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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 739 records · Page 41
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2012

Airborne Precision Spacing for Dependent Parallel Operations Interface Study

This paper describes a usability study of proposed cockpit interfaces to support Airborne Precision Spacing (APS) operations for aircraft performing dependent parallel approaches (DPA). NASA has proposed an airborne system called Pair Dependent Speed (PDS) which uses their Airborne Spacing for Terminal Arrival Routes (ASTAR) algorithm to manage spacing intervals. Interface elements were designed to facilitate the input of APS-DPA spacing parameters to ASTAR, and to convey PDS system information to the crew deemed necessary and/or helpful to conduct the operation, including: target speed, guidance mode, target aircraft depiction, and spacing trend indication. In the study, subject pilots observed recorded simulations using the proposed interface elements in which the ownship managed assigned spacing intervals from two other arriving aircraft. Simulations were recorded using the Aircraft Simulation for Traffic Operations Research (ASTOR) platform, a medium-fidelity simulator based on a modern Boeing commercial glass cockpit. Various combinations of the interface elements were presented to subject pilots, and feedback was collected via structured questionnaires. The results of subject pilot evaluations show that the proposed design elements were acceptable, and that preferable combinations exist within this set of elements. The results also point to potential improvements to be considered for implementation in future experiments.

Volk, Paul M.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Effect of Traffic Position Accuracy for Conducting Safe Airport Surface Operations

The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) concept proposes many revolutionary operational concepts and technologies, such as display of traffic information and movements, airport moving maps (AMM), and proactive alerts of runway incursions and surface traffic conflicts, to deliver an overall increase in system capacity and safety. A piloted simulation study was conducted at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center to evaluate the ability to conduct safe and efficient airport surface operations while utilizing an AMM displaying traffic of various position accuracies as well as the effect of traffic position accuracy on airport conflict detection and resolution (CD&R) capability. Nominal scenarios and off-nominal conflict scenarios were conducted using 12 airline crews operating in a simulated Memphis International Airport terminal environment. The data suggest that all traffic should be shown on the airport moving map, whether qualified or unqualified, and conflict detection and resolution technologies provide significant safety benefits. Despite the presence of traffic information on the map, collisions or near collisions still occurred; when indications or alerts were generated in these same scenarios, the incidences were averted.

Jones, Denise R.↗
NASA NTRS2014

NASA COAST and OCEANIA Airborne Missions Support Ecosystem and Water Quality Research in the Coastal Zone

NASA has a continuing requirement to collect high-quality in situ data for the vicarious calibration of current and next generation ocean color satellite sensors and to validate the algorithms that use the remotely sensed observations. Recent NASA airborne missions over Monterey Bay, CA, have demonstrated novel above- and in-water measurement capabilities supporting a combined airborne sensor approach (imaging spectrometer, microradiometers, and a sun photometer). The results characterize coastal atmospheric and aquatic properties through an end-to-end assessment of image acquisition, atmospheric correction, algorithm application, plus sea-truth observations from state-of-the-art instrument systems. The primary goal is to demonstrate the following in support of calibration and validation exercises for satellite coastal ocean color products: 1) the utility of a multi-sensor airborne instrument suite to assess the bio-optical properties of coastal California, including water quality; and 2) the importance of contemporaneous atmospheric measurements to improve atmospheric correction in the coastal zone. The imaging spectrometer (Headwall) is optimized in the blue spectral domain to emphasize remote sensing of marine and freshwater ecosystems. The novel airborne instrument, Coastal Airborne In-situ Radiometers (C-AIR) provides measurements of apparent optical properties with high dynamic range and fidelity for deriving exact water leaving radiances at the land-ocean boundary, including radiometrically shallow aquatic ecosystems. Simultaneous measurements supporting empirical atmospheric correction of image data are accomplished using the Ames Airborne Tracking Sunphotometer (AATS-14). Flight operations are presented for the instrument payloads using the Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS) Twin Otter flown over Monterey Bay during the seasonal fall algal bloom in 2011 (COAST) and 2013 (OCEANIA) to support bio-optical measurements of phytoplankton for coastal zone research.

Airborne Instruments↗
NASA NTRS2019

The Relationship between Workload, Performance and Fatigue in a Short-Haul Airline

Short-haul flights are associated with irregular work schedules and increased workload, due to frequent takeoffs and landings. We examined the relationship between pilot workload, performance and subjective fatigue during normal short-haul operations. Ninety airline pilots (8 female), mean age 33 (±8 years) completed a NASA-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), a Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT; a reaction time test sensitive to sleep loss) and a Samn-Perelli (SP) fatigue scale, over a period of 20 duty days at top-of-descent on 2762 short-haul flights. The duty days included either 2 or 4 flights per day starting at different times as scheduled during normal operations. Workload was measured using the six NASA-TLX scales: mental demand, physical demand, temporal demand, effort, performance and frustration. Lapses (reaction times [RT] > 500ms) were calculated for the PVT. Spearman correlations were calculated to identify relationships between the NASA-TLX, PVT lapses, and SP. The six scales of NASA-TLX were positively correlated with the PVT lapses (p < 0.01) showing an increase in workload when lapses increased. There was a positive correlation between subjective fatigue as measured by the SP fatigue scale and each of the six scales of NASA-TLX (p < 0.001) suggesting that pilots reported higher workload when perceived levels of fatigue were higher. Of the six workload scales, mental demand and performance were rated the highest (mental: M = 40.99, SD = 20.32; performance: M = 41.61, SD = 20.71) and effort was rated the lowest (M = 15.59, SD = 8.98). Preliminary analyses suggest that high workload is associated with poorer PVT performance and increased self-reported fatigue in this population of short-haul pilots. Future studies should explore how other workload factors (i.e. flight hours, time of day) influence self-reported and objective fatigue measures.

TLX↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Towards A Flexible Data Fusion Tool Incorporating Model, Satellite, Regulatory Monitor and Low-Cost Sensor Data for Air Quality Estimation and Forecasting

Air quality managers, researchers, and concerned community scientists around the world have a variety of sources for air quality information, ranging from traditional regulatory monitoring networks and atmospheric chemistry models to remote sensing data products and low-cost sensor networks. However, the ability to incorporate data from these disparate sources and synthesize a comprehensive overview of the local air quality situation remains a considerable barrier for many end-users. This presentation will outline a tool, currently in development, which will address this need using a flexible data fusion approach. The tool will make use of air quality forecast model outputs (primarily from the NASA GEOS-CF composition forecast modeling system), satellite remote sensing data (from instruments including MODIS, VIIRS, TROPOMI, plus TEMPO for the US when available), and in-situ data from official regulatory and/or low-cost networks where these are available. The ability to incorporate data from low-cost sensor networks will be a key feature of the tool; it will make use of other available data sources to calibrate the low-cost sensor data on a regional scale, then use these calibrated low-cost sensor data for localized updating to resolve finer-scale air quality patterns. Development of this tool is taking place with the help of national and international partners and end-user groups, coordinated through the US EPA and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The tool is being developed on the Google Earth Engine cloud computing platform to facilitate integration of diverse data sources and free access by a broad community of end-users. Stewardship of the tool will be passed to US EPA and UNEP to support future activities with end-users in the US and around the world, and the tool itself will remain freely accessible. We hope that this tool will lower the barrier to entry for various user groups worldwide, including community scientists, who struggle to integrate disparate data sources to gain insight into their local air quality situations. This presentation will cover the early stages of the development of the tool, including the underlying methods and some pilot case studies in integrating low-cost sensor data.

global models↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Flying Qualities Analysis and Piloted Simulation Testing of a Lift+Cruise Vehicle with Propulsion Failures in Hover and Low-Speed Conditions

The recent emergence of electric-Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) applications has resulted in a wide variety of configurations with unique stability and control characteristics. NASA is currently conducting research to develop conceptual design tools to accelerate public acceptance of these vehicles which includes requirements for safety during failure scenarios. This paper summarizes progress toward a toolbox for predicting flying qualities of eVTOL vehicles during critical propulsion failures that could impact the allowable design of the vehicle geometry or control system. Key topics include unique vulnerabilities of eVTOL/multirotor vehicles to propulsion failures, relevant flying qualities design metrics, and simulation modeling requirements for assessing flying qualities degradation due to failures. Results of a piloted simulation study conducted in the NASA Ames Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) are presented. The VMS experiment was designed to assess and validate key handling qualities and safety design metrics for propulsion failures. These results show the correlation between control system design requirements and the degradation in handling qualities for various propulsion failures.

George Altamirano↗
NASA NTRS1992

An Experimental Study of the Effects of Automation on Pilot Situational Awareness in the Datalink ATC Environment

An experiment to study how automation, when used in conjunction with datalink for the delivery of air traffic control (ATC) clearance amendments, affects the situational awareness of aircrews was conducted. The study was focused on the relationship of situational awareness to automated Flight Management System (FMS) programming and the readback of ATC clearances. Situational awareness was tested by issuing nominally unacceptable ATC clearances and measuring whether the error was detected by the subject pilots. The experiment also varied the mode of clearance delivery: Verbal, Textual, and Graphical. The error detection performance and pilot preference results indicate that the automated programming of the FMS may be superior to manual programming. It is believed that automated FMS programming may relieve some of the cognitive load, allowing pilots to concentrate on the strategic implications of a clearance amendment. Also, readback appears to have value, but the small sample size precludes a definite conclusion. Furthermore, because textual and graphical modes of delivery offer different but complementary advantages for cognitive processing, a combination of these modes of delivery may be advantageous in a datalink presentation.

Hahn, Edward C.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Experimental studies on the effect of automation on pilot situational awareness in the datalink ATC environment

An experiment to study how automation, when used in conjunction with datalink for the delivery of ATC clearance amendments, affects the situational awareness of aircrews was conducted. The study was focused on the relationship of situational awareness to automated Flight Management System (FMS) programming of datalinked clearances and the readback of ATC clearances. Situational awareness was tested by issuing nominally unacceptable ATC clearances and measuring whether the error was detected by the subject pilots. The experiment also varied the mode of clearance delivery: Verbal, Textual, and Graphical. The error detection performance and pilot preference results indicate that the automated programming of the FMS may be superior to manual programming. It is believed that automated FMS programming may relieve some of the cognitive load, allowing pilots to concentrate on the strategic implications of a clearance amendment. Also, readback appears to have value, but the small sample size precludes a definite conclusion. Furthermore, because textual and graphical modes of delivery offer different but complementary advantages for cognitive processing, a combination of these modes of delivery may be advantageous in a datalink presentation.

Hahn, Edward C.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Flight Crew Task Management in Non-Normal Situations

Task management (TM) is always performed on the flight deck, although not always explicitly, consistently, or rigorously. Nowhere is TM as important as it is in dealing with non-normal situations. The objective of this study was to analyze pilot TM behavior for non-normal situations. Specifically, the study observed pilots performance in a full workload environment in order to discern their TM strategies. This study identified four different TM prioritization and allocation strategies: Aviate-Navigate-Communicate-Manage Systems; Perceived Severity; Procedure Based; and Event/Interrupt Driven. Subjects used these strategies to manage their personal workload and to schedule monitoring and assessment of the situation. The Perceived Severity strategy for personal workload management combined with the Aviate-Navigate-Communicate-Manage Systems strategy for monitoring and assessing appeared to be the most effective (fewest errors and fastest response times) in responding to the novel system failure used in this study.

Schutte, Paul C.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Cultural Variability in Crew Discourse

Four studies were conducted to determine features of effective crew communication in response to errors during flight. Study One examined whether US captains and first officers use different communication strategies to correct errors and problems on the flight deck, and whether their communications are affected by the two situation variables, level of risk and degree of face-threat involved in challenging an error. Study Two was the cross-cultural extension of Study One and involved pilots from three European countries. Study Three compared communication strategies of female and male air carrier pilots who were matched in terms of years and type of aircraft experience. The final study assessed the effectiveness of the communication strategies observed in Study One.

Fischer, Ute↗
DOE OSTI2021

Measurements from mobile surface vehicles during the Lower Atmospheric Profiling Studies at Elevation – a Remotely-piloted Aircraft Team Experiment (LAPSE-RATE)

Abstract. Between 14 and 20 July 2018, small unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) were deployed to the San Luis Valley of Colorado (USA) alongside surface-based remote sensors, in situ sensors, and radiosonde systems as part of the Lower Atmospheric Profiling Studies at Elevation – a Remotely-piloted Aircraft Team Experiment (LAPSE-RATE). The measurements collected as part of LAPSE-RATE targeted quantities related to enhancing our understanding of boundary layer structure, cloud and aerosol properties and surface–atmosphere exchange and provide detailed information to support model evaluation and improvement work. Additionally, intensive intercomparison between the different unmanned aircraft platforms was completed. The current paper describes the observations obtained using three different types of surface-based mobile observing vehicles. These included the University of Colorado Mobile UAS Research Collaboratory (MURC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Severe Storms Laboratory Mobile Mesonet, and two University of Nebraska Combined Mesonet and Tracker (CoMeT) vehicles. Over the 1-week campaign, a total of 143 h of data were collected using this combination of vehicles. The data from these coordinated activities provide detailed perspectives on the spatial variability of atmospheric state parameters (air temperature, humidity, pressure, and wind) throughout the northern half of the San Luis Valley. These datasets have been checked for quality and published to the Zenodo data archive under a specific “community” setup for LAPSE-RATE (https://zenodo.org/communities/lapse-rate/, last access: 21 January 2021) and are accessible at no cost by all registered users. The primary dataset DOIs are https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3814765 (CU MURC measurements; de Boer et al., 2020d), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3738175 (NSSL MM measurements; Waugh, 2020), and https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3838724 (UNL CoMeT measurements; Houston and Erwin, 2020).

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS2001

Flight Deck Data Link Displays: An Evaluation of Textual and Graphical Implementations

In Experiment 1, 16 pilots participated in a part-task simulation study that evaluated pilot data link communication for short and long message types and for two textual formats. No differences were found between the two textual formats when evaluating data link transaction times and pilot performance on a secondary task. Pilots initiated flight changes more quickly with the T-Scan format, where location of clearance information roughly corresponded to the cockpit instrument layout. Longer messages were less problematic than two short messages sent in close succession as pilots required more verbal clarification for closely spaced messages. 24 pilots participated in a second experiment that evaluated pilot communication performance for textual data link, two implementations of graphical data link, and a combined graphical and textual information modality. The two modalities incorporating text resulted in significantly faster transaction times and better performance on the secondary task than the two graphical-only implementations. The interval between messages was also more systematically varied in Experiment 2, and a short interval between messages significantly increased the access time for the second message. This delay in access was long enough to increase significantly the total transaction time of the second message, and this effect was exaggerated for the graphical-only implementations. Time to view the message before acknowledgement and time to initiate flight changes were not affected by the interval manipulation, This suggests that pilots adopt a sequential message handling strategy, and presenting messages closely in succession may present operational problems in a data link Air Traffic Control (ATC) environment. The results of this study also indicate that the perceived importance of message content is currently a crucial element in pilot data link communication.

McGann, Alison↗
NASA NTRS1979

Ride qualities criteria validation/pilot performance study: Flight test results

Pilot performance during a terrain following flight was studied for ride quality criteria validation. Data from manual and automatic terrain following operations conducted during low level penetrations were analyzed to determine the effect of ride qualities on crew performance. The conditions analyzed included varying levels of turbulence, terrain roughness, and mission duration with a ride smoothing system on and off. Limited validation of the B-1 ride quality criteria and some of the first order interactions between ride qualities and pilot/vehicle performance are highlighted. An earlier B-1 flight simulation program correlated well with the flight test results.

Nardi, L. U.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Synthetic Vision Enhanced Surface Operations and Flight Procedures Rehearsal Tool

Limited visibility has been cited as predominant causal factor for both Controlled-Flight-Into-Terrain (CFIT) and runway incursion accidents. NASA is conducting research and development of Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) technologies which may potentially mitigate low visibility conditions as a causal factor to these accidents while replicating the operational benefits of clear day flight operations, regardless of the actual outside visibility condition. Two experimental evaluation studies were performed to determine the efficacy of two concepts: 1) head-worn display application of SVS technology to enhance transport aircraft surface operations, and 2) three-dimensional SVS electronic flight bag display concept for flight plan preview, mission rehearsal and controller-pilot data link communications interface of flight procedures. In the surface operation study, pilots evaluated two display devices and four display modes during taxi under unlimited and CAT II visibility conditions. In the mission rehearsal study, pilots flew approaches and departures in an operationally-challenged airport environment, including CFIT scenarios. Performance using the SVS concepts was compared to traditional baseline displays with paper charts only or EFB information. In general, the studies evince the significant situation awareness and enhanced operational capabilities afforded from these advanced SVS display concepts. The experimental results and conclusions from these studies are discussed along with future directions.

Arthur, Jarvis J., III↗
NASA NTRS1995

TRISTAR 1: Evaluation methods for testing head-up display (HUD) flight symbology

The first in a series of piloted head-up display (HUD) flight symbology studies (TRISTAR) measuring pilot task performance was conducted at the NASA Ames Research Center by the Tri-Service Flight Symbology Working Group (FSWG). Sponsored by the U.S. Army Aeroflightdynamics Directorate, this study served as a focal point for the FSWG to examine HUD test methodology and flight symbology presentations. HUD climb-dive marker dynamics and climb-dive ladder presentations were examined as pilots performed air-to-air (A/A), air-to-ground (A/G), instrument landing system (ILS), and unusual attitude (UA) recover tasks. Symbolic presentations resembled pitch ladder variations used by the U.S. Air Force (USAF), U.S. Navy (USN), and Royal Air Force (RAF). The study was initiated by the FSWG to address HUD flight symbology deficiencies, standardization, issue identification, and test methodologies. It provided the mechanism by which the USAF, USN, RAF, and USA could integrate organizational ideas and reduce differences for comparisons. Specifically it examined flight symbology issues collectively identified by each organization and the use of objective and subjective text methodology and flight tasking proposed by the FSWG.

Newman, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1961

A Simulator Study of the Effectiveness of a Pilot's Indicator which Combined Angle of Attack and Rate of Change of Total Pressure as Applied to the Take-Off Rotation and Climbout of a Supersonic Transport

A simulator study has been made to determine the effectiveness of a single instrument presentation as an aid to the pilot in controlling both rotation and climbout path in take-off. The instrument was basically an angle-of-attack indicator, biased with a total-pressure-rate input as a means of suppressing the phugoid oscillation. Linearized six-degree-of-freedom equations of motion were utilized in simulating a hypothetical supersonic transport as the test vehicle. Each of several experienced pilots performed a number of simulated take-offs, using conventional flight instruments and either an angle-of-attack instrument or the combined angle-of-attack and total-pressure-rate instrument. The pilots were able to rotate the airplane, with satisfactory precision, to the 15 deg. angle of attack required for lift-off when using either an angle-of-attack instrument or the instrument which combined total-pressure-rate with angle of attack. At least 4 to 6 second-S appeared to be required for rotation to prevent overshoot, particularly with the latter instrument. The flight paths resulting from take-offs with simulated engine failures were relatively smooth and repeatable within a reasonably narrow band when the combined angle-of-attack and total-pressure-rate instrument presentation was used. Some of the flight paths resulting from take-offs with the same engine-failure conditions were very oscillatory when conventional instruments and an angle-of-attack instrument were used. The pilots considered the combined angle-of-attack and total- pressure-rate instrument a very effective aid. Even though they could, with sufficient practice, perform satisfactory climbouts after simulated engine failure by monitoring the conventional instruments and making correction based on their readings, it was much easier to maintain a smooth flight path with the single combined angle-of-attack and total-pressure-rate instrument.

Hall, Albert W.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Solar Power Satellite (SPS) pilot beam and communication link subsystem investigation study, phase 1

A preliminary engineering model of ionospheric interactions with the pilot beam was established and used to demonstrate that the dual frequency baseline pilot beam system might not be viable in the presence of an unstable transmission path. Alternate approaches to remove this difficulty are described. Although ionospheric fluctuations will not significantly degrade beam pointing or raise the sidelobe levels, they will reduce transmission efficiency by upwards of 25%. Mitigating strategies to substantially reduce this effect are proposed. Based on the Klystron noise spectrum, the pilot beam transmitter power was determined as a function of frequency offset from the power beam carrier frequency. The RFI from the pilot beam, on the ground and at geosynchronous orbit is shown. Noise levels on the earth's surface due to the SPS are presented as a function of frequency and the number of SPS systems. Analysis of the communication subsystem indicates that a standard telemetry line of 1.544 MB/s would satisfy both voice and data link requirements. Additional links would be required for TV and radio transmissions.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1993

The Gold Rush: A simulated commercial air transportation study

The remotely piloted vehicle (RPV) GoldRush was designed to complete the mission of transporting passengers in AeroWorld at a lower cost per seat per thousand feet (CPSPK) than the competition, the HB-40. There were two major factors which were constant considerations in the design process. The cost of manufacturing was the most important. In light of this, the designs were kept as simple as possible while considering trade-offs in performance. For example, the wing was not tapered so that several ribs could be cut at one time. Also of major importance was the takeoff distance. In order to serve all the cities in AeroWorld it was necessary to maintain a takeoff distance requirement of 24 feet. The takeoff distance proved to be the number one force in driving the design process. The Astro 25 engine and 13 inch propellor, a large wing area, and the high lift Wortmann airfoil were all chosen in order to satisfy this objective.

Clarke, Amanda↗