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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2005

Fluctuations in Conjunction Miss Distance Projections as Time Approaches Time of Closest Approach

A responsibility of the Trajectory Operations Officer is to ensure that the International Space Station (ISS) avoids colliding with debris. United States Space Command (USSPACECOM) tracks and catalogs a portion of the debris in Earth orbit, but only objects with a perigee less than 600 km and a radar cross section (RCS) greater than 10 cm-objects that, in fact, represent only a small fraction of the objects in Earth orbit. To accommodate for this, the ISS uses shielding to protect against collisions with smaller objects. This study provides a better understanding of how quickly, and to what degree, USSPACECOM projections tend to converge to the final, true miss distance. The information included is formulated to better predict the behavior of miss distance data during real-time operations. It was determined that the driving components, in order of impact on miss distance fluctuations, are energy dissipation rate (EDR), RCS, and inclination. Data used in this analysis, calculations made, and conclusions drawn are stored in Microsoft Excel log sheets. A separate log sheet, created for each conjunction, contains information such as predicted miss distances, apogee and perigee of debris orbit, EDR, RCS, inclination, tracks and observations, statistical data, and other evaluation/orbital parameters.

Christian, John A., III↗
NASA NTRS2008

Storm Surge Measurement with an Airborne Scanning Radar Altimeter

Over the years, hurricane track and intensity forecasts and storm surge models and the digital terrain and bathymetry data they depend on have improved significantly. Strides have also been made in knowledge of the detailed variation of the surface wind field driving the surge. The area of least improvement has been in obtaining data on the details of the temporal/spatial variation of the storm surge dome of water as it evolves and inundates the land to evaluate the performance of the numerical models. Tide gages in the vicinity of the landfall are frequently destroyed by the surge. Survey crews dispatched after the event provide no temporal information and only indirect indications of the maximum surge envelope over land. The landfall of Hurricane Bonnie on 26 August 1998, with a surge less than 2 m, provided an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the potential benefits of direct airborne measurement of the temporal/spatial evolution of storm surge. Despite a 160 m variation in aircraft altitude, an 11.5 m variation in the elevation of the mean sea surface relative to the ellipsoid over the flight track, and the tidal variation over the 5 hour data acquisition interval, a survey-quality Global Positioning System (GPS) aircraft trajectory allowed the NASA Scanning Radar Altimeter carried by a NOAA hurricane research aircraft to produce storm surge measurements that generally fell between the predictions of the NOAA SLOSH model and the North Carolina State University storm surge model.

Wright, C. W.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Characterization of Aerosol Episodes in the Greater Mediterranean Sea Area from Satellite Observations (2000-2007)

An algorithm able to identify and characterize episodes of different aerosol types above sea surfaces of the greater Mediterranean basin (GMB), including the Black Sea and the Atlantic Ocean off the coasts of Iberia and northwest Africa, is presented in this study. Based on this algorithm, five types of intense (strong and extreme) aerosol episodes in the GMB are identified and characterized using daily aerosol optical properties from satellite measurements, namely MODIS-Terra, Earth Probe (EP)-TOMS and OMIAura. These aerosol episodes are: (i) biomass-burning/urban-industrial (BU), (ii) desert dust (DD), (iii) dust/sea-salt (DSS), (iv) mixed (MX) and (v) undetermined (UN). The identification and characterization is made with our algorithm using a variety of aerosol properties, namely aerosol optical depth (AOD), Angstrom exponent (a), fine fraction (FF), effective radius (reff) and Aerosol Index (AI). During the study period (2000e2007), the most frequent aerosol episodes are DD, observed primarily in the western and central Mediterranean Sea, and off the northern African coasts, 7 times/year for strong episodes and 4 times/year for extreme ones, on average. The DD episodes yield 40% of all types of strong aerosol episodes in the study region, while they account for 71.5% of all extreme episodes. The frequency of occurrence of strong episodes exhibits specific geographical patterns, for example the BU are mostly observed along the coasts of southern Europe and off the Atlantic coasts of Portugal, the MX episodes off the Spanish Mediterranean coast and over the Adriatic and northern Aegean Sea, while the DSS ones over the western and central Mediterranean Sea. On the other hand, the extreme episodes for all but DD aerosol display more patchy spatial patterns. The strong episodes exhibit AOD at 550 nm as high as 1.6 in the southernmost parts of central and eastern Mediterranean Sea, which rise up to 5 for the extreme, mainly DD and DSS, episodes. Although more than 90% of all aerosol episodes last 1 day, there are few cases, mainly extreme DD episodes, which last up to 4 days. Independently of their type, the Mediterranean aerosol episodes occur more frequently in spring (strong and extreme episodes) and summer (strong episodes) and most rarely during winter. A significant year by year variability of Mediterranean aerosol episodes has been identified, more in terms of their frequency than intensity. An analysis of 5-day back trajectories for the most extreme episodes provides confidence on the obtained results of the algorithm, based on the revealed origin and track of air masses causing the episodes. The 25 and 6% of all strong and extreme episodes, respectively, are MX, thus highlighting the co-existence of different aerosol types in the greater Mediterranean. The intensity of both MX and DSS episodes exhibits similar patterns to those of DD strong ones, indicating that desert dust is a determinant factor for the intensity of aerosol episodes in the Mediterranean, including DSS and MX episodes.

Atmospheric Chemistry↗
DOE OSTI2021

Modelling dust transport in DIII-D with DTOKS-Upgrade

Comprehensive upgrades to the dust transport code Dust in TOKamaks (DTOKS) that extend the plasma-dust interaction model are presented and compared with recent measurements of dust transport in DIII-D. Simulations incorporating variation in physical properties of graphite dust with temperature and size in a stationary plasma background suggest a substantial decrease in lifetimes due principally to thermal expansion. The trajectories of 53 dust grains identified from analysis of visible camera data taken across two similar shots were used to measure the dust particle velocity distributions. Dust tracks terminated mostly at the outer divertor strike point having a mean observation time of 2.1 ± 0.4 ms. Stochastic modelling of 200 graphite dust particles in the DIII-D tokamak performed with DTOKS-U using plasma simulations generated by OEDGE found similar behaviour, with particles ablating rapidly after acquiring a positive charge in the region close to the outer strike point, creating an acute source of neutral carbon atoms. The simulated mean lifetime, 11 ± 2 ms, showed approximate agreement with experimental observation when corrected by accounting for dust visibility and ignoring the longest trajectories 1.5 ± 0.2 ms. Synthetic diagnostic data generated from coupling the results of DTOKS-U with the visualisation software Calcam offers a powerful new tool for validation of simulations and predictive calculations of dust dynamics.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2023

A Planetary Defense System For Responsive Space Missions

As King et al succinctly write, “Collision between the Earth and small objects in the solar system are known to occur regularly, and can result in extinction-level events at their most energetic or more commonly widespread loss of life or economic destruction even for relatively low-energy impacts.” Currently, the JPL Sentry System and the NASA NEO Surveyor mission track, identify, and monitor potential asteroid threats. The JPL Sentry System4 is an automated collision monitoring system which scans the current asteroid catalog for potential impact trajectories with Earth. A 2017 study led by P. Tricarico titled “The near-Earth asteroid population from two decades of observations” analyzes the combined observations of nine leading asteroid surveys. The NASA NEO Surveyor mission seeks to identify 90% of near-Earth objects (NEO) with diameters greater than 140 meters (460 feet) within 10 years. The NEO Surveyor combines data from two infrared imaging detectors to measure NEO size, composition, shape, rotational state, and orbits. Recently, the NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission successfully altered the orbit of asteroid moon Dimorphos in 2022. This demonstrated that orbit alteration is possible. Thus, collisions between the Earth and asteroids are both likely and demonstrate potential for great harm. There is ongoing work to identify, catalog, and track potential threats. However, when a threat is identified there is not yet a system in place to target the threatening asteroid and defend the planet from potentially existential threats. Building on the DART Mission, we explore a planetary defense system to mitigate asteroid threats.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Effects of magnetic fields on HPGe tracking detectors

Here, we present a study of magnetic fields effects on the position resolution and energy response of hyper-pure germanium detectors. Our results provide realistic estimates of the potential impact on the resolving power of tracking-arrays from (fringe) magnetic fields present when operating together with large spectrometers. By solving the equations of motion for the electron and holes in the presence of both electric and magnetic fields, we analyzed the drift trajectories of the charge carriers to determine the deviations in the positions at the end point of the trajectories, as well as changes in drift lengths affecting the energy resolution and peak shift due to trapping. Our results show that the major effect is in the deviation of the transverse (to the electric field direction) position and suggest that, if no corrective action is taken in the pulse-shape and tracking data analysis procedures, a field strength ≳ 0.1 T will start to impact the intrinsic position resolution of 2 mm (RMS). At fields above ~1 T, the degradation of the energy response becomes observable.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS2020

Optical Navigation for Autonomous Approach of Small Unknown Bodies

State of the practice in navigation around small celestial bodies heavily relies on ground sup- port and human skill, in particular, for perception-based operations such as optical navigation and mapping. This leads to longer duration and more complex mission operations and sub- sequently higher cost. Furthermore, it imposes limitations for certain missions such as fast fly-bys or multi-agent operations. In this work, we present an autonomous navigation strat- egy suitable for approaching small unexplored bodies. During the approach, we estimate the body’s physical properties as well as the spacecraft’s relative trajectory and associated un- certainties. The autonomous navigation strategy, which is solely based on optical measure- ments, begins as soon as the body becomes resolved in the navigation camera and terminates at the start of proximity operations, when the spacecraft makes its first trajectory correction to stay in the vicinity of the body. Our strategy uses multiple image-processing algorithms: light-curve analysis for estimating the target body’s rotation rate, Shape-from-Silhouette for reconstructing the 3D shape and estimating its rotation pole, and feature tracking tailored to Small-Body images for estimating relative navigation parameters. We used the Mission Analysis, Operations, and Navigation Toolkit Environment (MONTE) developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to evaluate the feasibility of this multi-phase navigation strategy using simulated images of an approach trajectory. We used the Rosetta mission data to generate photorealistic images to characterise the performance of this approach. This work is based on the assumptions that the spacecraft attitude is known, the body is a principal-axis rotator, a-priori estimates of ephemerides and scale are available, and the body is observed from a zero sun phase only during initial approach. Preliminary results show orbit determination performance that is on par with the human navigation from the Rosetta mission; albeit with a 1% bias in spacecraft-target radial distance estimate. The bias error is likely due to the robustness and accuracy of the visual tracking under dynamic lighting conditions and per- spective changes, which decrease accuracy.

Villa, Jacopo↗
NASA NTRS1985

Determination of atmospheric density using a space-launched projectile

A method is proposed that provides advance information about unpredictable atmospheric density dispersions that must be accommodated during random operations of aeroassisted-orbital-transfer vehicles (AOTVs). The principal feature is that a test or 'scout' projectile precedes the AOTV through the same region of the atmosphere as that of the predicted transatmospheric flight trajectory. The atmospheric density structure is determined from the vehicle's aerodynamic deceleration characteristics by on-board or ground-based tracking equipment. The time lag between passage of the projectile and the AOTV can be adjusted to only that time necessary to implement required guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) corrections. The various strategies available to control the projectile's flight characteristics are analyzed in detail. The results are correlated with aerothermodynamic heating and materials requirements to ensure the survival of the projectile and, consequently, the capability of the AOTV to navigate a variable upper atmosphere within specified limits.

Menees, G. P.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Visualization techniques for studying high angle of attack separated vortical flows

Flow visualization techniques can provide information on high angle of attack separated flows around slender aircraft configurations that may be unobtainable otherwise. At large angles of attack the flow field is dominated by vortical structures originating on the forebody wing extension, wing and forward control surfaces. Several techniques that are suitable for tracking vortices in subsonic wind tunnels are introduced. A discussion of visualization photographs and quantitative data obtained from visualization studies on vortex trajectory and breakdown position on both static and dynamic wind tunnel models is presented.

Nelson, Robert C.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Spaceflight dynamics 1993; AAS/NASA International Symposium, 8th, Greenbelt, MD, Apr. 26-30, 1993, Parts 1 & 2

A conference on spaceflight dynamics produced papers in the areas of orbit determination, spacecraft tracking, autonomous navigation, the Deep Space Program Science Experiment Mission (DSPSE), the Global Positioning System, attitude control, geostationary satellites, interplanetary missions and trajectories, applications of estimation theory, flight dynamics systems, low-Earth orbit missions, orbital mechanics, mission experience in attitude dynamics, mission experience in sensor studies, attitude dynamics theory and simulations, and orbit-related experience. These papaers covered NASA, European, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, and Brazilian space programs and hardware.

Teles, Jerome↗
NASA NTRS2003

Interplanetary optical navigation 101

The JPL Navigation and Mission Design Section has two related tasks: Mission Design: calculate a nominal trajectory which meets the diverse needs of the scientists on a particular mission. Locate deterministic maneuvers required to fly the nominal trajectory, while locating statistical maneuvers which correct errors in the actual trajectory. Navigation estimates the flight path of a spacecraft (orbit determination) using three fundamental data sets: ground based astrometric data; radio metric tracking data (Doppler, range).

mission design↗
NASA NTRS2011

NASA Tech Briefs, January 2011

The topics include: 1) Distributed Aerodynamic Sensing and Processing Toolbox; 2) Collaborative Supervised Learning for Sensor Networks; 3) Hazard Detection Software for Lunar Landing; 4) Onboard Nonlinear Engine Sensor and Component Fault Diagnosis and Isolation Scheme; 5) Network-Capable Application Process and Wireless Intelligent Sensors for ISHM; 6) Interface Supports Multiple Broadcast Transceivers for Flight Applications; 7) FPGA Sequencer for Radar Altimeter Applications; 8) Miniature Sapphire Acoustic Resonator - MSAR; 9) Process-Hardened, Multi-Analyte Sensor for Characterizing Rocket Plume Constituents; 10) SAD5 Stereo Correlation Line-Striping in an FPGA; 11) Hybrid Composite Cryogenic Tank Structure; 12) Nanoscale Deformable Optics; 13) Reliability-Based Design Optimization of a Composite Airframe Component; 14) Zinc Oxide Nanowire Interphase for Enhanced Lightweight Polymer Fiber Composites; 15) Plasma Igniter for Reliable Ignition of Combustion in Rocket Engines; 16) Wire Test Grip Fixture; 17) A Sub-Hertz, Low-Frequency Vibration Isolation Platform; 18) Carbon Nanofibers Synthesized on Selective Substrates for Nonvolatile Memory and 3D Electronics; 19) Nanoparticle/Polymer Nanocomposite Bond Coat or Coating; 20) High-Resolution Wind Measurements for Offshore Wind Energy Development; 21) Spring Tire; 22) Marsviewer 2008; 23) Mission Services Evolution Center Message Bus; 24) Major Constituents Analysis for the Vehicle Cabin Atmosphere Monitor; 25) Astronaut Health Participant Summary Application; 26) Adaption of the AMDIS Method to Flight Status on the VCAM Instrument; 27) Natural Language Interface for Safety Certification of Safety-Critical Software; 28) Cryogenic Caging for Science Instrumentation; 29) Wide-Range Neutron Detector for Space Nuclear Applications; 30) In Situ Guided Wave Structural Health Monitoring System; 31) Multiplexed Energy Coupler for Rotating Equipment; 32) Attitude Estimation in Fractionated Spacecraft Cluster Systems; 33) Full Piezoelectric Multilayer-Stacked Hybrid Actuation/Transduction Systems; 34) Active Flow Effectors for Noise and Separation Control; 35) Method and System for Temporal Filtering in Video Compression Systems; 36) Apparatus for Measuring Total Emissivity of Small, Low-Emissivity Samples; 37) Multiple-Zone Diffractive Optic Element for Laser Ranging Applications; 38) Simplified Architecture for Precise Aiming of a Deep-Space Communication Laser Transceiver; 39) Two-Photon-Absorption Scheme for Optical Beam Tracking; 40) High-Sensitivity, Broad-Range Vacuum Gauge Using Nanotubes for Micromachined Cavities; 41) Wide-Field Optic for Autonomous Acquisition of Laser Link; 42) Extracting Zero-Gravity Surface Figure of a Mirror; 43) Modeling Electromagnetic Scattering From Complex Inhomogeneous Objects; 44) Visual Object Recognition and Tracking of Tools; 45) Method for Implementing Optical Phase Adjustment; 46) Visual SLAM Using Variance Grid Maps; 47) Rapid Calculation of Spacecraft Trajectories Using Efficient Taylor Series Integration; 48) Efficient Kriging Algorithms; 49) Predicting Spacecraft Trajectories by the WeavEncke Method; 50) An Augmentation of G-Guidance Algorithms; 51) Comparison of Aircraft Icing Growth Assessment Software; 52) Silicon-Germanium Voltage-Controlled Oscillator at 105 GHz; 53) Estimation of Coriolis Force and Torque Acting on Ares-1; 54) Null Lens Assembly for X-Ray Mirror Segments; and 55) High-Precision Pulse Generator.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2011

Hayabusa Re-Entry: Trajectory Analysis and Observation Mission Design

On June 13th, 2010, the Hayabusa sample return capsule successfully re-entered Earth s atmosphere over the Woomera Prohibited Area in southern Australia in its quest to return fragments from the asteroid 1998 SF36 Itokawa . The sample return capsule entered at a super-orbital velocity of 12.04 km/sec (inertial), making it the second fastest human-made object to traverse the atmosphere. The NASA DC-8 airborne observatory was utilized as an instrument platform to record the luminous portion of the sample return capsule re-entry (~60 sec) with a variety of on-board spectroscopic imaging instruments. The predicted sample return capsule s entry state information at ~200 km altitude was propagated through the atmosphere to generate aerothermodynamic and trajectory data used for initial observation flight path design and planning. The DC- 8 flight path was designed by considering safety, optimal sample return capsule viewing geometry and aircraft capabilities in concert with key aerothermodynamic events along the predicted trajectory. Subsequent entry state vector updates provided by the Deep Space Network team at NASA s Jet Propulsion Laboratory were analyzed after the planned trajectory correction maneuvers to further refine the DC-8 observation flight path. Primary and alternate observation flight paths were generated during the mission planning phase which required coordination with Australian authorities for pre-mission approval. The final observation flight path was chosen based upon trade-offs between optimal viewing requirements, ground based observer locations (to facilitate post-flight trajectory reconstruction), predicted weather in the Woomera Prohibited Area and constraints imposed by flight path filing deadlines. To facilitate sample return capsule tracking by the instrument operators, a series of two racetrack flight path patterns were performed prior to the observation leg so the instruments could be pointed towards the region in the star background where the sample return capsule was expected to become visible. An overview of the design methodologies and trade-offs used in the Hayabusa re-entry observation campaign are presented.

Cassell, Alan M.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Pterodactyl: Development and Comparison of Control Architectures for a Mechanically Deployed Entry Vehicle

The Pterodactyl project, seeks to advance the current state-of-the-art for entry vehicles by developing novel guidance and control technologies for Deployable Entry Vehicles (DEVs) that can be applied to various entry vehicle configurations. This paper details the efforts on the NASA-funded Pterodactyl project to investigate and implement multiple control techniques for an asymmetric mechanical DEV. We design multiple control architectures for a Pterodactyl Baseline Vehicle (PBV) and evaluate their performance in achieving varying guidance commands during entry. The control architectures studied are (i) propulsive control systems such as reaction control systems and (ii) non-propulsive control systems such as aerodynamic control surfaces and internal moving masses. For each system, state-feedback integral controllers based on linear quadratic regulator (LQR) optimal control methods are designed to track guidance commands of either (i) bank angle or (ii) angle of attack and sideslip angle as determined by the desired guidance trajectory. All control systems are compared for a lunar return reference mission and by providing a comparative analysis of these systems, configurations, and performance, the efforts detailed in this paper and the Pterodactyl project as a whole will help entry vehicle system designers determine suitable control architectures for integration with DEVs and other entry vehicle types.

Okolo, Wendy A.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

AERACEPT (Aerosol Rapid Analysis Combined Entry Probe/sonde Technology): Enabling Technology for Missions to the Venus Clouds

AERACEPT (AErosol Rapid Analysis Combined Entry Probe/sonde Technology) is an early-stage technology allowing a single aeroshell body to act as both an entry vehicle and aerosol-sampling passive descent sonde. AERACEPT does not require heat shield separation, deployable parachutes, or descent control, thus reducing the mass, volume, and complexity of planetary aerosol sampling. AERACEPT is particularly well suited for a Venus mission, where the particles of greatest interest are within the subsonic descent regime. AERACEPT uses the aeroshell’s own velocity to drive aerosol capture and separation through a series of embedded inlets. It takes advantage of recently developed thermal protection materials (3D-CC and HEEET) in combination with heritage aerosol sampling technologies from both planetary and airborne science (high-speed inlets and particle separation). The trade space for a given descent trajectory includes the particle capture efficiency for a given size, the bias introduced in the sampled particle size and concentration distributions, and the thermal alteration experienced by the particles during their brief exposure to the internal flow environment. AERACEPT is included in the Nephele mission concept study for a small spacecraft targeting the Venus middle and lower cloud layers. Nephele complements larger missions targeting Venus atmospheric gas analysis, such as DAVINCI and Venera-D, by specifically targeting cloud and haze particles. Because of the short lifetime of the probe in the lower atmosphere, Nephele requires a fast cadence of analysis of the captured particles, and includes the VOLTR dual optical spectrometer (SERS/LIBS) as part of its notional payload. Preliminary modeling based on the Nephele trajectory at 63 km to 39 km indicates AERACEPT can limit sample heating to 30-60 K above ambient. A modified particle tracking model has been implemented to estimate capture efficiency of particles larger than 0.1 µm and total sample volume as part of an inlet and interal flow path geometry trade study. Further modeling and empirical testing is underway to improve these estimates.

AERACEPT↗
NASA NTRS1994

Application of a Monte Carlo accuracy assessment tool to TDRS and GPS

In support of a NASA study on the application of radio interferometry to satellite orbit determination, MITRE developed a simulation tool for assessing interferometric tracking accuracy. Initially, the tool was applied to the problem of determining optimal interferometric station siting for orbit determination of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS). Subsequently, the Orbit Determination Accuracy Estimator (ODAE) was expanded to model the general batch maximum likelihood orbit determination algorithms of the Goddard Trajectory Determination System (GTDS) with measurement types including not only group and phase delay from radio interferometry, but also range, range rate, angular measurements, and satellite-to-satellite measurements. The user of ODAE specifies the statistical properties of error sources, including inherent observable imprecision, atmospheric delays, station location uncertainty, and measurement biases. Upon Monte Carlo simulation of the orbit determination process, ODAE calculates the statistical properties of the error in the satellite state vector and any other parameters for which a solution was obtained in the orbit determination. This paper presents results from ODAE application to two different problems: (1)determination of optimal geometry for interferometirc tracking of TDRS, and (2) expected orbit determination accuracy for Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking of low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Conclusions about optimal ground station locations for TDRS orbit determination by radio interferometry are presented, and the feasibility of GPS-based tracking for IRIDIUM, a LEO mobile satellite communications (MOBILSATCOM) system, is demonstrated.

Pavloff, Michael S.↗
DOE OSTI2025

A Climatology and Life‐Cycle Characteristics of Atmospheric Fronts and Their Associated Precipitation

Abstract Atmospheric fronts are one of the main sources of mid‐latitude variability. We employ a novel method for identifying and tracking fronts and frontal precipitation. Thermal and dynamical variables are used to identify fronts as areal objects in space, which are tracked in time using the open‐source TempestExtremes software package. Precipitation objects are co‐located to identify frontal precipitation. The method is subjected to validation and sensitivity tests using manually curated data from the National Weather Service. Climatologies of fronts and frontal precipitation are computed from reanalysis and observations; fronts are present upwards of 14% of the time in the storm tracks, and represent the majority (up to 90%) of total and extreme precipitation. Novel aspects of the method are showcased through the lifetime characteristics of fronts across North America. Three sets of warm and cold fronts were discovered, and their duration, distance‐traveled, and translation velocity are examined. Plain Language Summary Mid‐latitude low‐pressure systems and weather fronts are important for our day‐to‐day experience of weather events, particularly in the mid‐latitudes. This work makes use of standardized atmospheric data and creates a method of automatically tracking these important atmospheric features and their precipitation to quantify their relative role in global precipitation. Weather fronts are persistent in the mid‐latitudes and are associated with the majority of precipitation–particularly the most intense precipitation. Trajectories of fronts over North America are categorized to create a set of archetypal fronts that occur in that region. The differences between these types of fronts are characterized. Key Points An automated, efficient, and skillful frontal detection algorithm is developed and validated Fronts contribute a larger fraction of extreme precipitation than all precipitation in mid‐latitude storm tracks Fronts across North America have substantial variation in characteristics depending on their origin location

extratropical cyclone↗