Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Measurement and Instrumentation Data Center”

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 307 records · Page 17

Analytical techniques of pilot scanning behavior and their application

The state of the art of oculometric data analysis techniques and their applications in certain research areas such as pilot workload, information transfer provided by various display formats, crew role in automated systems, and pilot training are documented. These analytical techniques produce the following data: real-time viewing of the pilot's scanning behavior, average dwell times, dwell percentages, instrument transition paths, dwell histograms, and entropy rate measures. These types of data are discussed, and overviews of the experimental setup, data analysis techniques, and software are presented. A glossary of terms frequently used in pilot scanning behavior and a bibliography of reports on related research sponsored by NASA Langley Research Center are also presented.

Harris, R. L., Sr.↗

Correlation of N2O and ozone in the Southern Polar vortex during the airborne Antarctic ozone experiment

In situ N20 mixing ratios, measured by an airborne laser spectrometer (ATLAS), have been used along with in situ ozone measurements to determine the correlation of N2O and ozone in the Antarctic stratosphere during the late austral winter. During the 1987 Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment (AAOE), N2O data were collected by a laser absorption spectrometer on board the ER-2 on five ferry flights between Ames Research Center (37 deg N) and Punta Arenas, Chile (53 deg S), and on twelve flights over Antarctica (53 S to 72 S). Of all the trace gas species measured by instruments on board the ER-2, only one showed a relationship to the N2O/O3 correlations in the vortex. With few exceptions, positive N20/O3 correlations coincided with total water mixing ratios of greater than 2.9 ppmv, and total water mixing ratios of less than 2.9 ppmv corresponded to negative correlations. The lower water mixing ratios, or dehydrated regions, are colocated with the negative correlations within the vortex, while the wetter regions always occur near the vortex edge.

Strahan, S. E.↗

ERS-1 scatterometer calibration and validation activities at ECMWF. B: From radar backscatter characteristics to wind vector solutions

Calibration and validation activities for the ERS-1 scatterometer were carried out at ECMWF (European Center for Medium range Weather Forecast) complementary to the 'Haltenbanken' field campaign off the coast of Norway. At a Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) center a wealth of verifying data is available both in time and space. This data is used to redefine the wind retrieval procedure given the instrumental characteristics. It was found that a maximum likelihood estimation procedure to obtain the coefficients of a reformulated sigma deg to wind relationship should use radar measurements in logarithmic rather than physical space, and use winds as the wind components rather than wind speed and direction. Doing this, a much more accurate transfer function than the one currently operated by ESA was derived. Sigma deg measurement space shows no signature of a separation in an upwind solution cone and a downwind solution cone. As such signature was anticipated in ESA's wind direction ambiguity removal algorithm, reconsideration of the procedure is necessary. Despite the fact that revisions have to be made in the process of wind retrieval; a grid potential is shown for scatterometry in meteorology and climatology.

Stoffelen, AD↗

Remote Measurement of Pollution - A 40-Year Langley Retrospective: Temperature and Gaseous Species - Part 1

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) phased down its Apollo Moon Program after 1970 in favor of a partly reusable Space Shuttle vehicle that could be used to construct and supply a manned, Earth-orbiting Space Station. Applications programs were emphasized in response to the growing public concern about Earth's finite natural resources and the degradation of its environment. Shortly thereafter, a workshop was convened in Norfolk, Virginia, on Remote Measurement of Pollution (or RMOP), and its findings are in a NASA Special Publication (NASA SP-285). The three primary workshop panels and their chairmen were focused on trace gas species (Will Kellogg), atmospheric particulates or aerosols (Verner Suomi), and water pollution (Gifford Ewing). Many of the workshop participants were specialists in the techniques that might be employed for the regional to global-scale, remote measurements from an Earth-orbiting satellite. The findings and recommendations of the RMOP Report represent the genesis of and a blueprint for the satellite, atmospheric sensing programs within NASA for nearly two decades. This paper is a brief, 40-year retrospective of those instrument developments that were an outgrowth of the RMOP activity. Its focus is on satellite measurement capabilities for temperature and gaseous species that were demonstrated by atmospheric technologists at the Langley Research Center. Limb absorption by solar occultation, limb infrared radiometry, and gas filter correlation radiometry techniques provided significant science data, so they are emphasized in this review.

Remsberg, Ellis E.↗

How to Interactively Operate the Global Hawk UAS NOAA/NASA ENSO Payload, from Your Armchair, Five Thousand Kilometers Away

This paper will describe the information technologies developed by NASA and NOAA for the February 2016 Sensing Hazards with Operational Unmanned Technology (SHOUT) El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Campaign. The air vehicle is a NASA Global Hawk UAS, with a primary payload of four instruments, two developed by NASA, two developed by NOAA. The aircraft is based at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California. The payload components are remotely operated by scientists at various facilities, and the data collected downloaded over satellite links in real time for analysis and collaboration. NOAA: Advanced Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System (AVAPS), developed by NCAR, which deploys dozens of dropsondes at altitudes up to 65,000 ft to collect high vertical resolution measurements of the temperature, pressure, relative humidity, and wind speed and direction. NASA: High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP), a radar designed to examine the factors of storm intensity: formation, structure and intensification. NOAA: O3 Photometer (UAS-O3), designed specifically for autonomous, precise, and accurate O3 measurements in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UT/LS). NASA JPL: High Altitude MMIC Sounding Radiometer (HAMSR), an atmospheric microwave temperature and humidity sounder instrument that looks at the microwave spectrum.

Southern Oscilliation↗

Interpretation of Vector Electric Field Measurements of Bursty Langmuir Waves in the Cusp

An analysis of auroral Langmuir waves in the cusp observed by two high-frequency electric field instruments on the TRICE high-flyer sounding rocket shows many examples of Langmuir wave bursts modulated at approximately 10 kHz. Previous studies have explained these and similar observations as the result of beating between waves with very close frequencies near the Langmuir cutoff, resulting from either wave-wave interactions or independent linear excitations. The unique three-dimensional (3-D) data set provided by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center TAEFWD instrument shows that up to 25% of waveforms selected from the most intense bursts exhibit anisotropic modulations, i.e., the beat nulls and peaks are not aligned in time across the three perpendicular electric field components. Modulations of this type arise when superposed wave normal modes possess differing polarizations, and simulations using wave modes calculated with the J-WHAMP numerical dispersion code show (1) that waves with differing polarizations can exist in conditions like those observed by TRICE-High and (2) that superpositions of such waves can produce anisotropic modulation. Fourier analysis of the 3-D waveform data suggests that both linear and elliptically polarized waves are present near the Langmuir cutoff at these times. These observations illustrate how 3-D measurements can give valuable insight into the nature of wave interactions in the auroral plasma environment.

Dombrowski, M. P.↗

Atmospheric Ionizing Radiation (AIR) Project Review

The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement (NCRP) and the National Academy of Science (NAS) established that the uncertainty in the data and models associated with the high-altitude radiation environment could and should be reduced. In response, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML) created the Atmospheric Ionizing Radiation (AIR) Project under the auspices of the High Speed Research (HSR) Program Office at the Langley Research Center. NASA's HSR Program was developed to address the potential of a second-generation supersonic transport. A critical element focussed on the environmental issues, including the threat to crew and passengers posed by atmospheric radiation. Various international investigators were solicited to contribute instruments to fly on an ER-2 aircraft at altitudes similar to those proposed for the High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT). A list of participating investigators, their institutions, and instruments with quantities measured is presented. The flight series took place at solar minimum (radiation maximum) with northern, southern, and east/west flights. The investigators analyzed their data and presented preliminary results at the AIR Workshop in March, 1998. A review of these results are included.

Singleterry, R. C., Jr.↗

Laser velocimetry measurements in non-isothermal CVD systems

Researchers at the NASA Langley Research Center are applying laser velocimetry (LV) techniques to characterize the fluid dynamics of non-isothermal flows inside fused silica chambers designed for chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Experimental issues involved in the application of LV techniques to this task include thermophoretic effects on the LV seed particles, seeding the hazardous gases, index of refraction gradients in the flow field and surrounding media, optical access, relatively low flow velocities, and analysis and presentation of sparse data. An overview of the practical difficulties these issues represent to the use of laser velocimetry instrumentation for CVD applications is given. A fundamental limitation on the application of LV techniques in non-isothermal systems is addressed which involves a measurement bias due to the presence of thermal gradients. This bias results from thermophoretic effects which cause seed particle trajectories to deviate from gas streamlines. Data from a research CVD reactor are presented which indicate that current models for the interaction of forces such as Stokes drag, inertia, gravity, and thermophoresis are not adequate to predict thermophoretic effects on particle-based velocimetry measurements in arbitrary flow configurations.

Johnson, E. J.↗

Coherence Analysis of the Space Launch System using Unsteady Pressure Sensitive Paint

Transonic buffet during atmospheric ascent is a major source of unsteady loading on launch vehicles that, in the past, has led to structural failures. Thus, determining accurate buffet forcing functions (BFFs) to properly predict the vehicle response to buffet is of vital importance in launch vehicle design. The state of the art for obtaining the BFFs relies on wind-tunnel tests where the fluctuating pressures are measured by pressure transducers (PTs) at sparse locations on a rigid, geometrically-scaled buffet model. To compute the BFFs, the outer mold line (OML) of the vehicle is mapped onto contiguous panels centered at the location of the PTs and the measured fluctuating pressures are integrated over the panels’ areas. To mitigate conservatism due to the assumption that the measured buffet pressures act in phase across each panel, coherence factors are applied, effectively reducing the integration areas and, therefore, the buffet forces. For coherence factors to provide the proper level of BFF attenuation, accurate knowledge of the spatial and temporal correlation of the buffet pressures is paramount. Unfortunately, even with hundreds of unsteady pressure transducers instrumenting the models, compromises must be made on the spatial resolution of the PTs. Typically, the PT layout aims at resolving the pressure correlation along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, assuming that coherent structures propagate mostly in the longitudinal direction. As a result, the distribution of azimuthal/cross-stream correlation is not well known and its impact on the estimated BFFs is often neglected. To fill this and other knowledge gaps, extremely high spatial-resolution uPSP data were collected for three different production-design configurations of the Space Launch System in the NASA Ames Research Center Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel 11-Foot Transonic Wind Tunnel. Specifically, two cargo configurations, the Block 1 and Block 1B, and one crew configuration, the Block 1B crew, were surveyed at resolutions ranging from 600,000 to over 1 million uPSP measurement locations. To shed light on the temporal and spectral behavior of are presented. Several OML regions and flow features of interest are investigated, from theexpansion/shock on the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, to the terminal shock environment on the core stage, and the Strouhal shedding behind the boosters forward attach. The sensitivity of these environments to the vehicle attitude is examined. Furthermore, for selected panels,coherence factors that accurately capture the azimuthal coherence distribution of the buffetpressures are derived and their impact on the estimated BFFs is discussed. Finally, distributions of the local convection velocity and cross spectrum phase are presented.

buffet↗

Prospects of the ICESat-2 Laser Altimetry Mission for Savanna Ecosystem Structural Studies Based on Airborne Simulation Data

The next planned spaceborne lidar mission is the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite 2 (ICESat-2), which will use the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) sensor, a photon counting technique. To pre-validate the capability of this mission for studying three dimensional vegetation structure in savannas, we assessed the potential of the measurement approach to estimate canopy height in an oak savanna landscape. We used data from the Multiple Altimeter Beam Experimental Lidar (MABEL), an airborne photon counting lidar sensor developed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. ATLAS-like data was generated using the MATLAS simulator, which adjusts MABEL data's detected number of signal and noise photons to that expected from the ATLAS instrument. Transects flown over the Tejon ranch conservancy in Kern County, California, USA were used for this work. For each transect we chose to use data from the near infrared channel that had the highest number of photons. We segmented each transect into 50 m, 25 m and 14 m long blocks and aggregated the photons in each block into a histogram based on their elevation values. We then used an automated algorithm to identify cut off points where the cumulative density of photons from the highest elevation indicates the presence of the canopy top and likewise where such cumulative density from the lowest elevation indicates the mean terrain elevation. MABEL derived height metrics were moderately correlated to discrete return lidar (DRL) derived height metrics r(sub 2) and RMSE values ranging from 0.60 to 0.73 and 2.9 m to 4.4 m respectively) but MATLAS simulation resulted in more modest correlations with DRL indices r(sub 2) ranging from 0.5 to 0.64 and RMSE from 3.6 m to 4.6 m). Simulations also indicated that the expected number of signal photons from ATLAS will be substantially lower, a situation that reduces canopy height estimation precision especially in areas of low density vegetation cover. On the basis of the simulated data, there is reason to believe that the ability of ICESat-2 to estimate height in savannas will be comparable to the original ICESat mission although the respective sensors have different measurement principles.

Gwenzi, David↗

A Procedure to Correct the Historical Atmospheric Longwave Irradiance Data When the World Reference Is Established with Respect to the International System of Units

Historical and traceable atmospheric longwave irradiance data sets with traceability to the International System of units (SI) are essential for renewable energy and atmospheric science research and applications. To date, all pyrgeometers used to measure the irradiance are traceable to the interim World InfraRed Standard Group (WISG) not to SI units. In 2013 the Absolute Cavity Pyrgeometer (ACP), [Reda et al., 2012] was developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to measure the atmospheric longwave irradiance. The ACP has been compared against the InfraRed Integrating Sphere (IRIS) developed by the Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos/World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC) [J. Grobner, 2012]. ACP and IRIS are absolute instruments traceable to SI units through the International Temperature Scale ITS-90. Results of six comparisons between ACP and IRIS at different location have shown that the irradiance measured by WISG pyrgeometers is underestimating clear-sky atmospheric longwave irradiance by 2 to 6 W/m 2 [Grobner et al., 2014]. Therefore, once the world reference is established with traceability to SI units the WISG would be corrected then used to calibrate field pyrgeometers with traceability to SI units. The described method below is used to correct the historical atmospheric longwave irradiance data sets in anticipation of the WISG scale change.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

A new Mars radiation environment model with visualization

A new model for the radiation environment to be found on the planet Mars due to Galactic Cosmic Rays (OCR) has been developed at the NASA Langley Research Center. Solar modulated primary particles rescaled for Mars conditions are transported through the Martian atmosphere, with temporal properties modeled with variable timescales, down to the surface, with altitude and backscattering patterns taken into account. The Martian atmosphere has been modeled by using the Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model--version 2001 (Mars-GRAM 2001). The altitude to compute the atmospheric thickness profile has been determined by using a model for the topography based on the data provided by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) instrument on board the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft. The Mars surface composition has been modeled based on averages over the measurements obtained from orbiting spacecraft and at various landing sites, taking into account the possible volatile inventory (e.g., CO2 ice, H2O ice) along with its time variation throughout the Martian year. Particle transport has been performed with the HZETRN heavy ion code. The Mars Radiation Environment Model has been made available worldwide through the Space Ionizing Radiation Effects and Shielding Tools (SIREST) website, a project of NASA Langley Research Center. c2004 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

NASA Center LaRC↗

Enhancing Discoverability and Management of Atmospheric Data at Scale: Solutions from the ARM Data Center

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) is a multi-laboratory and multi-institutional U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science National User Facility. The ARM Data Center (ADC), located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, collects, archives, and shares vast atmospheric data crucial for climate research. The ADC manages over 7 PB of data from 460 instruments worldwide, processing it into more than 11,000 diverse data products using the Network Common Data Form (NetCDF) for machine-independent accessibility. The primary challenge addressed in this paper is the efficient management and distribution of vast and diverse datasets essential for the climate research community, enhancing accessibility through advanced tools like Data Discovery. The ADC has developed advanced infrastructure and software architecture to handle the continuous influx of heterogeneous data to enhance data discoverability, resulting in increased scientific collaboration. In 2023, users from over 34 countries downloaded and utilized ARM data, resulting in 1,455 publications. The ADC’s efforts have significantly improved the discoverability and usability of atmospheric data, fostering extensive scientific research and collaboration. This paper details the solutions implemented by the ADC team for efficient data discovery and distribution, and it demonstrates ARM’s capability of staging processed data for scientific analysis.

Shah, Chirag [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000203145737)↗

Observational data from uncrewed systems over Southern Great Plains

Uncrewed Systems (UxS), including uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and tethered balloon/kite systems (TBS), are significantly expanding observational capabilities in atmospheric science. Rapid adaptation of these platforms and the advancement of miniaturized instruments have resulted in an expanding number of data sets captured under various environmental conditions by the Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility. In 2021, observational data collected using ARM UxS platforms, including seven TigerShark UAS flights and 133 tethered balloon system (TBS) flights, were archived by the ARM Data Center and made publicly available to the user community https://adc.arm.gov/discovery/#/results/s::sgp*U3 and https://adc.arm.gov/discovery/#/results/s::sgp*tbs. These data streams provide new perspectives on spatial variability of atmospheric and surface parameters, helping to address critical science questions in Earth system science research. This manuscript describes the DOE UAS/TBS datasets, including information on the acquisition, collection, and quality control processes, and highlights the potential scientific contributions using UAS and TBS platforms.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Airborne measurements of launch vehicle effluent of STS-2 launch on November 12, 1981 at Cape Canaveral, Florida

The second Space Shuttle (STS-2) was launched from the John F. Kennedy Space Center at 1010 EST on November 12, 1981. An instrumented light airplane was used to measure the emitted concentration of Shuttle exhaust products produced during launch. The airplane accomplished 31 passes through and under the exhaust cloud in the 1 hr 45 min immediately following the launch. Measurements included the following: (1) particulate data in the form of a light scattering coefficient obtained from an integrating nephelometer, (2) particulate concentrations and mass concentrations obtained from a spectrometer probe, (3) gaseous HCl and total HCl concentrations obtained from a gas-filter-correlation instrument and a chemiluminescent instrument, respectively, and (4) outside-air temperature and dew-point temperature. These data are presented along with time, altitude, and position for each cloud pass. These data are within the range of values observed during similar measurements made during the first Space Shuttle launch on April 12, 1981.

Maddrea, G. L., Jr.↗

X-29A technology demonstrator flight test program overview

An overview of the X-29A functional flight program and concept evaluation program is presented, including some of the unique and different preparations for the first flight. Included are a discussion of the many organizational responsibilities and a description of the program management structure for the test team. Also discussed are preflight ground, flight functional envelope expansion, and flight research test objectives and qualitive results to date for both a limited-envelope flight control system and an expanded-envelope system. The aircraft, including the instrumentation system and measurements, is described. In addition, a discussion is included regarding the use of major support facilities, such as ground and flight simulators, the NASA Western Aeronautical Test Range and mission control center, and the Grumman automated telemetry station. An overview of the associated real-time and postflight batch data processing software approaches is presented. The use of hardware-in-the-loop simulation for independent verification and validation and mission planning and practice is discussed. Also included is a description of the flight-readiness review, the airworthiness and flight safety review, work scheduling, technical briefings, and preflight and postflight crew briefings. The configuration control process used on the X-29A program is described, and its relationship to both simulation and aircraft operations is discussed. An X-29A schedule overview is presented with an outline of a proposed follow-on program.

Sefic, W. J.↗

An Investigation of Magneto-Optical Effects

We exhibit the effects of Faraday rotation on the direction of the transverse component of the magnetic field in a simple, symmetric sunspot. A set of 35 polarization filtergrams of NOAA active region 4662 (June 9, 1985) were obtained with the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) vector magnetograph. These filtergrams measured the Stokes I, Q, U, and V intensities averaged over the instrument's filter bandpass (0.0125 nm) for wavelengths from 0.017 nm in the red wing to 0.017 nm in the blue wing of the Lambda525.22 nm spectral line in steps of 0.001 nm. These data were used to derive the azimuth phi of the vector field as a function of wavelength over the field of view of the sunspot. We interpret the observed variations of this azimuth with wavelength as the effects of Faraday rotation and verify this interpretation by comparing these variations with those predicted from magneto-optical theory. In the theoretical calculations we use the line-profile parameters and magnetic field strength derived in previous work by Balasubramaniam and West (Astrophys. J 382, p. 699, 1991).

Adams, Mitzi L.↗

The New Cloud Absorption Radiometer (CAR) Software: One Model for NASA Remote Sensing Virtual Instruments

The Cloud Absorption Radiometer (CAR) instrument has been the most frequently used airborne instrument built in-house at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, having flown scientific research missions on-board various aircraft to many locations in the United States, Azores, Brazil, and Kuwait since 1983. The CAR instrument is capable of measuring scattered light by clouds in fourteen spectral bands in UV, visible and near-infrared region. This document describes the control, data acquisition, display, and file storage software for the new version of CAR. This software completely replaces the prior CAR Data System and Control Panel with a compact and robust virtual instrument computer interface. Additionally, the instrument is now usable for the first time for taking data in an off-aircraft mode. The new instrument is controlled via a LabVIEW v5. 1.1-developed software interface that utilizes, (1) serial port writes to write commands to the controller module of the instrument, and (2) serial port reads to acquire data from the controller module of the instrument. Step-by-step operational procedures are provided in this document. A suite of other software programs has been developed to complement the actual CAR virtual instrument. These programs include: (1) a simulator mode that allows pretesting of new features that might be added in the future, as well as demonstrations to CAR customers, and development at times when the instrument/hardware is off-location, and (2) a post-experiment data viewer that can be used to view all segments of individual data cycles and to locate positions where 'start' and stop' byte sequences were incorrectly formulated by the instrument controller. The CAR software described here is expected to be the basis for CAR operation for many missions and many years to come.

Roth, Don J.↗