A Bayesian approach to seafloor classification using multi-beam echo-sounder backscatter data

Seafloor classification using acoustic remote sensing techniques is an attractive approach due to its high-coverage capabilities and limited costs. The multi-beam echo-sounder (MBES) system provides high-resolution bathymetry and backscatter information with 100% coverage. In this paper, we present a seafloor classification method that employs the MBES backscatter data. The method uses the averaged backscatter data per beam. It, therefore, is independent on the quality of the MBES calibration. Also, its performance is insensitive to seafloor type variation along the MBES swathe and corrections for the angular dependence of the backscatter are not needed. The method accounts for the ping-to-ping variability of the backscatter intensity. It estimates both the number of seafloor types present in the survey area and the probability density function for the backscatter strength at a certain angle for each of the seafloor types. Application of the method to MBES backscatter data acquired in a well-known test area in the North Sea shows very good agreement with available ground truth. The method’s discriminatory performance for this area is demonstrated to be comparable to that of taking samples of the sediment. All seafloor types known to be present in the area are resolved for. Application of the method to the Stanton bank data set shows clearly separable areas that differ in seafloor composition.     

Vertebral cancellous bone turn-over: microcallus and bridges in backscatter electron microscopy

Backscatter electron microscopy (BSE) is a powerful technique for investigating cancellous bone structure. Its main function is to offer information regarding the degree of mineralization of the tissue within individual trabeculae.

To illustrate the qualitative information that can be drawn from BSE imaging technique, we present a study on human vertebral cancellous bone. This tissue is continuously remodeled through osteoclastic resorption and osteoblastic new bone apposition. It is thought that osteoclastic resorption pits are especially deleterious for vertebral bone architecture since they often perforate the thin trabeculae; the osteoblasts being unable to repair the gap. In addition, excessive stress may also disrupt the architecture in case of trabecular fracture or damage accumulation.

Waves of new bone formation were easy to identify in BSE. Often these waves were connecting both edges of a perforation and called bridges. Additionally, we present a few images of microcallus formations. A microcallus is described as a small mass of woven bone that generally repairs a trabecula. The microstructural aspects of different microcalluses are presented and discussed. Both bridges and microcallus should be considered as examples of the repair porcess since they obviously preserve the connectivity of the trabeculae. However, bridges were much more frequent than microcallus (396 vs 15). Both mechanisms probably illustrate the normal response to different local stimuli.     

主动成像系统距离选通实验方案设计

 距离选通技术是克服大气后向散射，提高主动成像系统信噪比的有效方法。分析了距离选通的技术要求，分别使用电源调制和机械调制的方法获得了适合用于主动成像系统脉冲光源,并进行了距离选通实验，机械调制方法适用于大功率连续半导体激光器。使用氙灯泵浦YAG激光器实现了对675 m和1 509 m距离目标的主动成像，详细分析了几种方案的利弊并提出了改进方法。     

基于Fournier Forand体积散射函数的水中激光脉冲后向散射特性分析模型

基于Fournier Forand体积散射函数,建立了一种水中激光脉冲后向散射仿真模型.运用该模型可用Monte Carlo方法模拟光子在水中的传播过程,并得到光波后向散射的冲击响应.将初始激光脉冲与冲击响应进行卷积并求其傅里叶谱,即可得到激光脉冲后向散射信号的时域和频域特征.利用该模型分析了入射为高斯型激光脉冲时,水...     

Backscatter factor and absorption ratio of fibrous zirconia media in the visible

Fibrous thermal insulations are widely used to conserve energy in ambient to high temperature applications including buildings, solar collectors, heat exchangers, furnaces and thermal protection systems of reusable launch vehicles. It has long been recognised that zirconia has the lowest thermal conductivity of commercial refractories. The thermal conductivity of a zirconia fibrous medium is strongly dependent of its bulk density; high bulk densities of zirconia fibers provide the most effective insulation at high temperatures. Lee's theory for radiative transfer through fibrous media is used in this paper. The two-flux model is applied to determine the backward and forward parameters of a medium of zirconia fibers oriented in parallel planes. Theoretical calculations of the backscatter factor and absorption ratio of this medium are carried out in the visible spectrum for different size parameters of the fibers and for three different temperatures. Our results show that the backscatter factor of zirconia fibrous insulations is maximum, and therefore the heat transfer by the fibrous medium is the lowest, for a size parameter of 0.45 for all the temperatures studied. We also observed that the backscatter factor decreases with increasing temperature.     

Semi-empirical bone model for determination of trabecular structure properties from backscattered ultrasound

A novel semi-empirical scattering model of trabecular bone facilitating its characterization and allowing optimization of the interrogating pulse-echo transducer performance was developed. The model accounts for spatial density distribution of the trabeculae and includes measurement conditions such as pressure–time waveform of the probing ultrasound wave, the emitted field structure, and the transfer function and limited bandwidth of the acoustic source operating in pulse-echo mode. These measurement conditions are of importance as they modify the scattered echoes, which in turn are linked to the micro-architecture of the bone. The bone was modeled by a random distribution of long and thin cylindrical scatterers having randomly varying diameters and mechanical properties, and oriented perpendicularly to the ultrasound beam axis. To mimic clinically encountered conditions the relevant empirical data obtained at 1 MHz were input to the model. The data included pulse-echo source pressure field distribution in the focal zone and the above mentioned transfer function. With these data the model allowed frequency dependent backscattering coefficient of the simulated bone structure and its statistical properties to be determined. The results obtained indicated that the computer simulation is of particular relevance in studying scattering properties of the cancellous bone and holds promise as a tool to determine the relationship between the physical dimensions and shape of the scatterers and for monitoring of osteoporosis. The results of simulations also indicated that the new bone model proposed is well suited to mimic clinically relevant conditions. In contrast to the existing bone models, which usually assume scatterers to be randomly distributed as infinitely long identical cylinders with a cross-section much smaller than the probing ultrasound wave, the new model includes two populations of scatterers having different physical dimensions and also allows the mechanical properties of the scatterers to be varied.     

Study of a lidar for measurement of thermospheric He I 1083 nm for Lorentzian profile

Using the lidar backscatter cross-section and the normalized Lorentzian profile, we investigate the backscatter cross-section and the returned signal of He I 1083 nm for the Lorentzian profile theoretically. Taking the average temperature and pressure, we find that the backscattering cross-section for Lorentzian profile is larger than that for Gaussian profile near the line center, while is smaller than that for Gaussian profile far away from the line center. Through simulation, we find that the returned signal is strong enough for measurement of thermospheric metastable helium. This investigation is significant in the thermospheric metastable helium by lidar.     

激光陀螺锁区最小化控制技术

通过分析激光陀螺锁区的形成原因,给出了锁区最小化控制的基本原理.由激光陀螺谐振腔相向传播光束的输出特性,说明了常规锁区控制方案存在的缺点.从激光陀螺基本方程推导出锁区误差判别信号,提出了基于拍频信号和腔长信号迭加放大的高信噪比锁区控制方案,对交变偏频和常值偏频激光陀螺均适用.运用该项技术,实现了对某型激光陀螺的全温范围内的锁区最小化控制.     

Collective effects by agglomerated debris particles in the backscatter

We present an analysis of backscattered light by agglomerated debris particles whose size is comparable with the wavelength. We consider agglomerates that consist of one or two large central particles and a few relatively small fragments surrounding the particles. We find that for the particles we studied, the attachment of small fragments onto the particles leads to a decrease of the negative polarization branch (NPB) at small phase angles in comparison with the branch produced by the isolated particles. For relatively large agglomerates (with size parameters x about 25) the internal scatter in the agglomerates may produce a secondary minimum of the NPB. In this case the second order of scatter between constituents of aggregates plays the dominant role.     

基于Fournier Forand体积散射函数的水中激光脉冲后向散射特性分析模型

基于Fournier Forand体积散射函数,建立了一种水中激光脉冲后向散射仿真模型.运用该模型可用Monte Carlo方法模拟光子在水中的传播过程,并得到光波后向散射的冲击响应.将初始激光脉冲与冲击响应进行卷积并求其傅里叶谱,即可得到激光脉冲后向散射信号的时域和频域特征.利用该模型分析了入射为高斯型激光脉冲时,水中散射体的尺度分布、散射体与纯水的相对折射率以及水体衰减系数对激光脉冲后向散射特性的影响.结果表明：随着小尺度散射体相对数量的增多、散射体与纯水相对折射率的增加、水体衰减系数的增大,激光脉冲后向散射信号能量增强,宽度增加,低频分量显著增大.