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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 415 records · Page 23
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2004

MODIS Direct Broadcast and Remote Sensing Applications

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was developed by NASA and launched onboard both Terra spacecraft on December 18, 1999 and Aqua spacecraft on May 4, 2002. MODIS scans a swath width sufficient to provide nearly complete global coverage every two days from a polar-orbiting, sun-synchronous, platform at an altitude of 705 km, and provides images in 36 spectral bands between 0.415 and 14.235 microns with spatial resolutions of 250 m (2 bands), 500 m (5 bands) and 1000 m (29 bands). Equipped with direct broadcast capability, the MODIS measurements can be received worldwide real time. There are 82 ingest sites (over 900 users, listed on the Direct Readout Portal) around the world for Terra/Aqua-MODIS Direct Broadcast DB) downlink. This represents 27 (6 from EOS science team members) science research organizations for DB land, ocean and atmospheric processing, and 53 companies that base their application algorithms and value added products on DB data. In this paper we will describe the various methods being used for the remote sensing of cloud properties using MODIS data, focusing primarily on the MODIS cloud mask used to distinguish clouds, clear sky, heavy aerosol, and shadows on the ground, and on the remote sensing of aerosol/cloud optical properties, especially optical thickness and effective particle size. Additional properties of clouds derived from multispectral thermal infrared measurements, especially cloud top pressure and emissivity, will also be described. Preliminary results will be presented and discussed their implications in regional-to-global climatic effects.

Tsay, Si-Chee↗
NASA NTRS2009

Photography of Coral Reefs from ISS

This viewgraph presentation reviews the uses of photography from the International Space Station (ISS) in studying Earth's coral reefs. The photographs include reefs in various oceans . The photographs have uses for science in assisting NASA mapping initiatives, distribution worldwide through ReefBase, and by biologist in the field.

Robinson, Julie A.↗
NASA NTRS2021

Southern California Health & Air Quality: Using Remote Sensing to Detect the Frequency and Drivers of Red Tide Blooms in California to Assist in the Management of Human and Marine Exposure to Algal Toxins

In 2020, the dinoflagellate species Lingulodinium polyedra was measured at unprecedented levels off the southern California coast, raising concern for local communities. At high levels, L. polyedra can cause marine life mortality, food-borne illness, and respiratory-related health risks in humans. In partnership with the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Southwest Fisheries Science Center, the California Department of Public Health, and the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, this project utilized satellite imagery to visualize and analyze spatiotemporal trends of historical red tide events associated with L. polyedra. Using the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership’s (NPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), Aqua’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and Global Change Observation Mission – Climate (GCOM-C) Second Generation Global Imager (SGLI), the team assessed the validity of using multiple sensors in detecting chlorophyll-a as a proxy for dinoflagellate dominated-algal blooms. The results suggest that VIIRS imagery processed using the Color Index algorithm from Hu et al. (2013), amongst all other algorithms and Earth observations assessed, shows the most promise in identifying L. polyedra blooms. The end products included an ArcGIS Dashboard and Google Earth Engine tool that when combined, provided users with spatial and temporal trends, interactive interfaces to analyze the effectiveness of various sensors and algorithms, and an overall contribution to aid in the management of human health and the economy impacted by harmful algal blooms.

Harmful algal bloom↗
NASA NTRS1990

Press abstracts of the 21st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference

The Program Committee for the Twenty-fisrt Lunar and Planetary Science Conference has chosen these contributions as having the greatest potential interest for the general public. The papers in this collection were written for general presentation, avoiding jargon and unnecessarily complex terms. More technical abstracts will be found in Lunar and Planetary Science XXI. Representative titles are: Ancient Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Interactions on Mars: Global Model and Geological Evidence; Oxygen Isotopic Compositions of Ordinary Chondrites and Their Chondrules; Exposure Ages and Collisional History of L-Chondrite Parent Bodies; Models of Solar-Powered Geysers on Triton; and Search for Life: A Science Rationale for a Permanent Base on Mars.

Source record↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s Student Airborne Science Activation for Minority Serving Institutions: Inaugural Program, Educational Outcomes, and Lessons Learned

The NASA Student Airborne Science Activation (SaSa) for Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) held its inaugural summer research program for early career undergraduates interested in the Geosciences. SaSa is a NASA Science Activation funded 8-week summer internship program. Twenty-four first- and second-year undergraduates from MSIs across the U.S. participated in the summer program - June 6 to July 29, 2022. Students had the opportunity to gain hands-on research experience in all components of an airborne science campaign including flying on-board a NASA research aircraft to collect atmospheric measurements. Students conducted independent research projects related to the atmosphere, ocean, and geosciences that feed into NASA’s broader Earth Science Division’s and Decadal Survey goals using air quality, meteorological, and oceanic measurements from surface, airborne, and satellite-based observations. The program split its time between partner institution, University of Maryland Baltimore County and NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. Students also made site visits at partner institutions, including: Hampton University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State University, Howard University, and Coppin State University and attended lectures from visiting faculty and NASA Subject Matter Experts. Students were guided on their research projects by near-peer graduate mentors, SaSa program leadership, co-Is at partner institutions, and NASA scientists to address two major research themes: 1) how human-caused air pollution has human and environmental implications, and 2) how large-scale meteorological factors influence local weather conditions. Students sorted into research groups, based on sub-discipline areas in the Geosciences, including: “Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation”, “Meteorology and Planetary Boundary Layer”, “Air Quality: Particle Pollution and Trace Gases”, and “Air-Water-Land Interface”. Their research was presented as 3-minute lightning talks and in-person poster presentations at a close-out event at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The students’ inter- and trans-disciplinary research experiences centered in the use of multiple ground, airborne, and satellite remote sensing NASA Earth Science Division assets. Providing a unique experience aligned to recognize the societal benefits that NASA contributes in the areas of resource management, air quality monitoring and policy decisions, energy and weather predictions, and research on the Earth’s climate. The SaSa program aims to increase the number of students from MSIs that identify as underrepresented or underserved individuals in the Geosciences discipline, Earth System Science graduate programs, and the NASA workforce. A summary of the summer research program, educational, scientific, and programmatic outcomes, as well as lessons learned will be presented.

NASA↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s PACE Ocean Color Instrument Thermal Design Evolution: from Goddard’s Instrument Design Lab through Flight Development

NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission, set to launch in 2024, seeks to provide data continuity for the ocean color, aerosol and cloud measurements acquired by NASA’s on-orbit Earth Science observatories since the 1990s. It will accomplish this through its Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), an optical spectrometer being developed for hyper-spectral measurements in the ultraviolet-to-near-infrared band between 340 nm and 2260 nm. Although OCI’s instrument architecture will provide greater insight and resolution than its predecessors in this wavelength range, the engineering required to achieve this also poses a greater challenge. In thermal engineering, this translates to a more complex thermal control approach to address high heat dissipations, stringent stabilities, the volume of heat that requires transport, and changing thermal environments due to tilting of the entire instrument ±20° twice per orbit. This current work explores how the PACE OCI instrument design has evolved from its initial conception in NASA Goddard’s Instrument Design Laboratory (IDL) to the current iteration of its flight design. The IDL studies explored three separate instrument configurations and two spatial resolutions per configuration, which were then down selected to a single instrument type and spatial resolution for flight instrument development. OCI subsequently went through major project milestones, including Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review (CDR), Pre-Environmental Review (PER) and Pre-Ship Review (PSR), with significant design updates along the way. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive account of OCI’s thermal control architecture evolution and the engineering drivers that have shaped it, with the goal of identifying trends spanning the full instrument development timeline to inform and advance future instrument thermal designs.

PACE↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s PACE Ocean Color Instrument Thermal Design Evolution: from Goddard’s Instrument Design Lab through Flight Development

NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission, set to launch in 2024, seeks to provide data continuity for the ocean color, aerosol and cloud measurements acquired by NASA’s on-orbit Earth Science observatories since the 1990s. It will accomplish this through its Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), an optical spectrometer being developed for hyper-spectral measurements in the ultraviolet-to-near-infrared band between 340 nm and 2260 nm. Although OCI’s instrument architecture will provide greater insight and resolution than its predecessors in this wavelength range, the engineering required to achieve this also poses a greater challenge. In thermal engineering, this translates to a more complex thermal control approach to address high heat dissipations, stringent stabilities, the volume of heat that requires transport, and changing thermal environments due to tilting of the entire instrument ±20° twice per orbit. This current work explores how the PACE OCI instrument design has evolved from its initial conception in NASA Goddard’s Instrument Design Laboratory (IDL) to the current iteration of its flight design. The IDL studies explored three separate instrument configurations and two spatial resolutions per configuration, which were then down selected to a single instrument type and spatial resolution for flight instrument development. OCI subsequently went through major project milestones, including Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review (CDR), Pre-Environmental Review (PER) and Pre-Ship Review (PSR), with significant design updates along the way. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive account of OCI’s thermal control architecture evolution and the engineering drivers that have shaped it, with the goal of identifying trends spanning the full instrument development timeline to inform and advance future instrument thermal designs.

PACE↗
NASA NTRS2009

An Overview of MODIS Calibration and Characterization and Lessons Learned

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a key instrument for NASA's EOS missions. Two nearly identical copies have flown on the Terra and Aqua spacecraft for more than 9 years and 6 years since their launch in December 1999 and May 2002, respectively. MODIS observations and associated data products have been widely used by the science community and users worldwide for studies of Earth's system of land, oceans, and atmosphere. MODIS was developed based on the desire of the science community to extend and enhance heritage sensors' data records. It was designed with enhancements made over its heritage sensors in terms of its spectral, spatial, and radiometric characteristics. It is a cross-track scanning radiometer, that uses a two-sided scan mirror, collecting data in 36 spectral bands covering spectral regions of visible (VIS), near-infrared (NIR), short-wave infrared (SWIR), mid-wave infrared (MWIR), and long-wave infrared (LWIR). The VIS, NIR, and SWIR bands (bands 1-19 and 26), which make measurements of daytime surface reflected radiances, are referred to as the reflective solar bands (RSB). The MWIR and LWIR bands (20-25 and 27-36), which measure both the daytime and nighttime scene emissive radiances, are thus referred to as the thermal emissive bands (TEB). In this paper, we provide an overview of MODIS instrument calibration and characterization methodologies, activities, and results from pre-launch to post launch, with emphasis on the lessons learned from its design to on-orbit operation. Currently, both instruments are operated normally and all the on-orbit calibration activities are performed on a regular basis with some at slightly reduced frequencies. The TEB responses have been extremely stable with less than 0.3% change per year. For the RSB, the changes are wavelength and scan angle dependent with the largest changes in the VIS spectral bands. As both Terra and Aqua MODIS continue to operate beyond their prime missions, constant effort is still needed to maintain instrument and calibration and data product quality. This paper shows that the lessons from Terra MODIS design, test, and operation, have greatly benefitted Aqua MODIS. Because of this, Aqua MODIS overall performance is better than Terra MODIS. It is not surprising that lessons from MODIS calibration and characterization, from methodologies to on-orbit implementation, have also provided valuable information for the design and development of future earth observing missions/sensors, such as VHRS on the NPP and NPOESS, ABI on GOES-R, OLI on LDCM, and the reflective solar sensor on CLARREO.

Xiong, Xiaxiong↗
DOE OSTI2020

Potential Environmental Effects of Marine Renewable Energy Development—The State of the Science

Marine renewable energy (MRE) harnesses energy from the ocean and provides a low-carbon sustainable energy source for national grids and remote uses. The international MRE industry is in the early stages of development, focused largely on tidal and riverine turbines, and wave energy converters (WECs), to harness energy from tides, rivers, and waves, respectively. Although MRE supports climate change mitigation, there are concerns that MRE devices and systems could affect portions of the marine and river environments. The greatest concern for tidal and river turbines is the potential for animals to be injured or killed by collision with rotating blades. Other risks associated with MRE device operation include the potential for turbines and WECs to cause disruption from underwater noise emissions, generation of electromagnetic fields, changes in benthic and pelagic habitats, changes in oceanographic processes, and entanglement of large marine animals. The accumulated knowledge of interactions of MRE devices with animals and habitats to date is summarized here, along with a discussion of preferred management methods for encouraging MRE development in an environmentally responsible manner. As there are few devices in the water, understanding is gained largely from examining one to three MRE devices. This information indicates that there will be no significant effects on marine animals and habitats due to underwater noise from MRE devices or emissions of electromagnetic fields from cables, nor changes in benthic and pelagic habitats, or oceanographic systems. Ongoing research to understand potential collision risk of animals with turbine blades still shows significant uncertainty. There has been no significant field research undertaken on entanglement of large animals with mooring lines and cables associated with MRE devices.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
NASA NTRS2014

Opportunities for Small Satellites in NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) Program

NASA's Earth Venture class (EV) of missions are competitively selected, Principal Investigator (PI) led, relatively low cost and narrowly focused in scientific scope. Investigations address a full spectrum of earth science objectives, including studies of the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, polar ice regions, and solid Earth. EV has three program elements: EV-Suborbital (EVS) are suborbital/airborne investigations; EV-Mission (EVM) element comprises small complete spaceborne missions; and EV-Instrument (EVI) element develops spaceborne instruments for flight as Missions-of-Opportunity (MoO). To ensure the success of EV, frequent opportunities for selecting missions has been established in NASA's Earth Science budget. This paper will describe those opportunities and how the management approach of each element is tailored according to the specific needs of the element.

Peri, Frank↗
DOE OSTI2023

Evidence of Abrupt Transitions Between Sea Ice Dynamical Regimes in the East Greenland Marginal Ice Zone

Sea ice modulates the energy exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean through its kinematics. Marginal ice zone (MIZ) dynamics are complex and are not well resolved in routine observations. Here, we investigate sea ice dynamics in the Greenland Sea MIZ using in situ and remote sensing Lagrangian drift datasets. These datasets provide a unique view into ice dynamics spanning spatial scales. We find evidence of tidal currents strongly affecting sub-daily ice motion. Velocity anomalies show abrupt transitions aligned with gradients in seafloor topography, indicating changes in ocean currents. Remote-sensed ice floe trajectories derived from moderate resolution satellite imagery provide a view of small-scale variability across the Greenland continental shelf. Ice floe trajectories reveal a west-east increasing velocity gradient imposed by the East Greenland Current, with maximum velocities aligned along the continental shelf edge. These results highlight the importance of small scale ocean variability for ice dynamics in the MIZ.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Improving the interface processes in the DOE/ACME model (Final Report)

This is the Final Report of our 4-year Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) project (3 years for the original project + 1-year no-cost extension). The overall objective of our project is to improve the interface processes in the E3SM. Two overarching questions have been addressed: 1) What are the major deficiencies of the (land-atmosphere, ocean-atmosphere, land-ocean, and snow-sea ice) interface processes in E3SM? 2) How can we improve the treatment of these deficiencies in E3SM? Four tasks have been carried out: to evaluate and improve the land–atmosphere coupling in E3SM; to evaluate and improve the ocean–atmosphere coupling in E3SM; to evaluate and improve the land–ocean coupling in E3SM; and to evaluate and improve the snow–sea ice coupling in E3SM.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1993

Exploring the southern ocean response to climate change

The purpose of this project was to couple a regional (Southern Ocean) ocean/sea ice model to the existing Goddard Institute for Space Science (GISS) atmospheric general circulation model (GCM). This modification recognizes: the relative isolation of the Southern Ocean; the need to account, prognostically, for the significant air/sea/ice interaction through all involved components; and the advantage of translating the atmospheric lower boundary (typically the rapidly changing ocean surface) to a level that is consistent with the physical response times governing the system evolution (that is, to the base of the fast responding ocean surface layer). The deeper ocean beneath this layer varies on time scales several orders of magnitude slower than the atmosphere and surface ocean, and therefore the boundary between the upper and deep ocean represents a more reasonable fixed boundary condition.

Martinson, Douglas G.↗
NASA NTRS2001

AESMIR: A New NASA Airborne Microwave Imager

The Airborne Earth Science Microwave Imaging Radiometer (AESMIR) is a versatile new airborne imaging radiometer under development by NASA. The AESMIR design is unique in that it will perform dual-polarized imaging at all AMSR frequency bands (6.9 through 89 GHz) using only one sensor head/scanner package, providing an efficient solution for AMSR-type science applications (snow, soil moisture/land parameters, precip, ocean winds, SST, water vapor, sea ice, etc.). The microwave radiometers themselves will incorporate state-of-the-art receivers, with particular attention given to instrument calibration for the best possible accuracy and sensitivity. The single-package design of AESMIR makes it compatible with high-altitude aircraft platforms such as the NASA ER-2s and the Proteus. The arbitrary 2-axis gimbal can perform conical and cross-track scanning, as well as fixed-beam staring. This compatibility with high-altitude platforms coupled with the flexible scanning configuration, opens up previously unavailable science opportunities for convection/precip/cloud science and co-flying with complementary instruments, as well as providing wider swath coverage for all science applications. By designing AESMIR to be compatible with these high-altitude platforms, we are also compatible with the NASA P-3, the NASA DC-8, and ground-based deployments. Thus AESMIR can provide low-, mid-, and high altitude microwave imaging.

Kim, Edward J.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Trident: The Path to Triton on a Discovery Budget

This paper describes Trident, a proposed Discovery mission to Neptune’s moon Triton, 30 AU from the Sun. Triton formed in the Kuiper Belt but was captured by Neptune into a highly-inclined retrograde orbit, where tidal forces thawed its interior, forming an ocean that likely persists to the present day. Recent outer solar system missions like Cassini and New Horizons have yielded completely new models for processes on ocean worlds, active worlds, and KBOs. Triton isn’t just a key to solar system science, it’s a whole keyring: a singular captured KBO and evolved ocean world, with active plumes, an energetic ionosphere, and a young unique surface. The NASA OPAG Roadmap to Ocean Worlds identifies Triton as the highest priority candidate ocean world [1], ripe for investigation. The Trident mission concept is an excellent case study in “design to cost”: we show how exploration of Triton under Discovery is made possible by radioisotope power combined with a rare, extremely efficient Jupiter gravity assist, enabling a simple, lowmass spacecraft design on a ballistic trajectory. The Triton encounter sequence probes for an ocean, measures the ionosphere, and views nearly the whole of Triton as it traverses a single orbit around Neptune, mapping the >60% of the surface that is as yet unseen. The Triton encounter concludes with fullframe imaging illuminated by “Neptune-shine” when Trident is in Neptune eclipse, for direct comparison with Voyager 2’s observations nearly 50 years prior. Trident carries a mature complement of instruments: a Magnetometer, IR Spectrometer & Narrow Angle Camera, Wide-Angle Camera, Plasma Spectrometer, and telecom hardware-enabled Radio Science. The flight system design integrates heritage components from Ball with JPL leadership and expertise in key specialty areas to provide a Voyager-like, robust spacecraft commensurate with a Discovery cost and risk tolerance. Cost avoidance features include: use of existing instrument designs, small blowdown monopropellant propulsion system, a contributed X-band telecommunications system that also performs radio science, and a simple power system. Additionally, the passive thermal design accommodates the large solar dynamic range from Venus to Neptune by using the HGA for shade when close to the sun, and MMRTG excess heat, modulated by louvers.

Frazier, William↗
NASA NTRS2010

Space Weathering Perspectives on Europa Amidst the Tempest of the Jupiter Magnetospheric System

Europa resides within a "perfect storm" tempest of extreme external field, plasma, and energetic particle interactions with the magnetospheric system of Jupiter. Missions to Europa must survive, functionally operate, make useful measurements, and return critical science data, while also providing full context on this ocean moon's response to the extreme environment. Related general perspectives on space weathering in the solar system are applied to mission and instrument science requirements for Europa.

Cooper, J. F.↗