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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
DOE OSTI2014

Use of a Position-Sensitive Multi-Anode Photomultiplier Tube for Finding Gamma-Ray Source Direction

In an urban environment where gamma-ray background counts vary rapidly, it is important to determine the angle (with respect to the detector system) of a discrete gamma-ray–emitting source for localization purposes. We have recently developed a handheld gamma-ray detection system that provides gamma-ray energy spectral data and angular position of the target source. Careful placement and orientation of individual detectors with reference to other detectors in an array can provide improved angular resolution for determining the source position by occlusion mechanism. The objectives of this project were to design and build a prototype, light-weight, hand-held, gamma-ray spectrometer with directional sensitivity. It is important for first responders in a radiological emergency to have an easy-to-use gamma spectrometric detection system that determines the incident gamma-ray energy along with the relative angular position of a point-like radioactive source in a near-field measurement (≤3 meters from the source). The technical challenge of this project, driven by search scenarios for monitoring crowds in a national special security events was to determine the relative angle of a gamma-ray–emitting source (50 μCi strong) at a distance of 3 meters from the detector in 3 minutes. We designed and built small, portable, light-weight directional gamma energy spectrometers using a position-sensitive multi-anode photomultiplier. All of three spectrometers showed remarkable (ΔΘ = ± 2°) sensitivity to relative angular position of the source in near-field laboratory measurements.

position-sensitive photomultiplier tube (PMT), mul↗
DOE OSTI2015

U.S. Distributed Wind Sector Finds Support from NREL

Small and mid-sized wind turbine manufacturers in the United States have led the international distributed wind market in installed capacity for decades. Continued reductions in the cost of distributed wind systems are essential to successfully compete with currently economical photovoltaic systems. Annual capacity additions in 2013 were particularly low. In an effort to reduce the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of distributed wind systems manufactured in the United States, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has provided funding through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to support several projects.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Curiosity ChemCam Finds High-Silica Mars Rocks

A team of scientists, including one from Los Alamos National Laboratory, has found much higher concentrations of silica at some sites the Curiosity rover has investigated in the past seven months than anywhere else it has visited since landing on Mars 40 months ago. The first discovery was as Curiosity approached the area “Marias Pass,” where a lower geological unit contacts an overlying one. ChemCam, the rover’s laser-firing instrument for checking rock composition from a distance, detected bountiful silica in some targets the rover passed along the way to the contact zone. The ChemCam instrument was developed at Los Alamos in partnership with the French IRAP laboratory in Toulouse and the French Space Agency. “The high silica was a surprise,” said Jens Frydenvang of Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of Copenhagen, also a Curiosity science team member. “While we’re still working with multiple hypotheses on how the silica got so enriched, these hypotheses all require considerable water activity, and on Earth high silica deposits are often associated with environments that provide excellent support for microbial life. Because of this, the science team agreed to make a rare backtrack to investigate it more.”

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

Baselining PMU Data to Find Patterns and Anomalies

This paper looks at the application of situational awareness methodologies with respect to power grid data. These methodologies establish baselines that look for typical patterns and atypical behavior in the data. The objectives of the baselining analyses are to provide: real-time analytics, the capability to look at historical trends and events, and reliable predictions of the near future state of the grid. Multivariate algorithms were created to establish normal baseline behavior and then score each moment in time according to its variance from the baseline. Detailed multivariate analytical techniques are described in this paper that produced ways to identify typical patterns and atypical behavior. In this case, atypical behavior is behavior that is unenvisioned. Visualizations were also produced to help explain the behavior that was identified mathematically. Examples are shown to help describe how to read and interpret the analyses and visualizations. Preliminary work has been performed on PMU data sets from BPA (Bonneville Power Administration) and EI (Eastern Interconnect). Actual results are not fully shown here because of confidentiality issues. Comparisons between atypical events found mathematically and actual events showed that many of the actual events are also atypical events; however there are many atypical events that do not correlate to any actual events. Additional work needs to be done to help classify the atypical events into actual events, so that the importance of the events can be better understood.

Baselining analyses↗
DOE OSTI2016

Finding Flounders: Outsmarting the Art of Camouflage

At Los Alamos National Laboratory, we study camouflage in nature to learn how we can identify things trying to disguise themselves. We do that by looking at marine organisms that are exceptionally good at the art of blending in: flounders, skates, cuttlefish and octopi. The goal of this work was to develop efficient automated methods for detecting and analyzing features in remote sensing imagery for national security and intelligence applications.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗