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At least 505 records · Page 28

An Impact Sensor System for the Characterization of the Micrometeoroid and Lunar Secondary Ejecta Environment

The Impact Sensor for Micrometeoroid and Lunar Secondary Ejecta (IMMUSE) project aims to apply and integrate previously demonstrated impact sensing subsystems to characterize the micrometeoroid and lunar secondary (MMSE) environment on the surface of the Moon. Once deployed, data returned from IMMUSE will benefit: (1) Fundamental Lunar Science: providing data to improve the understanding of lunar cratering processes and dynamics of the lunar regolith. (2) Lunar Exploration Applied Science: providing an accurate MMSE environment definition for reliable impact risk assessments, cost-effective shielding designs, and mitigation measures for long-term lunar exploration activities. (3) Planetary Science: providing micrometeoroid data to aid the understanding of asteroidal collisions and the evolution of comets. A well-established link between micrometeoroid impacts and lunar regolith is also key to understanding other regolith-covered bodies from remote-sensing data. The IMMUSE system includes two components: (1) a large area (greater than or equal to 1 m2) micrometeoroid detector based on acoustic impact and fiber optic displacement sensors and (2) a 100 cm2 lunar secondary ejecta detector consisting of dual-layer laser curtain and acoustic impact sensors. The combinations of different detection mechanisms will allow for a better characterization of the MMSE environment, including flux, particle size/mass, and impact velocity. IMMUSE is funded by the NASA LASER Program through 2012. The project fs goal is to reach a Technical Readiness Level of 4 in preparation for a more advanced development beyond 2012. Several prototype subsystems have been constructed and subjected to low impact and hypervelocity impact tests. The presentation will include a status review and preliminary test results.

Liou, J.-C.↗

System design and prototyping for the CMS Level-1 Trigger at the High-Luminosity LHC

For the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider, the trigger and data acquisition system of the CMS experiment will be entirely replaced. Novel design choices have been explored, including ATCA prototyping platforms with SoC controllers and newly available interconnect technologies with serial optical links with data rates up to 28 Gb/s. Trigger analyses will be performed through sophisticated algorithms, including widespread use of Machine Learning, in large FPGAs, such as the Xilinx Ultrascale family. The system will process over 50 Tb/s of detector data with an event rate of 750 kHz. Here, we describe system design and prototyping and review trigger algorithm exemplars.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

25th Space Simulation Conference. Environmental Testing: The Earth-Space Connection

Topics covered include: Methods of Helium Injection and Removal for Heat Transfer Augmentation; The ESA Large Space Simulator Mechanical Ground Support Equipment for Spacecraft Testing; Temperature Stability and Control Requirements for Thermal Vacuum/Thermal Balance Testing of the Aquarius Radiometer; The Liquid Nitrogen System for Chamber A: A Change from Original Forced Flow Design to a Natural Flow (Thermo Siphon) System; Return to Mercury: A Comparison of Solar Simulation and Flight Data for the MESSENGER Spacecraft; Floating Pressure Conversion and Equipment Upgrades of Two 3.5kw, 20k, Helium Refrigerators; Affect of Air Leakage into a Thermal-Vacuum Chamber on Helium Refrigeration Heat Load; Special ISO Class 6 Cleanroom for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Project; A State-of-the-Art Contamination Effects Research and Test Facility Martian Dust Simulator; Cleanroom Design Practices and Their Influence on Particle Counts; Extra Terrestrial Environmental Chamber Design; Contamination Sources Effects Analysis (CSEA) - A Tool to Balance Cost/Schedule While Managing Facility Availability; SES and Acoustics at GSFC; HST Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier (SLIC) Static Test; Virtual Shaker Testing: Simulation Technology Improves Vibration Test Performance; Estimating Shock Spectra: Extensions beyond GEVS; Structural Dynamic Analysis of a Spacecraft Multi-DOF Shaker Table; Direct Field Acoustic Testing; Manufacture of Cryoshroud Surfaces for Space Simulation Chambers; The New LOTIS Test Facility; Thermal Vacuum Control Systems Options for Test Facilities; Extremely High Vacuum Chamber for Low Outgassing Processing at NASA Goddard; Precision Cleaning - Path to Premier; The New Anechoic Shielded Chambers Designed for Space and Commercial Applications at LIT; Extraction of Thermal Performance Values from Samples in the Lunar Dust Adhesion Bell Jar; Thermal (Silicon Diode) Data Acquisition System; Aquarius's Instrument Science Data System (ISDS) Automated to Acquire, Process, Trend Data and Produce Radiometric System Assessment Reports; Exhaustive Thresholds and Resistance Checkpoints; Reconfigurable HIL Testing of Earth Satellites; FPGA Control System for the Automated Test of MicroShutters; Ongoing Capabilities and Developments of Re-Entry Plasma Ground Tests at EADS-ASTRIUM; Operationally Responsive Space Standard Bus Battery Thermal Balance Testing and Heat Dissipation Analysis; Galileo - The Serial-Production AIT Challenge; The Space Systems Environmental Test Facility Database (SSETFD), Website Development Status; Simulated Reentry Heating by Torching; Micro-Vibration Measurements on Thermally Loaded Multi-Layer Insulation Samples in Vacuum; High Temperature Life Testing of 80Ni-20Cr Wire in a Simulated Mars Atmosphere for the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument Suit Gas Processing System (GPS) Carbon Dioxide Scrubber; The Planning and Implementation of Test Facility Improvements; and Development of a Silicon Carbide Molecular Beam Nozzle for Simulation Planetary Flybys and Low-Earth Orbit.

Packard, Edward↗

Aligning NASA Earth Science Data Stewardship with FAIR Principles: Outcomes, Recommendations, and Future Directions

The FAIR Principles—Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable—offer a widely accepted framework for improving the sharing and reuse of digital scientific data by both human and machine users. Following these principles is critical for effective scientific data stewardship, broader scientific collaboration, and compliance with federal and agency data policies. This paper, based on the work of NASA’s Open, Free, and FAIR Working Group (O’FAIR WG) under the Earth Science Data Systems Program, presents an overview of how FAIR is being applied within NASA’s Earth science data landscape. It highlights ongoing progress and challenges, identifies FAIR-enabling resources, and offers recommendations and strategic actions to enhance the FAIRness of NASA-funded open and free Earth science data products. The FAIR-enabling resources identified underscore the vital role of NASA's existing enterprise processes, standards, tools, and infrastructures in supporting FAIR implementation. Our findings show strong performance in making NASA Earth science data more findable and accessible. However, further work is needed—especially in enhancing interoperability, so that different systems and tools can better understand and exchange data. This is especially important for enabling machine-driven discovery and analysis. We emphasize the importance of a balanced strategy that combines a centralized, top-down approach—focused on building enterprise-level capabilities and processes—with a decentralized, bottom-up approach driven by discipline-specific needs and community practices. We advocate for coordinated efforts to enhance (meta)data interoperability to facilitate seamless data and information sharing and exchange of Earth science data both within NASA and across other agencies managing Earth science data.

Data Product↗

The Solar Dynamics Observatory: Your Eye on the Sun

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) was launched on February 11,2010 into partly cloudy skies over Cape Canaveral, Florida. SDO moved into a 28 degree inclined geosynchronous orbit over the longitude of the ground station in New Mexico. SDO is the first Space Weather Mission in NASA's Living With a Star Program. SDO's main goal is to understand and predict those solar variations that influence life on Earth and our technological systems. The SDO science investigations will determine how the Sun's magnetic field is generated and structured, how this stored magnetic energy is released into the heliosphere as the solar wind, energetic particles, and variations in the solar irradiance. The SDO mission consists of three scientific investigations (AIA, EVE, and HMI), a spacecraft bus, and a dedicated Ka-band ground station to handle the 150 Mbps data flow. SDO continues a long tradition of NASA missions providing calibrated solar spectral irradiance data, in this case using multiple measurements of the irradiance and rocket underflights of the spacecraft. The other instruments on SDO will be used to explain and develop predictive models of the solar spectral irradiance in the extreme ultraviolet. Science teams at LMSAL, LASP, and Stanford are responsible for processing, analyzing, distributing, and archiving the science data. We will talk about the building of SDO, its launch, and the data and science it will provide to NASA.

Pesnell, William Dean↗

The Solar Dynamics Observatory: Your On-Orbit Eye on the Sun

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) was launched on February 11, 2010 into the partly cloudy skies above Cape Canaveral, Florida. Over the next month SDO moved into a 28 degree inclined geosynchronous orbit at the longitude of the ground station in New Mexico. SDO is the first Space Weather Mission in NASA's Living With a Star Program. SDO's main goal is to understand and predict those solar variations that influence life on Earth and our technological systems. The SDO science investigations will determine how the Sun's magnetic field is generated and structured, how this stored magnetic energy is released into the heliosphere as the solar wind, energetic particles, and variations in the solar irradiance. The SDO mission consists of three scientific investigations (AIA, EVE, and HMI), a spacecraft bus, and a dedicated Ka-band ground station to handle the 150 Mbps data flow. SDO continues a long tradition of NASA missions providing calibrated solar spectral irradiance data, in this case using multiple measurements of the irradiance and rocket underflights of the spacecraft. The other instruments on SDO will be used to explain and develop predictive models of the solar spectral irradiance in the extreme ultraviolet. Science teams at LMSAL, LASP, and Stanford are responsible for processing, analyzing, distributing, and archiving the science data. We will talk about the launch of SDO and describe the data and science it is providing to NASA.

Pesnell, W. Dean↗

Complex-valued universal linear transformations and image encryption using spatially incoherent diffractive networks

As an optical processor, a diffractive deep neural network (D2NN) utilizes engineered diffractive surfaces designed through machine learning to perform all-optical information processing, completing its tasks at the speed of light propagation through thin optical layers. With sufficient degrees of freedom, D2NNs can perform arbitrary complex-valued linear transformations using spatially coherent light. Similarly, D2NNs can also perform arbitrary linear intensity transformations with spatially incoherent illumination; however, under spatially incoherent light, these transformations are nonnegative, acting on diffraction-limited optical intensity patterns at the input field of view. Here, we expand the use of spatially incoherent D2NNs to complex-valued information processing for executing arbitrary complex-valued linear transformations using spatially incoherent light. Through simulations, we show that as the number of optimized diffractive features increases beyond a threshold dictated by the multiplication of the input and output space-bandwidth products, a spatially incoherent diffractive visual processor can approximate any complex-valued linear transformation and be used for all-optical image encryption using incoherent illumination. The findings are important for the all-optical processing of information under natural light using various forms of diffractive surface-based optical processors.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Key ingredients needed when building large data processing systems for scientists

Why is building a large science software system so painful? Weren't teams of software engineers supposed to make life easier for scientists? Does it sometimes feel as if it would be easier to write the million lines of code in Fortran 77 yourself? The cause of this dissatisfaction is that many of the needs of the science customer remain hidden in discussions with software engineers until after a system has already been built. In fact, many of the hidden needs of the science customer conflict with stated needs and are therefore very difficult to meet unless they are addressed from the outset in a system's architectural requirements. What's missing is the consideration of a small set of key software properties in initial agreements about the requirements, the design and the cost of the system.

Earth Observing System EOS↗

Astrophysics science operations in the Great Observatories era

Plans for Astrophysics science operations during the decade of the nineties are described from the point of view of a scientist who wishes to make a space-borne astronomical observation or to use archival astronomical data. 'Science Operations' include the following: proposal preparation, observation planning and execution, data collection, data processing and analysis, and dissemination of results. For each of these areas of science operations, we derive technology requirements for the next ten to twenty years. The scientist will be able to use a variety of services and infrastructure, including the 'Astrophysics Data System.' The current status and plans for these science operations services are described.

Riegler, Guenter R.↗

Using spatial statistical methods to determine an effective minimum detectable activity - 15681

Instrument minimum detectable activity (MDA) is generally established by collecting multiple measurements over time of a single representative background location to estimate a probability distribution of instrument readings. A reading that is considered to be greater than would be expected from the background probability distribution (i.e., a low-probability event) is deemed to be sufficiently unlikely that it must be attributable to added radioactivity and is therefore used as the instrument MDA. An effective MDA can be determined from spatially distributed data that are much lower than the instrument MDA. This has been accomplished using a large number of spatially distributed data points (from a radiation survey) where patterns of elevated survey readings can be distinguished from background at levels. Given the variation of the instrument response and the relatively low regulatory action levels, it is vital to establish MDA thresholds that are well below corrective action levels. Processing of radiological survey data with the use of histogram binning and geo-statistics in enabling pattern recognition can be used to establish effective field MDAs that are much lower than instrument MDAs. (authors)

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

A Web 2.0 and OGC Standards Enabled Sensor Web Architecture for Global Earth Observing System of Systems

This paper will describe the progress of a 3 year research award from the NASA Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) that began October 1, 2006, in response to a NASA Announcement of Research Opportunity on the topic of sensor webs. The key goal of this research is to prototype an interoperable sensor architecture that will enable interoperability between a heterogeneous set of space-based, Unmanned Aerial System (UAS)-based and ground based sensors. Among the key capabilities being pursued is the ability to automatically discover and task the sensors via the Internet and to automatically discover and assemble the necessary science processing algorithms into workflows in order to transform the sensor data into valuable science products. Our first set of sensor web demonstrations will prototype science products useful in managing wildfires and will use such assets as the Earth Observing 1 spacecraft, managed out of NASA/GSFC, a UASbased instrument, managed out of Ames and some automated ground weather stations, managed by the Forest Service. Also, we are collaborating with some of the other ESTO awardees to expand this demonstration and create synergy between our research efforts. Finally, we are making use of Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) suite of standards and some Web 2.0 capabilities to Beverage emerging technologies and standards. This research will demonstrate and validate a path for rapid, low cost sensor integration, which is not tied to a particular system, and thus be able to absorb new assets in an easily evolvable, coordinated manner. This in turn will help to facilitate the United States contribution to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), as agreed by the U.S. and 60 other countries at the third Earth Observation Summit held in February of 2005.

Mandl, Daniel↗

Mission leverage education: NSU/NASA innovative undergraduate model

The BEST Lab (Center for Excellence in Science Education), the Center for Materials Research (CMR), and the Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science (CS) Departments at Norfolk State University (NSU) joined forces to implement MiLEN(2) IUM - an innovative approach tu integrate current and emerging research into the undergraduate curricula and train students on NASA-related fields. An Earth Observing System (EOS) mission was simulated where students are educated and trained in many aspects of Remote Sensing: detector physics and spectroscopy; signal processing; data conditioning, analysis, visualization; and atmospheric science. This model and its continued impact is expected to significantly enhance the quality of the Mathematics, Science, Engineering and Technology (MSET or SMET) educational experience and to inspire students from historically underrepresented groups to pursue careers in NASA-related fields. MiLEN(2) IUM will be applicable to other higher education institutions that are willing to make the commitment to this endeavor in terms of faculty interest and space.

Chaudhury, S. Raj↗

In-depth analysis on parallel processing patterns for high-performance Dataframes

The Data Science domain has expanded monumentally in both research and industry communities during the past decade, predominantly owing to the Big Data revolution. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are bringing more complexities to data engineering applications, which are now integrated into data processing pipelines to process terabytes of data. Typically, a significant amount of time is spent on data preprocessing in these pipelines, and hence improving its efficiency directly impacts the overall pipeline performance. The community has recently embraced the concept of Dataframes as the de-facto data structure for data representation and manipulation. However, the most widely used serial Dataframes today (R, pandas) experience performance limitations while working on even moderately large data sets. We believe that there is plenty of room for improvement by taking a look at this problem from a high-performance computing point of view. In a prior publication, we presented a set of parallel processing patterns for distributed dataframe operators and the reference runtime implementation, Cylon. In this paper, we are expanding on the initial concept by introducing a cost model for evaluating the said patterns. Furthermore, we evaluate the performance of Cylon on the ORNL Summit supercomputer.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Fault diagnosis and severity estimation in nuclear power plants - 196

Signed Directed Graph (SDG) is a type of fault diagnosis method with a capability to display the complex relationship between plant parameters and reveal the potential danger and the propagation path when a fault occurs in a nuclear plant. However, the fault diagnosis method based on qualitative SDG model inevitably has a number of disadvantages, and some of these disadvantages include its inability to identify reoccurring faults; ambiguous reasoning that can result in low resolution; performance that relies on the accuracy of the model; slow diagnosis rate for large systems and poor real-time diagnosis, among others. In this paper, we propose an SDG fault diagnosis methodology based on Granular Computing Theory, referred to as Granular Computing Signed Directed Graph (GCSDG). This paper shows how knowledge reduction nature of granular computing based fault diagnosis can simplify the decision table, reduce the allocation of resources, scale-down the complexity of the problem and improve the efficiency of data processing. Then, we estimate the severity of the fault using Back Propagation (BP) neural network approach. The proposed methodology was verified by considering certain faults in the primary loop of a PWR, using PCTRAN. The result shows a considerable improvement in fault diagnosis and the severity estimated serves as a useful information for the operator, providing a firm foundation for further intervention. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Science Capsule: Towards Sharing and Reproducibility of Scientific Workflows

Workflows are increasingly processing large volumes of data from scientific instruments, experiments and sensors. These workflows often consist of complex data processing and analysis steps that might include a diverse ecosystem of tools and also often involve human-in-the-loop steps. Sharing and reproducing these workflows with collaborators and the larger community is critical but hard to do without the entire context of the workflow including user notes and execution environment. In this paper, we describe Science Capsule, which is a framework to capture, share, and reproduce scientific workflows. Science Capsule captures, manages and represents both computational and human elements of a workflow. It automatically captures and processes events associated with the execution and data life cycle of workflows, and lets users add other types and forms of scientific artifacts. Science Capsule also allows users to create `workflow snapshots' that keep track of the different versions of a workflow and their lineage, allowing scientists to incrementally share and extend workflows between users. Our results show that Science Capsule is capable of processing and organizing events in near real-time for high-throughput experimental and data analysis workflows without incurring any significant performance overheads.

Ghoshal, Devarshi↗

Digital pulse processing for NaI(Tl) detectors

We apply two different post-processing techniques to digital pulses induced by photons in a NaI(Tl) detector and compare the obtained energy resolution to the standard analog approach. Our digital acquisition approach is performed using a single-stage acquisition with a fast digitizer. Both the post-processing techniques we propose rely on signal integration. In the first, the pulse integral is calculated by directly numerically integrating the pulse digital samples, while in the second the pulse integral is estimated by a model-based fitting of the pulse. Our study used a 7.62 cm×7.62 cm cylindrical NaI(Tl) detector that gave a 7.60% energy resolution (at 662 keV), using the standard analog acquisition approach, based on a pulse shaping amplifier. The new direct numerical integration yielded a 6.52% energy resolution. The fitting approach yielded a 6.55% energy resolution, and, although computationally heavier than numerical integration, is preferable when only the early samples of the pulse are available. We also evaluated the timing performance of a fast–slow detection system, encompassing an EJ-309 and a NaI(Tl) scintillator. Here, we use two techniques to determine the pulse start time: constant fraction discrimination (CFD) and adaptive noise threshold timing (ANT), for both the analog and digital acquisition approach. With the analog acquisition approach, we found a system time resolution of 5.8 ns and 7.3 ns, using the constant fraction discrimination and adaptive noise threshold timing, respectively. With the digital acquisition approach, a time resolution of 1.2 ns was achieved using the ANT method and 3.3 ns using CFD at 50% of the maximum, to select the pulse start time. Finally, the proposed direct digital readout and post-processing techniques can improve the application of NaI(Tl) detectors, traditionally considered ‘slow’, for fast counting and correlation measurements, while maintaining a good measurement of the energy resolution.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Advanced data mining in field ion microscopy

Field ion microscopy (FIM) allows to image individual surface atoms by exploiting the effect of an intense electric field. Widespread use of atomic resolution imaging by FIM has been hampered by a lack of efficient image processing/data extraction tools. Recent advances in imaging and data mining techniques have renewed the interest in using FIM in conjunction with automated detection of atoms and lattice defects for materials characterization. After a brief overview of existing routines, we review the use of machine learning (ML) approaches for data extraction with the aim to catalyze new data-driven insights into high electrical field physics. Apart from exploring various supervised and unsupervised ML algorithms in this context, we also employ advanced image processing routines for data extraction from large sets of FIM images. The outcomes and limitations of such routines are discussed, and we conclude with the possible application of energy minimization schemes to the extracted point clouds as a way of improving the spatial resolution of FIM.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

VCL Laser Altimeter Surface Return Expected Geolocation Performance

The Vegetation Canopy Lidar (VCL) mission, expected to launch in the spring of 2002, will carry a unique Multi-Beam Laser Altimeter (MBLA) instrument designed to observe vegetative canopy structure for a nominal mission duration of 2 years. The VCL MBLA is a three-beam instrument where each laser is capable of producing returns with 30-m along-track spacing and 25-m-diameter footprints. Identifying the precise location of the point on the Earth's surface from which the laser energy reflects is a critical issue in the validation and application of the data. The resultant geolocation accuracy is dependent on the performance of many components of the VCL system including: laser pulse round trip travel time observation to surface, navigation tracking data, attitude determination system data, timing, laser pointing and body orientation stability, knowledge of instrument and navigation tracking point positions, media and geophysical corrections. Additionally, it is critical to calibrate on-orbit instrument parameters including pointing and range corrections. The geolocation and calibration methodology and algorithms will be summarized. A detailed geolocation error analysis identifying the contributions from each system component, along with the resultant expected geolocation accuracy, will be presented. A brief discussion of the operational geolocation process will also be presented. Science and data validation implications from geolocation performance will be summarized.

Luthcke, S. B.↗