Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “distributed data structures”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 523 records · Page 29
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1994

Deformation of the total ozone content field in the tropical zone

Presented are the ozone investigation results obtained in the tropical zone. Measurements of the total ozone content (TOC) were carried out by the ozonometer M-124. The ozonometer was automated to investigate the ozone intradiurnal variations and to increase precision of the TOC measurements. Obtained results allowed us to follow the effect of tropical cyclones (TC) on the TOC field. Several days before the TC formation the TOC increase is observed in daily mean course compared with the background one. Three types of trend can be singled out in the TOC intradiurnal course: zero, parabolic, quasi-linear. Maximum velocities of a trend are observed some days before the TC formation. Analogous harmonic constituents are mainly presented as spectrum of daily means of ozone, mean and absolute velocities of trend and dispersion as well as spectra of meteorological, hydrometeorological and actinometric values. Revealed is a number of day-to-day ozone variations concerned with large-scale circulations; moisture content in the atmosphere. Obtained are the data about short-period ozone waves (period less than a day). Thin-film silver sensors were used to measure the vertical ozone distribution (VOD). Atmospheric aerosol and VOD measurements were carried out simultaneously, they gave data of the VOD layered structure, where the VOD local minima coincided with the position of aerosol layers' maxima.

Vasilyev, Victor I.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Conduct of Geologic Field Work During Planetary Exploration: Why Geology Matters

The science of field geology is the investigative process of determining the distribution of rock units and structures on a planet fs surface, and it is the first-order data set that informs all subsequent studies of a planet, such as geochemistry, geochronology, geophysics, or remote sensing. For future missions to the Moon and Mars, the surface systems deployed must support the conduct of field geology if these endeavors are to be scientifically useful. This lecture discussed what field geology is all about.why it is important, how it is done, how conducting field geology informs many other sciences, and how it affects the design of surface systems and the implementation of operations in the future.

Eppler, Dean B.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Measurement of the Ratio of the Neutron to Proton Structure Functions, and the Three-Nucleon EMC Effect in Deep Inelastic Electron Scattering Off Tritium and Helium-3 Mirror Nuclei

The proton and neutron structure functions Fp 2 and Fn 2, respectively are fundamental to understanding many studies in nuclear physics. They provide important information about quark distributions. For example, the ratio Fn 2/Fp 2 is one of the best measurements to find the ratio of d quark over u quark distribution inside the proton. While the calculations of structure functions and quark distributions are non-perturbative, they can be determined by the parameterization of experimental data. The understanding of Fn 2/Fp 2 and d/u as x -> 1 has a large influence on global fits and parameterization, and can be used to distinguish the non-perturbative models which give different predictions. However, Fn 2/Fp 2 measured using deuteron and hydrogen targets has large nuclear uncertainties at large x, because the nuclear effects in the deuteron become significant at large x. The MARATHON experiment, which ran in spring 2018 using the upgraded 11 GeV Jefferson Lab electron beam, employs a novel method. It performed deep inelastic scattering off tritium and helium-3 mirror nuclei to measure Fn 2/Fp 2 over the range x = 0.17 to x = 0.82. Since tritium and helium-3 are mirror nuclei, theoretical uncertainties largely cancel out in the ratio. The extracted Fn 2/Fp 2 has much smaller uncertainties compared with previous experiments at large x. The MARATHON experiment also provided results on the EMC effect for tritium and helium-3 nuclei. The results are considered essential for understanding the EMC effect. This thesis describes the MARATHON experiment, and presents results for Fn 2/Fp 2, and the EMC effect for tritium and helium-3.

Liu, Hanjie↗
NASA NTRS1992

Simultaneous mapping of the unsteady flow fields by Particle Displacement Velocimetry (PDV)

Current experimental and computational techniques must be improved in order to advance the prediction capability of the longitudinal vortical flows shed by underwater vehicles. The generation, development, and breakdown mechanisms of the shed vortices at high Reynolds numbers are not fully understood. The ability to measure hull separated vortices associated with vehicle maneuvering does not exist at present. The existing point-by-point measurement techniques can only capture approximately the large 'mean' eddies but fail to meet the dynamics of small vortices during the initial stage of generation. A new technique, which offers a previously unavailable capability to measure the unsteady cross-flow distribution in the plane of the laser light sheet, is called Particle Displacement Velocimetry (PDV). PDV consists of illuminating a thin section of the flowfield with a pulsed laser. The water is seeded with microscopic, neutrally buoyant particles containing imbedded fluorescing dye which responds with intense spontaneous fluorescence with the illuminated section. The seeded particles in the vortical flow structure shed by the underwater vehicle are illuminated by the pulse laser and the corresponding particle traces are recorded in a single photographic frame. Two distinct approaches were utilized for determining the velocity distribution from the particle traces. The first method is based on matching the traces of the same particle and measuring the distance between them. The direction of the flow can be identified by keeping one of the pulses longer than the other. The second method is based on selecting a small window within the image and finding the mean shift of all the particles within that region. The computation of the auto-correlation of the intensity distribution within the selected sample window is used to determine the mean displacement of particles. The direction of the flow is identified by varying the intensity of the laser light between pulses. Considerable computational resources are required to compute the auto-correction of the intensity distribution. Parallel processing will be employed to speed up the data reduction. A few examples of measured unsteady vortical flow structures shed by the underwater vehicles will be presented.

Huang, Thomas T.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Theoretical Modeling of the Thermoelectric Properties of Fe{sub 2}Ti{sub 1 –x}V{sub x}Sn Heusler Alloys

Theoretical calculations of the electron structure and Seebeck coefficient in Fe{sub 2}Ti{sub 1 –x}V{sub x}Sn alloys for the cases of a fully ordered L2{sub 1} and partially disordered B2 Heusler crystal structure are presented. It is shown that the band-gap width increases with the substitution of Ti by V. Comparison with the available theoretical and experimental data indicates that taking into account randomness in the atomic distribution makes it possible to acquire values of the Seebeck coefficient closer to the experimental results.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2022

Determination of Molecular Structure and Dynamics of Molten Salts by Advanced Neutron and X-ray Scattering Measurements and Computer Modeling

The design and development of fully functional Molten-Salt Reactors (MSR) require detailed knowledge of the molten salt properties in order to understand and predict the salt’s behavior. Fundamental properties of interest include molecular structure, speciation, and dynamics (such as diffusion coefficients) of salt components and dissolved corrosion and fission products. Computer modeling is necessary to predict changes in physical and chemical properties due to irradiation, burning of dissolved fuel, and corrosion. The modeling requires experimental data, and advanced neutron and x-ray scattering and spectroscopy provide the most reliable and direct determination of the structure (Pair-Distribution Functions, PDF), and dynamics of ions in the melt. This project dealt with both fluoride and chloride salts. The PDFs have been measured by a combination of neutron and x-ray diffraction. We utilized the techniques of isotope substitutions, a very powerful tool available for neutron-scattering, to extract the details of the liquid structure. Although similar measurements have been done before, modern advanced neutron and x-ray-scattering techniques allow collecting the data at much higher resolution and in a wider range of temperatures. Importantly, we were among the first to study fluoride salts by neutron scattering. The importance of impurities and their effects on salt properties have become apparent recently and so new methods of salt purification were developed. We took advantage of these developments to produce reliable data, which have been used for computer simulations of both clean salts and those with added fission and corrosion products most relevant for MSRs. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to understand the multi-component liquid solution, in particular solubility of impurities and thermodynamic interactions in relation to the ionic-cluster structure of the fluid. We applied machine learning to regress from the simulation and experimental data in order to develop a fast-acting model that can handle molten salt with an arbitrary (≥ 10) number of chemical elements and be able to predict chemical potential as a function of composition and temperature. This project resulted in a number of experimental and computer-simulation publications, a patent application, and numerous conference presentations (American Physical Society, American Chemical Society, and The Electrochemical Society among others). Multiple students and postdocs participated and collaborated on aspects of this project. This project seeded new collaborations between MIT and other institutions, such as the University of Massachusetts Lowell, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of California Berkeley, and Oak Ridge and Los Alamos National Labs. As such, this project has had a broad and lasting impact beyond its original scientific scope.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
NASA NTRS1976

The X-ray structure of the Perseus cluster of galaxies

The X-ray source in the Perseus cluster has been studied both by the Copernicus satellite and by sounding-rocket instruments flown by Columbia University. The spatial and spectral data from these observations are examined. A surface brightness distribution is obtained which shows that the source consists of a compact core associated with NGC 1275 and a more extended emission volume. The structure of the central core region has been examined by means of an image reconstruction technique, revealing a steeply declining luminosity function and north-south elongation. The spectrum of the emission of the core region is distinguished from that of the surrounding area and found to be consistent with a hydrogen column density of 2.5 x 10 to the 21th/sq cm. A comparison between the isothermal and adiabatic gas sphere models is presented which shows the need for at least two components to provide the X-ray emission.

Wolff, R. S.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Structural analysis of airborne flux estimates over a region

Aircraft-based observations of turbulence fields of velocity, moisture, and temperature are used to study coherent turbulent structures that dominate turbulent transfer of moisture and heat above three different eco-systems. Flux traces are defragmented, to reconstruct the presumed full size (along the sampled transect) of these structures, and flux traces are simplified by elimination of those that contribute negligibly to the flux estimate. Structures are analyzed in terms of size, spatial distribution, and contribution to the flux, in the four 'quadrant' modes of eddy-covariance transfer (excess up/down and deficit up/down). The effect of nonlinear detrending of moisture and temperature data on this 'structural analysis,' over surfaces with heterogeneous surface wetness, is also examined. Results over grassland, wetland, and moist and dry agricultural land, show that nonlinear detrending may provide a more physically realistic description of structures. Significant differences are observed between structure size and associated relative flux contribution, between moist and dry areas, with smaller structures playing a more important role over the moist areas. Structure size generally increases with height, as spatial reorganization from smaller structures into larger ones takes place. This coincides with a gradual loss of surface 'signature' (position and clustering of plumes above localized source areas). The data are expected to provide a basis for an eventual statistical description of boundary-layer transfer events , and help to interpret the link between boundary-layer transfer and hydrological surface conditions.

Caramori, Paulo↗
DOE OSTI2023

Bayesian inference for the seismic moment tensor using regional waveforms and a data-derived distribution of velocity models

The largest source of uncertainty in any source inversion is the velocity model used to construct the transfer function employed in the forward model that relates observed ground motion to the seismic moment tensor. However, standard inverse procedures often does not quantify uncertainty in the seismic moment tensor due to error in the Green’s functions from uncertain event location and Earth structure. We attempt to incorporate this uncertainty into an estimation of the seismic moment tensor using a distribution of velocity models calculated in a prior effort based on different and complementary data sets. The posterior distribution of velocity models is then used to construct Green’s functions for use in Bayesian inference of an unknown seismic moment tensor using regional waveform data. The combined likelihood is estimated using data-specific error models and the posterior of the seismic moment tensor is estimated and can be interpreted in terms of most-probable source-type.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

The MolSSI QCArchive project: An open-source platform to compute, organize, and share quantum chemistry data

The Molecular Sciences Software Institute's (MolSSI) Quantum Chemistry Archive (QCArchive) project is an umbrella name that covers both a central server hosted by MolSSI for community data and the Python-based software infrastructure that powers automated computation and storage of quantum chemistry (QC) results. The MolSSI-hosted central server provides the computational molecular sciences community a location to freely access tens of millions of QC computations for machine learning, methodology assessment, force-field fitting, and more through a Python interface. Facile, user-friendly mining of the centrally archived quantum chemical data also can be achieved through web applications found at the website. The software infrastructure can be used as a standalone platform to compute, structure, and distribute hundreds of millions of QC computations for individuals or groups of researchers at any scale. The QCArchiveInfrastructure is open-source (BSD-3C), code repositories can be found at github, and releases can be downloaded via PyPI and Conda. This article is categorized under: Electronic Structure Theory > Ab Initio Electronic Structure Methods Software > Quantum Chemistry Data Science > Computer Algorithms and Programming

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1983

Aeroacoustics of supersonic porous plug-nozzle flows

The effects of porosity on attenuation of noise from short plug-nozzle flows have been studied. Porosity of 10 percent distributed over the whole surface and porosity of 4 percent distributed over the middle-third surface of the conical plug have been investigated. The porosity results in favorable modifications of the repetitive shock structures as revealed by the shadowgraphs of the flow. The acoustic data indicate a reduction of noise intensity levels up to 4 dB for the porous plugs as compared to the solid concial plug. The locally distributed holes (4 percent porosity) are found to give aeroacoustic performance comparable to those with holes distributed over the whole surface (10 percent porosity). Also, the solid conical plug-nozzle is noted to yield noise reductions up to 9 dB when compared to the conical convergent plug-nozzle. A proposed mechanism of shock modification in porous plug-nozzle. A supported by shadowgraphic records.

Dosanjh, D. S.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Feature Extraction for Pipeline Defects Inspection Based Upon Distributed Acoustic Fiber Optic Sensing Data

Fiber-optic distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) is becoming an increasingly important tool for real-time monitoring of energy and civil infrastructure structural health such as pipelines. We present a systematic theoretical study of the potential for DAS to be directly coupled with guided ultrasonic waves typically used in conventional acoustic non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods for real-time pipeline health monitoring. We are referring to this innovative new NDE technique as ultrasonic guided wave and optical fiber sensor fusion. In the practical application of DAS coupled with guided ultrasonic waves, the structural design of (1) the specific guided waves excited, (2) the physical installation of the acoustic transducers and the fiber optic sensors, and (3) the functional performance specifications (gauge length, sensitivity, Etc.) of fiber optic DAS have an important influence on overall capabilities of the monitoring system. Meanwhile, physics-based analysis of acoustic waves is still a challenge due to the complex nature of the Lamb wave when it propagates, scatters, and disperses in the presence of structural defects. In this work, we simulate carbon steel pipes relevant for oil and gas pipeline applications with diameters of approximately 6-12” and wall thickness of 0.5” as the objects to be monitored. By establishing and implementing these capabilities, we seek to pursue an in-depth study on structural parameter optimization of DAS network, measurement range, and signal processing with an ultimate goal of increasing the sensitivity and efficacy of DAS to defect identification for various modes of corrosion expected in practice. To study the characteristics of scattered acoustic waves and performance of DAS for defect identification, we simulated the response of DAS for multiple pipe structures, defect types, and DAS sensor network configuration using finite element software Ansys, then the properties of signal response are extracted to construct defect-sensitive features. The raw data simulated, and the associated features extracted can ultimately be utilized as annotated training data to benchmark various designs for DAS applications, guided acoustic excitation sources, and learning model parameters to enhance early detection of potentially problematic defects.

Pipeline Defects Inspection, Fiber-optic sensors, ↗
DOE OSTI2021

Atomic arrangements in an amorphous CoFeB ribbon extracted via an analysis of radial distribution functions

Here we discuss the atomic structure of amorphous ferromagnetic FeCoB alloys, which are used widely in spintronics applications. Specifically, we obtain the pair-distribution functions for various atomic pairs based on high-energy x-ray diffraction data taken from an amorphous Co 20 Fe 61 B 19 specimen. We start our reverse Monte Carlo cycles to determine the disordered structure with a two-phase model in which a small amount of cobalt is mixed with Fe 23 B 6 as a second phase. The structure of the alloy is found to be heterogeneous, where the boron atoms drive disorder through the random occupation of the atomic network. Our analysis also indicates the presence of small cobalt clusters that are embedded in the iron matrix and percolating the latter throughout the structure. This morphology can explain the enhanced spin polarization observed in amorphous magnetic materials.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
NASA NTRS2000

Data Information for Global Change Studies: NASA's Distributed Active Archive Centers and Cooperating Data Centers

The Earth Observing System (EOS) is an integral part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Earth Science Enterprise (ESE). ESE is a long-term global change research program designed to improve our understanding of the Earth's interrelated processes involving the atmosphere, oceans, land surfaces, and polar regions. Data from EOS instruments and other Earth science measurement systems are useful in understanding the causes and processes of global climate change and the consequences of human activities. The EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS) provides a structure for data management and user services for products derived from EOS satellite instruments and other NASA Earth science data. Within the EOSDIS framework, the Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) have been established to provide expertise in one or more Earth science disciplines. The DAACs and cooperating data centers provide data and information services to support the global change research community. Much of the development of the DAACs has been in anticipation of the enormous amount of data expected from EOS instruments to be launched within the next two decades. Terra, the EOS flagship launched in December 1999, is the first of a series of EOS satellites to carry several instruments with multispectral capabilities. Some data products from these instruments are now available from several of the DAACs. These and other data products can be ordered through the EOS Data Gateway (EDG) and DAAC-specific online ordering systems.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2019

Deep learning as a tool for neural data analysis: Speech classification and cross-frequency coupling in human sensorimotor cortex

A fundamental challenge in neuroscience is to understand what structure in the world is represented in spatially distributed patterns of neural activity from multiple single-trial measurements. This is often accomplished by learning a simple, linear transformations between neural features and features of the sensory stimuli or motor task. While successful in some early sensory processing areas, linear mappings are unlikely to be ideal tools for elucidating nonlinear, hierarchical representations of higher-order brain areas during complex tasks, such as the production of speech by humans. Here, we apply deep networks to predict produced speech syllables from a dataset of high gamma cortical surface electric potentials recorded from human sensorimotor cortex. We find that deep networks had higher decoding prediction accuracy compared to baseline models. Having established that deep networks extract more task relevant information from neural data sets relative to linear models (i.e., higher predictive accuracy), we next sought to demonstrate their utility as a data analysis tool for neuroscience. We first show that deep network's confusions revealed hierarchical latent structure in the neural data, which recapitulated the underlying articulatory nature of speech motor control. We next broadened the frequency features beyond high-gamma and identified a novel high-gamma-to-beta coupling during speech production. Finally, we used deep networks to compare task-relevant information in different neural frequency bands, and found that the high-gamma band contains the vast majority of information relevant for the speech prediction task, with little-to-no additional contribution from lower-frequency amplitudes. Together, these results demonstrate the utility of deep networks as a data analysis tool for basic and applied neuroscience.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Local order of orthorhombic weberite-type Y 3 TaO 7 as determined by neutron total scattering and density functional theory calculations

Weberite-type oxides are a family of oxides with A 3 BO 7 stoichiometry that can adopt different space groups depending on chemical composition. There is a discrepancy in previous studies as to whether Y 3 TaO 7 is the orthorhombic C222 1 or the Ccmm space group. Here, we describe the short- and long-range structural properties of weberite-type Y 3 TaO 7 using neutron total scattering data, which has a high sensitivity to the oxygen sublattice. Simultaneous analysis of both short- and long-range structural data via conventional Rietveld and small box modelling demonstrates that Y 3 TaO 7 is best modeled as C222 1 . While the Ccmm describes equally well the long-range structure, pair distribution function analysis revealed that the local atomic configuration can be best modelled as C222 1 . This is corroborated by first-principles calculations that confirm the energetic preference of the C222 1 over Ccmm. Further, neutron total scattering data are reported for the first time for the Y 3 TaO 7 weberite-type ceramics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1980

Image processing of HCMM-satellite thermal images for superposition with other satellite imagery and topographic and thematic maps

The southwestern part of Central Europe between Basal and Frankfurt was used in a study to determine the accuracy with which a regionally bounded HCMM scene could be rectified with respect to a preassigned coordinate system. The scale to which excerpts from HCMM data can be sensibly enlarged and the question of how large natural structures must be in order to be identified in a satellite thermal image with the given resolution were also examined. Relief and forest and population distribution maps and a land use map derived from LANDSAT data were digitalized and adapted to a common reference system and then combined in a single multichannel data system. The control points for geometrical rectification were determined using the coordinates of the reference system. The multichannel scene was evaluated in several different manners such as the correlation of surface temperature and relief, surface temperature and land use, or surface temperature and built up areas.

Gossmann, H.↗
NASA NTRS1988

A model of auroral potential structures based on Dynamics Explorer plasma data

Dynamics Explorer 1 hot plasma data are used to investigate three major features of the mid-altitude auroral electron distribution -- the hole, the bump (at large pitch angles), and the loss cone. The results of a computer simulation show that these features can be approximately reproduced by a model involving an initial plasma sheet electron distribution and two potential drop regions that are widely separated in altitude. The observed distributions could not be reproduced, even qualitatively, by any of a wide range of distributed potential drops involving parallel electric fields at the point of observation.

Burch, J. L.↗