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At least 523 records · Page 29

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NASA NTRS1995

Person-Locator System Based On Wristband Radio Transponders

Computerized system based on wristband radio frequency (RF), passive transponders is being developed for use in real-time tracking of individuals in custodial institutions like prisons and mental hospitals. Includes monitoring system that contains central computer connected to low-power, high-frequency central transceiver. Transceiver connected to miniature transceiver nodes mounted unobtrusively at known locations throughout the institution. Wristband transponders embedded in common hospital wristbands. Wristbands tamperproof: each contains embedded wire loop which, when broken or torn off and discarded, causes wristband to disappear from system, thus causing alarm. Individuals could be located in a timely fashion at relatively low cost.

Mintz, Frederick W.↗

NASA NTRS1995

A study of various methods for calculating locations of lightning events

This article reports on the results of numerical experiments on finding the location of lightning events using different numerical methods. The methods include linear least squares, nonlinear least squares, statistical estimations, cluster analysis and angular filters and combinations of such techniques. The experiments involved investigations of methods for excluding fake solutions which are solutions that appear to be reasonable but are in fact several kilometers distant from the actual location. Some of the conclusions derived from the study are that bad data produces fakes, that no fool-proof method of excluding fakes was found, that a short base-line interferometer under development at Kennedy Space Center to measure the direction cosines of an event shows promise as a filter for excluding fakes. The experiments generated a number of open questions, some of which are discussed at the end of the report.

Cannon, John R.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Model-based sensor location selection for helicopter gearbox monitoring

A new methodology is introduced to quantify the significance of accelerometer locations for fault diagnosis of helicopter gearboxes. The basis for this methodology is an influence model which represents the effect of various component faults on accelerometer readings. Based on this model, a set of selection indices are defined to characterize the diagnosability of each component, the coverage of each accelerometer, and the relative redundancy between the accelerometers. The effectiveness of these indices is evaluated experimentally by measurement-fault data obtained from an OH-58A main rotor gearbox. These data are used to obtain a ranking of individual accelerometers according to their significance in diagnosis. Comparison between the experimentally obtained rankings and those obtained from the selection indices indicates that the proposed methodology offers a systematic means for accelerometer location selection.

Jammu, Vinay B.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Investigation of source location determination from Magsat magnetic anomalies: The Euler method approach

The applicability of the Euler method of source location determination was investigated on several model situations pertinent to satellite-data scale situations as well as Magsat data of Europe. Our investigations enabled us to understand the end-member cases for which the Euler method will work with the present satellite magnetic data and also the cases for which the assumptions implicit in the Euler method will not be met by the present satellite magnetic data. These results have been presented in one invited lecture at the Indo-US workshop on Geomagnetism in Studies of the Earth's Interior in August 1994 in Pune, India, and at one presentation at the 21st General Assembly of the IUGG in July 1995 in Boulder, CO. A new method, called Anomaly Attenuation Rate (AAR) Method (based on the Euler method), was developed during this study. This method is scale-independent and is appropriate to locate centroids of semi-compact three dimensional sources of gravity and magnetic anomalies. The method was presented during 1996 Spring AGU meeting and a manuscript describing this method is being prepared for its submission to a high-ranking journal. The grant has resulted in 3 papers and presentations at national and international meetings and one manuscript of a paper (to be submitted shortly to a reputable journal).

Ravat, Dhananjay↗

NASA NTRS1997

Flight Demonstration of a Shock Location Sensor Using Constant Voltage Hot-Film Anemometry

Flight tests have demonstrated the effectiveness of an array of hot-film sensors using constant voltage anemometry to determine shock position on a wing or aircraft surface at transonic speeds. Flights were conducted at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center using the F-15B aircraft and Flight Test Fixture (FTF). A modified NACA 0021 airfoil was attached to the side of the FTF, and its upper surface was instrumented to correlate shock position with pressure and hot-film sensors. In the vicinity of the shock-induced pressure rise, test results consistently showed the presence of a minimum voltage in the hot-film anemometer outputs. Comparing these results with previous investigations indicate that hot-film anemometry can identify the location of the shock-induced boundary layer separation. The flow separation occurred slightly forward of the shock- induced pressure rise for a laminar boundary layer and slightly aft of the start of the pressure rise when the boundary layer was tripped near the airfoil leading edge. Both minimum mean output and phase reversal analyses were used to identify the shock location.

Moes, Timothy R.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Location of Sources of Radiation Using a Weighted Hyperbolic Technique

The specific problem objective was to locate the sources of radiated electric field from lightning using an overdetermined set of measurements of time-of-arrival. A similar problem exists for epicentral sources in earthquake location, acoustic sources of thunder, and terrestrial navigation using LORAN and GPS.

Thomson, E. M.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Locating the Discontinuities of a Bounded Function by the Partial Sums of its Fourier Series I: Periodical Case

A key step for some methods dealing with the reconstruction of a function with jump discontinuities is the accurate approximation of the jumps and their locations. Various methods have been suggested in the literature to obtain this valuable information. In the present paper, we develop an algorithm based on identities which determine the jumps of a 2(pi)-periodic bounded not-too-highly oscillating function by the partial sums of its differentiated Fourier series. The algorithm enables one to approximate the locations of discontinuities and the magnitudes of jumps of a bounded function. We study the accuracy of approximation and establish asymptotic expansions for the approximations of a 27(pi)-periodic piecewise smooth function with one discontinuity. By an appropriate linear combination, obtained via derivatives of different order, we significantly improve the accuracy. Next, we use Richardson's extrapolation method to enhance the accuracy even more. For a function with multiple discontinuities we establish simple formulae which "eliminate" all discontinuities of the function but one. Then we treat the function as if it had one singularity following the method described above.

Kvernadze, George↗

NASA NTRS1998

Optical Sensor/Actuator Locations for Active Structural Acoustic Control

Researchers at NASA Langley Research Center have extensive experience using active structural acoustic control (ASAC) for aircraft interior noise reduction. One aspect of ASAC involves the selection of optimum locations for microphone sensors and force actuators. This paper explains the importance of sensor/actuator selection, reviews optimization techniques, and summarizes experimental and numerical results. Three combinatorial optimization problems are described. Two involve the determination of the number and position of piezoelectric actuators, and the other involves the determination of the number and location of the sensors. For each case, a solution method is suggested, and typical results are examined. The first case, a simplified problem with simulated data, is used to illustrate the method. The second and third cases are more representative of the potential of the method and use measured data. The three case studies and laboratory test results establish the usefulness of the numerical methods.

Piezoelectric actuators↗

NASA NTRS1999

Determination of Jet Noise Radiation Source Locations using a Dual Sideline Cross-Correlation/Spectrum Technique

The goal of our efforts is to extrapolate nearfield jet noise measurements to the geometric far field where the jet noise sources appear to radiate from a single point. To accomplish this, information about the location of noise sources in the jet plume, the radiation patterns of the noise sources and the sound pressure level distribution of the radiated field must be obtained. Since source locations and radiation patterns can not be found with simple single microphone measurements, a more complicated method must be used.

Allen, C. S.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Skin Friction and Transition Location Measurement on Supersonic Transport Models

Flow visualization techniques were used to obtain both qualitative and quantitative skin friction and transition location data in wind tunnel tests performed on two supersonic transport models at Mach 2.40. Oil-film interferometry was useful for verifying boundary layer transition, but careful monitoring of model surface temperatures and systematic examination of the effects of tunnel start-up and shutdown transients will be required to achieve high levels of accuracy for skin friction measurements. A more common technique, use of a subliming solid to reveal transition location, was employed to correct drag measurements to a standard condition of all-turbulent flow on the wing. These corrected data were then analyzed to determine the additional correction required to account for the effect of the boundary layer trip devices.

Kennelly, Robert A., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Time-of-Arrival Lightning Location Retrieval Using an Oblate Spheroidal Earth Model

The problem of retrieving lightning ground strike location on an oblate spheroidal Earth using a network of 4 or more time-of-arrival sensors is considered. A recently developed analytic method for obtaining such retrievals on a spherical Earth surface is perturbed resulting in an iterative procedure to get correction terms. The perturbation procedure consists of applying a vector Newton's method to eqs. relating the distances from the lightning location to each sensor along a geodesic and the times of arrival of the wave produced by the lightning source at each sensor.

Solakiewicz, Richard↗

NASA NTRS2002

Method for Locating a Concealed Object

Apparatus and methods are disclosed for detecting anomalies in microwave penetrable material that may be used for locating plastic mines or pipes underneath the ground. A transmitter is positioned at a plurality of different positions above the ground. A microwave signal is transmitted that is stepped over a plurality of frequencies. At each position, a plurality of reflections are received corresponding to each of the plurality of frequencies that were transmitted. A complex target vector may be produced at each position that contains complex values corresponding to magnitude, phase, and time delay for each of the plurality of reflections received at that location. A complex reference data vector may be produced, either based on predetermined values or based on data from the received plurality of reflections. A comparison is made between the complex target vector and the complex reference data vector to produce a channel vector. In one embodiment, an operator may be applied to the channel vector such as a complex filter matrix or to add a complex conjugate. A response signal is produced and anomalies are detected by variations in the response signal with respect to the plurality of positions.

G Dickey Arndt↗

NASA NTRS2002

Derivation of Tropospheric Column Ozone from the EPTOMS/GOES Co-Located Data Sets using the Cloud Slicing Technique

A recently developed technique called cloud slicing used for deriving upper tropospheric ozone from the Nimbus 7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument combined together with temperature-humidity and infrared radiometer (THIR) is no longer applicable to the Earth Probe TOMS (EPTOMS) because EPTOMS does not have an instrument to measure cloud top temperatures. For continuing monitoring of tropospheric ozone between 200-500hPa and testing the feasibility of this technique across spacecrafts, EPTOMS data are co-located in time and space with the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-8 infrared data for 2001 and early 2002, covering most of North and South America (45S-45N and 120W-30W). The maximum column amounts for the mid-latitudinal sites of the northern hemisphere are found in the March-May season. For the mid-latitudinal sites of the southern hemisphere, the highest column amounts are found in the September-November season, although overall seasonal variability is smaller than those of the northern hemisphere. The tropical sites show the weakest seasonal variability compared to higher latitudes. The derived results for selected sites are cross validated qualitatively with the seasonality of ozonesonde observations and the results from THIR analyses over the 1979-1984 time period due to the lack of available ozonesonde measurements to study sites for 2001. These comparisons show a reasonably good agreement among THIR, ozonesonde observations, and cloud slicing-derived column ozone. With very limited co-located EPTOMS/GOES data sets, the cloud slicing technique is still viable to derive the upper tropospheric column ozone. Two new variant approaches, High-Low (HL) cloud slicing and ozone profile derivation from cloud slicing are introduced to estimate column ozone amounts using the entire cloud information in the troposphere.

Ahn, C.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Single Station System and Method of Locating Lightning Strikes

An embodiment of the present invention uses a single detection system to approximate a location of lightning strikes. This system is triggered by a broadband RF detector and measures a time until the arrival of a leading edge of the thunder acoustic pulse. This time difference is used to determine a slant range R from the detector to the closest approach of the lightning. The azimuth and elevation are determined by an array of acoustic sensors. The leading edge of the thunder waveform is cross-correlated between the various acoustic sensors in the array to determine the difference in time of arrival, AT. A set of AT S is used to determine the direction of arrival, AZ and EL. The three estimated variables (R, AZ, EL) are used to locate a probable point of the lightning strike.

Medelius, Pedro J.↗

NASA NTRS2003

The Effect of Symbology Location and Format on Attentional Deployment within a Cockpit Display of Traffic Information

The present experiment employed target detection tasks to investigate attentional deployment during visual search for target aircraft symbols on a cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI). Targets were defined by either a geometric property (aircraft on a collision course with Ownship) or a textual property (aircraft with associated altitude tags indicating an even altitude level). Effects of target location and target brightness (highlighting) were examined. Target location was systematically related to target detection time, and this interacted with the target's defining property (collision geometry or associated text). Highlighting (which was not linked to whether an aircraft symbol was the target) did not influence target detection time.

Johnson, Walter W.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Factors Affecting the Latitudinal Location of the Intertropical Convergence Zone in a GCM

The dominant role of the latitudinal peak of the sea surface temperature (SST) in determining the latitudinal location of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) is well-known. However, the roles of the other factors are less well-known and are the topic of this study. These other factors include the inertial stability, the interaction between convection and surface fluxes and the interaction between convection and radiation. Since these interactions involve convection, in a model they involve the cumulus parameterization scheme. These factors are studied with a general circulation model with uniform SST and solar angle. Under the aforementioned model settings, the latitudinal location of the ITCZ is the latitude where the balance of two types of attraction on the ITCZ, both due to earth's rotation, exists. Directly related to the Coriolis parameter, the first type pulls the ITCZ toward the equator and is not sensitive to model design changes. Related to the convective circulation, the second type pulls the ITCZ poleward and is sensitive to model design changes. Due to the shape and the magnitude of the attractors, the balance of the two types of attractions is reached either at the equator or more than 10 degrees away from the equator. The former case results in a single ITCZ over the equator and the latter case a double ITCZ straddling the equator.

Chao, Winston C.↗

NASA NTRS1961

Normal-Force and Hinge-Moment Characteristics at Transonic Speeds of Flap-Type Ailerons at Three Spanwise Locations on a 4-Percent-Thick Sweptback-Wing-Body Model and Pressure-Distribution Measurements on an Inboard Aileron

An investigation has been conducted at the Langley 16-foot transonic tunnel to determine the loading characteristics of flap-type ailerons located at inboard, midspan, and outboard positions on a 45 deg. sweptback-wing-body combination. Aileron normal-force and hinge-moment data have been obtained at Mach numbers from 0.80 t o 1.03, at angles of attack up to about 27 deg., and at aileron deflections between approximately -15 deg. and 15 deg. Results of the investigation indicate that the loading over the ailerons was established by the wing-flow characteristics, and the loading shapes were irregular in the transonic speed range. The spanwise location of the aileron had little effect on the values of the slope of the curves of hinge-moment coefficient against aileron deflection, but the inboard aileron had the greatest value of the slope of the curves of hinge-moment coefficient against angle of attack and the outboard aileron had the least. Hinge-moment and aileron normal-force data taken with strain-gage instrumentation are compared with data obtained with pressure measurements.

Runckel, Jack F.↗

NASA NTRS2004

In Situ Location and Characterization of Carbon-bearing Phases in Carbonaceous Chondrites: Insights from Yamato 791198, a Weakly-altered CM2 Chondrite

Intense studies of carbonaceous chondrites have provided remarkable insights into the behavior of carbon during the earliest stages of our solar system. This research has demonstrated that carbonaceous meteorites contain a diverse array of organic compounds, whose origins are probably the result of multiple processes that occurred in different locations including interstellar space, the solar nebula and asteroidal parent bodies [1-3]. The most abundant organic carbon component in CI1 and CM2 carbonaceous chondrites is so-called macromolecular carbon, a high molecular weight material that has some affinities to terrestrial kerogen and constitutes approximately 60-70% of the organic material in these meteorites. Although recent studies e.g. [3] have radically improved our understanding of the structural and compositional characteristics of this material, a number of key questions remain to be addressed. In particular, our knowledge of where this macromolecular material is distributed at the fine-scale within carbonaceous chondrites is scant. [4] have shown that organic material is associated with phyllosilicate-rich matrix in CM chondrites, but the detailed mineralogical associations are not well-known. Over the past 2 years, we have begun to address this question by using energy filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) to locate carbon-bearing materials in situ, focusing specifically on the CM2s. To date we have reported data on the Murchison CM2 chondrite [5], a meteorite that has experienced a modest degree of aqueous alteration. To extend our observations to other CM2 chondrites, we have examined the occurrence of carbon-bearing phases in Yamato 791198. Our recent studies [5] have shown that Y-791198 is among the most weakly-altered CM chondrite currently known and hence is likely to preserve a quite primitive distribution of carbonaceous material. In this study, we present initial observations on the distribution of these materials in one fine-grained rim and compare them with our results from Murchison. Such information may provide important insights into the origins of the carbonaceous material and how it was distributed in nebular and perhaps presolar dust.

Brearley, Adrian J.↗