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Ames Research Center Awarded Contracts - Cloud

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NNA15BB91P - CO2 ANALYZER WITH CAPABILITIES RANGING FROM MEASURING 3 GASES .1 PPBV (CO), .2 PPMV (CO2) AND 3.0 PPMV (H20) AS WELL AS ALL NEEDED ACCESSORIES IN SUPPORT OF OBSERVATIONS OF AEROSOLS ABOVE CLOUDS AND THEIR INTERACTIONS (ORACLES)PROGRAM. ANALYZER WILL HAVE 3 HEAD VACUUM PUMP, SOLID STATE HARD DRIVE, MULTIPORT INLET UNIT, DATA LOGGING SOFTWARE, MAINTENANCE KIT AND BLUE HARDIGG SHIPPING CASE.
Purchase Order - 334516 Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing
Contractor
BARNETT TECHNICAL SERVICES, LLC
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Ames Research Center
Effective date
09/15/2015
Obligated Amount
$83.9k
NNA15BA18P - CLOUD DROPLET AND ICE CRYSTAL MEASUREMENTS FOR ATTREX (1) SHIPPING ALL NECESSARY INSTRUMENT AND SUPPORTING EQUIPMENT TO ARMSTRONG FLIGHT RESEARCH CENTER; (2) PROVIDING NECESSARY PHYSICAL SUPPORT FOR INSTRUMENT TESTING REQUIRED PRIOR TO INSTALLATION OF THE INSTRUMENTS AND SUPPORT SYSTEMS ONTO THE AIRCRAFT; (3) PROVIDING NECESSARY PHYSICAL SUPPORT FOR THE ONE TO TWO RANGE FLIGHTS AND THREE SCIENCE FLIGHTS; (4) COLLECTION, PROCESSING, AND QUALITY CONTROL OF CLOUD DROPLET AND ICE CRYSTAL SIZE DISTRIBUTION AND HABIT DATA, AND SUBMISSION OF THAT DATA TO THE ATTREX DATA ARCHIVE AND (5) INTERCOMPARISON OF THE MEASUREMENTS TAKEN WITH THE HAWKEYE AND NERC ICE CRYSTAL/AEROSOL INSTRUMENTS TO HELP ESTABLISH THAT INSTRUMENT S MEASUREMENT CREDIBILITY.
Purchase Order - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
Contractor
STRATTON PARK ENGINEERING CO., INC.
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Ames Research Center
Effective date
12/03/2014
Obligated Amount
$109.3k
NNA14AB54C - NASA RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT (NRA) FOR NEXTGEN-CONCEPTS AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (CTD1): ACCELERATING AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT INTO THE CLOUD
Definitive Contract - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
Contractor
MOSAIC ATM, INC.
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Ames Research Center
Effective date
09/24/2014
Obligated Amount
$1.2M
NNX14AF54A - THE INNOVATIVE ASPECT OF CENTRIFUGALLY POWERED PNEUMATIC DE-ICING RELIES ON THE SEMI-PASSIVE NATURE OF THE CONCEPT. AIR PRESSURE GENERATED DUE TO CENTRIFUGAL FORCES, ACTS ON AIR CONTAINED IN VOLUMES RUNNING SPAN-WISE INSIDE THE ROTOR BLADES. THE PRESSURE GENERATED IS USED TO DEPLOY PNEUMATIC DIAPHRAGMS LOCATED IN THE LEADING EDGE OF THE BLADE WHERE ICE ACCRETES. THESE DIAPHRAGMS DEFORM AN EROSION RESISTANT METALLIC LEADING EDGE CAP, PROMOTING ICE DELAMINATION. THE DEFORMATION INTRODUCES ICE INTERFACE TRANSVERSE SHEAR STRESSES THAT EXCEED THE ADHESION STRENGTH OF THE ICE TO THE SURFACE. THE ICE DEBONDING IS INSTANTANEOUS (WITHIN 300 MS FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE ACTUATION), AND AZIMUTHAL ICE SHEDDING COULD BE CONTROLLED, AVOIDING ICE IMPACT BALLISTIC CONCERNS RELATED TO SHEDDING OVER THE TAIL OR THE FRONT OF THE VEHICLE. THE PROPOSED EXTREMELY LOW-POWER METHOD IS NON-THERMAL, ALLOWING ITS APPLICATION TO WITH OTHER EROSION RESISTANT COATINGS THAT MIGHT NOT HAVE THE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY NEEDED TO FUNCTION WITH ELECTROTHERMAL DE-ICING. ALSO, THE LOW-POWER CONSUMPTION OF THE SYSTEM ALLOWS ITS IMPLEMENTATION TO VEHICLES THAT CURRENTLY CANNOT AFFORD THE INSTALLATION OF ELECTROTHERMAL ROTOR BLADE ICE PROTECTION. PROOF-OF-CONCEPT ROTOR ICE TESTING ON A SPAN-TRUNCATED ROTOR (5 FT. RADIUS) WAS SUCCESSFULLY CONDUCTED DURING A NASA LEARN PHASE I EFFORT. THE SYSTEM PROTECTED FROM ICE FORMATION EXCEEDING 0.2 IN. FOR EXTREME ICING CONDITIONS AS DESCRIBED IN THE ICING ENVELOPE (FAR PART 25, APPENDIX C) AND WAS ABLE TO SHED ICE ACCRETION AS LOW AS 0.06 IN AT TEMPERATURES ABOVE -15 DEG. C. DURING PHASE II, FULL-SCALE ROTOR TESTING IS PROPOSED, SUCH THAT THE SYSTEM IS POWERED BY CENTRIFUGAL LOADS INHERENT TO THE ROTOR SYSTEM AND WITHOUT A PNEUMATIC SLIP-RING. ICING CONDITIONS WILL BE REPRODUCED WITH PORTABLE ICE CLOUD GENERATORS THAT WILL BE DESIGNED AND FABRICATED DURING THE PROPOSED RESEARCH EFFORT. THE RESEARCH EFFORT WILL BE CONDUCTED BY THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, INVERCON LLC., AND KAMAN. BELL HELICOPTER WILL PROVIDE ENGINEERING SERVICES AND GUIDELINES TO MINIMIZE SYSTEM INTEGRATION ISSUES RELATED TO CURRENT ROTOR MANUFACTURING AND OPERATION CONSTRAINTS.
Cooperative Agreement
Contractor
The Pennsylvania State University (PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE)
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date
04/17/2014
Obligated Amount
$399.3k
NNX13AR69A - THIS COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PROPOSAL IS FOR THE PI TO PROVIDE SERVICES RELEVANT TO MULTIPLE CODE S AND A PROJECTS ON BASE AT NASA AMES RESEARCH CENTER. THE PI IS RESEARCH FACULTY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII (UH) AND IS ALSO EMPLOYED BY THE SETI INSTITUTE DUE TO THE STRUCTURE OF UH SPONSORED PROJECTS. THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES FOR THIS PROPOSAL INCLUDE: FLIGHT DELIVERABLES (INCLUDING HARDWARE) FOR THE LADEE AND RESOVE MISSION AND PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES IN SUPPORT OF THESE MISSIONS AND PROCEDURES/PLANNING, IN ADDITION TO MISSION-CRITICAL SUPPORT SOFTWARE. IN PARTICULAR, THE PI WILL LEVERAGE HIS POSITION AND EXPERIENCE WITH THE HAWAII SPACE FLIGHT LABORATORY TO FOCUS ON SEVERAL PROJECTS, ITEMIZED BELOW. TASKS INCLUDED IN THIS PROPOSAL: 1) SUPPORT VIRVSS TESTING ONBOARD THE UPCOMING RESOLVE MISSION, IN PARTICULAR THE DOC (DRILL OPERATIONS CAMERA), IN PREPARATION FOR THE FLIGHT INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT AND BUILD. IN PARTICULAR, HE WILL HELP WITH DEVELOPMENT, LAB PERFORMANCE TESTING, AND LATER FIELD-TESTING. 2) LADEE UVS SUPPORT. IN ADDITION TO FLIGHT SUPPORT AND BUILDING AN IMPACT EJECTA MODEL IN PREPARATION FOR LUNAR ORBIT, THE PI WILL HELP TO LOOK AT THE REFLECTANCE SPECTRA UNDER OPERATIONAL NOD SCENARIOS. 3) LUNAR VOLATILES MODELING. THIS PROJECT INVOLVES THE DEVELOPMENT OF THEORIES AND EXPERIMENTS TO IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF IMPACT PROCESSES THAT INVOLVE VOLATILES (E.G., WATER), EITHER IN AN IMPACTOR AND/OR PART OF THE IMPACTED SUBSTRATE. THIS PROJECT WILL CONSIDER THE VOLATILE RELEASE AND PROVENANCE DURING IMPACT EVENTS, INCLUDING THE THERMAL WAVE OF IMPACT EVENT, EJECTA VELOCITY MODELING, SURFICIAL SCOURING, AND GAS RELEASE. IT IS EXPECTED THAT THESE PROBLEMS BE ADDRESSED THROUGH A COMBINATION OF COMPUTATIONAL MODELING AND EXPERIMENTS. THESE RESULTS WILL BE COMPARED TO DATA FROM THE LCROSS AND LRO MISSIONS, AS WELL AS BE USED TO DEVELOP OBSERVATIONS FOR THE LADEE MISSION. 4) MICRO/CUBE SAT DEVELOPMENT: IN PARTICULAR, A MARS MET STATION CONCEPT THAT COULD RIDE AS A SECONDARY PAYLOAD. THE MARS GCM GROUP AT AMES WILL HELP LEAD THE SCIENCE, AND WE HAVE SOME SYSTEMS ENGINEERING SUPPORT, BUT THE PI WILL SUPPORT "CUBESAT" INSTRUMENTATION. ONE PARTICULAR INSTRUMENT OF INTEREST FOR DEVELOPMENT IS A "SALTATION" SENSOR, BASICALLY A PAIR OF LASER DIODES AND RECEIVERS THAT EMIT WITH A RANGE OF PULE FREQUENCIES FROM WHICH NUMBER AND SIZE OF PARTICLES CAN BE DETECTED. THIS KIND OF INSTRUMENT WOULD BE GOOD AS A "CLOUD" DETECTOR AS WELL FOR ATMOSPHERIC PROBES. 5) HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE PIV/PTV METHODS: PARTICLE IMAGE VELOCIMETRY (PIV) METHODS HAVE BEEN IMPROVED AND MODIFIED IN THE PAST TWO DECADES TO YIELD A DYNAMIC VELOCITY RANGE OF ABOUT 200:1 IN INSTANTANEOUS MEASUREMENTS. THESE LIMITS ARE IMPOSED BY THE UNCERTAINTY OF INSTANTANEOUS VELOCITIES IN THE LOWER END OF THE RANGE. A NEW APPROACH IS NEEDED TO IMPROVE THE DYNAMIC RANGE. A TECHNIQUE CAPABLE OF MEASURING A 1000:1 DYNAMIC RANGE WOULD ENABLE INVESTIGATION OF A NUMBER OF DIFFICULT OR PREVIOUSLY INACCESSIBLE AERODYNAMIC FLOWS, INCLUDING SUPERSONIC BOUNDARY LAYERS WITH SHOCK INTERACTIONS AND SHOCK-INDUCED SEPARATIONS, VORTEX ROLL-UP WITH TURBULENT WAKE FROM A WING OR ROTOR BLADE, AND JET CORES WITH SHEAR LAYERS. THESE MEASUREMENTS CARRY THE REQUIREMENT OF NOT ONLY HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE BUT ALSO HIGH RESOLUTION AND 3D DATA. THIS DYNAMIC RANGE PROBLEM IS A WELL-KNOWN LIMITATION OF THESE FULL FIELD VELOCIMETRY METHODS, AND EVEN IS THE GOAL OF A FAMOUS CHALLENGE BY A PERSON. THE PI WILL ASSIST IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NOVEL HIGH-SPEED HYBRID PARTICLE TRACKING VELOCIMETRY (PTV) METHOD IN A VOLUME OF SEEDED FLOW.
Cooperative Agreement
Contractor
Seti Institute (SETI INSTITUTE)
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date
09/25/2013
Obligated Amount
$35k
NNX13CA25P - ENERGID TECHNOLOGIES PROPOSES A SOFTWARE TOOL TO PREDICT ROBOTIC MISSION PERFORMANCE AND SUPPORT SUPERVISION OF ROBOTIC MISSIONS EVEN WHEN ENVIRONMENTS AND SITUATIONS ARE PROFOUNDLY UNKNOWN. IT TRANSCENDS COMMON MONTE CARLO SIMULATIONS BY SUPPORTING INPUT PARAMETERS FOR WHICH PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS ARE NOT AVAILABLE. STOCHASTIC OPTIMIZATION IS COMBINED WITH RANDOMIZED SIMULATION TO BOUND STATISTICAL MEASURES OF PERFORMANCE AND CONVEY THE PARAMETERS GIVING THE EXTREME SCENARIOS. IT ALSO PROVIDES 3D IMMERSIVE PRESENTATION OF THOSE SCENARIOS. THE ACT OF PERFORMING MULTIPLE SIMULATION RUNS IN REAL TIME IS ENABLED BY THE FAST SIMULATION CAPABILITY PROVIDED BY ENERGID TECHNOLOGIES' EXISTING SOFTWARE COMBINED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW ALGORITHMS AND SOFTWARE. THE NEW ALGORITHMS COVER PATH PLANNING, SCENE RENDERING, SENSOR MODELING, AND ROBOT-TERRAIN INTERACTION MODELING. IN THE NEW SOFTWARE, AUTOMATIC PATH PLANNING IS CALCULATED USING A COMBINATION OF STATIC AND DYNAMIC TECHNIQUES. SCENE RENDERING FOR SENSOR MODELING IS IMPLEMENTED USING FAST RAY TRACING FOR LOW-UPDATE-RATE SENSORS AND RAY-TRACING-VALIDATED RASTERIZATION FOR FAST-UPDATE-RATE SENSORS. ROBOT-TERRAIN INTERACTION IS CALCULATED THROUGH PARTICLE SIMULATIONS IMPLEMENTED ON GRAPHICS CARDS. FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE, THE NEW SOFTWARE ALLOWS DISTRIBUTION OF RANDOMIZED SIMULATION RUNS OVER MULTIPLE NETWORKED PCS AND CLOUD-BASED CLUSTERS. THIS COMBINATION OF FAST ALGORITHMS AND STATISTICAL OPTIMIZATION OFFERS A TOOL THAT PROVIDES NEW ENGINEERING INSIGHTS AND DATA. THE SOFTWARE WILL BE DEMONSTRATED ON THE EXAMPLE MISSION OF SEARCHING FOR ICE NEAR NEAR THE SOUTHERN LUNAR POLE, GIVING EVIDENCE OF THE ABILITY OF THE TOOL TO SUPPORT CHALLENGING RELEVANT MISSIONS.
Purchase Order - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
Contractor
ENERGID TECHNOLOGIES (ENERGID TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION)
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date
05/16/2013
Obligated Amount
$125k
NNX13CA44P - WHILE IT HAS BECOME APPARENT THAT WE CAN AND WILL COLLECT DATA AT UNPRECEDENTED RATES THANKS TO A WIDE RANGE OF HIGH-RESOLUTION HIGH-THROUGHPUT SENSORS, IT HAS ALSO BECOME APPARENT THAT WE DO NOT HAVE THE ALGORITHMS AND TOOLS TO SATISFACTORILY ANALYZE BIG DATA. CLOUD COMPUTING AS AN INFRASTRUCTURE (E.G., AMAZON WEB SERVICES), AS A PLATFORM (E.G., GOOGLE APPS), AND AS A SOFTWARE ECOSYSTEM (E.G., HADOOP/MAPREDUCE AND NOSQL TOOLS) OFFERS A PROMISING COMPUTE-AND-STORE ENVIRONMENT (COMPLEMENTARY TO SUPERCOMPUTING) TO HANDLE THE MASSIVE AMOUNT OF DATA CREATED BY NASA MISSIONS. IN THIS PROPOSAL, WE WILL DEVELOP A CLOUD-BASED OPEN ARCHITECTURE ANALYTICS, STORE AND QUERY (CASQUE) SYSTEM FOR DATA-INTENSIVE SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING FOR NASA MISSIONS. THE ARCHITECTURE AND WORKFLOW WILL BE TAILORED FOR SPECIFIC NASA MISSIONS AND WILL BE THOROUGHLY TESTED IN LARGE-SCALE RELEVANT CLOUD ENVIRONMENTS.
Purchase Order - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
Contractor
Intelligent Automation (INTELLIGENT AUTOMATION, INC.)
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date
05/14/2013
Obligated Amount
$124.8k
NNX13AD49A - THE PROPOSED RESEARCH FOCUSES ON DEVELOPING KEY DATA MANAGEMENT AND MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES FOR ADAPTIVE ENERGY MANAGEMENT, OCCUPANT SATISFACTION AND BUILDING AUTOMATION IN A GREEN OFFICE BUILDING (THE SUSTAINABILITY BASE), AND IN A LARGER SMART COMMUNITY CONSISTING OF CERTAIN NASA AMES LEGACY BUILDINGS, SUCH AS BLDG. 23, FEDERATED WITH THE SUSTAINABILITY BASE. THESE BUILDINGS, IF NOT ALREADY INSTRUMENTED, WILL BE EQUIPPED WITH A VARIETY OF SENSORS, COLLECTING EXTENSIVE DATA FROM THIS DISTRIBUTED WEB OF THINGS . THE GOAL IS FOR THIS LARGE‐SCALE SENSOR‐ENABLED SYSTEM TO INTERACT WITH BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, WITH USERS (VIA THEIR SMART PHONE SENSORS), AND WITH THE CLOUD, TO OFFER OPTIMIZED OVERALL ENERGY CONSUMPTION WHILE MAINTAINING OR INCREASING OCCUPANCY SATISFACTION LEVELS THROUGH LOCALIZED ADAPTIVE BEHAVIORS. THESE INSTRUMENTED BUILDINGS WILL PRODUCE A STREAM OF REAL‐TIME DATA TO BE ANALYZED AND USED FOR A VARIETY OF PURPOSES, INCLUDING THE DESIRED ADAPTIVE CONTROL AND (FUTURE) STATE ESTIMATION CAPABILITIES. ONE EXAMPLE OF STATE ESTIMATION IS OCCUPANCY SENSING AND MODELING. HEATING, VENTILATION AND AIR CONDITIONING (HVAC) IN SELECTED ZONES OF A BUILDING CAN BE TURNED ON OR OFF IN ANTICIPATION OF OCCUPANCY‐ PEOPLE ARRIVING OR LEAVING AT VARIABLE TIMES. UNLIKE LIGHTING, WHICH CAN TURN ON OR OFF IMMEDIATELY BY DETECTING PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF PEOPLE, HVAC IS ASSOCIATED WITH TIME DELAYS, BASED ON ROOM SIZE, TYPE OF HVAC SYSTEM AND NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE ROOM. FURTHERMORE, OPTIMAL HVAC ACTIONS DEPEND ON ENVIRONMENTAL DATA SUCH CURRENT OR PREDICTED WEATHER, INTERNAL HUMIDITY, TRAFFIC CONDITIONS AFFECTING PEOPLE ARRIVING OR LEAVING, KNOWN SPECIAL EVENTS OR CONFERENCES, MEETINGS, ETC. HVAC IS JUST ONE EXAMPLE OPPORTUNITY. MORE GENERALLY, THE BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS NEED TO "MAKE SENSE" OF THE DATA STREAM TO ENABLE STATE ESTIMATION, SITUATION AWARENESS, AND PREDICTIONS FOR A RANGE OF APPLICATIONS. IN THE PROPOSED RESEARCH, WE WILL DEVELOP SCALABLE, ROBUST SOFTWARE SYSTEMS TO FUSE THE SENSOR DATA WITH THE ADDITIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION, AND DISTRIBUTE ACTIONABLE INFORMATION TO PEOPLE AND SYSTEMS IN A CONTEXT‐AWARE WAY.
Cooperative Agreement
Contractor
Carnegie Mellon University (CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY)
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date
01/16/2013
Obligated Amount
$359.6k
NNX13AD48A - WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR BRUCE FEGLEY AND RESEARCH PROFESSOR KATHARINA LODDERS WILL WORK IN COLLABORATION WITH NASA AMES' SCIENTIST MARK MARLEY ON MODELS TO UNDERSTAND THE ATMOSPHERES OF PLANETS AROUND OTHER STARS (EXOPLANETS). FEGLEY, LODDERS, AND MARLEY CURRENTLY WORK IN CLOSE COLLABORATION, AND THE NASA GRANT AWARDED TO DR. MARLEY, AS PI, WILL FUND LODDERS' TIME FOR DOING CHEMICAL EQUILIBRIUM CALCULATIONS OF ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND CONDENSATE CLOUD FORMATION IN EXOPLANET ATMOSPHERES. PI FEGLEY WILL ASSIST WITH AND OVERSEE THE CALCULATIONS.
Grant for Research
Contractor
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, THE
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date
01/10/2013
Obligated Amount
$41k
NNX13AD24G - THE FORMATION OF CLOSE BINARY STARS REQUIRES THE EXTRACTION OF A LARGE FRACTION OF THE ANGULAR MOMENTUM OF THE ORIGINAL STAR FORMING CLOUD. THEORETICAL MODELS SUGGEST THAT MOST OF THE ANGULAR MOMENTUM IS DEPOSITED IN THE ORBITAL MOTION OF A DISTANT THIRD STAR, AND THERE IS EVIDENCE FROM GROUND-BASED STUDIES THAT MANY CLOSE BINARIES DO INDEED HAVE A TERTIARY COMPANION. KEPLER OBSERVATIONS OF ECLIPSING BINARIES OFFER US AN IMPORTANT OPPORTUNITY TO SEARCH FOR SUCH TERTIARY STARS BY MEASURING THE DEVIATIONS IN ECLIPSE TIMES CAUSED BY LIGHT TRAVEL TIME VARIATIONS AS THE BINARY MOVES ABOUT THE TRIPLE STAR SYSTEM CENTER OF MASS AND BY PERTURBATIONS IN THE INNER ORBIT CAUSED BY THE GRAVITATIONAL INFLUENCE OF THE THIRD STAR. WE HAVE BEGUN A PROGRAM OF ECLIPSE TIMINGS WITH KEPLER THAT INDICATES THAT 16 OF 41 (39%) ECLIPSING BINARIES HAVE THIRD COMPANIONS WITH PERIOD OF A FEW YEARS. HERE WE PROPOSE TO GREATLY ENLARGE THE SAMPLE IN ORDER TO DETERMINE IF THIS SAME FRACTION IS FOUND AMONG ECLIPSING BINARIES WITH PERIODS LARGER THAN A FEW DAYS (THE TYPICAL ORBITAL PERIOD OF SYSTEMS IN THE ORIGINAL SAMPLE. THE PRIMARY ADVANTAGES OF THE NEW SURVEY ARE AN INCREASE THE OVERALL SAMPLE SIZE BY A FACTOR OF THREE, A GREATLY EXPANDED RANGE OF ECLIPSING BINARY PERIODS, AND MUCH BETTER SENSITIVITY IN THE DETECTION OF LONG OUTER PERIODS BY LEVERAGING THE LONG TIME INTERVAL BETWEEN KEPLER OBSERVATIONS IN CYCLE 1 AND 4. THIS SURVEY OF ECLIPSING BINARIES WILL DETERMINE THE FREQUENCY AND CHARACTER OF THEIR LOW MASS COMPANIONS. THESE PROPERTIES WILL OFFER IMPORTANT CLUES ABOUT THE STAR FORMATION PROCESS AND THE ROLE PLAYED BY THIRD STARS.
Grant for Research
Contractor
GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC.
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date
12/14/2012
Obligated Amount
$67.9k
NNX13AC18G - WE PROPOSE TO MONITOR A NEARBY (17 PC) L DWARF TO OBTAIN A YEAR-LONG TIME SERIES. THE KEPLER DATA, TOGETHER WITH SUPPORTING MULTIWAVELENGTH OBSERVATIONS, WILL PROVIDE A UNIQUE DATASET TO PROBE THE ATMOSPHERIC PROPERTIES OF DUSTY BROWN DWARFS. BOTH MAGNETIC STARSPOTS AND CLOUDS ARE BELIEVED TO BE POSSIBLE SOURCES OF VARIABILITY IN ULTRACOOL DWARFS. WE WILL CONTRAIN AND MODEL THE SPOT/CLOUD PROPERTIES AND COMPARE TO PROPERTIES OF HOTTER (M DWARF) STARS. WE WILL ALSO SEARCH FOR FLARES, WHICH ARE BELIEVED TO BE COMMON IN L DWARFS EVEN WITH QUIESCENT CHROMOSPHERES.
Grant for Research
Contractor
UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date
12/03/2012
Obligated Amount
$44.4k
NNA12AB81C - OTHER FUNCTIONS: ADVANCES SUCH AS CLOUD, CLUSTER, AND NETWORK COMPUTING CONCEPTS ARE INTENDED TO INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF APPLICATIONS DEVELOPMENT, THEIR UPGRADES, AND REDUCE DUPLICATION OF DEVELOPMENT AND DATA STORAGE. THESE COMPUTING CONCEPTS ALLOW THE LOCATION OF USE, AND LOCATION OF PROCESSING OR STORAGE TO BE SEPARATED. SUCH SEPARATION ALLOWS FOR EFFECTIVE AND CONSISTENT ACCESS TO THE SAME CAPABILITY AT MULTIPLE LOCATIONS (OR BY MULTIPLE PARTIES) IN A SYNCHRONOUS OR ASYNCHRONOUS MANNER. FURTHER, MODIFICATIONS AND UPGRADES OF THE CAPABILITIES (SUCH AS TRAJECTORY MODEL OF AN AIRCRAFT) NEED TO BE DONE ONLY ONCE, ENABLING REDUCED DOWNTIME OF AIRCRAFT, AIR NAVIGATION SERVICE PROVIDER (ANSP), OR AIRLINE OPERATIONS CENTER (AOC) CAPABILITIES FOR UPGRADES OF SOFTWARE, MODELS, DATABASE, AND OTHER FUNCTIONS THAT CAN BE ACCESSED BY A NETWORK. SUCH SEPARATION ALSO ALLOWS MINIMAL PROCESSING, STORAGE, AND SOFTWARE TO BE RESIDENT AT THE LOCATION OF USE AND ENABLES A MAJORITY OF FUNCTIONS TO BE LOCATED AWAY FROM THE LOCATION OF USE, BUT MAKING THEM ACCESSIBLE ON DEMAND AS NEEDED. A RELIABLE AND SECURE NETWORKING CAPABILITY IS A KEY TO THE SUCCESSFUL USAGE OF THESE ADVANCED COMPUTING CONCEPTS FOR SAFETY CRITICAL AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT (ATM) APPLICATIONS. AS A RESULT OF THESE ADVANCED NETWORKING CONCEPTS, DIFFERENT FUNCTIONAL ALLOCATION SCHEMES ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE DECISION TRIAD OF THE AOC, THE ANSP, AND AIRCRAFT. THUS FAR, LIMITED RESEARCH EXISTS THAT COMPARES NETWORK-CENTRIC FUNCTIONAL ALLOCATION STRATEGIES AND THEIR IMPACTS ON THE TOTAL COST OF THE AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS. THE OVERALL GOAL OF THIS NRA SOLICITATION IS TO EXPLORE AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONAL ALLOCATION SCHEMES THAT LEVERAGE ADVANCED NETWORKING CONCEPTS, AND TO DETERMINE WHETHER SUCH SCHEMES WILL REDUCE THE COST OF THE AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS. THE APPROACH IS TO LEVERAGE COMPUTING AND NETWORKING ADVANCEMENTS SO THAT THE TECHNOLOGY, SOFTWARE AND APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT, TESTING, UPGRADES, AND MODIFICATIONS WILL BE HIGHLY EFFICIENT AT A SYSTEM LEVEL. ADVANCED NETWORKING CONCEPTS INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE CLOUD, CLUSTER, AND NETWORK COMPUTING.
Definitive Contract - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
Contractor
General Electric (GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY)
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Ames Research Center
Effective date
09/07/2012
Obligated Amount
$588.4k
NNX12AM14G - OBJECTIVES: WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP AND DEPLOY THE FIRST AUTOMATED SURVEY OF METEOROID ELEMENTAL COMPOSITIONS (MG' NA' FE' CA, -.), BY SIMULTANEOUSLY MEASURING METEOROID ORBITS AND METEOR SPECTRA IN LARGE NUMBERS ON BOTH THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE. THE SURVEY WILL SHED LIGHT ON THE DIVERSITY OF METEOR SHOWER PARENT BODIES. THIS DATA WILL BE USED TO TEST RECENT PLANET FORMATION MODELS AND IMPROVE THE FIRST DYNAMICAL MODEL OF THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF THE ZODIACAL CLOUD. METHODS: THE PROPOSED WORK IS A FOLLOW-UP ON, AND IS MADE POSSIBLE BY, THE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED DURING THE PREDECESSOR PLANETARY ASTRONOMY PROGRAM GRANT NNX08AO64G.IN THIS PRIOR WORK, A NIGHT-TIME METEOR VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPED, A 60-CAMERA NETWORK CALLED CAMS, WHICH NOW RECORDS METEOROID TRAJECTORIES FROM THREE LOCATIONS IN CALIFORNIA, AND BY TRIANGULATION OF THESE TRAJECTORIES DETERMINES THE METEOR LIGHT CURVE, INITIAL VELOCITY, AND DECELERATION IN THE EARTH ATMOSPHERE, AS WELL AS THE METEOROID ORBIT IN SPACE. THE NEW SPECTROSCOPIC CAPABILITY OF CAMS SHOULD BE ACHIEVED BY EQUIPPING THE 20 CAMERAS OF ONE OF THE THREE STATIONS WITH OBJECTIVE TRANSMISSION GRATINGS, AND BY DEVELOPING THE SOFTWARE TOOLS TO AUTOMATE THE EXTRACTION OF THE METEOR SPECTRA FROM THIS DATA AND DERIVE ELEMENTAL ABUNDANCES. PERCEIVED SIGNIFICANCE: THIS WOULD DRAMATICALLY SCALE UP THE SIMULTANEOUS COLLECTION OF METEOROID ORBITS AND METEOR OPTICAL SPECTRA AND OBTAIN THE FIRST SUCH DATA ON MINOR SHOWERS. THE PROPOSED WORK IS RELEVANT TO THE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OBJECTIVES OF THE PLANETARY ASTRONOMY PROGRAM, BECAUSE GROUND-BASED ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS OF METEORS WILL BE PERFORMED IN THE RANGE OF 380 TO 880 NM THAT WILL GENERATE A LARGE AMOUNT OF DATA THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE GENERAL PROPERTIES AND EVOLUTION OF ASTEROIDS AND COMETS. AN ELEMENT OF NEW OBSERVATIONS IS INTRODUCED THAT SUPPORTS NASA SOLAR SYSTEM PROGRAM OBJECTIVES THAT CANNOT BE MET BY CURRENT SPACECRAFT MISSIONS. IN PARTICULAR, THE ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION OF LARGE MM TO CM SIZED DUST GRAINS WILL BE MEASURED, WHICH ARE NOT SAMPLED BY IN-SITU SPACECRAFT VISITS TO COMETS. MANY MORE COMETS CAN BE SAMPLED THAN CAN BE REALISTICALLY VISITED BY SPACE MISSIONS. THE DATA FROM THIS SURVEY IS EXPECTED TO FUNDAMENTALLY IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ORIGIN OF THE ZODIACAL CLOUD AND PROVIDE GROUND TRUTH FOR RECENTLY PROPOSED MODELS OF PLANET FORMATION, FUNDAMENTALLY RELATED TO THE GOAL OF UNDERSTANDING THE EVOLUTION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND OF COMETS (NASA STRATEGIC GOAL 3C)'
Grant for Research
Contractor
Seti Institute (SETI INSTITUTE)
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date
07/27/2012
Obligated Amount
$483.4k
NNX12AK05A - SINCE 1985, NASA AMES RESEARCH CENTER HAS OPERATED ITS AIRBORNE SUNPHOTOMETERS ON VARIOUS AIRCRAFT IN SUPPORT OF A WIDE VARIETY OF STRATOSPHERIC AND TROPOSPHERIC CLIMATE-FORCING AND SATELLITE VALIDATION STUDIES. IN 2008, THE 14-CHANNEL AMES AIRBORNE TRACKING SUNPHOTOMETER (AATS-14) WAS OPERATED ABOARD THE NASA P-3B AIRCRAFT DURING THE ARCTIC RESEARCH OF THE COMPOSITION OF THE TROPOSPHERE FROM AIRCRAFT AND SATELLITES (ARCTAS) FIELD EXPERIMENT BASED IN FAIRBANKS, ALASKA IN SPRING AND COLD LAKE, ALBERTA IN SUMMER. IN OCTOBER 2011, THE AATS-14 WAS OPERATED ON A TWIN-OTTER DURING THE NASA AMES COASTAL OCEAN AND AIRBORNE SCIENCE TESTBED (COAST) FIELD EXPERIMENT BASED IN MARINA, CALIFORNIA. THE AATS-14 WILL BE FLOWN ON THE NASA DC-8 DURING THE SOUTHEAST ASIA COMPOSITION, CLOUD, CLIMATE COUPLING REGIONAL STUDY (SEAC4RS), BASED IN THAILAND IN AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012. A NEW AIRBORNE SPECTORADIOMETER, SPECTROMETER FOR SKY-SCANNING, SUN-TRACKING ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH (4STAR), WITH ENHANCED MEASUREMENT CAPABILITIES HAS BEEN BUILT, TEST-FLOWN, AND CONTINUES TO BE REFINED AS A JOINT EFFORT BY THE NASA AMES RESEARCH CENTER AND THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY S (DOE) PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATIONAL LABORATORY. THIS INSTRUMENT WILL BE OPERATED DURING TWO INTENSIVE AIRCRAFT FIELD CAMPAIGNS, ONE IN SUMMER 2012 AND ONE IN WINTER 2013, AS PART OF THE DOE TWO-COLUMN AEROSOL PROJECT (TCAP). MR. JOHN M. LIVINGSTON OF SRI INTERNATIONAL (SRI) HAS BEEN A COLLABORATIVE MEMBER OF THE AMES SUNPHOTOMETER SATELLITE GROUP SINCE THE MID-1980S. HE IS CURRENTLY FUNDED UNDER NASA AMES COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT NNX09AO52A, WHICH WILL TERMINATE ON 31 JULY 2012. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO SECURE FUNDING FOR MR. LIVINGSTON'S CONTINUING PARTICIPATION IN ONGOING AND FUTURE GROUP INVESTIGATIONS AND HIS COLLABORATION WITH THE OTHER SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS OF THE GROUP. THESE INVESTIGATIONS INCLUDE: (1) ACQUISITION OF AMES AIRBORNE RADIOMETER MEASUREMENTS DURING THE UPCOMING SEAC4RS AND TCAP FIELD CAMPAIGNS AND OTHER FUTURE CAMPAIGNS, NOT YET DETERMINED; (2) ANALYSIS OF AMES AIRBORNE RADIOMETER MEASUREMENTS OBTAINED DURING UPCOMING AND PAST FIELD CAMPAIGNS IN RESEARCH STUDIES USING DATA FROM OTHER AIRBORNE, SATELLITE, AND/OR GROUND-BASED SENSORS; (3) ALGORITHM SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT AND ANALYSIS SUPPORT FOR THE 4STAR; (5) MODELING AND DATA ANALYSIS TO DEVELOP TECHNIQUES FOR IDENTIFYING AEROSOL TYPE FROM MULTIDIMENSIONAL SATELLITE SENSOR MEASUREMENTS; (6) CHARACTERIZATION OF AEROSOL DIRECT RADIATIVE EFFECTS USING COMBINED AEROSOL OBSERVATIONS FROM CURRENT SATELLITE, AIRBORNE, AND SURFACE-BASED SENSORS; AND (7) PRESENTATIONS AND JOINT PUBLICATION OF RESULTS OF THESE STUDIES.
Cooperative Agreement
Contractor
SRI International (SRI INTERNATIONAL)
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date
06/13/2012
Obligated Amount
$590.3k
NNX12AJ19A - FUNDING FOR THIS COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PROPOSAL IS BASED ON THE SUCCESSFUL ROSES 2011 SOLICITATIONS NNH11ZDA001N 11-OSS-0134 AND NH11ZDA001N 11-PATM11-0014, AWARDED TO DR. MARK MARLEY. THE PI FOR THIS PROPOSAL, DR. RICHARD FREEDMAN, IS A CO-I ON THESE PROPOSALS. ABSTRACT FOR NNH11ZDA001N 11-OSS11-0134: THE NEXT FEW YEARS ARE EXPECTED TO WITNESS THE DISCOVERY OF A MULTITUDE OF YOUNG, WARM GIANT PLANETS BY SEVERAL DIRECT IMAGING GROUNDBASED SURVEYS. THESE DISCOVERIES WILL BE FOLLOWED UP BY HST AND JWST OBSERVATIONS OF THESE YOUNG WORLDS. WE PROPOSE TO CONSTRUCT THEORETICAL MODELS OF THE EVOLUTION AND THERMAL EMISSION SPECTRA OF YOUNG PLANETS OPTIMIZED TO MATCH THE PHOTOMETRIC AND SPECTROSCOPIC DATA THAT WILL SOON BE AVAILABLE. IN PARTICULAR WE WILL EXPLORE LARGER RANGES OF PARAMETER SPACE, INCLUDING COMPOSITION AND CLOUD PROPERTIES, THAN HAVE PREVIOUSLY BEEN EXPLORED TO STUDY YOUNG PLANETS. WE EXPECT THIS WORK WILL BE IMMEDIATELY USEFUL FOR INTERPRETING DATA FROM HST, SPHERE AND GPI AND WILL ALSO ULTIMATELY BE VALUABLE FOR UNDERSTANDING JWST DATA. ABSTRACT FOR NH11ZDA001N 11-PATM11-0014: THE PAST HALF DECADE HAS BEEN THE ERA OF THE TRANSITING PLANETS. WE EXPECT THE NEXT HALF DOZEN YEARS WILL BE THE ERA OF THE DIRECTLY IMAGED PLANETS. UNLIKE THE CASE OF THE TRANSITING PLANETS, THE DETECTION OF YOUNG GAS AND ICE GIANTS DETECTED IN THERMAL EMISSION OFFERS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR RELATIVELY STRAIGHTFORWARD MEASUREMENT OF SPECTRA AND THUS OFFERS FAR MORE ROBUST OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDIES OF EXOPLANETARY ATMOSPHERES. WE THUS PROPOSE A SUITE OF INVESTIGATIONS FOCUSING ON CLOUDS IN DIRECTLY IMAGED PLANETS. SPECIFICALLY WE WILL STUDY DISEQUILIBRIUM PROCESSES AFFECTING SILICATE CLOUDS, THE ROLE OF RELATIVELY MINOR CLOUDS IN SCULPTING SPECTRA AT LOW GRAVITY, THE ROLE OF WATER ICE CLOUDS, AND A GENERAL INVESTIGATION OF THE SPECTRA OF A GREAT VARIETY OF PLANETS WITH VARYING ATMOSPHERIC METALLICITY AND C/O RATIO. THIS WORK WILL SUPPORT INTERPRETATION OF THE ALREADY KNOWN DIRECTLY IMAGED PLANETS AND--MORE IMPORTANTLY--THE WEALTH OF DATA WE EXPECT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS. WE WILL COMPARE OUR MODEL PREDICTIONS TO DATA IN ORDER TO BETTER UNDERSTAND FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICAL PROCESSES AND RELATE THEM TO THOSE PROCESSES ACTING IN SOLAR SYSTEM ATMOSPHERES
Grant for Research
Contractor
Seti Institute (SETI INSTITUTE)
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date
05/24/2012
Obligated Amount
$562.8k
NNX12AH90G - CIRRUS CLOUDS PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE EARTH'S RADIATION BUDGET AND CLIMATE SYSTEM, AND RECENT STUDIES HAVE IDENTIFIED THE REPRESENTATION OF CIRRUS MICROPHYSICAL PROPERTIES (I.E., ICE CRYSTAL SIZE AND FALLSPEED) AS LEADING SOURCES OF UNCERTAINTY IN CLIMATE SIMULATIONS. UNTIL RECENTLY, AIRBORNE IN SITU MEASUREMENTS OF CIRRUS MICROPHYSICAL PROPERTIES HAVE GENERALLY BEEN UNRELIABLE (PARTICULARLY FOR SMALL (<50&#956;M) ICE CRYSTALS) BECAUSE OF THE POTENTIAL PRESENCE OF SHATTERING ARTIFACTS AND THE INABILITY OF OLDER OPTICAL ARRAY PROBES TO RELIABLY IMAGE SMALL PARTICLES. THE ONGOING DOE (SMALL PARTICLES IN CIRRUS) SPARTICUS MISSION IS PROVIDING AN EXTENSIVE DATASET OF MIDLATITUDE CIRRUS CLOUDS WITH NEW INSTRUMENTATION DESIGNED TO MINIMIZE SHATTERING ARTIFACTS AND WITH SUFFICIENT TIME RESPONSE TO IMAGE PARTICLES AS SMALL AS 10&#956;M. IN ADDITION, POST-PROCESSING ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED THAT CAN RELIABLY IDENTIFY AND REMOVE THE ARTIFACTS. WE PROPOSE A DATA ANALYSIS AND MODELING STUDY THAT WILL STATISTICALLY COMPARE OBSERVED CIRRUS MICROPHYSICAL PROPERTIES WITH RESULTS FROM BOTH DETAILED CLOUD MICROPHYSICAL SIMULATIONS AND SIMULATIONS USING ICE MICROPHYSICS PARAMETERIZATIONS RECENTLY IMPLEMENTED IN CLIMATE MODELS. THE DUAL OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROJECT ARE IMPROVING OUR BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF PROCESSES THAT CONTROL CIRRUS MICROPHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND IMPROVING THE REPRESENTATION OF THESE PROCESSES IN THE PARAMETERIZATIONS. ULTIMATELY, WE WILL EVALUATE THE IMPACT OF IMPROVEMENTS IN CIRRUS PARAMETERIZATIONS ON CLIMATE SIMULATIONS. THE CASE STUDY APPROACH TYPICALLY USED FOR COMPARING CLOUD MODELS TO OBSERVATIONS IS OFTEN PROBLEMATIC BECAUSE OF THE CHALLENGE OF ADEQUATELY SPECIFYING THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS DRIVING CLOUD PROCESSES WITH SUFFICIENT ACCURACY OR AT SUFFICIENTLY SMALL SCALES. THIS PROBLEM IS PARTICULARLY ACUTE FOR CIRRUS CLOUDS BECAUSE UPPER TROPOSPHERIC RELATIVE HUMIDITY IS POORLY REPRESENTED IN METEOROLOGICAL ANALYSES AND MESOSCALE WAVES (UNRESOLVED IN THE ANALYSES) ARE VERY IMPORTANT FOR CIRRUS FORMATION PROCESSES. RATHER THAN USE THE CASE-STUDY APPROACH, WE PROPOSE A STATISTICAL COMPARISON BETWEEN SIMULATED CLOUD PROPERTIES AND OBSERVATIONS. GIVEN THAT THE SPARTICUS AIRBORNE CAMPAIGN WILL PROVIDE NEARLY 200 HOURS OF OBSERVATIONS OVER SEVERAL MONTHS AND WE HAVE MULTIPLE YEARS OF CIRRUS EXTINCTION MEASUREMENTS FROM THE SOUTHERN GREAT PLAINS (SGP) RAMAN LIDAR, WE ANTICIPATE HAVING A STATISTICALLY REPRESENTATIVE DATASET OF CIRRUS PROPERTIES OVER THE CENTRAL U.S.. THE FIRST PART OF THE PROJECT WILL BE TO COMPARE AND EVALUATE THE SPARTICUS MEASUREMENTS OF CIRRUS ICE CONCENTRATIONS, SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS, EXTINCTION, ETC., FROM DIFFERENT MICROPHYSICS PROBES. THE LEARJET USED IN THE SPARTICUS PROJECT WAS EQUIPPED WITH A SUITE OF MICROPHYSICAL SENSORS, INCLUDING TWO DEEP-CONE NEVZOROV PROBES, TWO 2D-S OPTICAL IMAGING PROBES (WITH AND WITHOUT MODIFIED PROBE TIPS), 2D-P, HVPS, CDP, CSI AND FAST FSSP. SEVERAL INTER-COMPARISONS, INSTRUMENT EVALUATIONS AND UNCERTAINTY ANALYSES ARE REQUIRED TO DETERMINE THE BEST SUITE OF MEASUREMENTS TO BE USED IN THE STATISTICAL COMPARISON WITH REMOTE MEASUREMENTS AND MODELS. CUSTOM ANALYSIS SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT WILL BE REQUIRED FOR EVALUATING THE MICROPHYSICAL SENSORS AND DETERMINING THE COMBINATION OF MEASUREMENTS REQUIRED TO PRODUCE AN OPTIMUM DATASET OF PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS, EXTINCTION COEFFICIENTS, ICE WATER CONTENT, OPTICAL DEPTH, AND EFFECTIVE PARTICLE RADIUS. TO IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS (HUMIDITY, MESOSCALE WAVES, ICE NUCLEI, ETC.) AFFECT CIRRUS PHYSICAL PROCESSES AND ULTIMATELY CIRRUS MICROPHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND RADIATIVE EFFECTS, WE WILL USE THE "TEMPERATURE-CURTAIN" MODELING APPROACH. ESSENTIALLY TEMPERATURE CURTAINS ARE CONSTRUCTED BY EXTRACTING TEMPERATURE PROFILES VERSUS TIME ALONG TRAJECTORIES USING METEOROLOGICAL ANALYSES. WAVE-DRIVEN TEMPERATURE PERTURBATIONS ARE SUPERIMPOSED ON THESE T
Grant for Research
Contractor
National Center For Atmospheric Research (UNIVERSITY CORPORATION FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH)
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date
05/10/2012
Obligated Amount
$218.2k
NNX12AC94G - WE PROPOSE TO MEASURE THE SPIN-ORBIT ALIGNMENT OF THE PRIMARY IN LOW MASS-RATIO ECLIPSING BINARIES. ALTHOUGH SPIN-ORBIT ALIGNMENT IS A SUBJECT OF INTENSE STUDY FOR TRANSITING PLANETARY SYSTEMS, ONLY A FEW MEASUREMENTS HAVE BEEN DONE SO FAR FOR STELLAR ECLIPSING BINARIES. THE ANGLE BETWEEN THE STAR'S SPIN AXIS AND ORBITAL ANGULAR MOMENTUM AXIS IS A KEY PIECE OF INFORMATION IN THE STUDY OF STELLAR BINARY FORMATION AND EVOLUTION. NAIVELY ONE WOULD EXPECT THE THREE ANGULAR MOMENTUM AXES, THE SELF ROTATION OF BOTH STARS AND THE ORBITAL ANGULAR MOMENTUM, TO BE WELL ALIGNED AS THEY ALL ORIGINATE FROM THE ANGULAR MOMENTUM OF THE SAME PRIMORDIAL MOLECULAR CLOUD. HOWEVER, THIS SIMPLE VIEW COULD BE MISLEADING. SEVERAL PROCESSES HAVE BEEN PROPOSED IN THE LITERATURE THAT RESULT IN MISALIGNMENT. MOREOVER, MISALIGNMENT FOR BOTH STELLAR COMPONENTS WAS ALREADY IDENTIFIED FOR ONE SYSTEM, OUT OF ONLY THREE FOR WHICH THE SPIN ORBIT ANGLES WERE ACCURATELY MEASURED. OUR MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUE WAS NEVER APPLIED BEFORE AND REQUIRES THE VERY HIGH PRECISION PHOTOMETRY PROVIDED BY KEPLER. OUR PROPOSAL WILL SIGNIFICANTLY EXTEND THE SCIENCE DONE BY KEPLER.
Grant for Research
Contractor
University of California (UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA)
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date
03/14/2012
Obligated Amount
$0.00
NNX12CD26P - THE "GLIDERSONDE"IS A UAV-DEPLOYED ENVIRONMENTAL SENSOR SUITE THAT IS AIR-DEPLOYED AND GLIDES INTO DENIED OR HAZARDOUS AREAS INCLUDING VOLCANOES OR NUCLEAR EMERGENCY, WILDLAND FIRE OR HAZMAT RELEASE AREAS. IT CAN EITHER BE RELEASED BY HAND OR USED WITH YANKEE'S COMMERCIAL AUTOMATED DROPSONDE DISPENSER (ADD) WHICH WE TESTED IN THE NAVY TWIN OTTER P256, AND IS AND IS CURRENTLY UNDERGOING INTEGRATION WITH NASA'S GLOBAL HAWK FOR A 2012 TEST. IT MEASURES LOCAL SCATTERING, CLOUD OPTICAL DEPTH, GROUND/SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES, SOX, NUCLEAR RADIATION, AEROSOL OPTICAL DEPTH, AS WELL AS IN-SITU PRESSURE/TEMPERATURE/HUMIDITY/WINDS LIKE A NCAR RD-94 DROPSONDE.
Purchase Order - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
Contractor
YANKEE ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS, INC.
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date
02/10/2012
Obligated Amount
$125k
NNX12CD23P - NATURALLY OCCURRING IN THE STRATOSPHERE, OZONE PLAYS A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN MANY ATMOSPHERIC REACTIONS, CLOUD FORMATION, AND IS THE KEY PLAYER IN SHIELDING HARMFUL UV RADIATION. IN THE TROPOSPHERE, IT IS A CRITERIA POLLUTANT PRODUCED VIA PHOTOCHEMICAL SMOG REACTIONS, AND IS KEY IN THE FORMATION OF ORGANIC AEROSOLS FROM VOCS. A BETTER UNDERSTANDING ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF OZONE AND ITS INFLUENCES ON CLOUD DROPLET FORMATION IS NEEDED IN ORDER TO BETTER PREDICT THE RADIATION BALANCE OF THE EARTH IN CLIMATE MODELING STUDIES. NEW INSTRUMENTATION TO PROVIDE SENSITIVE, HIGH THROUGHPUT AIRBORNE MEASUREMENT OF OZONE AND OTHER AEROSOL PRECURSOR GASES IS REQUIRED TO PROVIDE THE NECESSARY INPUTS IN DEVELOPING AND REFINING ACCURATE MODELS OF CLIMATE CHANGE. IN THIS PROGRAM, A RESONANT CAVITY OPTICAL SENSOR, USING READILY AVAILABLE COMPONENTS, WILL PROVIDE A SIGNIFICANT ADVANCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH SENSITIVITY INSTRUMENTATION FOR AIRBORNE MEASUREMENT OF OZONE OR OTHER GASES IMPORTANT IN CLIMATE CHANGE, WHERE HIGH THROUGHPUT IS CRITICAL FOR SPATIAL RESOLUTION. INCOHERENT BROAD BAND CAVITY ENHANCED SPECTROSCOPY WILL BE EMPLOYED USING UV LEDS TO DIRECTLY DETECT OZONE. THIS CONFIGURATION WILL ALLOW FOR HIGH SENSITIVITY, A SMALL FOOT PRINT AND HIGH THROUGHPUT, UNLIKE CONVENTIONAL OZONE MONITORS WHICH USE A LONG SINGLE PASS ABSORPTION CELL AND FILTERED MERCURY LAMPS.
Purchase Order - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
Contractor
SOUTHWEST SCIENCES INC (SOUTHWEST SCIENCES, INC.)
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date
02/10/2012
Obligated Amount
$125k
NNX12CE49P - A FEW NASA DECADAL MISSIONS SUCH AS THE AEROSOL CLOUDS ECOSYSTEMS (ACE) MISSION REQUIRE SPACE-BASED MILLIMETER-WAVE RADAR APERTURES TO COMPLETE THE SCIENCE OBJECTIVES. WE PROPOSE TO CREATE DUAL-POLARIZED MICROFABRICATED COPPER-BASED ANTENNA APERTURES WITH INTEGRATED MMICS THAT GO BEYOND THE CAPABILITIES FUNDED TO DATE AT THE UPPER FREQUENCIES OF INTEREST BY ENABLING ELECTRONIC SCANNING AT W-BAND FREQUENCIES, WHILE NOT PRECLUDING THE CO-LOCATION OF KA-BAND CAPABILITY IN THE SAME APERTURE. THIS PHASE I EFFORT WILL CONSTITUTE ELEMENT-, FEED-, MMIC-, AND ARRAY-LEVEL ANALYSES OF THE TRADE SPACE FOR THE PROPOSED APERTURE. IN ADDITION WE WILL PROVIDE A HARDWARE DEMONSTRATION OF MMIC INTEGRATION ON THE NECESSARY SCALE FOR W-BAND PHASED ARRAYS AND HIGH-EFFICIENCY DUAL POLARIZED ANTENNA ELEMENTS. THE PHASE II EFFORT WOULD INTEGRATE MMIC FUNCTIONALITY WITH THE ANTENNAS TO CREATE AN ARRAY TILE THAT WILL BE FULLY CHARACTERIZED.
Purchase Order - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
Contractor
Cubic Corporation (NUVOTRONICS, LLC)
Contracting Agency/Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date
02/10/2012
Obligated Amount
$122.2k

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