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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 541 records · Page 30
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2013

Arctic Tundra Vegetation Functional Types Based on Photosynthetic Physiology and Optical Properties

Non-vascular plants (lichens and mosses) are significant components of tundra landscapes and may respond to climate change differently from vascular plants affecting ecosystem carbon balance. Remote sensing provides critical tools for monitoring plant cover types, as optical signals provide a way to scale from plot measurements to regional estimates of biophysical properties, for which spatial-temporal patterns may be analyzed. Gas exchange measurements were collected for pure patches of key vegetation functional types (lichens, mosses, and vascular plants) in sedge tundra at Barrow, AK. These functional types were found to have three significantly different values of light use efficiency (LUE) with values of 0.013 plus or minus 0.0002, 0.0018 plus or minus 0.0002, and 0.0012 plus or minus 0.0001 mol C mol (exp -1) absorbed quanta for vascular plants, mosses and lichens, respectively. Discriminant analysis of the spectra reflectance of these patches identified five spectral bands that separated each of these vegetation functional types as well as nongreen material (bare soil, standing water, and dead leaves). These results were tested along a 100 m transect where midsummer spectral reflectance and vegetation coverage were measured at one meter intervals. Along the transect, area-averaged canopy LUE estimated from coverage fractions of the three functional types varied widely, even over short distances. The patch-level statistical discriminant functions applied to in situ hyperspectral reflectance data collected along the transect successfully unmixed cover fractions of the vegetation functional types. The unmixing functions, developed from the transect data, were applied to 30 m spatial resolution Earth Observing-1 Hyperion imaging spectrometer data to examine variability in distribution of the vegetation functional types for an area near Barrow, AK. Spatial variability of LUE was derived from the observed functional type distributions. Across this landscape, a fivefold variation in tundra LUE was observed. LUE calculated from the functional type cover fractions was also correlated to a spectral vegetation index developed to detect vegetation chlorophyll content. The concurrence of these alternate methods suggest that hyperspectral remote sensing can distinguish functionally distinct vegetation types and can be used to develop regional estimates of photosynthetic LUE in tundra landscapes.

VEGETATION↗
NASA NTRS2017

Optical Properties of Ar Ions Irradiated Nanocrystalline ZrC and ZrN Thin Films

Thin nanocrystalline ZrC and ZrN films (less than 400 nanometers), grown on (100) Si substrates at a substrate temperature of 500 degrees Centigrade by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique, were irradiated by 800 kiloelectronvolts Ar ion irradiation with fluences from 1 times 10(sup 14) atoms per square centimeter up to 2 times 10(sup 15) atoms per square centimeter. Optical reflectance data, acquired from as-deposited and irradiated films, in the range of 500-50000 per centimeter (0.06–6 electronvolts), was used to assess the effect of irradiation on the optical and electronic properties. Both in ZrC and ZrN films we observed that irradiation affects the optical properties of the films mostly at low frequencies, which is dominated by the free carriers response. In both materials, we found a significant reduction in the free carriers scattering rate, i.e. possible increase in mobility, at higher irradiation flux. This is consistent with our previous findings that irradiation affects the crystallite size and the micro-strain, but it does not induce major structural changes.

ZrN↗
NASA NTRS2016

Lunar Flashlight: Illuminating the Lunar South Pole

Recent reflectance data from LRO instruments suggest water ice and other volatiles may be present on the surface in lunar permanentlyshadowed regions, though the detection is not yet definitive. Understanding the composition, quantity, distribution, and form of water and other volatiles associated with lunar permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) is identified as a NASA Strategic Knowledge Gap (SKG) for Human Exploration. These polar volatile deposits are also scientifically interesting, having the potential to reveal important information about the delivery of water to the Earth- Moon system.

South Pole↗
NASA NTRS2016

Lunar Flashlight: Illuminating the Moon's South Pole

Recent reflectance data from LRO instruments suggest water ice and other volatiles may be present on the surface in lunar permanently shadowed regions, though the detection is not yet definitive. Understanding the composition, quantity, distribution, and form of water and other volatiles associated with lunar permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) is identified as a NASA Strategic Knowledge Gap (SKG) for Human Exploration. These polar volatile deposits are also scientifically interesting, having the potential to reveal important information about the delivery of water to the Earth-Moon system.

South Pole↗
NASA NTRS2016

Effect of Satellite Formations and Imaging Modes on Global Albedo Estimation

We confirm the applicability of using small satellite formation flight for multi-angular earth observation to retrieve global, narrow band, narrow field-of-view albedo. The value of formation flight is assessed using a coupled systems engineering and science evaluation model, driven by Model Based Systems Engineering and Observing System Simulation Experiments. Albedo errors are calculated against bi-directional reflectance data obtained from NASA airborne campaigns made by the Cloud Absorption Radiometer for the seven major surface types, binned using MODIS' land cover map - water, forest, cropland, grassland, snow, desert and cities. A full tradespace of architectures with three to eight satellites, maintainable orbits and imaging modes (collective payload pointing strategies) are assessed. For an arbitrary 4-sat formation, changing the reference, nadir-pointing satellite dynamically reduces the average albedo error to 0.003, from 0.006 found in the static reference case. Tracking pre-selected waypoints with all the satellites reduces the average error further to 0.001, allows better polar imaging and continued operations even with a broken formation. An albedo error of 0.001 translates to 1.36 W/sq m or 0.4% in Earth's outgoing radiation error. Estimation errors are found to be independent of the satellites' altitude and inclination, if the nadir-looking is changed dynamically. The formation satellites are restricted to differ in only right ascension of planes and mean anomalies within slotted bounds. Three satellites in some specific formations show average albedo errors of less than 2% with respect to airborne, ground data and seven satellites in any slotted formation outperform the monolithic error of 3.6%. In fact, the maximum possible albedo error, purely based on angular sampling, of 12% for monoliths is outperformed by a five-satellite formation in any slotted arrangement and an eight satellite formation can bring that error down four fold to 3%. More than 70% ground spot overlap between the satellites is possible with 0.5deg of pointing accuracy, 2 Km of GPS accuracy and commands uplinked once a day. The formations can be maintained at less than 1 m/s of monthly (Delta)V per satellite.

BRDF↗
NASA NTRS2017

Payload Design for the Lunar Flashlight Mission

Recent reflectance data from LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) instruments suggest water ice and other volatiles may be present on the surface in lunar permanently shadowed regions, though the detection is not yet definitive. Understanding the composition, quantity, distribution, and form of water and other volatiles associated with lunar permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) is identified as a NASA Strategic Knowledge Gap (SKG). These polar volatile deposits are also scientifically interesting, having the potential to reveal important information about the delivery of water to the Earth-Moon system.

payload↗
NASA NTRS2017

High Speed and High Spatial Density Parameter Measurement Using Fiber Optic Sensing Technology

The present invention is an improved fiber optic sensing system (FOSS) having the ability to provide both high spatial resolution and high frequency strain measurements. The inventive hybrid FOSS fiber combines sensors from high acquisition speed and low spatial resolution Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (WDM) systems and from low acquisition speed and high spatial resolution Optical Frequency Domain Reflection (OFDR) systems. Two unique light sources utilizing different wavelengths are coupled with the hybrid FOSS fiber to generate reflected data from both the WDM sensors and OFDR sensors operating on a single fiber optic cable without incurring interference from one another. The two data sets are then de-multiplexed for analysis, optionally with conventionally-available WDM and OFDR system analyzers.

Parker, Allen R. Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2017

An Assessment of Reduced Crew and Single Pilot Operations in Commercial Transport Aircraft Operations

Future reduced crew operations or even single pilot operations for commercial airline and on-demand mobility applications are an active area of research. These changes would reduce the human element and thus, threaten the precept that "a well-trained and well-qualified pilot is the critical center point of aircraft systems safety and an integral safety component of the entire commercial aviation system." NASA recently completed a pilot-in-the-loop high fidelity motion simulation study in partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) attempting to quantify the pilot's contribution to flight safety during normal flight and in response to aircraft system failures. Crew complement was used as the experiment independent variable in a between-subjects design. These data show significant increases in workload for single pilot operations, compared to two-crew, with subjective assessments of safety and performance being significantly degraded as well. Nonetheless, in all cases, the pilots were able to overcome the failure mode effects in all crew configurations. These data reflect current-day flight deck equipage and help identify the technologies that may improve two-crew operations and/or possibly enable future reduced crew and/or single pilot operations.

Bailey, Randall E.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Effects of Surface BRDF on the OMI Cloud and NO2 Retrievals: A New Approach Based on Geometry-Dependent Lambertian Equivalent Reflectivity (GLER) Derived from MODIS

The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) cloud and NO2 algorithms use a monthly gridded surface reflectivity climatology that does not depend upon the observation geometry. In reality, reflection of incoming direct and diffuse solar light from land or ocean surfaces is sensitive to the sun sensor geometry. This dependence is described by the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF). To account for the BRDF, we propose to use a new concept of geometry-dependent Lambertian equivalent reflectivity (GLER). Implementation within the existing OMI cloud and NO2 retrieval infrastructure requires changes only to the input surface reflectivity database. GLER is calculated using a vector radiative transfer model with high spatial resolution BRDF information from MODIS over land and the Cox Munk slope distribution over ocean with a contribution from water-leaving radiance. We compare GLER and climatological LER at 466 nm, which is used in the OMI O2-O2cloud algorithm to derive effective cloud fractions. A detailed comparison of the cloud fractions and pressures derived with climatological and GLERs is carried out. GLER and corresponding retrieved cloud products are then used as input to the OMI NO2 algorithm. We find that replacing the climatological OMI-based LERs with GLERs can increase NO2 vertical columns by up to 50 % in highly polluted areas; the differences include both BRDF effects and biases between the MODIS and OMI-based surface reflectance data sets. Only minor changes to NO2 columns (within 5 %) are found over unpolluted and overcast areas.

MODIS BRDF OMI clouds NO2 GLER↗
NASA NTRS2018

GC11H _ 0998: A spatial pattern analysis of forest loss in the Madre de Dios region, Peru

Previous studies have quantified the extension of gold mining activities and associated it with forest loss in the Madre de Dios region of Peru. This study uses Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA) in a cloud-computing platform to map forest loss within and outside key land tenure areas in this region, Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) and Landsat 8 Operational land Imager (OLI) Surface Reflectance data were utilized spanning 2013 and 2017 and spectral unmixing was performed to identify patterns of forest loss for each year. Planet Scope and RapidEye imagery were used to conduct an accuracy assessment and to identify potential drivers.

Puzzi Nicolau, Andrea↗
NASA NTRS2019

3-μm Reflectance Spectroscopy of Carbonaceous Chondrites Under Asteroid-Like Conditions

We measured 3-μm reflectance spectra of 21 meteorites that represent all carbonaceous chondrite types available in terrestrial meteorite collections. The measurements were conducted at the Laboratory for Spectroscopy under Planetary Environmental Conditions (LabSPEC) at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU APL) under asteroid-like conditions (vacuum at room temperature after slight overnight heating at T < 400 K). This is the most comprehensive 3-μm dataset of carbonaceous chondrites ever acquired in environments similar to the ones experienced by asteroids. The 3-μm reflectance spectra are extremely important for direct comparisons with and appropriate interpretations of reflectance data from ground-based telescopic and spacecraft observations of asteroids. We found good agreement between 3-μm spectral characteristics of carbonaceous chondrites and carbonaceous chondrite classifications. The 3-μm band is diverse, indicative of varying composition, thus suggesting that these carbonaceous chondrites experienced distinct parent body aqueous alteration and metamorphism environments. The spectra of CI chondrites, from which significant amount of water adsorbed under ambient conditions was removed, are consistent with Mg-serpentine and clay minerals. The high abundances of organics in CI chondrites is also associated with the mineralogy of these chondrites, oxyhydroxides- and complex clay minerals-rich. CM chondrites, which are cronstedtite-rich, have shallower 3-μm band than CI chondrites, suggesting they experienced less aqueous alteration. CR chondrites showed moderate aqueous alteration relative to CI and CM chondrites. CV chondrites, except for Efremovka, have a very shallow 3-μm band, consistent with their lower phyllosilicate proportions. CO chondrites, like most CVs, have a very shallow 3-μm spectra that suggest they experienced minor aqueous alteration. The 3-μm band in CH/CBb is deep and broad centered ~ 3.11 μm, possibly due the high abundance of FeNi metal and presence of heavily hydrated clasts in these chondrites. The 3-μm spectra of Essebi (C2-ung) and EET 83226 are more consistent with CM chondrites’ spectra. The 3-μm spectra of Tagish lake (C2-ung), on the other hand, are consistent with CI chondrites. None of these spectral details could have been resolved without removing the adsorbed water before acquiring spectra.

Driss Takir↗
NASA NTRS2019

A Spatial Pattern Analysis of Forest Loss in the Madre de Dios Region, Peru

Previous studies have quantified the expansion of gold mining-related forest loss (Espejo et al., 2018; Asner et al., 2017; Swenson et al., 2011) in the Madre de Dios region of Peru. This study uses Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA) in a cloud-computing platform to map general forest loss within and outside key land tenure areas in this region. Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) Surface Reflectance data were utilized spanning 2013 and 2018 and spectral unmixing was performed to identify patterns of forest loss for each year. Planet Scope and RapidEye imagery were used to conduct an accuracy assessment and to identify potential drivers.

Puzzi Nicolau, Andrea↗
NASA NTRS2019

Pixel-Based Smoke Detection with Neural Network

Exposure to biomass burning has been linked to respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses in humans. Traditional satellite based visual and multispectral smoke detection methods are not scalable to capabilities of new generations of remote sensing platforms. We develop a scalable, deep learning based detection model capable of identifying smoke pixels using GOES-16 shortwave reflectance data and present a operational web-based tool to visualize smoke predictions.

Ramasubramanian, M.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Visible - Near Infrared Spectral Indices for Mapping Mineralogy and Chemistry with OSIRIS-REx

The primary objective of the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, SecurityRegolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission is to return to Earth a pristine sample of carbonaceous material from the primitive asteroid (101955) Bennu. To support compositional mapping as part of sample site selection and characterization, we tested 95 spectral parameters on visible to near infrared laboratory reflectance data of minerals and carbonaceous meteorites to find which of these parameters reliably identified spectral features of interest. Most spectral parameters had high positive detection rates when used on spectra of pure, single component materials. The meteorite spectra have fewer and weaker absorption features and, as a result, fewer detections with the spectral parameters. Parameters targeting absorptions at 0.7 and 2.7 – 3 µm, which arise due to hydrated minerals, were most successful for the meteorites. Based on these results, we have identified a set of 17 parameters that are most likely to be useful at Bennu and spectral analogs. These parameters detect olivines, pyroxenes, carbonates, water/OH-bearing minerals, serpentines, ferric minerals, and organics. Particle size and albedo are known to affect band depth but had a negligible impact on parameter accuracy. The effect of instrument-like noise added to the laboratory spectra can result in more false positive detections, but these exhibit large errors. Our study has determined the prioritization of spectral parameters used for OSIRISREx spectral analysis and mapping and informs the reliability of all parameter-derived data products.

Hannah H Kaplan↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

TPSAS-NF1676L-13204-DND

Invasive perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium) has spread rapidly throughout the western United States in the past fifteen years. Pepperweed outcompetes many native species for water and nutrients, disturbing sensitive ecosystems. The purpose of this study is to map the contemporary distribution of pepperweed throughout the wetland ecosystem of the restored South San Francisco Bay Salt Ponds and create a habitat suitability model to predict future spread. Pepperweed reflectance data were collected in-situ with the GER 1500 spectroradiometer along with presence and absence pepperweed GPS data points. A Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) classification algorithm (Method A) was used to distinguish pepperweed spectra and map its distribution on an EO-1 Hyperion image of the study area. Similarly, a supervised classification was run on an ASTER image of the study area. A GIS multivariate habitat suitability model was created to predict areas most susceptible to pepperweed colonization. Variables incorporated into the model were tidal extent, propensity for disturbance, pond salinity, proximity to levees and channels, and terrain curvature. A Generalized Additive Model (GAM) was also used to generate a suitability map (Method B) and investigate the statistical probability that each variable contributed to predict pepperweed spread. Results from the GAM revealed distance to channels, distance to disturbance factors, extreme pond salinity and curvature as statistically significant in determining the locations of suitable pepperweed habitats

Andrew Nguyen↗
NASA NTRS2020

Radiometric approach for the detection of picophytoplankton assemblages across oceanic fronts

Cell abundances of Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus, and autotrophic picoeukaryotes were estimated in surface waters using principal component analysis (PCA) of hyperspectral and multispectral remote-sensing reflectance data. This involved the development of models that employed multilinear correlations between cell abundances across the Atlantic Ocean and a combination of PCA scores and sea surface temperatures. The models retrieve high Prochlorococcus abundances in the Equatorial Convergence Zone and show their numerical dominance in oceanic gyres, with decreases in Prochlorococcus abundances towards temperate waters where Synechococcus flourishes, and an emergence of picoeukaryotes in temperate waters. Fine-scale in-situ sampling across ocean fronts provided a large dynamic range of measurements for the training dataset, which resulted in the successful detection of fine-scale Synechococcus patches. Satellite implementation of the models showed good performance (R(exp 2) > 0.50) when validated against in-situ data from six Atlantic Meridional Transect cruises. The improved relative performance of the hyperspectral models highlights the importance of future high spectral resolution satellite instruments, such as the NASA PACE mission’s Ocean Color Instrument, to extend our spatiotemporal knowledge about ecologically relevant phytoplankton assemblages.

Priscila Kienteca Lange↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Comparing Tropopause-Penetrating Convection Identifications Derived from NEXRAD and GOES over the Contiguous United States

Overshooting cloud tops (OTs) are a result of powerful updrafts that rapidly transport air from the troposphere to the lower stratosphere. Aside from the well-known relationships between strong updrafts and severe weather, the boundaries of updrafts, including the OT, are turbulent, which leads to irreversible mixing of air between the stratosphere and troposphere, altering the composition of both layers. In order to better understand the impact of OTs, knowing precisely when and where they occur is vital. Within the last decade remote-sensing observations from satellites and radars have been used to identify OTs, but the results thus far have not been entirely consistent due to challenges with accurately identifying OTs with these sensor datasets. This study compares OTs identified using NEXRAD reflectivity data from the GridRad dataset with an approach that uses GOES infrared (IR) data. The GridRad method estimates the altitude of echo tops directly from the radar pointing geometry, merging a combination of radars that enables products every 5 mins, with 2 km spatial and 1 km vertical grid spacing. The GOES satellite method uses spatial patterns in tropopause-relative IR brightness temperature to derive an OT likelihood. The study region covers a large part of the contiguous United States during selected active convection dates in 2017 and includes data from GOES-13/16. A large sample of OTs observed by NEXRAD and GOES-13/16 satellites are analyzed to better understand NEXRAD and IR observations of OTs, quantify agreement between the OT detection methods, and demonstrate how the 4x increase in spatial resolution from GOES-13 to GOES-16 impacts OT algorithm detection performance. The results show that for nearly time-matched scenes, with many severe storms, GOES-13 and -16 detection accuracy is quite comparable; however, some missed detections are attributed to poorer GOES-13 image resolution. It was found that GOES-13 OT regions are ~2 K warmer than GOES-16 on average, but such differences exceed 5 K for the most intense OT regions. It is found that false GOES IR-based detections are unavoidable, given that cold cloud pixels significantly colder than the tropopause from nearby or recently decayed OTs can persist within anvils for 15 minutes or more.

John W. Cooney↗
NASA NTRS1993

Unmixing of Spectral Components Affecting AVIRIS Imagery of Tampa Bay

Models have been developed for use with hyperspectral remote-sensing reflectance data collected just above the air-sea interface for the West Florida Shelf 1,2,3,4,. They respond to variations in pigment, detrital, and gelbstoff absorption, chlorophyll a and gelbstoff flourescence, water Raman Scattering, Backscattering by water and particulate, and bottom depth and albedo.

Imagery↗