Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:26:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:10:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Neste trabalho, foi investigada a influência de alguns agentes controladores de processo (ACP), a saber: ácido esteárico, etanol, metanol e ciclohexano, na ativação mecânica de misturas de pós de 25% at. de nióbio e 75% at. de alumínio (correspondente à estequiometria do composto intermetálico NbAl3), com posterior reação de combustão. Os agentes foram adicionados à mistura em questão com o intuito de estabelecer um equilíbrio entre os eventos de soldagem e fratura durante o processamento em moinho de alta energia SPEX® 8000. A influência das variáveis (tipo e quantidade) relativas aos ACPs na densidade relativa das pastilhas reagidas de NbAl3 foram avaliadas mediante a elaboração de planejamentos de experimentos, do tipo composto central para dois fatores, para cada agente. Foi possível construir modelos empíricos para os ACPs ácido esteárico, metanol e ciclohexano, capazes de relacionar numericamente as variáveis (tempo de moagem e quantidade de ACP) investigadas em cada planejamento e indicar a melhor condição para se obter a otimização da resposta avaliada. Os resultados das análises de distribuição granulométrica e a caracterização microestrutural por microscopia eletrônica de varredura permitiram avaliar os efeitos dos agentes na distribuição do tamanho de partículas e na formação dos agregados de Nb/Al. A influência dos ACPs na evolução da reação de combustão foi avaliada mediante a análise das temperaturas de ignição registradas durante o processo. A espectroscopia no infravermelho possibilitou sugerir um mecanismo para a atuação do ácido esteárico e dos álcoois (etanol e metanol) com os pós metálicos durante a moagem. Constatou-se que os agentes afetam de forma significativa o processo de ativação mecânica, resultando em diferentes resultados de densidade relativa. Essa influência depende do tempo de moagem adotado. Os efeitos mais pronunciados na cinética de moagem e as maiores densidades relativas para o NbAl3 foram obtidos com o uso dos agentes ácido esteárico e etanol. / Tese (Doutoramento) / IPEN/T / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-22T21:58:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTACAO NEWTON SILVA DE LIMA.pdf: 3998686 bytes, checksum: 02eee0382b300c88f69d3be40e62ec7a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2019-05-11 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work studies the behavior of gravity waves (GW) in the ionosphere over the city of Manaus (2,9oS, 60oW). For that purpose, ionograms which are specters of frequency in function of the altitude and the secular variation of the height for a set of fixed frequencies (3, 4, 5, 6, 7 8 MHz). The observations were analyzed carried through by a system of called radar ionosonde. This system operates in the radio frequency band between 1and 20 MHz. The studied period comprehends a part of solar cycle 23, that is, since August of 2002 until December of 2006. Additionally, it was also observed that the ionosphere presents strong disturbances during geomagnetically quiet periods. These disturbances are attributed to the propagation of gravity waves which are generated in the lower atmosphere and propagate up to the high atmosphere and ionosphere. / Este trabalho investiga o comportamento de ondas de gravidade (OG) na ionosfera sobre a cidade de Manaus (2,9oS, 60oW). Para tal, foram analisados ionogramas que são espectros de freqüência em função da altitude e a variação temporal da altura, para um conjunto de freqüências fixas (3, 4, 5, 6, 7 8 MHz). As observações foram realizadas por um sistema de radar chamado ionossonda; que pera na faixa de rádio freqüência entre 1 e 20 MHz. O período estudado compreende uma parte do ciclo solar 23, ou seja, desde agosto de 2002 até dezembro de 2006. Observou-se que a ionosfera apresenta fortes perturbações durante períodos geomagneticamente calmos. Estas perturbações são atribuídas a propagação de ondas de gravidade que são geradas na baixa atmosfera e se propagam até a alta atmosfera e ionosfera.

Após a desativação da disponibilidade seletiva, ocorrida em maio de 2000, a maior fonte de erro presente no sistema GPS passou a ser a refração ionosférica. Os seus efeitos provocam um avanço na fase de batimento da portadora e um atraso no código. Na região equatorial onde o Brasil está inserido, a refração ionosférica apresenta variações que decorrem de diversos fatores tais como: o ciclo solar, o movimento aparente do Sol, as estações do ano, o campo geomagnético, entre outras. Desta forma, a refração ionosférica é um fator limitante pois, degrada a determinação de posições, principalmente, se o usuário estiver utilizando um receptor de apenas uma freqüência. Para avaliar o efeito da refração ionosférica no Brasil, no período compreendido entre janeiro de 1997 a dezembro de 2001, foram utilizados dados coletados com receptores providos de duas freqüências e que integram a Rede Brasileira de Monitoramento Contínuo do Sistema GPS. Todos os dados foram preparados e inseridos em um programa científico de processamento das observáveis do sistema GPS. Devido à grande massa de dados foi necessário o desenvolvimento de um programa para verificar a integridade dos mesmos, converter as efemérides precisas e os dados para o formato de entrada do programa científico e preparar os arquivos de lote. Além das características apresentadas, este programa foi desenvolvido para automatizar o processo de cálculo do conteúdo total de elétrons. Ao final do processamento o programa exibe os parâmetros que representam a refração ionosférica ou seja, os valores calculados para o Conteúdo Total de Elétrons. Tais valores permitiram a criação de uma série histórica do comportamento da refração ionosférica abrangendo um intervalo de tempo que contempla um período em que o ciclo solar apresentava atividade mínima e um outro período em que o ciclo solar alcançou a máxima atividade. Estes dados indicam o comportamento da ionosfera para um período de cinco anos em uma das regiões do planeta que apresenta as maiores variações, comportamento este, que permitirá um melhor conhecimento da ionosfera e a melhoria ou desenvolvimento de modelos mais adequados. Foram gerados ainda, mapas da ionosfera que poderão auxiliar na melhoria da acurácia posicional. / Since the US president decided to turn off the selective availability (SA) one of the biggest error in the GPS system has been the ionosphere refraction. The refraction effect on GPS signals are: delay for the code and an advance for the phase. In the equatorial region, where Brazil is, the refraction presents the biggest variations that are caused by the solar cycle, the time of the day, the season, the geomagnetic field and many others phenomena. In this case, the ionosphere refraction is a limitation because it increases the degradation of the position, specially if the user is using a single frequency receiver. To evaluate the ionospheric effects in Brazil, between January 1997 and December 2001, data from the Brazilian Continuous GPS Monitoring Network were used, provided by double frequency GPS receivers. All data were prepared and used by a scientific software to process the GPS observations. The volume of data was so big that it was necessary to write a software to manage the data integrity, to transform the precise ephemeris and the observations to scientific program format and to create batch files. Also, the program was used to process the data and to compute the total electron content automatically. At the end of the process, the software shows the TEC parameters. These parameters were used to create a historical series of the ionosphere refraction in Brazil. This series represents a period of minimal solar cycle, 1997, and a maximum period of the solar cycle, 2000 / 2001 in one of the most active regions of the planet. This series will improve the knowledge on the ionosphere and will allow to improve models or create new ones. Ionospheric maps that can be used to improve the positional accuracy, were also generated.

Comets are the most active around their perigees. The increased outgassing can lead to a coma thick enough to effectively absorb the solar EUV radiation, which engenders a self-shielding comet nucleus and inner layers of the ionosphere. This effect of self-shielding can be calculated by the attenuation of the sunlight according to the Beer-Lambert law. Here we focus on the perihelion of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the target comet of the ESA Rosetta mission. We calculate attenuated photoionization frequencies and implement these into an ionospheric model constructed in a recent project work (by the same author). The ionization frequencies and ion number densities are calculated as a function of cometocentric distance and compared with the latest published peer-reviewed article by Heritier et al. (2017). Overall, the agreement is fairly good. The most significant difference is the discrepancy of number densities of O2 ions, which is higher in our model by nearly an order of magnitude. This discrepancy is attributed to the fact that Heritier et al (2017) only considered charge transfer processes for the formation of O2+, while we identify photoionization of O2 as the main production mechanism.

Global Positioning System (GPS) networks provide an opportunity to study the dynamics and continuous changes in the ionosphere by supplementing ionospheric measurements which are usually obtained by various techniques such as ionosondes, incoherent scatter radars and satellites. Total electron content (TEC) is one of the physical quantities that can be derived from GPS data, and provides an indication of ionospheric variability. This thesis presents a feasibility study for the development of a Neural Network (NN) based model for the prediction of South African GPS derived TEC. The South African GPS receiver network is operated and maintained by the Chief Directorate Surveys and Mapping (CDSM) in Cape Town, South Africa. Three South African locations were identified and used in the development of an input space and NN architecture for the model. The input space includes the day number (seasonal variation), hour (diurnal variation), sunspot number (measure of the solar activity), and magnetic index(measure of the magnetic activity). An attempt to study the effects of solar wind on TEC variability was carried out using the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) data and it is recommended that more study be done using low altitude satellite data. An analysis was done by comparing predicted NN TEC with TEC values from the IRI2001 version of the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI), validating GPS TEC with ionosonde TEC (ITEC) and assessing the performance of the NN model during equinoxes and solstices. Results show that NNs predict GPS TEC more accurately than the IRI at South African GPS locations, but that more good quality GPS data is required before a truly representative empirical GPS TEC model can be released.

This thesis creates a basic framework and provides the information necessary to create a more accurate description of the topside ionosphere in terms of the altitude variation of the electron density (Ne) over the South African region. The detailed overview of various topside ionospheric modelling techniques, with specific emphasis on their implications for the efforts to model the South African topside, provides a starting point towards achieving the goals. The novelty of the thesis lies in the investigation of the applicabilityof three different techniques to model the South African topside ionosphere: (1) The possibility of using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) techniques for empirical modelling of the topside ionosphere based on the available, however irregularly sampled, topside sounder measurements. The goal of this model was to test the ability of ANN techniques to capture the complex relationships between the various ionospheric variables using irregularly distributed measurements. While this technique is promising, the method did not show significant improvement over the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model results when compared with the actual measurements. (2) Application of the diffusive equilibrium theory. Although based on sound physics foundations, the method only operates on a generalised level leading to results that are not necessarily unique. Furthermore, the approach relies on many ionospheric variables as inputs which are derived from other models whose accuracy is not verified. (3) Attempts to complement the standard functional techniques, (Chapman, Epstein, Exponential and Parabolic), with Global Positioning System (GPS) and ionosonde measurements in an effort to provide deeper insights into the actual conditions within the ionosphere. The vertical Ne distribution is reconstructed by linking together the different aspects of the constituent ions and their transition height by considering how they influence the shape of the profile. While this approach has not been tested against actual measurements, results show that the method could be potentially useful for topside ionospheric studies. Due to the limitations of each technique reviewed, this thesis observes that the employment of an approach that incorporates both theoretical onsiderations and empirical aspects has the potential to lead to a more accurate characterisation of the topside ionospheric behaviour, and resulting in improved models in terms of reliability and forecasting ability. The point is made that a topside sounder mission for South Africa would provide the required measured topside ionospheric data and answer the many science questions that this region poses as well as solving a number of the limitations set out in this thesis.

Ionospheric phase delays of radio signals from Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites have been used to compute ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC). An extended Chapman profle model is used to estimate the electron density profles and TEC. The Chapman profle that can be used to predict TEC over the mid-latitudes only applies during day time. To model night time TEC variability, a polynomial function is fitted to the night time peak electron density profles derived from the online International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) 2001. The observed and predicted TEC and its variability have been used to study ionospheric in°uence on Radio Astronomy in South Africa region. Di®erential phase delays of the radio signals from Radio Astronomy sources have been simulated using TEC. Using the simulated phase delays, the azimuth and declination o®sets of the radio sources have been estimated. Results indicate that, pointing errors of the order of miliarcseconds (mas) are likely if the ionospheric phase delays are not corrected for. These delays are not uniform and vary over a broad spectrum of timescales. This implies that fast frequency (referencing) switching, closure phases and fringe ¯tting schemes for ionospheric correction in astrometry are not the best option as they do not capture the real state of the ionosphere especially if the switching time is greater than the ionospheric TEC variability. However, advantage can be taken of the GPS satellite data available at intervals of a second from the GPS receiver network in South Africa to derive parameters which could be used to correct for the ionospheric delays. Furthermore GPS data can also be used to monitor the occurrence of scintillations, (which might corrupt radio signals) especially for the proposed, Square Kilometer Array (SKA) stations closer to the equatorial belt during magnetic storms and sub-storms. A 10 minute snapshot of GPS data recorded with the Hermanus [34:420 S, 19:220 E ] dual frequency receiver on 2003-04-11 did not show the occurrence of scintillations. This time scale is however too short and cannot be representative. Longer time scales; hours, days, seasons are needed to monitor the occurrence of scintillations.

Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites and receivers are used to derive total electron content (TEC) from the time delay and phase advance of the radiowaves as they travels through the ionosphere. TEC is defined as the integralof the electron density along the satellite-receiver signal path. Electron densityprofiles can be determined from these TEC values using ionospheric tomographic inversion techniques such as Multi-Instrument Data Analysis System (MIDAS).This thesis reports on a study aimed at evaluating the suitability of ionospheric tomography as a tool to derive one-dimensional electron density profiles, using the MIDAS inversion algorithm over Grahamstown, South Africa (33.30◦S, 26.50◦E). The evaluation was done by using ionosonde data from the Louisvale (28.50◦S, 21.20◦E) and Madimbo (22.40◦S, 30.90◦E) stations to create empirical orthonormal functions (EOFs). These EOFs were used by MIDAS in the inversion process to describe the vertical variation of the electron density. Profiles derived from the MIDAS algorithm were compared with profiles obtained from the international Reference Ionosphere (IRI) 2001 model and with ionosonde profiles from the Grahamstown ionosonde station. The optimised MIDAS profiles show a good agreement with the Grahamstown ionosonde profiles. The South African Bottomside Ionospheric Model (SABIM) was used to set the limits within which MIDAS was producing accurate peak electron density (NmF2) values and to define accuracy in this project, with the understanding that the national model (SABIM) is currently the best model for the Grahamstown region. Analysis show that MIDAS produces accurate results during the winter season, which had the lowest root mean square (rms) error of 0.37×1011[e/m3] and an approximately 86% chance of producing NmF2 closer to the actual NmF2 value than the national model SABIM. MIDAS was found to also produce accurate NmF2 values at 12h00 UT, where an approximately 88% chance of producing an accurate NmF2 value, which may deviate from the measured value by 0.72×1011[e/m3], was determined. In conclusion, ionospheric tomographic inversion techniques show promise in the reconstruction of electron density profiles over South Africa, and are worth pursuing further in the future.

The ability to predict the future behavior of solar activity has become of extreme importance due to its effect on the near-Earth environment. Predictions of both the amplitude and timing of the next solar cycle will assist in estimating the various consequences of Space Weather. Several prediction techniques have been applied and have achieved varying degrees of success in the domain of solar activity prediction. These techniques include, for example, neural networks and geomagnetic precursor methods. In this thesis, various neural network based models were developed and the model considered to be optimum was used to estimate the shape and timing of solar cycle 24. Given the recent success of the geomagnetic precusrsor methods, geomagnetic activity as measured by the aa index is considered among the main inputs to the neural network model. The neural network model developed is also provided with the time input parameters defining the year and the month of a particular solar cycle, in order to characterise the temporal behaviour of sunspot number as observed during the last 10 solar cycles. The structure of input-output patterns to the neural network is constructed in such a way that the network learns the relationship between the aa index values of a particular cycle, and the sunspot number values of the following cycle. Assuming January 2008 as the minimum preceding solar cycle 24, the shape and amplitude of solar cycle 24 is estimated in terms of monthly mean and smoothed monthly sunspot number. This new prediction model estimates an average solar cycle 24, with the maximum occurring around June 2012 [± 11 months], with a smoothed monthly maximum sunspot number of 121 ± 9.

This thesis presents an update to the ionospheric propagation factor, M(3000)F2, global empirical model developed by Oyeyemi et al. (2007) (NNO). An additional aim of this research was to produce the updated model in a form that could be used within the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) global model without adding to the complexity of the IRI. M(3000)F2 is the highest frequency at which a radio signal can be received over a distance of 3000 km after reflection in the ionosphere. The study employed the artificial neural network (ANN) technique using relevant geophysical input parameters which are known to influence the M(3000)F2 parameter. Ionosonde data from 135 ionospheric stations globally, including a number of equatorial stations, were available for this work. M(3000)F2 hourly values from 1976 to 2008, spanning all periods of low and high solar activity were used for model development and verification. A preliminary investigation was first carried out using a relatively small dataset to determine the appropriate input parameters for global M(3000)F2 parameter modelling. Inputs representing diurnal variation, seasonal variation, solar variation, modified dip latitude, longitude and latitude were found to be the optimum parameters for modelling the diurnal and seasonal variations of the M(3000)F2 parameter both on a temporal and spatial basis. The outcome of the preliminary study was applied to the overall dataset to develop a comprehensive ANN M(3000)F2 model which displays a remarkable improvement over the NNO model as well as the IRI version. The model shows 7.11% and 3.85% improvement over the NNO model as well as 13.04% and 10.05% over the IRI M(3000)F2 model, around high and low solar activity periods respectively. A comparison of the diurnal structure of the ANN and the IRI predicted values reveal that the ANN model is more effective in representing the diurnal structure of the M(3000)F2 values than the IRI M(3000)F2 model. The capability of the ANN model in reproducing the seasonal variation pattern of the M(3000)F2 values at 00h00UT, 06h00UT, 12h00UT, and l8h00UT more appropriately than the IRI version is illustrated in this work. A significant result obtained in this study is the ability of the ANN model in improving the post-sunset predicted values of the M(3000)F2 parameter which is known to be problematic to the IRI M(3000)F2 model in the low-latitude and the equatorial regions. The final M(3000)F2 model provides for an improved equatorial prediction and a simplified input space that allows for easy incorporation into the IRI model.