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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 307 records · Page 17
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1984

Observations of Low-degree Modes from the Solar Maximum Mission (extended Abstract)

Mean frequencies, amplitudes, and linewidths for the solar 5 min p mode oscillations of degree 0, 1, and 2 have been obtained from approx. 280 days of SMM-ACRIM total irradiance data. The frequencies are in good agreement with measurements obtained from velocity data. The amplitudes of the modes lie along a well defined envelope of power vs. frequency, which peaks at 3.1 mHz and has a width of 0.7 mHz (FWHM). The r.m.s. amplitude of the highest peak in the spectrum (n=21, l=1) is approx. 3 ppm of the total flux. The linewidths of the narrowest l=O modes are approx. 1 micro Hz (FWHM). A broad continuum of power caused both by solar surface granulation and by instrumental noise interferes with the analysis of 5 min modes. The continuum spectral power in a 1 micro Hz band near 3 mHz corresponds to an apparent r.m.s. variation of approx. 0.5 parts per million of the mean solar flux.

Woodard, M.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Observations of low-energy ions in the wake of a magnetospheric satellite

Measurements of low-energy ions made by the retarding ion mass spectrometer (RIMS) onboard the Dynamics Explorer 1 (DE 1) satellite are used to study some aspects of 'body-plasma interactions' in the terrestrial plasmasphere. Preliminary results are presented, yielding the degree of H+ and He+ ion depletion in the wake of the satellite in terms of specific and average ion Mach numbers, average ion mass, body size normalized to ionic Debye length, and body potential normalized to ion thermal energy. Some results from the RIMS measurements are compared with relevant results from the Explorer 31 and the Atmosphere Explorer C ionospheric satellites. Wake depletion is found to vary approximately linearly for small bodies (R-sub-Di less than about 12) and exponentially for large bodies (R-sub-Di greater than 50).

Samir, U.↗
NASA NTRS1987

VLA and low-frequency VLBI observations of the radio source 0503 + 467 - Austere constraints on interstellar scattering in two media

The radio source 0503 + 467 lies near the Galactic plane (l = 161.0 deg, b = 3.7 deg) and at the edge of the supernova remnant (SNR) HB 9. The VLA observations show that it has a spectrum typical of a compact extragalactic radio source. The resultant small angular size of the source makes it an excellent probe of turbulence in two media: the diffuse, or 'type A', component of interstellar turbulence and a hypothesized region of hydromagnetic turbulence upstream of the supernova remnant. An eight-station VLBI experiment at 326 MHz indicates that the source is less than about 20 milliarcseconds (mas) in angular diameter. A value of 16 mas is most appropriate as an upper limit to the interstellar scattering contribution to the measured angular size. The implications of this upper limit are twofold. First, the galactocentric radial scale to the type-A turbulence is probably less than or equal to about 6 kpc. Second, no evidence is seen for shock-associated turbulence upstream of HB 9. The measurements make it possible to constrain a parameter which is a function of the rms density fluctuation in the upstream region, the outer scale to the density turbulence, and the thickness of SNR foreshock region.

Spangler, Steven R.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Temperature effects on the pickup process of water group and hydrogen ions - Extensions of 'A theory for low-frequency waves observed at Comet Giacobini-Zinner' by M. L. Goldstein and H. K. Wong

Cometary heavy ions can resonantly excite hydromagnetic wave activity with spacecraft frequency spectra strongly deviating from the ion cyclotron frequency. The influence of the newborn particle temperature on this effect is assessed, its relevance to the interpretation of the observations is discussed, and an alternative, more efficient mechanism to generate spacecraft frequencies of the order of the proton cyclotron frequency is suggested.

Brinca, Armando L.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Observations of low-frequency radio emissions in the earth's magnetosphere

Electromagnetic radiation in the earth's magnetosphere was investigated for the frequency range between 10 kHz and 80 kHz, using data from the Minnesota Plasma Wave Experiment aboard the IMP 6 spacecraft. Two types of radio emissions were examined, the first being the nonthermal continuum radiation, and the second, much more impulsive, is the radiation which lies between 10 and 60 kHz. The first type of radiation was found to correlate with the enhancements of the magnetic substorm index AE and to follow the onset of the negative bay feature of the AU index by about 20 min. The second radiation was found to correlate with auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) on a time scale of about 1 min; this radiation was found to have a source direction very near that of the coincident AKR.

Filbert, Paul C.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Coronal temperatures of selected active cool stars as derived from low resolution Einstein observations

Mean coronal temperatures of some active G-K stars were derived from Rev1-processed Einstein-observatory's IPC-spectra. The combined X-ray and transition region emission line data are in rough agreement with static coronal loop models. Although the sample is too small to derive any statistically significant conclusions, it suggests that the mean coronal temperature depends linearly on the inverse Rossby-number, with saturation at short rotation periods.

Vilhu, Osmi↗
NASA NTRS1991

IRAS low-resolution spectral observations of the 10 and 18 micron silicate emission feature

The IRAS LRS Atlas contains 8-23 micron spectra of 1816 stars with silicate emission features. In order to study the shapes of the silicate dust features, the 117 stars whose emission features appear to be optically thin and which have the best signal-to-noise ratio at the longest wavelengths were analyzed. Simple spherical dust shell models were calculated in both the optically thin and the slightly optical thick approximations. From the comparison of the predicted spectra of the dust and stellar continuum, the emissivity function Kappa(lambda) was derived. In the different stars, the shape of the 10-micron feature is either narrow or broad and it is peaked either at about 9.7 microns or at 10 microns. Either particle size effects (particles above 0.75 microns in radius) or optical depth effects (central optical depth about 1) could broaden the 10-micron feature. Chemical composition differences no doubt are also important, particularly as regards the position of the peak of the 10-micron feature. The stars with the peak at 10 microns are more closely confined to the Galactic plane than the stars with the peak at 9.7 microns. The shape of the 18-micron feature is essentially the same in all stars, and can be used to extend the interstellar extinction curve past 13 to 22 microns.

Simpson, Janet P.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Sigma observations of the low mass X-ray binaries of the galactic bulge

The soft gamma-ray telescope (35-1300 keV) SIGMA aboard the high energy GRANAT space observatory has been monitoring the Galactic Bulge region for more than 2000 h of effective time since March 1990. In the resulting average 35-75 keV image we detected ten sources at a level of greater than 5 standard deviations, 6 of which can be identified with low mass X-ray binaries (LMXB). Among them, one is the 1993 X-ray nova in Ophiuchus (GRS 1726-249), one is an X-ray pulsar (GX 1+4), two are associated with X-ray bursters (GX 354-0 and A 1742-294) and two with bursting X-ray binaries in the globular clusters Terzan 2 and Terzan 1. Their spectral and long term variability behavior as measured by SIGMMA are presented and discussed.

Goldwurm, A.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Experimental Observations on a Low Strain Counter-Flow Diffusion Flame: Flow and Bouyancy Effects

Diffusion flames are of great interest in fire safety and many industrial processes. The counter-flow configuration provides a constant strain flow, and therefore is ideal to study the structure of diffusion flames. Most studies have concentrated on the high velocity, high strain limit, since buoyantly induced instabilities will disintegrate the planar flame as the velocity decreases. Only recently, experimental studies in microgravity conditions have begun to explore the low strain regimes. Numerical work has shown the coupling between gas phase reaction rates, soot reaction rates, and radiation. For these programs, size, geometry and experimental conditions have been chosen to keep the flame unaffected by the physical boundaries. When the physical boundaries can not be considered infinitely far from the reaction zone discrepancies arise. A computational study that includes boundary effects and accounts for the deviations occurring when the major potential flow assumptions are relaxed was presented by Borlik et al. This development properly incorporates all heat loss terms and shows the possibility of extinction in the low strain regime. A major constraint of studying the low strain regime is buoyancy. Buoyant instabilities have been shown to have a significant effect on the nature of reactants and heat transport, and can introduce instabilities on the flow that result in phenomena such as flickering or fingering. The counter-flow configuration has been shown to provide a flame with no symmetry disrupting instabilities for inlet velocities greater than 50 mm/s. As the velocity approaches this limit, the characteristic length of the experiment has to be reduced to a few millimetres so as to keep the Rayleigh number (Ra L = (β g 0 L 3 ∆T)/(𝑎v)) below 2000. In this work, a rectangular counter-flow burner was used to study a two-dimensional counter-flow diffusion flame. Flow visualisation and Particle Image Velocimetry served to describe the nature of the stagnation plane for strain rates smaller than 100 (1/s). These experiments were conducted with a non-reacting flow. Video images of a propane air diffusion flame were used to describe the behaviour of a diffusion flame in this regime. Flame geometry and pulsation frequency are described.

J. A. Sutula↗
NASA NTRS2001

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy of CF4 on the GEC Reference Cell

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) has been used to characterize inductively coupled CF4 plasmas in a GEC Reference Cell in-situ In examining these FTIR spectra, several assumptions and approximations of FTIR analysis are addressed. This includes the density dependence of cross-sections, non-linear effects in the addition of overlapping bands and the effect of spatial variations in density and temperature, This analysis demonstrates that temperatures extracted from MR spectra may provide a poor estimate of the true neutral plasma temperature. The FTIR spectra are dominated by unreacted CF, accounting for 40-60% of the gas products. The amount of CF4 consumption is found to have a marked dependence on power, and is nearly independent of pressure in the range of 10-50 mtorr. Small amounts of C2F6 are observed at low power. Also observed are etching products from the quartz window SiF4 COF2 and CO which occur in approximately equal ratios and together account for less than 10% of the gas. The concentrations of these species are nearly independent of pressure. CFx radicals are below the detection limit of this apparatus (approx. 1012/cc).

Rao, M. V. V. S.↗
NASA NTRS2011

A Concept for Small, Remotely Operated, Coronagraph located at Small Observatory to Obtain Frequent Low-cost Remote Observations of the Lunar Exosphere and the Mercurian Tail

The sodium in the lunar exosphere is a marker species for studying the lunar exosphere because the element possesses two strong resonance transitions from the ground state whose wavelengths fall in the visible spectrum near 590 nm. Emissions at these wavelengths are thus, observable from Earth. Observations have shown that the exosphere responds in a complex way to the external processes (impact vaporization, sputtering, and photon stimulated desorption) that weather the lunar regolith to produce the sodium. Unraveling the sodium production allows us to study the processes that weather the regolith. Obtaining the extensive time sequence of observations required to unravel the sources of sodium using conventional observatories is impractical, and too expensive. Effectively imaging the lunar sodium exosphere dose to the Moon requires an off-axis rejection of scattered light that can only be obtained with a coronagraph. A related problem. the observation of the sodium tail of Mercury, can be addressed as well only by coronagraphic observations. We present here a concept for a small, rugged coronagraph sited at an observatory dedicated to remote robotic observing (the Winer Observatory in Sonoita Arizona) that can obtain the quality and quantity of lunar sodium observations needed to answer these questions. The design uses Commercial Off the Shelf Technology (COTS). If this facility is operational by 2013. the observations will be concurrent with the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission.

Morgan, T. H.↗
NASA NTRS2012

A Small, Remotely Operated, Coronagraph located at Small Observatory to obtain Frequent Low-cost Remote Observations of the Lunar Exosphere

The sodium in the lunar exosphere is a marker for the study of the lunar exosphere because the sodium possesses two strong resonance transitions from the ground state whose wavelengths fall in the visible spectrum near 590 nm. Emissions at these wavelengths are thus, observable from Earth. Observations have shown that the exosphere responds in a complex way to the external processes (impact vaporization, sputtering, and photon stimulated desorption) that weather the lunar regolith to produce the sodium (Sarantos et aI., Icarus, 205, 2010). Unraveling the sodium production allows us to study the processes that weather the regolith. Obtaining the extensive time sequence of observations required to unravel the sources of sodium using conventional observatories is impractical, and too expensive. Effectively imaging the lunar sodium exosphere close to the Moon requires an off-axis rejection of scattered light that can only be obtained with a coronagraph sited at an observatory dedicated to remote robotic observing (the Winer Observatory in Sonoita Arizona) that can obtain the quality and quantity of lunar sodium observations needed to answer these questions, and at modest cost. The design uses Commercial Off the Shelf Technology (COTS). We are working to begin routine the observations before the launch of the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission.

Morgan, Thomas↗
NASA NTRS2020

Upstream Ultra-Low Frequency Waves Observed by MESSENGER's Magnetometer: Implications for Particle Acceleration at Mercury's Bow Shock

We perform the first statistical analysis of the main properties of waves observed in the 0.05–0.41 Hz frequency range in the Hermean foreshock by the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) Magnetometer. Although we find similar polarization properties to the “30 second” waves observed at the Earth's foreshock, the normalized wave amplitude (δ B /|B0| ∼0.2) and occurrence rate (∼0.5%) are much smaller. This could be associated with relatively lower backstreaming proton fluxes, the smaller foreshock size and/or less stable solar wind (SW) conditions around Mercury. Furthermore, we estimate that the speed of resonant backstreaming protons in the SW reference frame (likely source for these waves) ranges between 0.95 and 2.6 times the SW speed. The closeness between this range and what is observed at other planetary foreshocks suggests that similar acceleration processes are responsible for this energetic population and might be present in the shocks of exoplanets.

N. Romanelli↗
NASA NTRS2019

Remote Sensing of Daytime Water Leaving Reflectances of Oceans and Large Inland Lakes from EPIC onboard the DSCOVR Spacecraft at Lagrange-1 Point

The NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on board the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite has been making multiple observations of the entire sunlit Earth in a given day from the Sun-Earth Lagrangian L1 point since the summer of 2015. EPIC contains 10 narrow channels in the 317–780 nm solar spectral range. The data acquired with EPIC have already been used in a variety of scientific investigations, including the study of the global ozone levels, aerosol index and aerosol optical depth, UV reflectivity of clouds over land and ocean, cloud height over land and ocean, and vegetation indices. In this article, we report that EPIC data, particularly for the data measured with narrow channels centered near 443, 551, and 680 nm, can also have important applications in remote sensing of ocean color in different geographical regions. We have modified a version of a multi-channel atmospheric correction algorithm for Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro Radiometer (MODIS) ocean color applications and adapted the algorithm for processing EPIC data. We present three case studies on water leaving reflectance retrievals from EPIC data acquired over a large turbid river, inland lakes, and oceans. We conclude that a future ocean color instrument on board a satellite at the L1 point, which provides continuous view of the full sunlit disk of the Earth, will complement and extend ocean color observations with the low Earth observing polar orbital and geostationary satellite instruments in both the spatial and time domains.

remote sensing↗