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Kuhner, M. B.

Publications and source records attributed to Kuhner, M. B..

10 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1979

User definition and mission requirements for unmanned airborne platforms, revised

The airborne measurement requirements of the scientific and applications experiment user community were assessed with respect to the suitability of proposed strawman airborne platforms. These platforms provide a spectrum of measurement capabilities supporting associated mission tradeoffs such as payload weight, operating altitude, range, duration, flight profile control, deployment flexibility, quick response, and recoverability. The results of the survey are used to examine whether the development of platforms is warranted and to determine platform system requirements as well as research and technology needs.

Kuhner, M. B.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Applications of a high-altitude powered platform /HAPP/

The high-altitude powered platform (HAPP) is a conceptual unmanned vehicle which could be either an airship or airplane. It would keep station at an altitude of 70,000 ft above a fixed point on the ground. A microwave power transmission system would beam energy from the ground up to the HAPP to power an electric motor-driven propeller and the payload. A study of the HAPP has shown that it could potentially be a cost-competitive platform for such remote sensing applications as forest fire detection, Great Lakes ice monitoring and Coast Guard law enforcement. It also has significant potential as a communications relay platform for (among other things) direct broadcast to home TVs over a large region.

Kuhner, M. B.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Applications of a High-Altitude Powered Platform (HAPP)

A list of potential uses for the (HAPP) and conceptual system designs for a small subset of the most promising applications were investigated. The method was to postulate a scenario for each application specifying a user, a set of system requirements and the most likely competitor among conventional aircraft and satellite systems. As part of the study of remote sensing applications, a parametric cost comparison was done between aircraft and HAPPS. For most remote sensing applications, aircraft can supply the same data as HAPPs at substantially lower cost. The critical parameters in determining the relative costs of the two systems are the sensor field of view and the required frequency of the observations being made. The HAPP is only competitive with an airplane when sensors having a very wide field of view are appropriate and when the phenomenon being observed must be viewed at least once per day. This eliminates the majority of remote sensing applications from any further consideration.

Kuhner, M. B.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Coastal data accumulation potentials for operational systems using airplanes

Potential users of SEASAT for remote sensing of coastal zone phenomena have established a need for resolutions beyond those attainable with SEASAT-A. One method of obtaining higher resolutions would be to fly the instruments aboard airplanes rather than a satellite. The number of aircraft that would be required is estimated along with the rate at which data would be accumulated. Only the East Coast from Maine to Key West is considered. Three different coverage widths are used. The narrowest area is wide enough to cover all bay and estuary regions along the coast; a wider area includes all ocean out to twelve nautical miles from the coast; the maximum size area considered extends out to 200 nautical miles from the coast.

Kuhner, M. B.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Effectiveness evaluation of STOL transport operations (phase 2)

A computer simulation program which models a commercial short-haul aircraft operating in the civil air system was developed. The purpose of the program is to evaluate the effect of a given aircraft avionics capability on the ability of the aircraft to perform on-time carrier operations. The program outputs consist primarily of those quantities which can be used to determine direct operating costs. These include: (1) schedule reliability or delays, (2) repairs/replacements, (3) fuel consumption, and (4) cancellations. More comprehensive models of the terminal area environment were added and a simulation of an existing airline operation was conducted to obtain a form of model verification. The capability of the program to provide comparative results (sensitivity analysis) was then demonstrated by modifying the aircraft avionics capability for additional computer simulations.

Welp, D. W.↗