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NASA NTRS2015

The Open Data Repositorys Data Publisher

Data management and data publication are becoming increasingly important components of researcher's workflows. The complexity of managing data, publishing data online, and archiving data has not decreased significantly even as computing access and power has greatly increased. The Open Data Repository's Data Publisher software strives to make data archiving, management, and publication a standard part of a researcher's workflow using simple, web-based tools and commodity server hardware. The publication engine allows for uploading, searching, and display of data with graphing capabilities and downloadable files. Access is controlled through a robust permissions system that can control publication at the field level and can be granted to the general public or protected so that only registered users at various permission levels receive access. Data Publisher also allows researchers to subscribe to meta-data standards through a plugin system, embargo data publication at their discretion, and collaborate with other researchers through various levels of data sharing. As the software matures, semantic data standards will be implemented to facilitate machine reading of data and each database will provide a REST application programming interface for programmatic access. Additionally, a citation system will allow snapshots of any data set to be archived and cited for publication while the data itself can remain living and continuously evolve beyond the snapshot date. The software runs on a traditional LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) server and is available on GitHub (http://github.com/opendatarepository) under a GPLv2 open source license. The goal of the Open Data Repository is to lower the cost and training barrier to entry so that any researcher can easily publish their data and ensure it is archived for posterity.

Astrobiology data↗
NASA NTRS2014

Colorado Lightning Mapping Array Collaborations through the GOES-R Visiting Scientist Program

For the past two years, the GOES‐R Proving Ground has solicited proposals for its Visiting Scientist Program. NASA's Short‐term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center has used this opportunity to support the GOES‐R Proving Ground by expanding SPoRT's total lightning collaborations. In 2012, this expanded the evaluation of SPoRT's pseudo‐geostationary lightning mapper product to the Aviation Weather Center and Storm Prediction Center. This year, SPoRT has collaborated with the Colorado Lightning Mapping Array (COLMA) and potential end users. In particular, SPoRT is collaborating with the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) and Colorado State University (CSU) to obtain these data in real‐time. From there, SPoRT is supporting the transition of these data to the local forecast offices in Boulder, Colorado and Cheyenne, Wyoming as well as to Proving Ground projects (e.g., the Hazardous Weather Testbed's Spring Program and Aviation Weather Center's Summer Experiment). This presentation will focus on the results of this particular Visiting Scientist Program trip. In particular, the COLMA data are being provided to both forecast offices for initial familiarization. Additionally, several forecast issues have been highlighted as important uses for COLMA data in the operational environment. These include the utility of these data for fire weather situations, situational awareness for both severe weather and lightning safety, and formal evaluations to take place in the spring of 2014.

Stano, Geoffrey T.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Investing American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funds to Advance Capability, Reliability, and Performance in NASA Wind Tunnels

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Aeronautics Test Program (ATP) is implementing five significant ground-based test facility projects across the nation with funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The projects were selected as the best candidates within the constraints of the ARRA and the strategic plan of ATP. They are a combination of much-needed large scale maintenance, reliability, and system upgrades plus creating new test beds for upcoming research programs. The projects are: 1.) Re-activation of a large compressor to provide a second source for compressed air and vacuum to the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel at the Ames Research Center (ARC) 2.) Addition of high-altitude ice crystal generation at the Glenn Research Center Propulsion Systems Laboratory Test Cell 3, 3.) New refrigeration system and tunnel heat exchanger for the Icing Research Tunnel at the Glenn Research Center, 4.) Technical viability improvements for the National Transonic Facility at the Langley Research Center, and 5.) Modifications to conduct Environmentally Responsible Aviation and Rotorcraft research at the 14 x 22 Subsonic Tunnel at Langley Research Center. The selection rationale, problem statement, and technical solution summary for each project is given here. The benefits and challenges of the ARRA funded projects are discussed. Indirectly, this opportunity provides the advantages of developing experience in NASA's workforce in large projects and maintaining corporate knowledge in that very unique capability. It is envisioned that improved facilities will attract a larger user base and capabilities that are needed for current and future research efforts will offer revenue growth and future operations stability. Several of the chosen projects will maximize wind tunnel reliability and maintainability by using newer, proven technologies in place of older and obsolete equipment and processes. The projects will meet NASA's goal of integrating more efficient, environmentally safer, and less energy consuming hardware and processes into existing tunnel systems. These include Environmental Protection Agency-approved refrigerants, energy efficient motors, and faster, flexible tunnel data systems.

Sydnor, Goerge H.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Unique strategies for technical information management at Johnson Space Center

In addition to the current NASA manned programs, the maturation of Space Station and the introduction of the Space Exploration programs are anticipated to add substantially to the number and variety of data and documentation at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). This growth in the next decade has been estimated at five to ten fold compared to the current numbers. There will be an increased requirement for the tracking and currency of space program data and documents with National pressures to realize economic benefits from the research and technological developments of space programs. From a global perspective the demand for NASA's technical data and documentation is anticipated to increase at local, national, and international levels. The primary users will be government, industry, and academia. In our present national strategy, NASA's research and technology will assume a great role in the revitalization of the economy and gaining international competitiveness. Thus, greater demand will be placed on NASA's data and documentation resources. In this paper the strategies and procedures developed by DDMS, Inc., to accommodate the present and future information utilization needs are presented. The DDMS, Inc., strategies and procedures rely on understanding user requirements, library management issues, and technological applications for acquiring, searching, storing, and retrieving specific information accurately and quickly. The proposed approach responds to changing customer requirements and product deliveries. The unique features of the proposed strategy include: (1) To establish customer driven data and documentation management through an innovative and unique methods to identify needs and requirements. (2) To implement a structured process which responds to user needs, aimed at minimizing costs and maximizing services, resulting in increased productivity. (3) To provide a process of standardization of services and procedures. This standardization is the central theme of the strategic approach. It will allow Division level Data and Documentation Libraries (DDL's) to function independently and optimize efficiency at the Directorate level. This process also facilitates interconnectivity between Division level DDL's and makes them transparent to the users. (4) To implement the process of 'cost savings', and at the same time the objective is to gain substantial improvement in the organization, categorization, and preservation of JSC-generated data and documentation, and (5) To find, locate, retrace, restore, and preserve the Center-generated crucial scientific and technical information that has been and is being provided by the engineers and scientists of JSC. This is important to the preservation of 'lessons learned'. Preliminary estimates of the possible cost savings which will result from the implementation of this process will also be discussed in this paper.

Krishen, Vijay↗
NASA NTRS2013

Advancing Drought Understanding, Monitoring and Prediction

Having the capacity to monitor droughts in near-real time and providing accurate drought prediction from weeks to seasons in advance can greatly reduce the severity of social and economic damage caused by drought, a leading natural hazard for North America. The congressional mandate to establish the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS; Public Law 109-430) in 2006 was a major impulse to develop, integrate, and provide drought information to meet the challenges posed by this hazard. Significant progress has been made on many fronts. On the research front, efforts by the broad scientific community have resulted in improved understanding of North American droughts and improved monitoring and forecasting tools. We now have a better understanding of the droughts of the twentieth century including the 1930s "Dust Bowl"; we have developed a broader array of tools and datasets that enhance the official North American Drought Monitor based on different methodologies such as state-of-the-art land surface modeling (e.g., the North American Land Data Assimilation System) and remote sensing (e.g., the evaporative stress index) to better characterize the occurrence and severity of drought in its multiple manifestations. In addition, we have new tools for drought prediction [including the new National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Climate Forecast System, version 2, for operational prediction and an experimental National Multimodel Ensemble] and have explored diverse methodologies including ensemble hydrologic prediction approaches. Broad NIDIS-inspired progress is influencing the development of a Global Drought Information System (GDIS) under the auspices of the World Climate Research Program. Despite these advances, current drought monitoring and forecasting capabilities still fall short of users' needs, especially the need for skillful and reliable drought forecasts at regional and local scales. To tackle this outstanding challenging problem, focused and coordinated research efforts are needed, drawing from excellence across the broad drought research community. To meet this challenge, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Drought Task Force was established in October 2011 with the ambitious goal of achieving significant new advances in the ability to understand, monitor, and predict drought over North America. The Task Force (duration of October 2011-September 2014) is an initiative of NOAA's Climate Program Office Modeling, Analysis, Predictions, and Projections (MAPP) program in partnership with NIDIS. It brings together over 30 leading MAPP-funded drought scientists from multiple academic and federal institutions [involves scientists from NOAA's research laboratories and centers, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and many universities] in a concerted research effort that builds on individual MAPP research projects. These projects span the wide spectrum of drought research needed to make fundamental advances, from those aimed at the basic understanding of drought mechanisms to those aimed at testing new drought monitoring and prediction tools for operational and service purposes (as part of NCEP's Climate Test Bed). The Drought Task Force provides focus and coordination to MAPP drought research activities and also facilitates synergies with other national and international drought research efforts, including those by the GDIS.

GDIS↗
NASA NTRS2014

NASA VERVE: Interactive 3D Visualization Within Eclipse

At NASA, we develop myriad Eclipse RCP applications to provide situational awareness for remote systems. The Intelligent Robotics Group at NASA Ames Research Center has developed VERVE - a high-performance, robot user interface that provides scientists, robot operators, and mission planners with powerful, interactive 3D displays of remote environments.VERVE includes a 3D Eclipse view with an embedded Java Ardor3D scenario, including SWT and mouse controls which interact with the Ardor3D camera and objects in the scene. VERVE also includes Eclipse views for exploring and editing objects in the Ardor3D scene graph, and a HUD (Heads Up Display) framework allows Growl-style notifications and other textual information to be overlayed onto the 3D scene. We use VERVE to listen to telemetry from robots and display the robots and associated scientific data along the terrain they are exploring; VERVE can be used for any interactive 3D display of data.VERVE is now open source. VERVE derives from the prior Viz system, which was developed for Mars Polar Lander (2001) and used for the Mars Exploration Rover (2003) and the Phoenix Lander (2008). It has been used for ongoing research with IRG's K10 and KRex rovers in various locations. VERVE was used on the International Space Station during two experiments in 2013 - Surface Telerobotics, in which astronauts controlled robots on Earth from the ISS, and SPHERES, where astronauts control a free flying robot on board the ISS.We will show in detail how to code with VERVE, how to interact between SWT controls to the Ardor3D scenario, and share example code.

3D Visualization↗
NASA NTRS1990

The Johnson Space Center management information systems: User's guide to JSCMIS

The Johnson Space Center Management Information System (JSCMIS) is an interface to computer data bases at the NASA Johnson Space Center which allows an authorized user to browse and retrieve information from a variety of sources with minimum effort. The User's Guide to JSCMIS is the supplement to the JSCMIS Research Report which details the objectives, the architecture, and implementation of the interface. It is a tutorial on how to use the interface and a reference for details about it. The guide is structured like an extended JSCMIS session, describing all of the interface features and how to use them. It also contains an appendix with each of the standard FORMATs currently included in the interface. Users may review them to decide which FORMAT most suits their needs.

Bishop, Peter C.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Sensitivity Analysis Method to Address User Disparities in the Analytic Hierarchy Process

Decision makers often face complex problems, which can seldom be addressed well without the use of structured analytical models. Mathematical models have been developed to streamline and facilitate decision making activities, and among these, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) constitutes one of the most utilized multi-criteria decision analysis methods. While AHP has been thoroughly researched and applied, the method still shows limitations in terms of addressing user profile disparities. A novel sensitivity analysis method based on local partial derivatives is presented here to address these limitations. This new methodology informs AHP users of which pairwise comparisons most impact the derived weights and the ranking of alternatives. The method can also be applied to decision processes that require the aggregation of results obtained by several users, as it highlights which individuals most critically impact the aggregated group results while also enabling to focus on inputs that drive the final ordering of alternatives. An aerospace design and engineering example that requires group decision making is presented to demonstrate and validate the proposed methodology.

Marie Ivanco↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Hourly Stream Heights – A Short-term Deep Learning Prediction Model

River flooding can have a detrimental impact on a community by causing loss of life, loss or damage to property, and damage to infrastructure. Having the capability to forecast flooding events can prevent the loss of life and mitigate damage to property. A programmatic, data-driven approach using deep learning to forecast a stream’s gauge height every 6 hours has been developed by NASA’s Short-term Prediction Research and Transition Center (SPoRT) and is currently in operation. Based on our end user engagement and feedback, this medium-term product has been successfully adopted by several National Weather Service (NWS) Forecast Offices and River Forecast Centers (RFC). SPoRT is currently researching and developing a short-term hourly deep learning model which will be useful in forecasting flash flood events.

Michael Antia↗
NASA NTRS1979

A progress report on a NASA research program for embedded computer systems software

The paper presents the results of the second stage of the Multipurpose User-oriented Software Technology (MUST) program. Four primary areas of activities are discussed: programming environment, HAL/S higher-order programming language support, the Integrated Verification and Testing System (IVTS), and distributed system language research. The software development environment is provided by the interactive software invocation system. The higher-order programming language (HOL) support chosen for consideration is HAL/S mainly because at the time it was one of the few HOLs with flight computer experience and it is the language used on the Shuttle program. The overall purpose of IVTS is to provide a 'user-friendly' software testing system which is highly modular, user controlled, and cooperative in nature.

Foudriat, E. C.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Aeroelastic analysis for helicopter rotors with blade appended pendulum vibration absorbers. Mathematical derivations and program user's manual

Mathematical development is presented for the expanded capabilities of the United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) G400 Rotor Aeroelastic Analysis. This expanded analysis, G400PA, simulates the dynamics of teetered rotors, blade pendulum vibration absorbers and the higher harmonic excitations resulting from prescribed vibratory hub motions and higher harmonic blade pitch control. Formulations are also presented for calculating the rotor impedance matrix appropriate to these higher harmonic blade excitations. This impedance matrix and the associated vibratory hub loads are intended as the rotor blade characteristics elements for use in the Simplified Coupled Rotor/Fuselage Vibration Analysis (SIMVIB). Sections are included presenting updates to the development of the original G400 theory, and material appropriate to the user of the G400PA computer program. This material includes: (1) a general descriptionof the tructuring of the G400PA FORTRAN coding, (2) a detaild description of the required input data and other useful information for successfully running the program, and (3) a detailed description of the output results.

Bielawa, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Tensoral for post-processing users and simulation authors

The CTR post-processing effort aims to make turbulence simulations and data more readily and usefully available to the research and industrial communities. The Tensoral language, which provides the foundation for this effort, is introduced here in the form of a user's guide. The Tensoral user's guide is presented in two main sections. Section one acts as a general introduction and guides database users who wish to post-process simulation databases. Section two gives a brief description of how database authors and other advanced users can make simulation codes and/or the databases they generate available to the user community via Tensoral database back ends. The two-part structure of this document conforms to the two-level design structure of the Tensoral language. Tensoral has been designed to be a general computer language for performing tensor calculus and statistics on numerical data. Tensoral's generality allows it to be used for stand-alone native coding of high-level post-processing tasks (as described in section one of this guide). At the same time, Tensoral's specialization to a minute task (namely, to numerical tensor calculus and statistics) allows it to be easily embedded into applications written partly in Tensoral and partly in other computer languages (here, C and Vectoral). Embedded Tensoral, aimed at advanced users for more general coding (e.g. of efficient simulations, for interfacing with pre-existing software, for visualization, etc.), is described in section two of this guide.

Dresselhaus, Eliot↗
NASA NTRS2024

The Knowledge-based Digital Platform Concept for Advanced Air Mobility Research and Development

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC) is spearheading an innovative digital engineering approach to integrate, communicate, and facilitate the research of multi-modal transportation systems. The Knowledge-based Digital Platform (KbDP) is a concept being developed that ties the workflows of Project Managers (PM), Principal Investigators (PI), and System Engineers (SE) together across organizational boundaries. The overarching vision for the KbDP Concept for AAM R&D is a substantial undertaking. The initial concept and implementation will focus on UAM operations to tractably learn and adjust the concept with a manageable database. Lessons learned and best practices with a smaller scope will enable successful scalability to AAM R&D or even to the entire modes of transportation and logistics. The UAM vision is one in which advanced technologies and new operational procedures enable practical and cost-effective air transport as an integrated mode of movement of people and goods throughout metropolitan areas. Initial implementation of three KbDP concepts of use shows promising benefits to NASA’s Air Traffic Management-Exploration (ATM-X) UAM Airspace Subproject. It is envisioned that the KbDP will manage an information database defined by mathematical, data science, and system engineering principles. AIML algorithms play a vital role in this KbDP concept by extracting meaningful knowledge from the information database, which the human user leverages to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their research greatly.

ATM↗
NASA NTRS1977

Millimeter wave satellite concepts, volume 1

The identification of technologies necessary for development of millimeter spectrum communication satellites was examined from a system point of view. Development of methodology based on the technical requirements of potential services that might be assigned to millimeter wave bands for identifying the viable and appropriate technologies for future NASA millimeter research and development programs, and testing of this methodology with selected user applications and services were the goals of the program. The entire communications network, both ground and space subsystems was studied. Cost, weight, and performance models for the subsystems, conceptual design for point-to-point and broadcast communications satellites, and analytic relationships between subsystem parameters and an overall link performance are discussed along with baseline conceptual systems, sensitivity studies, model adjustment analyses, identification of critical technologies and their risks, and brief research and development program scenarios for the technologies judged to be moderate or extensive risks. Identification of technologies for millimeter satellite communication systems, and assessment of the relative risks of these technologies, was accomplished through subsystem modeling and link optimization for both point-to-point and broadcast applications.

Hilsen, N. B.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Acute Radiation Risk and BRYNTRN Organ Dose Projection Graphical User Interface

The integration of human space applications risk projection models of organ dose and acute radiation risk has been a key problem. NASA has developed an organ dose projection model using the BRYNTRN with SUM DOSE computer codes, and a probabilistic model of Acute Radiation Risk (ARR). The codes BRYNTRN and SUM DOSE are a Baryon transport code and an output data processing code, respectively. The risk projection models of organ doses and ARR take the output from BRYNTRN as an input to their calculations. With a graphical user interface (GUI) to handle input and output for BRYNTRN, the response models can be connected easily and correctly to BRYNTRN. A GUI for the ARR and BRYNTRN Organ Dose (ARRBOD) projection code provides seamless integration of input and output manipulations, which are required for operations of the ARRBOD modules. The ARRBOD GUI is intended for mission planners, radiation shield designers, space operations in the mission operations directorate (MOD), and space biophysics researchers. BRYNTRN code operation requires extensive input preparation. Only a graphical user interface (GUI) can handle input and output for BRYNTRN to the response models easily and correctly. The purpose of the GUI development for ARRBOD is to provide seamless integration of input and output manipulations for the operations of projection modules (BRYNTRN, SLMDOSE, and the ARR probabilistic response model) in assessing the acute risk and the organ doses of significant Solar Particle Events (SPEs). The assessment of astronauts radiation risk from SPE is in support of mission design and operational planning to manage radiation risks in future space missions. The ARRBOD GUI can identify the proper shielding solutions using the gender-specific organ dose assessments in order to avoid ARR symptoms, and to stay within the current NASA short-term dose limits. The quantified evaluation of ARR severities based on any given shielding configuration and a specified EVA or other mission scenario can be made to guide alternative solutions for attaining determined objectives set by mission planners. The ARRBOD GUI estimates the whole-body effective dose, organ doses, and acute radiation sickness symptoms for astronauts, by which operational strategies and capabilities can be made for the protection of astronauts from SPEs in the planning of future lunar surface scenarios, exploration of near-Earth objects, and missions to Mars.

Cucinotta, Francis A.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Payload Operations

The objective of this paper is to provide the future ISS scientist and/or engineer a sense of what ISS payload operations are expected to be. This paper uses a real-time operations scenario to convey this message. The real-time operations scenario begins at the initiation of payload operations and runs through post run experiment analysis. In developing this scenario, it is assumed that the ISS payload operations flight and ground capabilities are fully available for use by the payload user community. Emphasis is placed on telescience operations whose main objective is to enable researchers to utilize experiment hardware onboard the International Space Station as if it were located in their terrestrial laboratory. An overview of the Payload Operations Integration Center (POIC) systems and user ground system options is included to provide an understanding of the systems and interfaces users will utilize to perform payload operations. Detailed information regarding POIC capabilities can be found in the POIC Capabilities Document, SSP 50304.

Cissom, R. D.↗
NASA NTRS1986

A 20 kiloHertz space station power system

The space station represents the next major U.S. commitment in space. The efficient delivery of power to multiple user loads is key to that success. In 1969, NASA Lewis Research Center began a series of studies with component and circuit developments that led to the high frequency, bi-directional, four quadrant resonant driven converter. Additional studies and subsequent developments into the early 1980's have shown how the high frequency ac power system could provide overall advantages to many aerospace power systems. Because of its wide versatility, it also has outstanding advantages for the Space Station Program and its wide range of users. High frequency ac power provides higher efficiency, lower cost, and improved safety. The 20 kHz power system has exceptional flexibility, is inherently user friendly, and is compatible with all types of energy sources - photovoltaic, solar dynamic, rotating machines or nuclear. Lewis has recently completed development under contract a 25 kW, 20 kHz ac power distribution system testbed. The testbed demonstrates flexibility, versatility, and transparency to user technology as well as high efficiency, low mass, and reduced volume.

Hansen, I. G.↗
NASA NTRS1986

20 kHz Space Station power system

The Space Station represents the next major U.S. commitment in space. The efficient delivery of power to multiple user loads is key to that success. In 1969, NASA Lewis Research Center began a series of studies with component and circuit developments that led to the high frequency bi-directional, four quadrant resonant driven converter. Additional studies and subsequent developments into the early 1980's have shown how the high frequency ac power system could provide overall advantages to many aerospace power systems. Because of its wide versatility, it also has outstanding advantages for the Space Station Program and its wide range of users. High frequency ac power provides higher efficiency, lower cost, and improved safety. The 20 kHz power system has exceptional flexibility, is inherently user friendly, and is compatible with all types of energy sources - photovoltaic, solar dynamic, rotating machines or nuclear Lewis distribution system testbed. The testbed demonstrates flexibility, versatility, and transparency to user technology as well as high efficiency, low mass, and reduced volume.

Hansen, Irving G.↗