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At least 1,189 records · Page 66

GPS Ocean Reflection Experiment on Spartan 251

It has recently been demonstrated that the GPS signal which has reflected from the ocean surface contains useful geophysical data from which the sea surface wind speed and other parameters can be extracted. This can be used for remote sensing, similar to present day use of radar altimeters or scatterometers, but with significantly smaller instrumentation because of the utilization of the existing GPS broadcast signal for illumination. Several campaigns of aircraft experimentation have been completed demonstrating this technique and reflected GPS data has been reliably collected from 25 km altitude on a balloon. However, there has not yet been a demonstration that the reflected GPS signal can be detected from orbit with sufficient signal to noise ratio (SNR) to make useful remote sensing measurements. A technology demonstration experiment was planned for a Space Shuttle flight in the late 2000 using the Spartan 251 recoverable carrier. This experiment would also have been the first flight validation of the PiVoT GPS receiver developed in house at the Goddard Space Flight Center. The "open-architecture" design of this receiver would allow the software modifications to be made which control code-correlator spacing to map out the shape of the reflected signal waveform, which is the most basic data product generated by this instrumentation. A moderate gain left-hand circularly polarized antenna, constructed from an array of off-the-shelf hemispherical antennas was to be used to give approximately 3 to 6 dB of additional gain. Preliminary SNR predictions have been done indicating that this antenna would offer sufficient gain to record waveform measurements. A system level description of the experiment instrumentation, including the receiver, antenna and data storage and retrieval will be given. The visibility of GPS reflections over the mission duration of several hours will be studied, including the effects of the limited beamwidth of the antenna. Spartan 251 has now been postponed with the earliest opportunity in the year 2002. The results of this study however, have been 2 used to further the define the requirements and expected performance of reflected GPS receivers in orbit. Several other space flight opportunities are being considered based upon this new information.

Garrison, James L↗

Collaboration on SEP Missions to the Moon and Small Bodies

In response to the Discovery announcement of opportunity a team consisting of TRW Lewis Research Center, JPL and UCLA with scientific co-investigators from government and University laboratories have proposed to fly the first planetary solar electric propulsion (SEP) mission. Diana is designed to carry an X-ray and gamma ray spectrometer, and imaging spectrometer, a framing camera, a laser altimer an ion spectrometer and a magnetometer. In order to obtain lunar gravity data from the far side of the moon a relay satellite is placed into high polar orbit about the moon to relay the Doppler-shifted telemetry to Earth. Diana will spend two months in a 700 km polar orbit obtaining mineralogical data from a full spectral map of the lunar surface, and then spend a year in a 100 km (or below) polar orbit mapping the lunar elemental composition, its topography, gravity field, ions from its atmosphere and its permanent and induced magnetic fields. After the low altitude mapping phase the ion thrusters propel the spacecraft out of the lunar sphere of influence and onto a heloioscentric trajectory to rendezvous with dormant comet Wilson-Harrington. The ground truth provided by the returned lunar samples to validate the remote sensing instruments for lunar studies will also serve to validate the Wilson-Harrington observations since the same instruments will be used at both bodies.

Pieters, C. M.↗

Land Product Validation

The "Land Product Validation" (LPV) subgroup of the Committee on Earth Observing Satellites Working on Group on Calibration and Validation was formed in 2000. Goals of the LPV subgroup are: (1)to increase the quality and economy of global satellite product validation via developing and promoting international standards and protocols for field sampling, scaling, error budgeting, data exchange and product evaluation, and (2) to advocate mission-long validation programs for current and future earth observing satellites. First-round LPV activities will compliment the research themes of the Global Observation of Forest Cover (GOFC) program, which are: biophysical products, fire/burn scar detection, and land cover mapping. Meetings in June and July of 2001 focused on the first two themes. The GOFC "Forest Cover Characteristics and Changes" meeting provides a forum to initiate LPV activities related to Land Cover. The presentation will start with a summary of the LPV subgroup and its current activities. This will be followed by an overview of areas for potential coordination between the LPV and the GOFC Land Cover Theme.

Morisette, Jeffrey↗

Proportional and Integral Thermal Control System for Large Scale Heating Tests

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Armstrong Flight Research Center (Edwards, California) Flight Loads Laboratory is a unique national laboratory that supports thermal, mechanical, thermal/mechanical, and structural dynamics research and testing. A Proportional Integral thermal control system was designed and implemented to support thermal tests. A thermal control algorithm supporting a quartz lamp heater was developed based on the Proportional Integral control concept and a linearized heating process. The thermal control equations were derived and expressed in terms of power levels, integral gain, proportional gain, and differences between thermal setpoints and skin temperatures. Besides the derived equations, user's predefined thermal test information generated in the form of thermal maps was used to implement the thermal control system capabilities. Graphite heater closed-loop thermal control and graphite heater open-loop power level were added later to fulfill the demand for higher temperature tests. Verification and validation tests were performed to ensure that the thermal control system requirements were achieved. This thermal control system has successfully supported many milestone thermal and thermal/mechanical tests for almost a decade with temperatures ranging from 50 F to 3000 F and temperature rise rates from -10 F/s to 70 F/s for a variety of test articles having unique thermal profiles and test setups.

Thermal Control System↗

Mesospheric and Upper Stratospheric Temperatures From OMPS-LP

We report the development of a temperature profile data set from the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite Limb Profiler (OMPS-LP) instrument on the Suomi NPP satellite. The data set covers a roughly 10 year period from 2012 to 2022, and temperatures are provided in the altitude range between 35 and 70 km. The algorithm uses daytime Rayleigh scattered radiation near 350 nm to estimate atmospheric density profiles, which are vertically integrated using the hydrostatic equation to estimate atmospheric pressure. Temperature profiles are then derived using the ideal gas law. Spectral structures in the OMPS-LP radiances are a source of systematic errors that limit the absolute accuracy to ±2 K. However, since the systematic errors do not change significantly over time, the relative accuracy is better than ±1 K. Our temperature data set has been designed to supplement global temperature maps produced by assimilation of data from traditional meteorological sensors, including GNSS radio occultation sensors, that provide high quality atmospheric temperature profiles up to 40–55 km. We show comparisons to other co-located temperature datasets to validate our product.

Observations of Mesospheric and Upper Stratospheri↗

AMS Ground Truth Measurements: Calibration and Test Lines

Airborne gamma spectrometry is one of the primary techniques used to define the extent of ground contamination after a radiological incident. Its usefulness was demonstrated extensively during the response to the Fukushima nuclear power plant (NPP) accident in March-May 2011. To map ground contamination a set of scintillation detectors is mounted on an airborne platform (airplane or helicopter) and flown over contaminated areas. The acquisition system collects spectral information together with the aircraft position and altitude every second. To provide useful information to decision makers, the count rate data expressed in counts per second (cps) needs to be converted to the terrestrial component of the exposure rate 1 m above ground, or surface activity of isotopes of concern. This is done using conversion coefficients derived from calibration flights. During a large scale radiological event, multiple flights may be necessary and may require use of assets from different agencies. However, as the production of a single, consistent map product depicting the ground contamination is the primary goal, it is critical to establish very early into the event a common calibration line. Such a line should be flown periodically in order to normalize data collected from different aerial acquisition systems and potentially flown at different flight altitudes and speeds. In order to verify and validate individual aerial systems, the calibration line needs to be characterized in terms of ground truth measurements. This is especially important if the contamination is due to short-lived radionuclides. The process of establishing such a line, as well as necessary ground truth measurements, is described in this document.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Locality-aware and load-balanced static task scheduling for MapReduce

Task scheduling for MapReduce jobs has been an active area of research with the objective of decreasing the amount of data transferred during the shuffle phase via exploiting data locality. In the literature, generally only the scheduling of reduce tasks is considered with the assumption that scheduling of map tasks is already determined by the input data placement. However, in cloud or HPC deployments of MapReduce, the input data is located in a remote storage and scheduling map tasks gains importance. Here, we propose models for simultaneous scheduling of map and reduce tasks in order to improve data locality and balance the processors’ loads in both map and reduce phases. Our approach is based on graph and hypergraph models which correctly encode the interactions between map and reduce tasks. Partitions produced by these models are decoded to schedule map and reduce tasks. A two-constraint formulation utilized in these models enables balancing processors’ loads in both map and reduce phases. The partitioning objective in the hypergraph models correctly encapsulates the minimization of data transfer when a local combine step is performed prior to shuffle, whereas the partitioning objective in the graph models achieve the same feat when a local combine is not performed. Here, we show the validity of our scheduling on the MapReduce parallelizations of two important kernel operations – sparse matrix–vector multiplication (SpMV) and generalized sparse matrix–matrix multiplication (SpGEMM) – that are widely encountered in big data analytics and scientific computations. Compared to random scheduling, our models lead to tremendous savings in data transfer by reducing data traffic from several hundreds of megabytes to just a few megabytes in the shuffle phase and consequently leading up to 2.6x and 4.2x speedup for SpMV and SpGEMM, respectively.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Alignment Measurements of the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) Instrument in a Thermal/Vacuum Chamber

The Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) Observatory, scheduled for a fall 2000 launch, is designed to measure temperature fluctuations (anisotropy) and produce a high sensitivity and high spatial resolution (approximately 0.2 degree) map of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation over the entire sky between 22 and 90 GHz. MAP utilizes back-to-back Gregorian telescopes to focus the microwave signals into 10 differential microwave receivers, via 20 feed horns. Proper alignment of the telescope reflectors and the feed horns at the operating temperature of 90 K is a critical element to ensure mission success. We describe the hardware and methods used to validate the displacement/deformation predictions of the reflectors and the microwave feed horns during thermal/vacuum testing of the reflectors and the microwave instrument. The smallest deformation predictions to be measured were on the order of +/- 0.030 inches (+/- 0.762 mm). Performance of these alignment measurements inside a thermal/vacuum chamber with conventional alignment equipment posed several limitations. The most troublesome limitation was the inability to send personnel into the chamber to perform the measurements during the test due to vacuum and the temperature extremes. The photogrammetry (PG) system was chosen to perform the measurements since it is a non- contact measurement system, the measurements can be made relatively quickly and accurately, and the photogrammetric camera can be operated remotely. The hardware and methods developed to perform the MAP alignment measurements using PG proved to be highly successful. The measurements met the desired requirements, for the metal structures enabling the desired distortions to be measured resolving deformations an order of magnitude smaller than the imposed requirements. Viable data were provided to the MAP Project for a full analysis of the on-orbit performance of the Instrument's microwave system.

Hill, Michael D.↗

High–Resolution Maps of Near–Surface Permafrost for Three Watersheds on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska Derived From Machine Learning

Permafrost soils are a critical component of the global carbon cycle and are locally important because they regulate the hydrologic flux from uplands to rivers. Furthermore, degradation of permafrost soils causes land surface subsidence, damaging infrastructure that is crucial for local communities. Regional and hemispherical maps of permafrost are too coarse to resolve distributions at a scale relevant to assessments of infrastructure stability or to illuminate geomorphic impacts of permafrost thaw. Here we train machine learning models to generate meter–scale maps of near–surface permafrost for three watersheds in the discontinuous permafrost region. The models were trained using ground truth determinations of near–surface permafrost presence from measurements of soil temperature and electrical resistivity. We trained three classifiers: extremely randomized trees (ERTr), support vector machines (SVM), and an artificial neural network (ANN). Model uncertainty was determined using k–fold cross validation, and the modeled extents of near–surface permafrost were compared to the observed extents at each site. At–a–site near–surface permafrost distributions predicted by the ERTr produced the highest accuracy (70%–90%). However, the transferability of the ERTr to the sites outside of the training data set was poor, with accuracies ranging from 50% to 77%. The SVM and ANN models had lower accuracies for at–a–site prediction (70%–83%), yet they had greater accuracy when transferred to the non–training site (62%–78%). These models demonstrate the potential for integrating high–resolution spatial data and machine learning models to develop maps of near–surface permafrost extent at resolutions fine enough to assess infrastructure vulnerability and landscape morphology influenced by permafrost thaw.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Geothermal Play-Fairway Analysis of Washington State Prospects: Phase 2 Results

An investment of $0.7M from the Geothermal Technology Office for Phase 2 of Play Fairway Analysis in Washington State improved existing favorability models and increased model confidence. The new 1:24,000-scale geological mapping, 15 detailed geophysical surveys, 2 passive seismic surveys, and geochronology collected during this phase are coupled with updated and detailed structural modeling and have significantly improved the conceptual models of three potential blind geothermal systems/plays in Washington State: the St. Helens Shear Zone, Mount Baker, and Wind River Valley. Results of this analysis reveal the presence of commercially viable undiscovered geothermal resources in all three study areas. The analysis additionally provides a clear definition of the geothermal prospects in terms of the essential elements of a functioning geothermal system, the confidence in these assessments, and associated potential and risk of development. As a result, several groups have recently approached our organization about opportunities for large-capital moderate- to high-temperature geothermal development and are very interested in the results of Phase 3 drilling. Here, our updated models, coupled with development interest, provides a compelling basis for investment in future validation activities.

exploration risk↗

Flood Mapping Using UAVSAR and Convolutional Neural Networks

We have mapped flooded areas in data collected by the NASA/JPL Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) using two convolutional neural network (CNN) image classifier architectures: U-Net and SegNet. Our study area was a region around Houston, TX, USA affected by widespread flooding in 2017 due to Hurricane Harvey. To train and test the classifiers, we manually labelled over 10000 image segments in two flight lines. Both U-Net and SegNet yielded higher accuracy than a previous non-machine learning classifier we used as a baseline. U-Net had slightly higher accuracy than SegNet. The classifiers performed better in areas with more homogeneous land cover. To independently validate the classifier accuracy we used NOAA aerial imagery, with overall accuracy around 80%. Future work includes assessing the classifier robustness in other study areas, assessing the classifier dependence on UAVSAR incidence angle, particularly for open water and bare ground, and collecting more training data, particularly in urban areas. This study demonstrates the potential of CNN image classifiers for mapping flooded areas in airborne polarimetric SAR imagery, and for land cover classification of polarimetric SAR imagery more generally.

Denbina, Michael W↗

In-Situ SEM High Strain Rate Testing of Large Diameter Micropillars Followed by TEM and EBSD Postmortem Analysis

Background Dislocation dynamic simulations are intended as a tool to understand and predict the mechanical behavior of metallic materials, but its prediction has never been directly verified by experiments due to differences in specimen strain rate and size. Objective In this work, a comprehensive experimental framework is proposed to attempt direct comparison between experiments and discrete dislocation dynamics (DDD) modelling. Methods By integrating high-throughput sample fabrication and a customized testing apparatus, the sample size and strain rate typically employed in DDD simulations are explored experimentally. Constitutive properties such as stress-strain response are measured, and microstructural information is obtained from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and TEM-based orientation mapping. Results Magnesium and copper were selected, as case studies, to demonstrate the newly developed experimental procedure. Measured stress-strain responses for Mg are consistent with those obtained with a miniaturized Hopkison bar experiments. Furthermore, by exploiting the validated workflow, the effect of strain rate on micropillar heterogeneous deformation and associated dislocation plasticity were revealed. Conclusion The work establishes a methodology for the systematic study of not only metals but also other materials and structures at the microscale and high strain rates.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Selective oxidation of 3-hydroxypropionic acid to malonic acid over Pd/C: Mechanistic and kinetic study

Malonic acid (MA) is a high-value dicarboxylic acid with strong industrial demand, yet its current production heavily relies on petrochemical feedstocks. Here, we report the first systematic study for sustainable production of MA via oxidation of 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) with a Pd/Carbon catalyst. The effects of oxidant type (O 2 and H 2 O 2 ), pH, and temperature on the reaction chemistry were comprehensively evaluated. Guided by experimental observation and DFT-calculated thermochemical energetics, reaction networks for 3-HP oxidation with both oxidants are proposed and validated through kinetic modeling. MA was identified as the primary oxidation product, while further oxidation yields acetic acid and oxalic acid. The kinetic model validated the network, displaying excellent agreement (R 2 > 0.95). Kinetic observations also enabled a direct comparison between O 2 and H 2 O 2 and revealed their distinct behaviors. The model was further developed into a temperature-time map, providing insight into conditions that maximize MA production. Malonic acid selectivity of 56.9 % and yield of 50.5 % were achieved at 3 bar oxygen, equimolar NaOH:3-HP ratio, and 50 °C.

3-hydroxypropionic acid↗

An alternative to the crystallographic reconstruction of austenite in steels

An alternative crystallographic austenite reconstruction programme written in Matlab is developed by combining the best features of the existing models: the orientation relationship refinement, the local pixel-by-pixel analysis and the nuclei identification and spreading strategy. This programme can be directly applied to experimental electron backscatter diffraction mappings. Its applicability is demonstrated on both quenching and partitioning and as-quenched lath-martensite steels. - Highlights: • An alternative crystallographic austenite reconstruction program is developed. • The method combines a local analysis and a nuclei identification/spreading strategy. • The validity of the calculated orientation relationship is verified on a Q and P steel. • The accuracy of the reconstructed microtexture is investigated on a martensite steel.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A wide-field near- and mid-infrared Census of young stars in NGC 6334

This paper presents a study of the rate and efficiency of star formation in the NGC 6334 star-forming region. We obtained observations at J, H, and K{sub s} taken with the NOAO Extremely Wide-Field Infrared Imager and combined them with observations taken with the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) on the Spitzer Space Telescope at wavelengths = 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 μm. We also analyzed previous observations taken at 24 μm using the Spitzer MIPS camera as part of the MIPSGAL survey. We have produced a point source catalog with >700, 000 entries. We have identified 2283 young stellar object (YSO) candidates, 375 Class I YSOs, and 1908 Class II YSOs using a combination of existing IRAC-based color classification schemes that we have extended and validated to the near-IR for use with warm Spitzer data. We have identified multiple new sites of ongoing star formation activity along filamentary structures extending tens of parsecs beyond the central molecular ridge of NGC 6334. By mapping the extinction, we derived an estimate for the gas mass, 2.2 × 10{sup 5} M {sub ☉}. The heavy concentration of protostars along the dense filamentary structures indicates that NGC 6334 may be undergoing a 'mini-starburst' event with Σ{sub SFR} > 8.2 M {sub ☉} Myr{sup –1} pc{sup –2} and SFE > 0.10. We have used these estimates to place NGC 6334 in the Kennicutt-Schmidt diagram to help bridge the gap between observations of local low-mass star-forming regions and star formation in other galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Using Landsat Surface Reflectance Data as a Reference Target for Multiswath Hyperspectral Data Collected Over Mixed Agricultural Rangeland Areas

Low-cost flight-based hyperspectral imaging systems have the potential to provide important information for ecosystem and environmental studies as well as aide in land management. To realize this potential, methods must be developed to provide large-area surface reflectance data allowing for temporal data sets at the mesoscale. This paper describes a bootstrap method of producing a large-area, radiometrically referenced hyperspectral data set using the Landsat surface reflectance (LaSRC) data product as a reference target. The bootstrap method uses standard hyperspectral processing techniques that are extended to remove uneven illumination conditions between flight passes, allowing for radiometrically self-consistent data after mosaicking. Through selective spectral and spatial resampling, LaSRC data are used as a radiometric reference target. Advantages of the bootstrap method include the need for minimal site access, no ancillary instrumentation, and automated data processing. Data from two hyperspectral flights over the same managed agricultural and unmanaged range land covering approximately 5.8 km 2 acquired on June 21, 2014 and June 24, 2015 are presented. As a result, data from a flight over agricultural land collected on June 6, 2016 are compared with concurrently collected ground-based reflectance spectra as a means of validation.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Microgrid Fast Charging Station (MFCS) Design Platform Project (Summary Report)

This report documents the important steps and outcomes of the Microgrid Fast Charging Station (MFCS) Design Platform project, executed by XENDEE Corporation and its testing and validation by Idaho National Laboratory (INL). This final summary report builds on the first summary released on April 30th, 2021 and adds the final results from the Hardware in the Loop (HIL) simulations and tests, which have been completed July 14th 2021. With this report XENDEE Corporation and Idaho National Laboratory conclude the first version of the Microgrid Fast Charging Station (MFCS) Design Platform as well as all related tests and validations for two in-depth case studies for islanded and non-islanded operation. The platform itself utilizes XENDEE’s advanced modeling systems and INL’s HIL system to ensure project viability and technical feasibility. It also intelligently maps all cables, transformers, and distributed technology interactions to anticipate and mitigate problems during peak usage or adverse conditions. Finally, the system is designed to optimize dispatch and generation at each time step of the day allowing the Microgrid to take advantage of energy sales to the utility and best manage the charging of an electrical fleet. This allows operators to reliably build bankable Microgrid systems and to operate them to reach the maximum efficiency even under the dynamic needs of electric vehicle fast charging

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

An improved method for precise automatic co-registration of moderate and high-resolution spacecraft imagery

Improvements to the automated co-registration and change detection software package, AFIDS (Automatic Fusion of Image Data System) has recently completed development for and validation by NGA/GIAT. The improvements involve the integration of the AFIDS ultra-fine gridding technique for horizontal displacement compensation with the recently evolved use of Rational Polynomial Functions/ Coefficients (RPFs/RPCs) for image raster pixel position to Latitude/Longitude indexing. Mapping and orthorectification (correction for elevation effects) of satellite imagery defies exact projective solutions because the data are not obtained from a single point (like a camera), but as a continuous process from the orbital path. Standard image processing techniques can apply approximate solutions, but advances in the state-of-the-art had to be made for precision change-detection and time-series applications where relief offsets become a controlling factor. The earlier AFIDS procedure required the availability of a camera model and knowledge of the satellite platform ephemeredes. The recent design advances connect the spacecraft sensor Rational Polynomial Function, a deductively developed model, with the AFIDS ultrafine grid, an inductively developed representation of the relationship raster pixel position to latitude /longitude. As a result, RPCs can be updated by AFIDS, a situation often necessary due to the accuracy limits of spacecraft navigation systems. An example of precision change detection will be presented from Quickbird.

co-registration↗