Homogenization of a mean field game system in the small noise limit

This paper concerns the simultaneous effect of homogenization and of the small noise limit for a second order mean field game (MFG) system with local coupling and quadratic Hamiltonian. We show under some additional assumptions that the solutions of our system converge to a solution of an effective first order system whose effective operators are defined through a cell problem which is a second order system of ergodic MFG type. We provide several properties of the effective operators, and we show that in general the effective system loses the MFG structure

A multi-instrumental approach to the study of equatorial ionosphere over South America

An extensive study of the morphology and the dynamics of the equatorial ionosphere over South America is presented here. A multi parametric approach is used to describe the physical characteristics of the ionosphere in the regions where the combination of the thermospheric electric field and the horizontal geomagnetic field creates the so-called Equatorial Ionization Anomalies. Ground based measurements from GNSS receivers are used to link the Total Electron Content (TEC), its spatial gradients and the phenomenon known as scintillation that can lead to a GNSS signal degradation or even to a GNSS signal ‘loss of lock’. A new algorithm to highlight the features characterizing the TEC distribution is developed in the framework of this thesis and the results obtained are validated and used to improve the performance of a GNSS positioning technique (long baseline RTK). In addition, the correlation between scintillation and dynamics of the ionospheric irregularities is investigated. By means of a software, here implemented, the velocity of the ionospheric irregularities is evaluated using high sampling rate GNSS measurements. The results highlight the parallel behaviour of the amplitude scintillation index (S4) occurrence and the zonal velocity of the ionospheric irregularities at least during severe scintillations conditions (post-sunset hours). This suggests that scintillations are driven by TEC gradients as well as by the dynamics of the ionospheric plasma. Finally, given the importance of such studies for technological applications (e.g. GNSS high-precision applications), a validation of the NeQuick model (i.e. the model used in the new GALILEO satellites for TEC modelling) is performed. The NeQuick performance dramatically improves when data from HF radar sounding (ionograms) are ingested. A custom designed algorithm, based on the image recognition technique, is developed to properly select the ingested data, leading to further improvement of the NeQuick performance

An ergodic problem for Mean Field Games: qualitative properties and numerical simulations

This paper is devoted to some qualitative descriptions and some numerical results for ergodic Mean Field Games systems which arise, e.g., in the homogenization with a small noise limit. We shall consider either power type potentials or logarithmic type ones. In both cases, we shall establish some qualitative properties of the effective Hamiltonian $\bar H$ and of the effective drift $\bar b$. In particular we shall provide two cases where the effective system keeps/looses the Mean Field Games structure, namely where $\nabla_P \bar H(P,\alpha)$ coincides or not with $\bar b(P, \alpha)$. On the other hand, we shall provide some numerical tests validating the aforementioned qualitative properties of $\bar H$ and $\bar b$. In particular, we provide a numerical estimate of the discrepancy $\nabla_P \bar H(P,\alpha)-\bar b(P, \alpha)$

Analysis and Characterization of an Unclassified RFI Affecting Ionospheric Amplitude Scintillation Index over the Mediterranean Area

Radio Frequency (RF) signals transmitted by Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are exploited as signals of opportunity in many scientific activities, ranging from sensing waterways and humidity of the terrain to the monitoring of the ionosphere. The latter can be pursued by processing the GNSS signals through dedicated ground-based monitoring equipment, such as the GNSS Ionospheric Scintillation and Total Electron Content Monitoring (GISTM) receivers. Nonetheless, GNSS signals are susceptible to intentional or unintentional RF interferences (RFIs), which may alter the calculation of the scintillation indices, thus compromising the quality of the scientific data and the reliability of the derived space weather monitoring products. Upon the observation of anomalous scintillation indices computed by a GISTM receiver in the Mediterranean area, the study presents the results of the analysis and characterization of a deliberate, unclassified interferer acting on the L1/E1 GNSS signal bands, observed and captured through an experimental, software defined radio setup. The paper also highlights the adverse impacts of the interferer on the amplitude scintillation indices employed in scientific investigations, and presents a methodology to discriminate among regular and corrupted scintillation data. To support further investigations, a dataset of baseband signals samples affected by the RFI is available at IEEE DataPort

Scientific Review on the Ionospheric Absorption and Research Prospects of a Complex Eikonal Model for One-Layer Ionosphere

The present paper conducts a scientific review on ionospheric absorption, extrapolating the research prospects of a complex eikonal model for one-layer ionosphere. As regards the scientific review, here a quasi-longitudinal (QL) approximation for nondeviative absorption is deduced which is more refined than the corresponding equation reported by Davies (1990). As regards the research prospects, a complex eikonal model for one-layer ionosphere is analyzed in depth here, already discussed by Settimi et al. (2013). A simple formula is deduced for a simplified problem. A flat, layered ionospheric medium is considered, without any horizontal gradient. The authors prove that the QL nondeviative amplitude absorption according to the complex eikonal model is more accurate than Rawer's theory (1976) in the range of middle critical frequencies

Infall of gas as the formation mechanism of stars up to 20 times more massive than the Sun

Theory predicts and observations confirm that low-mass stars (like the Sun) in their early life grow by accreting gas from the surrounding material. But for stars ~ 10 times more massive than the Sun (~10 M_sun), the powerful stellar radiation is expected to inhibit accretion and thus limit the growth of their mass. Clearly, stars with masses >10 M_sun exist, so there must be a way for them to form. The problem may be solved by non-spherical accretion, which allows some of the stellar photons to escape along the symmetry axis where the density is lower. The recent detection of rotating disks and toroids around very young massive stars has lent support to the idea that high-mass (> 8 M_sun) stars could form in this way. Here we report observations of an ammonia line towards a high-mass star forming region. We conclude from the data that the gas is falling inwards towards a very young star of ~20 M_sun, in line with theoretical predictions of non-spherical accretion.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure

An Open Architecture for Signal Monitoring and Recording Based on SDR and Docker Containers: A GNSS Use Case

Signal monitoring and recording station architectures based on software-defined radio (SDR) have been proposed and implemented since several years. However, the large amount of data to be transferred, stored, and managed when high sampling frequency and high quantization depth are required, poses a limit to the performance, mostly because of the data losses during the data transfer between the front-end and the storage unit. To overcome these limitations, thus allowing a reliable, high-fidelity recording of the signals as required by some applications, a novel architecture named SMART (Signal Monitoring, Analysis and Recording Tool) based on the implementation of Docker containers directly on a Network Attached Storage (NAS) unit is presented. Such paradigms allow for a fully open-source system being more affordable and flexible than previous prototypes. The proposed architecture reduces computational complexity, increases efficiency, and provides a compact, cost-effective system that is easy to move and deploy. As a case study, this architecture is implemented to monitor Radio-Frequency Interferences (RFI) on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) L1/E1 and L5/E5 bands. The sample results show the benefits of a stable, long-term capture at a high sampling frequency to characterize the RFIs spectral signature effectively

A statistical approach to estimate Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receiver signal tracking performance in the presence of ionospheric scintillation

Ionospheric scintillation can seriously impair the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receiver signal tracking performance, thus affecting the required levels of availability, accuracy and integrity of positioning that supports modern day GNSS based applications. We present results from the research work carried out under the Horizon 2020 European Commission (EC) funded Ionospheric Prediction Service (IPS) project. The statistical models developed to estimate the standard deviation of the receiver Phase Locked Loop (PLL) tracking jitter on the Global Positioning System (GPS) L1 frequency as a function of scintillation levels are presented. The models were developed following the statistical approach of generalized linear modelling on data recorded by networks in operation at high and low latitudes during the years of 2012 to 2015. The developed models were validated using data from different stations over varying latitudes, which yielded promising results. In the case of mid-latitudes, as the occurrence of strong scintillation is absent, an attempt to develop a dedicated model proved fruitless and, therefore, the models developed for the high and low latitudes were tested for two mid-latitude stations. The developed statistical models can be used to generate receiver tracking jitter maps over a region, providing users with the expected tracking conditions. The approach followed for the development of these models for the GPS L1 frequency can be used as a blueprint for the development of similar models for other GNSS frequencies, which will be the subject of follow on research

Role of the external drivers in the occurrence of low-latitude ionospheric scintillation revealed by multi-scale analysis

We analyze the amplitude scintillation on L-band signals over San Miguel de Tucumán (Argentina), focusing on the multi-scale variability and speculating on the possible relationship between forcing factors from the geospace and the ionospheric response. The site is nominally located below the expected position of the southern crest of the Equatorial Ionospheric Anomaly (EIA). For this scope, we concentrate on the period 1?31 March 2011, during which one minor and one moderate storm characterize the first half of the month, while generally quiet conditions of the geospace stand for the second half. By leveraging on the Adaptive Local Iterative Filtering (ALIF) signal decomposition technique, weinvestigate the multi-scale properties of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) amplitude scintillation and helio-geophysical parameters, looking for possible cause-effect mechanisms relating the former to the latter. Namely, we identify resonant modes in the Akasofu (e) parameter as likely related to the frequency components in the time evolution found for the amplitude scintillation index, hence modulating the scintillation itself.Fil: Spogli, Luca. Istituto Nazionale Di Geofisica E Vulcanologia, Rome; ItaliaFil: Piersanti, Mirko. National Institute For Nuclear Physics, University Of T; ItaliaFil: Cesaroni, Claudio. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia; ItaliaFil: Materassi, Massimo. National Research Council, Institute For Complex System; ItaliaFil: Cicone, Antonio. Department Of Information Engineering, Computer Science; ItaliaFil: Alfonsi, Lucilla. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia; ItaliaFil: Romano, Vicenzo. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia; ItaliaFil: Ezquer, Rodolfo Gerardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Física. Laboratorio de Ionósfera; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional; Argentin

Disentangling ionospheric refraction and diffraction effects in GNSS raw phase through fast iterative filtering technique

We contribute to the debate on the identification of phase scintillation induced by the ionosphere on the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) by introducing a phase detrending method able to provide realistic values of the phase scintillation index at high latitude. It is based on the fast iterative filtering signal decomposition technique, which is a recently developed fast implementation of the well-established adaptive local iterative filtering algorithm. FIF has been conceived to decompose nonstationary signals efficiently and provide a discrete set of oscillating functions, each of them having its frequency. It overcomes most of the problems that arise when using traditional time–frequency analysis techniques and relies on a consolidated mathematical basis since its a priori convergence and stability have been proved. By relying on the capability of FIF to efficiently identify the frequencies embedded in the GNSS raw phase, we define a method based on the FIF-derived spectral features to identify the proper cutoff frequency for phase detrending. To test such a method, we analyze the data acquired from GPS and Galileo signals over Antarctica during the September 2017 storm by the ionospheric scintillation monitor receiver (ISMR) located in Concordia Station (75.10° S, 123.33° E). Different cases of diffraction and refraction effects are provided, showing the capability of the method in deriving a more accurate determination of the σϕ index. We found values of cutoff frequency in the range of 0.73–0.83 Hz, providing further evidence of the inadequacy of the choice of 0.1 Hz, which is often used when dealing with ionospheric scintillation monitoring at high latitudes