Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Developed Countries”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 127 records · Page 7

Research in space commercialization, technology transfer and communications, vol. 2

Spectrum management, models for evaluating communications systems, and implications of communications regulations for NASA are considered as major parts of communications policy. Marketing LANDSAT products in developing countries, a political systems analysis of LANDSAT, and private financing and operation of the space operations center (space station) are discussed. Investment requirements, risks, government support, and other primary business and management considerations are examined.

Dunn, D. A.↗

Qualification testing of solar photovoltaic powered refrigerator freezers for medical use in remote geographic locations

One of the primary obstacles to the application of vaccination in developing countries is the lack of refrigerated storage. Vaccines exposed to elevated temperatures suffer a permanent loss of potency. Photovoltaic (PV) powered refrigerator/freezer (R/F) units could surmount the problem of refrigeration in remote areas where no reliable commercial power supply is available. The performance measurements of two different models of PV powered R/F units for medical use are presented. Qualification testing consisted of four major procedures: no-load pull down, ice making, steady-state (maintenance), and holdover. Both R/F units met the major World Health Organization (WHO) requirements. However, the testing performed does not provide complete characterization of the two units; such information could be derived only from further extensive test procedures.

Kaszeta, W. J.↗

Aquaculture: A Component of Low Cost Sanitation Technology

The paper discusses all phases of aquaculture, including commercial viability, sanitary and biological considerations, public health, financial/economic and sociological aspects. Current studies are detailed and options are discussed for their potential applicability to developing countries, considering requirements for capital and labor skills as well as physical needs such as land.

Edwards, P.↗

User evaluation of photovoltaic-powered vaccine refrigerator/freezer systems

The NASA Lewis Research Center has concluded a project to develop and field test photovoltaic-powered refrigerator/freezers for vaccine storage in remote areas of developing countries. As a conclusion to this project, questionnaires were sent to the in-country administrators for each test site probing user acceptance of the systems and attitudes regarding procurement of additional systems. Responses indicate that the systems had a positive effect on the local communities, that they made a positive impression on the local health authorities, and that system cost and scarcity of funds are the major barriers to procurements of additional systems.

Ratajczak, Anthony F.↗

Design, development and deployment of public service photovoltaic power/load systems for the Gabonese Republic

Five different types of public service photovoltaic power/load systems installed in the Gabonese Republic are discussed. The village settings, the systems, performance results and some problems encountered are described. Most of the systems performed well, but some of the systems had problems due to failure of components or installation errors. The project was reasonably successful in collecting and reporting data for system performance evaluation that will be useful for guiding officials and system designers involved in village power applications in developing countries.

Kaszeta, William J.↗

Remote sensing: Earth's surface and atmosphere; Proceedings of Workshop X and the Topical Meeting of the 26th COSPAR Plenary Meeting, Toulouse, France, June 30-July 11, 1986

The present conference on space-based remote sensing of the earth's surface and atmosphere addresses the two broad issues of remote sensing activities of interest to developing countries and the results obtained to date by the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project, the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment, and the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE). Attention is given to the remote sensing of environmental factors affecting health, applications of satellite microwave radiometry, earth science missions for the NASA Space Station, and digitally produced Landsat map images. Also discussed are time-accumulated visible and IR histograms used as cloud cover descriptors, the estimation of the radiation budget's sensitivity to cloud variations, monitoring global surface temperature variations using cloud data sets, and an analysis of preliminary SAGE II data on ozone and NO2.

Carter, W. D.↗

Low cost, microcomputer-based interactive analysis system for direct-reception and archived remote sensing data

A hardware/software system has been developed for use in meteorological field experiments and by developing countries which need low-cost remote sensing data analysis capabilities. The system can directly receive satellite transmissions of the AVHRR, TOVS, Argos, GOES, GMS, and Meteosat systems. Also, the system can process computer tapes from Landsat. Received data are ingested directly into the computer's disk storage, eliminating the need for a wide-band analog tape drive. Data may be interpreted in terms of cloud imagery, cloudtop temperature, sea surface temperature, vegetation index, and temperature/humidity profiles with overlays of geographic boundaries and latitude/longitude grids. The image processing, enhancement functions, and modeling capabilities of the system are discussed.

Vermillion, Charles H.↗

Cropland measurement using Thematic Mapper data and radiometric model

To halt erosion and desertification, it is necessary to quantify resources that are affected. Necessary information includes inventory of croplands and desert areas as they change over time. Several studies indicate the value of remote sensor data as input to inventories. In this study, the radiometric modeling of spectral characteristics of soil and vegetation provides the theoretical basis for the remote sensing approach. Use of Landsat Thematic Mapper images allows measurement of croplands in Saudi Arabia, demonstrating the capability of the approach. The inventory techniques and remote sensing approach presented are potentially useful in developing countries.

Lyon, John G.↗

Remote sensing science for the Nineties; Proceedings of IGARSS '90 - 10th Annual International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, University of Maryland, College Park, May 20-24, 1990. Vols. 1, 2, & 3

Various papers on remote sensing (RS) for the nineties are presented. The general topics addressed include: subsurface methods, radar scattering, oceanography, microwave models, atmospheric correction, passive microwave systems, RS in tropical forests, moderate resolution land analysis, SAR geometry and SNR improvement, image analysis, inversion and signal processing for geoscience, surface scattering, rain measurements, sensor calibration, wind measurements, terrestrial ecology, agriculture, geometric registration, subsurface sediment geology, radar modulation mechanisms, radar ocean scattering, SAR calibration, airborne radar systems, water vapor retrieval, forest ecosystem dynamics, land analysis, multisensor data fusion. Also considered are: geologic RS, RS sensor optical measurements, RS of snow, temperature retrieval, vegetation structure, global change, artificial intelligence, SAR processing techniques, geologic RS field experiment, stochastic modeling, topography and Digital Elevation model, SAR ocean waves, spaceborne lidar and optical, sea ice field measurements, millimeter waves, advanced spectroscopy, spatial analysis and data compression, SAR polarimetry techniques. Also discussed are: plant canopy modeling, optical RS techniques, optical and IR oceanography, soil moisture, sea ice back scattering, lightning cloud measurements, spatial textural analysis, SAR systems and techniques, active microwave sensing, lidar and optical, radar scatterometry, RS of estuaries, vegetation modeling, RS systems, EOS/SAR Alaska, applications for developing countries, SAR speckle and texture.

Source record↗

Modelling global methane emissions from livestock: Biological and nutritional controls

The available observations of methane production from the literature have been compiled into a ruminant methane data base. This data base includes 400 treatment mean observations of methane losses from cattle and sheep, and minor numbers of measurements from other species. Methane loss varied from 2.0 to 11.6 percent of dietary gross energy. Measurements included describe the many different weights and physiological states of the animals fed and diets ranging from all forage to all concentrate diets or mixtures. An auxiliary spreadsheet lists approximately 1000 individual animal observations. Many important concepts have emerged from our query and analysis of this data set. The majority of the world's cattle, sheep, and goats under normal husbandry circumstances likely produce methane very close to 6 percent of their daily diets gross energy (2 percent of the diet by weight). Although individual animals or losses from specific dietary research circumstances can vary considerably, the average for the vast majority of groups of ruminant livestock are likely to fall between 5.5 to 6.5 percent. We must caution, however, that little experimental data is available for two-thirds of the world's ruminants in developing countries. Available evidence suggests similar percentage of emissions, but this supposition needs confirmation. More importantly, data is skimpy or unavailable to describe diet consumption, animal weight, and class distribution.

Johnson, Donald E.↗

OCEAN-PC and a distributed network for ocean data

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) wishes to develop an integrated software package for oceanographic data entry and access in developing countries. The software, called 'OCEAN-PC', would run on low cost PC microcomputers and would encourage and standardize: (1) entry of local ocean observations; (2) quality control of the local data; (3) merging local data with historical data; (4) improved display and analysis of the merged data; and (5) international data exchange. OCEAN-PC will link existing MS-DOS oceanographic programs and data sets with table-driven format conversions. Since many ocean data sets are now being distributed on optical discs (Compact Discs - Read Only Memory, CD-ROM, Mass et al. 1987), OCEAN-PC will emphasize access to CD-ROMs.

Mclain, Douglas R.↗

Proceedings of the Seventh International Space University Alumni Conference

The Seventh Alumni Conference of the International Space University, coordinated by the ISU U.S. Alumni Organization (IUSAO), was held at Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio on Friday, July 24, 1998. These proceedings are a record of the presentations. The following topics are included: Remote sensing education in developing countries; Integrated global observing strategy; NASA's current earth science program; Europe's lunar initiative; Lunarsat: Searching for the South Polar cold traps; Asteroid hazards; ESA exobiological activities; Space testbed for photovoltaics; Teledesic Space infrastructure; Space instrument's concurrent design; NASA advanced fuel program; Mission preparation and training for the European Robotic Arm (ERA); and Global access to remote sensing systems.

Bailey, Sheila↗

Global Warming in the 21st Century: An Alternate Scenario

A common view is that the current global warming rate will continue or accelerate. But we argue that rapid warming in recent decades has been driven by non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as CFCs, CH4 and N2O, not by the products of fossil fuel burning, CO2 and aerosols, whose positive and negative climate forcings are partially offsetting. The growth rate of non-CO2 GHGs has declined in the past decade. If sources of CH4 and O3 precursors were reduced in the future, the change of climate forcing by non-CO2 GHGs In the next 50 years could be near zero. Combined with a reduction of black carbon emissions and plausible success in slowing CO2 emissions, this could lead to a decline in the rate of global warming, reducing the danger of dramatic climate change. Such a focus on air pollution has practical benefits that unite the interests of developed and developing countries. However, assessment of ongoing and future climate change requires composition-specific longterm global monitoring of aerosol properties.

Hansen, James E.↗

Global Warming in the Twenty-First Century: An Alternative Scenario

A common view is that the current global warming rate will continue or accelerate. But we argue that rapid warming in recent decades has been driven mainly by non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as chlorofluorocarbons, CH4, and N2O, not by the products of fossil fuel burning, CO2 and aerosols, the positive and negative climate forcings of which are partially offsetting. The growth rate of non-CO2 GHGs has declined in the past decade. If sources of CH4 and O3 precursors were reduced in the future, the change in climate forcing by non-CO2 GHGs in the next 50 years could be near zero. Combined with a reduction of black carbon emissions and plausible success in slowing CO2 emissions, this reduction of non-CO2 GHGs could lead to a decline in the rate of global warming, reducing the danger of dramatic climate change. Such a focus on air pollution has practical benefits that unite the interests of developed and developing countries. However, assessment of ongoing and future climate change requires composition specific long-term global monitoring of aerosol properties.

Hansen, James↗

Global Warming in the Twenty-First Century: An Alternative Scenario

A common view is that the current global warming rate will continue or accelerate. But we argue that rapid warming in recent decades has been driven mainly by non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as chlorofluorocarbons, CH4, and N2O, not by the products of fossil fuel burning, CO2 and aerosols, the positive and negative climate forcings of which are partially offsetting. The growth rate of non-CO2 GHGs has declined in the past decade. If sources of CH4 and O3 precursors were reduced in the future, the change in climate forcing by non-CO2 GHGs in the next 50 years could be near zero. Combined with a reduction of black carbon emissions and plausible success in slowing CO2 emissions, this reduction of non-CO2 GHGs could lead to a decline in the rate of global warming, reducing the danger of dramatic climate change. Such a focus on air pollution has practical benefits that unite the interests of developed and developing countries. However, assessment of ongoing and future climate change requires composition specific long-term global monitoring of aerosol properties.

Hansen, James↗

A Wavelength Optimization Study on Visible and Infrared Propagation Systems in Coastal Environments

Electro-optical (EO) systems employed for communications, surveillance and weapons systems are commonly assessed in the North American and European continents. However, the atmospheric propagation environment in these regions is often dissimilar to most other parts of the world. In particular, atmospheric dust, industrial pollution, and smoke frequently reduce visibility to less than 5 km in Asia and South America significantly hampering EO system performance. Because atmospheric aerosol species vary considerably in size and chemistry, optimal wavelengths for EO systems vary from region to region. In this paper we examine the extinction effects from aerosol particles and water vapor on a regional basis. Theoretical studies are coupled with visibility and satellite climatologies to make an assessment for the coastal regions of the world. While longer wavelengths permit higher transmission by particles in regions significantly hampered by fine mode particles (such as industrial pollution and smoke), this advantage is commonly offset by high extinction values from water vapor. This offsetting effect is particularly strong in industrial and developing countries in the tropics and sub-tropics such as Southeast Asia and South America. Conversely, the advantage of low water vapor concentrations in longer wavelengths is offset by high mass-extinction efficiencies of atmospheric dust in this portion of the spectrum.

Reid, J. S.↗

Landsat Legacy

The Landsat resources survey system spawned a number of companies engaged in commercial applications of remote sensing, among them International Imaging Systems (I2S). With initial NASA assistance, I2S has provided remote sensing hardware and software to several foreign countries, developed meteorological analysis systems, medical diagnostic software and scanning equipment for government and commercial use. Latest product is an advanced image-based photogrammetric system employing digital technology - not optical or mechanical systems - to generate terrain elevation data and other processing functions. Called PRI2SM, it compensates automatically for topographic relief displacement, is cheaper, faster, and easier to use and maintain. Company product line includes four major areas: image processing equipment for Earth Resources Management; meteorological analysis systems; satellite ground processing systems; and digital photogrammetric mapping systems.

Source record↗