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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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NASA NTRS1974

The ASSESS program documenting and evaluating low cost techniques for conducting research in the flight environment

The Airborne Science Office (ASO) of the Ames Research Center has for 10 years operated an airborne scientific research program in infrared astronomy and other disciplines. The Lear Jet, CV-990, and C-141 flying laboratories are flown by ASO crews, while the major responsibility for defining, developing, and operating the experimental equipment is placed on individual researchers, who have included scientists from many countries. The ASSESS (Airborne Science/Shuttle Experiment Systems Simulation) program consists of two phases: Phase A documents the present management and operational practices of the ASO, and Phase B consists of airborne research missions constrained (for example, by crew confinement) to simulate certain aspects of experimental operations on Shuttle/Spacelab missions. Various parallels between the Airborne Science Program and Spacelab are pointed out and their applications to Spacelab planning are discussed.

Weaver, L. B.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Enabling Earth Science Measurements with NASA UAS Capabilites

NASA's Airborne Science Program (ASP) maintains a fleet of manned and unmanned aircraft for Earth Science measurements and observations. The unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) range in size from very large (Global Hawks) to medium (SIERRA, Viking) and relatively small (DragonEye). UAS fly from very low (boundary layer) to very high altitude (stratosphere). NASA also supports science and applied science projects using UAS operated by outside companies or agencies. The aircraft and accompanying data and support systems have been used in numerous investigations. For example, Global Hawks have been used to study both hurricanes and atmospheric composition. SIERRA has been used to study ice, earthquake faults, and coral reefs. DragonEye is being used to measure volcanic emissions. As a foundation for NASA's UAS work, Altair and Ikkana not only flew wildfires in the Western US, but also provided major programs for the development of real-time data download and processing capabilities. In early 2014, an advanced L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) also flew for the first time on Global Hawk, proving the utility of UAVSAR, which has been flying successfully on a manned aircraft. In this paper, we focus on two topics: 1) the results of a NASA program called UAS-Enabled Earth Science, in which three different science teams flew (at least) two different UAS to demonstrate platform performance, airspace integration, sensor performance, and applied science results from the data collected; 2) recent accomplishments with the high altitude, long-duration Global Hawks, especially measurements from several payload suites consisting of multiple instruments. The latest upgrades to data processing, communications, tracking and flight planning systems will also be described.

Earth Science↗
NASA NTRS2019

NASA Studies the Earth from the Philippines

The Cloud, Aerosol and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment (CAMP2Ex) is a NASA/NRL mission studying clouds and aerosols with the NASA P-3B aircraft, a Learet and an ocean research vessel. The mission is based in the Philippines from late August through early October 2019. This presentation is aimed at 8-12th grade students in the Philippines for education/outreach purposes to expose students to NASA Earth and Airborne Science research, the CAMP2Ex mission, and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).The presentation starts with an overview of NASA Earth science, including discussing how and why NASA studies the earth using satellites, airplanes, and sensors on the ground. We discuss the NASA Airborne Science Program and how NASA uses airplanes to study the Earth from the equator to the poles. We discuss the CAMP2Ex mission specifically, including mission science goals and why we are based in the Philippines. We will discuss basic cloud physics and remote sensing using demonstrations and activities. Finally, we discuss careers in STEM and at NASA, giving personal examples of the career paths of scientists, engineers and pilots on the CAMP2Ex mission.

Schaller, Emily L.↗
NASA NTRS2015

The Role of the NASA Global Hawk Link Module as an Information Nexus For Atmospheric Mapping Missions

The Link Module described in this paper was developed for the NASA Uninhabited Aerial System (UAS) Global Hawk Pacific Mission (GloPAC) Airborne Science Campaign; four flights of 30 hour duration, supporting the Aura Validation Experiment (AVE). It was used again during the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) experiment, a NASA Earth Science field experiment to better understand how tropical storms form and develop into major hurricanes. In these missions, the Link Module negotiated all communication over the high bandwidth Ku satellite link, archived all the science data from onboard experiments in a spatially enabled database, routed command and control of the instruments from the Global Hawk Operations Center, and re-transmitted select data sets directly to experimenters control and analysis systems. The availability of aggregated information from collections of sensors, and remote control capabilities, in real-time, is revolutionizing the way Airborne Science is being conducted. The Link Module NG now being flown in support of the NASA Earth Venture missions, the Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) mission, and Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment (A TTREX) mission, has advanced data fusion technologies that are further advancing the Scientific productivity, flexibility and robustness of these systems. On-the-fly traffic shaping has been developed to allow the high definition video, used for critical flight control segments, to dynamically allocate variable bandwidth on demand. Historically, the Link Module evolved from the instrument and communication interface controller used by NASA's Pathfinder and Pathfinder plus solar powered UAS's in the late 1990' s. It later was expanded for use in the AIRDAS four channel scanner flown on the NASA Altus UAS, and then again to a module in the AMS twelve channel multispectral scanner flying on the NASA (Predator-b) Ikhana UAS. The current system is the answer to the challenges imposed by extremely long duration UASs, with on-board multi-instrument (>= 12) Sensor Webs.

Hurricanes↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Airborne Observations in Support of Wildfire Science and Applications

The NASA Science Mission Directorate Earth Science Division Airborne Science Program enables access to modified aircraft in support of NASA projects. The Program supports researchers and engineers by enabling testing of new instruments, calibration of on-orbit satellite instruments with airborne sensors, and to support process studies and model development. This talk will provide an overview of the Program capabilities, review past NASA flight projects that have focused on wildfires, and discuss how the Program is poised to support the FireSense project and interagency efforts to incorporate new technologies and observations into the wildfire management community. Past missions including the Western States Fire Mission and FIREX-AQ will be discussed, an overview of relevant NASA sensors will be provided, and an introduction to upcoming flight activity will be presented. Data telemetry, communications, and data standards will also be discussed towards improving timely distribution of data products to land managers.

Matthew M Fladeland↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s WB-57F High Altitude Research Aircraft is Looking Up: A Flexible and Capable Heliophysics Platform for Coronal Observations During Total Solar Eclipses

NASA's WB-57F "Canberra" high altitude research aircraft is a unique airborne platform that serves a critical need in airborne science. Although the aircraft has been conventionally used for earth observation/remote sensing and in situ atmospheric sampling, research teams have begun to recognize the aircraft’s emerging role in heliophysics research. With the ability to operate at altitudes in excess of 60,000 feet and with a range of over 2,500 miles, the particular capabilities of the WB-57 are unparalleled by other aircraft in the government or commercial spaces. The Canberra has capacity to carry nearly 9,000 pounds of instrumentation across the aircraft, including modular payload areas in the belly, the nose, wing pods, and wing hatches. The WB-57 features a dedicated "person in the loop" sensor equipment operator, real-time high bandwidth data link between air and ground, and an on-board data network allowing interoperability between multiple systems and operator interfaces. The aircraft has a truly global reach, and has operated out of airfields all over the world with a minimal personnel footprint. The Program maintains a highly qualified engineering team that will work closely with customer requirements to optimize efficiency of payload installation and operation on the aircraft. NASA maintains its own airworthiness authority, allowing a bespoke "in house" approach to aircraft modifications and instrument integration. This often saves months of coordination and cost when compared with commercial options. On 8 April 2024, the WB-57 program executed a one-of-a-kind observation the corona over North America and provided a first-flight opportunity for several instruments that were historically strictly terrestrial. By integrating imagers, spectrometers, and ionosondes on the aircraft, research team partnerships with Southwest Research Institute, University of Hawai’i Institute for Astronomy, and Virginia Tech have demonstrated new and exciting applications for this venerable platform, were able to effectively eliminate the risk of adverse weather spoiling the data collection during totality, and reduce the amount of atmospheric interference in the collected spectral data.

Airborne Science↗
NASA NTRS2013

NASA Activity Update for the 2013 Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (UVSI) Yearbook

This year s report offers a high level perspective on some of the UAS related activities in which NASA is involved, both internal and external to the agency. Internally, NASA issued UAS operational policy on certification of NASA UAS and aircrew. A team of NASA UAS experts and operators analyzed all current procedures and best practices to design the policy. An update to the agencies Aircraft Operations Management Manual incorporated a new chapter to address UAS planning, preflight operations, flight operations, flight crew requirements, airworthiness and flight safety reviews. NASA UAS are classified into three categories based on weight and airspeed. Aircrews, including observers, are classified by how they interface with the UAS, and the policy defines qualifications, training, and currency. The NASA flight readiness approval process identifies risks and mitigations in order to reduce the likelihood and/or consequence of the risk to an acceptable level. The UAS operations process incorporates all aspects of airworthiness, flight standards and range safety exactly the same processes used for NASA manned aircraft operations. NASA has two internal organizations that routinely operate UAS. The Science Mission Directorate utilizes UAS as part of its Airborne Science Program and is the most frequent operator of NASA UAS in both national and international airspace. The Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate conducts UAS flight operations in addition to conducting research important to the UAS community. This past year the Science Mission Directorate supported the Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentimental (HS3) Mission with two NASA Global Hawk platforms. HS3 is a five-year mission specifically targeted to investigate the processes that underlie hurricane formation. During the 2012 portion of this mission the Global Hawk overflew hurricanes Leslie and Nadine in the Atlantic Ocean completing 6 flights and accumulating more than 148 flight hours. Another multi-year mission was initiated last year when the Sensor Integrated Environmental Remote Research Aircraft (SIERRA) UAS began surveying faults in California s Surprise Valley. A team of scientists and engineers from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), NASA Ames Research Center, Central Washington University, and Carnegie Mellon University will measure magnetic fields using ground surveys and the SIERRA to map the geophysics below the surface of Surprise Valley. The data collected will be used to generate 3D maps of the geophysical data of the area. The Aeronautics Mission Directorate continues its collaboration with Boeing to conduct UAS flight operations of the X-48C, a modified version of the X-48B originally built by Cranfield Aerospace, United Kingdom. The Aeronautics Mission Directorate utilizes vehicles of this size for a wide variety of research studies. Most of these operations are conducted within restricted airspace. The Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate also sponsors the UAS in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project, which is working in close cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to address critical challenges associated with routine UAS operations in civil airspace. The project is focused on separation assurance and collision avoidance systems and algorithms, command and control for non-military operations including spectrum allocation requirements, human system interaction issues, and safety and certification topics.

Bauer, Jeffrey E.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Current and Future ESPO Supported Missions

The Earth Science Project Office (ESPO) at NASA Ames Research Center is a group of success-oriented individuals providing project management for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Earth Science Division. We provide planning, implementation, and post-mission support for large, complex, multi-agency, domestic and international field campaigns. ESPO has led over 60 successful field campaigns, dating back to 1987. ESPO supports several of NASA's Earth Science Division’s programs, including Upper Atmosphere Research, Tropospheric Chemistry, Radiation Sciences, Weather and Atmospheric Dynamics, Ocean Biology and Biochemistry, Airborne Science, and the Earth System Science Pathfinder Program.

Erin Czech↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Science Applications From NAST-I Measurements: PBL Thermodynamic Characterization and Variation

The National Airborne Sounder Testbed-Interferometer (NAST‑I) suborbital system serves as a spaceborne instrument simulator and pathfinder for future satellite capabilities and airborne science experiments. The NAST‑I measurements are made to advance understanding of science critical for weather, climate, chemistry, and radiation applications. NAST‑I provides high-spatial linear resolution equal to 13% of the aircraft altitude at nadir, and high-spectral resolution (0.25 cm -1 ) measurements within the spectral region of 645–2700 cm ‑1 . NAST-I measurements and corresponding geophysical retrievals and their potential benefits toward improved atmospheric state and composition characterizations needed for air quality, wildfire, and other science applications have been published in many Peer-reviewed papers. NAST-I capabilities could be of particular importance toward enhancing characterization and understanding of the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL). Initial results of PBL thermodynamic characterization and variation with its time evolution from NAST-I measurements will also be presented.

PBL↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Stewardship Best Practices for Improved Discovery and Reuse of Heterogeneous and Cross-Disciplinary Earth System Data

Some of the Earth system data products such as those from NASA airborne and field investigations (a.k.a. campaigns), are highly heterogeneous and cross-disciplinary, making the data extremely challenging to manage. For example, airborne and field campaign measurements tend to be sporadic over a period of time, with large gaps. Data products generated are of various processing levels and utilized for a wide range of inter- and cross-disciplinary research and applications. Data and derived products have been historically stored in a variety of domain-specific standard (and some non-standard) formats and in various locations such as NASA Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs), NASA airborne science facilities, field archives, or even individual scientists’ computer hard drives. As a result, airborne and field campaign data products have often been managed and represented differently, making it onerous for data users to find, access, and utilize campaign data. Some difficulties in discovering and accessing the campaign data originate from the incomplete data product and contextual metadata that may contain details relevant to the campaign (e.g. campaign acronym and instrument deployment locations), but tend to lack other significant information needed to understand conditions surrounding the data. Such details can be burdensome to locate after the conclusion of a campaign. Utilizing consistent terminology, essential for improved discovery and reuse, is also challenging due to the variety of involved disciplines. To help address the aforementioned challenges faced by many repositories and data managers handling airborne and field data, this presentation will describe stewardship practices developed by the Airborne Data Management Group (ADMG) within the Interagency Implementation and Advanced Concepts Team (IMPACT) under the NASA’s Earth Science Data systems (ESDS) Program.

best practices↗
NASA NTRS2019

Recent Advances in High Altitude Pseudosatellites (HAPS) and Potential Roles in Future Earth Observing Systems

In August 2001 the NASA Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) Program flew the Helios aircraft to an altitude of nearly 100,000ft, demonstrating a new type of remote sensing platform. Nearly 20 years later the earth science community has unmet observational requirements to loiter over regions of interest for days or weeks as well as to follow airmasses to study chemistry and dynamics in concert with spaceborne observations. Recent advances in materials science and engineering have enabled improved battery power density, solar panel efficiency, and light yet strong structural materials required to effectively operate high-altitude (50-70k ft altitude) Pseudo-Satellites (HAPS) for 30+ days. The rapid commercialization of small unmanned aircraft has also contributed to the maturation of HAPS by making avionics, GPS, and other sub-systems smaller and less expensive. HAPS payloads provide high-resolution data that complement geostationary and polar orbiting satellites, while also enabling in-situ sampling of atmospheric chemistry and dynamics. Recent commercial interest in HAPS for 4G/5G and WIFI has funded development of a new generation of aircraft available to the science community. Here I report on a project under the NASA Airborne Science Program to test and demonstrate earth observations from a prototype aircraft being developed under a NASA Small Business Innovative Research Phase II. This aircraft will demonstrate the ability for a solar electric aircraft to deliver a 2u cubesat-based passive optical imaging satellite to 70,000ft for 30 or more days. Discussion will include the anticipated maturation timeline for HAPS, development and operational challenges, and examples of mission concepts that might contribute to future earth observing systems.

Helios aircraft↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Science Applications From NAST-I IR Ultraspectral Measurements of FIREX-AQ Field Campaign

The National Airborne Sounder Testbed-Interferometer (NAST-I) suborbital system serves as a spaceborne instrument simulator and pathfinder for future satellite capabilities and airborne science experiments. The NAST-I flown on high-altitude aircraft taking measurements to advance understanding of science critical for weather, climate, chemistry, and radiation applications. NAST-I provides high-spatial linear resolution equal to 13% of the aircraft altitude at nadir (i.e., 2.6 km IFOV on the ground from an aircraft altitude of 20 km), and high-spectral resolution (0.25 cm-1) measurements within the spectral region of 645–2700 cm-1. Here we present some groundbreaking capabilities of NAST-I measurements and corresponding geophysical retrievals and their potential benefits toward improved atmospheric state and composition characterizations needed for air quality, wildfire, and other science applications, such capabilities could be also of particular importance toward enhancing characterization and understanding of the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL).

remote sensing↗
NASA NTRS2004

An X-Band Radar Terrain Feature Detection Method for Low-Altitude SVS Operations and Calibration Using LiDAR

To enable safe use of Synthetic Vision Systems at low altitudes, real-time range-to-terrain measurements may be required to ensure the integrity of terrain models stored in the system. This paper reviews and extends previous work describing the application of x-band radar to terrain model integrity monitoring. A method of terrain feature extraction and a transformation of the features to a common reference domain are proposed. Expected error distributions for the extracted features are required to establish appropriate thresholds whereby a consistency-checking function can trigger an alert. A calibration-based approach is presented that can be used to obtain these distributions. To verify the approach, NASA's DC-8 airborne science platform was used to collect data from two mapping sensors. An Airborne Laser Terrain Mapping (ALTM) sensor was installed in the cargo bay of the DC-8. After processing, the ALTM produced a reference terrain model with a vertical accuracy of less than one meter. Also installed was a commercial-off-the-shelf x-band radar in the nose radome of the DC-8. Although primarily designed to measure precipitation, the radar also provides estimates of terrain reflectivity at low altitudes. Using the ALTM data as the reference, errors in features extracted from the radar are estimated. A method to estimate errors in features extracted from the terrain model is also presented.

Young, Steve↗
DOE OSTI2022

The NASA Carbon Monitoring System Phase 2 synthesis: scope, findings, gaps and recommended next steps

Abstract Underlying policy efforts to address global climate change is the scientific need to develop the methods to accurately measure and model carbon stocks and fluxes across the wide range of spatial and temporal scales in the Earth system. Initiated in 2010, the NASA Carbon Monitoring System is one of the most ambitious relevant science initiatives to date, exploiting the satellite remote sensing resources, computational capabilities, scientific knowledge, airborne science capabilities, and end-to-end system expertise that are major strengths of the NASA Earth Science program. Here we provide a synthesis of ‘Phase 2’ activities (2011–2019), encompassing 79 projects, 482 publications, and 136 data products. Our synthesis addresses four key questions: What has been attempted? What major results have been obtained? What major gaps and uncertainties remain? and What are the recommended next steps? Through this review, we take stock of what has been accomplished and identify future priorities toward meeting the nation’s needs for carbon monitoring reporting and verification.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2010

Cyberinfrastructure for Aircraft Mission Support

Forth last several years NASA's Airborne Science Program has been developing and using infrastructure and applications that enable researchers to interact with each other and with airborne instruments via network communications. Use of these tools has increased near realtime situational awareness during field operations, resulting it productivity improvements, improved decision making, and the collection of better data. Advances in pre-mission planning and post-mission access have also emerged. Integrating these capabilities with other tools to evolve coherent service-oriented enterprise architecture for aircraft flight and test operations is the subject of ongoing efforts.

Freudinger, Lawrence C.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Earth Science Microwave Remote Sensing at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) was established as NASA's first space flight center in 1959. Its 12,000 personnel are active in the Earth and space sciences, astronomy, space physics, tracking and communications. GSFC's mission is to expand our knowledge of the Earth and its environment, the solar system, and the universe through observations from space. The main Goddard campus is located in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA, just north of Washington, D.C. The Wallops Flight Facility (operational since 1945), located on the Atlantic coast of Virginia was consolidated with the Goddard Space Flight Center in 1982. Wallops is now NASA's principal facility for management and implementation of suborbital research programs, and supports a wide variety of airborne science missions as well. As the lead Center for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE)--a long-term, coordinated research effort to study the Earth as a global environmental system--GSFC scientists and engineers are involved in a wide range of Earth Science remote sensing activities. Their activities range from basic geoscience research to the development of instruments and technology for space missions, as well as the associated Calibration/Validation (Cal/Val) work. The shear breadth of work in these areas precludes an exhaustive description here. Rather, this article presents selected brief overviews of microwave-related Earth Science applications and the ground-based, airborne, and space instruments that are in service, under development, or otherwise significantly involving GSFC. Likewise, contributing authors are acknowledged for each section, but the results and projects they describe represent the cumulative efforts of many persons at GSFC as well as at collaborating institutions. For further information, readers are encouraged to consult the listed websites and references.

Kim, Edward↗
NASA NTRS2011

Flight Planning in the Cloud

This new interface will enable Principal Investigators (PIs), as well as UAVSAR (Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar) members to do their own flight planning and time estimation without having to request flight lines through the science coordinator. It uses an all-in-one Google Maps interface, a JPL hosted database, and PI flight requirements to design an airborne flight plan. The application will enable users to see their own flight plan being constructed interactively through a map interface, and then the flight planning software will generate all the files necessary for the flight. Afterward, the UAVSAR team can then complete the flight request, including calendaring and supplying requisite flight request files in the expected format for processing by NASA s airborne science program. Some of the main features of the interface include drawing flight lines on the map, nudging them, adding them to the current flight plan, and reordering them. The user can also search and select takeoff, landing, and intermediate airports. As the flight plan is constructed, all of its components are constantly being saved to the database, and the estimated flight times are updated. Another feature is the ability to import flight lines from previously saved flight plans. One of the main motivations was to make this Web application as simple and intuitive as possible, while also being dynamic and robust. This Web application can easily be extended to support other airborne instruments.

Flores, Sarah L.↗
NASA NTRS1975

NASA/ESA CV-990 spacelab simulation

Due to interest in the application of simplified techniques used to conduct airborne science missions at NASA's Ames Research Center, a joint NASA/ESA endeavor was established to conduct an extensive Spacelab simulation using the NASA CV-990 airborne laboratory. The scientific payload was selected to perform studies in upper atmospheric physics and infrared astronomy with principal investigators from France, the Netherlands, England, and several groups from the United States. Communication links between the 'Spacelab' and a ground based mission operations center were limited consistent with Spacelab plans. The mission was successful and provided extensive data relevant to Spacelab objectives on overall management of a complex international payload; experiment preparation, testing, and integration; training for proxy operation in space; data handling; multiexperimenter use of common experimenter facilities (telescopes); multiexperiment operation by experiment operators; selection criteria for Spacelab experiment operators; and schedule requirements to prepare for such a Spacelab mission.

Source record↗