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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 NTRS1981

Comparison of sigma(o) obtained from the conventional definition with sigma(o) appearing in the radar equation for randomly rough surfaces

A comparison is made of the radar cross section of rough surface calculated in one case from the conventional definition and obtained in the second case directly from the radar equation. The validity of the conventional definition representing the cross section appearing in the radar equation is determined. The analysis is executed in the special case of perfectly conducting, randomly corrugated surfaces in the physical optics limit. The radar equation is obtained by solving for the radiation scattered from an arbitrary source back to a colocated antenna. The signal out of the receiving antenna is computed from this solution and the result put into a form recognizeable as the radar equation. The conventional definition is obtained by solving a similar problem but for backscatter from an incident planewave. It is shown that these tow forms for sigma are the same if the observer is far enough from the surface.

Levine, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Scan performance of dual offset reflector antennas for satellite communications

The basic numerical steps of a method to analyze dual offset reflector antennas are reviewed. The technique employs an alternative approach to calculating the secondary pattern of an arbitrarily shaped offset dual reflector antenna, and is based on the application of the geometrical theory of diffraction from the subreflector and physical optics (PO) scattering from the main reflector. The PO integral is evaluated using the Jacobi-Bessel series expansions, and numerical results are presented for the off-axis scan performance of an offset clear aperture Cassegrain antenna. Results indicate that the equivalent paraboloid concept can be used to determine the location of displaced feed and define the local optimal focal plane, and the scan performance of the Cassegrain reflector can be improved if the feed is located on the true opimal surface.

Rahmat-Samii, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Criteria for the use of regression analysis for remote sensing of sediment and pollutants

An examination of limitations, requirements, and precision of the linear multiple-regression technique for quantification of marine environmental parameters is conducted. Both environmental and optical physics conditions have been defined for which an exact solution to the signal response equations is of the same form as the multiple regression equation. Various statistical parameters are examined to define a criteria for selection of an unbiased fit when upwelled radiance values contain error and are correlated with each other. Field experimental data are examined to define data smoothing requirements in order to satisfy the criteria of Daniel and Wood (1971). Recommendations are made concerning improved selection of ground-truth locations to maximize variance and to minimize physical errors associated with the remote sensing experiment.

Whitlock, C. H.↗
NASA NTRS1982

High Frequency Scattering from Arbitrarily Oriented Dielectric Disks

Calculations have been made of electromagnetic wave scattering from dielectric disks of arbitrary shape and orientation in the high frequency (physical optics) regime. The solution is obtained by approximating the fields inside the disk with the fields induced inside an identically oriented slab (i.e. infinite parallel planes) with the same thickness and dielectric properties. The fields inside the disk excite conduction and polarization currents which are used to calculate the scattered fields by integrating the radiation from these sources over the volume of the disk. This computation has been executed for observers in the far field of the disk in the case of disks with arbitrary orientation and for arbitrary polarization of the incident radiation. The results have been expressed in the form of a dyadic scattering amplitude for the disk. The results apply to disks whose diameter is large compared to wavelength and whose thickness is small compared to diameter, but the thickness need not be small compared to wavelength. Examples of the dependence of the scattering amplitude on frequency, dielectric properties of the disk and disk orientation are presented for disks of circular cross section.

Levine, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Investigation of Test Methods, Material Properties and Processes for Solar Cell Encapsulants

The evaluation of potentially useful low cost encapsulation materials is discussed. The goal is to identify, evaluate, test and recommend encapsulant materials and processes for the production of cost effective, long life solar cell modules. Technical investigations concerned the development of advanced cure chemistries for lamination type pottants; the continued evaluation of soil resistant surface treatment, and the results of an accelerated aging test program for the comparison of material stabilities. New compounds were evaluated for efficiency in curing both ethylene/vinyl acetate and ethylene/methyl acrylate pottants intended for vacuum bag lamination of solar cells. Two component aliphatic urethane casting syrups were evaluated for suitability as solar module pottants on the basis of optical, physical and fabrication characteristics.

Willis, P.↗
NASA NTRS1982

The radar cross section of dielectric disks

A solution is presented for the backscatter (nonstatic) radar cross section of dielectric disks of arbitrary shape, thickness and dielectric constant. The result is obtained by employing a Kirchhoff type approximation to obtain the fields inside the disk. The internal fields induce polarization and conduction currents from which the scattered fields and the radar cross section can be computed. The solution for the radar cross section obtained in this manner is shown to agree with known results in the special cases of normal incidence, thin disks and perfect conductivity. The solution can also be written as a product of the reflection coefficient of an identically oriented slab times the physical optics solution for the backscatter cross section of a perfectly conducting disk of the same shape. This result follows directly from the Kirchhoff type approximation without additional assumptions.

D M Le Vine↗
NASA NTRS1982

Space stable thermal control coatings

A specification quality zinc orthotitanate coating was developed. This silicate-bonded Zn2TiO4 coating is discussed. The effects of precursor chemistry, precursor mixing procedures, stoichiometry variations, and of different heat treatments on the physical and optical properties of Zn2TiO4 are investigated. Inorganic silicates are compared to organic silicone binder systems. The effects of pigment to binder ratio, water content, and of different curing procedures on the optical and physical properties of Zn2TiO4 potassium silicate coatings are also studied. Environmental tests were conducted to determine the UV vacuum stability of coatings for durations up to 5000 equivalent Sun hours.

Harada, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1983

A GTD study of pyramidal horns for offset reflector antenna applications

An efficient computational method is demonstrated for determining the far-field patterns of reflectors illuminated by pyramidal horns. A uniform geometrical theory of diffraction (GTD) formulation is used to determine the near- and far-fields of the horn. The far-field patterns of the offset reflector are constructed using the physical optics (PO) formulation in conjunction with the Jacobi-Bessel expansion method. Many representative results are shown for the far-field patterns of the reflector. In particular, the concept of the optimum phase center for the best location of a horn illuminating a reflector is carefully studied and some useful observations are made.

Huang, J.↗
NASA NTRS1984

The radar cross section of dielectric disks

A solution is presented for the backscatter (monostatic) radar cross section of dielectric disks of arbitrary shape, thickness, and dielectric constant. The result is obtained by employing a Kirchhoff-type approximation to obtain the fields inside the disk. The internal fields induce polarization and conduction currents from which the scattered fields and the radar cross section can be computed. The solution for the radar cross section obtained in this manner will be shown to agree with known results in the special cases of normal incidence, thin disks, and perfect conductivity. It will also be shown that the solution can be written as a product of the reflection coefficient of an identically oriented slab times the physical optics solution for the backscatter cross section of a perfectly conducting disk of the same shape. This result follows directly from the Kirchhoff-type approximation without additional assumptions.

Radar cross section↗
NASA NTRS1984

Scattering of electromagnetic waves from a randomly perturbed quasiperiodic surface

Electromagnetic-wave scattering by a quasi-periodic surface with random perturbations (as in the remote sensing of plowed fields) is investigated analytically, applying the Kirchhoff approximation and modeling the plowed fields by means of Gaussian random variation, sinusoidal variation, and Gaussian random variation about the spatial frequency. Coherent and incoherent bistatic scattering coefficients are derived in closed form by evaluating the physical-optics integral and shown to be proportional, in the geometric-optics limit, to the occurrence probability of slopes which reflect the incident wave specularly in the direction of the scattered wave. Backscattering cross sections are plotted as functions of incidence angle for a number of cases, demonstrating the strong effect of row direction.

Shin, R. T.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Scattering from Thin Dielectric Disks

A solution was obtained for scattering from thin dielectric disks by approximating the currents induced inside the disk with the currents which would exist inside a dielectric slab of the same thickness, orientation and dielectric properties. This approximation reduces to an electrostatic approximation when the disk thickness, T, is small compared to the wavelength of the incident radiation and the approximation yields a conventional physical optics solution when the dimension, A, characteristic of the geometrical cross section of the disk (e.g., the diameter of a circular disk) is large compared to wavelength. When the ratio A/T is sufficiently large the disk will always be in one or the other of these regimes (T lambda or kA1. Consequently, when A/T is large this solution provides a conventional approximation for the scattered fields which can be applied at all frequencies. As a check on this conclusion, a comparison was made between the theoretical and measured radar cross section of thin dielectric disks. Agreement was found for thin disks with both large and small values of kA.

Levine, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Interpolation Methods for GTD Analysis of Shaped Reflectors

The finding of smooth analytic representations for antenna reflector surfaces which are prescribed only by discretized data obtained by various synthesis methods is examined. Frequently the data are distributed in a nonuniform grid and contain noise. The smoothness required is to C sub 1 for physical optics diffraction analysis and to C sub 2 for geometrical theory of diffraction (GTD) analysis. The GTD analysis approach requires a surface description which returns data very rapidly. Two methods of interpolation, the global and the local methods, are discussed. They each have advantages and disadvantages; characteristics are discussed and examples are presented.

Galindo-Israel, V.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Effects of deterministic surface distortions on reflector antenna performance

Systematic distortions of reflector antenna surfaces can cause antenna radiation patterns to be undesirably different from those of perfectly smooth reflector surfaces. In this paper, a simulation model for systematic distortions is described which permits an efficient computation of the effects of distortions in the reflector pattern. The model uses a vector diffraction physical optics analysis for the determination of both the co-polar and cross-polar fields. An interpolation scheme is also presented for the description of reflector surfaces which are prescribed by discrete points. Representative numerical results are presented for reflectors with sinusoidally and thermally distorted surfaces. Finally, comparisons are made between the measured and calculated patterns of a slowly-varying distorted offset parabolic reflector.

Rahmat-Samii, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Scattering from thin dielectric disks

A solution was obtained for scattering from thin dielectric disks by approximating the currents induced inside the disk with the currents which would exist inside a dielectric slab of the same thickness, orientation and dielectic properties. This approximation reduces to an electrostatic approximation when the disk thickness, T, is small compared to the wavelength of the incident radiation and the approximation yields a conventional physical optics solution when the dimension, A, characteristic of the geometrical cross section of the disk (e.g., the diameter of a circular disk) is large compared to wavelength. When the ratio A/T sufficiently large the disk will always be in one or the other of these regimes, T lambda or kA1. Consequently, when A/T is large this solution provides a conventional approximation for the scattered fields which can be applied at all frequencies. As a check on this conclusion, a comparison was made between the theoretical and measured radar cross section of thin dielectric disks. Agreement was found for thin disks with both large and small values of kA.

Le Vine, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

The effect of microwave backscatter uncertainty on satellite radar altimeter accuracy

The effect of variations in ocean surface roughness characteristics with upwind/downwind direction, reported by other investigators, is used to compute radar cross section (RCS) and to assess the errors which may arise in present and planned altimeter sensors. Based on an analysis of the rough surface impulse response, the uncertainty between attitude angle and RCS asymmetry is found to cause height errors as large as 12 cm, depending on off-nadir angles and sea state. Additionally, the previously reported data in conjunction with computed facet backscatter are found to produce RCS characteristics at large off-nadir angles which are in better agreement with experimental results than those predicted by physical optics Gaussian theory.

Miller, L. S.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Microwave backscatter coefficients of artificially grown first-year sea ice

The radar backscattering coefficient of simulated first year sea ice was measured at 5.2, 9.6, 13.6, and 16.6 GHz, using a dual-antenna FM-CW scatterometer. The measurements were corrected for antenna separation and beamwidth, to obtain true values of scattering coefficient. Above 15 deg, snow-covered and rough gray ice have similar angular responses, while the decrease in scattering coefficient with incidence angle is more rapid for smoother surfaces. True scattering coefficients and surface roughness data estimated with an antenna-beamwidth correction based on a physical-optics model give values close to those measured.

Xue, D.↗
NASA NTRS1987

RCS of a coated circular waveguide terminated by a perfect conductor

The radar cross section (RCS) of a circular waveguide terminated by a perfect electric conductor is calculated by the geometrical theory of diffraction for the rim diffraction and by a physical optics approximation for the interior irradiation. The interior irradiation is generally more than 10 dB higher than the rim diffraction for a/lambda equal to or greater than 1 (a is the waveguide radius, lambda is the free-space wavelength). At low frequencies (a/lambda about 1), the interior irradiation can be significantly reduced over a broad range of incident angle if the interior waveguide wall is coated with a thin layer (1 percent of the radius) of lossy magnetic material. Our theoretical prediction is confirmed by measurements. At higher frequencies (a/lambda about 3), a thin layer of coating is effective for the case of near axial incidence, provided that a good transition of the TE(11) mode near the waveguide opening to the HE(11) mode inside the waveguide is made. A thicker layer of coating is required for the RCS reduction over wider incident angle.

Lee, Choon S.↗
NASA NTRS1987

New main reflector, subreflector and dual chamber concepts for compact range applications

A compact range is a facility used for the measurement of antenna radiation and target scattering problems. Most presently available parabolic reflectors do not produce ideal uniform plane waves in the target zone. Design improvements are suggested to reduce the amplitude taper, ripple and cross polarization errors. The ripple caused by diffractions from the reflector edges can be reduced by adding blended rolled edges and shaping the edge contour. Since the reflected edge continues smoothly from the parabola onto the rolled surface, rather than being abruptly terminated, the discontinuity in the reflected field is reduced which results in weaker diffracted fields. This is done by blending the rolled edges from the parabola into an ellipse. An algorithm which enables one to design optimum blended rolled edges was developed that is based on an analysis of the continuity of the surface radius of curvature and its derivatives across the junction. Futhermore, a concave edge contour results in a divergent diffracted ray pattern and hence less stray energy in the target zone. Design equations for three-dimensional reflectors are given. Various examples were analyzed using a new physical optics method which eliminates the effects of the false scattering centers on the incident shadow boundaries. A Gregorian subreflector system, in which both the subreflector and feed axes are tilted, results in a substantial reduction in the amplitude taper and cross polarization errors. A dual chamber configuration is proposed to eliminate the effects of diffraction from the subreflector and spillover from the feed. A computationally efficient technique, based on ray tracing and aperture integration, was developed to analyze the scattering from a lossy dielectric slab with a wedge termination.

Pistorius, C. W. I.↗