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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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Hyperfine coupling constants of positive divalent Mn ion in calcium and barium fluorides, measuring temperature dependence by analyzing electron spin resonance spectrum
Computer program determines gas constituents from measurements of mass/peak-height spectrum from residual gas analyzer. Applications of program include residual gas analysis for work in space environmental simulators, space environment contamination, and air pollution monitoring.
Multispectral data and automatic data processing were used to map surface soil patterns and to follow the changes in multispectral radiation from a field of maize (Zea mays L.) during a period from seeding to maturity. Panchromatic aerial photography was obtained in early May 1970 and multispectral scanner missions were flown on May 6, June 30, August 11 and September 5, 1970 to obtain energy measurements in 13 wavelength bands. The orange portion of the visible spectrum was used in analyzing the May and June data to cluster relative radiance of the soils into eight different radiance levels. The reflective infrared spectral band was used in analyzing the August and September data to cluster maize into different spectral categories. The computer-produced soil patterns had a striking similarity to the soil pattern of the aerial photograph. These patterns became less distinct as the maize canopy increased.
An instrument employing a laser Doppler velocimeter and a microphone to measure the phase lag of the motion of aerosol particulates relative to the motion of the fluid medium within an acoustic field is described. The relaxation times and aerodynamic diameters of the particles or droplets are determined in real time from the measured values of phase lag; thus, the size analysis is independent of the electrostatic charges and refractive indices of the particulates. The instrument is suitable for analyzing the aerodynamic size spectrum of atmospheric particulate pollutants with aerodynamic diameters ranging from 0.1 to 10.0 microns.
Skylab and ground-based observations in the extreme UV range of the spectrum are used to analyze characteristics of coronal holes, and to correlate their development with variations in the solar cycle. The mergence of bipolar magnetic regions (BMR) during the declining phase of the cycle is held reponsible for the formation of large equatorial holes (M-regions, which cause recurring geomagnetic storms). The BMR mergence model can also be applied to polar cap holes.
Results of tests designed to compare the charging properties of spacecraft material under a monoenergetic beam and under a continuously distributed beam are summarized. In the test setup the electron source was mounted in the top of a cylindrical vacuum chamber. A sheet of 5-mil-thick Kapton was placed on an insulated metal substrate at the bottom of the vacuum chamber. The dc current arriving on the substrate was measured and a field meter measured the potential of the test sample. A retarding potential analyzer measured the energy spectrum of the incident electron beam. With the monoenergetic beam, the sample charged to 12 kV and electrical discharges occurred. With the multi-energy spectra the samples charged to only 6 kV and 4 kV, and no discharger were observed. In these experiments, no effort was made to duplicate the spectra occurring in space. The tests were intended to simply to compare spacecraft material charging properties using monoenergetic and continuous multi-energy beams.
An investigation is conducted on how low-frequency MHD oscillations in a warm plasma may undergo a transition from a coherent state to one of turbulence. A driven/dissipative derivative nonlinear Schroedinger equation is derived from the fluid equations. The time evolution of an arbitrary spectrum of waves is analyzed in the case where one k-mode is unstable, with the rest damped. It is found that the transition from order to chaos in the driven/dissipative system is correlated with the existence or absence of 'breathing' solitons in the associated conservative system.
UV interstellar absorption line measurements obtained by the IUE satellite toward HD 163522 in the direction l = 349.6 deg and b = -9 deg are analyzed. The UV stellar spectrum of HD 163522 places the star beyond the Galactic center at a distance away from the Galactic plane of z = -1.5 kpc. An absorption-line spectrum with S/N approximately equal to 15-25 is produced. The UV interstellar absorption lines for neutral, and weakly and highly ionized gas are examined, as well as the correlation between profiles and the Galactic rotation. Simple model calculations are performed to quantitatively determine the characteristics of the profiles. The observed absorption-line profiles for Al III, Si IV, C IV, and N V are converted into plots of optical depths vs velocity. A comparison of these plots for the weak and strong member of each doublet reveals that the profiles are not strongly influenced by the presence of unresolved saturated absorption, and the optical depth profiles can therefore be directly converted into measures of N(v), the column density per km/s. The converted column densities are examined.
A numerical study was conducted to address the structural stability of the oblique detonation wave. An attempt was made to isolate the structural instability predicted by Buckmaster's (1990) linear stability analysis. For this study a detailed viscous flowfield with finite-rate chemistry was computed past a 20-deg wedge. The finite-rate chemistry was modeled by using a seven-species and seven-reaction model. Instability modes were isolated by analyzing the Fourier power spectrum of the H2O mass fraction at selected sample stations. No unstable temporal modes with dominant frequency were isolated. It was concluded that the instability which is predicted by the Buckmaster work was a high-frequency low-amplitude phenomenon. For engineering purposes, the oblique detonation wave is a stable phenomenon as long as sufficient levels of overdrive are present.
This research was initiated as a part of the Advanced Sensor and Imaging System Technology (ASSIST) program at NASA Langley Research Center. The primary goal of this research is the development of image analysis algorithms for the detection of runways and other objects using an on-board camera. Initial effort was concentrated on images acquired using a passive millimeter wave (PMMW) sensor. The images obtained using PMMW sensors under poor visibility conditions due to atmospheric fog are characterized by very low spatial resolution but good image contrast compared to those images obtained using sensors operating in the visible spectrum. Algorithms developed for analyzing these images using a model of the runway and other objects are described in Part 1 of this report. Experimental verification of these algorithms was limited to a sequence of images simulated from a single frame of PMMW image. Subsequent development and evaluation of algorithms was done using video image sequences. These images have better spatial and temporal resolution compared to PMMW images. Algorithms for reliable recognition of runways and accurate estimation of spatial position of stationary objects on the ground have been developed and evaluated using several image sequences. These algorithms are described in Part 2 of this report. A list of all publications resulting from this work is also included.
We tighten previous upper limits on gamma-ray burst repetition by analyzing the angular power spectrum of the BATSE 3B catalog of 1122 bursts. At 95% confidence, we find that no more than 2% of all observed bursts can be labeled as repeaters, even if no sources are observed to repeat more than once. If a fraction f of all observed bursts can be labeled as repeaters that are observed to burst upsilon times each, then all models with (upsilon - 1)f greater than or equal to 0.05 are ruled out at 99% confidence, as compared to the best previous 99% limit (upsilon - 1)f greater than or equal to 0.27. At 95% confidence, our new limit is (upsilon - 1)f greater than or equal to 0.02. Thus, even a cluster of six events from a single source would have caused excess power above that present in the 3B catalog. We conclude that the current BATSE data are consistent with no repetition of classical gamma-ray bursts and that any repeater model is severely constrained by the near-perfect isotropy of their angular distribution.
We tighten previous upper limits on gamma-ray burst repetition by analyzing the angular power spectrum of the BATSE 3B catalog of 1122 bursts. At 95% confidence, we find that no more than 2% of all observed bursts can be labeled as repeaters, even if no sources are observed to repeat more than once. If a fraction f of all observed bursts can be labeled as repeaters that are observed to burst nu times each, then all models with (nu - 1)f greater than or equal to 0.05 are ruled out at 99% confidence, as compared to the best previous 99% limit (nu - 1)f greater than or equal to 0.27. At 95% confidence, our new limit is (nu - 1)f greater than or equal to 0.02. Thus, even a cluster of six events from a single source would have caused excess power above that present in the 3B catalog. We conclude that the current BATSE data are consistent with no repetition of classical gamma-ray bursts and that any repeater model is severely constrained by the near-perfect isotropy of their angular dis- tribution.
Radiometric calibration of the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) is required for the scientific research and application objectives pursued with the spectroscopic measurements. Specifically calibration is required for: inter-comparison of AVIRIS data measured at different locations and at different times; analysis of AVIRIS data with data measured by other instruments; and analysis of AVIRIS data in conjunction with computer models. The primary effect of radiometric calibration is conversion of AVIRIS instrument response values (digitized numbers, or DN) to units of absolute radiance. For example, a figure shows the instrument response spectrum measured by AVIRIS over a portion of Rogers Dry Lake, California, and another figure shows the same spectrum calibrated to radiance. Only the calibrated spectrum may be quantitatively analyzed for science research and application objectives. Since the initial development of the AVIRIS instrument-radiometric calibration has been based upon a 1000-W irradiance lamp with a calibration traced to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). There are several advantages to this irradiance-lamp calibration approach. First, the considerable effort of NIST backs up the calibration. Second, by changing the distance to the lamp, the output can closely span the radiance levels measured by AVIRIS. Third, this type of standard is widely used. Fourth, these calibrated lamps are comparatively inexpensive. Conversely, there are several disadvantages to this approach as well. First, the lamp is not a primary standard. Second, the lamp output characteristics may change in an unknown manner through time. Third, it is difficult to assess, constrain, or improve the calibration uncertainty delivered with the lamp. In an attempt to explore the effect and potentially address some of these disadvantages a set of analyses and measurements comparing an irradiance lamp with a black-body source have been completed. This research is ongoing, and the current set of measurements, analyses, and results are presented in this paper.
The intraseasonal variation (ISV) in the 30-60 day band, also known as Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO), has been studied for decades. Madden and Julian showed that the oscillation originated from the western Indian Ocean, propagated eastward, got enhanced over the maritime continent and weakened after passing over the dateline. Composite studies showed evidences of a signal in upper and lower level zonal wind propagating around the globe during an oscillation. Theoretical studies pointed out that the interaction with the warm ocean surface and the coupling with the convective and radiative processes in the atmosphere could manifest the oscillation, which propagates eastward via mutual feedbacks between the wave motions and the cumulus heating. Over tropical South America, no independent 30-60 day oscillation has been reported so far, despite that Amazon is the most distinct tropical convection center over the western hemisphere and the fluxes from its surface of tropical rainforests are close to that from the warm tropical ocean. Liebmann et al. showed a distinct spectral peak of 40-50 day oscillation in outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) over tropical South America and considered that was manifested by the MJO propagation. Nogues-Paegle et al. (2000) focused on a dipole pattern of the OLR anomaly with centers of action over the South Atlantic Convergence Zone (SACZ) and the subtropical plain. They used the regional 10-90 day filtered data and demonstrated this pattern could be represented by the fifth mode of the rotated empirical orthogonal function. Its principal component was further analyzed using the singular spectrum analysis. Their result showed two oscillatory modes with periods of 36-40 days and 22-28 days, of which the former was related to the MJO influence and the latter linked to the remote forcing over southwest of Australia, which produced a wave train propagating southeastward, rounding the southern tip of South America and returning back toward the northeast. The 22-28 day mode has distinct impact on SACZ, responsible for the regional seesaw pattern of alternating dry and wet conditions. In this study we will focus on the 30-60-day spectral band and investigate whether the independent oscillation source over tropical South America is existed. First, we will show the seasonal dependence of the tropical South American ISV in Section 3. Then, the leading principal modes of 30-60 day bandpass filtered 850-hPa velocity potential (VP850) will be computed to distinguish the stationary ISV over tropical South America (SISA) from the propagating MJO in the austral summertime in Section 4. The importance of SISA in representing the regional ISV over South America will be discussed. In Section 5, we will demonstrate the mass oscillation regime of SISA, which is well separated from that of MJO by the Andes, and the convective coupling with rainfall. The dynamical response of SISA and the impact on the South American summer monsoon (SASM) will be presented. Finally, we will give the concluding remarks.
A computer program serves as part of a feedback control system that locks the frequency of a laser to one of the spectral peaks of cesium atoms in an optical absorption cell. The system analyzes a saturation absorption spectrum to find a target peak and commands a laser-frequency-control circuit to minimize an error signal representing the difference between the laser frequency and the target peak. The program implements an algorithm consisting of the following steps: Acquire a saturation absorption signal while scanning the laser through the frequency range of interest. Condition the signal by use of convolution filtering. Detect peaks. Match the peaks in the signal to a pattern of known spectral peaks by use of a pattern-recognition algorithm. Add missing peaks. Tune the laser to the desired peak and thereafter lock onto this peak. Finding and locking onto the desired peak is a challenging problem, given that the saturation absorption signal includes noise and other spurious signal components; the problem is further complicated by nonlinearity and shifting of the voltage-to-frequency correspondence. The pattern-recognition algorithm, which is based on Hausdorff distance, is what enables the program to meet these challenges.
The contribution of unresolved sources to the diffuse gamma-ray background could induce anisotropies in this emission on small angular scales. We analyze the angular power spectrum of the diffuse emission measured by the Fermi LAT at Galactic latitudes absolute value of b > 30 deg in four energy bins spanning 1 to 50 GeV. At multipoles l >= 155, corresponding to angular scales approx < 2 deg, angular power above the photon noise level is detected at > 99.99% CL in the 1-2 GeV, 2- 5 GeV, and 5- 10 GeV energy bins, and at > 99% CL at 10-50 GeV. Within each energy bin the measured angular power takes approximately the same value at all multipoles l >= 155, suggesting that it originates from the contribution of one or more unclustered source populations. The amplitude of the angular power normalized to the mean intensity in each energy bin is consistent with a constant value at all energies, C(sub p) / (I)(exp 2) = 9.05 +/- 0.84 x 10(exp -6) sr, while the energy dependence of C(sub p) is consistent with the anisotropy arising from one or more source populations with power-law photon spectra with spectral index Gamma (sub s) = 2.40 +/- 0.07. We discuss the implications of the measured angular power for gamma-ray source populations that may provide a contribution to the diffuse gamma-ray background.
A Wheel Electrostatic Spectrometer has been developed as a surveying tool to be incorporated into a planetary rover design. Electrostatic sensors with various protruding cover insulators are embedded into a prototype rover wheel. When these insulators come into contact with a surface, a charge develops on the cover insulator through tribocharging. A charge spectrum is created by analyzing the accumulated charge on each of the dissimilar cover insulators. We eventually intend to prove charge spectra can be used ~o determine differences in planetary regolith properties. We tested the effects of residual surface charge on the cover insulators and discovered a need to discharge the sensor cover insulators after each revolution. We proved the repeatability of the measurements for this sensor package and found that the sensor repeatability lies within one standard deviation of the noise in the signal.
SAR imaging may be performed with range-resolved reflection data, where a spread-spectrum signal, such as a code division multiple access (CDMA) signal, is transmitted instead of a simple frequency chirp. The reflected spread-spectrum signal may be analyzed to gather range-resolved reflection data. Range-resolved reflection data may be gathered at each angular view. This data may be used to construct a more accurate approximation of the Fourier transform of the desired image than can be done by a conventional SAR approach. The image may be reconstructed from this Fourier transform using Fourier inversion techniques similar to those used in conventional SAR approaches. The range-resolved reflection scheme generally requires somewhat more processing to recover the image as compared with conventional SAR systems, but provides a significantly more stable image with less degradation from effects that plague conventional SAR systems. This can eliminate the need for phase coherency altogether and also eliminate “phase drift,” which leads to image distortion. This may be especially well suited for high resolution imaging of relatively large targets.