Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Field Arrays”

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 325 records · Page 18
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1989

Images of the 10-micron source in the Cygnus 'Egg'

Mid-IR images of AFGL 2688, the Egg nebula, obtained with a 16 x 16 pixel array camera (field of view 12.5 x 12.5 arcsec) resolve the central source. It appears as a centrally peaked ellipsoid with major axis of symmetry parallel to the axis of the visible nebulosity. This is contrary to the expected extension perpendicular to this axis implied by proposed dust-toroid models of the IR source. Maps of the spatial distribution of 8-13 micron color temperature and warm dust opacity derived from the multiwavelength images further characterize the IR emission. The remarkable flatness of the color temperature conflicts with the radial temperature gradient expected across a thick shell of material with a single heat source at its center. The new data suggest instead that the source consists of a central star surrounded by a dust shell that is too thin to provide a detectable temperature gradient and too small to permit the resolution of limb brightening.

Jaye, D.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Aircraft measurements of electrified clouds at Kennedy Space Center, part 3

Flights made by the Special Purpose Test Vehicle for Atmospheric Research (SPTVAR) airplane during a second deployment to Florida during the summer of 1989 are discussed. The findings based on the data gathered are presented. The progress made during the second year of the project is discussed. The summer 1989 study was carried out with the support and guidance of Col. John Madura, Commander of Detachment 11, 2nd Weather Squadron, USAF, at Patrick Air Force Base (PAFB) and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The project goals were to develop and demonstrate techniques for measuring the electric field aloft and locating regions of charge during flight within and near clouds; to characterize the electric conditions that are presently identified as a threat to space launch vehicles; and to study the correlation between the electric field aloft and that at Kennedy Space Center's ground-based electric field mill array for a variety of electrified clouds.

Jones, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A study of the thermal and optical characteristics of radiometric channels for Earth radiation budget applications

An improved dynamic electrothermal model for the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) total, nonscanning channels is formulated. This model is then used to accurately simulate two types of dynamic solar observation: the solar calibration and the so-called pitchover maneuver. Using a second model, the nonscanner active cavity radiometer (ACR) thermal noise is studied. This study reveals that radiative emission and scattering by the surrounding parts of the nonscanner cavity are acceptably small. The dynamic electrothermal model is also used to compute ACR instrument transfer function. Accurate in-flight measurement of this transfer function is shown to depend on the energy distribution over the frequency spectrum of the radiation input function. A new array-type field of view limiter, whose geometry controls the input function, is proposed for in-flight calibration of an ACR and other types of radiometers. The point spread function (PSF) of the ERBE and the Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) scanning radiometers is computed. The PSF is useful in characterizing the channel optics. It also has potential for recovering the distribution of the radiative flux from Earth by deconvolution.

Mahan, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Imaging IR spectrometer, phase 2

The development is examined of a prototype multi-channel infrared imaging spectrometer. The design, construction and preliminary performance is described. This instrument is intended for use with JPL Table Mountain telescope as well as the 88 inch UH telescope on Mauna Kea. The instrument is capable of sampling simultaneously the spectral region of 0.9 to 2.6 um at an average spectral resolution of 1 percent using a cooled (77 K) optical bench, a concave holographic grating and a special order sorting filter to allow the acquisition of the full spectral range on a 128 x 128 HgCdTe infrared detector array. The field of view of the spectrometer is 0.5 arcsec/pixel in mapping mode and designed to be 5 arcsec/pixel in spot mode. The innovative optical design has resulted in a small, transportable spectrometer, capable of remote operation. Commercial applications of this spectrometer design include remote sensing from both space and aircraft platforms as well as groundbased astronomical observations.

Gradie, Jonathan↗
NASA NTRS2001

Hyperspectral Infrared Imaging of Flames Using a Spectrally Scanning Fabry-Perot Filter

The temperatures and compositions of gases in and around flames can be diagnosed using infrared emission spectroscopy to observe molecular band shapes and intensities. We have combined this approach with a low-order scanning Fabry-Perot filter and an infrared camera to obtain spectrally scanned infrared emission images of a laboratory flame and exhaust plume from 3.7 to 5.0 micrometers, at a spectral resolution of 0.043 micrometers, and a spatial resolution of 1 mm. The scanning filter or AIRIS (Adaptive Infrared Imaging Spectroradiometer) is a Fabry-Perot etalon operating in low order (mirror spacing = wavelength) such that the central spot, containing a monochromatic image of the scene, is viewed by the detector array. The detection system is a 128 x 128 liquid-nitrogen-cooled InSb focal plane array. The field of view is controlled by a 50 mm focal length multielement lens and an V4.8 aperture, resulting in an image 6.4 x 6.4 cm in extent at the flame and a depth of field of approximately 4 cm. Hyperspectral images above a laboratory CH4/air flame show primarily the strong emission from CO2 at 4.3 micrometers, and weaker emissions from CO and H2O. We discuss techniques to analyze the spectra, and plans to use this instrument in microgravity flame spread experiments.

Rawlins, W. T.↗
NASA NTRS2005

On the Hilbert-Huang Transform Theoretical Developments

One of the main heritage tools used in scientific and engineering data spectrum analysis is the Fourier Integral Transform and its high performance digital equivalent - the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Both carry strong a-priori assumptions about the source data, such as linearity, of being stationary, and of satisfying the Dirichlet conditions. A recent development at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), known as the Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT), proposes a novel approach to the solution for the nonlinear class of spectrum analysis problems. Using a-posteriori data processing based on the Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) sifting process (algorithm), followed by the normalized Hilbert Transform of the decomposition data, the HHT allows spectrum analysis of nonlinear and nonstationary data. The EMD sifting process results in a non-constrained decomposition of a source real value data vector into a finite set of Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMF). These functions form a near orthogonal adaptive basis, a basis that is derived from the data. The IMFs can be further analyzed for spectrum interpretation by the classical Hilbert Transform. A new engineering spectrum analysis tool using HHT has been developed at NASA GSFC, the HHT Data Processing System (HHT-DPS). As the HHT-DPS has been successfully used and commercialized, new applications post additional questions about the theoretical basis behind the HHT and EMD algorithms. Why is the fastest changing component of a composite signal being sifted out first in the EMD sifting process? Why does the EMD sifting process seemingly converge and why does it converge rapidly? Does an IMF have a distinctive structure? Why are the IMFs near orthogonal? We address these questions and develop the initial theoretical background for the HHT. This will contribute to the developments of new HHT processing options, such as real-time and 2-D processing using Field Programmable Array (FPGA) computational resources, enhanced HHT synthesis, and broaden the scope of HHT applications for signal processing.

Kizhner, Semion↗
NASA NTRS2007

On Representative Spaceflight Instrument and Associated Instrument Sensor Web Framework

Sensor Web-based adaptation and sharing of space flight mission resources, including those of the Space-Ground and Control-User communication segment, could greatly benefit from utilization of heritage Internet Protocols and devices applied for Spaceflight (SpaceIP). This had been successfully demonstrated by a few recent spaceflight experiments. However, while terrestrial applications of Internet protocols are well developed and understood (mostly due to billions of dollars in investments by the military and industry), the spaceflight application of Internet protocols is still in its infancy. Progress in the developments of SpaceIP-enabled instrument components will largely determine the SpaceIP utilization of those investments and acceptance in years to come. Likewise SpaceIP, the development of commercial real-time and instrument colocated computational resources, data compression and storage, can be enabled on-board a spacecraft and, in turn, support a powerful application to Sensor Web-based design of a spaceflight instrument. Sensor Web-enabled reconfiguration and adaptation of structures for hardware resources and information systems will commence application of Field Programmable Arrays (FPGA) and other aerospace programmable logic devices for what this technology was intended. These are a few obvious potential benefits of Sensor Web technologies for spaceflight applications. However, they are still waiting to be explored. This is because there is a need for a new approach to spaceflight instrumentation in order to make these mature sensor web technologies applicable for spaceflight. In this paper we present an approach in developing related and enabling spaceflight instrument-level technologies based on the new concept of a representative spaceflight Instrument Sensor Web (ISW).

Kizhner, Semion↗
NASA NTRS2012

Semantically-Rigorous Systems Engineering Modeling Using Sysml and OWL

The Systems Modeling Language (SysML) has found wide acceptance as a standard graphical notation for the domain of systems engineering. SysML subsets and extends the Unified Modeling Language (UML) to define conventions for expressing structural, behavioral, and analytical elements, and relationships among them. SysML-enabled modeling tools are available from multiple providers, and have been used for diverse projects in military aerospace, scientific exploration, and civil engineering. The Web Ontology Language (OWL) has found wide acceptance as a standard notation for knowledge representation. OWL-enabled modeling tools are available from multiple providers, as well as auxiliary assets such as reasoners and application programming interface libraries, etc. OWL has been applied to diverse projects in a wide array of fields. While the emphasis in SysML is on notation, SysML inherits (from UML) a semantic foundation that provides for limited reasoning and analysis. UML's partial formalization (FUML), however, does not cover the full semantics of SysML, which is a substantial impediment to developing high confidence in the soundness of any conclusions drawn therefrom. OWL, by contrast, was developed from the beginning on formal logical principles, and consequently provides strong support for verification of consistency and satisfiability, extraction of entailments, conjunctive query answering, etc. This emphasis on formal logic is counterbalanced by the absence of any graphical notation conventions in the OWL standards. Consequently, OWL has had only limited adoption in systems engineering. The complementary strengths and weaknesses of SysML and OWL motivate an interest in combining them in such a way that we can benefit from the attractive graphical notation of SysML and the formal reasoning of OWL. This paper describes an approach to achieving that combination.

Web Ontology Language (OWL)↗
NASA NTRS2018

Characterization of Rapid Charging Events Due to Sheath Capacitance and Impact on the International Space Station Plasma Hazard Process

During an Extravehicular Activity (EVA), if the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) makes galvanic contact with the International Space Station (ISS), a negative Floating Potential (FP) can lead to an arcing hazard when it exceeds -45.5 V, and a positive FP can produce a DC current high enough to stimulate the astronaut’s muscles (5 mA), and also cause a hazard. The Boeing Space Environments team developed and utilizes a Plasma Interaction Model (PIM) in order to calculate the ISS FP based on the plasma environment, ISS velocity, geomagnetic field, solar array and ISS orientation, and solar array regulation to support EVA planning operations. Presently, the model excludes the sheath capacitance, resulting in the total potential drop being across the dielectric surface of the vehicle. Data from the Floating Potential Measurement Unit (FPMU) show this assumption to be generally true. However, Rapid Charging Events (RCE) are often observed in the FPMU data at eclipse exit when the electron number density, Ne, is low (less than 5(sub e)10 m (exp-3)). During these events, the FP can rise more than 40 V in one to five seconds. There is then a relaxation phase where the FP drops back to the normal FP values. The PIM model is not capable of producing these RCEs. It was thought that the inclusion of the sheath in PIM could improve the charging predictions, particularly as related to RCEs. A parametric study was performed to determine what portion of the measured FP is across the sheath for a range of Ne experienced by the ISS, and if the inclusion of the sheath in PIM is necessary. Results show that the potential drop across the sheath is negligible at times when the N(sub e) is greater than 1(sub e)11 m-3. However, there appears to be a transitional region between 1(sub e)10 m(exp -3) and 1(sub e)11 m(exp -3) where the sheath capacitance becomes more significant. During those conditions the potential drop across the sheath can be larger than the potential drop across the dielectric for short periods (1-5 seconds). These results agree remarkably well with measurements made by the FPMU. The inclusion of the sheath explains why high charging measurements occur when the Ne is low at eclipse exit and even times when the solar arrays are not a significant driver (i.e., potentials often rise as the ISS flies through spread-F). Results also show that the RCEs are not a safety concern because the potential drop across the dielectric surface does not exceed -45.5 V. In that case, the EMU would not arc. This gives high confidence in the low probability of an arcing hazard occurring.

plasma environment↗
NASA NTRS2019

Design of Magnetic Shielding and Field Coils for a TES X-Ray Microcalorimeter Test Platform

The performance of transition-edge sensors (TES) and their SQUID multiplexed readouts is very sensitive to ambient magnetic field and its fluctuations. In order to run ground experiments on thousands of X-ray TES microcalorimeters with a small uniform ambient magnetic field (< 1 μT, with a uniformity < 0.1 μT), we need a very low ambient field to be trapped into the superconducting magnetic shields. We have designed a sub-Kelvin test platform to reach these specifications. For this purpose, we modeled a new design for the shielding consisting of a series of different mu-metal and superconducting shields, including a niobium shield at 50 mK, a cryoperm (A4K) shield at 3 K, and a mu-metal shield at 300 K. A magnetic field coil is used to vary the local perpendicular magnetic field over the TES array. To optimize this field, we have studied a number of different field-coil designs and the impact of the different shield geometries, in order to reach the required field uniformity.

Miniussi, Antoine R.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Compact Superconducting Radio-frequency Accelerators and Innovative RF Systems

We will present several new technical and design breakthroughs that enable the creation of a new class of compact linear electron accelerators for industrial purposes. Use of Superconducting Radio-Frequency (SRF) cavities allow accelerators less than 1.5 M in length to create electron beams beyond 10 MeV and with average beam powers measured in 10’s of KW. These machines can have the capability to vary the output energy dynamically to produce brehmstrahlung x-rays of varying spectral coverage for applications such as rapid scanning of moving cargo for security purposes. Such compact accelerators will also be cost effective for many existing and new industrial applications. Examples include radiation crosslinking of plastics and rubbers, creation of pure materials with surface properties radically altered from the bulk, modification of bulk or surface optical properties of materials, sterilization of medical instruments animal solid or liquid waste, and destruction of organic compounds in industrial waste water effluents. Small enough to be located on a mobile platform, such accelerators will enable new remediation methods for chemical and biological spills and/or in-situ crosslinking of materials. We will describe one current design under development at Fermilab including plans for prototype and value-engineering to reduce costs. We will also describe development of new nano-structured field-emitter arrays as sources of electrons, new methods for fabricating and cooling superconducting RF cavities, and a new novel RF power source based on magnetrons with full phase and amplitude control.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Field testing of a convergent array of acoustic Doppler profilers for high-resolution velocimetry in energetic tidal currents

An array of single-beam acoustic Doppler profilers has been developed for the high resolution measurement of three-dimensional tidal flow velocities and subsequently tested in an energetic tidal site. This configuration has been developed to increase spatial resolution of velocity measurements in comparison to conventional acoustic Doppler profilers (ADPs) which characteristically use divergent acoustic beams emanating from a single instrument. This is achieved using geometrically convergent acoustic beams creating a sample volume at the focal point of 0.03 m3. Away from the focal point, the array is also able to simultaneously reconstruct three-dimensional velocity components in a profile throughout the water column, and is referred to herein as a convergent-beam acoustic Doppler profiler (C-ADP). Mid-depth profiling is achieved through integration of the sensor platform with the operational commercial-scale Alstom 1MW DeepGen-IV Tidal Turbine deployed at the European Marine Energy Center, Orkney Isles, UK. This proof-of-concept paper outlines the C-ADP system configuration and comparison to measurements provided by co-installed reference instrumentation.

Harding, Samuel F.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Uncertainty Analysis of CTF for the Uncertainty Analysis in Modeling Benchmark

This work describes the results of a quantitative sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of the thermal hydraulic subchannel code, Coolant Boiling in Rod Arrays - Three Field (COBRA-TF). Four steady state cases from Phase II, Exercise 3 of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Nuclear Energy Agency Uncertainty Analysis in Modeling (OECD/NEA UAM) Benchmark are analyzed using the statistical analysis tool, Design Analysis Kit for Optimization and Tera-scale Applications (Dakota). This study supports the larger goal of the UAM Benchmark, which is to assess the uncertainty inherent in nuclear codes in a straightforward framework. The benchmark first focuses on assessing the uncertainty in stand-alone codes and then uses these results to propagate those uncertainties to coupled calculations. The work presented here adds to the existing results for this benchmark. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
NASA NTRS2007

Arrays of Bundles of Carbon Nanotubes as Field Emitters

Experiments have shown that with suitable choices of critical dimensions, planar arrays of bundles of carbon nanotubes (see figure) can serve as high-current-density field emitter (cold-cathode) electron sources. Whereas some hot-cathode electron sources must be operated at supply potentials of thousands of volts, these cold-cathode sources generate comparable current densities when operated at tens of volts. Consequently, arrays of bundles of carbon nanotubes might prove useful as cold-cathode sources in miniature, lightweight electron-beam devices (e.g., nanoklystrons) soon to be developed. Prior to the experiments, all reported efforts to develop carbon-nanotube-based field-emission sources had yielded low current densities from a few hundred microamperes to a few hundred milliamperes per square centimeter. An electrostatic screening effect, in which taller nanotubes screen the shorter ones from participating in field emission, was conjectured to be what restricts the emission of electrons to such low levels. It was further conjectured that the screening effect could be reduced and thus emission levels increased by increasing the spacing between nanotubes to at least by a factor of one to two times the height of the nanotubes. While this change might increase the emission from individual nanotubes, it would decrease the number of nanotubes per unit area and thereby reduce the total possible emission current. Therefore, to maximize the area-averaged current density, it would be necessary to find an optimum combination of nanotube spacing and nanotube height. The present concept of using an array of bundles of nanotubes arises partly from the concept of optimizing the spacing and height of field emitters. It also arises partly from the idea that single nanotubes may have short lifetimes as field emitters, whereas bundles of nanotubes could afford redundancy so that the loss of a single nanotube would not significantly reduce the overall field emission.

Manohara, Harish↗
DOE OSTI2016

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: The Polarization-Sensitive ACTPol Instrument

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) makes high angular resolution measurements of anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at millimeter wavelengths. We describe ACTPol, an upgraded receiver for ACT, which uses feedhorn-coupled, polarization-sensitive detector arrays, a 3° field of view, 100 mK cryogenics with continuous cooling, and meta material antireflection coatings. ACTPol comprises three arrays with separate cryogenic optics: two arrays at a central frequency of 148 GHz and one array operating simultaneously at both 97 GHz and 148 GHz. The combined instrument sensitivity, angular resolution, and sky coverage are optimized for measuring angular power spectra, clusters via the thermal Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (SZ) and kinetic SZ signals, and CMB lensing due to large-scale structure. The receiver was commissioned with its first 148 GHz array in 2013, observed with both 148 GHz arrays in 2014, and has recently completed its first full season of operations with the full suite of three arrays. This paper provides an overview of the design and initial performance of the receiver and related systems.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗