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At least 559 records · Page 31

NASA follow-on on the Fiji South Pacific Severe Storm Warning System Project (SPSSD/WS)

The follow-on agreement will implement needed systems enhancements of the satellite ground station installed under the previous SPSSD/WS project. These enhancements include the purchase and installation of an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) and lightning protection unit, hardware modifications to provide system redundancy and increased data storage capacity, software modifications for the new Japanese GMS digital data, upgrades of the image processing software, and both hardware maintenance and tropical cyclone analysis training, and a non-renewable grant to provide emergency field repairs and replacement/spare parts. In March 1988, the UPS and lightning protection unit was installed at the Fiji Meteorological Service by NASA personnel. A tape recorder and demodulator was shipped to Fiji to record the new digital GMS data. Data tapes are not yet available from the Japanese Meteorological Service of the new digital format. This data is required to test the GMS digital software being developed for the Fiji SPSSD/WS facility.

Vermillion, C.↗

Analysis of leading edge protection application on wind turbine performance through energy and power decomposition approaches

Abstract Wind power production is driven by, and varies with, the stochastic yet uncontrollable wind and environmental inputs. To compare a wind turbine's performance, a direct comparison on power outputs is always confounded by the stochastic effect of weather inputs. It is therefore crucial to control for the weather and environmental influence. Toward that objective, our study proposes an energy decomposition approach. We start with comparing the change in the total energy production and refer to the change in total energy as delta energy. On this delta energy, we apply our decomposition method, which is to separate the portion of energy change due to weather effects from that due to the turbine itself. We derive a set of mathematical relationships allowing us to perform this decomposition and examine the credibility and robustness of the proposed decomposition approach through extensive cross‐validation and case studies. We then apply the decomposition approach to Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition data associated with several wind turbines to which leading‐edge protection was carried out. Our study shows that the leading‐edge protection applied on blades may cause a small decline to the power production efficiency in the short term, although we expect the leading‐edge protection to benefit the blade's reliability in the long term.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Identification and characterization of a skin microbiome on Caenorhabditis elegans suggests environmental microbes confer cuticle protection

ABSTRACT In the wild, C. elegans are emersed in environments teeming with a veritable menagerie of microorganisms. The C. elegans cuticular surface serves as a barrier and first point of contact with their microbial environments. In this study, we identify microbes from C. elegans natural habitats that associate with its cuticle, constituting a simple “skin microbiome.” We rear our animals on a modified CeMbio, mCeMbio, a consortium of ecologically relevant microbes. We first combine standard microbiological methods with an adapted micro skin-swabbing tool to describe the skin-resident bacteria on the C. elegans surface. Furthermore, we conduct 16S rRNA gene sequencing studies to identify relative shifts in the proportion of mCeMbio bacteria upon surface-sterilization, implying distinct skin- and gut-microbiomes. We find that some strains of bacteria, including Enterobacter sp. JUb101 , are primarily found on the nematode skin, while others like Stenotrophomonas indicatrix JUb19 and Ochrobactrum vermis MYb71 are predominantly found in the animal’s gut. Finally, we show that this skin microbiome promotes host cuticle integrity in harsh environments. Together, we identify a skin microbiome for the well-studied nematode model and propose its value in conferring host fitness advantages in naturalized contexts. IMPORTANCE The genetic model organism C. elegans has recently emerged as a tool for understanding host–microbiome interactions. Nearly all of these studies either focus on pathogenic or gut-resident microbes. Little is known about the existence of native, nonpathogenic skin microbes or their function. We demonstrate that members of a modified C. elegans model microbiome, mCeMbio, can adhere to the animal's cuticle and confer protection from noxious environments. We combine a novel micro-swab tool, the first 16S microbial sequencing data from relatively unperturbed C. elegans , and physiological assays to demonstrate microbially mediated protection of the skin. This work serves as a foundation to explore wild C. elegans skin microbiomes and use C. elegans as a model for skin research.

16S RNA↗

An Upgrade of the Imaging for Hypersonic Experimental Aeroheating Testing (IHEAT) Software

The Imaging for Hypersonic Experimental Aeroheating Testing (IHEAT) code is used at NASA Langley Research Center to analyze global aeroheating data on wind tunnel models tested in the Langley Aerothermodynamics Laboratory. One-dimensional, semi-infinite heating data derived from IHEAT are used to design thermal protection systems to mitigate the risks due to the aeroheating loads on hypersonic vehicles, such as re-entry vehicles during descent and landing procedures. This code was originally written in the PV-WAVE programming language to analyze phosphor thermography data from the two-color, relativeintensity system developed at Langley. To increase the efficiency, functionality, and reliability of IHEAT, the code was migrated to MATLAB syntax and compiled as a stand-alone executable file labeled version 4.0. New features of IHEAT 4.0 include the options to batch process all of the data from a wind tunnel run, to map the two-dimensional heating distribution to a three-dimensional computer-aided design model of the vehicle to be viewed in Tecplot, and to extract data from a segmented line that follows an interesting feature in the data. Results from IHEAT 4.0 were compared on a pixel level to the output images from the legacy code to validate the program. The differences between the two codes were on the order of 10-5 to 10-7. IHEAT 4.0 replaces the PV-WAVE version as the production code for aeroheating experiments conducted in the hypersonic facilities at NASA Langley.

Mason, Michelle L.↗

Aerothermal tests of quilted dome models on a flat plate at a Mach number of 6.5

Aerothermal tests were conducted in the NASA Langley 8 Foot High Temperature Tunnel (8'HTT) at a Mach number of 6.5 on simulated arrays of thermally bowed metallic thermal protection system (TPS) tiles at an angle of attack of 5 deg. Detailed surface pressures and heating rates were obtained for arrays aligned with the flow and skewed 45 deg diagonally to the flow with nominal bowed heights of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 inch submerged in both laminar and turbulent boundary layers. Aerothermal tests were made at a nominal total temperature of 3300 R, a total pressure of 400 psia, a total enthalpy of 950 Btu/lbm, a dynamic pressure of 2.7 psi, and a unit Reynolds number of 400,000 per foot. The experimental results form a data base that can be used to help protect aerothermal load increases from bowed arrays of TPS tiles.

Glass, Christopher E.↗

Differentially Private Synthesis and Sharing of Network Data Via Bayesian Exponential Random Graph Models

Abstract Network data often contain sensitive relational information. One approach to protecting sensitive information while offering flexibility for network analysis is to share synthesized networks based on the information in originally observed networks. We employ differential privacy (DP) and exponential random graph models (ERGMs) and propose the DP-ERGM method to synthesize network data. We apply DP-ERGM to two real-world networks. We then compare the utility of synthesized networks generated by DP-ERGM, the DyadWise Randomized Response (DWRR) approach, and the Synthesis through Conditional distribution of Edge given nodal Attribute (SCEA) approach. In general, the results suggest that DP-ERGM preserves the original information significantly better than two other approaches in network structural statistics and inference for ERGMs and latent space models. Furthermore, DP-ERGM satisfies node DP through modeling the global network structure with ERGM, a stronger notion of privacy than the edge DP under which DWRR and SCEA operate.

graph synthesis↗

Final results of the NASA storm hazards program

Lightning swept-flash attachment patterns and the associated flight conditions were recorded from 1980-1986 during 1496 thunderstorm penetrations and 714 direct strikes with a NASA F-1068 research airplane. These data were studied with an emphasis on lightning avoidance by aircraft and on aircraft protection design. The individual lightning attachment spots, along with crew comments and on-board photographic data were used to identify lightning swept-flash attachment patterns and the orientations of the lightning channels with respect to the airplane. The full-scale in-flight data were compared to results from scale-model arc-attachment tests. The airborne and scale-model data showed that any exterior surface of this airplane may be susceptible to direct lightning attachment. In addition, the altitudes, ambient temperatures, and the relative turbulence and precipitation levels at which the strikes occurred in thunderstorms are summarized and discussed. It was found that the peak strike rate occurred at pressure altitudes betwen 38,000 ft and 40,000 ft, corresponding to ambient temperatures colder than -40 C.

Fisher, Bruce D.↗

Definition, analysis and development of an optical data distribution network for integrated avionics and control systems. Part 2: Component development and system integration

Fiber optic transmission is emerging as an attractive concept in data distribution onboard civil aircraft. Development of an Optical Data Distribution Network for Integrated Avionics and Control Systems for commercial aircraft will provide a data distribution network that gives freedom from EMI-RFI and ground loop problems, eliminates crosstalk and short circuits, provides protection and immunity from lightning induced transients and give a large bandwidth data transmission capability. In addition there is a potential for significantly reducing the weight and increasing the reliability over conventional data distribution networks. Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) is a candidate method for data communication between the various avionic subsystems. With WDM all systems could conceptually communicate with each other without time sharing and requiring complicated coding schemes for each computer and subsystem to recognize a message. However, the state of the art of optical technology limits the application of fiber optics in advanced integrated avionics and control systems. Therefore, it is necessary to address the architecture for a fiber optics data distribution system for integrated avionics and control systems as well as develop prototype components and systems.

Yen, H. W.↗

Space vehicle meteoroid shielding design

Design principles of spaced, multiwall meteoroid protection are investigated in the light of experimental data generated during the Apollo Program. The outer wall or shield is shown to be the most important element in the meteoroid-spacecraft interaction. The condition of the debris is primarily a function of the shock pressure, the melting points of the meteoroid and the shield, and the length of the meteoroid and thickness of the shield. Spacing between the walls is effective up to approximately 100 times the length of the meteoroid. The required thickness of the second wall is shown to be proportional to the meteoroid mass, velocity, and density, and to the spacing between the walls, taken with exponents dependent upon the condition of the debris. The effects of placing additional elements (insulation or honeycomb cells) between the two walls are discussed, and the efficiency of various protective configurations is presented. An analysis of the meteoroid protection proposed for the Comet Halley probe is included as an appendix.

Cour-Palais, B. G.↗

The Application of Remotely Sensed Data and Models to Benefit Conservation and Restoration Along the Northern Gulf of Mexico Coast

New data, tools, and capabilities for decision making are significant needs in the northern Gulf of Mexico and other coastal areas. The goal of this project is to support NASA s Earth Science Mission Directorate and its Applied Science Program and the Gulf of Mexico Alliance by producing and providing NASA data and products that will benefit decision making by coastal resource managers and other end users in the Gulf region. Data and research products are being developed to assist coastal resource managers adapt and plan for changing conditions by evaluating how climate changes and urban expansion will impact land cover/land use (LCLU), hydrodynamics, water properties, and shallow water habitats; to identify priority areas for conservation and restoration; and to distribute datasets to end-users and facilitating user interaction with models. The proposed host sites for data products are NOAA s National Coastal Data Development Center Regional Ecosystem Data Management, and Mississippi-Alabama Habitat Database. Tools will be available on the Gulf of Mexico Regional Collaborative website with links to data portals to enable end users to employ models and datasets to develop and evaluate LCLU and climate scenarios of particular interest. These data will benefit the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program in ongoing efforts to protect and restore the Fish River watershed and around Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The usefulness of data products and tools will be demonstrated at an end-user workshop.

Quattrochi, Dale↗

Flow rate/pressure drop data gathered from testing a sample of the Space Shuttle Strain Isolation Pad (SIP): Effects of ambient pressure combined with tension and compression conditions

Tests were conducted on a sample of strain isolation pad (SIP) typical of that used in the shuttle orbiter thermal protection system to determine the characteristics of SIP internal flow. Data obtained were pressure drop as a function of flow rate for a range of ambient pressures representing various points along the Shuttle trajectory and for stretched and compressed conditions of the SIP. Flow was in the direction of the weave parallel to most of the fibers. The data are plotted in several standard engineering formats in order to be of maximum utility to the user. In addition to providing support to the Space Shuttle Program, these data are a source of experimental information on flow through fiberous (rather than the more usual sand bed type) porous media.

Springfield, R. D.↗

Online Data-Enabled Predictive Control

We develop an online data-enabled predictive (ODeePC) control method for trajectory tracking of unknown systems, building upon the recently proposed DeePC. Our proposed ODeePC method leverages a primal-dual algorithm with real-time measurement feedback to iteratively compute the corresponding real-time optimal control policy as system conditions change. Specifically, our developed ODeePC: a) records data from the unknown system and updates the underlying primal-dual algorithm dynamically, b) can track changes in the system's operating point and adjust the control inputs, and c) is computationally efficient as it deploys a Fast Fourier Transform-based algorithm enabling the fast computation of the product of a non-square Hankel matrix with a vector. We provide theoretical guarantees regarding the asymptotic behavior of ODeePC and demonstrate its performance through a power system application.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

Quantitative Validation of Control Bands Using Bayesian Statistical Analyses

Abstract This study presents a quantitative validation of 15 Similar Exposure Groups (SEGs) that were derived via control bands inherent to the Risk Level Based Management System currently being used at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. For 93% of the SEGs that were evaluated, statistical analyses of personal exposure monitoring data, through Bayesian Decision Analysis (BDA), demonstrated that the controls implemented from the initial control bands assigned to these SEGs were at least as protective as the controls from the control band outcomes derived from the quantitative data. The BDA also demonstrated that for 40% of the SEGs, the controls from the initial control bands were overly protective, thus allowing controls to be downgraded, which resulted in a significant saving of environmental safety and health (ES&H) resources. Therefore, as a means to both confirm existing controls and to identify candidate SEGs for downgrading controls, efforts to continuously improve the accuracy of Control Banding (CB) strategies through the routine quantitative validation of SEGs are strongly encouraged. Targeted collaborative efforts across institutions and even countries for both the development of CB strategies and the validation of discreetly defined SEGs of commonly performed tasks will not only optimize limited ES&H resources but will also assist in providing a simplified process for essential risk communication at the worker level to the benefit of billions of workers around the world.

McCord, Tyler A.↗

Evaluation of Cross-Protection of African Swine Fever Vaccine ASFV-G-ΔI177L Between ASFV Biotypes

Background/Objectives: Vaccine development for the prevention of ASF has been very challenging due to the extensive genetic and largely unknown antigenic diversity. Inactivated vaccines, using different inactivation methods and a variety of adjuvants, have been consistently inefficacious. Historically, animals recovering from an infection with an attenuated virus became protected from the development of a clinical disease caused by an antigenically related strain. Therefore, immunization of susceptible animals with attenuathe ted virus strains has become a common method of vaccination with the first two commercially available vaccines based on recombinant live-attenuated viruses (LAVs). An important limitation is that the efficacy of the LAV is restricted to those strains that are antigenically related and, in most cases, only provide protection against homologous strains. Due to the unknown antigenic heterogeneity among all ASFV field isolates, the development of broad-spectrum vaccines is a challenge. Besides the anecdotal data, there is not a large amount of information describing patterns of cross-protection between different ASFV strains. Methods: We evaluated the cross-protection induced by the ASFV live-attenuated vaccine ASFV-G-ΔI177L against different biotypes of ASFV and compared their genomic sequences to determine potential genetic mutations that could cause the lack of cross-protection. Results: Results presented here demonstrate different patterns of protection when ASFV-G-ΔI177L vaccinated pigs were challenged with six different ASFV field isolates belonging to different biotypes. Conclusions: The presence of cross-protection cannot be predicted solely by the classical methodology for genotyping-based B646L ORF only. Biotyping, considering the entire virus proteome, appears to be a more promising prediction tool, although additional gathering of experimental data will be necessary to fully validate it; until then, the presence of cross-protection needs to be confirmed in efficacy trials challenging vaccinated animals.

Immunology↗

X-38 Experimental Aerothermodynamics

The X-38 program seeks to demonstrate an autonomously returned orbital test flight vehicle to support the development of an operational Crew Return Vehicle for the International Space Station. The test flight, anticipated in 2002, is intended to demonstrate the entire mission profile of returning Space Station crew members safely back to earth in the event of medical or mechanical emergency. Integral to the formulation of the X-38 flight data book and the design of the thermal protection system, the aerothermodynamic environment is being defined through a synergistic combination of ground based testing and computational fluid dynamics. This report provides an overview of the hypersonic aerothermodynamic wind tunnel program conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center in support of the X-38 development. Global and discrete surface heat transfer force and moment, surface streamline patterns, and shock shapes were measured on scaled models of the proposed X-38 configuration in different test gases at Mach 6, 10 and 20. The test parametrics include angle of attack from 0 to 50 degs, unit Reynolds numbers from 0.3 x 10 (exp 6) to 16 x 10 (exp 6)/ ft, rudder deflections of 0, 2, and 5 deg. and body flap deflections from 0 to 30 deg. Results from hypersonic aerodynamic screening studies that were conducted as the configuration evolved to the present shape at, presented. Heavy gas simulation tests have indicated that the primary real gas effects on X-38 aerodynamics at trim conditions are expected to favorably influence flap effectiveness. Comparisons of the experimental heating and force and moment data to prediction and the current aerodynamic data book are highlighted. The effects of discrete roughness elements on boundary layer transition were investigated at Mach 6 and the development of a transition correlation for the X-38 vehicle is described. Extrapolation of ground based heating measurements to flight radiation equilibrium wall temperatures at Mach 6 and 10 were made and generally compared to within 50 deg F of flight prediction.

Horvath, Thomas J.↗

Secure Data Logging and Processing with Blockchain and Machine Learning (Final Report)

Secure Data Logging and Processing with Blockchain and Machine Learning (ML) research is focused on the development of a platform to securely log and process sensor data in fossil power plants. The platform integrates two emerging technologies, blockchain and ML, and incorporates several innovative mechanisms to ensure the integrity, reliability, and resiliency of power systems. The goal is to protect the power plant from various cyberattacks such as false data injection and denial of service attacks using these technologies. The research goal was enabled by the following Research Project Objectives: 1) Secure authentication and identity verification of sensor nodes, actuators, and other equipment within a network. 2) Development of mechanisms that ensure only data sent by legitimate sensors are accepted and stored in the data repository. 3) Development of data aggregation methodologies using ML / Deep Learning (DL) algorithms to minimize noise / faulty data. 4) Implementation of the blockchain technologies to provide data security using secured IOTA framework & nodes.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

Aerothermodynamic assessment of corrugated panel thermal protection systems

The results of an analysis of wind-tunnel data for the effect of wave shape on local boundary layer flows and heat transfer are used to assess the feasibility of using corrugated panels on a Single-Stage-To-Orbit (SSTO) vehicle. In the flight assessment, available engineering design procedures are used to compute the inviscid and boundary layer flow for a given flight trajectory. The flight vehicle flow field calculations are then used in conjunction with wind-tunnel corrugated panel heating data correlations to examine the heating penalties associated with using corrugated panels at a number of locations on the vehicle. Severe heating penalties, as a result of the corrugations, were found over large areas of the windward surface. Maximum surface temperature penalties ranged from 100K to 500K and very large structural advantages for the corrugations would be required to override the heating penalties. Computed peak corrugation temperatures were within allowable limits of the equivalent smooth wall material for most leeward and side fuselage locations and corrugated panels will be most likely limited to these locations.

Brandon, H. J.↗