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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 397 records · Page 22
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1975

An unusual nebula near UOA 27

Near-infrared plates of a region in Cygnus show an extremely red nebula, about 25 arc seconds in diameter, which is displaced by about 18 arc seconds from UOA 27, an object with infrared and microwave properties similar to those of the Becklin-Neugebauer point source in Orion. This nebula may be reflecting light from the same obscured star which is the energy source for UOA 27, and could therefore provide a unique, though indirect, means of investigating the nature of stars which heat the BN point source and related objects.

Kleinmann, S. G.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Relationships between the energetics of impulsive and gradual emissions from solar flares

The gradual soft X-ray emissions associated with a homogeneous set of solar flares have been investigated in the context of a thermal model proposed to explain the impulsive components. The parametric techniques which successfully characterized the hard X-ray and microwave observations are employed in an event-by-event analysis to test for quantitative and correlative relationships between the impulsive and gradual emissions. The results of this investigation are consistent with the hypothesis that the hard X-ray and microwave emissions are produced by bulk heating of a common thermal source. The quantitative relationships require an additional source to explain the soft X-ray observations, consistent with previous results. Correlations between the energetics of the impulsive and gradual emissions, identified in the present work, provide the first clear evidence that their energizing mechanisms are related.

Crannell, C. J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Estimating Antenna-Pointing Error Using A Focal-Plane Array

Common method of determining residual errors in pointing of paraboloidal-reflector microwave antennas involves constantly dithering antenna mechanically about estimated direction of source. For cases where expense of additional focal-plane collecting horns (and their amplifiers) justified, new method eliminates mechanical dithering. Outputs of multiple receiving feed horns processed to extract phase information indicative of direction of arrival of signal received from distant source.

Zohar, Shalhav↗
NASA NTRS1991

DC and small-signal physical models for the AlGaAs/GaAs high electron mobility transistor

Analytical and numerical models are developed for the microwave small-signal performance, such as transconductance, gate-to-source capacitance, current gain cut-off frequency and the optimum cut-off frequency of the AlGaAs/GaAs High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT), in both normal and compressed transconductance regions. The validated I-V characteristics and the small-signal performances of four HeMT's are presented.

Sarker, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Stabilization of Phase of a Sinusoidal Signal Transmitted Over Optical Fiber

In the process of connecting widely distributed antennas into a coherent array, it is necessary to synchronize the timing of signals at the various locations. This can be accomplished by distributing a common reference signal from a central source, usually over optical fiber. A high-frequency (RF or microwave) tone is a good choice for the reference. One difficulty is that the effective length of the optical fiber changes with temperature and mechanical stress, leading to phase instability in the received tone. This innovation provides a new way to stabilize the phase of the received tone, in spite of variations in the electrical length of the fiber. Stabilization is accomplished by two-way transmission in which part of the received signal is returned to the transmitting end over an identical fiber. The returned signal is detected and used to close an electrical servo loop whose effect is to keep constant the phase of the tone at the receiving end.

DAddario, Larry R.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Constraints on the origin of the radio synchrotron background via angular correlations

ABSTRACT The origin of the radio synchrotron background (RSB) is currently unknown. Its understanding might have profound implications in fundamental physics or might reveal a new class of radio emitters. In this work, we consider the scenario in which the RSB is due to extragalactic radio sources and measure the angular cross-correlation of Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) images of the diffuse radio sky with matter tracers at different redshifts, provided by galaxy catalogues and cosmic microwave background lensing. We compare these measured cross-correlations to those expected for models of RSB sources. We find that low-redshift populations of discrete sources are excluded by the data, while higher redshift explanations are compatible with available observations. We also conclude that at least 20 per cent of the RSB surface brightness level must originate from populations tracing the large-scale distribution of matter in the Universe, indicating that at least this fraction of the RSB is of extragalactic origin. Future measurements of the correlation between the RSB and tracers of high-redshift sources will be crucial to constraining the source population of the RSB.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1989

A laboratory investigation into microwave backscattering from sea ice

The purpose of the research reported here was to determine the sources of scattering of artificial sea ice, to compare backscatter measurements semi-quantitatively with theoretical predictions, and to develop inexpensive polarimetric radars for sea ice backscatter studies. A brief review of the dielectric properties of sea ice and of commonly used surface and volume scattering theories is presented. We provide a description of the backscatter measurements performed and experimental techniques used. The development of inexpensive short-range polarimetric radars is discussed. We discuss limitations of this system and the development of a radar that avoids the oscillator instability problems of continuously tunable oscillators by doing measurements at discrete frequencies, using a synthesized frequency source. We present results of simple test of copolar phase capability and a simple method of doing phase calibrations. We discuss ice surface characterization data and techniques. We also present a method of estimating the standard deviation of rms height and correlation length for cases of few data points.

Bredow, Jonathan W.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The high-frequency characteristics of solar radio bursts

The millimeter, microwave, and soft X-ray emission from a number of solar flares is compared in order to determine the properties of the HF radio emission of flares. The millimeter observations use a sensitive interferometer at 86 GHz which offers much better sensitivity and spatial resolution than most previous high-frequency observations. The 86-GHz emission onset appears often to be delayed with respect to the microwave onset. Even in large flares the millimeter-wavelength emission can arise in sources of only a few arc sec dimension. The millimeter emission in the impulsive phase does not correlate with the soft X-ray emission, and thus is unlikely to contain any significant thermal bremsstrahlung component. The electron energy distributions implied by the millimeter observations are much flatter (spectral indices of 2.5 to 3.6) than is usual for microwave or hard X-ray observations.

Lim, J.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Microwave-induced selective decomposition of cellulose: Computational and experimental mechanistic study

Understanding microwave-material interactions will help facilitate the utilization of microwave technology in gasification and renewable energy production. In this study, cellulose was used as a model compound to simulate the organic matter in biomass, and its catalytic decomposition under a microwave (MW) field was studied to identify structural changes from the reaction. The study was conducted using a MW source coupled to a fixed-bed gas-flow reactor, mass spectroscopic, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy post-reaction analysis. Zeolite 13X was chosen as a microwave absorber to study the catalytic enhancement of the decomposition of cellulose. Density functional theory (DFT) was used to gain insights into the molecular transformations occurring in the presence of a static electric field, which was used to simulate the electric field component of the microwave electromagnetic radiation. Theoretical calculations demonstrated that both the positive and negative portion of the electric field interact with the permanent dipoles of the cellulose effecting the decomposition through the glycosidic bond breaking mechanism. The theoretical result was verified using infrared spectroscopic analysis of the pure cellulose during microwave heating. The theoretical calculations suggest only the positive electric field component may be active for the cellulose decomposition in the presence of Zeolite 13X. Physically mixing Zeolite 13X with the cellulose led to a significant enhancement in the decomposition rate of the glycosidic bond. Zeolite 13X enhanced the glycosidic O-C decomposition at lower MW power (lower temperatures), whereas the O-H functional group required higher MW power (higher temperature) for its decomposition. The DFT study coupled with the reaction studies revealed that the electric field polarizability is dependent upon both the direction and the orientation of the cellulose. Gas products revealed that applying 250 W of MW power led to the production of CO, H 2 , along with some CO 2 , CH 4 , and benzene at 305 °C. Finally, reaction under 500, 750, and 1000 W of power at constant temperature (305 °C) revealed that higher power led to the complete decomposition of cellulose to mostly CO, H 2 , and CO 2 .

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS2000

Effect of Combined Spaceborne Microwave and Continuous Lightning Measurements on Precipitation Forecasts of the 1998 Ground-Hog Day Storm

We evaluated the impact of several newly available sources of meteorological data on mesoscale model forecasts of precipitation produced by the extra-tropical cyclone that struck Florida on February 2, 1998. Precipitation distributions of convective rainfall events were derived from Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) and Multi-Channel Passive Microwave Sensor (TMI) microwave radiometric data by means of the Goddard PROFiling (GPROF) algorithm. Continuous lightning distributions were obtained from sferics measurements obtained from a network of VLF radio receivers. Histograms of coincident sferics frequency distributions were matched to those of precipitation to derive bogus convective rainfall rates from the continuously available sferics measurements. SSM/I and TMI microwave data were used to derive Integrated Precipitable Water (IPW) distributions. The TMI also provided sea surface temperatures (SSTS) of the Loop Current and Gulf Stream with improved structural detail. A series of experiments assimilated IPW and latent heating from the bogus convective rainfall for six-hours in the MM5 mesoscale forecast model to produce nine-hour forecasts of all rainfall as well as other weather parameters. Although continuously assimilating latent heating only slightly improved the surface pressure distribution forecast, it significantly improved the precipitation forecasts. Correctly locating convective rainfall was found critical for assimilating latent heating in the forecast model, but measurement of the rainfall intensity proved to be less important. The improved SSTs also had a positive impact on rainfall forecasts for this case. Assimilating bogus rainfall in the model produced nine-hour forecasts of radar reflectivity distributions that agreed well with coincident observations from the TRMM spaceborne precipitation radar, ground based radar and spaceborne microwave measurements.

Weinman, James A.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Error analysis for the ground-based microwave ozone measurements during STOIC

We present a formal error analysis and characterization of the microwave measurements made during the Stratospheric Ozone Intercomparison Campaign (STOIC). The most important error sources are found to be determination of the tropospheric opacity, the pressure-broadening coefficient of the observed line, and systematic variations in instrument response as a function of frequency ('baseline'). Net precision is 4-6% between 55 and 0.2 mbar, while accuracy is 6-10%. Resolution is 8-10 km below 3 mbar and increases to 17km at 0.2 mbar. We show the 'blind' microwave measurements from STOIC and make limited comparisons to other measurements. We use the averaging kernels of the microwave measurement to eliminate resolution and a priori effects from a comparison to SAGE 2. The STOIC results and comparisons are broadly consistent with the formal analysis.

Connor, Brian J.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Cryogenically enhanced quasi-optical resonator for megawatt pulsed millimeter-wave sources

We report the design, cryogenic optimization, and performance modeling of a compact quasi-optical ring resonator intended to compress microwaves pulses at 170 and 250 GHz to the megawatt level. By combining ultra-low-loss CVD diamond and gold-doped silicon wafers with high-RRR copper mirrors, the calculated unloaded quality factor exceeds 4.3 × 10 5 at 20 K and yields simulated gains up to $\mathscr{G}$ = 4.1 × 10 3 . Coupling the resonator with a laser-driven semiconductor switch described by an extended Vogel model shows that 1 MW, nanosecond pulses can be generated from only 445 W of microwave drive power while dissipating 272 W into the cryostat. A practical cooling architecture using two Gifford–McMahon stages (20 and 80 K) is proposed, demonstrating that high-repetition-rate (10–20 kHz) operation is feasible with commercially available cryocoolers. The results outline a clear path toward cost-effective, table-top sources for extreme-ultraviolet lithography, dynamic nuclear polarization, and fusion systems.

Panisset, Constant [Ecole Polytechnique Federale L↗
NASA NTRS1983

Microwave emission from the coronae of late-type dwarf stars

VLA microwave observations of 14 late-type dwarf and subgiant stars and binary systems are examined. In this extensive set of observations, four sources at 6 cm (Chi-1 Ori, UV Cet, YY Gem, and Wolf 630AB) were detected and low upper limits for the remaining stars were found. The microwave luminosities of the nondetected F-K dwarfs are as small as 0.01 those of the dMe stars. The detected emission is slowly variable in all cases and is consistent with gyroresonant emission from thermal electrons spiraling in magnetic fields of about 300 gauss if the source sizes are as large as R/R(asterisk) = 3-4. This would correspond to magnetic fields that are probably in the range 0.001-0.0001 gauss at the photospheric level. An alternative mechanism is gyrosynchrotron emission from a relatively small number of electrons with effective temperature.

Linsky, J. L.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Interface-sensitive microwave loss in superconducting tantalum films sputtered on c-plane sapphire

Quantum coherence in superconducting circuits has increased steadily over the last decades because of a growing understanding of the various loss mechanisms. Recently, tantalum (Ta) emerged as a promising material to address microscopic sources of loss found on niobium (Nb) or aluminum (Al) surfaces. However, the effects of film and interface microstructure on low-temperature microwave loss are still not well understood. Here, in this study, we present a systematic study of the structural and electrical properties of Ta and Nb films sputtered on c-plane sapphire at varying growth temperatures. As growth temperature was increased, our results show that the onset of epitaxial growth of α -phase Ta correlates with lower Ta surface roughness, higher critical temperature, and higher residual resistivity ratio, but surprisingly also correlates with a significant increase in loss at microwave frequency. Notably, this high level of loss is not observed in Nb films prepared in the same way and having very similar structure. By experimentally controlling the surface on which the Ta film is nucleated, we determine that the source of loss was only present in samples having an epitaxial Ta/sapphire interface and show that it was apparently mitigated by either growing a thin, epitaxial Nb interlayer between the Ta film and the substrate or by intentionally treating, and effectively damaging, the sapphire surface with an in situ argon plasma before Ta growth. In addition to elucidating this interfacial microwave loss, this work provides adequate process details to aid reproducible growth of low-loss Ta films across fabrication facilities.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
NASA NTRS2014

Introducing Multisensor Satellite Radiance-Based Evaluation for Regional Earth System Modeling

Earth System modeling has become more complex, and its evaluation using satellite data has also become more difficult due to model and data diversity. Therefore, the fundamental methodology of using satellite direct measurements with instrumental simulators should be addressed especially for modeling community members lacking a solid background of radiative transfer and scattering theory. This manuscript introduces principles of multisatellite, multisensor radiance-based evaluation methods for a fully coupled regional Earth System model: NASA-Unified Weather Research and Forecasting (NU-WRF) model. We use a NU-WRF case study simulation over West Africa as an example of evaluating aerosol-cloud-precipitation-land processes with various satellite observations. NU-WRF-simulated geophysical parameters are converted to the satellite-observable raw radiance and backscatter under nearly consistent physics assumptions via the multisensor satellite simulator, the Goddard Satellite Data Simulator Unit. We present varied examples of simple yet robust methods that characterize forecast errors and model physics biases through the spatial and statistical interpretation of various satellite raw signals: infrared brightness temperature (Tb) for surface skin temperature and cloud top temperature, microwave Tb for precipitation ice and surface flooding, and radar and lidar backscatter for aerosol-cloud profiling simultaneously. Because raw satellite signals integrate many sources of geophysical information, we demonstrate user-defined thresholds and a simple statistical process to facilitate evaluations, including the infrared-microwave-based cloud types and lidar/radar-based profile classifications.

Planetary Boundary Layer↗
NASA NTRS1984

Titan - Far-infrared and microwave remote sensing of methane clouds and organic haze

Titan's surface and plausible atmospheric thermal opacity sources, which include gaseous N2, CH4, and H2, together with CH4 clouds and organic haze, are sufficient to match available earth-based and Voyager observations of Titan's thermal emission spectrum. Dominant thermal emission sources are the surface, at greater than 1 cm wavelengths, atmospheric N2 for the 1-200 micron range, condensed and gaseous CH4 for 200-20 microns, and molecular bands and organic haze at less than 20 microns.

Thompson, W. R.↗