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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 307 records · Page 17

Climatology of Global Precipitation Measurement Mission Precipitation Regimes and Implications for Global Estimates of Vertical Winds

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission Validation Network (VN) framework leverages over 118 ground-based polarimetric Doppler radars to validate a large subset of precipitation measurements and retrievals from the GPM Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR). Recently, GPM DPR reflectivity profiles within the VN have been classified according to their convective regime using unsupervised machine learning techniques. The archetypal regimes are stratiform, convective, mixed stratiform-convective (e.g., transition regions), and “other” (e.g., peripheral regions of light precipitation). Subcategories within these four primary regimes vary according to the characteristic depth of included reflectivity profiles, resulting in 12 main GPM DPR precipitation profile categories. Polarimetry of ground-based Doppler radars in the VN offers additional insights into the types of precipitation, while pairs of radars positioned near each other enable retrieval of vertical winds via dual-Doppler analysis. Geometrically matched to the DPR reflectivity profiles in the GPM VN, these ground-based data and retrievals contribute more detailed characterization of the distinct kinematic and microphysical structures associated with each of the 12 DPR precipitation regimes. DPR reflectivity profiles linked with wind in the VN are restricted to GPM overpasses of proximal radar pairs that allow dual-Doppler analysis. Although a limited subset of DPR profiles in the VN are matched with vertical motion, agreement between the reflectivity structures paired with wind data and those of the greater DPR dataset in the VN suggest that estimates of vertical motion may be inferred in regions without ground-based measurements. We present a climatology of the 12 convective regimes identified within the DPR VN dataset as well as early efforts to estimate the kinematic and microphysical structures of precipitation profiles within the greater GPM DPR dataset by applying machine learning techniques. Precipitation data paired with global estimates of vertical winds from these efforts offer early insight to and support upcoming missions to retrieve convective mass flux, including the Investigation of Convective Updrafts (INCUS) in the Tropics and the global Atmosphere Observing System (AOS).

Precipitation↗

Analysis of Darkened Fragments Resulting from Laboratory Hypervelocity Experiments

NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) relies on measurements from optical, radar, and in situ measurements to facilitate the development of data-driven orbital debris environmental engineering models such as the NASA Orbital Debris Engineering Model (ORDEM). For optical measurements, the ODPO relies on ground-based optical telescopes to statistically assess objects in geosynchronous orbit and, in the future, low Earth orbit (LEO). The data collected include the detected object’s orbital parameters, time of observation, and optical magnitude. The latter parameter can be converted to a size using NASA’s optical Size Estimation Model (oSEM). It is well known that the observed magnitude of orbital debris can vary based on an object's material constituents, observational geometry, and the effects of space weathering. To assess these magnitude variations, the ODPO uses the Optical Measurement Center (OMC) at NASA Johnson Space Center to characterize a variety of materials and fragments from laboratory impact tests representative of fragments that constitute the orbital debris population. One experiment was DebriSat: a 56 kg spacecraft was built to incorporate structural elements of a modern LEO spacecraft and was subjected to a hypervelocity impact test at the U.S. Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Complex using test parameters that may be encountered in LEO. The DebriSat project has provided an abundance of information for assessing fragmentation debris in terms of material, color, shape, size, density, mass, and other derived parameters. Prior to the impact test, the ODPO collected spectral measurements on a subset of the materials used to construct DebriSat for a “ground-truth” of their optical properties. After the successful hypervelocity impact test, the DebriSat team observed a fine, dark dust coating all the fragments. Prior research has suggested that this came from ablated material deposited on the fragments during the impact test, causing a change in the reflective properties [1]. Given that this lower reflectivity on the DebriSat fragments will influence the laboratory-acquired magnitudes used to calculate size and inform potential updates to the oSEM, it is critical to assess if this darkening effect on the DebriSat fragments is a laboratory bias or something that could occur in on-orbit breakup events. This paper will provide a brief overview of the OMC and DebriSat experiment, focused on the optical characterization of a subset of materials using broadband photometric measurements and spectroscopic measurements. In addition, elemental analysis of various DebriSat fragments and the soft-catch foam used in the hypervelocity experiment compared with pristine foam will be examined to further evaluate the source of the dark material coating all fragments. Finally, the authors will present a twofold plan 1) for assessing potential biases in laboratory impact experiments that could affect laboratory optical characterization and 2) for mitigating biases when compared with ground-based optical telescopic measurements of the orbital debris environment.

Heather Cowardin↗

Summary of Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) and Insights for Artemis Preliminary Examination Activities

Analyses of Apollo samples have provided fundamental insights into the origin and history of the Earth-Moon system and the solar system broadly. With great foresight, a subset of samples from Apollo were left unprocessed so that they could be studied by future generations with their modern technology. To prepare for the return of samples from the Moon by the Artemis Program, NASA initiated the Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis Program (ANGSA) to analyze a subset of the previously unprocessed Apollo samples. The ANGSA consortium consisted of 9 original teams funded by NASA that combined into a single science team referred to as the ANGSA Science Team. ANGSA was designed to function like the sample analysis phase of a sample return mission with a goal to investigate the lower portion of a double drive tube previously sealed on the lunar surface (73001), the upper portion of that drive tube that had remained unopened (73002), and a variety of Apollo 17 samples that had remained stored at -20 ºC for approximately 50 years.

Francis M. McCubbin↗

Analysis of Darkened Fragments Resulting from Laboratory Hypervelocity Experiments

NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) relies on measurements from optical, radar, and in situ measurements to facilitate the development of data-driven orbital debris environmental engineering models such as the NASA Orbital Debris Engineering Model (ORDEM). For optical measurements, the ODPO relies on ground-based optical telescopes to statistically assess objects in geosynchronous orbit and, in the future, low Earth orbit (LEO). The data collected include the detected object’s orbital parameters, time of observation, and optical magnitude. The latter parameter can be converted to a size using NASA’s optical Size Estimation Model (oSEM). It is well known that the observed magnitude of orbital debris can vary based on an object's material constituents, observational geometry, and the effects of space weathering. To assess these magnitude variations, the ODPO uses the Optical Measurement Center (OMC) at NASA Johnson Space Center to characterize a variety of materials and fragments from laboratory impact tests representative of fragments that constitute the orbital debris population. One experiment was DebriSat: a 56 kg spacecraft was built to incorporate structural elements of a modern LEO spacecraft and was subjected to a hypervelocity impact test at the U.S. Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Complex using test parameters that may be encountered in LEO. The DebriSat project has provided an abundance of information for assessing fragmentation debris in terms of material, color, shape, size, density, mass, and other derived parameters. Prior to the impact test, the ODPO collected spectral measurements on a subset of the materials used to construct DebriSat for a “ground-truth” of their optical properties. After the successful hypervelocity impact test, the DebriSat team observed a fine, dark dust coating all the fragments. Prior research has suggested that this came from ablated material deposited on the fragments during the impact test, causing a change in the reflective properties [1]. Given that this lower reflectivity on the DebriSat fragments will influence the laboratory-acquired magnitudes used to calculate size and inform potential updates to the oSEM, it is critical to assess if this darkening effect on the DebriSat fragments is a laboratory bias or something that could occur in on-orbit breakup events. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the OMC and DebriSat experiment, focused on the optical characterization of a subset of materials using broadband photometric measurements and spectroscopic measurements. In addition, elemental analysis of various DebriSat fragments and the soft-catch foam used in the hypervelocity experiment compared with pristine foam will be examined to further evaluate the source of the dark material coating all fragments. Finally, the authors will present a twofold plan 1) for assessing potential biases in laboratory impact experiments that could affect laboratory optical characterization and 2) for mitigating biases when compared with ground-based optical telescopic measurements of the orbital debris environment.

Heather Cowardin↗

Efficient Access to MERRA-2 Reanalysis Data from the Cloud Archives

The Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version (MERRA-2) dataset is now available in the AWS West Region-2 cloud. The free data downloading policy remains unchanged. The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) offers cloud services such as OPeNDP subsetting, and time series services. This presentation will showcase use cases that testing the procedures and find the most efficiency workflows to access and process the data for finding climate extremes. The use cases include a) accessing and processing data directly in the cloud S3 bucket without downloading it, and b) downloading subset data to process on the user’s local system.

data access, cloud computing, climate extremes↗

Impacts from Assimilating Large Volumes of GNSS Radio Occultation (RO) Observations during ROMEX in NASA’s Global Earth Observing System

The GNSS Radio Occultation (RO) Modeling Experiment (ROMEX) seeks to quantify the benefit of the increasing quantity of RO observations available for use in operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) systems and products. ROMEX includes participation from multiple operational NWP centers and NWP models, among them are NASA’s Global Earth Observing System (GEOS) model produced and run at the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO). The design of the numerical experiments core to ROMEX include: 1) a control model run that includes all the RO observations currently used operationally with the sole exception of those from commercial sources and 2) a ROMEX model run that adds to the control over 25 thousand additional RO profiles per day from commercial RO providers, with both experiments run over the three-month period of September through November 2022. The ROMEX model run greatly augments the relatively small subset of the currently available commercial RO profiles which have been purchased for routine use in operational NWP by the various NWP centers. While this smaller subset of commercial RO profiles currently used in operations has been shown to have a positive impact on NWP forecasts, the additional impact from the ROMEX RO dataset has yet to be determined and is the focus of ROMEX. Results from GEOS are presented, including the impact on both analyses and forecasts over the study period and statistics using the forecast sensitivity-based observation impact (FSOI) method. The impact from varying the method of quality control and specifying the observation uncertainty for RO observations within the GEOS data assimilation system is also examined.

Michael J Murphy↗

Tracking and Orbit-Determination Program of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The lunar-probe tracking program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has two prime objectives: (1) provide real-time predictions of the direction of the probe from various observation stations; (2) establish a reliable trajectory corresponding to the actual flight path of the probe. The tracking program, although developed for use with lunar probes, can be used for interplanetary probes if certain modifications are made. The program, as developed for the IBM 704 digital computer, has two distinct phases. First, the equations of motion and the variational equations are integrated to each observation time where the elements of the equation A (sub u) equals b [linearization of the maximum likelihood equations] are computed. The second phase is concerned with the solution of a specified subset of A (sub u) equals b. Flexibility and ease of operation have been major objectives in writing the 704 program. The number of data points and tracking stations that may be used is limited only by computing time and core storage. Input formats and operating instructions are presented for utilizing the various computational options available in the program.

Carr, Russell E.↗

Development of techniques for measuring pilot workload

An objective method of assessing information workload based on physiological measurements was developed. Information workload, or reserve capacity, was measured using a visual discrimination secondary task and subjective rating of task difficulty. The primary task was two axis (pitch and roll) tracking, and the independent variables in this study were aircraft pitch dynamics and wind gust disturbances. The study was structured to provide: (1) a sensitive, nonloading measure of reserve capacity, and (2) an unencumbering reliable measurement of the psychophysiological state. From these, a measured workload index (MWI) and physiological workload index (PWI) were extracted. An important measure of the success of this study was the degree to which the MWI and PWI agreed across the 243 randomly-presented, four-minute trials (9 subjects X 9 tasks X 3 replications). The electrophysiological data collected included vectorcardiogaram, respiration, electromyogram, skin impedance, and electroencephalogram. Special computer programs were created for the analysis of each physiological variable. The digital data base then consisted of 82 physiological features for each of the 243 trials. A prediction of workload based on physiological observations was formulated as a simultaneous least-squares prediction problem. A best subset of 10 features was chosen to predict the three measures of reserve capacity. The cannonical correlation coefficient was .754 with a chi squared value of 91.3 which allows rejection of the null hypothesis with p of .995.

Spyker, D. A.↗

Architectural design of an Algol interpreter

The design of a syntax-directed interpreter for a subset of Algol is described. It is a conceptual design with sufficient details and completeness but as much independence of implementation as possible. The design includes a detailed description of a scanner, an analyzer described in the Floyd-Evans productions, a hash-coded symbol table, and an executor. Interpretation of sample programs is also provided to show how the interpreter functions.

Jackson, C. K.↗

Development of a noise annoyance sensitivity scale

Examining the problem of noise pollution from the psychological rather than the engineering view, a test of human sensitivity to noise was developed against the criterion of noise annoyance. Test development evolved from a previous study in which biographical, attitudinal, and personality data was collected on a sample of 166 subjects drawn from the adult community of Raleigh. Analysis revealed that only a small subset of the data collected was predictive of noise annoyance. Item analysis yielded 74 predictive items that composed the preliminary noise sensitivity test. This was administered to a sample of 80 adults who later rate the annoyance value of six sounds (equated in terms of peak sound pressure level) presented in a simulated home, living-room environment. A predictive model involving 20 test items was developed using multiple regression techniques, and an item weighting scheme was evaluated.

Bregman, H. L.↗

The least squares process of MEDIA for computing DRVID calibration polynomials

A process is described and evaluated for computing a least squares polynomial approximation of data points in which the optimum degree of the polynomial is automatically determined. An iterative smoothing technique is used to replace every point with the value taken on by a moving least squares polynomial computed from a subset of points centered at the point to be replaced. The optimum degree of the resulting polynomial approximation is determined by analyzing the finite differences of each successive set of smoothed points. To evaluate the process, both artificially constructed data and actual Mariner Mars 1971 (MM'71) tracking data are used. This process was incorporated into a transmission media calibration computer program (MEDIA), which calibrates radiometric data to overcome the effects on the tracking signal of charged particle media. MEDIA was used in support of MM'71.

Leavitt, R. K.↗

Locatability of faults in combinational networks.

A formal model for the study of reliable combinational networks is introduced and used to determine network properties conducive to the location of faults. The usual concept of fault location is generalized to be an interval on the partially ordered set of subsets of network nodes that classifies nodes into three disjoint sets: a faulty set, a fault-free set, and an indeterminate set. After developing basic properties of locatable faults, necessary and sufficient conditions for a fault to be locatable in an arbitrary network are stated and proven.

Gray, F. G.↗

Magnetospheric plasma - Sources, wave-particle interactions and acceleration mechanisms.

Some of the basic problems associated with magnetospheric physics are reviewed. The sources of magnetospheric plasma, with auroral particles included as a subset, are discussed. The possible ways in which the solar wind plasma can gain access to the magnetosphere are outlined. Some important consequences of wave-particle interactions are examined. Finally, the basic mechanisms which energize or accelerate particles by reconnection and convection are explained.

Speiser, T. W.↗

A two-spacecraft test of a single spacecraft method of estimating shock normals

By assuming the validity of a subset of the Rankine-Hugoniot conservation relations for interplanetary (IP) shocks in an isotropic medium it has been demonstrated, in principle, that improved shock normals can be calculated by using a least-squares technique on combined magnetic field and plasma data from a single spacecraft. The scheme uses those six conservation relations not involving pressure and temperature. This paper deals with a test of the scheme by examining in detail a shock across which the magnetic field changed direction by a small amount (approximately 10 deg). On January 26, 1968 at about 1430 UT this shock was observed by the plasma and magnetic field instruments in Explorers 33 and 35. The spacecraft were 76.6 and 56.9 R sub E sunward of the earth, respectively (and 43.5 R sub E from each other), and therefore well outside the earth's bow shock region, a necessary condition for a valid test.

Lepping, R. P.↗

Primary cosmic ray electrons above 10 GeV: Evidence for a spectral break

A balloon borne measurement of the cosmic ray electron spectrum from 10 to 200 GeV is reported in which two new techniques have been used to remove proton background contamination. First, the depth of the spectrometer was more than 25 radiation lengths, the equivalent of more than 2 mean free paths of material, enabling hadronically and electromagnetically induced cascades to be differentiated for a subset of the data. Second, electromagnetic cascade starting points were determined to within + or - 0.1 radiation lengths based upon a calibration with electrons from 5.4 to 18 GeV at the Stanford Linear Accelerator, greatly reducing the chances for a proton to simulate an electron. The resulting spectrum, when fitted with a power law, is quite steep, -3.2 + or - 0.1, but the chi-square fit is marginal. A significantly better fit is achieved assuming a transition region model in which the source spectral index is 2.7 with a break occurring at about 50 GeV.

Silverberg, R. F.↗