Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Distribution systems state estimation”

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 577 records · Page 32

Vision-Based Distributed Sensing at Vertiports for Advanced Air Mobility and Urban Air Mobility Approach and Landing

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) encompasses a broad vision for air transportation, including Urban Air Mobility (UAM) as a subset. AAM aims to create a more connected and efficient transportation network across various geographical settings. However, navigating AAM aircraft in GPS-denied or degraded environments during approach and landing is challenging. Traditional vision aids like glideslopes and localizers are limited in vertiport environments due to narrow beam constraints and reduced landing angle options. This paper addresses the need for accurate navigation solutions at vertiports by proposing a vision-based distributed sensing (VIDIS) system utilizing cameras with bundle adjustment to assist incoming AAM aircraft during approach and landing while monitoring surface movements to enhance safety and efficiency. Key focus areas for current and future vertiport developers include identifying suitable sensor types and infrastructure standards to support AAM operations and including vertiport markings as vision-based navigation aids. The proposed system offers a novel approach to overcoming navigation challenges in AAM operations, particularly in urban settings where traditional aids may be insufficient. Preliminary simulation results with distributed cameras demonstrate promising outcomes for implementing bundle adjustment techniques to enhance vision-based navigation solutions at vertiports. Generating waypoint-based trajectories via waypoint integration using explicit guidance synthesis (WINGS) creates smooth AAM trajectories for landing at vertiports by using the current waypoint's terminal conditions as the initial conditions for the next waypoint. Combining bundle adjustment's ground-based solution of vertiport features with WINGS, Coplanar Pose from Orthography and Scaling with Iterations (COPOSIT), and an extended Kalman filter (EKF) estimates the state of an incoming aircraft during approach and landing at vertiports. Future work includes testing VIDIS in a high-fidelity simulation and with real-world data.

Distributed sensing↗

Modeling and Impact of Hyperloop Technology on the Electricity Grid

This paper provides an overview of hyperloop technologies, including a brief discussion of key components of a hyperloop system that determine the electric power requirements as a function of time. At-scale hyperloop systems do not yet exist, so a model was used to generate a set of load profiles for conceptual hyperloop realizations at four locations in the United States: two systems in California and one each in Colorado and Ohio. In all four cases, the modeled hyperloop load profiles included pulses in both active and reactive power. Grid modeling was performed to estimate the grid impacts and for dis-cussing grid integration challenges. The paper discusses how energy storage systems might be used to eliminate the pulsating load characteristics or significantly reduce it to accommodate current grid planning guidelines

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Advanced Orion Optimized Laser System Analysis

Contractor shall perform a complete analysis of the potential of the solid state laser in the very long pulse mode (100 ns pulse width, 10-30 hz rep-rate) and in the very short pulse mode (100 ps pulse width 10-30 hz rep rate) concentrating on the operation of the device in the 'hot-rod' mode, where no active cooling the laser operation is attempted. Contractor's calculations shall be made of the phase aberrations which develop during the repped-pulse train, and the results shall feed into the adaptive optics analyses. The contractor shall devise solutions to work around ORION track issues. A final report shall be furnished to the MSFC COTR including all calculations and analysis of estimates of bulk phase and intensity aberration distribution in the laser output beam as a function of time during the repped-pulse train for both wave forms (high-energy/long-pulse, as well as low-energy/short-pulse). Recommendations shall be made for mitigating the aberrations by laser re-design and/or changes in operating parameters of optical pump sources and/or designs.

Source record↗

Continuum radiated power density $(P^{\textrm{C}}_{\textrm{rad}})$ and effective charge $(Z_{\textrm{eff}})$ estimates from multi-energy photon-counting measurements

Multi-energy soft x-ray pinhole cameras have been designed, built, calibrated, and operated at Madison symmetric Torus, Alcator C-Mod, and more recently at Tokamak a configuration variable and Tungsten Environment in Steady-State Tokamak (WEST), to measure plasma emission across multiple energy ranges. Here we describe a new methodology to estimate the local continuum radiated power density and the plasma effective charge (Z eff ) directly from photon-counting measurements of the line-free continuum emission (Bremsstrahlung and Radiative Recombination) in several energy bands between 11 and 18 keV. This capability is particularly valuable for confinement systems using metal plasma-facing components, where x-ray losses from interactions with the sputtered wall can represent a significant fraction of the total radiated power (P rad ). The approach leverages a well-characterized detector responsivity, modeled by a complementary error function, and interprets the differential multi-energy measurements between adjacent energy levels through the probability density function of a Gaussian distribution. The implementation of this diagnostic technique is currently under development on the WEST tokamak, aiming at the goal of providing real-time P rad and Z eff measurements during long-pulse operation (up to 1000 s) in the 2026 campaign.

WEST↗

Leveraging Fine-Grained Occupancy Estimation Patterns for Effective HVAC Control

As occupancy sensing technologies become mature, various occupancy sensors are increasingly deployed in commercial buildings for pervasive occupancy monitoring. These sensors provide occupant-count data, which contains rich spatiotemporal information about occupancy patterns. With long-term occupant-count data collected from a commercial building, we design three different predictive models that capture the occupancy dynamics and examine how a model predictive control of the HVAC system benefits from actual occupancy count prediction. Our analysis reveals that mispredictions of occupancy states, especially false positives and false negatives, may introduce inefficient control that leads to energy waste or user discomfort. To address this issue, we take a step further to design an adaptive model predictive controller that minimizes inefficient control actions according to misprediction types and distributions. A comprehensive evaluation is performed in OpenBuild and EnergyPlus simulators to study the effectiveness of the proposed end-to-end control strategy. The evaluation shows that the proposed solution reduces energy consumption by 29.5% while improving the average weighted occupants comfort by 86.7% in Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) over the fixed schedule strategy.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Transformer Health Monitoring Using Dissolved Gas Analysis

As integral components of any power plant, transformers supply the generated electricity to the grid. However, a transformer’s cellulose-based paper insulation and the mineral oil in which it is immersed break down over time under standard operating conditions—or more rapidly due to potential faults within the system. As the transformer’s mineral oil breaks down, gases are released that can be measured and monitored. This technical brief exhibits a collection of diagnostic and prognostic techniques that utilities can adopt in lieu of labor-intensive periodic preventive maintenance routines. Furthermore, prognostic models have been incorporated using the latest version of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard (IEEE, 2019) for dissolved gas analysis (DGA), thus expanding it to include estimation of the time to maintenance. Overall, four different methodologies are explained, each of which aids in determining a transformer’s state of health. These methodologies include the Chendong model, the IEEE thermal life consumption model (IEEE, 2012), a diagnostic model for DGA, and a prognostic model for DGA that uses an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model. An additional improvement for estimating missing system parameters by using monitoring data (i.e., a tool for parameter estimation utilizing Powell’s method) is presented, enabling the IEEE thermal life consumption model to benefit not only the collaborating power plant, but also the power industry at large.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Far-UV spectroscopy of the planet-hosting star WASP-13: High-energy irradiance, distance, age, planetary mass-loss rate, and circumstellar environment

Several transiting hot Jupiters orbit relatively inactive main-sequence stars. For some of those, the logR{sub HK}{sup ′} activity parameter lies below the basal level (−5.1). Two explanations have been proposed so far: (i) the planet affects the stellar dynamo, (ii) the logR{sub HK}{sup ′} measurements are biased by extrinsic absorption, either by the interstellar medium (ISM) or by material local to the system. We present here Hubble Space Telescope/COS far-UV spectra of WASP-13, which hosts an inflated hot Jupiter and has a measured logR{sub HK}{sup ′} value (−5.26), well below the basal level. From the star’s spectral energy distribution we obtain an extinction E(B − V) = 0.045 ± 0.025 mag and a distance d = 232 ± 8 pc. We detect at ≳4σ lines belonging to three different ionization states of carbon (C i, C ii, and C iv) and the Si iv doublet at ∼3σ. Using far-UV spectra of nearby early G-type stars of known age, we derive a C iv/C i flux ratio–age relation, from which we estimate WASP-13's age to be 5.1 ± 2.0 Gyr. We rescale the solar irradiance reference spectrum to match the flux of the C iv 1548 doublet. By integrating the rescaled solar spectrum, we obtain an XUV flux at 1 AU of 5.4 erg s{sup −1} cm{sup −2}. We use a detailed model of the planet’s upper atmosphere, deriving a mass-loss rate of 1.5 × 10{sup 11} g s{sup −1}. Despite the low logR{sub HK}{sup ′} value, the star shows a far-UV spectrum typical of middle-aged solar-type stars, pointing toward the presence of significant extrinsic absorption. The analysis of a high-resolution spectrum of the Ca ii H and K lines indicates that the ISM absorption could be the origin of the low logR{sub HK}{sup ′} value. Nevertheless, the large uncertainty in the Ca ii ISM abundance does not allow us to firmly exclude the presence of circumstellar gas.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

NASA Tech Briefs, March 2007

Topics include: Advanced Systems for Monitoring Underwater Sounds; Wireless Data-Acquisition System for Testing Rocket Engines; Processing Raw HST Data With Up-to-Date Calibration Data; Mobile Collection and Automated Interpretation of EEG Data; System for Secure Integration of Aviation Data; Servomotor and Controller Having Large Dynamic Range; Digital Multicasting of Multiple Audio Streams; Translator for Optimizing Fluid-Handling Components; AIRSAR Web-Based Data Processing; Pattern Matcher for Trees Constructed From Lists; Reducing a Knowledge-Base Search Space When Data Are Missing; Ground-Based Correction of Remote-Sensing Spectral Imagery; State-Chart Autocoder; Pointing History Engine for the Spitzer Space Telescope; Low-Friction, High-Stiffness Joint for Uniaxial Load Cell; Magnet-Based System for Docking of Miniature Spacecraft; Electromechanically Actuated Valve for Controlling Flow Rate; Plumbing Fixture for a Microfluidic Cartridge; Camera Mount for a Head-Up Display; Core-Cutoff Tool; Recirculation of Laser Power in an Atomic Fountain; Simplified Generation of High-Angular-Momentum Light Beams; Imaging Spectrometer on a Chip; Interferometric Quantum-Nondemolition Single-Photon Detectors; Ring-Down Spectroscopy for Characterizing a CW Raman Laser; Complex Type-II Interband Cascade MQW Photodetectors; Single-Point Access to Data Distributed on Many Processors; Estimating Dust and Water Ice Content of the Martian Atmosphere From THEMIS Data; Computing a Stability Spectrum by Use of the HHT; Theoretical Studies of Routes to Synthesis of Tetrahedral N4; Estimation Filter for Alignment of the Spitzer Space Telescope; Antenna for Measuring Electric Fields Within the Inner Heliosphere; Improved High-Voltage Gas Isolator for Ion Thruster; and Hybrid Mobile Communication Networks for Planetary Exploration.

Source record↗

Predicting Real-Time Safety of the National Airspace System

To gain the situational awareness necessary for informed decision making regarding avoidance of airspace hazards, each operator must consolidate operations-relevant information from disparate sources and apply extensive domain knowledge to correctly interpret not just the current state of the NAS but forecast its (combined) evolution over the duration of the operation. This time- and workload-intensive process is periodically repeated throughout the operation so that changes can be managed in a timely manner.The imprecision, inaccuracies, inconsistency, and incompleteness of the incoming data further challenges the process. To facilitate informed decision making, this paper presents a model-based framework for the textitautomated real-time monitoring and prediction of possible effects of airspace hazards on the safety of the National Airspace System (NAS). First, hazards to flight are identified and transformed into sms, that is, quantities of interest that could be evaluated based on available data and are predictive of an unsafe event. The sms and associated thresholds that specify when an event transitions from emphsafe to emphunsafe are combined with models of airspace operations and aircraft dynamics. The framework can include any hazard to flight that can be modeled quantitatively. Models can be detailed and complex, or they can be considerably simplifed, as appropriate to the application. Real-time NAS safety monitoring and prediction begins with an estimate of the state of the NAS using the dynamic models. Given the state estimate and a probability distribution of future inputs to the NAS, we can then predict the evolution of the NAS - the future state - and the occurrence of hazards and unsafe events. The entire probability distribution of airspace sms is computed, not just point estimates, without significant assumptions regarding the distribution type andor parameters. We demonstrate our overall approach through a simulated scenario in which we predict the occurrence of some unsafe events and show how these predictions evolve in time as flight operations progress. Predictions accounting for common sources of uncertainty are included and it is shown how the predictions improve in time, become more confident, and change dynamically as new information is made available to the prediction algorithm.

safety↗

Chapter 2: International Requirements for Large Integration of Renewable Energy Sources

Most European countries have concerns about the integration of large amounts of renewable energy sources (RES) into electric power systems, and this is currently a topic of growing interest. In January 2008, the European Commission published the 2020 package, which proposes committing the European Union to a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, to achieve a target of deriving 20% of the European Union's final energy consumption from renewable sources, and to achieve 20% improvement in energy efficiency both by the year 2020 [1]. Member states have different individual goals to meet these overall objectives, and they each need to provide a detailed roadmap describing how they will meet these legally binding targets [2]. At this time, RES are an indispensable part of the global energy mix, which has been partially motivated by the continuous increases in hydropower as well as the rapid expansion of wind and solar photovoltaic (PV). The International Energy Agency's 2012 edition of the World Energy Outlook stated that the rapid increases in RES integration are underpinned by falling technology costs as well as rising fossilfuel prices and carbon pricing, but RES integration is also encouraged by continued subsidies: from $88 billion globally in 2011 (compared to $523 billion in fossil-fuel subsidies in 2012 [3], with a share of $131 billion for electricity generation) to an estimated $240 billion in 2035 [4]. According to [3], in 2015 RES accounted for 22% of electricity generation, which was approximately the same level as gas and about one-half the level of coal.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Setting cost targets for zero-emission electricity generation technologies

Clean energy deployment scenarios typically assume a diverse mix of low-emission generation. However, because of historically low natural gas prices and cost reductions for onshore wind and photovoltaic technologies, recent new capacity deployment, especially in the United States, has come largely from these three generation sources. Here, we quantify competitive cost targets for three less-common zero-emission generation technologies -- nuclear, concentrating solar, and offshore wind -- under a range of future conditions. We determine the cost targets based on the technologies' system value, such that technology value equals or exceeds its cost. Using a capacity expansion model that develops system-wide, economically optimal generation scenarios of the United States power sector, we find that nuclear, concentrating solar, and offshore wind would need to attain levelized cost ranges of $53-84/MWh, $65-91/MWh, and $39-77/MWh, respectively, to achieve 1% additional grid penetration. We refer to this metric as the 'required cost,' which is a technology's levelized cost of energy needed to achieve a specific penetration level. Higher penetrations lead to lower required costs as lower-cost generation is displaced. We estimate that to reach 10% penetration, the required cost for nuclear declines to $45-76/MWh. Because of resource variability and increased transmission needs for concentrating solar power and offshore wind, even lower costs are needed to reach higher penetrations: required cost ranges to achieve 10% penetration are estimated to be $30-56/MWh and $18-40/MWh for these two technologies respectively. Our analysis informs research and development priorities and the design of policies supporting clean technologies.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Tracking the Sun: Pricing and Design Trends for Distributed Photovoltaic Systems in the United States (2021 Edition) [Slides]

Berkeley Lab’s annual Tracking the Sun report describes trends among grid-connected, distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the United States. The latest edition of the report focuses on systems installed through year-end 2020, and is based on data from roughly 2.2 million systems, covering 79% of all distributed PV systems installed nationally through 2020. The report describes trends related to project characteristics, including system size, module efficiencies, prevalence of paired PV with storage, use of module-level power electronics, third-party ownership, mounting configurations, panel orientation, and non-residential customer segmentation ownership. Median installed-price trends, including both long-term and more recent temporal trends at the national and state levels, with comparisons to other recent PV cost and pricing benchmarks as well as to prices reported for other countries. Variability in pricing across individual projects based on system size, state, installer, module efficiency, inverter technology, and non-residential customer type. The report also includes an econometric analysis to estimate the effects of individual drivers on installed prices for host-owned residential systems installed in 2020.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Equilibrium properties of a one-dimensional kinetic system.

One-dimensional systems of N = 500 and 250 particles in equilibrium are numerically simulated utilizing the method of molecular dynamics. Periodic boundary conditions are imposed. The classical two-body interaction potential is short range, repulsive and has a corresponding finite force. The equations of state are determined for densities both less and greater than one. Corresponding theoretical isochores are determined from models based on nearest-neighbor interactions and on a truncated virial expansion, and a comparison is made with the experimental isochores. Time independent radial distributions are constructed numerically and discussed. A change of state from a solidlike state to a fluid-gas state based on the penetrability of the particles is predicted. The transition temperatures are estimated from the radial distribution functions and the nearest-neighbor model. Self-diffusion is observed and the corresponding constants are determined from the velocity autocorrelation functions.

Williams, J. H.↗

Tropical Cyclone Lightning Distribution and Its Relationship to Convection and Intensity Change

The long distance National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) was used to monitor the distribution of lightning strokes in various 1998 and 1999 western North Atlantic tropical cyclones. These ground-based lightning observations together with the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) and the Tropical Rain Mapping Mission (TRMM) Microwave Instrument (TMI) derived convective rain rates were used to monitor the propagation of electrically charged convective rain bands aid to qualitatively estimate intensification. An example of the lightning analyses was performed on hurricane George between 25-28 September, 1998 when the system left Key West and moved towards the Louisiana coast. During this period of time, George's maximum winds increased from 38 to 45 meters per second on 25 September and then remained steady state until it made landfall. Time-radius displays of the lightning strokes indicated that the greatest number of lightning strokes occurred within the outer core region (greater than 165 km) with little or no lightning strokes at radii less than 165 km. The trend in these lightning strokes decreased as George move into the Gulf of Mexico and showed no inward propagation. The lack inward propagating lightning strokes with time indicated that there was no evidence that an eye wall replacement was occurring that could alter George's intensity. Since George was steady state at this time, this result is not surprising. Time-azimuth displays of lightning strokes in an annulus whose outer and inner radii were respectively, 222 and 333 km from George's center were also constructed. A result from this analysis indicated that the maximum number of strokes occurred in the forward and rear right quadrant when George was over the Gulf of Mexico. This result is, consistent with the aircraft and satellite observations of maximum rainfall.

Rodgers, Edward↗

A Survey of Cost Estimating Methodologies for Distributed Spacecraft Missions

Satellite constellations present unique capabilities and opportunities to Earth orbiting and near-Earth scientific and communications missions, but also present new challenges to cost estimators. An effective and adaptive cost model is essential to successful mission design and implementation, and as Distributed Spacecraft Missions (DSM) become more common, cost estimating tools must become more representative of these types of designs. Existing cost models often focus on a single spacecraft and require extensive design knowledge to produce high fidelity estimates. Previous research has examined the shortcomings of existing cost practices as they pertain to the early stages of mission formulation, for both individual satellites and small satellite constellations. Recommendations have been made for how to improve the cost models for individual satellites one-at-a-time, but much of the complexity in constellation and DSM cost modeling arises from constellation systems level considerations that have not yet been examined. This paper constitutes a survey of the current state-of-the-art in cost estimating techniques with recommendations for improvements to increase the fidelity of future constellation cost estimates. To enable our investigation, we have developed a cost estimating tool for constellation missions. The development of this tool has revealed three high-priority weaknesses within existing parametric cost estimating capabilities as they pertain to DSM architectures: design iteration, integration and test, and mission operations. Within this paper we offer illustrative examples of these discrepancies and make preliminary recommendations for addressing them. DSM and satellite constellation missions are shifting the paradigm of space-based remote sensing, showing promise in the realms of Earth science, planetary observation, and various heliophysical applications. To fully reap the benefits of DSM technology, accurate and relevant cost estimating capabilities must exist; this paper offers insights critical to the future development and implementation of DSM cost estimating tools.

A Survey of Cost Estimating Methodologies for Distributed Spacecraft Missions

Satellite constellations present unique capabilities and opportunities to Earth orbiting and near-Earth scientific and communications missions, but also present new challenges to cost estimators. An effective and adaptive cost model is essential to successful mission design and implementation, and as Distributed Spacecraft Missions (DSM) become more common, cost estimating tools must become more representative of these types of designs. Existing cost models often focus on a single spacecraft and require extensive design knowledge to produce high fidelity estimates. Previous research has examined the limitations of existing cost practices as they pertain to the early stages of mission formulation, for both individual satellites and small satellite constellations. Recommendations have been made for how to improve the cost models for individual satellites one-at-a-time, but much of the complexity in constellation and DSM cost modeling arises from constellation systems level considerations that have not yet been examined. This paper constitutes a survey of the current state-of-theart in cost estimating techniques with recommendations for improvements to increase the fidelity of future constellation cost estimates. To enable our investigation, we have developed a cost estimating tool for constellation missions. The development of this tool has revealed three high-priority shortcomings within existing parametric cost estimating capabilities as they pertain to DSM architectures: design iteration, integration and test, and mission operations. Within this paper we offer illustrative examples of these discrepancies and make preliminary recommendations for addressing them. DSM and satellite constellation missions are shifting the paradigm of space-based remote sensing, showing promise in the realms of Earth science, planetary observation, and various heliophysical applications. To fully reap the benefits of DSM technology, accurate and relevant cost estimating capabilities must exist; this paper offers insights critical to the future development and implementation of DSM cost estimating tools.

Foreman, Veronica L.↗

A machine learning photon detection algorithm for coherent x-ray ultrafast fluctuation analysis

X-ray free electron laser experiments have brought unique capabilities and opened new directions in research, such as creating new states of matter or directly measuring atomic motion. One such area is the ability to use finely spaced sets of coherent x-ray pulses to be compared after scattering from a dynamic system at different times. This enables the study of fluctuations in many-body quantum systems at the level of the ultrafast pulse durations, but this method has been limited to a select number of examples and required complex and advanced analytical tools. By applying a new methodology to this problem, we have made qualitative advances in three separate areas that will likely also find application to new fields. As compared to the “droplet-type” models, which typically are used to estimate the photon distributions on pixelated detectors to obtain the coherent x-ray speckle patterns, our algorithm achieves an order of magnitude speedup on CPU hardware and two orders of magnitude improvement on GPU hardware. We also find that it retains accuracy in low-contrast conditions, which is the typical regime for many experiments in structural dynamics. Finally, it can predict photon distributions in high average-intensity applications, a regime which up until now has not been accessible. Our artificial intelligence-assisted algorithm will enable a wider adoption of x-ray coherence spectroscopies, by both automating previously challenging analyses and enabling new experiments that were not otherwise feasible without the developments described in this work.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Monte Carlo-Based Method for Parallelizing Quasi-Static Time-Series Power System Simulations: Preprint

Both commercial and open source power system simulators run quasi-static time-series (QSTS) simulations sequentially. For yearlong high-resolution load profiles this sequential execution of load flows incurs long computation times. Parallelizing QSTS simulations on multiple processors is one possible way to reduce the computation time. Parallelization however introduces errors in the simulation results as the initial state of the system at the beginning of each parallelized time period is not known. In this work a Monte Carlo-based approach has been proposed to estimate the initial state of the system for each parallel simulation run to mitigate the errors in the final results. Classical sequential QSTS simulation is the chosen base case against which all other methods have been compared. Results presented in this paper show that the proposed method improves the simulation results considerably. This paper also discusses possible sensitivities of the proposed method to a number of tunable parameters. Additionally, sensitivity analysis results for a number of parameters have also been presented in the results section.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗