Natural and sail-displaced doubly-symmetric Lagrange point orbits for polar coverage

This paper proposes the use of doubly-symmetric, eight-shaped orbits in the circular restricted three-body problem for continuous coverage of the high-latitude regions of the Earth. These orbits, for a range of amplitudes, spend a large fraction of their period above either pole of the Earth. It is shown that they complement Sun-synchronous polar and highly eccentric Molniya orbits, and present a possible alternative to low thrust pole-sitter orbits. Both natural and solar-sail displaced orbits are considered. Continuation methods are described and used to generate families of these orbits. Starting from ballistic orbits, other families are created either by increasing the sail lightness number, varying the period or changing the sail attitude. Some representative orbits are then chosen to demonstrate the visibility of high-latitude regions throughout the year. A stability analysis is also performed, revealing that the orbits are unstable: it is found that for particular orbits, a solar sail can reduce their instability. A preliminary design of a linear quadratic regulator is presented as a solution to stabilize the system by using the solar sail only. Finally, invariant manifolds are exploited to identify orbits that present the opportunity of a ballistic transfer directly from low Earth orbit

Efeitos de parâmetros de aplicação na ação dessecante do herbicida sulfosate sobre plantas de arroz Effects of application parameters on desiccation action of herbicide sulfosate on rice

O controle de plantas daninhas do tipo gramíneas constitui-se em grande problema nos sistemas de cultivo mínimo, requerendo aplicações eficientes de herbicidas. Nesse sentido, parâmetros de tecnologia de aplicação como volume de calda, tamanho de gota e concentração herbicida exercem grande influência sobre a atividade desses produtos. O objetivo desse trabalho foi investigar os efeitos das interações da dose herbicida, sua concentração na solução e o volume do veículo diluente, sobre a eficiência do herbicida sulfosate, usando-se arroz como espécie reagente. O experimento foi conduzido durante a safra agrícola de 1994/95 na Estação Experimental do Arroz do IRGA, em Cachoeirinha, RS. Foram testados 18 tratamentos, constituídos por cinco doses de sulfosate (1,7; 2,3; 3,0; 4,0 e 4,7 l/ha de produto formulado); cinco volumes de diluente (85; 115; 150; 200 e 235 l/ha) e cinco concentrações de produto na calda (1,2; 1,5; 2,0; 2,6 e 3,3% v/v). Em cada condição um desses parâmetros era fixado e os outros dois variavam. Ao se manter constante o volume de calda, não houve diferenças, na última avaliação, entre as doses 3,0; 4,0 e 4,7 l/ha de sulfosate, quando todas alcançaram nível ao redor de 90% de controle do arroz. Já quando se manteve constante a concentração herbicida, as respostas às doses foram não significativas. Apenas na última avaliação observou-se desempenho inferior da menor dose. Na terceira condição, quando se manteve constante a dose herbicida, observou-se que o sulfosate foi mais atuante quando aplicado nas maiores concentrações. Foram alcançados níveis de controle ao redor de 90% com doses de sulfosate de 3 l/ha ou superiores, ou com concentrações herbicidas de 2% ou maiores. Isso demonstra que parâmetros de tecnologia de aplicação de sulfosate podem ser alterados no sentido de se obter maior eficiência na sua ação.<br>Control of weed grass species constitutes a great problem in reduced tillage systems, requiring efficient herbicide application. In this sense, application parameters like spray volume, dropplet size, and herbicide concentration may exert great influence on activity of these products. The objective of this research was to investigate the interaction effects of herbicide rate,herbicide concentration, and diluent volume, on sulfosate efficiency, using rice as test plant. The experiment was conducted during the 1994/95 growing season at the IRGA Rice Experimental Station, in Cachoeirinha, RS, Brazil. Eighteen treatments were tested, performed by five sulfosate rates (1.7; 2.3; 3.0; 4.0; and 4.7 l/ha of formulated product), five diluent volumes (85; 115; 150; 200; and 235 l/ha), and five product concentrations in spray solution (1.2; 1.5; 2.0; 2.6; and 3.3 % v/v). In each condition, one of these parameters was fixed, whereas the other two varied. When maintained spray volume constant, there was no difference, at the last evaluation, among sulfosate rates of 3.0; 4.0; and 4.7 l/ha, when all these reached rice control around 90%. When herbicide concentration was maintained constant, the responses to herbicide rates were not significant.In the third condition, when herbicide rate was fixed, it was observed that sulfosate action increased at higher concentrations. Control levels around 90% were reached with herbicide concentration of 2% or higher. This demonstrates that application parameters of sulfosate may be modified in order to obtain greater efficiency in its action