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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 343 records · Page 19
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2017

Optimization of Debris Shields on the NISAR Mission’s L-Band Radar Instrument

The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) space mission is a collaboration between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), launching in the 2020s to a polar orbit of 747km altitude. The mission will provide spatial and temporal measurements of land surface changes (e.g. ice sheets, vegetation, earthquakes). Many of the SAR electronics boxes are mounted on the exterior of the structure. Their singlewall box lids efficiently radiate heat for thermal control, but are not very efficient debris shields. The initial design showed an unacceptably high impact risk as estimated with NASA’s ORDEM3 debris model and Bumper impact analysis tool. Each box has a different role in instrument functionality, and this was captured in a reliability model used to optimize the distribution of shield mass among the boxes: total added mass was minimized while maintaining a threshold of functionality and survival probability that was acceptable to the project.

Chinn, James Z.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Comparative View of Antenna/RF Subsystems between SIR-C and NISAR L-band SAR Systems for Wide-Swath Imaging

In 1994, SIR-C demonstrated ScanSAR, a mode of operating the SAR system that has become the “standard” implementation for wide-swath spaceborne imaging SAR systems. The NISAR SAR instruments introducing a new SAR architecture for wide-swath imaging call SweepSAR which is expected to have similar success. This paper compares the Antenna and RF subsystem design and the technology utilization considerations between the SIR-C planar phased array SAR system using the ScanSAR technique and NISAR off-set reflector with phased array feed using the SweepSAR technique.

Shaffer, Scott↗
NASA NTRS2018

Global Freeze/Thaw Product from L-Band Radiometer Data

The NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission has been successfully operated for almost three years. The SMAP freeze/thaw algorithm is based on a seasonal threshold approach. It’s important to have a stable and self-consistent freeze and thaw reference that can be applied for multi-year dataset. The three-year long radiometer datasets allow us to reassess the criteria of reference setup and evaluate its stability. In this paper, we first refined the freeze reference requirements and compare three different methods of setting up the thaw reference to minimize the false flags. The original freeze/thaw products is in the polar grid and only cover the region north of 45° N latitude. The limitation is due to lack of enough freezing days in the lower latitude, where the freezing reference cannot be generated. To extend the freeze/thaw product to global region, we combine the single channel algorithm in the lower latitude and southern atmosphere. The global results have been validated through WMO air temperature.

Colliander, Andreas↗
NASA NTRS2021

Seawater Debye Model Function at L-Band and Its Impact on Salinity Retrieval From Aquarius Satellite Data

A model function of seawater, which specifies the dielectric constant of seawater as a function of salinity, temperature, and frequency, is important for the retrieval of sea surface salinity using satellite data. In 2017, a model function has been developed based on measurement data at 1.4134 GHz using a third-order polynomial expression in salinity ( S ) and temperature ( T ). Although the model showed improvements in salinity retrieval, it had an inconsistent behavior between partitioned salinities. To improve the stability of the model, new dielectric measurements of seawater have been made recently over a broad range of salinities and temperatures to expand the data set used for developing the model function. The structure of the model function has been changed from a polynomial expansion in S and T to a physics-based model consisting of a Debye molecular resonance term plus a conductivity term. Each unknown parameter is expressed in S and T based on the expanded measurement data set. Physical arguments have been used to limit the number of unknown coefficients in these expressions to improve the stability of the model function. The new model function has been employed in the retrieval algorithm of the Aquarius satellite mission to obtain a global salinity map. The retrieved salinity using a different model function is compared with in situ data collected by Argo floats to evaluate the impact and the performance of model functions. The results indicate that the new model function has significant improvements in salinity retrieval compared with other existing models.

Seawater↗
NASA NTRS2023

Sources of L-Band RFI Determined From Kurtosis Using the SMAP Radiometer

Among the parameters of the signal measured by the SMAP radiometer to identify RFI is kurtosis which indicates the departure of the received signal from a gaussian distribution and therefor helpful in identifying RFI. But the kurtosis has the potential to provide additional information. This manuscript reports results of an investigation examining the connection between the level of kurtosis (K) and the characteristics of the source of the RFI. It is shown, for example, that the level of can be used to distinguish the short pulse, relatively wideband RFI associated with radar from the narrow bandwidth signals associated with faulty consumer electronics.

Radio Frequency Interference↗