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The waveform parameter method of sonic boom extrapolation is derived and shown to be equivalent to the F-function method. A computer program based on the waveform parameter method is presented and discussed, with a sample case demonstrating program input and output.
Coalescing supermassive black holes are expected to provide the strongest sources for gravitational radiation detected by LISA. Recent advances in numerical relativity provide a detailed description of the waveforms of such signals. We present a preliminary study of LISA's sensitivity to waveform parameters using a hybrid numerical/analytic waveform describing the coalescence of two equal-mass, nonspinning black holes. The Synthetic LISA software package is used to simulate the instrument response and the Fisher information matrix method is used to estimate errors in the waveform parameters. Initial results indicate that inclusion of the merger signal can significantly improve the precision of some parameter estimates. For example, the median parameter errors for an ensemble of systems with total redshifted mass of 10(exp 6) deg M solar mass at a redshift of z is approximately 1 were found to decrease by a factor of slightly more than two when the merger was included.
Satellite-borne radar altimeters include waveform sampling gates providing point samples of the transmitted radar pulse after its scattering from the ocean's surface. Averages of the waveform sampler data can be fitted by varying parameters in a model mean return waveform. The theoretical waveform model used is described as well as a general iterative nonlinear least squares procedures used to obtain estimates of parameters characterizing the modeled waveform for SEASAT-1 data. The six waveform parameters recovered by the fitting procedure are: (1) amplitude; (2) time origin, or track point; (3) ocean surface rms roughness; (4) noise baseline; (5) ocean surface skewness; and (6) altitude or off-nadir angle. Additional practical processing considerations are addressed and FORTRAN source listing for subroutines used in the waveform fitting are included. While the description is for the Seasat-1 altimeter waveform data analysis, the work can easily be generalized and extended to other radar altimeter systems.
This report concerns Root water content (RWC) as a vital component in water flux in soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. Knowledge of RWC helps to better understand the root function and the soil-root interaction and improves water cycle modeling. However, due to the lack of appropriate methods, field monitoring of RWC is seriously constrained. In this study, we used ground-penetrating radar (GPR), a common geophysical technique, to characterize RWC of coarse roots noninvasively. An automatic GPR data processing framework was proposed to (1) identify hyperbolic root reflections and locate roots in GPR images and (2) extract waveform parameters from the reflected wave of identified roots. These waveform parameters were then used to establish an empirical model and a semiempirical model to determine RWC. We validated the developed models using GPR root data at three antenna center frequencies (500 MHz, 900 MHz, and 2 GHz) that were produced from simulation experiments (with RWC ranging from 70% to 150%) and field experiments in sandy soils (with RWC ranging from 66% to 144%). Our results show that both the empirical and the semiempirical models achieved a good performance in estimating RWC with similar accuracy, i.e., the prediction error [root-mean-square error (RMSE)] was less than 8% for the simulation data and 12% for the field data. For both models, the accuracy of RWC estimation was the highest when applied to 2-GHz data. This study renders a new opportunity to determine RWC under field conditions that enhances the application of GPR for root study and the understanding and modeling of ecohydrology in the rhizosphere.
Accurate recording and characterization of explosion-induced pressure signals are key components of the forensic analysis of explosion events in the atmosphere. Parametric overpressure models based on several key waveform features (peak overpressure, positive pulse duration, and impulse) are widely used to estimate explosion energy in terms of trinitrotoluene equivalent yield. However, those models are often developed by a limited dataset, including only a few events or recordings at relatively short propagation distances. Here, we develop empirical waveform-parameter models based on a regression analysis of a large set of data curated from four chemical explosion experiments including 16 detonations. We measured peak overpressure and impulse for positive and negative phases from 1000 pressure signals recorded at local ranges (<20 km) with scaled distance up to 8000 m/kg 1/3 . Additionally, the measured waveform parameters showed large variation with respect to observing distances indicating the effects of atmospheric propagation. In this study, a second-order polynomial model was used in a least-squares regression to account for those propagation effects and to improve data fitting. In addition to model parameters for waveform features, we also determined range-dependent model uncertainties based on data variance. The model uncertainty represents the prediction error of our models and can be critical to evaluating the uncertainty of yield estimate.
In recent years emphasis has been placed on the early detection of material changes experienced in turbine powerplant components. During the scheduled overhaul of a turbine, the current techniques of examination of various hot section components aim to find flaws such as cracks, wear, and erosion, as well as excessive deformations. Thus far, these localized damage modes have been detected with satisfactory results. However, the techniques used to find these flaws provide no information on life until the flaws are actually detected. Major improvements in damage assessment, safety, as well as more accurate life prediction could be achieved if nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques could be utilized to sense material changes that occur prior to the localized defects mentioned. Because of elevated temperatures and excessive stresses, turbine components may experience creep behavior. As a result, it is desirable to monitor and access the current condition of such components. Research at the NASA Glenn Research Center involves developing and utilizing an NDE technique that discloses distributed material changes that occur prior to the localized damage detected by the current methods of inspection. In a recent study, creep processes in a nickel-base alloy were the life-limiting condition of interest, and the NDE technique was acousto-ultrasonics (AU). AU is an NDE technique that utilizes two ultrasonic transducers to interrogate the condition of a test specimen. The sending transducer introduces an ultrasonic pulse at a point on the surface of the specimen while a receiving transducer detects the signal after it has passed through the material. The goal of the method is to correlate certain parameters of the detected waveform to characteristics of the material between the two transducers. Here, the waveform parameter of interest is the attenuation due to internal damping for which information is being garnered from the frequency domain. The parameters utilized to indirectly quantify the attenuation are the ultrasonic decay rate as well as various moments of the frequency power spectrum. A new, user-friendly, graphical interface AU system was developed at NASA Glenn. This system is an all-inclusive, multifunction system that controls the sending and receiving ultrasonic transducers as well as all posttest signal analysis. The system's postprocessing software calculates the multiple parameters used to study the material of interest.
The Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) Group of the Optical Instrumentation Technology Branch at the NASA Glenn Research Center has developed a scanning system that uses guided waves to characterize materials and detect defects. The technique uses two ultrasonic transducers to interrogate the condition of a material. The sending transducer introduces an ultrasonic pulse at a point on the surface of the specimen, and the receiving transducer detects the signal after it has passed through the material. The aim of the method is to correlate certain parameters in both the time and frequency domains of the detected waveform to characteristics of the material between the two transducers. The scanning system is shown. The waveform parameters of interest include the attenuation due to internal damping, waveform shape parameters, and frequency shifts due to material changes. For the most part, guided waves are used to gauge the damage state and defect growth of materials subjected to various mechanical or environmental loads. The technique has been applied to polymer matrix composites, ceramic matrix composites, and metal matrix composites as well as metallic alloys. Historically, guided wave analysis has been a point-by-point, manual technique with waveforms collected at discrete locations and postprocessed. Data collection and analysis of this type limits the amount of detail that can be obtained. Also, the manual movement of the sensors is prone to user error and is time consuming. The development of an automated guided-wave scanning system has allowed the method to be applied to a wide variety of materials in a consistent, repeatable manner. Experimental studies have been conducted to determine the repeatability of the system as well as compare the results obtained using more traditional NDE methods. The following screen capture shows guided-wave scan results for a ceramic matrix composite plate, including images for each of nine calculated parameters. The system can display up to 18 different wave parameters. Multiple scans of the test specimen demonstrated excellent repeatability in the measurement of all the guided-wave parameters, far exceeding the traditional point-by-point technique. In addition, the scan was able to detect a subsurface defect that was confirmed using flash thermography This technology is being further refined to provide a more robust and efficient software environment. Future hardware upgrades will allow for multiple receiving transducers and the ability to scan more complex surfaces. This work supports composite materials development and testing under the Ultra-Efficient Engine Technology (UEET) Project, but it also will be applied to other material systems under development for a wide range of applications.
The effects of a non-Gaussian ocean on satellite altimetry parameter estimation are discussed. The first part of this paper shows how non-Gaussian ocean parameters affect height estimation for satellites of the Seasat/Geosat/TOPEX type. In the second part, the estimation of the altimeter tracker bias and the non-Gaussian ocean parameters from the altimeter return signal is studied. A new convolution model that facilitates the deconvolution of the ocean surface specular point probability density function is introduced. Next, it is argued that it is not feasible in practice to estimate the electromagnetic bias from noisy altimeter returns. It is then shown that the least squares estimation of the surface parameters in the log-frequency domain has several advantages overestimating parameters in the time domain. The maximum likelihood estimation equations for the estimation of the waveform parameters are derived, and their solution is discussed.
Results: Developed parameter estimation model integrating complete waveforms and improved instrumental models. Initial results for equal-mass non-spinning systems indicate moderate improvement in most parameters, significant improvement in some Near-term improvement: a) Improved statistics; b) T-channel; c) Larger parameter space coverage. Combination with other results: a) Higher harmonics; b) Spin precession; c) Instrumental effects.
Microkinetic models are useful tools for screening catalytic materials; however, errors in their input parameters can lead to significant uncertainty in model predictions of catalyst performance. Here, in this work, we investigate the impact of linear scaling and Brønsted-Evans-Polanyi relation parametric uncertainty on microkinetic predictions of programmable-catalyst performance. Two case studies are considered: a generic A-to-B prototype reaction and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The results show that error-unaware models can accurately predict trends and, for the prototype reaction, values of optimal waveform parameters. The specific model parameters driving output uncertainty are identified via variance-based global sensitivity analysis. However, predictions of dynamic rate enhancement can decrease when uncertainty is propagated into the models. In both cases, we identify operating conditions where the programmable catalyst achieves a rate enhancement of at least one order of magnitude despite parametric uncertainty in the model, supporting programmable catalysis as a viable strategy for exceeding the Sabatier limit.
An electric current sensor based on Faraday rotation effect in optical fiber was developed for measuring aircraft lightning current. Compared to traditional sensors, the design has many advantages including the ability to measure total current and to conform to structure geometries. The sensor is also small, light weight, non-conducting, safe from interference, and free of hysteresis and saturation. Potential applications include characterization of lightning current waveforms, parameters and paths, and providing environmental data for aircraft certifications. In an optical fiber as the sensing medium, light polarization rotates when exposed to a magnetic field in the direction of light propagation. By forming closed fiber loops around a conductor and applying Ampere s law, measuring the total light rotation yields the enclosed current. A reflective polarimetric scheme is used, where polarization change is measured after the polarized light travels round-trip through the sensing fiber. The sensor system was evaluated measuring rocket-triggered lightning over the 2011 summer. Early results compared very well against a reference current shunt resistor, demonstrating the sensor's accuracy and feasibility in a lightning environment. While later comparisons show gradually increasing amplitude deviations for an undetermined cause, the overall waveforms still compared very well.
An electric current sensor based on Faraday rotation effect in optical fiber was developed for measuring aircraft lightning current. Compared to traditional sensors, the design has many advantages including the ability to measure total current and to conform to structure geometries. The sensor is also small, light weight, non-conducting, safe from interference, and free of hysteresis and saturation. Potential applications include characterization of lightning current waveforms, parameters and paths, and providing environmental data for aircraft certifications. In an optical fiber as the sensing medium, light polarization rotates when exposed to a magnetic field in the direction of light propagation. By forming closed fiber loops around a conductor and applying Ampere s law, measuring the total light rotation yields the enclosed current. A reflective polarimetric scheme is used, where polarization change is measured after the polarized light travels round-trip through the sensing fiber. The sensor system was evaluated measuring rocket-triggered lightning over the 2011 summer. Early results compared very well against a reference current shunt resistor, demonstrating the sensor s accuracy and feasibility in a lightning environment. While later comparisons show gradually increasing amplitude deviations for an undetermined cause, the overall waveforms still compared very well.
A characteristic observational signature of cosmic strings are short duration gravitational wave (GW) bursts. These have been searched for by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration and will be searched for with LISA. We point out that these burst signals are repeated, since cosmic string loops evolve quasiperiodically in time, and will always appear from essentially the same position in the sky. We estimate the number of GW repeaters for LVK and LISA and show that the string tension that can be probed scales as detector sensitivity to the sixth power, which raises hope for detection in future GW detectors. Furthermore, the observation of repeated GW bursts from the same cosmic string loop helps distinguish between the GW waveform parameters and the sky localization.
The physical separation of the transmitter from the receiver into perhaps separate flight vehicles (with separate flight paths) in a bistatic Synthetic Aperture radar system adds considerable complexity to an already complex system. Synchronization of waveform parameters and timing attributes become problematic, and notions of even the synthetic aperture itself take on a new level of abstractness. Consequently, a high-performance, fine-resolution, and reliable bistatic SAR system really needs to be engineered from the ground up, with tighter specifications on a number of parameters, and entirely new functionality in other areas. Nevertheless, such a bistatic SAR system appears viable.
Waveform parameters for extrapolating wind tunnel sonic boom signatures to far field
Both average and individual pulse polarization measurements at 430 MHz are presented for three pulsars: PSR 0823 + 26, PSR 0834 + 06, and PSR 2303 + 30. In each case, the average Stokes parameter waveformes are found to depend on the individual pulse polarization properties in a complicated manner. The average waveforms are in general depolarized by pulse-to-pulse fluctuations in polarization state at a given longitude. Two of the three objects exhibit variations of both linear and circular polarization which are associated with quasi-periodic subpulse modulation phenomena in a manner similar to that reported for linear polarization in PSR 0809 + 74 by Taylor et al. (1971.).
The dynamic topography of the sea surface was measured. The radar altimeter measurements yield average ocean topographic data which are mapped. Seasonal deviations from a 3 year mean topography are presented. The altimeters are also instrumented with sample and hold gates which provide information about the shape and amplitude of the return waveform. Parameters including ocean surface wind speed and the significant wave height are determined. One hundred eighty six wind speed and significant wave height histograms are presented.
A CFD analysis of the near-field sonic boom environment of several low boom High Speed Civilian Transport (HSCT) concepts is presented. The CFD method utilizes a multi-block Euler marching code within the context of an innovative mesh topology that allows for the resolution of shock waves several body lengths from the aircraft. Three-dimensional pressure footprints at one body length below three-different low boom aircraft concepts are presented. Models of two concepts designed by NASA to cruise at Mach 2 and Mach 3 were built and tested in the wind tunnel. The third concept was designed by Boeing to cruise at Mach 1.7. Centerline and sideline samples of these footprints are then extrapolated to the ground using a linear waveform parameter method to estimate the ground signatures or sonic boom ground overpressure levels. The Mach 2 concept achieved its centerline design signature but indicated higher sideline booms due to the outboard wing crank of the configuration. Nacelles are also included on two of NASA's low boom concepts. Computations are carried out for both flow-through nacelles and nacelles with engine exhaust simulation. The flow-through nacelles with the assumption of zero spillage and zero inlet lip radius showed very little effect on the sonic boom signatures. On the other hand, it was shown that the engine exhaust plumes can have an effect on the levels of overpressure reaching the ground depending on the engine operating conditions. The results of this study indicate that engine integration into a low boom design should be given some attention.