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NASA NTRS1998

Global Retrieval of Cloud Particle Size and Optical Thickness Using ISCCP Data

The primary thrust of this investigation is to develop an algorithm to retrieve cloud particle sizes using ISCCP data. The research under this grant has been successful in obtaining initial results of global distribution of ice-particle sizes. Further research about possible problems caused by nonsphericity of ice particle sizes is currently underway. An algorithm of retrieving ice-cloud particle sizes using ISCCP CX data has been developed. The first survey of ice-particle size in a near-global scale has been completed. Comparison with in situ measurements of ice crystal sizes during FIRE I shows good agreement. The initial results show that the global mean size of ice crystals (De) is about 60 micron. This result is consistent with the range of in situ measurements all over the world if definitions of effective particle size are unified (see next section). The survey also shows that there is no distinct difference of ice-particle sizes between continental and maritime ice-clouds. There are many different definitions of effective particle size used in ice-cloud research. Simple comparisons between values of in situ measurement and satellite remote sensing are misleading and may lead to incorrect conclusions. We reviewed different definitions of effective particle sizes used in the literature and compared their relative magnitudes.

Welch, Ronald M.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA NDE Fracture Critical Detectable Flaw Sizes History and Methodology

NASA requires that NDE methods and inspectors demonstrate 90% Probability of Detection (POD) with 95% confidence for critical flaw sizes when inspecting fracture critical metallic components. NASA addresses the known variability of NDE inspector capability in two ways. The first, Special NDE, requires that every inspector demonstrate the required 90/95 POD, which is resource intensive. The second approach is Standard NDE for which conservative flaw sizes for different NDE methods are provided such that it is expected that most properly trained inspectors will exceed the 90/95 POD requirement. As such, individual POD demonstration testing is not required. The origin of NASA Standard NDE dates to the start of the Space Shuttle Program in the early 1970’s. In the first study to quantitatively assess NDE methods and inspectors, the performance of multiple inspectors was evaluated for different NDE methods using a large set of fatigue cracked specimens. A rudimentary POD analysis was performed to estimate the 90/95 POD flaw size for each inspector for each method. Additionally, the average and standard deviation of the 90/95 POD flaw size across the multiple inspectors was calculated to estimate the flaw size for which 95 percent of inspectors would provide the 90/95 POD capability. These estimated 90/95/95 POD flaw sizes evolved into the NASA Standard NDE flaw sizes still in use for structural analysis five decades later. The methodology for performing Standard NDE POD studies was never documented in NASA requirements. Furthermore, POD analysis methods have significantly evolved since this seminal study. Likewise, NDE methods have improved and there has been a push to reassess Standard NDE flaw sizes for existing methods, and to develop Standard NDE flaw sizes for new methods such as digital radiography. In this study, a Standard NDE POD methodology was developed and baselined using the historical data. This reanalysis of the historical data identified several deficiencies in the original test plan as well as an overall lack of conservatism in the estimated 90/95/95 POD flaw sizes. The results of this historical review and the new methodology are being incorporated into an update of NASA NDE POD requirements.

Nondestructive Evaluation↗
DOE OSTI2026

Importance of finite-size corrections for accurate ab initio modeling of carrier capture at semiconductor defects: A case study of substitutional C N in GaN

In ab initio studies of carrier-capture processes in defective semiconductor materials, the single-effective-mode formalism and the static-coupling approximation have become the predominant theoretical approaches for determining carrier-capture coefficients. The single-mode formalism relies on accurate nonequilibrium defect energies obtained from density-functional theory (DFT), where required inputs are a series of configurationally displaced, defect-containing supercells obtained using an interpolative ansatz, and where the DFT outputs are corresponding total energies that have traditionally been postprocessed using a long-established ground-state formulation of finite-size corrections and defect-formation energies. This formulation remains commonly used even though the defects that form a configuration-coordinate (CC) diagram typically exist as structures that are displaced from the ground state. To remedy this inconsistency, Kumagai has recently proposed novel methods for implementing finite-size corrections specifically intended for DFT calculations of the defect energies used to construct CC diagrams and implement the single-mode formalism [Y. Kumagai, Phys. Rev. B 107, L220101 (2023)]. Kumagai's approach builds on the latest finite-size-correction methods introduced to describe vertical charge-state transitions for charge-localizing point defects in semiconductors and insulators [T. Gake et al., Phys. Rev. B 101, 020102 (2020); S. Falletta et al., Phys. Rev. B 102, 041115 (2020)]. The newly identified finite-size artifact treated in these studies is the polarization charge induced on a configurationally frozen defect and its subsequent interaction with a vertical transition in charge state. In this work, we evaluate Kumagai's proposed methodology by applying it in a high-precision DFT study of carrier capture by substitutional C N in GaN, a well-characterized and technologically relevant defect and material. We have rigorously calculated C N defect energies across various supercell sizes for each defect configuration and charge state on the hole-capture CC diagram of C N (𝑞=−1), enabling a direct comparison of the slopes of the defect energies versus inverse cell size with those predicted by Kumagai. The most consequential prediction of Kumagai's method is that these slopes distinctly vary as the square of the linear-interpolation parameter used to construct the nonequilibrium defect configurations. Our results quantitatively support this prediction. Moreover, with these new finite-size corrections and multiple-cell-size DFT calculations in place, we find that the classical energy barrier for hole capture by C N (𝑞=−1) in GaN decreases to 0.092–0.127 eV. This finding confirms the recent ≈ 0.1 eV prediction of Reshchikov based on the weak temperature dependence for hole capture observed in photoluminescence experiments [M. A. Reshchikov, J. Appl. Phys. 129, 121101 (2021)]. These results stand in stark contrast to previously calculated barriers of 0.486 and 0.73 eV, which also used the single-mode formalism but were obtained by instead using ground-state-based finite-size corrections. Our reduced classical barrier for capture increases the temperature-dependent hole-capture coefficient of a C N (𝑞=−1) defect by more than two to four orders of magnitude for temperatures of 100–600 K, compared to the previous 0.486 eV results. While other defects may not be as dramatically affected as here, we suggest that incorporating proper finite-size corrections for the vertical-transition-like states embedded within CC diagrams is an essential, yet previously unrecognized, component of accurate modeling of carrier-capture when using the single-effective-mode formalism.

dielectric properties↗
NASA NTRS2008

A New Bond Albedo for Performing Orbital Debris Brightness to Size Transformations

We have developed a technique for estimating the intrinsic size distribution of orbital debris objects via optical measurements alone. The process is predicated on the empirically observed power-law size distribution of debris (as indicated by radar RCS measurements) and the log-normal probability distribution of optical albedos as ascertained from phase (Lambertian) and range-corrected telescopic brightness measurements. Since the observed distribution of optical brightness is the product integral of the size distribution of the parent [debris] population with the albedo probability distribution, it is a straightforward matter to transform a given distribution of optical brightness back to a size distribution by the appropriate choice of a single albedo value. This is true because the integration of a powerlaw with a log-normal distribution (Fredholm Integral of the First Kind) yields a Gaussian-blurred power-law distribution with identical power-law exponent. Application of a single albedo to this distribution recovers a simple power-law [in size] which is linearly offset from the original distribution by a constant whose value depends on the choice of the albedo. Significantly, there exists a unique Bond albedo which, when applied to an observed brightness distribution, yields zero offset and therefore recovers the original size distribution. For physically realistic powerlaws of negative slope, the proper choice of albedo recovers the parent size distribution by compensating for the observational bias caused by the large number of small objects that appear anomalously large (bright) - and thereby skew the small population upward by rising above the detection threshold - and the lower number of large objects that appear anomalously small (dim). Based on this comprehensive analysis, a value of 0.13 should be applied to all orbital debris albedo-based brightness-to-size transformations regardless of data source. Its prima fascia genesis, derived and constructed from the current RCS to size conversion methodology (SiBAM Size-Based Estimation Model) and optical data reduction standards, assures consistency in application with the prior canonical value of 0.1. Herein we present the empirical and mathematical arguments for this approach and by example apply it to a comprehensive set of photometric data acquired via NASA's Liquid Mirror Telescopes during the 2000-2001 observing season.

Mulrooney, Mark K.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Observations of Precipitation Size and Fall Speed Characteristics within Coexisting Rain and Wet Snow

Ground-based measurements of particle size and fall speed distributions using a Particle Size and Velocity (PARSIVEL) disdrometer are compa red among samples obtained in mixed precipitation (rain and wet snow) and rain in the Oregon Cascade Mountains and in dry snow in the Rock y Mountains of Colorado. Coexisting rain and snow particles are distinguished using a classification method based on their size and fall sp eed properties. The bimodal distribution of the particles' joint fall speed-size characteristics at air temperatures from 0.5 to 0 C suggests that wet-snow particles quickly make a transition to rain once mel ting has progressed sufficiently. As air temperatures increase to 1.5 C, the reduction in the number of very large aggregates with a diame ter > 10 mm coincides with the appearance of rain particles larger than 6 mm. In this setting. very large raindrops appear to be the result of aggregates melting with minimal breakup rather than formation by c oalescence. In contrast to dry snow and rain, the fall speed for wet snow has a much weaker correlation between increasing size and increasing fall speed. Wet snow has a larger standard deviation of fall spee d (120%-230% relative to dry snow) for a given particle size. The ave rage fall speed for observed wet-snow particles with a diameter great er than or equal to 2.4 mm is 2 m/s with a standard deviation of 0.8 m/s. The large standard deviation is likely related to the coexistence of particles of similar physical size with different percentages of melting. These results suggest that different particle sizes are not required for aggregation since wet-snow particles of the same size can have different fall speeds. Given the large standard deviation of fa ll speeds in wet snow, the collision efficiency for wet snow is likely larger than that of dry snow. For particle sizes between 1 and 10 mm in diameter within mixed precipitation, rain constituted I % of the particles by volume within the isothermal layer at 0 C and 4% of the particles by volume for the region just below the isothermal layer where air temperatures rise from 0" to 0.5"C. As air temperatures increa sed above 0.5 C, the relative proportions of rain versus snow particl es shift dramatically and raindrops become dominant. The value of 0.5 C for the sharp transition in volume fraction from snow to rain is sl ightly lower than the range from 1 .l to 1.7 C often used in hydrolog ical models.

Yuter, Sandra E.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Turbulent Concentration of mm-Size Particles in the Protoplanetary Nebula: Scale-Dependent Cascades

The initial accretion of primitive bodies (here, asteroids in particular) from freely-floating nebula particles remains problematic. Traditional growth-by-sticking models encounter a formidable "meter-size barrier" (or even a mm-to-cm-size barrier) in turbulent nebulae, making the preconditions for so-called "streaming instabilities" difficult to achieve even for so-called "lucky" particles. Even if growth by sticking could somehow breach the meter size barrier, turbulent nebulae present further obstacles through the 1-10km size range. On the other hand, nonturbulent nebulae form large asteroids too quickly to explain long spreads in formation times, or the dearth of melted asteroids. Theoretical understanding of nebula turbulence is itself in flux; recent models of MRI (magnetically-driven) turbulence favor low-or- no-turbulence environments, but purely hydrodynamic turbulence is making a comeback, with two recently discovered mechanisms generating robust turbulence which do not rely on magnetic fields at all. An important clue regarding planetesimal formation is an apparent 100km diameter peak in the pre-depletion, pre-erosion mass distribution of asteroids; scenarios leading directly from independent nebula particulates to large objects of this size, which avoid the problematic m-km size range, could be called "leapfrog" scenarios. The leapfrog scenario we have studied in detail involves formation of dense clumps of aerodynamically selected, typically mm-size particles in turbulence, which can under certain conditions shrink inexorably on 100-1000 orbit timescales and form 10-100km diameter sandpile planetesimals. There is evidence that at least the ordinary chondrite parent bodies were initially composed entirely of a homogeneous mix of such particles. Thus, while they are arcane, turbulent concentration models acting directly on chondrule size particles are worthy of deeper study. The typical sizes of planetesimals and the rate of their formation can be estimated using a statistical model with properties inferred from large numerical simulations of turbulence. Nebula turbulence is described by its Reynolds number Re = (L/eta)(exp 4/3), where L = H alpha(exp 1/2) is the largest eddy scale, H is the nebula gas vertical scale height, alpha the turbulent viscosity parameter, and eta is the Kolmogorov or smallest scale in turbulence (typically about 1km), with eddy turnover time t(sub eta). In the nebula, Re is far larger than any numerical simulation can handle, so some physical arguments are needed to extend the results of numerical simulations to nebula conditions. In this paper, we report new physics to be incorporated into our statistical models.

mm-size particles↗
DOE OSTI2025

Dataset of tensile properties for sub-sized specimens of nuclear structural materials

Mechanical testing with sub-sized specimens plays an important role in the nuclear industry, facilitating tests in confined experimental spaces with lower irradiation levels and accelerating the qualification of new materials. The reduced size of specimens results in different material behavior at the microscale, mesoscale, and macroscale, in comparison to standard-sized specimens, which is referred to as the “specimen size effect.” Although analytical models have been proposed to correlate the properties of sub-sized specimens to standard-sized specimens, these models lack broad applicability across different materials and testing conditions. The objective of this study is to create the first large public dataset of tensile properties for sub-sized specimens used in nuclear structural materials. We performed an extensive literature review of relevant publications and extracted over 1,000 tensile testing records comprising 55 columns including material type and composition, manufacturing information, irradiation conditions, specimen dimensions, and tensile properties. The dataset can serve as a valuable resource to investigate the specimen size effect and develop computational methods to correlate the tensile properties of sub-sized specimens.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1975

Size and modal analyses of fines and ultrafines from some Apollo 17 samples

Scanning electron and optical microscopy techniques have been used to determine the grain-size frequency distributions and morphology-based modal analyses of fine and ultrafine fractions of some Apollo 17 regolith samples. There are significant and large differences between the grain-size frequency distributions of the less than 10-micron size fraction of Apollo 17 samples, but there are no clear relations to the local geologic setting from which individual samples have been collected. This may be due to effective lateral mixing of regolith particles in this size range by micrometeoroid impacts. None of the properties of the frequency distributions support the idea of selective transport of any fine grain-size fraction, as has been proposed by other workers. All of the particle types found in the coarser size fractions also occur in the less than 10-micron particles. In the size range from 105 to 10 microns there is a strong tendency for the percentage of regularly shaped glass to increase as the graphic mean grain size of the less than 1-mm size fraction decreases, both probably being controlled by exposure age.

Greene, G. M.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The particle size of Martian aeolian dunes

The effective particle size of unconsolidated materials on the Martian surface can be determined from thermal inertia, due to a pore size dependence of thermal conductivity at Martian atmospheric pressures. Because dunes consist of a narrow range of well-sorted, unconsolidated particles, they provide for a test of the relationship between particle size and thermal inertia calculated from midinfrared emission data for the Martian surface. Two independent approaches are used. First, thermal inertia data indicate that Martian dunes have an average particle size of about 500 +/-100 microns, or medium to coarse sand. Second, expected dune particle sizes are determined from grain trajectory calculations and the particle size transition from suspension to saltation. On earth, the transition occurs for a grain when the ratio of the terminal fall velocity to the wind friction speed, u*(t) is near unity; for grains at u*(t) this occurs at about 52 microns. Terrrestrial dune sands have a mean of 250 microns and are composed entirely of grains greater than 52 microns. The corresponding Martian transition grain size is about 210 microns, suggesting that Martian dunes should be significantly coarser than terrestrial dunes. Grain saltation path length as a function of particle size also shows that, under Martian conditions, larger grains than on earth will become suspended. Both approaches indicate that Martian dune sand should be coarser than terrestrial dune sand. These results closely match the grain sizes determined from thermal inertia models, providing the first direct test of the validity of these models for actual Martian surface materials.

Edgett, Kenneth S.↗
NASA NTRS1995

A test of galaxy evolutionary models via angular sizes

The relationship between angular size, magnitude, and redshift of faint galaxies is explored as a potential tool to distinguish between galaxy evolutionary models. Different models, based on merging, mild luminosity evolution, and no evolution, lead to different predictions of the angular size distribution, redshift- size relation, and magnitude-size relation. The merging model predicts significantly smaller sizes for faint galaxies than the standard model, because of the requirement for more intrinsically small faint objects at high redshift. A dwarf-rich no-evolution model also predicts small sizes for faint galaxies. The mild luminosity evolution model predicts more luminous galaxies of large angular size at high redshift, as does a standard no-evolution model. Prefurbishment Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Medium Deep Survey observations of magnitudes and sizes of faint galaxies indicate an excess of small versus large faint galaxies, favoring the dwarf rich, no evolution model with respect to the merging model; the other two models are more discrepant with the data. While these results cannot yet rule out with certainty any of the proposed models, they demonstrate the potential of angular size to discriminate between models of galaxy evolution, especially with the high-resolution HST wide field/planetary camera-2 (WFPC2) data.

Im, Myungshin↗
NASA NTRS2006

Probing the Magnetic Causes of CMEs: Free Magnetic Energy More Important Than Either Size Or Twist

To probe the magnetic causes of CMEs, we have examined three types of magnetic measures: size, twist and total nonpotentiality (or total free magnetic energy) of an active region. Total nonpotentiality is roughly the product of size times twist. For predominately bipolar active regions, we have found that total nonpotentiality measures have the strongest correlation with future CME productivity (approx. 75% prediction success rate), while size and twist measures each have a weaker correlation with future CME productivity (approx. 65% prediction success rate) (Falconer, Moore, & Gary, ApJ, 644, 2006). For multipolar active regions, we find that the CME-prediction success rates for total nonpotentiality and size are about the same as for bipolar active regions. We also find that the size measure correlation with CME productivity is nearly all due to the contribution of size to total nonpotentiality. We have a total nonpotentiality measure that can be obtained from a line-of-sight magnetogram of the active region and that is as strongly correlated with CME productivity as are any of our total-nonpotentiality measures from deprojected vector magnetograms. We plan to further expand our sample by using MDI magnetograms of each active region in our sample to determine its total nonpotentiality and size on each day that the active region was within 30 deg. of disk center. The resulting increase in sample size will improve our statistics and allow us to investigate whether the nonpotentiality threshold for CME production is nearly the same or significantly different for multipolar regions than for bipolar regions. In addition, we will investigate the time rates of change of size and total nonpotentiality as additional causes of CME productivity.

Falconer, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS2009

New Measurements of the Particle Size Distribution of Apollo 11 Lunar Soil 10084

We have initiated a major new program to determine the grain size distribution of nearly all lunar soils collected in the Apollo program. Following the return of Apollo soil and core samples, a number of investigators including our own group performed grain size distribution studies and published the results [1-11]. Nearly all of these studies were done by sieving the samples, usually with a working fluid such as Freon(TradeMark) or water. We have measured the particle size distribution of lunar soil 10084,2005 in water, using a Microtrac(TradeMark) laser diffraction instrument. Details of our own sieving technique and protocol (also used in [11]). are given in [4]. While sieving usually produces accurate and reproducible results, it has disadvantages. It is very labor intensive and requires hours to days to perform properly. Even using automated sieve shaking devices, four or five days may be needed to sieve each sample, although multiple sieve stacks increases productivity. Second, sieving is subject to loss of grains through handling and weighing operations, and these losses are concentrated in the finest grain sizes. Loss from handling becomes a more acute problem when smaller amounts of material are used. While we were able to quantitatively sieve into 6 or 8 size fractions using starting soil masses as low as 50mg, attrition and handling problems limit the practicality of sieving smaller amounts. Third, sieving below 10 or 20microns is not practical because of the problems of grain loss, and smaller grains sticking to coarser grains. Sieving is completely impractical below about 5- 10microns. Consequently, sieving gives no information on the size distribution below approx.10 microns which includes the important submicrometer and nanoparticle size ranges. Finally, sieving creates a limited number of size bins and may therefore miss fine structure of the distribution which would be revealed by other methods that produce many smaller size bins.

McKay, D.S.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Modeling of LEO Orbital Debris Populations in Centimeter and Millimeter Size Regimes

The building of the NASA Orbital Debris Engineering Model, whether ORDEM2000 or its recently updated version ORDEM2010, uses as its foundation a number of model debris populations, each truncated at a minimum object-size ranging from 10 micron to 1 m. This paper discusses the development of the ORDEM2010 model debris populations in LEO (low Earth orbit), focusing on centimeter (smaller than 10 cm) and millimeter size regimes. Primary data sets used in the statistical derivation of the cm- and mm-size model populations are from the Haystack radar operated in a staring mode. Unlike cataloged objects of sizes greater than approximately 10 cm, ground-based radars monitor smaller-size debris only in a statistical manner instead of tracking every piece. The mono-static Haystack radar can detect debris as small as approximately 5 mm at moderate LEO altitudes. Estimation of millimeter debris populations (for objects smaller than approximately 6 mm) rests largely on Goldstone radar measurements. The bi-static Goldstone radar can detect 2- to 3-mm objects. The modeling of the cm- and mm-debris populations follows the general approach to developing other ORDEM2010-required model populations for various components and types of debris. It relies on appropriate reference populations to provide necessary prior information on the orbital structures and other important characteristics of the debris objects. NASA's LEO-to-GEO Environment Debris (LEGEND) model is capable of furnishing such reference populations in the desired size range. A Bayesian statistical inference process, commonly adopted in ORDEM2010 model-population derivations, changes a priori distribution into a posteriori distribution and thus refines the reference populations in terms of data. This paper describes key elements and major steps in the statistical derivations of the cm- and mm-size debris populations and presents results. Due to lack of data for near 1-mm sizes, the model populations of 1- to 3.16-mm objects are an empirical extension from larger debris. The extension takes into account the results of micro-debris (from 10 micron to 1 mm) population modeling that is based on shuttle impact data, in the hope of making a smooth transition between micron and millimeter size regimes. This paper also includes a brief discussion on issues and potential future work concerning the analysis and interpretation of Goldstone radar data.

Xu, Y.-L.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Nanofluidic Size-Exclusion Chromatograph

Efforts are under way to develop a nanofluidic size-exclusion chromatograph (SEC), which would be a compact, robust, lightweight instrument for separating molecules of interest according to their sizes and measuring their relative abundances in small samples. About as large as a deck of playing cards, the nanofluidic SEC would serve, in effect, as a laboratory on a chip that would perform the functions of a much larger, conventional, bench-top SEC and ancillary equipment, while consuming much less power and much smaller quantities of reagent and sample materials. Its compactness and low power demand would render it attractive for field applications in which, typically, it would be used to identify and quantitate a broad range of polar and nonpolar organic compounds in soil, ice, and water samples. Size-exclusion chromatography is a special case of high-performance liquid chromatography. In a conventional SEC, a sample plug is driven by pressure along a column packed with silica or polymer beads that contain uniform nanopores. The interstices between, and the pores in, the beads collectively constitute a size-exclusion network. Molecules follow different paths through the size-exclusion network, such that characteristic elution times can be related to sizes of molecules: basically, smaller molecules reach the downstream end of the column after the larger ones do because the smaller ones enter minor pores and stay there for a while, whereas the larger ones do not enter the pores. The volume accessible to molecules gradually diminishes as their size increases. All molecules bigger than a pore size elute together. For most substances, the elution times and sizes of molecules can be correlated directly with molecular weights. Hence, by measuring the flux of molecules arriving at the downstream end as a function of time, one can obtain a liquid mass spectrum for the molecules present in a sample over a broad range of molecular weights.

Feldman, Sabrina↗
NASA NTRS2014

Turbulent Concentration of MM-Size Particles in the Protoplanetary Nebula: Scaled-Dependent Multiplier Functions

The initial accretion of primitive bodies (asteroids and TNOs) from freely-floating nebula particles remains problematic. Here we focus on the asteroids where constituent particle (read "chondrule") sizes are observationally known; similar arguments will hold for TNOs, but the constituent particles in those regions will be smaller, or will be fluffy aggregates, and are unobserved. Traditional growth-bysticking models encounter a formidable "meter-size barrier" [1] (or even a mm-cm-size barrier [2]) in turbulent nebulae, while nonturbulent nebulae form large asteroids too quickly to explain long spreads in formation times, or the dearth of melted asteroids [3]. Even if growth by sticking could somehow breach the meter size barrier, other obstacles are encountered through the 1-10km size range [4]. Another clue regarding planetesimal formation is an apparent 100km diameter peak in the pre-depletion, pre-erosion mass distribution of asteroids [5]; scenarios leading directly from independent nebula particulates to this size, which avoid the problematic m-km size range, could be called "leapfrog" scenarios [6-8]. The leapfrog scenario we have studied in detail involves formation of dense clumps of aerodynamically selected, typically mm-size particles in turbulence, which can under certain conditions shrink inexorably on 100-1000 orbit timescales and form 10-100km diameter sandpile planetesimals. The typical sizes of planetesimals and the rate of their formation [7,8] are determined by a statistical model with properties inferred from large numerical simulations of turbulence [9]. Nebula turbulence can be described by its Reynolds number Re = L/eta sup(4/3), where L = ETA alpha sup (1/2) the largest eddy scale, H is the nebula gas vertical scale height, and α the nebula turbulent viscosity parameter, and η is the Kolmogorov or smallest scale in turbulence (typically about 1km), with eddy turnover time tη. In the nebula, Re is far larger than any numerical simulation can handle, so some physical model is needed to extend the results of numerical simulations to nebula conditions.

protoplanetary nebula↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Assessment of Sensor Footprint Size and Comparison of Commercial Smallsat Images

Science users of commercial satellite data build their studies on the properties of the satellite data they work with, pixel size being one of the determining factors. However, pixel size and nominal image footprint size can be different, impacting the scale of features discernable in the satellite images. Here, we assess geometric properties such as nominal image footprint size for Planet Labs' SuperDove series, MAXAR's WorldView series, and potentially BlackSky. Additionally, we assess temporal change in nominal footprint size for the SuperDove series. Nominal Image footprint size is assessed over the CalVal sites in Baotou, China; Shadnagar, India; and Big Spring, TX. Edge spread functions are constructed along the black/white transitions, from which the line spread functions are constructed and modulation transfer functions of the scene are estimated. Scene full width half maximum (FWHM), which represents sensor footprint size, is estimated from the line spread function. The average nominal footprint size is 3.3 pixels for SuperDove series, 1.5 pixels for WorldView-2, and 1.3 pixels for WorldView-3. The SuperDove series nominal footprint size improves with time in orbit, from an average of 3.4 pixels soon after launch to an average of 3.2 pixels one or more years after launch.

PlanetScope↗
DOE OSTI2026

The impact of optical measurement techniques on measured aerosol particle size distributions

Ambient aerosol particle size distributions measured by the Ultra-High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer (UHSAS) at various sites around the world exhibit modes at optical diameters near 600 nm and 850 nm. These modes are not present in concurrent measurements with the Grimm 11-D Optical Particle Counter (OPC). Here, in this study, we argue that these modes result from the optical measurement technique itself, and we explain why they appear in measurements by the UHSAS but not in those by the Grimm OPC. We construct computer models of the UHSAS and Grimm (“digital UHSAS” and “digital Grimm”) and use these to investigate the size distribution that would result from measurements of artificial aerosol particle size distributions that do not contain modes. The appearance of modes for the structureless incoming size distributions sampled by the digital UHSAS is explained by the nonlinear behavior of partial scattering cross sections of uniform spherical particles as a function of their diameter. The absence of modes in the digital Grimm is explained by the coarser size resolution of that instrument. Detailed analysis of the relationship between optical and geometric diameters for uniform spherical particles reveals two important results. First, these diameters generally have different numerical values for the same particle, and second, the relationship is nonlinear; thus, widths of size bins in terms of optical diameter differ from those in geometric diameter. These results explain the modes observed in the ambient size distributions and highlight concerns with attempts to create a merged size distribution by combining measurements from different instruments.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Crystallographic Evidence of Size-Dependent Bond Flexibility in Metal–Organic Framework Nanocrystals

Size-dependent electronic, magnetic, and optical behavior suggests that metal–organic frameworks become softer materials as their particle sizes decrease, but direct evidence is lacking. Here, we report variable-temperature powder X-ray diffraction data of Fe(1,2,3-triazolate)2 particles that offer crystallographic insight into size-dependent bond flexibility. Rietveld refinement reveals size-dependent positive thermal expansion upon downsizing the crystalline domains from 178 to 9 nm, with a 6-fold increase from 16 MK –1 to 96 MK –1 . Here, this behavior occurs in tandem with size-dependent elongation of metal–ligand bonds and increasing thermal displacement parameters, consistent with pronounced metal-linker bond lability. We propose that these effects, as well as size-dependent annealing of crystallite sizes, originate from the high charge density and surface stress of smaller particles. Taken together, these results provide structural evidence that size reduction serves as a synthetic route to controlling the dynamic response of materials to external stimuli.

Crystals↗