Sample records for accurate radiation transport

  1. Radiation Transport in Type IA Supernovae

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Eastman, R

    1999-11-16

    It has been said more than once that the critical link between explosion models and observations is the ability to accurately simulate cooling and radiation transport in the expanding ejecta of Type Ia supernovae. It is perhaps frustrating to some of the theorists who study explosion mechanisms, and to some of the observers too, that more definitive conclusions have not been reached about the agreement, or lack thereof, between various Type Ia supernova models and the data. Although claims of superlative accuracy in transport simulations are sometimes made, I will argue here that there are outstanding issues of critical importancemore » and in need of addressing before radiation transport calculations are accurate enough to discriminate between subtly different explosion models.« less

  2. Radiation Transport and Shielding for Space Exploration and High Speed Flight Transportation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Maung, Khin Maung; Trapathi, R. K.

    1997-01-01

    Transportation of ions and neutrons in matter is of direct interest in several technologically important and scientific areas, including space radiation, cosmic ray propagation studies in galactic medium, nuclear power plants and radiological effects that impact industrial and public health. For the proper assessment of radiation exposure, both reliable transport codes and accurate data are needed. Nuclear cross section data is one of the essential inputs into the transport codes. In order to obtain an accurate parametrization of cross section data, theoretical input is indispensable especially for processes where there is little or no experimental data available. In this grant period work has been done on the studies of the use of relativistic equations and their one-body limits. The results will be useful in choosing appropriate effective one-body equation for reaction calculations. Work has also been done to improve upon the data base needed for the transport codes used in the studies of radiation transport and shielding for space exploration and high speed flight transportation. A phenomenological model was developed for the total absorption cross sections valid for any system of charged and/or uncharged collision pairs for the entire energy range. The success of the model is gratifying. It is being used by other federal agencies, national labs and universities. A list of publications based on the work during the grant period is given below and copies are enclosed with this report.

  3. Path Toward a Unified Geometry for Radiation Transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Kerry

    to the creation and maintenance of toolkit specific simplistic geometry models. The work presented here builds on the Direct Accelerated Geometry Monte Carlo (DAGMC) toolkit developed for use with the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) transport code. The work-flow for doing radiation transport on CAD models using MCNP and FLUKA has been demonstrated and the results of analyses on realistic spacecraft/habitats will be presented. Future work is planned that will further automate this process and enable the use of multiple radiation transport codes on identical geometry models imported from CAD. This effort will enhance the modeling tools used by NASA to accurately evaluate the astronaut space radiation risk and accurately determine the protection provided by as-designed exploration mission vehicles and habitats.

  4. Path Toward a Unifid Geometry for Radiation Transport

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lee, Kerry; Barzilla, Janet; Davis, Andrew; Zachmann

    2014-01-01

    widespread use for analysis of complex CAD models, leading to the creation and maintenance of toolkit-specific simplistic geometry models. The work presented here builds on the Direct Accelerated Geometry Monte Carlo (DAGMC) toolkit developed for use with the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) transport code. The workflow for achieving radiation transport on CAD models using MCNP and FLUKA has been demonstrated and the results of analyses on realistic spacecraft/habitats will be presented. Future work is planned that will further automate this process and enable the use of multiple radiation transport codes on identical geometry models imported from CAD. This effort will enhance the modeling tools used by NASA to accurately evaluate the astronaut space radiation risk and accurately determine the protection provided by as-designed exploration mission vehicles and habitats

  5. On the Development of a Deterministic Three-Dimensional Radiation Transport Code

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rockell, Candice; Tweed, John

    2011-01-01

    Since astronauts on future deep space missions will be exposed to dangerous radiations, there is a need to accurately model the transport of radiation through shielding materials and to estimate the received radiation dose. In response to this need a three dimensional deterministic code for space radiation transport is now under development. The new code GRNTRN is based on a Green's function solution of the Boltzmann transport equation that is constructed in the form of a Neumann series. Analytical approximations will be obtained for the first three terms of the Neumann series and the remainder will be estimated by a non-perturbative technique . This work discusses progress made to date and exhibits some computations based on the first two Neumann series terms.

  6. Recent Developments in Three Dimensional Radiation Transport Using the Green's Function Technique

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rockell, Candice; Tweed, John; Blattnig, Steve R.; Mertens, Christopher J.

    2010-01-01

    In the future, astronauts will be sent into space for longer durations of time compared to previous missions. The increased risk of exposure to dangerous radiation, such as Galactic Cosmic Rays and Solar Particle Events, is of great concern. Consequently, steps must be taken to ensure astronaut safety by providing adequate shielding. In order to better determine and verify shielding requirements, an accurate and efficient radiation transport code based on a fully three dimensional radiation transport model using the Green's function technique is being developed

  7. Accurate radiative transfer calculations for layered media.

    PubMed

    Selden, Adrian C

    2016-07-01

    Simple yet accurate results for radiative transfer in layered media with discontinuous refractive index are obtained by the method of K-integrals. These are certain weighted integrals applied to the angular intensity distribution at the refracting boundaries. The radiative intensity is expressed as the sum of the asymptotic angular intensity distribution valid in the depth of the scattering medium and a transient term valid near the boundary. Integrated boundary equations are obtained, yielding simple linear equations for the intensity coefficients, enabling the angular emission intensity and the diffuse reflectance (albedo) and transmittance of the scattering layer to be calculated without solving the radiative transfer equation directly. Examples are given of half-space, slab, interface, and double-layer calculations, and extensions to multilayer systems are indicated. The K-integral method is orders of magnitude more accurate than diffusion theory and can be applied to layered scattering media with a wide range of scattering albedos, with potential applications to biomedical and ocean optics.

  8. Comparison of space radiation calculations for deterministic and Monte Carlo transport codes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lin, Zi-Wei; Adams, James; Barghouty, Abdulnasser; Randeniya, Sharmalee; Tripathi, Ram; Watts, John; Yepes, Pablo

    For space radiation protection of astronauts or electronic equipments, it is necessary to develop and use accurate radiation transport codes. Radiation transport codes include deterministic codes, such as HZETRN from NASA and UPROP from the Naval Research Laboratory, and Monte Carlo codes such as FLUKA, the Geant4 toolkit and HETC-HEDS. The deterministic codes and Monte Carlo codes complement each other in that deterministic codes are very fast while Monte Carlo codes are more elaborate. Therefore it is important to investigate how well the results of deterministic codes compare with those of Monte Carlo transport codes and where they differ. In this study we evaluate these different codes in their space radiation applications by comparing their output results in the same given space radiation environments, shielding geometry and material. Typical space radiation environments such as the 1977 solar minimum galactic cosmic ray environment are used as the well-defined input, and simple geometries made of aluminum, water and/or polyethylene are used to represent the shielding material. We then compare various outputs of these codes, such as the dose-depth curves and the flux spectra of different fragments and other secondary particles. These comparisons enable us to learn more about the main differences between these space radiation transport codes. At the same time, they help us to learn the qualitative and quantitative features that these transport codes have in common.

  9. Remote balance weighs accurately amid high radiation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Eggenberger, D. N.; Shuck, A. B.

    1969-01-01

    Commercial beam-type balance, modified and outfitted with electronic controls and digital readout, can be remotely controlled for use in high radiation environments. This allows accurate weighing of breeder-reactor fuel pieces when they are radioactively hot.

  10. Radiation transport calculations for cosmic radiation.

    PubMed

    Endo, A; Sato, T

    2012-01-01

    The radiation environment inside and near spacecraft consists of various components of primary radiation in space and secondary radiation produced by the interaction of the primary radiation with the walls and equipment of the spacecraft. Radiation fields inside astronauts are different from those outside them, because of the body's self-shielding as well as the nuclear fragmentation reactions occurring in the human body. Several computer codes have been developed to simulate the physical processes of the coupled transport of protons, high-charge and high-energy nuclei, and the secondary radiation produced in atomic and nuclear collision processes in matter. These computer codes have been used in various space radiation protection applications: shielding design for spacecraft and planetary habitats, simulation of instrument and detector responses, analysis of absorbed doses and quality factors in organs and tissues, and study of biological effects. This paper focuses on the methods and computer codes used for radiation transport calculations on cosmic radiation, and their application to the analysis of radiation fields inside spacecraft, evaluation of organ doses in the human body, and calculation of dose conversion coefficients using the reference phantoms defined in ICRP Publication 110. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  11. [Benchmark experiment to verify radiation transport calculations for dosimetry in radiation therapy].

    PubMed

    Renner, Franziska

    2016-09-01

    Monte Carlo simulations are regarded as the most accurate method of solving complex problems in the field of dosimetry and radiation transport. In (external) radiation therapy they are increasingly used for the calculation of dose distributions during treatment planning. In comparison to other algorithms for the calculation of dose distributions, Monte Carlo methods have the capability of improving the accuracy of dose calculations - especially under complex circumstances (e.g. consideration of inhomogeneities). However, there is a lack of knowledge of how accurate the results of Monte Carlo calculations are on an absolute basis. A practical verification of the calculations can be performed by direct comparison with the results of a benchmark experiment. This work presents such a benchmark experiment and compares its results (with detailed consideration of measurement uncertainty) with the results of Monte Carlo calculations using the well-established Monte Carlo code EGSnrc. The experiment was designed to have parallels to external beam radiation therapy with respect to the type and energy of the radiation, the materials used and the kind of dose measurement. Because the properties of the beam have to be well known in order to compare the results of the experiment and the simulation on an absolute basis, the benchmark experiment was performed using the research electron accelerator of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), whose beam was accurately characterized in advance. The benchmark experiment and the corresponding Monte Carlo simulations were carried out for two different types of ionization chambers and the results were compared. Considering the uncertainty, which is about 0.7 % for the experimental values and about 1.0 % for the Monte Carlo simulation, the results of the simulation and the experiment coincide. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

  12. Transport calculations and accelerator experiments needed for radiation risk assessment in space.

    PubMed

    Sihver, Lembit

    2008-01-01

    The major uncertainties on space radiation risk estimates in humans are associated to the poor knowledge of the biological effects of low and high LET radiation, with a smaller contribution coming from the characterization of space radiation field and its primary interactions with the shielding and the human body. However, to decrease the uncertainties on the biological effects and increase the accuracy of the risk coefficients for charged particles radiation, the initial charged-particle spectra from the Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) and the Solar Particle Events (SPEs), and the radiation transport through the shielding material of the space vehicle and the human body, must be better estimated Since it is practically impossible to measure all primary and secondary particles from all possible position-projectile-target-energy combinations needed for a correct risk assessment in space, accurate particle and heavy ion transport codes must be used. These codes are also needed when estimating the risk for radiation induced failures in advanced microelectronics, such as single-event effects, etc., and the efficiency of different shielding materials. It is therefore important that the models and transport codes will be carefully benchmarked and validated to make sure they fulfill preset accuracy criteria, e.g. to be able to predict particle fluence, dose and energy distributions within a certain accuracy. When validating the accuracy of the transport codes, both space and ground based accelerator experiments are needed The efficiency of passive shielding and protection of electronic devices should also be tested in accelerator experiments and compared to simulations using different transport codes. In this paper different multipurpose particle and heavy ion transport codes will be presented, different concepts of shielding and protection discussed, as well as future accelerator experiments needed for testing and validating codes and shielding materials.

  13. A Novel Implementation of Massively Parallel Three Dimensional Monte Carlo Radiation Transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Robinson, P. B.; Peterson, J. D. L.

    2005-12-01

    The goal of our summer project was to implement the difference formulation for radiation transport into Cosmos++, a multidimensional, massively parallel, magneto hydrodynamics code for astrophysical applications (Peter Anninos - AX). The difference formulation is a new method for Symbolic Implicit Monte Carlo thermal transport (Brooks and Szöke - PAT). Formerly, simultaneous implementation of fully implicit Monte Carlo radiation transport in multiple dimensions on multiple processors had not been convincingly demonstrated. We found that a combination of the difference formulation and the inherent structure of Cosmos++ makes such an implementation both accurate and straightforward. We developed a "nearly nearest neighbor physics" technique to allow each processor to work independently, even with a fully implicit code. This technique coupled with the increased accuracy of an implicit Monte Carlo solution and the efficiency of parallel computing systems allows us to demonstrate the possibility of massively parallel thermal transport. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract No. W-7405-Eng-48

  14. Finite element approximation of the radiative transport equation in a medium with piece-wise constant refractive index

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lehtikangas, O., E-mail: Ossi.Lehtikangas@uef.fi; Tarvainen, T.; Department of Computer Science, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT

    2015-02-01

    The radiative transport equation can be used as a light transport model in a medium with scattering particles, such as biological tissues. In the radiative transport equation, the refractive index is assumed to be constant within the medium. However, in biomedical media, changes in the refractive index can occur between different tissue types. In this work, light propagation in a medium with piece-wise constant refractive index is considered. Light propagation in each sub-domain with a constant refractive index is modeled using the radiative transport equation and the equations are coupled using boundary conditions describing Fresnel reflection and refraction phenomena onmore » the interfaces between the sub-domains. The resulting coupled system of radiative transport equations is numerically solved using a finite element method. The approach is tested with simulations. The results show that this coupled system describes light propagation accurately through comparison with the Monte Carlo method. It is also shown that neglecting the internal changes of the refractive index can lead to erroneous boundary measurements of scattered light.« less

  15. Space Radiation Transport Codes: A Comparative Study for Galactic Cosmic Rays Environment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tripathi, Ram; Wilson, John W.; Townsend, Lawrence W.; Gabriel, Tony; Pinsky, Lawrence S.; Slaba, Tony

    For long duration and/or deep space human missions, protection from severe space radiation exposure is a challenging design constraint and may be a potential limiting factor. The space radiation environment consists of galactic cosmic rays (GCR), solar particle events (SPE), trapped radiation, and includes ions of all the known elements over a very broad energy range. These ions penetrate spacecraft materials producing nuclear fragments and secondary particles that damage biological tissues, microelectronic devices, and materials. In deep space missions, where the Earth's magnetic field does not provide protection from space radiation, the GCR environment is significantly enhanced due to the absence of geomagnetic cut-off and is a major component of radiation exposure. Accurate risk assessments critically depend on the accuracy of the input information as well as radiation transport codes used, and so systematic verification of codes is necessary. In this study, comparisons are made between the deterministic code HZETRN2006 and the Monte Carlo codes HETC-HEDS and FLUKA for an aluminum shield followed by a water target exposed to the 1977 solar minimum GCR spectrum. Interaction and transport of high charge ions present in GCR radiation environment provide a more stringent constraint in the comparison of the codes. Dose, dose equivalent and flux spectra are compared; details of the comparisons will be discussed, and conclusions will be drawn for future directions.

  16. Rare event simulation in radiation transport

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kollman, Craig

    1993-10-01

    This dissertation studies methods for estimating extremely small probabilities by Monte Carlo simulation. Problems in radiation transport typically involve estimating very rare events or the expected value of a random variable which is with overwhelming probability equal to zero. These problems often have high dimensional state spaces and irregular geometries so that analytic solutions are not possible. Monte Carlo simulation must be used to estimate the radiation dosage being transported to a particular location. If the area is well shielded the probability of any one particular particle getting through is very small. Because of the large number of particles involved,more » even a tiny fraction penetrating the shield may represent an unacceptable level of radiation. It therefore becomes critical to be able to accurately estimate this extremely small probability. Importance sampling is a well known technique for improving the efficiency of rare event calculations. Here, a new set of probabilities is used in the simulation runs. The results are multiple by the likelihood ratio between the true and simulated probabilities so as to keep the estimator unbiased. The variance of the resulting estimator is very sensitive to which new set of transition probabilities are chosen. It is shown that a zero variance estimator does exist, but that its computation requires exact knowledge of the solution. A simple random walk with an associated killing model for the scatter of neutrons is introduced. Large deviation results for optimal importance sampling in random walks are extended to the case where killing is present. An adaptive ``learning`` algorithm for implementing importance sampling is given for more general Markov chain models of neutron scatter. For finite state spaces this algorithm is shown to give with probability one, a sequence of estimates converging exponentially fast to the true solution.« less

  17. 3ARM: A Fast, Accurate Radiative Transfer Model for Use in Climate Models

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bergstrom, R. W.; Kinne, S.; Sokolik, I. N.; Toon, O. B.; Mlawer, E. J.; Clough, S. A.; Ackerman, T. P.; Mather, J.

    1996-01-01

    A new radiative transfer model combining the efforts of three groups of researchers is discussed. The model accurately computes radiative transfer in a inhomogeneous absorbing, scattering and emitting atmospheres. As an illustration of the model, results are shown for the effects of dust on the thermal radiation.

  18. 3ARM: A Fast, Accurate Radiative Transfer Model for use in Climate Models

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bergstrom, R. W.; Kinne, S.; Sokolik, I. N.; Toon, O. B.; Mlawer, E. J.; Clough, S. A.; Ackerman, T. P.; Mather, J.

    1996-01-01

    A new radiative transfer model combining the efforts of three groups of researchers is discussed. The model accurately computes radiative transfer in a inhomogeneous absorbing, scattering and emitting atmospheres. As an illustration of the model, results are shown for the effects of dust on the thermal radiation.

  19. 3ARM: A Fast, Accurate Radiative Transfer Model For Use in Climate Models

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bergstrom, R. W.; Kinne, S.; Sokolik, I. N.; Toon, O. B.; Mlawer, E. J.; Clough, S. A.; Ackerman, T. P.; Mather, J.

    1996-01-01

    A new radiative transfer model combining the efforts of three groups of researchers is discussed. The model accurately computes radiative transfer in a inhomogeneous absorbing, scattering and emitting atmospheres. As an illustration of the model, results are shown for the effects of dust on the thermal radiation.

  20. Description of Transport Codes for Space Radiation Shielding

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kim, Myung-Hee Y.; Wilson, John W.; Cucinotta, Francis A.

    2011-01-01

    This slide presentation describes transport codes and their use for studying and designing space radiation shielding. When combined with risk projection models radiation transport codes serve as the main tool for study radiation and designing shielding. There are three criteria for assessing the accuracy of transport codes: (1) Ground-based studies with defined beams and material layouts, (2) Inter-comparison of transport code results for matched boundary conditions and (3) Comparisons to flight measurements. These three criteria have a very high degree with NASA's HZETRN/QMSFRG.

  1. Monte Carlo closure for moment-based transport schemes in general relativistic radiation hydrodynamic simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Foucart, Francois

    2018-04-01

    General relativistic radiation hydrodynamic simulations are necessary to accurately model a number of astrophysical systems involving black holes and neutron stars. Photon transport plays a crucial role in radiatively dominated accretion discs, while neutrino transport is critical to core-collapse supernovae and to the modelling of electromagnetic transients and nucleosynthesis in neutron star mergers. However, evolving the full Boltzmann equations of radiative transport is extremely expensive. Here, we describe the implementation in the general relativistic SPEC code of a cheaper radiation hydrodynamic method that theoretically converges to a solution of Boltzmann's equation in the limit of infinite numerical resources. The algorithm is based on a grey two-moment scheme, in which we evolve the energy density and momentum density of the radiation. Two-moment schemes require a closure that fills in missing information about the energy spectrum and higher order moments of the radiation. Instead of the approximate analytical closure currently used in core-collapse and merger simulations, we complement the two-moment scheme with a low-accuracy Monte Carlo evolution. The Monte Carlo results can provide any or all of the missing information in the evolution of the moments, as desired by the user. As a first test of our methods, we study a set of idealized problems demonstrating that our algorithm performs significantly better than existing analytical closures. We also discuss the current limitations of our method, in particular open questions regarding the stability of the fully coupled scheme.

  2. Accurate Satellite-Derived Estimates of Tropospheric Ozone Radiative Forcing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Joiner, Joanna; Schoeberl, Mark R.; Vasilkov, Alexander P.; Oreopoulos, Lazaros; Platnick, Steven; Livesey, Nathaniel J.; Levelt, Pieternel F.

    2008-01-01

    Estimates of the radiative forcing due to anthropogenically-produced tropospheric O3 are derived primarily from models. Here, we use tropospheric ozone and cloud data from several instruments in the A-train constellation of satellites as well as information from the GEOS-5 Data Assimilation System to accurately estimate the instantaneous radiative forcing from tropospheric O3 for January and July 2005. We improve upon previous estimates of tropospheric ozone mixing ratios from a residual approach using the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) by incorporating cloud pressure information from OMI. Since we cannot distinguish between natural and anthropogenic sources with the satellite data, our estimates reflect the total forcing due to tropospheric O3. We focus specifically on the magnitude and spatial structure of the cloud effect on both the shortand long-wave radiative forcing. The estimates presented here can be used to validate present day O3 radiative forcing produced by models.

  3. The point explosion with radiation transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lin, Zhiwei; Zhang, Lu; Kuang, Longyu; Jiang, Shaoen

    2017-10-01

    Some amount of energy is released instantaneously at the origin to generate simultaneously a spherical radiative heat wave and a spherical shock wave in the point explosion with radiation transport, which is a complicated problem due to the competition between these two waves. The point explosion problem possesses self-similar solutions when only hydrodynamic motion or only heat conduction is considered, which are Sedov solution and Barenblatt solution respectively. The point explosion problem wherein both physical mechanisms of hydrodynamic motion and heat conduction are included has been studied by P. Reinicke and A.I. Shestakov. In this talk we numerically investigate the point explosion problem wherein both physical mechanisms of hydrodynamic motion and radiation transport are taken into account. The radiation transport equation in one dimensional spherical geometry has to be solved for this problem since the ambient medium is optically thin with respect to the initially extremely high temperature at the origin. The numerical results reveal a high compression of medium and a bi-peak structure of density, which are further theoretically analyzed at the end.

  4. Radiation Transport Tools for Space Applications: A Review

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jun, Insoo; Evans, Robin; Cherng, Michael; Kang, Shawn

    2008-01-01

    This slide presentation contains a brief discussion of nuclear transport codes widely used in the space radiation community for shielding and scientific analyses. Seven radiation transport codes that are addressed. The two general methods (i.e., Monte Carlo Method, and the Deterministic Method) are briefly reviewed.

  5. Nonrelativistic grey S n -transport radiative-shock solutions

    DOE PAGES

    Ferguson, J. M.; Morel, J. E.; Lowrie, R. B.

    2017-06-01

    We present semi-analytic radiative-shock solutions in which grey Sn-transport is used to model the radiation, and we include both constant cross sections and cross sections that depend on temperature and density. These new solutions solve for a variable Eddington factor (VEF) across the shock domain, which allows for interesting physics not seen before in radiative-shock solutions. Comparisons are made with the grey nonequilibrium-diffusion radiative-shock solutions of Lowrie and Edwards [1], which assumed that the Eddington factor is constant across the shock domain. It is our experience that the local Mach number is monotonic when producing nonequilibrium-diffusion solutions, but that thismore » monotonicity may disappear while integrating the precursor region to produce Sn-transport solutions. For temperature- and density-dependent cross sections we show evidence of a spike in the VEF in the far upstream portion of the radiative-shock precursor. We show evidence of an adaptation zone in the precursor region, adjacent to the embedded hydrodynamic shock, as conjectured by Drake [2, 3], and also confirm his expectation that the precursor temperatures adjacent to the Zel’dovich spike take values that are greater than the downstream post-shock equilibrium temperature. We also show evidence that the radiation energy density can be nonmonotonic under the Zel’dovich spike, which is indicative of anti-diffusive radiation flow as predicted by McClarren and Drake [4]. We compare the angle dependence of the radiation flow for the Sn-transport and nonequilibriumdiffusion radiation solutions, and show that there are considerable differences in the radiation flow between these models across the shock structure. Lastly, we analyze the radiation flow to understand the cause of the adaptation zone, as well as the structure of the Sn-transport radiation-intensity solutions across the shock structure.« less

  6. Nonrelativistic grey S n -transport radiative-shock solutions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ferguson, J. M.; Morel, J. E.; Lowrie, R. B.

    We present semi-analytic radiative-shock solutions in which grey Sn-transport is used to model the radiation, and we include both constant cross sections and cross sections that depend on temperature and density. These new solutions solve for a variable Eddington factor (VEF) across the shock domain, which allows for interesting physics not seen before in radiative-shock solutions. Comparisons are made with the grey nonequilibrium-diffusion radiative-shock solutions of Lowrie and Edwards [1], which assumed that the Eddington factor is constant across the shock domain. It is our experience that the local Mach number is monotonic when producing nonequilibrium-diffusion solutions, but that thismore » monotonicity may disappear while integrating the precursor region to produce Sn-transport solutions. For temperature- and density-dependent cross sections we show evidence of a spike in the VEF in the far upstream portion of the radiative-shock precursor. We show evidence of an adaptation zone in the precursor region, adjacent to the embedded hydrodynamic shock, as conjectured by Drake [2, 3], and also confirm his expectation that the precursor temperatures adjacent to the Zel’dovich spike take values that are greater than the downstream post-shock equilibrium temperature. We also show evidence that the radiation energy density can be nonmonotonic under the Zel’dovich spike, which is indicative of anti-diffusive radiation flow as predicted by McClarren and Drake [4]. We compare the angle dependence of the radiation flow for the Sn-transport and nonequilibriumdiffusion radiation solutions, and show that there are considerable differences in the radiation flow between these models across the shock structure. Lastly, we analyze the radiation flow to understand the cause of the adaptation zone, as well as the structure of the Sn-transport radiation-intensity solutions across the shock structure.« less

  7. Rare Event Simulation in Radiation Transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kollman, Craig

    This dissertation studies methods for estimating extremely small probabilities by Monte Carlo simulation. Problems in radiation transport typically involve estimating very rare events or the expected value of a random variable which is with overwhelming probability equal to zero. These problems often have high dimensional state spaces and irregular geometries so that analytic solutions are not possible. Monte Carlo simulation must be used to estimate the radiation dosage being transported to a particular location. If the area is well shielded the probability of any one particular particle getting through is very small. Because of the large number of particles involved, even a tiny fraction penetrating the shield may represent an unacceptable level of radiation. It therefore becomes critical to be able to accurately estimate this extremely small probability. Importance sampling is a well known technique for improving the efficiency of rare event calculations. Here, a new set of probabilities is used in the simulation runs. The results are multiplied by the likelihood ratio between the true and simulated probabilities so as to keep our estimator unbiased. The variance of the resulting estimator is very sensitive to which new set of transition probabilities are chosen. It is shown that a zero variance estimator does exist, but that its computation requires exact knowledge of the solution. A simple random walk with an associated killing model for the scatter of neutrons is introduced. Large deviation results for optimal importance sampling in random walks are extended to the case where killing is present. An adaptive "learning" algorithm for implementing importance sampling is given for more general Markov chain models of neutron scatter. For finite state spaces this algorithm is shown to give, with probability one, a sequence of estimates converging exponentially fast to the true solution. In the final chapter, an attempt to generalize this algorithm to a continuous

  8. Transport and radiative impacts of atmospheric pollen using online, observation-based emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wozniak, M. C.; Steiner, A. L.; Solmon, F.; Li, Y.

    2015-12-01

    Atmospheric pollen emitted from trees and grasses exhibits both a high temporal variability and a highly localized spatial distribution that has been difficult to quantify in the atmosphere. Pollen's radiative impact is also not quantified because it is neglected in climate modeling studies. Here we couple an online, meteorological active pollen emissions model guided by observations of airborne pollen to understand the role of pollen in the atmosphere. We use existing pollen counts from 2003-2008 across the continental U.S. in conjunction with a tree database and historical meteorological data to create an observation-based phenological model that produces accurately scaled and timed emissions. These emissions are emitted and transported within the regional climate model (RegCM4) and the direct radiative effect is calculated. Additionally, we simulate the rupture of coarse pollen grains into finer particles by adding a second size mode for pollen emissions, which contributes to the shortwave radiative forcing and also has an indirect effect on climate.

  9. Real-time airborne gamma-ray background estimation using NASVD with MLE and radiation transport for calibration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kulisek, J. A.; Schweppe, J. E.; Stave, S. C.; Bernacki, B. E.; Jordan, D. V.; Stewart, T. N.; Seifert, C. E.; Kernan, W. J.

    2015-06-01

    Helicopter-mounted gamma-ray detectors can provide law enforcement officials the means to quickly and accurately detect, identify, and locate radiological threats over a wide geographical area. The ability to accurately distinguish radiological threat-generated gamma-ray signatures from background gamma radiation in real time is essential in order to realize this potential. This problem is non-trivial, especially in urban environments for which the background may change very rapidly during flight. This exacerbates the challenge of estimating background due to the poor counting statistics inherent in real-time airborne gamma-ray spectroscopy measurements. To address this challenge, we have developed a new technique for real-time estimation of background gamma radiation from aerial measurements without the need for human analyst intervention. The method can be calibrated using radiation transport simulations along with data from previous flights over areas for which the isotopic composition need not be known. Over the examined measured and simulated data sets, the method generated accurate background estimates even in the presence of a strong, 60Co source. The potential to track large and abrupt changes in background spectral shape and magnitude was demonstrated. The method can be implemented fairly easily in most modern computing languages and environments.

  10. Ionizing radiation, ion transports, and radioresistance of cancer cells

    PubMed Central

    Huber, Stephan M.; Butz, Lena; Stegen, Benjamin; Klumpp, Dominik; Braun, Norbert; Ruth, Peter; Eckert, Franziska

    2013-01-01

    The standard treatment of many tumor entities comprises fractionated radiation therapy which applies ionizing radiation to the tumor-bearing target volume. Ionizing radiation causes double-strand breaks in the DNA backbone that result in cell death if the number of DNA double-strand breaks exceeds the DNA repair capacity of the tumor cell. Ionizing radiation reportedly does not only act on the DNA in the nucleus but also on the plasma membrane. In particular, ionizing radiation-induced modifications of ion channels and transporters have been reported. Importantly, these altered transports seem to contribute to the survival of the irradiated tumor cells. The present review article summarizes our current knowledge on the underlying mechanisms and introduces strategies to radiosensitize tumor cells by targeting plasma membrane ion transports. PMID:23966948

  11. ipole: Semianalytic scheme for relativistic polarized radiative transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moscibrodzka, Monika; Gammie, Charles F.

    2018-04-01

    ipole is a ray-tracing code for covariant, polarized radiative transport particularly useful for modeling Event Horizon Telescope sources, though may also be used for other relativistic transport problems. The code extends the ibothros scheme for covariant, unpolarized transport using two representations of the polarized radiation field: in the coordinate frame, it parallel transports the coherency tensor, and in the frame of the plasma, it evolves the Stokes parameters under emission, absorption, and Faraday conversion. The transport step is as spacetime- and coordinate- independent as possible; the emission, absorption, and Faraday conversion step is implemented using an analytic solution to the polarized transport equation with constant coefficients. As a result, ipole is stable, efficient, and produces a physically reasonable solution even for a step with high optical depth and Faraday depth.

  12. Measurements on the shuttle of the LET spectra of galactic cosmic radiation and comparison with the radiation transport model

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Badhwar, G. D.; Cucinotta, F. A.; Braby, L. A.; Konradi, A.; Wilson, J. W. (Principal Investigator)

    1994-01-01

    A new class of tissue-equivalent proportional counters has been flown on two space shuttle flights. These detectors and their associated electronics cover a lineal energy range from 0.4 to 1250 keV/microns with a multichannel analyzer resolution of 0.1 keV/microns from 0.4 to 20 keV/microns and 5 keV/microns from 20 to 1250 keV/microns. These detectors provide the most complete dynamic range and highest resolution of any technique currently in use. On one mission, one detector was mounted in the Shuttle payload bay and another older model in the mid-deck, thus providing information on the depth dependence of the lineal energy spectrum. A detailed comparison of the observed lineal energy and calculated LET spectra for galactic cosmic radiation shows that, although the radiation transport models provide a rather accurate description of the dose (+/- 15%) and equivalent dose (+/- 15%), the calculations significantly underestimate the frequency of events below about 100 keV/microns. This difference cannot be explained by the inclusion of the contribution of splash protons. The contribution of the secondary pions, kaons and electrons produced in the Shuttle shielding, if included in the radiation transport model, may explain these differences. There are also significant differences between the model predictions and observations above 140 keV/microns, particularly for 28.5 degrees inclination orbit.

  13. DIAPHANE: A portable radiation transport library for astrophysical applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reed, Darren S.; Dykes, Tim; Cabezón, Rubén; Gheller, Claudio; Mayer, Lucio

    2018-05-01

    One of the most computationally demanding aspects of the hydrodynamical modelingof Astrophysical phenomena is the transport of energy by radiation or relativistic particles. Physical processes involving energy transport are ubiquitous and of capital importance in many scenarios ranging from planet formation to cosmic structure evolution, including explosive events like core collapse supernova or gamma-ray bursts. Moreover, the ability to model and hence understand these processes has often been limited by the approximations and incompleteness in the treatment of radiation and relativistic particles. The DIAPHANE project has focused on developing a portable and scalable library that handles the transport of radiation and particles (in particular neutrinos) independently of the underlying hydrodynamic code. In this work, we present the computational framework and the functionalities of the first version of the DIAPHANE library, which has been successfully ported to three different smoothed-particle hydrodynamic codes, GADGET2, GASOLINE and SPHYNX. We also present validation of different modules solving the equations of radiation and neutrino transport using different numerical schemes.

  14. Los Alamos radiation transport code system on desktop computing platforms

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Briesmeister, J.F.; Brinkley, F.W.; Clark, B.A.

    The Los Alamos Radiation Transport Code System (LARTCS) consists of state-of-the-art Monte Carlo and discrete ordinates transport codes and data libraries. These codes were originally developed many years ago and have undergone continual improvement. With a large initial effort and continued vigilance, the codes are easily portable from one type of hardware to another. The performance of scientific work-stations (SWS) has evolved to the point that such platforms can be used routinely to perform sophisticated radiation transport calculations. As the personal computer (PC) performance approaches that of the SWS, the hardware options for desk-top radiation transport calculations expands considerably. Themore » current status of the radiation transport codes within the LARTCS is described: MCNP, SABRINA, LAHET, ONEDANT, TWODANT, TWOHEX, and ONELD. Specifically, the authors discuss hardware systems on which the codes run and present code performance comparisons for various machines.« less

  15. Studies of HZE particle interactions and transport for space radiation protection purposes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Townsend, Lawrence W.; Wilson, John W.; Schimmerling, Walter; Wong, Mervyn

    1987-01-01

    The main emphasis is on developing general methods for accurately predicting high-energy heavy ion (HZE) particle interactions and transport for use by researchers in mission planning studies, in evaluating astronaut self-shielding factors, and in spacecraft shield design and optimization studies. The two research tasks are: (1) to develop computationally fast and accurate solutions to the Boltzmann (transport) equation; and (2) to develop accurate HZE interaction models, from fundamental physical considerations, for use as inputs into these transport codes. Accurate solutions to the HZE transport problem have been formulated through a combination of analytical and numerical techniques. In addition, theoretical models for the input interaction parameters are under development: stopping powers, nuclear absorption cross sections, and fragmentation parameters.

  16. Diffusive, supersonic x-ray transport in radiatively heated foam cylinders

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Back, C. A.; Bauer, J. D.; Hammer, J. H.; Lasinski, B. F.; Turner, R. E.; Rambo, P. W.; Landen, O. L.; Suter, L. J.; Rosen, M. D.; Hsing, W. W.

    2000-05-01

    Diffusive supersonic radiation transport, where the ratio of the diffusive radiation front velocity to the material sound speed >2 has been studied in experiments on low density (40 mg/cc to 50 mg/cc) foams. Laser-heated Au hohlraums provided a radiation drive that heated SiO2 and Ta2O5 aerogel foams of varying lengths. Face-on emission measurements at 550 eV provided clean signatures of the radiation breakout. The high quality data provides new detailed information on the importance of both the fill and wall material opacities and heat capacities in determining the radiation front speed and curvature. The Marshak radiation wave transport is studied in a geometry that allows direct comparisons with analytic models and two-dimensional code simulations. Experiments show important effects that will affect even nondiffusive and transonic radiation transport experiments studied by others in the field. This work is of basic science interest with applications to inertial confinement fusion and astrophysics.

  17. An Improved Neutron Transport Algorithm for Space Radiation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Heinbockel, John H.; Clowdsley, Martha S.; Wilson, John W.

    2000-01-01

    A low-energy neutron transport algorithm for use in space radiation protection is developed. The algorithm is based upon a multigroup analysis of the straight-ahead Boltzmann equation by using a mean value theorem for integrals. This analysis is accomplished by solving a realistic but simplified neutron transport test problem. The test problem is analyzed by using numerical and analytical procedures to obtain an accurate solution within specified error bounds. Results from the test problem are then used for determining mean values associated with rescattering terms that are associated with a multigroup solution of the straight-ahead Boltzmann equation. The algorithm is then coupled to the Langley HZETRN code through the evaporation source term. Evaluation of the neutron fluence generated by the solar particle event of February 23, 1956, for a water and an aluminum-water shield-target configuration is then compared with LAHET and MCNPX Monte Carlo code calculations for the same shield-target configuration. The algorithm developed showed a great improvement in results over the unmodified HZETRN solution. In addition, a two-directional solution of the evaporation source showed even further improvement of the fluence near the front of the water target where diffusion from the front surface is important.

  18. A Fast and Accurate Method of Radiation Hydrodynamics Calculation in Spherical Symmetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stamer, Torsten; Inutsuka, Shu-ichiro

    2018-06-01

    We develop a new numerical scheme for solving the radiative transfer equation in a spherically symmetric system. This scheme does not rely on any kind of diffusion approximation, and it is accurate for optically thin, thick, and intermediate systems. In the limit of a homogeneously distributed extinction coefficient, our method is very accurate and exceptionally fast. We combine this fast method with a slower but more generally applicable method to describe realistic problems. We perform various test calculations, including a simplified protostellar collapse simulation. We also discuss possible future improvements.

  19. Radiation Transport for Explosive Outflows: Opacity Regrouping

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wollaeger, Ryan T.; van Rossum, Daniel R.

    2014-10-01

    Implicit Monte Carlo (IMC) and Discrete Diffusion Monte Carlo (DDMC) are methods used to stochastically solve the radiative transport and diffusion equations, respectively. These methods combine into a hybrid transport-diffusion method we refer to as IMC-DDMC. We explore a multigroup IMC-DDMC scheme that in DDMC, combines frequency groups with sufficient optical thickness. We term this procedure "opacity regrouping." Opacity regrouping has previously been applied to IMC-DDMC calculations for problems in which the dependence of the opacity on frequency is monotonic. We generalize opacity regrouping to non-contiguous groups and implement this in SuperNu, a code designed to do radiation transport in high-velocity outflows with non-monotonic opacities. We find that regrouping of non-contiguous opacity groups generally improves the speed of IMC-DDMC radiation transport. We present an asymptotic analysis that informs the nature of the Doppler shift in DDMC groups and summarize the derivation of the Gentile-Fleck factor for modified IMC-DDMC. We test SuperNu using numerical experiments including a quasi-manufactured analytic solution, a simple 10 group problem, and the W7 problem for Type Ia supernovae. We find that opacity regrouping is necessary to make our IMC-DDMC implementation feasible for the W7 problem and possibly Type Ia supernova simulations in general. We compare the bolometric light curves and spectra produced by the SuperNu and PHOENIX radiation transport codes for the W7 problem. The overall shape of the bolometric light curves are in good agreement, as are the spectra and their evolution with time. However, for the numerical specifications we considered, we find that the peak luminosity of the light curve calculated using SuperNu is ~10% less than that calculated using PHOENIX.

  20. Accurate transport properties for H–CO and H–CO{sub 2}

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dagdigian, Paul J., E-mail: pjdagdigian@jhu.edu

    2015-08-07

    Transport properties for collisions of hydrogen atoms with CO and CO{sub 2} have been computed by means of quantum scattering calculations. The carbon oxides are important species in hydrocarbon combustion. The following potential energy surfaces (PES’s) for the interaction of the molecule fixed in its equilibrium geometry were employed: for H–CO, the PES was taken from the work of Song et al. [J. Phys. Chem. A 117, 7571 (2013)], while the PES for H–CO{sub 2} was computed in this study by a restricted coupled cluster method that included single, double, and (perturbatively) triple excitations. The computed transport properties were foundmore » to be significantly different from those computed by the conventional approach that employs isotropic Lennard-Jones (12-6) potentials. The effect of using the presently computed accurate transport properties in 1-dimensional combustion simulations of methane-air flames was investigated.« less

  1. Comparison of Space Radiation Calculations from Deterministic and Monte Carlo Transport Codes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Adams, J. H.; Lin, Z. W.; Nasser, A. F.; Randeniya, S.; Tripathi, r. K.; Watts, J. W.; Yepes, P.

    2010-01-01

    The presentation outline includes motivation, radiation transport codes being considered, space radiation cases being considered, results for slab geometry, results from spherical geometry, and summary. ///////// main physics in radiation transport codes hzetrn uprop fluka geant4, slab geometry, spe, gcr,

  2. Development and Implementation of Photonuclear Cross-Section Data for Mutually Coupled Neutron-Photon Transport Calculations in the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) Radiation Transport Code

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    White, Morgan C.

    2000-07-01

    The fundamental motivation for the research presented in this dissertation was the need to development a more accurate prediction method for characterization of mixed radiation fields around medical electron accelerators (MEAs). Specifically, a model is developed for simulation of neutron and other particle production from photonuclear reactions and incorporated in the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) radiation transport code. This extension of the capability within the MCNP code provides for the more accurate assessment of the mixed radiation fields. The Nuclear Theory and Applications group of the Los Alamos National Laboratory has recently provided first-of-a-kind evaluated photonuclear data for a selectmore » group of isotopes. These data provide the reaction probabilities as functions of incident photon energy with angular and energy distribution information for all reaction products. The availability of these data is the cornerstone of the new methodology for state-of-the-art mutually coupled photon-neutron transport simulations. The dissertation includes details of the model development and implementation necessary to use the new photonuclear data within MCNP simulations. A new data format has been developed to include tabular photonuclear data. Data are processed from the Evaluated Nuclear Data Format (ENDF) to the new class ''u'' A Compact ENDF (ACE) format using a standalone processing code. MCNP modifications have been completed to enable Monte Carlo sampling of photonuclear reactions. Note that both neutron and gamma production are included in the present model. The new capability has been subjected to extensive verification and validation (V&V) testing. Verification testing has established the expected basic functionality. Two validation projects were undertaken. First, comparisons were made to benchmark data from literature. These calculations demonstrate the accuracy of the new data and transport routines to better than 25 percent. Second, the ability

  3. Space Radiation Transport Code Development: 3DHZETRN

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wilson, John W.; Slaba, Tony C.; Badavi, Francis F.; Reddell, Brandon D.; Bahadori, Amir A.

    2015-01-01

    The space radiation transport code, HZETRN, has been used extensively for research, vehicle design optimization, risk analysis, and related applications. One of the simplifying features of the HZETRN transport formalism is the straight-ahead approximation, wherein all particles are assumed to travel along a common axis. This reduces the governing equation to one spatial dimension allowing enormous simplification and highly efficient computational procedures to be implemented. Despite the physical simplifications, the HZETRN code is widely used for space applications and has been found to agree well with fully 3D Monte Carlo simulations in many circumstances. Recent work has focused on the development of 3D transport corrections for neutrons and light ions (Z < 2) for which the straight-ahead approximation is known to be less accurate. Within the development of 3D corrections, well-defined convergence criteria have been considered, allowing approximation errors at each stage in model development to be quantified. The present level of development assumes the neutron cross sections have an isotropic component treated within N explicit angular directions and a forward component represented by the straight-ahead approximation. The N = 1 solution refers to the straight-ahead treatment, while N = 2 represents the bi-directional model in current use for engineering design. The figure below shows neutrons, protons, and alphas for various values of N at locations in an aluminum sphere exposed to a solar particle event (SPE) spectrum. The neutron fluence converges quickly in simple geometry with N > 14 directions. The improved code, 3DHZETRN, transports neutrons, light ions, and heavy ions under space-like boundary conditions through general geometry while maintaining a high degree of computational efficiency. A brief overview of the 3D transport formalism for neutrons and light ions is given, and extensive benchmarking results with the Monte Carlo codes Geant4, FLUKA, and

  4. P1 Nonconforming Finite Element Method for the Solution of Radiation Transport Problems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kang, Kab S.

    2002-01-01

    The simulation of radiation transport in the optically thick flux-limited diffusion regime has been identified as one of the most time-consuming tasks within large simulation codes. Due to multimaterial complex geometry, the radiation transport system must often be solved on unstructured grids. In this paper, we investigate the behavior and the benefits of the unstructured P(sub 1) nonconforming finite element method, which has proven to be flexible and effective on related transport problems, in solving unsteady implicit nonlinear radiation diffusion problems using Newton and Picard linearization methods. Key words. nonconforrning finite elements, radiation transport, inexact Newton linearization, multigrid preconditioning

  5. A Mercury Model of Atmospheric Transport

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Christensen, Alex B.; Chodash, Perry A.; Procassini, R. J.

    Using the particle transport code Mercury, accurate models were built of the two sources used in Operation BREN, a series of radiation experiments performed by the United States during the 1960s. In the future, these models will be used to validate Mercury’s ability to simulate atmospheric transport.

  6. LDRD Final Review: Radiation Transport Calculations

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Goorley, John Timothy; Morgan, George Lake; Lestone, John Paul

    2017-06-22

    Both high-fidelity & toy simulations are being used to understand measured signals and improve the Area 11 NDSE diagnostic. We continue to gain more and more confidence in the ability for MCNP to simulate neutron and photon transport from source to radiation detector.

  7. IPOLE - semi-analytic scheme for relativistic polarized radiative transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mościbrodzka, M.; Gammie, C. F.

    2018-03-01

    We describe IPOLE, a new public ray-tracing code for covariant, polarized radiative transport. The code extends the IBOTHROS scheme for covariant, unpolarized transport using two representations of the polarized radiation field: In the coordinate frame, it parallel transports the coherency tensor; in the frame of the plasma it evolves the Stokes parameters under emission, absorption, and Faraday conversion. The transport step is implemented to be as spacetime- and coordinate- independent as possible. The emission, absorption, and Faraday conversion step is implemented using an analytic solution to the polarized transport equation with constant coefficients. As a result, IPOLE is stable, efficient, and produces a physically reasonable solution even for a step with high optical depth and Faraday depth. We show that the code matches analytic results in flat space, and that it produces results that converge to those produced by Dexter's GRTRANS polarized transport code on a complicated model problem. We expect IPOLE will mainly find applications in modelling Event Horizon Telescope sources, but it may also be useful in other relativistic transport problems such as modelling for the IXPE mission.

  8. Experimental validation of a coupled neutron-photon inverse radiation transport solver

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mattingly, John; Mitchell, Dean J.; Harding, Lee T.

    2011-10-01

    Sandia National Laboratories has developed an inverse radiation transport solver that applies nonlinear regression to coupled neutron-photon deterministic transport models. The inverse solver uses nonlinear regression to fit a radiation transport model to gamma spectrometry and neutron multiplicity counting measurements. The subject of this paper is the experimental validation of that solver. This paper describes a series of experiments conducted with a 4.5 kg sphere of α-phase, weapons-grade plutonium. The source was measured bare and reflected by high-density polyethylene (HDPE) spherical shells with total thicknesses between 1.27 and 15.24 cm. Neutron and photon emissions from the source were measured using three instruments: a gross neutron counter, a portable neutron multiplicity counter, and a high-resolution gamma spectrometer. These measurements were used as input to the inverse radiation transport solver to evaluate the solver's ability to correctly infer the configuration of the source from its measured radiation signatures.

  9. MESTRN: A Deterministic Meson-Muon Transport Code for Space Radiation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Blattnig, Steve R.; Norbury, John W.; Norman, Ryan B.; Wilson, John W.; Singleterry, Robert C., Jr.; Tripathi, Ram K.

    2004-01-01

    A safe and efficient exploration of space requires an understanding of space radiations, so that human life and sensitive equipment can be protected. On the way to these sensitive sites, the radiation fields are modified in both quality and quantity. Many of these modifications are thought to be due to the production of pions and muons in the interactions between the radiation and intervening matter. A method used to predict the effects of the presence of these particles on the transport of radiation through materials is developed. This method was then used to develop software, which was used to calculate the fluxes of pions and muons after the transport of a cosmic ray spectrum through aluminum and water. Software descriptions are given in the appendices.

  10. Monte Carlo Simulations of Radiative and Neutrino Transport under Astrophysical Conditions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Krivosheyev, Yu. M.; Bisnovatyi-Kogan, G. S.

    2018-05-01

    Monte Carlo simulations are utilized to model radiative and neutrino transfer in astrophysics. An algorithm that can be used to study radiative transport in astrophysical plasma based on simulations of photon trajectories in a medium is described. Formation of the hard X-ray spectrum of the Galactic microquasar SS 433 is considered in detail as an example. Specific requirements for applying such simulations to neutrino transport in a densemedium and algorithmic differences compared to its application to photon transport are discussed.

  11. Fluorescence molecular imaging based on the adjoint radiative transport equation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Asllanaj, Fatmir; Addoum, Ahmad; Rodolphe Roche, Jean

    2018-07-01

    A new reconstruction algorithm for fluorescence diffuse optical tomography of biological tissues is proposed. The radiative transport equation in the frequency domain is used to model light propagation. The adjoint method studied in this work provides an efficient way for solving the inverse problem. The methodology is applied to a 2D tissue-like phantom subjected to a collimated laser beam. Indocyanine Green is used as fluorophore. Reconstructed images of the spatial fluorophore absorption distribution is assessed taking into account the residual fluorescence in the medium. We show that illuminating the tissue surface from a collimated centered direction near the inclusion gaves a better reconstruction quality. Two closely positioned inclusions can be accurately localized. Additionally, their fluorophore absorption coefficients can be quantified. However, the algorithm failes to reconstruct smaller or deeper inclusions. This is due to light attenuation in the medium. Reconstructions with noisy data are also achieved with a reasonable accuracy.

  12. bhlight: General Relativistic Radiation Magnetohydrodynamics with Monte Carlo Transport

    DOE PAGES

    Ryan, Benjamin R; Dolence, Joshua C.; Gammie, Charles F.

    2015-06-25

    We present bhlight, a numerical scheme for solving the equations of general relativistic radiation magnetohydrodynamics using a direct Monte Carlo solution of the frequency-dependent radiative transport equation. bhlight is designed to evolve black hole accretion flows at intermediate accretion rate, in the regime between the classical radiatively efficient disk and the radiatively inefficient accretion flow (RIAF), in which global radiative effects play a sub-dominant but non-negligible role in disk dynamics. We describe the governing equations, numerical method, idiosyncrasies of our implementation, and a suite of test and convergence results. We also describe example applications to radiative Bondi accretion and tomore » a slowly accreting Kerr black hole in axisymmetry.« less

  13. High Performance Radiation Transport Simulations on TITAN

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Baker, Christopher G; Davidson, Gregory G; Evans, Thomas M

    2012-01-01

    In this paper we describe the Denovo code system. Denovo solves the six-dimensional, steady-state, linear Boltzmann transport equation, of central importance to nuclear technology applications such as reactor core analysis (neutronics), radiation shielding, nuclear forensics and radiation detection. The code features multiple spatial differencing schemes, state-of-the-art linear solvers, the Koch-Baker-Alcouffe (KBA) parallel-wavefront sweep algorithm for inverting the transport operator, a new multilevel energy decomposition method scaling to hundreds of thousands of processing cores, and a modern, novel code architecture that supports straightforward integration of new features. In this paper we discuss the performance of Denovo on the 10--20 petaflop ORNLmore » GPU-based system, Titan. We describe algorithms and techniques used to exploit the capabilities of Titan's heterogeneous compute node architecture and the challenges of obtaining good parallel performance for this sparse hyperbolic PDE solver containing inherently sequential computations. Numerical results demonstrating Denovo performance on early Titan hardware are presented.« less

  14. A Multistep Algorithm for the Radiation Hydrodynamical Transport of Cosmological Ionization Fronts and Ionized Flows

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Whalen, Daniel; Norman, Michael L.

    2006-02-01

    Radiation hydrodynamical transport of ionization fronts (I-fronts) in the next generation of cosmological reionization simulations holds the promise of predicting UV escape fractions from first principles as well as investigating the role of photoionization in feedback processes and structure formation. We present a multistep integration scheme for radiative transfer and hydrodynamics for accurate propagation of I-fronts and ionized flows from a point source in cosmological simulations. The algorithm is a photon-conserving method that correctly tracks the position of I-fronts at much lower resolutions than nonconservative techniques. The method applies direct hierarchical updates to the ionic species, bypassing the need for the costly matrix solutions required by implicit methods while retaining sufficient accuracy to capture the true evolution of the fronts. We review the physics of ionization fronts in power-law density gradients, whose analytical solutions provide excellent validation tests for radiation coupling schemes. The advantages and potential drawbacks of direct and implicit schemes are also considered, with particular focus on problem time-stepping, which if not properly implemented can lead to morphologically plausible I-front behavior that nonetheless departs from theory. We also examine the effect of radiation pressure from very luminous central sources on the evolution of I-fronts and flows.

  15. Faster and more accurate transport procedures for HZETRN

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Slaba, T. C.; Blattnig, S. R.; Badavi, F. F.

    2010-12-01

    The deterministic transport code HZETRN was developed for research scientists and design engineers studying the effects of space radiation on astronauts and instrumentation protected by various shielding materials and structures. In this work, several aspects of code verification are examined. First, a detailed derivation of the light particle ( A ⩽ 4) and heavy ion ( A > 4) numerical marching algorithms used in HZETRN is given. References are given for components of the derivation that already exist in the literature, and discussions are given for details that may have been absent in the past. The present paper provides a complete description of the numerical methods currently used in the code and is identified as a key component of the verification process. Next, a new numerical method for light particle transport is presented, and improvements to the heavy ion transport algorithm are discussed. A summary of round-off error is also given, and the impact of this error on previously predicted exposure quantities is shown. Finally, a coupled convergence study is conducted by refining the discretization parameters (step-size and energy grid-size). From this study, it is shown that past efforts in quantifying the numerical error in HZETRN were hindered by single precision calculations and computational resources. It is determined that almost all of the discretization error in HZETRN is caused by the use of discretization parameters that violate a numerical convergence criterion related to charged target fragments below 50 AMeV. Total discretization errors are given for the old and new algorithms to 100 g/cm 2 in aluminum and water, and the improved accuracy of the new numerical methods is demonstrated. Run time comparisons between the old and new algorithms are given for one, two, and three layer slabs of 100 g/cm 2 of aluminum, polyethylene, and water. The new algorithms are found to be almost 100 times faster for solar particle event simulations and almost 10

  16. Faster and more accurate transport procedures for HZETRN

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Slaba, T.C., E-mail: Tony.C.Slaba@nasa.go; Blattnig, S.R., E-mail: Steve.R.Blattnig@nasa.go; Badavi, F.F., E-mail: Francis.F.Badavi@nasa.go

    The deterministic transport code HZETRN was developed for research scientists and design engineers studying the effects of space radiation on astronauts and instrumentation protected by various shielding materials and structures. In this work, several aspects of code verification are examined. First, a detailed derivation of the light particle (A {<=} 4) and heavy ion (A > 4) numerical marching algorithms used in HZETRN is given. References are given for components of the derivation that already exist in the literature, and discussions are given for details that may have been absent in the past. The present paper provides a complete descriptionmore » of the numerical methods currently used in the code and is identified as a key component of the verification process. Next, a new numerical method for light particle transport is presented, and improvements to the heavy ion transport algorithm are discussed. A summary of round-off error is also given, and the impact of this error on previously predicted exposure quantities is shown. Finally, a coupled convergence study is conducted by refining the discretization parameters (step-size and energy grid-size). From this study, it is shown that past efforts in quantifying the numerical error in HZETRN were hindered by single precision calculations and computational resources. It is determined that almost all of the discretization error in HZETRN is caused by the use of discretization parameters that violate a numerical convergence criterion related to charged target fragments below 50 AMeV. Total discretization errors are given for the old and new algorithms to 100 g/cm{sup 2} in aluminum and water, and the improved accuracy of the new numerical methods is demonstrated. Run time comparisons between the old and new algorithms are given for one, two, and three layer slabs of 100 g/cm{sup 2} of aluminum, polyethylene, and water. The new algorithms are found to be almost 100 times faster for solar particle event simulations

  17. Diffusive vs. impulsive energetic electron transport during radiation belt storms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vassiliadis, D.; Koepke, M.; Tornquist, M.

    2008-12-01

    Earth's electron radiation belts are continually replenished by inward particle transport (as well as other, local acceleration processes) taking place during radiation belt storms. For some storms the radial transport is primarily diffusive while for others it is impulsive, or characterized by injections. To distinguish between these types of inward transport, we first use a dynamic model of the phase-space density as measured by POLAR/HIST and expressed in terms of adiabatic invariants [Green and Kivelson, 2004]. In a review of storms from 1997 to 2004 the coefficients of the model are peaked at characteristic temporal and phase- space (mu, k, L*) scales during specific storms. The transport is quantified in terms of those invariants which are violated and identified with peaks of the electron distribution in invariant space. Second, we run guiding- center simulations in wave fields fitted to in situ measurements complemented at low and high L by ground ULF pulsations. The modes of response identified in earlier studies from SAMPEX and POLAR electron flux measurements are now associated with primarily diffusive transport in the central range of the outer belt, L=4-8, and primarily impulsive transport near the plasmapause boundary, L=3-4.

  18. Radiation Belt Transport Driven by Solar Wind Dynamic Pressure Fluctuations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kress, B. T.; Hudson, M. K.; Ukhorskiy, A. Y.; Mueller, H.

    2012-12-01

    The creation of the Earth's outer zone radiation belts is attributed to earthward transport and adiabatic acceleration of electrons by drift-resonant interactions with electromagnetic fluctuations in the magnetosphere. Three types of radial transport driven by solar wind dynamic pressure fluctuations that have been identified are: (1) radial diffusion [Falthammer, 1965], (2) significant changes in the phase space density radial profile due to a single or few ULF drift-resonant interactions [Ukhorskiy et al., 2006; Degeling et al., 2008], and (3) shock associated injections of radiation belt electrons occurring in less than a drift period [Li et al., 1993]. A progress report will be given on work to fully characterize different forms of radial transport and their effect on the Earth's radiation belts. The work is being carried out by computing test-particle trajectories in electric and magnetic fields from a simple analytic ULF field model and from global MHD simulations of the magnetosphere. Degeling, A. W., L. G. Ozeke, R. Rankin, I. R. Mann, and K. Kabin (2008), Drift resonant generation of peaked relativistic electron distributions by Pc 5 ULF waves, textit{J. Geophys. Res., 113}, A02208, doi:10.1029/2007JA012411. Fälthammar, C.-G. (1965), Effects of Time-Dependent Electric Fields on Geomagnetically Trapped Radiation, J. Geophys. Res., 70(11), 2503-2516, doi:10.1029/JZ070i011p02503. Li, X., I. Roth, M. Temerin, J. R. Wygant, M. K. Hudson, and J. B. Blake (1993), Simulation of the prompt energization and transport of radiation belt particles during the March 24, 1991 SSC, textit{Geophys. Res. Lett., 20}(22), 2423-2426, doi:10.1029/93GL02701. Ukhorskiy, A. Y., B. J. Anderson, K. Takahashi, and N. A. Tsyganenko (2006), Impact of ULF oscillations in solar wind dynamic pressure on the outer radiation belt electrons, textit{Geophys. Res. Lett., 33}(6), L06111, doi:10.1029/2005GL024380.

  19. Convergence Studies of Mass Transport in Disks with Gravitational Instabilities. II. The Radiative Cooling Case

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Steiman-Cameron, Thomas Y.; Durisen, Richard H.; Boley, Aaron C.; Michael, Scott; McConnell, Caitlin R.

    2013-05-01

    We conduct a convergence study of a protoplanetary disk subject to gravitational instabilities (GIs) at a time of approximate balance between heating produced by the GIs and radiative cooling governed by realistic dust opacities. We examine cooling times, characterize GI-driven spiral waves and their resultant gravitational torques, and evaluate how accurately mass transport can be represented by an α-disk formulation. Four simulations, identical except for azimuthal resolution, are conducted with a grid-based three-dimensional hydrodynamics code. There are two regions in which behaviors differ as resolution increases. The inner region, which contains 75% of the disk mass and is optically thick, has long cooling times and is well converged in terms of various measures of structure and mass transport for the three highest resolutions. The longest cooling times coincide with radii where the Toomre Q has its minimum value. Torques are dominated in this region by two- and three-armed spirals. The effective α arising from gravitational stresses is typically a few × 10-3 and is only roughly consistent with local balance of heating and cooling when time-averaged over many dynamic times and a wide range of radii. On the other hand, the outer disk region, which is mostly optically thin, has relatively short cooling times and does not show convergence as resolution increases. Treatment of unstable disks with optical depths near unity with realistic radiative transport is a difficult numerical problem requiring further study. We discuss possible implications of our results for numerical convergence of fragmentation criteria in disk simulations.

  20. A Dynamic/Anisotropic Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Ionizing Radiation Model

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Badavi, Francis F.; West, Katie J.; Nealy, John E.; Wilson, John W.; Abrahms, Briana L.; Luetke, Nathan J.

    2006-01-01

    The International Space Station (ISS) provides the proving ground for future long duration human activities in space. Ionizing radiation measurements in ISS form the ideal tool for the experimental validation of ionizing radiation environmental models, nuclear transport code algorithms, and nuclear reaction cross sections. Indeed, prior measurements on the Space Transportation System (STS; Shuttle) have provided vital information impacting both the environmental models and the nuclear transport code development by requiring dynamic models of the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) environment. Previous studies using Computer Aided Design (CAD) models of the evolving ISS configurations with Thermo Luminescent Detector (TLD) area monitors, demonstrated that computational dosimetry requires environmental models with accurate non-isotropic as well as dynamic behavior, detailed information on rack loading, and an accurate 6 degree of freedom (DOF) description of ISS trajectory and orientation.

  1. ABC transporter activity linked to radiation resistance and molecular subtype in pediatric medulloblastoma

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Resistance to radiation treatment remains a major clinical problem for patients with brain cancer. Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor of childhood, and occurs in the cerebellum. Though radiation treatment has been critical in increasing survival rates in recent decades, the presence of resistant cells in a substantial number of medulloblastoma patients leads to relapse and death. Methods Using the established medulloblastoma cell lines UW228 and Daoy, we developed a novel model system to enrich for and study radiation tolerant cells early after radiation exposure. Using fluorescence-activated cell sorting, dead cells and cells that had initiated apoptosis were removed, allowing surviving cells to be investigated before extensive proliferation took place. Results Isolated surviving cells were tumorigenic in vivo and displayed elevated levels of ABCG2, an ABC transporter linked to stem cell behavior and drug resistance. Further investigation showed another family member, ABCA1, was also elevated in surviving cells in these lines, as well as in early passage cultures from pediatric medulloblastoma patients. We discovered that the multi-ABC transporter inhibitors verapamil and reserpine sensitized cells from particular patients to radiation, suggesting that ABC transporters have a functional role in cellular radiation protection. Additionally, verapamil had an intrinsic anti-proliferative effect, with transient exposure in vitro slowing subsequent in vivo tumor formation. When expression of key ABC transporter genes was assessed in medulloblastoma tissue from 34 patients, levels were frequently elevated compared with normal cerebellum. Analysis of microarray data from independent cohorts (n = 428 patients) showed expression of a number of ABC transporters to be strongly correlated with certain medulloblastoma subtypes, which in turn are associated with clinical outcome. Conclusions ABC transporter inhibitors are already being

  2. Real-Time Airborne Gamma-Ray Background Estimation Using NASVD with MLE and Radiation Transport for Calibration

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kulisek, Jonathan A.; Schweppe, John E.; Stave, Sean C.

    2015-06-01

    Helicopter-mounted gamma-ray detectors can provide law enforcement officials the means to quickly and accurately detect, identify, and locate radiological threats over a wide geographical area. The ability to accurately distinguish radiological threat-generated gamma-ray signatures from background gamma radiation in real time is essential in order to realize this potential. This problem is non-trivial, especially in urban environments for which the background may change very rapidly during flight. This exacerbates the challenge of estimating background due to the poor counting statistics inherent in real-time airborne gamma-ray spectroscopy measurements. To address this, we have developed a new technique for real-time estimation ofmore » background gamma radiation from aerial measurements. This method is built upon on the noise-adjusted singular value decomposition (NASVD) technique that was previously developed for estimating the potassium (K), uranium (U), and thorium (T) concentrations in soil post-flight. The method can be calibrated using K, U, and T spectra determined from radiation transport simulations along with basis functions, which may be determined empirically by applying maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to previously measured airborne gamma-ray spectra. The method was applied to both measured and simulated airborne gamma-ray spectra, with and without man-made radiological source injections. Compared to schemes based on simple averaging, this technique was less sensitive to background contamination from the injected man-made sources and may be particularly useful when the gamma-ray background frequently changes during the course of the flight.« less

  3. Faster Heavy Ion Transport for HZETRN

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Slaba, Tony C.

    2013-01-01

    The deterministic particle transport code HZETRN was developed to enable fast and accurate space radiation transport through materials. As more complex transport solutions are implemented for neutrons, light ions (Z < 2), mesons, and leptons, it is important to maintain overall computational efficiency. In this work, the heavy ion (Z > 2) transport algorithm in HZETRN is reviewed, and a simple modification is shown to provide an approximate 5x decrease in execution time for galactic cosmic ray transport. Convergence tests and other comparisons are carried out to verify that numerical accuracy is maintained in the new algorithm.

  4. New approach based on tetrahedral-mesh geometry for accurate 4D Monte Carlo patient-dose calculation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Han, Min Cheol; Yeom, Yeon Soo; Kim, Chan Hyeong; Kim, Seonghoon; Sohn, Jason W.

    2015-02-01

    In the present study, to achieve accurate 4D Monte Carlo dose calculation in radiation therapy, we devised a new approach that combines (1) modeling of the patient body using tetrahedral-mesh geometry based on the patient’s 4D CT data, (2) continuous movement/deformation of the tetrahedral patient model by interpolation of deformation vector fields acquired through deformable image registration, and (3) direct transportation of radiation particles during the movement and deformation of the tetrahedral patient model. The results of our feasibility study show that it is certainly possible to construct 4D patient models (= phantoms) with sufficient accuracy using the tetrahedral-mesh geometry and to directly transport radiation particles during continuous movement and deformation of the tetrahedral patient model. This new approach not only produces more accurate dose distribution in the patient but also replaces the current practice of using multiple 3D voxel phantoms and combining multiple dose distributions after Monte Carlo simulations. For routine clinical application of our new approach, the use of fast automatic segmentation algorithms is a must. In order to achieve, simultaneously, both dose accuracy and computation speed, the number of tetrahedrons for the lungs should be optimized. Although the current computation speed of our new 4D Monte Carlo simulation approach is slow (i.e. ~40 times slower than that of the conventional dose accumulation approach), this problem is resolvable by developing, in Geant4, a dedicated navigation class optimized for particle transportation in tetrahedral-mesh geometry.

  5. Comparison of Stopping Power and Range Databases for Radiation Transport Study

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tai, H.; Bichsel, Hans; Wilson, John W.; Shinn, Judy L.; Cucinotta, Francis A.; Badavi, Francis F.

    1997-01-01

    The codes used to calculate stopping power and range for the space radiation shielding program at the Langley Research Center are based on the work of Ziegler but with modifications. As more experience is gained from experiments at heavy ion accelerators, prudence dictates a reevaluation of the current databases. Numerical values of stopping power and range calculated from four different codes currently in use are presented for selected ions and materials in the energy domain suitable for space radiation transport. This study of radiation transport has found that for most collision systems and for intermediate particle energies, agreement is less than 1 percent, in general, among all the codes. However, greater discrepancies are seen for heavy systems, especially at low particle energies.

  6. Benchmark solutions for the galactic ion transport equations: Energy and spatially dependent problems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ganapol, Barry D.; Townsend, Lawrence W.; Wilson, John W.

    1989-01-01

    Nontrivial benchmark solutions are developed for the galactic ion transport (GIT) equations in the straight-ahead approximation. These equations are used to predict potential radiation hazards in the upper atmosphere and in space. Two levels of difficulty are considered: (1) energy independent, and (2) spatially independent. The analysis emphasizes analytical methods never before applied to the GIT equations. Most of the representations derived have been numerically implemented and compared to more approximate calculations. Accurate ion fluxes are obtained (3 to 5 digits) for nontrivial sources. For monoenergetic beams, both accurate doses and fluxes are found. The benchmarks presented are useful in assessing the accuracy of transport algorithms designed to accommodate more complex radiation protection problems. In addition, these solutions can provide fast and accurate assessments of relatively simple shield configurations.

  7. On the Transport and Radiative Properties of Plasmas with Small-Scale Electromagnetic Fluctuations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Keenan, Brett D.

    Plasmas with sub-Larmor-scale ("small-scale") electromagnetic fluctuations are a feature of a wide variety of high-energy-density environments, and are essential to the description of many astrophysical/laboratory plasma phenomena. Radiation from particles, whether they be relativistic or non-relativistic, moving through small-scale electromagnetic turbulence has spectral characteristics distinct from both synchrotron and cyclotron radiation. The radiation, carrying information on the statistical properties of the turbulence, is also intimately related to the particle diffusive transport. We investigate, both theoretically and numerically, the transport of non-relativistic and transrelativistic particles in plasmas with high-amplitude isotropic sub-Larmor-scale magnetic turbulence---both with and without a mean field component---and its relation to the spectra of radiation simultaneously produced by these particles. Furthermore, the transport of particles through small-scale electromagnetic turbulence---under certain conditions---resembles the random transport of particles---via Coulomb collisions---in collisional plasmas. The pitch-angle diffusion coefficient, which acts as an effective "collision" frequency, may be substantial in these, otherwise, collisionless environments. We show that this effect, colloquially referred to as the plasma "quasi-collisionality", may radically alter the expected radiative transport properties of candidate plasmas. We argue that the modified magneto-optic effects in these plasmas provide an attractive, novel, diagnostic tool for the exploration and characterization of small-scale electromagnetic turbulence. Lastly, we speculate upon the manner in which quasi-collisions may affect inertial confinement fusion (ICF), and other laser-plasma experiments. Finally, we show that mildly relativistic jitter radiation, from laser-produced plasmas, may offer insight into the underlying electromagnetic turbulence. Here we investigate the

  8. Calculation of radiation therapy dose using all particle Monte Carlo transport

    DOEpatents

    Chandler, William P.; Hartmann-Siantar, Christine L.; Rathkopf, James A.

    1999-01-01

    The actual radiation dose absorbed in the body is calculated using three-dimensional Monte Carlo transport. Neutrons, protons, deuterons, tritons, helium-3, alpha particles, photons, electrons, and positrons are transported in a completely coupled manner, using this Monte Carlo All-Particle Method (MCAPM). The major elements of the invention include: computer hardware, user description of the patient, description of the radiation source, physical databases, Monte Carlo transport, and output of dose distributions. This facilitated the estimation of dose distributions on a Cartesian grid for neutrons, photons, electrons, positrons, and heavy charged-particles incident on any biological target, with resolutions ranging from microns to centimeters. Calculations can be extended to estimate dose distributions on general-geometry (non-Cartesian) grids for biological and/or non-biological media.

  9. Calculation of radiation therapy dose using all particle Monte Carlo transport

    DOEpatents

    Chandler, W.P.; Hartmann-Siantar, C.L.; Rathkopf, J.A.

    1999-02-09

    The actual radiation dose absorbed in the body is calculated using three-dimensional Monte Carlo transport. Neutrons, protons, deuterons, tritons, helium-3, alpha particles, photons, electrons, and positrons are transported in a completely coupled manner, using this Monte Carlo All-Particle Method (MCAPM). The major elements of the invention include: computer hardware, user description of the patient, description of the radiation source, physical databases, Monte Carlo transport, and output of dose distributions. This facilitated the estimation of dose distributions on a Cartesian grid for neutrons, photons, electrons, positrons, and heavy charged-particles incident on any biological target, with resolutions ranging from microns to centimeters. Calculations can be extended to estimate dose distributions on general-geometry (non-Cartesian) grids for biological and/or non-biological media. 57 figs.

  10. In-Band Asymmetry Compensation for Accurate Time/Phase Transport over Optical Transport Network

    PubMed Central

    Siu, Sammy; Hu, Hsiu-fang; Lin, Shinn-Yan; Liao, Chia-Shu; Lai, Yi-Liang

    2014-01-01

    The demands of precise time/phase synchronization have been increasing recently due to the next generation of telecommunication synchronization. This paper studies the issues that are relevant to distributing accurate time/phase over optical transport network (OTN). Each node and link can introduce asymmetry, which affects the adequate time/phase accuracy over the networks. In order to achieve better accuracy, protocol level full timing support is used (e.g., Telecom-Boundary clock). Due to chromatic dispersion, the use of different wavelengths consequently causes fiber link delay asymmetry. The analytical result indicates that it introduces significant time error (i.e., phase offset) within 0.3397 ns/km in C-band or 0.3943 ns/km in L-band depending on the wavelength spacing. With the proposed scheme in this paper, the fiber link delay asymmetry can be compensated relying on the estimated mean fiber link delay by the Telecom-Boundary clock, while the OTN control plane is responsible for processing the fiber link delay asymmetry to determine the asymmetry compensation in the timing chain. PMID:24982948

  11. Comparison of Radiation Transport Codes, HZETRN, HETC and FLUKA, Using the 1956 Webber SPE Spectrum

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Heinbockel, John H.; Slaba, Tony C.; Blattnig, Steve R.; Tripathi, Ram K.; Townsend, Lawrence W.; Handler, Thomas; Gabriel, Tony A.; Pinsky, Lawrence S.; Reddell, Brandon; Clowdsley, Martha S.; hide

    2009-01-01

    Protection of astronauts and instrumentation from galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and solar particle events (SPE) in the harsh environment of space is of prime importance in the design of personal shielding, spacec raft, and mission planning. Early entry of radiation constraints into the design process enables optimal shielding strategies, but demands efficient and accurate tools that can be used by design engineers in every phase of an evolving space project. The radiation transport code , HZETRN, is an efficient tool for analyzing the shielding effectiveness of materials exposed to space radiation. In this paper, HZETRN is compared to the Monte Carlo codes HETC-HEDS and FLUKA, for a shield/target configuration comprised of a 20 g/sq cm Aluminum slab in front of a 30 g/cm^2 slab of water exposed to the February 1956 SPE, as mode led by the Webber spectrum. Neutron and proton fluence spectra, as well as dose and dose equivalent values, are compared at various depths in the water target. This study shows that there are many regions where HZETRN agrees with both HETC-HEDS and FLUKA for this shield/target configuration and the SPE environment. However, there are also regions where there are appreciable differences between the three computer c odes.

  12. Radiation safety of crew and passengers of air transportation in civil aviation. Provisional standards

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Aksenov, A. F.; Burnazyan, A. I.

    1985-01-01

    The purpose and application of the provisional standards for radiation safety of crew and passengers in civil aviation are given. The radiation effect of cosmic radiation in flight on civil aviation air transport is described. Standard levels of radiation and conditions of radiation safety are discussed.

  13. Benchmarking of Heavy Ion Transport Codes

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Remec, Igor; Ronningen, Reginald M.; Heilbronn, Lawrence

    Accurate prediction of radiation fields generated by heavy ion interactions is important in medical applications, space missions, and in designing and operation of rare isotope research facilities. In recent years, several well-established computer codes in widespread use for particle and radiation transport calculations have been equipped with the capability to simulate heavy ion transport and interactions. To assess and validate these capabilities, we performed simulations of a series of benchmark-quality heavy ion experiments with the computer codes FLUKA, MARS15, MCNPX, and PHITS. We focus on the comparisons of secondary neutron production. Results are encouraging; however, further improvements in models andmore » codes and additional benchmarking are required.« less

  14. Excited atoms in the free-burning Ar arc: treatment of the resonance radiation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Golubovskii, Yu; Kalanov, D.; Gortschakow, S.; Baeva, M.; Uhrlandt, D.

    2016-11-01

    The collisional-radiative model with an emphasis on the accurate treatment of the resonance radiation transport is developed and applied to the free-burning Ar arc plasma. This model allows for analysis of the influence of resonance radiation on the spatial density profiles of the atoms in different excited states. The comparison of the radial density profiles obtained using an effective transition probability approximation with the results of the accurate solution demonstrates the distinct impact of transport on the profiles and absolute densities of the excited atoms, especially in the arc fringes. The departures from the Saha-Boltzmann equilibrium distributions, caused by different radiative transitions, are analyzed. For the case of the DC arc, the local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) state holds close to the arc axis, while strong deviations from the equilibrium state on the periphery occur. In the intermediate radial positions the conditions of partial LTE are fulfilled.

  15. Radiative transport equation for the Mittag-Leffler path length distribution

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liemert, André; Kienle, Alwin

    2017-05-01

    In this paper, we consider the radiative transport equation for infinitely extended scattering media that are characterized by the Mittag-Leffler path length distribution p (ℓ ) =-∂ℓEα(-σtℓα ) , which is a generalization of the usually assumed Lambert-Beer law p (ℓ ) =σtexp(-σtℓ ) . In this context, we derive the infinite-space Green's function of the underlying fractional transport equation for the spherically symmetric medium as well as for the one-dimensional string. Moreover, simple analytical solutions are presented for the prediction of the radiation field in the single-scattering approximation. The resulting equations are compared with Monte Carlo simulations in the steady-state and time domain showing, within the stochastic nature of the simulations, an excellent agreement.

  16. Atmospheric transport, clouds and the Arctic longwave radiation paradox

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sedlar, Joseph

    2016-04-01

    Clouds interact with radiation, causing variations in the amount of electromagnetic energy reaching the Earth's surface, or escaping the climate system to space. While globally clouds lead to an overall cooling radiative effect at the surface, over the Arctic, where annual cloud fractions are high, the surface cloud radiative effect generally results in a warming. The additional energy input from absorption and re-emission of longwave radiation by the clouds to the surface can have a profound effect on the sea ice state. Anomalous atmospheric transport of heat and moisture into the Arctic, promoting cloud formation and enhancing surface longwave radiation anomalies, has been identified as an important mechanism in preconditioning Arctic sea ice for melt. Longwave radiation is emitted equally in all directions, and changes in the atmospheric infrared emission temperature and emissivity associated with advection of heat and moisture over the Arctic should correspondingly lead to an anomalous signal in longwave radiation at the top of the atmosphere (TOA). To examine the role of atmospheric heat and moisture transport into the Arctic on TOA longwave radiation, infrared satellite sounder observations from AIRS during 2003-2014 are analyzed for summer (JJAS). Thermodynamic metrics are developed to identify months characterized by a high frequency of warm and moist advection into the Arctic, and segregate the 2003-14 time period into climatological and anomalously warm, moist summer months. We find that anomalously warm, moist months result in a significant TOA longwave radiative cooling, which is opposite the forcing signal that the surface experiences during these months. At the timescale of the advective events, 3-10 days, the TOA cooling can be as large as the net surface energy budget during summer. When averaged on the monthly time scale, and over the full Arctic basin (poleward of 75°N), summer months experiencing frequent warm, moist advection events are

  17. Fast and Accurate Hybrid Stream PCRTMSOLAR Radiative Transfer Model for Reflected Solar Spectrum Simulation in the Cloudy Atmosphere

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Yang, Qiguang; Liu, Xu; Wu, Wan; Kizer, Susan; Baize, Rosemary R.

    2016-01-01

    A hybrid stream PCRTM-SOLAR model has been proposed for fast and accurate radiative transfer simulation. It calculates the reflected solar (RS) radiances with a fast coarse way and then, with the help of a pre-saved matrix, transforms the results to obtain the desired high accurate RS spectrum. The methodology has been demonstrated with the hybrid stream discrete ordinate (HSDO) radiative transfer (RT) model. The HSDO method calculates the monochromatic radiances using a 4-stream discrete ordinate method, where only a small number of monochromatic radiances are simulated with both 4-stream and a larger N-stream (N = 16) discrete ordinate RT algorithm. The accuracy of the obtained channel radiance is comparable to the result from N-stream moderate resolution atmospheric transmission version 5 (MODTRAN5). The root-mean-square errors are usually less than 5x10(exp -4) mW/sq cm/sr/cm. The computational speed is three to four-orders of magnitude faster than the medium speed correlated-k option MODTRAN5. This method is very efficient to simulate thousands of RS spectra under multi-layer clouds/aerosols and solar radiation conditions for climate change study and numerical weather prediction applications.

  18. An asymptotic preserving unified gas kinetic scheme for gray radiative transfer equations

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sun, Wenjun, E-mail: sun_wenjun@iapcm.ac.cn; Jiang, Song, E-mail: jiang@iapcm.ac.cn; Xu, Kun, E-mail: makxu@ust.hk

    The solutions of radiative transport equations can cover both optical thin and optical thick regimes due to the large variation of photon's mean-free path and its interaction with the material. In the small mean free path limit, the nonlinear time-dependent radiative transfer equations can converge to an equilibrium diffusion equation due to the intensive interaction between radiation and material. In the optical thin limit, the photon free transport mechanism will emerge. In this paper, we are going to develop an accurate and robust asymptotic preserving unified gas kinetic scheme (AP-UGKS) for the gray radiative transfer equations, where the radiation transportmore » equation is coupled with the material thermal energy equation. The current work is based on the UGKS framework for the rarefied gas dynamics [14], and is an extension of a recent work [12] from a one-dimensional linear radiation transport equation to a nonlinear two-dimensional gray radiative system. The newly developed scheme has the asymptotic preserving (AP) property in the optically thick regime in the capturing of diffusive solution without using a cell size being smaller than the photon's mean free path and time step being less than the photon collision time. Besides the diffusion limit, the scheme can capture the exact solution in the optical thin regime as well. The current scheme is a finite volume method. Due to the direct modeling for the time evolution solution of the interface radiative intensity, a smooth transition of the transport physics from optical thin to optical thick can be accurately recovered. Many numerical examples are included to validate the current approach.« less

  19. Evaluation of Spacecraft Shielding Effectiveness for Radiation Protection

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cucinotta, Francis A.; Wilson, John W.

    1999-01-01

    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.

  20. Computing Interactions Of Free-Space Radiation With Matter

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wilson, J. W.; Cucinotta, F. A.; Shinn, J. L.; Townsend, L. W.; Badavi, F. F.; Tripathi, R. K.; Silberberg, R.; Tsao, C. H.; Badwar, G. D.

    1995-01-01

    High Charge and Energy Transport (HZETRN) computer program computationally efficient, user-friendly package of software adressing problem of transport of, and shielding against, radiation in free space. Designed as "black box" for design engineers not concerned with physics of underlying atomic and nuclear radiation processes in free-space environment, but rather primarily interested in obtaining fast and accurate dosimetric information for design and construction of modules and devices for use in free space. Computational efficiency achieved by unique algorithm based on deterministic approach to solution of Boltzmann equation rather than computationally intensive statistical Monte Carlo method. Written in FORTRAN.

  1. Accurate temperature measurement by temperature field analysis in diamond anvil cell for thermal transport study of matter under high pressures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yue, Donghui; Ji, Tingting; Qin, Tianru; Wang, Jia; Liu, Cailong; Jiao, Hui; Zhao, Lin; Han, Yonghao; Gao, Chunxiao

    2018-02-01

    The study on the thermal transport properties of matter under high pressure is important but is hard to fulfill in a diamond anvil cell (DAC) because the accurate measurement of the temperature gradient within the sample of DAC is very difficult. In most cases, the sample temperature can be read accurately from the thermocouples that are directly attached to the lateral edges of diamond anvils because both the sample and diamond anvils can be uniformly heated up to a given temperature. But for the thermal transport property studies in DAC, an artificial temperature distribution along the compression axis is a prerequisite. Obviously, the temperature of the top or bottom surface of the sample cannot be substituted by that of diamond anvils although diamond anvils can be considered as a good medium for heat conduction. With temperature field simulation by finite element analysis, it is found that big measurement errors can occur and are fatal to the correct analysis of thermal transport properties of materials. Thus, a method of combining both the four-thermocouple configuration and temperature field analysis is presented for the accurate temperature distribution measurement in DAC, which is based on the single-function relationship between temperature distribution and sample thermal conductivity.

  2. Cirrus and Water Vapor Transport in the Tropical Tropopause Layer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dinh, Tra Phuong

    cirrus processes also depend sensitively on the deposition coefficient of water vapor on ice crystals. The deposition coefficient determines the depositional growth rate of ice crystals, hence microphysical and radiative properties of the cloud. In our simulations, larger values of the deposition coefficient correspond to less ice crystals nucleated during homogeneous freezing, larger ice crystal sizes, faster ice sedimentation, smaller radiative heating rate and weaker dynamics. These results indicate that detailed observations of the relative humidity in the vicinity of TTL cirrus and accurate laboratory measurements of the deposition coefficient are necessary to quantify the impact of TTL cirrus in the dehydration of the stratosphere. This research highlights the complex role of microphysical, radiative and dynamical processes in the transport of water vapor within TTL cirrus. It shows that under certain realistic conditions, TTL cirrus may lead to upward transport of water vapor, which results in moistening of the lower stratosphere. Thus it is not accurate to always associate TTL cirrus with stratospheric dehydration.

  3. COMPARISON OF MONTE CARLO METHODS FOR NONLINEAR RADIATION TRANSPORT

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    W. R. MARTIN; F. B. BROWN

    2001-03-01

    Five Monte Carlo methods for solving the nonlinear thermal radiation transport equations are compared. The methods include the well-known Implicit Monte Carlo method (IMC) developed by Fleck and Cummings, an alternative to IMC developed by Carter and Forest, an ''exact'' method recently developed by Ahrens and Larsen, and two methods recently proposed by Martin and Brown. The five Monte Carlo methods are developed and applied to the radiation transport equation in a medium assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium. Conservation of energy is derived and used to define appropriate material energy update equations for each of the methods. Details of the Montemore » Carlo implementation are presented, both for the random walk simulation and the material energy update. Simulation results for all five methods are obtained for two infinite medium test problems and a 1-D test problem, all of which have analytical solutions. Conclusions regarding the relative merits of the various schemes are presented.« less

  4. Radiative transport produced by oblique illumination of turbid media with collimated beams

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gardner, Adam R.; Kim, Arnold D.; Venugopalan, Vasan

    2013-06-01

    We examine the general problem of light transport initiated by oblique illumination of a turbid medium with a collimated beam. This situation has direct relevance to the analysis of cloudy atmospheres, terrestrial surfaces, soft condensed matter, and biological tissues. We introduce a solution approach to the equation of radiative transfer that governs this problem, and develop a comprehensive spherical harmonics expansion method utilizing Fourier decomposition (SHEFN). The SHEFN approach enables the solution of problems lacking azimuthal symmetry and provides both the spatial and directional dependence of the radiance. We also introduce the method of sequential-order smoothing that enables the calculation of accurate solutions from the results of two sequential low-order approximations. We apply the SHEFN approach to determine the spatial and angular dependence of both internal and boundary radiances from strongly and weakly scattering turbid media. These solutions are validated using more costly Monte Carlo simulations and reveal important insights regarding the evolution of the radiant field generated by oblique collimated beams spanning ballistic and diffusely scattering regimes.

  5. Galactic cosmic ray transport methods and radiation quality issues

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Townsend, L. W.; Wilson, J. W.; Cucinotta, F. A.; Shinn, J. L.

    1992-01-01

    An overview of galactic cosmic ray (GCR) interaction and transport methods, as implemented in the Langley Research Center GCR transport code, is presented. Representative results for solar minimum, exo-magnetospheric GCR dose equivalents in water are presented on a component by component basis for various thicknesses of aluminum shielding. The impact of proposed changes to the currently used quality factors on exposure estimates and shielding requirements are quantified. Using the cellular track model of Katz, estimates of relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for the mixed GCR radiation fields are also made.

  6. Anthology of the Development of Radiation Transport Tools as Applied to Single Event Effects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reed, R. A.; Weller, R. A.; Akkerman, A.; Barak, J.; Culpepper, W.; Duzellier, S.; Foster, C.; Gaillardin, M.; Hubert, G.; Jordan, T.; Jun, I.; Koontz, S.; Lei, F.; McNulty, P.; Mendenhall, M. H.; Murat, M.; Nieminen, P.; O'Neill, P.; Raine, M.; Reddell, B.; Saigné, F.; Santin, G.; Sihver, L.; Tang, H. H. K.; Truscott, P. R.; Wrobel, F.

    2013-06-01

    This anthology contains contributions from eleven different groups, each developing and/or applying Monte Carlo-based radiation transport tools to simulate a variety of effects that result from energy transferred to a semiconductor material by a single particle event. The topics span from basic mechanisms for single-particle induced failures to applied tasks like developing websites to predict on-orbit single event failure rates using Monte Carlo radiation transport tools.

  7. Particle radiation transport and effects models from research to space weather operations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Santin, Giovanni; Nieminen, Petteri; Rivera, Angela; Ibarmia, Sergio; Truscott, Pete; Lei, Fan; Desorgher, Laurent; Ivanchenko, Vladimir; Kruglanski, Michel; Messios, Neophytos

    Assessment of risk from potential radiation-induced effects to space systems requires knowledge of both the conditions of the radiation environment and of the impact of radiation on sensi-tive spacecraft elements. During sensitivity analyses, test data are complemented by models to predict how external radiation fields are transported and modified in spacecraft materials. Radiation transport is still itself a subject of research and models are continuously improved to describe the physical interactions that take place when particles pass through shielding materi-als or hit electronic systems or astronauts, sometimes down to nanometre-scale interactions of single particles with deep sub-micron technologies or DNA structures. In recent years, though, such radiation transport models are transitioning from being a research subject by itself, to being widely used in the space engineering domain and finally being directly applied in the context of operation of space weather services. A significant "research to operations" (R2O) case is offered by Geant4, an open source toolkit initially developed and used in the context of fundamental research in high energy physics. Geant4 is also being used in the space domain, e.g. for modelling detector responses in science payloads, but also for studying the radiation environment itself, with subjects ranging from cosmic rays, to solar energetic particles in the heliosphere, to geomagnetic shielding. Geant4-based tools are now becoming more and more integrated in spacecraft design procedures, also through user friendly interfaces such as SPEN-VIS. Some examples are given by MULASSIS, offering multi-layered shielding analysis capa-bilities in realistic spacecraft materials, or GEMAT, focused on micro-dosimetry in electronics, or PLANETOCOSMICS, describing the interaction of the space environment with planetary magneto-and atmospheres, or GRAS, providing a modular and easy to use interface to various analysis types in simple or

  8. New Parallel computing framework for radiation transport codes

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kostin, M.A.; /Michigan State U., NSCL; Mokhov, N.V.

    A new parallel computing framework has been developed to use with general-purpose radiation transport codes. The framework was implemented as a C++ module that uses MPI for message passing. The module is significantly independent of radiation transport codes it can be used with, and is connected to the codes by means of a number of interface functions. The framework was integrated with the MARS15 code, and an effort is under way to deploy it in PHITS. Besides the parallel computing functionality, the framework offers a checkpoint facility that allows restarting calculations with a saved checkpoint file. The checkpoint facility canmore » be used in single process calculations as well as in the parallel regime. Several checkpoint files can be merged into one thus combining results of several calculations. The framework also corrects some of the known problems with the scheduling and load balancing found in the original implementations of the parallel computing functionality in MARS15 and PHITS. The framework can be used efficiently on homogeneous systems and networks of workstations, where the interference from the other users is possible.« less

  9. Changing transport processes in the stratosphere by radiative heating of sulfate aerosols

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Niemeier, Ulrike; Schmidt, Hauke

    2017-12-01

    The injection of sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the stratosphere to form an artificial stratospheric aerosol layer is discussed as an option for solar radiation management. Sulfate aerosol scatters solar radiation and absorbs infrared radiation, which warms the stratospheric sulfur layer. Simulations with the general circulation model ECHAM5-HAM, including aerosol microphysics, show consequences of this warming, including changes of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) in the tropics. The QBO slows down after an injection of 4 Tg(S) yr-1 and completely shuts down after an injection of 8 Tg(S) yr-1. Transport of species in the tropics and sub-tropics depends on the phase of the QBO. Consequently, the heated aerosol layer not only impacts the oscillation of the QBO but also the meridional transport of the sulfate aerosols. The stronger the injection, the stronger the heating and the simulated impact on the QBO and equatorial wind systems. With increasing injection rate the velocity of the equatorial jet streams increases, and the less sulfate is transported out of the tropics. This reduces the global distribution of sulfate and decreases the radiative forcing efficiency of the aerosol layer by 10 to 14 % compared to simulations with low vertical resolution and without generated QBO. Increasing the height of the injection increases the radiative forcing only for injection rates below 10 Tg(S) yr-1 (8-18 %), a much smaller value than the 50 % calculated previously. Stronger injection rates at higher levels even result in smaller forcing than the injections at lower levels.

  10. The time-fractional radiative transport equation—Continuous-time random walk, diffusion approximation, and Legendre-polynomial expansion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Machida, Manabu

    2017-01-01

    We consider the radiative transport equation in which the time derivative is replaced by the Caputo derivative. Such fractional-order derivatives are related to anomalous transport and anomalous diffusion. In this paper we describe how the time-fractional radiative transport equation is obtained from continuous-time random walk and see how the equation is related to the time-fractional diffusion equation in the asymptotic limit. Then we solve the equation with Legendre-polynomial expansion.

  11. Explaining the dynamics of the ultra-relativistic third Van Allen radiation belt

    DOE PAGES

    Mann, I. R.; Ozeke, L. G.; Murphy, K. R.; ...

    2016-06-20

    Since the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts over 50 years ago, an explanation for their complete dynamics has remained elusive. Especially challenging is understanding the recently discovered ultra-relativistic third electron radiation belt. Current theory asserts that loss in the heart of the outer belt, essential to the formation of the third belt, must be controlled by high-frequency plasma wave–particle scattering into the atmosphere, via whistler mode chorus, plasmaspheric hiss, or electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves. However, this has failed to accurately reproduce the third belt. In this paper, using a data-driven, time-dependent specification of ultra-low-frequency (ULF) waves we showmore » for the first time how the third radiation belt is established as a simple, elegant consequence of storm-time extremely fast outward ULF wave transport. High-frequency wave–particle scattering loss into the atmosphere is not needed in this case. Finally, when rapid ULF wave transport coupled to a dynamic boundary is accurately specified, the sensitive dynamics controlling the enigmatic ultra-relativistic third radiation belt are naturally explained.« less

  12. Explaining the dynamics of the ultra-relativistic third Van Allen radiation belt

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mann, I. R.; Ozeke, L. G.; Murphy, K. R.

    Since the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts over 50 years ago, an explanation for their complete dynamics has remained elusive. Especially challenging is understanding the recently discovered ultra-relativistic third electron radiation belt. Current theory asserts that loss in the heart of the outer belt, essential to the formation of the third belt, must be controlled by high-frequency plasma wave–particle scattering into the atmosphere, via whistler mode chorus, plasmaspheric hiss, or electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves. However, this has failed to accurately reproduce the third belt. In this paper, using a data-driven, time-dependent specification of ultra-low-frequency (ULF) waves we showmore » for the first time how the third radiation belt is established as a simple, elegant consequence of storm-time extremely fast outward ULF wave transport. High-frequency wave–particle scattering loss into the atmosphere is not needed in this case. Finally, when rapid ULF wave transport coupled to a dynamic boundary is accurately specified, the sensitive dynamics controlling the enigmatic ultra-relativistic third radiation belt are naturally explained.« less

  13. Radiation pressure driving of a dusty atmosphere

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tsang, Benny T.-H.; Milosavljević, Miloš

    2015-10-01

    Radiation pressure can be dynamically important in star-forming environments such as ultra-luminous infrared and submillimetre galaxies. Whether and how radiation drives turbulence and bulk outflows in star formation sites is still unclear. The uncertainty in part reflects the limitations of direct numerical schemes that are currently used to simulate radiation transfer and radiation-gas coupling. An idealized setup in which radiation is introduced at the base of a dusty atmosphere in a gravitational field has recently become the standard test for radiation-hydrodynamics methods in the context of star formation. To a series of treatments featuring the flux-limited diffusion approximation as well as a short-characteristics tracing and M1 closure for the variable Eddington tensor approximation, we here add another treatment that is based on the implicit Monte Carlo radiation transfer scheme. Consistent with all previous treatments, the atmosphere undergoes Rayleigh-Taylor instability and readjusts to a near-Eddington-limited state. We detect late-time net acceleration in which the turbulent velocity dispersion matches that reported previously with the short-characteristics-based radiation transport closure, the most accurate of the three preceding treatments. Our technical result demonstrates the importance of accurate radiation transfer in simulations of radiative feedback.

  14. Geant4 Modifications for Accurate Fission Simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tan, Jiawei; Bendahan, Joseph

    Monte Carlo is one of the methods to simulate the generation and transport of radiation through matter. The most widely used radiation simulation codes are MCNP and Geant4. The simulation of fission production and transport by MCNP has been thoroughly benchmarked. There is an increasing number of users that prefer using Geant4 due to the flexibility of adding features. However, it has been found that Geant4 does not have the proper fission-production cross sections and does not produce the correct fission products. To achieve accurate results for studies in fissionable material applications, Geant4 was modified to correct these inaccuracies and to add new capabilities. The fission model developed by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory was integrated into the neutron-fission modeling package. The photofission simulation capability was enabled using the same neutron-fission library under the assumption that nuclei fission in the same way, independent of the excitation source. The modified fission code provides the correct multiplicity of prompt neutrons and gamma rays, and produces delayed gamma rays and neutrons with time and energy dependencies that are consistent with ENDF/B-VII. The delayed neutrons are now directly produced by a custom package that bypasses the fragment cascade model. The modifications were made for U-235, U-238 and Pu-239 isotopes; however, the new framework allows adding new isotopes easily. The SLAC nuclear data library is used for simulation of isotopes with an atomic number above 92 because it is not available in Geant4. Results of the modified Geant4.10.1 package of neutron-fission and photofission for prompt and delayed radiation are compared with ENDFB-VII and with results produced with the original package.

  15. Radiation Transport in Random Media With Large Fluctuations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Olson, Aaron; Prinja, Anil; Franke, Brian

    2017-09-01

    Neutral particle transport in media exhibiting large and complex material property spatial variation is modeled by representing cross sections as lognormal random functions of space and generated through a nonlinear memory-less transformation of a Gaussian process with covariance uniquely determined by the covariance of the cross section. A Karhunen-Loève decomposition of the Gaussian process is implemented to effciently generate realizations of the random cross sections and Woodcock Monte Carlo used to transport particles on each realization and generate benchmark solutions for the mean and variance of the particle flux as well as probability densities of the particle reflectance and transmittance. A computationally effcient stochastic collocation method is implemented to directly compute the statistical moments such as the mean and variance, while a polynomial chaos expansion in conjunction with stochastic collocation provides a convenient surrogate model that also produces probability densities of output quantities of interest. Extensive numerical testing demonstrates that use of stochastic reduced-order modeling provides an accurate and cost-effective alternative to random sampling for particle transport in random media.

  16. Radiation Transport Around Axisymmetric Blunt Body Vehicles Using a Modified Differential Approximation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hartung, Lin C.; Hassan, H. A.

    1992-01-01

    A moment method for computing 3-D radiative transport is applied to axisymmetric flows in thermochemical nonequilibrium. Such flows are representative of proposed aerobrake missions. The method uses the P-1 approximation to reduce the governing system of integro-di erential equations to a coupled set of partial di erential equations. A numerical solution method for these equations given actual variations of the radiation properties in thermochemical nonequilibrium blunt body flows is developed. Initial results from the method are shown and compared to tangent slab calculations. The agreement between the transport methods is found to be about 10 percent in the stagnation region, with the difference increasing along the flank of the vehicle.

  17. Implementation of tetrahedral-mesh geometry in Monte Carlo radiation transport code PHITS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Furuta, Takuya; Sato, Tatsuhiko; Han, Min Cheol; Yeom, Yeon Soo; Kim, Chan Hyeong; Brown, Justin L.; Bolch, Wesley E.

    2017-06-01

    A new function to treat tetrahedral-mesh geometry was implemented in the particle and heavy ion transport code systems. To accelerate the computational speed in the transport process, an original algorithm was introduced to initially prepare decomposition maps for the container box of the tetrahedral-mesh geometry. The computational performance was tested by conducting radiation transport simulations of 100 MeV protons and 1 MeV photons in a water phantom represented by tetrahedral mesh. The simulation was repeated with varying number of meshes and the required computational times were then compared with those of the conventional voxel representation. Our results show that the computational costs for each boundary crossing of the region mesh are essentially equivalent for both representations. This study suggests that the tetrahedral-mesh representation offers not only a flexible description of the transport geometry but also improvement of computational efficiency for the radiation transport. Due to the adaptability of tetrahedrons in both size and shape, dosimetrically equivalent objects can be represented by tetrahedrons with a much fewer number of meshes as compared its voxelized representation. Our study additionally included dosimetric calculations using a computational human phantom. A significant acceleration of the computational speed, about 4 times, was confirmed by the adoption of a tetrahedral mesh over the traditional voxel mesh geometry.

  18. Implementation of tetrahedral-mesh geometry in Monte Carlo radiation transport code PHITS.

    PubMed

    Furuta, Takuya; Sato, Tatsuhiko; Han, Min Cheol; Yeom, Yeon Soo; Kim, Chan Hyeong; Brown, Justin L; Bolch, Wesley E

    2017-06-21

    A new function to treat tetrahedral-mesh geometry was implemented in the particle and heavy ion transport code systems. To accelerate the computational speed in the transport process, an original algorithm was introduced to initially prepare decomposition maps for the container box of the tetrahedral-mesh geometry. The computational performance was tested by conducting radiation transport simulations of 100 MeV protons and 1 MeV photons in a water phantom represented by tetrahedral mesh. The simulation was repeated with varying number of meshes and the required computational times were then compared with those of the conventional voxel representation. Our results show that the computational costs for each boundary crossing of the region mesh are essentially equivalent for both representations. This study suggests that the tetrahedral-mesh representation offers not only a flexible description of the transport geometry but also improvement of computational efficiency for the radiation transport. Due to the adaptability of tetrahedrons in both size and shape, dosimetrically equivalent objects can be represented by tetrahedrons with a much fewer number of meshes as compared its voxelized representation. Our study additionally included dosimetric calculations using a computational human phantom. A significant acceleration of the computational speed, about 4 times, was confirmed by the adoption of a tetrahedral mesh over the traditional voxel mesh geometry.

  19. Atmospheric Ionizing Radiation and the High Speed Civil Transport. Chapter 1

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Maiden, D. L.; Wilson, J. W.; Jones, I. W.; Goldhagen, P.

    2003-01-01

    Atmospheric ionizing radiation is produced by extraterrestrial radiations incident on the Earth's atmosphere. These extraterrestrial radiations are of two sources: ever present galactic cosmic rays with origin outside the solar system and transient solar particle events that are at times very intense events associated with solar activity lasting several hours to a few days. Although the galactic radiation penetrating through the atmosphere to the ground is low in intensity, the intensity is more than two orders of magnitude greater at commercial aircraft altitudes. The radiation levels at the higher altitudes of the High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) are an additional factor of two higher. Ionizing radiation produces chemically active radicals in biological tissues that alter the cell function or result in cell death. Protection standards against low levels of ionizing radiation are based on limitation of excess cancer mortality or limitation of developmental injury resulting in permanent damage to the offspring during pregnancy. The crews of commercial air transport operations are considered as radiation workers by the EPA, the FAA, and the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). The annual exposures of aircrews depend on the latitudes and altitudes of operation and flight time. Flight hours have significantly increased since deregulation of the airline industry in the 1980's. The FAA estimates annual subsonic aircrew exposures to range from 0.2 to 9.1 mSv compared to 0.5 mSv exposure of the average nuclear power plant worker in the nuclear industry. The commercial aircrews of the HSCT may receive exposures above recently recommended allowable limits for even radiation workers if flying their allowable number of flight hours. An adequate protection philosophy for background exposures in HSCT commercial airtraffic cannot be developed at this time due to current uncertainty in environmental levels. In addition, if a large solar particle event

  20. Benchmarking of Neutron Production of Heavy-Ion Transport Codes

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Remec, Igor; Ronningen, Reginald M.; Heilbronn, Lawrence

    Accurate prediction of radiation fields generated by heavy ion interactions is important in medical applications, space missions, and in design and operation of rare isotope research facilities. In recent years, several well-established computer codes in widespread use for particle and radiation transport calculations have been equipped with the capability to simulate heavy ion transport and interactions. To assess and validate these capabilities, we performed simulations of a series of benchmark-quality heavy ion experiments with the computer codes FLUKA, MARS15, MCNPX, and PHITS. We focus on the comparisons of secondary neutron production. Results are encouraging; however, further improvements in models andmore » codes and additional benchmarking are required.« less

  1. Physical basis of radiation protection in space travel

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Durante, Marco; Cucinotta, Francis A.

    2011-10-01

    The health risks of space radiation are arguably the most serious challenge to space exploration, possibly preventing these missions due to safety concerns or increasing their costs to amounts beyond what would be acceptable. Radiation in space is substantially different from Earth: high-energy (E) and charge (Z) particles (HZE) provide the main contribution to the equivalent dose in deep space, whereas γ rays and low-energy α particles are major contributors on Earth. This difference causes a high uncertainty on the estimated radiation health risk (including cancer and noncancer effects), and makes protection extremely difficult. In fact, shielding is very difficult in space: the very high energy of the cosmic rays and the severe mass constraints in spaceflight represent a serious hindrance to effective shielding. Here the physical basis of space radiation protection is described, including the most recent achievements in space radiation transport codes and shielding approaches. Although deterministic and Monte Carlo transport codes can now describe well the interaction of cosmic rays with matter, more accurate double-differential nuclear cross sections are needed to improve the codes. Energy deposition in biological molecules and related effects should also be developed to achieve accurate risk models for long-term exploratory missions. Passive shielding can be effective for solar particle events; however, it is limited for galactic cosmic rays (GCR). Active shielding would have to overcome challenging technical hurdles to protect against GCR. Thus, improved risk assessment and genetic and biomedical approaches are a more likely solution to GCR radiation protection issues.

  2. Nanoscale radiation transport and clinical beam modeling for gold nanoparticle dose enhanced radiotherapy (GNPT) using X-rays

    PubMed Central

    Sajo, Erno

    2016-01-01

    We review radiation transport and clinical beam modelling for gold nanoparticle dose-enhanced radiotherapy using X-rays. We focus on the nanoscale radiation transport and its relation to macroscopic dosimetry for monoenergetic and clinical beams. Among other aspects, we discuss Monte Carlo and deterministic methods and their applications to predicting dose enhancement using various metrics. PMID:26642305

  3. F--Ray: A new algorithm for efficient transport of ionizing radiation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mao, Yi; Zhang, J.; Wandelt, B. D.; Shapiro, P. R.; Iliev, I. T.

    2014-04-01

    We present a new algorithm for the 3D transport of ionizing radiation, called F2-Ray (Fast Fourier Ray-tracing method). The transfer of ionizing radiation with long mean free path in diffuse intergalactic gas poses a special challenge to standard numerical methods which transport the radiation in position space. Standard methods usually trace each individual ray until it is fully absorbed by the intervening gas. If the mean free path is long, the computational cost and memory load are likely to be prohibitive. We have developed an algorithm that overcomes these limitations and is, therefore, significantly more efficient. The method calculates the transfer of radiation collectively, using the Fast Fourier Transform to convert radiation between position and Fourier spaces, so the computational cost will not increase with the number of ionizing sources. The method also automatically combines parallel rays with the same frequency at the same grid cell, thereby minimizing the memory requirement. The method is explicitly photon-conserving, i.e. the depletion of ionizing photons is guaranteed to equal the photoionizations they caused, and explicitly obeys the periodic boundary condition, i.e. the escape of ionizing photons from one side of a simulation volume is guaranteed to be compensated by emitting the same amount of photons into the volume through the opposite side. Together, these features make it possible to numerically simulate the transfer of ionizing photons more efficiently than previous methods. Since ionizing radiation such as the X-ray is responsible for heating the intergalactic gas when first stars and quasars form at high redshifts, our method can be applied to simulate thermal distribution, in addition to cosmic reionization, in three-dimensional inhomogeneous cosmological density field.

  4. An asymptotic preserving unified gas kinetic scheme for frequency-dependent radiative transfer equations

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sun, Wenjun, E-mail: sun_wenjun@iapcm.ac.cn; Jiang, Song, E-mail: jiang@iapcm.ac.cn; Xu, Kun, E-mail: makxu@ust.hk

    This paper presents an extension of previous work (Sun et al., 2015 [22]) of the unified gas kinetic scheme (UGKS) for the gray radiative transfer equations to the frequency-dependent (multi-group) radiative transfer system. Different from the gray radiative transfer equations, where the optical opacity is only a function of local material temperature, the simulation of frequency-dependent radiative transfer is associated with additional difficulties from the frequency-dependent opacity. For the multiple frequency radiation, the opacity depends on both the spatial location and the frequency. For example, the opacity is typically a decreasing function of frequency. At the same spatial region themore » transport physics can be optically thick for the low frequency photons, and optically thin for high frequency ones. Therefore, the optical thickness is not a simple function of space location. In this paper, the UGKS for frequency-dependent radiative system is developed. The UGKS is a finite volume method and the transport physics is modeled according to the ratio of the cell size to the photon's frequency-dependent mean free path. When the cell size is much larger than the photon's mean free path, a diffusion solution for such a frequency radiation will be obtained. On the other hand, when the cell size is much smaller than the photon's mean free path, a free transport mechanism will be recovered. In the regime between the above two limits, with the variation of the ratio between the local cell size and photon's mean free path, the UGKS provides a smooth transition in the physical and frequency space to capture the corresponding transport physics accurately. The seemingly straightforward extension of the UGKS from the gray to multiple frequency radiation system is due to its intrinsic consistent multiple scale transport modeling, but it still involves lots of work to properly discretize the multiple groups in order to design an asymptotic preserving (AP) scheme in

  5. Use of Existing CAD Models for Radiation Shielding Analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lee, K. T.; Barzilla, J. E.; Wilson, P.; Davis, A.; Zachman, J.

    2015-01-01

    The utility of a radiation exposure analysis depends not only on the accuracy of the underlying particle transport code, but also on the accuracy of the geometric representations of both the vehicle used as radiation shielding mass and the phantom representation of the human form. The current NASA/Space Radiation Analysis Group (SRAG) process to determine crew radiation exposure in a vehicle design incorporates both output from an analytic High Z and Energy Particle Transport (HZETRN) code and the properties (i.e., material thicknesses) of a previously processed drawing. This geometry pre-process can be time-consuming, and the results are less accurate than those determined using a Monte Carlo-based particle transport code. The current work aims to improve this process. Although several Monte Carlo programs (FLUKA, Geant4) are readily available, most use an internal geometry engine. The lack of an interface with the standard CAD formats used by the vehicle designers limits the ability of the user to communicate complex geometries. Translation of native CAD drawings into a format readable by these transport programs is time consuming and prone to error. The Direct Accelerated Geometry -United (DAGU) project is intended to provide an interface between the native vehicle or phantom CAD geometry and multiple particle transport codes to minimize problem setup, computing time and analysis error.

  6. Engineering the Charge Transport of Ag Nanocrystals for Highly Accurate, Wearable Temperature Sensors through All-Solution Processes.

    PubMed

    Joh, Hyungmok; Lee, Seung-Wook; Seong, Mingi; Lee, Woo Seok; Oh, Soong Ju

    2017-06-01

    All-nanocrystal (NC)-based and all-solution-processed wearable resistance temperature detectors (RTDs) are introduced. The charge transport mechanisms of Ag NC thin films are engineered through various ligand treatments to design high performance RTDs. Highly conductive Ag NC thin films exhibiting metallic transport behavior with high positive temperature coefficients of resistance (TCRs) are achieved through tetrabutylammonium bromide treatment. Ag NC thin films showing hopping transport with high negative TCRs are created through organic ligand treatment. All-solution-based, one-step photolithography techniques that integrate two distinct opposite-sign TCR Ag NC thin films into an ultrathin single device are developed to decouple the mechanical effects such as human motion. The unconventional materials design and strategy enables highly accurate, sensitive, wearable and motion-free RTDs, demonstrated by experiments on moving or curved objects such as human skin, and simulation results based on charge transport analysis. This strategy provides a low cost and simple method to design wearable multifunctional sensors with high sensitivity which could be utilized in various fields such as biointegrated sensors or electronic skin. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  7. Radiation safety aspects of commercial high-speed flight transportation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wilson, John W.; Nealy, John E.; Cucinotta, Francis A.; Shinn, Judy L.; Hajnal, Ferenc; Reginatto, Marcel; Goldhagen, Paul

    1995-01-01

    High-speed commercial flight transportation is being studied for intercontinental operations in the 21st century, the projected operational characteristics for these aircraft are examined, the radiation environment as it is now known is presented, and the relevant health issues are discussed. Based on a critical examination of the data, a number of specific issues need to be addressed to ensure an adequate knowledge of the ionizing radiation health risks of these aircraft operations. Large uncertainties in our knowledge of the physical fields for high-energy neutrons and multiply-charged ion components need to be reduced. Improved methods for estimating risks in prenatal exposure need to be developed. A firm basis for solar flare monitoring and forecasting needs to be developed with means of exposure abatement.

  8. Benchmarking of neutron production of heavy-ion transport codes

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Remec, I.; Ronningen, R. M.; Heilbronn, L.

    Document available in abstract form only, full text of document follows: Accurate prediction of radiation fields generated by heavy ion interactions is important in medical applications, space missions, and in design and operation of rare isotope research facilities. In recent years, several well-established computer codes in widespread use for particle and radiation transport calculations have been equipped with the capability to simulate heavy ion transport and interactions. To assess and validate these capabilities, we performed simulations of a series of benchmark-quality heavy ion experiments with the computer codes FLUKA, MARS15, MCNPX, and PHITS. We focus on the comparisons of secondarymore » neutron production. Results are encouraging; however, further improvements in models and codes and additional benchmarking are required. (authors)« less

  9. Surface temperatures in New York City: Geospatial data enables the accurate prediction of radiative heat transfer.

    PubMed

    Ghandehari, Masoud; Emig, Thorsten; Aghamohamadnia, Milad

    2018-02-02

    Despite decades of research seeking to derive the urban energy budget, the dynamics of thermal exchange in the densely constructed environment is not yet well understood. Using New York City as a study site, we present a novel hybrid experimental-computational approach for a better understanding of the radiative heat transfer in complex urban environments. The aim of this work is to contribute to the calculation of the urban energy budget, particularly the stored energy. We will focus our attention on surface thermal radiation. Improved understanding of urban thermodynamics incorporating the interaction of various bodies, particularly in high rise cities, will have implications on energy conservation at the building scale, and for human health and comfort at the urban scale. The platform presented is based on longwave hyperspectral imaging of nearly 100 blocks of Manhattan, in addition to a geospatial radiosity model that describes the collective radiative heat exchange between multiple buildings. Despite assumptions in surface emissivity and thermal conductivity of buildings walls, the close comparison of temperatures derived from measurements and computations is promising. Results imply that the presented geospatial thermodynamic model of urban structures can enable accurate and high resolution analysis of instantaneous urban surface temperatures.

  10. Cloud-radiative effects on implied oceanic energy transport as simulated by atmospheric general circulation models

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gleckler, P. J.; Randall, D. A.; Boer, G.; Colman, R.; Dix, M.; Galin, V.; Helfand, M.; Kiehl, J.; Kitoh, A.; Lau, W.

    1995-01-01

    This paper summarizes the ocean surface net energy flux simulated by fifteen atmospheric general circulation models constrained by realistically-varying sea surface temperatures and sea ice as part of the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project. In general, the simulated energy fluxes are within the very large observational uncertainties. However, the annual mean oceanic meridional heat transport that would be required to balance the simulated surface fluxes is shown to be critically sensitive to the radiative effects of clouds, to the extent that even the sign of the Southern Hemisphere ocean heat transport can be affected by the errors in simulated cloud-radiation interactions. It is suggested that improved treatment of cloud radiative effects should help in the development of coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models.

  11. Transport methods and interactions for space radiations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wilson, John W.; Townsend, Lawrence W.; Schimmerling, Walter S.; Khandelwal, Govind S.; Khan, Ferdous S.; Nealy, John E.; Cucinotta, Francis A.; Simonsen, Lisa C.; Shinn, Judy L.; Norbury, John W.

    1991-01-01

    A review of the program in space radiation protection at the Langley Research Center is given. The relevant Boltzmann equations are given with a discussion of approximation procedures for space applications. The interaction coefficients are related to solution of the many-body Schroedinger equation with nuclear and electromagnetic forces. Various solution techniques are discussed to obtain relevant interaction cross sections with extensive comparison with experiments. Solution techniques for the Boltzmann equations are discussed in detail. Transport computer code validation is discussed through analytical benchmarking, comparison with other codes, comparison with laboratory experiments and measurements in space. Applications to lunar and Mars missions are discussed.

  12. Simultaneous event-specific estimates of transport, loss, and source rates for relativistic outer radiation belt electrons: Event-Specific 1-D Modeling

    DOE PAGES

    Schiller, Q.; Tu, W.; Ali, A. F.; ...

    2017-03-11

    The most significant unknown regarding relativistic electrons in Earth’s outer Van Allen radiation belt is the relative contribution of loss, transport, and acceleration processes within the inner magnetosphere. Detangling each individual process is critical to improve the understanding of radiation belt dynamics, but determining a single component is challenging due to sparse measurements in diverse spatial and temporal regimes. However, there are currently an unprecedented number of spacecraft taking measurements that sample different regions of the inner magnetosphere. With the increasing number of varied observational platforms, system dynamics can begin to be unraveled. In this work, we employ in-situ measurementsmore » during the 13-14 January 2013 enhancement event to isolate transport, loss, and source dynamics in a one dimensional radial diffusion model. We then validate the results by comparing them to Van Allen Probes and THEMIS observations, indicating that the three terms have been accurately and individually quantified for the event. Finally, a direct comparison is performed between the model containing event-specific terms and various models containing terms parameterized by geomagnetic index. Models using a simple 3/Kp loss timescale show deviation from the event specific model of nearly two orders of magnitude within 72 hours of the enhancement event. However, models using alternative loss timescales closely resemble the event specific model.« less

  13. Simultaneous event-specific estimates of transport, loss, and source rates for relativistic outer radiation belt electrons: Event-Specific 1-D Modeling

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Schiller, Q.; Tu, W.; Ali, A. F.

    The most significant unknown regarding relativistic electrons in Earth’s outer Van Allen radiation belt is the relative contribution of loss, transport, and acceleration processes within the inner magnetosphere. Detangling each individual process is critical to improve the understanding of radiation belt dynamics, but determining a single component is challenging due to sparse measurements in diverse spatial and temporal regimes. However, there are currently an unprecedented number of spacecraft taking measurements that sample different regions of the inner magnetosphere. With the increasing number of varied observational platforms, system dynamics can begin to be unraveled. In this work, we employ in-situ measurementsmore » during the 13-14 January 2013 enhancement event to isolate transport, loss, and source dynamics in a one dimensional radial diffusion model. We then validate the results by comparing them to Van Allen Probes and THEMIS observations, indicating that the three terms have been accurately and individually quantified for the event. Finally, a direct comparison is performed between the model containing event-specific terms and various models containing terms parameterized by geomagnetic index. Models using a simple 3/Kp loss timescale show deviation from the event specific model of nearly two orders of magnitude within 72 hours of the enhancement event. However, models using alternative loss timescales closely resemble the event specific model.« less

  14. A Deterministic Electron, Photon, Proton and Heavy Ion Radiation Transport Suite for the Study of the Jovian System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Norman, Ryan B.; Badavi, Francis F.; Blattnig, Steve R.; Atwell, William

    2011-01-01

    A deterministic suite of radiation transport codes, developed at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC), which describe the transport of electrons, photons, protons, and heavy ions in condensed media is used to simulate exposures from spectral distributions typical of electrons, protons and carbon-oxygen-sulfur (C-O-S) trapped heavy ions in the Jovian radiation environment. The particle transport suite consists of a coupled electron and photon deterministic transport algorithm (CEPTRN) and a coupled light particle and heavy ion deterministic transport algorithm (HZETRN). The primary purpose for the development of the transport suite is to provide a means for the spacecraft design community to rapidly perform numerous repetitive calculations essential for electron, proton and heavy ion radiation exposure assessments in complex space structures. In this paper, the radiation environment of the Galilean satellite Europa is used as a representative boundary condition to show the capabilities of the transport suite. While the transport suite can directly access the output electron spectra of the Jovian environment as generated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Galileo Interim Radiation Electron (GIRE) model of 2003; for the sake of relevance to the upcoming Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM), the 105 days at Europa mission fluence energy spectra provided by JPL is used to produce the corresponding dose-depth curve in silicon behind an aluminum shield of 100 mils ( 0.7 g/sq cm). The transport suite can also accept ray-traced thickness files from a computer-aided design (CAD) package and calculate the total ionizing dose (TID) at a specific target point. In that regard, using a low-fidelity CAD model of the Galileo probe, the transport suite was verified by comparing with Monte Carlo (MC) simulations for orbits JOI--J35 of the Galileo extended mission (1996-2001). For the upcoming EJSM mission with a potential launch date of 2020, the transport suite is used to compute

  15. On MHD rotational transport, instabilities and dynamo action in stellar radiation zones

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mathis, Stéphane; Brun, A.-S.; Zahn, J.-P.

    2009-04-01

    Magnetic field and their related dynamical effects are thought to be important in stellar radiation zones. For instance, it has been suggested that a dynamo, sustained by a m = 1 MHD instability of toroidal magnetic fields (discovered by Tayler in 1973), could lead to a strong transport of angular momentum and of chemicals in such stable regions. We wish here to recall the different magnetic transport processes present in radiative zone and show how the dynamo can operate by recalling the conditions required to close the dynamo loop (BPol → BTor → BPol). Helped by high-resolution 3D MHD simulations using the ASH code in the solar case, we confirm the existence of the m = 1 instability, study its non-linear saturation, but we do not detect, up to a magnetic Reylnods number of 105, any dynamo action.

  16. Discontinuous Galerkin finite element methods for radiative transfer in spherical symmetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kitzmann, D.; Bolte, J.; Patzer, A. B. C.

    2016-11-01

    The discontinuous Galerkin finite element method (DG-FEM) is successfully applied to treat a broad variety of transport problems numerically. In this work, we use the full capacity of the DG-FEM to solve the radiative transfer equation in spherical symmetry. We present a discontinuous Galerkin method to directly solve the spherically symmetric radiative transfer equation as a two-dimensional problem. The transport equation in spherical atmospheres is more complicated than in the plane-parallel case owing to the appearance of an additional derivative with respect to the polar angle. The DG-FEM formalism allows for the exact integration of arbitrarily complex scattering phase functions, independent of the angular mesh resolution. We show that the discontinuous Galerkin method is able to describe accurately the radiative transfer in extended atmospheres and to capture discontinuities or complex scattering behaviour which might be present in the solution of certain radiative transfer tasks and can, therefore, cause severe numerical problems for other radiative transfer solution methods.

  17. Use of single scatter electron monte carlo transport for medical radiation sciences

    DOEpatents

    Svatos, Michelle M.

    2001-01-01

    The single scatter Monte Carlo code CREEP models precise microscopic interactions of electrons with matter to enhance physical understanding of radiation sciences. It is designed to simulate electrons in any medium, including materials important for biological studies. It simulates each interaction individually by sampling from a library which contains accurate information over a broad range of energies.

  18. Stormtime ring current and radiation belt ion transport: Simulations and interpretations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lyons, Larry R.; Gorney, David J.; Chen, Margaret W.; Schulz, Michael

    1995-01-01

    We use a dynamical guiding-center model to investigate the stormtime transport of ring current and radiation-belt ions. We trace the motion of representative ions' guiding centers in response to model substorm-associated impulses in the convection electric field for a range of ion energies. Our simple magnetospheric model allows us to compare our numerical results quantitatively with analytical descriptions of particle transport, (e.g., with the quasilinear theory of radial diffusion). We find that 10-145-keV ions gain access to L approximately 3, where they can form the stormtime ring current, mainly from outside the (trapping) region in which particles execute closed drift paths. Conversely, the transport of higher-energy ions (approximately greater than 145 keV at L approximately 3) turns out to resemble radial diffusion. The quasilinear diffusion coefficient calculated for our model storm does not vary smoothly with particle energy, since our impulses occur at specific (although randomly determined) times. Despite the spectral irregularity, quasilinear theory provides a surprisingly accurate description of the transport process for approximately greater than 145-keV ions, even for the case of an individual storm. For 4 different realizations of our model storm, the geometric mean discrepancies between diffusion coefficients D(sup sim, sub LL) obtained from the simulations and the quasilinear diffusion coefficient D(sup ql, sub LL) amount to factors of 2.3, 2.3, 1.5, and 3.0, respectively. We have found that these discrepancies between D(sup sim, sub LL) and D(sup ql, sub LL) can be reduced slightly by invoking drift-resonance broadening to smooth out the sharp minima and maxima in D(sup ql, sub LL). The mean of the remaining discrepancies between D(sup sim, sub LL) and D(sup ql, sub LL) for the 4 different storms then amount to factors of 1.9, 2.1, 1.5, and 2.7, respectively. We find even better agreement when we reduce the impulse amplitudes systematically in

  19. Gray and multigroup radiation transport models for two-dimensional binary stochastic media using effective opacities

    DOE PAGES

    Olson, Gordon L.

    2015-09-24

    One-dimensional models for the transport of radiation through binary stochastic media do not work in multi-dimensions. In addition, authors have attempted to modify or extend the 1D models to work in multidimensions without success. Analytic one-dimensional models are successful in 1D only when assuming greatly simplified physics. State of the art theories for stochastic media radiation transport do not address multi-dimensions and temperature-dependent physics coefficients. Here, the concept of effective opacities and effective heat capacities is found to well represent the ensemble averaged transport solutions in cases with gray or multigroup temperature-dependent opacities and constant or temperature-dependent heat capacities. Inmore » every case analyzed here, effective physics coefficients fit the transport solutions over a useful range of parameter space. The transport equation is solved with the spherical harmonics method with angle orders of n=1 and 5. Although the details depend on what order of solution is used, the general results are similar, independent of angular order.« less

  20. Gray and multigroup radiation transport models for two-dimensional binary stochastic media using effective opacities

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Olson, Gordon L.

    One-dimensional models for the transport of radiation through binary stochastic media do not work in multi-dimensions. In addition, authors have attempted to modify or extend the 1D models to work in multidimensions without success. Analytic one-dimensional models are successful in 1D only when assuming greatly simplified physics. State of the art theories for stochastic media radiation transport do not address multi-dimensions and temperature-dependent physics coefficients. Here, the concept of effective opacities and effective heat capacities is found to well represent the ensemble averaged transport solutions in cases with gray or multigroup temperature-dependent opacities and constant or temperature-dependent heat capacities. Inmore » every case analyzed here, effective physics coefficients fit the transport solutions over a useful range of parameter space. The transport equation is solved with the spherical harmonics method with angle orders of n=1 and 5. Although the details depend on what order of solution is used, the general results are similar, independent of angular order.« less

  1. 3D unstructured-mesh radiation transport codes

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Morel, J.

    1997-12-31

    Three unstructured-mesh radiation transport codes are currently being developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The first code is ATTILA, which uses an unstructured tetrahedral mesh in conjunction with standard Sn (discrete-ordinates) angular discretization, standard multigroup energy discretization, and linear-discontinuous spatial differencing. ATTILA solves the standard first-order form of the transport equation using source iteration in conjunction with diffusion-synthetic acceleration of the within-group source iterations. DANTE is designed to run primarily on workstations. The second code is DANTE, which uses a hybrid finite-element mesh consisting of arbitrary combinations of hexahedra, wedges, pyramids, and tetrahedra. DANTE solves several second-order self-adjoint forms of the transport equation including the even-parity equation, the odd-parity equation, and a new equation called the self-adjoint angular flux equation. DANTE also offers three angular discretization options:more » $$S{_}n$$ (discrete-ordinates), $$P{_}n$$ (spherical harmonics), and $$SP{_}n$$ (simplified spherical harmonics). DANTE is designed to run primarily on massively parallel message-passing machines, such as the ASCI-Blue machines at LANL and LLNL. The third code is PERICLES, which uses the same hybrid finite-element mesh as DANTE, but solves the standard first-order form of the transport equation rather than a second-order self-adjoint form. DANTE uses a standard $$S{_}n$$ discretization in angle in conjunction with trilinear-discontinuous spatial differencing, and diffusion-synthetic acceleration of the within-group source iterations. PERICLES was initially designed to run on workstations, but a version for massively parallel message-passing machines will be built. The three codes will be described in detail and computational results will be presented.« less

  2. Radiation Detection Computational Benchmark Scenarios

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shaver, Mark W.; Casella, Andrew M.; Wittman, Richard S.

    2013-09-24

    Modeling forms an important component of radiation detection development, allowing for testing of new detector designs, evaluation of existing equipment against a wide variety of potential threat sources, and assessing operation performance of radiation detection systems. This can, however, result in large and complex scenarios which are time consuming to model. A variety of approaches to radiation transport modeling exist with complementary strengths and weaknesses for different problems. This variety of approaches, and the development of promising new tools (such as ORNL’s ADVANTG) which combine benefits of multiple approaches, illustrates the need for a means of evaluating or comparing differentmore » techniques for radiation detection problems. This report presents a set of 9 benchmark problems for comparing different types of radiation transport calculations, identifying appropriate tools for classes of problems, and testing and guiding the development of new methods. The benchmarks were drawn primarily from existing or previous calculations with a preference for scenarios which include experimental data, or otherwise have results with a high level of confidence, are non-sensitive, and represent problem sets of interest to NA-22. From a technical perspective, the benchmarks were chosen to span a range of difficulty and to include gamma transport, neutron transport, or both and represent different important physical processes and a range of sensitivity to angular or energy fidelity. Following benchmark identification, existing information about geometry, measurements, and previous calculations were assembled. Monte Carlo results (MCNP decks) were reviewed or created and re-run in order to attain accurate computational times and to verify agreement with experimental data, when present. Benchmark information was then conveyed to ORNL in order to guide testing and development of hybrid calculations. The results of those ADVANTG calculations were then sent to

  3. A transported probability density function/photon Monte Carlo method for high-temperature oxy-natural gas combustion with spectral gas and wall radiation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, X. Y.; Haworth, D. C.; Ren, T.; Modest, M. F.

    2013-04-01

    A computational fluid dynamics model for high-temperature oxy-natural gas combustion is developed and exercised. The model features detailed gas-phase chemistry and radiation treatments (a photon Monte Carlo method with line-by-line spectral resolution for gas and wall radiation - PMC/LBL) and a transported probability density function (PDF) method to account for turbulent fluctuations in composition and temperature. The model is first validated for a 0.8 MW oxy-natural gas furnace, and the level of agreement between model and experiment is found to be at least as good as any that has been published earlier. Next, simulations are performed with systematic model variations to provide insight into the roles of individual physical processes and their interplay in high-temperature oxy-fuel combustion. This includes variations in the chemical mechanism and the radiation model, and comparisons of results obtained with versus without the PDF method to isolate and quantify the effects of turbulence-chemistry interactions and turbulence-radiation interactions. In this combustion environment, it is found to be important to account for the interconversion of CO and CO2, and radiation plays a dominant role. The PMC/LBL model allows the effects of molecular gas radiation and wall radiation to be clearly separated and quantified. Radiation and chemistry are tightly coupled through the temperature, and correct temperature prediction is required for correct prediction of the CO/CO2 ratio. Turbulence-chemistry interactions influence the computed flame structure and mean CO levels. Strong local effects of turbulence-radiation interactions are found in the flame, but the net influence of TRI on computed mean temperature and species profiles is small. The ultimate goal of this research is to simulate high-temperature oxy-coal combustion, where accurate treatments of chemistry, radiation and turbulence-chemistry-particle-radiation interactions will be even more important.

  4. Verification of ARES transport code system with TAKEDA benchmarks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Liang; Zhang, Bin; Zhang, Penghe; Chen, Mengteng; Zhao, Jingchang; Zhang, Shun; Chen, Yixue

    2015-10-01

    Neutron transport modeling and simulation are central to many areas of nuclear technology, including reactor core analysis, radiation shielding and radiation detection. In this paper the series of TAKEDA benchmarks are modeled to verify the critical calculation capability of ARES, a discrete ordinates neutral particle transport code system. SALOME platform is coupled with ARES to provide geometry modeling and mesh generation function. The Koch-Baker-Alcouffe parallel sweep algorithm is applied to accelerate the traditional transport calculation process. The results show that the eigenvalues calculated by ARES are in excellent agreement with the reference values presented in NEACRP-L-330, with a difference less than 30 pcm except for the first case of model 3. Additionally, ARES provides accurate fluxes distribution compared to reference values, with a deviation less than 2% for region-averaged fluxes in all cases. All of these confirms the feasibility of ARES-SALOME coupling and demonstrate that ARES has a good performance in critical calculation.

  5. Apparatus for accurately measuring high temperatures

    DOEpatents

    Smith, D.D.

    The present invention is a thermometer used for measuring furnace temperatures in the range of about 1800/sup 0/ to 2700/sup 0/C. The thermometer comprises a broadband multicolor thermal radiation sensor positioned to be in optical alignment with the end of a blackbody sight tube extending into the furnace. A valve-shutter arrangement is positioned between the radiation sensor and the sight tube and a chamber for containing a charge of high pressure gas is positioned between the valve-shutter arrangement and the radiation sensor. A momentary opening of the valve shutter arrangement allows a pulse of the high gas to purge the sight tube of air-borne thermal radiation contaminants which permits the radiation sensor to accurately measure the thermal radiation emanating from the end of the sight tube.

  6. Apparatus for accurately measuring high temperatures

    DOEpatents

    Smith, Douglas D.

    1985-01-01

    The present invention is a thermometer used for measuring furnace temperaes in the range of about 1800.degree. to 2700.degree. C. The thermometer comprises a broadband multicolor thermal radiation sensor positioned to be in optical alignment with the end of a blackbody sight tube extending into the furnace. A valve-shutter arrangement is positioned between the radiation sensor and the sight tube and a chamber for containing a charge of high pressure gas is positioned between the valve-shutter arrangement and the radiation sensor. A momentary opening of the valve shutter arrangement allows a pulse of the high gas to purge the sight tube of air-borne thermal radiation contaminants which permits the radiation sensor to accurately measure the thermal radiation emanating from the end of the sight tube.

  7. Radiation dose predictions for SPE events during solar cycle 23 from NASA's Nowcast of Atmospheric Ionizing Radiation for Aviation Safety (NAIRAS) model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mertens, Christopher; Blattnig, Steve; Slaba, Tony; Kress, Brian; Wiltberger, Michael; Solomon, Stan

    NASA's High Charge and Energy Transport (HZETRN) code is a deterministic model for rapid and accurate calculations of the particle radiation fields in the space environment. HZETRN is used to calculate dosimetric quantities on the International Space Station (ISS) and assess astronaut risk to space radiations, including realistic spacecraft and human geometry for final exposure evaluation. HZETRN is used as an engineering design tool for materials research for radiation shielding protection. Moreover, it is used to calculate HZE propagation through the Earth and Martian atmospheres, and to evaluate radiation exposures for epidemiological studies. A new research project has begun that will use HZETRN as the transport engine for the development of a nowcast prediction of air-crew radiation exposure for both background galactic cosmic ray (GCR) exposure and radiation exposure during solar particle events (SPE) that may accompany solar storms. The new air-crew radiation exposure model is called the Nowcast of Atmospheric Ionizing Radiation for Aviation Safety (NAIRAS) model, which utilizes real-time observations from ground-based, atmospheric, and satellite measurements. In this paper, we compute the global distribution of atmospheric radiation dose for several SPE events during solar cycle 23, with particular emphasis on the high-latitude and polar region. We also characterize the suppression of the geomagnetic cutoff rigidity during these storm periods and their subsequent influence on atmospheric radiation exposure.

  8. Charge carrier transport properties in thallium bromide crystalls used as radiation detectors

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Olschner, F.; Toledo-Quinones, M.; Shah, K.S.

    1990-06-01

    Thallium bromide (TlBr) is an attractive material for use in radiation detectors because of its wide bandgap (2.68 eV) and very high atomic number. Usefulness as a semiconductor detector material, however, also requires good charge carrier transport properties in order to maximize the magnitude of the signal from the detector. The authors report on measurements of the two most important transport parameters; the mobility {mu} and the mean trapping time {tau} for electrons and holes in TlBr crystals prepared in the laboratory.

  9. A Formalism for Covariant Polarized Radiative Transport by Ray Tracing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gammie, Charles F.; Leung, Po Kin

    2012-06-01

    We write down a covariant formalism for polarized radiative transfer appropriate for ray tracing through a turbulent plasma. The polarized radiation field is represented by the polarization tensor (coherency matrix) N αβ ≡ langa α k a*β k rang, where ak is a Fourier coefficient for the vector potential. Using Maxwell's equations, the Liouville-Vlasov equation, and the WKB approximation, we show that the transport equation in vacuo is k μ∇μ N αβ = 0. We show that this is equivalent to Broderick & Blandford's formalism based on invariant Stokes parameters and a rotation coefficient, and suggest a modification that may reduce truncation error in some situations. Finally, we write down several alternative approaches to integrating the transfer equation.

  10. Line-by-line transport calculations for Jupiter entry probes. [of radiative transfer

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Arnold, J. O.; Cooper, D. M.; Park, C.; Prakash, S. G.

    1979-01-01

    Line-by-line calculations of the radiative transport for a condition near peak heating for entry of the Galileo probe into the Jovian atmosphere are described. The discussion includes a thorough specification of the atomic and molecular input data used in the calculations that could be useful to others working in the field. The results show that the use of spectrally averaged cross sections for diatomic absorbers such as CO and C2 in the boundary layer can lead to an underestimation (by as much as 29%) of the spectral flux at the stagnation point. On the other hand, for the turbulent region near the cone frustum on the probe, the flow tends to be optically thin, and the spectrally averaged results commonly used in coupled radiative transport-flow field calculations are in good agreement with the present line-by-line results. It is recommended that these results be taken into account in sizing the final thickness of the Galileo's heat shield.

  11. Numerical simulation of the radiation environment on Martian surface

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, L.

    2015-12-01

    The radiation environment on the Martian surface is significantly different from that on earth. Existing observation and studies reveal that the radiation environment on the Martian surface is highly variable regarding to both short- and long-term time scales. For example, its dose rate presents diurnal and seasonal variations associated with atmospheric pressure changes. Moreover, dose rate is also strongly influenced by the modulation from GCR flux. Numerical simulation and theoretical explanations are required to understand the mechanisms behind these features, and to predict the time variation of radiation environment on the Martian surface if aircraft is supposed to land on it in near future. The high energy galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) which are ubiquitous throughout the solar system are highly penetrating and extremely difficult to shield against beyond the Earth's protective atmosphere and magnetosphere. The goal of this article is to evaluate the long term radiation risk on the Martian surface. Therefore, we need to develop a realistic time-dependent GCR model, which will be integrated with Geant4 transport code subsequently to reproduce the observed variation of surface dose rate associated with the changing heliospheric conditions. In general, the propagation of cosmic rays in the interplanetary medium can be described by a Fokker-Planck equation (or Parker equation). In last decade,we witnessed a fast development of GCR transport models within the heliosphere based on accurate gas-dynamic and MHD backgrounds from global models of the heliosphere. The global MHD simulation produces a more realistic pattern of the 3-D heliospheric structure, as well as the interface between the solar system and the surrounding interstellar space. As a consequence, integrating plasma background obtained from global-dependent 3-D MHD simulation and stochastic Parker transport simulation, we expect to produce an accurate global physical-based GCR modulation model. Combined

  12. The Application of FLUKA to Dosimetry and Radiation Therapy

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wilson, Thomas L.; Andersen, Victor; Pinsky, Lawrence; Ferrari, Alfredo; Battistoni, Giusenni

    2005-01-01

    Monte Carlo transport codes like FLUKA are useful for many purposes, and one of those is the simulation of the effects of radiation traversing the human body. In particular, radiation has been used in cancer therapy for a long time, and recently this has been extended to include heavy ion particle beams. The advent of this particular type of therapy has led to the need for increased capabilities in the transport codes used to simulate the detailed nature of the treatment doses to the Y O U S tissues that are encountered. This capability is also of interest to NASA because of the nature of the radiation environment in space.[l] While in space, the crew members bodies are continually being traversed by virtually all forms of radiation. In assessing the risk that this exposure causes, heavy ions are of primary importance. These arise both from the primary external space radiation itself, as well as fragments that result from interactions during the traversal of that radiation through any intervening material including intervening body tissue itself. Thus the capability to characterize the details of the radiation field accurately within a human body subjected to such external 'beams" is of critical importance.

  13. Advanced Monte Carlo methods for thermal radiation transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wollaber, Allan B.

    During the past 35 years, the Implicit Monte Carlo (IMC) method proposed by Fleck and Cummings has been the standard Monte Carlo approach to solving the thermal radiative transfer (TRT) equations. However, the IMC equations are known to have accuracy limitations that can produce unphysical solutions. In this thesis, we explicitly provide the IMC equations with a Monte Carlo interpretation by including particle weight as one of its arguments. We also develop and test a stability theory for the 1-D, gray IMC equations applied to a nonlinear problem. We demonstrate that the worst case occurs for 0-D problems, and we extend the results to a stability algorithm that may be used for general linearizations of the TRT equations. We derive gray, Quasidiffusion equations that may be deterministically solved in conjunction with IMC to obtain an inexpensive, accurate estimate of the temperature at the end of the time step. We then define an average temperature T* to evaluate the temperature-dependent problem data in IMC, and we demonstrate that using T* is more accurate than using the (traditional) beginning-of-time-step temperature. We also propose an accuracy enhancement to the IMC equations: the use of a time-dependent "Fleck factor". This Fleck factor can be considered an automatic tuning of the traditionally defined user parameter alpha, which generally provides more accurate solutions at an increased cost relative to traditional IMC. We also introduce a global weight window that is proportional to the forward scalar intensity calculated by the Quasidiffusion method. This weight window improves the efficiency of the IMC calculation while conserving energy. All of the proposed enhancements are tested in 1-D gray and frequency-dependent problems. These enhancements do not unconditionally eliminate the unphysical behavior that can be seen in the IMC calculations. However, for fixed spatial and temporal grids, they suppress them and clearly work to make the solution more

  14. Methods of treating complex space vehicle geometry for charged particle radiation transport

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hill, C. W.

    1973-01-01

    Current methods of treating complex geometry models for space radiation transport calculations are reviewed. The geometric techniques used in three computer codes are outlined. Evaluations of geometric capability and speed are provided for these codes. Although no code development work is included several suggestions for significantly improving complex geometry codes are offered.

  15. High-order solution methods for grey discrete ordinates thermal radiative transfer

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Maginot, Peter G., E-mail: maginot1@llnl.gov; Ragusa, Jean C., E-mail: jean.ragusa@tamu.edu; Morel, Jim E., E-mail: morel@tamu.edu

    This work presents a solution methodology for solving the grey radiative transfer equations that is both spatially and temporally more accurate than the canonical radiative transfer solution technique of linear discontinuous finite element discretization in space with implicit Euler integration in time. We solve the grey radiative transfer equations by fully converging the nonlinear temperature dependence of the material specific heat, material opacities, and Planck function. The grey radiative transfer equations are discretized in space using arbitrary-order self-lumping discontinuous finite elements and integrated in time with arbitrary-order diagonally implicit Runge–Kutta time integration techniques. Iterative convergence of the radiation equation ismore » accelerated using a modified interior penalty diffusion operator to precondition the full discrete ordinates transport operator.« less

  16. High-order solution methods for grey discrete ordinates thermal radiative transfer

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Maginot, Peter G.; Ragusa, Jean C.; Morel, Jim E.

    This paper presents a solution methodology for solving the grey radiative transfer equations that is both spatially and temporally more accurate than the canonical radiative transfer solution technique of linear discontinuous finite element discretization in space with implicit Euler integration in time. We solve the grey radiative transfer equations by fully converging the nonlinear temperature dependence of the material specific heat, material opacities, and Planck function. The grey radiative transfer equations are discretized in space using arbitrary-order self-lumping discontinuous finite elements and integrated in time with arbitrary-order diagonally implicit Runge–Kutta time integration techniques. Iterative convergence of the radiation equation ismore » accelerated using a modified interior penalty diffusion operator to precondition the full discrete ordinates transport operator.« less

  17. High-order solution methods for grey discrete ordinates thermal radiative transfer

    DOE PAGES

    Maginot, Peter G.; Ragusa, Jean C.; Morel, Jim E.

    2016-09-29

    This paper presents a solution methodology for solving the grey radiative transfer equations that is both spatially and temporally more accurate than the canonical radiative transfer solution technique of linear discontinuous finite element discretization in space with implicit Euler integration in time. We solve the grey radiative transfer equations by fully converging the nonlinear temperature dependence of the material specific heat, material opacities, and Planck function. The grey radiative transfer equations are discretized in space using arbitrary-order self-lumping discontinuous finite elements and integrated in time with arbitrary-order diagonally implicit Runge–Kutta time integration techniques. Iterative convergence of the radiation equation ismore » accelerated using a modified interior penalty diffusion operator to precondition the full discrete ordinates transport operator.« less

  18. Mixed sand and gravel beaches: accurate measurement of active layer depth and sediment transport volumes using PIT tagged tracer pebbles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Holland, A.; Moses, C.; Sear, D. A.; Cope, S.

    2016-12-01

    As sediments containing significant gravel portions are increasingly used for beach replenishment projects globally, the total number of beaches classified as `mixed sand and gravel' (MSG) increases. Calculations for required replenishment sediment volumes usually assume a uniform layer of sediment transport across and along the beach, but research into active layer (AL) depth has shown variations both across shore and according to sediment size distribution. This study addresses the need for more accurate calculations of sediment transport volumes on MSG beaches by using more precise measurements of AL depth and width, and virtual velocity of tracer pebbles. Variations in AL depth were measured along three main profile lines (from MHWS to MLWN) at Eastoke, Hayling Island (Hampshire, UK). Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tagged pebbles were deployed in columns, and their new locations repeatedly surveyed with RFID technology. These data were combined with daily dGPS beach profiles and sediment sampling for detailed analysis of the influence of beach morphodynamics on sediment transport volumes. Data were collected over two consecutive winter seasons: 2014-15 (relatively calm, average wave height <1 m) and 2015-16 (prolonged periods of moderate storminess, wave heights of 1-2 m). The active layer was, on average, 22% of wave height where beach slope (tanβ) is 0.1, with variations noted according to slope angle, sediment distribution, and beach groundwater level. High groundwater levels and a change in sediment proportions in the sandy lower foreshore reduced the AL to 10% of wave height in this area. The disparity in AL depth across the beach profile indicates that traditional models are not accurately representing bulk sediment transport on MSG beaches. It is anticipated that by improving model inputs, beach managers will be better able to predict necessary volumes and sediment grain size proportions of replenishment material for effective management of MSG

  19. Equilibrium structure of solar magnetic flux tubes: Energy transport with multistream radiative transfer

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hasan, S. S.; Kalkofen, W.

    1994-01-01

    We examine the equilibrium structure of vertical intense magnetic flux tubes on the Sun. Assuming cylindrical geometry, we solve the magnetohydrostatic equations in the thin flux-tube approximation, allowing for energy transport by radiation and convection. The radiative transfer equation is solved in the six-stream approximation, assuming gray opacity and local thermodynamic equilibrium. This constitutes a significant improvement over a previous study, in which the transfer was solved using the multidimensional generalization of the Eddington approximation. Convection in the flux tube is treated using mixing-length theory, with an additional parameter alpha, characterizing the suppression of convective energy transport in the tube by the strong magnetic field. The equations are solved using the method of partial linearization. We present results for tubes with different values of the magnetic field strength and radius at a fixed depth in the atmosphere. In general, we find that, at equal geometric heights, the temperature on the tube axis, compared to the ambient medium, is higher in the photosphere and lower in the convection zone, with the difference becoming larger for thicker tubes. At equal optical depths the tubes are generally hotter than their surroundings. The results are comparatively insensitive to alpha but depend upon whether radiative and convective energy transport operate simultaneously or in separate layers. A comparison of our results with semiempirical models shows that the temperature and intensity contrast are in broad agreement. However, the field strengths of the flux-tube models are somewhat lower than the values inferred from observations.

  20. Radiation Transport Properties of Polyethylene-Fiber Composites

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kaul, Raj K.; Barghouty, A. F.; Dahche, H. M.

    2003-01-01

    Composite materials that can both serve as effective shielding materials against cosmic-ray and energetic solar particles in deep space as well as structural materials for habitat and spacecraft remain a critical and mission enabling piece in mission planning and exploration. Polyethylene is known to have excellent shielding properties due to its low density coupled with high hydrogen content. Polyethylene fiber reinforced composites promise to combine this shielding effectiveness with the required mechanical properties of structural materials. Samples of Polyethylene-fiber reinforced epoxy matrix composite 1-5 cm thick were prepared at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and tested against 500 MeV/nucleon Fe beam at the HIMAC facility of NIRS in Chiba, Japan. This paper presents measured and calculated results for the radiation transport properties of these samples.

  1. Retrieving the Molecular Composition of Planet-Forming Material: An Accurate Non-LTE Radiative Transfer Code for JWST

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pontoppidan, Klaus

    Based on the observed distributions of exoplanets and dynamical models of their evolution, the primary planet-forming regions of protoplanetary disks are thought to span distances of 1-20 AU from typical stars. A key observational challenge of the next decade will be to understand the links between the formation of planets in protoplanetary disks and the chemical composition of exoplanets. Potentially habitable planets in particular are likely formed by solids growing within radii of a few AU, augmented by unknown contributions from volatiles formed at larger radii of 10-50 AU. The basic chemical composition of these inner disk regions is characterized by near- to far-infrared (2-200 micron) emission lines from molecular gas at temperatures of 50-1500 K. A critical step toward measuring the chemical composition of planet-forming regions is therefore to convert observed infrared molecular line fluxes, profiles and images to gas temperatures, densities and molecular abundances. However, current techniques typically employ approximate radiative transfer methods and assumptions of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) to retrieve abundances, leading to uncertainties of orders of magnitude and inconclusive comparisons to chemical models. Ultimately, the scientific impact of the high quality spectroscopic data expected from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be limited by the availability of radiative transfer tools for infrared molecular lines. We propose to develop a numerically accurate, non-LTE 3D line radiative transfer code, needed to interpret mid-infrared molecular line observations of protoplanetary and debris disks in preparation for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). This will be accomplished by adding critical functionality to the existing Monte Carlo code LIME, which was originally developed to support (sub)millimeter interferometric observations. In contrast to existing infrared codes, LIME calculates the exact statistical balance of arbitrary

  2. Radiation Transport Properties of Potential In Situ-Developed Regolith-Epoxy Materials for Martian Habitats

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Miller, Jack; Heilbronn, Lawrence H.; Zeitlin, Cary J.; Wilson, John W.; Singleterry, Robert C., Jr.; Thibeault, Sheila Ann

    2003-01-01

    Mission crews in space outside the Earth s magnetic field will be exposed to high energy heavy charged particles in the galactic cosmic radiation (GCR). These highly ionizing particles will be a source of radiation risk to crews on extended missions to the Moon and Mars, and the biological effects of and countermeasures to the GCR have to be investigated as part of the planning of exploration-class missions. While it is impractical to shield spacecraft and planetary habitats against the entire GCR spectrum, biological and physical studies indicate that relatively modest amounts of shielding are effective at reducing the radiation dose. However, nuclear fragmentation in the shielding materials produces highly penetrating secondary particles, which complicates the problem: in some cases, some shielding is worse than none at all. Therefore the radiation transport properties of potential shielding materials need to be carefully investigated. One intriguing option for a Mars mission is the use of material from the Martian surface, in combination with chemicals carried from Earth and/or fabricated from elements found in the Martian atmosphere, to construct crew habitats. We have measured the transmission properties of epoxy-Martian regolith composites with respect to heavy charged particles characteristic of the GCR ions which bombard the Martian surface. The composites were prepared at NASA Langley Research Center using simulated Martian regolith, in the process also evaluating fabrication methods which could lead to technologies for in situ fabrication on Mars. Initial evaluation of the radiation shielding properties is made using radiation transport models developed at NASA-LaRC, and the results of these calculations are used to select the composites with the most favorable radiation transmission properties. These candidates are then evaluated at particle accelerators which produce beams of heavy charged particles representative in energy and charge of the radiation

  3. Analysis of Radiation Transport Due to Activated Coolant in the ITER Neutral Beam Injection Cell

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Royston, Katherine; Wilson, Stephen C.; Risner, Joel M.

    Detailed spatial distributions of the biological dose rate due to a variety of sources are required for the design of the ITER tokamak facility to ensure that all radiological zoning limits are met. During operation, water in the Integrated loop of Blanket, Edge-localized mode and vertical stabilization coils, and Divertor (IBED) cooling system will be activated by plasma neutrons and will flow out of the bioshield through a complex system of pipes and heat exchangers. This paper discusses the methods used to characterize the biological dose rate outside the tokamak complex due to 16N gamma radiation emitted by the activatedmore » coolant in the Neutral Beam Injection (NBI) cell of the tokamak building. Activated coolant will enter the NBI cell through the IBED Primary Heat Transfer System (PHTS), and the NBI PHTS will also become activated due to radiation streaming through the NBI system. To properly characterize these gamma sources, the production of 16N, the decay of 16N, and the flow of activated water through the coolant loops were modeled. The impact of conservative approximations on the solution was also examined. Once the source due to activated coolant was calculated, the resulting biological dose rate outside the north wall of the NBI cell was determined through the use of sophisticated variance reduction techniques. The AutomateD VAriaNce reducTion Generator (ADVANTG) software implements methods developed specifically to provide highly effective variance reduction for complex radiation transport simulations such as those encountered with ITER. Using ADVANTG with the Monte Carlo N-particle (MCNP) radiation transport code, radiation responses were calculated on a fine spatial mesh with a high degree of statistical accuracy. In conclusion, advanced visualization tools were also developed and used to determine pipe cell connectivity, to facilitate model checking, and to post-process the transport simulation results.« less

  4. Analysis of Radiation Transport Due to Activated Coolant in the ITER Neutral Beam Injection Cell

    DOE PAGES

    Royston, Katherine; Wilson, Stephen C.; Risner, Joel M.; ...

    2017-07-26

    Detailed spatial distributions of the biological dose rate due to a variety of sources are required for the design of the ITER tokamak facility to ensure that all radiological zoning limits are met. During operation, water in the Integrated loop of Blanket, Edge-localized mode and vertical stabilization coils, and Divertor (IBED) cooling system will be activated by plasma neutrons and will flow out of the bioshield through a complex system of pipes and heat exchangers. This paper discusses the methods used to characterize the biological dose rate outside the tokamak complex due to 16N gamma radiation emitted by the activatedmore » coolant in the Neutral Beam Injection (NBI) cell of the tokamak building. Activated coolant will enter the NBI cell through the IBED Primary Heat Transfer System (PHTS), and the NBI PHTS will also become activated due to radiation streaming through the NBI system. To properly characterize these gamma sources, the production of 16N, the decay of 16N, and the flow of activated water through the coolant loops were modeled. The impact of conservative approximations on the solution was also examined. Once the source due to activated coolant was calculated, the resulting biological dose rate outside the north wall of the NBI cell was determined through the use of sophisticated variance reduction techniques. The AutomateD VAriaNce reducTion Generator (ADVANTG) software implements methods developed specifically to provide highly effective variance reduction for complex radiation transport simulations such as those encountered with ITER. Using ADVANTG with the Monte Carlo N-particle (MCNP) radiation transport code, radiation responses were calculated on a fine spatial mesh with a high degree of statistical accuracy. In conclusion, advanced visualization tools were also developed and used to determine pipe cell connectivity, to facilitate model checking, and to post-process the transport simulation results.« less

  5. A streamline splitting pore-network approach for computationally inexpensive and accurate simulation of transport in porous media

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mehmani, Yashar; Oostrom, Martinus; Balhoff, Matthew

    2014-03-20

    Several approaches have been developed in the literature for solving flow and transport at the pore-scale. Some authors use a direct modeling approach where the fundamental flow and transport equations are solved on the actual pore-space geometry. Such direct modeling, while very accurate, comes at a great computational cost. Network models are computationally more efficient because the pore-space morphology is approximated. Typically, a mixed cell method (MCM) is employed for solving the flow and transport system which assumes pore-level perfect mixing. This assumption is invalid at moderate to high Peclet regimes. In this work, a novel Eulerian perspective on modelingmore » flow and transport at the pore-scale is developed. The new streamline splitting method (SSM) allows for circumventing the pore-level perfect mixing assumption, while maintaining the computational efficiency of pore-network models. SSM was verified with direct simulations and excellent matches were obtained against micromodel experiments across a wide range of pore-structure and fluid-flow parameters. The increase in the computational cost from MCM to SSM is shown to be minimal, while the accuracy of SSM is much higher than that of MCM and comparable to direct modeling approaches. Therefore, SSM can be regarded as an appropriate balance between incorporating detailed physics and controlling computational cost. The truly predictive capability of the model allows for the study of pore-level interactions of fluid flow and transport in different porous materials. In this paper, we apply SSM and MCM to study the effects of pore-level mixing on transverse dispersion in 3D disordered granular media.« less

  6. Coupled Neutron Transport for HZETRN

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Slaba, Tony C.; Blattnig, Steve R.

    2009-01-01

    Exposure estimates inside space vehicles, surface habitats, and high altitude aircrafts exposed to space radiation are highly influenced by secondary neutron production. The deterministic transport code HZETRN has been identified as a reliable and efficient tool for such studies, but improvements to the underlying transport models and numerical methods are still necessary. In this paper, the forward-backward (FB) and directionally coupled forward-backward (DC) neutron transport models are derived, numerical methods for the FB model are reviewed, and a computationally efficient numerical solution is presented for the DC model. Both models are compared to the Monte Carlo codes HETC-HEDS, FLUKA, and MCNPX, and the DC model is shown to agree closely with the Monte Carlo results. Finally, it is found in the development of either model that the decoupling of low energy neutrons from the light particle transport procedure adversely affects low energy light ion fluence spectra and exposure quantities. A first order correction is presented to resolve the problem, and it is shown to be both accurate and efficient.

  7. Stratospheric aerosol modification by supersonic transport operations with climate implications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Toon, O. B.; Turco, R. P.; Pollack, J. B.; Whitten, R. C.; Poppoff, I. G.; Hamill, P.

    1980-01-01

    The potential effects on stratospheric aerosois of supersonic transport emissions of sulfur dioxide gas and submicron size soot granules are estimated. An interactive particle-gas model of the stratospheric aerosol is used to compute particle changes due to exhaust emissions, and an accurate radiation transport model is used to compute the attendant surface temperature changes. It is shown that a fleet of several hundred supersonic aircraft, operating daily at 20 km, could produce about a 20% increase in the concentration of large particles in the stratosphere. Aerosol increases of this magnitude would reduce the global surface temperature by less than 0.01 K.

  8. Neutron Transport Models and Methods for HZETRN and Coupling to Low Energy Light Ion Transport

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Blattnig, S.R.; Slaba, T.C.; Heinbockel, J.H.

    2008-01-01

    Exposure estimates inside space vehicles, surface habitats, and high altitude aircraft exposed to space radiation are highly influenced by secondary neutron production. The deterministic transport code HZETRN has been identified as a reliable and efficient tool for such studies, but improvements to the underlying transport models and numerical methods are still necessary. In this paper, the forward-backward (FB) and directionally coupled forward-backward (DC) neutron transport models are derived, numerical methods for the FB model are reviewed, and a computationally efficient numerical solution is presented for the DC model. Both models are compared to the Monte Carlo codes HETCHEDS and FLUKA, and the DC model is shown to agree closely with the Monte Carlo results. Finally, it is found in the development of either model that the decoupling of low energy neutrons from the light ion (A<4) transport procedure adversely affects low energy light ion fluence spectra and exposure quantities. A first order correction is presented to resolve the problem, and it is shown to be both accurate and efficient.

  9. Radiation protection considerations along a radioactive ion beam transport line

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sarchiapone, Lucia; Zafiropoulos, Demetre

    2016-09-01

    The goal of the SPES project is to produce accelerated radioactive ion beams for Physics studies at “Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro” (INFN, Italy). This accelerator complex is scheduled to be built by 2016 for an effective operation in 2017. Radioactive species are produced in a uranium carbide target, by the interaction of 200 μA of protons at 40 MeV. All of the ionized species in the 1+ state come out of the target (ISOL method), and pass through a Wien filter for a first selection and an HMRS (high mass resolution spectrometer). Then they are transported by an electrostatic beam line toward a charge state breeder (where the 1+ to n+ multi-ionization takes place) before selection and reacceleration at the already existing superconducting linac. The work concerning dose evaluations, activation calculation, and radiation protection constraints related to the transport of the radioactive ion beam (RIB) from the target to the mass separator will be described in this paper. The FLUKA code has been used as tool for those calculations needing Monte Carlo simulations, in particular for the evaluation of the dose rate due to the presence of the radioactive beam in the selection/interaction points. The time evolution of a radionuclide inventory can be computed online with FLUKA for arbitrary irradiation profiles and decay times. The activity evolution is analytically evaluated through the implementation of the Bateman equations. Furthermore, the generation and transport of decay radiation (limited to gamma, beta- and beta+ emissions) is possible, referring to a dedicated database of decay emissions using mostly information obtained from NNDC, sometimes supplemented with other data and checked for consistency. When the use of Monte Carlo simulations was not feasible, the Bateman equations, or possible simplifications, have been used directly.

  10. k-Space Image Correlation Spectroscopy: A Method for Accurate Transport Measurements Independent of Fluorophore Photophysics

    PubMed Central

    Kolin, David L.; Ronis, David; Wiseman, Paul W.

    2006-01-01

    We present the theory and application of reciprocal space image correlation spectroscopy (kICS). This technique measures the number density, diffusion coefficient, and velocity of fluorescently labeled macromolecules in a cell membrane imaged on a confocal, two-photon, or total internal reflection fluorescence microscope. In contrast to r-space correlation techniques, we show kICS can recover accurate dynamics even in the presence of complex fluorophore photobleaching and/or “blinking”. Furthermore, these quantities can be calculated without nonlinear curve fitting, or any knowledge of the beam radius of the exciting laser. The number densities calculated by kICS are less sensitive to spatial inhomogeneity of the fluorophore distribution than densities measured using image correlation spectroscopy. We use simulations as a proof-of-principle to show that number densities and transport coefficients can be extracted using this technique. We present calibration measurements with fluorescent microspheres imaged on a confocal microscope, which recover Stokes-Einstein diffusion coefficients, and flow velocities that agree with single particle tracking measurements. We also show the application of kICS to measurements of the transport dynamics of α5-integrin/enhanced green fluorescent protein constructs in a transfected CHO cell imaged on a total internal reflection fluorescence microscope using charge-coupled device area detection. PMID:16861272

  11. Implementation, capabilities, and benchmarking of Shift, a massively parallel Monte Carlo radiation transport code

    DOE PAGES

    Pandya, Tara M.; Johnson, Seth R.; Evans, Thomas M.; ...

    2015-12-21

    This paper discusses the implementation, capabilities, and validation of Shift, a massively parallel Monte Carlo radiation transport package developed and maintained at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It has been developed to scale well from laptop to small computing clusters to advanced supercomputers. Special features of Shift include hybrid capabilities for variance reduction such as CADIS and FW-CADIS, and advanced parallel decomposition and tally methods optimized for scalability on supercomputing architectures. Shift has been validated and verified against various reactor physics benchmarks and compares well to other state-of-the-art Monte Carlo radiation transport codes such as MCNP5, CE KENO-VI, and OpenMC. Somemore » specific benchmarks used for verification and validation include the CASL VERA criticality test suite and several Westinghouse AP1000 ® problems. These benchmark and scaling studies show promising results.« less

  12. Solar Radiation Transport in the Cloudy Atmosphere: A 3D Perspective on Observations and Climate Impacts

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Davis, Anthony B.; Marshak, Alexander

    2010-01-01

    The interplay of sunlight with clouds is a ubiquitous and often pleasant visual experience, but it conjures up major challenges for weather, climate, environmental science and beyond. Those engaged in the characterization of clouds (and the clear air nearby) by remote sensing methods are even more confronted. The problem comes, on the one hand, from the spatial complexity of real clouds and, on the other hand, from the dominance of multiple scattering in the radiation transport. The former ingredient contrasts sharply with the still popular representation of clouds as homogeneous plane-parallel slabs for the purposes of radiative transfer computations. In typical cloud scenes the opposite asymptotic transport regimes of diffusion and ballistic propagation coexist. We survey the three-dimensional (3D) atmospheric radiative transfer literature over the past 50 years and identify three concurrent and intertwining thrusts: first, how to assess the damage (bias) caused by 3D effects in the operational 1D radiative transfer models? Second, how to mitigate this damage? Finally, can we exploit 3D radiative transfer phenomena to innovate observation methods and technologies? We quickly realize that the smallest scale resolved computationally or observationally may be artificial but is nonetheless a key quantity that separates the 3D radiative transfer solutions into two broad and complementary classes: stochastic and deterministic. Both approaches draw on classic and contemporary statistical, mathematical and computational physics.

  13. Tests of Transport Theory and Reduced Impurity Influx with Highly Radiative Plasmas in TFTR

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hill, K. W.

    1997-11-01

    The electron and ion temperature profiles in beam-heated plasmas were observed to be remarkably invariant when radiative losses were increased significantly through gas puffing of high-Z impurities (argon, krypton, xenon) in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor. Without impurity puffing, radiative losses accounted for typically only ~ 25\\char'45 of the input power and the radiation profile was strongly peaked at the plasma edge, where the dominant carbon impurity was not fully stripped. At central electron temperatures, T_eo, of ~ 6 keV, trace concentrations of krypton and xenon (n_z/ne ~ 10-3) generated flat and centrally peaked radiation profiles respectively, and a significant fraction of the input power (45-100\\char'45 ) was lost through radiation. This loss provided a nearly ideal technique for studying local heat transport in tokamaks because it perturbed the net heating profile strongly and in a measureable way, with little effect on the density and the beam deposition profiles. In supershot plasmas, Ti >> T_e, the ion temperature profile remained constant, or even increased modestly, as the radiated power fraction was increased to 75-90\\char'45 with krypton and xenon. This observation is surprising because ion-electron coupling is the dominant power loss term for the ions in the core of supershot plasmas, and the central Ti would have decreased a factor of two if the local ion thermal diffusivity had remained constant at its value without impurity puffing. In L-mode plasmas where ion-electron power coupling is a smaller term in the power balance, the electron temperature during impurity puffing also changed only ~ 10-15\\char'45 even as the net power flow through the electrons was decreased by a factor of ~ 3. The ``stiffness" of the temperature profiles to net input power is supportive of transport mechanisms which have a marginal-stability character. Preliminary comparisons of the temperature changes with predictions of the IFS/PPPL transport model

  14. Stormtime transport of ring current and radiation belt ions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chen, Margaret W.; Schulz, Michael; Lyons, L. R.; Gorney, David J.

    1993-01-01

    This is an investigation of stormtime particle transport that leads to formation of the ring current. Our method is to trace the guiding-center motion of representative ions (having selected first adiabatic invariants mu) in response to model substorm-associated impulses in the convection electric field. We compare our simulation results qualitatively with existing analytically tractable idealizations of particle transport (direct convective access and radial diffusion) in order to assess the limits of validity of these approximations. For mu approximately less than 10 MeV/G (E approximately less than 10 keV at L equivalent to 3) the ion drift period on the final (ring-current) drift shell of interest (L equivalent to 3) exceeds the duration of the main phase of our model storm, and we find that the transport of ions to this drift shell is appropriately idealized as direct convective access, typically from open drift paths. Ion transport to a final closed drift path from an open (plasma-sheet) drift trajectory is possible for those portions of that drift path that lie outside the mean stormtime separatrix between closed and open drift trajectories, For mu approximately 10-25 MeV/G (110 keV approximately less than E approximately less than 280 keV at L equivalent to 3) the drift period at L equivalent to 3 is comparable to the postulated 3-hr duration of the storm, and the mode of transport is transitional between direct convective access and transport that resembles radial diffusion. (This particle population is transitional between the ring current and radiation belt). For mu approximately greater than 25 MeV/G (radiation-belt ions having E approximately greater than 280 keV at L equivalent to 3) the ion drift period is considerably shorter than the main phase of a typical storm, and ions gain access to the ring-current region essentially via radial diffusion. By computing the mean and mean-square cumulative changes in 1/L among (in this case) 12 representative

  15. Development and evaluation of polycrystalline cadmium telluride dosimeters for accurate quality assurance in radiation therapy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oh, K.; Han, M.; Kim, K.; Heo, Y.; Moon, C.; Park, S.; Nam, S.

    2016-02-01

    For quality assurance in radiation therapy, several types of dosimeters are used such as ionization chambers, radiographic films, thermo-luminescent dosimeter (TLD), and semiconductor dosimeters. Among them, semiconductor dosimeters are particularly useful for in vivo dosimeters or high dose gradient area such as the penumbra region because they are more sensitive and smaller in size compared to typical dosimeters. In this study, we developed and evaluated Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) dosimeters, one of the most promising semiconductor dosimeters due to their high quantum efficiency and charge collection efficiency. Such CdTe dosimeters include single crystal form and polycrystalline form depending upon the fabrication process. Both types of CdTe dosimeters are commercially available, but only the polycrystalline form is suitable for radiation dosimeters, since it is less affected by volumetric effect and energy dependence. To develop and evaluate polycrystalline CdTe dosimeters, polycrystalline CdTe films were prepared by thermal evaporation. After that, CdTeO3 layer, thin oxide layer, was deposited on top of the CdTe film by RF sputtering to improve charge carrier transport properties and to reduce leakage current. Also, the CdTeO3 layer which acts as a passivation layer help the dosimeter to reduce their sensitivity changes with repeated use due to radiation damage. Finally, the top and bottom electrodes, In/Ti and Pt, were used to have Schottky contact. Subsequently, the electrical properties under high energy photon beams from linear accelerator (LINAC), such as response coincidence, dose linearity, dose rate dependence, reproducibility, and percentage depth dose, were measured to evaluate polycrystalline CdTe dosimeters. In addition, we compared the experimental data of the dosimeter fabricated in this study with those of the silicon diode dosimeter and Thimble ionization chamber which widely used in routine dosimetry system and dose measurements for radiation

  16. Transport of infrared radiation in cuboidal clouds

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    HARSHVARDHAN; Weinman, J. A.; Davies, R.

    1981-01-01

    The transport of infrared radiation in a single cuboidal cloud using a vertical two steam approximation was modeled. The emittance of the top face of the model cloud is always less than that for a plane parallel cloud of the same optical depth. The hemisphere flux escaping from the cloud top has a gradient from the center to the edges which brighten when the cloud is over warmer ground. Cooling rate calculations in the 8 to 13.6 micrometer region show that there is cooling from the sides of the cloud at all levels even when there is heating of the core from the ground below. The radiances exiting from model cuboidal clouds were computed by path integration over the source function obtained with the two stream approximation. It is suggested that the brightness temperature measured from finite clouds will overestimate the cloud top temperature.

  17. Fast and Accurate Radiative Transfer Calculations Using Principal Component Analysis for (Exo-)Planetary Retrieval Models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kopparla, P.; Natraj, V.; Shia, R. L.; Spurr, R. J. D.; Crisp, D.; Yung, Y. L.

    2015-12-01

    Radiative transfer (RT) computations form the engine of atmospheric retrieval codes. However, full treatment of RT processes is computationally expensive, prompting usage of two-stream approximations in current exoplanetary atmospheric retrieval codes [Line et al., 2013]. Natraj et al. [2005, 2010] and Spurr and Natraj [2013] demonstrated the ability of a technique using principal component analysis (PCA) to speed up RT computations. In the PCA method for RT performance enhancement, empirical orthogonal functions are developed for binned sets of inherent optical properties that possess some redundancy; costly multiple-scattering RT calculations are only done for those few optical states corresponding to the most important principal components, and correction factors are applied to approximate radiation fields. Kopparla et al. [2015, in preparation] extended the PCA method to a broadband spectral region from the ultraviolet to the shortwave infrared (0.3-3 micron), accounting for major gas absorptions in this region. Here, we apply the PCA method to a some typical (exo-)planetary retrieval problems. Comparisons between the new model, called Universal Principal Component Analysis Radiative Transfer (UPCART) model, two-stream models and line-by-line RT models are performed, for spectral radiances, spectral fluxes and broadband fluxes. Each of these are calculated at the top of the atmosphere for several scenarios with varying aerosol types, extinction and scattering optical depth profiles, and stellar and viewing geometries. We demonstrate that very accurate radiance and flux estimates can be obtained, with better than 1% accuracy in all spectral regions and better than 0.1% in most cases, as compared to a numerically exact line-by-line RT model. The accuracy is enhanced when the results are convolved to typical instrument resolutions. The operational speed and accuracy of UPCART can be further improved by optimizing binning schemes and parallelizing the codes, work

  18. N(+)-N and O(+)-O interaction energies, dipole transition moments, and transport cross sections

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Partridge, H.; Stallcop, J. R.

    1986-01-01

    Complete sets of ion-atom interaction energies have been computed for nitrogen and oxygen with accurate large scale structure calculations. The computed energies agree well with the accurate potential curves available from spectroscopic measurement. The state functions from the nitrogen calculations have been applied to determine the transition moment for all allowed dipole transitions. These results can be combined to compute a detailed radiation spectrum such as that required to define the highly nonequilibrium environment of aeroassisted orbital transfer vehicle (AOTV). The long-range interaction energies have been used to determine the ion-atom resonance charge exchange cross sections that are important for transport processes such as diffusion. A calculation to determine reliable transport properties for energies that include the AOTV temperature range from these computed properties is described.

  19. Zemax simulations describing collective effects in transition and diffraction radiation.

    PubMed

    Bisesto, F G; Castellano, M; Chiadroni, E; Cianchi, A

    2018-02-19

    Transition and diffraction radiation from charged particles is commonly used for diagnostics purposes in accelerator facilities as well as THz sources for spectroscopy applications. Therefore, an accurate analysis of the emission process and the transport optics is crucial to properly characterize the source and precisely retrieve beam parameters. In this regard, we have developed a new algorithm, based on Zemax, to simulate both transition and diffraction radiation as generated by relativistic electron bunches, therefore considering collective effects. In particular, unlike other previous works, we take into account electron beam physical size and transverse momentum, reproducing some effects visible on the produced radiation, not observable in a single electron analysis. The simulation results have been compared with two experiments showing an excellent agreement.

  20. Deep Space Test Bed for Radiation Studies

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Adams, James H.; Christl, Mark; Watts, John; Kuznetsov, Eugene; Lin, Zi-Wei

    2006-01-01

    A key factor affecting the technical feasibility and cost of missions to Mars or the Moon is the need to protect the crew from ionizing radiation in space. Some analyses indicate that large amounts of spacecraft shielding may be necessary for crew safety. The shielding requirements are driven by the need to protect the crew from Galactic cosmic rays (GCR). Recent research activities aimed at enabling manned exploration have included shielding materials studies. A major goal of this research is to develop accurate radiation transport codes to calculate the shielding effectiveness of materials and to develop effective shielding strategies for spacecraft design. Validation of these models and calculations must be addressed in a relevant radiation environment to assure their technical readiness and accuracy. Test data obtained in the deep space radiation environment can provide definitive benchmarks and yield uncertainty estimates of the radiation transport codes. The two approaches presently used for code validation are ground based testing at particle accelerators and flight tests in high-inclination low-earth orbits provided by the shuttle, free-flyer platforms, or polar-orbiting satellites. These approaches have limitations in addressing all the radiation-shielding issues of deep space missions in both technical and practical areas. An approach based on long duration high altitude polar balloon flights provides exposure to the galactic cosmic ray composition and spectra encountered in deep space at a lower cost and with easier and more frequent access than afforded with spaceflight opportunities. This approach also results in shorter development times than spaceflight experiments, which is important for addressing changing program goals and requirements.

  1. Geant4 Predictions of Energy Spectra in Typical Space Radiation Environment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sabra, M. S.; Barghouty, A. F.

    2014-01-01

    Accurate knowledge of energy spectra inside spacecraft is important for protecting astronauts as well as sensitive electronics from the harmful effects of space radiation. Such knowledge allows one to confidently map the radiation environment inside the vehicle. The purpose of this talk is to present preliminary calculations for energy spectra inside a spherical shell shielding and behind a slab in typical space radiation environment using the 3D Monte-Carlo transport code Geant4. We have simulated proton and iron isotropic sources and beams impinging on Aluminum and Gallium arsenide (GaAs) targets at energies of 0.2, 0.6, 1, and 10 GeV/u. If time permits, other radiation sources and beams (_, C, O) and targets (C, Si, Ge, water) will be presented. The results are compared to ground-based measurements where available.

  2. PBMC: Pre-conditioned Backward Monte Carlo code for radiative transport in planetary atmospheres

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    García Muñoz, A.; Mills, F. P.

    2017-08-01

    PBMC (Pre-Conditioned Backward Monte Carlo) solves the vector Radiative Transport Equation (vRTE) and can be applied to planetary atmospheres irradiated from above. The code builds the solution by simulating the photon trajectories from the detector towards the radiation source, i.e. in the reverse order of the actual photon displacements. In accounting for the polarization in the sampling of photon propagation directions and pre-conditioning the scattering matrix with information from the scattering matrices of prior (in the BMC integration order) photon collisions, PBMC avoids the unstable and biased solutions of classical BMC algorithms for conservative, optically-thick, strongly-polarizing media such as Rayleigh atmospheres.

  3. Space radiation transport properties of polyethylene-based composites.

    PubMed

    Kaul, R K; Barghouty, A F; Dahche, H M

    2004-11-01

    Composite materials that can serve as both effective shielding materials against cosmic-ray and energetic solar particles in deep space, as well as structural materials for habitat and spacecraft, remain a critical and mission enabling component in mission planning and exploration. Polyethylene is known to have excellent shielding properties due to its low density, coupled with high hydrogen content. Polyethylene-fiber reinforced composites promise to combine this shielding effectiveness with the required mechanical properties of structural materials. Samples of polyethylene-fiber reinforced epoxy matrix composite 1-5 cm thick were prepared at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and tested against a 500 MeV/nucleon Fe beam at the HIMAC facility of NIRS in Chiba, Japan. This paper presents measured and calculated results for the radiation transport properties of these samples.

  4. Space radiation transport properties of polyethylene-based composites

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kaul, R. K.; Barghouty, A. F.; Dahche, H. M.

    2004-01-01

    Composite materials that can serve as both effective shielding materials against cosmic-ray and energetic solar particles in deep space, as well as structural materials for habitat and spacecraft, remain a critical and mission enabling component in mission planning and exploration. Polyethylene is known to have excellent shielding properties due to its low density, coupled with high hydrogen content. Polyethylene-fiber reinforced composites promise to combine this shielding effectiveness with the required mechanical properties of structural materials. Samples of polyethylene-fiber reinforced epoxy matrix composite 1-5 cm thick were prepared at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and tested against a 500 MeV/nucleon Fe beam at the HIMAC facility of NIRS in Chiba, Japan. This paper presents measured and calculated results for the radiation transport properties of these samples.

  5. Approaching system equilibrium with accurate or not accurate feedback information in a two-route system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, Xiao-mei; Xie, Dong-fan; Li, Qi

    2015-02-01

    With the development of intelligent transport system, advanced information feedback strategies have been developed to reduce traffic congestion and enhance the capacity. However, previous strategies provide accurate information to travelers and our simulation results show that accurate information brings negative effects, especially in delay case. Because travelers prefer to the best condition route with accurate information, and delayed information cannot reflect current traffic condition but past. Then travelers make wrong routing decisions, causing the decrease of the capacity and the increase of oscillations and the system deviating from the equilibrium. To avoid the negative effect, bounded rationality is taken into account by introducing a boundedly rational threshold BR. When difference between two routes is less than the BR, routes have equal probability to be chosen. The bounded rationality is helpful to improve the efficiency in terms of capacity, oscillation and the gap deviating from the system equilibrium.

  6. Radiative heat transfer in strongly forward scattering media of circulating fluidized bed combustors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ates, Cihan; Ozen, Guzide; Selçuk, Nevin; Kulah, Gorkem

    2016-10-01

    Investigation of the effect of particle scattering on radiative incident heat fluxes and source terms is carried out in the dilute zone of the lignite-fired 150 kWt Middle East Technical University Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustor (METU CFBC) test rig. The dilute zone is treated as an axisymmetric cylindrical enclosure containing grey/non-grey, absorbing, emitting gas with absorbing, emitting non/isotropically/anisotropically scattering particles surrounded by grey diffuse walls. A two-dimensional axisymmetric radiation model based on Method of Lines (MOL) solution of Discrete Ordinates Method (DOM) coupled with Grey Gas (GG)/Spectral Line-Based Weighted Sum of Grey Gases Model (SLW) and Mie theory/geometric optics approximation (GOA) is extended for incorporation of anisotropic scattering by using normalized Henyey-Greenstein (HG)/transport approximation for the phase function. Input data for the radiation model is obtained from predictions of a comprehensive model previously developed and benchmarked against measurements on the same CFBC burning low calorific value indigenous lignite with high volatile matter/fixed carbon (VM/FC) ratio in its own ash. Predictive accuracy and computational efficiency of nonscattering, isotropic scattering and forward scattering with transport approximation are tested by comparing their predictions with those of forward scattering with HG. GG and GOA based on reflectivity with angular dependency are found to be accurate and CPU efficient. Comparisons reveal that isotropic assumption leads to under-prediction of both incident heat fluxes and source terms for which discrepancy is much larger. On the other hand, predictions obtained by neglecting scattering were found to be in favorable agreement with those of forward scattering at significantly less CPU time. Transport approximation is as accurate and CPU efficient as HG. These findings indicate that negligence of scattering is a more practical choice in solution of the radiative

  7. HZETRN radiation transport validation using balloon-based experimental data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Warner, James E.; Norman, Ryan B.; Blattnig, Steve R.

    2018-05-01

    The deterministic radiation transport code HZETRN (High charge (Z) and Energy TRaNsport) was developed by NASA to study the effects of cosmic radiation on astronauts and instrumentation shielded by various materials. This work presents an analysis of computed differential flux from HZETRN compared with measurement data from three balloon-based experiments over a range of atmospheric depths, particle types, and energies. Model uncertainties were quantified using an interval-based validation metric that takes into account measurement uncertainty both in the flux and the energy at which it was measured. Average uncertainty metrics were computed for the entire dataset as well as subsets of the measurements (by experiment, particle type, energy, etc.) to reveal any specific trends of systematic over- or under-prediction by HZETRN. The distribution of individual model uncertainties was also investigated to study the range and dispersion of errors beyond just single scalar and interval metrics. The differential fluxes from HZETRN were generally well-correlated with balloon-based measurements; the median relative model difference across the entire dataset was determined to be 30%. The distribution of model uncertainties, however, revealed that the range of errors was relatively broad, with approximately 30% of the uncertainties exceeding ± 40%. The distribution also indicated that HZETRN systematically under-predicts the measurement dataset as a whole, with approximately 80% of the relative uncertainties having negative values. Instances of systematic bias for subsets of the data were also observed, including a significant underestimation of alpha particles and protons for energies below 2.5 GeV/u. Muons were found to be systematically over-predicted at atmospheric depths deeper than 50 g/cm2 but under-predicted for shallower depths. Furthermore, a systematic under-prediction of alpha particles and protons was observed below the geomagnetic cutoff, suggesting that

  8. Simulations of recoiling black holes: adaptive mesh refinement and radiative transfer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Meliani, Zakaria; Mizuno, Yosuke; Olivares, Hector; Porth, Oliver; Rezzolla, Luciano; Younsi, Ziri

    2017-02-01

    Context. In many astrophysical phenomena, and especially in those that involve the high-energy regimes that always accompany the astronomical phenomenology of black holes and neutron stars, physical conditions that are achieved are extreme in terms of speeds, temperatures, and gravitational fields. In such relativistic regimes, numerical calculations are the only tool to accurately model the dynamics of the flows and the transport of radiation in the accreting matter. Aims: We here continue our effort of modelling the behaviour of matter when it orbits or is accreted onto a generic black hole by developing a new numerical code that employs advanced techniques geared towards solving the equations of general-relativistic hydrodynamics. Methods: More specifically, the new code employs a number of high-resolution shock-capturing Riemann solvers and reconstruction algorithms, exploiting the enhanced accuracy and the reduced computational cost of adaptive mesh-refinement (AMR) techniques. In addition, the code makes use of sophisticated ray-tracing libraries that, coupled with general-relativistic radiation-transfer calculations, allow us to accurately compute the electromagnetic emissions from such accretion flows. Results: We validate the new code by presenting an extensive series of stationary accretion flows either in spherical or axial symmetry that are performed either in two or three spatial dimensions. In addition, we consider the highly nonlinear scenario of a recoiling black hole produced in the merger of a supermassive black-hole binary interacting with the surrounding circumbinary disc. In this way, we can present for the first time ray-traced images of the shocked fluid and the light curve resulting from consistent general-relativistic radiation-transport calculations from this process. Conclusions: The work presented here lays the ground for the development of a generic computational infrastructure employing AMR techniques to accurately and self

  9. Kinetic characterization and radiation-target sizing of the glucose transporter in cardiac sarcolemmal vesicles.

    PubMed

    Dale, W E; Tsai, Y S; Jung, C Y; Hale, C C; Rovetto, M J; Kim, H D; Yung, C Y

    1988-08-18

    Stereospecific glucose transport was assayed and characterized in bovine cardiac sarcolemmal vesicles. Sarcolemmal vesicles were incubated with D-[3H]glucose or L-[3H]glucose at 25 degrees C. The reaction was terminated by rapid addition of 4 mM HgCl2 and vesicles were immediately collected on glass fiber filters for quantification of accumulated [3H]glucose. Non-specific diffusion of L-[3H]glucose was never more than 11% of total D-[3H]glucose transport into the vesicles. Stereospecific uptake of D-[3H]glucose reached a maximum level by 20 s. Cytochalasin B (50 microM) inhibited specific transport of D-[3H]glucose to the level of that for non-specific diffusion. The vesicles exhibited saturable transport (Km = 9.3 mM; Vmax = 2.6 nmol/mg per s) and the transporter turnover number was 197 glucose molecules per transporter per s. The molecular sizes of the cytochalasin B binding protein and the D-glucose transport protein in sarcolemmal vesicles were estimated by radiation inactivation. These values were 77 and 101 kDa, respectively, and by the Wilcoxen Rank Sum Test were not significantly different from each other.

  10. System and method for radiation dose calculation within sub-volumes of a monte carlo based particle transport grid

    DOEpatents

    Bergstrom, Paul M.; Daly, Thomas P.; Moses, Edward I.; Patterson, Jr., Ralph W.; Schach von Wittenau, Alexis E.; Garrett, Dewey N.; House, Ronald K.; Hartmann-Siantar, Christine L.; Cox, Lawrence J.; Fujino, Donald H.

    2000-01-01

    A system and method is disclosed for radiation dose calculation within sub-volumes of a particle transport grid. In a first step of the method voxel volumes enclosing a first portion of the target mass are received. A second step in the method defines dosel volumes which enclose a second portion of the target mass and overlap the first portion. A third step in the method calculates common volumes between the dosel volumes and the voxel volumes. A fourth step in the method identifies locations in the target mass of energy deposits. And, a fifth step in the method calculates radiation doses received by the target mass within the dosel volumes. A common volume calculation module inputs voxel volumes enclosing a first portion of the target mass, inputs voxel mass densities corresponding to a density of the target mass within each of the voxel volumes, defines dosel volumes which enclose a second portion of the target mass and overlap the first portion, and calculates common volumes between the dosel volumes and the voxel volumes. A dosel mass module, multiplies the common volumes by corresponding voxel mass densities to obtain incremental dosel masses, and adds the incremental dosel masses corresponding to the dosel volumes to obtain dosel masses. A radiation transport module identifies locations in the target mass of energy deposits. And, a dose calculation module, coupled to the common volume calculation module and the radiation transport module, for calculating radiation doses received by the target mass within the dosel volumes.

  11. Development of Parallel Computing Framework to Enhance Radiation Transport Code Capabilities for Rare Isotope Beam Facility Design

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kostin, Mikhail; Mokhov, Nikolai; Niita, Koji

    A parallel computing framework has been developed to use with general-purpose radiation transport codes. The framework was implemented as a C++ module that uses MPI for message passing. It is intended to be used with older radiation transport codes implemented in Fortran77, Fortran 90 or C. The module is significantly independent of radiation transport codes it can be used with, and is connected to the codes by means of a number of interface functions. The framework was developed and tested in conjunction with the MARS15 code. It is possible to use it with other codes such as PHITS, FLUKA andmore » MCNP after certain adjustments. Besides the parallel computing functionality, the framework offers a checkpoint facility that allows restarting calculations with a saved checkpoint file. The checkpoint facility can be used in single process calculations as well as in the parallel regime. The framework corrects some of the known problems with the scheduling and load balancing found in the original implementations of the parallel computing functionality in MARS15 and PHITS. The framework can be used efficiently on homogeneous systems and networks of workstations, where the interference from the other users is possible.« less

  12. Overview of Recent Radiation Transport Code Comparisons for Space Applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Townsend, Lawrence

    Recent advances in radiation transport code development for space applications have resulted in various comparisons of code predictions for a variety of scenarios and codes. Comparisons among both Monte Carlo and deterministic codes have been made and published by vari-ous groups and collaborations, including comparisons involving, but not limited to HZETRN, HETC-HEDS, FLUKA, GEANT, PHITS, and MCNPX. In this work, an overview of recent code prediction inter-comparisons, including comparisons to available experimental data, is presented and discussed, with emphases on those areas of agreement and disagreement among the various code predictions and published data.

  13. Accurate vehicle classification including motorcycles using piezoelectric sensors.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2013-03-01

    State and federal departments of transportation are charged with classifying vehicles and monitoring mileage traveled. Accurate data reporting enables suitable roadway design for safety and capacity. Vehicle classifiers currently employ inductive loo...

  14. Studies of Radiation-Driven and Buoyancy-Driven Fluid Flows and Transport

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ronney, Paul D.; Fortmeyer, Justin M.

    1994-01-01

    It is well known that radiative heat transport influences many types of buoyant flows due to its effect on the temperature and thus density field in the fluid medium. It is of interest to study gaseous flows driven solely by radiation in the absence of buoyancy, particularly because of its application to astrophysical flows that are well known from astronomical observations and numerical simulation. However, no laboratory-scale experiments of this phenomenon have ever been conducted. To study the possibility of obtaining such flows in the laboratory, an apparatus was built to produce large temperature differences (Delta T) up to 300 K in a gas confined between flat parallel plates. SF6 was used as the radiatively-active gas because its Planck absorption length is much shorter than that of any other common non-reactive gas. The NASA-Lewis 2.2 second drop tower was used to obtain reduced gravity in order to suppress buoyancy effects. To image the resulting flows, a laser shearing interferometer was employed. Initial results indicate the presence of flow that does not appear to be attributable to the residual flow resulting from buoyancy influences before the drop. For Delta T greater than 70 K, slight deformations in the interferometer fringes seen at lower Delta T became large unsteady swirls. Such behavior did not occur for radiatively-inactive gases, suggesting that a flow driven solely by radiation was obtained in SF6 and to a lesser extent in CO2 This was more pronounced at higher pressures and plate spacings, consistent with our scaling predictions.

  15. Studies of Radiation-Driven and Buoyancy-Driven Fluid Flows and Transport

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ronney, Paul D.; Fortmeyer, Justin M.

    1996-01-01

    It is well known that radiative heat transport influences many types of buoyant flows due to its effect on the temperature and thus density field in the fluid medium. It is of interest to study gaseous flows driven solely by radiation in the absence of buoyancy, particularly because of its application to astrophysical flows that are well known from astronomical observations and numerical simulation. However, no laboratory-scale experiments of this phenomenon have ever been conducted. To study the possibility of obtaining such flows in the laboratory, an apparatus was built to produce large temperature differences (Delta (T)) up to 300 K in a gas confined between flat parallel plates. SF6 was used as the radiatively-active gas because its Planck absorption length is much shorter than that of any other common non-reactive gas. The NASA-Lewis 2.2 second drop tower was used to obtain reduced gravity in order to suppress buoyancy effects. To image the resulting flows, a laser shearing interferometer was employed. Initial results indicate the presence of flow that does not appear to be attributable to the residual flow resulting from buoyancy influences before the drop. For Delta(T) greater than 70 K, slight deformations in the interferometer fringes seen at lower Delta(T) became large unsteady swirls. Such behavior did not occur for radiatively-inactive gases, suggesting that a flow driven solely by radiation was obtained in SF6 and to a lesser extent in CO2. This was more pronounced at higher pressures and plate spacings, consistent with our scaling predictions.

  16. A Monte Carlo Code for Relativistic Radiation Transport Around Kerr Black Holes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Schnittman, Jeremy David; Krolik, Julian H.

    2013-01-01

    We present a new code for radiation transport around Kerr black holes, including arbitrary emission and absorption mechanisms, as well as electron scattering and polarization. The code is particularly useful for analyzing accretion flows made up of optically thick disks and optically thin coronae. We give a detailed description of the methods employed in the code and also present results from a number of numerical tests to assess its accuracy and convergence.

  17. Faster and More Accurate Transport Procedures for HZETRN

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Slaba, Tony C.; Blattnig, Steve R.; Badavi, Francis F.

    2010-01-01

    Several aspects of code verification are examined for HZETRN. First, a detailed derivation of the numerical marching algorithms is given. Next, a new numerical method for light particle transport is presented, and improvements to the heavy ion transport algorithm are discussed. A summary of various coding errors is also given, and the impact of these errors on exposure quantities is shown. Finally, a coupled convergence study is conducted. From this study, it is shown that past efforts in quantifying the numerical error in HZETRN were hindered by single precision calculations and computational resources. It is also determined that almost all of the discretization error in HZETRN is caused by charged target fragments below 50 AMeV. Total discretization errors are given for the old and new algorithms, and the improved accuracy of the new numerical methods is demonstrated. Run time comparisons are given for three applications in which HZETRN is commonly used. The new algorithms are found to be almost 100 times faster for solar particle event simulations and almost 10 times faster for galactic cosmic ray simulations.

  18. Radiation protection and dosimetry issues in the medical applications of ionizing radiation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vaz, Pedro

    2014-11-01

    The technological advances that occurred during the last few decades paved the way to the dissemination of CT-based procedures in radiology, to an increasing number of procedures in interventional radiology and cardiology as well as to new techniques and hybrid modalities in nuclear medicine and in radiotherapy. These technological advances encompass the exposure of patients and medical staff to unprecedentedly high dose values that are a cause for concern due to the potential detrimental effects of ionizing radiation to the human health. As a consequence, new issues and challenges in radiological protection and dosimetry in the medical applications of ionizing radiation have emerged. The scientific knowledge of the radiosensitivity of individuals as a function of age, gender and other factors has also contributed to raising the awareness of scientists, medical staff, regulators, decision makers and other stakeholders (including the patients and the public) for the need to correctly and accurately assess the radiation induced long-term health effects after medical exposure. Pediatric exposures and their late effects became a cause of great concern. The scientific communities of experts involved in the study of the biological effects of ionizing radiation have made a strong case about the need to undertake low dose radiation research and the International System of Radiological Protection is being challenged to address and incorporate issues such as the individual sensitivities, the shape of dose-response relationship and tissue sensitivity for cancer and non-cancer effects. Some of the answers to the radiation protection and dosimetry issues and challenges in the medical applications of ionizing radiation lie in computational studies using Monte Carlo or hybrid methods to model and simulate particle transport in the organs and tissues of the human body. The development of sophisticated Monte Carlo computer programs and voxel phantoms paves the way to an accurate

  19. Relativistic three-dimensional Lippmann-Schwinger cross sections for space radiation applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Werneth, C. M.; Xu, X.; Norman, R. B.; Maung, K. M.

    2017-12-01

    Radiation transport codes require accurate nuclear cross sections to compute particle fluences inside shielding materials. The Tripathi semi-empirical reaction cross section, which includes over 60 parameters tuned to nucleon-nucleus (NA) and nucleus-nucleus (AA) data, has been used in many of the world's best-known transport codes. Although this parameterization fits well to reaction cross section data, the predictive capability of any parameterization is questionable when it is used beyond the range of the data to which it was tuned. Using uncertainty analysis, it is shown that a relativistic three-dimensional Lippmann-Schwinger (LS3D) equation model based on Multiple Scattering Theory (MST) that uses 5 parameterizations-3 fundamental parameterizations to nucleon-nucleon (NN) data and 2 nuclear charge density parameterizations-predicts NA and AA reaction cross sections as well as the Tripathi cross section parameterization for reactions in which the kinetic energy of the projectile in the laboratory frame (TLab) is greater than 220 MeV/n. The relativistic LS3D model has the additional advantage of being able to predict highly accurate total and elastic cross sections. Consequently, it is recommended that the relativistic LS3D model be used for space radiation applications in which TLab > 220MeV /n .

  20. Modeling UV Radiation Feedback from Massive Stars. I. Implementation of Adaptive Ray-tracing Method and Tests

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Jeong-Gyu; Kim, Woong-Tae; Ostriker, Eve C.; Skinner, M. Aaron

    2017-12-01

    We present an implementation of an adaptive ray-tracing (ART) module in the Athena hydrodynamics code that accurately and efficiently handles the radiative transfer involving multiple point sources on a three-dimensional Cartesian grid. We adopt a recently proposed parallel algorithm that uses nonblocking, asynchronous MPI communications to accelerate transport of rays across the computational domain. We validate our implementation through several standard test problems, including the propagation of radiation in vacuum and the expansions of various types of H II regions. Additionally, scaling tests show that the cost of a full ray trace per source remains comparable to that of the hydrodynamics update on up to ∼ {10}3 processors. To demonstrate application of our ART implementation, we perform a simulation of star cluster formation in a marginally bound, turbulent cloud, finding that its star formation efficiency is 12% when both radiation pressure forces and photoionization by UV radiation are treated. We directly compare the radiation forces computed from the ART scheme with those from the M1 closure relation. Although the ART and M1 schemes yield similar results on large scales, the latter is unable to resolve the radiation field accurately near individual point sources.

  1. Comparisons of Integrated Radiation Transport Models with Microdosimetry Data in Spaceflight

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cucinotta, Francis A.; Nikjoo, H.; Kim, M. Y.; Hu, X.; Dicello, J. F.; Pisacane, V. L.

    2006-01-01

    Astronauts are exposed to galactic cosmic rays (GCR), trapped protons, and possible solar particle events (SPE) during spaceflight. For such complicated mixtures of radiation types and kinetic energies, tissue equivalent proportional counters (TEPC's) represent a simple time-dependent approach for radiation monitoring. Of interest in radiation protection is the average quality factor of a radiation field defined as a function of linear energy transfer, LET, Q(sub ave)(LET). However TEPC's measure the average quality factors as a function of lineal energy (y), Q(sub ave)(y) defined as the average energy deposition in a volume divided by the average chord length of the volume. Lineal energy, y deviates from LET due to energy straggling, delta-ray escape or entry, and nuclear fragments produced in the detector. Using integrated space radiation models that includes the transport code HZETRN/BRYNTRN, the quantum nuclear interaction model, QMSFRG, and results from Monte-Carlo track simulations of TEPC's response to ions, we consider comparisons of model calculations to TEPC results from NASA missions in low Earth orbit and make predictions for lunar and Mars missions. Good agreement between the model and measured spectra from past NASA missions is found. A finding of this work is that TEPC's values for trapped or solar protons of Q(sub ave)(y) range from 1.9-2.5, overestimating Q(sub ave)(LET), which ranges from 1.4-1.6 with both quantities increasing with shielding depth due to nuclear secondaries Comparisons for the complete GCR spectra show that Q(sub ave)(LET) for GCR is approximately 3.5-4.5, while TEPC's measure 2.9-3.4 for Q(sub ave)(y) with the GCR values decreasing with depth as heavy ions are absorbed in shielding material. Our results support the use of TEPC's for space radiation environmental monitoring when computational analysis is used for proper data interpretation.

  2. Transported PDF Modeling of Nonpremixed Turbulent CO/H-2/N-2 Jet Flames

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zhao, xinyu; Haworth, D. C.; Huckaby, E. David

    2012-01-01

    Turbulent CO/H{sub 2}/N{sub 2} (“syngas”) flames are simulated using a transported composition probability density function (PDF) method. A consistent hybrid Lagrangian particle/Eulerian mesh algorithm is used to solve the modeled PDF transport equation. The model includes standard k–ϵ turbulence, gradient transport for scalars, and Euclidean minimum spanning tree (EMST) mixing. Sensitivities of model results to variations in the turbulence model, the treatment of radiation heat transfer, the choice of chemical mechanism, and the PDF mixing model are explored. A baseline model reproduces the measured mean and rms temperature, major species, and minor species profiles reasonably well, and captures the scalingmore » that is observed in the experiments. Both our results and the literature suggest that further improvements can be realized with adjustments in the turbulence model, the radiation heat transfer model, and the chemical mechanism. Although radiation effects are relatively small in these flames, consideration of radiation is important for accurate NO prediction. Chemical mechanisms that have been developed specifically for fuels with high concentrations of CO and H{sub 2} perform better than a methane mechanism that was not designed for this purpose. It is important to account explicitly for turbulence–chemistry interactions, although the details of the mixing model do not make a large difference in the results, within reasonable limits.« less

  3. Conservative 3 + 1 general relativistic variable Eddington tensor radiation transport equations

    DOE PAGES

    Cardall, Christian Y.; Endeve, Eirik; Mezzacappa, Anthony

    2013-05-07

    We present conservative 3+1 general relativistic variable Eddington tensor radiation transport equations, including greater elaboration of the momentum space divergence (that is, the energy derivative term) than in previous work. These equations are intended for use in simulations involving numerical relativity, particularly in the absence of spherical symmetry. The independent variables are the lab frame coordinate basis spacetime position coordinates and the particle energy measured in the comoving frame. With an eye towards astrophysical applications—such as core-collapse supernovae and compact object mergers—in which the fluid includes nuclei and/or nuclear matter at finite temperature, and in which the transported particles aremore » neutrinos, we pay special attention to the consistency of four-momentum and lepton number exchange between neutrinos and the fluid, showing the term-by-term cancellations that must occur for this consistency to be achieved.« less

  4. Radiation Heat Transfer Between Diffuse-Gray Surfaces Using Higher Order Finite Elements

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gould, Dana C.

    2000-01-01

    This paper presents recent work on developing methods for analyzing radiation heat transfer between diffuse-gray surfaces using p-version finite elements. The work was motivated by a thermal analysis of a High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) wing structure which showed the importance of radiation heat transfer throughout the structure. The analysis also showed that refining the finite element mesh to accurately capture the temperature distribution on the internal structure led to very large meshes with unacceptably long execution times. Traditional methods for calculating surface-to-surface radiation are based on assumptions that are not appropriate for p-version finite elements. Two methods for determining internal radiation heat transfer are developed for one and two-dimensional p-version finite elements. In the first method, higher-order elements are divided into a number of sub-elements. Traditional methods are used to determine radiation heat flux along each sub-element and then mapped back to the parent element. In the second method, the radiation heat transfer equations are numerically integrated over the higher-order element. Comparisons with analytical solutions show that the integration scheme is generally more accurate than the sub-element method. Comparison to results from traditional finite elements shows that significant reduction in the number of elements in the mesh is possible using higher-order (p-version) finite elements.

  5. No Radiative Heat Transport Through Pyrolitic Lower Mantle

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lobanov, S.; Holtgrewe, N.; Badro, J.; Goncharov, A. F.

    2017-12-01

    Transport properties of the lower mantle, such as its thermal conductivity, are key parameters required to understand the nature and dynamics of the core-mantle boundary (CMB) region. Radiative thermal conductivity (krad) of the mantle is determined by its visible-infrared absorption coefficient (α) at high pressure (P) and temperature (T). The latter is highly uncertain at the CMB conditions as optical measurements at high temperature suffer from intense thermal radiation that diminishes the probe contrast. Room-temperature high-pressure studies of bridgmanite and ferropericlase absorption coefficients suggest a steady increase of mantle radiative conductivity with depth mirroring the temperature increase along the geotherm (Goncharov et al., 2008; Keppler et al., 2008). Here we reconstruct optical properties of the mantle as a function of depth by using fast time-resolved spectroscopic technology combined with laser-heated diamond anvil cells. We found a strong increase in the rock absorption coefficient upon heating to 3000 K at 40-135 GPa. Using the pressure- and temperature-dependent pyrolite absorption coefficient we establish that lower mantle radiative thermal conductivity is decreasing with depth from 0.35 W/m/K at 1000 km to 0.15 W/m/K at the CMB, making it 50 times smaller than the corresponding lattice thermal conductivity at such conditions (Ohta et al., 2017; Okuda et al., 2017). Combining our results with models of lattice thermal conductivity in pyrolitic lower mantle we obtain a CMB heat flow of 8.5 TW. This estimate implies an inner core age of 0.7-1.3 Gy and favors a low-to-moderate core thermal conductivity (< 80 W/m/K). A core with higher thermal conductivity (Ohta et al., 2016; Pozzo et al., 2012) would be thermally stratified, halting a thermally driven dynamo prior to the inner core growth, if no other mechanism is invoked, such as MgO (Badro et al., 2016) or SiO2 (Hirose et al., 2017) exsolution. On the other hand, the low iron thermal

  6. Advancements in Afterbody Radiative Heating Simulations for Earth Entry

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Johnston, Christopher O.; Panesi, Marco; Brandis, Aaron M.

    2016-01-01

    Four advancements to the simulation of backshell radiative heating for Earth entry are presented. The first of these is the development of a flow field model that treats electronic levels of the dominant backshell radiator, N, as individual species. This is shown to allow improvements in the modeling of electron-ion recombination and two-temperature modeling, which are shown to increase backshell radiative heating by 10 to 40%. By computing the electronic state populations of N within the flow field solver, instead of through the quasi-steady state approximation in the radiation code, the coupling of radiative transition rates to the species continuity equations for the levels of N, including the impact of non-local absorption, becomes feasible. Implementation of this additional level of coupling between the flow field and radiation codes represents the second advancement presented in this work, which is shown to increase the backshell radiation by another 10 to 50%. The impact of radiative transition rates due to non-local absorption indicates the importance of accurate radiation transport in the relatively complex flow geometry of the backshell. This motivates the third advancement, which is the development of a ray-tracing radiation transport approach to compute the radiative transition rates and divergence of the radiative flux at every point for coupling to the flow field, therefore allowing the accuracy of the commonly applied tangent-slab approximation to be assessed for radiative source terms. For the sphere considered at lunar-return conditions, the tangent-slab approximation is shown to provide a sufficient level of accuracy for the radiative source terms, even for backshell cases. This is in contrast to the agreement between the two approaches for computing the radiative flux to the surface, which differ by up to 40%. The final advancement presented is the development of a nonequilibrium model for NO radiation, which provides significant backshell

  7. Modeling Interactions Among Turbulence, Gas-Phase Chemistry, Soot and Radiation Using Transported PDF Methods

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Haworth, Daniel

    2013-11-01

    The importance of explicitly accounting for the effects of unresolved turbulent fluctuations in Reynolds-averaged and large-eddy simulations of chemically reacting turbulent flows is increasingly recognized. Transported probability density function (PDF) methods have emerged as one of the most promising modeling approaches for this purpose. In particular, PDF methods provide an elegant and effective resolution to the closure problems that arise from averaging or filtering terms that correspond to nonlinear point processes, including chemical reaction source terms and radiative emission. PDF methods traditionally have been associated with studies of turbulence-chemistry interactions in laboratory-scale, atmospheric-pressure, nonluminous, statistically stationary nonpremixed turbulent flames; and Lagrangian particle-based Monte Carlo numerical algorithms have been the predominant method for solving modeled PDF transport equations. Recent advances and trends in PDF methods are reviewed and discussed. These include advances in particle-based algorithms, alternatives to particle-based algorithms (e.g., Eulerian field methods), treatment of combustion regimes beyond low-to-moderate-Damköhler-number nonpremixed systems (e.g., premixed flamelets), extensions to include radiation heat transfer and multiphase systems (e.g., soot and fuel sprays), and the use of PDF methods as the basis for subfilter-scale modeling in large-eddy simulation. Examples are provided that illustrate the utility and effectiveness of PDF methods for physics discovery and for applications to practical combustion systems. These include comparisons of results obtained using the PDF method with those from models that neglect unresolved turbulent fluctuations in composition and temperature in the averaged or filtered chemical source terms and/or the radiation heat transfer source terms. In this way, the effects of turbulence-chemistry-radiation interactions can be isolated and quantified.

  8. Recent Work in Hybrid Radiation Transport Methods with Applications to Commercial Nuclear Power

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kulesza, Joel A.

    This talk will begin with an overview of hybrid radiation transport methods followed by a discussion of the author’s work to advance current capabilities. The talk will then describe applications for these methods in commercial nuclear power reactor analyses and techniques for experimental validation. When discussing these analytical and experimental activities, the importance of technical standards such as those created and maintained by ASTM International will be demonstrated.

  9. Many-integrated core (MIC) technology for accelerating Monte Carlo simulation of radiation transport: A study based on the code DPM

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rodriguez, M.; Brualla, L.

    2018-04-01

    Monte Carlo simulation of radiation transport is computationally demanding to obtain reasonably low statistical uncertainties of the estimated quantities. Therefore, it can benefit in a large extent from high-performance computing. This work is aimed at assessing the performance of the first generation of the many-integrated core architecture (MIC) Xeon Phi coprocessor with respect to that of a CPU consisting of a double 12-core Xeon processor in Monte Carlo simulation of coupled electron-photonshowers. The comparison was made twofold, first, through a suite of basic tests including parallel versions of the random number generators Mersenne Twister and a modified implementation of RANECU. These tests were addressed to establish a baseline comparison between both devices. Secondly, through the p DPM code developed in this work. p DPM is a parallel version of the Dose Planning Method (DPM) program for fast Monte Carlo simulation of radiation transport in voxelized geometries. A variety of techniques addressed to obtain a large scalability on the Xeon Phi were implemented in p DPM. Maximum scalabilities of 84 . 2 × and 107 . 5 × were obtained in the Xeon Phi for simulations of electron and photon beams, respectively. Nevertheless, in none of the tests involving radiation transport the Xeon Phi performed better than the CPU. The disadvantage of the Xeon Phi with respect to the CPU owes to the low performance of the single core of the former. A single core of the Xeon Phi was more than 10 times less efficient than a single core of the CPU for all radiation transport simulations.

  10. Application of linear multifrequency-grey acceleration to preconditioned Krylov iterations for thermal radiation transport

    DOE PAGES

    Till, Andrew T.; Warsa, James S.; Morel, Jim E.

    2018-06-15

    The thermal radiative transfer (TRT) equations comprise a radiation equation coupled to the material internal energy equation. Linearization of these equations produces effective, thermally-redistributed scattering through absorption-reemission. In this paper, we investigate the effectiveness and efficiency of Linear-Multi-Frequency-Grey (LMFG) acceleration that has been reformulated for use as a preconditioner to Krylov iterative solution methods. We introduce two general frameworks, the scalar flux formulation (SFF) and the absorption rate formulation (ARF), and investigate their iterative properties in the absence and presence of true scattering. SFF has a group-dependent state size but may be formulated without inner iterations in the presence ofmore » scattering, while ARF has a group-independent state size but requires inner iterations when scattering is present. We compare and evaluate the computational cost and efficiency of LMFG applied to these two formulations using a direct solver for the preconditioners. Finally, this work is novel because the use of LMFG for the radiation transport equation, in conjunction with Krylov methods, involves special considerations not required for radiation diffusion.« less

  11. A Review of Tunable Wavelength Selectivity of Metamaterials in Near-Field and Far-Field Radiative Thermal Transport

    PubMed Central

    Tian, Yanpei; Ricci, Matt; Hyde, Mikhail; Gregory, Otto; Zheng, Yi

    2018-01-01

    Radiative thermal transport of metamaterials has begun to play a significant role in thermal science and has great engineering applications. When the key features of structures become comparable to the thermal wavelength at a particular temperature, a narrowband or wideband of wavelengths can be created or shifted in both the emission and reflection spectrum of nanoscale metamaterials. Due to the near-field effect, the phenomena of radiative wavelength selectivity become significant. These effects show strong promise for applications in thermophotovoltaic energy harvesting, nanoscale biosensing, and increased energy efficiency through radiative cooling in the near future. This review paper summarizes the recent progress and outlook of both near-field and far-field radiative heat transfer, different design structures of metamaterials, applications of unique thermal and optical properties, and focuses especially on exploration of the tunable radiative wavelength selectivity of nano-metamaterials. PMID:29786650

  12. Interannual variability of the global net radiation balance and its consequence on global energy transport

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Smith, Eric A.; Sohn, B. J.

    1990-01-01

    Global cloudiness and radiation budget data from Nimbus 6 and 7 are used to investigate the role of cloud and surface radiative forcing and elements of the earth's general circulation. Although globally integrated cloud forcing is nearly zero, there are large regional imbalances and well regulated processes in the shortwave and longwave spectrum that control the meridional gradient structure of the net radiation balance and the factors modulating the east-west oriented North Africa-western Pacific energy transport dipole. The analysis demonstrates that clouds play a dual role in both the shortwave and longwave spectra in terms of tropical and midlatitude east-west gradients. The key result is that cloud forcing, although not always the principle regulator of interannual variability of the global climate, serves to reinforce the basic three-cell meridional circulation.

  13. Doppler effects on 3-D non-LTE radiation transport and emission spectra.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Giuliani, J. L.; Davis, J.; DasGupta, A.

    2010-10-01

    Spatially and temporally resolved X-ray emission lines contain information about temperatures, densities, velocities, and the gradients in a plasma. Extracting this information from optically thick lines emitted from complex ions in dynamic, three-dimensional, non-LTE plasmas requires self-consistent accounting for both non-LTE atomic physics and non-local radiative transfer. We present a brief description of a hybrid-structure spectroscopic atomic model coupled to an iterative tabular on-the-spot treatment of radiative transfer that can be applied to plasmas of arbitrary material composition, conditions, and geometries. The effects of Doppler line shifts on the self-consistent radiative transfer within the plasma and the emergent emission andmore » absorption spectra are included in the model. Sample calculations for a two-level atom in a uniform cylindrical plasma are given, showing reasonable agreement with more sophisticated transport models and illustrating the potential complexity - or richness - of radially resolved emission lines from an imploding cylindrical plasma. Also presented is a comparison of modeled L- and K-shell spectra to temporally and radially resolved emission data from a Cu:Ni plasma. Finally, some shortcomings of the model and possible paths for improvement are discussed.« less

  14. Vertical Photon Transport in Cloud Remote Sensing Problems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Platnick, S.

    1999-01-01

    Photon transport in plane-parallel, vertically inhomogeneous clouds is investigated and applied to cloud remote sensing techniques that use solar reflectance or transmittance measurements for retrieving droplet effective radius. Transport is couched in terms of weighting functions which approximate the relative contribution of individual layers to the overall retrieval. Two vertical weightings are investigated, including one based on the average number of scatterings encountered by reflected and transmitted photons in any given layer. A simpler vertical weighting based on the maximum penetration of reflected photons proves useful for solar reflectance measurements. These weighting functions are highly dependent on droplet absorption and solar/viewing geometry. A superposition technique, using adding/doubling radiative transfer procedures, is derived to accurately determine both weightings, avoiding time consuming Monte Carlo methods. Superposition calculations are made for a variety of geometries and cloud models, and selected results are compared with Monte Carlo calculations. Effective radius retrievals from modeled vertically inhomogeneous liquid water clouds are then made using the standard near-infrared bands, and compared with size estimates based on the proposed weighting functions. Agreement between the two methods is generally within several tenths of a micrometer, much better than expected retrieval accuracy. Though the emphasis is on photon transport in clouds, the derived weightings can be applied to any multiple scattering plane-parallel radiative transfer problem, including arbitrary combinations of cloud, aerosol, and gas layers.

  15. Detailed modeling analysis for soot formation and radiation in microgravity gas jet diffusion flames

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ku, Jerry C.; Tong, LI; Greenberg, Paul S.

    1995-01-01

    Radiation heat transfer in combustion systems has been receiving increasing interest. In the case of hydrocarbon fuels, a significant portion of the radiation comes from soot particles, justifying the need for detailed soot formation model and radiation transfer calculations. For laminar gas jet diffusion flames, results from this project (4/1/91 8/22/95) and another NASA study show that flame shape, soot concentration, and radiation heat fluxes are substantially different under microgravity conditions. Our emphasis is on including detailed soot transport models and a detailed solution for radiation heat transfer, and on coupling them with the flame structure calculations. In this paper, we will discuss the following three specific areas: (1) Comparing two existing soot formation models, and identifying possible improvements; (2) A simple yet reasonably accurate approach to calculating total radiative properties and/or fluxes over the spectral range; and (3) Investigating the convergence of iterations between the flame structure solver and the radiation heat transfer solver.

  16. Assessment of applications of transport models on regional scale solute transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guo, Z.; Fogg, G. E.; Henri, C.; Pauloo, R.

    2017-12-01

    Regional scale transport models are needed to support the long-term evaluation of groundwater quality and to develop management strategies aiming to prevent serious groundwater degradation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the capacity of previously-developed upscaling approaches to accurately describe main solute transport processes including the capture of late-time tails under changing boundary conditions. Advective-dispersive contaminant transport in a 3D heterogeneous domain was simulated and used as a reference solution. Equivalent transport under homogeneous flow conditions were then evaluated applying the Multi-Rate Mass Transfer (MRMT) model. The random walk particle tracking method was used for both heterogeneous and homogeneous-MRMT scenarios under steady state and transient conditions. The results indicate that the MRMT model can capture the tails satisfactorily for plume transported with ambient steady-state flow field. However, when boundary conditions change, the mass transfer model calibrated for transport under steady-state conditions cannot accurately reproduce the tailing effect observed for the heterogeneous scenario. The deteriorating impact of transient boundary conditions on the upscaled model is more significant for regions where flow fields are dramatically affected, highlighting the poor applicability of the MRMT approach for complex field settings. Accurately simulating mass in both mobile and immobile zones is critical to represent the transport process under transient flow conditions and will be the future focus of our study.

  17. Radiation transport simulation of the Martian GCR surface flux and dose estimation using spherical geometry in PHITS compared to MSL-RAD measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Flores-McLaughlin, John

    2017-08-01

    Planetary bodies and spacecraft are predominantly exposed to isotropic radiation environments that are subject to transport and interaction in various material compositions and geometries. Specifically, the Martian surface radiation environment is composed of galactic cosmic radiation, secondary particles produced by their interaction with the Martian atmosphere, albedo particles from the Martian regolith and occasional solar particle events. Despite this complex physical environment with potentially significant locational and geometric dependencies, computational resources often limit radiation environment calculations to a one-dimensional or slab geometry specification. To better account for Martian geometry, spherical volumes with respective Martian material densities are adopted in this model. This physical description is modeled with the PHITS radiation transport code and compared to a portion of measurements from the Radiation Assessment Detector of the Mars Science Laboratory. Particle spectra measured between 15 November 2015 and 15 January 2016 and PHITS model results calculated for this time period are compared. Results indicate good agreement between simulated dose rates, proton, neutron and gamma spectra. This work was originally presented at the 1st Mars Space Radiation Modeling Workshop held in 2016 in Boulder, CO.

  18. Radiation transport simulation of the Martian GCR surface flux and dose estimation using spherical geometry in PHITS compared to MSL-RAD measurements.

    PubMed

    Flores-McLaughlin, John

    2017-08-01

    Planetary bodies and spacecraft are predominantly exposed to isotropic radiation environments that are subject to transport and interaction in various material compositions and geometries. Specifically, the Martian surface radiation environment is composed of galactic cosmic radiation, secondary particles produced by their interaction with the Martian atmosphere, albedo particles from the Martian regolith and occasional solar particle events. Despite this complex physical environment with potentially significant locational and geometric dependencies, computational resources often limit radiation environment calculations to a one-dimensional or slab geometry specification. To better account for Martian geometry, spherical volumes with respective Martian material densities are adopted in this model. This physical description is modeled with the PHITS radiation transport code and compared to a portion of measurements from the Radiation Assessment Detector of the Mars Science Laboratory. Particle spectra measured between 15 November 2015 and 15 January 2016 and PHITS model results calculated for this time period are compared. Results indicate good agreement between simulated dose rates, proton, neutron and gamma spectra. This work was originally presented at the 1st Mars Space Radiation Modeling Workshop held in 2016 in Boulder, CO. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  19. Multiscale solutions of radiative heat transfer by the discrete unified gas kinetic scheme

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Luo, Xiao-Ping; Wang, Cun-Hai; Zhang, Yong; Yi, Hong-Liang; Tan, He-Ping

    2018-06-01

    The radiative transfer equation (RTE) has two asymptotic regimes characterized by the optical thickness, namely, optically thin and optically thick regimes. In the optically thin regime, a ballistic or kinetic transport is dominant. In the optically thick regime, energy transport is totally dominated by multiple collisions between photons; that is, the photons propagate by means of diffusion. To obtain convergent solutions to the RTE, conventional numerical schemes have a strong dependence on the number of spatial grids, which leads to a serious computational inefficiency in the regime where the diffusion is predominant. In this work, a discrete unified gas kinetic scheme (DUGKS) is developed to predict radiative heat transfer in participating media. Numerical performances of the DUGKS are compared in detail with conventional methods through three cases including one-dimensional transient radiative heat transfer, two-dimensional steady radiative heat transfer, and three-dimensional multiscale radiative heat transfer. Due to the asymptotic preserving property, the present method with relatively coarse grids gives accurate and reliable numerical solutions for large, small, and in-between values of optical thickness, and, especially in the optically thick regime, the DUGKS demonstrates a pronounced computational efficiency advantage over the conventional numerical models. In addition, the DUGKS has a promising potential in the study of multiscale radiative heat transfer inside the participating medium with a transition from optically thin to optically thick regimes.

  20. Reactor Dosimetry Applications Using RAPTOR-M3G:. a New Parallel 3-D Radiation Transport Code

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Longoni, Gianluca; Anderson, Stanwood L.

    2009-08-01

    The numerical solution of the Linearized Boltzmann Equation (LBE) via the Discrete Ordinates method (SN) requires extensive computational resources for large 3-D neutron and gamma transport applications due to the concurrent discretization of the angular, spatial, and energy domains. This paper will discuss the development RAPTOR-M3G (RApid Parallel Transport Of Radiation - Multiple 3D Geometries), a new 3-D parallel radiation transport code, and its application to the calculation of ex-vessel neutron dosimetry responses in the cavity of a commercial 2-loop Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR). RAPTOR-M3G is based domain decomposition algorithms, where the spatial and angular domains are allocated and processed on multi-processor computer architectures. As compared to traditional single-processor applications, this approach reduces the computational load as well as the memory requirement per processor, yielding an efficient solution methodology for large 3-D problems. Measured neutron dosimetry responses in the reactor cavity air gap will be compared to the RAPTOR-M3G predictions. This paper is organized as follows: Section 1 discusses the RAPTOR-M3G methodology; Section 2 describes the 2-loop PWR model and the numerical results obtained. Section 3 addresses the parallel performance of the code, and Section 4 concludes this paper with final remarks and future work.

  1. Continuous energy adjoint transport for photons in PHITS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Malins, Alex; Machida, Masahiko; Niita, Koji

    2017-09-01

    Adjoint Monte Carlo can be an effcient algorithm for solving photon transport problems where the size of the tally is relatively small compared to the source. Such problems are typical in environmental radioactivity calculations, where natural or fallout radionuclides spread over a large area contribute to the air dose rate at a particular location. Moreover photon transport with continuous energy representation is vital for accurately calculating radiation protection quantities. Here we describe the incorporation of an adjoint Monte Carlo capability for continuous energy photon transport into the Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System (PHITS). An adjoint cross section library for photon interactions was developed based on the JENDL- 4.0 library, by adding cross sections for adjoint incoherent scattering and pair production. PHITS reads in the library and implements the adjoint transport algorithm by Hoogenboom. Adjoint pseudo-photons are spawned within the forward tally volume and transported through space. Currently pseudo-photons can undergo coherent and incoherent scattering within the PHITS adjoint function. Photoelectric absorption is treated implicitly. The calculation result is recovered from the pseudo-photon flux calculated over the true source volume. A new adjoint tally function facilitates this conversion. This paper gives an overview of the new function and discusses potential future developments.

  2. Nuclear radiation analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Knies, R. J.; Byrn, N. R.; Smith, H. T.

    1972-01-01

    A study program of radiation shielding against the deleterious effects of nuclear radiation on man and equipment is reported. The methods used to analyze the radiation environment from bremsstrahlung photons are discussed along with the methods employed by transport code users. The theory and numerical methods used to solve transport of neutrons and gammas are described, and the neutron and cosmic fluxes that would be present on the gamma-ray telescope were analyzed.

  3. Convective and diffusive ULF wave driven radiation belt electron transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Degeling, A. W.; Rankin, R.; Elkington, S. R.

    2011-12-01

    The process of magnetospheric radiation belt electron transport driven by ULF waves is studied using a 2-D ideal MHD model for ULF waves in the equatorial plane including day/night asymmetry and a magnetopause boundary, and a test kinetic model for equatorially mirroring electrons. We find that ULF wave disturbances originating along the magnetopause flanks in the afternoon sector can act to periodically inject phase space density from these regions into the magnetosphere. Closely spaced drift-resonant surfaces for electrons with a given magnetic moment in the presence of the ULF waves create a layer of stochastic dynamics for L-shells above 6.5-7 in the cases examined, extending to the magnetopause. The phase decorrelation time scale for the stochastic region is estimated by the relaxation time for the diffusion coefficient to reach a steady value. This is found to be of the order of 10-15 wave periods, which is commensurate with the typical duration of observed ULF wave packets in the magnetosphere. For L-shells earthward of the stochastic layer, transport is limited to isolated drift-resonant islands in the case of narrowband ULF waves. We examine the effect of increasing the bandwidth of the ULF wave driver by summing together wave components produced by a set of independent runs of the ULF wave model. The wave source spectrum is given a flat-top amplitude of variable width (adjusted for constant power) and random phase. We find that increasing bandwidth can significantly enhance convective transport earthward of the stochastic layer and extend the stochastic layer to lower L-shells.

  4. Magnetopause Losses of Radiation Belt Electrons During a Recent Magnetic Storm

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lemon, C. L.; Chen, M.; Roeder, J. L.; Fennell, J. F.; Mulligan, T. L.; Claudepierre, S. G.

    2013-12-01

    We present results from Van Allen Probes observations during the magnetic storm of June 1, 2013, and compare them with simulations of the same event using the RCM-E model. The RCM-E calculates ion and electron transport in self-consistently computed electric and magnetic fields. We examine the effect of the perturbed ring current magnetic field on the transport of energetic electrons, and the significance of this transport for explaining the observed evolution of radiation belt fluxes during this event. The event is notable because it is a relatively simple storm in which strong convection persists for approximately 7 hours, injecting a moderately strong ring current (minimum Dst of -120 nT); convection then quickly shuts off, leading to a long and smooth recovery phase. We use RCM-E simulations, constrained by Van Allen Probes data, to asses the rate of magnetopause losses of electrons (magnetopause shadowing), and to calculate electron drift times and the evolution of electron phase space densities during the storm event. We recently modified the RCM-E plasma drift calculations to include relativistic treatment of electrons and a more realistic electron loss model. The new electron loss model, although still somewhat simplistic, gives much more accurate loss rates in the inner magnetosphere (including the radiation belts), which significantly affects the resulting electron fluxes compared to previous simulations. This, in turn, modifies the transport of ions and electrons via feedback with both the electric and magnetic fields. Our results highlight the effect of the ring current on the evolution of the radiation belt electrons, with particular emphasis on the role that magnetopause losses play in the observed variation of radiation belt electron fluxes during the storm.

  5. TORUS: Radiation transport and hydrodynamics code

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harries, Tim

    2014-04-01

    TORUS is a flexible radiation transfer and radiation-hydrodynamics code. The code has a basic infrastructure that includes the AMR mesh scheme that is used by several physics modules including atomic line transfer in a moving medium, molecular line transfer, photoionization, radiation hydrodynamics and radiative equilibrium. TORUS is useful for a variety of problems, including magnetospheric accretion onto T Tauri stars, spiral nebulae around Wolf-Rayet stars, discs around Herbig AeBe stars, structured winds of O supergiants and Raman-scattered line formation in symbiotic binaries, and dust emission and molecular line formation in star forming clusters. The code is written in Fortran 2003 and is compiled using a standard Gnu makefile. The code is parallelized using both MPI and OMP, and can use these parallel sections either separately or in a hybrid mode.

  6. Shielded Heavy-Ion Environment Linear Detector (SHIELD): an experiment for the Radiation and Technology Demonstration (RTD) Mission.

    PubMed

    Shavers, M R; Cucinotta, F A; Miller, J; Zeitlin, C; Heilbronn, L; Wilson, J W; Singleterry, R C

    2001-01-01

    Radiological assessment of the many cosmic ion species of widely distributed energies requires the use of theoretical transport models to accurately describe diverse physical processes related to nuclear reactions in spacecraft structures, planetary atmospheres and surfaces, and tissues. Heavy-ion transport models that were designed to characterize shielded radiation fields have been validated through comparison with data from thick-target irradiation experiments at particle accelerators. With the RTD Mission comes a unique opportunity to validate existing radiation transport models and guide the development of tools for shield design. For the first time, transport properties will be measured in free-space to characterize the shielding effectiveness of materials that are likely to be aboard interplanetary space missions. Target materials composed of aluminum, advanced composite spacecraft structure and other shielding materials, helium (a propellant) and tissue equivalent matrices will be evaluated. Large solid state detectors will provide kinetic energy and charge identification for incident heavy-ions and for secondary ions created in the target material. Transport calculations using the HZETRN model suggest that 8 g cm -2 thick targets would be adequate to evaluate the shielding effectiveness during solar minimum activity conditions for a period of 30 days or more.

  7. MOD3D: a model for incorporating MODTRAN radiative transfer into 3D simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Berk, Alexander; Anderson, Gail P.; Gossage, Brett N.

    2001-08-01

    MOD3D, a rapid and accurate radiative transport algorithm, is being developed for application to 3D simulations. MOD3D couples to optical property databases generated by the MODTRAN4 Correlated-k (CK) band model algorithm. The Beer's Law dependence of the CK algorithm provides for proper coupling of illumination and line-of-sight paths. Full 3D spatial effects are modeled by scaling and interpolating optical data to local conditions. A C++ version of MOD3D has been integrated into JMASS for calculation of path transmittances, thermal emission and single scatter solar radiation. Results from initial validation efforts are presented.

  8. OLTARIS: On-Line Tool for the Assessment of Radiation in Space

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Singleterry, Robert C., Jr.; Blattnig, Steve R.; Clowdsley, Martha S.; Qualls, Garry D.; Sandridge, Chris A.; Simonsen, Lisa C.; Norbury, John W.; Slaba, Tony C.; Walker, Steve A.; Badavi, Francis F.; hide

    2009-01-01

    The On-Line Tool for the Assessment of Radiation In Space (OLTARIS) is a World Wide Web based tool that assesses the effects of space radiation to humans in items such as spacecraft, habitats, rovers, and spacesuits. This document explains the basis behind the interface and framework used to input the data, perform the assessment, and output the results to the user as well as the physics, engineering, and computer science used to develop OLTARIS. The physics is based on the HZETRN2005 and NUCFRG2 research codes. The OLTARIS website is the successor to the SIREST website from the early 2000 s. Modifications have been made to the code to enable easy maintenance, additions, and configuration management along with a more modern web interface. Over all, the code has been verified, tested, and modified to enable faster and more accurate assessments. The next major areas of modification are more accurate transport algorithms, better uncertainty estimates, and electronic response functions. Improvements in the existing algorithms and data occur continuously and are logged in the change log section of the website.

  9. Accurate modeling of defects in graphene transport calculations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Linhart, Lukas; Burgdörfer, Joachim; Libisch, Florian

    2018-01-01

    We present an approach for embedding defect structures modeled by density functional theory into large-scale tight-binding simulations. We extract local tight-binding parameters for the vicinity of the defect site using Wannier functions. In the transition region between the bulk lattice and the defect the tight-binding parameters are continuously adjusted to approach the bulk limit far away from the defect. This embedding approach allows for an accurate high-level treatment of the defect orbitals using as many as ten nearest neighbors while keeping a small number of nearest neighbors in the bulk to render the overall computational cost reasonable. As an example of our approach, we consider an extended graphene lattice decorated with Stone-Wales defects, flower defects, double vacancies, or silicon substitutes. We predict distinct scattering patterns mirroring the defect symmetries and magnitude that should be experimentally accessible.

  10. Radiative heat transport during the vertical Bridgman growth of oxide single crystals: slabs versus cylinders

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Virozub, Alexander; Brandon, Simon

    1998-10-01

    Internal radiative heat transport in oxide crystals during their growth via the vertical Bridgman technique is known to promote severely deflected melt/crystal interface shapes. These highly curved interfaces are likely to encourage unwanted phenomena such as inhomogeneous distribution of impurities in the solidified crystalline material. Past computational analyses of oxide growth systems have mostly been confined to cylindrical geometries. In this letter a two-dimensional finite-element model, describing the growth of slab-shaped oxide crystals via the vertical Bridgman technique, is presented; internal radiative heat transport through the transparent crystalline phase is accounted for in the formulation. Comparison with calculations of cylindrical-shaped crystal growth systems shows a strong dependence of thermal fields and of melt/crystal interface shapes on the crystal geometry. Specifically, the interface position is strongly shifted toward the hot zone and its curvature dramatically increases in slab-shaped systems compared to what is observed in cylindrical geometries. This significant qualitative difference in interface shapes is shown to be linked to large quantitative differences in values of the viewing angle between the hot melt/crystal interface and the cold part of the crucible.

  11. Validating the performance of correlated fission multiplicity implementation in radiation transport codes with subcritical neutron multiplication benchmark experiments

    DOE PAGES

    Arthur, Jennifer; Bahran, Rian; Hutchinson, Jesson; ...

    2018-06-14

    Historically, radiation transport codes have uncorrelated fission emissions. In reality, the particles emitted by both spontaneous and induced fissions are correlated in time, energy, angle, and multiplicity. This work validates the performance of various current Monte Carlo codes that take into account the underlying correlated physics of fission neutrons, specifically neutron multiplicity distributions. The performance of 4 Monte Carlo codes - MCNP®6.2, MCNP®6.2/FREYA, MCNP®6.2/CGMF, and PoliMi - was assessed using neutron multiplicity benchmark experiments. In addition, MCNP®6.2 simulations were run using JEFF-3.2 and JENDL-4.0, rather than ENDF/B-VII.1, data for 239Pu and 240Pu. The sensitive benchmark parameters that in this workmore » represent the performance of each correlated fission multiplicity Monte Carlo code include the singles rate, the doubles rate, leakage multiplication, and Feynman histograms. Although it is difficult to determine which radiation transport code shows the best overall performance in simulating subcritical neutron multiplication inference benchmark measurements, it is clear that correlations exist between the underlying nuclear data utilized by (or generated by) the various codes, and the correlated neutron observables of interest. This could prove useful in nuclear data validation and evaluation applications, in which a particular moment of the neutron multiplicity distribution is of more interest than the other moments. It is also quite clear that, because transport is handled by MCNP®6.2 in 3 of the 4 codes, with the 4th code (PoliMi) being based on an older version of MCNP®, the differences in correlated neutron observables of interest are most likely due to the treatment of fission event generation in each of the different codes, as opposed to the radiation transport.« less

  12. Validating the performance of correlated fission multiplicity implementation in radiation transport codes with subcritical neutron multiplication benchmark experiments

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Arthur, Jennifer; Bahran, Rian; Hutchinson, Jesson

    Historically, radiation transport codes have uncorrelated fission emissions. In reality, the particles emitted by both spontaneous and induced fissions are correlated in time, energy, angle, and multiplicity. This work validates the performance of various current Monte Carlo codes that take into account the underlying correlated physics of fission neutrons, specifically neutron multiplicity distributions. The performance of 4 Monte Carlo codes - MCNP®6.2, MCNP®6.2/FREYA, MCNP®6.2/CGMF, and PoliMi - was assessed using neutron multiplicity benchmark experiments. In addition, MCNP®6.2 simulations were run using JEFF-3.2 and JENDL-4.0, rather than ENDF/B-VII.1, data for 239Pu and 240Pu. The sensitive benchmark parameters that in this workmore » represent the performance of each correlated fission multiplicity Monte Carlo code include the singles rate, the doubles rate, leakage multiplication, and Feynman histograms. Although it is difficult to determine which radiation transport code shows the best overall performance in simulating subcritical neutron multiplication inference benchmark measurements, it is clear that correlations exist between the underlying nuclear data utilized by (or generated by) the various codes, and the correlated neutron observables of interest. This could prove useful in nuclear data validation and evaluation applications, in which a particular moment of the neutron multiplicity distribution is of more interest than the other moments. It is also quite clear that, because transport is handled by MCNP®6.2 in 3 of the 4 codes, with the 4th code (PoliMi) being based on an older version of MCNP®, the differences in correlated neutron observables of interest are most likely due to the treatment of fission event generation in each of the different codes, as opposed to the radiation transport.« less

  13. Terahertz radiation induced chaotic electron transport in semiconductor superlattices with a tilted magnetic field.

    PubMed

    Wang, C; Wang, F; Cao, J C

    2014-09-01

    Chaotic electron transport in semiconductor superlattice induced by terahertz electric field that is superimposed on a dc electric field along the superlattice axis are studied using the semiclassical motion equations including the effect of dissipation. A magnetic field that is tilted relative to the superlattice axis is also applied to the system. Numerical simulation shows that electrons in superlattice miniband exhibit complicate nonlinear oscillating modes with the influence of terahertz radiation. Transitions between frequency-locking and chaos via pattern forming bifurcations are observed with the varying of terahertz amplitude. It is found that the chaotic regions gradually contract as the dissipation increases. We attribute the appearance of complicate nonlinear oscillation in superlattice to the interaction between terahertz radiation and internal cooperative oscillating mode relative to Bloch oscillation and cyclotron oscillation.

  14. Accurate reconstruction of the optical parameter distribution in participating medium based on the frequency-domain radiative transfer equation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qiao, Yao-Bin; Qi, Hong; Zhao, Fang-Zhou; Ruan, Li-Ming

    2016-12-01

    Reconstructing the distribution of optical parameters in the participating medium based on the frequency-domain radiative transfer equation (FD-RTE) to probe the internal structure of the medium is investigated in the present work. The forward model of FD-RTE is solved via the finite volume method (FVM). The regularization term formatted by the generalized Gaussian Markov random field model is used in the objective function to overcome the ill-posed nature of the inverse problem. The multi-start conjugate gradient (MCG) method is employed to search the minimum of the objective function and increase the efficiency of convergence. A modified adjoint differentiation technique using the collimated radiative intensity is developed to calculate the gradient of the objective function with respect to the optical parameters. All simulation results show that the proposed reconstruction algorithm based on FD-RTE can obtain the accurate distributions of absorption and scattering coefficients. The reconstructed images of the scattering coefficient have less errors than those of the absorption coefficient, which indicates the former are more suitable to probing the inner structure. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51476043), the Major National Scientific Instruments and Equipment Development Special Foundation of China (Grant No. 51327803), and the Foundation for Innovative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51121004).

  15. Modeling and simulation of radiation from hypersonic flows with Monte Carlo methods

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sohn, Ilyoup

    approximately 1 % was achieved with an efficiency about three times faster than the NEQAIR code. To perform accurate and efficient analyses of chemically reacting flowfield - radiation interactions, the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) and the photon Monte Carlo (PMC) radiative transport methods are used to simulate flowfield - radiation coupling from transitional to peak heating freestream conditions. The non-catalytic and fully catalytic surface conditions were modeled and good agreement of the stagnation-point convective heating between DSMC and continuum fluid dynamics (CFD) calculation under the assumption of fully catalytic surface was achieved. Stagnation-point radiative heating, however, was found to be very different. To simulate three-dimensional radiative transport, the finite-volume based PMC (FV-PMC) method was employed. DSMC - FV-PMC simulations with the goal of understanding the effect of radiation on the flow structure for different degrees of hypersonic non-equilibrium are presented. It is found that except for the highest altitudes, the coupling of radiation influences the flowfield, leading to a decrease in both heavy particle translational and internal temperatures and a decrease in the convective heat flux to the vehicle body. The DSMC - FV-PMC coupled simulations are compared with the previous coupled simulations and correlations obtained using continuum flow modeling and one-dimensional radiative transport. The modeling of radiative transport is further complicated by radiative transitions occurring during the excitation process of the same radiating gas species. This interaction affects the distribution of electronic state populations and, in turn, the radiative transport. The radiative transition rate in the excitation/de-excitation processes and the radiative transport equation (RTE) must be coupled simultaneously to account for non-local effects. The QSS model is presented to predict the electronic state populations of radiating gas species taking

  16. Prompt Radiation Protection Factors

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2018-02-01

    dimensional Monte-Carlo radiation transport code MCNP (Monte Carlo N-Particle) and the evaluation of the protection factors (ratio of dose in the open to...radiation was performed using the three dimensional Monte- Carlo radiation transport code MCNP (Monte Carlo N-Particle) and the evaluation of the protection...by detonation of a nuclear device have placed renewed emphasis on evaluation of the consequences in case of such an event. The Defense Threat

  17. Accurate Monte Carlo simulations for nozzle design, commissioning and quality assurance for a proton radiation therapy facility.

    PubMed

    Paganetti, H; Jiang, H; Lee, S Y; Kooy, H M

    2004-07-01

    Monte Carlo dosimetry calculations are essential methods in radiation therapy. To take full advantage of this tool, the beam delivery system has to be simulated in detail and the initial beam parameters have to be known accurately. The modeling of the beam delivery system itself opens various areas where Monte Carlo calculations prove extremely helpful, such as for design and commissioning of a therapy facility as well as for quality assurance verification. The gantry treatment nozzles at the Northeast Proton Therapy Center (NPTC) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) were modeled in detail using the GEANT4.5.2 Monte Carlo code. For this purpose, various novel solutions for simulating irregular shaped objects in the beam path, like contoured scatterers, patient apertures or patient compensators, were found. The four-dimensional, in time and space, simulation of moving parts, such as the modulator wheel, was implemented. Further, the appropriate physics models and cross sections for proton therapy applications were defined. We present comparisons between measured data and simulations. These show that by modeling the treatment nozzle with millimeter accuracy, it is possible to reproduce measured dose distributions with an accuracy in range and modulation width, in the case of a spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP), of better than 1 mm. The excellent agreement demonstrates that the simulations can even be used to generate beam data for commissioning treatment planning systems. The Monte Carlo nozzle model was used to study mechanical optimization in terms of scattered radiation and secondary radiation in the design of the nozzles. We present simulations on the neutron background. Further, the Monte Carlo calculations supported commissioning efforts in understanding the sensitivity of beam characteristics and how these influence the dose delivered. We present the sensitivity of dose distributions in water with respect to various beam parameters and geometrical misalignments

  18. An accurate computational method for the diffusion regime verification

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhokh, Alexey A.; Strizhak, Peter E.

    2018-04-01

    The diffusion regime (sub-diffusive, standard, or super-diffusive) is defined by the order of the derivative in the corresponding transport equation. We develop an accurate computational method for the direct estimation of the diffusion regime. The method is based on the derivative order estimation using the asymptotic analytic solutions of the diffusion equation with the integer order and the time-fractional derivatives. The robustness and the computational cheapness of the proposed method are verified using the experimental methane and methyl alcohol transport kinetics through the catalyst pellet.

  19. Accelerating Monte Carlo simulations of photon transport in a voxelized geometry using a massively parallel graphics processing unit.

    PubMed

    Badal, Andreu; Badano, Aldo

    2009-11-01

    It is a known fact that Monte Carlo simulations of radiation transport are computationally intensive and may require long computing times. The authors introduce a new paradigm for the acceleration of Monte Carlo simulations: The use of a graphics processing unit (GPU) as the main computing device instead of a central processing unit (CPU). A GPU-based Monte Carlo code that simulates photon transport in a voxelized geometry with the accurate physics models from PENELOPE has been developed using the CUDATM programming model (NVIDIA Corporation, Santa Clara, CA). An outline of the new code and a sample x-ray imaging simulation with an anthropomorphic phantom are presented. A remarkable 27-fold speed up factor was obtained using a GPU compared to a single core CPU. The reported results show that GPUs are currently a good alternative to CPUs for the simulation of radiation transport. Since the performance of GPUs is currently increasing at a faster pace than that of CPUs, the advantages of GPU-based software are likely to be more pronounced in the future.

  20. Improved patient size estimates for accurate dose calculations in abdomen computed tomography

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Chang-Lae

    2017-07-01

    The radiation dose of CT (computed tomography) is generally represented by the CTDI (CT dose index). CTDI, however, does not accurately predict the actual patient doses for different human body sizes because it relies on a cylinder-shaped head (diameter : 16 cm) and body (diameter : 32 cm) phantom. The purpose of this study was to eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional CTDI and to provide more accurate radiation dose information. Projection radiographs were obtained from water cylinder phantoms of various sizes, and the sizes of the water cylinder phantoms were calculated and verified using attenuation profiles. The effective diameter was also calculated using the attenuation of the abdominal projection radiographs of 10 patients. When the results of the attenuation-based method and the geometry-based method shown were compared with the results of the reconstructed-axial-CT-image-based method, the effective diameter of the attenuation-based method was found to be similar to the effective diameter of the reconstructed-axial-CT-image-based method, with a difference of less than 3.8%, but the geometry-based method showed a difference of less than 11.4%. This paper proposes a new method of accurately computing the radiation dose of CT based on the patient sizes. This method computes and provides the exact patient dose before the CT scan, and can therefore be effectively used for imaging and dose control.

  1. AREVA Developments for an Efficient and Reliable use of Monte Carlo codes for Radiation Transport Applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chapoutier, Nicolas; Mollier, François; Nolin, Guillaume; Culioli, Matthieu; Mace, Jean-Reynald

    2017-09-01

    In the context of the rising of Monte Carlo transport calculations for any kind of application, AREVA recently improved its suite of engineering tools in order to produce efficient Monte Carlo workflow. Monte Carlo codes, such as MCNP or TRIPOLI, are recognized as reference codes to deal with a large range of radiation transport problems. However the inherent drawbacks of theses codes - laboring input file creation and long computation time - contrast with the maturity of the treatment of the physical phenomena. The goals of the recent AREVA developments were to reach similar efficiency as other mature engineering sciences such as finite elements analyses (e.g. structural or fluid dynamics). Among the main objectives, the creation of a graphical user interface offering CAD tools for geometry creation and other graphical features dedicated to the radiation field (source definition, tally definition) has been reached. The computations times are drastically reduced compared to few years ago thanks to the use of massive parallel runs, and above all, the implementation of hybrid variance reduction technics. From now engineering teams are capable to deliver much more prompt support to any nuclear projects dealing with reactors or fuel cycle facilities from conceptual phase to decommissioning.

  2. Features of Afterbody Radiative Heating for Earth Entry

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Johnston, Christopher O.; Brandis, Aaron

    2014-01-01

    Radiative heating is identified as a major contributor to afterbody heating for Earth entry capsules at velocities above 10 km/s. Because of rate-limited electron-ion recombination processes, a large fraction of the electronically-excited N and O atoms produced in the high temperature/pressure forebody remain as they expand into the afterbody region, which results in significant afterbody radiation. Large radiative heating sensitivities to electron-impact ionization rates and escape factors are identified. Ablation products from a forebody ablator are shown to increase the afterbody radiation by as much as 40%. The tangent-slab radiation transport approach is shown to over-predict the radiative flux by as much as 40% in the afterbody, therefore making the more computationally expensive ray-tracing approach necessary for accurate radiative flux predictions. For the Stardust entry, the afterbody radiation is predicted to be nearly twice as large as the convective heating during the peak heating phase of the trajectory. Comparisons between simulations and the Stardust Echelle observation measurements, which are shown to be dominated by afterbody emission, indicate agreement within 20% for various N and O lines. Similarly, calorimeter measurements from the Fire II experiment are identified as a source of validation data for afterbody radiation. For the afterbody calorimeter measurement closest to the forebody, which experiences the largest afterbody radiative heating component, the convective heating alone is shown to under-predict the measurement, even for the fullycatalytic assumption. Agreement with the measurements is improved with the addition of afterbody radiation. These comparisons with Stardust and Fire II measurements provide validation that the significant afterbody radiation values proposed in this work are legitimate.

  3. Global energy transports and the influence of clouds on transport requirements - A satellite analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sohn, Byung-Ju; Smith, Eric A.

    1992-01-01

    This report investigates the impact of differential net radiative heating on 2D energy transports within the atmosphere ocean system and the role of clouds on this process. The 2D mean energy transports, in answer to zonal and meridional gradients in the net radiation field, show an east-west coupled dipole structure in which the Pacific acts as the major energy source and North Africa as the major energy sink. It is demonstrated that the dipole is embedded in the secondary energy transports arising mainly from the differential heating between land and oceans in the tropics in which the tropical east-west (zonal) transports are up to 30 percent of the tropical north-south (meridional) transports.

  4. Trend of surface solar radiation over Asia simulated by aerosol transport-climate model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Takemura, T.; Ohmura, A.

    2009-12-01

    Long-term records of surface radiation measurements indicate a decrease in the solar radiation between the 1950s and 1980s (“global dimming”), then its recovery afterward (“global brightening”) at many locations all over the globe [Wild, 2009]. On the other hand, the global brightening is delayed over the Asian region [Ohmura, 2009]. It is suggested that these trends of the global dimming and brightening are strongly related with a change in aerosol loading in the atmosphere which affect the climate change through the direct, semi-direct, and indirect effects. In this study, causes of the trend of the surface solar radiation over Asia during last several decades are analyzed with an aerosol transport-climate model, SPRINTARS. SPRINTARS is coupled with MIROC which is a general circulation model (GCM) developed by Center for Climate System Research (CCSR)/University of Tokyo, National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), and Frontier Research Center for Global Change (FRCGC) [Takemura et al., 2000, 2002, 2005, 2009]. The horizontal and vertical resolutions are T106 (approximately 1.1° by 1.1°) and 56 layers, respectively. SPRINTARS includes the transport, radiation, cloud, and precipitation processes of all main tropospheric aerosols (black and organic carbons, sulfate, soil dust, and sea salt). The model treats not only the aerosol mass mixing ratios but also the cloud droplet and ice crystal number concentrations as prognostic variables, and the nucleation processes of cloud droplets and ice crystals depend on the number concentrations of each aerosol species. Changes in the cloud droplet and ice crystal number concentrations affect the cloud radiation and precipitation processes in the model. Historical emissions, that is consumption of fossil fuel and biofuel, biomass burning, aircraft emissions, and volcanic eruptions are prescribed from database provided by the Aerosol Model Intercomparison Project (AeroCom) and the latest IPCC inventories

  5. Modeling the radiation pattern of LEDs.

    PubMed

    Moreno, Ivan; Sun, Ching-Cherng

    2008-02-04

    Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) come in many varieties and with a wide range of radiation patterns. We propose a general, simple but accurate analytic representation for the radiation pattern of the light emitted from an LED. To accurately render both the angular intensity distribution and the irradiance spatial pattern, a simple phenomenological model takes into account the emitting surfaces (chip, chip array, or phosphor surface), and the light redirected by both the reflecting cup and the encapsulating lens. Mathematically, the pattern is described as the sum of a maximum of two or three Gaussian or cosine-power functions. The resulting equation is widely applicable for any kind of LED of practical interest. We accurately model a wide variety of radiation patterns from several world-class manufacturers.

  6. Unstable behaviour of an upper ocean-atmosphere coupled model: role of atmospheric radiative processes and oceanic heat transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cohen-Solal, E.; Le Treut, H.

    We describe the initial bias of the climate simulated by a coupled ocean-atmosphere model. The atmospheric component is a state-of-the-art atmospheric general circulation model, whereas the ocean component is limited to the upper ocean and includes a mixed layer whose depth is computed by the model. As the full ocean general circulation is not computed by the model, the heat transport within the ocean is prescribed. When modifying the prescribed heat transport we also affect the initial drift of the model. We analyze here one of the experiments where this drift is very strong, in order to study the key processes relating the changes in the ocean transport and the evolution of the model's climate. In this simulation, the ocean surface temperature cools by 1.5°C in 20 y. We can distinguish two different phases. During the first period of 5 y, the sea surface temperatures become cooler, particularly in the intertropical area, but the outgoing longwave radiation at the top-of-the-atmosphere increases very quickly, in particular at the end of the period. An off-line version of the model radiative code enables us to decompose this behaviour into different contributions (cloudiness, specific humidity, air and surface temperatures, surface albedo). This partitioning shows that the longwave radiation evolution is due to a decrease of high level cirrus clouds in the intertropical troposphere. The decrease of the cloud cover also leads to a decrease of the planetary albedo and therefore an increase of the net short wave radiation absorbed by the system. But the dominant factor is the strong destabilization by the longwave cooling, which is able to throw the system out of equilibrium. During the remaining of the simulation (second phase), the cooling induced by the destabilization at the top-of-the-atmosphere is transmitted to the surface by various processes of the climate system. Hence, we show that small variations of ocean heat transport can force the model from a stable

  7. Functional specialization in nucleotide sugar transporters occurred through differentiation of the gene cluster EamA (DUF6) before the radiation of Viridiplantae

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background The drug/metabolite transporter superfamily comprises a diversity of protein domain families with multiple functions including transport of nucleotide sugars. Drug/metabolite transporter domains are contained in both solute carrier families 30, 35 and 39 proteins as well as in acyl-malonyl condensing enzyme proteins. In this paper, we present an evolutionary analysis of nucleotide sugar transporters in relation to the entire superfamily of drug/metabolite transporters that considers crucial intra-protein duplication events that have shaped the transporters. We use a method that combines the strengths of hidden Markov models and maximum likelihood to find relationships between drug/metabolite transporter families, and branches within families. Results We present evidence that the triose-phosphate transporters, domain unknown function 914, uracil-diphosphate glucose-N-acetylglucosamine, and nucleotide sugar transporter families have evolved from a domain duplication event before the radiation of Viridiplantae in the EamA family (previously called domain unknown function 6). We identify previously unknown branches in the solute carrier 30, 35 and 39 protein families that emerged simultaneously as key physiological developments after the radiation of Viridiplantae, including the "35C/E" branch of EamA, which formed in the lineage of T. adhaerens (Animalia). We identify a second cluster of DMTs, called the domain unknown function 1632 cluster, which has non-cytosolic N- and C-termini, and thus appears to have been formed from a different domain duplication event. We identify a previously uncharacterized motif, G-X(6)-G, which is overrepresented in the fifth transmembrane helix of C-terminal domains. We present evidence that the family called fatty acid elongases are homologous to transporters, not enzymes as had previously been thought. Conclusions The nucleotide sugar transporters families were formed through differentiation of the gene cluster EamA (domain

  8. How Accurate is Land/Ocean Moisture Transport Variability in Reanalyses?

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Robertson, F. R.; Bosilovich, M. G.

    2014-01-01

    Quantifying the global hydrological cycle and its variability across various time scales remains a challenge to the climate community. Direct measurements of evaporation (E), evapotranspiration (ET), and precipitation (P) are not feasible on a global scale, nor is the transport of water vapor over the global oceans and sparsely populated land areas. Expanding satellite data streams have enabled development of various water (and energy) flux products, complementing reanalyses and facilitating observationally constrained modeling. But the evolution of the global observing system has produced additional complications--improvements in satellite sensor resolution and accuracy have resulted in "epochs" of observational quasi-uniformity that can adversely affect reanalysis trends. In this work we focus on vertically integrated moisture flux convergence (VMFC) variations within the period 1979 - present integrated over global land. We show that VMFC in recent reanalyses (e.g. ERA-I, NASA MERRA, NOAA CFSR and JRA55) suffers from observing system changes, though differently in each product. Land Surface Models (LSMs) forced with observations-based precipitation, radiation and near-surface meteorology share closely the interannual P-ET variations of the reanalyses associated with ENSO events. (VMFC over land and P-ET estimates are equivalent quantities since atmospheric storage changes are small on these scales.) But the long-term LSM trend over the period since 1979 is approximately one-fourth that of the reanalyses. Additional reduced observation reanalyses assimilating only surface pressure and /or specifying seasurface temperature also have a much smaller trend in P-ET like the LSMs. We explore the regional manifestation of the reanalysis P-ET / VMFC problems, particularly over land. Both principal component analysis and a simple time series changepoint analysis highlight problems associated with data poor regions such as Equatorial Africa and, for one reanalysis, the

  9. Adaptors for radiation detectors

    DOEpatents

    Livesay, Ronald Jason

    2014-04-22

    Described herein are adaptors and other devices for radiation detectors that can be used to make accurate spectral measurements of both small and large bulk sources of radioactivity, such as building structures, soils, vessels, large equipment, and liquid bodies. Some exemplary devices comprise an adaptor for a radiation detector, wherein the adaptor can be configured to collimate radiation passing through the adapter from an external radiation source to the radiation detector and the adaptor can be configured to enclose a radiation source within the adapter to allow the radiation detector to measure radiation emitted from the enclosed radiation source.

  10. Adaptors for radiation detectors

    DOEpatents

    Livesay, Ronald Jason

    2015-07-28

    Described herein are adaptors and other devices for radiation detectors that can be used to make accurate spectral measurements of both small and large bulk sources of radioactivity, such as building structures, soils, vessels, large equipment, and liquid bodies. Some exemplary devices comprise an adaptor for a radiation detector, wherein the adaptor can be configured to collimate radiation passing through the adapter from an external radiation source to the radiation detector and the adaptor can be configured to enclose a radiation source within the adapter to allow the radiation detector to measure radiation emitted from the enclosed radiation source.

  11. Developing targets for radiation transport experiments at the Omega laser facility

    DOE PAGES

    Capelli, Deanna; Charsley-Groffman, C. A.; Randolph, Randall Blaine; ...

    2017-07-13

    Targets have been developed to measure supersonic radiation transport in aerogel foams using absorption spectroscopy. The target consists of an aerogel foam uniformly doped with either titanium or scandium inserted into an undoped aerogel foam package. This creates a localized doped foam region to provide spatial resolution for the measurement. Development and characterization of the foams is a key challenge in addition to machining and assembling the two foams so they mate without gaps. The foam package is inserted into a beryllium sleeve and mounted on a gold hohlraum. The target is mounted to a holder created using additive manufacturingmore » and mounted on a stalk. As a result, the manufacturing of the components, along with assembly and metrology of the target are described here.« less

  12. Developing targets for radiation transport experiments at the Omega laser facility

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Capelli, Deanna; Charsley-Groffman, C. A.; Randolph, Randall Blaine

    Targets have been developed to measure supersonic radiation transport in aerogel foams using absorption spectroscopy. The target consists of an aerogel foam uniformly doped with either titanium or scandium inserted into an undoped aerogel foam package. This creates a localized doped foam region to provide spatial resolution for the measurement. Development and characterization of the foams is a key challenge in addition to machining and assembling the two foams so they mate without gaps. The foam package is inserted into a beryllium sleeve and mounted on a gold hohlraum. The target is mounted to a holder created using additive manufacturingmore » and mounted on a stalk. As a result, the manufacturing of the components, along with assembly and metrology of the target are described here.« less

  13. Pressure potential and stability analysis in an acoustical noncontact transportation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, J.; Liu, C. J.; Zhang, W. J.

    2017-01-01

    Near field acoustic traveling wave is one of the most popular principles in noncontact manipulations and transportations. The stability behavior is a key factor in the industrial applications of acoustical noncontact transportation. We present here an in-depth analysis of the transportation stability of a planar object levitated in near field acoustic traveling waves. To more accurately describe the pressure distributions on the radiation surface, a 3D nonlinear traveling wave model is presented. A closed form solution is derived based on the pressure potential to quantitatively calculate the restoring forces and moments under small disturbances. The physical explanations of the effects of fluid inertia and the effects of non-uniform pressure distributions are provided in detail. It is found that a vibration rail with tapered cross section provides more stable transportation than a rail with rectangular cross section. The present study sheds light on the issue of quantitative evaluation of stability in acoustic traveling waves and proposes three main factors that influence the stability: (a) vibration shape, (b) pressure distribution and (c) restoring force/moment. It helps to provide a better understanding of the physics behind the near field acoustic transportation and provide useful design and optimization tools for industrial applications.

  14. SU-D-16A-02: A Novel Methodology for Accurate, Semi-Automated Delineation of Oral Mucosa for Radiation Therapy Dose-Response Studies

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dean, J; Welsh, L; Gulliford, S

    Purpose: The significant morbidity caused by radiation-induced acute oral mucositis means that studies aiming to elucidate dose-response relationships in this tissue are a high priority. However, there is currently no standardized method for delineating the mucosal structures within the oral cavity. This report describes the development of a methodology to delineate the oral mucosa accurately on CT scans in a semi-automated manner. Methods: An oral mucosa atlas for automated segmentation was constructed using the RayStation Atlas-Based Segmentation (ABS) module. A radiation oncologist manually delineated the full surface of the oral mucosa on a planning CT scan of a patient receivingmore » radiotherapy (RT) to the head and neck region. A 3mm fixed annulus was added to incorporate the mucosal wall thickness. This structure was saved as an atlas template. ABS followed by model-based segmentation was performed on four further patients sequentially, adding each patient to the atlas. Manual editing of the automatically segmented structure was performed. A dose comparison between these contours and previously used oral cavity volume contours was performed. Results: The new approach was successful in delineating the mucosa, as assessed by an experienced radiation oncologist, when applied to a new series of patients receiving head and neck RT. Reductions in the mean doses obtained when using the new delineation approach, compared with the previously used technique, were demonstrated for all patients (median: 36.0%, range: 25.6% – 39.6%) and were of a magnitude that might be expected to be clinically significant. Differences in the maximum dose that might reasonably be expected to be clinically significant were observed for two patients. Conclusion: The method developed provides a means of obtaining the dose distribution delivered to the oral mucosa more accurately than has previously been achieved. This will enable the acquisition of high quality dosimetric data for

  15. Spacecraft Solar Particle Event (SPE) Shielding: Shielding Effectiveness as a Function of SPE model as Determined with the FLUKA Radiation Transport Code

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Koontz, Steve; Atwell, William; Reddell, Brandon; Rojdev, Kristina

    2010-01-01

    Analysis of both satellite and surface neutron monitor data demonstrate that the widely utilized Exponential model of solar particle event (SPE) proton kinetic energy spectra can seriously underestimate SPE proton flux, especially at the highest kinetic energies. The more recently developed Band model produces better agreement with neutron monitor data ground level events (GLEs) and is believed to be considerably more accurate at high kinetic energies. Here, we report the results of modeling and simulation studies in which the radiation transport code FLUKA (FLUktuierende KAskade) is used to determine the changes in total ionizing dose (TID) and single-event environments (SEE) behind aluminum, polyethylene, carbon, and titanium shielding masses when the assumed form (i. e., Band or Exponential) of the solar particle event (SPE) kinetic energy spectra is changed. FLUKA simulations have fully three dimensions with an isotropic particle flux incident on a concentric spherical shell shielding mass and detector structure. The effects are reported for both energetic primary protons penetrating the shield mass and secondary particle showers caused by energetic primary protons colliding with shielding mass nuclei. Our results, in agreement with previous studies, show that use of the Exponential form of the event

  16. Meson Production and Space Radiation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Norbury, John; Blattnig, Steve; Norman, Ryan; Aghara, Sukesh

    Protecting astronauts from the harmful effects of space radiation is an important priority for long duration space flight. The National Council on Radiation Protection (NCRP) has recently recommended that pion and other mesons should be included in space radiation transport codes, especially in connection with the Martian atmosphere. In an interesting accident of nature, the galactic cosmic ray spectrum has its peak intensity near the pion production threshold. The Boltzmann transport equation is structured in such a way that particle production cross sec-tions are multiplied by particle flux. Therefore, the peak of the incident flux of the galactic cosmic ray spectrum is more important than other regions of the spectrum and cross sections near the peak are enhanced. This happens with pion cross sections. The MCNPX Monte-Carlo transport code now has the capability of transporting heavy ions, and by using a galactic cosmic ray spectrum as input, recent work has shown that pions contribute about twenty percent of the dose from galactic cosmic rays behind a shield of 20 g/cm2 aluminum and 30 g/cm2 water. It is therefore important to include pion and other hadron production in transport codes designed for space radiation studies, such as HZETRN. The status of experimental hadron production data for energies relevant to space radiation will be reviewed, as well as the predictive capa-bilities of current theoretical hadron production cross section and space radiation transport models. Charged pions decay into muons and neutrinos, and neutral pions decay into photons. An electromagnetic cascade is produced as these particles build up in a material. The cascade and transport of pions, muons, electrons and photons will be discussed as they relate to space radiation. The importance of other hadrons, such as kaons, eta mesons and antiprotons will be considered as well. Efficient methods for calculating cross sections for meson production in nucleon-nucleon and nucleus

  17. Transport, charge exchange and loss of energetic heavy ions in the earth's radiation belts - Applicability and limitations of theory

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Spjeldvik, W. N.

    1981-01-01

    Computer simulations of processes which control the relative abundances of ions in the trapping regions of geospace are compared with observations from discriminating ion detectors. Energy losses due to Coulomb collisions between ions and exospheric neutrals are considered, along with charge exchange losses and internal charge exchanges. The time evolution of energetic ion fluxes of equatorially mirroring ions under radial diffusion is modelled to include geomagnetic and geoelectric fluctutations. Limits to the validity of diffusion transport theory are discussed, and the simulation is noted to contain provisions for six ionic charge states and the source effect on the radiation belt oxygen ion distributions. Comparisons are made with ion flux data gathered on Explorer 45 and ISEE-1 spacecraft and results indicate that internal charge exchanges cause the radiation belt ion charge state to be independent of source charge rate characteristics, and relative charge state distribution is independent of the radially diffusive transport rate below the charge state redistribution zone.

  18. Transport of Aerosols from Asia and Their Radiative Effects Over the Western Pacific: A 3-D Model Study for ACE-Asia Experiment During Spring 2001

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chin, Mian; Ginoux, Paul; Flatau, Piotr; Anderson, Tad; Masonis, Sarah; Russell, Phil; Schmid, Beat; Livingston, John; Redemann, Jens; Kahn, Ralph; hide

    2001-01-01

    The Aerosol Characterization Experiment-Asia (ACE-Asia) took place in Spring 2001 in the East Asia-West Pacific Ocean. During the ACE-Asia intensive field operation period, high concentrations of dust and anthropogenic aerosols were observed over the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan, which were transported out from the Asian continent, with the plume often extending to 6-8 km altitude. The multi-component aerosols originated from Asia are expected to exert a significant radiative forcing over the Pacific region. We present here results from the Georgia Tech/Goddard Global Ozone Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport (GOCART) model of aerosol transport and radiative forcing in the context of ACE-Asia. The model calculated aerosol concentrations, extinctions, optical thickness, size distributions, and vertical profiles are compared with the aircraft and ship measurements, and the distributions of aerosols are compared with satellite data. The model will be used to understand the origins of the aerosols observed in ACE-Asia, estimate the contributions from anthropogenic and natural aerosols to the total aerosol optical thickness, investigate the effects of humidification and clouds on aerosol properties, and assess the radiative forcing of Asian aerosols over the Pacific region and in the northern hemisphere.

  19. Radiation hydrodynamics of super star cluster formation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tsang, Benny Tsz Ho; Milos Milosavljevic

    2018-01-01

    Throughout the history of the Universe, the nuclei of super star clusters represent the most active sites for star formation. The high densities of massive stars within the clusters produce intense radiation that imparts both energy and momentum on the surrounding star-forming gas. Theoretical claims based on idealized geometries have claimed the dominant role of radiation pressure in controlling the star formation activity within the clusters. In order for cluster formation simulations to be reliable, numerical schemes have to be able to model accurately the radiation flows through the gas clumps at the cluster nuclei with high density contrasts. With a hybrid Monte Carlo radiation transport module we developed, we performed 3D radiation hydrodynamical simulations of super star cluster formation in turbulent clouds. Furthermore, our Monte Carlo radiation treatment provides a native capability to produce synthetic observations, which allows us to predict observational indicators and to inform future observations. We found that radiation pressure has definite, but minor effects on limiting the gas supply for star formation, and the final mass of the most massive cluster is about one million solar masses. The ineffective forcing was due to the density variations inside the clusters, i.e. radiation takes the paths of low densities and avoids forcing on dense clumps. Compared to a radiation-free control run, we further found that the presence of radiation amplifies the density variations. The core of the resulting cluster has a high stellar density, about the threshold required for stellar collisions and merging. The very massive star that form from the stellar merging could continue to gain mass from the surrounding gas reservoir that is gravitationally confined by the deep potential of the cluster, seeding the potential formation of a massive black hole.

  20. Computer aided radiation analysis for manned spacecraft

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Appleby, Matthew H.; Griffin, Brand N.; Tanner, Ernest R., II; Pogue, William R.; Golightly, Michael J.

    1991-01-01

    In order to assist in the design of radiation shielding an analytical tool is presented that can be employed in combination with CAD facilities and NASA transport codes. The nature of radiation in space is described, and the operational requirements for protection are listed as background information for the use of the technique. The method is based on the Boeing radiation exposure model (BREM) for combining NASA radiation transport codes and CAD facilities, and the output is given as contour maps of the radiation-shield distribution so that dangerous areas can be identified. Computational models are used to solve the 1D Boltzmann transport equation and determine the shielding needs for the worst-case scenario. BREM can be employed directly with the radiation computations to assess radiation protection during all phases of design which saves time and ultimately spacecraft weight.

  1. Gray and multigroup radiation transport through 3D binary stochastic media with different sphere radii distributions

    DOE PAGES

    Olson, Gordon Lee

    2016-12-06

    Here, gray and multigroup radiation is transported through 3D media consisting of spheres randomly placed in a uniform background. Comparisons are made between using constant radii spheres and three different distributions of sphere radii. Because of the computational cost of 3D calculations, only the lowest angle order, n=1, is tested. If the mean chord length is held constant, using different radii distributions makes little difference. This is true for both gray and multigroup solutions. 3D transport solutions are compared to 2D and 1D solutions with the same mean chord lengths. 2D disk and 3D sphere media give solutions that aremore » nearly identical while 1D slab solutions are fundamentally different.« less

  2. Gray and multigroup radiation transport through 3D binary stochastic media with different sphere radii distributions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Olson, Gordon Lee

    Here, gray and multigroup radiation is transported through 3D media consisting of spheres randomly placed in a uniform background. Comparisons are made between using constant radii spheres and three different distributions of sphere radii. Because of the computational cost of 3D calculations, only the lowest angle order, n=1, is tested. If the mean chord length is held constant, using different radii distributions makes little difference. This is true for both gray and multigroup solutions. 3D transport solutions are compared to 2D and 1D solutions with the same mean chord lengths. 2D disk and 3D sphere media give solutions that aremore » nearly identical while 1D slab solutions are fundamentally different.« less

  3. An efficient transport solver for tokamak plasmas

    DOE PAGES

    Park, Jin Myung; Murakami, Masanori; St. John, H. E.; ...

    2017-01-03

    A simple approach to efficiently solve a coupled set of 1-D diffusion-type transport equations with a stiff transport model for tokamak plasmas is presented based on the 4th order accurate Interpolated Differential Operator scheme along with a nonlinear iteration method derived from a root-finding algorithm. Here, numerical tests using the Trapped Gyro-Landau-Fluid model show that the presented high order method provides an accurate transport solution using a small number of grid points with robust nonlinear convergence.

  4. PENGEOM-A general-purpose geometry package for Monte Carlo simulation of radiation transport in material systems defined by quadric surfaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Almansa, Julio; Salvat-Pujol, Francesc; Díaz-Londoño, Gloria; Carnicer, Artur; Lallena, Antonio M.; Salvat, Francesc

    2016-02-01

    The Fortran subroutine package PENGEOM provides a complete set of tools to handle quadric geometries in Monte Carlo simulations of radiation transport. The material structure where radiation propagates is assumed to consist of homogeneous bodies limited by quadric surfaces. The PENGEOM subroutines (a subset of the PENELOPE code) track particles through the material structure, independently of the details of the physics models adopted to describe the interactions. Although these subroutines are designed for detailed simulations of photon and electron transport, where all individual interactions are simulated sequentially, they can also be used in mixed (class II) schemes for simulating the transport of high-energy charged particles, where the effect of soft interactions is described by the random-hinge method. The definition of the geometry and the details of the tracking algorithm are tailored to optimize simulation speed. The use of fuzzy quadric surfaces minimizes the impact of round-off errors. The provided software includes a Java graphical user interface for editing and debugging the geometry definition file and for visualizing the material structure. Images of the structure are generated by using the tracking subroutines and, hence, they describe the geometry actually passed to the simulation code.

  5. Improved non-local electron thermal transport model for two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamics simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cao, Duc; Moses, Gregory; Delettrez, Jacques

    2015-08-01

    An implicit, non-local thermal conduction algorithm based on the algorithm developed by Schurtz, Nicolai, and Busquet (SNB) [Schurtz et al., Phys. Plasmas 7, 4238 (2000)] for non-local electron transport is presented and has been implemented in the radiation-hydrodynamics code DRACO. To study the model's effect on DRACO's predictive capability, simulations of shot 60 303 from OMEGA are completed using the iSNB model, and the computed shock speed vs. time is compared to experiment. Temperature outputs from the iSNB model are compared with the non-local transport model of Goncharov et al. [Phys. Plasmas 13, 012702 (2006)]. Effects on adiabat are also examined in a polar drive surrogate simulation. Results show that the iSNB model is not only capable of flux-limitation but also preheat prediction while remaining numerically robust and sacrificing little computational speed. Additionally, the results provide strong incentive to further modify key parameters within the SNB theory, namely, the newly introduced non-local mean free path. This research was supported by the Laboratory for Laser Energetics of the University of Rochester.

  6. OLTARIS: On-Line Tool for the Assessment of Radiation in Space

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Singleterry, Robert C., Jr.; Blattnig, Steve R.; Clowdsley, Martha S.; Qualls, Garry D.; Sandridge, Christopher A.; Simonsen, Lisa C.; Norbury, John W.; Slaba, Tony C.; Walker, Steven A.; Badavi, Francis F.; hide

    2010-01-01

    The On-Line Tool for the Assessment of Radiation In Space (OLTARIS) is a World Wide Web based tool that assesses the effects of space radiation on humans and electronics in items such as spacecraft, habitats, rovers, and spacesuits. This document explains the basis behind the interface and framework used to input the data, perform the assessment, and output the results to the user as well as the physics, engineering, and computer science used to develop OLTARIS. The transport and physics is based on the HZETRN and NUCFRG research codes. The OLTARIS website is the successor to the SIREST website from the early 2000's. Modifications have been made to the code to enable easy maintenance, additions, and configuration management along with a more modern web interface. Overall, the code has been verified, tested, and modified to enable faster and more accurate assessments.

  7. Hydrogen atoms can be located accurately and precisely by x-ray crystallography.

    PubMed

    Woińska, Magdalena; Grabowsky, Simon; Dominiak, Paulina M; Woźniak, Krzysztof; Jayatilaka, Dylan

    2016-05-01

    Precise and accurate structural information on hydrogen atoms is crucial to the study of energies of interactions important for crystal engineering, materials science, medicine, and pharmacy, and to the estimation of physical and chemical properties in solids. However, hydrogen atoms only scatter x-radiation weakly, so x-rays have not been used routinely to locate them accurately. Textbooks and teaching classes still emphasize that hydrogen atoms cannot be located with x-rays close to heavy elements; instead, neutron diffraction is needed. We show that, contrary to widespread expectation, hydrogen atoms can be located very accurately using x-ray diffraction, yielding bond lengths involving hydrogen atoms (A-H) that are in agreement with results from neutron diffraction mostly within a single standard deviation. The precision of the determination is also comparable between x-ray and neutron diffraction results. This has been achieved at resolutions as low as 0.8 Å using Hirshfeld atom refinement (HAR). We have applied HAR to 81 crystal structures of organic molecules and compared the A-H bond lengths with those from neutron measurements for A-H bonds sorted into bonds of the same class. We further show in a selection of inorganic compounds that hydrogen atoms can be located in bridging positions and close to heavy transition metals accurately and precisely. We anticipate that, in the future, conventional x-radiation sources at in-house diffractometers can be used routinely for locating hydrogen atoms in small molecules accurately instead of large-scale facilities such as spallation sources or nuclear reactors.

  8. Hydrogen atoms can be located accurately and precisely by x-ray crystallography

    PubMed Central

    Woińska, Magdalena; Grabowsky, Simon; Dominiak, Paulina M.; Woźniak, Krzysztof; Jayatilaka, Dylan

    2016-01-01

    Precise and accurate structural information on hydrogen atoms is crucial to the study of energies of interactions important for crystal engineering, materials science, medicine, and pharmacy, and to the estimation of physical and chemical properties in solids. However, hydrogen atoms only scatter x-radiation weakly, so x-rays have not been used routinely to locate them accurately. Textbooks and teaching classes still emphasize that hydrogen atoms cannot be located with x-rays close to heavy elements; instead, neutron diffraction is needed. We show that, contrary to widespread expectation, hydrogen atoms can be located very accurately using x-ray diffraction, yielding bond lengths involving hydrogen atoms (A–H) that are in agreement with results from neutron diffraction mostly within a single standard deviation. The precision of the determination is also comparable between x-ray and neutron diffraction results. This has been achieved at resolutions as low as 0.8 Å using Hirshfeld atom refinement (HAR). We have applied HAR to 81 crystal structures of organic molecules and compared the A–H bond lengths with those from neutron measurements for A–H bonds sorted into bonds of the same class. We further show in a selection of inorganic compounds that hydrogen atoms can be located in bridging positions and close to heavy transition metals accurately and precisely. We anticipate that, in the future, conventional x-radiation sources at in-house diffractometers can be used routinely for locating hydrogen atoms in small molecules accurately instead of large-scale facilities such as spallation sources or nuclear reactors. PMID:27386545

  9. Analytic closures for M1 neutrino transport

    DOE PAGES

    Murchikova, E. M.; Abdikamalov, E.; Urbatsch, T.

    2017-04-25

    Carefully accounting for neutrino transport is an essential component of many astrophysical studies. Solving the full transport equation is too expensive for most realistic applications, especially those involving multiple spatial dimensions. For such cases, resorting to approximations is often the only viable option for obtaining solutions. One such approximation, which recently became popular, is the M1 method. It utilizes the system of the lowest two moments of the transport equation and closes the system with an ad hoc closure relation. The accuracy of the M1 solution depends on the quality of the closure. Several closures have been proposed in themore » literature and have been used in various studies. We carry out an extensive study of these closures by comparing the results of M1 calculations with precise Monte Carlo calculations of the radiation field around spherically symmetric protoneutron star models. We find that no closure performs consistently better or worse than others in all cases. The level of accuracy that a given closure yields depends on the matter configuration, neutrino type and neutrino energy. As a result, given this limitation, the maximum entropy closure by Minerbo on average yields relatively accurate results in the broadest set of cases considered in this work.« less

  10. Efficient Radiative Transfer for Dynamically Evolving Stratified Atmospheres

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Judge, Philip G.

    2017-12-01

    We present a fast multi-level and multi-atom non-local thermodynamic equilibrium radiative transfer method for dynamically evolving stratified atmospheres, such as the solar atmosphere. The preconditioning method of Rybicki & Hummer (RH92) is adopted. But, pressed for the need of speed and stability, a “second-order escape probability” scheme is implemented within the framework of the RH92 method, in which frequency- and angle-integrals are carried out analytically. While minimizing the computational work needed, this comes at the expense of numerical accuracy. The iteration scheme is local, the formal solutions for the intensities are the only non-local component. At present the methods have been coded for vertical transport, applicable to atmospheres that are highly stratified. The probabilistic method seems adequately fast, stable, and sufficiently accurate for exploring dynamical interactions between the evolving MHD atmosphere and radiation using current computer hardware. Current 2D and 3D dynamics codes do not include this interaction as consistently as the current method does. The solutions generated may ultimately serve as initial conditions for dynamical calculations including full 3D radiative transfer. The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

  11. Simulation of decay processes and radiation transport times in radioactivity measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    García-Toraño, E.; Peyres, V.; Bé, M.-M.; Dulieu, C.; Lépy, M.-C.; Salvat, F.

    2017-04-01

    The Fortran subroutine package PENNUC, which simulates random decay pathways of radioactive nuclides, is described. The decay scheme of the active nuclide is obtained from the NUCLEIDE database, whose web application has been complemented with the option of exporting nuclear decay data (possible nuclear transitions, branching ratios, type and energy of emitted particles) in a format that is readable by the simulation subroutines. In the case of beta emitters, the initial energy of the electron or positron is sampled from the theoretical Fermi spectrum. De-excitation of the atomic electron cloud following electron capture and internal conversion is described using transition probabilities from the LLNL Evaluated Atomic Data Library and empirical or calculated energies of released X rays and Auger electrons. The time evolution of radiation showers is determined by considering the lifetimes of nuclear and atomic levels, as well as radiation propagation times. Although PENNUC is designed to operate independently, here it is used in conjunction with the electron-photon transport code PENELOPE, and both together allow the simulation of experiments with radioactive sources in complex material structures consisting of homogeneous bodies limited by quadric surfaces. The reliability of these simulation tools is demonstrated through comparisons of simulated and measured energy spectra from radionuclides with complex multi-gamma spectra, nuclides with metastable levels in their decay pathways, nuclides with two daughters, and beta plus emitters.

  12. Radiation transport codes for potential applications related to radiobiology and radiotherapy using protons, neutrons, and negatively charged pions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Armstrong, T. W.

    1972-01-01

    Several Monte Carlo radiation transport computer codes are used to predict quantities of interest in the fields of radiotherapy and radiobiology. The calculational methods are described and comparisions of calculated and experimental results are presented for dose distributions produced by protons, neutrons, and negatively charged pions. Comparisons of calculated and experimental cell survival probabilities are also presented.

  13. The equilibrium-diffusion limit for radiation hydrodynamics

    DOE PAGES

    Ferguson, J. M.; Morel, J. E.; Lowrie, R.

    2017-07-27

    The equilibrium-diffusion approximation (EDA) is used to describe certain radiation-hydrodynamic (RH) environments. When this is done the RH equations reduce to a simplified set of equations. The EDA can be derived by asymptotically analyzing the full set of RH equations in the equilibrium-diffusion limit. Here, we derive the EDA this way and show that it and the associated set of simplified equations are both first-order accurate with transport corrections occurring at second order. Having established the EDA’s first-order accuracy we then analyze the grey nonequilibrium-diffusion approximation and the grey Eddington approximation and show that they both preserve this first-order accuracy.more » Further, these approximations preserve the EDA’s first-order accuracy when made in either the comoving-frame (CMF) or the lab-frame (LF). And while analyzing the Eddington approximation, we found that the CMF and LF radiation-source equations are equivalent when neglecting O(β 2) terms and compared in the LF. Of course, the radiation pressures are not equivalent. It is expected that simplified physical models and numerical discretizations of the RH equations that do not preserve this first-order accuracy will not retain the correct equilibrium-diffusion solutions. As a practical example, we show that nonequilibrium-diffusion radiative-shock solutions devolve to equilibrium-diffusion solutions when the asymptotic parameter is small.« less

  14. Consistency evaluation between EGSnrc and Geant4 charged particle transport in an equilibrium magnetic field.

    PubMed

    Yang, Y M; Bednarz, B

    2013-02-21

    Following the proposal by several groups to integrate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with radiation therapy, much attention has been afforded to examining the impact of strong (on the order of a Tesla) transverse magnetic fields on photon dose distributions. The effect of the magnetic field on dose distributions must be considered in order to take full advantage of the benefits of real-time intra-fraction imaging. In this investigation, we compared the handling of particle transport in magnetic fields between two Monte Carlo codes, EGSnrc and Geant4, to analyze various aspects of their electromagnetic transport algorithms; both codes are well-benchmarked for medical physics applications in the absence of magnetic fields. A water-air-water slab phantom and a water-lung-water slab phantom were used to highlight dose perturbations near high- and low-density interfaces. We have implemented a method of calculating the Lorentz force in EGSnrc based on theoretical models in literature, and show very good consistency between the two Monte Carlo codes. This investigation further demonstrates the importance of accurate dosimetry for MRI-guided radiation therapy (MRIgRT), and facilitates the integration of a ViewRay MRIgRT system in the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Radiation Oncology Department.

  15. Consistency evaluation between EGSnrc and Geant4 charged particle transport in an equilibrium magnetic field

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Y. M.; Bednarz, B.

    2013-02-01

    Following the proposal by several groups to integrate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with radiation therapy, much attention has been afforded to examining the impact of strong (on the order of a Tesla) transverse magnetic fields on photon dose distributions. The effect of the magnetic field on dose distributions must be considered in order to take full advantage of the benefits of real-time intra-fraction imaging. In this investigation, we compared the handling of particle transport in magnetic fields between two Monte Carlo codes, EGSnrc and Geant4, to analyze various aspects of their electromagnetic transport algorithms; both codes are well-benchmarked for medical physics applications in the absence of magnetic fields. A water-air-water slab phantom and a water-lung-water slab phantom were used to highlight dose perturbations near high- and low-density interfaces. We have implemented a method of calculating the Lorentz force in EGSnrc based on theoretical models in literature, and show very good consistency between the two Monte Carlo codes. This investigation further demonstrates the importance of accurate dosimetry for MRI-guided radiation therapy (MRIgRT), and facilitates the integration of a ViewRay MRIgRT system in the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Radiation Oncology Department.

  16. The importance and attainment of accurate absolute radiometric calibration

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Slater, P. N.

    1984-01-01

    The importance of accurate absolute radiometric calibration is discussed by reference to the needs of those wishing to validate or use models describing the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with the atmosphere and earth surface features. The in-flight calibration methods used for the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and the Systeme Probatoire d'Observation de la Terre, Haute Resolution visible (SPOT/HRV) systems are described and their limitations discussed. The questionable stability of in-flight absolute calibration methods suggests the use of a radiative transfer program to predict the apparent radiance, at the entrance pupil of the sensor, of a ground site of measured reflectance imaged through a well characterized atmosphere. The uncertainties of such a method are discussed.

  17. Arctic atmospheric preconditioning: do not rule out shortwave radiation just yet

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sedlar, J.

    2017-12-01

    Springtime atmospheric preconditioning of Arctic sea ice for enhanced or buffered sea ice melt during the subsequent melt year has received considerable research focus in recent years. A general consensus points to enhanced poleward atmospheric transport of moisture and heat during spring, effectively increasing the emission of longwave radiation to the surface. Studies have essentially ruled out the role of shortwave radiation as an effective preconditioning mechanism because of the relatively weak incident solar radiation and high surface albedo from sea ice and snow during spring. These conclusions, however, are derived primarily from atmospheric reanalysis data, which may not always represent an accurate depiction of the Arctic climate system. Here, observations of top of atmosphere radiation from state of the art satellite sensors are examined and compared with reanalysis and climate model data to examine the differences in the spring radiative budget over the Arctic Ocean for years with extreme low/high ice extent at the end of the ice melt season (September). Distinct biases are observed between satellite-based measurements and reanalysis/models, particularly for the amount of shortwave radiation trapped (warming effect) within the Arctic climate system during spring months. A connection between the differences in reanalysis/model surface albedo representation and the albedo observed by satellite is discussed. These results suggest that shortwave radiation should not be overlooked as a significant contributing mechanism to springtime Arctic atmospheric preconditioning.

  18. Generalized Fokker-Planck theory for electron and photon transport in biological tissues: application to radiotherapy.

    PubMed

    Olbrant, Edgar; Frank, Martin

    2010-12-01

    In this paper, we study a deterministic method for particle transport in biological tissues. The method is specifically developed for dose calculations in cancer therapy and for radiological imaging. Generalized Fokker-Planck (GFP) theory [Leakeas and Larsen, Nucl. Sci. Eng. 137 (2001), pp. 236-250] has been developed to improve the Fokker-Planck (FP) equation in cases where scattering is forward-peaked and where there is a sufficient amount of large-angle scattering. We compare grid-based numerical solutions to FP and GFP in realistic medical applications. First, electron dose calculations in heterogeneous parts of the human body are performed. Therefore, accurate electron scattering cross sections are included and their incorporation into our model is extensively described. Second, we solve GFP approximations of the radiative transport equation to investigate reflectance and transmittance of light in biological tissues. All results are compared with either Monte Carlo or discrete-ordinates transport solutions.

  19. AccuRT: A versatile tool for radiative transfer simulations in the coupled atmosphere-ocean system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hamre, Børge; Stamnes, Snorre; Stamnes, Knut; Stamnes, Jakob

    2017-02-01

    Reliable, accurate, and efficient modeling of the transport of electromagnetic radiation in turbid media has important applications in the study of the Earth's climate by remote sensing. For example, such modeling is needed to develop forward-inverse methods used to quantify types and concentrations of aerosol and cloud particles in the atmosphere, the dissolved organic and particulate biogeochemical matter in lakes, rivers, coastal, and open-ocean waters. It is also needed to simulate the performance of remote sensing detectors deployed on aircraft, balloons, and satellites as well as radiometric detectors deployed on buoys, gliders and other aquatic observing systems. Accurate radiative transfer modeling is also required to compute irradiances and scalar irradiances that are used to compute warming/cooling and photolysis rates in the atmosphere and primary production and warming/cooling rates in the water column. AccuRT is a radiative transfer model for the coupled atmosphere-water system that is designed to be a versatile tool for researchers in the ocean optics and remote sensing communities. It addresses the needs of researchers interested in analyzing irradiance and radiance measurements in the field and laboratory as well as those interested in making simulations of the top-of-the-atmosphere radiance in support of remote sensing algorithm development.

  20. Accurate tumor localization and tracking in radiation therapy using wireless body sensor networks.

    PubMed

    Pourhomayoun, Mohammad; Jin, Zhanpeng; Fowler, Mark

    2014-07-01

    Radiation therapy is an effective method to combat cancerous tumors by killing the malignant cells or controlling their growth. Knowing the exact position of the tumor is a very critical prerequisite in radiation therapy. Since the position of the tumor changes during the process of radiation therapy due to the patient׳s movements and respiration, a real-time tumor tracking method is highly desirable in order to deliver a sufficient dose of radiation to the tumor region without damaging the surrounding healthy tissues. In this paper, we develop a novel tumor positioning method based on spatial sparsity. We estimate the position by processing the received signals from only one implantable RF transmitter. The proposed method uses less number of sensors compared to common magnetic transponder based approaches. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated in two different cases: (1) when the tissue configuration is perfectly determined (acquired beforehand by MRI or CT) and (2) when there are some uncertainties about the tissue boundaries. The results demonstrate the high accuracy and performance of the proposed method, even when the tissue boundaries are imperfectly known. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Accelerating Monte Carlo simulations of photon transport in a voxelized geometry using a massively parallel graphics processing unit

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Badal, Andreu; Badano, Aldo

    Purpose: It is a known fact that Monte Carlo simulations of radiation transport are computationally intensive and may require long computing times. The authors introduce a new paradigm for the acceleration of Monte Carlo simulations: The use of a graphics processing unit (GPU) as the main computing device instead of a central processing unit (CPU). Methods: A GPU-based Monte Carlo code that simulates photon transport in a voxelized geometry with the accurate physics models from PENELOPE has been developed using the CUDA programming model (NVIDIA Corporation, Santa Clara, CA). Results: An outline of the new code and a sample x-raymore » imaging simulation with an anthropomorphic phantom are presented. A remarkable 27-fold speed up factor was obtained using a GPU compared to a single core CPU. Conclusions: The reported results show that GPUs are currently a good alternative to CPUs for the simulation of radiation transport. Since the performance of GPUs is currently increasing at a faster pace than that of CPUs, the advantages of GPU-based software are likely to be more pronounced in the future.« less

  2. Heat Transfer Issues in Thin-Film Thermal Radiation Detectors

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Barry, Mamadou Y.

    1999-01-01

    The Thermal Radiation Group at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University has been working closely with scientists and engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center to develop accurate analytical and numerical models suitable for designing next generation thin-film thermal radiation detectors for earth radiation budget measurement applications. The current study provides an analytical model of the notional thermal radiation detector that takes into account thermal transport phenomena, such as the contact resistance between the layers of the detector, and is suitable for use in parameter estimation. It was found that the responsivity of the detector can increase significantly due to the presence of contact resistance between the layers of the detector. Also presented is the effect of doping the thermal impedance layer of the detector with conducting particles in order to electrically link the two junctions of the detector. It was found that the responsivity and the time response of the doped detector decrease significantly in this case. The corresponding decrease of the electrical resistance of the doped thermal impedance layer is not sufficient to significantly improve the electrical performance of the detector. Finally, the "roughness effect" is shown to be unable to explain the decrease in the thermal conductivity often reported for thin-film layers.

  3. On iterative algorithms for quantitative photoacoustic tomography in the radiative transport regime

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Chao; Zhou, Tie

    2017-11-01

    In this paper, we present a numerical reconstruction method for quantitative photoacoustic tomography (QPAT), based on the radiative transfer equation (RTE), which models light propagation more accurately than diffusion approximation (DA). We investigate the reconstruction of absorption coefficient and scattering coefficient of biological tissues. An improved fixed-point iterative method to retrieve the absorption coefficient, given the scattering coefficient, is proposed for its cheap computational cost; the convergence of this method is also proved. The Barzilai-Borwein (BB) method is applied to retrieve two coefficients simultaneously. Since the reconstruction of optical coefficients involves the solutions of original and adjoint RTEs in the framework of optimization, an efficient solver with high accuracy is developed from Gao and Zhao (2009 Transp. Theory Stat. Phys. 38 149-92). Simulation experiments illustrate that the improved fixed-point iterative method and the BB method are competitive methods for QPAT in the relevant cases.

  4. A time accurate finite volume high resolution scheme for three dimensional Navier-Stokes equations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Liou, Meng-Sing; Hsu, Andrew T.

    1989-01-01

    A time accurate, three-dimensional, finite volume, high resolution scheme for solving the compressible full Navier-Stokes equations is presented. The present derivation is based on the upwind split formulas, specifically with the application of Roe's (1981) flux difference splitting. A high-order accurate (up to the third order) upwind interpolation formula for the inviscid terms is derived to account for nonuniform meshes. For the viscous terms, discretizations consistent with the finite volume concept are described. A variant of second-order time accurate method is proposed that utilizes identical procedures in both the predictor and corrector steps. Avoiding the definition of midpoint gives a consistent and easy procedure, in the framework of finite volume discretization, for treating viscous transport terms in the curvilinear coordinates. For the boundary cells, a new treatment is introduced that not only avoids the use of 'ghost cells' and the associated problems, but also satisfies the tangency conditions exactly and allows easy definition of viscous transport terms at the first interface next to the boundary cells. Numerical tests of steady and unsteady high speed flows show that the present scheme gives accurate solutions.

  5. Voxel2MCNP: a framework for modeling, simulation and evaluation of radiation transport scenarios for Monte Carlo codes.

    PubMed

    Pölz, Stefan; Laubersheimer, Sven; Eberhardt, Jakob S; Harrendorf, Marco A; Keck, Thomas; Benzler, Andreas; Breustedt, Bastian

    2013-08-21

    The basic idea of Voxel2MCNP is to provide a framework supporting users in modeling radiation transport scenarios using voxel phantoms and other geometric models, generating corresponding input for the Monte Carlo code MCNPX, and evaluating simulation output. Applications at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology are primarily whole and partial body counter calibration and calculation of dose conversion coefficients. A new generic data model describing data related to radiation transport, including phantom and detector geometries and their properties, sources, tallies and materials, has been developed. It is modular and generally independent of the targeted Monte Carlo code. The data model has been implemented as an XML-based file format to facilitate data exchange, and integrated with Voxel2MCNP to provide a common interface for modeling, visualization, and evaluation of data. Also, extensions to allow compatibility with several file formats, such as ENSDF for nuclear structure properties and radioactive decay data, SimpleGeo for solid geometry modeling, ImageJ for voxel lattices, and MCNPX's MCTAL for simulation results have been added. The framework is presented and discussed in this paper and example workflows for body counter calibration and calculation of dose conversion coefficients is given to illustrate its application.

  6. Optical properties reconstruction using the adjoint method based on the radiative transfer equation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Addoum, Ahmad; Farges, Olivier; Asllanaj, Fatmir

    2018-01-01

    An efficient algorithm is proposed to reconstruct the spatial distribution of optical properties in heterogeneous media like biological tissues. The light transport through such media is accurately described by the radiative transfer equation in the frequency-domain. The adjoint method is used to efficiently compute the objective function gradient with respect to optical parameters. Numerical tests show that the algorithm is accurate and robust to retrieve simultaneously the absorption μa and scattering μs coefficients for lowly and highly absorbing medium. Moreover, the simultaneous reconstruction of μs and the anisotropy factor g of the Henyey-Greenstein phase function is achieved with a reasonable accuracy. The main novelty in this work is the reconstruction of g which might open the possibility to image this parameter in tissues as an additional contrast agent in optical tomography.

  7. Model Comparison for Electron Thermal Transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moses, Gregory; Chenhall, Jeffrey; Cao, Duc; Delettrez, Jacques

    2015-11-01

    Four electron thermal transport models are compared for their ability to accurately and efficiently model non-local behavior in ICF simulations. Goncharov's transport model has accurately predicted shock timing in implosion simulations but is computationally slow and limited to 1D. The iSNB (implicit Schurtz Nicolai Busquet electron thermal transport method of Cao et al. uses multigroup diffusion to speed up the calculation. Chenhall has expanded upon the iSNB diffusion model to a higher order simplified P3 approximation and a Monte Carlo transport model, to bridge the gap between the iSNB and Goncharov models while maintaining computational efficiency. Comparisons of the above models for several test problems will be presented. This work was supported by Sandia National Laboratory - Albuquerque and the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

  8. Spectral modeling of radiation in combustion systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pal, Gopalendu

    Radiation calculations are important in combustion due to the high temperatures encountered but has not been studied in sufficient detail in the case of turbulent flames. Radiation calculations for such problems require accurate, robust, and computationally efficient models for the solution of radiative transfer equation (RTE), and spectral properties of radiation. One more layer of complexity is added in predicting the overall heat transfer in turbulent combustion systems due to nonlinear interactions between turbulent fluctuations and radiation. The present work is aimed at the development of finite volume-based high-accuracy thermal radiation modeling, including spectral radiation properties in order to accurately capture turbulence-radiation interactions (TRI) and predict heat transfer in turbulent combustion systems correctly and efficiently. The turbulent fluctuations of temperature and chemical species concentrations have strong effects on spectral radiative intensities, and TRI create a closure problem when the governing partial differential equations are averaged. Recently, several approaches have been proposed to take TRI into account. Among these attempts the most promising approaches are the probability density function (PDF) methods, which can treat nonlinear coupling between turbulence and radiative emission exactly, i.e., "emission TRI". The basic idea of the PDF method is to treat physical variables as random variables and to solve the PDF transport equation stochastically. The actual reacting flow field is represented by a large number of discrete stochastic particles each carrying their own random variable values and evolving with time. The mean value of any function of those random variables, such as the chemical source term, can be evaluated exactly by taking the ensemble average of particles. The local emission term belongs to this class and thus, can be evaluated directly and exactly from particle ensembles. However, the local absorption term

  9. Predicting commuter flows in spatial networks using a radiation model based on temporal ranges

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ren, Yihui; Ercsey-Ravasz, Mária; Wang, Pu; González, Marta C.; Toroczkai, Zoltán

    2014-11-01

    Understanding network flows such as commuter traffic in large transportation networks is an ongoing challenge due to the complex nature of the transportation infrastructure and human mobility. Here we show a first-principles based method for traffic prediction using a cost-based generalization of the radiation model for human mobility, coupled with a cost-minimizing algorithm for efficient distribution of the mobility fluxes through the network. Using US census and highway traffic data, we show that traffic can efficiently and accurately be computed from a range-limited, network betweenness type calculation. The model based on travel time costs captures the log-normal distribution of the traffic and attains a high Pearson correlation coefficient (0.75) when compared with real traffic. Because of its principled nature, this method can inform many applications related to human mobility driven flows in spatial networks, ranging from transportation, through urban planning to mitigation of the effects of catastrophic events.

  10. Radial transport of radiation belt electrons in kinetic field-line resonances

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chaston, Christopher C.; Bonnell, J. W.; Wygant, J. R.

    A representative case study from the Van Allen Probes during a geomagnetic storm recovery phase reveals enhanced electron fluxes at intermediate pitch angles over energies from ~100 keV to 5 MeV coincident with broadband low-frequency electromagnetic waves. The statistical properties of these waves are used to build a model for radial diffusion via drift-bounce resonances in kinetic Alfvén eigenmodes/kinetic field-line resonances. Estimated diffusion coefficients indicate timescales for radial transport on the order of hours in storm time events at energies from <100 keV to MeVs over equatorial pitch angles from the edge of the loss cone to nearly perpendicular tomore » the geomagnetic field. In conclusion, the correlation of kinetic resonances with electron depletions and enhancements during storm main phase and recovery, and the rapid diffusion these waves drive, suggests that they may modulate the outer radiation belt.« less

  11. Radial transport of radiation belt electrons in kinetic field-line resonances

    DOE PAGES

    Chaston, Christopher C.; Bonnell, J. W.; Wygant, J. R.; ...

    2017-07-25

    A representative case study from the Van Allen Probes during a geomagnetic storm recovery phase reveals enhanced electron fluxes at intermediate pitch angles over energies from ~100 keV to 5 MeV coincident with broadband low-frequency electromagnetic waves. The statistical properties of these waves are used to build a model for radial diffusion via drift-bounce resonances in kinetic Alfvén eigenmodes/kinetic field-line resonances. Estimated diffusion coefficients indicate timescales for radial transport on the order of hours in storm time events at energies from <100 keV to MeVs over equatorial pitch angles from the edge of the loss cone to nearly perpendicular tomore » the geomagnetic field. In conclusion, the correlation of kinetic resonances with electron depletions and enhancements during storm main phase and recovery, and the rapid diffusion these waves drive, suggests that they may modulate the outer radiation belt.« less

  12. Radiation environment at LEO orbits: MC simulation and experimental data.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zanini, Alba; Borla, Oscar; Damasso, Mario; Falzetta, Giuseppe

    The evaluations of the different components of the radiation environment in spacecraft, both in LEO orbits and in deep space is of great importance because the biological effect on humans and the risk for instrumentation strongly depends on the kind of radiation (high or low LET). That is important especially in view of long term manned or unmanned space missions, (mission to Mars, solar system exploration). The study of space radiation field is extremely complex and not completely solved till today. Given the complexity of the radiation field, an accurate dose evaluation should be considered an indispensable part of any space mission. Two simulation codes (MCNPX and GEANT4) have been used to assess the secondary radiation inside FO-TON M3 satellite and ISS. The energy spectra of primary radiation at LEO orbits have been modelled by using various tools (SPENVIS, OMERE, CREME96) considering separately Van Allen protons, the GCR protons and the GCR alpha particles. This data are used as input for the two MC codes and transported inside the spacecraft. The results of two calculation meth-ods have been compared. Moreover some experimental results previously obtained on FOTON M3 satellite by using TLD, Bubble dosimeter and LIULIN detector are considered to check the performances of the two codes. Finally the same experimental device are at present collecting data on the ISS (ASI experiment BIOKIS -nDOSE) and at the end of the mission the results will be compared with the calculation.

  13. Accuracy analysis of automodel solutions for Lévy flight-based transport: from resonance radiative transfer to a simple general model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kukushkin, A. B.; Sdvizhenskii, P. A.

    2017-12-01

    The results of accuracy analysis of automodel solutions for Lévy flight-based transport on a uniform background are presented. These approximate solutions have been obtained for Green’s function of the following equations: the non-stationary Biberman-Holstein equation for three-dimensional (3D) radiative transfer in plasma and gases, for various (Doppler, Lorentz, Voigt and Holtsmark) spectral line shapes, and the 1D transport equation with a simple longtailed step-length probability distribution function with various power-law exponents. The results suggest the possibility of substantial extension of the developed method of automodel solution to other fields far beyond physics.

  14. Measurements of the linear energy transfer spectra on the Mir orbital station and comparison with radiation transport models

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Badhwar, G. D.; Konradi, A.; Atwell, W.; Golightly, M. J.; Cucinotta, F. A.; Wilson, J. W.; Petrov, V. M.; Tchernykh, I. V.; Shurshakov, V. A.; Lobakov, A. P.

    1996-01-01

    A tissue equivalent proportional counter designed to measure the linear energy transfer spectra (LET) in the range 0.2-1250 keV/micrometer was flown in the Kvant module on the Mir orbital station during September 1994. The spacecraft was in a 51.65 degrees inclination, elliptical (390 x 402 km) orbit. This is nearly the lower limit of its flight altitude. The total absorbed dose rate measured was 411.3 +/- 4.41 microGy/day with an average quality factor of 2.44. The galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) dose rate was 133.6 microGy/day with a quality factor of 3.35. The trapped radiation belt dose rate was 277.7 microGy/day with an average quality factor of 1.94. The peak rate through the South Atlantic Anomaly was approximately 12 microGy/min and nearly constant from one pass to another. A detailed comparison of the measured LET spectra has been made with radiation transport models. The GCR results are in good agreement with model calculations; however, this is not the case for radiation belt particles and again points to the need for improving the AP8 omni-directional trapped proton models.

  15. Evaluations of Risks from the Lunar and Mars Radiation Environments

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kim, Myung-Hee; Hayat, Matthew J.; Feiveson, Alan H.; Cucinotta, Francis A.

    2008-01-01

    Protecting astronauts from the space radiation environments requires accurate projections of radiation in future space missions. Characterization of the ionizing radiation environment is challenging because the interplanetary plasma and radiation fields are modulated by solar disturbances and the radiation doses received by astronauts in interplanetary space are likewise influenced. The galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) flux for the next solar cycle was estimated as a function of interplanetary deceleration potential, which has been derived from GCR flux and Climax neutron monitor rate measurements over the last 4 decades. For the chaotic nature of solar particle event (SPE) occurrence, the mean frequency of SPE at any given proton fluence threshold during a defined mission duration was obtained from a Poisson process model using proton fluence measurements of SPEs during the past 5 solar cycles (19-23). Analytic energy spectra of 34 historically large SPEs were constructed over broad energy ranges extending to GeV. Using an integrated space radiation model (which includes the transport codes HZETRN [1] and BRYNTRN [2], and the quantum nuclear interaction model QMSFRG[3]), the propagation and interaction properties of the energetic nucleons through various media were predicted. Risk assessment from GCR and SPE was evaluated at the specific organs inside a typical spacecraft using CAM [4] model. The representative risk level at each event size and their standard deviation were obtained from the analysis of 34 SPEs. Risks from different event sizes and their frequency of occurrences in a specified mission period were evaluated for the concern of acute health effects especially during extra-vehicular activities (EVA). The results will be useful for the development of an integrated strategy of optimizing radiation protection on the lunar and Mars missions. Keywords: Space Radiation Environments; Galactic Cosmic Radiation; Solar Particle Event; Radiation Risk; Risk

  16. Engineering Near-Field Transport of Energy using Nanostructured Materials

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-12-12

    increasingly important for a wide range of nanotechnology applications. Recent computational studies on near- field radiative heat transfer (NFRHT) suggest...SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: The transport of heat at the nanometer scale is becoming increasingly important for a wide range of nanotechnology...applications. Recent computational studies on near- field radiative heat transfer (NFRHT) suggest that radiative energy transport between suitably chosen

  17. ITS version 5.0 : the integrated TIGER series of coupled electron/photon Monte Carlo transport codes.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Franke, Brian Claude; Kensek, Ronald Patrick; Laub, Thomas William

    ITS is a powerful and user-friendly software package permitting state of the art Monte Carlo solution of linear time-independent couple electron/photon radiation transport problems, with or without the presence of macroscopic electric and magnetic fields of arbitrary spatial dependence. Our goal has been to simultaneously maximize operational simplicity and physical accuracy. Through a set of preprocessor directives, the user selects one of the many ITS codes. The ease with which the makefile system is applied combines with an input scheme based on order-independent descriptive keywords that makes maximum use of defaults and internal error checking to provide experimentalists and theoristsmore » alike with a method for the routine but rigorous solution of sophisticated radiation transport problems. Physical rigor is provided by employing accurate cross sections, sampling distributions, and physical models for describing the production and transport of the electron/photon cascade from 1.0 GeV down to 1.0 keV. The availability of source code permits the more sophisticated user to tailor the codes to specific applications and to extend the capabilities of the codes to more complex applications. Version 5.0, the latest version of ITS, contains (1) improvements to the ITS 3.0 continuous-energy codes, (2)multigroup codes with adjoint transport capabilities, and (3) parallel implementations of all ITS codes. Moreover the general user friendliness of the software has been enhanced through increased internal error checking and improved code portability.« less

  18. A Lagrangian Transport Eulerian Reaction Spatial (LATERS) Markov Model for Prediction of Effective Bimolecular Reactive Transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sund, Nicole; Porta, Giovanni; Bolster, Diogo; Parashar, Rishi

    2017-11-01

    Prediction of effective transport for mixing-driven reactive systems at larger scales, requires accurate representation of mixing at small scales, which poses a significant upscaling challenge. Depending on the problem at hand, there can be benefits to using a Lagrangian framework, while in others an Eulerian might have advantages. Here we propose and test a novel hybrid model which attempts to leverage benefits of each. Specifically, our framework provides a Lagrangian closure required for a volume-averaging procedure of the advection diffusion reaction equation. This hybrid model is a LAgrangian Transport Eulerian Reaction Spatial Markov model (LATERS Markov model), which extends previous implementations of the Lagrangian Spatial Markov model and maps concentrations to an Eulerian grid to quantify closure terms required to calculate the volume-averaged reaction terms. The advantage of this approach is that the Spatial Markov model is known to provide accurate predictions of transport, particularly at preasymptotic early times, when assumptions required by traditional volume-averaging closures are least likely to hold; likewise, the Eulerian reaction method is efficient, because it does not require calculation of distances between particles. This manuscript introduces the LATERS Markov model and demonstrates by example its ability to accurately predict bimolecular reactive transport in a simple benchmark 2-D porous medium.

  19. Plasma transport in an Eulerian AMR code

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vold, E. L.; Rauenzahn, R. M.; Aldrich, C. H.; Molvig, K.; Simakov, A. N.; Haines, B. M.

    2017-04-01

    A plasma transport model has been implemented in an Eulerian AMR radiation-hydrodynamics code, xRage, which includes plasma viscosity in the momentum tensor, viscous dissipation in the energy equations, and binary species mixing with consistent species mass and energy fluxes driven by concentration gradients, ion and electron baro-diffusion terms and temperature gradient forces. The physics basis, computational issues, numeric options, and results from several test problems are discussed. The transport coefficients are found to be relatively insensitive to the kinetic correction factors when the concentrations are expressed with the molar fractions and the ion mass differences are large. The contributions to flow dynamics from plasma viscosity and mass diffusion were found to increase significantly as scale lengths decrease in an inertial confinement fusion relevant Kelvin-Helmholtz instability mix layer. The mixing scale lengths in the test case are on the order of 100 μm and smaller for viscous effects to appear and 10 μm or less for significant ion species diffusion, evident over durations on the order of nanoseconds. The temperature gradient driven mass flux is seen to deplete a high Z tracer ion at the ion shock front. The plasma transport model provides the generation of the atomic mix per unit of interfacial area between two species with no free parameters. The evolution of the total atomic mix then depends also on an accurate resolution or estimate of the interfacial area between the species mixing by plasma transport. High resolution simulations or a more Lagrangian-like treatment of species interfaces may be required to distinguish plasma transport and numerical diffusion in an Eulerian computation of complex and dynamically evolving mix regions.

  20. Optimum satellite orbits for accurate measurement of the earth's radiation budget, summary

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Campbell, G. G.; Vonderhaar, T. H.

    1978-01-01

    The optimum set of orbit inclinations for the measurement of the earth radiation budget from spacially integrating sensor systems was estimated for two and three satellite systems. The best set of the two were satellites at orbit inclinations of 80 deg and 50 deg; of three the inclinations were 80 deg, 60 deg and 50 deg. These were chosen on the basis of a simulation of flat plate and spherical detectors flying over a daily varying earth radiation field as measured by the Nimbus 3 medium resolution scanners. A diurnal oscillation was also included in the emitted flux and albedo to give a source field as realistic as possible. Twenty three satellites with different inclinations and equator crossings were simulated, allowing the results of thousand of multisatellite sets to be intercompared. All were circular orbits of radius 7178 kilometers.

  1. Accurate Modeling of the Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Background for Homeland Security Applications

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sandness, Gerald A.; Schweppe, John E.; Hensley, Walter K.

    2009-10-24

    Abstract–The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has developed computer models to simulate the use of radiation portal monitors to screen vehicles and cargo for the presence of illicit radioactive material. The gamma radiation emitted by the vehicles or cargo containers must often be measured in the presence of a relatively large gamma-ray background mainly due to the presence of potassium, uranium, and thorium (and progeny isotopes) in the soil and surrounding building materials. This large background is often a significant limit to the detection sensitivity for items of interest and must be modeled accurately for analyzing homeland security situations. Calculations ofmore » the expected gamma-ray emission from a disk of soil and asphalt were made using the Monte Carlo transport code MCNP and were compared to measurements made at a seaport with a high-purity germanium detector. Analysis revealed that the energy spectrum of the measured background could not be reproduced unless the model included gamma rays coming from the ground out to distances of at least 300 m. The contribution from beyond about 50 m was primarily due to gamma rays that scattered in the air before entering the detectors rather than passing directly from the ground to the detectors. These skyshine gamma rays contribute tens of percent to the total gamma-ray spectrum, primarily at energies below a few hundred keV. The techniques that were developed to efficiently calculate the contributions from a large soil disk and a large air volume in a Monte Carlo simulation are described and the implications of skyshine in portal monitoring applications are discussed.« less

  2. A translatable predictor of human radiation exposure.

    PubMed

    Lucas, Joseph; Dressman, Holly K; Suchindran, Sunil; Nakamura, Mai; Chao, Nelson J; Himburg, Heather; Minor, Kerry; Phillips, Gary; Ross, Joel; Abedi, Majid; Terbrueggen, Robert; Chute, John P

    2014-01-01

    Terrorism using radiological dirty bombs or improvised nuclear devices is recognized as a major threat to both public health and national security. In the event of a radiological or nuclear disaster, rapid and accurate biodosimetry of thousands of potentially affected individuals will be essential for effective medical management to occur. Currently, health care providers lack an accurate, high-throughput biodosimetric assay which is suitable for the triage of large numbers of radiation injury victims. Here, we describe the development of a biodosimetric assay based on the analysis of irradiated mice, ex vivo-irradiated human peripheral blood (PB) and humans treated with total body irradiation (TBI). Interestingly, a gene expression profile developed via analysis of murine PB radiation response alone was inaccurate in predicting human radiation injury. In contrast, generation of a gene expression profile which incorporated data from ex vivo irradiated human PB and human TBI patients yielded an 18-gene radiation classifier which was highly accurate at predicting human radiation status and discriminating medically relevant radiation dose levels in human samples. Although the patient population was relatively small, the accuracy of this classifier in discriminating radiation dose levels in human TBI patients was not substantially confounded by gender, diagnosis or prior exposure to chemotherapy. We have further incorporated genes from this human radiation signature into a rapid and high-throughput chemical ligation-dependent probe amplification assay (CLPA) which was able to discriminate radiation dose levels in a pilot study of ex vivo irradiated human blood and samples from human TBI patients. Our results illustrate the potential for translation of a human genetic signature for the diagnosis of human radiation exposure and suggest the basis for further testing of CLPA as a candidate biodosimetric assay.

  3. Radiative Transfer in Protoplanetary Disks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Graziani, L.; Aiello, S.; Belleni-Morante, A.; Cecchi-Pestellini, C.

    2008-09-01

    inhomogeneities, vertical and radial, in terms of mineralogical and density changes. Different dust mixture models from Pollack [9], Gail [10] and Henning [11] are implemented and tested. The code solves the RT in the 4 Stokes radiation field formalism providing an accurate radiation flux description and the polarization configuration for UV and X-Ray stellar fluxes in various disk regions (disk surface, disk midplane etc..). The complete model is developed within the context of a classical TTauri protostar and for different dust compositions and different ranges of star luminosity in UV and X -Ray are. The effects on some prebiotic molecules are estimated. References [1]Ehrenfreund, P. & Charnley, S.B. (2000), Ann.Rev.Astr.Astrophys, 38, 427-483. [2]Markwick, A.J. & Charnley, S.B. (2004). in P. Eherenfreund et alt. (eds) "Astrobiology: Future Perspectives", Kluwer, 33-66. [3] Chiang, E. I. & Goldreich, P. (1997), ApJ, 490, 368 [4] D'Alessio, P., Canto, J., Calvet, N., & Lizano, S. (1998), ApJ, 500, 411. [5] Bjorkman, J. E. & Wood, K. 2001, ApJ, 554, 615. [6] Dullemond C. P. & A.Natta 2003, A&A 405, 597-605. [7] B. Davison & J. B. Sykes: Neutron Transport theory, Oxford Press 1958. [8] D'Alessio P. et al (2007), Chondrites and the Protoplanetary Disk, ASPConference Series,Vol.341. [9] J.B.Pollack et al. (1994), ApJ,421:615-639. [10] H.P.Gail, (2001), A&A, v.378 [11] T.Henning & R.Stognienko.(1996), ApJ, 311.

  4. Review of Hybrid (Deterministic/Monte Carlo) Radiation Transport Methods, Codes, and Applications at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wagner, John C; Peplow, Douglas E.; Mosher, Scott W

    2011-01-01

    This paper provides a review of the hybrid (Monte Carlo/deterministic) radiation transport methods and codes used at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and examples of their application for increasing the efficiency of real-world, fixed-source Monte Carlo analyses. The two principal hybrid methods are (1) Consistent Adjoint Driven Importance Sampling (CADIS) for optimization of a localized detector (tally) region (e.g., flux, dose, or reaction rate at a particular location) and (2) Forward Weighted CADIS (FW-CADIS) for optimizing distributions (e.g., mesh tallies over all or part of the problem space) or multiple localized detector regions (e.g., simultaneous optimization of two or moremore » localized tally regions). The two methods have been implemented and automated in both the MAVRIC sequence of SCALE 6 and ADVANTG, a code that works with the MCNP code. As implemented, the methods utilize the results of approximate, fast-running 3-D discrete ordinates transport calculations (with the Denovo code) to generate consistent space- and energy-dependent source and transport (weight windows) biasing parameters. These methods and codes have been applied to many relevant and challenging problems, including calculations of PWR ex-core thermal detector response, dose rates throughout an entire PWR facility, site boundary dose from arrays of commercial spent fuel storage casks, radiation fields for criticality accident alarm system placement, and detector response for special nuclear material detection scenarios and nuclear well-logging tools. Substantial computational speed-ups, generally O(102-4), have been realized for all applications to date. This paper provides a brief review of the methods, their implementation, results of their application, and current development activities, as well as a considerable list of references for readers seeking more information about the methods and/or their applications.« less

  5. Review of Hybrid (Deterministic/Monte Carlo) Radiation Transport Methods, Codes, and Applications at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wagner, John C; Peplow, Douglas E.; Mosher, Scott W

    2010-01-01

    This paper provides a review of the hybrid (Monte Carlo/deterministic) radiation transport methods and codes used at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and examples of their application for increasing the efficiency of real-world, fixed-source Monte Carlo analyses. The two principal hybrid methods are (1) Consistent Adjoint Driven Importance Sampling (CADIS) for optimization of a localized detector (tally) region (e.g., flux, dose, or reaction rate at a particular location) and (2) Forward Weighted CADIS (FW-CADIS) for optimizing distributions (e.g., mesh tallies over all or part of the problem space) or multiple localized detector regions (e.g., simultaneous optimization of two or moremore » localized tally regions). The two methods have been implemented and automated in both the MAVRIC sequence of SCALE 6 and ADVANTG, a code that works with the MCNP code. As implemented, the methods utilize the results of approximate, fast-running 3-D discrete ordinates transport calculations (with the Denovo code) to generate consistent space- and energy-dependent source and transport (weight windows) biasing parameters. These methods and codes have been applied to many relevant and challenging problems, including calculations of PWR ex-core thermal detector response, dose rates throughout an entire PWR facility, site boundary dose from arrays of commercial spent fuel storage casks, radiation fields for criticality accident alarm system placement, and detector response for special nuclear material detection scenarios and nuclear well-logging tools. Substantial computational speed-ups, generally O(10{sup 2-4}), have been realized for all applications to date. This paper provides a brief review of the methods, their implementation, results of their application, and current development activities, as well as a considerable list of references for readers seeking more information about the methods and/or their applications.« less

  6. Modeling the Impenetrable Barrier to Inward Transport of Ultra-relativistic Radiation Belt Electrons

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tu, W.; Cunningham, G.; Chen, Y.; Baker, D. N.; Henderson, M. G.; Reeves, G. D.

    2014-12-01

    It has long been considered that the inner edge of the Earth's outer radiation belt is closely correlated with the minimum plasmapause location. However, recent discoveries by Baker et al. [1] show that it is not the case for ultra-relativistic electrons (2-10 MeV) in the radiation belt. Based on almost two years of Van Allen Probes/REPT data, they find that the inner edge of highly relativistic electrons is rarely collocated with the plasmapause; and more interestingly, there is a clear, persistent, and nearly impenetrable barrier to inward transport of high energy electrons, observed to locate at L~2.8. The presence of such an impenetrable barrier at this very specific location poses a significant puzzle. Using our DREAM3D diffusion model, which includes radial, pitch angle, and momentum diffusion, we are able to simulate the observed impenetrable barrier of ultra-relativistic electrons. The simulation demonstrates that during strong geomagnetic storms the plasmapause can be compressed to very low L region (sometimes as low as L~3), then strong chorus waves just outside the plasmapause can locally accelerate electrons up to multiple-MeV; when storm recovers, plasmapause moves back to large L, while the highly-relativistic electrons generated at low L continue to diffuse inward and slow decay by pitch angle diffusion from plasmaspheric hiss. The delicate balance between slow inward radial diffusion and weak pitch angle scattering creates a fixed inner boundary or barrier for ultra-relativistic electrons. The barrier is found to locate at a fixed L location, independent of the initial penetration depth of electrons that is correlated with the plasmapause location. Our simulation results quantitatively reproduce the evolution of the flux versus L profile, the L location of the barrier, and the decay rate of highly energetic electrons right outside the barrier. 1Baker, D. N., et al. (2014), Nearly Impenetrable Barrier to Inward Ultra-relativistic Magnetospheric

  7. Diffusive, Supersonic X-ray Transport in Foam Cylinders

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Back, Christina A.

    1999-11-01

    Diffusive supersonic radiation transport, where the ratio of the diffusive radiation front velocity to the material sound speed >2 has been studied in a series of laboratory experiments on low density foams. This work is of interest for radiation transport in basic science and astrophysics. The Marshak radiation wave transport is studied for both low and high Z foam materials and for different length foams in a novel hohlraum geometry that allows direct comparisons with 2-dimensional analytic models and code simulations. The radiation wave is created by a ~ 80 eV near blackbody 12-ns long drive or a ~ 200 eV 1.2-2.4 ns long drive generated by laser-heated Au hohlraums. The targets are SiO2 and Ta2O5 aerogel foams of varying lengths which span 10 to 50 mg/cc densities. Clean signatures of radiation breakout were observed by radially resolved face-on transmission measurements of the radiation flux at a photon energy of 250 eV or 550 eV. The high quality data provides new detailed information on the importance of both the fill and wall material opacities and heat capacities in determining the radiation front speed and curvature. note number.

  8. Accelerating execution of the integrated TIGER series Monte Carlo radiation transport codes

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Smith, L.M.; Hochstedler, R.D.

    1997-02-01

    Execution of the integrated TIGER series (ITS) of coupled electron/photon Monte Carlo radiation transport codes has been accelerated by modifying the FORTRAN source code for more efficient computation. Each member code of ITS was benchmarked and profiled with a specific test case that directed the acceleration effort toward the most computationally intensive subroutines. Techniques for accelerating these subroutines included replacing linear search algorithms with binary versions, replacing the pseudo-random number generator, reducing program memory allocation, and proofing the input files for geometrical redundancies. All techniques produced identical or statistically similar results to the original code. Final benchmark timing of themore » accelerated code resulted in speed-up factors of 2.00 for TIGER (the one-dimensional slab geometry code), 1.74 for CYLTRAN (the two-dimensional cylindrical geometry code), and 1.90 for ACCEPT (the arbitrary three-dimensional geometry code).« less

  9. A method for photon beam Monte Carlo multileaf collimator particle transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Siebers, Jeffrey V.; Keall, Paul J.; Kim, Jong Oh; Mohan, Radhe

    2002-09-01

    Monte Carlo (MC) algorithms are recognized as the most accurate methodology for patient dose assessment. For intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) delivered with dynamic multileaf collimators (DMLCs), accurate dose calculation, even with MC, is challenging. Accurate IMRT MC dose calculations require inclusion of the moving MLC in the MC simulation. Due to its complex geometry, full transport through the MLC can be time consuming. The aim of this work was to develop an MLC model for photon beam MC IMRT dose computations. The basis of the MC MLC model is that the complex MLC geometry can be separated into simple geometric regions, each of which readily lends itself to simplified radiation transport. For photons, only attenuation and first Compton scatter interactions are considered. The amount of attenuation material an individual particle encounters while traversing the entire MLC is determined by adding the individual amounts from each of the simplified geometric regions. Compton scatter is sampled based upon the total thickness traversed. Pair production and electron interactions (scattering and bremsstrahlung) within the MLC are ignored. The MLC model was tested for 6 MV and 18 MV photon beams by comparing it with measurements and MC simulations that incorporate the full physics and geometry for fields blocked by the MLC and with measurements for fields with the maximum possible tongue-and-groove and tongue-or-groove effects, for static test cases and for sliding windows of various widths. The MLC model predicts the field size dependence of the MLC leakage radiation within 0.1% of the open-field dose. The entrance dose and beam hardening behind a closed MLC are predicted within +/-1% or 1 mm. Dose undulations due to differences in inter- and intra-leaf leakage are also correctly predicted. The MC MLC model predicts leaf-edge tongue-and-groove dose effect within +/-1% or 1 mm for 95% of the points compared at 6 MV and 88% of the points compared at 18 MV

  10. Nowcast and Short-Term Forecast of Solar Radiation for Photovoltaic power and Solar thermal using 3rd generation geostationary satellite.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Takenaka, H.; Teruyuki, N.; Nakajima, T. Y.; Higurashi, A.; Hashimoto, M.; Suzuki, K.; Uchida, J.; Nagao, T. M.; Shi, C.; Inoue, T.

    2017-12-01

    It is important to estimate the earth's radiation budget accurately for understanding of climate. Clouds can cool the Earth by reflecting solar radiation but also maintain warmth by absorbing and emitting terrestrial radiation. similarly aerosols also have an effect on radiation budget by absorption and scattering of Solar radiation. In this study, we developed the high speed and accurate algorithm for shortwave (SW) radiation budget and it's applied to geostationary satellite for rapid analysis. It enabled highly accurate monitoring of solar radiation and photo voltaic (PV) power generation. Next step, we try to update the algorithm for retrieval of Aerosols and Clouds. It indicates the accurate atmospheric parameters for estimation of solar radiation. (This research was supported in part by CREST/EMS).

  11. An Improved Neutron Transport Algorithm for HZETRN

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Slaba, Tony C.; Blattnig, Steve R.; Clowdsley, Martha S.; Walker, Steven A.; Badavi, Francis F.

    2010-01-01

    Long term human presence in space requires the inclusion of radiation constraints in mission planning and the design of shielding materials, structures, and vehicles. In this paper, the numerical error associated with energy discretization in HZETRN is addressed. An inadequate numerical integration scheme in the transport algorithm is shown to produce large errors in the low energy portion of the neutron and light ion fluence spectra. It is further shown that the errors result from the narrow energy domain of the neutron elastic cross section spectral distributions, and that an extremely fine energy grid is required to resolve the problem under the current formulation. Two numerical methods are developed to provide adequate resolution in the energy domain and more accurately resolve the neutron elastic interactions. Convergence testing is completed by running the code for various environments and shielding materials with various energy grids to ensure stability of the newly implemented method.

  12. Magnetic Local Time dependency in modeling of the Earth radiation belts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Herrera, Damien; Maget, Vincent; Bourdarie, Sébastien; Rolland, Guy

    2017-04-01

    For many years, ONERA has been at the forefront of the modeling of the Earth radiation belts thanks to the Salammbô model, which accurately reproduces their dynamics over a time scale of the particles' drift period. This implies that we implicitly assume an homogeneous repartition of the trapped particles along a given drift shell. However, radiation belts are inhomogeneous in Magnetic Local Time (MLT). So, we need to take this new coordinate into account to model rigorously the dynamical structures, particularly induced during a geomagnetic storm. For this purpose, we are working on both the numerical resolution of the Fokker-Planck diffusion equation included in the model and on the MLT dependency of physic-based processes acting in the Earth radiation belts. The aim of this talk is first to present the 4D-equation used and the different steps we used to build Salammbô 4D model before focusing on physical processes taken into account in the Salammbô code, specially transport due to convection electric field. Firstly, we will briefly introduce the Salammbô 4D code developped by talking about its numerical scheme and physic-based processes modeled. Then, we will focus our attention on the impact of the outer boundary condition (localisation and spectrum) at lower L∗ shell by comparing modeling performed with geosynchronous data from LANL-GEO satellites. Finally, we will discuss the prime importance of the convection electric field to the radial and drift transport of low energy particles around the Earth.

  13. Systems with a constant heat flux with applications to radiative heat transport across nanoscale gaps and layers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Budaev, Bair V.; Bogy, David B.

    2018-06-01

    We extend the statistical analysis of equilibrium systems to systems with a constant heat flux. This extension leads to natural generalizations of Maxwell-Boltzmann's and Planck's equilibrium energy distributions to energy distributions of systems with a net heat flux. This development provides a long needed foundation for addressing problems of nanoscale heat transport by a systematic method based on a few fundamental principles. As an example, we consider the computation of the radiative heat flux between narrowly spaced half-spaces maintained at different temperatures.

  14. Creation and utilization of a World Wide Web based space radiation effects code: SIREST

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Singleterry, R. C. Jr; Wilson, J. W.; Shinn, J. L.; Tripathi, R. K.; Thibeault, S. A.; Noor, A. K.; Cucinotta, F. A.; Badavi, F. F.; Chang, C. K.; Qualls, G. D.; hide

    2001-01-01

    In order for humans and electronics to fully and safely operate in the space environment, codes like HZETRN (High Charge and Energy Transport) must be included in any designer's toolbox for design evaluation with respect to radiation damage. Currently, spacecraft designers do not have easy access to accurate radiation codes like HZETRN to evaluate their design for radiation effects on humans and electronics. Today, the World Wide Web is sophisticated enough to support the entire HZETRN code and all of the associated pre and post processing tools. This package is called SIREST (Space Ionizing Radiation Effects and Shielding Tools). There are many advantages to SIREST. The most important advantage is the instant update capability of the web. Another major advantage is the modularity that the web imposes on the code. Right now, the major disadvantage of SIREST will be its modularity inside the designer's system. This mostly comes from the fact that a consistent interface between the designer and the computer system to evaluate the design is incomplete. This, however, is to be solved in the Intelligent Synthesis Environment (ISE) program currently being funded by NASA.

  15. High-performing simulations of the space radiation environment for the International Space Station and Apollo Missions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lund, Matthew Lawrence

    The space radiation environment is a significant challenge to future manned and unmanned space travels. Future missions will rely more on accurate simulations of radiation transport in space through spacecraft to predict astronaut dose and energy deposition within spacecraft electronics. The International Space Station provides long-term measurements of the radiation environment in Low Earth Orbit (LEO); however, only the Apollo missions provided dosimetry data beyond LEO. Thus dosimetry analysis for deep space missions is poorly supported with currently available data, and there is a need to develop dosimetry-predicting models for extended deep space missions. GEANT4, a Monte Carlo Method, provides a powerful toolkit in C++ for simulation of radiation transport in arbitrary media, thus including the spacecraft and space travels. The newest version of GEANT4 supports multithreading and MPI, resulting in faster distributive processing of simulations in high-performance computing clusters. This thesis introduces a new application based on GEANT4 that greatly reduces computational time using Kingspeak and Ember computational clusters at the Center for High Performance Computing (CHPC) to simulate radiation transport through full spacecraft geometry, reducing simulation time to hours instead of weeks without post simulation processing. Additionally, this thesis introduces a new set of detectors besides the historically used International Commission of Radiation Units (ICRU) spheres for calculating dose distribution, including a Thermoluminescent Detector (TLD), Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (TEPC), and human phantom combined with a series of new primitive scorers in GEANT4 to calculate dose equivalence based on the International Commission of Radiation Protection (ICRP) standards. The developed models in this thesis predict dose depositions in the International Space Station and during the Apollo missions showing good agreement with experimental measurements

  16. Development of a Space Radiation Monte-Carlo Computer Simulation Based on the FLUKE and Root Codes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pinsky, L. S.; Wilson, T. L.; Ferrari, A.; Sala, Paola; Carminati, F.; Brun, R.

    2001-01-01

    The radiation environment in space is a complex problem to model. Trying to extrapolate the projections of that environment into all areas of the internal spacecraft geometry is even more daunting. With the support of our CERN colleagues, our research group in Houston is embarking on a project to develop a radiation transport tool that is tailored to the problem of taking the external radiation flux incident on any particular spacecraft and simulating the evolution of that flux through a geometrically accurate model of the spacecraft material. The output will be a prediction of the detailed nature of the resulting internal radiation environment within the spacecraft as well as its secondary albedo. Beyond doing the physics transport of the incident flux, the software tool we are developing will provide a self-contained stand-alone object-oriented analysis and visualization infrastructure. It will also include a graphical user interface and a set of input tools to facilitate the simulation of space missions in terms of nominal radiation models and mission trajectory profiles. The goal of this project is to produce a code that is considerably more accurate and user-friendly than existing Monte-Carlo-based tools for the evaluation of the space radiation environment. Furthermore, the code will be an essential complement to the currently existing analytic codes in the BRYNTRN/HZETRN family for the evaluation of radiation shielding. The code will be directly applicable to the simulation of environments in low earth orbit, on the lunar surface, on planetary surfaces (including the Earth) and in the interplanetary medium such as on a transit to Mars (and even in the interstellar medium). The software will include modules whose underlying physics base can continue to be enhanced and updated for physics content, as future data become available beyond the timeframe of the initial development now foreseen. This future maintenance will be available from the authors of FLUKA as

  17. 14 CFR 25.1023 - Oil radiators.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Oil radiators. 25.1023 Section 25.1023... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Powerplant Oil System § 25.1023 Oil radiators. (a) Each oil radiator... would be subjected in operation. (b) Each oil radiator air duct must be located so that, in case of fire...

  18. Radiometrically accurate scene-based nonuniformity correction for array sensors.

    PubMed

    Ratliff, Bradley M; Hayat, Majeed M; Tyo, J Scott

    2003-10-01

    A novel radiometrically accurate scene-based nonuniformity correction (NUC) algorithm is described. The technique combines absolute calibration with a recently reported algebraic scene-based NUC algorithm. The technique is based on the following principle: First, detectors that are along the perimeter of the focal-plane array are absolutely calibrated; then the calibration is transported to the remaining uncalibrated interior detectors through the application of the algebraic scene-based algorithm, which utilizes pairs of image frames exhibiting arbitrary global motion. The key advantage of this technique is that it can obtain radiometric accuracy during NUC without disrupting camera operation. Accurate estimates of the bias nonuniformity can be achieved with relatively few frames, which can be fewer than ten frame pairs. Advantages of this technique are discussed, and a thorough performance analysis is presented with use of simulated and real infrared imagery.

  19. Dynamic implicit 3D adaptive mesh refinement for non-equilibrium radiation diffusion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Philip, B.; Wang, Z.; Berrill, M. A.; Birke, M.; Pernice, M.

    2014-04-01

    The time dependent non-equilibrium radiation diffusion equations are important for solving the transport of energy through radiation in optically thick regimes and find applications in several fields including astrophysics and inertial confinement fusion. The associated initial boundary value problems that are encountered often exhibit a wide range of scales in space and time and are extremely challenging to solve. To efficiently and accurately simulate these systems we describe our research on combining techniques that will also find use more broadly for long term time integration of nonlinear multi-physics systems: implicit time integration for efficient long term time integration of stiff multi-physics systems, local control theory based step size control to minimize the required global number of time steps while controlling accuracy, dynamic 3D adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) to minimize memory and computational costs, Jacobian Free Newton-Krylov methods on AMR grids for efficient nonlinear solution, and optimal multilevel preconditioner components that provide level independent solver convergence.

  20. Observational evidence of competing source, loss, and transport processes for relativistic electrons in Earth's outer radiation belt

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Turner, Drew; Mann, Ian; Usanova, Maria; Rodriguez, Juan; Henderson, Mike; Angelopoulos, Vassilis; Morley, Steven; Claudepierre, Seth; Li, Wen; Kellerman, Adam; Boyd, Alexander; Kim, Kyung-Chan

    Earth’s outer electron radiation belt is a region of extreme variability, with relativistic electron intensities changing by orders of magnitude over time scales ranging from minutes to years. Extreme variations of outer belt electrons ultimately result from the relative impacts of various competing source (and acceleration), loss, and transport processes. Most of these processes involve wave-particle interactions between outer belt electrons and different types of plasma waves in the inner magnetosphere, and in turn, the activity of these waves depends on different solar wind and magnetospheric driving conditions and thus can vary drastically from event to event. Using multipoint analysis with data from NASA’s Van Allen Probes, THEMIS, and SAMPEX missions, NOAA’s GOES and POES constellations, and ground-based observatories, we present results from case studies revealing how different source/acceleration and loss mechanisms compete during active periods to result in drastically different distributions of outer belt electrons. By using a combination of low-Earth orbiting and high-altitude-equatorial orbiting satellites, we briefly review how it is possible to get a much more complete picture of certain wave activity and electron losses over the full range of MLTs and L-shells throughout the radiation belt. We then show example cases highlighting the importance of particular mechanisms, including: substorm injections and whistler-mode chorus waves for the source and acceleration of relativistic electrons; magnetopause shadowing and wave-particle interactions with EMIC waves for sudden losses; and ULF wave activity for driving radial transport, a process which is important for redistributing relativistic electrons, contributing both to acceleration and loss processes. We show how relativistic electron enhancement events involve local acceleration that is consistent with wave-particle interactions between a seed population of 10s to 100s of keV electrons, with a

  1. 49 CFR 173.441 - Radiation level limitations and exclusive use provisions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 2 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Radiation level limitations and exclusive use... Radiation level limitations and exclusive use provisions. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this... prepared for shipment, so that under conditions normally incident to transportation, the radiation level...

  2. 49 CFR 173.441 - Radiation level limitations and exclusive use provisions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 2 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Radiation level limitations and exclusive use... Radiation level limitations and exclusive use provisions. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this... prepared for shipment, so that under conditions normally incident to transportation, the radiation level...

  3. 49 CFR 173.441 - Radiation level limitations and exclusive use provisions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 2 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Radiation level limitations and exclusive use... Radiation level limitations and exclusive use provisions. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this... prepared for shipment, so that under conditions normally incident to transportation, the radiation level...

  4. X-ray transport and radiation response assessment (XTRRA) experiments at the National Ignition Facility.

    PubMed

    Fournier, K B; Brown, C G; Yeoman, M F; Fisher, J H; Seiler, S W; Hinshelwood, D; Compton, S; Holdener, F R; Kemp, G E; Newlander, C D; Gilliam, R P; Froula, N; Lilly, M; Davis, J F; Lerch, Maj A; Blue, B E

    2016-11-01

    Our team has developed an experimental platform to evaluate the x-ray-generated stress and impulse in materials. Experimental activities include x-ray source development, design of the sample mounting hardware and sensors interfaced to the National Ignition Facility's diagnostics insertion system, and system integration into the facility. This paper focuses on the X-ray Transport and Radiation Response Assessment (XTRRA) test cassettes built for these experiments. The test cassette is designed to position six samples at three predetermined distances from the source, each known to within ±1% accuracy. Built-in calorimeters give in situ measurements of the x-ray environment along the sample lines of sight. The measured accuracy of sample responses as well as planned modifications to the XTRRA cassette is discussed.

  5. Quasi-phase-matched second-harmonic generation of 532 nm radiation in 25 degrees -rotated, x-cut, near-stoichiometric, lithium tantalate fabricated by vapor transport equilibration.

    PubMed

    Hum, D S; Route, R K; Fejer, M M

    2007-04-15

    Quasi-phase-matched second-harmonic generation of 532 nm radiation in 25 degrees -rotated, x-cut, near-stoichiometric lithium tantalate has been performed. Using a face-normal topology for frequency conversion applications allows scalable surface area to avoid surface and volume damage in high-power interactions. First-order, quasi-phase-matched second-harmonic generation was achieved using near-stoichiometric lithium tantalate fabricated by vapor transport equilibration. These crystals supported 1 J of 1064 nm radiation and generated 21 mJ of 532 nm radiation from a 7 ns, Q-switched Nd:YAG laser within a factor of 4.2 of expectation.

  6. Accurate radiation temperature and chemical potential from quantitative photoluminescence analysis of hot carrier populations.

    PubMed

    Gibelli, François; Lombez, Laurent; Guillemoles, Jean-François

    2017-02-15

    In order to characterize hot carrier populations in semiconductors, photoluminescence measurement is a convenient tool, enabling us to probe the carrier thermodynamical properties in a contactless way. However, the analysis of the photoluminescence spectra is based on some assumptions which will be discussed in this work. We especially emphasize the importance of the variation of the material absorptivity that should be considered to access accurate thermodynamical properties of the carriers, especially by varying the excitation power. The proposed method enables us to obtain more accurate results of thermodynamical properties by taking into account a rigorous physical description and finds direct application in investigating hot carrier solar cells, which are an adequate concept for achieving high conversion efficiencies with a relatively simple device architecture.

  7. Simulations of eddy kinetic energy transport in barotropic turbulence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grooms, Ian

    2017-11-01

    Eddy energy transport in rotating two-dimensional turbulence is investigated using numerical simulation. Stochastic forcing is used to generate an inhomogeneous field of turbulence and the time-mean energy profile is diagnosed. An advective-diffusive model for the transport is fit to the simulation data by requiring the model to accurately predict the observed time-mean energy distribution. Isotropic harmonic diffusion of energy is found to be an accurate model in the case of uniform, solid-body background rotation (the f plane), with a diffusivity that scales reasonably well with a mixing-length law κ ∝V ℓ , where V and ℓ are characteristic eddy velocity and length scales. Passive tracer dynamics are added and it is found that the energy diffusivity is 75 % of the tracer diffusivity. The addition of a differential background rotation with constant vorticity gradient β leads to significant changes to the energy transport. The eddies generate and interact with a mean flow that advects the eddy energy. Mean advection plus anisotropic diffusion (with reduced diffusivity in the direction of the background vorticity gradient) is moderately accurate for flows with scale separation between the eddies and mean flow, but anisotropic diffusion becomes a much less accurate model of the transport when scale separation breaks down. Finally, it is observed that the time-mean eddy energy does not look like the actual eddy energy distribution at any instant of time. In the future, stochastic models of the eddy energy transport may prove more useful than models of the mean transport for predicting realistic eddy energy distributions.

  8. 14 CFR 23.1023 - Oil radiators.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Oil radiators. 23.1023 Section 23.1023 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AIRCRAFT AIRWORTHINESS... radiators. Each oil radiator and its supporting structures must be able to withstand the vibration, inertia...

  9. Analytical modeling of light transport in scattering materials with strong absorption.

    PubMed

    Meretska, M L; Uppu, R; Vissenberg, G; Lagendijk, A; Ijzerman, W L; Vos, W L

    2017-10-02

    We have investigated the transport of light through slabs that both scatter and strongly absorb, a situation that occurs in diverse application fields ranging from biomedical optics, powder technology, to solid-state lighting. In particular, we study the transport of light in the visible wavelength range between 420 and 700 nm through silicone plates filled with YAG:Ce 3+ phosphor particles, that even re-emit absorbed light at different wavelengths. We measure the total transmission, the total reflection, and the ballistic transmission of light through these plates. We obtain average single particle properties namely the scattering cross-section σ s , the absorption cross-section σ a , and the anisotropy factor µ using an analytical approach, namely the P3 approximation to the radiative transfer equation. We verify the extracted transport parameters using Monte-Carlo simulations of the light transport. Our approach fully describes the light propagation in phosphor diffuser plates that are used in white LEDs and that reveal a strong absorption (L/l a > 1) up to L/l a = 4, where L is the slab thickness, l a is the absorption mean free path. In contrast, the widely used diffusion theory fails to describe this parameter range. Our approach is a suitable analytical tool for industry, since it provides a fast yet accurate determination of key transport parameters, and since it introduces predictive power into the design process of white light emitting diodes.

  10. Plasma transport in an Eulerian AMR code

    DOE PAGES

    Vold, E. L.; Rauenzahn, R. M.; Aldrich, C. H.; ...

    2017-04-04

    A plasma transport model has been implemented in an Eulerian AMR radiation-hydrodynamics code, xRage, which includes plasma viscosity in the momentum tensor, viscous dissipation in the energy equations, and binary species mixing with consistent species mass and energy fluxes driven by concentration gradients, ion and electron baro-diffusion terms and temperature gradient forces. The physics basis, computational issues, numeric options, and results from several test problems are discussed. The transport coefficients are found to be relatively insensitive to the kinetic correction factors when the concentrations are expressed with the molar fractions and the ion mass differences are large. The contributions tomore » flow dynamics from plasma viscosity and mass diffusion were found to increase significantly as scale lengths decrease in an inertial confinement fusion relevant Kelvin-Helmholtz instability mix layer. The mixing scale lengths in the test case are on the order of 100 μm and smaller for viscous effects to appear and 10 μm or less for significant ion species diffusion, evident over durations on the order of nanoseconds. The temperature gradient driven mass flux is seen to deplete a high Z tracer ion at the ion shock front. The plasma transport model provides the generation of the atomic mix per unit of interfacial area between two species with no free parameters. The evolution of the total atomic mix then depends also on an accurate resolution or estimate of the interfacial area between the species mixing by plasma transport. High resolution simulations or a more Lagrangian-like treatment of species interfaces may be required to distinguish plasma transport and numerical diffusion in an Eulerian computation of complex and dynamically evolving mix regions.« less

  11. Effect of localized surface-plasmon mode on exciton transport and radiation emission in carbon nanotubes.

    PubMed

    Roslyak, Oleksiy; Cherqui, Charles; Dunlap, David H; Piryatinski, Andrei

    2014-07-17

    We report on a general theoretical approach to study exciton transport and emission in a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) in the presence of a localized surface-plasmon (SP) mode within a metal nanoparticle interacting via near-field coupling. We derive a set of quantum mechanical equations of motion and approximate rate equations that account for the exciton, SP, and the environmental degrees of freedom. The material equations are complemented by an expression for the radiated power that depends on the exciton and SP populations and coherences, allowing for an examination of the angular distribution of the emitted radiation that would be measured in experiment. Numerical simulations for a (6,5) SWNT and cone-shaped Ag metal tip (MT) have been performed using this methodology. Comparison with physical parameters shows that the near-field interaction between the exciton-SP occurs in a weak coupling regime, with the diffusion processes being much faster than the exciton-SP population exchange. In such a case, the effect of the exciton population transfer to the MT with its subsequent dissipation (i.e., the Förster energy transfer) is to modify the exciton steady state distribution while reducing the equilibration time for excitons to reach a steady sate distribution. We find that the radiation distribution is dominated by SP emission for a SWNT-MT separation of a few tens of nanometers due to the fast SP emission rate, whereas the exciton-SP coherences can cause its rotation.

  12. Community Sediment Transport Model

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-01-01

    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598 Phone: (508) 457-2269 Fax: (508) 457-2310 email: csherwood@usgs.gov Timothy Keen Naval Research Laboratory, Code...intended to be used as both a research tool and for practical applications. An accurate and useful model will require coupling sediment-transport with...and time steps range from seconds to minutes. We include higher-resolution sediment- transport calculation modules for research problems but, for

  13. 49 CFR 173.310 - Exceptions for radiation detectors.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 2 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Exceptions for radiation detectors. 173.310... for radiation detectors. Radiation detectors, radiation sensors, electron tube devices, or ionization chambers, herein referred to as “radiation detectors,” that contain only Division 2.2 gases, are excepted...

  14. 49 CFR 173.310 - Exceptions for radiation detectors.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 2 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Exceptions for radiation detectors. 173.310... for radiation detectors. Radiation detectors, radiation sensors, electron tube devices, or ionization chambers, herein referred to as “radiation detectors,” that contain only Division 2.2 gases, are excepted...

  15. 49 CFR 173.310 - Exceptions for radiation detectors.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 2 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Exceptions for radiation detectors. 173.310... for radiation detectors. Radiation detectors, radiation sensors, electron tube devices, or ionization chambers, herein referred to as “radiation detectors,” that contain only Division 2.2 gases, are excepted...

  16. NEQAIRv14.0 Release Notes: Nonequilibrium and Equilibrium Radiative Transport Spectra Program

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Brandis, Aaron Michael; Cruden, Brett A.

    2014-01-01

    NEQAIR v14.0 is the first parallelized version of NEQAIR. Starting from the last version of the code that went through the internal software release process at NASA Ames (NEQAIR 2008), there have been significant updates to the physics in the code and the computational efficiency. NEQAIR v14.0 supersedes NEQAIR v13.2, v13.1 and the suite of NEQAIR2009 versions. These updates have predominantly been performed by Brett Cruden and Aaron Brandis from ERC Inc at NASA Ames Research Center in 2013 and 2014. A new naming convention is being adopted with this current release. The current and future versions of the code will be named NEQAIR vY.X. The Y will refer to a major release increment. Minor revisions and update releases will involve incrementing X. This is to keep NEQAIR more in line with common software release practices. NEQAIR v14.0 is a standalone software tool for line-by-line spectral computation of radiative intensities and/or radiative heat flux, with one-dimensional transport of radiation. In order to accomplish this, NEQAIR v14.0, as in previous versions, requires the specification of distances (in cm), temperatures (in K) and number densities (in parts/cc) of constituent species along lines of sight. Therefore, it is assumed that flow quantities have been extracted from flow fields computed using other tools, such as CFD codes like DPLR or LAURA, and that lines of sight have been constructed and written out in the format required by NEQAIR v14.0. There are two principal modes for running NEQAIR v14.0. In the first mode NEQAIR v14.0 is used as a tool for creating synthetic spectra of any desired resolution (including convolution with a specified instrument/slit function). The first mode is typically exercised in simulating/interpreting spectroscopic measurements of different sources (e.g. shock tube data, plasma torches, etc.). In the second mode, NEQAIR v14.0 is used as a radiative heat flux prediction tool for flight projects. Correspondingly, NEQAIR has

  17. Optoelectronic device with nanoparticle embedded hole injection/transport layer

    DOEpatents

    Wang, Qingwu [Chelmsford, MA; Li, Wenguang [Andover, MA; Jiang, Hua [Methuen, MA

    2012-01-03

    An optoelectronic device is disclosed that can function as an emitter of optical radiation, such as a light-emitting diode (LED), or as a photovoltaic (PV) device that can be used to convert optical radiation into electrical current, such as a photovoltaic solar cell. The optoelectronic device comprises an anode, a hole injection/transport layer, an active layer, and a cathode, where the hole injection/transport layer includes transparent conductive nanoparticles in a hole transport material.

  18. Design of laboratory experiments to study radiation-driven implosions

    DOE PAGES

    Keiter, P. A.; Trantham, M.; Malamud, G.; ...

    2017-02-03

    The interstellar medium is heterogeneous with dense clouds amid an ambient medium. Radiation from young OB stars asymmetrically irradiate the dense clouds. Bertoldi (1989) developed analytic formulae to describe possible outcomes of these clouds when irradiated by hot, young stars. One of the critical parameters that determines the cloud’s fate is the number of photon mean free paths in the cloud. For the extreme cases where the cloud size is either much greater than or much less than one mean free path, the radiation transport should be well understood. However, as one transitions between these limits, the radiation transport ismore » much more complex and is a challenge to solve with many of the current radiation transport models implemented in codes. In this paper, we present the design of laboratory experiments that use a thermal source of x-rays to asymmetrically irradiate a low-density plastic foam sphere. The experiment will vary the density and hence the number of mean free paths of the sphere to study the radiation transport in different regimes. Finally, we have developed dimensionless parameters to relate the laboratory experiment to the astrophysical system and we show that we can perform the experiment in the same transport regime.« less

  19. Radiative and convective heating during Venus entry.

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Page, W. A.; Woodward, H. T.

    1972-01-01

    Determination of the stagnation region heating of probes entering the Venusian atmosphere. Both convective and radiative heat-transfer rates are predicted, and account is taken of the important effects of radiative transport in the vehicle shock layer. A nongray radiative transport model is utilized which parallels a four-band treatment previously developed for air (Page et al., 1969), but includes two additional bands to account for the important CO(4+) molecular band system. Some comparisons are made between results for Venus entry and results for earth entry obtained using a viscous earth entry program.

  20. NA22 Model Cities Project - LL244T An Intelligent Transportation System-Based Radiation Alert and Detection System

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Peglow, S

    2004-02-24

    The purpose of this project was twofold: first, provide an understanding of the technical foundation and planning required for deployment of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS)-based system architectures for the protection of New York City from a terrorist attack using a vehicle-deployed nuclear device; second, work with stakeholders to develop mutual understanding of the technologies and tactics required for threat detection/identification and establish guidelines for designing operational systems and procedures. During the course of this project we interviewed and coordinated analysis with people from the New Jersey State Attorney General's office, the New Jersey State Police, the Port Authority of Newmore » York/New Jersey, the Counterterrorism Division of the New York City Police Department, the New Jersey Transit Authority, the State of New Jersey Department of Transportation, TRANSCOM and a number of contractors involved with state and federal intelligent transportation development and implementation. The basic system architecture is shown in the figure below. In an actual system deployment, radiation sensors would be co-located with existing ITS elements and the data will be sent to the Traffic Operations Center. A key element of successful system operation is the integration of vehicle data, such as license plate, EZ pass ID, vehicle type/color and radiation signature. A threat data base can also be implemented and utilized in cases where there is a suspect vehicle identified from other intelligence sources or a mobile detector system. Another key aspect of an operational architecture is the procedures used to verify the threat and plan interdiction. This was a major focus of our work and discussed later in detail. In support of the operational analysis, we developed a detailed traffic simulation model that is described extensively in the body of the report.« less

  1. ITS Version 6 : the integrated TIGER series of coupled electron/photon Monte Carlo transport codes.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Franke, Brian Claude; Kensek, Ronald Patrick; Laub, Thomas William

    2008-04-01

    ITS is a powerful and user-friendly software package permitting state-of-the-art Monte Carlo solution of lineartime-independent coupled electron/photon radiation transport problems, with or without the presence of macroscopic electric and magnetic fields of arbitrary spatial dependence. Our goal has been to simultaneously maximize operational simplicity and physical accuracy. Through a set of preprocessor directives, the user selects one of the many ITS codes. The ease with which the makefile system is applied combines with an input scheme based on order-independent descriptive keywords that makes maximum use of defaults and internal error checking to provide experimentalists and theorists alike with a methodmore » for the routine but rigorous solution of sophisticated radiation transport problems. Physical rigor is provided by employing accurate cross sections, sampling distributions, and physical models for describing the production and transport of the electron/photon cascade from 1.0 GeV down to 1.0 keV. The availability of source code permits the more sophisticated user to tailor the codes to specific applications and to extend the capabilities of the codes to more complex applications. Version 6, the latest version of ITS, contains (1) improvements to the ITS 5.0 codes, and (2) conversion to Fortran 90. The general user friendliness of the software has been enhanced through memory allocation to reduce the need for users to modify and recompile the code.« less

  2. The Scientific and Societal Need for Accurate Global Remote Sensing of Marine Suspended Sediments

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Acker, James G.

    2006-01-01

    Population pressure, commercial development, and climate change are expected to cause continuing alteration of the vital oceanic coastal zone environment. These pressures will influence both the geology and biology of the littoral, nearshore, and continental shelf regions. A pressing need for global observation of coastal change processes is an accurate remotely-sensed data product for marine suspended sediments. The concentration, delivery, transport, and deposition of sediments is strongly relevant to coastal primary production, inland and coastal hydrology, coastal erosion, and loss of fragile wetland and island habitats. Sediment transport and deposition is also related to anthropogenic activities including agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture, harbor and port commerce, and military operations. Because accurate estimation of marine suspended sediment concentrations requires advanced ocean optical analysis, a focused collaborative program of algorithm development and assessment is recommended, following the successful experience of data refinement for remotely-sensed global ocean chlorophyll concentrations.

  3. Radiation Monitoring Equipment Dosimeter Experiment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hardy, Kenneth A.; Golightly, Michael J.; Quam, William

    1992-01-01

    Spacecraft crews risk exposure to relatively high levels of ionizing radiation. This radiation may come from charged particles trapped in the Earth's magnetic fields, charged particles released by solar flare activity, galactic cosmic radiation, energetic photons and neutrons generated by interaction of these primary radiations with spacecraft and crew, and man-made sources (e.g., nuclear power generators). As missions are directed to higher radiation level orbits, viz., higher altitudes and inclinations, longer durations, and increased flight frequency, radiation exposure could well become a major factor for crew stay time and career lengths. To more accurately define the radiological exposure and risk to the crew, real-time radiation monitoring instrumentation, which is capable of identifying and measuring the various radiation components, must be flown. This presentation describes a radiation dosimeter instrument which was successfully flown on the Space Shuttle, the RME-3.

  4. Validation of a multi-layer Green's function code for ion beam transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Walker, Steven; Tweed, John; Tripathi, Ram; Badavi, Francis F.; Miller, Jack; Zeitlin, Cary; Heilbronn, Lawrence

    To meet the challenge of future deep space programs, an accurate and efficient engineering code for analyzing the shielding requirements against high-energy galactic heavy radiations is needed. In consequence, a new version of the HZETRN code capable of simulating high charge and energy (HZE) ions with either laboratory or space boundary conditions is currently under development. The new code, GRNTRN, is based on a Green's function approach to the solution of Boltzmann's transport equation and like its predecessor is deterministic in nature. The computational model consists of the lowest order asymptotic approximation followed by a Neumann series expansion with non-perturbative corrections. The physical description includes energy loss with straggling, nuclear attenuation, nuclear fragmentation with energy dispersion and down shift. Code validation in the laboratory environment is addressed by showing that GRNTRN accurately predicts energy loss spectra as measured by solid-state detectors in ion beam experiments with multi-layer targets. In order to validate the code with space boundary conditions, measured particle fluences are propagated through several thicknesses of shielding using both GRNTRN and the current version of HZETRN. The excellent agreement obtained indicates that GRNTRN accurately models the propagation of HZE ions in the space environment as well as in laboratory settings and also provides verification of the HZETRN propagator.

  5. Accurate determination of the geoid undulation N

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lambrou, E.; Pantazis, G.; Balodimos, D. D.

    2003-04-01

    This work is related to the activities of the CERGOP Study Group Geodynamics of the Balkan Peninsula, presents a method for the determination of the variation ΔN and, indirectly, of the geoid undulation N with an accuracy of a few millimeters. It is based on the determination of the components xi, eta of the deflection of the vertical using modern geodetic instruments (digital total station and GPS receiver). An analysis of the method is given. Accuracy of the order of 0.01arcsec in the estimated values of the astronomical coordinates Φ and Δ is achieved. The result of applying the proposed method in an area around Athens is presented. In this test application, a system is used which takes advantage of the capabilities of modern geodetic instruments. The GPS receiver permits the determination of the geodetic coordinates at a chosen reference system and, in addition, provides accurate timing information. The astronomical observations are performed through a digital total station with electronic registering of angles and time. The required accuracy of the values of the coordinates is achieved in about four hours of fieldwork. In addition, the instrumentation is lightweight, easily transportable and can be setup in the field very quickly. Combined with a stream-lined data reduction procedure and the use of up-to-date astrometric data, the values of the components xi, eta of the deflection of the vertical and, eventually, the changes ΔN of the geoid undulation are determined easily and accurately. In conclusion, this work demonstrates that it is quite feasible to create an accurate map of the geoid undulation, especially in areas that present large geoid variations and other methods are not capable to give accurate and reliable results.

  6. 2D Radiative Processes Near Cloud Edges

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Varnai, T.

    2012-01-01

    Because of the importance and complexity of dynamical, microphysical, and radiative processes taking place near cloud edges, the transition zone between clouds and cloud free air has been the subject of intense research both in the ASR program and in the wider community. One challenge in this research is that the one-dimensional (1D) radiative models widely used in both remote sensing and dynamical simulations become less accurate near cloud edges: The large horizontal gradients in particle concentrations imply that accurate radiative calculations need to consider multi-dimensional radiative interactions among areas that have widely different optical properties. This study examines the way the importance of multidimensional shortwave radiative interactions changes as we approach cloud edges. For this, the study relies on radiative simulations performed for a multiyear dataset of clouds observed over the NSA, SGP, and TWP sites. This dataset is based on Microbase cloud profiles as well as wind measurements and ARM cloud classification products. The study analyzes the way the difference between 1D and 2D simulation results increases near cloud edges. It considers both monochromatic radiances and broadband radiative heating, and it also examines the influence of factors such as cloud type and height, and solar elevation. The results provide insights into the workings of radiative processes and may help better interpret radiance measurements and better estimate the radiative impacts of this critical region.

  7. Evidence for dust-driven, radial plasma transport in Saturn's inner radiation belts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Roussos, E.; Krupp, N.; Kollmann, P.; Paranicas, C.; Mitchell, D. G.; Krimigis, S. M.; Andriopoulou, M.

    2016-08-01

    A survey of Cassini MIMI/LEMMS data acquired between 2004 and 2015 has led to the identification of 13 energetic electron microsignatures that can be attributed to particle losses on one of the several faint rings of the planet. Most of the signatures were detected near L-shells that map between the orbits of Mimas and Enceladus or near the G-ring. Our analysis indicates that it is very unlikely for these signatures to have originated from absorption on Mimas, Enceladus or unidentified Moons and rings, even though most were not found exactly at the L-shells of the known rings of the saturnian system (G-ring, Methone, Anthe, Pallene). The lack of additional absorbers is apparent in the L-shell distribution of MeV ions which are very sensitive for tracing the location of weakly absorbing material permanently present in Saturn's radiation belts. This sensitivity is demonstrated by the identification, for the first time, of the proton absorption signatures from the asteroid-sized Moons Pallene, Anthe and/or their rings. For this reason, we investigate the possibility that the 13 energetic electron events formed at known saturnian rings and the resulting depletions were later displaced radially by one or more magnetospheric processes. Our calculations indicate that the displacement magnitude for several of those signatures is much larger than the one that can be attributed to radial flows imposed by the recently discovered noon-to-midnight electric field in Saturn's inner magnetosphere. This observation is consistent with a mechanism where radial plasma velocities are enhanced near dusty obstacles. Several possibilities are discussed that may explain this observation, including a dust-driven magnetospheric interchange instability, mass loading by the pick-up of nanometer charged dust grains and global magnetospheric electric fields induced by perturbed orbits of charged dust due to the act of solar radiation pressure. Indirect evidence for a global scale interaction

  8. An 'adding' algorithm for the Markov chain formalism for radiation transfer

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Esposito, L. W.

    1979-01-01

    An adding algorithm is presented, that extends the Markov chain method and considers a preceding calculation as a single state of a new Markov chain. This method takes advantage of the description of the radiation transport as a stochastic process. Successive application of this procedure makes calculation possible for any optical depth without increasing the size of the linear system used. It is determined that the time required for the algorithm is comparable to that for a doubling calculation for homogeneous atmospheres. For an inhomogeneous atmosphere the new method is considerably faster than the standard adding routine. It is concluded that the algorithm is efficient, accurate, and suitable for smaller computers in calculating the diffuse intensity scattered by an inhomogeneous planetary atmosphere.

  9. An infrastructure for accurate characterization of single-event transients in digital circuits.

    PubMed

    Savulimedu Veeravalli, Varadan; Polzer, Thomas; Schmid, Ulrich; Steininger, Andreas; Hofbauer, Michael; Schweiger, Kurt; Dietrich, Horst; Schneider-Hornstein, Kerstin; Zimmermann, Horst; Voss, Kay-Obbe; Merk, Bruno; Hajek, Michael

    2013-11-01

    We present the architecture and a detailed pre-fabrication analysis of a digital measurement ASIC facilitating long-term irradiation experiments of basic asynchronous circuits, which also demonstrates the suitability of the general approach for obtaining accurate radiation failure models developed in our FATAL project. Our ASIC design combines radiation targets like Muller C-elements and elastic pipelines as well as standard combinational gates and flip-flops with an elaborate on-chip measurement infrastructure. Major architectural challenges result from the fact that the latter must operate reliably under the same radiation conditions the target circuits are exposed to, without wasting precious die area for a rad-hard design. A measurement architecture based on multiple non-rad-hard counters is used, which we show to be resilient against double faults, as well as many triple and even higher-multiplicity faults. The design evaluation is done by means of comprehensive fault injection experiments, which are based on detailed Spice models of the target circuits in conjunction with a standard double-exponential current injection model for single-event transients (SET). To be as accurate as possible, the parameters of this current model have been aligned with results obtained from 3D device simulation models, which have in turn been validated and calibrated using micro-beam radiation experiments at the GSI in Darmstadt, Germany. For the latter, target circuits instrumented with high-speed sense amplifiers have been used for analog SET recording. Together with a probabilistic analysis of the sustainable particle flow rates, based on a detailed area analysis and experimental cross-section data, we can conclude that the proposed architecture will indeed sustain significant target hit rates, without exceeding the resilience bound of the measurement infrastructure.

  10. An infrastructure for accurate characterization of single-event transients in digital circuits☆

    PubMed Central

    Savulimedu Veeravalli, Varadan; Polzer, Thomas; Schmid, Ulrich; Steininger, Andreas; Hofbauer, Michael; Schweiger, Kurt; Dietrich, Horst; Schneider-Hornstein, Kerstin; Zimmermann, Horst; Voss, Kay-Obbe; Merk, Bruno; Hajek, Michael

    2013-01-01

    We present the architecture and a detailed pre-fabrication analysis of a digital measurement ASIC facilitating long-term irradiation experiments of basic asynchronous circuits, which also demonstrates the suitability of the general approach for obtaining accurate radiation failure models developed in our FATAL project. Our ASIC design combines radiation targets like Muller C-elements and elastic pipelines as well as standard combinational gates and flip-flops with an elaborate on-chip measurement infrastructure. Major architectural challenges result from the fact that the latter must operate reliably under the same radiation conditions the target circuits are exposed to, without wasting precious die area for a rad-hard design. A measurement architecture based on multiple non-rad-hard counters is used, which we show to be resilient against double faults, as well as many triple and even higher-multiplicity faults. The design evaluation is done by means of comprehensive fault injection experiments, which are based on detailed Spice models of the target circuits in conjunction with a standard double-exponential current injection model for single-event transients (SET). To be as accurate as possible, the parameters of this current model have been aligned with results obtained from 3D device simulation models, which have in turn been validated and calibrated using micro-beam radiation experiments at the GSI in Darmstadt, Germany. For the latter, target circuits instrumented with high-speed sense amplifiers have been used for analog SET recording. Together with a probabilistic analysis of the sustainable particle flow rates, based on a detailed area analysis and experimental cross-section data, we can conclude that the proposed architecture will indeed sustain significant target hit rates, without exceeding the resilience bound of the measurement infrastructure. PMID:24748694

  11. X-ray transport and radiation response assessment (XTRRA) experiments at the National Ignition Facility

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Fournier, K. B., E-mail: fournier2@llnl.gov; Brown, C. G.; Yeoman, M. F.

    2016-11-15

    Our team has developed an experimental platform to evaluate the x-ray-generated stress and impulse in materials. Experimental activities include x-ray source development, design of the sample mounting hardware and sensors interfaced to the National Ignition Facility’s diagnostics insertion system, and system integration into the facility. This paper focuses on the X-ray Transport and Radiation Response Assessment (XTRRA) test cassettes built for these experiments. The test cassette is designed to position six samples at three predetermined distances from the source, each known to within ±1% accuracy. Built-in calorimeters give in situ measurements of the x-ray environment along the sample lines ofmore » sight. The measured accuracy of sample responses as well as planned modifications to the XTRRA cassette is discussed.« less

  12. X-ray transport and radiation response assessment (XTRRA) experiments at the National Ignition Facility

    DOE PAGES

    Fournier, K. B.; Brown, Jr., C. G.; Yeoman, M. F.; ...

    2016-08-10

    Our team has developed an experimental platform to evaluate the x-ray-generated stress and impulse in materials. Experimental activities include x-ray source development, design of the sample mounting hardware and sensors interfaced to the NIF’s diagnostics insertion system, and system integration into the facility. This paper focuses on the X-ray Transport and Radiation Response Assessment (XTRRA) test cassettes built for these experiments. The test cassette is designed to position six samples at three predetermined distances from the source, each known to within ±1% accuracy. Built in calorimeters give in situ measurements of the x-ray environment along the sample lines of sight.more » We discuss the measured accuracy of sample responses, as well as planned modifications to the XTRRA cassette.« less

  13. Exchanging transportation networks between two GISs via the SDTS

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1997-05-01

    Performing meaningful network analyses is greatly dependent upon accurate and : complete transportation network models, which are digitized into a Geographic : Information System (GIS) or, more often, imported from another GIS. : Transportation netwo...

  14. METEOROLOGICAL AND TRANSPORT MODELING

    EPA Science Inventory

    Advanced air quality simulation models, such as CMAQ, as well as other transport and dispersion models, require accurate and detailed meteorology fields. These meteorology fields include primary 3-dimensional dynamical and thermodynamical variables (e.g., winds, temperature, mo...

  15. 14 CFR 25.1023 - Oil radiators.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Oil radiators. 25.1023 Section 25.1023... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Powerplant Oil System § 25.1023 Oil radiators. (a) Each oil radiator must be able to withstand, without failure, any vibration, inertia, and oil pressure load to which it...

  16. 14 CFR 29.1023 - Oil radiators.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Oil radiators. 29.1023 Section 29.1023... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Powerplant Oil System § 29.1023 Oil radiators. (a) Each oil radiator must be able to withstand any vibration, inertia, and oil pressure loads to which it would be...

  17. 14 CFR 25.1023 - Oil radiators.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Oil radiators. 25.1023 Section 25.1023... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Powerplant Oil System § 25.1023 Oil radiators. (a) Each oil radiator must be able to withstand, without failure, any vibration, inertia, and oil pressure load to which it...

  18. 14 CFR 29.1023 - Oil radiators.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Oil radiators. 29.1023 Section 29.1023... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Powerplant Oil System § 29.1023 Oil radiators. (a) Each oil radiator must be able to withstand any vibration, inertia, and oil pressure loads to which it would be...

  19. 14 CFR 29.1023 - Oil radiators.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Oil radiators. 29.1023 Section 29.1023... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Powerplant Oil System § 29.1023 Oil radiators. (a) Each oil radiator must be able to withstand any vibration, inertia, and oil pressure loads to which it would be...

  20. 14 CFR 25.1023 - Oil radiators.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Oil radiators. 25.1023 Section 25.1023... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Powerplant Oil System § 25.1023 Oil radiators. (a) Each oil radiator must be able to withstand, without failure, any vibration, inertia, and oil pressure load to which it...

  1. 14 CFR 25.1023 - Oil radiators.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Oil radiators. 25.1023 Section 25.1023... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY AIRPLANES Powerplant Oil System § 25.1023 Oil radiators. (a) Each oil radiator must be able to withstand, without failure, any vibration, inertia, and oil pressure load to which it...

  2. 14 CFR 29.1023 - Oil radiators.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Oil radiators. 29.1023 Section 29.1023... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Powerplant Oil System § 29.1023 Oil radiators. (a) Each oil radiator must be able to withstand any vibration, inertia, and oil pressure loads to which it would be...

  3. 14 CFR 29.1023 - Oil radiators.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Oil radiators. 29.1023 Section 29.1023... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Powerplant Oil System § 29.1023 Oil radiators. (a) Each oil radiator must be able to withstand any vibration, inertia, and oil pressure loads to which it would be...

  4. Development and validation of a GEANT4 radiation transport code for CT dosimetry

    PubMed Central

    Carver, DE; Kost, SD; Fernald, MJ; Lewis, KG; Fraser, ND; Pickens, DR; Price, RR; Stabin, MG

    2014-01-01

    We have created a radiation transport code using the GEANT4 Monte Carlo toolkit to simulate pediatric patients undergoing CT examinations. The focus of this paper is to validate our simulation with real-world physical dosimetry measurements using two independent techniques. Exposure measurements were made with a standard 100-mm CT pencil ionization chamber, and absorbed doses were also measured using optically stimulated luminescent (OSL) dosimeters. Measurements were made in air, a standard 16-cm acrylic head phantom, and a standard 32-cm acrylic body phantom. Physical dose measurements determined from the ionization chamber in air for 100 and 120 kVp beam energies were used to derive photon-fluence calibration factors. Both ion chamber and OSL measurement results provide useful comparisons in the validation of our Monte Carlo simulations. We found that simulated and measured CTDI values were within an overall average of 6% of each other. PMID:25706135

  5. DoD Space Radiation Concerns.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1992-07-15

    cosmic - ray transport. NASA TM X-2440, 1972:117-122. DoD Space Radiation Concerns 8 2. Atkins SG, Small JT, McFarland TH. Military Man-in Space (MMIS...136. 29. Silberberg R, Tsao CH, Adams JH Jr., Letaw JR. Radiation doses and LET distributions of cosmic rays . Rad. Res., 1984, 98:209-226. 30. Stauber...levels on mission success and completion. Natural Radiation Trapped Radiation Belts Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) Solar Particle Events (SPEs) Man-Made

  6. 49 CFR 193.2057 - Thermal radiation protection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 3 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Thermal radiation protection. 193.2057 Section 193... GAS FACILITIES: FEDERAL SAFETY STANDARDS Siting Requirements § 193.2057 Thermal radiation protection...) The thermal radiation distances must be calculated using Gas Technology Institute's (GTI) report or...

  7. 49 CFR 193.2057 - Thermal radiation protection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 3 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Thermal radiation protection. 193.2057 Section 193... GAS FACILITIES: FEDERAL SAFETY STANDARDS Siting Requirements § 193.2057 Thermal radiation protection...) The thermal radiation distances must be calculated using Gas Technology Institute's (GTI) report or...

  8. 49 CFR 193.2057 - Thermal radiation protection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 3 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Thermal radiation protection. 193.2057 Section 193... GAS FACILITIES: FEDERAL SAFETY STANDARDS Siting Requirements § 193.2057 Thermal radiation protection...) The thermal radiation distances must be calculated using Gas Technology Institute's (GTI) report or...

  9. Radiation health research, 1986 - 1990

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1991-01-01

    A collection of 225 abstracts of radiation research sponsored by NASA during the period 1986 through 1990 is reported. Each abstract was categorized within one of four discipline areas: physics, biology, risk assessment, and microgravity. Topic areas within each discipline were assigned as follows: Physics - atomic physics, nuclear science, space radiation, radiation transport and shielding, and instrumentation; Biology - molecular biology, cellular radiation biology, tissue, organs and organisms, radioprotectants, and plants; Risk assessment - radiation health and epidemiology, space flight radiation health physics, inter- and intraspecies extrapolation, and radiation limits and standards; and Microgravity. When applicable subareas were assigned for selected topic areas. Keywords and author indices are provided.

  10. Sensitivity of inorganic aerosol radiative effects to U.S. emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Holt, J. I.; Solomon, S.; Selin, N. E.

    2017-06-01

    Between 2005 and 2012, U.S. emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) decreased by 42% and 62%, respectively. These species, as well as ammonia (NH3), are precursors of inorganic fine aerosols, which scatter incoming shortwave radiation and thus affect climate. Scaling aerosol concentrations to emissions, as might be done for near-term climate projections, neglects nonlinear chemical interactions. To estimate the magnitude of these nonlinearities, we conduct a suite of simulations with a chemical transport model and an off-line radiative transfer model. We find that the direct radiative effect (DRE) over the North American domain decreases by 59 and 160 mW m-2 in winter and summer, respectively, between 2005 and 2012. The sensitivities of DRE to NOx and SO2 emissions increase, by 11% and 21% in summer, while sensitivity to NH3 emissions decreases. The wintertime sensitivity of DRE to NOx emissions is small in 2005 but is 5 times as large in 2012. Scaling radiative effects from 2005 to 2012 based on 2005 sensitivities overestimates the magnitude of the DRE of 7% and 6% of the U.S. attributable DRE in January and July, respectively. The difference between the changes in DRE and the changes in sensitivity suggests that scaling to SO2 emissions alone has so far been an accurate approximation, but it may not be in the near future. These values represent the level of accuracy that can be expected in adjusting aerosol radiative effects in climate models without chemistry.

  11. A POD reduced order model for resolving angular direction in neutron/photon transport problems

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Buchan, A.G., E-mail: andrew.buchan@imperial.ac.uk; Calloo, A.A.; Goffin, M.G.

    2015-09-01

    This article presents the first Reduced Order Model (ROM) that efficiently resolves the angular dimension of the time independent, mono-energetic Boltzmann Transport Equation (BTE). It is based on Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) and uses the method of snapshots to form optimal basis functions for resolving the direction of particle travel in neutron/photon transport problems. A unique element of this work is that the snapshots are formed from the vector of angular coefficients relating to a high resolution expansion of the BTE's angular dimension. In addition, the individual snapshots are not recorded through time, as in standard POD, but instead theymore » are recorded through space. In essence this work swaps the roles of the dimensions space and time in standard POD methods, with angle and space respectively. It is shown here how the POD model can be formed from the POD basis functions in a highly efficient manner. The model is then applied to two radiation problems; one involving the transport of radiation through a shield and the other through an infinite array of pins. Both problems are selected for their complex angular flux solutions in order to provide an appropriate demonstration of the model's capabilities. It is shown that the POD model can resolve these fluxes efficiently and accurately. In comparison to high resolution models this POD model can reduce the size of a problem by up to two orders of magnitude without compromising accuracy. Solving times are also reduced by similar factors.« less

  12. An Improved Elastic and Nonelastic Neutron Transport Algorithm for Space Radiation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Clowdsley, Martha S.; Wilson, John W.; Heinbockel, John H.; Tripathi, R. K.; Singleterry, Robert C., Jr.; Shinn, Judy L.

    2000-01-01

    A neutron transport algorithm including both elastic and nonelastic particle interaction processes for use in space radiation protection for arbitrary shield material is developed. The algorithm is based upon a multiple energy grouping and analysis of the straight-ahead Boltzmann equation by using a mean value theorem for integrals. The algorithm is then coupled to the Langley HZETRN code through a bidirectional neutron evaporation source term. Evaluation of the neutron fluence generated by the solar particle event of February 23, 1956, for an aluminum water shield-target configuration is then compared with MCNPX and LAHET Monte Carlo calculations for the same shield-target configuration. With the Monte Carlo calculation as a benchmark, the algorithm developed in this paper showed a great improvement in results over the unmodified HZETRN solution. In addition, a high-energy bidirectional neutron source based on a formula by Ranft showed even further improvement of the fluence results over previous results near the front of the water target where diffusion out the front surface is important. Effects of improved interaction cross sections are modest compared with the addition of the high-energy bidirectional source terms.

  13. Radiation shielding quality assurance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Um, Dallsun

    For the radiation shielding quality assurance, the validity and reliability of the neutron transport code MCNP, which is now one of the most widely used radiation shielding analysis codes, were checked with lot of benchmark experiments. And also as a practical example, follows were performed in this thesis. One integral neutron transport experiment to measure the effect of neutron streaming in iron and void was performed with Dog-Legged Void Assembly in Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in 1991. Neutron flux was measured six different places with the methane detectors and a BF-3 detector. The main purpose of the measurements was to provide benchmark against which various neutron transport calculation tools could be compared. Those data were used in verification of Monte Carlo Neutron & Photon Transport Code, MCNP, with the modeling for that. Experimental results and calculation results were compared in both ways, as the total integrated value of neutron fluxes along neutron energy range from 10 KeV to 2 MeV and as the neutron spectrum along with neutron energy range. Both results are well matched with the statistical error +/-20%. MCNP results were also compared with those of TORT, a three dimensional discrete ordinates code which was developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. MCNP results are superior to the TORT results at all detector places except one. This means that MCNP is proved as a very powerful tool for the analysis of neutron transport through iron & air and further it could be used as a powerful tool for the radiation shielding analysis. For one application of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) to neutron and gamma transport problems, uncertainties for the calculated values of critical K were evaluated as in the ANOVA on statistical data.

  14. ANGULAR MOMENTUM TRANSPORT BY ACOUSTIC MODES GENERATED IN THE BOUNDARY LAYER. I. HYDRODYNAMICAL THEORY AND SIMULATIONS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Belyaev, Mikhail A.; Rafikov, Roman R.; Stone, James M., E-mail: rrr@astro.princeton.edu

    The nature of angular momentum transport in the boundary layers of accretion disks has been one of the central and long-standing issues of accretion disk theory. In this work we demonstrate that acoustic waves excited by supersonic shear in the boundary layer serve as an efficient mechanism of mass, momentum, and energy transport at the interface between the disk and the accreting object. We develop the theory of angular momentum transport by acoustic modes in the boundary layer, and support our findings with three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations, using an isothermal equation of state. Our first major result is the identification ofmore » three types of global modes in the boundary layer. We derive dispersion relations for each of these modes that accurately capture the pattern speeds observed in simulations to within a few percent. Second, we show that angular momentum transport in the boundary layer is intrinsically nonlocal, and is driven by radiation of angular momentum away from the boundary layer into both the star and the disk. The picture of angular momentum transport in the boundary layer by waves that can travel large distances before dissipating and redistributing angular momentum and energy to the disk and star is incompatible with the conventional notion of local transport by turbulent stresses. Our results have important implications for semianalytical models that describe the spectral emission from boundary layers.« less

  15. Recent Progress in the Development of a Multi-Layer Green's Function Code for Ion Beam Transport

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tweed, John; Walker, Steven A.; Wilson, John W.; Tripathi, Ram K.

    2008-01-01

    To meet the challenge of future deep space programs, an accurate and efficient engineering code for analyzing the shielding requirements against high-energy galactic heavy radiation is needed. To address this need, a new Green's function code capable of simulating high charge and energy ions with either laboratory or space boundary conditions is currently under development. The computational model consists of combinations of physical perturbation expansions based on the scales of atomic interaction, multiple scattering, and nuclear reactive processes with use of the Neumann-asymptotic expansions with non-perturbative corrections. The code contains energy loss due to straggling, nuclear attenuation, nuclear fragmentation with energy dispersion and downshifts. Previous reports show that the new code accurately models the transport of ion beams through a single slab of material. Current research efforts are focused on enabling the code to handle multiple layers of material and the present paper reports on progress made towards that end.

  16. HZETRN: Description of a free-space ion and nucleon transport and shielding computer program

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wilson, John W.; Badavi, Francis F.; Cucinotta, Francis A.; Shinn, Judy L.; Badhwar, Gautam D.; Silberberg, R.; Tsao, C. H.; Townsend, Lawrence W.; Tripathi, Ram K.

    1995-01-01

    The high-charge-and energy (HZE) transport computer program HZETRN is developed to address the problems of free-space radiation transport and shielding. The HZETRN program is intended specifically for the design engineer who is interested in obtaining fast and accurate dosimetric information for the design and construction of space modules and devices. The program is based on a one-dimensional space-marching formulation of the Boltzmann transport equation with a straight-ahead approximation. The effect of the long-range Coulomb force and electron interaction is treated as a continuous slowing-down process. Atomic (electronic) stopping power coefficients with energies above a few A MeV are calculated by using Bethe's theory including Bragg's rule, Ziegler's shell corrections, and effective charge. Nuclear absorption cross sections are obtained from fits to quantum calculations and total cross sections are obtained with a Ramsauer formalism. Nuclear fragmentation cross sections are calculated with a semiempirical abrasion-ablation fragmentation model. The relation of the final computer code to the Boltzmann equation is discussed in the context of simplifying assumptions. A detailed description of the flow of the computer code, input requirements, sample output, and compatibility requirements for non-VAX platforms are provided.

  17. Shortwave Radiation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Klassen, Steve; Bugbee, Bruce

    2005-01-01

    Accurate shortwave radiation data is critical to evapotranspiration (ET) models used for developing irrigation schedules to optimize crop production while saving water, minimizing fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticide applications, reducing soil erosion, and protecting surface and ground water quality. Low cost silicon cell pyranometers have proven to be sufficiently accurate and robust for widespread use in agricultural applications under unobstructed daylight conditions. More expensive thermopile pyranometers are required for use as calibration standards and measurements under light with unique spectral properties (electric lights, under vegetation, in greenhouses and growth chambers). Routine cleaning, leveling, and annual calibration checks will help to ensure the integrity of long-term data.

  18. The Continual Intercomparison of Radiation Codes: Results from Phase I

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Oreopoulos, Lazaros; Mlawer, Eli; Delamere, Jennifer; Shippert, Timothy; Cole, Jason; Iacono, Michael; Jin, Zhonghai; Li, Jiangnan; Manners, James; Raisanen, Petri; hide

    2011-01-01

    The computer codes that calculate the energy budget of solar and thermal radiation in Global Climate Models (GCMs), our most advanced tools for predicting climate change, have to be computationally efficient in order to not impose undue computational burden to climate simulations. By using approximations to gain execution speed, these codes sacrifice accuracy compared to more accurate, but also much slower, alternatives. International efforts to evaluate the approximate schemes have taken place in the past, but they have suffered from the drawback that the accurate standards were not validated themselves for performance. The manuscript summarizes the main results of the first phase of an effort called "Continual Intercomparison of Radiation Codes" (CIRC) where the cases chosen to evaluate the approximate models are based on observations and where we have ensured that the accurate models perform well when compared to solar and thermal radiation measurements. The effort is endorsed by international organizations such as the GEWEX Radiation Panel and the International Radiation Commission and has a dedicated website (i.e., http://circ.gsfc.nasa.gov) where interested scientists can freely download data and obtain more information about the effort's modus operandi and objectives. In a paper published in the March 2010 issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society only a brief overview of CIRC was provided with some sample results. In this paper the analysis of submissions of 11 solar and 13 thermal infrared codes relative to accurate reference calculations obtained by so-called "line-by-line" radiation codes is much more detailed. We demonstrate that, while performance of the approximate codes continues to improve, significant issues still remain to be addressed for satisfactory performance within GCMs. We hope that by identifying and quantifying shortcomings, the paper will help establish performance standards to objectively assess radiation code quality

  19. Computational Investigation of Soot and Radiation in Turbulent Reacting Flows

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lalit, Harshad

    scalars from the LES are used in conjunction with the radiation heat transfer equation and a narrow band radiation model to compute time dependent and time averaged images of infrared radiation intensity in spectral bands corresponding to molecular radiation from gas phase carbon dioxide and soot particles exclusively. While qualitative and quantitative comparisons with measured images in the CO2 radiation band show that the flame structure is correctly computed, images computed in the soot radiation band illustrate that the soot volume fraction is under predicted by the computations. The effect of the soot model and cause of under prediction is investigated further by correcting the soot volume fraction using an empirical state relationship. By comparing default simulations with computations using the state relation, it is shown that while the soot model under-estimates the soot concentration, it correctly computes the intermittency of soot in the flame. The study of sooting flames is extended further by performing a parametric analysis of physical and numerical parameters that affect soot formation and transport in two laboratory scale turbulent sooting flames, one fueled by natural gas and the other by ethylene. The study is focused on investigating the effect of molecular diffusion of species, dilution of fuel with hydrogen gas and the effect of chemical reaction mechanism on the soot concentration in the flame. The effect of species Lewis numbers on soot evolution and transport is investigated by carrying out simulations, first with the default equal diffusivity (ED) assumption and then by incorporating a differential diffusion (DD) model. Computations using the DD model over-estimate the concentration of the soot precursor and soot oxidizer species, leading to inconsistencies in the estimate of the soot concentration. The linear differential diffusion (LDD) model, reported previously to consistently model differential diffusion effects is implemented to correct the

  20. Implications of Thermal Diffusity being Inversely Proportional to Temperature Times Thermal Expansivity on Lower Mantle Heat Transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hofmeister, A.

    2010-12-01

    Many measurements and models of heat transport in lower mantle candidate phases contain systematic errors: (1) conventional methods of insulators involve thermal losses that are pressure (P) and temperature (T) dependent due to physical contact with metal thermocouples, (2) measurements frequently contain unwanted ballistic radiative transfer which hugely increases with T, (3) spectroscopic measurements of dense samples in diamond anvil cells involve strong refraction by which has not been accounted for in analyzing transmission data, (4) the role of grain boundary scattering in impeding heat and light transfer has largely been overlooked, and (5) essentially harmonic physical properties have been used to predict anharmonic behavior. Improving our understanding of the physics of heat transport requires accurate data, especially as a function of temperature, where anharmonicity is the key factor. My laboratory provides thermal diffusivity (D) at T from laser flash analysis, which lacks the above experimental errors. Measuring a plethora of chemical compositions in diverse dense structures (most recently, perovskites, B1, B2, and glasses) as a function of temperature provides a firm basis for understanding microscopic behavior. Given accurate measurements for all quantities: (1) D is inversely proportional to [T x alpha(T)] from ~0 K to melting, where alpha is thermal expansivity, and (2) the damped harmonic oscillator model matches measured D(T), using only two parameters (average infrared dielectric peak width and compressional velocity), both acquired at temperature. These discoveries pertain to the anharmonic aspects of heat transport. I have previously discussed the easily understood quasi-harmonic pressure dependence of D. Universal behavior makes application to the Earth straightforward: due to the stiffness and slow motions of the plates and interior, and present-day, slow planetary cooling rates, Earth can be approximated as being in quasi

  1. Radiative Effect of Clouds on Tropospheric Chemistry in a Global Three-Dimensional Chemical Transport Model

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Liu, Hongyu; Crawford, James H.; Pierce, Robert B.; Norris, Peter; Platnick, Steven E.; Chen, Gao; Logan, Jennifer A.; Yantosca, Robert M.; Evans, Mat J.; Kittaka, Chieko; hide

    2006-01-01

    Clouds exert an important influence on tropospheric photochemistry through modification of solar radiation that determines photolysis frequencies (J-values). We assess the radiative effect of clouds on photolysis frequencies and key oxidants in the troposphere with a global three-dimensional (3-D) chemical transport model (GEOS-CHEM) driven by assimilated meteorological observations from the Goddard Earth Observing System data assimilation system (GEOS DAS) at the NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO). We focus on the year of 2001 with the GEOS-3 meteorological observations. Photolysis frequencies are calculated using the Fast-J radiative transfer algorithm. The GEOS-3 global cloud optical depth and cloud fraction are evaluated and generally consistent with the satellite retrieval products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP). Results using the linear assumption, which assumes linear scaling of cloud optical depth with cloud fraction in a grid box, show global mean OH concentrations generally increase by less than 6% because of the radiative effect of clouds. The OH distribution shows much larger changes (with maximum decrease of approx.20% near the surface), reflecting the opposite effects of enhanced (weakened) photochemistry above (below) clouds. The global mean photolysis frequencies for J[O1D] and J[NO2] in the troposphere change by less than 5% because of clouds; global mean O3 concentrations in the troposphere increase by less than 5%. This study shows tropical upper tropospheric O3 to be less sensitive to the radiative effect of clouds than previously reported (approx.5% versus approx.20-30%). These results emphasize that the dominant effect of clouds is to influence the vertical redistribution of the intensity of photochemical activity while global average effects remain modest, again contrasting with previous studies. Differing vertical distributions

  2. Towards Relaxing the Spherical Solar Radiation Pressure Model for Accurate Orbit Predictions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lachut, M.; Bennett, J.

    2016-09-01

    The well-known cannonball model has been used ubiquitously to capture the effects of atmospheric drag and solar radiation pressure on satellites and/or space debris for decades. While it lends itself naturally to spherical objects, its validity in the case of non-spherical objects has been debated heavily for years throughout the space situational awareness community. One of the leading motivations to improve orbit predictions by relaxing the spherical assumption, is the ongoing demand for more robust and reliable conjunction assessments. In this study, we explore the orbit propagation of a flat plate in a near-GEO orbit under the influence of solar radiation pressure, using a Lambertian BRDF model. Consequently, this approach will account for the spin rate and orientation of the object, which is typically determined in practice using a light curve analysis. Here, simulations will be performed which systematically reduces the spin rate to demonstrate the point at which the spherical model no longer describes the orbital elements of the spinning plate. Further understanding of this threshold would provide insight into when a higher fidelity model should be used, thus resulting in improved orbit propagations. Therefore, the work presented here is of particular interest to organizations and researchers that maintain their own catalog, and/or perform conjunction analyses.

  3. Discontinuous finite element space-angle treatment of the first order linear Boltzmann transport equation with magnetic fields: Application to MRI-guided radiotherapy

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    St Aubin, J., E-mail: joel.st.aubin@albertahealthservices.ca; Keyvanloo, A.; Fallone, B. G.

    Purpose: The advent of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guided radiotherapy systems demands the incorporation of the magnetic field into dose calculation algorithms of treatment planning systems. This is due to the fact that the Lorentz force of the magnetic field perturbs the path of the relativistic electrons, hence altering the dose deposited by them. Building on the previous work, the authors have developed a discontinuous finite element space-angle treatment of the linear Boltzmann transport equation to accurately account for the effects of magnetic fields on radiotherapy doses. Methods: The authors present a detailed description of their new formalism and comparemore » its accuracy to GEANT4 Monte Carlo calculations for magnetic fields parallel and perpendicular to the radiation beam at field strengths of 0.5 and 3 T for an inhomogeneous 3D slab geometry phantom comprising water, bone, and air or lung. The accuracy of the authors’ new formalism was determined using a gamma analysis with a 2%/2 mm criterion. Results: Greater than 98.9% of all points analyzed passed the 2%/2 mm gamma criterion for the field strengths and orientations tested. The authors have benchmarked their new formalism against Monte Carlo in a challenging radiation transport problem with a high density material (bone) directly adjacent to a very low density material (dry air at STP) where the effects of the magnetic field dominate collisions. Conclusions: A discontinuous finite element space-angle approach has been proven to be an accurate method for solving the linear Boltzmann transport equation with magnetic fields for cases relevant to MRI guided radiotherapy. The authors have validated the accuracy of this novel technique against GEANT4, even in cases of strong magnetic field strengths and low density air.« less

  4. Conditions for coherent-synchrotron-radiation-induced microbunching suppression in multibend beam transport or recirculation arcs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tsai, C.-Y.; Di Mitri, S.; Douglas, D.; Li, R.; Tennant, C.

    2017-02-01

    The coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) of a high-brightness electron beam traversing a series of dipoles, such as transport or recirculation arcs, may result in beam phase space degradation. On one hand, CSR can perturb electron transverse motion in dispersive regions along the beam line and possibly cause emittance growth. On the other hand, the CSR effect on the longitudinal beam dynamics could result in microbunching instability. For transport arcs, several schemes have been proposed to suppress the CSR-induced emittance growth. Correspondingly, a few scenarios have been introduced to suppress CSR-induced microbunching instability, which however mostly aim for linac-based machines. In this paper we provide sufficient conditions for suppression of CSR-induced microbunching instability along transport or recirculation arcs. Examples are presented with the relevant microbunching analyses carried out by our developed semianalytical Vlasov solver [C.-Y. Tsai, D. Douglas, R. Li, and C. Tennant, Linear microbunching analysis for recirculation machines, Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 19, 114401 (2016), 10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.19.114401]. The example lattices include low-energy (˜100 MeV ) and high-energy (˜1 GeV ) recirculation arcs, and medium-energy compressor arcs. Our studies show that lattices satisfying the proposed conditions indeed have microbunching gain suppressed. Beam current dependences of maximal CSR microbunching gains are also demonstrated, which should help outline a beam line design for different scales of nominal currents. We expect this analysis can shed light on the lattice design approach that aims to control the CSR-induced microbunching.

  5. Explaining the Diverse Response of the Ultra-relativistic Van Allen Radiation Belt to Solar Wind Forcing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mann, I. R.; Ozeke, L.; Murphy, K. R.; Claudepierre, S. G.; Rae, J.; Milling, D. K.; Kale, A.; Baker, D. N.

    2017-12-01

    The NASA Van Allen Probes have opened a new window on the dynamics of ultra-relativistic electrons in the Van Allen radiation belts. Under different solar wind forcing the outer belt is seen to respond in a variety of apparently diverse and sometimes remarkable ways. For example, sometimes a third radiation belt is carved out (e.g., September 2012), or the belts can remain depleted for 10 days or more (September 2014). More usually there is a sequential response of a strong and sometimes rapid depletion followed by a re-energization, the latter increasing outer belt electron flux by orders of magnitude on hour timescales during some of the strongest storms of this solar cycle (e.g., March 2013, March 2015). Such dynamics also appear to be often bounded at low-L by an apparently impenetrable barrier at L 2.8 through which ultra-relativistic electrons do not penetrate. Many studies in the Van Allen Probes era have sought explanations for these apparently diverse features, often incorporating the effects from multiple plasma waves. In contrast, we show how this apparently diverse behaviour can instead be explained by one dominant process: ULF wave radial transport. Once ULF wave transport rates are accurately specified by observations, and coupled to the dynamical variation of the outer boundary condition at the edge of the outer belt, the observed diverse responses can all be explained. However, in order to get good agreement with observations, the modeling reveals the importance of still currently unexplained very fast loss in the main phase which results in an almost total extinction of the belts and decouples pre- and post-storm ultra-relativistic electron flux on hour timescales. Similarly, varying plasmasheet source populations are seen to be of critical importance such that near-tail dynamics play a crucial role in Van Allen belt dynamics. Nonetheless, simple models incorporating accurate transport rates derived directly from ULF wave measurements are shown to

  6. Consistent transport coefficients in astrophysics

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fontenla, Juan M.; Rovira, M.; Ferrofontan, C.

    1986-01-01

    A consistent theory for dealing with transport phenomena in stellar atmospheres starting with the kinetic equations and introducing three cases (LTE, partial LTE, and non-LTE) was developed. The consistent hydrodynamical equations were presented for partial-LTE, the transport coefficients defined, and a method shown to calculate them. The method is based on the numerical solution of kinetic equations considering Landau, Boltzmann, and Focker-Planck collision terms. Finally a set of results for the transport coefficients derived for a partially ionized hydrogen gas with radiation was shown, considering ionization and recombination as well as elastic collisions. The results obtained imply major changes is some types of theoretical model calculations and can resolve some important current problems concerning energy and mass balance in the solar atmosphere. It is shown that energy balance in the lower solar transition region can be fully explained by means of radiation losses and conductive flux.

  7. Fundamentals of health physics for the radiation-protection officer

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Murphy, B.L.; Traub, R.J.; Gilchrist, R.L.

    1983-03-01

    The contents of this book on health physics include chapters on properties of radioactive materials, radiation instrumentation, radiation protection programs, radiation survey programs, internal exposure, external exposure, decontamination, selection and design of radiation facilities, transportation of radioactive materials, radioactive waste management, radiation accidents and emergency preparedness, training, record keeping, quality assurance, and appraisal of radiation protection programs. (ACR)

  8. Development and validation of a GEANT4 radiation transport code for CT dosimetry.

    PubMed

    Carver, D E; Kost, S D; Fernald, M J; Lewis, K G; Fraser, N D; Pickens, D R; Price, R R; Stabin, M G

    2015-04-01

    The authors have created a radiation transport code using the GEANT4 Monte Carlo toolkit to simulate pediatric patients undergoing CT examinations. The focus of this paper is to validate their simulation with real-world physical dosimetry measurements using two independent techniques. Exposure measurements were made with a standard 100-mm CT pencil ionization chamber, and absorbed doses were also measured using optically stimulated luminescent (OSL) dosimeters. Measurements were made in air with a standard 16-cm acrylic head phantom and with a standard 32-cm acrylic body phantom. Physical dose measurements determined from the ionization chamber in air for 100 and 120 kVp beam energies were used to derive photon-fluence calibration factors. Both ion chamber and OSL measurement results provide useful comparisons in the validation of the Monte Carlo simulations. It was found that simulated and measured CTDI values were within an overall average of 6% of each other.

  9. Uncertainties in radiation effect predictions for the natural radiation environments of space.

    PubMed

    McNulty, P J; Stassinopoulos, E G

    1994-10-01

    Future manned missions beyond low earth orbit require accurate predictions of the risk to astronauts and to critical systems from exposure to ionizing radiation. For low-level exposures, the hazards are dominated by rare single-event phenomena where individual cosmic-ray particles or spallation reactions result in potentially catastrophic changes in critical components. Examples might be a biological lesion leading to cancer in an astronaut or a memory upset leading to an undesired rocket firing. The risks of such events appears to depend on the amount of energy deposited within critical sensitive volumes of biological cells and microelectronic components. The critical environmental information needed to estimate the risks posed by the natural space environments, including solar flares, is the number of times more than a threshold amount of energy for an event will be deposited in the critical microvolumes. These predictions are complicated by uncertainties in the natural environments, particularly the composition of flares, and by the effects of shielding. Microdosimetric data for large numbers of orbits are needed to improve the environmental models and to test the transport codes used to predict event rates.

  10. Uncertainties in radiation effect predictions for the natural radiation environments of space

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mcnulty, P. J.; Stassinopoulos, E. G.

    1994-01-01

    Future manned missions beyond low earth orbit require accurate predictions of the risk to astronauts and to critical systems from exposure to ionizing radiation. For low-level exposures, the hazards are dominated by rare single-event phenomena where individual cosmic-ray particles or spallation reactions result in potentially catastrophic changes in critical components. Examples might be a biological lesion leading to cancer in an astronaut or a memory upset leading to an undesired rocket firing. The risks of such events appears to depend on the amount of energy deposited within critical sensitive volumes of biological cells and microelectronic components. The critical environmental information needed to estimate the risks posed by the natural space environments, including solar flares, is the number of times more than a threshold amount of energy for an event will be deposited in the critical microvolumes. These predictions are complicated by uncertainties in the natural environments, particularly the composition of flares, and by the effects of shielding. Microdosimetric data for large numbers of orbits are needed to improve the environmental models and to test the transport codes used to predict event rates.

  11. Radiation Shielding for Space Flight

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Blattnig, Steve R.; Norbury, John W.; Norman, Ryan B.

    2003-01-01

    A safe and efficient exploration of space requires an understanding of space radiations so that human life and sensitive equipment can be protected. On the way to these sensitive sites, the radiation is modified in both quality and quantity. Many of these modifications are thought to be due to the production of pions and muons in the interactions between the radiation and intervening matter. A method to predict the effects of the presence of these particles on the transport of radiation through materials is presented.

  12. Radiation-Spray Coupling for Realistic Flow Configurations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    El-Asrag, Hossam; Iannetti, Anthony C.

    2011-01-01

    Three Large Eddy Simulations (LES) for a lean-direct injection (LDI) combustor are performed and compared. In addition to the cold flow simulation, the effect of radiation coupling with the multi-physics reactive flow is analyzed. The flame let progress variable approach is used as a subgrid combustion model combined with a stochastic subgrid model for spray atomization and an optically thin radiation model. For accurate chemistry modeling, a detailed Jet-A surrogate mechanism is utilized. To achieve realistic inflow, a simple recycling technique is performed at the inflow section upstream of the swirler. Good comparison is shown with the experimental data mean and root mean square profiles. The effect of combustion is found to change the shape and size of the central recirculation zone. Radiation is found to change the spray dynamics and atomization by changing the heat release distribution and the local temperature values impacting the evaporation process. The simulation with radiation modeling shows wider range of droplet size distribution by altering the evaporation rate. The current study proves the importance of radiation modeling for accurate prediction in realistic spray combustion configurations, even for low pressure systems.

  13. Radiation from advanced solid rocket motor plumes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Farmer, Richard C.; Smith, Sheldon D.; Myruski, Brian L.

    1994-01-01

    The overall objective of this study was to develop an understanding of solid rocket motor (SRM) plumes in sufficient detail to accurately explain the majority of plume radiation test data. Improved flowfield and radiation analysis codes were developed to accurately and efficiently account for all the factors which effect radiation heating from rocket plumes. These codes were verified by comparing predicted plume behavior with measured NASA/MSFC ASRM test data. Upon conducting a thorough review of the current state-of-the-art of SRM plume flowfield and radiation prediction methodology and the pertinent data base, the following analyses were developed for future design use. The NOZZRAD code was developed for preliminary base heating design and Al2O3 particle optical property data evaluation using a generalized two-flux solution to the radiative transfer equation. The IDARAD code was developed for rapid evaluation of plume radiation effects using the spherical harmonics method of differential approximation to the radiative transfer equation. The FDNS CFD code with fully coupled Euler-Lagrange particle tracking was validated by comparison to predictions made with the industry standard RAMP code for SRM nozzle flowfield analysis. The FDNS code provides the ability to analyze not only rocket nozzle flow, but also axisymmetric and three-dimensional plume flowfields with state-of-the-art CFD methodology. Procedures for conducting meaningful thermo-vision camera studies were developed.

  14. Highly relativistic radiation belt electron acceleration, transport, and loss: Large solar storm events of March and June 2015

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Baker, Daniel N.; Jaynes, A. N.; Kanekal, S. G.

    Two of the largest geomagnetic storms of the last decade were witnessed in 2015. On 17 March 2015, a coronal mass ejection-driven event occurred with a Dst (storm time ring current index) value reaching –223 nT. On 22 June 2015 another strong storm (Dst reaching –204 nT) was recorded. These two storms each produced almost total loss of radiation belt high-energy (E ≳ 1 MeV) electron fluxes. Following the dropouts of radiation belt fluxes there were complex and rather remarkable recoveries of the electrons extending up to nearly 10 MeV in kinetic energy. The energized outer zone electrons showed amore » rich variety of pitch angle features including strong “butterfly” distributions with deep minima in flux at α = 90°. However, despite strong driving of outer zone earthward radial diffusion in these storms, the previously reported “impenetrable barrier” at L ≈ 2.8 was pushed inward, but not significantly breached, and no E ≳ 2.0 MeV electrons were seen to pass through the radiation belt slot region to reach the inner Van Allen zone. Altogether, these intense storms show a wealth of novel features of acceleration, transport, and loss that are demonstrated in the present detailed analysis.« less

  15. Highly relativistic radiation belt electron acceleration, transport, and loss: Large solar storm events of March and June 2015

    DOE PAGES

    Baker, Daniel N.; Jaynes, A. N.; Kanekal, S. G.; ...

    2016-07-01

    Two of the largest geomagnetic storms of the last decade were witnessed in 2015. On 17 March 2015, a coronal mass ejection-driven event occurred with a Dst (storm time ring current index) value reaching –223 nT. On 22 June 2015 another strong storm (Dst reaching –204 nT) was recorded. These two storms each produced almost total loss of radiation belt high-energy (E ≳ 1 MeV) electron fluxes. Following the dropouts of radiation belt fluxes there were complex and rather remarkable recoveries of the electrons extending up to nearly 10 MeV in kinetic energy. The energized outer zone electrons showed amore » rich variety of pitch angle features including strong “butterfly” distributions with deep minima in flux at α = 90°. However, despite strong driving of outer zone earthward radial diffusion in these storms, the previously reported “impenetrable barrier” at L ≈ 2.8 was pushed inward, but not significantly breached, and no E ≳ 2.0 MeV electrons were seen to pass through the radiation belt slot region to reach the inner Van Allen zone. Altogether, these intense storms show a wealth of novel features of acceleration, transport, and loss that are demonstrated in the present detailed analysis.« less

  16. Highly relativistic radiation belt electron acceleration, transport, and loss: Large solar storm events of March and June 2015

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baker, D. N.; Jaynes, A. N.; Kanekal, S. G.; Foster, J. C.; Erickson, P. J.; Fennell, J. F.; Blake, J. B.; Zhao, H.; Li, X.; Elkington, S. R.; Henderson, M. G.; Reeves, G. D.; Spence, H. E.; Kletzing, C. A.; Wygant, J. R.

    2016-07-01

    Two of the largest geomagnetic storms of the last decade were witnessed in 2015. On 17 March 2015, a coronal mass ejection-driven event occurred with a Dst (storm time ring current index) value reaching -223 nT. On 22 June 2015 another strong storm (Dst reaching -204 nT) was recorded. These two storms each produced almost total loss of radiation belt high-energy (E ≳ 1 MeV) electron fluxes. Following the dropouts of radiation belt fluxes there were complex and rather remarkable recoveries of the electrons extending up to nearly 10 MeV in kinetic energy. The energized outer zone electrons showed a rich variety of pitch angle features including strong "butterfly" distributions with deep minima in flux at α = 90°. However, despite strong driving of outer zone earthward radial diffusion in these storms, the previously reported "impenetrable barrier" at L ≈ 2.8 was pushed inward, but not significantly breached, and no E ≳ 2.0 MeV electrons were seen to pass through the radiation belt slot region to reach the inner Van Allen zone. Overall, these intense storms show a wealth of novel features of acceleration, transport, and loss that are demonstrated in the present detailed analysis.

  17. Statistical analysis of radiation dose derived from ingestion of foods

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dougherty, Ward L.

    2001-09-01

    This analysis undertook the task of designing and implementing a methodology to determine an individual's probabilistic radiation dose from ingestion of foods utilizing Crystal Ball. A dietary intake model was determined by comparing previous existing models. Two principal radionuclides were considered-Lead210 (Pb-210) and Radium 226 (Ra-226). Samples from three different local grocery stores-Publix, Winn Dixie, and Albertsons-were counted on a gamma spectroscopy system with a GeLi detector. The same food samples were considered as those in the original FIPR database. A statistical analysis, utilizing the Crystal Ball program, was performed on the data to assess the most accurate distribution to use for these data. This allowed a determination of a radiation dose to an individual based on the above-information collected. Based on the analyses performed, radiation dose for grocery store samples was lower for Radium-226 than FIPR debris analyses, 2.7 vs. 5.91 mrem/yr. Lead-210 had a higher dose in the grocery store sample than the FIPR debris analyses, 21.4 vs. 518 mrem/yr. The output radiation dose was higher for all evaluations when an accurate estimation of distributions for each value was considered. Radium-226 radiation dose for FIPR and grocery rose to 9.56 and 4.38 mrem/yr. Radiation dose from ingestion of Pb-210 rose to 34.7 and 854 mrem/yr for FIPR and grocery data, respectively. Lead-210 was higher than initial doses for many reasons: Different peak examined, lower edge of detection limit, and minimum detectable concentration was considered. FIPR did not utilize grocery samples as a control because they calculated radiation dose that appeared unreasonably high. Consideration of distributions with the initial values allowed reevaluation of radiation does and showed a significant difference to original deterministic values. This work shows the value and importance of considering distributions to ensure that a person's radiation dose is accurately calculated

  18. Monitoring Cosmic Radiation Risk: Comparisons between Observations and Predictive Codes for Naval Aviation

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-01-01

    proton PARMA PHITS -based Analytical Radiation Model in the Atmosphere PCAIRE Predictive Code for Aircrew Radiation Exposure PHITS Particle and...radiation transport code utilized is called PARMA ( PHITS based Analytical Radiation Model in the Atmosphere) [36]. The particle fluxes calculated from the...same dose equivalent coefficient regulations from the ICRP-60 regulations. As a result, the transport codes utilized by EXPACS ( PHITS ) and CARI-6

  19. Radiative transitions from Rydberg states of lithium atoms in a blackbody radiation environment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Glukhov, I. L.; Ovsiannikov, V. D.

    2012-05-01

    The radiative widths induced by blackbody radiation (BBR) were investigated for Rydberg states with principal quantum number up to n = 1000 in S-, P- and D-series of the neutral lithium atom at temperatures T = 100-3000 K. The rates of BBR-induced decays and excitations were compared with the rates of spontaneous decays. Simple analytical approximations are proposed for accurate estimations of the ratio of thermally induced decay (excitation) rates to spontaneous decay rates in wide ranges of states and temperatures.

  20. Are Registration of Disease Codes for Adult Anaphylaxis Accurate in the Emergency Department?

    PubMed Central

    Choi, Byungho; Lee, Hyeji

    2018-01-01

    Purpose There has been active research on anaphylaxis, but many study subjects are limited to patients registered with anaphylaxis codes. However, anaphylaxis codes tend to be underused. The aim of this study was to investigate the accuracy of anaphylaxis code registration and the clinical characteristics of accurate and inaccurate anaphylaxis registration in anaphylactic patients. Methods This retrospective study evaluated the medical records of adult patients who visited the university hospital emergency department between 2012 and 2016. The study subjects were divided into the groups with accurate and inaccurate anaphylaxis codes registered under anaphylaxis and other allergy-related codes and symptom-related codes, respectively. Results Among 211,486 patients, 618 (0.29%) had anaphylaxis. Of these, 161 and 457 were assigned to the accurate and inaccurate coding groups, respectively. The average age, transportation to the emergency department, past anaphylaxis history, cancer history, and the cause of anaphylaxis differed between the 2 groups. Cutaneous symptom manifested more frequently in the inaccurate coding group, while cardiovascular and neurologic symptoms were more frequently observed in the accurate group. Severe symptoms and non-alert consciousness were more common in the accurate group. Oxygen supply, intubation, and epinephrine were more commonly used as treatments for anaphylaxis in the accurate group. Anaphylactic patients with cardiovascular symptoms, severe symptoms, and epinephrine use were more likely to be accurately registered with anaphylaxis disease codes. Conclusions In case of anaphylaxis, more patients were registered inaccurately under other allergy-related codes and symptom-related codes rather than accurately under anaphylaxis disease codes. Cardiovascular symptoms, severe symptoms, and epinephrine treatment were factors associated with accurate registration with anaphylaxis disease codes in patients with anaphylaxis. PMID:29411554

  1. Radiation Protection Research Needs Workshop: Summary Report

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dewji, Shaheen A.; Davis, Jason; Hertel, Nolan E.

    In order to protect humans and the environment when using ionizing radiation for the advancement and benefit of society, accurately quantifying radiation and its potential effects remains the driver for ensuring the safety and secure use of nuclear and radiological applications of technology. In the realm of radiation protection and its various applications with the nuclear fuel cycle, (nuclear) medicine, emergency response, national defense, and space exploration, the scientific and research needs to support state and federal radiation protection needs in the United States in each of these areas are still deficient.

  2. Comparison of Calculations and Measurements of the Off-Axis Radiation Dose (SI) in Liquid Nitrogen as a Function of Radiation Length.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1984-12-01

    radiation lengths. The off-axis dose in Silicon was calculated using the electron/photon transport code CYLTRAN and measured using thermal luminescent...various path lengths out to 2 radiation lengths. The cff-axis dose in Silicon was calculated using the electron/photon transport code CYLTRAN and measured... using thermal luminescent dosimeters (TLD’s). Calculations were performed on a CDC-7600 computer at Los Alamos National Laboratory and measurements

  3. FW/CADIS-O: An Angle-Informed Hybrid Method for Neutron Transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Munk, Madicken

    The development of methods for deep-penetration radiation transport is of continued importance for radiation shielding, nonproliferation, nuclear threat reduction, and medical applications. As these applications become more ubiquitous, the need for transport methods that can accurately and reliably model the systems' behavior will persist. For these types of systems, hybrid methods are often the best choice to obtain a reliable answer in a short amount of time. Hybrid methods leverage the speed and uniform uncertainty distribution of a deterministic solution to bias Monte Carlo transport to reduce the variance in the solution. At present, the Consistent Adjoint-Driven Importance Sampling (CADIS) and Forward-Weighted CADIS (FW-CADIS) hybrid methods are the gold standard by which to model systems that have deeply-penetrating radiation. They use an adjoint scalar flux to generate variance reduction parameters for Monte Carlo. However, in problems where there exists strong anisotropy in the flux, CADIS and FW-CADIS are not as effective at reducing the problem variance as isotropic problems. This dissertation covers the theoretical background, implementation of, and characteri- zation of a set of angle-informed hybrid methods that can be applied to strongly anisotropic deep-penetration radiation transport problems. These methods use a forward-weighted adjoint angular flux to generate variance reduction parameters for Monte Carlo. As a result, they leverage both adjoint and contributon theory for variance reduction. They have been named CADIS-O and FW-CADIS-O. To characterize CADIS-O, several characterization problems with flux anisotropies were devised. These problems contain different physical mechanisms by which flux anisotropy is induced. Additionally, a series of novel anisotropy metrics by which to quantify flux anisotropy are used to characterize the methods beyond standard Figure of Merit (FOM) and relative error metrics. As a result, a more thorough

  4. Use of Transportable Radiation Detection Instruments to Assess Internal Contamination from Intakes of Radionuclides Part II: Calibration Factors and ICAT Computer Program.

    PubMed

    Anigstein, Robert; Olsher, Richard H; Loomis, Donald A; Ansari, Armin

    2016-12-01

    The detonation of a radiological dispersion device or other radiological incidents could result in widespread releases of radioactive materials and intakes of radionuclides by affected individuals. Transportable radiation monitoring instruments could be used to measure radiation from gamma-emitting radionuclides in the body for triaging individuals and assigning priorities to their bioassay samples for in vitro assessments. The present study derived sets of calibration factors for four instruments: the Ludlum Model 44-2 gamma scintillator, a survey meter containing a 2.54 × 2.54-cm NaI(Tl) crystal; the Captus 3000 thyroid uptake probe, which contains a 5.08 × 5.08-cm NaI(Tl) crystal; the Transportable Portal Monitor Model TPM-903B, which contains two 3.81 × 7.62 × 182.9-cm polyvinyltoluene plastic scintillators; and a generic instrument, such as an ionization chamber, that measures exposure rates. The calibration factors enable these instruments to be used for assessing inhaled or ingested intakes of any of four radionuclides: Co, I, Cs, and Ir. The derivations used biokinetic models embodied in the DCAL computer software system developed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Monte Carlo simulations using the MCNPX radiation transport code. The three physical instruments were represented by MCNP models that were developed previously. The affected individuals comprised children of five ages who were represented by the revised Oak Ridge National Laboratory pediatric phantoms, and adult men and adult women represented by the Adult Reference Computational Phantoms described in Publication 110 of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. These calibration factors can be used to calculate intakes; the intakes can be converted to committed doses by the use of tabulated dose coefficients. These calibration factors also constitute input data to the ICAT computer program, an interactive Microsoft Windows-based software package that estimates intakes of

  5. USE OF TRANSPORTABLE RADIATION DETECTION INSTRUMENTS TO ASSESS INTERNAL CONTAMINATION FROM INTAKES OF RADIONUCLIDES PART II: CALIBRATION FACTORS AND ICAT COMPUTER PROGRAM

    PubMed Central

    Anigstein, Robert; Olsher, Richard H.; Loomis, Donald A.; Ansari, Armin

    2017-01-01

    The detonation of a radiological dispersion device or other radiological incidents could result in widespread releases of radioactive materials and intakes of radionuclides by affected individuals. Transportable radiation monitoring instruments could be used to measure radiation from gamma-emitting radionuclides in the body for triaging individuals and assigning priorities to their bioassay samples for in vitro assessments. The present study derived sets of calibration factors for four instruments: the Ludlum Model 44-2 gamma scintillator, a survey meter containing a 2.54 × 2.54-cm NaI(Tl) crystal; the Captus 3000 thyroid uptake probe, which contains a 5.08 × 5.08-cm NaI(Tl) crystal; the Transportable Portal Monitor Model TPM-903B, which contains two 3.81 × 7.62 × 182.9-cm polyvinyltoluene plastic scintillators; and a generic instrument, such as an ionization chamber, that measures exposure rates. The calibration factors enable these instruments to be used for assessing inhaled or ingested intakes of any of four radionuclides: 60Co, 131I, 137Cs, and 192Ir. The derivations used biokinetic models embodied in the DCAL computer software system developed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Monte Carlo simulations using the MCNPX radiation transport code. The three physical instruments were represented by MCNP models that were developed previously. The affected individuals comprised children of five ages who were represented by the revised Oak Ridge National Laboratory pediatric phantoms, and adult men and adult women represented by the Adult Reference Computational Phantoms described in Publication 110 of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. These calibration factors can be used to calculate intakes; the intakes can be converted to committed doses by the use of tabulated dose coefficients. These calibration factors also constitute input data to the ICAT computer program, an interactive Microsoft Windows-based software package that estimates

  6. The Space Radiation Environment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bourdarie, Sebastien; Xapsos, Michael A.

    2008-01-01

    The effects of the space radiation environment on spacecraft systems and instruments are significant design considerations for space missions. Astronaut exposure is a serious concern for manned missions. In order to meet these challenges and have reliable, cost-effective designs, the radiation environment must be understood and accurately modeled. The nature of the environment varies greatly between low earth orbits, higher earth orbits and interplanetary space. There are both short-term and long-term variations with the phase of the solar cycle. In this paper we concentrate mainly on charged particle radiations. Descriptions of the radiation belts and particles of solar and cosmic origin are reviewed. An overview of the traditional models is presented accompanied by their application areas and limitations. This is followed by discussion of some recent model developments.

  7. Modeling the Space Radiation Environment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Xapsos, Michael A.

    2006-01-01

    There has been a renaissance of interest in space radiation environment modeling. This has been fueled by the growing need to replace long time standard AP-9 and AE-8 trapped particle models, the interplanetary exploration initiative, the modern satellite instrumentation that has led to unprecedented measurement accuracy, and the pervasive use of Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) microelectronics that require more accurate predictive capabilities. The objective of this viewgraph presentation was to provide basic understanding of the components of the space radiation environment and their variations, review traditional radiation effects application models, and present recent developments.

  8. Sediment transport primer: estimating bed-material transport in gravel-bed rivers

    Treesearch

    Peter Wilcock; John Pitlick; Yantao Cui

    2009-01-01

    This primer accompanies the release of BAGS, software developed to calculate sediment transport rate in gravel-bed rivers. BAGS and other programs facilitate calculation and can reduce some errors, but cannot ensure that calculations are accurate or relevant. This primer was written to help the software user define relevant and tractable problems, select appropriate...

  9. Profiling Transboundary Aerosols over Taiwan and Assessing Their Radiative Effects

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wang, Sheng-Hsiang; Lin, Neng-Huei; Chou, Ming-Dah; Tsay, Si-Chee; Welton, Ellsworth J.; Hsu, N. Christina; Giles, David M.; Liu, Gin-Rong; Holben, Brent N.

    2010-01-01

    A synergistic process was developed to study the vertical distributions of aerosol optical properties and their effects on solar heating using data retrieved from ground-based radiation measurements and radiative transfer simulations. Continuous MPLNET and AERONET observations were made at a rural site in northern Taiwan from 2005 to 2007. The aerosol vertical extinction profiles retrieved from ground-based lidar measurements were categorized into near-surface, mixed, and two-layer transport types, representing 76% of all cases. Fine-mode (Angstrom exponent, alpha, approx.1.4) and moderate-absorbing aerosols (columnar single-scattering albedo approx.0.93, asymmetry factor approx.0.73 at 440 nm wavelength) dominated in this region. The column-integrated aerosol optical thickness at 500 nm (tau(sub 500nm)) ranges from 0.1 to 0.6 for the near-surface transport type, but can be doubled in the presence of upper-layer aerosol transport. We utilize aerosol radiative efficiency (ARE; the impact on solar radiation per unit change of tau(sub 500nm)) to quantify the radiative effects due to different vertical distributions of aerosols. Our results show that the ARE at the top-of-atmosphere (-23 W/ sq m) is weakly sensitive to aerosol vertical distributions confined in the lower troposphere. On the other hand, values of the ARE at the surface are -44.3, -40.6 and -39.7 W/sq m 38 for near-surface, mixed, and two-layer transport types, respectively. Further analyses show that the impact of aerosols on the vertical profile of solar heating is larger for the near-surface transport type than that of two-layer transport type. The impacts of aerosol on the surface radiation and the solar heating profiles have implications for the stability and convection in the lower troposphere.

  10. Development of a prototype flexible radiator system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hixon, C. W.

    1979-01-01

    The radiator is a roll-up flexible panel with the transport fluid manifolds located at the ends of the 27 foot length. A total of fifty Teflon flow tubes are sandwiched between the layers of silver wire mesh and sealed in the Teflon film. The transport fluid flows from an inlet manifold through 25 panel flow tubes to the end of the radiator panel into a manifold which directs the fluid into the other 25 flow tubes on its return to the base of the radiator. Deployment/retraction of the flexible radiator panel is by low pressure inflation tubes (one along each side of the panel) which incorporate a flat spring. The spring supplies the retraction force to wind the radiator panel on a drum when the pressure in the inflation tubes is relieved. Room ambient deployment tests of the radiator panel were conducted to verify the inflation tube spring deployment, and retraction capability. The panel underwent a thermal vacuum, solar spectrum exposure test. After approximately 100 hours of solar exposure, post-test inspection revealed no structural or optical properties degraded.

  11. Celecoxib Induced Tumor Cell Radiosensitization by Inhibiting Radiation Induced Nuclear EGFR Transport and DNA-Repair: A COX-2 Independent Mechanism

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dittmann, Klaus H.; Mayer, Claus; Ohneseit, Petra A.

    2008-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of the study was to elucidate the molecular mechanisms mediating radiosensitization of human tumor cells by the selective cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitor celecoxib. Methods and Materials: Experiments were performed using bronchial carcinoma cells A549, transformed fibroblasts HH4dd, the FaDu head-and-neck tumor cells, the colon carcinoma cells HCT116, and normal fibroblasts HSF7. Effects of celecoxib treatment were assessed by clonogenic cell survival, Western analysis, and quantification of residual DNA damage by {gamma}H{sub 2}AX foci assay. Results: Celecoxib treatment resulted in a pronounced radiosensitization of A549, HCT116, and HSF7 cells, whereas FaDu and HH4dd cells were not radiosensitized. The observedmore » radiosensitization could neither be correlated with basal COX-2 expression pattern nor with basal production of prostaglandin E2, but was depended on the ability of celecoxib to inhibit basal and radiation-induced nuclear transport of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The nuclear EGFR transport was strongly inhibited in A549-, HSF7-, and COX-2-deficient HCT116 cells, which were radiosensitized, but not in FaDu and HH4dd cells, which resisted celecoxib-induced radiosensitization. Celecoxib inhibited radiation-induced DNA-PK activation in A549, HSF7, and HCT116 cells, but not in FaDu and HH4dd cells. Consequentially, celecoxib increased residual {gamma}H2AX foci after irradiation, demonstrating that inhibition of DNA repair has occurred in responsive A549, HCT116, and HSF7 cells only. Conclusions: Celecoxib enhanced radiosensitivity by inhibition of EGFR-mediated mechanisms of radioresistance, a signaling that was independent of COX-2 activity. This novel observation may have therapeutic implications such that COX-2 inhibitors may improve therapeutic efficacy of radiation even in patients whose tumor radioresistance is not dependent on COX-2.« less

  12. Extending generalized Kubelka-Munk to three-dimensional radiative transfer.

    PubMed

    Sandoval, Christopher; Kim, Arnold D

    2015-08-10

    The generalized Kubelka-Munk (gKM) approximation is a linear transformation of the double spherical harmonics of order one (DP1) approximation of the radiative transfer equation. Here, we extend the gKM approximation to study problems in three-dimensional radiative transfer. In particular, we derive the gKM approximation for the problem of collimated beam propagation and scattering in a plane-parallel slab composed of a uniform absorbing and scattering medium. The result is an 8×8 system of partial differential equations that is much easier to solve than the radiative transfer equation. We compare the solutions of the gKM approximation with Monte Carlo simulations of the radiative transfer equation to identify the range of validity for this approximation. We find that the gKM approximation is accurate for isotropic scattering media that are sufficiently thick and much less accurate for anisotropic, forward-peaked scattering media.

  13. Numerical Investigation of Radiative Heat Transfer in Laser Induced Air Plasmas

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Liu, J.; Chen, Y. S.; Wang, T. S.; Turner, James E. (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    Radiative heat transfer is one of the most important phenomena in the laser induced plasmas. This study is intended to develop accurate and efficient methods for predicting laser radiation absorption and plasma radiative heat transfer, and investigate the plasma radiation effects in laser propelled vehicles. To model laser radiation absorption, a ray tracing method along with the Beer's law is adopted. To solve the radiative transfer equation in the air plasmas, the discrete transfer method (DTM) is selected and explained. The air plasma radiative properties are predicted by the LORAN code. To validate the present nonequilibrium radiation model, several benchmark problems are examined and the present results are found to match the available solutions. To investigate the effects of plasma radiation in laser propelled vehicles, the present radiation code is coupled into a plasma aerodynamics code and a selected problem is considered. Comparisons of results at different cases show that plasma radiation plays a role of cooling plasma and it lowers the plasma temperature by about 10%. This change in temperature also results in a reduction of the coupling coefficient by about 10-20%. The present study indicates that plasma radiation modeling is very important for accurate modeling of aerodynamics in a laser propelled vehicle.

  14. Earth Sciences Push Radiative Transfer Theory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Davis, Anthony; Mishchenko, Michael

    2009-12-01

    2009 International Conference on Advances in Mathematics, Computational Methods, and Reactor Physics; Saratoga Springs, New York, 4-7 May 2009; The theories of radiative transfer and particle—particularly neutron—transport are grounded in distinctive microscale physics that deals with either optics or particle dynamics. However, it is not practical to track every wave or particle in macroscopic systems, nor do all of these details matter. That is why Newton's laws, which describe individual particles, are replaced by those of Euler, Navier-Stokes, Maxwell, Boltzmann, Gibbs, and others, which describe the collective behavior of vast numbers of particles. And that is why the radiative transfer (RT) equation is used to describe the flow of radiation through geophysical-scale systems, leaving to Maxwell's wave equations only the task of providing the optical properties of the medium, be it air, water, snow, ice, or biomass. Interestingly, particle transport is determined by the linear transport equation, which is mathematically identical to the RT equation, so geophysicists and nuclear scientists are interested in the same mathematics and computational techniques.

  15. The radiation dosimetry of intrathecally administered radionuclides

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Stabin, M.G.; Evans, J.F.

    The radiation dose to the spine, spinal cord, marrow, and other organs of the body from intrathecal administration of several radiopharmaceuticals was studied. Anatomic models were developed for the spine, spinal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), spinal cord, spinal skeleton, cranial skeleton, and cranial CSF. A kinetic model for the transport of CSF was used to determine residence times in the CSF; material leaving the CSF was thereafter assumed to enter the bloodstream and follow the kinetics of the radiopharmaceutical as if intravenously administered. The radiation transport codes MCNP and ALGAMP were used to model the electron and photon transport and energymore » deposition. The dosimetry of Tc-99m DTPA and HSA, In-111 DTPA, I-131 HSA, and Yb-169 DTPA was studied. Radiation dose profiles for the spinal cord and marrow in the spine were developed and average doses to all other organs were estimated, including dose distributions within the bone and marrow.« less

  16. Laplace Transform Based Radiative Transfer Studies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hu, Y.; Lin, B.; Ng, T.; Yang, P.; Wiscombe, W.; Herath, J.; Duffy, D.

    2006-12-01

    Multiple scattering is the major uncertainty for data analysis of space-based lidar measurements. Until now, accurate quantitative lidar data analysis has been limited to very thin objects that are dominated by single scattering, where photons from the laser beam only scatter a single time with particles in the atmosphere before reaching the receiver, and simple linear relationship between physical property and lidar signal exists. In reality, multiple scattering is always a factor in space-based lidar measurement and it dominates space- based lidar returns from clouds, dust aerosols, vegetation canopy and phytoplankton. While multiple scattering are clear signals, the lack of a fast-enough lidar multiple scattering computation tool forces us to treat the signal as unwanted "noise" and use simple multiple scattering correction scheme to remove them. Such multiple scattering treatments waste the multiple scattering signals and may cause orders of magnitude errors in retrieved physical properties. Thus the lack of fast and accurate time-dependent radiative transfer tools significantly limits lidar remote sensing capabilities. Analyzing lidar multiple scattering signals requires fast and accurate time-dependent radiative transfer computations. Currently, multiple scattering is done with Monte Carlo simulations. Monte Carlo simulations take minutes to hours and are too slow for interactive satellite data analysis processes and can only be used to help system / algorithm design and error assessment. We present an innovative physics approach to solve the time-dependent radiative transfer problem. The technique utilizes FPGA based reconfigurable computing hardware. The approach is as following, 1. Physics solution: Perform Laplace transform on the time and spatial dimensions and Fourier transform on the viewing azimuth dimension, and convert the radiative transfer differential equation solving into a fast matrix inversion problem. The majority of the radiative transfer

  17. Modifying scoping codes to accurately calculate TMI-cores with lifetimes greater than 500 effective full-power days

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bai, D.; Levine, S.L.; Luoma, J.

    1992-01-01

    The Three Mile Island unit 1 core reloads have been designed using fast but accurate scoping codes, PSUI-LEOPARD and ADMARC. PSUI-LEOPARD has been normalized to EPRI-CPM2 results and used to calculate the two-group constants, whereas ADMARC is a modern two-dimensional, two-group diffusion theory nodal code. Problems in accuracy were encountered for cycles 8 and higher as the core lifetime was increased beyond 500 effective full-power days. This is because the heavier loaded cores in both {sup 235}U and {sup 10}B have harder neutron spectra, which produces a change in the transport effect in the baffle reflector region, and the burnablemore » poison (BP) simulations were not accurate enough for the cores containing the increased amount of {sup 10}B required in the BP rods. In the authors study, a technique has been developed to take into account the change in the transport effect in the baffle region by modifying the fast neutron diffusion coefficient as a function of cycle length and core exposure or burnup. A more accurate BP simulation method is also developed, using integral transport theory and CPM2 data, to calculate the BP contribution to the equivalent fuel assembly (supercell) two-group constants. The net result is that the accuracy of the scoping codes is as good as that produced by CASMO/SIMULATE or CPM2/SIMULATE when comparing with measured data.« less

  18. Calculating the Responses of Self-Powered Radiation Detectors.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thornton, D. A.

    Available from UMI in association with The British Library. The aim of this research is to review and develop the theoretical understanding of the responses of Self -Powered Radiation Detectors (SPDs) in Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs). Two very different models are considered. A simple analytic model of the responses of SPDs to neutrons and gamma radiation is presented. It is a development of the work of several previous authors and has been incorporated into a computer program (called GENSPD), the predictions of which have been compared with experimental and theoretical results reported in the literature. Generally, the comparisons show reasonable consistency; where there is poor agreement explanations have been sought and presented. Two major limitations of analytic models have been identified; neglect of current generation in insulators and over-simplified electron transport treatments. Both of these are developed in the current work. A second model based on the Explicit Representation of Radiation Sources and Transport (ERRST) is presented and evaluated for several SPDs in a PWR at beginning of life. The model incorporates simulation of the production and subsequent transport of neutrons, gamma rays and electrons, both internal and external to the detector. Neutron fluxes and fuel power ratings have been evaluated with core physics calculations. Neutron interaction rates in assembly and detector materials have been evaluated in lattice calculations employing deterministic transport and diffusion methods. The transport of the reactor gamma radiation has been calculated with Monte Carlo, adjusted diffusion and point-kernel methods. The electron flux associated with the reactor gamma field as well as the internal charge deposition effects of the transport of photons and electrons have been calculated with coupled Monte Carlo calculations of photon and electron transport. The predicted response of a SPD is evaluated as the sum of contributions from individual

  19. Computer simulations of transport through membranes: passive diffusion, pores, channels and transporters.

    PubMed

    Tieleman, D Peter

    2006-10-01

    A key function of biological membranes is to provide mechanisms for the controlled transport of ions, nutrients, metabolites, peptides and proteins between a cell and its environment. We are using computer simulations to study several processes involved in transport. In model membranes, the distribution of small molecules can be accurately calculated; we are making progress towards understanding the factors that determine the partitioning behaviour in the inhomogeneous lipid environment, with implications for drug distribution, membrane protein folding and the energetics of voltage gating. Lipid bilayers can be simulated at a scale that is sufficiently large to study significant defects, such as those caused by electroporation. Computer simulations of complex membrane proteins, such as potassium channels and ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, can give detailed information about the atomistic dynamics that form the basis of ion transport, selectivity, conformational change and the molecular mechanism of ATP-driven transport. This is illustrated in the present review with recent simulation studies of the voltage-gated potassium channel KvAP and the ABC transporter BtuCD.

  20. Hot Oxygen Transport Model for Martian Coronal Retrievals with MAVEN's IUVS Instrument

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Deighan, Justin; Stewart, I.; Schneider, N.

    2013-10-01

    One of the primary goals of the upcoming Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission is the study of non-thermal escape of atomic oxygen to space. In support of this goal, the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instrument will make regular observations of the gravitationally bound O corona surrounding the planet. Interpreting these measurements requires a computationally efficient forward model to calculate collisional transport of hot O through the exosphere. To accurately treat the strong forward scattering of O at energies of a few eV, we are developing a model which applies the δ-M approximation from radiative transport theory. This method consolidates the strong forward peak of the scattering phase function into a δ-function, leaving the residual as a sum of smoothly varying Legendre polynomials. Preliminary Monte Carlo results with this approach show great promise, producing coronal O densities and escape rates with accuracies of ~5% or better. Our objective is to integrate this δ-M technique into a Markov-Chain transport model. The Markov-Chain method produces hot O particle densities and velocity distributions as a function of altitude by quantizing all possible particle states and calculating the probabilities of state transition, then solving for equilibrium using standard matrix routines. This allows for forward model run-times on the order of seconds, enabling real-time pipeline retrievals from IUVS measurements. The general method is applicable to rapidly calculating the transport of any strongly forward scattering species through a background medium.

  1. Parallel Energy Transport in Detached DIII-D Divertor Plasmas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Leonard, A. W.; Lore, J. D.; Canik, J. M.; McLean, A. G.; Makowski, M. A.

    2017-10-01

    A comparison of experiment and modeling of detached divertor plasmas is examined in the context of parallel energy transport. Experimental estimates of power carried by electron thermal conduction versus plasma convection are experimentally inferred from power balance measurements of radiated power and target plate heat flux combined with Thomson scattering measurements of the Te profile along the divertor leg. Experimental profiles of Te exhibit relatively low gradients with Te < 15 eV from the X-point to the target implying transport dominated by convection. In contrast, fluid modeling with SOLPS produces sharp Te gradients for Te > 3 eV, characteristic of transport dominated by electron conduction through the bulk of the divertor. This discrepancy with experimental transport dominated by convection and modeling by conduction has significant implications for the radiative capacity of divertor plasmas and may explain at least part of the difficulty for fluid modeling to obtain the experimentally observed radiative losses. Comparisons are also made for helium plasmas where the match between experiment and modeling is much better. Work supported by the US DOE under DE-FC02-04ER54698.

  2. Modeling Radiative Heat Transfer and Turbulence-Radiation Interactions in Engines

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Paul, Chandan; Sircar, Arpan; Ferreyro-Fernandez, Sebastian

    Detailed radiation modelling in piston engines has received relatively little attention to date. Recently, it is being revisited in light of current trends towards higher operating pressures and higher levels of exhaust-gas recirculation, both of which enhance molecular gas radiation. Advanced high-efficiency engines also are expected to function closer to the limits of stable operation, where even small perturbations to the energy balance can have a large influence on system behavior. Here several different spectral radiation property models and radiative transfer equation (RTE) solvers have been implemented in an OpenFOAM-based engine CFD code, and simulations have been performed for amore » full-load (peak pressure ~200 bar) heavy-duty diesel engine. Differences in computed temperature fields, NO and soot levels, and wall heat transfer rates are shown for different combinations of spectral models and RTE solvers. The relative importance of molecular gas radiation versus soot radiation is examined. And the influence of turbulence-radiation interactions is determined by comparing results obtained using local mean values of composition and temperature to compute radiative emission and absorption with those obtained using a particle-based transported probability density function method.« less

  3. Modeling the Transport and Radiative Forcing of Taklimakan Dust over the Tibetan Plateau: A case study in the summer of 2006

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chen, Siyu; Huang, J.; Zhao, Chun

    2013-01-30

    The Weather Research and Forecasting model with chemistry (WRF-Chem) is used to investigate an intense dust storm event during 26 to 30 July 2006 that originated over the Taklimakan Desert (TD) and transported to the northern slope of Tibetan Plateau (TP). The dust storm is initiated by the approach of a strong cold frontal system over the TD. In summer, the meridional transport of TD dust to the TP is favored by the thermal effect of the TP and the weakening of the East Asian westerly winds. During this dust storm, the transport of TD dust over the TP ismore » further enhanced by the passage of the cold front. As a result, TD dust breaks through the planetary boundary layer and extends to the upper troposphere over the northern TP. TD dust flux arrived at the TP with a value of 6.6 Gg/day in this 5 day event but decays quickly during the southward migration over the TP due to dry deposition. The simulations show that TD dust cools the atmosphere near the surface and heats the atmosphere above with a maximum heating rate of 0.11 K day-1 at ~7 km over the TP. The event-averaged net radiative forcings of TD dust over the TP are -3.97, 1.61, and -5.58 Wm-2 at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), in the atmosphere, and at the surface, respectively. The promising performance of WRF-Chem in simulating dust and its radiative forcing provides confidence for use in further investigation of climatic impact of TD dust over the TP.« less

  4. Optical radiation measurements and instrumentation.

    PubMed

    Andersen, F A; Landry, R J

    1981-07-01

    Accurate measurement of optical radiation is required when sources of optical radiation are used in biological research. Such measurement of broad-band noncoherent optical radiations usually must be performed by a highly trained specialist using sophisticated, complex, and expensive instruments. Presentation of the results of such measurement requires correct use of quantities and units with which many biological researchers are unfamiliar. The measurement process, quantities, units, measurement systems and instruments, and uncertainties associated with optical radiation measurements are reviewed in this paper. A conventional technique for evaluating the potential hazards associated with broad-band sources of optical radiation and a spectroradiometer developed to measure spectral quantities is described. A new prototype ultraviolet radiation hazard monitor which has recently been developed is also presented. This new instrument utilizes a spectrograph and a spectral weighting mechanical mask and provides a direct reading of the effective irradiance for wavelengths less than 315 nm.

  5. Emission, transport, and radiative effects of mineral dust from the Taklimakan and Gobi deserts: comparison of measurements and model results

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Siyu; Huang, Jianping; Kang, Litai; Wang, Hao; Ma, Xiaojun; He, Yongli; Yuan, Tiangang; Yang, Ben; Huang, Zhongwei; Zhang, Guolong

    2017-02-01

    The Weather Research and Forecasting Model with chemistry (WRF-Chem model) was used to investigate a typical dust storm event that occurred from 18 to 23 March 2010 and swept across almost all of China, Japan, and Korea. The spatial and temporal variations in dust aerosols and the meteorological conditions over East Asia were well reproduced by the WRF-Chem model. The simulation results were used to further investigate the details of processes related to dust emission, long-range transport, and radiative effects of dust aerosols over the Taklimakan Desert (TD) and Gobi Desert (GD). The results indicated that weather conditions, topography, and surface types in dust source regions may influence dust emission, uplift height, and transport at the regional scale. The GD was located in the warm zone in advance of the cold front in this case. Rapidly warming surface temperatures and cold air advection at high levels caused strong instability in the atmosphere, which strengthened the downward momentum transported from the middle and low troposphere and caused strong surface winds. Moreover, the GD is located in a relatively flat, high-altitude region influenced by the confluence of the northern and southern westerly jets. Therefore, the GD dust particles were easily lofted to 4 km and were the primary contributor to the dust concentration over East Asia. In the dust budget analysis, the dust emission flux over the TD was 27.2 ± 4.1 µg m-2 s-1, which was similar to that over the GD (29 ± 3.6 µg m-2 s-1). However, the transport contribution of the TD dust (up to 0.8 ton d-1) to the dust sink was much smaller than that of the GD dust (up to 3.7 ton d-1) because of the complex terrain and the prevailing wind in the TD. Notably, a small amount of the TD dust (PM2.5 dust concentration of approximately 8.7 µg m-3) was lofted to above 5 km and transported over greater distances under the influence of the westerly jets. Moreover, the direct radiative forcing induced by dust

  6. SU-F-18C-09: Assessment of OSL Dosimeter Technology in the Validation of a Monte Carlo Radiation Transport Code for CT Dosimetry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Carver, D; Kost, S; Pickens, D

    Purpose: To assess the utility of optically stimulated luminescent (OSL) dosimeter technology in calibrating and validating a Monte Carlo radiation transport code for computed tomography (CT). Methods: Exposure data were taken using both a standard CT 100-mm pencil ionization chamber and a series of 150-mm OSL CT dosimeters. Measurements were made at system isocenter in air as well as in standard 16-cm (head) and 32-cm (body) CTDI phantoms at isocenter and at the 12 o'clock positions. Scans were performed on a Philips Brilliance 64 CT scanner for 100 and 120 kVp at 300 mAs with a nominal beam width ofmore » 40 mm. A radiation transport code to simulate the CT scanner conditions was developed using the GEANT4 physics toolkit. The imaging geometry and associated parameters were simulated for each ionization chamber and phantom combination. Simulated absorbed doses were compared to both CTDI{sub 100} values determined from the ion chamber and to CTDI{sub 100} values reported from the OSLs. The dose profiles from each simulation were also compared to the physical OSL dose profiles. Results: CTDI{sub 100} values reported by the ion chamber and OSLs are generally in good agreement (average percent difference of 9%), and provide a suitable way to calibrate doses obtained from simulation to real absorbed doses. Simulated and real CTDI{sub 100} values agree to within 10% or less, and the simulated dose profiles also predict the physical profiles reported by the OSLs. Conclusion: Ionization chambers are generally considered the standard for absolute dose measurements. However, OSL dosimeters may also serve as a useful tool with the significant benefit of also assessing the radiation dose profile. This may offer an advantage to those developing simulations for assessing radiation dosimetry such as verification of spatial dose distribution and beam width.« less

  7. Optical radiation measurements: instrumentation and sources of error.

    PubMed

    Landry, R J; Andersen, F A

    1982-07-01

    Accurate measurement of optical radiation is required when sources of this radiation are used in biological research. The most difficult measurements of broadband noncoherent optical radiations usually must be performed by a highly trained specialist using sophisticated, complex, and expensive instruments. Presentation of the results of such measurement requires correct use of quantities and units with which many biological researchers are unfamiliar. The measurement process, physical quantities and units, measurement systems with instruments, and sources of error and uncertainties associated with optical radiation measurements are reviewed.

  8. NEQAIR96,Nonequilibrium and Equilibrium Radiative Transport and Spectra Program: User's Manual

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Whiting, Ellis E.; Park, Chul; Liu, Yen; Arnold, James O.; Paterson, John A.

    1996-01-01

    This document is the User's Manual for a new version of the NEQAIR computer program, NEQAIR96. The program is a line-by-line and a line-of-sight code. It calculates the emission and absorption spectra for atomic and diatomic molecules and the transport of radiation through a nonuniform gas mixture to a surface. The program has been rewritten to make it easy to use, run faster, and include many run-time options that tailor a calculation to the user's requirements. The accuracy and capability have also been improved by including the rotational Hamiltonian matrix formalism for calculating rotational energy levels and Hoenl-London factors for dipole and spin-allowed singlet, doublet, triplet, and quartet transitions. Three sample cases are also included to help the user become familiar with the steps taken to produce a spectrum. A new user interface is included that uses check location, to select run-time options and to enter selected run data, making NEQAIR96 easier to use than the older versions of the code. The ease of its use and the speed of its algorithms make NEQAIR96 a valuable educational code as well as a practical spectroscopic prediction and diagnostic code.

  9. Highly Relativistic Radiation Belt Electron Acceleration, Transport, and Loss: Large Solar Storm Events of March and June 2015

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Baker, D. N.; Jaynes, A. N.; Kanekal, S. G.; Foster, J.C.; Erickson, P. J.; Fennell, Joseph; Blake, J. B.; Zhao, H.; Li, X.; Elkington, S. R.; hide

    2016-01-01

    Two of the largest geomagnetic storms of the last decade were witnessed in 2015. On 17 March 2015, a coronal mass ejection-driven event occurred with a Dst (Disturbance Storm Time Ring Current Index) value reaching 223 nanoteslas. On 22 June 2015 another strong storm (Dst reaching 204 nanoteslas) was recorded. These two storms each produced almost total loss of radiation belt high-energy (E (Energy) greater than or approximately equal to 1 millielectronvolt) electron fluxes. Following the dropouts of radiation belt fluxes there were complex and rather remarkable recoveries of the electrons extending up to nearly 10 millielectronvolts in kinetic energy. The energized outer zone electrons showed a rich variety of pitch angle features including strong butterfly distributions with deep minima in flux at alpha equals 90 degrees. However, despite strong driving of outer zone earthward radial diffusion in these storms, the previously reported impenetrable barrier at L (L-shell magnetic field line value) approximately equal to 2.8 was pushed inward, but not significantly breached, and no E (Energy) greater than or approximately equal to 2.0 millielectronvolts electrons were seen to pass through the radiation belt slot region to reach the inner Van Allen zone. Overall, these intense storms show a wealth of novel features of acceleration, transport, and loss that are demonstrated in the present detailed analysis.

  10. Highly relativistic radiation belt electron acceleration, transport, and loss: Large solar storm events of March and June 2015

    PubMed Central

    Jaynes, A. N.; Kanekal, S. G.; Foster, J. C.; Erickson, P. J.; Fennell, J. F.; Blake, J. B.; Zhao, H.; Li, X.; Elkington, S. R.; Henderson, M. G.; Reeves, G. D.; Spence, H. E.; Kletzing, C. A.; Wygant, J. R.

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Two of the largest geomagnetic storms of the last decade were witnessed in 2015. On 17 March 2015, a coronal mass ejection‐driven event occurred with a Dst (storm time ring current index) value reaching −223 nT. On 22 June 2015 another strong storm (Dst reaching −204 nT) was recorded. These two storms each produced almost total loss of radiation belt high‐energy (E ≳ 1 MeV) electron fluxes. Following the dropouts of radiation belt fluxes there were complex and rather remarkable recoveries of the electrons extending up to nearly 10 MeV in kinetic energy. The energized outer zone electrons showed a rich variety of pitch angle features including strong “butterfly” distributions with deep minima in flux at α = 90°. However, despite strong driving of outer zone earthward radial diffusion in these storms, the previously reported “impenetrable barrier” at L ≈ 2.8 was pushed inward, but not significantly breached, and no E ≳ 2.0 MeV electrons were seen to pass through the radiation belt slot region to reach the inner Van Allen zone. Overall, these intense storms show a wealth of novel features of acceleration, transport, and loss that are demonstrated in the present detailed analysis. PMID:27867796

  11. Radiated Sound of a High-Speed Water-Jet-Propelled Transportation Vessel.

    PubMed

    Rudd, Alexis B; Richlen, Michael F; Stimpert, Alison K; Au, Whitlow W L

    2016-01-01

    The radiated noise from a high-speed water-jet-propelled catamaran was measured for catamaran speeds of 12, 24, and 37 kn. The radiated noise increased with catamaran speed, although the shape of the noise spectrum was similar for all speeds and measuring hydrophone depth. The spectra peaked at ~200 Hz and dropped off continuously at higher frequencies. The radiated noise was 10-20 dB lower than noise from propeller-driven ships at comparable speeds. The combination of low radiated noise and high speed could be a factor in the detection and avoidance of water-jet-propelled ships by baleen whales.

  12. The Zugspitze radiative closure experiment for quantifying water vapor absorption over the terrestrial and solar infrared - Part 2: Accurate calibration of high spectral-resolution infrared measurements of surface solar radiation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reichert, Andreas; Rettinger, Markus; Sussmann, Ralf

    2016-09-01

    Quantitative knowledge of water vapor absorption is crucial for accurate climate simulations. An open science question in this context concerns the strength of the water vapor continuum in the near infrared (NIR) at atmospheric temperatures, which is still to be quantified by measurements. This issue can be addressed with radiative closure experiments using solar absorption spectra. However, the spectra used for water vapor continuum quantification have to be radiometrically calibrated. We present for the first time a method that yields sufficient calibration accuracy for NIR water vapor continuum quantification in an atmospheric closure experiment. Our method combines the Langley method with spectral radiance measurements of a high-temperature blackbody calibration source (< 2000 K). The calibration scheme is demonstrated in the spectral range 2500 to 7800 cm-1, but minor modifications to the method enable calibration also throughout the remainder of the NIR spectral range. The resulting uncertainty (2σ) excluding the contribution due to inaccuracies in the extra-atmospheric solar spectrum (ESS) is below 1 % in window regions and up to 1.7 % within absorption bands. The overall radiometric accuracy of the calibration depends on the ESS uncertainty, on which at present no firm consensus has been reached in the NIR. However, as is shown in the companion publication Reichert and Sussmann (2016), ESS uncertainty is only of minor importance for the specific aim of this study, i.e., the quantification of the water vapor continuum in a closure experiment. The calibration uncertainty estimate is substantiated by the investigation of calibration self-consistency, which yields compatible results within the estimated errors for 91.1 % of the 2500 to 7800 cm-1 range. Additionally, a comparison of a set of calibrated spectra to radiative transfer model calculations yields consistent results within the estimated errors for 97.7 % of the spectral range.

  13. Space radiation protection: Human support thrust exploration technology program

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Conway, Edmund J.

    1991-01-01

    Viewgraphs on space radiation protection are presented. For crew and practical missions, exploration requires effective, low-mass shielding and accurate estimates of space radiation exposure for lunar and Mars habitat shielding, manned space transfer vehicle, and strategies for minimizing exposure during extravehicular activity (EVA) and rover operations.

  14. Improvements to the Ionizing Radiation Risk Assessment Program for NASA Astronauts

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Semones, E. J.; Bahadori, A. A.; Picco, C. E.; Shavers, M. R.; Flores-McLaughlin, J.

    2011-01-01

    To perform dosimetry and risk assessment, NASA collects astronaut ionizing radiation exposure data from space flight, medical imaging and therapy, aviation training activities and prior occupational exposure histories. Career risk of exposure induced death (REID) from radiation is limited to 3 percent at a 95 percent confidence level. The Radiation Health Office at Johnson Space Center (JSC) is implementing a program to integrate the gathering, storage, analysis and reporting of astronaut ionizing radiation dose and risk data and records. This work has several motivations, including more efficient analyses and greater flexibility in testing and adopting new methods for evaluating risks. The foundation for these improvements is a set of software tools called the Astronaut Radiation Exposure Analysis System (AREAS). AREAS is a series of MATLAB(Registered TradeMark)-based dose and risk analysis modules that interface with an enterprise level SQL Server database by means of a secure web service. It communicates with other JSC medical and space weather databases to maintain data integrity and consistency across systems. AREAS is part of a larger NASA Space Medicine effort, the Mission Medical Integration Strategy, with the goal of collecting accurate, high-quality and detailed astronaut health data, and then securely, timely and reliably presenting it to medical support personnel. The modular approach to the AREAS design accommodates past, current, and future sources of data from active and passive detectors, space radiation transport algorithms, computational phantoms and cancer risk models. Revisions of the cancer risk model, new radiation detection equipment and improved anthropomorphic computational phantoms can be incorporated. Notable hardware updates include the Radiation Environment Monitor (which uses Medipix technology to report real-time, on-board dosimetry measurements), an updated Tissue-Equivalent Proportional Counter, and the Southwest Research Institute

  15. Possibility of Predicting Serotonin Transporter Occupancy From the In Vitro Inhibition Constant for Serotonin Transporter, the Clinically Relevant Plasma Concentration of Unbound Drugs, and Their Profiles for Substrates of Transporters.

    PubMed

    Yahata, Masahiro; Chiba, Koji; Watanabe, Takao; Sugiyama, Yuichi

    2017-09-01

    Accurate prediction of target occupancy facilitates central nervous system drug development. In this review, we discuss the predictability of serotonin transporter (SERT) occupancy in human brain estimated from in vitro K i values for human SERT and plasma concentrations of unbound drug (C u,plasma ), as well as the impact of drug transporters in the blood-brain barrier. First, the geometric means of in vitro K i values were compared with the means of in vivo K i values (K i,u,plasma ) which were calculated as C u,plasma values at 50% occupancy of SERT obtained from previous clinical positron emission tomography/single photon emission computed tomography imaging studies for 6 selective serotonin transporter reuptake inhibitors and 3 serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. The in vitro K i values for 7 drugs were comparable to their in vivo K i,u,plasma values within 3-fold difference. SERT occupancy was overestimated for 5 drugs (P-glycoprotein substrates) and underestimated for 2 drugs (presumably uptake transporter substrates, although no evidence exists as yet). In conclusion, prediction of human SERT occupancy from in vitro K i values and C u,plasma was successful for drugs that are not transporter substrates and will become possible in future even for transporter substrates, once the transporter activities will be accurately estimated from in vitro experiments. Copyright © 2017 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. The Application of Neutron Transport Green's Functions to Threat Scenario Simulation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thoreson, Gregory G.; Schneider, Erich A.; Armstrong, Hirotatsu; van der Hoeven, Christopher A.

    2015-02-01

    Radiation detectors provide deterrence and defense against nuclear smuggling attempts by scanning vehicles, ships, and pedestrians for radioactive material. Understanding detector performance is crucial to developing novel technologies, architectures, and alarm algorithms. Detection can be modeled through radiation transport simulations; however, modeling a spanning set of threat scenarios over the full transport phase-space is computationally challenging. Previous research has demonstrated Green's functions can simulate photon detector signals by decomposing the scenario space into independently simulated submodels. This paper presents decomposition methods for neutron and time-dependent transport. As a result, neutron detector signals produced from full forward transport simulations can be efficiently reconstructed by sequential application of submodel response functions.

  17. A narrow-band k-distribution model with single mixture gas assumption for radiative flows

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jo, Sung Min; Kim, Jae Won; Kwon, Oh Joon

    2018-06-01

    In the present study, the narrow-band k-distribution (NBK) model parameters for mixtures of H2O, CO2, and CO are proposed by utilizing the line-by-line (LBL) calculations with a single mixture gas assumption. For the application of the NBK model to radiative flows, a radiative transfer equation (RTE) solver based on a finite-volume method on unstructured meshes was developed. The NBK model and the RTE solver were verified by solving two benchmark problems including the spectral radiance distribution emitted from one-dimensional slabs and the radiative heat transfer in a truncated conical enclosure. It was shown that the results are accurate and physically reliable by comparing with available data. To examine the applicability of the methods to realistic multi-dimensional problems in non-isothermal and non-homogeneous conditions, radiation in an axisymmetric combustion chamber was analyzed, and then the infrared signature emitted from an aircraft exhaust plume was predicted. For modeling the plume flow involving radiative cooling, a flow-radiation coupled procedure was devised in a loosely coupled manner by adopting a Navier-Stokes flow solver based on unstructured meshes. It was shown that the predicted radiative cooling for the combustion chamber is physically more accurate than other predictions, and is as accurate as that by the LBL calculations. It was found that the infrared signature of aircraft exhaust plume can also be obtained accurately, equivalent to the LBL calculations, by using the present narrow-band approach with a much improved numerical efficiency.

  18. Ballistic near-field heat transport in dense many-body systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Latella, Ivan; Biehs, Svend-Age; Messina, Riccardo; Rodriguez, Alejandro W.; Ben-Abdallah, Philippe

    2018-01-01

    Radiative heat transport mediated by near-field interactions is known to be superdiffusive in dilute, many-body systems. Here we use a generalized Landauer theory of radiative heat transfer in many-body planar systems to demonstrate a nonmonotonic transition from superdiffusive to ballistic transport in dense systems. We show that such a transition is associated to a change of the polarization of dominant modes. Our findings are complemented by a quantitative study of the relaxation dynamics of the system in the different regimes of heat transport. This result could have important consequences on thermal management at nanoscale of many-body systems.

  19. Kinetic neoclassical calculations of impurity radiation profiles

    DOE PAGES

    Stotler, D. P.; Battaglia, D. J.; Hager, R.; ...

    2016-12-30

    Modifications of the drift-kinetic transport code XGC0 to include the transport, ionization, and recombination of individual charge states, as well as the associated radiation, are described. The code is first applied to a simulation of an NSTX H-mode discharge with carbon impurity to demonstrate the approach to coronal equilibrium. The effects of neoclassical phenomena on the radiated power profile are examined sequentially through the activation of individual physics modules in the code. Orbit squeezing and the neoclassical inward pinch result in increased radiation for temperatures above a few hundred eV and changes to the ratios of charge state emissions atmore » a given electron temperature. As a result, analogous simulations with a neon impurity yield qualitatively similar results.« less

  20. Studies of Particle Acceleration, Transport and Radiation in Impulsive Phase of Solar Flares

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Petrosian, Vahe

    2005-01-01

    the reconnection region above a flare loop. This turbulence accelerates particles stochastically which radiate some of their energy in this region but carry most of their energy to the footpoints of the loop, where they lose all their energy and radiate bulk of the observed radiation as in the traditional thick target model. In the past we have worked on various aspects of this model. We have evaluated the interaction rates of the plasma waves with electrons and ions, developed theoretical frameworks for the acceleration, transport and radiative processes, and produced numerical codes for the investigation of these processes. The goal of this grant has been further development and testing of this new paradigm, with emphases on the relative acceleration of electrons and ions and on a comprehensive investigation of the turbulence generation, cascade, and damping processes. We review several pieces of important evidence that we have uncovered indicating the crucial roles of turbulence, in and we describe accomplishments during the past two years of this grant.

  1. Radiative flux and forcing parameterization error in aerosol-free clear skies.

    PubMed

    Pincus, Robert; Mlawer, Eli J; Oreopoulos, Lazaros; Ackerman, Andrew S; Baek, Sunghye; Brath, Manfred; Buehler, Stefan A; Cady-Pereira, Karen E; Cole, Jason N S; Dufresne, Jean-Louis; Kelley, Maxwell; Li, Jiangnan; Manners, James; Paynter, David J; Roehrig, Romain; Sekiguchi, Miho; Schwarzkopf, Daniel M

    2015-07-16

    Radiation parameterizations in GCMs are more accurate than their predecessorsErrors in estimates of 4 ×CO 2 forcing are large, especially for solar radiationErrors depend on atmospheric state, so global mean error is unknown.

  2. Accurate macromolecular structures using minimal measurements from X-ray free-electron lasers

    PubMed Central

    Hattne, Johan; Echols, Nathaniel; Tran, Rosalie; Kern, Jan; Gildea, Richard J.; Brewster, Aaron S.; Alonso-Mori, Roberto; Glöckner, Carina; Hellmich, Julia; Laksmono, Hartawan; Sierra, Raymond G.; Lassalle-Kaiser, Benedikt; Lampe, Alyssa; Han, Guangye; Gul, Sheraz; DiFiore, Dörte; Milathianaki, Despina; Fry, Alan R.; Miahnahri, Alan; White, William E.; Schafer, Donald W.; Seibert, M. Marvin; Koglin, Jason E.; Sokaras, Dimosthenis; Weng, Tsu-Chien; Sellberg, Jonas; Latimer, Matthew J.; Glatzel, Pieter; Zwart, Petrus H.; Grosse-Kunstleve, Ralf W.; Bogan, Michael J.; Messerschmidt, Marc; Williams, Garth J.; Boutet, Sébastien; Messinger, Johannes; Zouni, Athina; Yano, Junko; Bergmann, Uwe; Yachandra, Vittal K.; Adams, Paul D.; Sauter, Nicholas K.

    2014-01-01

    X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) sources enable the use of crystallography to solve three-dimensional macromolecular structures under native conditions and free from radiation damage. Results to date, however, have been limited by the challenge of deriving accurate Bragg intensities from a heterogeneous population of microcrystals, while at the same time modeling the X-ray spectrum and detector geometry. Here we present a computational approach designed to extract statistically significant high-resolution signals from fewer diffraction measurements. PMID:24633409

  3. Atmospheric Ionizing Radiation (AIR) Project Review

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Singleterry, R. C., Jr.; Wilson, J. W.; Whitehead, A. H.; Goldhagen, P. E.

    1999-01-01

    The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement (NCRP) and the National Academy of Science (NAS) established that the uncertainty in the data and models associated with the high-altitude radiation environment could and should be reduced. In response, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML) created the Atmospheric Ionizing Radiation (AIR) Project under the auspices of the High Speed Research (HSR) Program Office at the Langley Research Center. NASA's HSR Program was developed to address the potential of a second-generation supersonic transport. A critical element focussed on the environmental issues, including the threat to crew and passengers posed by atmospheric radiation. Various international investigators were solicited to contribute instruments to fly on an ER-2 aircraft at altitudes similar to those proposed for the High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT). A list of participating investigators, their institutions, and instruments with quantities measured is presented. The flight series took place at solar minimum (radiation maximum) with northern, southern, and east/west flights. The investigators analyzed their data and presented preliminary results at the AIR Workshop in March, 1998. A review of these results are included.

  4. Monitoring Cosmic Radiation Risk: Comparisons Between Observations and Predictive Codes for Naval Aviation

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-07-05

    proton PARMA PHITS -based Analytical Radiation Model in the Atmosphere PCAIRE Predictive Code for Aircrew Radiation Exposure PHITS Particle and Heavy...transport code utilized is called PARMA ( PHITS based Analytical Radiation Model in the Atmosphere) [36]. The particle fluxes calculated from the input...dose equivalent coefficient regulations from the ICRP-60 regulations. As a result, the transport codes utilized by EXPACS ( PHITS ) and CARI-6 (PARMA

  5. Approximation methods in gravitational-radiation theory

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Will, C. M.

    1986-01-01

    The observation of gravitational-radiation damping in the binary pulsar PSR 1913 + 16 and the ongoing experimental search for gravitational waves of extraterrestrial origin have made the theory of gravitational radiation an active branch of classical general relativity. In calculations of gravitational radiation, approximation methods play a crucial role. Recent developments are summarized in two areas in which approximations are important: (a) the quadrupole approxiamtion, which determines the energy flux and the radiation reaction forces in weak-field, slow-motion, source-within-the-near-zone systems such as the binary pulsar; and (b) the normal modes of oscillation of black holes, where the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation gives accurate estimates of the complex frequencies of the modes.

  6. Neutron spectrometry for radiation protection purposes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McDonald, J. C.; Siebert, B. R. L.; Alberts, W. G.

    2002-01-01

    Determination of the dose equivalent is required for radiation protection purposes, however such a determination is quite difficult for neutron radiation. In order to perform accurate dosimetric determinations, it is advantageous to acquire information about the neutron fluence spectrum in the workplace as well as the reference radiations used to calibrate dosimetric instruments. This information can then be used to select the appropriate dosimetric instrument, the optimum calibration condition or to establish correction factors that account for the differences in calibration and workplace conditions. For quite some time, neutron spectrometry has been used for these purposes. A brief review of the applications of spectrometers in radiation protection and some recommendations for further development are given here.

  7. The accurate assessment of small-angle X-ray scattering data

    DOE PAGES

    Grant, Thomas D.; Luft, Joseph R.; Carter, Lester G.; ...

    2015-01-23

    Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) has grown in popularity in recent times with the advent of bright synchrotron X-ray sources, powerful computational resources and algorithms enabling the calculation of increasingly complex models. However, the lack of standardized data-quality metrics presents difficulties for the growing user community in accurately assessing the quality of experimental SAXS data. Here, a series of metrics to quantitatively describe SAXS data in an objective manner using statistical evaluations are defined. These metrics are applied to identify the effects of radiation damage, concentration dependence and interparticle interactions on SAXS data from a set of 27 previously described targetsmore » for which high-resolution structures have been determined via X-ray crystallography or nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Studies show that these metrics are sufficient to characterize SAXS data quality on a small sample set with statistical rigor and sensitivity similar to or better than manual analysis. The development of data-quality analysis strategies such as these initial efforts is needed to enable the accurate and unbiased assessment of SAXS data quality.« less

  8. Use of Transportable Radiation Detection Instruments to Assess Internal Contamination From Intakes of Radionuclides Part I: Field Tests and Monte Carlo Simulations.

    PubMed

    Anigstein, Robert; Erdman, Michael C; Ansari, Armin

    2016-06-01

    The detonation of a radiological dispersion device or other radiological incidents could result in the dispersion of radioactive materials and intakes of radionuclides by affected individuals. Transportable radiation monitoring instruments could be used to measure photon radiation from radionuclides in the body for triaging individuals and assigning priorities to their bioassay samples for further assessments. Computer simulations and experimental measurements are required for these instruments to be used for assessing intakes of radionuclides. Count rates from calibrated sources of Co, Cs, and Am were measured on three instruments: a survey meter containing a 2.54 × 2.54-cm NaI(Tl) crystal, a thyroid probe using a 5.08 × 5.08-cm NaI(Tl) crystal, and a portal monitor incorporating two 3.81 × 7.62 × 182.9-cm polyvinyltoluene plastic scintillators. Computer models of the instruments and of the calibration sources were constructed, using engineering drawings and other data provided by the manufacturers. Count rates on the instruments were simulated using the Monte Carlo radiation transport code MCNPX. The computer simulations were within 16% of the measured count rates for all 20 measurements without using empirical radionuclide-dependent scaling factors, as reported by others. The weighted root-mean-square deviations (differences between measured and simulated count rates, added in quadrature and weighted by the variance of the difference) were 10.9% for the survey meter, 4.2% for the thyroid probe, and 0.9% for the portal monitor. These results validate earlier MCNPX models of these instruments that were used to develop calibration factors that enable these instruments to be used for assessing intakes and committed doses from several gamma-emitting radionuclides.

  9. Radiation Diffusion:. AN Overview of Physical and Numerical Concepts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Graziani, Frank

    2005-12-01

    An overview of the physical and mathematical foundations of radiation transport is given. Emphasis is placed on how the diffusion approximation and its transport corrections arise. An overview of the numerical handling of radiation diffusion coupled to matter is also given. Discussions center on partial temperature and grey methods with comments concerning fully implicit methods. In addition finite difference, finite element and Pert representations of the div-grad operator is also discussed

  10. 10 CFR 34.35 - Labeling, storage, and transportation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Labeling, storage, and transportation. 34.35 Section 34.35 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION LICENSES FOR INDUSTRIAL RADIOGRAPHY AND RADIATION SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR INDUSTRIAL RADIOGRAPHIC OPERATIONS Equipment § 34.35 Labeling, storage, and transportation. (a...

  11. 10 CFR 34.35 - Labeling, storage, and transportation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Labeling, storage, and transportation. 34.35 Section 34.35 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION LICENSES FOR INDUSTRIAL RADIOGRAPHY AND RADIATION SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR INDUSTRIAL RADIOGRAPHIC OPERATIONS Equipment § 34.35 Labeling, storage, and transportation. (a...

  12. 10 CFR 34.35 - Labeling, storage, and transportation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Labeling, storage, and transportation. 34.35 Section 34.35 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION LICENSES FOR INDUSTRIAL RADIOGRAPHY AND RADIATION SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR INDUSTRIAL RADIOGRAPHIC OPERATIONS Equipment § 34.35 Labeling, storage, and transportation. (a...

  13. A simple Boltzmann transport equation for ballistic to diffusive transient heat transport

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Maassen, Jesse, E-mail: jmaassen@purdue.edu; Lundstrom, Mark

    2015-04-07

    Developing simplified, but accurate, theoretical approaches to treat heat transport on all length and time scales is needed to further enable scientific insight and technology innovation. Using a simplified form of the Boltzmann transport equation (BTE), originally developed for electron transport, we demonstrate how ballistic phonon effects and finite-velocity propagation are easily and naturally captured. We show how this approach compares well to the phonon BTE, and readily handles a full phonon dispersion and energy-dependent mean-free-path. This study of transient heat transport shows (i) how fundamental temperature jumps at the contacts depend simply on the ballistic thermal resistance, (ii) thatmore » phonon transport at early times approach the ballistic limit in samples of any length, and (iii) perceived reductions in heat conduction, when ballistic effects are present, originate from reductions in temperature gradient. Importantly, this framework can be recast exactly as the Cattaneo and hyperbolic heat equations, and we discuss how the key to capturing ballistic heat effects is to use the correct physical boundary conditions.« less

  14. Implementing Badhwar-O'Neill Galactic Cosmic Ray Model for the Analysis of Space Radiation Exposure

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kim, Myung-Hee Y.; O'Neill, Patrick M.; Slaba, Tony C.

    2014-01-01

    For the analysis of radiation risks to astronauts and planning exploratory space missions, accurate energy spectrum of galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) is necessary. Characterization of the ionizing radiation environment is challenging because the interplanetary plasma and radiation fields are modulated by solar disturbances and the radiation doses received by astronauts in interplanetary space are likewise influenced. A model of the Badhwar-O'Neill 2011 (BO11) GCR environment, which is represented by GCR deceleration potential theta, has been derived by utilizing all of the GCR measurements from balloons, satellites, and the newer NASA Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE). In the BO11 model, the solar modulation level is derived from the mean international sunspot numbers with time-delay, which has been calibrated with actual flight instrument measurements to produce better GCR flux data fit during solar minima. GCR fluxes provided by the BO11 model were compared with various spacecraft measurements at 1 AU, and further comparisons were made for the tissue equivalent proportional counters measurements at low Earth orbits using the high-charge and energy transport (HZETRN) code and various GCR models. For the comparison of the absorbed dose and dose equivalent calculations with the measurements by Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) at Gale crater on Mars, the intensities and energies of GCR entering the heliosphere were calculated by using the BO11 model, which accounts for time-dependent attenuation of the local interstellar spectrum of each element. The BO11 model, which has emphasized for the last 24 solar minima, showed in relatively good agreement with the RAD data for the first 200 sols, but it was resulted in to be less well during near the solar maximum of solar cycle 24 due to subtleties in the changing heliospheric conditions. By performing the error analysis of the BO11 model and the optimization in reducing overall uncertainty, the resultant BO13 model

  15. Estimation of Effective Doses for Radiation Cancer Risks on ISS, Lunar, and Mars Missions with Space Radiation Measurement

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kim, M.Y.; Cucinotta, F.A.

    2005-01-01

    Radiation protection practices define the effective dose as a weighted sum of equivalent dose over major sites for radiation cancer risks. Since a crew personnel dosimeter does not make direct measurement of effective dose, it has been estimated with skin-dose measurements and radiation transport codes for ISS and STS missions. The Phantom Torso Experiment (PTE) of NASA s Operational Radiation Protection Program has provided the actual flight measurements of active and passive dosimeters which were placed throughout the phantom on STS-91 mission for 10 days and on ISS Increment 2 mission. For the PTE, the variation in organ doses, which is resulted by the absorption and the changes in radiation quality with tissue shielding, was considered by measuring doses at many tissue sites and at several critical body organs including brain, colon, heart, stomach, thyroid, and skins. These measurements have been compared with the organ dose calculations obtained from the transport models. Active TEPC measurements of lineal energy spectra at the surface of the PTE also provided the direct comparison of galactic cosmic ray (GCR) or trapped proton dose and dose equivalent. It is shown that orienting the phantom body as actual in ISS is needed for the direct comparison of the transport models to the ISS data. One of the most important observations for organ dose equivalent of effective dose estimates on ISS is the fractional contribution from trapped protons and GCR. We show that for most organs over 80% is from GCR. The improved estimation of effective doses for radiation cancer risks will be made with the resultant tissue weighting factors and the modified codes.

  16. Radiated Emissions Test Approach

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2015-10-02

    1. Draft Department of Transportation (DOT) Test Plan to Develop : Interference Tolerance Masks for GNSS Receivers in the L1 : Radiofrequency Band (1559 1610 MHz) provides high level : overview of radiated emissions test setup : 2. Presenta...

  17. The Low Earth Orbit validation of a dynamic and anisotropic trapped radiation model through ISS measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Badavi, Francis F.; Nealy, John E.; Wilson, John W.

    2011-10-01

    The International Space Station (ISS) provides the proving ground for future long duration human activities in space. Ionizing radiation measurements in ISS form the ideal tool for the experimental validation of radiation environmental models, nuclear transport code algorithms and nuclear reaction cross sections. Indeed, prior measurements on the Space Transportation System (STS; Shuttle) have provided vital information impacting both the environmental models and the nuclear transport code development by requiring dynamic models of the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) environment. Previous studies using Computer Aided Design (CAD) models of the evolving ISS configurations with Thermo-Luminescent Detector (TLD) area monitors, demonstrated that computational dosimetry requires environmental models with accurate non-isotropic as well as dynamic behavior, detailed information on rack loading, and an accurate six degree of freedom (DOF) description of ISS trajectory and orientation. It is imperative that we understand ISS exposures dynamically for crew career planning, and insure that the regulatory requirements of keeping exposure as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) are adequately implemented. This is especially true as ISS nears some form of completion with increasing complexity, resulting in a larger drag coefficient, and requiring operation at higher altitudes with increased exposure rates. In this paper ISS environmental model is configured for 11A (circa mid 2005), and uses non-isotropic and dynamic geomagnetic transmission and trapped proton models. ISS 11A and LEO model validations are important steps in preparation for the design and validation for the next generation manned vehicles. While the described cutoff rigidity, trapped proton and electron formalisms as coded in a package named GEORAD (GEOmagnetic RADiation) and a web interface named OLTARIS (On-line Tool for the Assessment of Radiation in Space) are applicable to the LEO, Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) and

  18. On the gas-phase formation of the HCO radical: accurate quantum study of the H+CO radiative association

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stoecklin, Thierry; Halvick, Philippe; Yu, Hua-Gen; Nyman, Gunnar; Ellinger, Yves

    2018-04-01

    We present the first quantum study of the radiative association of H and CO to form the HCO molecule within a time-independent approach. We use a recently published 3D potential energy surface of spectroscopic accuracy and two 3D dipole moment surfaces, which were calculated for this study. We discuss the variation of the radiative association cross-section as a function of both the rotational angular momentum of CO and the total angular momentum and use the uniform J-shifting approach to obtain the global radiative association rate coefficient. The effect of the saddle point separating the HCO molecule from the H+CO reactants and the main features of the radiative association cross-sections are analysed and discussed. The calculated rate coefficient is below 10-23 cm3 molecule-1 s-1 for temperatures lower than 30 K, and increases up to 5 × 10-20 cm3 molecule-1 s-1 at T = 300 K. These results demonstrate that the gas-phase H+CO radiative association cannot be the process at the origin of the sequence leading to the formation of methanol in a cold interstellar medium.

  19. Towards quantifying global aerosol radiative effects using lidar

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thorsen, T. J.

    2017-12-01

    Spaceborne lidar observations alleviate many of the limitations of passivesensors and have great potential to provide accurate global all-sky estimatesof the aerosol direct radiative effect (DRE). However, analysis of CALIPSOlidar observations show that CALIPSO does not detect allradiatively-significant aerosol, i.e. aerosol that directly modifies theEarth's radiation budget. We estimated that using CALIPSO observationsresults in an underestimate of the magnitude of the global mean aerosol DREby up to 54%. The CATS lidar on-board the ISS is shown to have a poorersensitivity than CALIPSO and the expected sensitivity of the upcoming ATLIDlidar on EarthCARE indicates that calculations of the aerosol DRE willcontinue to be significantly biased. Improvements to our knowledge of aerosol forcing, which contributes thelargest uncertainty to climate sensitivity, could be achieved by a futurespace-based HSRL mission. To this end, high-accuracy ground-based andairborne lidar datasets have been used to compute the detection sensitivityrequired to accurately resolve the aerosol DRE. Multiwavelength HSRLmeasurements also can retrieve vertically-resolved aerosol optical propertiesneeded for radiative transfer calculations which are not provided by currentsatellite observations. Current satellite observations also do not provideall the quantities needed to compute the aerosol direct radiative forcing,i.e. the radiative effect of just anthropogenic aerosols. A multiwavelengthHSRL allows for a more refined aerosol classification to be made enablingboth calculations of anthropogenic aerosol radiative effects and betterconstraints on global models.

  20. Monte Carlo evaluation of Acuros XB dose calculation Algorithm for intensity modulated radiation therapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yeh, Peter C. Y.; Lee, C. C.; Chao, T. C.; Tung, C. J.

    2017-11-01

    Intensity-modulated radiation therapy is an effective treatment modality for the nasopharyngeal carcinoma. One important aspect of this cancer treatment is the need to have an accurate dose algorithm dealing with the complex air/bone/tissue interface in the head-neck region to achieve the cure without radiation-induced toxicities. The Acuros XB algorithm explicitly solves the linear Boltzmann transport equation in voxelized volumes to account for the tissue heterogeneities such as lungs, bone, air, and soft tissues in the treatment field receiving radiotherapy. With the single beam setup in phantoms, this algorithm has already been demonstrated to achieve the comparable accuracy with Monte Carlo simulations. In the present study, five nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients treated with the intensity-modulated radiation therapy were examined for their dose distributions calculated using the Acuros XB in the planning target volume and the organ-at-risk. Corresponding results of Monte Carlo simulations were computed from the electronic portal image data and the BEAMnrc/DOSXYZnrc code. Analysis of dose distributions in terms of the clinical indices indicated that the Acuros XB was in comparable accuracy with Monte Carlo simulations and better than the anisotropic analytical algorithm for dose calculations in real patients.

  1. Modelling of radiation field around spent fuel container.

    PubMed

    Kryuchkov, E F; Opalovsky, V A; Tikhomirov, G V

    2005-01-01

    Operation of nuclear reactors leads to the production of spent nuclear fuel (SNF). There are two basic strategies of SNF management: ultimate disposal of SNF in geological formations and recycle or repeated utilisation of reprocessed SNF. In both options, there is an urgent necessity to study radiation properties of SNF. Information about SNF radiation properties is required at all stages of SNF management. In order to reach more effective utilisation of nuclear materials, new fuel cycles are under development based on uranium-plutonium, uranium-thorium and some other types of nuclear fuel. These promising types of nuclear fuel are characterised by quite different radiation properties at all the stages of nuclear fuel cycle (NFC) listed above. So, comparative analysis is required for radiation properties of different nuclear fuel types at different NFC stages. The results presented here were obtained from the numerical analysis of the radiation field around transport containers of different SNF types and in SNF storage. The calculations are carried out with the application of the computer code packages SCALE-4.3 and MCNP-4C. Comparison of the dose parameters obtained for different models of the transport container with experimental data allowed us to make certain conclusions about the errors of numerical results caused by the approximate geometrical description of the transport container.

  2. Metropolitan transportation management center : a case study : Georgia NaviGAtor : accurate and timely information to navigate Georgia roads

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1999-10-01

    The following case study provides a snapshot of Atlanta's NaviGAtor transportation management center. It follows the outline provided in the companion document, Metropolitan Transportation Management Center Concepts of Operation - A Cross Cutting Stu...

  3. A comparative study of space radiation organ doses and associated cancer risks using PHITS and HZETRN.

    PubMed

    Bahadori, Amir A; Sato, Tatsuhiko; Slaba, Tony C; Shavers, Mark R; Semones, Edward J; Van Baalen, Mary; Bolch, Wesley E

    2013-10-21

    NASA currently uses one-dimensional deterministic transport to generate values of the organ dose equivalent needed to calculate stochastic radiation risk following crew space exposures. In this study, organ absorbed doses and dose equivalents are calculated for 50th percentile male and female astronaut phantoms using both the NASA High Charge and Energy Transport Code to perform one-dimensional deterministic transport and the Particle and Heavy Ion Transport Code System to perform three-dimensional Monte Carlo transport. Two measures of radiation risk, effective dose and risk of exposure-induced death (REID) are calculated using the organ dose equivalents resulting from the two methods of radiation transport. For the space radiation environments and simplified shielding configurations considered, small differences (<8%) in the effective dose and REID are found. However, for the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) boundary condition, compensating errors are observed, indicating that comparisons between the integral measurements of complex radiation environments and code calculations can be misleading. Code-to-code benchmarks allow for the comparison of differential quantities, such as secondary particle differential fluence, to provide insight into differences observed in integral quantities for particular components of the GCR spectrum.

  4. A comparative study of space radiation organ doses and associated cancer risks using PHITS and HZETRN

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bahadori, Amir A.; Sato, Tatsuhiko; Slaba, Tony C.; Shavers, Mark R.; Semones, Edward J.; Van Baalen, Mary; Bolch, Wesley E.

    2013-10-01

    NASA currently uses one-dimensional deterministic transport to generate values of the organ dose equivalent needed to calculate stochastic radiation risk following crew space exposures. In this study, organ absorbed doses and dose equivalents are calculated for 50th percentile male and female astronaut phantoms using both the NASA High Charge and Energy Transport Code to perform one-dimensional deterministic transport and the Particle and Heavy Ion Transport Code System to perform three-dimensional Monte Carlo transport. Two measures of radiation risk, effective dose and risk of exposure-induced death (REID) are calculated using the organ dose equivalents resulting from the two methods of radiation transport. For the space radiation environments and simplified shielding configurations considered, small differences (<8%) in the effective dose and REID are found. However, for the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) boundary condition, compensating errors are observed, indicating that comparisons between the integral measurements of complex radiation environments and code calculations can be misleading. Code-to-code benchmarks allow for the comparison of differential quantities, such as secondary particle differential fluence, to provide insight into differences observed in integral quantities for particular components of the GCR spectrum.

  5. Excitation of XUV radiation in solar flares

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Emslie, A. Gordon

    1992-01-01

    The goal of the proposed research was to understand the means by which XUV radiation in solar flares is excited, and to use this radiation as diagnostics of the energy release and transport processes occurring in the flare. Significant progress in both of these areas, as described, was made.

  6. Wintertime characteristics of aerosols over middle Indo-Gangetic Plain: Vertical profile, transport and radiative forcing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kumar, M.; Raju, M. P.; Singh, R. K.; Singh, A. K.; Singh, R. S.; Banerjee, T.

    2017-01-01

    Winter-specific characteristics of airborne particulates over middle Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) were evaluated in terms of aerosol chemical and micro-physical properties under three-dimensional domain. Emphases were made for the first time to identify intra-seasonal variations of aerosols sources, horizontal and vertical transport, effects of regional meteorology and estimating composite aerosol short-wave radiative forcing over an urban region (25°10‧-25°19‧N; 82°54‧-83°4‧E) at middle-IGP. Space-borne passive (Aqua and Terra MODIS, Aura OMI) and active sensor (CALIPSO-CALIOP) based observations were concurrently used with ground based aerosol mass measurement for entire winter and pre-summer months (December, 1, 2014 to March, 31, 2015). Exceptionally high aerosol mass loading was recorded for both PM10 (267.6 ± 107.0 μg m- 3) and PM2.5 (150.2 ± 89.4 μg m- 3) typically exceeding national standard. Aerosol type was mostly dominated by fine particulates (particulate ratio: 0.61) during pre to mid-winter episodes before being converted to mixed aerosol types (ratio: 0.41-0.53). Time series analysis of aerosols mass typically identified three dissimilar aerosol loading episodes with varying attributes, well resemble to that of previous year's observation representing its persisting nature. Black carbon (9.4 ± 3.7 μg m- 3) was found to constitute significant proportion of fine particulates (2-27%) with a strong diurnal profile. Secondary inorganic ions also accounted a fraction of particulates (PM2.5: 22.5%; PM10: 26.9%) having SO4- 2, NO3- and NH4+ constituting major proportion. Satellite retrieved MODIS-AOD (0.01-2.30) and fine mode fractions (FMF: 0.01-1.00) identified intra-seasonal variation with transport of aerosols from upper to middle-IGP through continental westerly. Varying statistical association of columnar and surface aerosol loading both in terms of fine (r; PM2.5: MODIS-AOD: 0.51) and coarse particulates (PM10: MODIS-AOD: 0.53) was

  7. NASA Human Research Program Space Radiation Program Element

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chappell, Lori; Huff, Janice; Patel, Janapriya; Wang, Minli; Hu, Shaowwen; Kidane, Yared; Myung-Hee, Kim; Li, Yongfeng; Nounu, Hatem; Plante, Ianik; hide

    2013-01-01

    The goal of the NASA Human Research Program's Space Radiation Program Element is to ensure that crews can safely live and work in the space radiation environment. Current work is focused on developing the knowledge base and tools required for accurate assessment of health risks resulting from space radiation exposure including cancer and circulatory and central nervous system diseases, as well as acute risks from solar particle events. Division of Space Life Sciences (DSLS) Space Radiation Team scientists work at multiple levels to advance this goal, with major projects in biological risk research; epidemiology; and physical, biophysical, and biological modeling.

  8. Accurate Ray-tracing of Realistic Neutron Star Atmospheres for Constraining Their Parameters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vincent, Frederic H.; Bejger, Michał; Różańska, Agata; Straub, Odele; Paumard, Thibaut; Fortin, Morgane; Madej, Jerzy; Majczyna, Agnieszka; Gourgoulhon, Eric; Haensel, Paweł; Zdunik, Leszek; Beldycki, Bartosz

    2018-03-01

    Thermal-dominated X-ray spectra of neutron stars in quiescent, transient X-ray binaries and neutron stars that undergo thermonuclear bursts are sensitive to mass and radius. The mass–radius relation of neutron stars depends on the equation of state (EoS) that governs their interior. Constraining this relation accurately is therefore of fundamental importance to understand the nature of dense matter. In this context, we introduce a pipeline to calculate realistic model spectra of rotating neutron stars with hydrogen and helium atmospheres. An arbitrarily fast-rotating neutron star with a given EoS generates the spacetime in which the atmosphere emits radiation. We use the LORENE/NROTSTAR code to compute the spacetime numerically and the ATM24 code to solve the radiative transfer equations self-consistently. Emerging specific intensity spectra are then ray-traced through the neutron star’s spacetime from the atmosphere to a distant observer with the GYOTO code. Here, we present and test our fully relativistic numerical pipeline. To discuss and illustrate the importance of realistic atmosphere models, we compare our model spectra to simpler models like the commonly used isotropic color-corrected blackbody emission. We highlight the importance of considering realistic model-atmosphere spectra together with relativistic ray-tracing to obtain accurate predictions. We also insist upon the crucial impact of the star’s rotation on the observables. Finally, we close a controversy that has been ongoing in the literature in the recent years, regarding the validity of the ATM24 code.

  9. A fast method to compute Three-Dimensional Infrared Radiative Transfer in non scattering medium

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Makke, Laurent; Musson-Genon, Luc; Carissimo, Bertrand

    2014-05-01

    The Atmospheric Radiation field has seen the development of more accurate and faster methods to take into account absoprtion in participating media. Radiative fog appears with clear sky condition due to a significant cooling during the night, so scattering is left out. Fog formation modelling requires accurate enough method to compute cooling rates. Thanks to High Performance Computing, multi-spectral approach of Radiative Transfer Equation resolution is most often used. Nevertheless, the coupling of three-dimensionnal radiative transfer with fluid dynamics is very detrimental to the computational cost. To reduce the time spent in radiation calculations, the following method uses analytical absorption functions fitted by Sasamori (1968) on Yamamoto's charts (Yamamoto,1956) to compute a local linear absorption coefficient. By averaging radiative properties, this method eliminates the spectral integration. For an isothermal atmosphere, analytical calculations lead to an explicit formula between emissivities functions and linear absorption coefficient. In the case of cooling to space approximation, this analytical expression gives very accurate results compared to correlated k-distribution. For non homogeneous paths, we propose a two steps algorithm. One-dimensional radiative quantities and linear absorption coefficient are computed by a two-flux method. Then, three-dimensional RTE under the grey medium assumption is solved with the DOM. Comparisons with measurements of radiative quantities during ParisFOG field (2006) shows the cability of this method to handle strong vertical variations of pressure/temperature and gases concentrations.

  10. Orbit to orbit transportation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bergeron, R. P.

    1980-01-01

    Orbital transfer vehicle propulsion options for SPS include both chemical (COTV) and electrical (EOTV) options. The proposed EOTV construction method is similar to that of the SPS and, by the addition of a transmitting antenna, may serve as a demonstration or precursor satellite option. The results of the studies led to the selection of a single stage COTV for crew and priority cargo transfer. An EOTV concept is favored for cargo transfer because of the more favorable orbital burden factor over chemical systems. The gallium arsenide solar array is favored over the silicon array because of its self annealing characteristics of radiation damage encountered during multiple transitions through the Van Allen radiation belt. Transportation system operations are depicted. A heavy lift launch vehicle (HLLV) delivers cargo and propellants to LEO, which are transferred to a dedicated EOTV by means of an intraorbit transfer vehicle (IOTV) for subsequent transfer to GEO. The space shuttle is used for crew transfer from Earth to LEO. At the LEO base, the crew module is removed from the shuttle cargo bay and mated to a COTV for transfer to GEO. Upon arrival at GEO, the SPS construction cargo is transferred from the EOTV to the SPS construction base by IOTV. Crew consumables and resupply propellants are transported to GEO by the EOTV. Transportation requirements are dominated by the vast quantity of materials to be transported to LEO and GEO.

  11. Traffic flow forecasting for intelligent transportation systems.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1995-01-01

    The capability to forecast traffic volume in an operational setting has been identified as a critical need for intelligent transportation systems (ITS). In particular, traffic volume forecasts will directly support proactive traffic control and accur...

  12. An Accurate and Computationally Efficient Model for Membrane-Type Circular-Symmetric Micro-Hotplates

    PubMed Central

    Khan, Usman; Falconi, Christian

    2014-01-01

    Ideally, the design of high-performance micro-hotplates would require a large number of simulations because of the existence of many important design parameters as well as the possibly crucial effects of both spread and drift. However, the computational cost of FEM simulations, which are the only available tool for accurately predicting the temperature in micro-hotplates, is very high. As a result, micro-hotplate designers generally have no effective simulation-tools for the optimization. In order to circumvent these issues, here, we propose a model for practical circular-symmetric micro-hot-plates which takes advantage of modified Bessel functions, computationally efficient matrix-approach for considering the relevant boundary conditions, Taylor linearization for modeling the Joule heating and radiation losses, and external-region-segmentation strategy in order to accurately take into account radiation losses in the entire micro-hotplate. The proposed model is almost as accurate as FEM simulations and two to three orders of magnitude more computationally efficient (e.g., 45 s versus more than 8 h). The residual errors, which are mainly associated to the undesired heating in the electrical contacts, are small (e.g., few degrees Celsius for an 800 °C operating temperature) and, for important analyses, almost constant. Therefore, we also introduce a computationally-easy single-FEM-compensation strategy in order to reduce the residual errors to about 1 °C. As illustrative examples of the power of our approach, we report the systematic investigation of a spread in the membrane thermal conductivity and of combined variations of both ambient and bulk temperatures. Our model enables a much faster characterization of micro-hotplates and, thus, a much more effective optimization prior to fabrication. PMID:24763214

  13. Flexible radiator thermal vacuum test report

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Oren, J. A.; Hixon, C. W.

    1982-01-01

    Two flexible, deployable/retraction radiators were designed and fabricated. The two radiator panels are distinguishable by their mission life design. One panel is designed with a 90 percent probability of withstanding the micrometeoroid environment of a low earth orbit for 30 days. This panel is designated the soft tube radiator after the PFA Teflon tubes which distribute the transport fluid over the panel. The second panel is designed with armored flow tubes to withstand the same micrometeoroid environment for 5 years. It is designated the hard tube radiator after its stainless steel flow tubes. The thermal performance of the radiators was tested under anticipated environmental conditions. The two deployment systems of the radiators were evaluated in a thermal vacuum environment.

  14. High LET, passive space radiation dosimetry and spectrometry

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Benton, E. V.; Frank, A. L.; Benton, E. R.; Keegan, R. P.; Frigo, L. A.; Sanner, D.; Rowe, V.

    1995-01-01

    The development of high linear energy transfer (LET), passive radiation dosimetry and spectrometry is needed for the purpose of accurate determination of equivalent doses and assessment of health risks to astronauts on long duration missions. Progress in the following research areas is summerized: intercomparisons of cosmic ray equivalent dose and LET spectra measurements between STS missions and between astronauts; increases LET spectra measurement accuracy with ATAS; space radiation measurements for intercomparisons of passive (PNTD, TLD, TRND, Emulsion) and active (TEPC, RME-111) dosimeters; interaction of cosmic ray particles with nuclei in matter; radiation measurements after long duration space exposures; ground based dosimeter calibrations; neutron detector calibrations; radiation measurements on Soviet/Russian spacecraft; space radiation measurements under thin shielding; and space radiation.

  15. Comparison of Martian Surface Radiation Predictions to the Measurements of Mars Science Laboratory Radiation Assessment Detector (MSL/RAD)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kim, Myung-Hee Y.; Cucinotta, Francis A.; Zeitlin, Cary; Hassler, Donald M.; Ehresmann, Bent; Rafkin, Scot C. R.; Wimmer-Schweingruber, Robert F; Boettcher, Stephan; Boehm, Eckart; Guo, Jingnan; hide

    2014-01-01

    For the analysis of radiation risks to astronauts and planning exploratory space missions, detailed knowledge of particle spectra is an important factor. Detailed measurements of the energetic particle radiation environment on the surface of Mars have been made by the Mars Science Laboratory Radiation Assessment Detector (MSL-RAD) on the Curiosity rover since August 2012, and particle fluxes for a wide range of ion species (up to several hundred MeV/u) and high energy neutrons (8 - 1000 MeV) have been available for the first 200 sols. Although the data obtained on the surface of Mars for 200 sols are limited in the narrow energy spectra, the simulation results using the Badhwar-O'Neill galactic cosmic ray (GCR) environment model and the high-charge and energy transport (HZETRN) code are compared to the data. For the nuclear interactions of primary GCR through Mars atmosphere and Curiosity rover, the quantum multiple scattering theory of nuclear fragmentation (QMSFRG) is used, which includes direct knockout, evaporation and nuclear coalescence. Daily atmospheric pressure measurements at Gale Crater by the MSL Rover Environmental Monitoring Station are implemented into transport calculations for describing the daily column depth of atmosphere. Particles impinging on top of the Martian atmosphere reach the RAD after traversing varying depths of atmosphere that depend on the slant angles, and the model accounts for shielding of the RAD by the rest of the instrument. Calculations of stopping particle spectra are in good agreement with the RAD measurements for the first 200 sols by accounting changing heliospheric conditions and atmospheric pressure. Detailed comparisons between model predictions and spectral data of various particle types provide the validation of radiation transport models, and thus increase the accuracy of the predictions of future radiation environments on Mars. These contributions lend support to the understanding of radiation health risks to

  16. Unmanned aircraft systems for transportation decision support.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2016-11-30

    Our nation relies on accurate geospatial information to map, measure, and monitor transportation infrastructure and the surrounding landscapes. This project focused on the application of Unmanned Aircraft systems (UAS) as a novel tool for improving e...

  17. System-wide organization of actin cytoskeleton determines organelle transport in hypocotyl plant cells

    PubMed Central

    Nowak, Jacqueline; Ivakov, Alexander; Somssich, Marc; Persson, Staffan; Nikoloski, Zoran

    2017-01-01

    The actin cytoskeleton is an essential intracellular filamentous structure that underpins cellular transport and cytoplasmic streaming in plant cells. However, the system-level properties of actin-based cellular trafficking remain tenuous, largely due to the inability to quantify key features of the actin cytoskeleton. Here, we developed an automated image-based, network-driven framework to accurately segment and quantify actin cytoskeletal structures and Golgi transport. We show that the actin cytoskeleton in both growing and elongated hypocotyl cells has structural properties facilitating efficient transport. Our findings suggest that the erratic movement of Golgi is a stable cellular phenomenon that might optimize distribution efficiency of cell material. Moreover, we demonstrate that Golgi transport in hypocotyl cells can be accurately predicted from the actin network topology alone. Thus, our framework provides quantitative evidence for system-wide coordination of cellular transport in plant cells and can be readily applied to investigate cytoskeletal organization and transport in other organisms. PMID:28655850

  18. Energy transports by ocean and atmosphere based on an entropy extremum principle. I - Zonal averaged transports

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sohn, Byung-Ju; Smith, Eric A.

    1993-01-01

    The maximum entropy production principle suggested by Paltridge (1975) is applied to separating the satellite-determined required total transports into atmospheric and oceanic components. Instead of using the excessively restrictive equal energy dissipation hypothesis as a deterministic tool for separating transports between the atmosphere and ocean fluids, the satellite-inferred required 2D energy transports are imposed on Paltridge's energy balance model, which is then solved as a variational problem using the equal energy dissipation hypothesis only to provide an initial guess field. It is suggested that Southern Ocean transports are weaker than previously reported. It is argued that a maximum entropy production principle can serve as a governing rule on macroscale global climate, and, in conjunction with conventional satellite measurements of the net radiation balance, provides a means to decompose atmosphere and ocean transports from the total transport field.

  19. USE OF TRANSPORTABLE RADIATION DETECTION INSTRUMENTS TO ASSESS INTERNAL CONTAMINATION FROM INTAKES OF RADIONUCLIDES PART I: FIELD TESTS AND MONTE CARLO SIMULATIONS

    PubMed Central

    Anigstein, Robert; Erdman, Michael C.; Ansari, Armin

    2017-01-01

    The detonation of a radiological dispersion device or other radiological incidents could result in the dispersion of radioactive materials and intakes of radionuclides by affected individuals. Transportable radiation monitoring instruments could be used to measure photon radiation from radionuclides in the body for triaging individuals and assigning priorities to their bioassay samples for further assessments. Computer simulations and experimental measurements are required for these instruments to be used for assessing intakes of radionuclides. Count rates from calibrated sources of 60Co, 137Cs, and 241Am were measured on three instruments: a survey meter containing a 2.54 × 2.54-cm NaI(Tl) crystal, a thyroid probe using a 5.08 × 5.08-cm NaI(Tl) crystal, and a portal monitor incorporating two 3.81 × 7.62 × 182.9-cm polyvinyltoluene plastic scintillators. Computer models of the instruments and of the calibration sources were constructed, using engineering drawings and other data provided by the manufacturers. Count rates on the instruments were simulated using the Monte Carlo radiation transport code MCNPX. The computer simulations were within 16% of the measured count rates for all 20 measurements without using empirical radionuclide-dependent scaling factors, as reported by others. The weighted root-mean-square deviations (differences between measured and simulated count rates, added in quadrature and weighted by the variance of the difference) were 10.9% for the survey meter, 4.2% for the thyroid probe, and 0.9% for the portal monitor. These results validate earlier MCNPX models of these instruments that were used to develop calibration factors that enable these instruments to be used for assessing intakes and committed doses from several gamma-emitting radionuclides. PMID:27115229

  20. Ultraviolet Radiation Dose National Standard of México

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cardoso, R.; Rosas, E.

    2006-09-01

    We present the Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation Dose National Standard for México. The establishment of this measurement reference at Centro Nacional de Metrología (CENAM) eliminates the need of contacting foreign suppliers in the search for traceability towards the SI units when calibrating instruments at 365 nm. Further more, the UV Radiation Dose National Standard constitutes a highly accurate and reliable source for the UV radiation dose measurements performed in medical and cosmetic treatments as in the the food and pharmaceutics disinfection processes, among other.

  1. High-frequency fluctuations in Denmark Strait transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Haine, T. W. N.

    2010-07-01

    Denmark Strait ocean current transport exhibits quasi-regular fluctuations immediately south of the sill with periods of 2-4 days. The transport variability is similar to the mean transport itself. Using a circulation model we explore prospects to monitor the fluctuations. The model has realistic transport and shows water leaving Denmark Strait in equivalent-barotropic cyclones that are nearly geostrophic and correlate with sea-surface height (SSH). Existing satellite altimeter observations of SSH have adequate space/time sampling to reconstruct the transport fluctuations using a regression developed from the model results, but measurement error overwhelms the signal. From the model results, the pending Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) wide-swath altimeter appears accurate enough, and with good-enough coverage, to allow the transport fluctuations to be reconstructed. Bottom pressure recorders at the exit of the Denmark Strait can also reproduce the transport variability.

  2. Does a pneumotach accurately characterize voice function?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Walters, Gage; Krane, Michael

    2016-11-01

    A study is presented which addresses how a pneumotach might adversely affect clinical measurements of voice function. A pneumotach is a device, typically a mask, worn over the mouth, in order to measure time-varying glottal volume flow. By measuring the time-varying difference in pressure across a known aerodynamic resistance element in the mask, the glottal volume flow waveform is estimated. Because it adds aerodynamic resistance to the vocal system, there is some concern that using a pneumotach may not accurately portray the behavior of the voice. To test this hypothesis, experiments were performed in a simplified airway model with the principal dimensions of an adult human upper airway. A compliant constriction, fabricated from silicone rubber, modeled the vocal folds. Variations of transglottal pressure, time-averaged volume flow, model vocal fold vibration amplitude, and radiated sound with subglottal pressure were performed, with and without the pneumotach in place, and differences noted. Acknowledge support of NIH Grant 2R01DC005642-10A1.

  3. Estimating net solar radiation using Landsat Thematic Mapper and digital elevation data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dubayah, R.

    1992-01-01

    A radiative transfer algorithm is combined with digital elevation and satellite reflectance data to model spatial variability in net solar radiation at fine spatial resolution. The method is applied to the tall-grass prairie of the 16 x 16 sq km FIFE site (First ISLSCP Field Experiment) of the International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project. Spectral reflectances as measured by the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) are corrected for atmospheric and topographic effects using field measurements and accurate 30-m digital elevation data in a detailed model of atmosphere-surface interaction. The spectral reflectances are then integrated to produce estimates of surface albedo in the range 0.3-3.0 microns. This map of albedo is used in an atmospheric and topographic radiative transfer model to produce a map of net solar radiation. A map of apparent net solar radiation is also derived using only the TM reflectance data, uncorrected for topography, and the average field-measured downwelling solar irradiance. Comparison with field measurements at 10 sites on the prairie shows that the topographically derived radiation map accurately captures the spatial variability in net solar radiation, but the apparent map does not.

  4. Convergence of the Bouguer-Beer law for radiation extinction in particulate media

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Frankel, A.; Iaccarino, G.; Mani, A.

    2016-10-01

    Radiation transport in particulate media is a common physical phenomenon in natural and industrial processes. Developing predictive models of these processes requires a detailed model of the interaction between the radiation and the particles. Resolving the interaction between the radiation and the individual particles in a very large system is impractical, whereas continuum-based representations of the particle field lend themselves to efficient numerical techniques based on the solution of the radiative transfer equation. We investigate radiation transport through discrete and continuum-based representations of a particle field. Exact solutions for radiation extinction are developed using a Monte Carlo model in different particle distributions. The particle distributions are then projected onto a concentration field with varying grid sizes, and the Bouguer-Beer law is applied by marching across the grid. We show that the continuum-based solution approaches the Monte Carlo solution under grid refinement, but quickly diverges as the grid size approaches the particle diameter. This divergence is attributed to the homogenization error of an individual particle across a whole grid cell. We remark that the concentration energy spectrum of a point-particle field does not approach zero, and thus the concentration variance must also diverge under infinite grid refinement, meaning that no grid-converged solution of the radiation transport is possible.

  5. Combined Modeling of Acceleration, Transport, and Hydrodynamic Response in Solar Flares. 1; The Numerical Model

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Liu, Wei; Petrosian, Vahe; Mariska, John T.

    2009-01-01

    Acceleration and transport of high-energy particles and fluid dynamics of atmospheric plasma are interrelated aspects of solar flares, but for convenience and simplicity they were artificially separated in the past. We present here self consistently combined Fokker-Planck modeling of particles and hydrodynamic simulation of flare plasma. Energetic electrons are modeled with the Stanford unified code of acceleration, transport, and radiation, while plasma is modeled with the Naval Research Laboratory flux tube code. We calculated the collisional heating rate directly from the particle transport code, which is more accurate than those in previous studies based on approximate analytical solutions. We repeated the simulation of Mariska et al. with an injection of power law, downward-beamed electrons using the new heating rate. For this case, a -10% difference was found from their old result. We also used a more realistic spectrum of injected electrons provided by the stochastic acceleration model, which has a smooth transition from a quasi-thermal background at low energies to a non thermal tail at high energies. The inclusion of low-energy electrons results in relatively more heating in the corona (versus chromosphere) and thus a larger downward heat conduction flux. The interplay of electron heating, conduction, and radiative loss leads to stronger chromospheric evaporation than obtained in previous studies, which had a deficit in low-energy electrons due to an arbitrarily assumed low-energy cutoff. The energy and spatial distributions of energetic electrons and bremsstrahlung photons bear signatures of the changing density distribution caused by chromospheric evaporation. In particular, the density jump at the evaporation front gives rise to enhanced emission, which, in principle, can be imaged by X-ray telescopes. This model can be applied to investigate a variety of high-energy processes in solar, space, and astrophysical plasmas.

  6. COMBINED MODELING OF ACCELERATION, TRANSPORT, AND HYDRODYNAMIC RESPONSE IN SOLAR FLARES. I. THE NUMERICAL MODEL

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Liu Wei; Petrosian, Vahe; Mariska, John T.

    2009-09-10

    Acceleration and transport of high-energy particles and fluid dynamics of atmospheric plasma are interrelated aspects of solar flares, but for convenience and simplicity they were artificially separated in the past. We present here self-consistently combined Fokker-Planck modeling of particles and hydrodynamic simulation of flare plasma. Energetic electrons are modeled with the Stanford unified code of acceleration, transport, and radiation, while plasma is modeled with the Naval Research Laboratory flux tube code. We calculated the collisional heating rate directly from the particle transport code, which is more accurate than those in previous studies based on approximate analytical solutions. We repeated themore » simulation of Mariska et al. with an injection of power law, downward-beamed electrons using the new heating rate. For this case, a {approx}10% difference was found from their old result. We also used a more realistic spectrum of injected electrons provided by the stochastic acceleration model, which has a smooth transition from a quasi-thermal background at low energies to a nonthermal tail at high energies. The inclusion of low-energy electrons results in relatively more heating in the corona (versus chromosphere) and thus a larger downward heat conduction flux. The interplay of electron heating, conduction, and radiative loss leads to stronger chromospheric evaporation than obtained in previous studies, which had a deficit in low-energy electrons due to an arbitrarily assumed low-energy cutoff. The energy and spatial distributions of energetic electrons and bremsstrahlung photons bear signatures of the changing density distribution caused by chromospheric evaporation. In particular, the density jump at the evaporation front gives rise to enhanced emission, which, in principle, can be imaged by X-ray telescopes. This model can be applied to investigate a variety of high-energy processes in solar, space, and astrophysical plasmas.« less

  7. OUTWARD MOTION OF POROUS DUST AGGREGATES BY STELLAR RADIATION PRESSURE IN PROTOPLANETARY DISKS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Tazaki, Ryo; Nomura, Hideko, E-mail: rtazaki@kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp

    2015-02-01

    We study the dust motion at the surface layer of protoplanetary disks. Dust grains in the surface layer migrate outward owing to angular momentum transport via gas-drag force induced by the stellar radiation pressure. In this study we calculate the mass flux of the outward motion of compact grains and porous dust aggregates by the radiation pressure. The radiation pressure force for porous dust aggregates is calculated using the T-Matrix Method for the Clusters of Spheres. First, we confirm that porous dust aggregates are forced by strong radiation pressure even if they grow to be larger aggregates, in contrast tomore » homogeneous and spherical compact grains, for which radiation pressure efficiency becomes lower when their sizes increase. In addition, we find that the outward mass flux of porous dust aggregates with monomer size of 0.1 μm is larger than that of compact grains by an order of magnitude at the disk radius of 1 AU, when their sizes are several microns. This implies that large compact grains like calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions are hardly transported to the outer region by stellar radiation pressure, whereas porous dust aggregates like chondritic-porous interplanetary dust particles are efficiently transported to the comet formation region. Crystalline silicates are possibly transported in porous dust aggregates by stellar radiation pressure from the inner hot region to the outer cold cometary region in the protosolar nebula.« less

  8. NASA Space Radiation Program Integrative Risk Model Toolkit

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kim, Myung-Hee Y.; Hu, Shaowen; Plante, Ianik; Ponomarev, Artem L.; Sandridge, Chris

    2015-01-01

    NASA Space Radiation Program Element scientists have been actively involved in development of an integrative risk models toolkit that includes models for acute radiation risk and organ dose projection (ARRBOD), NASA space radiation cancer risk projection (NSCR), hemocyte dose estimation (HemoDose), GCR event-based risk model code (GERMcode), and relativistic ion tracks (RITRACKS), NASA radiation track image (NASARTI), and the On-Line Tool for the Assessment of Radiation in Space (OLTARIS). This session will introduce the components of the risk toolkit with opportunity for hands on demonstrations. The brief descriptions of each tools are: ARRBOD for Organ dose projection and acute radiation risk calculation from exposure to solar particle event; NSCR for Projection of cancer risk from exposure to space radiation; HemoDose for retrospective dose estimation by using multi-type blood cell counts; GERMcode for basic physical and biophysical properties for an ion beam, and biophysical and radiobiological properties for a beam transport to the target in the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory beam line; RITRACKS for simulation of heavy ion and delta-ray track structure, radiation chemistry, DNA structure and DNA damage at the molecular scale; NASARTI for modeling of the effects of space radiation on human cells and tissue by incorporating a physical model of tracks, cell nucleus, and DNA damage foci with image segmentation for the automated count; and OLTARIS, an integrated tool set utilizing HZETRN (High Charge and Energy Transport) intended to help scientists and engineers study the effects of space radiation on shielding materials, electronics, and biological systems.

  9. Inventory of system operations data collection and use in the Virginia Department of Transportation.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2006-01-01

    Accurate data describing the status of the transportation network is the backbone of system operations management. Without accurate data, traffic engineers cannot optimize signal phasing and timing, effective incident management cannot be undertaken,...

  10. 3D-radiative transfer in terrestrial atmosphere: An efficient parallel numerical procedure

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bass, L. P.; Germogenova, T. A.; Nikolaeva, O. V.; Kokhanovsky, A. A.; Kuznetsov, V. S.

    2003-04-01

    Light propagation and scattering in terrestrial atmosphere is usually studied in the framework of the 1D radiative transfer theory [1]. However, in reality particles (e.g., ice crystals, solid and liquid aerosols, cloud droplets) are randomly distributed in 3D space. In particular, their concentrations vary both in vertical and horizontal directions. Therefore, 3D effects influence modern cloud and aerosol retrieval procedures, which are currently based on the 1D radiative transfer theory. It should be pointed out that the standard radiative transfer equation allows to study these more complex situations as well [2]. In recent year the parallel version of the 2D and 3D RADUGA code has been developed. This version is successfully used in gammas and neutrons transport problems [3]. Applications of this code to radiative transfer in atmosphere problems are contained in [4]. Possibilities of code RADUGA are presented in [5]. The RADUGA code system is an universal solver of radiative transfer problems for complicated models, including 2D and 3D aerosol and cloud fields with arbitrary scattering anisotropy, light absorption, inhomogeneous underlying surface and topography. Both delta type and distributed light sources can be accounted for in the framework of the algorithm developed. The accurate numerical procedure is based on the new discrete ordinate SWDD scheme [6]. The algorithm is specifically designed for parallel supercomputers. The version RADUGA 5.1(P) can run on MBC1000M [7] (768 processors with 10 Gb of hard disc memory for each processor). The peak productivity is equal 1 Tfl. Corresponding scalar version RADUGA 5.1 is working on PC. As a first example of application of the algorithm developed, we have studied the shadowing effects of clouds on neighboring cloudless atmosphere, depending on the cloud optical thickness, surface albedo, and illumination conditions. This is of importance for modern satellite aerosol retrieval algorithms development. [1] Sobolev

  11. 28 CFR 79.62 - Criteria for eligibility for claims by ore transporters.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... ore transporters. 79.62 Section 79.62 Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (CONTINUED) CLAIMS UNDER THE RADIATION EXPOSURE COMPENSATION ACT Eligibility Criteria for Claims by Ore Transporters § 79.62 Criteria for eligibility for claims by ore transporters. To establish eligibility for compensation...

  12. 28 CFR 79.62 - Criteria for eligibility for claims by ore transporters.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... ore transporters. 79.62 Section 79.62 Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (CONTINUED) CLAIMS UNDER THE RADIATION EXPOSURE COMPENSATION ACT Eligibility Criteria for Claims by Ore Transporters § 79.62 Criteria for eligibility for claims by ore transporters. To establish eligibility for compensation...

  13. 28 CFR 79.62 - Criteria for eligibility for claims by ore transporters.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... ore transporters. 79.62 Section 79.62 Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (CONTINUED) CLAIMS UNDER THE RADIATION EXPOSURE COMPENSATION ACT Eligibility Criteria for Claims by Ore Transporters § 79.62 Criteria for eligibility for claims by ore transporters. To establish eligibility for compensation...

  14. 28 CFR 79.62 - Criteria for eligibility for claims by ore transporters.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... ore transporters. 79.62 Section 79.62 Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (CONTINUED) CLAIMS UNDER THE RADIATION EXPOSURE COMPENSATION ACT Eligibility Criteria for Claims by Ore Transporters § 79.62 Criteria for eligibility for claims by ore transporters. To establish eligibility for compensation...

  15. Impulsive phase transport

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Canfield, Richard C.; Bely-Dubau, Francoise; Brown, John C.; Dulk, George A.; Emslie, A. Gordon; Enome, Shinzo; Gabriel, Alan H.; Kundu, Mukul R.; Melrose, Donald; Neidig, Donald F.

    1986-01-01

    The transport of nonthermal electrons is explored. The thick-target electron beam model, in which electrons are presumed to be accelerated in the corona and typically thermalized primarily in the chromosphere and photosphere, is supported by observations throughout the electromagnetic spectrum. At the highest energies, the anisotropy of gamma-ray emission above 10 MeV clearly indicates that these photons are emitted by anisotropically-directed particles. The timing of this high-energy gamma-radiation with respect to lower-energy hard X-radiation implies that the energetic particles have short life-times. For collisional energy loss, this means that they are stopped in the chromosphere or below. Stereoscopic (two-spacecraft) observations at hard X-ray energies (up to 350 keV) imply that these lower-energy (but certainly nonthermal) electrons are also stopped deep in the chromosphere. Hard X-ray images show that, in spatially resolved flares whose radiation consists of impulsive bursts, the impulsive phase starts with X-radiation that comes mostly from the foot-points of coronal loops whose coronal component is outlined by microwaves.

  16. Radiative Heat Transfer and Turbulence-Radiation Interactions in a Heavy-Duty Diesel Engine

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Paul, C.; Sircar, A.; Ferreyro, S.; Imren, A.; Haworth, D. C.; Roy, S.; Ge, W.; Modest, M. F.

    2016-11-01

    Radiation in piston engines has received relatively little attention to date. Recently, it is being revisited in light of current trends towards higher operating pressures and higher levels of exhaust-gas recirculation, both of which enhance molecular gas radiation. Advanced high-efficiency engines also are expected to function closer to the limits of stable operation, where even small perturbations to the energy balance can have a large influence on system behavior. Here several different spectral radiation property models and radiative transfer equation (RTE) solvers have been implemented in an OpenFOAM-based engine CFD code, and simulations have been performed for a heavy-duty diesel engine. Differences in computed temperature fields, NO and soot levels, and wall heat transfer rates are shown for different combinations of spectral models and RTE solvers. The relative importance of molecular gas radiation versus soot radiation is examined. And the influence of turbulence-radiation interactions is determined by comparing results obtained using local mean values of composition and temperature to compute radiative emission and absorption with those obtained using a particle-based transported probability density function method. DOE, NSF.

  17. Space Radiation Transport Methods Development

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wilson, J. W.; Tripathi, R. K.; Qualls, G. D.; Cucinotta, F. A.; Prael, R. E.; Norbury, J. W.; Heinbockel, J. H.; Tweed, J.

    2002-01-01

    Improved spacecraft shield design requires early entry of radiation constraints into the design process to maximize performance and minimize costs. As a result, we have been investigating high-speed computational procedures to allow shield analysis from the preliminary design concepts to the final design. In particular, we will discuss the progress towards a full three-dimensional and computationally efficient deterministic code for which the current HZETRN evaluates the lowest order asymptotic term. HZETRN is the first deterministic solution to the Boltzmann equation allowing field mapping within the International Space Station (ISS) in tens of minutes using standard Finite Element Method (FEM) geometry common to engineering design practice enabling development of integrated multidisciplinary design optimization methods. A single ray trace in ISS FEM geometry requires 14 milliseconds and severely limits application of Monte Carlo methods to such engineering models. A potential means of improving the Monte Carlo efficiency in coupling to spacecraft geometry is given in terms of reconfigurable computing and could be utilized in the final design as verification of the deterministic method optimized design.

  18. 10 CFR 39.31 - Labels, security, and transportation precautions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Labels, security, and transportation precautions. 39.31 Section 39.31 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION LICENSES AND RADIATION SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR WELL... explosion or fire. (2) The licensee shall lock and physically secure the transport package containing...

  19. 10 CFR 39.31 - Labels, security, and transportation precautions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Labels, security, and transportation precautions. 39.31 Section 39.31 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION LICENSES AND RADIATION SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR WELL... explosion or fire. (2) The licensee shall lock and physically secure the transport package containing...

  20. 10 CFR 39.31 - Labels, security, and transportation precautions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Labels, security, and transportation precautions. 39.31 Section 39.31 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION LICENSES AND RADIATION SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR WELL... explosion or fire. (2) The licensee shall lock and physically secure the transport package containing...

  1. Hawking radiation in sonic black holes.

    PubMed

    Giovanazzi, S

    2005-02-18

    I present a microscopic description of Hawking radiation in sonic black holes. A one-dimensional Fermi-degenerate liquid squeezed by a smooth barrier forms a transonic flow, a sonic analog of a black hole. The quantum treatment of the noninteracting case establishes a close relationship between sonic Hawking radiation and quantum tunneling through the barrier. Quasiparticle excitations appear at the barrier and are then radiated with a thermal distribution in exact agreement with Hawking's formula. The signature of the radiation can be found in the dynamic structure factor, which can be measured in a scattering experiment. The possibility for experimental verification of this new transport phenomenon for ultracold atoms is discussed.

  2. The Transporter Classification Database: recent advances.

    PubMed

    Saier, Milton H; Yen, Ming Ren; Noto, Keith; Tamang, Dorjee G; Elkan, Charles

    2009-01-01

    The Transporter Classification Database (TCDB), freely accessible at http://www.tcdb.org, is a relational database containing sequence, structural, functional and evolutionary information about transport systems from a variety of living organisms, based on the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology-approved transporter classification (TC) system. It is a curated repository for factual information compiled largely from published references. It uses a functional/phylogenetic system of classification, and currently encompasses about 5000 representative transporters and putative transporters in more than 500 families. We here describe novel software designed to support and extend the usefulness of TCDB. Our recent efforts render it more user friendly, incorporate machine learning to input novel data in a semiautomatic fashion, and allow analyses that are more accurate and less time consuming. The availability of these tools has resulted in recognition of distant phylogenetic relationships and tremendous expansion of the information available to TCDB users.

  3. Radiative transfer calculated from a Markov chain formalism

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Esposito, L. W.; House, L. L.

    1978-01-01

    The theory of Markov chains is used to formulate the radiative transport problem in a general way by modeling the successive interactions of a photon as a stochastic process. Under the minimal requirement that the stochastic process is a Markov chain, the determination of the diffuse reflection or transmission from a scattering atmosphere is equivalent to the solution of a system of linear equations. This treatment is mathematically equivalent to, and thus has many of the advantages of, Monte Carlo methods, but can be considerably more rapid than Monte Carlo algorithms for numerical calculations in particular applications. We have verified the speed and accuracy of this formalism for the standard problem of finding the intensity of scattered light from a homogeneous plane-parallel atmosphere with an arbitrary phase function for scattering. Accurate results over a wide range of parameters were obtained with computation times comparable to those of a standard 'doubling' routine. The generality of this formalism thus allows fast, direct solutions to problems that were previously soluble only by Monte Carlo methods. Some comparisons are made with respect to integral equation methods.

  4. Aquarius, a reusable water-based interplanetary human spaceflight transport

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Adamo, Daniel R.; Logan, James S.

    2016-11-01

    Attributes of a reusable interplanetary human spaceflight transport are proposed and applied to example transits between the Earth/Moon system and Deimos, the outer moon of Mars. Because the transport is 54% water by mass at an interplanetary departure, it is christened Aquarius. In addition to supporting crew hydration/hygiene, water aboard Aquarius serves as propellant and as enhanced crew habitat radiation shielding during interplanetary transit. Key infrastructure and technology supporting Aquarius operations include pre-emplaced consumables and subsurface habitat at Deimos with crew radiation shielding equivalent to sea level on Earth, resupply in a selenocentric distant retrograde orbit, and nuclear thermal propulsion.

  5. Dissipative transport in superlattices within the Wigner function formalism

    DOE PAGES

    Jonasson, O.; Knezevic, I.

    2015-07-30

    Here, we employ the Wigner function formalism to simulate partially coherent, dissipative electron transport in biased semiconductor superlattices. We introduce a model collision integral with terms that describe energy dissipation, momentum relaxation, and the decay of spatial coherences (localization). Based on a particle-based solution to the Wigner transport equation with the model collision integral, we simulate quantum electronic transport at 10 K in a GaAs/AlGaAs superlattice and accurately reproduce its current density vs field characteristics obtained in experiment.

  6. Modeling Transport of Turbulent Fluxes in a Heterogeneous Urban Canopy Using a Spatially Explicit Energy Balance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moody, M.; Bailey, B.; Stoll, R., II

    2017-12-01

    Understanding how changes in the microclimate near individual plants affects the surface energy budget is integral to modeling land-atmosphere interactions and a wide range of near surface atmospheric boundary layer phenomena. In urban areas, the complex geometry of the urban canopy layer results in large spatial deviations of turbulent fluxes further complicating the development of models. Accurately accounting for this heterogeneity in order to model urban energy and water use requires a sub-plant level understanding of microclimate variables. We present analysis of new experimental field data taken in and around two Blue Spruce (Picea pungens) trees at the University of Utah in 2015. The test sites were chosen in order study the effects of heterogeneity in an urban environment. An array of sensors were placed in and around the conifers to quantify transport in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum: radiative fluxes, temperature, sap fluxes, etc. A spatial array of LEMS (Local Energy Measurement Systems) were deployed to obtain pressure, surrounding air temperature and relative humidity. These quantities are used to calculate the radiative and turbulent fluxes. Relying on measurements alone is insufficient to capture the complexity of microclimate distribution as one reaches sub-plant scales. A spatially-explicit radiation and energy balance model previously developed for deciduous trees was extended to include conifers. The model discretizes the tree into isothermal sub-volumes on which energy balances are performed and utilizes incoming radiation as the primary forcing input. The radiative transfer component of the model yields good agreement between measured and modeled upward longwave and shortwave radiative fluxes. Ultimately, the model was validated through an examination of the full energy budget including radiative and turbulent fluxes through isolated Picea pungens in an urban environment.

  7. Accurate respiration measurement using DC-coupled continuous-wave radar sensor for motion-adaptive cancer radiotherapy.

    PubMed

    Gu, Changzhan; Li, Ruijiang; Zhang, Hualiang; Fung, Albert Y C; Torres, Carlos; Jiang, Steve B; Li, Changzhi

    2012-11-01

    Accurate respiration measurement is crucial in motion-adaptive cancer radiotherapy. Conventional methods for respiration measurement are undesirable because they are either invasive to the patient or do not have sufficient accuracy. In addition, measurement of external respiration signal based on conventional approaches requires close patient contact to the physical device which often causes patient discomfort and undesirable motion during radiation dose delivery. In this paper, a dc-coupled continuous-wave radar sensor was presented to provide a noncontact and noninvasive approach for respiration measurement. The radar sensor was designed with dc-coupled adaptive tuning architectures that include RF coarse-tuning and baseband fine-tuning, which allows the radar sensor to precisely measure movement with stationary moment and always work with the maximum dynamic range. The accuracy of respiration measurement with the proposed radar sensor was experimentally evaluated using a physical phantom, human subject, and moving plate in a radiotherapy environment. It was shown that respiration measurement with radar sensor while the radiation beam is on is feasible and the measurement has a submillimeter accuracy when compared with a commercial respiration monitoring system which requires patient contact. The proposed radar sensor provides accurate, noninvasive, and noncontact respiration measurement and therefore has a great potential in motion-adaptive radiotherapy.

  8. Imperfection and radiation damage in protein crystals studied with coherent radiation

    PubMed Central

    Nave, Colin; Sutton, Geoff; Evans, Gwyndaf; Owen, Robin; Rau, Christoph; Robinson, Ian; Stuart, David Ian

    2016-01-01

    Fringes and speckles occur within diffraction spots when a crystal is illuminated with coherent radiation during X-ray diffraction. The additional information in these features provides insight into the imperfections in the crystal at the sub-micrometre scale. In addition, these features can provide more accurate intensity measurements (e.g. by model-based profile fitting), detwinning (by distinguishing the various components), phasing (by exploiting sampling of the molecular transform) and refinement (by distinguishing regions with different unit-cell parameters). In order to exploit these potential benefits, the features due to coherent diffraction have to be recorded and any change due to radiation damage properly modelled. Initial results from recording coherent diffraction at cryotemperatures from polyhedrin crystals of approximately 2 µm in size are described. These measurements allowed information about the type of crystal imperfections to be obtained at the sub-micrometre level, together with the changes due to radiation damage. PMID:26698068

  9. Radiation noise in a high sensitivity star sensor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Parkinson, J. B.; Gordon, E.

    1972-01-01

    An extremely accurate attitude determination was developed for space applications. This system uses a high sensitivity star sensor in which the photomultiplier tube is subject to noise generated by space radiations. The space radiation induced noise arises from trapped electrons, solar protons and other ionizing radiations, as well as from dim star background. The solar activity and hence the electron and proton environments are predicted through the end of the twentieth century. The available data for the response of the phototube to proton, electron, gamma ray, and bremsstrahlung radiations are reviewed and new experimental data is presented. A simulation was developed which represents the characteristics of the effect of radiations on the star sensor, including the non-stationarity of the backgrounds.

  10. A history of presatellite investigations of the earth's radiation budget

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hunt, G. E.; Kandel, R.; Mecherikunnel, A. T.

    1986-01-01

    The history of radiation budget studies from the early twentieth century to the advent of the space age is reviewed. By the beginning of the 1960's, accurate radiative models had been developed capable of estimating the global and zonally averaged components of the radiation budget, though great uncertainty in the derived parameters existed due to inaccuracy of the data describing the physical parameters used in the model, associated with clouds, the solar radiation, and the gaseous atmospheric absorbers. Over the century, the planetary albedo estimates had reduced from 89 to 30 percent.

  11. Time-Accurate Simulations and Acoustic Analysis of Slat Free-Shear Layer

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Khorrami, Mehdi R.; Singer, Bart A.; Berkman, Mert E.

    2001-01-01

    A detailed computational aeroacoustic analysis of a high-lift flow field is performed. Time-accurate Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) computations simulate the free shear layer that originates from the slat cusp. Both unforced and forced cases are studied. Preliminary results show that the shear layer is a good amplifier of disturbances in the low to mid-frequency range. The Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings equation is solved to determine the acoustic field using the unsteady flow data from the RANS calculations. The noise radiated from the excited shear layer has a spectral shape qualitatively similar to that obtained from measurements in a corresponding experimental study of the high-lift system.

  12. Analysis of longwave radiation for the Earth-atmosphere system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tiwari, S. N.; Venuru, C. S.; Subramanian, S. V.

    1983-01-01

    Accurate radiative transfer models are used to determine the upwelling atmospheric radiance and net radiative flux in the entire longwave spectral range. The validity of the quasi-random band model is established by comparing the results of this model with those of line-by-line formulations and with available theoretical and experimental results. Existing radiative transfer models and computer codes are modified to include various surface and atmospheric effects (surface reflection, nonequilibrium radiation, and cloud effects). The program is used to evaluate the radiative flux in clear atmosphere, provide sensitivity analysis of upwelling radiance in the presence of clouds, and determine the effects of various climatological parameters on the upwelling radiation and anisotropic function. Homogeneous and nonhomogeneous gas emissivities can also be evaluated under different conditions.

  13. Radiation processed polychloroprene-co-ethylene-propene diene terpolymer blends: Effect of radiation vulcanization on solvent transport kinetics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dubey, K. A.; Bhardwaj, Y. K.; Chaudhari, C. V.; Kumar, Virendra; Goel, N. K.; Sabharwal, S.

    2009-03-01

    Blends of polychloroprene rubber (PCR) and ethylene propylene diene terpolymer rubber (EPDM) of different compositions were made and exposed to different gamma radiation doses. The radiation sensitivity and radiation vulcanization efficiency of blends was estimated by gel-content analysis, Charlesby-Pinner parameter determination and crosslinking density measurements. Gamma radiation induced crosslinking was most efficient for EPDM ( p0/ q0 ˜ 0.08), whereas it was the lowest for blends containing 40% PCR ( p0/ q0 ˜ 0.34). The vulcanized blends were characterized for solvent diffusion characteristics by following the swelling dynamics. Blends with higher PCR content showed anomalous swelling. The sorption and permeability of the solvent were not strictly in accordance with each other and the extent of variation in two parameters was found to be a function of blend composition. The Δ G values for solvent diffusion were in the range -2.97 to -9.58 kJ/mol and indicated thermodynamically favorable sorption for all blends. These results were corroborated by dynamic swelling, experimental as well as simulated profiles and have been explained on the basis of correlation between crosslinking density, diffusion kinetics, thermodynamic parameters and polymer-polymer interaction parameter.

  14. Transport Properties for Combustion Modeling

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Brown, N.J.; Bastein, L.; Price, P.N.

    This review examines current approximations and approaches that underlie the evaluation of transport properties for combustion modeling applications. Discussed in the review are: the intermolecular potential and its descriptive molecular parameters; various approaches to evaluating collision integrals; supporting data required for the evaluation of transport properties; commonly used computer programs for predicting transport properties; the quality of experimental measurements and their importance for validating or rejecting approximations to property estimation; the interpretation of corresponding states; combination rules that yield pair molecular potential parameters for unlike species from like species parameters; and mixture approximations. The insensitivity of transport properties to intermolecularmore » forces is noted, especially the non-uniqueness of the supporting potential parameters. Viscosity experiments of pure substances and binary mixtures measured post 1970 are used to evaluate a number of approximations; the intermediate temperature range 1 < T* < 10, where T* is kT/{var_epsilon}, is emphasized since this is where rich data sets are available. When suitable potential parameters are used, errors in transport property predictions for pure substances and binary mixtures are less than 5 %, when they are calculated using the approaches of Kee et al.; Mason, Kestin, and Uribe; Paul and Warnatz; or Ern and Giovangigli. Recommendations stemming from the review include (1) revisiting the supporting data required by the various computational approaches, and updating the data sets with accurate potential parameters, dipole moments, and polarizabilities; (2) characterizing the range of parameter space over which the fit to experimental data is good, rather than the current practice of reporting only the parameter set that best fits the data; (3) looking for improved combining rules, since existing rules were found to under-predict the viscosity in most

  15. Payload canister transporter in VPF clean room

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1984-01-01

    Payload canister transporter in Vertical Processing Facility (VPF) Clean Room loaded with Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS), Large Format Camera (LFC) and Orbital Refueling System (ORS) for STS-41G mission.

  16. GUI to Facilitate Research on Biological Damage from Radiation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cucinotta, Frances A.; Ponomarev, Artem Lvovich

    2010-01-01

    A graphical-user-interface (GUI) computer program has been developed to facilitate research on the damage caused by highly energetic particles and photons impinging on living organisms. The program brings together, into one computational workspace, computer codes that have been developed over the years, plus codes that will be developed during the foreseeable future, to address diverse aspects of radiation damage. These include codes that implement radiation-track models, codes for biophysical models of breakage of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) by radiation, pattern-recognition programs for extracting quantitative information from biological assays, and image-processing programs that aid visualization of DNA breaks. The radiation-track models are based on transport models of interactions of radiation with matter and solution of the Boltzmann transport equation by use of both theoretical and numerical models. The biophysical models of breakage of DNA by radiation include biopolymer coarse-grained and atomistic models of DNA, stochastic- process models of deposition of energy, and Markov-based probabilistic models of placement of double-strand breaks in DNA. The program is designed for use in the NT, 95, 98, 2000, ME, and XP variants of the Windows operating system.

  17. Direct Radiative Impacts of Central American Biomass Burning Smoke Aerosols: Analysis from a Coupled Aerosol-Radiation-Meteorology Model RAMS-AROMA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, J.; Christopher, S. A.; Nair, U. S.; Reid, J. S.; Prins, E. M.

    2005-12-01

    Considerable efforts including various field experiments have been carried out in the last decade for studying the regional climatic impact of smoke aerosols produced by biomass burning activities in Africa and South America. In contrast, only few investigations have been conducted for Central American Biomass Burning (CABB) region. Using a coupled aerosol-radiation-meteorology model called RAMS-AROMA together with various ground-based observations, we present a comprehensive analysis of the smoke direct radiative impacts on the surface energy budget, boundary layer evolution, and e precipitation process during the CABB events in Spring 2003. Quantitative estimates are also made regarding the transboundary carbon mass to the U.S. in the form of smoke particles. Buult upon the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) mesoscale model, the RAMS AROMA has several features including Assimilation and Radiation Online Modeling of Aerosols (AROMA) algorithms. The model simulates smoke transport by using hourly smoke emission inventory from the Fire Locating and Modeling of Burning Emissions (FLAMBE) geostationary satellite database. It explicitly considers the smoke effects on the radiative transfer at each model time step and model grid, thereby coupling the dynamical processes and aerosol transport. Comparison with ground-based observation show that the simulation realistically captured the smoke transport timeline and distribution from daily to hourly scales. The effects of smoke radiative extinction on the decrease of 2m air temperature (2mT), diurnal temperature range (DTR), and boundary layer height over the land surface are also quantified. Warming due to smoke absorption of solar radiation can be found in the lower troposphere over the ocean, but not near the underlying land surface. The increase of boundary layer stability produces a positive feedback where more smoke particles are trapped in the lower boundary layer. These changes in temperature, surface

  18. Radiation Hydrodynamics with GIZMO: The Disruption of Giant Molecular Clouds by Stellar Radiation Pressure

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khatami, David; Hopkins, Philip F.

    2016-01-01

    We present a numerical implementation of radiation hydrodynamics for the meshless code GIZMO. The radiation transport is treated as an anisotropic diffusion process combined with radiation pressure effects, photoionization with heating and cooling routines, and a multifrequency treatment of an arbitrary number of sources. As a first application of the method, we investigate the disruption of giant molecular clouds by stellar radiative feedback. Specifically, what fraction of the gas must a GMC convert into stars to cause self-disruption? We test a range of cloud masses and sizes with several source luminosities to probe the effects of photoheating and radiation pressure on timescales shorter than the onset of the first supernovae. Observationally, only ~1-10% of gas is converted into stars, an inefficiency that is likely the result of feedback from newly formed stars. Whether photoheating or radiation pressure dominates is dependent on the given cloud properties. For denser clouds, we expect photoheating to play a negligible role with most of the feedback driven by radiation pressure. This work explores the necessary parameters a GMC must have in order for radiation pressure to be the main disruption process.

  19. Regimes of radiative and nonradiative transitions in transport through an electronic system in a photon cavity reaching a steady state

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gudmundsson, Vidar; Jonsson, Thorsteinn H.; Bernodusson, Maria Laura; Abdullah, Nzar Rauf; Sitek, Anna; Goan, Hsi-Sheng; Tang, Chi-Shung; Manolescu, Andrei

    2017-01-01

    We analyze how a multilevel many-electron system in a photon cavity approaches the steady state when coupled to external leads. When a plunger gate is used to lower cavity photon dressed one- and two-electron states below the bias window defined by the external leads, we can identify one regime with nonradiative transitions dominating the electron transport, and another regime with radiative transitions. Both transitions trap the electrons in the states below the bias bringing the system into a steady state. The order of the two regimes and their relative strength depends on the location of the bias window in the energy spectrum of the system and the initial conditions.

  20. An approach to improving transporting velocity in the long-range ultrasonic transportation of micro-particles

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Meng, Jianxin; Mei, Deqing, E-mail: meidq-127@zju.edu.cn; Yang, Keji

    2014-08-14

    In existing ultrasonic transportation methods, the long-range transportation of micro-particles is always realized in step-by-step way. Due to the substantial decrease of the driving force in each step, the transportation is lower-speed and stair-stepping. To improve the transporting velocity, a non-stepping ultrasonic transportation approach is proposed. By quantitatively analyzing the acoustic potential well, an optimal region is defined as the position, where the largest driving force is provided under the condition that the driving force is simultaneously the major component of an acoustic radiation force. To keep the micro-particle trapped in the optimal region during the whole transportation process, anmore » approach of optimizing the phase-shifting velocity and phase-shifting step is adopted. Due to the stable and large driving force, the displacement of the micro-particle is an approximately linear function of time, instead of a stair-stepping function of time as in the existing step-by-step methods. An experimental setup is also developed to validate this approach. Long-range ultrasonic transportations of zirconium beads with high transporting velocity were realized. The experimental results demonstrated that this approach is an effective way to improve transporting velocity in the long-range ultrasonic transportation of micro-particles.« less