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At least 397 records · Page 22
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1994

Comparison of buoy-mounted 74-kHz acoustic Doppler current profilers with vector-measuring current meters

In December 1991, the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) deployed two meteorological buoys in the Southern California Bight on a transect between San Diego and San Clemente Island. Each buoy consisted of a 10-m discus hull instrumented to measure a suite of meteorological parameters, and, for the first time in the NDBC buoy program, acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) were included to gather hourly current profiles beneath the two buoys. Moorings instrumented with seven vector-measuring current meters (VMCMs) were deployed adjacent to the NDBC buoys for several months and provided current observations for comparison with the ADCP measurements. When wave-induced buoy motion is not overly large, the observations of horizontal current made by the ADCP and the VMCM are highly correlated. Time series of differences between ADCP and VMCM measurements are characterized by a mean difference (bias error) of about 0.01 m/s and standard deviation of about 0.035 m/s for 1-h observations. Estimates of current spectra from ADCP and VMCM records suggest that the ADCP system can be characterized by a white noise level of 2 x 10(exp -3) sq m/sq s/cph. However, when the in situ environment is such that large surface waves are present (including breaking waves and whitecaps), erroneous current values are usually reported by the ADCP. Mean values of vertical velocities reported by the ADCP appear to be much larger than what could be physically expected and are therefore deemed unreliable.

Winant, Clinton↗
NASA NTRS1973

ERTS-1 anomalous dark patches

The author has identified the following significant results. Through combined use of imagery from ERTS-1 and NOAA-2 satellites was found that when the sun elevation exceeds 55 degrees, the ERTS-1 imagery is subject to considerable contamination by sunlight even though the actual specular point is nearly 300 nautical miles from nadir. Based on sea surface wave slope information, a wind speed of 10 knots will theoretically provide approximately 0.5 percent incident solar reflectance under observed ERTS multispectral scanner detectors. This reflectance nearly doubles under the influence of a 20 knot wind. The most pronounced effect occurs in areas of calm water where anomalous dark patches are observed. Calm water at distances from the specular point found in ERTS scenes will reflect no solar energy to the multispectral scanner, making these regions stand out as dark areas in all bands in an ocean scene otherwise comprosed by a general diffuse sunlight from rougher ocean surfaces. Anomalous dark patches in the outer parts of the glitter zones may explain the unusual appearance of some scenes.

Strong, A. E.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Coronal Plumes in the Fast Solar Wind

The expansion of a coronal hole filled with a discrete number of higher density coronal plumes is simulated using a time-dependent two-dimensional code. A solar wind model including an exponential coronal heating function and a flux of Alfven waves propagating both inside and outside the structures is taken as a basic state. Different plasma plume profiles are obtained by using different scale heights for the heating rates. Remote sensing and solar wind in situ observations are used to constrain the parameter range of the study. Time dependence due to plume ignition and disappearance is also discussed. Velocity differences of the order of approximately 50 km/s, such as those found in microstreams in the high-speed solar wind, may be easily explained by slightly different heat deposition profiles in different plumes. Statistical pressure balance in the fast wind data may be masked by the large variety of body and surface waves which the higher density filaments may carry, so the absence of pressure balance in the microstreams should not rule out their interpretation as the extension of coronal plumes into interplanetary space. Mixing of plume-interplume material via the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability seems to be possible within the parameter ranges of the models defined here, only at large di stances from the Sun, beyond 0.2-0.3 AU. Plasma and composition measurements in the inner heliosphere, such as those which will become available with Solar Orbiter and Solar Probe Plus, should therefore definitely be able to identify plume remnants in the solar wind.

Velli, Marco↗
NASA NTRS2000

Polar Spacecraft Based Comparisons of Intense Electric Fields and Poynting Flux Near and Within the Plasma Sheet-Tail Lobe Boundary to UVI Images: An Energy Source for the Aurora

In this paper, we present measurements from two passes of the Polar spacecraft of intense electric and magnetic field structures associated with Alfven waves at and within the outer boundary of the plasma sheet at geocentric distances of 4-6 R(sub E), near local midnight. The electric field variations have maximum values exceeding 100 mV/m and are typically polarized approximately normal to the plasma sheet boundary. The electric field structures investigated vary over timescales (in the spacecraft frame.) ranging front 1 to 30 s. They are associated with strong magnetic field fluctuations with amplitudes of 10-40 nT which lie predominantly ill the plane of the plasma sheet and are perpendicular to the local magnetic field. The Poynting flux associated with the perturbation fields measured at these altitudes is about 1-2 ergs per square centimeters per second and is directed along the average magnetic field direction toward the ionosphere. If the measured Poynting flux is mapped to ionospheric altitudes along converging magnetic field lines. the resulting energy flux ranges up to 100 ergs per centimeter squared per second. These strongly enhanced Poynting fluxes appear to occur in layers which are observed when the spacecraft is magnetically conjugate (to within a 1 degree mapping accuracy) to intense auroral structures as detected by the Polar UV Imager (UVI). The electron energy flux (averaged over a spatial resolution of 0.5 degrees) deposited in the ionosphere due to auroral electron beams as estimated from the intensity in the UVI Lyman-Birge-Hopfield-long filters is 15-30 ergs per centimeter squared per second. Thus there is evidence that these electric field structures provide sufficient Poynting flux to power the acceleration of auroral electrons (as well as the energization of upflowing ions and Joule heating of the ionosphere). During some events the phasing and ratio of the transverse electric and magnetic field variations are consistent with earthward propagation of Alfven surface waves with phase velocities of 4000-10000 kilometers per second. During other events the phase shifts between electric and magnetic fields suggest interference between upward and downward propagating Alfven waves. The E/B ratios are about an order of magnitude larger than typical values of C/SIGMA(sub p), where SIGMA(sub p), is the height integrated Pedersen conductivity. The contribution to the total energy flux at these altitudes from Poynting flux associated with Alfven waves is comparable to or larger than the contribution from the particle energy flux and 1-2 orders of magnitude larger than that estimated from the large-scale steady state convection electric field and field-aligned current system.

Wygant, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Detection of Water Hazards for Autonomous Robotic Vehicles

Four methods of detection of bodies of water are under development as means to enable autonomous robotic ground vehicles to avoid water hazards when traversing off-road terrain. The methods involve processing of digitized outputs of optoelectronic sensors aboard the vehicles. It is planned to implement these methods in hardware and software that would operate in conjunction with the hardware and software for navigation and for avoidance of solid terrain obstacles and hazards. The first method, intended for use during the day, is based on the observation that, under most off-road conditions, reflections of sky from water are easily discriminated from the adjacent terrain by their color and brightness, regardless of the weather and of the state of surface waves on the water. Accordingly, this method involves collection of color imagery by a video camera and processing of the image data by an algorithm that classifies each pixel as soil, water, or vegetation according to its color and brightness values (see figure). Among the issues that arise is the fact that in the presence of reflections of objects on the opposite shore, it is difficult to distinguish water by color and brightness alone. Another issue is that once a body of water has been identified by means of color and brightness, its boundary must be mapped for use in navigation. Techniques for addressing these issues are under investigation. The second method, which is not limited by time of day, is based on the observation that ladar returns from bodies of water are usually too weak to be detected. In this method, ladar scans of the terrain are analyzed for returns and the absence thereof. In appropriate regions, the presence of water can be inferred from the absence of returns. Under some conditions in which reflections from the bottom are detectable, ladar returns could, in principle, be used to determine depth. The third method involves the recognition of bodies of water as dark areas in short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) images. This method is based on the fact, well known among experts in remote sensing, that water bodies of any appreciable depth appear very dark in near-infrared, overhead imagery. Even under a thick layer of marine fog, SWIR illumination is present. Hence, this method may work even in the presence of clouds, though it is unlikely to work at night. Snow and ice also exhibit very strong absorption at wavelengths greater than about 1.4 m. Hence, the wavelength range of about 1.5 to 1.6 m might be useable in this method for recognizing water, snow, and ice. One notable drawback of this method is that useful look-ahead distance could be limited by surface reflections. The fourth method, intended for use at night, involves the contrast between water and terrain in thermal-infrared (medium-wavelength infrared) imagery. This method is based on the fact that at night, water is usually warmer than the adjacent terrain. Look-ahead distance could be limited in this method because, for reasons not yet fully understood, water appears to darken in the thermal infrared with increasing distance.

Matthes, Larry↗
NASA NTRS1967

Study of stress corrosion in aluminum alloys

Mechanism of the stress corrosion cracking of high-strength aluminum alloys was investigated using electrochemical, mechanical, and electron microscopic techniques. The feasibility of detecting stress corrosion damage in fabricated aluminum alloy parts by nondestructive testing was investigated using ultrasonic surface waves and eddy currents.

Brummer, S. B.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Microwave measurement of thermal emission from the sea.

Review of the results of some experimental and theoretical investigations of various limiting factors in microwave measurements of thermal emission from the sea, ranging from instrumentation to surface properties of the ocean. It is shown that absolute measurement of the thermal emission from the sea can be made at 2.69 GHz, with accuracies of better than plus or minus 1 K within the present state of microwave instrument development. The principal uncertainties on interpretation of such observations in terms of molecular temperature of the sea involve: (1) surface contamination such as oil slicks, (2) spray and foaming, (3) salinity variation, and (4) surface waves.

Gray, K. W.↗