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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 145 records · Page 8

Spin-tunnel investigation of a 1/13-scale model of the NASA AD-1 oblique-wing research aircraft

The spin and recovery characteristics of a 1/13-scale model of the NASA AD-1 oblique-wing research aircraft at wing-skew positions of 0, 25, 45, and 60 deg (right wing forward) were investigated. Spins were obtained for all wing-skew positions tested. For the unskewed wing position, two spin modes were possible. One spin mode was very steep and recoveries were obtained within 1 turn or less by rudder reversal. The second spin mode was flat and fast; the angle of attack was about 75 deg and the spin rate was about 145 deg/sec (2.5 seconds per turn). For the skewed wing positions, spins were obtained only in the direction of the forward-skewed wing (right wing forward). No spins were obtained to the left when the wing was skewed with the right wing forward. Recoveries should be attempted by deflecting the rudder to full against the spin, the ailerons to full with the spin, and movement of the wings to 0 deg skew. If the wing is skewed, the recovery may not be effected until the wing skew approaches 0 deg.

White, W. L.↗

Maximizing the Radar Generalized Image Quality Equation for Bistatic SAR Using Waveform Frequency Agility

The radar generalized image quality equation (RGIQE) is a metric used to measure both monostatic and bistatic synthetic aperture radar (BSAR) image quality, it is a function of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and 2-D bandwidth. The 2-D bandwidth is equal to the area of the transfer function’s (TF) passband region. With the exception of side-looking monostatic geometries, almost all monostatic and bistatic geometries have skewed passband shapes when waveform frequency parameters remain unchanged from pulse to pulse. Most synthetic aperture radar (SAR) applications require a rectangular-shaped passband region, this is achieved by inscribing a rectangular region within the skewed intrinsic passband region. Increasing skewness results in less inscription area reducing 2-D bandwidth, image SNR, and thus RGIQE capacity. In this article, a waveform with frequency agility is used to rectify the skewness that degrades RGIQE capacity. By changing the waveform’s center frequency and instantaneous bandwidth from pulse to pulse in a particular manner, the intrinsic passband region can be de-skewed. The de-skewed shape maximizes the inscription area thus maximizing 2-D bandwidth, image SNR, and RGIQE capacity. Here, three examples are given in this article, one monostatic geometry, and two bistatic geometries. RGIQE capacity is increased by 52.02%, 44.42%, and 79.09% for the three examples.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Probing triaxial deformation of atomic nuclei in high-energy heavy ion collisions

Most atomic nuclei are deformed with a quadrupole shape described by its overall strength β 2 and triaxiality γ. The deformation can be accessed in high-energy heavy ion collisions by measuring the collective flow response of the produced quark-gluon plasma to the eccentricity ε 2 and the density gradient d ⊥ in the initial state. Using an analytical estimate and a Glauber model, I show that the variances $\langleε^{2}_{2}\rangle$ or $\langle$(δd ⊥ /d ⊥ ) 2 $\rangle$ and skewnesses $\langleε^{2}_{2}δd_{⊥}/d_{⊥}\rangle$ or $\langle(δd_{⊥}/d_{⊥})^{3}\rangle$ have a simple analytical form of a'+b'β$^{2}_{2}$ and a'+[b'+c' cos(3γ)]β$^{3}_{2}$, respectively. From these, I constructed several normalized skewnesses to isolate the γ dependence from that of β 2 and show that the correlations between a normalized skewness and a variance can constrain simultaneously β 2 and γ. Assuming a linear relation with elliptic flow v 2 and mean-transverse momentum [p T ] of final-state particles, v 2 ∝ ε 2 and δ [p T ] / [p T ] ∝ δd ⊥ /d ⊥ , similar conclusions are also expected for the variances and skewnesses of v 2 and [p T ], i.e., a + bβ$^{2}_{2}$ for $\langle v^{2}_{2}\rangle$ and $\langle(δ[p_{T}] / [p_{T}])^{2}\rangle$ and a + [b + c cos (3γ)] β$^{3}_{2}$ for $\langle v^{2}_{2}δ [p_{T}] / [p_{T}]\rangle$ or $\langle(δ[p_{T}] / [p_{T}])^{3}\rangle$. My findings motivate a dedicated system scan of high-energy heavy ion collisions at RHIC and LHC to measure triaxiality of atomic nuclei: one first determines the coefficients b and c by collisions of isobaric near prolate nuclei, cos (3γ) ≈ 1, and near oblate nuclei, cos (3γ) ≈ –1 , with known β 2 values, followed by collisions of other species of interest with similar mass number. The (β 2 , γ) values for this species can be inferred directly from the measured variance and skewness observables from these collisions. Finally, the results demonstrate the unique opportunities offered by high-energy collisions as a tool to perform interdisciplinary nuclear physics studies.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Quantum kinetics of anomalous and nonlinear Hall effects in topological semimetals

Highlights: • Linear and photogalvanic anomalous Hall responses are systematically derived. • Extrinsic mechanisms of AHE include Gaussian, diffractive, hybrid skew scattering. • Diagrammatic calculations are matched to semiclassical picture of AHE. • The Pancharatnam phase of multifold fermions determines the skew scattering amplitude. • Photon-induced interband scattering are accompanied by coordinate shifts. We present a systematic microscopic derivation of the semiclassical Boltzmann equation for band structures with the finite Berry curvature based on Keldysh technique of nonequilibrium systems. In the analysis, an AC electrical driving field is kept up to quadratic order, and both cases of small and large frequencies corresponding to intra- and interband transitions are considered. In particular, this formulation is suitable for the study of nonlinear Hall effect and photogalvanic phenomena. The role of impurity scattering is carefully addressed. Specifically, in addition to previously studied side-jump and skew-scattering processes, quantum interference diffractive contributions are now explicitly incorporated within the developed framework. This theory is applied to multifold fermions in topological semimetals, for which the generic formula for the skew scattering rate from the Pancharatnam phase is obtained along with the corresponding anomalous Hall conductivity.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Non-Gaussian transverse momentum fluctuations from impact parameter fluctuations

The transverse momentum per particle, [p t ], fluctuates event by event in ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions, for a given multiplicity. These fluctuations are small and approximately Gaussian, but a nonzero skewness has been predicted on the basis of hydrodynamic calculations, and seen experimentally. We argue that the mechanism driving the skewness is that, if the system thermalizes, the mean transverse momentum increases with impact parameter for a fixed collision multiplicity. We postulate that fluctuations are Gaussian at fixed impact parameter, and that non-Gaussianities solely result from impact parameter fluctuations. Using recent data on the variance of [p t ] fluctuations, we make quantitative predictions for their skewness and kurtosis as a function of the collision multiplicity. Here, we predict, in particular, a spectacular increase of the skewness below the knee of the multiplicity distribution, followed by a fast decrease.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Unbalanced Parallel I/O: An Often-Neglected Side Effect of Lossy Scientific Data Compression

Lossy compression techniques have demonstrated promising results in significantly reducing the scientific data size while guaranteeing the compression error bounds. However, one important yet often neglected side effect of lossy scientific data compression is its impact on the performance of parallel I/O. Our key observation is that the compressed data size is often highly skewed across processes in lossy scientific compression. To understand this behavior, we conduct extensive experiments where we apply three lossy compressors MGARD, ZFP, and SZ, which are specifically designed and optimized for scientific data, to three real-world scientific applications Gray-Scott simulation, WarpX, and XGC. Our analysis result demonstrates that the size of the compressed data is always skewed even if the original data is evenly decomposed among processes. Such skewness widely exists in different scientific applications using different compressors as long as the information density of the data varies across processes. We then systematically study how this side effect of lossy scientific data compression impacts the performance of parallel I/O. We observe that the skewness in the sizes of the compressed data often leads to I/O imbalance, which can significantly reduce the efficiency of I/O bandwidth utilization if not properly handled. In addition, writing data concurrently to a single shared file through MPI-IO library is more sensitive to the unbalanced I/O loads. Therefore, we believe our research community should pay more attention to the unbalanced parallel I/O caused by lossy scientific data compression.

Wang, Xinying↗

PANDORA: A Parallel Dendrogram Construction Algorithm for Single Linkage Clustering on GPU

This paper introduces Pandora, a parallel algorithm for computing dendrograms, the hierarchical cluster trees for single linkage clustering (SLC). Current parallel approaches construct dendrograms by partitioning a minimum spanning tree and removing edges. However, they struggle with skewed, hard-to-parallelize real-world dendrograms. Consequently, computing dendrograms is the sequential bottleneck in HDBSCAN*[21], a popular SLC variant. Pandora uses recursive tree contraction to address this limitation. Pandora contracts nodes to construct progressively smaller trees. It computes the smallest contracted dendrogram and expands it by inserting contracted edges. This recursive strategy is highly parallel, skew-independent, work-optimal, and well-suited for GPUs and multicores. We develop a performance portable implementation of Pandora in Kokkos[31] and evaluate its performance on multicore CPUs and multi-vendor GPUs (e.g., Nvidia, AMD) for dendrogram construction in HDBSCAN*. Multithreaded Pandora is 2.2x faster than the current best-multithreaded implementation. Our GPU version achieves 6-20x speedup on AMD GPUs and 10-37x on NVIDIA GPUs over multithreaded Pandora. Pandora removes HDBSCAN*’s sequential bottleneck, greatly boosting efficiency, particularly with GPUs.

Sao, Piyush↗

Lagrangian and Eulerian Supersaturation Statistics in Turbulent Cloudy Rayleigh–Bénard Convection: Applications for LES Subgrid Modeling

Abstract Turbulent fluctuations of scalar and velocity fields are critical for cloud microphysical processes, e.g., droplet activation and size distribution evolution, and can therefore influence cloud radiative forcing and precipitation formation. Lagrangian and Eulerian water vapor, temperature, and supersaturation statistics are investigated in direct numerical simulations (DNS) of turbulent Rayleigh–Bénard convection in the Pi Convection Cloud Chamber to provide a foundation for parameterizing subgrid-scale fluctuations in atmospheric models. A subgrid model for water vapor and temperature variances and covariance and supersaturation variance is proposed, valid for both clear and cloudy conditions. Evaluation of phase change contributions through an a priori test using DNS data shows good performance of the model. Supersaturation is a nonlinear function of temperature and water vapor, and relative external fluxes of water vapor and heat (e.g., during entrainment-mixing and phase change) influence turbulent supersaturation fluctuations. Although supersaturation has autocorrelation and structure functions similar to the independent scalars (temperature and water vapor), the autocorrelation time scale of supersaturation differs. Relative scalar fluxes in DNS without cloud make supersaturation PDFs less skewed than the adiabatic case, where they are highly negatively skewed. However, droplet condensation changes the PDF shape response: it becomes positively skewed for the adiabatic case and negatively skewed when the sidewall relative fluxes are large. Condensation also increases correlations between water vapor and temperature in the presence of relative scalar fluxes but decreases correlations for the adiabatic case. These changes in correlation suppress supersaturation variability for the nonadiabatic cases and increase it for the adiabatic case. Implications of this work for subgrid microphysics modeling using a Lagrangian stochastic scheme are also discussed.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Reynolds stress development in pressure-driven three-dimensional turbulent boundary layers

The development of the Reynolds stress field was studied for flows in which an initially two-dimensional boundary layer was skewed sideways by a spanwise pressure gradient ahead of an upstream-facing wedge. Two different wedges were used, providing a variation in the boundary-layer skewing. Measurements of all components of the Reynolds stress tensor and all ten triple products were measured using a rotatable cross-wire anemometer. The results show the expected lag of the shear stress vector behind the strain rate. Comparison of the two present experiments with previous data suggests that the lag can be estimated if the radius of curvature of the free-stream streamline is known. The magnitude of the shear stress vector in the plane of the wall is seen to decrease rapidly as the boundary-layer skewing increases. The amount of decrease is apparently related to the skewing angle between the wall and the free stream. The triple products evolve rapidly and profiles in the three-dimensional boundary layer are considerably different than two-dimensional profiles, leaving little hope for gradient transport models for the Reynolds stresses. The simplified model presented by Rotta (1979) performs reasonably well providing that an appropriate value of the T-parameter is chosen.

Anderson, Shawn D.↗

Airborne full polarization radiometry using the MSFC Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR)

The applications of vertically and horizontally polarized brightness temperatures in both atmospheric and surface remote sensing have been long recognized by many investigators, particularly those studying SMMR and SSM/I data. Here, the large contrast between the first two Stokes' parameters (T(sub V) and T(sub H)) can be used for detection of sea ice, measurement of ocean surface wind speed, and measurement of cloud and water vapor opacity. High-resolution aircraft data from instruments such as the NASA/MSFC AMPR is crucial for verifying radiative transfer models and developing retrieval algorithms. Currently, the AMPR is outfitted with single-polarization channels at 10, 18, 37 and 85 GHz. To increase its utility, it is proposed that additional orthogonal linearly polarized channels be added to the AMPR. Since the AMPR's feedhorns are already configured for dual orthogonal linearly polarized modes, this would require only a duplication of the currently existing receivers. To circumvent the resulting polarization basis skew caused by the cross-track scanning mechanism, the technique of Electronic Polarization Basis Rotation is proposed to be implemented. Implementation of EPBR requires precise measurement of the third Stokes parameter and will eliminate polarization skew by allowing the feedhorn basis skew angle to be corrected in software. In addition to upgrading AMPR to dual polarization capability (without skew), the modifications will provide an opportunity to demonstrate EPBR on an airborne platform. This is a highly desirable intermediate step prior to satellite implementation.

Gasiewski, Al J.↗

Effects of Jet Swirl on Mixing of a Light Gas Jet in a Supersonic Airstream

A non reacting experiment was performed to investigate the effects of jet swirl on mixing of a light gas jet in a supersonic airstream. The experiment consisted of two parts. The first part was an investigation of the effects of jet swirl and skew on the mixing and penetration of a 25 deg. supersonic jet injected from a flat surface (flush wall injection) into a supersonic ducted airflow. Specifically, the objective was to determine whether the jet would mix more rapidly if the jet were swirling, and whether swirl, with and without skew, causes the injectant-air plume to have a net circulation (i.e., a single or dominant vortex). The second part was a preliminary study of the mixing of swirling jets injected from the base of a skewed ramp. The hypothesis was that favorable interactions between vorticity generated by the swirling jet and vortices generated by the ramp could produce mixing enhancements. Both parts of the experiment were conducted at equal injectant mass flow rate and total pressure. The results for the flush wall injection cases indicate that, except relatively close to the injection point, swirl, with or without skew, does not enhance the mixing of the jet, and can in fact reduce penetration. In addition, a plume with significant net circulation is not generated, as had previously been believed. The results for the ramp cases indicated no improvements in mixing in comparison with the baseline (swept ramp injector) case. However, it was not possible to determine the vorticity mechanisms underlying the poor performance, since no measurements of vorticity were made. Thus, since many geometric parameters were chosen arbitrarily, the results are inconclusive for this class of injector.

Doerner, Steven E.↗

Automated Instrumentation, Monitoring and Visualization of PVM Programs Using AIMS

We present views and analysis of the execution of several PVM codes for Computational Fluid Dynamics on a network of Sparcstations, including (a) NAS Parallel benchmarks CG and MG (White, Alund and Sunderam 1993); (b) a multi-partitioning algorithm for NAS Parallel Benchmark SP (Wijngaart 1993); and (c) an overset grid flowsolver (Smith 1993). These views and analysis were obtained using our Automated Instrumentation and Monitoring System (AIMS) version 3.0, a toolkit for debugging the performance of PVM programs. We will describe the architecture, operation and application of AIMS. The AIMS toolkit contains (a) Xinstrument, which can automatically instrument various computational and communication constructs in message-passing parallel programs; (b) Monitor, a library of run-time trace-collection routines; (c) VK (Visual Kernel), an execution-animation tool with source-code clickback; and (d) Tally, a tool for statistical analysis of execution profiles. Currently, Xinstrument can handle C and Fortran77 programs using PVM 3.2.x; Monitor has been implemented and tested on Sun 4 systems running SunOS 4.1.2; and VK uses X11R5 and Motif 1.2. Data and views obtained using AIMS clearly illustrate several characteristic features of executing parallel programs on networked workstations: (a) the impact of long message latencies; (b) the impact of multiprogramming overheads and associated load imbalance; (c) cache and virtual-memory effects; and (4significant skews between workstation clocks. Interestingly, AIMS can compensate for constant skew (zero drift) by calibrating the skew between a parent and its spawned children. In addition, AIMS' skew-compensation algorithm can adjust timestamps in a way that eliminates physically impossible communications (e.g., messages going backwards in time). Our current efforts are directed toward creating new views to explain the observed performance of PVM programs. Some of the features planned for the near future include: (a) ConfigView, showing the physical topology of the virtual machine, inferred using specially formatted IP (Internet Protocol) packets; and (b) LoadView, synchronous animation of PVM-program execution and resource-utilization patterns.

Mehra, Pankaj↗

Automated Instrumentation, Monitoring and Visualization of PVM Programs Using AIMS

We present views and analysis of the execution of several PVM (Parallel Virtual Machine) codes for Computational Fluid Dynamics on a networks of Sparcstations, including: (1) NAS Parallel Benchmarks CG and MG; (2) a multi-partitioning algorithm for NAS Parallel Benchmark SP; and (3) an overset grid flowsolver. These views and analysis were obtained using our Automated Instrumentation and Monitoring System (AIMS) version 3.0, a toolkit for debugging the performance of PVM programs. We will describe the architecture, operation and application of AIMS. The AIMS toolkit contains: (1) Xinstrument, which can automatically instrument various computational and communication constructs in message-passing parallel programs; (2) Monitor, a library of runtime trace-collection routines; (3) VK (Visual Kernel), an execution-animation tool with source-code clickback; and (4) Tally, a tool for statistical analysis of execution profiles. Currently, Xinstrument can handle C and Fortran 77 programs using PVM 3.2.x; Monitor has been implemented and tested on Sun 4 systems running SunOS 4.1.2; and VK uses XIIR5 and Motif 1.2. Data and views obtained using AIMS clearly illustrate several characteristic features of executing parallel programs on networked workstations: (1) the impact of long message latencies; (2) the impact of multiprogramming overheads and associated load imbalance; (3) cache and virtual-memory effects; and (4) significant skews between workstation clocks. Interestingly, AIMS can compensate for constant skew (zero drift) by calibrating the skew between a parent and its spawned children. In addition, AIMS' skew-compensation algorithm can adjust timestamps in a way that eliminates physically impossible communications (e.g., messages going backwards in time). Our current efforts are directed toward creating new views to explain the observed performance of PVM programs. Some of the features planned for the near future include: (1) ConfigView, showing the physical topology of the virtual machine, inferred using specially formatted IP (Internet Protocol) packets: and (2) LoadView, synchronous animation of PVM-program execution and resource-utilization patterns.

Mehra, Pankaj↗

Nonnormality of Sonic Boom Loudness Metrics in the Turbulent Atmospheric Boundary Layer at Large Lateral Distances from the Flight Path

Atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) turbulence causes variability of the sonic boom waveform at the ground. Recent numerical investigations of sonic boom propagation through kinematic velocity fluctuations indicate that loudness metric distributions are positively skewed relative to a normal distribution. This skewness depends on the propagation distance and turbulence intensity. Propagation simulations of N-waves and shaped booms through inhomogeneous ABL turbulence are presented. Meteorological conditions are varied to examine different daytime ABL conditions and their effect on sonic boom loudness distributions. Two outcomes are observed: 1) the loudness metric distributions become increasingly positively skewed as the propagation distance through the ABL increases, and 2) the distributions become increasingly positively skewed at the same lateral distance from the flight path as the convection level of the daytime ABL is increased. Thus, results indicate that ground level measurements of sonic boom loudness from flight tests performed at large lateral distances from the flight path may not be normally distributed, due to turbulence present in the ABL. (This research is supported by the Commercial Supersonic Technology Project of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under Grant No. 80NSSC19K1685.)

sonic boom↗

Non-Gaussian Distributions of TOA SW Flux as Observed by MISR and CERES

The Top of Atmosphere (TOA) shortwave (SW) flux, converted from Terra Multi angle Imaging‐SpectroRadiometer (MISR) narrow band albedos, is compared with that measured from Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES). We describe the probability density function (PDF) of the monthly TOA SW flux and how the statistical third moment, skewness, can impact the quantification of the flux. The PDF of the SW flux is not normally distributed but positively skewed. In both sets of observations, the near-global (80S-80N) median value of the SW flux is ≈3 W/m 2 less than the mean value, due to the positive skewness of the distribution. The near-global mean TOA SW flux converted from MISR is about 7 W/m 2 (≈7%) less than CERES measured flux during the last two decades. Surprisingly, hemispheric asymmetry exists with TOA SW observations from Terra platform. SH reflects 3.92 W/m 2 and 1.15 W/m 2 more mean SW flux than NH, from MISR and CERES Single Scanner Footprint products, respectively. We can infer that the offsetting by morning clouds in the SH is greater than the effect of hemispheric imbalance of SW flux caused by different land masses in two hemispheres. While the characteristics of the two SW fluxes broadly agree with each other, differences in the regional PDF from two different SW fluxes are substantially different over high cloud regions and high altitude regions. Our analysis shows that some parts of the different skewness from two measurements may be attributed to the different calibration of the radiance anisotropy over high cloud scenes.

satellite measurements↗