Numerical Modeling of the Time Evolution of Super-Small-Scale Irregularities in the Near-Earth Rarefied Plasma

The time evolution of the magnetic field aligned super-small-scale irregularities in the concentration of charged particles, existing in the near-Earth rarefied plasma, is studied with the help of the model simulation. A new version of the two-dimensional mathematical model, developed earlier in the Polar Geophysical Institute, is utilized to investigate the temporal history of the irregularity with circular cross section, created initially in the near-Earth plasma. The utilized model is based on a numerical solution of the Vlasov-Poisson system of equations, with the Vlasov equations describing the distribution functions of charged particles and the Poisson equation governing the self-consistent electric field. The results of simulation indicate that the mobility of the positive ions ought to influence essentially on the time evolution of the super-small-scale irregularities in the concentration of charged particles, existing in the near-Earth rarefied plasma.

A brief review of equatorial ionization anomaly and ionospheric irregularities

Following a brief history and progress of ionospheric research, this paper presents a brief review of the recent developments in the understanding of two major phenomena in low and mid latitude ionosphere—the equatorial ionization anomaly(EIA) and involved equatorial plasma fountain(EPF) and ionospheric irregularities. Unlike the easy-to-understand misinterpretations, the EPF involves field perpendicular E×B plasma drift and field-aligned plasma diffusion acting together and plasma flowing in the direction of the resultant at all points along the field lines at all altitudes. The EIA is formed mainly from the removal of plasma from around the equator by the upward E×B drift creating the trough and consequently the crests with small accumulation of plasma at the crests when the crests are within ~±20° magnetic latitudes and no accumulation when they are beyond ~±25° magnetic latitudes. The strong EIA under magnetically active conditions arises from the simultaneous impulsive action of eastward prompt penetration electric field and equatorward neutral wind. Intense ionospheric irregularities develop in the post-sunset bottom-side equatorial ionosphere when it rises to high altitudes, and evolve nonlinearly into the topside. Pre-reversal enhancement(PRE) of the vertical upward E×B drift and its fluctuations amplified during PRE provide the driving force and seed, with neutral wind and gravity waves being the primary sources. At low solar activity especially in summer when fast varying PRE is absent, the slow varying gravity waves including large scale waves(LSW)seem to act as both driver and seed for weak irregularities. At mid latitudes, the irregularities are weak and associated with medium scale traveling ionospheric disturbances(MSTIDs). A low latitude minimum in the occurrence of the irregularities at March equinox predicted by theoretical models is identified. The minimum occurs on the poleward side of the EIA crest and shifts equatorward from ~25° magnetic latitudes at high solar activity to below 17° at low solar activity.

Numerical simulation of the propagation of electromagnetic waves in ionospheric irregularities

The characteristics of high-frequency(HF)electromagnetic(EM)wave propagation can be affected when EM waves propagate in the ionosphere.When ionospheric irregularities appear in the ionosphere,they can have a serious impact on the propagation of HF EM waves.In this study,the propagation of HF EM waves in ionospheric irregularities was investigated by numerical simulation.First,a twodimensional model of plasma bubbles was used to produce ionospheric irregularities in the ionosphere.A ray-tracing method was then utilized to simulate the propagation of HF radio waves in these ionospheric irregularities.Results showed that the propagation of HF radio waves in the ionosphere was more complex in ionospheric irregularities than without ionospheric irregularities.In addition,corresponding ionograms were synthesized by radio rays propagated in the ionosphere with these irregularities.The synthesized ionograms were then compared with the experimental ionograms recorded by an ionosonde.Results showed that spread F could be simulated on the ionograms when ionospheric irregularities occurred in the ionosphere.This result was consistent with the ionosonde observations.

Review of ionospheric irregularities and ionospheric electrodynamic coupling in the middle latitude region

This paper briefly reviews ionospheric irregularities that occur in the E and F regions at mid-latitudes. Sporadic E(ES) is a common ionospheric irregularity phenomenon that is first noticed in the E layer. ES mainly appears during daytime in summer hemispheres, and is formed primarily from neutral wind shear in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere(MLT) region. Field-aligned irregularity(FAI) in the E region is also observed by Very High Frequency(VHF) radar in mid-latitude regions. FAI frequently occurs after sunset in summer hemispheres, and spectrum features of E region FAI echoes suggest that type-2 irregularity is dominant in the nighttime ionosphere. A close relationship between ES and E region FAI implies that ES may be a possible source of E region FAI in the nighttime ionosphere. Strong neutral wind shear, steep ES plasma density gradient, and a polarized electric field are the significant factors affecting the formation of E region FAI. At mid-latitudes, joint observational experiments including ionosonde, VHF radar, Global Positioning System(GPS) stations, and all-sky optical images have revealed strong connections across different scales of ionospheric irregularities in the nighttime F region, such as spread F(SF), medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances(MSTID), and F region FAI.Observations suggest that different scales of ionospheric irregularities are generally attributed to the Perkins instability and subsequently excited gradient drift instability. Nighttime MSTID can further evolve into small-scale structures through a nonlinear cascade process when a steep plasma density gradient exists at the bottom of the F region. In addition, the effect of ionospheric electrodynamic coupling processes, including ionospheric E-F coupling and inter-hemispheric coupling on the generation of ionospheric irregularities, becomes more prominent due to the significant dip angle and equipotentiality of magnetic field lines in the mid-latitude ionosphere. Polarized electric fields can map to different ionospheric regions and excite plasma instabilities which form ionospheric irregularities. Nevertheless,the mapping efficiency of a polarized electric field depends on the ionospheric background and spatial scale of the field.

Deep learning-based fault diagnostic network of high-speed train secondary suspension systems for immunity to track irregularities and wheel wear

Fault detection and isolation of high-speed train suspension systems is of critical importance to guarantee train running safety. Firstly, the existing methods concerning fault detection or isolation of train suspension systems are briefly reviewed and divided into two categories, i.e., model-based and data-driven approaches. The advantages and disadvantages of these two categories of approaches are briefly summarized. Secondly, a 1D convolution network-based fault diagnostic method for highspeed train suspension systems is designed. To improve the robustness of the method, a Gaussian white noise strategy(GWN-strategy) for immunity to track irregularities and an edge sample training strategy(EST-strategy) for immunity to wheel wear are proposed. The whole network is called GWN-EST-1 DCNN method. Thirdly, to show the performance of this method, a multibody dynamics simulation model of a high-speed train is built to generate the lateral acceleration of a bogie frame corresponding to different track irregularities, wheel profiles, and secondary suspension faults. The simulated signals are then inputted into the diagnostic network, and the results show the correctness and superiority of the GWN-EST-1DCNN method. Finally,the 1DCNN method is further validated using tracking data of a CRH3 train running on a high-speed railway line.

Modeling of kilometer-scale ionospheric irregularities at Mars

Recently, kilometer-scale Martian ionospheric irregularities have been measured by the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN(MAVEN) mission(Fowler et al., 2020). In this study, we carried out a simulation of these irregularities, assuming a uniform Martian zonal neutral wind and a cosinusoidal perturbation of the plasma density as the seeding source. Results show that a vertical electric field shear could be induced by such a plasma density perturbation. We find that the vertical electric field shear causes a velocity shear of the plasma between the topside and bottomside ionosphere, which in turn is able to produce kilometer-scale ionospheric irregularities — irregularities of a smaller scale than were seen in previous simulations(Jiang CH et al., 2021). These kilometer-scale variations with altitude, in plasma density and magnetic field profiles, are comparable to the MAVEN observations.

An analysis method for correlation between catenary irregularities and pantograph-catenary contact force

Pantograph-catenary contact force provides the main basis for evaluation of current quality collection; however,the pantograph-catenary contact force is largely affected by the catenary irregularities.To analyze the correlated relationship between catenary irregularities and pantograph-catenary contact force,a method based on nonlinear auto-regressive with exogenous input(NARX) neural networks was developed.First,to collect the test data of catenary irregularities and contact force,the pantograph/catenary dynamics model was established and dynamic simulation was conducted using MATLAB/Simulink.Second,catenary irregularities were used as the input to NARX neural network and the contact force was determined as output of the NARX neural network,in which the neural network was trained by an improved training mechanism based on the regularization algorithm.The simulation results show that the testing error and correlation coefficient are 0.1100 and 0.8029,respectively,and the prediction accuracy is satisfactory.And the comparisons with other algorithms indicate the validity and superiority of the proposed approach.

A measure of ionospheric irregularities:zonal velocity and its implications for L-band scintillation at low-latitudes

We estimate the zonal drift velocity of small-scale ionospheric irregularities at low latitude by leveraging the spaced-receivers technique applied to two GNSS receivers for scintillation monitoring installed along the magnetic parallel passing in Presidente Prudente(Brazil,magnetic latitude 12.8°S).The investigated ionospheric sector is ideal to study small-scale irregularities,being located close to the expected position of the southern crest of the equatorial ionospheric anomaly.The measurement campaign took place between September 2013 and February 2014,i.e.equinox and summer solstice seasons under solar maximum,during which the probability of formation of small-scale irregularities is expected to maximize.We found that the hourly average of the velocity increases up to 135 m/s right after the local sunset at ionospheric altitudes and then smoothly decreases in the next hours.Such measurements are in agreement with independent estimations of the velocity made by the Incoherent Scatter Radar located at the Jicamarca Radio Observatory(magnetic latitude 0.1°N),by the Boa Vista Ionosonde(magnetic latitude 12.0°N),and by applying a recently-developed empirical regional short-term forecasting model.Additionally,we investigated the relationship with the percentage occurrence of amplitude scintillation;we report that it is exponentially dependent on the zonal velocity of the irregularities that cause it.

Transmission Electron Microscopy of Stacking Irregularities in Synchisite－（Ce）

Synchisite-(Ce) from the Kibina alkaline massive, Kola peninsula, Russia , has been studied using electron diffraction and lattice-images techniques. The synchisite-(Ce) with relatively ordered stacking shows a microtwin. The semirandom stacking is caused by the displacement of CO3 layers parallel to the basal planes. The irregular stacking crystals contain Ca layers adjacent to each other.The synchisite-(Ce) is considered as a polymatic mineral with short-range disorder.

Density disturbance of small-scale fieldaligned irregularities in the ionosphere heating experiments

A theoretical model which describes the small-scale irregularities excited by powerful high frequency （3–30 MHz） electromagnetic wave in ionosphere heating is investigated quantitatively in this paper. The model is based on the transport equation in magnetic plasma and mode conversion from electromagnetic wave to electrostatic wave in ionospheric modification.Threshold electric field for exciting small-scale （meter scale） irregularities and spatial spectra of irregularities are analytically calculated by this model. The results indicate that background electron density and geomagnetic field play an important role for the threshold electric field and the spatial scale of the electron density irregularities. The results demonstrate that the electric field threshold increases with the decrease of the spatial scale of the irregularities. For exciting meter scale irregularities, the threshold electric field is about tens of mV m^（-1）. The theoretical results are consistent with those of the experiments.

Global investigation of the ionospheric irregularities during the severe geomagnetic storm on September 7-8, 2017

In this study,the global effects of the severe geomagnetic storm on the Earth’s ionosphere on September5 e9,2017 with Coronal Mass Ejections(CMEs)associated with X-9.3 flares on September 6,2017 were investigated by the Rate of Total Electron Content(TEC)Index(ROTI).ROTI was used as a criterion of ionospheric irregularities that took place during the storm.This study was conducted with TEC values obtained from fifty stations connected to the International GNSS System(IGS)-GPS network for five different latitude regions.As a result,it was observed that the irregularities in the high latitude regions of the southern hemisphere were greater in number in comparison with those at the high latitude regions of the northern hemisphere during the storm.It was observed that these irregularities generally occurred during the main and recovery phases of the storm at all latitudes.The weak and moderate ionospheric irregularities that developed at high latitudes during the storm were more in the southern hemisphere.Especially,moderate ionospheric irregularities in high latitudes of both hemispheres took place in eastern longitudes(18 oE-160 oE).However,ionospheric irregularities in the mid-latitude regions were observed in more stations at the northern hemisphere than at the southern hemisphere.Generally,ionospheric irregularities during the storm developed at eastern longitudes in all sectors.

On the problem of the dynamical reactions of a rolling wheelset to real track irregularities

We investigate numerically the dynamical reactions of a moving wheelset model to real measured track irregularities.The background is to examine whether the dynamics are suitable as the input to the inverse problem:determine the true track geometry from measured wheelset dynamical reactions.It is known that the method works well for the vertical position of the rails but the computed lateral position is often flawed.We find that the lateral motion of the wheelset often may differ from the track geometry.The cases are investigated closely but the reasons remain unknown.While the wheelset dynamics reflect the larger(>4-6 mm)aperiodic track disturbances and single large disturbances quite well,this does not seem to be the case for general smaller or periodic track irregularities or sections behind single large disturbances.The resulting dynamics of a wheelset to lateral track irregularities are in general not sufficiently accurate to be used as the basis for a description of the track irregularities.

Multivariate Analyses for Finding Significant Track Irregularities to Generate an Optimal Track Maintenance Schedule

We first discuss the relationship between the optimal track maintenance scheduling model and an efficient detection method for abnormal track irregularities given by the longitudinal level irregularity displacement (LLID). The results of applying the cluster analysis technique to the sampling data showed that maintenance operation is required for approximately 10% of the total lots, and these lots were further classified into three groups according to the degree of maintenance need. To analyze the background factors for detecting abnormal LLID lots, a principal component analysis was performed;the results showed that the first principal component represents LLIDs from the viewpoints of the rail structure, equipment, and operating conditions. Binomial and ordinal logit regression models (LRMs) were used to quantitatively investigate the determinants of abnormal LLIDs. Binomial LRM was used to characterize the abnormal LLIDs, whereas ordinal LRM was used to distinguish the degree of influence of factors that are considered to have a significant impact on LLIDs.

Refined disturbance observer based prescribed performance fixed-time control of high-speed EMS trains with track irregularities

High-speed Electromagnetic Suspension(EMS)train is continuously impacted by the irregularity of the track,which worsens the levitation performance of the train.In this paper,a composite control scheme for the EMS is proposed to suppress track irregularities by integrating a Refined Disturbance Observer(RDO)and a Prescribed Performance Fixed-Time Controller(PPFTC).The RDO is designed to estimate precisely the track irregularities and lumped disturbances with uncertainties and exogenous disturbances in the suspension system,and reduce input chattering by applying to the disturbance compensation channel.PPFTC is designed to converge the suspension air gap error to equilibrium point with prescribed performance by completing error conversion,and solve the fast dynamic issue of EMS.And the boundary of overshoot and steady-state is limited in the ranged prescribed.A theoretical analysis is conducted on the stability of the proposed control method.Finally,the effectiveness and reasonability of the proposed composite anti-disturbance control scheme is verified by simulation results.

Influence of Random Track Irregularities on Dynamic Response of Bridge/Track Structure/High-Speed Train Systems

Random vertical track irregularities are one of essential vibration sources in bridge, track structure and high-speed train systems. The common model of such irregularities is a stationary and ergodic Gaussian process. The study presents the results of numerical dynamic analysis of advanced virtual models of composite BTT （bridge/ballasted track structure/high-speed train） systems. The analysis has been conducted for a series of types of single-span simply-supported railway composite （steel-concrete） bridges, with a symmetric platform, located on lines with ballasted track structure adapted for high-speed trains. The bridges are designed according to Polish bridge standards. A new methodology of numerical modeling and simulation of dynamic processes in BTT systems has been applied. The methodology takes into consideration viscoelastic suspensions of rail-vehicles, nonlinear Hertz wheel-rail contact stiffness and one-side wheel-rail contact, physically nonlinear elastic-damping properties of the track structure, random vertical track irregularities, approach slabs and other features. Computer algorithms of FE （finite element） modeling and simulation were programmed in Delphi. Both static and dynamic numerical investigations of the bridges forming the series of types have been carried out. It has been proved that in the case of common structural solutions of bridges and ballasted track structures, it is necessary to put certain limitations on operating speeds, macadam ballast and vertical track roughness.

Irregularities and Roughness

The periodically repeated pavement irregularities and their effect on the dynamic behavior of a bridge are the subject of this paper,as well as a new point of view of how the surface roughness operates on vehicles.The au­thors observed that the models used so far accept that the wheels are always in contact with the roughness curve.But in reality the wheels only come in contact with the peaks of the roughness curve by applying impact forces.The theoretical formulation is based on a continuous approach that has been used in literature to analyze such bridge.The procedure is carried out by the modal superposition method,while the obtained equations are solved by using Duhamel’s integrals.Important conclusions for structural design purposes can be drawn through a variety of numerical examples.

Irregular initial solidification by mold thermal monitoring in the continuous casting of steels:A review

Occasional irregular initial solidification phenomena,including stickers,deep oscillation marks,depressions,and surface cracks of strand shells in continuous casting molds,are important limitations for developing the high-efficiency continuous casting of steels.The application of mold thermal monitoring(MTM) systems,which use thermocouples to detect and respond to temperature variations in molds,has become an effective method to address irregular initial solidification phenomena.Such systems are widely applied in numerous steel companies for sticker breakout prediction.However,monitoring the surface defects of strands remains immature.Hence,indepth research is necessary to utilize the potential advantages and comprehensive monitoring of MTM systems.This paper summarizes what is included in the irregular initial solidification phenomena and systematically reviews the current state of research on these phenomena by the MTM systems.Furthermore,the influences of mold slag behavior on monitoring these phenomena are analyzed.Finally,the remaining problems of the formation mechanisms and investigations of irregular initial solidification phenomena are discussed,and future research directions are proposed.

Dynamic Constraint-Driven Event-Triggered Control of Strict-Feedback Systems Without Max/Min Values on Irregular Constraints

This work proposes an event-triggered adaptive control approach for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems under irregular constraints.Unlike the constraints considered in most existing papers,here the external irregular constraints are considered and a constraints switching mechanism(CSM)is introduced to circumvent the difficulties arising from irregular output constraints.Based on the CSM,a new class of generalized barrier functions are constructed,which allows the control results to be independent of the maximum and minimum values(MMVs)of constraints and thus extends the existing results.Finally,we proposed a novel dynamic constraint-driven event-triggered strategy(DCDETS),under which the stress on signal transmission is reduced greatly and no constraints are violated by making a dynamic trade-off among system state,external constraints,and inter-execution intervals.It is proved that the system output is driven to close to the reference trajectory and the semi-global stability is guaranteed under the proposed control scheme,regardless of the external irregular output constraints.Simulation also verifies the effectiveness and benefits of the proposed method.

Performance and Complexity Trade-Off between Short-Length Regular and Irregular LDPC

In this paper, both the high-complexity near-ML list decoding and the low-complexity belief propagation decoding are tested for some well-known regular and irregular LDPC codes. The complexity and performance trade-off is shown clearly and demonstrated with the paradigm of hybrid decoding. For regular LDPC code, the SNR-threshold performance and error-floor performance could be improved to the optimal level of ML decoding if the decoding complexity is progressively increased, usually corresponding to the near-ML decoding with progressively increased size of list. For irregular LDPC code, the SNR-threshold performance and error-floor performance could only be improved to a bottle-neck even with unlimited decoding complexity. However, with the technique of CRC-aided hybrid decoding, the ML performance could be greatly improved and approached with reasonable complexity thanks to the improved code-weight distribution from the concatenation of CRC and irregular LDPC code. Finally, CRC-aided 5GNR-LDPC code is evaluated and the capacity-approaching capability is shown.

Irregular seismic data reconstruction based on exponential threshold model of POCS method

Irregular seismic data causes problems with multi-trace processing algorithms and degrades processing quality. We introduce the Projection onto Convex Sets （POCS） based image restoration method into the seismic data reconstruction field to interpolate irregularly missing traces. For entire dead traces, we transfer the POCS iteration reconstruction process from the time to frequency domain to save computational cost because forward and reverse Fourier time transforms are not needed. In each iteration, the selection threshold parameter is important for reconstruction efficiency. In this paper, we designed two types of threshold models to reconstruct irregularly missing seismic data. The experimental results show that an exponential threshold can greatly reduce iterations and improve reconstruction efficiency compared to a linear threshold for the same reconstruction result. We also analyze the anti- noise and anti-alias ability of the POCS reconstruction method. Finally, theoretical model tests and real data examples indicate that the proposed method is efficient and applicable.