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At least 649 records · Page 36

SeaWinds Scatterometer Wind Vector Retrievals Within Hurricanes Using AMSR and NEXRAD to Perform Corrections for Precipitation Effects: Comparison of AMSR and NEXRAD Retrievals of Rain

The opportunity provided by satellite scatterometers to measure ocean surface winds in strong storms and hurricanes is diminished by the errors in the received backscatter (SIGMA-0) caused by the attenuation, scattering and surface roughening produced by heavy rain. Providing a good rain correction is a very challenging problem, particularly at Ku band (13.4 GHz) where rain effects are strong. Corrections to the scatterometer measurements of ocean surface winds can be pursued with either of two different methods: empirical or physical modeling. The latter method is employed in this study because of the availability of near simultaneous and collocated measurements provided by the MIDORI-II suite of instruments. The AMSR was designed to measure atmospheric water-related parameters on a spatial scale comparable to the SeaWinds scatterometer. These quantities can be converted into volumetric attenuation and scattering at the Ku-band frequency of SeaWinds. Optimal estimates of the volume backscatter and attenuation require a knowledge of the three dimensional distribution of reflectivity on a scale comparable to that of the precipitation. Studies selected near the US coastline enable the much higher resolution NEXRAD reflectivity measurements evaluate the AMSR estimates. We are also conducting research into the effects of different beam geometries and nonuniform beamfilling of precipitation within the field-of-view of the AMSR and the scatterometer. Furthermore, both AMSR and NEXRAD estimates of atmospheric correction can be used to produce corrected SIGMA-0s, which are then input to the JPL wind retrieval algorithm.

SeaWinds↗

Vector spin modeling for magnetic tunnel junctions with voltage dependent effects

Integration and co-design of CMOS and spin transfer devices requires accurate vector spin conduction modeling of magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) devices. A physically realistic model of the MTJ should comprehend the spin torque dynamics of nanomagnet interacting with an injected vector spin current and the voltage dependent spin torque. Vector spin modeling allows for calculation of 3 component spin currents and potentials along with the charge currents/potentials in non-collinear magnetic systems. Here, we show 4-component vector spin conduction modeling of magnetic tunnel junction devices coupled with spin transfer torque in the nanomagnet. Nanomagnet dynamics, voltage dependent spin transport, and thermal noise are comprehended in a self-consistent fashion. We show comparison of the model with experimental magnetoresistance (MR) of MTJs and voltage degradation of MR with voltage. Proposed model enables MTJ circuit design that comprehends voltage dependent spin torque effects, switching error rates, spin degradation, and back hopping effects.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

A Space-Filling Visualization Technique for Multivariate Small World Graphs

We introduce an information visualization technique, known as GreenCurve, for large sparse graphs that exhibit small world properties. Our fractal-based design approach uses spatial cues to approximate the node connections and thus eliminates the links between the nodes in the visualization. The paper describes a sophisticated algorithm to order the neighboring nodes of a large sparse graph by solving the Fiedler vector of its graph Laplacian, and then fold the graph nodes into a space-filling fractal curve based on the Fiedler vector. The result is a highly compact visualization that gives a succinct overview of the graph with guaranteed visibility of every graph node. We show in the paper that the GreenCurve technology is (1) theoretically sustainable by introducing an error estimation metric to measure the fidelity of the new graph representation, (2) empirically rigorous by conducting a usability study to investigate its strengths and weaknesses against the traditional graph layout, and (3) pragmatically feasible by applying it to analyze stressed conditions of the large scale electric power grid on the west coast.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Image Guidance During Head-and-Neck Cancer Radiation Therapy: Analysis of Alignment Trends With In-Room Cone-Beam Computed Tomography Scans

Purpose: On-board cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is currently available for alignment of patients with head-and-neck cancer before radiotherapy. However, daily CBCT is time intensive and increases the overall radiation dose. We assessed the feasibility of using the average couch shifts from the first several CBCTs to estimate and correct for the presumed systematic setup error. Methods and Materials: 56 patients with head-and-neck cancer who received daily CBCT before intensity-modulated radiation therapy had recorded shift values in the medial-lateral, superior-inferior, and anterior-posterior dimensions. The average displacements in each direction were calculated for each patient based on the first five or 10 CBCT shifts and were presumed to represent the systematic setup error. The residual error after this correction was determined by subtracting the calculated shifts from the shifts obtained using daily CBCT. Results: The magnitude of the average daily residual three-dimensional (3D) error was 4.8 {+-} 1.4 mm, 3.9 {+-} 1.3 mm, and 3.7 {+-} 1.1 mm for uncorrected, five CBCT corrected, and 10 CBCT corrected protocols, respectively. With no image guidance, 40.8% of fractions would have been >5 mm off target. Using the first five CBCT shifts to correct subsequent fractions, this percentage decreased to 19.0% of all fractions delivered and decreased the percentage of patients with average daily 3D errors >5 mm from 35.7% to 14.3% vs. no image guidance. Using an average of the first 10 CBCT shifts did not significantly improve this outcome. Conclusions: Using the first five CBCT shift measurements as an estimation of the systematic setup error improves daily setup accuracy for a subset of patients with head-and-neck cancer receiving intensity-modulated radiation therapy and primarily benefited those with large 3D correction vectors (>5 mm). Daily CBCT is still necessary until methods are developed that more accurately determine which patients may benefit from alternative imaging strategies.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Secure Wireless Communication Using Distributed Coherent Transmission and Spatial Signal Decomposition

We present a new approach to secure wireless communications using coherent distributed transmission of signals that are spatially decomposed between a two-element distributed antenna array. High-accuracy distributed coordination of microwave wireless systems supports the ability to transmit different parts of a signal from separate transmitters such that they combine coherently at a designated destination. In this article, we explore this concept using a two-element coherent distributed phased array where each of the two transmitters sends a separate component of a communication signal, where each symbol is decomposed into a sum of two pseudorandom signal vectors, the coherent summation of which yields the intended symbol. By directing the transmission to an intended receiver using distributed beamforming, the summation of the two vector components is largely confined to a spatial region at the destination receiver. We implement the technique in a $50−λ$ array operating at 3 GHz. We evaluate the symbol error rate (SER) in 2-D space through simulation and measurement, showing that the approach yields a spatially confined secure region where the information is recoverable (i.e., the received signal has low SER), and outside of which the information is unrecoverable (high SER). The proposed system is also compared against a traditional beamforming system where each node sends the same data. We validate experimentally that our approach achieves a low SER of 0.0082 at broadside and an SER above 0.25 at all other locations compared to a traditional beamforming approach that achieves a SER of 0 at all locations measured.

Engineering - Electronic and electrical engineerin↗

Thermal convection at infinite Prandtl number

Numerical solutions are developed for the full scaled three dimensional thermal convection problem, at infinite Prandtl number, and for rigid boundaries. The procedure is designed to give an approximate account of horizontally homogeneous and isotropic flow situations. Results, which included a maximum of 36 horizontal wave number vectors and 20 vertical wave numbers, appear to adequately describe the flow fill up to R = 100,000; beyond this R the results appear to show horizontal wave number truncation error. This error seems to affect the boundary slope of the mean temperature field more than other mean quantities. Despite some numerical uncertainities, certain of the qualitative features of the flow fill are predicted with reasonable confidence.

Herring, J. R.↗

Updated dispersion analysis for the first Orbital Flight Test (OFT-1) mission

A dispersion analysis considering 3-sigma uncertainties (or perturbations) in platform, vehicle, and environmental parameters was performed for the first orbital flight test (OFT-1) mission. The dispersion analysis is based on the nominal trajectory for the OFT-1 reference flight profile and was performed to determine state vector and performance dispersions (or variations) which result from the indicated 3 sigma uncertainties. The dispersions are determined at major mission events and fixed times from liftoff (time slices). Principal error contributors to the covariance matrix are listed. The dispersion data indicates that the largest position error occurs in the down range component. At main engine cutoff and circularization, the vehicle performance uncertainties are the major contributors to down range error.

Snow, L. S.↗

Linear discriminant analysis with misallocation in training samples

Linear discriminant analysis for a two-class case is studied in the presence of misallocation in training samples. A general appraoch to modeling of mislocation is formulated, and the mean vectors and covariance matrices of the mixture distributions are derived. The asymptotic distribution of the discriminant boundary is obtained and the asymptotic first two moments of the two types of error rate given. Certain numerical results for the error rates are presented by considering the random and two non-random misallocation models. It is shown that when the allocation procedure for training samples is objectively formulated, the effect of misallocation on the error rates of the Bayes linear discriminant rule can almost be eliminated. If, however, this is not possible, the use of Fisher rule may be preferred over the Bayes rule.

Chhikara, R.↗

A comparison of two position estimate algorithms that use ILS localizer and DME information. Simulation and flight test results

Simulation and flight tests were conducted to compare the accuracy of two algorithms designed to compute a position estimate with an airborne navigation computer. Both algorithms used ILS localizer and DME radio signals to compute a position difference vector to be used as an input to the navigation computer position estimate filter. The results of these tests show that the position estimate accuracy and response to artificially induced errors are improved when the position estimate is computed by an algorithm that geometrically combines DME and ILS localizer information to form a single component of error rather than by an algorithm that produces two independent components of error, one from a DMD input and the other from the ILS localizer input.

Knox, C. E.↗

Estimating residual fault hitting rates by recapture sampling

For the recapture debugging design introduced by Nayak (1988) the problem of estimating the hitting rates of the faults remaining in the system is considered. In the context of a conditional likelihood, moment estimators are derived and are shown to be asymptotically normal and fully efficient. Fixed sample properties of the moment estimators are compared, through simulation, with those of the conditional maximum likelihood estimators. Properties of the conditional model are investigated such as the asymptotic distribution of linear functions of the fault hitting frequencies and a representation of the full data vector in terms of a sequence of independent random vectors. It is assumed that the residual hitting rates follow a log linear rate model and that the testing process is truncated when the gaps between the detection of new errors exceed a fixed amount of time.

Lee, Larry↗

Predictive Attitude Estimation Using Global Positioning System Signals

In this paper, a new algorithm is developed for attitude estimation using Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. The new algorithm is based on a predictive filtering scheme designed for spacecraft without rate measuring devices. The major advantage of this new algorithm over traditional Kalman filter approaches is that the model error is not assumed to represented by an unbiased Gaussian noise process with known covariance, but instead is determined during the estimation process. This is achieved by simultaneously solving system optimality conditions and an output error constraint. This approach is well suited for GPS attitude estimation since some error sources that contribute to attitude inaccuracy, such as signal multipath, are known to be non-Gaussian processes. Also, the predictive filter scheme can use either GPS signals or vector observations or a combination of both for attitude estimation, so that performance characteristics can be maintained during periods of GPS attitude sensor outage. The performance of the new algorithm is tested using flight data from the REX-2 spacecraft. Results are shown using the predictive filter to estimate the attitude from both GPS signals and magnetometer measurements, and comparing that solution to a magnetometer-only based solution. Results using the new estimation algorithm indicate that GPS-based solutions are verified to within 2 degrees using the magnetometer cross-check for the REX-2 spacecraft. GPS attitude accuracy of better than 1 degree is expected per axis, but cannot be reliably proven due to inaccuracies in the magnetic field model.

Crassidis, John L.↗

Analytic Solution to the Problem of Aircraft Electric Field Mill Calibration

It is by no means a simple task to retrieve storm electric fields from an aircraft instrumented with electric field mill sensors. The presence of the aircraft distorts the ambient field in a complicated way. Before retrievals of the storm field can be made, the field mill measurement system must be "calibrated". In other words, a relationship between impressed (i.e., ambient) electric field and mill output must be established. If this relationship can be determined, it is mathematically inverted so that ambient field can be inferred from the mill outputs. Previous studies have primarily focused on linear theories where the relationship between ambient field and mill output is described by a "calibration matrix" M. Each element of the matrix describes how a particular component of the ambient field is enhanced by the aircraft. For example the product M(sub ix), E(sub x), is the contribution of the E(sub x) field to the i(th) mill output. Similarly, net aircraft charge (described by a "charge field component" E(sub q)) contributes an amount M(sub iq)E(sub q) to the output of the i(th) sensor. The central difficulty in obtaining M stems from the fact that the impressed field (E(sub x), E(sub y), E(sub z), E(sub q) is not known but is instead estimated. Typically, the aircraft is flown through a series of roll and pitch maneuvers in fair weather, and the values of the fair weather field and aircraft charge are estimated at each point along the aircraft trajectory. These initial estimates are often highly inadequate, but several investigators have improved the estimates by implementing various (ad hoc) iterative methods. Unfortunately, none of the iterative methods guarantee absolute convergence to correct values (i.e., absolute convergence to correct values has not been rigorously proven). In this work, the mathematical problem is solved directly by analytic means. For m mills installed on an arbitrary aircraft, it is shown that it is possible to solve for a single 2m-vector that provides all other needed variables (i.e., the unknown fair weather field, the unknown aircraft charge, and the unknown matrix M). Numerical tests of the solution, effects of measurement errors, and studies of solution non-uniqueness are ongoing as of this writing.

Koshak, William↗

Estimating moisture transport over oceans using space-based observations

The moisture transport integrated over the depth of the atmosphere (0) is estimated over oceans using satellite data. The transport is the product of the precipitable water and an equivalent velocity (ue), which, by definition, is the depth-averaged wind velocity weighted by humidity. An artificial neural network is employed to construct a relation between the surface wind velocity measured by the spaceborne scatterometer and coincident ue derived using humidity and wind profiles measured by rawinsondes and produced by reanalysis of operational numerical weather prediction (NWP). On the basis of this relation, 0 fields are produced over global tropical and subtropical oceans (40_N- 40_S) at 0.25_ latitude-longitude and twice daily resolutions from August 1999 to December 2003 using surface wind vector from QuikSCAT and precipitable water from the Tropical Rain Measuring Mission. The derived ue were found to capture the major temporal variability when compared with radiosonde measurements. The average error over global oceans, when compared with NWP data, was comparable with the instrument accuracy specification of space-based scatterometers. The global distribution exhibits the known characteristics of, and reveals more detailed variability than in, previous data.

Artificial Neural Network↗

Nonconservative force model parameter estimation strategy for TOPEX/Poseidon precision orbit determination

The TOPEX/Poseidon spacecraft was launched on August 10, 1992 to study the Earth's oceans. To achieve maximum benefit from the altimetric data it is to collect, mission requirements dictate that TOPEX/Poseidon's orbit must be computed at an unprecedented level of accuracy. To reach our pre-launch radial orbit accuracy goals, the mismodeling of the radiative nonconservative forces of solar radiation, Earth albedo an infrared re-radiation, and spacecraft thermal imbalances cannot produce in combination more than a 6 cm rms error over a 10 day period. Similarly, the 10-day drag modeling error cannot exceed 3 cm rms. In order to satisfy these requirements, a 'box-wing' representation of the satellite has been developed in which, the satellite is modelled as the combination of flat plates arranged in the shape of a box and a connected solar array. The radiative/thermal nonconservative forces acting on each of the eight surfaces are computed independently, yielding vector accelerations which are summed to compute the total aggregate effect on the satellite center-of-mass. Select parameters associated with the flat plates are adjusted to obtain a better representation of the satellite acceleration history. This study analyzes the estimation of these parameters from simulated TOPEX/Poseidon laser data in the presence of both nonconservative and gravity model errors. A 'best choice' of estimated parameters is derived and the ability to meet mission requirements with the 'box-wing' model evaluated.

Luthcke, S. B.↗

SU-C-207B-06: Comparison of Registration Methods for Modeling Pathologic Response of Esophageal Cancer to Chemoradiation Therapy

Purpose: To compare linear and deformable registration methods for evaluation of tumor response to Chemoradiation therapy (CRT) in patients with esophageal cancer. Methods: Linear and multi-resolution BSpline deformable registration were performed on Pre-Post-CRT CT/PET images of 20 patients with esophageal cancer. For both registration methods, we registered CT using Mean Square Error (MSE) metric, however to register PET we used transformation obtained using Mutual Information (MI) from the same CT due to being multi-modality. Similarity of Warped-CT/PET was quantitatively evaluated using Normalized Mutual Information and plausibility of DF was assessed using inverse consistency Error. To evaluate tumor response four groups of tumor features were examined: (1) Conventional PET/CT e.g. SUV, diameter (2) Clinical parameters e.g. TNM stage, histology (3)spatial-temporal PET features that describe intensity, texture and geometry of tumor (4)all features combined. Dominant features were identified using 10-fold cross-validation and Support Vector Machine (SVM) was deployed for tumor response prediction while the accuracy was evaluated by ROC Area Under Curve (AUC). Results: Average and standard deviation of Normalized mutual information for deformable registration using MSE was 0.2±0.054 and for linear registration was 0.1±0.026, showing higher NMI for deformable registration. Likewise for MI metric, deformable registration had 0.13±0.035 comparing to linear counterpart with 0.12±0.037. Inverse consistency error for deformable registration for MSE metric was 4.65±2.49 and for linear was 1.32±2.3 showing smaller value for linear registration. The same conclusion was obtained for MI in terms of inverse consistency error. AUC for both linear and deformable registration was 1 showing no absolute difference in terms of response evaluation. Conclusion: Deformable registration showed better NMI comparing to linear registration, however inverse consistency of transformation was lower in linear registration. We do not expect to see significant difference when warping PET images using deformable or linear registration. This work was supported in part by the National Cancer Institute Grants R01CA172638.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

3D reconstruction of magnetization from dichroic soft X-ray transmission tomography

The development of magnetic nanostructures for applications in spintronics requires methods capable of visualizing their magnetization. Soft X-ray magnetic imaging combined with circular magnetic dichroism allows nanostructures up to 100–300 nm in thickness to be probed with resolutions of 20–40 nm. Here a new iterative tomographic reconstruction method to extract the three-dimensional magnetization configuration from tomographic projections is presented. The vector field is reconstructed by using a modified algebraic reconstruction approach based on solving a set of linear equations in an iterative manner. In conclusion, the application of this method is illustrated with two examples (magnetic nano-disc and micro-square heterostructure) along with comparison of error in reconstructions, and convergence of the algorithm.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Quantum Complexity of the Kronecker Coefficients

Whether or not the Kronecker coefficients of the symmetric group count some set of combinatorial objects is a longstanding open question. In this work we show that a given Kronecker coefficient is proportional to the rank of a projector that can be measured efficiently using a quantum computer. In other words a Kronecker coefficient counts the dimension of the vector space spanned by the accepting witnesses of a QMA verifier, where QMA is the quantum analogue of NP . This implies that approximating the Kronecker coefficients to within a given relative error is not harder than a certain natural class of problems that captures the complexity of estimating thermal properties of quantum many-body systems. A second consequence is that deciding positivity of Kronecker coefficients is contained in QMA , complementing a recent NP -hardness result of Ikenmeyer, Mulmuley, and Walter. We obtain similar results for the related problem of approximating row sums of the character table of the symmetric group. Finally, we discuss an efficient quantum algorithm that approximates normalized Kronecker coefficients to inverse-polynomial additive error. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Physics↗

Numerical evaluation of the Rayleigh integral for planar radiators using the FFT

Rayleigh's integral formula is evaluated numerically for planar radiators of any shape, with any specified velocity in the source plane using the fast Fourier transfrom algorithm. The major advantage of this technique is its speed of computation - over 400 times faster than a straightforward two-dimensional numerical integration. The technique is developed for computation of the radiated pressure in the nearfield of the source and can be easily extended to provide, with little computation time, the vector intensity in the nearfield. Computations with the FFT of the nearfield pressure of baffled rectangular plates with clamped and free boundaries are compared with the 'exact' solution to illuminate any errors. The bias errors, introduced by the FFT, are investigated and a technique is developed to significantly reduce them.

Williams, E. G.↗