Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “SOUND RANGING”

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 289 records · Page 16

Empirical Models of the Plasma Density in the Inner Magnetosphere

The radio plasma imager (RPI) on the IMAGE satellite performs radio sounding in the magnetosphere, transmitting coded signals stepping through the frequency range of interest and receiving the returned echoes. The measurements provide the echo amplitude as a function of frequency and echo delay time on a so-called plasmagram. A newly developed algorithm inverts THE echo traces on a plasmagram to electron density spatial distributions. Rased on these observed density distributions, an empirical model is constructed to describe the two-dimensional density distribution in the inner magnetosphere.

Huang, X.↗

Modular Engine Noise Component Prediction System (MCP) Program Users' Guide

This is a user's manual for Modular Engine Noise Component Prediction System (MCP). This computer code allows the user to predict turbofan engine noise estimates. The program is based on an empirical procedure that has evolved over many years at The Boeing Company. The data used to develop the procedure include both full-scale engine data and small-scale model data, and include testing done by Boeing, by the engine manufacturers, and by NASA. In order to generate a noise estimate, the user specifies the appropriate engine properties (including both geometry and performance parameters), the microphone locations, the atmospheric conditions, and certain data processing options. The version of the program described here allows the user to predict three components: inlet-radiated fan noise, aft-radiated fan noise, and jet noise. MCP predicts one-third octave band noise levels over the frequency range of 50 to 10,000 Hertz. It also calculates overall sound pressure levels and certain subjective noise metrics (e.g., perceived noise levels).

Golub, Robert A.↗

Investigation of Aperiodic Time Processes with Autocorrelation and Fourier Analysis

Autocorrelation and frequency analyses of a series of aperiodic time events, in particular, filtered noises and sibilant sounds, were made. The position and band width of the frequency ranges are best obtained from the frequency analysis, but the energies contained in the several bands are most easily obtained from the autocorrelation function. The mean number of zero crossings of the time function was determined from the curvature of the latter function in the vicinity of the zero crossing, and also with the aid of a decimal counter. The second method was found to be more exact.

Exner, Marie Luise↗

Aeroacoustic Evaluation of Flap and Landing Gear Noise Reduction Concepts

Aeroacoustic measurements for a semi-span, 18% scale, high-fidelity Gulfstream aircraft model are presented. The model was used as a test bed to conduct detailed studies of flap and main landing gear noise sources and to determine the effectiveness of numerous noise mitigation concepts. Using a traversing microphone array in the flyover direction, an extensive set of acoustic data was obtained in the NASA Langley Research Center 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel with the facility in the acoustically treated open-wall (jet) mode. Most of the information was acquired with the model in a landing configuration with the flap deflected 39 deg and the main landing gear alternately installed and removed. Data were obtained at Mach numbers of 0.16, 0.20, and 0.24 over directivity angles between 56 deg and 116 deg, with 90 deg representing the overhead direction. Measured acoustic spectra showed that several of the tested flap noise reduction concepts decrease the sound pressure levels by 2 - 4 dB over the entire frequency range at all directivity angles. Slightly lower levels of noise reduction from the main landing gear were obtained through the simultaneous application of various gear devices. Measured aerodynamic forces indicated that the tested gear/flap noise abatement technologies have a negligible impact on the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft model.

Khorrami, Mehdi R.↗

Acoustic Liner Drag: Further Measurements on Novel Facesheet Perforate Geometries

Over the past several years, the NASA Langley Liner Physics Team has worked to develop methods capable of characterizing the aerodynamic drag of acoustic liners in addition to their acoustic performance. For a given liner, one can compute its resistance factor, λ, based on static pressure drop measurements. The current study details experiments in the NASA Langley Grazing Flow Impedance Tube to quantify the relative drag of several perforate-over-honeycomb liner configurations at flow speeds of Mach 0.3 and 0.5. The liner facesheets incorporate novel perforate geometries rather than the conventional, round hole designs typically used. Measurements of the resistance factor for each liner are made with and without acoustic excitation. A tonal acoustic source is used at sound pressure levels of 140 and 150 dB over a frequency range of 400 to 3000 Hz when performing acoustic measurements. Educed impedance spectra are calculated to determine the impact of variations in perforate geometry on acoustic performance and the relationship between acoustic and drag performance.

Howerton, Brian M.↗

Acoustic Improvements to the 9- by 15-Foot Low Speed Wind Tunnel

A major refurbishment of the 9- by 15-Foot Low Speed Wind Tunnel at NASA Glenn Research Center was undertaken between 2016 and 2019 to improve the acoustic measurement capability of the facility. The principal objective was to lower the background noise in the test section so quiet aircraft propulsors could be tested with good signal-to-noise ratio. The secondary objective was to improve the anechoic quality of the facility so that the measurement uncertainty would be reduced and the data collected would be more accurate. The results of the project were a vastly improved anechoic wind tunnel, with one-third octave sound levels reduced by 8 to 18 dB in the frequency range of interest. The anechoic quality of the test section was improved substantially, reducing the effect of unwanted echoes contaminating the noise measurements, with the error in an impulse response measurement reduced from 0.8 dB to 0.2 dB. This report describes the main acoustic findings and is intended to provide guidance for other facilities requiring a low noise environment

Wind tunnel↗

High-Altitude MMIC Sounding Radiometer for the Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Microwave imaging radiometers operating in the 50-183 GHz range for retrieving atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles from airborne platforms have been limited in the spatial scales of atmospheric structures that are resolved not because of antenna aperture size, but because of high receiver noise masking the small variations that occur on small spatial scales. Atmospheric variability on short spatial and temporal scales (second/ km scale) is completely unresolved by existing microwave profilers. The solution was to integrate JPL-designed, high-frequency, low-noise-amplifier (LNA) technology into the High-Altitude MMIC Sounding Radiometer (HAMSR), which is an airborne microwave sounding radiometer, to lower the system noise by an order of magnitude to enable the instrument to resolve atmospheric variability on small spatial and temporal scales. HAMSR has eight sounding channels near the 60-GHz oxygen line complex, ten channels near the 118.75-GHz oxygen line, and seven channels near the 183.31-GHz water vapor line. The HAMSR receiver system consists of three heterodyne spectrometers covering the three bands. The antenna system consists of two back-to-back reflectors that rotate together at a programmable scan rate via a stepper motor. A single full rotation includes the swath below the aircraft followed by observations of ambient (roughly 0 C in flight) and heated (70 C) blackbody calibration targets located at the top of the rotation. A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is used to read the digitized radiometer counts and receive the reflector position from the scan motor encoder, which are then sent to a microprocessor and packed into data files. The microprocessor additionally reads telemetry data from 40 onboard housekeeping channels (containing instrument temperatures), and receives packets from an onboard navigation unit, which provides GPS time and position as well as independent attitude information (e.g., heading, roll, pitch, and yaw). The raw data files are accessed through an Ethernet port. The HAMSR data rate is relatively low at 75 kbps, allowing for real-time access over the Global Hawk high-data-rate downlink. Once on the ground, the raw data are unpacked and processed through two levels of processing. The Level 1 product contains geo-located, time-stamped, calibrated brightness temperatures for the Earth scan. These data are then input to a lD variational retrieval algorithm to produce temperature, water vapor, and cloud liquid water profiles, as well as several derived products such as potential temperature and relative humidity.

Brown, Shannon T.↗

Acoustic propagation in a thermally stratified atmosphere

This report describes the activities during the fifth six month period of the investigation of acoustic propagation in the atmosphere with a realistic temperature profile. Progress has been achieved in two major directions: comparisons between the lapse model and experimental data taken by NASA during the second tower experiment, and development of a model propagation in an inversion. Data from the second tower experiment became available near the end of 1984 and some comparisons have been carried out, but this work is not complete. Problems with the temperature profiler during the experiment have produced temperature profiles that are difficult to fit the assumed variation of temperature with height, but in cases where reasonable fits have been obtained agreement between the model and the experiments are close. The major weaknesses in the model appear to be the presence of discontinuities in some regions, the low sound levels predicted near the source height, and difficulties with the argument of the Hankel function being outside the allowable range. Work on the inversion model has progressed slowly, and the rays for that case are discussed along with a simple energy conservation model of sound level enhancement in the inversion case.

Vanmoorhem, W. K.↗

NACA Conference on Aerodynamic Problems of Transonic Airplane Design

During the past several years it has been necessary for aeronautical research workers to exert a good portion of their effort in developing the means for conducting research in the high-speed range. The transonic range particularly has presented a very acute problem because of the choking phenomena in wind tunnels at speeds close to the speed of sound. At the same time, the multiplicity of design problems for aircraft introduced by the peculiar flow problems of the transonic speed range has given rise to an enormous demand for detail design data. Substantial progress has been made, however, in developing the required research techniques and in supplying the demand for aerodynamic data required for design purposes. In meeting this demand, it has been necessary to resort to new techniques possessing such novel features that the results obtained have had to be viewed with caution. Furthermore, the kinds of measurements possible with these various techniques are so varied that the correlation of results obtained by different techniques generally becomes an indirect process that can only be accomplished in conjunction with the application of estimates of the extent to which the results of measurements by any given technique are modified by differences that are inherent in the techniques. Thus, in the establishment of the validity and applicability of data obtained by any given technique, direct comparisons between data from different sources are a supplement to but not a substitute for the detailed knowledge required of the characteristics of each technique and fundamental aerodynamic flow phenomena.

Source record↗

Investigation of acoustic properties of a rigid foam with application to noise reduction in light aircraft

A analytic model of sound transmission into an aircraft cabin was developed as well as test procedures which appropriately rank order properties which affect sound transmission. The proposed model agrees well with available data, and reveals that the pertinent properties of an aircraft cabin for sound transmission include: stiffness of cabin walls at low frequencies (as this reflects on impedance of the walls) and cabin wall transmission loss and interior absorption at mid and high frequencies. Below 315 Hz the foam contributes substantially to wall stiffness and sound transmission loss of typical light aircraft cabin construction, and could potentially reduce cabin noise levels by 3-5 db in this frequency range at a cost of about 0:2 lb/sq. ft. of treated cabin area. The foam was found not to have significant sound absorbing properties.

Holmer, C. I.↗

Remote Sensing of the Ionosphere and Plasmasphere from Space Using Radiowaves

Topics include the scientific context, trans-ionospheric and sounding, small-scale structure, plasmasphere, fast and slow tomography, and pseudo-imaging. Individual slides focus on where geospace science stands today, variability in inner magnetosphere electric fields, Appleton-Hartree formula, phase and range ionospheric observables, examples of leveling, large ionization changes during storms, new mid-latitude phenomena, ionospheric sounding, COSMIC CERTO/Tri-band beacon, LEO-ground radio tomography, irregularity measurements, COSMIC, critical sensor data from COSMIC GPS limb sounding, occultation geometry, comparison of calibrated slant TEC measurements for 26 June 2006, historic examples of Abel electron density profiles, comparison of UCAR and JPL Able profiles of 26 June 2006, validating UCAR and JPL Abel profiles using Arecibo ISR measurements for 26 June 2006, E-region from GPS/MET 1995, Abel versus gradient assisted retrieval, 3000 profiles/day, plasmasphere, JASON TEC above satellite, GPS equatorial plasmasphere measurements, April 2002 geomagnetic storm, and space-based GPS tomography.

ionosphere↗

Atmospheric sounding with passive microwaves: Review and prognosis

Global maps of temperature profiles from 0 to 20 km altitude and of total water vapor and liquid water over the ocean were obtained from satellite-borne microwave spectrometers. Future satellites will extend the altitude range above 100 km and permit monitoring of H2O, O3, CO, N2O, and other trace constituents. Operational microwave temperature sounding spectrometers are scheduled for launch on both military and civilian U.S. satellites, and future improvements can be expected.

Staelin, D. H.↗

Atmospheric sounding with passive microwaves - Review and prognosis

Global maps of temperature profiles 0-20 km and of total water vapor and liquid water over ocean have been obtained from satellite-borne microwave spectrometers. Future satellites should extend the altitude range above 100 km and permit monitoring of H2O, O3, CO, N2O, and other trace constituents. Operational microwave temperature-sounding spectrometers are scheduled for launch on both military and civilian U.S. satellites, and future improvements can be expected.

Staelin, D. H.↗

Direct Signal-to-Noise Quality Comparison between an Electronic and Conventional Stethoscope aboard the International Space Station

Introduction: Evaluation of heart, lung, and bowel sounds is routinely performed with the use of a stethoscope to help detect a broad range of medical conditions. Stethoscope acquired information is even more valuable in a resource limited environments such as the International Space Station (ISS) where additional testing is not available. The high ambient noise level aboard the ISS poses a specific challenge to auscultation by stethoscope. An electronic stethoscope's ambient noise‐reduction, greater sound amplification, recording capabilities, and sound visualization software may be an advantage to a conventional stethoscope in this environment. Methods: A single operator rated signal‐to‐noise quality from a conventional stethoscope (Littman 2218BE) and an electronic stethoscope (Litmann 3200). Borborygmi, pulmonic, and cardiac sound quality was ranked with both stethoscopes. Signal‐to‐noise rankings were preformed on a 1 to 10 subjective scale with 1 being inaudible, 6 the expected quality in an emergency department, 8 the expected quality in a clinic, and 10 the clearest possible quality. Testing took place in the Japanese Pressurized Module (JPM), Unity (Node 2), Destiny (US Lab), Tranquility (Node 3), and the Cupola of the International Space Station. All examinations were conducted at a single point in time. Results: The electronic stethoscope's performance ranked higher than the conventional stethoscope for each body sound in all modules tested. The electronic stethoscope's sound quality was rated between 7 and 10 in all modules tested. In comparison, the traditional stethoscope's sound quality was rated between 4 and 7. The signal to noise ratio of borborygmi showed the biggest difference between stethoscopes. In the modules tested, the auscultation of borborygmi was rated between 5 and 7 by the conventional stethoscope and consistently 10 by the electronic stethoscope. Discussion: This stethoscope comparison was limited to a single operator. However, we believe the results are noteworthy. The electronic stethoscope out preformed the traditional stethoscope in each direct comparison. Consideration should be made to incorporate an electronic stethoscope into current and future space vehicle medical kits.

Marshburn, Thomas↗

Wall-Modeled Large-Eddy Simulations of Jet Noise in Flight Conditions

A campaign of wall-modeled large-eddy simulations (WMLES) using structured curvilinear overlapping grids has been performed with the Launch Ascent and Vehicle Aerodynamics (LAVA) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software to predict jet noise for single-stream axisymmetric round jets. The simulations address the new Prediction Uncertainty Reduction (PUR) technical challenge within the context of NASA’s Commercial Supersonic Technology (CST) project. The focus of this effort is to generate a simulation database for single-stream axisymmetric round nozzles at several operating points both for static (no ambient co-flow), and in-flight (M ͚ =0.3 co-flow) conditions. The operating conditions range in jet exit Mach number from 0.38 to 1.1 with nozzle temperature ratios (NTR) from 0.84 to 2.7. The effect of the flight-stream on far-field noise sound spectra is assessed. Comparison of LES predictions to microphone array measurements demonstrate good agreement within the resolved frequency range. A dip in the predicted low frequency noise spectra for observers between 120° and 145° is observed. This dip is smaller for lower Mach numbers and seems to be correlated to the Mach wave radiation angle. The Mach 1.1 jet shows broadband-shock associated noise. While the onset of BBSN appears to be captured correctly in WMLES, some differences in its magnitude and the prominent frequency at which it occurs persist between the experiment and the simulations. The effect of the outer nozzle boundary layer state created by the co-flow is assessed and shows to be important for accurate comparisons with experiments. A change of 2.5dB between a slip-wall condition and a artificially thickened turbulent boundary layer was observed. In addition, simulations were performed with an alternative nozzle geometry that includes a internal plug and has twice the nozzle exit diameter. These two configurations resulted in very comparable spectra which is consistent with experimental observations. A generally stronger deviation from experimental results is observed for in-flight cases compared to static conditions. The applicability and correct usage of acoustic analogies used for far-field propagation with strong turbulent co-flows needs to be investigated more systematically using canonical problems to improve comparisons between experiments and WMLES. This is especially true for coherent noise sources seen in BBSN.

CST↗