Showing papers by "Ames Research Center published in 1986"

Virtual environment display system.

Abstract: A head-mounted, wide-angle, stereoscopic display system controlled by operator position, voice and gesture has been developed for use as a multipurpose interface environment. The system provides a multisensory, interactive display environment in which a user can virtually explore a 360-degree synthesized or remotely sensed environment and can viscerally interact with its components. Primary applications of the system are in telerobotics, management of large-scale integrated information systems, and human factors research. System configuration, application scenarios, and research directions are described.

Condensation of HNO3 and HCl in the winter polar stratospheres

Abstract: Nitric acid and hydrochloric acid vapors may condense in the winter polar stratospheres. Nitric acid clouds, unlike water ice clouds, would form at the temperatures at which polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) are observed and would have optical depths of the magnitude observed suggesting that HNO3 is a dominant component of PSCs. ClO, N2O5 and ClNO3 may react on cloud particle surfaces yielding additional HNO3, HCl, and HOCL. In the vicinity of PSCs these reactions could deplete the stratosphere of photochemically active NO(x) species. The sedimentation of PSCs may remove these materials from the stratosphere. The loss of vapor phase NO(x) might allow halogen-based chemistry to create the ozone hole.

Voyager 2 in the Uranian System: Imaging Science Results

Abstract: Voyager 2 images of the southern hemisphere of Uranus indicate that submicrometersize haze particles and particles of a methane condensation cloud produce faint patterns in the atmosphere. The alignment of the cloud bands is similar to that of bands on Jupiter and Saturn, but the zonal winds are nearly opposite. At mid-latitudes (-70 degrees to -27 degrees ), where winds were measured, the atmosphere rotates faster than the magnetic field; however, the rotation rate of the atmosphere decreases toward the equator, so that the two probably corotate at about -20 degrees . Voyager images confirm the extremely low albedo of the ring particles. High phase angle images reveal on the order of 10(2) new ringlike features of very low optical depth and relatively high dust abundance interspersed within the main rings, as well as a broad, diffuse, low optical depth ring just inside the main rings system. Nine of the newly discovered small satellites (40 to 165 kilometers in diameter) orbit between the rings and Miranda; the tenth is within the ring system. Two of these small objects may gravitationally confine the e ring. Oberon and Umbriel have heavily cratered surfaces resembling the ancient cratered highlands of Earth's moon, although Umbriel is almost completely covered with uniform dark material, which perhaps indicates some ongoing process. Titania and Ariel show crater populations different from those on Oberon and Umbriel; these were probably generated by collisions with debris confined to their orbits. Titania and Ariel also show many extensional fault systems; Ariel shows strong evidence for the presence of extrusive material. About halfof Miranda's surface is relatively bland, old, cratered terrain. The remainder comprises three large regions of younger terrain, each rectangular to ovoid in plan, that display complex sets of parallel and intersecting scarps and ridges as well as numerous outcrops of bright and dark materials, perhaps suggesting some exotic composition.

Climatic consequences of very high carbon dioxide levels in the earth's early atmosphere.

Abstract: The possible consequences of very high carbon dioxide concentrations in the earth's early atmosphere have been investigated with a radiative-convective climate model. The early atmosphere would apparently have been stable against the onset of a runaway greenhouse (that is, the complete evaporation of the oceans) for carbon dioxide pressures up to at least 100 bars. A 10- to 20-bar carbon dioxide atmosphere, such as may have existed during the first several hundred million years of the earth's history, would have had a surface temperature of approximately 85 to 110 C. The early stratosphere should have been dry, thereby precluding the possibility of an oxygenic prebiotic atmosphere caused by photodissociation of water vapor followed by escape of hydrogen to space. Earth's present atmosphere also appears to be stable against a carbon dioxide-induced runaway greenhouse.

Assessment of a two-temperature kinetic model for dissociating and weakly ionizing nitrogen

Abstract: The validity of the author's two-temperature, chemical/kinetic model which the author has recently improved is assessed by comparing the calculated results with the existing experimental data for nitrogen in the dissociating and weakly ionizing regime produced behind a normal shock wave. The computer program Shock Tube Radiation Program (STRAP) based on the two-temperature model is used in calculating the flow properties behind the shock wave and the Nonequilibrium Air Radiation (NEQAIR) program, in determining the radiative characteristics of the flow. Both programs were developed earlier. Comparison is made between the calculated and the existing shock tube data on (1) spectra in the equilibrium region, (2) rotational temperature of the N2(+) B state, (3) vibrational temperature of the N2(+) B state, (4) electronic excitation temperature of the N2 B state, (5) the shape of time-variation of radiation intensities, (6) the times to reach the peak in radiation intensity and equilibrium, and (7) the ratio of nonequilibrium to equilibrium radiative heat fluxes. Good agreement is seen between the experimental data and the present calculation except for the vibrational temperature. A possible reason for the discrepancy is given.

Geomorphic evidence for the distribution of ground ice on Mars

Abstract: High-resolution Viking orbiter images show evidenced for quasi-viscous relaxation of topography. The relaxation is believed to be due to creep deformation of ice in near-surface materials. The global distribution of the inferred ground ice shows a pronounced latitudinal dependence. The equatorial regions of Mars appear to be ice-poor, while the heavily cratered terrain poleward of + or - 30 deg latitude appears to be ice-rich. The style of creep poleward of + or - 30 deg varies with latitude, possibly due to variations in ice rheology with temperature. The distribution suggests that ice at low latitudes, which is not in equilibrium with the present atmosphere, has been lost via sublimation and diffusion through the regolith, thereby causing a net poleward transport of ice over martian history.

A three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes flow solver using primitive variables

Abstract: An implicit, finite difference computer code has been developed to solve the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in a three-dimensional curvilinear coordinate system. The pressure field solution is based on the pseudocompressibility approach in which a time derivative pressure term is introduced into the mass conservation equation. The solution procedure employs an implicit, approximate factorization scheme. The Reynolds Stresses, which are uncoupled from the implicit scheme, are lagged by one time step to facilitate implementing various levels of the turbulence model. Test problems for external and internal flows are computer and the results are compared with existing experimental data. The application of this technique for general three-dimensional problems is then demonstrated.

Reactive nitrogen species in the troposphere: measurements of NO, NO2, HNO3, particulate nitrate, peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), O3, and total reactive odd nitrogen (NOy) at Niwot Ridge, Colorado

Abstract: Measurements of NO, NO2, HNO3, particulate nitrate, peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), O3, and total reactive odd nitrogen (NOy) were made in the nonurban troposphere during the summer and fall of 1984. The field site was located near Niwot Ridge, Colorado, at an elevation of 3 km. NOy was measured by catalytic reduction to NO, followed by the detection of NO with a chemiluminescence instrument. The other species were measured with conventional techniques. The data and interpretation presented focus primarily on the relationships between a measurement of NOy and concurrent measurements of the individual species, as examined through ratio and correlation plots. Through the separate display of daytime and nighttime data, the plots provide insight into the photochemical nature of the individual species. In addition, the composition of NOy is addressed through a comparison of the measured NOy level with that found for the sum of the measured component species. The NOy level systematically exceeded the sum level, with the difference being larger in the summer than in the fall. The presence of organic nitrate species other than PAN is proposed as one way to account for the observed difference.

Window of visibility: a psychophysical theory of fidelity in time-sampled visual motion displays

Abstract: Many visual displays, such as movies and television, rely on sampling in the time domain. We derive the spatiotemporal-frequency spectra for some simple moving images and illustrate how these spectra are altered by sampling in the time domain. We construct a simple model of the human perceiver that predicts the critical sample rate required to render sampled and continuous moving images indistinguishable. The rate is shown to depend on the spatial and the temporal acuity of the observer and on the velocity and spatial-frequency content of the image. Several predictions of this model are tested and confirmed. The model is offered as an explanation of many of the phenomena known as apparent motion. Finally, the implications of the model for computer-generated imagery are discussed.

The temporal response of bone to unloading

Abstract: Rats were suspended by their tails with the forelimbs bearing the weight load to simulate the weightlessness of space flight. Growth in bone mass ceased by 1 week in the hindlimbs and lumbar vertebrae in growing rats, while growth in the forelimbs and cervical vertebrae remained unaffected. The effects of selective skeletal unloading on bone formation during 2 weeks of suspension was investigated using radio iostope incorporation (with Ca-45 and H-3 proline) and histomorphometry (with tetracycline labeling). The results of these studies were confirmed by histomorphometric measurements of bone formation using triple tetracycline labeling. This model of simulated weightlessness results in an initial inhibition of bone formation in the unloaded bones. This temporary cessation of bone formation is followed in the accretion of bone mass, which then resumes at a normal rate by 14 days, despite continued skeletal unloading. This cycle of inhibition and resumption of bone formation has profound implication for understanding bone dynamics durng space flight, immobilization, or bed rest and offers an opportunity to study the hormonal and mechanical factors that regulate bone formation.

Benchmark full configuration-interaction calculations on H2O, F- and F

Abstract: Full configuration‐interaction calculations are reported, and compared to other methods, for H2O at its equilibrium geometry and at two geometries with the H–O bonds stretched. Since the percentage of the SCF reference in the FCI wave function decreases greatly with the bond elongation, the accuracy of techniques based on a single reference do not compare well with the FCI results. However, the results from a CASSCF/MRCI treatment are in good agreement with the FCI. Correlation effects in F compared to Ne are far more similar than for F− compared to Ne, despite F− and Ne being isoelectronic. Since the importance of higher than double excitations is greater for F− than F, a very high percentage of the correlation must be obtained to accurately compute the electron affinity. In a CASSCF/MRCI treatment the higher than quadruple excitations contribute 0.02 eV to the E.A., even for modest basis sets.

A full CI treatment of the 1A1-3B1 separation in methylene

Abstract: The accuracy of recent theoretical computations of the total energies and the adiabatic separation of the 1A1 and 3B1 states of CH2 is investigated on the basis of complete CI calculations using the double-zeta basis sets of Dunning (1970). The results are presented in a table and characterized in detail. The errors in the separation values are found to range from less than 0.01 kcal/mol for a CASSCF/MRSDCI calculation, to 0.38 kcal/mol for a Davidson-corrected SCF/SDCI calculation, to 14.17 kcal/mol for an uncorrected SCF calculation.

Numerical aspects of different Kalman filter implementations

Abstract: A theoretical analysis is made of the error propagation due to numerical roundoff for four different Kalman filter implementations: the conventional Kalman filter, the square root covariance filter, the square root information filter, and the Chandrasekhar square root filter. An experimental analysis is performed to validate the new insights gained by the theoretical analysis.

Numerical study of sink-flow boundary layers

Abstract: Direct numerical simulations of sink-flow boundary layers, with acceleration parameters K between 1.5 x 10 to the -6th and 3.0 x 10 to the -6th, are presented. The three-dimensional, time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations are solved numerically, using a spectral method, with about one million degrees of freedom. The flow is assumed to be statistically steady, and self-similar. A multiple-scale approximation and periodic conditions are applied to the fluctuations. The turbulence is studied using instantaneous and statistical results. Good agreement with the experiments of Jones and Launder (1972) is observed. The two effects of the favorable pressure gradient are to extend the logarithmic layer, and to alter the energy balance of the turbulence near the edge of the boundary layer. At low Reynolds number the logarithmic layer is shortened and slightly displaced, but wall-layer streaks are present even at the lowest values of R(theta) for which turbulence can be sustained. Large quiescent patches appear in the flow. Relaminarization occurs at K = 3.0 x 10 to the -6th, corresponding to a Reynolds number R(theta) of about 330.

Active extragalactic sources - Nearly simultaneous observations from 20 centimeters to 1400 A

Abstract: IRAS, IUE, and ground-based optical, NIR, mm and submm, and radio observations obtained mainly on Apr. 9-23, 1983, are reported for 19 active extragalactic sources and eight control sources. The overall spectra of the compact active sources are shown to be well represented by continuous-curvature functions such as parabolas. The spectra are found to be consistent with models involving continuous particle injection (with synchrotron losses) or first-order Fermi acceleration (with escape and synchrotron losses), but not with models using relativistic Maxwellian electron distributions.

Thermal histories, compositions and internal structures of the moons of the solar system

Abstract: Thermal evolution models of satellites are discussed with emphasis placed on the fundamental physical processes common to all planetary bodies. A comparison is made between the different evolutionary tracks followed by individual satellites. Consideration is given to the compositions and structures of satellites, heat sources, relevant thermal and mechanical properties of the materials in satellite interiors, and heat transfer mechanisms. Thermal history scenarios are presented for the majority of the satellites of the solar system and these are related to the constraints imposed by surface geology.

An implicit form for the Osher upwind scheme

Abstract: Conservative upwind schemes for the Euler equations, such as the Osher scheme, accurately resolve flow discontinuities and correctly model the physics of the problem. However, these schemes require many more arithmetic operations per integration step than simple central-difference schemes and hence result in large computing times. An implicit version of the first-order- and second-order-accurate Osher schemes in two spatial dimensions and generalized coordinates is developed in this study. Because implicit schemes permit the use of large integration steps, in many cases they require fewer integration steps to reach steady-state (especially in calculations on grids with widely varying mesh-cell sizes). The implicit scheme developed in this study accelerated convergence speeds by almost an order of magnitude in the problems considered. Test cases include quasi-one-dimensional nozzle flow and supersonic flow past a cylinder.

Global distribution of peroxyacetyl nitrate

Abstract: Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) atmospheric concentration samples were collected hourly from an ocean vessel 50 mi off the continental coast traveling from Seattle to Chile in 1984. Air concentration data for PAN and light hydrocarbons (LHC) were also taken by aircraft in the same period over Wyoming and Colorado and over the eastern Pacific. The PAN concentrations were higher and more variable in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere, increased with altitude, and were higher in the winter than in summer. The summer PAN concentrations were higher in the continental troposphere than in the marine troposphere. The results show that photochemical models of the atmosphere which do not account for the reaction between nonmethane hydrocarbons and PAN will probably overestimate the abundances of NO(x) and HNO3. The collection of further PAN concentration data is recommended as a means to characterizing the moderating role of PAN in the photochemistry of the troposphere.

The effect of perspective geometry on judged direction in spatial information instruments

Abstract: Attention is given to the methodology and results of an experiment examining design aspects of panel-mounted displays that (1) incorporate a planar grid in their symbology, (2) subtend a narrow visual angle, and (3) are mounted so that they can be viewed face-on rather than obliquely. An analysis of direction judgments in such perspective displays shows that the perspective geometry of the stimulus image has a significant effect on direction judgment accuracy. Target elevation direction is generally overestimated; azimuth error varies sinusoidally with target azimuth direction, and is modulated by field-of-view angle.

The nature of the bonding in XCO for X=Fe, Ni, and Cu

Abstract: The bonding in the 5,3Σ− and 3Δ states of FeCO, the 3,1Σ+, 3Δ, and 3 Π states of NiCO, and the 2Σ+ state of CuCO are analyzed using the constrained space orbital variation (CSOV) technique for both (CASSCF) and SCF wave functions. The bonding is discussed in terms of σ repulsion between the metal 4s and the CO 5σ, CO to metal σ donation when there is an empty or partly occupied dσ orbital and metal to CO 2π * backdonation. The bonding is compared for the different metals and between the different states.

The structure of the vorticity field in turbulent channel flow. Part 2. Study of ensemble-averaged fields

Abstract: Several conditional sampling techniques are applied to a data base generated by large-eddy simulation of turbulent channel flow. It is shown that the bursting process is associated with well-organized horseshoe vortices inclined at about 45 deg. to the wall. These vortical structures are identified by examining the vortex lines of three-dimensional, ensemble averaged vorticity fields. Two distinct horseshoe-shaped vortices corresponding to the sweep and ejection events are detected. These vortices are associated with high Reynolds shear stress and hence make a significant contribution to turbulent energy production. The dependency of the ensemble averaged vortical structures on the detection criteria, and the question of whether this ensemble-averaged structure is an artifact of the ensemble averaging process are examined. The ensemble-averaged pattern of these vortical structures that emerge from the analysis could provide the basis for a hypothetical model of the organized structures of wall-bounded shear flows.

Efficient solution methods for the Navier-Stokes equations

Abstract: Implicit finite difference schemes for solving two-dimensional and three-dimensional Euler and thin layer Navier-Stokes equations are addressed The methods are demonstrated in fully vectorized codes for a Cray type architecture The Beam and Warming implicit approximate factorization algorithm in generalized coordinates is used The methods are either time accurate or accelerated non-time accurate steady state schemes Acceleration and efficiency modifications such as matrix reduction, diagonalization, and flux split schemes are presented Two dimensional inviscid and viscous calculations (eg, airfoils with a deflected spoiler, circulation control airfoils, and unsteady buffeting) and of three dimensional viscous elliptical bodies, exhausting boattails, and generic oblique wing computations are discussed

Transonic, turbulent boundary-layer separation generated on an axisymmetric flow model

Abstract: Experimental data describing the transonic, turbulent, separated flow generated by an axisymmetric flow model are presented. The model consisted of a circular-arc bump affixed to a straight, circular cylinder aligned with the flow direction. Measurements of the mean velocity, turbulence intensity, and Reynolds shear-stress profiles were made in the separated flow. These data revealed dramatic changes in the shear-stress levels as the flow passed through the interaction to reattachment. Behavior of the turbulence reaction to the imposed pressure gradients was examined in terms of the mixing length and the excursions of the turbulence from equilibrium.

Shock-wave boundary layer interactions

Abstract: Presented is a comprehensive, up-to-date review of the shock-wave boundary-layer interaction problem. A detailed physical description of the phenomena for transonic and supersonic speed regimes is given based on experimental observations, correlations, and theoretical concepts. Approaches for solving the problem are then reviewed in depth. Specifically, these include: global methods developed to predict sudden changes in boundary-layer properties; integral or finite-difference methods developed to predict the continuous evolution of a boundary-layer encountering a pressure field induced by a shock wave; coupling methods to predict entire flow fields; analytical methods such as multi-deck techniques; and finite-difference methods for solving the time-dependent Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations used to predict the development of entire flow fields. Examples are presented to illustrate the status of the various methods and some discussion is devoted to delineating their advantages and shortcomings. Reference citations for the wide variety of subject material are provided for readers interested in further study.

Cockpit resource management - Exploring the attitude-performance linkage

Abstract: Measured attitudes regarding cockpit management were contrasted for pilots whose line flying performance was independently evaluated by check airmen as above or below average. A highly significant discriminant function was obtained indicating that these attitudes are significant predictors of behavior. The performance of 95.7 percent of the pilots was correctly classified by the analysis. Implications of the results for cockpit resource management training and pilot selection are discussed.

General Autonomic Components of Motion Sickness

Abstract: A body of investigations performed in support of experiments aboard the space shuttle, and designed to counteract the symptoms of Space Adaptation Syndrome, which resemble those of motion sickness on Earth is reviewed. For these supporting studies, the automatic manifestations of earth-based motion sickness was examined. Heart rate, respiration rate, finger pulse volume and basal skin resistance were measured on 127 men and women before, during and after exposure to nauseogenic rotating chair tests. Significant changes in all autonomic responses were observed across the tests. Significant differences in autonomic responses among groups divided according to motion sickness susceptibility were also observed. Results suggest that the examination of autonomic responses as an objective indicator of motion sickness malaise is warranted and may contribute to the overall understanding of the syndrome on Earth and in Space.