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NASA NTRS2000

Section on Observed Impacts on El Nino

Agricultural applications of El Nino forecasts are already underway in some countries and need to be evaluated or re-evaluated. For example, in Peru, El Nino forecasts have been incorporated into national planning for the agricultural sector, and areas planted with rice and cotton (cotton being the more drought-tolerant crop) are adjusted accordingly. How well are this and other such programs working? Such evaluations will contribute to the governmental and intergovernmental institutions, including the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research and the US National Ocean and Atmospheric Agency that are fostering programs to aid the effective use of forecasts. As El Nino climate forecasting grows out of the research mode into operational mode, the research focus shifts to include the design of appropriate modes of utilization. Awareness of and sensitivity to the costs of prediction errors also grow. For example, one major forecasting model failed to predict the very large El Nino event of 1997, when Pacific sea-surface temperatures were the highest on record. Although simple correlations between El Nino events and crop yields may be suggestive, more sophisticated work is needed to understand the subtleties of the interplay among the global climate system, regional climate patterns, and local agricultural systems. Honesty about the limitations of an forecast is essential, especially when human livelihoods are at stake. An end-to-end analysis links tools and expertise from the full sequence of ENSO cause-and-effect processes. Representatives from many disciplines are needed to achieve insights, e.g, oceanographers and atmospheric scientists who predict El Nino events, climatologists who drive global climate models with sea-surface temperature predictions, agronomists who translate regional climate connections in to crop yield forecasts, and economists who analyze market adjustments to the vagaries of climate and determine the value of climate forecasts. Methods include historical studies to understand past patterns and to test hindcasts of the prediction tools, crop modeling, spatial analysis and remote sensing. This research involves expanding, deepening, and applying the understanding of physical climate to the fields of agronomy and social science; and the reciprocal understanding of crop growth and farm economics to climatology. Delivery of a regional climate forecast with no information about how the climate forecast was derived limits its effectiveness. Explanation of a region's major climate driving forces helps to place a seasonal forecast in context. Then, a useful approach is to show historical responses to previous El Nino events, and projections, with uncertainty intervals, of crop response from dynamic process crop growth models. Regional ID forecasts should be updated with real-time weather conditions. Since every El Nino event is different, it is important to track, report and advise on each new event as it unfolds. The stability of human enterprises depends on understanding both the potentialities and the limits of predictability. Farmers rely on past experience to anticipate and respond to fluctuations in the biophysical systems on which their livelihoods depend. Now scientists are improving their ability to predict some major elements of climate variability. The improvements in the reliability of El Nino forecasts are encouraging, but seasonal forecasts for agriculture are not, and will probably never be completely infallible, due to the chaotic nature of the climate system. Uncertainties proliferate as we extend beyond Pacific sea-surface temperatures to climate teleconnections and agricultural outcomes. The goal of this research is to shed as a clear light as possible on these inherent uncertainties and thus to contribute to the development of appropriate responses to El Nino and other seasonal forecasts for a range of stakeholders, which, ultimately, includes food consumers everywhere.

Rosenzweig, Cynthia↗

NASA NTRS2010

The Invigoration of Deep Convective Clouds Over the Atlantic: Aerosol Effect, Meteorology or Retrieval Artifact?

Associations between cloud properties and aerosol loading are frequently observed in products derived from satellite measurements. These observed trends between clouds and aerosol optical depth suggest aerosol modification of cloud dynamics, yet there are uncertainties involved in satellite retrievals that have the potential to lead to incorrect conclusions. Two of the most challenging problems are addressed here: the potential for retrieved aerosol optical depth to be cloud-contaminated, and as a result, artificially correlated with cloud parameters; and the potential for correlations between aerosol and cloud parameters to be erroneously considered to be causal. Here these issues are tackled directly by studying the effects of the aerosol on convective clouds in the tropical Atlantic Ocean using satellite remote sensing, a chemical transport model, and a reanalysis of meteorological fields. Results show that there is a robust positive correlation between cloud fraction or cloud top height and the aerosol optical depth, regardless of whether a stringent filtering of aerosol measurements in the vicinity of clouds is applied, or not. These same positive correlations emerge when replacing the observed aerosol field with that derived from a chemical transport model. Model-reanalysis data is used to address the causality question by providing meteorological context for the satellite observations. A correlation exercise between the full suite of meteorological fields derived from model reanalysis and satellite-derived cloud fields shows that observed cloud top height and cloud fraction correlate best with model pressure updraft velocity and relative humidity. Observed aerosol optical depth does correlate with meteorological parameters but usually different parameters from those that correlate with observed cloud fields. The result is a near-orthogonal influence of aerosol and meteorological fields on cloud top height and cloud fraction. The results strengthen the case that the aerosol does play a role in invigorating convective clouds.

Koren, Ilan↗

NASA NTRS2017

Historic Global Biomass Burning Emissions for CMIP6 (BB4CMIP) Based on Merging Satellite Observations with Proxies and Fire Models (1750-2015)

Fires have influenced atmospheric composition and climate since the rise of vascular plants, and satellite data has shown the overall global extent of fires. Our knowledge of historic fire emissions has progressively improved over the past decades due mostly to the development of new proxies and the improvement of fire models. Currently there is a suite of proxies including sedimentary charcoal records, measurements of fire-emitted trace gases and black carbon stored in ice and firn, and visibility observations. These proxies provide opportunities to extrapolate emissions estimates based on satellite data starting in 1997, but each proxy has strengths and weaknesses regarding, for example, the spatial and temporal extents over which they are representative. We developed a new historic biomass burning emissions dataset starting in 1750 that merges the satellite record with several existing proxies, and uses the average of six models from the Fire Model Intercomparison Project (FireMIP) protocol to estimate emissions when the available proxies had limited coverage. According to our approach, global biomass burning emissions were relatively constant with 10-year averages varying between 1.8 and 2.3 petagrams of carbon per year. Carbon emissions increased only slightly over the full time period and peaked during the 1990's after which they decreased gradually. There is substantial uncertainty in these estimates and patterns varied depending on choices regarding data representation, especially on regional scales. The observed pattern in fire carbon emissions is for a large part driven by African fires, which accounted for 58 percent of global fire carbon emissions. African fire emissions declined since about 1950 due to conversion of savanna to cropland, and this decrease is partially compensated for by increasing emissions in deforestation zones of South America and Asia. These global fire emissions estimates are mostly suited for global analyses and will be used in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) simulations.

Biomass burning; Satellite observations; computer ↗

NASA NTRS2016

Going the Distance: Mapping Host Galaxies of LIGO and VIRGO Sources in Three Dimensions using Local Cosmography and Targeted Follow-Up

The Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) discovered gravitational waves (GWs) from a binary black hole merger in 2015 September and may soon observe signals from neutron star mergers. There is considerable interest in searching for their faint and rapidly fading electromagnetic (EM) counterparts, though GW position uncertainties are as coarse as hundreds of square degrees. Because LIGO's sensitivity to binary neutron stars is limited to the local universe, the area on the sky that must be searched could be reduced by weighting positions by mass, luminosity, or star formation in nearby galaxies. Since GW observations provide information about luminosity distance, combining the reconstructed volume with positions and redshifts of galaxies could reduce the area even more dramatically. A key missing ingredient has been a rapid GW parameter estimation algorithm that reconstructs the full distribution of sky location and distance. We demonstrate the first such algorithm, which takes under a minute, fast enough to enable immediate EM follow-up. By combining the three-dimensional posterior with a galaxy catalog, we can reduce the number of galaxies that could conceivably host the event by a factor of 1.4, the total exposure time for the Swift X-ray Telescope by a factor of 2, the total exposure time for a synoptic optical survey by a factor of 2, and the total exposure time for a narrow-field optical telescope by a factor of 3. This encourages us to suggest a new role for small field of view optical instruments in performing targeted searches of the most massive galaxies within the reconstructed volumes.

catalogs â€“ galaxies: distances and redshifts â€“↗

NASA NTRS2004

A Deconvolution Approach for the Mapping of Acoustic Sources (DAMAS) Determined from Phased Microphone Arrays

Current processing of acoustic array data is burdened with considerable uncertainty. This study reports an original methodology that serves to demystify array results, reduce misinterpretation, and accurately quantify position and strength of acoustic sources. Traditional array results represent noise sources that are convolved with array beamform response functions, which depend on array geometry, size (with respect to source position and distributions), and frequency. The Deconvolution Approach for the Mapping of Acoustic Sources (DAMAS) method removes beamforming characteristics from output presentations. A unique linear system of equations accounts for reciprocal influence at different locations over the array survey region. It makes no assumption beyond the traditional processing assumption of statistically independent noise sources. The full rank equations are solved with a new robust iterative method. DAMAS is quantitatively validated using archival data from a variety of prior high-lift airframe component noise studies, including flap edge/cove, trailing edge, leading edge, slat, and calibration sources. Presentations are explicit and straightforward, as the noise radiated from a region of interest is determined by simply summing the mean-squared values over that region. DAMAS can fully replace existing array processing and presentations methodology in most applications. It appears to dramatically increase the value of arrays to the field of experimental acoustics.

Brooks, Thomas F.↗

NASA NTRS2006

A Deconvolution Approach for the Mapping of Acoustic Sources (DAMAS) Determined from Phased Microphone Arrays

Brooks, Thomas F.↗

NASA NTRS2009

Measurement and Characterization of Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor Plume Acoustics

Lift-off acoustic environments generated by the future Ares I launch vehicle are assessed by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) acoustics team using several prediction tools. This acoustic environment is directly caused by the Ares I First Stage booster, powered by the five-segment Reusable Solid Rocket Motor (RSRMV). The RSRMV is a larger-thrust derivative design from the currently used Space Shuttle solid rocket motor, the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM). Lift-off acoustics is an integral part of the composite launch vibration environment affecting the Ares launch vehicle and must be assessed to help generate hardware qualification levels and ensure structural integrity of the vehicle during launch and lift-off. Available prediction tools that use free field noise source spectrums as a starting point for generation of lift-off acoustic environments are described in the monograph NASA SP-8072: "Acoustic Loads Generated by the Propulsion System." This monograph uses a reference database for free field noise source spectrums which consist of subscale rocket motor firings, oriented in horizontal static configurations. The phrase "subscale" is appropriate, since the thrust levels of rockets in the reference database are orders of magnitude lower than the current design thrust for the Ares launch family. Thus, extrapolation is needed to extend the various reference curves to match Ares-scale acoustic levels. This extrapolation process yields a subsequent amount of uncertainty added upon the acoustic environment predictions. As the Ares launch vehicle design schedule progresses, it is important to take every opportunity to lower prediction uncertainty and subsequently increase prediction accuracy. Never before in NASA s history has plume acoustics been measured for large scale solid rocket motors. Approximately twice a year, the RSRM prime vendor, ATK Launch Systems, static fires an assembled RSRM motor in a horizontal configuration at their test facility in Utah. The remaining RSRM static firings will take place on elevated terrain, with the nozzle exit plume being mostly undeflected and the landscape allowing placement of microphones within direct line of sight to the exhaust plume. These measurements will help assess the current extrapolation process by direct comparison between subscale and full scale solid rocket motor data.

Kenny, Jeremy↗

NASA NTRS2001

Airborne Sunphotometry of Aerosol Optical Depth and Columnar Water Vapor During ACE-Asia

During the Intensive Field Campaign (IFC) of the Aerosol Characterization Experiment - Asia (ACE-Asia), March-May 2001, the 6-channel NASA Ames Airborne Tracking Sunphotometer (AATS-6) operated during 15 of the 19 research flights aboard the NCAR C- 130, while its 14-channel counterpart (AATS- 14) was flown successfully on all 18 research flights of a Twin Otter aircraft operated by the Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS), Monterey, CA. ACE-Asia was the fourth in a series of aerosol characterization experiments and focused on aerosol outflow from the Asian continent to the Pacific basin. Each ACE was designed to integrate suborbital and satellite measurements and models so as to reduce the uncertainty in calculations of the climate forcing due to aerosols. The Ames Airborne Tracking Sunphotometers measured solar beam transmission at 6 (380-1021 nm, AATS-6) and 14 wavelengths (353-1558 nm, AATS-14) respectively, yielding aerosol optical depth (AOD) spectra and column water vapor (CWV). Vertical differentiation in profiles yielded aerosol extinction and water vapor concentration. The wavelength dependence of AOD and extinction indicates that supermicron dust was often a major component of the aerosol. Frequently this dust-containing aerosol extended to high altitudes. For example, in data flights analyzed to date 34 +/- 13% of full-column AOD(525 nm) was above 3 km. In contrast, only 10 +/- 4% of CWV was above 3 km. In this paper, we will show first sunphotometer-derived results regarding the spatial variation of AOD and CWV, as well as the vertical distribution of aerosol extinction and water vapor concentration. Preliminary comparison studies between our AOD/aerosol extinction data and results from: (1) extinction products derived using in situ measurements and (2) AOD retrievals using the Multi-angle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (MISR) aboard the TERRA satellite will also be presented.

Redemann, Jens↗

NASA NTRS2024

Evaluating Differences Among Crop Models in Simulating Soybean in-Season Growth

Crop models are useful tools for simulating agricultural systems that require continued model development and testing to increase their robustness and improve how they describe our current understanding of processes. Coordinated and “blind” evaluation of multiple models using same protocols and experimental datasets provides unique opportunities to further improve models and enhance their reliability. For soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], there has been limited coordinated multi-model evaluations for the simulation of in-season plant growth dynamics. We evaluated ten dynamic soybean crop models for their simulation of in-season plant growth using data from five experiments conducted in Argentina, Brazil, France, and USA. We evaluated models after a Blind (using only phenology data) and a Full calibration (with in-season and end-of-season variables). Calibration reduced model uncertainty by reducing standard bias for the simulation of in-season variables (biomass, leaf, pod, and stem weights, and leaf area index, LAI). However, we found that most models had difficulty in reproducing leaf growth dynamics, with normalized root mean squared error (nRMSE) of 56% for leaf weight and 43% for LAI (across locations and models after Full calibration). Models with different levels of complexity and experience were capable of simulating final seed yield at maturity with reasonable accuracy (nRMSE of 8–31% after Full calibration). However, the nRMSE for pod weight (of 17–64% after Full calibration) was two-fold larger than that of seed yield. Moreover, the models differed in how they simulated timing from sowing to beginning seed growth (47–93 days) and effective seed filling period (18–54 days), owing to model structural differences in defining the reproductive developmental stages. Overall, we identified the following processes that can benefit from further model improvement: leaf expansion and senescence, reproductive phenology, and partitioning to reproductive growth. Simulation of pod wall tissue and individual seed cohorts is another aspect that many models currently lack. Model improvement can benefit from high-temporal resolution experimental datasets that concurrently account for phenology, plant growth, and partitioning. Further, we recommend collecting reproductive phenology in the field consistent with actual dry matter allocation to organs in the models and collecting multiple observations of seed and pod weight to aid model improvement for simulation of seed growth and yield formation.

Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement↗

NASA NTRS2003

Comparisons of Gas-phase Temperature Measurements in a Flame Using Thin-Filament Pyrometry and Thermocouples

Less-intrusive, fast-responding, and full-field temperature measurements have long been a desired tool for the research community. Recently, the emission of a silicon-carbide (SiC) fiber placed in a flowing hot (or reacting) gas has been used to measure the temperature profile along the length of the fiber. The relationship between the gas and fiber temperature comes from an energy balance on the fiber. In the present work, we compared single point flame temperature measurements using thin-filament pyrometry (TFP) and thermocouples. The data was from vertically traversing a thermocouple and a SiC fiber through a methanol/air diffusion flame of a porous-metal wick burner. The results showed that the gas temperature using the TFP technique agreed with the thermocouple measurements (25.4 m diameter wire) within 3.5% for temperatures above 1200 K. Additionally, we imaged the entire SiC fiber (with a spatial resolution of 0.14 mm) while it was in the flame using a high resolution CCD camera. The intensity level along the fiber length is a function of the temperature. This results in a one-dimensional temperature profiles at various heights above the burner wick. This temperature measurement technique, while having a precision of less than 1 K, showed data scatter as high as 38 K. Finally, we discuss the major sources of uncertainty in gas temperature measurement using TFP.

Struk, Peter↗

NASA NTRS2001

Modeling the Gas Dynamics Environment in a Subscale Solid Rocket Test Motor

Subscale test motors are often used for the evaluation of solid rocket motor component materials such as internal insulation. These motors are useful for characterizing insulation performance behavior, screening insulation material candidates and obtaining material thermal and ablative property design data. One of the primary challenges associated with using subscale motors however, is the uncertainty involved when extrapolating the results to full-scale motor conditions. These uncertainties are related to differences in such phenomena as turbulent flow behavior and boundary layer development, propellant particle interactions with the wall, insulation off-gas mixing and thermochemical reactions with the bulk flow, radiation levels, material response to the local environment, and other anomalous flow conditions. In addition to the need for better understanding of physical mechanisms, there is also a need to better understand how to best simulate these phenomena using numerical modeling approaches such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD). To better understand and model interactions between major phenomena in a subscale test motor, a numerical study of the internal flow environment of a representative motor was performed. Simulation of the environment included not only gas dynamics, but two-phase flow modeling of entrained alumina particles like those found in an aluminized propellant, and offgassing from wall surfaces similar to an ablating insulation material. This work represents a starting point for establishing the internal environment of a subscale test motor using comprehensive modeling techniques, and lays the groundwork for improving the understanding of the applicability of subscale test data to full-scale motors. It was found that grid resolution, and inclusion of phenomena in addition to gas dynamics, such as two-phase and multi-component gas composition are all important factors that can effect the overall flow field predictions.

Eaton, Andrew M.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Rotation Rate of Saturn's Magnetosphere using CAPS Plasma Measurements

We present the present status of an investigation of the rotation rate of Saturn's magnetosphere using a 3D velocity moment technique being developed at Goddard which is similar to the 2D version used by Sittler et al. for SOI and similar to that used by Thomsen et al.. This technique allows one to nearly cover the full energy range of the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) IMS from 1 V . E/Q < 50 kV. Since our technique maps the observations into a local inertial frame, it does work during roll maneuvers. We make comparisons with the bi-Maxwellian fitting technique developed by Wilson et al. and the similar velocity moment technique by Thomsen et al. . We concentrate our analysis when ion composition data is available, which is used to weight the non-compositional data, referred to as singles data, to separate H+, H2+ and water group ions (W+) from each other. The chosen periods have high enough telemetry rates (4 kbps or higher) so that coincidence ion data, similar to that used by Sittler et al. for SOI is available. The ion data set is especially valuable for measuring flow velocities for protons, which are more difficult to derive using singles data within the inner magnetosphere, where the signal is dominated by heavy ions (i.e., proton peak merges with W+ peak as low energy shoulder). Our technique uses a flux function, which is zero in the proper plasma flow frame, to estimate fluid parameter uncertainties. The comparisons investigate the experimental errors and potential for systematic errors in the analyses, including ours. The rolls provide the best data set when it comes to getting 4PI coverage of the plasma but are more susceptible to time aliasing effects. In the future we will then make comparisons with magnetic field observations, Saturn ionosphere conductivities as presently known and the field aligned currents necessary for the planet to enforce corotation of the rotating plasma.

Sittler, E.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Rotation Rate of Saturn's Magnetosphere using CAPS Plasma Measurements

We present the present status of an investigation of the rotation rate of Saturn 's magnetosphere using a 3D velocity moment technique being developed at Goddard which is similar to the 2D version used by Sittler et al. (2005) [1] for SOI and similar to that used by Thomsen et al. (2010). This technique allows one to nearly cover the full energy range of the CAPS IMS from 1 V less than or equal to E/Q less than 50 kV. Since our technique maps the observations into a local inertial frame, it does work during roll manoeuvres. We have made comparisons with Wilson et al. (2008) [2] (2005-358 and 2005-284) who performs a bi-Maxwellian fit to the ion singles data and our results are nearly identical. We will also make comparisons with results by Thomsen et al. (2010) [3]. Our analysis uses ion composition data to weight the non-compositional data, referred to as singles data, to separate H+, H2+ and water group ions (W+) from each other. The ion data set is especially valuable for measuring flow velocities for protons, which are more difficult to derive using singles data within the inner magnetosphere, where the signal is dominated by heavy ions (i.e., proton peak merges with W+ peak as low energy shoulder). Our technique uses a flux function, which is zero in the proper plasma flow frame, to estimate fluid parameter uncertainties. The comparisons investigate the experimental errors and potential for systematic errors in the analyses, including ours. The rolls provide the best data set when it comes to getting 4PI coverage of the plasma but are more susceptible to time aliasing effects. Since our analysis is a velocity moments technique it will work within the inner magnetosphere where pickup ions are important and velocity distributions are non-Maxwellian. So, we will present results inside Enceladus' L shell and determine if mass loading is important. In the future we plan to make comparisons with magnetic field observations, use Saturn ionosphere conductivities as presently known and the field aligned currents necessary for the planet to enforce corotation of the rotating plasma.

Sittler, E.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Continuous Electrode Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion

The NIAC Phase I project on Inertial Electrostatic Confinement was a continuation of early stage research that was funded by an NSTRF. The student on the project, Andrew Chap, was funded by the NSTRF from Fall 2013 through the Summer of 2017, and then was funded on the NIAC through the completion of his PhD. A significant amount of work targeting the plasma confinement physics was the focus of his NSTRF, and over the course of that effort he developed a number of analyses and computational tools that leveraged GPU parallelization. A detailed discussion of these models can be found in his dissertation, which has been included as Appendix D in this report. As a requirement for the NSTRF, Andrew's full dissertation was submitted at the end of the program.Having developed the computational tools, a substantial amount of simulation and analyses leveraging those tools were conducted during the Fall of 2017, under the auspices of the NIAC funded research. Much of this work targeted optimization of the confinement fields, investigating their structure and the possible advantages of having them be time-varying. The results of these simulations can also be found in Appendix D.One of the main results from this research is that the density of ions electrostatically confined within the system can indeed be increased by several orders of magnitude by optimizing the radial potential distribution, and by dynamically varying these fields to maintain compressed ion bunches. An electron population can also be confined within the core by a static radial cusped magnetic field,which helps to support a greater ion density within the core. The issue with the confinement mechanism is that as the ion densities are increased toward fusion-relevant levels, the electrostatic forces generated by the confined electron population become so great that the ions are no longer energetic enough to leave the device core. As their excursions into the outer channels are diminished, the mechanism that is used to maintain their non-thermal velocity distributions becomes ineffective, and eventually the ions become fully confined within the core, where they thermalize. A possible fix to the problem comes by discarding the active ion control (a main pillar of the concept)but retaining the structure of the permanent magnet confinement of the electron population. Such cusped field confinement has been the focus of other IEC approaches (e.g. Polywell), but the high transparency of the permanent magnet structure lends itself to better ion extraction and power conversion (a second pillar of the concept). The question then becomes whether any influence on the ion evolution within the core can be achieved to slow the thermalization of the ions. Such approaches have been studied in highly idealized analytic models, but face major criticisms within the literature. While this is a possible path forward, the uncertainty in the approach did not warrant committing NIAC Phase II resources to investigating the concept at this time.

Sedwick, Raymond↗

NASA NTRS2012

Real-Time X-ray Radiography Diagnostics of Components in Solid Rocket Motors

Solid rocket motors (SRMs) typically use nozzle materials which are required to maintain their shape as well as insulate the underlying support structure during the motor operation. In addition, SRMs need internal insulation materials to protect the motor case from the harsh environment resulting from the combustion of solid propellant. In the nozzle, typical materials consist of high density graphite, carbon-carbon composites and carbon phenolic composites. Internal insulation of the motor cases is typically a composite material with carbon, asbestos, Kevlar, or silica fibers in an ablative matrix such as EPDM or NBR. For both nozzle and internal insulation materials, the charring process occurs when the hot combustion products heat the material intensely. The pyrolysis of the matrix material takes away a portion of the thermal energy near the wall surface and leaves behind a char layer. The fiber reinforcement retains the porous char layer which provides continued thermal protection from the hot combustion products. It is of great interest to characterize both the total erosion rates of the material and the char layer thickness. By better understanding of the erosion process for a particular ablative material in a specific flow environment, the required insulation material thickness can be properly selected. The recession rates of internal insulation and nozzle materials of SRMs are typically determined by testing in some sort of simulated environment; either arc-jet testing, flame torch testing, or subscale SRMs of different size. Material recession rates are deduced by comparison of pre- and post-test measurements and then averaging over the duration of the test. However, these averaging techniques cannot be used to determine the instantaneous recession rates of the material. Knowledge of the variation in recession rates in response to the instantaneous flow conditions during the motor operation is of great importance. For example, in many SRM configurations the recession of the solid propellant grain can drastically alter the flow-field and effect the recession of internal insulation and nozzle materials. Simultaneous measurement of the overall erosion rate, the development of the char layer, and the recession of the char-virgin interface during the motor operation can be rather difficult. While invasive techniques have been used with limited success, they have serious drawbacks. Break wires or make wire sensors can be installed into a sufficient number of locations in the charring material from which a time history of the charring surface can be deduced. These sensors fundamentally alter the local structure of the material in which they are imbedded. Also, the location of these sensors within the material is not known precisely without the use of an X-ray. To determine instantaneous recession rates, real-time X-ray radiography (X-ray RTR) has been utilized in several SRM experiments at PSU. The X-ray RTR system discussed in this paper consists of an X-ray source, X-ray image intensifier, and CCD camera connected to a capture computer. The system has been used to examine the ablation process of internal insulation as well as nozzle material erosion in a subscale SRM. The X-ray source is rated to 320 kV at 10 mA and has both a large (5.5 mm) and small (3.0 mm) focal spot. The lead-lined cesium iodide X-ray image intensifier produces an image which is captured by a CCD camera with a 1,000 x 1,000 pixel resolution. To produce accurate imagery of the object of interest, the alignment of the X-ray source to the X-ray image intensifier is crucial. The image sequences captured during the operation of an SRM are then processed to enhance the quality of the images. This procedure allows for computer software to extract data on the total erosion rate and the char layer thickness. Figure 1 Error! Reference source not found.shows a sequence of images captured during the operation the subscale SRM with the X-ray RTR system. The X-rayTR system, alignment procedure, uncertainty determination, and image analysis process will be discussed in detail in the full manuscript.

Cortopassi, A. C.↗

NASA NTRS2009

Assessment of the Short-Term Radiometric Stability between Terra MODIS and Landsat 7 ETM+ Sensors

The Landsat 7 (L7) Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) sensor was launched on April 15th, 1999 and has been in operation for over nine years. It has six reflective solar spectral bands located in the visible and shortwave infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum (0.5 - 2.5 micron) at a spatial resolution of 30 m. The on-board calibrators are used to monitor the on-orbit sensor system changes. The ETM+ performs solar calibrations using on-board Full Aperture Solar Calibrator (FASC) and the Partial Aperture Solar Calibrator (PASC). The Internal Calibrator Lamp (IC) lamps, a blackbody and shutter optics constitute the on-orbit calibration mechanism for ETM+. On 31 May 2003, a malfunction of the scan-line corrector (SLC) mirror assembly resulted in the loss of approximately 22% of the normal scene area. The missing data affects most of the image with scan gaps varying in width from one pixel or less near the centre of the image to 14 pixels along the east and west edges of the image, creating a wedge-shaped pattern. However, the SLC failure has no impacts on the radiometric performance of the valid pixels. On December 18, 1999, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Proto-Flight Model (PFM) was launched on-board the NASA's EOS Terra spacecraft. Terra MODIS has 36 spectral bands with wavelengths ranging from 0.41 to 14.5 micron and collects data over a wide field of view angle (+/-55 deg) at three nadir spatial resolutions of 250 m, 500 in 1 km for bands 1 to 2, 3 to 7, and 8 to 36, respectively. It has 20 reflective solar bands (RSB) with spectral wavelengths from 0.41 to 2.1 micron. The RSB radiometric calibration is performed by using on-board solar diffuser (SD), solar diffuser stability monitor (SDSM), space-view (SV), and spectro-radiometric calibration assembly (SRCA). Through the SV port, periodic lunar observations are used to track radiometric response changes at different angles of incidence (AOI) of the scan mirror. As a part of the AM Constellation satellites, Terra MODIS flies approximately 30 minutes behind L7 ETM+ in the same orbit. The orbit of L7 is repetitive, circular, sunsynchronous, and near polar at a nominal altitude of 705 km (438 miles) at the Equator. The spacecraft crosses the Equator from north to south on a descending node between 10:00 AM and 10:15 AM. Circling the Earth at 7.5 km/sec, each orbit takes nearly 99 minutes. The spacecraft completes just over 14 orbits per day, covering the entire Earth between 81 degrees north and south latitude every 16 days. The longest continuous imaging swath that L7 sensor can collect is for a 14-minute subinterval contact period which is equivalent to 35 full WRS-2 scenes. On the other hand, Terra can provide the entire corresponding orbit with wider swath at any given ETM+ collection without contact time limitation. There are six spectral matching band pairs between MODIS (bands 3, 4, 1, 2, 6, 7) and ETM+ (bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7) sensor. MODIS has narrower spectral responses than ETM+ in all the bands. A short-term radiometric stability was evaluated using continuous ETM+ scenes within the contact period and the corresponding half orbit MODIS scenes. The near simultaneous earth observations (SNO) were limited by the smaller swath size of ETM+ (187 km) as compared to MODIS (2330 km). Two sets of continuous granules for MODIS and ETM+ were selected and mosaiced based on pixel geolocation information for non cloudy pixels over the North American continent. The Top-of- Atmosphere (TOA) reflectances were computed for the spectrally matching bands between ETM+ and MODIS over the regions of interest (ROI). The matching pixel pairs were aggregated from a finer to a coarser pixel resolution and the TOA reflectance values covering a wide dynamic range of the sensors were compared and analyzed. Considering the uncertainties of the absolute calibration of the both sensors, radiometric stability was verified for the band pairs. The Railroad Valley Playa, Nada (RVPN) was included in the path of this continuous orbit, which served as a verification point between the shortterm and the long-term trending results from previous studies. This work focuses on monitoring the short-term on-orbit stability of MODIS and the ETM+ RSB. It also provides an assessment of the absolute calibration differences between the two sensors over their wide dynamic ranges.

Choi, Taeyoung↗

NASA NTRS2015

Advanced Concept Studies for Supersonic Commercial Transports Entering Service in the 2018-2020 Period Phase 2

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company (LM), working in conjunction with General Electric Global Research (GE GR) and Stanford University, executed a 19 month program responsive to the NASA sponsored "N+2 Supersonic Validation: Advanced Concept Studies for Supersonic Commercial Transports Entering Service in the 2018-2020 Period" contract. The key technical objective of this effort was to validate integrated airframe and propulsion technologies and design methodologies necessary to realize a supersonic vehicle capable of meeting the N+2 environmental and performance goals. The N+2 program is aligned with NASA's Supersonic Project and is focused on providing system level solutions capable of overcoming the efficiency, environmental, and performance barriers to practical supersonic flight. The N+2 environmental and performance goals are outlined in the technical paper, AIAA-2014-2138 (Ref. 1) along with the validated N+2 Phase 2 results. Our Phase 2 efforts built upon our Phase 1 studies (Ref. 2) and successfully demonstrated the ability to design and test realistic configurations capable of shaped sonic booms over the width of the sonic boom carpet. Developing a shaped boom configuration capable of meeting the N+2 shaped boom targets is a key goal for the N+2 program. During the LM Phase 1 effort, LM successfully designed and tested a shaped boom trijet configuration (1021) capable of achieving 85 PLdB under track (forward and aft shock) and up to 28 deg off-track at Mach 1.6. In Phase 2 we developed a refined configuration (1044-2) that extended the under 85 PLdB sonic boom level over the entire carpet of 52 deg off-track at a cruise Mach number of 1.7. Further, the loudness level of the configuration throughout operational conditions calculates to an average of 79 PLdB. These calculations rely on propagation employing Burger's (sBOOM) rounding methodology, and there are indications that the configuration average loudness would actually be 75 PLdB. We also added significant fidelity to the design of the configuration in this phase by performing a low speed wind tunnel test at our LTWT facility in Palmdale, by more complete modelling of propulsion effects in our sonic boom analysis, and by refining our configuration packaging and performance assessments. Working with General Electric, LM performed an assessment of the impact of inlet and nozzle effects on the sonic boom signature of the LM N+2 configurations. Our results indicate that inlet/exhaust streamtube boundary conditions are adequate for conceptual design studies, but realistic propulsion modeling at similar stream-tube conditions does have a small but measurable impact on the sonic boom signature. Previous supersonic transport studies have identified aeroelastic effects as one of the major challenges associated with the long, slender vehicles particularly common with shaped boom aircraft (Ref. 3). Under the Phase 2 effort, we have developed a detailed structural analysis model to evaluate the impact of flexibility and structural considerations on the feasibility of future quiet supersonic transports. We looked in particular at dynamic structural modes and flutter as a failure that must be avoided. We found that for our N+2 design in particular, adequate flutter margin existed. Our flutter margin is large enough to cover uncertainties like large increases in engine weight and the margin is relatively easy to increase with additional stiffening mass. The lack of major aeroelastic problems probably derives somewhat from an early design bias. While shaped boom aircraft require long length, they are not required to be thin. We intentionally developed our structural depths to avoid major flexibility problems. So at the end of Phase 2, we have validated that aeroelastic problems are not necessarily endemic to shaped boom designs. Experimental validation of sonic boom design and analysis techniques was the primary objective of the N+2 Supersonic Validations contract; and in this Phase, LM participated in four high speed wind tunnel tests. The first so-called Parametric Test in the Ames 9x7 tunnel did an exhaustive look at variation effects of the parameters: humidity, total pressure, sample time, spatial averaging distance and number of measurement locations, and more. From the results we learned to obtain data faster and more accurately, and made test condition tolerances easy to meet (eliminating earlier 60 percent wasted time when condition tolerances could not be held). The next two tests used different tunnels. The Ames 11 ft tunnel was used to test lower Mach numbers of 1.2 and 1.4. There were several difficulties using this tunnel for the first time for sonic boom including having to shift the measurement Mach numbers to 1.15 and 1.3 to avoid flow problems. It is believed that the 11 ft could be used successfully to measure sonic boom but there are likely to be a number of test condition restrictions. The Glenn 8x6 ft tunnel was used next and the tunnel has a number of desirable features for sonic boom measurement. While the Ames 9x7 can only test Mach 1.55 to 2.55 and the 11 ft can only test Mach 1.3 and lower, the Glenn 8x6 can test continuously from Mach 0.3 to 2.0. Unfortunately test measurement accuracy was compromised by a reference pressure drift. Post-test analysis revealed that the drift occurred when Mach number drifted slightly. Test measurements indicated that if Mach number drift is eliminated, results from the 8x6 would be more accurate, especially at longer distances, than results from the 9x7. The fourth test in the 9x7, called LM4, used everything we learned to comprehensively and accurately measure our new 1044-02 configuration with a full-carpet shaped signature design. Productivity was 8 times greater than our Phase 1 LM3 test. Measurement accuracy and repeatability was excellent out to 42 in. However, measurements at greater distances require the rail in the aft position and become substantially less accurate. Further signature processing or measurement improvements are needed for beyond near-field signature validation.

Morgenstern, John↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) Aerocapture System for Enabling Faster-Larger Planetary Science & Human Exploration Missions

Since our completing the NIAC Phase I NIAC on this Advanced Aerocapture System, NASA Langley Research Center has funded or supported a number of studies and code enhancements through its Center Innovation Fund (CIF) and NASA’s NSTGRO and Internship Programs to mature the analysis capabilities and quantify the merits of the MHD Aerocapture System technology. These efforts have resulted in a plug and play analysis capability for assessing MHD aerocapture system performance for arrival at many planetary bodies of interest. Our efforts have especially focused on the potential mass savings for improving the capacity for science observations at Neptune and Triton. A re-cent Forbes article published “‘Orbital mechanics is probably going to decide for us whether we go to Uranus or Neptune because we need to flyby Jupiter,’ said Kunio Sayanagi at Hampton University, Virginia, who also worked on the Neptune Odyssey proposal…. Exactly when a mission can be sent to Uranus, or Neptune, depends on the relative position of Jupiter, which can help give a spacecraft a gravitational slingshot. That drastically shortens the cruise phase.” [1] Since shortening the cruise phase is important for these science missions, any mass savings enabled by the MHD Aerocapture System could be reallocated to increasing Thermal Protection System mass to allow faster arrival speeds and/or for onboarding additional payloads such as science instruments, batteries, or propellant for conducting more science for longer durations in the desired orbits. The analysis steps and codes for conducting trades and sizing vehicles for aerocapture are as follows: Step 1 is to conduct aeroheating analysis using LAURA of the selected entry vehicle shape to identify locations on the forebody where ionization and flow velocity are sufficient for producing Lo-rentz forces. LAURA is a multiblock structured grid finite-volume CFD solver developed at the NASA Langley Research Center. [2] LAURA has been used for aerothermal analysis support of the entry, de-scent and landing (EDL) phase of interplanetary missions over the last three decades [3-7]. Step 2 is to port the LAURA results into CFDWARP to calcu-late electrical and thermal conductivities of ionized flow for sizing MHD patch system and calculating Lorentz forces needed for controls analysis. CFDWARP is a CFD code that uses advanced nu-merical methods that enable the simulation of the full coupling between the aerodynamics, the magne-tohydrodynamics, and the non-neutral plasma sheaths. CFDWARP has the unique capability to simulate efficiently the non-neutral sheaths (near the electrodes) in coupled form with the quasi-neutral bulk MHD flow [8-11]. Step 3 is to link re-sults from LAURA and CFDWARP into POST2 for calculating entry trajectories and comparing MHD control results with other aerodynamic control strategies. The Program to Optimize Simulated Tra-jectories II (POST2) is a generalized point mass, discrete parameter targeting and optimization pro-gram. POST2 provides the capability to target and optimize point mass trajectories for multiple pow-ered or un-powered vehicles near an arbitrary rotat-ing, oblate planet [12]. Step 4: TPS sizing was per-formed using the Fully Implicit Ablation and Ther-mal-response code (FIAT) tool which computes the transient one-dimensional thermal response and surface thermochemistry of a multilayer stackup of thermal protection, bonding, and structural materi-als subject to aeroheating on one surface [13]. The sizing and margining methodology used was based on the approach documented by Mahzari and Milos [14] for the dual-layered heatshield for extreme entry environment technology (DL-HEEET) TPS concept. TPS analysis utilizes trajectory information from POST2. Using this step-wise plug and play MHD Aerocapture performance assessment process, our analysis targets a Neptune aerocapture trajectory that will place the spacecraft in an observation orbit for Triton. [15]. Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) control of a 4.5-meter diameter MSL-style capsule resulted in TPS mass savings of nearly 2000 kg when using an MHD system mass of under 200 kg. The flight path for a vehicle using the MHD control strategy has a much lower heat rate and heat load compared to the conventional aerodynamic aerocapture strategies known as bank angle con-trolled (BAC) and direct force controlled (DFC). Both BAC and DFC have heat rates significantly greater than 1500 W/cm2 typically used as an upper limit for PICA. Thus, DL-HEEET TPS concept was required for the BAC and DFC control strategies. However, considering the more benign environ-ments for the MHD case, additional TPS concepts with improved mass efficiency were also assessed. PICA was considered for the MHD controlled strat-egy since the maximum heat rate was well within the limits (<1500 W/cm2) of PICA. TPS sizing re-sulted in a significant mass reduction. The PICA layer for this sizing case was about 7.8 cm. As a point of reference, the Mars 2020 mission, which used this same PICA concept, had a PICA thickness of 3.18 cm [16]. The trajectories used for the TPS sizing originat-ed from the POST2 simulations. The current, I, to an electromagnet configuration can be manipulated to allow for active control of the vehicle. Manipula-tion of the current, I, changes the magnetic field, B, which affects the Lorentz force and therefore the MHD drag force on the vehicle. Our analysis in-cluded both open-loop and close-loop control. Closed-loop control will enable improved overall performance when taking into account mission level uncertainties, such as interplanetary delivery errors and atmospheric modeling uncertainties. The open-loop and closed-loop MHD control cases do not dip as deep into the atmosphere as the aerodynamic cases. Three types of aerodynamic-only approach-es are investigated: bank angle modulation (BAM), director force control (DFC), and Drag Modulated. BAM and DFC make use of vehicle aerodynamic angles to steer the vehicle. Thus, changing the aer-odynamic forces acting on the vehicle for control, aerodynamic drag modulated case requires a vary-ing drag area to modulate the drag force. The MHD drag modulated case modulates MHD generated drag force that adds to the aerodynamic drag. This higher atmospheric activation of drag forces by the MHD patch results in significantly less heat flux on the vehicle. The MHD technology will enable shorter cruise times and deceleration of larger payloads for increasing the capacity for science at the Ice Giants or for returning astronauts to Earth from cislunar space or from Mars. The purpose of this presentation is to provide more details about this work and to highlight plans for further research and development including a flight demonstration.

R. W. Moses↗