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At least 181 records · Page 10
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1995

The Rovibrational Intensities of the (40 deg 1) and (00 deg 0) Pentad Absorption Bands of 12C16O2 Between 7284 and 7921 cm(exp-1)

Carbon dioxide is the major constituent of the atmospheres of both Mars and Venus. Correct interpretations of spectra of these atmospheres require accurate knowledge of a substantial number of absorption bands of this gas. This is especially true for Venus; many weak CO2 bands that are insignificant in the earth's atmosphere are prominent absorbers in Venus' hot, dense lower atmosphere. Yet, recent near-infrared spectra of Venus' nightside have discovered emission windows, which occur between CO2 absorption bands, at 4040-4550 cm(exp-1), 5700-5900 cm(exp-1), and several smaller ones between 7500 and 9400 cm(exp-1). This radiation is due to thermal emission from Venus' lower atmosphere, diminished by scattering and absorption within the sulfuric acid clouds on its way to space. Simulations of these data with radiative transfer models can provide improved information on the abundances of a number of constituents of the lower atmosphere (e.g. H2O, CO, HDO, HCl, HF, and OCS) and the optical properties of the clouds, whose spatial variation modulates the brightness of the emissions. However, the accuracy of these retrievals has been limited by insufficient knowledge of the opacity of some of the gas species, including CO2, at the large pathlengths and high temperatures and pressures that exist on Venus. In particular, modeling the emission spectrum did not produce a good fit for the emission window centered at 7830 cm(exp-1). In an ongoing effort to assist analyses of these Venus spectra, we have been making laboratory intensity measurements of several weak bands of CO2 which are significant absorbers in these Venus emission windows. The CO2 bands that are prominent in the 7830 cm(exp-1) region belong to the vibrational sequence 4v1+v3 and associated hot bands. Only 2 of the 5 bands of this sequence have been previously measured. Modeling Venus' emission spectrum in the 7830 cm(exp-1) region had to rely on calculated intensity values for the weak ground state band at 7921 cm-1 and the associated hot bands. Since the calculated intensities of ground state bands are known to have significant uncertainties, we decided to measure this (40 deg 1)I (left arrow) (00 deg 0) band with the Ames 25 meter multiple reflection absorption cell and Fourier transform spectrometer. We also measured the (40 deg 1) (sub IV) (left arrow) (00 deg 0) band at 7460 cm(exp-1), which also had not been previously measured. These measurements are reported in this article, and we also give our reanalysis of the prior measurements of the (40 deg 1) (sub III) (left arrow) (00 deg 0) bands. These measurements provide the basis for improving calculated intensities for related hot bands as well as simulations of Venus' spectrum.

Giver, L. P.↗
NASA NTRS2001

The Ionization and Metallicity of the Intervening O VI Absorber at z=0.1212 in the Spectrum of H1821+643

We use high-resolution UV (ultraviolet) spectra of the radio-quiet QSO (quasi-stellar object) H1821+643 (z(sub em) = 0.297), obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE), to study the ionization and metallicity of an intervening O VI absorption line system at z(sub abs) = 0.1212. This absorber has the following notable properties: (1) Several galaxies are close to the sight line at the absorber redshift, including an actively star-forming galaxy at a projected distance of 144 h(sub 75)(exp -1) kpc. (2) There is a complex cluster of H I Ly(alpha) absorption lines near the O VI redshift, including at least five components spread over a velocity range of approximately 700 km s(exp -1). (3) The strongest Ly(alpha) line in the cluster appears to be composed of a mildly saturated component with a typical b-value blended with a remarkably broad component with b approximately equals 85 km s(exp -1). (4) The O VI absorption is not aligned with the strongest (saturated) H I absorption, but instead is well-aligned with the very broad component. (5) The only detected species (at the 4(sigma) level) are O VI and H I despite coverage of strong transitions of abundant elements (e.g., C II, C III, and C IV). Based on these constraints, we find that the absorption line properties can be produced in collisionally ionized gas with 10(exp 5.3) is equal to or less than T is equal to or less than 10(exp 5.6) K and -1.8 is equal to or less than [O/H] is equal to or less than -0.6. However, we find that photoionization is also viable if the pathlength l through the absorbing gas is long enough; simple photoionization models require 85 is equal to or less than l is equal to or less than 1900 kpc and -1.1 is equal to or less than [O/H] is equal to or less than -0.3. We briefly discuss how observations of X-ray absorption lines due to O VII and O VIII could be used, in principle, to break the ionization mechanism degeneracy, and we conclude with some comments regarding the nature of O VI absorbers.

Tripp, Todd M.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Calibration and Data Retrieval Algorithms for the NASA Langley/Ames Diode Laser Hygrometer for the NASA Trace-P Mission

This paper describes the procedures and algorithms for the laboratory calibration and the field data retrieval of the NASA Langley / Ames Diode Laser Hygrometer as implemented during the NASA Trace-P mission during February to April 2000. The calibration is based on a NIST traceable dewpoint hygrometer using relatively high humidity and short pathlength. Two water lines of widely different strengths are used to increase the dynamic range of the instrument in the course of a flight. The laboratory results are incorporated into a numerical model of the second harmonic spectrum for each of the two spectral window regions using spectroscopic parameters from the HITRAN database and other sources, allowing water vapor retrieval at upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric temperatures and humidity levels. The data retrieval algorithm is simple, numerically stable, and accurate. A comparison with other water vapor instruments on board the NASA DC-8 and ER-2 aircraft is presented.

Podolske, James R.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Mapping CDOM Concentration in Waters Influenced by the Mississippi River Plume

Colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) is often an important component of the organic carbon pool in river-dominated coastal margins. CDOM directly influences remote sensing applications through its strong absorption in the UV and blue regions of the spectrum. This effect can complicate the use of chlorophyll a retrieval algorithms and phytoplankton production models that are based on remotely sensed ocean color. As freshwater input is the principle source of CDOM in coastal margins, CDOM distribution can often be described by conservative mixing with open ocean waters and may serve as an optical tracer of riverine water. Hence, there is considerable interest in the ability to accurately measure and map CDOM concentrations as well as understand the processes that govern the optical properties and distribution of CDOM in coastal environments. We are examining CDOM dynamics in the waters influenced by the Mississippi River plume. Our program incorporates discrete samples, flow-through measurements, and remote sensing. CDOM absorption spectra of discrete samples are measured at sea using a portable, multiple pathlength waveguide system. A SAFire multi-spectral fluorescence meter provides spectral characterization of CDOM (fluorescence and absorption) using a ship flow-through system for continuous surface mapping. In situ reflectance spectra are obtained by a hand held spectroradiometer. Remotely sensed images are obtained from the SeaWiFS and CRIS (Coastal Research Imaging Spectrometer) instruments. We describe here the instruments used, sampling protocols employed, and the relationships derived between in situ measurements and remotely sensed data for this optically complex environment.

Miller, Richard L.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Absolute Timing of the Crab Pulsar with RXTE

We have monitored the phase of the main X-ray pulse of the Crab pulsar with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) for almost eight years, since the start of the mission in January 1996. The absolute time of RXTE's clock is sufficiently accurate to allow this phase to be compared directly with the radio profile. Our monitoring observations of the pulsar took place bi-weekly (during the periods when it was at least 30 degrees from the Sun) and we correlated the data with radio timing ephemerides derived from observations made at Jodrell Bank. We have determined the phase of the X-ray main pulse for each observation with a typical error in the individual data points of 50 microseconds. The total ensemble is consistent with a phase that is constant over the monitoring period, with the X-ray pulse leading the radio pulse by 0.01025 plus or minus 0.00120 period in phase, or 344 plus or minus 40 microseconds in time. The error estimate is dominated by a systematic error of 40 microseconds, most likely constant, arising from uncertainties in the instrumental calibration of the radio data. The statistical error is 0.00015 period, or 5 microseconds. The separation of the main pulse and interpulse appears to be unchanging at time scales of a year or less, with an average value of 0.4001 plus or minus 0.0002 period. There is no apparent variation in these values with energy over the 2-30 keV range. The lag between the radio and X-ray pulses ma be constant in phase (i.e., rotational in nature) or constant in time (i.e., due to a pathlength difference). We are not (yet) able to distinguish between these two interpretations.

Rots, Arnold H.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Differences in the hemodynamic response to event-related motor and visual paradigms as measured by near-infrared spectroscopy

Several current brain imaging techniques rest on the assumption of a tight coupling between neural activity and hemodynamic response. The nature of this neurovascular coupling, however, is not completely understood. There is some evidence for a decoupling of these processes at the onset of neural activity, which manifests itself as a momentary increase in the relative concentration of deoxyhemoglobin (HbR). The existence of this early component of the hemodynamic response function, however, is controversial, as it is inconsistently found. Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) allows quantification of levels of oxyhemoglobin (HbO(2)) and HbR during task performance in humans. We acquired NIRS data during performance of simple motor and visual tasks, using rapid-presentation event-related paradigms. Our results demonstrate that rapid, event-related NIRS can provide robust estimates of the hemodynamic response without artifacts due to low-frequency signal components, unlike data from blocked designs. In both the motor and visual data the onset of the increase in HbO(2) occurs before HbR decreases, and there is a poststimulus undershoot. Our results also show that total blood volume (HbT) drops before HbO(2) and undershoots baseline, raising a new issue for neurovascular models. We did not find early deoxygenation in the motor data using physiologically plausible values for the differential pathlength factor, but did find one in the visual data. We suggest that this difference, which is consistent with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, may be attributable to different capillary transit times in these cortices.

NASA Program Biomedical Research and Countermeasur↗
NASA NTRS2003

Factors affecting the accuracy of near-infrared spectroscopy concentration calculations for focal changes in oxygenation parameters

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) can be used to noninvasively measure changes in the concentrations of oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin in tissue. We have previously shown that while global changes can be reliably measured, focal changes can produce erroneous estimates of concentration changes (NeuroImage 13 (2001), 76). Here, we describe four separate sources for systematic error in the calculation of focal hemoglobin changes from NIRS data and use experimental methods and Monte Carlo simulations to examine the importance and mitigation methods of each. The sources of error are: (1). the absolute magnitudes and relative differences in pathlength factors as a function of wavelength, (2). the location and spatial extent of the absorption change with respect to the optical probe, (3). possible differences in the spatial distribution of hemoglobin species, and (4). the potential for simultaneous monitoring of multiple regions of activation. We found wavelength selection and optode placement to be important variables in minimizing such errors, and our findings indicate that appropriate experimental procedures could reduce each of these errors to a small fraction (<10%) of the observed concentration changes.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1987

Distributed reacceleration of cosmic rays

We develop a model in which cosmic rays, in addition to their initial acceleration by a strong shock, are continuously reaccelerated (e.g., by weak shocks) while propagating through the galaxy. The equations describing this acceleration scheme are solved analytically (approximating ionization losses by a cutoff) and numerically. Solutions for the spectra of primary and secondary cosmic rays are given in a closed analytic form, and they allow a rapid search in parameter space for viable propagation models with distributed reacceleration included. The observed boron-to-carbon ratio can be reproduced by the reacceleration theory over a range of escape parameters, some of them quite different from the standard "leaky box" model. It is also shown that even a very modest amount of reacceleration by strong shocks causes the boron-to carbon ratio to level off at sufficiently high energies, and this effect may be observed in the CRNE data. Several other curiosities in the data may be explained naturally if a modest amount of distributed reacceleration is invoked, including (a) the apparent truncation at low energy in the otherwise exponential pathlength distribution associated with the leaky box model, (b) the sub-iron isotopic anomalies and other effects noted by Silberberg et al., and (c) the discrepancy between the reported 10Be lifetime and the lifetime of cosmic rays in the dense strata of the galactic disk.

NASA Discipline Radiation Health↗
NASA NTRS2001

Effect of long-duration spaceflight on postural control during self-generated perturbations

This report is the first systematic evaluation of the effects of prolonged weightlessness on the bipedal postural control processes during self-generated perturbations produced by voluntary upper limb movements. Spaceflight impacts humans in a variety of ways, one of which is compromised postflight postural control. We examined the neuromuscular activation characteristics and center of pressure (COP) motion associated with arm movement of eight subjects who experienced long-duration spaceflight (3--6 mo) aboard the Mir space station. Surface electromyography, arm acceleration, and COP motion were collected while astronauts performed rapid unilateral shoulder flexions before and after spaceflight. Subjects generally displayed compromised postural control after flight, as evidenced by modified COP peak-to-peak anterior-posterior and mediolateral excursion, and pathlength relative to preflight values. These changes were associated with disrupted neuromuscular activation characteristics, particularly after the completion of arm acceleration (i.e., when subjects were attempting to maintain upright posture in response to self-generated perturbations). These findings suggest that, although the subjects were able to assemble coordination modes that enabled them to generate rapid arm movements, the subtle control necessary to maintain bipedal equilibrium evident in their preflight performance is compromised after long-duration spaceflight.

NASA Discipline Neuroscience↗
NASA NTRS1999

Implication of microdosimetry in estimation of radiation quality in space environment

Errors introduced using a tissue equivalent proportional counter to estimate radiation quality of an arbitrary ion field as related to space radiations are examined. This is accomplished by using a generalized analytic model to calculate the effect of energy loss straggling, track structure, and pathlength distribution on the microdosimetric distribution. The error can be as large as a factor of two, but no systematic trend could be found.

NASA Discipline Radiation Health↗
NASA NTRS1998

Wall effects observed in tissue-equivalent proportional counters from 1.05 GeV/nucleon iron-56 particles

Tissue-equivalent proportional counters (TEPCs) have been used to measure energy deposition in simulated volumes of tissue ranging in diameter from 0.1 to 10 microm. There has been some concern that the wall used to define the volume of interest could influence energy deposition within the sensitive volume because it has a density significantly greater than that of the cavity gas. These effects become important for high-velocity heavy ions. Measurements of energy deposition were made for 1 GeV/nucleon iron particles in a TEPC simulating a 1-microm-diameter sphere of tissue. The TEPC was nested within a particle spectrometer that provided identification and flight path of individual particles. Energy deposition was studied as a function of pathlength through the TEPC. Approximately 30% of the energy transfer along trajectories through the center of the detector escapes the sensitive volume. The response of the TEPC, for trajectories through the detector, is always larger than calculations for energy loss in a homogeneous medium. This enhancement is greatest for trajectories near the cavity/wall interface. An integration of the response indicates that charged-particle equilibrium is essentially achieved for a wall thickness of 2.54 mm. However, estimates of the linear energy transfer for the incident particles are influenced by these wall effects.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS2005

Design and Performance Assessment of a Stable Astigmatic Herriott Cell for Trace Gas Measurements on Airborne Platforms

The present paper discusses a new, more stable, astigmatic Herriott cell employing carbon fiber stabilizing rods. Laboratory tests using a near-IR absorption feature of CO at 1564.168-nm revealed a factor of two improvement in measurement stability compared with the present commercial design when the sampling pressure was changed by +/-2 Torr around 50 Torr. This new cell should significantly enhance our efforts to measure trace gases employing pathlengths of 100 to 200-meters on airborne platforms with minimum detectable line center absorbances of less than 10(exp -6).

Dyroff, Christoph↗
NASA NTRS2002

Fiber-Optic Pressure Sensor With Dynamic Demodulation Developed

Researchers at the NASA Glenn Research Center developed in-house a method to detect pressure fluctuations using a fiber-optic sensor and dynamic signal processing. This work was in support of the Intelligent Systems Controls and Operations project under NASA's Information Technology Base Research Program. We constructed an optical pressure sensor by attaching a fiber-optic Bragg grating to a flexible membrane and then adhering the membrane to one end of a small cylinder. The other end of the cylinder was left open and exposed to pressure variations from a pulsed air jet. These pressure variations flexed the membrane, inducing a strain in the fiber-optic grating. This strain was read out optically with a dynamic spectrometer to record changes in the wavelength of light reflected from the grating. The dynamic spectrometer was built in-house to detect very small wavelength shifts induced by the pressure fluctuations. The spectrometer is an unbalanced interferometer specifically designed for maximum sensitivity to wavelength shifts. An optimum pathlength difference, which was determined empirically, resulted in a 14-percent sensitivity improvement over theoretically predicted path-length differences. This difference is suspected to be from uncertainty about the spectral power difference of the signal reflected from the Bragg grating. The figure shows the output of the dynamic spectrometer as the sensor was exposed to a nominally 2-kPa peak-to-peak square-wave pressure fluctuation. Good tracking, sensitivity, and signal-to-noise ratios are evident even though the sensor was constructed as a proof-of-concept and was not optimized in any way. Therefore the fiber-optic Bragg grating, which is normally considered a good candidate as a strain or temperature sensor, also has been shown to be a good candidate for a dynamic pressure sensor.

Lekki, John D.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Detection of Storm Damage Tracks with EOS Data

The damage surveys conducted by the NWS in the aftermath of a reported tornadic event are used to document the location of the tornado ground damage track (pathlength and width) and an estimation of the tornado intensity. This study explores the possibility of using near-real-time medium and high spatial resolution satellite imagery from the NASA Earth Observing System satellites to provide additional information for the surveys. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data were used to study the damage tracks from three tornadic storms: the La Plata, Maryland, storm of 28 April 2002 and the Ellsinore and Marquand, Missouri, storms of 24 April 2002. These storms varied in intensity and occurred over regions with significantly different land cover. It was found that, depending on the nature of the land cover, tornado damage tracks from intense storms (F1 or greater) and hail storms may be evident in ASTER, Landsat, and MODIS satellite imagery. In areas where the land cover is dominated by forests, the scar patterns can show up very clearly, while in areas of grassland and regions with few trees, scar patterns are not as obvious or cannot be seen at all in the satellite imagery. The detection of previously unidentified segments of a damage track caused by the 24 April 2002 Marquand, Missouri, tornado demonstrates the utility of satellite imagery for damage surveys. However, the capability to detect tornado tracks in satellite imagery depends on the ability to observe the ground without obstruction from space and appears to be as much dependent on the nature of the underlying surface and land cover as on the severity of the tornadic storm.

Jedlovec, Gary J.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Radar Interferometer for Topographic Mapping of Glaciers and Ice Sheets

A report discusses Ka-band (35-GHz) radar for mapping the surface topography of glaciers and ice sheets at high spatial resolution and high vertical accuracy, independent of cloud cover, with a swath-width of 70 km. The system is a single- pass, single-platform interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) with an 8-mm wavelength, which minimizes snow penetration while remaining relatively impervious to atmospheric attenuation. As exhibited by the lower frequency SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) AirSAR and GeoSAR systems, an InSAR measures topography using two antennas separated by a baseline in the cross-track direction, to view the same region on the ground. The interferometric combination of data received allows the system to resolve the pathlength difference from the illuminated area to the antennas to a fraction of a wavelength. From the interferometric phase, the height of the target area can be estimated. This means an InSAR system is capable of providing not only the position of each image point in along-track and slant range as with a traditional SAR but also the height of that point through interferometry. Although the evolution of InSAR to a millimeter-wave center frequency maximizes the interferometric accuracy from a given baseline length, the high frequency also creates a fundamental problem of swath coverage versus signal-to-noise ratio. While the length of SAR antennas is typically fixed by mass and stowage or deployment constraints, the width is constrained by the desired illuminated swath width. As the across-track beam width which sets the swath size is proportional to the wavelength, a fixed swath size equates to a smaller antenna as the frequency is increased. This loss of antenna size reduces the two-way antenna gain to the second power, drastically reducing the signal-to-noise ratio of the SAR system. This fundamental constraint of high-frequency SAR systems is addressed by applying digital beam-forming (DBF) techniques to synthesize multiple simultaneous receive beams in elevation while maintaining a broad transmit illumination. Through this technique, a high antenna gain on receive is preserved, thereby reducing the required transmit power and thus enabling high-frequency SARs and high-precision InSAR from a single spacecraft.

Moller, Delwyn K.↗
NASA NTRS2010

LISA Pathfinder Instrument Data Analysis

LISA Pathfinder (LPF) is an ESA-launched demonstration mission of key technologies required for the joint NASA-ESA gravitational wave observatory in space, LISA. As part of the LPF interferometry investigations, analytic models of noise sources and corresponding noise subtraction techniques have been developed to correct for effects like the coupling of test mass jitter into displacement readout, and fluctuations of the laser frequency or optical pathlength difference. Ground testing of pre-flight hardware of the Optical Metrology subsystem is currently ongoing at the Albert Einstein Institute Hannover. In collaboration with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the LPF mission data analysis tool LTPDA is being used to analyze the data product of these tests. Furthermore, the noise subtraction techniques and in-flight experiment runs for noise characterization are being defined as part of the mission experiment master plan. We will present the data analysis outcome of preflight hardware ground tests and possible noise subtraction strategies for in-flight instrument operations.

Guzman, Felipe↗
NASA NTRS2010

LISA Technology Development and Risk Reduction at NASA

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is a joint ESA-NASA project to design, build and operate a space-based gravitational wave detector based on a laser interferometer. LISA relies on several technologies that are either new to spaceflight or must perform at levels not previously demonstrated in a spaceflight environment. The ESA-led LISA Pathfinder mission is the main effort to demonstrate LISA technology. NASA also supports complementary ground-based technology development and risk reduction activities. This presentation will report the status of NASA work on micronewton thrusters, the telescope, the optical pointing subsystem and mission formulation. More details on some of these topics will be given in posters. Other talks and posters will describe NASA-supported work on the laser subsystem, the phasemeter, and aspects of the interferometry. Two flight-qualified clusters of four colloid micronewton thrusters, each capable of thrust Levels between 5 and 30 microNewton with a resolution less than 0.l microNewton and a thrust noise less than 0.1 microNewton/vHz (0.001 to 4 Hz), have been integrated onto the LISA Pathfinder spacecraft. The complementary ground-based development focuses on lifetime demonstration. Laboratory verification of failure models and accelerated life tests are just getting started. LISA needs a 40 cm diameter, afocal telescope for beam expansion/reduction that maintains an optical pathlength stability of approximately 1 pm/vHz in an extremely stable thermal environment. A mechanical prototype of a silicon carbide primary-secondary structure has been fabricated for stability testing. Two optical assemblies must point at different distant spacecraft with nanoradian accuracy over approximately 1 degree annual variation in the angle between the distant spacecraft. A candidate piezo-inchworm actuator is being tested in a suitable testbed. In addition to technology development, NASA has carried out several studies in support of the mission formulation. The results of systems engineering work on flight software, avionics and reliability will be summarized.

Stebbins, Robin T.↗