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Computer program integrates path of relativistic electron through region of nonuniform static electromagnetic fields with accuracy of 1 micrometer in 10 centimeters. Program can ue be used to evaluate and modify design of electron-imaging systems. Language is FORTRAN IV, for batch or interactive execution on PDP 10, 11, CYBER 70, 170, and CDC 6000.
Some of the instrumentation system used in support of NASA'S Storm Hazards Program are described. These systems include the Radar Atmospheric Research Facility (RARF) with its Space Range Radar and a near real time display from the National Weather Service WSR-57 radar, a lightning detection and ranging system (LDAR), and a Ryan Stormscope. The RARF system can detect, track, and quantify the properties of severe storms. Simultaneous measurements in the UHF (70 cm), S (10 cm), and C (5 cm) bands can be made of clouds and precipitation to deduce particle size and characteristics, including quantitive cross sections of individual hailstones and raindrops. Relative attenuation at these wavelenghts can be used to calculate path integrated rainfall and water content. The track of an instrument aircraft can be displayed on S-band reflectivity map of the individual storm cells. The LDAR system can determine the location of lightning discharges in real time and measure and record the electric field waveform for further study. The Ryan Stormscope can detect and range lightning out to 320 kilometers.
The transport of infrared radiation in a single cuboidal cloud using a vertical two steam approximation was modeled. The emittance of the top face of the model cloud is always less than that for a plane parallel cloud of the same optical depth. The hemisphere flux escaping from the cloud top has a gradient from the center to the edges which brighten when the cloud is over warmer ground. Cooling rate calculations in the 8 to 13.6 micrometer region show that there is cooling from the sides of the cloud at all levels even when there is heating of the core from the ground below. The radiances exiting from model cuboidal clouds were computed by path integration over the source function obtained with the two stream approximation. It is suggested that the brightness temperature measured from finite clouds will overestimate the cloud top temperature.
Studies shows that path-integrated rain rates can be determined by means of a direct measurement of attenuation. For ground based radars this is done by measuring the backscattering cross section of a fixed target in the presence and absence of rain along the radar beam. A ratio of the two measurements yields a factor proportional to the attenuation from which the average rain rate is deduced. The technique is extended to spaceborne radars by choosing the ground as reference target. The technique is also generalized so that both the average and range-profiled rain rates are determined. The accuracies of the resulting estimates are evaluated for a narrow beam radar located on a low earth orbiting satellite.
The IR radiative transport properties of brush fire smoke clouds, computed for a model with finite horizontal dimensions as well as the more common plane-parallel model, are presented. The finite model is a three-dimensional version of the two-stream approximation applied to cubic clouds of steam, carbon, and silicates. Assumptions are made with regard to the shape and size distributions of the smoke particles. It is shown that 11.5-micron radiometry can detect fires beneath smoke clouds if the path integrated mass density of the smoke is less than or equal to 3 g/sq m.
The measurement of rainfall by remote sensors is investigated. One parameter radar rainfall measurement is limited because both reflectivity and rain rate are dependent on at least two parameters of the drop size distribution (DSD), i.e., representative raindrop size and number concentration. A generalized rain parameter diagram is developed which includes a third distribution parameter, the breadth of the DSD, to better specify rain rate and all possible remote variables. Simulations show the improvement in accuracy attainable through the use of combinations of two and three remote measurables. The spectrum of remote measurables is reviewed. These include path integrated techniques of radiometry and of microwave and optical attenuation.
As Voyager 1 made its swing-by of Io, it passed through and behind the satellite's plasma torus. The phase paths of the coherent 13 cm and 3.6-cm wavelength signals transmitted from the spacecraft were shortened differentially by the plasma, resulting in the observation of a dispersive Doppler signature in the signals received at the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (deep space network) stations. Ray path integration through three different models of the electron distribution of the torus of Io (Warwick et al. 1979; Birmingham et al. 1981; Bagenal et al., 1981) have been performed. The results of the integrations are compared with the dispersive Doppler data.
The transport of infrared radiation in a single cuboidal cloud is modeled using a variable azimuth two-stream approximation. Computations are made at 10 microns for a Deirmendjian (1969) C-1 water cloud where the single scattering albedo is equal to 0.638 and the asymmetry parameter is 0.865. The results indicate that the emittance of the top face of the model cloud is always less than that for a plane parallel cloud of the same optical depth. The hemispheric flux escaping from the cloud top possesses a gradient from the center to the edges which are warmer when the cloud is over warmer ground. Cooling rate calculations in the 8-13.6 micron region demonstrate that there is cooling out of the sides of the cloud at all levels even when there is heating of the core from the ground below. The radiances exiting from model cuboidal clouds are computed by path integration over the source function obtained with the two-stream approximation. Results indicate that the brightness temperature measured from finite clouds will overestimate the cloud-top temperature.
A pitch rate control system designed for use in the shuttle during approach and landing was analyzed and compared with a revised control system developed by NASA and the existing OFT control system. The design concept control system uses filtered pitch rate feedback with proportional plus integral paths in the forward loop. Control system parameters were designed as a function of flight configuration. Analysis included time and frequency domain techniques. Results indicate that both the Calspan and NASA systems significantly improve the flying qualities of the shuttle over the OFT. Better attitude and flight path control and less time delay are the primary reasons. The Calspan system is preferred because of reduced time delay and simpler mechanization. Further testing of the improved flight control systems in an in-flight simulator is recommended.
It is shown that path-integrated radio-scattering measurements of the solar wind velocity yield higher estimates than those of point measurements. The post-shock speed is determined from radio scattering measurements by selection of the maximum of the radio-scattering deduced from the velocity-time curve, whereas velocity points on the rising edge of the shock underestimate the post-shock gas velocity, and therefore the shock speed. However, it is suggested that large uncertainties reside in using radio techniques for measurements of parameters of the shock wave, and the uncertainties may be large enough to encompass the lower velocity values calculated by a point method of measurement.
An investigation of the generation of plasmaspheric hiss by the whistler mode instability has been carried out. Using combined ray-tracing and growth rate calculations, the path-integrated growth rates of a large number of waves have been calculated using a distribution function. In general, the waves damp out before being magnetospherically reflected, or soon after. This is true of all the waves traced, independent of the distribution functions used for the energetic (resonant) electrons. Thus the growth rates are generally low, since the waves undergo few equatorial transits. A comparison of these results with observed spectra indicates that while some spectral characteristics are in qualitative agreement, there is a major discrepancy in the intensity levels.
The measurement of rainfall by remote sensors is investigated. One parameter radar rainfall measurement is limited because both reflectivity and rain rate are dependent on at least two parameters of the drop size distribution (DSD), i.e., representative raindrop size and number concentration. A generating rain parameter diagram is developed which includes a third distribution parameter, the breadth of the DSD, to better specify rain rate and all possible remote variables. Simulations show the improvement in accuracy attainable through the use of combinations of two and three remote measurables. The spectrum of remote measurables is reviewed. These include path integrated techniques of radiometry and of microwave and optical attenuation. Previously announced in STAR as N82-33947
A three-axis controlled Injection Module propelled by a Star 48 solid rocket motor has been considered for use as a final 'kick' stage to supplement the Inertial Upper Stage in a proposed launch option for the Galileo and International Solar Polar missions. A flight control law for the Injection Module is developed. A position plus rate control law is considered, with integral, path guidance, and derived rate terms added for improved pointing accuracy and fuel efficiency. Selection of control gains is accomplished with the help of analytical limit cycle expressions and verified by computer simulation of the closed loop system. A computer simulation of the flight control system is built around a rigid spacecraft model with gyro dynamics and thruster delays included. Models for pitch/yaw/roll disturbance torques are included. Through simple gain changes the proposed flight control law is shown to accommodate the widely different mass properties of the Galileo and International Solar Polar spacecraft. Pointing accuracies of better than the desired 0.2 degrees are achieved.
General features of the quantum noise problem expressed as the equations of motion for a particle coupled to a set of oscillators are investigated analytically. Account is taken of the properties of the companion oscillators by formulating quantum statistical correlation Langevin equations (QSLE). The frequency of the oscillators is then retained as a natural cut-off for the quantum noise. The QSLE is further extended to encompass the particle trajectory and is bounded by initial and final states of the oscillator. The states are expressed as the probability of existence at the moment of particle collision that takes the oscillator into a final state. Two noise sources then exist: a statistical uncertainty of the initial state and the quantum dynamical uncertainty associated with a transition from the initial to final state. Feynman's path-integral formulation is used to characterize the functional of the particle trajectory, which slows the particle. It is shown that the energy loss may be attributed to friction, which satisfies energy conservation laws.
Noninvasive measurement of density and temperature fluctuations in turbulent air flow was examined. The approach used fluorescence of oxygen molecules which are selectively excited by a tunable vacuum ultraviolet laser beam. The strength of the fluorescence signal and its dependence on laser wavelength vary with the density and temperature of the air in the laser beam. Because fluorescence can be detected at 90 degrees from the beam propagation direction, spatial resolution in three dimensions, rather than path-integrated measurements can be achieved. With spatial resolutions of the order of a millimeter and at supersonic air velocities it is necessary to perform each measurement in a time of the order of a microsecond; this is possible by by using laser pulses of ten nanosecond duration. In this method atmospheric O2 is excited by the emission of a tunable ArF excimer laser, and the fluorescence, which spans the 210 to 420 range, is detected by an ultraviolet phototube.
The study of boundary conditions, the Hamiltonian constraint, reparameterization-invariance, and quantum dynamics, is presently approached by means of the path-integral quantization of minisuperspace models. The separation of the wave functions for expansion and contraction by the Feynman boundary conditions is such that there can be no interference between them. This is implemented by the choice of a contour in the complex plane, in order to define the phase of the square-root Arnowitt, Deser, and Misner (1960) Hamiltonian for expansion, collapse, and the classically forbidden region.
The theory for fundamental plasma emission by the three-wave processes L + or - S to T (where L, S and T denote Langmuir, ion sound and transverse waves, respectively) is developed. Kinematic constraints on the characteristics and growth lengths of waves participating in the wave processes are identified. In addition the rates, path-integrated wave temperatures, and limits on the brightness temperature of the radiation are derived.
The theory for second harmonic plasma emission by the weak turbulence (or random phase) processes L + L + or - S to T, proceeding in two three-wave steps, L + or - S to L prime and L + L prime to T, where L, S and T denote Langmuir, ion sound and electromagnetic waves, respectively, is developed. Kinematic constraints on the characteristics and growth lengths of waves participating in the wave processes, and constraints on the characteristics of the source plasma, are derived. Limits on the brightness temperature of the radiation and the levels of the L prime and S waves are determined. Expressions for the growth rates and path-integrated wave temperatures are derived for simple models of the wave spectra and source plasma.