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NASA NTRS1992

Microwave spectroscopy of the active sun

In studies of solar active regions and bursts, the ability to obtain spatially resolved radio spectra (brightness temperature spectra) opens a whole new range of possibilities for study of the solar corona. For active regions, two-dimensional maps of brightness temperature over a wide range of frequencies allows one to determine temperature, column density, and magnetic field strength over the entire region in a straightforward, unambiguous way. For flares, the time-dependent electron energy distribution, number of accelerated electrons, and magnetic field strength and direction can be found. In practice, obtaining complete radio images at a large number of frequencies is a significant technical challenge, especially while keeping costs down. Our instrument at Owens Valley Radio Observatory provided the starting point for a modest attempt at meeting this goal. We proposed to build three additional, very low-cost 2-m antennas which, when combined with our existing two 27-m dishes, expands the array to 5 elements. This modest increase in number of solar dedicated antennas, from 2 to 5, increases our maximum number of physical baselines from 1 to 10 and allows the instrument to do true imaging of solar microwave sources, both bursts and active regions. Combined with the technique of frequency synthesis, the new array has up to 450 effective baselines, giving imaging capability that approaches that of a sub-arrayed VLA. The prototype antenna design was finalized and the antenna was put into operation in Nov. 1989.

Hurford, Gordon↗

NASA NTRS1985

Simulation studies of the impact of future observing systems on weather prediction

The features and preliminary results from a simulation system being implemented to develop realistic estimates of the impacts future data acquisition systems will have on large-scale numerical weather simulation are described. The new instruments may include advanced passive IR and microwave satellite sensors, as well as active scatterometer and lidar sounders. A main goal of the impact study is to identify those sensor systems which will provide the most benefit. The realism of the study is being enhanced by assimilating as much real-world data as possible and generating global weather maps for comparison with maps generated on the bases on the projected new, higher resolution data. Early results have indicated a preference for higher resolution wind data than for temperature data for making 1-5 day forecasts. The prime instrument candidate for collecting the data is lidar, provided the sensor resolution design goals are met.

Atlas, R.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Simplified Microwave Radiometer

Cost, weight, and size less than half of conventional radiometers. Ground-based instrument measures temperatures in upper atmosphere while correcting for liquid water in clouds. Addition of channel at 51 GHz to channels used for making upper-atmosphere temperature profiles adds little to cost of microwave radiometer. Eliminates need for separate water-vapor radiometer subsystem, with its attendant size, weight, and cost. Instrument light, compact, and portable and inexpensive enough for use in sensor arrays. Availability encourages use of microwave radiometry for routine weather forecasting.

Gary, Bruce L.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Analysis of Airborne Radar Altimetry Measurements of the Greenland Ice Sheet

This dissertation presents an analysis of airborne altimetry measurements taken over the Greenland ice sheet with the 13.9 GHz Advanced Application Flight Experiment (AAFE) pulse compression radar altimeter. This Ku-band instrument was refurbished in 1990 by the Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts to obtain high-resolution altitude measurements and to improve the tracking, speed, storage and display capabilities of the radar. In 1991 and 1993, the AAFE altimeter took part in the NASA Multisensor Airborne Altimetry Experiments over Greenland, along with two NASA laser altimeters. Altitude results from both experiments are presented along with comparisons to the laser altimeter and calibration passes over the Sondrestroem runway in Greenland. Although it is too early to make a conclusion about the growth or decay of the ice sheet, these results show that the instrument is capable of measuring small-scale surface changes to within 14 centimeters. In addition, results from these experiments reveal that the radar is sensitive to the different diagenetic regions of the ice sheet. Return waveforms from the wet- snow, percolation and dry-snow zones show varying effects of both surface scattering and sub-surface or volume scattering. Models of each of the diagenetic regions of Greenland are presented along with parameters such as rms surface roughness, rms surface slope and attenuation coefficient of the snow pack obtained by fitting the models to actual return waveforms.

Ferraro, Ellen J.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Science Results From The ARCADE Open-Aperture Cryogenic Balloon Payload

The Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Diffuse Emission (ARCADE) is a balloon-borne instrument to measure the frequency spectrum of the cosmic microwave background and diffuse Galactic foregrounds at centimeter wavelengths. ARCADE greatly reduces measurement uncertainties compared to previous balloon-borne or ground-based instrument using a double-nulled design that features fully cryogenic optics with no windows between the atmosphere and the 2.7 K instrument. A four-hour flight in 2006 achieved sensitivity comparable to the COBE/FIRAS satellite measurement while providing new insights for emission ranging from spinning dust in the interstellar medium to an unexpectedly bright extragalactic radio background. I will discuss scientific results from the ARCADE program and implications of the ARCADE cold optics for millimeter and sub-mm astronomy.

Kogut, Alan J.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Description and overview of an instrument designed to measure line-of-sight delay due to water vapor

Eight dual channel microwave radiometers were constructed as a research and development effort for the Crustal Dynamics Project and the Deep Space Network. These instruments, known as water vapor radiometers, are primarily intended to demonstrate that the variable path delay imposed by atmospheric water vapor can be calibrated in microwave tracking and distance measuring systems but could also be used in other applications involving moist air meteorology and propagation studies. They are being deployed to various stations and observatories that participate in Very Long Baseline Interferometry experiments. The development history of these instruments are reviewed, the theory of operation and overall design considerations are outlined, and the instrumental parameters and performance characteristics are described.

Resch, G. M.↗

NASA NTRS1981

The Norwegian remote sensing experiment (Norsex) in a marginal ice zone

Passive and active microwave measurements from surface based, airborne, and satellite instruments were obtained together with surface observations northwest of Svalbard. Emissivities of different ice patches in the ice edge region over the spectral range from 4.9 to 94 GHz are presented. The combination of a 6.6 GHz microwave radiometer with a 14.6 GHz scatterometer demonstrates the usefulness of an active/passive system in ice classification. A variety of mesoscale features under different meteorological conditions is revealed by a 1.36 GHz synthetic aperture radar. Ice edge location by Nimbus 7 scanning multifrequency microwave radiometer is shown accurate to 10 km when the 37 GHz horizontal polarized channel is used.

Farrelly, B.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Rotational spectroscopy at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Environmental monitoring, atmospheric remote sensing and astrophysical studies promoted by NASA require a strong basis of spectroscopic information. The rotational spectroscopy capabilities at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are currently maintained for the measurement of key mission priorities that enable modeling and retrieval of geophysical data from the atmosphere as well as validation of the space-borne instruments in the Earth Observing System, particularly the Microwave Limb Sounder. Rotational spectra are measured using a variety of spectroscopic techniques including pulsed-beam Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy (at CalTech); millimeter wavelength Stark spectroscopy; millimeter, submillimeter and THz FM spectroscopy; laser sideband spectroscopy and Fourier Transform far-infrared spectroscopy. Remote measurements of atmospheric rotational spectra are made using two limb-sounder instruments in the submillimeter and THz. Recent advances in the direct synthesis of THz radiation that enable more efficient laboratory science will be presented. Software for comprehensive and systematic study of different molecular systems is maintained at JPL, the software is freely available via http://spec.jpl.nasa.gov and is used by our group to create and sustain the JPL spectral line catalog also available online.

molecular spectroscopy↗

NASA NTRS1986

Flying complex approach paths using the microwave landing system

A piloted simulation study was conducted to examine the requirements for using electromechanical flight instrumentation to provide guidance for manually controlled flight along complex, curved approach paths within the microwave landing system signal coverage. The data from these tests indicated that flight director guidance is required for the manually controlled flight of a jet transport airplane on complex, curved approach paths. Each of the three guidance algorithms tested could be used to fly the paths. However, pilot comments indicated that the use of guidance based on capturing the next straight path segment may not be acceptable since full-scale lateral deflections normally resulted during turns. Pilot comments indicated that all the approach paths tested could be used in normal airline operations. Approach paths with both multiple, sequential turns and short final path segments were demonstrated.

Knox, Charles E.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Oceanography from satellites

It is pointed out that oceanographers have benefited from the space program mainly through the increased efficiency it has brought to ship operations. For example, the Transit navigation system has enabled oceanographers to compile detailed maps of sea-floor properties and to more accurately locate moored subsurface instrumentation. General descriptions are given of instruments used in satellite observations (altimeter, color scanner, infrared radiometer, microwave radiometer, scatterometer, synthetic aperture radar). It is pointed out that because of the large volume of data that satellite instruments generate, the development of algorithms for converting the data into a form expressed in geophysical units has become especially important.

Wilson, W. S.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Evaluation of the Ozone Fields in NASA's MERRA-2 Reanalysis

The assimilated ozone product from the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2), produced at NASAs Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) is summarized. The reanalysis begins in 1980 with the use of retrieved partial-column ozone concentrations from a series of Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Radiometer (SBUV) instruments on NASA and NOAA spacecraft. Beginning in October 2004, retrieved ozone profiles from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) and total column ozone from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASAs EOS Aura satellite are assimilated. While this change in data streams does lead to a discontinuity in the assimilated ozone fields in MERRA-2, making it not useful for studies in decadal (secular) trends in ozone, this choice was made to prioritize demonstrating the value NASAs high-quality research data in the reanalysis context. The MERRA-2 ozone is compared with independent satellite and ozonesonde data, focusing on the representation of the spatial and temporal variability of stratospheric and upper-tropospheric ozone. The comparisons show agreement within 10 (standard deviation of the difference) between MERRA-2 profiles and independent satellite data in most of the stratosphere. The agreement improves after 2004, when EOS Aura data are assimilated. The standard deviation of the differences between the lower-stratospheric and upper-tropospheric MERRA-2 ozone and ozonesondes is 11.2 and 24.5, respectively, with correlations of 0.8 and above. This is indicative of a realistic representation of the UTLS ozone variability in MERRA-2. After 2004, the upper tropospheric ozone in MERRA-2 shows a low bias compared to the sondes, but the covariance with independent observations is improved compared to earlier years. Case studies demonstrate the integrity of MERRA-2 analyses in representing important features such as tropopause folds.

Ozone↗

NASA NTRS2026

Diamond-Loaded Polyimide Aerogel Scattering Filters and Their Applications in Astrophysical and Planetary Science Observations

Infrared-blocking, aerogel-based scattering filters have a broad range of potential applications in astrophysics and planetary science instruments in the far-infrared, sub-millimeter, and microwave regimes. This paper demonstrates the ability of conductively-loaded, polyimide aerogel filters to meet the mechanical and science instrument requirements for several experiments, including the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS), the Experiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping (EXCLAIM), and the Sub-millimeter Solar Observation Lunar Volatiles Experiment (SSOLVE). Thermal multi-physics simulations of the filters predict their performance when integrated into a cryogenic receiver. Prototype filters have survived cryogenic cycling to 4 K with no degradation in mechanical properties. Measurement of total hemispherical reflectance and transmittance, as well as cryogenic tests of the aerogel filters in a full receiver context, allow estimates of the integrated infrared emissivity of the filters. Knowledge of the emissivity will help instrument designers incorporate the filters into future experiments in planetary science, astrophysics, and cosmology.

Kyle R Helson↗

NASA NTRS1999

A Comparison between Lightning Activity and Passive Microwave Measurements

A recent examination of data from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) and the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) suggests that storm with the highest frequency of lightning also possess the most pronounced microwave scattering signatures at 37 and 85 GHz. This study demonstrates a clear dependence between lightning and the passive microwave measurements, and accentuates how direct the relationship really is between cloud ice and lightning activity. In addition, the relationship between the quantity of ice content and the frequency of lightning (not just the presence of lightning) , is consistent throughout the seasons in a variety of regimes. Scatter plots will be presented which show the storm-averaged brightness temperatures as a function of the lightning density of the storms (L/Area) . In the 85 GHz and 37 GHz scatter plots, the brightness temperature is presented in the form Tb = k1 x log10(L/Area) + k2, where the slope of the regression, k1, is 58 for the 85 GHz relationship and 30.7 for the 37 GHz relationship. The regression for both these fits showed a correlation of 0.76 (r2 = 0.58), which is quite promising considering the simple procedure used to make the comparisons, which have not yet even been corrected for the view angle differences between the instruments, or the polarization corrections in the microwave imager.

Kevin, Driscoll T.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Land and Atmosphere Near-Real-Time Capability for Earth Observing System

The past decade has seen a rapid increase in availability and usage of near-real-time data from satellite sensors. The EOSDIS (Earth Observing System Data and Information System) was not originally designed to provide data with sufficiently low latency to satisfy the requirements for near-real-time users. The EOS (Earth Observing System) instruments aboard the Terra, Aqua and Aura satellites make global measurements daily, which are processed into higher-level 'standard' products within 8-40 hours of observation and then made available to users, primarily earth science researchers. However, applications users, operational agencies, and even researchers desire EOS products in near-real-time to support research and applications, including numerical weather and climate prediction and forecasting, monitoring of natural hazards, ecological/invasive species, agriculture, air quality, disaster relief and homeland security. These users often need data much sooner than routine science processing allows, usually within 3 hours, and are willing to trade science product quality for timely access. While Direct Broadcast provides more timely access to data, it does not provide global coverage. In 2002, a joint initiative between NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), and the DOD (Department of Defense) was undertaken to provide data from EOS instruments in near-real-time. The NRTPE (Near Real Time Processing Effort) provided products within 3 hours of observation on a best-effort basis. As the popularity of these near-real-time products and applications grew, multiple near-real-time systems began to spring up such as the Rapid Response System. In recognizing the dependence of customers on this data and the need for highly reliable and timely data access, NASA's Earth Science Division sponsored the Earth Science Data and Information System Project (ESDIS)-led development of a new near-real-time system called LANCE (Land, Atmosphere Near-Real-Time Capability for EOS) in 2009. LANCE consists of special processing elements, co-located with selected EOSDIS data centers and processing facilities. A primary goal of LANCE is to bring multiple near-real-time systems under one umbrella, offering commonality in data access, quality control, and latency. LANCE now processes and distributes data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer Earth Observing System (AMSR-E), Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) and Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) instruments within 3 hours of satellite observation. The Rapid Response System and the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) capabilities will be incorporated into LANCE in 2011. LANCE maintains a central website to facilitate easy access to data and user services. LANCE products are extensively tested and compared with science products before being made available to users. Each element also plans to implement redundant network, power and server infrastructure to ensure high availability of data and services. Through the user registration system, users are informed of any data outages and when new products or services will be available for access. Building on a significant investment by NASA in developing science algorithms and products, LANCE creates products that have a demonstrated utility for applications requiring near-real-time data. From lower level data products such as calibrated geolocated radiances to higher-level products such as sea ice extent, snow cover, and cloud cover, users have integrated LANCE data into forecast models and decision support systems. The table above shows the current near-real-time product categories by instrument. The ESDIS Project continues to improve the LANCE system and use the experience gained through practice to seek adjustments to improve the quality and performance of the system. For example, anGC-compliant Web Map Service (WMS) will be added shortly that will allow users to download geo-referenced MODIS images for arbitrary bounding boxes. Further, an OGC-compliant Web Coverage Service (WCS) will be added later this year that will expedite user access to arbitrary data subsets or re-formatted products. AIRS images are now served through WMS and available in multiple formats (PNG, GeoTIFF, KMZ). NASA has established a LANCE User Working Group to steer the development of the system and create a forum for sharing ideas and experiences that are expected to further improve the LANCE capabilities. The LANCE system has proved a success by satisfying the growing needs of the applications and operational communities for land and atmosphere data in near-real-time. NASA's Earth Sciences Division was able to leverage existing science research capabilities to provide the near-real-time community with products and imagery that support monitoring of disasters in a timely manner.

Murphy, Kevin J.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Bayesian Analysis of the Cosmic Microwave Background

There is a wealth of cosmological information encoded in the spatial power spectrum of temperature anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background! Experiments designed to map the microwave sky are returning a flood of data (time streams of instrument response as a beam is swept over the sky) at several different frequencies (from 30 to 900 GHz), all with different resolutions and noise properties. The resulting analysis challenge is to estimate, and quantify our uncertainty in, the spatial power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background given the complexities of "missing data", foreground emission, and complicated instrumental noise. Bayesian formulation of this problem allows consistent treatment of many complexities including complicated instrumental noise and foregrounds, and can be numerically implemented with Gibbs sampling. Gibbs sampling has now been validated as an efficient, statistically exact, and practically useful method for low-resolution (as demonstrated on WMAP 1 and 3 year temperature and polarization data). Continuing development for Planck - the goal is to exploit the unique capabilities of Gibbs sampling to directly propagate uncertainties in both foreground and instrument models to total uncertainty in cosmological parameters.

methods - statistical↗

NASA NTRS1993

Cross-correlation between the 170 GHz survey map and the COBE differential microwave radiometer first-year maps

This letter describes results of a cross-correlation between the 170 GHz partial-sky survey, made with a 3.8 deg beam balloon-borne instrument, and the COBE DMR 'Fit Technique' reduced galaxy all-sky map with a beam of 7 deg. The strong correlation between the data sets implies that the observed structure is consistent with thermal variations in a 2.7 K emitter. A chi-square analysis applied to the correlation function rules out the assumption that there is no structure in either of the two maps. A second test shows that if the DMR map has structure but the 170 GHz map does not, the probability of obtaining the observed correlation is small. Further analyses support the assumption that both maps have structure and that the 170 GHz-DMR cross-correlation is consistent with the analogous DMR correlation function. Maps containing various combinations of noise and Harrison-Zel'dovich power spectra are simulated and correlated to reinforce the result. The correlation provides compelling evidence that both instruments have observed fluctuations consistent with anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background.

Ganga, Ken↗

NASA NTRS2014

Micro-Spec: an Integrated, Direct-Detection Spectrometer for Far-Infrared and Submillimeter Astronomy

The far-infrared and submillimeter portions of the electromagnetic spectrum provide a unique view of the astrophysical processes present in the early universe. Our ability to fully explore this rich spectral region has been limited, however, by the size and cost of the cryogenic spectrometers required to carry out such measurements. Micro-Spec (u-Spec) is a high-sensitivity, direct-detection spectrometer concept working in the 450-1000 micromillimeter wavelength range which will enable a wide range of flight missions that would otherwise be challenging due to the large size of current instruments with the required spectral resolution and sensitivity. The spectrometer design utilizes two internal antenna arrays, one for transmitting and one for receiving, superconducting microstrip transmission lines for power division and phase delay, and an array of microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) to achieve these goals. The instrument will be integrated on a approximately 10 square cm silicon chip and can therefore become an important capability under the low background conditions accessible via space and high-altitude borne platforms. In this paper, an optical design methodology for Micro-Spec is presented, with particular attention given to its twodimensional diffractive region, where the light of different wavelengths is focused on the different detectors. The method is based on the maximization of the instrument resolving power and minimization of the RMS phase error on the instrument focal plane. This two-step optimization can generate geometrical configurations given specific requirements on spectrometer size, operating spectral range and performance. A point design with resolving power of 257, an RMS phase error less than 0.1 radians and four stigmatic points was developed for initial demonstration and will be the basis of future instruments with resolving power up to about 1200.

microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs)↗

NASA NTRS1972

Airborne microwave radiometric data analysis

Results from the 1.5 cm, 19.35 GHz electrical scanning microwave radiometer which was once of the instruments used during the 1971 flight over Imperial Valley, California; Phoenix, Arizona; and Weslaco, Texas.

Source record↗