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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
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NASA NTRS1987

Light funnel concentrator panel for solar power

The solar concentrator design concept provides a theoretical concentration efficiency of 96 percent with power-to-weight ratios as high as 50 W/kg. Further, it eliminates the need for fragile reflective coatings and is very tolerant to pointing inaccuracies. The concept differs from conventional reflective mirrors and lens design in that is uses the principle of total internal reflection in order to funnel incident sunlight into a concentrator photovoltaic cell. The feasibility of the light funnel concentrator concept was determined through a balanced approach of analysis, development, and fabrication of prototypes, and testing of components. A three-dimensional optical model of the light funnel concentrator and photovoltaic cell was developed in order to assess the ultimate performance of such systems. In addition, a thermal and structural analysis of a typical unit was made. Techniques of fabricating the light funnel cones, optically coupling them to GaAs concentrator cells, bonding the funnels to GaAs cells, making electrical interconnects, and bonding substrates was explored and a prototype light funnel concentrator unit was fabricated and tested. Testing of the system included measurements of optical concentrating efficiency, optical concentrator to cell coupling efficiency, and electrical efficiency.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1987

Development of response models for the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) sensors. Part 3: ERBE scanner measurement accuracy analysis due to reduced housekeeping data

The accuracy of scanner measurements was evaluated when the sampling frequency of sensor housekeeping (HK) data was reduced from once every scan to once every eight scans. The resulting increase in uncertainty was greatest for sources with rapid or extreme temperature changes. This analysis focused on the mirror attenuator mosaic (MAM) baffle and plate and scanner radiometer baffle due to their relatively high temperature changes during solar calibrations. Since only solar simulator data were available, the solar temperatures were approximated on these components and the radiative and thermal gradients in the MAM baffle due to reflected sunlight. Of the two cases considered for the MAM plate and baffle temperatures, one uses temperatures obtained from the ground calibration. The other attempt uses temperatures computed from the MAM baffle model. This analysis shows that the heat input variations due largely to the solar radiance and irradiance during a scan cycle are small. It also demonstrates that reasonable intervals longer than the current HK data acquisition interval should not significantly affect the estimation of a radiation field in the sensor field-of-view.

Choi, Sang H.↗
NASA NTRS1987

A geostationary imaging spectrometer TOMS instrument

One design for a geostationary Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) with many desirable features is an imaging spectrometer. A preliminary study makes use of a 0.25 m Czerny-Turner spectrometer with which the Earth is imaged on a charge-coupled device (CCD) in dispersed light. The wavelength is determined by a movable grating which can be set arbitrarily by ground control. The signal integration time depends on wavelength but this system allows arbitrary timing by command. Special circumstances such as a requirement to track a low-lying sulfur dioxide cloud or a need to discriminate high level ozone from total ozone at midlatitudes could be obtained by adding a particular wavelength to the normally pre-programmed time sequence. The incident solar irradiance is measured by deploying a diffuser plate in the field of view. Individual detector elements correspond to scene elements in which the several wavelengths are serially sampled and the Earth radiance is compared to the incident sunlight. Thus the problem of uncorrelated drift of multiple detectors is removed.

Krueger, Arlin J.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Biogeochemical cycling in the ocean. Part 1: Introduction to the effects of upwelling along the west coast of North America

Coastal upwelling is examined as it relates to the cycling of chemical species in coastal waters along the west coast of North America. The temporal and spatial features of upwelling phenomena in the Eastern boundary regions of the North Pacific Ocean are presented and discussed in terms of upwelling episodes. Climate conditions affecting upwelling include: thermal effects, wind-induced shear stress which moves surface layers, and the curl of the wind stress vector which is thought to affect the extent and nature of upwelling and the formation of offshore convergent downwelling fronts. These effects and the interaction of sunlight and upwelled nutrients which result in a biological bloom in surface waters is modeled analytically. The roles of biological and chemical species, including the effects of predation, are discussed in that context, and relevant remote sensing and in situ observations are presented. Climatological, oceanographic, biological, physical, chemical events, and processes that pertain to biogeochemical cycling are presented and described by a set of partial differential equations. Simple preliminary results are obtained and are compared with data. Thus a fairly general framework has been laid where the many facets of biogeochemical cycling in coastal upwelled waters can be examined in their relationship to one another, and to the whole, to whatever level of detail or approximation is warranted or desired.

Howe, John T.↗
NASA NTRS1987

The Perseus Flasher and satellite glints

The Perseus Flasher (PF) is claimed to be an astrophysical source which frequently emits bright optical flashes (Katz et al. 1986). These flashes have all been detected by the naked eye, with the exception of one photographed flash for which an accurate position is measured. Notable properties of the PF are its large amplitude (greater than 19 mag), short duration (about 1 s), and frequent occurrence (a flash every 12 hr). Here, evidence is presented that the PF is not an astrophysical source but is merely the observation of glints of reflected sunlight from artificial earth satellites. This conclusion is supported by the following facts: (1) a total of 3400 hr of photographic, video, and CCD observations have detected no flashes in or near the small PF error box, despite the claim of one bright flash every 12 hr; (2) thirteen of the 26 flashes are shown to be nonastrophysical in origin; and (3) both the observational and theoretical glint rates indicate that most, if not all, PF observations are caused by satellite glints.

Schaefer, Bradley E.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Preliminary conceptual design and weight of a one-megawatt space-based laser power station utilizing a solar-pumped iodine lasant

A preliminary conceptual design of a space-based solar-pumped iodide laser emitting 1 MW of laser power for space-to-space power transmission is described. A near-parabolic solar collector focuses sunlight onto the t-C4F9I lasant within a transverse-flow optical cavity. Using waste heat, a thermal system supplies compressor and auxiliary power. The major system components are designed with weight estimates assigned. In particular, it is found that laser efficiency is not a dominant weight factor, the dominant factor being the laser transmission optics. The station mass is 92,000 kg, requiring approximately eight Shuttle flights to LEO, where an orbital transfer vehicle can transport it to the final altitude of 6378 km.

De Young, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Measurements of OH(X2pi) in the stratosphere by high resolution UV spectroscopy

This paper reports the first results obtained using high spectral resolution imaging ultraviolet spectroscopy to observe multiple rotational lines of OH A2 Sigma-X2pi (0-0) band. A 9.2 A spectral segment from 3075.8 A to 3085.0 A is imaged at 0.08 A FWHM spectral resolution, allowing the simultaneous acquisition of six of the brightest OH resonance fluorescence emission lines. The high spectral resolution and low scattered light design of the instrument allows these lines to be detected above the Rayleigh scattered sunlight background. The technique permits remote sensing of stratospheric OH from a high altitude instrument. The instrument was flown to an altitude of 40 km on Aug. 25, 1983, and again on June 12, 1986, on scientific balloons from Palestine, TX. The OH profiles inverted from the limb scans made during these flights are reported here. These profiles represent the first measurements of the temporal variation of OH over an extended height range. The results demonstrate that the technique can be used to monitor OH from orbit.

Torr, D. G.↗
NASA NTRS1987

The evolution of topography on a comet

The evolution of cometary surface topography is presently modeled in terms of a focusing of thermal energy due to topographical concavity. The model encompasses incident sunlight, shadowing, molecular sublimation, and mutual radiative heating by the walls of a circle-segment cross section trench, which has a 'lensing' effect. After a large number of perihelion passages, the net effect of trench bottom sublimation losses will be the accentuation of topographical concavities. The comet surface sublimation, comet-splitting, and comet surface jet-formation consequences of this model are discussed.

Colwell, Joshua E.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Europa, tidally heated oceans, and habitable zones around giant planets

Tidal dissipation in the satellites of a giant planet may provide sufficient heating to maintain an environment favorable to life on the satellite surface or just below a thin ice layer. Europa could have a liquid ocean which may occasionally receive sunlight through cracks in the overlying ice shell. In such a case, sufficient solar energy could reach liquid water that organisms similar to those found under Antarctic ice could grow. In other solar systems, larger satellites with more significant heat flow could represent environments that are stable over an order of eons and in which life could perhaps evolve. A zone around a giant planet is defined in which such satellites could exist as a tidally-heated habitable zone. This zone can be compared to the habitable zone which results from heating due to the radiation of a central star. In this solar system, this radiatively-heated habitable zone contains the earth.

Reynolds, Ray T.↗
NASA NTRS1987

The effect of photoelectrons on boom-satellite potential differences during electron beam ejection

Data taken on the SCATHA satellite at geosynchronous altitudes during periods of electron beam ejection in sunlight showed that the potential difference between an electrically isolated boom and the satellite main body was a function of beam current, energy, and boom-sun angle. The potential difference decreased as the boom area illuminated by the sun increased; the maximum and minimum potential differences were measured when minimum and maximum boom areas, respectively, were exposed to the sun. It is shown that photoelectrons, created on the boom, could be engulfed in the electrostatic field of the highly charged satellite main body. Theoretical calculations made using a simple current balance model showed that these electrons could provide a substantial discharging current to the main body and cause the observed variations in the potential difference between the main body and the booms.

Lai, Shu T.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Satellite maps of Antarctic total ozone

Satellite remote sensing techniques for ozone have made it possible to observe the detailed, daily horizontal structure of atmospheric ozone at all locations where sunlight is present. The Antarctic ozone 'hole' has been observed with the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument since launch of Nimbus 7 in 1978. This feature is a continental-size ozone minimum found in the Antarctic winter and spring seasons which has generally deepened in recent years to levels in 1985 and 1987 far below the lowest values ever observed elsewhere. The minimum appears to be produced by atmospheric circulations, but the deepening almost certainly involves chemistry which is unique to cold, dark conditions.

Krueger, Arlin J.↗
NASA NTRS1987

The dependence of electroglow on the solar flux

Data from Voyager 2 UV spectrometer observations of electroglow at wavelengths below 110 nm in the atmospheres of Saturn, Jupiter, and Uranus are presented in extensive tables and graphs, analyzed statistically, and compared with the predictions of theoretical models. Findings reported include (1) a dependence (to within 10 percent) of electroglow intensity on the inverse square of heliocentric distance, (2) Uranian electroglow spectra consistent with Rayleigh-Raman scattering of sunlight, and (3) local-time electroglow variations suggesting a solar-flux-dependent excitation mechanism. Mechanisms involving the fluorescence of solar UV radiation in the H2 Lyman and Werner bands or H(-) photolysis are discussed.

Yelle, Roger V.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Temperature dependence of the atmospheric photolysis rate coefficient for NO2

Accurate values for the photolysis rate coefficient of NO2 (j1) are required for studies related to the observed imbalance in the photostationary state of O3, NO, and NO2 in the troposphere. Direct measurements of the temperature dependence of j1 at temperatures from -70 to 30 C were made in sunlight for relatively cloudless summer days in Boulder, Colorado. The ratios of j1 (30 C)/j1 (T C) for T = -10 C and -70 C, respectively, were 1.046 + or - 0.040 and 1.070 + or - 0.031. The j1 ratios were independent of solar zenith angle. Theoretical estimates of the temperature-dependent j1 ratios based upon recently reported cross section (sigma) and quantum yield (phi) data are more consistent with these experimental measurements than those based upon the currently accepted sigma and phi data.

Shetter, Richard E.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Electron beam experiments at high altitudes

Experiments with the electron gun on the SCATHA satellite produced evidence of beam-plasma interactions, and heating of the low energy electrons around the satellite. These experiments were conducted near geosynchronous orbit, in the dusk bulge, and plasma sheet, with one short operation in the lobe regions, providing a range of ambient plasma densities. The electron gun was operated at 50 eV, with beam currents of 1, 10, and 100 micro-A. Data from electrostatic analyzers and the DC electric field experiment show that the satellite charged to near the beam energy in sunlight, if the beam current was sufficient. Higher ambient densities required higher beam currents. The electrostatic analyzers showed distribution functions which had peaks, or plateaus, at energies greater than the satellite potential. These measurements indicate heating of the ambient plasma at several Debye lengths from the satellite, with the heated plasma then accelerated into the satellite. It is likely that the ambient plasma is in fact the photoelectron sheath generated by the satellite.

Olsen, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Observed rate of ionization in shaped-charge releases of barium in the ionosphere

Data from 36 Ba shaped-charge releases carried out at an angle of less than 25 deg to the magnetic field, by the technique of Wescott et al. (1972) and Michel (1974), were examined for evidence of a sustained rate of ionization in excess of that attributable to sunlight. In four of the experiments, the time constant for the decay of the neutrals was measured using an ultrasensitive color TV camera and was found to have a value of about 30 sec, consistent with slow (solar) ionization. Although the qualitative appearance of most jets was found to be consistent with a slow process of ionization, some releases produced a thin confined jet that was suggestive of rapid ionization. Two of these jets were analyzed in detail, but no evidence of anomalous ionization was produced. The data obtained in this work agree with the geometrical predictions of the Swift model.

Hallinan, Thomas J.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Specular, diffuse and polarized imagery of an oat canopy

Light, polarized by specular reflection, has been found to be an important part of the light scattered by several measured plant canopies. The authors investigate for one canopy the relative importance of specularly reflected sunlight, specularly reflected light from other sources including skylight, and diffusely upwelling light. Polarization images are used to gain increased understanding of the radiation transfer process in a plant canopy. Analysis of the results suggests that properly analyzed polarized remotely sensed data, acquired under specific atmospheric conditions by a specially designed sensor, potentially provide measures of physiological and morphological states of plants in a canopy.

Vanderbilt, Vern C.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Europa - The prospects for an ocean

Tidal dissipation in the satellites of a giant planet may provide sufficient heating to maintain a liquid water ocean below a thin ice layer. In the solar system, Europa, one of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter, may have such an ocean. Both theoretical calculations and certain observations support its existence, although proof is lacking. The putative ocean would probably have temperatures, pressures, and chemistry conducive to biologic activity. However, the environment would be severely energy limited. Possible energy sources include transient transmission of sunlight through fractures in the ice and hydrothermal activity on the ocean floor. While temporary conditions could exist that are within the range of adaptation of certain terrestrial organisms, origin of life under such conditions seems unlikely. In other solar systems, however, larger satellites with more significant heat flow could provide environments that are stable over an order of aeons and in which life could perhaps evolve.

Reynolds, R. T.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Optical thickness of the Olympus cloud

Results are presented from a model of telescope observations that indicate a diurnal cycle exist, at least at one location, in the Martian atmosphere. By comparing calculated intensities with observed intensities of reflected sunlight, the diurnal variations in the optical thickness of the Olympus cloud that forms near the summit of Olympus Mons during summer was estimated. The results indicate that the optical depth at 0.4 microns rises sharply from near zero in late morning to about 0.8 in the early afternoon.

Narumi, Y.↗