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NASA NTRS2017

ICESAT GLAS Altimetry Measurements: Received Signal Dynamic Range and Saturation Correction

NASAs Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat), which operated between 2003 and 2009, made the first satellite-based global lidar measurement of earths ice sheet elevations, sea-ice thickness, and vegetation canopy structure. The primary instrument on ICESat was the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS), which measured the distance from the spacecraft to the earth's surface via the roundtrip travel time of individual laser pulses. GLAS utilized pulsed lasers and a direct detection receiver consisting of a silicon avalanche photodiode and a waveform digitizer. Early in the mission, the peak power of the received signal from snow and ice surfaces was found to span a wider dynamic range than anticipated, often exceeding the linear dynamic range of the GLAS 1064-nm detector assembly. The resulting saturation of the receiver distorted the recorded signal and resulted in range biases as large as approximately 50 cm for ice- and snow-covered surfaces. We developed a correction for this saturation range bias based on laboratory tests using a spare flight detector, and refined the correction by comparing GLAS elevation estimates with those derived from Global Positioning System surveys over the calibration site at the salar de Uyuni, Bolivia. Applying the saturation correction largely eliminated the range bias due to receiver saturation for affected ICESat measurements over Uyuni and significantly reduced the discrepancies at orbit crossovers located on flat regions of the Antarctic ice sheet.

Sun, Xiaoli↗
NASA NTRS2017

Development of a Coherent Bistatic Vegetation Model for Signal of Opportunity Applications at VHF UHF-Bands

A coherent bistatic vegetation scattering model, based on a Monte Carlo simulation, is being developed to simulate polarimetric bi-static reflectometry at VHF/UHF-bands (240-270 MHz). The model is aimed to assess the value of geostationary satellite signals of opportunity to enable estimation of the Earth's biomass and root-zone soil moisture. An expression for bistatic scattering from a vegetation canopy is derived for the practical case of a ground-based/low altitude platforms with passive receivers overlooking vegetation. Using analytical wave theory in conjunction with distorted Born approximation (DBA), the transmit and receive antennas effects (i.e., polarization, orientation, height, etc.) are explicitly accounted for. Both the coherency nature of the model (joint phase and amplitude information) and the explicit account of system parameters (antenna, altitude, polarization, etc) enable one to perform various beamforming techniques to evaluate realistic deployment configurations. In this paper, several test scenarios will be presented and the results will be evaluated for feasibility for future biomass and root-zone soil moisture application using geostationary communication satellite signals of opportunity at low frequencies.

UFH↗
NASA NTRS2018

Extreme Temperature Performance of Automotive-Grade Small Signal Bipolar Junction Transistors

Electronics designed for space exploration missions must display efficient and reliable operation under extreme temperature conditions. For example, lunar outposts, Mars rovers and landers, James Webb Space Telescope, Europa orbiter, and deep space probes represent examples of missions where extreme temperatures and thermal cycling are encountered. Switching transistors, small signal as well as power level devices, are widely used in electronic controllers, data instrumentation, and power management and distribution systems. Little is known, however, about their performance in extreme temperature environments beyond their specified operating range; in particular under cryogenic conditions. This report summarizes preliminary results obtained on the evaluation of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) automotive-grade NPN small signal transistors over a wide temperature range and thermal cycling. The investigations were carried out to establish a baseline on functionality of these transistors and to determine suitability for use outside their recommended temperature limits.

Thermal Cycling↗
NASA NTRS2018

Prediction Skill of the MJO Teleconnection Signals in the NASA GEOS Subseasonal Reforecasts

Tropical-extratropical teleconnections are considered key to advancing subseasonal prediction. The Madden Julian oscillation (MJO), characterized by large scale convective envelopes propagating along the tropical Indo-Pacific sector, is known to modulate midlatitude circulation and associated weather patterns. Although there is a general consensus on the MJO's influence on the midlatitude circulation, which is thought to be due to modulations of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Pacific North America (PNA) pattern, relatively less is known about the predictability of these teleconnection signals in dynamical forecast models. The composite evolution of the midlatitude circulation anomalies and associated wave train structure as the delayed response to tropical heating are reported in many studies that have examined reanalyses and long model simulations. However, it is yet to be determined whether they lend any beneficial subseasonal forecast skill, especially to weekly mean surface temperature and precipitation over North America. Investigating useful predictable signals from the MJO teleconnections is also complicated by the fact that the MJO is a moving heat source with an approximate periodicity of 30-60 days, and that the structure and amplitude of the midlatitude response can be sensitive to the longitudinal positioning of the heating anomaly as well as the propagation speed of the MJO. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of MJO teleconnections on forecast accuracy at 2-3 week lead over North America, with an emphasis on the above-mentioned lesser known aspects of these teleconnections. To this end, we utilize a suite of subseasonal reforecasts performed with the latest NASA GEOS-5 seasonal-to-subseasonal (S2S) system. These reforecasts were performed as part of the NOAA SubX project, wherein the NASA GEOS-5 atmosphere-ocean coupled model was run at degree horizontal resolution, initialized every 5 days for the period 1999-2016. The GEOS-5 model shows skillful predictions of the MJO, with the correlation coefficient based on the real-time multivariate MJO (RMM) index staying at or above 0.5 up to forecast lead 26-36 days. The system is thus a useful tool for investigating MJO teleconnection processes.

Achuthavarier, Deepthi↗
NASA NTRS2016

Atg12 Maintains Skeletal Integrity by Modulating Pro-Osteoclastogenic Signals and Chondrocyte Differentiation

Weightlessness and radiation, two unique elements of space, profoundly decreases bone mass. We aimed to elucidate the role of autophagy in maintaining structural integrity of the skeleton. We hypothesize that loss of autophagy in bone leads to an imbalance in pro-osteoclastogenic and pro-osteogenic signals, resulting in net bone loss. To test our hypothesis, we performed global postnatal deletion of Atg12 using tamoxifen-inducible Cre. Compared to Vehicle (Control) groups, Tamoxifen (Atg12 iKO) groups showed decreased LC3B-I to II conversion and increased p62 protein levels, consistent with loss of autophagy. qPCR revealed increased expression of pro-osteoclastogenic cytokines in bone and marrow respectively in male iKOs compared to controls. Microcomputed tomography revealed decreased cortical bone volume, cortical thickness and periosteal perimeter consistent with bone loss; and a longer primary spongiosa in male Atg12 iKOs display compared to male controls. Histology showed that compared to male controls, male iKOs had a profound increase in chondrocyte column length of the growth plate with hyper-expansion of both proliferating and hypertrophic zones. Taken together, these findings indicate that autophagy plays an important role in the maintenance of bone structural integrity by mediating the production of pro-osteoclastogenic signals and regulating chondrocyte proliferation and differentiation.

Atg12↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Effects of Ground Boards on Acoustic Signals

Acoustic ground boards are used to provide hard reflective surfaces for microphones when taking outdoor measurements. These boards also have a wide variety of potential impacts on the signal received by the microphones. A comprehensive experimental campaign was completed in which various ground board and microphone configurations were tested to determine their effects on the acoustic signals returned by the microphones. Comparisons are made between these setups and a free-field reference case. Normal impedance testing on various combinations of sand, plywood, and ground board material was also completed.

Mark CAnderson↗
NASA NTRS2006

Coherent optical array receiver experiment : design, implementation and BER performance of a multichannel coherent optical receiver for PPM signals under atmospheric turbulence

The performance of a coherent free-space optical communication system operating in the presence of turbulence is investigated. Maximum Likelihood Detection techniques are employed to optimally detect Pulse Position Modulated signals with a focal-plane detector array, and reconstruct the turbulence-degraded signals. The experimental demonstration of this project and results may be divided in three parts; two of which have already been explained in previous publications (1,2). This latest paper shows the final experimental results, including investigation of performance of the Coherent Optical Receiver Experiment (CORE) performed at the laboratory facilities at JPL. Bit Error Rate (BER) is presented for single and multichannel optical receivers, where quasi-shot noise limited performance is achieved, under simulated turbulence conditions using non-coherent post-detection processing techniques.

Hassibi, Babak↗
NASA NTRS2020

SCoBi Multilayer: A Signals of Opportunity Reflectometry Model for Multilayer Dielectric Reflections

A multilayer module is incorporated into the Signals of Opportunity (SoOp) Coherent Bistatic Scattering model (SCoBi) for determining the reflections and propagation of electric fields within a series of multilayer dielectric slabs. This module can be used in conjunction with other SCoBi components to simulate complex, bistatic simulation schemes that include features such as surface roughness, vegetation, antenna effects, and multilayer soil moisture interactions on reflected signals. This paper introduces the physics underlying the multilayer module and utilizes it to perform a simulation study of the response of SoOp-R measurements with respect to subsurface soil moisture parameters. For a frequency range of 100–2400 MHz, it is seen that the SoOp-R response to a single dielectric slab is mostly frequency insensitive; however, the SoOp-R response to multilayer dielectric slabs will vary between frequencies. The relationship between SoOp-R reflectivity and the contributing depth is visualized, and the results show that SoOp-R measurements can display sensitivity to soil moisture below the penetration depth. By simulation of simple soil moisture profiles with different wetting and drying gradients, the dielectric contrast between layers is shown to be the greatest contributing factor to subsurface soil moisture sensitivity. Overall, it is observed that different frequencies can sense different areas of a soil moisture profile, and this behavior can enable subsurface soil moisture data products from SoOp-R observations.

Dylan Boyd↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Signal and Power Integrity Design Methodology for High-Performance Flight Computing Systems

Computing capabilities of space systems have in-creased onboard performance by orders of magnitude with the use of radiation-tolerant field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA)and processors. The incorporation of signal and power integrity analysis with printed circuit board (PCB) design in reliable computing architectures for space systems has become critical to enable future mission capabilities. Developers launch high-performance processors into a breadth of orbits and missions, running varying applications that create challenges for designing reliable computing hardware. Specifically, for these designs, academic and industry research has focused on component radiation performance, fault mitigation, and reliable architectures. How-ever, other design parameters including electromagnetic interference (EMI), PCB stackup, signal integrity (SI), voltage regulator module (VRM) design, and power distribution network (PDN)are often deprioritized or disregarded as the design matures. Since these characteristics are becoming more significant in high-performance processor designs, this research presents a hardware design and analysis methodology for high-performance, space-computing systems that focuses on a holistic design approach and PDN reliability. While these challenges exist across all space hardware, the reduced PCB dimensions imposed by SmallSats and CubeSats introduce additional hurdles, specifically to VRM and decoupling design. By examining the relationship between the PDN and radiation performance, an analytical relationship is developed that incorporates Total Ionizing Dose and Single-Event Transients to ensure reliability throughout the mission duration. The presented design methodology is applied to the SpaceCube v3.0 Mini, an FPGA-based on-board science data processing system developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Advanced avionics↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

166 GHz Ice Scattering Signal in Cold-Season Precipitating Cloud Systems

Surface snowfall can be produced by a variety of forcing mechanisms that are accompanied by different in-cloud physical processes and microphysical composition. For instance, shallow cumuliform snowfall forced by marine cold air outbreaks shows distinct geographic and seasonal signatures and plays in important role in annual snowfall production in many regions worldwide. Coincident CloudSat-CALIPSO observations confirm that oceanic regions exhibiting frequent shallow cumuliform snow are typically composed of mixed-phase cloud and precipitation particles and display passive microwave brightness temperature behavior that is dominated by cloud liquid water emission, while combined Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) radiometer and surface radar studies of intense shallow cumuliform events indicate significant ice particle scattering signals at the highest GPM radiometer frequencies. Passive microwave imager channels in the 37 to 89 GHz range have long been used to detect precipitation-sized ice particle scattering signatures in clouds. Dual polarization plays an important role in distinguishing between scattering signatures and other background variability. The GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) is the first satellite radiometer to possess dual-polarized channels at 166 GHz. These high-frequency channels are more susceptible to emission and attenuation by cloud liquid water and water vapor than lower-frequency channels, but are also more sensitive to ice scattering. This research studies the ice scattering information contained in the 166 GHz channels compared to the historically used 85/89 GHz channels on previous sensors. A 166 GHz scattering index (SI) will be developed to understand how its correlation with non-precipitating ice scattering at higher altitudes also affects the 166 GHz scattering signature in cold-season precipitating cloud systems. The 166 GHz SI will be used to possibly isolate precipitation scattering signature for different snowfall modes (shallow convective vs. deep stratiform). The supercooled liquid water affecting shallow convective systems and drastically reducing the scattering signal could be detected and quantified, providing additional information for convective snow detection and quantification in solid precipitation retrieval algorithms.

Lisa Milani↗
NASA NTRS2021

All-sky search in early O3 LIGO data for continuous gravitational-wave signals from unknown neutron stars in binary systems

Rapidly spinning neutron stars are promising sources of continuous gravitational waves. Detecting such a signal would allow probing of the physical properties of matter under extreme conditions. A significant fraction of the known pulsar population belongs to binary systems. Searching for unknown neutron stars in binary systems requires specialized algorithms to address unknown orbital frequency modulations. We present a search for continuous gravitational waves emitted by neutron stars in binary systems in early data from the third observing run of the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors using the semicoherent, GPU-accelerated, binaryskyhough pipeline. The search analyzes the most sensitive frequency band of the LIGO detectors, 50–300 Hz. Binary orbital parameters are split into four regions, comprising orbital periods of three to 45 days and projected semimajor axes of two to 40 light seconds. No detections are reported. We estimate the sensitivity of the search using simulated continuous wave signals, achieving the most sensitive results to date across the analyzed parameter space.

Gravitation↗
NASA NTRS2022

An Algorithm for Statistical Audibility Prediction (SAP) of an Arbitrary Signal in the Presence of Noise

A method for predicting the audibility of an arbitrary time-varying noise (signal) in the presence of masking noise has been developed. The statistical audibility prediction (SAP) method relies on the specific loudness, or loudness perceived through the individual auditory filters, for accurate statistical estimation of audibility vs. time. More recent development has focused on derivation and inclusion of frequency-dependent correction factors in SAP’s model to account for the ability to hear signals below the level of the masking noise. Audibility prediction vs. time is intuitive since it captures changes in audibility with time as it occurs, which is critical for the study of human response to noise. Concurrently time-frequency prediction of audibility may also provide valuable information about the root cause(s) for audibility useful for the design and operation of sources of noise. Empirical data, gathered under a three-alternative forced-choice (3AFC) test paradigm for low-frequency sound, has been used to examine the accuracy of SAP.

audibility↗
NASA NTRS2022

166 GHZ Ice Scattering Signal in Snowfall Events Over Ocean

Snowfall retrieval algorithms for spaceborne passive microwave (PMW) sensors have been developed and refined in recent years, but many complicating issues still affect their accuracy and reliability. Previous work showed that the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission Goddard PROFiling (GPROF) algorithm snowfall retrieval performance strongly depends on the snowfall type. In particular, PMW-based detection of shallow cumuliform snowfall (SCS), which accounts for 36%-70% of global snowfall frequency, can be very challenging. The snowfall scattering signal can be contaminated by the background surface or supercooled cloud liquid water emission. A scattering index (SI) approach that exploits the GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) dual-polarization 166 GHz channels is developed to analyze its behavior in presence of SCS over ocean. Case studies show that, compared to the SI at 89 GHz, it can isolate the SCS snowfall scattering signal in extremely dry conditions. Some issues are still observed in presence of supercooled liquid water.

Lisa Milani↗
NASA NTRS2023

LunaNet Position, Navigation, and Timing Services and Signal, Enabling the Future of Lunar Exploration

The International Space Exploration Coordination Group established in 2018 the 3rd edition of the Global Exploration Roadmap (ISECG, 2018) that aims to achieve Mars human surface activities and identifies the exploration of the Moon as a critical intermediate step. A supplement covering updates on surface exploration scenarios was released in 2020 (ISECG, 2020). The Artemis Accords (NASA Artemis, 2020), first signed in October 2020, now includes over two dozen nations, in an agreement on the principles for best practices, including interoperability. September 2022 introduced the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Moon to Mars Objectives highlighting recurring tenets of collaboration with international and industry partners and interoperability, along with infrastructure objectives for Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT). The successful Artemis 1 mission paved the way to the ambitious plans to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon. Just a few months after Artemis 1 launch (NASA, 2022), iSpace HAKUTO-R Mission1 (iSpace, 2022) launched, being the first-ever commercial mission, launched by a commercial launch service provider, aiming to land on the lunar surface. The NASA Artemis programme plans initial crewed landings and traverses in 2025, supported by the Lunar Gateway, followed by regular launches to build the lunar systems (NASA Artemis Plan, 2020), (NASA, 2022). NASA’s contracts with Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS, (NASA, n.d.)) to deliver science and technology to the Moon, with launches starting in November 2023. The European Space Agency (ESA) Argonaut (ESA Argonaut, 2022) programme plans to have recurrent missions to bring payloads to the lunar surface, supporting lunar exploration. These are just a few examples of planned missions that will target the Earth’s natural satellite in the next decade, with forecasts of tens of missions per year (NSR, 2022), (Euroconsult, 2020). The large number of missions and the complexity of landing and operating are expected to demand a change of paradigm from the current Earth-based communication and navigation services. In recent years, several agencies have proposed to deploy cislunar communication and navigation services to support lunar missions (NASA LCRNS, 2022), (ESA Moonlight, 2022), (JAXA, 2022)). All these proposals seek to deploy service-providing satellites in lunar orbit to ease the user missions’ operations. The PNT services objective is to support all types of lunar users (e.g.: orbiters, landers, ascent vehicles, and surface crew and rovers). At the same time, NASA and ESA initiated an effort to define a common framework to ensure interoperability among different service providers: the LunaNet framework. The LunaNet Interoperability Specification (NASA and ESA, 2023) covers communication, PNT, and auxiliary services, by establishing a common set of requirements to ensure interoperability. This conference contribution will present the LunaNet PNT services, focusing on the Lunar Augmented Navigation Service (LANS) that resembles the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) concept on Earth: constellations of satellites broadcasting a radio navigation signal synchronized to a common reference clock, with augmentations to accommodate users’ needs in an environment away from Earth. This includes a description of the high-level LANS concept and the basic principles defined to ensure interoperability. In addition, it will describe the common S-band PNT Augmented Forward Signal (AFS) and common messages to be adopted for compliance with the LunaNet framework, and the justification of the selected approach.

LunaNet↗
NASA NTRS2023

Lunanet Position, Navigation, and Timing Services and Signals, Enabling the Future of Lunar Exploration

The International Space Exploration Coordination Group established in 2018 the 3rd edition of the Global Exploration Roadmap (ISECG, 2018) that aims to achieve Mars human surface activities and identifies the exploration of the Moon as a critical intermediate step. A supplement covering updates on surface exploration scenarios was released in 2020 (ISECG, 2020). The Artemis Accords (NASA Artemis, 2020), first signed in October 2020, now includes over two dozen nations, in an agreement on the principles for best practices, including interoperability. In September 2022 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) introduced the Moon to Mars Objectives highlighting recurring tenets of collaboration with international and industry partners and interoperability, along with infrastructure objectives for Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT). The successful Artemis 1 mission paved the way to the ambitious plans to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon. Just a few months after Artemis 1 launch (NASA, 2022), iSpace HAKUTO-R Mission1 (iSpace, 2022) launched, being the first-ever mission launched by a commercial launch service provider aiming to land on the lunar surface. The NASA Artemis program plans initial crewed landings and surface traverses in 2025, supported by the Lunar Gateway. Regular launches will follow to build the lunar systems for a sustained presence as presented in the Artemis Plan (NASA Artemis Plan, 2020), (NASA, 2022). NASA’s contracts with commercial providers through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program (CLPS, (NASA, n.d.)) will deliver science and technology demonstration missions to the Moon starting in November 2023. The European Space Agency (ESA) Argonaut (ESA Argonaut, 2022) program plans to have recurrent missions to bring payloads to the lunar surface, supporting lunar exploration. These are just a few examples of planned missions that will target Earth’s natural satellite in the next decade, with forecasts of tens of missions per year (NSR, 2022), (Euroconsult, 2020). The large number of missions and the complexity of landing and operating are expected to demand a change of paradigm from the current Earth-based communication and navigation services, that may be combined with onboard sensors. In recent years, several agencies have proposed to deploy cislunar communication and navigation services to support lunar missions (NASA LCRNS, 2022), (ESA Moonlight, 2022), (JAXA, 2022)). All these proposals seek to deploy service-providing satellites in lunar orbit to ease the user missions’ operations. The PNT services objective is to support all types of lunar users (e.g.: orbiters, landers, ascent vehicles, surface crew, rovers, and deployed science payloads). At the same time, NASA and ESA initiated an effort to define a common framework to ensure interoperability among different service providers: the LunaNet framework. The LunaNet Interoperability Specification (NASA and ESA, 2023) covers communication, PNT, and auxiliary services, by establishing a common set of requirements to ensure interoperability. This conference contribution will present the LunaNet PNT services, focusing on the Lunar Augmented Navigation Service (LANS) that would be provided by a system that resembles the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) concept on Earth: constellations of satellites broadcasting a radio navigation signal synchronized to a common reference clock, with augmentations to accommodate users’ needs in an environment away from Earth. This paper includes a description of the high-level LANS concept, and the basic principles defined to ensure interoperability. In addition, it will describe the common S-band PNT Augmented Forward Signal (AFS) and common messages to be adopted for compliance with the LunaNet framework, and the justification of the selected approach.

LunaNet↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Lunar Surface Position Determination using Perceived Signal Strength

The purpose of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of transmitters and receivers on the lunar surface for Position Determination (PD) without any form of lunar Global Positioning System (GPS). The early Artemis program may lack GPS satellites orbiting the Moon, and it is critical that activities with the lander, rover, and crew EVA identify their position on the lunar surface at all times. This project creates a prototype system that trilaterates user position based upon the perceived signal from at least 3 nearby transmission towers, called “Lunar Access Points”. The application of perceived signal strength for surface PD has historically been used in terrestrial systems such as Long Range Navigation (LORAN), which was popular with the maritime industry prior to the Global Positioning System (GPS). The ease of installing such a local system for early Artemis missions provides a critical resource until satellite-based position determination systems are deployed. A surface-based PD can also be used in GPS-denied environments such as deep craters or lava tubes where satellite visibility is compromised. By demonstrating the basic capability of surface PD, this student team has learned about issues with power, distance, thermal, dust, radiation, data processing, and communication problems applicable to the lunar surface. This knowledge can feed into future NASA requirements to improve the capability of a LunaNET implementation for the Artemis program. This project follows 10 years of successful collaboration between NASA JSC/ARES, Texas Space, Technology, Applications and Research (T STAR) and Texas A&M University in a Public, Private, Academic (PPA) Partnership. NASA funds T STAR to mentor undergraduate Capstone teams in the College of Engineering Department to design, built, and test prototypes meeting NASA requirements. TAMU faculty lead the student teams in their academic class, and NASA Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) provide T STAR and students insight on requirements evolution, prior design projects, and future development goals.

Position Determination↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Characterization of Fluorescence Signals in Synthetic Anorthite

In-situ resource utilization (ISRU) is a key capability to enable a long term presence on the Moon and other planetary bodies. For example, efforts have been underway to develop processes to utilize the lunar regolith to produce building materials and extract useful resources. In processes that utilize the regolith directly to produce construction materials, such as in various sintering methods, characterizing the composition of the regolith is important as the composition can affect the optimal process parame-ters. In processes that involve extracting resources such as iron, oxygen, hydrogen, etc., identifying areas with higher abundance of a particular resource will be critical since different regions of the Moon exhibit differing regolith composition. To this end, Ra-man is one technique that can rapidly characterize the mineralogy of rock samples. This technique has al-ready been deployed on Mars to detect various miner-als including olivine, carbonates, phosphates, etc. Besides characterizing the mineralogy, Raman spectra often contain unwanted fluorescence signals that can mask Raman peaks. In some cases, the fluorescence signals are narrow enough to aid in the identification of specific elements in soils. In this work, we explore fluorescence peaks in a synthetic anorthite sample, which are at the same position as Ruby fluorescence peaks attributed to chromium. These fluorescence peaks, as well as similar fluorescence peaks attributed to other elements, could have important implications for ISRU and the mining of critical resources as has been previously described.

Raman Spectroscopy↗