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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 397 records · Page 22

Evaluating Radiation Impact on Transmon Qubits Using a Fast Decay Protocol in Above and Underground Laboratories

Superconducting qubits can be sensitive to sudden energy deposits caused by ambient radioactivity and cosmic rays. Previous studies have focused on understanding possible correlated effects over time and distance due to this radiation. In this study‚ for the first time‚ we directly compare the response of a transmon qubit measured initially at the SQMS above-ground facility (Fermilab‚ Illinois‚ USA) and then at the deep underground Gran Sasso Laboratory (INFN-LNGS‚ Italy). We observe the same average qubit lifetime of roughly 80 microseconds at both facilities. We then apply a fast decay detection protocol and investigate the time structure and relative rates of triggered events due to radiation versus intrinsic noise‚ comparing the above and underground performance of several high-coherence qubits. Using gamma sources of variable intensity we calibrate the response of the qubit to different levels of radiation in an environment with minimal background radiation. Results indicate that qubits respond to a strong gamma source‚ and it is possible to detect particle impacts. However‚ we do not observe a difference in radiation-induced-like events when comparing the above and underground results for niobium-based transmon qubits with sapphire substrates. We conclude that the majority of these events are not radiation-related and are attributed to other noise sources‚ which by far dominate single-qubit errors in modern transmon qubits. [1] Dominicis‚ Roy et al. arXiv:2405.18355

Roy, Tanay↗

Geosat Data Assimilation with Application to the Eastern North Atlantic

An attempt is made to determine the three-dimensional ocean circulation from satellite altimeter measurements by assimilating Geosat sea surface height data into an eddy-resolving QuasiGeostrophic (QG) model of the eastern North Atlantic Ocean. Results are tested against independent information from hydrographic field observations and moored current meter data collected during the Geosat ERM. The comparison supports the concept of inferring aspects of the three-dimensional flow field from sea surface height observations by combining altimetric measurements with the dynamics of ocean circulation models. A Holland-type QG model with open boundaries is set up on a 2000 km X 2000 km domain of the eastern North Atlantic between 25 deg. and 45 deg. N, 32 deg. and 8 deg. W. By using a simple nudging technique, about two years of Geosat altimeter data are assimilated into the model every five days as space-time objective analyses on the model grid. The error information resulting from the analysis is used during the assimilation procedure to account for data uncertainties. Results show an intense eddy field, which in the surface layer interacts with a meandering Azores Front. Compared to Geosat, the model leads to smoothed fields that follow the observations. Model simulations are significantly correlated with hydrographic data from March 1988 and June 1989, both close to the surface and in the subsurface. Good agreement is also found between the model velocity fields and moored current meter data in the top two model layers. The agreement is visually weak in the bottom layer, although a coherence analysis reveals an agreement between the model simulation and current meter data over the full water column at periods exceeding 80 days.

Stammer, Detlef↗

Phase-Shifted Laser Feedback Interferometry

Phase-shifted, laser feedback interferometry is a new diagnostic tool developed at the NASA Lewis Research Center under the Advanced Technology Development (ATD) Program directed by NASA Headquarters Microgravity Research Division. It combines the principles of phase-shifting interferometry (PSI) and laser-feedback interferometry (LFI) to produce an instrument that can quantify both optical path length changes and sample reflectivity variations. In a homogenous medium, the optical path length between two points is the product of the index of refraction and the geometric distance between the two points. LFI differs from other forms of interferometry by using the laser as both the source and the phase detector. In LFI, coherent feedback of the incident light either reflected directly from a surface or reflected after transmission through a region of interest will modulate the output intensity of the laser. The combination of PSI and LFI has produced a robust instrument, based on a low-power helium-neon (HeNe) gas laser, with a high dynamic range that can be used to measure either static or oscillatory changes of the optical path length. Small changes in optical path length are limited by the fraction of a fringe that can be measured; we can measure nonoscillatory changes with a root mean square (rms) error of the wavelength/1000 without averaging.

Ovryn, Benjie↗

Using the GEOS 5 Nature Run to Simulate 2053 nm Coherent Doppler Wind Lidar Observations

Wind observations are a critical part of the current global observation system used for Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP). Wind lidars have been cited as precise instruments that can provide 3-dimensional wind measurements. Several studies have conducted observing system experiments (OSEs) with existing lidar observations or observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) with simulated lidar observations highlighting the benefits of wind lidar measurements to NWP. Previous studies using simulated lidar observations have typically tied aerosol optical properties to functions of relative humidity instead of to aerosol properties. A methodology is presented for simulating wind measurements from a novel 2053 nm lidar using aerosol properties derived using the GEOS-5 Nature Run, along with estimating winds derived from cloud information. Some assumptions regarding aerosol scattering and the distribution of clouds are explored, along with the role of observation weighting, and implications for representativeness error. Results from a preliminary OSSE are presented highlighting the importance of assumptions used to derive data from cloud returns and aerosol scattering. While a longer duration study is required, results show a general reduction in analysis error when lidar measurements are ingested.

Bryan M. Karpowicz↗

Using the GEOS 5 Nature Run to Simulate 2053 nm Coherent Doppler Wind Lidar Observations

Wind observations are a critical part of the current global observation system used for Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP). Wind lidars have been cited as precise instruments that can provide 3-dimensional wind measurements. Several studies have conducted observing system experiments (OSEs) with existing lidar observations or observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) with simulated lidar observations highlighting the benefits of wind lidar measurements to NWP. Previous studies using simulated lidar observations have typically tied aerosol optical properties to functions of relative humidity instead of to aerosol properties. A methodology is presented for simulating wind measurements from a novel 2053 nm lidar using aerosol properties derived using the GEOS-5 Nature Run, along with estimating winds derived from cloud information. Some assumptions regarding aerosol scattering and the distribution of clouds are explored, along with the role of observation weighting, and implications for representativeness error. Results from a preliminary OSSE are presented highlighting the importance of assumptions used to derive data from cloud returns and aerosol scattering. While a longer duration study is required, results show a general reduction in analysis error when lidar measurements are ingested.

Bryan M. Karpowicz↗

Investigation of continuously traversing microphone system for mode measurement

The continuously Traversing Microphone System consists of a data acquisition and processing method for obtaining the modal coefficients of the discrete, coherent acoustic field in a fan inlet duct. The system would be used in fan rigs or full scale engine installations where present measurement methods, because of the excessive number of microphones and long test times required, are not feasible. The purpose of the investigation reported here was to develop a method for defining modal structure by means of a continuously traversing microphone system and to perform an evaluation of the method, based upon analytical studies and computer simulated tests. A variety of system parameters were examined, and the effects of deviations from ideal were explored. Effects of traverse speed, digitizing rate, run time, roundoff error, calibration errors, and random noise background level were determined. For constant fan operating speed, the sensitivity of the method to normal errors and deviations was determined to be acceptable. Good recovery of mode coefficients was attainable. Fluctuating fan speed conditions received special attention, and it was concluded that by employing suitable time delay procedures, satisfactory information on mode coefficients can be obtained under realistic conditions. A plan for further development involving fan rig tests was prepared.

Cicon, D. E.↗

Performance of Doppler Lidar Velocity and Range Sensor Operating in Highly Dynamic Environments

The operation of a coherent Doppler lidar, developed by NASA for missions to planetary bodies, is analyzed and its projected performance is described. The lidar transmits three laser beams at different but fixed directions and measures line-of-sight range and velocity along each beam. The three line-of-sight measurements are then combined in order to determine the three components of the vehicle velocity vector and its altitude relative to the ground. Operating from over five kilometers altitude, the NDL provides velocity and range data with a few cm/sec and a few meters precision, respectively, depending on the vehicle dynamics. This paper explains the sources of measurements error and analyzes the impacts of vehicle dynamics on the lidar performance.

Doppler Lidar↗

Analysis of Navigation Doppler Lidar performance for Moon and Mars Landing

The operation of a coherent Doppler lidar, developed by NASA for missions to planetary bodies, is analyzed and its projected performance is described. The lidar transmits three laser beams at different but fixed directions and measures line-of-sight range and velocity along each beam. The three line-of-sight measurements are then combined in order to determine the three components of the vehicle velocity vector and its altitude relative to the ground. Operating from over five kilometers altitude, the NDL provides velocity and range data with a few cm/sec and a few meters precision, respectively, depending on the vehicle dynamics. This paper explains the sources of measurement error and analyzes the impact of vehicle dynamics on the lidar performance.

Farzin Amzajerdian↗

Attention to quantum complexity

The imminent era of error-corrected quantum computing demands robust methods to characterize quantum state complexity from limited, noisy measurements. We introduce the Quantum Attention Network (QuAN), a classical artificial intelligence (AI) framework leveraging attention mechanisms tailored for learning quantum complexity. Inspired by large language models, QuAN treats measurement snapshots as tokens while respecting permutation invariance. Combined with our parameter-efficient miniset self-attention block, this enables QuAN to access high-order moments of bit-string distributions and preferentially attend to less noisy snapshots. We test QuAN across three quantum simulation settings: driven hard-core Bose-Hubbard model, random quantum circuits, and toric code under coherent and incoherent noise. QuAN directly learns entanglement and state complexity growth from experimental computational basis measurements, including complexity growth in random circuits from noisy data. In regimes inaccessible to existing theory, QuAN unveils the complete phase diagram for noisy toric code data as a function of both noise types, highlighting AI’s transformative potential for assisting quantum hardware.

Kim, Hyejin [Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United Sta↗

Terrestrial Single-Station Analog for Constraining the Martian Core and Deep Interior: Implications for InSight

We used a terrestrial single-station seismometer to quantify the uncertainty of InSight (INterior explorations using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) data for determining Martian core size. To mimic Martian seismicity, we formed a catalog using 917 terrestrial earthquakes, from which we randomly selected events. We stacked ScS amplitudes on modeled arrival times and searched for where ScS produced coherent seismic amplitudes. A core detection was defined by a coherent peak with small offset between predicted and user-selected arrival times. Iterating the detection algorithm with varying signal-to-noise (SNR) ranges and quantity of events determined the selection frequency of each model and quantified core depth uncertainty. Increasing the quantity of events reduced core depth uncertainty while increasing the recovery rate, while increasing event SNR had little effect. Including ScS2 multiples increased the recovery rate and reduced core depth uncertainty when we used low quantities of events. The most-frequent core depths varied by back azimuth, suggesting our method is sensitive to the presence of mantle heterogeneities. When we added 1° in source distance errors, core depth uncertainty increased by up to 11 km and recovery rates decreased by <5%. Altering epicentral distances by 25% added ~35 km of uncertainty and reduced recovery rates to <50% in some cases. From these experiments, we estimate that if InSight can detect five events with high location precision (<10% epicentral distance errors), that there is at least an 88% chance of core depth recovery using ScS alone with uncertainty in core depth approaching 18 km and decreasing as more events are located.

Marusiak, Angela G.↗

Terrestrial Single-Station Analog for Constraining the Martian Core and Deep Interior: Implications for InSight

We used a terrestrial single-station seismometer to quantify the uncertainty of InSight (INterior explorations using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) data for determining Martian core size. To mimic Martian seismicity, we formed a catalog using 917 terrestrial earthquakes, from which we randomly selected events. We stacked ScS amplitudes on modeled arrival times and searched for where ScS produced coherent seismic amplitudes. A core detection was defined by a coherent peak with small offset between predicted and user-selected arrival times. Iterating the detection algorithm with varying signal-to-noise (SNR) ranges and quantity of events determined the selection frequency of each model and quantified core depth uncertainty. Increasing the quantity of events reduced core depth uncertainty while increasing the recovery rate, while increasing event SNR had little effect. Including ScS2 multiples increased the recovery rate and reduced core depth uncertainty when we used low quantities of events. The most-frequent core depths varied by back azimuth, suggesting our method is sensitive to the presence of mantle heterogeneities. When we added 1° in source distance errors, core depth uncertainty increased by up to 11 km and recovery rates decreased by <5%. Altering epicentral distances by 25% added ~35 km of uncertainty and reduced recovery rates to <50% in some cases. From these experiments, we estimate that if InSight can detect five events with high location precision (< 10% epicentral distance errors), that there is at least an 88% chance of core depth recovery using ScS alone with uncertainty in core depth approaching 18 km and decreasing as more events are located.

Angela G Marusiak↗

High-frequency variations in Earth rotation and the planetary momentum budget

The major focus of the subject contract was on helping to resolve one of the more notable discrepancies still existing in the axial momentum budget of the solid Earth-atmosphere system, namely the disappearance of coherence between length-of-day (l.o.d.) and atmospheric angular momentum (AAM) at periods shorter than about a fortnight. Recognizing the importance of identifying the source of the high-frequency momentum budget anomaly, the scientific community organized two special measurement campaigns (SEARCH '92 and CONT '94) to obtain the best possible determinations of l.o.d. and AAM. An additional goal was to analyze newly developed estimates of the torques that transfer momentum between the atmosphere and its underlying surface to determine whether the ocean might be a reservoir of momentum on short time scales. Discrepancies between AAM and l.o.d. at sub-fortnightly periods have been attributed to either measurement errors in these quantities or the need to incorporate oceanic angular momentum into the planetary budget. Results from the SEARCH '92 and CONT '94 campaigns suggest that when special attention is paid to the quality of the measurements, better agreement between l.o.d. and AAM at high frequencies can be obtained. The mechanism most responsible for the high-frequency changes observed in AAM during these campaigns involves a direct coupling to the solid Earth, i.e, the mountain torque, thereby obviating a significant oceanic role.

Rosen, Richard D.↗

Diffractive Optical Elements for Lidar Beam Scanning

Wind measurement from space can provide critical data for understanding weather patterns and large-scale storm phenomena. An instrument for providing such measurements is currently under development at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. The instrument utilizes a pulsed coherent lidar system operating at a wavelength of 2.06 micrometers in order to achieve decreased weight, size, and cost compared to systems operating at longer wavelengths, and it is being developed to be compatible with the capabilities of small satellites. A key aspect of such an orbital lidar system is that the beam must be conically scanned after it exits the final beam expansion telescope. Previous work indicates that the aperture of the beam expansion telescope should be 50 cm with a scanner half-angle of 300 and a rotation rate of 10 RPM. The critical requirements for the beam scanning element include a 50 cm aperture, an induced wavefront error of less than lambda/10, and high efficiency deflection (i.e., 95+ % of the incident light is deflected). This report is intended to provide a brief overview and discussion of potential technologies for space-borne laser radar (lidar) beam scanning.

Nordin, Gregory P.↗

Carrier arraying: Revisited

Depending on the basis used for comparison, it is possible to predict different gains when applying carrier arraying to a conventional coherent receiver. In the past, the specific performance comparisons were made between the arrayed and nonarrayed cases assuming a fixed carrier-tracking closed-loop bandwidth. While the notion of loop bandwidth for the nonarrayed loop with a single input is well defined and meaningful, the comparable notion for an arrayed loop with multiple inputs is not uniquely defined since it depends on the knowledge of the statistical relation, e.g., degree of correlation, among the various antenna inputs. To circumvent the need for such knowledge, which is often not completely available, we suggest in this article an alternate criterion for comparing arrayed and nonarrayed loops, namely, fixed steady-state phase error, which, in the arrayed case, is independent of the statistical relation among the antenna inputs. We show that, in this case, the gain derived from carrier arraying is quite different from that obtained under the assumption of fixed-loop bandwidth, which suggests that one should exercise care when comparing arrayed and unarrayed loops in that the criterion used for comparison should be directly applicable to the situation at hand.

Simon, M. K.↗

Enhancement of Directional Ambiguity Removal Skill in Scatterometer Data Processing Using Planetary Boundary Layer Models

Planetary boundary layer (PBL) models are utilized to enhance directional ambiguity removal skill in scatterometer data processing. The ambiguity in wind direction retrieved from scatterometer measurements is removed with the aid of physical directional information obtained from PBL models. This technique is based on the observation that sea level pressure is scalar and its field is more coherent than the corresponding wind. An initial wind field obtained from the scatterometer measurements is used to derive a pressure field with a PBL model. After filtering small-scale noise in the derived pressure field, a wind field is generated with an inverted PBL model. This derived wind information is then used to remove wind vector ambiguities in the scatterometer data. It is found that the ambiguity removal skill can be improved when the new technique is used properly in conjunction with the median filter being used for scatterometer wind dealiasing at JPL. The new technique is applied to regions of cyclone systems which are important for accurate weather prediction but where the errors of ambiguity removal are often large.

Kim, Young-Joon↗

Self-Supervised T-GCN for Detection of Disturbance and Propagation in Power Grid

Urban power systems increasingly rely on dense sensing to monitor grid reliability, yet disturbance labels are scarce and events are rare. We present a self-supervised spatio-temporal method that detects, localizes, and characterizes grid frequency disturbances across urban areas using only unlabeled data. Our approach trains a tiny Temporal Graph Convolutional Network (T-GCN) to forecast per-site frequency residuals (deviation from 60 Hz). The sensor graph is constructed directly from signals using pre-event Pearson correlation with a cross-correlation lag penalty without geocoding. At inference, node-level anomalies are the model's forecast errors; region-level alarms arise from connected components of high-score nodes. We estimate disturbance propagation by computing per-node arrival times (first persistent exceedance), then fit a planar or time-of-arrival model to obtain direction, speed, and an epicenter proxy. With only three real events collected at decisecond resolution across U.S. cities, we evaluate the T-GCN and report time-to-detect, footprint size, and propagation consistency. We further show that short-window embeddings from the T-GCN's hidden states enable few-shot event-vs-background recognition via a simple prototypical classifier. Despite minimal data and no labels, our system yields fast, spatially coherent detection and interpretable propagation maps, offering a practical, lightweight pathway to city-scale grid resilience analytics.

Niu, Haoran [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000155228297)↗

An adaptive quantization method for burst mode synthetic aperture radar data

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has high data rate because it collects and processes the data coherently. The data rate limitation of the system has to be satisfied while maintaining good image quality. Thus, a quantizer with minimum data rate and high SNR should be employed. An adaptive quantization method is proposed for the burst mode SAR. This adaptive quantizer uses uniformly quantized data to select a subset of bits which is equivalent to changing the step size of the uniform quantizer. A simple implementation which uses the previous burst data to compute the local statistics for the bit selection is presented. The use of previous burst simplifies the implementation because it does not require storage or delay; however, an abrupt change in the terrain could result in incorrect bit selection. An error analysis of this implementation and comparison of two burst mode SAR images formed using the uniformly quantized and adaptively quantized data is presented.

Joo, T. H.↗

Observing Quantum Measurement Collapse as a Learnability Phase Transition

During a quantum measurement, superpositions of states with different observable properties probabilistically collapse into one with a sharp value of the measured observable. In macroscopic quantum systems, this collapse arises via a continuous measurement-induced phase transition (MIPT) at a critical value of the strength of interaction with the measurement apparatus. MIPTs lie outside established paradigms for equilibrium or nonequilibrium critical phenomena and delineate distinct, stable dynamical and computational phases of matter. Quantum computers enable programmable simulation of the interaction of a measurement apparatus with a dynamical quantum system, to explore MIPT phenomena over a range of system sizes while retaining quantum coherence. Yet, existing experimental protocols rely on fundamentally nonscalable postselection techniques or direct classical simulation of quantum circuits. Here, we report the scalable observation of finite-size scaling evidence for an observable-sharpening MIPT in monitored quantum circuits in a chain of Yb + 171 ions in Quantinuum’s H1-1 trapped-ion quantum processor. By leveraging an equivalent description as a statistical physics problem, we implement scalable classical algorithms to infer the value of the measured observable from a single experimental shot. This technique enables a truly scalable protocol to observe observable-sharpening MIPTs in generic classes of circuits that cannot be directly classically simulated and also provides enhanced means to detect and suppress errors in the quantum simulation. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗