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Ionosphere electron temperature data gathered by the AE-C, AEROS, Isis-1 and -2 spacecraft are employed to define linear models for the average conditions. Account is taken of evidence for seasonal, altitudinal, solar activity and density-temperature effects. Notably, use is made of the high negative correlations between the electron temperature and density, thereby allowing either to be calculated if data are available on the density.
A high-temperature statorette, consisting of an iron-27 percent cobalt magnetic lamination stack and nickel-clad silver conductors, was tested with pyrolytic boron nitride slot insulation. Temperatures were measured in each test to determine characteristics of slot linear heat conductance from statorette conductors. Testing was carried out to temperatures of approximately 1500 F in a vacuum environment of 10-8 torr. Three assemblies were built and tested, each having a different room temperature slot clearance. The final statorette assembly was subjected to a 100-hour vacuum aging test at 1400 F followed by 25 thermal cycles. Temperature data from the three assemblies showed that decreasing slot clearance and increasing compression loading did enhance heat transfer. The temperature difference between slot and lamination at 1400 F increased 4 F during the thermal aging and an additional 10 F during the 25 thermal cycles.
This document describes the final report of the Millimeter-wave Imaging Radiometer (MIR) Data Processing and Development of Water Vapor Retrieval Algorithms. Volumes of radiometric data have been collected using airborne MIR measurements during a series of field experiments since May 1992. Calibrated brightness temperature data in MIR channels are now available for studies of various hydrological parameters of the atmosphere and Earth's surface. Water vapor retrieval algorithms using multichannel MIR data input are developed for the profiling of atmospheric humidity. The retrieval algorithms are also extended to do three-dimensional mapping of moisture field using continuous observation provided by airborne sensor MIR or spaceborne sensor SSM/T-2. Validation studies for water vapor retrieval are carried out through the intercomparison of collocated and concurrent measurements using different instruments including lidars and radiosondes. The developed MIR water vapor retrieval algorithm is capable of humidity profiling under meteorological conditions ranging from clear column to moderately cloudy sky. Simulative water vapor retrieval studies using extended microwave channels near 183 and 557 GHz strong absorption lines indicate feasibility of humidity profiling to layers in the upper troposphere and improve the overall vertical resolution through the atmosphere.
Open loop, experimental force and power measurements of a three-axis, radial, heteropolar magnetic bearing at room temperature for rotor speeds up to 20,000 RPM are presented in this paper. The bearing, NASA Glenn Research Center's and Texas A&M's third generation high temperature magnetic bearing, was designed to operate in a 1000 F (540 C) environment and was primarily optimized for maximum load capacity. The experimentally measured force produced by one C-core of this bearing was 630 lb. (2.8 kN) at 16 A, while a load of 650 lbs (2.89 kN) was predicted at 16 A using 1D circuit analysis. The maximum predicted radial load for one of the three axes is 1,440 lbs (6.41 kN) at room temperature. The maximum measured load of an axis was 1050 lbs. (4.73 kN). Results of test under rotating conditions showed that rotor speed has a negligible effect on the bearing's load capacity. A single C-core required approximately 70 W of power to generate 300 lb (1.34 kN) of magnetic force. The room temperature data presented was measured after three thermal cycles up to 1000 F (540 C), totaling six hours at elevated temperatures.
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) was protected during its Mars atmospheric entry by an instrumented heatshield that used NASA's Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA). PICA is a lightweight carbon fiber/polymeric resin material that offers excellent performances for protecting probes during planetary entry. The Mars Entry Descent and Landing Instrument (MEDLI) suite on MSL offers unique in-flight validation data for models of atmospheric entry and material response. MEDLI recorded, among others, time-resolved in-depth temperature data of PICA using thermocouple sensors assembled in the MEDLI Integrated Sensor Plugs (MISP). These measurements have been widely used in the literature as a validation benchmark for state-of-the-art ablation codes. The objective of this work is to perform an inverse estimate of the MSL heatshield material properties and aerothermal environment during Mars entry from the MISP flight data.
Introduction: NASA’s next mission to Mars, the Mars 2020, will use the same heatshield of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) for thermal protection during entry, descent and landing. The heatshield is a tiled system made of Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablators (PICA) blocks [1]. PICA is a lightweight carbon fiber/polymeric resin material that offers excellent performances for protecting probes during planetary entry. The Mars Entry Descent and Landing Instrument (MEDLI) suite on MSL offers unique in-flight validation data for models of atmospheric entry and material response. MEDLI recorded, among others, time-resolved in-depth temperature data of PICA using thermocouple sensors assembled in the MEDLI Integrated Sensor Plugs (MISP). The objective of this work is to compare the thermal response of the MSL heatshield to the MISP flight data. In preparation to Mars 2020 post-flight analysis, the predictive material response capability is benchmarked against MEDLI flight data.
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) was protected during its Mars atmospheric entry by an instrumented heatshield that used NASA's Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA). PICA is a lightweight carbon fiber/polymeric resin material that offers excellent performances for protecting probes during planetary entry. The Mars Entry Descent and Landing Instrument (MEDLI) suite on MSL offers unique in-flight validation data for models of atmospheric entry and material response. MEDLI recorded, among others, time-resolved in-depth temperature data of PICA using thermocouple sensors assembled in the MEDLI Integrated Sensor Plugs (MISP). The objective of this work is to showcase the capability of the Design, Analysis, and Optimization of Thermal Protection Materials (DAOTPM) software. DAO-TPM is a Python based framework that works as a link between mission design, aerothermal and radiative environment computation, Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) microstructure analysis, material response and optimization tools. The toolbox has a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that allows the user to build as well as run the various software and utilities used to design, analyze and optimize a heatshield during atmospheric entry.
Time-spectral and cross-spectral analyses are used to investigate synoptic pressure variations in the Viking-2 pressure, wind, and temperature data for selected portions of the Mars fall, winter, and spring seasons. Estimates of the phase relationships between the highly coherent pressure, wind, and temperature oscillations are obtained, and found to be very similar to those expected for baroclinic waves and to those obtained from terrestrial surface data. Phase speeds and zonal wavenumbers are inferred by interpreting the pressure and meridional wind variations in terms of eastward-traveling quasi-geostrophic waves.
X-band noise temperature data were taken at Goldstone DSS 13 for the period August 1975 through January 1977. A description of the experiment is given along with probability density functions for zenith noise temperature increase during all year quarters and day quarters. Elevation angle modeling of the data is described along with a discussion of the problems associated with relating wide beamwidth statistics to narrow beamwidth antennas.
Observations of the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn were made at 3.1 mm and 8.6 mm wavelengths with a 16-foot radio telescope between March and August, 1971. Absolute brightness temperature data are given. All errors are one standard deviation and include uncertainties in antenna gain calibration. The solar and lunar temperatures are in excellent agreement with published observations. The planetary measurements at 3.1 mm are consistently higher than previous results. The implications of higher temperatures with respect to existing atmospheric and surface models are discussed.
Data from four free-drifting buoys deployed near Chesapeake Light on February 20, 1973 is presented. Position and water temperature data are presented in tabular and graphic form.
The paper describes the aircraft to satellite data relay (ASDAR) project which processes information collected by the navigation and data systems of widebody jet aircraft which cross data-sparse areas of the tropics and southern hemisphere. The ASDAR system consists of a data acquisition and control unit to acquire, store, and format latitude, longitude, altitude, wind speed, wind direction, and outside air temperature data; a transmitter to relay the formatted data via satellite to the ground; and a clock to time the data sampling and transmission periods.
The test program concentrates on three major areas: flight exposure; ground based exposure; and accelerated environmental effects and data correlation. Among the parameters investigated were: geographic location, flight profiles, solar heating effects, ultraviolet degradation, retrieval times, and test temperatures. Data from the tests can be used to effectively plan the cost of production and viable alternatives in materials selection.
The present investigation is concerned with the derivation of zonal winds for the middle atmosphere (40-80 km) of Venus, using Pioneer Venus (PV) radio occultation data. The considered altitude range is of particular interest because the atmospheric circulation of Venus is uncertain above the cloud tops (65-70 km). The Pioneer Venus orbiter began circling the planet every 24 hours on December 4, 1978. Four seasons of occultation data have now been collected. It is found that the assumption of cyclostrophic balance, in conjunction with radio occultation derived temperature data, yields a zonal wind field for most of the middle atmosphere of Venus. An intense midlatitude jet at and above the cloud tops is the most notable feature of the winds.
The thermospheric temperatures measured by the Fabry-Perod interferometer on the OGO 6 satellite are found to be reasonably represented by the mass spectrometer/incoherent scatter 1986 (MSIS-86) empirical model except for two anomalies, one in the South Atlantic and the other near noon local time. These anomalies are likely due to measurement problems. The OGO 6 temperature data were not used in the generation the MSIS models, so this is an independent comparison of measured and model temperatures. The measurements were made primarily during daytime at mid to low latitudes and throughout the day at high latitudes. On average, the measured temperatures are 16 K below the MSIS-86 model temperatures. Latitude gradients during solstices as well as for the yearly average are well represented by the model, as are high-latitude longitudinal and magnetic activity variations.
An assessment of the experimental uncertainty in obtaining the kinetic activation energy from thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) data is presented. A neat phenolic resin, Borden SC1O08, was heated at three heating rates to obtain weight loss vs temperature data. Activation energy was calculated by two methods: the traditional Flynn and Wall method based on the slope of log(q) versus 1/T, and a modification of this method where the ordinate and abscissa are reversed in the linear regression. The modified method produced a more accurate curve fit of the data, was more sensitive to data nonlinearity, and gave a value of activation energy 75 percent greater than the original method. An uncertainty analysis using the modified method yielded a 60 percent uncertainty in the average activation energy. Based on this result, the activation energy for a carbon-phenolic material was doubled and used to calculate the ablation rate In a typical solid rocket environment. Doubling the activation energy increased surface recession by 3 percent. Current TGA data reduction techniques that use the traditional Flynn and Wall approach to calculate activation energy should be changed to the modified method.
There are many existing satellite soil moisture algorithms and their derived data products, but there is no simple way for a user to inter-compare the products or analyze them together with other related data (e.g., precipitation). An environment that facilitates such inter-comparison and analysis would be useful for validation of satellite soil moisture retrievals against in situ data and for determining the relationships between different soil moisture products. The latter relationships are particularly important for applications users, for whom the continuity of soil moisture data, from whatever source, is critical. A recent example was provided by the sudden demise of EOS Aqua AMSR-E and the end of its soil moisture data production, as well as the end of other soil moisture products that had used the AMSR-E brightness temperature data. The purpose of the current effort is to create an environment, as part of the NASA Giovanni family of portals, that facilitates inter-comparisons of soil moisture algorithms and their derived data products.
This Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD) describes the theoretical background of the TROPICS native radiance calibration algorithms. It also includes TROPICS payload characteristics and the algorithm’s ancillary data (i.e., data coming from sources other than the TROPICS Space Vehicle). Details of the native radiance (i.e., Level-1a antenna temperatures and Level-1b brightness temperatures) data product format can be found in the TROPICS Data User’s Guide. This ATBD information on the pre-launch testing completed to verify the algorithm. The TROPICS Data User’s Guide will contain the post-launch radiance validation.