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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 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2018

Jet-Surface Interaction Noise Models Comparison to TMP17 and Next Steps

A set of empirical jet-surface interaction noise models, developed for single-stream round nozzles exhausting over a simple surface in a static ambient, are evaluated for use in more realistic applications that include multi-stream nozzle systems with chevrons and dihedral surface geometries. The simple-single-stream models have several advantages when used in system-level noise studies: they are robust, they are quickly computed, and they are generally applicable to a wide range of configurations. However, these models rely on a fixed noise source distribution that does not account for the presence of chevrons at the nozzle exit. The effect of this omission on the prediction accuracy is shown by this comparison to experimental data. This motivates discussion of future work to develop a more robust modeling framework that can account for generalized source distributions and more complex airframe geometries. Re: Top-Mounted Propulsion (TMP17) Test Plans.

Propulsion Noise↗
NASA NTRS1977

UH cosmic rays: Possible origin in massive stars

The origin of the Z greater than 28, ultraheavy, cosmic rays in supernova explosions of massive stars is considered. For Z greater than 70, the UH data is dominated by an r-process source distribution, but for the elements just beyond iron, 29 or = Z less than 36, the data cannot be explained by any single process of nucleosynthesis. This problem is solved naturally in a massive star model by secondary neutron capture reactions occuring during core helium burning and during explosive carbon burning. Interstellar propagation calculations were performed with these episodes of synthesis as source distributions, and the results offer an explanation for the current UH cosmic-ray data. The heavy element synthesis during explosive carbon burning is reexamined using more realistic initial conditions given by the post-helium-burning configuration of the star. Effects of preferential acceleration are considered, and experimental tests are discussed.

Wefel, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Nongray radiative gas analyses using the S-N discrete ordinates method

The S-N discrete ordinates method is applied to analyze radiative heat transfer in nongray gases. Spectral correlation between the terms in the equation of transfer is considered for black or nearly nonreflecting walls. Formulations to apply the S-N method using a narrow-band or the exponential wide-band model are presented. The net radiative wall heat fluxes and the radiative source distributions are obtained for uniform, parabolic, and boundary layer-type temperature profiles, as well as for a parabolic concentration profile. The narrow- and wide-band nongray solutions are compared with gray-band approximations using the same band models. The computational speed of the gray-band approximation is obtained at the expense of accuracy in the internal fluxes and radiative source distributions. The wall radiative flux predictions by the gray-band approximation are satisfactory.

Kim, T. K.↗
NASA NTRS1978

UH cosmic rays - Possible origin in massive stars

The origin of the Z greater than 28, ultraheavy (UH) cosmic rays in supernova explosions of massive stars, at least about 10 solar masses, is considered. For Z greater than 70, the UH data are dominated by an r-process source distribution, but for the elements just beyond iron, Z from 29 to 36, the data cannot be explained by any single process of nucleosynthesis. This problem is solved naturally in a massive-star model by secondary neutron-capture reactions occurring during core helium burning (a limited s-process) and during explosive carbon burning. Interstellar-propagation calculations have been performed with these episodes of synthesis as source distributions, and the results offer an explanation for the current UH cosmic-ray data. Further, the heavy-element synthesis during explosive carbon burning is re-examined by using more realistic initial conditions given by the post-helium-burning configuration of the star. These results are compared with earlier work and the UH cosmic-ray data. Some effects of preferential acceleration, based upon ionization potential, are considered, and experimental tests for this model are discussed.

Wefel, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Examination of tracer transport in the NCAR CCM2 by comparison of CFCl3 simulations with ALE/GAGE observations

The latest version of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) community climate model (CCM2) contains a semi-Lagrangian tracer transport scheme for the purpose of advecting water vapor and for including chemistry in the climate model. One way to diagnose the CCM2 transport is to simulate CFCl3 in the CCM2 since it has a well-known industry-based source distribution and a photochemical sink and to compare the model results to Atmospheric Lifetime Experiment/Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment ALE/GAGE observations around the globe. In this paper we focus on this comparison and discuss the synoptic scale issues of tracer transport where appropriate. We compare the model and observations on both 12-hour and monthly timescales. The higher-frequency events allow us to diagnose the synoptic scale transport in the CCM2 associated with the observational sites and to determine uncertainties in our high-resolution source distribution. We find that the CCM2 does simulate many of the key features such as pollution events and some seasonal transports, but there are still some dynamical features of tracer transport such as the storm track dynamics and cross-equatorial flow that merit further study in both the model and the real atmosphere.

Hartley, Dana E.↗
NASA NTRS1997

The source and distribution of Galactic positrons

The oriented scintillation spectrometer experiment (OSSE) observations of the Galactic plane and the Galactic center region were combined with observations acquired with other instruments in order to produce a map of the Galactic 511 keV annihilation radiation. Two mapping techniques were applied to the data: the maximum entropy method, and the basis pursuit inversion method. The resulting maps are qualitatively similar and show evidence for a central bulge and a weak galactic disk component. The weak disk is consistent with that expected from positrons produced by the decay of radioactive Al-26 in the interstellar medium. Both maps suggest an enhanced region of emission near l = -4 deg, b = 7 deg, with a flux of approximately 50 percent of that of the bulge. The existence of this emission appears significant, although the location is not well determined. The source of this enhanced emission is presently unknown.

Purcell, W. R.↗
DOE OSTI2025

FY 2025 End of Year Report: Seismic Monitoring of Underground Vibration Sources using Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) and Seismometers

This end-of-year report summarizes progress on using seismic monitoring to detect, associate, and locate anomalous vibration signals that may indicate potential containment breaches. The work focused on four key tasks: 1. Developing a database of continuous waveforms and ground-truth event data from multiple sensing modalities. 2. Refining and implementing detection and association algorithms to generate a catalog of anomalous underground activities. 3. Testing and improving distributed acoustic sensing amplitude-based geolocation methods to build an event location catalog. 4. Testing and refining seismic array polarization-based geolocation methods to build an event location catalog. This report provides a brief recap of results from the FY25 midyear report (Tasks 1 and 2) and presents new findings from geolocation methods (Tasks 3 and 4).

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

FY 2026 Midyear Report: Seismic Monitoring of Underground Vibration Sources Using Distributed Acoustic Sensing and Seismometers

Safeguards-relevant temporal changes in underground facilities can be observed using geophysical monitoring techniques. Seismic waves, in particular, provide valuable insights into subsurface activities and can serve as an important tool for detecting anomalous events that may indicate containment breaches at geological repositories. This midyear report summarizes ongoing efforts to automatically and rapidly detect and locate anomalous vibration signals that could be indicative of potential containment breaches. Previous work during FY25 focused on compiling continuous seismic datasets from two underground sites and developing a database of continuous waveforms and ground-truth event data derived from multiple sensing modalities. Building on this foundation, we are adapting anomaly detection and geolocation algorithms to explore methods for monitoring underground activities using two relatively low-maintenance sensing technologies: a dense surface geophone array deployed at the Pleasant Gap mine in Pennsylvania, and a three-dimensional fiber-optic cable array for distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) installed in the subsurface at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in South Dakota. This report summarizes work conducted during the first two quarters of FY26, during which we refined a dynamic power spectral density (PSD)-based detector, applied it independently to each geophone station, and then combined the per‑station detections with density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) to cluster events and produce spatial maps over a nine‑day interval. In addition, we outline plans for a field trial at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico to compare traditional seismic monitoring approaches with DAS techniques and to evaluate the benefits of combined data analysis. Activities during the past two quarters have included the preparation and submission of a Field Test Plan to WIPP for approval, as well as submission to headquarters for review and feedback.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1974

On the distribution of source coherency in subsonic jets

Recent experimental and theoretical studies on the sources of far field noise generated by subsonic circular jets have given convincing indications that a coherent wave motion does exist in the potential core of subsonic jets. Cross-covariance measurements using single and cross hot-wire probes in the potential core as well as the turbulent mixing region and microphone measurements in the far field have resulted in cross-correlation coefficients of sufficiently high magnitudes to indicate that significant, if not dominant, noise sources may be located in the potential core. The paper presents the analytical and experimental results of this research.

Seiner, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1977

The galactic halo question - New size constraints from galactic gamma-ray data

Recent satellite observations of the distribution of galactic 100-MeV gamma rays and their interpretation are used as an independent test of the existence and extent of a cosmic-ray halo around the Galaxy. The cosmic-ray halo is defined, uniform and diffusion halo models are described, and the flat diffusion model is employed to investigate the effect of a diffusion halo on the galactic cosmic-ray distribution. Cosmic-ray source distributions that are perpendicularly uniform functions of galactocentric distance are adopted in the analysis. Possible longitudinal distributions of the gamma-ray line flux from neutral-pion decay are evaluated and compared with the fluxes observed by SAS-2 for goodness of fit. The results are shown to be consistent with a thick-disk or thin-halo model having a mean half-thickness of 1 to 3 kpc.

Stecker, F. W.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Distribution and source of the UV absorption in Venus' atmosphere

The model predictions were compared with the Pioneer Venus probes and orbiter to determine the composition of the UV absorbing materials. The simulations were carried out with radiative transfer codes which included spacecraft constraints on the aerosol and gas characteristics in the Venus atmosphere; gaseous SO2 (a source of opacity at the wavelengths below 0.32 microns), and a second absorber (which dominates above 0.32 microns) were required. The UV contrast variations are due to the optical depth changes in the upper haze layer producing brightness variations between equatorial and polar areas, and to differences in the depth over which the second UV absorber is depleted in the highest portion of the main clouds.

Pollack, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Spherical-earth Gravity and Magnetic Anomaly Modeling by Gauss-legendre Quadrature Integration

The usefulness of long-wavelength potential field anomalies in lithospheric interpretation is greatly increased with spherical Earth modeling techniques. Gauss-Legendre quadrature integration is used to calculate the anomalous potential of gravity and magnetic fields and their spatial derivatives on a spherical Earth for an arbitrary body represented by an equivalent point source distribution of gravity poles or magnetic dipoles. The distribution of equivalent point sources is determined directly from the coordinate limits of the source volume. Variable integration limits for an arbitrarily shaped body are derived from interpolation of points which approximate the body's surface envelope. The versatility of the method is enhanced by the ability to treat physical property variations within the source volume and to consider variable magnetic fields over the source and observation surface. A number of examples verify and illustrate the capabilities of the technique, including preliminary modeling of potential field signatures for Mississippi embayment crustal structure at satellite elevations.

Spherical coordinate gravity modeling↗
NASA NTRS2001

Global Distribution and Sources of Volatile and Nonvolatile Aerosol In the Remote Troposphere

Airborne measurements of aerosol (Condensation Nuclei, CN) and selected trace gases made in the areas of the North Atlantic Ocean during SONEX (October/November 1997), and the south tropical Pacific Ocean during PEM-Tropics A (September/October 1996) and PEM-Tropics B (March/April 1999) have been analyzed. Emphasis is on the interpretations of variations in the number densities of the fine (>17 nm) and ultrafine (>8 nm) CN in the upper troposphere (8-12 km). These data suggest that large number densities of highly volatile CN (10(exp 4)-10(exp 5)/cu cm) are present in the clean upper troposphere with highest values over the tropical1subtropical region. Through marine convection and long-distance horizontal transport, volatile CN originating from the tropical/subtropical regions can frequently impact the abundance of aerosol in the middle and upper troposphere at mid to high latitudes. Nonvolatile aerosol particles behave in a manner similar to tracers of combustion (CO) and photochemical pollution (PAN), implying a source from continental pollution of industrial or biomass burning origin. In the upper troposphere, we find that volatile and nonvolatile partials number densities are inversely correlated. An aerosol microphysical model is used to suggest that coagulation of fine volatile particles with fewer larger nonvolatile particles provides one possible mechanism for this relationship. It appears that nonvolatile particles, of principally anthropogenic origin,provide a highly efficient removal process for the fine volatile aerosol.

Singh, Hanwant B.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Some aspects of cosmic synchrotron sources

Synchrotron emission is considered from individual particles which have small pitch angles and the general properties of synchrotron sources which mainly contain such particles, as well as the emissivities and degrees of circular polarization for specific source distributions. The limitation of synchrotron source models for optical pulsars and compact extragalactic objects are discussed, and it is shown that several existing models for the pulsar NP 0532 are inconsistent with the measured time variations and polarizations of the optical emission. Discussion is made also of whether the low frequency falloffs in the extragalactic objects PKS 2134 + 004, OQ 208, and NGC 1068 is due to emission from particles with small pitch angles or absorption by a thermal plasma or synchrotron self-absorption. It is concluded that the absorption interpretations cannot account for the turnover in the spectrum of PKS 2134 + 004. Measurements of polarization, angular structure, and X-ray flux are also described.

Epstein, R. I.↗
NASA NTRS1988

A model for intensity profiles of dust jets near the nucleus of Comet Halley

The Giotto spacecraft's Halley Multicolor Camera images have been used to derive intensity profiles of the jetlike dust features that are associated with active regions of the Comet Halley nucleus. An intensity profile's asymptotic behavior at a radius greater than 100 km from the nucleus can be seen as arising from a source located at a hypothetical point below the active source region. Several source distributions are investigated. The extended source model considers divergent dust flow from an active area of arbitrary shape. It is concluded that the surface is neither smooth nor homogeneous, but must instead be characterized by varying curvature and roughness in order to reflect the observed conical dust flow.

Huebner, W. F.↗