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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 289 records · Page 16
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1999

Experimental Investigation of Pool Boiling Heat Transfer Enhancement in Microgravity in the Presence of Electric Fields

In boiling high heat fluxes are possible driven by relatively small temperature differences, which make its use increasingly attractive in aerospace applications. The objective of the research is to develop ways to overcome specific problems associated with boiling in the low gravity environment by substituting the buoyancy force with the electric force to enhance bubble removal from the heated surface. Previous studies indicate that in terrestrial applications nucleate boiling heat transfer can be increased by a factor of 50, as compared to values obtained for the same system without electric fields. The goal of our research is to experimentally explore the mechanisms responsible for EHD heat transfer enhancement in boiling in low gravity conditions, by visualizing the temperature distributions in the vicinity of the heated surface and around the bubble during boiling using real-time holographic interferometry (HI) combined with high-speed cinematography. In the first phase of the project the influence of the electric field on a single bubble is investigated. Pool boiling is simulated by injecting a single bubble through a nozzle into the subcooled liquid or into the thermal boundary layer developed along the flat heater surface. Since the exact location of bubble formation is known, the optical equipment can be aligned and focused accurately, which is an essential requirement for precision measurements of bubble shape, size and deformation, as well as the visualization of temperature fields by HI. The size of the bubble and the frequency of bubble departure can be controlled by suitable selection of nozzle diameter and mass flow rate of vapor. In this approach effects due to the presence of the electric field can be separated from effects caused by the temperature gradients in the thermal boundary layer. The influence of the thermal boundary layer can be investigated after activating the heater at a later stage of the research. For the visualization experiments a test cell was developed. All four vertical walls of the test cell are transparent, and they allow transillumination with laser light for visualization experiments by HI. The bottom electrode is a copper cylinder, which is electrically grounded. The copper block is heated with a resistive heater and it is equipped with 6 thermocouples that provide reference temperatures for the measurements with HI. The top electrode is a mesh electrode. Bubbles are injected with a syringe into the test cell through the bottom electrode. The working fluids presently used in the interferometric visualization experiments, water and PF 5052, satisfy requirements regarding thermophysical, optical and electrical properties. A 30kV power supply equipped with a voltmeter allows to apply the electric field to the electrodes during the experiments. The magnitude of the applied voltage can be adjusted either manually or through the LabVIEW data acquisition and control system connected to a PC. Temperatures of the heated block are recorded using type-T thermocouples, whose output is read by a data acquisition system. Images of the bubbles are recorded with 35mm photographic and 16mm high-speed cameras, scanned and analyzed using various software packages. Visualized temperature fields HI allows the visualization of temperature fields in the vicinity of bubbles during boiling in the form of fringes. Typical visualized temperature distributions around the air bubbles injected into the thermal boundary layer in PF5052 are shown. The temperature of the heated surface is 35 C. The temperature difference for a pair of fringes is approximately 0.05 C. The heat flux applied to the bottom surface is moderate, and the fringe patterns are regular. In the image a bubble penetrating the thermal boundary layer is visible. Because of the axial symmetry of the problem, simplified reconstruction techniques can be applied to recover the temperature field. The thermal plume developing above the heated surface for more intensive heating is shown. The temperature distribution in the liquid is clearly 3D, and tomographic techniques have to be applied to recover the temperature distribution in such a physical situation. A sequence of interferometric images showing the temperature distribution around the rising bubble, recorded with a high-speed camera is shown. Again, the temperature distribution is 3D, and a more complex approach to the evaluation, the tomographic reconstruction has to be taken. Measurement of the temperature distribution from the fringe pattern temperature distributions that yield important information regarding heat transfer are determined. Two algorithms that allow the quantitative evaluation of interferometric fringe patterns and the reconstruction of temperature fields during boiling have been developed at the Heat Transfer Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University. In the first algorithm the bubble is assumed to be axially symmetrical, which significantly reduces the computational effort for quantifying the temperature distribution around the bubble. For this purpose the thermal boundary layer around the bubble is divided into equidistant concentric shells, and the refractive index is assumed to be constant in each of the shells. Since large temperature gradients are expected in the vicinity of the bubble during boiling, the deflection of the light beam cannot be neglected in boiling experiments. Since the exit angle of the light beam is known, this allows to account for the deflections and phase shifts outside the boundary layer (in the bulk fluid and in the windows of the test cell). Three dimensional temperature distributions in the vicinity of the bubble are reconstructed using tomographic techniques. In tomography, the measurement volume is sliced into 2D planes. In the present study these planes are parallel to the heated surface. The objective is to determine the values of the field parameter of interest in form of the field function in these 2D planes. The field parameter is the change of the refractive index of the liquid in the measurement volume caused by temperature changes. By superimposing data for many 2D planes recorded at the same time instant, the 3D temperature distribution in the measurement volume is recovered.

Herman, Cila↗
NASA NTRS1972

Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) earth physics

The characteristics of the Michelson/Pease stellar interferometer are discussed. An analog of the interferometer using radio waves is described. The use of a conventional hard-wired interferometer with very long base line interferometry (VLBI) is analyzed. Mathematical models are developed to analyze the VLBI techniques. A summary of VLBI geodetic experiments is tabulated. The concept and application of the astronomical radio interferometric earth surveys (ARIES) are reported. A schematic diagram of ARIES implementation is provided.

Macdoran, P. F.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Radiometric correction of SAR images of varying terrain heights

The advantages and disadvantages of three different approaches to solving the problem of the radiometric correction of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of varying terrain heights are presented. The first approach involves registration of a digital elevation model (DEM) of the terrain to the image, determination of the local elevation and incidence angles, and appropriate radiometric correction. The second approach uses a DEM generated from interferometric SAR data to derive the elevation and incidence angle maps. In the third approach, a monopulse technique is employed to determine the elevation angle only. The relative errors in radiometric correction between these approaches are assessed. Calibration errors are estimated using corner reflectors deployed within some of the scenes imaged by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory airborne SAR (JPL AIRSAR).

Freeman, A.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Intracavity Rayleigh/Mie Scattering for Multipoint, Two-Component Velocity Measurement

A simultaneous multi-point two-component Doppler velocimeter is described. The system uses two optical cavities: a Fabry-Perot etalon and an optical cavity for collecting and re-circulating the Rayleigh/Mie scattered light that is collected from the measurement volume in two parallel, but opposite directions. Single-pulse measurements of two orthogonal components of the velocity vector in a supersonic free jet were performed to demonstrate the technique. The re-circulation of the light rejected by the interferometer input mirror also increased the signal intensity by a factor of 3.5. 2005 Optical Society of America Interferometric Rayleigh scattering has previously been used for single-point velocity measurements in unseeded gas flow. However, this past work has generally been limited to probing with continuous-wave lasers resulting in time-averaged measurements of velocity. Multiple velocity components have been measured simultaneously by separate instruments.1,2 It has also been demonstrated that two orthogonal velocity components can be measured simultaneously at one point using one interferometer by reflecting back the probing laser beam, although this approach results in directional ambiguity of the flow velocity vector.3 This measurement ambiguity was removed by prior knowledge of the approximate magnitude and sign of the velocity components. Furthermore, it was shown that multiple points could be measured simultaneously with a Rayleigh scattering interferometric approach, but only one component of velocity was measured.4 Another method of performing multiple component velocity measurements with Rayleigh scattering uses a pair of cameras to image the flow, one of which views the flow through an iodine gas filter. This iodine-filter technique has the advantage of allowing high-resolution velocity imaging, but it generally has a lower dynamic range.

Bivolaru, Daniel↗
DOE OSTI2023

Three‐Dimensional Broadband Interferometric Mapping and Polarization (BIMAP‐3D) Observations of Lightning Discharge Processes

Abstract Following on our earlier single‐station, 2‐dimensional (2D) broadband interferometric mapping and polarization (BIMAP) observations of lightning discharges, we recently deployed two BIMAP stations at Los Alamos National Laboratory to map the lightning sources and their polarization in full 3‐dimensional (3D) space (BIMAP‐3D). The two stations are separated by 11.5‐km and each station consists of four antenna sets (instead of three for the original BIMAP) that form a Y ‐shaped array for improved interferometric performance. In this paper, we report the BIMAP‐3D system design, a generalized and analytical 2D interferometry technique for noncoplanar antenna array, a two‐stage 3D mapping technique based on geometric triangulation and baseline‐based differential time of arrival, and a technique to reconstruct the polarization orientation in 3D space by combining the 2D polarization results from the two‐station observations. Along with description of the techniques, we demonstrate and discuss the initial lightning results, including 3D maps for a hybrid intracloud and cloud‐to‐ground flash and for a normal intracloud flash, development of abnormal K‐change leaders, and polarization signatures for a K‐change leader. We find that with the two‐stage 3D mapping techniques, the sources can be located to meters accuracy for a favorable event that occurs between the two stations. We also find the polarization vectors for the example K leader are mostly orthogonal to the leader channel after the full 3D polarization analysis. The main purpose of this paper is to report the BIMAP‐3D techniques and capabilities. Detailed analysis of more specific discharge processes will be reported in later studies.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1982

Earth rotation information derived from MERIT and POLARIS VLBI observations

Advanced methods involving observations of extraterrestrial objects, such as artificial satellites or quasars, may make it possible to monitor geometrical variations in survey networks of regional, continental, and global scale with a spatial resolution of a few centimeters and a temporal resolution of better than one day. However, in connection with a realization of this potential, it is necessary to account for variations in the orientation of the earth in space. The accuracy provided by the conventional approaches for determining the orientation of the earth is not sufficient in this case. However, an appropriate method could be based on the utilization of independent clock radio interferometry (commonly referred to as VLBI) observations of extragalactic radio sources. The project POLARIS (Polar-motion Analysis by Radio Interferometric Sampling) is concerned with an implementation of this method. The MERIT (Monitor Earth Rotation and Intercompare the Techniques of observation and analysis) observations represent an aid to project POLARIS. Attention is given to details regarding these programs and the results obtained thus far.

Robertson, D. S.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Fiber optic and laser sensors IV; Proceedings of the Meeting, Cambridge, MA, Sept. 22-24, 1986

The conference presents papers on industrial uses of fiber optic sensors, point and distributed polarimetric optical fiber sensors, fiber optic electric field sensor technology, micromachined resonant structures, single-mode fibers for sensing applications, and measurement techniques for magnetic field gradient detection. Consideration is also given to electric field meter and temperature measurement techniques for the power industry, the calibration of high-temperature fiber-optic microbend pressure transducers, and interferometric sensors for dc measurands. Other topics include the recognition of colors and collision avoidance in robotics using optical fiber sensors, the loss compensation of intensity-modulating fiber-optic sensors, and an embedded optical fiber strain tensor for composite structure applications.

De Paula, Ramon P.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Recent Advances in Radar Polarimetry and Polarimetric SAR Interferometry

The development of Radar Polarimetry and Radar Interferometry is advancing rapidly, and these novel radar technologies are revamping Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging decisively. In this exposition the successive advancements are sketched; beginning with the fundamental formulations and high-lighting the salient points of these diverse remote sensing techniques. Whereas with radar polarimetry the textural fine-structure, target-orientation and shape, symmetries and material constituents can be recovered with considerable improvements above that of standard amplitude-only Polarization Radar ; with radar interferometry the spatial (in depth) structure can be explored. In Polarimetric-Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (POL-IN-SAR) Imaging it is possible to recover such co-registered textural plus spatial properties simultaneously. This includes the extraction of Digital Elevation Maps (DEM) from either fully Polarimetric (scattering matrix) or Interferometric (dual antenna) SAR image data takes with the additional benefit of obtaining co-registered three-dimensional POL-IN-DEM information. Extra-Wide-Band POL-IN-SAR Imaging - when applied to Repeat-Pass Image Overlay Interferometry - provides differential background validation and measurement, stress assessment, and environmental stress-change monitoring capabilities with hitherto unattained accuracy, which are essential tools for improved global biomass estimation. More recently, by applying multiple parallel repeat-pass EWB-POL-D(RP)-IN-SAR imaging along stacked (altitudinal) or displaced (horizontal) flight-lines will result in Tomographic (Multi- Interferometric) Polarimetric SAR Stereo-Imaging , including foliage and ground penetrating capabilities. It is shown that the accelerated advancement of these modern EWB-POL-D(RP)-IN-SAR imaging techniques is of direct relevance and of paramount priority to wide-area dynamic homeland security surveillance and local-to-global environmental ground-truth measurement and validation, stress assessment, and stress-change monitoring of the terrestrial and planetary covers. In addition, various closely related topics of (i) acquiring additional and protecting existing spectral windows of the Natural Electromagnetic Spectrum (NES) pertinent to Remote Sensing; (ii) mitigating against common "Radio Frequency Interference (RFI)" and intentional Directive Jamming of Airborne & Space borne POL-IN-SAR Imaging Platforms are appraised.

Boerner, Wolfgang-Martin↗
NASA NTRS1980

An evaluation of Galileo-Viking differenced range in Galileo-Mars flyby navigation

A summary and evaluation of the Galileo-Mars flyby navigation techniques is presented. The navigational requirements of Galileo as it swings by Mars are going to be met with interferometric angular measurements (VLBI) and range and range-rate measurements. Like VLBI, dual spacecraft differenced range is less sensitive to Mars ephemeris errors and tracking station location errors than conventional range and Doppler. Similarly, differenced range provides angular information about the separation between the Mars Viking Lander I and the Galileo spacecraft. In covariance studies, dual spacecraft range coupled with conventional range and Doppler is shown to estimate the Galileo-Mars flyby distance to better than 10 km which is comparable to the VLBI performance. For the Galileo-Mars flyby, dual spacecraft differenced range promise to be an excellent backup to VLBI if the Mars Viking Lander remains operational.

Winn, F. B.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Optical phase measuring sensors for automated rendezvous and capture

A technique is described for sensing relative spatial orientations of approach and target vehicles, using optical phase mensuration (in the interferometric sense, as opposed to LIDAR), in place of the more conventional intensity, image, or transit time measurements. This approach permits the parameters to be measured with great accuracy with relatively simple, small sensors having no moving components. A suite of sensors operating on this principle can produce all desired data using either active detection on the target or passive retroreflection to the detectors on the approach vehicle. These optical phase measurements can be applied to determine bearing angle (location of the target vehicle in the approach vehicle coordinates), range, and attitude (orientation of the target vehicle with respect to the line-of-sight). The first two quantities require the approach vehicle to project a modulated interference pattern into space. The bearing angle is determined for a selected point on the target by measuring the phase of the interference pattern at that point using either a detector on the target or a retroreflector on the target and a detector at the transmitter. The range is found by measuring differential bearing angles to predetermined relative instrumentation sites. Two interferometers, a coarse and a fine ranger are required to resolve the 2pi ambiguity.

Metheny, Wayne↗
NASA NTRS1983

Centimeter-level relative positioning with GPS

Although the Global Positioning System (GPS) was designed primarily for real-time navigation and positioning applications at the decameter level of accuracy, the GPS has been used to determine all three relative position coordinates of fixed points with centimeter-level accuracy, when the distance between the points has been of the order of 10 km. For intersite distances less than 1 km the uncertainty is about 3 mm, and for distances greater than 10 km the uncertainty in each coordinate is about 1-2 ppm of the distance. These results have been obtained with commercially available production equipment (Macrometer model V-1000 interferometric surveyors) operated by regular surveying personnel under real field conditions, not just by university scientists under ideal laboratory conditions. Techniques that promise to reduce the uncertainty to 0.1 ppm for distances greater than 10 km are being developed.

Counselman, C. C., III↗
NASA NTRS2006

Automatic Alignment of Displacement-Measuring Interferometer

A control system strives to maintain the correct alignment of a laser beam in an interferometer dedicated to measuring the displacement or distance between two fiducial corner-cube reflectors. The correct alignment of the laser beam is parallel to the line between the corner points of the corner-cube reflectors: Any deviation from parallelism changes the length of the optical path between the reflectors, thereby introducing a displacement or distance measurement error. On the basis of the geometrical optics of corner-cube reflectors, the length of the optical path can be shown to be L = L(sub 0)cos theta, where L(sub 0) is the distance between the corner points and theta is the misalignment angle. Therefore, the measurement error is given by DeltaL = L(sub 0)(cos theta - 1). In the usual case in which the misalignment is small, this error can be approximated as DeltaL approximately equal to -L(sub 0)theta sup 2/2. The control system (see figure) is implemented partly in hardware and partly in software. The control system includes three piezoelectric actuators for rapid, fine adjustment of the direction of the laser beam. The voltages applied to the piezoelectric actuators include components designed to scan the beam in a circular pattern so that the beam traces out a narrow cone (60 microradians wide in the initial application) about the direction in which it is nominally aimed. This scan is performed at a frequency (2.5 Hz in the initial application) well below the resonance frequency of any vibration of the interferometer. The laser beam makes a round trip to both corner-cube reflectors and then interferes with the launched beam. The interference is detected on a photodiode. The length of the optical path is measured by a heterodyne technique: A 100- kHz frequency shift between the launched beam and a reference beam imposes, on the detected signal, an interferometric phase shift proportional to the length of the optical path. A phase meter comprising analog filters and specialized digital circuitry converts the phase shift to an indication of displacement, generating a digital signal proportional to the path length.

Halverson, Peter↗
NASA NTRS2012

NASA Tech Briefs, February 2012

This issue contains the following briefs: (1) Optical Comb from a Whispering Gallery Mode Resonator for Spectroscopy and Astronomy Instruments Calibration (2) Real-Time Flight Envelope Monitoring System (3) Nemesis Autonomous Test System (4) Mirror Metrology Using Nano-Probe Supports (5) Automated Lab-on-a-Chip Electrophoresis System (6) Techniques for Down-Sampling a Measured Surface Height Map for Model Validation (7) Multi-Component, Multi-Point Interferometric Rayleigh/Mie Doppler Velocimeter (8) Frequency to Voltage Converter Analog Front-End Prototype (9) Dust-Tolerant Intelligent Electrical Connection System (10) Gigabit Ethernet Asynchronous Clock Compensation FIFO (11) High-Speed, Multi-Channel Serial ADC LVDS Interface for Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA (12) Glovebox for GeoLab Subsystem in HDU1-PEM (13) Modified Process Reduces Porosity when Soldering in Reduced Gravity Environments (14) Use of Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes for Covalent Attachment of Nanotubes to Silicon (15) Flexible Plug Repair for Shuttle Wing Leading Edge (16) Three Dimensionally Interlinked, Dense, Solid Form of Single-Walled CNT Ropes (17) Axel Robotic Platform for Crater and Extreme Terrain Exploration (18) Site Tamper and Material Plow Tool - STAMP (19) Magnetic Interface for Segmented Mirror Assembly (20) Transpiration-Cooled Spacecraft-Insulation-Repair Fasteners (21) Fluorescence-Based Sensor for Monitoring Activation of Lunar Dust (22) Aperture Ion Source (23) Virtual Ultrasound Guidance for Inexperienced Operators (24) Model-Based Fault Diagnosis: Performing Root Cause and Impact Analyses in Real Time (25) Interactive Schematic Integration Within the Propellant System Modeling Environment (26) Magnetic and Electric Field Polarizations of Oblique Magnetospheric Chorus Waves (27) Variable Sampling Mapping.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2013

A Possible Future for Space-Based Interferometry

We address the question of space interferometry following the recent outcome of the science themes selection by ESA for the L2/L3 missions slots. We review the current context of exoplanetary sciences and its impact for an interferometric mission. We argue that space interferometry will make a major step forward when the scientific communities interested in this technique will merge their efforts into a coherent technology development plan.

interferometry↗
DOE OSTI2025

An Image-Plane Approach to Gravitational Lens Modeling of Interferometric Data

Strong gravitational lensing acts as a cosmic telescope, enabling the study of the high-redshift universe. Astronomical interferometers, such as the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), have provided high-resolution images of strongly lensed sources at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. To model the mass and light distributions of lensing and source galaxies from strongly lensed images, strong lens modeling for interferometric observations is conventionally performed in the visibility space, which is computationally expensive. In this paper, we implement an image-plane lens modeling methodology for interferometric dirty images by accounting for noise correlations. We show that the image-plane likelihood function produces accurate model values when tested on simulated ALMA observations with an ensemble of noise realizations. We also apply our technique to ALMA observations of two sources selected from the South Pole Telescope survey, comparing our results with previous visibility-based models. Our model results are consistent with previous models for both parametric and pixelated source-plane reconstructions. We implement this methodology for interferometric lens modeling in the open-source software package lenstronomy.

Zhang, Nan [Illinois U., Urbana (main)] (ORCID:000↗
NASA NTRS2005

Application of Interferometric Radars to Planetary Geologic Studies

Radar interferometry is rapidly becoming one of the major applications of radar systems in Earth orbit. So far the 2000 flight of the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) is the only dedicated U.S. radar to be flown for the collection of interferometric data, but enough has been learned from this mission and from the use of foreign partner radars (ERS-1/2, Radarsat, ENIVISAT and JERS-1) for the potential planetary applications of this technique to be identified. A recent workshop was organized by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC), and was held at Oxnard, CA, from October 20th - 22nd, 2004. At this meeting, the major interest was in terrestrial radar systems, but approx. 20 or the approx. 250 attendees also discussed potential applications of interferometric radar for the terrestrial planets. The primary foci were for the detection of planetary water, the search for active tectonism and volcanism and the improved topographic mapping. This abstract provides a summary of these planetary discussions at the Oxnard meeting.

Mouginis-Mark, P. J.↗