Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “directional data”

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 541 records · Page 30

A Study of Two-Equation Turbulence Models on the Elliptic Streamline Flow

Several two-equation turbulence models are compared to data from direct numerical simulations (DNS) of the homogeneous elliptic streamline flow, which combines rotation and strain. The models considered include standard two-equation models and models with corrections for rotational effects. Most of the rotational corrections modify the dissipation rate equation to account for the reduced dissipation rate in rotating turbulent flows, however, the DNS data shows that the production term in the turbulent kinetic energy equation is not modeled correctly by these models. Nonlinear relations for the Reynolds stresses are considered as a means of modifying the production term. Implications for the modeling of turbulent vortices will be discussed.

Blaisdell, Gregory A.↗

Patterns of Canopy and Surface Layer Consumption in a Boreal Forest Fire from Repeat Airborne Lidar

Fire in the boreal region is the dominant agent of forest disturbance with direct impacts on ecosystem structure, carbon cycling, and global climate. Global and biome-scale impacts are mediated by burn severity, measured as loss of forest canopy and consumption of the soil organic layer. To date, knowledge of the spatial variability in burn severity has been limited by sparse field sampling and moderate resolution satellite data. Here, we used pre- and post-fire airborne lidar data to directly estimate changes in canopy vertical structure and surface elevation for a 2005 boreal forest fire on Alaskas Kenai Peninsula. We found that both canopy and surface losses were strongly linked to pre-fire species composition and exhibited important fine-scale spatial variability at sub-30m resolution. The fractional reduction in canopy volume ranged from 0.61 in lowland black spruce stands to 0.27 in mixed white spruce and broad leaf forest. Residual structure largely reflects standing dead trees, highlighting the influence of pre-fire forest structure on delayed carbon losses from above ground biomass, post-fire albedo, and variability in understory light environments. Median loss of surface elevation was highest in lowland black spruce stands (0.18 m) but much lower in mixed stands (0.02 m), consistent with differences in pre-fire organic layer accumulation. Spatially continuous depth-of-burn estimates from repeat lidar measurements provide novel information to constrain carbon emissions from the surface organic layer and may inform related research on post-fire successional trajectories. Spectral measures of burn severity from Landsat were correlated with canopy (r = 0.76) and surface (r = -0.71) removal in black spruce stands but captured less of the spatial variability in fire effects for mixed stands (canopy r = 0.56, surface r = -0.26), underscoring the difficulty in capturing fire effects in heterogeneous boreal forest landscapes using proxy measures of burn severity from Landsat.

Alonzo, Michael↗

EDX Spatial: Leveraging cloud and hybrid data management resources for spatial data

In the last few years, the National Energy Technology Laboratory has started leveraging cloud-hosted services for hosting spatial data collections published on the Energy Data eXchange (EDX). Using cloud-hosted storage and compute options offers multiple benefits for visualization and tool development through utilization of spatial data resources. The transition from on-premises services to cloud-hosted services has enabled a few key features: increased accessibility of large derivative datasets, dynamic integration of external authoritative data resources directly from outside entities through representational state transfer application programming interfaces (REST API), and the ability to produce complex mapping applications, dashboards, and online maps. As a result of the shift, NETL has launched EDX Spatial, a platform that leverages on-premises resources combined with cloud compute capabilities to enable enhanced online mapping interfaces and optimize data access. In addition, a unified workflow for handling the public release of spatial data products through EDX has been developed, including standardization of data hosting practices, metadata, symbology, and application elements. This poster reviews the opportunity of leveraging cloud-hosted and hybrid data management solutions for spatial data, and discusses the benefits and lessons learned while leveraging these services through the data repository EDX.

Morkner, Paige↗

Investigation of the dilatational dissipation in compressible homogeneous shear flow

The dilatational dissipation rate within compressible homogeneous turbulent shear flow is studied using data from direct numerical simulations. It is found that the dilatational dissipation rate is mainly associated with large scale acoustic waves. Eddy shocklets are observed; however, they have little contribution to the average dissipation rate. A mechanism for the generation of eddy shocklets is shown to be the focusing of acoustic waves. Turbulence models for the dilatational dissipation rate are compared with data from the simulations. It is found that the formulation of Zeman used by Viegas & Rubesin to calculate a compressible mixing layer agrees well with the numerical simulation results for turbulent Mach numbers less than 0.3. However, it is also found that, for the Mach number range occurring in mixing layers, the model does not accurately represent the theory upon which it is based.

Blaisdell, G. A.↗

Effects of Booster Transition Section and Rudder Deflection on the Low-Angle-of-Attack Static Stability of a Winged Reentry Vehicle at Mach Numbers of 10.8 and 17.8 in Helium

An investigation has been carried out to obtain aerodynamic stability and control data on a model of a winged reentry vehicle at Mach numbers of 10.8 and 17.8 in helium. The effects of a booster transition section on the static stability were obtained at angles of attack from -5 deg to 15 deg and at angles of sideslip from -5 deg to 10 deg at an angle of attack of 0 deg. Directional control data were also obtained at an angle of attack of 0 deg for sideslip angles from -5 deg to 10 deg. No detailed analysis of the data has been made.

Ladson, Charles L.↗

Study of Coronal Heating in Solar Active Regions Using Wide-Field Imaging Spectroscopy: Hinode EIS Slot Observations

Understanding the frequency of heating events that keep the coronal plasma at several million Kelvin above the photospheric temperature of~ 6000K, is one of the most important problems in solar astrophysics. Spectroscopic observations of the Sun in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) indicate that the coronal plasma reaches temperatures from 1 to 5 MK in active regions. It is also established that temperature in active regions can vary strongly with time and, moreover, contain sub-regions that evolve and develop separately. Tracking the spatio-temporal evolution of temperature requires continuous observation of the entire active region via imaging and spectroscopy. Traditional slit imaging spectroscopy probes plasma heating in solar active regions through observations of diagnostic emission lines and the resulting data are spectrally pure. Here, imaging is performed through rastering process, which severely limits co-temporal observations and often can be slow to miss events that evolve at other portions of the active region. In contrast, wide-field imaging spectroscopy offer simultaneous coverage of a large field of view as well as obtain spectral information in the same direction. This data suffers from spatial-spectral confusion, and are called spectroheliograms. Using the state-of-the-art inversion techniques that are developed recently, now spectroheliogram data can be unfolded to yield spectrally pure maps of large fields over long duration of observations. We use wide slit data, usually referred as ‘slot’, from the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) onboard Hinode satellite, focusing on active region observations. Here, we present our study of coronal heating in an active region using a long duration Hinode EIS slot observation.

Active region heating↗

Recent results on the mass, gravitational field and moments of inertia of the moon.

Use of Doppler tracking data from the Lunar Orbiter series of spacecraft in an analysis of the spherical harmonic coefficients of the lunar gravitational field through thirteenth degree and order. The value obtained for the mass of the moon, GM = 4902.84 cu km/sec/sec, is in good agreement with previous results and with results obtained by alternate procedures. Acceleration contour plots, derived from the gravitational coefficients, show correlations with surface features on the near side of the moon, but are of questionable validity for the far side because of the lack of direct tracking data on the far side. Based on the most recent gravitational field data, the current estimate for the polar moment of inertia of the moon is C/Ma squared = 0.4019 super + 0.004 sub - 0.002. This value indicates that the interior of the moon can be homogeneous, but some results presented strongly suggest that the moon is differentiated, with an excess of mass in the direction toward the earth.

Michael, W. H., Jr.↗

Improved uranium isotopic ratio determinations for the liquid sampling-atmospheric pressure glow discharge orbitrap mass spectrometer by use of moving average processing

The liquid sampling-atmospheric pressure glow discharge (LS-APGD) is a versatile combined atomic and molecular (CAM) ionization source capable of ionizing elemental species, small polar compounds, low-polarity polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and proteins. While the LS-APGD has been proven capable of determining the 235U/238U isotope ratio in enriched and natural uranium, recent efforts have strived to reduce the analysis time of individual measurements by employing higher-order data processing techniques, specifically, moving average methods. Additionally, the use of a moving average (of data windows of various widths) improves the precision of the ratio measurements and reduces the number of scans needed to be collected to generate high-precision results. Additionally, use of the moving average minimizes the quantity of sample that needs to be analyzed while reducing the measurement time. These reductions have allowed isotope ratio (IR) determinations to be made using injections instead of direct infusion of the analyte. For example, employing a 40-point window width in the moving average to direct infusion data reduced the percent relative standard deviation (% RSD) of the 235U/238U values from 3.4% to 0.5%. For the injection of a 100 μL aliquot, the % RSD was reduced from 5.3% to 0.7%.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Evaluating the Capacity of Global CO2 Flux and Atmospheric Transport Models to Incorporate New Satellite Observations

As we enter the new era of satellite remote sensing for CO2 and other carbon cyclerelated quantities, advanced modeling and analysis capabilities are required to fully capitalize on the new observations. Model estimates of CO2 surface flux and atmospheric transport are required for initial constraints on inverse analyses, to connect atmospheric observations to the location of surface sources and sinks, and ultimately for future projections of carbon-climate interactions. For application to current, planned, and future remotely sensed CO2 data, it is desirable that these models are accurate and unbiased at time scales from less than daily to multi-annual and at spatial scales from several kilometers or finer to global. Here we focus on simulated CO2 fluxes from terrestrial vegetation and atmospheric transport mutually constrained by analyzed meteorological fields from the Goddard Modeling and Assimilation Office for the period 1998 through 2006. Use of assimilated meteorological data enables direct model comparison to observations across a wide range of scales of variability. The biospheric fluxes are produced by the CASA model at lxi degrees on a monthly mean basis, modulated hourly with analyzed temperature and sunlight. Both physiological and biomass burning fluxes are derived using satellite observations of vegetation, burned area (as in GFED-2), and analyzed meteorology. For the purposes of comparison to CO2 data, fossil fuel and ocean fluxes are also included in the transport simulations. In this presentation we evaluate the model's ability to simulate CO2 flux and mixing ratio variability in comparison to in situ observations at sites in Northern mid latitudes and the continental tropics. The influence of key process representations is inferred. We find that the model can resolve much of the hourly to synoptic variability in the observations, although there are limits imposed by vertical resolution of boundary layer processes. The seasonal cycle and its interannual variations generally respond adequately, but discrepancies in the tropics suggest the need for a refinement of the soil moisture dependence of the respiration flux in CASA. Examples and inferences for interpretation of satellite data will be discussed. In general, the fidelity of these simulations leads us to anticipate incorporation of real-time, highly resolved remote sensing and other observations into quantitative analyses that will reduce uncertainty in the terrestrial CO2 sink and revolutionize our understanding of the key processes controlling atmospheric CO2 and its evolution with time.

Kawa, S. R.↗

Comparing Global Atmospheric CO2 Flux and Transport Models with Remote Sensing (and Other) Observations

We report recent progress derived from comparison of global CO2 flux and transport models with new remote sensing and other sources of CO2 data including those from satellite. The overall objective of this activity is to improve the process models that represent our understanding of the workings of the atmospheric carbon cycle. Model estimates of CO2 surface flux and atmospheric transport processes are required for initial constraints on inverse analyses, to connect atmospheric observations to the location of surface sources and sinks, to provide the basic framework for carbon data assimilation, and ultimately for future projections of carbon-climate interactions. Models can also be used to test consistency within and between CO2 data sets under varying geophysical states. Here we focus on simulated CO2 fluxes from terrestrial vegetation and atmospheric transport mutually constrained by analyzed meteorological fields from the Goddard Modeling and Assimilation Office for the period 2000 through 2009. Use of assimilated meteorological data enables direct model comparison to observations across a wide range of scales of variability. The biospheric fluxes are produced by the CASA model at 1x1 degrees on a monthly mean basis, modulated hourly with analyzed temperature and sunlight. Both physiological and biomass burning fluxes are derived using satellite observations of vegetation, burned area (as in GFED-3), and analyzed meteorology. For the purposes of comparison to CO2 data, fossil fuel and ocean fluxes are also included in the transport simulations. In this presentation we evaluate the model's ability to simulate CO2 flux and mixing ratio variability in comparison to remote sensing observations from TCCON, GOSAT, and AIRS as well as relevant in situ observations. Examples of the influence of key process representations are shown from both forward and inverse model comparisons. We find that the model can resolve much of the synoptic, seasonal, and interannual variability in the observations, although reasons for persistent discrepancies in northern hemisphere vegetation uptake are examined. At this time, we do not find any serious shortcomings in the model transport representation, but this is still the subject of close scrutiny. In general, the fidelity of these simulations leads us to anticipate incorporation of real-time, highly resolved remote sensing and other observations into quantitative analyses that will reduce uncertainty in CO2 fluxes and revolutionize our understanding of the key processes controlling atmospheric CO2 and its evolution with time.

Kawa, S. R.↗

The Role of the NASA Global Hawk Link Module as an Information Nexus For Atmospheric Mapping Missions

The Link Module described in this paper was developed for the NASA Uninhabited Aerial System (UAS) Global Hawk Pacific Mission (GloPAC) Airborne Science Campaign; four flights of 30 hour duration, supporting the Aura Validation Experiment (AVE). It was used again during the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) experiment, a NASA Earth Science field experiment to better understand how tropical storms form and develop into major hurricanes. In these missions, the Link Module negotiated all communication over the high bandwidth Ku satellite link, archived all the science data from onboard experiments in a spatially enabled database, routed command and control of the instruments from the Global Hawk Operations Center, and re-transmitted select data sets directly to experimenters control and analysis systems. The availability of aggregated information from collections of sensors, and remote control capabilities, in real-time, is revolutionizing the way Airborne Science is being conducted. The Link Module NG now being flown in support of the NASA Earth Venture missions, the Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) mission, and Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment (A TTREX) mission, has advanced data fusion technologies that are further advancing the Scientific productivity, flexibility and robustness of these systems. On-the-fly traffic shaping has been developed to allow the high definition video, used for critical flight control segments, to dynamically allocate variable bandwidth on demand. Historically, the Link Module evolved from the instrument and communication interface controller used by NASA's Pathfinder and Pathfinder plus solar powered UAS's in the late 1990' s. It later was expanded for use in the AIRDAS four channel scanner flown on the NASA Altus UAS, and then again to a module in the AMS twelve channel multispectral scanner flying on the NASA (Predator-b) Ikhana UAS. The current system is the answer to the challenges imposed by extremely long duration UASs, with on-board multi-instrument (>= 12) Sensor Webs.

Hurricanes↗

Real-time ISEE data system

A real-time ISEE data system directed toward predicting geomagnetic substorms and storms is discussed. Such a system may allow up to 60+ minutes advance warning of magnetospheric substorms and up to 30 minute warnings of geomagnetic storms (and other disturbances) induced by high-speed streams and solar flares. The proposed system utilizes existing capabilities of several agencies (NASA, NOAA, USAF), and thereby minimizes costs. This same concept may be applicable to data from other spacecraft, and other NASA centers; thus, each individual experimenter can receive quick-look data in real time at his or her base institution.

Tsurutani, B. T.↗

Flight-Determined Stability and Control Derivatives for an Executive Jet Transport

A modified maximum likelihood estimation (MMLE) technique which included a provision for including a priori information about unknown parameters was used to determine the aerodynamic derivatives of the Lockheed JetStar airplane. Two hundred sixty-five maneuvers were performed with the JetStar airplane, which was modified to include direct lift controls, to obtain lateral-directional and longitudinal derivatives. Data were obtained at altitudes of 3048 meters, 6096 meters, and 9144 meters (10,000 feet, 20,000 feet, and 30,000 feet) and over an angle of attack range from approximately 3 deg to 13 deg and a Mach number range from 0.25 to 0.75. Side force generators were installed and tested in 87 maneuvers to determine their effectiveness and their effect on the other derivatives. Lateral-directional data for four flight conditions were analyzed without using a priori information to assess the effect of this feature on the results. The MMLE method generally gave consistent (repeatable) estimates of the derivatives, with the exception of the rolling moment due to yaw rate, which showed large variances.

Smith, H. J.↗

An Information NEXUS: The NASA Global Hawk Link Module

The Link Module described in this paper was first developed for the NASA Global Hawk Pacific Mission (GloPAC), four flights of 30 hour duration, supporting the Aura Validation Experiment (AVE). Its second use was during the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) experiment, a NASA Earth Science field experiment to better understand how tropical storms form and develop into major hurricanes. In these missions, the Link module negotiated all communication over the high bandwidth Ku satellite link, archived al the science data from onboard experiments in a spatially enable database, routed command and control of the instruments from the Global Hawk Operations Center, and retransmitted select data sets directly to experimenters control and analysis systems. The availability of aggregated information from collections of sensors, and remote control capabilities, in real-time, is revolutionizing the way Airborne Science is being conducted. Also described is the next generation Link Module now being designed and tested to support the NASA Earth Venture missions, the Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) mission, and Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment (ATTREX) mission. Advanced data fusion technologies being developed will further advance the Scientific productivity, flexibility and robustness of these systems. Historically, the Link module evolved from the instrument and communication interface controller used by NASA's Pathfinder and Pathfinder plus solar powered UAS's in the late 1990's. It later was expanded for use in the AIRDAS four channel scanner flown on the NASA Altus UAS, and then again to a module in the AMS twelve channel multispectral scanner flying on the NASA (Predator-b) Ikhana UAS. The current system is the next step in the evolution, a multi board system packaged in a Curtiss Wright MIL-spec, flight qualified enclosure.

Remote Sensing↗

A constitutive model for sheared dense fiber suspensions

Here we propose a constitutive model to predict the viscosity of fiber suspensions, which undergoes shear thinning, at various volume fractions, aspect ratios, and shear stresses/rates. We calibrate the model using the data from direct numerical simulation and prove the accuracy by predicting experimental measurements from the literature. We use a friction coefficient decreasing with the normal load between the fibers to quantitatively reproduce the experimentally observed shear thinning in fiber suspensions. In this model, the effective normal contact force, which is directly proportional to the bulk shear stress, determines the effective friction coefficient. A rise in the shear stress reduces the effective friction coefficient in the suspension. As a result, the jamming volume fraction increases with the shear stress, resulting in a shear thinning in the suspension viscosity. Moreover, we extend the model to quantify the effects of fiber volume fraction and aspect ratio in the suspension. We calibrate this model using the data from numerical simulations for the rate-controlled shear flow. Once calibrated, we show that the model can be used to predict the relative viscosity for different volume fractions, shear stresses, and aspect ratios. The model predictions are in excellent agreement with the available experimental measurements from the literature. The findings of this study can potentially be used to tune the fiber size and volume fraction for designing the suspension rheology in various applications.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Strategies for concurrent processing of complex algorithms in data driven architectures

Research directed at developing a graph theoretical model for describing data and control flow associated with the execution of large grained algorithms in a special distributed computer environment is presented. This model is identified by the acronym ATAMM which represents Algorithms To Architecture Mapping Model. The purpose of such a model is to provide a basis for establishing rules for relating an algorithm to its execution in a multiprocessor environment. Specifications derived from the model lead directly to the description of a data flow architecture which is a consequence of the inherent behavior of the data and control flow described by the model. The purpose of the ATAMM based architecture is to provide an analytical basis for performance evaluation. The ATAMM model and architecture specifications are demonstrated on a prototype system for concept validation.

Stoughton, John W.↗

Demonstration of neutron time-of-flight diffraction with an event-mode imaging detector

Neutron diffraction beamlines have traditionally relied on deploying large detector arrays of 3 He tubes or neutron-sensitive scintillators coupled with photomultipliers to efficiently probe crystallographic and microstructure information of a given material. Given the large upfront cost of custom-made data acquisition systems and the recent scarcity of 3 He, new diffraction beamlines or upgrades to existing ones demand innovative approaches. This paper introduces a novel Timepix3-based event-mode imaging neutron diffraction detector system as well as first results of a silicon powder diffraction measurement made at the HIPPO neutron powder diffractometer at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. Notably, these initial measurements were conducted simultaneously with the 3 He array on HIPPO, enabling direct comparison. Data reduction for this type of data was implemented in the MAUD code, enabling Rietveld analysis. Results from the Timepix3-based setup and HIPPO were benchmarked against McStas simulations, showing good agreement for peak resolution. With further development, systems such as the one presented here may substantially reduce the cost of detector systems for new neutron instrumentation as well as for upgrades of existing beamlines.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Experimental Aerodynamic Characteristics of an Oblique Wing for the F-8 OWRA

An experimental investigation was conducted during June-July 1987 in the NASA Ames 11-Foot Transonic Wind Tunnel to study the aerodynamic performance and stability and control characteristics of a 0.087-scale model of an F-8 airplane fitted with an oblique wing. This effort was part of the Oblique Wing Research Aircraft (OWRA) program performed in conjunction with Rockwell International. The Ames-designed, aspect ratio 10.47, tapered wing used specially designed supercritical airfoils with 0.14 thickness/chord ratio at the root and 0.12 at the 85% span location. The wing was tested at two different mounting heights above the fuselage. Performance and longitudinal stability data were obtained at sweep angles of 0deg, 30deg, 45deg, 60deg, and 65deg at Mach numbers ranging from 0.30 to 1.40. Reynolds number varied from 3.1 x 10(exp 6)to 5.2 x 10(exp 6), based on the reference chord length. Angle of attack was varied from -5deg to 18deg. The performance of this wing is compared with that of another oblique wing, designed by Rockwell International, which was tested as part of the same development program. Lateral-directional stability data were obtained for a limited combination of sweep angles and Mach numbers. Sideslip angle was varied from -5deg to +5deg. Landing flap performance was studied, as were the effects of cruise flap deflections to achieve roll trim and tailor wing camber for various flight conditions. Roll-control authority of the flaps and ailerons was measured. A novel, deflected wing tip was evaluated for roll-control authority at high sweep angles.

Kennelly, Robert A., Jr.↗