State estimation errors in navigational state estimation problem Quarterly progress report, 1 Feb. - 1 May 1969
Orbital position estimation error analysis and earth orbital mission simulation
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Orbital position estimation error analysis and earth orbital mission simulation
A function space approach is used to develop a theory for estimation of the errors inherent in an elliptic partial differential equation model for a distributed parameter system. By establishing knowledge of the inevitable deficiencies in the model, the error estimates provide a foundation for updating the model. The function space solution leads to a specification of a method for computation of the model error estimates and development of model error analysis techniques for comparison between actual and estimated errors. The paper summarizes the model error estimation approach as well as an application arising in the area of modeling for static shape determination of large flexible systems.
A new approach to the problem of estimating errors caused by imprecise data is proposed in the context of software engineering. A software device is used to produce an ideal solution to the problem, when the computer is capable of computing errors of arbitrary programs. The software engineering aspect of this problem is to describe a device for computing the error estimates in software terms and then to provide precise numbers with error estimates to the user. The feasibility of the program capable of computing both some quantity and its error estimate in the range of possible measurement errors is demonstrated.
Here, we consider estimating the discretization error in a nonlinear functional J (u) in the setting of an abstract variational problem: find u ϵ $\mathscr{V}$ such that B (u, φ) = L (φ) ∀φ ϵ $\mathscr{V}$, as approximated by a Galerkin finite element method. Here, $\mathscr{V}$ is a Hilbert space, B (. , .) is a bilinear form, and L (∙) is a linear functional. We consider well-known error estimates η of the form J (u) - J (u h ) ≈ η = L (z) - B (u h , z), where u h denotes a finite element approximation to u, and z denotes the solution to an auxiliary adjoint variational problem. We show that there exist nonlinear functionals for which error estimates of this form are not reliable, even in the presence of an exact adjoint solution z. An estimate η is said to be reliable if there exists a constant C ϵ $\mathbb{R}$ >0 independent of u h such that |J (u) - J (u h )| ≤ C|η|. We present several example pairs of bilinear forms and nonlinear functionals where reliability of η is not achieved.
This paper is concerned with goal-oriented a posteriori error estimation for nonlinear functionals in the context of nonlinear variational problems solved with continuous Galerkin finite element discretizations. A two-level, or discrete, adjoint-based approach for error estimation is considered. The traditional method to derive an error estimate in this context requires linearizing both the nonlinear variational form and the nonlinear functional of interest which introduces linearization errors into the error estimate. In this paper, we investigate these linearization errors. In particular, we develop a novel discrete goal-oriented error estimate that accounts for traditionally neglected nonlinear terms at the expense of greater computational cost. We demonstrate how this error estimate can be used to drive mesh adaptivity. Here, we show that accounting for linearization errors in the error estimate can improve its effectivity for several nonlinear model problems and quantities of interest. We also demonstrate that an adaptive strategy based on the newly proposed estimate can lead to more accurate approximations of the nonlinear functional with fewer degrees of freedom when compared to uniform refinement and traditional adjoint-based approaches.
In-flight estimation of large structure model errors may have to be carried out in order to detect inevitable deficiencies in large structure controller/estimator models. These error estimates can most efficiently be obtained by the minimization of a quadratic functional of the model errors and on the subsequent analysis of the resulting optimal model error estimates. An integral operator approach to estimation leads to a geometrical interpretation of the model error estimation process. One of the significant insights gained with this interpretation is that the actual but unknown model errors can be decomposed as the sum of two distinct components that are orthogonal in some sense. One of these components is a so-called minimal error vector that retains many of the significant dynamics of the actual errors. The basic ideas in the model error estimation approach are first set forth with a two-dimensional analogy that has most of the essential features of the general estimation problem. The generalized results are then established and their application to a reference large structure model illustrated.
This research investigates residual-based a posteriori error estimates for finite element approximations of heat conduction in single-layer and multi-layered materials. The finite element approximation, based upon hierarchical modelling combined with p-version finite elements, is described with specific application to a two-dimensional, steady state, heat-conduction problem. Element error indicators are determined by solving an element equation for the error with the element residual as a source, and a global error estimate in the energy norm is computed by collecting the element contributions. Numerical results of the performance of the error estimate are presented by comparisons to the actual error. Two methods are discussed and compared for approximating the element boundary flux. The equilibrated flux method provides more accurate results for estimating the error than the average flux method. The error estimation is applied to multi-layered materials with a modification to the equilibrated flux method to approximate the discontinuous flux along a boundary at the material interfaces. A directional error indicator is developed which distinguishes between the hierarchical modeling error and the finite element error. Numerical results are presented for single-layered materials which show that the directional indicators accurately determine which contribution to the total error dominates.
A function space approach to smoothing is used to obtain a set of model error estimates inherent in a reduced-order model. By establishing knowledge of inevitable deficiencies in the truncated model, the error estimates provide a foundation for updating the model and thereby improving system performance. The function space smoothing solution leads to a specification of a method for computation of the model error estimates and development of model error analysis techniques for comparison between actual and estimated errors. The paper summarizes the model error estimation approach as well as an application arising in the area of modeling for spacecraft attitude control.
This paper demonstrates the extension of error estimation and adaptation methods to parallel computations enabling larger, more realistic aerospace applications and the quantification of discretization errors for complex 3-D solutions. Results were shown for an inviscid sonic-boom prediction about a double-cone configuration and a wing/body segmented leading edge (SLE) configuration where the output function of the adjoint was pressure integrated over a part of the cylinder in the near field. After multiple cycles of error estimation and surface/field adaptation, a significant improvement in the inviscid solution for the sonic boom signature of the double cone was observed. Although the double-cone adaptation was initiated from a very coarse mesh, the near-field pressure signature from the final adapted mesh compared very well with the wind-tunnel data which illustrates that the adjoint-based error estimation and adaptation process requires no a priori refinement of the mesh. Similarly, the near-field pressure signature for the SLE wing/body sonic boom configuration showed a significant improvement from the initial coarse mesh to the final adapted mesh in comparison with the wind tunnel results. Error estimation and field adaptation results were also presented for the viscous transonic drag prediction of the DLR-F6 wing/body configuration, and results were compared to a series of globally refined meshes. Two of these globally refined meshes were used as a starting point for the error estimation and field-adaptation process where the output function for the adjoint was the total drag. The field-adapted results showed an improvement in the prediction of the drag in comparison with the finest globally refined mesh and a reduction in the estimate of the remaining drag error. The adjoint-based adaptation parameter showed a need for increased resolution in the surface of the wing/body as well as a need for wake resolution downstream of the fuselage and wing trailing edge in order to achieve the requested drag tolerance. Although further adaptation was required to meet the requested tolerance, no further cycles were computed in order to avoid large discrepancies between the surface mesh spacing and the refined field spacing.
The C1-continuous stress fields obtained from finite element analyses are in general lower- order accurate than are the corresponding displacement fields. Much effort has focussed on increasing their accuracy and/or their continuity, both for improved stress prediction and especially error estimation. A previous project developed a penalized, discrete least squares variational procedure that increases the accuracy and continuity of the stress field. The variational problem is solved by a post-processing, 'finite-element-type' analysis to recover a smooth, more accurate, C1-continuous stress field given the 'raw' finite element stresses. This analysis has been named the SEA/PDLS. The recovered stress field can be used in a posteriori error estimators, such as the Zienkiewicz-Zhu error estimator or equilibrium error estimators. The procedure was well-developed for the two-dimensional (plane) case involving low-order finite elements. It has been demonstrated that, if optimal finite element stresses are used for the post-processing, the recovered stress field is globally superconvergent. Extension of this work to three dimensional solids is straightforward. Attachment: Stress recovery and error estimation for shell structure (abstract only). A 4-node, shear-deformable flat shell element developed via explicit Kirchhoff constraints (abstract only). A novel four-node quadrilateral smoothing element for stress enhancement and error estimation (abstract only).
Aggregation formulas are given for production estimation of a crop type for a zone, a region, and a country, and methods for estimating yield prediction errors for the three areas are described. A procedure is included for obtaining a combined yield prediction and its mean-squared error estimate for a mixed wheat pseudozone.
Projection-based reduced-order models (pROMs) show great promise as a means to accelerate many-query applications such as forward error propagation, solving inverse problems, and design optimization. In order to deploy pROMs in the context of high-consequence decision making, accurate error estimates are required to determine the region(s) of applicability in the parameter space. The following paper considers the dual-weighted residual (DWR) error estimate for pROMs and compares it to another promising pROM error estimate, machine learned error models (MLEM). Here, we show how DWR can be applied to ROMs and then evaluate DWR on two partial differential equations (PDEs): a two-dimensional linear convection–reaction–diffusion equation, and a three-dimensional static hyper-elastic beam. It is shown that DWR is able to estimate errors for pROMs extrapolating outside of their training set while MLEM is best suited for pROMs used to interpolate within the pROM training set.
There are several engineering applications in which the assumptions of homogenization and scale separation may be violated, in particular, for metallic structures constructed through additive manufacturing. Instead of resorting to direct numerical simulation of the macroscale system with an embedded fine scale, an alternative approach is to use an approximate macroscale constitutive model, but then estimate the model-form error using a posteriori error estimation techniques and subsequently adapt the macroscale model to reduce the error for a given boundary value problem and quantity of interest. Here, we investigate this approach to multiscale analysis in solids with unseparated scales using the example of an additively manufactured metallic structure consisting of a polycrystalline microstructure that is neither periodic nor statistically homogeneous. As a first step to the general nonlinear case, we focus here on linear elasticity in which each grain within the polycrystal is linear elastic but anisotropic.
The Penalized Discrete Least-Squares (PDLS) stress recovery (smoothing) technique developed for two dimensional linear elliptic problems is adapted here to three-dimensional shell structures. The surfaces are restricted to those which have a 2-D parametric representation, or which can be built-up of such surfaces. The proposed strategy involves mapping the finite element results to the 2-D parametric space which describes the geometry, and smoothing is carried out in the parametric space using the PDLS-based Smoothing Element Analysis (SEA). Numerical results for two well-known shell problems are presented to illustrate the performance of SEA/PDLS for these problems. The recovered stresses are used in the Zienkiewicz-Zhu a posteriori error estimator. The estimated errors are used to demonstrate the performance of SEA-recovered stresses in automated adaptive mesh refinement of shell structures. The numerical results are encouraging. Further testing involving more complex, practical structures is necessary.
Recently, this author studied an approach to the estimation of system error based on combining observation residuals derived from a sequential filter and fixed lag-1 smoother. While extending the methodology to a variational formulation, experimenting with simple models and making sure consistency was found between the sequential and variational formulations, the limitations of the residual-based approach came clearly to the surface. This note uses the sequential assimilation application to simple nonlinear dynamics to highlight the issue. Only when some of the underlying error statistics are assumed known is it possible to estimate the unknown component. In general, when considerable uncertainties exist in the underlying statistics as a whole, attempts to obtain separate estimates of the various error covariances are bound to lead to misrepresentation of errors. The conclusions are particularly relevant to present-day attempts to estimate observation-error correlations from observation residual statistics. A brief illustration of the issue is also provided by comparing estimates of error correlations derived from a quasi-operational assimilation system and a corresponding Observing System Simulation Experiments framework.
A new technique for designing optimal flight test inputs for accurate estimation of instrumentation systematic errors was developed and demonstrated. A simulation model of the F-18 High Angle of Attack Research Vehicle (HARV) aircraft was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the optimal input compared to input recorded during flight test. Instrumentation systematic error parameter estimates and their standard errors were compared. It was found that the optimal input design improved error parameter estimates and their accuracies for a fixed time input design. Pilot acceptability of the optimal input design was demonstrated using a six degree-of-freedom fixed base piloted simulation of the F-18 HARV. The technique described in this work provides a practical, optimal procedure for designing inputs for data compatibility experiments.
Orbital and Geodetic Parameter Estimation Error Analysis Program (ORAN) is Bayesian least-squares simulation program for orbital trajectories. ORAN does not process data; rather, computes accuracy of results of data reduction if measurements are processed by minimum-variance data-reduction program. Actual data used to provide time when given measurement was available and estimated noise on that measurement.
This paper presents an hp-adaptive discontinuous Galerkin method for linear hyperbolic conservation laws. A priori and a posteriori error estimates are derived in mesh-dependent norms which reflect the dependence of the approximate solution on the element size (h) and the degree (p) of the local polynomial approximation. The a posteriori error estimate, based on the element residual method, provides bounds on the actual global error in the approximate solution. The adaptive strategy is designed to deliver an approximate solution with the specified level of error in three steps. The a posteriori estimate is used to assess the accuracy of a given approximate solution and the a priori estimate is used to predict the mesh refinements and polynomial enrichment needed to deliver the desired solution. Numerical examples demonstrate the reliability of the a posteriori error estimates and the effectiveness of the hp-adaptive strategy.