Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “sensing communication”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 433 records · Page 24
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2019

Airborne Radar for sUAS Sense and Avoid

A primary challenge for the safe integration of small UAS operations into the National Airspace System (NAS) is traffic deconfliction, both from manned and unmanned aircraft. The UAS Traffic Management (UTM) project being conducted at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) considers a layered approach to separation provision, ranging from segregation of operations through airspace volumes (geofences) to autonomous sense and avoid (SAA) technologies for higher risk, densely occupied airspace. Cooperative SAA systems, such as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) and/or vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems provide significant additional risk mitigation but they fail to adequately mitigate collision risks for non-cooperative (non-transponder equipped) airborne aircraft. The RAAVIN (Radar on Autonomous Aircraft to Verify ICAROUS Navigation) flight test being conducted by NASA and the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP) was designed to investigate the applicability and performance of a prototype, commercially available sUAS radar to detect and track non-cooperative airborne traffic, both manned and unmanned. The radar selected for this research was a Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar with 120 degree azimuth and 80 degree elevation field of view operating at 24.55GHz center frequency with a 200 MHz bandwidth. The radar transmits 2 watts of power thru a Metamaterial Electronically Scanning Array antenna in horizontal polarization. When the radar is transmitting, personnel must be at least 1 meter away from the active array to limit nonionizing radiation exposure. The radar physical dimensions are 18.7cm by 12.1cm by 4.1cm and it weighs less than 820 grams making it well suited for installation on small UASs. The onboard, SAA capability, known as ICAROUS, (Independent Configurable Architecture for Reliable Operations of Unmanned Systems), developed by NASA to support sUAS operations, will provide autonomous guidance using the traffic radar tracks from the onboard radar. The RAAVIN set of studies will be conducted in three phases. The first phase included outdoor, ground-based radar evaluations performed at the Virginia Tech’s Kentland Farm testing range in Blacksburg, VA. The test was designed to measure how well the radar could detect and track a small UAS flying in the radar’s field of view. The radar was used to monitor 5 test flights consisting of outbound, inbound and crossing routes at different ranges and altitudes. The UAS flown during the ground test was the Inspire 2, a quad copter weighing less than 4250 grams (10 pounds) at maximum payload. The radar was set up to scan and track targets over its full azimuthal field of view from 0 to 40 degrees in elevation. The radar was configured to eliminate tracks generated from any targets located beyond 2000 meters from the radar and moving at velocities under 1.45 meters per second. For subsequent phases of the study the radar will be integrated with a sUAS platform to evaluate its performance in flight for SAA applications ranging from sUAS to manned GA aircraft detections and tracking. Preliminary data analysis from the first outdoor ground tests showed the radar performed well at tracking the vehicle as it flew outbound and repeatedly maintained a track out to 1000 meters (maximum 1387 meters) until the vehicle slowed to a stop to reverse direction to fly inbound. As the Inspire flew inbound tracks from beyond 800 meters, a reacquisition time delay was consistently observed between when the Inspire exceeds a speed of 1.45 meters per second and when the radar indicated an inbound target was present and maintained its track. The time delay varied between 6 seconds to over 37 seconds for the inbound flights examined, and typically resulted in about a 200 meter closure distance before the Inspire track was maintained. The radar performed well at both acquiring and tracking the vehicle as it flew crossing routes out past 400 meters across the azimuthal field of view. The radar and ICAROUS software will be integrated and flown on a BFD-1400-SE8-E UAS during the next phase of the RAAVIN project. The main goal at the conclusion of this effort is to determine if this radar technology can reliably support minimum requirements for SAA applications of sUAS. In particular, the study will measure the range of vehicle detections, lateral and vertical angular errors, false and missed/late detections, and estimated distance at closest point of approach after an avoidance maneuver is executed. This last metric is directly impacted by sensor performance and indicates its suitability for the task.

Szatkowski, George N.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Incorporation of Human Risk Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAG) With Mishap Investigations to Un-Silo Knowledge

NASA’s Human System Risk Board (HSRB) has been a central driver in efforts to understand, mitigate, and communicate the 29 human systems risks monitored by the board. As a result of the collaboration between research, operations, and technical authorities, large bodies of knowledge have been collected and digested to represent the current understanding of the risks. As a part of these bodies of knowledge, directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) have been developed to communicate the current understanding of the causal relationship of the hazards, contributing factors, countermeasures, other risks, and outcomes that contribute to the overall risk. This risk knowledge is applied in a theoretical sense for potential incidents during exploration even while informed by surveillance data. However, there have been mishaps and close calls during past space exploration that intersect with one or more of the Human System Risks DAGs and knowledge bases. The purpose of this exercise was to un-silo this risk knowledge and connect it to the close call of EVA 23 through the development of a DAG representing the intersection of the HSRB Risks and the events of the close call. The development of the DAG occurred through an iterative process, with each iteration expanding and/or refining the nodes and connections described by the source materials. In addition to the risk documentation developed by the HSRB, lessons learned and other mishap investigation documents were utilized to understand the events that led to water entering the helmet of a crewmember on the EVA. New nodes specific to the events of EVA 23 were interconnected with existing HSRB DAG nodes and edges. Nodes within the DAG were defined within a “DAG-tionary” with any updates to a definition that may have previously existed from the HSRB DAGs, and edges were recorded in a matrix. Both the DAG-tionary and matrix describe where nodes and edges are present across the Risk and Mishap DAG. This DAG will then be reviewed by experts outside of HSRB and HRP to confirm that interpretations of the non-health related events (such as the engineering nodes) are represented accurately. DISCUSSION This process highlighted a method by which the knowledge generated among the contributing members of the HSRB Risks can be effectively adapted and utilized through the tools employed by the Risk Custodian teams. By leveraging these tools, new context and insights to the information at hand can be brought forward to address current spaceflight challenges. Moreover, un-siloing this knowledge through future DAGs and other efforts can drive interprofessional collaboration and foster communication. This will enable teams to work together more effectively, leveraging their diverse expertise to tackle the complex challenges of space exploration and human research. Ultimately, this collaboration will bring NASA closer to achieve agency goals and contribute to the overall shared mission and vision.

Samuel Jacobs↗
NASA NTRS2020

Cramer-Rao Lower Bound for SoOp-R-Based Root-Zone Soil Moisture Remote Sensing

Signals of opportunity (SoOp) reflectometry (SoOp-R) is a maturing field for geophysical remote sensing as evidenced by the growing number of airborne and spaceborne experiments. As this approach receives more attention, it is worth analyzing SoOp-R’s capabilities to retrieve subsurface soil moisture (SM) by leveraging communication and navigation satellite transmitters. In this research, the CRLB is used to identify the effects of variable SoOp-R parameters on the best achievable estimation error for root-zone soil moisture (RZSM). This study investigates the use of multiple frequency, polarization, and incidence angle measurement configurations on a two-layered dielectric profile. The results also detail the effects of variable SM conditions on the capability of SoOp-R systems to predict subsurface SM. The most prevalent observation is the importance of using at least two frequencies to limit uncertainties from subsurface SM estimates. If at least two frequencies are used, the CRLB of a profile is retrievable within the root-zone depending on the surface SM content as well as the number of independent measurements of the profile. For a depth of 30 cm, it is observed that a CRLB corresponding to 4% RZSM estimation accuracy is achievable with as few as 2 dual-frequency-based SoOp-R measurements. For this depth, increasing number of measurements provided by polarization and incidence angle allow for sensing of increasingly wet SM profile structures. This study, overall, details a methodology by which SoOp-R receiver system can be designed to achieve a desired CRLB using a trade-off study between the available measurements and SM profile.

Signals of Opportunity (SoOp)↗
NASA NTRS2014

Liquid-Sensing Probe and Methods for Using the Same

A sensor assembly includes a main body, a sensor, and a filler. The main body includes an outer surface having a continuously-variable radius of curvature in at least one portion. A sensor in thermal communication with a region of that surface having relatively low radius of curvature is disposed in the assembly recessed from the outer surface. Liquid droplets adhered to the outer surface in this region tend to migrate to a distant location having a higher radius of curvature. The main body has low thermal conductivity. The filler has a relatively higher thermal conductivity and, in embodiments, fills an opening in the outer surface of the main body, providing a thermally-conductive pathway between the sensor and the surrounding environment via the opening. A probe having a plurality of such sensors, and methods of detecting the presence of liquid and phase transitions in a predetermined space are also disclosed.

Haberbusch, Mark S.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Horizon: A Proposal for Large Aperture, Active Optics in Geosynchronous Orbit

In 1999, NASA's New Millennium Program called for proposals to validate new technology in high-earth orbit for the Earth Observing-3 (NMP EO3) mission to fly in 2003. In response, we proposed to test a large aperture, active optics telescope in geosynchronous orbit. This would flight-qualify new technologies for both Earth and Space science: 1) a future instrument with LANDSAT image resolution and radiometric quality watching continuously from geosynchronous station, and 2) the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) for deep space imaging. Six enabling technologies were to be flight-qualified: 1) a 3-meter, lightweight segmented primary mirror, 2) mirror actuators and mechanisms, 3) a deformable mirror, 4) coarse phasing techniques, 5) phase retrieval for wavefront control during stellar viewing, and 6) phase diversity for wavefront control during Earth viewing. Three enhancing technologies were to be flight- validated: 1) mirror deployment and latching mechanisms, 2) an advanced microcontroller, and 3) GPS at GEO. In particular, two wavefront sensing algorithms, phase retrieval by JPL and phase diversity by ERIM International, were to sense optical system alignment and focus errors, and to correct them using high-precision mirror mechanisms. Active corrections based on Earth scenes are challenging because phase diversity images must be collected from extended, dynamically changing scenes. In addition, an Earth-facing telescope in GEO orbit is subject to a powerful diurnal thermal and radiometric cycle not experienced by deep-space astronomy. The Horizon proposal was a bare-bones design for a lightweight large-aperture, active optical system that is a practical blend of science requirements, emerging technologies, budget constraints, launch vehicle considerations, orbital mechanics, optical hardware, phase-determination algorithms, communication strategy, computational burdens, and first-rate cooperation among earth and space scientists, engineers and managers. This manuscript presents excerpts from the Horizon proposal's sections that describe the Earth science requirements, the structural -thermal-optical design, the wavefront sensing and control, and the on-orbit validation.

Chesters, Dennis↗
NASA NTRS2024

Clear Lake Volcanic Field Disasters: Creating a Deformation Record Using InSAR to Assess Hazards and Detect Volcanic Unrest in Clear Lake Volcanic Field

Clear Lake Volcanic Field (CLVF) in northern California is at a high threat potential for volcanic hazards. Eruptions leading to increased seismic activity could result in silicic domes, cinder cones, and flows that would be dangerous to the residential areas near the volcanic field. Remotely sensed Earth observations can reveal volcanic processes in the subsurface, which are essential to the timely monitoring of potential volcanic activity. In particular, Sentinel-1 C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (C-SAR) and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data capture relative surface deformation at unprecedented high spatial and temporal resolutions. Leveraging C-SAR and DEMs, we conducted interferometric analysis from January 2016 to December 2023. Our results demonstrate 1) the mean surface displacement velocity of the Clear Lake Volcanic Field is measured to undergo 5 to 10-centimeter scale deformation and shows a strong relationship with the surrounding faults, 2) apparent seasonal differences in rates of surface change, and 3) seismic activity associated with the geyser geothermal field has a strong association with cumulative surface displacement, with active fault zones having 2 to 5 cm of additional displacement. Results indicate that deformation is linked to deep pressure sources causing stresses on the surficial environment that should be considered in hazard mitigation. This study provides a baseline of historic deformation, aiding hazard analysts in communication efforts and streamlining decision-making for potential risks to region residents.

remote sensing↗
NASA NTRS1992

50 Mb/s, 220-mW Laser-Array Transmitter

Laser transmitter based on injection locking produces single-wavelength, diffraction-limited, single-lobe beam. Output stage is array of laser diodes producing non-diffraction-limited, multi-mode beam in absence of injection locking. Suitable for both free-space and optical-fiber communication systems. Because beam from transmitter focused to spot as small as 5 micrometers, devices usable for reading and writing optical disks at increased information densities. Application also in remote sensing and ranging.

Cornwell, Donald M., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Telecommunications for Mars Rovers and Robotic Missions

The Mars exploration program of NASA and the international community will evolve from an early emphasis on orbital remote sensing toward in situ science activity on, or just above, the Martian surface.

communications packages↗
NASA NTRS2005

Smart Sensors' Role in Integrated System Health Management

During the last decade, there has been a major effort in the aerospace industry to reduce the cost per pond of payload and become competitive in the international market. Competition from Europe, Japan, and China has reduced this cost to almost a third from 1990 to 2000. This cost has leveled in recent years to an average price of around $12,000/pound of payload. One of NASA's goals is to promote the development of technologies to reduce this cost by a factor of 10 or more Exploration of space, specially manned exploration missions, involves very complex launch and flight vehicles, associated ground support systems, and extensive human support during all phases of the mission. When considering the Space Shuttle Program, we can see that vehicle and ground support systems' processing, operation, and maintenance represent a large percentage of the program cost and time. Reducing operating, processing and maintenance costs will greatly reduce the cost of Exploration programs. The Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) concept is one of the technologies that will help reduce these operating, processing and maintenance costs. ISHM is an integrated health monitoring system applicable to both flight and ground systems. It automatically and autonomously acquires information from sensors and actuators and processes that information using the ISHM-embedded knowledge. As a result, it establishes the health of the system based on the acquired information and its prior knowledge. When this concept is fully implemented, ISHM systems shall be able to perform failure prediction and remediation before actual hard failures occurs, preventing its costly consequences. Data sources, sensors, and their associated data acquisition systems, constitute the foundation of the system. A smart sensing architecture is required to support the acquisition of reliable, high quality data, required by the ISHM. A thorough definition of the smart sensor architectures, their embedded diagnostic agents, and communication protocols need to be established and standardized to allow the embedding and exchange of health information among sensors and ISHM. This workshop is aimed to foster the exchange of ideas and lessons learned between government, industry and academia to aid in the establishment of ISHM (and smart sensors) standards and guidelines as well as to identify present technology gaps that will have to be overcome to successfully achieve this goal.

Perotti, Jose M.↗
NASA NTRS1977

A regional land use survey based on remote sensing and other data: A report on a LANDSAT and computer mapping project, volume 1

The author has identified the following significant results. New LANDSAT analysis software and linkages with other computer mapping software were developed. Significant results were also achieved in training, communication, and identification of needs for developing the LANDSAT/computer mapping technologies into operational tools for use by decision makers.

Nez, G.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Leak detector

A detector for sensing a leaking of fluid pressures is reported. The detector is characterized by an hermetically sealed housing confining therewithin a first normalized pressure, a connector for coupling the housing in direct communication with a suspected leak established within a substantially sealed body, an electrical circuit having a first or normalized configuration and including a pair of circuit completing electrical contacts and means mounting at least one contact of said pair of contacts on a flexible wall of the housing supporting the contact for movement from a first position along a linear path to a second position in response to an altering of the pressure confined within the housing for thereby altering the configuration of the circuit.

Sawyer, J. T.↗
NASA NTRS2008

NASA Tech Briefs, June 2008

Topics covered include: Charge-Control Unit for Testing Lithium-Ion Cells; Measuring Positions of Objects Using Two or More Cameras; Lidar System for Airborne Measurement of Clouds and Aerosols; Radiation-Insensitive Inverse Majority Gates; Reduced-Order Kalman Filtering for Processing Relative Measurements; Spaceborne Processor Array; Instrumentation System Diagnoses a Thermocouple; Chromatic Modulator for a High-Resolution CCD or APS; Commercial Product Activation Using RFID; Cup Cylindrical Waveguide Antenna; Aerobraking Maneuver (ABM) Report Generator; ABM Drag_Pass Report Generator; Transformation of OODT CAS to Perform Larger Tasks; Visualization Component of Vehicle Health Decision Support System; Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Uplink Analysis Tool; Problem Reporting System; G-Guidance Interface Design for Small Body Mission Simulation; DSN Scheduling Engine; Replacement Sequence of Events Generator; Force-Control Algorithm for Surface Sampling; Tool for Merging Proposals Into DSN Schedules; Micromachined Slits for Imaging Spectrometers; Fabricating Nanodots Using Lift-Off of a Nanopore Template; Making Complex Electrically Conductive Patterns on Cloth; Special Polymer/Carbon Composite Films for Detecting SO2; Nickel-Based Superalloy Resists Embrittlement by Hydrogen; Chemical Passivation of Li+-Conducting Solid Electrolytes; Organic/Inorganic Polymeric Composites for Heat-Transfer Reduction; Composite Cathodes for Dual-Rate Li-Ion Batteries; Improved Descent-Rate Limiting Mechanism; Alignment-Insensitive Lower-Cost Telescope Architecture; Micro-Resistojet for Small Satellites; Using Piezoelectric Devices to Transmit Power through Walls; Miniature Latching Valve; Apparatus for Sampling Surface Contamination; Novel Species of Non-Spore-Forming Bacteria; Chamber for Aerosol Deposition of Bioparticles; Hyperspectral Sun Photometer for Atmospheric Characterization and Vicarious Calibrations; Dynamic Stability and Gravitational Balancing of Multiple Extended Bodies; Simulation of Stochastic Processes by Coupled ODE-PDE; Cluster Inter-Spacecraft Communications; Genetic Algorithm Optimizes Q-LAW Control Parameters; Low-Impact Mating System for Docking Spacecraft; Non-Destructive Evaluation of Materials via Ultraviolet Spectroscopy; Gold-on-Polymer-Based Sensing Films for Detection of Organic and Inorganic Analytes in the Air; and Quantum-Inspired Maximizer.

Source record↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

CLAIRE: Enabling Heterogeneous Communication Network Optimization for Robust and Resilient Operations

In this paper, we present the capabilities of the CLAIRE System which provides resilient communications for NASA in presence of interference and congestion for a heterogeneous multi-vendor network. CLAIRE increases mission science data return to improve resource efficiencies and ensures resilience in the unpredictable space environment for NASA missions and communication networks. CLAIRE provides technology / waveform agnostic cognitive control plane that is instantiated at the Application Layer (APP) so that it can ride on NASA’s HDTN bundle protocol or any other protocol stack that is used by the network. The cognitive control plane is instantiated using Heartbeats (HTBTs). CLAIRE is assisted by Wideband UHF-Ka Band RF Sensing that leverages advances in the Direct Digital Transceiver (DDTRX) technology. The Wideband RF Sensing is driven by statistical signal processing and machine learning algorithms. Interference is mitigated using Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA). Finally, CLAIRE addresses congestion using spectrum aware packet forwarding algorithm. CLAIRE provides an extensible protocol that allows passing of RF spectrum situational awareness, cross-layer sensing, delay tolerant networking and dynamic spectrum access information that can help with network optimization. Cross-Layer Sensing (CLS) and CLAIRE Decision Engine (CDE) enable spectrum and delay aware packet forwarding and Dynamic Spectrum Access during cases of severe interference.

cognitive communications↗
NASA NTRS1997

Remote Sensing from Geostationary Orbit: GEO TROPSAT, A New Concept for Atmospheric Remote Sensing

The Geostationary Tropospheric Pollution Satellite (GEO TROPSAT) mission is a new approach to measuring the critical constituents of tropospheric ozone chemistry: ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and aerosols. The GEO TROPSAT mission comprises a constellation of three instruments flying as secondary payloads on geostationary communications satellites around the world. This proposed approach can significantly reduce the cost of getting a science payload to geostationary orbit and also generates revenue for the satellite owners. The geostationary vantage point enables simultaneous high temporal and spatial resolution measurement of tropospheric trace gases, leading to greatly improved atmospheric ozone chemistry knowledge. The science data processing, conducted as a research (not operational) activity, will provide atmospheric trace gas data many times per day over the same region at better than 25 km ground footprint. The high temporal resolution identifies short time scale processes, diurnal variations, seasonal trends, and interannual variation.

Little, Alan D.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Practical Applications of a Space Station

The potential uses of a special station for civil and commercial applications is examined. Five panels of experts representing user-oriented communities, and a sixth panel which dealth with system design considerations, based their studies on the assumption that the station would be a large platform, capable of housing a wide array of diverse instruments, and could be either manned or unmanned. The Earth's Resources Panel dealt with applications of remote sensing for resource assessment. The Earth's Environment Panel dealt with the Earth's atmosphere and its impact on society. The Ocean Operations Panel looked at both science and applications. The Satellite Communications Panel assessed the potential role of a space station in the evolution of commercial telecommunication services up to the year 2000. The Materials Science and Engineering panel focused on the utility of a space station environment for materials processing.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1998

A Geometry Based Infra-Structure for Computational Analysis and Design

The computational steps traditionally taken for most engineering analysis suites (computational fluid dynamics (CFD), structural analysis, heat transfer and etc.) are: (1) Surface Generation -- usually by employing a Computer Assisted Design (CAD) system; (2) Grid Generation -- preparing the volume for the simulation; (3) Flow Solver -- producing the results at the specified operational point; (4) Post-processing Visualization -- interactively attempting to understand the results. For structural analysis, integrated systems can be obtained from a number of commercial vendors. These vendors couple directly to a number of CAD systems and are executed from within the CAD Graphical User Interface (GUI). It should be noted that the structural analysis problem is more tractable than CFD; there are fewer mesh topologies used and the grids are not as fine (this problem space does not have the length scaling issues of fluids). For CFD, these steps have worked well in the past for simple steady-state simulations at the expense of much user interaction. The data was transmitted between phases via files. In most cases, the output from a CAD system could go to Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES) or Standard Exchange Program (STEP) files. The output from Grid Generators and Solvers do not really have standards though there are a couple of file formats that can be used for a subset of the gridding (i.e. PLOT3D data formats). The user would have to patch up the data or translate from one format to another to move to the next step. Sometimes this could take days. Specifically the problems with this procedure are:(1) File based -- Information flows from one step to the next via data files with formats specified for that procedure. File standards, when they exist, are wholly inadequate. For example, geometry from CAD systems (transmitted via IGES files) is defined as disjoint surfaces and curves (as well as masses of other information of no interest for the Grid Generator). This is particularly onerous for modern CAD systems based on solid modeling. The part was a proper solid and in the translation to IGES has lost this important characteristic. STEP is another standard for CAD data that exists and supports the concept of a solid. The problem with STEP is that a solid modeling geometry kernel is required to query and manipulate the data within this type of file. (2) 'Good' Geometry. A bottleneck in getting results from a solver is the construction of proper geometry to be fed to the grid generator. With 'good' geometry a grid can be constructed in tens of minutes (even with a complex configuration) using unstructured techniques. Adroit multi-block methods are not far behind. This means that a million node steady-state solution can be computed on the order of hours (using current high performance computers) starting from this 'good' geometry. Unfortunately, the geometry usually transmitted from the CAD system is not 'good' in the grid generator sense. The grid generator needs smooth closed solid geometry. It can take a week (or more) of interaction with the CAD output (sometimes by hand) before the process can begin. One way Communication. (3) One-way Communication -- All information travels on from one phase to the next. This makes procedures like node adaptation difficult when attempting to add or move nodes that sit on bounding surfaces (when the actual surface data has been lost after the grid generation phase). Until this process can be automated, more complex problems such as multi-disciplinary analysis or using the above procedure for design becomes prohibitive. There is also no way to easily deal with this system in a modular manner. One can only replace the grid generator, for example, if the software reads and writes the same files. Instead of the serial approach to analysis as described above, CAPRI takes a geometry centric approach. This makes the actual geometry (not a discretized version) accessible to all phases of the analysis. The connection to the geometry is made through an Application Programming Interface (API) and NOT a file system. This API isolates the top-level applications (grid generators, solvers and visualization components) from the geometry engine. Also this allows the replacement of one geometry kernel with another, without effecting these top-level applications. For example, if UniGraphics is used as the CAD package then Parasolid (UG's own geometry engine) can be used for all geometric queries so that no solid geometry information is lost in a translation. This is much better than STEP because when the data is queried, the same software is executed as used in the CAD system. Therefore, one analyzes the exact part that is in the CAD system. CAPRI uses the same idea as the commercial structural analysis codes but does not specify control. Software components of the CAD system are used, but the analysis suite, not the CAD operator, specifies the control of the software session. This also means that the license issues (may be) minimized and individuals need not have to know how to operate a CAD system in order to run the suite.

Haimes, Robert↗
NASA NTRS2003

PAIRS, The GIS-Based Incident Response System for Pennsylvania, and NASA

Over the past several years the Pennsylvania Departments of Environmental Protection (DEP), Health (DOH), and Agriculture (PDA) built the GIs-based Pennsylvania West Nile Surveillance System. That system has become a model for collecting data that has a field component, laboratory component, reporting and mapping component, and a public information component. Given the success of the West Nile Virus System and the events of September 11, 2001, DEP then embarked on the development of the Pennsylvania Incident Response System, or PAIRS. PAIRS is an effective GIs-based approach to providing a system for response to incidents of any kind, including terrorism because it is building upon the existing experience, infrastructure and databases that were successfully developed to respond to the West Nile Virus by DEP, DOH, and PDA. The proposed system can be described as one that supports data acquisition, laboratory forensics, decision making/response, and communications. Decision makers will have tools to view and analyze data from various sources and, at the same time, to communicate with the large numbers of people responding to the same incident. Recent collaborations with NASA partners are creating mechanisms for the PAIRS system to incorporate space-based and other remote sensing geophysical parameters relevant to public health assessment and management, such as surface temperatures, precipitation, land cover/land use change, and humidity. This presentation will describe the PAIRS system and outline the Pennsylvania-NASA collaboration for integration of space-based data into the PAIRS system.

Conrad, Eric↗
NASA NTRS2004

An Hour of Spectacular Visualization

The NASA/NOAA Electronic Theater presents Earth science observations and visualizations from space in a historical perspective. Fly in from outer space to the Far East and down to Beijing and Bangkok. Zooms through the Cosmos to the site of the 2004 Summer Olympic games in Athens using 1 m IKONOS "Spy Satellite" data. Contrast the 1972 Apollo 17 "Blue Marble" image of the Earth with the latest US and International global satellite images that allow us to view our Planet from any vantage point. See the latest spectacular images from NASA/NOAA remote sensing missions like Terra, GOES, TRMM, SeaWiFS, & Landsat 7, of typhoons/hurricanes and fires in California and around the planet. See how High Definition Television (HDTV) is revolutionizing the way we do science communication. Take the pulse of the planet on a daily, annual and 30-year time scale. See daily thunderstorms, the annual greening of the northern hemisphere land masses and Oceans, fires in Africa, dust storms in Iraq, and carbon monoxide exhaust from global burning. See visualizations featured on Newsweek, TIME, National Geographic, Popular Science covers & National & International Network TV. Spectacular new global visualizations of the observed and simulated atmosphere & Oceans are shown. See the currents and vortexes in the Oceans that bring up the nutrients to feed tiny plankton and draw the fish, whales and fishermen. See the how the ocean blooms in response to El Nino/La Nina climate changes. The Etheater will be presented using the latest High Definition TV (HDTV) and video projection technology on a large screen. See the global city lights, showing population concentrations in the US, Africa, and Asia observed by the "night-vision" DMSP satellite.

Hasler, Arthur F.↗