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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 469 records · Page 26
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Progress of 2.05 uM Fiber Laser Development for A Martian Co2 Dial

We have proposed a new concept for differential absorption lidar (DIAL) operating in the 2050 nm CO 2 absorption band for atmospheric CO 2 and pressure observations on Mars. This concept has earned us funding from NASA's PICASSO Program to advance 2050 nm fiber laser technology for future space applications. The laser design is an all-fiber master oscillator and power amplifier (MOPA) system. The master oscillator with pulse shaping and several stages of fiber preamplifiers has been built. Preliminary tests show the output pulse energy can reach 1 mJ, meeting our baseline goal. However, the current power amplifier design has an issue with undesired parasitic lasing at a different frequency, which exhausts pump energy and limits the laser energy. We have modified the power amplifier design to suppress parasitic lasing, and higher laser power energy is expected. To achieve high measurement accuracy, the laser frequency must be stabilized. A fraction of the master oscillator is split to lock the laser frequency to the center of the selected absorption line. The laser can then be shifted to a frequency far from the absorption line center, where extinction due to CO 2 and other trace gases is minimal, serving as the offline reference. The online wavelength is optimized at 2050.44156 nm, ensuring a CO 2 absorption optical depth (AOD) of approximately 1.1 at 3 km, which maximizes the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for measurements in the lower Martian atmosphere. At the conference, we will provide more details about this project and report on the progress of instrument development.

DIAL↗
NASA NTRS1976

Exploratory laser experiments

Experiments are described which were undertaken to explore the application of various dye laser methods for generating laser pulses which could be tuned over H2O absorption lines in the visible and near infrared. Specific topics discussed include: operation of a long pulse dye laser with a tunable, narrow band output at high energies near the 5915 A water vapor absorption bands; assembly and operation of a short duration dye laser near the 5915 A water vapor absorption bands; construction of a dye laser to be pumped to operate in the red and near infrared; and preliminary studies of the beam divergence of the output of the a laser-pumped system. Results are summarized.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1997

Improved Optical Techniques for Studying Sonic and Supersonic Injection into MACH-3 Flow. Video Supplement E-10853-V

This video supplements a report examining optical techniques for studying sonic and supersonic injection into MACH-3 flow The study used an injection-seeded, frequency doubled ND:YAG pulsed laser to illuminate a transverse section of the injectant plume. Rayleigh scattered light was passed through an iodine absorption cell to suppress stray laser light and was imaged onto a cooled CCD camera. The scattering was based on condensation of water vapor in the injectant flow. High speed shadowgraph flow visualization images were obtained with several video camera systems. Roof and floor static pressure data are presented several ways for the three configurations of injection designs with and without helium and/or air injection into Mach 3 flow.

Buggele, A. E.↗
NASA NTRS2009

High Repetition Rate Pulsed 2-Micron Laser Transmitter for Coherent CO2 DIAL Measurement

A high repetition rate, highly efficient, Q-switched 2-micron laser system as the transmitter of a coherent differential absorption lidar for CO2 measurement has been developed at NASA Langley Research Center. Such a laser transmitter is a master-slave laser system. The master laser operates in a single frequency, either on-line or off-line of a selected CO2 absorption line. The slave laser is a Q-switched ring-cavity Ho:YLF laser which is pumped by a Tm:fiber laser. The repetition rate can be adjusted from a few hundred Hz to 10 kHz. The injection seeding success rate is from 99.4% to 99.95%. For 1 kHz operation, the output pulse energy is 5.5mJ with the pulse length of approximately 50 ns. The optical-to-optical efficiency is 39% when the pump power is 14.5W. The measured standard deviation of the laser frequency jitter is about 3 MHz.

Singh, Uprendra N.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Application of a microprocessor controlled lidar to tropospheric ozone measurements

A microprocessor controlled lidar system under construction at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is described and the problems in making space-based measurements of tropospheric ozone are considered. The differential absorption lidar using a dual wavelength, pulsed CO2 laser and direct detection receiver can significantly improve the existing global data base on tropospheric ozone burden. Sensitivity to tropospheric ozone can be obtained in the spaceborne version of lidar by selecting laser lines located in the wings of the target zone lines. Simulation studies using various laser line pairs in the P-branch of the CO2 9.4 micron band show that the ozone burden retrieval may be weighted to particular altitude regions. These simulation studies are based on numerical integration of differences in absorption coefficient at the two selected laser wavelengths using the AFGL absorption line parameter compilations, U.S. Standard Atmosphere ozone profile, and laser software. Simulation, data collection and reduction are performed by a microprocessor subsystem of the CO2 lidar.

Stewart, R. W.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Heterodyne frequency measurements on N2O at 5.3 and 9.0 microns

Heterodyne frequency measurements on the 01(1)1-00(0)0 band of N2O have been made with the use of a tunable-diode laser, CO laser transfer oscillator, and a CO2 laser frequency synthesizer. A beat frequency was measured between a CO laser and tunable-diode laser whose frequency was locked to the peak of N2O absorption features. The frequency of the CO laser was simultaneously determined by neasuring the beat frequency with respect to a reference synthesized from two CO2 lasers. New rovibrational constants are given for the 01(1)1 state of N2O, which are in excellent agreement with previous results, although the band center is 4 MHz higher than in the previous measurements. A table for the line frequencies and their absolute uncertainties is given for the N2O absorption lines in the wave-number region from 1830 to 1920 kaysers. Some additional frequency measurements near the lower-frequency end of the 02(0)0-00(0)0 band have also been made with respect to a C-12)(0-18)2 laser.

Wells, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Brewster-Plate Spoiler for Laser Spectrometer

Oscillating Brewster plate reduces effects of unwanted interference fringes on absorption-spectroscopic measurements obtained with tuned diode lasers. Plate modulates optical-path length past several resonance peaks causing interference fringes to pass by rapidly and become blurred. Thus, fringe effects averaged out over time. Technique used at other wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared and in spectrometers with short or long optical paths, including those with retroreflectors or multipass cells.

Webster, C. R.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Velocity visualization in gaseous flows

Techniques are established for visualizing velocity in gaseous flows. Two approaches are considered, both of which are capable of yielding velocity simultaneously at a large number of flowfield locations, thereby providing images of velocity. The first technique employs a laser to mark specific fluid elements and a camera to track their subsequent motion. Marking is done by laser-induced phosphorescence of biacetyl, added as a tracer species in a flow of N2, or by laser-induced formation of sulfur particulates in SF6-H2-N2 mixtures. The second technique is based on the Doppler effect, and uses an intensified photodiode array camera and a planar form of laser-induced fluorescence to detect 2-d velocities of I2 (in I2-N2 mixtures) via Doppler-shifted absorption of narrow-linewidth laser radiation at 514.5 nm.

Hanson, R. K.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Field Results from Three Campaigns to Validate the Performance of the Miniaturized Laser Heterodyne Radiometer (Mini‐LHR) for Measuring Carbon Dioxide and Methane in the Atmospheric Column

In a collaboration between NASA GSFC and GWU, a low-cost, surface instrument is being developed that can continuously monitor key carbon cycle gases in the atmospheric column: carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). The instrument is based on a miniaturized, laser heterodyne radiometer (LHR) using near infrared (NIR) telecom lasers. Despite relatively weak absorption line strengths in this spectral region, spectrallyresolved atmospheric column absorptions for these two molecules fall in the range of 60-80% and thus sensitive and precise measurements of column concentrations are possible. In the last year, the instrument was deployed for field measurements at Park Falls, Wisconsin; Castle Airport near Atwater, California; and at the NOAA Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. For each subsequent campaign, improvement in the figures of merit for the instrument has been observed. In the latest work the absorbance noise is approaching 0.002 optical density (OD) noise on a 1.8 OD signal. An overview of the measurement campaigns and the data retrieval algorithm for the calculation of column concentrations will be presented. For light transmission through the atmosphere, it is necessary to account for variation of pressure, temperature, composition, and refractive index through the atmosphere that are all functions of latitude, longitude, time of day, altitude, etc. For temperature, pressure, and humidity profiles with altitude we use the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) data. Spectral simulation is accomplished by integrating short-path segments along the trajectory using the SpecSyn spectral simulation suite developed at GW. Column concentrations are extracted by minimizing residuals between observed and modeled spectrum using the Nelder-Mead simplex algorithm. We will also present an assessment of uncertainty in the reported concentrations from assumptions made in the meteorological data, LHR instrument and tracker noise, and radio frequency bandwidth and describe additional future goals in instrument development and deployment target

meteorological data↗
NASA NTRS1978

Low-background trace-gas detector

Spectrophone detects very small concentrations of trace gases. With gas in sample cell, laser is tuned to absorption line of interest. Molecular absorption in cell produces pulsed acoustical pressure at chopper frequency. Two optical paths with very different absorption lengths are used to pretune cell to balance out background absorption by cell windows.

Rosengren, L.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Optoacoustic measurement of vibrational-translational /V-T/ rates using a short pulse CO2 laser

A technique for measuring the V-T transfer rates of polyatomic species based on the optoacoustic effect discovered by Bell, Tyndall, and Rontgen (1881) is investigated experimentally. The technique makes use of a coincidental resonance between one of the molecules vibration rotation bands and a CO2 laser line. By this absorption, the molecules can be excited to a known vibrational mode. Since typical time constants for V-T transfer are about 0.00001 sec torr, this method can be used in the pressure region up to 1 torr. The results obtained for CH3F agree with the measurements performed by other techniques.

Lawandy, N. M.↗