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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 451 records · Page 25
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NASA NTRS1993

Compact disk error measurements

The objectives of this project are as follows: provide hardware and software that will perform simple, real-time, high resolution (single-byte) measurement of the error burst and good data gap statistics seen by a photoCD player read channel when recorded CD write-once discs of variable quality (i.e., condition) are being read; extend the above system to enable measurement of the hard decision (i.e., 1-bit error flags) and soft decision (i.e., 2-bit error flags) decoding information that is produced/used by the Cross Interleaved - Reed - Solomon - Code (CIRC) block decoder employed in the photoCD player read channel; construct a model that uses data obtained via the systems described above to produce meaningful estimates of output error rates (due to both uncorrected ECC words and misdecoded ECC words) when a CD disc having specific (measured) error statistics is read (completion date to be determined); and check the hypothesis that current adaptive CIRC block decoders are optimized for pressed (DAD/ROM) CD discs. If warranted, do a conceptual design of an adaptive CIRC decoder that is optimized for write-once CD discs.

Howe, D.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Spin glasses and error-correcting codes

In this article, we study a model for error-correcting codes that comes from spin glass theory and leads to both new codes and a new decoding technique. Using the theory of spin glasses, it has been proven that a simple construction yields a family of binary codes whose performance asymptotically approaches the Shannon bound for the Gaussian channel. The limit is approached as the number of information bits per codeword approaches infinity while the rate of the code approaches zero. Thus, the codes rapidly become impractical. We present simulation results that show the performance of a few manageable examples of these codes. In the correspondence that exists between spin glasses and error-correcting codes, the concept of a thermal average leads to a method of decoding that differs from the standard method of finding the most likely information sequence for a given received codeword. Whereas the standard method corresponds to calculating the thermal average at temperature zero, calculating the thermal average at a certain optimum temperature results instead in the sequence of most likely information bits. Since linear block codes and convolutional codes can be viewed as examples of spin glasses, this new decoding method can be used to decode these codes in a way that minimizes the bit error rate instead of the codeword error rate. We present simulation results that show a small improvement in bit error rate by using the thermal average technique.

Belongie, M. L.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Evaluating the design of an earth radiation budget instrument with system simulations. Part 2: Minimization of instantaneous sampling errors for CERES-I

Much of the new record of broadband earth radiation budget satellite measurements to be obtained during the late 1990s and early twenty-first century will come from the dual-radiometer Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System Instrument (CERES-I) flown aboard sun-synchronous polar orbiters. Simulation studies conducted in this work for an early afternoon satellite orbit indicate that spatial root-mean-square (rms) sampling errors of instantaneous CERES-I shortwave flux estimates will range from about 8.5 to 14.0 W/m on a 2.5 deg latitude and longitude grid resolution. Rms errors in longwave flux estimates are only about 20% as large and range from 1.5 to 3.5 W/sq m. These results are based on an optimal cross-track scanner design that includes 50% footprint overlap to eliminate gaps in the top-of-the-atmosphere coverage, and a 'smallest' footprint size to increase the ratio in the number of observations lying within to the number of observations lying on grid area boundaries. Total instantaneous measurement error also depends on the variability of anisotropic reflectance and emission patterns and on retrieval methods used to generate target area fluxes. Three retrieval procedures from both CERES-I scanners (cross-track and rotating azimuth plane) are used. (1) The baseline Earth Radiaton Budget Experiment (ERBE) procedure, which assumes that errors due to the use of mean angular dependence models (ADMs) in the radiance-to-flux inversion process nearly cancel when averaged over grid areas. (2) To estimate N, instantaneous ADMs are estimated from the multiangular, collocated observations of the two scanners. These observed models replace the mean models in computation of satellite flux estimates. (3) The scene flux approach, conducts separate target-area retrievals for each ERBE scene category and combines their results using area weighting by scene type. The ERBE retrieval performs best when the simulated radiance field departs from the ERBE mean models by less than 10%. For larger perturbations, both the scene flux and collocation methods produce less error than the ERBE retrieval. The scene flux technique is preferable, however, because it involves fewer restrictive assumptions.

Stowe, Larry↗
NASA NTRS1995

Uncertainty in vertically integrated liquid water content due to radar reflectivity observation error

Radar reflectivity is used to estimate meteorological quantities such as rainfall rate, liquid water content, and the related quantity, vertically integrated liquid (VIL) water content. The estimation of any of these quantities depends on several assumptions related to the characteristics of the physical processes controlling the occurrence and character of water in the atmosphere. Additionally, there are many sources of error associated with radar observations, such as those due to brighthand, hail, and drop size distribution approximations. This work addresses one error of interest, the radar reflectivity observation error; other error sources are assumed to be corrected or negligible. The result is a relationship between the uncertainty in VIL water content and radar reflectivity measurement error. An example application illustrates the estimation of VIL uncertainty from typical radar reflectivity observations and indicates that the coefficient of variation in VIL is much larger than the coefficient of variation in radar reflectivity.

French, Mark N.↗
NASA NTRS1993

In-flight measurement of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-10 static Earth sensor error

Analysis performed in the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Flight Dynamics Division (FDD) measures error in the static Earth sensor onboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-10 spacecraft using flight data. Errors are computed as the difference between Earth sensor pitch and roll angle telemetry and reference pitch and roll attitude histories propagated by gyros. The flight data error determination illustrates the effect on horizon sensing of systemic variation in the Earth infrared (IR) horizon radiance with latitude and season, as well as the effect of anomalies in the global IR radiance. Results of the analysis provide a comparison between static Earth sensor flight performance and that of scanning Earth sensors studied previously in the GSFC/FDD. The results also provide a baseline for evaluating various models of the static Earth sensor. Representative days from the NOAA-10 mission indicate the extent of uniformity and consistency over time of the global IR horizon. A unique aspect of the NOAA-10 analysis is the correlation of flight data errors with independent radiometric measurements of stratospheric temperature. The determination of the NOAA-10 static Earth sensor error contributes to realistic performance expectations for missions to be equipped with similar sensors.

Harvie, E.↗
NASA NTRS1995

An hp-adaptivity and error estimation for hyperbolic conservation laws

This paper presents an hp-adaptive discontinuous Galerkin method for linear hyperbolic conservation laws. A priori and a posteriori error estimates are derived in mesh-dependent norms which reflect the dependence of the approximate solution on the element size (h) and the degree (p) of the local polynomial approximation. The a posteriori error estimate, based on the element residual method, provides bounds on the actual global error in the approximate solution. The adaptive strategy is designed to deliver an approximate solution with the specified level of error in three steps. The a posteriori estimate is used to assess the accuracy of a given approximate solution and the a priori estimate is used to predict the mesh refinements and polynomial enrichment needed to deliver the desired solution. Numerical examples demonstrate the reliability of the a posteriori error estimates and the effectiveness of the hp-adaptive strategy.

Bey, Kim S.↗
NASA NTRS1996

The Michelson Stellar Interferometer Error Budget for Triple Triple-Satellite Configuration

This report presents the results of a study of the instrumentation tolerances for a conventional style Michelson stellar interferometer (MSI). The method used to determine the tolerances was to determine the change, due to the instrument errors, in the measured fringe visibility and phase relative to the ideal values. The ideal values are those values of fringe visibility and phase that would be measured by a perfect MSI and are attributable solely to the object being detected. Once the functional relationship for changes in visibility and phase as a function of various instrument errors is understood it is then possible to set limits on the instrument errors in order to ensure that the measured visibility and phase are different from the ideal values by no more than some specified amount. This was done as part of this study. The limits we obtained are based on a visibility error of no more than 1% and a phase error of no more than 0.063 radians (this comes from 1% of 2(pi) radians). The choice of these 1% limits is supported in the literture. The approach employed in the study involved the use of ASAP (Advanced System Analysis Program) software provided by Breault Research Organization, Inc., in conjunction with parallel analytical calculations. The interferometer accepts object radiation into two separate arms each consisting of an outer mirror, an inner mirror, a delay line (made up of two moveable mirrors and two static mirrors), and a 10:1 afocal reduction telescope. The radiation coming out of both arms is incident on a slit plane which is opaque with two openings (slits). One of the two slits is centered directly under one of the two arms of the interferometer and the other slit is centered directly under the other arm. The slit plane is followed immediately by an ideal combining lens which images the radiation in the fringe plane (also referred to subsequently as the detector plane).

Marathay, Arvind S.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Effects of modeling errors on trajectory predictions in air traffic control automation

Air traffic control automation synthesizes aircraft trajectories for the generation of advisories. Trajectory computation employs models of aircraft performances and weather conditions. In contrast, actual trajectories are flown in real aircraft under actual conditions. Since synthetic trajectories are used in landing scheduling and conflict probing, it is very important to understand the differences between computed trajectories and actual trajectories. This paper examines the effects of aircraft modeling errors on the accuracy of trajectory predictions in air traffic control automation. Three-dimensional point-mass aircraft equations of motion are assumed to be able to generate actual aircraft flight paths. Modeling errors are described as uncertain parameters or uncertain input functions. Pilot or autopilot feedback actions are expressed as equality constraints to satisfy control objectives. A typical trajectory is defined by a series of flight segments with different control objectives for each flight segment and conditions that define segment transitions. A constrained linearization approach is used to analyze trajectory differences caused by various modeling errors by developing a linear time varying system that describes the trajectory errors, with expressions to transfer the trajectory errors across moving segment transitions. A numerical example is presented for a complete commercial aircraft descent trajectory consisting of several flight segments.

Jackson, Michael R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Linearization of Attitude-Control Error Dynamics

Direction cosines and quaternions are useful for representing rigid-body attitude because they exhibit no kinematic singularities. Each utilizes more variables than the minimum three degrees of freedom required to specify attitude. Therefore, application of a nonlinear inversion procedure to either formulation introduces singularities. Furthermore, in designing an attitude-control system, it is not appropriate to express attitude error as a difference of direction cosines (or quaternions). One should employ a measure of attitude error that not only is minimal but preserves orthogonal rotation properties as well. This note applies an inversion procedure to an appropriate measure of attitude error, so that the singularity occurs when the error reaches +/- 180 deg. This approach leads to the realization of a new model-follower attitude-control system that exhibits exact linear attitude-error dynamics.

Bach, Ralph↗
NASA NTRS1998

An emerging network storage management standard: Media error monitoring and reporting information (MEMRI) - to determine optical tape data integrity

Sophisticated network storage management applications are rapidly evolving to satisfy a market demand for highly reliable data storage systems with large data storage capacities and performance requirements. To preserve a high degree of data integrity, these applications must rely on intelligent data storage devices that can provide reliable indicators of data degradation. Error correction activity generally occurs within storage devices without notification to the host. Early indicators of degradation and media error monitoring 333 and reporting (MEMR) techniques implemented in data storage devices allow network storage management applications to notify system administrators of these events and to take appropriate corrective actions before catastrophic errors occur. Although MEMR techniques have been implemented in data storage devices for many years, until 1996 no MEMR standards existed. In 1996 the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved the only known (world-wide) industry standard specifying MEMR techniques to verify stored data on optical disks. This industry standard was developed under the auspices of the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM). A recently formed AIIM Optical Tape Subcommittee initiated the development of another data integrity standard specifying a set of media error monitoring tools and media error monitoring information (MEMRI) to verify stored data on optical tape media. This paper discusses the need for intelligent storage devices that can provide data integrity metadata, the content of the existing data integrity standard for optical disks, and the content of the MEMRI standard being developed by the AIIM Optical Tape Subcommittee.

Podio, Fernando↗
NASA NTRS1995

An Analysis of Errors in a Reuse-Oriented Development Environment

Component reuse is widely considered vital for obtaining significant improvement in development productivity. However, as an organization adopts a reuse-oriented development process, the nature of the problems in development is likely to change. In this paper, we use a measurement-based approach to better understand and evaluate an evolving reuse process. More specifically, we study the effects of reuse across seven projects in narrow domain from a single development organization. An analysis of the errors that occur in new and reused components across all phases of system development provides insight into the factors influencing the reuse process. We found significant differences between errors associated with new and various types of reused components in terms of the types of errors committed, when errors are introduced, and the effect that the errors have on the development process.

Thomas, William M.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Flux Sampling Errors for Aircraft and Towers

Various errors and influences leading to differences between tower- and aircraft-measured fluxes are surveyed. This survey is motivated by reports in the literature that aircraft fluxes are sometimes smaller than tower-measured fluxes. Both tower and aircraft flux errors are larger with surface heterogeneity due to several independent effects. Surface heterogeneity may cause tower flux errors to increase with decreasing wind speed. Techniques to assess flux sampling error are reviewed. Such error estimates suffer various degrees of inapplicability in real geophysical time series due to nonstationarity of tower time series (or inhomogeneity of aircraft data). A new measure for nonstationarity is developed that eliminates assumptions on the form of the nonstationarity inherent in previous methods. When this nonstationarity measure becomes large, the surface energy imbalance increases sharply. Finally, strategies for obtaining adequate flux sampling using repeated aircraft passes and grid patterns are outlined.

Mahrt, Larry↗
NASA NTRS2000

The GEOS Ozone Data Assimilation System: Specification of Error Statistics

A global three-dimensional ozone data assimilation system has been developed at the Data Assimilation Office of the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. The Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) total ozone and the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SBUV) or (SBUV/2) partial ozone profile observations are assimilated. The assimilation, into an off-line ozone transport model, is done using the global Physical-space Statistical Analysis Scheme (PSAS). This system became operational in December 1999. A detailed description of the statistical analysis scheme, and in particular, the forecast and observation error covariance models is given. A new global anisotropic horizontal forecast error correlation model accounts for a varying distribution of observations with latitude. Correlations are largest in the zonal direction in the tropics where data is sparse. Forecast error variance model is proportional to the ozone field. The forecast error covariance parameters were determined by maximum likelihood estimation. The error covariance models are validated using x squared statistics. The analyzed ozone fields in the winter 1992 are validated against independent observations from ozone sondes and HALOE. There is better than 10% agreement between mean Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) and analysis fields between 70 and 0.2 hPa. The global root-mean-square (RMS) difference between TOMS observed and forecast values is less than 4%. The global RMS difference between SBUV observed and analyzed ozone between 50 and 3 hPa is less than 15%.

Stajner, Ivanka↗
NASA NTRS2000

A Posteriori Error Estimation for Finite Volume and Finite Element Approximations Using Broken Space Approximation

We consider a posteriori error estimates for finite volume and finite element methods on arbitrary meshes subject to prescribed error functionals. Error estimates of this type are useful in a number of computational settings: (1) quantitative prediction of the numerical solution error, (2) adaptive meshing, and (3) load balancing of work on parallel computing architectures. Our analysis recasts the class of Godunov finite volumes schemes as a particular form of discontinuous Galerkin method utilizing broken space approximation obtained via reconstruction of cell-averaged data. In this general framework, weighted residual error bounds are readily obtained using duality arguments and Galerkin orthogonality. Additional consideration is given to issues such as nonlinearity, efficiency, and the relationship to other existing methods. Numerical examples are given throughout the talk to demonstrate the sharpness of the estimates and efficiency of the techniques. Additional information is contained in the original.

Barth, Timothy J.↗
NASA NTRS1999

The Error Distribution of BATSE Gamma-Ray Burst Locations

Empirical probability models for BATSE gamma-ray burst (GRB) location errors are developed via a Bayesian analysis of the separations between BATSE GRB locations and locations obtained with the Interplanetary Network (IPN). Models are compared and their parameters estimated using 392 GRBs with single IPN annuli and 19 GRBs with intersecting IPN annuli. Most of the analysis is for the 4Br BATSE catalog; earlier catalogs are also analyzed. The simplest model that provides a good representation of the error distribution has 78% of the probability in a "core" term with a systematic error of 1.85 deg and the remainder in an extended tail with a systematic error of 5.1 deg, which implies a 68% confidence radius for bursts with negligible statistical uncertainties of 2.2 deg. There is evidence for a more complicated model in which the error distribution depends on the BATSE data type that was used to obtain the location. Bright bursts are typically located using the CONT data type, and according to the more complicated model, the 68% confidence radius for CONT-located bursts with negligible statistical uncertainties is 2.0 deg.

Briggs, Michael S.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Bias Correction and Random Error Characterization for the Assimilation of HRDI Line-of-Sight Wind Measurements

A new approach to the analysis of systematic and random observation errors is presented in which the error statistics are obtained using forecast data rather than observations from a different instrument type. The analysis is carried out at an intermediate retrieval level, instead of the more typical state variable space. This method is carried out on measurements made by the High Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI) on board the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). HRDI, a limb sounder, is the only satellite instrument measuring winds in the stratosphere, and the only instrument of any kind making global wind measurements in the upper atmosphere. HRDI measures doppler shifts in the two different O2 absorption bands (alpha and B) and the retrieved products are tangent point Line-of-Sight wind component (level 2 retrieval) and UV winds (level 3 retrieval). This analysis is carried out on a level 1.9 retrieval, in which the contributions from different points along the line-of-sight have not been removed. Biases are calculated from O-F (observed minus forecast) LOS wind components and are separated into a measurement parameter space consisting of 16 different values. The bias dependence on these parameters (plus an altitude dependence) is used to create a bias correction scheme carried out on the level 1.9 retrieval. The random error component is analyzed by separating the gamma and B band observations and locating observation pairs where both bands are very nearly looking at the same location at the same time. It is shown that the two observation streams are uncorrelated and that this allows the forecast error variance to be estimated. The bias correction is found to cut the effective observation error variance in half.

Tangborn, Andrew↗
NASA NTRS2002

Error-Based Design Space Windowing

Windowing of design space is considered in order to reduce the bias errors due to low-order polynomial response surfaces (RS). Standard design space windowing (DSW) uses a region of interest by setting a requirement on response level and checks it by a global RS predictions over the design space. This approach, however, is vulnerable since RS modeling errors may lead to the wrong region to zoom on. The approach is modified by introducing an eigenvalue error measure based on point-to-point mean squared error criterion. Two examples are presented to demonstrate the benefit of the error-based DSW.

Papila, Melih↗
NASA NTRS1997

Using APEX to Model Anticipated Human Error: Analysis of a GPS Navigational Aid

The interface development process can be dramatically improved by predicting design facilitated human error at an early stage in the design process. The approach we advocate is to SIMULATE the behavior of a human agent carrying out tasks with a well-specified user interface, ANALYZE the simulation for instances of human error, and then REFINE the interface or protocol to minimize predicted error. This approach, incorporated into the APEX modeling architecture, differs from past approaches to human simulation in Its emphasis on error rather than e.g. learning rate or speed of response. The APEX model consists of two major components: (1) a powerful action selection component capable of simulating behavior in complex, multiple-task environments; and (2) a resource architecture which constrains cognitive, perceptual, and motor capabilities to within empirically demonstrated limits. The model mimics human errors arising from interactions between limited human resources and elements of the computer interface whose design falls to anticipate those limits. We analyze the design of a hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS) device used for radical and navigational decisions in small yacht recalls. The analysis demonstrates how human system modeling can be an effective design aid, helping to accelerate the process of refining a product (or procedure).

VanSelst, Mark↗