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

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At least 667 records · Page 37

Simulation of a Method to Directly Image Exoplanets Around Multiple Stars Systems

Direct imaging of extra-solar planets has now become a reality, especially with the deployment and commissioning of the first generation of specialized ground-based instruments such as the GPI, SPHERE, P1640 and SCExAO. These systems will allow detection of planets 107 times fainter than their host star. For space-based missions, such as EXCEDE, EXO-C, EXO-S, WFIRST/AFTA, different teams have shown in laboratories contrasts reaching 10(exp −10) within a few diffraction limits from the star using a combination of a coronagraph to suppress light coming from the host star and a wavefront control system. These demonstrations use a deformable mirror (DM) to remove residual starlight (speckles) created by the imperfections of telescope. However, all these current and future systems focus on detecting faint planets around a single host star or unresolved binaries/multiples, while several targets or planet candidates are located around nearby binary stars such as our neighbor star Alpha Centauri. Until now, it has been thought that removing the light of a companion star is impossible with current technology, excluding binary star systems from target lists of direct imaging missions. Direct imaging around binaries/multiple systems at a level of contrast allowing Earth-like planet detection is challenging because the region of interest, where a dark zone is essential, is contaminated by the light coming from the hosts star companion. We propose a method to simultaneously correct aberrations and diffraction of light coming from the target star as well as its companion star in order to reveal planets orbiting the target star. This method works even if the companion star is outside the control region of the DM (beyond its half-Nyquist frequency), by taking advantage of aliasing effects.

Multiple Stars↗

Temporal Variability of Observed and Simulated Hyperspectral Earth Reflectance

The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) is a climate observation system designed to study Earth's climate variability with unprecedented absolute radiometric accuracy and SI traceability. Observation System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) were developed using GCM output and MODTRAN to simulate CLARREO reflectance measurements during the 21st century as a design tool for the CLARREO hyperspectral shortwave imager. With OSSE simulations of hyperspectral reflectance, Feldman et al. [2011a,b] found that shortwave reflectance is able to detect changes in climate variables during the 21st century and improve time-to-detection compared to broadband measurements. The OSSE has been a powerful tool in the design of the CLARREO imager and for understanding the effect of climate change on the spectral variability of reflectance, but it is important to evaluate how well the OSSE simulates the Earth's present-day spectral variability. For this evaluation we have used hyperspectral reflectance measurements from the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Cartography (SCIAMACHY), a shortwave spectrometer that was operational between March 2002 and April 2012. To study the spectral variability of SCIAMACHY-measured and OSSE-simulated reflectance, we used principal component analysis (PCA), a spectral decomposition technique that identifies dominant modes of variability in a multivariate data set. Using quantitative comparisons of the OSSE and SCIAMACHY PCs, we have quantified how well the OSSE captures the spectral variability of Earth?s climate system at the beginning of the 21st century relative to SCIAMACHY measurements. These results showed that the OSSE and SCIAMACHY data sets share over 99% of their total variance in 2004. Using the PCs and the temporally distributed reflectance spectra projected onto the PCs (PC scores), we can study the temporal variability of the observed and simulated reflectance spectra. Multivariate time series analysis of the PC scores using techniques such as Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) and Multichannel SSA will provide information about the temporal variability of the dominant variables. Quantitative comparison techniques can evaluate how well the OSSE reproduces the temporal variability observed by SCIAMACHY spectral reflectance measurements during the first decade of the 21st century. PCA of OSSE-simulated reflectance can also be used to study how the dominant spectral variables change on centennial scales for forced and unforced climate change scenarios. To have confidence in OSSE predictions of the spectral variability of hyperspectral reflectance, it is first necessary for us to evaluate the degree to which the OSSE simulations are able to reproduce the Earth?s present-day spectral variability.

Roberts, Yolanda↗

Information content of simulated space photographs as a function of various levels of image resolution.

The results of research are reported on the information content in simulated space photographs derivable as a function of various levels of image resolution. Whenever certain resource features could not be consistently identified on simulated low-resolution imagery, attempts were made to define the required level of image resolution that would allow a skilled interpreter to discriminate one feature from another. The results of this research, conducted within a chaparral-hardwood-grassland environment in California, indicate that simulated ERTS data contain sufficient information to allow an interpreter to discriminate between woody vegetation, grassland, and water bodies. However, if more detailed information is desired, the imagery must have a ground resolution of at least 50 ft, showing shape, size, texture, and shadow characteristics within each vegetation type. Spaceborne data, therefore, often will have to be supplemented by higher resolution aircraft imagery, depending on the types of resource information being sought.

Lauer, D. T.↗

Conceptual design study for an advanced cab and visual system, volume 1

A conceptual design study was conducted to define requirements for an advanced cab and visual system. The rotorcraft system integration simulator is for engineering studies in the area of mission associated vehicle handling qualities. Principally a technology survey and assessment of existing and proposed simulator visual display systems, image generation systems, modular cab designs, and simulator control station designs were performed and are discussed. State of the art survey data were used to synthesize a set of preliminary visual display system concepts of which five candidate display configurations were selected for further evaluation. Basic display concepts incorporated in these configurations included: real image projection, using either periscopes, fiber optic bundles, or scanned laser optics; and virtual imaging with helmet mounted displays. These display concepts were integrated in the study with a simulator cab concept employing a modular base for aircraft controls, crew seating, and instrumentation (or other) displays. A simple concept to induce vibration in the various modules was developed and is described. Results of evaluations and trade offs related to the candidate system concepts are given, along with a suggested weighting scheme for numerically comparing visual system performance characteristics.

Rue, R. J.↗

Personalized and uncertainty-aware coronary hemodynamics simulations: From Bayesian estimation to improved multi-fidelity uncertainty quantification

Non-invasive simulations of coronary hemodynamics have improved clinical risk stratification and treatment outcomes for coronary artery disease, compared to relying on anatomical imaging alone. However, simulations typically use empirical approaches to distribute total coronary flow amongst the arteries in the coronary tree, which ignores patient variability, the presence of disease, and other clinical factors. Further, uncertainty in the clinical data often remains unaccounted for in the modeling pipeline. We present an end-to-end uncertainty-aware pipeline to (1) personalize coronary flow simulations by incorporating vessel-specific coronary flows as well as cardiac function; and (2) predict clinical and biomechanical quantities of interest with improved precision, while accounting for uncertainty in the clinical data. We assimilate patient-specific measurements of myocardial blood flow from clinical CT myocardial perfusion imaging to estimate branch-specific coronary artery flows. Simulated noise in the clinical data is used to estimate the joint posterior distributions of the model parameters using adaptive Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling. Additionally, the posterior predictive distribution for the relevant quantities of interest is determined using a new approach combining multi-fidelity Monte Carlo estimation with non-linear, data-driven dimensionality reduction. This leads to improved correlations between high- and low-fidelity model outputs. Our framework accurately recapitulates clinically measured cardiac function as well as branch-specific coronary flows under measurement noise uncertainty. We observe substantial reductions in confidence intervals for estimated quantities of interest compared to single-fidelity Monte Carlo estimation and state-of-the-art multi-fidelity Monte Carlo methods. This holds especially true for quantities of interest that showed limited correlation between the low- and high-fidelity model predictions. In addition, the proposed multi-fidelity Monte Carlo estimators are significantly cheaper to compute than traditional estimators, under a specified confidence level or variance. The proposed pipeline for personalized and uncertainty-aware predictions of coronary hemodynamics is based on routine clinical measurements and recently developed techniques for CT myocardial perfusion imaging. The proposed pipeline offers significant improvements in precision and reduction in computational cost.

Bayesian parameter estimation↗

Simulating Reflected Light Exoplanet Spectra of the Promising Direct Imaging Target, υ Andromedae d, with a New, Fast Sampling Method Using the Planetary Spectrum Generator

Simulations of exoplanet albedo profiles are key to planning and interpreting future direct imaging observations. In this paper we demonstrate the use of the Planetary Spectrum Generator (PSG) to produce simulations of reflected light exoplanet spectra. We use PSG to examine multiple issues relevant to all models of directly imaged exoplanet spectra and to produce sample spectra of the bright, nearby exoplanet υ Andromedae d (υ And d), a potential direct imaging target for next-generation facilities. We introduce a new, fast, and accurate subsampling technique that enables calculations of disk-integrated spectra one order of magnitude faster than Chebyshev–Gauss sampling for moderate- to high-resolution sampling. Using this method and a first-principles-derived atmosphere for υ And d, we simulate phase-dependent spectra for a variety of different potential atmospheric configurations. The simulated spectra for υ And d include versions with different haze and cloud properties. Based on our combined analysis of this planet’s orbital parameters, phase- and illumination-appropriate model spectra, and realistic instrument noise parameters, we find that υ And d is a potentially favorable direct imaging and spectroscopy target for the Coronagraph Instrument (CGI) on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. When a noise model corresponding to the Roman CGI SPC spectroscopy mode is included, PSG predicts the time required to reach a signal-to-noise ratio of 10 of the simulated spectra in both the central wavelength bin of the Roman CGI SPC spectroscopy mode (R = 50 spectrum) and of the Band 1 HLC imaging mode is approximately 400 and less than 40 hr, respectively. We also discuss potential pathways to extricating information about the planet and its atmosphere with future observations and find that Roman observations may be able to bound the interior temperature of the planet.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Radar imaging of shallow water bathymetry: A case study in the Yangtze Estuary

This study focuses on 2-dimensional (2-D) radar imaging of bathymetric features in the shallow water of the Yangtze Estuary using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) observations and model simulations. A validated 2-D shallow water numerical model simulates the barotropic current velocity, and the simulated current fields together with the relevant parameters of radar observations are then invoked in the radar imaging model as the input. The results show that variations in the simulated image intensity are mainly dominated by distinct radar backscatter anomalies caused by wave-current interactions in the vicinity of rapidly changing underwater topographies. The comparison between the simulated and observed SAR images shows a reasonable agreement, demonstrating that our approach may be implemented to monitor changes in the shallow water bathymetry of the Yangtze Estuary in the future.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Method for simulating dose reduction in digital mammography using the Anscombe transformation

Purpose: This work proposes an accurate method for simulating dose reduction in digital mammography starting from a clinical image acquired with a standard dose. Methods: The method developed in this work consists of scaling a mammogram acquired at the standard radiation dose and adding signal-dependent noise. The algorithm accounts for specific issues relevant in digital mammography images, such as anisotropic noise, spatial variations in pixel gain, and the effect of dose reduction on the detective quantum efficiency. The scaling process takes into account the linearity of the system and the offset of the detector elements. The inserted noise is obtained by acquiring images of a flat-field phantom at the standard radiation dose and at the simulated dose. Using the Anscombe transformation, a relationship is created between the calculated noise mask and the scaled image, resulting in a clinical mammogram with the same noise and gray level characteristics as an image acquired at the lower-radiation dose. Results: The performance of the proposed algorithm was validated using real images acquired with an anthropomorphic breast phantom at four different doses, with five exposures for each dose and 256 nonoverlapping ROIs extracted from each image and with uniform images. The authors simulated lower-dose images and compared these with the real images. The authors evaluated the similarity between the normalized noise power spectrum (NNPS) and power spectrum (PS) of simulated images and real images acquired with the same dose. The maximum relative error was less than 2.5% for every ROI. The added noise was also evaluated by measuring the local variance in the real and simulated images. The relative average error for the local variance was smaller than 1%. Conclusions: A new method is proposed for simulating dose reduction in clinical mammograms. In this method, the dependency between image noise and image signal is addressed using a novel application of the Anscombe transformation. NNPS, PS, and local noise metrics confirm that this method is capable of precisely simulating various dose reductions.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

WE-DE-BRA-05: Monte Carlo Simulation of a Novel Multi-Layer MV Imager

Purpose: To develop and validate a Monte Carlo (MC) model of a novel multi-layer imager (MLI) for megavolt (MV) energy beams. The MC model will enable performance optimization of the MLI design for clinical applications including patient setup verification, tumor tracking and MVCBCT. Methods: The MLI is composed of four layers of converter, scintillator and light detector, each layer similar to the current clinical AS1200 detector (Varian Medical Systems, Inc). The MLI model was constructed using the Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission (GATE v7.1) and includes interactions for x-ray photons, charged particles and optical photons. Computational experiments were performed to assess Modulation Transfer Function (MTF), Detective Quantum Efficiency (DQE) and Noise Power Spectrum normalized by photon fluence and average detector signal (qNNPS). Results were compared with experimental measurements. The current work incorporates, in one model, the complete chain of events occurring in the imager; i.e. starting from x-ray interaction to charged particle transport and energy deposition to subsequent generation, interactions and detection of optical photons. Results: There is good agreement between measured and simulated MTF, qNNPS and DQE values. Normalized root mean squared error (NRMSE) between measured and simulated values over all four layers was 2.18%, 2.43% and 6.05% for MTF, qNNPS and DQE respectively. The relative difference between simulated and measured values for qNNPS(0) was 1.68% and 1.57% for DQE(0). Current results were obtained using a 6MV Varian Truebeam™ spectrum. Conclusion: A comprehensive Monte Carlo model of the MLI prototype was developed to allow optimization of detector components. The model was assessed in terms of imaging performance using standard metrics (i.e. MTF, qNNPS, DQE). Good agreement was found between simulated and measured values. The model will be used to assess alternative detector constructions to facilitate advanced clinical imaging applications including MV-CBCT and tumor tracking. The project was supported, partially, by a grant from Varian Medical Systems, Inc., and Award No. R01CA188446-01 from the National Cancer Institute. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Cancer Institute or the National Institutes of Health.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

SU-F-P-03: Management of Time to Treatment Inititation: Case for An Electronic Whiteboard

Purpose: To determine if data mining of an electronic whiteboard improves the management of the Time to Treatment Initiation (TTI) in radiation oncology. Methods: An electronic whiteboard designed to help in managing the planning workflow and improves communication regarding patient planning progress was used to record the dates at which each phase of the planning process began or completed. These are CT Sim date, Plan Start, Physician Review, Physicist Review, Approval for Treatment Delivery, Setup or Verification of Simulation. Results: During clinical implementation, the electronic whiteboard was able to fulfill its primary objective of providing a transparent account of the planning progress of each patient. Peer pressure also meant that individual tasks, such as contouring, were easily brought to the attention of the responsible party and prioritized accordingly. Data mining to analyze the electronic whiteboard per patient (figure 1), per diagnosis (figure 2), per treatment modality (figure 3), per physician (figure 4), per planner (figure 5), etc., added another sophisticated tool in the management of Time to Treatment Initiation without compromising quality of the plans being generated. A longer than necessary time between CT Sim and Plan Start can be discussed among the members of the treatment team as an indication of inadequate/outdated CT Simulator, Contouring Tools, Image Fusion Tools, Other Imaging Studies (MRI, PET/CT) performed, etc. The same for the Plan Start to Physician Review where an extended time than expected may be due unrealistic planning goals, limited planning system features, etc. Conclusion: An Electronic Whiteboard in radiation oncology is not only helping with organizing planning workflow, it is also a potent tool that can be used to reduce the Time to Treatment Initiation by providing the clinic with hard data about the duration of each phase treatment planning as a function of different variable affecting the planning process. The work is supported by the Global Medical Physics Institute.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Description of a computer simulation of an orbital SAR system

A computer simulation of an orbital SAR system has been developed in order to predict SAR performance for a wide variety of system and environmental parameters. The objectives of the simulation are: (1) to assess the effect of various antenna patterns on the SAR image, (2) to assess the effect of various SAR parameters on the system's ability to detect small differences in the radar cross section of adjacent homogeneous areas, and (3) to assess the effect of mapping geometry on SAR image quality. The simulation is implemented as seven programs: (1) simulation control, (2) terrain model, (3) slant range computation, (4) production of IPQ video, (5) motion compensation, (6) Doppler processor, and (7) postprocessor and display.

Crow, G. L.↗

Mathematical modeling and SAR simulation multifunction SAR technology efforts

The orbital SAR (synthetic aperture radar) simulation data was used in several simulation efforts directed toward advanced SAR development. Efforts toward simulating an operational radar, simulation of antenna polarization effects, and simulation of SAR images at serveral different wavelengths are discussed. Avenues for improvements in the orbital SAR simulation and its application to the development of advanced digital radar data processing schemes are indicated.

Griffin, C. R.↗

Simulation studies of the GOES-I Image Navigation and Registration (INR) system

The GOES-I Image Navigation and Registration (INR) system will fly on the next generation of NOAA geostationary meteorological satellites. This system uses observations of stars and earth landmarks made by the Imager and Sounder Instruments themselves to determine the orbit, attitude, and misalignment state of the spacecraft and instruments. An extensive program of simulation and analysis has been conducted to assess the expected performance of the INR system. This paper discusses these activities and presents some computer simulation results showing expected system performance under a variety of conditions including station-keeping.

Carr, James L.↗

Theory for synthetic aperture radar imaging of the ocean surface - With application to the Tower Ocean Wave and Radar Dependence experiment on focus, resolution, and wave height spectra

A one-dimensional model for simulating azimuthal SAR imaging of the ocean surface is developed which can admit both the 'distributed surface' and 'velocity bunching' approaches. Computer simulations demonstrate that the time-dependent modulation patterns due to the radar cross section variation and the velocity bunching effects provide optimum focusing around half the phase velocity of the long wave. The results indicate that in the Tower Ocean Wave and Radar Dependence experiment, SAR imaging at L band is approximately linear.

Kasilingam, Dayalan P.↗