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At least 433 records · Page 24

Can the ionosphere regulate magnetospheric convection.

A simple model is outlined that relates the dayside magnetopause displacement to the currents feeding the polar cap ionosphere, from which the ionospheric electric field and the flux return rate may be estimated as a function of magnetopause displacement. Then, flux conservation arguments make possible an estimate of the time scale on which convection increases.

Coroniti, F. V.↗

Determination of aerodynamic parameters of a fighter airplane from flight data at high angles of attack

A procedure for the estimation of airplane model structure and parameters is applied to data from a modern fighter airplane operating within an angle of attack range of 5 to 60 deg. The paper briefly describes the airplane, flight and wind tunnel data available, and the estimation method. The results presented contain basic longitudinal characteristics of the airplane and the estimates of aerodynamic parameters in the yawing-moment equations. These estimates are obtained from small and large amplitude maneuvers. Because the latter set of data was not suitable for airplane identification, some of the large amplitude maneuvers were joined together and then partitioned into subsets according to the values of angle of attack. Each subset was then analyzed as a separate data set. Most of the estimated parameters and functions are in good agreement with the wind tunnel measurements. The estimated lateral parameters in the model equations also demonstrate good prediction capabilities.

Klein, V.↗

Learning the generating functional for variance reduction in lattice QCD

The generating functional in quantum field theory provides the natural framework for constructing correlation functions as derivatives with respect to source operators. We present a methodology that leverages machine-learned normalizing flows to reduce the variance of arbitrary $N$-point correlation functions of bosonic operators in lattice gauge field theory calculations by encoding a representation of the generating functional. We show that it is possible to systematically approach noiseless estimators of correlation functions in this framework. We demonstrate this methodology with applications to calculations of glueball correlation functions and Wilson loops in Quantum Chromodynamics and Yang-Mills theory. The results show up to three orders of magnitude variance reduction.

Abbott, Ryan [Columbia U.] (ORCID:0000000258778005↗

Regression-Based Analytics for Response Dynamics of SDN Solutions and Components

We consider Software-Defined Network (SDN) solutions that dynamically setup and teardown connections, and also their response dynamics of connectivity and TCP throughput. There is a wide variety of choices for controllers, switches, andsoftware modules, and objective analytics of measurements are needed to compare the response dynamics of solutions based on their combinations. Throughput and ping measurements during connection changes contain significant statistical variations due to the complexities of controllers, northbound scripts, and network devices. We propose analytical methods to estimate response regression functions, which provide a rigorous and objective comparison of different SDN solutions and their components, namely, controllers, switches, and OpenFlow versions. We apply this approach in two scenarios: (a) switching of long-haul connections emulated in hardware by ANUE devices over a testbed consisting of HP and Cisco switches, and (b) multi-site science infrastructure emulated using VMs and Mininet. The results provide useful practical insights including: (i) the dpctl method responds seconds faster than the OpenDayLight (ODL) method on average under OpenFlow 1.0, but performs similar to ODL under OpenFlow 1.3, and (ii) the ping response of dpctl is about 0.6 sec faster than ODL for the second scenario.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

An empirical Bayes approach for the Poisson life distribution.

A smooth empirical Bayes estimator is derived for the intensity parameter (hazard rate) in the Poisson distribution as used in life testing. The reliability function is also estimated either by using the empirical Bayes estimate of the parameter, or by obtaining the expectation of the reliability function. The behavior of the empirical Bayes procedure is studied through Monte Carlo simulation in which estimates of mean-squared errors of the empirical Bayes estimators are compared with those of conventional estimators such as minimum variance unbiased or maximum likelihood. Results indicate a significant reduction in mean-squared error of the empirical Bayes estimators over the conventional variety.

Canavos, G. C.↗

Bootstrap estimation of the effect of instrument response function uncertainty on the reconstruction of fusion neutron sources

Neutron imagers are important diagnostics for the inertial confinement fusion implosions at the National Ignition Facility. They provide two- and three-dimensional reconstructions of the neutron source shape that are key indicators of the overall performance. To interpret the shape results properly, it is critical to estimate the uncertainty in those reconstructions. There are two main sources of uncertainties: limited neutron statistics, leading to random errors in the reconstructed images, and incomplete knowledge of the instrument response function (the pinhole-dependent point spread function). While the statistical errors dominate the uncertainty for lower yield deuterium-tritium (DT) shots, errors due to the instrument response function dominate the uncertainty for DT yields on the order of 10 16 neutrons or higher. In this work, a bootstrapping method estimates the uncertainty in a reconstructed image due to the incomplete knowledge of the instrument response function. The main reconstruction is created from the fixed collection of pinhole images that are best aligned with the neutron source. Additional reconstructions are then built using subsets of that collection of images. Variations in the shapes of these additional reconstructions originate solely from uncertainties in the instrument response function, allowing us to use them to provide an additional systematic uncertainty estimate.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Ginzburg-Landau theory for the solid-liquid interface of bcc elements. II - Application to the classical one-component plasma, the Wigner crystal, and He-4

The previously developed Ginzburg-Landau theory for calculating the crystal-melt interfacial tension of bcc elements to treat the classical one-component plasma (OCP), the charged fermion system, and the Bose crystal. For the OCP, a direct application of the theory of Shih et al. (1987) yields for the surface tension 0.0012(Z-squared e-squared/a-cubed), where Ze is the ionic charge and a is the radius of the ionic sphere. Bose crystal-melt interface is treated by a quantum extension of the classical density-functional theory, using the Feynman formalism to estimate the relevant correlation functions. The theory is applied to the metastable He-4 solid-superfluid interface at T = 0, with a resulting surface tension of 0.085 erg/sq cm, in reasonable agreement with the value extrapolated from the measured surface tension of the bcc solid in the range 1.46-1.76 K. These results suggest that the density-functional approach is a satisfactory mean-field theory for estimating the equilibrium properties of liquid-solid interfaces, given knowledge of the uniform phases.

Zeng, X. C.↗

Constructing auxiliary dynamics for nonequilibrium stationary states by variance minimization

We present a strategy to construct guiding distribution functions (GDFs) based on variance minimization. Auxiliary dynamics via GDFs mitigates the exponential growth of variance as a function of bias in Monte Carlo estimators of large deviation functions. The variance minimization technique exploits the exact properties of eigenstates of the tilted operator that defines the biased dynamics in the nonequilibrium system. We demonstrate our techniques in two classes of problems. In the continuum, we show that GDFs can be optimized to study the interacting driven diffusive systems where the efficiency is systematically improved by incorporating higher correlations into the GDF. On the lattice, we use a correlator product state ansatz to study the 1D weakly asymmetric simple exclusion process. We show that with modest resources, we can capture the features of the susceptibility in large systems that mark the phase transition from uniform transport to a traveling wave state. Our work extends the repertoire of tools available to study nonequilibrium properties in realistic systems.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Characterization and Analysis of the Energy-Reporting Accuracy of Connected Devices

Emerging energy-efficient building systems increasingly exhibit greater functionality, often requiring multiple operating modes (e.g. white-tunability for lighting products and data traffic for devices with networked, integrated sensors). This increased functionality makes energy consumption estimates more complex. Given that these functions consume energy, the energy performance of such building systems is dependent on what operating modes they use and how much time they spend in each mode. Devices and systems that can report their own energy consumption mitigate this energy-performance uncertainty. This study explores the energy-reporting accuracy of market-available connected electrical outlets. The study considers two residential-market products (five units each, one outlet per unit) and three commercial-market products (two units each, 18 to 24 outlets per unit) with the ability to report power drawn and/or energy consumed by devices connected to their receptacles. The products were purchased through typical market channels. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) conducted testing in December 2018 at its Connected Lighting Test Bed (CLTB), using a custom-developed test setup and method adapted from industry standards. The setup collected energy-consumption data reported by the outlet devices under test (DUTs) at one-minute intervals and compared that data with measurements taken by a reference meter over a range of test conditions. The residential products reported power draw but not interval or cumulative energy consumption. The commercial products reported both power draw and cumulative energy consumption. Relative reporting error (RRE) was calculated for all measurements, and analysis of the results revealed variations across devices and test conditions. The total number of measurements (50 for each residential product, 60 for each commercial product) offers an appreciable comparison of performance at the make/model level. The average RRE of the residential products derived from reported power draw was -0.02% and -1.20%. The average RRE for two of the three the commercial products derived from reported power draw was worse than those of the residential products (-2.40%, -2.72%, -0.36%). The internal integration of power over time, used to calculate cumulative energy consumption, typically occurs at current and voltage sampling rates much higher than once per minute. This suggests that the average commercial-product RRE derived from reported energy consumption should be very consistent and better than performance based on reported power draw. However, the RRE derived from reported energy consumption varied significantly across the three makes of commercial-market products and was uniformly less accurate than performance based on reported power draw. Subsequent analysis identified a number of root causes for this decrease in performance, most of which were related to reporting resolution. The goals of this study are to generate awareness of building systems capable of reporting their own energy consumption, further interest in the value of energy data for a variety of uses, draw attention to how the accuracy of reported metrics can be characterized, and quantify the performance variation found in marketavailable products. The results of this study and subsequent related work may be relevant to stakeholders in industry-specification and standards-development organizations. The methods this study employs could inform test and measurement procedures and performance classifications for connected outlets, lighting products, and other building systems capable of reporting their own energy consumption. The study concludes with stakeholder recommendations, including the following: • Energy-reporting device and system manufacturers developing products that report energy consumption should characterize the accuracy of reported metrics using a reference meter calibrated by an independent laboratory that was accredited by an ILAC MRA signatory (and whose scope of accreditation explicitly covers energy measurement), and should include this information on product data sheets. • Standards and specification development organizations should develop application-specific performance classifications that end users can understand and relate to their energy-data use needs (e.g., 2% accuracy class for utility streetlight energy billing needs, or 10% accuracy class for ESCO performance verification needs). • Current or potential owners, operators, and specifiers of energy-reporting building systems should rigorously analyze the dependency of current and planned energy-data use cases on accuracy, noting in particular the dependence (or lack thereof) on relative vs. absolute accuracy, and on trueness vs. precision (i.e., repeatability), and should communicate use-case needs to industry standards and specification organizations.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Characterization and Analysis of the Energy-Reporting Accuracy of Connected Devices

Emerging energy-efficient building systems increasingly exhibit greater functionality, often requiring multiple operating modes (e.g. white-tunability for lighting products and data traffic for devices with networked, integrated sensors). This increased functionality makes energy consumption estimates more complex. Given that these functions consume energy, the energy performance of such building systems is dependent on what operating modes they use and how much time they spend in each mode. Devices and systems that can report their own energy consumption mitigate this energy-performance uncertainty. This study explores the energy-reporting accuracy of market-available connected electrical outlets. The study considers two residential-market products (five units each, one outlet per unit) and three commercial-market products (two units each, 18 to 24 outlets per unit) with the ability to report power drawn and/or energy consumed by devices connected to their receptacles. The products were purchased through typical market channels. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) conducted testing in December 2018 at its Connected Lighting Test Bed (CLTB), using a custom-developed test setup and method adapted from industry standards. The setup collected energy-consumption data reported by the outlet devices under test (DUTs) at one-minute intervals and compared that data with measurements taken by a reference meter over a range of test conditions. The residential products reported power draw but not interval or cumulative energy consumption. The commercial products reported both power draw and cumulative energy consumption. Relative reporting error (RRE) was calculated for all measurements, and analysis of the results revealed variations across devices and test conditions. The total number of measurements (50 for each residential product, 60 for each commercial product) offers an appreciable comparison of performance at the make/model level. The average RRE of the residential products derived from reported power draw was -0.02% and -1.20%. The average RRE for two of the three the commercial products derived from reported power draw was worse than those of the residential products (-2.40%, -2.72%, -0.36%). The internal integration of power over time, used to calculate cumulative energy consumption, typically occurs at current and voltage sampling rates much higher than once per minute. This suggests that the average commercial-product RRE derived from reported energy consumption should be very consistent and better than performance based on reported power draw. However, the RRE derived from reported energy consumption varied significantly across the three makes of commercial-market products and was uniformly less accurate than performance based on reported power draw. Subsequent analysis identified a number of root causes for this decrease in performance, most of which were related to reporting resolution. The goals of this study are to generate awareness of building systems capable of reporting their own energy consumption, further interest in the value of energy data for a variety of uses, draw attention to how the accuracy of reported metrics can be characterized, and quantify the performance variation found in marketavailable products. The results of this study and subsequent related work may be relevant to stakeholders in industry-specification and standards-development organizations. The methods this study employs could inform test and measurement procedures and performance classifications for connected outlets, lighting products, and other building systems capable of reporting their own energy consumption. The study concludes with stakeholder recommendations, including the following: • Energy-reporting device and system manufacturers developing products that report energy consumption should characterize the accuracy of reported metrics using a reference meter calibrated by an independent laboratory that was accredited by an ILAC MRA signatory (and whose scope of accreditation explicitly covers energy measurement), and should include this information on product data sheets. • Standards and specification development organizations should develop application-specific performance classifications that end users can understand and relate to their energy-data use needs (e.g., 2% accuracy class for utility streetlight energy billing needs, or 10% accuracy class for ESCO performance verification needs). • Current or potential owners, operators, and specifiers of energy-reporting building systems should rigorously analyze the dependency of current and planned energy-data use cases on accuracy, noting in particular the dependence (or lack thereof) on relative vs. absolute accuracy, and on trueness vs. precision (i.e., repeatability), and should communicate use-case needs to industry standards and specification organizations.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Nonparametric probability density estimation by optimization theoretic techniques

Two nonparametric probability density estimators are considered. The first is the kernel estimator. The problem of choosing the kernel scaling factor based solely on a random sample is addressed. An interactive mode is discussed and an algorithm proposed to choose the scaling factor automatically. The second nonparametric probability estimate uses penalty function techniques with the maximum likelihood criterion. A discrete maximum penalized likelihood estimator is proposed and is shown to be consistent in the mean square error. A numerical implementation technique for the discrete solution is discussed and examples displayed. An extensive simulation study compares the integrated mean square error of the discrete and kernel estimators. The robustness of the discrete estimator is demonstrated graphically.

Scott, D. W.↗

Information content of radiometric and optical data during planetary encounter

An assessment is made of the feasibility of determining the flyby position and velocity parameters from optical data. Closed form solutions for the various parameter estimates are derived to show the functional dependence of the estimates on the nominal flyby parameters as well as the data arc characteristics. A strong correlation between the downtrack position and crosstrack velocity estimates is observed for the case of a short optical data arc, and a similarly strong correlation between the flyby planet mass and the flyby distance estimates is demonstrated for the case of radiometric data.

Kechichian, Jean A.↗

Preliminary Characterizations of Altair Lunar Lander Slosh Dynamics and Some Implications for TVC Design

During thrust maneuvers, the sloshing of fuel in partially filled tanks could interact with the controlled system in such a way as to cause the overall system to be unstable. This failure mode could be a result of poor coordination between systems engineers of Structures, Propulsion, GN&C, Mission Operations, and other subsystems. Attentions to the following is a minimum: Placements of fuel tanks, Tank shapes and baffle designs, Separation of TVC BW from slosh mode frequencies, Adequacy of excursion range of engine gimbal actuators in all engine burns, BW of sensors (e.g., gyroscopes) and actuators (e.g., engine gimbal), Structural frequencies of spacecraft and engine mounts, Prediction of S/C's c.m. location, canting of gimbal null axis, others. Check overall TVC performance via validated simulation test bed. Modeling fuel slosh during spacecraft thrusting maneuvers • Placement of fuel tanks to guarantee stable interactions between fuel slosh mode and the S/C rigid-body mode • Estimation of slosh frequencies (as a function of mission phases): – Estimation of slosh mode damping • Some implications for Thrust Vector Control design: – Selection of TVC controller bandwidth – Adequacy of the excursion range of engine gimbal actuator • TVC system design: Complex Interactions between GN&C, Propulsion, Structure, and Other Subsystems

Thrust vector control↗

An efficient method to estimate the probability density of seismic Green's functions

We present a computationally efficient method to approximate the probability distribution of seismic Green's functions given the uncertainty of an Earth model. The method is based on the Karhunen-Loève (KL) theorem and an approximation of the Green's function (or seismogram) covariance. Using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations as a control case, we demonstrate that our KL-based method can accurately reproduce a probability distribution of seismograms that results from an uncertain Earth model for a MC-derived seismogram covariance. We then describe a method to estimate the covariance of the seismograms resulting from those Earth models that is not based on MC simulations. We use the estimated Green's function covariance in conjunction with our KL-based method to produce a Green's function probability distribution, and compare that distribution to a Green's function probability distribution produced using a MC finite difference method. We find that the Green's function probability distribution approximated using our KL-based method generally mimics that produced using the MC simulations, especially for direct-arriving body waves. However the accuracy of the KL-based method generally decreases for later times in the simulated Green's function distribution.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Estimating covariance matrices for two- and three-point correlation function moments in Arbitrary Survey Geometries

ABSTRACT We present configuration-space estimators for the auto- and cross-covariance of two- and three-point correlation functions (2PCF and 3PCF) in general survey geometries. These are derived in the Gaussian limit (setting higher order correlation functions to zero), but for arbitrary non-linear 2PCFs (which may be estimated from the survey itself), with a shot-noise rescaling parameter included to capture non-Gaussianity. We generalize previous approaches to include Legendre moments via a geometry-correction function calibrated from measured pair and triple counts. Making use of importance sampling and random particle catalogues, we can estimate model covariances in fractions of the time required to do so with mocks, obtaining estimates with negligible sampling noise in ∼10 (∼100) CPU-hours for the 2PCF (3PCF) autocovariance. We compare results to sample covariances from a suite of BOSS DR12 mocks and find the matrices to be in good agreement, assuming a shot-noise rescaling parameter of 1.03 (1.20) for the 2PCF (3PCF). To obtain strongest constraints on cosmological parameters, we must use multiple statistics in concert; having robust methods to measure their covariances at low computational cost is thus of great relevance to upcoming surveys.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Graphite Characterization: Baseline Variability Analysis Report

The Idaho National INL’s Baseline Material Property program provides many measurements of different material properties on a variety of nuclear graphite grades being investigated for irradiation-induced changes in material properties. The baseline material properties provide an unirradiated reference for comparison with measurements of those properties after irradiation. This study describes how uncertainty, or variance, in estimates of important material properties, like compressive strength, may depend on sample size, sample distribution and parameter estimation methods. Compressive strength data from two large collections of specimens from a billet of PCEA graphite (sample size = 230) and a billet of IG-110 graphite (sample size = 48) are used to illustrate these dependencies. The grades of graphite used represent approximate end members in terms of relative variability in strength measurements. Monte Carlo simulation and bootstrapping methods were used to examine variance in Weibull-parameter estimates as a function of sample size. Results were consistent with what previous statistical analyses have shown about the relationship between sample size and width of the confidence interval for maximum likelihood (ML) estimated parameters when samples are repeatedly drawn from a Weibull distribution. As a function of sample size, the precision of the modulus estimate increases faster than that of the characteristic strength. The modulus maximum likelihood estimates (MLEs) are biased for low sample sizes. The American Society for Testing and Materials document ASTM D7846-16 provides equations that describe the dependence of the variance of parameter MLEs on sample size. Using the same methodology, we show that the polynomials provided for variance dependence on sample size are inaccurate for sample sizes greater than ~120. We provide approximations to that relationship that illustrate relative constancy for sample size > ~10, in the logspace relationship of the modulus variance and the log transformed characteristic strength variance. Bootstrapping provided a means of comparing Weibull parameters obtained using ASME’s guidance for specimen collection to those obtained using different weighting in a case where strength is related to position in a billet and to grain orientation and a single distribution is used to characterize the billet. ASME specifies that samples be collected with equal representation in all locations and grain orientations. Parameter values obtained using ASME’s method were different from those obtained using random sampling of the complete data sets, and this was particularly true for the PCEA data. In addition, while the ASME approach yielded more conservative parameters for the PCEA data, the opposite was true for the IG-110 data. The difference observed for the PCEA data set likely reflects the larger number of against-grain specimens collected, which had generally higher strength than the with-grain specimens. This emphasizes the importance of the dependence of strength on location or grain orientation and suggests that it may be prudent to weight specimen collection toward the weaker subgroups if a conservative estimate as desired, as the equal weighting method recommended by ASME would will not always provide the most conservative Weibull parameters. Because spatial correlations commonly exist in certain grades of graphite, future work may involve developing a methodology for parameter inference that relaxes the assumption of independent specimens. ASTM and ASME codes recommend different parameter estimation methods and models of the Weibull distribution in different situations. Descriptions of the effects on parameter estimates for the example billets used in this study provide an example of how the method may affect the parameter estimate, and how—in this case—that compares to differences due to other factors, such as sample size and dependence on grain orientation or sample location.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Quantiles, parametric-select density estimation, and bi-information parameter estimators

A quantile-based approach to statistical analysis and probability modeling of data is presented which formulates statistical inference problems as functional inference problems in which the parameters to be estimated are density functions. Density estimators can be non-parametric (computed independently of model identified) or parametric-select (approximated by finite parametric models that can provide standard models whose fit can be tested). Exponential models and autoregressive models are approximating densities which can be justified as maximum entropy for respectively the entropy of a probability density and the entropy of a quantile density. Applications of these ideas are outlined to the problems of modeling: (1) univariate data; (2) bivariate data and tests for independence; and (3) two samples and likelihood ratios. It is proposed that bi-information estimation of a density function can be developed by analogy to the problem of identification of regression models.

Parzen, E.↗

Approximating and incorporating model uncertainty in an inversion for seismic source functions: Preliminary results

We present preliminary work on propagating model uncertainty into the estimation of the time domain source time functions of the seismic source. Our method is based on an estimated model covariance function, which we estimate from the data. The model covariance function is then used to construct a suite of surrogate Greens functions which we use in a Monte Carlo type inversion scheme. The result is a probability density function of the six independent source time functions, each of which corresponds to an individual component of the seismic moment tensor. We compare the results of our method with those obtained using a computationally expensive finite difference Monte Carlo method and find that our new method produces results that are deficient in low frequencies. The advantage of our new method, which we term the Karhunen-Loeve Monte Carlo (KLMC) method, is that is several orders of magnitude faster than our current method, which uses a finite difference scheme to produce the suite of forward models.

42 ENGINEERING↗