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At least 1,549 records · Page 86

The design and analysis of single flank transmission error testor for loaded gears

Due to geometrical imperfections in gears and finite tooth stiffnesses, the motion transmitted from an input gear shaft to an output gear shaft will not have conjugate action. In order to strengthen the understanding of transmission error and to verify mathematical models of gear transmission error, a test stand that will measure the transmission error of a gear pair at operating loads, but at reduced speeds would be desirable. This document describes the design and development of a loaded transmission error tester. For a gear box with a gear ratio of one, few tooth meshing combinations will occur during a single test. In order to observe the effects of different tooth mesh combinations and to increase the ability to load test gear pairs with higher gear ratios, the system was designed around a gear box with a gear ratio of two.

Houser, D. R.↗

Five-Hole Flow Angle Probe Calibration for the NASA Glenn Icing Research Tunnel

A spring 1997 test section calibration program is scheduled for the NASA Glenn Research Center Icing Research Tunnel following the installation of new water injecting spray bars. A set of new five-hole flow angle pressure probes was fabricated to properly calibrate the test section for total pressure, static pressure, and flow angle. The probes have nine pressure ports: five total pressure ports on a hemispherical head and four static pressure ports located 14.7 diameters downstream of the head. The probes were calibrated in the NASA Glenn 3.5-in.-diameter free-jet calibration facility. After completing calibration data acquisition for two probes, two data prediction models were evaluated. Prediction errors from a linear discrete model proved to be no worse than those from a full third-order multiple regression model. The linear discrete model only required calibration data acquisition according to an abridged test matrix, thus saving considerable time and financial resources over the multiple regression model that required calibration data acquisition according to a more extensive test matrix. Uncertainties in calibration coefficients and predicted values of flow angle, total pressure, static pressure. Mach number. and velocity were examined. These uncertainties consider the instrumentation that will be available in the Icing Research Tunnel for future test section calibration testing.

Gonsalez, Jose C.↗

Synthesis and Assimilation Systems - Essential Adjuncts to the Global Ocean Observing System

Ocean assimilation systems synthesize diverse in situ and satellite data streams into four-dimensional state estimates by combining the various observations with the model. Assimilation is particularly important for the ocean where subsurface observations, even today, are sparse and intermittent compared with the scales needed to represent ocean variability and where satellites only sense the surface. Developments in assimilation and in the observing system have advanced our understanding and prediction of ocean variations at mesoscale and climate scales. Use of these systems for assessing the observing system helps identify the strengths of each observation type. Results indicate that the ocean remains under-sampled and that further improvements in the observing system are needed. Prospects for future advances lie in improved models and better estimates of error statistics for both models and observations. Future developments will be increasingly towards consistent analyses across components of the Earth system. However, even today ocean synthesis and assimilation systems are providing products that are useful for many applications and should be considered an integral part of the global ocean observing and information system.

Rienecker, Michele M.↗

Fingerprints of External Forcing Agents on Sahel Rainfall: Aerosols, Greenhouse Gases, and Model-Observation Discrepancies

Over the 20th and 21st centuries, both anthropogenic greenhouse gas increases and changes in anthropogenic aerosols have affected rainfall in the Sahel. Using multiple characteristics of Sahel precipitation, we construct a multivariate fingerprint that allows us to distinguish between the model-predicted responses to greenhouse gases and anthropogenic aerosols. Models project the emergence of a detectable signal of aerosol forcing in the middle of the 20th century and a detectable signal of greenhouse gas forcing at the beginning of the 21st. However, the signals of both aerosol and greenhouse gas forcing in observations emerge earlier and are stronger than in the models, far stronger in the case of aerosols. The similarity between the response to aerosol forcing and the leading mode of internal variability makes it difficult to attribute this model-observation discrepancy to errors in the forcing, errors in the forced response, model inability to capture the amplitude of internal variability, or some combination of these. For greenhouse gases, however, the forced response is distinct from internal variability as estimated by models, and the observations are largely commensurate with the model projections.

Sahel↗

Extending "Deep Blue" Aerosol Retrieval Coverage to Cases of Absorbing Aerosols Above Clouds: Sensitivity Analysis and First Case Studies

Cases of absorbing aerosols above clouds (AACs), such as smoke or mineral dust, are omitted from most routinely processed space-based aerosol optical depth (AOD) data products, including those from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). This study presents a sensitivity analysis and preliminary algorithm to retrieve above-cloud AOD and liquid cloud optical depth (COD) for AAC cases from MODIS or similar sensors, for incorporation into a future version of the "Deep Blue" AOD data product. Detailed retrieval simulations suggest that these sensors should be able to determine AAC AOD with a typical level of uncertainty approximately 25-50 percent (with lower uncertainties for more strongly absorbing aerosol types) and COD with an uncertainty approximately10-20 percent, if an appropriate aerosol optical model is known beforehand. Errors are larger, particularly if the aerosols are only weakly absorbing, if the aerosol optical properties are not known, and the appropriate model to use must also be retrieved. Actual retrieval errors are also compared to uncertainty envelopes obtained through the optimal estimation (OE) technique; OE-based uncertainties are found to be generally reasonable for COD but larger than actual retrieval errors for AOD, due in part to difficulties in quantifying the degree of spectral correlation of forward model error. The algorithm is also applied to two MODIS scenes (one smoke and one dust) for which near-coincident NASA Ames Airborne Tracking Sun photometer (AATS) data were available to use as a ground truth AOD data source, and found to be in good agreement, demonstrating the validity of the technique with real observations.

aerosols above clouds↗

Simple model to investigate jet quenching and correlated errors for centrality-dependent nuclear modification factors in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Here, we apply Bayesian techniques to compare a simple, empirical model for jet quenching in heavy-ion collisions to centrality-dependent jet R AA measured by ATLAS for Pb + Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV. We find that the R AA values for central collisions are adequately described with a model for the mean p T -dependent jet energy loss using only two parameters. This model is extended by incorporating two-dimensional initial geometry information from TRENTo and compared to centrality-dependent R AA values. We find that the results are sensitive to the value of the jet-quenching formation time, τ ƒ , and that the optimal value of τ ƒ varies with the assumed path-length dependence of the energy loss. We construct a covariance error matrix for the data from the p T -dependent contributions to the ATLAS systematic errors and perform Bayesian calibrations for several different assumptions for the systematic error correlations. We show that the most-probable functions and $χ^2_d$ values are sensitive to assumptions made when fitting to correlated errors. This work demonstrates the utility of a simple model that can quickly demonstrate the constraining power of jet-quenching observables with corresponding uncertainties and guide future studies using more sophisticated models.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

A practical field guide to thermoelectrics: Fundamentals, synthesis, and characterization

The study of thermoelectric materials spans condensed matter physics, materials science and engineering, and solid-state chemistry. The diversity of the participants and the inherent complexity of the topic mean that it is difficult, if not impossible, for a researcher to be fluent in all aspects of the field. This review, which grew out of a one-week summer school for graduate students, aims to provide an introduction and practical guidance for selected conceptual, synthetic, and characterization approaches and to craft a common umbrella of language, theory, and experimental practice for those engaged in the field of thermoelectric materials. This review does not attempt to cover all major aspects of thermoelectric materials research or review state-of-the-art thermoelectric materials. Rather, the topics discussed herein reflect the expertise and experience of the authors. We begin by discussing a universal approach to modeling electronic transport using Landauer theory. The core sections of the review are focused on bulk inorganic materials and include a discussion of effective strategies for powder and single crystal synthesis, the use of national synchrotron sources to characterize crystalline materials, error analysis, and modeling of transport data using an effective mass model, and characterization of phonon behavior using inelastic neutron scattering and ultrasonic speed of sound measurements. The final core section discusses the challenges faced when synthesizing carbon-based samples and the measuring or interpretation of their transport properties. We conclude this review with a brief discussion of some of the grand challenges and opportunities that remain to be addressed in the study of thermoelectrics.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Evaluation of a multi-scale WRF-CAM5 simulation during the 2010 East Asian Summer Monsoon

The Weather Research and Forecasting model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) with the physics package of the Community Atmosphere Model Version 5 (CAM5) has been applied at multiple scales over Eastern China (EC) and the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) to evaluate how increased horizontal resolution with physics designed for a coarser resolution climate model impacts aerosols and clouds, and the resulting precipitation characteristics and performance during the 2010 East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM). Despite large underpredictions in surface aerosol concentrations and aerosol optical depth, there is good spatial agreement with surface observations of chemical predictions, and increasing spatial resolution tends to improve performance. Model bias and normalized root mean square values for precipitation predictions are relatively small, but there are significant differences when comparing modeled and observed probability density functions for precipitation in EC and YRD. Increasing model horizontal resolution tends to reduce model bias and error for precipitation predictions. The surface and column aerosol loading is maximized between about 32N and 42N in early to mid-May during the 2010 EASM, and then shifts north while decreasing in magnitude during July and August. Changing model resolution moderately changes the spatiotemporal relationships between aerosols, cloud properties, and precipitation during the EASM, thus demonstrating the importance of model grid resolution in simulating EASM circulation and rainfall patterns over EC and the YRD. Results from this work demonstrate the capability and limitations in the aerosol, cloud, and precipitation representation of WRF-CAM5 for regional-scale applications down to relatively fine horizontal resolutions. Further WRF-CAM5 model development and application in this area is needed.

Campbell, Patrick↗

Atmospheric drag model calibrations for spacecraft lifetime prediction

Although solar activity prediction uncertainty normally dominates decay prediction error budget for near-Earth spacecraft, the effect of drag force modeling errors for given levels of solar activity needs to be considered. Two atmospheric density models, the modified Harris-Priester model and the Jacchia-Roberts model, to reproduce the decay histories of the Solar Mesosphere Explorer (SME) and Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) spacecraft in the 490- to 540-kilometer altitude range were analyzed. Historical solar activity data were used in the input to the density computations. For each spacecraft and atmospheric model, a drag scaling adjustment factor was determined for a high-solar-activity year, such that the observed annual decay in the mean semimajor axis was reproduced by an averaged variation-of-parameters (VOP) orbit propagation. The SME (SMM) calibration was performed using calendar year 1983 (1982). The resulting calibration factors differ by 20 to 40 percent from the predictions of the prelaunch ballistic coefficients. The orbit propagations for each spacecraft were extended to the middle of 1988 using the calibrated drag models. For the Jaccia-Roberts density model, the observed decay in the mean semimajor axis of SME (SMM) over the 4.5-year (5.5-year) predictive period was reproduced to within 1.5 (4.4) percent. The corresponding figure for the Harris-Priester model was 8.6 (20.6) percent. Detailed results and conclusions regarding the importance of accurate drag force modeling for lifetime predictions are presented.

Binebrink, A. L.↗

Observing System Simulation Experiments Investigating Atmospheric Motion Vectors and Radiances from a Constellation of 4–5-μm Infrared Sounders

A set of observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) was performed to investigate the utility of a constellation of passive infrared spectrometers, strategically designed with the aim of deriving the three-dimensional retrievals of the horizontal wind via atmospheric motion vectors (AMVs) from instruments with the spectral resolution of an infrared sounder. The instrument and constellation designs were performed in the context of the Midwave Infrared Sounding of Temperature and humidity in a Constellation for Winds (MISTiC Winds). The Global Modeling and Assimilation Office OSSE system, which includes a full suite of operational meteorological observations, served as the control. To illustrate the potential impact of this observing strategy, two experiments were performed by adding the new simulated observations to the control. First, perfect (error free) simulated AMVs and radiances were assimilated. Second, the data were made imperfect by adding realistic modeled errors to the AMVs and radiances that were assimilated. The experimentation showed beneficial impacts on both the mass and wind fields, as based on analysis verification, forecast verification, and the assessment of the observations using the forecast sensitivity to observation impact (FSOI) metric. In all variables and metrics, the impacts of the imperfect observations were smaller than those of the perfect observations, although much of the positive benefit was retained. The FSOI metric illustrated two key points. First, the largest impacts were seen in the middle troposphere AMVs, which is a targeted capability of the constellation strategy. Second, the addition of modeled errors showed that the assimilation system was unable to fully exploit the 4.3-μm carbon dioxide absorption radiances.

Will McCarty↗

Initial investigations of an adaptive discrete-time controller for nonlinear time-varying robotic models

The objective of this paper is to design a discrete-time controller which forces y(t) = F(q(t),q'(t)) to follow a desired trajectory, when non-linearities may be uncertain. A self-tuning adaptive control algorithm is then developed that addresses three types of errors: (1) error due to model linearization; (2) errors due to controlling a time-varying plant; and (3) errors due to discretization.

Giang, S. S.↗

Observing System Simulation Experiments Investigating Atmospheric Motion Vectors and Radiances from a Constellation of 4-5 μm Infrared Sounders

A set of Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) was performed to investigate the utility of a constellation of passive infrared spectrometers, strategically designed with the aim of deriving the three-dimensional retrievals of the horizontal wind via atmospheric motion vectors (AMVs) from instruments with the spectral resolution of an infrared sounder. The instrument and constellation designs were performed in the context of the Midwave Infrared Sounding of Temperature and humidity in a Constellation for Winds, or MISTiC Winds. The Global Modeling and Assimilation Office OSSE system, which includes a full suite of operational meteorological observations, served as the control. To illustrate the potential impact of this observing strategy, two experiments were performed by adding the new simulated observations to the control. First, perfect (error-free) simulated AMVs and radiances were assimilated. Second, the data were made imperfect by adding realistic modeled errors to the AMVs and radiances that were assimilated. The experimentation showed beneficial impacts on both the mass and wind fields, as based on analysis verification, forecast verification, and the assessment of the observations using the Forecast Sensitivity to Observation Impact (FSOI) metric. In all variables and metrics, the impacts of the imperfect observations were smaller than those of the perfect observations, though much of the positive benefit was retained. The FSOI metric illustrated two key points. First, the largest impacts were seen in the middle troposphere AMVs, which is a targeted capability of the constellation strategy. Second, the addition of modeled errors showed that the assimilation system was unable to fully exploit the 4.3 μm carbon dioxide absorption radiances.

Will McCarty↗

Survey and Method for Determination of Trajectory Predictor Requirements

A survey of air-traffic-management researchers, representing a broad range of automation applications, was conducted to document trajectory-predictor requirements for future decision-support systems. Results indicated that the researchers were unable to articulate a basic set of trajectory-prediction requirements for their automation concepts. Survey responses showed the need to establish a process to help developers determine the trajectory-predictor-performance requirements for their concepts. Two methods for determining trajectory-predictor requirements are introduced. A fast-time simulation method is discussed that captures the sensitivity of a concept to the performance of its trajectory-prediction capability. A characterization method is proposed to provide quicker, yet less precise results, based on analysis and simulation to characterize the trajectory-prediction errors associated with key modeling options for a specific concept. Concept developers can then identify the relative sizes of errors associated with key modeling options, and qualitatively determine which options lead to significant errors. The characterization method is demonstrated for a case study involving future airport surface traffic management automation. Of the top four sources of error, results indicated that the error associated with accelerations to and from turn speeds was unacceptable, the error associated with the turn path model was acceptable, and the error associated with taxi-speed estimation was of concern and needed a higher fidelity concept simulation to obtain a more precise result

Rentas, Tamika L.↗

Generalization error guaranteed auto-encoder-based nonlinear model reduction for operator learning

Many physical processes in science and engineering are naturally represented by operators between infinite-dimensional function spaces. The problem of operator learning, in this context, seeks to extract these physical processes from empirical data, which is challenging due to the infinite or high dimensionality of data. An integral component in addressing this challenge is model reduction, which reduces both the data dimensionality and problem size. In this paper, we utilize low-dimensional nonlinear structures in model reduction by investigating Auto-Encoder-based Neural Network (AENet). AENet first learns the latent variables of the input data and then learns the transformation from these latent variables to corresponding output data. Our numerical experiments validate the ability of AENet to accurately learn the solution operator of nonlinear partial differential equations. Furthermore, we establish a mathematical and statistical estimation theory that analyzes the generalization error of AENet. Finally, our theoretical framework shows that the sample complexity of training AENet is intricately tied to the intrinsic dimension of the modeled process, while also demonstrating the robustness of AENet to noise.

Auto-encoder↗

Closing in on Hydrologic Predictive Accuracy: Combining the Strengths of High-Fidelity and Physics-Agnostic Models

Applications of process-based models (PBM) for predictions are confounded by multiple uncertainties and computational burdens, resulting in appreciable errors. A novel modeling framework combining a high-fidelity PBM with surrogate and machine learning (ML) models is developed to tackle these challenges and applied for streamflow prediction. A surrogate model permits high computational efficiency of a PBM solution at a minimum loss of its accuracy. A novel probabilistic ML model partitions the PBM-surrogate prediction errors into reducible and irreducible types, quantifying their distributions that arise due to both explicitly perceived uncertainties (such as parametric) or those that are entirely hidden to the modeler (not included or unexpected). Using this approach, we demonstrate a substantial improvement of streamflow predictive accuracy for a case study urbanized watershed. Such a framework provides an efficient solution combining the strengths of high-fidelity and physics-agnostic models for a wide range of prediction problems in geosciences.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Benchmarking quantum logic operations relative to thresholds for fault tolerance

Contemporary methods for benchmarking noisy quantum processors typically measure average error rates or process infidelities. However, thresholds for fault-tolerant quantum error correction are given in terms of worst-case error rates—defined via the diamond norm—which can differ from average error rates by orders of magnitude. One method for resolving this discrepancy is to randomize the physical implementation of quantum gates, using techniques like randomized compiling (RC). In this work, we use gate set tomography to perform precision characterization of a set of two-qubit logic gates to study RC on a superconducting quantum processor. We find that, under RC, gate errors are accurately described by a stochastic Pauli noise model without coherent errors, and that spatially correlated coherent errors and non-Markovian errors are strongly suppressed. We further show that the average and worst-case error rates are equal for randomly compiled gates, and measure a maximum worst-case error of 0.0197(3) for our gate set. Our results show that randomized benchmarks are a viable route to both verifying that a quantum processor’s error rates are below a fault-tolerance threshold, and to bounding the failure rates of near-term algorithms, if—and only if—gates are implemented via randomization methods which tailor noise.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Fusion RF Modeling Machine Learning (FusionML_RF) v1.0

FusionML_RF consists of multiple codes and trained machine learning (ML) models that perform low-cost output modeling from the Genray-CQL3D. Three machine learning techniques (multilayer perceptron, random forest, and Gaussian process) provide fast surrogate models for lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) simulations. For example, completing a single GENRAY/CQL3D simulation without radial diffusion of fast electrons requires several minutes of wall-clock time. On the other hand, these ML models achieve ~ms of inference time with high accuracy across the input parameter space. This software collection consists of multiple components. (1) codes that use ML methods and precomputed Genray-CQL3D simulation output to build regression models that enable approximate computations of Genray-CLQ3D outputs from arbitrary but physically meaningful input parameters (surrogate modeling); (2) three trained models created by the team, using a database of 16,000+ GENRAY/CQL3D simulations, to study the performance of ML models for surrogate modeling; (3) codes that load the trained models and simulation data, and then compute mean squared error between the models' predictions and the ground truth of simulation output data. This collection is being made available in conjunction with a scientific publication about the work to promote reusability and provide an artifact of the scientific work.

Bai, Zhe↗

Adaptive Determination of the Optimal Exchange Location in Wall-Modeled Large-Eddy Simulation

Wall-modeled large-eddy simulation introduces a modeling interface (or exchange location) separating the wall-modeled layer from the rest of the domain. The current state-of-the-art is to rely on user expertise when choosing where to place this modeling interface, whether this choice is tied to the grid or not. This paper presents a postprocessing algorithm that determines the exchange location systematically. The algorithm is based on a model for the error in the predicted wall shear stress and a model for the computational cost, and then finds the exchange location that minimizes a combination of the two. Here, the algorithm is tested both a priori and a posteriori using an equilibrium wall model for the flow over a wall-mounted hump, a boundary layer in an adverse pressure gradient, and a shock/boundary-layer interaction. The algorithm produces exchange locations that mostly agree with what an experienced user would suggest, with thinner wall-modeled layers in nonequilibrium flow regions and thicker wall-modeled layers where the boundary layer is closer to equilibrium. This suggests that the algorithm should be useful in simulations of realistic and highly complex geometries.

42 ENGINEERING↗