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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

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NASA NTRS1999

Ultrasound Thermal Field Imaging of Opaque Fluids

We have initiated an experimental program to develop an ultrasound system for non-intrusively imaging the thermal field in opaque fluids under an externally imposed temperature gradient. Many industrial processes involve opaque fluids, such as molten metals, semiconductors, and polymers, often in situations in which thermal gradients are important. For example, one may wish to understand semiconductor crystal growth dynamics in a Bridgman apparatus. Destructive testing of the crystal after the process is completed gives only indirect information about the fluid dynamics of the formation process. Knowledge of the coupled thermal and velocity fields during the growth process is then essential. Most techniques for non-intrusive velocity and temperature measurement in fluids are optical in nature, and hence the fluids studied must be transparent. In some cases (for example, LDV (laser Doppler velocimetry) and PIV (particle imaging velocimetry)) the velocities of small neutrally buoyant seed particles suspended in the fluid, are measured. Without particle seeding one can use the variation of the index of refraction of the fluid with temperature to visualize, through interferometric, Schlieren or shadowgraph techniques, the thermal field. The thermal field in turn gives a picture of the pattern existing in the fluid. If the object of study is opaque, non-optical techniques must be used. In this project we focus on the use of ultrasound, which propagates easily through opaque liquids and solids. To date ultrasound measurements have almost exclusively relied on the detection of sound scattered from density discontinuities inside the opaque material of interest. In most cases it has been used to visualize structural properties, but more recently the ultrasound Doppler velocimeter has become available. As in the optical case, it relies on seed particles that scatter Doppler shifted sound back to the detector. Doppler ultrasound techniques are, however, not useful for studying convective fluid flow in crystal growth, because particle seeding is unacceptable and flow velocities are typically too low to be resolved, and may be even lower in microgravity conditions where buoyancy forces are negligible. We will investigate a different use of ultrasound to probe the flows of opaque fluids non-intrusively and without the use of seed particles: our goal is to ultrasonically visualize the thermal field of opaque fluids with relatively high spatial resolution. The proposed technique relies upon the variation of sound speed with temperature of the fluid. A high frequency ultra-sound pulse passing through a fluid-filled chamber will traverse the chamber in a time determined by the relevant chamber dimension and the temperature of the fluid through which the pulse passes. With high time-resolution instrumentation that compares the excitation signal with the received pulse we can detect the influence of the fluid temperature on the pulse travel time. This is effectively an interferometric system, which in its optical form is an extremely sensitive approach to measuring thermal fields in fluids. Moreover, the temperature dependence of sound velocity in liquid metals is comparable to the temperature dependence of the speed of light required for accurate interferometric thermal images in transparent fluids. With an array of transducers scanned electronically a map of the thermal field over the chamber could be produced. An alternative approach would be to use the ultrasound analog of the shadowgraph technique. In the optical version, collimated light passes through the fluid, where it is focused or defocused locally by temperature field induced variations of the index of refraction. The resulting image reveals the thermal field through the spatial pattern of light intensity variations. By analogy, an ultrasound plane wave traversing an opaque fluid sample would be also locally focused or defocused depending on the speed of sound variations, giving rise to spatial variations in sound intensity that will reveal the thermal field pattern. These approaches could be applied to any situation in which temperature differences are expected to occur, and will rapidly provide information about the flow that simply cannot be obtained by any current intrusive or non-intrusive diagnostic technique. As materials processing in microgravity matures it will become increasingly important to have available simple and versatile diagnostic tools, such as we will develop, for studying the flows of opaque fluids under thermal forcing.

Andereck, C. David↗

NASA NTRS1975

Effects of shifts in the rate of repetitive stimulation on sustained attention

The effects of shifts in the rate of presentation of repetitive neutral events (background event rate) were studied in a visual vigilance task. Four groups of subjects experienced either a high (21 events/min) or a low (6 events/min) event rate for 20 min and then experienced either the same or the alternate event rate for an additional 40 min. The temporal occurrence of critical target signals was identical for all groups, irrespective of event rate. The density of critical signals was 12 signals/20 min. By the end of the session, shifts in event rate were associated with changes in performance which resembled contrast effects found in other experimental situations in which shift paradigms were used. Relative to constant event rate control conditions, a shift from a low to a high event rate depressed the probability of signal detections, while a shift in the opposite direction enhanced the probability of signal detections.

Krulewitz, J. E.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Category Learning Research in the Interactive Online Environment Second Life

The interactive online environment Second Life allows users to create novel three-dimensional stimuli that can be manipulated in a meaningful yet controlled environment. These features suggest Second Life's utility as a powerful tool for investigating how people learn concepts for unfamiliar objects. The first of two studies was designed to establish that cognitive processes elicited in this virtual world are comparable to those tapped in conventional settings by attempting to replicate the established finding that category learning systematically influences perceived similarity . From the perspective of an avatar, participants navigated a course of unfamiliar three-dimensional stimuli and were trained to classify them into two labeled categories based on two visual features. Participants then gave similarity ratings for pairs of stimuli and their responses were compared to those of control participants who did not learn the categories. Results indicated significant compression, whereby objects classified together were judged to be more similar by learning than control participants, thus supporting the validity of using Second Life as a laboratory for studying human cognition. A second study used Second Life to test the novel hypothesis that effects of learning on perceived similarity do not depend on the presence of verbal labels for categories. We presented the same stimuli but participants classified them by selecting between two complex visual patterns designed to be extremely difficult to label. While learning was more challenging in this condition , those who did learn without labels showed a compression effect identical to that found in the first study using verbal labels. Together these studies establish that at least some forms of human learning in Second Life parallel learning in the actual world and thus open the door to future studies that will make greater use of the enriched variety of objects and interactions possible in simulated environments compared to traditional experimental situations.

Andrews, Jan↗

NASA NTRS2001

Convection Weather Detection by General Aviation Pilots with Convectional and Data-Linked Graphical Weather Information Sources

This study compares how well general aviation (GA) pilots detect convective weather in flight with different weather information sources. A flight test was conducted in which GA pilot test subjects were given different in-flight weather information cues and flown toward convective weather of moderate or greater intensity. The test subjects were not actually flying the aircraft, but were given pilot tasks representative of the workload and position awareness requirements of the en route portion of a cross country GA flight. On each flight, one test subject received weather cues typical of a flight in visual meteorological conditions (VMC), another received cues typical of flight in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), and a third received cues typical of flight in IMC but augmented with a graphical weather information system (GWIS). The GWIS provided the subject with near real time data-linked weather products, including a weather radar mosaic superimposed on a moving map with a symbol depicting the aircraft's present position and direction of track. At several points during each flight, the test subjects completed short questionnaires which included items addressing their weather situation awareness and flight decisions. In particular, test subjects were asked to identify the location of the nearest convective cells. After the point of nearest approach to convective weather, the test subjects were asked to draw the location of convective weather on an aeronautical chart, along with the aircraft's present position. This paper reports preliminary results on how accurately test subjects provided with these different weather sources could identify the nearest cell of moderate or greater intensity along their route of flight. Additional flight tests are currently being conducted to complete the data set.

Chamberlain, James P.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Synthetic Vision for Lunar and Planetary Landing Vehicles

The Crew Vehicle Interface (CVI) group of the Integrated Intelligent Flight Deck Technologies (IIFDT) has done extensive research in the area of Synthetic Vision (SV), and has shown that SV technology can substantially enhance flight crew situation awareness, reduce pilot workload, promote flight path control precision and improve aviation safety. SV technology is being extended to evaluate its utility for lunar and planetary exploration vehicles. SV may hold significant potential for many lunar and planetary missions since the SV presentation provides a computer-generated view of the terrain and other significant environment characteristics independent of the outside visibility conditions, window locations, or vehicle attributes. SV allows unconstrained control of the computer-generated scene lighting, terrain coloring, and virtual camera angles which may provide invaluable visual cues to pilots/astronauts and in addition, important vehicle state information may be conformally displayed on the view such as forward and down velocities, altitude, and fuel remaining to enhance trajectory control and vehicle system status. This paper discusses preliminary SV concepts for tactical and strategic displays for a lunar landing vehicle. The technical challenges and potential solutions to SV applications for the lunar landing mission are explored, including the requirements for high resolution terrain lunar maps and an accurate position and orientation of the vehicle that is essential in providing lunar Synthetic Vision System (SVS) cockpit displays. The paper also discusses the technical challenge of creating an accurate synthetic terrain portrayal using an ellipsoid lunar digital elevation model which eliminates projection errors and can be efficiently rendered in real-time.

Williams, Steven P.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Embracing Uncertainty and Perseverance. A Brief Perspective on Conducting On-Site NDT Research

Dr. Judi E. See, a Systems Analyst and Human Factors Engineer at Sandia National Laboratories, reflects on her experience conducting NDT research in a male-dominated environment. She emphasizes the importance of persistence, flexibility, and persuasive skills in overcoming challenges, ranging from gaining access to test sites and equipment to building trust with inspectors. She shares her personal experience of navigating professional situations where gender disparities were evident, highlighting the need for women to adapt and overcome obstacles in traditionally male-dominated settings. See's journey demonstrates that perseverance and ingenuity can lead to significant contributions, process improvements, and recognition in the NDT field.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2026

Visualizing electronic structure of twisted bilayer MoTe 2 in devices

The pursuit of emergent quantum phenomena lies at the forefront of modern condensed matter physics. A recent breakthrough in this arena is the discovery of the fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect (FQAHE) in twisted bilayer MoTe₂ (tbMoTe₂), marking a paradigm shift and establishing a versatile platform for exploring the intricate interplay among topology, magnetism, and electron correlations. While significant progress has been made through both optical and electrical transport measurements, direct experimental insights into the electronic structure – crucial for understanding and modeling this system – have remained elusive. Here, using spatially and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (μ-ARPES), we directly map the electronic band structure of tbMoTe₂. We identify the valence band maximum, whose partial filling underlies the FQAHE, at the K points, situated approximately 150 meV above the Γ valley. By fine-tuning the doping level via in-situ alkali metal deposition, we also resolve the conduction band minimum at the K point, providing direct evidence that tbMoTe₂ exhibits a direct band gap – distinct from all previously known moiré bilayer transition metal dichalcogenide systems. These results offer critical insights for theoretical modeling and advance our understanding of fractionalized excitations and correlated topological phases in this emergent quantum material.

Chen, Cheng [Univ. of Oxford (United Kingdom)]↗

NASA NTRS2008

Synthetic Vision Displays for Planetary and Lunar Lander Vehicles

Aviation research has demonstrated that Synthetic Vision (SV) technology can substantially enhance situation awareness, reduce pilot workload, improve aviation safety, and promote flight path control precision. SV, and related flight deck technologies are currently being extended for application in planetary exploration vehicles. SV, in particular, holds significant potential for many planetary missions since the SV presentation provides a computer-generated view for the flight crew of the terrain and other significant environmental characteristics independent of the outside visibility conditions, window locations, or vehicle attributes. SV allows unconstrained control of the computer-generated scene lighting, terrain coloring, and virtual camera angles which may provide invaluable visual cues to pilots/astronauts, not available from other vision technologies. In addition, important vehicle state information may be conformally displayed on the view such as forward and down velocities, altitude, and fuel remaining to enhance trajectory control and vehicle system status. The paper accompanies a conference demonstration that introduced a prototype NASA Synthetic Vision system for lunar lander spacecraft. The paper will describe technical challenges and potential solutions to SV applications for the lunar landing mission, including the requirements for high-resolution lunar terrain maps, accurate positioning and orientation, and lunar cockpit display concepts to support projected mission challenges.

Arthur, Jarvis J., III↗

NASA NTRS2004

Decision-Making in Flight with Different Convective Weather Information Sources: Preliminary Results

This paper reports preliminary and partial results of a flight experiment to address how General Aviation (GA) pilots use weather cues to make flight decisions. This research presents pilots with weather cue conditions typically available to GA pilots in visual meteorological conditions (VMC) and instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) today, as well as in IMC with a Graphical Weather Information System (GWIS). These preliminary data indicate that both VMC and GWIS-augmented IMC conditions result in better confidence, information sufficiency and perceived performance than the current IMC condition. For all these measures, the VMC and GWIS-augmented conditions seemed to provide similar pilot support. These preliminary results are interpreted for their implications on GWIS display design, training, and operational use guidelines. Final experimental results will compare these subjective data with objective data of situation awareness and decision quality.

Latorella, Kara A.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Dual Oculometer System for Aviation Crew Assessment

Oculometers, eye trackers, are a useful tool for ascertaining the manner in which pilots deploy visual attentional resources, and for assessing the degree to which stimuli capture attention exogenously. The aim of this effort was to obtain oculometer data comfortably, unobtrusively, reliably and with good spatial resolution over a standard B757-like flight deck for both individuals in a crew. We chose to implement two remote, 5-camera Smarteye systems which were crafted for this purpose to operate harmoniously. We present here the results of validation exercises, lessons learned for improving data quality, and initial thoughts on the use of paired oculometer data to reflect crew workload, coordination, and situation awareness, in the aggregate.

Latorella, Kara↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Celestial Mapping System

Celestial Mapping System (CMS) is a desktop application that provides a toolkit of features for visualization and analysis of celestial bodies, beginning with a 3D lunar globe. Although there are lunar mapping products publicly available, they use old data from lunar missions, have no native desktop version, and they are mostly 2D. CMS addresses this by providing high-resolution datasets from recent lunar missions, accurate elevation data to display and read 3D terrain, and is built on top of World Wind Java library which provides a rich set of functionality and the ability to easily expand to other celestial bodies. CMS is also looking at implementing features to support situational awareness, path optimization and resource assessment, which will be of use in upcoming missions to the lunar surface. CMS utilizes geospatial tools such as QGIS and GDAL to test and modify planetary data. Other features include the ability to enable specific place names, a measurement toolbox, terrain profiler, the ability to view the moon in stereo, navigation capabilities, and an interactive visit to the Apollo landing sites which showcase 3D objects of the astronauts and lunar landers. In the world of planetary mapping, CMS aims to significantly improve upon existing functionalities, and bring new tools, that will be useful to the planetary science community and mission planners.

Kaitlyn Dickinson↗

NASA NTRS2023

Flight Surgeon Survey Results Review: Long-Duration Artemis Medical System ConOps

Background: The Artemis Mission Functional Medical Concept of Operation (ConOp) is an operational document that describes the functional medical capabilities and concept of operations for early Artemis missions of around 30 days duration. It is currently under revision for longer missions (180+ days), aiming to build a foundational diagnostic and treatment capabilities list considering mission parameters, crew selection and training, and mass/volume constraints. An interview of NASA operational flight surgeons was completed to start the revision of the medical ConOp. Methods: In the survey, 20 experienced NASA flight surgeons responded to 57 standardized questions covering 17 categories, 22 questions of which were covered in this analysis including 4 categories: Cardiovascular, Catastrophic Situations, Pulmonary, and Respiratory/O2 Support. These results were categorized into recommendations and observations. The recommendations were used to objectively quantify the responses to look for consensus, differences and uncertainty among responses. The observations remain important but were not included in this review. Analysis: Regarding questions related to changes in medical conditions treated for long-duration missions, percentage of “No Change” responses varied from 20% to 75%. In the “Change” treatment plan responses, a variety of recommendations were made, which were further made into graphics for better illustration. Additionally, recommendations on capability questions in multiple systems were visualized altogether in one product. Discussion: This work demonstrates the importance of collaboration and thorough analysis amongst experienced NASA flight surgeons for helping establish medical systems and contributing to the likelihood of mission success during Artemis long-duration missions. Through this review, we were able to identify some positive attributes as well as areas for improvement, which will facilitate further discussions.

Andrew Bushong↗

NASA NTRS1992

Dense fog on the highway: Visual range monitoring in cars?

This paper reports on the development of a new sensor. Laser range-finders are currently installed in cars and trucks to measure the distance to a proceeding car (LEICA). A modification of such a sensor to measure visibility was made. The problems that had to be solved were: (1) choice of wavelength with relation to the human eye for visibility measurements; (2) dependency of the wavelength on atmospheric turbidity; (3) laser eye-safety; and (4) influence of multiple scattering at visibilities smaller than 200 m. The wavelength used for lidar sensors in the near infrared presents no real problems because the object to be sensed is fog appearing white which means that scattering from fog is wavelength independent. There are however differences in backscatter-to-extinction ratio for different fog and weather situations. The two solutions to these problems are polarization and multiple scattering. As known from airport operations of a laser ceilometer, one can use this multiple scattering contribution to determine the visibility.

Hahn, W.↗

NASA NTRS2019

The Weather Analysis Display (WAND) Tool: Developing a Meteorological Data Display Tool for Situational Awareness During Day-Of-Launch of Space Launch Vehicles Using Python

Atmospheric conditions are an important driver in the design and operation of space launch vehicles. The Profile Envision and Splicing Tool (PRESTO) was developed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Natural Environments Branch (NE) to generate vertically complete atmospheric profiles from various data sources at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), co-located on the United States Air Force (USAF) Eastern Range (ER), for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) day-of-launch (DOL) loads and trajectory analysis. PRESTO was designed solely to generate a vertically complete atmospheric profile (Orcutt et al., 2017). However, NE has also been tasked to provide a quality assessment of meteorological data examined on DOL, which goes beyond PRESTO’s utility. Thus, NE developed the Weather Analysis Display (WAND) to visualize data from all available observation systems in conjunction with climatological databases. WAND can display data from various sources in multiple ways, including Skew-T Log-P plots, time-height cross sections, and time series. WAND was developed in Python 3 taking advantage of common packages, such as NumPy for data handling, SciPy for mathematical functions, Matplotlib for data visualization, and Tkinter for the execution of the Graphical User Interface (GUI).

Orcutt, John M.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Direction of impact for explainable risk assessment modeling

Abstract Several graphical indicators have been recently introduced to help analysts visualize the marginal effects of inputs in complex models. The insights derived from such tools may help decision‐makers and risk analysts in designing interventions. However, we know little about the adequacy and consistency of different indicators. This work investigates popular marginal effect indicators to understand whether they yield indications consistent with the properties of the quantitative model under inspection. Specifically, we examine the notions of monotonicity, Lipschitz, and concavity consistency. Surprisingly, only PD functions satisfy all these notions of consistency. However, when selecting the indicators, in addition to consistency, analysts need to consider the risk of model extrapolation. For situations where such risk is under control, we utilize individual conditional expectations together with PD plots. Two applications, on a NASA space risk assessment model and a susceptible exposed infected recovered (SEIR) model for the COVID‐19 pandemic illustrate the insights obtained from these indicators.

Mathematical Methods In Social Sciences↗

NASA NTRS1980

Instrument scanning and controlling: Using eye movement data to understand pilot behavior and strategies

Eye movement data and other parameters including instrument readings, aircraft state and position variables, and control maneuvers were recorded while pilots flew ILS simulations in a B 737. The experiment itself employed seven airline pilots, each of whom flew approximately 40 approach/landing sequences. The simulator was equipped with a night visual scene but the scene was fogged out down to approximately 60 meters (200 ft). The instrument scanning appeared to follow aircraft parameters not physical position of instruments. One important implication of the results is: pilots look for categories or packets of information. Control inputs were tabulated according to throttle, wheel position, column, and pitch trim changes. Three seconds of eye movements before and after the control input were then obtained. Analysis of the eye movement data for the controlling periods showed clear patterns. The results suggest a set of miniscan patterns which are used according to the specific details of the situation. A model is developed which integrates scanning and controlling. Differentiations are made between monitoring and controlling scans.

Dick, A. O.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Stereopsis cueing effects on hover-in-turbulence performance in a simulated rotorcraft

The efficacy of stereopsis cueing in pictorial displays was assessed in a real-time piloted simulation experiment of a rotorcraft precision hover-in-turbulence task. Seven pilots endeavored to maintain a hover by visually aligning a set of inner and outer wickets (major elements of a real-world pictorial display, thus attaining the desired hover position, in a full factorial experimental design. The display conditions examined included the presence or absence of a velocity display element (a velocity head-up display) as well as the stereopsis cueing conditions, which included non-stereo (binoptic or monoscopic - no depth cues other than those provided by a perspective, real-world display), stereo 3-D, and hyper stereo (telestereoscopic). Subjective and objective results indicated that the depth cues provided by the stereo displays enhanced the situational awareness of the pilot and enabled improved hover performance to be achieved. The velocity display element also improved the hover performance, with the best hover performance being achieved with the combined use of stereo and the velocity display element. Pilot control input data revealed that less control action was required to attain the improved hover performance with the stereo displays.

Parrish, Russell V.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Enhanced/Synthetic Vision and Head-Worn Display Technologies for Terminal Maneuvering Area NextGen Operations

NASA is researching innovative technologies for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) to provide a "Better-Than-Visual" (BTV) capability as adjunct to "Equivalent Visual Operations" (EVO); that is, airport throughputs equivalent to that normally achieved during Visual Flight Rules (VFR) operations rates with equivalent and better safety in all weather and visibility conditions including Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC). These new technologies build on proven flight deck systems and leverage synthetic and enhanced vision systems. Two piloted simulation studies were conducted to access the use of a Head-Worn Display (HWD) with head tracking for synthetic and enhanced vision systems concepts. The first experiment evaluated the use a HWD for equivalent visual operations to San Francisco International Airport (airport identifier: KSFO) compared to a visual concept and a head-down display concept. A second experiment evaluated symbology variations under different visibility conditions using a HWD during taxi operations at Chicago O'Hare airport (airport identifier: KORD). Two experiments were conducted, one in a simulated San Francisco airport (KSFO) approach operation and the other, in simulated Chicago O'Hare surface operations, evaluating enhanced/synthetic vision and head-worn display technologies for NextGen operations. While flying a closely-spaced parallel approach to KSFO, pilots rated the HWD, under low-visibility conditions, equivalent to the out-the-window condition, under unlimited visibility, in terms of situational awareness (SA) and mental workload compared to a head-down enhanced vision system. There were no differences between the 3 display concepts in terms of traffic spacing and distance and the pilot decision-making to land or go-around. For the KORD experiment, the visibility condition was not a factor in pilot's rating of clutter effects from symbology. Several concepts for enhanced implementations of an unlimited field-of-regard BTV concept for low-visibility surface operations were determined to be equivalent in pilot ratings of efficacy and usability.

Arthur, Jarvis J., III↗