We describe a forward-fitting method that has been developed to reconstruct hard X-ray images of solar flares from the Ramaty
High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI), a Fourier imager with rotation-modulated collimators that was launched on
5 February 2002. The forward-fitting method is based on geometric models that represent a spatial map by a superposition of
multiple source structures, which are quantified by circular gaussians (4 parameters per source), elliptical gaussians (6
parameters), or curved ellipticals (7 parameters), designed to characterize real solar flare hard X-ray maps with a minimum
number of geometric elements. We describe and demonstrate the use of the forward-fitting algorithm. We perform some 500 simulations
of rotation-modulated time profiles of the 9 RHESSI detectors, based on single and multiple source structures, and perform
their image reconstruction. We quantify the fidelity of the image reconstruction, as function of photon statistics, and the
accuracy of retrieved source positions, widths, and fluxes. We outline applications for which the forward-fitting code is
most suitable, such as measurements of the energy-dependent altitude of energy loss near the limb, or footpoint separation
during flares.
Supplementary material to this paper is available in electronic form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1022469811115 相似文献
The Cassini spacecraft has acquired 25 radar altimeter elevation profiles along Titan's surface as of April 2008, and we have analyzed 18 of these for which there are currently reconstructed ephemeris data. Altimeter measurements were collected at spatial footprint sizes from 6-60 km along ground tracks of length 400-3600 km. The elevation profiles yield topographic information at this resolution with a statistical height accuracy of 35-50 m and kilometer-scale errors several times greater. The data exhibit significant variations in terrain, from flat regions with little topographic expression to very rugged Titanscapes. The bandwidth of the transmitted waveform admits vertical resolution of the terrain height to 35 m at each observed location on the surface. Variations in antenna pointing and changes in surface statistics cause the range-compressed radar echoes to exhibit strong systematic and time-variable biases of hundreds of meters in delay. It is necessary to correct the received echoes for these changes, and we have derived correction algorithms such that the derived echo profiles are accurate at the 100 m level for off-nadir pointing errors of 0.3° and 0.6°, for leading edge and echo centroid estimators, respectively. The leading edge of the echo yields the elevation of the highest points on the surface, which we take to be the peaks of any terrain variation. The mean value of the echo delay is more representative of the mean elevation, so that the difference of these values gives an estimate of any local mountain heights. Finding locations where these values diverge indicates higher-relief terrain. Elevation features are readily seen in the height profiles. Several of the passes show mountains of several hundred m altitude, spread over 10's or even 100's of km in spatial extent, so that slopes are very small. Large expanses of sub-100 m topography are commonplace on Titan, so it is rather smooth in many locations. Other areas exhibit more relief, although the overall observed variation in surface height on any pass is less than about 1 km. Some elevation features correspond to observed changes in brightness in Cassini infrared images, but many do not. Correspondence between the imaging SAR ground tracks and the altimeter paths is limited, so that identifying elevation changes with higher resolution SAR features is premature at present. 相似文献
The first comprehensive calibration and mapping of the thermal microwave emission from Titan's surface is reported based on radiometric data obtained at 2.2-cm wavelength by the passive radiometer included in the Cassini Radar instrument. The data reported were accumulated from 69 separate observational segments in Titan passes from Ta (October 2004) through T30 (May 2007) and include emission from 94% of Titan's surface. They are diverse in the key observing parameters of emission angle, polarization, and spatial resolution, and their reduction into calibrated global mosaic maps involved several steps. Analysis of the polarimetry obtained at low to moderate resolution (50+ km) enabled integration of the radiometry into a single mosaic of the equivalent brightness temperature at normal incidence with a relative precision of about 1 K. The Huygens probe measurement of Titan's surface temperature and radiometry obtained on Titan's dune fields allowed us to infer an absolute calibration estimated to be accurate to a level approaching 1 K. The results provide evidence for a surface that is complex and varied on large scales. The radiometry primarily constrains physical properties of the surface, where we see strong evidence for subsurface (volume) scattering as a dominant mechanism that determines the emissivity, with the possibility of a fluffy or graded-density surface layer in many regions. The results are consistent with, but not necessarily definitive of a surface composition resulting from the slow deposition and processing of organic compounds from the atmosphere. 相似文献
The outcomes of asteroid collisional evolution are presently unclear: are most asteroids larger than 1 km size gravitational aggregates reaccreted from fragments of a parent body that was collisionally disrupted, while much smaller asteroids are collisional shards that were never completely disrupted? The 16 km mean diameter S-type asteroid 433 Eros, visited by the NEAR mission, has surface geology consistent with being a fractured shard. A ubiquitous fabric of linear structural features is found on the surface of Eros and probably indicates a globally consolidated structure beneath its regolith cover. Despite the differences in absolute scale and in lighting conditions for NEAR and Hayabusa, similar features should have been found on 25143 Itokawa if present. This much smaller, 320 m diameter S-asteroid was visited by the Hayabusa spacecraft. Comparative analyses of Itokawa and Eros geology reveal fundamental differences, and interpretation of Eros geology is illuminated by comparison with Itokawa. Itokawa lacks a global lineament fabric, and its blocks, craters, and regolith may be inconsistent with formation and evolution as a fractured shard, unlike Eros. An object as small as Itokawa can form as a rubble pile, while much larger Eros formed as a fractured shard. Itokawa is not a scaled-down Eros, but formed by catastrophic disruption and reaccumulation. 相似文献
The Swedish Deep Drilling Program (SDDP) has been initiated to study fundamental problems of the dynamic Earth system, its natural history and evolution. Many key scientific questions can be addressed through in situ investigations only, requiring deep continental drilling. Some are unique to Scandinavia, most are of international interest and significance. At present, five core projects ( Fig. 1 ) with international teams are integrating scientific problems with societal and industrial applications. If SDDP succeeds to attract the funding required, Sweden will have a number of world‐class boreholes at key locations by 2020. Figure 1 Open in figure viewer PowerPoint Locations of SDDP drilling project proposals. PFDP—Postglacial Fault Drilling Project; PaMVAS—Palaeoproterozoic mineralized volcanic arc systems: the Skellefte District; COSC—Collisional Orogeny in the Scandinavian Caledonides; DRL—The Dellen Impact Crater, a geoscientific deep rock laboratory; SELHO—Svecofennian accretion, an example of the early structural evolution in a large hot orogen; CISP—Concentric Impact Structures in the Palaeozoic: the Lockne and Siljan craters. Background and inset image from Blue Marble Next Generation data set (NASA Earth Observatory, http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/BlueMarble/ ). 相似文献