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At least 847 records · Page 47
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1993

The Galileo Earth encounter - Magnetometer and allied measurements

An overview of the Galileo magnetometer observations from the crossing of the tail magnetopause at an antisolar distance of close to 100 R(E) through exit into the solar wind on the dayside is presented. These measurements are linked with correlative data from ground stations and from IMP 8 which was ideally located to serve as a monitor of the solar wind upstream of the bow shock. A time line of the important geomagnetic events of the day that provides a framework for the full multiinstrument analysis of the flyby data is presented. The observations are used to investigate apsects of the relationship between magnetotail dynamics and the separate intensifications of a multiple onset substorm inferred from ground-based data. It is proposed that the signatures associated with individual substorm intensifications are localized in the dawn-to-dusk extent even at remote locations in the magnetotail, just as they are in the ionosphere, and that the tail disturbances associated with successive substorm intensifications step across the tail towards the dusk flank.

Kivelson, M. G.↗
NASA NTRS1993

On the dynamics of approximating schemes for dissipative nonlinear equations

Since one can rarely write down the analytical solutions to nonlinear dissipative partial differential equations (PDE's), it is important to understand whether, and in what sense, the behavior of approximating schemes to these equations reflects the true dynamics of the original equations. Further, because standard error estimates between approximations of the true solutions coming from spectral methods - finite difference or finite element schemes, for example - and the exact solutions grow exponentially in time, this analysis provides little value in understanding the infinite time behavior of a given approximating scheme. The notion of the global attractor has been useful in quantifying the infinite time behavior of dissipative PDEs, such as the Navier-Stokes equations. Loosely speaking, the global attractor is all that remains of a sufficiently large bounded set in phase space mapped infinitely forward in time under the evolution of the PDE. Though the attractor has been shown to have some nice properties - it is compact, connected, and finite dimensional, for example - it is in general quite complicated. Nevertheless, the global attractor gives a way to understand how the infinite time behavior of approximating schemes such as the ones coming from a finite difference, finite element, or spectral method relates to that of the original PDE. Indeed, one can often show that such approximations also have a global attractor. We therefore only need to understand how the structure of the attractor for the PDE behaves under approximation. This is by no means a trivial task. Several interesting results have been obtained in this direction. However, we will not go into the details. We mention here that approximations generally lose information about the system no matter how accurate they are. There are examples that show certain parts of the attractor may be lost by arbitrary small perturbations of the original equations.

Jones, Donald A.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Transient responses of phosphoric acid fuel cell power plant system

An analytical and computerized study of the steady state and transient response of a phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) system was completed. Parametric studies and sensitivity analyses of the PAFC system's operation were accomplished. Four non-linear dynamic models of the fuel cell stack, reformer, shift converters, and heat exchangers were developed based on nonhomogeneous non-linear partial differential equations, which include the material, component, energy balance, and electrochemical kinetic features. Due to a lack of experimental data for the dynamic response of the components only the steady state results were compared with data from other sources, indicating reasonably good agreement. A steady state simulation of the entire system was developed using, nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The finite difference method and trial-and-error procedures were used to obtain a solution. Using the model, a PAFC system, that was developed under NASA Grant, NCC3-17, was improved through the optimization of the heat exchanger network. Three types of cooling configurations for cell plates were evaluated to obtain the best current density and temperature distributions. The steady state solutions were used as the initial conditions in the dynamic model. The transient response of a simplified PAFC system, which included all of the major components, subjected to a load change was obtained. Due to the length of the computation time for the transient response calculations, analysis on a real-time computer was not possible. A simulation of the real-time calculations was developed on a batch type computer. The transient response characteristics are needed for the optimization of the design and control of the whole PAFC system. All of the models, procedures and simulations were programmed in Fortran and run on IBM 370 computers at Cleveland State University and the NASA Lewis Research Center.

Lu, Cheng-Yi↗
NASA NTRS1997

CARES/Life Software for Designing More Reliable Ceramic Parts

Products made from advanced ceramics show great promise for revolutionizing aerospace and terrestrial propulsion, and power generation. However, ceramic components are difficult to design because brittle materials in general have widely varying strength values. The CAPES/Life software eases this task by providing a tool to optimize the design and manufacture of brittle material components using probabilistic reliability analysis techniques. Probabilistic component design involves predicting the probability of failure for a thermomechanically loaded component from specimen rupture data. Typically, these experiments are performed using many simple geometry flexural or tensile test specimens. A static, dynamic, or cyclic load is applied to each specimen until fracture. Statistical strength and SCG (fatigue) parameters are then determined from these data. Using these parameters and the results obtained from a finite element analysis, the time-dependent reliability for a complex component geometry and loading is then predicted. Appropriate design changes are made until an acceptable probability of failure has been reached.

Nemeth, Noel N.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Change in ozone trends at southern high latitudes

Long-term ozone variations at 60-70degS in spring are investigated using ground-based and satellite measurements. Strong positive correlation is shown between year-to-year variations of ozone and temperature in the Antarctic collar region in Septembers and Octobers. Based on this relationship, the effect of year-to-year variations in vortex dynamics has been filtered out. This process results in an ozone time series that shows increasing springtime ozone losses over the Antarctic until the mid-1990s. Since approximately 1997 the ozone losses have leveled off. The analysis confirms that this change is consistent across all instruments and is statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. This analysis quantifies the beginning of the recovery of the ozone hole, which is expected from the leveling off of stratospheric halogen loading due to the ban on CFCs and other halocarbons initiated by the Montreal Protocol.

Yang, E.-S.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Architectural Analysis of Dynamically Reconfigurable Systems

oTpics include: the problem (increased flexibility of architectural styles decrease analyzability, behavior emerges and varies depending on the configuration, does the resulting system run according to the intended design, and architectural decisions can impede or facilitate testing); top down approach to architecture analysis, detection of defects and deviations, and architecture and its testability; currently targeted projects GMSEC and CFS; analyzing software architectures; analyzing runtime events; actual architecture recognition; GMPUB in Dynamic SAVE; sample output from new approach; taking message timing delays into account; CFS examples of architecture and testability; some recommendations for improved testablity; and CFS examples of abstract interfaces and testability; CFS example of opening some internal details.

Lindvall, Mikael↗
NASA NTRS2016

Improving Operational Acceptability of Dynamic Weather Routes Through Analysis of Commonly Use Routings

The Dynamic Weather Routes (DWR) tool is a ground-based trajectory automation system that continuously and automatically analyzes active in-flight aircraft in en route airspace to find simple modifications to flight plan routes that can save significant flying time, while avoiding weather and considering traffic conflicts, airspace sector congestion, special use airspace, and FAA routing restrictions. Trials of the DWR system have shown that significant delay savings are possible. However, some DWR advised routes are also rejected by dispatchers or modified before being accepted. Similarly, of those sent by dispatchers to flight crews as proposed route change requests, many are not accepted by air traffic control, or are modified before implementation as Center route amendments. Such actions suggest that the operational acceptability of DWR advised route corrections could be improved, which may reduce workload and increase delay savings. This paper analyzes the historical usage of different flight routings, varying from simple waypoint pairs to lengthy strings of waypoints incorporating jet routes, in order to improve DWR route acceptability. An approach is developed that can be incorporated into DWR, advising routings with high historical usage and savings potential similar to that of the nominal DWR advisory. It is hypothesized that modifying a nominal DWR routing to one that is commonly used, and nearby, will result in more actual savings since common routings are generally familiar and operationally acceptable to air traffic control. The approach allows routing segments with high historical usage to be concatenated to form routes that meet all DWR constraints. The relevance of a route's historical usage to its acceptance by dispatchers and air traffic control is quantified by analyzing historical DWR data. Results indicate that while historical usage may be less of a concern to flight dispatchers accepting or rejecting DWR advised route corrections, it may be important to air traffic control acceptance of DWR routes.

dynamic weather routes↗
NASA NTRS2016

Improving Operational Acceptability of Dynamic Weather Routes (DWR) Through Analysis of Commonly Used Routings

The Dynamic Weather Routes (DWR) tool is a ground-based trajectory automation system that continuously and automatically analyzes active in-flight aircraft in en route airspace to find simple modifications to flight plan routes that can save significant flying time, while avoiding weather and considering traffic conflicts, airspace sector congestion, special use airspace, and FAA routing restrictions. Trials of the DWR system have shown that significant delay savings are possible. However, some DWR advised routes are also rejected by dispatchers or modified before being accepted. Similarly, of those sent by dispatchers to flight crews as proposed route change requests, many are not accepted by air traffic control, or are modified before implementation as Center route amendments. Such actions suggest that the operational acceptability of DWR advised route corrections could be improved, which may reduce workload and increase delay savings. This paper analyzes the historical usage of different flight routings, varying from simple waypoint pairs to lengthy strings of waypoints incorporating jet routes, in order to improve DWR route acceptability. An approach is developed that can be incorporated into DWR, advising routings with high historical usage and savings potential similar to that of the nominal DWR advisory. It is hypothesized that modifying a nominal DWR routing to one that is commonly used, and nearby, will result in more actual savings since common routings are generally familiar and operationally acceptable to air traffic control. The approach allows routing segments with high historical usage to be concatenated to form routes that meet all DWR constraints. The relevance of a routes historical usage to its acceptance by dispatchers and air traffic control is quantified by analyzing historical DWR data. Results indicate that while historical usage may be less of a concern to flight dispatchers accepting or rejecting DWR advised route corrections, it may be important to air traffic control acceptance of DWR routes.

Operational Acceptability↗
NASA NTRS1979

Normal and radial impact of composites with embedded penny-shaped cracks

A method is developed for the dynamic stress analysis of a layered composite containing an embedded penny-shaped crack and subjected to normal and radial impact. The material properties of the layers are chosen such that the crack lies in a layer of matrix material while the surrounding material possesses the average elastic properties of a two-phase medium consisting of a large number of fibers embedded in the matrix. Quantitatively, the time-dependent stresses near the crack border can be described by the dynamic stress intensity factors. Their magnitude depends on time, on the material properties of the composite and on the relative size of the crack compared to the composite local geometry. Results obtained show that, for the same material properties and geometry of the composite, the dynamic stress intensity factors for an embedded (penny-shaped) crack reach their peak values within a shorter period of time and with a lower magnitude than the corresponding dynamic stress intensity factors for a through-crack.

Sih, G. C.↗
NASA NTRS1998

The Impact of System Latency on Dynamic Performance In Virtual Acoustic Environments

Engineering constraints that may be encountered when implementing interactive virtual acoustic displays are examined In particular, system parameters such as the update rate and total system latency are defined and the impact they may have on perception is discussed. For example, examination of the head motions that listeners used to aid localization in a previous study suggests that some head motions may be as fast as about 400 degrees/sec for short time periods. Analysis of latencies in virtual acoustic environments (VAEs) suggests that: (1) commonly-specified parameters such as the audio update rate determine only the "best-case" latency possible in a VAE, (2) total system latency and individual latencies of system components, including head-trackers, are frequently not measured by VAE developers, and (3) typical system latencies may result in under-sampling of relative listener-source motion of 400 degrees/sec as well as positional "jitter" in the simulated source. To clearly specify the dynamic performance of a particular VAE, users and developers need to make measurements of average system latency, update rate, and their variability using standardized rendering scenarios. a parameters such as the minimum audible movement angle can then be used as target guidelines to assess whether a given system meets perceptual requirements.

Wenzel, Elizabeth M.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Investigation of air transportation technology at Ohio University: 1993-1994

The Joint University Program (JUP) offers students, faculty, and staff of the Avionics Engineering Center the opportunity to conduct basic research relating to the safety and efficiency of the National Airspace System. During the 1993-1994 year research was continued in a variety of GPS-related technologies and also in a hybrid data uplink system. (1) Processing techniques developed for the GPS attitude determination have been applied to centimeter-level kinematic GPS aircraft positioning for flight reference systems and aircraft autoland and taxiing operations. This resulted in the first real-time kinematic GPS autoland. (2) The fault detection and isolation (FDI) algorithm developed under the Joint University Program has been fully adopted by RTCA Special Committee 159 as the baseline algorithm for sole-means navigation of GPS integrated with GLONASS, LORAN-C, or baro-altimeter. (3) A Satellite Coverage Research Analysis Model (SCRAM) has been developed which provides outage areas, outage dynamics, and availability information for satellite-based navigation systems. RTCA Special Committee 159 has adopted this model for use in their work. (4) A basic receiver structure has been simulated and tested for use with the hybrid data uplink. This uplink utilizes the phase of an existing AM carrier to transmit digital data, thus both amplitude and phase modulation are applied, resulting in a hybrid carrier. The receiver simulation is directly applicable to real-time implementation as a result of the development platform.

Lilley, Robert W.↗
NASA NTRS1997

X-Ray Transmission Microscope Development

We have succeeded in meeting the goals set out in the proposal. A cadre of detector technologies is available to suit the requirements of the experiment. Resolutions of both real-time and absolute limits to resolution exceed the initial aspirations. Obtaining sufficient contrast is still a significant limitation but can be overcome by Judicious selection of the specimen composition. This can only take time and trial and error for a successful result. The 4th generation furnace provides the capability of real-time in-situ observations of composite alloy development. A low detection sensitivity however, has still made it difficult to observe dendritic growth, although it has been 'seen' in raw video; it was not a recordable signal. We have examined flight ampoules with XTM to observe particle and thermocouple placement, crucible flaws and cracks in collaboration with the Particle Pushing and Engulfment flight experiment (Dr. Stefanescu, UA, P.I.). The value of an in flight XTM to guard against experiment failure and safety assurance is obvious. Although not attributable to equipment limitations, a quest to observe particle pushing was not successful. We tried at length to prepare specimens that would demonstrate particle pushing. Instead, we were successful in imaging the interface deformation due to the thermal field distortion of a ceramic particle or void and to compare to calculated shapes. In theory, we should have been able to make major inroads to this field if the particles could be pushed and the velocities adjusted to make critical measurements. On the other hand, critical issues of sample preparation for the PEP flight experiment were established, particularly the clustering of particles and trapped voids. In this regard, the XTM did prove very useful so that flight specimens would work as expected and to perform post flight analysis. Although not a clear result, particle pushing of precipitates was observed in an Al-Si-Mn alloy. It may be that to be pushed, the particles need to be small and have clean surfaces like one might obtain from in-situ precipitation. The ability to image features in real time skill enable more fundamental and detailed understanding of solidification dynamics in microgravity than had previously been possible, thus, allowing the full benefits of microgravity experiments be applied towards rigorous testing of critical solidification models. The XTM is also a valuable tool for post solidification metallography. The 3-dimensional distribution of solute and solidification features within the specimen volume can be viewed without sectioning or other treatment when the solute has sufficiently higher atomic mass than the solvent. Thus the XTM could provide the first practical method for on orbit microstructural (metallographic) analysis by the astronauts or by telescience.

Kaukler, William F.↗
NASA NTRS2021

How Well Do Multisatellite Products Capture the Space–Time Dynamics of Precipitation? Part I: Five Products Assessed via a Wavenumber–Frequency Decomposition

As more global satellite-derived precipitation products become available, it is imperative to evaluate them more carefully for providing guidance as to how well precipitation space–time features are captured for use in hydrologic modeling, climate studies, and other applications. Here we propose a space–time Fourier spectral analysis and define a suite of metrics that evaluate the spatial organization of storm systems, the propagation speed and direction of precipitation features, and the space–time scales at which a satellite product reproduces the variability of a reference “ground-truth” product (“effective resolution”). We demonstrate how the methodology relates to our physical intuition using the case study of a storm system with rich space–time structure. We then evaluate five high-resolution multisatellite products (CMORPH, GSMaP, IMERG-Early, IMERG-Final, and PERSIANN-CCS) over a period of 2 years over the southeastern United States. All five satellite products show generally consistent space–time power spectral density when compared to a reference ground gauge–radar dataset (GV-MRMS), revealing agreement in terms of average morphology and dynamics of precipitation systems. However, a deficit of spectral power at wavelengths shorter than 200 km and periods shorter than 4 h reveals that all satellite products are excessively “smooth.” The products also show low levels of spectral coherence with the gauge–radar reference at these fine scales, revealing discrepancies in capturing the location and timing of precipitation features. From the space–time spectral coherence, the IMERG-Final product shows superior ability in resolving the space–time dynamics of precipitation down to 200-km and 4-h scales compared to the other products.

Clement Guilloteau↗
NASA NTRS1988

Observation of sea-ice dynamics using synthetic aperture radar images: Automated analysis

The European Space Agency's ERS-1 satellite, as well as others planned to follow, is expected to carry synthetic-aperture radars (SARs) over the polar regions beginning in 1989. A key component in utilization of these SAR data is an automated scheme for extracting the sea-ice velocity field from a time sequence of SAR images of the same geographical region. Two techniques for automated sea-ice tracking, image pyramid area correlation (hierarchical correlation) and feature tracking, are described. Each technique is applied to a pair of Seasat SAR sea-ice images. The results compare well with each other and with manually tracked estimates of the ice velocity. The advantages and disadvantages of these automated methods are pointed out. Using these ice velocity field estimates it is possible to construct one sea-ice image from the other member of the pair. Comparing the reconstructed image with the observed image, errors in the estimated velocity field can be recognized and a useful probable error display created automatically to accompany ice velocity estimates. It is suggested that this error display may be useful in segmenting the sea ice observed into regions that move as rigid plates of significant ice velocity shear and distortion.

Vesecky, John F.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Comet Tempel 2: Orbit, ephemerides and error analysis

The dynamical behavior of comet Tempel 2 is investigated and the comet is found to be very well behaved and easily predictable. The nongravitational forces affecting the motion of this comet are the smallest of any comet that is affected by nongravitational forces. The sign and time history of these nongravitational forces imply (1) a direct rotation of the comet's nucleus and (2) the comet's ability to outgas has not changed substantially over its entire observational history. The well behaved dynamical motion of the comet, the well observed past apparitions, the small nongravitational forces and the excellent 1988 ground based observing conditions all contribute to relatively small position and velocity errors in 1988 -- the year of a proposed rendezvous space mission to this comet. To assist in planned ground based and earth orbital observations of this comet, ephemerides are given for the 1978-79, 1983-84 and 1988 apparitions.

Yeomans, D. K.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A study of dynamic stall using real time interferometry

Dynamic stall over an oscillating airfoil in compressible flow was studied using a real-time interferometry technique. Instantaneous flow field data was obtained for various unsteady as well as steady flow conditions. Comparison of steady flow interferograms with those taken in unsteady flow reveal a significant delay in the development of leading edge suction peaks in the unsteady case. The interferograms permit detailed analysis of the leading edge pressure field; as many as 13 pressure values have been obtained around the leading edge in the first 1 percent of the airfoil chord. The results offer a significant new insight into the character of the dynamic stall vortex, and the stall delay that is observed during dynamic motions.

Carr, L. W.↗
NASA NTRS2010

An Analysis of the Environments of Intense Convective Systems in West Africa in 2003

We investigated the local- and regional-scale thermodynamical and dynamical environments associated with intense convective systems in West Africa during 2003. We identified convective system cases from TRMM microwave imagery, classifying each case by the system minimum 85-GHz brightness temperature and by the estimated elapsed time of propagation from high terrain. The speed of the mid-level jet, the magnitude of the low-level shear, and the surface equivalent potential temperature (theta(sub e)) were greater for the intense cases compared to the non-intense cases, although the differences between the means tended to be small, less than 3K for surface theta(sub e). Hypothesis testing of a series of commonly used intensity prediction metrics resulted in significant results only for low-level metrics such as convective available potential energy and not for any of the mid- or upper-level metrics such as 700-hPa theta(sub e). None of the environmental variables or intensity metrics by themselves or in combination appeared to be reliable direct predictors of intensity. In the regional scale analysis, the majority of intense convective systems occurred in the surface baroclinic zone where surface theta(sub e) exceeded 344 K and the 700-hPa zonal wind speeds were less than -6/ms. Fewer intense cases compared to non-intense cases were associated with African easterly wave troughs. Fewer than 25% of our cases occurred in environments with detectable Saharan dust loads, and the results for intense and non-intense cases were similar. Our results for the regional analysis were consistent with the seasonal movement of the WAM and the intertropical front, regional differences in topography, and AEW energetics.

Nicholls, Stephen D.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Mass spectrometric measurements of atmospheric composition

The development of a magnetic sector field analyzer for continuous sampling and measurement of outer planetary atmospheres is discussed. Special features of the analyzer include a dynamic range of 10 to the minus 7th power, a mass range from 1 to 48 AMU, two ion sensitivities, a special scan time of 35 sec at 14 BPS, and the use of ion counting techniques for analysis.

Hoffman, J. H.↗