Vol 61, No 1 (2018)

Information about the basic constituent components and operating principles of GLONASS is presented. Complexes of metrological and fundamental support of the system created at VNIIFTRI from 2012 to 2016 are considered. Paths for the development of complexes of metrological and fundamental support for the period through 2020 as well as directions for future studies for the period through 2030 are discussed.

The development of methods of data processing over the past 50 years is outlined. Distinctive features of data processing as a division of the theory of measurements are identified. The essential role and diversity of metrological models are emphasized. The significance of estimation of systematic measurement errors, including their randomization, is noted. The relationship between regression and confluent models is discussed within the framework of a discussion of joint measurements. Validation of data processing algorithms is considered as a practical approach to the comparison of the quality of different algorithms. The role of models in the determination and comparison of precision characteristics is demonstrated using the Allan variance as an example.

We present a solution of the inverse problem in measurement theory. From statistical data of the observed superposition of a recorded random parameter and the error of the device, the distributions of the unobserved components of this sum are calculated. The processing of empirical data uses the apparatus of characteristic functions, cumulant decompositions, and asymptotic estimates in the form of a truncated Edgeworth series.

We propose a new procedure for the complex evaluation of thermal properties of rocks based on the data of measurements of the thermal effusivity of samples and the numerical analyses of the volumetric heat capacity according to the mineral composition of the rock. The thermal effusivity is measured under the conditions of periodic heating of the surface of a reference plate operating in contact with the investigated sample. The thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity are computed according to the estimates of the thermal effusivity and heat capacity. The equations for the errors of the thermophysical analysis are also presented.

A new method is proposed for measurements of an index of acoustic voice quality using the Kulbaka–Leybler information metric. The primary benefit of this method consists in its high-level dynamic properties, as calculated by eliminating the problem of a small number of observational samples. A theoretical study of the method’s efficiency was conducted, and its conclusions were confirmed experimentally. It has been established that, in order to provide a sufficiently precise assessment of the voice quality of the speaker, a speech signal of duration 2–3 minutes is required.

We investigate the influence of the magnetic Reynolds number Re_m on the signal from electrodes in an the electromagnetic flowmeter. Conditions for eliminating this dependence by applying an inhomogeneous magnetic field, several pairs of electrodes, and a numerical integration algorithm are considered. We demonstrate the possibility of calibrating the flowmeter using a low-capacity liquid-metal flow fixture.

We consider the dependence of the procedural error of measurements of the temperature of an object by the photoemission method on its surface emissivity, selectivity of the spectral characteristic, and surface temperature. We present the plots for the determination of the procedural error at a temperature T = 2000 K within the range of selectivities from –0.1 to –0.7 with increments of 0.05.

The operational principles of an optical sensor of an external electromagnetic field based on ring microresonators are considered. The microresonators are based on stripline waveguides with vertical and horizontal slots filled with a liquid-crystal material. The mode field propagation and dispersion constants of the waveguides are calculated by the method of lines. The influence of the width and position of the slots in the waveguides and the radius of the microresonators on the sensitivity of the sensor are analyzed.

The method of cumulative estimation of the parameters of information flows in the radio channels of information telecommunication systems is considered. Estimation is performed under the conditions of a complex information target situation based on a comparison of the indicated parameters with a simulated reference measure. It is proposed that the simulated directional pattern of an adaptive antenna system that implements a space-time processing algorithm be used as the measure. It is shown that the use of phase and correlation methods of simulation of a measure assures a high degree of precision of estimation of the parameters. Estimators may be obtained on a time scale close to real time through the use of the present highly efficient procedure.

A method of free-field calibration in a laboratory hydroacoustic tank is examined. The method can be applied both for the hydrophone proper, and for the hydroacoustic receiver, a hydrophone installed on a measurement platform. Results are presented for calibration of a hydrophone and a hydroacoustic recorder in the laboratory tank at frequencies from several of kHz to tens of Hz.

The metrological characteristics of buffer solutions prepared from high-purity substances were investigated. The possibility of using them in metrological studies conducted on the State Primary Standard of the рН activity of hydrogen ions in aqueous solutions GET 54–2011 was appraised.