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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 721 records · Page 40
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1972

Solid-solid phase transitions determined by differential scanning calorimetry.

Data are presented to show that tris(hydroxymethyl)acetic acid, monochloropentaerythritol, monofluoropentaerythritol, difluoropentaerythritol, monoaminopentaerythritol, and diaminopentaerythritol exhibit solid-state transitions to a plastic crystalline state. Transitional enthalpies in many of these substances are lower than might be expected by analogy with related structures, suggesting that some configurational contributions to their entropy increments have been inhibited.

Murrill, E.↗
NASA NTRS1973

A study of morphology, provenance, and movement of desert sand seas in Africa, Asia, and Australia

The author has identified the following significant results. The regional studies of sand seas made possible by analysis of ERTS-1 imagery have established that widespread patterns of eolian sand deposition exist in many places and that similarities and differences in these patterns can be measured and compared, on a worldwide scale. Analysis of the relationships of depositional patterns to controlling factors will require completion of the color mosaics of the test sites, and acquisition of adequate supporting ground truth data, especially wind data. Once analyses are complete, the results will be applicable to the regional study of ancient eolian sandstones. Such sandstones were formed many millions of years ago under conditions believed to be identical to those under which the sand seas that are observed being formed today. The understanding of the deposition of eolian sands provided by analysis of ERTS-1 imagery will be applicable to an understanding of the structure and distribution of ancient eolian sandstones and their potential as reservoirs of oil and water.

Mckee, E. D.↗
NASA NTRS1974

A study of morphology, provenance, and movement of desert sand seas in Africa, Asia, and Australia

The author has identified the following significant results. Recent acquisition of generally high quality color prints for most of the test sites has enabled this project to make significant advances in preparing mosaics of sand desert areas under study. Computer enhancement of imagery, where details of complex dune forms need to be determined, has been achieved with arrival of computer-compatible ERTS-1 tapes. Further, a comparator, recently received, gives precise visual measurements of width, length, and spacing of sand bodies and so improves comparison of patterns in various test sites. Considerable additional meteorological data recently received on sand-moving winds in China, Pakistan, Libya, and other study areas enabled much progress to be made in developing overlays for the dune mosaics. These data show direction, speed, and frequency of winds. Other new data for use in preparing overlays used with ERTS-1 image mosaics include ground truth on moisture control, geologic settings, and plant distribution. With the addition of visual observation data and prints from hand-held photography now being obtained by the Skylab 4 mission, much progress in interpreting the patterns of sand seas for 17 desert sites is anticipated.

Mckee, E. D.↗
NASA NTRS1973

A study of morphology, provenance, and movement of desert sand seas in Africa, Asia, and Australia

The author has identified the following significant results. Recent acquisition of generally high quality color prints for most of the test sites has enabled the project to make significant advances in preparing mosaics of sand desert areas under study. Computer enhancement of imagery of selected sites, where details of complex dune forms need to be determined, has been achieved with arrival of computer-compatible ERTS-1 tapes. Further, a comparator, recently received, gives precise visual measurements of width, length, and spacing of sand bodies and so improves comparison of patterns in various test sites. Considerable additional meteorological data recently received on sand-moving winds in China, Pakistan, Libya and other areas enabled much progress to be made in developing overlays for the dune mosaics. These data show direction, speed, and frequency of winds. Other new data for use in preparing overlays used with ERTS-1 image mosaics include ground truth on moisture control, geologic settings, and plant distribution. With the addition of visual observation data and prints from hand-held photography now being obtained by the Skylab mission, much progress in interpreting the patterns of sand seas for 17 desert sites is anticipated.

Mckee, E. D.↗
NASA NTRS1974

An investigation of major sand seas in desert areas throughout the world

This study of sand seas on a global scale consists of identifying and measuring characteristic sand forms, examining structures, determining the processes involved, and ascertaining the world distribution of various types of sand bodies. Fifteen major areas or sites in the Eastern Hemisphere and three sites in the Western Hemisphere have been examined. In this study an attempt is made to develop a strictly objective classification of worldwide application. Ultimate objectives are threefold. First, a better understanding of stratification in ancient rocks of dune origin; such structures are important in the migration of water and oil. Second, a further insight into the controls of sand migration that in some areas adversely affects various enterprises of man may be obtained. Finally, an appreciation of certain similar patterns on Mars, apparently wind-formed, may result.

Mckee, E. D.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Terrestrial analogs of the Hellespontus dunes, Mars

Geomorphic features in the Hellespontus region, Mars, were compared with dunes of the crescentic ridge type in numerous terrestrial sand seas quantitatively by dimensional analysis of dune lengths, widths, and wavelengths. Mean values for the Hellespontus dunes are close to mean values derived from measurements of all sampled terrestrial sand seas. Terrestrial analogs of form and areal distribution of the Hellespontus dunes are shown by comparison of scale ratios derived from the measurements. Dunes of similar form occur in South West Africa, in Pakistan, in the southeastern Arabian peninsula, in the Sahara, in eastern USSR and northern China, and in western North America. Terrestrial analogs closest to form and areal distribution of the Hellespontus dunes are in the Kara Kum Desert, Turkmen SSR, and in the Ala Shan (Gobi) Desert, China.

Breed, C. S.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Morphology and distribution of common 'sand' dunes on Mars - Comparison with the earth

A comparative study of Martian and terrestrial dunes was made based on Viking Orbiter pictures and aerial pictures of terrestrial deserts. The morphological similarity between the Martian dunes and terrestrial crescentic dunes implies that the dynamics of dune formation are similar on the two planets, despite Martian constraints on dune formation that include much higher velocity winds required to move 'sand' in saltation, the possible inhibition of sand movement by absorbed water vapor, the seasonal 'snow' cover in the north circumpolar erg, and a probably sparse sand supply. The absence of longitudinal dunes and the restriction of massive crescentic dunes to a few sites on Mars suggests that Mars may have a long eolian history in which much of the sand suitable for saltation has already been transported to the north polar erg and crater floor fields.

Breed, C. S.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Pitted and fluted rocks in the Western Desert of Egypt - Viking comparisons

The Western Desert of Egypt is one of the most arid regions on earth and is probably the closest terrestrial analog to the surface of Mars. An expedition to the area in 1978 revealed an abundance of quartzite and basalt rocks that have been pitted and fluted by wind erosion and deflation of the desert surface. These pitted rocks are internally homogeneous, show no internal holes or vesicles, and are considered an important but neglected type of ventifact. They bear a striking resemblance to the pitted and fluted rocks seen by the Viking Landers, rocks that have generally been interpreted as vesicular basalts only slightly modified by wind erosion. Wind tunnel studies of the air flow over and around nonstreamlined hand specimens from the Western Desert show that windward abrasion coupled with negative flow, secondary flow, and vorticity in a unidirectional wind can explain the complex arrays of pits and flutes. These field and laboratory observations suggest that the pitted rocks at the Viking Lander sites are also ventifacts, and thus the Martian surface may be far more wind eroded than previously thought.

Mccauley, J. F.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Shuttle imaging radar experiment

The Shuttle imaging radar (SIR-A) acquired images of a variety of the earth's geologic areas covering about 10 million square kilometers. Structural and geomorphic features such as faults, folds, outcrops, and dunes are clearly visible in both tropical and arid regions. The combination of SIR-A and Seasat images provides additional information about the surface physical properties: topography and roughness. Ocean features were also observed, including large internal waves in the Andaman Sea.

Elachi, C.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Subsurface valleys and geoarcheology of the eastern Sahara revealed by Shuttle radar

Previously unknown buried valleys, geologic structures, and possible Stone Age occupation sites have been revealed through the Shuttle Imaging Radar (SIR-A) penetration of the extremely dry Selima Sand Sheet, dunes and drift sand of the eastern Sahara. Radar penetration of dry sand and soils varies with the wavelength of the incident signals, which is 24 cm for the SIR-A system, as well as incidence angle and electrical properties of the material which are largely determined by moisture content. The calculated depth of radar penetration of dry sand and granules has been established to be 5 m on the basis of laboratory measurements of Selima Sand Sheet sample electrical properties. September 1982 field studies in Egypt have verified SIR-A signal penetration depths of at least 1 m in the Selima Sand Sheet and drift sand, and 2 m or more in sand dunes.

Mccauley, J. F.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Relict drainages, conical hills, and the eolian veneer in southwest Egypt - Applications to Mars

The fluvial and mass wasting origin of the particles in the eolian deposits, the segregation of these materials on the basis of grain size, and the migration of those particles capable of saltation to areas of accumulation in lowland basins of the Sahara are suggested as analogs for the formation and accumulation of 'sand' sheets and dunes on the northern plains and in the polar erg on Mars. Outliers of the Martian plateau in the fretted terrain are seen as having been dissected, at least initially, by channels whose upstream portions are incised in the uplands. The Martian 'wadis' possess many geomorphic peculiarities similar to those of the Gilf (Gilf Kebir Plateau, southwest Egypt) wadis, and like the Egyptian features they have been attributed to mass wasting. Even though basal sapping and removal of debris by wind have almost certainly modified the Martian features, their deep incision in the plateau and their inferred northward extensions in the northern plains are thought to require not only initial downcutting by fairly energetic streams but also prolonged and long-distance flow of water.

Breed, C. S.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Substance geology of the western desert in Egypt and Sudan revealed by Shuttle Imaging Radar (SIR-A)

A correlation of known archaeologic sites with the mapped locations of the streamcourses is expected and may lead to new interpretations of early human history in the Sahara. The valley networks, faults, and other subjacent bedrock features mapped on the SIR-A images are promising areas for ground water and mineral exploration. Additionally, the analogies between the interplay of wind and running water in the geologic history of the Sahara and of Mars are strengthened by the SIR-A discoveries of relict drainage systems beneath the eolian veneer of Egypt and Sudan.

Breed, C. S.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Multiprocess evolution of landforms in the Kharga Region, Egypt: Applications to Mars

In order to understand better the polygenetic evolution of landforms on the martian surface, field studies were conducted in and around the Kharga Depression, Egypt. The Kharga region, on the eastern edge of Egypt's Western Desert, was subject to erosion under mostly hyperarid climatic conditions, punctuated by brief pluvial episodes of lesser aridity, since early Pleistocene time. The region contains numerous landforms analogous to features on the martian surface: yardangs carved in layered surficial deposits and in bedrock, invasive dune trains, wind-modified channels and interfluves, and depressions bounded by steep scarps. Like many of the topographic depresions on Mars, the Kharga Depression was invaded by crescentic dunes. In Egypt, stratigraphic relations between dunes, yardangs, mass-wasting debris, and wind-eroded flash-flood deposits record shifts in the relative effectiveness of wind, water, and mass-wasting processes as a function of climate change.

Breed, C. S.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Application and calibration of the subsurface mapping capability of SIR-B in desert regions

The penetration capability of the shuttle imaging radar (SIR-B) sensor in desert regions is investigated. Refined models to explain this penetration capability in terms of radar physics and regional geologic conditions are devised. The sand-buried radar-rivers discovered in the Western Desert in Egypt and Sudan are defined. Results and procedures developed during previous SIR-A investigation of the same area are extrapolated.

Schaber, G. G.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Late Tertiary and Quaternary river systems of the eastern Sahara as mapped on shuttle radar and LANDSAT images

SIR-A pictures of the Eastern Sahara show segments of what are interpreted as relics of once major Tertiary and Quaternary stream valleys. These previously unmapped features have a dark to very dark radar response and are generally concealed below a thin cover of flat to slightly undulating deposits, mostly of eolian origin. In most of the 150 pits and trenches we have studied to date, unconsolidated surface deposits range from a few centimeters to about a meter thick. The SIR-A system was able to "see through" this loose, dry material, to a depth of about a meter or two.

Mccauley, J. F.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Shuttle Imaging Radar - Physical controls on signal penetration and subsurface scattering in the Eastern Sahara

Interpretation of Shuttle Imaging Radar-A (SIR-A) images by McCauley et al. (1982) dramatically changed previous concepts of the role that fluvial processes have played over the past 10,000 to 30 million years in shaping this now extremely flat, featureless, and hyperarid landscape. In the present paper, the near-surface stratigraphy, the electrical properties of materials, and the types of radar interfaces found to be responsible for different classes of SIR-A tonal response are summarized. The dominant factors related to efficient microwave signal penetration into the sediment blanket include (1) favorable distribution of particle sizes, (2) extremely low moisture content and (3) reduced geometric scattering at the SIR-A frequency (1.3 GHz). The depth of signal penetration that results in a recorded backscatter, here called 'radar imaging depth', was documented in the field to be a maximum of 1.5 m, or 0.25 of the calculated 'skin depth', for the sediment blanket. Radar imaging depth is estimated to be between 2 and 3 m for active sand dune materials. Diverse permittivity interfaces and volume scatterers within the shallow subsurface are responsible for most of the observed backscatter not directly attributable to grazing outcrops. Calcium carbonate nodules and rhizoliths concentrated in sandy alluvium of Pleistocene age south of Safsaf oasis in south Egypt provide effective contrast in premittivity and thus act as volume scatterers that enhance SIR-A portrayal of younger inset stream channels.

Schaber, G. G.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Paleodrainages of the Eastern Sahara - The radar rivers revisited (SIR-A/B implications for a mid-tertiary Trans-African drainage system)

The images obtained by the Shuttle Imaging Radar (SIR)-A and -B systems over the southwestern Egypt and northwestern Sudan were coregistered with the Landsat images and the existing maps to aid in extrapolations of the buried paleodrainages ('radar rivers'), first discovered by SIR-A. Field observations explain the radar responses of three types of radar rivers, RR-1 (broad, aggraded valleys filled with alluvium), RR-2 (braided channels inset in the RR-1 valleys), and RR-3 (narrow, long, bedrock-incised channels). A generalized model of the radar rivers, based on field studies and regional geologic relations, shows inferred changes in river regimen since the large valleys were established during the later Paleogene-early Neogene. It is suggested that a former Trans-African master stream system may have flowed from headwaters in the Red Sea Hills southwestward across North Africa, discharging into the Atlantic at the Paleo-Niger delta, prior to the Neogene domal uplifts and building of volcanic edifices across the paths of these ancient watercourses.

Mccauley, J. F.↗