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At least 901 records · Page 50
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NASA NTRS1991

Carbon and nitrogen abundances in the BN supergiant HD 93840, and their implications for normal Galactic supergiants

It is demonstrated how carbon and nitrogen abundances of luminous B stars can be determined by a combined analysis of their UV photospheric and wind lines. It is shown that HD 93840 has nearly the same temperature and surface gravity as the normal B1 Ib star Zeta Per. These two stars are compared on the basis of their UV photospheric silicon spectra and the differences in their photospheric CNO and metallic lines are discussed. A quantitative comparison between the wind profiles of the two stars is made. A simple model for the compositions of both atmospheres is used to derive the fraction of material in each atmosphere which has undergone CNO processing. It is argued that the enriched material must have resided in a nuclear burning core for only a very short time. Best estimates of 0.09 + or - 0.07 and 0.90 + or - 0.1 are made for the carbon abundances relative to cosmic ones for HD 93840 and Zeta Per, respectively.

Massa, D.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Keyhole and weld shapes for plasma arc welding under normal and zero gravity

A first order study of the interfacial (keyhole) shape between a penetrating argon plasma arc jet and a stationary liquid metal weld pool is presented. The interface is determined using the Young-Laplace equation by assuming that the plasma jet behaves as a one-dimensional ideal gas flow and by neglecting flow within the weld pool. The solution for the keyhole shape allows an approximate determination of the liquid-solid metal phase boundary location based on the assumption that the liquid melt is a stagnant thermal boundary layer. Parametric studies examine the effect of plasma mass flow rate, initial plasma enthalpy, liquid metal surface tension, and jet shear on weldment shape under both normal and zero gravity. Among the more important findings of this study is that keyhole and weld geometries are minimally affected by gravity, suggesting that data gathered under gravity can be used in planning in-space welding.

Keanini, R. G.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A picosecond accuracy relativistic VLBI model via Fermi normal coordinates

Fermi normal coordinates are used to construct transformations relating solar system barycentric coordinates to local inertial geocentric coordinates. Relativistic corrections to terrestrial VLBI measurements are calculated, and this formalism is developed to include corrections needed for picosecond accuracy. A calculation of photon time delay which includes effects arising from the motion of gravitational sources is given.

Shahid-Saless, Bahman↗
NASA NTRS1991

Mean and inter-year variation of growing-season normalized difference vegetation index for the Sahel 1981-1989

Images are presented that show the mean and coefficient of variation of nine years (1981-1989) of NOAA AVHRR normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data for the growing season (July-October) in Africa, north of the equator. The variation in the growing season NDVI is represented by the coefficient of variation image that shows the large variation in the Sahelian growing season between years. It is concluded that these images illustrate some aspects of the perspective being brought to regional and continental scale processes by coarse resolution satellite sensors and the potential of these sensors to provide consistent, long-term datasets.

Tucker, C. J.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The effect of water vapour on the normalized difference vegetation index derived for the Sahelian region from NOAA AVHRR data

The near-infrared channel of the NOAA advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) contains a water vapor absorption band that affects the determination of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Daily and seasonal variations in atmospheric water vapor within the Sahel are shown to affect the use of the NDVI for the estimation of primary production. This water vapor effect is quantified for the Sahel by radiative transfer modeling and empirically using observations made in Mali in 1986.

Justice, Christopher O.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Wake interference behind two flat plates normal to the flow - A finite-element study

A finite-element model of the Navier-Stokes equations is used for numerical simulation of flow past two normal flat plates arranged side by side at Reynolds number 80 and 160. The results from this simulation indicate that when the gap between the plates is twice the width of a single plate, the individual wakes of the plates behave independently, with the antiphase vortex shedding being dominant. At smaller gap sizes, the in-phase vortex shedding, with strong wake interaction, is favored. The gap flow in those cases becomes biased, with one of the wakes engulfing the other. The direction of the biased flow was found to be switching at irregular intervals, with the time histories of the indicative flow parameters and their power spectra resembling those of a chaotic system.

Behr, M.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Flares observed by the normal incidence X-ray telescope on 1989 September 11

Two solar flare events have been observed in soft X-rays during a sounding-rocket flight of the Normal-Incidence X-ray Telescope payload on September 11, 1989. The flare in X-rays involves a single bright loop crossing the neutral line, and having its footpoints at the southern ends of the ribbons; this loop accounts for more than 66 percent of the emission. Within the remainder of each of the flare ribbons, a complex coronal structure is also observed to be interacting with the main flare loop. A second event, in an active region at the limb, has a strong correlation with H-alpha images obtained at the same time. This indicates the coexistence, and indeed the close proximity, of coronal and chromospheric temperature material. Interpretations of this phenomenon are discussed.

Herant, M.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Normal-incidence soft X-ray telescopes

Photos obtained during 5 min of observation time from the flight of a 25-cm-diameter normal-incidence soft-X-ray (63.5 A) telescope on September 11, 1989, are analyzed, and the data are compared to the results expected from tests of the mirror surfaces. These tests cover a range of spatial periods from 25 cm to 1 A. The photos demonstrate a resolution close to the photon shot-noise limit and a reduction in the scattering of the multilayer mirror compared to a single surface for scattering angles above 1 arcmin, corrresponding to surface irregularities with spatial periods below 10 microns. These results are used to predict the possible performance of future telescopes. Sounding rocket observations might be able to reach a resolution around 0.1 arcsec.

Spiller, Eberhard↗
NASA NTRS1991

Elemental abundance analyses with DAO spectrograms. VII - The late normal B stars Pi Ceti, 134 Tauri, 21 Aquilae, and Nu Capricorni and the use of Reticon spectra

This paper presents elemental abundance analyses of sharp-lined normal late B stars. These stars exhibit mostly near-solar abundances, but each star also shows a few abundances which are a factor of 2 less than solar. The coadded photographic spectrograms are supplemented with Reticon data. A comparison of 261 equivalent widths on 2.4 A/mm spectra of sharp-lined B and A stars shows that the Reticon equivalent widths are about 95 percent of the coadded equivalent mean. The H-gamma profiles of the coadded and Reticon spectra for eight sharp-lined stars show generally good agreement. The generally high quality of the coadded data produced from 10 or more spectrograms is confirmed using the REDUCE graphics-oriented computed reduction code. For five stars, metal lines which fall in the gap between the U and V plates are analyzed using Reticon data.

Adelman, Saul J.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Analysis of normalized difference and surface temperature observations over southeastern Australia

Relations between radiative surface temperature (TR) and visible and near-IR reflectances expressed as the normalized difference (ND) from a Landsat Thematic Mapper scene are analyzed to examine the heat balance of agriculture and native evergreen forests in southeastern Australia. Factors determining the residual scatter about, and slope of, the TR/ND relationships were analyzed using a coupled two-layer soil-vegetation model of the surface heat balance. Inverse linear relationships were observed between TR and ND for agriculture, but not for forests. This was due to a wide range of ND and TR values in agricultural regions caused by wide variations in fractional vegetation cover.

Smith, R. C. G.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Interactive stars - Normal and compact stars in close binaries

The missions planned for the 1990's will greatly expand the knowledge of close binary systems and the physical phenomena that can be studied in a member of a close binary, from stellar active regions to the highest density black hole candidates known. These systems and the phenomena are reviewed with reference to major outstanding questions, the expected capability to answer them, and the expansion of capability that would be necessary. A 'super' XMM or LAMAR experiment with larger area, but similar moderate energy resolution and moderate spatial resolution, could detect 0.1 millisecond bursts from Cyg X-1 and 1 millisecond bursts in quiescent black hole candidates, measure Doppler and gravitational energy shifts in the iron line features for black holes and neutron stars. It would also identify these objects in galaxies a few Mpc away and open the way for evolution studies. A somewhat less ambitious goal would be high energy resolution of about the area of LAMAR to make full use of the information in the emission lines in both normal and compact binaries.

Swank, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Syntactic error modeling and scoring normalization in speech recognition

The objective was to develop the speech recognition system to be able to detect speech which is pronounced incorrectly, given that the text of the spoken speech is known to the recognizer. Research was performed in the following areas: (1) syntactic error modeling; (2) score normalization; and (3) phoneme error modeling. The study into the types of errors that a reader makes will provide the basis for creating tests which will approximate the use of the system in the real world. NASA-Johnson will develop this technology into a 'Literacy Tutor' in order to bring innovative concepts to the task of teaching adults to read.

Olorenshaw, Lex↗
NASA NTRS1991

Phenomenological theory of the normal and superconductive states of Cu-O and Bi-O metals

The universal normal state anomalies in the CuO metals follow from a marginal Fermi liquid hypothesis: there exists a contribution to the polarizability over most of momentum space proportional to omega/T for omega/T much less than 1 and constant thereafter up to a cutoff omega(sub c). Using the same excitation spectrum, the properties of the superconductive state were calculated. The right order of T(sub c) can be obtained, the zero temperature gap, 2 delta (0)/T(sub c) and the nuclear relaxation rate near T(sub c). The possible microscopic physics leading to the marginal Fermi liquid hypothesis is discussed.

Varma, C. M.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Correlation of normal and superconducting properties and unified approach to the description of high Tc oxides

We present a unified approach based on the Fermi liquid picture which allows us to describe the normal as well as the superconducting properties of the doped cuprates. The theory that is presented is for the doped compounds which are metallic. One can distinguish two interrelated, but nevertheless, different directions in the physics of high T(sub c): one involving the problem of carrier doping and the transition to the metallic state, and the second being the description of the metallic state. It is important that this metallic phase undergoes the transition into the superconducting state; as a result, our analysis is directly related to the origin of high T(sub c). We are using a quasi-2D Fermi liquid model to estimate the fundamental parameters of these very interesting materials. We find that this description is able to describe these materials and also that phonons and plasmons play a major role in the mechanism of high T(sub c).

Kresin, V. Z.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Discrete ordinate solution of the radiative transfer equation in the 'polarization normal wave representation'

The transfer equations for normal waves in finite, inhomogeneous and plane-parallel magnetoactive media are solved using the discrete ordinate method. The physical process of absorption, emission, and multiple scattering are accounted for, and the medium may be forced both at the top and bottom boundary by anisotropic radiation as well as by internal anisotropic sources. The computational procedure is numerically stable for arbitrarily large optical depths, and the computer time is independent of optical thickness.

Kylling, A.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Vegetation canopy PAR absorptance and the normalized difference vegetation index - An assessment using the SAIL model

Relationships are studied between the normalized-difference vegetation index (NDVI) and absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (APAR) in a vegetation canopy. The SAIL model of bidirectional canopy radiative transfer is employed to compare NDVI measurements that are instantaneous with diurnally integrated canopy APAR capacity. The NDVI measurements - taken at solar-zenith angles of more than 60 deg and sensor views of less than 40 deg from nadir - give stable near-linear estimates of diurnal APAR capacity. Discrepancies in the relations between APAR and NDVI are associated with variations in the optical properties of the canopy and with background spectral reflectance. The results are significant for the practical use of these remote sensing techniques but suggest that instantaneous observations can be used to characterize the diurnally integrated APAR in vegetation canopies.

Goward, Samuel N.↗