Low frequency VLBI in space using GAS-Can satellites: Report on the May 1987 JPL Workshop

Summarized are the results of a workshop held at JPL on May 28 and 29, 1987, to study the feasibility of using small, very inexpensive spacecraft for a low-frequency radio interferometer array. Many technical aspects of a mission to produce high angular resolution images of the entire sky at frequencies from 2 to 20 MHz were discussed. The workshop conclusion was that such a mission was scientifically valuable and technically practical. A useful array could be based on six or more satellites no larger than those launched from Get-Away-Special canisters. The cost of each satellite could be $1-2M, and the mass less than 90 kg. Many details require further study, but as this report shows, there is good reason to proceed. No fundamental problems have been discovered involving the use of untraditional, very inexpensive spacecraft for this type of mission

Prediction and Generation of Binary Markov Processes: Can a Finite-State Fox Catch a Markov Mouse?

Understanding the generative mechanism of a natural system is a vital component of the scientific method. Here, we investigate one of the fundamental steps toward this goal by presenting the minimal generator of an arbitrary binary Markov process. This is a class of processes whose predictive model is well known. Surprisingly, the generative model requires three distinct topologies for different regions of parameter space. We show that a previously proposed generator for a particular set of binary Markov processes is, in fact, not minimal. Our results shed the first quantitative light on the relative (minimal) costs of prediction and generation. We find, for instance, that the difference between prediction and generation is maximized when the process is approximately independently, identically distributed.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures; http://csc.ucdavis.edu/~cmg/compmech/pubs/gmc.ht

Current Challenges in Autonomous Vehicle Development

The field of autonomous vehicles is a rapidly growing one, with significant interest from both government and industry sectors. Autonomous vehicles represent the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, combining decision-making with real-time control. Autonomous vehicles are desired for use in search and rescue, urban reconnaissance, mine detonation, supply convoys, and more. The general adage is to use robots for anything dull, dirty, dangerous or dumb. While a great deal of research has been done on autonomous systems, there are only a handful of fielded examples incorporating machine autonomy beyond the level of teleoperation, especially in outdoor/complex environments. In an attempt to assess and understand the current state of the art in autonomous vehicle development, a few areas where unsolved problems remain became clear. This paper outlines those areas and provides suggestions for the focus of science and technology research. The first step in evaluating the current state of autonomous vehicle development was to develop a definition of autonomy. A number of autonomy level classification systems were reviewed. The resulting working definitions and classification schemes used by the authors are summarized in the opening sections of the paper. The remainder of the report discusses current approaches and challenges in decision-making and real-time control for autonomous vehicles. Suggested research focus areas for near-, mid-, and long-term development are also presented

Sea-Ice Distribution in the Bering and Chukchi Seas: Information from Historical Whaleships’ Logbooks and Journals

Satellite data have revealed dramatic losses of Northern Hemisphere sea ice since the end of the 1970s. To place these changes in a longer-term context, we draw on daily observations taken from logbooks and journals of whaling vessels cruising in the Bering and Chukchi seas to investigate sea-ice conditions in this region of the Arctic between 1850 and 1910. We compare these observations to sea-ice data from 1972 to 1982, which predate the majority of the recent changes and cover a period recognized as a relative maximum in recent Bering Sea ice extent. Records from May indicate that end-of-winter sea-ice extent in the Bering Sea during the mid 19th century closely resembled that in the 1972 – 82 data. However, the historical data reveal that sea ice was more extensive during summer, with the greatest difference occurring in July. This pattern indicates a later and more rapid seasonal retreat. These conclusions highlight the value of historical data, which we have far from exhausted in this study.Des données satellitaires révèlent que l’hémisphère nord a enregistré des pertes dramatiques de glaces de mer depuis la fin des années 1970. Afin de mettre ces changements dans un plus long contexte, nous nous appuyons sur les observations quotidiennes tirées de journaux et de carnets de bord de baleiniers ayant parcouru la mer de Béring et la mer des Tchouktches dans le but d’étudier les glaces de mer de cette région de l’Arctique entre les années 1850 et 1910. Nous comparons ces observations aux données sur les glaces de mer recueillies de 1972 à 1982 – soit avant que la plupart des récents changements n’aient été enregistrés – ce qui couvre une période reconnue comme un maximum relatif en matière d’étendue récente des glaces dans la mer de Béring. Les données enregistrées en mai laissent entrevoir que l’étendue des glaces de mer en fin d’hiver dans la mer de Béring au milieu du XIXe siècle ressemblait beaucoup à l’étendue des glaces dont témoignent les données prélevées entre 1972 et 1982. Cependant, les données historiques révèlent que les glaces de mer étaient plus considérables au cours de l’été, la plus grande différence se manifestant au mois de juillet. Cette tendance indique donc un retrait saisonnier plus tardif et plus rapide. Les conclusions mettent en évidence l’importance des données historiques, que nous sommes loin d’avoir épuisées dans le cadre de cette étude

The Mid-Infrared Instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope, VIII: The MIRI Focal Plane System

We describe the layout and unique features of the focal plane system for MIRI. We begin with the detector array and its readout integrated circuit (combining the amplifier unit cells and the multiplexer), the electronics, and the steps by which the data collection is controlled and the output signals are digitized and delivered to the JWST spacecraft electronics system. We then discuss the operation of this MIRI data system, including detector readout patterns, operation of subarrays, and data formats. Finally, we summarize the performance of the system, including remaining anomalies that need to be corrected in the data pipeline

Space VLBI at Low Frequencies

At sufficiently low frequencies, no ground-based radio array will be able to produce high resolution images while looking through the ionosphere. A space-based array will be needed to explore the objects and processes which dominate the sky at the lowest radio frequencies. An imaging radio interferometer based on a large number of small, inexpensive satellites would be able to track solar radio bursts associated with coronal mass ejections out to the distance of Earth, determine the frequency and duration of early epochs of nonthermal activity in galaxies, and provide unique information about the interstellar medium. This would be a "space-space" VLBI mission, as only baselines between satellites would be used. Angular resolution would be limited only by interstellar and interplanetary scattering.Comment: To appear in "Astrophysical Phenomena Revealed by Space VLBI", ed. H. Hirabayashi, P. Edwards, and D. Murphy (ISAS, Japan

Many Roads to Synchrony: Natural Time Scales and Their Algorithms

We consider two important time scales---the Markov and cryptic orders---that monitor how an observer synchronizes to a finitary stochastic process. We show how to compute these orders exactly and that they are most efficiently calculated from the epsilon-machine, a process's minimal unifilar model. Surprisingly, though the Markov order is a basic concept from stochastic process theory, it is not a probabilistic property of a process. Rather, it is a topological property and, moreover, it is not computable from any finite-state model other than the epsilon-machine. Via an exhaustive survey, we close by demonstrating that infinite Markov and infinite cryptic orders are a dominant feature in the space of finite-memory processes. We draw out the roles played in statistical mechanical spin systems by these two complementary length scales.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figures: http://cse.ucdavis.edu/~cmg/compmech/pubs/kro.htm. Santa Fe Institute Working Paper 10-11-02

Historical-institutionalist perspectives on the development of the EU budget system

The EU budget has only recently started to feature in theories of European integration. Studies typically adopt a historical-institutionalist framework, exploring notions such as path dependency. They have, however, generally been rather aggregated, or coarse-grained, in their approach. The EU budget has thus been treated as a single entity rather than a series of inter-linked institutions. This paper seeks to address these lacunae by adopting a fine-grained approach. This enables us to emphasize the connections that exist between EU budgetary institutions, in both time and space. We show that the initial set of budgetary institutions was unable, over time, to achieve consistently their treaty-based objectives. In response, rather than reform these institutions at potentially high political cost, additional institutions were layered on top of the extant structures. We thus demonstrate how some EU budgetary institutions have remained unchanged, whilst others have been added or changed over time