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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 631 records · Page 35
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1988

Aeroacoustics of advanced STOVL aircraft plumes

This paper summarizes a basic and well-controlled experimental study involving flow visualization and noise measurements to define the acoustic and flow fields of single plumes impinging on a simulated ground plane. The flow visualization was made by strobing a laser light source at the discrete frequencies generated by the impingement of the jets and measured by a nearfield microphone. This enabled visualization of instability waves generated by the interaction between the plumes and the sound generated during impingement, and also by dynamic coupling between the two plumes. These data were acquired as a function of distance between the ground and the nozzle exit. Nearfield acoustic data were acquired simultaneously. Data for nozzle diameters of 0.265 in. and 0.4 in. are described. For selected nozzles, effects of exit boundary layer characteristics and nozzle protrusion through a simulated aircraft body are also presented.

Ahuja, K. K.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Obtaining spectral reflectance factor measurements of stressed forest vegetation

Techniques and instruments used to collect spectral reflectance data on Vermont spruce and fir stands subjected to stress (due to acid rain and ozone) are described and illustrated. The healthy and stressed sites selected are characterized; the data-quality requirements are indicated; and particular attention is given to (1) a helicopter-mounted instrument package (radiometer, spectrometer, cameras, and video camera) for canopy-level remote sensing of reflectance and (2) a portable hemispherical light source for use in taking laboratory reflectance measurements from branches or needles. Typical data are presented in graphs and briefly discussed.

Case, David W.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Synchronizing Photography For High-Speed-Engine Research

Light flashes when shaft reaches predetermined angle. Synchronization system facilitates visualization of flow in high-speed internal-combustion engines. Designed for cinematography and holographic interferometry, system synchronizes camera and light source with predetermined rotational angle of engine shaft. 10-bit resolution of absolute optical shaft encoder adapted, and 2 to tenth power combinations of 10-bit binary data computed to corresponding angle values. Pre-computed angle values programmed into EPROM's (erasable programmable read-only memories) to use as angle lookup table. Resolves shaft angle to within 0.35 degree at rotational speeds up to 73,240 revolutions per minute.

Chun, K. S.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Observations of diurnal variations of BrO and OClO at McMurdo Station, Antarctica (78S)

Observations of the diurnal variations of OClO and BrO during austral spring, 1987 using long-path visible and near-ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy are presented and compared to simplified model calculations. It is shown that care must be taken to compare model calculations and measurements along the line of sight of the instrument. Evening twilight observations of OClO are shown to be broadly consistent with current photochemical schemes, assuming ClO and BrO levels near 50 mb of about 0.5 ppbv and 7 pptv, respectively, throughout the observing period from late Aug. to mid-Oct. Nighttime observations of OClO obtained using the moon as a light source display evidence for growth through the night in late-Aug., but not in late-Sept. Further, the observed morning twilight OClO abundances are in agreement with model calculations in late August, but generally fall below in late September and October. Observations of BrO in mid-Sept. systematically show far greater evening twilight than morning twilight abundances.

Solomon, S.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Brewer spectrophotometer measurements in the Canadian Arctic

In the winters of 1987 and 1988 measurements were conducted with the Brewer Spectrophotometer at Alert (82.5 N) and Resolute (74.5 N). The measurements were conducted as part of our Canadian Program to search for an Arctic Ozone Hole (CANOZE). Ozone measurements were conducted in the months of December, January and February using the moon as a light source. The total ozone measurements will be compared with ozonesonde profiles, from ECC sondes, flown once per week from Alert and Resolute. A modified Brewer Spectrophotometer was used in a special study to search for chlorine dioxide at Alert in March 1987. Ground based observations at Saskatoon in February and at Alert in March 1987 failed to detect any measureable chlorine dioxide. Interference from another absorbing gas, which we speculate may be nitrous acid, prevented the measurements at the low levels of chlorine dioxide detected in the Southern Hemisphere by Solomon et al.

Kerr, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Center for the development of commercial crystal growth in space

The second year of operation of the Center for Commercial Crystal Growth in Space is described. This center is a consortium of businesses, universities and national laboratories. The primary goal of the Center's research is the development of commercial crystal growth in space. A secondary goal is to develop scientific understanding and technology which will improve commercial crystal growth on earth. In order to achieve these goals the Center's research is organized into teams by growth technique; melt growth, solution growth, and vapor growth. The melt growth team is working on solidification and characterization of bulk crystals of gallium arsenide and cadmium telluride. They used high resolution X-ray topography performed at the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Streak-like features were found in the diffraction images of semi-insulating undoped LEC GaAs. These were shown to be (110) antiphase boundaries, which have not been reported before but appear to be pervasive and responsible for features seen via less-sensitive characterization methods. The results on CdTe were not as definitive, but indicate that antiphase boundaries may also be responsible for the double peaks often seen in X-ray rocking curves of this material. A liquid encapsulated melt zone system for GaAs has been assembled and techniques for casting feed rods developed. It was found that scratching the inside of the quartz ampoules with silicon carbide abrasive minimized sticking of the GaAs to the quartz. Twelve floating zone experiments were done.

Wilcox, William R.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Visual accommodation trainer-tester

An apparatus for training the human visual accommodation system is described. Specifically, the apparatus is useful for training personnel to volitionally control focus to the far point (normally infinity) from a position of myopia due to functional causes. The functional causes could be due, for example, to a behavioral accommodative spasm or the effects of an empty field. The device may also be used to measure accommodation, the accommodation resting position and the near and far points of vision. The device comprises a number of optical elements arranged on a single optical axis. Several of the elements are arranged in order on a movable stage in fixed relationship to each other: a light source, a lens, a target, an aperture and/or a second lens. On a base and in fixed relationship to each other are eyepiece and third lens. A stage generates an image of the target and the stage is movable with respect to the base by means of a knob. The device is utilized for the various training and test functions by following a series of procedural steps, and interchanging the apertures as necessary for the selected procedure.

Robert J Randle↗
NASA NTRS1989

Photoabsorption and photodissociation of molecules important in the interstellar medium

Photoabsorption and fluorescence cross sections of molecules important in the interstellar medium were measured in the 90 to 200 nm region using synchrotron radiation, excimer laser, and condensed discharge lamps as light sources. The quantitative spectroscopic data are currently needed for the modeling of formation and destruction rates of molecules by the interstellar radiation field. Fluorescences from excited photofragments produced by vacuum ultraviolet radiation of molecules are dispersed to identify the emitting species. The fluorescence data are useful for the identification of emission sources in interstellar clouds.

Lee, Long C.↗
NASA NTRS1989

AM0 efficiency measurements

Procedures for measuring the air mass zero (AM0) current versus voltage characteristics and calculating the efficiency are discussed. The various factors influencing the determination of the efficiency include the I-V measurement system, reference cell calibration, standard reporting conditions, area measurement, light source characteristics, temperature measurement and control, and the measurement procedures. Each of these sources contributes to the precision index and bias limit which is combined to obtain the total uncertainty in the efficiency. These factors are discussed as well as how to minimize differences in the reported AM0 efficiency of a given PV cell between various laboratories.

Emery, Keith↗
NASA NTRS1988

An airborne laser polarimeter system (ALPS) for terrestrial physics research

The design of a multispectral polarized laser system for characterizing the depolarization properties of the earth's surface is described. Using a laser as the light source, this airborne system measures the Stokes parameters of the surface to simultaneously arrive at the polarization degree, azimuthal angle, and ellipticity for each wavelength. The technology will be studied for the feasibility of expansion of the sensor to do surface polarization imaging. The data will be used in support of solar polarization studies and to develop laser radiometry as a tool in environmental remote sensing.

Kalshoven, James E., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Fluorescence yields from photodissociative excitation of HCOOH, HCOOCH3, and CH3COOH in the vacuum-ultraviolet region

The photoexcitation processes of HCOOH, HCOOCH3, and CH3COOH were studied in the vacuum-ultraviolet region by using synchroton radiation and a pulsed discharge lamp as light sources. The absorption and fluorescence cross sections of these molecules were measured in the 106-250-nm region. Fluorescences were detected from photoexcitation of HCOOH and HCOOCH3, but not from CH3COOH. Fluorescence produced at 123.9 nm was dispersed and identified as the excited OH and HCOO radicals. Fluorescence quantum yields of HCOOH and HCOOCH3 increase with decreasing excitation wavelengths with maxima of 5 and 0.3 percent at 106 nm, respectively.

Suto, Masako↗
NASA NTRS1989

A new technique to measure the spectral properties of conifer needles

A technique that enables the measurement of reflectance and transmittance of narrow leaves or needles with spectroradiometers equipped with a light source and integrating sphere is described. Measurement procedures and formulas for optical property calculations are presented. A test of the techniques resulted in absolute reflectance differences of 3 percent or less when comparing optical properties measured for whole leaves and narrow strips cut from the leaves.

Daughtry, C. S. T.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Fluorescence from photoexcitation of C2H2 at 50-106 nm

The photoabsorption and fluorescence cross sections of C2H2 were measured in the 50-106 nm region using synchrotron radiation as a light source. Fluorescence observed at several excitation wavelengths was dispersed to identify the fluorescing species that are excited C2H, C2, CH, H, and possibly C2H2. The photodissociation process of C2H2 leading to the formation of fluorescing species is discussed. The C2 (C-A) emission observed at 92.3 and 95.5 nm is produced by the molecular elimination process associated with superexcited state(s). Fluorescence spectra from the two-photon excitation of C2H2 at 157.5 and 193 nm were also observed and compared with those of single-photon excitation at the equivalent excitation energies.

Han, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Efficiency measurements of reflection gratings in the 100-300-A band

Zero-order and first-order efficiencies of plane diffraction grazings over the 100-300-A band have been measured using the NRL beamline facility at the National Synchrotron Light Source. Measurements were taken at grating angles of 5, 10, and 15 deg, and the incident radiation was polarized primarily in the transverse magnetic mode. Four (three laminar, one blazed) of the gratings were ion etched in high quality quartz blanks, overcoated with 200 A of gold. A fifth (blazed) grating was ruled in gold. The line densities are 1000, 2000, and 3600 grooves/mm for those with laminar profiles. Both blazed gratings have a blaze angle of 8 deg and line densities of 3600 grooves/mm. Measured first-order efficiencies up to 15 percent were obtained for the laminar gratings and up to 8 percent was obtained for the ion-etched blazed grating. Much lower efficiencies (not greater than 2 percent) were measured for the ruled grating. A computer program was written to calculate grating efficiencies using a full electromagnetic model. Measured efficiencies of the ion-etched gratings agree well with predicted values, but the measured first-order efficiency of the ruled grating is much lower than predicted.

Meekins, John F.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Comparison of the bidirectional reflectance distribution function of various surfaces

This paper describes the development and use of a system to measure the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) of various surfaces. The BRDF measurements are to be used in the analysis and design of optical measurement systems such as laser anemometers. An Ar-ion laser (514 nm) was the light source. Preliminary results are presented for eight samples: two glossy black paints, two flat black paints, black glass, sand-blasted Al, unworked Al, and a white paint. A BaSO4 white reflectance standard was used as the reference sample throughout the tests.

Fernandez, Rene↗
NASA NTRS1989

Frequency fluctuations of a diode-pumped Nd:YAG ring laser

The spectral density of the frequency fluctuations of a diode-pumped single-mode monolithic Nd:YAG ring laser was measured by locking a Fabry-Perot resonator to the laser frequency. The fluctuations approach the limit due to spontaneous emission (the Schawlow-Townes limit) at frequencies above 80 kHz. The inherent frequency stability of these lasers makes them attractive as a potential light source for gravitational-wave interferometers.

Fritschel, Peter↗
NASA NTRS1989

Trace element abundance determinations by Synchrotron X Ray Fluorescence (SXRF) on returned comet nucleus mineral grains

Trace element analyses were performed on bulk cosmic dust particles by Proton Induced X Ray Emission (PIXE) and Synchrotron X Ray Fluorescence (SXRF). When present at or near chondritic abundances the trace elements K, Ti, Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, Se, and Br are presently detectable by SXRF in particles of 20 micron diameter. Improvements to the SXRF analysis facility at the National Synchrotron Light Source presently underway should increase the range of detectable elements and permit the analysis of smaller samples. In addition the Advanced Photon Source will be commissioned at Argonne National Laboratory in 1995. This 7 to 8 GeV positron storage ring, specifically designed for high-energy undulator and wiggler insertion devices, will be an ideal source for an x ray microprobe with one micron spatial resolution and better than 100 ppb elemental sensitivity for most elements. Thus trace element analysis of individual micron-sized grains should be possible by the time of the comet nucleus sample return mission.

Flynn, G. J.↗