Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Virginia”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 217 records · Page 12

NASA Facility for the Study of Space Radiation Effects

Space particulate radiation from the Van Allen belts, solar flares, galactic cosmic, and manmade sources have energies and fluxes which are capable of producing damage in space mission payloads. NASA - Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, has initiated the construction of a ground-based Space Radiation Effects Laboratory which simulates most of the space particulate energy spectrum and which can be used in a radiation research program for minimizing or eliminating deleterious radiation effects. A 600-megaelectronvolt synchrocyclotron of variable energy and electron accelerators from 1 to 10 megaelectronvolts will be included in the laboratory for accelerated testing. The plan of the proposed test areas reflects the latest advances in the state of the art as it pertains to the engineering and basic experimental requirements in flexibility, radiation background levels, shielding, and isolation. The laboratory operational plan permits three Virginia institutions of higher learning to cooperate with the Langley Research Center in carrying out radiation programs.

RADIATION EFFECT↗

NASA Aircraft Safety and Operating Problems, Volume 1

The proceedings of the Conference on NASA Aircraft Safety and Operating Problems held at Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, on May 4-6, 1971, are reported in this NASA Special Publication. The purpose of this conference was to discuss the results of research of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the field of aircraft safety and operating problems. The unclassified program components include the following: Flight Safety Airway and Runway Environment Operational Experience With Subsonic Cruise Aircraft Cockpit Environment Terminal Area Operations Flight Environment Induced Environmental Effects Contributions to this compilation were made by representatives from Ames, Flight, Langley, and Lewis Research Centers, Manned Spacecraft Center, George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, the University of Virginia, the Research Triangle Institute, and the Federal Aviation Administration .

Aircraft Safety Office↗

Sounding rocket flight report: MUMP 9 and MUMP 10

The results of the launching of two Marshall-University of Michigan Probes (MUMP 9 and MUMP 10), Nike-Tomahawk sounding rocket payloads, are summarized. The MUMP 9 paylaod included an omegatron mass analyzer, a molecular fluorescence densitometer, a mini-tilty filter, and a lunar position sensor. This complement of instruments permitted the determination of the molecular nitrogen density and temperature in the altitude range from approximately 143 to 297 km over Wallops Island, Virginia, during January 1971. The MUMP 10 payload included an omegatron mass analyzer, an electron temperature probe (Spencer, Brace, and Carignan, 1962), a cryogenic densitometer, and a solar position sensor. This complement of instruments permitted the determination of the molecular nitrogen density and temperature and the charged particle density and temperature in the altitude range from approximately 145 to 290 km over Wallops Island, Virginia, during the afternoon preceding the MUMP 9 launch in January 1971. A general description of the payload kinematics, orientation analysis, and the technique for the reduction and analysis of the data is given.

Grassl, H. J.↗

Study of low density air transportation concepts

Low density air transport refers to air service to sparsely populated regions. There are two major objectives. The first is to examine those characteristics of sparsely populated areas which pertain to air transportation. This involves determination of geographical, commercial and population trends, as well as those traveler characteristics which affect the viability of air transport in the region. The second objective is to analyze the technical, economic and operational characteristics of low density air service. Two representative, but diverse arenas, West Virginia and Arizona, were selected for analysis: The results indicate that Arizona can support air service under certain assumptions whereas West Virginia cannot.

Webb, H. M.↗

Laboratory and field evaluation of an underwater sand height gage

An underwater sand height gage was investigated. This instrument consisted of two transducers, one screened and one unscreened. Laboratory experimentation included static and dynamic tests with three test sands--fine, medium, and coarse. Field tests were conducted at Rudee Inlet, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Test results showed a linear response to up to 10 inches of sand loading. Deviation observed in identical tests appeared to be due to variation in the density of sand. Density differences reflected varying packing styles which, in turn, were a consequence of grain size and flow regime. Further evaluations of the sand height gage reflect this instrument's potential.

Swift, D. J. P.↗

Atmospheric motion investigation for vapor trails and radio meteors

The dynamics are investigated of the lower thermosphere through comparison of optical observations of motions of ejected vapor trails with radar observations of motions of ionized meteor trails. In particular, the winds obtained from a series of vapor trail observations which occurred at Wallops Island, Virginia during the night of 14-15 December 1970 are to be compared with wind data deduced from radar observations of meteor trails during the same period. The comparison of these data is considered important for two reasons. First, the most widely used methods of measuring winds in the lower thermosphere are the vapor trails and the radar meteors. However, the two techniques differ markedly and the resultant sets of data have been analyzed and presented in different formats. Secondly, and possibly of greater immediate concern is the fact that the radar meteor method appears to be an appropriate approach to the synoptic measurement of winds. During the night of 14-15 December 1970, five vapor trails were ejected from Nike Apache rockets over Wallops Island, Virginia from 2208 EST through 0627 EST. The wind data which were obtained from these trails are presented, and features of the wind profiles which relate to the radar meteor trails results are discussed.

Bedinger, J.↗

Application of remote sensing to study nearshore circulation

Immediate use of drogued buoy tracking was made when the Virginia State Highway Department requested assistance in selecting the best route for a new bridge-tunnel complex across the James River at Newport News. The result was that the Highway Department acted and chose a preferred route from several alternatives. It was also observed that the drogues did not follow the channel as predicted by the James River hydraulic model. This permitted telling the Navy why it is that part of their channel always silts up. The Hampton Roads Sanitation District asked help locate the best route and position of an ocean sewer outfall. Biological activities are focused primarily on delineating biological interaction between the marsh and continental shelf waters on Virginia's Eastern Shore. Information derived is helpful in categorizing the relative biological value of different marsh areas so that meaningful use and management decisions can be made concerning their eventual disposition.

Welch, C. S.↗

Applications of remote sensing to estuarine management

Remote sensing was used in the resolution of estuarine problems facing federal and Virginia governmental agencies. A prototype Elizabeth River Surface Circulation Atlas was produced from photogrammetry to aid in oil spill cleanup and source identification. Aerial photo analysis twice led to selection of alternative plans for dredging and spoil disposal which minimized marsh damage. Marsh loss due to a mud wave from a highway dyke was measured on sequential aerial photographs. An historical aerial photographic sequence gave basis to a potential Commonwealth of Virginia legal claim to accreting and migrating coastal islands.

Munday, J. C., Jr.↗

An evaluation of in situ ozone sensor performance during a cold frontal passage

The capabilities of the electrochemical concentration cell ozonesonde for measuring the vertical profile of atmospheric ozone were studied during a three day experiment at Wallops Island, Virginia, and Norfolk, Virginia. Using ancillary measurements at the surface and the spectrophotometer, it was concluded that the ozonesonde measures the total ozone overburden to within 10% of the real value. By releasing the balloon-borne instruments at a rate of four per day at each of the two sites, an indication was obtained of the temporal and spatial scales of atmospheric ozone variability. No significant effects of a weak cold front passage or of the loss of insolation at night were seen. An isolated incident of anomalously high ozone concentration at the peak of the profile was attributed to sporadic instrument performance effects. The data base currently available is not adequate for determining an exact cause of the anomaly.

Parsons, C. L.↗

Remote monitoring of a thermal plume

A remote-sensing experiment conducted on May 17, 1977, over the Surry nuclear power station on the James River, Virginia is discussed. Isotherms of the thermal plume from the power station were derived from remotely sensed data and compared with in situ water temperature measurements provided by the Virginia Electric and Power Company, VEPCO. The results of this study were also qualitatively compared with those from other previous studies under comparable conditions of the power station's operation and the ambient flow. These studies included hydraulic model predictions carried out by Pritchard and Carpenter and a 5-year in situ monitoring program based on boat surveys.

Kuo, C. Y.↗

Analysis of testbed airborne multispectral scanner data from Superflux II

A test bed aircraft multispectral scanner (TBAMS) was flown during the James Shelf, Plume Scan, and Chesapeake Bay missions as part of the Superflux 2 experiment. Excellent correlations were obtained between water sample measurements of chlorophyll and sediment and TBAMS radiance data. The three-band algorithms used were insensitive to aircraft altitude and varying atmospheric conditions. This was particularly fortunate due to the hazy conditions during most of the experiments. A contour map of sediment, and also chlorophyll, was derived for the Chesapeake Bay plume along the southern Virginia-Carolina coastline. A sediment maximum occurs about 5 nautical miles off the Virginia Beach coast with a chlorophyll maximum slightly shoreward of this. During the James Shelf mission, a thermal anomaly (or front) was encountered about 50 miles from the coast. There was a minor variation in chlorophyll and sediment across the boundary. During the Chesapeake Bay mission, the Sun elevation increased from 50 degrees to over 70 degrees, interfering with the generation of data products.

Bowker, D. E.↗

Mapping of deciduous forest cover using simulated Landsat-D TM data

An evaluation is presented of the supervised vegetation classification images of heavily forested terrain in the eastern US produced from simulated Landsat-D Thematic Mapper data as part of the Joint NASA/Geosat Test Case study of the Lost River, West Virginia, gas field. This investigation utilized data supplied by the NS-001 aircraft multispectral scanner (15 m IFOV) of NASA. The instruments recognized a total of 9 vegetation classes and one soil class. A hybrid parallelepiped-Bayesian maximum likelihood classifier was employed to produce the supervised vegetation classifications. The data were obtained at the height of the fall foliage display for this portion of West Virginia. Results show that both classifications are highly accurate, based on a comparison of assignment of vegetation classes on each of the images with actual ground conditions. It is noted that the anomalous distribution of certain woody species found in the resulting supervised classifications may be related to the microseepage of methane from the gas reservoir.

Rock, B. N.↗

The influence of ground conductivity on the structure of RF radiation from return strokes

The combination of the finite conductivity of the Earth plus the propagation of the return stroke current up the channel which results in an apparent time delay between the fast field changes and RF radiation for distant observers is shown. The time delay predicted from model return strokes is on the order of 20 micro and the received signal has the characteristics of the data observed in Virginia and Florida. A piecewise linear model for the return stroke channel and a transmission line model for current propagation on each segment was used. Radiation from each segment is calculated over a flat Earth with finite conductivity using asymptotics approximations for the Sommerfeld integrals. The radiation at the observer is processed by a model AM radio receiver. The output voltage was calculated for several frequencies between HF-UHF assuming a system bandwidth (300 kHz) characteristic of the system used to collect data in Florida and Virginia. Comparison with the theoretical fast field changes indicates a time delay of 20 microns.

Levine, D. M.↗

Simultaneous field measurements of biogenic emissions of nitric oxide and nitrous oxide

Seasonal and diurnal emissions of NO and N2O from agricultural sites in Jamestown, Virginia and Boulder, Colorado are estimated in terms of soil temperature; percent moisture; and exchangeable nitrate, nitrite, and ammonium concentrations. The techniques and procedures used to analyze the soil parameters are described. The spatial and temporal variability of the NO and N2O emissions is studied. A correlation between NO fluxes in the Virginia sample and nitrate concentration, temperature, and percent moisture is detected, and NO fluxes for the Colorado site correspond with temperature and moisture. It is observed that the N2O emissions are only present when percent moisture approaches or exceeds the field capacity of the soil. The data suggest that NO is produced primarily by nitrification in aerobic soils, and N2O is formed by denitrification in anaerobic soils.

Anderson, Iris Cofman↗

Aviation Safety/Automation Program Conference

The Aviation Safety/Automation Program Conference - 1989 was sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center on 11 to 12 October 1989. The conference, held at the Sheraton Beach Inn and Conference Center, Virginia Beach, Virginia, was chaired by Samuel A. Morello. The primary objective of the conference was to ensure effective communication and technology transfer by providing a forum for technical interchange of current operational problems and program results to date. The Aviation Safety/Automation Program has as its primary goal to improve the safety of the national airspace system through the development and integration of human-centered automation technologies for aircraft crews and air traffic controllers.

Morello, Samuel A.↗

Olympus propagation studies in the US: Propagation terminal hardware and experiments

Virginia Tech is performing a comprehensive set of propagation measurements using the Olympus satellite beacons at 12.5, 20, and 30 GHz. These data will be used to characterize propagation conditions on small earth terminal (VSAT)-type networks for next generation small aperture Ka-band systems. The European Space Agency (ESA) satellite Olympus was launched July 12, 1989. The spacecraft contains a sophisticated package of propagation beacons operating at 12.5, 19.77, and 29.66 GHz (referred to as 12.5, 20, and 30 beacons). These beacons cover the east coast of the United States with sufficient power for attenuation measurements. The Virginia Satellite Communications Group is completing the hardware construction phase and will begin formal data collection in June.

Stutzmzn, Warren L.↗

Report of the workshop on Aviation Safety/Automation Program

As part of NASA's responsibility to encourage and facilitate active exchange of information and ideas among members of the aviation community, an Aviation Safety/Automation workshop was organized and sponsored by the Flight Management Division of NASA Langley Research Center. The one-day workshop was held on October 10, 1989, at the Sheraton Beach Inn and Conference Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Participants were invited from industry, government, and universities to discuss critical questions and issues concerning the rapid introduction and utilization of advanced computer-based technology into the flight deck and air traffic controller workstation environments. The workshop was attended by approximately 30 discipline experts, automation and human factors researchers, and research and development managers. The goal of the workshop was to address major issues identified by the NASA Aviation Safety/Automation Program. Here, the results of the workshop are documented. The ideas, thoughts, and concepts were developed by the workshop participants. The findings, however, have been synthesized into a final report primarily by the NASA researchers.

Morello, Samuel A.↗

An electrically scanned thinned array radiometer for Earth remote sensing

Interferometric aperture synthesis is being investigated as an alternative to real aperture measurements of the brightness temperature of the earth from low earth orbit. Aperture synthesis allows for the realization of space borne microwave systems with attractive spatial resolution characteristics. Radio astronomers have performed aperture synthesis by cross-correlating spatially separated antenna element pairs for some time. The application of this technique to the observation of a distributed source, as opposed to a point source in radio astronomy, presents a novel and challenging application of aperture synthesis. The demonstration of this geophysical application of aperture synthesis was carried out by constructing and flight testing a phototype instrument, the Electrically Scanned Thinned Array Radiometer (ESTAR). The subsequent data analysis and image reconstruction yielded an image of the eastern shore of Virginia. In the past year, more data of the same region were taken and analyzed, as well as for other regions of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maine. Improvements were made in the image reconstruction technique and in the system electronics for the current and upcoming instruments (ESTAR00 and ESTAR0, respectively), particularly in terms of calibration instrumentation and techniques.

Griffis, Andrew J.↗