A radar snapshot of venus

A radar brightness map of Venus has been obtain d. It reveals interesting surface features and much structure over a large area.     

Venus: topography revealed by radar data

Surface height variations over the entire equatorial region on Venus have been estimated from extended series of measurements of interplanetary radar echo delays. Most notable is a mountainous section of about 3-kilometer peak height located at a longitude of 100 degrees (International Astronomical Union coordinate system). The eastern edge has an average inclination of about 0.5 degrees, which is unusually steep for a large-scale slope on Venus. The resolution of the radar measurements along the surface of Venus varied between about 200 and 400 kilometers with a repeatability in altitude determination generally between 200 and 500 meters. The mean equatorial radius was found to be 6050.0+/-0.5 kilometers.     

Evidence for highly reflecting materials on the surface and subsurface of vensus

Radar images at a 12.5-centimeter wavelength made with the Goldstone radar interferometer in 1980 and 1986, together with lunar radar images and recent Venera 15 and 16 data, indicate that material on the surface and subsurface of Venus has a Fresnel reflectivity in excess of 50 percent. Such high reflectivities have been reported on the surface in mountainous regions. Material of high reflectivity may also underlie lower reflectivity surficial materials of the plains regions, where it has been excavated by impact cratering in some areas.     

Seasat synthetic aperture radar: ocean wave detection capabilities

A preliminary assessment has been made of the capability of the Seasat synthetic aperture radar to detect ocean waves. Comparison with surface and aircraft measurements from five passes of the satellite over the Gulf of Alaska indicates agreement to within about - 15 percent in wavelength and about +/- 25 degrees in wave direction. These results apply to waves 100 to 250 meters in length propagating in a direction predominantly across the satellite track, in sea states with significant wave height (H((1/3))) in a range of 2 to 3.5 meters.     

一次副高边缘局地大暴雨的诊断分析

利用常规气象资料及FY-2C气象卫星云图、多普勒天气雷达回波等,采用天气学诊断分析方法对2010年8月13日傍晚到夜里出现在太行山脚下河南焦作市一次局地突发性大暴雨过程进行了分析。结果表明,西风槽、副热带高压、中低层切变线、地面冷锋和暖倒槽是这次局地大暴雨的主要的天气尺度系统;强降水发生前,焦作已经形成了明显的能量锋区,且上干下湿的大气层结随着地面冷锋逐渐东南下,焦作触发了强对流天气;低层辐合高层辐散的散度场配置,增强了大气的抽气作用,导致暴雨区上空较强的垂直上升运动,从而有利于降水的加强,为暴雨的产生提供了动力条件;卫星云图上3个对流云团合并加强是造成焦作短时强降水的主要原因;雷达图上的反射率因子、回波顶高、垂直累积液态含水量产品对于强降水有很好的指示意义。     

Skylab radar altimeter: short-wavelength perturbations detected in ocean surface profiles

Short-wavelength anomalies in sea surface topography, caused by the gravitational effects of major ocean bottom topographic features, have been detected by the radar altimeter aboard Skylab. Some features, such as deep ocean trenches, seamounts, and escarpments, displace the ocean surface by as much as 15 meters over 100-kilometer wavelengths. This experiment demonstrates the potential of satellite altimetry for determining the ocean geoid and for mapping major features of the ocean bottom.     

Viking bistatic radar observations of the hellas basin on Mars: preliminary results

Preliminary reduction of Viking bistatic radar data gives root-mean-square surface slopes in the Hellas basin on Mars of about 4 degrees on horizontal scales averaged over 10 centimeters to 100 meters. This roughness decreases slightly with position along the ground track, south to north. The dielectric constant in this area appears to be approximately 3.1, greater than the martian average. These values are characteristic of lunar maria and are similar to those found near the Viking lander site in Chryse with the use of Earth-based radar.     

Accumulation and erosion of Mars' south polar layered deposits

Mars' polar regions are covered with ice-rich layered deposits that potentially contain a record of climate variations. The sounding radar SHARAD on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mapped detailed subsurface stratigraphy in the Promethei Lingula region of the south polar plateau, Planum Australe. Radar reflections interpreted as layers are correlated across adjacent orbits and are continuous for up to 150 kilometers along spacecraft orbital tracks. The reflectors are often separated into discrete reflector sequences, and strong echoes are seen as deep as 1 kilometer. In some cases, the sequences are dipping with respect to each other, suggesting an interdepositional period of erosion. In Australe Sulci, layers are exhumed, indicating recent erosion.     

The thermal stability of water ice at the poles of mercury

Recent radar observations of Mercury have revealed the presence of anomalous radar reflectivity and polarization features near its north and south poles. Thermal model calculations show that, despite Mercury's proximity to the sun, the temperatures of flat, low-reflectivity surfaces at Mercury's poles are not expected to exceed 167 kelvin. The locations of the anomalous polar radar features appear to be correlated with the locations of large, high-latitude impact craters. Maximum surface temperatures in the permanently shadowed regions of these craters are expected to be significantly colder, as low as 60 kelvin in the largest craters. These results are consistent with the presence of water ice, because at temperatures lower than 112 kelvin, water ice should be stable to evaporation over time scales of billions of years.     

C波段多极化SAR反演土壤水分研究

[目的]研究不同极化方式下雷达后向散射系数与地表土壤含水量之间的关系.[方法]在分析不同地表微波散射模型基础上,选用合适的植被散射模型结合多极化雷达数据从雷达总的后向散射中去除植被影响,建立土壤后向散射系数与土壤含水量的关系.[结果]拟合HH极化、HV极化雷达观测数据与土壤水分数据,相关系数为HH极化R2=0.552 3,HV极化R2=0.357 9.[结论]微波具有全天候、穿透性以及不受云层影响的独特物理机制,使其在研究大尺度土壤水分反演时效果较好,相比较HV极化,HH极化雷达影像数据更适合干旱区作物植被覆盖地区土壤水分监测.     

Planetary science. The glitter of distant seas

It has long been known that Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has a thick nitrogen atmosphere, which obscures the underlying surface. In his Perspective, Lorenz highlights the report by Campbell et al., who have used the giant Arecibo and Green Bank radio telescopes as a radar to probe Titan's hidden surface. The surface appears to be distinct from those of the icy satellites of Jupiter, in both brightness and polarization. The new data show sharp spikes in the reflected microwave spectrum, indicating large, smooth areas of radar-dark material. These features suggest the widespread existence of lakes or seas of liquid hydrocarbons on Titan.     

Ocean wave patterns under hurricane gloria: observation with an airborne synthetic-aperture radar

Surface imagery of ocean waves under Hurricane Gloria (September 1976) has been obtained with an airborne synthetic-aperture imaging radar. Observations were obtained over most of the area within a radius of 150 kilometers around the center of the eye. These direct observations made it possible to derive the wave patterns in the region around a hurricane eye.     

小口径管道超声波检测耦合曲面修正系数

为了研究小口径管道超声波检测中探头与曲面耦合的补偿问题,对超声波平面探头、曲面探头与小口径管道曲面接触情况进行分析,根据曲率修正系数与归一化曲率半径的关系曲线得出需要补偿的增益。通过小口径管道超声波检测耦合曲面修正实验,利用选定探头的平面和修磨后的曲面对SOB试块的标准反射体进行扫描,在80％波高下记录反射当量的分贝值。研究结果表明：曲面探头与SGB试块的弧面半径差越大,标准反射体的反射回波越小,所需的耦合曲面修正系数越大,且探头曲面曲率半径大于试块弧面曲率半径时的耦合效果较好。     

Venus: lower atmosphere not measured

The common ranges of pressure and temperature of the atmosphere of Venus measured last October establish the connection between the Soviet Venera 4 altitude scale and the United States Mariner V radial scale. But if the Venera 4 measurements extended to the surface, as claimed, this comparison implies a radius of the planet which is about 25 kilometers greater than the radius deduced from Earth-based radar data. This impasse has been resolved in favor of the smaller value by a new determination of the radius which is more direct than the method used in deriving the radar radius, and which involves concurrent ranging from Earth both to Mariner V near encounter and to the surface of Venus. It is concluded that neither spacecraft reported on atmospheric conditions near the level of the mean surface, but extrapolations of the measurements yield surface values for mid-latitudes of 100 atmospheres pressure (within a factor of 1.5) and 700 degrees K temperature (within 100 degrees ), in distinction to the Soviet values of 19+/-2 atmospheres and 544 degrees +/-10 degrees K. The higher values support radiometric and radar data on temperature and atmospheric absorption. It appears that the Soviet probe was not designed to work through such a thick atmosphere. A particularly simple (times two) ambiguity in the Venera 4 altimeter reading suggests itself, since this would bring all other data into excellent agreement and would explain the reason for the supposition that the probe reached the surface.     

Venus: detailed mapping of maxwell montes region

From October 1983 to July 1984, the north hemisphere of Venus, from latitude 30 degrees to latitude 90 degrees , was mapped by means of the radar imagers and altimeters of the spacecraft Venera 15 and Venera 16. This report presents the results of the radar mapping of the Maxwell Montes region, one of the most interesting features of Venus' surface. A radar mosaic map and contour map have been compiled.     

Intense sub-kilometer-scale boundary layer rolls observed in hurricane fran

High-resolution observations obtained with the Doppler On Wheels (DOW) mobile weather radar near the point of landfall of hurricane Fran (1996) revealed the existence of intense, sub-kilometer-scale, boundary layer rolls that strongly modulated the near-surface wind speed. It is proposed that these structures are one cause of geographically varying surface damage patterns that have been observed after some landfalling hurricanes and that they cause much of the observed gustiness, bringing high-velocity air from aloft to the lowest observable levels. High-resolution DOW radar observations are contrasted with lower-resolution observations obtained with an operational weather radar, which underestimated peak low-level wind speeds.     

Topography from single radar images

A mathematical theory and a corresponding numerical procedure have been developed to produce digital topography from radar images as digital photometric arrays. Thus, as radargrammetry is to photogrammetry, so radarclinometry is to photoclinometry. Photoclinometry encompasses a fundamental indeterminacy principle even for terrain that is homogeneous in normal albedo, because the surface normal consistent with a given reflected specific intensity is not unique. A geometric locus of such normal directions is implied, which generates a surface. For microwave backscatter, in specific application to radarclinometry, this surface is a cone whose half-angle is the incidence angle, whose axis contains the radar, and whose apex coincides with the terrain point. Although the indeterminacy can be removed if a properly directed profile of ground truth is available as a constraint, such is seldom the case. In its absence, an auxiliary assumption, such as that the strike line runs perpendicular to the illumination line, is needed. If metric integrity is a goal, then this is an absurd assumption. Herein, "the hypothesis of local cylindricity" has been assumed, a premise regarding the nature of topographic curvature that seems more realistic and that makes possible the production of topography as a set of parallel line integrals.     

Preliminary results on the atmospheres of io and jupiter from the pioneer 10 s-band occultation experiment

The preliminary analysis of data from the Pioneer 10 S-band radio occultation experinment has revealed the presence of an ionosphere on the Jovian satellite Io (JI) having an electron density peak of about 6 x 10(4) electrons per cubic centimeter at an altitude of approximately 60 to 140 kilometers. This suggests the presence of an atmosphere having a surface number density of about 10(10) to 10(12) per cubic centimeter, corresponding to an atmospheric surface pressure of between 10(-8) and 10(-10) bar, at or below the detection threshold of the Beta Scorpii stellar occultation. A measurement of the atmosphere of Jupiter was obtained down to the level of about 80 millibars, indicating a large temperature increase at about the 20 millibar level, which cannot be explained by the absorption of solar radiation by methane alone and can possibly be due to absorption by particulate matter.     

Spaceborne imaging radar: geologic and oceanographic applications

Synoptic, large-area radar images of the earth's land and ocean surface, obtained from the Seasat orbiting spacecraft, show the potential for geologic mapping and for monitoring of ocean surface patterns. Structural and topographic features such as lineaments, anticlines, folds and domes, drainage patterns, stratification, and roughness units can be mapped. Ocean surface waves, internal waves, current boundaries, and large-scale eddies have been observed in numerous images taken by the Seasat imaging radar. This article gives an illustrated overview of these applications.     

Bistatic-radar detection of lunar scattering centers with lunar orbiter I

Continuous-wave signals transmitted from Lunar Orbiter I have been received on Earth after they have been reflected from the surface of the moon. The frequency spectrum of the reflected signals is used to locate discrete, heterogeneous, scattering centers on the lunar surface. The scattering centers are probably distinguished from the surrounding terrain by a higher surface reflectivity. Continuous-wave bistatic radar could provide an important new method for the study and mapping of planetary surfaces.