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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2012

High Spatial Resolution Studies of Epithermal Neutron Emission from the Lunar Poles: Constraints on Hydrogen Mobility

The data from the collimated sensors of the LEND instrument are shown to be of exceptionally high quality. Counting uncertainties are about 0.3% relative and are shown to be the only significant source of random error, thus conclusions based on small differences in count rates are valid. By comparison with the topography of Shoemaker crater, the spatial resolution of the instrument is shown to be consistent with the design value of 5 km for the radius of the circle over which half the counts from the lunar surface would be determined. The observed epithermal-neutron suppression factor due to the hydrogen deposit in Shoemaker crater of 0.25 plus or minus 0.04 cps is consistent with the collimated field-of-view rate of 1.7 cps estimated by Mitrofanov et al. (2010a). The statistical significance of the neutron suppressed regions (NSRs) relative to the larger surrounding polar region is demonstrated, and it is shown that they are not closely related to the permanently shadowed regions. There is a significant increase in H content in the polar regions independent of the H content of the NSRs. The non-NSR H content increases directly with latitude, and the rate of increase is virtually identical at both poles. There is little or no increase with latitude outside the polar region. Various mechanisms to explain this steep increase in the non-NSR polar H with latitude are investigated, and it is suggested that thermal volatilization is responsible for the increase because it is minimized at the low surface temperatures close to the poles.

neutron↗
NASA NTRS1985

Nondispersive X-ray spectroscopy and imaging of plasmas using a charge-coupled device

A virtual-phase charge-coupled device (CCD) was used to obtain pinhole images and X-ray spectra of laser-produced, solid target plasmas. With the CCD used in the single-photon counting mode, the spectrum in the energy range 2-10 keV was obtained without a dispersive element. Typical spectra reveal two distinct temperatures: a cold component of approximately 200 eV and a hot component of approximately 5 keV. Also, multiline spectra comprising characteristic line emission (K alpha, K beta) from a multilayer target bombarded by beta-rays were recorded using a three-phase CCD. The results demonstrate the potential of CCDs as imaging spectrometers with application in space, laboratory, and fusion-plasma research.

Marsh, K.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Large-Scale Liquid Hydrogen Testing of Variable Density Multilayer Insulation with a Foam Substrate

The multipurpose hydrogen test bed (MHTB), with an 18-cu m liquid hydrogen tank, was used to evaluate a combination foam/multilayer combination insulation (MLI) concept. The foam element (Isofoam SS-1171) insulates during ground hold/ascent flight, and allowed a dry nitrogen purge as opposed to the more complex/heavy helium purge subsystem normally required. The 45-layer MLI was designed for an on-orbit storage period of 45 days. Unique WI features include a variable layer density, larger but fewer double-aluminized Mylar perforations for ascent to orbit venting, and a commercially established roll-wrap installation process that reduced assembly man-hours and resulted in a roust, virtually seamless MLI. Insulation performance was measured during three test series. The spray-on foam insulation (SOFI) successfully prevented purge gas liquefaction within the MLI and resulted in the expected ground hold heat leak of 63 W/sq m. The orbit hold tests resulted in heat leaks of 0.085 and 0.22 W/sq m with warm boundary temperatures of 164 and 305 K, respectively. Compared to the best previously measured performance with a traditional MLI system, a 41-percent heat leak reduction with 25 fewer MLI layers was achieved. The MHTB MLI heat leak is half that calculated for a constant layer density MLI.

Martin, J. J.↗
DOE OSTI2024

DASSH-F: Subchannel Based Thermal Analysis

The DASSH thermal analysis code is designed to rapidly allow a reactor design engineer to obtain flow rates requirements that satisfy peak temperature constraints in the domain. The advantage of using DASSH over a hand calculation is that it has a more rigorous treatment of the pin power distribution and coolant heat transfer within an assembly and between assemblies. The advantage of using DASSH over a conventional 3D subchannel code or a computational fluid dynamics code (CFD) is that it can obtain the desired solution in a matter of minutes in serial with minor computer memory needs. The DASSH methodology is virtually identical to SUPERENERGY-2 with additional functionalities taken from follow on work to SUPERENERGY-2 done at ANL in the 1980s. DASSH today is an integral component of the Argonne Fast Reactor analysis suite for reactor design work. DASSH obtains the power distribution from a coupled neutron-gamma heating calculation in GAMSOR (including DIF3D) at each time point of a companion fuel cycle analysis calculation with REBUS. The domain in DASSH assumes a hexagonal grid typical for fast reactors with much of the geometry information taken from the DIF3D model. DASSH assumes the assemblies that are loaded into each grid position are ducted to control the coolant flow. Considerable detail is given on the subchannel formulation of DASSH in this document. Much of the formulation and design of the code builds upon research done by previous authors with little new investigation. Thus the decisions made in developing the subchannel model used in DASSH have their origins over 50 years ago. Much of the heat transfer methodology in DASSH is built upon correlations for both the coolant mixing and heat transfer coefficients for pins and ducts. DASSH is thus not a rigorous treatment of a given problem, but a rapid assessment of the temperature field that has known limitations with respect to an experimental measurement or CFD calculation. The DASSH input and output are detailed along with usage of the software. The DASSH output provides tables of evaluated material properties and key coolant and pin temperature results. DASSH can create Python scripts that generate domain summary pictures. DASSH can also generate assembly temperature maps and VTK output files which allow the DASSH solution to be visualized. As the primary purpose of the DASSH software is to compute the coolant and fuel pin temperature distribution for a given model of a reactor, much of the output focus is giving the user quick summary tables needed to assess the performance of a given orifice flow specification. The present version of DASSH has a crude orifice search capability and an efficient orifice flow search capability. The flow search tries to meet user specified constraints for 1) peak 2-sigma clad midwall temperature, 2) peak coolant temperature, and 3) desired bulk outlet temperature. There are many development shortcomings in DASSH detailed in this document, but this version is functional for modern analysis needs. This document serves as the manual for the Fortran based DASSH software that was developed to replace the Python version of DASSH developed as part of the VTR program.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
NASA NTRS2010

Excavator Design Validation

The Excavator Design Validation tool verifies excavator designs by automatically generating control systems and modeling their performance in an accurate simulation of their expected environment. Part of this software design includes interfacing with human operations that can be included in simulation-based studies and validation. This is essential for assessing productivity, versatility, and reliability. This software combines automatic control system generation from CAD (computer-aided design) models, rapid validation of complex mechanism designs, and detailed models of the environment including soil, dust, temperature, remote supervision, and communication latency to create a system of high value. Unique algorithms have been created for controlling and simulating complex robotic mechanisms automatically from just a CAD description. These algorithms are implemented as a commercial cross-platform C++ software toolkit that is configurable using the Extensible Markup Language (XML). The algorithms work with virtually any mobile robotic mechanisms using module descriptions that adhere to the XML standard. In addition, high-fidelity, real-time physics-based simulation algorithms have also been developed that include models of internal forces and the forces produced when a mechanism interacts with the outside world. This capability is combined with an innovative organization for simulation algorithms, new regolith simulation methods, and a unique control and study architecture to make powerful tools with the potential to transform the way NASA verifies and compares excavator designs. Energid's Actin software has been leveraged for this design validation. The architecture includes parametric and Monte Carlo studies tailored for validation of excavator designs and their control by remote human operators. It also includes the ability to interface with third-party software and human-input devices. Two types of simulation models have been adapted: high-fidelity discrete element models and fast analytical models. By using the first to establish parameters for the second, a system has been created that can be executed in real time, or faster than real time, on a desktop PC. This allows Monte Carlo simulations to be performed on a computer platform available to all researchers, and it allows human interaction to be included in a real-time simulation process. Metrics on excavator performance are established that work with the simulation architecture. Both static and dynamic metrics are included.

Pholsiri, Chalongrath↗
NASA NTRS1987

The onset of chromospheric activity among the A- and F- type stars

IUE observations of C II lambda1335 and C IV lambda1549 and ground-based observations of He I lambda5876 have previously discovered intense levels of chromospheric activity among early F type stars. Virtually all F dwarfs show stronger chromospheric and transition region emission than do the cooler and more deeply convective dwarf stars like the Sun. The IUE spectra and those of He lambda5876 place the onset of stellar activity along the main sequence near a color B - V = 0.28, which corresponds approximately to spectral type FO and an effective temperature of 7300 K. However, existing X-ray observations of A and F stars suggest that coronal activity may reach a peak blueward of this high temperature boundary at B - V = 0.28 before vanishing among the early and mid A-type stars. Discussed are preliminary results of a new effort to refine the location of the high temperature boundary to chromospheric activity among A- and F- type stars, making use of low dispersion short-wavelength spectra from the IUE archives from which the strengths of C IV, C II, and Lyman alpha emission have been measured.

Simon, Theodore↗
NASA NTRS1993

Aircraft observations of the vertical structure of stratiform precipitation relevant to microwave radiative transfer

The retrieval of rainfall intensity over the oceans from passive microwave observations is based on a radiative transfer model. Direct rainfall observations of oceanic rainfall are virtually nonexistent making validation of the retrievals extremely difficult. Observations of the model assumptions provide an alternative approach for improving and developing confidence in the rainfall retrievals. In the winter of 1983, the NASA CV-990 aircraft was equipped with a payload suitable for examining several of the model assumptions. The payload included microwave and infrared radiometers, mirror hygrometers, temperature probes, and PMS probes. On two occasions the aircraft ascended on a spiral track through stratiform precipitation providing an opportunity to study the atmospheric parameters. The assumptions concerning liquid hydrometeors, water vapor, lapse rate, and nonprecipitating clouds were studied. Model assumptions seem to be supported by these observations.

Chang, A. T. C.↗
NASA NTRS1993

The stability of hibonite and other aluminous phases in silicate melts: Implications for the origin of hibonite-bearing inclusions

Phase fields in which hibonite (Hib) and silicate melt coexist with spinel (Sp), CaAl4O7 (CA2), gehlenitic melilite (Mel), anorthite (An), or corundum (Cor) in the system CaO-MgO-Al203-SiO2-TiO2 (CMAST) were determined and activity models developed for Mel and Hib solid solutions. Experimentally determined partition coefficients for Ti between Hib and coexisting melt, D sub t, vary from 0.8 to 2.1 and generally decrease with increasing TiO2 content in the liquid (L). Based on Ti partioning between Hib and melt, bulk inclusion compositions and Hib-saturated liquid use phase diagrams, the Hib in Fluffy Type A inclusions (FTA's) from Allende and at least some of the Hib from Hib-rich inclusions is relict; much of the Hib from Hib-glass spherules probably crystallized from a melt under nonequilibrium conditions. Bulk compositions for all of these Ca-Al-rich inclusions (CAI's) are consistent with an origin as Mel + Hib + Sp + perovskite (Pv) proto-inclusions in which Mel was partially altered. In some cases, the proto-inclusion was partially or completely melted with vaporization occurring over a period of time sufficient to remove any Na introduced by the alteration process but frequently insufficient to dissolve all of the original hibonite. If equilibration temperatures based on Hib-bearing CAI's reflect condensation in a cooling gas of solar composition, then Hib + Cor condensed at approximately 1260 C (referenced to 10 exp -3 atm) and Hib + Sp + Mel at approximately 1215 +/- 10 C. Simple thermochemical models for the substitution of trace elements into the Ca-site of meteoritic Hib suggest that virtually all Eu is divalent in early condensate Hibs but that Eu(2+)/Eu(3+) decreases by a factor of 20 or more during the course of condensation, primarily because the ratio is proportional to the partial pressure of Al, which decreases dramatically as aluminous phases condense. The relative sizes of Eu and Yb anomalies in meteoritic Hibs and CAI's may be influenced by this effect.

Beckett, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Hydrogen Permeability of a Polymer Based Composite Tank Material Under Tetra-Axial Strain

In order to increase the performance of future expendable and reusable launch vehicles and reduce per-pound payload launch costs, weight reductions have been sought in vehicle components. Historically, the cryogenic propellant tanks for launch vehicles have been constructed from metal. These are some of the largest structural components in the vehicle and contribute significantly to the vehicles total dry weight. A successful replacement material will be conformable, have a high strength to weight ratio, and have a low gas-permeability to the cryogens being stored, i.e., oxygen and hydrogen. Polymer-based composites are likely candidates to fill this role. Polymer and polymer-based composites in general are known to have acceptable gas permeation properties in their as-cured state.1 The use of polymer-based composites for this application has been proposed for some time.2 Some successes have been reported with oxygen3, but other than the DC-XA experience, those with hydrogen have been limited. The primary reason for this has been the small molecular diameter of hydrogen, the lower temperatures of the liquid, and that the composite materials examined to date have all been susceptible to microcrack formation in response to the thermal-mechanical cycles experienced in the use-environment. There have been numerous accounts of composite materials with reported acceptable resistance to the formation of microcracks when exposed to various mechanical and/or thermal cycles. However, virtually all of these studies have employed uniaxial loads and there has been no discussion or empirical evidence pertaining to how these loads relate to the biaxial state of stress in the material in its use environment. Furthermore, many of these studies have suffered from a lack of instrument sensitivity in detecting hydrogen permeability, no standards, insufficient documentation of test conditions, testing of cycled materials in their unload state, and/or false assumptions about the nature of the microcracks in the material. This paper documents the results of hydrogen permeability testing on a Bismaleimide (BMI) based graphite fiber composite material under a variety of tetra-axial strain states.

Stokes, Eric H.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Characterization of Polar Stratospheric Clouds With Spaceborne Lidar: CALIPSO and the 2006 Antarctic Season

The role of polar stratospheric clouds in polar ozone loss has been well documented. The CALIPSO satellite mission offers a new opportunity to characterize PSCs on spatial and temporal scales previously unavailable. A PSC detection algorithm based on a single wavelength threshold approach has been developed for CALIPSO. The method appears to accurately detect PSCs of all opacities, including tenuous clouds, with a very low rate of false positives and few missed clouds. We applied the algorithm to CALIPSO data acquired during the 2006 Antarctic winter season from 13 June through 31 October. The spatial and temporal distribution of CALIPSO PSC observations is illustrated with weekly maps of PSC occurrence. The evolution of the 2006 PSC season is depicted by time series of daily PSC frequency as a function of altitude. Comparisons with virtual solar occultation data indicate that CALIPSO provides a different view of the PSC season than attained with previous solar occultation satellites. Measurement-based time series of PSC areal coverage and vertically-integrated PSC volume are computed from the CALIPSO data. The observed area covered with PSCs is significantly smaller than would be inferred from a temperature-based proxy such as TNAT but is similar in magnitude to that inferred from TSTS. The potential of CALIPSO measurements for investigating PSC microphysics is illustrated using combinations of lidar backscatter coefficient and volume depolarization to infer composition for two CALIPSO PSC scenes.

Pitts, Michael C.↗
NASA NTRS2017

NASA's Bio-Inspired Acoustic Absorber Concept

Transportation noise pollutes our worlds cities, suburbs, parks, and wilderness areas. NASAs fundamental research in aviation acoustics is helping to find innovative solutions to this multifaceted problem. NASA is learning from nature to develop the next generation of quiet aircraft.The number of road vehicles and airplanes has roughly tripled since the 1960s. Transportation noise is audible in nearly all the counties across the US. Noise can damage your hearing, raise your heart rate and blood pressure, disrupt your sleep, and make communication difficult. Noise pollution threatens wildlife when it prevents animals from hearing prey, predators, and mates. Noise regulations help drive industry to develop quieter aircraft. Noise standards for aircraft have been developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization and adopted by the US Federal Aviation Administration. The US National Park Service is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to try to balance the demand for access to the parks and wilderness areas with preservation of the natural soundscape. NASA is helping by conceptualizing quieter, more efficient aircraft of the future and performing the fundamental research to make these concepts a reality someday. Recently, NASA has developed synthetic structures that can absorb sound well over a wide frequency range, and particularly below 1000 Hz, and which mimic the acoustic performance of bundles of natural reeds. We are adapting these structures to control noise on aircraft, and spacecraft. This technology might be used in many other industrial or architectural applications where acoustic absorbers have tight constraints on weight and thickness, and may be exposed to high temperatures or liquids. Information about this technology is being made available through reports and presentations available through the NASA Technical Report Server, http:ntrs.nasa.gov. Organizations who would like to collaborate with NASA or commercialize NASAs technology are encouraged to contact the NASA Glenn Technology Transfer Office, https:technology.grc.nasa.gov. The NASA Glenn Office of Education https:www.nasa.govcentersglenneducationindex.html and the NASA Glenn Virtual Interchange for Nature-Inspired Exploration https:www.grc.nasa.govvine are also helping to make research like this accessible to the public and students of all ages.

Acoustics↗
DOE OSTI2026

DASSH-F: Subchannel Based Thermal Analysis

The DASSH thermal analysis code is designed to rapidly allow a reactor design engineer to obtain flow rates requirements that satisfy peak temperature constraints in the domain. The advantage of using DASSH over a hand calculation is that it has a more rigorous treatment of the pin power distribution and coolant heat transfer within an assembly and between assemblies. The advantage of using DASSH over a conventional 3D subchannel code or a computational fluid dynamics code (CFD) is that it can obtain the desired solution in a matter of minutes in serial with minor computer memory needs. The DASSH methodology for pin lattice models is virtually identical to SUPERENERGY-2 with additional functionalities taken from follow on work to SUPERENERGY-2 done at ANL in the 1980s. DASSH today is an integral component of the Argonne Fast Reactor analysis suite for reactor design work. DASSH obtains the power distribution from a coupled neutron-gamma heating calculation in GAMSOR (including DIF3D) at each time point of a companion fuel cycle analysis calculation with REBUS. The domain in DASSH assumes a hexagonal grid typical for fast reactors with much of the geometry information taken from the DIF3D model. DASSH assumes the assemblies that are loaded into each grid position are ducted to control the coolant flow. The user can alternatively provide their own geometry and power profile instead of inheriting it from DIF3D. Considerable detail is given on the subchannel formulation of DASSH in this document. Much of the formulation and design of the code builds upon research done by previous authors with little new investigation. Thus the decisions made in developing the subchannel model used in DASSH have their origins over 50 years ago. Much of the heat transfer methodology in DASSH is built upon correlations for both the coolant mixing and heat transfer coefficients for pins and ducts. DASSH is thus not a rigorous treatment of a given problem, but a rapid assessment of the temperature field that has known limitations with respect to an experimental measurement or CFD calculation. The DASSH input and output are detailed along with usage of the software. The DASSH output provides tables of evaluated material properties and key coolant and pin temperature results. DASSH can create Python scripts that generate domain summary pictures. DASSH can also generate assembly temperature maps and VTK output files which allow the DASSH solution to be visualized. As the primary purpose of the DASSH software is to compute the coolant and fuel pin temperature distribution for a given model of a reactor, much of the output focus is giving the user quick summary tables needed to assess the performance of a given orifice flow specification. The present version of DASSH has a crude orifice search capability and a sufficient orifice flow search capability. The flow search tries to meet user specified constraints for 1) peak 2-sigma clad temperature, 2) peak coolant temperature, and 3) desired bulk outlet temperature. This document serves as the manual for the Fortran based DASSH software that was developed to replace the Python version of DASSH developed as part of the VTR program.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2026

IRMA

IRMA (In)elastic Representation of Materials As S(α,β) evaluations IRMA turns one phonon model into three outputs that usually require three separate tool chains: an evaluated nuclear-data file, predicted neutron-scattering spectra, and scattering kernels for Monte Carlo transport. The three outputs draw on a single, consistent description of the material, so the evaluation, the spectroscopy that can validate it, and the transport that uses it always agree about the physics. Nuclear data. IRMA writes ENDF-6 File 7 thermal scattering evaluations on automatically constructed (α, β) grids. This part reimplements and generalizes NJOY's LEAPR: the classic kernels reproduce freshly generated NJOY2016 tapes digit for digit and published reference tapes to about 1e-4, and the generalized paths add the exact coherent one-phonon term, anisotropic Debye-Waller tensors, coherent elastic for arbitrary crystals, and a per-species partition for polyatomic materials. The tapes feed NJOY, AMPX, FUDGE, and every transport code downstream of them. Neutron spectroscopy. The irma.spectra forward model projects the same physics onto an instrument's kinematics and resolution: INS spectra for VISION and generic indirect geometries, and 2-D S(Q,E) powder maps for direct-geometry spectrometers, from a phonopy model or straight from a phonon DOS. It can be used to predict a proposed measurement before beam time; in analysis, it supplies the calculated single-scattering counterpart of a measured spectrum, from the same material description the evaluation was built from. Monte Carlo transport. The irma.ncrystal exporter writes per-temperature scattering kernels for the companion NCrystal plugin, so McStas, OpenMC, and other NCrystal-aware codes sample the same physics. The exported kernels carry the per-site anisotropic Debye-Waller tensors, keeping directional coherent-elastic physics that NCrystal's standard scalar treatment does not represent. With the same physics inside a transport code, an entire beamline becomes a virtual experiment: IRMA's end-to-end validation ran a custom McStas implementation of the ARCS spectrometer, assembled from the existing McVine and McStas models, against measured data. From a bare crystal structure. The irma mlip front end builds the phonon model itself: a structure file and a choice of potential are enough. Nine pretrained machine-learned interatomic potentials are supported, on a laptop CPU, with no first-principles calculation; an approximate phonon model for a new material costs minutes, not a DFT campaign, and the build emits prefilled inputs for all three outputs. The result is a good starting point rather than a finished evaluation: survey-quality physics with every parameter exposed for review. A converged atomistic calculation enters the same way, as a phonopy model, when higher fidelity is needed.

Ramic, Kemal [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)↗
DOE OSTI2024

EPCAPE-PT-LANL Measurements: Humidified Cavity Attenuated Phase Shift Spectroscopy

Coastal cities offer a unique environment for studying aerosol-cloud interactions and the effects of urban emissions on cloud properties. As part of the Eastern Pacific Cloud Aerosol Precipitation Experiment (EPCAPE), the Partitioning Thrust by Los Alamos National Laboratory (EPCAPE-PT-LANL) was conducted. Our campaign focused on measuring the optical and chemical properties of aerosols and their interactions within marine stratocumulus clouds in La Jolla, California. EPCAPE-PT-LANL enhances the primary goals of EPCAPE through innovative observations of vapor-phase transitions between aerosols and cloud droplets, the impact of black carbon on aerosol-cloud dynamics, and the effects of cloud processing on aerosol optical properties. Instrument: Humidified Cavity Attenuated Phase Shift Particulate Matter Single Scattering Albedo (H-CAPS-PMSSA, Aerodyne Inc) Data Notes: The scattering truncation correction was not applied to Bsca. The Bext needs no correction. Files: data_10sec_CAPS.csv, data_10min_CAPS.csv Header: - Bext_wet_CAPS_450nm[1/Mm]: Wet aerosol extinction coefficient measured at 450 nm by the CAPS, in inverse megameters (Mm⁻¹). - Bsca_wet_CAPS_450nm[1/Mm]: Wet aerosol scattering coefficient measured at 450 nm by the CAPS, in inverse megameters (Mm⁻¹). - Temp_wet_CAPS[K]: Temperature inside the wet CAPS measurement chamber, in Kelvin. - Bext_dry_CAPS_450nm[1/Mm]: Dry aerosol extinction coefficient measured at 450 nm by the CAPS, in inverse megameters (Mm⁻¹). - Bsca_dry_CAPS_450nm[1/Mm]: Dry aerosol scattering coefficient measured at 450 nm by the CAPS, in inverse megameters (Mm⁻¹). - Temp_dry_CAPS[K]: Temperature inside the dry CAPS measurement chamber, in Kelvin. - Wet_RH_preCAPS[%]: Relative humidity before entering the wet CAPS, in percent. - Wet_RH_postCAPS[%]: Relative humidity after exiting the wet CAPS, in percent. - Humidifier_RH_CAPS[%]: Relative humidity inside the humidifier used with the CAPS, in percent. - dualCAPS_inlet_RH[%]: Relative humidity at the inlet of the dual (wet/dry) CAPS setup, in percent. - Wet_Temp_preCAPS[C]: Temperature before entering the wet CAPS, in degrees Celsius. - Wet_Temp_postCAPS[C]: Temperature after exiting the wet CAPS, in degrees Celsius. - Humidifier_Temp[C]: Temperature inside the humidifier used with the CAPS, in degrees Celsius. - dualCAPS_inlet_Temp[C]: Temperature at the inlet of the dual (wet/dry) CAPS setup, in degrees Celsius. - Zero_dry_CAPS: 1 is a calibration check for the dry CAPS to ensure zero reading under filter air conditions. - Zero_wet_CAPS: 1 is a calibration check for the wet CAPS to ensure zero reading under filter air conditions. - CVI_Flag[bool]: A boolean flag indicating whether the Counterflow Virtual Impactor (CVI) was active (true) or inactive (false) during the measurement.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2000

Simulation and Experimental Measurements of Inductively Coupled CF4 and CF4/Ar Plasmas

The recently developed code SEMS (semiconductor equipment modeling software)is applied to the simulation of CF4 and CF4/Ar inductively coupled plasmas (ICP). This work builds upon the earlier nitrogen, transformer coupled plasma (TCP) SEMS research by demonstrating its accuracy for more complex reactive mixtures, moving closer to the realization of a virtual plasma reactor. Attention is given to the etching of and/or formation of carbonaceous films on the quartz dielectric window and diagnostic aperatures. The simulations are validated through comparisons with experimental measurements using FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) and UV absorption spectroscopy for CFx and SiFx neutral radicals, QMS (quadrupole mass spectrometry) for the ions, and Langmuir probe measurements of electron number density and temperature in an ICP GEC reference cell.

Hash, D. B.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Pulsar Polar Cap Heating and Surface Thermal X-ray Emission: Inverse Compton Radiation Pair Fronts - 2

We investigate the production of electron-positron pairs by inverse Compton scattered (ICS) photons above a pulsar polar cap (PC) and calculate surface heating by returning positrons. This paper is a continuation of our self-consistent treatment of acceleration, pair dynamics, and electric field screening above pulsar PCs. We calculate the altitude of the inverse Compton pair-formation fronts, the flux of returning positrons, and present the heating efficiencies and X-ray luminosities. We revise pulsar death lines implying cessation of pair formation, and present them in surface magnetic field-period space. We find that virtually all known radio pulsars are capable of producing pairs by resonant and nonresonant ICS photons radiated by particles accelerated above the PC in a pure star-centered dipole field, so that our ICS pair death line coincides with empirical radio pulsar death. Our calculations show that ICS pairs are able to screen the accelerating electric field only for high PC surface temperatures and magnetic fields. We argue that such screening at ICS pair fronts occurs locally, slowing but not turning off acceleration of particles until screening can occur at a curvature radiation (CR) pair front at higher altitude. In the case where no screening occurs above the PC surface, we anticipate that the pulsar gamma-ray luminosity will be a substantial fraction of its spin-down luminosity. The X-ray luminosity resulting from PC heating by ICS pair fronts is significantly lower than the PC heating luminosity from CR pair fronts, which dominates for most pulsars. PC heating from ICS pair fronts is highest in millisecond pulsars, which cannot produce CR pairs, and may account for observed thermal X-ray components in the spectra of these old pulsars.

Harding, Alice K.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Equivalence of airborne and ground-acquired wheat canopy temperatures

The relationship between airborne and ground-based measurements of soil and crop canopy temperatures is investigated for a partial crop canopy. Daily ground-based measurements using a wide-field-of-view radiometer oriented towards the nadir at a height of 1.5 m and airborne thermal imagery at two-week intervals were obtained throughout the entire growing season of a stand of wheat. When corrected for atmospheric effects, the airborne measurements were found to be virtually identical to ground-based measurements, with a regression line slope of 0.985, a standard deviation of 1.8 C and a correlation coefficient of 0.97.

Millard, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS1993

A modular, programmable measurement system for physiological and spaceflight applications

The NASA-Ames Sensors 2000! Program has developed a small, compact, modular, programmable, sensor signal conditioning and measurement system, initially targeted for Life Sciences Spaceflight Programs. The system consists of a twelve-slot, multi-layer, distributed function backplane, a digital microcontroller/memory subsystem, conditioned and isolated power supplies, and six application-specific, physiological signal conditioners. Each signal condition is capable of being programmed for gains, offsets, calibration and operate modes, and, in some cases, selectable outputs and functional modes. Presently, the system has the capability for measuring ECG, EMG, EEG, Temperature, Respiration, Pressure, Force, and Acceleration parameters, in physiological ranges. The measurement system makes heavy use of surface-mount packaging technology, resulting in plug in modules sized 125x55 mm. The complete 12-slot system is contained within a volume of 220x150x70mm. The system's capabilities extend well beyond the specific objectives of NASA programs. Indeed, the potential commercial uses of the technology are virtually limitless. In addition to applications in medical and biomedical sensing, the system might also be used in process control situations, in clinical or research environments, in general instrumentation systems, factory processing, or any other applications where high quality measurements are required.

Hines, John W.↗