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At least 199 records · Page 11

Inexpensive, large-diameter, radar tracking and calibration spheres

Plastic models of polystyrene beads are produced to within 0.02 cm accuracy, in various diameters designed to meet exact requirements of particular radar system frequency spectrum. They are inexpensive and do not require special handling imposed on metal spheres.

Holdren, R. H.↗

Low nutation-rate dampers

Mission requirements plus spacecraft weight and power constraints often reduce the excitation frequency of a nutation damper below 1 cpm. Since attitude stability is determined by damper performance, maximum effectiveness at low rates is demanded. Presented are design considerations that low-frequency dampers require, along with descriptions of two low-frequency systems: the Direct Measurement Explorer 1 and the Small Astronomy Satellite A (SAS-A).

Tossman, B. E.↗

The influence of polarization on millimeter wave propagation through rain

The measurement and analysis of the depolarization and attenuation that occur when millimeter wave radio signals propagate through rain are described. Progress was made in three major areas: the processing of recorded 1972 data, acquisition and processing of a large amount of 1973 data, and the development of a new theoretical model to predict rain cross polarization and attenuation. Each of these topics is described in detail along with radio frequency system design for cross polarization measurements.

Bostian, C. W.↗

On the determination of atmospheric path length by passive microwave radiometer

Microwave radiometer techniques were evaluated for use in atmospheric path length correction of Pacific Plate Motion Experiment interferometer measurements. It is shown that passive microwave radiometry allows precise measurement of the brightness temperature of the sky. It is also noted that the technological requirements of radiometers are very different from the requirements of radio astronomy. The technology was used in the construction of radiometers which are sufficient for use in the path length correction problem. A simulation study shows that, when combined with surface meteorology data, passive microwave radiometer data would allow a determination of the path length correction to better than 2 cm at the zenith. By a careful choice of frequencies, a dual frequency system would allow a measurement of the path length correction to better than 4 cm at zenith angles as great as 60 deg. Because of the wide range of weather conditions to be expected for the PPME sites (which include Alaska, Hawaii and Massachusetts), it will probably be necessary to use a separate correction algorithm for each site.

Webster, W. J., Jr.↗

Optical-mechanical line-scan imaging process - Its information capacity and efficiency

Optical-mechanical line-scan techniques have been applied to earth satellite multispectral imaging systems. The capability of the imaging system is generally assessed by its information capacity. An approach based on information theory is developed to formulate the capacity of the line-scan process. Included are the effects of blurring of spatial detail, photosensor noise, aliasing, and quantization. The information efficiency is shown to be dependent on sampling rate, system frequency response shape, SNR, and quantization interval.

Huck, F. O.↗

Time-division multiplexer uses digital gates

Device eliminates errors caused by analog gates in multiplexing a large number of channels at high frequency. System was designed for use in aerospace work to multiplex signals for monitoring such variables as fuel consumption, pressure, temperature, strain, and stress. Circuit may be useful in monitoring variables in process control and medicine as well.

Myers, C. E.↗

Improving FM transmitter power and efficiency

Amplifier tracks oscillator frequency allowing narrow band high Q circuit to be used, increasing wide deviation FM transmission efficiency and power output, and suppressing spurious output frequencies system. Tracking oscillator and amplifier act like wideband circuitry with narrow-band advantages.

Honnell, M. A.↗

Plasma density mapping in the solar wind through use of VHF radio to measure electron content

How the electron content between the Solar probe and the earth can be observed with a minimum of equipment and give a quantitative rationale for the use of a signal near 400 MHz to supplement the telecommunications signal is described. The emphasis is on the method of making content observations and on their value. While far from the Sun, the electron content is so low that the S-X dual-frequency system is insufficiently sensitive and a UHF system is optimum. As the probe approaches the Sun, the UHF may be disrupted by scintillation and the variations of the telecommunications signal must be used for the content measurement. By operating the suggested system in different modes as the solar distance changes, operation during the entire mission is possible.

Croft, T. A.↗

Laser remote sensing of atmospheric temperature by observing resonant absorption of oxygen

A dual-frequency system is used to demonstrate the measurement of atmospheric temperature, through laser energy absorption monitoring at the center of an O2 resonant absorption line near 770 nm. It is shown that the average temperature of a 1 km path can be determined within 1.0 C, with a noise level of 0.3 C. An iterative algebraic expression for this method was developed, and is shown to be applicable in the troposphere; the effects of pressure and humidity on temperature determination were made clear by the algorithm and found to be small near the earth's surface.

Kalshoven, J. E., Jr.↗

A review of resonance response in large horizontal-axis wind turbines

Field operation of the Mod-0 and Mod-1 wind turbines is described. Operational experience shows that 1 per rev excitation exists in the drive train, high aerodynamic damping prevents resonance response of the blade flatwise modes, and teetering the hub substantially reduces the chordwise blade response to odd harmonic excitation. These results can be used by designer as a guide to system frequency placement. In addition it is found that present analytical techniques can accurately predict wind turbine natural frequencies.

Sullivan, T. L.↗

State vector formulation of substructure coupling for damped systems

A generalized substructure coupling procedure in state vector form is derived for a complex system with general viscous damping. This first-order differential equation formulation is used in order to permit complex substructure modes to be employed easily. The free-interface normal (complex) modes and rigid-body modes of the substructure are defined. Complex residual attachment modes which result from static approximation of neglected higher modes are derived. The motion of each substructure is represented by a selected set of component modes. Equations of interface compatibility are employed to obtain an independent set of system equations of motion. A new method which employs incomplete complex normal modes in conjunction with the complex residual attachment modes to account for the contribution of neglected higher order modes is derived. Examples are employed to indicate how a damped structure may be analyzed by including the effect of residual attachment modes. Numerical results indicate that the new component mode synthesis method provides sytem equations of motion with reduced number of degrees of feedom leading to more accurate approximations to the system frequencies and damping factors than are obtained by pure mode truncation.

Chung, Y.-T.↗

Response of the mobile VLBI design to error sources

The response of Mobile VLBI design to error sources is addressed. The sensitivity of the hydrogen maser to variations in ambient temperature is discussed, with an example of drifts in the frequency system causing excursions in the time-delay observable exceeding + or - 200 cm. It is shown that baselines determined only from S-band data can contain errors in excess of 30 cm during periods of high ionospheric activity. The effect of the troposphere on baseline solutions is examined by comparing calibrations from the Water Vapor Radiometer (WVR) to those from a surface model. The apparent ability of the WVR to track relatively short-period fluctuations in water vapor is noted. Finally, consideration is given to the effects of source structure and the technique of monitoring closure of the time-delay observable around a closed figure of baselines.

Trask, D. W.↗

Low-frequency microwave radiometer for N-ROSS

The all weather, global determination of sea surface temperature (SST) has been identified as a requirement needed to support naval operations. The target SST accuracy is + or - 1.0 K with a surface resolution of 10 km. Investigations of the phenomenology and technology of remote passive microwave sensing of the ocean environment over the past decade have demonstrated that this objective is presently attainable. Preliminary specification and trade off studies were conducted to define the frequency, polarization, scan geometry, antenna size, and other esstential parameters of the low frequency microwave radiometer (LFMR). It will be a dual polarized, dual frequency system at 5.2 and 10.4 GHz using a 4.9 meter deployable mesh surface antenna. It is to be flown on the Navy-Remote Ocean Sensing System (N-ROSS) satellite scheduled to be launched in late 1988.

Hollinger, J. P.↗

Mesospheric measurements of irregularity patches using a 3-antenna interferometer, part 3.6B

Three events of mesospheric radar returns have been isolated to illustrate the potential of a three-antenna interferometer in the study of the neutral atmosphere. Contour plots of echo intensity and the presence of irregularities in isolated and well-defined regions are shown. These measurements were carried out using the SOUSY radar in the Harz mountains in Germany, on September 9, 1980. The system frequency is 53.5 MHz. Local time is 2 hours in advance of Universal time. The irregularities wavelength is 2.81 m and the three arms of the interferometer were sampled with 167 ms of time difference. To provide precise estimates of vertical velocities, the measured (radial) Doppler shift has to be corrected to subtract the contribution due to the horizontal motions. For near-vertical observations (zenith angle less than about 10 deg) it is readily shown that the rate of change of the measured phases are related to the velocities V sub eq, V sub ns (in the East-West and North-South directions).

Ierkic, H. M.↗

Nonlinear characteristics of joints as elements of multi-body dynamic systems

As the connecting elements in multi-body structures, joints play a pivotal role in the overall dynamic response of these systems. Obviously, the linear stiffness of the joint strongly influences the system frequencies, but the joints are also likely to be the dominant sources of damping and nonlinearities, especially in aircraft and space structures. The general characteristics of such joints will be discussed. Then the state of the art in nonlinear joint characterization techniques will be surveyed. Finally, the impact that joints have on the overall response of structures will be evaluated.

Crawley, Edward F.↗

Positive cloud-to-ground lightning detection by a direction-finder network

Consideration is given to the ability of an automatic direction-finder network to identify cloud-to-ground flashes that effectively lower positive charge to the ground (+CG flashes). Records from an extremely low frequency system are examined to determine whether or not 340 +CG flashes detected by the network have coincident waveforms characteristic of +CG flashes. It is found that false detection in the system is negligible for +CG flashes with range-normalized amplitudes of at least 50 direction-finder units. Also, it is shown that no more than about 15 percent of the +CG flashes detected by the system at smaller amplitudes are false detections.

Macgorman, Donald R.↗

RLE progress report no. 133, 1 January - 31 December 1990

Activities of the Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT are summarized. NASA-sponsored research in the area of synthetic aperture radar image interpretation and simulation is described. Other government-sponsored and industry-sponsored studies are also described which address the following topics: microwave and millimeter wave integrated circuits, high-speed integrated circuit interconnects, Instrument Landing System/Microwave Landing System frequency management assessment, and superconducting electronics.

Allen, Jonathan↗