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At least 523 records · Page 29

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NASA NTRS1989

Infrared aircraft measurements of stratospheric composition over Antarctica during September 1987

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mark IV interferometer recorded high-resolution, infrared solar spectra from the NASA DC-8 aircraft during flights over Antarctica in September 1987. The atmospheric absorption features in these spectra have been analyzed to determine the burdens of O3, NO, NO2, HNO3, ClNO3, HCl, HF, CO2, CH4, N2O, HCN, CO, H2O, CFCl3, and CF2Cl2. The results show a 'collar' of high HNO3 and ClNO3 surrounding a 'core' in which the burdens of these and of HCl and NO2 are very low. Clear increases in the burdens of HF and HNO3 were observed during the course of September in the vortex core. HCl and NO2 exhibited smaller, less significant increases. The burdens of the tropospheric source gases, N2O, CH4, HCN, CFCl3, CF2Cl2, CO, and H2O, were observed to be much smaller over Antarctica than at midlatitudes. This, together with the fact that HF over Antarctica was more than double its midlatidue value, suggests that downwelling had occurred.

Toon, G. C.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Design of a near-IR coherent lidar for high spatial and velocity resolution wind measurement

A coherent Doppler lidar based on a CW diode-pumped, injection seeded, Th:YAG laser operating at approx. 2.02 microns is currently under development. This system is optimized for measurements of boundary layer winds with high spatial, temporal, and velocity resolution. Initially, the system will run alongside a new high repetition rate (5-10 kHz) CO2 mini-Master Oscillator Power Amplifier (mini-MOPA) Doppler lidar, which will provide simultaneous range-resolved Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) water vapor measurements. Water vapor DIAL operation of the 2 micron system is being considered as a future option. The anticipated specifications and the preliminary design are discussed.

Grund, Christian J.↗

NASA NTRS1994

An improved quasistatic line-shape theory: The effects of molecular motion on the line wings

A theory is presented for the modification of the line-shape functions and absorption coefficient due to the breakdown of the quasistatic approximation. This breakdown arises from the effects of molecular motion and increases the absorption in the near wings. Numerical calculations for the high-frequency wing of the nu(sub 3) band of CO2 broadened by Ar are reported and it is shown that these effects are significant near the bandhead. The importance of such corrections in other spectral regions and for other systems is discussed briefly.

Ma, Q.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Progress on Development of an Airborne Two-Micron IPDA Lidar for Water Vapor and Carbon Dioxide Column Measurements

An airborne 2 micron triple-pulse integrated path differential absorption (IPDA) lidar is currently under development at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). This lidar targets both atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor (H2O) column measurements, simultaneously. Advancements in the development of this IPDA lidar are presented in this paper. Updates on advanced two-micron triple-pulse high-energy laser transmitter will be given including packaging and lidar integration status. In addition, receiver development updates will also be presented. This includes a state-of-the-art detection system integrated at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. This detection system is based on a newly developed HgCdTe (MCT) electron-initiated avalanche photodiode (e-APD) array. Future plan for IPDA lidar system for ground integration, testing and flight validation will be discussed.

Singh, Upendra N.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Continued Advancement of Supported Liquid Membranes for Carbon Dioxide Control in Extravehicular Activity Applications

The Development of a new, robust, portable life support system (PLSS) is currently a high NASA priority in order to support longer and safer extravehicular activity (EVA) missions that will be necessary as space travel extends to near-Earth asteroids and eventually Mars. One of the critical PLSS functions is maintaining the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the suit at acceptable levels. The Metal Oxide (MetOx) canister has a finite CO2 adsorption capacity and therefore in order to extend mission times, the unit would have to be larger and heavier, which is undesirable; therefore new CO2 control technologies must be developed. While recent work has centered on the use of alternating sorbent beds that can be regenerated during the EVA, this strategy increases the system complexity and power consumption. A simpler approach is to use a membrane that vents CO2 to space but retains oxygen(O2). A membrane has many advantages over current technology: it is a continuous system with no theoretical capacity limit, it requires no consumables, and it requires no hardware for switching beds between absorption and regeneration. Conventional gas separation membranes do not have adequate selectivity for use in the PLSS, but the required performance could be obtained with a supported liquid membrane (SLM), which consists of a microporous film filled with a liquid that selectively reacts with CO2 over oxygen (O2). In a recently completed Phase II Small Business Innovative Research project, Reaction Systems developed a new reactive liquid that has effectively zero vapor pressure, making it an ideal candidate for use in an SLM. Results obtained with the SLM in a flat sheet configuration with representative pressures of CO2, O2, and water (H2O) have shown that the CO2 permeation rate and CO2/O2 selectivity requirements have been met. In addition, the SLM vents moisture to space very effectively. The SLM has also been prepared and tested in a hollow fiber form, which will be necessary to meet size requirements in the PLSS. In initial tests, the required CO2 permeance values have been obtained, while the current CO2/O2 selectivity values are somewhat lower than needed. However, the performance of the SLM is a strong function of the method used to impregnate the sorbent in the hollow fiber walls and rapid progress is being made in that area.

Wickham, David T.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Discovery of a Doppler-limited CO line in the upper mesosphere of Venus - A new dynamical probe

The presence of CO in the upper atmosphere of Venus is a consequence of the photochemistry of CO2, the dominant atmospheric constituent. In December 1989 the J = 1-2 transition of CO was observed at 230 GHz. In addition to the broad absorption line first reported by Kakar et al. (1976), a narrow absorption feature at the center of the line due to upper mesospheric CO, where the temperature profile starts to exhibit diurnal variation with altitude. The narrow feature is approximately 600 kHz wide and is predominantly Doppler-broadened. The Doppler core provides a new means of measuring wind velocities at these altitudes in the atmosphere of Venus. Detection of small Doppler shifts in the line core can in principle be used to measure winds with an accuracy of 10 m/s. Results are presently limited by the 17 kHz uncertainty in the measured rest frequency, corresponding to a systematic error in wind velocity up to 22 m/s, and the absence of laboratory measurements of the pressure shift in CO by CO2.

Buhl, David↗

NASA NTRS1974

Infrared heterodyne spectroscopy of CO2 on Mars

An infrared heterodyne spectrometer operating near 11 micrometers with a resolving power of 1,500,000 has been used to obtain spectral line profiles of carbon dioxide absorption in the Martian atmosphere. For a periodic calibration of the system sensitivity, a black body at 500 K was placed in front of the chopper. Atmospheric transmission was determined by measuring heterodyne signals from the moon and Mars as a function of the zenith angle.

Peterson, D. W.↗

NASA NTRS1993

On the microphysical state of the Martian seasonal caps

An analysis of the microphysical processes involved in pressureless sintering leads to the view that CO2 in the Martian seasonal polar caps can metamorphose into an annealed polycrystalline layer, if freshly condensed grains are smaller than 10 microns. Such large-area/low-porosity CO2 deposits may be associated with the mm-to-cm-scaled path lengths entailed by the explanation of several weak absorption features in the 1.5- and 2.3-micron spectral regions. Such an annealed layer would become transparent enough during the later stages of spring sublimation to establish a basis for the dichotomy between the north and south caps' albedos in the underlying substrate.

Eluszkiewicz, Janusz↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

ACES Instrument

During the Atmospheric Carbon and Transport–America (ACT–America) suborbital mission (ACT-America) Mission Spring 2018 campaign, ASCENDS CarbonHawk Experiment Simulator (ACES), an intensity modulated continuous wave (IMCW) lidar system funded by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, measured differential optical depths leading to partial-column CO2 lidar retrievals while flying aboard the C-130 aircraft across North America striving to advance technology critical to measuring column carbon dioxide mixing ratios (XCO2) remotely. ACES was developed by NASA Langley Research Center in the aims to have an active remote sensing system able to accurately measure XCO2 from space independent of the presence of sunlight, land surface type, and even through thin clouds. Differential absorption optical depth measurements made during the fourth campaign of ACT-America in Spring of 2018 were processed, analyzed and compared to on board in situ derived differential optical depth CO2 measurements.

XCO2↗

NASA NTRS2015

Continued Advancement of Supported Liquid Membranes for Carbon Dioxide Control in Extravehicular Activity Applications

The development of a new, robust, portable life support system (PLSS) is a high priority for NASA in order to support longer and safer extravehicular activity (EVA) missions. One of the critical PLSS functions is maintaining the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the suit at acceptable levels. Although the Metal Oxide (MetOx) canister has historically performed very well, it has a finite CO2 adsorption capacity. Therefore, the size and weight of the unit would have to be increased to extend EVA times. Consequently, new CO2 control technologies must be developed in order to meet mission objectives without increasing the size of the PLSS. Recent work has centered on sorbents that can be regenerated during the EVA; however, this strategy increases the system complexity and power consumption. A much simpler approach is to employ a membrane that vents CO2 to space and retains oxygen (O2). A membrane has many advantages over current technology: it is a continuous system with no limit on capacity, it requires no consumables, and it does not need any hardware to switch beds between absorption and regeneration. Unfortunately, conventional gas separation membranes do not have the needed selectivity for use in the PLSS. However, the required performance could be obtained with a supported liquid membrane (SLM), which consists of a microporous material filled with a liquid that selectively reacts with CO2 over O2. In a recently completed Phase II SBIR project, Reaction Systems, Inc. achieved the required CO2 permeance and selectivity with an SLM in a flat sheet configuration. This paper describes work to convert the SLM into a more compact form and to scale it up to handle more representative process flow rates.

Wickham, David T.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Laser heterodyne system for obtaining height profiles of minor species in the atmosphere

An infrared laser heterodyne system for obtaining height profiles of minor constituents of the atmosphere was developed and erected. A brief discription of the system is given. The system consists of a tunable CO2 waveguide laser in the 9 to 11 micrometer band, that is used as a local oscillator and a heliostat that follows the sun and brings in solar radiation, that is mixed with the laser beam in a high speed liquid nitrogen cooled mercury cadmium telluride detector. The detected signal is analysed in a RF spectrum analyser that allows tracing absorption line profiles. Absorption lines of a number of minor constituents in the troposphere and stratosphere, such as O3, NH3, H2O, SO2, ClO, N2O, are in the 9 to 11 micrometer band and overlap with that of CO2 laser range. The experimental system has been made operational and trial observations taken. Current measurements are limited to ozone height profiles. Results are presented.

Jain, S. L.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Monitoring of catalyst performance in CO2 lasers using frequency modulation spectroscopy with diode lasers

Closed-cycle CO2 laser operation with removal of O2 and regeneration of CO2 can be achieved by catalytic CO-O2 recombination. Both parametric studies of the optimum catalyst formulation and long-term performance tests require on line monitoring of CO, O2 and CO2 concentrations. There are several existing methods for molecular oxygen detection. These methods are either intrusive (such as electrochemical method or mass spectrometry) or very expensive (such as CARS, UV laser absorption). Researchers demonstrated a high-sensitivity spectroscopic measurement of O2 using the two-tone frequency modulation spectroscopy (FMS) technique with a near infrared GaAlAs diode laser. Besides its inexpensive cost, fast response time, nonintrusive measurements and high sensitivity, this technique may also be used to differentiate between isotopes due to its high spectroscopic resolution. This frequency modulation spectroscopy technique could also be applied for the on-line monitoring of CO and CO2 using InGaAsP diode lasers operation in the 1.55 microns region and H2O in the 1.3 microns region. The existence of single mode optical fibers at the near infrared region makes it possible to combine FMS with optical fiber technology. Optical fiber FMS is particularly suitable for making point-measurements at one or more locations in the CO2 laser/catalyst system.

Wang, Liang-Guo↗

NASA NTRS1980

Heterodyne detection of the 752.033-GHz H2O rotational absorption line

A tunable high resolution two stage heterodyne radiometer was developed for the purpose of investigating the intensity and lineshape of the 752.033 GHz rotational transition of water vapor. Single-sideband system noise temperatures of approximately 45,000 K were obtained using a sensitive GaAs Schottky diode as the first stage mixer. First local oscillator power was supplied by a CO2 laser pumped formic acid laser (761.61 GHz), generating an X-band IF signal with theoretical line center at 9.5744 GHz. Second local oscillator power was provided by means of a 3 GHz waveguide cavity filter with only 9 dB insertion loss. In absorption measurements of the H2O taken from a laboratory simulation of a high altitude rocket plume, the center frequency of the 752 GHz line was determined to within 1 MHz of the reported value. A rotational temperature 75 K, a linewidth 5 MHz and a Doppler shift 3 MHz were measured with the line-of-sight intersecting the simulated-plume axis at a distance downstream of 30 nozzle diameters. These absorption data were obtained against continuum background radiation sources at temperatures of 1175 and 300 K.

Dionne, G. F.↗

NASA NTRS1973

A search for global and seasonal variation of methane from Nimbus 4 IRIS measurements

The Nimbus 4 infrared interferometer spectrometer (IRIS) measurements in the region around wave number 1304 show absorption due to methane in the earth's atmosphere. From the laboratory measurements of the absorption coefficient and a selected vertical distribution corresponding to 1.13 atm cm of methane, a theoretical model for the transmittance at wave number 1304 is developed. The weighting function deduced from this model shows a maximum around 300 mb. Some weak absorption due to nitrous oxide in the atmosphere has been taken into account. The vertical temperature profile, derived from the 15 micron CO2 band in the IRIS spectrum, together with the methane weighting function have been used in a consistent way to compute the upwelling intensity at wave number 1304. The brightness temperature corresponding to the IRIS observed radiance at wave number 1304 has been compared with the brightness temperature deduced from the calculated upwelling intensity from 80 deg North to 80 deg South and for different periods of the year. This comparison shows that the two brightness temperatures agree with one another to within the accuracy of measurements about 2 K. From this result it was found that global or seasonal variability of methane is less than + or - 0.25 atm cm.

Prabhakara, C.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Ozone spectroscopy with a CO2 waveguide laser

Ozone spectral measurements were conducted with a waveguide CO2 laser, which was continuously tunable over a + or - 450-MHz region, about several lines in the P-branch of the band near the 9.5-micron wavelength region. A passively stabilized low-pressure CO2 laser was also used to provide reference CO2 frequencies. The frequencies of several ozone lines were determined in the nu-3 band, which are near CO2 laser line frequencies in the 9.5-micron wavelength region. The absolute measurement accuracy is estimated to be + or - 6 MHz, and the measurements indicate that the ozone line frequencies listed in currently available spectral compilations are 0.003-0.006 per cm too high. The size of this error is small by conventional IR standards, but extremely important when CO2 laser instruments are used to monitor stratospheric ozone, where line widths in this spectral region are typically 0.001/cm. Empirically determined absorption curves must be constructed in order to calibrate laser differential absorption instrument properly when low-altitude ozone measurements are conducted.

Menzies, R. T.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Ground-to-space optical power transfer

Using laser radiation as the energy input to a rocket, it is possible to consider the transfer of large payloads economically between low initial orbits and higher energy orbits. In this paper we will discuss the results of an investigation to use a ground-based High Energy Laser (HEL) coupled to an adaptive antenna to transmit multi-megawatts of power to a satellite in low-earth orbit. Our investigation included diffraction effects, atmospheric transmission efficiency, adaptive compensation for atmospheric turbulence effects, including the servo bandwidth requirements for this correction, and the adaptive compensation for thermal blooming. For these evaluations we developed vertical profile models of atmospheric absorption, strength of optical turbulence (CN2), wind, temperature, and other parameters necessary to calculate system performance. Our atmospheric investigations were performed for CO2, 12C18O2 isotope, CO and DF wavelengths. For all of these considerations, output antenna locations of both sea level and mountain top (3.5 km above sea level) were used. Several adaptive system concepts were evaluated with a multiple source phased array concept being selected. This system uses an adaption technique of phase locking independent laser oscillators. When both system losses and atmospheric effects were assessed, the results predicted an overall power transfer efficiency of slightly greater than 50%.

Mevers, G. E.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Equivalent widths in spectropolarimetry can provide additional information on the atmosphere of Venus

It is demonstrated that the analysis in both intensity and polarization of equivalent widths of strong Venusian absorption lines can provide the most accurate location of the visible cloud top as well as the ratios of scale heights of CO2 to cloud particles and CO (or other appropriate minor constituent) to CO2. It is also shown that spectropolarimetric observations at different phase angles can provide a vertical sounding of the upper levels in the cloud. Equivalent widths in polarization are measurable on Venus with good infrared detectors, and their value is predicted to be approximately a few percent of those in intensity.

Buriez, J. C.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Atlas of absorption lines from 0 to 17 900 cm(-1)

Plots of absorption line strength versus line position for wavenumbers from 0 to 17,900 cm(-1) are shown for 20 atmospheric gases (H2O, CO2, O3, N2O, CO, CH4, O2, NO, SO2, NO2, NH3, HNO3, OH, HF, HCl, HBr, HI, ClO, OCS, H2CO). Also shown are similar plots of lower-state energy values for adsorption lines for the strongly adsorbing atmospheric gases (H2O, CO2, O3, and CH4) for wavenumbers from 0 to 5000 cm(-1).

Park, J. H.↗