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At least 127 records · Page 7

BSM Delta Qualification 2, volume 3, book 2

This report, presented in three volumes, provides the results of a two-motor Delta Qualification 2 program conducted in 1993 to certify the following enhancements for incorporation into booster separation motor (BSM0 flight hardware: vulcanized-in-place nozzle aft closure insulation; new iso-static ATJ bulk graphite throat insert material, adhesive EA9394 for bonding the nozzle throat, igniter grain rod/centering insert/igniter case; deletion of the igniter adapter insulator ring; deletion of the igniter adapter/igniter case interface RTV; and deletion of loctite from igniter retainer plate threads. The enhancements above directly resulted from (1) the BSM total quality management (TQM) team initiatives to enhance the BSM producibility, and (2) the necessity to qualify new throat insert and adhesive systems to replace existing materials that will not be available. Testing was completed at both the component and motor levels. Component testing was accomplished to screen candidate materials (e.g., throat materials, adhesive systems) and to optimize processes (e.g., aft closure insulator vulcanization approach) prior to their incorporation into the test motors. Motor testing--consisting of two motors, randomly selected by USBI's on-site quality personnel from production lot AAY, which were modified to accept the enhancements -- was completed to provide the final qualification of the enhancements for incorporation into flight hardware. Volume 3, Book 2 provides various supporting documentation to the previous volumes with regards to the testing of the two Delta qualification units: data acceptance records, thermal conditioning analysis, igniter adapter thermal flake analysis, laboratory adhesive (EA-9394) qualification report, throat insert thermal/structural analysis, Delta Qualification Nonconformance Reports (NCR's), O-ring seating tests, and interim test report for vulcanization process qualification.

Source record↗

Daily evapotranspiration changes during heatwaves at 32 NEON sites, 2019-2021

This dataset provides partitioned evapotranspiration (ET, the combined loss of water from soil and plant surfaces) anomalies during heatwave events—soil evaporation (E) and transpiration (T)—for 268 heatwave events across 32 National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) flux sites in the contiguous United States from 2019–2021. Using an ensemble of four high-frequency turbulence methods (Flux-variance Similarity, Conditional Eddy Covariance [CEC], CEC with Water-Use Efficiency, and Conditional Eddy Accumulation; see Zahn and Bou-Zeid 2024), half-hourly transpiration-to-evapotranspiration (T/ET) ratios were derived from 20 hertz (Hz, cycles per second) eddy covariance measurements of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water vapor (H₂O) concentrations. The dataset spans six vegetation types including evergreen and deciduous forests, grasslands, cultivated crops, shrublands, and emergent herbaceous wetlands. Data Package Contents: The dataset includes a single CSV (comma-separated values) file containing daily anomalies (deviations from baseline conditions) for transpiration (Delta_T), evaporation (Delta_E), total evapotranspiration (Delta_ET), and T/ET ratio (Delta_T_ET) during each day of identified heatwave events. The file also includes site codes, dates, heatwave event identifiers, and day-of-heatwave indicators. The CSV file can be opened with spreadsheet software (Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets) or programming environments (Python, R, MATLAB). This resource enables researchers to investigate ecosystem-specific responses to thermal extremes, validate land surface model partitioning of ET fluxes, and examine feedbacks between water cycling and surface energy balance during heatwaves. The dataset is particularly valuable for studies linking vegetation hydraulic strategies to climate resilience, as it captures the divergent responses of shallow-rooted versus deep-rooted ecosystems. Potential applications include improving drought early warning systems, informing irrigation management strategies, and advancing our mechanistic understanding of land-atmosphere interactions under extreme heat conditions.

Day of Heatwave↗

Lightweight spacecraft propulsion system selection

Various methods of significantly reducing the mass of planetary spacecraft propulsion systems were addressed. Because of the Space Shuttle Challenger accident, the availability of the Space Transportation System for planetary missions may be limited. Mounting a future planetary mission with lower-energy launch vehicles will require a significant reduction in the spacecraft mass. Smaller launch vehicles for planetary missions were considered. In this study, the assumed payload capability for the planetary missions were considered. In this study, the assumed payload capability for the planetary missions was restricted to the Delta and the Atlas-Centaur launch vehicles. Several propulsion and propulsion-related technologies for spacecraft mass reduction were investigated; ion, arcjet, resistojet, and Magneto-Plasma-Dynamic propulsion and earth-storable high-energy propulsion system thrusters were candidates. The propulsion-related technologies included a start-basket Propellant Management Device, a nitrogen tetroxide diaphragm, and a solid-cryogen cooler. Xenon-ion propulsion allowed the greatest mass reduction.

Palaszewski, B.↗

Identifying environmental features for land management decisions

Multivariate statistical analysis and imaging processing techniques are being applied to the study of arid/semiarid environments, with emphasis on desertification. Field level indicators of land-soil biota degradation are being sifted out with staging up to the low aircraft reconnaissance level, to LANDSAT TM & MSS, and even to the AVHRR level. Three completed projects are reviewed: riparian habitat on the Humboldt River floodplain, Salt Lake County Urban expansion detection, and salinization/desertification detection in the delta area. Beginning projects summarized include: comparative condition of rangeland in Rush Valley; modeling a GIS/remote sensing data base for Cache County; universal soil loss equation applied to Pinyon-Juniper; relating MSS to ground radiometry near Battle Mountain; and riparian habitat mapping on Mary's River, Nevada.

Source record↗

Determining Atmospheric-Density Profile of Titan

A method was developed for measuring the atmospheric density of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, to create an accurate density profile as a function of altitude. This will allow mission planners to select safe flyby altitudes, and for navigation engineers to accurately predict the delta-v associated with those flybys. The spacecraft angular rate vector profile as a function of time is collected via telemetry from the onboard attitude estimator once every 2 seconds. The telemetry for thruster times, as a function of time, for eight Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters is gathered, once a second, from the Propulsion Manager algorithm of the Cassini onboard attitude-control flight software. Using these data, the ground software computes the angular momentum vector profile and the per-axis external torque as a function of time imparted from the spacecraft only due to the atmospheric drag. The software can then determine the Titan atmospheric density profile as a function of time and altitude with the known values of spacecraft center of mass, the Titan-relative range and velocity data, the projected area, and the aerocenter, along with the estimated drag coefficient in a free molecular flow field.

Sarani, Siamak↗

Feasibility of using a smallsat for a dedicated on-orbit CSI laboratory

Control-Structure Integration (CSI) technology will be needed for the success of many future space missions, however, this technology will not be seriously considered for use by program managers if it is not first demonstrated in space. This paper will represent the results of a study that addressed the feasibility of orbiting a relatively low-cost CSI laboratory available to government, industry, and academic guest investigators by using the QuickStar bus, a flight-proven smallsat, launched as a secondary payload aboard a Delta II launch vehicle. This study developed a representative CSI experiment payload, which included a structural test article, sensors, actuators, and disturbances sources, to be integrated into the bus. The resulting concept for a CSI orbital lab was evaluated based on how well the concept satisfied generally accepted CSI flight-test objectives, and its cost and reliability.

Bicos, A. S.↗

Exploring Unstructured Mesh Adaptation for Hybrid Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes/Large Eddy Simulation

Mesh adaptation methods for the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations are rapidly maturing and beginning to impact the design of aerospace vehicles. RANS turbulence modeling improvements have slowed and may stagnate. Wall-modeled large eddy simulation (LES) and hybrid RANS/LES (HRLES) may provide an improved modeling capability but require specialized expertise to construct appropriate meshes and are considered be too ex-pensive for routine practical use. The realization of the CFD Vision 2030 Study includes improving geometry linkage, mesh generation/adaptation, and turbulence modeling/resolving methods for automated management of errors and uncertainties of physics-based, predictive modeling that can set the stage for ensuring a vehicle is in compliance with a regulation or specification (i.e., certification or qualification by analysis). An exploration of mesh adaptation for HRLES is performed to document synergies and challenges between mesh adaptation and HRLES. Vortex breakdown over a delta wing is examined to show the improvement of HRLES over RANS turbulence modeling approaches. A high lift configuration is shown to demonstrate complex geometry capability. Research and development opportunities are identified to advocate for continuing investments that may allow HRLES to enter routine practical use as a tool for aerospace vehicle analysis and design.

Michael A Park↗

Numerical Investigation of High Delta T Sensible Storage Integrated CO2 Heat Pump: Preprint

To assist building heating electrification, this paper numerically investigates a load flexible heat pump system for commercial buildings. The system consists of a CO2 vapor compression cycle, a sensible thermal storage tank, and an air handling unit. The thermal storage medium is inexpensive, non-toxic and stable anti-freeze solution (30% potassium acetate). The air handing unit has an indoor coil and a ventilation coil. The system can be used to manage building electric load. During peak hours, the heat pump is off and the hot solution water is discharged from the tank to heat up the indoor air and ventilation air. During the hour of charge, the heat pump delivers hot solution water to the tank and to the air. The tank can also stand by while the heat pump provides space heating directly. We selected a medium sized office building located in Minnesota as the representative building and used EnergyPlus to obtain its 24 hour load data. We designed three storage tank volumes assuming 50 degrees C, 65 degrees C and 80 degrees C tank temperatures to independently provide the building load for 4 hours in the morning. The higher the tank temperature, the smaller the required volume, and thus higher energy density. The effective energy density is 78 with an 80 degrees C tank, and 40 kWhth/m3 with 50 degrees C. We simulated the tank integrated heat pump performance subjected to the 24-hour building load profile and ambient data. The baseline is the same system without storage tank. There was a trade-off between the storage energy density and the charging COP. The charge hour COP was 2.77 to charge the tank to 80 degrees C, and 3.01 to 50 degrees C. The proposed system could shift building load from the peak hours (8:00 - 12:00) to off-business hour (23:00 - 7:00+1). It eliminated 100% compressor electricity use during the peak hours, and avoided a peak electric power of 34 kW. The 65 degrees C tank saved 9.5 kWhe (4%) considering all day operation, which was the best balance between energy density and the system operation efficiency among the three options.

CO2 heat pump↗

AmeriFlux FLUXNET-1F US-Bi1 Bouldin Island Alfalfa

This is the AmeriFlux Management Project (AMP) created FLUXNET-1F version of the carbon flux data for the site US-Bi1 Bouldin Island Alfalfa. This is the FLUXNET version of the carbon flux data for the site US-Bi1 Bouldin Island Alfalfa produced by applying the standard ONEFlux (1F) software. Site Description - An agricultural field in the San Joaquin Sacramento Delta. The field is a mix of organic peat and sediments and minerals from old river channels

Rey-Sanchez, Camilo↗

AmeriFlux FLUXNET-1F US-Bi2 Bouldin Island corn

This is the AmeriFlux Management Project (AMP) created FLUXNET-1F version of the carbon flux data for the site US-Bi2 Bouldin Island corn. This is the FLUXNET version of the carbon flux data for the site US-Bi2 Bouldin Island corn produced by applying the standard ONEFlux (1F) software. Site Description - Corn field on Bouldin Island in the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta. This site has deep peat that was drained for farming. Over the past 100 years there has been excessive subsidence of the peat in the Delta region. The corn is usually harvested for silage cattle feed. Corn was planted in the field 2017-2023. Sorghum was planted in the field 2024.

Rey-Sanchez, Camilo↗

Development and Operation of a Material Identification and Discrimination Imaging Spectroradiometer

Many imaging applications require quantitative determination of a scene's spectral radiance. This paper describes a new system capable of real-time spectroradiometric imagery. Operating at a full-spectrum update rate of 30Hz, this imager is capable of collecting a 30 point spectrum from each of three imaging heads: the first operates from 400 nm to 950 nm, with a 2% bandwidth; the second operates from 1.5 micro-m to 5.5 micro-m with a 1.5% bandwidth; the third operates from 5 micro-m to 12 micro-m, also at a 1.5% bandwidth. Standard image format is 256 x 256, with 512 x 512 possible in the VIS/NIR head. Spectra of up to 256 points are available at proportionately lower frame rates. In order to make such a tremendous amount of data more manageable, internal processing electronics perform four important operations on the spectral imagery data in real-time. First, all data in the spatial/spectral cube of data is spectro-radiometrically calibrated as it is collected. Second, to allow the imager to simulate sensors with arbitrary spectral response, any set of three spectral response functions may be loaded into the imager including delta functions to allow single wavelength viewing; the instrument then evaluates the integral of the product of the scene spectral radiances and the response function. Third, more powerful exploitation of the gathered spectral radiances can be effected by application of various spectral-matched filtering algorithms to identify pixels whose relative spectral radiance distribution matches a sought-after spectral radiance distribution, allowing materials-based identification and discrimination. Fourth, the instrument allows determination of spectral reflectance, surface temperature, and spectral emissivity, also in real-time. The spectral imaging technique used in the instrument allows tailoring of the frame rate and/or the spectral bandwidth to suit the scene radiance levels, i.e., frame rate can be reduced, or bandwidth increased to improve SNR when viewing low radiance scenes. The unique challenges of design and calibration are described. Pixel readout rates of 160 MHz, for full frame readout rates of 1000 Hz (512 x 512 image) present the first challenge; processing rates of nearly 600 million integer operations per second for sensor emulation, or over 2 billion per second for matched filtering, present the second. Spatial and spectral calibration of 66,536 pixels (262,144 for the 512 x 512 version) and up to 1,000 spectral positions mandate novel decoupling methods to keep the required calibration memory to a reasonable size. Large radiometric dynamic range also requires care to maintain precision operation with minimum memory size.

Dombrowski, Mark↗

AmeriFlux FLUXNET-1F US-DS3 Staten Rice 1

This is the AmeriFlux Management Project (AMP) created FLUXNET-1F version of the carbon flux data for the site US-DS3 Staten Rice 1. This is the FLUXNET version of the carbon flux data for the site US-DS3 Staten Rice 1 produced by applying the standard ONEFlux (1F) software. Site Description - This tower is located in a rice field in the California Delta on Staten Island. The tower is within a few square kilometers of rice fields that comprise the vast majority of the southwestern portion of Staten Island. This is part of a multi-year, ground-truthing field study under the DOE ARPA-E SMARTFARM project.

Schuppenhauer, Michael R.↗

AmeriFlux FLUXNET-1F US-DS1 Staten Corn 1

This is the AmeriFlux Management Project (AMP) created FLUXNET-1F version of the carbon flux data for the site US-DS1 Staten Corn 1. This is the FLUXNET version of the carbon flux data for the site US-DS1 Staten Corn 1 produced by applying the standard ONEFlux (1F) software. Site Description - This tower is located in a corn field in the California Delta on Staten Island. The tower is within several square kilometers of corn fields that comprise the vast majority of the southern and central portion of Staten Island

Christen, Nick [Hydrofocus, Inc]↗

AmeriFlux FLUXNET-1F US-DS2 Staten Corn 2

This is the AmeriFlux Management Project (AMP) created FLUXNET-1F version of the carbon flux data for the site US-DS2 Staten Corn 2. This is the FLUXNET version of the carbon flux data for the site US-DS2 Staten Corn 2 produced by applying the standard ONEFlux (1F) software. Site Description - This tower is located in a corn field in the California Delta on Staten Island. The tower is positioned within several hundred hectares of homogenous agricultural (corn) fields.

Deverel, Steve [Hydrofocus, Inc]↗

Life sciences payload definition and integration study. Volume 4: Appendix, costs, and data management requirements of the dedicated 30-day laboratory

The results of the updated 30-day life sciences dedicated laboratory scheduling and costing activities are documented, and the 'low cost' methodology used to establish individual equipment item costs is explained in terms of its allowances for equipment that is commerical off-the-shelf, modified commercial, and laboratory prototype; a method which significantly lowers program costs. The costs generated include estimates for non-recurring development, recurring production, and recurring operations costs. A cost for a biomedical emphasis laboratory and a Delta cost to provide a bioscience and technology laboratory were also generated. All cost reported are commensurate with the design and schedule definitions available.

Source record↗

AmeriFlux FLUXNET-1F US-Dmg Dutch Slough Marsh Gilbert Tract

This is the AmeriFlux Management Project (AMP) created FLUXNET-1F version of the carbon flux data for the site US-Dmg Dutch Slough Marsh Gilbert Tract. This is the FLUXNET version of the carbon flux data for the site US-Dmg Dutch Slough Marsh Gilbert Tract produced by applying the standard ONEFlux (1F) software. Site Description - A new restored tidal freshwater wetland located on the west Delta, within Oakley, CA. The tower is located in the eastern side of the Gilbert Parcel seeing the mid marsh transition zone upwind. Restoration work is done by DWR and started in 2018, revegetation planting started in late 2019, followed by tidal action restoration in October 2021.

Arias-Ortiz, Ariane↗

Launch Vehicle Control Center Architectures

This analysis is a survey of control center architectures of the NASA Space Launch System (SLS), United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V and Delta IV, and the European Space Agency (ESA) Ariane 5. Each of these control center architectures have similarities in basic structure, and differences in functional distribution of responsibilities for the phases of operations: (a) Launch vehicles in the international community vary greatly in configuration and process; (b) Each launch site has a unique processing flow based on the specific configurations; (c) Launch and flight operations are managed through a set of control centers associated with each launch site, however the flight operations may be a different control center than the launch center; and (d) The engineering support centers are primarily located at the design center with a small engineering support team at the launch site.

Watson, Michael D.↗

Nimbus hydrological observations over the watersheds of the Niger and Indus rivers

As a result of studying the Nimbus imagery over these two watersheds, it is felt that a perspective and understanding of the large scale hydrological processes and their interrelationship has been obtained which could be obtained by no other means in so short a time. In the case of the Niger River a much better appreciation of the flooding process has been obtained along with the role of the Inland Delta in this process. Obviously a knowledge of the spatial and temporal distribution of the snow-melt process in the Indus River watershed is now available that was obtained with minimal effort, as compared to the effort and time that would be required using conventional methods. It seems clear that even the low resolution data easily available from meteorological satellites can be a valuable source of information in the better management of the water resources in these regions.

Salomonson, V. V.↗