Method and apparatus for contour mapping using synthetic aperture radar

By using two SAR antennas spaced a known distance, B, and oriented at substantially the same look angle to illuminate the same target area, pixel data from the two antennas may be compared in phase to determine a difference delta phi from which a slant angle theta is determined for each pixel point from an equation Delta phi = (2 pi B/lambda)sin(theta - alpha), where lambda is the radar wavelength and alpha is the roll angle of the aircraft. The height, h, of each pixel point from the aircraft is determined from the equation h = R cos theta, and from the known altitude, a, of the aircraft above sea level, the altitude (elevation), a', of each point is determined from the difference a - h. This elevation data may be displayed with the SAR image by, for example, quantizing the elevation at increments of 100 feet starting at sea level, and color coding pixels of the same quantized elevation. The distance, d, of each pixel from the ground track of the aircraft used for the display may be determined more accurately from the equation d = R sin theta

On the theory of surface waves in water generated by moving disturbances

The wave profile generated by an obstacle moving at constant veiocity U over a water surface of infinite extent appears to be stationary with respect to the moving body provided, of course, the motion has been maintained for a long time. When the gravitational and capillary effects are both taken into account, the surface waves so generated may possess a minimum phase velocity c[sub]m characterized by a certain wave length, say [lambda][sub]m (see Ref. 1, p. 459). If the velocity U of the solid body is greater than c[sub]m, then the physically correct solution of this two-dimensional problem requires that the gravity waves (of wave length greater than [lambda][sub]m) should exist only on the downstream side and the capillary waves (of wave length less than [lambda][sub]m) only on the upstream side. If one follows strictly the so-called steady-state formulation so that the time does not appear in the problem, one finds in general that it is not possible to characterize uniquely the mathematical solution with the desired physical properties by imposing only the boundedness conditions at infinity. [Footnote: In the case of a three-dimensional steady-state problem, even the condition that the disturbance should vanish at infinity is not sufficient to characterize the unique solution.] Some stronger radiation conditions are actually necessary. In the linearized treatment of this stationary problem, several methods have been employed, most of which are aimed at obtaining the correct solution by introducing some artificial device, either of a mathematical or physical nature. One of these methods widely used was due to Rayleigh, and was further discussed by Lamb. In the analysis of this problem Rayleigh introduced a "small dissipative force", proportional to the velocity relative to the moving stream. This "law" of friction does not originate from viscosity and is hence physically fictitious, for in the final result this dissipation factor is made to vanish eventually. In the present investigation, Rayleigh's friction coefficient is shown to correspond roughly to a time convergence factor for obtaining the steady-state solution from an initial value problem. (It is not a space-limit factor for fixing the boundary conditions at space infinity, as has usually been assumed in explanation of its effect). Thus, the introduction of Rayleigh's coefficient is only a mathematical device to render the steady-state solution mathematically determinate and physically acceptable. For a physical understanding, however, it is confusing and even misleading; for example, in an unsteady flow case it leads to an incomplete solution, as has been shown by Green. Another approach, purely of a physical nature, was used by Michell in his treatment of the velocity potential for thin ships. To make the problem determinate, he chose the solution which represents the gravity waves propagating only downstream and discarded the part corresponding to the waves traveling upstream. For two-dimensional problems with the capillary effect, this method would mean a superposition of simple waves so as to make the solution physically correct. Some other methods appear to be limited in the necessity of interpreting the principal value of a certain kind of improper integral. In short, as to their physical soundness and mathematical rigor, or even to their merits or demerits, the preference of one method over the others has remained nevertheless a matter of considerable dispute. Only until recently the steady-state problem has been treated by first formulating a corresponding initial value problem. A brief historical sketch of these methods is given in the next section. The purpose of this paper is to try to understand the physical mechanism underlying the steady configuration of the surface wave phenomena and to clarify to a certain extent the background of the artifices adopted for solution of steady-state problems. The point of view to be presented here is that this problem should be formulated first as an initial value problem (for example, the body starts to move with constant velocity at a certain time instant), and then the stationary state is sought by passing to the limit as the time tends to infinity. If at any finite time instant the boundary condition that the disturbance vanishes at infinity (because of the finite wave velocity) is imposed, then the limiting solution as the time tends to infinity is determinate and bears automatically the desired physical properties. Also, from the integral representation of the linearized solution, the asymptotic behavior of the wave form for large time is derived in detail, showing the distribution of the wave trains in space. This asymptotic solution exhibits an interesting picture which reveals how the dispersion* generates two monochromatic wave trains, with the capillary wave in front of, and the gravity wave behind, the surface pressure. *[Footnote: By dispersive medium is meant one in which the wave velocity of a propagating wave depends on the wave length, so that a number of wave trains of different wave lengths tends to form groups, propagating with group velocities which are in general different from the phase velocities of individual wave trains. In case of waves on the water surface, both the gravity and surface tension are responsible for dispersion.] The special cases U< c[sub]m and U = c[sub]m are also discussed. The viscous effect and the effect of superposition are commented upon later. Through this detailed investigation it is found that the dispersive effect, not the viscous effect plays the significant role in producing the final stationary wave configuration

Deriving a geocentric reference frame for satellite positioning and navigation

With the advent of Earth-orbiting geodetic satellites, nongeocentric datums or reference frames have become things of the past. Accurate geocentric three-dimensional positioning is now possible and is of great importance for various geodetic and oceanographic applications. While relative positioning accuracy of a few centimeters has become a reality using very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), the uncertainty in the offset of the adopted coordinate system origin from the geocenter is still believed to be on the order of 1 meter. Satellite laser ranging (SLR), however, is capable of determining this offset to better than 10 cm, but this is possible only after years of measurements. Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements provide a powerful tool for an accurate determination of this origin offset. Two strategies are discussed. The first strategy utilizes the precise relative positions that were predetermined by VLBI to fix the frame orientation and the absolute scaling, while the offset from the geocenter is determined from GPS measurements. Three different cases are presented under this strategy. The reference frame thus adopted will be consistent with the VLBI coordinate system. The second strategy establishes a reference frame by holding only the longitude of one of the tracking sites fixed. The absolute scaling is determined by the adopted gravitational constant (GM) of the Earth; and the latitude is inferred from the time signature of the Earth rotation in the GPS measurements. The coordinate system thus defined will be a geocentric Earth-fixed coordinate system

Optimum performance and potential flow field of hovering rotors

Rotor and propeller performance and induced potential flowfields were studied on the basis of a rotating actuator disk concept, with special emphasis on rotors hovering out of ground effect. A new theory for the optimum performance of rotors hovering OGE is developed and presented. An extended theory for the optimum performance of rotors and propellers in axial motion is also presented. Numerical results are presented for the optimum distributions of blade-bound circulation together with axial inflow and ultimate wake velocities for the hovering rotor over the range of thrust coefficient of interest in rotorcraft applications. Shapes of the stream tubes and of the velocities in the slipstream are obtained, using available methods, for optimum and off-optimum circulation distributions for rotors hovering in and out of ground effect. A number of explicit formulae useful in computing rotor and propeller induced flows are presented for stream functions and velocities due to distributions of circular vortices over axi-symmetric surfaces

The first geocenter estimation results using GPS measurements

The center of mass of the Earth is the natural and unambiguous origin of a geocentric satellite dynamical system. A geocentric reference frame assumes that the origin of its coordinate axes is at the geocenter, in which all relevant observations and results can be referred and in which geodynamic theories or models for the dynamic behavior of Earth can be formulated. In practice, however, a kinematically obtained terrestrial reference frame may assume an origin other than the geocenter. A fast and accurate method of determining origin offset from the geocenter is highly desirable. Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements, because of their abundance and broad distribution, provide a powerful tool to obtain this origin offset in a short period of time. Two effective strategies have been devised. Data from the first Central and South America (Casa Uno) global GPS experiment were studied to demonstrate the ability of recovering the geocenter location with present-day GPS satellites and receivers

IUE observations of Seyfert galaxies

The L alpha/H beta ratio and line profiles for several galaxies are presented. The continuous energy distribution of NGC 4151 and MKN 509 are presented from the X-ray region to the infrared

Hidden symmetry and quantum phases in spin-3/2 cold atomic systems

Optical traps and lattices provide a new opportunity to study strongly correlated high spin systems with cold atoms. In this article, we review the recent progress on the hidden symmetry properties in the simplest high spin fermionic systems with hyperfine spin $F=3/2$, which may be realized with atoms of $^{132}$Cs, $^9$Be, $^{135}$Ba, $^{137}$Ba, and $^{201}$Hg. A {\it generic} SO(5) or isomorphically, $Sp(4)$) symmetry is proved in such systems with the s-wave scattering interactions in optical traps, or with the on-site Hubbard interactions in optical lattices. Various important features from this high symmetry are studied in the Fermi liquid theory, the mean field phase diagram, and the sign problem in quantum Monte-Carlo simulations. In the s-wave quintet Cooper pairing phase, the half-quantum vortex exhibits the global analogue of the Alice string and non-Abelian Cheshire charge properties in gauge theories. The existence of the quartetting phase, a four-fermion counterpart of the Cooper pairing phase, and its competition with other orders are studied in one dimensional spin-3/2 systems. We also show that counter-intuitively quantum fluctuations in spin-3/2 magnetic systems are even stronger than those in spin-1/2 systems

Silicon production in an aerosol reactor

An aerosol reactor system was developed in which large particles of silicon can be grown by silane pyrolysis. To grow particles to sizes larger than one micron, vapor deposition must be used to grow a relatively small number of seed particles. Suppression of nucleation is achieved by limiting the rate of gas phase chemical reactions such that the condensible products of the gas phase chemical reactions diffuse to the surface of the seed particles as rapidly as they are produced. This prevents high degrees of supersaturation and runaway nucleation during the growth process. Particles on the order of 10 microns were grown repeatedly with the present aersol reactor. The nucleation controlled aerosol reactor is, therefore, a suitable system for the production of powders that can readily be separated from the gas by aerodynamic means