ICESat Altimetry Data Product Verification at White Sands Space Harbor

Three unique techniques have been developed to validate the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) mission altimetry data product and implemented at White Sands Space Harbor (WSSH) in New Mexico. One specific technique at WSSH utilizes zenith-pointed sensors to detect the laser on the surface and enable geolocation determination of the altimeter footprint that is independent of the data product generation. The system of detectors also registers the laser light time of arrival, which is related to the data product time tag. Several overflights of the WSSH have validated these time tags to less than 3plusmn1 mus. The ground-based detector system also verified the laser illuminated spot geolocation to 10.6 m (3.5 arcsec) plusmn4.5 m on one occasion, which is consistent with the requirement of 3.5 m (1sigma). A third technique using corner cube retroreflector signatures in the altimeter echo waveforms was also shown to provide an assessment of the laser spot geolocation. Although the accuracy of this technique is not equal to the other methodologies, it does offer position determination for comparison to the spacecraft altimetry data product. In addition, elevation verifications were made using the comparison of the ICESat elevation products at WSSH to those acquired with an airborne light detection and ranging. The elevation comparisons show an agreement to within plusmn34 cm (plusmn6.7 cm under best conditions) which indicate no significant errors associated with the pointing knowledge of the altimeter     

Accurate geometric correction of ATSR images

An accurate geometric correction algorithm of raw ATSR images is proposed in this paper. The proposed algorithm is divided into two modules: pre-correction and precision correction. In the pre-correction algorithm, the scanning geometry of the ATSR, ephemeris data and the Earth's shape and rotation were modeled mathematically. It corrected elliptically-distorted raw ATSR images and resulted in a mean collocation error of 1 pixel between the nadir and forward images. The proposed navigation model showed a better geolocation performance than ATSR image geometric correction algorithms currently in operation. The geometric errors in the pre-corrected images were reduced further by the precision correction algorithm. Coastlines were detected from the pre-corrected nadir and forward images and matched with map coastline data. The matched coastline pixels, GCPs, were combined with the pre-correction model to estimate the errors of the position, velocity and attitude of the satellite. An extended Kalman filter was used for the optimal estimation. The corrected images showed the collocation error of 0.4 pixel and the geolocation error of 0.7 pixel. The results were compared with those from a polynomial warping technique. It proved that the proposed precision correction algorithm gave better geometric correction performance than collocation algorithms based on a polynomial warping technique     

A Comparison of the Impact of QuikScat and WindSat Wind Vector Products on Met Office Analyses and Forecasts

Several studies have demonstrated that retrievals of wind vectors from the WindSat polarimetric radiometer are of sufficient quality to be considered for assimilation in operational numerical weather prediction models. In this paper, WindSat data are used in a state-of-the-art global meteorological analysis and forecasting system. Each wind vector contains a directional ambiguity and so is assimilated in a similar way to that of scatterometer data. The forecast impact of using analyses containing information from WindSat data was investigated for a period during August and September of 2005, when a large number of tropical cyclones were present. Forecast errors were reduced in the surface pressure fields, and the average improvement across the forecast range was found to be 1.0%. This is comparable to the improvement of 1.1% found in the same fields when winds were assimilated from the QuikScat scatterometer. The impact on tropical cyclone tracks in the forecasts was also studied. The scatterometer improved (reduced) the track errors markedly by 25% in the analyses. When impacts across the forecast range out to five days were also included, the improvement was found to be 8%. In contrast, the assimilation of WindSat data improved the analysis track errors by 7%, although this figure was found to be 10% across the complete forecast range.      

WindSat on-orbit warm load calibration

Postlaunch calibration of the WindSat polarimetric microwave radiometer indicates the presence of thermal gradients across the calibration warm load during some portions of the year. These gradients are caused by reflected solar illumination or eclipse and increase total calibration errors. This paper describes the WindSat warm load and presents the measured on-orbit data which clearly illustrate the anomalous responses seen in the warm load calibration data. Detailed thermal modeling predictions of the WindSat on-orbit performance are presented along with the satellite orbital geometry model with solar inputs in order to explain the physical causes of the thermal gradients. To reduce the resultant calibration errors during periods of anomalous warm load behavior, a correction algorithm was developed which uses the physical temperatures of the gain stages in the receiver electronics to calculate an effective gain. This calibration algorithm is described, and its performance and expected accuracy are examined.     

A study of the geolocation errors of the Special SensorMicrowave/Imager (SSM/I)

Geolocation errors in excess of 20-30 km have been routinely observed in SSM/I data. Potential error sources due to inaccurate spacecraft ephemeris, spacecraft predict ephemeris, and the geolocation algorithm are examined. In addition, the effects of possible misalignment of the SSM/I instrument about its spin axis or to the spacecraft and potential spacecraft attitude errors are considered. It is found that the use of accurate spacecraft ephemerides removes about half of the geolocation error. In the cases studied, the remaining error can be reduced to below 7 km by employing a fixed set of effective spacecraft attitude corrections in the geolocation algorithm; 85-GHz imagery is presented to provide a visual evaluation of the geolocation errors along with the reduction of these errors     

The accuracy of preliminary WindSat vector wind measurements: comparisons with NDBC buoys and QuikSCAT

Two preliminary, six-month long global WindSat vector wind datasets are validated using buoys and QuikSCAT measurements. Buoy comparisons yield speed and direction root mean square accuracies of 1.4 m/s and 25/spl deg/ for the "NESDIS0" product and 1.3 m/s and 23/spl deg/ for the more recently produced "B1" product from the Naval Research Laboratory. WindSat along- and across-wind random component errors of 0.7-1.0 and 2.6-2.8 m/s (respectively) are larger than those calculated for QuikSCAT in the same period. Global WindSat-QuikSCAT comparisons generally confirmed the buoy analyses. While simple rain flags based directly on WindSat brightness temperature measurements alone are shown to overflag for rain systematically, the advanced "Environmental Data Record" rain flag in the B1 product matches well with Special Sensor Microwave/Imager rain detection frequency and preserves the accuracy of the unflagged vector wind measurements.     

Explicit Ziv–Zakai bound for analysis of DOA estimation performance of sparse linear arrays

Sparse linear arrays (SLAs) provide similar direction-of-arrival estimation performance to filled linear arrays in terms of angular accuracy and resolution with reduced size, weight, power consumption, and cost. However, they are subject to significant ambiguities due to high sidelobes in the array beampattern, which give rise to large estimation errors. In this paper, we develop an explicit closed-form expression for the Ziv–Zakai bound on the mean square estimation error in order to quantify the degradation in estimation performance due to the sidelobe ambiguities. The bound consists of three terms which correspond to the three types of estimation errors: small mainlobe errors, errors due to sidelobe ambiguities, and random errors. The bound is used to analyze the performance of different SLA configurations. Maximum likelihood estimation simulations confirm the contribution of the different types of estimation errors predicted by the bound. The analysis shows that much of the performance degradation due to ambiguities are from random errors that cannot be controlled by array design, while additional degradation due to sidelobe errors depends strongly on the array configuration. Isolating the contributions of the three types of errors provides greater understanding of the behavior of sparse arrays, allowing for more effective system design and analysis.     

WindSat radio-frequency interference signature and its identification over land and ocean

Radio-frequency interference (RFI) in the spaceborne multichannel radiometer data of WindSat and the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS is currently being detected using a spectral difference technique. Such a technique does not explicitly utilize multichannel correlations of radiometer data, which are key information in separating RFI from natural radiations. Furthermore, it is not optimal for radiometer data observed over ocean regions due to the inherent large natural variability of spectral difference over ocean. In this paper, we first analyzed multivariate WindSat and Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) data in terms of channel correlation, information content, and principal components of WindSat and SMMR data. Then two methods based on channel correlation were developed for RFI detection over land and ocean. Over land, we extended the spectral difference technique using principal component analysis (PCA) of RFI indices, which integrates statistics of target emission/scattering characteristics (through RFI indices) and multivariate correlation of radiometer data into a single statistical framework of PCA. Over ocean, channel regression of X-band can account for nearly all of the natural variations in the WindSat data. Therefore, we use a channel regression-based model difference technique to directly predict RFI-free brightness temperature, and therefore RFI intensity. Although model difference technique is most desirable, it is more difficult to apply over land due to heterogeneity of land surfaces. Both methods improve our knowledge of RFI signatures in terms of channel correlations and explore potential RFI mitigation, and thus provide risk reductions for future satellite passive microwave missions such as the NPOESS Conical Scanning Microwave Imager/Sounder. The new RFI algorithms are effective in detecting RFI in the C- and X-band Windsat radiometer channels over land and ocean.     

基于无人机与空间稀疏性的卫星干扰源定位方法

经典的卫星干扰源定位是基于TDOA/FDOA参数测量的双星定位,包含信号参数估计和目标干扰源定位两个阶段。在参数估计阶段,该方法并没有考虑到所有的信号参数测量都是相对于同一位置的干扰源,因此该定位算法并不优化。此外,卫星星历的精度不高尤其是星历中卫星速度难以精确预测,导致了较大的多普勒频差参数估计误差,从而制约了卫星干扰源的定位精度。本文提出使用单个无人机代替卫星来接收干扰信号,利用干扰源在地面空间分布的稀疏性,求解满足目标信号多普勒频移关系的凸优化问题来实现干扰源定位。该定位方法融合了所有测量信号的信息,在一个阶段中完成定位,蒙特卡洛仿真证实该方法能实现高精度卫星干扰源定位。      

捷联式光学导引头特性与多维度最优制导律

为实现捷联式光学成像导引头与制导系统一体化设计,建立了全捷联制导与控制系统,根据捷联导引头特性进行制导与控制原理研究。首先,建立了全捷联导引头与陀螺的数学模型;接着,针对捷联导引头无法精确提取视线角速率的问题,提出姿态驾驶仪与视线角积分比例导引相结合的控制与制导方案,并分析了导引头体视线角、刻度因数、导航比和系统稳定区域之间的关系;然后,推导了全捷联制导系统最优制导律以提高制导系统响应速度;最后,进行了控制与制导系统飞行仿真,仿真结果表明:捷联式制导与控制系统能对静止与运动目标（速度为60 km/h）进行有效攻击,最大射击误差分别为1.49 m与2.62 m;系统误差、陀螺零偏与零偏稳定性对制导系统精度影响较大。捷联导引头制导与控制系统能满足空对地系统对静止与低速运动目标的攻击要求。     

电致定向红外靶标指向误差优化技术研究

为了提高电致定向型红外靶标在挂载飞行过程中动态指向精度,在硬件限制的位置信息更新频率难以提高的条件下,提出了卡尔曼滤波算法对靶标的位置信息进行预测从而提升更新速率的解决方案,利用全球定位系统和惯性导航系统的数据,建立了基于飞行速度、姿态和位置信息采样频率等因素的动态指向误差模型,并进行了理论分析和实验验证。结果表明,对红外靶标系统在匀速直线飞行过程中将位置采样率由5 Hz提升至10 Hz时,指向角误差减小了54.66%。此研究基于现有条件,为减小定向辐射型红外靶标动态指向误差提供了一种有益的尝试。     

相控阵天线指向测量误差分析及消除方法研究

电扫波束指向精度是相控阵天线的核心指标之一,对波束指向进行准确测量是对系统工作能力进行评估的必要手段。文中以某相控阵天线为例,详细分析了几种外场波束指向测试中常见的外部误差。通过理论分析建立仿真模型,计算分析以上因素对天线指向测试的影响,并提出一种在波束指向测试过程中消除误差的优化方法。经试验比对,所提出的优化方法可以明显降低测试误差,提高测试结果的准确度和可信度,对同类型天线的外场测试和系统性能评估具有重要的工程参考价值。     

地基增强系统(GBAS)飞行试验分析

作为一种新型的、基于卫星导航系统的精密进近和着陆系统,地基增强系统(Ground Based Augmentation System,GBAS)与其他传统的地基无线电精密进近和着陆系统在系统构成和应用上有很大的不同,因此,GBAS系统飞行校验的方法和校验内容也和这些传统的系统不一样。本文分析了在国内多个机场进行GBAS飞行试验的数据结果并据此对GBAS地面子系统的性能进行评估。结果显示GBAS系统可以满足CATI进近和着陆导航系统的精度要求,VDB信号覆盖和数据连续性也可以满足试验要求。     

MISR in-flight camera geometric model calibration and georectification performance

In order to facilitate a unique georectification approach implemented for Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) data, specific calibration datasets need to be derived during flight. In the case of the spaceborne MISR instrument, with its unique configuration of nine fixed pushbroom cameras, continuous and autonomous coregistration and geolocation of image data are required prior to the application of scientific retrieval algorithms. In-flight-generated calibration datasets are required to (a) assure accuracy, (b) reduce processing load, and (c) support autonomous aspects of the processing algorithm. This paper describes the in-flight geometric calibration approach with the focus on the first year of activities and the georectification performance achieved.     

Exact closed-form geolocation for SAR interferometry

Exact closed-form algorithms for InSAR-derived digital elevation model (DEM) geolocation are described. They are based on the knowledge of orbit parameters and time/Doppler frequency coordinates of each SAR image, as well as of their interferometric phase. The proposed scheme gives a simple framework for deriving the geolocation accuracy     

Polarimetric microwave wind radiometer model function and retrieval testing for WindSat

A geophysical model function (GMF), relating the directional response of polarimetric brightness temperatures to ocean surface winds, is developed for the WindSat multifrequency polarimetric microwave radiometer. This GMF is derived from the WindSat data and tuned with the aircraft radiometer measurements for very high winds from the Hurricane Ocean Wind Experiment in 1997. The directional signals in the aircraft polarimetric radiometer data are corroborated by coincident Ku-band scatterometer measurements for wind speeds in the range of 20-35 m/s. We applied an iterative retrieval algorithm using the polarimetric brightness temperatures from 18-, 23-, and 37-GHz channels. We find that the root-mean-square direction difference between the Global Data Assimilation System winds and the closest WindSat wind ambiguity is less than 20/spl deg/ for above 7-m/s wind speed. The retrieval analysis supports the consistency of the Windrad05 GMF with the WindSat data.     

步进频信号波束形成指向偏差与通道误差影响分析

步进频信号波束形成时存在着波束指向偏差和通道间幅相误差,并且对各个步进频脉冲是不同的,即对各步进频脉冲进行了不同的幅相调制。文中首先从理论上分析了这种调制对距离高分辨处理的影响,指出波束指向偏差会使目标距离像发生偏移,但是偏移量很小,通常可以忽略,而通道误差的影响主要是抬高了距离高分辨处理的副瓣电平。然后,对波束指向偏差和通道误差的影响进行了仿真,验证了上述结论。     

无人机激光无线能量传输APT系统跟踪设计

无人机激光无线能量传输捕获、瞄准、跟踪(APT)系统是系统接收端获得稳定能源的保障。为了解决能量传输过程中充电链路高效可靠的问题, 结合无人机激光能量传输系统特点及实际需求, 在设计中建立自适应感兴趣区域, 提高图像处理速度, 降低噪声, 准确提取目标坐标; 综合考虑多重误差后通过Kalman预测算法实现稳定跟踪, 并根据系统特点提出了系统功率传输效率的计算方案。结果表明, 当无人机飞行速率在18km/h内, 该APT系统能够在300m~500m距离准确跟踪无人机, 跟踪精度在320μrad内。该方案能够保证激光能量传输过程的跟踪精度与可靠性。     

一种改进的星载SAR图像控制点几何校正模型

星载合成孔径雷达(SAR)用电磁波获取地球表面的电子图像。由于是侧视成像,SAR图像固有地含有定位误差,这些误差来源于SAR成像几何、成像模式、散射特性以及图像形成过程。因此,在SAR图像使用中必须考虑这些误差并予以校正。利用先验控制点信息可提高星载SAR图像定位精确度,校正几何畸变。分析了星载SAR图像定位的系统误差传递规律,通过将误差传递特性相似的系统误差源进行等效合并,提出了一种改进的系统误差校正模型,蒙特卡洛(Monte-Carlo)仿真实验验证了新模型具有更高的系统误差校正精确度。     

Analysis of wireless geolocation in a non-line-of-sight environment

We present an analysis of the time-of-arrival (TOA), time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA), angle-of-arrival (AOA) and signal strength (SS) based positioning methods in a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environment. Single path (line-of-sight (LOS) or NLOS) propagation is assumed. The best geolocation accuracy is evaluated in terms of the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) or the generalized CRLB (G-CRLB), depending on whether prior statistics of NLOS induced errors are unavailable or available. We then show that the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) using only LOS estimates and the maximum a posteriori probability (MAP) estimator using both LOS and NLOS data can asymptotically achieve the CRLB and the G-CRLB, respectively. Hybrid schemes that adopt more than one type of position-pertaining data and the relationship among the four methods in terms of their positioning accuracy are also investigated.