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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.

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At least 253 records · Page 14

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NASA NTRS1989

An optimal recursive filter for the attitude determination of the Spacelab instrument pointing subsystem

The instrument pointing subsystem (IPS) is a three-axis stabilized platform developed to point various astronomical observation instruments aboard NASA's Shuttle. In order to compensate for system drifts and attitude errors, the IPS utilizes a linearized Kalman filter (LKF) with precomputed gains. Since the a priori gains are generated for an expected system configuration, any system variations result in a suboptimal estimation process. The performance of two real-time estimation filters is compared with that of the current LKF implementation. It is shown that a real-time estimation filter that reduces sensitivity to system variations and preflight computations is feasible.

West, Mark E.↗

DOE OSTI2022

m-CUBES An efficient and portable implementation of multi-dimensional integration for gpus

The task of multi-dimensional numerical integration is frequently encountered in physics and other scientific fields, e.g., in modeling the effects of systematic uncertainties in physical systems and in Bayesian parameter estimation. Multi-dimensional integration is often time-prohibitive on CPUs. Efficient implementation on many-core architectures is challenging as the workload across the integration space cannot be predicted a priori. We propose m-Cubes, a novel implementation of the well-known Vegas algorithm for execution on GPUs. Vegas transforms integration variables followed by calculation of a Monte Carlo integral estimate using adaptive partitioning of the resulting space. m-Cubes improves performance on GPUs by maintaining relatively uniform workload across the processors. As a result, our optimized Cuda implementation for Nvidia GPUs outperforms parallelization approaches proposed in past literature. We further demonstrate the efficiency of m-Cubes by evaluating a six-dimensional integral from a cosmology application, achieving significant speedup and greater precision than the CUBA library's CPU implementation of VEGAS. We also evaluate m-Cubes on a standard integrand test suite. m-Cubes outperforms the serial implementations of the Cuba and GSL libraries by orders of magnitude speedup while maintaining comparable accuracy. Our approach yields a speedup of at least 10 when compared against publicly available Monte Carlo based GPU implementations. In summary, m-Cubes can solve integrals that are prohibitively expensive using standard libraries and custom implementations. A modern C++ interface header-only implementation makes m-Cubes portable, allowing its utilization in complicated pipelines with easy to define stateful integrals. Compatibility with non-Nvidia GPUs is achieved with our initial implementation of m-Cubes using the Kokkos framework.

Sakiotis, Ioannis↗

NASA NTRS2016

Snow Process Estimation Over the Extratropical Andes Using a Data Assimilation Framework Integrating MERRA Data and Landsat Imagery

A data assimilation framework was implemented with the objective of obtaining high resolution retrospective snow water equivalent (SWE) estimates over several Andean study basins. The framework integrates Landsat fractional snow covered area (fSCA) images, a land surface and snow depletion model, and the Modern Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) reanalysis as a forcing data set. The outputs are SWE and fSCA fields (1985-2015) at a resolution of 90 m that are consistent with the observed depletion record. Verification using in-situ snow surveys showed significant improvements in the accuracy of the SWE estimates relative to forward model estimates, with increases in correlation (0.49-0.87) and reductions in root mean square error (0.316 m to 0.129 m) and mean error (-0.221 m to 0.009 m). A sensitivity analysis showed that the framework is robust to variations in physiography, fSCA data availability and a priori precipitation biases. Results from the application to the headwater basin of the Aconcagua River showed how the forward model versus the fSCA-conditioned estimate resulted in different quantifications of the relationship between runoff and SWE, and different correlation patterns between pixel-wise SWE and ENSO. The illustrative results confirm the influence that ENSO has on snow accumulation for Andean basins draining into the Pacific, with ENSO explaining approximately 25% of the variability in near-peak (1 September) SWE values. Our results show how the assimilation of fSCA data results in a significant improvement upon MERRA-forced modeled SWE estimates, further increasing the utility of the MERRA data for high-resolution snow modeling applications.

SWE↗

NASA NTRS1995

Precession and nutation from joint analysis of radio interferometric and lunar laser ranging observations

24 years of Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) observations and 16 years of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations are combined in a global analysis to yield improved estimates of the Earth's precession and nutation. The correction to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) (1976) precession constant inferred from this joint VLBI/LLR analysis is -3.00 +/- 0.20 milliarcsec/yr (mas/yr). A significant obliquity rate correction of -0.20 +/- 0.08 mas/yr is also found. In all, 32 forced nutation coefficients are estimated. These coefficients confirm that the IAU (1980) nutation theory is in error by several mas. The estimated nutation coeficients are found to vary by as much as several tenths of mas, depending on the a priori nutation model used to analyze the VLBI and LLR data. Forced circular nutations derived from this analysis agree with the ZMOA-1990-2 nutation theory at the 0.2 mas level for the 18.6 yr terms, and at the 0.05 mas level for the other terms (periods less than or = 1 yr). A retrograde free core nutation with an amplitude of 0.20 mas is also detected. Its phase is found to be very sensitive to the precise value of the free core nutation period used in the solution. Separate analyses of four independent subsets of the LVBI data indicate no significant variations of the free core nutation since 1988. The pre-1988 estimates of the free core nutation are consistent with the post-1988 estimates but are not accurate enough to rule out possible variations of the free core nutation at these earlier epochs.

Charlot, P.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Evaluation and Application of Satellite-Based Latent Heating Profile Estimation Methods

In recent years, methods for estimating atmospheric latent heating vertical structure from both passive and active microwave remote sensing have matured to the point where quantitative evaluation of these methods is the next logical step. Two approaches for heating algorithm evaluation are proposed: First, application of heating algorithms to synthetic data, based upon cloud-resolving model simulations, can be used to test the internal consistency of heating estimates in the absence of systematic errors in physical assumptions. Second, comparisons of satellite-retrieved vertical heating structures to independent ground-based estimates, such as rawinsonde-derived analyses of heating, provide an additional test. The two approaches are complementary, since systematic errors in heating indicated by the second approach may be confirmed by the first. A passive microwave and combined passive/active microwave heating retrieval algorithm are evaluated using the described approaches. In general, the passive microwave algorithm heating profile estimates are subject to biases due to the limited vertical heating structure information contained in the passive microwave observations. These biases may be partly overcome by including more environment-specific a priori information into the algorithm s database of candidate solution profiles. The combined passive/active microwave algorithm utilizes the much higher-resolution vertical structure information provided by spaceborne radar data to produce less biased estimates; however, the global spatio-temporal sampling by spaceborne radar is limited. In the present study, the passive/active microwave algorithm is used to construct a more physically-consistent and environment-specific set of candidate solution profiles for the passive microwave algorithm and to help evaluate errors in the passive algorithm s heating estimates. Although satellite estimates of latent heating are based upon instantaneous, footprint- scale data, suppression of random errors requires averaging to at least half-degree resolution. Analysis of mesoscale and larger space-time scale phenomena based upon passive and passive/active microwave heating estimates from TRMM, SSMI, and AMSR data will be presented at the conference.

Olson, William S.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Differential surface models for tactile perception of shape and on-line tracking of features

Tactile perception of shape involves an on-line controller and a shape perceptor. The purpose of the on-line controller is to maintain gliding or rolling contact with the surface, and collect information, or track specific features of the surface such as edges of a certain sharpness. The shape perceptor uses the information to perceive, estimate the parameters of, or recognize the shape. The differential surface model depends on the information collected and on the a priori information known about the robot and its physical parameters. These differential models are certain functionals that are projections of the dynamics of the robot onto the surface gradient or onto the tangent plane. A number of differential properties may be directly measured from present day tactile sensors. Others may have to be indirectly computed from measurements. Others may constitute design objectives for distributed tactile sensors of the future. A parameterization of the surface leads to linear and nonlinear sequential parameter estimation techniques for identification of the surface. Many interesting compromises between measurement and computation are possible.

Hemami, H.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Propagating information content: an example with advection

The mathematical algorithm to derive geophysical information from remote sensing observations is called a retrieval. The mathematics of many retrieval problems are ill-posed, and thus a priori information is used to help constrain the derived geophysical variable to realistic values. One quantity of interest, therefore, is the information content of the observation. Perfect information content in the observation would be achieved if the retrieval were able to capture any perturbation in the desired geophysical variable with the proper magnitude. Many new data products can be derived by combining geophysical variables retrieved from multiple different remote sensors. This paper explores, for the first time, how to derive the information content of these derived products. The approach uses traditional error propagation techniques to derive the uncertainty of the derived field twice, both when the observations are used in the retrieval and also when only the a priori information from each remote sensor is propagated. These two uncertainties are then used to provide an estimate of the information content of the derived geophysical variable. This study demonstrates how to propagate the uncertainties from six different instruments to provide the information content for water vapor and temperature advection. A multi-month analysis demonstrates that, in a mean sense, the information content for temperature advection is nearly unity for all heights below 700 m while, the information content for water vapor advection is somewhat more variable but still larger than 0.6 in the convective boundary layer.

Turner, David D. [National Oceanic and Atmospheric↗

NASA NTRS1992

Clustering of tethered satellite system simulation data by an adaptive neuro-fuzzy algorithm

Recent developments in neuro-fuzzy systems indicate that the concepts of adaptive pattern recognition, when used to identify appropriate control actions corresponding to clusters of patterns representing system states in dynamic nonlinear control systems, may result in innovative designs. A modular, unsupervised neural network architecture, in which fuzzy learning rules have been embedded is used for on-line identification of similar states. The architecture and control rules involved in Adaptive Fuzzy Leader Clustering (AFLC) allow this system to be incorporated in control systems for identification of system states corresponding to specific control actions. We have used this algorithm to cluster the simulation data of Tethered Satellite System (TSS) to estimate the range of delta voltages necessary to maintain the desired length rate of the tether. The AFLC algorithm is capable of on-line estimation of the appropriate control voltages from the corresponding length error and length rate error without a priori knowledge of their membership functions and familarity with the behavior of the Tethered Satellite System.

Mitra, Sunanda↗

NASA NTRS2000

A Comprehensive Model of the Near-Earth Magnetic Field

The near-Earth magnetic field is due to sources in Earth's core, ionosphere, magnetosphere, lithosphere, and from coupling currents between ionosphere and magnetosphere and between hemispheres. Traditionally, the main field (low degree internal field) and magnetospheric field have been modeled simultaneously, and fields from other sources modeled separately. Such a scheme, however, can introduce spurious features. A new model, designated CMP3 (Comprehensive Model: Phase 3), has been derived from quiet-time Magsat and POGO satellite measurements and observatory hourly and annual means measurements as part of an effort to coestimate fields from all of these sources. This model represents a significant advancement in the treatment of the aforementioned field sources over previous attempts, and includes an accounting for main field influences on the magnetosphere, main field and solar activity influences on the ionosphere, seasonal influences on the coupling currents, a priori characterization of ionospheric and magnetospheric influence on Earth-induced fields, and an explicit parameterization and estimation of the lithospheric field. The result of this effort is a model whose fits to the data are generally superior to previous models and whose parameter states for the various constituent sources are very reasonable.

Sabaka, Terence J.↗

DOE OSTI2020

Learning reference governor for cycle-to-cycle combustion control with misfire avoidance in spark-ignition engines at high exhaust gas recirculation–diluted conditions

Cycle-to-cycle feedback control is employed to achieve optimal combustion phasing while maintaining high levels of exhaust gas recirculation by adjusting the spark advance and the exhaust gas recirculation valve position. The control development is based on a control-oriented model that captures the effects of throttle position, exhaust gas recirculation valve position, and spark timing on the combustion phasing. Under the assumption that in-cylinder pressure information is available, an adaptive extended Kalman filter approach is used to estimate the exhaust gas recirculation rate into the intake manifold based on combustion phasing measurements. The estimation algorithm is adaptive since the cycle-to-cycle combustion variability (output covariance) is not known a priori and changes with operating conditions. A linear quadratic regulator controller is designed to maintain optimal combustion phasing while maximizing exhaust gas recirculation levels during load transients coming from throttle tip-in and tip-out commands from the driver. During throttle tip-outs, however, a combination of a high exhaust gas recirculation rate and an overly advanced spark, product of the dynamic response of the system, generates a sequence of misfire events. In this work, an explicit reference governor is used as an add-on scheme to the closed-loop system in order to avoid the violation of the misfire limit. The reference governor is enhanced with model-free learning which enables it to avoid misfires after a learning phase. Experimental results are reported which illustrate the potential of the proposed control strategy for achieving an optimal combustion process during highly diluted conditions for improving fuel efficiency.

42 ENGINEERING↗

NASA NTRS2017

Imaging a Free-Geometry Magma Reservoir Using FEM-Based Linear Inverse Modeling of InSAR Data: Application to Rabaul Caldera, Papua New Guinea

We test an innovative inversion scheme using Green’s functions from an array of pressure sources embedded in finite-element method (FEM) models to image, without assuming an a-priori geometry, the composite and complex shape of a volcano deformation source. We invert interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data to estimate the pressurization and shape of the magma reservoir of Rabaul caldera, Papua New Guinea. The results image the extended shallow magmatic system responsible for a broad and long-term subsidence of the caldera between 2007 February and 2010 December. Elastic FEM solutions are integrated into the regularized linear inversion of InSAR data of volcano surface displacements in order to obtain a 3-D image of the source of deformation. The Green’s function matrix is constructed from a library of forward line-of-sight displacement solutions for a grid of cubic elementary deformation sources. Each source is sequentially generated by removing the corresponding cubic elements from a common meshed domain and simulating the injection of a fluid mass flux into the cavity, which results in a pressurization and volumetric change of the fluidfilled cavity. The use of a single mesh for the generation of all FEM models avoids the computationally expensive process of non-linear inversion and remeshing a variable geometry domain. Without assuming an a-priori source geometry other than the configuration of the 3-D grid that generates the library of Green’s functions, the geodetic data dictate the geometry of the magma reservoir as a 3-D distribution of pressure (or flux of magma) within the source array. The inversion of InSAR data of Rabaul caldera shows a distribution of interconnected sources forming an amorphous, shallow magmatic system elongated under two opposite sides of the caldera. The marginal areas at the sides of the imaged magmatic system are the possible feeding reservoirs of the ongoing Tavurvur volcano eruption of andesitic products on the east side and of the past Vulcan volcano eruptions of more evolved materials on the west side. The interconnection and spatial distributions of sources correspond to the petrography of the volcanic products described in the literature and to the dynamics of the single and twin eruptions that characterize the caldera. The ability to image the complex geometry of deformation sources in both space and time can improve our ability to monitor active volcanoes, widen our understanding of the dynamics of active volcanic systems and improve the predictions of eruptions.

Inverse theory↗

NASA NTRS2017

Imaging the Complex Geometry of a Magma Reservoir Using Fem-Based Linear Inverse Modeling of InSAR Data: Application to Rabaul Caldera, Papua New Guinea

We test an innovative inversion scheme using Green’s functions from an array of pressure sources embedded in finite-element method (FEM) models to image, without assuming an a-priori geometry, the composite and complex shape of a volcano deformation source. We invert interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data to estimate the pressurization and shape of the magma reservoir of Rabaul caldera, Papua New Guinea. The results image the extended shallow magmatic system responsible for a broad and long-term subsidence of the caldera between 2007 February and 2010 December. Elastic FEM solutions are integrated into the regularized linear inversion of InSAR data of volcano surface displacements in order to obtain a 3-D image of the source of deformation. The Green’s function matrix is constructed from a library of forward line-of-sight displacement solutions for a grid of cubic elementary deformation sources. Each source is sequentially generated by removing the corresponding cubic elements from a common meshed domain and simulating the injection of a fluid mass flux into the cavity, which results in a pressurization and volumetric change of the fluid-filled cavity. The use of a single mesh for the generation of all FEM models avoids the computationally expensive process of non-linear inversion and remeshing a variable geometry domain. Without assuming an a-priori source geometry other than the configuration of the 3-D grid that generates the library of Green’s functions, the geodetic data dictate the geometry of the magma reservoir as a 3-D distribution of pressure (or flux of magma) within the source array. The inversion of InSAR data of Rabaul caldera shows a distribution of interconnected sources forming an amorphous, shallow magmatic system elongated under two opposite sides of the caldera. The marginal areas at the sides of the imaged magmatic system are the possible feeding reservoirs of the ongoing Tavurvur volcano eruption of andesitic products on the east side and of the past Vulcan volcano eruptions of more evolved materials on the west side. The interconnection and spatial distributions of sources correspond to the petrography of the volcanic products described in the literature and to the dynamics of the single and twin eruptions that characterize the caldera. The ability to image the complex geometry of deformation sources in both space and time can improve our ability to monitor active volcanoes, widen our understanding of the dynamics of active volcanic systems and improve the predictions of eruptions.

Inverse theory↗

NASA NTRS1993

Estimation of solar backscatter ultraviolet albedo using ground-based Umkehr measurements

A retrieval method was developed to estimate the solar backscatter ultraviolet (SBUV) satellite albedo for the ozone profiler wavelengths using ground-based ultraviolet measurements. For the present investigation the Umkehr was used as the ground-based ultraviolet measurement. Simulated SBUV data and Umkehr data theoretically computed from a priori ozone profiles observed by the SAGE II satellite were used to develop the retrieval algorithm and to test its capability. The test indicated that albedos for the SBUV ozone profiler wavelengths should allow estimates to a precision of +/- 5 percent or better, depending on the accuracy of the ultraviolet measurement. Retrievals using actual Umkehr observations were also performed to provide a preliminary look at the magnitude and annual variation of retrieved albedos. A case study was performed, comparing retrieved albedos with SBUV-measured albedos. The SBUV albedo change was seen to be approximately twice as large as the albedo changes estimated by the Umkehr method. Results of the investigation suggest that the method of estimation may be useful for determining the drift rate of the SBUV calibration.

Deluisi, John J.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Orbit/attitude estimation with LANDSAT Landmark data

The use of LANDSAT landmark data for orbit/attitude and camera bias estimation was studied. The preliminary results of these investigations are presented. The Goddard Trajectory Determination System (GTDS) error analysis capability was used to perform error analysis studies. A number of questions were addressed including parameter observability and sensitivity, effects on the solve-for parameter errors of data span, density, and distribution an a priori covariance weighting. The use of the GTDS differential correction capability with acutal landmark data was examined. The rms line and element observation residuals were studied as a function of the solve-for parameter set, a priori covariance weighting, force model, attitude model and data characteristics. Sample results are presented. Finally, verfication and preliminary system evaluation of the LANDSAT NAVPAK system for sequential (extended Kalman Filter) estimation of orbit, and camera bias parameters is given.

Hall, D. L.↗

NASA NTRS1972

Decision-directed adaptive recursive estimators - Divergence prevention.

A method is proposed for dealing with the divergence phenomenon problem encountered in applications of minimum-variance recursive estimators when the error covariance calculated by the estimator becomes inconsistent with the actual error covariance. The proposed method differs from previous ones in that the state model and statistics are accepted as given. The form of the optimal estimator is used, but a constant check is made on the consistency of the calculated and actual error covariances. The method is independent of the source of error, whether it be inaccuracies in the system model, incorrect values of the a priori and random process statistics, approximations required in the case of nonlinear systems, or computational roundoff. Several simulated examples, in which inconsistencies in the calculated and actual error covariances exist, show a significant improvement in the performance of the estimator when the given procedure is applied.

Nahi, N. E.↗

NASA NTRS1974

Station coordinates for GEOS-C altimeter calibration and experimentation

Station coordinates are given for the C-band radar GEOS-C altimeter calibration sites at Bermuda, Merritt, Grand Turk, and Wallops Islands. The coordinates were estimated in a multi-arc dynamic solution using GEOS-2 C-band radar and laser ranges with a priori information from the GSFC-1973 station coordinate solution. Comparisons with other solutions suggest a relative uncertainty of a few meters in each coordinate. Data reductions show that station coordinates of this quality can introduce a rapidly changing error into the altitude of a satellite whose orbit is determined from calibration area data alone. In contrast, global tracking constrains the orbit and results in slowly varying satellite position error.

Marsh, J. G.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Rapid Prediction of Installed Jet Noise from RANS

A new method of computing jet noise, called mSrc, was developed on the general principles of acoustic analogies. In the method, the problem of translating turbulent flow energy into acoustic energy at a far-field observer is broken into two parts, a calculation of acoustic source strengths and then their propagation. The acoustic sources are related to turbulent quantities in the jet plume in a robust manner. The propagation, which is more properly computed using a Green's function accounting for nonuniform speed of sound and solid surfaces, is instead modeled using commonly observed features of jet acoustic far field directivity, and by diffraction barrier theory for surfaces. The mSrc method does not require gradients of the predicted flow field, allowing it to make use of robust unstructured RANS CFD methods, including embedded boundary codes. Such codes do not require specification of surface meshes, and auto-refine their grid to resolve flow gradients, putting resolution where it is required without a priori user input. The ability of mSrc to use such radically unstructured flow input results in an efficient method of estimating noise from jet flows from complex nozzles installed on aircraft. Many validation cases are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and range of applicability of the mSrc method for representative jet noise applications.

Bridges, James↗

NASA NTRS2019

Rapid Prediction of Installed Jet Noise From RANS

Bridges, James↗