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At least 1,189 records · Page 66

Sequential filtering applied to the determination of tracking station locations

The extended sequential filter has been applied to the problem of dynamically determining the geocentric coordinates of two laser satellite tracking stations. This filter provides significant advantages over the classical batch methods through (1) fewer iterations required for convergence, (2) wider radius of convergence, and (3) availability of the parameter estimate evolution. Processing the data sequentially readily identifies the data arcs required to minimize the effects of geopotential model errors. By means of the Smithsonian standard earth 2 and the Goddard earth model 1 geopotentials to reduce laser range observations of the Beacon Explorer-C satellite, it is demonstrated that a two-pass arc is optimal for estimating the height of one station and all coordinates of the second station while minimizing the effect of geopotential model error. These two-pass estimates are in good agreement with other determinations that utilize considerably more data as well as different satellites.

Schutz, B. E.↗

Methods Studies on System Identification from Transient Rotor Tests

Some of the more important methods are discussed that have been used or proposed for aircraft parameter identification. The methods are classified into two groups: Equation error or regression estimates and Bayesian estimates and their derivatives that are based on probabilistic concepts. In both of these two groups the cost function can be optimized either globally over the entire time span of the transient, or sequentially, leading to the formulation of optimum filters. Identifiability problems and the validation of the estimates are briefly outlined, and applications to lifting rotors are discussed.

Hohenemser, K. H.↗

Measurement of the Relative and Absolute Microgravity Environment of Space Platforms, Recent Flight Results, and Determination of the Spatial Microgravity Field

Microgravity material processing in space, such as crystal growth, requires specific and accurate knowledge of the very low frequency, very low level microgravity. This means knowledge of absolute microgravity levels. Most acceleration measurement systems for space platforms only measure 'microvibrations,' the measurement of the absolute microgravity level being severely corrupted by bias errors, temperature hysteresis, nonlinearity by-products, and bias changes due to launch vibrations. An advanced system was developed incorporating a fixed 3-axis acceleration measurement system with improved signal conditioning and Invertible Accelerometers for absolute measurements. The higher sensitivity channels have lower frequency low pass filtering to meet crystal growers demands for recording of low level/low frequency disturbances. Also included is a pre-flight bias adjustment feature.

Bijvoet, J. A.↗

Some Continuum Aspects of Data Assimilation

A long-sought goal in data assimilation is to build more fully the time dimension into the data assimilation process. Truly four-dimensional data assimilation requires evolving second-moment information, namely the estimation error covariance, along with the state estimate itself. The continuum evolution equations for the estimation error covariance constitute a system of partial differential equations in six space dimensions, forced by a model error covariance and by the observations themselves. The high dimensionality of this system poses a difficult computational problem. Numerous methods have been proposed for approximate, discrete solution of this system of equations. Four-dimensional variational schemes solve these equations indirectly, while schemes based on Kalman filtering solve the equations more directly, usually on a small subspace of the full six-dimensional space. In both cases, most proposed solution methods are not derived from the continuum covariance evolution equations themselves. Instead, most methods simply inherit the discretization used for evolving the state estimate, either in the form of a discrete tangent linear model or, in the case of ensemble schemes, in the form of a fully nonlinear discrete model. In this lecture we show that solutions of the continuum covariance evolution equations possess simple properties that are not readily satisfied upon discretization of the equations. we give numerical examples illustrating that "inherited" discretizations sometimes fail to produce meaningfully accurate solutions. Finally, we suggest alternative discretization methods that may yield more faithful approximate solutions of the continuum problem.

Cohn, Stephen E.↗

Results of the Magnetometer Navigation (MAGNAV)lnflight Experiment

The Magnetometer Navigation (MAGNAV) algorithm is currently running as a flight experiment as part of the Wide Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) Post-Science Engineering Testbed. Initialization of MAGNAV occurred on September 4, 2003. MAGNAV is designed to autonomously estimate the spacecraft orbit, attitude, and rate using magnetometer and sun sensor data. Since the Earth's magnetic field is a function of time and position, and since time is known quite precisely, the differences between the computed magnetic field and measured magnetic field components, as measured by the magnetometer throughout the entire spacecraft orbit, are a function of the spacecraft trajectory and attitude errors. Therefore, these errors are used to estimate both trajectory and attitude. In addition, the time rate of change of the magnetic field vector is used to estimate the spacecraft rotation rate. The estimation of the attitude and trajectory is augmented with the rate estimation into an Extended Kalman filter blended with a pseudo-linear Kalman filter. Sun sensor data is also used to improve the accuracy and observability of the attitude and rate estimates. This test serves to validate MAGNAV as a single low cost navigation system which utilizes reliable, flight qualified sensors. MAGNAV is intended as a backup algorithm, an initialization algorithm, or possibly a prime navigation algorithm for a mission with coarse requirements. Results from the first six months of operation are presented.

Thienel, Julie K.↗

Action: Baseline Channel Model for SCCC-X and DVB-S2X

This paper analyzes the impact to the error performance of very high-order modulations, specifically 256APSK and 128APSK, in the DVB-S2X and SCCC-X proposals due to transmitter distortions, i.e. phase and amplitude imbalance, amplification non-linearities, and phase noise. The receiver is assumed to be a matched filter with angle derotation capabilities. An exact theoretical prediction is developed as well as supporting simulations is provided.

Modulation↗

Using Computational Flow Imaging to Optimize Filtered Rayleigh Scattering Measurements of an Isolator Shock Train

Filtered Rayleigh scattering (FRS) is a laser diagnostic where the intensity of elastically scattered light is measured after it passes through a molecular absorption filter. The filter removes background interference that overwhelms the relatively weak scattering from the gas molecules. However, with a filter, the measured light intensity depends on many of the scattering gas properties, including pressure, density, temperature, and velocity. In this work, CFD simulations of an isolator shock train flow field are input into a physics-based model to predict the values of FRS intensity measurements in a proposed experiment. The goal is to evaluate if a simplistic FRS setup (that utilizes one camera, laser, and absorption filter) can be used to accurately quantify number density despite the fact that the scattered light intensity also depends on other gas properties. It is found that the experimental setup can be optimized such that a linear relationship describes the number density with an average prediction error of 2%. The vast majority of the flow exhibits prediction errors of less than 3%, but small regions of the flow reach up to 11% error. A sensitivity analysis shows that the prediction error increases with the central wavelength of the incident laser light and decreases with the angle between the camera and laser propagation directions. The optimal experimental parameters are chosen based on a compromise between the prediction error, spatial resolution, and the amount of unfiltered light. In the future, the proposed FRS setup will be implemented to acquire new and valuable information on an isolator shock train, a flow field that has been traditionally studied using wall static pressure measurements and path-integrated visualization techniques, such as schlieren and shadowgraphy.

Hunt, Robin L.↗

Criticality Control Overpack Fire Testing (Phase III)

This report will describe the one test conducted during phase III of the Pipe Overpack Container (POC) test campaign, present preliminary results from these tests, and discuss implications for the Criticality Control Overpack (CCO). The goal of this test was to see if aerosol surrogate material inside the Criticality Control Container (CCC) gets released when the drum lid of the CCO comes off during a thirty-minute long, fully-engulfing, fire test. As expected from POC tests conducted in Phase I and II of this test campaign, the CCO drum lid is ejected about one minute after the drum is exposed to fully-engulfing flames. The remaining pressure inside the drum is high enough to eject the top plywood dunnage a considerable distance from the drum. Subsequently, most of the bottom plywood dunnage supporting the CCC burns off during and after the fire. High pressure buildup inside the CCC and inside two primary containers holding the surrogate powder also results in damage to the filter media of the CCC and the filter-house, thread attachment of the primary canisters. No discernable release of surrogate powder material was detected from the two primary containers when pre- and post-test average mass were compared. However, when the average masses are corrected to account for possible uncertainties in mass measurements, error overlap does not preclude the possibility that some surrogate powder mass may have been lost from these primary canisters. Still, post-test conditions of the secondary canisters enclosing these two primary canisters suggest it is very unlikely this mass loss would have escaped into the CCC.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Delta modulation

The overshoot suppression algorithm has been more extensively studied. Computer generated test-pictures show a radical improvement due to the overshoot suppression algorithm. Considering the delta modulator link as a nonlinear digital filter, a formula that relates the minimum rise time that can be handled for given filter parameters and voltage swings has been developed. The settling time has been calculated for the case of overshoot suppression as well as when no suppression is employed. The results indicate a significant decrease in settling time when overshoot suppression is used. An algorithm for correcting channel errors has been developed. It is shown that pulse stuffing PCM words in the DM bit stream results in a significant reduction in error length.

Schilling, D. L.↗

Modeling laser velocimeter signals as triply stochastic Poisson processes

Previous models of laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) systems have not adequately described dual-scatter signals in a manner useful for analysis and simulation of low-level photon-limited signals. At low photon rates, an LDV signal at the output of a photomultiplier tube is a compound nonhomogeneous filtered Poisson process, whose intensity function is another (slower) Poisson process with the nonstationary rate and frequency parameters controlled by a random flow (slowest) process. In the present paper, generalized Poisson shot noise models are developed for low-level LDV signals. Theoretical results useful in detection error analysis and simulation are presented, along with measurements of burst amplitude statistics. Computer generated simulations illustrate the difference between Gaussian and Poisson models of low-level signals.

Mayo, W. T., Jr.↗

The rotation period of Neptune

Photometric observations of Neptune with a highly accurate doubly differential photometer, two filters centered in the 6190-A band of methane, and two immediately adjacent continuum filters centered at 5993 and 6332 A are reported which were performed in the interval from March 29 to August 8, 1977. The principal rotation period of at least a major methane albedo feature of Neptune's deeper atmosphere is found to be 18.44 + or - 0.01 (est. error) hr, assuming that such features are stable in longitude over weeks or months. The result obtained is compared with previous determinations, and reasons for a discrepancy between the present and a previous photometric period are considered. It is suggested that the period of 18.44 hr is likely to be quite close to that of the main body of Neptune.

Slavsky, D.↗

Automated mesoscale winds derived from GOES multispectral imagery

An automated technique for extracting mesoscale winds from sequences of GOES VISSR image pairs was developed, tested and configured for quasi-real time/research applications on a computing system which gives mesoscale wind estimates at the highest spatial/temporal resolution possible from the VISSR imagery down to a wind vector separation of 10 km. Preprocessing of imagery using IR resampling, VIS edge preserving filtering, and reduced VIS resolution averaging improved height assignments and vector extraction for 10, 15, and 30 min imagery. An objective quality control system provides much greater than 99% accuracy in eliminating questionable wind estimates. Automated winds generally have better spatial coverage and density, and have random error estimates half as large as the manual winds. Dynamical analysis of cloud wind divergence revealed temporally consistent convergence centers on the meso beta scale that are highly correlated with on going and future developing convective storms. The entire system of computer codes was successfully vectorized for execution on an array processor resulting in job turnaround in less than one hour.

Wilson, G. S.↗

Intercomparison of UT1 measurements during the MERIT campaign period

Universal time (UT1) measurements obtained using VLBI, lunar laser ranging (LLR), and BIH optical astronomy are compared. The JPL Kalman filter for the earth rotation and the polar motion is utilized to smooth one data set or combine data sets for intercomparison. The differences between raw UT1 data and independently smoothed data are employed to assess the accuracy of the measured series and the sufficiency of the error budget. Systematic errors in periodic signatures and length of day estimates are analyzed. The data reveal that the techniques of LLR and VLBI agree to within their formal errors. It is determined that the residual error for the LLR is too large and the residual error estimated for the BIH data is too small.

Spieth, M. A.↗

Fault-tolerant multichannel demultiplexer subsystems

Fault tolerance in future processing and switching communication satellites is addressed by showing new methods for detecting hardware failures in the first major subsystem, the multichannel demultiplexer. An efficient method for demultiplexing frequency slotted channels uses multirate filter banks which contain fast Fourier transform processing. All numerical processing is performed at a lower rate commensurate with the small bandwidth of each bandbase channel. The integrity of the demultiplexing operations is protected by using real number convolutional codes to compute comparable parity values which detect errors at the data sample level. High rate, systematic convolutional codes produce parity values at a much reduced rate, and protection is achieved by generating parity values in two ways and comparing them. Parity values corresponding to each output channel are generated in parallel by a subsystem, operating even slower and in parallel with the demultiplexer that is virtually identical to the original structure. These parity calculations may be time shared with the same processing resources because they are so similar.

Redinbo, Robert↗

Relative Navigation In Elliptical Orbits Using An Iterative Nonlinear Filter

The two step filter is applied to process intersatellite radar measurements to determine the motion of one satellite relative to another in close elliptical orbits. This filter breaks a nonlinear estimation problem into two state vectors. The 'first step' state is chosen so as to have a linear measurement equation. This is nonlinearly related to the 'second step' state which describes the dynamics. Two different forms are used. In one, the first step state is the second step state vector augmented by the measurement equation. In the other, the first step and second step state vectors are of equal dimension. The two step filter is compared against an iterated extended Kalman filter and a Kalman filter using a change of variables. Analytical differences between the two step estimator and these conventional filters are highlighted. Special concerns for initializing the first step state covariance matrix and handling the possibility of numerically rank deficient covariance matrices are addressed. Numerical simulations are performed which show that the Two Step estimator produces a lower estimation bias under two circumstances; large apriori initial error; and small dimension observation vectors which require a longer arc of measurements to generate observability of the state.

Garrison, James L.↗

The Evolution of Ly-alpha Emitting Galaxies Between z = 2.1 and z = 3.l

We describe the results of a new, wide-field survey for z= 3.1 Ly-alpha emission-line galaxies (LAEs) in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (ECDF-S). By using a nearly top-hat 5010 Angstrom filter and complementary broadband photometry from the MUSYC survey, we identify a complete sample of 141 objects with monochromatic fluxes brighter than 2.4E-17 ergs/cm^2/s and observers-frame equivalent widths greater than ~ 80 Angstroms (i.e., 20 Angstroms in the rest-frame of Ly-alpha). The bright-end of this dataset is dominated by x-ray sources and foreground objects with GALEX detections, but when these interlopers are removed, we are still left with a sample of 130 LAE candidates, 39 of which have spectroscopic confirmations. This sample overlaps the set of objects found in an earlier ECDF-S survey, but due to our filter's redder bandpass, it also includes 68 previously uncataloged sources. We confirm earlier measurements of the z=3.1 LAE emission-line luminosity function, and show that an apparent anti-correlation between equivalent width and continuum brightness is likely due to the effect of correlated errors in our heteroskedastic dataset. Finally, we compare the properties of z=3.1 LAEs to LAEs found at z=2.1. We show that in the approximately 1 Gyr after z approximately 3, the LAE luminosity function evolved significantly, with L * fading by approximately 0.4 mag, the number density of sources with L greater than 1.5E42 ergs/s declining by approximately 50%, and the equivalent width scalelength contracting from 70^{+7}_{-5} Angstroms to 50^{+9}_{-6} Angstroms. When combined with literature results, our observations demonstrate that over the redshift range z approximately 0 to z approximately 4, LAEs contain less than approximately 10% of the star-formation rate density of the universe.

Ciardullo, Robin↗

Audibility of Multiple, Low-Frequency Tonal Signals in Noise

The main purpose of this study is to examine the audibility of multiple, low-frequency tones that are placed in distinct auditory channels. Three experiments are described, the goals of which are to determine if the presence of sound in multiple channels results in enhanced audibility and to assess the applicability of the Statistical Summation Model (SSM) to this frequency range. This model predicts that for the case of multiple signals that are in separate auditory channels, implying statistical independence, each with sensitivity value d prime of i, the resulting total sensitivity is given by the square root of the sum of the squares of the individual d prime of i values. In common with previous studies conducted at higher frequencies, the signals are pure tones and the maskers are broadband noise. The requirement that low frequency tones be placed in separate auditory filters limited the number of tones to a maximum of three. The first of the three experiments measured the change in masked thresholds for two- and three-tone signals relative to the level of the equally-detectable single tones. The multiple tone signals were composed of combinations of 55, 120 and 200 Hz tones. The measured changes in thresholds exceeded those predicted by the SSM, although they did not differ statistically from the model predictions. The second experiment employed the same overall approach but acquired more data and concentrated on the three-tone signal. Once again, the measured changes in masked threshold exceeded the model predictions, this time to a statistically-significant degree. Two issues were postulated with the potential to yield inflated changes in masked threshold: interaction between tones resulting in perceptible intermodulation/difference tones, and the assumption that the tones were in distinct auditory filters and statistically independent of one another. The third experiment used two sets of three-tone signals to address these latter concerns. The first set of three tones was composed of harmonically related tone frequencies of 55, 110 and 165 Hz, which was an attempt to reduce effects of intermodulation difference tones. The second set of three tones was chosen to be 110, 220 and 330 Hz, again reducing effects of difference tones, but also providing greater separation between tones. Results for the first set of three tones compared to those of the earlier experiments indicated that intermodulation was not an important effect. The second set of three tones (110, 220, 330 Hz) yielded changes in masked thresholds that, on average, were in good agreement with the SSM, although intersubject variability was large and prohibited a definitive conclusion regarding the concern that tone spacing was inadequate. The results of the three experiments showed that the masked threshold of sounds with multiple (two or three) equally-detectable low frequency tones was lower than those of the single tones. In other words, it is clear that audibility is enhanced by the presence of signals in multiple auditory filters. This finding is consistent with most previous research conducted at higher frequencies. In contrast with previous research, test subjects were, on average, able to detect multitone sounds at lower levels than those predicted using the SSM. Analyses that included Monte Carlo simulations showed that normally distributed errors in the single tone thresholds result in biased estimates of the thresholds of multitone sounds. This phenomenon is likely responsible for at least a substantial fraction of the unexpected deviation of measurements from SSM predictions.

Rafaelof, Menachem↗

Reconciliation of asynchronous satellite-based $\mathrm{NO_2}$ and $\mathrm{XCO_2}$ enhancements with mesoscale modeling over two urban landscapes

Fossil fuel carbon dioxide (CO 2ff ), the main driver of global warming and climate change, is often co-emitted with nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and precursors to ground-level ozone from anthropogenic sources like power plants or vehicles. In urban and suburban areas, satellite-based NO 2 can be used as a proxy to track the emissions of CO 2ff . Because of NO 2 ’s shorter lifetime, urban NO 2 plumes are more distinguishable from backgrounds and more sensitive to variations in emissions. However, the combination of these two gases is limited by the asynchrony among NO 2 and CO 2 monitoring satellites. We used CO 2ff simulated by the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model to reconcile the tropospheric NO 2 vertical column density (VCD) from the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) and column-averaged dry-air mole fractions of carbon dioxide enhancements (ΔXCO 2 ) from Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3 (OCO-3) Snapshot Area Maps (SAMs) over a multicity area, Washington D.C.-Baltimore (DC-Balt), and a basin city, Mexico City. NO 2 /CO 2ff ratios over DC-Balt are smaller than Mexico City, indicative of stricter emission restrictions, a more combustion-efficient vehicle fleet, and higher combustion efficiency due to lower altitude in DC-Balt. For single-track cases, the spatial correlations between NO 2 and ΔXCO 2 over Mexico City are stronger than DC-Balt because the NO 2 and CO 2 are mostly trapped in the valley of Mexico City, while DC-Balt is severely affected by distant sources (i.e., US East Coast cities). Using multi-track averaging, spatial correlation coefficients increase with the number of days used for averaging. The correlations reached a maximum when averaging >12 continuous images for DC-Balt and > 10 continuous images for Mexico City. This finding indicates that multi-track averaging using modeled CO 2ff as a proxy is helpful to filter the noise in single-track images, to cancel the interference from distant sources, and to magnify correlations between NO 2 and CO 2ff . Mexico City showed stronger spatial correlations but weaker temporal correlations than DC-Balt due to biomass burning hot spots and large transport errors caused by the trapping effects of the surrounding mountains. Tracking the 20-day moving average of CO 2ff emissions using TROPOMI NO 2 seems technically feasible, considering the relationship between correlation coefficients and the number of available satellite images.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗