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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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A model of the structure and radiative properties of the Jovian clouds is described that is inhomogeneous both laterally and vertically. Radiative transfer calculations are presented which include cloud effects and show that the model can account for available observations at all wavelengths.
Computer programs were developed for use in the analysis of sound generation by subsonic rotors. Program AIRFOIL computes the spectrum of radiated sound from a single airfoil immersed in a laminar flow field. Program ROTOR extends this to a rotating frame, and provides a model for sound generation in subsonic rotors. The program also computes tone sound generation due to steady state forces on the blades. Program TONE uses a moving source analysis to generate a time series for an array of forces moving in a circular path. The resultant time series are than Fourier transformed to render the results in spectral form. Program SDATA is a standard time series analysis package. It reads in two discrete time series and forms auto and cross covariances and normalizes these to form correlations. The program then transforms the covariances to yield auto and cross power spectra by means of a Fourier transformation.
Discusses facility constructed at Marshall Space Flight Center to evaluate performance of solar energy collectors under simulated outdoor conditions. Facility simulates sunfall properties such as radiation intensity, spectrum, collimation, uniformity, and direction.
The spectrum of radiation emitted by a hot optically thin plasma with abundances and equilibrium ionization balance appropriate to interstellar conditions has been calculated. The results at wavelengths shorter than 200 A are discussed for material in the electron-temperature range from 160,000 to 100 million K.
Solar Simulator is subject of 73-page report. Simulator can establish a variety of conditions that can be set at constant levels over a broad range. Conditions include solar-radiation intensity, spectrum and collimation; solar attitude; and wind speed and direction. Report describes Sun simulator, solar-collector system simulator, overall simulation setup, and instrumentation.
The ISIS 1 observations of the high-frequency portion of the auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) spectrum are considered, that is, from the minimum frequency encountered for the extraordinary mode cut-off (approximately 450 kHz) to the upper frequency cut-off (approximately 800 kHz). AKR is found to be generated in the extraordinary mode just above the local cutoff frequency and to emanate in a direction that is nearly perpendicular to the magnetic field. It occurs within local depletions of electron density, where the ratio of plasma frequency to cyclotron frequency is below 0.2. The density depletion is restricted to altitudes above approximately 2,000 km, and the upper AKR frequency limit corresponds to the extraordinary cutoff frequency at this altitude.
Observations of solar active region AR 4508, obtained at 2.1 and 20.7 cm using the C configuration of the VLA on June 4, 1984, are reported. Compact (5-arcsec) sources with brightness temperature 50,000-300,000 K and circular polarization 80-90 percent are detected at 2.1 cm in regions with magnetic fields 80 G or less and found to vary on times scales of 10-20 s and 30-60 min. The emission of the sources is attributed to power-law-spectrum gyrosynchrotron radiation from mildly relativistic electrons, and its variability is related to variations in either the magnetic field or the nonthermal-electron density.
The brightness temperature of the sky is measured in five bands from 1 to 3 mm using apparatus related to that of Woody and Richards (1981) and Peterson et al. (1985). Examination of the data reveals the presence of two previously unknown systematic effects which limit the accuracy of the measurements. Similar systematic effects are most likely present in the data obtained previously with this apparatus. Upper limits to the temperature of the cosmic background radiation are set in four bands; the most stringent is T(CBR) less than 2.88 K at 1.1 mm (95 percent CL).
Atomic fluorescence produced by dissociative photoionization of N2 was observed and identified in experiments where fluorescent radiation was produced by irradiating N2 gas with undispersed synchrotron radiation. The spectrum was detected with a multichannel plate electron multiplier. Evidence is presented that the H band of N2(+)-asterisk does predissociate into excited neutral and ionic atoms.
Computerized curve fitting yields more and better information on thermal radiation. Multiwavelength pyrometry involves measurement of spectrum of thermal radiation emitted by and reflected from specimen. Auxiliary source enables determination of spectral reflectance of specimen. Spectral reflectance and temperature of specimen obtained from spectral measurements by nonlinear least-squares curve-fitting routine.
A working non-contact heat flux sensor was demonstrated using a transparent material (sapphire) and a multiwavelength pyrometer. The pyrometer is used to measure the temperatures of the two surfaces of the sensor from the spectrum of radiation originating from them. The heat conducted through the material is determined from the temperature difference of the two surfaces and the thermal conductivity of the material. The measured heat flux is equal to the incident heat flux within experimental error indicating that no calibration would be necessary. A steady state heat flux of 100 kW/sq m was easily achieved.
Variations in the electron pressure can produce significant distortions of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) spectrum through the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. In this paper, we compute the amplitude of these distortions in various cosmological scenarios using the results of hydrodynamical simulations combined with analytic theory. For reionized cold dark matter (CDM) with h = 0.5 probed with the OVRO experiment (Theta approximately = 0.1 deg), we find that the amplitude of these fluctuations is (Delta T/T)(sub rms) = 1 x 10(exp -5) (Omega(sub i)/0.06) if the experiment looks at a random part of the sky and 6 x 10(exp -6)(Omega(sub i)/(0.06) if bright areas are avoided. Here Omega is the density of ionized baryons in units of the critical density, rho(sub c) = 2.78 x 10(exp 11)h(exp 2)/cu Mpc. Primary fluctuations would generate (Delta T/T)(sub rms) approximately = 2 x 10(exp -6) for this model. These distortions could be a dominant source of CMBR anisotropics on small and intermediate angular scales. It is important to note that these signals are generated relatively recently, when nonlinear effects are improtant, and do not require early reionization. We also examine the contribution to anisotropies from the Doppler effect, in both the linear and nonlinear regimes. In this case, the bulk of the signal is generated before a redshift of 10, provided that the intercluster medium is ionized back to the surface of last scattering. On the smallest scales thermal effects are bigger, while, on larger scales the Doppler-induced fluctuations are greater with the exact boundary determined by the scenario. However, over a wide range of scales, the two signals are equal to within a factor of a few.
Terrestrial low frequency (LF) bursts are plasma wave phenomena that appear to be a part of the low frequency end of the auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) spectrum and are observed during strong substorms, GEOTAIL and POLAR plasma wave observations from within the magnetosphere show that the AKR increases in intensity and its lower frequency limits decrease when LF bursts are observed. The first is expected as it is shows substorm onset and the latter indicates that the AKR source region is expanding to higher altitudes. Images from the POLAR VIS Earth Camera operating in the far-UV range and the POLAR UVI experiment usually feature an auroral brightening and an expansion of the aurora to higher latitudes at the time of the LF bursts. Enhanced fluxes of X-rays from precipitating electrons have also been observed by POLAR PIXIE. High resolution ground Abstract: magnetometer data from the CANOPUS and IMAGE networks show that the LF bursts occur when the expansive phase onset signatures are most intense. The ground magnetometer data and the CANOPUS meridian scanning photometer data sometimes show that during the LF burst events the expansive phase onset starts at unusually low latitudes and moves poleward. Large injections of energetic protons and electrons have also been detected by the GOES and LANL geosynchronous satellites during LF burst events. While most of the auroral brightenings and energetic particle injections associated with the LF bursts occur near local midnight, several have been observed as early as mid-afternoon. From these various measurements, we are achieving a better understanding of the plasma and particle motions during substorms that are associated with the generation and propagation of terrestrial LF bursts
In August 1993 we observed the spectrum of Titan from 2.9 to 4.1 micrometers at a resolving power of R=500-1000 (dw approx. 2-4 per cm). The spectrum shows, as expected, a strong absorption throughout this region from three strong bands Of CH4. However, comparison of the spectrum to simple radiative transfer models and to the spectrum of Jupiter reveal some interesting differences. A broad emission feature that we attribute to CH4 is centered at 3.3 micrometers. At 3.45 micrometers we see a distinct narrow absorption feature that is present in both the Jupiter and laboratory spectrum, but only when other features, absent in the Titan spectrum, are also present. In our attempt to understand the origin of this spectral feature we have compared the spectrum to CH4 and other organic molecules. Interesting similarities appear between the aliphatic hydrocarbons (CH2 and CH3 groups) seen in laboratory organics and the Titan spectrum, but only if we assume that the shorter wavelength feature (CH3) is masked by the broad CH4 emission. A second problem with the explanation is that like column abundance of organic haze (Toon et al. 1991) is insufficient to provide the required number of molecules to create a spectral feature with tau approx. 1. Laboratory organics produced through a variety of processes have been compared to the Titan spectrum and the results arc presented.
A device and method for generating cathode luminescence is provided. The device and method generate broad spectrum electromagnetic radiation in the visible. A layer of particles, such as quartz or alumina powder, is exposed to electrons in a plasma discharge. Surface excitation of these particles or the generations/excitation of F-center sites give rise to luminescence.
High absorptance materials find application throughout the electromagnetic spectrum as radiation terminations, calibration standards, and glint reduction coatings. Successful use of materials at millimeter through submillimeter wavelengths requires an accurate knowledge and control over their thermal, mechanical, and electromagnetic properties in order to achieve the desired response while minimizing mass and volume. In practice, the achieved blackness is intimately linked to the material properties and geometry. Here, we summarize the characteristics of a variety of tunable artificial dielectric mixtures appropriate for THz applications at room and cryogenic temperatures. Theoretical guidelines for their application will be provided in the context of the effective-medium mean-field-approximation. The performance of these coatings as elements of reflectance standards, radiometric flux calibrators, passive thermal radiators, and stray light suppression baffles for imaging systems will be reviewed.
Since plants on Earth evolved under broad-spectrum solar radiation, anytime they are grown exclusively under electric lighting that does not contain all wavelengths in similar proportion to those in sunlight, plant appearance and size could be uniquely different. Nevertheless, plants have been grown for decades under fluorescent (FL) (1) + incandescent (IN) (2) lamps as a sole source of lighting (SSL), and researchers have become comfortable that, in certain proportions of FL + IN for a given species, plants can appear "normal" relative to their growth outdoors. The problem with using such traditional SSLs for commercial production typically is short lamp lifespans and not obtaining enough photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, 400-700 nm) when desired. These limitations led to supplementation of FL + IN lamp outputs with longer-lived, high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps in growth chambers (3). As researchers became comfortable that mixes of orange-biased high-pressure sodium (HPS) and blue-biased metal halide (MH) HIDs together also could give normal plant growth at higher intensities, growth chambers and phytotrons subsequently were equipped mainly with HID lamps, with their intense thermal output filtered out by ventilated light caps or thermal-controlled water barriers. For the most part, IN and HID lamps have found a home in commercial protected horticulture, usually for night-break photoperiod lighting (IN) or for seasonal supplemental lighting (mostly HPS) in greenhouses. However, lack of economically viable options for SSL have held back aspects of year-round indoor agriculture from taking off commercially.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is currently flying on NASA's Earth Observing System Terra and Aqua satellites, launched in 1999 and 2002, respectively. MODIS reflective solar bands in the visible wavelength range are known to be sensitive to polarized light based on prelaunch polarization sensitivity tests. After about five years of on-orbit operations, it was discovered that the polarization sensitivity at short wavelengths had shown a noticeable increase. In this paper, we examine the impact of polarization on measured top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance based on MODIS Collection-6 L1B over pseudo invariant desert sites. The standard polarization correction equation is used in combination with simulated at-sensor radiances using the second simulation of a satellite signal in the Solar Spectrum, Vector Radiative Transfer Code (6SV). We ignore the polarization contribution from the surface and a ratio approach is used for both 6SV-derived in put parameters and observed TOA reflectance. Results indicate that significant gain corrections up to 25% are required near the end of scan for the 412 and 443 nm bands. The polarization correction reduces the seasonal fluctuations in reflectance trends and mirror side ratios from 30% and 12% to 10% and 5%, respectively, for the two bands. Comparison of the effectiveness of the polarization correction with the results from the NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group shows a good agreement in the corrected reflectance trending results and their seasonal fluctuations.