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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 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1991

System-Level Integrated Circuit (SLIC) development for phased array antenna applications

A microwave/millimeter wave system-level integrated circuit (SLIC) being developed for use in phased array antenna applications is described. The program goal is to design, fabricate, test, and deliver an advanced integrated circuit that merges radio frequency (RF) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) technologies with digital, photonic, and analog circuitry that provide control, support, and interface functions. As a whole, the SLIC will offer improvements in RF device performance, uniformity, and stability while enabling accurate, rapid, repeatable control of the RF signal. Furthermore, the SLIC program addresses issues relating to insertion of solid state devices into antenna systems, such as the reduction in number of bias, control, and signal lines. Program goals, approach, and status are discussed.

Shalkhauser, K. A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A revolutionary approach to general aviation airplane design

The accumulation of such advanced technologies as digital guidance/display concepts, flow laminarization techniques, smart structures, and composite primary structures, is presently considered systematically with a view to such novel features' integration in a next-generation general aviation aircraft. This Advanced Personal Transport is conceived as a six-passenger aircraft with 1200 nautical mile range; a tractor and a pusher configuration were considered, with the pusher configuration being of twin-boom empennage, three-lifting-surface type. Attention is given to pilot-workload reductions achievable through the proposed Integrated GPS/Glonass system.

Roskam, Jan↗
NASA NTRS1990

A generalized transmultiplexer and its application to mobile satellite communications

A generalization of digital transmultiplexer technology is presented. The proposed method can realize transmultiplexer (TMUX) and transdemultiplexer (TDUX) filter banks whose element filters have bandwidths greater than the channel spacing frequency. This feature is useful in many communications applications. As an example, a satellite switched (SS) Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) system is proposed for spot beam satellite communications, particularly for mobile satellite communications.

Ichiyoshi, Osamu↗
NASA NTRS1991

System-level integrated circuit (SLIC) development for phased array antenna applications

A microwave/millimeter wave system-level integrated circuit (SLIC) being developed for use in phased array antenna applications is described. The program goal is to design, fabricate, test, and deliver an advanced integrated circuit that merges radio frequency (RF) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) technologies with digital, photonic, and analog circuitry that provide control, support, and interface functions. As a whole, the SLIC will offer improvements in RF device performance, uniformity, and stability while enabling accurate, rapid, repeatable control of the RF signal. Furthermore, the SLIC program addresses issues relating to insertion of solid state devices into antenna systems, such as the reduction in number of bias, control, and signal lines. Program goals, approach, and status are discussed.

Shalkhauser, K. A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Parallel runway requirement analysis study. Volume 1: The analysis

The correlation of increased flight delays with the level of aviation activity is well recognized. A main contributor to these flight delays has been the capacity of airports. Though new airport and runway construction would significantly increase airport capacity, few programs of this type are currently underway, let alone planned, because of the high cost associated with such endeavors. Therefore, it is necessary to achieve the most efficient and cost effective use of existing fixed airport resources through better planning and control of traffic flows. In fact, during the past few years the FAA has initiated such an airport capacity program designed to provide additional capacity at existing airports. Some of the improvements that that program has generated thus far have been based on new Air Traffic Control procedures, terminal automation, additional Instrument Landing Systems, improved controller display aids, and improved utilization of multiple runways/Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) approach procedures. A useful element to understanding potential operational capacity enhancements at high demand airports has been the development and use of an analysis tool called The PLAND_BLUNDER (PLB) Simulation Model. The objective for building this simulation was to develop a parametric model that could be used for analysis in determining the minimum safety level of parallel runway operations for various parameters representing the airplane, navigation, surveillance, and ATC system performance. This simulation is useful as: a quick and economical evaluation of existing environments that are experiencing IMC delays, an efficient way to study and validate proposed procedure modifications, an aid in evaluating requirements for new airports or new runways in old airports, a simple, parametric investigation of a wide range of issues and approaches, an ability to tradeoff air and ground technology and procedures contributions, and a way of considering probable blunder mechanisms and range of blunder scenarios. This study describes the steps of building the simulation and considers the input parameters, assumptions and limitations, and available outputs. Validation results and sensitivity analysis are addressed as well as outlining some IMC and Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) approaches to parallel runways. Also, present and future applicable technologies (e.g., Digital Autoland Systems, Traffic Collision and Avoidance System II, Enhanced Situational Awareness System, Global Positioning Systems for Landing, etc.) are assessed and recommendations made.

Ebrahimi, Yaghoob S.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Adaptive array antenna for satellite cellular and direct broadcast communications

Adaptive phased-array antennas provide cost-effective implementation of large, light weight apertures with high directivity and precise beamshape control. Adaptive self-calibration allows for relaxation of all mechanical tolerances across the aperture and electrical component tolerances, providing high performance with a low-cost, lightweight array, even in the presence of large physical distortions. Beam-shape is programmable and adaptable to changes in technical and operational requirements. Adaptive digital beam-forming eliminates uplink contention by allowing a single electronically steerable antenna to service a large number of receivers with beams which adaptively focus on one source while eliminating interference from others. A large, adaptively calibrated and fully programmable aperture can also provide precise beam shape control for power-efficient direct broadcast from space. Advanced adaptive digital beamforming technologies are described for: (1) electronic compensation of aperture distortion, (2) multiple receiver adaptive space-time processing, and (3) downlink beam-shape control. Cost considerations for space-based array applications are also discussed.

Horton, Charles R.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Electronic Photography

The main objective was to assist in the production of electronic images in the Electronic Photography Lab (EPL). The EPL is a new facility serving the electronic photographic needs of the Langley community. The purpose of the Electronic Photography lab is to provide Langley with access to digital imaging technology. Although the EPL has been in operation for less than one year, almost 1,000 images have been produced. The decision to establish the lab was made after careful determination of the centers needs for electronic photography. The LaRC community requires electronic photography for the production of electronic printing, Web sites, desktop publications, and its increased enhancement capabilities. In addition to general use, other considerations went into the planning of the EPL. For example, electronic photography is much less of a burden on the environment compared to conventional photography. Also, the possibilities of an on-line database and retrieval system could make locating past work more efficient. Finally, information in an electronic image is quantified, making measurements and calculations easier for the researcher.

Payne, Meredith Lindsay↗
NASA NTRS1997

Grapevine Remote Sensing Analysis of Phylloxera Early Stress (GRAPES): Remote Sensing Analysis Summary

High spatial resolution airborne imagery was acquired in California's Napa Valley in 1993 and 1994 as part of the Grapevine Remote sensing Analysis of Phylloxera Early Stress (GRAPES) project. Investigators from NASA, the University of California, the California State University, and Robert Mondavi Winery examined the application of airborne digital imaging technology to vineyard management, with emphasis on detecting the phylloxera infestation in California vineyards. Because the root louse causes vine stress that leads to grapevine death in three to five years, the infested areas must be replanted with resistant rootstock. Early detection of infestation and changing cultural practices can compensate for vine damage. Vineyard managers need improved information to decide where and when to replant fields or sections of fields to minimize crop financial losses. Annual relative changes in leaf area due to phylloxera infestation were determined by using information obtained from computing Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) images. Two other methods of monitoring vineyards through imagery were also investigated: optical sensing of the Red Edge Inflection Point (REIP), and thermal sensing. These did not convey the stress patterns as well as the NDVI imagery and require specialized sensor configurations. NDVI-derived products are recommended for monitoring phylloxera infestations.

Lobitz, Brad↗
NASA NTRS1999

NASA's Myriad Uses of Digital Video

Since it's inception, NASA has created many of the most memorable images seen this Century. From the fuzzy video of Neil Armstrong taking that first step on the moon, to images of the Mars surface available to all on the internet, NASA has provided images to inspire a generation, all because a scientist or researcher had a requirement to see something unusual. Digital Television technology will give NASA unprecedented new tools for acquiring, analyzing, and distributing video. This paper will explore NASA's DTV future. The agency has a requirement to move video from one NASA Center to another, in real time. Specifics will be provided relating to the NASA video infrastructure, including video from the Space Shuttle and from the various Centers. A comparison of the pros and cons of interlace and progressive scanned images will be presented. Film is a major component of NASA's image acquisition for analysis usage. The future of film within the context of DTV will be explored.

Grubbs, Rodney↗
NASA NTRS2001

Earth and Space Science Electronic Theater: State-of-the-Art Visualization from the Latest Remote Sensing Observations. High Definition Television on the SMM IMAX Screen with Ultra High Performance Projector

Fritz Hasler (NASA/Goddard) will demonstrate the latest Blue Marble Digital Earth technology. We will fly in from space through Terra, Landsat 7, to 1 m Ikonos "Spy Satellite" data to Washington, NYC, Chicago, and LA. You will see animations using the new 1 km global datasets from the EOS Terra satellite. Spectacular new animations from Terra, Landsat 7, and SeaWiFS will be presented. See the latest animations of the super hurricanes like, Floyd, Luis, and Mitch, from GOES & TRMM. See movies assembled using new low cost HDTV nonlinear editing equipment that is revolutionizing the way we communicate scientific results. See climate change in action with Global Land & Ocean productivity changes over the last 20 years. Remote sensing observations of ocean SST, height, winds, color, and El Nino from GOES, AVHRR, SSMI & SeaWiFS are put in context with atmospheric and ocean simulations. Compare symmetrical equatorial eddies observed by GOES with the simulations.

Hasler, A. F.↗
NASA NTRS2002

NASA Imaging for Safety, Science, and History

Since its creation in 1958 NASA has been making and documenting history, both on Earth and in space. To complete its missions NASA has long relied on still and motion imagery to document spacecraft performance, see what can't be seen by the naked eye, and enhance the safety of astronauts and expensive equipment. Today, NASA is working to take advantage of new digital imagery technologies and techniques to make its missions more safe and efficient. An HDTV camera was on-board the International Space Station from early August, to mid-December, 2001. HDTV cameras previously flown have had degradation in the CCD during the short duration of a Space Shuttle flight. Initial performance assessment of the CCD during the first-ever long duration space flight of a HDTV camera and earlier flights is discussed. Recent Space Shuttle launches have been documented with HDTV cameras and new long lenses giving clarity never before seen with video. Examples and comparisons will be illustrated between HD, highspeed film, and analog video of these launches and other NASA tests. Other uses of HDTV where image quality is of crucial importance will also be featured.

Grubbs, Rodney↗
NASA NTRS2003

Carbonate Platform Development and Stromatolite Morphogenesis: Constraints on Environmental and Biological Evolution

Work has been completed on the digital mapping of a terminal Proterozoic reef complex in Namibia. This complex formed an isolated carbonate platform developed downdip on a carbonate ramp of the Nama Group. The stratigraphic evolution of the platform was digitally reconstructed from an extensive dataset that was compiled by using digital surveying technologies. The platform comprises three accommodation cycles in which each subsequent cycle experienced progressively greater influence of a long-term accommodation increase. Aggradation and progradation during the first cycle resulted in a flat, uniform, sheet-like platform. The coarsening and shallowing-upward sequence representing the first cycle is dominated by columnar stromatolitic thrombolites and massive dolostones with interbedded mudstone-grainstone at the base of the sequence grading into cross-bedded dolostones. The second cycle features aggradation, formation of a distinct margin containing thrombolite mounds and domes, and the development of a bucket geometry. Columnar stromatolitic thrombolites dominate the platform interior. The final stage of platform development shows a deepening trend with initial aggradation and formation of well-bedded, thin deposits in the interior and mound development at the margins. While the interior drowned, the platform margin kept up with rising sea level and a complex pinnacle reef formed containing fused and coalesced thrombolite mounds flanked by bioclastic grainstones (containing Cloudina and Namacalathus fossils) and collapse breccias. A set of isolated large thrombolite mounds flanked by shales indicate the final stage of the carbonate platform. During a progressive increase in accommodation, a flat-topped isolated carbonate platform becomes aerially less extensive by either backstepping or formation of smaller pinnacles or a combination of both. The overall geometric evolution of the studied platform from flat-topped to bucket with elevated margins is recorded in many Proterozoic and Phanerozoic isolated carbonate platforms with similar dimensions. The terminal Proterozoic, microbial-dominated, isolated carbonate platform of this study clearly illustrates that the answer to accommodation changes was already familiar among carbonate platforms before the dawn of metazoan-dominated platforms.

Grotzinger, John P.↗
NASA NTRS2004

IMT-2000 Satellite Standards with Applications to Mobile Air Traffic Communications Networks

The International Mobile Telecommunications - 2000 (IMT-2000) standard and more specifically the Satellite component of it, is investigated as a potential alternative for communications to aircraft mobile users en-route and in terminal area. Its application to Air Traffic Management (ATM) communication needs is considered. A summary of the specifications of IMT-2000 satellite standards are outlined. It is shown via a system research analysis that it is possible to support most air traffic communication needs via an IMT-2000 infrastructure. This technology can compliment existing, or future digital aeronautical communications technologies such as VDL2, VDL3, Mode S, and UAT.

Shamma, Mohammed A.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Multichannel Error Correction Code Decoder

NASA Lewis Research Center's Digital Systems Technology Branch has an ongoing program in modulation, coding, onboard processing, and switching. Recently, NASA completed a project to incorporate a time-shared decoder into the very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT) onboard-processing mesh architecture. The primary goal was to demonstrate a time-shared decoder for a regenerative satellite that uses asynchronous, frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) uplink channels, thereby identifying hardware and power requirements and fault-tolerant issues that would have to be addressed in a operational system. A secondary goal was to integrate and test, in a system environment, two NASA-sponsored, proof-of-concept hardware deliverables: the Harris Corp. high-speed Bose Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH) codec and the TRW multichannel demultiplexer/demodulator (MCDD). A beneficial byproduct of this project was the development of flexible, multichannel-uplink signal-generation equipment.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2011

Maximizing the Performance of Automated Low Cost All-sky Cameras

Thanks to the wide spread of digital camera technology in the consumer market, a steady increase in the number of active All-sky camera has be noticed European wide. In this paper I look into the details of such All-sky systems and try to optimize the performance in terms of accuracy of the astrometry, the velocity determination and photometry. Having autonomous operation in mind, suggestions are done for the optimal low cost All-sky camera.

Bettonvil, F.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Remote Sensing

Remote sensing is one of a suite of geospatial technologies that are having a growing impact in a wide variety of areas from commerce to science to public policy. The field of remote sensing evolved from the interpretation of aerial photographs to the analysis of satellite imagery, and from local area studies to global analyses, with advances in sensor system technologies and digital computing. Today remote sensor systems can provide data from energy emitted, reflected, and/or transmitted from all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Examples of applications of these data include population and demography studies, study of archaeological sites, energy studies using hydrological models, urban planning, environmental monitoring, environments, treaty enforcement, land use/land cover planning, weather forecasting, and agricultural production estimation, just to name a few. The material that follows provides a brief overview of the historical development of remote sensing, emphasizing the increasing complexity of platforms, systems, and tasks.

electromagnetic spectrum↗
NASA NTRS2014

Introduction

The 2014 SPIE Sensing Technologies for Global Health, Military Medicine and Environmental Monitoring conference embraced a wealth of state-of-the-art information in basic and applied science. This event covered the latest developments in the following areas: Non-invasive Disease Diagnostics for Global Health- This opening series of two consecutive sessions focused on oral biospecimen based rapid assays and point-of-care devices for the detection of pathogens causing infectious diseases, biomarkers for cancer, and analytes for noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes. They also covered presentations on the human proteasome and microbiome with linkage to human diseases and diagnostic approaches. The sessions were built on the past experience and expertise of the National Institutes of Health, National Institutes of Dental and Craniofacial Research. Military Medicine I: Traumatic Brain Injury and PTSD-This assembly covered oral-biomarker based diagnostics for brain damage and TBI as well as prevention and rehabilitation technologies. Neurorehabilitation and noninvasive neuromodulation were also discussed as critical approaches for effective functioning. Military Medicine II: Physiology and Medicine of Extreme Environments and Spaceflight-This scientific segment showcased physiological, pharmacological and diagnostic sensing methodologies during spaceflight per the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as well as military-relevant toxicans and future sensing trends per the Department of Defense. It also included latest technologies to determine hydration status in warfighters, eye surgery using the latest laser technologies, and sensing tools for blood analysis.  Sensing Technologies for Disease Diagnostics and Environmental Monitoring-This closing series of two consecutive sessions provided the venues to learn and discuss more results on the next generation of diagnostic tools and field technologies for diseases, including biomarker detection by digital imaging, multiplex technologies, capillary electrophoresis and molecular platforms serving as labs-on-chips. This conference allowed cross-fertilization of ideas, projects and collaborative work by a multidisciplinary audience of national and international colleagues from the academia, industry and federal government: The National Institutes of Health, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Department of Defense.

Wotring, Virginia E.↗