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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1991

Solar F10.7 radiation - A short term model for Space Station applications

A new method is described for statistically modeling the F10.7 component of solar radiation for 91-day intervals. The resulting model represents this component of the solar flux as a quasi-exponentially correlated, Weibull distributed random variable, and thereby demonstrates excellent agreement with observed F10.7 data. Values of the F10.7 flux are widely used in models of the earth's upper atmosphere because of its high correlation with density fluctuations due to solar heating effects. Because of the direct relation between atmospheric density and drag, a realistic model of the short term fluctuation of the F10.7 flux is important for the design and operation of Space Station Freedom. The method of modeling this flux described in this report should therefore be useful for a variety of Space Station applications.

Vedder, John D.↗
NASA NTRS1992

IIaO ultraviolet and nuclear emulsion films responses to orbital flights on STS-3, STS-7, STS-8, and STS-40

Two types of film were flown on STS-40 space shuttle mission in June 1991. The IIaO special purpose ultraviolet film showed continued desensitization because of various thermal and cosmic ray interactions. The films were exposed to the space orbital environment for 9 days. There were several built-in launch pad delays of the shuttle mission. However, there was adequate monitoring of the temperature variations on board the shuttle that allowed for adequate knowledge of the thermal film history. This IIaO film was flown on the ASTRO I mission and is currently slated for use with the ASTRO II mission. A 50 micron thick IIIford Nuclear emulsion film was also placed on a 175 micron polyester base. The exposure to space produced several cosmic ray interactions that were analyzed and measured using Digital Image Processing techniques. This same nuclear emulsion film was flown on STS-8 and produced a similar number of cosmic ray and thermal interactions. From previous experiments of film using various laboratory electromagnetic radiation sources (e.g., alpha, beta, and neutron particles), we have been able to infer the possible oribtal interactions of both IIaO and nuclear emulsion films. The characteristic responses of IIaO on STS-40 compared favorably to the results obtained from previous STS-7 and STS-8 gas can experiments. The results indicate sufficient evidence correlating increased density on the film with possible cosmic ray, thermal and shuttle out gassing interactions.

Hammond, E. C., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Position and morphology of the compact non-thermal radio source at the Galactic Center

We have determined with VLBI the position of the compact nonthermal radio source at the Galactic Center, commonly referred to as SgrA*, in the J2000.0 reference frame of extragalactic radio sources. We have also determined the size of SgrA* at 1.3, 3.6, and 13 cm wavelengths and found that the apparent size of the source increases proportionally to the observing wavelength squared, as expected from source size broadening by interstellar scattering and as reported previously by other authors. We have also established an upper limit of about 8 mJy at 3.6 cm wavelength for any ultracompact component. The actual size of the source is less than 15 AU. Fourier analysis of our very sensitive 3.6 cm observations of this source shows no significant variations of correlated flux density on time scales from 12 to 700 s.

Marcaide, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Crustal flushing and its relationship to magnetic and hydrothermal processes on the East Pacific Rise crest

The deep-towed Argo I optical/acoustical vehicle and a geographic information system (GIS) have been used to establish the abundance, widths, and spatial distribution of fissures, as well as the relative age distribution of lavas along the narrow (less than 500 m wide) axial zone of the East Pacific Rise (EPR) from 9 deg 12 min to 9 deg 54 min N. On a second-order scale (approximately 78 km long), wider but less numerous fissures are found in the northern portion of the survey area; this changes to narrower, more abundant fissures in the south. A profile of the cumulative width added by fissures to the axial zone exhibits minima in three areas along strike (near 9 deg 49 min, 9 deg 35 min, and 9 deg 15 min N), where the most recent eruptions have occurred above sites of magmatic injection from the upper mantle, filling and covering older fissures. On a fourth-order scale (5-15 km long) the mean density of fissuring on a given segment is greater where relative axial lava age is greater. Fissure density also correlates with hydrothermal vent abundance and type. Increased cracking toward segment tips is observed at the second-order scale, whereas fourth-order segments tend to be more cracked in the middle. Cracking on a fourth-order scale may be driven by the propagation of dikes, rather than by the far-field plate stresses. The above relations constrain the model of Haymon et al. (1991) in which individual fourth-order segments are in different phases of a volcanic-hydrothermal-tectonic cycle.

Wright, Dawn J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

22 GHz VLBI Survey: Status Report and Preliminary Results

A ground-based VLBI survey to measure the visibilities and correlated flux densities in continuum at 22 GHz of more than 140 extragalactic radio sources has been conducted with baselines up to approximately 11 000 km. The project has been designed to help in preparation of target lists for VSOP and Radioastron Space VLBI missions as well as providing observational data for statistical study of structural properties at 22 GHz on sub-milliarcsecond scales for this large sample of extragalactic sources.

VLBI extragalactic radio sources survey↗
NASA NTRS2004

Solar Wind Stream Interaction Regions without Sector Boundaries

During periods of high solar activity when there are many sources of solar wind on the solar disk, a spacecraft occasionally encounters consecutive solar wind streams with the same magnetic polarity. The low-speed wind in the region of interaction between the two streams exhibits many of the same features as, but has some differences from, the low-speed wind that includes crossings of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) where the direction of the heliospheric magnetic field reverses. The non-HCS slow wind exhibits many of the same small-scale structures usually associated with the slow wind around the HCS; these include discontinuous stream interfaces and other discontinuities, magnetic holes, and low-entropy structures. These entropy holes do not appear to have the same origin as the plasma sheets observed near the HCS, however. The helium abundances and heavy ion charge states in the non-HCS regions are not significantly different from those in HCS-associated regions. Some of the dynamical properties of the non-HCS regions differ from those found near the HCS; the regions between leading and trailing stream interfaces have a shorter duration or scale size, greater minimum speed, and lower peak and average densities. No correlation could be found between the non-HCS slow wind and visible coronal streamers.

interaction regions↗
NASA NTRS2024

The Radio Fundamental Catalogue. I. Astrometry

We present the all-sky catalogue of absolute positions and estimates of correlated flux density of 21,942 compact radio sources determined from processing interferometric visibility data of virtually all VLBI observing sessions at 2 to 23~GHz from 72 programs suitable for absolute astrometry collected for 30 years. We used a novel technique of generation of a dataset of fused observables that allowed us to incorporate all available data in our analysis. The catalogue is the most complete and most precise to date. It forms the foundation and reference for positional astronomy, space geodesy, space navigation, population analysis of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and provides calibrators for phase-referencing for differential astrometry and VLBI astrophysical observations. Its accuracy was evaluated through a detailed accounting systematic errors, rigorous decimation tests, comparison of different datasets, and comparison with other catalogues. The catalogue samples preferentially the AGNs with a strong contemporary parsec-scale synchrotron emission. Its milliarcsecond level positional accuracy allows association of these AGNs with detections in a wide range of the electromagnetic spectrum from low-frequency radio to gamma-rays and high energy neutrinos. We describe the innovative data processing and calibration technique in full detail, report the in depth analysis of random and systematic positional errors, and provide the list of associations with large surveys at different wavelengths.

Astronomy↗
NASA NTRS2015

Physical Models of Layered Polar Firn Brightness Temperatures from 0.5 to 2 GHz

We investigate physical effects influencing 0.5-2 GHz brightness temperatures of layered polar firn to support the Ultra Wide Band Software Defined Radiometer (UWBRAD) experiment to be conducted in Greenland and in Antarctica. We find that because ice particle grain sizes are very small compared to the 0.5-2 GHz wavelengths, volume scattering effects are small. Variations in firn density over cm- to m-length scales, however, cause significant effects. Both incoherent and coherent models are used to examine these effects. Incoherent models include a 'cloud model' that neglects any reflections internal to the ice sheet, and the DMRT-ML and MEMLS radiative transfer codes that are publicly available. The coherent model is based on the layered medium implementation of the fluctuation dissipation theorem for thermal microwave radiation from a medium having a nonuniform temperature. Density profiles are modeled using a stochastic approach, and model predictions are averaged over a large number of realizations to take into account an averaging over the radiometer footprint. Density profiles are described by combining a smooth average density profile with a spatially correlated random process to model density fluctuations. It is shown that coherent model results after ensemble averaging depend on the correlation lengths of the vertical density fluctuations. If the correlation length is moderate or long compared with the wavelength (approximately 0.6x longer or greater for Gaussian correlation function without regard for layer thinning due to compaction), coherent and incoherent model results are similar (within approximately 1 K). However, when the correlation length is short compared to the wavelength, coherent model results are significantly different from the incoherent model by several tens of kelvins. For a 10-cm correlation length, the differences are significant between 0.5 and 1.1 GHz, and less for 1.1-2 GHz. Model results are shown to be able to match the v-pol SMOS data closely and predict the h-pol data for small observation angles.

layered polar firn emission↗
NASA NTRS2000

Detection, Tracking and Analysis of Turbulent Spots and Other Coherent Structures in Unsteady Transition

Transition on turbine blades is an important factor in the determination of eventual flow separation and engine performance. The phenomenon is strongly affected by unsteady flow conditions (wake passing). It is likely that some physics of unsteadiness should be included in advanced models, but it is unclear which properties would best embody this information. In this paper, we use a GEAE experimental database in unsteady transition to test some tools of spot identification, tracking and characterization. In this preliminary study, we identify some parameters that appear to be insensitive to wake passing effects, such as convection speed, and others more likely to require unsteady modeling. The main findings are that wavelet duration can be used as a measure of spot size, and that spot energy density is most closely correlated to the wake passing. The energy density is also correlated to spot size, but spot size appears unrelated to the phase angle. Recommendations are made for further study.

Lewalle, Jacques↗
NASA NTRS1999

Five myofibrillar lesion types in eccentrically challenged, unloaded rat adductor longus muscle--a test model

Sarcomere disruptions are observed in the adductor longus (AL) muscles following voluntary reloading of spaceflown and hindlimb suspension unloaded (HSU) rat, which resemble lesions in eccentrically challenged muscle. We devised and tested an eccentric contraction (ECCON) test system for the 14-day HSU rat AL. Six to 7 hours following ECCON, ALs were fixed to allow immunostaining and electron microscopy (EM). Toluidine blue-stained histology semithin sections were screened for lesion density (#/mm2). Serial semithin sections from the ECCON group were characterized for myosin immunointensity of lesions. Five myofibrillar lesion types were identified in histological semithin sections: focal contractions; wide A-bands; opaque areas; missing A-bands; and hyperstretched sarcomeres. Lesion density by type was greater for ECCON than NonECCON ALs (P< or =0.05; focal contractions and opaque regions). Lesion density (#-of-all-five-types/mm2) was significantly different (ECCON: 23.91+/-10.58 vs. NonECCON: 5.48+/-1.28, P< or =0.05; ECCON vs. SHAM: 0.00+/-0.00; P< or = 0.025). PostECCON optimal tension decreased (Poi-drop, 17.84+/-4.22%) and was correlated to lesion density (R2=0.596), but prestretch tension demonstrated the highest correlation with lesion density (R2=0.994). In lesions, the darkly staining A-band lost the normally organized thick filament alignment to differing degrees across the different lesion types. Ranking the five lesion types by a measure of lesion length deformation (hypercontracted to hyperstretched) at the light microscopy level, related to the severity of thick filament registry loss across the lesion types at the electron microscopic level. This ranking suggested that the five lesion types seen in semithin sections at the light level represented a lesion progression sequence and paralleled myosin immunostaining loss as the distorted A-band filaments spread across the hyperlengthening lesion types. Lesion ultrastructure indicated damage involved calcium homeostasis loss (focal contraction lesions) and "thick-filament-centering" failure of titin (wide A-band lesions) in the early stages of lesion development.

NASA Discipline Musculoskeletal↗
NASA NTRS1983

A Note on the Ratio of Positively Correlated Gamma Variates

The density function and corresponding moments for the ratio of correlated gamma distributed variates were derived. A class of bivariate gamma distributions was also considered, and additional distributional results which use this class of functions were also derived. Similar results, by using a different class of bivariate gamma distributions, are presented.

Tubbs, J. D.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Fuzzy Logic Particle Tracking

A new all-electronic Particle Image Velocimetry technique that can efficiently map high speed gas flows has been developed in-house at the NASA Lewis Research Center. Particle Image Velocimetry is an optical technique for measuring the instantaneous two component velocity field across a planar region of a seeded flow field. A pulsed laser light sheet is used to illuminate the seed particles entrained in the flow field at two instances in time. One or more charged coupled device (CCD) cameras can be used to record the instantaneous positions of particles. Using the time between light sheet pulses and determining either the individual particle displacements or the average displacement of particles over a small subregion of the recorded image enables the calculation of the fluid velocity. Fuzzy logic minimizes the required operator intervention in identifying particles and computing velocity. Using two cameras that have the same view of the illumination plane yields two single exposure image frames. Two competing techniques that yield unambiguous velocity vector direction information have been widely used for reducing the single-exposure, multiple image frame data: (1) cross-correlation and (2) particle tracking. Correlation techniques yield averaged velocity estimates over subregions of the flow, whereas particle tracking techniques give individual particle velocity estimates. For the correlation technique, the correlation peak corresponding to the average displacement of particles across the subregion must be identified. Noise on the images and particle dropout result in misidentification of the true correlation peak. The subsequent velocity vector maps contain spurious vectors where the displacement peaks have been improperly identified. Typically these spurious vectors are replaced by a weighted average of the neighboring vectors, thereby decreasing the independence of the measurements. In this work, fuzzy logic techniques are used to determine the true correlation displacement peak even when it is not the maximum peak, hence maximizing the information recovery from the correlation operation, maintaining the number of independent measurements, and minimizing the number of spurious velocity vectors. Correlation peaks are correctly identified in both high and low seed density cases. The correlation velocity vector map can then be used as a guide for the particle-tracking operation. Again fuzzy logic techniques are used, this time to identify the correct particle image pairings between exposures to determine particle displacements, and thus the velocity. Combining these two techniques makes use of the higher spatial resolution available from the particle tracking. Particle tracking alone may not be possible in the high seed density images typically required for achieving good results from the correlation technique. This two-staged velocimetric technique can measure particle velocities with high spatial resolution over a broad range of seeding densities.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1995

Fuzzy inference enhanced information recovery from digital PIV using cross-correlation combined with particle tracking

Particle Image Velocimetry provides a means of measuring the instantaneous 2-component velocity field across a planar region of a seeded flowfield. In this work only two camera, single exposure images are considered where both cameras have the same view of the illumination plane. Two competing techniques which yield unambiguous velocity vector direction information have been widely used for reducing the single exposure, multiple image data: cross-correlation and particle tracking. Correlation techniques yield averaged velocity estimates over subregions of the flow, whereas particle tracking techniques give individual particle velocity estimates. The correlation technique requires identification of the correlation peak on the correlation plane corresponding to the average displacement of particles across the subregion. Noise on the images and particle dropout contribute to spurious peaks on the correlation plane, leading to misidentification of the true correlation peak. The subsequent velocity vector maps contain spurious vectors where the displacement peaks have been improperly identified. Typically these spurious vectors are replaced by a weighted average of the neighboring vectors, thereby decreasing the independence of the measurements. In this work fuzzy logic techniques are used to determine the true correlation displacement peak even when it is not the maximum peak on the correlation plane, hence maximizing the information recovery from the correlation operation, maintaining the number of independent measurements and minimizing the number of spurious velocity vectors. Correlation peaks are correctly identified in both high and low seed density cases. The correlation velocity vector map can then be used as a guide for the particle tracking operation. Again fuzzy logic techniques are used, this time to identify the correct particle image pairings between exposures to determine particle displacements, and thus velocity. The advantage of this technique is the improved spatial resolution which is available from the particle tracking operation. Particle tracking alone may not be possible in the high seed density images typically required for achieving good results from the correlation technique. This two staged approach offers a velocimetric technique capable of measuring particle velocities with high spatial resolution over a broad range of seeding densities.

Wernet, Mark P.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Studies on spectral analysis of randomly sampled signals: Application to laser velocimetry data

Spectral analysis is very useful in determining the frequency characteristics of many turbulent flows, for example, vortex flows, tail buffeting, and other pulsating flows. It is also used for obtaining turbulence spectra from which the time and length scales associated with the turbulence structure can be estimated. These estimates, in turn, can be helpful for validation of theoretical/numerical flow turbulence models. Laser velocimetry (LV) is being extensively used in the experimental investigation of different types of flows, because of its inherent advantages; nonintrusive probing, high frequency response, no calibration requirements, etc. Typically, the output of an individual realization laser velocimeter is a set of randomly sampled velocity data. Spectral analysis of such data requires special techniques to obtain reliable estimates of correlation and power spectral density functions that describe the flow characteristics. FORTRAN codes for obtaining the autocorrelation and power spectral density estimates using the correlation-based slotting technique were developed. Extensive studies have been conducted on simulated first-order spectrum and sine signals to improve the spectral estimates. A first-order spectrum was chosen because it represents the characteristics of a typical one-dimensional turbulence spectrum. Digital prefiltering techniques, to improve the spectral estimates from randomly sampled data were applied. Studies show that the spectral estimates can be increased up to about five times the mean sampling rate.

Sree, David↗
NASA NTRS1998

Correlations Between the Cosmic X-Ray and Microwave Backgrounds: Constraints on a Cosmological Constant

In universes with significant curvature or cosmological constant, cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies are created very recently via the Rees-Sciama or integrated Sachs-Wolfe effects. This causes the CMB anisotropies to become partially correlated with the local matter density (z less than 4). We examine the prospects of using the hard (2- 10 keV) X-ray background as a probe of the local density and the measured correlation between the HEAO1 A2 X-ray survey and the 4-year COBE-DMR map to obtain a constraint on the cosmological constant. The 95% confidence level upper limit on the cosmological constant is OMega(sub Lambda) less than or equal to 0.5, assuming that the observed fluctuations in the X-ray map result entirely from large scale structure. (This would also imply that the X-rays trace matter with a bias factor of b(sub x) approx. = 5.6 Omega(sub m, sup 0.53)). This bound is weakened considerably if a large portion of the X-ray fluctuations arise from Poisson noise from unresolved sources. For example, if one assumes that the X-ray bias is b(sub x) = 2, then the 95% confidence level upper limit is weaker, Omega(sub Lambda) less than or equal to 0.7. More stringent limits should be attainable with data from the next generation of CMB and X-ray background maps.

Boughn, S. P.↗
NASA NTRS2013

A CANDELS-3d-HST Synergy: Resolved Star Formation Patterns at 0.7 less than z less than 1.5

We analyze the resolved stellar populations of 473 massive star-forming galaxies at 0.7 < z < 1.5, with multiwavelength broadband imaging from CANDELS andHalpha surface brightness profiles at the same kiloparsec resolution from 3D-HST. Together, this unique data set sheds light on how the assembled stellar mass is distributed within galaxies, and where new stars are being formed. We find the Halpha morphologies to resemble more closely those observed in the ACS I band than in the WFC3 H band, especially for the larger systems. We next derive a novel prescription for Halpha dust corrections, which accounts for extra extinction toward H II regions. The prescription leads to consistent star formation rate (SFR) estimates and reproduces the observed relation between the Halpha/UV luminosity ratio and visual extinction, on both a pixel-by-pixel and a galaxy-integrated level. We find the surface density of star formation to correlate with the surface density of assembled stellar mass for spatially resolved regions within galaxies, akin to the so-called "main sequence of star formation" established on a galaxy-integrated level. Deviations from this relation toward lower equivalent widths are found in the inner regions of galaxies. Clumps and spiral features, on the other hand, are associated with enhanced H alpha equivalent widths, bluer colors, and higher specific SFRs compared to the underlying disk. Their Halpha/UV luminosity ratio is lower than that of the underlying disk, suggesting that the ACS clump selection preferentially picks up those regions of elevated star formation activity that are the least obscured by dust. Our analysis emphasizes that monochromatic studies of galaxy structure can be severely limited by mass-to-light ratio variations due to dust and spatially inhomogeneous star formation histories.

SYNERGY↗
NASA NTRS1973

Remote measurement of turbidity and chlorophyll through aerial photography

Studies were conducted utilizing six different film and filter combinations to quantitatively detect chlorophyll and turbidity in six farm ponds. The low range of turbidity from 0-35 JTU correlated well with the density readings from the green band of normal color film and the high range above 35 JTU was found to correlate with density readings in the red band of color infrared film. The effect of many of the significant variables can be reduced by using standardized procedures in taking the photography. Attempts to detect chlorophyll were masked by the turbidity. The ponds which were highly turbid also had high chlorophyll concentrations; whereas, the ponds with low turbidity also had low chlorophyll concentrations. This prevented a direct correlation for this parameter. Several suggested approaches are cited for possible future investigations.

Schwebel, M. D.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Interstellar C2, CH, and CN in translucent molecular clouds

Optical absorption-line techniques have been applied to the study of a number of translucent molecular clouds in which the total column densities are large enough that substantial molecular abundances can be maintained. Results are presented for a survey of absorption lines of interstellar C2, CH, and CN. Detections of CN through the A 2Pi-X 2Sigma(+) (1,O) and (2,O) bands of the red system are reported and compared with observations of the violet system for one line of sight. The population distributions in C2 provide diagnostic information on temperature and density. The measured column densities of the three species can be used to test details of the theory of molecule formation in clouds where photoprocesses still play a significant role. The C2 and CH column densities are strongly correlated with each other and probably also with the H2 column density. In contrast, the CN column densities are found to vary greatly from cloud to cloud. The observations are discussed with reference to detailed theoretical models.

Black, John H.↗