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NASA NTRS1975

Noise reduction studies for the U-10 airplane

A study was undertaken by the NASA Langley Research Center to determine the noise reduction potential of the U-10 airplane in order to reduce its aural detection distance. Static and flyover noise measurements were made to document the basic airplane noise signature. Two modifications to the airplane configuration are suggested as having the best potential for substantially reducing aural detection distance with small penalty to airplane performance or stability and control. These modifications include changing the present 3-blade propeller to a 5-blade propeller, changing the propeller diameter, and changing the propeller gear ratio, along with the use of an engine exhaust muffler. The aural detection distance corresponding to normal cruising flight at an altitude of 1,000 ft over grassy terrain is reduced from 28,000 ft (5.3 miles) to about 50 percent of that value for modification 1, and to about 25 percent for modification 2. For the aircraft operating at an altitude of 300 ft, the analysis indicates that relatively straightforward modifications could reduce the aural detection distance to approximately 0.9 mile. Operation of the aircraft at greatly reduced engine speed (1650 rpm) with a 1.3-cu-ft muffler provides aural detection distances slightly lower than modification 1.

Hilton, D. A.↗

NASA NTRS1997

The Taxiway Navigation and Situation Awareness (T-NASA) System

The goal of NASA's Terminal Area Productivity (TAP) Low-Visibility Landing and Surface Operations (LVLASO) subelement is to improve the efficiency of airport surface operations for commercial aircraft operating in weather conditions to Category IIIB while maintaining a high degree of safety. Currently, surface operations are one of the least technologically sophisticated components of the air transport system, being conducted in the 1990's with the same basic technology as in the 1930's. Pilots are given little or no explicit information about their current position, and routing information is limited to ATC communications and airport charts. In TAP/LVLASO, advanced technologies such as satellite navigation systems, digital data communications, advanced information presentation technology, and ground surveillance systems will be integrated into flight deck displays to enable expeditious and safe traffic movement on the airport surface. The cockpit display suite is called the T-NASA (Taxiway Navigation and Situation Awareness) System. This system has three integrated components: 1) Moving Map track-up airport surface display with own-ship, traffic and graphical route guidance 2) Scene-Linked Symbology - route/taxi information virtually projected via a Head-up Display (HUD) onto the forward scene; and, 3) 3-D Audio Ground Collision Avoidance and Navigation system - spatially-localized auditory traffic and navigation alerts. In the current paper, the design philosophy of the T-NASA system will be presented, and the T-NASA system display components described.

Foyle, David C.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Putting Safety First in the Sky

As a result of technology developed at NASA s Kennedy Space Center, pilots now have a hand-held personal safety device to warn them of potentially dangerous or deteriorating cabin pressure altitude conditions before hypoxia becomes a threat. The Personal Cabin Pressure Altitude Monitor and Warning System monitors cabin pressure to determine when supplemental oxygen should be used according to Federal Aviation Regulations. The device benefits both pressurized and nonpressurized aircraft operations - warning pressurized aircraft when the required safe cabin pressure altitude is compromised, and reminding nonpressurized aircraft when supplemental oxygen is needed.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2011

Progress Toward Future Runway Management

The runway is universally acknowledged as a constraining factor to capacity in the National Airspace System (NAS). It follows that investigation of the effective use of runways, both in terms of selection and assignment, is paramount to the efficiency of future NAS operations. The need to address runway management is not a new idea; however, as the complexities of factors affecting runway selection and usage increase, the need for effective research in this area correspondingly increases. Under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration s Airspace Systems Program, runway management is a key research area. To address a future NAS which promises to be a complex landscape of factors and competing interests among users and operators, effective runway management strategies and capabilities are required. This effort has evolved from an assessment of current practices, an understanding of research activities addressing surface and airspace operations, traffic flow management enhancements, among others. This work has yielded significant progress. Systems analysis work indicates that the value of System Oriented Runway Management tools is significantly increased in the metroplex environment over that of the single airport case. Algorithms have been developed to provide runway configuration recommendations for a single airport with multiple runways. A benefits analysis has been conducted that indicates the SORM benefits include supporting traffic growth, cost reduction as a result of system efficiency, NAS optimization from metroplex operations, fairness in aircraft operations, and rational decision making.

Lohr, Gary W.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Large Unmanned Aircraft System Operations in the National Airspace System - the NASA 2007 Western States Fire Missions

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) Ikhana (ee-kah-nah) project executed the 2007 Western States Fire Missions over several of the western United States using an MQ-9 unmanned aircraft system (UAS) in partnership with the NASA Ames Research Center, the United States Forest Service, and the National Interagency Fire Center. The missions were intended to supply infrared imagery of wildfires to firefighters on the ground within 10 minutes of data acquisition. For each of the eight missions, the NASA DFRC notified the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of specific flight plans within three or fewer days of the flight. The FAA Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (commonly referred to as a COA ) process was used to obtain access to the United States National Airspace System. Significant time and resources were necessary to develop the COA application, perform mission planning, and define and approve emergency landing sites. Unique aspects of flying unmanned aircraft created challenges to mission operations. Close coordination with FAA headquarters and air traffic control resulted in safe and successful missions that assisted firefighters by providing near-real-time imagery of selected wildfires.

Buoni, Gregory P.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Special analysis of community annoyance with aircraft noise reported by residents in the vicinity of JFK Airport, 1972

During the summer of 1972, about 1500 residents were interviewed twice in 11 communities near JFK airport. Detailed aircraft operations reports were also collected for this period, and an effort has been made to analyze recorded human response data in relation to a number of physical exposure parameters. A series of exposure indexes, based on an arithmetic integration of aircraft operations, were correlated with summated aircraft noise annoyance responses. None of these correlations were as good as the CNR index which assumes a logrithmetic integration of numbers of aircraft exposures and includes a day-night differential weighting of 10:1. There were substantial variations in average annoyance responses among communities with similar CNR exposures, substantiating previous findings that attitudinal and other personal variables also play an important role in determining annoyance differences.

Borsky, P. N.↗

NASA NTRS2013

NASA Activity Update for the 2013 Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (UVSI) Yearbook

This year s report offers a high level perspective on some of the UAS related activities in which NASA is involved, both internal and external to the agency. Internally, NASA issued UAS operational policy on certification of NASA UAS and aircrew. A team of NASA UAS experts and operators analyzed all current procedures and best practices to design the policy. An update to the agencies Aircraft Operations Management Manual incorporated a new chapter to address UAS planning, preflight operations, flight operations, flight crew requirements, airworthiness and flight safety reviews. NASA UAS are classified into three categories based on weight and airspeed. Aircrews, including observers, are classified by how they interface with the UAS, and the policy defines qualifications, training, and currency. The NASA flight readiness approval process identifies risks and mitigations in order to reduce the likelihood and/or consequence of the risk to an acceptable level. The UAS operations process incorporates all aspects of airworthiness, flight standards and range safety exactly the same processes used for NASA manned aircraft operations. NASA has two internal organizations that routinely operate UAS. The Science Mission Directorate utilizes UAS as part of its Airborne Science Program and is the most frequent operator of NASA UAS in both national and international airspace. The Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate conducts UAS flight operations in addition to conducting research important to the UAS community. This past year the Science Mission Directorate supported the Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentimental (HS3) Mission with two NASA Global Hawk platforms. HS3 is a five-year mission specifically targeted to investigate the processes that underlie hurricane formation. During the 2012 portion of this mission the Global Hawk overflew hurricanes Leslie and Nadine in the Atlantic Ocean completing 6 flights and accumulating more than 148 flight hours. Another multi-year mission was initiated last year when the Sensor Integrated Environmental Remote Research Aircraft (SIERRA) UAS began surveying faults in California s Surprise Valley. A team of scientists and engineers from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), NASA Ames Research Center, Central Washington University, and Carnegie Mellon University will measure magnetic fields using ground surveys and the SIERRA to map the geophysics below the surface of Surprise Valley. The data collected will be used to generate 3D maps of the geophysical data of the area. The Aeronautics Mission Directorate continues its collaboration with Boeing to conduct UAS flight operations of the X-48C, a modified version of the X-48B originally built by Cranfield Aerospace, United Kingdom. The Aeronautics Mission Directorate utilizes vehicles of this size for a wide variety of research studies. Most of these operations are conducted within restricted airspace. The Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate also sponsors the UAS in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project, which is working in close cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to address critical challenges associated with routine UAS operations in civil airspace. The project is focused on separation assurance and collision avoidance systems and algorithms, command and control for non-military operations including spectrum allocation requirements, human system interaction issues, and safety and certification topics.

Bauer, Jeffrey E.↗

DOE OSTI2023

Operational Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Development for Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics Field Campaign Report

The overarching goal of the project is to develop integrated small, unmanned aircraft systems (SUAS) capabilities for enhanced atmospheric physics measurements. This team included atmospheric scientists, meteorologists, engineers, computer scientists, geographers, and chemists necessary to evaluate the needs and develop the advanced sensing and imaging, robust autonomous navigation, enhanced data communication, and data management capabilities required to use SUAS in atmospheric physics. The flight campaigns at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) observatory were an integrated evaluation of the systems in coordinated field tests. This enabled sensor testing, and validation of SUAS technology and integration of unmanned aircraft into the airspace. The set of experiments enabled evaluation and progression of remote UAS deployment operations with observing atmospheric sensors. Each flight test endeavor was notable for the significant lessons learned during every deployment event. Team size and roles, equipment use, aircraft instruments, meteorological instruments, and deployment logistics, were all evaluated and improved at every flight-testing day. The details of these are further discussed in the Results section.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS2003

An Analysis of Delay and Travel Times at Sao Paulo International Airport (AISP/GRU): Planning Based on Simulation Model

The occurrence of flight delays in Brazil, mostly verified at the ground (airfield), is responsible for serious disruptions at the airport level but also for the unchaining of problems in all the airport system, affecting also the airspace. The present study develops an analysis of delay and travel times at Sao Paulo International Airport/ Guarulhos (AISP/GRU) airfield based on simulation model. Different airport physical and operational scenarios had been analyzed by means of simulation. SIMMOD Plus 4.0, the computational tool developed to represent aircraft operation in the airspace and airside of airports, was used to perform these analysis. The study was mainly focused on aircraft operations on ground, at the airport runway, taxi-lanes and aprons. The visualization of the operations with increasing demand facilitated the analyses. The results generated in this work certify the viability of the methodology, they also indicated the solutions capable to solve the delay problem by travel time analysis, thus diminishing the costs for users mainly airport authority. It also indicated alternatives for airport operations, assisting the decision-making process and in the appropriate timing of the proposed changes in the existing infrastructure.

Santana, Erico Soriano Martins↗

NASA NTRS2017

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Preparation of an Operation & Configuration Control Plan (OCCP) of "Category B" Pressure Vessels/Systems

This Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) describes the requirements and methodology for preparation of an Operation & Configuration Control Plan (OCCP) as required by JPR 1710.13 to assure safe ground pressurization and pressurization during aircraft operations of “Category B” Pressure Vessels/Systems (PV/S) at Johnson Space Center (JSC), Ellington Field (EFD) and associated NASA spaceflight/aircraft operations facilities. An OCCP is a written assessment showing that a “Category B” PV/S is safe for ground pressurization and pressurization during aircraft operations, within the bounds established by the OCCP.

Nathanael J Greene↗

NASA NTRS1998

Analytical Tools for Cloudscope Ice Measurement

The cloudscope is a ground or aircraft instrument for viewing ice crystals impacted on a sapphire window. It is essentially a simple optical microscope with an attached compact CCD video camera whose output is recorded on a Hi-8 mm video cassette recorder equipped with digital time and date recording capability. In aircraft operation the window is at a stagnation point of the flow so adiabatic compression heats the window to sublimate the ice crystals so that later impacting crystals can be imaged as well. A film heater is used for ground based operation to provide sublimation, and it can also be used to provide extra heat for aircraft operation. The compact video camera can be focused manually by the operator, and a beam splitter - miniature bulb combination provide illumination for night operation. Several shutter speeds are available to accommodate daytime illumination conditions by direct sunlight. The video images can be directly used to qualitatively assess the crystal content of cirrus clouds and contrails. Quantitative size spectra are obtained with the tools described in this report. Selected portions of the video images are digitized using a PCI bus frame grabber to form a short movie segment or stack using NIH (National Institute of Health) Image software with custom macros developed at DRI. The stack can be Fourier transform filtered with custom, easy to design filters to reduce most objectionable video artifacts. Particle quantification of each slice of the stack is performed using digital image analysis. Data recorded for each particle include particle number and centroid, frame number in the stack, particle area, perimeter, equivalent ellipse maximum and minimum radii, ellipse angle, and pixel number. Each valid particle in the stack is stamped with a unique number. This output can be used to obtain a semiquantitative appreciation of the crystal content. The particle information becomes the raw input for a subsequent program (FORTRAN) that synthesizes each slice and separates the new from the sublimating particles. The new particle information is used to generate quantitative particle concentration, area, and mass size spectra along with total concentration, solar extinction coefficient, and ice water content. This program directly creates output in html format for viewing with a web browser.

Arnott, W. Patrick↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Human-in-the-Loop Flight Simulation Experiment on Unmanned Aircraft Terminal Operations

A Detect and Avoid (DAA) System is a suite of sensors, tracker, and alerting and guidance algorithms that assist a remote pilot of an Unmanned Aircraft System in maintaining separation from airborne traffic by complying with current ‘see and avoid’ requirements. To date, work has focused on operations transiting to and from Class A or special use airspace. Current efforts are defining DAA system requirements for operations in and around terminal airspace. As a contribution to the current efforts, this paper presents results from a Human-in-the-Loop experiment comparing methods of changing from the transit-specific alerting and guidance criteria to the reduced terminal-specific alerting and guidance criteria.

Devin Patrick Jack↗

NASA NTRS1991

Quiet aircraft design and operational characteristics

The application of aircraft noise technology to the design and operation of aircraft is discussed. Areas of discussion include the setting of target airplane noise levels, operational considerations and their effect on noise, and the sequencing and timing of the design and development process. Primary emphasis is placed on commercial transport aircraft of the type operated by major airlines. Additionally, noise control engineering of other types of aircraft is briefly discussed.

Hodge, Charles G.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Model Assessment of the Impact on Ozone of Subsonic and Supersonic Aircraft

This is the final report for work performed between June 1999 through May 2000. The work represents continuation of the previous contract which encompasses five areas: (1) continued refinements and applications of the 2-D chemistry-transport model (CTM) to assess the ozone effects from aircraft operation in the stratosphere; (2) studying the mechanisms that determine the evolution of the sulfur species in the aircraft plume and how such mechanisms affect the way aircraft sulfur emissions should be introduced into global models; (3) the development of diagnostics in the AER 3-wave interactive model to assess the importance of the dynamics feedback and zonal asymmetry in model prediction of ozone response to aircraft operation; (4) the development of a chemistry parameterization scheme in support of the global modeling initiative (GMI); and (5) providing assessment results for preparation of national and international reports which include the "Aviation and the Global Atmosphere" prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, "Assessment of the effects of high-speed aircraft in the stratosphere: 1998" by NASA, and the "Model and Measurements Intercomparison II" by NASA. Part of the work was reported in the final report. We participated in the SAGE III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE) campaign and we continue with our analyses of the data.

Ko, Malcolm↗

NASA NTRS1976

Concorde noise-induced building vibrations for Sully Plantation, Chantilly, Virginia

A study to assess the noise-induced building vibrations associated with Concorde operations is presented. The approach is to record the levels of induced vibrations and associated indoor/outdoor noise levels in selected homes, historic and other buildings near Dulles and Kennedy International Airports. Presented is a small, representative sample of data recorded at Sully Plantation, Chantilly, Virginia during the period of May 20 through May 28, 1976. Recorded data provide relationships between the vibration levels of walls, floors, windows, and the noise associated with Concorde operations (2 landings and 3 takeoffs), other aircraft, nonaircraft sources, and normal household activities. Results suggest that building vibrations resulting from aircraft operations were proportional to the overall sound pressure levels and relatively insensitive to spectral differences associated with the different types of aircraft. Furthermore, the maximum levels of vibratory response resulting from Concorde operations were higher than those associated with conventional aircraft. The vibrations of nonaircraft events were observed in some cases to exceed the levels resulting from aircraft operations. These nonaircraft events are currently being analyzed in greater detail.

Mayes, W. H.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Powered-lift STOL aircraft shipboard operations - A comparison of simulation, land-based and sea trial results for the QSRA

A moving base carrier landing flight simulation using NASA's Quiet Short-Haul Research Aircraft (QSRA) was conducted during the design and fabrication of the QSRA. After completing its initial flight testing, the QSRA flew simulated carrier landings on land, followed by actual carrier landings at sea. This paper compares the simulated flight characteristics used in the flight simulation (using an aircraft math model based on wind tunnel data) with the aircraft flight characteristics obtained from flight test data. This paper also compares the results of the QSRA flight simulation carrier landings, the land based simulated carrier landings, and the actual carrier landings.

Stevens, V. C.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Verification and Validation of Safety-Critical Aircraft Systems Operating under Off-Nominal, Contingency, and Emergency Conditions

Verification and validation (V&V) of safety-critical technologies developed for loss of control (LOC) prevention and recovery and other aviation safety concerns pose significant challenges. Aircraft LOC can result from a wide spectrum of hazards, often occurring in combination, which cannot be fully replicated during evaluation. Technologies developed for LOC prevention and recovery must therefore be effective under a wide variety of hazardous and uncertain conditions, and the verification and validation of these technologies must provide some measure of assurance that the new vehicle safety technologies do no harm (i.e., that they themselves do not introduce new safety risks). V&V technologies must also enable the identification of system limitations and constraints, as well as enable the identification of safe and unsafe operating conditions (and their boundaries). Additionally, the V&V of complex, increasingly autonomous systems is a fundamental concern. Scalable, reproducible and cost-effective techniques for the assurance of safety critical systems during their design and operation is a key barrier to fielding new systems or updating current systems. Moreover, these techniques need to provide artifacts that enable a comprehensive evidence-based approach to certification. This briefing summarizes research performed under NASA’s Aviation Safety Program and follow-on research for the V&V of safety-critical aircraft system technologies developed for LOC prevention and recovery and increasingly autonomous systems, and for a broad assurance capability in both current and emerging aviation applications. Note that, in this briefing, the term “validation” refers to a confirmation that the system implementation (e.g., algorithms etc.) is performing the intended function(s), as well as an affirmation of effectiveness in these functions. “Verification” refers to a confirmation that the system implementation in the software and hardware meets its (hopefully validated) specifications (e.g., correctly executes algorithms as designed).

Validation↗

NASA NTRS1984

Aircraft automation - The problem of the pilot interface

In recent years, aviation has been experiencing a rapid growth. This growth is expected to continue, and aircraft operations in the IFR (instrument flight rules) environment, for example, are predicted to increase dramatically in the next 10 to 12 years. However, it has been found the IFR accidents are increasing at about the same rate as IFR operations, because an associated high workload can lead to human error. For this reason, NASA and others are exploring the use of aircraft systems technology as a means for reducing the pilot workload and enhancing the safety and utility of the aircraft operations. However, recent research has shown that automation, implemented with insufficient consideration to the human factors interface, can frequently create more problems than it solves. Some of this research is discussed, examples of the encountered problems are shown, and solutions regarding the arising problems are suggested.

Bergeron, H. P.↗