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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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385 records · Page 22
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1998

35-GHz Measurements of Carbon Dioxide Crystals

In order to maximize our knowledge of the martian polar caps, it is important to compare and contrast the behavior of both frozen H2O and CO2 in different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Relatively little attention has been given, thus far, to observing the thermal microwave part of the spectrum. In this experiment, passive microwave radiation emanating from within a 33-cm snowpack was measured with a 35-GHz hand-held radiometer, and in addition to the natural snow measurements, the radiometer was used to measure the microwave emission and scattering from layers of manufactured CO2 (dry ice) crystals. A 1 square meter plate of aluminum sheet metal was positioned beneath the natural snow so that microwave emissions from the underlying soil layers would be minimized. 35 GHz measurements of this plate were made through the 33-cm snowpack. Layers of the snow were removed and measurements were repeated for the diminishing snowpack until the bare plate was in view. Then, 9 cm of CO2 crystals were deposited onto the sheet-metal plate, and as was the case for the natural snow, hand-held measurements were made each time the thickness of the deposit was altered. These CO2 crystals were -0.65 cm in diameter and were cylindrical. The temperature of the dry ice was -76 C, whereas the temperature at the top of the snowpack was -1.9 C (the air temperature was -3 C). Two additional 9-cm increments were placed on top of the existing CO2 crystals, resulting in a total thickness of 27 cm of dry ice. After this series of measurements was made, the CO2 crystals were then placed on top of the snowpack, and as before, measurements were made using the 35-GHz radiometer. As a final part of this experiment, soil particles were spread on top of the dry ice, and once again, microwave measurements were made with the 35-GHz radiometer.

Foster, J.↗
NASA NTRS1998

35 GHz Measurements of CO2 Crystals for Simulating Observations of the Martian Polar Caps

In order to learn more about the Martian polar caps, it is important to compare and contrast the behavior of both frozen H2O and CO2 in different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Relatively little attention has been given, thus far, to observing the thermal microwave part of the spectrum. In this experiment, passive microwave radiation emanating from within a 33 cm snowpack was measured with a 35 GHz hand-held radiometer, and in addition to the natural snow measurements, the radiometer was used to measure the microwave emission and scattering from layers of manufactured CO2 (dry ice). A 1 m x 2 m plate of aluminum sheet metal was positioned beneath the natural snow so that microwave emissions from the underlying soil layers would be minimized. Compared to the natural snow crystals, results for the dry ice layers exhibit lower' microwave brightness temperatures for similar thicknesses, regardless of the incidence angle of the radiometer. For example, at 50 degree H (horizontal polarization) and with a covering of 21 cm of snow and 18 cm of dry ice, the brightness temperatures were 150 K and 76 K, respectively. When the snow depth was 33 cm, the brightness temperature was 144 K, and when the total thickness of the dry ice was 27 cm, the brightness temperature was 86 K. The lower brightness temperatures are due to a combination of the lower physical temperature and the larger crystal sizes of the commercial CO2 Crystals compared to the snow crystals. As the crystal size approaches the size of the microwave wavelength, it scatters microwave radiation more effectively, thus lowering the brightness temperature. The dry ice crystals in this experiment were about an order of magnitude larger than the snow crystals and three orders of magnitude larger than the CO2 Crystals produced in the cold stage of a scanning electron microscope. Spreading soil, approximately 2 mm in thickness, on the dry ice appeared to have no effect on the brightness temperatures.

Foster, J. L.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Dispersion Leverage Coronagraph: a nulling coronagraph for use on primary objective grating telescopes

Here, we present the Dispersion Leverage Coronagraph (DLC), a variation of the Achromatic Interfero Coronagraph (AIC) that is designed for optical systems featuring large, dispersive primary objective gratings. DLC was originally designed for the Diffractive Interfero Coronagraph Exoplanet Resolver (DICER), a notional 20 m class infrared space telescope utilizing the enhanced one-dimensional angular resolution of large diffraction gratings to discover and characterize near-Earth exoplanets. Here we develop the theoretical foundation for DLC, and apply it to DICER as an example use case. We derive important properties of the DLC system, including focal plane transmission maps, stellar leakage, residual optical path difference tolerance, and pointing error/jitter considerations. Ultimately, we found that DLC effectively nulls an on-axis target across the entire spectrum in the focal plane, allowing for 2D/λ diffraction-limited imaging. It requires asymmetrical fine-guidance tolerances on pointing error/jitter. We work through a benchmark DICER design, explaining the need for a second disperser to reduce background from Zodiacal light, and showing that it could plausibly find and characterize ∼4 nearby, habitable exoplanets around Sun-like stars in a 7-year mission; about 30% of the habitable exoplanets within 8 pc were found in our simulation. The DLC may be useful for any application requiring extremely high-resolution, close companion spectroscopy.

AIC↗
NASA NTRS1993

Relationships between pigment composition variation and reflectance for plant species from a coastal savannah in California

Advances in imaging spectroscopy have indicated that remotely sensed reflectance measurements of the plant canopy may be used to identify and qualify some classes of canopy biochemicals; however, the manner in which differences in biochemical compositions translate into differences is not well understood. Most frequently, multiple linear regression routines have been used to correlate narrow band reflectance values with measured biochemical concentrations. Although some success has been achieved with such methods for given data sets, the bands selected by multiple regression are not consistent between data sets, nor is it always clear what physical or biological basis underlies the correlation. To examine the relationship between biochemical concentration and leaf reflectance signal we chose to focus on the visible spectrum where the primary biochemical absorbances are due to photosynthetic pigments. Pigments provide a range of absorbance features, occur over a range of concentrations in natural samples, and are ecophysiologically important. Concentrations of chlorophyll, for example, have been strongly correlated to foliar nitrogen levels within a species and to photosynthetic capacity across many species. In addition pigments effectively absorb most of the photosynthetically active radiation between 400-700 nm, a spectral region for which silicon detectors have good signal/noise characteristics. Our strategy has been to sample a variety of naturally occurring species to measure leaf reflectance and pigment compositions. We hope to extend our understanding of pigment reflectance effects to interpret small overlapping absorbances of other biochemicals in the infrared region. For this reason, selected samples were also tested to determine total nitrogen, crude protein, cellulose, and lignin levels. Leaf reflectance spectra measured with AVIRIS bandwidths and wavelengths were compared between species and within species and for differences between seasons, for changes in the the shape of the spectra. We attempt to statistically correlate these shape changes with differences in pigment compositions. In parallel with our comparisons of pigment composition and leaf reflectance, we have modified the PROSPECT leaf reflectance model to test the contributions of pigments or pigment group concentrations. PROSPECT considers a leaf as a multi-layer dielectric plane with an uneven surface. Jacquemoud adapted the basic analysis of Allen for surface effects, a leaf thickness factor, and the absorption of water and chlorophyll (actually all pigments) and the plant matrix. Our modifications to PROSPECT in the forward direction include breaking out the pigment concentration parameter into separate components for chlorophyll a and b and a number of xanthophylls and carotenes, and introducing a shift and convolution function to model the spread and shift from their in vitro measurements to their in vivo state. Further, we have considered how the matrix elements (i.e., all biochemicals and structural effects not modeled explicity) vary with species.

Ustin, Susan L.↗
DOE OSTI2025

2025 ASMS Investigation of the Collision-Induced Dissociation Mechanism of Protonated TODGA with IRIS

Title (20 words): Investigation of the Collision-Induced Dissociation Mechanism of Protonated TODGA with IRIS Introduction (120 words): One of the challenges facing wide-spread adoption of nuclear power is the development of efficient separation processes for used nuclear fuel. The molecules in separation processes are subjected to an extreme environment due to the high radiation fields from the used fuel and highly acidic media used for fuel dissolution, which results in significant molecular degradation, leading to reduced process efficiency. These degradation products must be identified and studied so mitigation strategies can be developed to maintain process efficiency. However, complex systems can have many degradation products, complicating identification. Untargeted analysis tools could be used to understand radiation chemistry in complex systems. However, this would necessitate improved understanding of the gas-phase fragmentation mechanisms of fuel cycle molecules like tetraoctyldiglycolamide (TODGA). Methods (120 words): The gas-phase fragmentation of protonated TODGA was investigated using collision-induced dissociation (CID), resonance ejection, and infrared ion spectroscopy (IRIS). CID and resonance ejection experiments were conducted using a Bruker Daltonics (Bremen, Gemany) SolariX XR fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometer. IRIS spectra of protonated TODGA and its two CID fragmentation products were measured using a modified Bruker amaZon Speed ETD 3D quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer coupled to the Free Electron Lasers for Infrared eXperiments (FELIX) free electron laser. Measured spectra were compared with density functional theory (DFT) calculations using the Gaussian 16, Revision C.02 software package with the ?B97X-D functional and def2-TZVPP basis sets. Candidate structures were generated using the CREST 3.0 conformational sampling software tool. Preliminary Data (300 words): Collision-induced dissociation of protonated TODGA ([C36H73N2O3]+, m/z=581.562) results two fragment ions, one at m/z=340.285 assigned as [C20H38NO3]+ and the other at m/z=312.290, assigned as [C19H38NO2]+. Based on the assigned formula and the structure of protonated TODGA, the fragment at m/z=340.285 is likely formed from elimination of neutral dioctylamine. Comparison of the IRIS spectrum of m/z=340.285 with DFT predictions suggests it contains a ring structure, and is assigned as N-octyl-N-(6-oxo-1,4-dioxan-2-ylidene)octan-1-aminium. Based on this structure and the structure of protonated TODGA, we hypothesize this fragment formed from elimination of neutral dioctylamine followed by a ring closure mechanism. Comparison of the IRIS spectrum of the fragment at m/z=312.290 with DFT predictions also indicated the presence of a ring structure, assigned as N-(1,3-dioxolan-4-ylidene)-N-octyloctan-1-aminium. This product could be formed from elimination of carbon monoxide from the ring of m/z=340.285 as a sequential fragmentation or formed directly from protonated TODGA via elimination of neutral N,N-dioctylformamide followed by a ring closure. Resonance ejection experiments where m/z=340 was continuously ejected from the IRC cell showed no decrease in intensity of m/z=312.290 across several collision energies, suggesting that the later, direct formation mechanism, dominates. The location of the ionizing proton in protonated TODGA is important for modeling the fragmentation mechanisms. DFT calculations suggested that the position of bands involving the coupled vibrations of the amide C—N and C=O bonds in TODGA are the most sensitive to proton location. Evaluation of the IRIS spectrum of protonated TODGA suggests that the ionizing proton is located between the two amid oxygens. This protonation location was calculated to lie approximately 30 kJ/mol lower in energy than the next lowest energy location, with the proton located solely on one of the amide oxygens. Novel aspect (20 words): Infrared ion spectroscopy combined with resonance ejection experiments and density functional theory to probe the collision-induced dissociation mechanism of tetraoctyldiglycolamide.

37 - INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL C↗
NASA NTRS1989

C-O-H ratios of silicate melt inclusions in basalts from the Galapagos Spreading Center near 95 degrees W: a laser decrepitation mass spectrometry study

Volatile ratios (primarily of H2O and CO2) in individual silicate melt (glass) inclusions in minerals have been analyzed using laser volatilization and mass spectrometry. A Nd-glass laser was used to produce 50-micrometer diameter pits in silicate melt inclusions. Released volatiles were analyzed directly with a computer-controlled quadrupole mass spectrometer. The detection limits for CO2 and H2O were on the order of 3 x 10(-14) and 3 x 10(-13) moles, respectively. The reproducibility for CO2/H2O was better than +/- 9%. The total range of volatile ratios from vitreous silicate glass inclusions contained in a suite of Galapagos lavas were: 0.018 to 1.193 for CO2/H2O; 0.002 to 0.758 for CO/H2O; 0 to 0.454 for CH4/H2O; and 0 to 0.432 for Ar/H2O. The mean CO2/H2O from the propagating rift (0.245 +/- 0.068) silicate glass inclusions is significantly lower than that of the actively failing rift (0.641 +/- 0.241); this difference probably reflects different degrees of degassing during magmatic histories for the two regions. Relatively undifferentiated failing rift magmas must have relatively short crustal residence times prior to eruption and, therefore, have not undergone significant degassing of CO2, as would appear to be the case for the more highly fractionated propagating rift magmas. The laser-mass spectrometric system described herein has the ability to act as a point-source probing device that can differentiate between the various volatile sites in minerals and rocks (as well as synthetic materials) on a micrometer scale.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗
NASA NTRS2006

Modeling the Observed QBO and Inter-Annual Variations of the Diurnal Tide in the Mesosphere

In the current version of the Numerical Spectral Model (NSM), the Quasi-biennial Oscillation (QBO) is generated primarily by small-scale gravity waves (GW) from Hines' Doppler Spread Parameterization (DSP). The model does not have topography, and the planetary waves are solely generated by instabilities. We discuss a 3D modeling study that describes the QBO extending from the stratosphere into the upper mesosphere, where the oscillation produces significant inter-annual variations in the diurnal tide. The numerical results are compared with temperature measurements from the SABER (TIMED) and MLS (UARS) instruments obtained by Huang et al. (2006). With a GW source that peaks at the Equator and is taken to be isotropic and independent of season, the NSM generates a QBO with variable periods around 26 months and zonal wind amplitudes of almost 25 m/s at 30 km. As reported earlier, the NSM reproduces the observed equinoctial maxima in the diurnal tide at altitudes around 95 km. The modeled QBO modulates the tide such that the seasonal amplitude maxima can vary from one year to another by as much as 30%. To shed light on the underlying mechanisms, the relative importance of the advection terms are discussed, and they are shown to be important in the stratosphere. At altitudes above 80 km, however, the QBO-related inter-annual variations of the tide are generated primarily by GW momentum deposition. In qualitative agreement with the SABER measurements, the model generates distinct zonal-mean QBO temperature variations in the stratosphere and mesosphere. In the stratosphere, the computed amplitudes are not much smaller than those observed, and the rate of downward propagation at the Equator is reproduced. The modeled temperature amplitudes in the mesosphere, however, are much smaller than those observed. The observed and computed temperature variations of the QBO peak at the Equator but extend with phase reversals to high latitudes, in contrast to the zonal winds that are confined to equatorial latitudes. Hemispherical asymmetries also appear in both the model results and the observations. The temperature amplitudes outside the equatorial region however tend to occur at lower latitudes in the model results. While there is qualitative agreement between the TIMED measurements and the model prediction, there are some areas of significant disagreement that require us to reexamine the present version of the NSM. The numerical results critically depend on the chosen parameters that determine the wave forcing, and there are a number of avenues to improve the performance of the model that had not been tuned to fit the observations. The GW spectrum and its latitude dependence in the troposphere are not well known, and numerical experiments are discussed that describe the related model response. While it appears that eastward propagating Kelvin waves and westward propagating Rossby gravity waves are not the primary source to generate the QBO, the GW forcing can seed the oscillation and act as a catalyst to enhance effectiveness of these planetary waves.

Mayr, Hans G.↗