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At least 343 records · Page 19
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1998

Optimal integer resolution for attitude determination using global positioning system signals

In this paper, a new motion-based algorithm for GPS integer ambiguity resolution is derived. The first step of this algorithm converts the reference sightline vectors into body frame vectors. This is accomplished by an optimal vectorized transformation of the phase difference measurements. The result of this transformation leads to the conversion of the integer ambiguities to vectorized biases. This essentially converts the problem to the familiar magnetometer-bias determination problem, for which an optimal and efficient solution exists. Also, the formulation in this paper is re-derived to provide a sequential estimate, so that a suitable stopping condition can be found during the vehicle motion. The advantages of the new algorithm include: it does not require an a-priori estimate of the vehicle's attitude; it provides an inherent integrity check using a covariance-type expression; and it can sequentially estimate the ambiguities during the vehicle motion. The only disadvantage of the new algorithm is that it requires at least three non-coplanar baselines. The performance of the new algorithm is tested on a dynamic hardware simulator.

Crassidis, John L.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Tracking hurricane paths

The South East coastal region experiences hurricane threat for almost six months in every year. To improve the accuracy of hurricane forecasts, meteorologists would need the storm paths of both the present and the past. A hurricane path can be established if we could identify the correct position of the storm at different times right from its birth to the end. We propose a method based on both spatial and temporal image correlations to locate the position of a storm from satellite images. During the hurricane season, the satellite images of the Atlantic ocean near the equator are examined for the hurricane presence. This is accomplished in two steps. In the first step, only segments with more than a particular value of cloud cover are selected for analysis. Next, we apply image processing algorithms to test the presence of a hurricane eye in the segment. If the eye is found, the coordinate of the eye is recorded along with the time stamp of the segment. If the eye is not found, we examine adjacent segments for the existence of hurricane eye. It is probable that more than one hurricane eye could be found from different segments of the same period. Hence, the above process is repeated till the entire potential area for hurricane birth is exhausted. The subsequent/previous position of each hurricane eye will be searched in the appropriate adjacent segments of the next/previous period to mark the hurricane path. The temporal coherence and spatial coherence of the images are taken into account by our scheme in determining the segments and the associated periods required for analysis.

Prabhakaran, Nagarajan↗
NASA NTRS1998

Using Sequential Earth Images to Determine the Orientation of a Satellite at L1

This paper introduces a method for determining the three-axis attitude (orientation) of a spacecraft from a sequence of Earth images taken while in orbit about the stationary Lagrange point between the Earth and the sun (LI). Two axes of information can be obtained simply by monitoring the Earth's position within the field-of-view of the camera. The third axis is obtained by correlating sequential Earth images in such a way as to detect the flow of the features within the Earth's disk over time. When taken correctly, this measurement is perpendicular to the Earth's spin axis and, consequently, locates the Earth's spin axis within the images. This is equivalent to determining the orientation of the spacecraft about the instrument's boresight. Actual data from the Galileo spacecraft is used to test the algorithms outlined in this paper.

Houghton, Martin B.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Computational Modeling of Semiconductor Dynamics at Femtosecond Time Scales

The main objective of the Joint-Research Interchange NCC2-5149 was to develop computer codes for accurate simulation of femtosecond pulse propagation in semiconductor lasers and semiconductor amplifiers [I]. The code should take into account all relevant processes such as the interband and intraband carrier relaxation mechanisms and the many-body effects arising from the Coulomb interaction among charge carriers [2]. This objective was fully accomplished. We made use of a previously developed algorithm developed at NASA Ames [3]-[5]. The new algorithm was tested on several problems of practical importance. One such problem was related to the amplification of femtosecond optical pulses in semiconductors. These results were presented in several international conferences over a period of three years. With the help of a postdoctoral fellow, we also investigated the origin of instabilities that can lead to the formation of femtosecond pulses in different kinds of lasers. We analyzed the occurrence of absolute instabilities in lasers that contain a dispersive host material with third-order nonlinearities. Starting from the Maxwell-Bloch equations, we derived general multimode equations to distinguish between convective and absolute instabilities. We find that both self-phase modulation and intensity-dependent absorption can dramatically affect the absolute stability of such lasers. In particular, the self-pulsing threshold (the so-called second laser threshold) can occur at few times the first laser threshold even in good-cavity lasers for which no self-pulsing occurs in the absence of intensity-dependent absorption. These results were presented in an international conference and published in the form of two papers.

Agrawal, Govind P.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Fast Integer Ambiguity Resolution for GPS Attitude Determination

In this paper, a new algorithm for GPS (Global Positioning System) integer ambiguity resolution is shown. The algorithm first incorporates an instantaneous (static) integer search to significantly reduce the search space using a geometric inequality. Then a batch-type loss function is used to check the remaining integers in order to determine the optimal integer. This batch function represents the GPS sightline vectors in the body frame as the sum of two vectors, one depending on the phase measurements and the other on the unknown integers. The new algorithm has several advantages: it does not require an a-priori estimate of the vehicle's attitude; it provides an inherent integrity check using a covariance-type expression; and it can resolve the integers even when coplanar baselines exist. The performance of the new algorithm is tested on a dynamic hardware simulator.

Lightsey, E. Glenn↗
NASA NTRS1999

Large-Scale Parallel Viscous Flow Computations using an Unstructured Multigrid Algorithm

The development and testing of a parallel unstructured agglomeration multigrid algorithm for steady-state aerodynamic flows is discussed. The agglomeration multigrid strategy uses a graph algorithm to construct the coarse multigrid levels from the given fine grid, similar to an algebraic multigrid approach, but operates directly on the non-linear system using the FAS (Full Approximation Scheme) approach. The scalability and convergence rate of the multigrid algorithm are examined on the SGI Origin 2000 and the Cray T3E. An argument is given which indicates that the asymptotic scalability of the multigrid algorithm should be similar to that of its underlying single grid smoothing scheme. For medium size problems involving several million grid points, near perfect scalability is obtained for the single grid algorithm, while only a slight drop-off in parallel efficiency is observed for the multigrid V- and W-cycles, using up to 128 processors on the SGI Origin 2000, and up to 512 processors on the Cray T3E. For a large problem using 25 million grid points, good scalability is observed for the multigrid algorithm using up to 1450 processors on a Cray T3E, even when the coarsest grid level contains fewer points than the total number of processors.

Mavriplis, Dimitri J.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Polar Geophysics Products Derived from AVHRR: The "AVHRR Polar Pathfinder

This NOAA/NASA Pathfinder effort was established to locate, acquire, and process Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) imagery into geo-located and calibrated radiances, cloud masks, surface clear-sky broadband albedo, clear-sky skin temperatures, satellite viewing times, and viewing and solar geometry for the, high-latitude portions of the northern and southern hemispheres (all area north of 48N and south of 53S). AVHRR GAC data for August 1981 - July 1998 were acquired, with some gaps remaining, and processed into twice-daily 5-km grids, with some products also provided at 25-km resolution. AVHRR LAC data for 3.5 years of coverage in the northern hemisphere and 2.75 years of coverage in the southern hemisphere were processed into 1.25-km grids for the same suite of products. The resulting data sets are presently being transferred to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) for archiving and distribution. Using these data, researchers now have at their disposal an extensive AVHRR data set for investigations of high-latitude processes. In addition, the data lend themselves to development and testing of algorithms. The products are particularly relevant for climate research and algorithm development as applied to relatively long time periods and large areas.

Maslanik, James↗
NASA NTRS1997

Rain Profiling Algorithm for the TRMM Precipitation Radar

This paper describes an outline of the algorithm that estimates the instantaneous profiles of the true radar reflectivity factor and rainfall rate from the radar reflectivity profiles observed by the Precipitation Radar (PR) onboard the TRMM satellite. The major challenge of the algorithm lies in the correction of rain attenuation with the non-uniform beam filling effect. The algorithm was tested with synthetic data and the result is shown.

Iguchi, Toshio↗
NASA NTRS1999

Tests of Radar Rainfall Retrieval Algorithms

The NASA/JPL Airborne Rain Mapping Radar (ARMAR) operates at 14 GHz. ARMAR flew on the NASA DC-8 aircraft during Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE), collecting data in oceanic mesoscale convective systems, similar to those now being observed by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite, which includes a 14-GHz precipitation radar. Several algorithms for retrieving rain rate from downward looking radars are in existence. These can be categorized as deterministic and stochastic. Deterministic algorithms use the path integrated attenuation (PIA), measured by the surface reference technique, as a constraint. One deterministic algorithm corrects the attenuation-rainfall (k-R) relation, while another corrects the reflectivity rainfall (ZR) relation. Stochastic algorithms apply an Extended Kalman Filter to the reflectivity profile. One employs radar reflectivity only; the other additionally uses the PIA. We find that the stochastic algorithm with PIA is the most robust algorithm with regard to incorrect assumptions about the drop-size distribution (DSD). The deterministic algorithm that uses the PIA to adjust the Z-R relation is also fairly robust and produces rain rates similar to the stochastic algorithm that uses the PIA. The deterministic algorithm that adjusts only the k-R relation and the stochastic radar-only algorithm are more sensitive to assumptions about the DSD. It is likely that they underestimate convective rainfall, especially if the DSD is erroneously assumed to be appropriate for stratiform rain conditions. The underestimation is illustrated in the diagram. The algorithm labeled D IS initially assumes a DSD that is appropriate for stratiform. rain, while the rain is most likely convective. The PIA constraint causes the k-R relation to be adjusted, resulting in a much lower rain rate than the other algorithms. Additional information is contained in the original.

Durden, Stephen L.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Design and Plans for a Wide-Field Imaging Interferometry Testbed

Future scientific observatories for NASA will utilize interferometry to image astronomical sources. Interferometry is particularly needed in the far-infrared and sub-millimeter because the long wavelength drives large baselines in order to achieve reasonable spatial resolution. However, the requirement to cover a wide field of view with interferometry has not been demonstrated. Because of this, we have been funded by NASA to develop a testbed for demonstrating wide field imaging interferometry that will also allow us to evaluate the system issues associated with this type of observatory. This paper will describe the drivers for this testbed, the design of this testbed, and the actual tests and algorithms we plan to run and demonstrate.

Feinberg, Lee D.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Active Microwave Remote Sensing Observations of Weddell Sea Ice

Since July 1991, the European Space Agency's ERS-1 and ERS-2 satellites have acquired radar data of the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. The Active Microwave Instrument on board ERS has two modes; SAR and Scatterometer. Two receiving stations enable direct downlink and recording of high bit-rate, high resolution SAR image data of this region. When not in an imaging mode, when direct SAR downlink is not possible, or when a receiving station is inoperable, the latter mode allows normalized radar cross-section data to be acquired. These low bit-rate ERS scatterometer data are tape recorded, downlinked and processed off-line. Recent advances in image generation from Scatterometer backscatter measurements enable complementary medium-scale resolution images to be made during periods when SAR images cannot be acquired. Together, these combined C-band microwave image data have for the first time enabled uninterrupted night and day coverage of the Weddell Sea region at both high (25 m) and medium-scale (-20 km) resolutions. C-band ERS-1 radar data are analyzed in conjunction with field data from two simultaneous field experiments in 1992. Satellite radar signature data are compared with shipborne radar data to extract a regional and seasonal signature database for recognition of ice types in the images. Performance of automated sea-ice tracking algorithms is tested on Antarctic data to evaluate their success. Examples demonstrate that both winter and summer ice can be effectively tracked. The kinematics of the main ice zones within the Weddell Sea are illustrated, together with the complementary time-dependencies in their radar signatures. Time-series of satellite images are used to illustrate the development of the Weddell Sea ice cover from its austral summer minimum (February) to its winter maximum (September). The combination of time-dependent microwave signatures and ice dynamics tracking enable various drift regimes to be defined which relate closely to the circulation of the sea ice in response to current and wind forcing and iceberg barriers. These are closely related to continental-shelf or central basin regimes, in which tidal forcing or barotropic circulation patterns appear to influence the sea-ice motion, respectively. These regimes provide valuable information about the regions of most prolific ice growth and influence of ice conditions upon air-sea-ice exchange processes in the Weddell Sea.

Drinkwater, Mark R.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Piezoceramic Actuator Placement for Acoustic Control of Panels

Optimum placement of multiple traditional piezoceramic actuators is determined for active structural acoustic control of flat panels. The structural acoustic response is determined using acoustic radiation filters and structural surface vibration characteristics. Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) control is utilized to determine the optimum state feedback gain for active structural acoustic control. The optimum actuator location is determined by minimizing the structural acoustic radiated noise using a modified genetic algorithm. Experimental tests are conducted and compared to analytical results. Anisotropic piezoceramic actuators exhibit enhanced performance when compared to traditional isotropic piezoceramic actuators. As a result of the inherent isotropy, these advanced actuators develop strain along the principal material axis. The orientation of anisotropic actuators is investigated on the effect of structural vibration and acoustic control of curved and flat panels. A fully coupled shallow shell finite element formulation is developed to include anisotropic piezoceramic actuators for shell structures.

Bevan, Jeffrey S.↗
NASA NTRS2001

AVHRR-Based Polar Pathfinder Products: Evaluation, Enhancement, and Transition to MODIS

The AVHRR-Based Polar Pathfinder (APP) products include calibrated AVHRR channel data, surface temperatures, albedo, satellite scan and solar geometries, and a cloud mask composited into twice- per-day images, and daily averaged fields of sea ice motion, for regions poleward of 50 deg. latitude. Our goals under this grant, in general, are four-fold: 1. To quantify the APP accuracy and sources of error by comparing Pathfinder products with field measurements. 2. To determine the consistency of mean fields and trends in comparison with longer time series of available station data and forecast model output. 3. To investigate the consistency of the products between the different AVHRR instruments over the 1982-present period of the NOAA program. 4. To compare an annual cycle of the AVHRR Pathfinder products with MODIS to establish a baseline for extending Pathfinder-type products into the new ESE period. Year One tasks include intercomparisons of the Pathfinder products with field measurements, testing of algorithm assumptions, collection of field data, and further validation and possible improvement of the multi-sensor ice motion fields. Achievements for these tasks are summarized below.

Fowler, Charles↗
NASA NTRS2001

Calibration of Gyros with Temperature Dependent Scale Factors

The general problem of gyro calibration can be stated as the estimation of the scale factors, misalignments, and drift-rate biases of the gyro using the on-orbit sensor measurements. These gyro parameters have been traditionally treated as temperature-independent in the operational flight dynamics ground systems at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), a scenario which has been successfully applied in the gyro calibration of a large number of missions. A significant departure from this is the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) mission where, due to the high thermal variations expected during the mission phase, it is necessary to model the scale factors as functions of temperature. This paper addresses the issue of gyro calibration for the MAP gyro model using a manufacturer-supplied model of the variation of scale factors with temperature. The problem is formulated as a least squares problem and solved using the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm in the MATLAB(R) library function NLSQ. The algorithm was tested on simulated data with Gaussian noise for the quaternions as well as the gyro rates and was found to consistently converge close to the true values. Significant improvement in accuracy was noticed due to the estimation of the temperature-dependent scale factors as against constant scale factors.

Belur, Sheela V.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Multi-Sensor Registration of Earth Remotely Sensed Imagery

Assuming that approximate registration is given within a few pixels by a systematic correction system, we develop automatic image registration methods for multi-sensor data with the goal of achieving sub-pixel accuracy. Automatic image registration is usually defined by three steps; feature extraction, feature matching, and data resampling or fusion. Our previous work focused on image correlation methods based on the use of different features. In this paper, we study different feature matching techniques and present five algorithms where the features are either original gray levels or wavelet-like features, and the feature matching is based on gradient descent optimization, statistical robust matching, and mutual information. These algorithms are tested and compared on several multi-sensor datasets covering one of the EOS Core Sites, the Konza Prairie in Kansas, from four different sensors: IKONOS (4m), Landsat-7/ETM+ (30m), MODIS (500m), and SeaWIFS (1000m).

LeMoigne, Jacqueline↗
NASA NTRS2001

Piezoceramic Actuator Placement for Acoustic Control of Panels

Optimum placement of multiple traditional piezoceramic actuators is determined for active structural acoustic control of flat panels. The structural acoustic response is determined using acoustic radiation filters and structural surface vibration characteristics. Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) control is utilized to determine the optimum state feedback gain for active structural acoustic control. The optimum actuator location is determined by minimizing the structural acoustic radiated noise using a modified genetic algorithm. Experimental tests are conducted and compared to analytical results. Anisotropic piezoceramic actuators exhibits enhanced performance when compared to traditional isotropic piezoceramic actuators. As a result of the inherent isotropy, these advanced actuators develop strain along the principal material axis. The orientation of anisotropic actuators is investigated on the effect of structural vibration and acoustic control of curved and flat panels. A fully coupled shallow shell finite element formulation is developed to include anisotropic piezoceramic actuators for shell structures.

Bevan, Jeffrey S.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Sensors and Data Acquisition Development Efforts at KSC

This viewgraph presentation describes efforts at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to develop spacecraft sensors and instruments which meet the expected needs of potential clients on a budget. Sensors are profiled, and the topics covered include systems health monitoring, smart structures, software algorithms, and testing.

Perotti, Jose M.↗
NASA NTRS2005

TRMM Re-Entry Planning: Attitude Determination and Control During Thruster Modes

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) spacecraft has been undergoing design for a controlled re-entry to Earth. During simulation of the re-entry plan, there was evidence of errors in the attitude determination algorithms during thruster modes. These errors affected the bum efficiency, and thus planning, during re-entry. During thruster modes, the spacecraft attitude is controlled off of integrated Gyro Error Angles that were designed to closely follow the nominal spacecraft pointing frame (Tip Frame). These angles, however, were not exactly mapped to the Tip Frame from the Body Frame. Additionally, in the initial formulation of the thruster mode attitude determination algorithms, several assumptions and approximations were made to conserve processor speed. These errors became noticeable and significant when simulating bums of much longer duration (-10 times) than had been produced in flight. A solution is proposed that uses attitude determination information from a propagated extended Kalman filter that already exists in the TRMM thruster modes. This attitude information is then used to rotate the Gyro Error Angles into the Tip Frame. An error analysis is presented that compares the two formulations. The new algorithm is tested using the TRMM High-Fidelity Simulator and verified with the TRMM Software Testing and Training Facility. Simulation results for both configurations are also presented.

DeWeese, Keith↗