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NASA NTRS1982

The effects of random errors in rawinsonde data on derived kinematic quantities

The sensitivity of kinematic parameters to random errors contained in rawinsonde data is assessed. Parameters under consideration include relative vorticity, vorticity advection, horizontal divergence, kinematic vertical motion, and temperature advection. It is shown that horizontal divergence is the most affected, with reliability a function of height. Vorticity advection is the next most altered by random error, and in this case, the effects of wind errors are greater on the gradient of vorticity than on the vorticity itself. Vertical motions are most affected by random perturbations at 300 mb and above, and temperature advection is found to be the least sensitive to random perturbations.

Belt, C. L.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Irradiance measurement errors due to the assumption of a Lambertian reference panel

A technique is presented for determining the error in diurnal irradiance measurements that results from the non-Lambertian behavior of a reference panel under various irradiance conditions. Spectral biconical reflectance factors of a spray-painted barium sulfate panel, along with simulated sky radiance data for clear and hazy skies at six solar zenith angles, were used to calculate the estimated panel irradiances and true irradiances for a nadir-looking sensor in two wavelength bands. The inherent errors in total spectral irradiance (0.68 microns) for a clear sky were 0.60, 6.0, 13.0, and 27.0% for solar zenith angles of 0, 45, 60, and 75 deg, respectively. The technique can be used to characterize the error of a specific panel used in field measurements, and thus eliminate any ambiguity of the effects of the type, preparation, and aging of the paint.

Kimes, D. S.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Error-Compensated Integrate and Hold

Differencing circuit cancels error caused by switching transistors capacitance. In integrate and hold circuit using JFET switch, gate-to-source capacitance causes error in output voltage. Differential connection cancels out error. Applications in systems where very low voltages sampled or many integrate-and -hold cycles before circuit is reset.

Matlin, M.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Spectral radiance errors in remote sensing ground studies due to nearby objects

Attention is given to the error that can occur in all radiometric measurements owing to the presence of nearby objects. When a researcher positions himself on the side of a target point opposite the sun, his body gives rise to two erroneous effects. First, it blocks a portion of the incoming diffuse sky radiance to the target point, and second, it reflects incoming diffuse and direct solar irradiance and ground exitance onto the target point. It is noted that the same phenomenon occurs for any nearby object, whether it be a field truck, a building structure, or a row of trees. This error deriving from nearby objects is often not recognized by researchers or is considered insignificant with no knowledge of its magnitude. The approach taken here is to mathematically model the radiant transfers that take place between the global irradiance, panel, or scene and the object and to report the magnitude of this error for various solar zenith angles, wavelengths, size and distances of objects (steradian blockage), and spectral reflectances of the scene and object. The scene, object, and panel are assumed to be Lambertian, and the object is always located on the side of the target point opposite the sun.

Kimes, D. S.↗

NASA NTRS1983

An efficient computational method for characterizing the effects of random surface errors on the average power pattern of reflectors

Based on the works of Ruze (1966) and Vu (1969), a novel mathematical model has been developed to determine efficiently the average power pattern degradations caused by random surface errors. In this model, both nonuniform root mean square (rms) surface errors and nonuniform illumination functions are employed. In addition, the model incorporates the dependence on F/D in the construction of the solution. The mathematical foundation of the model rests on the assumption that in each prescribed annular region of the antenna, the geometrical rms surface value is known. It is shown that closed-form expressions can then be derived, which result in a very efficient computational method for the average power pattern. Detailed parametric studies are performed with these expressions to determine the effects of different random errors and illumination tapers on parameters such as gain loss and sidelobe levels. The results clearly demonstrate that as sidelobe levels decrease, their dependence on the surface rms/wavelength becomes much stronger and, for a specified tolerance level, a considerably smaller rms/wavelength is required to maintain the low sidelobes within the required bounds.

Rahmat-Samii, Y.↗

NASA NTRS1983

The great solar anomaly ca. 1780-1800 - An error in compiling the record

The view that the sunspot index time sequence is of lessened validity prior to about 1850 is shown to be consistent with an error in the 1780-1800 time period when phase, offset of the Hale carrier sinusoid from zero mean, and the amplitude modulation envelope all show a lack of conformity with respect to the remainder of the record subsequent to the Maunder minimum. This lack of conformity is consistent with an error that delays one or more of the 11-year cycle minima but recovers phase subsequently. This type of error creates a strongly coherent set of companion changes in offset of the carrier from zero mean and in the amplitude modulation envelope.

Sonett, C. P.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Effects of random member length errors on the accuracy and internal loads of truss antennas

The effects of random member length errors on the surface accuracy, the defocus, and the residual, internal loads of tetrahedral truss antenna reflectors have been studied analytically. The analytical procedure involves performing multiple, deterministic finite element structural analyses for a particular truss. For each analysis, the normally distributed, random member length errors are selected by random number generator. A best fit paraboloid analysis is used to determine a root mean square error and defocus from each analysis. The statistical properties of these quantities as well as the internal loads are calculated from the results of many independent analyses. Results indicate that the number of members in a tetrahedral truss antenna of a given diameter has a significant effect on surface accuracy, defocus and internal loads. It was also found that the member axial stiffnesses and antenna focal length have a very small effect on reflector surface accuracy.

Greene, W. H.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Assessment of relative error sources in IR DIAL measurement accuracy

An assessment is made of the role the various error sources play in limiting the accuracy of infrared differential absorption lidar measurements used for the remote sensing of atmospheric species. An overview is presented of the relative contribution of each error source including the inadequate knowledge of the absorption coefficient, differential spectral reflectance, and background interference as well as measurement errors arising from signal fluctuations.

Menyuk, N.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Determining The Slope Error Of A Parabolic Reflector

Approximate slope error determined with minimal test equipment. Test Setup for Determining Slope Error for Point-Focusing Dish includes pinhole camera at center of curvature and color-coded target mounted around pinhole. Floodlights illuminate target to minimize exposure time. New procedure provides good approximation of reflector slope error and is excellent tool for comparative analysis of reflectors used as solar collectors for microwave receivers.

Christ, G. R.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Estimation of parameters in linear structural relationships: Sensitivity to the choice of the ratio of error variances

Maximum likelihood estimation of parameters in linear structural relationships under normality assumptions requires knowledge of one or more of the model parameters if no replication is available. The most common assumption added to the model definition is that the ratio of the error variances of the response and predictor variates is known. The use of asymptotic formulae for variances and mean squared errors as a function of sample size and the assumed value for the error variance ratio is investigated.

Lakshminarayanan, M. Y.↗

NASA NTRS1984

GP-B error modeling and analysis

The analysis and modeling for the Gravity Probe B (GP-B) experiment is reported. The finite-wordlength induced errors in Kalman filtering computation were refined. Errors in the crude result were corrected, improved derivation steps are taken, and better justifications are given. The errors associated with the suppression of the 1-noise were analyzed by rolling the spacecraft and then performing a derolling operation by computation.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1984

A SEASAT SASS simulation experiment to quantify the errors related to a + or - 3 hour intermittent assimilation technique

A series of SEASAT repeat orbits over a sequence of best Low center positions is simulated by using the Seatrak satellite calculator. These Low centers are, upon appropriate interpolation to hourly positions, Located at various times during the + or - 3 hour assimilation cycle. Error analysis for a sample of best cyclone center positions taken from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans reveals a minimum average error of 1.1 deg of Longitude and a standard deviation of 0.9 deg of Longitude. The magnitude of the average error seems to suggest that by utilizing the + or - 3 hour window in the assimilation cycle, the quality of the SASS data is degraded to the Level of the background. A further consequence of this assimilation scheme is the effect which is manifested as a result of the blending of two or more more juxtaposed vector winds, generally possessing different properties (vector quantity and time). The outcome of this is to reduce gradients in the wind field and to deform isobaric and frontal patterns of the intial field.

Sylvester, W. B.↗

NASA NTRS1984

The influence of actual and apparent geoid error on ocean analysis and prediction

The radar altimeter is the only satellite remote sensor with a proven capability for synoptically measuring an integral property of the dynamic ocean on a near global, all weather basis. Because acquisition of global, in situ ocean data with space/time resolution adequate to describe dynamically important ocean features is practically impossible, any attempt to develop a global ocean monitoring and forecasting system will rely heavily on altimetric data for initialization and updating. Maximizing useful information from the altimeter while minimizing error sources and developing methods for assimilating altimeter data into dynamical models are, therefore, vital areas for research and development. The limits imposed on ocean prediction by errors in the geoid or apparent errors associated with ground track variations near strong geopotential gradients are examined.

Thompson, J. D.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Error-trellis Syndrome Decoding Techniques for Convolutional Codes

An error-trellis syndrome decoding technique for convolutional codes is developed. This algorithm is then applied to the entire class of systematic convolutional codes and to the high-rate, Wyner-Ash convolutional codes. A special example of the one-error-correcting Wyner-Ash code, a rate 3/4 code, is treated. The error-trellis syndrome decoding method applied to this example shows in detail how much more efficient syndrome decoding is than Viterbi decoding if applied to the same problem. For standard Viterbi decoding, 64 states are required, whereas in the example only 7 states are needed. Also, within the 7 states required for decoding, many fewer transitions are needed between the states.

Reed, I. S.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Error analysis and correction of discrete solutions from finite element codes

Many structures are an assembly of individual shell components. Therefore, results for stresses and deflections from finite element solutions for each shell component should agree with the equations of shell theory. This paper examines the problem of applying shell theory to the error analysis and the correction of finite element results. The general approach to error analysis and correction is discussed first. Relaxation methods are suggested as one approach to correcting finite element results for all or parts of shell structures. Next, the problem of error analysis of plate structures is examined in more detail. The method of successive approximations is adapted to take discrete finite element solutions and to generate continuous approximate solutions for postbuckled plates. Preliminary numerical results are included.

Thurston, G. A.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Method for correction of errors in observation angles for limb thermal emission measurements

Thermal emission measurements of the earth's stratospheric limb from space platforms require an accurate knowledge of the observation angles for retrieval of temperature and constituent distributions. Without the use of expensive stabilizing systems, however, most observational instruments do not meet the required pointing accuracies, thus leading to large errors in the retrieval of atmospheric data. This paper describes a self-constituent method of correcting errors in pointing angles by using information contained in the observed spectrum. Numerical results based on temperature inversions of synthetic thermal emission spectra with assumed random errors in pointing angles are presented.

Abbas, M. M.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Error detection process - Model, design, and its impact on computer performance

An analytical model is developed for computer error detection processes and applied to estimate their influence on system performance. Faults in the hardware, not in the design, are assumed to be the potential cause of transition to erroneous states during normal operations. The classification properties and associated recovery methods of error detection are discussed. The probability of obtaining an unreliable result is evaluated, along with the resulting computational loss. Error detection during design is considered and a feasible design space is outlined. Extension of the methods to account for the effects of extant multiple faults is indicated.

Shin, K. G.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Direction Judgement Errors in Perspective Displays

Spatial information transfer characteristics of perspective situation displays were investigated by having eight subjects judge the directions of displayed targets relative to a fixed position in the center of computer generated perspective scenes. Their errors in judging azimuth angles varied sinusoidally with the azimuth of the targets. Errors alternated between clockwise and counterclock wise from one direction quadrant to the next. As the perspective geometry was varied between telephoto lens and wide angle lens views, the direction of error gradually reversed in all quadrants. The results can be explained by systematic differences between the three-dimensional stimulus angles and the perspective projections of those angles onto the display screen.

Mcgreevy, M. W.↗