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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 1,081 records · Page 60
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2002

Aircraft Icing Weather Data Reporting and Dissemination System

The long-term operational concept of this research is to develop an onboard aircraft system that assesses and reports atmospheric icing conditions automatically and in a timely manner in order to improve aviation safety and the efficiency of aircraft operations via improved real-time and forecast weather products. The idea is to use current measurement capabilities on aircraft equipped with icing sensors and in-flight data communication technologies as a reporting source. Without requiring expensive avionics upgrades, aircraft data must be processed and available for downlink. Ideally, the data from multiple aircraft can then be integrated (along with other real-time and modeled data) on the ground such that aviation-centered icing hazard metrics for volumes of airspace can be assessed. As the effect of icing on different aircraft types can vary, the information should be displayed in meaningful ways such that multiple types of users can understand the information. That is, information must be presented in a manner to allow users to understand the icing conditions with respect to individual concerns and aircraft capabilities. This research provides progress toward this operational concept by: identifying an aircraft platform capable of digitally capturing, processing, and downlinking icing data; identifying the required in situ icing data processing; investigating the requirements for routing the icing data for use by weather products; developing an icing case study in order to gain insight into major air carrier needs; developing and prototyping icing display concepts based on the National Center for Atmospheric Research's existing diagnostic and forecast experimental icing products; and conducting a usability study for the prototyped icing display concepts.

Bass, Ellen J.↗
NASA NTRS2004

User-Friendly Interface Developed for a Web-Based Service for SpaceCAL Emulations

A team at the NASA Glenn Research Center is developing a Space Communications Architecture Laboratory (SpaceCAL) for protocol development activities for coordinated satellite missions. SpaceCAL will provide a multiuser, distributed system to emulate space-based Internet architectures, backbone networks, formation clusters, and constellations. As part of a new effort in 2003, building blocks are being defined for an open distributed system to make the satellite emulation test bed accessible through an Internet connection. The first step in creating a Web-based service to control the emulation remotely is providing a user-friendly interface for encoding the data into a well-formed and complete Extensible Markup Language (XML) document. XML provides coding that allows data to be transferred between dissimilar systems. Scenario specifications include control parameters, network routes, interface bandwidths, delay, and bit error rate. Specifications for all satellite, instruments, and ground stations in a given scenario are also included in the XML document. For the SpaceCAL emulation, the XML document can be created using XForms, a Webbased forms language for data collection. Contrary to older forms technology, the interactive user interface makes the science prevalent, not the data representation. Required versus optional input fields, default values, automatic calculations, data validation, and reuse will help researchers quickly and accurately define missions. XForms can apply any XML schema defined for the test mission to validate data before forwarding it to the emulation facility. New instrument definitions, facilities, and mission types can be added to the existing schema. The first prototype user interface incorporates components for interactive input and form processing. Internet address, data rate, and the location of the facility are implemented with basic form controls with default values provided for convenience and efficiency using basic XForms operations. Because different emulation scenarios will vary widely in their component structure, more complex operations are used to add and delete facilities.

Liszka, Kathy J.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Measuring and Modeling Shared Visual Attention

Multi-person teams are sometimes responsible for critical tasks, such as flying an airliner. Here we present a method using gaze tracking data to assess shared visual attention, a term we use to describe the situation where team members are attending to a common set of elements in the environment. Gaze data are quantized with respect to a set of N areas of interest (AOIs); these are then used to construct a time series of N dimensional vectors, with each vector component representing one of the AOIs, all set to 0 except for the component corresponding to the currently fixated AOI, which is set to 1. The resulting sequence of vectors can be averaged in time, with the result that each vector component represents the proportion of time that the corresponding AOI was fixated within the given time interval. We present two methods for comparing sequences of this sort, one based on computing the time-varying correlation of the averaged vectors, and another based on a chi-square test testing the hypothesis that the observed gaze proportions are drawn from identical probability distributions.We have evaluated the method using synthetic data sets, in which the behavior was modeled as a series of activities, each of which was modeled as a first-order Markov process. By tabulating distributions for pairs of identical and disparate activities, we are able to perform a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, allowing us to choose appropriate criteria and estimate error rates.We have applied the methods to data from airline crews, collected in a high-fidelity flight simulator (Haslbeck, Gontar Schubert, 2014). We conclude by considering the problem of automatic (blind) discovery of activities, using methods developed for text analysis.

attention↗
NASA NTRS1974

Spectral and textural processing of ERTS imagery

A procedure is developed to simultaneously extract textural features from all bands of ERTS multispectral scanner imagery for automatic analysis. Multi-images lead to excessively large grey tone N-tuple co-occurrence matrices; therefore, neighboring grey N-tuple differences are measured and an ellipsoidally symmetric functional form is assumed for the co-occurrence distribution of multiimage greytone N-tuple differences. On the basis of past data the ellipsoidally symmetric approximation is shown to be reasonable. Initial evaluation of the procedure is encouraging.

Haralick, R. M.↗
DOE OSTI2016

TU-H-BRC-01: A New Fabrication Method for Secondary Skin Collimation Using 3D Scanner and 3D Printer

Purpose: Using secondary skin collimation (SSC) to protect the critical organ surrounding the tumors is always desirable for electron and/or ortho-voltage treatments. However, the time-consuming and labor-intensive fabrication processes of current method (manually fabricate the lead mask) restrict the general use of SSC. The aim of this study is to develop a new SSC fabrication method using 3D scanning and 3D printing technologies in order to largely decrease the human labor involvement and fabrication time, also improve the fabrication accuracy. Methods: First, the patient surface was scanned with a 3D scanner (Structure Sensor, Occipital, CO). The raw scan data was subsequently transferred to a 3D modeling software (Rhinoceros, Ver. 5.0, McNeel North America, Seattle, WA). The tumor contour was then digitized and shielding region was determined by clinicians in the same software. The corresponding SCC conformed to the skin surface was then automatically generated by the software with the proper shielding thickness. The shell of the SCC (with hollow inside) was consequently printed by a 3D printer (Lulzbot TAZ, Aleph Objects, CO) using plastic material. Finally, the hollow mold of SCC was filled up with a melted cerrobend alloy. Once the cerrobend alloy cooled down, the fabrication of SCC was accomplished. Results: The results indicated the proposed method can achieve a much shorter time on making a SCC compared with tradition fabrication method. The processes of making a skin contour model for patients have been eliminated with the new method. SCC created by the new method possessed better accuracy and better conformality to patient’s skin contours. Conclusion: In this study, we have demonstrated a new method for the SCC fabrication. It is anticipated that our method can be an alternative way to replace conventional manual-based methods for electron and/or ortho-voltage SCC fabrication. This research was supported by the Global Ph.D. Fellowship Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (Grant No. 2015H1A2A1034071), Republic of Korea.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2009

Integrating and Visualizing Tropical Cyclone Data Using the Real Time Mission Monitor

The Real Time Mission Monitor (RTMM) is a visualization and information system that fuses multiple Earth science data sources, to enable real time decision-making for airborne and ground validation experiments. Developed at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, RTMM is a situational awareness, decision-support system that integrates satellite imagery, radar, surface and airborne instrument data sets, model output parameters, lightning location observations, aircraft navigation data, soundings, and other applicable Earth science data sets. The integration and delivery of this information is made possible using data acquisition systems, network communication links, network server resources, and visualizations through the Google Earth virtual globe application. RTMM is extremely valuable for optimizing individual Earth science airborne field experiments. Flight planners, scientists, and managers appreciate the contributions that RTMM makes to their flight projects. A broad spectrum of interdisciplinary scientists used RTMM during field campaigns including the hurricane-focused 2006 NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA), 2007 NOAA-NASA Aerosonde Hurricane Noel flight, 2007 Tropical Composition, Cloud, and Climate Coupling (TC4), plus a soil moisture (SMAP-VEX) and two arctic research experiments (ARCTAS) in 2008. Improving and evolving RTMM is a continuous process. RTMM recently integrated the Waypoint Planning Tool, a Java-based application that enables aircraft mission scientists to easily develop a pre-mission flight plan through an interactive point-and-click interface. Individual flight legs are automatically calculated "on the fly". The resultant flight plan is then immediately posted to the Google Earth-based RTMM for interested scientists to view the planned flight track and subsequently compare it to the actual real time flight progress. We are planning additional capabilities to RTMM including collaborations with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the joint development of a Tropical Cyclone Integrated Data Exchange and Analysis System (TC IDEAS) which will serve as a web portal for access to tropical cyclone data, visualizations and model output.

Goodman, H. Michael↗
NASA NTRS2008

Mapping Snow Grain Size over Greenland from MODIS

This paper presents a new automatic algorithm to derive optical snow grain size (SGS) at 1 km resolution using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) measurements. Differently from previous approaches, snow grains are not assumed to be spherical but a fractal approach is used to account for their irregular shape. The retrieval is conceptually based on an analytical asymptotic radiative transfer model which predicts spectral bidirectional snow reflectance as a function of the grain size and ice absorption. The analytical form of solution leads to an explicit and fast retrieval algorithm. The time series analysis of derived SGS shows a good sensitivity to snow metamorphism, including melting and snow precipitation events. Preprocessing is performed by a Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm, which includes gridding MODIS data to 1 km resolution, water vapor retrieval, cloud masking and an atmospheric correction. MAIAC cloud mask (CM) is a new algorithm based on a time series of gridded MODIS measurements and an image-based rather than pixel-based processing. Extensive processing of MODIS TERRA data over Greenland shows a robust performance of CM algorithm in discrimination of clouds over bright snow and ice. As part of the validation analysis, SGS derived from MODIS over selected sites in 2004 was compared to the microwave brightness temperature measurements of SSM\I radiometer, which is sensitive to the amount of liquid water in the snowpack. The comparison showed a good qualitative agreement, with both datasets detecting two main periods of snowmelt. Additionally, MODIS SGS was compared with predictions of the snow model CROCUS driven by measurements of the automatic whether stations of the Greenland Climate Network. We found that CROCUS grain size is on average a factor of two larger than MODIS-derived SGS. Overall, the agreement between CROCUS and MODIS results was satisfactory, in particular before and during the first melting period in mid-June. Following detailed time series analysis of SGS for four permanent sites, the paper presents SGS maps over the Greenland ice sheet for the March-September period of 2004.

Lyapustin, Alexei↗
DOE OSTI2024

Novel principal component analysis tool based on python for analysis of complex spectra of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry

Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) is a powerful surface analysis tool, which can simultaneously provide elemental, isotopic, and molecular information with part per million (ppm) sensitivity. However, each spectrum may be composed of hundreds of ion signals, which makes the spectra data complex. Principal component analysis (PCA) is a multivariate analysis technique that has been widely used to figure out the variances among samples in ToF-SIMS spectra data analysis and is showing great success in the explanation of complex ToF-SIMS spectra. So far, several software tools have been developed for PCA of ToF-SIMS spectra; however, none of them are freely available. Such a situation leads to some difficulties in extending applications of PCA to various research fields. More importantly, it has long been challenging for common researchers to understand PCA plots and extract chemical differences among samples. In this work, we developed a new and flexible software tool (named “advanced spectra pca toolbox”) based on python for PCA of complex ToF-SIMS spectra along with an easy-to-read manual. It can generate data analysis reports automatically to explain chemical differences among samples, allowing less experienced researchers to easily understand tricky PCA results. Moreover, it is expandable and compatible with artificial intelligence/machine learning functions. Pure goethite and different lignin adsorbed goethite samples were used as a model system to demonstrate our new software tool, proving that our software tool can be readily used in complex spectra data processing. Our new software tool is open-source, convenient, flexible, and expandable. We expect this open-source tool will benefit the ToF-SIMS community.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Utah FORGE: Seismic Event Catalogue from the April, 2022 Stimulation of Well 16A(78)-32

This dataset includes earthquake catalogues for the three stages of the 2022 well 16A(78)-32 stimulation provided by Geo Energie Suisse. Events in these catalogues have been visually inspected. There are additional events of lower signal to noise that were automatically detected. Those events will require additional analysis and processing. Times are recorded in UTC (Coordinate Universal Time), and the coordinate reference system is UTM Zone 12N, NAD83.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Hybrid Analytics Solution to Improve Coal Power Plant Operations

This project focused on developing advanced methods for thermal performance monitoring of a coal-fueled power plant. The specific goal was to develop and demonstrate a new thermal performance monitoring approach using a hybrid model that integrates a physics-based heat balance model with a machine learning-based pattern recognition model. The hybrid model enables increased accuracy and scope of the thermal analysis and an improved ability to monitor and detect changes in plant operation. This new approach takes full advantage of the individual model capabilities and creates an important new set of capabilities not previously possible using the two types of models separately. Using the heat balance model, a rich set of derived parameters (virtual sensors) are calculated from the measured plant operating data at each time point. The combined measured and derived data values are used by machine learning algorithms to create pattern recognition models over the range of normal unit operation. To create the monitoring models, historical data from normal operation of the plant is first processed by the heat balance model to compute the derived parameter data. The result is a greatly expanded set of normal operating data that can be used as input to create the pattern recognition model. Once the models are calibrated for normal operation, the hybrid model is suitable for use in continuous online monitoring. During online monitoring, new plant operating data is processed first by the heat balance model and then by the pattern recognition model. Results from the pattern recognition model quantify the deviation of each measured or derived parameter from its expected value in normal operation. The hybrid models can detect abnormal changes in plant operating data with very high accuracy and sensitivity. When abnormal behavior is detected, alerts are generated automatically for evaluation by the plant monitoring staff. The new hybrid solution product was developed and verified in the performance of the project. The hybrid solution was tested first in a simulation environment that mimicked the plant data systems and infrastructure used by U.S. power generating plants and utilities. The hybrid solution was then deployed for real-time, online monitoring of an operating coal-fueled power plant at a field test site. Field testing demonstrated that all hybrid solution development objectives were accomplished. The project work was based on combining the capabilities of two existing software products to create the new hybrid solution product. One of these was the existing MapEx® heat balance product and the other was the existing SureSense® advanced pattern recognition product. Each of these separate products was assessed to be at a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 9 at the start of the effort. The hybrid solution product was assessed to be at a TRL of 2 at the start of the project based on early feasibility work by the project team. At completion of the field testing performed in the project, the hybrid solution product was assessed to be at a TRL of 7. The project team expects that the hybrid solution product will be deployed commercially and will achieve a TRL of 9 within one year after completion of the project.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
NASA NTRS1973

Telemetry link for an automatic salmon migration monitor

The antenna and transmitter described in this report were designed for integration into the remote acoustic assessment system for detection of sockeye salmon in the Bristol Bay region of the Bering Sea. The assessment system configuration consists of an upward directed sonar buoy anchored 150 ft below the surface and attached by cable to a spar buoy tethered some 300 ft laterally. The spar buoy contains a telemetry transmitter, power supply, data processing electronics, an antenna and a beacon light.

Baldwin, H. A.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Application of the high resolution return beam vidicon

The Return Beam Vidicon (RBV) is a high-performance electronic image sensor and electrical storage component. It can accept continuous or discrete exposures. Information can be read out with a single scan or with many repetitive scans for either signal processing or display. Resolution capability is 10,000 TV lines/height, and at 100 lp/mm, performance matches or exceeds that of film, particularly with low-contrast imagery. Electronic zoom can be employed effectively for image magnification and data compression. The high performance and flexibility of the RBV permit wide application in systems for reconnaissance, scan conversion, information storage and retrieval, and automatic inspection and test. This paper summarizes the characteristics and performance parameters of the RBV and cites examples of feasible applications.

Cantella, M. J.↗
NASA NTRS1991

An efficient microcomputer system for the analysis of particle image velocimetry specklegrams

An efficient image processing system is described for the automatic analysis of particle image velocimetry (PIV) fringe patterns. Each interrogation point takes 1 second to analyze; a complete specklegram can be interrogated at 1000 points in approximately 15 minutes. Incorporated in the analysis is a means for automatic replacement of spurious velocity vectors without either re-interrogation of the specklegram or interpolation between neighboring data points. The sucess of the above system is demonstrated by application of the PIV technique to the study of the sink-driven cavity flow. This flow is studied as part of a larger program to investigate trapped vortex flows as a means of lift enhancement on swept wings.

Wadcock, Alan J.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The measurement system of pulse modulated carrier frequency stability and timing jitter

The definition of pulse modulated carrier frequency stability and timing jitter as well as the configuration and synchronous acquisition measurement method of its measurement system. Frequency stability of the pulse modulated carrier is measured with a discrimination technique. The pulse modulated carrier under testing is mixed with a reference frequency synthesizer. A delay line is used to convert the frequency fluctuation mixed IF signal to the voltage fluctuation. The system has the capability to make the phase noise measurement of two port devices on a pulsed carrier using a phase bridge. The noise voltage mentioned above is applied to the data acquisition and processing unit by PC to realize stability measurement. The data acquisition is in the form of pulse synchronization so that the measurement system accuracy is increased. The pulse width is more than 0.3 microseconds. The phase fluctuation variance, sigma, is less than 0.017. The time interval measuring system with high resolution is used to make interpulse timing and pulse width jitters automatic measurement. The pulse width is less than 0.2 ns. The resolution is 0.1 ns. The system is successfully applied to radar measurement.

Li Cheng-Fu↗
NASA NTRS1993

Welding Sensor System

A system originally designed for welding components of the huge Space Shuttle external tank led to a laser-based automated welder for industrial use. A laser sensor tracks the seam where two pieces of metal are to be joined, measures gaps, misfits and automatically corrects welding of torch distance and height. A small industrial computer translates the sensor's information to the weld head and records and displays weld data for control purposes and analysis. The system was modified for commercial use by Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), Martin Marietta and Applied Research, Inc., which produces the commercial system. Applications are in industrial welding processes that require repetitive operations and a high degree of reliability.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2004

Using the GeoFEST Faulted Region Simulation System

GeoFEST (the Geophysical Finite Element Simulation Tool) simulates stress evolution, fault slip and plastic/elastic processes in realistic materials, and so is suitable for earthquake cycle studies in regions such as Southern California. Many new capabilities and means of access for GeoFEST are now supported. New abilities include MPI-based cluster parallel computing using automatic PYRAMID/Parmetis-based mesh partitioning, automatic mesh generation for layered media with rectangular faults, and results visualization that is integrated with remote sensing data. The parallel GeoFEST application has been successfully run on over a half-dozen computers, including Intel Xeon clusters, Itanium II and Altix machines, and the Apple G5 cluster. It is not separately optimized for different machines, but relies on good domain partitioning for load-balance and low communication, and careful writing of the parallel diagonally preconditioned conjugate gradient solver to keep communication overhead low. Demonstrated thousand-step solutions for over a million finite elements on 64 processors require under three hours, and scaling tests show high efficiency when using more than (order of) 4000 elements per processor. The source code and documentation for GeoFEST is available at no cost from Open Channel Foundation. In addition GeoFEST may be used through a browser-based portal environment available to approved users. That environment includes semi-automated geometry creation and mesh generation tools, GeoFEST, and RIVA-based visualization tools that include the ability to generate a flyover animation showing deformations and topography. Work is in progress to support simulation of a region with several faults using 16 million elements, using a strain energy metric to adapt the mesh to faithfully represent the solution in a region of widely varying strain.

Geophyical Finite Element Simulation Tool (GeoFEST↗
NASA NTRS2009

Automatic Extraction of Planetary Image Features

With the launch of several Lunar missions such as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Chandrayaan-1, a large amount of Lunar images will be acquired and will need to be analyzed. Although many automatic feature extraction methods have been proposed and utilized for Earth remote sensing images, these methods are not always applicable to Lunar data that often present low contrast and uneven illumination characteristics. In this paper, we propose a new method for the extraction of Lunar features (that can be generalized to other planetary images), based on the combination of several image processing techniques, a watershed segmentation and the generalized Hough Transform. This feature extraction has many applications, among which image registration.

Troglio, G.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Auto Draw from Excel Input Files

The design process often involves the use of Excel files during project development. To facilitate communications of the information in the Excel files, drawings are often generated. During the design process, the Excel files are updated often to reflect new input. The problem is that the drawings often lag the updates, often leading to confusion of the current state of the design. The use of this program allows visualization of complex data in a format that is more easily understandable than pages of numbers. Because the graphical output can be updated automatically, the manual labor of diagram drawing can be eliminated. The more frequent update of system diagrams can reduce confusion and reduce errors and is likely to uncover symmetric problems earlier in the design cycle, thus reducing rework and redesign.

Strauss, Karl F.↗