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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 1,351 records · Page 75

A Geos 3 Orbit determination experiment

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the value of altimetry data in high-precision satellite orbit determination. To accomplish this, software was developed to process laser, C-band, doppler and altimeter data singly or jointly. Initially, orbit determination studies were undertaken using synthetic data to validate the software. As data became available, preliminary experiments were carried out. When all the data became available, an intensive study was made covering a 4-day span in 1976. The results showed that even with sparse altimeter data it was possible to accurately determine the semimajor axis and eccentricity with altimeter data only. When altimeter data was supplemented with (as few as) two C-band passes, high-precision ephemerides were obtained. Using two laser passes to supplement the altimetry data did not achieve that same high precision. This is probably because the geographic location (mid-Atlantic) of the highly accurate laser data were such that they did not ideally complement the available (south Atlantic and Indian Ocean) altimeter data.

Pisacane, V. L.↗

Experimental study of low-energy charge transfer in nitrogen

Total charge transfer cross sections were obtained for the N2(+)-N2 system with relative translational ion energies between 9 and 441 eV. Data were obtained to examine the dependence of total cross section on ion energy. The effect of ion excitation on the cross sections was studied by varying the electron ionization energy in the mass spectrometer ion source over an electron energy range between 14.5 and 32.1 eV. The dependence of total cross section on the neutralization chamber gas pressure was examined by obtaining data at pressure values from 9.9 to 0.000199 torr. Cross section values obtained were compared with experimental and theoretical results of other investigations.

Smith, A.↗

Microwave remote sensing of soil moisture content over bare and vegetated fields

The author has identified the following significant results. Ground truth of soil moisture content, and ambient air and soil temperatures were acquired concurrently with measurements of soil moisture in bare fields and fields covered with grass, corn, and soybeans obtained with 1.4 GHz and 5 GHz radiometers mounted on a truck. The biomass of the vegetation was sampled about once a week. The measured brightness temperatures over the bare fields were compared with those of radiative transfer model calculations using as inputs the acquired soil moisture and temperatures data with appropriate values of dielectric constants for soil-water mixtures. A good agreement was found between the calculated and measured results over 10 deg to 70 deg incident angles. The presence of vegetation reduced the sensitivity of soil moisture sensing. At 1.4 GHz the sensitivity reduction ranged from about 20% for 10 cm tall grassland cover to over 50 to 60% for the dense soybean field. At 5 GHz corresponding reduction in sensitivity ranged from approximately 70% to approximately 90%.

Wang, J. R.↗

Voyager 2 - Energetic ions and electrons in the Jovian magnetosphere

The passage of Voyager 2 through the Jovian magnetosphere demonstrated that this magnetosphere is highly variable, even as close as 10 Jupiter radii from the planet. The cosmic-ray subsystem measured the flux, elemental composition, and anisotropy of energetic particles. Its high sensitivity was particularly valuable during the long passage through the magnetotail, where particle fluxes were orders of magnitude less than in the inner magnetosphere and approached interplanetary values. The new data confirm earlier observations that the Jovian magnetosphere is a giant accelerator of particles - electrons, protons, and heavy ions, including sulfur. Both spatial and temporal changes are observed in the magnetosphere as compared to prior observations with Pioneer 10 and 11 and Voyager 1. It is suggested that the 10-hr modulation of interplanetary Jovian electrons may be associated with the arrival at the dawn magnetopause of a rarefaction region each planetary rotation.

Vogt, R. E.↗

A model of the Venus atmosphere from radio, radar, and occultation observations

A model is presented of the atmosphere and surface of Venus which best fits in the least-squares sense the available radio-brightness, radar cross-section, radio interferometric, and Mariner 5 and 10 radio occultation observations. The determinations of the radius of the planet obtained by others from radar time-delay measurements are included in the data set. The values of the adjusted parameters are: molar fraction of CO2 = 95 plus or minus 3%; fraction of combined nitrogen and argon = 5 plus or minus 3%; total atmospheric opacity at a wavelength of 1 cm = 19.4 plus or minus 1.3; mean radius of the surface = 6050.7 plus or minus 0.8 km; mean dielectric constant of the surface = 4.1 plus or minus 0.2, and percentage of total opacity due to chemical species other than CO2 = 45 plus or minus 12. The model temperature and pressure at the mean surface are 755 K and 91.4 atm, respectively.

Muhleman, D. O.↗

Reduction and analysis of satellite magnetometer data

The broad-scale magnetic anomalies that appear in regional complications of aeromagnetic data, and in regional and global maps are discussed. Satellite data can be of value in defining such anomalies and invaluable, especially when utilized with airborne data, in their interpretation. The reduction and interpretation of satellite magnetometer data differ significantly from the standard techniques that are routinely applied to conventional measurements. The reduction of the data is discussed and its morphology is detailed. Interpretational techniques that are applicable are presented.

Regan, R. D.↗

Microwave remote sensing of soil moisture content over bare and vegetated fields

Remote measurements of soil moisture contents over bare fields and fields covered with orchard grass, corn, and soybean were made during October 1979 with 1.4 GHz and 5 GHz microwave radiometers mounted on a truck. Ground truth of soil moisture content, ambient air, and soil temperatures was acquired concurrently with the radiometric measurements. The biomass of the vegetation was sampled about once a week. The measured brightness temperatures over bare fields were compared with those of radiative transfer model calculations using as inputs the acquired soil moisture and temperature data with appropriate values of dielectric constants for soil-water mixtures. Good agreement was found between the calculated and the measured results over 10-70 deg incident angles. The presence of vegetation was found to reduce the sensitivity of soil moisture sensing. At 1.4 GHz the sensitivity reduction ranged from approximately 20% for 10-cm tall grassland to over 60% for the dense soybean field. At 5 GHz the corresponding reduction in sensitivity ranged from approximately 70 to approximately 90%.

Wang, J. R.↗

NASA-Langley Research Center's participation in a round-robin comparison between some current crack-propagation prediction methods

A round-robin study was conducted which evaluated and compared different methods currently in practice for predicting crack growth in surface-cracked specimens. This report describes the prediction methods used by the Fracture Mechanics Engineering Section, at NASA-Langley Research Center, and presents a comparison between predicted crack growth and crack growth observed in laboratory experiments. For tests at higher stress levels, the correlation between predicted and experimentally determined crack growth was generally quite good. For tests at lower stress levels, the predicted number of cycles to reach a given crack length was consistently higher than the experimentally determined number of cycles. This consistent overestimation of the number of cycles could have resulted from a lack of definition of crack-growth data at low values of the stress intensity range. Generally, the predicted critical flaw sizes were smaller than the experimentally determined critical flaw sizes. This underestimation probably resulted from using plane-strain fracture toughness values to predict failure rather than the more appropriate values based on maximum load.

Hudson, C. M.↗

LORAN-C prediction problems

Control of time and frequency at remote stations and the maintenance of a constant time scale for LORAN-C chains are problems of practical importance. The stability of stations monitoring a LORAN-C chain is analyzed, in particular, those stations monitoring the Northwest Pacific chain. Individual determinations of the quantity, U.S. Naval Observatory Master lock are compared with an averaged value and monitored data.

Lukac, C. F.↗

Stratospheric eddy diffusion coefficients from tracer data

Global distributions of nitrous oxide, methane, ozone, and carbon 14 are used to estimate four sets of stratospheric eddy diffusion coefficients. A photochemical equilibrium model calculates O(3P), O(1D), H, HO2, OH, H2O2, NO, and NO2 densities, as a function of altitude, latitude, and time. The calculated O(1D), OH, and observed Cl densities are used to obtain the eddy profiles associated with the methane and nitrous oxide distributions, for altitudes between 10 and 40 km. Application of a constant flux condition to the seasonally averaged ozone data yields eddy values below 20 km. Time-dependent carbon 14 calculations produce eddy coefficients between 13 and 27 km. A composite profile is obtained by comparing the four sets of coefficients. Further, carbon 14 computations are used to test these profiles as well as those recommended in reports issued by the National Academy of Sciences in 1976 and 1979. The composite eddy profile produces the best agreement.

Massie, S. T.↗

Solar irradiance variations due to active regions

Questions regarding changes in solar irradiance due to activity are important, since such changes may have a significant effect on the earth's climate. Solar irradiance measurements conducted outside the earth's atmosphere and, therefore, not affected by it have become possible by utilizing for such measurements satellites, such as the Nimbus 7 and the Solar Maximum Mission satellite (ACRIM experiment). The present investigation has the objective to show that a combination of sunspots and faculae is capable of representing the observed variations in the values of ACRIM data to a satisfactory degree, given the current level of uncertainties in the ground-based data.

Oster, L.↗

Signal processor architecture for backscatter radars

Real time signal processing for backscatter radars which requires computational throughput and I/O rates is discussed. The operations that are usually performed in real time are highly repetitive simple accumulations of samples or of products of samples. The control logic does not depend on the values of the data and general purpose computers are not required for the initial high speed processing. The implications of these facts on the architectures of preprocessors for backscatter radars are explored and applied to the design of the Radar Signal Compender.

Swartz, W. E.↗

Analysis of electromagnetic fields on an F-106B aircraft during lightning strikes

Information on the exterior electromagnetic environment of an aircraft when it is struck by lightning has been obtained during thunderstorm penetrations with an F-106B aircraft. Electric and magnetic fields were observed, using mainly time-derivative type sensors, with bandwidths to 50 MHz. Lightning pulse lengths ranging from 25 ns to 7 microsec have been recorded. Sufficient high-frequency content was present to excite electromagnetic resonances of the aircraft, and peaks in the frequency spectra of the waveforms in the range 7 to 23 MHz are in agreement with the resonant frequencies determined in laboratory scale-model tests. Both positively and negatively charged strikes were experienced, and most of the data suggest low values of peak current.

Trost, T. F.↗

A new method for mapping multidimensional data to lower dimensions

A multispectral mapping method is proposed which is based on the new concept of BEND (Bidimensional Effective Normalised Difference). The method, which involves taking one sample point at a time and finding the interrelationships between its features, is found very economical from the point of view of storage and processing time. It has good dimensionality reduction and clustering properties, and is highly suitable for computer analysis of large amounts of data. The transformed values obtained by this procedure are suitable for either a planar 2-space mapping of geological sample points or for making grayscale and color images of geo-terrains. A few examples are given to justify the efficacy of the proposed procedure.

Gowda, K. C.↗

Processing of Image Data by Integrated Circuits

Sensors combined with logic and memory circuitry. Cross-correlation of two inputs accomplished by transversal filter. Position of image taken to point where image and template data yield maximum value correlation function. Circuit used for controlling robots, medical-image analysis, automatic vehicle guidance, and precise pointing of scientific cameras.

Armstrong, R. W.↗

A study of environmental characterization of conventional and advanced aluminum alloys for selection and design. Phase 2: The breaking load test method

A technique is demonstrated for accelerated stress corrosion testing of high strength aluminum alloys. The method offers better precision and shorter exposure times than traditional pass fail procedures. The approach uses data from tension tests performed on replicate groups of smooth specimens after various lengths of exposure to static stress. The breaking strength measures degradation in the test specimen load carrying ability due to the environmental attack. Analysis of breaking load data by extreme value statistics enables the calculation of survival probabilities and a statistically defined threshold stress applicable to the specific test conditions. A fracture mechanics model is given which quantifies depth of attack in the stress corroded specimen by an effective flaw size calculated from the breaking stress and the material strength and fracture toughness properties. Comparisons are made with experimental results from three tempers of 7075 alloy plate tested by the breaking load method and by traditional tests of statistically loaded smooth tension bars and conventional precracked specimens.

Sprowls, D. O.↗

The microwave propagation and backscattering characteristics of vegetation

A semi-empirical model for microwave backscatter from vegetation was developed and a complete set of canope attenuation measurements as a function of frequency, incidence angle and polarization was acquired. The semi-empirical model was tested on corn and sorghum data over the 8 to 35 GHz range. The model generally provided an excellent fit to the data as measured by the correlation and rms error between observed and predicted data. The model also predicted reasonable values of canopy attenuation. The attenuation data was acquired over the 1.6 to 10.2 GHz range for the linear polarizations at approximately 20 deg and 50 deg incidence angles for wheat and soybeans. An attenuation model is proposed which provides reasonable agreement with the measured data.

Ulaby, F. T.↗

Asteroid amphitrite: Surface composition and prospects for the possible Galileo flyby

Studies of the trajectory of the Galileo mission to Jupiter recently revealed that the spacecraft can pass close to one of the largest asteroids (#29 Amphitrite). NASA has therefore altered the mission plan of the Galileo spacecraft to include a possible close flyby of Amphitrite in early December 1986, if the condition of the spacecraft allows. If this option is actually implemented, Amphitrite will become the only asteroid for which any high-spatial resolution images and reflection spectra will be available. To evaluate the value of this data and place Amphitrite in the context of the more than 600 asteroids for which some compositional information exists. Existing data was reexamined, new telescopic spectra of Amphitrite were obtained, and simulated Galileo data sets were constructed.

Bell, J. F.↗