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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Enabling Intelligent Data Downlink Prioritization of In-Situ Observations through Generalizable and Computationally Inexpensive Anomaly Detection

High-fidelity measurements of magnetic fields and other observed properties, such as energetic particle fluxes, are a necessary component to our understanding of the highly dynamic near-Earth space environment. As our desire to study smaller-scale phenomena such as shocks and dipolorizations has increased, we have been driven to take and telemeter measurements at higher cadences. Unfortunately, many missions are unable to downlink all their captured data due to the well-known data transmission bottleneck at the DSN. These missions must then prioritize their high-cadence data such that the most scientifically useful intervals are transmitted. One simple prioritization technique uses the spacecraft position to telemeter data from only the region of interest. Although easy to implement, this method does not leverage the available scientific data and can omit intervals of useful scientific data when they lie outside the region of interest. The Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) uses mission-specific parameterization of several data products to automatically prioritize scientifically useful intervals. Then, MMS verifies the automatically selected intervals by having a domain expert manually select intervals for downlink. The overall complexity required by this technique make it prohibitive for deployment on low-cost platforms (i.e., CubeSats) or on future missions featuring large constellations of satellites such as the Geospace Dynamics Constellation (GDC). We present preliminary results for a simple, generic, and data-driven method of downlink prioritization for magnetic field (and other) measurements. Specifically, Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and One-Class Support Vector Machines (OC-SVMs) are used to detect intervals containing anomalous activity, which can then be prioritized for subsequent downlink. The computational simplicity of this algorithm makes it an excellent candidate for implementation on spaceflight hardware, as well as provide generalizability to a broad range of missions and data products. Initial analysis of this technique has been performed using magnetic field measurements from the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission and CASSIOP, where it automatically identified scientifically interesting intervals containing Alfvén waves and EMIC activity.

Matthew G. Finley↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Boundary Layer Analysis of Shock Tube Flows

Shock tubes offer a controlled environment to reproduce kinetic and radiative phenomena characteristic of atmospheric entry flows under ground-test conditions. The boundary layer developing behind the incident shock wave determines the available test time, influences particle residence times important for similarity scaling, and can affect radiative energy transport. In this study, we couple a quasi-1D space marcher with the compressible boundary-layer equations to numerically compute the post-shock flow in a shock frame of reference for various test gas mixtures representative of different planetary atmospheres. The solvers are individually verified against CFD simulations and analytical correlations available in the literature. Coupled solutions are computed for a finite-rate chemistry in the boundary layer and a non-catalytic isothermal wall. Results yield refined estimates of the maximum separation distance, as well as insights into concentration profiles of relevant species within the boundary layer.

Andrea Fagnani↗

NASA NTRS1973

On particle track detectors

Aqueous sodium hydroxide is widely used to develop charged particle tracks in polycarbonate film, particularly Lexan. The chemical nature of the etching process for this system has been determined. A method employing ultra-violet absorbance was developed for monitoring the concentration of the etch products in solution. Using this method it was possible to study the formation of the etching solution saturated in etch products. It was found that the system super-saturates to a significant extent before precipitation occurs. It was also learned that the system approaches its equilibrium state rather slowly. It is felt that both these phenomena may be due to the presence of surfactant in the solution. In light of these findings, suggestions are given regarding the preparation and maintenance of the saturated etch solution. Two additional research projects, involving automated techniques for particle track analysis and particle identification using AgCl crystals, are briefly summarized.

Benton, E. V.↗

NASA NTRS1974

Correlations and linkages between the sun and the earth's atmosphere: Needed measurements and observations

A summary of needed measurements and observations is reported to identify the sequence of processes leading from change in solar input to change in tropospheric circulation and weather. Changes in the solar electromagnetic radiation have to be carefully monitored since variations over the solar cycle are small (less than one percent). It is suggested that changes in the ionization at the Pfotzer maximum could influence the formation of thunderstorms by changing the electric potential gradient. This could be checked by measuring the global atmospheric electric field. As an example of spacecraft observations, a worldwide distribution plot of nocturnal thunderstorms compiled from OSO-5 data shown; no obvious correlation with solar data had been found, but the time span of the data is rather limited and more sophisticated observation techniques could be used. Continuous and careful monitoring is recommended of the input of electromagnetic and particle radiation into the earth's atmosphere ozone distributions in the region above 30 km, and wind systems in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. In addition, special phenomena suspected to be important in the causal chain, such as cirrus cloud formation at high latitudes and thunderstorm activity, should be monitored on a global basis.

Kellogg, W. W.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Neutral composition gravity waves in the thermosphere observed by ESRO 4

Neutral composition waves with a wave length of about 5000 km and a wave period of about 2.5 hours were observed by ESRO 4 in the altitude region of 250 km. The amplitudes are of the order of 25 percent for Ar, 15 percent for N2, and roughly 10 percent for He and O at 25 percent geographic latitude. The wave amplitudes are seen to decrease towards lower latitudes suggesting that the composition waves are launched by auroral sources. Simultaneous ground based ionosonde measurements of the F2 layer critical frequency at mid and low latitudes show a wave period consistent with the satellite observations. The theoretical investigation with a multi-component model shows that diffusion plays a major role in explaining these wave phenomena. The phase and amplitude relation between atmospheric constituents are sensitive to the altitude region in which energy is deposited thus suggesting that Joule heating or soft particle precipitation are the predominant energy sources.

Trinks, H.↗

NASA NTRS1975

ATS-6 - UCSD auroral particles experiment

The University of California at San Diego Auroral Particles Experiment aboard Applications Technology Satellite-6 (ATS-6) is discussed. The experiment is designed to investigate the time development of geomagnetic substorm particles, the confinement and loss of such particles, and the roles of plasma wave instabilities and characteristic system periodicities in substorm and general magnetospheric processes. The instrumentation includes a complement of five electrostatic charged particle detectors. Two detector assemblies are capable of rotation through 220 deg. The electrostatic curved plate energy/unit charge analyzers are ovoid, requiring particles to be bent only 55 deg to obtain azimuthal focusing. The inside of the plates is serrated to eliminate particles striking the sides. A post-analysis electrostatic lens consisting of two wire grids, one at the potential of the inner plate and one at the potential of ground, focuses particles strongly upon the center of the sensor. A spiraltron particle sensor detects the charged particles. The system has an energy range of five orders of magnitude with a lower extreme of less than 1 eV. Preliminary data are presented to illustrate phenomena which are observed as a result of the novel features described.

Mauk, B. H.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Visual phenomena induced by relativistic carbon ions with and without Cerenkov radiation

Exposing the human eye to individual carbon ions moving at relativistic speeds results in visual phenomena that include point flashes, streaks, and larger diffuse flashes. The diffuse flashes have previously been observed by astronauts in space but not in laboratory experiments with particles of high atomic number and energy. They are observed only when the nucleus moves fast enough to generate Cerenkov radiation.

Mcnulty, P. J.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Plasma wave observations with the Dynamics Explorer 1 spacecraft

This paper reviews the results from the plasma wave instrument on the Dynamics Explorer 1 (DE-1) spacecraft. The DE-1 spacecraft was launched on August 3, 1981, into an elliptical polar orbit with initial perigee and apogee radial distances of 1.09 and 4.65 earth radii. In the roughly six years since the launch of the spacecraft, DE-1 has provided basic new information on a wide variety of magnetospheric plasma wave phenomena. These include auroral kilometric radiation, auroral hiss, Z mode radiation, narrow-band electromagnetic emissions associated with equatorial upper hybrid waves, whistler mode emissions, wave-particle interactions stimulated by ground VLF transmitters, equatorial ion-cyclotron emissions, ion Bernstein-mode emissions, and electric field turbulence along the auroral field lines. A brief review of the basic plasma wave modes that can exist in the equatorial and polar regions of the magnetosphere is first given. After the basic terminology is established, each of the above areas of plasma wave research is discussed in detail, first by reviewing the state of knowledge at the time of the DE-1 launch, and then by describing the contribution made by DE-1 in the six years since the spacecraft was launched.

Gurnett, D. A.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Space physics educational outreach

The goal of this Space Physics Educational Outreach project was to develop a laboratory experiment and classroom lecture on Earth's aurora for use in lower division college physics courses, with the particular aim of implementing the experiment and lecture at Saint Mary's College of California. The strategy is to teach physics in the context of an interesting natural phenomenon by investigating the physical principles that are important in Earth's aurora, including motion of charged particles in electric and magnetic fields, particle collisions and chemical reactions, and atomic and molecular spectroscopy. As a by-product, the undergraduate students would develop an appreciation for naturally occurring space physics phenomena.

Copeland, Richard A.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Experiments and Models for Polymeric Microsphere Foams

The current project was performed under the direction of Dr. Byron Pipes as its lead investigator from January 2001 to August 2004. With the permission of the NASA, the project was transferred to Dr. Thein Kyu as the principle investigator for the period of September 2004 - June 2005. There were two major thrust areas in the original proposal; (1) experimental characterization and kinematics of foam structure formation and (2) determination of the mechanical, physical, and thermal properties, although these thrust areas were further sub- divided into 7 tasks. The present project has been directed primarily to elucidate kinematics of micro-foam formation (tasks 1 and 3) and to characterize micro-foam structures, since the control of the micro-structure of these foams is of paramount importance in determining their physical, mechanical and thermal properties. The first thrust area was accomplished in a timely manner; however, the second thrust area of foam properties (tasks 2,4-7) has yet to be completed because the area of kinematics of foam structure formation turned out to be extremely complex and thus consumed more time than what have been anticipated. As will be reported in what follows, the present studies have greatly enhances the in-depth understanding of mechanisms and kinematics of the micro-foam formation from solid powders. However, in order to implement all objectives of the second thrust areas regarding investigations of mechanical, physical, and thermal properties and establishment of the correlation of structure - properties of the foams, the project needs additional time and resources. The technical highlights of the accomplishment are summarized as follows. The present study represents a first approach to understanding the complexities that act together in the powder foaming process to achieve the successful inflation of polyimide microstructures. This type of study is novel as no prior work had dissected the fundamentals that govern the inflation process in this type of systems. The systematic approach to each of the different phenomena (i.e. morphological, diffusive, kinetic and dynamic) brings into context each of them in a way that allows separate understanding and analysis. Of the different phenomena studied, probably the one that gives a higher level of control over the inflation process has been shown to be the morphological aspects of the precursor particles. It is a major contribution of the present work to isolate and identify this phenomenon and highlight the features that with careful control during the synthesis of the precursor material can lead to a highly optimized and specialized final product (neat foam or microstructure). Some of these accomplishments have been presented in various national meetings and some of which are either published in refereed journals or still in various stages of publications. One of the presentations was selected for "Best of ANTEC 2004" Online Presentation Series of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) (September 2004)

Pipes, R. Byrona↗

NASA NTRS1986

Fast fluctuations of soft X-rays from active regions

A selection of short lived small soft X-ray bursts is studied using data from the Hard X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (HXIS), and the results are compared with the data from the Hard X-Ray Burst Spectrometer (HXRBS) with a view to understanding conditions at the onset of flares. Short-lived events provide an opportunity to study the radiation from the primary energy transfer process without confusion from the slowly-varying thermal X-ray emission which characterizes the decay of a large flare. The fast decay of the soft X-rays, only a few tens of seconds, suggests that they occur in the dense chromosphere. The results indicate that the short events may be signatures of several different phenomena, depending on their characteristics. Some events occur in association with reverse-drift type III bursts and simultaneous flaring elsewhere on the Sun, thus suggesting dumping of particles accelerated at a remote site. Some events have hard X-ray bursts and normal type III bursts associated with them, while others have neither. The latter events place strong constraints on the nonthermal electron population present.

Simnett, G. F.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Separation of biological materials in microgravity

Partition in aqueous two phase polymer systems is a potentially useful procedure in downstream processing of both molecular and particulate biomaterials. The potential efficiency of the process for particle and cell isolations is much higher than the useful levels already achieved. Space provides a unique environment in which to test the hypothesis that convection and settling phenomena degrade the performance of the partition process. The initial space experiment in a series of tests of this hypothesis is described.

Brooks, D. E.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Variability of ethane on Jupiter

Varying stratospheric temperature profiles and C2H6 altitude distributions furnish contexts for the evaluation of ethane abundances and distributions in the Jupiter stratosphere. Substantial ethane line emission and retrieved mole fraction variability is noted near the footprint of Io's flux tube, as well as within the auroral regions. It is suggested that this and other observed phenomena are due to the modification of local stratospheric chemistry by higher-order effects, which are in turn speculated to be due to the precipitation of charged particles along magnetic field lines.

Kostiuk, Theodor↗

NASA NTRS1988

Aeolian weathering of Venusian surface materials - Preliminary results from laboratory simulations

An attempt is made to duplicate the atmospheric temperature, pressure, and approximate gas composition of all surface elevations on Venus by means of a simulator environment in which particles are impacted against rock targets as a way of studying planetary aeolian processes. While particles are abraded even at the low impact velocities envisioned for Venus, the same particles do not generate basaltic rock abrasion for impact velocities lower than 1 m/sec; comminution debris is instead transferred onto rock surfaces to form an accretion layer. These phenomena are seen as functions of the greater than 660 K temperatures encountered.

Marshall, John R.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Challenges in Modeling the Sun-Earth System

The transfer of mass, energy and momentum through the coupled Sun-Earth system spans a wide range of scales in time and space. While profound advances have been made in modeling isolated regions of the Sun-Earth system, minimal progress has been achieved in modeling the end-to-end system. Currently, end-to-end modeling of the Sun-Earth system is a major goal of the National Space Weather and NASA Living With a Star (LWS) programs. The uncertainty in the underlying physics responsible for coupling contiguous regions of the Sun-Earth system is recognized as a significant barrier to progress. Our limited understanding of the underlying coupling physics is illustrated by the following example questions: how does the propagation of a typical CME/solar flare influence the measured properties of the solar wind at 1 AU? How does the solar wind compel the dynamic response of the Earth's magnetosphere? How is variability in the ionosphere-thermosphere system coupled to magnetospheric variations? Why do these and related important questions remain unanswered? What are the primary problems that need to be resolved to enable significant progress in comprehensive modeling of the Sun-Earth system? Which model/technique improvements are required and what new data coverage is required to enable full model advances? This poster opens the discussion for how these and other important questions can be addressed. A workshop scheduled for October 8-22, 2004 in Huntsville, Alabama, will be a forum for identifying ana exploring promising new directions and approaches for characterizing and understanding the system. To focus the discussion, the workshop will emphasize the genesis, evolution, propagation and interaction of high-speed solar wind streamers or CME/flares with geospace and the subsequent response of geospace from its outer reaches in the magnetosphere to the lower edge of the ionosphere-mesosphere-thermosphere. Particular emphasis will be placed on modeling the coupling aspects of these phenomena across boundaries between regions and on data analysis that guides and constrains model results. Specific topics to be addressed are: Corotating interaction regions, Coronal mass ejections, Energetic particles, System preconditioning, Extreme events and super storms, End-to-End modeling efforts.

Spann, James↗

NASA NTRS2007

GLAST, the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope

The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, GLAST, is a mission to measure the cosmic gamma-ray flux in the energy range 20 MeV to greater than 300 GeV, with supporting measurements for gamma-ray bursts from 10 keV to 25 MeV. With its upcoming launch in 2008, GLAST will open a new and important window on a wide variety of phenomena, including black holes and active galactic nuclei; the optical-UV extragalactic background light, gamma-ray bursts; the origin of cosmic rays and supernova remnants; and searches for hypothetical new phenomena such as supersymmetric dark matter annihilations and Lorentz invariance violation. In addition to the science opportunities, this talk includes a description of the instruments, the collaboration between particle physicists and astrophysicists, the opportunities for guest observers, and the mission status.

Ritz, Steven↗

NASA NTRS2007

GLAST, the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope

Ritz, Steven↗

NASA NTRS2011

Multiple Damage Progression Paths in Model-Based Prognostics

Model-based prognostics approaches employ domain knowledge about a system, its components, and how they fail through the use of physics-based models. Component wear is driven by several different degradation phenomena, each resulting in their own damage progression path, overlapping to contribute to the overall degradation of the component. We develop a model-based prognostics methodology using particle filters, in which the problem of characterizing multiple damage progression paths is cast as a joint state-parameter estimation problem. The estimate is represented as a probability distribution, allowing the prediction of end of life and remaining useful life within a probabilistic framework that supports uncertainty management. We also develop a novel variance control mechanism that maintains an uncertainty bound around the hidden parameters to limit the amount of estimation uncertainty and, consequently, reduce prediction uncertainty. We construct a detailed physics-based model of a centrifugal pump, to which we apply our model-based prognostics algorithms. We illustrate the operation of the prognostic solution with a number of simulation-based experiments and demonstrate the performance of the chosen approach when multiple damage mechanisms are active

Daigle, Matthew↗