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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 1,261 records · Page 70

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NASA NTRS2000

Successful Hybrid Approach to Visual and Video Observations of the 1999 Leonid Storm

A new hybrid technique of visual and video meteor observations is described. The method proved particularly effective for airborne observations of meteor shower activity. Results from the 1999 Leonid Multi-Instrument Aircraft Campaign are presented, and the profile shape of the 1999 Leonid storm is discussed in relation to meteor shower models. We find that the storm is best described with a Lorentz profile. Application to past meteor outbursts shows that the cui,rent multi-trailet model of a dust trail is slightly shifted and we crossed deeper into the 1899 epoch trallet than expected.

Jenniskens, Peter↗

NASA NTRS2008

Synthetic Vision for Lunar and Planetary Landing Vehicles

The Crew Vehicle Interface (CVI) group of the Integrated Intelligent Flight Deck Technologies (IIFDT) has done extensive research in the area of Synthetic Vision (SV), and has shown that SV technology can substantially enhance flight crew situation awareness, reduce pilot workload, promote flight path control precision and improve aviation safety. SV technology is being extended to evaluate its utility for lunar and planetary exploration vehicles. SV may hold significant potential for many lunar and planetary missions since the SV presentation provides a computer-generated view of the terrain and other significant environment characteristics independent of the outside visibility conditions, window locations, or vehicle attributes. SV allows unconstrained control of the computer-generated scene lighting, terrain coloring, and virtual camera angles which may provide invaluable visual cues to pilots/astronauts and in addition, important vehicle state information may be conformally displayed on the view such as forward and down velocities, altitude, and fuel remaining to enhance trajectory control and vehicle system status. This paper discusses preliminary SV concepts for tactical and strategic displays for a lunar landing vehicle. The technical challenges and potential solutions to SV applications for the lunar landing mission are explored, including the requirements for high resolution terrain lunar maps and an accurate position and orientation of the vehicle that is essential in providing lunar Synthetic Vision System (SVS) cockpit displays. The paper also discusses the technical challenge of creating an accurate synthetic terrain portrayal using an ellipsoid lunar digital elevation model which eliminates projection errors and can be efficiently rendered in real-time.

Williams, Steven P.↗

NASA NTRS2011

NASA Planning for Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Ground Operations

The NASA Orion Ground Processing Team was originally formed by the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Constellation (Cx) Project Office's Orion Division to define, refine and mature pre-launch and post-landing ground operations for the Orion human spacecraft. The multidisciplined KSC Orion team consisted of KSC civil servant, SAIC, Productivity Apex, Inc. and Boeing-CAPPS engineers, project managers and safety engineers, as well as engineers from Constellation's Orion Project and Lockheed Martin Orion Prime contractor. The team evaluated the Orion design configurations as the spacecraft concept matured between Systems Design Review (SDR), Systems Requirement Review (SRR) and Preliminary Design Review (PDR). The team functionally decomposed prelaunch and post-landing steps at three levels' of detail, or tiers, beginning with functional flow block diagrams (FFBDs). The third tier FFBDs were used to build logic networks and nominal timelines. Orion ground support equipment (GSE) was identified and mapped to each step. This information was subsequently used in developing lower level operations steps in a Ground Operations Planning Document PDR product. Subject matter experts for each spacecraft and GSE subsystem were used to define 5th - 95th percentile processing times for each FFBD step, using the Delphi Method. Discrete event simulations used this information and the logic network to provide processing timeline confidence intervals for launch rate assessments. The team also used the capabilities of the KSC Visualization Lab, the FFBDs and knowledge of the spacecraft, GSE and facilities to build visualizations of Orion pre-launch and postlanding processing at KSC. Visualizations were a powerful tool for communicating planned operations within the KSC community (i.e., Ground Systems design team), and externally to the Orion Project, Lockheed Martin spacecraft designers and other Constellation Program stakeholders during the SRR to PDR timeframe. Other operations planning tools included Kaizen/Lean events, mockups and human factors analysis. The majority of products developed by this team are applicable as KSC prepares 21st Century Ground Systems for the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and Space Launch System.

Letchworth, Gary↗

NASA NTRS2011

Accessing Recent Trend of Land Surface Temperature from Satellite Observations

Land surface temperature (Ts) is an important element to measure the state of terrestrial ecosystems and to study surface energy budgets. In support of the land cover/land use change-related international program MAIRS (Monsoon Asia Integrated Regional Study), we have collected global monthly Ts measured by MODIS since the beginning of the missions. The MODIS Ts time series have approximately 11 years of data from Terra since 2000 and approximately 9 years of data from Aqua since 2002, which makes possible to study the recent climate, such as trend. In this study, monthly climatology from two platforms are calculated and compared with that from AIRS. The spatial patterns of Ts trends are accessed, focusing on the Eurasia region. Furthermore, MODIS Ts trends are compared with those from AIRS and NASA's atmospheric assimilation model, MERRA (Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications). The preliminary results indicate that the recent 8-year Ts trend shows an oscillation-type spatial variation over Eurasia. The pattern is consistent for data from MODIS, AIRS, and MERRA, with the positive center over Eastern Europe, and the negative center over Central Siberia. The calculated climatology and anomaly of MODIS Ts will be integrated into the online visualization system, Giovanni, at NASA GES DISC for easy use by scientists and general public.

Shen, Suhung↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Characterization of Reactant Refill and Detonation Wave Dynamics in a GOx/Natural-gas RDRE Using Simultaneous High Repetition-Rate OH-PLIF and Chemiluminescence

The potential application of rotating detonation engines (RDEs) in rocket combustors hinges on a fundamental understanding of detonation wave structure and injector characteristics with fuel and oxidizer compositions relevant in rocket systems. Simultaneous 300 kHz-rate broadband OH* chemiluminescence and OH-PLIF imaging is employed in a fully optically accessible Natural Gas-GOx rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) to visualize reactant refill dynamics and detonation wave structure. A custom-built KTP-type optical parametric oscillator (OPO) is coupled with a nanosecond high-repetition-rate burst-mode laser to output284 nm light and target excitation of the Q1(9) transition in the OH radical. Significant deflagrative burning is observed throughout the chamber as a consequence of the oxygen-rich environment. Trailing Azimuthal Reflected Shock Combustion (ARSC) system, similar to those in a H2-air RDE are observed, burning unburned reactants in the region immediately following the primary detonation wave. Contact burning, as indicated in this study, does not seem to be a primary loss mechanism. The simultaneous measurement of OH and OH* show that axial locations exist in the refill process where OH radicals are present, and produced due to shear layer induced deflagration, however, these zones do not produce excited state OH*. While a deeper understanding of the underlying physics in RDRE systems requires further investigation, this work highlights a first-of-its-kind visualization of the turbulent combustion product field and reactant refill characteristics in this highly unsteady environment.

Propulsion↗

NASA NTRS1985

Application of frequency domain handling qualities criteria to the longitudinal landing task

Under NASA sponsorship, an in-flight simulation of the longitudinal handling qualities of several configurations for the approach and landing tasks was performed on the USAF/AFWAL Total In-Flight Simulator by the Calspan Corporation. The basic configuration was a generic transport airplane with static instability. The control laws included proportional plus integral gain loops to produce pitch-rate and angle-of-attack feedback loops. The evaluation task was a conventional visual approach to a flared touchdown at a designated spot on the runway with a lateral offset. The general conclusions were that the existing criteria are based on pitch-attitude response and that these characteristics do not adequately discriminate between the good and bad configurations of this study. This paper describes the work that has been done to further develop frequency-based criteria in an effort to provide better correlation with the observed data.

Sarrafian, S. K.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Terrestrial Hydrological Data from NASA's Hydrology Data and Information Services Center (HDISC): Products, Services, and Applications

Terrestrial hydrological variables are important in global hydrology, climate, and carbon cycle studies. The North American and Global Land Data Assimilation Systems (NLDAS and GLDAS, respectively) have been generating a series of land surface states (soil moisture, snow, and temperature) and fluxes (evapotranspiration, radiation, and heat flux) variables. These data, hosted at and available from NASA s Hydrology Data and Information Services Center (HDISC), include the NLDAS hourly 1/8 degree products and the GLDAS 3-hourly 0.25 and 1.0 degree products. HDISC provides easy access and visualization and analysis capabilities for these products, thus reducing the time and resources spent by scientists on data management and facilitating hydrological research. Users can perform spatial and parameter subsetting, data format transformation, and data analysis operations without needing to first download the data. HDISC is continually being developed as a data and services portal that supports weather and climate forecasts, and water and energy cycle research.

Fang, Hongliang↗

NASA NTRS1980

Stereo radar for mapping and interpretation

The use of terrain imaging radar to extract elevation information by stereo viewing and measurement is discussed. Either a three dimensional visual model or elevation measurements may be obtained by simultaneous viewing or differential measurement of images obtained by a side-looking radar from two different flightpaths. Expressions describing radar image geometry, model vertical exaggeration, and stereo measurement accuracy are derived. The dependence of the exaggeration and accuracy on system parameters and key system errors is derived, discussed, and illustrated by application to several airborne and spaceborne systems and system concepts, and the results of some preliminary measurements of imagery from two airborne and one spaceborne system are given.

Graham, L.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Fundamental procedures of geographic information analysis

Analytical procedures common to most computer-oriented geographic information systems are composed of fundamental map processing operations. A conceptual framework for such procedures is developed and basic operations common to a broad range of applications are described. Among the major classes of primitive operations identified are those associated with: reclassifying map categories as a function of the initial classification, the shape, the position, or the size of the spatial configuration associated with each category; overlaying maps on a point-by-point, a category-wide, or a map-wide basis; measuring distance; establishing visual or optimal path connectivity; and characterizing cartographic neighborhoods based on the thematic or spatial attributes of the data values within each neighborhood. By organizing such operations in a coherent manner, the basis for a generalized cartographic modeling structure can be developed which accommodates a variety of needs in a common, flexible and intuitive manner. The use of each is limited only by the general thematic and spatial nature of the data to which it is applied.

Berry, J. K.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Atmospheric environment for space shuttle (STS-26) launch

A summary of selected atmospheric conditions observed near Space Shuttle STS-26 launch time on September 29, 1988, at Kennedy Space Center, Florida is given. Values of ambient pressure, temperature, moisture, ground winds, visual observations (cloud), and winds aloft are included. The sequence of pre-launch Jimsphere measured vertical wind profiles is given. The final atmospheric tape, which consists of wind and thermodynamic parameters versus altitude, for STS-26 vehicle ascent has been constructed. The STS-26 ascent atmospheric data tape has been constructed by Marshall Space Flight Center's Earth Science and Applications Division to provide an internally consistent data set for use in post-flight performance assessments.

Jasper, G. L.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Aerodynamic applications of infrared thermography

A series of wind tunnel experiments were conducted as part of a systematic study for evaluation of infrared thermography as a viable non-intrusive thermal measurement technique for aerodynamic applications. The experiments consisted of obtaining steady-state surface temperature and convective heat transfer rates for a uniformly heated cylinder in transverse flow with a Reynolds number range of 46,000 to 250,000. The calculated convective heat transfer rates were in general agreement with classical data. Furthermore, IR thermography provided valuable real-time fluid dynamic information such as visualization of flow separation, transition and vortices.

Daryabeigi, Kamran↗

NASA NTRS1991

Virtual reality at work

The utility of virtual reality computer graphics in telepresence applications is not hard to grasp and promises to be great. When the virtual world is entirely synthetic, as opposed to real but remote, the utility is harder to establish. Vehicle simulators for aircraft, vessels, and motor vehicles are proving their worth every day. Entertainment applications such as Disney World's StarTours are technologically elegant, good fun, and economically viable. Nevertheless, some of us have no real desire to spend our lifework serving the entertainment craze of our sick culture; we want to see this exciting technology put to work in medicine and science. The topics covered include the following: testing a force display for scientific visualization -- molecular docking; and testing a head-mounted display for scientific and medical visualization.

Brooks, Frederick P., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Non-Coalescence Effects in Microgravity

Non-coalescence of two bodies of the same liquid and the suppression of contact between liquid drops and solid surfaces is being studied through a pair of parallel investigations being conducted at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Microgravity Research and Support (MARS) Center in Naples, Italy. Both non-coalescence and contact suppression are achieved by exploiting the mechanism of thermocapillary convection to drive a lubricating film of surrounding gas (air) into the space between the two liquid free surfaces (non-coalescence) or between the drop free surface and the solid (contact suppression). Earlier experiments performed included flow-visualization experiments in both axisymmetric and (nearly) two-dimensional geometries and quantitative measurements of film thickness in the contact-suppression case in both geometries. Work done in the second year has focused on obtaining quantitative results relating to the effects of variable air pressure, development of analytical and numerical models of non-coalescing droplets and to pursuing potential applications of these self-lubricated systems.

Neitzel, G. Paul↗

NASA NTRS2018

WebGeocalc and Cosmographia: Modern Tools to Access OPS SPICE Data

For more than two decades navigation and other ancillary data from most US and international planetary science missions have been packaged using "SPICE" (Spacecraft, Planet, Instrument, Camera-matrix, Events) system data files (a.k.a. SPICE kernels) and, in conjunction with SPICE Toolkit software used by scientists and engineers to compute observation geometry in various ground system tools ranging from mission planning and analysis applications to data production pipelines to science analysis tools. The traditional way for accessing SPICE data is by downloading necessary SPICE kernels to a user’s workstation, installing the SPICE Toolkit software available from NAIF, and writing an application calling APIs from the SPICE Toolkit library to compute numeric geometric parameters of interest. While this approach did and still does provide the greatest flexibility in implementing geometric computations of interest, it proved to be complicated for users with little programming abilities, required data to be always copied to the users’ workstations, and lacked any out-of-the-box visualization capabilities. To address these shortcomings NAIF developed the WebGeocalc (WGC) tool and extended the publicly available Cosmographia program to use SPICE. Employing these two new tools in mission operations enables easier access to SPICE computations and SPICE-based visualizations for a wider variety of mission personnel.

Semenov, Boris V.↗

NASA NTRS2026

Hydrology Copilot: A Cloud-Native Ai System for Hydrological Data Analysis

The emergence of AI-driven Earth observation systems promises to broaden access to petabyte-scale geospatial data beyond domain specialists. However, translating this vision into operational scientific infrastructure requires addressing fundamental challenges in data virtualization, code transparency, and domain-specific reasoning. We present Hydrology Copilot, a cloud-native AI framework for natural-language-driven analysis of Earth observation data. To demonstrate operational capabilities at scale, we implement the system using NASA's North American Land Data Assimilation System version 3 (NLDAS-3), which provides surface meteorological forcing and land-surface model output across North and Central America at 1-km resolution, from which drought diagnostics are derived. The system integrates five core contributions: (1) scalable data virtualization using Kerchunk-based cloud optimized access, achieving a 1.5 to 4.6 times improvement in I/O latency across benchmark queries spanning regional single-day extractions (4.6 times speedup) to continental monthly aggregations (1.5 times speedup); (2) transparent code generation through Microsoft Azure AI Foundry agents that expose executable Python workflows for scientific verification; (3) persistent conversational memory enabling multi-turn analytical discourse across sessions; (4) intelligent query validation that enforces dataset boundaries and resolves ambiguous requests before execution; and (5) a multi-agent architecture coordinating query parsing, code generation, and visualization. We evaluate the system through drought-monitoring workflows, demonstrating reliable code generation, accurate results validated against reference computations and the operational U.S. Drought Monitor, and efficient operation across increasingly complex tasks. By bridging natural-language interfaces with rigorous hydrological analysis, Hydrology Copilot advances beyond proof-of-concept demonstrations to provide a deployable framework for operational Earth science applications.

Data virtualization↗

NASA NTRS1973

Interdisciplinary applications and interpretations of ERTS data within the Susquehanna River Basin; resources inventory, land use and pollution

The author has identified the following significant results. Identification and mapping of three major kinds of coal refuse targets based on spectral signatures in channels four through seven of the ERTS-1 MSS were conducted. Correlation of the placement of the coal refuse targets with an existing map of their location was accomplished. Digital processing of ERTS-1 data permitted identification of stripped areas including ones that are not discernible by visual analysis of ERTS imagery. Combined visual and digital techniques of analyzing ERTS-1 data for geologic formations have been tried on selected areas of Pennsylvania. Mapping of two major agriculture counties to show land forms, drainage patterns, water, and urban areas were made using positive transparencies of MSS data. Two frames of the same central Pennsylvania area were brought into registration by translation and then merged even though the frames were obtained 71 days apart.

Mcmurtry, G. J.↗

NASA NTRS2012

NASA Giovanni: A Tool for Visualizing, Analyzing, and Inter-Comparing Soil Moisture Data

There are many existing satellite soil moisture algorithms and their derived data products, but there is no simple way for a user to inter-compare the products or analyze them together with other related data (e.g., precipitation). An environment that facilitates such inter-comparison and analysis would be useful for validation of satellite soil moisture retrievals against in situ data and for determining the relationships between different soil moisture products. The latter relationships are particularly important for applications users, for whom the continuity of soil moisture data, from whatever source, is critical. A recent example was provided by the sudden demise of EOS Aqua AMSR-E and the end of its soil moisture data production, as well as the end of other soil moisture products that had used the AMSR-E brightness temperature data. The purpose of the current effort is to create an environment, as part of the NASA Giovanni family of portals, that facilitates inter-comparisons of soil moisture algorithms and their derived data products.

Teng, William↗

NASA NTRS2004

Advances in Software Tools for Pre-processing and Post-processing of Overset Grid Computations

Recent developments in three pieces of software for performing pre-processing and post-processing work on numerical computations using overset grids are presented. The first is the OVERGRID graphical interface which provides a unified environment for the visualization, manipulation, generation and diagnostics of geometry and grids. Modules are also available for automatic boundary conditions detection, flow solver input preparation, multiple component dynamics input preparation and dynamics animation, simple solution viewing for moving components, and debris trajectory analysis input preparation. The second is a grid generation script library that enables rapid creation of grid generation scripts. A sample of recent applications will be described. The third is the OVERPLOT graphical interface for displaying and analyzing history files generated by the flow solver. Data displayed include residuals, component forces and moments, number of supersonic and reverse flow points, and various dynamics parameters.

Chan, William M.↗