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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 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1981

Observability for two dimensional systems

Sufficient conditions that a two-dimensional system with output is locally observable are presented. Known results depend on time derivatives of the output and the inverse function theorem. In some cases, no informaton is provided by these theories, and one must study observability by other methods. The observability problem is dualized to the controllability problem, and the deep results of Hermes on local controllability are applied to prove a theorem concerning local observability.

Hunt, L. R.↗
NASA NTRS1985

A method to improve observations of gamma-ray sources near 10 (15) eV

Now that sources of gamma rays near 10 to the 15th power eV have been identified, there is a need for telescopes which can study in detail the high energy gamma ray emissions from these sources. The capabilities of a Cerenkov detector which can track a source at large zenith angle (small elevation angle) are analyzed. Because the observed showers must then develop far from the detector, the effective detection area is very large. During a single half-hour hot phase of Cygnus X-3, for example, it may be possible to detect 45 signal showers compared with 10 background showers. Time structure within the hot phase may then be discernible. The precise capabilities of the detector depend on its mirror size, angular acceptance, electronic speed, coincidence properties, etc. Calculations are presented for one feasible design using mirrors of an improved Fly's Eye type.

Sommers, P.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Observability for two-dimensional systems

Sufficient conditions that a two-dimensinal system with output is locally observable are presented. Known results depend on time derivatives of the output and the inverse function theorem. In some cases, no information is provided by these theories, and one must study observability by other methods. The observability problem is dualized to the controllability problems, and the deep results of Hermes on local controllability are applied to prove a theorem concerning local observability.

Hunt, L. R.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Gravitational Biology Facility on Space Station: Meeting the needs of space biology

The Gravitational Biology Facility (GBF) is a set of generic laboratory equipment needed to conduct research on Space Station Freedom (SSF), focusing on Space Biology Program science (Cell and Developmental Biology and Plant Biology). The GBF will be functional from the earliest utilization flights through the permanent manned phase. Gravitational biology research will also make use of other Life Sciences equipment on the space station as well as existing equipment developed for the space shuttle. The facility equipment will be developed based on requirements derived from experiments proposed by the scientific community to address critical questions in the Space Biology Program. This requires that the facility have the ability to house a wide variety of species, various methods of observation, and numerous methods of sample collection, preservation, and storage. The selection of the equipment will be done by the members of a scientific working group (5 members representing cell biology, 6 developmental biology, and 6 plant biology) who also provide requirements to design engineers to ensure that the equipment will meet scientific needs. All equipment will undergo extensive ground based experimental validation studies by various investigators addressing a variety of experimental questions. Equipment will be designed to be adaptable to other space platforms. The theme of the Gravitational Biology Facility effort is to provide optimal and reliable equipment to answer the critical questions in Space Biology as to the effects of gravity on living systems.

Allen, Katherine↗
NASA NTRS1921

Observations on the method of determining the velocity of airships

To obtain the absolute velocity of an airship by knowing the speed at which two routes are covered, we have only to determine the geographical direction of the routes which we locate from a map, and the angles of routes as given by the compass, after correcting for the variation (the algebraical sum of the local magnetic declination and the deviation).

Volterra, Vito↗
NASA NTRS2018

Spitzer Secondary Eclipses of Qatar-1b

Aims: Previous secondary eclipse observations of the hot Jupiter Qatar-1B in the Ks band suggest that it may have an unusually high day-side temperature, indicative of minimal heat redistribution. There have also been indications that the orbit may be slightly eccentric, possibly forced by another planet in the system. We investigate the day-side temperature and orbital eccentricity using secondary eclipse observations with Spitzer. Methods: We observed the secondary eclipse with Spitzer/IRAC (Infrared Array Camera) in subarray mode, in both 3.6 and 4.5 micron wavelengths. We used pixel-level de-correlation to correct for Spitzer's intra-pixel sensitivity variations and thereby obtain accurate eclipse depths and central phases. Results: Our 3.6 micron eclipse depth is 0.149 plus or minus 0.051 percent and the 4.5 micron depth is 0.273 plus or minus 0.049 percent. Fitting a blackbody planet to our data and two recent Ks band eclipse depths indicates a brightness temperature of 1506 plus or minus 71 degrees Kelvin. Comparison to model atmospheres for the planet indicates that its degree of longitudinal heat redistribution is intermediate between fully uniform and day-side only. The day-side temperature of the planet is unlikely to be as high (1885 degrees Kelvin) as indicated by the ground-based eclipses in the Ks band, unless the planet's emergent spectrum deviates strongly from model atmosphere predictions. The average central phase for our Spitzer eclipses is 0.4984 plus or minus 0.0017, yielding [a model parameter] e cos omega equal to minus 0.0028 plus or minus 0.0027. Our results are consistent with a circular orbit, and we constrain e cos omega much more strongly than has been possible with previous observations.

Garhart, Emily↗
DOE OSTI2026

HDSense: An efficient method for ranking observable sensitivity

Identifying which observables most effectively constrain model parameters can be computationally prohibitive when considering full likelihoods of many correlated observables. This is especially important for, e.g., hadronization models, where high precision is required to interpret the results of collider experiments. We introduce the High-Dimensional Sensitivity (HDSense) score, a computationally efficient metric for ranking observable sets using only one-dimensional histograms. Derived by profiling over unknown correlations in the Fisher information framework, the score balances total information content against redundancy between observables. We apply HDSense to rank a set observables in terms of their constraining power with respect to five parameters of the Lund string model of hadronization implemented in Pythia using simulated leptonic collider events at the $Z$ pole. Validation against machine-learning--based full-likelihood approximations demonstrates that HDSense successfully identifies near-optimal observable subsets. The framework naturally handles data from multiple experiments with different acceptances and incorporates detector effects. While demonstrated on hadronization models, the methodology applies broadly to generic parameter estimation problems where correlations are unknown or difficult to model.

Assi, Benoît [Cincinnati U.] (ORCID:00000003092433↗
NASA NTRS1998

Central Plasma Sheet Ion Properties as Inferred from Ionospheric Observations

A method of inferring central plasma sheet (CPS) temperature, density, and pressure from ionospheric observations is developed. The advantage of this method over in situ measurements is that the CPS can be studied in its entirely, rather than only in fragments. As a result, for the first time, comprehensive two-dimensional equatorial maps of CPS pressure, density, and temperature within the isotropic plasma sheet are produced. These particle properties are calculated from data taken by the Special Sensor for Precipitating Particles, version 4 (SSJ4) particle instruments onboard DMSP F8, F9, F10, and F11 satellites during the entire year of 1992. Ion spectra occurring in conjunction with electron acceleration events are specifically excluded. Because of the variability of magnetotail stretching, the mapping to the plasma sheet is done using a modified Tsyganenko [1989] magnetic field model (T89) adjusted to agree with the actual magnetotail stretch at observation time. The latter is inferred with a high degree of accuracy (correlation coefficient -0.9) from the latitude of the DMSP b2i boundary (equivalent to the ion isotropy boundary). The results show that temperature, pressure, and density all exhibit dawn-dusk asymmetries unresolved with previous measurements. The ion temperature peaks near the midnight meridian. This peak, which has been associated with bursty bulk flow events, widens in the Y direction with increased activity. The temperature is higher at dusk than at dawn, and this asymmetry increases with decreasing distance from the Earth. In contrast, the density is higher at dawn than at dusk, and there appears to be a density enhancement in the low-latitude boundary layer regions which increases with decreasing magnetic activity. In the near-Earth regions, the pressure is higher at dusk than at dawn, but this asymmetry weakens with increasing distance from the Earth and may even reverse so that at distances X less than approx. 10 to -12 R(sub E), depending on magnetic activity, the dawn sector has slightly higher pressure. The temperature and density asymmetries in the near-Earth region are consistent with the ion westward gradient/curvature drift as the ions ExB convect earthward. When the solar wind dynamic pressure increases, CPS density and pressure appear to increase, but the temperature remains relatively constant. Comparison with previously published work indicates good agreement between the inferred pressure, temperature, and density and those obtained from in situ data. This new method should provide a continuous mechanism to monitor the pressure, temperature, and density in the magnetotail with unprecedented comprehensiveness.

Wing, Simon↗
NASA NTRS1993

Calibration results for NOAA-11 AVHRR channels 1 and 2 from congruent path aircraft observations

A method for using congruent atmospheric path aircraft-satellite observations to calibrate a satellite radiometer is presented. A calibrated spectroradiometer aboard a NASA ER-2 aircraft at an altitude of 19 km above White Sands (New Mexico) was oriented to view White Sands at the overpass time of the NOAA-11 AVHRR instrument along the same view vector as the satellite instrument. The data from six flights between November 1988 and October 1990 were transformed into corresponding estimates of AVHRR channel radiance at the satellite (derived from the aircraft measurements), and average counts (from the AVHRR measurements), both averaged across the footprint of the spectroradiometer. Prelaunch measurements of the AVHRR spectral response profiles are assumed, and the radiance spectrum measured by the spectroradiometer was adjusted to satellite altitude using the LOWTRAN-7 computer code. Results show reduced gains in both channel 1 (0.65 micron) and channel 2 (0.85 micron), compared to prelaunch values, with little further reduction in gain after 200 days in orbit. Results for the gain ratio (channel 1/channel 2), which is important for the calculation of the normalized vegetation index, show constant in-orbit values 5 percent above the prelaunch value.

Abel, Peter↗
NASA NTRS2000

Comparison of Columnar Water Vapor Measurements During The Fall 1997 ARM Intensive Observation Period: Solar Transmittance Methods

In the fall of 1997, during an Intensive Observation Period (IOP), the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program conducted a study of water vapor abundance measurement at its Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. Among a large number of instruments, four sun-tracking radiometers were present to measure the columnar water vapor (CWV). All four solar radiometers retrieve CWV by measuring total solar transmittance in the 0.94-gm water vapor absorption band and subtracting contributions due to Rayleigh, ozone and aerosol transmittances. The aerosol optical depth comparisons among the same four radiometers has been presented elsewhere (Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 17, 2725-2728, 1999). We have used three different methods to retrieve CWV. In a first round of comparison no attempt was made to standardize on the same radiative transfer model and its underlying water vapor spectroscopy. In the second round of comparison we used the same line-by-line code (which includes recently corrected H2O spectroscopy) to retrieve CAN from all four suntracking radiometers. This decreased the mean CWV by 8% or 13%. The spread of 8% in the solar radiometer results found when using the same model is an indication of the other-than-model uncertainties involved in determining CWV from solar transmittance measurements with current instrumentation.

Schmid, B.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Optical Properties of atmospheric dust from twilight observations

Three methods of approximation are described and used to separate the primary twilight brightness from the observed brightness. Photoelectric observations obtained are combined with observations from a balloon and from the observatory to derive the atmospheric scattering phase functions of 0.37 micron and 0.58 micron as a function of height. Comparison of these data with data for a Rayleigh atmosphere provide information on the optical properties of dust in the upper atmosphere.

Divari, N. B.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Automatic processing of multispectral observations

Statistical methods for inventory boundary determination and data compression in automatic processing of multispectral scanner remote sensor earth observations from aircraft and spacecraft

Krause, F. R.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Method for calculating and observing microwave absorption by a sphere in a single mode rectangular cavity

A new theory of microwave absorption by a lossy dielectric sphere in a single mode rectangular cavity has been recently developed. The absorption was treated in the framework of an electromagnetic scattering problem. That theory is summarized here and calculated results that bear on optimizing the processing of materials are illustrated. Methods for observing power absorption and other results predicted by the scattering model are discussed. Cavity perturbation theory provides a bridge between theoretical calculations and experimental observations, and a special problem that arises when an established version of cavity perturbation theory is applied to spheres is identified, analyzed, and resolved. The direct problem of predicting shifts in frequency and Q from model calculations is discussed for a sphere in a cavity when the sphere's complex dielectric constant is known. Also, the inverse problem of determining the complex dielectric constants from measured values of those shifts is considered. The small sphere limit, where an electrostatic or quasistatic model is valid, is treated in detail, and planned work on parallel problems for larger spheres is described.

Jackson, H. W.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Estimates of Ground Temperature and Atmospheric Moisture from CERES Observations

A method is developed to retrieve surface ground temperature (Tg) and atmospheric moisture using clear sky fluxes (CSF) from CERES-TRMM observations. In general, the clear sky outgoing long-wave radiation (CLR) is sensitive to upper level moisture (q(sub h)) over wet regions and Tg over dry regions The clear sky window flux from 800 to 1200 /cm (RadWn) is sensitive to low level moisture (q(sub j)) and Tg. Combining these two measurements (CLR and RadWn), Tg and q(sub h) can be estimated over land, while q(sub h) and q(sub t) can be estimated over the oceans. The approach capitalizes on the availability of satellite estimates of CLR and RadWn and other auxiliary satellite data. The basic methodology employs off-line forward radiative transfer calculations to generate synthetic CSF data from two different global 4-dimensional data assimilation products. Simple linear regression is used to relate discrepancies in CSF to discrepancies in Tg, q(sub h) and q(sub t). The slopes of the regression lines define sensitivity parameters that can be exploited to help interpret mismatches between satellite observations and model-based estimates of CSF. For illustration, we analyze the discrepancies in the CSF between an early implementation of the Goddard Earth Observing System Data Assimilation System (GEOS-DAS) and a recent operational version of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Prediction data assimilation system. In particular, our analysis of synthetic total and window region SCF differences (computed from two different assimilated data sets) shows that simple linear regression employing (Delta)Tg and broad layer (Delta)q(sub l) from 500 hPa to surface and (Delta)q(sub h) from 200 to 500 hPa provides a good approximation to the full radiative transfer calculations, typically explaining more than 90% of the 6-hourly variance in the flux differences. These simple regression relations can be inverted to "retrieve" the errors in the geophysical parameters. Uncertainties (normalized by standard deviation) in the monthly mean retrieved parameters range from 7% for (Delta)T to about 20% for (Delta)q(sub t). Our initial application of the methodology employed an early CERES-TRMM data set (CLR and Radwn) to assess the quality of the GEOS2 data. The results showed that over the tropical and subtropical oceans GEOS2 is, in general, too wet in the upper troposphere (mean bias of 0.99 mm) and too dry in the lower troposphere (mean bias of -4.7 mm). We note that these errors, as well as a cold bias in the Tg, have largely been corrected in the current version of GEOS-2 with the introduction of a land surface model, a moist turbulence scheme and the assimilation of SSTM/I total precipitable water.

Wu, Man Li C.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Estimates of Ground Temperature and Atmospheric Moisture from CERES Observations

A method is developed to retrieve surface ground temperature (T(sub g)) and atmospheric moisture using clear sky fluxes (CSF) from CERES-TRMM observations. In general, the clear sky outgoing longwave radiation (CLR) is sensitive to upper level moisture (q(sub l)) over wet regions and (T(sub g)) over dry regions The clear sky window flux from 800 to 1200/cm (RadWn) is sensitive to low level moisture (q(sub t)) and T(sub g). Combining these two measurements (CLR and RadWn), Tg and q(sub h) can be estimated over land, while q(sub h) and q(sub l) can be estimated over the oceans. The approach capitalizes on the availability of satellite estimates of CLR and RadWn and other auxiliary satellite data. The basic methodology employs off-line forward radiative transfer calculations to generate synthetic CSF data from two different global 4-dimensional data assimilation products. Simple linear regression is used to relate discrepancies in CSF to discrepancies in T(sub g), q(sub h) and q(sub l). The slopes of the regression lines define sensitivity parameters that can be exploited to help interpret mismatches between satellite observations and model-based estimates of CSF. For illustration, we analyze the discrepancies in the CSF between an early implementation of the Goddard Earth Observing System Data Assimilation System (GEOS-DAS) and a recent operational version of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Prediction data assimilation system. In particular, our analysis of synthetic total and window region SCF differences (computed from two different assimilated data sets) shows that simple linear regression employing Delta(T(sub g)) and broad layer Delta(q(sub l) from .500 hPa to surface and Delta(q(sub h)) from 200 to .300 hPa provides a good approximation to the full radiative transfer calculations. typically explaining more than 90% of the 6-hourly variance in the flux differences. These simple regression relations can be inverted to "retrieve" the errors in the geophysical parameters. Uncertainties (normalized by standard deviation) in the monthly mean retrieved parameters range from 7% for Delta(T(sub g)) to about 20% for Delta(q(sub l)). Our initial application of the methodology employed an early CERES-TRMM data set (CLR and Radwn) to assess the quality of the GEOS2 data. The results showed that over the tropical and subtropical oceans GEOS2 is, in general, too wet in the upper troposphere (mean bias of 0.99 mm) and too dry in the lower troposphere (mean bias of -4.7 min). We note that these errors, as well as a cold bias in the T(sub g). have largely been corrected in the current version of GEOS-2 with the introduction of a land surface model, a moist turbulence scheme and the assimilation of SSM/I total precipitable water.

Wu, Man Li C.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Deriving Essential Climate Variable Data from Multiple Satellite Remote Sensors Using a Consistent Fingerprinting Method

Hyperspectral observations from satellite-based sensors provide high information content for the Earth’s atmospheric and surface properties. Traditionally, long-term climate products are derived by performing spatial and temporal averaging of level-2 satellite products. It is a time-consuming process to generate level-2 data products since modern hyperspectral satellite sensors have millions of observations each day with thousands of spectral channels for each observation. Additionally, differences in level-2 retrieval algorithms can lead to errors in the climate products when fusing data from different satellite sensors. We have developed a radiometrically consistent spectral fingerprinting method, which overcomes the above-mentioned shortcomings, to derive climate change signals from multiple satellite sensors using spatiotemporally averaged level-1 data. We have applied this method to Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) data and generated decade-long climate data records for atmospheric temperature, water vapor, cloud, trace gases, and surface skin temperature. A key component to this work is a set of observational-based radiative kernels produced from CrIS level-1 data using a single field of view (SFOV) optimal estimation retrieval algorithm. Only limited CrIS level-1 data (e.g., 1-2 years of data) are needed to the derive radiative kernels. Our Principal Component-based Radiative Model (PCRTM) enables us to perform SFOV retrievals under all sky conditions and provides radiative kernels (including those for clouds) needed by the spectral fingerprinting method. In this presentation, we will describe the basic methodology, the details of the algorithm, and results from NASA Aqua AIRS and Suomi-NPP CrIS data. The method can be applied to study future hyperspectral remote sensors such as CLARREO (Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory) Pathfinder (CPF), Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO), Surface Biology and Geology (SBG), Aerosol and Cloud, Convection and Precipitation (ACCP).

Xu Liu↗
NASA NTRS1975

Solar energy microclimate as determined from satellite observations

A method is presented for determining solar insolation at the earth's surface using satellite broadband visible radiance and cloud imagery data, along with conventional in situ measurements. Conventional measurements are used to both tune satellite measurements and to develop empirical relationships between satellite observations and surface solar insolation. Cloudiness is the primary modulator of sunshine. The satellite measurements as applied in this method consider cloudiness both explicitly and implicitly in determining surface solar insolation at space scales smaller than the conventional pyranometer network.

Vonder Haar, T. H.↗