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NASA NTRS2015

AgMIP Climate Data and Scenarios for Integrated Assessment

Climate change presents a great challenge to the agricultural sector as changes in precipitation, temperature, humidity, and circulation patterns alter the climatic conditions upon which many agricultural systems rely. Projections of future climate conditions are inherently uncertain owing to a lack of clarity on how society will develop, policies that may be implemented to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, and complexities in modeling the atmosphere, ocean, land, cryosphere, and biosphere components of the climate system. Global climate models (GCMs) are based on well-established physics of each climate component that enable the models to project climate responses to changing GHG concentration scenarios (Stocker et al., 2013).The most recent iteration of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5; Taylor et al., 2012) utilized representative concentration pathways (RCPs) to cover the range of plausible GHG concentrations out past the year 2100, with RCP8.5 representing an extreme scenario and RCP4.5 representing a lower concentrations scenario (Moss et al., 2010).

agriculture↗

NASA NTRS1988

Geological remote sensing signatures of terrestrial impact craters

Geological remote sensing techniques can be used to investigate structural, depositional, and shock metamorphic effects associated with hypervelocity impact structures, some of which may be linked to global Earth system catastrophies. Although detailed laboratory and field investigations are necessary to establish conclusive evidence of an impact origin for suspected crater landforms, the synoptic perspective provided by various remote sensing systems can often serve as a pathfinder to key deposits which can then be targetted for intensive field study. In addition, remote sensing imagery can be used as a tool in the search for impact and other catastrophic explosion landforms on the basis of localized disruption and anomaly patterns. In order to reconstruct original dimensions of large, complex impact features in isolated, inaccessible regions, remote sensing imagery can be used to make preliminary estimates in the absence of field geophysical surveys. The experienced gained from two decades of planetary remote sensing of impact craters on the terrestrial planets, as well as the techniques developed for recognizing stages of degradation and initial crater morphology, can now be applied to the problem of discovering and studying eroded impact landforms on Earth. Preliminary results of remote sensing analyses of a set of terrestrial impact features in various states of degradation, geologic settings, and for a broad range of diameters and hence energies of formation are summarized. The intention is to develop a database of remote sensing signatures for catastrophic impact landforms which can then be used in EOS-era global surveys as the basis for locating the possibly hundreds of missing impact structures. In addition, refinement of initial dimensions of extremely recent structures such as Zhamanshin and Bosumtwi is an important objective in order to permit re-evaluation of global Earth system responses associated with these types of events.

Garvin, J. B.↗

NASA NTRS1988

The tectonic setting of the Seychelles, Mascarene and Amirante Plateaus in the Western Equatorial Indian Ocean

A system of marine plateaus occurs in the western equatorial Indian Ocean, forming an arcuate series of wide and shallow banks with small islands in places. The oceanic basins that surround the Seychelles - Amirante region are of various ages and reflect a complex seafloor spreading pattern. The structural analysis of the Seychelle - Amirante - Mascarene region reflects the tectonic evolution of the western equatorial Indian Ocean. It is suggested that due to the seafloor spreading during a tectonic stage, the Seychelles continental block drifted southwestwards to collide with the oceanic crust of the Mascarene Basin, forming an elongated folded structure at first, and then a subduction zone. The morphological similarity, the lithological variability and the different origin of the Seychelles Bank, the Mascarene Plateau and the Amirante Arc emphasizes the significant convergent effects of various plate tectonic processes on the development of marine plateaus.

Mart, Y.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Design for testability and diagnosis at the system-level

The growing complexity of full-scale systems has surpassed the capabilities of most simulation software to provide detailed models or gate-level failure analyses. The process of system-level diagnosis approaches the fault-isolation problem in a manner that differs significantly from the traditional and exhaustive failure mode search. System-level diagnosis is based on a functional representation of the system. For example, one can exercise one portion of a radar algorithm (the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) function) by injecting several standard input patterns and comparing the results to standardized output results. An anomalous output would point to one of several items (including the FFT circuit) without specifying the gate or failure mode. For system-level repair, identifying an anomalous chip is sufficient. We describe here an information theoretic and dependency modeling approach that discards much of the detailed physical knowledge about the system and analyzes its information flow and functional interrelationships. The approach relies on group and flow associations and, as such, is hierarchical. Its hierarchical nature allows the approach to be applicable to any level of complexity and to any repair level. This approach has been incorporated in a product called STAMP (System Testability and Maintenance Program) which was developed and refined through more than 10 years of field-level applications to complex system diagnosis. The results have been outstanding, even spectacular in some cases. In this paper we describe system-level testability, system-level diagnoses, and the STAMP analysis approach, as well as a few STAMP applications.

Simpson, William R.↗

NASA NTRS2007

NASA Tech Briefs, September 2007

Topics covered include; Rapid Fabrication of Carbide Matrix/Carbon Fiber Composites; Coating Thermoelectric Devices To Suppress Sublimation; Ultrahigh-Temperature Ceramics; Improved C/SiC Ceramic Composites Made Using PIP; Coating Carbon Fibers With Platinum; Two-Band, Low-Loss Microwave Window; MCM Polarimetric Radiometers for Planar Arrays; Aperture-Coupled Thin-Membrane L-Band Antenna; WGM-Based Photonic Local Oscillators and Modulators; Focal-Plane Arrays of Quantum-Dot Infrared Photodetectors; Laser Range and Bearing Finder With No Moving Parts; Microrectenna: A Terahertz Antenna and Rectifier on a Chip; Miniature L-Band Radar Transceiver; Robotic Vision-Based Localization in an Urban Environment; Programs for Testing an SSME-Monitoring System; Cathodoluminescent Source of Intense White Light; Displaying and Analyzing Antenna Radiation Patterns; Payload Operations Support Team Tools; Space-Shuttle Emulator Software; Soft Real-Time PID Control on a VME Computer; Analyzing Radio-Frequency Coverage for the ISS; Nanorod-Based Fast-Response Pressure-Sensitive Paints; Capacitors Would Help Protect Against Hypervelocity Impacts; Diaphragm Pump With Resonant Piezoelectric Drive; Improved Quick-Release Pin Mechanism; Designing Rolling-Element Bearings; Reverse-Tangent Injection in a Centrifugal Compressor; Inertial Measurements for Aero-assisted Navigation (IMAN); Analysis of Complex Valve and Feed Systems; Improved Path Planning Onboard the Mars Exploration Rovers; Robust, Flexible Motion Control for the Mars Explorer Rovers; Solar Sail Spaceflight Simulation; Fluorine-Based DRIE of Fused Silica; Mechanical Alloying for Making Thermoelectric Compounds; Process for High-Rate Fabrication of Alumina Nanotemplates; Electroform/Plasma-Spray Laminates for X-Ray Optics; An Automated Flying-Insect Detection System; Calligraphic Poling of Ferroelectric Material; Blackbody Cavity for Calibrations at 200 to 273 K; KML Super Overlay to WMS Translator; High-Performance Tiled WMS and KML Web Server; Modeling of Radiative Transfer in Protostellar Disks; Composite Pulse Tube; Photometric Calibration of Consumer Video Cameras; Criterion for Identifying Vortices in High- Pressure Flows; Amplified Thermionic Cooling Using Arrays of Nanowires; Delamination-Indicating Thermal Barrier Coatings; Preventing Raman Lasing in High-Q WGM Resonators; Procedures for Tuning a Multiresonator Photonic Filter; Robust Mapping of Incoherent Fiber-Optic Bundles; Extended-Range Ultrarefractive 1D Photonic Crystal Prisms; Rapid Analysis of Mass Distribution of Radiation Shielding; Modeling Magnetic Properties in EZTB; Deep Space Network Antenna Logic Controller; Modeling Carbon and Hydrocarbon Molecular Structures in EZTB; BigView Image Viewing on Tiled Displays; and Imaging Sensor Flight and Test Equipment Software.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1993

Installed F/A-18 inlet flow calculations at 60 deg angle-of-attack and 10 deg side slip

This paper presents the results of PARC3D numerical calculations on a 19.78 percent scale forebody/inlet model of the F/A-18 at a Mach number of 0.20, an angle-of-attack of 60 deg, and a side-slip angle of 10 deg. The main purpose of these calculations is to support an upcoming wind-tunnel test program in the prediction of engine inlet compressor face total pressure recovery and flow distortion. The GRIDGEN system was used to generate a grid which includes the inlet and lip, and other aircraft components which are considered to be important to inlet performance, such as the ramp/splitter plate, the diverter and slot, and the deflected leading edge flap. PARC3D shows complex flow patterns on the fuselage surfaces below the leading edge extensions, on the ramp/splitter plate, inlet lip, and inside the inlet. PARC3D tends to underpredict total pressure recovery and overpredict the flow distortion at the inlet compressor face.

Podleski, S. D.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Multi-Scale Fractal Analysis of Image Texture and Pattern

Fractals embody important ideas of self-similarity, in which the spatial behavior or appearance of a system is largely scale-independent. Self-similarity is a property of curves or surfaces where each part is indistinguishable from the whole. The fractal dimension D of remote sensing data yields quantitative insight on the spatial complexity and information content contained within these data. Analyses of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) images of homogeneous land covers near Huntsville, Alabama revealed that the fractal dimension of an image of an agricultural land cover indicates greater complexity as pixel size increases, a forested land cover gradually grows smoother, and an urban image remains roughly self-similar over the range of pixel sizes analyzed(l0 to 80 meters). The forested scene behaves as one would expect-larger pixel sizes decrease the complexity of the image as individual clumps of trees are averaged into larger blocks. The increased complexity of the agricultural image with increasing pixel size results from the loss of homogeneous groups of pixels in the large fields to mixed pixels composed of varying combinations of NDVI values that correspond to roads and vegetation. The same process occur's in the urban image to some extent, but the lack of large, homogeneous areas in the high resolution NDVI image means the initially high D value is maintained as pixel size increases. The slope of the fractal dimension-resolution relationship provides indications of how image classification or feature identification will be affected by changes in sensor resolution.

Emerson, Charles W.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Biological Research and Space Health Enabled by Machine Learning to Support Deep Space Missions

A key science goal of the NASA “Moon to Mars” campaign is to understand how biology responds to the Lunar, Martian, and deep space environments in order to advance fundamental knowledge, reduce risk, and support safe, productive human space missions. Through the powerful emerging approaches of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), a paradigm shift has begun in biomedical science and engineered astronaut health systems, to enable Earth independence and autonomy of mission operations. Here we present an overview of AI/ML architecture to support deep space mission goals, developed with leaders in the field. First, we focus on the fundamental biological research that supports our understanding of physiological responses to spaceflight, and we describe current efforts to support AI/ML research including data standardization and data engineering through maximally open and FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) databases and the generation of AI-ready datasets for reuse and analysis. We also discuss remote data management frameworks for research data as well as environmental and health data that are generated during deep space missions. We highlight several research projects that leverage data standardization and management for fundamental biological discovery to uncover the complex effects of space travel on living systems. Next, we provide an overview of cutting-edge AI/ML approaches that can be integrated to support remote monitoring and analysis during deep space missions, including generative models and large language models to learn the underlying biomedical patterns and predict outcomes or answer questions during off world medical scenarios. We also describe current AI/ML methods to support this research and monitoring through automated cloud-based labs which enable limited human intervention and closed-loop experimentation in remote settings. These labs could support mission autonomy by analyzing environmental data streams, and would be facilitated through in situ analytics capabilities to avoid sending large raw data files through low bandwidth communications. Finally, in the context of deep space missions with limited communications or access to medical advice from Earth, we describe a solution for integrated, real-time mission biomonitoring across hierarchical levels from continuous environmental monitoring, to wearables and point-of-care devices, to molecular and physiological monitoring. We introduce a precision space health system that will ensure that the future of space health is predictive, preventative, participatory and personalized.

artificial intelligence↗

NASA NTRS1976

An investigation of potential applications of OP-SAPS: Operational sampled analog processors

The impact of charge-coupled device (CCD) processors on future instrumentation was investigated. The CCD devices studied process sampled analog data and are referred to as OP-SAPS - operational sampled analog processors. Preliminary studies into various architectural configurations for systems composed of OP-SAPS show that they have potential in such diverse applications as pattern recognition and automatic control. It appears probable that OP-SAPS may be used to construct computing structures which can serve as special peripherals to large-scale computer complexes used in real time flight simulation. The research was limited to the following benchmark programs: (1) face recognition, (2) voice command and control, (3) terrain classification, and (4) terrain identification. A small amount of effort was spent on examining a method by which OP-SAPS may be used to decrease the limiting ground sampling distance encountered in remote sensing from satellites.

Parrish, E. A.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Alternative Beam Efficiency Calculations for a Large-aperture Multiple-frequency Microwave Radiometer (LAMMR)

The fundamental definition of beam efficiency, given in terms of a far field radiation pattern, was used to develop alternative definitions which improve accuracy, reduce the amount of calculation required, and isolate the separate factors composing beam efficiency. Well-known definitions of aperture efficiency were introduced successively to simplify the denominator of the fundamental definition. The superposition of complex vector spillover and backscattered fields was examined, and beam efficiency analysis in terms of power patterns was carried out. An extension from single to dual reflector geometries was included. It is noted that the alternative definitions are advantageous in the mathematical simulation of a radiometer system, and are not intended for the measurements discipline where fields have merged and therefore lost their identity.

Schmidt, R. F.↗

NASA NTRS1991

AR/D image processing system

General Dynamics has developed advanced hardware, software, and algorithms for use with the Tomahawk cruise missile and other unmanned vehicles. We have applied this technology to the problem of locating and determining the orientation of the docking port of a target vehicle with respect to an approaching spacecraft. The system described in this presentation utilizes a multi-processor based computer to digitize and process television imagery and extract parameters such as range to the target vehicle, approach, velocity, and pitch and yaw angles. The processor is based on the Inmos T-800 Transputer and is configured as a loosely coupled array. Each processor operates asynchronously and has its own local memory. This allows additional processors to be easily added if additional processing power is required for more complex tasks. Total system throughput is approximately 100 MIPS (scalar) and 60 MFLOPS and can be expanded as desired. The algorithm implemented on the system uses a unique adaptive thresholding technique to locate the target vehicle and determine the approximate position of the docking port. A target pattern surrounding the port is than analyzed in the imagery to determine the range and orientation of the target. This information is passed to an autopilot which uses it to perform course and speed corrections. Future upgrades to the processor are described which will enhance its capabilities for a variety of missions.

Wookey, Cathy↗

NASA NTRS1995

Computational aeroacoustics using hyperbolic wave primitives

A compact high order three-spatial point, two-time level dissipationless scheme is derived by matching amplification factors from differential and difference forms hyperbolic systems of partial differential equations. This approach has the advantage of allowing large time steps (Courant numbers of one) and imposing boundary conditions that are globally compatible with the wave operators. Solutions are presented for planar and spherical one dimensional acoustic waves and more complex wave patterns in two dimensions.

Davis, Sanford S.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Micro and Macro Segregation in Alloys Solidifying with Equiaxed Morphology

To understand macro segregation formation in Al-Cu alloys, experiments were run under terrestrial gravity (1g) and under low gravity during parabolic flights (10(exp -2) g). Alloys of two different compositions (2% and 5% Cu) were solidified at two different cooling rates. Systematic microscopic and SEM observations produced microstructural and segregation maps for all samples. These maps may be used as benchmark experiments for validation of microstructure evolution and segregation models. As expected, the macro segregation maps are very complex. When segregation was measured along the central axis of the sample, the highest macro segregation for samples solidified at 1g was obtained for the lowest cooling rate. This behavior is attributed to the longer time available for natural convection and shrinkage flow to affect solute redistribution. In samples solidified under low-g, the highest macro-segregation was obtained at the highest cooling rate. In general, low-gravity solidification resulted in less segregation. To explain the experimental findings, an analytical (Flemings-Nereo) and a numerical model were used. For the numerical model, the continuum formulation was employed to describe the macroscopic transports of mass, energy, and momentum, associated with the microscopic transport phenomena, for a two-phase system. The model proposed considers that liquid flow is driven by thermal and solutal buoyancy, and by solidification shrinkage. The Flemings-Nereo model explains well macro segregation in the initial stages of low-gravity segregation. The numerical model can describe the complex macro segregation pattern and the differences between low- and high-gravity solidification.

Stefanescu, Doru M.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

3D Phase-Field Simulations of Pattern Formation During Freeze Casting

We present the results of a combined experimental and phase-field modeling study of pattern formation during freeze casting. Those studies use unidirectional freezing of simple binary liquid mixtures of water and sugars (sucrose and trehalose) in a temperature gradient, which suffice to produce hierarchical templated structures similar to those observed in more complex multi-component freeze-cast systems including lamellae, undulated ridges, and more exotic “jellyfish-like” substructures. Multiscale 3D phase-field simulations reproduce remarkably well those structures quantitatively and identify key properties of the ice-water interface that control their formation. They further reveal that lamellae form as a result of a novel symmetry-breaking secondary instability of partially faceted cellular structures and pinpoint additional secondary instability mechanisms giving rise to smaller-scale substructures.

Kaihua Ji↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

3D Phase-Field Simulations of Pattern Formation During Freeze Casting

Kaihua Ji↗

NASA NTRS1972

New laser technique for the identification of molecular transitions.

A laser technique is proposed which may be useful for the assignment of molecular spectra in the visible and infrared regions. The method is based on the resonant interaction of two monochromatic fields with a Doppler-broadened three-level system. Under the appropriate conditions the absorption line shape of one of the transitions shows a complex structure over a narrow section of the Doppler profile, and for sufficiently high laser power the line shape splits into a number of narrow peaks. Analysis of the resulting intensity pattern leads to unambiguous assignment of the angular momentum quantum numbers of the three levels involved. A simple set of rules is given to facilitate interpretation of spectra. The line shapes discussed are also relevant to monochromatic optical pumping of gases and unidirectional laser amplifiers.

Skribanowitz, N.↗

NASA NTRS1991

A strongly goal-directed close-range vision system for spacecraft docking

In this presentation, we will propose a strongly goal-oriented stereo vision system to establish proper docking approach motions for automated rendezvous and capture (AR&C). From an input sequence of stereo video image pairs, the system produces a current best estimate of: contact position; contact vector; contact velocity; and contact orientation. The processing demands imposed by this particular problem and its environment dictate a special case solution; such a system should necessarily be, in some sense, minimalist. By this we mean the system should construct a scene description just sufficiently rich to solve the problem at hand and should do no more processing than is absolutely necessary. In addition, the imaging resolution should be just sufficient. Extracting additional information and constructing higher level scene representations wastes energy and computational resources and injects an unnecessary degree of complexity, increasing the likelihood of malfunction. We therefore take a departure from most prior stereopsis work, including our own, and propose a system based on associative memory. The purpose of the memory is to immediately associate a set of motor commands with a set of input visual patterns in the two cameras. That is, rather than explicitly computing point correspondences and object positions in world coordinates and trying to reason forward from this information to a plan of action, we are trying to capture the essence of reflex behavior through the action of associative memory. The explicit construction of point correspondences and 3D scene descriptions, followed by online velocity and point of impact calculations, is prohibitively expensive from a computational point of view for the problem at hand. Learned patterns on the four image planes, left and right at two discrete but closely spaced instants in time, will be bused directly to infer the spacecraft reaction. This will be a continuing online process as the docking collar approaches.

Boyer, Kim L.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Simulation of an array-based neural net model

Research in cognitive science suggests that much of cognition involves the rapid manipulation of complex data structures. However, it is very unclear how this could be realized in neural networks or connectionist systems. A core question is: how could the interconnectivity of items in an abstract-level data structure be neurally encoded? The answer appeals mainly to positional relationships between activity patterns within neural arrays, rather than directly to neural connections in the traditional way. The new method was initially devised to account for abstract symbolic data structures, but it also supports cognitively useful spatial analogue, image-like representations. As the neural model is based on massive, uniform, parallel computations over 2D arrays, the massively parallel processor is a convenient tool for simulation work, although there are complications in using the machine to the fullest advantage. An MPP Pascal simulation program for a small pilot version of the model is running.

Barnden, John A.↗