SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Ocean Deployment”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 55 records · Page 3

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS2018

Cloud Impacts on Photochemistry: Building a Climatology of Photolysis Rates from the Atmospheric Tomography Mission

Measurements from actinic flux spectroradiometers on board the NASA DC-8 during the Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) mission provide an extensive set of statistics on how clouds alter photolysis rates (J values) throughout the remote Pacific and Atlantic Ocean basins. J values control tropospheric ozone and methane abundances, and thus clouds have been included for more than three decades in tropospheric chemistry modeling. ATom made four profiling circumnavigations of the troposphere capturing each of the seasons during 2016–2018. This work examines J values from the Pacific Ocean flights of the first deployment, but publishes the complete Atom-1 data set (29 July to 23 August 2016). We compare the observed J values (every 3 s along flight track) with those calculated by nine global chemistry– climate/transport models (globally gridded, hourly, for a mid-August day). To compare these disparate data sets, we build a commensurate statistical picture of the impact of clouds on J values using the ratio of J -cloudy (standard, sometimes cloudy conditions) to J -clear (artificially cleared of clouds). The range of modeled cloud effects is inconsistently large but they fall into two distinct classes: (1) models with large cloud effects showing mostly enhanced J values aloft and or diminished at the surface and (2) models with small effects having nearly clear-sky J values much of the time. The ATom-1 measurements generally favor large cloud effects but are not precise or robust enough to point out the best cloud-modeling approach. The models here have resolutions of 50–200 km and thus reduce the occurrence of clear sky when averaging over grid cells. In situ measurements also average scattered sunlight over a mixed cloud field, but only out to scales of tens of kilometers. A primary uncertainty remains in the role of clouds in chemistry, in particular, how models average over cloud fields, and how such averages can simulate measurements.

actinic flux spectroradiometers↗

NASA NTRS2018

Profiles of Reactive Trace Gases over Remote Oceans During ATom

The Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) mission deployed an extensive gas and aerosol payload on the NASA DC-8 aircraft on four campaigns spanning each season. ATom systematically sampled the atmosphere from 0.2 to 12 kilometer altitude, from 85 degrees North Latitude to 65 degrees South Latitude, in both the Pacific and the Atlantic to provide detailed profiles of chemical composition over the remote oceans. We will present profiles of reactive trace species, such as O3, NOx, NOy, HOx, HCHO, and several other short-lived source gases. We will combine these measurements with results from a 0-D box model to show their utility in (1) evaluating gradients in latitude/season, (2) identifying contributions of pollution from long-range and convective transport, and (3) evaluating column measurements from remote sensing satellite instruments.

ISAF↗

NASA NTRS1995

Research in Observations of Oceanic Air/Sea Interaction

The primary purpose of this research has been: (1) to develop an innovative research radar scatterometer system capable of directly measuring both the radar backscatter and the small-scale and large-scale ocean wave field simultaneously and (2) deploy this instrument to collect data to support studies of air/sea interaction. The instrument has been successfully completed and deployed. The system deployment lasted for six months during 1995. Results to date suggest that the data is remarkably useful in air/sea interaction studies. While the data analysis is continuing, two journal and fifteen conference papers have been published. Six papers are currently in review with two additional journal papers scheduled for publication. Three Master's theses on this research have been completed. A Ph.D. student is currently finalizing his dissertation which should be completed by the end of the calendar year. We have received additional 'mainstream' funding from the NASA oceans branch to continue data analysis and instrument operations. We are actively pursuing results from the data expect additional publications to follow. This final report briefly describes the instrument system we developed and results to-date from the deployment. Additional detail is contained in the attached papers selected from the bibliography.

Long, David G.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Clouds, Aerosol, and Precipitation in the Marine Boundary Layer: An ARM Mobile Facility Deployment

Capsule: A 21-month deployment to Graciosa Island in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean is providing an unprecedented record of the clouds, aerosols and meteorology in a poorly-sampled remote marine environment The Clouds, Aerosol, and Precipitation in the Marine Boundary Layer (CAP-MBL) deployment at Graciosa Island in the Azores generated a 21 month (April 2009- December 2010) comprehensive dataset documenting clouds, aerosols and precipitation using the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mobile Facility (AMF). The scientific aim of the deployment is to gain improved understanding of the interactions of clouds, aerosols and precipitation in the marine boundary layer. Graciosa Island straddles the boundary between the subtropics and midlatitudes in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, and consequently experiences a great diversity of meteorological and cloudiness conditions. Low clouds are the dominant cloud type, with stratocumulus and cumulus occurring regularly. Approximately half of all clouds contained precipitation detectable as radar echoes below the cloud base. Radar and satellite observations show that clouds with tops from 1- 11 km contribute more or less equally to surface-measured precipitation at Graciosa. A wide range of aerosol conditions was sampled during the deployment consistent with the diversity of sources as indicated by back trajectory analysis. Preliminary findings suggest important two-way interactions between aerosols and clouds at Graciosa, with aerosols affecting light precipitation and cloud radiative properties while being controlled in part by precipitation scavenging. The data from at Graciosa are being compared with short-range forecasts made a variety of models. A pilot analysis with two climate and two weather forecast models shows that they reproduce the observed time-varying vertical structure of lower-tropospheric cloud fairly well, but the cloud-nucleating aerosol concentrations less well. The Graciosa site has been chosen to be a permanent fixed ARM site that became operational in October 2013.

aerosols↗

NASA NTRS2019

Multiyear sea ice thickness estimation using wideband P/L-band radiometric measurements

A new wideband radiometer covering P/L-band was developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for polar ocean salinity and seasonal sea-ice thickness measurements. The instrument was deployed on the US Coast Guard Cutter Healy for an Arctic Ocean research cruise from September 13, 2018 to October 20, 2018. This work shows the first results relating sea ice thickness obtained from the measurements taken with the wideband P/L-band radiometer during the campaign. Results from the Artic cruise campaign were also used to study wideband spectral properties of salinity. In addition to this paper, Salinity and wide-band calibration challenges are presented in two other companion papers.

Brown, Shannon↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Distribution and Sources of Tropospheric Aerosols Over the Western North Atlantic During ACTIVATE (February-March 2020)

The Aerosol Cloud meTeorology Interactions oVer the western ATlantic Experiment (ACTIVATE) is a five-year (2019-2023) NASA Earth-Venture Suborbital-3 (EVS-3) mission to robustly characterize aerosol-cloud-meteorology interactions during February-June, with a focus on marine boundary layer clouds. This characterization requires understanding of aerosol composition, distribution, transport pathways, and sources. Here we use the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model driven by the MERRA-2 reanalysis to simulate tropospheric carbon monoxide (CO) and aerosols over the western North Atlantic Ocean (WNAO) during the first field deployment of ACTIVATE (February-March 2020). CO is used as a tracer to diagnose transport pathways for continental pollution outflow to the WNAO. The aerosol simulation represents all major aerosols including sulfate-nitrate-ammonium (SNA), mineral dust, sea salt, black and organic carbon aerosols. Model-simulated mixing ratios of SNA and organic carbon are compared with aircraft observations. We show that intensive aerosol mass measurements in the lower troposphere over the North American outflow region during ACTIVATE provide strong constraints on model aerosol wet scavenging. Comparisons of model aerosol extinctions with the airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar-2 (HSRL-2) measurements indicate that the model generally captures continental outflow of aerosols and enhanced extinctions associated with sea salt. Simulated aerosol optical depths (AODs) and extinction vertical profiles are also compared with satellite retrievals from MODIS/Aqua and CALIOP/CALIPSO, respectively. CALIOP sometimes observes enhanced aerosol extinction at altitudes between ~1.5km and ~2.0km south of 32°N. The model reproduces this enhancement and attributes it to coarse-mode sea salt associated with high relative humidity. The relative contributions of continental and oceanic sources to the aerosol loading, AOD, and their distributions over the study domain will also be discussed.

aerosols↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Using Coordinated, Multi-Agent Platforms for Dynamic Ocean Worlds Science

Planetary science missions have the opportunity to enhance science return through deployment of autonomous capabilities designed to dynamically respond to new information. Future outer solar system missions to ocean worlds in particular would benefit from this technology - intelligent science payloads (ISP) - because it would allow for a coordinated, near real-time response to ephemeral ‘events’ such as plumes, tectonism, surface implantation, volatile releases, thermal and magnetic anomalies, or radiation, as well as increasing the cadence and coverage of data collection. Prioritization and decision-making frameworks from ISP could be deployed at various scales - from analysis onboard a spacecraft with multiple instruments – to coordinated analyses among separate spacecraft in an e.g., distributed systems mission (DSM) composed of multiple SmallSats. Goddard’s Intelligent Science Payload team is developing an agile autonomous architecture for an icy ocean worlds DSM concept. Our goals are to coordinate data collection and onboard data analysis, and to make autonomous decisions for new data collection and analysis based on science priorities between multiple spacecraft with variable instrumentation and orbits. We use a range of data analysis tools to coordinate the DSM response, spanning from observations of data over a specified threshold to more computationally intensive machine learning algorithms (ML). ML algorithms here currently focus on determining the composition of an ocean world using mass spectrometry, and specifically methods for understanding ‘novelties’ and potential biosignatures. These algorithms could be used to quickly process and analyze onboard data that would be significantly delayed in downlink due to long communication delays for outer solar system missions in order to make dynamic science observations. Our ocean worlds case study ISP architecture is intended as an ‘agile’ and modular framework that could be used as a whole or as particular modules based on mission needs.

Distributed Systems↗

NASA NTRS1994

The integrated sounding system: Description and preliminary observations from TOGA COARE

An Integrated Sounding System (ISS) that combines state-of-the-art remote and in situ sensors into a single transportable facility has been developed jointly by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the Aeronomy Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA/AL). The instrumentation for each ISS includes a 915-MHz wind profiler, a Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS), an Omega-based NAVAID sounding system, and an enhanced surface meteorological station. The general philosophy behind the ISS is that the integration of various measurement systems overcomes each system's respective limitations while taking advantage of its positive attributes. The individual observing systems within the ISS provide high-level data products to a central workstation that manages and integrates these measurements. The ISS software package performs a wide range of functions: real-time data acquisition, database support, and graphical displays; data archival and communications; and operational and posttime analysis. The first deployment of the ISS consists of six sites in the western tropical Pacific--four land-based deployments and two ship-based deployments. The sites serve the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE) of the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere (TOGA) program and TOGA's enhanced atmospheric monitoring effort. Examples of ISS data taken during this deployment are shown in order to demonstrate the capabilities of this new sounding system and to demonstrate the performance of these in situ and remote sensing instruments in a moist tropical environment. In particular, a strong convective outflow with a pronounced impact of the atmospheric boundary layer and heat fluxes from the ocean surface was examined with a shipboard ISS. If these strong outflows commonly occur, they may prove to be an important component of the surface energy budget of the western tropical Pacific.

Parsons, David↗

NASA NTRS2024

Sea Ice Deformation Is Not Scale Invariant Over Length Scales Greater Than A Kilometer

In March and April 2021, buoys were deployed in the Beaufort Sea, Arctic Ocean, to measure sea-ice horizontal deformation over spatial scales that had not been previously achieved. Geodetic-quality position measurements allowed measurements of strain-rate over lengths from about 200 m to 2 km. Conventional ice-drifters extended spatial coverage up to about 100 km. Past studies find there is multi-fractal behavior for horizontal sea-ice deformation from 10 to 1000 km. Our results demonstrate that such behavior does not hold when including spatial scales below 10 km. We find that sea-ice deformation is not scale in variant between the scale of individual sea-ice floes and aggregates of floes. Therefore, we cannot expect the same physical laws or forcing to describe sea-ice kinematics over these regimes, nor can we assume log-log linear behavior for mean deformation. Using this scaling behavior as a metric to validate models that resolve sea ice floes and their interactions is hence not recommended.

Jennifer K. Hutchings↗

NASA NTRS1972

Data report of six free-drifting buoys tracked by the Eole satellite in the western North Atlantic Ocean in the autumn of 1972

The buoys were deployed on the Continental Shelf east of the Chesapeake Light and were tracked by the French EOLE satellite. Two buoys drifted for 11 days during the first mission and four buoys drifted for 14 days during the second mission. Trajectory and water temperature data are presented in tabular and graphical from with a discussion of the accuracy.

Usry, J. W.↗

NASA NTRS2022

Validation of IMERG Oceanic Precipitation over Kwajalein

The integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) Version V05B and V06B precipitation products from the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission are validated against ground-based observations from the Kwajalein Polarimetric S-band Weather Radar (KPOL) deployed at Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean. Such a validation is particularly important as comprehensive surface measurements over the oceans are practically infeasible, which hampers the identification of possible errors, and improvement of future versions of IMERG and other satellitebased retrieval algorithms. The V05B and V06B IMERG products are validated at their native 0.1°, 30 min resolution from 2014 to 2018 based on both volumetric and categorical metrics. This validation study indicates that precipitation rates from both IMERG V05B and V06B are underestimated with respect to radar surface estimates, but the underestimation is much reduced from V05B IMERG V06B outperforms V05B with reduced systematic bias and improved precipitation detectability. The IMERG performance is further traced back to its individual sensors and morphing-based algorithms. The overall underestimation in V05B is mainly driven by the negative relative biases from morphing-based algorithms which are largely corrected in V06B. Imagers perform generally better than sounders because of the usage of low-frequency channels in imagers which can better detect emission signals by the hydrometeors. Among imagers, the GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer Version 2 (AMSR2) are the best, followed by Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS). Among sounders, the Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS) is the best, followed by Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) and the Sounder for Atmospheric Profiling of Humidity in the Intertropics by Radiometry (SAPHIR) for V06B. Among all categories, morph-only and IR+morph only perform better than SAPHIR. SAPHIR shows the worst performance among all categories, likely due to its limited channel selection. It is envisaged that these results will improve our understanding of IMERG performance over oceans and aid in the improvement of future versions of IMERG.

KPOL↗

NASA NTRS2018

Airborne and Shipborne Polarimetric Measurements over Open Ocean and Coastal Waters: Intercomparisons and Implications for Spaceborne Observations

Comprehensive polarimetric closure is demonstrated using observations from two in-situ polarimeters and Vector Radiative Transfer (VRT) modeling. During the Ship-Aircraft Bio-Optical Research (SABOR) campaign, the novel CCNY HyperSAS-POL polarimeter was mounted on the bow of the R/V Endeavor and acquired hyperspectral measurements from just above the surface of the ocean, while the NASA GISS Research Scanning Polarimeter was deployed onboard the NASA LaRC's King Air UC-12B aircraft. State-of-the-art, ancillary measurements were used to characterize the atmospheric and marine contributions in the VRT model, including those of the High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL), the AErosol RObotic NETwork for Ocean Color (AERONET-OC), a profiling WETLabs ac-9 spectrometer and the Multi-spectral Volume Scattering Meter (MVSM). An open-ocean and a coastal scene are analyzed, both affected by complex aerosol conditions. In each of the two cases, it is found that the model is able to accurately reproduce the Stokes components measured simultaneously by each polarimeter at different geometries and viewing altitudes. These results are mostly encouraging, considering the different deployment strategies of RSP and HyperSAS-POL, which imply very different sensitivities to the atmospheric and ocean contributions, and open new opportunities in above-water polarimetric measurements. Furthermore, the signal originating from each scene was propagated to the top of the atmosphere to explore the sensitivity of polarimetric spaceborne observations to changes in the water type. As expected, adding polarization as a measurement capability benefits the detection of such changes, reinforcing the merits of the full-Stokes treatment in modeling the impact of atmospheric and oceanic constituents on remote sensing observations.

Matteo Ottaviani↗

NASA NTRS1999

Arctic Summer Ice Processes

The primary objective of this study is to estimate the flux of heat and freshwater resulting from sea ice melt in the polar seas. The approach taken is to examine the decay of sea ice in the summer months primarily through the use of spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery. The improved understanding of the dynamics of the melt process can be usefully combined with ice thermodynamic and upper ocean models to form more complete models of ice melt. Models indicate that more heat is absorbed in the upper ocean when the ice cover is composed of smaller rather than larger floes and when there is more open water. Over the course of the summer, floes disintegrate by physical forcing and heating, melting into smaller and smaller sizes. By measuring the change in distribution of floes together with open water over a summer period, we can make estimates of the amount of heating by region and time. In a climatic sense, these studies are intended to improve the understanding of the Arctic heat budget which can then be eventually incorporated into improved global climate models. This work has two focus areas. The first is examining the detailed effect of storms on floe size and open water. A strong Arctic low pressure storm has been shown to loosen up the pack ice, increase the open water concentration well into the pack ice, and change the distribution of floes toward fewer and smaller floes. This suggests episodic melting and the increased importance of horizontal (lateral) melt during storms. The second focus area is related to an extensive ship-based experiment that recently took place in the Arctic called Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA). An icebreaker was placed purposely into the older pack ice north of Alaska in September 1997. The ship served as the base for experimenters who deployed extensive instrumentation to measure the atmosphere, ocean, and ice during a one-year period. My experiment will be to derive similar measurements (floe size, open water, temporal change) using spaceborne SAR data obtained during the summer of 1998, and compare these results with an ocean and ice model of summer melt. Additional information is contained in the original.

Holt, Benjamin↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) Mission Overview, Science Return, and Future Applications of This Technology

The Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) mission was the culmination of two decades of research and development for Hyper-sonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) technology. LOFTID was a project overseen by the Technology Demonstration Mission (TDM) program within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. The success of the LOFTID mission could enable new NASA missions to Mars, Venus, and most solar-system destinations with atmospheres, as well as cost-effective payload returns to Earth, including in-space manufactured materials and launch vehicle asset recovery. LOFTID, with its unique inflatable heat shield, was the first-of-a-kind orbital reentry flight, and the largest blunt body atmospheric entry of any kind. On November 10, 2022, just over 10 years since the previous flight test of the smaller sub-orbital Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment-3 (IRVE-3) [1], NASA Langley Research Center, with partner United Launch Alliance (ULA), successfully launched and achieved reentry and recovery of the LOFTID Reentry Vehicle (RV), further demonstrating the viability of the HIAD technology for large-diameter, inflatable heat shields to safely and accurately deliver large payloads through an atmosphere via a controlled descent and landing. Launching as a secondary payload with the Joint Polar Satellite System 2 (JPSS-2) from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, stowed inside an ex-tended payload adapter of the Atlas V 401 launch vehicle, the LOFTID mission officially began after the JPSS-2 payload was delivered to its orbit by the Centaur second stage. The LOFTID RV was flying solo on its spin-stabilized ballistic reentry trajectory about one hour after launch, and the flight ended approximately one hour later with a gentle splashdown under parachute in the Pacific Ocean off the east coast of Hawaii, where the RV was recovered and later shipped back to NASA Langley. LOFTID endured the harsh environments of atmospheric reentry while demonstrating stable aerodynamics through the entire spectrum of hypersonic, supersonic, transonic, and subsonic flight. The LOFTID RV was exposed to an aeroheating environment representative of many Mars and LEO HIAD applications, while successfully demonstrating the ability of the heat-affected inflatable structure to with-stand aerodynamic forces that exceeded those expected at Mars. This flight demonstration of a 6m diameter HIAD confirmed the technology structural and thermal performance as it protected the 1100kg RV entering Earth’s atmosphere at 8 km/s, reaching Mach 30, and experiencing 9g deceleration before deploying parachutes and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. HIAD technology involves an aeroshell that can be hard packed into a small volume for launch and then deployed prior to atmospheric entry for a controlled deceleration through the atmosphere. Large deployable heat shields enable spacecraft to carry bigger, heavier payloads, including scientific instruments and human support systems for planetary landing and exploration. Much larger than traditional fixed diameter aeroshells that are constrained by the size of launch vehicle shrouds, inflatable decelerators create more drag and start the deceleration process in the upper reaches of the atmosphere with greater efficiency and stability. LOFTID’s successful demonstration of the HIAD technology has greatly expanded NASA’s options for future planetary missions and opened new commercial opportunities for lower-cost mission pay-load recovery including recovery of launch vehicle assets, or as a delivery system to return cargo from the International Space Station or cislunar space. The developments for some of these applications are al-ready underway. While LOFTID was indeed a first-of-a-kind flight for an inflatable heatshield, the largest blunt-body entry ever, its remarkable performance assured that it will not be the last of its kind.

John DiNonno↗

NASA NTRS2003

Broadband IR Measurements for Modis Validation

The primary objective of this research was the development and deployment of autonomous shipboard systems for infrared measurement of ocean surface skin temperature (SST). The focus was on demonstrating long-term, all-weather capability and supplying calibrated skin SST to the MODIS Ocean Science Team (MOCEAN). A secondary objective was to investigate and account for environmental factors that affect in situ measurements of SST for validation of satellite products. We developed and extensively deployed the Calibrated, InfraRed, In situ Measurement System, or CIRIMS, for at-sea validation of satellite-derived SST. The design goals included autonomous operation at sea for up to 6 months and an accuracy of +/- 0.1 C. We used commercially available infrared pyrometers and a precision blackbody housed in a temperature-controlled enclosure. The sensors are calibrated at regular interval using a cylindro-cone target immersed in a temperature-controlled water bath, which allows the calibration points to follow the ocean surface temperature. An upward-looking pyrometer measures sky radiance in order to correct for the non-unity emissivity of water, which can introduce an error of up to 0.5 C. One of the most challenging aspects of the design was protection against the marine environment. A wide range of design strategies to provide accurate, all-weather measurements were investigated. The CIRIMS uses an infrared transparent window to completely protect the sensor and calibration blackbody from the marine environment. In order to evaluate the performance of this approach, the design incorporates the ability to make measurements with and without the window in the optical path.

Jessup, Andrew T.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Airport Remote Tower Sensor Systems

Remote Tower Sensor Systems (RTSS) are proof-of-concept prototypes being developed by NASA/Ames Research Center (NASA/ARC) with collaboration with the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and NOAA (National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration). RTSS began with the deployment of an Airport Approach Zone Camera System that includes real-time weather observations at San Francisco International Airport. The goal of this research is to develop, deploy, and demonstrate remotely operated cameras and sensors at several major airport hubs and un-towered airports. RTSS can provide real-time weather observations of airport approach zone. RTSS will integrate and test airport sensor packages that will allow remote access to realtime airport conditions and aircraft status.

Papasin, Richard↗

NASA NTRS2008

Space-Based Range

Space-Based Range (SBR), previously known as Space-Based Telemetry and Range Safety (STARS), is a multicenter NASA proof-of-concept project to determine if space-based communications using NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) can support the Range Safety functions of acquiring tracking data and generating flight termination signals, while also providing broadband Range User data such as voice, video, and vehicle/payload data. There was a successful test of the Range Safety system at Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) on December 20, 2005, on a two-stage Terrier-Orion spin-stabilized sounding rocket. SBR transmitted GPS tracking data and maintained links with two TDRSS satellites simultaneously during the 10-min flight. The payload section deployed a parachute, landed in the Atlantic Ocean about 90 miles downrange from the launch site, and was successfully recovered. During the Terrier-Orion tests flights, more than 99 percent of all forward commands and more than 95 percent of all return frames were successfully received and processed. The time latency necessary for a command to travel from WFF over landlines to White Sands Complex and then to the vehicle via TDRSS, be processed onboard, and then be sent back to WFF was between 1.0 s and 1.1 s. The forward-link margins for TDRS-10 (TDRS East [TDE]) were 11 dB to 12 dB plus or minus 2 dB, and for TDRS-4 (TDRS Spare [TDS]) were 9 dB to 10 dB plus or minus 1.5 dB. The return-link margins for both TDE and TDS were 6 dB to 8 dB plus or minus 3 dB. There were 11 flights on an F-15B at Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) between November 2006 and February 2007. The Range User system tested a 184-element TDRSS Ku-band (15 GHz) phased-array antenna with data rates of 5 Mbps and 10 Mbps. This data was a combination of black-and-white cockpit video, Range Safety tracking and transceiver data, and aircraft and antenna controller data streams. IP data formatting was used.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1995

Polarimetric measurements of sea surface brightness temperatures using an aircraft K-band radiometer

This paper presents the first experimental evidence that the polarimetric brightness temperatures of sea surfaces are sensitive to ocean wind direction in the incidence angle range of 30 to 50 degrees. Our experimental data were collected by a K-band (19.35 GHz) polarimetric wind radiometer (WINDRAD) mounted on the NASA DC-8 aircraft. A set of aircraft radiometer flights was successfully completed in November 1993. We performed circle flights over National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) moored buoys deployed off the northern California coast, which provided ocean wind measurements. The first WINDRAD flight was made on November 4, 1993. There was clear weather with a wind speed of 12 m/s at 330 degrees around the Pt. Arena buoy. We circled the buoy at three incidence angles, and all data when plotted as functions of azimuth angles show clear modulations of several Kelvin. At 40 degrees incidence angle, there is a 5 Kelvin peak-to-peak signal in the second Stokes parameter Q and the third Stokes parameter U. The Q data maximum is in the upwind direction and U has a 45 degrees phase shift in azimuth as predicted by theory. There is also an up/downwind asymmetry of 2 Kelvin in the Q data, and 1 Kelvin in the U data. At 50 degrees incidence angle, the collected data show very similar wind direction signatures to the SSM/I model function. Additional flights were made on other days under cloudy conditions. Data taken at a wind speed of 8 m/s show that at 40 degrees incidence Q and U have a smaller azimuthal modulation of 3 Kelvin, probably due to the lower wind speed. Additionally, the simultaneously recorded video images of sea surfaces suggested that Q and U data were less sensitive to unpolarized geophysical variations, such as clouds and whitecaps, while the T(v) and T(h) increased by a few Kelvin when the radiometer beam crossed over clouds, or there was a sudden increase of whitecaps in the radiometer footprint. The results of our aircraft flights indicate that passive polarimetric radiometry has a strong potential for global ocean wind speed and direction measurements from space.

Yueh, Simon H.↗