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URBAN-NET-TOOLKIT

Strengthening and maintaining secure, functioning, and resilient Critical Infrastructure Systems (CISs) is one of our nation's primary goals, and it requires proactive and coo0rdinated efforts among federal, state, local, public and private owners and operators of CISs. Recent worldwide extreme events have shown how interdependencies across CISs (electric grid, telecommunications, transportation, water networks, etc.) can drastically increase system vulnerability. To understand these complex interdependencies, ORNL has instantiated Urban-NET, a novel decision support system for CIS operators who need to identify vulnerabilities for minimizing the cascading impacts - saving utilities, the federal and state government, and private sector companies potentially billions by avoiding a complete CI failure and/or shutdown. The developed system includes a stack of software tools for preprocessing, modeling, interconnecting multiple CIS datasets as an integrated heterogeneous graph (i.e. network), identifying vulnerabilities through topological analysis, and predicting consequences based on simulations along with visualization.

Chinthavali, Supriya↗

[Micron]ADS-B Detect and Avoid Flight Tests on Phantom 4 Unmanned Aircraft System

Researchers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California and Vigilant Aerospace Systems collaborated for the flight-test demonstration of an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast based collision avoidance technology on a small unmanned aircraft system equipped with the uAvionix Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast transponder. The purpose of the testing was to demonstrate that National Aeronautics and Space Administration / Vigilant software and algorithms, commercialized as the FlightHorizon UAS"TM", are compatible with uAvionix hardware systems and the DJI Phantom 4 small unmanned aircraft system. The testing and demonstrations were necessary for both parties to further develop and certify the technology in three key areas: flights beyond visual line of sight, collision avoidance, and autonomous operations. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Vigilant Aerospace Systems have developed and successfully flight-tested an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast Detect and Avoid system on the Phantom 4 small unmanned aircraft system. The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast Detect and Avoid system architecture is especially suited for small unmanned aircraft systems because it integrates: 1) miniaturized Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast hardware; 2) radio data-link communications; 3) software algorithms for real-time Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast data integration, conflict detection, and alerting; and 4) a synthetic vision display using a fully-integrated National Aeronautics and Space Administration geobrowser for three dimensional graphical representations for ownship and air traffic situational awareness. The flight-test objectives were to evaluate the performance of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast Detect and Avoid collision avoidance technology as installed on two small unmanned aircraft systems. In December 2016, four flight tests were conducted at Edwards Air Force Base. Researchers in the ground control station looking at displays were able to verify the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast target detection and collision avoidance resolutions.

avoidance↗

Color visualization for fluid flow prediction

High-resolution raster scan color graphics allow variables to be presented as a continuum, in a color-coded picture that is referenced to a geometry such as a flow field grid or a boundary surface. Software is used to map a scalar variable such as pressure or temperature, defined on a two-dimensional slice of a flow field. The geometric shape is preserved in the resulting picture, and the relative magnitude of the variable is color-coded onto the geometric shape. The primary numerical process for color coding is an efficient search along a raster scan line to locate the quadrilteral block in the grid that bounds each pixel on the line. Tension spline interpolation is performed relative to the grid for specific values of the scalar variable, which is then color coded. When all pixels for the field of view are color-defined, a picture is played back from a memory device onto a television screen.

Smith, R. E.↗

A Lyapunov Function Based Remedial Action Screening Tool Using Real-Time Data

This report summarizes the outcome of a research project that comprised the development of a Lyapunov function based remedial action screening tool using real-time data (L-RAS). The L-RAS is an advanced computational tool that is intended to assist system operators in making real-time redispatch decisions to preserve power grid stability. The tool relies on screening contingencies using a homotopy method based on Lyapunov functions to avoid, to the extent possible, the use of time domain simulations. This enables transient stability evaluation at real-time speed without the use of massively parallel computational resources. The project combined the following components. 1. Development of a methodology for contingency screening using a homotopy method based on Lyapunov functions and real-time data. 2. Development of a methodology for recommending remedial actions based on the screening results. 3. Development of a visualization and operator interaction interface. 4. Testing of screening tool, validation of control actions, and demonstration of project outcomes on a representative real system simulated on a Real-Time Digital Simulator (RTDS) cluster. The project was led by Michigan State University (MSU), where the theoretical models including homotopy-based screening, trajectory correction using real-time data, and remedial action were developed and implemented in the form of research-grade software. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) contributed to the development of energy margin sensitivity dynamics, which constituted a part of the remedial action portfolio. Florida State University (FSU) and Southern California Edison (SCE) developed a model of the SCE system that was implemented on FSU's RTDS cluster to simulate real-time data that was streamed over the internet to MSU where the L-RAS tool was executed and remedial actions were communicated back to FSU to execute stabilizing controls on the simulated system. LCG Consulting developed the visualization and operator interaction interface, based on specifications provided by MSU. The project was performed from October 2012 to December 2016, at the end of which the L-RAS tool, as described above, was completed and demonstrated. The project resulted in the following innovations and contributions: (a) the L-RAS software prototype, tested on a simulated system, vetted by utility personnel, and potentially ready for wider testing and commercialization; (b) an RTDS-based test bed that can be used for future research in the field; (c) a suite of breakthrough theoretical contributions to the field of power system stability and control; and (d) a new tool for visualization of power system stability margins. While detailed descriptions of the development and implementation of the various project components have been provided in the quarterly reports, this final report provides an overview of the complete project, and is demonstrated using public domain test systems commonly used in the literature. The SCE system, and demonstrations thereon, are not included in this report due to Critical Energy Infrastructure Information (CEII) restrictions.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Quantum Computing and Visualization: A Disruptive Technological Change Ahead

The focus of this Visualization Viewpoints article is to provide some background on quantum computing (QC), to explore ideas related to how visualization helps in understanding QC, and examine how QC might be useful for visualization with the growth and maturation of both technologies in the future. In a quickly evolving technology landscape, QC is emerging as a promising pathway to overcome the growth limits in classical computing. In some cases, QC platforms offer the potential to vastly outperform the familiar classical computer by solving problems more quickly or that may be intractable on any known classical platform. As further performance gains for classical computing platforms are limited by diminishing Moore’s Law scaling, QC platforms might be viewed as a potential successor to the current field of exascale-class platforms. Importantly, while present-day QC hardware platforms are still limited in scale, the field of quantum computing is robust and rapidly advancing in terms of hardware capabilities, software environments for developing quantum algorithms, and educational programs for training the next generation of scientists and engineers. After a brief introduction to QC concepts, the focus of this article is to explore the interplay between the fields of visualization and QC. First, visualization has played a role in QC by providing the means to show representations of the quantum state of single-qubits in superposition states and multiple-qubits in entangled states. Second, there are a number of ways in which the field of visual data exploration and analysis may potentially benefit from this disruptive new technology though there are challenges going forward.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Capturing provenance as a diagnostic tool for workflow performance evaluation and optimization

In extreme-scale computing environments such as the DOE Leadership Computing Facilities scientific workflows are routinely used to coordinate software processes for the execution of complex, computational applications that perform in-silico experiments. Monitoring the performance of workflows without also simultaneously tracking provenance is not sufficient to understand variations between runs, configurations, versions of a code, and between changes in an implemented stack, and systems, i.e. the variability of performance metrics data in their historical context. We take a provenance-based approach and demonstrate that provenance is useful as a tool for evaluating and optimizing workflow performance in extreme-scale HPC environments. We present Chimbuko, a framework for the analysis and visualization of the provenance of performance. Chimbuko implements a method for the evaluation of workflow performance from multiple components that enables the exploration of performance metrics data at scale.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

World Wind 3D Earth Viewing

World Wind allows users to zoom from satellite altitude down to any place on Earth, leveraging high-resolution LandSat imagery and SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) elevation data to experience Earth in visually rich 3D. In addition to Earth, World Wind can also visualize other planets, and there are already comprehensive data sets for Mars and the Earth's moon, which are as easily accessible as those of Earth. There have been more than 20 million downloads to date, and the software is being used heavily by the Department of Defense due to the code s ability to be extended and the evolution of the code courtesy of NASA and the user community. Primary features include the dynamic access to public domain imagery and its ease of use. All one needs to control World Wind is a two-button mouse. Additional guides and features can be accessed through a simplified menu. A JAVA version will be available soon. Navigation is automated with single clicks of a mouse, or by typing in any location to automatically zoom in to see it. The World Wind install package contains the necessary requirements such as the .NET runtime and managed DirectX library. World Wind can display combinations of data from a variety of sources, including Blue Marble, LandSat 7, SRTM, NASA Scientific Visualization Studio, GLOBE, and much more. A thorough list of features, the user manual, a key chart, and screen shots are available at http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov.

Hogan, Patrick↗

VizBrick

Brick (https://brickschema.org/) is a unified metadata schema to address the problem of building data standardization. Creating Brick models for building datasets means that the contents of the datasets are semantically described using the standard terms defined in the Brick ontology, and it will enable the benefits of data standardization, without having to recollect or reorganize the data. The challenge is that building brick models for building datasets leads to repeated manual trial and error processes, which can be time-consuming. VizBrick is a tool with a graphic/Web-based user interface that can assist users to create Brick models visually and interactively without having to understand the Resource Description Framework (RDF) syntax. VizBrick contains a web server that renders VizBrick web interface pages for browsers. The web server utilizes software components that (1) provide Brick ontology entity mapping to data column suggestions to users so that they can efficiently create their model; (2) provide keyword/Metadata-based search capability for easy find of relevant brick concepts and relations to their data columns

Lee, Sangkeun [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak↗

Data co-processing for extreme scale analysis level II ASC milestone (4745).

Exascale supercomputing will embody many revolutionary changes in the hardware and software of high-performance computing. A particularly pressing issue is gaining insight into the science behind the exascale computations. Power and I/O speed con- straints will fundamentally change current visualization and analysis work ows. A traditional post-processing work ow involves storing simulation results to disk and later retrieving them for visualization and data analysis. However, at exascale, scien- tists and analysts will need a range of options for moving data to persistent storage, as the current o ine or post-processing pipelines will not be able to capture the data necessary for data analysis of these extreme scale simulations. This Milestone explores two alternate work ows, characterized as in situ and in transit, and compares them. We nd each to have its own merits and faults, and we provide information to help pick the best option for a particular use.

Rogers, David↗

Tutorial on Chemical Pressure Analysis: How Atomic Packing Drives Laves/Zintl Intergrowth in K3Au5Tl

The tight atomic packing generally exhibited by alloys and intermetallics can create the impression of their being composed of hard spheres arranged to maximize their density. As such, the atomic size factor has historically been central to explanations of the structural chemistry of these systems. However, the role atomic size plays structurally has traditionally been inferred from empirical considerations. The recently developed DFT-Chemical Pressure (CP) analysis has opened a path to investigating these effects with theory. In this article, we provide a step-by-step tutorial on the DFT-CP method for non-specialists, along with advances in the approach that broaden its applicability. A new version of the CP software package is introduced, which features an interactive system that guides the user in preparing the necessary electronic structure data and generating the CP scheme, with the results being readily visualized with a web browser (and easily incorporated into websites). For demonstration purposes, we investigate the origins of the crystal structure of K3Au5Tl, which represents an intergrowth of Laves and Zintl phase domains. Here, CP analysis reveals that the intergrowth is supported by complementary CP features of NaTl-type KTl and MgCu2-type KAu2 phases. In this way, K3Au5Tl exemplifies how CP effects can drive the merging for geometrical motifs derived from different families of intermetallics through a mechanism referred to as epitaxial stabilization.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

SKYMAP system description: Star catalog data base generation and utilization

The specifications, design, software description, and use of the SKYMAP star catalog system are detailed. The SKYMAP system was developed to provide an accurate and complete catalog of all stars with blue or visual magnitudes brighter than 9.0 for use by attitude determination programs. Because of the large number of stars which are brighter than 9.0 magnitude, efficient techniques of manipulating and accessing the data were required. These techniques of staged distillation of data from a Master Catalog to a Core Catalog, and direct access of overlapping zone catalogs, form the basis of the SKYMAP system. The collection and tranformation of data required to produce the Master Catalog data base is described. The data flow through the main programs and levels of star catalogs is detailed. The mathematical and logical techniques for each program and the format of all catalogs are documented.

Gottlieb, D. M.↗

A Parallel Rendering Algorithm for MIMD Architectures

Applications such as animation and scientific visualization demand high performance rendering of complex three dimensional scenes. To deliver the necessary rendering rates, highly parallel hardware architectures are required. The challenge is then to design algorithms and software which effectively use the hardware parallelism. A rendering algorithm targeted to distributed memory MIMD architectures is described. For maximum performance, the algorithm exploits both object-level and pixel-level parallelism. The behavior of the algorithm is examined both analytically and experimentally. Its performance for large numbers of processors is found to be limited primarily by communication overheads. An experimental implementation for the Intel iPSC/860 shows increasing performance from 1 to 128 processors across a wide range of scene complexities. It is shown that minimal modifications to the algorithm will adapt it for use on shared memory architectures as well.

Crockett, Thomas W.↗

TransFit: Finite element analysis data fitting software

The Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) mission support team has made extensive use of geometric ray tracing to analyze the performance of AXAF developmental and flight optics. One important aspect of this performance modeling is the incorporation of finite element analysis (FEA) data into the surface deformations of the optical elements. TransFit is software designed for the fitting of FEA data of Wolter I optical surface distortions with a continuous surface description which can then be used by SAO's analytic ray tracing software, currently OSAC (Optical Surface Analysis Code). The improved capabilities of Transfit over previous methods include bicubic spline fitting of FEA data to accommodate higher spatial frequency distortions, fitted data visualization for assessing the quality of fit, the ability to accommodate input data from three FEA codes plus other standard formats, and options for alignment of the model coordinate system with the ray trace coordinate system. TransFit uses the AnswerGarden graphical user interface (GUI) to edit input parameters and then access routines written in PV-WAVE, C, and FORTRAN to allow the user to interactively create, evaluate, and modify the fit. The topics covered include an introduction to TransFit: requirements, designs philosophy, and implementation; design specifics: modules, parameters, fitting algorithms, and data displays; a procedural example; verification of performance; future work; and appendices on online help and ray trace results of the verification section.

Freeman, Mark↗

The Evolution of the DARWIN System

DARWIN is a web-based system for presenting the results of wind-tunnel testing and computational model analyses to aerospace designers. DARWIN captures the data, maintains the information, and manages derived knowledge (e.g. visualizations, etc.) of large quantities of aerospace data. In addition, it provides tools and an environment for distributed collaborative engineering. We are currently constructing the third version of the DARWIN software system. DARWN's development history has, in some sense, tracked the development of web applications. The 1995 DARWIN reflected the latest web technologies--CGI scripts, Java applets and a three-layer architecture--available at that time. The 1997 version of DARWIN expanded on this base, making extensive use of a plethora of web technologies, including Java/JavaScript and Dynamic HTML. While more powerful, this multiplicity has proven to be a maintenance and development headache. The year 2000 version of DARWIN will provide a more stable and uniform foundation environment, composed primarily of Java mechanisms. In this paper, we discuss this evolution, comparing the strengths and weaknesses of the various architectural approaches and describing the lessons learned about building complex web applications.

Walton, Joan D.↗

High-power graphic computers for visual simulation: a real-time--rendering revolution

Advances in high-end graphics computers in the past decade have made it possible to render visual scenes of incredible complexity and realism in real time. These new capabilities make it possible to manipulate and investigate the interactions of observers with their visual world in ways once only dreamed of. This paper reviews how these developments have affected two preexisting domains of behavioral research (flight simulation and motion perception) and have created a new domain (virtual environment research) which provides tools and challenges for the perceptual psychologist. Finally, the current limitations of these technologies are considered, with an eye toward how perceptual psychologist might shape future developments.

NASA Discipline Space Human Factors↗

Exploring Space on the Computer

For the past year Dennis Stocker has been in the process of developing pencil and paper games, which are fun, challenging, and educational for middle school and high school students. The latest version of these pencil and paper games is Spaceship Commander. The objective of the game is to earn points by plotting the flight path of a spaceship so astronauts can perform microgravity experiments, and make short-range measurements of other planets. During my ten weeks here at the GRC my goal is to create a computer based version of Spaceship commander. During the development of this game the primary focus has been on making it as educational and fun for the student as possible. The main educational objective of this game is to give students an understanding of forces and motion, including gravity. This is done by incorporating Newton's laws into the game. For example a spacecraft in the video game experiences a gravitational force applied to it by planets. The software I am using to create this game is a freeware application called Game Maker. Game Maker allows novice computer programmers like me to create arcade style games using a visual drag and drop interface. By using functions provided by Game Maker and a few I have written myself, I have been able to create a few simple computer games. Currently the computer game allows the student to navigate a space ship around planets, and asteroids by using the arrow keys on the numeric keypad. Each time an arrow key is pressed by the student the corresponding acceleration of the space ship is seen on the screen. Points are earned by navigating the space ship close enough to planets to gather scientific data. However the game encourages the student to plan his or her course carefully, because if the student gets too close to a planet they may not be able to escape the planet s gravity, and crash into the planet. The next step in the game development is to include a launch sequence which allows the student to launch from their home planet at a speed and direction determined by the student. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.

Bozym, Patrick↗

Man-Machine Integration Design and Analysis System (MIDAS) v5: Augmentations, Motivations, and Directions for Aeronautics Applications

As automation and advanced technologies are introduced into transport systems ranging from the Next Generation Air Transportation System termed NextGen, to the advanced surface transportation systems as exemplified by the Intelligent Transportations Systems, to future systems designed for space exploration, there is an increased need to validly predict how the future systems will be vulnerable to error given the demands imposed by the assistive technologies. One formalized approach to study the impact of assistive technologies on the human operator in a safe and non-obtrusive manner is through the use of human performance models (HPMs). HPMs play an integral role when complex human-system designs are proposed, developed, and tested. One HPM tool termed the Man-machine Integration Design and Analysis System (MIDAS) is a NASA Ames Research Center HPM software tool that has been applied to predict human-system performance in various domains since 1986. MIDAS is a dynamic, integrated HPM and simulation environment that facilitates the design, visualization, and computational evaluation of complex man-machine system concepts in simulated operational environments. The paper will discuss a range of aviation specific applications including an approach used to model human error for NASA s Aviation Safety Program, and what-if analyses to evaluate flight deck technologies for NextGen operations. This chapter will culminate by raising two challenges for the field of predictive HPMs for complex human-system designs that evaluate assistive technologies: that of (1) model transparency and (2) model validation.

Gore, Brian F.↗

POST Explorer: A Design Space Exploration Tool for POST2

Recent improvements for the Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories II (POST2) have included the development of an application programming interface (API). This API allows POST2 simulation inputs to be directly manipulated from other applications (such as MATLAB or Python), and the outputs from POST2 are streamed directly to the external application that enables visualization, data manipulation, etc. Through this framework, a new tool called POST Explorer is being developed that provides a user the capability to modify the simulation inputs and interrogate the outputs within the same application, with raw data inspection and visualization embedded. This tool can be leveraged for multiple types of analyses, such as parametric sweeps and sensitivity studies, and will be available with a future release of the POST2 software.

Robert Anthony Williams↗