Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “polarization imaging”

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.

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

At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1973

Surface configuration as an explanation for lithology-related cross-polarized radar image anomalies

One problem that has persisted since the development of multipolarized radar is the cause or causes of differential depolarization which is expressed as tonal reversals between like- and cross-polarized images of certain outcrops. Rocks producing anomalously low returns on the cross-polarized image could be classed into three general types: (1) certain geologically recent lava flows (late Pleistocene and Holocene), (2) some tertiary volcanics and (3) certain massive sandstones. Differential depolarization has been produced by volcanic rocks of various compositions including rhyolite, rhyodacite, dacite, andesite, and basalt. This has led to the conclusion that differential depolarization is not directly caused by any compositional factor. However, the study of aerial photos and subsequent field observation have led to the conclusion that the weathering and other surface characteristics of the outcrops are responsible for their appearance on multipolarized imagery.

Mccauley, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Global Auroral Energy Deposition Derived from Polar UVI Images

Quantitative measurement of the transfer of energy and momentum to the ionosphere from the solar wind is one of the main objectives of the ISTP program. Global measurement of auroral energy deposition derived from observations of the longer wavelength LBH band emissions made by the Ultraviolet Imager on the Polar spacecraft is one of the key elements in this satellite and ground-based instrument campaign. These "measurements" are inferred by combining information from consecutive images using different filters and have a time resolution on the average of three minutes and are made continuously over a 5 to 8 hour period during each 18 hour orbit of the Polar spacecraft. The energy deposition in the ionosphere from auroral electron precipitation augments are due to Joule heating associated with field aligned currents. Assuming conjugacy of energy deposition between the two hemispheres the total energy input to the ionosphere through electron precipitation can be determined at high time resolution. Previously, precipitating particle measurements along the tracks of low altitude satellites provided only local measurements and the global energy precipitation could be inferred through models but not directly measured. We use the UVI images for the entire month of January 1997 to estimate the global energy deposition at high time resolution. We also sort the energy deposition into sectors to find possible trends, for example, on the dayside and nightside, or the dawn and dusk sides.

Fillingim, M. O.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Does the Ultraviolet Imager on Polar Detect Cometesimals?

The Earth's dayglow images obtained by the Ultraviolet Imager (UVI) on Polar should show darkened pixels if cometesimals bombard Earth. This darkening occurs because the UV emissions are absorbed by water between the altitude where the dayglow emissions are produced and the Polar spacecraft. We have asked: (1) Does the UVI detect darkened pixels? (2) If so, what are their characteristics? (3) What can the UVI say about the presence/absence of cometesimals? The UVI does see dark pixels, which tend to be clustered. But the calibration data obtained from the same instrument just before the instrument was launched show similarly darkened pixel clusters. After a though statistical analysis of these images, we conclude that the darkened pixels are instrumental artifacts. Therefore, the UVI does not provide evidence for the existence of the cometesimals.

Parks, G. K.↗
DOE OSTI2024

A Uniform Analysis of Debris Disks with the Gemini Planet Imager. I. An Empirical Search for Perturbations from Planetary Companions in Polarized Light Images

The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) has excelled in imaging debris disks in the near-infrared. The GPI Exoplanet Survey imaged 24 debris disks in polarized H-band light, while other programs observed half of these disks in polarized J and/or K1 bands. Using these data, we present a uniform analysis of the morphology of each disk to find asymmetries suggestive of perturbations, particularly those due to planet–disk interactions. The multiwavelength surface brightness, disk color, and geometry permit the identification of any asymmetries such as warps or disk offsets from the central star. We find that 19 of the disks in this sample exhibit asymmetries in surface brightness, disk color, disk geometry, or a combination of the three, suggesting that for this sample, perturbations, as seen in scattered light, are common. The relationship between these perturbations and potential planets in the system is discussed. We also explore correlations among stellar temperatures, ages, disk properties, and observed perturbations. We find significant trends between the vertical aspect ratio and the stellar temperature, disk radial extent, and the dust grain size distribution power law, q. We also confirm a trend between the disk color and stellar effective temperature, where the disk becomes increasingly red/neutral with increasing temperature. Such results have important implications for the evolution of debris disk systems around stars of various spectral types.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2024

A Uniform Analysis of Debris Disks with the Gemini Planet Imager. I. An Empirical Search for Perturbations from Planetary Companions in Polarized Light Images

The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) has excelled in imaging debris disks in the near-infrared. The GPI Exoplanet Survey imaged 24 debris disks in polarized H-band light, while other programs observed half of these disks in polarized J and/or K1 bands. Using these data, we present a uniform analysis of the morphology of each disk to find asymmetries suggestive of perturbations, particularly those due to planet–disk interactions. The multiwavelength surface brightness, disk color, and geometry permit the identification of any asymmetries such as warps or disk offsets from the central star. We find that 19 of the disks in this sample exhibit asymmetries in surface brightness, disk color, disk geometry, or a combination of the three, suggesting that for this sample, perturbations, as seen in scattered light, are common. The relationship between these perturbations and potential planets in the system is discussed. We also explore correlations among stellar temperatures, ages, disk properties, and observed perturbations. We find significant trends between the vertical aspect ratio and the stellar temperature, disk radial extent, and the dust grain size distribution power law, q. We also confirm a trend between the disk color and stellar effective temperature, where the disk becomes increasingly red/neutral with increasing temperature. Such results have important implications for the evolution of debris disk systems around stars of various spectral types.

Katie A Crotts↗
DOE OSTI2025

Near-field infrared imaging of polar domain walls in Ni 3 TeO 6

Domain walls are leading platforms for the development of ultra-low power switching and memory devices due to their potential to be moved, created, and erased in real time and to mitigate heat flux. Interface vs wavelength size effects unfortunately preclude the measurement of phonons by traditional spectroscopic techniques, so it has been challenging to unravel the primary excitations of the lattice and the symmetries that they represent across these functional interfaces. In this work, we employ synchrotron-based near-field infrared nanospectroscopy to image polar domain walls in multiferroic Ni 3 TeO 6 . This is a unique platform because, in addition to hosting polar and chiral domains that are interlocked with one another, Ni 3 TeO 6 displays both charged and neutral interfaces depending upon the direction allowing the development of structure–property relations. From a local structure and a strain point of view, we find charged walls that are twice as wide as neutral walls as well as strong frequency shifts of vibrational modes across the charged walls. The near-field amplitude drops across the walls as well. We discuss these trends in terms of polarization and chirality as well as phonon lifetimes at functional interfaces.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1997

A Dayside Auroral Energy Desposition Case Study Using the Polar Ultraviolet Imager

In this letter, we report preliminary results from a study of dayside auroral energy deposition during quiet times using global auroral images acquired by the Ultraviolet Imager experiment on the Polar spacecraft. Solar wind plasma and interplanetary magnetic field measurements from the Wind spacecraft and kp values were used to characterize the state of the magnetosphere. The auroral oval was observed for a two- hour period in spring and summer during relatively quiet times (k(sub p) approx. 0 to 1). We find that, although the nightside energy deposition rate varied by an order of magnitude to as low as 1 x 10(exp 16) ergs per second (1 GW), the dayside was much less variable and remained between 4 and IO GW.

Brittnacher, M. J.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Characterizing the Nightside Auroral Gap Using Polar-UVI Images

Using images from the Ultraviolet Imager (UVI) aboard the Polar spacecraft, we identify an unusual morphological feature of the auroral oval marked by a drastic decrease of auroral luminosity near local midnight during the growth and/or recovery phases of some substorms. This feature has not been previously described in much detail. The nightside cap appears in roughly 10% of the substorms during our study period of January and February, 1997. Two nightside gap events are characterized in detail as case studies of this phenomenon. We show that the nightside gap typically spans 1.0-1.5 hours in local time between 2200 LT and 2400 MLT and extends across the entire north/south direction of the auroral oval. Within this well-defined region, the energy flux is only 20-30% of the adjacent auroral activity at levels generally < 1.5 erg/sq cm.s. These phenomena indicate that there exists a region in the plasma sheet which maps to the nightside gap sector that is depleted of electrons during these events. Another possibility is that within the gap region, which lacks discrete auroral structures, no significant field-aligned currents exist and there is an insufficient ionospheric potential to accelerate precipitating electrons.

Chua, D.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Cooperative Lander-Surface/Aerial Microflyer Missions for Mars Exploration

Concepts are being investigated for exploratory missions to Mars based on Bioinspired Engineering of Exploration Systems (BEES), which is a guiding principle of this effort to develop biomorphic explorers. The novelty lies in the use of a robust telecom architecture for mission data return, utilizing multiple local relays (including the lander itself as a local relay and the explorers in the dual role of a local relay) to enable ranges ~10 to 1,000 km and downlink of color imagery. As illustrated in Figure 1, multiple microflyers that can be both surface or aerially launched are envisioned in shepherding, metamorphic, and imaging roles. These microflyers imbibe key bio-inspired principles in their flight control, navigation, and visual search operations. Honey-bee inspired algorithms utilizing visual cues to perform autonomous navigation operations such as terrain following will be utilized. The instrument suite will consist of a panoramic imager and polarization imager specifically optimized to detect ice and water. For microflyers, particularly at small sizes, bio-inspired solutions appear to offer better alternate solutions than conventional engineered approaches. This investigation addresses a wide range of interrelated issues, including desired scientific data, sizes, rates, and communication ranges that can be accomplished in alternative mission scenarios. The mission illustrated in Figure 1 offers the most robust telecom architecture and the longest range for exploration with two landers being available as main local relays in addition to an ephemeral aerial probe local relay. The shepherding or metamorphic plane are in their dual role as local relays and image data collection/storage nodes. Appropriate placement of the landing site for the scout lander with respect to the main mission lander can allow coverage of extremely large ranges and enable exhaustive survey of the area of interest. In particular, this mission could help with the path planning and risk mitigation in the traverse of the long-distance surface explorer/rover. The basic requirements of design and operation of BEES to implement the scenarios are discussed. Terrestrial applications of such concepts include distributed aerial/surface measurements of meteorological events, i.e., storm watch, seismic monitoring, reconnaissance, biological chemical sensing, search and rescue, surveillance, autonomous security/ protection agents, and/or delivery and lateral distribution of agents (sensors, surface/subsurface crawlers, clean-up agents). Figure 2 illustrates an Earth demonstration that is in development, and its implementation will illustrate the value of these biomorphic mission concepts.

Thakoor, Sarita↗
NASA NTRS2000

Raman Gas Species Measurements in Hydrocarbon-Fueled Rocket Engine Injector Flows

Propellent injector development at MSFC (Marshall Space Flight Center) includes experimental analysis using optical techniques, such as Raman, fluorescence, or Mie scattering. For the application of spontaneous Raman scattering to hydrocarbon-fueled flows a technique needs to be developed to remove the interfering polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon fluorescence from the relatively weak Raman signals. A current application of such a technique is to the analysis of the mixing and combustion performance of multijet, impinging-jet candidate fuel injectors for the baseline Mars ascent engine, which will burn methane and liquid oxygen produced in-situ on Mars to reduce the propellent mass transported to Mars for future manned Mars missions. The present technique takes advantage of the strongly polarized nature of Raman scattering. It is shown to be discernable from unpolarized fluorescence interference by subtracting one polarized image from another. Both of these polarized images are obtained from a single laser pulse by using a polarization-separating calcite rhomb mounted in the imaging spectrograph. A demonstration in a propane-air flame is presented.

Wehrmeyer, Joseph A.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Raman Gas Species Measurements in Hydrocarbon-Fueled Rocket Engine Injector Flows

Rocket engine propellent injector development at NASA-Marshall includes experimental analysis using optical techniques, such as Raman, fluorescence, or Mie scattering. For the application of spontaneous Raman scattering to hydrocarbon-fueled flows a technique needs to be developed to remove the interfering polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon fluorescence from the relatively weak Raman signals. A current application of such a technique is to the analysis of the mixing and combustion performance of multijet, impinging-jet candidate fuel injectors for the baseline Mars ascent engine, which will burn methane and liquid oxygen produced in-situ on Mars to reduce the propellent mass transported to Mars for future manned Mars missions. The Raman technique takes advantage of the strongly polarized nature of Raman scattering. It is shown to be discernable from unpolarized fluorescence interference by subtracting one polarized image from another. Both of these polarized images are obtained from a single laser pulse by using a polarization-separating calcite rhomb mounted in the imaging spectrograph. A demonstration in a propane-air flame is presented, as well as a high pressure demonstration in the NASA-Marshall Modular Combustion Test Artice, using the liquid methane-liquid oxygen propellant system

Wehrmeyer, Joseph↗
NASA NTRS1999

Raman Spectroscopy for Instantaneous Multipoint, Multispecies Gas Concentration and Temperature Measurements in Rocket Engine Propellant Injector Flows

Propellent injector development at MSFC includes experimental analysis using optical techniques, such as Raman, fluorescence, or Mie scattering. For the application of spontaneous Raman scattering to hydrocarbon-fueled flows a technique needs to be developed to remove the interfering polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon fluorescence from the relatively weak Raman signals. A current application of such a technique is to the analysis of the mixing and combustion performance of multijet, impinging-jet candidate fuel injectors for the baseline Mars ascent engine, which will bum methane and liquid oxygen produced in-situ on Mars to reduce the propellent mass transported to Mars for future manned Mars missions. The present technique takes advantage of the strongly polarized nature of Raman scattering. It is shown to be discernable from unpolarized fluorescence interference by subtracting one polarized image from another. Both of these polarized images are obtained from a single laser pulse by using a polarization-separating calcite rhomb mounted in the imaging spectrograph. A demonstration in a propane-air flame is presented.

Wehrmeyer, Joseph A.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Raman Spectroscopy for Instantaneous Multipoint, Multispecies Gas Concentration and Temperature Measurements in Rocket Engine Propellant Injector Flows

Propellant injector development at MSFC includes experimental analysis using optical techniques, such as Raman, fluorescence, or Mie scattering. For the application of spontaneous Raman scattering to hydrocarbon-fueled flows a technique needs to be developed to remove the interfering polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon fluorescence from the relatively weak Raman signals. A current application of such a technique is to the analysis of the mixing and combustion performance of multijet, impinging-jet candidate fuel injectors for the baseline Mars ascent engine, which will burn methane and liquid oxygen produced in-situ on Mars to reduce the propellant mass transported to Mars for future manned Mars missions. The present technique takes advantage of the strongly polarized nature of Raman scattering. It is shown to be discernable from unpolarized fluorescence interference by subtracting one polarized image from another. Both of these polarized images are obtained from a single laser pulse by using a polarization-separating calcite rhomb mounted in the imaging spectrograph. A demonstration in a propane-air flame is presented.

Wehrmeyer, Joseph A.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Auroral Observations from the POLAR Ultraviolet Imager (UVI)

Because of the importance of the auroral regions as a remote diagnostic of near-Earth plasma processes and magnetospheric structure, spacebased instrumentation for imaging the auroral regions have been designed and operated for the last twenty-five years. The latest generation of imagers, including those flown on the POLAR satellite, extends this quest for multispectral resolution by providing three separate imagers for the visible, ultraviolet, and X ray images of the aurora. The ability to observe extended regions allows imaging missions to significantly extend the observations available from in situ or groundbased instrumentation. The complementary nature of imaging and other observations is illustrated below using results from tile GGS Ultraviolet Imager (UVI). Details of the requisite energy and intensity analysis are also presented.

Germany, G. A.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite Polarization Sensitivity Analysis

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) is one of five instruments onboard the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (SNPP) satellite that launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on October 28, 2011. It is a whiskbroom radiometer that provides +/-56.28deg scans of the Earth view. It has 22 bands, among which 14 are reflective solar bands (RSBs). The RSBs cover a wavelength range from 410 to 2250 nm. The RSBs of a remote sensor are usually sensitive to the polarization of incident light. For VIIRS, it is specified that the polarization factor should be smaller than 3% for 410 and 862 nm bands and 2.5% for other RSBs for the scan angle within +/-45deg. Several polarization sensitivity tests were performed prelaunch for SNPP VIIRS. The first few tests either had large uncertainty or were less reliable, while the last one was believed to provide the more accurate information about the polarization property of the instrument. In this paper, the measured data in the last polarization sensitivity test are analyzed, and the polarization factors and phase angles are derived from the measurements for all the RSBs. The derived polarization factors and phase angles are band, detector, and scan angle dependent. For near-infrared bands, they also depend on the half-angle mirror side. Nevertheless, the derived polarization factors are all within the specification, although the strong detector dependence of the polarization parameters was not expected. Compared to the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on both Aqua and Terra satellites, the polarization effect on VIIRS RSB is much smaller.

Polar-Orbiting↗
NASA NTRS1998

Auroral Observations by the Polar Ultraviolet Imager UVI

We present and discuss first results from the Ultraviolet Imager (UVI) experiment launched oil the Polar spacecraft. The Polar spacecraft has an apogee of 9 Re, a perigee of 1.8 Re and the orbit period is ? 18 hours. The UVI camera, mounted on a despun platform, will image the auroral Oxygen lines at 130.4 nm and 135.6 nm, and the Nitrogen Lyman-Birge-Hopfield bands, at 160.0 - 190.0 nm. The camera has an 8-degree total field of view, an angular resolution of 0.036 degrees, and auroral images will be obtained with a time resolution of 37 seconds. The discussion will include how the UVI images are used to obtain quantitative information on the characteristic and total energies of global auroral precipitation.

Brittnacher, M. J.↗