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At least 397 records · Page 22

Earth observations during Space Shuttle flight STS 50 - Columbia's mission to planet earth (June 25-July 9, 1992)

A review of the imagery acquired during the STS 50 mission of the Space Shuttle is presented. The earth viewing photography from this flight includes photos of dust plumes over several portions of the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. Over land, prominent dust plumes were seen over Iraq, North Africa, Sudan, and West Africa. The color infrared photography includes images of the tropical rain forests of South America and South and Southeast Asia. Other examples include photographs of floods in Argentina, photos of Lake Chad in Africa, Coastal Madagascar, the Aswan dam and the Nile, geologic features of North Africa, the center pivot irrigation land areas of Saudi Arabia, flooding in Asian rivers, and sediment plumes of South American and South and Southeast Asian coasts.

Lulla, Kamlesh P.↗

Accessing and Understanding MODIS Data

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched the Terra satellite in December 1999, as part of the Earth Science Enterprise promotion of interdisciplinary studies of the integrated Earth system. Aqua, the second satellite from the series of EOS constellation, was launched in May 2002. Both satellites carry the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument. MODIS data are processed at the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, and then archived and distributed by the Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs). Data products from the MODIS sensors present new challenges to remote sensing scientists due to specialized production level, data format, and map projection. MODIS data are distributed as calibrated radiances and as higher level products such as: surface reflectance, water-leaving radiances, ocean color and sea surface temperature, land surface kinetic temperature, vegetation indices, leaf area index, land cover, snow cover, sea ice extent, cloud mask, atmospheric profiles, aerosol properties, and many other geophysical parameters. MODIS data are stored in HDF- EOS format in both swath format and in several different map projections. This tutorial guides users through data set characteristics as well as search and order interfaces, data unpacking, data subsetting, and potential applications of the data. A CD-ROM with sample data sets, and software tools for working with the data will be provided to the course participants.

Leptoukh, Gregory↗

Geometric differences of the mitral apparatus between ischemic and dilated cardiomyopathy with significant mitral regurgitation: real-time three-dimensional echocardiography study

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to elucidate the geometric differences of the mitral apparatus in patients with significant mitral regurgitation caused by ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM-MR) and by idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM-MR) by use of real-time 3D echocardiography (RT3DE). METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty-six patients with ICM-MR caused by posterior infarction, 18 patients with DCM-MR, and 8 control subjects were studied. With the 3D software, commissure-commissure plane and 3 perpendicular anteroposterior (AP) planes were generated for imaging the medial, central, and lateral sides of the mitral valve (MV) during mid systole. In 3 AP planes, the angles between the annular plane and each leaflet (anterior, Aalpha; posterior, Palpha) were measured. In ICM-MR, Aalpha measured in the medial and central planes was significantly larger than that in the lateral plane (39+/-5 degrees, 34+/-6 degrees, and 27+/-5 degrees, respectively; P<0.01), whereas Palpha showed no significant difference in any of the 3 AP planes (61+/-7 degrees, 57+/-7 degrees, and 56+/-7 degrees, P>0.05). In DCM-MR, both Aalpha (38+/-8 degrees, 37+/-9 degrees, and 36+/-7 degrees, P>0.05) and Palpha (59+/-6 degrees, 58+/-5 degrees, and 57+/-6 degrees, P>0.05) revealed no significant differences in the 3 planes. CONCLUSIONS: The pattern of MV deformation from the medial to the lateral side was asymmetrical in ICM-MR, whereas it was symmetrical in DCM-MR. RT3DE is a helpful tool for differentiating the geometry of the mitral apparatus between these 2 different types of functional mitral regurgitation.

Evaluation Studies↗

Color graphics workstations used for simultaneous display of satellite and model data sets

Model-measurement display methods for studying actual or synthetic satellite measurements of cloudiness are developed. Visualization and animation techniques are employed to analyze the data. Two types of animation sequences, one based on Insat IR geosynchronous satellite imagery combined with upper level velocity potentials calculations and isoline depictions of the high amplitude centers of low frequency cloudiness activity, and the other combines a mesoscale cloud model simulation of a severe hail storm and synthetic microwave radiation signatures, are described.

Cooper, Harry J.↗

L’Ralph Integration and Testing

This paper describes the plans, flows, key facilities, components and equipment necessary to fully integrate, functionally test, qualify and calibrate the L’Ralph instrument on the Lucy observatory. Lucy is currently in the final design and fabrication phase (phase C) of mission development. It is scheduled to launch out of Cape Canaveral, Florida, in October 2021. Lucy will be the first space mission to study the Trojan asteroids associated with Jupiter, that are thought to be remnants of the primordial material that formed the outer planets. Lucy will fly by and carry out remote sensing on six different Trojan asteroids. The mission takes its name from the fossilized human ancestor (called “Lucy” by her discoverers) whose skeleton provided unique insight into humanity's evolution. Likewise, the Lucy mission will revolutionize our knowledge of planetary origins and the formation of the solar system. L’Ralph is one of the instruments on Lucy and it is provided by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). L’Ralph is a combined multi-band visible imager (the Multi-spectral Visible Imaging Camera, MVIC, 0.4-0.85 microns) and wedge-filter infrared spectrometer (Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array, LEISA, 1-3.6 microns). LEISA will allow the team to look for the absorption lines that serve as the fingerprints for different silicates, ices and organics that likely will be on the surface of the Trojan asteroids. MVIC will take color images of the Trojan asteroid targets, and help determine how active they are. This paper will focus on the Integration and Test (I&T) activities for L’Ralph while it is at the NASA GSFC. L’Ralph has two assemblies, the telescope detector assembly (TDA) and main electronics box (MEB). The TDA is a single telescope feeding two focal planes, MVIC and LEISA. L’Ralph integration consists of assembly and alignment of the telescope, electronics box integration, thermal systems integration and the final assembly and testing. This I&T phase will be followed by the L’Ralph calibration and characterization, environmental tests which include electromagnetic interference (EMI)/electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), vibration with sine sweep, acoustics, shock, thermal balance, thermal vacuum, mass properties and center of gravity determination. This paper will briefly discuss L’Ralph shipment and delivery to the spacecraft vendor for observatory level I&T as well as some launch preparation activities.

Spaceflight Instruments↗

Optical absorption in fused silica at elevated temperatures during 1.5-MeV electron irradiation

An experimental determination of the optical transmission of Corning 7940 UV and Suprasil 1 and 2 fused silica has been made during 1.5-MeV electron bombardment. The fused silica reached temperatures ranging from 150 to 1000 C. The Lewis Research Center dynamitron provided electron current densities which corresponded to a dose rate of 2.6 to 20 Mrad/sec. The irradiation induced absorption was measured at 215.0, 270.0, and 450.0 nm (2150, 2700, 4500 A). The length of each irradiation was sufficient so that an equilibrium between radiation induced coloration and high temperature annealing was reached. The experimental results indicate a significant optical absorption, with values of the induced absorption coefficient at 215.0 nm (2150 A) of 14.5 to 2.2/cm, at 270.0 nm (2700 A) of 9.7 to 3.0/cm and at 450.0 nm (4500 A) of 3.7 to 0.5/cm. This would make the use of fused silica as the separating wall material in the nuclear light bulb propulsion concept questionable.

Smith, A. B.↗

An experimental investigation of gas jets in confined swirling air flow

The fluid dynamics of jets in confined swirling flows which is of importance to designers of turbine combustors and solid fuel ramjets used to power missiles fired from cannons were examined. The fluid dynamics of gas jets of different densities in confined swirling flows were investigated. Mean velocity and turbulence measurements are made with a one color, one component laser velocimeter operating in the forward scatter mode. It is shown that jets in confined flow with large area ratio are highly dissipative which results in both air and helium/air jet centerline velocity decays. For air jets, the jet like behavior in the tube center disappears at about 20 diameters downstream of the jet exit. This phenomenon is independent of the initial jet velocity. The turbulence field at this point also decays to that of the background swirling flow. A jet like behavior in the tube center is noticed even at 40 diameters for the helium/air jets. The subsequent flow and turbulence field depend highly on the initial jet velocity. The jets are fully turbulent, and the cause of this difference in behavior is attributed to the combined action swirl and density difference. This observation can have significant impact on the design of turbine combustors and solid fuel ramjets subject to spin.

Mongia, H.↗

Art Preservation

A new class of polyimides, synthesized by Langley Research Center, has been evaluated by the Getty Conservation Institute's Materials Science Group for possible art conservation applications. Polyimides are noted for resistance to high temperature, wear and radiation. They are thermally stable and soluble in some common solvents. After testing under simulated exposures for changes in color, permeability and flexibility, one coating, ODPA-3, 3-ODA may be used to protect bronze statues from corrosion. A test on stained glass windows was unsuccessful.

Source record↗

Soot Imaging and Measurement

Soot, sometimes referred to as smoke, is made up primarily of the carbon particles generated by most combustion processes. For example, large quantities of soot can be seen issuing from the exhaust pipes of diesel-powered vehicles. Heated soot also is responsible for the warm orange color of candle flames, though that soot is generally consumed before it can exit the flame. Research has suggested that heavy atmospheric soot concentrations aggravate conditions such as pneumonia and asthma, causing many deaths each year. To understand the formation and oxidation of soot, NASA Lewis Research Center scientists, together with several university investigators, are investigating the properties of soot generated in reduced gravity, where the absence of buoyancy allows more time for the particles to grow. The increased time allows researchers to better study the life cycle of these particles, with the hope that increased understanding will lead to better control strategies. To quantify the amount of soot present in a flame, Lewis scientists developed a unique imaging technique that provides quantitative and qualitative soot data over a large field of view. There is significant improvement over the single-point methods normally used. The technique is shown in the sketch, where light from a laser is expanded with a microscope objective, rendered parallel, and passed through a flame where soot particles reduce the amount of light transmitted to the camera. A filter only allows light at the wavelength of the laser to pass to the camera, preventing any extraneous signals. When images of the laser light with and without the flame are compared, a quantitative map of the soot concentration is produced. In addition to that data, a qualitative image of the soot in the flame is also generated, an example of which is displayed in the photo. This technique has the potential to be adapted to real-time process control in industrial powerplants.

Source record↗

EPA Enviropod. A summary of the use of the Enviropod under a Memorandum of Understanding among EPA Region 8, the State of Utah, and the University of Utah Research Institute

Twenty-three missions were flown using the EPA's panoramic camera to obtain color and color infrared photographs of landslide and flood damage in Utah. From the state's point of view, there were many successes. The biggest single obstacle to smooth and continued performance was unavailable aircraft. The Memorandum of Understanding between the State of Utah, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Center for Remote Sensing and Cartography is included along with forms for planning enviropod missions, for requesting flights, and for obtaining feedback from participating agencies.

Ridd, M. K.↗

The underlying galaxies of X-ray-selected quasars

Deep red images of 24 X-ray selected quasars were obtained using the SIT Area Photometer on the Palomar 1.5 meter telescope. About half were also imaged through green and violet filters. The images of all 15 of the quasars with redshifts up to 0.4 certainly are extended and the two at z = 0.45 probably are extended. The remainder of higher redshift are unresolved, presumably because they are too distant. The resolved structures are 10-30 in. across, symmetric, and centered on the point-like quasar nuclei. For most of the quasars the nuclear light and the extended emission can be roughly separated. Evidence that the extended emission is starlight from a surrounding galaxy is presented, permitting several properties of the host galaxy to be deduced. Its colors, surface brightness, linear extent, ellipticity, and frequent association with groups of galaxies indicate that it is usually a normal spiral galaxy.

Malkan, M. A.↗

Multi-color incomplete Cholesky conjugate gradient methods for vector computers

In this research, we are concerned with the solution on vector computers of linear systems of equations, Ax = b, where A is a larger, sparse symmetric positive definite matrix. We solve the system using an iterative method, the incomplete Cholesky conjugate gradient method (ICCG). We apply a multi-color strategy to obtain p-color matrices for which a block-oriented ICCG method is implemented on the CYBER 205. (A p-colored matrix is a matrix which can be partitioned into a pXp block matrix where the diagonal blocks are diagonal matrices). This algorithm, which is based on a no-fill strategy, achieves O(N/p) length vector operations in both the decomposition of A and in the forward and back solves necessary at each iteration of the method. We discuss the natural ordering of the unknowns as an ordering that minimizes the number of diagonals in the matrix and define multi-color orderings in terms of disjoint sets of the unknowns. We give necessary and sufficient conditions to determine which multi-color orderings of the unknowns correpond to p-color matrices. A performance model is given which is used both to predict execution time for ICCG methods and also to compare an ICCG method to conjugate gradient without preconditioning or another ICCG method. Results are given from runs on the CYBER 205 at NASA's Langley Research Center for four model problems.

Poole, E. L.↗

Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE) - NASA's first in-space lidar system for atmospheric research

Engineering aspects are presented of the design, fabrication, integration, and operation of the Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE) for flight aboard the Space Shuttle in mid-1993. The LITE system is being developed by NASA/Langley Research Center and will be used to detect stratospheric and tropospheric aerosols, probe the planetary boundary layer, measure cloud top heights, and measure atmospheric temperature and density in the 10- to 40-km range. The system consists of a nominal telescope receiver 1 meter in diameter, a three-color Nd:YAG laser transmitter, and the system electronics. The system makes extensive use of Space Shuttle resources for electrical power, thermal control, and command and data handling.

Couch, Richard H.↗

Star counts from the Hubble Space Telescope Snapshot Survey. I - Galactic models

We report a photometric study of stars from 450 fields at high Galactic latitudes that were observed in the Hubble Space Telescope Snapshot Survey to an average limiting apparent magnitude of V = 21.4. There are 166 fields that contain quasars selected in radio, X-ray, and color-excess surveys. This sample of 273 stars is free of selection bias with respect to the density of stars. To within the Poisson errors, the total counts and magnitude distribution of this unbiased sample are in agreement with the Bahcall-Soneira model (Bahcall, 1986). The angular distribution of the faint stars favors, at the 2 sigma level, a somewhat steeper disk luminosity function and a smaller spheroid main-sequence normalization than given by the model. The sample does not have enough statistical power to distinguish between the two-component Bahcall-Soneira model and the three-component model first proposed by Gilmore and Reid (1983), which contains a thick disk. The statistical power of the survey would increase about 15-fold if colors were obtained for the stars: the data probe the main sequences of the disk, thick disk, and spheroid. Models with and without a thick disk could then be distinguished at the 6 sigma level. The HST Snapshot Survey includes an additional 284 fields, 279 of which are centered on quasars that were selected by objective-prism surveys. These 279 fields are expected to show and do exhibit bias against bright stars, making them unsuitable for testing Galactic models.

Gould, A.↗

Effect of color coding and subtraction on the accuracy of contrast echocardiography

BACKGROUND: Contrast echocardiography may be used to assess myocardial perfusion. However, gray scale assessment of myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) is difficult because of variations in regional backscatter intensity, difficulties in distinguishing varying shades of gray, and artifacts or attenuation. We sought to determine whether the assessment of rest myocardial perfusion by MCE could be improved with subtraction and color coding. METHODS AND RESULTS: MCE was performed in 31 patients with previous myocardial infarction with a 2nd generation agent (NC100100, Nycomed AS), using harmonic triggered or continuous imaging and gain settings were kept constant throughout the study. Digitized images were post processed by subtraction of baseline from contrast data and colorized to reflect the intensity of myocardial contrast. Gray scale MCE alone, MCE images combined with baseline and subtracted colorized images were scored independently using a 16 segment model. The presence and severity of myocardial contrast abnormalities were compared with perfusion defined by rest MIBI-SPECT. Segments that were not visualized by continuous (17%) or triggered imaging (14%) after color processing were excluded from further analysis. The specificity of gray scale MCE alone (56%) or MCE combined with baseline 2D (47%) was significantly enhanced by subtraction and color coding (76%, p<0.001) of triggered images. The accuracy of the gray scale approaches (respectively 52% and 47%) was increased to 70% (p<0.001). Similarly, for continuous images, the specificity of gray scale MCE with and without baseline comparison was 23% and 42% respectively, compared with 60% after post processing (p<0.001). The accuracy of colorized images (59%) was also significantly greater than gray scale MCE (43% and 29%, p<0.001). The sensitivity of MCE for both acquisitions was not altered by subtraction. CONCLUSION: Post-processing with subtraction and color coding significantly improves the accuracy and specificity of MCE for detection of perfusion defects.

Multicenter Study↗

Four-color infrared bolometer system for one-meter telescope

A far-infrared photometer has been developed as a focal plane instrument for a balloon-borne 102-cm telescope. The four gallium-doped Ge bolometers adopted for the system operate at 1.8 K in a liquid-helium dewar. Wavelength bands of the four-bolometer system are a narrow spectrum between 18 and 22 microns, and bands centered at 42, 70, and 140 microns. The responsivity and Johnson noise of the detectors limit the performance of the instrument.

Daneu, V.↗

Nature and origin of mineral coatings on volcanic rocks of the Black Mountain, Stonewall Mountain, and Kane Springs, Wash volcanic centers, Southern Nevada

LANDSAT Thematic Mapper imagery was evaluated over 3 Tertiary calderas in southern Nevada. Each volcanic center derived from a highly evolved silici magmatic system represented today by well exposed diverse lithologies. Distinctive imagery contrast between some of the late ash flows and earlier units follows from the high relative reflectance in longer wavelength bands (bands 5 and 7) of the former. Enhancement techniques provide color composite images which highlight some of the units in remarkable color contrast. Inasmuch as coatings on the tuffs are incompletely developed and apparently largely dependent spectrally on rock properties independent of petrochemistry, it is felt that the distinctive imagery characteristics are more a function of primary lithologic or petrochemical properties. Any given outcrop is backdrop for a variety of cover types, of which coatings, at various stages of maturity, are one. Petrographic and X-ray diffraction analysis of the outer air-interface zone of coatings reveal they are composed chiefly of amorphous compounds, probably with varying proportions of iron and manganese. Observations support an origin for some outer (air-interface) coating constituents exogenous to the underlying host.

Taranik, James V.↗

Integration of Design, Thermal, Structural, and Optical Analysis, Including Thermal Animation

In many industries there has recently been a concerted movement toward 'quality management' and the issue of how to accomplish work more efficiently. Part of this effort is focused on concurrent engineering; the idea of integrating the design and analysis processes so that they are not separate, sequential processes (often involving design rework due to analytical findings) but instead form an integrated system with smooth transfers of information. Presented herein are several specific examples of concurrent engineering methods being carried out at Langley Research Center (LaRC): integration of thermal, structural and optical analyses to predict changes in optical performance based on thermal and structural effects; integration of the CAD design process with thermal and structural analyses; and integration of analysis and presentation by animating the thermal response of a system as an active color map -- a highly effective visual indication of heat flow.

Amundsen, Ruth M.↗