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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 289 records · Page 16

Flight Test Comparison of Different Adaptive Augmentations for Fault Tolerant Control Laws for a Modified F-15 Aircraft

This report describes the improvements and enhancements to a neural network based approach for directly adapting to aerodynamic changes resulting from damage or failures. This research is a follow-on effort to flight tests performed on the NASA F-15 aircraft as part of the Intelligent Flight Control System research effort. Previous flight test results demonstrated the potential for performance improvement under destabilizing damage conditions. Little or no improvement was provided under simulated control surface failures, however, and the adaptive system was prone to pilot-induced oscillations. An improved controller was designed to reduce the occurrence of pilot-induced oscillations and increase robustness to failures in general. This report presents an analysis of the neural networks used in the previous flight test, the improved adaptive controller, and the baseline case with no adaptation. Flight test results demonstrate significant improvement in performance by using the new adaptive controller compared with the previous adaptive system and the baseline system for control surface failures.

Burken, John J.↗

The Impact of Trajectory Prediction Uncertainty on Air Traffic Controller Performance and Acceptability

A Human-In-The-Loop air traffic control simulation investigated the impact of uncertainties in trajectory predictions on NextGen Trajectory-Based Operations concepts, seeking to understand when the automation would become unacceptable to controllers or when performance targets could no longer be met. Retired air traffic controllers staffed two en route transition sectors, delivering arrival traffic to the northwest corner-post of Atlanta approach control under time-based metering operations. Using trajectory-based decision-support tools, the participants worked the traffic under varying levels of wind forecast error and aircraft performance model error, impacting the ground automations ability to make accurate predictions. Results suggest that the controllers were able to maintain high levels of performance, despite even the highest levels of trajectory prediction errors.

trajectory prediction uncertainty↗

A study of fundamental issues in higher harmonic control using aeroelastic simulation

This paper describes a higher harmonic control (HHC) study of a four-bladed helicopter rotor using a coupled flap-lag-torsional aeroelastic stability and response analysis which incorporates finite-state, time-domain aerodyamics. The rotor trim condition is determined using a simplified flap-lag-torsional aeroelastic analysis. Deterministic and cautious controllers based on local and global HHC models are implemented to reduce 4/rev hub loads on roughly equivalent articulate and hingeless rotors. Results obtained for the case when the objective function requires reduction of hub shears alone are compared with results obtained when hub shears and moments are reduced simultaneously. The effects of HHC on blade aeroelastic stability are also considered. Finally, the power requirements for implementing HHC on a hingeless rotor are compared with those obtained for an articulated rotor. It is concluded that hingeless rotors require considerably more power and higher control angles than comparable articulated rotors.

Robinson, Lawson H.↗

A computer graphics pilot project - Spacecraft mission support with an interactive graphics workstation

The NASA Computer Graphics Pilot Project was undertaken to enhance the quality control, productivity and efficiency of mission support operations at the Goddard Operations Support Computing Facility. The Project evolved into a set of demonstration programs for graphics intensive simulated control room operations, particularly in connection with the complex space missions that began in the 1980s. Complex mission mean more data. Graphic displays are a means to reduce the probabilities of operator errors. Workstations were selected with 1024 x 768 pixel color displays controlled by a custom VLSI chip coupled to an MC68010 chip running UNIX within a shell that permits operations through the medium of mouse-accessed pulldown window menus. The distributed workstations run off a host NAS 8040 computer. Applications of the system for tracking spacecraft orbits and monitoring Shuttle payload handling illustrate the system capabilities, noting the built-in capabilities of shifting the point of view and rotating and zooming in on three-dimensional views of spacecraft.

Hagedorn, John↗

Creating a Realistic Weather Environment for Motion-Based Piloted Flight Simulation

A flight simulation environment is being enhanced to facilitate experiments that evaluate research prototypes of advanced onboard weather radar, hazard/integrity monitoring (HIM), and integrated alerting and notification (IAN) concepts in adverse weather conditions. The simulation environment uses weather data based on real weather events to support operational scenarios in a terminal area. A simulated atmospheric environment was realized by using numerical weather data sets. These were produced from the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model hosted and run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). To align with the planned flight simulation experiment requirements, several HRRR data sets were acquired courtesy of NOAA. These data sets coincided with severe weather events at the Memphis International Airport (MEM) in Memphis, TN. In addition, representative flight tracks for approaches and departures at MEM were generated and used to develop and test simulations of (1) what onboard sensors such as the weather radar would observe; (2) what datalinks of weather information would provide; and (3) what atmospheric conditions the aircraft would experience (e.g. turbulence, winds, and icing). The simulation includes a weather radar display that provides weather and turbulence modes, derived from the modeled weather along the flight track. The radar capabilities and the pilots controls simulate current-generation commercial weather radar systems. Appropriate data-linked weather advisories (e.g., SIGMET) were derived from the HRRR weather models and provided to the pilot consistent with NextGen concepts of use for Aeronautical Information Service (AIS) and Meteorological (MET) data link products. The net result of this simulation development was the creation of an environment that supports investigations of new flight deck information systems, methods for incorporation of better weather information, and pilot interface and operational improvements for better aviation safety. This research is part of a larger effort at NASA to study the impact of the growing complexity of operations, information, and systems on crew decision-making and response effectiveness; and then to recommend methods for improving future designs.

Daniels, Taumi S.↗

LongRunMIP - Motivation and Design for a Large Collection of Millennial-Length AO-GCM Simulations

LongRunMIP is the first collection of millennial-length simulations of complex coupled climate models and enables investigations of how these models equilibrate in response to radiative perturbations.We present a model intercomparison project, LongRunMIP, the first collection of millennial-length (1000+ year) simulations of complex coupled climate models with a representation of ocean, atmosphere, sea ice, and land surface, and their interactions. Standard model simulations are generally only a few hundred years long. However, modeling the long-term equilibration in response to radiative forcing perturbation is important for understanding many climate phenomena, such as the evolution of ocean circulation, time-and temperature-dependent feedbacks, and the differentiation of forced signal and internal variability. The aim of LongRunMIP is to facilitate research into these questions by serving as an archive for simulations that capture as much of this equilibration as possible. The only requirement to participate in LongRunMIP is to contribute a simulation with elevated, constant CO2 forcing that lasts at least 1000 years. LongRunMIP is a MIP of opportunity in that the simulations were mostly performed prior to the conception of the archive without an agreed-upon set of experiments. For most models, the archive contains a preindustrial control simulation and simulations with an idealized (typically abrupt) CO2 forcing. We collect 2D surface and top-of-atmosphere fields, and 3D ocean temperature and salinity fields. Here, we document the collection of simulations and discuss initial results, including the evolution of surface and deep ocean temperature and cloud radiative effects. As of summer 2019, the collection includes 50 simulations of 15 models by 10 modeling centers. The data of LongRunMIP are publicly available. We encourage submission of more simulations in the future.

Maria Rugenstein↗

Electronically Controlled Resistor Bank

Resistance quickly varied in small steps over wide range. Device with no moving parts provides variable electrical resistance. Used with analog or digital circuity to provide electronic selection of large number of resistance values for testing, simulation, control, or other purposes. Nearest electromechanical equivalent of all-electronic device is potentiometer driven by servomotor.

Ross, Walter L.↗

Meso-beta scale numerical simulation studies of terrain-induced jet streak mass/momentum perturbations

The first section is on 3-D numerical modeling of terrain-induced circulations and covers the following: (1) additional insights into gravity wave generation mechanisms based on the control simulation; (2) ongoing nested-grid numerical simulations; (3) work to be completed during the remainder of FY-93; and (4) work objectives for FY-94. The second section is on linear theory and theoretical modeling and covers the following: (1) the free response of a uniform barotropic flow to an initially stationary unbalanced (ageostrophic) zonal wind anomaly; and (2) the free response of a uniform barotropic flow to an initially stationary balanced zonal wind anomaly.

Lin, Yuh-Lang↗

Photosynthesis-dependent Isoprene Emission from Leaf to Planet in a Global Carbon-chemistry-climate Model

We describe the implementation of a biochemical model of isoprene emission that depends on the electron requirement for isoprene synthesis into the FarquharBallBerry leaf model of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance that is embedded within a global chemistry-climate simulation framework. The isoprene production is calculated as a function of electron transport-limited photosynthesis, intercellular and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, and canopy temperature. The vegetation biophysics module computes the photosynthetic uptake of carbon dioxide coupled with the transpiration of water vapor and the isoprene emission rate at the 30 min physical integration time step of the global chemistry-climate model. In the model, the rate of carbon assimilation provides the dominant control on isoprene emission variability over canopy temperature. A control simulation representative of the present-day climatic state that uses 8 plant functional types (PFTs), prescribed phenology and generic PFT-specific isoprene emission potentials (fraction of electrons available for isoprene synthesis) reproduces 50 of the variability across different ecosystems and seasons in a global database of 28 measured campaign-average fluxes. Compared to time-varying isoprene flux measurements at 9 select sites, the model authentically captures the observed variability in the 30 min average diurnal cycle (R2 6496) and simulates the flux magnitude to within a factor of 2. The control run yields a global isoprene source strength of 451 TgC yr1 that increases by 30 in the artificial absence of plant water stress and by 55 for potential natural vegetation.

photosynthesis↗

Urban Effect on Precipitation and Deep Convective Systems Over Dallas‐Fort Worth

A range of multi-year observational data sets are used to characterize the hydroclimate of the Dallas Fort-Worth area (DFW) and to investigate the impact of urban land cover on daily accumulated precipitation, RADAR composite reflectivity (cREF), and cloud top height (CTH) during the warm season. Analyses of observational data indicate rainfall rates (RR) in a 45° annulus sector 50–100 km downwind of the city are enhanced relative to an upwind area of comparable size. Enhancement of mean precipitation intensity in this annulus sector is not observed on days with spatially averaged RR > 6 mm/day. Under some flow directions, the probability of cREF >30 dBZ, occurrence of hail, and the probability of CTH >10,000 geopotential meters are also enhanced up to 200 km downwind of DFW. Two deep convection events that passed over DFW are simulated with the Weather Research and Forecasting model using a range of microphysical schemes and evaluated using RADAR observations. Model configurations that exhibit the highest fidelity in these control simulations are used in a series of perturbation experiments where the areal extent of the city is varied between zero (replacement with grassland) and eight times its current size. These perturbation experiments indicate a non-linear response of Mesoscale Convective System properties to the urban areal extent and a very strong sensitivity to the microphysical scheme used. The impact on precipitation from the urban area, even when it is expanded to eight-times the current extent, is much less marked for deep convection with stronger synoptic forcing.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

An extensible perturbed parameter ensemble for the Community Atmosphere Model version 6

This paper documents the methodology and preliminary results from a perturbed parameter ensemble (PPE) technique, where multiple parameters are varied simultaneously and the parameter values are determined with Latin hypercube sampling. This is done with the Community Atmosphere Model version 6 (CAM6), the atmospheric component of the Community Earth System Model version 2 (CESM2). We apply the PPE method to CESM2–CAM6 to understand climate sensitivity to atmospheric physics parameters. The initial simulations vary 45 parameters in the microphysics, convection, turbulence and aerosol schemes with 263 ensemble members. These atmospheric parameters are typically the most uncertain in many climate models. Control simulations and targeted simulations to understand climate forcing due to aerosols and fast climate feedbacks are analyzed. The use of various emulators is explored in the multi-dimensional space mapping input parameters to output metrics. Parameter impacts on various model outputs, such as radiation, cloud and aerosol properties, are evaluated. Machine learning is also used to probe optimal parameter values against observations. Our findings show that PPE is a valuable tool for climate uncertainty analysis. Furthermore, by varying many parameters simultaneously, we find that many different combinations of parameter values can produce results consistent with observations, and thus careful analysis of tuning is important. The CESM2–CAM6 PPE is publicly available and extensible to other configurations to address questions of other model processes in the atmosphere and other model components (e.g., coupling to the land surface).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Developments in Human Centered Cueing Algorithms for Control of Flight Simulator Motion Systems

The authors conducted further research with cueing algorithms for control of flight simulator motion systems. A variation of the so-called optimal algorithm was formulated using simulated aircraft angular velocity input as a basis. Models of the human vestibular sensation system, i.e. the semicircular canals and otoliths, are incorporated within the algorithm. Comparisons of angular velocity cueing responses showed a significant improvement over a formulation using angular acceleration input. Results also compared favorably with the coordinated adaptive washout algorithm, yielding similar results for angular velocity cues while eliminating false cues and reducing the tilt rate for longitudinal cues. These results were confirmed in piloted tests on the current motion system at NASA-Langley, the Visual Motion Simulator (VMS). Proposed future developments by the authors in cueing algorithms are revealed. The new motion system, the Cockpit Motion Facility (CMF), where the final evaluation of the cueing algorithms will be conducted, is also described.

Houck, Jacob A.↗

An Extensible Perturbed Parameter Ensemble for the Community Atmosphere Model Version 6

This paper documents the methodology and preliminary results from a Perturbed Parameter Ensemble (PPE) technique, where multiple parameters are varied simultaneously and the parameter values are determined with Latin hypercube sampling. This is done with the Community Atmosphere Model version 6 (CAM6), the atmospheric component of the Community Earth System Model version 2 (CESM2). We apply the PPE method to CESM2-CAM6 to understand climate sensitivity to atmospheric physics parameters. The initial simulations vary 45 parameters in the microphysics, convection, turbulence and aerosol schemes with 263 ensemble members. These atmospheric parameters are typically the most uncertain in many climate models. Control simulations are analyzed and targeted simulations to understand climate forcing due to aerosols and fast climate feedbacks. The use of various emulators is explored in the multi- dimensional space mapping input parameters to output metrics. Parameter impacts on various model outputs, such as radiation, cloud and aerosol properties are evaluated. Machine learning is also used to probe optimal parameter values against observations. Our findings show that using PPE is a valuable tool for climate uncertainty analysis. Furthermore, by varying many parameters simultaneously, we find that many different combinations of parameter values can produce results consistent with observations, and thus careful analysis of tuning is important. The CESM2-CAM6 PPE is publicly available, and extensible to other configurations to address questions of other model processes in the atmosphere and other model components (e.g. coupling to the land surface).

Machine learning↗

Functional requirements for the man-vehicle systems research facility

The NASA Ames Research Center proposed a man-vehicle systems research facility to support flight simulation studies which are needed for identifying and correcting the sources of human error associated with current and future air carrier operations. The organization of research facility is reviewed and functional requirements and related priorities for the facility are recommended based on a review of potentially critical operational scenarios. Requirements are included for the experimenter's simulation control and data acquisition functions, as well as for the visual field, motion, sound, computation, crew station, and intercommunications subsystems. The related issues of functional fidelity and level of simulation are addressed, and specific criteria for quantitative assessment of various aspects of fidelity are offered. Recommendations for facility integration, checkout, and staffing are included.

Clement, W. F.↗

Evaluating human performance modeling for system assessment: Promise and problems

The development and evaluation of computational human performance models is examined. An intention is to develop models which can be used to interact with system prototypes and simulations to perform system assessment. Currently LR is working on a set of models emulating cognitive, psychomotor, auditory, and visual activity for multiple operator positions of a command and control simulation system. These models, developed in conjunction with BBN Systems and Technologies, function within the simulation environment and allow for both unmanned system assessment and manned (human-in-loop) assessment of system interface and team interactions. These are relatively generic models with built-in flexibility which allows modification of some model parameters. These models have great potential for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of system design, test, and evaluation. However, the extent of the practical utility of these models is unclear. Initial verification efforts comparing model performance within the simulation to actual human operators on a similar, independent simulation have been performed and current efforts are directed at comparing human and model performance within the same simulation environment.

Patterson, Robert W.↗

System identification for Space Station Freedom using observer/Kalman filter Markov parameters

The Modal Identification Experiment (MIE) is a proposed experiment to define the dynamic characteristics of Space Station Freedom. Previous studies emphasized free-decay modal identification. The feasibility of using a forced response method (Observer/Kalman Filter Identification (OKID)) is addressed. The interest in using OKID is to determine the input mode shape matrix which can be used for controller design or control-structure interaction analysis, and investigate if forced response methods may aid in separating closely spaced modes. A model of the SC-7 configuration of Space Station Freedom was excited using simulated control system thrusters to obtain acceleration output. It is shown that an 'optimum' number of outputs exists for OKID. To recover global mode shapes, a modified method called Global-Local OKID was developed. This study shows that using data from a long forced response followed by free-decay leads to the 'best' modal identification. Twelve out of the thirteen target modes were identified for such an output.

Papadopoulos, Michael↗