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At least 1,333 records · Page 74

On the estimation of climatological Z-R relationships

A statistical framework for climatological Z-R parameter estimation is developed and simulation experiments are conducted to examine sampling properties of the estimators. Both parametric and nonparametric models are considered. For parametric models, it is shown that Z-R parameters can be estimated by maximum likelihood, a procedure with optimal large sample properties. A general nonparametric framework for climatological Z-R estimation is also developed. Nonparametric procedures are attractive because of their flexibility in dealing with certain types of measurement errors common to radar data. Simulation experiments show that even under favorable assumptions on error characteristics of radar and raingages, large datasets are required to obtain accurate Z-R parameter estimates. Another important conclusion is that estimation results are generally quite sensitive to radar and raingage measurement thresholds. For fixed sample size, the simulation results can be used to provide quantitative assessments of the accuracy of Z-R model parameter estimates. These results are particularly useful for error analysis of precipitation products that are derived using climatological Z-R relations. One example is the large-area rainfall estimates derived using the height-area rainfall threshold (HART) technique.

Krajewski, Witold F.↗

Modal identification using single-mode projection filters and comparison with ERA and MLE results

The Single-Mode Projection Filter (SPF) is a newly developed algorithm for eigensystem parameter identification from both analytical results and test data. The SPF is formulated with a single mode only and practical for parallel processing implementation. Explicit formulations of SPF are derived for the multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system by using the orthogonal matrices of the controllability and observability matrices in the general sense. The modal parameters of SPF are initially obtained from an analytical model in modal space. The experimental data are then processed through SPF to update its modal parameters and to minimize a cost function defined by the norm of an error matrix. The updated modal parameters represent the characteristics of the test data. A two-dimensional global minimum optimization algorithm is developed and applied for the filter update by using the interval analysis method. The SPF is developed based on a single-mode subsystem and identifies only one modal frequency and one modal damping within a specified region. For an n-modes structure, n SPF can be implemented for parallel processing to reduce the computational burden. The SPF is applied to analyze the simulated data for the MAST beam structure. The estimated modal parameters are comparable to those from the Eigensystem Realization Algorithm (ERA) and repeated modal frequencies are identified. The modal analysis of the Spacecraft Control Laboratory Experiment (SCOLE) data is also performed by using the ERA and the Maximum Likelihood Estimate (MLE). The result shows that the first five modal frequencies are very close from ERA and MLE. However, there are slight disparities in the damping rates and the computational burdens are quite different among these two algorithms.

Huang, Jen-Kuang↗

Comparisons of Bin and Bulk Microphysics Schemes in Simulations of Topographic Winter Precipitation with Radar and Radiometer Measurements

The Hebrew University Cloud Model (HUCM) bin scheme and the Thompson bulk scheme in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model are compared to assess biases often found in simulated brightness temperature and radar reflectivity. Compared to our preceding study that evaluated several bulk schemes in the WRF model, the current study obtains a reduction of the bias from excessive microwave scattering by precipitation ice for both HUCM bin and the Thompson bulk microphysics schemes for a topographic winter precipitation event associated with an atmospheric river. The Thompson particle size distributions (PSDs) and snow particle density assumption are implemented into the Goddard Satellite Data Simulator Unit (G‐SDSU) and have produced improvements. Despite the greater sophistication of the bin scheme in representing cloud and precipitation processes, the simulation with the Thompson bulk scheme is generally in better agreement with observations for this winter event. The explicitly resolved hydrometeor PSDs in HUCM enable analysis of mass spectra variations in response to changes in microphysics assumptions. Two HUCM sensitivity runs tested the enhancement of snow particle breakup and the influence of ice nuclei (IN) concentration. Higher IN concentration resulted in increased snow mass and broadened the spectrum toward small‐size particles. Modified snow mass spectra and resultant changes in graupel contributed to modifications in scattering and reflectivity simulations. The article demonstrates the bin scheme's capability to provide a new means to improve our understanding of uncertainties in mesoscale weather models and radiative transfer models.

microwave remote sensing↗

Star Identification Without Attitude Knowledge: Testing with X-Ray Timing Experiment Data

As the budget for the scientific exploration of space shrinks, the need for more autonomous spacecraft increases. For a spacecraft with a star tracker, the ability to determinate attitude from a lost in space state autonomously requires the capability to identify the stars in the field of view of the tracker. Although there have been efforts to produce autonomous star trackers which perform this function internally, many programs cannot afford these sensors. The author previously presented a method for identifying stars without a priori attitude knowledge specifically targeted for onboard computers as it minimizes the necessary computer storage. The method has previously been tested with simulated data. This paper provides results of star identification without a priori attitude knowledge using flight data from two 8 by 8 degree charge coupled device star trackers onboard the X-Ray Timing Experiment.

Ketchum, Eleanor↗

Multimodal Bayesian registration of noisy functions using Hamiltonian Monte Carlo

Functional data registration is a necessary processing step for many applications. The observed data can be inherently noisy, often due to measurement error or natural process uncertainty; which most functional alignment methods cannot handle. A pair of functions can also have multiple optimal alignment solutions, which is not addressed in current literature. In this paper, a flexible Bayesian approach to functional alignment is presented, which appropriately accounts for noise in the data without any pre-smoothing required. Additionally, by running parallel MCMC chains, the method can account for multiple optimal alignments via the multi-modal posterior distribution of the warping functions. To most efficiently sample the warping functions, the approach relies on a modification of the standard Hamiltonian Monte Carlo to be well-defined on the infinite-dimensional Hilbert space. In this work, this flexible Bayesian alignment method is applied to both simulated data and real data sets to show its efficiency in handling noisy functions and successfully accounting for multiple optimal alignments in the posterior; characterizing the uncertainty surrounding the warping functions.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Predicting Reaction Products and Automating Reactive Trajectory Characterization in Molecular Simulations with Support Vector Machines

A machine learning-based methodology for the prediction of chemical reaction products, along with automated elucidation of mechanistic details via phase space analysis of reactive trajectories, is introduced using low-dimensional heuristic models and then applied to ab initio computer simulations of the photodissociation of acetaldehyde, an important chemical system in atmospheric chemistry. Our method is centered around training Support Vector Machines (SVMs) to identify optimal separatrices that delineate the regions of phase space that lead to different chemical reaction products. In contrast to the more common “black box” type machine learning methodologies for analyzing chemical simulation data, this SVM-based methodology allows for mechanistic insight to be gleaned from further analysis of the positioning of the phase space points used to train the SVM with respect to the separatrices. For example, a pair of phase space points that are in close proximity to each other but on opposite sides of a separatrix may be situated on opposite sides of a transition state, while phase space points occurring early in a simulation that are distant from a separatrix are likely to belong to trajectories that are highly biased toward the product state associated with the basin of attraction to which they belong. In addition to inferring mechanistic details about multiple-pathway chemical reactions, our method can also be used to increase reactive trajectory sampling efficiency in molecular simulations via rejection sampling, with trajectories leading to undesired product states being identified and terminated early in the simulation rather than being carried to completion.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Microscopic analysis of saturable absorbers: Semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors versus graphene

Fully microscopic many-body calculations are used to study the influence of strong sub-picosecond pulses on the carrier distributions and corresponding optical response in saturable absorbers used for mode-locking—semiconductor (quantum well) saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) and single layer graphene based saturable absorber mirrors (GSAMs). Unlike in GSAMs, the saturation fluence and recovery time in SESAMs show a strong spectral dependence. While the saturation fluence in the SESAM is minimal at the excitonic bandgap, the optimal recovery time and least pulse distortion due to group delay dispersion are found for excitation higher in the first subband. For excitation near the SESAM bandgap, the saturation fluence is about one tenth of that in the GSAM. At energies above the bandgap, the fluences in both systems become similar. A strong dependence of the saturation fluence on the pulse width in both systems is caused by carrier relaxation during the pulse. The recovery time in graphene is found to be about two to four times faster than that in the SESAMs. The occurrence of negative differential transmission in graphene is shown to be caused by dopant related carriers. In SESAMs, a negative differential transmission is found when exciting below the excitonic resonance where excitation induced dephasing leads to an enhancement of the absorption. Comparisons of the simulation data to the experiment show a very good quantitative agreement.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

MODELING THE POLLUTION OF PRISTINE GAS IN THE EARLY UNIVERSE

We conduct a comprehensive theoretical and numerical investigation of the pollution of pristine gas in turbulent flows, designed to provide useful new tools for modeling the evolution of the first generation of stars. The properties of such Population III (Pop III) stars are thought to be very different than those of later stellar generations, because cooling is dramatically different in gas with a metallicity below a critical value Z{sub c}, which lies between ∼10{sup –6} and ∼10{sup –3} Z{sub ☉}. The critical value is much smaller than the typical overall average metallicity, , and therefore the mixing efficiency of the pristine gas in the interstellar medium plays a crucial role in determining the transition from Pop III to normal star formation. The small critical value, Z{sub c}, corresponds to the far left tail of the probability distribution function (PDF) of the metal abundance. Based on closure models for the PDF formulation of turbulent mixing, we derive evolution equations for the fraction of gas, P, lying below Z{sub c}, in statistically homogeneous compressible turbulence. Our simulation data show that the evolution of the pristine fraction P can be well approximated by a generalized 'self-convolution' model, which predicts that P-dot = - (n/τ{sub con}) P (1-P{sup 1/n}), where n is a measure of the locality of the mixing or PDF convolution events and the convolution timescale τ{sub con} is determined by the rate at which turbulence stretches the pollutants. Carrying out a suite of numerical simulations with turbulent Mach numbers ranging from M = 0.9 to 6.2, we are able to provide accurate fits to n and τ{sub con} as a function of M, Z{sub c}/(Z), and the length scale, L{sub p}, at which pollutants are added to the flow. For pristine fractions above P = 0.9, mixing occurs only in the regions surrounding blobs of pollutants, such that n = 1. For smaller values of P, n is larger as the mixing process becomes more global. We show how these results can be used to construct one-zone models for the evolution of Pop III stars in a single high-redshift galaxy, as well as subgrid models for tracking the evolution of the first stars in large cosmological numerical simulations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Direct simulation of the stably stratified turbulent Ekman layer

The Navier-Stokes equations and the Boussinesq approximation were used to compute a 3D time-dependent turbulent flow in the stably stratified Ekman layer over a smooth surface. The simulation data are found to be in very good agreement with atmospheric measurements when nondimensionalized according to Nieuwstadt's local scaling scheme. Results suggest that, when Reynolds number effects are taken into account, the 'constant Froud number' stable layer model (Brost and Wyngaard, 1978) and the 'shearing length' stable layer model (Hunt, 1985) for the dissipitation rate of turbulent kinetic energy are both valid. It is concluded that there is good agreement between the direct numerical simulation results and large-eddy simulation results obtained by Mason and Derbyshire (1990).

Coleman, G. N.↗

A system to geometrically rectify and map airborne scanner imagery and to estimate ground area

A system of computer programs were developed which performs geometric rectification and line-by-line mapping of airborne multispectral scanner data to ground coordinates and estimates ground area. The system requires aircraft attitude and positional information furnished by ancillary aircraft equipment, as well as ground control points. The geometric correction and mapping procedure locates the scan lines, or the pixels on each line, in terms of map grid coordinates. The area estimation procedure gives ground area for each pixel or for a predesignated parcel specified in map grid coordinates. The results of exercising the system with simulated data showed the uncorrected video and corrected imagery and produced area estimates accurate to better than 99.7%.

Spencer, M. M.↗

Benchmarking magnetised three-wave coupling for laser backscattering: analytic solutions and kinetic simulations

Understanding magnetised laser–plasma interactions is important for controlling magneto-inertial fusion experiments and developing magnetically assisted radiation and particle sources. For nanosecond pulses at non-relativistic intensities, interactions are dominated by coherent three-wave interactions, whose nonlinear coupling coefficients became known only recently when waves propagate at oblique angles with the magnetic field. In this paper, backscattering coupling coefficients predicted by warm-fluid theory are benchmarked using particle-in-cell simulations in one spatial dimension, and excellent agreements are found for a wide range of plasma temperatures, magnetic field strengths and laser propagation angles, when the interactions are mediated by electron-dominant hybrid waves. Systematic comparisons between theory and simulations are made possible by a rigorous protocol. On the theory side, the initial boundary value problem of linearised three-wave equations is solved, and the transient-time solutions allow the effects of growth and damping to be distinguished. On the simulation side, parameters are carefully chosen and calibration runs are performed to ensure that comparisons are well controlled. Fitting simulation data to analytical solutions yields numerical growth rates that match theory predictions within error bars. Although warm-fluid theory is found to be valid for a wide parameter range, genuine kinetic effects have also been observed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Molecular dynamics simulation of metallic Al–Ce liquids using a neural network machine learning interatomic potential

Al-rich Al-Ce alloys have the possibility of replacing heavier steel and cast-irons for use in high-temperature applications. Knowledge about the structures and properties of Al-Ce alloys at liquid state is vital for optimizing the manufacture process to produce desired allows. However, reliable molecular dynamics simulation of Al-Ce alloy systems remains a great challenge due to the lack of accurate Al-Ce interatomic potential. In this work, an artificial neural network (ANN) deep machine learning (ML) method is used to develop a reliable interatomic potential for Al-Ce alloy. Ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulation data on Al-Ce liquid with small unit cell (~200 atoms) and on the known Al-Ce crystalline compounds are collected to train the interatomic potential using ANN-ML. The obtained ANN-ML model reproduces well the energies, forces, and atomic structure of Al 90 Ce 10 liquid and crystalline phases of Al-Ce compounds in comparison with ab initio results. The developed ANN-ML potential is applied in molecular dynamics simulations to study the structures and properties of metallic Al 90 Ce 10 liquid, which would provide useful insight for guiding experimental process to produce desired Al-Ce allows.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

3rd Annual Earth System Grid Federation and 3rd Annual Earth System Grid Federation and Ultrascale Visualization Climate Data Analysis Tools Face-to-Face Meeting Report December 2013

The climate and weather data science community gathered December 3–5, 2013, at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in Livermore, California, for the third annual Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) and Ultra-scale Visualization Climate Data Analysis Tools (UV-CDAT) Face-to-Face (F2F) Meeting, which was hosted by the Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the European Infrastructure for the European Network of Earth System Modelling, and the Australian Department of Education. Both ESGF and UV-CDAT are global collaborations designed to develop a new generation of open-source software infrastructure that provides distributed access and analysis to observed and simulated data from the climate and weather communities. The tools and infrastructure developed under these international multi-agency collaborations are critical to understanding extreme weather conditions and long-term climate change, while the F2F meetings help to build a stronger climate and weather data science community and stronger federated software infrastructure. The 2013 F2F meeting determined requirements for existing and impending national and international community projects; enhancements needed for data distribution, analysis, and visualization infrastructure; and standards and resources needed for better collaborations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Simulation-trained machine learning models for Lorentz transmission electron microscopy

Understanding the collective behavior of complex spin textures, such as lattices of magnetic skyrmions, is of fundamental importance for exploring and controlling the emergent ordering of these spin textures and inducing phase transitions. It is also critical to understand the skyrmion–skyrmion interactions for applications such as magnetic skyrmion-enabled reservoir or neuromorphic computing. Magnetic skyrmion lattices can be studied using in situ Lorentz transmission electron microscopy (LTEM), but quantitative and statistically robust analysis of the skyrmion lattices from LTEM images can be difficult. In this work, we show that a convolutional neural network, trained on simulated data, can be applied to perform segmentation of spin textures and to extract quantitative data, such as spin texture size and location, from experimental LTEM images, which cannot be obtained manually. This includes quantitative information about skyrmion size, position, and shape, which can, in turn, be used to calculate skyrmion–skyrmion interactions and lattice ordering. We apply this approach to segmenting images of Néel skyrmion lattices so that we can accurately identify skyrmion size and deformation in both dense and sparse lattices. The model is trained using a large set of micromagnetic simulations as well as simulated LTEM images. This entirely open-source training pipeline can be applied to a wide variety of magnetic features and materials, enabling large-scale statistical studies of spin textures using LTEM.

McCray, Arthur R. C. (ORCID:0000000160774698)↗

Time delay analysis of the lensed quasar SDSS J1001+5027

We modify the algorithm we proposed in Aghamousa and Shafieloo for the time delay estimation of strongly lensed systems incorporating the weighted cross-correlation and weighted summation of correlation coefficients. We show the high performance of this algorithm by applying it to Time Delay Challenge (TDC1) simulated data. We apply then our proposed method to the light curves of the lensed quasar SDSS J1001+5027 since this system has been well studied by other groups, to compare our results with their findings. In this work we propose a new estimator, the “mirror” estimator, along with a list of criteria for reliability testing of the estimation. Our mirror estimator results are −117.1{sub −3.7}{sup +7.1} and −117.1{sub −8.8}{sup +7.2} using simple Monte Carlo simulations and simulated light curves provided by Rathna Kumar et al., respectively. Although the TDC1 simulations do not reflect the properties of the SDSS J1001+5027 light curves, using these simulations results in a smaller uncertainty, which shows that the higher quality observations can lead to a substantially more precise time delay estimation. Our time delay estimation is in agreement with the findings of the other groups for this strongly lensed system, and the difference in the size of the error bars reflects the importance of appropriate light curve simulations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Simulating the X-Ray Image Contrast to Set-Up Techniques with Desired Flaw Detectability

The paper provides simulation data of previous work by the author in developing a model for estimating detectability of crack-like flaws in radiography. The methodology is being developed to help in implementation of NASA Special x-ray radiography qualification, but is generically applicable to radiography. The paper describes a method for characterizing X-ray detector resolution for crack detection. Applicability of ASTM E 2737 resolution requirements to the model are also discussed. The paper describes a model for simulating the detector resolution. A computer calculator application, discussed here, also performs predicted contrast and signal-to-noise ratio calculations. Results of various simulation runs in calculating x-ray flaw size parameter and image contrast for varying input parameters such as crack depth, crack width, part thickness, x-ray angle, part-to-detector distance, part-to-source distance, source sizes, and detector sensitivity and resolution are given as 3D surfaces. These results demonstrate effect of the input parameters on the flaw size parameter and the simulated image contrast of the crack. These simulations demonstrate utility of the flaw size parameter model in setting up x-ray techniques that provide desired flaw detectability in radiography. The method is applicable to film radiography, computed radiography, and digital radiography.

Koshti, Ajay M.↗

An Interactive MATLAB Program for Fitting Transfer Functions to Frequency Responses

A computer program called FRFit (Frequency Response Fitting) is described for fitting single-input single-output transfer function models to empirical frequency response data. The program is interactive in that the user specifies ``elementary factors'' (gain, delay, pure differentiators and integrators, and first- and second-order zeros and poles) by entering numerical values or moving sliders in a graphical user interface. A nonlinear optimization can then be performed to obtain maximum likelihood estimates of transfer function parameters and uncertainties to provide feedback on the modeling and refine estimates. Several examples are discussed, including the identification of aircraft pitch dynamics from simulation data and data reported in the literature, approximating Theodorsen's function of unsteady aerodynamics, and obtaining a reduced-order model of a computational fluid dynamics code describing the unsteady aerodynamics around an aeroelastic wing. The program has some usefulness as a teaching aid, and can be applied to model structure determination, reduced-order modeling, preliminary analysis, and simple system identification problems. The program was written in MATLAB and is planned for public release through the NASA Software Catalog.

System identification↗