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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 1,027 records · Page 57
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

Assessment and characterization of the total geometric uncertainty in Gamma Knife radiosurgery using polymer gels

Purpose: This work proposes and implements an experimental methodology, based on polymer gels, for assessing the total geometric uncertainty and characterizing its contributors in Gamma Knife (GK) radiosurgery. Methods: A treatment plan consisting of 26, 4-mm GK single shot dose distributions, covering an extended region of the Leksell stereotactic space, was prepared and delivered to a polymer gel filled polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) head phantom (16 cm diameter) used to accurately reproduce every link in the GK treatment chain. The center of each shot served as a 'control point' in the assessment of the GK total geometric uncertainty, which depends on (a) the spatial dose delivery uncertainty of the PERFEXION GK unit used in this work, (b) the spatial distortions inherent in MR images commonly used for target delineation, and (c) the geometric uncertainty contributor associated with the image registration procedure performed by the Leksell GammaPlan (LGP) treatment planning system (TPS), in the case that registration is directly based on the apparent fiducial locations depicted in each MR image by the N-shaped rods on the Leksell localization box. The irradiated phantom was MR imaged at 1.5 T employing a T2-weighted pulse sequence. Four image series were acquired by alternating the frequency encoding axis and reversing the read gradient polarity, thus allowing the characterization of the MR-related spatial distortions. Results: MR spatial distortions stemming from main field (B{sub 0}) inhomogeneity as well as from susceptibility and chemical shift phenomena (also known as sequence dependent distortions) were found to be of the order of 0.5 mm, while those owing to gradient nonlinearities (also known as sequence independent distortions) were found to increase with distance from the MR scanner isocenter extending up to 0.47 mm at an Euclidean distance of 69.6 mm. Regarding the LGP image registration procedure, the corresponding average contribution to the total geometric uncertainty ranged from 0.34 to 0.80 mm. The average total geometric uncertainty, which also includes the GK spatial dose delivery uncertainty, was found equal to (0.88 {+-} 0.16), (0.88 {+-} 0.26), (1.02 {+-} 0.09), and (1.15 {+-} 0.24) mm for the MR image series acquired with the read gradient polarity (direction) set toward right, left, posterior, and anterior, respectively. Conclusions: The implemented methodology seems capable of assessing the total geometric uncertainty, as well as of characterizing its contributors, ascribed to the entire GK treatment delivery (i.e., from MR imaging to GK dose delivery) for an extended region of the Leksell stereotactic space. Results obtained indicate that the selection of both the frequency encoding axis and the read gradient polarity during MRI acquisition may affect the magnitude as well as the spatial components of the total geometric uncertainty.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

SU-E-T-575: Isocenter Shifts in Treatment Planning and Its Clinical Implications

Purpose: To investigate causes of isocenter shifts in treatment planning and its clinical impact on patient treatment efficiency and safety. Methods/Materials: Treatment planning data of 340 patients under treatment over 8 weeks period were gathered to identify isocenter shifts according to site of the treatment, types of treatment plan or types of the machine used. Treatment plans included inversed and forward IMRT, as well as 3D plans. Treatment sites included pelvis, chest, abdomen, breasts, head and necks and extremities. Re-planning were performed without the isocenter shift for pelvis and chest plans, the dosimetric parameters such as PTV coverage, and dose sparing of OARs of these plans were analyzed and compared. Results/Discussions: Results showed that the isocenter shift was always necessary for some of sites such as breasts, two or more distinctive PTVs, or special cases such as large PTV treated with enhanced dynamic wedge. Many other cases, the re-planning results indicated 53% of the plans that the same quality of the plan can be achieved without the shift of the isocenter. Repositioning patients on a daily basis demanded unambiguous instructions for therapists for patient setups, and additional time to perform the shifts before treatment. Opportunities for error propagation exist during the communication and hand-over of such plans. Conclusion: Isocenter shifts demanded unambiguous instructions and times for therapists for daily patient setups, therefore it impacted both safety and efficiency of the patient treatment. Based on the analysis, the isocenter shifts were unavoidable for cases such as treatment of multiple sites, overcoming limitations of treatment machines, and/or sometime better dosimetry. However, we found many initially proposed shifts may have been eliminated either by careful planning or by improved CT simulation process such as detailed review of the images and localization of the PTV during simulation.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Beam dynamics in synchrotrons with digital wideband transverse feedback systems

Current researches on beam dynamics in synchrotrons with digital wideband transverse feedback systems are reviewed. Particular attention is given to quantitative and qualitative regularities in frequency shifts and decrements of coherent betatron oscillation damping when feedback loop signals are digitally processed. Theoretical predictions are compared with the experimental data obtained at the Large Hadron Collider.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

One-to-one mapping between the electromagnetic modes of cylindrical and coaxial half-wave cavities

Design of radio frequency (RF) couplers and diagnostics require a good understanding of the electromagnetic mode patterns of RF cavities. This study investigates the adiabatic transformation of transverse magnetic (TM) modes in a cylindrical cavity into transverse electromagnetic (TEM) modes of a coaxial cavity by gradually introducing an inner conductor. Using CST Studio Suite, we simulate the eigenmode evolution as the geometry transforms from a pure cylindrical to a coaxial configuration. We track the behavior of TM010 through TM014 modes to observe the continuous evolution into the corresponding TEM0 through TEM4 modes of the coaxial cavity. The process is governed by the evolution of the electric field orientation as the geometry shifts, enabling the axial TM fields to reorient into the radial electric field configuration of TEM modes. Field patterns, eigen-frequencies, and mode indentities are analyzed throughtout the transition. The results provide simulation-based evidence that TM to TEM conversion occurs without generation of newer eigenmodes, offering a valuable insight into the design of transition regions in superconducting RF (SRF) systems and provides a foundation for experimental validation.

Accelerator Physics↗
DOE OSTI2022

Redox Biochemistry of Energy Conservation in Methanogens and their Syntrophic Partners

The primary objective of this project was to uncover previously unknown modes by which living organisms harvested energy. Specifically, it queried microbial systems, which were once thought to not be able to utilize oxygen. Through the use of cutting-edge approaches, we were able to identify novel mechanistic processes that allow organisms to thrive under varying environmental conditions. This constitutes a paradigm shift in the field. Our work has opened new vistas for expanding the horizons of energy conservation in biological systems, as well as shed light on green energy innovations.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

SpIES: The Spitzer IRAC Equatorial Survey

We describe the first data release from the Spitzer-IRAC Equatorial Survey (SpIES); a large-area survey of ∼115 deg{sup 2} in the Equatorial SDSS Stripe 82 field using Spitzer during its “warm” mission phase. SpIES was designed to probe sufficient volume to perform measurements of quasar clustering and the luminosity function at z ⩾ 3 to test various models for “feedback” from active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Additionally, the wide range of available multi-wavelength, multi-epoch ancillary data enables SpIES to identify both high-redshift (z ⩾ 5) quasars as well as obscured quasars missed by optical surveys. SpIES achieves 5σ depths of 6.13 μJy (21.93 AB magnitude) and 5.75 μJy (22.0 AB magnitude) at 3.6 and 4.5 μm, respectively—depths significantly fainter than the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). We show that the SpIES survey recovers a much larger fraction of spectroscopically confirmed quasars (∼98%) in Stripe 82 than are recovered by WISE (∼55%). This depth is especially powerful at high-redshift (z ⩾3.5), where SpIES recovers 94% of confirmed quasars, whereas WISE only recovers 25%. Here we define the SpIES survey parameters and describe the image processing, source extraction, and catalog production methods used to analyze the SpIES data. In addition to this survey paper, we release 234 images created by the SpIES team and three detection catalogs: a 3.6 μm only detection catalog containing ∼6.1 million sources, a 4.5 μm only detection catalog containing ∼6.5 million sources, and a dual-band detection catalog containing ∼5.4 million sources.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Effective Opacity of the Intergalactic Medium from Galaxy Spectra Analysis

We measure the effective opacity (τ{sub eff}) of the intergalactic medium from the composite spectra of 281 Lyman-break galaxies in the redshift range 2 ≲ z ≲ 3. Our spectra are taken from the COSMOS Lyα Mapping And Tomographic Observations survey derived from the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer on the W.M. Keck I telescope. We generate composite spectra in two redshift intervals and fit them with spectral energy distribution (SED) models composed of simple stellar populations. Extrapolating these SED models into the Lyα forest, we measure the effective Lyα opacity (τ{sub eff}) in the 2.02 ≤ z ≤ 2.44 range. At z = 2.22, we estimate τ{sub eff} =0.159±0.001 from a power-law fit to the data. These measurements are consistent with estimates from quasar analyses at z < 2.5 indicating that the systematic errors associated with normalizing quasar continua are not substantial. We provide a Gaussian processes model of our results and previous τ{sub eff} measurements that describes the steep redshift evolution in τ{sub eff} from z = 1.5–4.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

THE BOSS EMISSION-LINE LENS SURVEY. IV. SMOOTH LENS MODELS FOR THE BELLS GALLERY SAMPLE

We present Hubble Space Telescope F606W-band imaging observations of 21 galaxy-Ly α emitter lens candidates in the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey Emission-Line Lens Survey (BELLS) for the GALaxy-Ly α EmitteR sYstems (BELLS GALLERY) survey. Seventeen systems are confirmed to be definite lenses with unambiguous evidence of multiple imaging. The lenses are primarily massive early-type galaxies (ETGs) at redshifts of approximately 0.55, while the lensed sources are Ly α emitters (LAEs) at redshifts from two to three. Although most of the lens systems are well fit by smooth lens models consisting of singular isothermal ellipsoids in an external shear field, a thorough exploration of dark substructures in the lens galaxies is required. The Einstein radii of the BELLS GALLERY lenses are, on average, 60% larger than those of the BELLS lenses because of the much higher source redshifts. This will allow for a detailed investigation of the radius evolution of the mass profile in ETGs. With the aid of the average ∼13× lensing magnification, the LAEs are frequently resolved into individual star-forming knots with a wide range of properties. They have characteristic sizes from less than 100 pc to several kiloparsecs, rest-frame far-UV apparent AB magnitudes from 29.6 to 24.2, and typical projected separations of 500 pc to 2 kpc.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

The Radio Spectral Energy Distribution and Star-formation Rate Calibration in Galaxies

We study the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the radio continuum (RC) emission from the Key Insight in Nearby Galaxies Emitting in Radio (KINGFISHER) sample of nearby galaxies to understand the energetics and origin of this emission. Effelsberg multi-wavelength observations at 1.4, 4.8, 8.4, and 10.5 GHz combined with archive data allow us, for the first time, to determine the mid-RC (1–10 GHz, MRC) bolometric luminosities and further present calibration relations versus the monochromatic radio luminosities. The 1–10 GHz radio SED is fitted using a Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo technique leading to measurements for the nonthermal spectral index (S{sub ν}∼ν{sup −α{sub n}{sub t}}) and the thermal fraction (f{sub th}) with mean values of α{sub nt}=0.97 ± 0.16(0.79 ± 0.15 for the total spectral index) and f{sub th} = (10 ± 9)% at 1.4 GHz. The MRC luminosity changes over ∼3 orders of magnitude in the sample, 4.3× 10{sup 2} L{sub ⊙} < MRC < 3.9× 10{sup 5} L{sub ⊙}. The thermal emission is responsible for ∼23% of the MRC on average. We also compare the extinction-corrected diagnostics of the star-formation rate (SFR) with the thermal and nonthermal radio tracers and derive the first star-formation calibration relations using the MRC radio luminosity. The nonthermal spectral index flattens with increasing SFR surface density, indicating the effect of the star-formation feedback on the cosmic-ray electron population in galaxies. Comparing the radio and IR SEDs, we find that the FIR-to-MRC ratio could decrease with SFR, due to the amplification of the magnetic fields in star-forming regions. This particularly implies a decrease in the ratio at high redshifts, where mostly luminous/star-forming galaxies are detected.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Contributions of transported Prudhoe Bay oil field emissions to the aerosol population in Utqiagvik, Alaska

Abstract. Loss of sea ice is opening the Arctic to increasing development involving oil and gas extraction and shipping. Given the significant impacts of absorbing aerosol and secondary aerosol precursors emitted within the rapidly warming Arctic region, it is necessary to characterize local anthropogenic aerosol sources and compare to natural conditions. From August to September 2015 in Utqiagvik (Barrow), AK, the chemical composition of individual atmospheric particles was measured by computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (0.13–4 µm projected area diameter) and real-time single-particle mass spectrometry (0.2–1.5 µm vacuum aerodynamic diameter). During periods influenced by the Arctic Ocean (70 % of the study), our results show that fresh sea spray aerosol contributed ~20 %, by number, of particles between 0.13 and 0.4 µm, 40–70 % between 0.4 and 1 µm, and 80–100 % between 1 and 4 µm particles. In contrast, for periods influenced by emissions from Prudhoe Bay (10 % of the study), the third largest oil field in North America, there was a strong influence from submicron (0.13–1 µm) combustion-derived particles (20–50 % organic carbon, by number; 5–10 % soot by number). While sea spray aerosol still comprised a large fraction of particles (90 % by number from 1 to 4 µm) detected under Prudhoe Bay influence, these particles were internally mixed with sulfate and nitrate indicative of aging processes during transport. In addition, the overall mode of the particle size number distribution shifted from 76 nm during Arctic Ocean influence to 27 nm during Prudhoe Bay influence, with particle concentrations increasing from 130 to 920 cm -3 due to transported particle emissions from the oil fields. The increased contributions of carbonaceous combustion products and partially aged sea spray aerosol should be considered in future Arctic atmospheric composition and climate simulations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1980

Passive microwave observations of snow, ice, and rain from satellites

Observations of precipitation performed with the five-channel passive Scanning Microwave Spectrometer of Nimbus 6 are discussed. It is shown that, at centimeter wavelengths, the rain emission is generally dominated by absorption processes except in the cores of intense precipitation cells where the wavelength dependence can shift markedly. The observations of rainfall over the ocean exhibit considerable long-range order in both instantaneous and two-week average maps. The observations of snow and ice also reveal interesting systematic behavior associated with the inhomogeneities and loss tangent of the bulk subsurface material. In general, ice is more isotropically organized internally than the accumulated layers of snow in Antarctica and Greenland.

Staelin, D. H.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Estimating Doppler Shifts for Synthetic-Aperture Radar

Quality of synthetic-aperture-radar (SAR) imagery enhanced by pair of signal-processing techniques that compensate for relative motion between target and vehicle. Combining vehicle trajectory data with radar-parameter and raw image data, techniques generate Doppler estimates for use in constructing fully processed images.

Curlander, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1987

The Cyclone meteor radar system for routine wind measurements in the lower thermosphere

A new meteor wind radar system called Cyclone was devised to extend and update the meteor radar network and for unattended operation. The Cyclone meteor radar system obtains information from four directions simultaneously. To automate data processing a special digital device was developed. An algorithm used to determine the Doppler shifts was adopted, which makes it possible to eliminate selectivity with respect to slow velocity meteor drifts. The operation of the Cyclone system is described.

Lysenko, I. A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Remote sensing observations of sand movement in the Bahariya Depression, Western Egypt

Aerial photographs taken in the 1940's have been used in combination with recent Landsat MSS and TM data to study dune movement in the Western Desert of Egypt. The El-Ghorabi dunes track northwest to southeast along the eastern edge of the Bahariya Depression. These dunes are of complex longitudinal form with well-defined, lag-covered interdune corridors. Studies using both aerial coverage and multitemporal MSS and TM image data reveal little or no net southward extension or movement of the seifs, although field measurements and remote sensing data indicate small-scale lateral migration of dune crests and interdune corridors through time. The primary process of sand transport for these dunes seems to be in response to seasonal shifts in dominant wind direction, as reflected in the development and rapid response of sand shadows leeward of the main dune masses.

Maxwell, Ted A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Comparison Of Four FFT-Based Frequency-Acquisition Techniques

Report presents comparative theoretical analysis of four conceptual techniques for initial estimation of carrier frequency of suppressed-carrier, binary-phase-shift-keyed radio signal. Each technique effected by open-loop analog/digital signal-processing subsystem part of Costas-loop phase-error detector functioning in closed-loop manner overall.

Shah, Biren N.↗
NASA NTRS2003

InGaAsSb Detectors' Characterization for 2-Micron CO2 Lidar/DIAL Applications

Recent interest in monitoring atmospheric CO2 focuses attention on infrared remote sensing using the 2-micron lidar/differential absorption lidar (DIAL) technique. Quantum detectors are critical components in this technique, and many research efforts concentrate on developing such devices for the 2-micron wavelength. Characterization results of InGaAsSb quantum detectors for the 2-micron wavelength range are presented, including experimental setup and procedure. Detectors are prototype devices manufactured by using separate absorption and multiplication (SAM) structures. Characterization experiments include V-I measurements, spectral response and its variation with bias voltage and temperature, noise measurements, noise-equivalent-power (NEP) and detectivity calculations, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) estimation. A slight increase in the output signal occurred with increased bias voltage and was associated with a noise level increase. Cooling down the detectors reduces noise and shifts the cutoff wavelength to shorter values. Further improvement in the design and manufacturing process, by increasing the device gain and lowering its noise level, is necessary to meet the required CO2 lidar/DIAL specifications.

Refaat, Tamer F.↗
NASA NTRS2003

InGaAsSb Detectors Characterization for 2-Micron CO2 Lidar/DIAL Applications

Recent interest in monitoring atmospheric CO2 focuses attention on infrared remote sensing using the 2-micron lidar/differential absorption lidar (DIAL) technique. Quantum detectors are critical components in this technique, and many research efforts concentrate on developing such devices for the 2-micron wavelength. Characterization results of InGaAsSb quantum detectors for the 2-micron wavelength range are presented, including experimental setup and procedure. Detectors are prototype devices manufactured by using separate absorption and multiplication (SAM) structures. Characterization experiments include V-I measurements, spectral response and its variation with bias voltage and temperature, noise measurements, noise-equivalent-power (NEP) and detectivity calculations, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) estimation. A slight increase in the output signal occurred with increased bias voltage and was associated with a noise level increase. Cooling down the detectors reduces noise and shifts the cutoff wavelength to shorter values. Further improvement in the design and manufacturing process, by increasing the device gain and lowering its noise level, is necessary to meet the required CO2 lidar/DIAL specifications.

Refaat, Tamer F.↗