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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 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2000

Polar Spacecraft Based Comparisons of Intense Electric Fields and Poynting Flux Near and Within the Plasma Sheet-Tail Lobe Boundary to UVI Images: An Energy Source for the Aurora

In this paper, we present measurements from two passes of the Polar spacecraft of intense electric and magnetic field structures associated with Alfven waves at and within the outer boundary of the plasma sheet at geocentric distances of 4-6 R(sub E), near local midnight. The electric field variations have maximum values exceeding 100 mV/m and are typically polarized approximately normal to the plasma sheet boundary. The electric field structures investigated vary over timescales (in the spacecraft frame.) ranging front 1 to 30 s. They are associated with strong magnetic field fluctuations with amplitudes of 10-40 nT which lie predominantly ill the plane of the plasma sheet and are perpendicular to the local magnetic field. The Poynting flux associated with the perturbation fields measured at these altitudes is about 1-2 ergs per square centimeters per second and is directed along the average magnetic field direction toward the ionosphere. If the measured Poynting flux is mapped to ionospheric altitudes along converging magnetic field lines. the resulting energy flux ranges up to 100 ergs per centimeter squared per second. These strongly enhanced Poynting fluxes appear to occur in layers which are observed when the spacecraft is magnetically conjugate (to within a 1 degree mapping accuracy) to intense auroral structures as detected by the Polar UV Imager (UVI). The electron energy flux (averaged over a spatial resolution of 0.5 degrees) deposited in the ionosphere due to auroral electron beams as estimated from the intensity in the UVI Lyman-Birge-Hopfield-long filters is 15-30 ergs per centimeter squared per second. Thus there is evidence that these electric field structures provide sufficient Poynting flux to power the acceleration of auroral electrons (as well as the energization of upflowing ions and Joule heating of the ionosphere). During some events the phasing and ratio of the transverse electric and magnetic field variations are consistent with earthward propagation of Alfven surface waves with phase velocities of 4000-10000 kilometers per second. During other events the phase shifts between electric and magnetic fields suggest interference between upward and downward propagating Alfven waves. The E/B ratios are about an order of magnitude larger than typical values of C/SIGMA(sub p), where SIGMA(sub p), is the height integrated Pedersen conductivity. The contribution to the total energy flux at these altitudes from Poynting flux associated with Alfven waves is comparable to or larger than the contribution from the particle energy flux and 1-2 orders of magnitude larger than that estimated from the large-scale steady state convection electric field and field-aligned current system.

Wygant, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1961

A Technique for Increasing the Sensitivity of a Solid-State Fission Probe

A small silicon p-n junction wafer, when coated with uranium 235, can be used as a compact fission probe for low power flux and power mapping. Because of the inverse relation between the magnitude of a neutron-induced fission pulse and the inherent capacitance of the detecting element (capacitance is proportional to area), the size, and hence the sensitivity, of the semiconductor detector has been limited. New developments in the field of semiconductor detectors have made it possible to fabricate large area detectors which are essentially free from the capacitance effect. However, preliminary results indicate that they are much more susceptible to radiation damage than the detectors described in this report and as such may not be suitable for flux mapping. increasing the sensitivity cannot be accomplished by simply fabricating a larger detector. It has been observed that by combining the silicon p-n junction wafers in a series configuration the capacitance effect can be bypassed, and a fission probe can be made with a resultant increase in sensitivity by a factor of ten while sustaining only a minor decrease in pulse height. Analysis further indicates that for n silicon wafers in series, if n(C(sub i)) + C(sub c)/C(sub b) less than 0.1 where C(sub i) and C(sub c) are the preamplifier input and cable capacitances, respectively, and C(sub b) is the junction capacitance of a single silicon wafer, there should be no substantial reduction in pulse height due to series circuitry.

Steinberg, Robert↗
NASA NTRS1990

A model of FTE footprints in the polar cap

The present investigation of the mapping of flux-transfer events (FTEs) onto the polar cap using the Toffoletto and Hill (1989) open version of Voigt's (1981) closed magnetic field model assumes that the magnetic flux associated with FTEs crosses the magnetopause through small regions of large normal components, whence these small flux tubes proceed to map to the polar cap ionosphere. It is found that while the footprint of a circular hole in the magnetopause of an otherwise closed magnetosphere becomes progressively distorted as the hole moves from the day to the night side, a similar region of enhanced open flux in an otherwise open magnetosphere retains an approximately circular footprint. Such regions, moving through the magnetosphere at a slower rate than the background, would generate the dipolar-electric field and current structures predicted by Southwood (1987).

Toffoletto, F. R.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Surface photometry of disk galaxies at 60 and 100 microns - Radial gradients in dust temperature in optically thin disks

Surface, aperture, and grid photometry are performed at 60 and 100 microns for a sample of 28 nearby, large angular size galaxies. The spatial resolution of the data is 0.5-2.0 kpc, which allows for a coarse investigation of predicted radial gradients in physical dust temperature. A model is derived which predicts a drop of 3 K for every optical scale length, and this model agrees well with the data. In addition, for a subsample of 16 galaxies the radial profile at 60 microns is directly compared with that in the B or I band. The model predicts that optically thick disks should have scale lengths a factor of two smaller at 60 microns compared to B. In the optically thin case, the scale lengths are about equal except for the effect of the gradient in dust temperature. Virtually all of the data support the prediction of the optically thin case. Finally, 10 galaxies in the sample have sufficient angular sizes to allow for a coarse 2D spatial mapping of the 60/100 microns flux ratio. These maps clearly reveal that, when present, small amounts of hot dust dominate the emission at 60 microns and effectively mask the existence of a much larger amount of cold dust.

Bothun, Gregory D.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Time-Varying Entry Heating Profile Replication with a Rotating Arc Jet Test Article

A new approach to arc jet testing that replicates the time-varying conditions of atmospheric entry heating was demonstrated. The concept relies on the spatial variation of heat flux and pressure around a cylindrical test article. The spatial variation is transformed to a temporal variation at one location by rotating the test article during exposure to the arc jet stream. The test article rotation mechanism is based on a programmable stepper motor. An entry heat flux profile was mapped to the cylinders heat flux distribution to determine the rotation angle vs. time executed by the mechanism. A series of arc jet tests with instrumented cylindrical TPS test articles was conducted to prove the concept.

Aerothermodynamics↗
NASA NTRS1989

Distribution of dust in W31 complex

W31 is a H II region/molecular cloud complex in the galactic plane at a distance of 6 Kpc. This complex consists of two prominent radio continuum sources (G10.2-0.3 and G10.3-0.1) representing H II regions. An extended region covering both these H II regions was mapped in the Far IR (FIR) using the TIFR 1 m balloon-borne telescope with an angular resolution of approx. 1 min and a dynamic range of 100. The resulting flux density distribution at an effective wavelength of 160 microns is presented. The coadded IRAS survey scan data at 60 and 100 microns were deconvolved using a maximum entropy method to generate the flux density maps of the same region. These 60 and 100 micron maps are given and are briefly discussed.

Ghosh, Swarna Kanti↗
NASA NTRS1989

The distribution of solar magnetic fluxes and the nonlinearity of stellar flux-flux relations

Synoptic maps for the 1975-1984 period are used to determine the time-dependent distribution function of magnetic flux densities in the solar atmosphere. The distribution function depends only on the global level of magnetic activity, and it is used to study how relations between magnetic flux densities and radiative flux densities from different temperature regimes in the outer atmosphere (derived from spatially resolved solar observations) transform into relations between surface-averaged flux densities. It is found that the transformation to surface-averaged fluxes preserves the power-law character of relations between radiative and magnetic flux densities for spatially resolved data.

Schrijver, C. J.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Collisional quenching of OH radio emission from comet Hale-Bopp

Observations of comets in the 18-cm OH transitions offer a means to probe gas production, kinematics, and OH excitation in comets. We present initial results of OH observations of comet Hale-Bopp obtained with the NRAO 43 m antenna located in Greenbank, WV. Maps of the emission provide strong constraints on the amount of quenching of the inversion of the OH ground state A-doublet in the coma. Analysis of the total radio OH flux and maps of its radial brightness distribution indicate a quenched region on the order of approximately 500,000 km during March and April 1997. This large value is generally consistent with previous observations of radio OH quenching in lower production rate comets when the high production rate of comet Hale-Bopp is considered.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗
NASA NTRS2019

Integrating Remote Sensing Observations with NASA's GEOS-5 Modeling Framework in Support of Retrospective Analyses and Seasonal Prediction of Biosphere-Atmosphere CO2 Flux

The absorption of nearly half of all anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by terrestrial and marine ecosystems has played a critical role in mitigating climate change. However, a persistent lack of understanding of these uptake processes impedes attribution, and thereby introduces large uncertainties into projections of the trajectory of carbon and climate in coming decades. A better understanding and quantification of the seasonal and interannual variability of carbon flux between the atmosphere and ocean and terrestrial biospheres is critically needed to improve predictions from Earth system models. We propose to bring together a diverse suite of remote sensing observations, mechanistic models, and NASA's Goddard Earth Observing System, version 5 (GEOS-5) model to address two objective 1) quantify the processes controlling the temporal variability of biosphere-atmosphere CO2 flux on seasonal and interannual timescales from 1989 to 2018 and 2) evaluating the predictability of the components of carbon flux on seasonal timescales. Because GEOS-5 has been developed to incorporate a variety of Earth system observations and includes a complete and physically consistent depiction of the atmosphere, land, and ocean carbon cycles, it represents a unique and ideal synthesis framework for this effort. By expanding the realism of processes that could be included in GEOS-5 seasonal forecasts, this effort supports NASA's goals toward an integrated Earth system modeling and prediction framework.We propose to integrate a number of observations into the GEOS-5 modeling system to refine retrospective estimates of both terrestrial and marine carbon flux and to test hypotheses regarding the effects of climate drivers on terrestrial carbon flux. This will include assimilating several satellite ocean color products in the NASA Ocean Biogeochemistry Model (NOBM) to improve the representation of ocean biology. We will also utilize remote sensing datasets to increase the temporal resolution of global land-use change estimates and fire emissions to better constrain the temporal variability of the terrestrial carbon cycle. This information will be incorporated into two NASA terrestrial biosphere models Catchment-CN, a dynamic vegetation model that is integrated within GEOS-5 and the Ecosystem Demography (ED) model, a core modeling resource supporting the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission to map biomass. Fluxes will be evaluated through 1) comparison to top-down flux estimates inferred from surface CO2 observations and 2) comparison against available aircraft and satellite observations.By combining predictions of net ecosystem exchange and air-sea CO2 flux from land and ocean models with statistical predictions of land use change, fire, and fossil fuel emissions, we propose to create the first dynamical CO2 forecast on seasonal timescales. Because of the experimental nature of this endeavor, an important project objective will be to evaluate the limits to the predictability of different carbon cycle processes over lead times of 1-12 months using different satellite and surface data streams.

Ott, Lesley↗
DOE OSTI2026

A Monte Carlo Laplace Transform Estimator for Radiation Transport

This work formulates and implements a Laplace transform estimator in a simple Monte Carlo radiation transport code. The estimator maps flux-based quantities of interest, like reaction rates, from a desired phase-space dimension to the complex Laplace domain. This on-the-fly Monte Carlo integration technique enables the spectral analysis of arbitrary nuclear systems via the Laplace transform. A simple code tests the estimator in neutron slowing-down problems across various infinite media, and the results compare well with Ganapol’s uninverted analytical solution of the neutron slowing-down equation.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS1966

The Ames magnetometer.

Flux gate magnetometer for interplanetary magnetic field measurements

INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELD↗
NASA NTRS1971

Dynamics of heat-pipe reactors

A split-core heat pipe reactor, fueled with either U(233)C or U(235)C in a tungsten cermet and cooled by 7-Li-W heat pipes, was examined for the effects of the heat pipes on reactor while trying to safely absorb large reactivity inputs through inherent shutdown mechanisms. Limits on ramp reactivity inputs due to fuel melting temperature and heat pipe wall heat flux were mapped for the reactor in both startup and at-power operating modes.

Niederauer, G. F.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Dynamics of heat-pipe reactors.

A split-core heat-pipe reactor fueled with either 233-UC or 235-UC in a tungsten cermet and cooled by 7-Li-W heat pipes is examined for the effects of the heat pipes on this reactor in trying to safely absorb large reactivity inputs through inherent shutdown mechanisms. Limits on ramp reactivity inputs due to fuel-melting temperature and heat-pipe wall heat flux are mapped for the reactor in both startup and at-power operating modes.

Niederauer, G. F.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Infrared emission from H II regions

Analysis of observations made at infrared wavelengths of a large number of H II regions. Several types of IR sources are found associated with H II regions, and a single region can contain a number of varied IR emitting objects. The main sources of IR emission are ionized hydrogen concentrations, heated dust particles, and OH/H2O masers. Flux density maps for both radio and IR emission suggest that there is a physical association between the IR and radio-emitting regions. The properties of several H II regions indicate that they may be protostellar objects at various stages of evolution.

Wynn-Williams, C. G.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Solar particle emission

A variety of flare-associated and recurrent solar particle events are analyzed using the technique of 'mapping' the fluxes back to the estimated high coronal longitude of the interplanetary field line passing through the spacecraft. Often it is possible to separate temporal from spatial effects as well as those of coronal and interplanetary propagation. Considerable regularity appears in the coronal injection profiles deduced during events in 1969, 1972 and 1973, implying extended acceleration of protons about 0.3-7.5 MeV, helium and medium nuclei about 1 MeV/nuc and relativistic electrons. Clear associations are found in 1973 among energetic particle injection profiles, solar wind stream sources, and low coronal magnetic structure.

Roelof, E. C.↗