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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

Application of Machine Learning Algorithms to the Study of Noise Artifacts in Gravitational-Wave Data

The sensitivity of searches for astrophysical transients in data from the Laser Interferometer Gravitationalwave Observatory (LIGO) is generally limited by the presence of transient, non-Gaussian noise artifacts, which occur at a high-enough rate such that accidental coincidence across multiple detectors is non-negligible. Furthermore, non-Gaussian noise artifacts typically dominate over the background contributed from stationary noise. These "glitches" can easily be confused for transient gravitational-wave signals, and their robust identification and removal will help any search for astrophysical gravitational-waves. We apply Machine Learning Algorithms (MLAs) to the problem, using data from auxiliary channels within the LIGO detectors that monitor degrees of freedom unaffected by astrophysical signals. Terrestrial noise sources may manifest characteristic disturbances in these auxiliary channels, inducing non-trivial correlations with glitches in the gravitational-wave data. The number of auxiliary-channel parameters describing these disturbances may also be extremely large; high dimensionality is an area where MLAs are particularly well-suited. We demonstrate the feasibility and applicability of three very different MLAs: Artificial Neural Networks, Support Vector Machines, and Random Forests. These classifiers identify and remove a substantial fraction of the glitches present in two very different data sets: four weeks of LIGO's fourth science run and one week of LIGO's sixth science run. We observe that all three algorithms agree on which events are glitches to within 10% for the sixth science run data, and support this by showing that the different optimization criteria used by each classifier generate the same decision surface, based on a likelihood-ratio statistic. Furthermore, we find that all classifiers obtain similar limiting performance, suggesting that most of the useful information currently contained in the auxiliary channel parameters we extract is already being used. Future performance gains are thus likely to involve additional sources of information, rather than improvements in the MLAs themselves.

gravitational-wave data↗

Simultaneous Aerosol and Ocean Polarimeter Products Using Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean Vector Radiative Transfer and Neural Networks: The PACE-MAPP Algorithm

We describe the PACE-MAPP algorithm that simultaneously retrieves aerosol and ocean optical parameters using multiangle and multi-channel polarimeter measurements from the SPEXone, Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter 2 (HARP2), and Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) instruments onboard the NASA Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) observing system PACE-MAPP is adapted from the Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP) Microphysical Aerosol Properties from Polarimetry (RSP-MAPP) algorithm. A key feature of the MAPP family of algorithms is the use of a coupled vector radiative transfer model such that the atmosphere and ocean are always considered together as one system. Consequently, conservation of energy ensures that negative water-leaving radiances do not occur. PACE-MAPP uses optimal estimation to simultaneously characterize the optical and microphysical properties of aerosol and ocean constituents, find the optimal solution, and reliably account for the uncertainties of each parameter. This coupled approach, together with multiangle, multi-channel polarimeter measurements, will enable retrievals of aerosol and water properties across the Earth’s oceans. The PACE-MAPP algorithm provides aerosol and ocean products for both the open ocean and coastal areas and is designed to be accurate, modular, and efficient by using fast neural networks that replace the time-consuming vector radiative transfer calculations. We provide an overview of the PACE-MAPP framework and also describe its modular components including its aerosol and hydrosol models, ocean bio-optical models, and thin cirrus model.

Snorre Stamnes↗

Investigation of Atmospheric Effects in Image Transfer

The effect of the atmosphere on remote image interpretation and transfer was studied under laboratory conditions. Indoor laboratory measurements were made of the reflection patterns of typical natural surfaces using a dual channel polarizing radiometer. Outdoor ground measurements of these same surfaces were compared to indoor ones to validate the findings. From these data attempts were made to construct an atmospheric remote sensing model that could predict spectral intensity characteristics of the remote image as seen by a particular sensor given the spatial orientation of the sensor, the atmospheric conditions, the time of day, and the type of surface being viewed.

Coulson, K. L.↗

On the escape of oxygen and hydrogen from Mars

Escape rates of oxygen atoms from dissociative recombination of O2(+) above the Martian exobase are computed in light of new information from ab initio calculations of the dissociative recombination process and our recently revised understanding of the Martian dayside ionosphere. Only about 60 percent of the dissociative recombinations occur in channels in which the O atoms are released with energies in excess of the escape velocity. Futhermore, we find that the computed escape fluxes for O depend greatly on the nature of the ion loss process that has been found necessary to reproduce the topside ion density profiles measured by Viking. If it is assumed that the ions are not lost from the gravitational field of the planet, as required by an analysis of nitrogen escape, the computed average O escape rate is 3 x 10 exp 6/sq cm/s, much less than half the H escape rates inferred from measurements of the Lyman-alpha dayglow, which are in the range (1-2) x 10 exp 8/sq cm/s. Suggestions for restoring the relative escape rates of H and O to the stoichiometric ratio of water are explored.

Fox, J. L.↗

Mars: The Terra Arabia Low Epithermal Neutron Flux Anomaly

The High Energy Neutron Spectrometer (HEND) and Neutron Specrometer, part of the Mars Odyssey Gamma Ray Spectrometer suite of instruments, measured anomalously low epithermal neutron flux in two low-latitude areas, Terra Arabia and SW of Olympus Mons (SWOM). The low epithermal neutron flux, an indirect measure of Hydrogen abundance, is indicative of relatively high water content (in this case up to 8 mass percent) in the upper 1-2 m of the surface layer. The epithermal flux within the 60 degree latitude zone does not correlate with bedrock geology or topography but partially correlates (for Arabia) with thermal inertia. According to theoretical estimates for the current geologic epoch, ground ice should not be stable at this depth at these low latitudes so it was concluded that the anomalies are due to the presence of chemically bound water (e.g. clays, hydroxides or hydrosalts). Fast neutron flux, which is indicative of the presence of water at 20-30 cm depth, does not correlate in this latitude zone with the epithermal neutron flux. As a further step of the analysis a geotraverse including study of 152 high resolution MOC images within the Arabia anomaly was done by to find out if the area inside the anomaly differs from the neighboring areas by the presence of fluvial channels and layered deposits (possible links to chemically bound water) or in thickness and apparent texture of the surface layer. No differences were found.

Basilevsky, A. T.↗

Blur Clarified: A review and Synthesis of Blur Discrimination

Blur is an important attribute of human spatial vision, and sensitivity to blur has been the subject of considerable experimental research and theoretical modeling. Often these models have invoked specialized concepts or mechanisms, such as intrinsic blur, multiple channels, or blur estimation units. In this paper we review the several experimental studies of blur discrimination and find they are in broad empirical agreement. But contrary to previous modeling efforts, we find that the essential features of blur discrimination are fully accounted for by a visible contrast energy model (ViCE), in which two spatial patterns are distinguished when the integrated difference between their masked local contrast energy responses reaches a threshold value.

Watson, Andrew B.↗

Another Look at Erupting Minifilaments at the Base of Solar X-Ray Polar Coronal “Standard” and “Blowout” Jets

We examine 21 solar polar coronal jets that we identify in soft X-ray images obtained from the Hinode/X-ray telescope (XRT). We identify 11 of these jets as blowout jets and four as standard jets (with six uncertain), based on their X-ray-spire widths being respectively wide or narrow (compared to the jet’s base) in the XRT images. From corresponding Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory’s (SDO) Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), essentially all (at least 20 of 21) of the jets are made by minifilament eruptions,consistent with other recent studies. Here, we examine the detailed nature of the erupting minifilaments (EMFs) in the jet bases. Wide-spire (“blowout”) jets often have ejective EMFs, but sometimes they instead have an EMF that is mostly confined to the jet’s base rather than ejected. We also demonstrate that narrow-spire (“standard”) jets can have either a confined EMF, or a partially confined EMF where some of the cool minifilament leaks into the jet’s spire. Regarding EMF visibility: we find that in some cases the minifilament is apparent in as few as one of the four EUV channels we examined, being essentially invisible in the other channels; thus it is necessary to examine images from multiple EUV channels before concluding that a jet does not have an EMF at its base. The size of the EMFs, measured projected against the sky and early in their eruption, is 14′′ ± 7′′, which is within a factor of two of other measured sizes of coronal-jet EMFs. A full report on these results will be published in the Astrophysical Journal. This work was supported by NASA's HGI, HSR, and HSOC programs, and by the NASA/MSFC Hinode Project.

Alphonse C Sterling↗

Another Look at Erupting Minifilaments at the Base of Solar X-Ray Polar Coronal “Standard” and “Blowout” Jets

We examine 21 solar polar coronal jets that we identify in soft X-ray images obtained fromthe Hinode/X-ray telescope (XRT). We identify 11 of these jets as blowout jets and four asstandard jets (with six uncertain), based on their X-ray-spire widths being respectively wide or narrow (compared to the jet’s base) in the XRT images. From corresponding Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory’s (SDO) Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), essentially all (at least 20 of 21) of the jets are made by minifilament eruptions, consistent with other recent studies. Here, we examine the detailed nature of the erupting minifilaments (EMFs) in the jet bases. Wide-spire (“blowout”) jets often have ejective EMFs, but sometimes they instead have an EMF that is mostly confined to the jet’s base rather than ejected. We also demonstrate that narrow-spire (“standard”) jets can have either a confined EMF, or a partially confined EMF where some of the cool minifilament leaks into the jet’s spire. Regarding EMF visibility: we find that in some cases the minifilament is apparent in as few as one of the four EUV channels we examined, being essentially invisible in the other channels; thus it is necessary to examine images from multiple EUV channels before concluding that a jet does not have an EMF at its base. The size of the EMFs, measured projected against the sky and early in their eruption, is 14′′ ± 7′′, which is within a factor of two of other measured sizes of coronal-jet EMFs. A full report on these results are available in Sterling et al. (2022, ApJ, 927, 127).This work was supported by NASA’s HGI and HSR programs, and by the MSFC HinodeProject.

Alphonse C Sterling↗

Quasi-Periodic Pulsations During the Impulsive and Decay Phases of an X-Class Flare

Quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs) are often observed in X-ray emission from solar flares. To date, it is unclear what their physical origins are. Here, we present a multi-instrument investigation of the nature of QPP during the impulsive and decay phases of the X1.0 flare of 2013 October 28. We focus on the character of the fine structure pulsations evident in the soft X-ray (SXR) time derivatives and compare this variability with structure across multiple wavelengths including hard X-ray and microwave emission. We find that during the impulsive phase of the flare, high correlations between pulsations in the thermal and non-thermal emissions are seen. A characteristic timescale of 20 s is observed in all channels and a second timescale of 55 s is observed in the non-thermal emissions. SXR pulsations are seen to persist into the decay phase of this flare, up to 20 minutes after the non-thermal emission has ceased. We find that these decay phase thermal pulsations have very small amplitude and show an increase in characteristic timescale from 40 s up to 70 s. We interpret the bursty nature of the co-existing multi-wavelength QPPs during the impulsive phase in terms of episodic particle acceleration and plasma heating. The persistent thermal decay phase QPPs are most likely connected with compressive magnetohydrodynamic processes in the post-flare loops such as the fast sausage mode or the vertical kink mode.

Hays, L. A.↗

Changing Hydroclimate Dynamics and the 19th to 20th Century Wetting Trend in the English Channel Region of Northwest Europe

Northwestern Europe has experienced a trend of increasingly wet winters over the past 150 years, with few explanations for what may have driven this hydroclimatic change. Here we use the Old World Drought Atlas (OWDA), a tree-ring based reconstruction of the self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index (scPDSI), to examine this wetting trend and place it in a longer hydroclimatic context. We find that scPDSI variability in northwestern Europe is strongly correlated with the leading mode of the OWDA during the last millennium (1000–2012). This leading mode, here named the ‘English Channel’ (EC) mode, has pronounced variability on interannual to centennial timescales and has an expression in scPDSI similar to that of the East Atlantic teleconnection pattern. A shift in the EC mode from a prolonged negative phase to more neutral conditions during the 19th and 20th centuries is associated with the wetting trend over its area of influence in England, Wales, and much of northern continental Europe. The EC mode is the dominant scPDSI mode from approximately 1000–1850, after which its dominance waned in favor of the secondary ‘North–South’ (NS) mode, which has an expression in scPDSI similar to that of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). We examine the dynamical nature of both of these modes and how they vary on interannual to centennial timescales. Our results provide insight into the nature of hydroclimate variability in Europe before the widespread availability of instrumental observations.

hydroclimate↗

An Investigation into the Elementary Temporal Structure of Solar Flare Hard X-Ray Bursts Using BATSE

The research performed under this contract is part of an on-going investigation to explore the finest time-resolution hard X-ray data available on solar flares. Since 1991, the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) aboard the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory has provided almost continual monitoring of the Sun in the hard X-ray and gamma-ray region of the spectrum. BATSE provides for the first time a temporal resolution in the data comparable to the timescales on which flare particle energization occurs. Under this contract, we have employed an important but under-utilized BATSE data type, the Time-To-Spill (TTS) data, to address the question of how fine a temporal structure exists in flare hard X-ray emission. By establishing the extent to which "energy release fragments," or characteristic (recurrent) time structures, are building blocks of flare emission, it is possible to place constraints on particle acceleration theories. We have utilized a spectral estimation technique, known as Lomb's normalized periodogram, to overcome the challenge of computing the power spectra of the unevenly sampled TTS data. By comparing the flare's power spectra to the expected power arising from Poisson noise, we obtain measurements of the smallest, statistically significant timescales present in the data. We have found, in an initial sample of 100 flares, that the smallest statistically significant timescales detected in a single flare are: 89 ms (30 May 1991 11:26:06) in channel 0, 117 ms (17 May 1991 09:03:20) in channel 1, 167 ms (31 May 1991 16:53:12) in channel 2, and 1.55 s (06 June 1991 01:02:08) in channel 3. We have also found some evidence for the existence of preferred timescales, however, the significance of this finding awaits a larger sample of flares.

Newton , Elizabeth↗

Topographic Trends of the Geologic Units in Jezero Crater: Lake Levels, Potential Shorelines, and the Crater Floor Units

The Mars2020 Perseverance rover continues to explore the crater floor of Jezero crater working to understand the origins of these different crater floor geological units. Here, we model and analyze the modern and paleo-topography of various facets of Jezero crater to better constrain the evolution and origins of the various units and features observed. In general, we find that that a) the evidences for lake levels are largely unconstrained and are primarily supported by the outflow channel, western delta, and Kodiak, b) so far no convincing evidence has been found for continuous lake terraces (i.e., shorelines), and c) the contact surface of the lobate Crater Floor Fractured Rough (Cf-fr)unit dips to the southeast.

S F Sholes↗

Experiments on three-dimensional separating and reattaching flows

In studies of multijet rockets, failure to find solutions when using a reasonable mathematical model led to performing airflow tests of supersonic circular jets exhausting into noncircular channels of various sizes. Amomalous base pressure trends and puzzling wall pressure patterns resulted. A flow-into-the-corner test was then devised, using a 90 deg trough behind a back step. A vortex pair, generated by the unsymmetrical squeezing of the shear layer, was found to fill much of the corner and provided an explanation for the peculiar results of the previous tests. No previous reference could be found to this phenomenon. Further experiments of bodies with base fins defined the conditions for creating this trough vortex effect. The trough vortex was used successfully as an igniter/flameholder for combustion of hydrogen in a supersonic stream. Other applications are suggested for base drag reduction, base burning and for providing guidance to avoid errors in half-plane wind tunnel model testing.

Zumwalt, G. W.↗

MHD channel performance for potential early commercial MHD power plants

The commercial viability of full and part load early commercial MHD power plants is examined. The load conditions comprise a mass flow of 472 kg/sec in the channel, Rosebud coal, 34% by volume oxygen in the oxidizer preheated to 922 K, and a one percent by mass seeding with K. The full load condition is discussed in terms of a combined cycle plant with optimized electrical output by the MHD channel. Various electrical load parameters, pressure ratios, and magnetic field profiles are considered for a baseload MHD generator, with a finding that a decelerating flow rate yields slightly higher electrical output than a constant flow rate. Nominal and part load conditions are explored, with a reduced gas mass flow rate and an enriched oxygen content. An enthalpy extraction of 24.6% and an isentropic efficiency of 74.2% is predicted for nominal operation of a 526 MWe MHD generator, with higher efficiencies for part load operation.

Swallom, D. W.↗

Testing interconnected VLSI circuits in the Big Viterbi Decoder

The Big Viterbi Decoder (BVD) is a powerful error-correcting hardware device for the Deep Space Network (DSN), in support of the Galileo and Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF)/Cassini Missions. Recently, a prototype was completed and run successfully at 400,000 or more decoded bits per second. This prototype is a complex digital system whose core arithmetic unit consists of 256 identical very large scale integration (VLSI) gate-array chips, 16 on each of 16 identical boards which are connected through a 28-layer, printed-circuit backplane using 4416 wires. Special techniques were developed for debugging, testing, and locating faults inside individual chips, on boards, and within the entire decoder. The methods are based upon hierarchical structure in the decoder, and require that chips or boards be wired themselves as Viterbi decoders. The basic procedure consists of sending a small set of known, very noisy channel symbols through a decoder, and matching observables against values computed by a software simulation. Also, tests were devised for finding open and short-circuited wires which connect VLSI chips on the boards and through the backplane.

Onyszchuk, I. M.↗

Accuracy of sea ice temperature derived from the advanced very high resolution radiometer

The accuracy of Arctic sea ice surface temperatures T(sub s) dericed from advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) thermal channels is evaluated in the cold seasons by comparing them with surface air temperatures T(sub air) from drifting buoys and ice stations. We use three different estimates of satellite surface temperatures, a direct estimate from AVHRR channel 4 with only correction for the snow surface emissivity but not for the atmosphere, a single-channel regression of T(sub s) with T(sub air), and Key and Haefliger's (1992) polar multichannel algorithm. We find no measurable bias in any of these estimates and few differences in their statistics. The similar performance of all three methods indicates that an atmospheric water vapor correction is not important for the dry winter atmosphere in the central Arctic, given the other sources of error that remain in both the satellite and the comparison data. A record of drifting station data shows winter air temperature to be 1.4 C warmer than the snow surface temperature. `Correcting' air temperatures to skin temperature by subtracting this amount implies that satellite T(sub s) estimates are biased warm with respect to skin temperature by about this amount. A case study with low-flying aircraft data suggests that ice crystal precipitation can cause satellite estimates of T(sub s) to be several degrees warmer than radiometric measurements taken close to the surface, presumably below the ice crystal precipitation layer. An analysis in which errors are assumed to exist in all measurements, not just the satellite measurements, gives a standard deviation in the satellite estimates of 0.9 C, about half the standard deviation of 1.7 C estimated by assigning all the variation between T(sub s) and T(sub air) to errors in T(sub s).

Yu, Y.↗

Calibration of the DSCOVR EPIC Visible and NIR Channels using MODIS Terra and Aqua Data and EPIC Lunar Observations

The unique position of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) at the Lagrange 1 point makes an important addition to the data from currently operating low Earth orbit observing instruments. EPIC instrument does not have an onboard calibration facility. One approach to its calibration is to compare EPIC observations to the measurements from polar-orbiting radiometers. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a natural choice for such comparison due to its well-established calibration record and wide use in remote sensing. We use MODIS Aqua and Terra L1B 1km reflectances to infer calibration coefficients for four EPIC visible and NIR channels: 443, 551, 680 and 780 nm. MODIS and EPIC measurements made between June 2015 and 2016 are employed for comparison. We first identify favorable MODIS pixels with scattering angle matching temporarily collocated EPIC observations. Each EPIC pixel is then spatially collocated to a subset of the favorable MODIS pixels within 25 km radius. Standard deviation of the selected MODIS pixels as well as of the adjacent EPIC pixels is used to find the most homogeneous scenes. These scenes are then used to determine calibration coefficients using a linear regression between EPIC counts/sec and reflectances in the close MODIS spectral channels. We present thus inferred EPIC calibration coefficients and discuss sources of uncertainties. The lunar EPIC observations are used to calibrate EPIC O2 absorbing channels (688 and 764 nm), assuming that there is a small difference between moon reflectances separated by approx.10 nm in wavelength provided the calibration factors of the red (680 nm) and near-IR (780 nm) are known from comparison between EPIC and MODIS.

Geogdzhayev, Igor V.↗

SOI N-Channel Field Effect Transistors, CHT-NMOS80, for Extreme Temperatures

Extreme temperatures, both hot and cold, are anticipated in many of NASA space exploration missions as well as in terrestrial applications. One can seldom find electronics that are capable of operation under both regimes. Even for operation under one (hot or cold) temperature extreme, some thermal controls need to be introduced to provide appropriate ambient temperatures so that spacecraft on-board or field on-site electronic systems work properly. The inclusion of these controls, which comprise of heating elements and radiators along with their associated structures, adds to the complexity in the design of the system, increases cost and weight, and affects overall reliability. Thus, it would be highly desirable and very beneficial to eliminate these thermal measures in order to simplify system's design, improve efficiency, reduce development and launch costs, and improve reliability. These requirements can only be met through the development of electronic parts that are designed for proper and efficient operation under extreme temperature conditions. Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) based devices are finding more use in harsh environments due to the benefits that their inherent design offers in terms of reduced leakage currents, less power consumption, faster switching speeds, good radiation tolerance, and extreme temperature operability. Little is known, however, about their performance at cryogenic temperatures and under wide thermal swings. The objective of this work was to evaluate the performance of a new commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) SOI parts over an extended temperature range and to determine the effects of thermal cycling on their performance. The results will establish a baseline on the suitability of such devices for use in space exploration missions under extreme temperatures, and will aid mission planners and circuit designers in the proper selection of electronic parts and circuits. The electronic part investigated in this work comprised of a CHT-NMOS80 high temperature N-channel MOSFET (metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor) device that was manufactured by CISSOID. This high voltage, medium-power transistor is fabricated using SOI processes and is designed for extreme wide temperature applications such as geothermal well logging, aerospace and avionics, and automotive industry. It has a high DC current capability and is specified for operation in the temperature range of -55 C to +225 C

Patterson, Richard L.↗