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NASA NTRS2000

Effect of Medium Symmetries in Limiting the Number of Parameters Estimated with Polarimetric Interferometry

The addition of interferometric backscattering pairs to the conventional polarimetric SAR data over forests and other vegetated areas increases the dimensionality of the data space, in principle enabling the estimation of a larger number of vegetation parameters. Without regard to the sensitivity of these data to vegetation scattering parameters, this paper poses the question: Will increasing the data channels as such result in a one-to-one increase in the number of parameters that can be estimated, or do vegetation and data properties inherently limit that number otherwise? In this paper, the complete polarimetric interferometric covariance matrix is considered and various symmetry properties of the scattering medium are used to study whether any of the correlation pairs can be eliminated. The number of independent pairs has direct consequences in their utility in parameter estimation schemes, since the maximum number of parameters that can be estimated cannot exceed the number of unique measurements. The independent components of the polarimetric interferometric SAR (POL/INSAR) data are derived for media with reflection, rotation, and azimuth symmetries, which are often encountered in vegetated surfaces. Similar derivations have been carried out before for simple polarimetry, i.e., zero baseline. This paper extends those to the interferometric case of general nonzero baselines. It is shown that depending on the type of symmetries present, the number of independent available measurements that can be used to estimate medium parameters will vary. In particular, whereas in the general case there are 27 mathematically independent measurements possible from a polarimetric interferometer, this number can be reduced to 15, 9, and 6 if the medium has reflection, rotation, or azimuthal symmetries, respectively. The results can be used in several ways in the interpretation of SAR data and the development of parameter estimation schemes, which will be discussed at the presentation. Recent POL/INSAR data from the JPL AIRSAR over a forested area will be used to demonstrate the results of this derivation. This work was performed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, under contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Moghaddam, Mahta↗

NASA NTRS2000

Correlation of Electric Field and Critical Design Parameters for Ferroelectric Tunable Microwave Filters

The correlation of electric field and critical design parameters such as the insertion loss, frequency ability return loss, and bandwidth of conductor/ferroelectric/dielectric microstrip tunable K-band microwave filters is discussed in this work. This work is based primarily on barium strontium titanate (BSTO) ferroelectric thin film based tunable microstrip filters for room temperature applications. Two new parameters which we believe will simplify the evaluation of ferroelectric thin films for tunable microwave filters, are defined. The first of these, called the sensitivity parameter, is defined as the incremental change in center frequency with incremental change in maximum applied electric field (EPEAK) in the filter. The other, the loss parameter, is defined as the incremental or decremental change in insertion loss of the filter with incremental change in maximum applied electric field. At room temperature, the Au/BSTO/LAO microstrip filters exhibited a sensitivity parameter value between 15 and 5 MHz/cm/kV. The loss parameter varied for different bias configurations used for electrically tuning the filter. The loss parameter varied from 0.05 to 0.01 dB/cm/kV at room temperature.

Subramanyam, Guru↗

NASA NTRS1995

Measurements of Band Intensities, Herman-Wallis Parameters, and Self-Broadening Line-Widths of the 30011 - 00001 and 30014 - 00001 Bands of CO2 at 6503 cm(exp -1) and 6076 cm(exp -1)

Rotationless band intensities and Herman-Wallis parameters are listed in HITRAN tabulations for several hundred CO2 overtone-combination bands. These parameters are based on laboratory measurements when available, and on DND calculations for the unmeasured bands. The DND calculations for the Fermi interacting nv(sub 1) + v(sub 3) polyads show the a(sub 2) Herman-Wallis parameter varying smoothly from a negative value for the first member of the polyad to a positive value for the final member. Measurements of the v(sub 1) + v(sub 3) dyad are consistent with the DND calculations for the a(sub 2) parameter, as are our recent measurements of the 4v(sub 1) + v(sub 3) pentad. However, the measurement-based values in the HITRAN tables for the 2v(sub 1) + v(sub 3) triad and the 3v(sub 1) + v(sub 3) tetrad do not support the DND calculated values for the a(sub 2) parameters. We therefore decided to make new measurements to improve some of these intensity parameters. With the McMath FTS at Kitt Peak National Observatory/National Solar Observatory we recorded several spectra of the. 4000 to 8000 cm(exp -1) region of pure CO2 at 0.011 cm(exp -1) resolution using the 6 meter White absorption cell. The signal/noise and absorbance of the first and fourth bands of the 3v(sub 1) + v(sub 3) tetrad of C-12O-16 were ideal on these spectra for measuring line intensities and broadening widths. Our selfbroadening results agree with the HITRAN parameterization, while our measurements of the rotationless band intensities are about 15% less than the HITRAN values. We find a negative value of a(sub 2) for the 30011-00001 band and a positive value for the 30014-00001 band, whereas the HITRAN values of a(sub 2) are positive for all four tetrad bands. Our a(sub 1) and a(sub 2) Herman-Wallis parameters are closer to DND calculated values than the 1992 HITRAN values for both the 30011-00001 and the 30014-00001 band.

Giver, L. P.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Relevant Parameter Evolution in Team X Mission Concept Designs

The Advanced Projects Design Team, also known as Team X, is a concurrent engineering team that quickly and cheaply designs space mission architectures including the flight system and subsystems, the trajectory, and ground system. Through the use of ICEMaker, an Excel spreadsheet database, the parameters from each subsystem can be shared and used among the other subsystems. This allows for entire missions to be planned with only a few short design team sessions. Based on the results, the feasibility of the mission concept can be determined. Over the Years since the team was created, the amount of information being shared among subsystems on the database has increased, however many of the parameters are now obsolete. Removal of these unused parameters Will clean UP the database and help to streamline the mission design process. By comparing parameter files from previous Team X mission studies, the parameter usage can be determined. As was initially suspected there are more unused parameters on the database than parameters that are actually used.

Huelman, Brandon N.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Effect of Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication (EBF3) Processing Parameters on Composition of Ti-6-4

The Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication (EBF3) process developed at NASA Langley Research Center was evaluated using a design of experiments approach to determine the effect of processing parameters on the composition and geometry of Ti-6-4 deposits. The effects of three processing parameters: beam power, translation speed, and wire feed rate, were investigated by varying one while keeping the remaining parameters constant. A three-factorial, three-level, fully balanced mutually orthogonal array (L27) design of experiments approach was used to examine the effects of low, medium, and high settings for the processing parameters on the chemistry, geometry, and quality of the resulting deposits. Single bead high deposits were fabricated and evaluated for 27 experimental conditions. Loss of aluminum in Ti-6-4 was observed in EBF3 processing due to selective vaporization of the aluminum from the sustained molten pool in the vacuum environment; therefore, the chemistries of the deposits were measured and compared with the composition of the initial wire and base plate to determine if the loss of aluminum could be minimized through careful selection of processing parameters. The influence of processing parameters and coupling between these parameters on bulk composition, measured by Direct Current Plasma (DCP), local microchemistries determined by Wavelength Dispersive Spectrometry (WDS), and deposit geometry will also be discussed.

Lach, Cynthia L.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Measuring Parameters of Massive Black Hole Binaries with Partially Aligned Spins

The future space-based gravitational wave detector LISA will be able to measure parameters of coalescing massive black hole binaries, often to extremely high accuracy. Previous work has demonstrated that the black hole spins can have a strong impact on the accuracy of parameter measurement. Relativistic spin-induced precession modulates the waveform in a manner which can break degeneracies between parameters, in principle significantly improving how well they are measured. Recent studies have indicated, however, that spin precession may be weak for an important subset of astrophysical binary black holes: those in which the spins are aligned due to interactions with gas. In this paper, we examine how well a binary's parameters can be measured when its spins are partially aligned and compare results using waveforms that include higher post-Newtonian harmonics to those that are truncated at leading quadrupole order. We find that the weakened precession can substantially degrade parameter estimation, particularly for the "extrinsic" parameters sky position and distance. Absent higher harmonics, LISA typically localizes the sky position of a nearly aligned binary about an order of magnitude less accurately than one for which the spin orientations are random. Our knowledge of a source's sky position will thus be worst for the gas-rich systems which are most likely to produce electromagnetic counterparts. Fortunately, higher harmonics of the waveform can make up for this degradation. By including harmonics beyond the quadrupole in our waveform model, we find that the accuracy with which most of the binary's parameters are measured can be substantially improved. In some cases, the improvement is such that they are measured almost as well as when the binary spins are randomly aligned.

Lang, Ryan N.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Modeling the X-Ray Process, and X-Ray Flaw Size Parameter for POD Studies

Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) method reliability can be determined by a statistical flaw detection study called probability of detection (POD) study. In many instances the NDE flaw detectability is given as a flaw size such as crack length. The flaw is either a crack or behaving like a crack in terms of affecting the structural integrity of the material. An alternate approach is to use a more complex flaw size parameter. The X-ray flaw size parameter, given here, takes into account many setup and geometric factors. The flaw size parameter relates to X-ray image contrast and is intended to have a monotonic correlation with the POD. Some factors such as set-up parameters including X-ray energy, exposure, detector sensitivity, and material type that are not accounted for in the flaw size parameter may be accounted for in the technique calibration and controlled to meet certain quality requirements. The proposed flaw size parameter and the computer application described here give an alternate approach to conduct the POD studies. Results of the POD study can be applied to reliably detect small flaws through better assessment of effect of interaction between various geometric parameters on the flaw detectability. Moreover, a contrast simulation algorithm for a simple part-source-detector geometry using calibration data is also provided for the POD estimation.

Khoshti, Ajay↗

NASA NTRS2014

Modeling the X-ray Process, and X-ray Flaw Size Parameter for POD Studies

Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) method reliability can be determined by a statistical flaw detection study called probability of detection (POD) study. In many instances, the NDE flaw detectability is given as a flaw size such as crack length. The flaw is either a crack or behaving like a crack in terms of affecting the structural integrity of the material. An alternate approach is to use a more complex flaw size parameter. The X-ray flaw size parameter, given here, takes into account many setup and geometric factors. The flaw size parameter relates to X-ray image contrast and is intended to have a monotonic correlation with the POD. Some factors such as set-up parameters, including X-ray energy, exposure, detector sensitivity, and material type that are not accounted for in the flaw size parameter may be accounted for in the technique calibration and controlled to meet certain quality requirements. The proposed flaw size parameter and the computer application described here give an alternate approach to conduct the POD studies. Results of the POD study can be applied to reliably detect small flaws through better assessment of effect of interaction between various geometric parameters on the flaw detectability. Moreover, a contrast simulation algorithm for a simple part-source-detector geometry using calibration data is also provided for the POD estimation.

Koshti, Ajay M.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Study of Material Consolidation at Higher Throughput Parameters in Selective Laser Melting of Inconel 718

Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is a powder bed fusion additive manufacturing process used increasingly in the aerospace industry to reduce the cost, weight, and fabrication time for complex propulsion components. SLM stands poised to revolutionize propulsion manufacturing, but there are a number of technical questions that must be addressed in order to achieve rapid, efficient fabrication and ensure adequate performance of parts manufactured using this process in safety-critical flight applications. Previous optimization studies for SLM using the Concept Laser M1 and M2 machines at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center have centered on machine default parameters. The objective of this work is to characterize the impact of higher throughput parameters (a previously unexplored region of the manufacturing operating envelope for this application) on material consolidation. In phase I of this work, density blocks were analyzed to explore the relationship between build parameters (laser power, scan speed, hatch spacing, and layer thickness) and material consolidation (assessed in terms of as-built density and porosity). Phase II additionally considers the impact of post-processing, specifically hot isostatic pressing and heat treatment, as well as deposition pattern on material consolidation in the same higher energy parameter regime considered in the phase I work. Density and microstructure represent the "first-gate" metrics for determining the adequacy of the SLM process in this parameter range and, as a critical initial indicator of material quality, will factor into a follow-on DOE that assesses the impact of these parameters on mechanical properties. This work will contribute to creating a knowledge base (understanding material behavior in all ranges of the AM equipment operating envelope) that is critical to transitioning AM from the custom low rate production sphere it currently occupies to the world of mass high rate production, where parts are fabricated at a rapid rate with confidence that they will meet or exceed all stringent functional requirements for spaceflight hardware. These studies will also provide important data on the sensitivity of material consolidation to process parameters that will inform the design and development of future flight articles using SLM.

Prater, Tracie↗

NASA NTRS2016

Microgravity-Induced Physiological Fluid Redistribution: Computational Analysis to Assess Influence of Physiological Parameters

Space flight impacts human physiology in many ways, the most immediate being the marked cephalad (headward) shift of fluid upon introduction into the microgravity environment. This physiological response to microgravity points to the redistribution of blood and interstitial fluid as a major factor in the loss of venous tone and reduction in heart muscle efficiency which impact astronaut performance. In addition, researchers have hypothesized that a reduction in astronaut visual acuity, part of the Visual Impairment and Intracranial Pressure (VIIP) syndrome, is associated with this redistribution of fluid. VIIP arises within several months of beginning space flight and includes a variety of ophthalmic changes including posterior globe flattening, distension of the optic nerve sheath, and kinking of the optic nerve. We utilize a suite of lumped parameter models to simulate microgravity-induced fluid redistribution in the cardiovascular, central nervous and ocular systems to provide initial and boundary data to a 3D finite element simulation of ocular biomechanics in VIIP. Specifically, the lumped parameter cardiovascular model acts as the primary means of establishing how microgravity, and the associated lack of hydrostatic gradient, impacts fluid redistribution. The cardiovascular model consists of 16 compartments, including three cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) compartments, three cranial blood compartments, and 10 thoracic and lower limb blood compartments. To assess the models capability to address variations in physiological parameters, we completed a formal uncertainty and sensitivity analysis that evaluated the relative importance of 42 input parameters required in the model on relative compartment flows and compartment pressures. Utilizing the model in a pulsatile flow configuration, the sensitivity analysis identified the ten parameters that most influenced each compartment pressure. Generally, each compartment responded appropriately to parameter variations associated with itself and adjacent compartments. However, several unexpected interactions between components, such as between the choroid plexus and the lower capillaries, were found, and are due to simplifications in the formulation of the model. The analysis illustrates that highly influential parameters and those that have unique influences within the model formulation must be tightly controlled for successful model application.

gravitational physiology↗

NASA NTRS2021

Land Surface Modeling Over the Dry Chaco: The Impact of Model Structures, and Soil, Vegetation and Land Cover Parameters

In this study, we tested the impact of a revised set of soil, vegetation and land cover parameters on the performance of three different state-of-the-art land surface models (LSMs) within the NASA Land Information System (LIS). The impact of this revision was tested over the South American Dry Chaco, an ecoregion characterized by deforestation and forest degradation since the 1980s. Most large-scale LSMs may lack the ability to correctly represent the ongoing deforestation processes in this region, because most LSMs use climatological vegetation indices and static land cover information. The default LIS parameters were revised with improved soil parameters, satellite-based interannually varying vegetation indices (leaf area index and green vegetation fraction) instead of climatological vegetation indices, and yearly land cover information instead of static land cover. A relative comparison in terms of water budget components and “efficiency space” for various baseline and revised experiments showed that large regional and long-term differences in the simulated water budget partitioning relate to different LSM structures, whereas smaller local differences resulted from updated soil, vegetation and land cover parameters. Furthermore, the different LSM structures redistributed water differently in response to these parameter updates. A time-series comparison of the simulations to independent satellite-based estimates of evapotranspiration and brightness temperature (Tb) showed that no LSM setup significantly outperformed another for the entire region and that not all LSM simulations improved with updated parameter values. However, the revised soil parameters generally reduced the bias between simulated surface soil moisture and pixel-scale in situ observations and the bias between simulated Tb and regional Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) observations. Our results suggest that the different hydrological responses of various LSMs to vegetation changes may need further attention to gain benefits from vegetation data assimilation.

Michiel Maertens↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Quantifying Uncertainty in Particle Size Distribution Parameters Inferred from SAGE III/ISS Extinction Spectra

Stratospheric aerosols play key roles in the chemistry and radiation balance of the atmosphere and are a key input parameter for global chemistry and climate models. The degree to which aerosols impact chemistry and radiation balance depends primarily on their microphysical properties such as particle size distribution (PSD). The PSD is a mathematical description of the relative abundance of different sized particles within a sampling volume. If the PSD is accurately known then other key modeling parameters (e.g., surface area density) can be derived. Occultation observations from orbital instruments such as SAGE III/ISS have been used to infer these PSD parameters by inverting the extinction coefficient spectra. However, past efforts failed to address two key issues with this methodology: 1. The measurement uncertainty was not accounted for; 2. They assumed the PSDs to be single-mode only, while “real-world” PSDs are predominantly bi-modal. Accounting for both issues in the retrieval will yield an expanded solution space to the inferred PSD parameters; the question is “by how much?” To address this knowledge gap, we propose to carry out a series of simulations and, for every valid SAGE III/ISS data point, determine the range of PSD parameters that yield extinction spectra that are indistinguishable from the SAGE III/ISS data, within the limits of the reported uncertainty. Further, we will expand the solution space, for the first time, to include bimodal distributions. The results of this work will advance Earth system modeling/prediction capability through identifying the uncertainty of PSD parameter estimates using SAGE III/ISS data. The key benefits of this study over previous studies are twofold: 1. we will provide PSD estimates that include bimodal distributions in the solution space, 2. we will provide an uncertainty estimate for these parameters. The results of this study may be used directly in current and future climate and chemistry models.

SAGE III/ISS↗

NASA NTRS1978

The influence of unsteady aerodynamics on extracted aircraft parameters

The effect of accounting for unsteady aerodynamics on the parameters extracted from flight data is examined. Longitudinal equations of motion have been modified, and a parameter-extraction program developed to include the effects of unsteady aerodynamics. The approach used was to generate pseudo data using the unsteady-aerodynamics model and to use that data in two parameter-extraction programs, one including and the other neglecting unsteady effects to see if the parameters were significantly different. Flight data for a light airplane also was used with the two extraction programs for the same purpose. Results showed that, for the cases considered, including unsteady aerodynamics in the parameter-extraction program did affect the extracted quantities, particularly the damping in pitch. In addition, the parameter variances were lower when unsteady aerodynamics were included in the extraction program than when the effects were neglected.

Queijo, M. J.↗

NASA NTRS1978

A finite element thermal analysis procedure for several temperature-dependent parameters

A finite-element thermal analysis procedure for elements with several temperature-dependent thermal parameters is presented. The procedure, based on an application of the Newton-Raphson iteration technique, is formulated by resolving element matrices into component matrices, one component for each thermal parameter. Component conductance matrices are evaluated by assuming constant thermal parameters within an element and are computed once per unit thermal parameter. Significant savings in computer time result from the unit thermal parameter concept. The solution procedure applied to a convectively cooled structure with significantly varying thermal parameters converged in four iterations.

Thornton, E. A.↗

NASA NTRS1978

A study of parameter identification

A set of definitions for deterministic parameter identification ability were proposed. Deterministic parameter identificability properties are presented based on four system characteristics: direct parameter recoverability, properties of the system transfer function, properties of output distinguishability, and uniqueness properties of a quadratic cost functional. Stochastic parameter identifiability was defined in terms of the existence of an estimation sequence for the unknown parameters which is consistent in probability. Stochastic parameter identifiability properties are presented based on the following characteristics: convergence properties of the maximum likelihood estimate, properties of the joint probability density functions of the observations, and properties of the information matrix.

Herget, C. J.↗

NASA NTRS1982

NASA Dryden's experience in parameter estimation and its uses in flight test

An explanation of the parameter estimation method used at the Dryden Flight Research Facility is presented, and an overview is provided of experience related to the employment of this method, taking into account the utilization of this experience in flight tests. According to a definition of the aircraft parameter estimation problem, the system investigated is asumed to be modeled by a set of dynamic equations containing unknown parameters. To determine the values of the unknown parameters, the system is excited by a suitable input, and the input and actual system response are measured. The values of the unknown parameters are then inferred, based on the requirement that the model response to the given input match the actual system response. Examples of parameter estimation in flight test are discussed, giving attention to the F-14 fighter, the HiMAT (high maneuverable aircraft technology) vehicle, and the Space Shuttle.

Iliff, K. W.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Acoustic emission characterization using AE (parameter) delay

The acoustic emission (AE) parameter delay concept is defined as that particular measured value of a parameter at which a specified baseline level of cumulative AE activity is reached. The parameter can be from any of a broad range of elastic, plastic, viscoelastic, and fracture mechanics parameters, as well as their combinations. Such parameters include stress, load, strain, displacement, time, temperature, loading cycle, unloading stress, stress intensity factor, strain energy release rate, and crack tip plasticity zone size, while the AE activity may be AE event counts, ringdown counts, energy, event duration, etc., as well as their combinations. Attention is given to examples for the AE parameter delay concept, together with various correlations.

Williams, J. H., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Modified Denavit-Hartenberg parameters for better location of joint axis systems in robot arms

The Denavit-Hartenberg parameters define the relative location of successive joint axis systems in a robot arm. A recent justifiable criticism is that one of these parameters becomes extremely large when two successive joints have near-parallel rotational axes. Geometrically, this parameter then locates a joint axis system at an excessive distance from the robot arm and, computationally, leads to an ill-conditioned transformation matrix. In this paper, a simple modification (which results from constraining a transverse vector between successive joint rotational axes to be normal to one of the rotational axes, instead of both) overcomes this criticism and favorably locates the joint axis system. An example is given for near-parallel rotational axes of the elbow and shoulder joints in a robot arm. The regular and modified parameters are extracted by an algebraic method with simulated measurement data. Unlike the modified parameters, extracted values of the regular parameters are very sensitive to measurement accuracy.

Barker, L. K.↗