Search NASASearch

Engineering topics

Brown, D. R.

Publications and source records attributed to Brown, D. R..

Gas dispersion measurements using a mobile Raman lidar system

The exploitation of natural gas resources to supply energy demands has resulted in the need to engineer pipelines and plants capable of handling extremely high pressures and throughputs. Consequently, more attention has been directed to evaluating the consequences of releases of material whether accidental or deliberate in nature. An important aspect of assessing the consequences of a release is an understanding of how gas disperses in the atmosphere over a wide range of release and atmospheric conditions. The most cost effective way of providing such information is through the development and use of reliable theoretical prediction methods. The need for some form of remote sensing device was identified. The various possibilities studied led to the conclusion that LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) offered the most suitable method. The system designed and built is described, and its recent use in monitoring operational ventings from a high pressure transmission system is discussed.

Houston, J. D.

A fixed point theorem for certain operator valued maps

In this paper, we develop a family of Neuberger-like results to find points z epsilon H satisfying L(z)z = z and P(z) = z. This family includes Neuberger's theorem and has the additional property that most of the sequences q sub n converge to idempotent elements of B sub 1(H).

Brown, D. R.

On Nth roots of positive operators

A bounded operator A on a Hilbert space H was positive. These operators were symmetric, and as such constitute a natural generalization of nonnegative real diagonal matrices. The following result is thus both well known and not surprising: A positive operator has a unique positive square root (under operator composition).

Brown, D. R.

The role of eigenvalues in linear feature selection theory

The analysis concerns the role of eigenvalues in determining a particular measure of pattern class distinction called the divergence, which is the pairwise average of the expected interclass divergence derived from Hajek's two-class divergence. Decel and Quirein (1973) showed that there always exists a k x n real matrix B such that the transformation determined by B maximizes divergence in k-dimensional space, and that B can be written as a product involving an orthogonal n x n matrix U. In the present paper it is shown that divergence measure of pattern class distinction does not depend on the eigenvalues of U.

Brown, D. R.

High resolution spectroscopy of the disk chromosphere. V - Space-time variations observed simultaneously in seven lines

Time sequence spectroscopic observations of the quiet solar chromosphere along a 200 Mm strip near the center of the disk were reduced to obtain 30 min of data. Oscillations appear in most of the observations in selected photospheric and chromospheric lines, but rarely in continuum observations. At a given point, the oscillations may be prominent or weak, they are never regular in time, and there is no unique relationship between the amplitudes at different heights. There are several examples of granules which apparently excite a burst of short period oscillations. By considering the line shift and intensity variations of all the lines, a working model is derived for the velocity field and related temperature variation.

Cram, L. E.

A possible edge effect in enhanced network

K-line observations of enhanced network taken with the NASA/SPO Multichannel Spectrometer on September 28, 1975, in support of OSO-8 are discussed. The data show a correlation between core brightness and asymmetry for spatial scans which cross enhanced network boundaries. The implications of this result concerning mass flow in and near supergranule boundaries are discussed.

Jones, H. P.

The role of eigenvalues in linear feature selection theory

A particular measure of pattern class distinction called the average interclass divergence, or more simply, divergence, is considered. Here divergence will be the pairwise average of the expected interclass divergence derived from Hajek's two-class divergence.

Brown, D. R.

A counter-example in linear feature selection theory

The paper shows that it is possible to construct two k x n matrices, both of which maximize divergence in the transformed space of the linear feature selection problem in multiclass pattern recognition, and which are not row equivalent. Thus, even under extremely strong conditions, it is not possible to assume that all matrix solutions which maximize transformed divergence are row equivalent.

Brown, D. R.

Some results on contractive mappings as related to pattern recognition

Several of the techniques used in pattern recognition are reformulated as the problem of determining fixed points of a function. If x sub 0 is a fixed point of f and if f is contractive at x sub 0, then, for any y belonging to a sufficiently small neighborhood of x sub 0 the orbit of y will converge to x sub 0. Several general results regarding contractive mappings are developed with emphasis on functions.

Brown, D. R.

A counter example in linear feature selection theory

The linear feature selection problem in multi-class pattern recognition is described as that of linearly transforming statistical information from n-dimensional (real Euclidean) space into k-dimensional space, while requiring that average interclass divergence in the transformed space decrease as little as possible. Divergence is the expected interclass divergence derived from Hajek two-class divergence; it is known that there always exists a k x n matrix B such that the transformation determined by B maximizes the divergence in k-dimensional space. It is known that, if Q is any k x k invertible matrix, and B is as defined above, then QB again maximizes the divergence in k-space. It is shown that the converse of this result is false: two matrices exist, B sub 1 and B sub 2, each of which maximizes transformed divergence, which are not related in the fashion B sub 2 = QB sub 1 for any k x k matrix Q.

Brown, D. R.

Commutative semigroups of real and complex matrices

The computation of divergence is studied. Covariance matrices to be analyzed admit a common diagonalization, or even triangulation. Sufficient conditions are given for such phenomena to take place, the arguments cover both real and complex matrices, and are not restricted to Hermotian or other special forms. Specifically, it is shown to be sufficient that the matrices in question commute in order to admit a common triangulation. Several results hold in the case that the matrices in question form a closed and bounded set, rather than only in the finite case.

Brown, D. R.

High resolution spectroscopy of the disk chromosphere. II - Time sequence observations of Ca II H and K emissions.

Two independent sets of high resolution time series spectra of the Ca II H and K emission obtained at the Solar Tower and at the Big Dome of the Sacramento Peak Observatory on September 11th, 1971 are reported. The evolutionary behavior of the emission first reported by Wilson and Evans is confirmed, but the detail of the evolution is found to be more complex. In one case, a doubly peaked feature showing some K3 emission evolves into a single K2 (red) peak with no K3 emission. Coincidentally, a neighboring doubly peaked feature evolves to a very strong blue peak. In an entirely independent sequence a doubly peaked feature evolves into a single red peak. The K2 emission then fades completely although the continuum threads are still strong. Finally a strong K2 blue peak appears. It is concluded that the observed evolution of the K2 emission is due to temporal variations in the physical conditions which give rise to them.

Wilson, P. R.