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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 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Local Infrasound Variability Related to In Situ Atmospheric Observation

Abstract Local infrasound is widely used to constrain source parameters of near‐surface events (e.g., chemical explosions and volcanic eruptions). While atmospheric conditions are critical to infrasound propagation and source parameter inversion, local atmospheric variability is often ignored by assuming homogeneous atmospheres, and their impact on the source inversion uncertainty has never been accounted for due to the lack of quantitative understanding of infrasound variability. We investigate atmospheric impacts on local infrasound propagation by repeated explosion experiments with a dense acoustic network and in situ atmospheric measurement. We perform full 3‐D waveform simulations with local atmospheric data and numerical weather forecast model to quantify atmosphere‐dependent infrasound variability and address the advantage and restriction of local weather data/numerical weather model for sound propagation simulation. Numerical simulations with stochastic atmosphere models also showed nonnegligible influence of atmospheric heterogeneity on infrasound amplitude, suggesting an important role of local turbulence.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

False alarms and the IMS infrasound network: Understanding the factors influencing the creation of false events

The International Monitoring System (IMS) infrasound network has been designed to acquire the necessary data to detect and locate explosions in the atmosphere with a yield equivalent to 1 kiloton of TNT anywhere on Earth. A major associated challenge is the task of automatically processing data from all IMS infrasound stations to identify possible nuclear tests for subsequent review by analysts. This paper is the first attempt to quantify the false alarm rate (FAR) of the IMS network, and in particular to assess how the FAR is affected by the numbers and distributions of detections at each infrasound station. To ensure that the results are sufficiently general, and not dependent entirely on one detection algorithm, the assessment is based on two detection algorithms that can be thought of as end members in their approach to the trade-off between missed detections and false alarms. The results show that the FAR for events formed at only two arrays is extremely high (ranging from 10’s to 100’s of false events per day across the IMS network, depending on the detector tuning). It is further shown that the FAR for events formed at three or more IMS arrays is driven by ocean-generated waves (microbaroms), despite efforts within both detection algorithms for avoiding these signals, indicating that further research into this issue is merited. Overall, the results highlight the challenge of processing data from a globally sparse network of stations to detect and form events. On the basis of these results, it is shown that further work on understanding signal and noise characteristics is needed before attempting to automatically form events detected at only two arrays on the global network. In particular, more work is required to reduce false alarms caused by the detection of microbarom signals.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2012

A Statistical Framework for Operational lnfrasound Monitoring [Slides]

Historically, much infrasound research has been event-based, with known events providing the ground-truth required to inform the search for associated signals. For monitoring nuclear explosions in the atmosphere or underground, reliable techniques are required for operational infrasound data processing that effectively minimize both false alarms and missed detections. A difficulty in working with infrasound data is to adequately account for dynamic variations in the atmosphere, which occur over a variety of temporal and spatial scales. However, contrary to one's intuition, it is not necessary to have a high fidelity atmospheric model in order to perform robust detection, association and location. We present detection, association and location algorithms that assume no a priori knowledge of the atmosphere; however, where knowledge is available we show how it can be used to reduce the associated uncertainties. Rather than exporting seismic techniques to the problem of infrasound monitoring, our techniques were developed from the ground-up to properly account for the unique considerations of atmospheric acoustics. In contrast with other routinely used infrasound detectors, we utilize a contextual detection hypothesis that adaptively accounts for temporally variable correlated ambient noise. Our location scheme allows for the location of infrasound events without any meteorological data through a Bayesian framework. We demonstrate the application of the techniques presented here for a series of ground-truth events, and for routine data processing of large amounts of regional infrasound data.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
NASA NTRS1987

Gamma ray transients

The discovery of cosmic gamma ray bursts was made with systems designed at Los Alamos Laboratory for the detection of nuclear explosions beyond the atmosphere. HELIOS-2 was the first gamma ray burst instrument launched; its initial results in 1976, seemed to deepen the mystery around gamma ray transients. Interplanetary spacecraft data were reviewed in terms of explaining the behavior and source of the transients.

Cline, Thomas L.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Simultaneous observation of a hot explosion by NST and IRIS

We present the first simultaneous observations of so-called “hot explosions” in the cool atmosphere of the Sun made by the New Solar Telescope (NST) of Big Bear Solar Observatory and the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) in space. The data were obtained during the joint IRIS-NST observations on 2014 July 30. The explosion of interest started around 19:20 UT and lasted for about 10 minutes. Our findings are as follows: (1) the IRIS brightening was observed in three channels of slit-jaw images, which cover the temperature range from 4000 to 80,000 K; (2) during the brightening, the Si iv emission profile showed a double-peaked shape with highly blue and redshifted components (−40 and 80 km s{sup −1}); (3) wing brightening occurred in Hα and Ca ii 8542 Å bands and related surges were observed in both bands of the NST Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph (FISS) instrument; (4) the elongated granule, seen in NST TiO data, is clear evidence of the emergence of positive flux to trigger the hot explosion; (5) the brightening in Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly 1600 Å images is quite consistent with the IRIS brightening. These observations suggest that our event is a hot explosion that occurred in the cool atmosphere of the Sun. In addition, our event appeared as an Ellerman bomb (EB) in the wing of Hα, although its intensity is weak and the vertical extent of the brightening seems to be relatively high compared with the typical EBs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Radioxenon Detection for Monitoring Subsurface Nuclear Explosion

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) bans the testing of nuclear weapons anywhere on the earth (atmospheric, surface, underwater and subsurface). Identification of nuclear explosions in the atmosphere, surface, and underwater is relatively straightforward considering a wide range of signatures resulting from such an event. However, for a subsurface explosion, most of the signatures traditionally associated with a nuclear explosion are not readily available. Therefore, the international community has increasingly relied on the atmospheric measurement of noble gases to identify subsurface nuclear weapon explosions. This chapter initially covers the basic principles of subsurface nuclear explosion identification and the importance of detecting radioxenon. This is followed by reviewing some of the early radioxenon detection systems that were developed by research groups around the world in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The detection media employed, results from laboratory and field testing, and some challenges/drawbacks for these systems are detailed. The next section of the chapter is dedicated to innovative detector concepts that have emerged in the past ten to fifteen years using novel detection material, algorithms, and signal readout techniques. The advances achieved in terms of energy resolution, coincidence detection efficiencies, system performance, and the minimum detectable concentration are covered. The final section goes over some of the potential improvements that can be incorporated in the design to enhance detector sensitivity and new detection material that can be explored in the field of radioxenon detection.

Gadey, Harish Reddy↗
DOE OSTI2013

Origin of a signal detected with the LSD detector after the accident at the chernobyl nuclear power plant

A rare signal was detected at 23:53 Moscow time on April 27, 1986 with the LSD low-background scintillation detector located under Mont Blanc at a distance of 1820 km from Chernobyl. To reveal the origin of this signal, we discuss the results obtained with other instruments operating within a similar program, as well as analyze the characteristics of the pulses of the signal and facts referring to the explosion of the Chernobyl reactor. A hypothesis based on detection with the LSD of gamma-quanta from {beta} decays of {sup 135}I nuclei ejected into atmosphere by the reactor explosion and carried in the underground detector camera with air of positive ventilation is considered. The explosion origin of the LSD signal indicates a new technogenic source of the background in the search for neutrino bursts from cores of collapsing stars.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

OPTIMAL ELECTRON ENERGIES FOR DRIVING CHROMOSPHERIC EVAPORATION IN SOLAR FLARES

In the standard model of solar flares, energy deposition by a beam of electrons drives strong chromospheric evaporation leading to a significantly denser corona and much brighter emission across the spectrum. Chromospheric evaporation was examined in great detail by Fisher et al., who described a distinction between two different regimes, termed explosive and gentle evaporation. In this work, we examine the importance of electron energy and stopping depths on the two regimes and on the atmospheric response. We find that with explosive evaporation, the atmospheric response does not depend strongly on electron energy. In the case of gentle evaporation, lower energy electrons are significantly more efficient at heating the atmosphere and driving up-flows sooner than higher energy electrons. We also find that the threshold between explosive and gentle evaporation is not fixed at a given beam energy flux, but also depends strongly on the electron energy and duration of heating. Further, at low electron energies, a much weaker beam flux is required to drive explosive evaporation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Improved Parametric Models for Explosion Pressure Signals Derived From Large Datasets

Accurate recording and characterization of explosion-induced pressure signals are key components of the forensic analysis of explosion events in the atmosphere. Parametric overpressure models based on several key waveform features (peak overpressure, positive pulse duration, and impulse) are widely used to estimate explosion energy in terms of trinitrotoluene equivalent yield. However, those models are often developed by a limited dataset, including only a few events or recordings at relatively short propagation distances. Here, we develop empirical waveform-parameter models based on a regression analysis of a large set of data curated from four chemical explosion experiments including 16 detonations. We measured peak overpressure and impulse for positive and negative phases from 1000 pressure signals recorded at local ranges (<20 km) with scaled distance up to 8000 m/kg 1/3 . Additionally, the measured waveform parameters showed large variation with respect to observing distances indicating the effects of atmospheric propagation. In this study, a second-order polynomial model was used in a least-squares regression to account for those propagation effects and to improve data fitting. In addition to model parameters for waveform features, we also determined range-dependent model uncertainties based on data variance. The model uncertainty represents the prediction error of our models and can be critical to evaluating the uncertainty of yield estimate.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1982

Solar flare energetics

A review is presented regarding the current knowledge of the energetics of solar flares. Recent observations by the Solar Maximum Mission and by balloon-borne instrumentation indicate that the flare hard X-ray emission arises from nonthermal bremsstrahlung - the collisions of fast electrons into a cold ambient medium (Ee much greater than kT). Under this interpretation, most of the energy released for many flares is initially contained in the energetic electrons. These electrons can produce most of the observed flare phenomena via interactions with the solar atmosphere. In large flares a shock wave may result from explosive heating of the solar atmosphere by these electrons. This shock wave can accelerate nuclei to relativistic energies. It is argued that recent SMM observations of fast gamma-ray bursts are consistent with this picture of shock acceleration of nuclei.

Lin, R. P.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Cratering on Titan: A Pre-Cassini Perspective

The NASA-ESA Cassini mission, comprising a formidably instrumented orbiter and parachute-borne probe to be launched this October, promises to reveal a crater population on Titan that has been heretofore hidden by atmospheric haze. This population on the largest remaining unexplored surface in the solar system will be invaluable in comparative planetological studies, since it introduces evidence of the atmospheric effects of cratering on an icy satellite. Here, I highlight some impact features we may hope to find and could devote some modeling effort toward. Titan in a Nutshell: Radius= 2575 km. Density= 1880 kg/cubic m consistent with rock-ice composition. Surface pressure = 1.5 bar. Surface gravity = 1.35 m/square s Atmosphere -94% N2 6% CH, Surface temperature = 94K Tropopause temperature = 70K at 40 km alt. Probable liquid hydrocarbon deposits exist on or near the surface.Titan in a Nutshell: Radius= 2575 km. Density= 1880 kg/cubic m consistent with rock-ice composition. Surface pressure = 1.5 bar. Surface gravity = 1.35 m/square s; Atmosphere about 94% N2 6% CH, Surface temperature = 94K Tropopause temperature = 70K at 40 km alt. Probable liquid hydrocarbon deposits exist on or near the surface. Titan is comparable to Callisto and Ganymede for strength/gravity, Mars/Earth/Venus for atmospheric interaction, and Hyperion, Rhea, and Iapetus for impactor distribution. The leading/trailing asymmetry of crater density from heliocentric impactors is expected to be about 5-6, in the absence of resurfacing. Any Saturnocentric impactor population is likely to alter this. In particular the impact disruption of Hyperion is noted; because of the 3:4 orbital resonance with Titan, fragments from the proto-Hyperion breakup would have rapidly accreted onto Titan. Titan's resurfacing history is of course unknown. The disruption of impactors into fragments that individually create small craters is expected to occur. A crude estimate suggests a maximum separation of about 2 km (compared with 4 km on Venus, or 0.5 km on Earth). Crater chains are unlikely on Titan, since impactors must pass close enough to Saturn to be tidally disrupted; as a result, they would suffer aerodynamic disruption. Crater counting on adjacent satellites gives densities of about 200 per 10 (exp 6) square km for 20-km-diameter craters. However, the presence of a thick atmosphere leads to atmospheric shielding, depleting the relative abundance of small craters. This has been evaluated by models, and the relative abundance of small craters may be due to a diagnostic atmospheric collapse. A number of radar-dark "splotches" have been detected on Venus; these have been attributed to the interaction of the surface with the atmospheric shockwave produced by the Tunguska-like explosion of a bolide in the atmosphere. Simple analogy suggests that similar features might occur on Titan, but the shocked mass density (which controls the momentum coupling between the surface and the shockwave) of Titan's cold N2 atmosphere is about 20x smaller than that of Venus's hot CO2 atmosphere. Unless ice is much more easily turned to rubble than is rock, such features seem less probable on Titan. When the energy deposited by an impact forms a fireball with an equilibrate greater than one scale height, the fireball expands upward and can distribute ejecta. on ballistic exoatmospheric trajectories. On Venus this process is believed to be responsible for the parabolic features; the interaction of various-sized particles falling through the atmosphere with the zonal wind field winnows the particles to form a parabolic deposit. Although such a process is possible on Titan, the large scale height at higher altitudes would make it more difficult. Comparison with craters on other icy satellites suggests that craters on Titan will be fairly shallow (depth/diameter about 0.1) and craters greater than 10 km in diameter will have central peaks or domed bases, perhaps with central pits. The formation of ejecta. blankets may involve the atmosphere in a significant way, both by restraining the expansion of the ejecta cloud and by influencing the thermal history of the ejecta. Compared with Venus, Titan's atmosphere will chill an impact melt somewhat quickly, so the long ejecta flows seen on Venus seem less likely, detailed modeling needs to be performed to determine the impact melt production. Crater topography on Titan may be highlighted by the influence of liquids forming crater lakes. Craters with central peaks will typically form ring-shaped lakes, although horseshoe-shaped takes may be common; domed craters with central pits may even form bullseye lakes with islands with central ponds. If liquids have covered a substantial part of Titan's surface for a substantial period, hydroblemes and tsunami deposits may be common.

Lorenz, R. D.↗