshold varepsilon depends on the structure
of the expression and on the adopted computer arithmetic, assuming that the
input operands are error-free.
A pair (arithmetic engine,threshold) is an "arithmetic filter". In this paper
we develop a general technique for assessing the efficacy of an arithmetic
filter. The analysis consists of evaluating both the threshold and the
probability of failure of the filter.
To exemplify the approach, under the assumption that the input points be
chosen randomly in a unit ball or unit cube with uniform density, we analyze
the two important predicates "which-side" and "insphere". We show that the
probability that the absolute values of the corresponding determinants be no
larger than some positive value V, with emphasis on small V, is Theta(V) for
the which-side predicate, while for the insphere predicate it is Theta(V^(2/3))
in dimension 1, O(sqrt(V)) in dimension 2, and O(sqrt(V) ln(1/V)) in higher
dimensions. Constants are small, and are given in the paper.Comment: 22 pages 7 figures Results for in sphere test inproved in
cs.CG/990702
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