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NASA NTRS1985

Determination of sea ice motion using digital SAR imagery

Precise, densely sampled maps of ice motion have been derived from digital Seasat SAR imagery, in order to determine the small scale spatial variability of ice formation. The SAR images were processed to remove geometric distortions, and then located to an accuracy of about 100 m by means of a spacecraft orbital data/SAR characteristics algorithm, independently of attitude and ground reference point data. Ice features common to an overlapping pair of images yielded vector plots of ice motion that indicate a high degree of spatial deformation, demonstrating the potential value of spaceborne SAR data.

Curlander, J. C.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Astrophysics

The instrumentation, accomplishments and future activities in space astrophysics observations are explored. The Solrad, Orbiting Solar Observatory, Solar Maximum Mission, Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer, Uhuru, HEAO-2, IRAS and ESA SAS spacecraft missions and data are summarized. Observations which identified the black hole in Cygnus-1 are described and known gravity-controlled phenomena in the universe are reviewed. Observations at different electromagnetic wavelengths and by particle detectors are outlined, and proposed gravity wave and neutrino detectors are discussed. The implications of the angular, spectral and temporal resolution, polarization, spectral range and observational limits of the instrumentation and data are considered. Current topics of interest in studies of the cosmic background radiation, distance scales, quasars and pulsars, star formation, and coronal heating are outlined. Finally, the design features and observational goals of the NASA Great Observatories space platforms are described.

Gilman, David A.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Solar wind mass-loading at Comet Halley - A lesson from Venus?

Recent observations at Comet Halley show that the region within which cometary ions become the dominant component lies outside of the magnetic field-free cavity. This behavior resembles that found at Venus under conditions where the incident solar wind dynamic pressure exceeds the ionospheric pressure. On these occasions the magnetosheath magnetic field is found well inside of the region where planetary ions are observed. Although scaling and the details of formation of the inner boundary of the magnetic field are different for these two objects, the processes by which the interplanetary magnetic field penetrates into the ionospheres at Venus and at Comet Halley are in many ways analogous.

Breus, T. K.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Coherent structures in the universe and the adhesion model

An adhesion model is used to study the formation process of large-scale structures due to nonlinear gravitational growth of small initial fluctuations in the universe dominated by dark matter. The model is compared with 2D N-body simulations with initial power-law spectral indices n = -2, 0, +2, and various cutoffs. It is found that the adhesion model imitates the skeleton of the structure extremely well for the parameters of the initial spectra until the stage when the nonlinear scale reaches the correlation length R(phi) of the initial gravitational potential. The model explains the origin of large-scale coherent sructures, such as superpancakes and superfilaments, as a result of coherent motion of clumps due to large-scale inhomogeneities in the initial gravitational potential. It is found that clumps of mass identified in the N-body simulations correspond to several knots in the adhesion model, which influences the way of calculating the mass distribution function. The distribution functions of velocities and masses of clumps and areas of cells in the adhesion model satisfy self-similar scaling laws of the n = 2 model.

Kofman, Lev↗

NASA NTRS1984

NTF Modeling Program

The National Transonic Facility presents a design for and assessment of a transonic wind tunnel. Among the topics covered in viewgraph format are: aerodynamic validation models, scale models of wind tunnel components, performance evaluations of various wind tunnel parameters, and drive systems.

McKinney, L. Wayne↗

NASA NTRS1993

Newly available technologies present expanding opportunities for scientific and technical information exchange

Tolzman, Jean M.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Newly available technologies present expanding opportunities for scientific and technical information exchange

The potential for expanded communication among researchers, scholars, and students is supported by growth in the capabilities for electronic communication as well as expanding access to various forms of electronic interchange and computing capabilities. Increased possibilities for information exchange, collegial dialogue, collaboration, and access to remote resources exist as high-speed networks, increasingly powerful workstations, and large, multi-user computational facilities are more frequently linked and more commonly available. Numerous writers speak of the telecommunications revolution and its impact on the development and dissemination of knowledge and learning. One author offers the phrase 'Scholarly skywriting' to represent a new form of scientific communication that he envisions using electronic networks. In the United States (U.S.), researchers associated with the National Science Foundation (NSF) are exploring 'nationwide collaboratories' and 'digital collaboration.' Research supported by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) points to a future where workstations with built-in audio, video monitors, and screen sharing protocols are used to support collaborations with colleagues located throughout the world. Instruments and sensors located worldwide will produce data streams that will be brought together, analyzed, and distributed as new findings. Researchers will have access to machines that can supply domain-specific information in addition to locator and directory assistance. New forms of electronic journals will emerge and provide opportunities for researchers and scientists to exchange information electronically and interactively in a range of structures and formats. Ultimately, the wide-scale use of these technologies in the dissemination of research results and the stimulation of collegial dialogue will change the way we represent and express our knowledge of the world. A new paradigm will evolve--perhaps a truly worldwide 'invisible college.'

Tolzman, Jean M.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Effect of oxidation on the mechanical properties of a NbAl3 alloy at intermediate temperatures

The effect of environment on the mechanical properties of an Nb-67Al-7Cr-0.25W-0.5Y alloy was investigated experimentally in the temperature range 800-1200 K. It is found that the severity of environmental attack in the alloy is determined by both matrix plasticity and oxidation kinetics. The former determines the ability of the matrix to accommodate the localized stresses generated during deformation and oxidation, while the latter governs the rate of formation of a protective oxide scale. The environmental degradation of the alloy can thus be reduced or eliminated by increasing atomic mobility.

Raj, S. V.↗

NASA NTRS1992

An IRAS study of pre-main sequence stars in B209

We have constructed high resolution IRAS maps of the B209 star forming region in the Taurus complex. By combining survey scans with pointed observations using advanced techniques specially developed to handle IRAS data in crowded fields, we have constructed images that reveal two new premain-sequence (PMS) objects. One of these, IRAS 04114+2757G, has FIR colors close to those of typical T Tauri stars and is probably associated with a faint stellar object visible on the POSS prints. The other new PMS source, IRAS 04111+2800G, is a deeply embedded object not detected at 12 microns and not optically visible. The object is projected close to the center of an ammonia core. Our detection of compact blue and red shifted (C-12)O emission peaks around the position of IRAS 04111+2800G confirms the PMS nature and youth of this object. We have examined the reasons for the exclusion of IRAS 04111+2800G and IRAS 04114+2757G from the IRAS Point Source Catalog and estimated the incompleteness of the currently known sample of embedded PMS stars in Taurus. The implications for the determination of evolutionary time scales in low mass star formation are discussed.

Prusti, T.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Development of separation due to interaction between a shock wave and a turbulent boundary layer perturbed by rarefaction waves

The interaction of a turbulent boundary layer with rarefaction and shock waves in flows past inclined steps was investigated experimentally and theoretically. The experiments were carried out in supersonic wind tunnels with test sections of 0.6 x 0.6 m and 0.2 x 0.2 m, with adiabatic conditions on the surface model. Based on detailed measurements of pressure fields, velocity, and surface friction, combined with results of optical visualization and analysis of limiting flow lines, three characteristic flow regimes are identified. These are (1) nonseparated flow at small step angles, (2) formation of a local separation zone with a free separation point at moderate step angles, and (3) formation of a large-scale separated flow with a fixed separation point at sufficiently large step angles. The quantitative gasdynamic schemes and surface pressure distributions for these flow regimes are shown for Mach 2.85.

Zheltovodov, A. A.↗

NASA NTRS1993

A hydrodynamic treatment of the tilted cold dark matter cosmological scenario

A standard hydrodynamic code coupled with a particle-mesh code is used to compute the evolution of a tilted cold dark matter (TCDM) model containing both baryonic matter and dark matter. Six baryonic species are followed, with allowance for both collisional and radiative ionization in every cell. The mean final Zel'dovich-Sunyaev y parameter is estimated to be (5.4 +/- 2.7) x 10 exp -7, below currently attainable observations, with an rms fluctuation of about (6.0 +/- 3.0) x 10 exp -7 on arcmin scales. The rate of galaxy formation peaks at a relatively late epoch (z is about 0.5). In the case of mass function, the smallest objects are stabilized against collapse by thermal energy: the mass-weighted mass spectrum peaks in the vicinity of 10 exp 9.1 solar masses, with a reasonable fit to the Schechter luminosity function if the baryon mass to blue light ratio is about 4. It is shown that a bias factor of 2 required for the model to be consistent with COBE DMR signals is probably a natural outcome in the present multiple component simulations.

Cen, Renyue↗

NASA NTRS1994

Plasma sprayed ceramic thermal barrier coating for NiAl-based intermetallic alloys

A thermal barrier coating system consists of two layers of a zirconia-yttria ceramic. The first layer is applied by low pressure plasma spraying. The second layer is applied by conventional atmospheric pressure plasma spraying. This facilitates the attachment of a durable thermally insulating ceramic coating directly to the surface of a highly oxidation resistant NiAl-based intermetallic alloy after the alloy has been preoxidized to promote the formation of a desirable Al2O3 scale.

Miller, Robert A.↗

NASA NTRS1999

The Transport of Solar Ions Through the Earth's Magnetosphere

This report covers the initial phase of an investigation that was originally selected by NASA Headquarters for funding by a grant but was later transferred to NASA GSFC for continued funding under a new and separate contract. The principal objective of the investigation, led by Dr. O.W. Lennartsson, is to extract information about the solar origin plasma in Earth's magnetosphere, specifically about the entry and transport of this plasma, using energetic (10 eV/e to 18 keV/e) ion composition data from the Lockheed Plasma Composition Experiment on the NASA/ESA International Sun-Earth Explorer One (ISEE 1) satellite. These data were acquired many years ago, from November 1977 through March of 1982, but, because of subsequent failures of similar experiments on several other spacecraft, they are still the only substantial ion composition data available from Earth's magnetotail, beyond 10 R(sub E), in the critically important sub-kev to keV energy range. All of the Lockheed data now exist in a compacted scientific format, suitable for large-scale statistical investigations, which has been archived both at Lockheed Martin in Palo Alto and at the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) in Greenbelt. The completion of the archiving, by processing the remaining half of the data, was made possible by separate funding through a temporary NASA program for data restoration and was given priority over the data analysis by a no-cost extension of the subject grant. By chance, the period of performance coincided with an international study of source and loss processes of magnetospheric plasma, sponsored by the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) in Bern, Switzerland, for which Dr. Lennartsson was invited to serve as one of 12 co-chairs. This study meshed well with the continued analysis of the NASA/Lockheed ISEE ion composition data and provided a natural forum for a broader discussion of the results from this unique experiment. What follows is arranged, for the most part, in the context of the ISSI project.

Lennartsson, O. W.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Astrobiological Significance of Chemolithoautotrophic Acidophiles

For more than a century (since Winogradsky discovered lithoautotrophic bacteria) a dilemma in microbiology has concerned life that first inhabited the Earth. Which types of life forms first appeared in the primordial oceans during the earliest geological period on Earth as the primary ancestors of modem biological diversity? How did a metabolism of ancestors evolve: from lithoautotrophic to lithohetherotrophic and organoheterotrophic or from organoheterotrophic to organoautotrophic and lithomixotrophic types? At the present time, it is known that chemolithoheterotrophic and chemolithoautotrophic metabolizing bacteria are wide spread in different ecosystems. On Earth the acidic ecosystems are associated with geysers, volcanic fumaroles, hot springs, deep sea hydrothermal vents, caves, acid mine drainage and other technogenic ecosystems. Bioleaching played a significant role on a global geological scale during the Earth's formation. This important feature of bacteria has been successfully applied in industry. The lithoautotrophs include Bacteria and Archaea belonging to diverse genera containing thermophilic and mesophilic species. In this paper we discuss the lithotrophic microbial acidophiles and present some data with a description of new acidophilic iron- and sulfur- oxidizing bacterium isolated from the Chena Hot Springs in Alaska. We also consider the possible relevance of microbial acidophiles to Venus, Io, and acidic inclusions in glaciers and icy moons.

Pikuta, Elena V.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Implications of RHESSI Flare Observations for Magnetic Reconnection Models

The Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) observations of the 2002 April 15 solar flare and related flares provide compelling evidence for the formation of a large-scale, reconnecting current sheet in at least some flares. We describe the observed evolution of the April 15 flare in terms of magnetic reconnection models. We argue that the flare most likely evolved through magnetic geometries associated with super-slow reconnection (early rise phase), fast reconnection (impulsive phase), and slow reconnection (gradual phase). We also provide evidence for X-ray brightenings within the evolving current sheet, possibly induced by the tearing mode instability. This work was supported in part by the RHESSI Program and NASA's Sun-Earth Connection Program. This work would not have been possible without the dedicated efforts of the entire RHESSI team.

Holman, Gordon D.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Validating Ancient Age of the Buried Floor of the Northern Lowlands, Mars

Hesperian and Amazonian plains units cover the northern lowlands but little is known about what this surface covers. Models for the creation of the lowlands and the dichotomy boundary implement mechanisms which vary from internal processes, such as plate tectonics or first-order mantle convection, to external processes, such as a single large impact or multiple impacts. Different models require different time scales for low-land formation; determining the age of the buried low-land surface would help constrain the formation models. The Mars Orbiting Laser Altimeter (MOLA) has yielded a high-precision, topographic gridded data set that reveals the presence of Quasi-Circular Depressions (QCDs) in both the southern highlands and the northern lowlands. Most of these roughly circular depressions have no corresponding visible structural feature on the surface. It is proposed that these QCDs are the surface representation of buried impact craters. Based on this assumption, cumulative number vs. diameter curves were constructed, which placed the age of the buried surface of the northern lowlands in the Early or pre-Noachian. A Noachian basement is supported by the remnants of large craters and multi-ring basins discovered in earlier research, but the QCDs provide the first evidence of this for the entire lowland. Constraining the age of the basement floor to the earliest Noachian, however, would require that the process that formed the northern lowlands either occurred in the early Noachian or involves removal of material from the bottom of the crust without destroying the previously formed craters to achieve the modeled crustal thinning. But can we establish that the QCDs do in fact represent buried impact craters, and thus validate an Early Noachian age for the buried lowland floor?

Buczkowski, D. L.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Buoyancy Effects on Flow Structure and Instability of Low-Density Gas Jets

A low-density gas jet injected into a high-density ambient gas is known to exhibit self-excited global oscillations accompanied by large vortical structures interacting with the flow field. The primary objective of the proposed research is to study buoyancy effects on the origin and nature of the flow instability and structure in the near-field of low-density gas jets. Quantitative rainbow schlieren deflectometry, Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and Linear stability analysis were the techniques employed to scale the buoyancy effects. The formation and evolution of vortices and scalar structure of the flow field are investigated in buoyant helium jets discharged from a vertical tube into quiescent air. Oscillations at identical frequency were observed throughout the flow field. The evolving flow structure is described by helium mole percentage contours during an oscillation cycle. Instantaneous, mean, and RMS concentration profiles are presented to describe interactions of the vortex with the jet flow. Oscillations in a narrow wake region near the jet exit are shown to spread through the jet core near the downstream location of the vortex formation. The effects of jet Richardson number on characteristics of vortex and flow field are investigated and discussed. The laminar, axisymmetric, unsteady jet flow of helium injected into air was simulated using CFD. Global oscillations were observed in the flow field. The computed oscillation frequency agreed qualitatively with the experimentally measured frequency. Contours of helium concentration, vorticity and velocity provided information about the evolution and propagation of vortices in the oscillating flow field. Buoyancy effects on the instability mode were evaluated by rainbow schlieren flow visualization and concentration measurements in the near-field of self-excited helium jets undergoing gravitational change in the microgravity environment of 2.2s drop tower at NASA John H. Glenn Research Center. The jet Reynolds number was varied from 200 to 1500 and jet Richardson number was varied from 0.72 to 0.002. Power spectra plots generated from Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis of angular deflection data acquired at a temporal resolution of 1000Hz reveal substantial damping of the oscillation amplitude in microgravity at low Richardson numbers (~0.002). Quantitative concentration data in the form of spatial and temporal evolutions of the instability data in Earth gravity and microgravity reveal significant variations in the jet flow structure upon removal of buoyancy forces. Radial variation of the frequency spectra and time traces of helium concentration revealed the importance of gravitational effects in the jet shear layer region. Linear temporal and spatio-temporal stability analyses of a low-density round gas jet injected into a high-density ambient gas were performed by assuming hyper-tan mean velocity and density profiles. The flow was assumed to be non parallel. Viscous and diffusive effects were ignored. The mean flow parameters were represented as the sum of the mean value and a small normal-mode fluctuation. A second order differential equation governing the pressure disturbance amplitude was derived from the basic conservation equations. The effects of the inhomogeneous shear layer and the Froude number (signifying the effects of gravity) on the temporal and spatio-temporal results were delineated. A decrease in the density ratio (ratio of the density of the jet to the density of the ambient gas) resulted in an increase in the temporal amplification rate of the disturbances. The temporal growth rate of the disturbances increased as the Froude number was reduced. The spatio-temporal analysis performed to determine the absolute instability characteristics of the jet yield positive absolute temporal growth rates at all Fr and different axial locations. As buoyancy was removed (Fr . 8), the previously existing absolute instability disappeared at all locations establhing buoyancy as the primary instability mechanism in self-excited low-density jets.

Pasumarthi, Kasyap Sriramachandra↗

NASA NTRS2005

An Agent-Based Interface to Terrestrial Ecological Forecasting

The latest generation of NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites has brought a new dimension to continuous monitoring of the living part of the Earth System, the biosphere. EOS data can now provide weekly global measures of vegetation productivity and ocean chlorophyll, and many related biophysical factors such as land cover changes or snowmelt rates. However, the highest economic value would come from forecasting impending conditions of the biosphere, to allow decision makers to mitigate dangers or exploit positive trends. NASA's strategic plan for the Earth Science Enterprise i d e n a s ecological forecasting as a focus for research. Ecological forecasting predicts the effects of changes in the physical, chemical and biological environment on ecosystem activity. Possible applications of such a system include predicting shortfalls or bumper crops of agricultural production, populations of threatened or invasive species or wildfire danger in time to allow improves preparation and logistical efficiency. Petabytes of remote sensing data are now available to help measure, understand and forecast changes in the Earth system, but using these data effectively can be surprisingly hard. The volume and variety of data files and formats are daunting. Simple data management activities, such as locating and transferring files, changing file formats, gridding point data, and scaling and reprojecting gridded data, can consume far more personnel time and resources than the actual data analysis. Some scientists commit to a particular data source or resolution just because using anything different would be more effort that it's worth. Better tools can help, but most of the tools developed to date are little more than shell scripts; they lack the flexibility to meet the diverse needs of users and are difficult to extend to handle changes in available data sources.

Golden, Keith↗