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At least 595 records · Page 33

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NASA NTRS2022

Delaware Basin Ecological Forecasting: Identifying Vegetation Trends and Atmospheric Stressors in the Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks

The Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks, located in the Delaware Basin in the southwestern United States, observed both a decrease in precipitation and an increase in temperature over the last decade. Furthermore, activity from local oil fields generated nitrogen dioxide (NO2) plumes that spread over the parks and augmented the effects of the drought. NO2 is a precursor for tropospheric ozone (O3) which is known to have adverse effects on vegetation and ecosystems at large. These new climate dynamics prompted the National Park Service (NPS) to collaborate with NASA DEVELOP to assess the impact on vegetation within the parks. We used NASA Earth observations including Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+), Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), and Global Precipitation Measurement Integrated Multi-Satellite Retrievals (GPM IMERG) to assess vegetation health, water stress, and precipitation in the affected parks. After creating a homogeneous reference area in the Sierra Diablo Mountains, the team visualized vegetation health through a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series map from 2010-2021. This did not show strong evidence that the NO2 plume is causing vegetation decline. Following this, we created a water stress map with a Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI) time series map from 2010-2021, which revealed a pattern of increasing water stress. We also confirmed that precipitation in the region decreased over the span of 2010-2021. These observations and findings will allow the NPS Intermountain Region to more effectively plan for the preservation and maintenance of vegetation health within the parks.

Jack Mezger↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Coherent Vorticity Meteorological Infrasound Sensing Flight Research

Under collaborative flight research project with NASA and, separately, Air Canada, the NRC has investigated meteorological infrasound sensing, using NASA-developed Infrasound sensing microphones. The project involved the installation of 1.5-inch NASA microphone in the nosebay of the NRC DHC-6 research aeroplane. The microphone was plumbed to a pitot-static tube line, connected to a research pitot-static tube on the starboard side of the aircraft nose. Microphone signals on the DHC-6 installation were validated during orbiting flight through its own wake vortices, and flight in the vicinity of wake vortices from Medium Category jets landing at Ottawa Airport. Thereafter, flights were undertaken, to measure the infrasound sensing of meteorological features. Possible acoustic ducting of infrasound energy was measured in stratified lower atmospheric conditions. Infrasound sensing was also accomplished, in the vicinity of meteorological flow-fields of relatively concentrated vorticity, notably line features of vorticity. An increase in sensed infrasound energy was recorded as distance to the line features reduced. Convective uplift infrasound signature sensing was also conducted, and indicated a similar result.

A P Brown↗

NASA NTRS2016

Assessment of Delivery Accuracy in an Operational-Like Environment

In order to enable arrival management concepts and solutions in a Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) environment, ground-based sequencing and scheduling functions were developed to support metering operations in the National Airspace System. These sequencing and scheduling tools are designed to assist air traffic controllers in developing an overall arrival strategy, from enroute down to the terminal area boundary. NASA developed a ground system concept and protoype capability called Terminal Sequencing and Spacing (TSAS) to extend metering operations into the terminal area to the runway. To demonstrate the use of these scheduling and spacing tools in an operational-like environment, the FAA, NASA, and MITRE conducted an Operational Integration Assessment (OIA) of a prototype TSAS system at the FAA's William J. Hughes Technical Center (WJHTC). This paper presents an analysis of the arrival management strategies utilized and delivery accuracy achieved during the OIA. The analysis demonstrates how en route preconditioning, in various forms, and schedule disruptions impact delivery accuracy. As the simulation spanned both enroute and terminal airspace, the use of Ground Interval Management - Spacing (GIM-S) enroute speed advisories was investigated. Delivery accuracy was measured as the difference between the Scheduled Time of Arrival (STA) and the Actual Time of Arrival (ATA). The delivery accuracy was computed across all runs conducted during the OIA, which included deviations from nominal operations which are known to commonly occur in real operations, such as schedule changes and missed approaches. Overall, 83% of all flights were delivered into the terminal airspace within +/- 30 seconds of their STA and 94% of flights were delivered within +/- 60 seconds. The meter fix delivery accuracy standard deviation was found to be between 36 and 55 seconds across all arrival procedures. The data also showed when schedule disruptions were excluded, the percentage of aircraft delivered within +/- 30 seconds was between 85 and 90% across the various arrival procedures at the meter fix. This paper illustrates the ability to meet new delivery accuracy requirements in an operational-like environment using operational systems and NATCA controller participants, while also including common events that might cause disruptions to the schedule and overall system.

Air Traffic Scheduling↗

NASA NTRS2004

NASA Balloon Technology Developments

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Balloon Program has been, and will continue to be, committed to improving the capabilities of balloons to support science missions. Fundamental to vehicle improvement is a program of technology development that will enable improved flight performance throughout the next decade. The program s technology thrust areas include: materials, vehicle design & development, structural analysis, operations & support systems, performance modeling and planetary balloons. Building on the foundations of the 18-year research and development program, a technology roadmap has been generated which identifies specific areas of interest to NASA and the vision of future developments. The major components of the roadmap are: vehicle systems, balloon-craft systems, operational and safety support systems, and planetary vehicles. Current technology activities include nanocomposite balloon films, a new balloon designed to lift 3600 kgs to 36 km, a balloon rotation rate study and Mars pumpkin balloon investigations. The technology roadmap, as well as specific projects and recent advancements, will be presented.

Fairbrother, D. A.↗

NASA NTRS2007

NASA'S Simulant Development Program Evolution and Overview

Since its origination under NASA's previous Human System Research and Technology program, the Lunar Simulant Development Program has undergone several changes. NASA recognized as early as the Apollo Program, and even more so as a result of the Apollo missions, that a viable dust and lunar simulant program is critical to the success of its space exploration goals. Unfortunately, this program has suffered the same problems that all programs share from time to time including uncertain budgets, shifting of priorities, and schedule fluctuations. To compound the problem, the process for developing simulants is being redefined and is not a trivial pursuit. Before now, NASA had not attempted to develop a suitable standard simulant since the 1990s when JSC-1 was produced. Although several other simulants have been developed by various groups both before and after the production of JSC-1, JSC-1 had become the de facto standard even though it has some limitations. The development and production of new simulants will address some of these limitations by starting with an assessment of NASA's needs and understanding the required processing in order to make these simulants.

McLemore, Carole↗

NASA NTRS2003

Human Factors Engineering Requirements for the International Space Station - Successes and Challenges

Advanced technology coupled with the desire to explore space has resulted in increasingly longer human space missions. Indeed, any exploration mission outside of Earth's neighborhood, in other words, beyond the moon, will necessarily be several months or even years. The International Space Station (ISS) serves as an important advancement toward executing a successful human space mission that is longer than a standard trip around the world or to the moon. The ISS, which is a permanently occupied microgravity research facility orbiting the earth, will support missions four to six months in duration. In planning for the ISS, the NASA developed an agency-wide set of human factors standards for the first time in a space exploration program. The Man-Systems Integration Standard (MSIS), NASA-STD-3000, a multi-volume set of guidelines for human-centered design in microgravity, was developed with the cooperation of human factors experts from various NASA centers, industry, academia, and other government agencies. The ISS program formed a human factors team analogous to any major engineering subsystem. This team develops and maintains the human factors requirements regarding end-to-end architecture design and performance, hardware and software design requirements, and test and verification requirements. It is also responsible for providing program integration across all of the larger scale elements, smaller scale hardware, and international partners.

Whitmore, M.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Description and availability of airborne Doppler radar data

An airborne, forward-looking, pulse, Doppler radar has been developed in conjunction with the joint FAA/NASA Wind Shear Program. This radar represents a first in an emerging technology. The radar was developed to assess the applicability of an airborne radar to detect low altitude hazardous wind shears for civil aviation applications. Such a radar must be capable of looking down into the ground clutter environment and extracting wind estimates from relatively low reflectivity weather targets. These weather targets often have reflectivities several orders of magnitude lower than the surrounding ground clutter. The NASA radar design incorporates numerous technological and engineering achievements in order to accomplish this task. The basic R/T unit evolved from a standard Collins 708 weather radar, which supports specific pulse widths of 1-7 microns and Pulse Repetition Frequencies (PRF) of less than 1-10 kHz. It was modified to allow for the output of the first IF signal, which fed a NASA developed receiver/detector subsystem. The NASA receiver incorporated a distributed, high-speed digital attenuator, producing a range bin to range bin automatic gain control system with 65 dB of dynamic range. Using group speed information supplied by the aircraft's navigation system, the radar signal is frequency demodulated back to base band (zero Doppler relative to stationary ground). The In-phase & Quadrature-phase (I/Q) components of the measured voltage signal are then digitized by a 12-bit A-D converter (producing an additional 36 dB of dynamic range). The raw I/Q signal for each range bin is then recorded (along with the current radar & aircraft state parameters) by a high-speed Kodak tape recorder.

Harrah, S. D.↗

NASA NTRS2020

Amazonia Disasters: Assessing Methods for Gold Mining-related Deforestation Detection in Amazonia Using NASA Earth Observations

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is responsible for a large fraction of deforestation and disturbance in Amazonia. These activities cause severe impacts on the rainforest ecosystem and socioeconomic state of the region. NASA DEVELOP partnered with the Asociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazónica (ACCA), NASA SERVIR Science Coordination Office, and the Spatial Informatics Group to enhance ASGM-related deforestation detection methods. ACCA currently uses the Omnibus Q-test Change Point Detection Algorithm to identify changes in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) monthly-aggregated temporal data from the Sentinel-1 satellite. The team determined the algorithm's accuracy by comparing a stratified random sample of change points against data from January 2019 to June 2020 identified using PlanetScope and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) Earth observations through Collect Earth Online. Our results indicated a users' accuracy of 55% for temporal change detection and producer's and user's accuracies of 99% and 97%, respectively, for detecting when change did not occur. Of the labeled change points, only 19% were due to mining activity. This research can help our partners have a more accurate understanding of where illegal gold mining may be taking place and inform decisions to remediate this activity.

DEVELOP Project Summary↗

NASA NTRS2020

Amazonia Disasters: Assessing Methods for Gold Mining-Related Deforestation Detection in Amazonia Using NASA Earth Observations

DEVELOP Tech Paper↗

NASA NTRS2010

Performance and Stability Analyses of Rocket Combustion Devices Using Liquid Oxygen/Liquid Methane Propellants

Liquid rocket engines using oxygen and methane propellants are being considered by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for in-space vehicles. This propellant combination has not been previously used in flight-qualified engine systems, so limited test data and analysis results are available at this stage of early development. NASA has funded several hardware-oriented programs with oxygen and methane propellants over the past several years with the Propulsion and Cryogenic Advanced Development (PCAD) project, under the Exploration Technology Development Program. As part of this effort, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center has conducted combustion, performance, and combustion stability analyses of several of the configurations on these programs. This paper summarizes these analyses. Test and analysis results of impinging and coaxial element injectors using liquid oxygen and liquid methane propellants are included. Several cases with gaseous methane are included for reference. Several different thrust chamber configurations have been modeled, including thrust chambers with multi-element like-on-like and swirl coax element injectors tested at NASA MSFC, and a unielement chamber with shear and swirl coax injectors tested at The Pennsylvania State University. Configurations were modeled with two one-dimensional liquid rocket combustion analysis codes, the Rocket Combustor Interaction Design and Analysis (ROCCID), and the Coaxial Injector Combustion Model (CICM). Significant effort was applied to show how these codes can be used to model combustion and performance with oxygen/methane propellants a priori, and what anchoring or calibrating features need to be applied or developed in the future. This paper describes the test hardware configurations, presents the results of all the analyses, and compares the results from the two analytical methods.

Hulka, James R.↗

DOE OSTI2023

Multi–year analysis of rain–snow levels at Marquette, Michigan

This study uses observations from a ground-based instrument suite to investigate the rain-snow level in stratiform rainfall from January 2014 to April 2020 in the Upper Great Lakes Region. The height above the surface where ice melts to rain, the rain-snow level (RSL), influences microphysical assumptions in remote sensing precipitation retrievals and the ability of space-based radar to discriminate surface precipitation phase because of ground clutter. The instrument suite is installed at the Marquette, MI (MQT) National Weather Service station adjacent to Lake Superior. Rain events and the RSL are studied through a ground-based vertically profiling radar (Micro Rain Radar), a custom NASA-developed video disdrometer (Precipitation Imaging Package), and reanalyses products from ECMWF ERA5 and NASA MERRA-2. Further, distinct macro and micro physical characteristics are observed in precipitation events with shallow RSL ( < 1.8 km above ground level [AGL]) and intermediate RSL ( > 1.8 km AGL). Intermediate RSL correspond to rain events with relatively higher rain rates and a higher concentration of small drops in the drop size distributions (DSDs). Shallow RSL DSDs contain relatively higher concentrations of large drops with lower fall speeds suggesting that partially melted snowflakes may be reaching the surface. Reflectivity-rain-rate relationships are also impacted by microphysical differences associated with RSL regimes. Radar-detected RSL agree with reanalysis-derived melt levels- especially at wet-bulb isotherms of 0.5°C and 1°C. Seasonal differences such as shallow rain-snow levels in winter, fall, and spring have subsequent implications for satellite detectability.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS1984

Design of an Advanced Wood Composite Rotor and Development of Wood Composite Blade Technology

In support of a program to advance wood composite wind turbine blade technology, a design was completed for a prototype, 90-foot diameter, two-bladed, one-piece rotor, with all wood/epoxy composite structure. The rotor was sized for compatibility with a generator having a maximum power rating of 4000 kilowatts. Innovative features of the rotor include: a teetering hub to minimize the effects of gust loads, untwisted blades to promote rotor power control through stall, joining of blades to the hub structure via an adhesive bonded structural joint, and a blade structural design which was simplified relative to earlier efforts. The prototype rotor was designed to allow flexibility for configuring the rotor upwind or downwind of the tower, for evaluating various types of teeter dampers and/or elastomeric stops, and with variable delta-three angle settings of the teeter shaft axis. The prototype rotor was also designed with provisions for installing pressure tap and angle of attack instrumentation in one blade. A production version rotor cost analysis was conducted. Included in the program were efforts directed at developing advanced load take-off stud designs for subsequent evaluation testing by NASA, development of aerodynamic tip brake concepts, exploratory testing of a wood/epoxy/graphite concept, and compression testing of wood/epoxy laminate, with scarf-jointed plies.

Stroebel, Thomas↗

NASA NTRS1987

The use of computer graphic simulation in the development of on-orbit tele-robotic systems

This paper describes the use of computer graphic simulation techniques to resolve critical design and operational issues for robotic systems used for on-orbit operations. These issues are robot motion control, robot path-planning/verification, and robot dynamics. The major design issues in developing effective telerobotic systems are discussed, and the use of ROBOSIM, a NASA-developed computer graphic simulation tool, to address these issues is presented. Simulation plans for the Space Station and the Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle are presented and discussed.

Fernandez, Ken↗

NASA NTRS1992

Orthopaedic Footwear Design

Although the need for orthopaedic shoes is increasing, the number of skilled shoemakers has declined. This has led to the development of a CAD/CAM system to design and fabricate, orthopaedic footwear. The NASA-developed RIM database management system is the central repository for CUSTOMLAST's information storage. Several other modules also comprise the system. The project was initiated by Langley Research Center and Research Triangle Institute in cooperation with the Veterans Administration and the National Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research. Later development was done by North Carolina State University and the University of Missouri-Columbia. The software is licensed by both universities.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2023

Seasonal Forecasting Skill for the High Mountain Asia Region in the Goddard Earth Observing System

Seasonal variability of the global hydrologic cycle directly impacts human activities, including hazard assessment and mitigation, agricultural decisions, and water resources management. This is particularly true across the High Mountain Asia (HMA) region, where availability of water resources can change depending on local seasonality of the hydrologic cycle. Forecasting the atmospheric states and surface conditions, including hydrometeorological relevant variables, at subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) lead times of weeks-to-months is an area of active research and development. NASA’s 15 Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) S2S prediction system has been developed with this research goal in mind. Here, we benchmark the forecast skill of GEOS-S2S (version 2) hydrometeorological forecasts at 1-3 month lead times in the HMA region, including a portion of the Indian Subcontinent, during the retrospective forecast period, 1981-2016. To assess forecast skill, we evaluate 2-m air temperature, total precipitation, fractional snow cover, snow water equivalent, surface soil moisture, and terrestrial water storage forecasts against the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and 20 Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2) and independent reanalysis data, satellite observations, and data fusion products. Anomaly correlation is highest when the forecasts are evaluated against MERRA-2 and particularly in variables with long memory in the climate system, likely due to similar initial conditions and model architecture used in GEOS-S2S and MERRA-2. When compared to MERRA-2, results for the 1-month forecast skill range from anomaly correlation of R anom =0.18 for precipitation to R anom =0.62 for soil moisture. Anomaly correlations are consistently lower when forecasts are 25 evaluated against independent observations; results for the 1-month forecast skill range from R anom =0.13 for snow water equivalent to R anom =0.24 for fractional snow cover. We find that, generally, hydrometeorological forecast skill is dependent on the forecast lead time, the memory of the variable within the physical system, and the validation dataset used. Overall, these results benchmark the GEOS-S2S system’s ability to forecast HMA hydrometeorology.

GEOS↗

NASA NTRS2010

A National Partnership-Based Summer Learning Initiative to Engage Underrepresented Students with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

In response to the White House Educate to Innovate campaign, NASA developed a new science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education program for non-traditional audiences that also focused on public-private partnerships and nationwide participation. NASA recognized that summer break is an often overlooked but opportune time to engage youth in STEM experiences, and elevated its ongoing commitment to the cultivation of diversity. The Summer of Innovation (SoI) is the resulting initiative that uses NASA's unique missions and resources to boost summer learning, particularly for students who are underrepresented, underserved and underperforming in STEM. The SoI pilot, launched in June 2010, is a multi-faceted effort designed to improve STEM teaching and learning through partnership, multi-week summer learning programs, special events, a national concluding event, and teacher development. The SoI pilot features strategic infusion of NASA content and educational resource materials, sustainability through STEM Learning Communities, and assessments of effectiveness of SoI interventions with other pilot efforts. This paper examines the inception and development of the Summer of Innovation pilot project, including achievements and effectiveness, as well as lessons learned for future efforts.

Melvin, Leland↗

NASA NTRS1996

NASA DC-8 Airborne Scanning Lidar Sensor Development

The NASA DC-8 aircraft is used to support a variety of in-situ and remote sensors for conducting environmental measurements over global regions. As part of the atmospheric effects of aviation program (AEAP) the DC-8 is scheduled to conduct atmospheric aerosol and gas chemistry and radiation measurements of subsonic aircraft contrails and cirrus clouds. A scanning lidar system is being developed for installation on the DC-8 to support and extend the domain of the AEAP measurements. Design and objectives of the DC-8 scanning lidar are presented.

Nielsen, Norman B.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Status of NASA Mirror Technology Development for Large Space Telescopes

This paper presents the current status of several NASA technology development activities, including: Sub-scale Beryllium Mirror Demonstrator (SBMD), NGST (Next Generation Space Telescope) Mirror System Demonstrator (NMSD), Advanced Mirror System Demonstrator (AMSD), etc.. It also describes how these activities map into future NASA mission requirements, including: Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST), Single Aperture Far Infrared Observatory (SAFIR), Space Ultraviolet/Optical Observatory (SUVO), etc..

Stahl, H. Philip↗