Engineering topics

Slye, Robert E.

Publications and source records attributed to Slye, Robert E..

7 records

NASA NTRS1992

Interactive boundary delineation of agricultural lands using graphics workstations

A review is presented of the computer-assisted stratification and sampling (CASS) system developed to delineate the boundaries of sample units for survey procedures. CASS stratifies the sampling units by land-cover and land-use type, employing image-processing software and hardware. This procedure generates coverage areas and the boundaries of stratified sampling units that are utilized for subsequent sampling procedures from which agricultural statistics are developed.

Cheng, Thomas D.↗

NASA NTRS1992

The Airborne Ocean Color Imager - System description and image processing

The Airborne Ocean Color Imager was developed as an aircraft instrument to simulate the spectral and radiometric characteristics of the next generation of satellite ocean color instrumentation. Data processing programs have been developed as extensions of the Coastal Zone Color Scanner algorithms for atmospheric correction and bio-optical output products. The latter include several bio-optical algorithms for estimating phytoplankton pigment concentration, as well as one for the diffuse attenuation coefficient of the water. Additional programs have been developed to geolocate these products and remap them into a georeferenced data base, using data from the aircraft's inertial navigation system. Examples illustrate the sequential data products generated by the processing system, using data from flightlines near the mouth of the Mississippi River: from raw data to atmospherically corrected data, to bio-optical data, to geolocated data, and, finally, to georeferenced data.

Wrigley, Robert C.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Compiling and editing agricultural strata boundaries with remotely sensed imagery and map attribute data using graphics workstations

The USDA presently uses labor-intensive photographic interpretation procedures to delineate large geographical areas into manageable size sampling units for the estimation of domestic crop and livestock production. Computer software to automate the boundary delineation procedure, called the computer-assisted stratification and sampling (CASS) system, was developed using a Hewlett Packard color-graphics workstation. The CASS procedures display Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite digital imagery on a graphics display workstation as the backdrop for the onscreen delineation of sampling units. USGS Digital Line Graph (DLG) data for roads and waterways are displayed over the TM imagery to aid in identifying potential sample unit boundaries. Initial analysis conducted with three Missouri counties indicated that CASS was six times faster than the manual techniques in delineating sampling units.

Cheng, Thomas D.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Computer-aided boundary delineation of agricultural lands

The National Agricultural Statistics Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) presently uses labor-intensive aerial photographic interpretation techniques to divide large geographical areas into manageable-sized units for estimating domestic crop and livestock production. Prototype software, the computer-aided stratification (CAS) system, was developed to automate the procedure, and currently runs on a Sun-based image processing system. With a background display of LANDSAT Thematic Mapper and United States Geological Survey Digital Line Graph data, the operator uses a cursor to delineate agricultural areas, called sampling units, which are assigned to strata of land-use and land-cover types. The resultant stratified sampling units are used as input into subsequent USDA sampling procedures. As a test, three counties in Missouri were chosen for application of the CAS procedures. Subsequent analysis indicates that CAS was five times faster in creating sampling units than the manual techniques were.

Cheng, Thomas D.↗

NASA NTRS1961

Velocity Requirements for Abort From the Boost Trajectory of a Manned Lunar Mission

An investigation is made of the abort velocity requirements associated with failure of a propulsion system for a manned lunar mission. Two cases are considered: abort at less than satellite speed, which results in maximum decelerations in the following entry, and abort at greater than satellite speed with immediate return to earth. The velocity requirements associated with the latter problem are found to be substantial (several thousand feet per second) and are found to be even more severe if boost trajectories which lead to burnout at high altitudes or large flight-path angles are used. The velocity requirements associated with abort at less than satellite speed are found to be less severe than those for abort at greater than satellite speed except for nonlifting vehicles. It is found that abort rockets sufficient for abort at greater than satellite speed can be used to reduce maximum decelerations in entries following an abort at lower speeds. This reduction is accomplished by use of the abort rockets to decrease entry angle immediately prior to entry into the atmosphere.

Slye, Robert E.↗

NASA NTRS1961

The Effect of Lift on Entry Corridor Depth and Guidance Requirements for the Return Lunar Flight

Corridors for manned vehicles are defined consistent with requirements for avoiding radiation exposure and for limiting values of peak deceleration. Use of lift increases the depth of the entry corridor. Mid-course guidance requirements appear to be critical only for the flight-path angle. Increasing the energy of the transport orbit increases the required guidance accuracy for the flight-path angle. Corrective thrust applied essentially parallel to the local horizontal produces the maximum change in perigee altitude for a given increment of velocity. Energy required to effect a given change in perigee altitude varies inversely with range measured from the center of the earth.

Wong, Thomas J.↗

NASA NTRS1960

Motion and Heating During Atmosphere Reentry of Space Vehicles

The results of an analysis of the motion and heating during atmospheric reentry of manned space vehicles has shown the following: 1. Flight-corridor depths which allow reentry in a single pass decrease rapidly as the reentry speed increases if the maximum deceleration is limited to 10 g. 2. Use of aerodynamic lift can result in a three-to five fold increase in corridor depth over that available to a ballistic vehicle for the same deceleration limits. 3. Use of aerodynamic lift to widen these reentry corridors causes a heating penalty which becomes severe for values of the lift-drag ratio greater than unity for constant lift-drag entry. 4. In the region of most intense convective heating the inviscid flow is generally in chemical equilibrium but the boundary-layer flows are out of equilibrium. Heating rates for the nonequilibrium boundary layer are generally lower than for the corresponding equilibrium case. 5. Radiative heating from the hot gas trapped between the shock wave and the body stagnation region may be as severe as the convective heating and unfortunately occurs at approximately the same time in the flight.

Wong, Thomas J.↗