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At least 793 records · Page 44
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1993

Cratering in glasses impacted by debris or micrometeorites

Mechanical strength measurements on five glasses and one glass-ceramic exposed on LDEF revealed no damage exceeding experimental limits of error. The measurement technique subjected less than 5 percent of the sample surface area to stresses above 90 percent of the failure strength. Seven micrometeorite or space debris impacts occurred at locations which were not in that portion of the sample subjected to greater than 90 percent of the applied stress. As a result of this, the impact events on the sample were not detected in the mechanical strength measurements. The physical form and structure of the impact sites was carefully examined to determine the influence of those events upon stress concentration associated with the impact and the resulting mechanical strength. The size of the impact site, insofar as it determines flaw size for fracture purposes, was examined. Surface topography of the impacts reveals that six of the seven sites display impact melting. The classical melt crater structure is surrounded by a zone of fractured glass. Residual stresses arising from shock compression and from cooling of the fused zone cannot be included in the fracture mechanics analyses based on simple flaw size measurements. Strategies for refining estimates of mechanical strength degradation by impact events are presented.

Wiedlocher, David E.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Effects of cable geometry and aircraft attitude on the accuracy of a magnetic leader cable system for aircraft guidance during rollout and turnoff

A theoretical analysis of a single wire magnetic leader cable system for aircraft rollout and turnoff guidance was performed to determine the errors produced by the leader cable installation geometry and aircraft attitude. It was found that errors in the measurement of lateral displacement from the cable are smaller than errors in the measurement of aircraft heading and that both errors are smallest at or near the cable.

Bundick, W. T.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Experimental study of error sources in skin-friction balance measurements

An experimental study has been performed to determine potential error sources in skin-friction balance measurements. A floating-element balance, large enough to contain the instrumentation needed to systematically investigate these error sources has been constructed and tested in the thick turbulent boundary layer on the sidewall of a large supersonic wind tunnel. Test variables include element-to-case misalignment, gap size, and Reynolds number. The effects of these variables on the friction, lip, and normal forces have been analyzed. It was found that larger gap sizes were preferable to smaller ones; that small element recession below the surrounding test surface produced errors comparable to the same amount of protrusion above the test surface; and that normal forces on the element were, in some cases, large compared to the friction force.

Allen, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

On the chromospheric structure of Zeta Aurigae

The chromospheric structure of Zeta Aur is analyzed on the basis of both optical and UV data. Column densities of matter along different lines of sight through the chromosphere are measured by using both Ly-alpha wings and many lines of ionized metals, and they agree to within the errors of measurement. The chromosphere is seen to extend at least one stellar radius above the K4-5 Ib-11 supergiant's surface. Excitation temperature increases with height and attains values in the range 6500-12,000 K over much of the chromosphere. Turbulence of the gas is near 20 km/s, and may increase with height. Support of the chromosphere by magnetic fields is discussed, and this is found to predict a high degree of clumping of the gas.

Eaton, Joel A.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Application of left- and right-looking SAR stereo to depth measurements of the Ammavaru outflow channel, Lada Terra, Venus

Venusian channels are too narrow to be resolved by Magellan's radar altimeter, so they are not visible in the standard topographic data products. Stereo image data, in addition to their benefit to geologic mapping of Venus structures as a whole, are indispensible in measuring the topography across the channels. These measurements can then be used in conjunction with the regional topographic maps based on the altimeter data to produce cross-sectional areas for the channels and estimate the fluid discharge through them. As an example of the application of the stereo image data to venusian channels, a number of test depth and profile measurements were made of the large outflow channel system in Lada Terra, centered at 50 deg S latitude, 21 deg E longitude (F-MIDR 50S021). These measurements were made by viewing the cycle 1 and 2 digital FMIDRs in stereo on a display monitor, so as to minimize the errors in measuring parallax displacement as much as possible. The MIDRs are produced at a scale of 75 m/pixel. This corresponds to a vertical scale of about 17 m/pixel, when calculating the height of a feature from its parallax displacement. An error in placement determination of 1 pixel was assumed to characterize the vertical accuracy as plus or minus 17 m. When this technique was applied to the outflow channel, it was noted that the walls of the collapsed terrain source and 'trough reach' of the channel are laid over in both the cycle 1 and 2 images. This is evident when examining the distance between features on the plateau and the cliff walls in the two images. The layover 'shifts' the features closer to the apparent edge of the wall relative to the oppositely illuminated image.

Parker, T. J.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Retrievals of Aerosol Optical and Microphysical Properties from Imaging Polar Nephelometer Scattering Measurements

A method for the retrieval of aerosol optical and microphysical properties from in situ light-scattering measurements is presented and the results are compared with existing measurement techniques. The Generalized Retrieval of Aerosol and Surface Properties (GRASP) is applied to airborne and laboratory measurements made by a novel polar nephelometer. This instrument, the Polarized Imaging Nephelometer (PI-Neph), is capable of making high-accuracy field measurements of phase function and degree of linear polarization, at three visible wavelengths, over a wide angular range of 3 to 177°. The resulting retrieval produces particle size distributions (PSDs) that agree, within experimental error, with measurements made by commercial optical particle counters (OPCs). Additionally, the retrieved real part of the refractive index is generally found to be within the predicted error of 0.02 from the expected values for three species of humidified salt particles, with a refractive index that is well established. The airborne measurements used in this work were made aboard the NASA DC-8 aircraft during the Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) field campaign, and the inversion of this data represents the first aerosol retrievals of airborne polar nephelometer data. The results provide confidence in the real refractive index product, as well as in the retrieval's ability to accurately determine PSD, without assumptions about refractive index that are required by the majority of OPCs.

Espinosa, W. Reed↗
NASA NTRS1994

Correcting For Seed-Particle Lag In LV Measurements

Two experiments conducted to evaluate effects of sizes of seed particles on errors in LV measurements of mean flows. Both theoretical and conventional experimental methods used to evaluate errors. First experiment focused on measurement of decelerating stagnation streamline of low-speed flow around circular cylinder with two-dimensional afterbody. Second performed in transonic flow and involved measurement of decelerating stagnation streamline of hemisphere with cylindrical afterbody. Concluded, mean-quantity LV measurements subject to large errors directly attributable to sizes of particles. Predictions of particle-response theory showed good agreement with experimental results, indicating velocity-error-correction technique used in study viable for increasing accuracy of laser velocimetry measurements. Technique simple and useful in any research facility in which flow velocities measured.

Jones, Gregory S.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Introduction to total- and partial-pressure measurements in vacuum systems

An introduction to the fundamentals of total and partial pressure measurement in the vacuum regime (760 x 10 to the -16th power Torr) is presented. The instrument most often used in scientific fields requiring vacuum measurement are discussed with special emphasis on ionization type gauges and quadrupole mass spectrometers. Some attention is also given to potential errors in measurement as well as calibration techniques.

Outlaw, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Methodology for error analysis and simulation of lidar aerosol measurements

A methodology is presented for objective and automated determination of the uncertainty in lidar aerosol measurements. This methodology is based on standard error-propagation procedures, a large data base on atmospheric behavior, and long experience in lidar data processing. Algebraic expressions for probable error are derived as a function of the relevant parameters. The validity of these expressions is then tested by making simulated measurements and analyses in which random errors of appropriate size are injected at proper steps of the measurement and analysis process. An illustrative example is given where the methodology is applied to a new lidar system now being used for airborne measurements of the stratospheric aerosol.

Russell, P. B.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) Mission Commissioning Phase Orbit Determination Error Analysis

The Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) mission commissioning phase starts in a 185 km altitude x 12 Earth radii (RE) injection orbit and lasts until the Phase 1 mission orbits and orientation to the Earth-Sun li ne are achieved. During a limited time period in the early part of co mmissioning, five maneuvers are performed to raise the perigee radius to 1.2 R E, with a maneuver every other apogee. The current baseline is for the Goddard Space Flight Center Flight Dynamics Facility to p rovide MMS orbit determination support during the early commissioning phase using all available two-way range and Doppler tracking from bo th the Deep Space Network and Space Network. This paper summarizes th e results from a linear covariance analysis to determine the type and amount of tracking data required to accurately estimate the spacecraf t state, plan each perigee raising maneuver, and support thruster cal ibration during this phase. The primary focus of this study is the na vigation accuracy required to plan the first and the final perigee ra ising maneuvers. Absolute and relative position and velocity error hi stories are generated for all cases and summarized in terms of the ma ximum root-sum-square consider and measurement noise error contributi ons over the definitive and predictive arcs and at discrete times inc luding the maneuver planning and execution times. Details of the meth odology, orbital characteristics, maneuver timeline, error models, and error sensitivities are provided.

Chung, Lauren R.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Fault latency in the memory - An experimental study on VAX 11/780

Fault latency is the time between the physical occurrence of a fault and its corruption of data, causing an error. The measure of this time is difficult to obtain because the time of occurrence of a fault and the exact moment of generation of an error are not known. This paper describes an experiment to accurately study the fault latency in the memory subsystem. The experiment employs real memory data from a VAX 11/780 at the University of Illinois. Fault latency distributions are generated for s-a-0 and s-a-1 permanent fault models. Results show that the mean fault latency of a s-a-0 fault is nearly 5 times that of the s-a-1 fault. Large variations in fault latency are found for different regions in memory. An analysis of a variance model to quantify the relative influence of various workload measures on the evaluated latency is also given.

Chillarege, Ram↗
NASA NTRS1988

Constraints on the microwave opacity of gaseous methane and water vapor in the Jovian atmosphere

Gaseous NH3's microwave absorption in the Jovian atmosphere appears too great to be due to a solar abundance of this gas. The additional capacity of microwave absorption is presently sought in measurements of the microwave absorption of CH4 and H2O under simulated Jovian conditions at 2.25 GHz, 8.5 GHz, 21.7 GHz; due to large error bars, measurements represent upper limits on the microwave opacity generated by H2O and CH4. The results obtained are consistent with theoretical expressions for microwave opacity in a Jovian atmosphere at the specified frequencies. The presence of an NH3 abundance exceeding the solar level by a factor of 1.5 is indicated by test results.

Jenkins, Jon M.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Turbulence excited frequency domain damping measurement and truncation effects

Existing frequency domain modal frequency and damping analysis methods are discussed. The effects of truncation in the Laplace and Fourier transform data analysis methods are described. Methods for eliminating truncation errors from measured damping are presented. Implications of truncation effects in fast Fourier transform analysis are discussed. Limited comparison with test data is presented.

Soovere, J.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Error analysis for the ground-based microwave ozone measurements during STOIC

We present a formal error analysis and characterization of the microwave measurements made during the Stratospheric Ozone Intercomparison Campaign (STOIC). The most important error sources are found to be determination of the tropospheric opacity, the pressure-broadening coefficient of the observed line, and systematic variations in instrument response as a function of frequency ('baseline'). Net precision is 4-6% between 55 and 0.2 mbar, while accuracy is 6-10%. Resolution is 8-10 km below 3 mbar and increases to 17km at 0.2 mbar. We show the 'blind' microwave measurements from STOIC and make limited comparisons to other measurements. We use the averaging kernels of the microwave measurement to eliminate resolution and a priori effects from a comparison to SAGE 2. The STOIC results and comparisons are broadly consistent with the formal analysis.

Connor, Brian J.↗
NASA NTRS1983

The 1982 control network of Mars

Attention is given to a planet-wide control network of Mars that was computed in September 1982 using a large single-block analytical triangulation with 47,524 measurements of 6853 control points on 1054 Mariner 9 and 757 Viking pictures. In all, 19,139 normal equations were solved, with a resulting standard error of measurement of 18.06 microns. The control points identified by name and letter designation are given, as are the aerographic coordinates of the control points. In addition, the coordinates of the Viking I lander site are given: latitude, 22.480 deg; longitude, 47.962 deg (radius, 3389.32 km). This study expands and updates the previously published network (1978). It is noted that the computation differs in many respects from standard aerial mapping photogrammetric practice. In comparison with aerial mapping photography, the television formats are small and the focal lengths are long; stereo coverage is rare, the scale of the pictures varies greatly, and the residual camera distortions are large.

Davies, M. E.↗
NASA NTRS1993

A survey of quality measures for gray-scale image compression

Although a variety of techniques are available today for gray-scale image compression, a complete evaluation of these techniques cannot be made as there is no single reliable objective criterion for measuring the error in compressed images. The traditional subjective criteria are burdensome, and usually inaccurate or inconsistent. On the other hand, being the most common objective criterion, the mean square error (MSE) does not have a good correlation with the viewer's response. It is now understood that in order to have a reliable quality measure, a representative model of the complex human visual system is required. In this paper, we survey and give a classification of the criteria for the evaluation of monochrome image quality.

Eskicioglu, Ahmet M.↗