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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 19 records

Damage detection using experimentally measured mass and stiffness matrices

A method is presented for locating physical damage or change in a structure using experimentally measured mass and stiffness matrices. The approach uses a recently developed algorithm for transforming a state-space realization into a second order structural model with physical displacements as the generalized coordinates. This is accomplished by first rotating a state-space model of the identified structural dynamics into modal coordinates and approximating the mass normalized modal vectors for the output measurement set. Next, the physical mass, damping and stiffness matrices are synthesized directly from the measured modal parameters. This yields experimental mass and stiffness matrices for the structure without the use of a finite element model or a numerical search. The computed mass and stiffness are asymptotically equivalent to a static condensation of the global physical coordinate model. Techniques for solving the inverse connectivity problem are then developed whereby it is possible to assess the stiffness in a region of the structure bounded by several sensors. Applications to both simulated data and experimental data are used to discuss the effectiveness of the approach.

Peterson, L. D.↗

Estimation of coefficients and boundary parameters in hyperbolic systems

Semi-discrete Galerkin approximation schemes are considered in connection with inverse problems for the estimation of spatially varying coefficients and boundary condition parameters in second order hyperbolic systems typical of those arising in 1-D surface seismic problems. Spline based algorithms are proposed for which theoretical convergence results along with a representative sample of numerical findings are given.

Banks, H. T.↗

Estimation of coefficients and boundary parameters in hyperbolic systems

Semi-discrete Galerkin approximation schemes in connection with inverse problems for the estimation of spatially varying coefficients and boundary condition parameters in second order hyperbolic systems typical of those arising in 1-D surface seismic problems are considered. Spline based algorithms are proposed for which theoretical convergence results along with a representative sample of numerical findings are given.

Banks, H. T.↗

Broken Symmetry and Coherent Structure in MHD Turbulence

Absolute equilibrium ensemble theory for ideal homogeneous magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence is fairly well developed. Theory and Simulation indicate that ideal MHD turbulence non-ergodic and contains coherent structure. The question of applicability real (i.e., dissipative) MHD turbulence is examined. Results from several very long time numerical simulations on a 64(exp 3) grid are presented. It is seen that coherent structure begins to form before decay dominates over nonlinearity. The connection with inverse spectral cascades and selective decay will also be discussed.

Shebalin, John V.↗

Comparing Global Atmospheric CO2 Flux and Transport Models with Remote Sensing (and Other) Observations

We report recent progress derived from comparison of global CO2 flux and transport models with new remote sensing and other sources of CO2 data including those from satellite. The overall objective of this activity is to improve the process models that represent our understanding of the workings of the atmospheric carbon cycle. Model estimates of CO2 surface flux and atmospheric transport processes are required for initial constraints on inverse analyses, to connect atmospheric observations to the location of surface sources and sinks, to provide the basic framework for carbon data assimilation, and ultimately for future projections of carbon-climate interactions. Models can also be used to test consistency within and between CO2 data sets under varying geophysical states. Here we focus on simulated CO2 fluxes from terrestrial vegetation and atmospheric transport mutually constrained by analyzed meteorological fields from the Goddard Modeling and Assimilation Office for the period 2000 through 2009. Use of assimilated meteorological data enables direct model comparison to observations across a wide range of scales of variability. The biospheric fluxes are produced by the CASA model at 1x1 degrees on a monthly mean basis, modulated hourly with analyzed temperature and sunlight. Both physiological and biomass burning fluxes are derived using satellite observations of vegetation, burned area (as in GFED-3), and analyzed meteorology. For the purposes of comparison to CO2 data, fossil fuel and ocean fluxes are also included in the transport simulations. In this presentation we evaluate the model's ability to simulate CO2 flux and mixing ratio variability in comparison to remote sensing observations from TCCON, GOSAT, and AIRS as well as relevant in situ observations. Examples of the influence of key process representations are shown from both forward and inverse model comparisons. We find that the model can resolve much of the synoptic, seasonal, and interannual variability in the observations, although reasons for persistent discrepancies in northern hemisphere vegetation uptake are examined. At this time, we do not find any serious shortcomings in the model transport representation, but this is still the subject of close scrutiny. In general, the fidelity of these simulations leads us to anticipate incorporation of real-time, highly resolved remote sensing and other observations into quantitative analyses that will reduce uncertainty in CO2 fluxes and revolutionize our understanding of the key processes controlling atmospheric CO2 and its evolution with time.

Kawa, S. R.↗

Retrieval of aerosol size distributions from scattering and extinction measurements in the presence of multiple scattering

A fast technique, based on approximation to atmospheric radiative transfer in the solar aureole, is presented for the retrieval of aerosol size distribution from multispectral measurements of both scattered sky radiance and extinction by aerosol media. In this approximation, it is assumed that for a relatively clear day, the sky radiance is due to single scattering by molecules and aerosols, and to multiple scattering by molecules alone. The accuracy of this approximation is discussed in connection with the inversion of scattered radiation data. Results for aerosol size distributions retrieved from multispectral solar extinction measurements by the nonlinear least squares method are discussed, and the retrievals are found to be accurate when checked against ground truth measurements.

Deepak, A.↗

Infrared properties of an anisotropically stirred fluid

A renormalization group is developed for the Navier-Stokes equations driven by an anisotropically correlated random stirring force. The stirring force generates homogeneous turbulence with a preferred direction. The force correlation is the sum of a small anisotropic perturbation and an isotropic correlation chosen, so that the fixed point of renormalization group has a k exp -5/3 energy spectrum. Fixed points for the anisotropic correlation are found near this isotropic fixed point. Two types of anisotropy are analyzed. when the additional stirring is in the plane perpendicular to the preferred direction, the renormalized viscosity is increased. When it is aligned with the preferred direction, the viscosity is decreased. A possible connection with the inverse energy cascade of two-dimensional turbulence is discussed.

Rubinstein, Robert↗

Evaluating the Capacity of Global CO2 Flux and Atmospheric Transport Models to Incorporate New Satellite Observations

As we enter the new era of satellite remote sensing for CO2 and other carbon cyclerelated quantities, advanced modeling and analysis capabilities are required to fully capitalize on the new observations. Model estimates of CO2 surface flux and atmospheric transport are required for initial constraints on inverse analyses, to connect atmospheric observations to the location of surface sources and sinks, and ultimately for future projections of carbon-climate interactions. For application to current, planned, and future remotely sensed CO2 data, it is desirable that these models are accurate and unbiased at time scales from less than daily to multi-annual and at spatial scales from several kilometers or finer to global. Here we focus on simulated CO2 fluxes from terrestrial vegetation and atmospheric transport mutually constrained by analyzed meteorological fields from the Goddard Modeling and Assimilation Office for the period 1998 through 2006. Use of assimilated meteorological data enables direct model comparison to observations across a wide range of scales of variability. The biospheric fluxes are produced by the CASA model at lxi degrees on a monthly mean basis, modulated hourly with analyzed temperature and sunlight. Both physiological and biomass burning fluxes are derived using satellite observations of vegetation, burned area (as in GFED-2), and analyzed meteorology. For the purposes of comparison to CO2 data, fossil fuel and ocean fluxes are also included in the transport simulations. In this presentation we evaluate the model's ability to simulate CO2 flux and mixing ratio variability in comparison to in situ observations at sites in Northern mid latitudes and the continental tropics. The influence of key process representations is inferred. We find that the model can resolve much of the hourly to synoptic variability in the observations, although there are limits imposed by vertical resolution of boundary layer processes. The seasonal cycle and its interannual variations generally respond adequately, but discrepancies in the tropics suggest the need for a refinement of the soil moisture dependence of the respiration flux in CASA. Examples and inferences for interpretation of satellite data will be discussed. In general, the fidelity of these simulations leads us to anticipate incorporation of real-time, highly resolved remote sensing and other observations into quantitative analyses that will reduce uncertainty in the terrestrial CO2 sink and revolutionize our understanding of the key processes controlling atmospheric CO2 and its evolution with time.

Kawa, S. R.↗

Estimates of surface roughness derived from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data

Radar remote sensing data provide a unique perspective of the earth's crust and the processes that have influenced its evolution. Physically based models are required, however, to relate the geophysical quantities being measured by the radar sensor to useful geologic information. In this study, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data over the Cima volcanic field in the Mojave Desert of California are quantitatively connected with microtopography through inversion of a radar backscatter model. Changes in surface roughness inferred from the derived microtopography are modeled and found to be consistent with aeolian mantling as surfaces age. Estimated rates of aeolian deposition for the Cima area are compared to the Lunar Crater volcanic field in Nevada. Rates of deposition appear to be higher at Cima volcanic field, most likely because of its proximity to Soda Lake, the main source of the aeolian material.

Evans, Diane L.↗

Symmetry, Statistics and Structure in MHD Turbulence

Here, we examine homogeneous MHD turbulence in terms of truncated Fourier series. The ideal MHD equations and the associated statistical theory of absolute equilibrium ensembles are symmetric under P, C and T. However, the presence of invariant helicities, which are pseudoscalars under P and C, dynamically breaks this symmetry. This occurs because the surface of constant energy in phase space has disjoint parts, called components: while ensemble averages are taken over all components, a dynamical phase trajectory is confined to only one component. As the Birkhoff-Khinchin theorem tells us, ideal MHD turbulence is thus non-ergodic. This non-ergodicity manifests itself in low-wave number Fourier modes that have large mean values (while absolute ensemble theory predicts mean values of zero). Therefore, we have coherent structure in ideal MHD turbulence. The level of non-ergodicity and amount of energy contained in the associated coherent structure depends on the values of the helicities, as well as on the presence, or not, of a mean magnetic field and/or overall rotation. In addition to the well known cross and magnetic helicities, we also present a new invariant, which we call the parallel helicity, since it occurs when mean field and rotation axis are aligned. The question of applicability of these results to real (i.e., dissipative) MHD turbulence is also examined. Several long-time numerical simulations on a 64(exp 3) grid are given as examples. It is seen that coherent structure begins to form before decay dominates over nonlinearity. The connection of these results with inverse spectral cascades, selective decay, and magnetic dynamos is also discussed.

Shebalin, John V.↗

Analyzing rocket plume spectral data with neural networks

The Optical Plume Anomaly Detection (OPAD) system is under development to provide early-warning failure detection in support of ground-level testing of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME). Failure detection is to be achieved through the acquisition of spectrally resolved plume emissions and subsequent identification of abnormal levels indicative of engine corrosion or component failure. Two computer codes (one linear and the other non-linear) are used by the OPAD system to iteratively determine specific element concentrations in the SSME plume, given emission intensity and wavelength information. Since this analysis is extremely labor intensive, a study was initiated to develop neural networks that would model the 'inverse' of these computer codes. Optimally connected feed-forward networks with imperceptible prediction error have been developed for each element modeled by the linear code, SPECTRA4. Radial basis function networks were developed for the non-linear code, SPECTRA5, and predict combustion temperature in addition to element concentrations.

Whitaker, Kevin W.↗

Miniature, Cooled Pressure-Measuring Probe

Probe designed to reduce settling time dramatically. Pressure-sensing transducer mounted in probe and connected to tip by short tube having cross-sectional area substantially smaller than conventional connecting tubes. Probe includes stainless-steel cylindrical exterior housing holding closed pressure chamber in which piezoelectric pressure transducer mounted. Open connecting tube passes portion of high-velocity, high-temperature fluid stream into closed pressure chamber. Any change of pressure in sampled stream propagates into closed pressure chamber with settling time inversely proportional to cross-sectional area of connecting tube. Cooling chamber formed around pressure chamber connected to source of water or other cooling fluid via inlet and outlet tubes.

Ashby, George C., Jr.↗

Element-topology-independent preconditioners for parallel finite element computations

A family of preconditioners for the solution of finite element equations are presented, which are element-topology independent and thus can be applicable to element order-free parallel computations. A key feature of the present preconditioners is the repeated use of element connectivity matrices and their left and right inverses. The properties and performance of the present preconditioners are demonstrated via beam and two-dimensional finite element matrices for implicit time integration computations.

Park, K. C.↗

A Singular Value Decomposition Framework for Retrievals with Vertical Distribution Information from Greenhouse Gas Column Absorption Spectroscopy Measurements

We review the singular value decomposition (SVD) framework and use it for quantifying and discerning vertical information in greenhouse gas retrievals from column integrated absorption measurements. While the commonly used traditional Bayesian optimal estimation (OE) assumes a prior distribution in order to regularize the inversion problem, the SVD approach identifies principal components that can be retrieved from the measurement without explicitly specifying a prior mean and prior covariance matrix. We review the SVD method, explicitly recognize the use of an uninformative prior and show it to incur no bias from the choice of the prior. We also make the connection between the SVD method and the pseudo-inverse, which makes it more intuitive and easy to understand. We illustrate the use of the SVD method on an integrated path differential absorption CO2 lidar measurement model and verify our derivations and bias-free properties versus optimal estimation using numerical simulations. In contrast, traditional OE retrievals exhibit bias when the prior mean used in the retrieval differs from the true mean. Hence, the SVD method is particularly useful for situations in which knowledge of the prior mean and prior covariance of the true state (e.g., greenhouse gas profiles) is inadequate.

Ramanathan, Anand K.↗

Some aspects of the inversion problem in remote sensing

Several commonly used methods for inversion--constrained linear inversion, synthesis (Backus-Gilbert) methods and nonlinear iterative techniques for the Chahine type--are discussed. It is demonstrated that a very close connection exists between Backus-Gilbert solutions and those given by constrained linear inversion. A number of examples of the application of such methods are presented, showing that resolution is not greatly different for quite different algorithms, a result quite in accord with general theoretical considerations: more resolution can be achieved at the expense of introducing greater a priori bias in the procedure.

Twomey, S.↗