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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 NTRS2017

Revisiting Short-Wave-Infrared (SWIR) Bands for Atmospheric Correction in Coastal Waters

The shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands on the existing Earth Observing missions like MODIS have been designed to meet land and atmospheric science requirements. The future geostationary and polar-orbiting ocean color missions, however, require highly sensitive SWIR bands (greater than 1550nm) to allow for a precise removal of aerosol contributions. This will allow for reasonable retrievals of the remote sensing reflectance (R(sub rs)) using standard NASA atmospheric corrections over turbid coastal waters. Design, fabrication, and maintaining high-performance SWIR bands at very low signal levels bear significant costs on dedicated ocean color missions. This study aims at providing a full analysis of the utility of alternative SWIR bands within the 1600nm atmospheric window if the bands within the 2200nm window were to be excluded due to engineering/cost constraints. Following a series of sensitivity analyses for various spectral band configurations as a function of water vapor amount, we chose spectral bands centered at 1565 and 1675nm as suitable alternative bands within the 1600nm window for a future geostationary imager. The sensitivity of this band combination to different aerosol conditions, calibration uncertainties, and extreme water turbidity were studied and compared with that of all band combinations available on existing polar-orbiting missions. The combination of the alternative channels was shown to be as sensitive to test aerosol models as existing near-infrared (NIR) band combinations (e.g., 748 and 869nm) over clear open ocean waters. It was further demonstrated that while in extremely turbid waters the 1565/1675 band pair yields R(sub rs) retrievals as good as those derived from all other existing SWIR band pairs (greater than 1550nm), their total calibration uncertainties must be less than 1% to meet current science requirements for ocean color retrievals (i.e., delta R(sub rs) (443) less than 5%). We further show that the aerosol removal using the NIR and SWIR bands (available on the existing polar-orbiting missions) can be very sensitive to calibration uncertainties. This requires the need for monitoring the calibration of these bands to ensure consistent multi-mission ocean color products in coastal/inland waters.

atmospheric correction↗
NASA NTRS1960

The Motion of a Satellite of the Moon

The motion of a satellite of the Moon depends on the potential field due to the Moon as well as the gravitational effects of the Earth and Sun. If one chooses a frame of reference attached to the Moon, it can be shown that the force field resulting from the Sun can be neglected when compared with the perturbing field of the Moon resulting from its oblateness. The effect of the Earth's field on the satellite is of the some order of magnitude as the Moon's perturbing field and must be included in an analysis of the motion of a satellite of the Moon. We will assume that the distance between Earth and Moon remains constant, and we will consider satellite orbits of small eccentricity. It will be shown that a nearly circular polar orbit will digress less than 1 deg from a polar orbit and that the change in eccentricity is less than a factor of e in one year.

Lass, Harry↗
NASA NTRS2014

Spacecraft Charging Analysis of a CubeSat

Spacecraft charging occurs when charged particles from the surrounding space plasma environment contact a spacecraft and unequal charging currents result in a net charge density accumulation on or in spacecraft materials. Charging becomes a threat when differential potentials between two points on the spacecraft or between the spacecraft and the ambient space environment build to the level that electric fields associated with the potentials exceed the electric breakdown strength of the spacecraft materials and electrostatic discharge arcs are generated. Electrostatic discharges resulting from spacecraft charging can adversely affect telemetry and cause irreparable damage to electronics. Other spacecraft charging effects include damage of solar arrays and thermal protection, enhancement of contamination of surfaces, and degradation of optics. Typically, the large government and commercial space programs include spacecraft charging analysis as part of the design process. CubeSat projects, however, usually do not have the time or funding to include a spacecraft charging analysis due to their low budget and quick-turnaround requirements. CubeSat projects also tend to rely heavily on commercial "off-the-shelf" products, many of which are not qualified for use in space, and are particularly vulnerable to the effects of the space environment. As the demand for longer and more complex CubeSat missions increases, it is becoming more and more important to consider the effects of spacecraft charging in the design process. Results of surface charging analysis using Nascap-2k on a typical CubeSat design for a polar orbit scenario are illustrated. These results show that for a polar orbiting CubeSat, spacecraft charging could be an issue and steps should be taken to mitigate the effects for these small satellites.

Willis, Emily M.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

New VIIRS DNB Stray Light Correction Method

The Day/Night Band (DNB) broadband (500-900nm) imager is one of the sensors in the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on-board the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) and the NOAA-20 satellites, which are polar-orbiting and fly at about 830km above the surface of the Earth. Depending on the satellite location and the sensor viewing geometry, for a short period just before (or after) the satellite enters into (or emerges from) the shadow of the Earth, unwanted stray light, seemingly caused by the reflection of solar beam on the slightly exposed inner side of the leading (or trailing) nadir door, can enter the instrument and impose noticeable impacts to a narrow portion of DNB satellite images in every orbit. The impacted images can be modified to look normal, and the current DNB stray light correction algorithm empirically assigns corrections. There is also an alternative approach using image-processing techniques. Both methods rely mainly on the stray light impacted measurements. To simplify the approach and for better correction results, the new method presented in this paper incorporates the observed asymptotic nature of measurements surrounding the stray light impacted region by fitting to the drop off in sun light from day to night. The new method can be applied to the raw measurements in real-time, and it can help to advance our understanding of this special type of DNB stray light that happens over the polar regions

VIIRS↗
NASA NTRS2021

Calibration of the DSCOVR EPIC Visible and NIR Channels using Multiple LEO Radiometers

The first five years of operation of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) at the Lagrange one point have produced results that uniquely complement the data from currently operating low orbit Earth-observing instruments. In this paper we describe an updated unified approach to EPIC calibration. In this approach, calibration coefficients and their trends were obtained by comparing EPIC observations to the measurements from polar orbiting radiometers. In this study L1B reflectances from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the Aqua and Terra satellites, Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) onboard Terra and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer (VIIRS) onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) spacecraft were used to infer calibration coefficients for four EPIC visible and near-infrared channels: 443 nm, 551 nm, 680 nm, and 780 nm. EPIC Version three measurements made between June 2015 and August 2020 were used for comparison. The calibration procedure identifies the most homogeneous low Earth orbit radiometer scenes matching scattering angles that are temporarily and spatially collocated with EPIC observations. These scenes are used to determine reflectance to count (R/C) ratios in spectrally analogous channels. Seasonal average R/C ratios were analyzed to obtain EPIC calibration gains and trends. The trends for the full dataset period are not statistically significant except in the 443 nm channel. No significant changes in calibration were found after the instrument’s exit from safe hold in March 2020. The R/C ratios were also used to determine the differences in EPIC gains resulting from separate calibrations: against MODIS Aqua or Terra, as well as against forward or aftward MISR cameras. Statistical tests indicate that the differences between the two datasets are not significant except in the 780 nm channels where Aqua-derived coefficients may be around 2% lower compared to Terra. The dependence of EPIC calibration gains on the instrument scattering angle and on DSCOVR-Earth distance were investigated. Lastly, model Low Earth Orbit (LEO) reflectances calculated to match the EPIC viewing geometry were employed to study how EPIC calibration coefficients depend on EPIC-LEO viewing geometry differences. The effect of LEO and EPIC angular mismatch on calibration was shown to be small.

deep space climate observatory/earth polychromatic↗
NASA NTRS2019

Monitoring Volcanic Eruptions by OMI/OMPS, ASTER, and MERRA-2

Volcanic lava flows and/or the gas eruptions are the most common characteristics that can be remotely monitored with satellite technology in the global perspective and on different timescales. Atmospheric Sulfur Dioxide (SO2), one of the most abundant gases from volcanic eruptions apart from atmospheric common gases Carbon Dioxide and water vapor, can be directly detected by space-based sensors on satellites. The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) is one of the 12 Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) within NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), which archives SO2 data sets from the Nimbus-7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) in 1978, till the ongoing Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA's EOS-Aura satellite, the Ozone Mapping Profiler Suite (OMPS) Nadir Mapper (NM) on both the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (Suomi-NPP or SNPP) and the Joint Polar-orbiting Satellite System-1 (JPSS-1) satellites, into the future JPSS missions. In addition to the standard OMI/Aura and OMPS/S-NPP SO2 products, SO2 products created under the charter of the Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) project, are also archived at GES DISC, through which NASA enacts to expand understanding the Earth system using consistent data records. The Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) is another EOSDIS's DAAC that provides land data products and operates as a partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The LP DAAC has been archiving the satellite imagery from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) aboard NASA's EOS-Terra satellite, a high spatial resolution (15 meters) and 14 band multispectral instrument. The ASTER imagery is one of the land products contributing to the application for monitoring hot spots and land terrain changes caused by volcanic eruption events. The data potential in GES DISC and LP DAAC to monitor volcanic sources of SO2 and the influence of wind fields on the gas plume spread will be demonstrated with the most recent 2018 May-July Kilauea Volcano eruption.

Zeng, Jian↗
NASA NTRS1985

A review of shock waves around aeroassisted orbital transfer vehicles

Aeroassisted orbital transfer vehicles (AOTVs) are a proposed type of reusable spacecraft that would be used to transport cargoes from one Earth-bound orbit to another. Such vehicles could be based on the proposed space station and used to transport commercial satellites from the space station to geostationary orbits or to polar orbits and return. During a mission, AOTVs would fly through Earth's atmosphere, thus generating aerodynamic forces that could be used for decelerating the vehicles or changing their direction. AOTV research findings were concerned with the shock-wave-induced, high-temperature airflows that would be produced around these vehicles during atmospheric flight. Special emphasis was placed on the problems of: (1) the chemical physics of multitemperature, ionizing, nonequilibrium air flows, and (2) the dynamics of the flows in the base region of a blunt body with complex afterbody geometry.

Park, C.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Spacecraft charging in the auroral plasma: Progress toward understanding the physical effects involved

The work is presented in four parts. First, main differences between the plasma environments in geostationary orbit and low polar orbit with regard to high-voltage charging situations are reviewed. Next, results are presented from a calculation of secondary-electron escape currents from negatively-charged spacecraft surfaces having various orientations relative to the local magnetic-field direction. It is shown that for finite ranges of combinations of electric and magnetic field directions, secondary-electron escape is completely suppressed and therefore cannot help to discharge the spacecraft. In such circumstances, secondary electrons may travel distances many times their gyroradii before reimpacting, and this may produce greatly increased secondary-electron surface currents. Thirdly, a simple rough estimate of the required conditions for high-voltage auroral-zone charging is developed. The results suggest that for any given spacecraft, surface potentials are likely to depend more strongly on the ratio of ambient flux of high-energy electrons to that of all ions, than on any other environmental parameter. Finally, preliminary results are presented of numerical simulation work directed toward testing this hypothesis. Numerical instabilities encountered in doing this simulation work probably are closely related to physical sensitivities inherent in the physics of the ion wake behind the spacecraft, and especially to beam-like constituents of the ion population in the wake.

Laframboise, J. G.↗
NASA NTRS1986

A review of shock waves around aeroassisted orbital transfer vehicles

Aeroassisted orbital transfer vehicles (AOTVs) are a proposed type of reusable spacecraft that would be used to transport cargoes from one earth-bound orbit to another. Such vehicles could be based on the proposed space station and used to transport commercial satellites from the space station to geostationary orbits or to polar orbits and return. During a mission, AOTVs would fly through earth's atmosphere, thus generating aerodynamic forces that could be used for decelerating the vehicles or changing their direction. AOTV research findings were concerned with the shock-wave-induced, high-temperature airflows that would be produced around these vehicles during atmospheric flight. Special emphasis was placed on the problems of: (1) the chemical physics of multitemperature, ionizing, nonequilibrium air flows, and (2) the dynamics of the flows in the base region of a blunt body with complex afterbody geometry.

Park, C.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Large inclination change using lunar-swingby techniques

The use of lunar-swingby maneuvers to transfer a spacecraft from an equatorial orbit to a polar orbit has been investigated in order to verify the technical feasibility of the NASA/ESA equatorial science phase (ESP)/Cluster mission. The solar aspect angle constraints of the spacecraft spin-axis and the dependence of the total Delta-V cost of the transfer on the initial ESP orbital parameters (particularly perigee radius and inclination) have been studied. The results indicate that a satisfactory ESP-to-Cluster orbit transfer can be achieved using a double lunar-swingby sequence.

Lee, T.↗
NASA NTRS2006

An Introduction to Rockets - or - Never Leave Geeks Unsupervised

An introduction to rockets along with a brief history Newton's third law is presented. The contents include: 1) What is a Rocket?; 2) A Brief History; 3) Newton's Third Law; 4) A Brief History; 5) Mission Requirements; 6) Some Orbital Measurements; 7) Self Eating Watermelon; 8) Orbital Inclinations; 9) 28.5 Equatorial Orbit; 10) 51.6 Orbit (ISS); 11) Polar Orbit; 12) Geostationary Orbit; 13) Liquid Rocket; 13) Liquids vs. Solids; 14) Liquids; 15) Systems Integration; 16) Integration (NFL!); 17) Guidance Systems; 18) Vectored Thrust; 19) Spin Stabilization; 20) Aerodynamic Stability (Fire Arrows); and 21) Center of Gravity & Center of Pressure.

Mellett, Kevin↗
NASA NTRS2006

Calculation of Zonal Winds using Accelerometer and Rate Data from Mars Global Surveyor

The Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft was initially placed into a high eccentricity, nearly polar orbit about Mars with a 45-hour period. To accomplish the science objectives of the mission, a 2-hour, circular orbit was required. Using a method known as aerobraking, numerous passes through the upper atmosphere slowed the spacecraft, thereby reducing the orbital period and eccentricity. To successfully perform aerobraking, the spacecraft was designed to be longitudinally, aerodynamically stable in pitch and yaw. Since the orbit is nearly polar, the yaw orientation of the spacecraft was sensitive to disturbances caused by the zonal components of wind (east-to-west or west-to-east) acting on the spacecraft at aerobraking altitudes. Zonal wind velocities were computed by equating the aerodynamic and inertia-related torques acting on the spacecraft. Comparisons of calculated zonal winds with those computed from the Mars Thermospheric Global Circulation Model are discussed.

Mars thermospheric winds↗
NASA NTRS2020

Derivation of Shortwave Radiometric Adjustments for SNPP and NOAA-20 VIIRS for the NASA MODIS-VIIRS Continuity Cloud Products

Climate studies, including trend detection and other time series analyses, necessarily require stable, well-characterized and long-term data records. For satellite-based geophysical retrieval datasets, such data records often involve merging the observational records of multiple similar, though not identical, instruments. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)cloud mask(CLDMSK) and cloud-top and optical properties(CLDPROP) products are designed to bridge the observational records of the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard NASA’s Aqua satellite and the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) onboard the joint NASA/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA)Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP)satellite and NOAA’s new generation of operational polar-orbiting weather platforms(NOAA-20+).Early implementations of the CLDPROP algorithms on Aqua MODIS and SNPP VIIRS suffered from large intersensor biases in cloud optical properties that were traced back to relative radiometric inconsistency in analogous shortwave channels on both imagers, with VIIRS generally observing brighter top-of-atmosphere spectral reflectance than MODIS (e.g., up to 5%brighter in the 0.67μm channel). Radiometric adjustment factors for the SNPP and NOAA-20 VIIRS shortwave channels used in the cloud optical property retrievals are derived from an extensive analysis of the overlapping observational records with Aqua MODIS, specifically for homogenous maritime liquid water cloud scenes for which the viewing/solar geometry of MODIS and VIIRS match. Application of these adjustment factors to the VIIRS L1B prior to ingestion into the CLDMSK and CLDPROP algorithms yields improved intersensor agreement, particularly for cloud optical properties

relative radiometry↗
NASA NTRS1976

Requirements and capabilities for planetary missions. Venus orbiter imaging radar 1983, volume 3

Two spacecraft will be launched in mid-1983 and inserted into a circular polar orbit around Venus about 6 months later. Elliptical orbits are also under consideration. The objective of the mission is imagery of the planet, at about the 200-m resolution level, with continuous altimetry and topographical studies. Science investigations will determine surface characteristics of the planet, study the surface/atmosphere interactions, and determine Venus' mass distribution. A plausible vehicle is based on a Mariner Jupiter/Saturn derivative; others being considered include a Lunar Polar Orbiter derivative and a Pioneer Venus Orbiter derivative.

Kindt, D. H.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Modeling of micro thrusters for gravity probe B

The concept of testing Einstein's general theory of relativity by means of orbiting gyroscopes was first proposed in 1959, which lead to the development of the Gravity Probe B experiment. Einstein's theory concerns the predictions of the relativistic precession of a gyroscope in orbit around earth. According to his theory, there will be two precessions due to the warping of space-time by the earth's gravitational field: the geodetic precession in the plane of the orbit, and the frame-dragging effect, in the direction of earth rotation. For a polar orbit, these components are orthogonal. In order to simplify the measurement of the precessions, Gravity Probe B (GP-B) will be placed in a circular polar orbit at 650 km, for which the predicted precessions will be 6.6 arcsec/year (geodetic) and 42 milli-arcsec/year (frame-dragging). As the gyroscope precesses, the orientation of its spin-axis will be measured with respect to the line-of-sight to Rigel, a star whose proper motion is known to be within the required accuracy. The line-of-sight to Rigel will be established using a telescope, and the orientation of the gyroscope spin axis will be measured using very sensitive SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) magnetometers. The four gyroscopes will be coated with niobium. Below 2K, the niobium becomes superconducting and a dipole field will be generated which is precisely aligned with the gyroscope spin-axis. The change in orientation of these fields, as well as the spin-axis, is sensed by the SQUID magnetometers. In order to attain the superconducting temperatures for the gyroscopes and the SQUID's, the experiment package will be housed in a dewar filled with liquid helium. The helium flow through a GP-B micro thruster and into a vacuum is investigated using the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method.

Jones, Kenneth M.↗
NASA NTRS1980

The influence of orbit selection on the accuracy of the Stanford Relativity gyroscope experiment

This paper discusses an error analysis for the Stanford Relativity experiment, designed to measure the precession of a gyroscope's spin-axis predicted by general relativity. Measurements will be made of the spin-axis orientations of 4 superconducting spherical gyroscopes carried by an earth-satellite. Two relativistic precessions are predicted: a 'geodetic' precession associated with the satellite's orbital motion and a 'motional' precession due to the earth's rotation. Using a Kalman filter covariance analysis with a realistic error model we have computed the error in determining the relativistic precession rates. Studies show that a slightly off-polar orbit is better than a polar orbit for determining the 'motional' drift.

Vassar, R.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Skin Sea‐Surface Temperature from VIIRS on Suomi‐NPP—NASA Continuity Retrievals

Retrievals of skin Sea‐Surface Temperature (SSTskin) from the measurements of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite on the Suomi‐National Polar‐orbiting Partnership satellite are presented and discussed. The algorithms used to derive the SSTskin from the radiometric measurements are given in detail. A number of approaches to assess the accuracy and stability of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) SSTskin retrievals are reported, and factors including latitude and season, and physical processes in the atmosphere and at the surface are discussed. We conclude that the Suomi National Polar‐orbiting Partnership (S‐NPP) VIIRS is capable of matching and improving upon the accuracies of SSTskin from the MODISs on Terra and Aqua, and that the VIIRS SSTskin fields have the potential to contribute to the extension of the satellitederived Climate Data Records of SST into the future.

sea‐surface temperature↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Evaluation of Aqua MODIS and S-NPP VIIRS Thermal Emissive Bands Calibration Stability Using Dome-C

Establishing the calibration consistency between satellite measurements is an essential step in the implementation of a long-term global monitoring plan, which often leads to sensor calibration improvements. The Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) is a polar-orbiting Earth remote sensing instrument built with a strong Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) heritage. The center wavelengths of all VIIRS thermal emissive bands (TEBs) match well with those of MODIS with the exception of VIIRS TEB M15 (10.7μm). Previous work from the MODIS Characterization Support Team (MCST) at the NASA/GSFC used specific Earth surface targets to track the long-term consistency,stability, and relative bias between the two MODIS instruments onboard the Terra and Aqua satellites. Using similar methodologies, this paper evaluates the TEB calibration consistency between the MODIS instruments and S-NPP VIIRS over Dome Concordia (Dome-C). The Dome-C site is uniformly snow-covered and the atmospheric effects are small in the surrounding area. Near-surface air temperature measurements from an Automatic Weather Station (AWS) are used as a reference to track each sensor’s calibration stability and determine the relative bias between the MODIS and VIIRS instruments. The results of this study provide a quantitative assessment of the S-NPP VIIRS TEB mission-long performance.

MODIS↗