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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 1,423 records · Page 79

HyperPASS, a New Aeroassist Tool

A new software tool designed to perform aeroassist studies has been developed by Global Aerospace Corporation (GAC). The Hypersonic Planetary Aeroassist Simulation System (HyperPASS) [1] enables users to perform guided aerocapture, guided ballute aerocapture, aerobraking, orbit decay, or unguided entry simulations at any of six target bodies (Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Titan, or Neptune). HyperPASS is currently being used for trade studies to investigate (1) aerocapture performance with alternate aeroshell types, varying flight path angle and entry velocity, different gload and heating limits, and angle of attack and angle of bank variations; (2) variable, attached ballute geometry; (3) railgun launched projectile trajectories, and (4) preliminary orbit decay evolution. After completing a simulation, there are numerous visualization options in which data can be plotted, saved, or exported to various formats. Several analysis examples will be described.

Gates, Kristin↗

Rapid Monitoring of Bacteria and Fungi aboard the International Space Station (ISS)

Microorganisms within spacecraft have traditionally been monitored with culture-based techniques. These techniques involve growth of environmental samples (cabin water, air or surfaces) on agar-type media for several days, followed by visualization of resulting colonies or return of samples to Earth for ground-based analysis. Data obtained over the past 4 decades have enhanced our understanding of the microbial ecology within space stations. However, the approach has been limited by the following factors: i) Many microorganisms (estimated > 95%) in the environment cannot grow on conventional growth media; ii) Significant time lags (3-5 days for incubation and up to several months to return samples to ground); iii) Condensation in contact slides hinders colony counting by crew; and iv) Growth of potentially harmful microorganisms, which must then be disposed of safely. This report describes the operation of a new culture-independent technique onboard the ISS for rapid analysis (within minutes) of endotoxin and beta-1, 3-glucan, found in the cell walls of gramnegative bacteria and fungi, respectively. The technique involves analysis of environmental samples with the Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL) assay in a handheld device, known as the Lab-On-a-Chip Application Development Portable Test System (LOCAD-PTS). LOCADPTS was launched to the ISS in December 2006, and here we present data obtained from Mach 2007 until the present day. These data include a comparative study between LOCADPTS analysis and existing culture-based methods; and an exploratory survey of surface endotoxin and beta-1, 3-glucan throughout the ISS. While a general correlation between LOCAD-PTS and traditional culture-based methods should not be expected, we will suggest new requirements for microbial monitoring based upon culture-independent parameters measured by LOCAD-PTS.

Gunter, D.↗

Mars Trek: An Interactive Web Portal for Current and Future Missions to Mars

NASA's Mars Trek (https://marstrek.jpl.nasa.gov) provides a web-based Portal and a suite of interactive visualization and analysis tools to enable mission planners, lunar scientists, and engineers to access mapped data products from past and current missions to Mars. During the past year, the capabilities and data served by Mars Trek have been significantly expanded beyond its original design as a public outreach tool. At the request of NASA's Science Mission Directorate and Human Exploration Operations Mission Directorate, Mars Trek's technology and capabilities are now being extended to support site selection and analysis activities for the first human missions to Mars.

Mars Trek↗

Spaceflight Biospecimen Sharing in Support of Science Discovery and Exploration

For decades, NASA and international partners have flown non-human biological experiments in space to understand the effects of spaceflight and address potential biological hazards. Sending organisms into space is a costly endeavor which makes space-flown biological specimens a valuable resource. To enable maximum scientific return, samples not required by the Principal Investigators are harvested and collected mostly by NASA’s Space Biology Biospecimen Sharing Program. These specimens are collected according to well-established SOPs that maintain quality and integrity. The specimens are then preserved, archived, and made available to the international scientific community through NASA’s Institutional Scientific Collection (ISC) at Ames Research Center (ARC). The ISC-ARC biospecimens and descriptive metadata are findable and accessible for request through the Life Sciences Data Archive (LSDA). The NASA ISC-ARC currently stores over 32,000 specimens from Shuttle, International Space Station, and ground-based investigations (spaceflight analog experiments involving either hindlimb unloading, centrifugation, or partial weight-bearing study designs). Tissues are predominantly from mice and rats, though samples are also available from bacteria and quail. The specimens include tissues from many physiological systems including musculoskeletal, neurosensory, reproductive, respiratory, circulatory, and digestive. Tissues are stored at -80°C, -20°C, +4°C, or ambient and preserved in various fixatives. Descriptive metadata is available for all samples. Historically, these tissues have been used for a wide range of analyses, including histology, genomics, and transcriptomics. Plans are underway to expand the ISC-ARC beyond the mostly-rodent contents, to include a space-relevant microbial culture collection including bacteria, fungi, and yeast. This expansion of the ISC-ARC will now involve identifying and standardizing best practices for microbial curations. To ensure safe long-term storage of microbial isolates, a microbiology laboratory will be dedicated for identification, cell culture, and lyophilization. Awarding of tissue to public science investigators has resulted in 33 publications since 2011, with 48 requests being submitted since 2016. Of note, NASA GeneLab has been awarded ISC-ARC biospecimens in the past few years. GeneLab processes the biospecimens to generate various levels of ‘omics’ data, which are published on GeneLab’s open access online platform for bioinformatics analysis and visualization. This has helped a systems biology community grow around the processed-biospecimens’ datasets, resulting in many new publications and insights. Websites: https://www.nasa.gov/ames/research/space-biosciences/isc-bsp ; https://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/Biospecimen

Ryan T. Scott↗

Enhancing Data Quality Monitoring at CMS with Interactive Visualization Tools and Automated Reference Run Selection

Current data quality monitoring (DQM) tools at CMS offer granularity limited to per-run analysis. Consequently, issues manifesting at the per-lumisection level can go unnoticed or, even if detectable, often lead to the classification of the whole run as bad, resulting in unnecessary data loss. Additionally, shifters have to evaluate a large set of monitoring elements during their long shifts, increasing the probability of human errors or overlooked problems. In this contribution, we present ongoing work on the development of tools that will provide shifters with an accessible, granularity-enhanced view of DQM data through interactive and dynamic visualizations. Furthermore, we introduce a reference run selection tool currently under development, which will automate the selection based on data-taking conditions and will offer a curated set of training data for machine learning models that will be used for the partial automation of the offline data certification process. These endeavors will be integrated into the DIALS website, enabling enhancements in data certification accuracy and improving the accessibility of DQM at CMS.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Correlation and analysis of oil flow data for an air-breathing missile model

This paper will present the results of an oil flow investigation on an airbreathing missile model. This oil flow study examined the flow around the model, which can be configured with both axisymmetric and two-dimensional inlets. Flow visualization analyses were conducted for both types of geometries by examining the surface flow patterns made visible by the oil flows for Mach numbers of 2.5 and 3.95. The analysis has shown the extent of flow spillage around the inlet which has helped explain the force and moment data collected during previous testing of the model. The oil flow data has also been used to develop guidelines for modeling the location of the crossflow separation line along inlet fairings. Finally, the oil flow analysis has been used to identify unique features of the boattail flow. These boattail flow characteristics have been correlated with previous oil flow analysis of noncircular body models. This paper demonstrates the use of this type of oil flow analysis in developing missile flow field analysis and aerodynamic predictions ranging from impact angle methods through Navier-Stokes methods.

Stoy, S. L.↗

Visual Analytics for Deep Embeddings of Large Scale Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation have been emerging as an excellent candidate for understanding complex atomic and molecular scale mechanism of bio-molecules that control essential bio-physical phenomenon in a living organism. But this MD technique produces large-size and long-timescale data that are inherently high-dimensional and occupies many terabytes of data. Processing this immense amount of data in a meaningful way is becoming increasingly difficult. Therefore, specific dimensionality reduction algorithm using deep learning technique has been employed here to embed the high-dimensional data in a lower-dimension latent space that still preserves the inherent molecular characteristics i.e. retains biologically meaningful information. Subsequently, the results of the embedding models are visualized for model evaluation and analysis of the extracted underlying features. However, most of the existing visualizations for embeddings have limitations in evaluating the embedding models and understanding the complex simulation data. We propose an interactive visual analytics system for embeddings of MD simulations to not only evaluate and explain an embedding model but also analyze various characteristics of the simulations. Our system enables exploration and discovery of meaningful and semantic embedding results and supports the understanding and evaluation of results by the quantitatively described features of the MD simulations (even without specific labels).

Chae, Junghoon↗

Single-molecule Real-time (SMRT) Isoform Sequencing (Iso-Seq) in Plants: The Status of the Bioinformatics Tools to Unravel the Transcriptome Complexity

Background: The advent of the Single-Molecule Real-time (SMRT) Isoform Sequencing(Iso-Seq) has paved the way to obtain longer full-length transcripts. This method was found tobe much superior in identifying full-length splice variants and other post-transcriptional events ascompared to the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)-based short read sequencing (RNA-Seq).Several different bioinformatics tools to analyze the Iso-Seq data have been developed and someof them are still being refined to address different aspects of transcriptome complexity. However, acomprehensive summary of the available tools and their utility is still lacking. Objective: Here, we summarized the existing Iso-Seq analysis tools and presented an integratedbioinformatics pipeline for Iso-Seq analysis, which overcomes the limitations of NGS and generateslong contiguous Full-Length Non-Chimeric (FLNC) reads for the analysis of posttranscriptionalevents. Results: In this review, we summarized recent applications of Iso-Seq in plants, which include improvedgenome annotations, identification of novel genes and lncRNAs, identification of fulllengthsplice isoforms, detection of novel Alternative Splicing (AS) and Alternative Polyadenylation(APA) events. In addition, we also discussed the bioinformatics pipeline for comprehensiveIso-Seq data analysis, including how to reduce the error rate in the reads and how to identify andquantify post-transcriptional events. Furthermore, the visualization approach of Iso-Seq was discussedas well. Finally, we discussed methods to combine Iso-Seq data with RNA-Seq for transcriptomequantification. Conclusion: Overall, this review demonstrates that the Iso-Seq is pivotal for analyzing transcriptomecomplexity and this new method offers unprecedented opportunities to comprehensively understandtranscripts diversity.

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology↗

Visual HPC Workflows for the Analysis of System Dynamics Models

Visual analytics supported by high performance computing (HPC) accelerates and enhances the discovery, exploration, and analysis of causal patterns in complex system dynamics (SD) models. We present a suite of visualization-assisted ensemble-based techniques for hypothesis generation and testing, and for sensitivity analysis. By employing HPC to provide parallel, on-demand simulation of SD models, one can “steer” an ensemble of simulated scenarios in real time as one first formulates and then informally tests those hypotheses: this provides rapid feedback for analysts to refine their understanding of the causal relationships emergent from a model. Such understandings can be followed and augmented by rigorous application of statistical methods, namely global variance-based sensitivity analysis, Monte-Carlo filtering, adaptive regional sensitivity analysis, and self-organized maps: here timely computation relies on HPC, while effective presentation emphasizes high-dimensional multivariate data visualization. Immersive visualization in virtual 3D environments provides an excellent adjunct to the traditional 2D graphics typically used for SD models, as it generates an embodied understanding of model behavior and facilitates an active, collaborative critique of model structure and output. Finally, we summarize prospects for HPC-enabled visual analytics applied to SD modeling.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Creating an Interprocedural Analyst-Oriented Data Flow Representation for Binary Analysts (CIAO)

National security missions require understanding third-party software binaries, a key element of which is reasoning about how data flows through a program. However, vulnerability analysts protecting software lack adequate tools for understanding data flow in binaries. To reduce the human time burden for these analysts, we used human factors methods in a rolling discovery process to derive user-centric visual representation requirements. We encountered three main challenges: analysis projects span weeks, analysis goals significantly affect approaches and required knowledge, and analyst tools, techniques, conventions, and prioritization are based on personal preference. To address these challenges, we initially focused our human factors methods on an attack surface characterization task. We generalized our results using a two-stage modified sorting task, creating requirements for a data flow visualization. We implemented these requirements partially in manual static visualizations, which we informally evaluated, and partially in automatically generated interactive visualizations, which have yet to be integrated into workflows for evaluation. Our observations and results indicate that 1) this data flow visualization has the potential to enable novel code navigation, information presentation, and information sharing, and 2) it is an excellent time to pursue research applying human factors methods to binary analysis workflows.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Evaluation of Advanced Signal Processing Techniques to Improve Detection and Identification of Embedded Defects

By the end of 1996, 109 Nuclear Power Plants were operating in the United States, producing 22% of the Nation’s electricity [1]. At present, more than two thirds of these power plants are more than 40 years old. The purpose of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy’s Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program is to develop technologies and other solutions that can improve the reliability, sustain the safety, and extend the operating lifetimes of nuclear power plants (NPPs) beyond 60 years [2]. The most important safety structures in an NPP are constructed of concrete. The structures generally do not allow for destructive evaluation and access is limited to one side of the concrete element. Therefore, there is a need for techniques and technologies that can assess the internal health of complex, reinforced concrete structures nondestructively. Previously, we documented the challenges associated with Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) of thick, reinforced concrete sections and prioritized conceptual designs of specimens that could be fabricated to represent NPP concrete structures [3]. Consequently, a 7 feet tall, by 7 feet wide, by 3 feet and 4-inch-thick concrete specimen was constructed with 2.257-inch-and 1-inch-diameter rebar every 6 to 12 inches. In addition, defects were embedded the specimen to assess the performance of existing and future NDE techniques. The defects were designed to give a mix of realistic and controlled defects for assessment of the necessary measures needed to overcome the challenges with more heavily reinforced concrete structures. Information on the embedded defects is documented in [4]. We also documented the superiority of Frequency Banded Decomposition (FBD) Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique (SAFT) over conventional SAFT when probing defects under deep concrete cover. Improvements include seeing an intensity corresponding to a defect that is either not visible at all in regular, full frequency content SAFT, or an improvement in contrast over conventional SAFT reconstructed images. This report documents our efforts in four fronts: 1) Comparative study between traditional SAFT and FBD SAFT for concrete specimen with and without Alkali-Silica Reaction (ASR) damage, 2) improvement of our Model-Based Iterative Reconstruction (MBIR) for thick reinforced concrete [5], 3) development of a universal framework for sharing, reconstruction, and visualization of ultrasound NDE datasets, and 4) application of machine learning techniques for automated detection of ASR inside concrete. Our comparative study between FBD and traditional SAFT reconstruction images shows a clear difference between images of ASR and non-ASR specimens. In particular, the left first harmonic shows an increased contrast and sensitivity to ASR damage. For MBIR, we show the superiority of model-based techniques over delay and sum techniques such as SAFT. Improvements include elimination of artifacts caused by direct arrival signals, and increased contrast and Signal to Noise Ratio. For the universal framework, we document a format for data storage based on the HDF5 file format, and also propose a modular Graphic User Interface (GUI) for easy customization of data conversion, reconstruction, and visualization routines. Finally, two techniques for ASR automated detection are presented. The first technique is based on an analysis of the frequency content using Hilbert Transform Indicator (HTI) and the second technique employees Artificial Neural Network (ANN) techniques for training and classification of ultrasound data as ASR or non-ASR damaged classes. The ANN technique shows great potential with classification accuracy above 95%. These approaches are extensible to the detection of additional reinforced, thick concrete defects and damage.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Analysis of IUE data on V426 Ophiuchi - Outburst and orbital variability

Time-resolved IUE spectra throughout two orbits of the dwarf nova V426 Oph during quiescence are presented. It is found that the visual and C IV fluxes remain relatively constant during both orbits, whereas the UV coninua and Mg II lines vary by 20-30 percent. The time scales of this variability are discussed. Analysis of other spectra at brighter optical magnitudes shows that the UV lags the optical during a probable rise to outburst, similar to the behavior of SS Cyg. The reddening of V426 Oph is determined to be E(B-V) = 0.1. The contribution of the white dwarf to the UV flux at quiescence is estimated to be 25 percent, based on the system parameters of Hessman (1988) and the period-temperature relation of Sion (1987).

Szkody, Paula↗

ESIAC: A data products system for ERTS imagery (time-lapse viewing and measuring)

An Electronic Satellite Image Analysis Console (ESIAC) has been developed for visual analysis and objective measurement of earth resources imagery. The system is being employed to process imagery for use by USGS investigators in several different disciplines studying dynamic hydrologic conditions. The ESIAC provides facilities for storing registered image sequences in a magnetic video disc memory for subsequent recall, enhancement, and animated display in monochrome or color. The unique feature of the system is the capability to time-lapse the ERTS imagery and/or analytic displays of the imagery. Data products have included quantitative measurements of distances and areas, brightness profiles, and movie loops of selected themes. The applications of these data products are identified and include such diverse problem areas as measurement of snowfield extent, sediment plumes from estuary dicharge, playa inventory, phreatophyte and other vegetation changes. A comparative ranking of the electronic system in terms of accuracy, cost effectiveness and data output shows it to be a viable means of data analysis.

Evans, W. E.↗

Spatial Aspects of Multi-Sensor Data Fusion: Aerosol Optical Thickness

The Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) investigated the applicability and limitations of combining multi-sensor data through data fusion, to increase the usefulness of the multitude of NASA remote sensing data sets, and as part of a larger effort to integrate this capability in the GES-DISC Interactive Online Visualization and Analysis Infrastructure (Giovanni). This initial study focused on merging daily mean Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT), as measured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the Terra and Aqua satellites, to increase spatial coverage and produce complete fields to facilitate comparison with models and station data. The fusion algorithm used the maximum likelihood technique to merge the pixel values where available. The algorithm was applied to two regional AOT subsets (with mostly regular and irregular gaps, respectively) and a set of AOT fields that differed only in the size and location of artificially created gaps. The Cumulative Semivariogram (CSV) was found to be sensitive to the spatial distribution of gap areas and, thus, useful for assessing the sensitivity of the fused data to spatial gaps.

Leptoukh, Gregory↗

Block Island Acoustic Data Analysis and Peak Detection Tools

This dataset contains acoustic signal analysis tools and processed datasets for pile driving noise characterization during Block Island Wind Farm construction (October 25, 2015), including peak detection algorithms, signal extraction methods, and visualization products for multi-channel hydrophone array data.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Quantitative measurements of nanoscale permittivity and conductivity using tuning-fork-based microwave impedance microscopy

Here, we report quantitative measurements of nanoscale permittivity and conductivity using tuning-fork (TF) based microwave impedance microscopy (MIM). The system is operated under the driving amplitude modulation mode, which ensures satisfactory feedback stability on samples with rough surfaces. The demodulated MIM signals on a series of bulk dielectrics are in good agreement with results simulated by finite-element analysis. Using the TF-MIM, we have visualized the evolution of nanoscale conductance on back-gated MoS 2 field effect transistors, and the results are consistent with the transport data. Our work suggests that quantitative analysis of mesoscopic electrical properties can be achieved by near-field microwave imaging with small distance modulation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Improvements to GCAS Visualization Functionality

Analysis of communication systems is crucial to NASA objectives, whether located here on Earth or on a cosmic scale. The Glenn Research Center Communication Analysis Suite (GCAS) is software designed for analysis of communication systems throughout the solar system. This suite includes web-based visualization software that is used to simulate the data generated from the GCAS MATLAB® (The MathWorks, Inc.) capability. This report focuses on recent additions to the visualization portion of GCAS, including the motivation and methodology behind them. Notable additions include improved camera controls, such as novel first- and third-person settings, methods for displaying pertinent analysis information, finer control over timing mechanisms, and automated features designed to improve efficiency and memory usage.

Visualization↗