Optimal deployment of swarm positions in cooperative interception of multiple UAV swarms

In order to prevent the attacker from breaking through the blockade of the interception,deploying multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV)swarms on the interception line is a new combat style.To solve the optimal deployment of swarm positions in the cooperative interception,an optimal deployment optimization model is presented by minimizing the penetration zones'area and the analytical expression of the optimal deployment positions is deduced.Firstly,from the view of the attackers breaking through the interception line,the situations of vertical penetration and oblique penetration are analyzed respectively,and the mathematical models of penetration zones are obtained under the condition of a single UAV swarm and multiple UAV swarms.Secondly,based on the optimization goal of minimizing the penetration area,the optimal deployment optimization model for swarm positions is proposed,and the analytical solution of the optimal deployment is solved by using the convex programming theory.Finally,the proposed optimal deployment is compared with the uniform deployment and random deployment to verify the validity of the theoretical analysis.

Influencing factor analysis of interception probability and classification-regression neural network based estimation

The interception probability of a single missile is the basis for combat plan design and weapon performance evaluation,while its influencing factors are complex and mutually coupled.Existing calculation methods have very limited analysis of the influence mechanism of influencing factors,and none of them has analyzed the influence of the guidance law.This paper considers the influencing factors of both the interceptor and the target more comprehensively.Interceptor parameters include speed,guidance law,guidance error,fuze error,and fragment killing ability,while target performance includes speed,maneuverability,and vulnerability.In this paper,an interception model is established,Monte Carlo simulation is carried out,and the influence mechanism of each factor is analyzed based on the model and simulation results.Finally,this paper proposes a classification-regression neural network to quickly estimate the interception probability based on the value of influencing factors.The proposed method reduces the interference of invalid interception data to valid data,so its prediction accuracy is significantly better than that of pure regression neural networks.

Recorded recurrent deep reinforcement learning guidance laws for intercepting endoatmospheric maneuvering missiles

This work proposes a recorded recurrent twin delayed deep deterministic(RRTD3)policy gradient algorithm to solve the challenge of constructing guidance laws for intercepting endoatmospheric maneuvering missiles with uncertainties and observation noise.The attack-defense engagement scenario is modeled as a partially observable Markov decision process(POMDP).Given the benefits of recurrent neural networks(RNNs)in processing sequence information,an RNN layer is incorporated into the agent’s policy network to alleviate the bottleneck of traditional deep reinforcement learning methods while dealing with POMDPs.The measurements from the interceptor’s seeker during each guidance cycle are combined into one sequence as the input to the policy network since the detection frequency of an interceptor is usually higher than its guidance frequency.During training,the hidden states of the RNN layer in the policy network are recorded to overcome the partially observable problem that this RNN layer causes inside the agent.The training curves show that the proposed RRTD3 successfully enhances data efficiency,training speed,and training stability.The test results confirm the advantages of the RRTD3-based guidance laws over some conventional guidance laws.

Nitrogen interception in floodwater of rice field in Taihu region of China

A field experiment located in Taihu Lake Basin of China was conducted, by application of urea or a mixture of urea with manure, to elucidate the interception of nitrogen （N） export in a typical rice field through ＂zero-drainage water management＂ combined with sound irrigation, rainfall forecasting and field drying. N concentrations in floodwater rapidly declined before the first event of field drying after three split fertilizations, and subsequently tended to rearm to the background level. Before the first field drying, total particulate nitrogen （TPN） was the predominant N form in floodwater of plots with no N input, dissolved inorganic nitrogen （DIN） on plots that received urea only, and dissolved organic nitrogen （DON） on plots treated with the mixture of urea and manure. Thereafter TPN became the major form. No N export was found from the rice field, but total nitrogen （TN） of 15.8 kg/hm^2 was remained, mainly due to soil N sorption. The results recommended the zero-drainage water management for full-scale areas for minimizing N export.

Mulching mode and planting density affect canopy interception loss of rainfall and water use efficiency of dryland maize on the Loess Plateau of China

High and efficient use of limited rainwater resources is of crucial importance for the crop production in arid and semi-arid areas. To investigate the effects of different soil and crop management practices（i.e., mulching mode treatments： flat cultivation with non-mulching, flat cultivation with straw mulching, plastic-covered ridge with bare furrow and plastic-covered ridge with straw-covered furrow; and planting density treatments： low planting density of 45,000 plants/hm^2, medium planting density of 67,500 plants/hm^2 and high planting density of 90,000 plants/hm^2） on rainfall partitioning by dryland maize canopy, especially the resulted net rainfall input beneath the maize canopy, we measured the gross rainfall, throughfall and stemflow at different growth stages of dryland maize in 2015 and 2016 on the Loess Plateau of China. The canopy interception loss was estimated by the water balance method. Soil water storage, leaf area index, grain yield（as well as it components） and water use efficiency of dryland maize were measured or calculated. Results showed that the cumulative throughfall, cumulative stemflow and cumulative canopy interception loss during the whole growing season accounted for 42.3%–77.5%, 15.1%–36.3% and 7.4%–21.4% of the total gross rainfall under different treatments, respectively. Soil mulching could promote the growth and development of dryland maize and enhance the capability of stemflow production and canopy interception loss, thereby increasing the relative stemflow and relative canopy interception loss and reducing the relative throughfall. The relative stemflow and relative canopy interception loss generally increased with increasing planting density, while the relative throughfall decreased with increasing planting density. During the two experimental years, mulching mode had no significant influence on net rainfall due to the compensation between throughfall and stemflow, whereas planting density significantly affected net rainfall. The highest grain yield and water use efficiency of dryland maize were obtained under the combination of medium planting density of 67,500 plants/hm^2 and mulching mode of plastic-covered ridge with straw-covered furrow. Soil mulching can reduce soil evaporation and retain more soil water for dryland maize without reducing the net rainfall input beneath the maize canopy, which may alleviate the contradiction between high soil water consumption and insufficient rainfall input of the soil. In conclusion, the application of medium planting density（67,500 plants/hm^2） under plastic-covered ridge with bare furrow is recommended for increasing dryland maize production on the Loess Plateau of China.

Combined proportional navigation law for interception of high-speed targets

A new proportional navigation(PN) guidance law,called combined proportional navigation(CPN),is proposed.The guidance law is designed to intercept high-speed targets,which is a common case for ballistic targets.The range of target-to-interceptor speed ratio during target interception is derived when guidance laws are applied in high-speed targets interception,and the effectiveness of negative navigation ratio in the PN-based guidance law is proven analytically in some lemmas.Based on the lemmas,the lateral acceleration command of CPN is defined,and the solution to the appearance of singularity in time-varying navigation ratio is given.The simulation results show that CPN can determine headon engagement(as PN) or tail-chase engagement(as RPN) through initial path angle compared with PN and retro proportional navigation(RPN),and can adjust the value of navigation ratio for head-on engagement or tail-chase engagement.Therefore,the capture region of CPN is larger than that of other guidance laws using PN-based methods.

Estimating light interception using the color attributes of digital images of cotton canopies

Crop growth and yield depend on canopy light interception （LI）. To identify a low-cost and relatively efficient index for measuring LI, several color attributes of red-green-blue （RGB）, hue-saturation-intensity （HSI）, hue-saturation-value （HSV） color models and the component values of color attributes in the RGB color model were investigated using digital images at six cotton plant population densities in 2012-2014. The results showed that the LI values followed downward quadratic curves after planting. The red （R）, green （G） and blue （B） values varied greatly over the years, in accordance with Cai＇s research demonstrating that the RGB model is affected by outside light. Quadratic curves were fit to these color attributes at six plant population densities. Additionally, linear regressions of LI on every color attribute revealed that the hue （H） values in HSI and HSV were significantly linearly correlated with LI with a determination coefficient （R2）〉0.89 and a root mean square error （RMSE）=0.05. Thus, the H values in the HSI and HSV models could be used to measure LI, and this hypothesis was validated. The H values are new indexes for quantitatively estimating the LI of heterogeneous crop cano- pies, which will provide a theoretical basis for optimizing the crop canopy structure. However, further research should be conducted in other crops and under other growing and environmental conditions to verify this finding.

Sensor radiation interception risk control in target tracking

This paper is mainly on the problem of radiation interception risk control in sensor network for target tracking.Firstly,the sensor radiation interception risk is defined as the product of the interception probability and the cost caused by the interception.Secondly,the radiation interception probability model and cost model are established,based on which the calculation method of interception risk can be obtained.Thirdly,a sensor scheduling model of radiation risk control is established,taking the minimum interception risk as the objective function.Then the Hungarian algorithm is proposed to obtain sensor scheduling scheme.Finally,simulation experiments are mad to prove the effectiveness of the methods proposed in this paper,which shows that compared with the sensor radiation interception probability control method,the interception risk control method can keep the sensor scheduling scheme in low risk as well as protect sensors of importance in the sensor network.

Characteristics of canopy interception and its simulation with a revised Gash model for a larch plantation in the Liupan Mountains, China

Canopy interception is a significant proportion of incident rainfall and evapotranspiration of forest ecosystems. Hence, identifying its magnitude is vital for studies of eco-hydrological processes and hydrological impact evaluation. In this study, throughfall, stemflow and interception were measured in a pure Larix principis-rupprechtii Mayr.（larch） plantation in the Liupan Mountains of northwestern China during the growing season（May–October） of 2015, and simulated using a revised Gash model. During the study period, the total precipitation was 499.0 mm; corresponding total throughfall, stemflow and canopy interception were 410.3, 2.0 and 86.7 mm,accounting for 82.2, 0.4 and 17.4% of the total precipitation, respectively. With increasing rainfall, the canopy interception ratio of individual rainfall events decreased initially and then tended to stabilize. Within the study period, the simulated total canopy interception, throughfall and stemflow were 2.2 mm lower, 2.5 mm higher and 0.3 mm lower than their measured values, with a relative error of 2.5, 0.6 and 15.0%, respectively. As quantified by the model, canopy interception loss（79%） mainly consisted of interception caused by canopy adsorption, while the proportions of additional interception and trunk interception were small. The revised Gash model was highly sensitive to the parameter of canopy storage capacity,followed by the parameters of canopy density and mean rainfall intensity, but less sensitive to the parameters of mean evaporation rate, trunk storage capacity, and stemflow ratio. The revised Gash model satisfactorily simulated the total canopy interception of the larch plantation within the growing season but was less accurate for some individual rainfall events, indicating that some flaws exist in the model structure. Further measures to improve the model’s ability in simulating the interception of individual rainfall events were suggested.

Improving the Vegetation Dynamic Simulation in a Land Surface Model by Using a Statistical-dynamic Canopy Interception Scheme

Canopy interception of incident precipitation, as a critical component of a forest＇s water budget, can affect the amount of water available to the soil, and ultimately vegetation distribution and function. In this paper, a statistical-dynamic approach based on leaf area index and statistical canopy interception is used to parameterize the canopy interception process. The statistical-dynamic canopy interception scheme is implemented into the Community Land Model with dynamic global vegetation model （CLM-DGVM） to improve its dynamic vegetation simulation. The simulation for continental China by the land surface model with the new canopy interception scheme shows that the new one reasonably represents the precipitation intercepted by the canopy. Moreover, the new scheme enhances the water availability in the root zone for vegetation growth, especially in the densely vegetated and semi-arid areas, and improves the model＇s performance of potential vegetation simulation.

Interception of sulfate deposition from a closed canopy to a forest gap edge canopy in a subalpine dragon spruce plantation

Reducing the threats of sulfate ion(SO42-)deposition to terrestrial ecosystems is a great challenge.The canopy interception effect on SO42-deposition has been well documented,but the interception efficiency of the gap edge remains unknown.Therefore,a subalpine dragon spruce(Picea asperata)plantation was evaluated in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.The dynamics of the SO42-concentration in the throughfall were investigated from the gap edge to the closed canopy during the rainfall and snowfall periods from August 2015 to July 2016.The annual input of SO42-totaled 2.56 kg/ha through rainfall and 0.69 kg/ha through snowfall.The total annual net interception fluxes(NIFs)of SO42-at the gap edge and in the closed canopy were 1.48 kg/ha and 0.66 kg/ha,respectively,and the net interception ratios(NIRs)accounted for 45.40%and 20.25%,respectively.The NIF and the NIR of SO42-at the gap edge were higher than those in the closed canopy.Therefore,the results suggested that a significant amount of SO42-deposition was intercepted by the tree canopy in the subalpine plantation,with more SO42-deposition at the gap edge than in the closed canopy,which is beneficial for improving the water quality in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River via forest management.

Genotypic variation in spatiotemporal distribution of canopy light interception in relation to yield formation in cotton

Background: Within-canopy interception of photosynthetically active radiation(PAR) impacts yield and other agronomic traits in cotton(Gossypium hirsutum L.). Field experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of 6 cotton varieties(they belong to 3 different plant types) on yield, yield distribution, light interception(LI), LI distribution and the relationship between yield formation and LI in Anyang, Henan, in 2014 and 2015.Result: The results showed that cotton cultivars with long branches(loose-type) intercepted more LI than did cultivars with short branches(compact-type), due to increased LI in the middle and upper canopy. Although loose-type varieties had greater LI, they did not yield significantly higher than compact-type varieties, due to decreased harvest index. Therefore, improving the harvest index by adjusting the source-to-sink relationship may further increase cotton yield for loose-type cotton. In addition, there was a positive relationship between reproductive organ biomass accumulation and canopy-accumulated LI, indicating that enhancing LI is important for yield improvement for each cultivar. Furthermore, yield distribution within the canopy was significantly linearly related to vertical LI distribution.Conclusion: Therefore, optimizing canopy structure of different plant type and subsequently optimizing LI distribution within the cotton canopy can effectively enhance the yield.

A guidance method for coplanar orbital interception based on reinforcement learning

This paper investigates the guidance method based on reinforcement learning(RL)for the coplanar orbital interception in a continuous low-thrust scenario.The problem is formulated into a Markov decision process(MDP)model,then a welldesigned RL algorithm,experience based deep deterministic policy gradient(EBDDPG),is proposed to solve it.By taking the advantage of prior information generated through the optimal control model,the proposed algorithm not only resolves the convergence problem of the common RL algorithm,but also successfully trains an efficient deep neural network(DNN)controller for the chaser spacecraft to generate the control sequence.Numerical simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is feasible and the trained DNN controller significantly improves the efficiency over traditional optimization methods by roughly two orders of magnitude.

Interception probability simulation and analysis of salvo of two electromagnetic coil launched anti-torpedo torpedoes

Electromagnetic coil launch is an important branch of electromagnetic launch(EML)technology,which is suitable for launching anti-torpedo torpedo(ATT).This paper focuses on the EML parameters and the interception probability of the EML two ATTs salvo.Based on the launching model of a multi-stage coil launcher,the trajectory model of the ATT and the attacking torpedo,a calculation method for the EML two ATTs salvo parameters is proposed,with the conditions of capture and interception given reasonably.An adaptive particle swarm optimization(APSO)algorithm is proposed to calculate the optimal launching parameters,by designing the adaptive inertia weight and time-varying study factors.According to the analysis of the simulation with Monte Carlo method,EML will improve the interception probability effectively,and the interception probability is affected by the launching range.The results demonstrate good performance of the proposed APSO in calculating EML parameters for the two ATTs salvo in certain combat situation.Implications of these results are particular regarding the command and decision in the anti-torpedo combat.

The impact of plant density and spatial arrangement on light interception on cotton crop and seed cotton yield:an overview

Light attenuation within a row of crops such as cotton is influenced by canopy architecture,which is defined by size,shape and orientation of shoot components.Level of light interception causes an array of morpho-anatomical,physiological and biochemical changes.Physiological determinants of growth include light interception,light use efficiency,dry matter accumulation,duration of growth and dry matter partitioning.Maximum light utilization in cotton production can be attained by adopting cultural practices that yields optimum plant populations as they affect canopy arrangement by modifying the plant canopy components.This paper highlights the extent to which spatial arrangement and density affect light interception in cotton crops.The cotton crop branches tend to grow into the inter-row space to avoid shade.The modification of canopy components suggests a shade avoidance and competition for light.Maximum leaf area index is obtained especially at flowering stage with higher populations which depicts better yields in cotton production.

Budget constrained flow interception location model for congested systems

To study location problems with congestion demand, a bi-objective model based on flow intercep-tion problem is proposed.The model is formulated from the view of M/M/m queuing systems.Service quantity and quality are simultaneously considered as objectives, with constraint on total cost.Service quality includes deviation distance from preplanned trips and customers＇ waiting time.Service quantity is the number of intercep-tion customers.A multi-objective evolutionary algorithm combined with greedy heuristic is proposed.Finally a computational experiment is given, and the algorithm is proved to be efficient.

Model and algorithm of flow interception problem with multi-type of flows

To study simultaneous location of different kinds of facilities, a new model of flow interception problem with multi-type of flows is proposed, with the consideration of multi-purpose flows and the influence of facilities on each other. To be more practical, the objective is to maximize the benefits from flow-by customers instead of maximizing flows in the past. Since this problem is NP-hard and there is no optimal solution for large network, greedy and improved greedy heuristic algorithms are proposed. A computational example is presented to show that the optimal location decisions are proved to be strongly dependent on the influence coefficients and average profits by one customer and different types of facilities are almost co-located. Finally the results of sensitivity analysis are reported.

Micro-Droplet Flux in Forest and its Contribution to Interception Loss of Rainfall – Theoretical Study and Field

A new approach to explain forest interception was proposed by introducing micro-droplets of crushed raindrops during rainfall. The aerodynamic diffusion and transfer of both vapour and micro-droplets from canopy to upper air were described and calculated, and proposed formulas applied to eight rainfall events at the Okunoi Experimental Station, Tokushima, Japan. Contributions from droplet transfer were 0.9-58.2 times of contributions from vapour transfer, taking a majority portion in total interception loss. Accounting only the vapour transfer or evaporation loss as estimated by Penman equation was not able to account for actual interception loss. The micro-droplet flux component took major portion in the two heavily rained events, and completely made up the interception as happened in October 2004. The droplet flux could accommodate a high interception rate, even when the air was nearly vapour-saturated and vapour flux was zero. This approach provided a new explanation to extraordinarily high interception rates.

Interception time and uncertainty optimization for tangent-impulse orbit interception problem

The traditional tangent impulse interception problem does not consider the influence of actual deviation.However,by taking the actual state deviation of the interceptor into the orbit design process,an interception orbit that is more robust than the nominal orbit can be obtained.Therefore,we study the minimum time interception problem and the minimum terminal interception error problem under tangent impulse conditions and give an orbit optimization method that considers the interception time and the interception uncertainty.First,we express the interceptor's transfer time equation as a form of flight path angle,establish a global optimization model for solving the minimum time tangent impulse interception and give a hybrid optimization algorithm based on Augmented Lagrange Genetic Algorithm-Sequential Quadratic Programming(ALGA-SQP).Secondly,we use the universal time equation and Bootstrap resampling technology to calculate the interceptor's terminal error distribution and establish the relevant global optimization model by using the circumscribed cuboid volume of the interceptor's terminal position error ellipsoid as the optimization index.Finally,we combined the above two singleobjective optimization models to establish a global multi-objective optimization model that considers interception time and interception uncertainty and gave a hybrid multi-objective optimization algorithm based on Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm Ⅱ-Goal Achievement Method(NSGA2-GAM).The simulation example verifies the effectiveness of this method.

Effects of a flexible net barrier on the dynamic behaviours and interception of debris flows in mountainous areas

Flexible net barriers are a new type of effective mitigation measure against debris flows in valleys and can affect the kinematic energy and mass of debris flows. Here, ten flume tests were performed to study the dynamic behaviours of debris flows with differences in volumes, concentrations(solid volume fraction), and travel distances after interception by a uniform flexible net barrier. A high-speed camera was used to monitor the whole test process, and their dynamic behaviours were recorded. A preliminary computational framework on energy conversion is proposed according to the deposition mechanisms and outflow of debris flow under the effects of the flexible net barrier. The experimental results show that the dynamic interaction process between a debris flow and the flexible net barrier can be divided into two stages:(a) the two-phase impact of the leading edge of the debris flow with the net and(b) collision and friction between the body of the debris flow and intercepted debris material. The approach velocity of a debris flow decreases sharply(a maximum of 63%) after the interception by the net barrier, and the mass ratio of the debris material being intercepted and the kinetic energy ratio of the debris material being absorbed by the net barrier are close due to the limited interception efficiency of the flexible net barrier, which is believed to be related to the flexibility. The energy ratio of outflow is relative small despite the large permeability of the flexible net barrier.