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NASA NTRS2003

Real NASA Inspiration in a Virtual Space

NASA exemplifies the spirit of exploration of new horizons - from flight in earth's skies to missions in space. As we know from our experience as teachers, one of the best ways to motivate students' interest in mathematics, science, technology, and engineering is to allow them to explore the universe through NASA's rich history of air and space exploration and current missions. But how? It's not really practical for large numbers of students to talk to NASA astronauts, researchers, scientists, and engineers in person. NASA offers tools that make it possible for hundreds of students to visit with NASA through videoconferencing. These visits provide a real-world connection to scientists and their research and support the NASA mission statement: To inspire the next generation of explorers ... as only NASA can.

Distance learning↗
NASA NTRS2004

The Lifecycle of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise Data Resources

A major endeavor of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) is to acquire, process, archive and distribute data from Earth observing satellites in support of a broad set of science research and applications in the U. S. and abroad. NASA policy directives specifically call for the agency to collect, announce, disseminate and archive all scientific and technical data resulting from NASA and NASA-funded research. During the active life of the satellite missions, while the data products are being created, validated and refined, a number of NASA organizations have the responsibility for data and information system functions. Following the completion of the missions, the responsibility for the long-term stewardship of the ocean and atmospheric, and land process data products transitions to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), respectively. Ensuring that long-term satellite data be preserved to support global climate change studies and other research topics and applications presents some major challenges to NASA and its partners. Over the last several years, with the launch and operation of the EOS satellites and the acquisition and production of an unprecedented volume of Earth science data, the importance of addressing these challenges has been elevated. The lifecycle of NASA's Earth science data has been the subject of several agency and interagency studies and reports and has implications and effects on agency charters, policies and budgets and on their data system's requirements, implementation plans and schedules. While much remains to be done, considerable progress has been made in understanding and addressing the data lifecycle issues.

McDonald, Kenneth R.↗
NASA NTRS2005

A Proven Ground System Architecture for Promoting Collaboration and Common Solutions at NASA

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's "GMSEC" ground system architecture was presented at GSAW2003 as a concept being studied. GMSEC would utilize a publish/subscribe middleware framework and standardized interfaces to allow custom and COTS ground system components to plug-and-play. This capability, in turn, would reduce integration costs, allow for technology infusion over time, and encourage the development and sharing of common components across missions and organizations. At GSAW2004, GMSEC was presented at a breakout session as a system working well in the NASA lab and being applied as an integral piece of reengineering efforts for several GSFC missions. Today, GMSEC is supporting five satellites at GSFC and has been selected by several future missions. Over 30 plug-and-play components are now available to missions using the GMSEC approach. Other organizations, including Marshall Space Flight Center, Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physic Lab, and the Institute for Scientific Research are each developing GMSEC-compatible components. Based on the success of GMSEC and efforts at other NASA Centers, the message bus approach is now being evaluated as a NASA Agency-wide approach for many future missions involving multiple NASA Centers as we move towards the goals of NASA s new Exploration Initiative. The presentation will explain the basic technical concepts of using a publish/subscribe framework for mission operations support (and its applicability to flight systems as well). Lessons learned on NASA's GMSEC program will allow the audience to better understand the significant benefits of this architecture approach over the traditional "one-off" solution approach. The point of the presentation is to show the long-term benefits of using a ground system architecture which incorporates many of the successful GMSEC concepts - message bus, mix of COTS and custom software, standard interfaces, plug-and-play, etc. The implications for the development process will also be discussed.

Smith, Danford↗
NASA NTRS2004

My Work in the NASA Glenn History Office and Records Management Office

This is my fourth summer working with my mentor, Kevin P. Coleman, who is the Center History Coordinator, Center Records Manager, and Center Forms Manager. I am working in the GRC History Office with some overlap in the Records Management Office. I have three major projects this summer. First, I am assisting in the documentation of historic facilities. Second, I am involved in a project to organize files and create an archives at Plum Brook Station. Third, I have helped the records management office with its inventory of stored records at Plum Brook. Also, I received an award this summer for research work I had done for NASA in the past. First, my primary project is to help assemble documentation for historic facilities at Glenn. This is somewhat of an extension of my project from last summer. Last summer, I worked to compile a complete list of all of NASA s historic sites and landmarks (as designated by the National Park Service, as well as several private organizations) throughout the country. Then, I briefly researched the significance of historic designation under federal law. Finally, I put my findings into a report which was submitted to NASA Headquarters. Upon review by the NASA History Office and several center-level history officials, it was decided that NASA should work to update its documentation of its historic sites and landmarks since some of the documentation was outdated or unavailable. Until recently, many project managers and facility managers working at historic facilities were not even aware that their surroundings had been designated as historic under federal law (most specifically, the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and its amendments). Therefore, they were unaware of the legal obligations for historic preservation. This summer, my project is to research some of Glenn s historic sites and landmarks in more detail. The goal is to put together a template for documenting historic NASA facilities. The hope is that this template of requirements for historic documentation of facilities (which may include records, drawings, photos, film, interviews, and a Web site) can be used agency-wide to assist center history offices in documenting historic sites and landmarks. To this end, I am working with Bob Arrighi, an archivist from InDyne, Inc., and Anne Burke, a NASA co-op, to gather and assess the historic value of records from several facilities at Glenn and Plum Brook Station. We will also work to determine the costs of each part of the template.

Mate, Robert C.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Results of a Television Station Managers' Telephone Survey of NASA's Destination Tomorrow(Trademark)

We conducted a television station managers' telephone survey concerning NASA's Destination Tomorrow. On a 10-point scale, survey participants rated the overall technical quality of NASA's Destination Tomorrow highly (mean = 9.48), and the educational value of the series slightly more highly (mean = 9.56). Ninety one percent of the participants reported that the technical quality of NASA's Destination Tomorrow was higher compared to other educational programming that airs on their station. Most stations (81 percent) indicated that NASA's Destination Tomorrow was well received by their audiences, and 97 percent indicated that they had recommended or would recommend the series to a colleague. Lastly, using a 10-point scale, survey participants indicated that (1) the series successfully educates people about what NASA does (mean = 9.23), (2) the information contained in NASA's Destination Tomorrow is credible (mean = 9.53), and (3) the series is successful in educating the public about what NASA does (mean = 9.23).

Endo, Scott↗
NASA NTRS2006

NASA Patent Abstracts October 2006: A Continuing Bibliography

Several thousand inventions result each year from research supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA seeks patent protection on inventions to which it has title if the invention has important use in government programs or significant commercial potential. These inventions cover a broad range of technologies and include many that have useful and valuable commercial application. NASA inventions best serve the interests of the United States when their benefits are available to the public. In many instances, the granting of nonexclusive or exclusive licenses for the practice of these inventions may assist in the accomplishment of this objective. This bibliography is published as a service to companies, firms, and individuals seeking new, licensable products for the commercial market. The NASA Patent Abstracts Bibliography is an annual NASA publication containing comprehensive abstracts of NASA-owned inventions covered by U.S. patents. The citations included were originally published in NASA s Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports (STAR) and cover STAR announcements made since May 1969. The citations published in this issue cover the period July 2005 through September 2006. The range of subjects covered includes the NASA Scope and Subject Category Guide's 10 broad subject divisions separated further into 76 specific categories. However, not all categories contain citations during the dates covered for this issue; therefore, the Table of Contents does not include all divisions and categories. This scheme was devised in 1975 and last revised in 2005 in lieu of the 34 category divisions which were utilized in supplements (01) through (06) covering STAR abstracts from May 1969 through January 1974. Each entry consists of a citation accompanied by an abstract and, when appropriate, a key illustration taken from the patent or application for patent. Entries are arranged by subject category in ascending order. When available, citations contain a link to the full-text document online. Two indexes, Subject Term and Personal Author, are available within the publication.

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NASA NTRS2007

Bridging the Gap between Earth Science and Students: An Integrated Approach using NASA Earth Science Climate Data

Under the auspices of the Department of Education's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, beginning in 2007 students will be tested in the science area. There are many techniques that educators can employ to teach students science. The use of authentic materials or in this case authentic data can be an engaging alternative to more traditional methods. An Earth science classroom is a great place for the integration of authentic data and science concepts. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has a wealth of high quality Earth science data available to the general public. For instance, the Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA s Langley Research Center houses over 800 Earth science data sets related to Earth's radiation budget, clouds, aerosols and tropospheric chemistry. These data sets were produced to increase academic understanding of the natural and anthropogenic factors that influence global climate; however, a major hurdle in using authentic data is the size of the data and data documentation. To facilitate the use of these data sets for educational purposes, the Mentoring and inquirY using NASA Data on Atmospheric and Earth science for Teachers and Amateurs (MY NASA DATA) project has been established to systematically support educational activities at all levels of formal and informal education. The MY NASA DATA project accomplishes this by reducing these large data holdings to microsets that are easily accessible and explored by K-12 educators and students though the project's Web page. MY NASA DATA seeks to ease the difficulty in understanding the jargon-heavy language of Earth science. This manuscript will show how MY NASA DATA provides resources for NCLB implementation in the science area through an overview of the Web site, the different microsets available, the lesson plans and computer tools, and an overview of educational support mechanisms.

Alston, Erica J.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Letting The NASA Press Engine Work For You

You have an amazing result based on NASA data or a NASA Mission; you have written your seminal paper and submitted it to your favorite journal. You believe it has press potential and maybe you've even gotten help from your PR folks in writing a press release. Now you would really like NASA to issue this as a press release. But how do you do that? This presentation will illustrate the steps required to engage NASA in helping promote your story. What are NASA's requirements for newsworthiness? Should your news be released as a web feature story or in the local media? Does your news rise to the level of a full-blown press conference or will it be a media teleconference? How do you obtain approval for a NASA press event? Once your result is scheduled to be issued as a press release, how can you improve your chances of getting the best possible coverage for your story? I will discuss the NASA press process and suggest how to consider factors like timing, working with your collaborating institutions in an efficient way, and not letting the cat out of the bag until the press event.

Weaver, Kimberly↗
NASA NTRS2005

NASA's Software Safety Standard

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) relies more and more on software to control, monitor, and verify its safety critical systems, facilities and operations. Since the 1960's there has hardly been a spacecraft (manned or unmanned) launched that did not have a computer on board that provided vital command and control services. Despite this growing dependence on software control and monitoring, there has been no consistent application of software safety practices and methodology to NASA's projects with safety critical software. Led by the NASA Headquarters Office of Safety and Mission Assurance, the NASA Software Safety Standard (STD-18l9.13B) has recently undergone a significant update in an attempt to provide that consistency. This paper will discuss the key features of the new NASA Software Safety Standard. It will start with a brief history of the use and development of software in safety critical applications at NASA. It will then give a brief overview of the NASA Software Working Group and the approach it took to revise the software engineering process across the Agency.

Ramsay, Christopher M.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Development of Network-based Communications Architectures for Future NASA Missions

Since the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) announcement, NASA has been developing a communications infrastructure that combines existing terrestrial techniques with newer concepts and capabilities. The overall goal is to develop a flexible, modular, and extensible architecture that leverages and enhances terrestrial networking technologies that can either be directly applied or modified for the space regime. In addition, where existing technologies leaves gaps, new technologies must be developed. An example includes dynamic routing that accounts for constrained power and bandwidth environments. Using these enhanced technologies, NASA can develop nodes that provide characteristics, such as routing, store and forward, and access-on-demand capabilities. But with the development of the new infrastructure, challenges and obstacles will arise. The current communications infrastructure has been developed on a mission-by-mission basis rather than an end-to-end approach; this has led to a greater ground infrastructure, but has not encouraged communications between space-based assets. This alone provides one of the key challenges that NASA must encounter. With the development of the new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), NASA has the opportunity to provide an integration path for the new vehicles and provide standards for their development. Some of the newer capabilities these vehicles could include are routing, security, and Software Defined Radios (SDRs). To meet these needs, the NASA/Glenn Research Center s (GRC) Network Emulation Laboratory (NEL) has been using both simulation and emulation to study and evaluate these architectures. These techniques provide options to NASA that directly impact architecture development. This paper identifies components of the infrastructure that play a pivotal role in the new NASA architecture, develops a scheme using simulation and emulation for testing these architectures and demonstrates how NASA can strengthen the new infrastructure by implementing these concepts.

Slywczak, Richard A.↗
NASA NTRS2008

NASA and Superalloys: A Customer, a Participant, and a Referee

NASA has had a long history of research and development in the field of superalloys. These efforts have continued today, where the latest advancements in turbine disk and blade technologies are being developed Although NASA does support military flight systems, it s predominant role is in supporting civilian air transportation systems, and thus has goals for improving fuel efficiency, emissions, noise, and safety of today s aircraft. NASA has traditionally served several distinct but complimentary roles as participants in multi-disciplinary research teams, as customers who fund research and development efforts at industry and universities, and as referees who can address broad issues that affect the entire aeronautics community. Because of our longer range viewpoint, we can take on higher risk, higher reward research topics. NASA can also serve as an intermediary between the basic research performed primarily at universities and the development efforts emphasized by industry. By interacting with individual companies, NASA can identify areas of general interest and problems common to a large portion of the aeronautics community, and devise programs aimed at solving these problems. In space missions, NASA is a direct customer responsible for developing vehicles. In the case of the Space Shuttle, NASA has worked with various contractors to design and build numerous components out of superalloys. Another fascinating area for the use of superalloys is in power systems for long life applications in space. Potential missions include providing electric power for deep space missions, surface rovers, including lunar and Mars, and stationary power generators on the lunar surface.

Nathal, Michael V.↗
NASA NTRS2008

NASA and Superalloys: A Customer, a Participant, and a Referee

NASA has had a long history of research and development in the field of superalloys. These efforts have continued today, where the latest advancements in turbine disk and blade technologies are being developed. Although NASA does support military flight systems, its predominant role is in supporting civilian air transportation systems, and thus has goals for improving fuel efficiency, emissions, noise, and safety of today s aircraft. NASA has traditionally served several distinct but complimentary roles as participants in multi-disciplinary research teams, as customers who fund research and development efforts at industry and universities, and as referees who can address broad issues that affect the entire aeronautics community. Because of our longer range viewpoint, we can take on higher risk, higher reward research topics. NASA can also serve as an intermediary between the basic research performed primarily at universities and the development efforts emphasized by industry. By interacting with individual companies, NASA can identify areas of general interest and problems common to a large portion of the aeronautics community, and devise programs aimed at solving these problems. In space missions, NASA is a direct customer responsible for developing vehicles. In the case of the Space Shuttle, NASA has worked with various contractors to design and build numerous components out of superalloys. Another fascinating area for the use of superalloys is in power systems for long life applications in space. Potential missions include providing electric power for deep space missions, surface rovers, including lunar and Mars, and stationary power generators on the lunar surface.

Nathal, Michael V.↗
NASA NTRS2009

An Overview of the NASA Balloon Program

The U. S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Balloon Program conducts a total of 16 to 20 missions per year in support of the NASA scientific community. The NASA Balloon Program continues a long tradition for support and advancement of scientific ballooning for attitudes up to 49 h. These missions support investigations sponsored by NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The long duration (weeks currently; with the real possibility of multi-month) and large area/mass payloads able to fly in near-space conditions offer exciting opportunities for both development and actual science for many of NASA's highest priority areas for current and future missions. These can typically be carried out at less than ten percent of the cost of a corresponding satellite mission, and on much shorter timescales. The Balloon Program is arguably the most scientifically compelling of the various NASA sub-orbital programs and provides the most complete and effective springboard for both scientists and engineers to go on to carry out the space-science missions of the future - as demonstrated by numerous successful missions and their Principal Investigators, as well as leaders in NASA space science, over the past three decades. Progress continues toward the development of the super pressure balloon and support systems for support of ultra-long duration, constant altitude missions from any latitude.

Pierce, David L.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Launching Science: Science Opportunities Provided by NASA's Constellation System

In 2004 NASA began implementation of the first phases of a new space exploration policy. This implementation effort included the development of a new human-carrying spacecraft, known as Orion; the Altair lunar lander; and two new launch vehicles, the Ares I and Ares V rockets.collectively called the Constellation System (described in Chapter 5 of this report). The Altair lunar lander, which is in the very preliminary concept stage, is not discussed in detail in the report. In 2007 NASA asked the National Research Council (NRC) to evaluate the science opportunities enabled by the Constellation System. To do so, the NRC established the Committee on Science Opportunities Enabled by NASA's Constellation System. In general, the committee interpreted "Constellation-enabled" broadly, to include not only mission concepts that required Constellation, but also those that could be significantly enhanced by Constellation. The committee intends this report to be a general overview of the topic of science missions that might be enabled by Constellation, a sort of textbook introduction to the subject. The mission concepts that are reviewed in this report should serve as general examples of kinds of missions, and the committee s evaluation should not be construed as an endorsement of the specific teams that developed the mission concepts or of their proposals. Additionally, NASA has a well-developed process for establishing scientific priorities by asking the NRC to conduct a "decadal survey" for a particular discipline. Any scientific mission that eventually uses the Constellation System will have to be properly evaluated by means of this decadal survey process. The committee was impressed with the scientific potential of many of the proposals that it evaluated. However, the committee notes that the Constellation System has been justified by NASA and selected in order to enable human exploration beyond low Earth orbit.not to enable science missions. Virtually all of the science mission concepts that could take advantage of Constellation s unique capabilities are likely to be prohibitively expensive. Several times in the past NASA has begun ambitious space science missions that ultimately proved too expensive for the agency to pursue. Examples include the Voyager-Mars mission and the Prometheus program and its Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter spacecraft (both examples are discussed in Chapter 1). Finding: The scientific missions reviewed by the committee as appropriate for launch on an Ares V vehicle fall, with few exceptions, into the "flagship" class of missions. The preliminary cost estimates, based on mission concepts that at this time are not very detailed, indicate that the costs of many of the missions analyzed will be above $5 billion (in current dollars). The Ares V costs are not included in these estimates. All of the costs discussed in this report are presented in current-year (2008) dollars, not accounting for potential inflation that could occur between now and the decade in which these missions might be pursued. In general, preliminary cost estimates for proposed missions are, for many reasons, significantly lower than the final costs. Given the large cost estimates for many of the missions assessed in this report, the potentially large impacts on NASA's budget by many of these missions are readily apparent.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2009

Fostering Visions for the Future: A Review of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts

The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) was formed in 1998 to provide an independent source of advanced aeronautical and space concepts that could dramatically impact how NASA develops and conducts its missions. Until the program's termination in August 2007, NIAC provided an independent open forum, a high-level point of entry to NASA for an external community of innovators, and an external capability for analysis and definition of advanced aeronautics and space concepts to complement the advanced concept activities conducted within NASA. Throughout its 9-year existence, NIAC inspired an atmosphere for innovation that stretched the imagination and encouraged creativity. As requested by Congress, this volume reviews the effectiveness of NIAC and makes recommendations concerning the importance of such a program to NASA and to the nation as a whole, including the proper role of NASA and the federal government in fostering scientific innovation and creativity and in developing advanced concepts for future systems. Key findings and recommendations include that in order to achieve its mission, NASA must have, and is currently lacking, a mechanism to investigate visionary, far-reaching advanced concepts. Therefore, a NIAC-like entity should be reestablished to fill this gap.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2010

An Overview of the NASA Aeronautics Test Program Strategic Plan

U.S. leadership in aeronautics depends on ready access to technologically advanced, efficient, and affordable aeronautics test capabilities. These systems include major wind tunnels and propulsion test facilities and flight test capabilities. The federal government owns the majority of the major aeronautics test capabilities in the United States, primarily through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Defense (DoD), however an overarching strategy for management of these national assets was needed. Therefore, in Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 NASA established the Aeronautics Test Program (ATP) as a two-pronged strategic initiative to: (1) retain and invest in NASA aeronautics test capabilities considered strategically important to the agency and the nation, and (2) establish a strong, high level partnership with the DoD Test Resources Management Center (TRMC), stewards of the DoD test and evaluation infrastructure. Since then, approximately seventy percent of the ATP budget has been directed to underpin fixed and variable costs of facility operations within its portfolio and the balance towards strategic investments in its test facilities, including maintenance and capability upgrades. Also, a strong guiding coalition was established through the National Partnership for Aeronautics Testing (NPAT), with governance by the senior leadership of NASA s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) and the DoD's TRMC. As part of its strategic planning, ATP has performed or participated in many studies and analyses, including assessments of major NASA and DoD aeronautics test capabilities, test facility condition evaluations and market research. The ATP strategy has also benefitted from unpublished RAND research and analysis by Ant n et al. (2009). Together, these various studies, reports and assessments serve as a foundation for a new, five year strategic plan that will guide ATP through FY 2014. Our vision for the future is a balanced portfolio of aeronautics ground and flight test capabilities that advance U.S. leadership in aeronautics in the short and long term. Key to the ATP vision is the concept of availability, not necessarily ownership; that is, NASA does not have to own and operate all facilities that are envisioned for future aeronautics testing. However, ATP will enable access to capabilities which are needed but not owned by NASA through strategic partnerships and reliance agreements. This paper will outline the major aspects of the ATP strategic plan for achieving its mission.

Marshall, Timothy J.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Use of NASA Satellite Data in Aiding Mississippi Barrier Island Restoration Projects

This presentation discusses a NASA Stennis Space Center project in which NASA-supported satellite and aerial data is being used to aid state and federal agencies in restoring the Mississippi barrier islands. Led by the Applied Science and Technology Project Office (ASTPO), this project will produce geospatial information products from multiple NASA-supported data sources, including Landsat, ASTER, and MODIS satellite data as well as ATLAS multispectral, CAMS multispectral, AVIRIS hyperspectral, EAARL, and other aerial data. Project objectives include the development and testing of a regional sediment transport model and the monitoring of barrier island restoration efforts through remote sensing. Barrier islands provide invaluable benefits to the State of Mississippi, including buffering the mainland from storm surge impacts, providing habitats for valuable wildlife and fisheries habitat, offering accessible recreational opportunities, and preserving natural environments for educating the public about coastal ecosystems and cultural resources. Unfortunately, these highly valued natural areas are prone to damage from hurricanes. For example, Hurricane Camille in 1969 split Ship Island into East and West Ship Island. Hurricane Georges in 1998 caused additional land loss for the two Ship Islands. More recently, Hurricanes Ivan, Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike impacted the Mississippi barrier islands. In particular, Hurricane Katrina caused major damage to island vegetation and landforms, killing island forest overstories, overwashing entire islands, and causing widespread erosion. In response, multiple state and federal agencies are working to restore damaged components of these barrier islands. Much of this work is being implemented through federally funded Coastal Impact Assessment and Mississippi Coastal Improvement programs. One restoration component involves the reestablishment of the island footprints to that in 1969. Our project will employ NASA remote sensing data and products to support these federally funded efforts on multiple fronts. Landsat and ASTER data is being analyzed to assess changes in barrier island land cover over the last 35 years. ASTER, SRTM, and EAARL terrain products and other NASA airborne imagery are being applied in assessing changes in barrier island geomorphology and geospatial extent. MODIS data is being examined as a tool for sediment transport modeling by supplying geospatial data that quantifies in-water sediment concentrations. MODIS satellite data is being assessed for monitoring changes in the spatial extent of individual barrier islands. Results thus far indicate that NASA data products are useful in assessing barrier island conditions and changes. This value is enhanced with additional historical geospatial data, commercial high resolution satellite data, other non-NASA aerial imagery, and field survey data. The project s products are relevant to the Gulf of Mexico Alliance priority issues, including coastal habitat conservation, restoration and coastal community resilience. Such products will be available to state and federal agencies involved with coastal restoration. Potential end-users of these products include the National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, and Mississippi Department of Marine Resources.

Giardino, Marco↗
NASA NTRS2010

Compact, High Energy 2-micron Coherent Doppler Wind Lidar Development for NASA's Future 3-D Winds Measurement from Space

This paper presents an overview of 2-micron laser transmitter development at NASA Langley Research Center for coherent-detection lidar profiling of winds. The novel high-energy, 2-micron, Ho:Tm:LuLiF laser technology developed at NASA Langley was employed to study laser technology currently envisioned by NASA for future global coherent Doppler lidar winds measurement. The 250 mJ, 10 Hz laser was designed as an integral part of a compact lidar transceiver developed for future aircraft flight. Ground-based wind profiles made with this transceiver will be presented. NASA Langley is currently funded to build complete Doppler lidar systems using this transceiver for the DC-8 aircraft in autonomous operation. Recently, LaRC 2-micron coherent Doppler wind lidar system was selected to contribute to the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Earth Science Division (ESD) hurricane field experiment in 2010 titled Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP). The Doppler lidar system will measure vertical profiles of horizontal vector winds from the DC-8 aircraft using NASA Langley s existing 2-micron, pulsed, coherent detection, Doppler wind lidar system that is ready for DC-8 integration. The measurements will typically extend from the DC-8 to the earth s surface. They will be highly accurate in both wind magnitude and direction. Displays of the data will be provided in real time on the DC-8. The pulsed Doppler wind lidar of NASA Langley Research Center is much more powerful than past Doppler lidars. The operating range, accuracy, range resolution, and time resolution will be unprecedented. We expect the data to play a key role, combined with the other sensors, in improving understanding and predictive algorithms for hurricane strength and track. 1

Singh, Upendra N.↗