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NASA NTRS1991

Hybrid state-space self-tuning control using dual-rate sampling

This paper presents a hybrid state-space self-tuning control scheme using dual-rate sampling for suboptimal digital adaptive control of linear time-invariant continuous-time multivariable stochastic systems with unknown parameters. An equivalent fast-rate discrete-time state-space innovation model (with estimated states) of the continuous-time system is constructed by using the estimated system parameters and Kalman gain. To utilize the existing optimal regional-pole assignment method developed in the continuous-time domain, the constructed fast-rate discrete-time model is converted into an equivalent continuous-time model for the development of a state-feedback optimal control law with pole placement in a specific region. The developed analog optimal control law is then converted into an equivalent pseudo-slow-rate digital control law via the proposed digital redesign technique, which can be realized via slow-rate digital electronics. The proposed method enables the development of a digitally implementable advanced control algorithm for digital adaptive control of continuous-time multivariable stochastic systems which may be unstable and/or have nonminimum phase.

Shieh, Leang S.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Stereoscopic Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence Imaging at 500 kHz

A new measurement technique for obtaining time- and spatially-resolved image sequences in hypersonic flows is developed. Nitric-oxide planar laser-induced fluorescence (NO PLIF) has previously been used to investigate transition from laminar to turbulent flow in hypersonic boundary layers using both planar and volumetric imaging capabilities. Low flow rates of NO were typically seeded into the flow, minimally perturbing the flow. The volumetric imaging was performed at a measurement rate of 10 Hz using a thick planar laser sheet that excited NO fluorescence. The fluorescence was captured by a pair of cameras having slightly different views of the flow. Subsequent stereoscopic reconstruction of these images allowed the three-dimensional flow structures to be viewed. In the current paper, this approach has been extended to 50,000 times higher repetition rates. A laser operating at 500 kHz excites the seeded NO molecules, and a camera, synchronized with the laser and fitted with a beam-splitting assembly, acquires two separate images of the flow. The resulting stereoscopic images provide three-dimensional flow visualizations at 500 kHz for the first time. The 200 ns exposure time in each frame is fast enough to freeze the flow while the 500 kHz repetition rate is fast enough to time-resolve changes in the flow being studied. This method is applied to visualize the evolving hypersonic flow structures that propagate downstream of a discrete protuberance attached to a flat plate. The technique was demonstrated in the NASA Langley Research Center s 31-Inch Mach 10 Air Tunnel facility. Different tunnel Reynolds number conditions, NO flow rates and two different cylindrical protuberance heights were investigated. The location of the onset of flow unsteadiness, an indicator of transition, was observed to move downstream during the tunnel runs, coinciding with an increase in the model temperature.

Medford, Taylor L.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Sampling theory for asynoptic satellite observations. I Space-time spectra, resolution, and aliasing. II - Fast Fourier synoptic mapping

An evaluation of the information content of asynoptic data taken in the form of nadir sonde and limb scan observations is presented, and a one-to-one correspondence is established between the alias-free data and twice-daily synoptic maps. Attention is given to space and time limitations of sampling and the orbital geometry is discussed. The sampling pattern is demonstrated to determine unique space-time spectra at all wavenumbers and frequencies. Spectral resolution and aliasing are explored, while restrictions on sampling and information content are defined. It is noted that irregular sampling at high latitudes produces spurious contamination effects. An Asynoptic Sampling Theorem is thereby formulated, as is a Synoptic Retrieval Theorem, in the second part of the article. In the latter, a procedure is developed for retrieving the unique correspondence between the asymptotic data and the synoptic maps. Applications examples are provided using data from the Nimbus-6 satellite.

Salby, M. L.↗

NASA NTRS1999

On the Nature of XTE J0421+560/CI Cam

We present the results of the analysis of RXTE, BATSE and optical/IR data of the 1998 outburst of the x-ray transient system XTE J0421+650. The x-ray outburst shows a very fast decay initial e-folding time approximately 0.5 days, slowing down to about 2.3 days). The X ray spectrum in the 2-25 keV band is thermal, softening considerably during decay. Intrinsic absorption is observed, also strongly variable. A strong iron line at around 6.7 keV is observed. No fast time variability is observed (<0.1 rms in the 1-4906 Hz band at peak). The analysis of optical/IR data suggest that the secondary is a b[e] star and place the system at a distance of about 2 kpc. At this distance the 2-25 keV luminosity is about 5 x 10(exp 37) erg/seconds. We compare the properties of this system with those of the Be/NS LMC transient A 0538-66 and suggest that CI cam is of a similar nature. The presence of strong radio emission during outburst indicates that the compact object could be a black hole.

Belloni, T.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Delivery and application of precise timing for a traveling wave powerline fault locator system

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has successfully operated an in-house developed powerline fault locator system since 1986. The BPA fault locator system consists of remotes installed at cardinal power transmission line system nodes and a central master which polls the remotes for traveling wave time-of-arrival data. A power line fault produces a fast rise-time traveling wave which emanates from the fault point and propagates throughout the power grid. The remotes time-tag the traveling wave leading edge as it passes through the power system cardinal substation nodes. A synchronizing pulse transmitted via the BPA analog microwave system on a wideband channel sychronizes the time-tagging counters in the remote units to a different accuracy of better than one microsecond. The remote units correct the raw time tags for synchronizing pulse propagation delay and return these corrected values to the fault locator master. The master then calculates the power system disturbance source using the collected time tags. The system design objective is a fault location accuracy of 300 meters. BPA's fault locator system operation, error producing phenomena, and method of distributing precise timing are described.

Street, Michael A.↗

NASA NTRS1985

A transient digitiser for fast air shower events

Air shower structure are often measured on time scales of a few nanoseconds. Longitudinal disk structure near the core is of the order of meters in dimension, air Cerenkov pulses have full widths at half maximum of the order of tens of nanoseconds, and fast timing over typical arrays is usually measured to nanosecond accuracy. oscilloscopes can be used but have very limited dynamic range and are expensive if measurements down to a few nanoseconds are to be made. For the fast Cerenkov work, an instrument with better dynamic range than an oscilloscope and with a time resolution sufficient to allow measurements limited only by system risetime of a few nanoseconds is needed. A 16/32 channel, 8 bit, fast transient digitizer was designed and built which runs at sample intervals down to approx. 1 nanosecond per channel.

Wild, N. R.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Mars brine formation experiment

Evaporites, particularly carbonates, nitrates, and sulfates, may be major sinks of volatiles scavenged from the martian atmosphere. Mars is thought to have once had a denser, warmer atmosphere that permitted the presence of liquid surface water. The conversion of atmospheric CO2 into carbonate is hypothesized to have degraded the martian climate to its present state of a generally subfreezing, desiccated desert. The rate for such a conversion under martian conditions is poorly known, so the time scale of climate degradation by this process cannot be easily evaluated. If some models are correct, carbonate formation may have been fast at geological time scales. The experiments of Booth and Kieffer also imply fast (10(exp 6) - 10(exp 7) yr) removal of the missing CO2 inventory, estimated to be 1 - 5 bar, by means of carbonate formation. The timing of formation of many of the fluvial features observed on Mars is, in large part, dependent on when and how fast the atmosphere changed. A knowledge of the rate at which carbonates and nitrates formed is also essential for assessing the probability that life, or its chemical precursors, could have developed on Mars. No previous experiments have quantitatively evaluated the rate of solution for a suite of mobile anions and cations from unaltered minerals and atmospheric gases into liquid water under Mars-like conditions. Such experiments are the focus of this task.

Moore, Jeffrey M.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Novel High Efficient Organic Photovoltaic Materials

In man's mission to the outer space or a remote site, the most abundant, renewable, nonpolluting, and unlimited external energy source is light. Photovoltaic (PV) materials can convert light into electrical power. In order to generate appreciable electrical power in space or on the Earth, it is necessary to collect sunlight from large areas due to the low density of sunlight, and this would be very costly using current commercially available inorganic solar cells. Future organic or polymer based solar cells seemed very attractive due to several reasons. These include lightweight, flexible shape, ultra-fast optoelectronic response time (this also makes organic PV materials attractive for developing ultra-fast photo detectors), tunability of energy band-gaps via molecular design, versatile materials synthesis and device fabrication schemes, and much lower cost on large-scale industrial production. It has been predicted that nano-phase separated block copolymer systems containing electron rich donor blocks and electron deficient acceptor blocks will facilitate the charge separation and migration due to improved electronic ultrastructure and morphology in comparison to current polymer composite photovoltaic system. This presentation will describe our recent progress in the design, synthesis and characterization of a novel donor-bridge-acceptor block copolymer system for potential high-efficient organic optoelectronic applications. Specifically, the donor block contains an electron donating alkyloxy derivatized polyphenylenevinylene, the acceptor block contains an electron withdrawing alkyl-sulfone derivatized polyphenylenevinylene, and the bridge block contains an electronically neutral non-conjugated aliphatic hydrocarbon chain. The key synthetic strategy includes the synthesis of each individual block first, then couple the blocks together. While the donor block stabilizes the holes, the acceptor block stabilizes the electrons. The bridge block is designed to hinder the electron-hole recombination. Thus, improved charge separation is expected. In addition, charge migration will also be facilitated due to the expected nano-phase separated and highly ordered block copolymer ultrastructural. The combination of all these factors will result in significant overall enhancement of photovoltaic power conversion efficiency.

Sun, Sam↗

NASA NTRS2018

Fast Linearized Coronagraph Optimizer (FALCO) II: Optical Model Validation and Time Savings over Other Methods

We have developed the Fast Linearized Coronagraph Optimizer (FALCO), a new software toolbox for high-contrast, coronagraphic wavefront sensing and control. FALCO rapidly calculates the linearized deformable mirror (DM) response matrices, also called control Jacobians, and can be used for the design, simulation, or testbed operation of several types of coronagraphs. In this paper, we demonstrate that the optical propagation used in FALCO is accurate and matches PROPER. In addition, we demonstrate the drastic reduction in runtime when using FALCO for DM Jacobian calculations instead of the conventional method used, for example with a model of the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Coronagraph Instrument (CGI). We then compare the relative accuracy between optical models in FALCO and PROPER.

Coker, Carl↗

NASA NTRS1990

Rapid calculation of terrain parameters for radiation modeling from digital elevation data

Digital elevation models are now widely used to calculate terrain parameters to determine incoming solar and longwave radiation for use in surface climate models, interpretation of remote-sensing data, and parameters in hydrologic models. Because of the large number of points in an elevation grid, fast algorithms are useful to save computation time. A description is given of rapid methods for calculating slope and azimuth, solar illumination angle, horizons, and view factors for radiation from sky and terrain. Calculation time is reduced by fast algorithms and lookup tables.

Dozier, Jeff↗

NASA NTRS1991

The role of time and speed in NASA's SUNLITE program

The SUNLITE program of NASA's LaRC aims to demonstrate lower noise and better frequency stability for continuous-wave (CW) solid-state lasers in the microgravity environment of space. The program will utilize laser-diode-pumped nonplanar-ring oscillators regulated by ultra-stable high-finesse Fabry-Perot Spectrometers to produce light beams with phase rate or frequency variations as low as 3 Hz. SUNLITE will use the period-method (P-method) to measure the phase rate and frequency stability of the lasers. The P-method was chosen because it requires less memory space for the raw data, because frequencies can be analyzed on-line in real-time simply by reciprocating the periods (fi = 1/pi), and because the mean and variance of the frequencies can be calculated as fast or faster than they can be with the fastest fast Fourier transformations. Furthermore, for a given signal-to-noise power ratio, the P-method requires less data and less computer time to extract the noise components. Although the P-method does require fast Time Interval Counters, the Fourier transformation method requires comparably fast Sampling Volt meters. For either method, however, time and computer speed play a critical role.

Hafele, Joseph C.↗

NASA NTRS1984

The influence of ground conductivity on the structure of RF radiation from return strokes

The combination of the finite conductivity of the Earth plus the propagation of the return stroke current up the channel which results in an apparent time delay between the fast field changes and RF radiation for distant observers is shown. The time delay predicted from model return strokes is on the order of 20 micro and the received signal has the characteristics of the data observed in Virginia and Florida. A piecewise linear model for the return stroke channel and a transmission line model for current propagation on each segment was used. Radiation from each segment is calculated over a flat Earth with finite conductivity using asymptotics approximations for the Sommerfeld integrals. The radiation at the observer is processed by a model AM radio receiver. The output voltage was calculated for several frequencies between HF-UHF assuming a system bandwidth (300 kHz) characteristic of the system used to collect data in Florida and Virginia. Comparison with the theoretical fast field changes indicates a time delay of 20 microns.

Levine, D. M.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Temporal evolution of an energetic electron population in an inhomogeneous medium: Application to solar hard X-ray bursts

Energetic electrons accelerated during solar flares can be studied through the hard X-ray emission they produce when interacting with the solar ambient atmosphere. In the case of the non thermal hard X-ray emission, the instanteous X-ray flux emitted at one point of the atmosphere is related to the instantaneous fast electron spectrum at that point. A hard X-ray source model then requires the understanding of the evolution in space and time of the fast particle distribution. The physical processes involved here are energy losses due to Coulomb collisions and pitch angle scattering due to both collisions and magnetic field gradients.

Vilmer, N.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Optical timing receiver for the NASA laser ranging system. Part 2: High precision time interval digitizer

The development of a high precision time interval digitizer is described. The time digitizer is a 10 psec resolution stop watch covering a range of up to 340 msec. The measured time interval is determined as a separation between leading edges of a pair of pulses applied externally to the start input and the stop input of the digitizer. Employing an interpolation techniques and a 50 MHz high precision master oscillator, the equivalent of a 100 GHz clock frequency standard is achieved. Absolute accuracy and stability of the digitizer are determined by the external 50 MHz master oscillator, which serves as a standard time marker. The start and stop pulses are fast 1 nsec rise time signals, according to the Nuclear Instrument means of tunnel diode discriminators. Firing level of the discriminator define start and stop points between which the time interval is digitized.

Leskovar, B.↗

NASA NTRS1989

TDFAC - A composite grid method for time dependent problems

This paper presents the Fast Adaptive Composite Grid Method for Time Dependent Problems (TDFAC), a local grid refinement scheme for nonlinear, time dependent partial differential equations. The method is presented in a one dimensional setting to illustrate the basic features and components. Computational results which show the effectiveness of TDFAC as a computational tool are also included.

Heroux, Michael↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Advances to a Global Agroclimatology Solar Insolation and Meteorological Parameter Data Base: Improved Solar Irradiance up to Hourly Temporal Resolution

A primary objective of NASA’s Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resource (POWER) project is to facilitate the use of NASA Earth Science data holdings within the energy, agricultural, and architectural industries. To this end daily averaged solar data from several NASA projects and metrological data from a NASA assimilation model have long been reformatted and via a user friendly web based data portal (https://power.larc.nasa.gov) at the native resolution of each data products. Potential users can access solar and metrological data in a column formatted DSSAT ASCII format by entering single site specific coordinates or from an area by entering the appropriate area coordinates. Upgrades to the POWER data portal have been implemented that result in a complete upgrade of the base solar insolation data products. From the years 1984 through 2000, a new version of the NASA/GEWEX Surface Radiation Budget (SRB) and Clouds is utilized that reduces the RMS relative to surface measurements. Additionally, Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) SYNoptic 1x1 Degree (SYN1Deg) data products are utilized starting from January 1, 2001 through 3 months of real-time. The CERES Fast Longwave and SHortwave radiative Fluxes (FLASHFlux) is still used to provided daily data spanning from the end of SYN1Deg to within 7 days of real-time. Meteorological parameters now are taken from the NASA Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA-2) data set which provides higher resolution data products (hourly and 0.5 x 625 degree) covering the entire globe. Besides updating the solar and meteorological data products, this new version features new data products such as photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), more cloud information, estimates of soil temperatures and improved options for long-term climatological data requests. More than 36+ years daily time slices are included in the combined solar and meteorological data sets. However, perhaps the most important innovation of the POWER GIS-enabled Web Services is the provision of hourly solar and meteorological data products beginning in Jan 1, 2001. The hourly values will enable more detailed modeling and crop analysis that incorporates the diurnal variability of these parameters. The new capability is made possible by utilizing both the CERES SYN1Deg and MERRA-2 data products that include parameters at these resolutions. An assessment of both the meteorological and the solar irradiance data are based upon comparisons with globally distributed surface observations. The meteorological observations from the National Center for Environmental Information’s “Integrated Surface Database” as well as the “Global Summary of the Day” (GSOD) data files. The estimates of solar insolation are compared to the Baseline Solar Radiation Network (BSRN) and other high quality surface measurement networks. Results from the uncertainty assessments demonstrates that the NASA’s meteorological and solar irradiance data can represent a viable alternative to surface observations, particularly in data sparse regions of the world.

solar irradiance↗

NASA NTRS1988

An upwind differencing scheme for the time-accurate incompressible Navier-Stokes equations

The two-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved in a time-accurate manner in using the method of pseudocompressibility. Using this method, subiterations in pseudotime are required to satisfy the continuity equation at each time step. An upwind differencing scheme based on flux-difference splitting is used to compute the convective terms. The upwind differencing is biased based on the sign of the local eigenvalue of the Jacobian matrix. Third-order or fifth-order spatial accuracy is maintained throughout the interior grid points. The equations are solved using an implicit line-relaxation scheme. This solution scheme is stable and is capable of running at large time steps in pseudotime, leading to fast convergence for each physical time step. A variety of computed results are presented to validate the present scheme. Results for the flow over an oscillating plate are compared with the exact analytic solution, good agreement is seen. Excellent comparison is obtained between the computed solution and the analytical results for inviscid channel flow with an oscillating back pressure. Flow solutions over a circular cylinder with vortex shedding are also presented. Finally, the flow past an airfoil at -90 deg angle-of-attack is also computed.

Rogers, Stuart E.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Inverse dynamics of adaptive structures used as space cranes

As a precursor to the real-time control of fast moving adaptive structures used as space cranes, a formulation is given for the flexibility induced motion relative to the nominal motion (i.e., the motion that assumes no flexibility) and for obtaining the open loop time varying driving forces. An algorithm is proposed for the computation of the relative motion and driving forces. The governing equations are given in matrix form with explicit functional dependencies. A simulator is developed to implement the algorithm on a digital computer. In the formulations, the distributed mass of the crane is lumped by two schemes, vz., 'trapezoidal' lumping and 'Simpson's rule' lumping. The effects of the mass lumping schemes are shown by simulator runs.

Das, S. K.↗