National Aeronautics And Space Administration Ames Research Center Research Articles

Arctic Radiation-IceBridge Sea and Ice Experiment: The Arctic Radiant Energy System during the Critical Seasonal Ice Transition

Abstract The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Arctic Radiation-IceBridge Sea and Ice Experiment (ARISE) acquired unique aircraft data on atmospheric radiation and sea ice properties during the critical late summer to autumn sea ice minimum and commencement of refreezing. The C-130 aircraft flew 15 missions over the Beaufort Sea between 4 and 24 September 2014. ARISE deployed a shortwave and longwave broadband radiometer (BBR) system from the Naval Research Laboratory; a Solar Spectral Flux Radiometer (SSFR) from the University of Colorado Boulder; the Spectrometer for Sky-Scanning, Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research (4STAR) from the NASA Ames Research Center; cloud microprobes from the NASA Langley Research Center; and the Land, Vegetation and Ice Sensor (LVIS) laser altimeter system from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. These instruments sampled the radiant energy exchange between clouds and a variety of sea ice scenarios, including prior to and after refreezing began. The most critical and unique aspect of ARISE mission planning was to coordinate the flight tracks with NASA Cloud and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) satellite sensor observations in such a way that satellite sensor angular dependence models and derived top-of-atmosphere fluxes could be validated against the aircraft data over large gridbox domains of order 100–200 km. This was accomplished over open ocean, over the marginal ice zone (MIZ), and over a region of heavy sea ice concentration, in cloudy and clear skies. ARISE data will be valuable to the community for providing better interpretation of satellite energy budget measurements in the Arctic and for process studies involving ice–cloud–atmosphere energy exchange during the sea ice transition period.

Prototype for Extended XDB Using Wiki

This paper describes a prototype of extended XDB. XDB is an open-source and extensible database architecture developed by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to provide integration of heterogeneous and distributed information resources for scientific and engineering applications. XDB enables an unlimited number of desktops and distributed information sources to be linked seamlessly and efficiently into an information grid using Data Access and Retrieval Composition (DARC) protocol which provides a contextual search and retrieval capability useful for lightweight web applications. This paper shows the usage of XDB on common data management in the enterprise without burdening users and application developers with unnecessary complexity and formal schemas. Supported by NASA Ames Research Center through NASA Exploration System Mission Directorate (ESMD) Higher Education grant, a project team at Fairfield University extended this concept and developed an extended XDB protocol and a prototype providing text-searches for Wiki. The technical specification of the protocol was posted to Source Forge (sourceforge.net) and a prototype providing text-searches for Wiki was developed. The prototype was created for 16 tags of the MediaWiki dialect. As part of future works, the prototype will be further extended to the complete Wiki markups and other dialects of Wiki.

Results of a Long-Term Study of Vapor Intrusion at Four Large Buildings at the NASA Ames Research Center

Most of the published empirical data on indoor air concentrations resulting from vapor intrusion of contaminants from underlying groundwater are for residential structures. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Research Park site, located in Moffett Field, CA, and comprised of 213 acres, is being planned for redevelopment as a collaborative research and educational campus with associated facilities. Groundwater contaminated with hydrocarbon and halogenated hydro-carbon volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is the primary environmental medium of concern at the site. Over a 15-month period, approximately 1000 indoor, outdoor ambient, and outdoor ambient background samples were collected from four buildings designated as historical landmarks using Summa canisters and analyzed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency TO-15 selective ion mode. Both 24-hr and sequential 8-hr samples were collected. Comparison of daily sampling results relative to daily background results indicates that the measured trichloroethylene (TCE) concentrations were primarily due to the subsurface vapor intrusion pathway, although there is likely some contribution due to infiltration of TCE from the outdoor ambient background concentrations. Analysis of the cis-1,2-dichloroethylene concentrations relative to TCE concentrations with respect to indoor air concentrations and the background air support this hypothesis; however, this indicates that relative contributions of the vapor intrusion and infiltration pathways vary with each building. Indoor TCE concentrations were also compared with indoor benzene and background benzene concentrations. These data indicate significant correlation between background benzene concentrations and the concentration of benzene in the indoor air, indicating benzene was present in the indoor air primarily through infiltration of outdoor air into the indoor space. By comparison, measured TCE indoor air concentrations showed a significantly different relationship to background concentrations. Analysis of the results show that indoor air samples can be used to definitively define the source of the TCE present in the indoor air space of large industrial buildings.

View Through the Door of the SOFIA Project

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Deutsches Zentrum Mir Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR) are working together to create a Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) based on a modified Boeing 747-SP aircraft. One of the key elements of the modification is a new door system that protects the 2.5 meter infrared telescope during flight by covering the aircraft cavity within which the telescope resides. The door system follows the telescope's motion to provide an unvignetted view of the sky, while reducing turbulence inside the cavity. This paper describes the value added by a productive interaction of reliability engineering with the integrated product design team at NASA Ames Research Center that was responsible for the design of this "cavity door" system. The intent of this paper is to describe the interaction with the design team, to point out key reliability improvement strategies applied to the cavity door system, and to offer a few principles to guide interaction of reliability engineers with a design team. It is shown, for example, that significant assistance to improve reliability is achievable with a thorough, detailed understanding of the system's intent, and an organized approach to how it might fail to carry-out its intent. The specifics of the analyses performed are briefly summarized, but the paper emphasizes the key insights that were gained into the reliability of the system.

NSF, NASA link computers

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has signed an agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to share high‐speed communications lines. The effort will link university researchers now connected to NSF's national computer communications network with data bases and supercomputers at NASA laboratories. “NSF and NASA have agreed to work together to identify ways to satisfy the technical requirements of networking through research, engineering, and implementations,” according to Steve Wolff, NSF Division Director for Networking and Communications Research and Infrastructure.The 5‐year agreement will allow three NASA facilities to link to existing NSF regional networks, which in turn are connected through a national backbone network. The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., will be linked to the Southeastern Universities Research Associated Net (SURANET); the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., will be linked to the Bay Area Regional Research Net (BARR‐NET); and the NASA Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston, Tex., will be linked to Sesquinet, a regional network in Texas. Authorized scientists will be able to access and use NASA data in their research, and can apply for time on NASA supercomputers. NASA‐funded scientists at universities served by NSF regional networks will be able to communicate and collaborate with their colleagues at NASA centers.

NASA research fosters rehabilitative device

More than two years ago, a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) physician arranged for some Philadelphia researchers visiting NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif, to see some of the minimum-friction devices used to simulate satellite motion, spacecraft acceleration, and prolonged weightlessness. Out of that visit has come a device that may help some brain-injured children and adults learn or relearn how to crawl. The visitors, from the independent, private Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential, talked that day with Hubert C. (Vic) Vykukal, BSME, a NASA research scientist. From this and subsequent conversations evolved the vehicle for initial crawling, so named because its acronym is the same as its developer's nickname—VIC. The crawling-assistance device is being evaluated for possible roles in rehabilitation efforts. Fifty such devices have been built for the Philadelphia facility by a contractor at a cost of $110 apiece. Essentially, the device consists of

Sending oldsters aloft?

There are astronauts and cosmonauts. Now there may be "eldernauts." The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began studies this month to determine if women in the 55- to 65-year age range can tolerate the physiological stresses of weightlessness. Similar tests have been under way for men in this age group and for women and men ten or 20 years younger. Harold Sandler, MD, chief of the biomedical research division at NASA's Ames Research Center near San Francisco, emphasizes that these persons are not being evaluated as potential spacecraft pilots but as passengers who might carry out scientific and other specialized assignments. Preliminary data from the studies begun earlier indicate that middle-aged space passengers would not be at severe risk. In fact, says Sandler, the 55- to 65-year-old men have experienced fewer physiological changes than younger persons. One hypothesis is that the slowing of some physiological functions with age may

Piloting when you 'should' be sleeping: what effects?

Researchers call it desynchronosis, the public calls it jet lag, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) calls it a potential health hazard for anyone aboard an airliner flown by a pilot who probably should be sleeping. To determine how irregular work schedules, disrupted sleep patterns, and frequent crossing of time zones affect airline pilot performance, NASA's Ames Research Center near San Francisco is conducting a four-part study. As a first step, the scientific literature on circadian physiology is being reviewed. This information will be summarized in nontechnical terms for the aviation community. Second, a study of rest, diet, and medication use patterns of commercial airline crews will be undertaken. Third, Ames' facility for prolonged bed rest (to simulate astronauts' weightlessness) will be used to study altered sleep and nutrition patterns. Fourth, facilities under construction (including simulated airplane cockpits) will allow volunteer airline crews to fly for several