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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Spatial calibration of a tokamak neutral beam diagnostic using in situ neutral beam emission

Neutral beam injection is used in tokamaks to heat, apply torque, drive non-inductive current, and diagnose plasmas. Neutral beam diagnostics need accurate spatial calibrations to benefit from the measurement localization provided by the neutral beam. A new technique has been developed that uses in situ measurements of neutral beam emission to determine the spatial location of the beam and the associated diagnostic views. This technique was developed to improve the charge exchange recombination (CER) diagnostic at the DIII-D tokamak and uses measurements of the Doppler shift and Stark splitting of neutral beam emission made by that diagnostic. These measurements contain information about the geometric relation between the diagnostic views and the neutral beams when they are injecting power. This information is combined with standard spatial calibration measurements to create an integrated spatial calibration that provides a more complete description of the neutral beam-CER system. The integrated spatial calibration results are very similar to the standard calibration results and derived quantities from CER measurements are unchanged within their measurement errors. The methods developed to perform the integrated spatial calibration could be useful for tokamaks with limited physical access.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

SALT3: An Improved Type Ia Supernova Model for Measuring Cosmic Distances

Abstract A spectral-energy distribution (SED) model for Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) is a critical tool for measuring precise and accurate distances across a large redshift range and constraining cosmological parameters. We present an improved model framework, SALT3, which has several advantages over current models—including the leading SALT2 model (SALT2.4). While SALT3 has a similar philosophy, it differs from SALT2 by having improved estimation of uncertainties, better separation of color and light-curve stretch, and a publicly available training code. We present the application of our training method on a cross-calibrated compilation of 1083 SNe with 1207 spectra. Our compilation is 2.5× larger than the SALT2 training sample and has greatly reduced calibration uncertainties. The resulting trained SALT3.K21 model has an extended wavelength range 2000–11,000 Å (1800 Å redder) and reduced uncertainties compared to SALT2, enabling accurate use of low- z I and iz photometric bands. Including these previously discarded bands, SALT3.K21 reduces the Hubble scatter of the low- z Foundation and CfA3 samples by 15% and 10%, respectively. To check for potential systematic uncertainties, we compare distances of low (0.01 < z < 0.2) and high (0.4 < z < 0.6) redshift SNe in the training compilation, finding an insignificant 3 ± 14 mmag shift between SALT2.4 and SALT3.K21. While the SALT3.K21 model was trained on optical data, our method can be used to build a model for rest-frame NIR samples from the Roman Space Telescope. Our open-source training code, public training data, model, and documentation are available at https://saltshaker.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ , and the model is integrated into the sncosmo and SNANA software packages.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Expanded Use of ISOCS Characterization Techniques for WIPP Certification at the Idaho Clean-up Project - 19623

The Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) has been retrieving, treating, characterizing, and shipping legacy Transuranic (TRU) waste for disposal since 2003 as part of the overall Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) in support of the US Department of Energy. As the ICP has progressed, over 700 containers have been identified that cannot be successfully assayed using the current suite of non-destructive assay (NDA) instruments. To meet this challenge, Fluor Idaho, LLC, and Mirion Technologies (formerly Canberra Industries) have teamed to deploy the In-Situ Object Counting System (ISOCS) to supplement the current NDA capabilities. ISOCS has long been used in various radioactive waste management applications, but never has the ISOCS ability to perform intrinsic efficiency modeling of discrete waste containers been employed to characterize and certify TRU waste for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), near Carlsbad, New Mexico. Since the primary disposal facility for this waste is the WIPP, the characterization processes for determining the quantity of radioactive material entrained in the waste are subject to WIPP Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) quality requirements and associated performance criteria. Until now, the Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) WIPP-certified NDA equipment has utilized pre-defined efficiency calibrations for fixed geometries. However, due to the radioactive material content, activity levels, waste stream matrix, and/or the geometries of various size drums, boxes and other-odd-shaped containers or container integrity issues, it may not be suitable to characterize these containers with any of the existing WIPP-certified NDA equipment located at the AMWTP. Therefore, advanced technologies are needed to complete characterization of these problematic waste containers. The July 5, 2016 release of the WIPP WAC, DOE/WIPP-02-3122, Revision 8.0, Appendix A, 'Radioassay Requirements for Transuranic Waste,' was expanded to include several newer concepts such as American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) approved methods for efficiency-based calibrations and the use of mathematical computer modeling techniques for calibration. This change prompted AMWTP to pursue obtaining WIPP certification authority for expanded ISOCS techniques to deal with the remaining challenging waste containers and the development and implementation of Mirion's Figures of Merit (FOM) evaluations. These vital FOM evaluations enhance the ISOCS's modeling capabilities by optimizing the dynamic efficiency calibration for each object and reducing the assay's Total Measurement Uncertainty (TMU) budget. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
NASA NTRS2002

Earth Observing-1 Advanced Land Imager: Imaging Performance On-Orbit

This report analyzes the on-orbit imaging performance of the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on the Earth Observing-1 satellite. The pre-flight calibrations are first summarized. The methods used to reconstruct and geometrically correct the image data from this push-broom sensor are described. The method used here does not refer to the position and attitude telemetry from the spacecraft. Rather, it is assumed that the image of the scene moves across the focal plane with a constant velocity, which can be ascertained from the image data itself. Next, an assortment of the images so reconstructed is presented. Color images sharpened with the 10-m panchromatic band data are shown, and the algorithm for producing them from the 30-m multispectral data is described. The approach taken for assessing spatial resolution is to compare the sharpness of features in the on-orbit image data with profiles predicted on the basis of the pre-flight calibrations. A large assortment of bridge profiles is analyzed, and very good fits to the predicted shapes are obtained. Lunar calibration scans are analyzed to examine the sharpness of the edge-spread function at the limb of the moon. The darkness of the space beyond the limb is better for this purpose than anything that could be simulated on the ground. From these scans, we find clear evidence of scattering in the optical system, as well as some weak ghost images. Scans of planets and stars are also analyzed. Stars are useful point sources of light at all wavelengths, and delineate the point-spread functions of the system. From a quarter-speed scan over the Pleiades, we find that the ALI can detect 6th magnitude stars. The quality of the reconstructed images verifies the capability of the ALI to produce Landsat-type multi spectral data. The signal-to-noise and panchromatic spatial resolution are considerably superior to those of the existing Landsat sensors. The spatial resolution is confirmed to be as good as it was designed to be.

ALI (ADVANCED LAND IMAGER)↗
NASA NTRS2015

Dose Calibration of the ISS-RAD Fast Neutron Detector

The ISS-RAD instrument has been fabricated by Southwest Research Institute and delivered to NASA for flight to the ISS in late 2015 or early 2016. ISS-RAD is essentially two instruments that share a common interface to ISS. The two instruments are the Charged Particle Detector (CPD), which is very similar to the MSL-RAD detector on Mars, and the Fast Neutron Detector (FND), which is a boron-loaded plastic scintillator with readout optimized for the 0.5 to 10 MeV energy range. As the FND is completely new, it has been necessary to develop methodology to allow it to be used to measure the neutron dose and dose equivalent. This talk will focus on the methods developed and their implementation using calibration data obtained in quasi-monoenergetic (QMN) neutron fields at the PTB facility in Braunschweig, Germany. The QMN data allow us to determine an approximate response function, from which we estimate dose and dose equivalent contributions per detected neutron as a function of the pulse height. We refer to these as the "pSv per count" curves for dose equivalent and the "pGy per count" curves for dose. The FND is required to provide a dose equivalent measurement with an accuracy of 10% of the known value in a calibrated AmBe field. Four variants of the analysis method were developed, corresponding to two different approximations of the pSv per count curve, and two different implementations, one for real-time analysis onboard ISS and one for ground analysis. We will show that the preferred method, when applied in either real-time or ground analysis, yields good accuracy for the AmBe field. We find that the real-time algorithm is more susceptible to chance-coincidence background than is the algorithm used in ground analysis, so that the best estimates will come from the latter.

Zeitlin, C.↗
DOE OSTI2014

SU-E-T-433: Calibration Accuracy in Mailed High-Resolution 3D Dosimetry Service for SRS/SBRT QA

Purpose: SRS/SBRT combines hypofractionation with excellent dose distributions. However, extremely steep gradients across the target along with dose escalation, if not administered accurately, may lead to serious complications, recurrences, or even fatalities. Existing commercial QA products either lack adequate spatial resolution or the 3D aspect. By contrast, the new CrystalBall™ mailed high-resolution 3D dosimetry service removes the above limitations while reducing the overall workload on medical physics staff. The exposed dosimeters, which change optical density in proportion to local dose, are sent back to the manufacturer (MGS Research Inc., Madison, CT) for sub-millimeter-resolution laser-CT scanning and QA data analysis. QA report is returned electronically within 24 hours. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dose calibration accuracy in this system. Methods: Two spherical CrystalBall™ polymer gel dosimeters from the same batch, 166 mm diameter, with embedded 3D image registration markers, were mounted in a special phantom designed for reproducible positioning. For full end to end testing, the optical guidance array was mounted onto the phantom and a CT was taken. Two separate Rapid Arc SRS plans were designed. Varian Medical Systems optical guidance system was used to position the phantom and the SRS treatment plans were delivered to the two spheres on Varian's Trilogy Accelerator. Exposed dosimeters were mailed back to the manufacturer for laser CT scanning and analysis. Results: For each plan, 3D gamma passing rate was 100% for 2%/2mm distance-to-agreement criteria above 50% isodose level. The two calibration curves, generated using volumetric dose and optical density data, showed excellent mutual agreement (max difference 2.2%, median difference 0.75%). Conclusion: The clinical utility of new CrystalBall™ mailed QA service for SRS/SBRT and high accuracy of dose calibration have been validated. The workflow associated with the use of the CrystalBall™ in clinical setting was found to be minimal. The presenting author is the founder of and has an ownership in MGS Research Inc which manufactures the CrystalBall system for 3D dosimetry.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Photospheric magnitude diagrams for type II supernovat: A promising tool to compute distances

We develop an empirical color-based standardization for Type II supernovae (SNe II), equivalent to the classical surface brightness method given in Wesselink. We calibrate this standardization using SNe II with host galaxy distances measured using Cepheids, and a well-constrained shock breakout epoch and extinction due to the host galaxy. We estimate the reddening with an analysis of the B – V versus V – I color-color curves, similar to that of Natali et al. With four SNe II meeting the above requirements, we build a photospheric magnitude versus color diagram (similar to an H-R diagram) with a dispersion of 0.29 mag. We also show that when using time since shock breakout instead of color as the independent variable, the same standardization gives a dispersion of 0.09 mag. Moreover, we show that the above time-based standardization corresponds to the generalization of the standardized candle method of Hamuy and Pinto for various epochs throughout the photospheric phase. To test the new tool, we construct Hubble diagrams for different subsamples of 50 low-redshift (cz < 10{sup 4} km s{sup –1}) SNe II. For 13 SNe within the Hubble flow (cz {sub CMB} > 3000 km s{sup –1}) and with a well-constrained shock breakout epoch we obtain values of 68-69 km s{sup –1} Mpc{sup –1} for the Hubble constant and a mean intrinsic scatter of 0.12 mag or 6% in relative distances.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2009

Recovering Aerodynamic Side Loads on Rocket Nozzles using Quasi-Static Strain-Gage Measurements

During over-expanded operation of rocket nozzles, which is defined to be when the exit pressure is greater than internal pressure over some part of the nozzle, the nozzle will experience a transverse forcing function due to the pressure differential across the nozzle wall. Over-expansion occurs during the nozzle start-up and shutdown transient, even in high-altitude engines, because most test facilities cannot completely reproduce the near-vacuum pressures at those altitudes. During this transient, the pressure differential moves axially down the nozzle as it becomes pressurized, but this differential is never perfectly symmetric circumferentially. The character of the forcing function is highly complex and defined by a series of restricted and free shock separations. The subject of this paper is the determination of the magnitude of this loading during sub-scale testing via measurement of the structural dynamic response of the nozzle and its support structure. An initial attempt at back-calculating this load using the inverse of the transfer function was performed, but this attempt was shown to be highly susceptible to numerical error. The final method chosen was to use statically calibrated strain data and to filter out the system fundamental frequency such that the measured response yields close to the correct dynamic loading function. This method was shown to capture 93% of the pressure spectral energy using controlled load shaker testing. This method is one of the only practical ways for the inverse determination of the forcing function for non-stationary excitations, and, to the authors' knowledge, has not been described in the literature to date.

Brown, Andrew↗
DOE OSTI2023

Laser calibration of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter during LHC Run 2

This article reports the laser calibration of the hadronic Tile Calorimeter of the ATLAS experiment in the LHC Run 2 data campaign. The upgraded Laser II calibration system is described. The system was commissioned during the first LHC Long Shutdown, exhibiting a stability better than 0.8% for the laser light monitoring. The methods employed to derive the detector calibration factors with data from the laser calibration runs are also detailed. These allowed to correct for the response fluctuations of the 9852 photomultiplier tubes of the Tile Calorimeter with a total uncertainty of 0.5% plus a luminosity-dependent sub-dominant term. Finally, we report the regular monitoring and performance studies using laser events in both standalone runs and during proton collisions. These studies include channel timing and quality inspection, and photomultiplier linearity and response dependence on anode current.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Deep neural network uncertainty quantification for LArTPC reconstruction

We evaluate uncertainty quantification (UQ) methods for deep learning applied to liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) physics analysis tasks. As deep learning applications enter widespread usage among physics data analysis, neural networks with reliable estimates of prediction uncertainty and robust performance against overconfidence and out-of-distribution (OOD) samples are critical for their full deployment in analyzing experimental data. While numerous UQ methods have been tested on simple datasets, performance evaluations for more complex tasks and datasets are scarce. Here we assess the application of selected deep learning UQ methods on the task of particle classification using the PiLArNet monte carlo 3D LArTPC point cloud dataset. We observe that UQ methods not only allow for better rejection of prediction mistakes and OOD detection, but also generally achieve higher overall accuracy across different task settings. We assess the precision of uncertainty quantification using different evaluation metrics, such as distributional separation of prediction entropy across correctly and incorrectly identified samples, receiver operating characteristic curves (ROCs), and expected calibration error from observed empirical accuracy. We conclude that ensembling methods can obtain well calibrated classification probabilities and generally perform better than other existing methods in deep learning UQ literature.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2016

An AC modulated near infrared gain calibration system for a “Violin-Mode” transimpedance amplifier, intended for advanced LIGO suspensions

The background to this work was a prototype shadow sensor, which was designed for retro-fitting to an advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory) test-mass/mirror suspension, in which a 40 kg test-mass/mirror is suspended by four approximately 600 mm long by 0.4 mm diameter fused-silica suspension fibres. The shadow sensor comprised a LED source of Near InfraRed (NIR) radiation, and a “tall-thin” rectangular silicon photodiode detector, which together were to bracket the fibre under test. The photodiode was positioned so as to be sensitive (primarily) to transverse “Violin-Mode” vibrations of such a fibre, via the oscillatory movement of the shadow cast by the fibre, as this moved across the face of the detector. In this prototype shadow sensing system the photodiode was interfaced to a purpose-built transimpedance amplifier, this having both AC and DC outputs. A quasi-static calibration was made of the sensor’s DC responsivity, i.e., incremental rate of change of output voltage versus fibre position, by slowly scanning a fused-silica fibre sample transversely through the illuminating beam. The work reported here concerns the determination of the sensor’s more important AC (Violin-Mode) responsivity. Recognition of the correspondence between direct AC modulation of the source, and actual Violin-Mode signals, and of the transformative role of the AC/DC gain ratio for the amplifier, at any modulation frequency, f, resulted in the construction of the AC/DC calibration source described here. A method for determining in practice the transimpedance AC/DC gain ratio of the photodiode and amplifier, using this source, is illustrated by a specific numerical example, and the gain ratio for the prototype sensing system is reported over the frequency range 1 Hz–300 kHz. In fact, a maximum DC responsivity of 1.26 kV.m{sup −1} was measured using the prototype photodiode sensor and amplifier discussed here. Therefore, the measured AC/DC transimpedance gain ratio of 922.5 for this sensor, at 500 Hz, translated into a maximum Violin-Mode (AC) responsivity of (1.16 ± 0.05) MV m{sup −1}, at that frequency.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS1979

Ray-tracing the convex curved crystal X-ray spectrograph

The convex curved crystal X-ray spectrograph has recently seen increasing use for the spectral analysis of transient plasmas. The present paper describes the calculation of ray paths through the spectrograph for both localized and extended sources. The method traces a ray from any given source point to its point of diffraction by the curved crystal and then to the imaging circle, where the image point is obtained. Application of the ray tracing method is made to some actual experimental configurations to obtain resolution values and source sizes. Wavelength calibrations are obtainable with the ray tracing method in advance of instrument construction.

Kastner, S. O.↗
DOE OSTI2015

The artificial retina processor for track reconstruction at the LHC crossing rate

We present results of an R&D study for a specialized processor capable of precisely reconstructing, in pixel detectors, hundreds of charged-particle tracks from high-energy collisions at 40 MHz rate. We apply a highly parallel pattern-recognition algorithm, inspired by studies of the processing of visual images by the brain as it happens in nature, and describe in detail an efficient hardware implementation in high-speed, high-bandwidth FPGA devices. This is the first detailed demonstration of reconstruction of offline-quality tracks at 40 MHz and makes the device suitable for processing Large Hadron Collider events at the full crossing frequency.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS1989

A technique for extrapolating and validating forest cover across large regions - Calibrating AVHRR data with TM data

A method is presented for extending high-resolution forest cover information across large regions. Using Landsat TM data with AVHRR data, an empirical relationship beween AVHRR spectral signatures and forest cover is developed. The resulting regression equation is applied to an AVHRR scene covering a large area centered around southern Illinois. The map is used to estimate forest cover within a geographical information system. The results are compared with U.S. Forest Service estimates, showing good agreement.

Iverson, L. R.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Digital test signal generation: An accurate SNR calibration approach for the DSN

A new method of generating analog test signals with accurate signal to noise ratios (SNRs) is described. High accuracy will be obtained by simultaneous generation of digital noise and signal spectra at a given baseband or bandpass limited bandwidth. The digital synthesis will provide a test signal embedded in noise with the statistical properties of a stationary random process. Accuracy will only be dependent on test integration time with a limit imposed by the system quantization noise (expected to be 0.02 dB). Setability will be approximately 0.1 dB. The first digital SNR generator to provide baseband test signals is being built and will be available in early 1991.

Gutierrez-Luaces, B. O.↗
DOE OSTI2022

A Robust Neural Network for Extracting Dynamics from Electrostatic Force Microscopy Data

Advances in scanning probe microscopy (SPM) methods such as time-resolved electrostatic force microscopy (trEFM) now permit the mapping of fast local dynamic processes with high resolution in both space and time, but such methods can be time-consuming to analyze and calibrate. Here, we design and train a regression neural network (NN) that accelerates and simplifies the extraction of local dynamics from SPM data directly in a cantilever-independent manner, allowing the network to process data taken with different cantilevers. We validate the NN’s ability to recover local dynamics with a fidelity equal to or surpassing conventional, more time-consuming, calibrations using both simulated and real microscopy data. We apply this method to extract accurate photoinduced carrier dynamics on n = 1 butylammonium lead iodide, a halide perovskite semiconductor film that is of interest for applications in both solar photovoltaics and quantum light sources. Lastly, we use SHapley Additive exPlanations to evaluate the robustness of the trained model, confirm its cantilever-independence, and explore which parts of the trEFM signal are important to the network.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Calibrating a finite-strain phase-field model of fracture for bonded granular materials with uncertainty quantification

To study the mechanical behavior of mock high explosives, an experimental and simulation program was developed to calibrate, with quantified uncertainty, a material model of the bonded granular material Idoxuridine and nitroplasticized Estane-5703. This paper reports on the efficacy of such a framework as a generalizable methodology for calibrating material models against experimental data with uncertainty quantification. Additionally, this paper studies the effect of two manufacturing temperatures and three initial granular configurations on the unconfined compressive behavior of the resulting bonded granular materials. In each of these cases, the same calibration framework was used; in that, hundreds of high-fidelity direct numerical simulations using a new, graphics processing unit-enabled, high-performance finite element method software, Ratel, were run to calibrate a finite-strain phase-field fracture model against experimental data. It was found that manufacturing temperature influenced the elastic response of the mock high explosives, with higher temperatures yielding a stiffer response. By contrast, it was found that the initial configuration of the grains had a negligible impact on the overall behavior of the mock high explosives though it remains possible that local damage accumulation within the specimens could be altered by the initial configurations. Overall, the calibration framework was successful at creating well-calibrated models, showing its usefulness as an engineering and scientific tool.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗