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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 1,009 records · Page 56

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NASA NTRS1981

The extension of a uniform canopy reflectance model to include row effects

The effect of row structure is assumed to be caused by the variation in density of vegetation across rows rather than to a profile in canopy height. The calculation of crop reflectance using vegetation density modulation across rows follows a parallel procedure to that for a uniform canopy. Predictions using the row model for wheat show that the effect of changes in sun to row azimuth are greatest in Landsat Band 5 (red band) and can result in underestimation of crop vigor.

Suits, G. H.↗

NASA NTRS1981

An improved empirical model for diversity gain on Earth-space propagation paths

An empirical model was generated to estimate diversity gain on Earth-space propagation paths as a function of Earth terminal separation distance, link frequency, elevation angle, and angle between the baseline and the path azimuth. The resulting model reproduces the entire experimental data set with an RMS error of 0.73 dB.

Hodge, D. B.↗

NASA NTRS1982

A new numerical method for the simulation of three dimensional flow in a pipe

A new numerical technique for simulating three dimensional, unsteady, incompressible pipe flows is presented and its utility and accuracy is shown. Each vector function in the expansion of the velocity field is divergence free and satisfies the boundary conditions for viscous flow. Some of the benefits of the expansion technique are that pressure is eliminated from the dynamics, only two unknowns per mesh point are required, implicit treatment of the viscous terms is provided at no extra computational cost, and no fractional time steps are required. The method uses spectral expansions: Fourier series in the azimuthal and streamwise directions, and Jacobi polynominals in the radial direction.

Leonard, A.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Rates of solar angles for two-axis concentrators

The Sun's position by the azimuth and elevation angles and its rate of change at any time of day are determined to design 2 axis tracking mechanisms of solar concentrators. The Sun's angles and their rates for selected months of the year (March, June, September and December) and for seven selected atitudes (0, + or - 30, + or - 60, + or - 90) covering both the northern and southern hemispheres were studied. The development of the angle and angle rate analytical expressions for any month, hour of day, and latitude provides the solar concentrator designer with a quantitative determination of the limiting Sun's position and angle rates for an accurate automatic tracking mechanism.

Yung, C. S.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Positive ion observations in the middle magnetosphere of Jupiter

The positive ion data gathered by the Voyager Plasma Science experiment in the middle magnetosphere of Jupiter are considered. It is pointed out that the experiment measures positive ions with energies per charge between 10 and 5950 V. The observations are analyzed to derive the mass and charge densities, velocity components, and temperatures of the low-energy plasma population. The reduced data set is discussed in terms of the outstanding questions concerning this plasma population and its dynamics. It is found that on the dayside there exists a transonic to highly supersonic positive ion population which tends to move azimuthally but does not rigidly corotate with the planet.

Mcnutt, R. L., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Modeling the Jovian current sheet and inner magnetosphere

Voyager 1 and 2 magnetic field observations confirm and extend the earlier Pioneer 10 detection of the Jovian magnetodisc, a region of enhanced charged particles and plasma and reduced magnetic field intensity located near the magnetic equatorial plane. Modeling of the azimuthal current sheet by a finite thickness annulus of inner radius 5 Jovian radii, 5-Jovian radii thickness, and extending to about 50 Jovian radii provides detailed fits of the vector magnetic field perturbations observed in relation to the planetary field for distances less than 30 Jovian radii. Field line geometry is also investigated, and better insight into the phenomena of charged particle absorption by the Galilean satellites is obtained which provides improved explanations of observed effects due to Ganymede.

Connerney, J. E. P.↗

NASA NTRS1981

The Jovian magnetotail and its current sheet

A summary is given of the results of a further analysis of the magnetic field measurements in Jupiter's magnetic tail and in the region of the tail current sheet by both V1 and V2. Four studies are discussed. The first is a determination of the variation of the average magnetic field magnitude in the lobes of the magnetotail, that is, outside the plasma sheet, as a function of distance from the planet. The second is an examination of the variation with distance from Jupiter of the ratio of the azimuthal component of the magnetic field to the product of the radial distance and the radial component of the magnetic field. The third is a study of the detailed structure and orientation of the tail current sheet system, including both detailed illustrations of typical sheet crossings and the results of a minimum variance analysis of all V2 tail sheet traversals. The fourth is an investigation of various models which predict the position of the current sheet in the outer Jovian magnetosphere as a function of both time and location.

Behannon, K. W.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Mathematical theory of cylindrical isothermal blast waves in a magnetic field

An analysis is conducted regarding the properties of cylindrically symmetric self-similar blast waves propagating away from a line source into a medium whose density and magnetic field (with components in both the phi and z directions) both vary as r to the -(omega) power (with omega less than 1) ahead of the blast wave. The main results of the analysis can be divided into two classes, related to a zero azimuthal field and a zero longitudinal field. In the case of the zero longitudinal field it is found that there are no physically acceptable solutions with continuous postshock variations of flow speed and gas density.

Lerche, I.↗

NASA NTRS1981

X-ray scanning of overhead aurorae from rockets

Two Nike Tomahawk rocket payloads were launched into energetic auroral events in September, 1976 to investigate the structure of these events, as well as their effects on the atmosphere. X-ray scintillation detectors with energy discrimination in four ranges were used to measure the deposition of bremsstrahlung produced X-rays within the stratosphere and mesosphere. Iterative computer techniques were used to reconstruct X-ray source maps at 100 km, taking atmospheric absorption effects into account. Payload 18.178 was launched on September 21st into an aurora having two distinct azimuthal regions of optical brightness. The X-ray scanner detected the same features, and overlays of the X-ray source maps on all-sky photographs showed spatial coincidence of the X-ray with optical features at the lower energies (below 40 keV). Payload 18.179 was launched September 23rd into an aurora with a more diffuse character. The optical structure did not coincide as well with the measured X-ray structure. There was also an indication of a two-component spectrum for each event, with the hard component originating in the more diffuse, optically faint regions.

Barcus, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Transport of infrared radiation in cuboidal clouds

The transport of infrared radiation in a single cuboidal cloud is modeled using a variable azimuth two-stream approximation. Computations are made at 10 microns for a Deirmendjian (1969) C-1 water cloud where the single scattering albedo is equal to 0.638 and the asymmetry parameter is 0.865. The results indicate that the emittance of the top face of the model cloud is always less than that for a plane parallel cloud of the same optical depth. The hemispheric flux escaping from the cloud top possesses a gradient from the center to the edges which are warmer when the cloud is over warmer ground. Cooling rate calculations in the 8-13.6 micron region demonstrate that there is cooling out of the sides of the cloud at all levels even when there is heating of the core from the ground below. The radiances exiting from model cuboidal clouds are computed by path integration over the source function obtained with the two-stream approximation. Results indicate that the brightness temperature measured from finite clouds will overestimate the cloud-top temperature.

Harshvardhan, MR.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Magnetic field studies by Voyager 2 - Preliminary results at Saturn

Results of Voyager 2 studies of the magnetosphere and planetary magnetic field of Saturn are presented. Magnetometer studies have confirmed the results obtained by Voyager 1, indicating the magnetic field to be that of a centered dipole of moment 0.21 gauss Saturn radii-cubed, tilted approximately 0.8 deg from the rotation axis and a maximum measured field intensity of 1187 nT at latitude 17.3 deg N just before periapsis. Voyager 2 observed multiple bow shock and magnetopause crossings during its inbound and outbound trajectories, which were complementary to those of Voyager 1, including magnetopause crossing at 18.5 Saturn radii on the inbound trajectory, and at 48.4-50.9 Saturn radii outbound indicative of magnetospheric expansion due to changing solar wind conditions. Throughout the outbound passage, the magnetospheric field was observed to be relatively steady and smooth, with no evidence for any azimuthal asymmetry or magnetic anomaly. Results thus are incapable of accounting for the observed periodic modulation of the Saturnian kilometric radio emissions.

Ness, N. F.↗

NASA NTRS1982

On the folding phenomenon of comet tail rays

It is shown that the folding phenomenon of the comet tail rays is compatible with the Ferraro isorotation law if the comet tail magnetic field has no azimuthal component, that is, B sub phi (the polar angle) equals zero. Considering electric drift due to convectional electric fields, a formula is obtained for the angular rate of a ray closure which reduces to that of Ness and Donn (1966) if the velocity profile across the tail is linear. The magnetic field B of approximately 20-40 gammas in the coma and less than about 10 gammas in the distant tail is estimated under typical solar wind conditions at 1 AU.

Ershkovich, A. I.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Energetic ion mass spectrometer

A new type of spectrometer for space application has been developed to measure separately mass/charge and the three-dimensional velocity distribution of incident ions. The instrument has relatively high resolution and allows rapid measurement of the four-dimensional set of mass/charge, speed, elevation angle, and azimuth angle. The instrument includes a sector magnet, an electrostatic deflector, microchannel plate detectors with position sensitive readout, and a set of grids with variable applied voltage.

Neugebauer, M.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Wide field of view laser beacon system for three-dimensional aircraft position measurement

This paper presents a new wide field of view laser beacon system for measurement, in three dimensions, of aircraft or other remote objects. The system is developed for aircraft collision hazard warning independent of ground-based hardware, as well as for flight research, helicopter-assisted construction and rescue, and robotic manipulation applications. Accurate information describing the relative range, elevation, and azimuth of the aircraft are generated by the sweep of a low-power fan-shaped rotating laser beacon past an array of optical detectors. The system achieves a wide angle of acceptance of laser beacon light through use of compound parabolic concentrators, which collimate the light for spectral filtering to minimize solar interference. An on-board microprocessor system converts the pulse sequence to aircraft position in real time. System reliability and performance are enhanced through narrow pass filtering of the pulse signals, digital logic design to mask spurious signals, and adaptive modulation of trigger threshold levels.

Sweet, L. M.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Performance improvements with the free-tip rotor

A new rotor configuration called the free-tip rotor was investigated for its potential to improve helicopter forward-flight performance characteristics. This rotor differs from a conventional rotor only in the blade tip region. Free tip is self-adjusting in pitch with respect to the rest of the blade. With this capability, the resulting pitch motion generated a more uniform airload distribution around the azimuth. Computer math models were used to compare performance characteristics of the free-tip rotor with those of a conventional rotor operating at flight speeds from 130 to 160 knots. The free-tip rotor is shown to improve cruise L/DE by at least 22%.

Stroub, R. H.↗

NASA NTRS1982

On the geometric form of volcanoes - Comment

The model of Lacey et al. (1981) accounting for the geometric regularity and approximate cone shape of volcanoes is discussed. It is pointed out that, contrary to the model, volcano eruptions do not occur randomly in elevation and azimuth, but are commonly restricted to summit vents and a few well defined flank zones, so that the form of a volcano is determined by its vent locations and styles of eruption. Other false predictions of the model include the constancy of lava volumes at all vent elevations, the increase in volcano radius as the square root of time, a critical height for volcano growth, the influence of planetary gravity on volcano height and the negligible influence of ash falls and flows and erosional deposition. It is noted that the model of Shteynberg and Solov'yev, in which cone shape is related to stresses due to increasing cone height, may provide a better understanding of volcano morphology.

Wood, C. A.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Performance degradation of propeller/rotor systems due to rime ice accretion

A theoretical model has been established which is applicable to both propeller and helicopter systems that determines the effect of rime ice accretion on the thrust coefficient, power coefficient, and efficiency as a function of time in a natural icing condition. Theoretical comparisons have been made with experimentally determined decrease in propeller thrust coefficient and efficiency for five natural icing conditions with good agreement. The present analytical model is also applicable to the helicopter case, where the method predicts radial and azimuthal rotor blade ice shapes in addition to torque rise as a function of time in a natural icing condition.

Korkan, K. D.↗

NASA NTRS1982

The relationship between wind vector and normalized radar cross section used to derive Seasat-A Satellite Scatterometer winds

The Seasat-A Satellite Scatterometer (SASS) ocean normalized radar cross section (NRCS) dependence on the 19.5-m neutral stability wind vector may be specified as a function of radar incidence angle, the angle between wind direction and radar azimuth, and the neutral stability wind speed expressed in m/sec at a height of 19.5 m. An account is given of the development of models both expressing this relationship and providing the basis of inversion of NRCS to SASS winds, from initially aircraft scatterometer measurement-based forms to three Seasat field-validation experiments which furnish model NRCS versus surface windspeed data for comparison with SASS data.

Schroeder, L. C.↗