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At least 73 records · Page 4

Kinetics of the reaction of nitric oxide with hydrogen

The reaction of nitric oxide with hydrogen has been studied in the temperature range 2400-4500 K using a shock-tube technique. Mixtures of NO and H2 diluted in argon or krypton were heated by incident shock waves, and the infrared emission from the fundamental vibration-rotation band of NO at 5.3 microns was used to monitor the time-varying NO concentration. The decomposition of nitric oxide behind the shock was found to be modeled well by a fifteen-reaction system. A principal result of the study was the determination of the rate constant k1 for the reaction H + NO yields N + OH, which may be the rate-limiting step for NO removal in some combustion systems. Experimental values of k1 were obtained for each test through comparisons of measured and numerically predicted NO profiles. The data are fit closely by the expression k1 = 1.34 times 10 to the fourteenth power exp(-49 200/RT) cu cm/mole-sec. These data appear to be the first available for this rate constant.

Flower, W. L.↗

Trapped radiation belts of Saturn - First look

Data on the magnetosphere of Saturn obtained with the trapped radiation detector package on board the Pioneer 11 spacecraft is reported. Radiation belt profiles determined by the trapped radiation detectors on Pioneer 10 and 11 indicate that Saturn's magnetosphere is intermediate in size between those of the earth and Jupiter, with particle intensities similar to those of the earth. The outer region of the Saturn magnetosphere is found to contain particles of lower energy than the outer region, being strongly influenced by the time-varying solar wind. The moons and rings of Saturn are observed to be effective absorbers of trapped particles, confirming the discoveries of the F ring, the Pioneer ring division and the moon 1979 S 2. Particle diffusion rates are used to estimate a cross-sectional area of greater than 7 x 10 to the 13th sq cm and an opacity greater than 0.00001 for the F ring. It is suggested that cosmic-ray albedo neutron decay be studied as a possible source of energetic particles in the inner magnetosphere of Saturn.

Fillius, W.↗

Influence of solar wind variability on geomagnetic activity

A statistical study of solar wind data from the Explorer 33 satellite shows that interplanetary magnetic field irregularities are enhanced in the interaction region where a fast solar wind stream overtakes a slower solar wind stream. Comparison with geomagnetic AE and ap indexes further shows that these interplanetary irregularities enhance the level of geomagnetic disturbances. Thus while substorm occurrence is highly correlated with the dawn-dusk component of the solar wind electric field, the amplitude of the substorms is an increasing function of the variance in the interplanetary field. This result can be interpreted as a capacitative effect of the magnetopause that allows a time-varying solar wind electric field to penetrate the magnetosphere more effectively than a static solar wind electric field.

Garrett, H. B.↗

Lunar conductivity models from the Apollo 12 magnetometer experiment

A number of conductivity models were investigated for compatibility with Apollo 12 magnetometer data. Except at the highest frequencies, a simple core-crust model is compatible with the observed dayside transfer function, which is expressed as the ratio of the lunar surface field spectrum to the interplanetary magnetic field spectrum. All conductivity profiles exhibit a peak near 1500 km, when the models are constrained to conform to the observed flat response at the higher frequencies. However, at frequencies above .01 Hz the long wavelength limitation of the theoretical model is no longer valid. A plausible explanation for the difference between the north-south and east-west transfer functions is that it is due to a time-varying compression of the remanent (dc) field at the Apollo 12 site by fluctuations in the solar wind plasma.

Sill, W. R.↗

Computed and observed ocean topography - A comparison

The Goddard Space Flight Center's latest Gravity Earth Model, GEM-8, was used to construct a static sea surface. Such a surface corresponds to the surface of an ocean without the time-varying effects of atmospheric pressure, surface wind friction, tides, and currents. It conforms to a surface dictated by the earth's gravitational and rotational forces. The sea surface model is the result of analyzing more than 500,000 satellite observations together with about 1600 5 deg x 5 deg and about 38,000 1 deg x 1 deg surface gravity anomalies. Preliminary comparisons between the computed and measured sea surface topography indicate that they agree quite well and differ by less than 1 m in many places including the Atlantic test area. Sea-surface features such as undulations caused by trenches and ridges are clearly and accurately detectable. The use of altimeter data for orbit computation reduces the uncertainty of the spacecraft height and thus the errors of the sea-surface topography.

Vonbun, F. O.↗

Linear and circular polarization of the cosmic background radiation

New data which consist of continued measurements of the linear polarization of the cosmic background radiation as well as the first measurement of the circular polarization are examined. Eleven declinations have been surveyed for linear polarization and one declination for circular polarization, all at 9 mm wavelength. No evidence is found for either a significant linear or circular component with statistical errors on the linear component of 20-60 microK for various models. For linear polarization, a 95 percent confidence level limit of 0.1 mK (0.00003) for an axisymmetric anisotropic model is achieved, while for spherical harmonics through third order, a corresponding limit of 0.2 mK is achieved. For a declination of 37 deg, a limit of 12 mK is placed on the time-varying component and 20 mK on the dc component of the circular polarization at the 95 percent confidence level. At 37 percent declination, the sensitivity per beam patch (7 deg) is 0.2 mK.

Lubin, P.↗

A design philosophy for multi-layer neural networks with applications to robot control

A system is proposed which receives input information from many sensors that may have diverse scaling, dimension, and data representations. The proposed system tolerates sensory information with faults. The proposed self-adaptive processing technique has great promise in integrating the techniques of artificial intelligence and neural networks in an attempt to build a more intelligent computing environment. The proposed architecture can provide a detailed decision tree based on the input information, information stored in a long-term memory, and the adapted rule-based knowledge. A mathematical model for analysis will be obtained to validate the cited hypotheses. An extensive software program will be developed to simulate a typical example of pattern recognition problem. It is shown that the proposed model displays attention, expectation, spatio-temporal, and predictory behavior which are specific to the human brain. The anticipated results of this research project are: (1) creation of a new dynamic neural network structure, and (2) applications to and comparison with conventional multi-layer neural network structures. The anticipated benefits from this research are vast. The model can be used in a neuro-computer architecture as a building block which can perform complicated, nonlinear, time-varying mapping from a multitude of input excitory classes to an output or decision environment. It can be used for coordinating different sensory inputs and past experience of a dynamic system and actuating signals. The commercial applications of this project can be the creation of a special-purpose neuro-computer hardware which can be used in spatio-temporal pattern recognitions in such areas as air defense systems, e.g., target tracking, and recognition. Potential robotics-related applications are trajectory planning, inverse dynamics computations, hierarchical control, task-oriented control, and collision avoidance.

Vadiee, Nader↗

Marshall system for aerospace system simulation (MARSYAS), user's manual

The capabilities of the Marshall system for aerospace system simulation (MARSYAS) and how to use it are described. MARSYAS is a software system that allows easy setup and control of the simulation of the dynamics of large physical systems on a digital computer. The physical systems are modeled in the form of block diagrams or equations. The blocks can have multiple inputs and multiple outputs, and they can be nested to form hierarchies. The block diagrams can contain transfer functions, nonlinear and logical functions, equations, analog computer elements and FORTRAN programs. The input format of the equations can be combinations of nonlinear, time-varying differential equations and algebraic equations in their original format. MARSYAS could also serve as a storage and retrieval system for models as a basis for a model configuration control system on a central time-shared computer. The outputs of the simulation system can be not only time-responses but also other analysis data such as frequency response, power spectrum and stability parameters. The MARSYAS translator is written in FORTRAN running on the Univac 1108 computer under the EXEC 8 operating system.

Ventre, A.↗

Time variation in the reaction-zone structure of two-phase spray detonations.

A detailed theoretical analysis of the time-varying detonation structure in a monodisperse spray is presented. The theory identifies experimentally observed reaction-zone overpressures as deriving from blast waves formed therein by the explosive ignition of the spray droplets, and follows in time the motion, change in strength, and interactions of these blast waves with one another, and with the leading shock. The results are compared with experimental data by modeling the motion of a finite-size circular pressure transducer through the theoretical data field in an x-t space.

Pierce, T. H.↗

Investigation of nitric oxide decomposition in the temperature range 2500-4100 K

The decomposition of nitric oxide has been studied in the temperature range 2500-4100 K using a shock-tube technique. The principle result of the study was the determination of the rate constant (k) for the reaction O + NO yields N + O2. Mixtures of NO and N2O diluted in argon or krypton were heated by incident shock waves and the infrared emission from the fundamental vibration-rotation band of NO at 5.3 microns was used to monitor the time-varying NO concentration. The experimental values of k are fit closely by the expression k = (2.36 times 10 to the 9th power) x T x exp(-38,640/RT) cm cu/mole-sec, which also provides a good fit to previous data at higher and lower temperatures.

Flower, W. L.↗

Signatures analysis and recognition of severe weather patterns

The feasibility of designing a prediction and warning system for severe weather conditions on the basis of time series analysis and pattern recognition is examined. Data accumulated by Taylor (1972) on the rate of atmospherics produced by severe, tornado-producing storms that struck Oklahoma City during April 1970 are analyzed by time series analysis and pattern recognition. Power spectra, cross-power spectra, coherence functions, and time-varying patterns are analyzed.

Wang, P. P.↗

Atmospheric storm explanation of saturnian electrostatic discharges

Saturn electrostatic discharges (SED) monitored by the Voyager 1 were investigated to determine the source of the phenomena. Consideration has been given to two sources: the atmosphere at equatorial latitudes, where the cloud-top wind velocities correspond to the Saturn 10 hr 10 min rotation period; and the rings at 1.8 Saturn radius. The data were analyzed in terms of time and frequency, revealing a time-varying frequency, few detectable discharges outside of a low threshold, and the appearances and disappearances of the SED with no correlation with frequency. The periodicity of the SED episodes indicated that the source was occulted between revolutions, which ruled out the ring source. The SED signals were only detected on the dayside, suggesting the signals propagated through the dayside ionosphere. Diurnal variations in the ion densities could prohibit the signals from escaping on the nightside, a factor supported by detection of low frequency SED only during close passage of the Voyager. Ray tracing experiments have demonstrated that storm sources have emissions observable with the storm on the limb at the observed 30-40 MHz interval.

Kaiser, M. L.↗

Simulation requirements for the Large Deployable Reflector (LDR)

Simulation tools for the large deployable reflector (LDR) are discussed. These tools are often the transfer function variety equations. However, transfer functions are inadequate to represent time-varying systems for multiple control systems with overlapping bandwidths characterized by multi-input, multi-output features. Frequency domain approaches are the useful design tools, but a full-up simulation is needed. Because of the need for a dedicated computer for high frequency multi degree of freedom components encountered, non-real time smulation is preferred. Large numerical analysis software programs are useful only to receive inputs and provide output to the next block, and should be kept out of the direct loop of simulation. The following blocks make up the simulation. The thermal model block is a classical heat transfer program. It is a non-steady state program. The quasistatic block deals with problems associated with rigid body control of reflector segments. The steady state block assembles data into equations of motion and dynamics. A differential raytrace is obtained to establish a change in wave aberrations. The observation scene is described. The focal plane module converts the photon intensity impinging on it into electron streams or into permanent film records.

Soosaar, K.↗

Cloud cover sampling capability of various satellite combinations for ISCCP

One of the most important objectives of the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) is the quantification of cloud cover and associated radiation parameters for climate research. The time-varying nature of cloud cover requires a measurement system that obtains cloud radiance at sufficient time intervals for determining accurate values of cloudiness for the appropriate averaging period. Current plans for the ISCCP call for such day to be acquired every 3 hours during both data and night to ensure that the diurnal cycle of cloud cover is adequately sampled. The satellite system proposed is an array of geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites. The error in mean cloud cover estimates for observation systems which do not include geostationary satellites are quantified. Candidates for such a system include two NOAA Sun-synchronous satellites with daylight equatorial-crossing times of 0730 and 1430, and a USSR satellite in an 81 deg. inclination, 900-km altitude orbit.

Harrison, E. F.↗

Aircraft noise synthesis system

A second-generation Aircraft Noise Synthesis System has been developed to provide test stimuli for studies of community annoyance to aircraft flyover noise. The computer-based system generates realistic, time-varying, audio simulations of aircraft flyover noise at a specified observer location on the ground. The synthesis takes into account the time-varying aircraft position relative to the observer; specified reference spectra consisting of broadband, narrowband, and pure-tone components; directivity patterns; Doppler shift; atmospheric effects; and ground effects. These parameters can be specified and controlled in such a way as to generate stimuli in which certain noise characteristics, such as duration or tonal content, are independently varied, while the remaining characteristics, such as broadband content, are held constant. The system can also generate simulations of the predicted noise characteristics of future aircraft. A description of the synthesis system and a discussion of the algorithms and methods used to generate the simulations are provided. An appendix describing the input data and providing user instructions is also included.

Mccurdy, David A.↗

Finite-dimensional modeling of network-induced delays for real-time control systems

In integrated control systems (ICS), a feedback loop is closed by the common communication channel, which multiplexes digital data from the sensor to the controller and from the controller to the actuator along with the data traffic from other control loops and management functions. Due to asynchronous time-division multiplexing in the network access protocols, time-varying delays are introduced in the control loop, which degrade the system dynamic performance and are a potential source of instability. The delayed control system is represented by a finite-dimensional, time-varying, discrete-time model which is less complex than the existing continuous-time models for time-varying delays; this approach allows for simpler schemes for analysis and simulation of the ICS.

Ray, Asok↗