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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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Ice growth in Duluth harbor and western Lake Superior

Ice growth computation for the Duluth-Superior harbor and the adjacent Lake Superior waters, using the heat budget balance, agrees well with the measured ice values for the 1972-73 winter season. ERTS data is used for the determination of ice albedo and the resulting ice decay rate on Lake Superior. During the period of ice packing near Duluth, the calculated ice decay rates, combined with the ERTS data on the extent and the condition of the ice field indicate maximum ice packing between March 20-27, when the packed ice field, exhibiting albedo values above 70% reached an average 60 cm thickness. The results offer a method for description of ice packing which could be used for ice forecasting on Lake Superior if more frequent ERTS images were available.

Sydor, M.↗

Aircraft and satellite monitoring of water quality in Lake Superior near Duluth

Satellite images and low altitude aerial photographs often show vivid discolorations in water bodies. Extensive laboratory analysis shows that water reflectance, which causes brightness on aerial images, positively correlates to the water quality parameter of turbidity, which on a particular day correlates to suspended solids. Work with low altitude photography on three overcast days and with ERTS images on five clear days provides positive correlation of image brightness to the high turbidity and solids which are present in Lake Superior near Duluth over 50% of the time. Proper use of aerial images would have shown that an $8,000,000 drinking water intake constructed in the midst of this unpotable, turbid water should have been located 6 miles north in clear, usable water. Noise effects such as skylight reflection, atmospheric effects, and depth penetration also must be understood for operational use of remote sensing for water quality monitoring and are considered in the paper.

Scherz, J. P.↗

Lake Superior water quality near Duluth from analysis of aerial photos and ERTS imagery

ERTS imagery of Lake Superior in the late summer of 1972 shows dirty water near the city of Duluth. Water samples and simultaneous photographs were taken on three separate days following a heavy storm which caused muddy runoff water. The water samples were analyzed for turbidity, color, and solids. Reflectance and transmittance characteristics of the water samples were determined with a spectrophotometer apparatus. This same apparatus attached to a microdensitometer was used to analyze the photographs for the approximate colors or wavelengths of reflected energy that caused the exposure. Although other parameters do correlate for any one particular day, it is only the water quality parameter of turbidity that correlates with the aerial imagery on all days, as the character of the dirty water changes due to settling and mixing.

Scherz, J. P.↗

U-Pb ages for sphene in a contact metamorphic zone.

U-Pb ages have been determined on sphene concentrates from the 2700 my old Giants Range Granite at varying distances from the contact with the 1100 my old Duluth gabbro. As the contact is approached the sphene ages become more discordant and plot along a chord between 1100 and 2700 my on a concordia diagram. The U-Pb ages for sphene in the contact aureole are more resistant to thermal metamorphism than are K-Ar ages for hornblende and biotite. The resistance relative to U-Pb ages for zircon is more difficult to interpret because the zircon U-Pb ages may have become discordant prior to or after 1100 my ago, whereas the U-Pb ages for sphene appear to have had episodic discordance only at 1100 my ago.

Hanson, G. N.↗

Site preferences of Ni/2+/ and Co/2+/ in clinopyroxene and olivine - Limitations of the statistical approach.

Criticism of a statistical approach used by Dasgupta (1972) in analyzing Snyder's (1959) chemical data for minerals from the Duluth Complex in Minnesota. Apart from obvious mathematical objections to citing correlation coefficients to four significant figures from Snyder's relatively inaccurate analytical data, several more fundamental criticisms are leveled at the statistical approach of Dasgupta. These relate to compositional zoning and disequilibrium in the minerals, inhomogeneities of the samples caused by inclusions and exsolved phases, measured site population data for the major cations in olivines and pyroxenes, and the importance of coupled substitutions in the crystal structures. It is concluded that the crystal field predictions of relative enrichments of Ni(2+) and Co(2+) ions in olivine and pyroxene structures have not been disproved by Dasgupta's statistical approach.

Burns, R. G.↗

A study of Minnesota forests and lakes using data from Earth Resources Technology Satellites

Highlights of research and practical benefits are discussed for the following projects which utilized ERTS 1 data to provide municipal, state, federal, and industrial users with environmental resource information for the state of Minnesota: (1) forest disease detection and control; (2) evaluation of water quality by remote sensing techniques; (3) forest vegetation classification and management; (4) detection of saline soils in the Red River Valley; (5) snowmelt flood prediction; (6) remote sensing applications to hydrology; (7) Rice Creek watershed project; (8) water quality in Lake Superior and the Duluth Superior Harbor; and (9) determination of Lake Superior currents from turbidity patterns.

Source record↗

Turbidity in extreme western Lake Superior

Data were obtained from ERTS images for western Lake Superior for 1972-74. Data examination showed that for easterly winds the turbidity originating along the Wisconsin shore and the resuspension areas are transported northward then out along a N.E. path where it disperses, and often, for large storms, contaminates the Duluth water intake. Contaminants such as dredging fines anywhere along these paths would likewise find their way to the intake areas in concentrations comparable to the relative red clay concentration.

Sydor, M.↗

Icing Frequencies Experienced During Climb and Descent by Fighter-Interceptor Aircraft

Data and analyses are presented on the relative frequencies of occurrence and severity of icing cloud layers encountered by jet aircraft in the climb and descent phases of flights to high altitudes. Fighter-interceptor aircraft operated by the Air Defense Command (USAF) at bases in the Duluth and Seattle areas collected the data with icing meters installed for a l-year period. The project was part of an extensive program conducted by the NACA to collect Icing cloud data for evaluating the icing problem relevant to routine operations. The average frequency of occurrence of icing was found to be about 5 percent of the number of climbs and descents during 1 year of operations The icing encounters were predominantly in the low and middle cloud layers, decreasing above 15,000 feet to practically none above 25,000 feet. The greatest thickness of ice that would accumulate on any aircraft component (as indicated by the accretion on a small object) was measured with the icing meters. The ice thicknesses on a small sensing probe averaged less than 1/32 inch and did not exceed 1/2 inch. Such accumulations are relatively small when compared with those that can form during horizontal flight in icing clouds. The light accretions resulted from relatively steep angles of flight through generally thin cloud layers. Because of the limited statistical reliability of the results, an analysis was made using previous statistics on icing clouds below an altitude of 20,000 feet to determine the general icing severity probabilities. The calculations were made using adiabatic lifting as a basis to establish the liquid-water content. Probabilities of over-all ice accretions on a small object as a function of airspeed and rate of climb were computed from the derived water contents. These results were then combined with the probability of occurrence of icing in order to give the icing severity that can be expected for routine aircraft operations.

Perkins, Porter J.↗

Documentation of ice shapes accreted on the main rotor of a UH-1H helicopter in level flight

Icing tests were conducted on a UH-1H helicopter in level flight behind a spray tanker near Duluth, Minnesota, during the winter of 1983-84 as part of the joint NASA/Army HIFT program. On landing, the ice formations on the main rotor were documented by casting a set of ten-inch molds on the blade using a Dow-Corning silicone rubber compound which was initially liquid at sub-freezing temperatures. Such documentation was accomplished for eight flights in which the temperature ranged from -11 C to -22 C and the in-cloud flight times ranged from 5 to 9 minutes.

Hanson, M. K.↗

Crustal underplating in the North American Craton: Evidence from the Petrogenesis of anorthositic rocks in the Middle Proterozoic Midcontinent Rift System

Circumstantial evidence for underplating as a significant mechanism for the growth of continental crust continues to accumulate, particularly from considerations of thermal, seismic, and density contraints on the lower crust and upper mantle. Compelling geochemical and petrological arguments were made that in continental flood basalt provinces, the volume of underplated cumulates may be at least as large as the expression of surface lavas. Geological, petrological, and geochemical data are presented on anorthositic rocks in the Duluth Complex, which indicates that underplating processes similar to those postulated by Cox played a significant role in their origin. The interpretations may be applicable to the origin of anorthositic rocks in general.

Weiblen, P. W.↗

Personal Aircraft Point to the Future of Transportation

NASA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, as well as a number of Agency innovations, have helped Duluth, Minnesota-based Cirrus Design Corporation become one of the world's leading manufacturers of general aviation aircraft. SBIRs with Langley Research Center provided the company with cost-effective composite airframe manufacturing methods, while crashworthiness testing at the Center increased the safety of its airplanes. Other NASA-derived technologies on Cirrus SR20 and SR22 aircraft include synthetic vision systems that help pilots navigate and full-plane parachutes that have saved the lives of more than 30 Cirrus pilots and passengers to date. Today, the SR22 is the world's top-selling Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-certified single-engine airplane.

Source record↗

Evolved Gas Analyses of Mudstones from the Vera Rubin Ridge

The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover has been essential in understanding volatile-bearing phases in Gale Crater materials. SAM’s evolved gas analysis mass spectrometry (EGA-MS) has detected H2O, CO2, O2, H2, SO2, H2S, HCl, NO, and other trace gases, including organic fragments, in many samples. The identity and evolution temperature of evolved gases can support CheMin instrument mineral detection and place constraints on trace volatile-bearing phases or phases difficult to characterize with X-ray diffraction (e.g., amorphous phases). For the past ~500 sols, MSL has been exploring the Vera Rubin Ridge (VRR), which exhibits a striking hematite signature in orbital remote sensing data, in order to understand the depositional and diagenetic history recorded in the rocks and how it relates to the underlying Murray Formation. Four rock samples were drilled, one from the Blunts Point Member (Duluth, DU), one from the Pettegrrove Point Member (Stoer, ST), and two from the Jura Member. The Jura Member displays differences in color, summarized as grey and red, and a key goal was to constrain the cause of this color difference and the associated implications for depositional or post-depositional conditions. To investigate, a grey (Highfield, HF) and a red (Rock Hall, RH) Jura sample were drilled. Here we will give an overview of results from SAM EGA-MS analyses of VRR materials, with some comparisons to analyses of samples of the underlying Murray.

McAdam, A. C.↗