Engineering topics

Ma, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Ma, C..

60 records · Page 4

NASA NTRS1980

The Mark 3 data base handler

A data base handler which would act to tie Mark 3 system programs together is discussed. The data base handler is written in FORTRAN and is implemented on the Hewlett-Packard 21MX and the IBM 360/91. The system design objectives were to (1) provide for an easily specified method of data interchange among programs, (2) provide for a high level of data integrity, (3) accommodate changing requirments, (4) promote program accountability, (5) provide a single source of program constants, and (6) provide a central point for data archiving. The system consists of two distinct parts: a set of files existing on disk packs and tapes; and a set of utility subroutines which allow users to access the information in these files. Users never directly read or write the files and need not know the details of how the data are formatted in the files. To the users, the storage medium is format free. A user does need to know something about the sequencing of his data in the files but nothing about data in which he has no interest.

Ryan, J. W.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Mark 3 interactive data analysis system

The interactive data analysis system, a major subset of the total Mark 3 very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) software system is described. The system consists of two major and a number of small programs. These programs provide for the scientific analysis of the observed values of delay and delay rate generated by the VLBI data reduction programs and product the geophysical and astrometric parameters which are among the ultimate products of VLBI. The two major programs are CALC and SOLVE. CALC generates the theoretical values of VLBI delay rate as well as partial derivatives based on apriori values of the geophysical and astronometric parameters. SOLVE is a least squares parameters estimation program which yields the geophysical and astrometric parameters using the observed values by the data processing system and theoretical values and partial derivatives provided by CALC. SOLVE is a highly interactive program in which the user selects the exact form of the recovered parameters and the data to be accepted into the solution.

Ryan, J. W.↗

NASA NTRS1978

A high declination search at 8 GHz for compact radio sources

With the Haystack-NRAO interferometer (baseline length of 20 million wavelengths at 3.8 cm) 37 sources were observed whose declinations were above 50 deg. Seven of these sources have compact cores with diameters smaller than 5 milliarcsec and with correlated flux densities greater than about 0.5 Jy; the remaining sources have no cores with flux densities above about 0.3 Jy, the sensitivity limit of the interferometer. Two of the sources with detected compact cores, 4C 67.05 and 3C 418, were also observed with longer-baseline interferometers; the diameter of the core of 4C 67.05 was estimated to be smaller than 1 milliarcsec and that of 3C 418 to be smaller than 0.4 milliarcsec. All diameter estimates were based on an assumed circular Gaussian distribution of radio brightness and refer to the contour with brightness density e to the -1/2 power times that of the center. Positions for the detected sources were also obtained from the interferometric data, the uncertainty in these coordinate estimates ranging from 0.04 to 0.6 arcsec. The compact core detected in 3C 390.3 was found to lie near the center of this extended (approximately 4 arcmin in diameter) double radio source and to be coincident to within 1 arcsec with an N galaxy previously identified with 3C 390.3.

Wittels, J. J.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Very Long Baseline Interferometry Applied to Polar Motion, Relativity and Geodesy

The causes and effects of diurnal polar motion are described. An algorithm is developed for modeling the effects on very long baseline interferometry observables. Five years of radio-frequency very long baseline interferometry data from stations in Massachusetts, California, and Sweden are analyzed for diurnal polar motion. It is found that the effect is larger than predicted by McClure. Corrections to the standard nutation series caused by the deformability of the earth have a significant effect on the estimated diurnal polar motion scaling factor and the post-fit residual scatter. Simulations of high precision very long baseline interferometry experiments taking into account both measurement uncertainty and modeled errors are described.

Ma, C.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Precision surveying using very long baseline interferometry

Radio interferometry measurements were used to measure the vector baselines between large microwave radio antennas. A 1.24 km baseline in Massachusetts between the 36 meter Haystack Observatory antenna and the 18 meter Westford antenna of Lincoln Laboratory was measured with 5 mm repeatability in 12 separate experiments. Preliminary results from measurements of the 3,928 km baseline between the Haystack antenna and the 40 meter antenna at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory in California are presented.

Ryan, J. W.↗

NASA NTRS1976

An unusually strong radio outburst in Algol - VLBI observations

For 8 hours during a strong radio flare on Jan. 15, 16, 1975, the close binary system Beta Persei (Algol) was observed with a three-station VLBI array operating at 7850 MHz. The size of the radio source was estimated to have been about 1.7 milliarcsec (0.05 AU), based on a model of a uniformly bright disk. The corresponding brightness temperature was nearly 10 billion K, indicating that the emission was probably nonthermal. There was no evidence for expansion of the source; the upper limit on the rate of any expansion was 100 km/s. The position of the Algol radio source with respect to an extragalactic reference frame was also determined from these observations with an uncertainty of about 0.1 arcsec in each coordinate.

Clark, T. A.↗