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At least 1,513 records · Page 84

Radiation damage effects by electrons, protons, and neutrons in Si/Li/ detectors.

The degradation in performance of lithium-compensated silicon nuclear particle detectors induced by irradiation at room temperature with 0.6-MeV and 1.5-MeV electrons, 1.9-MeV protons, and fast neutrons from a plutonium-beryllium source has been investigated. With increasing fluence, the irradiations produced an increase of detector leakage current, noise, capacitance, and a degradation in the performance of the detector as a charged-particle energy spectrometer. Following the irradiations, annealing effects were observed when the detectors were reverse-biased at their recommended operating voltages. Upon removal of bias, a continuous degradation of detector performance characteristics occurred. Detectors which had been damaged by electrons and protons exhibited a stabilization in their characteristics within two weeks after irradiation, whereas detectors damaged by neutrons had a continuous degradation of performance over a period of several months.

Liu, Y. M.↗

An implicit finite-difference solution to the viscous shock layer, including the effects of radiation and strong blowing

An implicit finite-difference scheme is developed for the fully coupled solution of the viscous, radiating stagnation-streamline equations, including strong blowing. Solutions are presented for both air injection and injection of carbon-phenolic ablation products into air at conditions near the peak radiative heating point in an earth entry trajectory from interplanetary return missions. A detailed radiative-transport code that accounts for the important radiative exchange processes for gaseous mixtures in local thermodynamic and chemical equilibrium is utilized in the study. With minimum number of assumptions for the initially unknown parameters and profile distributions, convergent solutions to the full stagnation-line equations are rapidly obtained by a method of successive approximations. Damping of selected profiles is required to aid convergence of the solutions for massive blowing. It is shown that certain finite-difference approximations to the governing differential equations stabilize and improve the solutions. Detailed comparisons are made with the numerical results of previous investigations. Results of the present study indicate lower radiative heat fluxes at the wall for carbonphenolic ablation than previously predicted.

Garrett, L. B.↗

Does ELF chorus show evidence of power line stimulation

A study to determine the effect of power line radiation on the stimulation of the ELF chorus detected on OGO-5 is presented. Chorus shows a maxima over the Eastern USSR, Greenland, and Central Siberia and minima over central and Eastern Canada, a distribution different than the OGO-3. This discrepancy is explained as due to data oversampling in the previous study; the OGO-5 data were reanalyzed with the oversampling removed, showing that none of the longitudinal maxima or minima are statistically significant. It is concluded that there is no significant correlation between longitude and chorus occurrence which implies that there is little or no evidence of power line harmonic radiation effects on chorus triggering.

Tsurutani, B. T.↗

Heat balance of the Earth

Results of improved calculations of the heat balance components of Earth's surface are reported for yearly average conditions. The technique used to determine the heat-balance components from land- and sea-based actinometric observations as well as from satellite data on the radiation balance of the Earth-atmosphere system is described, with special attention given to short-wavelength solar radiation on the continents, effective radiation from the land surface, the radiation balance of the ocean surface, heat expended by both evaporation from the ocean surface, and turbulent heat transfer between the ocean surface and the atmosphere. World maps of heat-balance components show yearly average values of total radiation, radiation balance, heat expended by evaporation, the turbulent heat flow between Earth's surface and atmosphere, and heat transfer between the ocean surface and underlying waters. The global surface heat balance is estimated along with global values of the various components and the heat-balance components for different latitude zones.

Budyko, M. I.↗

Radiation studies of optical and electronic components used in astronomical satellite studies

The synchronous orbit of the IUE carries the satellite through Earth's outer electron belt. A 40 mCi Sr90 source was used to simulate these electrons. A 5 mCi source of Co60 was used to simulate bremmstrahlung. A 10 MeV electron Linac and a 1.7 MeV electron Van de Graaf wer used to investigate the energy dependence of radiation effects and to perform radiations at a high flux rate. A 100 MeV proton cyclotron was used to simulate cosmic rays. Results are presented for three instrument systems of the IUE and measurements for specific components are reported. The three instrument systems were the ultraviolet converter, the fine error sensor (FES), and the SEC vidicon camera tube. The components were optical glasses, electronic components, silicon photodiodes, and UV window materials.

Becher, J.↗

Atmospheric effects on radiation reflected from soil and vegetation as measured by orbital sensors using various scanning directions

Ground-measured spectral reflectance data for Avondale loam and drought-stressed and unstressed wheat were converted into digital counts for spectral bands 5 and 7 of the Landsat Multispectral Scanner System (MSS). For dry loam, the differences between ratios of MSS bands 7-5 as determined from space and from ground level measurements were 2.3 percent for clear and 5.6 percent for turbid atmospheric conditions. By contrast, for wet loam the differences were 10.4 and 29.5 percent. It is found that atmospheric conditions may cause a delay of from 3 to 7 days in the discrimination between drought-stressed and unstressed wheat. For oblique angle observations the atmospheric modification of ground-measured reflectances increased with angle at a greater rate in the 0/180 deg azimuth than in the 90/270 deg azimuth. Implications of this result are discussed for oblique angle Systeme Probatoire d'Observation de la Terre (SPOT), Mapsat, future multispectral linear array system imagery, and wide-angle imagery collected from scanners in high-altitude aircraft.

Slater, P. N.↗

Effects of Radiation on Coatings

Tests help to insure reliability in hostile environment. Tests of radiation damage to materials used in outer coverings of spacecraft described in 25-page report. Materials exposed to ionizing radiation then examined for degradation of desirable mechanical, electrical, and optical properties. Experimental results and test methods applicable to aircraft, scientific instrumentation, and other equipment subject to ionizing radiation, electrostatic discharge, or both.

Bouquet, F. L.↗

Effects of Radiation on Capacitor Dielectrics

Data gathered on key design parameters. Report discusses study of electrical and mechanical properties of irradiated polymer dielectric materials. Data compiled for use by designers of high-energy-density capacitors that operate in presence of ionizing radiation. Study focused on polycarbonates, polyetheretherketones, polymethylpentenes, polyimides (including polyetherimide), polyolefins, polysulfones (including polyethersulfone and polyphenylsulfone), and polyvinylidene fluorides.

Bouquet, F. L.↗

Effects Of Radiation On Insulators

Report presents data on responses of electrically insulating thermosetting and thermoplastic polymers to radiation. Lowest-threshold-dose (LTD) levels and 25-percent-change levels presented for such properties as tensile strength and electrical resistivity. Data on radiation-induced outgassing also given.

Bouquet, Frank L.↗

Effects of radiation damage on the silicon lattice

Silicon was irradiated with both proton and electron particle beams in order to investigate changes in the structural and optical properties of the lattice as a result of the radiation damage. Lattice expansions occurred when large strain fields (+0.34 percent) developed after 1- and 3-MeV proton bombardment. The strain was a factor of three less after 1-MeV electron irradiation. Average increases of approximately 22 meV in the 3.46-eV interband energy gap and 14 meV in the Lorentz broadening parameter were measured after the electron irradiation.

Dumas, Katherine A.↗

Evaluation of Spacecraft Shielding Effectiveness for Radiation Protection

The potential for serious health risks from solar particle events (SPE) and galactic cosmic rays (GCR) is a critical issue in the NASA strategic plan for the Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS). The excess cost to protect against the GCR and SPE due to current uncertainties in radiation transmission properties and cancer biology could be exceedingly large based on the excess launch costs to shield against uncertainties. The development of advanced shielding concepts is an important risk mitigation area with the potential to significantly reduce risk below conventional mission designs. A key issue in spacecraft material selection is the understanding of nuclear reactions on the transmission properties of materials. High-energy nuclear particles undergo nuclear reactions in passing through materials and tissue altering their composition and producing new radiation types. Spacecraft and planetary habitat designers can utilize radiation transport codes to identify optimal materials for lowering exposures and to optimize spacecraft design to reduce astronaut exposures. To reach these objectives will require providing design engineers with accurate data bases and computationally efficient software for describing the transmission properties of space radiation in materials. Our program will reduce the uncertainty in the transmission properties of space radiation by improving the theoretical description of nuclear reactions and radiation transport, and provide accurate physical descriptions of the track structure of microscopic energy deposition.

Cucinotta, Francis A.↗

Effects of Radiative Emission and Absorption on the Propagation and Extinction of Premixed Gas Flames

Premixed gas flames in mixtures of CH4, O2, N2, and CO2 were studied numerically using detailed chemical and radiative emission-absorption models to establish the conditions for which radiatively induced extinction limits may exist independent of the system dimensions. It was found that reabsorption of emitted radiation led to substantially higher burning velocities and wider extinction limits than calculations using optically thin radiation models, particularly when CO2, a strong absorber, is present in the unburned gas, Two heat loss mechanisms that lead to flammability limits even with reabsorption were identified. One is that for dry hydrocarbon-air mixtures, because of the differences in the absorption spectra of H2O and CO2, most of the radiation from product H2O that is emitted in the upstream direction cannot be absorbed by the reactants. The second is that the emission spectrum Of CO2 is broader at flame temperatures than ambient temperature: thus, some radiation emitted near the flame front cannot be absorbed by the reactants even when they are seeded with CO2 Via both mechanisms, some net upstream heat loss due to radiation will always occur, leading to extinction of sufficiently weak mixtures. Downstream loss has practically no influence. Comparison with experiment demonstrates the importance of reabsorption in CO2 diluted mixtures. It is concluded that fundamental flammability limits can exist due to radiative heat loss, but these limits are strongly dependent on the emission-absorption spectra of the reactant and product -gases and their temperature dependence and cannot be predicted using gray-gas or optically thin model parameters. Applications to practical flames at high pressure, in large combustion chambers, and with exhaust-gas or flue-gas recirculation are discussed.

Ju, Yiguang↗

Effect of Radiative Cooling on Cloud-SST Relationship within the Tropical Pacific Region

A recent analysis found a negative correlation between the area-mean cloud amount and the corresponding mean Sea Surface Temperature (SST) within the cloudy areas. The SST-cloud relation becomes more evident when the SST contrast between warm pool and surrounding cold pool (DSST) in the tropical Pacific is stronger than normal. The above feature is related to the finding that the strength of subsidence over the cold pool is limited by radiative cooling because of its small variability. As a result, the area of radiatively-driven subsidence must expand in response to enhanced low-boundary forcing due to SST warming or enhanced basin-scale DSST. This leads to more cloud free regions and less cloudy regions. The increased ratio of cloud-free areas to cloudy areas leads to more high SST areas (>29.50C) due to enhanced solar radiation.

Sui, Chung-Hsiung↗

Revisit to the RXTE and ASCA Data for GRO J1655-40: Effects of Radiative Transfer in Corona and Color Hardening in the Disk

The results of spectral modeling of the data for a series of RXTE observations and four ASCA observations of GRO J1655-40 are presented. The thermal Comptonization model is used instead of the power-law model for the hard component of the two-component continuum spectra. The previously reported dramatic variations of the apparent inner disk radius of GRO J1655-40 during its outburst may be due to the inverse Compton scattering in the hot corona. A procedure is developed for making the radiative transfer correction to the fitting parameters from RXTE data and a more stable inner disk radius is obtained. A practical process of determining the color correction (hardening) factor from observational data is proposed and applied to the four ASCA observations of GRO J1655-40. We found that the color correction factor may vary significantly between different observations and the finally corrected physical inner disk radius remains reasonably stable over a large range of luminosity and spectral states.

Zhang, S. Nan↗