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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 415 records · Page 23
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1985

Radar comparison of 2.66-MHz and 40.92-MHz signals scattered from the mesosphere

Comparisons have been made between 2.66-MHz and 40.92-MHz radar signals simultaneously scattered from the mesosphere. Echoes were generally received from the same height ranges, indicating that the same scattering mechanism operates at both radar frequencies. A comparison of the observed radar cross sections was made for data obtained during the spring of 1984. Indications are that these echoes are due to scattering from turbulent irregularities in the refractive index. It has been possible to estimate the inner scale of turbulence from these data. The inner scale was found to be close to that estimated from turbulence theory. A comparison of the reflection coefficients indicates that a specular reflection process cannot account for the relative signal strength observed in these data.

Royrvik, O.↗
NASA NTRS1995

(abstract) Using an Inversion Algorithm to Retrieve Parameters and Monitor Changes over Forested Areas from SAR Data

In this work, the application of an inversion algorithm based on a nonlinear opimization technique to retrieve forest parameters from multifrequency polarimetric SAR data is discussed. The approach discussed here allows for retrieving and monitoring changes in forest parameters in a quantative and systematic fashion using SAR data. The parameters to be inverted directly from the data are the electromagnetic scattering properties of the forest components such as their dielectric constants and size characteristics. Once these are known, attributes such as canopy moisture content can be obtained, which are useful in the ecosystem models.

forest canopy SAR data algorithm radar scattering ↗
NASA NTRS1989

On the ability of rough surface scattering approximations to predict hydrodynamic modulation of the ocean radar cross section - A numerical study

Scattering from the ocean surface at microwave frequencies is often described by the Bragg scattering model or the two-scale model. Here, the ability of these models to predict cross section modulation is investigated by comparing Bragg and two-scale cross-sections with cross sections calculated by a numerical electromagnetic approach. The numerical method is used as the standard of comparison. For slightly rough surfaces, the Bragg model is found to be very accurate, but for much rougher surfaces, the two-scale model is superior and should be used for calculating both the absolute cross section and the change in cross section due to spatial or temporal modulation of the ocean wave height spectrum. These results are relevant to the interpretation of SAR images of ocean surface phenomena which perturb the wave height spectrum at ripple wavelengths.

Durden, Stephen L.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Quantifying the Relative Impact of Model Microphysics Parameterizations and Scattering Models in Simulating Synthetic Radar and Microwave Radiometer Observations

Output from numerical weather models is often used to simulate observations from remote sensing instruments, for purposes ranging from data assimilation, synthetic retrievals of geophysical quantities, and optimization of observing systems. However, when hydrometeors are present, the level of detail provided by the weather model is generally insufficient to fully constrain the input to the radiative transfer model (RTM), and further assumptions must be made by the RTM user in order to produce synthetic observations. Using a hierarchy of models including cloud-resolving, double-moment, bin microphysical, and ice-habit predicting models, along with scattering properties from the OpenSSP, Atmospheric Radiative Transfer Simulator (ARTS) databases, as well as relatively simple geometries (e.g., cylindrical plates and columns), we demonstrate the spread in synthetic observation output and the extent to which it is reduced when microphysics is more strongly constrained by the model. As an intermediate step, an error budget for the RTM simulations was derived and from that we developed and will describe best practices for observation simulation (e.g., optimal number of hydrometeor size bins, truncation of the particle size distribution, angular resolution of scattering phase function). Some statistical comparisons with observations will also be presented.

Munchak, S. Joseph↗
NASA NTRS1966

Hydrogen and helium ions.

Hydrogen and helium ions formation and destruction, charge transfer, diffusion, role during solar activity, using mass spectrometry, ground radar, etc

RADAR SCATTERING↗
NASA NTRS1972

Variability of plasma-line enhancement in ionospheric modification experiments.

A simple explanation for the variations of plasma-line intensity is suggested. The explanation is based on the fact that the plasma waves responsible for scattering the radar waves occur over a very limited range of heights. The explanation further makes use of the fact that the position of these height ranges of generation depends primarily on the gradient of the number density and to a lesser extent on the temperature and the orientation of the diagnostic radar beam.

Fejer, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Satellite observations of a monsoon depression

The exploration of a monsoon depression over Burma and the Bay of Bengal is discussed. Aircraft and satellite data were examined, with an emphasis on the Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) aboard TIROS-N and the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) aboard Nimbus-7. The structure of the monsoon depression was found to be dominated by cumulus convection. The only systematic large scale behavior discerned was a propagation of the depression westward, and diurnal migration of contours of brightness temperature. These contours in the middle troposphere showed a gradient toward the north with the patterns migrating northward at night. From SMMR and dropwindsonde data, water vapor contents were found to be near 65 mm, increasing to more than 70 mm in the northeast Bay of Bengal. Cloud water contents reached about three mm. Rainfall rates exceeding 5.7 mm/h occurred over a small part of the storm area, while mean rainfall rates in areas of order 20,000 sq km reached approximately 0.5 mm/h. Measured MSU brightness temperatures were reconciled very well with dropwindsonde data and with airborne in situ observations of clouds (by photography) and hydrometeors (by radar). Diffuse scattering was determined to be important in computing brightness temperature.

Warner, C.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Mapping sub-tropical vegetation using multi-frequency, multi-polarization SAR data

In 1990 the NASA/JPL airborne synthetic aperture radar DC-8 (Airsar) was flown over an area in northern Belize and the surrounding countries of Guatemala and Mexico. The three-frequency polarimetric radar signatures of a variety of natural areas have been extracted, and many have a unique radar signature. Scattering mechanisms which may explain these signatures and results of an image classification technique are presented.

Freeman, A.↗
NASA NTRS1995

The response of ionospheric convection in the polar cap to substorm activity

We report multi-instrument observations during an isolated substorm on 17 October 1989. The European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) radar operated in the SP-UK-POLI mode measuring ionospheric convection at latitudes 71 deg Lambda - 78 deg Lambda. Sub-Auroral Magnetometer Network (SAMNET) and the EISCAT Magnetometer Cross provide information on the timing of substorm expansion phase onset and subsequent intensifications, as well as the location of the field aligned and ionospheric currents associated with the substorm current wedge. Interplanetary Monitoring Platform-8 (IMP-8) magnetic field data are also included. Evidence of a substorm growth phase is provided by the equatorward motion of a flow reversal boundary across the EISCAT radar field of view at 2130 MLT, following a southward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). We infer that the polar cap expanded as a result of the addition of open magnetic flux in the tail lobes during this interval. The flow reversal boundary, which is a lower limit to the polar cap boundary, reached an invariant latitude equatorward of 71 deg Lambda by the time of the expansion phase onset. We conclude that the substorm onset region in the ionosphere, defined by the westward electrojet, mapped to a part of the tail radially earthward of the boundary between open and closed magnetic flux, the distant neutral line. Thus the substorm was not initiated at the distant neutral line, although there is evidence that it remained active during the expansion phase.

Lester, M.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Frequency-Channelized SAR Processing For Multiple Angle Looks

Technique for processing synthetic-aperture-radar (SAR) signals exploits fact that center frequency of frequency channel of data being processed linked directly to squint angle and to azimuth angle. Also exploits fact in multilook SAR data processing, total bandwidth of each SAR polarization channel divided into N (typically, N = 16) equal frequency channels, data in each of which processed separately. Technique has yielded data on directionality of radar back scatter from agricultural fields.

Dubois, Pascale C.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Lunar and Planetary Science XXXV: Mars Polar Processes: Land and Sky

The titles in this section include: 1) Morphological Evidence for the Large-scale Evolution of Martian North Polar Troughs? 2) New Views of the Martian Polar Regions: The Latest Results from the Mars Odyssey THEMIS Investigation; 3) Observations at the Chasma Australe Re-Entrant, South Polar Region, Mars; 4) Stratigraphic Details of Uppermost Units within South Polar Layered Deposits on Mars; 5) Detailed Geologic Analysis of Part of the South Polar Layered Deposits, Planum Australe, Mars: Part II; 6) SHARAD: Radar Volume Scattering and the Polar Layered Terrains on Mars; 7) Arabia and Memnonia Equatorial Regions with High Content of Water: Data from HEND/Odyssey; 8) Alaskan Permafrost Analogs of Martian Small Valley Networks, Thermokarst, Terrain Softening, Terraces, and Volcanic Craters; 9) Periglacial Processes in the Southern Hemisphere of Mars; 10) Thermal Modeling of Possible Surface Water Ice Deposits in Juventae Chasma; 11) Modeling Depth to Ground Ice on Mars; 12) Ground Ice at the Phoenix Landing Site: A Preflight Assessment; 13) Possible Temperature-related Differences in Slope Angle between the North and South Walls of Coprates Chasma, Mars; 14) Seasonal Variations within Korolev Crater, Mars; 15) South Polar Ar Enhancement as a Tracer for Southern Winter Horizontal Meridional Mixing; 16) An Investigation of the Correlation of Water-Ice and Dust Retrievals via the MGS TES Data Set; 17) Observations of Plasma Waves near Mars and Their Implications for Atmospheric Loss.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2008

Quasi-Optical Transmission Line for 94-GHz Radar

A quasi-optical transmission line (QOTL) has been developed as a low-loss transmission line for a spaceborne cloudobserving radar instrument that operates at a nominal frequency of 94 GHz. This QOTL could also readily be redesigned for use in terrestrial millimeter-wave radar systems and millimeter-wave imaging systems. In the absence of this or another lowloss transmission line, it would be necessary to use a waveguide transmission line in the original radar application. Unfortunately, transmission losses increase and power-handling capacities of waveguides generally decrease with frequency, such that at 94 GHz, the limitation on transmitting power and the combined transmission and reception losses (greater than 5 dB) in a waveguide transmission line previously considered for the original application would be unacceptable. The QOTL functions as a very-lowloss, three-port circulator. The QOTL includes a shaped input mirror that can be rotated to accept 94-GHz transmitter power from either of two high-power amplifiers. Inside the QOTL, the transmitter power takes the form of a linearly polarized beam radiated from a feed horn. This beam propagates through a system of mirrors, each of which refocuses the beam to minimize diffraction losses. A magnetically biased ferrite disc is placed at one of the foci to utilize the Faraday effect to rotate the polarization of the beam by 45 degrees. The beam is then transmitted via an antenna system. The radar return (scatter from clouds, and/or reflections from other objects) is collected by the same antenna and propagates through the Faraday rotator in the reverse of the direction of propagation of the transmitted beam. In the Faraday rotator, the polarization of the received signal is rotated a further 45 degrees, so that upon emerging from the Faraday rotator, the received beam is polarized at 90 with respect to the transmitted beam. The transmitted and received signals are then separated by a wire-grid polarizer.

Perez, Raul M.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Active and Passive Radiative Transfer Simulations for GPM-Related Field Campaigns

Using a three-dimensional radiative transfer model combined with cloud-resolving model output, we simulate active and passive sensor observations of clouds and precipitaiton. This combination of tools allows us to diagnose the contributions of various hydrometeor types. Radar multiple scattering is most closely associated with the presence of graupel. At Wband, massive amounts multiple scattering in deep convection can decorrelate the reflectivity profile from the vertical structure, but for less intense events, multiple scattering could be a useful indicator of riming. For passive sensors, polarization differences at 166 GHz indicate the presence of horizontally aligned frozen particles with pronounced aspect ratios, while high concentrations of more isotropic aggregates and graupel dampen the polarization difference while also contributing to the lowest brightness temperature depressions. The insights into remote sensing measurements will facilitate the development of improved algorithms and advanced sensors.

Adams, Ian S.↗