SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Web tools”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 901 records · Page 50

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS2015

Unified User Interface to Support Effective and Intuitive Data Discovery, Dissemination, and Analysis at NASA GES DISC

Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) has been providing access to scientific data sets since 1990s. Beginning as one of the first Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) archive centers, GES DISC has evolved to offer a wide range of science-enabling services. With a growing understanding of needs and goals of its science users, GES DISC continues to improve and expand on its broad set of data discovery and access tools, sub-setting services, and visualization tools. Nonetheless, the multitude of the available tools, a partial overlap of functionality, and independent and uncoupled interfaces employed by these tools often leave the end users confused as of what tools or services are the most appropriate for a task at hand. As a result, some the services remain underutilized or largely unknown to the users, significantly reducing the availability of the data and leading to a great loss of scientific productivity. In order to improve the accessibility of GES DISC tools and services, we have designed and implemented UUI, the Unified User Interface. UUI seeks to provide a simple, unified, and intuitive one-stop shop experience for the key services available at GES DISC, including sub-setting (Simple Subset Wizard), granule file search (Mirador), plotting (Giovanni), and other services. In this poster, we will discuss the main lessons, obstacles, and insights encountered while designing the UUI experience. We will also present the architecture and technology behind UUI, including NodeJS, Angular, and Mongo DB, as well as speculate on the future of the tool at GES DISC as well as in a broader context of the Space Science Informatics.

web portal↗

NASA NTRS2010

GLobal Integrated Design Environment (GLIDE): A Concurrent Engineering Application

The GLobal Integrated Design Environment (GLIDE) is a client-server software application purpose-built to mitigate issues associated with real time data sharing in concurrent engineering environments and to facilitate discipline-to-discipline interaction between multiple engineers and researchers. GLIDE is implemented in multiple programming languages utilizing standardized web protocols to enable secure parameter data sharing between engineers and researchers across the Internet in closed and/or widely distributed working environments. A well defined, HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) based Application Programming Interface (API) to the GLIDE client/server environment enables users to interact with GLIDE, and each other, within common and familiar tools. One such common tool, Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Corporation), paired with its add-in API for GLIDE, is discussed in this paper. The top-level examples given demonstrate how this interface improves the efficiency of the design process of a concurrent engineering study while reducing potential errors associated with manually sharing information between study participants.

McGuire, Melissa L.↗

DOE OSTI2021

Chapter 18: Learning and Tracking Ad Hoc Fiducial Markers in Spatial Augmented Reality

We describe a spatial augmented reality system with a tangible user interface used to control computer simulations of complex systems. In spatial augmented reality, the user’s physical space is augmented with projected imagery, blending real objects with projected information, and a tangible user interface enables users to manipulate physical objects as controllers for interactive visualizations. Our system learns ad hoc objects in the user’s environment as fiducial markers (i.e., objects that are visually recognized and tracked). When combined with simulation and visualization tools, these interfaces allow the user to control simulations or ensembles of simulations via physical objects using apt metaphors. While other research has leveraged the use of depth cameras, our system enables the use of standard cameras in readily available smartphones and webcams and has an implementation that runs completely in JavaScript in the web browser. We discuss the prerequisite object-recognition requirements for such tangible user interfaces and describe computer-vision and machine-learning algorithms meeting those requirements. We conclude by presenting example applications, which are also available online.

energy distribution↗

DOE OSTI2024

ScholarGuard

The ScholarGuard framework aims to address the gap in archiving and preservation efforts for scholarly artifacts beyond traditional research papers, such as software source code, datasets, presentation slides, workflows, protocols, videos, and more. It introduces a prototype system designed to automatically track researchers' outputs across various scholarly productivity portals on the open web, including platforms like GitHub, Slideshare, Figshare, and Wikipedia. The system detects the availability of new scholarly artifacts and applies modern web archiving technology to create a durable archival record, including high-level metadata for each artifact. This metadata is displayed within the system, linking both to the live version and the archived version of the resource, ensuring long-term accessibility and preservation of diverse research outputs. The software serves as a critical tool for preserving the broader spectrum of scholarly contributions, facilitating visibility, searchability, and long-term access to research artifacts beyond the traditional scope of journal publications.

Balakireva, Lyudmila↗

NASA NTRS2021

HAPI: An API Standard for Accessing Heliophysics Time Series Data

Heliophysics data analysis often involves combining diverse science measurements, many of them captured as time series. Although there are now only a few commonly used data file formats, the diversity in mechanisms for automated access to and aggregation of such data holdings can make analysis that requires intercomparison of data from multiple data providers difficult. The Heliophysics Application Programmer's Interface (HAPI) is a recently developed standard for accessing distributed time series data to increase interoperability. The HAPI specification is based on the common elements of existing data services, and it standardizes the two main parts of a data service: the request interface and the response data structures. The interface is based on the REpresentational State Transfer (REST) or RESTful architecture style, and the HAPI specification defines five required REST endpoints. Data are returned via a streaming format that hides file boundaries; the metadata is detailed enough for the content to be scientifically useful, e.g., plotted with appropriate axes layout, units, and labels. Multiple mature HAPI-related open-source projects offer server-side implementation tools and client-side libraries for reading HAPI data in multiple languages (IDL, Java, MATLAB, and Python). Multiple data providers in the US and Europe have added HAPI access alongside their existing interfaces. Based on this experience, data can be served via HAPI with little or no information loss compared to similar existing web interfaces. Finally, HAPI has been recommended as a COSPAR standard for time series data delivery.

Robert S. Weigel↗

NASA NTRS2003

Developing A Web-based User Interface for Semantic Information Retrieval

While there are now a number of languages and frameworks that enable computer-based systems to search stored data semantically, the optimal design for effective user interfaces for such systems is still uncle ar. Such interfaces should mask unnecessary query detail from users, yet still allow them to build queries of arbitrary complexity without significant restrictions. We developed a user interface supporting s emantic query generation for Semanticorganizer, a tool used by scient ists and engineers at NASA to construct networks of knowledge and dat a. Through this interface users can select node types, node attribute s and node links to build ad-hoc semantic queries for searching the S emanticOrganizer network.

Berrios, Daniel C.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Evolution of International Space Station Program Safety Review Processes and Tools

The International Space Station Program at NASA is constantly seeking to improve the processes and systems that support safe space operations. To that end, the ISS Program decided to upgrade their Safety and Hazard data systems with 3 goals: make safety and hazard data more accessible; better support the interconnection of different types of safety data; and increase the efficiency (and compliance) of safety-related processes. These goals are accomplished by moving data into a web-based structured data system that includes strong process support and supports integration with other information systems. Along with the data systems, ISS is evolving its submission requirements and safety process requirements to support the improved model. In contrast to existing operations (where paper processes and electronic file repositories are used for safety data management) the web-based solution provides the program with dramatically faster access to records, the ability to search for and reference specific data within records, reduced workload for hazard updates and approval, and process support including digital signatures and controlled record workflow. In addition, integration with other key data systems provides assistance with assessments of flight readiness, more efficient review and approval of operational controls and better tracking of international safety certifications. This approach will also provide new opportunities to streamline the sharing of data with ISS international partners while maintaining compliance with applicable laws and respecting restrictions on proprietary data. One goal of this paper is to outline the approach taken by the ISS Progrm to determine requirements for the new system and to devise a practical and efficient implementation strategy. From conception through implementation, ISS and NASA partners utilized a user-centered software development approach focused on user research and iterative design methods. The user-centered approach used on the new ISS hazard system utilized focused user research and iterative design methods employed by the Human Computer Interaction Group at NASA Ames Research Center. Particularly, the approach emphasized the reduction of workload associated with document and data management activities so more resources can be allocated to the operational use of data in problem solving, safety analysis, and recurrence control. The methods and techniques used to understand existing processes and systems, to recognize opportunities for improvement, and to design and review improvements are described with the intent that similar techniques can be employed elsewhere in safety operations. A second goal of this paper is to provide and overview of the web-based data system implemented by ISS. The software selected for the ISS hazard systemMission Assurance System (MAS)is a NASA-customized vairant of the open source software project Bugzilla. The origin and history of MAS as a NASA software project and the rationale for (and advantages of) using open-source software are documented elsewhere (Green, et al., 2009).

Ratterman, Christian D.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Automated Euler and Navier-Stokes Database Generation for a Glide-Back Booster

The past two decades have seen a sustained increase in the use of high fidelity Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in basic research, aircraft design, and the analysis of post-design issues. As the fidelity of a CFD method increases, the number of cases that can be readily and affordably computed greatly diminishes. However, computer speeds now exceed 2 GHz, hundreds of processors are currently available and more affordable, and advances in parallel CFD algorithms scale more readily with large numbers of processors. All of these factors make it feasible to compute thousands of high fidelity cases. However, there still remains the overwhelming task of monitoring the solution process. This paper presents an approach to automate the CFD solution process. A new software tool, AeroDB, is used to compute thousands of Euler and Navier-Stokes solutions for a 2nd generation glide-back booster in one week. The solution process exploits a common job-submission grid environment, the NASA Information Power Grid (IPG), using 13 computers located at 4 different geographical sites. Process automation and web-based access to a MySql database greatly reduces the user workload, removing much of the tedium and tendency for user input errors. The AeroDB framework is shown. The user submits/deletes jobs, monitors AeroDB's progress, and retrieves data and plots via a web portal. Once a job is in the database, a job launcher uses an IPG resource broker to decide which computers are best suited to run the job. Job/code requirements, the number of CPUs free on a remote system, and queue lengths are some of the parameters the broker takes into account. The Globus software provides secure services for user authentication, remote shell execution, and secure file transfers over an open network. AeroDB automatically decides when a job is completed. Currently, the Cart3D unstructured flow solver is used for the Euler equations, and the Overflow structured overset flow solver is used for the Navier-Stokes equations. Other codes can be readily included into the AeroDB framework.

Chaderjian, Neal M.↗

NASA NTRS2013

flexplan: Mission Planning System for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

flexplan is a mission planning and scheduling (MPS) tool that uses soft algorithms to define mission scheduling rules and constraints. This allows the operator to configure the tool for any mission without the need to modify or recompile code. In addition, flexplan uses an ID system to track every output on the schedule to the input from which it was generated. This allows flexplan to receive feedback as the schedules are executed, and update the status of all activities in a Web-based client. flexplan outputs include various planning reports, stored command loads for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), ephemeris loads, and pass scripts for automation.

Barnoy, Assaf↗

NASA NTRS2013

STS Case Study Development Support

The Shuttle Case Study Collection (SCSC) has been developed using lessons learned documented by NASA engineers, analysts, and contractors. The SCSC provides educators with a new tool to teach real-world engineering processes with the goal of providing unique educational materials that enhance critical thinking, decision-making and problem-solving skills. During this third phase of the project, responsibilities included: the revision of the Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) source code to ensure all pages follow World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards, and the addition and edition of website content, including text, documents, and images. Basic HTML knowledge was required, as was basic knowledge of photo editing software, and training to learn how to use NASA's Content Management System for website design. The outcome of this project was its release to the public.

Rosa de Jesus, Dan A.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Data Interconnection Exploration

This project involves innovating the way the Quality Assurance organization at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) tracks the receiving inspection of JPL Critical Items (JCI) procured from suppliers. The Quality Assurance organization uses a Microsoft Access based front-end to enter items into an inspection queue. The current design has grown to be much more than was expected when the inspection queue system was created in 2007. The goal is to migrate to a web based solution that will allow the handling of more data, multiple input interfaces, and customizable display options. This has been achieved by implementing a divided tables scheme, the use of ColdFusion programming language, and the usage of Web 2.0 technologies such as AJAX and jQuery. These updates will allow for future expansion as well as the standardization of inspection queues for the Quality Assurance organization. When engineers and scientists order flight hardware, they cannot use it straight away. After a spacecraft or a satellite has been launched, it will be impossible to repair; therefore, the parts used must be inspected to make sure they are operating correctly and within the required specifications. The task of inspecting these JPL Critical Items (JCI) falls on the Quality Assurance organization. One of the tools the receiving inspection group uses is a database to maintain a queue of inspections that need to be done and of inspections that have been completed. The current Access interface has worked well but increased amounts of data, multiple input interfaces, and changes to how data is handled have made it necessary to seek a new way of organizing items for inspection. In addition, the different inspection groups have recently been merged and each has different ways of keeping track of inspection information. The ultimate goal is for the new group to have one shared inspection queue and website. To achieve this goal, I have been working with Ian Luczon of Procurement Quality Assurance and 3 Myers Hawkins, another intern, to not only create the new queue for receiving inspection but also a central web portal for the newly combined inspection group.

flight hardware↗

NASA NTRS2006

The Virtual Space Physics Observatory: Quick Access to Data and Tools

The Virtual Space Physics Observatory (VSPO; see http://vspo.gsfc.nasa.gov) has grown to provide a way to find and access about 375 data products and services from over 100 spacecraft/observatories in space and solar physics. The datasets are mainly chosen to be the most requested, and include most of the publicly available data products from operating NASA Heliophysics spacecraft as well as from solar observatories measuring across the frequency spectrum. Service links include a "quick orbits" page that uses SSCWeb Web Services to provide a rapid answer to questions such as "What spacecraft were in orbit in July 1992?" and "Where were Geotail, Cluster, and Polar on 2 June 2001?" These queries are linked back to the data search page. The VSPO interface provides many ways of looking for data based on terms used in a registry of resources using the SPASE Data Model that will be the standard for Heliophysics Virtual Observatories. VSPO itself is accessible via an API that allows other applications to use it as a Web Service; this has been implemented in one instance using the ViSBARD visualization program. The VSPO will become part of the Space Physics Data Facility, and will continue to expand its access to data. A challenge for all VOs will be to provide uniform access to data at the variable level, and we will be addressing this question in a number of ways.

Cornwell, Carl↗

DOE OSTI2024

FatPlants: a comprehensive information system for lipid-related genes and metabolic pathways in plants

Abstract FatPlants, an open-access, web-based database, consolidates data, annotations, analysis results, and visualizations of lipid-related genes, proteins, and metabolic pathways in plants. Serving as a minable resource, FatPlants offers a user-friendly interface for facilitating studies into the regulation of plant lipid metabolism and supporting breeding efforts aimed at increasing crop oil content. This web resource, developed using data derived from our own research, curated from public resources, and gleaned from academic literature, comprises information on known fatty-acid-related proteins, genes, and pathways in multiple plants, with an emphasis on Glycine max, Arabidopsis thaliana, and Camelina sativa. Furthermore, the platform includes machine-learning based methods and navigation tools designed to aid in characterizing metabolic pathways and protein interactions. Comprehensive gene and protein information cards, a Basic Local Alignment Search Tool search function, similar structure search capacities from AphaFold, and ChatGPT-based query for protein information are additional features. Database URL: https://www.fatplants.net/

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS2019

Optical Communication Link Atmospheric Attenuation Model

The Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Center for Networking, Integration, and Communications (SCENIC) user interface, which provides web accessible space mission simulation and communication system analysis capabilities using verified and validated analysis algorithms, can execute analyses including, but not limited to, line-of-sight, orbit propagation, and dynamic link budget calculations between sets of missions and/or assets. SCENIC's purpose is to provide NASA civil servants and contractors a user-friendly tool, integrated with model data, that can simulate and analyze a range of space mission architectures without the need for repeated and redundant modeling. Given the abundance and further future development of free space optical (FSO) communication channels within modern space infrastructure, the availability of a reliable optical link analysis capability is crucial for SCENIC users. The efforts outlined in this paper aim to provide a model for atmospheric attenuation of FSO communication links, both due to absorption/scattering and turbulence, to increase the accuracy of SCENIC's optical link assessment capabilities. A previous model existed for optical absorption/scattering within the SCaN Link Budget Tool, but it was not location specific for the Earth ground-based nodes, nor was the model optimized for run-time. The new model utilizes years of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) visibility data from ground station locations around the world. Visibility, along with the wavelength of the optical signal, are input parameters to calculate the optical specific attenuation, which is a parameter in the calculation of the slant-path attenuation. A final FSO atmospheric attenuation value is comprised of the absorption/scattering attenuation and the turbulence attenuation. A run-time efficient algorithm for the model was then developed and programmed in MATLAB ® . Due to the simple model and vectorization possible in MATLAB, the algorithm has an average run-time of less than one fourth of the run-time of the previous implementation.

Jack L Green↗

NASA NTRS2019

Providing Data Access and Analysis Capabilities to SERVIR’s Data-Sparse Regions

In developing regions of the world, the communications infrastructure pose enormous challenges for using Earth observation data. Limited internet bandwidth along with the high costs make it almost impossible to process and extract zonal statistics over large periods of time for even small geographic areas. In such cases, downloading daily rainfall data or dekadal series of NDVI data would take days and consume all the bandwidth allocated to an organization (for reference, internet connections in Niger would cost thousands of dollars per month at a maximum - and unreliable - bandwidth of just 10 Mbps). Running crop models or hydrological models typically require several years of historic data over the area of interest (AOI). In some cases, these AOIs are relatively small compared to the footprint of individual earth observation granules. Hence, systems that let the stakeholders subset the data to download to a user specified area, or even submit processing requests that let them download small result files for the AOI become critical. The SERVIR program has developed a tool to provide this type of access to help decision makers in developing regions use long time series of adjusted rainfall data (CHIRPS), NDVI values, seasonal weather forecasts, evaporative stress indices and others in a very efficient manner. This system, named ClimateSERV (https://climateserv.servirglobal.net) ingests the datasets in an automated fashion and allows interactive access (through a web application), or automated access through a simple API that developers can quickly incorporate in independent applications. This way, the extraction of daily averages of rainfall over a 50 square Km area through 30 years of archived data takes only a few seconds to process, and the results can be presented on an online chart or downloaded in a comma separated file that's only a few Kb.

Ashmall, William↗

DOE OSTI2020

Distributed Energy Resource Cybersecurity Framework Best Practices

Current cybersecurity challenges for distributed energy resources (DERs) stem from the integration of various systems and the cyber-physical security concerns they bring. Although frameworks exist for industrial control systems and other energy systems, a simple guided tool that can prioritize recommended actions for controls specific to DERs is lacking. Additionally, the novelty of the field has made it difficult to create a standardized procedure for DERs with cybersecurity in mind. In response to this critical need to address cybersecurity risk management, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has developed a framework and accompanying web application known as the Distributed Energy Resources Cybersecurity Framework (DERCF) (Powell, 2019). A brief overview of the DERCF can be found in Section 1.2. This document provides a guide to cybersecurity best practices identified by technical research and site visits where the framework was used to assess the cybersecurity posture of DER systems.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Increasing Accessibility of the Runs-on-Request Metadata, Data, and Services at the Community Coordinated Modeling Center

Space weather models are essential to our ability to understand and predict space weather events. For over 20 years, the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC, https://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov) has been providing transformative tools and platforms for hosting space weather models and associated services, free and open to anyone interested in studying space weather. Runs-on-Request system (ROR) is one of the popular services at CCMC that permits researchers and other end-users to exercise cutting-edge hosted heliophysics and space weather models using a simple web interface, as well as collaborate on an extensive and continuously growing archive of over 28,000 model run results. Similar to other projects at CCMC, ROR has grown as a community project that strives to be open and transparent to its users. In this poster, we discuss some of our recent efforts to further expose ROR data, metadata, and services to the end users through both custom and community-developed access protocols. We also discuss how in-house science support provided by the CCMC team plays a paramount role in making ROR data and services truly accessible by the community.

Maksym Petrenko↗

NASA NTRS2002

Science Planning for Multi-Spacecraft Coordinated Observations

Fulfilling the promise of an era of great observatories, NASA now has more than three space-based astronomical telescopes operating in different wavebands. This situation provides astronomers with a unique opportunity to simultaneously observe with multiple observatories. Yet scheduling multiple observatories simultaneously is highly inefficient when compared to single observatory observations. Thus, programs using multiple observatories are limited not due to scientific restrictions, but due to operational inefficiencies. Each year, a number of proposals are accepted by a space-based observatory for conduction of astronomical observations and gathering of science data for the study of galactic events. Since each space-based observatory uses a set of instruments designed to operate in specific energy regions, most such studies are conducted by submitting observation proposals to multiple observatories, with requests to coordinate among themselves. To assure that the proposed observations can be scheduled, each observatory's staff has to check that the observations are valid and meet all the constraints for their own observatory; in addition, they have to verify that the observations satisfy the constraints of the other observatories. Thus, coordinated observations require painstaking manual collaboration among the observatory staff at each observatory. In order to exploit new paradigms for observatory operation, the Goddard Space Flight Center's Advanced Architectures and Automation Branch has developed a prototype tool called the Visual Observation Layout Tool (VOLT). The main objective of VOLT is to provide a visual tool to automate the science planning of coordinated observations for multiple spacecraft, as well as to increase the scheduling probability of observations. However, VOLT is also useful for single observatory planning to optimize observatory control. Three space-based missions are interested in using VOLT (the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer). The VOLT team members have collaborated with these missions to gather requirements and obtain feedback on their mission planning processes. VOLT has been developed as a cross-platform Java client application for use by scientists and observatory science planning staff to visualize scheduling options and constraints. It also supports a lightweight graphical user interface for remote viewing via a Web front end. Additionally, it uniquely supports the ability to interact with multiple, diverse scheduling packages in order to determine windows of opportunity for observations and visually portray the constraints of each observation request. VOLT enables science data capture scenarios which are currently either impossible, or which require extensive time and manpower to coordinate amongst multiple observatories. it supports early detection of planning conflicts by generating coordinated solutions based on observatory schedulability and constraints. The project development approach has included frequent prototype demonstrations to our interested missions to obtain feedback after each release of the software. We will present an overview of our lessons learned in infusing the VOLT tool into the operations of the missions we have collaborated with and a brief demonstration of the software.

Maks, Lori↗