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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.

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At least 577 records · Page 32
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Standard Operating Procedure for Optimal Deployment of Meteorological Instrumentation Within the Solar Radiation Research Laboratory: 2025 Edition

The objective of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) Solar Radiation Research Laboratory (SRRL) is to collect and use high-quality solar radiation data sets for research leading to the widespread adoption of solar technologies. To appropriately populate and track the diverse array of instruments at the NREL-SRRL, NREL has established a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for optimal instrument deployment within the SRRL for both the Baseline Measurement System (BMS) and the Research Measurement System (RMS). Using best practices methodologies, the NREL-SRRL maintains a varied and extensive array of solar monitoring equipment to test, evaluate, and characterize the solar sensors used by federal and international agencies as well as the solar industry to determine the solar resource. The SOP provides the industry with guidance for solar resource assessment and is used for procedures in the long-term continuous monitoring of legacy instruments alongside state-of-the-art instruments. Based on the SOP, instruments are annually evaluated for continued deployment. Instruments that do not meet the SOP criteria are decommissioned, and new instruments that meet the criteria are deployed. Streamlining and optimizing the use of this facility ensures that the lab continues to be a world-leading solar calibration and measurement facility. This 2025 edition includes updates to the appendices to describe the current instrumentation of the NREL-SRRL.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1976

Solar heating and cooling technical data and systems analysis

The acquisition and processing of selected parametric data for inclusion in a computerized Data Base using the Marshall Information Retrieval and Data System (MIRADS) developed by NASA-MSFC is discussed. This data base provides extensive technical and socioeconomic information related to solar energy heating and cooling on a national scale. A broadly based research approach was used to assist in the support of program management and the application of a cost-effective program for solar energy development and demonstration.

Christensen, D. L.↗
NASA NTRS1981

The carbon monoxide fourth positive bands in the Venus dayglow. I - Synthetic spectra

Recent observations of the Venus dayglow spectrum from 1200 to 1800 A are discussed, and identifications of the CO4+ bands are given using synthetic spectra. The main excitation mechanism is found to be resonant and fluorescent scattering of solar radiation, so the theory for this process is covered in some detail. A synthetic fluorescence spectrum is generated with the aid of high-resolution solar flux data, and emission rate factors are calculated. The influence of solar emission line excitation on this spectrum is demonstrated. In particular, it is shown that the uncertainties in interpreting the Venus dayglow are overcome by the identification of CO4+ bands in the v prime = 14 progression resulting from the fluorescent scattering by CO of solar Lyman alpha radiation.

Durrance, S. T.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Long-term solar-terrestrial observations

The results of an 18-month study of the requirements for long-term monitoring and archiving of solar-terrestrial data is presented. The value of long-term solar-terrestrial observations is discussed together with parameters, associated measurements, and observational problem areas in each of the solar-terrestrial links (the sun, the interplanetary medium, the magnetosphere, and the thermosphere-ionosphere). Some recommendations are offered for coordinated planning for long-term solar-terrestrial observations.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2025

The National Solar Radiation Database Final Report: Fiscal Years 2022-2024

The National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) is the leading public source of high-resolution solar resource data in the United States, with more than 400,000 users annually. This database represents the state of the art in the satellite-based estimation of solar resource information and uses a unique physics-based modeling approach that enables improvements in accuracy with the deployment of the next-generation geostationary satellites. Making the highest-quality, state-of-the-art, regularly updated datasets available on a timely basis for users reduces costs of solar deployment by providing accurate information for siting studies and system output prediction and thereby reduces project financing costs and risks.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1986

Solar microwave millisecond spike at 2.84 GHz

Using the high time resolution of 1 ms, the data of solar microwave millisecond spike (MMS) event was recorded more than two hundred times at the frequency of 2.84 GHz at Beijing (Peking) Observatory since May 1981. A preliminary analysis was made. It can be seen from the data that the MMS-events have a variety of the fast activities such as the dispersed and isolated spikes, the clusters of the crowded spikes, the weak spikes superimposed on the noise background, and the phenomena of absorption. The marked differences from that observed with lower time resolution are presented. Using the data, a valuable statistical analysis was made. There are close correlations between MMS-events and hard X-ray bursts, and fast drifting bursts. The MMS events are highly dependent on the type of active regions and the magnetic field configuration. It seems to be crucial to find out the accurate positions on the active region where the MMS-events happen and to make co-operative observations at different bands during the special period when specific active regions appear on the solar disk.

Fu, Qi-Jun↗
DOE OSTI2023

Integration of a physics-based direct normal irradiance ($\mathrm{DNI}$) model to enhance the National Solar Radiation Database ($\mathrm{NSRDB}$)

The National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) is an extensively used dataset that furnishes satellite-retrieved solar resource data across the United States and an expanding list of other countries. Although the NSRDB uses a physical model to compute global horizontal irradiance (GHI), it currently employs an empirical approach based on surface observations to estimate cloudy-sky direct normal irradiance (DNI). Recently, a new physics-based approach, known as the Fast All-sky Radiation Model for Solar applications with DNI (FARMS-DNI), was developed to improve DNI forecasting. FARMS-DNI integrates direct and scattered solar radiances within the circumsolar region, resulting in improved day-ahead forecasting of DNI by incorporating it into the Weather Research and Forecasting model with Solar extensions (WRF-Solar). This study incorporates FARMS-DNI into the NSRDB algorithm to produce high-spatiotemporal-resolution DNI data from satellite data. The accuracy of the NSRDB based on FARMS-DNI is analyzed using surface observations from 19 sites situated within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Surface Radiation Budget (SURFRAD) and Solar Radiation (SOLRAD) networks, the University of Oregon (UO) network, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) network, and at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The results demonstrate that FARMS-DNI reduces the significant overestimation of DNI in the conventional NSRDB at all surface sites, particularly in cloud overcast conditions classified using both satellite retrievals and surface observations. Consequently, this new model can effectively improve the overall accuracy of the NSRDB. The results also suggest that further improvement of DNI estimates at individual time steps, however, requires advanced satellite techniques and precise identification of clouds and retrieval of cloud properties.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1985

Performance of GaAs and silicon concentrator cells under 1 MeV electron irradiation

Gallium arsenide concentrator cells from three sources and silicon concentrator cells from one source were exposed to 1 MeV electrons at fluences up to 1 x 10 to the 15th electrons per square cm. Performance data were taken after several fluences, at two temperatures (25 and 80 C), and at concentration levels from 1 to about 150X AM0. Data at one sun and 25 C were taken with an X-25 xenon lamp solar simulator. Data at concentrations were taken using a pulsed solar simulator with the assumption of a linear relationship between short-circuit current and irradiance. The cells are 5 mm x 5 mm with a 4 mm diameter illuminated area.

Curtis, H. B.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Performance of GaAs and silicon concentrator cells under 37 MeV proton irradiation

Gallium arsenide concentrator cells from three sources and silicon concentrator cells from one source were exposed to 37 MeV protons at fluences up to 2.8 x 10 to the 12th protons/sq cm. Performance data were taken after several fluences, at two temperatures (25 and 80 C), and at concentration levels from 1 to about 150 x AMO. Data at one sun and 25 C were taken with an X-25 xenon lamp solar simulator. Data at concentration were taken using a pulsed solar simulator with the assumption of a linear relationship between short circuit current and irradiance. The cells are 5 x 5 mm with a 4-mm diameter illuminated area.

Curtis, Henry B.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Simultaneous solution for the masses of the principal planets from analysis of optical, radar, and radio tracking data.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed a set of computer programs known as the Solar System Data Processing System (SSDPS) which is employed in improving the ephemerides of the major planets and for improving the values of several associated astronomical constants. A group of solutions for the masses of the major planets, together with the AU and radii of Mercury, Venus, and Mars, is presented. These solutions based upon optical, radar, and spacecraft radio tracking data are preliminary. The relative power of radar and radio tracking data vis-a-vis purely optical data in a solution is shown. The problems which could arise by adopting solutions based upon a single data type are demonstrated.

Lieske, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Representations of solar EUV fluxes for aeronomical applications

Pilot studies performed on Atmosphere Explorer-E satellite data on solar EUV fluxes for the rising part of the sunspot cycle 21 have demonstrated the feasibility of expressing the variability of solar EUV fluxes in aeronomically attractive terms involving a relatively small total number of date-dependent variables supported by the relatively large number of wavelength-peculiar parameters. Attention is given to the distribution of solar EUV sources and their variability, observations of solar cycle variations, and a model representation of EUV variability.

Hinteregger, H. E.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Interplanetary medium data book. Supplement 3: 1977-1985

The updating of the hourly resolution, near-Earth solar wind data compilation is discussed. Data plots and listings are then presented. In the text, the time shifting of ISEE 3 fine-scale magnetic field and and plasma data, using corotation delay, and the normalization of IMP-MIT and ISEE densities and temperatures to equivalent IMP-LANL values, are discussed in detail. The levels of arbitrariness in combining data sets, and of random differences between data sets, are elucidated.

Couzens, David A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Energetic particle abundances in solar electron events

The results of a comprehensive search of the ISEE 3 energetic particle data for solar electron events with associated increases in elements with atomic number Z = 6 or greater are reported. A sample of 90 such events was obtained. The events support earlier evidence of a bimodal distribution in Fe/O or, more clearly, in Fe/C. Most of the electron events belong to the group that is Fe-rich in comparison with the coronal abundance. The Fe-rich events are frequently also He-3-rich and are associated with type III and type V radio bursts and impulsive solar flares. Fe-poor events are associated with type IV bursts and with interplanetary shocks. With some exceptions, event-to-event enhancements in the heavier elements vary smoothly with Z and with Fe/C. In fact, these variations extend across the full range of events despite inferred differences in acceleration mechanism. The origin of source material in all events appears to be coronal and not photospheric.

Reames, D. V.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Automatic Identification of Solar X-Ray Bright Points in Hinode X-Ray Data

We have automated a method that is used to find point sources in Chandra X-ray telescope data, to identify solar bright points in Hinode X-ray data. This tool, called lextrct, first identifies candidate sources that are brighter than the surrounding background. The algorithm also allows selected pixels to be excluded from the source-finding, thus allowing saturated pixels (from flares and/or active regions) to be ignored. We then use lextrct to fit the sources to two-dimensional, elliptical Gaussians. The size and orientation give an approximation of the shape of the bright points. We are in the process of analyzing observations through the Al_poly filter with a four-second exposure time, to obtain a catalogue of bright points, which will include their sizes, lifetimes, intensities, and position on the solar disk

Adams, M. L.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Development of response models for the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) sensors. Part 3: ERBE scanner measurement accuracy analysis due to reduced housekeeping data

The accuracy of scanner measurements was evaluated when the sampling frequency of sensor housekeeping (HK) data was reduced from once every scan to once every eight scans. The resulting increase in uncertainty was greatest for sources with rapid or extreme temperature changes. This analysis focused on the mirror attenuator mosaic (MAM) baffle and plate and scanner radiometer baffle due to their relatively high temperature changes during solar calibrations. Since only solar simulator data were available, the solar temperatures were approximated on these components and the radiative and thermal gradients in the MAM baffle due to reflected sunlight. Of the two cases considered for the MAM plate and baffle temperatures, one uses temperatures obtained from the ground calibration. The other attempt uses temperatures computed from the MAM baffle model. This analysis shows that the heat input variations due largely to the solar radiance and irradiance during a scan cycle are small. It also demonstrates that reasonable intervals longer than the current HK data acquisition interval should not significantly affect the estimation of a radiation field in the sensor field-of-view.

Choi, Sang H.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Performance of GaAs and silicon concentrator cells under 37 MeV proton irradiation

Gallium arsenide concentrator cells from three sources and silicon concentrator cells from one source were exposed to 37-MeV protons at fluences up to 2.8 x 10 to the 12th protons/sq cm. Performance data were taken after several fluences, at two temperatures (25 and 80 C), and at concentration levels from 1 to about 150X AM0. Data at one sun and 25 C were taken with an X-25 xenon-lamp solar simulator. Data at concentration were taken using a pulsed solar simulator with the assumption of a linear relationship between short-circuit current and irradiance. The cells are 5 mm x 5 mm with a 4-mm-diameter illuminated area.

Curtis, Henry B.↗