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NASA NTRS1990

Seven ways to make a hypertext project fail

Hypertext is an exciting concept, but designing and developing hypertext applications of practical scale is hard. To make a project feasible and successful 'hypertext engineers' must overcome the following problems: (1) developing realistic expectations in the face of hypertext hype; (2) assembling a multidisciplinary project team; (3) establishing and following design guidelines; (4) dealing with installed base constraints; (5) obtaining usable source files; (6) finding appropriate software technology and methods; and (7) overcoming legal uncertainties about intellectual property concerns.

Glushko, Robert J.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Earth observing system: 1989 reference handbook

NASA is studying a coordinated effort called the Mission to Planet Earth to understand global change. The goals are to understand the Earth as a system, and to determine those processes that contribute to the environmental balance, as well as those that may result in changes. The Earth Observing System (Eos) is the centerpiece of the program. Eos will create an integrated scientific observing system that will enable multidisciplinary study of the Earth including the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, polar regions, and solid Earth. Science goals, the Eos data and information system, experiments, measuring instruments, and interdisciplinary investigations are described.

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NASA NTRS1991

Quantitative simulation of extraterrestrial engineering devices

This is a multicomponent, multidisciplinary project whose overall objective is to build an integrated database, simulation, visualization, and optimization system for the proposed oxygen manufacturing plant on Mars. Specifically, the system allows users to enter physical description, engineering, and connectivity data through a uniform, user-friendly interface and stores the data in formats compatible with other software also developed as part of this project. These latter components include: (1) programs to simulate the behavior of various parts of the plant in Martian conditions; (2) an animation program which, in different modes, provides visual feedback to designers and researchers about the location of and temperature distribution among components as well as heat, mass, and data flow through the plant as it operates in different scenarios; (3) a control program to investigate the stability and response of the system under different disturbance conditions; and (4) an optimization program to maximize or minimize various criteria as the system evolves into its final design. All components of the system are interconnected so that changes entered through one component are reflected in the others.

Arabyan, A.↗

NASA NTRS1991

IMAT graphics manual

The Integrated Multidisciplinary Analysis Tool (IMAT) consists of a menu driven executive system coupled with a relational database which links commercial structures, structural dynamics and control codes. The IMAT graphics system, a key element of the software, provides a common interface for storing, retrieving, and displaying graphical information. The IMAT Graphics Manual shows users of commercial analysis codes (MATRIXx, MSC/NASTRAN and I-DEAS) how to use the IMAT graphics system to obtain high quality graphical output using familiar plotting procedures. The manual explains the key features of the IMAT graphics system, illustrates their use with simple step-by-step examples, and provides a reference for users who wish to take advantage of the flexibility of the software to customize their own applications.

Stockwell, Alan E.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Performance optimization of helicopter rotor blades

As part of a center-wide activity at NASA Langley Research Center to develop multidisciplinary design procedures by accounting for discipline interactions, a performance design optimization procedure is developed. The procedure optimizes the aerodynamic performance of rotor blades by selecting the point of taper initiation, root chord, taper ratio, and maximum twist which minimize hover horsepower while not degrading forward flight performance. The procedure uses HOVT (a strip theory momentum analysis) to compute the horse power required for hover and the comprehensive helicopter analysis program CAMRAD to compute the horsepower required for forward flight and maneuver. The optimization algorithm consists of the general purpose optimization program CONMIN and approximate analyses. Sensitivity analyses consisting of derivatives of the objective function and constraints are carried out by forward finite differences. The procedure is applied to a test problem which is an analytical model of a wind tunnel model of a utility rotor blade.

Walsh, Joanne L.↗

NASA NTRS1991

The NASA master directory quick reference guide

The NASA Master Directory (MD) is a free, online, multidisciplinary directory of space and Earth science data sets (NASA and non-NASA data) that are of potential interest to the NASA-sponsored research community. The MD contains high-level descriptions of data sets, other data systems and archives, and campaigns and projects. It provides mechanisms for searching for data sets by important criteria such as geophysical parameters, time, and spatial coverage. The MD also provides information on ordering the data. In order to simplify the process of finding more detailed information or accessing online data, the MD provides automatic connections to a number of data systems such as the NASA Climate Data System, the Planetary Data System, the NASA Ocean Data System, the Pilot Land Data System, and others. The MD also provides general information about many data systems, data centers, and coordinated data analysis projects. It represents the first major step in the Catalog Interoperability project, whose objective is to enable researchers to quickly and efficiently identity, obtain information about, and get access to space and Earth science data.

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NASA NTRS1991

The NASA Science Internet: An integrated approach to networking

An integrated approach to building a networking infrastructure is an absolute necessity for meeting the multidisciplinary science networking requirements of the Office of Space Science and Applications (OSSA) science community. These networking requirements include communication connectivity between computational resources, databases, and library systems, as well as to other scientists and researchers around the world. A consolidated networking approach allows strategic use of the existing science networking within the Federal government, and it provides networking capability that takes into consideration national and international trends towards multivendor and multiprotocol service. It also offers a practical vehicle for optimizing costs and maximizing performance. Finally, and perhaps most important to the development of high speed computing is that an integrated network constitutes a focus for phasing to the National Research and Education Network (NREN). The NASA Science Internet (NSI) program, established in mid 1988, is structured to provide just such an integrated network. A description of the NSI is presented.

Rounds, Fred↗

NASA NTRS1991

Chemistry of electronic ceramic materials. Proceedings of the International Conference on the Chemistry of Electronic Ceramic Materials

The conference was held at Jackson Hole, Wyoming from August 17 to 22, 1990, and in an attempt to maximize the development of this rapidly moving, multidisciplinary field, this conference brought together major national and international researchers to bridge the gap between those primarily interested in the pure chemistry of inorganic solids and those interested in the physical and electronic properties of ceramics. With the many major discoveries that have occurred over the last decade, one of the goals of this meeting was to evaluate the current understanding of the chemistry of electronic ceramic materials, and to assess the state of a field that has become one of the most important areas of advanced materials research. The topics covered include: crystal chemistry; dielectric ceramics; low temperature synthesis and characterization; solid state synthesis and characterization; surface chemistry; superconductors; theory and modeling.

Davies, P. K.↗

NASA NTRS1989

The NASA master directory: Quick reference guide

This is a quick reference guide to the NASA Master Directory (MD), which is a free, online, multidisciplinary directory of space and Earth science data sets (NASA and non-NASA data) that are of potential interest to the NASA-sponsored research community. The MD contains high-level descriptions of data sets, other data systems and archives, and campaigns and projects. It provides mechanisms for searching for data sets by important criteria such as geophysical parameters, time, and spatial coverage, and provides information on ordering the data. It also provides automatic connections to a number of data systems such as the NASA Climate Data System, the Planetary Data System, the NASA Ocean Data System, the Pilot Land Data System, and others. The MD includes general information about many data systems, data centers, and coordinated data analysis projects, It represents the first major step in the Catalog Interoperability project, whose objective is to enable researchers to quickly and efficiently identify, obtain information about, and get access to space and Earth science data. The guide describes how to access, use, and exit the MD and lists its features.

Satin, Karen↗

NASA NTRS1991

Two alternative ways for solving the coordination problem in multilevel optimization

Two techniques for formulating the coupling between levels in multilevel optimization by linear decomposition, proposed as improvements over the original formulation, now several years old, that relied on explicit equality constraints which were shown by application experience as occasionally causing numerical difficulties. The two new techniques represent the coupling without using explicit equality constraints, thus avoiding the above diffuculties and also reducing computational cost of the procedure. The old and new formulations are presented in detail and illustrated by an example of a structural optimization. A generic version of the improved algorithm is also developed for applications to multidisciplinary systems not limited to structures.

Sobieszczanski-Sobieski, Jaroslaw↗

NASA NTRS1990

Technical challenges involved in supporting the Lambda Point Experiment

The Lambda Point Experiment (LPE) is one of the instruments included in the U.S. Microgravity Payload Mission 1 planned for one of the Space Shuttle flights in 1992. The objective of the experiment is to measure the heat capacity of liquid helium within a narrow interval around the transition between superfluid and normal helium (the lambda point) with an unprecedented temperature resolution of about 10 to the -10th. Multiple technical challenges are presented in the areas of structural support, safety analysis, and modal frequency tests. This paper describes the technical challenges of JPL's multidisciplinary involvement in support of these experiments in microgravity.

Petrac, D.↗

NASA NTRS1990

The EOS data and information system

The Earth Observing System (EOS) is proposed as a 1991 new initiative by NASA as part of the Mission to Planet Earth. One of the key components of the EOS program is the EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS). Two independent Phase B studies of EOSDIS were conducted from January 1989 through April 1990. Some of the key challenges faced by EOSDIS are: satisfying the data and information needs of a diverse multidisciplinary scientific community integrating product generation algorithms for over two dozen instruments, keeping up with an orbital average data rate of over 50 Mb/sec and assuring prompt generation of standard products, reprocessing data as product generation algorithms change, and storing, and managing information about tens of Petabytes of data over the 15-year life of the mission.

Ramapriyan, H. K.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Image processing software for providing radiometric inputs to land surface climatology models

During the First International Land Surface Climatology Project (ISLSCP) Field Experiment (FIFE), 80 gigabytes of image data were generated from a variety of satellite and airborne sensors in a multidisciplinary attempt to study energy and mass exchange between the land surface and the atmosphere. To make these data readily available to researchers with a range of image data handling experience and capabilities, unique image-processing software was designed to perform a variety of nonstandard image-processing manipulations and to derive a set of standard-format image products. The nonconventional features of the software include: (1) adding new layers of geographic coordinates, and solar and viewing conditions to existing data; (2) providing image polygon extraction and calibration of data to at-sensor radiances; and, (3) generating standard-format derived image products that can be easily incorporated into radiometric or climatology models. The derived image products consist of easily handled ASCII descriptor files, byte image data files, and additional per-pixel integer data files (e.g., geographic coordinates, and sun and viewing conditions). Details of the solutions to the image-processing problems, the conventions adopted for handling a variety of satellite and aircraft image data, and the applicability of the output products to quantitative modeling are presented. They should be of general interest to future experiment and data-handling design considerations.

Newcomer, Jeffrey A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

MAMS - A high spatial resolution multispectral scanner

The Multispectral Atmospheric Mapping Sensor (MAMS) is an airborne scanner which collects imagery in eight visible and three IR bands, with ground resolution of 100 m at a nominal aircraft altitude of 20 km. The visible channels provide continuous spectral coverage from 0.42 to 1.05 microns, and the IR channels measure upwelling and reflected radiation at combinations of 3.7, 6.5, 11.1, and 12.5 microns. These include channels nearly identical to the Landsat TM channels 1-4, and similar to those on the VISSR Atmospheric Sounder (VAS) and AVHRR instruments. The high spatial resolution permits investigation of surface thermal and atmospheric water vapor structure at scales not available from current stabilities. Significant modifications have been made since engineering flights in 1985 to improve the radiometric performance. The increased data quality and recent multidisciplinary applications of this data are presented.

Atkinson, Robert J.↗

NASA NTRS1991

A case study in multi-component software development

McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company has been actively involved in the development of the U.S. Army sponsored Second Generation Comprehensive Helicopter Analysis System (2GCHAS) over the last five years. This paper describes the multidisciplinary nature of the software, the multicontractor and multi-site environment within which the development took place, the development standards used and evolution of the final product. Valuable lessons were learned during this task that can be used in future developments.

Sangha, Karan↗

NASA NTRS1991

MDO can help resolve the designer's dilemma

Multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) is presented as a rapidly growing body of methods, algorithms, and techniques that will provide a quantum jump in the effectiveness and efficiency of the quantitative side of design, and will turn that side into an environment in which the qualitative side can thrive. MDO borrows from CAD/CAM for graphic visualization of geometrical and numerical data, data base technology, and in computer software and hardware. Expected benefits from this methodology are a rational, mathematically consistent approach to hypersonic aircraft designs, designs pushed closer to the optimum, and a design process either shortened or leaving time available for different concepts to be explored.

Sobieszczanski-Sobieski, Jaroslaw↗

NASA NTRS1991

On simple aerodynamic sensitivity derivatives for use in interdisciplinary optimization

Low-aspect-ratio and piston aerodynamic theories are reviewed as to their use in developing aerodynamic sensitivity derivatives for use in multidisciplinary optimization applications. The basic equations relating surface pressure (or lift and moment) to normal wash are given and discussed briefly for each theory. The general means for determining selected sensitivity derivatives are pointed out. In addition, some suggestions in very general terms are included as to sample problems for use in studying the process of using aerodynamic sensitivity derivatives in optimization studies.

Doggett, Robert V., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Contents of the JPL Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) archive, version 2-91

The Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) archive at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) includes satellite data sets for the ocean sciences and global change research to facilitate multidisciplinary use of satellite ocean data. Parameters include sea surface height, surface wind vector, sea surface temperature, atmospheric liquid water, and surface pigment concentration. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory DAAC is an element of the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) and will be the United States distribution site for the Ocean Topography Experiment (TOPEX)/POSEIDON data and metadata.

Smith, Elizabeth A.↗