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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 361 records · Page 20
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2008

Simulation of the Impact of New Aircraft- and Satellite-Based Ocean Surface Wind Measurements on H*Wind Analyses and Numerical Forecasts

The Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD) is a new airborne microwave remote sensor for hurricane observations that is currently under development by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, NOAA Hurricane Research Division, the University of Central Florida and the University of Michigan. HIRAD is being designed to enhance the realtime airborne ocean surface winds observation capabilities of NOAA and USAF Weather Squadron hurricane hunter aircraft using the operational airborne Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR). Unlike SFMR, which measures wind speed and rain rate along the ground track directly beneath the aircraft, HIRAD will provide images of the surface wind and rain field over a wide swath (~ 3 x the aircraft altitude). The present paper describes a set of Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) in which measurements from the new instrument as well as those from existing instruments (air, surface, and space-based) are simulated from the output of a detailed numerical model, and those results are used to construct H*Wind analyses. The H*Wind analysis, a product of the Hurricane Research Division of NOAA s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, brings together wind measurements from a variety of observation platforms into an objective analysis of the distribution of wind speeds in a tropical cyclone. This product is designed to improve understanding of the extent and strength of the wind field, and to improve the assessment of hurricane intensity. See http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/data_sub/wind.html. Evaluations will be presented on the impact of the HIRAD instrument on H*Wind analyses, both in terms of adding it to the full suite of current measurements, as well as using it to replace instrument(s) that may not be functioning at the future time the HIRAD instrument is deployed. Plans to demonstrate the potential for HIRAD to improve numerical weather prediction of hurricanes will also be presented.

Miller, Timothy↗
NASA NTRS2009

Simulation of the Impact of New Aircraft- and Satellite-Based Ocean Surface Wind Measurements on H*Wind Analyses and Numerical Forecasts

The Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD) is a new airborne microwave remote sensor for hurricane observations that is currently under development by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, NOAA Hurricane Research Division, the University of Central Florida and the University of Michigan. HIRAD is being designed to enhance the realtime airborne ocean surface winds observation capabilities of NOAA and USAF Weather Squadron hurricane hunter aircraft using the operational airborne Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR). Unlike SFMR, which measures wind speed and rain rate along the ground track directly beneath the aircraft, HIRAD will provide images of the surface wind and rain field over a wide swath (~ 3 x the aircraft altitude). The present paper describes a set of Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) in which measurements from the new instrument as well as those from existing instruments (air, surface, and space-based) are simulated from the output of a detailed numerical model, and those results are used to construct H*Wind analyses. The H*Wind analysis, a product of the Hurricane Research Division of NOAA s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, brings together wind measurements from a variety of observation platforms into an objective analysis of the distribution of wind speeds in a tropical cyclone. This product is designed to improve understanding of the extent and strength of the wind field, and to improve the assessment of hurricane intensity. See http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/data_sub/wind.html. Evaluations will be presented on the impact of the HIRAD instrument on H*Wind analyses, both in terms of adding it to the full suite of current measurements, as well as using it to replace instrument(s) that may not be functioning at the future time the HIRAD instrument is implemented. Also shown will be preliminary results of numerical weather prediction OSSEs in which the impact of the addition of HIRAD observations to the initial state on numerical forecasts of the hurricane intensity and structure is assessed.

Miller, Timothy↗
NASA NTRS2016

Winds Measured by the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) During the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover's Bagnold Dunes Campaign and Comparison with Numerical Modeling Using MarsWRF

A high density of REMS wind measurements were collected in three science investigations during MSL's Bagnold Dunes Campaign, which took place over approx. 80 sols around southern winter solstice (Ls approx. 90deg) and constituted the first in situ analysis of the environmental conditions, morphology, structure, and composition of an active dune field on Mars. The Wind Characterization Investigation was designed to fully characterize the near-surface wind field just outside the dunes and confirmed the primarily upslope/downslope flow expected from theory and modeling of the circulation on the slopes of Aeolis Mons in this season. The basic pattern of winds is 'upslope' (from the northwest, heading up Aeolis Mons) during the daytime (approx. 09:00-17:00 or 18:00) and 'downslope' (from the southeast, heading down Aeolis Mons) at night (approx. 20:00 to some time before 08:00). Between these times the wind rotates largely clockwise, giving generally westerly winds mid-morning and easterly winds in the early evening. The timings of these direction changes are relatively consistent from sol to sol; however, the wind direction and speed at any given time shows considerable intersol variability. This pattern and timing is similar to predictions from the MarsWRF numerical model, run at a resolution of approx. 490 m in this region, although the model predicts the upslope winds to have a stronger component from the E than the W, misses a wind speed peak at approx. 09:00, and under-predicts the strength of daytime wind speeds by approx. 2-4 m/s. The Namib Dune Lee Investigation reveals 'blocking' of northerly winds by the dune, leaving primarily a westerly component to the daytime winds, and also shows a broadening of the 1 Hz wind speed distribution likely associated with lee turbulence. The Namib Dune Side Investigation measured primarily daytime winds at the side of the same dune, in support of aeolian change detection experiments designed to put limits on the saltation threshold, and also appears to show the influence of the dune body on the local flow, though less clearly than in the lee. Using a vertical grid with lower resolution near the surface reduces the relative strength of nighttime winds predicted by MarsWRF and produces a peak in wind speed at approx. 09:00, improving the match to the observed diurnal variation of wind speed, albeit with an offset in magnitude. The annual wind field predicted using this grid also provides a far better match to observations of aeolian dune morphology and motion in the Bagnold Dunes. However, the lower overall wind speeds than observed and disagreement with the observed wind direction at approx. 09:00 suggest that the problem has not been solved and that alternative boundary layer mixing schemes should be explored which may result in more mixing of momentum down to the near-surface from higher layers. These results demonstrate a strong need for in situ wind data to constrain the setup and assumptions used in numerical models, so that they may be used with more confidence to predict the circulation at other times and locations on Mars.

Newman, Claire E.↗
DOE OSTI2023

A baseline for ensemble-based, time-resolved inflow reconstruction for a single turbine using large-eddy simulations and latent diffusion models

We are interested in reconstructing winds flowing through a turbine on a second-by-second basis over a 10 min window. Previously, we developed a machine learning algorithm that takes in a snapshot of wind speed measurements and generates ensembles of three-dimensional wind field estimates. Here, we use these estimates as initial conditions in large-eddy simulations and reconstruct atmospheric and turbine response dynamic quantities in a synthetic field campaign. In doing so, we establish a baseline for model validation that future time-aware data assimilation techniques will be compared to. In turbine-free case studies, ground truth wind speeds consistently fall within our estimated wind speed distribution for the first 100 s after the simulation start. In simulations with turbines, the wind estimates show a small bias of 0.10 m s 1 and good correlation of 0.80 during the first 100 s. During this window, our estimates of the Blade 1 bending moment and generator power typically span the ground truth, with the estimate of the former performing better overall. In summary, this approach shows promise as a stand-alone technique for reconstructing real-world inflow and turbine dynamics in 1-2 min windows and as a foundation for future time-aware data assimilation techniques.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

2021 Prototype Installation and Testing Awardee: XFlow Energy Company

XFlow Energy Company (XFlow Energy) aims to reduce the cost of wind energy by designing vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs), which have a cheaper blade manufacturing process and a mechanically simpler design than traditional wind turbines, among other cost-saving advantages. However, a lack of modeling or simulation tools that can predict the coupling between aerodynamic and structural forces poses a significant challenge to developers of VAWTs. Known as aeroelastic models, these are not just important design tools - they're critical for certifying VAWTs of 25 kilowatts (kW), which is the size of XFlow Energy's prototype wind turbine. Without certification, XFlow Energy will not be able to deliver an independently validated product to its customers, and those customers will not be eligible for state and federal incentives. An accurate aeroelastic model could provide less-conservative structural optimization tactics than are currently used, resulting in a wind turbine with lower capital costs.

CIP↗
DOE OSTI2025

Energy 101 - Wind [Slides]

The Energy 101: Wind presentation, developed for the Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project (ETIPP), provides an overview of wind energy. It covers fundamental concepts, technologies, considerations, case studies, and additional resources.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1995

Solar wind plasma electron parameters based on aligned observations by ICE and Ulysses

During November-December 1991, the International Cometary Explorer (ICE) and Ulysses spacecraft were aligned in solar longitude, with an angular offset as small as 1 deg and a radial offset of 3.8 to 4.0 AU. Both spacecraft carry spectrometers which measure the thermal and suprathermal solar wind electron distributions. During the alignment interval, both spacecraft encountered the declining phase of a high-speed solar wind stream, representing unshocked plasma. We use the aligned observations from ICE and Ulysses to characterized the radial gradients in core and halo electron temperature, relative halo density, and heat flux, as well as the core and total polytropic indices. The thermal properties of the core vary widely in a range from isothermal to adiabatic, while the halo is more nearly isothermal. The halo density falls off more steeply for higher density plasma, and the electron heat flux gradient indicates constant or decreasing distribution skewness.

Phillips, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Wind-tunnel measurements of aerodynamic load distribution on an NASA supercritical-wing research airplane configuration

Wind tunnel tests have been conducted on a research airplane model with an NASA supercritical wing to define the general character of the flow over the wing and to aid in structural design of the full scale airplane. Pressure measurements were made at Mach numbers from 0.25 to 1.30 for sideslip angles from -2.50 deg to 2.50 deg over a moderate range of angles of attack and dynamic pressures. Except for representative figures, the results are presented in tabular form without detailed analysis.

Harris, C. D.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Evaluation of a high-resolution regional climate simulation for surface and hub-height wind climatology over North America

Assessing the availability of key wind resources requires augmenting observations to support the implementation of wind energy infrastructure. However, observations are limited, necessitating the development of high-resolution, long-term gridded datasets. This study presents a robust, dynamically downscaled climatological dataset, offering 20 years of hourly wind data at a 4 km spatial resolution across North America, and evaluates its performance against observations, including meteorological towers and automated surface-observing system (ASOS) stations, as well as coarse-resolution reanalysis data (the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis version 5 (ERA5)). Results demonstrate that the downscaled high-resolution wind data outperform ERA5 in regions of complex terrain and coastal areas, with improved overlap coefficients for wind data distributions and reduced root mean square errors (RMSEs) for hub-height and near-surface diurnal wind patterns. The downscaled simulation also captures the synoptic drivers of seasonal wind direction patterns reasonably well, indicated by high wind rose similarity indices. This study also provides an analysis of interannual variability, utilizing the dataset's full 20-year period, and model uncertainty, generated by varying model initial conditions and physics parameterizations across 1-year ensemble members, which are key considerations for wind resource assessment in wind farm development.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2006

Genesis Solar Wind Sample Curation: A Progress Report

In the year since the Genesis solar wind collector fragments were returned, early science samples, specimens for cleaning experiments, and science allocations have been distributed. Solar wind samples are stored under nitrogen and handled in an ISO Class 4 (Class 10) laboratory. For array collector fragments, a basic characterization process has been established. This characterization consists of identification of solar wind regime, whole fragment image for identification and surface quality, higher magnification images for contaminant particle density, and assessment of molecular film contaminant thickness via ellipsometry modeling. Compilations of this characterization data for AuOS (gold film on sapphire), and sapphire from the bulk solar wind for fragments greater than 2 cm are available. Removal of contaminant particles using flowing ultrapure water (UPW) energized megasonically is provided as requested.

Allton, Judith H.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Winds at the Mars 2020 Landing Site. 2. Wind Variability and Turbulence

Wind speeds measured by the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover in Jezero crater were fitted as a Weibull distribution. InSight wind data acquired in Elysium Planitia were also used to contextualize observations. Jezero winds were found to be much calmer on average than in previous landing sites, despite the intense aeolian activity observed. However, a great influence of turbulence and wave activity was observed in the wind speed variations, thus driving the probability of reaching the highest wind speeds at Jezero, instead of sustained winds driven by local, regional, or large-scale circulation. The power spectral density of wind speed fluctuations follows a power-law, whose slope deviates depending on the time of day from that predicted considering homogeneous and isotropic turbulence. Daytime wave activity is related to convection cells and smaller eddies in the boundary layer, advected over the crater. The signature of convection cells was also found during dust storm conditions, when prevailing winds were consistent with a tidal drive. Nighttime fluctuations were also intense, suggesting strong mechanical turbulence. Convective vortices were usually involved in rapid wind fluctuations and extreme winds, with variations peaking at 9.2 times the background winds. Transient high wind events by vortex-passages, turbulence, and wave activity could be driving aeolian activity at Jezero. We report the detection of a strong dust cloud of 0.75–1.5 km in length passing over the rover. The observed aeolian activity had major implications for instrumentation, with the wind sensor suffering damage throughout the mission, probably due to flying debris advected by winds.

D. Viúdez-moreiras↗
DOE OSTI2021

Online Detection of Inter-Turn Winding Faults in Single-Phase Distribution Transformers Using Smart Meter Data

Turn-to-turn faults between primary windings due to insulation degradation are a major cause of distribution transformer failure, and occur due to high levels of stress such as overloading and overheating. An additional consequence of these faults is an increased voltage on the transformer secondary due to effective change in turns ratio. This paper develops a novel method for early detection of insulation degradation and subsequent inter-turn winding failure by monitoring the transformer secondary voltage. The algorithm is based on a cumulative sum (CUSUM) statistic and compares voltages on neighbouring transformers to flag degrading assets. Results obtained from simulation as well as experimental data show that smart meter measurements can be utilized to achieve very high detection accuracy while keeping costs low. Here, the paper also demonstrates the validity of the algorithm in the presence of measurement noise, residential solar power injection etc.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS1979

Venera-11 and Venera 12: Preliminary estimates for the wind speed and turbulence in the atmosphere of Venus

The methods and results of measurements for wind speed and atmospheric turbulence in the clouds of Venus are described, and compared with earlier results. The distribution of wind speed obtained from the data of Venera 12 is in good conformity with the data of the preceding Venera and Pioneer probes, indicating the existence of a constant and powerful zonal movement of the troposphere.

Kerzhanovich, V. V.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Scatterometer wind speed bias induced by the large-scale component of the wave field

In order to determine if an environmental bias exists in the winds measured by the Seasat A satellite scatterometer (SASS), the SASS wind speed observations, U(s), colocated with the buoy wind speed data, U(b), were analyzed. There was a trend in the SASS wind speed error, U(b) - U(s), which was found to be related to the degree of the development of wind-generated gravity waves; this trend (estimated to be 0.5 m/sec per 100 km of the generalized wind fetch) is capable of introducing a well-pronounced environmental bias into the scatterometer-produced global distributions of wind.

Glazman, R. E.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Resilience Application: MIRACL Advisory Board Meeting 2022

The resilience web application was developed to automate the planning process developed in the INL Resilience Framework for Electric Energy Delivery Systems. In this presentation, a description of the architecture, functionality, and use of the web application is shown.

17 WIND ENERGY↗