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At least 667 records · Page 37

Transmission Scheduling and Routing Algorithms for Delay Tolerant Networks

The challenges of data processing, transmission scheduling and routing within a space network present a multi-criteria optimization problem. Long delays, intermittent connectivity, asymmetric data rates and potentially high error rates make traditional networking approaches unsuitable. The delay tolerant networking architecture and protocols attempt to mitigate many of these issues, yet transmission scheduling is largely manually configured and routes are determined by a static contact routing graph. A high level of variability exists among the requirements and environmental characteristics of different missions, some of which may allow for the use of more opportunistic routing methods. In all cases, resource allocation and constraints must be balanced with the optimization of data throughput and quality of service. Much work has been done researching routing techniques for terrestrial-based challenged networks in an attempt to optimize contact opportunities and resource usage. This paper examines several popular methods to determine their potential applicability to space networks.

Space Networking↗

GBCGE Subsurface Database Explorer and APIs

This submission defines a DOI for the Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy's (GBCGE) Subsurface Database Explorer web application and underlying data services, and acknowledges the INGENIOUS project as a major source of funding for data compilation and quality assurance. The GBCGE Subsurface Database Explorer is an interactive web mapping application that provides public access to the GBCGE Subsurface Database, and its collection of datasets pertinent to geothermal exploration, oil and gas exploration, critical mineral exploration, and other subsurface characterization for the Great Basin Region, western US. This is a living database, and will be continuously updated with new data and datasets as funding and motivations allow. The underlying database views that populate the web application are on an automated refresh schedule. Data sources and acknowledgements: We thank our partners with the Nevada Division of Minerals (NDOM), the Southern Methodist University (SMU), and Great Basin State Geological Surveys for their active efforts in data curation, schema design, and quality assurance. We also thank contributors among the USGS, Oregon Institute of Technology, State Divisions of Water Resources, State Divisions of Oil, Gas, and Minerals, and State Geological Surveys for open data availability and direct contributions made under the National Geothermal Data System (NGDS).

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Validation and Demonstration of Control System Functional Capabilities within the IES Plug-and-Play Simulation Environment

The concept of an integrated energy system (IES) is meant to combine different energy technologies in synergistic ways to achieve a more secure and economical energy supply. The RAVEN-based HYBRID framework is used to find the optimal installed capacity and the optimal economical dispatch of each component of the IES. The new RAVEN plugin for grid and capacity optimization (HERON) only addresses the limits that affect the production variables and the corresponding rates of variation (explicit constraints). However, other variables are subject to constraints, and the associated limits should be accounted for (implicit constraints). In particular, for the power dispatch problem, the optimization algorithm takes into account the limits on the electrical power output and the corresponding hourly power variations but does not consider other constraints on process variables whose response affects the service life of the IES. This report describes a scheme that allows accounting for implicit constraints without increasing the size of the optimization problem. To obtain a more accurate approximation of the nonlinear dynamic behavior, a parametric version of the dynamic mode decomposition with control (DMDc) algorithm was developed to derive the state-space representation matrices of the IES components at different scheduling parameter. Thanks to this approach, a more accurate approximation of the system response can be obtained, the limits imposed by thermal mechanical implicit constraints can be translated into power dispatch limits, and the feedbacks to HERON power dispatcher can be provided. To assess the developed methodology, a power dispatching test case composed of three power generating and storage units (Balance of Plant, Secondary Energy Source, Thermal Energy Storage) was developed. The power output of each one of the three units was optimized to meet the imposed time-dependent load demand trajectory and to maximize the IES profitability by meeting both the explicit and implicit constraints.

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Evapotranspiration as a Regional Climate Priority: Results from a NASA/USDA Workshop

On April 5 to 7, 2011, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) sponsored a Workshop on Evapotranspiration (ET) in Silver Spring Maryland. The workshop was a response to a recommendation in the 2009-2011 GEO (Group on Earth Observations) Work Plan that a workshop on ET should be held to discuss issues related to ET products and services and the potential for incorporating ET activities into the 2012-2015 GEO Work Plan. The workshop had a regional emphasis, although there were several excellent international and global presentations including one on the GEWEX LANDFLUX project. The different scales of these activities suggests that a framework is needed that can accommodate both regional and global ET activities. Despite limitations with the workshop's scheduling, it attracted 76 experts who contributed informative presentations and insightful discussions. The goals of the workshop involved the exchange of information and ideas and the development of plans for providing more visibility for ET issues. Specific objectives included 1) defining the needs and requirements for evapotranspiration data in weather and climate studies, in natural and agro-ecoystem monitoring, and in water resource management; 2) reviewing the methods used to measure and model evapotranspiration; 3) assessing surface and satellite observation systems required to support ET measurement, modeling and evaluation; 4) assessing the feasibility of developing a proposal for a task on evapotranspiration for the 2012-2015 GEO Work Plan, and 5) exploring the level of support and consensus for developing a strategy for establishing evapotranspiration as an Essential Climate Variable (ECV) within the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) framework The workshop featured a combination of oral presentations and breakout group sessions focused on the above objectives. There were also poster presentations providing opportunities for one-on-one discussions of ET modeling and measurement techniques. Presentations by users of ET data set the tone for the workshop. In the USA at the national and regional levels water rights issues represent a major opportunity for ET applications. ET data play a major role in estimating water loss due to irrigation, the largest cause of consumptive water loss in the USA, particularly in the West. Irrigation requirements are relatively specific since the needs are clearly defined by the geometry and number of the irrigation systems and can be monitored with high resolution satellite data. There was a strong consensus that land surface temperature (LST) at high resolution is critical for monitoring irrigation. State governments have made commitments to more efficient water management in the western US, but they need full access to improved and more timely ET data and applications to implement this plan. Water managers also reported that in spite of the recent development of. new techniques, the procedures used in some of the water balance calculations in some states are out of date and do not take advantage of new observational and data assimilation systems. The development of ET forecasts for water management is also seen as a priority. Although ET forecasts are currently being produced on an experimental basis these predictions could be improved by considering ET as a dynamic prediction variable in models and by increasing the time resolution of these ET predictions.

Lawford, Richard↗

Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel

This annual report is based on the activities of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel in calendar year 2000. During this year, the construction of the International Space Station (ISS) moved into high gear. The launch of the Russian Service Module was followed by three Space Shuttle construction and logistics flights and the deployment of the Expedition One crew. Continuous habitation of the ISS has begun. To date, both the ISS and Space Shuttle programs have met or exceeded most of their flight objectives. In spite of the intensity of these efforts, it is clear that safety was always placed ahead of cost and schedule. This safety consciousness permitted the Panel to devote more of its efforts to examining the long-term picture. With ISS construction accelerating, demands on the Space Shuttle will increase. While Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft will make some flights, the Space Shuttle remains the primary vehicle to sustain the ISS and all other U.S. activities that require humans in space. Development of a next generation, human-rated vehicle has slowed due to a variety of technological problems and the absence of an approach that can accomplish the task significantly better than the Space Shuttle. Moreover, even if a viable design were currently available, the realities of funding and development cycles suggest that it would take many years to bring it to fruition. Thus, it is inescapable that for the foreseeable future the Space Shuttle will be the only human-rated vehicle available to the U.S. space program for support of the ISS and other missions requiring humans. Use of the Space Shuttle will extend well beyond current planning, and is likely to continue for the life of the ISS.

Source record↗

MSL Project Update

Mars Science Lab (MSL) Project activities over the last 3-4 months focused on: a) Payload accommodation; b) Flight system architecture definitization; c) Program architecture support. Baseline project concept is to develop and fly two identical vehicles with launches in 2009 and 2011: a) Significant programmatic uncertainty remains due to NASA strategic issues (Shuttle Return to flight, Hubble servicing, CEV, etc.); b) Final "decisions" on future program not likely for 3-4 months; c) To maintain viability for a 2009 launch, the project must rapidly move into implementation mode despite this uncertainty. Near term activities: a) Converge baseline flight system architecture & instrument accommodation - June; b) Instrument accomodation reviews (IARs) are completed for DAN, MSSS instruments; c) Develop project-wide implementation plan & integrated schedule - June; d) Conduct grassroots cost exercise - July/August; e) Hold Preliminary Mission System Review - September.

Mars↗

TPSAS-NF1676L-12168-DND

The Federal Aviation Administration’s Surveillance and Broadcast Services Program Office considers Interval Management (IM) to be one of the three key, near-term applications to make use of ADS-B-In, the receiving and processing of Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast data on-board an aircraft. Interval Management is used to describe a wide range of operational applications and uses of airborne spacing technology. Interval Management makes use of improved scheduling and sequencing capabilities for the air traffic controllers (ATC) and precise, relative spacing of aircraft, to improve airport throughput, increase the use of Optimized Profile Descents (OPD), and reduce tactical controller workload. The IM applications are subdivided into two categories: one where the flight crew is authorized to manage their speed to achieve the IM goal while the controller retains separation responsibility and a second where the flight crew takes responsibility for both managing speed but also for separation from the specified target aircraft. The former is referred to as Interval Management-Spacing (IM-S) and the latter as Interval Management-Delegated Separation (IM-DS). For the past 10 years NASA has been working on a specific IM application called Airborne Precision Spacing (APS). This concept has focused on increasing runway throughput while enabling OPDs. It is seen as a specific application within the IM class of applications. This talk will present the current state of the APS concept including support for dependent parallel runway operations and how NASA is working to have APS support the broader IM activities. Planned development and testing of APS, including extensions to support IM-DS and FAA-planned flight trials will be presented along with several up-coming simulations.

Bryan E Barmore↗

TPSAS-NF1676L-12329-DND

The Federal Aviation Administration’s Surveillance and Broadcast Services Program Office considers Interval Management (IM) to be one of the three key, near-term applications to make use of ADS-B-In, the receiving and processing of Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast data on-board an aircraft. Interval Management is used to describe a wide range of operational applications and uses of airborne spacing technology. Interval Management makes use of improved scheduling and sequencing capabilities for the air traffic controllers (ATC) and precise, relative spacing of aircraft, to improve airport throughput, increase the use of Optimized Profile Descents (OPD), and reduce tactical controller workload. The IM applications are subdivided into two categories: one where the flight crew is authorized to manage their speed to achieve the IM goal while the controller retains separation responsibility and a second where the flight crew takes responsibility for both managing speed but also for separation from the specified target aircraft. The former is referred to as Interval Management-Spacing (IM-S) and the latter as Interval Management-Delegated Separation (IM-DS). For the past 10 years NASA has been working on a specific IM application called Airborne Precision Spacing (APS). This concept has focused on increasing runway throughput while enabling OPDs. It is seen as a specific application within the IM class of applications. This talk will present the current state of the APS concept including support for dependent parallel runway operations and how NASA is working to have APS support the broader IM activities. Planned development and testing of APS, including extensions to support IM-DS and FAA-planned flight trials will be presented along with several up-coming simulations.

Brian T Baxley↗

Honeycomb vs. Foam: Evaluating Potential Upgrades to ISS Module Shielding

The presence of honeycomb cells in a dual-wall structure is advantageous for mechanical performance and low weight in spacecraft primary structures but detrimental for shielding against impact of micrometeoroid and orbital debris particles (MMOD). The presence of honeycomb cell walls acts to restrict the expansion of projectile and bumper fragments, resulting in the impact of a more concentrated (and thus lethal) fragment cloud upon the shield rear wall. The Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) is a Russian research module scheduled for launch and ISS assembly in 2011 (currently under review). Baseline shielding of the MLM is expected to be predominantly similar to that of the existing Functional Energy Block (FGB), utilizing a baseline triple wall configuration with honeycomb sandwich panels for the dual bumpers and a thick monolithic aluminum pressure wall. The MLM module is to be docked to the nadir port of the Zvezda service module and, as such, is subject to higher debris flux than the FGB module (which is aligned along the ISS flight vector). Without upgrades to inherited shielding, the MLM penetration risk is expected to be significantly higher than that of the FGB module. Open-cell foam represents a promising alternative to honeycomb as a sandwich panel core material in spacecraft primary structures as it provides comparable mechanical performance with a minimal increase in weight while avoiding structural features (i.e. channeling cells) detrimental to MMOD shielding performance. In this study, the effect of replacing honeycomb sandwich panel structures with metallic open-cell foam structures on MMOD shielding performance is assessed for an MLM-representative configuration. A number of hypervelocity impact tests have been performed on both the baseline honeycomb configuration and upgraded foam configuration, and differences in target damage, failure limits, and derived ballistic limit equations are discussed.

Ryan, Shannon J.↗

Automated Management of Small Unmanned Aircraft System Communications and Navigation Contingency

The number of small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) operating in the low-altitude of the National Airspace System (NAS) has been rapidly increasing in the past few years and this number is expected to grow in the future. However, aside from a few special cases, all sUAS must fly within visual line-of-sight (VLOS) of their operators and this limitation is blocking highly anticipated beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) sUAS applications such as package delivery from practice. To enable routine low-altitude BVLOS operations, there needs to be a traffic management ecosystem that complements the FAA’s Air Traffic Management (ATM) system, which does not provide air traffic services under 400 feet above ground level (AGL). NASA has been pioneering research and development of this ecosystem under UAS Traffic Management (UTM) project since 2015 in a series of Technical Capability Levels (TCL) activities that are increasingly complex. In TCL1, completed in 2015, visual line-of-sight operations such as agriculture, firefighting, and infrastructure monitoring were addressed with a focus on geofencing and operations scheduling. Technologies and requirements needed for BVLOS operations in sparsely populated areas were examined in TCL2 in 2016, and those for operations over moderately populated areas in TCL3 in 2017 and 2018. TCL4 is building on the earlier TCLs and focuses on technologies and requirements for operations in higher-density urban areas for tasks such as newsgathering and package delivery and for managing large-scale contingencies. To coordinate and facilitate the incremental implementation of the UTM ecosystem in the NAS, a Research Transition Team (RTT) has been formed between the FAA, NASA, and industry. The RTT is divided into four subgroups, concept and use case development, data exchange and information architecture, sense and avoid, and communications and navigation (C&N). This paper focuses on C&N subgroup activities, in particular about the development of automated sUAS communications and navigation contingency management. The goal of this development is to prepare sUAS to display predictable behavior while handling C&N off-nominal events. It is expected that the adoption of the presented automated contingency management by the sUAS community will accommodate and inform rulemaking towards governing low-altitude BVLOS operations.

Unmanned Aviation System (UAS) Traffic Management↗

Automated Management of Small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Communications and Navigation Contingency

The number of small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) operating in the low-altitude of the National Airspace System (NAS) has been rapidly increasing in the past few years and this number is expected to grow in the future. However, aside from a few special cases, all sUAS must fly within visual line-of-sight (VLOS) of their operators and this limitation is blocking highly anticipated beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) sUAS applications such as package delivery from practice. To enable routine low-altitude BVLOS operations, there needs to be a traffic management ecosystem that complements the FAA’s Air Traffic Management (ATM) system, which does not provide air traffic services under 400 feet above ground level (AGL). NASA has been pioneering research and development of this ecosystem under UAS Traffic Management (UTM) project since 2015 in a series of Technical Capability Levels (TCL) activities that are increasingly complex. In TCL1, completed in 2015, visual line-of-sight operations such as agriculture, firefighting, and infrastructure monitoring were addressed with a focus on geofencing and operations scheduling. Technologies and requirements needed for BVLOS operations in sparsely populated areas were examined in TCL2 in 2016, and those for operations over moderately populated areas in TCL3 in 2017 and 2018. TCL4 is building on the earlier TCLs and focuses on technologies and requirements for operations in higher-density urban areas for tasks such as newsgathering and package delivery and for managing large-scale contingencies. To coordinate and facilitate the incremental implementation of the UTM ecosystem in the NAS, a Research Transition Team (RTT) has been formed between the FAA, NASA, and industry. The RTT is divided into four subgroups, concept and use case development, data exchange and information architecture, sense and avoid, and communications and navigation (C&N). This paper focuses on C&N subgroup activities, in particular about the development of automated sUAS communications and navigation contingency management. The goal of this development is to prepare sUAS to display predictable behavior while handling C&N off-nominal events. It is expected that the adoption of the presented automated contingency management by the sUAS community will accommodate and inform rulemaking towards governing low-altitude BVLOS operations.

Unmanned Aviation Systems (UAS) Traffic Management↗

Loads as a Resource: Frequency Responsive Demand

Current power grid operation predominantly relies on scheduling and regulating generation resources to supply loads and balance load changes. Due to the inherent intermittency of renewable energy, more flexible and fast ramping capacity is required to compensate for the uncertainty and variability introduced by renewable energy resources. With the advancement of information technologies, power system end-use loads are becoming more agile and can participate in provision of balancing energy and other grid services. The use of demand response can greatly reduce the required generation reserve in a clean and environmentally friendly way. In this report, a new frequency responsive load (FRL) controller was proposed based on the GFA controller, which can respond to both over and under-frequency events. A supervisory control was introduced to coordinate the autonomous response from FRLs in order to overcome the issues of excessive system response due to high penetration of FRLs. The effectiveness of the proposed FRL controller was demonstrated by large-scale simulation studies on the WECC system. Specifically, the FRLs were deployed in the WECC system at different penetration levels to analyze the performance of the proposed strategy both with and without supervisory level control. While both methods have their own advantages, the case without supervisory control could lead to system-wide instability depending on the size of the contingency and the number of FRLs deployed in the system. In addition, the voltage impacts of this controller on distribution system were also carefully investigated. Finally, a preliminary measurement and verification approach was also developed.

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A technology assessment of alternative communications systems for the space exploration initiative

Telecommunications, Navigation, and Information Management (TNIM) services are vital to accomplish the ambitious goals of the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI). A technology assessment is provided for four alternative lunar and Mars operational TNIM systems based on detailed communications link analyses. The four alternative systems range from a minimum to a fully enhanced capability and use frequencies from S-band, through Ka-band, and up to optical wavelengths. Included are technology development schedules as they relate to present SEI mission architecture time frames.

Ponchak, Denise S.↗

A technology assessment of alternative communications systems for the space exploration initiative

Telecommunications, Navigation, and Information Management (TNIM) services are vital to accomplish the ambitious goals of the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI). A technology assessment is provided for four alternative lunar and Mars operational TNIM systems based on detailed communications link analyses. The four alternative systems range from a minimum to a fully enhanced capability and use frequencies from S-band, through ka-band, and up to optical wavelengths. Included are technology development schedules as they relate to present SEI mission architecture time frames.

Ponchak, Denise S.↗

International Space Station Medical Projects - Full Services to Mars

The International Space Station Medical Projects (ISSMP) Element provides planning, integration, and implementation services for HRP research studies for both spaceflight and flight analog research. Through the implementation of these two efforts, ISSMP offers an innovative way of guiding research decisions to meet the unique challenges of understanding the human risks to space exploration. Flight services provided by ISSMP include leading informed consent briefings, developing and validating in-flight crew procedures, providing ISS crew and ground-controller training, real-time experiment monitoring, on-orbit experiment and hardware operations and facilitating data transfer to investigators. For analog studies at the NASA Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA), the ISSMP team provides subject recruitment and screening, science requirements integration, data collection schedules, data sharing agreements, mission scenarios and facilities to support investigators. The ISSMP also serves as the HRP interface to external analog providers including the :envihab bed rest facility (Cologne, Germany), NEK isolation chamber (Moscow, Russia) and the Antarctica research stations. Investigators working in either spaceflight or analog environments requires a coordinated effort between NASA and the investigators. The interdisciplinary nature of both flight and analog research requires investigators to be aware of concurrent research studies and take into account potential confounding factors that may impact their research objectives. Investigators must define clear research requirements, participate in Investigator Working Group meetings, obtain human use approvals, and provide study-specific training, sample and data collection and procedures all while adhering to schedule deadlines. These science requirements define the technical, functional and performance operations to meet the research objectives. The ISSMP maintains an expert team of professionals with the knowledge and experience to guide investigators science through all aspects of mission planning, crew operations, and research integration. During this session, the ISSMP team will discuss best-practices approaches for successfully preparing and conducting studies in both the flight and analog environments. Critical tips and tricks will be shown to greatly improve your chances of successfully completing your research aboard the International Space Station and in Spaceflight Analogs.

Pietrzyk, R. A.↗

Applications of Satellite Data to Support Improvements in Irrigation and Groundwater Management in California

In agricultural regions around the world, threats to water supplies from drought and groundwater depletion are driving increased demand for tools to advance agricultural water use efficiency and support sustainable groundwater management. Satellite mapping of evapotranspiration (ET) from irrigated agricultural lands can provide agricultural producers and water resource managers with information that can be used to both optimize ag water use and improve estimates of groundwater withdrawals for irrigation. We describe the development of two remote sensing-based tools for ET mapping in California, including important lessons in terms of system design, partnership development, and transition to operations. For irrigation management, the integration of satellite data and surface sensor networks to provide timely delivery of information on crop water requirements can make irrigation scheduling more practical, convenient, and accurate.Developed through a partnership between NASA and the CA Department of Water Resources, the Satellite Irrigation Management Support (SIMS) framework integrates satellite data with information from agricultural weather networks to map crop canopy development and crop water requirements at the scale of individual fields. Information is distributed to agricultural producers and water managers via a web-based interface and web data services. SIMS also provides an API that facilitates integration with other irrigation decision support tools, such as CropManage and IrriQuest. Field trials using these integrated tools have shown that they can be used to sustain yields while improving water use efficiency and nutrient management. For sustainable groundwater management, the combination of satellite-derived estimates of ET and data on surface water deliveries for irrigation can increase the accuracy of estimates of groundwater pumping. We are developing an OpenET platform to facilitate access to ET data from multiple models and accelerate operational use of ET data in support of a range of water management applications, including implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in CA. By providing a shared basis for decision making, we anticipate that the OpenET platform will accelerate implementation of solutions for sustainable groundwater management.

Satellite↗

NASA Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Handbook

The purpose of this document is to provide program/project teams necessary instruction and guidance in the best practices for Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and WBS dictionary development and use for project implementation and management control. This handbook can be used for all types of NASA projects and work activities including research, development, construction, test and evaluation, and operations. The products of these work efforts may be hardware, software, data, or service elements (alone or in combination). The aim of this document is to assist project teams in the development of effective work breakdown structures that provide a framework of common reference for all project elements.

Formulation↗

Distributed optimization and control for autonomous distributed energy resource power dispatch and frequency regulation considering communication failures

Distributed energy resources (DERs) can significantly enhance grid flexibility by supplying power and secondary frequency regulation (SFR) services. Yet, their large number and dispersed nature limit the effectiveness of traditional centralized power dispatch and frequency control schemes, and expose the system to single-point communication failures. This paper presents a unified distributed optimization and control framework for DER power dispatch and SFR provision. A transmission-loss-aware distributed direct current optimal power flow is first formulated to optimize DER power dispatch and reserve scheduling. On top of this, a fully distributed control scheme for DER autonomous SFR provision is developed to allocate automatic generation control signals cost-effectively while ensuring robustness to communication link disruptions. The framework is validated on IEEE 14-bus and 39-bus transmission systems with large-scale distribution feeders using transmission-distribution dynamic co-simulation, demonstrating reliable and autonomous DER power dispatch and SFR provision under diverse operating conditions and communication contingencies.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗