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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 973 records · Page 54
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1977

Land use change detection with LANDSAT-2 data for monitoring and predicting regional water quality degradation

The author has identified the following significant results. Comparison between LANDSAT 1 and 2 imagery of Arkansas provided evidence of significant land use changes during the 1972-75 time period. Analysis of Arkansas historical water quality information has shown conclusively that whereas point source pollution generally can be detected by use of water quality data collected by state and federal agencies, sampling methodologies for nonpoint source contamination attributable to surface runoff are totally inadequate. The expensive undertaking of monitoring all nonpoint sources for numerous watersheds can be lessened by implementing LANDSAT change detection analyses.

Macdonald, H.↗
NASA NTRS1977

X-ray topography as a process control tool in semiconductor and microcircuit manufacture

A bent wafer camera, designed to identify crystal lattice defects in semiconductor materials, was investigated. The camera makes use of conventional X-ray topographs and an innovative slightly bent wafer which allows rays from the point source to strike all portions of the wafer simultaneously. In addition to being utilized in solving production process control problems, this camera design substantially reduces the cost per topograph.

Parker, D. L.↗
NASA NTRS1975

A balloon-borne Ge/Li/ spectrometer for gamma-ray astronomy

On June 10, 1974, a new high-resolution gamma ray spectrometer operating in the energy range of 0.05 to 10 MeV was successfully balloon-flight tested. This system uses four 40 cu cm Ge(Li) crystals in a single cryostat as prime sensors. A 6.35 cm thick CsI (Na) shield provides background rejection and collimation, defining a solid angle of 0.095 sr. Cooling is provided by a liquid-nitrogen dewar. The system was highly stable with spectral resolution of better than 2.5 keV at 1 MeV for the flight duration. The background total count rate was about 20 counts/sec. Numerous lines were observed, most of which originated from secondary neutron interactions in the spectrometer. The sensitivity of the system to line emissions originating in cosmic point sources is 0.0001 to 0.001 photons per sq cm s over the energy range.

Jacobson, A. S.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Spatial distribution of Compton-produced X-ray flux from rich and regular clusters of galaxies

The spatial distribution of radio and X-ray fluxes from rich and regular clusters of galaxies is discussed. A diffusion model is investigated in which high-energy electrons are ejected from a point source at the center of the cluster. While diffusing out, the electrons lose energy by Compton scattering with the universal blackbody photons, thus producing the X-ray emission. Traversing intracluster magnetic fields, the electrons emit synchrotron radio emission. For the Coma cluster of galaxies good agreement is found between the observed and predicted X-ray counting-rate distribution for the Compton model. From the observed radio data a value of about 3 by 10 to the -8th power gauss is deduced for the average magnetic-field strength in the central region of Coma.

Rephaeli, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Observations of Jovian electrons at 1 AU throughout the 13 month Jovian synodic year

A study of Jovian electron-flux increases observed aboard the IMP-8 earth-orbiting satellite reveals that, contrary to previous reports of a 4-8-month Jovian electron 'season', Jovian electron-intensity increases were observed almost continuously from late 1973 into 1976, with peak intensities occurring at times of best connection between earth and Jupiter along the average direction of the interplanetary magnetic field about every 13 months. These observations are consistent with Jovian electron propagation both along and across the direction of the average interplanetary magnetic field. A convection-diffusion model for Jovian electron propagation, which assumes that Jupiter is a continuously emitting point source of electrons, originally developed to explain the distribution of Jovian electrons observed on the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft, can account also for the distribution of Jovian electrons observed at the orbit of earth.

Chenette, D. L.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Wave optics of the central spot in planetary occultations

The detection of a bright central spot during the occultation of epsilon Geminorum by Mars demonstrates that an exponentially-stratified planetary atmosphere can act as a lens providing very high resolution of distant objects (e.g., quasars, white dwarfs, and pulsars). The diffraction nature of the central occultation spot is investigated, with special reference to Mars and Venus. In practice, however, central occultations by these planets are seldom observable from the earth's surface, and spacecraft would have to be used to obtain a suitable orientation for observers. Further difficulties may be encountered in image deconvolution needed for extended objects, in location of the image of a true point source, and in compensation for peculiarities of planets and their atmospheres.

Hubbard, W. B.↗
NASA NTRS1977

The influence of droplet evaporation on fuel-air mixing rate in a burner

Experiments involving combustion of a variety of hydrocarbon fuels in a simple atmospheric pressure burner were used to evaluate the role of droplet evaporation in the fuel/air mixing process in liquid fuel spray flames. Both air-assist atomization and pressure atomization processes were studied; fuel/air mixing rates were determined on the basis of cross-section average oxygen concentrations for stoichiometric overall operation. In general, it is concluded that droplets act as point sources of fuel vapor until evaporation, when the fuel jet length scale may become important in determining nonuniformities of the fuel vapor concentration. In addition, air-assist atomizers are found to have short droplet evaporation times with respect to the duration of the fuel/air mixing process, while for the pressure jet atomizer the characteristic evaporation and mixing times are similar.

Komiyama, K.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Reanalysis of the Apollo cosmic gamma-ray spectrum in the 0.3 to 10 MeV energy region

Additional data obtained from the Apollo 16 and 17 missions, together with collateral calculations on background radiation effects, have made possible an improved subtraction of unwanted backgrounds from the diffuse cosmic gamma ray data previously reported from Apollo 15. As a result, the 1 to 10 MeV spectrum is lowered significantly and connects smoothly with recent data at other energies. The inflection reported previously is much less pronounced and has no more than 1.5 sigma significance. Sky occultation by the Apollo 16 spacecraft shows the bulk of the 0.3 to 1 MeV radiation to be diffuse. The analysis of spurious backgrounds points to important improvements for future experiments designed for this spectral region. A light-weight satellite design can give a fourfold improvement in the signal to noise for such a measurement. Use of an anisotropic central crystal, which spins quickly compared with possible time variations in detector background, would enable sensitive limits to be set on galactic plane and point source contributions.

Dyer, C. S.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Radiative transfer in dusty nebulae

The effects of dust scattering on observable optical and infrared parameters, and the accuracy of approximate solutions were examined. The equation of radiative transfer in a static and homogeneous, but not necessarily uniform, distribution gas and dust around a central empty core with a point source of energy at its center was solved. The dust properties were characterized by a phenomenological extinction cross section, albedo and parameters describing the anisotropy of dust scattering. For ultraviolet photons, ionization equilibrium equations for the gas were solved, and for infrared photons a self-consistent dust temperature was calculated. Ray tracing was used to solve for the angular dependence of the intensity.

Dana, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Ion tracking in an electrostatic potential distribution

An ion tracking system utilizing a single detector was designed to resolve two dimensional potential distributions in a vacuum. The ion detector consisted of a continuous dynode electron multiplier tube mounted behind a series of aperture plates. The detector was located on a track below a wedge shaped structure used to produce the desired potential distribution. A 150 volt electron beam aimed at selected regions, ionized the residual gas in the chamber. The ions were ejected from their source points by electrostatic forces causing them to drift downward toward the detector. Measurements of particle energy, detector position, and entry angle of the incoming particle flux were used to initialize a computer trajectory-tracing program. The program assumes a known theoretically calculated potential distribution near the wedge for computation of particle trajectories, providing a basis for evaluating the data. Special attention was given to characterization of the ion detector.

Ross, D. P.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Determination of bulk diffusion lengths for angle-lapped semiconductor material via the scanning electron microscope: A theoretical analysis

A standard procedure for the determination of the minority carrier diffusion length by means of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) consists in scanning across an angle-lapped surface of a P-N junction and measuring the resultant short circuit current I sub sc as a function of beam position. A detailed analysis of the I sub sc originating from this configuration is presented. It is found that, for a point source excitation, the I sub sc depends very simply on x, the variable distance between the surface and the junction edge. The expression for the I sub sc of a planar junction device is well known. If d, the constant distance between the plane of the surface of the semiconductor and the junction edge in the expression for the I of a planar junction is merely replaced by x, the variable distance of the corresponding angle-lapped junction, an expression results which is correct to within a small fraction of a percent as long as the angle between the surfaces, 2 theta sub 1, is smaller than 10 deg.

Vonroos, O.↗
NASA NTRS1978

The galactic gamma-ray flux in the 0.06 to 5 MeV range

Gamma ray emission from the longitude range -50 deg less than or equal to lambda less than or equal to 22 deg recorded by the Apollo gamma-ray spectrometer and by individual observers is discussed. Agreement of the galactic emission spectra near 1 MeV with hard X-ray observations of the galactic central regions suggests that an ensemble of point sources is responsible for the emissions. Apollo 16 upper limits to the cosmic 4.4 MeV line flux imply that the ratio of line strength to continuum emission for the region observed by Haymes et al is higher than the galactic average.

Gilman, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS1978

HEAO C-1 gamma-ray spectrometer

The gamma-ray spectroscopy experiment to be launched on the third High Energy Astronomy Observatory (HEAO C) will perform a complete sky search for narrow gamma-ray line emission to the level of about 00001 photons/sq cm -sec for steady point sources. The design of this experiment and its performance based on testing and calibration to date are discussed.

Mahoney, W. A.↗
NASA NTRS1978

A simplified Mach number scaling law for helicopter rotor noise

Mach number scaling laws are derived for the rotational and the high-frequency broadband noise from helicopter rotors. The rotational scaling law is obtained directly from the theory of Lowson and Ollerhead (1969) by exploiting the properties of the dominant terms in the expression for the complex Fourier coefficients of sound radiation from a point source. The scaling law for the high-frequency broadband noise is obtained by assuming that the noise sources are acoustically compact and computing the instantaneous pressure due to an element on an airfoil where vortices are shed. Experimental results on the correlation lengths for stationary airfoils are extended to rotating airfoils. On the assumption that the correlation length varies as the boundary layer displacement thickness, it is found that the Mach number scaling law contains a factor of Mach number raised to the exponent 5.8. Both scaling laws were verified by model tests.

Aravamudan, K. S.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Optically thick X-ray transfer - The shell game

This paper investigates the radiative transfer of X-rays through a shell that is optically thick to Compton scattering, surrounding a point source of continuum X-rays. The emission and absorption of X-rays due to K-shell transitions of iron are included. The calculations are done in two entirely independent ways: by Monte Carlo simulation and by solving a Fokker-Planck diffusion equation. The emergent spectra agree very well for Thomson depths of at least about 2. The validity is confirmed of the modification to the Fokker-Planck equation of Kompaneets (1957) that is required when the photon energy is large compared with the average thermal energy of the electrons. A procedure is also developed for treating models of compact X-ray sources consisting of incomplete shells.

Langer, S. H.↗
NASA NTRS1978

An energy-dependent map of the X-ray emission of the Perseus cluster

Results are discussed for X-ray scans of the Perseus cluster with the SAS 3 slat detectors. Counting rates in two broadband channels (1.5 to 5.5 keV and 5.5 to 15.5 keV) are compared as a function of the instrument scan angle measured from the center of emission, and it is found that the emission in the higher energy range is broader in extent. Tests for a systematic energy-dependent error in the background demonstrate that the discovered energy dependence of the Perseus cluster emission is valid. Iron line emission is determined by two methods, various models are fitted to the data, and the total cluster emission in the two energy ranges is computed. The iron line emission is determined to be 0.003 photon/sq cm per sec. It is concluded that the diffuse emission increases in the range from 1.5 to 15.5 keV within the bounds of a model involving a point source with a radius not exceeding about 3 arcmin plus a diffuse source.

Ulmer, M. P.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Enhancement of the jets in NGC 1097

Plates of NGC 1097 taken in four spectral bands have been digitized and processed at JPL's Image Processing Laboratory. The processing has revealed that (1) there is a fourth jet, R4, counter to the L-shaped jet, R1; (2) the area density of point sources in the jets is no different from that found on the sky; (3) two of the jets, R1 and R2, are bluer than the night sky, while one of the jets, R3, is redder than the night sky; (4) the nonstellar objects situated on the jets are noticeably bluer than the night sky; and (5) color-enhanced images of the spiral structure illustrate the distribution of both gaseous and spiral-arm stellar population disrupted from symmetry by an apparent companion elliptical.

Lorre, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Narrow zone heating by a new radiation focusing technique - Toroidal ellipsoid furnace

The paper describes the design of a toroidal ellipsoid furnace for narrow zone heating of materials in sealed transparent ampoules. The heater is a toroid flattened to an elliptical cross section like a partially inflated inner tube resting on a horizontal surface. The foci of the ellipsoid are two concentric rings. The outer focus is occupied by a heater wire, and the inner focus is arranged to fall on the surface of the cylindrical ingot within its transparent capsule. One advantage of the new furnace is that the wire heater closely approximates the ideal shape, lying along an extended line focus, as opposed to the elusive point source of the Costello furnace. Also, the ingot is heated uniformly around its circumference.

Davidson, M. C.↗