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At least 937 records · Page 52

Directional Electrostatic Accretion Process Employing Acoustic Droplet Formation

The present invention is directed to an apparatus for manufacturing a free standing solid metal part. In the present invention, metal droplets are ejected in a nozzleless fashion from a free surface pool of molten metal by applying focused acoustic radiation pressure. The acoustic radiation pressure is produced by high intensity acoustic tone bursts emitted from an acoustic source positioned at the bottom of the pool which directs the acoustic energy at the pool surface. The metal droplets are electrostatically charged so their trajectory can be controlled by electric fields that guide the droplets to predetermined points on a target. The droplets impinge upon the target and solidify with the target material. The accretion of the electrostatically directed solidified droplets forms the free standing metal part.

Oeftering, Richard↗

Comparison of Columnar Water Vapor Measurements During The Fall 1997 ARM Intensive Observation Period: Solar Transmittance Methods

In the fall of 1997, during an Intensive Observation Period (IOP), the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program conducted a study of water vapor abundance measurement at its Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. Among a large number of instruments, four sun-tracking radiometers were present to measure the columnar water vapor (CWV). All four solar radiometers retrieve CWV by measuring total solar transmittance in the 0.94-gm water vapor absorption band and subtracting contributions due to Rayleigh, ozone and aerosol transmittances. The aerosol optical depth comparisons among the same four radiometers has been presented elsewhere (Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 17, 2725-2728, 1999). We have used three different methods to retrieve CWV. In a first round of comparison no attempt was made to standardize on the same radiative transfer model and its underlying water vapor spectroscopy. In the second round of comparison we used the same line-by-line code (which includes recently corrected H2O spectroscopy) to retrieve CAN from all four suntracking radiometers. This decreased the mean CWV by 8% or 13%. The spread of 8% in the solar radiometer results found when using the same model is an indication of the other-than-model uncertainties involved in determining CWV from solar transmittance measurements with current instrumentation.

Schmid, B.↗

Laser Technology

Amoco Laser Company, a subsidiary of Amoco Corporation, has developed microlasers for the commercial market based on a JPL concept for optical communications over interplanetary distances. Lasers emit narrow, intense beams of light or other radiation. The beams transmit communication signals, drill, cut or melt materials or remove diseased body tissue. The microlasers cover a broad portion of the spectrum, and performance is improved significantly. Current applications include medical instrumentation, color separation equipment, telecommunications, etc.

Source record↗

Measurement of Insertion Loss of an Acoustic Treatment in the Presence of Additional Uncorrelated Sound Sources

A method to intended for measurement of the insertion loss of an acoustic treatment applied to an aircraft fuselage in-situ is documented in this paper. Using this method, the performance of a treatment applied to a limited portion of an aircraft fuselage can be assessed even though the untreated fuselage also radiates into the cabin, corrupting the intensity measurement. This corrupting noise in the intensity measurement incoherent with the panel vibration of interest is removed by correlating the intensity to reference transducers such as accelerometers. Insertion loss of the acoustic treatments is estimated from the ratio of correlated intensity measurements with and without a treatment applied. In the case of turbulent boundary layer excitation of the fuselage, this technique can be used to assess the performance of noise control methods without requiring treatment of the entire fuselage. Several experimental studies and numerical simulations have been conducted, and results from three case studies are documented in this paper. Conclusions are drawn about the use of this method to study aircraft sidewall treatments.

Klos, Jacob↗

The Dynamics of the Atmospheric Radiation Environment at Aviation Altitudes

Single Event Effects vulnerability of on-board computers that regulate the: navigational, flight control, communication, and life support systems has become an issue in advanced modern aircraft, especially those that may be equipped with new technology devices in terabit memory banks (low voltage, nanometer feature size, gigabit integration). To address this concern, radiation spectrometers need to fly continually on a multitude of carriers over long periods of time so as to accumulate sufficient information that will broaden our understanding of the very dynamic and complex nature of the atmospheric radiation environment regarding: composition, spectral distribution, intensity, temporal variation, and spatial variation.

Stassinopoulos, Epaminondas G.↗

Potential Uses of Deep Space Cooling for Exploration Missions

Nearly all exploration missions envisioned by NASA provide the capability to view deep space and thus to reject heat to a very low temperature environment. Environmental sink temperatures approach as low as 4 Kelvin providing a natural capability to support separation and heat rejection processes that would otherwise be power and hardware intensive in terrestrial applications. For example, radiative heat transfer can be harnessed to cryogenically remove atmospheric contaminants such as carbon dioxide (CO2). Long duration differential temperatures on sunlit versus shadowed sides of the vehicle could be used to drive thermoelectric power generation. Rejection of heat from cryogenic propellant could avoid temperature increase thus avoiding the need to vent propellants. These potential uses of deep space cooling will be addressed in this paper with the benefits and practical considerations of such approaches.

Chambliss, Joseph↗

Potential Uses of Deep Space Cooling for Exploration Missions

Nearly all exploration missions envisioned by NASA provide the capability to view deep space and thus to reject heat to a very low temperature environment. Environmental sink temperatures approach as low as 4 Kelvin providing a natural capability to support separation and heat rejection processes that would otherwise be power and hardware intensive in terrestrial applications. For example, radiative heat transfer can be harnessed to cryogenically remove atmospheric contaminants such as carbon dioxide (CO2). Long duration differential temperatures on sunlit versus shadowed sides of the vehicle could be used to drive thermoelectric power generation. Rejection of heat from cryogenic propellant could counter temperature increases thus avoiding the need to vent propellants. These potential uses of deep space cooling will be addressed in this paper with the benefits and practical considerations of such approaches.

Chambliss, Joe↗

Improved cavity-type absolute total-radiation radiometer

Conical cavity-type absolute radiometer measures the intensity of radiant energy to an accuracy of one to two percent in a vacuum of ten to the minus fifth torr or lower. There is a uniform response over the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared range, and it requires no calibration or comparison with a radiation standard.

Kendall, J. M., Sr.↗

Comparison of results obtained by solving the radiative transfer equation with an iterative method and a spherical harmonics method

Fluxes and intensities of light scattered by a model atmosphere are computed by a spherical harmonics approximation and by an iterative method of solving the radiative transfer equation and are compared. The large differences in the net fluxes and intensities reported by Dave and Armstrong (1974) for the two methods are reduced here by making a few changes in the iterative routine. Decreasing the polar angle increment from 2 to 1 deg in the iterative method of computing the source function does not improve the results as suggested by Dave and Armstrong.

Bahethi, O. P.↗

Auroral kilometric radiation: Wave modes, harmonic and source region electron density structures

A change from extraordinary (X) mode to ordinary (0) mode dominance is observed in the auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) detected on ISIS 1 topside sounder ionograms as the source region plasma to gyrofrequency ratio fN/fH varies from 0.1 to 1.3. The X and 0 mode AKR, Z (the slow branch of the X mode) and whistler (W) mode are also observed. The Z mode is typically slightly less intense than the 0-mode. Thw W-mode is confined to frequencies less than fH/2, suggesting that it is the result of field aligned ducted signals reaching the satellite from a source at lower altitudes. Harmonic AKR bands are commonly observed and the 2nd harmonic appears to be due to propagating signals. The deduced (fN/fH) at the bottom of the AKR source region is always less than 0.4 and is typically less than 0.2 during the generation of X-mode AKR, but approaches 0.9 for 0-mode AKR. No large density enhancements were observed within AKR source region density cavities. It is suggested that the observed INTENSE AKR IS cyclotron X-mode radiation rather than plasma frequency 0-mode radiation.

Benson, R. F.↗

Auroral kilometric radiation - Wave modes, harmonics, and source region electron density structures

A change from extraordinary (X) mode to ordinary (O) mode dominance is observed in the auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) detected on ISIS 1 topside sounder ionograms as the source region plasma to gyrofrequency ratio fN/fH varies from 0.1 to 1.3. The X and O mode AKR, Z (the slow branch of the X mode) and whistler (W) mode are also observed. The Z mode is typically slightly less intense than the O-mode. The W-mode is confined to frequencies less than fH/2, suggesting that it is the result of field aligned ducted signals reaching the satellite from a source at lower altitudes. Harmonic AKR bands are commonly observed and the 2nd harmonic appears to be due to propagating signals. The deduced (fN/fH) at the bottom of the AKR source region is always less than 0.4 and is typically less than 0.2 during the generation of X-mode AKR, but approaches 0.9 for O-mode AKR. No large density enhancements were observed within AKR source region density cavities. It is suggested that the observed intense AKR is cyclotron X-mode radiation rather than plasma frequency O-mode radiation.

Benson, R. F.↗

Photoionization branching ratios and vibrational intensity distribution for N2, CO; and CO2 between 53 and 75 nm

The probability of radiation producing ions in specific electronic and vibrational levels was documented. For example, when a narrow band-pass of solar ionizing photons is incident on an atmospheric species it is now possible to describe, accurately, how the radiant energy is shared among the various electronic states of the ions produced. The molecules studied were N2, CO, and CO2. These molecules were photoionized by radiation between 53 and 75 nm. The effects of autoionization are discussed and continuum vibrational intensities are tabulated and compared with theoretical Franck-Condon factors where available. The branching ratios and partial cross sections for ionization into various electronic states are tabulated.

Samson, J. A. R.↗

Pulse evolution and mode selection characteristics in a TEA-CO2 laser perturbed by injection of external radiation

A grating-tunable TEA-CO2 laser with an unstable resonator cavity, modified to allow injection of CW CO2 laser radiation at the resonant transition line by means of an intracavity NaCl window, has been used to study the coupling requirements for generation of single frequency pulses. The width and shape of the mode selection region, and the dependence of the gain-switched spike buildup time and the pulse shapes on the intensity and detuning frequency of the injected radiation are reported. Comparisons of the experimental results with previously reported mode selection behavior are discussed.

Flamant, P. H.↗

Overview of Methods for Deriving the Radiative Transfer Theory from the Maxwell Equations. I: Approach Based on the Far-Field Foldy Equations

In this paper, we revisit, with further enhancements and clarifications, the self-consistent first-principles approach developed previously for deriving the vector radiative transfer theory for a discrete random medium with a sparse concentration of particles. We specifically consider the case of a plane-parallel particulate layer embedded in an otherwise homogeneous unbounded medium. The solution method is based on the far-field Foldy equations, an order-of-scattering expansion for the total field derived under the Twersky approximation, the computation of the coherent field by assuming that the positions of the particles are uncorrelated, and the ladder approximation for the coherency dyadic. The latter yields an integral equation for the diffuse specific coherency dyadic, defined through an angular spectrum repre- sentation for the coherency dyadic, which in turn, gives the vector radiative transfer equation for the diffuse specific intensity column vector. We analyze specifically the computation of the coherent field for inhomogeneous particulate media and multiple species of particles, the continuous extension of the far-field representation to the near field, the Foldy approximation, and the Foldy integral equation for the coherent field. Finally, we discuss the transition from the vector to the scalar radiative transfer equation.

Doicu, Adrian↗

A model for microwave intensity propagation in an inhomogeneous medium

A combined analytic and phenomenological approach, utilizing Maxwell's equations in the Born approximation with radiative transfer theory, is used to describe the propagation of microwave intensity in a scattering medium characterized by three-dimensional random fluctuations in refractive index, as well as nonrandom variations in permittivity, temperature, and loss. This approach yields microwave intensities as a function of polarization, direction, and position. Numerical techniques are presented to solve the transport equations, which include cases of spatially varying coefficients, and highly peaked phase functions. Some computed results illustrating the behavior of microwave intensity in various media are presented. Included are the angular and frequency spectra of thermal emission from semi-infinite media, and the diffuse transmission and reflection response of a scattering layer. The effects of scatterer geometry and scale sizes; correlation function; and gradients in temperature, loss, and scattering parameters are also demonstrated. This model should be particularly useful in interpreting active and passive remote sensing data.

Fisher, A. D.↗

Initiation-promotion model of tumor prevalence in mice from space radiation exposures

Exposures in space consist of low-level background components from galactic cosmic rays (GCR), occasional intense-energetic solar-particle events, periodic passes through geomagnetic-trapped radiation, and exposure from possible onboard nuclear-propulsion engines. Risk models for astronaut exposure from such diverse components and modalities must be developed to assure adequate protection in future NASA missions. The low-level background exposures (GCR), including relativistic heavy ions (HZE), will be the ultimate limiting factor for astronaut career exposure. We consider herein a two-mutation, initiation-promotion, radiation-carcinogenesis model in mice in which the initiation stage is represented by a linear kinetics model of cellular repair/misrepair, including the track-structure model for heavy ion action cross-sections. The model is validated by comparison with the harderian gland tumor experiments of Alpen et al. for various ion beams. We apply the initiation-promotion model to exposures from galactic cosmic rays, using models of the cosmic-ray environment and heavy ion transport, and consider the effects of the age of the mice prior to and after the exposure and of the length of time in space on predictions of relative risk. Our results indicate that biophysical models of age-dependent radiation hazard will provide a better understanding of GCR risk than models that rely strictly on estimates of the initial slopes of these radiations.

NASA Discipline Radiation Health↗

Dielectronic recombination rates, ionization equilibrium, and radiative emission rates for Mn ions in low-density high-temperature plasmas

The analysis of optically-thin far-ultraviolet and X-ray emission lines of multiply-charged ions is one of the basic methods for determining the temperatures and densities of laboratory and astrophysical plasmas. In addition, the energy balance in these plasmas can be significantly influenced by the emission of radiation from relatively low concentrations of multiple-charged atomic ions. Because the populations of the excited levels are expected to depart substantially from their local thermodynamic equilibrium values a detailed treatment of the elementary collisional and radiative processes must be employed in order to predict the emission line intensities. In this investigation the authors present the results of calculations based on a corona equilibrium model in which a detailed evaluation is made of the dielectronic recombination rate coefficients. The ionization and autoionization following inner-shell electron excitation from each ground state are balanced by direct radiative and dielectronic recombination. The spectral line intensities emitted by the low-lying excited states, which are assumed to undergo spontaneous radiative decay in times that are short compared with the collision time, are evaluated in terms of the corona ionization equilibrium distributions of the ground states and their electron-impact excitation states.

Jacobs, V. L.↗

Cloud-Type Mean Cloud Properties and Associated Cloud Radiative Effects in the Tropical “Chimney” Zones Using 20 Years High-Resolution CERES Satellite Data

It has been well known that convection tends to be more intense over land than over ocean and continental convection generally contains wider cores that are protected from entrainment than their oceanic counterparts. How does this difference in convective intensity impact the rest of cloud types and associated cloud radiative effects (CREs)? We select five regions in the tropical “chimney” zones, with two regions over land (Africa and Amazon) and three regions over ocean (eastern and western Pacific, and Atlantic) to understand the differences in the cloud-type mean cloud properties and associated CREs using 20-years high-resolution (2x2 km2) CERES satellite data. The cloud types are based upon the ISCCP classification using the joint cloud-top pressure and cloud optical depth distribution. These five regions are compared to the entire tropics (25°S to 25°N). First, we compare the frequencies of occurrence of cloud types among the regions. Compared to the entire tropics, the “chimney” zones are cloudier, particularly, for cloud types with moderate cloud optical depths in the middle and upper troposphere. Except for the eastern Pacific region, the low-level cloud types are less abundant over land (due to higher boundary layers) and ocean (due to weaker lower-tropospheric subsidence). Over Africa, upper-level clouds are scarcer, due perhaps to weak production of convective anvils related to the drier atmosphere. Second, liquid water path (LWP) and ice water path (IWP) are compared among the regions. Compared to the entire tropics, mean LWPs for moderate cloud optical depths are higher for oceanic regions but lower for Africa while they are slightly lower in the lower troposphere but slightly higher in the middle troposphere for Amazon. Not surprisingly, mean IWPs are higher over land than over ocean, which is directly related to the difference in convective intensity. That is, the explanations to this result are the relatively weak convective intensity over the eastern Pacific and the abundance of anvil clouds over the western Pacific. Both reduce the mean IWPs. The CRE results are still being analyzed because the totally-clear grids (1° x 1°) of the CERES data product should be removed before taking a regional mean of clear-sky fluxes, which cause the wrong signs of CREs for a few cloud types.

cloud radiative effects↗