Calibration method for a large-scale structured light measurement system.

PubMed

Wang, Peng; Wang, Jianmei; Xu, Jing; Guan, Yong; Zhang, Guanglie; Chen, Ken

2017-05-10

The structured light method is an effective non-contact measurement approach. The calibration greatly affects the measurement precision of structured light systems. To construct a large-scale structured light system with high accuracy, a large-scale and precise calibration gauge is always required, which leads to an increased cost. To this end, in this paper, a calibration method with a planar mirror is proposed to reduce the calibration gauge size and cost. An out-of-focus camera calibration method is also proposed to overcome the defocusing problem caused by the shortened distance during the calibration procedure. The experimental results verify the accuracy of the proposed calibration method.

An Improved Fast Self-Calibration Method for Hybrid Inertial Navigation System under Stationary Condition

PubMed Central

Liu, Bingqi; Wei, Shihui; Su, Guohua; Wang, Jiping; Lu, Jiazhen

2018-01-01

The navigation accuracy of the inertial navigation system (INS) can be greatly improved when the inertial measurement unit (IMU) is effectively calibrated and compensated, such as gyro drifts and accelerometer biases. To reduce the requirement for turntable precision in the classical calibration method, a continuous dynamic self-calibration method based on a three-axis rotating frame for the hybrid inertial navigation system is presented. First, by selecting a suitable IMU frame, the error models of accelerometers and gyros are established. Then, by taking the navigation errors during rolling as the observations, the overall twenty-one error parameters of hybrid inertial navigation system (HINS) are identified based on the calculation of the intermediate parameter. The actual experiment verifies that the method can identify all error parameters of HINS and this method has equivalent accuracy to the classical calibration on a high-precision turntable. In addition, this method is rapid, simple and feasible. PMID:29695041

Color calibration and color-managed medical displays: does the calibration method matter?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roehrig, Hans; Rehm, Kelly; Silverstein, Louis D.; Dallas, William J.; Fan, Jiahua; Krupinski, Elizabeth A.

2010-02-01

Our laboratory has investigated the efficacy of a suite of color calibration and monitor profiling packages which employ a variety of color measurement sensors. Each of the methods computes gamma correction tables for the red, green and blue color channels of a monitor that attempt to: a) match a desired luminance range and tone reproduction curve; and b) maintain a target neutral point across the range of grey values. All of the methods examined here produce International Color Consortium (ICC) profiles that describe the color rendering capabilities of the monitor after calibration. Color profiles incorporate a transfer matrix that establishes the relationship between RGB driving levels and the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) XYZ (tristimulus) values of the resulting on-screen color; the matrix is developed by displaying color patches of known RGB values on the monitor and measuring the tristimulus values with a sensor. The number and chromatic distribution of color patches varies across methods and is usually not under user control. In this work we examine the effect of employing differing calibration and profiling methods on rendition of color images. A series of color patches encoded in sRGB color space were presented on the monitor using color-management software that utilized the ICC profile produced by each method. The patches were displayed on the calibrated monitor and measured with a Minolta CS200 colorimeter. Differences in intended and achieved luminance and chromaticity were computed using the CIE DE2000 color-difference metric, in which a value of ▵E = 1 is generally considered to be approximately one just noticeable difference (JND) in color. We observed between one and 17 JND's for individual colors, depending on calibration method and target.

Structured light system calibration method with optimal fringe angle.

PubMed

Li, Beiwen; Zhang, Song

2014-11-20

For structured light system calibration, one popular approach is to treat the projector as an inverse camera. This is usually performed by projecting horizontal and vertical sequences of patterns to establish one-to-one mapping between camera points and projector points. However, for a well-designed system, either horizontal or vertical fringe images are not sensitive to depth variation and thus yield inaccurate mapping. As a result, the calibration accuracy is jeopardized if a conventional calibration method is used. To address this limitation, this paper proposes a novel calibration method based on optimal fringe angle determination. Experiments demonstrate that our calibration approach can increase the measurement accuracy up to 38% compared to the conventional calibration method with a calibration volume of 300(H)  mm×250(W)  mm×500(D)  mm.

Simultaneous multi-headed imager geometry calibration method

DOEpatents

Tran, Vi-Hoa [Newport News, VA; Meikle, Steven Richard [Penshurst, AU; Smith, Mark Frederick [Yorktown, VA

2008-02-19

A method for calibrating multi-headed high sensitivity and high spatial resolution dynamic imaging systems, especially those useful in the acquisition of tomographic images of small animals. The method of the present invention comprises: simultaneously calibrating two or more detectors to the same coordinate system; and functionally correcting for unwanted detector movement due to gantry flexing.

Medical color displays and their color calibration: investigations of various calibration methods, tools, and potential improvement in color difference ΔE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roehrig, Hans; Hashmi, Syed F.; Dallas, William J.; Krupinski, Elizabeth A.; Rehm, Kelly; Fan, Jiahua

2010-08-01

that those calibration parameters did conform, with the help of a state of the art Spectroradiometer, PR670. As a result of this addition of the PR670, and also an in-house developed method of profiling and characterization, it appears that there was much improvement in ΔE, the color difference.

Automatic calibration method for plenoptic camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luan, Yinsen; He, Xing; Xu, Bing; Yang, Ping; Tang, Guomao

2016-04-01

An automatic calibration method is proposed for a microlens-based plenoptic camera. First, all microlens images on the white image are searched and recognized automatically based on digital morphology. Then, the center points of microlens images are rearranged according to their relative position relationships. Consequently, the microlens images are located, i.e., the plenoptic camera is calibrated without the prior knowledge of camera parameters. Furthermore, this method is appropriate for all types of microlens-based plenoptic cameras, even the multifocus plenoptic camera, the plenoptic camera with arbitrarily arranged microlenses, or the plenoptic camera with different sizes of microlenses. Finally, we verify our method by the raw data of Lytro. The experiments show that our method has higher intelligence than the methods published before.

Novel crystal timing calibration method based on total variation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Xingjian; Isobe, Takashi; Watanabe, Mitsuo; Liu, Huafeng

2016-11-01

A novel crystal timing calibration method based on total variation (TV), abbreviated as ‘TV merge’, has been developed for a high-resolution positron emission tomography (PET) system. The proposed method was developed for a system with a large number of crystals, it can provide timing calibration at the crystal level. In the proposed method, the timing calibration process was formulated as a linear problem. To robustly optimize the timing resolution, a TV constraint was added to the linear equation. Moreover, to solve the computer memory problem associated with the calculation of the timing calibration factors for systems with a large number of crystals, the merge component was used for obtaining the crystal level timing calibration values. Compared with other conventional methods, the data measured from a standard cylindrical phantom filled with a radioisotope solution was sufficient for performing a high-precision crystal-level timing calibration. In this paper, both simulation and experimental studies were performed to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the TV merge method. We compare the timing resolutions of a 22Na point source, which was located in the field of view (FOV) of the brain PET system, with various calibration techniques. After implementing the TV merge method, the timing resolution improved from 3.34 ns at full width at half maximum (FWHM) to 2.31 ns FWHM.

FTIR Calibration Methods and Issues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perron, Gaetan

Over the past 10 years, several space-borne FTIR missions were launched for atmospheric research, environmental monitoring and meteorology. One can think of the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) launched by the European Space Agency, the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) launched by the Canadian Space Agency, the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) launched by NASA and the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) launched by Eumetsat in Europe. Others are near to be launched, namely the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) from the Integrated Program Of- fice in the United States and the Thermal And Near infrared Sensor for carbon Observation (TANSO) from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Moreover, several missions under definition foresee the use of this technology as sensor, e.g. Meteosat Third Generation (MTG), Eumetsat Polar System (EPS) and the Premier mission, one of the six candidates of the next ESA Earth Explorer Core Mission. In order to produce good quality products, calibration is essential. Calibrated data is the output of three main sub-systems that are tightly coupled: the instrument, the calibration targets and the level 1B processor. Calibration requirements must be carefully defined and propagated to each sub-system. Often, they are carried out by different parties which add to the complexity. Under budget and schedule pressure, some aspects are sometimes neglected and jeopardized final quality. For space-borne FTIR, level 1B outputs are spectra that are radiometrically, spectrally calibrated and geolocated. Radiometric calibration means to assign an intensity value in units to the y-axis. Spectral calibration means to assign to the x-axis the proper frequency value in units. Finally, geolocated means to assign a target position over the earth geoid i.e. longitude, latitude and altitude. This paper will present calibration methods and issues related to space-borne FTIR missions, e.g. two

Method of Calibrating a Force Balance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parker, Peter A. (Inventor); Rhew, Ray D. (Inventor); Johnson, Thomas H. (Inventor); Landman, Drew (Inventor)

2015-01-01

A calibration system and method utilizes acceleration of a mass to generate a force on the mass. An expected value of the force is calculated based on the magnitude and acceleration of the mass. A fixture is utilized to mount the mass to a force balance, and the force balance is calibrated to provide a reading consistent with the expected force determined for a given acceleration. The acceleration can be varied to provide different expected forces, and the force balance can be calibrated for different applied forces. The acceleration may result from linear acceleration of the mass or rotational movement of the mass.

Multiresidue determination of pesticides in crop plants by the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe method and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry using a calibration based on a single level standard addition in the sample.

PubMed

Viera, Mariela S; Rizzetti, Tiele M; de Souza, Maiara P; Martins, Manoel L; Prestes, Osmar D; Adaime, Martha B; Zanella, Renato

2017-12-01

In this study, a QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe) method, optimized by a 2 3 full factorial design, was developed for the determination of 72 pesticides in plant parts of carrot, corn, melon, rice, soy, silage, tobacco, cassava, lettuce and wheat by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). Considering the complexity of these matrices and the need of use calibration in matrix, a new calibration approach based on single level standard addition in the sample (SLSAS) was proposed in this work and compared with the matrix-matched calibration (MMC), the procedural standard calibration (PSC) and the diluted standard addition calibration (DSAC). All approaches presented satisfactory validation parameters with recoveries from 70 to 120% and relative standard deviations≤20%. SLSAS was the most practical from the evaluated approaches and proved to be an effective way of calibration. Method limit of detection were between 4.8 and 48μgkg -1 and limit of quantification were from 16 to 160μgkg -1 . Method application to different kinds of plants found residues of 20 pesticides that were quantified with z-scores values≤2 in comparison with other calibration approaches. The proposed QuEChERS method combined with UHPLC-MS/MS analysis and using an easy and effective calibration procedure presented satisfactory results for pesticide residues determination in different crop plants and is a good alternative for routine analysis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A calibration-free electrode compensation method

PubMed Central

Rossant, Cyrille; Fontaine, Bertrand; Magnusson, Anna K.

2012-01-01

In a single-electrode current-clamp recording, the measured potential includes both the response of the membrane and that of the measuring electrode. The electrode response is traditionally removed using bridge balance, where the response of an ideal resistor representing the electrode is subtracted from the measurement. Because the electrode is not an ideal resistor, this procedure produces capacitive transients in response to fast or discontinuous currents. More sophisticated methods exist, but they all require a preliminary calibration phase, to estimate the properties of the electrode. If these properties change after calibration, the measurements are corrupted. We propose a compensation method that does not require preliminary calibration. Measurements are compensated offline by fitting a model of the neuron and electrode to the trace and subtracting the predicted electrode response. The error criterion is designed to avoid the distortion of compensated traces by spikes. The technique allows electrode properties to be tracked over time and can be extended to arbitrary models of electrode and neuron. We demonstrate the method using biophysical models and whole cell recordings in cortical and brain-stem neurons. PMID:22896724

Method for calibrating mass spectrometers

DOEpatents

Anderson, Gordon A [Benton City, WA; Brands, Michael D [Richland, WA; Bruce, James E [Schwenksville, PA; Pasa-Tolic, Ljiljana [Richland, WA; Smith, Richard D [Richland, WA

2002-12-24

A method whereby a mass spectra generated by a mass spectrometer is calibrated by shifting the parameters used by the spectrometer to assign masses to the spectra in a manner which reconciles the signal of ions within the spectra having equal mass but differing charge states, or by reconciling ions having known differences in mass to relative values consistent with those known differences. In this manner, the mass spectrometer is calibrated without the need for standards while allowing the generation of a highly accurate mass spectra by the instrument.

Comparison of TLD calibration methods for  192Ir dosimetry

PubMed Central

Butler, Duncan J.; Wilfert, Lisa; Ebert, Martin A.; Todd, Stephen P.; Hayton, Anna J.M.; Kron, Tomas

2013-01-01

For the purpose of dose measurement using a high‐dose rate  192Ir source, four methods of thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) calibration were investigated. Three of the four calibration methods used the  192Ir source. Dwell times were calculated to deliver 1 Gy to the TLDs irradiated either in air or water. Dwell time calculations were confirmed by direct measurement using an ionization chamber. The fourth method of calibration used 6 MV photons from a medical linear accelerator, and an energy correction factor was applied to account for the difference in sensitivity of the TLDs in  192Ir and 6 M V. The results of the four TLD calibration methods are presented in terms of the results of a brachytherapy audit where seven Australian centers irradiated three sets of TLDs in a water phantom. The results were in agreement within estimated uncertainties when the TLDs were calibrated with the  192Ir source. Calibrating TLDs in a phantom similar to that used for the audit proved to be the most practical method and provided the greatest confidence in measured dose. When calibrated using 6 MV photons, the TLD results were consistently higher than the  192Ir−calibrated TLDs, suggesting this method does not fully correct for the response of the TLDs when irradiated in the audit phantom. PACS number: 87 PMID:23318392

A Novel Multi-Camera Calibration Method based on Flat Refractive Geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, S.; Feng, M. C.; Zheng, T. X.; Li, F.; Wang, J. Q.; Xiao, L. F.

2018-03-01

Multi-camera calibration plays an important role in many field. In the paper, we present a novel multi-camera calibration method based on flat refractive geometry. All cameras can acquire calibration images of transparent glass calibration board (TGCB) at the same time. The application of TGCB leads to refractive phenomenon which can generate calibration error. The theory of flat refractive geometry is employed to eliminate the error. The new method can solve the refractive phenomenon of TGCB. Moreover, the bundle adjustment method is used to minimize the reprojection error and obtain optimized calibration results. Finally, the four-cameras calibration results of real data show that the mean value and standard deviation of the reprojection error of our method are 4.3411e-05 and 0.4553 pixel, respectively. The experimental results show that the proposed method is accurate and reliable.

A new method to calibrate the absolute sensitivity of a soft X-ray streak camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Jian; Liu, Shenye; Li, Jin; Yang, Zhiwen; Chen, Ming; Guo, Luting; Yao, Li; Xiao, Shali

2016-12-01

In this paper, we introduce a new method to calibrate the absolute sensitivity of a soft X-ray streak camera (SXRSC). The calibrations are done in the static mode by using a small laser-produced X-ray source. A calibrated X-ray CCD is used as a secondary standard detector to monitor the X-ray source intensity. In addition, two sets of holographic flat-field grating spectrometers are chosen as the spectral discrimination systems of the SXRSC and the X-ray CCD. The absolute sensitivity of the SXRSC is obtained by comparing the signal counts of the SXRSC to the output counts of the X-ray CCD. Results show that the calibrated spectrum covers the range from 200 eV to 1040 eV. The change of the absolute sensitivity in the vicinity of the K-edge of the carbon can also be clearly seen. The experimental values agree with the calculated values to within 29% error. Compared with previous calibration methods, the proposed method has several advantages: a wide spectral range, high accuracy, and simple data processing. Our calibration results can be used to make quantitative X-ray flux measurements in laser fusion research.

The calibration methods for Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer: a review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Maosi; Davis, John; Tang, Hongzhao; Ownby, Carolyn; Gao, Wei

2013-09-01

The continuous, over two-decade data record from the Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer (MFRSR) is ideal for climate research which requires timely and accurate information of important atmospheric components such as gases, aerosols, and clouds. Except for parameters derived from MFRSR measurement ratios, which are not impacted by calibration error, most applications require accurate calibration factor(s), angular correction, and spectral response function(s) from calibration. Although a laboratory lamp (or reference) calibration can provide all the information needed to convert the instrument readings to actual radiation, in situ calibration methods are implemented routinely (daily) to fill the gaps between lamp calibrations. In this paper, the basic structure and the data collection and pretreatment of the MFRSR are described. The laboratory lamp calibration and its limitations are summarized. The cloud screening algorithms for MFRSR data are presented. The in situ calibration methods, the standard Langley method and its variants, the ratio-Langley method, the general method, Alexandrov's comprehensive method, and Chen's multi-channel method, are outlined. The reason that all these methods do not fit for all situations is that they assume some properties, such as aerosol optical depth (AOD), total optical depth (TOD), precipitable water vapor (PWV), effective size of aerosol particles, or angstrom coefficient, are invariant over time. These properties are not universal and some of them rarely happen. In practice, daily calibration factors derived from these methods should be smoothed to restrain error.

A New Online Calibration Method Based on Lord's Bias-Correction.

PubMed

He, Yinhong; Chen, Ping; Li, Yong; Zhang, Shumei

2017-09-01

Online calibration technique has been widely employed to calibrate new items due to its advantages. Method A is the simplest online calibration method and has attracted many attentions from researchers recently. However, a key assumption of Method A is that it treats person-parameter estimates θ ^ s (obtained by maximum likelihood estimation [MLE]) as their true values θ s , thus the deviation of the estimated θ ^ s from their true values might yield inaccurate item calibration when the deviation is nonignorable. To improve the performance of Method A, a new method, MLE-LBCI-Method A, is proposed. This new method combines a modified Lord's bias-correction method (named as maximum likelihood estimation-Lord's bias-correction with iteration [MLE-LBCI]) with the original Method A in an effort to correct the deviation of θ ^ s which may adversely affect the item calibration precision. Two simulation studies were carried out to explore the performance of both MLE-LBCI and MLE-LBCI-Method A under several scenarios. Simulation results showed that MLE-LBCI could make a significant improvement over the ML ability estimates, and MLE-LBCI-Method A did outperform Method A in almost all experimental conditions.

Optimized star sensors laboratory calibration method using a regularization neural network.

PubMed

Zhang, Chengfen; Niu, Yanxiong; Zhang, Hao; Lu, Jiazhen

2018-02-10

High-precision ground calibration is essential to ensure the performance of star sensors. However, the complex distortion and multi-error coupling have brought great difficulties to traditional calibration methods, especially for large field of view (FOV) star sensors. Although increasing the complexity of models is an effective way to improve the calibration accuracy, it significantly increases the demand for calibration data. In order to achieve high-precision calibration of star sensors with large FOV, a novel laboratory calibration method based on a regularization neural network is proposed. A multi-layer structure neural network is designed to represent the mapping of the star vector and the corresponding star point coordinate directly. To ensure the generalization performance of the network, regularization strategies are incorporated into the net structure and the training algorithm. Simulation and experiment results demonstrate that the proposed method can achieve high precision with less calibration data and without any other priori information. Compared with traditional methods, the calibration error of the star sensor decreased by about 30%. The proposed method can satisfy the precision requirement for large FOV star sensors.

A novel calibration method of focused light field camera for 3-D reconstruction of flame temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Jun; Hossain, Md. Moinul; Xu, Chuan-Long; Zhang, Biao; Wang, Shi-Min

2017-05-01

This paper presents a novel geometric calibration method for focused light field camera to trace the rays of flame radiance and to reconstruct the three-dimensional (3-D) temperature distribution of a flame. A calibration model is developed to calculate the corner points and their projections of the focused light field camera. The characteristics of matching main lens and microlens f-numbers are used as an additional constrains for the calibration. Geometric parameters of the focused light field camera are then achieved using Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm. Total focused images in which all the points are in focus, are utilized to validate the proposed calibration method. Calibration results are presented and discussed in details. The maximum mean relative error of the calibration is found less than 0.13%, indicating that the proposed method is capable of calibrating the focused light field camera successfully. The parameters obtained by the calibration are then utilized to trace the rays of flame radiance. A least square QR-factorization algorithm with Plank's radiation law is used to reconstruct the 3-D temperature distribution of a flame. Experiments were carried out on an ethylene air fired combustion test rig to reconstruct the temperature distribution of flames. The flame temperature obtained by the proposed method is then compared with that obtained by using high-precision thermocouple. The difference between the two measurements was found no greater than 6.7%. Experimental results demonstrated that the proposed calibration method and the applied measurement technique perform well in the reconstruction of the flame temperature.

A novel dual-camera calibration method for 3D optical measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gai, Shaoyan; Da, Feipeng; Dai, Xianqiang

2018-05-01

A novel dual-camera calibration method is presented. In the classic methods, the camera parameters are usually calculated and optimized by the reprojection error. However, for a system designed for 3D optical measurement, this error does not denote the result of 3D reconstruction. In the presented method, a planar calibration plate is used. In the beginning, images of calibration plate are snapped from several orientations in the measurement range. The initial parameters of the two cameras are obtained by the images. Then, the rotation and translation matrix that link the frames of two cameras are calculated by using method of Centroid Distance Increment Matrix. The degree of coupling between the parameters is reduced. Then, 3D coordinates of the calibration points are reconstructed by space intersection method. At last, the reconstruction error is calculated. It is minimized to optimize the calibration parameters. This error directly indicates the efficiency of 3D reconstruction, thus it is more suitable for assessing the quality of dual-camera calibration. In the experiments, it can be seen that the proposed method is convenient and accurate. There is no strict requirement on the calibration plate position in the calibration process. The accuracy is improved significantly by the proposed method.

An Accurate Projector Calibration Method Based on Polynomial Distortion Representation

PubMed Central

Liu, Miao; Sun, Changku; Huang, Shujun; Zhang, Zonghua

2015-01-01

In structure light measurement systems or 3D printing systems, the errors caused by optical distortion of a digital projector always affect the precision performance and cannot be ignored. Existing methods to calibrate the projection distortion rely on calibration plate and photogrammetry, so the calibration performance is largely affected by the quality of the plate and the imaging system. This paper proposes a new projector calibration approach that makes use of photodiodes to directly detect the light emitted from a digital projector. By analyzing the output sequence of the photoelectric module, the pixel coordinates can be accurately obtained by the curve fitting method. A polynomial distortion representation is employed to reduce the residuals of the traditional distortion representation model. Experimental results and performance evaluation show that the proposed calibration method is able to avoid most of the disadvantages in traditional methods and achieves a higher accuracy. This proposed method is also practically applicable to evaluate the geometric optical performance of other optical projection system. PMID:26492247

Calibration methods for explosives detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacDonald, Stephen J.; Rounbehler, David P.

1992-05-01

Airport security has become an important concern to cultures in every corner of the world. Presently, efforts to improve airport security have brought additional technological solutions, in the form of advanced instrumentation for the detection of explosives, into use at airport terminals in many countries. This new generation of explosives detectors is often used to augment existing security measures and provide a more encompassing screening capability for airline passengers. This paper describes two calibration procedures used for the Thermedics' EGIS explosives detectors. The systems were designed to screen people, electronic components, luggage, automobiles, and other objects for the presence of concealed explosives. The detectors have the ability to detect a wide range of explosives in both the vapor state or as surface adsorbed solids, therefore, calibrations were designed to challenge the system with explosives in each form.

Calibration Method to Eliminate Zeroth Order Effect in Lateral Shearing Interferometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Chao; Xiang, Yang; Qi, Keqi; Chen, Dawei

2018-04-01

In this paper, a calibration method is proposed which eliminates the zeroth order effect in lateral shearing interferometry. An analytical expression of the calibration error function is deduced, and the relationship between the phase-restoration error and calibration error is established. The analytical results show that the phase-restoration error introduced by the calibration error is proportional to the phase shifting error and zeroth order effect. The calibration method is verified using simulations and experiments. The simulation results show that the phase-restoration error is approximately proportional to the phase shift error and zeroth order effect, when the phase shifting error is less than 2° and the zeroth order effect is less than 0.2. The experimental result shows that compared with the conventional method with 9-frame interferograms, the calibration method with 5-frame interferograms achieves nearly the same restoration accuracy.

A Visual Servoing-Based Method for ProCam Systems Calibration

PubMed Central

Berry, Francois; Aider, Omar Ait; Mosnier, Jeremie

2013-01-01

Projector-camera systems are currently used in a wide field of applications, such as 3D reconstruction and augmented reality, and can provide accurate measurements, depending on the configuration and calibration. Frequently, the calibration task is divided into two steps: camera calibration followed by projector calibration. The latter still poses certain problems that are not easy to solve, such as the difficulty in obtaining a set of 2D–3D points to compute the projection matrix between the projector and the world. Existing methods are either not sufficiently accurate or not flexible. We propose an easy and automatic method to calibrate such systems that consists in projecting a calibration pattern and superimposing it automatically on a known printed pattern. The projected pattern is provided by a virtual camera observing a virtual pattern in an OpenGL model. The projector displays what the virtual camera visualizes. Thus, the projected pattern can be controlled and superimposed on the printed one with the aid of visual servoing. Our experimental results compare favorably with those of other methods considering both usability and accuracy. PMID:24084121

Separate versus Concurrent Calibration Methods in Vertical Scaling.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karkee, Thakur; Lewis, Daniel M.; Hoskens, Machteld; Yao, Lihua; Haug, Carolyn

Two methods to establish a common scale across grades within a content area using a common item design (separate and concurrent) have previously been studied under simulated conditions. Separate estimation is accomplished through separate calibration and grade-by-grade chained linking. Concurrent calibration established the vertical scale in a…

Calibration method for spectroscopic systems

DOEpatents

Sandison, David R.

1998-01-01

Calibration spots of optically-characterized material placed in the field of view of a spectroscopic system allow calibration of the spectroscopic system. Response from the calibration spots is measured and used to calibrate for varying spectroscopic system operating parameters. The accurate calibration achieved allows quantitative spectroscopic analysis of responses taken at different times, different excitation conditions, and of different targets.

Calibration method for spectroscopic systems

DOEpatents

Sandison, D.R.

1998-11-17

Calibration spots of optically-characterized material placed in the field of view of a spectroscopic system allow calibration of the spectroscopic system. Response from the calibration spots is measured and used to calibrate for varying spectroscopic system operating parameters. The accurate calibration achieved allows quantitative spectroscopic analysis of responses taken at different times, different excitation conditions, and of different targets. 3 figs.

Innovative self-calibration method for accelerometer scale factor of the missile-borne RINS with fiber optic gyro.

PubMed

Zhang, Qian; Wang, Lei; Liu, Zengjun; Zhang, Yiming

2016-09-19

The calibration of an inertial measurement unit (IMU) is a key technique to improve the preciseness of the inertial navigation system (INS) for missile, especially for the calibration of accelerometer scale factor. Traditional calibration method is generally based on the high accuracy turntable, however, it leads to expensive costs and the calibration results are not suitable to the actual operating environment. In the wake of developments in multi-axis rotational INS (RINS) with optical inertial sensors, self-calibration is utilized as an effective way to calibrate IMU on missile and the calibration results are more accurate in practical application. However, the introduction of multi-axis RINS causes additional calibration errors, including non-orthogonality errors of mechanical processing and non-horizontal errors of operating environment, it means that the multi-axis gimbals could not be regarded as a high accuracy turntable. As for its application on missiles, in this paper, after analyzing the relationship between the calibration error of accelerometer scale factor and non-orthogonality and non-horizontal angles, an innovative calibration procedure using the signals of fiber optic gyro and photoelectric encoder is proposed. The laboratory and vehicle experiment results validate the theory and prove that the proposed method relaxes the orthogonality requirement of rotation axes and eliminates the strict application condition of the system.

Method for Accurately Calibrating a Spectrometer Using Broadband Light

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simmons, Stephen; Youngquist, Robert

2011-01-01

A novel method has been developed for performing very fine calibration of a spectrometer. This process is particularly useful for modern miniature charge-coupled device (CCD) spectrometers where a typical factory wavelength calibration has been performed and a finer, more accurate calibration is desired. Typically, the factory calibration is done with a spectral line source that generates light at known wavelengths, allowing specific pixels in the CCD array to be assigned wavelength values. This method is good to about 1 nm across the spectrometer s wavelength range. This new method appears to be accurate to about 0.1 nm, a factor of ten improvement. White light is passed through an unbalanced Michelson interferometer, producing an optical signal with significant spectral variation. A simple theory can be developed to describe this spectral pattern, so by comparing the actual spectrometer output against this predicted pattern, errors in the wavelength assignment made by the spectrometer can be determined.

A Method to Test Model Calibration Techniques

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

Judkoff, Ron; Polly, Ben; Neymark, Joel

This paper describes a method for testing model calibration techniques. Calibration is commonly used in conjunction with energy retrofit audit models. An audit is conducted to gather information about the building needed to assemble an input file for a building energy modeling tool. A calibration technique is used to reconcile model predictions with utility data, and then the 'calibrated model' is used to predict energy savings from a variety of retrofit measures and combinations thereof. Current standards and guidelines such as BPI-2400 and ASHRAE-14 set criteria for 'goodness of fit' and assume that if the criteria are met, then themore » calibration technique is acceptable. While it is logical to use the actual performance data of the building to tune the model, it is not certain that a good fit will result in a model that better predicts post-retrofit energy savings. Therefore, the basic idea here is that the simulation program (intended for use with the calibration technique) is used to generate surrogate utility bill data and retrofit energy savings data against which the calibration technique can be tested. This provides three figures of merit for testing a calibration technique, 1) accuracy of the post-retrofit energy savings prediction, 2) closure on the 'true' input parameter values, and 3) goodness of fit to the utility bill data. The paper will also discuss the pros and cons of using this synthetic surrogate data approach versus trying to use real data sets of actual buildings.« less

Adaptive Prior Variance Calibration in the Bayesian Continual Reassessment Method

PubMed Central

Zhang, Jin; Braun, Thomas M.; Taylor, Jeremy M.G.

2012-01-01

Use of the Continual Reassessment Method (CRM) and other model-based approaches to design in Phase I clinical trials has increased due to the ability of the CRM to identify the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) better than the 3+3 method. However, the CRM can be sensitive to the variance selected for the prior distribution of the model parameter, especially when a small number of patients are enrolled. While methods have emerged to adaptively select skeletons and to calibrate the prior variance only at the beginning of a trial, there has not been any approach developed to adaptively calibrate the prior variance throughout a trial. We propose three systematic approaches to adaptively calibrate the prior variance during a trial and compare them via simulation to methods proposed to calibrate the variance at the beginning of a trial. PMID:22987660

A stoichiometric calibration method for dual energy computed tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bourque, Alexandra E.; Carrier, Jean-François; Bouchard, Hugo

2014-04-01

The accuracy of radiotherapy dose calculation relies crucially on patient composition data. The computed tomography (CT) calibration methods based on the stoichiometric calibration of Schneider et al (1996 Phys. Med. Biol. 41 111-24) are the most reliable to determine electron density (ED) with commercial single energy CT scanners. Along with the recent developments in dual energy CT (DECT) commercial scanners, several methods were published to determine ED and the effective atomic number (EAN) for polyenergetic beams without the need for CT calibration curves. This paper intends to show that with a rigorous definition of the EAN, the stoichiometric calibration method can be successfully adapted to DECT with significant accuracy improvements with respect to the literature without the need for spectrum measurements or empirical beam hardening corrections. Using a theoretical framework of ICRP human tissue compositions and the XCOM photon cross sections database, the revised stoichiometric calibration method yields Hounsfield unit (HU) predictions within less than ±1.3 HU of the theoretical HU calculated from XCOM data averaged over the spectra used (e.g., 80 kVp, 100 kVp, 140 kVp and 140/Sn kVp). A fit of mean excitation energy (I-value) data as a function of EAN is provided in order to determine the ion stopping power of human tissues from ED-EAN measurements. Analysis of the calibration phantom measurements with the Siemens SOMATOM Definition Flash dual source CT scanner shows that the present formalism yields mean absolute errors of (0.3 ± 0.4)% and (1.6 ± 2.0)% on ED and EAN, respectively. For ion therapy, the mean absolute errors for calibrated I-values and proton stopping powers (216 MeV) are (4.1 ± 2.7)% and (0.5 ± 0.4)%, respectively. In all clinical situations studied, the uncertainties in ion ranges in water for therapeutic energies are found to be less than 1.3 mm, 0.7 mm and 0.5 mm for protons, helium and carbon ions respectively, using a generic

A calibration method for fringe reflection technique based on the analytical phase-slope description

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Yuxiang; Yue, Huimin; Pan, Zhipeng; Liu, Yong

2018-05-01

The fringe reflection technique (FRT) has been one of the most popular methods to measure the shape of specular surface these years. The existing system calibration methods of FRT usually contain two parts, which are camera calibration and geometric calibration. In geometric calibration, the liquid crystal display (LCD) screen position calibration is one of the most difficult steps among all the calibration procedures, and its accuracy is affected by the factors such as the imaging aberration, the plane mirror flatness, and LCD screen pixel size accuracy. In this paper, based on the deduction of FRT analytical phase-slope description, we present a novel calibration method with no requirement to calibrate the position of LCD screen. On the other hand, the system can be arbitrarily arranged, and the imaging system can either be telecentric or non-telecentric. In our experiment of measuring the 5000mm radius sphere mirror, the proposed calibration method achieves 2.5 times smaller measurement error than the geometric calibration method. In the wafer surface measuring experiment, the measurement result with the proposed calibration method is closer to the interferometer result than the geometric calibration method.

Uncertainty Analysis of Inertial Model Attitude Sensor Calibration and Application with a Recommended New Calibration Method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tripp, John S.; Tcheng, Ping

1999-01-01

Statistical tools, previously developed for nonlinear least-squares estimation of multivariate sensor calibration parameters and the associated calibration uncertainty analysis, have been applied to single- and multiple-axis inertial model attitude sensors used in wind tunnel testing to measure angle of attack and roll angle. The analysis provides confidence and prediction intervals of calibrated sensor measurement uncertainty as functions of applied input pitch and roll angles. A comparative performance study of various experimental designs for inertial sensor calibration is presented along with corroborating experimental data. The importance of replicated calibrations over extended time periods has been emphasized; replication provides independent estimates of calibration precision and bias uncertainties, statistical tests for calibration or modeling bias uncertainty, and statistical tests for sensor parameter drift over time. A set of recommendations for a new standardized model attitude sensor calibration method and usage procedures is included. The statistical information provided by these procedures is necessary for the uncertainty analysis of aerospace test results now required by users of industrial wind tunnel test facilities.

A new systematic calibration method of ring laser gyroscope inertial navigation system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Guo; Gao, Chunfeng; Wang, Qi; Wang, Qun; Xiong, Zhenyu; Long, Xingwu

2016-10-01

Inertial navigation system has been the core component of both military and civil navigation systems. Before the INS is put into application, it is supposed to be calibrated in the laboratory in order to compensate repeatability error caused by manufacturing. Discrete calibration method cannot fulfill requirements of high-accurate calibration of the mechanically dithered ring laser gyroscope navigation system with shock absorbers. This paper has analyzed theories of error inspiration and separation in detail and presented a new systematic calibration method for ring laser gyroscope inertial navigation system. Error models and equations of calibrated Inertial Measurement Unit are given. Then proper rotation arrangement orders are depicted in order to establish the linear relationships between the change of velocity errors and calibrated parameter errors. Experiments have been set up to compare the systematic errors calculated by filtering calibration result with those obtained by discrete calibration result. The largest position error and velocity error of filtering calibration result are only 0.18 miles and 0.26m/s compared with 2 miles and 1.46m/s of discrete calibration result. These results have validated the new systematic calibration method and proved its importance for optimal design and accuracy improvement of calibration of mechanically dithered ring laser gyroscope inertial navigation system.

Calibration of mass spectrometric peptide mass fingerprint data without specific external or internal calibrants

PubMed Central

Wolski, Witold E; Lalowski, Maciej; Jungblut, Peter; Reinert, Knut

2005-01-01

Background Peptide Mass Fingerprinting (PMF) is a widely used mass spectrometry (MS) method of analysis of proteins and peptides. It relies on the comparison between experimentally determined and theoretical mass spectra. The PMF process requires calibration, usually performed with external or internal calibrants of known molecular masses. Results We have introduced two novel MS calibration methods. The first method utilises the local similarity of peptide maps generated after separation of complex protein samples by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. It computes a multiple peak-list alignment of the data set using a modified Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) algorithm. The second method exploits the idea that hundreds of MS samples are measured in parallel on one sample support. It improves the calibration coefficients by applying a two-dimensional Thin Plate Splines (TPS) smoothing algorithm. We studied the novel calibration methods utilising data generated by three different MALDI-TOF-MS instruments. We demonstrate that a PMF data set can be calibrated without resorting to external or relying on widely occurring internal calibrants. The methods developed here were implemented in R and are part of the BioConductor package mscalib available from . Conclusion The MST calibration algorithm is well suited to calibrate MS spectra of protein samples resulting from two-dimensional gel electrophoretic separation. The TPS based calibration algorithm might be used to correct systematic mass measurement errors observed for large MS sample supports. As compared to other methods, our combined MS spectra calibration strategy increases the peptide/protein identification rate by an additional 5 – 15%. PMID:16102175

A holistic calibration method with iterative distortion compensation for stereo deflectometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Yongjia; Gao, Feng; Zhang, Zonghua; Jiang, Xiangqian

2018-07-01

This paper presents a novel holistic calibration method for stereo deflectometry system to improve the system measurement accuracy. The reconstruction result of stereo deflectometry is integrated with the calculated normal data of the measured surface. The calculation accuracy of the normal data is seriously influenced by the calibration accuracy of the geometrical relationship of the stereo deflectometry system. Conventional calibration approaches introduce form error to the system due to inaccurate imaging model and distortion elimination. The proposed calibration method compensates system distortion based on an iterative algorithm instead of the conventional distortion mathematical model. The initial value of the system parameters are calculated from the fringe patterns displayed on the systemic LCD screen through a reflection of a markless flat mirror. An iterative algorithm is proposed to compensate system distortion and optimize camera imaging parameters and system geometrical relation parameters based on a cost function. Both simulation work and experimental results show the proposed calibration method can significantly improve the calibration and measurement accuracy of a stereo deflectometry. The PV (peak value) of measurement error of a flat mirror can be reduced to 69.7 nm by applying the proposed method from 282 nm obtained with the conventional calibration approach.

Simplified stereo-optical ultrasound plane calibration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoßbach, Martin; Noll, Matthias; Wesarg, Stefan

2013-03-01

Image guided therapy is a natural concept and commonly used in medicine. In anesthesia, a common task is the injection of an anesthetic close to a nerve under freehand ultrasound guidance. Several guidance systems exist using electromagnetic tracking of the ultrasound probe as well as the needle, providing the physician with a precise projection of the needle into the ultrasound image. This, however, requires additional expensive devices. We suggest using optical tracking with miniature cameras attached to a 2D ultrasound probe to achieve a higher acceptance among physicians. The purpose of this paper is to present an intuitive method to calibrate freehand ultrasound needle guidance systems employing a rigid stereo camera system. State of the art methods are based on a complex series of error prone coordinate system transformations which makes them susceptible to error accumulation. By reducing the amount of calibration steps to a single calibration procedure we provide a calibration method that is equivalent, yet not prone to error accumulation. It requires a linear calibration object and is validated on three datasets utilizing di erent calibration objects: a 6mm metal bar and a 1:25mm biopsy needle were used for experiments. Compared to existing calibration methods for freehand ultrasound needle guidance systems, we are able to achieve higher accuracy results while additionally reducing the overall calibration complexity. Ke

Flight Test Results of an Angle of Attack and Angle of Sideslip Calibration Method Using Output-Error Optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Siu, Marie-Michele; Martos, Borja; Foster, John V.

2013-01-01

As part of a joint partnership between the NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) and the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI), research on advanced air data calibration methods has been in progress. This research was initiated to expand a novel pitot-static calibration method that was developed to allow rapid in-flight calibration for the NASA Airborne Subscale Transport Aircraft Research (AirSTAR) facility. This approach uses Global Positioning System (GPS) technology coupled with modern system identification methods that rapidly computes optimal pressure error models over a range of airspeed with defined confidence bounds. Subscale flight tests demonstrated small 2-s error bounds with significant reduction in test time compared to other methods. Recent UTSI full scale flight tests have shown airspeed calibrations with the same accuracy or better as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) accepted GPS 'four-leg' method in a smaller test area and in less time. The current research was motivated by the desire to extend this method for inflight calibration of angle of attack (AOA) and angle of sideslip (AOS) flow vanes. An instrumented Piper Saratoga research aircraft from the UTSI was used to collect the flight test data and evaluate flight test maneuvers. Results showed that the output-error approach produces good results for flow vane calibration. In addition, maneuvers for pitot-static and flow vane calibration can be integrated to enable simultaneous and efficient testing of each system.

Model Robust Calibration: Method and Application to Electronically-Scanned Pressure Transducers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walker, Eric L.; Starnes, B. Alden; Birch, Jeffery B.; Mays, James E.

2010-01-01

This article presents the application of a recently developed statistical regression method to the controlled instrument calibration problem. The statistical method of Model Robust Regression (MRR), developed by Mays, Birch, and Starnes, is shown to improve instrument calibration by reducing the reliance of the calibration on a predetermined parametric (e.g. polynomial, exponential, logarithmic) model. This is accomplished by allowing fits from the predetermined parametric model to be augmented by a certain portion of a fit to the residuals from the initial regression using a nonparametric (locally parametric) regression technique. The method is demonstrated for the absolute scale calibration of silicon-based pressure transducers.

Calibration Method of an Ultrasonic System for Temperature Measurement

PubMed Central

Zhou, Chao; Wang, Yueke; Qiao, Chunjie; Dai, Weihua

2016-01-01

System calibration is fundamental to the overall accuracy of the ultrasonic temperature measurement, and it is basically involved in accurately measuring the path length and the system latency of the ultrasonic system. This paper proposes a method of high accuracy system calibration. By estimating the time delay between the transmitted signal and the received signal at several different temperatures, the calibration equations are constructed, and the calibrated results are determined with the use of the least squares algorithm. The formulas are deduced for calculating the calibration uncertainties, and the possible influential factors are analyzed. The experimental results in distilled water show that the calibrated path length and system latency can achieve uncertainties of 0.058 mm and 0.038 μs, respectively, and the temperature accuracy is significantly improved by using the calibrated results. The temperature error remains within ±0.04°C consistently, and the percentage error is less than 0.15%. PMID:27788252

Inspection system calibration methods

DOEpatents

Deason, Vance A.; Telschow, Kenneth L.

2004-12-28

An inspection system calibration method includes producing two sideband signals of a first wavefront; interfering the two sideband signals in a photorefractive material, producing an output signal therefrom having a frequency and a magnitude; and producing a phase modulated operational signal having a frequency different from the output signal frequency, a magnitude, and a phase modulation amplitude. The method includes determining a ratio of the operational signal magnitude to the output signal magnitude, determining a ratio of a 1st order Bessel function of the operational signal phase modulation amplitude to a 0th order Bessel function of the operational signal phase modulation amplitude, and comparing the magnitude ratio to the Bessel function ratio.

Method and apparatus for calibrating a particle emissions monitor

DOEpatents

Flower, W.L.; Renzi, R.F.

1998-07-07

The invention discloses a method and apparatus for calibrating particulate emissions monitors, in particular, sampling probes, and in general, without removing the instrument from the system being monitored. A source of one or more specific metals in aerosol (either solid or liquid) or vapor form is housed in the instrument. The calibration operation is initiated by moving a focusing lens, used to focus a light beam onto an analysis location and collect the output light response, from an operating position to a calibration position such that the focal point of the focusing lens is now within a calibration stream issuing from a calibration source. The output light response from the calibration stream can be compared to that derived from an analysis location in the operating position to more accurately monitor emissions within the emissions flow stream. 6 figs.

Method and apparatus for calibrating a particle emissions monitor

DOEpatents

Flower, William L.; Renzi, Ronald F.

1998-07-07

The instant invention discloses method and apparatus for calibrating particulate emissions monitors, in particular, and sampling probes, in general, without removing the instrument from the system being monitored. A source of one or more specific metals in aerosol (either solid or liquid) or vapor form is housed in the instrument. The calibration operation is initiated by moving a focusing lens, used to focus a light beam onto an analysis location and collect the output light response, from an operating position to a calibration position such that the focal point of the focusing lens is now within a calibration stream issuing from a calibration source. The output light response from the calibration stream can be compared to that derived from an analysis location in the operating position to more accurately monitor emissions within the emissions flow stream.

Two laboratory methods for the calibration of GPS speed meters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Yin; Sun, Qiao; Du, Lei; Yu, Mei; Bai, Jie

2015-01-01

The set-ups of two calibration systems are presented to investigate calibration methods of GPS speed meters. The GPS speed meter calibrated is a special type of high accuracy speed meter for vehicles which uses Doppler demodulation of GPS signals to calculate the measured speed of a moving target. Three experiments are performed: including simulated calibration, field-test signal replay calibration, and in-field test comparison with an optical speed meter. The experiments are conducted at specific speeds in the range of 40-180 km h-1 with the same GPS speed meter as the device under calibration. The evaluation of measurement results validates both methods for calibrating GPS speed meters. The relative deviations between the measurement results of the GPS-based high accuracy speed meter and those of the optical speed meter are analyzed, and the equivalent uncertainty of the comparison is evaluated. The comparison results justify the utilization of GPS speed meters as reference equipment if no fewer than seven satellites are available. This study contributes to the widespread use of GPS-based high accuracy speed meters as legal reference equipment in traffic speed metrology.

Design and calibration of zero-additional-phase SPIDER

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

Baum, Peter; Riedle, Eberhard

2005-09-01

Zero-additional-phase spectral phase interferometry for direct electric field reconstruction (ZAP-SPIDER) is a novel technique for measuring the temporal shape and phase of ultrashort optical pulses directly at the interaction point of a spectroscopic experiment. The scheme is suitable for an extremely wide wavelength region from the ultraviolet to the near infrared. We present a comprehensive description of the experimental setup and design guidelines to effectively apply the technique to various wavelengths and pulse durations. The calibration of the setup and procedures to check the consistency of the measurement are discussed in detail. We show experimental data for various center wavelengthsmore » and pulse durations down to 7 fs to verify the applicability to a wide range of pulse parameters.« less

Fluorescence calibration method for single-particle aerosol fluorescence instruments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shipley Robinson, Ellis; Gao, Ru-Shan; Schwarz, Joshua P.; Fahey, David W.; Perring, Anne E.

2017-05-01

Real-time, single-particle fluorescence instruments used to detect atmospheric bioaerosol particles are increasingly common, yet no standard fluorescence calibration method exists for this technique. This gap limits the utility of these instruments as quantitative tools and complicates comparisons between different measurement campaigns. To address this need, we have developed a method to produce size-selected particles with a known mass of fluorophore, which we use to calibrate the fluorescence detection of a Wideband Integrated Bioaerosol Sensor (WIBS-4A). We use mixed tryptophan-ammonium sulfate particles to calibrate one detector (FL1; excitation = 280 nm, emission = 310-400 nm) and pure quinine particles to calibrate the other (FL2; excitation = 280 nm, emission = 420-650 nm). The relationship between fluorescence and mass for the mixed tryptophan-ammonium sulfate particles is linear, while that for the pure quinine particles is nonlinear, likely indicating that not all of the quinine mass contributes to the observed fluorescence. Nonetheless, both materials produce a repeatable response between observed fluorescence and particle mass. This procedure allows users to set the detector gains to achieve a known absolute response, calculate the limits of detection for a given instrument, improve the repeatability of the instrumental setup, and facilitate intercomparisons between different instruments. We recommend calibration of single-particle fluorescence instruments using these methods.

Robust best linear estimator for Cox regression with instrumental variables in whole cohort and surrogates with additive measurement error in calibration sample.

PubMed

Wang, Ching-Yun; Song, Xiao

2016-11-01

Biomedical researchers are often interested in estimating the effect of an environmental exposure in relation to a chronic disease endpoint. However, the exposure variable of interest may be measured with errors. In a subset of the whole cohort, a surrogate variable is available for the true unobserved exposure variable. The surrogate variable satisfies an additive measurement error model, but it may not have repeated measurements. The subset in which the surrogate variables are available is called a calibration sample. In addition to the surrogate variables that are available among the subjects in the calibration sample, we consider the situation when there is an instrumental variable available for all study subjects. An instrumental variable is correlated with the unobserved true exposure variable, and hence can be useful in the estimation of the regression coefficients. In this paper, we propose a nonparametric method for Cox regression using the observed data from the whole cohort. The nonparametric estimator is the best linear combination of a nonparametric correction estimator from the calibration sample and the difference of the naive estimators from the calibration sample and the whole cohort. The asymptotic distribution is derived, and the finite sample performance of the proposed estimator is examined via intensive simulation studies. The methods are applied to the Nutritional Biomarkers Study of the Women's Health Initiative. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Robust best linear estimator for Cox regression with instrumental variables in whole cohort and surrogates with additive measurement error in calibration sample

PubMed Central

Wang, Ching-Yun; Song, Xiao

2017-01-01

SUMMARY Biomedical researchers are often interested in estimating the effect of an environmental exposure in relation to a chronic disease endpoint. However, the exposure variable of interest may be measured with errors. In a subset of the whole cohort, a surrogate variable is available for the true unobserved exposure variable. The surrogate variable satisfies an additive measurement error model, but it may not have repeated measurements. The subset in which the surrogate variables are available is called a calibration sample. In addition to the surrogate variables that are available among the subjects in the calibration sample, we consider the situation when there is an instrumental variable available for all study subjects. An instrumental variable is correlated with the unobserved true exposure variable, and hence can be useful in the estimation of the regression coefficients. In this paper, we propose a nonparametric method for Cox regression using the observed data from the whole cohort. The nonparametric estimator is the best linear combination of a nonparametric correction estimator from the calibration sample and the difference of the naive estimators from the calibration sample and the whole cohort. The asymptotic distribution is derived, and the finite sample performance of the proposed estimator is examined via intensive simulation studies. The methods are applied to the Nutritional Biomarkers Study of the Women’s Health Initiative. PMID:27546625

A Consistency Evaluation and Calibration Method for Piezoelectric Transmitters.

PubMed

Zhang, Kai; Tan, Baohai; Liu, Xianping

2017-04-28

Array transducer and transducer combination technologies are evolving rapidly. While adapting transmitter combination technologies, the parameter consistencies between each transmitter are extremely important because they can determine a combined effort directly. This study presents a consistency evaluation and calibration method for piezoelectric transmitters by using impedance analyzers. Firstly, electronic parameters of transmitters that can be measured by impedance analyzers are introduced. A variety of transmitter acoustic energies that are caused by these parameter differences are then analyzed and certified and, thereafter, transmitter consistency is evaluated. Lastly, based on the evaluations, consistency can be calibrated by changing the corresponding excitation voltage. Acoustic experiments show that this method accurately evaluates and calibrates transducer consistencies, and is easy to realize.

A Consistency Evaluation and Calibration Method for Piezoelectric Transmitters

PubMed Central

Zhang, Kai; Tan, Baohai; Liu, Xianping

2017-01-01

Array transducer and transducer combination technologies are evolving rapidly. While adapting transmitter combination technologies, the parameter consistencies between each transmitter are extremely important because they can determine a combined effort directly. This study presents a consistency evaluation and calibration method for piezoelectric transmitters by using impedance analyzers. Firstly, electronic parameters of transmitters that can be measured by impedance analyzers are introduced. A variety of transmitter acoustic energies that are caused by these parameter differences are then analyzed and certified and, thereafter, transmitter consistency is evaluated. Lastly, based on the evaluations, consistency can be calibrated by changing the corresponding excitation voltage. Acoustic experiments show that this method accurately evaluates and calibrates transducer consistencies, and is easy to realize. PMID:28452947

High-accuracy self-calibration method for dual-axis rotation-modulating RLG-INS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Guo; Gao, Chunfeng; Wang, Qi; Wang, Qun; Long, Xingwu

2017-05-01

Inertial navigation system has been the core component of both military and civil navigation systems. Dual-axis rotation modulation can completely eliminate the inertial elements constant errors of the three axes to improve the system accuracy. But the error caused by the misalignment angles and the scale factor error cannot be eliminated through dual-axis rotation modulation. And discrete calibration method cannot fulfill requirements of high-accurate calibration of the mechanically dithered ring laser gyroscope navigation system with shock absorbers. This paper has analyzed the effect of calibration error during one modulated period and presented a new systematic self-calibration method for dual-axis rotation-modulating RLG-INS. Procedure for self-calibration of dual-axis rotation-modulating RLG-INS has been designed. The results of self-calibration simulation experiment proved that: this scheme can estimate all the errors in the calibration error model, the calibration precision of the inertial sensors scale factor error is less than 1ppm and the misalignment is less than 5″. These results have validated the systematic self-calibration method and proved its importance for accuracy improvement of dual -axis rotation inertial navigation system with mechanically dithered ring laser gyroscope.

A projector calibration method for monocular structured light system based on digital image correlation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Zhixin

2018-02-01

Projector calibration is crucial for a camera-projector three-dimensional (3-D) structured light measurement system, which has one camera and one projector. In this paper, a novel projector calibration method is proposed based on digital image correlation. In the method, the projector is viewed as an inverse camera, and a plane calibration board with feature points is used to calibrate the projector. During the calibration processing, a random speckle pattern is projected onto the calibration board with different orientations to establish the correspondences between projector images and camera images. Thereby, dataset for projector calibration are generated. Then the projector can be calibrated using a well-established camera calibration algorithm. The experiment results confirm that the proposed method is accurate and reliable for projector calibration.

Method calibration of the model 13145 infrared target projectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Jianxia; Gao, Yuan; Han, Ying

2014-11-01

The SBIR Model 13145 Infrared Target Projectors ( The following abbreviation Evaluation Unit ) used for characterizing the performances of infrared imaging system. Test items: SiTF, MTF, NETD, MRTD, MDTD, NPS. Infrared target projectors includes two area blackbodies, a 12 position target wheel, all reflective collimator. It provide high spatial frequency differential targets, Precision differential targets imaged by infrared imaging system. And by photoelectricity convert on simulate signal or digital signal. Applications software (IR Windows TM 2001) evaluate characterizing the performances of infrared imaging system. With regards to as a whole calibration, first differently calibration for distributed component , According to calibration specification for area blackbody to calibration area blackbody, by means of to amend error factor to calibration of all reflective collimator, radiance calibration of an infrared target projectors using the SR5000 spectral radiometer, and to analyze systematic error. With regards to as parameter of infrared imaging system, need to integrate evaluation method. According to regulation with -GJB2340-1995 General specification for military thermal imaging sets -testing parameters of infrared imaging system, the results compare with results from Optical Calibration Testing Laboratory . As a goal to real calibration performances of the Evaluation Unit.

[A plane-based hand-eye calibration method for surgical robots].

PubMed

Zeng, Bowei; Meng, Fanle; Ding, Hui; Liu, Wenbo; Wu, Di; Wang, Guangzhi

2017-04-01

In order to calibrate the hand-eye transformation of the surgical robot and laser range finder (LRF), a calibration algorithm based on a planar template was designed. A mathematical model of the planar template had been given and the approach to address the equations had been derived. Aiming at the problems of the measurement error in a practical system, we proposed a new algorithm for selecting coplanar data. This algorithm can effectively eliminate considerable measurement error data to improve the calibration accuracy. Furthermore, three orthogonal planes were used to improve the calibration accuracy, in which a nonlinear optimization for hand-eye calibration was used. With the purpose of verifying the calibration precision, we used the LRF to measure some fixed points in different directions and a cuboid's surfaces. Experimental results indicated that the precision of a single planar template method was (1.37±0.24) mm, and that of the three orthogonal planes method was (0.37±0.05) mm. Moreover, the mean FRE of three-dimensional (3D) points was 0.24 mm and mean TRE was 0.26 mm. The maximum angle measurement error was 0.4 degree. Experimental results show that the method presented in this paper is effective with high accuracy and can meet the requirements of surgical robot precise location.

An Improved Interferometric Calibration Method Based on Independent Parameter Decomposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, J.; Zuo, X.; Li, T.; Chen, Q.; Geng, X.

2018-04-01

Interferometric SAR is sensitive to earth surface undulation. The accuracy of interferometric parameters plays a significant role in precise digital elevation model (DEM). The interferometric calibration is to obtain high-precision global DEM by calculating the interferometric parameters using ground control points (GCPs). However, interferometric parameters are always calculated jointly, making them difficult to decompose precisely. In this paper, we propose an interferometric calibration method based on independent parameter decomposition (IPD). Firstly, the parameters related to the interferometric SAR measurement are determined based on the three-dimensional reconstruction model. Secondly, the sensitivity of interferometric parameters is quantitatively analyzed after the geometric parameters are completely decomposed. Finally, each interferometric parameter is calculated based on IPD and interferometric calibration model is established. We take Weinan of Shanxi province as an example and choose 4 TerraDEM-X image pairs to carry out interferometric calibration experiment. The results show that the elevation accuracy of all SAR images is better than 2.54 m after interferometric calibration. Furthermore, the proposed method can obtain the accuracy of DEM products better than 2.43 m in the flat area and 6.97 m in the mountainous area, which can prove the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed IPD based interferometric calibration method. The results provide a technical basis for topographic mapping of 1 : 50000 and even larger scale in the flat area and mountainous area.

AVIRIS calibration using the cloud-shadow method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carder, K. L.; Reinersman, P.; Chen, R. F.

1993-01-01

More than 90 percent of the signal at an ocean-viewing, satellite sensor is due to the atmosphere, so a 5 percent sensor-calibration error viewing a target that contributes but 10 percent of the signal received at the sensor may result in a target-reflectance error of more than 50 percent. Since prelaunch calibration accuracies of 5 percent are typical of space-sensor requirements, recalibration of the sensor using ground-base methods is required for low-signal target. Known target reflectance or water-leaving radiance spectra and atmospheric correction parameters are required. In this article we describe an atmospheric-correction method that uses cloud shadowed pixels in combination with pixels in a neighborhood region of similar optical properties to remove atmospheric effects from ocean scenes. These neighboring pixels can then be used as known reflectance targets for validation of the sensor calibration and atmospheric correction. The method uses the difference between water-leaving radiance values for these two regions. This allows nearly identical optical contributions to the two signals (e.g., path radiance and Fresnel-reflected skylight) to be removed, leaving mostly solar photons backscattered from beneath the sea to dominate the residual signal. Normalization by incident solar irradiance reaching the sea surface provides the remote-sensing reflectance of the ocean at the location of the neighbor region.

Radiometric calibration method for large aperture infrared system with broad dynamic range.

PubMed

Sun, Zhiyuan; Chang, Songtao; Zhu, Wei

2015-05-20

Infrared radiometric measurements can acquire important data for missile defense systems. When observation is carried out by ground-based infrared systems, a missile is characterized by long distance, small size, and large variation of radiance. Therefore, the infrared systems should be manufactured with a larger aperture to enhance detection ability and calibrated at a broader dynamic range to extend measurable radiance. Nevertheless, the frequently used calibration methods demand an extended-area blackbody with broad dynamic range or a huge collimator for filling the system's field stop, which would greatly increase manufacturing costs and difficulties. To overcome this restriction, a calibration method based on amendment of inner and outer calibration is proposed. First, the principles and procedures of this method are introduced. Then, a shifting strategy of infrared systems for measuring targets with large fluctuations of infrared radiance is put forward. Finally, several experiments are performed on a shortwave infrared system with Φ400  mm aperture. The results indicate that the proposed method cannot only ensure accuracy of calibration but have the advantage of low cost, low power, and high motility. Hence, it is an effective radiometric calibration method in the outfield.

Research on the calibration methods of the luminance parameter of radiation luminance meters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Weihai; Huang, Biyong; Lin, Fangsheng; Li, Tiecheng; Yin, Dejin; Lai, Lei

2017-10-01

This paper introduces standard diffusion reflection white plate method and integrating sphere standard luminance source method to calibrate the luminance parameter. The paper compares the effects of calibration results by using these two methods through principle analysis and experimental verification. After using two methods to calibrate the same radiation luminance meter, the data obtained verifies the testing results of the two methods are both reliable. The results show that the display value using standard white plate method has fewer errors and better reproducibility. However, standard luminance source method is more convenient and suitable for on-site calibration. Moreover, standard luminance source method has wider range and can test the linear performance of the instruments.

A Method to Test Model Calibration Techniques: Preprint

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

Judkoff, Ron; Polly, Ben; Neymark, Joel

This paper describes a method for testing model calibration techniques. Calibration is commonly used in conjunction with energy retrofit audit models. An audit is conducted to gather information about the building needed to assemble an input file for a building energy modeling tool. A calibration technique is used to reconcile model predictions with utility data, and then the 'calibrated model' is used to predict energy savings from a variety of retrofit measures and combinations thereof. Current standards and guidelines such as BPI-2400 and ASHRAE-14 set criteria for 'goodness of fit' and assume that if the criteria are met, then themore » calibration technique is acceptable. While it is logical to use the actual performance data of the building to tune the model, it is not certain that a good fit will result in a model that better predicts post-retrofit energy savings. Therefore, the basic idea here is that the simulation program (intended for use with the calibration technique) is used to generate surrogate utility bill data and retrofit energy savings data against which the calibration technique can be tested. This provides three figures of merit for testing a calibration technique, 1) accuracy of the post-retrofit energy savings prediction, 2) closure on the 'true' input parameter values, and 3) goodness of fit to the utility bill data. The paper will also discuss the pros and cons of using this synthetic surrogate data approach versus trying to use real data sets of actual buildings.« less

Fast wavelength calibration method for spectrometers based on waveguide comb optical filter

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

Yu, Zhengang; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240; Huang, Meizhen, E-mail: mzhuang@sjtu.edu.cn

2015-04-15

A novel fast wavelength calibration method for spectrometers based on a standard spectrometer and a double metal-cladding waveguide comb optical filter (WCOF) is proposed and demonstrated. By using the WCOF device, a wide-spectrum beam is comb-filtered, which is very suitable for spectrometer wavelength calibration. The influence of waveguide filter’s structural parameters and the beam incident angle on the comb absorption peaks’ wavelength and its bandwidth are also discussed. The verification experiments were carried out in the wavelength range of 200–1100 nm with satisfactory results. Comparing with the traditional wavelength calibration method based on discrete sparse atomic emission or absorption lines,more » the new method has some advantages: sufficient calibration data, high accuracy, short calibration time, fit for produce process, stability, etc.« less

Investigation of factors affecting the heater wire method of calibrating fine wire thermocouples

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keshock, E. G.

1972-01-01

An analytical investigation was made of a transient method of calibrating fine wire thermocouples. The system consisted of a 10 mil diameter standard thermocouple (Pt, Pt-13% Rh) and an 0.8 mil diameter chromel-alumel thermocouple attached to a 20 mil diameter electrically heated platinum wire. The calibration procedure consisted of electrically heating the wire to approximately 2500 F within about a seven-second period in an environment approximating atmospheric conditions at 120,000 feet. Rapid periodic readout of the standard and fine wire thermocouple signals permitted a comparison of the two temperature indications. An analysis was performed which indicated that the temperature distortion at the heater wire produced by the thermocouple junctions appears to be of negligible magnitude. Consequently, the calibration technique appears to be basically sound, although several practical changes which appear desirable are presented and discussed. Additional investigation is warranted to evaluate radiation effects and transient response characteristics.

An automated calibration method for non-see-through head mounted displays.

PubMed

Gilson, Stuart J; Fitzgibbon, Andrew W; Glennerster, Andrew

2011-08-15

Accurate calibration of a head mounted display (HMD) is essential both for research on the visual system and for realistic interaction with virtual objects. Yet, existing calibration methods are time consuming and depend on human judgements, making them error prone, and are often limited to optical see-through HMDs. Building on our existing approach to HMD calibration Gilson et al. (2008), we show here how it is possible to calibrate a non-see-through HMD. A camera is placed inside a HMD displaying an image of a regular grid, which is captured by the camera. The HMD is then removed and the camera, which remains fixed in position, is used to capture images of a tracked calibration object in multiple positions. The centroids of the markers on the calibration object are recovered and their locations re-expressed in relation to the HMD grid. This allows established camera calibration techniques to be used to recover estimates of the HMD display's intrinsic parameters (width, height, focal length) and extrinsic parameters (optic centre and orientation of the principal ray). We calibrated a HMD in this manner and report the magnitude of the errors between real image features and reprojected features. Our calibration method produces low reprojection errors without the need for error-prone human judgements. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Calibration method helps in seismic velocity interpretation

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

Guzman, C.E.; Davenport, H.A.; Wilhelm, R.

1997-11-03

Acoustic velocities derived from seismic reflection data, when properly calibrated to subsurface measurements, help interpreters make pure velocity predictions. A method of calibrating seismic to measured velocities has improved interpretation of subsurface features in the Gulf of Mexico. In this method, the interpreter in essence creates a kind of gauge. Properly calibrated, the gauge enables the interpreter to match predicted velocities to velocities measured at wells. Slow-velocity zones are of special interest because they sometimes appear near hydrocarbon accumulations. Changes in velocity vary in strength with location; the structural picture is hidden unless the variations are accounted for by mappingmore » in depth instead of time. Preliminary observations suggest that the presence of hydrocarbons alters the lithology in the neighborhood of the trap; this hydrocarbon effect may be reflected in the rock velocity. The effect indicates a direct use of seismic velocity in exploration. This article uses the terms seismic velocity and seismic stacking velocity interchangeably. It uses ground velocity, checkshot average velocity, and well velocity interchangeably. Interval velocities are derived from seismic stacking velocities or well average velocities; they refer to velocities of subsurface intervals or zones. Interval travel time (ITT) is the reciprocal of interval velocity in microseconds per foot.« less

Calibration of groundwater vulnerability mapping using the generalized reduced gradient method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elçi, Alper

2017-12-01

Groundwater vulnerability assessment studies are essential in water resources management. Overlay-and-index methods such as DRASTIC are widely used for mapping of groundwater vulnerability, however, these methods mainly suffer from a subjective selection of model parameters. The objective of this study is to introduce a calibration procedure that results in a more accurate assessment of groundwater vulnerability. The improvement of the assessment is formulated as a parameter optimization problem using an objective function that is based on the correlation between actual groundwater contamination and vulnerability index values. The non-linear optimization problem is solved with the generalized-reduced-gradient (GRG) method, which is numerical algorithm based optimization method. To demonstrate the applicability of the procedure, a vulnerability map for the Tahtali stream basin is calibrated using nitrate concentration data. The calibration procedure is easy to implement and aims the maximization of correlation between observed pollutant concentrations and groundwater vulnerability index values. The influence of each vulnerability parameter in the calculation of the vulnerability index is assessed by performing a single-parameter sensitivity analysis. Results of the sensitivity analysis show that all factors are effective on the final vulnerability index. Calibration of the vulnerability map improves the correlation between index values and measured nitrate concentrations by 19%. The regression coefficient increases from 0.280 to 0.485. It is evident that the spatial distribution and the proportions of vulnerability class areas are significantly altered with the calibration process. Although the applicability of the calibration method is demonstrated on the DRASTIC model, the applicability of the approach is not specific to a certain model and can also be easily applied to other overlay-and-index methods.

Automatic Calibration Method for Driver’s Head Orientation in Natural Driving Environment

PubMed Central

Fu, Xianping; Guan, Xiao; Peli, Eli; Liu, Hongbo; Luo, Gang

2013-01-01

Gaze tracking is crucial for studying driver’s attention, detecting fatigue, and improving driver assistance systems, but it is difficult in natural driving environments due to nonuniform and highly variable illumination and large head movements. Traditional calibrations that require subjects to follow calibrators are very cumbersome to be implemented in daily driving situations. A new automatic calibration method, based on a single camera for determining the head orientation and which utilizes the side mirrors, the rear-view mirror, the instrument board, and different zones in the windshield as calibration points, is presented in this paper. Supported by a self-learning algorithm, the system tracks the head and categorizes the head pose in 12 gaze zones based on facial features. The particle filter is used to estimate the head pose to obtain an accurate gaze zone by updating the calibration parameters. Experimental results show that, after several hours of driving, the automatic calibration method without driver’s corporation can achieve the same accuracy as a manual calibration method. The mean error of estimated eye gazes was less than 5°in day and night driving. PMID:24639620

Radiometric calibration of the Earth observing system's imaging sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Slater, P. N.

1987-01-01

Philosophy, requirements, and methods of calibration of multispectral space sensor systems as applicable to the Earth Observing System (EOS) are discussed. Vicarious methods for calibration of low spatial resolution systems, with respect to the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), are then summarized. Finally, a theoretical introduction is given to a new vicarious method of calibration using the ratio of diffuse-to-global irradiance at the Earth's surfaces as the key input. This may provide an additional independent method for in-flight calibration.

New Method of Calibrating IRT Models.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jiang, Hai; Tang, K. Linda

This discussion of new methods for calibrating item response theory (IRT) models looks into new optimization procedures, such as the Genetic Algorithm (GA) to improve on the use of the Newton-Raphson procedure. The advantages of using a global optimization procedure like GA is that this kind of procedure is not easily affected by local optima and…

A Bionic Polarization Navigation Sensor and Its Calibration Method.

PubMed

Zhao, Huijie; Xu, Wujian

2016-08-03

The polarization patterns of skylight which arise due to the scattering of sunlight in the atmosphere can be used by many insects for deriving compass information. Inspired by insects' polarized light compass, scientists have developed a new kind of navigation method. One of the key techniques in this method is the polarimetric sensor which is used to acquire direction information from skylight. In this paper, a polarization navigation sensor is proposed which imitates the working principles of the polarization vision systems of insects. We introduce the optical design and mathematical model of the sensor. In addition, a calibration method based on variable substitution and non-linear curve fitting is proposed. The results obtained from the outdoor experiments provide support for the feasibility and precision of the sensor. The sensor's signal processing can be well described using our mathematical model. A relatively high degree of accuracy in polarization measurement can be obtained without any error compensation.

A Bionic Polarization Navigation Sensor and Its Calibration Method

PubMed Central

Zhao, Huijie; Xu, Wujian

2016-01-01

The polarization patterns of skylight which arise due to the scattering of sunlight in the atmosphere can be used by many insects for deriving compass information. Inspired by insects’ polarized light compass, scientists have developed a new kind of navigation method. One of the key techniques in this method is the polarimetric sensor which is used to acquire direction information from skylight. In this paper, a polarization navigation sensor is proposed which imitates the working principles of the polarization vision systems of insects. We introduce the optical design and mathematical model of the sensor. In addition, a calibration method based on variable substitution and non-linear curve fitting is proposed. The results obtained from the outdoor experiments provide support for the feasibility and precision of the sensor. The sensor’s signal processing can be well described using our mathematical model. A relatively high degree of accuracy in polarization measurement can be obtained without any error compensation. PMID:27527171

Shortwave Radiometer Calibration Methods Comparison and Resulting Solar Irradiance Measurement Differences: A User Perspective

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

Habte, Aron; Sengupta, Manajit; Andreas, Afshin

Banks financing solar energy projects require assurance that these systems will produce the energy predicted. Furthermore, utility planners and grid system operators need to understand the impact of the variable solar resource on solar energy conversion system performance. Accurate solar radiation data sets reduce the expense associated with mitigating performance risk and assist in understanding the impacts of solar resource variability. The accuracy of solar radiation measured by radiometers depends on the instrument performance specification, installation method, calibration procedure, measurement conditions, maintenance practices, location, and environmental conditions. This study addresses the effect of different calibration methods provided by radiometric calibrationmore » service providers, such as NREL and manufacturers of radiometers, on the resulting calibration responsivity. Some of these radiometers are calibrated indoors and some outdoors. To establish or understand the differences in calibration methodology, we processed and analyzed field-measured data from these radiometers. This study investigates calibration responsivities provided by NREL's broadband outdoor radiometer calibration (BORCAL) and a few prominent manufacturers. The BORCAL method provides the outdoor calibration responsivity of pyranometers and pyrheliometers at 45 degree solar zenith angle, and as a function of solar zenith angle determined by clear-sky comparisons with reference irradiance. The BORCAL method also employs a thermal offset correction to the calibration responsivity of single-black thermopile detectors used in pyranometers. Indoor calibrations of radiometers by their manufacturers are performed using a stable artificial light source in a side-by-side comparison between the test radiometer under calibration and a reference radiometer of the same type. In both methods, the reference radiometer calibrations are traceable to the World Radiometric Reference (WRR). These

A method for soil moisture probes calibration and validation of satellite estimates.

PubMed

Holzman, Mauro; Rivas, Raúl; Carmona, Facundo; Niclòs, Raquel

2017-01-01

Optimization of field techniques is crucial to ensure high quality soil moisture data. The aim of the work is to present a sampling method for undisturbed soil and soil water content to calibrated soil moisture probes, in a context of the SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) mission MIRAS Level 2 soil moisture product validation in Pampean Region of Argentina. The method avoids soil alteration and is recommended to calibrated probes based on soil type under a freely drying process at ambient temperature. A detailed explanation of field and laboratory procedures to obtain reference soil moisture is shown. The calibration results reflected accurate operation for the Delta-T thetaProbe ML2x probes in most of analyzed cases (RMSE and bias ≤ 0.05 m 3 /m 3 ). Post-calibration results indicated that the accuracy improves significantly applying the adjustments of the calibration based on soil types (RMSE ≤ 0.022 m 3 /m 3 , bias ≤ -0.010 m 3 /m 3 ). •A sampling method that provides high quality data of soil water content for calibration of probes is described.•Importance of calibration based on soil types.•A calibration process for similar soil types could be suitable in practical terms, depending on the required accuracy level.

Method of calibrating an interferometer and reducing its systematic noise

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hammer, Philip D. (Inventor)

1997-01-01

Methods of operation and data analysis for an interferometer so as to eliminate the errors contributed by non-responsive or unstable pixels, interpixel gain variations that drift over time, and spurious noise that would otherwise degrade the operation of the interferometer are disclosed. The methods provide for either online or post-processing calibration. The methods apply prescribed reversible transformations that exploit the physical properties of interferograms obtained from said interferometer to derive a calibration reference signal for subsequent treatment of said interferograms for interpixel gain variations. A self-consistent approach for treating bad pixels is incorporated into the methods.

System and method for calibrating a rotary absolute position sensor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Donald R. (Inventor); Permenter, Frank Noble (Inventor); Radford, Nicolaus A (Inventor)

2012-01-01

A system includes a rotary device, a rotary absolute position (RAP) sensor generating encoded pairs of voltage signals describing positional data of the rotary device, a host machine, and an algorithm. The algorithm calculates calibration parameters usable to determine an absolute position of the rotary device using the encoded pairs, and is adapted for linearly-mapping an ellipse defined by the encoded pairs to thereby calculate the calibration parameters. A method of calibrating the RAP sensor includes measuring the rotary position as encoded pairs of voltage signals, linearly-mapping an ellipse defined by the encoded pairs to thereby calculate the calibration parameters, and calculating an absolute position of the rotary device using the calibration parameters. The calibration parameters include a positive definite matrix (A) and a center point (q) of the ellipse. The voltage signals may include an encoded sine and cosine of a rotary angle of the rotary device.

A new time calibration method for switched-capacitor-array-based waveform samplers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, H.; Chen, C.-T.; Eclov, N.; Ronzhin, A.; Murat, P.; Ramberg, E.; Los, S.; Moses, W.; Choong, W.-S.; Kao, C.-M.

2014-12-01

We have developed a new time calibration method for the DRS4 waveform sampler that enables us to precisely measure the non-uniform sampling interval inherent in the switched-capacitor cells of the DRS4. The method uses the proportionality between the differential amplitude and sampling interval of adjacent switched-capacitor cells responding to a sawtooth-shape pulse. In the experiment, a sawtooth-shape pulse with a 40 ns period generated by a Tektronix AWG7102 is fed to a DRS4 evaluation board for calibrating the sampling intervals of all 1024 cells individually. The electronic time resolution of the DRS4 evaluation board with the new time calibration is measured to be 2.4 ps RMS by using two simultaneous Gaussian pulses with 2.35 ns full-width at half-maximum and applying a Gaussian fit. The time resolution dependencies on the time difference with the new time calibration are measured and compared to results obtained by another method. The new method could be applicable for other switched-capacitor-array technology-based waveform samplers for precise time calibration.

A New Time Calibration Method for Switched-capacitor-array-based Waveform Samplers.

PubMed

Kim, H; Chen, C-T; Eclov, N; Ronzhin, A; Murat, P; Ramberg, E; Los, S; Moses, W; Choong, W-S; Kao, C-M

2014-12-11

We have developed a new time calibration method for the DRS4 waveform sampler that enables us to precisely measure the non-uniform sampling interval inherent in the switched-capacitor cells of the DRS4. The method uses the proportionality between the differential amplitude and sampling interval of adjacent switched-capacitor cells responding to a sawtooth-shape pulse. In the experiment, a sawtooth-shape pulse with a 40 ns period generated by a Tektronix AWG7102 is fed to a DRS4 evaluation board for calibrating the sampling intervals of all 1024 cells individually. The electronic time resolution of the DRS4 evaluation board with the new time calibration is measured to be ~2.4 ps RMS by using two simultaneous Gaussian pulses with 2.35 ns full-width at half-maximum and applying a Gaussian fit. The time resolution dependencies on the time difference with the new time calibration are measured and compared to results obtained by another method. The new method could be applicable for other switched-capacitor-array technology-based waveform samplers for precise time calibration.

A New Time Calibration Method for Switched-capacitor-array-based Waveform Samplers

PubMed Central

Kim, H.; Chen, C.-T.; Eclov, N.; Ronzhin, A.; Murat, P.; Ramberg, E.; Los, S.; Moses, W.; Choong, W.-S.; Kao, C.-M.

2014-01-01

We have developed a new time calibration method for the DRS4 waveform sampler that enables us to precisely measure the non-uniform sampling interval inherent in the switched-capacitor cells of the DRS4. The method uses the proportionality between the differential amplitude and sampling interval of adjacent switched-capacitor cells responding to a sawtooth-shape pulse. In the experiment, a sawtooth-shape pulse with a 40 ns period generated by a Tektronix AWG7102 is fed to a DRS4 evaluation board for calibrating the sampling intervals of all 1024 cells individually. The electronic time resolution of the DRS4 evaluation board with the new time calibration is measured to be ~2.4 ps RMS by using two simultaneous Gaussian pulses with 2.35 ns full-width at half-maximum and applying a Gaussian fit. The time resolution dependencies on the time difference with the new time calibration are measured and compared to results obtained by another method. The new method could be applicable for other switched-capacitor-array technology-based waveform samplers for precise time calibration. PMID:25506113

Calibration of groundwater vulnerability mapping using the generalized reduced gradient method.

PubMed

Elçi, Alper

2017-12-01

Groundwater vulnerability assessment studies are essential in water resources management. Overlay-and-index methods such as DRASTIC are widely used for mapping of groundwater vulnerability, however, these methods mainly suffer from a subjective selection of model parameters. The objective of this study is to introduce a calibration procedure that results in a more accurate assessment of groundwater vulnerability. The improvement of the assessment is formulated as a parameter optimization problem using an objective function that is based on the correlation between actual groundwater contamination and vulnerability index values. The non-linear optimization problem is solved with the generalized-reduced-gradient (GRG) method, which is numerical algorithm based optimization method. To demonstrate the applicability of the procedure, a vulnerability map for the Tahtali stream basin is calibrated using nitrate concentration data. The calibration procedure is easy to implement and aims the maximization of correlation between observed pollutant concentrations and groundwater vulnerability index values. The influence of each vulnerability parameter in the calculation of the vulnerability index is assessed by performing a single-parameter sensitivity analysis. Results of the sensitivity analysis show that all factors are effective on the final vulnerability index. Calibration of the vulnerability map improves the correlation between index values and measured nitrate concentrations by 19%. The regression coefficient increases from 0.280 to 0.485. It is evident that the spatial distribution and the proportions of vulnerability class areas are significantly altered with the calibration process. Although the applicability of the calibration method is demonstrated on the DRASTIC model, the applicability of the approach is not specific to a certain model and can also be easily applied to other overlay-and-index methods. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A GPS-Based Pitot-Static Calibration Method Using Global Output-Error Optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Foster, John V.; Cunningham, Kevin

2010-01-01

Pressure-based airspeed and altitude measurements for aircraft typically require calibration of the installed system to account for pressure sensing errors such as those due to local flow field effects. In some cases, calibration is used to meet requirements such as those specified in Federal Aviation Regulation Part 25. Several methods are used for in-flight pitot-static calibration including tower fly-by, pacer aircraft, and trailing cone methods. In the 1990 s, the introduction of satellite-based positioning systems to the civilian market enabled new inflight calibration methods based on accurate ground speed measurements provided by Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Use of GPS for airspeed calibration has many advantages such as accuracy, ease of portability (e.g. hand-held) and the flexibility of operating in airspace without the limitations of test range boundaries or ground telemetry support. The current research was motivated by the need for a rapid and statistically accurate method for in-flight calibration of pitot-static systems for remotely piloted, dynamically-scaled research aircraft. Current calibration methods were deemed not practical for this application because of confined test range size and limited flight time available for each sortie. A method was developed that uses high data rate measurements of static and total pressure, and GPSbased ground speed measurements to compute the pressure errors over a range of airspeed. The novel application of this approach is the use of system identification methods that rapidly compute optimal pressure error models with defined confidence intervals in nearreal time. This method has been demonstrated in flight tests and has shown 2- bounds of approximately 0.2 kts with an order of magnitude reduction in test time over other methods. As part of this experiment, a unique database of wind measurements was acquired concurrently with the flight experiments, for the purpose of experimental validation of the

Optics-Only Calibration of a Neural-Net Based Optical NDE Method for Structural Health Monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Decker, Arthur J.

2004-01-01

A calibration process is presented that uses optical measurements alone to calibrate a neural-net based NDE method. The method itself detects small changes in the vibration mode shapes of structures. The optics-only calibration process confirms previous work that the sensitivity to vibration-amplitude changes can be as small as 10 nanometers. A more practical value in an NDE service laboratory is shown to be 50 nanometers. Both model-generated and experimental calibrations are demonstrated using two implementations of the calibration technique. The implementations are based on previously published demonstrations of the NDE method and an alternative calibration procedure that depends on comparing neural-net and point sensor measurements. The optics-only calibration method, unlike the alternative method, does not require modifications of the structure being tested or the creation of calibration objects. The calibration process can be used to test improvements in the NDE process and to develop a vibration-mode-independence of damagedetection sensitivity. The calibration effort was intended to support NASA s objective to promote safety in the operations of ground test facilities or aviation safety, in general, by allowing the detection of the gradual onset of structural changes and damage.

A Flexile and High Precision Calibration Method for Binocular Structured Light Scanning System

PubMed Central

Yuan, Jianying; Wang, Qiong; Li, Bailin

2014-01-01

3D (three-dimensional) structured light scanning system is widely used in the field of reverse engineering, quality inspection, and so forth. Camera calibration is the key for scanning precision. Currently, 2D (two-dimensional) or 3D fine processed calibration reference object is usually applied for high calibration precision, which is difficult to operate and the cost is high. In this paper, a novel calibration method is proposed with a scale bar and some artificial coded targets placed randomly in the measuring volume. The principle of the proposed method is based on hierarchical self-calibration and bundle adjustment. We get initial intrinsic parameters from images. Initial extrinsic parameters in projective space are estimated with the method of factorization and then upgraded to Euclidean space with orthogonality of rotation matrix and rank 3 of the absolute quadric as constraint. Last, all camera parameters are refined through bundle adjustment. Real experiments show that the proposed method is robust, and has the same precision level as the result using delicate artificial reference object, but the hardware cost is very low compared with the current calibration method used in 3D structured light scanning system. PMID:25202736

Volumetric calibration of a plenoptic camera

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

Hall, Elise Munz; Fahringer, Timothy W.; Guildenbecher, Daniel Robert

Here, the volumetric calibration of a plenoptic camera is explored to correct for inaccuracies due to real-world lens distortions and thin-lens assumptions in current processing methods. Two methods of volumetric calibration based on a polynomial mapping function that does not require knowledge of specific lens parameters are presented and compared to a calibration based on thin-lens assumptions. The first method, volumetric dewarping, is executed by creation of a volumetric representation of a scene using the thin-lens assumptions, which is then corrected in post-processing using a polynomial mapping function. The second method, direct light-field calibration, uses the polynomial mapping in creationmore » of the initial volumetric representation to relate locations in object space directly to image sensor locations. The accuracy and feasibility of these methods is examined experimentally by capturing images of a known dot card at a variety of depths. Results suggest that use of a 3D polynomial mapping function provides a significant increase in reconstruction accuracy and that the achievable accuracy is similar using either polynomial-mapping-based method. Additionally, direct light-field calibration provides significant computational benefits by eliminating some intermediate processing steps found in other methods. Finally, the flexibility of this method is shown for a nonplanar calibration.« less

Volumetric calibration of a plenoptic camera.

PubMed

Hall, Elise Munz; Fahringer, Timothy W; Guildenbecher, Daniel R; Thurow, Brian S

2018-02-01

The volumetric calibration of a plenoptic camera is explored to correct for inaccuracies due to real-world lens distortions and thin-lens assumptions in current processing methods. Two methods of volumetric calibration based on a polynomial mapping function that does not require knowledge of specific lens parameters are presented and compared to a calibration based on thin-lens assumptions. The first method, volumetric dewarping, is executed by creation of a volumetric representation of a scene using the thin-lens assumptions, which is then corrected in post-processing using a polynomial mapping function. The second method, direct light-field calibration, uses the polynomial mapping in creation of the initial volumetric representation to relate locations in object space directly to image sensor locations. The accuracy and feasibility of these methods is examined experimentally by capturing images of a known dot card at a variety of depths. Results suggest that use of a 3D polynomial mapping function provides a significant increase in reconstruction accuracy and that the achievable accuracy is similar using either polynomial-mapping-based method. Additionally, direct light-field calibration provides significant computational benefits by eliminating some intermediate processing steps found in other methods. Finally, the flexibility of this method is shown for a nonplanar calibration.

Volumetric calibration of a plenoptic camera

DOE PAGES

Hall, Elise Munz; Fahringer, Timothy W.; Guildenbecher, Daniel Robert; ...

2018-02-01

Here, the volumetric calibration of a plenoptic camera is explored to correct for inaccuracies due to real-world lens distortions and thin-lens assumptions in current processing methods. Two methods of volumetric calibration based on a polynomial mapping function that does not require knowledge of specific lens parameters are presented and compared to a calibration based on thin-lens assumptions. The first method, volumetric dewarping, is executed by creation of a volumetric representation of a scene using the thin-lens assumptions, which is then corrected in post-processing using a polynomial mapping function. The second method, direct light-field calibration, uses the polynomial mapping in creationmore » of the initial volumetric representation to relate locations in object space directly to image sensor locations. The accuracy and feasibility of these methods is examined experimentally by capturing images of a known dot card at a variety of depths. Results suggest that use of a 3D polynomial mapping function provides a significant increase in reconstruction accuracy and that the achievable accuracy is similar using either polynomial-mapping-based method. Additionally, direct light-field calibration provides significant computational benefits by eliminating some intermediate processing steps found in other methods. Finally, the flexibility of this method is shown for a nonplanar calibration.« less

Reliably detectable flaw size for NDE methods that use calibration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koshti, Ajay M.

2017-04-01

Probability of detection (POD) analysis is used in assessing reliably detectable flaw size in nondestructive evaluation (NDE). MIL-HDBK-1823 and associated mh18232 POD software gives most common methods of POD analysis. In this paper, POD analysis is applied to an NDE method, such as eddy current testing, where calibration is used. NDE calibration standards have known size artificial flaws such as electro-discharge machined (EDM) notches and flat bottom hole (FBH) reflectors which are used to set instrument sensitivity for detection of real flaws. Real flaws such as cracks and crack-like flaws are desired to be detected using these NDE methods. A reliably detectable crack size is required for safe life analysis of fracture critical parts. Therefore, it is important to correlate signal responses from real flaws with signal responses form artificial flaws used in calibration process to determine reliably detectable flaw size.

Reliably Detectable Flaw Size for NDE Methods that Use Calibration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koshti, Ajay M.

2017-01-01

Probability of detection (POD) analysis is used in assessing reliably detectable flaw size in nondestructive evaluation (NDE). MIL-HDBK-1823 and associated mh1823 POD software gives most common methods of POD analysis. In this paper, POD analysis is applied to an NDE method, such as eddy current testing, where calibration is used. NDE calibration standards have known size artificial flaws such as electro-discharge machined (EDM) notches and flat bottom hole (FBH) reflectors which are used to set instrument sensitivity for detection of real flaws. Real flaws such as cracks and crack-like flaws are desired to be detected using these NDE methods. A reliably detectable crack size is required for safe life analysis of fracture critical parts. Therefore, it is important to correlate signal responses from real flaws with signal responses form artificial flaws used in calibration process to determine reliably detectable flaw size.

K-edge energy-based calibration method for photon counting detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ge, Yongshuai; Ji, Xu; Zhang, Ran; Li, Ke; Chen, Guang-Hong

2018-01-01

In recent years, potential applications of energy-resolved photon counting detectors (PCDs) in the x-ray medical imaging field have been actively investigated. Unlike conventional x-ray energy integration detectors, PCDs count the number of incident x-ray photons within certain energy windows. For PCDs, the interactions between x-ray photons and photoconductor generate electronic voltage pulse signals. The pulse height of each signal is proportional to the energy of the incident photons. By comparing the pulse height with the preset energy threshold values, x-ray photons with specific energies are recorded and sorted into different energy bins. To quantitatively understand the meaning of the energy threshold values, and thus to assign an absolute energy value to each energy bin, energy calibration is needed to establish the quantitative relationship between the threshold values and the corresponding effective photon energies. In practice, the energy calibration is not always easy, due to the lack of well-calibrated energy references for the working energy range of the PCDs. In this paper, a new method was developed to use the precise knowledge of the characteristic K-edge energy of materials to perform energy calibration. The proposed method was demonstrated using experimental data acquired from three K-edge materials (viz., iodine, gadolinium, and gold) on two different PCDs (Hydra and Flite, XCounter, Sweden). Finally, the proposed energy calibration method was further validated using a radioactive isotope (Am-241) with a known decay energy spectrum.

Standardization of Laser Methods and Techniques for Vibration Measurements and Calibrations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

von Martens, Hans-Jürgen

2010-05-01

The realization and dissemination of the SI units of motion quantities (vibration and shock) have been based on laser interferometer methods specified in international documentary standards. New and refined laser methods and techniques developed by national metrology institutes and by leading manufacturers in the past two decades have been swiftly specified as standard methods for inclusion into in the series ISO 16063 of international documentary standards. A survey of ISO Standards for the calibration of vibration and shock transducers demonstrates the extended ranges and improved accuracy (measurement uncertainty) of laser methods and techniques for vibration and shock measurements and calibrations. The first standard for the calibration of laser vibrometers by laser interferometry or by a reference accelerometer calibrated by laser interferometry (ISO 16063-41) is on the stage of a Draft International Standard (DIS) and may be issued by the end of 2010. The standard methods with refined techniques proved to achieve wider measurement ranges and smaller measurement uncertainties than that specified in the ISO Standards. The applicability of different standardized interferometer methods to vibrations at high frequencies was recently demonstrated up to 347 kHz (acceleration amplitudes up to 350 km/s2). The relative deviations between the amplitude measurement results of the different interferometer methods that were applied simultaneously, differed by less than 1% in all cases.

Self-calibration method for rotating laser positioning system using interscanning technology and ultrasonic ranging.

PubMed

Wu, Jun; Yu, Zhijing; Zhuge, Jingchang

2016-04-01

A rotating laser positioning system (RLPS) is an efficient measurement method for large-scale metrology. Due to multiple transmitter stations, which consist of a measurement network, the position relationship of these stations must be first calibrated. However, with such auxiliary devices such as a laser tracker, scale bar, and complex calibration process, the traditional calibration methods greatly reduce the measurement efficiency. This paper proposes a self-calibration method for RLPS, which can automatically obtain the position relationship. The method is implemented through interscanning technology by using a calibration bar mounted on the transmitter station. Each bar is composed of three RLPS receivers and one ultrasonic sensor whose coordinates are known in advance. The calibration algorithm is mainly based on multiplane and distance constraints and is introduced in detail through a two-station mathematical model. The repeated experiments demonstrate that the coordinate measurement uncertainty of spatial points by using this method is about 0.1 mm, and the accuracy experiments show that the average coordinate measurement deviation is about 0.3 mm compared with a laser tracker. The accuracy can meet the requirements of most applications, while the calibration efficiency is significantly improved.

Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of valsartan and hydrochlorothiazide by H-point standard addition method and partial least squares regression.

PubMed

Lakshmi, Karunanidhi Santhana; Lakshmi, Sivasubramanian

2011-03-01

Simultaneous determination of valsartan and hydrochlorothiazide by the H-point standard additions method (HPSAM) and partial least squares (PLS) calibration is described. Absorbances at a pair of wavelengths, 216 and 228 nm, were monitored with the addition of standard solutions of valsartan. Results of applying HPSAM showed that valsartan and hydrochlorothiazide can be determined simultaneously at concentration ratios varying from 20:1 to 1:15 in a mixed sample. The proposed PLS method does not require chemical separation and spectral graphical procedures for quantitative resolution of mixtures containing the titled compounds. The calibration model was based on absorption spectra in the 200-350 nm range for 25 different mixtures of valsartan and hydrochlorothiazide. Calibration matrices contained 0.5-3 μg mL-1 of both valsartan and hydrochlorothiazide. The standard error of prediction (SEP) for valsartan and hydrochlorothiazide was 0.020 and 0.038 μg mL-1, respectively. Both proposed methods were successfully applied to the determination of valsartan and hydrochlorothiazide in several synthetic and real matrix samples.

Research on a high-precision calibration method for tunable lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiang, Na; Li, Zhengying; Gui, Xin; Wang, Fan; Hou, Yarong; Wang, Honghai

2018-03-01

Tunable lasers are widely used in the field of optical fiber sensing, but nonlinear tuning exists even for zero external disturbance and limits the accuracy of the demodulation. In this paper, a high-precision calibration method for tunable lasers is proposed. A comb filter is introduced and the real-time output wavelength and scanning rate of the laser are calibrated by linear fitting several time-frequency reference points obtained from it, while the beat signal generated by the auxiliary interferometer is interpolated and frequency multiplied to find more accurate zero crossing points, with these points being used as wavelength counters to resample the comb signal to correct the nonlinear effect, which ensures that the time-frequency reference points of the comb filter are linear. A stability experiment and a strain sensing experiment verify the calibration precision of this method. The experimental result shows that the stability and wavelength resolution of the FBG demodulation can reach 0.088 pm and 0.030 pm, respectively, using a tunable laser calibrated by the proposed method. We have also compared the demodulation accuracy in the presence or absence of the comb filter, with the result showing that the introduction of the comb filter results to a 15-fold wavelength resolution enhancement.

Methods for Calibration of Prout-Tompkins Kinetics Parameters Using EZM Iteration and GLO

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

Wemhoff, A P; Burnham, A K; de Supinski, B

2006-11-07

This document contains information regarding the standard procedures used to calibrate chemical kinetics parameters for the extended Prout-Tompkins model to match experimental data. Two methods for calibration are mentioned: EZM calibration and GLO calibration. EZM calibration matches kinetics parameters to three data points, while GLO calibration slightly adjusts kinetic parameters to match multiple points. Information is provided regarding the theoretical approach and application procedure for both of these calibration algorithms. It is recommended that for the calibration process, the user begin with EZM calibration to provide a good estimate, and then fine-tune the parameters using GLO. Two examples have beenmore » provided to guide the reader through a general calibrating process.« less

A novel calibration method for non-orthogonal shaft laser theodolite measurement system

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

Wu, Bin, E-mail: wubin@tju.edu.cn, E-mail: xueting@tju.edu.cn; Yang, Fengting; Ding, Wen

2016-03-15

Non-orthogonal shaft laser theodolite (N-theodolite) is a new kind of large-scale metrological instrument made up by two rotary tables and one collimated laser. There are three axes for an N-theodolite. According to naming conventions in traditional theodolite, rotary axes of two rotary tables are called as horizontal axis and vertical axis, respectively, and the collimated laser beam is named as sight axis. And the difference between N-theodolite and traditional theodolite is obvious, since the former one with no orthogonal and intersecting accuracy requirements. So the calibration method for traditional theodolite is no longer suitable for N-theodolite, while the calibration methodmore » applied currently is really complicated. Thus this paper introduces a novel calibration method for non-orthogonal shaft laser theodolite measurement system to simplify the procedure and to improve the calibration accuracy. A simple two-step process, calibration for intrinsic parameters and for extrinsic parameters, is proposed by the novel method. And experiments have shown its efficiency and accuracy.« less

Novel Calibration Algorithm for a Three-Axis Strapdown Magnetometer

PubMed Central

Liu, Yan Xia; Li, Xi Sheng; Zhang, Xiao Juan; Feng, Yi Bo

2014-01-01

A complete error calibration model with 12 independent parameters is established by analyzing the three-axis magnetometer error mechanism. The said model conforms to an ellipsoid restriction, the parameters of the ellipsoid equation are estimated, and the ellipsoid coefficient matrix is derived. However, the calibration matrix cannot be determined completely, as there are fewer ellipsoid parameters than calibration model parameters. Mathematically, the calibration matrix derived from the ellipsoid coefficient matrix by a different matrix decomposition method is not unique, and there exists an unknown rotation matrix R between them. This paper puts forward a constant intersection angle method (angles between the geomagnetic field and gravitational field are fixed) to estimate R. The Tikhonov method is adopted to solve the problem that rounding errors or other errors may seriously affect the calculation results of R when the condition number of the matrix is very large. The geomagnetic field vector and heading error are further corrected by R. The constant intersection angle method is convenient and practical, as it is free from any additional calibration procedure or coordinate transformation. In addition, the simulation experiment indicates that the heading error declines from ±1° calibrated by classical ellipsoid fitting to ±0.2° calibrated by a constant intersection angle method, and the signal-to-noise ratio is 50 dB. The actual experiment exhibits that the heading error is further corrected from ±0.8° calibrated by the classical ellipsoid fitting to ±0.3° calibrated by a constant intersection angle method. PMID:24831110

A novel method of calibrating a MEMS inertial reference unit on a turntable under limited working conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Jiazhen; Liang, Shufang; Yang, Yanqiang

2017-10-01

Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) inertial measurement devices tend to be widely used in inertial navigation systems and have quickly emerged on the market due to their characteristics of low cost, high reliability and small size. Calibration is the most effective way to remove the deterministic error of an inertial reference unit (IRU), which in this paper consists of three orthogonally mounted MEMS gyros. However, common testing methods in the lab cannot predict the corresponding errors precisely when the turntable’s working condition is restricted. In this paper, the turntable can only provide a relatively small rotation angle. Moreover, the errors must be compensated exactly because of the great effect caused by the high angular velocity of the craft. To deal with this question, a new method is proposed to evaluate the MEMS IRU’s performance. In the calibration procedure, a one-axis table that can rotate a limited angle in the form of a sine function is utilized to provide the MEMS IRU’s angular velocity. A new algorithm based on Fourier series is designed to calculate the misalignment and scale factor errors. The proposed method is tested in a set of experiments, and the calibration results are compared to a traditional calibration method performed under normal working conditions to verify their correctness. In addition, a verification test in the given rotation speed is implemented for further demonstration.

A calibration method based on virtual large planar target for cameras with large FOV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Lei; Han, Yangyang; Nie, Hong; Ou, Qiaofeng; Xiong, Bangshu

2018-02-01

In order to obtain high precision in camera calibration, a target should be large enough to cover the whole field of view (FOV). For cameras with large FOV, using a small target will seriously reduce the precision of calibration. However, using a large target causes many difficulties in making, carrying and employing the large target. In order to solve this problem, a calibration method based on the virtual large planar target (VLPT), which is virtually constructed with multiple small targets (STs), is proposed for cameras with large FOV. In the VLPT-based calibration method, first, the positions and directions of STs are changed several times to obtain a number of calibration images. Secondly, the VLPT of each calibration image is created by finding the virtual point corresponding to the feature points of the STs. Finally, intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of the camera are calculated by using the VLPTs. Experiment results show that the proposed method can not only achieve the similar calibration precision as those employing a large target, but also have good stability in the whole measurement area. Thus, the difficulties to accurately calibrate cameras with large FOV can be perfectly tackled by the proposed method with good operability.

New methods of data calibration for high power-aperture lidar.

PubMed

Guan, Sai; Yang, Guotao; Chang, Qihai; Cheng, Xuewu; Yang, Yong; Gong, Shaohua; Wang, Jihong

2013-03-25

For high power-aperture lidar sounding of wide atmospheric dynamic ranges, as in middle-upper atmospheric probing, photomultiplier tubes' (PMT) pulse pile-up effects and signal-induced noise (SIN) complicates the extraction of information from lidar return signal, especially from metal layers' fluorescence signal. Pursuit for sophisticated description of metal layers' characteristics at far range (80~130km) with one PMT of high quantum efficiency (QE) and good SNR, contradicts the requirements for signals of wide linear dynamic range (i.e. from approximate 10(2) to 10(8) counts/s). In this article, Substantial improvements on experimental simulation of Lidar signals affected by PMT are reported to evaluate the PMTs' distortions in our High Power-Aperture Sodium LIDAR system. A new method for pile-up calibration is proposed by taking into account PMT and High Speed Data Acquisition Card as an Integrated Black-Box, as well as a new experimental method for identifying and removing SIN from the raw Lidar signals. Contradiction between the limited linear dynamic range of raw signal (55~80km) and requirements for wider acceptable linearity has been effectively solved, without complicating the current lidar system. Validity of these methods was demonstrated by applying calibrated data to retrieve atmospheric parameters (i.e. atmospheric density, temperature and sodium absolutely number density), in comparison with measurements of TIMED satellite and atmosphere model. Good agreements are obtained between results derived from calibrated signal and reference measurements where differences of atmosphere density, temperature are less than 5% in the stratosphere and less than 10K from 30km to mesosphere, respectively. Additionally, approximate 30% changes are shown in sodium concentration at its peak value. By means of the proposed methods to revert the true signal independent of detectors, authors approach a new balance between maintaining the linearity of adequate signal (20

A Quantitative Comparison of Calibration Methods for RGB-D Sensors Using Different Technologies.

PubMed

Villena-Martínez, Víctor; Fuster-Guilló, Andrés; Azorín-López, Jorge; Saval-Calvo, Marcelo; Mora-Pascual, Jeronimo; Garcia-Rodriguez, Jose; Garcia-Garcia, Alberto

2017-01-27

RGB-D (Red Green Blue and Depth) sensors are devices that can provide color and depth information from a scene at the same time. Recently, they have been widely used in many solutions due to their commercial growth from the entertainment market to many diverse areas (e.g., robotics, CAD, etc.). In the research community, these devices have had good uptake due to their acceptable levelofaccuracyformanyapplicationsandtheirlowcost,butinsomecases,theyworkatthelimitof their sensitivity, near to the minimum feature size that can be perceived. For this reason, calibration processes are critical in order to increase their accuracy and enable them to meet the requirements of such kinds of applications. To the best of our knowledge, there is not a comparative study of calibration algorithms evaluating its results in multiple RGB-D sensors. Specifically, in this paper, a comparison of the three most used calibration methods have been applied to three different RGB-D sensors based on structured light and time-of-flight. The comparison of methods has been carried out by a set of experiments to evaluate the accuracy of depth measurements. Additionally, an object reconstruction application has been used as example of an application for which the sensor works at the limit of its sensitivity. The obtained results of reconstruction have been evaluated through visual inspection and quantitative measurements.

Calibration and compensation method of three-axis geomagnetic sensor based on pre-processing total least square iteration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Y.; Zhang, X.; Xiao, W.

2018-04-01

As the geomagnetic sensor is susceptible to interference, a pre-processing total least square iteration method is proposed for calibration compensation. Firstly, the error model of the geomagnetic sensor is analyzed and the correction model is proposed, then the characteristics of the model are analyzed and converted into nine parameters. The geomagnetic data is processed by Hilbert transform (HHT) to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, and the nine parameters are calculated by using the combination of Newton iteration method and the least squares estimation method. The sifter algorithm is used to filter the initial value of the iteration to ensure that the initial error is as small as possible. The experimental results show that this method does not need additional equipment and devices, can continuously update the calibration parameters, and better than the two-step estimation method, it can compensate geomagnetic sensor error well.

Photometric calibration of the COMBO-17 survey with the Softassign Procrustes Matching method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheikhbahaee, Z.; Nakajima, R.; Erben, T.; Schneider, P.; Hildebrandt, H.; Becker, A. C.

2017-11-01

Accurate photometric calibration of optical data is crucial for photometric redshift estimation. We present the Softassign Procrustes Matching (SPM) method to improve the colour calibration upon the commonly used Stellar Locus Regression (SLR) method for the COMBO-17 survey. Our colour calibration approach can be categorised as a point-set matching method, which is frequently used in medical imaging and pattern recognition. We attain a photometric redshift precision Δz/(1 + zs) of better than 2 per cent. Our method is based on aligning the stellar locus of the uncalibrated stars to that of a spectroscopic sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey standard stars. We achieve our goal by finding a correspondence matrix between the two point-sets and applying the matrix to estimate the appropriate translations in multidimensional colour space. The SPM method is able to find the translation between two point-sets, despite the existence of noise and incompleteness of the common structures in the sets, as long as there is a distinct structure in at least one of the colour-colour pairs. We demonstrate the precision of our colour calibration method with a mock catalogue. The SPM colour calibration code is publicly available at https://neuronphysics@bitbucket.org/neuronphysics/spm.git.

Camera calibration method of binocular stereo vision based on OpenCV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Wanzhen; Dong, Xiaona

2015-10-01

Camera calibration, an important part of the binocular stereo vision research, is the essential foundation of 3D reconstruction of the spatial object. In this paper, the camera calibration method based on OpenCV (open source computer vision library) is submitted to make the process better as a result of obtaining higher precision and efficiency. First, the camera model in OpenCV and an algorithm of camera calibration are presented, especially considering the influence of camera lens radial distortion and decentering distortion. Then, camera calibration procedure is designed to compute those parameters of camera and calculate calibration errors. High-accurate profile extraction algorithm and a checkboard with 48 corners have also been used in this part. Finally, results of calibration program are presented, demonstrating the high efficiency and accuracy of the proposed approach. The results can reach the requirement of robot binocular stereo vision.

Comparison of Calibration Methods for Tristimulus Colorimeters.

PubMed

Gardner, James L

2007-01-01

Uncertainties in source color measurements with a tristimulus colorimeter are estimated for calibration factors determined, based on a known source spectral distribution or on accurate measurements of the spectral responsivities of the colorimeter channels. Application is to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) colorimeter and an International Commission on Illumination (CIE) Illuminant A calibration. Detector-based calibration factors generally have lower uncertainties than source-based calibration factors. Uncertainties are also estimated for calculations of spectral mismatch factors. Where both spectral responsivities of the colorimeter channels and the spectral power distributions of the calibration and test sources are known, uncertainties are lowest if the colorimeter calibration factors are recalculated for the test source; this process also avoids correlations between the CIE Source A calibration factors and the spectral mismatch factors.

Comparison of Calibration Methods for Tristimulus Colorimeters

PubMed Central

Gardner, James L.

2007-01-01

Uncertainties in source color measurements with a tristimulus colorimeter are estimated for calibration factors determined, based on a known source spectral distribution or on accurate measurements of the spectral responsivities of the colorimeter channels. Application is to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) colorimeter and an International Commission on Illumination (CIE) Illuminant A calibration. Detector-based calibration factors generally have lower uncertainties than source-based calibration factors. Uncertainties are also estimated for calculations of spectral mismatch factors. Where both spectral responsivities of the colorimeter channels and the spectral power distributions of the calibration and test sources are known, uncertainties are lowest if the colorimeter calibration factors are recalculated for the test source; this process also avoids correlations between the CIE Source A calibration factors and the spectral mismatch factors. PMID:27110460

Bivariate versus multivariate smart spectrophotometric calibration methods for the simultaneous determination of a quaternary mixture of mosapride, pantoprazole and their degradation products.

PubMed

Hegazy, M A; Yehia, A M; Moustafa, A A

2013-05-01

The ability of bivariate and multivariate spectrophotometric methods was demonstrated in the resolution of a quaternary mixture of mosapride, pantoprazole and their degradation products. The bivariate calibrations include bivariate spectrophotometric method (BSM) and H-point standard addition method (HPSAM), which were able to determine the two drugs, simultaneously, but not in the presence of their degradation products, the results showed that simultaneous determinations could be performed in the concentration ranges of 5.0-50.0 microg/ml for mosapride and 10.0-40.0 microg/ml for pantoprazole by bivariate spectrophotometric method and in the concentration ranges of 5.0-45.0 microg/ml for both drugs by H-point standard addition method. Moreover, the applied multivariate calibration methods were able for the determination of mosapride, pantoprazole and their degradation products using concentration residuals augmented classical least squares (CRACLS) and partial least squares (PLS). The proposed multivariate methods were applied to 17 synthetic samples in the concentration ranges of 3.0-12.0 microg/ml mosapride, 8.0-32.0 microg/ml pantoprazole, 1.5-6.0 microg/ml mosapride degradation products and 2.0-8.0 microg/ml pantoprazole degradation products. The proposed bivariate and multivariate calibration methods were successfully applied to the determination of mosapride and pantoprazole in their pharmaceutical preparations.

Automatic Camera Calibration Using Multiple Sets of Pairwise Correspondences.

PubMed

Vasconcelos, Francisco; Barreto, Joao P; Boyer, Edmond

2018-04-01

We propose a new method to add an uncalibrated node into a network of calibrated cameras using only pairwise point correspondences. While previous methods perform this task using triple correspondences, these are often difficult to establish when there is limited overlap between different views. In such challenging cases we must rely on pairwise correspondences and our solution becomes more advantageous. Our method includes an 11-point minimal solution for the intrinsic and extrinsic calibration of a camera from pairwise correspondences with other two calibrated cameras, and a new inlier selection framework that extends the traditional RANSAC family of algorithms to sampling across multiple datasets. Our method is validated on different application scenarios where a lack of triple correspondences might occur: addition of a new node to a camera network; calibration and motion estimation of a moving camera inside a camera network; and addition of views with limited overlap to a Structure-from-Motion model.

Methods to calibrate and scale axial distances in confocal microscopy as a function of refractive index.

PubMed

Besseling, T H; Jose, J; Van Blaaderen, A

2015-02-01

Accurate distance measurement in 3D confocal microscopy is important for quantitative analysis, volume visualization and image restoration. However, axial distances can be distorted by both the point spread function (PSF) and by a refractive-index mismatch between the sample and immersion liquid, which are difficult to separate. Additionally, accurate calibration of the axial distances in confocal microscopy remains cumbersome, although several high-end methods exist. In this paper we present two methods to calibrate axial distances in 3D confocal microscopy that are both accurate and easily implemented. With these methods, we measured axial scaling factors as a function of refractive-index mismatch for high-aperture confocal microscopy imaging. We found that our scaling factors are almost completely linearly dependent on refractive index and that they were in good agreement with theoretical predictions that take the full vectorial properties of light into account. There was however a strong deviation with the theoretical predictions using (high-angle) geometrical optics, which predict much lower scaling factors. As an illustration, we measured the PSF of a correctly calibrated point-scanning confocal microscope and showed that a nearly index-matched, micron-sized spherical object is still significantly elongated due to this PSF, which signifies that care has to be taken when determining axial calibration or axial scaling using such particles. © 2014 The Authors Journal of Microscopy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal Microscopical Society.

Design of a Two-Step Calibration Method of Kinematic Parameters for Serial Robots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

WANG, Wei; WANG, Lei; YUN, Chao

2017-03-01

Serial robots are used to handle workpieces with large dimensions, and calibrating kinematic parameters is one of the most efficient ways to upgrade their accuracy. Many models are set up to investigate how many kinematic parameters can be identified to meet the minimal principle, but the base frame and the kinematic parameter are indistinctly calibrated in a one-step way. A two-step method of calibrating kinematic parameters is proposed to improve the accuracy of the robot's base frame and kinematic parameters. The forward kinematics described with respect to the measuring coordinate frame are established based on the product-of-exponential (POE) formula. In the first step the robot's base coordinate frame is calibrated by the unit quaternion form. The errors of both the robot's reference configuration and the base coordinate frame's pose are equivalently transformed to the zero-position errors of the robot's joints. The simplified model of the robot's positioning error is established in second-power explicit expressions. Then the identification model is finished by the least square method, requiring measuring position coordinates only. The complete subtasks of calibrating the robot's 39 kinematic parameters are finished in the second step. It's proved by a group of calibration experiments that by the proposed two-step calibration method the average absolute accuracy of industrial robots is updated to 0.23 mm. This paper presents that the robot's base frame should be calibrated before its kinematic parameters in order to upgrade its absolute positioning accuracy.

A fast calibration method for 3-D tracking of ultrasound images using a spatial localizer.

PubMed

Pagoulatos, N; Haynor, D R; Kim, Y

2001-09-01

We have developed a fast calibration method for computing the position and orientation of 2-D ultrasound (US) images in 3-D space where a position sensor is mounted on the US probe. This calibration is required in the fields of 3-D ultrasound and registration of ultrasound with other imaging modalities. Most of the existing calibration methods require a complex and tedious experimental procedure. Our method is simple and it is based on a custom-built phantom. Thirty N-fiducials (markers in the shape of the letter "N") embedded in the phantom provide the basis for our calibration procedure. We calibrated a 3.5-MHz sector phased-array probe with a magnetic position sensor, and we studied the accuracy and precision of our method. A typical calibration procedure requires approximately 2 min. We conclude that we can achieve accurate and precise calibration using a single US image, provided that a large number (approximately ten) of N-fiducials are captured within the US image, enabling a representative sampling of the imaging plane.

Method and apparatus for calibrating a linear variable differential transformer

DOEpatents

Pokrywka, Robert J [North Huntingdon, PA

2005-01-18

A calibration apparatus for calibrating a linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) having an armature positioned in au LVDT armature orifice, and the armature able to move along an axis of movement. The calibration apparatus includes a heating mechanism with an internal chamber, a temperature measuring mechanism for measuring the temperature of the LVDT, a fixture mechanism with an internal chamber for at least partially accepting the LVDT and for securing the LVDT within the heating mechanism internal chamber, a moving mechanism for moving the armature, a position measurement mechanism for measuring the position of the armature, and an output voltage measurement mechanism. A method for calibrating an LVDT, including the steps of: powering the LVDT; heating the LVDT to a desired temperature; measuring the position of the armature with respect to the armature orifice; and measuring the output voltage of the LVDT.

Influence of Ultrasonic Nonlinear Propagation on Hydrophone Calibration Using Two-Transducer Reciprocity Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshioka, Masahiro; Sato, Sojun; Kikuchi, Tsuneo; Matsuda, Yoichi

2006-05-01

In this study, the influence of ultrasonic nonlinear propagation on hydrophone calibration by the two-transducer reciprocity method is investigated quantitatively using the Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov (KZK) equation. It is proposed that the correction for the diffraction and attenuation of ultrasonic waves used in two-transducer reciprocity calibration can be derived using the KZK equation to remove the influence of nonlinear propagation. The validity of the correction is confirmed by comparing the sensitivities calibrated by the two-transducer reciprocity method and laser interferometry.

Wind Tunnel Force Balance Calibration Study - Interim Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rhew, Ray D.

2012-01-01

Wind tunnel force balance calibration is preformed utilizing a variety of different methods and does not have a direct traceable standard such as standards used for most calibration practices (weights, and voltmeters). These different calibration methods and practices include, but are not limited to, the loading schedule, the load application hardware, manual and automatic systems, re-leveling and non-re-leveling. A study of the balance calibration techniques used by NASA was undertaken to develop metrics for reviewing and comparing results using sample calibrations. The study also includes balances of different designs, single and multi-piece. The calibration systems include, the manual, and the automatic that are provided by NASA and its vendors. The results to date will be presented along with the techniques for comparing the results. In addition, future planned calibrations and investigations based on the results will be provided.

A new time calibration method for switched-capacitor-array-based waveform samplers

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

Kim, H.; Chen, C. -T.; Eclov, N.

2014-08-24

Here we have developed a new time calibration method for the DRS4 waveform sampler that enables us to precisely measure the non-uniform sampling interval inherent in the switched-capacitor cells of the DRS4. The method uses the proportionality between the differential amplitude and sampling interval of adjacent switched-capacitor cells responding to a sawtooth-shape pulse. In the experiment, a sawtooth-shape pulse with a 40 ns period generated by a Tektronix AWG7102 is fed to a DRS4 evaluation board for calibrating the sampling intervals of all 1024 cells individually. The electronic time resolution of the DRS4 evaluation board with the new time calibrationmore » is measured to be ~2.4 ps RMS by using two simultaneous Gaussian pulses with 2.35 ns full-width at half-maximum and applying a Gaussian fit. The time resolution dependencies on the time difference with the new time calibration are measured and compared to results obtained by another method. Ultimately, the new method could be applicable for other switched-capacitor-array technology-based waveform samplers for precise time calibration.« less

Misalignment calibration of geomagnetic vector measurement system using parallelepiped frame rotation method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pang, Hongfeng; Zhu, XueJun; Pan, Mengchun; Zhang, Qi; Wan, Chengbiao; Luo, Shitu; Chen, Dixiang; Chen, Jinfei; Li, Ji; Lv, Yunxiao

2016-12-01

Misalignment error is one key factor influencing the measurement accuracy of geomagnetic vector measurement system, which should be calibrated with the difficulties that sensors measure different physical information and coordinates are invisible. A new misalignment calibration method by rotating a parallelepiped frame is proposed. Simulation and experiment result show the effectiveness of calibration method. The experimental system mainly contains DM-050 three-axis fluxgate magnetometer, INS (inertia navigation system), aluminium parallelepiped frame, aluminium plane base. Misalignment angles are calculated by measured data of magnetometer and INS after rotating the aluminium parallelepiped frame on aluminium plane base. After calibration, RMS error of geomagnetic north, vertical and east are reduced from 349.441 nT, 392.530 nT and 562.316 nT to 40.130 nT, 91.586 nT and 141.989 nT respectively.

Integrated calibration of multiview phase-measuring profilometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Yeong Beum; Kim, Min H.

2017-11-01

Phase-measuring profilometry (PMP) measures per-pixel height information of a surface with high accuracy. Height information captured by a camera in PMP relies on its screen coordinates. Therefore, a PMP measurement from a view cannot be integrated directly to other measurements from different views due to the intrinsic difference of the screen coordinates. In order to integrate multiple PMP scans, an auxiliary calibration of each camera's intrinsic and extrinsic properties is required, in addition to principal PMP calibration. This is cumbersome and often requires physical constraints in the system setup, and multiview PMP is consequently rarely practiced. In this work, we present a novel multiview PMP method that yields three-dimensional global coordinates directly so that three-dimensional measurements can be integrated easily. Our PMP calibration parameterizes intrinsic and extrinsic properties of the configuration of both a camera and a projector simultaneously. It also does not require any geometric constraints on the setup. In addition, we propose a novel calibration target that can remain static without requiring any mechanical operation while conducting multiview calibrations, whereas existing calibration methods require manually changing the target's position and orientation. Our results validate the accuracy of measurements and demonstrate the advantages on our multiview PMP.

SU-F-T-274: Modified Dose Calibration Methods for IMRT QA

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

Luo, W; Westlund, S

2016-06-15

Purpose: To investigate IMRT QA uncertainties caused by dose calibration and modify widely used dose calibration procedures to improve IMRT QA accuracy and passing rate. Methods: IMRT QA dose measurement is calibrated using a calibration factor (CF) that is the ratio between measured value and expected value corresponding to the reference fields delivered on a phantom. Two IMRT QA phantoms were used for this study: a 30×30×30 cm3 solid water cube phantom (Cube), and the PTW Octavius phantom. CF was obtained by delivering 100 MUs to the phantoms with different reference fields ranging from 3×3 cm2 to 20×20 cm{sup 2}.more » For Cube, CFs were obtained using the following beam arrangements: 2-AP Field - chamber at dmax, 2-AP Field - chamber at isocenter, 4-beam box - chamber at isocenter, and 8 equally spaced fields and chamber at isocenter. The same plans were delivered on Octavius and CFs were derived for the dose at the isocenter using the above beam arrangements. The Octavius plans were evaluated with PTW-VeriSoft (Gamma criteria of 3%/3mm). Results: Four head and neck IMRT plans were included in this study. For point dose measurement with Cube, the CFs with 4-Field gave the best agreement between measurement and calculation within 4% for large field plans. All the measurement results agreed within 2% for a small field plan. Compared with calibration field sizes, 5×5 to 15×15 were more accurate than other field sizes. For Octavius, 4-Field calibration increased passing rate by up to 10% compared to AP calibration. Passing rate also increased by up to 4% with the increase of field size from 3×3 to 20×20. Conclusion: IMRT QA results are correlated with calibration methods used. The dose calibration using 4-beam box with field sizes from 5×5 to 20×20 can improve IMRT QA accuracy and passing rate.« less

An improved method for determining force balance calibration accuracy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ferris, Alice T.

1993-01-01

The results of an improved statistical method used at Langley Research Center for determining and stating the accuracy of a force balance calibration are presented. The application of the method for initial loads, initial load determination, auxiliary loads, primary loads, and proof loads is described. The data analysis is briefly addressed.

Absolute x-ray energy calibration and monitoring using a diffraction-based method

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

Hong, Xinguo, E-mail: xhong@bnl.gov; Weidner, Donald J.; Duffy, Thomas S.

2016-07-27

In this paper, we report some recent developments of the diffraction-based absolute X-ray energy calibration method. In this calibration method, high spatial resolution of the measured detector offset is essential. To this end, a remotely controlled long-translation motorized stage was employed instead of the less convenient gauge blocks. It is found that the precision of absolute X-ray energy calibration (ΔE/E) is readily achieved down to the level of 10{sup −4} for high-energy monochromatic X-rays (e.g. 80 keV). Examples of applications to pair distribution function (PDF) measurements and energy monitoring for high-energy X-rays are presented.

Calibration of DEM parameters on shear test experiments using Kriging method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bednarek, Xavier; Martin, Sylvain; Ndiaye, Abibatou; Peres, Véronique; Bonnefoy, Olivier

2017-06-01

Calibration of powder mixing simulation using Discrete-Element-Method is still an issue. Achieving good agreement with experimental results is difficult because time-efficient use of DEM involves strong assumptions. This work presents a methodology to calibrate DEM parameters using Efficient Global Optimization (EGO) algorithm based on Kriging interpolation method. Classical shear test experiments are used as calibration experiments. The calibration is made on two parameters - Young modulus and friction coefficient. The determination of the minimal number of grains that has to be used is a critical step. Simulations of a too small amount of grains would indeed not represent the realistic behavior of powder when using huge amout of grains will be strongly time consuming. The optimization goal is the minimization of the objective function which is the distance between simulated and measured behaviors. The EGO algorithm uses the maximization of the Expected Improvement criterion to find next point that has to be simulated. This stochastic criterion handles with the two interpolations made by the Kriging method : prediction of the objective function and estimation of the error made. It is thus able to quantify the improvement in the minimization that new simulations at specified DEM parameters would lead to.

Integrated calibration sphere and calibration step fixture for improved coordinate measurement machine calibration

DOEpatents

Clifford, Harry J [Los Alamos, NM

2011-03-22

A method and apparatus for mounting a calibration sphere to a calibration fixture for Coordinate Measurement Machine (CMM) calibration and qualification is described, decreasing the time required for such qualification, thus allowing the CMM to be used more productively. A number of embodiments are disclosed that allow for new and retrofit manufacture to perform as integrated calibration sphere and calibration fixture devices. This invention renders unnecessary the removal of a calibration sphere prior to CMM measurement of calibration features on calibration fixtures, thereby greatly reducing the time spent qualifying a CMM.

A Calibration Method for Nanowire Biosensors to Suppress Device-to-device Variation

PubMed Central

Ishikawa, Fumiaki N.; Curreli, Marco; Chang, Hsiao-Kang; Chen, Po-Chiang; Zhang, Rui; Cote, Richard J.; Thompson, Mark E.; Zhou, Chongwu

2009-01-01

Nanowire/nanotube biosensors have stimulated significant interest; however the inevitable device-to-device variation in the biosensor performance remains a great challenge. We have developed an analytical method to calibrate nanowire biosensor responses that can suppress the device-to-device variation in sensing response significantly. The method is based on our discovery of a strong correlation between the biosensor gate dependence (dIds/dVg) and the absolute response (absolute change in current, ΔI). In2O3 nanowire based biosensors for streptavidin detection were used as the model system. Studying the liquid gate effect and ionic concentration dependence of strepavidin sensing indicates that electrostatic interaction is the dominant mechanism for sensing response. Based on this sensing mechanism and transistor physics, a linear correlation between the absolute sensor response (ΔI) and the gate dependence (dIds/dVg) is predicted and confirmed experimentally. Using this correlation, a calibration method was developed where the absolute response is divided by dIds/dVg for each device, and the calibrated responses from different devices behaved almost identically. Compared to the common normalization method (normalization of the conductance/resistance/current by the initial value), this calibration method was proved advantageous using a conventional transistor model. The method presented here substantially suppresses device-to-device variation, allowing the use of nanosensors in large arrays. PMID:19921812

Pressure balance cross-calibration method using a pressure transducer as transfer standard

PubMed Central

Olson, D; Driver, R. G.; Yang, Y

2016-01-01

Piston gauges or pressure balances are widely used to realize the SI unit of pressure, the pascal, and to calibrate pressure sensing devices. However, their calibration is time consuming and requires a lot of technical expertise. In this paper, we propose an alternate method of performing a piston gauge cross calibration that incorporates a pressure transducer as an immediate in-situ transfer standard. For a sufficiently linear transducer, the requirement to exactly balance the weights on the two pressure gauges under consideration is greatly relaxed. Our results indicate that this method can be employed without a significant increase in measurement uncertainty. Indeed, in the test case explored here, our results agreed with the traditional method within standard uncertainty, which was less than 6 parts per million. PMID:28303167

A comparative study of amplitude calibrations for the East Asia VLBI Network: A priori and template spectrum methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Ilje; Jung, Taehyun; Zhao, Guang-Yao; Akiyama, Kazunori; Sawada-Satoh, Satoko; Kino, Motoki; Byun, Do-Young; Sohn, Bong Won; Shibata, Katsunori M.; Hirota, Tomoya; Niinuma, Kotaro; Yonekura, Yoshinori; Fujisawa, Kenta; Oyama, Tomoaki

2017-12-01

We present the results of a comparative study of amplitude calibrations for the East Asia VLBI Network (EAVN) at 22 and 43 GHz using two different methods of an "a priori" and a "template spectrum", particularly on lower declination sources. Using observational data sets of early EAVN observations, we investigated the elevation-dependence of the gain values at seven stations of the KaVA (KVN and VERA Array) and three additional telescopes in Japan (Takahagi 32 m, Yamaguchi 32 m, and Nobeyama 45 m). By comparing the independently obtained gain values based on these two methods, we found that the gain values from each method were consistent within 10% at elevations higher than 10°. We also found that the total flux densities of two images produced from the different amplitude calibrations were in agreement within 10% at both 22 and 43 GHz. By using the template spectrum method, furthermore, the additional radio telescopes can participate in KaVA (i.e., EAVN), giving a notable sensitivity increase. Therefore, our results will constrain the detailed conditions in order to measure the VLBI amplitude reliably using EAVN, and discuss the potential of possible expansion to telescopes comprising EAVN.

SU-F-E-19: A Novel Method for TrueBeam Jaw Calibration

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

Corns, R; Zhao, Y; Huang, V

2016-06-15

Purpose: A simple jaw calibration method is proposed for Varian TrueBeam using an EPID-Encoder combination that gives accurate fields sizes and a homogeneous junction dose. This benefits clinical applications such as mono-isocentric half-beam block breast cancer or head and neck cancer treatment with junction/field matching. Methods: We use EPID imager with pixel size 0.392 mm × 0.392 mm to determine the radiation jaw position as measured from radio-opaque markers aligned with the crosshair. We acquire two images with different symmetric field sizes and record each individual jaw encoder values. A linear relationship between each jaw’s position and its encoder valuemore » is established, from which we predict the encoder values that produce the jaw positions required by TrueBeam’s calibration procedure. During TrueBeam’s jaw calibration procedure, we move the jaw with the pendant to set the jaw into position using the predicted encoder value. The overall accuracy is under 0.1 mm. Results: Our in-house software analyses images and provides sub-pixel accuracy to determine field centre and radiation edges (50% dose of the profile). We verified the TrueBeam encoder provides a reliable linear relationship for each individual jaw position (R{sup 2}>0.9999) from which the encoder values necessary to set jaw calibration points (1 cm and 19 cm) are predicted. Junction matching dose inhomogeneities were improved from >±20% to <±6% using this new calibration protocol. However, one technical challenge exists for junction matching, if the collimator walkout is large. Conclusion: Our new TrueBeam jaw calibration method can systematically calibrate the jaws to crosshair within sub-pixel accuracy and provides both good junction doses and field sizes. This method does not compensate for a larger collimator walkout, but can be used as the underlying foundation for addressing the walkout issue.« less

Brightness checkerboard lattice method for the calibration of the coaxial reverse Hartmann test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xinji; Hui, Mei; Li, Ning; Hu, Shinan; Liu, Ming; Kong, Lingqin; Dong, Liquan; Zhao, Yuejin

2018-01-01

The coaxial reverse Hartmann test (RHT) is widely used in the measurement of large aspheric surfaces as an auxiliary method for interference measurement, because of its large dynamic range, highly flexible test with low frequency of surface errors, and low cost. And the accuracy of the coaxial RHT depends on the calibration. However, the calibration process remains inefficient, and the signal-to-noise ratio limits the accuracy of the calibration. In this paper, brightness checkerboard lattices were used to replace the traditional dot matrix. The brightness checkerboard method can reduce the number of dot matrix projections in the calibration process, thus improving efficiency. An LCD screen displayed a brightness checkerboard lattice, in which the brighter checkerboard and the darker checkerboard alternately arranged. Based on the image on the detector, the relationship between the rays at certain angles and the photosensitive positions of the detector coordinates can be obtained. And a differential de-noising method can effectively reduce the impact of noise on the measurement results. Simulation and experimentation proved the feasibility of the method. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the efficiency of the brightness checkerboard lattices is about four times that of the traditional dot matrix, and the signal-to-noise ratio of the calibration is significantly improved.

High-precision method of binocular camera calibration with a distortion model.

PubMed

Li, Weimin; Shan, Siyu; Liu, Hui

2017-03-10

A high-precision camera calibration method for binocular stereo vision system based on a multi-view template and alternative bundle adjustment is presented in this paper. The proposed method could be achieved by taking several photos on a specially designed calibration template that has diverse encoded points in different orientations. In this paper, the method utilized the existing algorithm used for monocular camera calibration to obtain the initialization, which involves a camera model, including radial lens distortion and tangential distortion. We created a reference coordinate system based on the left camera coordinate to optimize the intrinsic parameters of left camera through alternative bundle adjustment to obtain optimal values. Then, optimal intrinsic parameters of the right camera can be obtained through alternative bundle adjustment when we create a reference coordinate system based on the right camera coordinate. We also used all intrinsic parameters that were acquired to optimize extrinsic parameters. Thus, the optimal lens distortion parameters and intrinsic and extrinsic parameters were obtained. Synthetic and real data were used to test the method. The simulation results demonstrate that the maximum mean absolute relative calibration errors are about 3.5e-6 and 1.2e-6 for the focal length and the principal point, respectively, under zero-mean Gaussian noise with 0.05 pixels standard deviation. The real result shows that the reprojection error of our model is about 0.045 pixels with the relative standard deviation of 1.0e-6 over the intrinsic parameters. The proposed method is convenient, cost-efficient, highly precise, and simple to carry out.

A method of calibrating wind velocity sensors with a modified gas flow calibrator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stump, H. P.

1978-01-01

A procedure was described for calibrating air velocity sensors in the exhaust flow of a gas flow calibrator. The average velocity in the test section located at the calibrator exhaust was verified from the mass flow rate accurately measured by the calibrator's precision sonic nozzles. Air at elevated pressures flowed through a series of screens, diameter changes, and flow straighteners, resulting in a smooth flow through the open test section. The modified system generated air velocities of 2 to 90 meters per second with an uncertainty of about two percent for speeds below 15 meters per second and four percent for the higher speeds. Wind tunnel data correlated well with that taken in the flow calibrator.

A novel method to calibrate DOI function of a PET detector with a dual-ended-scintillator readout.

PubMed

Shao, Yiping; Yao, Rutao; Ma, Tianyu

2008-12-01

addition, the new method can be generally applied to calibrating other types of detectors that use the similar dual-ended readout to acquire the radiation interaction position.

A novel method to calibrate DOI function of a PET detector with a dual-ended-scintillator readout

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

Shao Yiping; Yao Rutao; Ma Tianyu

. In addition, the new method can be generally applied to calibrating other types of detectors that use the similar dual-ended readout to acquire the radiation interaction position.« less

A calculation and uncertainty evaluation method for the effective area of a piston rod used in quasi-static pressure calibration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Tingwei; Kong, Deren; Shang, Fei; Chen, Jing

2018-04-01

This paper describes the merits and demerits of different sensors for measuring propellant gas pressure, the applicable range of the frequently used dynamic pressure calibration methods, and the working principle of absolute quasi-static pressure calibration based on the drop-weight device. The main factors affecting the accuracy of pressure calibration are analyzed from two aspects of the force sensor and the piston area. To calculate the effective area of the piston rod and evaluate the uncertainty between the force sensor and the corresponding peak pressure in the absolute quasi-static pressure calibration process, a method for solving these problems based on the least squares principle is proposed. According to the relevant quasi-static pressure calibration experimental data, the least squares fitting model between the peak force and the peak pressure, and the effective area of the piston rod and its measurement uncertainty, are obtained. The fitting model is tested by an additional group of experiments, and the peak pressure obtained by the existing high-precision comparison calibration method is taken as the reference value. The test results show that the peak pressure obtained by the least squares fitting model is closer to the reference value than the one directly calculated by the cross-sectional area of the piston rod. When the peak pressure is higher than 150 MPa, the percentage difference is less than 0.71%, which can meet the requirements of practical application.

A new method to calibrate Lagrangian model with ASAR images for oil slick trajectory.

PubMed

Tian, Siyu; Huang, Xiaoxia; Li, Hongga

2017-03-15

Since Lagrangian model coefficients vary with different conditions, it is necessary to calibrate the model to obtain optimal coefficient combination for special oil spill accident. This paper focuses on proposing a new method to calibrate Lagrangian model with time series of Envisat ASAR images. Oil slicks extracted from time series images form a detected trajectory of special oil slick. Lagrangian model is calibrated by minimizing the difference between simulated trajectory and detected trajectory. mean center position distance difference (MCPD) and rotation difference (RD) of Oil slicks' or particles' standard deviational ellipses (SDEs) are calculated as two evaluations. The two parameters are taken to evaluate the performance of Lagrangian transport model with different coefficient combinations. This method is applied to Penglai 19-3 oil spill accident. The simulation result with calibrated model agrees well with related satellite observations. It is suggested the new method is effective to calibrate Lagrangian model. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improvement of Accuracy in Environmental Dosimetry by TLD Cards Using Three-dimensional Calibration Method

PubMed Central

HosseiniAliabadi, S. J.; Hosseini Pooya, S. M.; Afarideh, H.; Mianji, F.

2015-01-01

Introduction The angular dependency of response for TLD cards may cause deviation from its true value on the results of environmental dosimetry, since TLDs may be exposed to radiation at different angles of incidence from the surrounding area. Objective A 3D setting of TLD cards has been calibrated isotropically in a standard radiation field to evaluate the improvement of the accuracy of measurement for environmental dosimetry. Method Three personal TLD cards were rectangularly placed in a cylindrical holder, and calibrated using 1D and 3D calibration methods. Then, the dosimeter has been used simultaneously with a reference instrument in a real radiation field measuring the accumulated dose within a time interval. Result The results show that the accuracy of measurement has been improved by 6.5% using 3D calibration factor in comparison with that of normal 1D calibration method. Conclusion This system can be utilized in large scale environmental monitoring with a higher accuracy. PMID:26157729

Measurement correction method for force sensor used in dynamic pressure calibration based on artificial neural network optimized by genetic algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Tingwei; Kong, Deren; Shang, Fei; Chen, Jing

2017-12-01

We present an optimization algorithm to obtain low-uncertainty dynamic pressure measurements from a force-transducer-based device. In this paper, the advantages and disadvantages of the methods that are commonly used to measure the propellant powder gas pressure, the applicable scope of dynamic pressure calibration devices, and the shortcomings of the traditional comparison calibration method based on the drop-weight device are firstly analysed in detail. Then, a dynamic calibration method for measuring pressure using a force sensor based on a drop-weight device is introduced. This method can effectively save time when many pressure sensors are calibrated simultaneously and extend the life of expensive reference sensors. However, the force sensor is installed between the drop-weight and the hammerhead by transition pieces through the connection mode of bolt fastening, which causes adverse effects such as additional pretightening and inertia forces. To solve these effects, the influence mechanisms of the pretightening force, the inertia force and other influence factors on the force measurement are theoretically analysed. Then a measurement correction method for the force measurement is proposed based on an artificial neural network optimized by a genetic algorithm. The training and testing data sets are obtained from calibration tests, and the selection criteria for the key parameters of the correction model is discussed. The evaluation results for the test data show that the correction model can effectively improve the force measurement accuracy of the force sensor. Compared with the traditional high-accuracy comparison calibration method, the percentage difference of the impact-force-based measurement is less than 0.6% and the relative uncertainty of the corrected force value is 1.95%, which can meet the requirements of engineering applications.

Calibration methods influence quantitative material decomposition in photon-counting spectral CT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Curtis, Tyler E.; Roeder, Ryan K.

2017-03-01

Photon-counting detectors and nanoparticle contrast agents can potentially enable molecular imaging and material decomposition in computed tomography (CT). Material decomposition has been investigated using both simulated and acquired data sets. However, the effect of calibration methods on material decomposition has not been systematically investigated. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the influence of the range and number of contrast agent concentrations within a modular calibration phantom on quantitative material decomposition. A commerciallyavailable photon-counting spectral micro-CT (MARS Bioimaging) was used to acquire images with five energy bins selected to normalize photon counts and leverage the contrast agent k-edge. Material basis matrix values were determined using multiple linear regression models and material decomposition was performed using a maximum a posteriori estimator. The accuracy of quantitative material decomposition was evaluated by the root mean squared error (RMSE), specificity, sensitivity, and area under the curve (AUC). An increased maximum concentration (range) in the calibration significantly improved RMSE, specificity and AUC. The effects of an increased number of concentrations in the calibration were not statistically significant for the conditions in this study. The overall results demonstrated that the accuracy of quantitative material decomposition in spectral CT is significantly influenced by calibration methods, which must therefore be carefully considered for the intended diagnostic imaging application.

A method for in situ absolute DD yield calibration of neutron time-of-flight detectors on OMEGA using CR-39-based proton detectors.

PubMed

Waugh, C J; Rosenberg, M J; Zylstra, A B; Frenje, J A; Séguin, F H; Petrasso, R D; Glebov, V Yu; Sangster, T C; Stoeckl, C

2015-05-01

Neutron time of flight (nTOF) detectors are used routinely to measure the absolute DD neutron yield at OMEGA. To check the DD yield calibration of these detectors, originally calibrated using indium activation systems, which in turn were cross-calibrated to NOVA nTOF detectors in the early 1990s, a direct in situ calibration method using CR-39 range filter proton detectors has been successfully developed. By measuring DD neutron and proton yields from a series of exploding pusher implosions at OMEGA, a yield calibration coefficient of 1.09 ± 0.02 (relative to the previous coefficient) was determined for the 3m nTOF detector. In addition, comparison of these and other shots indicates that significant reduction in charged particle flux anisotropies is achieved when bang time occurs significantly (on the order of 500 ps) after the trailing edge of the laser pulse. This is an important observation as the main source of the yield calibration error is due to particle anisotropies caused by field effects. The results indicate that the CR-39-nTOF in situ calibration method can serve as a valuable technique for calibrating and reducing the uncertainty in the DD absolute yield calibration of nTOF detector systems on OMEGA, the National Ignition Facility, and laser megajoule.

Calibration and accuracy analysis of a focused plenoptic camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeller, N.; Quint, F.; Stilla, U.

2014-08-01

In this article we introduce new methods for the calibration of depth images from focused plenoptic cameras and validate the results. We start with a brief description of the concept of a focused plenoptic camera and how from the recorded raw image a depth map can be estimated. For this camera, an analytical expression of the depth accuracy is derived for the first time. In the main part of the paper, methods to calibrate a focused plenoptic camera are developed and evaluated. The optical imaging process is calibrated by using a method which is already known from the calibration of traditional cameras. For the calibration of the depth map two new model based methods, which make use of the projection concept of the camera are developed. These new methods are compared to a common curve fitting approach, which is based on Taylor-series-approximation. Both model based methods show significant advantages compared to the curve fitting method. They need less reference points for calibration than the curve fitting method and moreover, supply a function which is valid in excess of the range of calibration. In addition the depth map accuracy of the plenoptic camera was experimentally investigated for different focal lengths of the main lens and is compared to the analytical evaluation.

An Improved Calibration Method for Hydrazine Monitors for the United States Air Force

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

Korsah, K

2003-07-07

This report documents the results of Phase 1 of the ''Air Force Hydrazine Detector Characterization and Calibration Project''. A method for calibrating model MDA 7100 hydrazine detectors in the United States Air Force (AF) inventory has been developed. The calibration system consists of a Kintek 491 reference gas generation system, a humidifier/mixer system which combines the dry reference hydrazine gas with humidified diluent or carrier gas to generate the required humidified reference for calibrations, and a gas sampling interface. The Kintek reference gas generation system itself is periodically calibrated using an ORNL-constructed coulometric titration system to verify the hydrazine concentrationmore » of the sample atmosphere in the interface module. The Kintek reference gas is then used to calibrate the hydrazine monitors. Thus, coulometric titration is only used to periodically assess the performance of the Kintek reference gas generation system, and is not required for hydrazine monitor calibrations. One advantage of using coulometric titration for verifying the concentration of the reference gas is that it is a primary standard (if used for simple solutions), thereby guaranteeing, in principle, that measurements will be traceable to SI units (i.e., to the mole). The effect of humidity of the reference gas was characterized by using the results of concentrations determined by coulometric titration to develop a humidity correction graph for the Kintek 491 reference gas generation system. Using this calibration method, calibration uncertainty has been reduced by 50% compared to the current method used to calibrate hydrazine monitors in the Air Force inventory and calibration time has also been reduced by more than 20%. Significant findings from studies documented in this report are the following: (1) The Kintek 491 reference gas generation system (generator, humidifier and interface module) can be used to calibrate hydrazine detectors. (2) The Kintek system

Improved calibration-based non-uniformity correction method for uncooled infrared camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Chengwei; Sui, Xiubao

2017-08-01

With the latest improvements of microbolometer focal plane arrays (FPA), uncooled infrared (IR) cameras are becoming the most widely used devices in thermography, especially in handheld devices. However the influences derived from changing ambient condition and the non-uniform response of the sensors make it more difficult to correct the nonuniformity of uncooled infrared camera. In this paper, based on the infrared radiation characteristic in the TEC-less uncooled infrared camera, a novel model was proposed for calibration-based non-uniformity correction (NUC). In this model, we introduce the FPA temperature, together with the responses of microbolometer under different ambient temperature to calculate the correction parameters. Based on the proposed model, we can work out the correction parameters with the calibration measurements under controlled ambient condition and uniform blackbody. All correction parameters can be determined after the calibration process and then be used to correct the non-uniformity of the infrared camera in real time. This paper presents the detail of the compensation procedure and the performance of the proposed calibration-based non-uniformity correction method. And our method was evaluated on realistic IR images obtained by a 384x288 pixels uncooled long wave infrared (LWIR) camera operated under changed ambient condition. The results show that our method can exclude the influence caused by the changed ambient condition, and ensure that the infrared camera has a stable performance.

Calibrated FMRI.

PubMed

Hoge, Richard D

2012-08-15

Functional magnetic resonance imaging with blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast has had a tremendous influence on human neuroscience in the last twenty years, providing a non-invasive means of mapping human brain function with often exquisite sensitivity and detail. However the BOLD method remains a largely qualitative approach. While the same can be said of anatomic MRI techniques, whose clinical and research impact has not been diminished in the slightest by the lack of a quantitative interpretation of their image intensity, the quantitative expression of BOLD responses as a percent of the baseline T2*- weighted signal has been viewed as necessary since the earliest days of fMRI. Calibrated MRI attempts to dissociate changes in oxygen metabolism from changes in blood flow and volume, the latter three quantities contributing jointly to determine the physiologically ambiguous percent BOLD change. This dissociation is typically performed using a "calibration" procedure in which subjects inhale a gas mixture containing small amounts of carbon dioxide or enriched oxygen to produce changes in blood flow and BOLD signal which can be measured under well-defined hemodynamic conditions. The outcome is a calibration parameter M which can then be substituted into an expression providing the fractional change in oxygen metabolism given changes in blood flow and BOLD signal during a task. The latest generation of calibrated MRI methods goes beyond fractional changes to provide absolute quantification of resting-state oxygen consumption in micromolar units, in addition to absolute measures of evoked metabolic response. This review discusses the history, challenges, and advances in calibrated MRI, from the personal perspective of the author. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Calibration Method for IATS and Application in Multi-Target Monitoring Using Coded Targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Yueyin; Wagner, Andreas; Wunderlich, Thomas; Wasmeier, Peter

2017-06-01

The technique of Image Assisted Total Stations (IATS) has been studied for over ten years and is composed of two major parts: one is the calibration procedure which combines the relationship between the camera system and the theodolite system; the other is the automatic target detection on the image by various methods of photogrammetry or computer vision. Several calibration methods have been developed, mostly using prototypes with an add-on camera rigidly mounted on the total station. However, these prototypes are not commercially available. This paper proposes a calibration method based on Leica MS50 which has two built-in cameras each with a resolution of 2560 × 1920 px: an overview camera and a telescope (on-axis) camera. Our work in this paper is based on the on-axis camera which uses the 30-times magnification of the telescope. The calibration consists of 7 parameters to estimate. We use coded targets, which are common tools in photogrammetry for orientation, to detect different targets in IATS images instead of prisms and traditional ATR functions. We test and verify the efficiency and stability of this monitoring method with multi-target.

Flight Test Results of a GPS-Based Pitot-Static Calibration Method Using Output-Error Optimization for a Light Twin-Engine Airplane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martos, Borja; Kiszely, Paul; Foster, John V.

2011-01-01

As part of the NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP), a novel pitot-static calibration method was developed to allow rapid in-flight calibration for subscale aircraft while flying within confined test areas. This approach uses Global Positioning System (GPS) technology coupled with modern system identification methods that rapidly computes optimal pressure error models over a range of airspeed with defined confidence bounds. This method has been demonstrated in subscale flight tests and has shown small 2- error bounds with significant reduction in test time compared to other methods. The current research was motivated by the desire to further evaluate and develop this method for full-scale aircraft. A goal of this research was to develop an accurate calibration method that enables reductions in test equipment and flight time, thus reducing costs. The approach involved analysis of data acquisition requirements, development of efficient flight patterns, and analysis of pressure error models based on system identification methods. Flight tests were conducted at The University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI) utilizing an instrumented Piper Navajo research aircraft. In addition, the UTSI engineering flight simulator was used to investigate test maneuver requirements and handling qualities issues associated with this technique. This paper provides a summary of piloted simulation and flight test results that illustrates the performance and capabilities of the NASA calibration method. Discussion of maneuver requirements and data analysis methods is included as well as recommendations for piloting technique.

A method for in situ absolute DD yield calibration of neutron time-of-flight detectors on OMEGA using CR-39-based proton detectors

DOE PAGES

Waugh, C. J.; Rosenberg, M. J.; Zylstra, A. B.; ...

2015-05-27

Neutron time of flight (nTOF) detectors are used routinely to measure the absolute DD neutron yield at OMEGA. To check the DD yield calibration of these detectors, originally calibrated using indium activation systems, which in turn were cross-calibrated to NOVA nTOF detectors in the early 1990s, a direct in situ calibration method using CR-39 range filter proton detectors has been successfully developed. By measuring DD neutron and proton yields from a series of exploding pusher implosions at OMEGA, a yield calibration coefficient of 1.09 ± 0.02 (relative to the previous coefficient) was determined for the 3m nTOF detector. In addition,more » comparison of these and other shots indicates that significant reduction in charged particle flux anisotropies is achieved when bang time occurs significantly (on the order of 500 ps) after the trailing edge of the laser pulse. This is an important observation as the main source of the yield calibration error is due to particle anisotropies caused by field effects. The results indicate that the CR-39-nTOF in situ calibration method can serve as a valuable technique for calibrating and reducing the uncertainty in the DD absolute yield calibration of nTOF detector systems on OMEGA, the National Ignition Facility, and laser megajoule.« less

A method for in situ absolute DD yield calibration of neutron time-of-flight detectors on OMEGA using CR-39-based proton detectors

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

Waugh, C. J.; Rosenberg, M. J.; Zylstra, A. B.

Neutron time of flight (nTOF) detectors are used routinely to measure the absolute DD neutron yield at OMEGA. To check the DD yield calibration of these detectors, originally calibrated using indium activation systems, which in turn were cross-calibrated to NOVA nTOF detectors in the early 1990s, a direct in situ calibration method using CR-39 range filter proton detectors has been successfully developed. By measuring DD neutron and proton yields from a series of exploding pusher implosions at OMEGA, a yield calibration coefficient of 1.09 ± 0.02 (relative to the previous coefficient) was determined for the 3m nTOF detector. In addition,more » comparison of these and other shots indicates that significant reduction in charged particle flux anisotropies is achieved when bang time occurs significantly (on the order of 500 ps) after the trailing edge of the laser pulse. This is an important observation as the main source of the yield calibration error is due to particle anisotropies caused by field effects. The results indicate that the CR-39-nTOF in situ calibration method can serve as a valuable technique for calibrating and reducing the uncertainty in the DD absolute yield calibration of nTOF detector systems on OMEGA, the National Ignition Facility, and laser megajoule.« less

A method for in situ absolute DD yield calibration of neutron time-of-flight detectors on OMEGA using CR-39-based proton detectors

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

Waugh, C. J., E-mail: cjwaugh@mit.edu; Zylstra, A. B.; Frenje, J. A.

2015-05-15

Neutron time of flight (nTOF) detectors are used routinely to measure the absolute DD neutron yield at OMEGA. To check the DD yield calibration of these detectors, originally calibrated using indium activation systems, which in turn were cross-calibrated to NOVA nTOF detectors in the early 1990s, a direct in situ calibration method using CR-39 range filter proton detectors has been successfully developed. By measuring DD neutron and proton yields from a series of exploding pusher implosions at OMEGA, a yield calibration coefficient of 1.09 ± 0.02 (relative to the previous coefficient) was determined for the 3m nTOF detector. In addition,more » comparison of these and other shots indicates that significant reduction in charged particle flux anisotropies is achieved when bang time occurs significantly (on the order of 500 ps) after the trailing edge of the laser pulse. This is an important observation as the main source of the yield calibration error is due to particle anisotropies caused by field effects. The results indicate that the CR-39-nTOF in situ calibration method can serve as a valuable technique for calibrating and reducing the uncertainty in the DD absolute yield calibration of nTOF detector systems on OMEGA, the National Ignition Facility, and laser megajoule.« less

The research on calibration methods of dual-CCD laser three-dimensional human face scanning system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jinjiang; Chang, Tianyu; Ge, Baozhen; Tian, Qingguo; Yang, Fengting; Shi, Shendong

2013-09-01

In this paper, on the basis of considering the performance advantages of two-step method, we combines the stereo matching of binocular stereo vision with active laser scanning to calibrate the system. Above all, we select a reference camera coordinate system as the world coordinate system and unity the coordinates of two CCD cameras. And then obtain the new perspective projection matrix (PPM) of each camera after the epipolar rectification. By those, the corresponding epipolar equation of two cameras can be defined. So by utilizing the trigonometric parallax method, we can measure the space point position after distortion correction and achieve stereo matching calibration between two image points. Experiments verify that this method can improve accuracy and system stability is guaranteed. The stereo matching calibration has a simple process with low-cost, and simplifies regular maintenance work. It can acquire 3D coordinates only by planar checkerboard calibration without the need of designing specific standard target or using electronic theodolite. It is found that during the experiment two-step calibration error and lens distortion lead to the stratification of point cloud data. The proposed calibration method which combining active line laser scanning and binocular stereo vision has the both advantages of them. It has more flexible applicability. Theory analysis and experiment shows the method is reasonable.

Optical Mass Displacement Tracking: A simplified field calibration method for the electro-mechanical seismometer.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burk, D. R.; Mackey, K. G.; Hartse, H. E.

2016-12-01

We have developed a simplified field calibration method for use in seismic networks that still employ the classical electro-mechanical seismometer. Smaller networks may not always have the financial capability to purchase and operate modern, state of the art equipment. Therefore these networks generally operate a modern, low-cost digitizer that is paired to an existing electro-mechanical seismometer. These systems are typically poorly calibrated. Calibration of the station is difficult to estimate because coil loading, digitizer input impedance, and amplifier gain differences vary by station and digitizer model. Therefore, it is necessary to calibrate the station channel as a complete system to take into account all components from instrument, to amplifier, to even the digitizer. Routine calibrations at the smaller networks are not always consistent, because existing calibration techniques require either specialized equipment or significant technical expertise. To improve station data quality at the small network, we developed a calibration method that utilizes open source software and a commonly available laser position sensor. Using a signal generator and a small excitation coil, we force the mass of the instrument to oscillate at various frequencies across its operating range. We then compare the channel voltage output to the laser-measured mass displacement to determine the instrument voltage sensitivity at each frequency point. Using the standard equations of forced motion, a representation of the calibration curve as a function of voltage per unit of ground velocity is calculated. A computer algorithm optimizes the curve and then translates the instrument response into a Seismic Analysis Code (SAC) poles & zeros format. Results have been demonstrated to fall within a few percent of a standard laboratory calibration. This method is an effective and affordable option for networks that employ electro-mechanical seismometers, and it is currently being deployed in

Continuous glucose monitoring system: dawn period calibration does not change accuracy of the method.

PubMed

Augusto, Gustavo A; Sousa, André G P; Perazo, Marcela N A; Correa-Giannella, Maria L C; Nery, Marcia; Melo, Karla F S de

2009-06-01

Continuous glucose monitoring system is a valuable instrument to measure glycemic control, which uses a retrospective calibration based upon 3 to 4 capillary glucose meter values inserted by the patient each day. We evaluated the interference of calibration during the dawn period in the system accuracy. The monitoring data were retrospectively divided into two groups: with (Group A) or without (Group B) the dawn period calibration (between 1:00 and 5:00 AM). Accuracy of the method was expressed by relative absolute difference. Thirty-four continuous glucose monitoring data were evaluated comprising a total of 112 nights. A total of 289 paired readings were analyzed - 195 in Group A and 94 in Group B. We did not find a difference in relative absolute difference (RAD%) in any analyzed period of day by adding dawn calibration. These data suggest that dawn calibration does not alter accuracy of method.

Technique for Radiometer and Antenna Array Calibration with a Radiated Noise Diode

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Srinivasan, Karthik; Limaye, Ashutosh; Laymon, Charles; Meyer, Paul

2009-01-01

This paper presents a new technique to calibrate a microwave radiometer and antenna array system. This calibration technique uses a radiated noise source in addition to two calibration sources internal to the radiometer. The method accurately calibrates antenna arrays with embedded active devices (such as amplifiers) which are used extensively in active phased array antennas.

Comparison Between One-Point Calibration and Two-Point Calibration Approaches in a Continuous Glucose Monitoring Algorithm

PubMed Central

Mahmoudi, Zeinab; Johansen, Mette Dencker; Christiansen, Jens Sandahl

2014-01-01

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of using a 1-point calibration approach instead of a 2-point calibration approach on the accuracy of a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) algorithm. Method: A previously published real-time CGM algorithm was compared with its updated version, which used a 1-point calibration instead of a 2-point calibration. In addition, the contribution of the corrective intercept (CI) to the calibration performance was assessed. Finally, the sensor background current was estimated real-time and retrospectively. The study was performed on 132 type 1 diabetes patients. Results: Replacing the 2-point calibration with the 1-point calibration improved the CGM accuracy, with the greatest improvement achieved in hypoglycemia (18.4% median absolute relative differences [MARD] in hypoglycemia for the 2-point calibration, and 12.1% MARD in hypoglycemia for the 1-point calibration). Using 1-point calibration increased the percentage of sensor readings in zone A+B of the Clarke error grid analysis (EGA) in the full glycemic range, and also enhanced hypoglycemia sensitivity. Exclusion of CI from calibration reduced hypoglycemia accuracy, while slightly increased euglycemia accuracy. Both real-time and retrospective estimation of the sensor background current suggest that the background current can be considered zero in the calibration of the SCGM1 sensor. Conclusions: The sensor readings calibrated with the 1-point calibration approach indicated to have higher accuracy than those calibrated with the 2-point calibration approach. PMID:24876420

Method for Ground-to-Space Laser Calibration System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lukashin, Constantine (Inventor); Wielicki, Bruce A. (Inventor)

2014-01-01

The present invention comprises an approach for calibrating the sensitivity to polarization, optics degradation, spectral and stray light response functions of instruments on orbit. The concept is based on using an accurate ground-based laser system, Ground-to-Space Laser Calibration (GSLC), transmitting laser light to instrument on orbit during nighttime substantially clear-sky conditions. To minimize atmospheric contribution to the calibration uncertainty the calibration cycles should be performed in short time intervals, and all required measurements are designed to be relative. The calibration cycles involve ground operations with laser beam polarization and wavelength changes.

Method for Ground-to-Satellite Laser Calibration System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lukashin, Constantine (Inventor); Wielicki, Bruce A. (Inventor)

2015-01-01

The present invention comprises an approach for calibrating the sensitivity to polarization, optics degradation, spectral and stray light response functions of instruments on orbit. The concept is based on using an accurate ground-based laser system, Ground-to-Space Laser Calibration (GSLC), transmitting laser light to instrument on orbit during nighttime substantially clear-sky conditions. To minimize atmospheric contribution to the calibration uncertainty the calibration cycles should be performed in short time intervals, and all required measurements are designed to be relative. The calibration cycles involve ground operations with laser beam polarization and wavelength changes.

Optical System Error Analysis and Calibration Method of High-Accuracy Star Trackers

PubMed Central

Sun, Ting; Xing, Fei; You, Zheng

2013-01-01

The star tracker is a high-accuracy attitude measurement device widely used in spacecraft. Its performance depends largely on the precision of the optical system parameters. Therefore, the analysis of the optical system parameter errors and a precise calibration model are crucial to the accuracy of the star tracker. Research in this field is relatively lacking a systematic and universal analysis up to now. This paper proposes in detail an approach for the synthetic error analysis of the star tracker, without the complicated theoretical derivation. This approach can determine the error propagation relationship of the star tracker, and can build intuitively and systematically an error model. The analysis results can be used as a foundation and a guide for the optical design, calibration, and compensation of the star tracker. A calibration experiment is designed and conducted. Excellent calibration results are achieved based on the calibration model. To summarize, the error analysis approach and the calibration method are proved to be adequate and precise, and could provide an important guarantee for the design, manufacture, and measurement of high-accuracy star trackers. PMID:23567527

Iterative Strain-Gage Balance Calibration Data Analysis for Extended Independent Variable Sets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ulbrich, Norbert Manfred

2011-01-01

A new method was developed that makes it possible to use an extended set of independent calibration variables for an iterative analysis of wind tunnel strain gage balance calibration data. The new method permits the application of the iterative analysis method whenever the total number of balance loads and other independent calibration variables is greater than the total number of measured strain gage outputs. Iteration equations used by the iterative analysis method have the limitation that the number of independent and dependent variables must match. The new method circumvents this limitation. It simply adds a missing dependent variable to the original data set by using an additional independent variable also as an additional dependent variable. Then, the desired solution of the regression analysis problem can be obtained that fits each gage output as a function of both the original and additional independent calibration variables. The final regression coefficients can be converted to data reduction matrix coefficients because the missing dependent variables were added to the data set without changing the regression analysis result for each gage output. Therefore, the new method still supports the application of the two load iteration equation choices that the iterative method traditionally uses for the prediction of balance loads during a wind tunnel test. An example is discussed in the paper that illustrates the application of the new method to a realistic simulation of temperature dependent calibration data set of a six component balance.

Cloned plasmid DNA fragments as calibrators for controlling GMOs: different real-time duplex quantitative PCR methods.

PubMed

Taverniers, Isabel; Van Bockstaele, Erik; De Loose, Marc

2004-03-01

Analytical real-time PCR technology is a powerful tool for implementation of the GMO labeling regulations enforced in the EU. The quality of analytical measurement data obtained by quantitative real-time PCR depends on the correct use of calibrator and reference materials (RMs). For GMO methods of analysis, the choice of appropriate RMs is currently under debate. So far, genomic DNA solutions from certified reference materials (CRMs) are most often used as calibrators for GMO quantification by means of real-time PCR. However, due to some intrinsic features of these CRMs, errors may be expected in the estimations of DNA sequence quantities. In this paper, two new real-time PCR methods are presented for Roundup Ready soybean, in which two types of plasmid DNA fragments are used as calibrators. Single-target plasmids (STPs) diluted in a background of genomic DNA were used in the first method. Multiple-target plasmids (MTPs) containing both sequences in one molecule were used as calibrators for the second method. Both methods simultaneously detect a promoter 35S sequence as GMO-specific target and a lectin gene sequence as endogenous reference target in a duplex PCR. For the estimation of relative GMO percentages both "delta C(T)" and "standard curve" approaches are tested. Delta C(T) methods are based on direct comparison of measured C(T) values of both the GMO-specific target and the endogenous target. Standard curve methods measure absolute amounts of target copies or haploid genome equivalents. A duplex delta C(T) method with STP calibrators performed at least as well as a similar method with genomic DNA calibrators from commercial CRMs. Besides this, high quality results were obtained with a standard curve method using MTP calibrators. This paper demonstrates that plasmid DNA molecules containing either one or multiple target sequences form perfect alternative calibrators for GMO quantification and are especially suitable for duplex PCR reactions.

Quasi-Static Calibration Method of a High-g Accelerometer

PubMed Central

Wang, Yan; Fan, Jinbiao; Zu, Jing; Xu, Peng

2017-01-01

To solve the problem of resonance during quasi-static calibration of high-g accelerometers, we deduce the relationship between the minimum excitation pulse width and the resonant frequency of the calibrated accelerometer according to the second-order mathematical model of the accelerometer, and improve the quasi-static calibration theory. We establish a quasi-static calibration testing system, which uses a gas gun to generate high-g acceleration signals, and apply a laser interferometer to reproduce the impact acceleration. These signals are used to drive the calibrated accelerometer. By comparing the excitation acceleration signal and the output responses of the calibrated accelerometer to the excitation signals, the impact sensitivity of the calibrated accelerometer is obtained. As indicated by the calibration test results, this calibration system produces excitation acceleration signals with a pulse width of less than 1000 μs, and realize the quasi-static calibration of high-g accelerometers with a resonant frequency above 20 kHz when the calibration error was 3%. PMID:28230743

Bayesian calibration of terrestrial ecosystem models: a study of advanced Markov chain Monte Carlo methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Dan; Ricciuto, Daniel; Walker, Anthony; Safta, Cosmin; Munger, William

2017-09-01

Calibration of terrestrial ecosystem models is important but challenging. Bayesian inference implemented by Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling provides a comprehensive framework to estimate model parameters and associated uncertainties using their posterior distributions. The effectiveness and efficiency of the method strongly depend on the MCMC algorithm used. In this work, a differential evolution adaptive Metropolis (DREAM) algorithm is used to estimate posterior distributions of 21 parameters for the data assimilation linked ecosystem carbon (DALEC) model using 14 years of daily net ecosystem exchange data collected at the Harvard Forest Environmental Measurement Site eddy-flux tower. The calibration of DREAM results in a better model fit and predictive performance compared to the popular adaptive Metropolis (AM) scheme. Moreover, DREAM indicates that two parameters controlling autumn phenology have multiple modes in their posterior distributions while AM only identifies one mode. The application suggests that DREAM is very suitable to calibrate complex terrestrial ecosystem models, where the uncertain parameter size is usually large and existence of local optima is always a concern. In addition, this effort justifies the assumptions of the error model used in Bayesian calibration according to the residual analysis. The result indicates that a heteroscedastic, correlated, Gaussian error model is appropriate for the problem, and the consequent constructed likelihood function can alleviate the underestimation of parameter uncertainty that is usually caused by using uncorrelated error models.

An Accurate Non-Cooperative Method for Measuring Textureless Spherical Target Based on Calibrated Lasers.

PubMed

Wang, Fei; Dong, Hang; Chen, Yanan; Zheng, Nanning

2016-12-09

Strong demands for accurate non-cooperative target measurement have been arising recently for the tasks of assembling and capturing. Spherical objects are one of the most common targets in these applications. However, the performance of the traditional vision-based reconstruction method was limited for practical use when handling poorly-textured targets. In this paper, we propose a novel multi-sensor fusion system for measuring and reconstructing textureless non-cooperative spherical targets. Our system consists of four simple lasers and a visual camera. This paper presents a complete framework of estimating the geometric parameters of textureless spherical targets: (1) an approach to calibrate the extrinsic parameters between a camera and simple lasers; and (2) a method to reconstruct the 3D position of the laser spots on the target surface and achieve the refined results via an optimized scheme. The experiment results show that our proposed calibration method can obtain a fine calibration result, which is comparable to the state-of-the-art LRF-based methods, and our calibrated system can estimate the geometric parameters with high accuracy in real time.

An Accurate Non-Cooperative Method for Measuring Textureless Spherical Target Based on Calibrated Lasers

PubMed Central

Wang, Fei; Dong, Hang; Chen, Yanan; Zheng, Nanning

2016-01-01

Strong demands for accurate non-cooperative target measurement have been arising recently for the tasks of assembling and capturing. Spherical objects are one of the most common targets in these applications. However, the performance of the traditional vision-based reconstruction method was limited for practical use when handling poorly-textured targets. In this paper, we propose a novel multi-sensor fusion system for measuring and reconstructing textureless non-cooperative spherical targets. Our system consists of four simple lasers and a visual camera. This paper presents a complete framework of estimating the geometric parameters of textureless spherical targets: (1) an approach to calibrate the extrinsic parameters between a camera and simple lasers; and (2) a method to reconstruct the 3D position of the laser spots on the target surface and achieve the refined results via an optimized scheme. The experiment results show that our proposed calibration method can obtain a fine calibration result, which is comparable to the state-of-the-art LRF-based methods, and our calibrated system can estimate the geometric parameters with high accuracy in real time. PMID:27941705

A Comparative Study of Online Item Calibration Methods in Multidimensional Computerized Adaptive Testing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Ping

2017-01-01

Calibration of new items online has been an important topic in item replenishment for multidimensional computerized adaptive testing (MCAT). Several online calibration methods have been proposed for MCAT, such as multidimensional "one expectation-maximization (EM) cycle" (M-OEM) and multidimensional "multiple EM cycles"…

Simultaneous calibration phantom commission and geometry calibration in cone beam CT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Yuan; Yang, Shuai; Ma, Jianhui; Li, Bin; Wu, Shuyu; Qi, Hongliang; Zhou, Linghong

2017-09-01

Geometry calibration is a vital step for describing the geometry of a cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) system and is a prerequisite for CBCT reconstruction. In current methods, calibration phantom commission and geometry calibration are divided into two independent tasks. Small errors in ball-bearing (BB) positioning in the phantom-making step will severely degrade the quality of phantom calibration. To solve this problem, we propose an integrated method to simultaneously realize geometry phantom commission and geometry calibration. Instead of assuming the accuracy of the geometry phantom, the integrated method considers BB centers in the phantom as an optimized parameter in the workflow. Specifically, an evaluation phantom and the corresponding evaluation contrast index are used to evaluate geometry artifacts for optimizing the BB coordinates in the geometry phantom. After utilizing particle swarm optimization, the CBCT geometry and BB coordinates in the geometry phantom are calibrated accurately and are then directly used for the next geometry calibration task in other CBCT systems. To evaluate the proposed method, both qualitative and quantitative studies were performed on simulated and realistic CBCT data. The spatial resolution of reconstructed images using dental CBCT can reach up to 15 line pair cm-1. The proposed method is also superior to the Wiesent method in experiments. This paper shows that the proposed method is attractive for simultaneous and accurate geometry phantom commission and geometry calibration.

Improvement of Accuracy in Environmental Dosimetry by TLD Cards Using Three-dimensional Calibration Method.

PubMed

HosseiniAliabadi, S J; Hosseini Pooya, S M; Afarideh, H; Mianji, F

2015-06-01

The angular dependency of response for TLD cards may cause deviation from its true value on the results of environmental dosimetry, since TLDs may be exposed to radiation at different angles of incidence from the surrounding area. A 3D setting of TLD cards has been calibrated isotropically in a standard radiation field to evaluate the improvement of the accuracy of measurement for environmental dosimetry. Three personal TLD cards were rectangularly placed in a cylindrical holder, and calibrated using 1D and 3D calibration methods. Then, the dosimeter has been used simultaneously with a reference instrument in a real radiation field measuring the accumulated dose within a time interval. The results show that the accuracy of measurement has been improved by 6.5% using 3D calibration factor in comparison with that of normal 1D calibration method. This system can be utilized in large scale environmental monitoring with a higher accuracy.

A new method for automated dynamic calibration of tipping-bucket rain gauges

USGS Publications Warehouse

Humphrey, M.D.; Istok, J.D.; Lee, J.Y.; Hevesi, J.A.; Flint, A.L.

1997-01-01

Existing methods for dynamic calibration of tipping-bucket rain gauges (TBRs) can be time consuming and labor intensive. A new automated dynamic calibration system has been developed to calibrate TBRs with minimal effort. The system consists of a programmable pump, datalogger, digital balance, and computer. Calibration is performed in two steps: 1) pump calibration and 2) rain gauge calibration. Pump calibration ensures precise control of water flow rates delivered to the rain gauge funnel; rain gauge calibration ensures precise conversion of bucket tip times to actual rainfall rates. Calibration of the pump and one rain gauge for 10 selected pump rates typically requires about 8 h. Data files generated during rain gauge calibration are used to compute rainfall intensities and amounts from a record of bucket tip times collected in the field. The system was tested using 5 types of commercial TBRs (15.2-, 20.3-, and 30.5-cm diameters; 0.1-, 0.2-, and 1.0-mm resolutions) and using 14 TBRs of a single type (20.3-cm diameter; 0.1-mm resolution). Ten pump rates ranging from 3 to 154 mL min-1 were used to calibrate the TBRs and represented rainfall rates between 6 and 254 mm h-1 depending on the rain gauge diameter. All pump calibration results were very linear with R2 values greater than 0.99. All rain gauges exhibited large nonlinear underestimation errors (between 5% and 29%) that decreased with increasing rain gauge resolution and increased with increasing rainfall rate, especially for rates greater than 50 mm h-1. Calibration curves of bucket tip time against the reciprocal of the true pump rate for all rain gauges also were linear with R2 values of 0.99. Calibration data for the 14 rain gauges of the same type were very similar, as indicated by slope values that were within 14% of each other and ranged from about 367 to 417 s mm h-1. The developed system can calibrate TBRs efficiently, accurately, and virtually unattended and could be modified for use with other

Calibration strategies for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaug, Markus; Berge, David; Daniel, Michael; Doro, Michele; Förster, Andreas; Hofmann, Werner; Maccarone, Maria C.; Parsons, Dan; de los Reyes Lopez, Raquel; van Eldik, Christopher

2014-08-01

The Central Calibration Facilities workpackage of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observatory for very high energy gamma ray astronomy defines the overall calibration strategy of the array, develops dedicated hardware and software for the overall array calibration and coordinates the calibration efforts of the different telescopes. The latter include LED-based light pulsers, and various methods and instruments to achieve a calibration of the overall optical throughput. On the array level, methods for the inter-telescope calibration and the absolute calibration of the entire observatory are being developed. Additionally, the atmosphere above the telescopes, used as a calorimeter, will be monitored constantly with state-of-the-art instruments to obtain a full molecular and aerosol profile up to the stratosphere. The aim is to provide a maximal uncertainty of 10% on the reconstructed energy-scale, obtained through various independent methods. Different types of LIDAR in combination with all-sky-cameras will provide the observatory with an online, intelligent scheduling system, which, if the sky is partially covered by clouds, gives preference to sources observable under good atmospheric conditions. Wide-field optical telescopes and Raman Lidars will provide online information about the height-resolved atmospheric extinction, throughout the field-of-view of the cameras, allowing for the correction of the reconstructed energy of each gamma-ray event. The aim is to maximize the duty cycle of the observatory, in terms of usable data, while reducing the dead time introduced by calibration activities to an absolute minimum.

Hand-eye calibration for rigid laparoscopes using an invariant point.

PubMed

Thompson, Stephen; Stoyanov, Danail; Schneider, Crispin; Gurusamy, Kurinchi; Ourselin, Sébastien; Davidson, Brian; Hawkes, David; Clarkson, Matthew J

2016-06-01

Laparoscopic liver resection has significant advantages over open surgery due to less patient trauma and faster recovery times, yet it can be difficult due to the restricted field of view and lack of haptic feedback. Image guidance provides a potential solution but one current challenge is in accurate "hand-eye" calibration, which determines the position and orientation of the laparoscope camera relative to the tracking markers. In this paper, we propose a simple and clinically feasible calibration method based on a single invariant point. The method requires no additional hardware, can be constructed by theatre staff during surgical setup, requires minimal image processing and can be visualised in real time. Real-time visualisation allows the surgical team to assess the calibration accuracy before use in surgery. In addition, in the laboratory, we have developed a laparoscope with an electromagnetic tracking sensor attached to the camera end and an optical tracking marker attached to the distal end. This enables a comparison of tracking performance. We have evaluated our method in the laboratory and compared it to two widely used methods, "Tsai's method" and "direct" calibration. The new method is of comparable accuracy to existing methods, and we show RMS projected error due to calibration of 1.95 mm for optical tracking and 0.85 mm for EM tracking, versus 4.13 and 1.00 mm respectively, using existing methods. The new method has also been shown to be workable under sterile conditions in the operating room. We have proposed a new method of hand-eye calibration, based on a single invariant point. Initial experience has shown that the method provides visual feedback, satisfactory accuracy and can be performed during surgery. We also show that an EM sensor placed near the camera would provide significantly improved image overlay accuracy.

Comparing Single-Point and Multi-point Calibration Methods in Modulated DSC

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

Van Buskirk, Caleb Griffith

2017-06-14

Heat capacity measurements for High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and Ultra-high Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) were performed using Modulated Differential Scanning Calorimetry (mDSC) over a wide temperature range, -70 to 115 °C, with a TA Instruments Q2000 mDSC. The default calibration method for this instrument involves measuring the heat capacity of a sapphire standard at a single temperature near the middle of the temperature range of interest. However, this method often fails for temperature ranges that exceed a 50 °C interval, likely because of drift or non-linearity in the instrument's heat capacity readings over time or over the temperature range. Therefore,more » in this study a method was developed to calibrate the instrument using multiple temperatures and the same sapphire standard.« less

An efficient calibration method for SQUID measurement system using three orthogonal Helmholtz coils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hua, Li; Shu-Lin, Zhang; Chao-Xiang, Zhang; Xiang-Yan, Kong; Xiao-Ming, Xie

2016-06-01

For a practical superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) based measurement system, the Tesla/volt coefficient must be accurately calibrated. In this paper, we propose a highly efficient method of calibrating a SQUID magnetometer system using three orthogonal Helmholtz coils. The Tesla/volt coefficient is regarded as the magnitude of a vector pointing to the normal direction of the pickup coil. By applying magnetic fields through a three-dimensional Helmholtz coil, the Tesla/volt coefficient can be directly calculated from magnetometer responses to the three orthogonally applied magnetic fields. Calibration with alternating current (AC) field is normally used for better signal-to-noise ratio in noisy urban environments and the results are compared with the direct current (DC) calibration to avoid possible effects due to eddy current. In our experiment, a calibration relative error of about 6.89 × 10-4 is obtained, and the error is mainly caused by the non-orthogonality of three axes of the Helmholtz coils. The method does not need precise alignment of the magnetometer inside the Helmholtz coil. It can be used for the multichannel magnetometer system calibration effectively and accurately. Project supported by the “Strategic Priority Research Program (B)” of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB04020200) and the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission Project, China (Grant No. 15DZ1940902).

Calibration method of microgrid polarimeters with image interpolation.

PubMed

Chen, Zhenyue; Wang, Xia; Liang, Rongguang

2015-02-10

Microgrid polarimeters have large advantages over conventional polarimeters because of the snapshot nature and because they have no moving parts. However, they also suffer from several error sources, such as fixed pattern noise (FPN), photon response nonuniformity (PRNU), pixel cross talk, and instantaneous field-of-view (IFOV) error. A characterization method is proposed to improve the measurement accuracy in visible waveband. We first calibrate the camera with uniform illumination so that the response of the sensor is uniform over the entire field of view without IFOV error. Then a spline interpolation method is implemented to minimize IFOV error. Experimental results show the proposed method can effectively minimize the FPN and PRNU.

Balance Calibration – A Method for Assigning a Direct-Reading Uncertainty to an Electronic Balance.

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

Mike Stears

2010-07-01

Paper Title: Balance Calibration – A method for assigning a direct-reading uncertainty to an electronic balance. Intended Audience: Those who calibrate or use electronic balances. Abstract: As a calibration facility, we provide on-site (at the customer’s location) calibrations of electronic balances for customers within our company. In our experience, most of our customers are not using their balance as a comparator, but simply putting an unknown quantity on the balance and reading the displayed mass value. Manufacturer’s specifications for balances typically include specifications such as readability, repeatability, linearity, and sensitivity temperature drift, but what does this all mean when themore » balance user simply reads the displayed mass value and accepts the reading as the true value? This paper discusses a method for assigning a direct-reading uncertainty to a balance based upon the observed calibration data and the environment where the balance is being used. The method requires input from the customer regarding the environment where the balance is used and encourages discussion with the customer regarding sources of uncertainty and possible means for improvement; the calibration process becomes an educational opportunity for the balance user as well as calibration personnel. This paper will cover the uncertainty analysis applied to the calibration weights used for the field calibration of balances; the uncertainty is calculated over the range of environmental conditions typically encountered in the field and the resulting range of air density. The temperature stability in the area of the balance is discussed with the customer and the temperature range over which the balance calibration is valid is decided upon; the decision is based upon the uncertainty needs of the customer and the desired rigor in monitoring by the customer. Once the environmental limitations are decided, the calibration is performed and the measurement data is entered into

A novel second-order standard addition analytical method based on data processing with multidimensional partial least-squares and residual bilinearization.

PubMed

Lozano, Valeria A; Ibañez, Gabriela A; Olivieri, Alejandro C

2009-10-05

In the presence of analyte-background interactions and a significant background signal, both second-order multivariate calibration and standard addition are required for successful analyte quantitation achieving the second-order advantage. This report discusses a modified second-order standard addition method, in which the test data matrix is subtracted from the standard addition matrices, and quantitation proceeds via the classical external calibration procedure. It is shown that this novel data processing method allows one to apply not only parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) and multivariate curve resolution-alternating least-squares (MCR-ALS), but also the recently introduced and more flexible partial least-squares (PLS) models coupled to residual bilinearization (RBL). In particular, the multidimensional variant N-PLS/RBL is shown to produce the best analytical results. The comparison is carried out with the aid of a set of simulated data, as well as two experimental data sets: one aimed at the determination of salicylate in human serum in the presence of naproxen as an additional interferent, and the second one devoted to the analysis of danofloxacin in human serum in the presence of salicylate.

An overview of in-orbit radiometric calibration of typical satellite sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, G. Q.; Li, C. Y.; Yue, T.; Jiang, L. J.; Liu, N.; Sun, Y.; Li, M. Y.

2015-06-01

This paper reviews the development of in-orbit radiometric calibration methods in the past 40 years. It summarizes the development of in-orbit radiometric calibration technology of typical satellite sensors in the visible/near-infrared bands and the thermal infrared band. Focuses on the visible/near-infrared bands radiometric calibration method including: Lamp calibration and solar radiationbased calibration. Summarizes the calibration technology of Landsat series satellite sensors including MSS, TM, ETM+, OLI, TIRS; SPOT series satellite sensors including HRV, HRS. In addition to the above sensors, there are also summarizing ALI which was equipped on EO-1, IRMSS which was equipped on CBERS series satellite. Comparing the in-orbit radiometric calibration technology of different periods but the same type satellite sensors analyzes the similarities and differences of calibration technology. Meanwhile summarizes the in-orbit radiometric calibration technology in the same periods but different country satellite sensors advantages and disadvantages of calibration technology.

A Vision-Based Self-Calibration Method for Robotic Visual Inspection Systems

PubMed Central

Yin, Shibin; Ren, Yongjie; Zhu, Jigui; Yang, Shourui; Ye, Shenghua

2013-01-01

A vision-based robot self-calibration method is proposed in this paper to evaluate the kinematic parameter errors of a robot using a visual sensor mounted on its end-effector. This approach could be performed in the industrial field without external, expensive apparatus or an elaborate setup. A robot Tool Center Point (TCP) is defined in the structural model of a line-structured laser sensor, and aligned to a reference point fixed in the robot workspace. A mathematical model is established to formulate the misalignment errors with kinematic parameter errors and TCP position errors. Based on the fixed point constraints, the kinematic parameter errors and TCP position errors are identified with an iterative algorithm. Compared to the conventional methods, this proposed method eliminates the need for a robot-based-frame and hand-to-eye calibrations, shortens the error propagation chain, and makes the calibration process more accurate and convenient. A validation experiment is performed on an ABB IRB2400 robot. An optimal configuration on the number and distribution of fixed points in the robot workspace is obtained based on the experimental results. Comparative experiments reveal that there is a significant improvement of the measuring accuracy of the robotic visual inspection system. PMID:24300597

Technique for Radiometer and Antenna Array Calibration with Two Antenna Noise Diodes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Srinivasan, Karthik; Limaye, Ashutosh; Laymon, Charles; Meyer, Paul

2011-01-01

This paper presents a new technique to calibrate a microwave radiometer and phased array antenna system. This calibration technique uses a radiated noise source in addition to an injected noise sources for calibration. The plane of reference for this calibration technique is the face of the antenna and therefore can effectively calibration the gain fluctuations in the active phased array antennas. This paper gives the mathematical formulation for the technique and discusses the improvements brought by the method over the existing calibration techniques.

Axial calibration methods of piezoelectric load sharing dynamometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jun; Chang, Qingbing; Ren, Zongjin; Shao, Jun; Wang, Xinlei; Tian, Yu

2018-06-01

The relationship between input and output of load sharing dynamometer is seriously non-linear in different loading points of a plane, so it's significant for accutately measuring force to precisely calibrate the non-linear relationship. In this paper, firstly, based on piezoelectric load sharing dynamometer, calibration experiments of different loading points are performed in a plane. And then load sharing testing system is respectively calibrated based on BP algorithm and ELM (Extreme Learning Machine) algorithm. Finally, the results show that the calibration result of ELM is better than BP for calibrating the non-linear relationship between input and output of loading sharing dynamometer in the different loading points of a plane, which verifies that ELM algorithm is feasible in solving force non-linear measurement problem.

Bayesian calibration of terrestrial ecosystem models: a study of advanced Markov chain Monte Carlo methods

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

Lu, Dan; Ricciuto, Daniel M.; Walker, Anthony P.

Calibration of terrestrial ecosystem models is important but challenging. Bayesian inference implemented by Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling provides a comprehensive framework to estimate model parameters and associated uncertainties using their posterior distributions. The effectiveness and efficiency of the method strongly depend on the MCMC algorithm used. In this work, a differential evolution adaptive Metropolis (DREAM) algorithm is used to estimate posterior distributions of 21 parameters for the data assimilation linked ecosystem carbon (DALEC) model using 14 years of daily net ecosystem exchange data collected at the Harvard Forest Environmental Measurement Site eddy-flux tower. The calibration of DREAM results inmore » a better model fit and predictive performance compared to the popular adaptive Metropolis (AM) scheme. Moreover, DREAM indicates that two parameters controlling autumn phenology have multiple modes in their posterior distributions while AM only identifies one mode. The application suggests that DREAM is very suitable to calibrate complex terrestrial ecosystem models, where the uncertain parameter size is usually large and existence of local optima is always a concern. In addition, this effort justifies the assumptions of the error model used in Bayesian calibration according to the residual analysis. Here, the result indicates that a heteroscedastic, correlated, Gaussian error model is appropriate for the problem, and the consequent constructed likelihood function can alleviate the underestimation of parameter uncertainty that is usually caused by using uncorrelated error models.« less

Bayesian calibration of terrestrial ecosystem models: a study of advanced Markov chain Monte Carlo methods

DOE PAGES

Lu, Dan; Ricciuto, Daniel M.; Walker, Anthony P.; ...

2017-09-27

Calibration of terrestrial ecosystem models is important but challenging. Bayesian inference implemented by Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling provides a comprehensive framework to estimate model parameters and associated uncertainties using their posterior distributions. The effectiveness and efficiency of the method strongly depend on the MCMC algorithm used. In this work, a differential evolution adaptive Metropolis (DREAM) algorithm is used to estimate posterior distributions of 21 parameters for the data assimilation linked ecosystem carbon (DALEC) model using 14 years of daily net ecosystem exchange data collected at the Harvard Forest Environmental Measurement Site eddy-flux tower. The calibration of DREAM results inmore » a better model fit and predictive performance compared to the popular adaptive Metropolis (AM) scheme. Moreover, DREAM indicates that two parameters controlling autumn phenology have multiple modes in their posterior distributions while AM only identifies one mode. The application suggests that DREAM is very suitable to calibrate complex terrestrial ecosystem models, where the uncertain parameter size is usually large and existence of local optima is always a concern. In addition, this effort justifies the assumptions of the error model used in Bayesian calibration according to the residual analysis. Here, the result indicates that a heteroscedastic, correlated, Gaussian error model is appropriate for the problem, and the consequent constructed likelihood function can alleviate the underestimation of parameter uncertainty that is usually caused by using uncorrelated error models.« less

Fast hydrological model calibration based on the heterogeneous parallel computing accelerated shuffled complex evolution method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kan, Guangyuan; He, Xiaoyan; Ding, Liuqian; Li, Jiren; Hong, Yang; Zuo, Depeng; Ren, Minglei; Lei, Tianjie; Liang, Ke

2018-01-01

Hydrological model calibration has been a hot issue for decades. The shuffled complex evolution method developed at the University of Arizona (SCE-UA) has been proved to be an effective and robust optimization approach. However, its computational efficiency deteriorates significantly when the amount of hydrometeorological data increases. In recent years, the rise of heterogeneous parallel computing has brought hope for the acceleration of hydrological model calibration. This study proposed a parallel SCE-UA method and applied it to the calibration of a watershed rainfall-runoff model, the Xinanjiang model. The parallel method was implemented on heterogeneous computing systems using OpenMP and CUDA. Performance testing and sensitivity analysis were carried out to verify its correctness and efficiency. Comparison results indicated that heterogeneous parallel computing-accelerated SCE-UA converged much more quickly than the original serial version and possessed satisfactory accuracy and stability for the task of fast hydrological model calibration.

Frequency analysis of a step dynamic pressure calibrator.

PubMed

Choi, In-Mook; Yang, Inseok; Yang, Tae-Heon

2012-09-01

A dynamic high pressure standard is becoming more essential in the fields of mobile engines, space science, and especially the area of defense such as long-range missile development. However, a complication arises when a dynamic high pressure sensor is compared with a reference dynamic pressure gauge calibrated in static mode. Also, it is difficult to determine a reference dynamic pressure signal from the calibrator because a dynamic high pressure calibrator generates unnecessary oscillations in a positive-going pressure step method. A dynamic high pressure calibrator, using a quick-opening ball valve, generates a fast step pressure change within 1 ms; however, the calibrator also generates a big impulse force that can lead to a short life-time of the system and to oscillating characteristics in response to the dynamic sensor to be calibrated. In this paper, unnecessary additional resonant frequencies besides those of the step function are characterized using frequency analysis. Accordingly, the main sources of resonance are described. In order to remove unnecessary frequencies, the post processing results, obtained by a filter, are given; also, a method for the modification of the dynamic calibration system is proposed.

Frequency analysis of a step dynamic pressure calibrator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, In-Mook; Yang, Inseok; Yang, Tae-Heon

2012-09-01

A dynamic high pressure standard is becoming more essential in the fields of mobile engines, space science, and especially the area of defense such as long-range missile development. However, a complication arises when a dynamic high pressure sensor is compared with a reference dynamic pressure gauge calibrated in static mode. Also, it is difficult to determine a reference dynamic pressure signal from the calibrator because a dynamic high pressure calibrator generates unnecessary oscillations in a positive-going pressure step method. A dynamic high pressure calibrator, using a quick-opening ball valve, generates a fast step pressure change within 1 ms; however, the calibrator also generates a big impulse force that can lead to a short life-time of the system and to oscillating characteristics in response to the dynamic sensor to be calibrated. In this paper, unnecessary additional resonant frequencies besides those of the step function are characterized using frequency analysis. Accordingly, the main sources of resonance are described. In order to remove unnecessary frequencies, the post processing results, obtained by a filter, are given; also, a method for the modification of the dynamic calibration system is proposed.

An Improved Calibration Method for a Rotating 2D LIDAR System.

PubMed

Zeng, Yadan; Yu, Heng; Dai, Houde; Song, Shuang; Lin, Mingqiang; Sun, Bo; Jiang, Wei; Meng, Max Q-H

2018-02-07

This paper presents an improved calibration method of a rotating two-dimensional light detection and ranging (R2D-LIDAR) system, which can obtain the 3D scanning map of the surroundings. The proposed R2D-LIDAR system, composed of a 2D LIDAR and a rotating unit, is pervasively used in the field of robotics owing to its low cost and dense scanning data. Nevertheless, the R2D-LIDAR system must be calibrated before building the geometric model because there are assembled deviation and abrasion between the 2D LIDAR and the rotating unit. Hence, the calibration procedures should contain both the adjustment between the two devices and the bias of 2D LIDAR itself. The main purpose of this work is to resolve the 2D LIDAR bias issue with a flat plane based on the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithm. Experimental results for the calibration of the R2D-LIDAR system prove the reliability of this strategy to accurately estimate sensor offsets with the error range from -15 mm to 15 mm for the performance of capturing scans.

Differential computation method used to calibrate the angle-centroid relationship in coaxial reverse Hartmann test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xinji; Hui, Mei; Zhao, Zhu; Liu, Ming; Dong, Liquan; Kong, Lingqin; Zhao, Yuejin

2018-05-01

A differential computation method is presented to improve the precision of calibration for coaxial reverse Hartmann test (RHT). In the calibration, the accuracy of the distance measurement greatly influences the surface shape test, as demonstrated in the mathematical analyses. However, high-precision absolute distance measurement is difficult in the calibration. Thus, a differential computation method that only requires the relative distance was developed. In the proposed method, a liquid crystal display screen successively displayed two regular dot matrix patterns with different dot spacing. In a special case, images on the detector exhibited similar centroid distributions during the reflector translation. Thus, the critical value of the relative displacement distance and the centroid distributions of the dots on the detector were utilized to establish the relationship between the rays at certain angles and the detector coordinates. Experiments revealed the approximately linear behavior of the centroid variation with the relative displacement distance. With the differential computation method, we increased the precision of traditional calibration 10-5 rad root mean square. The precision of the RHT was increased by approximately 100 nm.

Hybrid PSO-ASVR-based method for data fitting in the calibration of infrared radiometer

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

Yang, Sen; Li, Chengwei, E-mail: heikuanghit@163.com

2016-06-15

The present paper describes a hybrid particle swarm optimization-adaptive support vector regression (PSO-ASVR)-based method for data fitting in the calibration of infrared radiometer. The proposed hybrid PSO-ASVR-based method is based on PSO in combination with Adaptive Processing and Support Vector Regression (SVR). The optimization technique involves setting parameters in the ASVR fitting procedure, which significantly improves the fitting accuracy. However, its use in the calibration of infrared radiometer has not yet been widely explored. Bearing this in mind, the PSO-ASVR-based method, which is based on the statistical learning theory, is successfully used here to get the relationship between the radiationmore » of a standard source and the response of an infrared radiometer. Main advantages of this method are the flexible adjustment mechanism in data processing and the optimization mechanism in a kernel parameter setting of SVR. Numerical examples and applications to the calibration of infrared radiometer are performed to verify the performance of PSO-ASVR-based method compared to conventional data fitting methods.« less

Calibration of a subcutaneous amperometric glucose sensor implanted for 7 days in diabetic patients. Part 2. Superiority of the one-point calibration method.

PubMed

Choleau, C; Klein, J C; Reach, G; Aussedat, B; Demaria-Pesce, V; Wilson, G S; Gifford, R; Ward, W K

2002-08-01

Calibration, i.e. the transformation in real time of the signal I(t) generated by the glucose sensor at time t into an estimation of glucose concentration G(t), represents a key issue for the development of a continuous glucose monitoring system. To compare two calibration procedures. In the one-point calibration, which assumes that I(o) is negligible, S is simply determined as the ratio I/G, and G(t) = I(t)/S. The two-point calibration consists in the determination of a sensor sensitivity S and of a background current I(o) by plotting two values of the sensor signal versus the concomitant blood glucose concentrations. The subsequent estimation of G(t) is given by G(t) = (I(t)-I(o))/S. A glucose sensor was implanted in the abdominal subcutaneous tissue of nine type 1 diabetic patients during 3 (n = 2) and 7 days (n = 7). The one-point calibration was performed a posteriori either once per day before breakfast, or twice per day before breakfast and dinner, or three times per day before each meal. The two-point calibration was performed each morning during breakfast. The percentages of points present in zones A and B of the Clarke Error Grid were significantly higher when the system was calibrated using the one-point calibration. Use of two one-point calibrations per day before meals was virtually as accurate as three one-point calibrations. This study demonstrates the feasibility of a simple method for calibrating a continuous glucose monitoring system.

Development of dynamic calibration methods for POGO pressure transducers. [for space shuttle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hilten, J. S.; Lederer, P. S.; Vezzetti, C. F.; Mayo-Wells, J. F.

1976-01-01

Two dynamic pressure sources are described for the calibration of pogo pressure transducers used to measure oscillatory pressures generated in the propulsion system of the space shuttle. Rotation of a mercury-filled tube in a vertical plane at frequencies below 5 Hz generates sinusoidal pressures up to 48 kPa, peak-to-peak; vibrating the same mercury-filled tube sinusoidally in the vertical plane extends the frequency response from 5 Hz to 100 Hz at pressures up to 140 kPa, peak-to-peak. The sinusoidal pressure fluctuations can be generated by both methods in the presence of high pressures (bias) up to 55 MPa. Calibration procedures are given in detail for the use of both sources. The dynamic performance of selected transducers was evaluated using these procedures; the results of these calibrations are presented. Calibrations made with the two sources near 5 Hz agree to within 3% of each other.

Calibration of the Tip of the Red Giant Branch Distance Method in IR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sakai, Shoko

1999-02-01

We propose to investigate the feasibility of the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) as a distance indicator in IR wavelength. The TRGB has been shown both observationally and theoretically to be an excellent distance indicator in I-band, mainly because of its insensitivity to both metallicity and age. Its accuracy is comparable to that of the Cepheid variable stars. The TRGB method in I-band is currently calibrated by Galactic globular clusters whose distances have been measured with RR Lyrae variables. The main objective of this proposal is to calibrate this method in IR by obtaining JHK photometry for a number of Galactic globular clusters. This is motivated by two related scientific goals: (1) It will be possible in the future to obtain direct distances to galaxies even in Coma cluster using the NGST, but only if the TRGB method has been calibrated accurately in IR filters. If the method is proven reliable, then it can be a powerful tool to map out the density and velocity fields of the local Universe in three dimensions. (2) A considerable amount of effort has been spent on obtaining accurate, direct distances to nearby galaxies. However, this has been difficult for a number of galaxies, including IC 342, because they are located at very low Galactic latitude. These galaxies could potentially have a tremendous effect on the dynamics of the Local Group, depending on their distances. Using the calibrated IR TRGB method, we could solve this uncertainty by measuring their distances directly.

Calibration test of the temperature and strain sensitivity coefficient in regional reference grating method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Jing; Huang, Junbing; Wu, Hanping; Gu, Hongcan; Tang, Bo

2014-12-01

In order to verify the validity of the regional reference grating method in solve the strain/temperature cross sensitive problem in the actual ship structural health monitoring system, and to meet the requirements of engineering, for the sensitivity coefficients of regional reference grating method, national standard measurement equipment is used to calibrate the temperature sensitivity coefficient of selected FBG temperature sensor and strain sensitivity coefficient of FBG strain sensor in this modal. And the thermal expansion sensitivity coefficient of the steel for ships is calibrated with water bath method. The calibration results show that the temperature sensitivity coefficient of FBG temperature sensor is 28.16pm/°C within -10~30°C, and its linearity is greater than 0.999, the strain sensitivity coefficient of FBG strain sensor is 1.32pm/μɛ within -2900~2900μɛ whose linearity is almost to 1, the thermal expansion sensitivity coefficient of the steel for ships is 23.438pm/°C within 30~90°C, and its linearity is greater than 0.998. Finally, the calibration parameters are used in the actual ship structure health monitoring system for temperature compensation. The results show that the effect of temperature compensation is good, and the calibration parameters meet the engineering requirements, which provide an important reference for fiber Bragg grating sensor is widely used in engineering.

An International Marine-Atmospheric 222Rn Measurement Intercomparison in Bermuda Part I: NIST Calibration and Methodology for Standardized Sample Additions

PubMed Central

Collé, R.; Unterweger, M. P.; Hodge, P. A.; Hutchinson, J. M. R.

1996-01-01

As part of an international 222Rn measurement intercomparison conducted at Bermuda in October 1991, NIST provided standardized sample additions of known, but undisclosed (“blind”) 222Rn concentrations that could be related to U.S. national standards. The standardized sample additions were obtained with a calibrated 226Ra source and a specially-designed manifold used to obtain well-known dilution factors from simultaneous flow-rate measurements. The additions were introduced over sampling periods of several hours (typically 4 h) into a common streamline on a sampling tower used by the participating laboratories for their measurements. The standardized 222Rn activity concentrations for the intercomparison ranged from approximately 2.5 Bq · m−3 to 35 Bq · m−3 (of which the lower end of this range approached concentration levels for ambient Bermudian air) and had overall uncertainties, approximating a 3 standard deviation uncertainty interval, of about 6 % to 13 %. This paper describes the calibration and methodology for the standardized sample additions. PMID:27805090

A fully Bayesian method for jointly fitting instrumental calibration and X-ray spectral models

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

Xu, Jin; Yu, Yaming; Van Dyk, David A.

2014-10-20

Owing to a lack of robust principled methods, systematic instrumental uncertainties have generally been ignored in astrophysical data analysis despite wide recognition of the importance of including them. Ignoring calibration uncertainty can cause bias in the estimation of source model parameters and can lead to underestimation of the variance of these estimates. We previously introduced a pragmatic Bayesian method to address this problem. The method is 'pragmatic' in that it introduced an ad hoc technique that simplified computation by neglecting the potential information in the data for narrowing the uncertainty for the calibration product. Following that work, we use amore » principal component analysis to efficiently represent the uncertainty of the effective area of an X-ray (or γ-ray) telescope. Here, however, we leverage this representation to enable a principled, fully Bayesian method that coherently accounts for the calibration uncertainty in high-energy spectral analysis. In this setting, the method is compared with standard analysis techniques and the pragmatic Bayesian method. The advantage of the fully Bayesian method is that it allows the data to provide information not only for estimation of the source parameters but also for the calibration product—here the effective area, conditional on the adopted spectral model. In this way, it can yield more accurate and efficient estimates of the source parameters along with valid estimates of their uncertainty. Provided that the source spectrum can be accurately described by a parameterized model, this method allows rigorous inference about the effective area by quantifying which possible curves are most consistent with the data.« less

Calibrating the stress-time curve of a combined finite-discrete element method to a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar experiment

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

Osthus, Dave; Godinez, Humberto C.; Rougier, Esteban

We presenmore » t a generic method for automatically calibrating a computer code to an experiment, with uncertainty, for a given “training” set of computer code runs. The calibration technique is general and probabilistic, meaning the calibration uncertainty is represented in the form of a probability distribution. We demonstrate the calibration method by calibrating a combined Finite-Discrete Element Method (FDEM) to a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) experiment with a granite sample. The probabilistic calibration method combines runs of a FDEM computer simulation for a range of “training” settings and experimental uncertainty to develop a statistical emulator. The process allows for calibration of input parameters and produces output quantities with uncertainty estimates for settings where simulation results are desired. Input calibration and FDEM fitted results are presented. We find that the maximum shear strength σ t max and to a lesser extent maximum tensile strength σ n max govern the behavior of the stress-time curve before and around the peak, while the specific energy in Mode II (shear) E t largely governs the post-peak behavior of the stress-time curve. Good agreement is found between the calibrated FDEM and the SHPB experiment. Interestingly, we find the SHPB experiment to be rather uninformative for calibrating the softening-curve shape parameters (a, b, and c). This work stands as a successful demonstration of how a general probabilistic calibration framework can automatically calibrate FDEM parameters to an experiment.« less

Calibrating the stress-time curve of a combined finite-discrete element method to a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar experiment

DOE PAGES

Osthus, Dave; Godinez, Humberto C.; Rougier, Esteban; ...

2018-05-01

We presenmore » t a generic method for automatically calibrating a computer code to an experiment, with uncertainty, for a given “training” set of computer code runs. The calibration technique is general and probabilistic, meaning the calibration uncertainty is represented in the form of a probability distribution. We demonstrate the calibration method by calibrating a combined Finite-Discrete Element Method (FDEM) to a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) experiment with a granite sample. The probabilistic calibration method combines runs of a FDEM computer simulation for a range of “training” settings and experimental uncertainty to develop a statistical emulator. The process allows for calibration of input parameters and produces output quantities with uncertainty estimates for settings where simulation results are desired. Input calibration and FDEM fitted results are presented. We find that the maximum shear strength σ t max and to a lesser extent maximum tensile strength σ n max govern the behavior of the stress-time curve before and around the peak, while the specific energy in Mode II (shear) E t largely governs the post-peak behavior of the stress-time curve. Good agreement is found between the calibrated FDEM and the SHPB experiment. Interestingly, we find the SHPB experiment to be rather uninformative for calibrating the softening-curve shape parameters (a, b, and c). This work stands as a successful demonstration of how a general probabilistic calibration framework can automatically calibrate FDEM parameters to an experiment.« less

A Novel Error Model of Optical Systems and an On-Orbit Calibration Method for Star Sensors.

PubMed

Wang, Shuang; Geng, Yunhai; Jin, Rongyu

2015-12-12

In order to improve the on-orbit measurement accuracy of star sensors, the effects of image-plane rotary error, image-plane tilt error and distortions of optical systems resulting from the on-orbit thermal environment were studied in this paper. Since these issues will affect the precision of star image point positions, in this paper, a novel measurement error model based on the traditional error model is explored. Due to the orthonormal characteristics of image-plane rotary-tilt errors and the strong nonlinearity among these error parameters, it is difficult to calibrate all the parameters simultaneously. To solve this difficulty, for the new error model, a modified two-step calibration method based on the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and Least Square Methods (LSM) is presented. The former one is used to calibrate the main point drift, focal length error and distortions of optical systems while the latter estimates the image-plane rotary-tilt errors. With this calibration method, the precision of star image point position influenced by the above errors is greatly improved from 15.42% to 1.389%. Finally, the simulation results demonstrate that the presented measurement error model for star sensors has higher precision. Moreover, the proposed two-step method can effectively calibrate model error parameters, and the calibration precision of on-orbit star sensors is also improved obviously.

Non-orthogonal tool/flange and robot/world calibration.

PubMed

Ernst, Floris; Richter, Lars; Matthäus, Lars; Martens, Volker; Bruder, Ralf; Schlaefer, Alexander; Schweikard, Achim

2012-12-01

For many robot-assisted medical applications, it is necessary to accurately compute the relation between the robot's coordinate system and the coordinate system of a localisation or tracking device. Today, this is typically carried out using hand-eye calibration methods like those proposed by Tsai/Lenz or Daniilidis. We present a new method for simultaneous tool/flange and robot/world calibration by estimating a solution to the matrix equation AX = YB. It is computed using a least-squares approach. Because real robots and localisation are all afflicted by errors, our approach allows for non-orthogonal matrices, partially compensating for imperfect calibration of the robot or localisation device. We also introduce a new method where full robot/world and partial tool/flange calibration is possible by using localisation devices providing less than six degrees of freedom (DOFs). The methods are evaluated on simulation data and on real-world measurements from optical and magnetical tracking devices, volumetric ultrasound providing 3-DOF data, and a surface laser scanning device. We compare our methods with two classical approaches: the method by Tsai/Lenz and the method by Daniilidis. In all experiments, the new algorithms outperform the classical methods in terms of translational accuracy by up to 80% and perform similarly in terms of rotational accuracy. Additionally, the methods are shown to be stable: the number of calibration stations used has far less influence on calibration quality than for the classical methods. Our work shows that the new method can be used for estimating the relationship between the robot's and the localisation device's coordinate systems. The new method can also be used for deficient systems providing only 3-DOF data, and it can be employed in real-time scenarios because of its speed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Method for lateral force calibration in atomic force microscope using MEMS microforce sensor.

PubMed

Dziekoński, Cezary; Dera, Wojciech; Jarząbek, Dariusz M

2017-11-01

In this paper we present a simple and direct method for the lateral force calibration constant determination. Our procedure does not require any knowledge about material or geometrical parameters of an investigated cantilever. We apply a commercially available microforce sensor with advanced electronics for direct measurement of the friction force applied by the cantilever's tip to a flat surface of the microforce sensor measuring beam. Due to the third law of dynamics, the friction force of the equal value tilts the AFM cantilever. Therefore, torsional (lateral force) signal is compared with the signal from the microforce sensor and the lateral force calibration constant is determined. The method is easy to perform and could be widely used for the lateral force calibration constant determination in many types of atomic force microscopes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An innovative method for coordinate measuring machine one-dimensional self-calibration with simplified experimental process.

PubMed

Fang, Cheng; Butler, David Lee

2013-05-01

In this paper, an innovative method for CMM (Coordinate Measuring Machine) self-calibration is proposed. In contrast to conventional CMM calibration that relies heavily on a high precision reference standard such as a laser interferometer, the proposed calibration method is based on a low-cost artefact which is fabricated with commercially available precision ball bearings. By optimizing the mathematical model and rearranging the data sampling positions, the experimental process and data analysis can be simplified. In mathematical expression, the samples can be minimized by eliminating the redundant equations among those configured by the experimental data array. The section lengths of the artefact are measured at arranged positions, with which an equation set can be configured to determine the measurement errors at the corresponding positions. With the proposed method, the equation set is short of one equation, which can be supplemented by either measuring the total length of the artefact with a higher-precision CMM or calibrating the single point error at the extreme position with a laser interferometer. In this paper, the latter is selected. With spline interpolation, the error compensation curve can be determined. To verify the proposed method, a simple calibration system was set up on a commercial CMM. Experimental results showed that with the error compensation curve uncertainty of the measurement can be reduced to 50%.

Method of making self-calibrated displacement measurements

DOEpatents

Pedersen, Herbert N.

1977-01-01

A method for monitoring the displacement of an object having an acoustically reflective surface at least partially submerged in an acoustically conductive medium. The reflective surface is designed to have a stepped interface responsive to an incident acoustic pulse to provide separate discrete reflected pulses to a receiving transducer. The difference in the time of flight of the reflected acoustic signals corresponds to the known step height and the time of travel of the signals to the receiving transducer provides a measure of the displacement of the object. Accordingly, the reference step length enables simultaneous calibration of each displacement measurement.

Air data position-error calibration using state reconstruction techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitmore, S. A.; Larson, T. J.; Ehernberger, L. J.

1984-01-01

During the highly maneuverable aircraft technology (HiMAT) flight test program recently completed at NASA Ames Research Center's Dryden Flight Research Facility, numerous problems were experienced in airspeed calibration. This necessitated the use of state reconstruction techniques to arrive at a position-error calibration. For the HiMAT aircraft, most of the calibration effort was expended on flights in which the air data pressure transducers were not performing accurately. Following discovery of this problem, the air data transducers of both aircraft were wrapped in heater blankets to correct the problem. Additional calibration flights were performed, and from the resulting data a satisfactory position-error calibration was obtained. This calibration and data obtained before installation of the heater blankets were used to develop an alternate calibration method. The alternate approach took advantage of high-quality inertial data that was readily available. A linearized Kalman filter (LKF) was used to reconstruct the aircraft's wind-relative trajectory; the trajectory was then used to separate transducer measurement errors from the aircraft position error. This calibration method is accurate and inexpensive. The LKF technique has an inherent advantage of requiring that no flight maneuvers be specially designed for airspeed calibrations. It is of particular use when the measurements of the wind-relative quantities are suspected to have transducer-related errors.

A novel implementation of homodyne time interval analysis method for primary vibration calibration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Qiao; Zhou, Ling; Cai, Chenguang; Hu, Hongbo

2011-12-01

In this paper, the shortcomings and their causes of the conventional homodyne time interval analysis (TIA) method is described with respect to its software algorithm and hardware implementation, based on which a simplified TIA method is proposed with the help of virtual instrument technology. Equipped with an ordinary Michelson interferometer and dual channel synchronous data acquisition card, the primary vibration calibration system using the simplified method can perform measurements of complex sensitivity of accelerometers accurately, meeting the uncertainty requirements laid down in pertaining ISO standard. The validity and accuracy of the simplified TIA method is verified by simulation and comparison experiments with its performance analyzed. This simplified method is recommended to apply in national metrology institute of developing countries and industrial primary vibration calibration labs for its simplified algorithm and low requirements on hardware.

Uplink Array Calibration via Far-Field Power Maximization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vilnrotter, V.; Mukai, R.; Lee, D.

2006-01-01

Uplink antenna arrays have the potential to greatly increase the Deep Space Network s high-data-rate uplink capabilities as well as useful range, and to provide additional uplink signal power during critical spacecraft emergencies. While techniques for calibrating an array of receive antennas have been addressed previously, proven concepts for uplink array calibration have yet to be demonstrated. This article describes a method of utilizing the Moon as a natural far-field reflector for calibrating a phased array of uplink antennas. Using this calibration technique, the radio frequency carriers transmitted by each antenna of the array are optimally phased to ensure that the uplink power received by the spacecraft is maximized.

An Improved Calibration Method for a Rotating 2D LIDAR System

PubMed Central

Zeng, Yadan; Yu, Heng; Song, Shuang; Lin, Mingqiang; Sun, Bo; Jiang, Wei; Meng, Max Q.-H.

2018-01-01

This paper presents an improved calibration method of a rotating two-dimensional light detection and ranging (R2D-LIDAR) system, which can obtain the 3D scanning map of the surroundings. The proposed R2D-LIDAR system, composed of a 2D LIDAR and a rotating unit, is pervasively used in the field of robotics owing to its low cost and dense scanning data. Nevertheless, the R2D-LIDAR system must be calibrated before building the geometric model because there are assembled deviation and abrasion between the 2D LIDAR and the rotating unit. Hence, the calibration procedures should contain both the adjustment between the two devices and the bias of 2D LIDAR itself. The main purpose of this work is to resolve the 2D LIDAR bias issue with a flat plane based on the Levenberg–Marquardt (LM) algorithm. Experimental results for the calibration of the R2D-LIDAR system prove the reliability of this strategy to accurately estimate sensor offsets with the error range from −15 mm to 15 mm for the performance of capturing scans. PMID:29414885

Calibration of the DRASTIC ground water vulnerability mapping method

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rupert, M.G.

2001-01-01

Ground water vulnerability maps developed using the DRASTIC method have been produced in many parts of the world. Comparisons of those maps with actual ground water quality data have shown that the DRASTIC method is typically a poor predictor of ground water contamination. This study significantly improved the effectiveness of a modified DRASTIC ground water vulnerability map by calibrating the point rating schemes to actual ground water quality data by using nonparametric statistical techniques and a geographic information system. Calibration was performed by comparing data on nitrite plus nitrate as nitrogen (NO2 + NO3-N) concentrations in ground water to land-use, soils, and depth to first-encountered ground water data. These comparisons showed clear statistical differences between NO2 + NO3-N concentrations and the various categories. Ground water probability point ratings for NO2 + NO3-N contamination were developed from the results of these comparisons, and a probability map was produced. This ground water probability map was then correlated with an independent set of NO2 + NO3-N data to demonstrate its effectiveness in predicting elevated NO2 + NO3-N concentrations in ground water. This correlation demonstrated that the probability map was effective, but a vulnerability map produced with the uncalibrated DRASTIC method in the same area and using the same data layers was not effective. Considerable time and expense have been outlaid to develop ground water vulnerability maps with the DRASTIC method. This study demonstrates a cost-effective method to improve and verify the effectiveness of ground water vulnerability maps.

Real Time Calibration Method for Signal Conditioning Amplifiers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Medelius, Pedro J. (Inventor); Mata, Carlos T. (Inventor); Eckhoff, Anthony (Inventor); Perotti, Jose (Inventor); Lucena, Angel (Inventor)

2004-01-01

A signal conditioning amplifier receives an input signal from an input such as a transducer. The signal is amplified and processed through an analog to digital converter and sent to a processor. The processor estimates the input signal provided by the transducer to the amplifier via a multiplexer. The estimated input signal is provided as a calibration voltage to the amplifier immediately following the receipt of the amplified input signal. The calibration voltage is amplified by the amplifier and provided to the processor as an amplified calibration voltage. The amplified calibration voltage is compared to the amplified input signal, and if a significant error exists, the gain and/or offset of the amplifier may be adjusted as necessary.

In Search of Easy-to-Use Methods for Calibrating ADCP's for Velocity and Discharge Measurements

USGS Publications Warehouse

Oberg, K.; ,

2002-01-01

A cost-effective procedure for calibrating acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCP) in the field was presented. The advantages and disadvantages of various methods which are used for calibrating ADCP were discussed. The proposed method requires the use of differential global positioning system (DGPS) with sub-meter accuracy and standard software for collecting ADCP data. The method involves traversing a long (400-800 meter) course at a constant compass heading and speed, while collecting simultaneous DGPS and ADCP data.

A new polarimetric active radar calibrator and calibration technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Jianguo; Xu, Xiaojian

2015-10-01

Polarimetric active radar calibrator (PARC) is one of the most important calibrators with high radar cross section (RCS) for polarimetry measurement. In this paper, a new double-antenna polarimetric active radar calibrator (DPARC) is proposed, which consists of two rotatable antennas with wideband electromagnetic polarization filters (EMPF) to achieve lower cross-polarization for transmission and reception. With two antennas which are rotatable around the radar line of sight (LOS), the DPARC provides a variety of standard polarimetric scattering matrices (PSM) through the rotation combination of receiving and transmitting polarization, which are useful for polarimatric calibration in different applications. In addition, a technique based on Fourier analysis is proposed for calibration processing. Numerical simulation results are presented to demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed DPARC and processing technique.

Autonomous Landmark Calibration Method for Indoor Localization

PubMed Central

Kim, Jae-Hoon; Kim, Byoung-Seop

2017-01-01

Machine-generated data expansion is a global phenomenon in recent Internet services. The proliferation of mobile communication and smart devices has increased the utilization of machine-generated data significantly. One of the most promising applications of machine-generated data is the estimation of the location of smart devices. The motion sensors integrated into smart devices generate continuous data that can be used to estimate the location of pedestrians in an indoor environment. We focus on the estimation of the accurate location of smart devices by determining the landmarks appropriately for location error calibration. In the motion sensor-based location estimation, the proposed threshold control method determines valid landmarks in real time to avoid the accumulation of errors. A statistical method analyzes the acquired motion sensor data and proposes a valid landmark for every movement of the smart devices. Motion sensor data used in the testbed are collected from the actual measurements taken throughout a commercial building to demonstrate the practical usefulness of the proposed method. PMID:28837071

Calibration Methods for a 3D Triangulation Based Camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schulz, Ulrike; Böhnke, Kay

A sensor in a camera takes a gray level image (1536 x 512 pixels), which is reflected by a reference body. The reference body is illuminated by a linear laser line. This gray level image can be used for a 3D calibration. The following paper describes how a calibration program calculates the calibration factors. The calibration factors serve to determine the size of an unknown reference body.

In situ calibration of inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission and mass spectroscopy

DOEpatents

Braymen, Steven D.

1996-06-11

A method and apparatus for in situ addition calibration of an inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer or mass spectrometer using a precision gas metering valve to introduce a volatile calibration gas of an element of interest directly into an aerosol particle stream. The present situ calibration technique is suitable for various remote, on-site sampling systems such as laser ablation or nebulization.

Updated radiometric calibration for the Landsat-5 thematic mapper reflective bands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Helder, D.L.; Markham, B.L.; Thome, K.J.; Barsi, J.A.; Chander, G.; Malla, R.

2008-01-01

The Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM) has been the workhorse of the Landsat system. Launched in 1984, it continues collecting data through the time frame of this paper. Thus, it provides an invaluable link to the past history of the land features of the Earth's surface, and it becomes imperative to provide an accurate radiometric calibration of the reflective bands to the user community. Previous calibration has been based on information obtained from prelaunch, the onboard calibrator, vicarious calibration attempts, and cross-calibration with Landsat-7. Currently, additional data sources are available to improve this calibration. Specifically, improvements in vicarious calibration methods and development of the use of pseudoinvariant sites for trending provide two additional independent calibration sources. The use of these additional estimates has resulted in a consistent calibration approach that ties together all of the available calibration data sources. Results from this analysis indicate a simple exponential, or a constant model may be used for all bands throughout the lifetime of Landsat-5 TM. Where previously time constants for the exponential models were approximately one year, the updated model has significantly longer time constants in bands 1-3. In contrast, bands 4, 5, and 7 are shown to be best modeled by a constant. The models proposed in this paper indicate calibration knowledge of 5% or better early in life, decreasing to nearly 2% later in life. These models have been implemented at the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) and are the default calibration used for all Landsat TM data now distributed through EROS. ?? 2008 IEEE.

Performance of three reflectance calibration methods for airborne hyperspectral spectrometer data.

PubMed

Miura, Tomoaki; Huete, Alfredo R

2009-01-01

In this study, the performances and accuracies of three methods for converting airborne hyperspectral spectrometer data to reflectance factors were characterized and compared. The "reflectance mode (RM)" method, which calibrates a spectrometer against a white reference panel prior to mounting on an aircraft, resulted in spectral reflectance retrievals that were biased and distorted. The magnitudes of these bias errors and distortions varied significantly, depending on time of day and length of the flight campaign. The "linear-interpolation (LI)" method, which converts airborne spectrometer data by taking a ratio of linearly-interpolated reference values from the preflight and post-flight reference panel readings, resulted in precise, but inaccurate reflectance retrievals. These reflectance spectra were not distorted, but were subject to bias errors of varying magnitudes dependent on the flight duration length. The "continuous panel (CP)" method uses a multi-band radiometer to obtain continuous measurements over a reference panel throughout the flight campaign, in order to adjust the magnitudes of the linear-interpolated reference values from the preflight and post-flight reference panel readings. Airborne hyperspectral reflectance retrievals obtained using this method were found to be the most accurate and reliable reflectance calibration method. The performances of the CP method in retrieving accurate reflectance factors were consistent throughout time of day and for various flight durations. Based on the dataset analyzed in this study, the uncertainty of the CP method has been estimated to be 0.0025 ± 0.0005 reflectance units for the wavelength regions not affected by atmospheric absorptions. The RM method can produce reasonable results only for a very short-term flight (e.g., < 15 minutes) conducted around a local solar noon. The flight duration should be kept shorter than 30 minutes for the LI method to produce results with reasonable accuracies. An important

Artificial Vector Calibration Method for Differencing Magnetic Gradient Tensor Systems

PubMed Central

Li, Zhining; Zhang, Yingtang; Yin, Gang

2018-01-01

The measurement error of the differencing (i.e., using two homogenous field sensors at a known baseline distance) magnetic gradient tensor system includes the biases, scale factors, nonorthogonality of the single magnetic sensor, and the misalignment error between the sensor arrays, all of which can severely affect the measurement accuracy. In this paper, we propose a low-cost artificial vector calibration method for the tensor system. Firstly, the error parameter linear equations are constructed based on the single-sensor’s system error model to obtain the artificial ideal vector output of the platform, with the total magnetic intensity (TMI) scalar as a reference by two nonlinear conversions, without any mathematical simplification. Secondly, the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm is used to compute the integrated model of the 12 error parameters by nonlinear least-squares fitting method with the artificial vector output as a reference, and a total of 48 parameters of the system is estimated simultaneously. The calibrated system outputs along the reference platform-orthogonal coordinate system. The analysis results show that the artificial vector calibrated output can track the orientation fluctuations of TMI accurately, effectively avoiding the “overcalibration” problem. The accuracy of the error parameters’ estimation in the simulation is close to 100%. The experimental root-mean-square error (RMSE) of the TMI and tensor components is less than 3 nT and 20 nT/m, respectively, and the estimation of the parameters is highly robust. PMID:29373544

Gravimetric method for in vitro calibration of skin hydration measurements.

PubMed

Martinsen, Ørjan G; Grimnes, Sverre; Nilsen, Jon K; Tronstad, Christian; Jang, Wooyoung; Kim, Hongsig; Shin, Kunsoo; Naderi, Majid; Thielmann, Frank

2008-02-01

A novel method for in vitro calibration of skin hydration measurements is presented. The method combines gravimetric and electrical measurements and reveals an exponential dependency of measured electrical susceptance to absolute water content in the epidermal stratum corneum. The results also show that absorption of water into the stratum corneum exhibits three different phases with significant differences in absorption time constant. These phases probably correspond to bound, loosely bound, and bulk water.

Simplified method for creating a density-absorbed dose calibration curve for the low dose range from Gafchromic EBT3 film.

PubMed

Gotanda, Tatsuhiro; Katsuda, Toshizo; Gotanda, Rumi; Kuwano, Tadao; Akagawa, Takuya; Tanki, Nobuyoshi; Tabuchi, Akihiko; Shimono, Tetsunori; Kawaji, Yasuyuki

2016-01-01

Radiochromic film dosimeters have a disadvantage in comparison with an ionization chamber in that the dosimetry process is time-consuming for creating a density-absorbed dose calibration curve. The purpose of this study was the development of a simplified method of creating a density-absorbed dose calibration curve from radiochromic film within a short time. This simplified method was performed using Gafchromic EBT3 film with a low energy dependence and step-shaped Al filter. The simplified method was compared with the standard method. The density-absorbed dose calibration curves created using the simplified and standard methods exhibited approximately similar straight lines, and the gradients of the density-absorbed dose calibration curves were -32.336 and -33.746, respectively. The simplified method can obtain calibration curves within a much shorter time compared to the standard method. It is considered that the simplified method for EBT3 film offers a more time-efficient means of determining the density-absorbed dose calibration curve within a low absorbed dose range such as the diagnostic range.

Simplified method for creating a density-absorbed dose calibration curve for the low dose range from Gafchromic EBT3 film

PubMed Central

Gotanda, Tatsuhiro; Katsuda, Toshizo; Gotanda, Rumi; Kuwano, Tadao; Akagawa, Takuya; Tanki, Nobuyoshi; Tabuchi, Akihiko; Shimono, Tetsunori; Kawaji, Yasuyuki

2016-01-01

Radiochromic film dosimeters have a disadvantage in comparison with an ionization chamber in that the dosimetry process is time-consuming for creating a density-absorbed dose calibration curve. The purpose of this study was the development of a simplified method of creating a density-absorbed dose calibration curve from radiochromic film within a short time. This simplified method was performed using Gafchromic EBT3 film with a low energy dependence and step-shaped Al filter. The simplified method was compared with the standard method. The density-absorbed dose calibration curves created using the simplified and standard methods exhibited approximately similar straight lines, and the gradients of the density-absorbed dose calibration curves were −32.336 and −33.746, respectively. The simplified method can obtain calibration curves within a much shorter time compared to the standard method. It is considered that the simplified method for EBT3 film offers a more time-efficient means of determining the density-absorbed dose calibration curve within a low absorbed dose range such as the diagnostic range. PMID:28144120

Single Vector Calibration System for Multi-Axis Load Cells and Method for Calibrating a Multi-Axis Load Cell

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parker, Peter A. (Inventor)

2003-01-01

A single vector calibration system is provided which facilitates the calibration of multi-axis load cells, including wind tunnel force balances. The single vector system provides the capability to calibrate a multi-axis load cell using a single directional load, for example loading solely in the gravitational direction. The system manipulates the load cell in three-dimensional space, while keeping the uni-directional calibration load aligned. The use of a single vector calibration load reduces the set-up time for the multi-axis load combinations needed to generate a complete calibration mathematical model. The system also reduces load application inaccuracies caused by the conventional requirement to generate multiple force vectors. The simplicity of the system reduces calibration time and cost, while simultaneously increasing calibration accuracy.

Rigorous evaluation of chemical measurement uncertainty: liquid chromatographic analysis methods using detector response factor calibration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toman, Blaza; Nelson, Michael A.; Bedner, Mary

2017-06-01

Chemical measurement methods are designed to promote accurate knowledge of a measurand or system. As such, these methods often allow elicitation of latent sources of variability and correlation in experimental data. They typically implement measurement equations that support quantification of effects associated with calibration standards and other known or observed parametric variables. Additionally, multiple samples and calibrants are usually analyzed to assess accuracy of the measurement procedure and repeatability by the analyst. Thus, a realistic assessment of uncertainty for most chemical measurement methods is not purely bottom-up (based on the measurement equation) or top-down (based on the experimental design), but inherently contains elements of both. Confidence in results must be rigorously evaluated for the sources of variability in all of the bottom-up and top-down elements. This type of analysis presents unique challenges due to various statistical correlations among the outputs of measurement equations. One approach is to use a Bayesian hierarchical (BH) model which is intrinsically rigorous, thus making it a straightforward method for use with complex experimental designs, particularly when correlations among data are numerous and difficult to elucidate or explicitly quantify. In simpler cases, careful analysis using GUM Supplement 1 (MC) methods augmented with random effects meta analysis yields similar results to a full BH model analysis. In this article we describe both approaches to rigorous uncertainty evaluation using as examples measurements of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in solution reference materials via liquid chromatography with UV absorbance detection (LC-UV) and liquid chromatography mass spectrometric detection using isotope dilution (LC-IDMS).

Research on camera on orbit radial calibration based on black body and infrared calibration stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, YuDu; Su, XiaoFeng; Zhang, WanYing; Chen, FanSheng

2018-05-01

Affected by launching process and space environment, the response capability of a space camera must be attenuated. So it is necessary for a space camera to have a spaceborne radiant calibration. In this paper, we propose a method of calibration based on accurate Infrared standard stars was proposed for increasing infrared radiation measurement precision. As stars can be considered as a point target, we use them as the radiometric calibration source and establish the Taylor expansion method and the energy extrapolation model based on WISE catalog and 2MASS catalog. Then we update the calibration results from black body. Finally, calibration mechanism is designed and the technology of design is verified by on orbit test. The experimental calibration result shows the irradiance extrapolation error is about 3% and the accuracy of calibration methods is about 10%, the results show that the methods could satisfy requirements of on orbit calibration.

Landsat-7 ETM+ radiometric calibration status

USGS Publications Warehouse

Barsi, Julia A.; Markham, Brian L.; Czapla-Myers, J. S.; Helder, Dennis L.; Hook, Simon; Schott, John R.; Haque, Md. Obaidul

2016-01-01

Now in its 17th year of operation, the Enhanced Thematic Mapper + (ETM+), on board the Landsat-7 satellite, continues to systematically acquire imagery of the Earth to add to the 40+ year archive of Landsat data. Characterization of the ETM+ on-orbit radiometric performance has been on-going since its launch in 1999. The radiometric calibration of the reflective bands is still monitored using on-board calibration devices, though the Pseudo-Invariant Calibration Sites (PICS) method has proven to be an effective tool as well. The calibration gains were updated in April 2013 based primarily on PICS results, which corrected for a change of as much as -0.2%/year degradation in the worst case bands. A new comparison with the SADE database of PICS results indicates no additional degradation in the updated calibration. PICS data are still being tracked though the recent trends are not well understood. The thermal band calibration was updated last in October 2013 based on a continued calibration effort by NASA/Jet Propulsion Lab and Rochester Institute of Technology. The update accounted for a 0.036 W/m2 sr μm or 0.26K at 300K bias error. The updated lifetime trend is now stable to within +/- 0.4K.

Landsat-7 ETM+ Radiometric Calibration Status

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barsi, Julia A.; Markham, Brian L.; Czapla-Myers, Jeffrey S.; Helder, Dennis L.; Hook, Simon J.; Schott, John R; Haque, Md. Obaidul

2016-01-01

Now in its 17th year of operation, the Enhanced Thematic Mapper + (ETM+), on board the Landsat-7 satellite, continues to systematically acquire imagery of the Earth to add to the 40+ year archive of Landsat data. Characterization of the ETM+ on-orbit radiometric performance has been on-going since its launch in 1999. The radiometric calibration of the reflective bands is still monitored using on-board calibration devices, though the Pseudo-Invariant Calibration Sites (PICS) method has proven to be an effect tool as well. The calibration gains were updated in April 2013 based primarily on PICS results, which corrected for a change of as much as -0.2%/year degradation in the worst case bands. A new comparison with the SADE database of PICS results indicates no additional degradation in the updated calibration. PICS data are still being tracked though the recent trends are not well understood. The thermal band calibration was updated last in October 2013 based on a continued calibration effort by NASA/Jet Propulsion Lab and Rochester Institute of Technology. The update accounted for a 0.31 W/sq m/ sr/micron bias error. The updated lifetime trend is now stable to within + 0.4K.

The Comparison Of In-Flight Pitot Static Calibration Method By Using Radio Altimeter As Reference with GPS and Tower Fly By Methods On CN235-100 MPA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Derajat; Hariowibowo, Hindawan

2018-04-01

The new proposed In-Flight Pitot Static Calibration Method has been carried out during Development and Qualification of CN235-100 MPA (Military Patrol Aircraft). This method is expected to reduce flight hours, less human resources required, no additional special equipment, simple analysis calculation and finally by using this method it is expected to automatically minimized operational cost. At The Indonesian Aerospace (IAe) Flight Test Center Division, the development and updating of new flight test technique and data analysis method as specially for flight physics test subject are still continued to be developed as long as it safety for flight and give additional value for the industrial side. More than 30 years, Flight Test Data Engineers at The Flight Test center Division work together with the Air Crew (Test Pilots, Co-Pilots, and Flight Test Engineers) to execute the flight test activity with standard procedure for both the existance or development test techniques and test data analysis. In this paper the approximation of mathematical model, data reduction and flight test technique of The In-Flight Pitot Static Calibration by using Radio Altimeter as reference will be described and the test results had been compared with another methods ie. By using Global Position System (GPS) and the traditional method (Tower Fly By Method) which were used previously during this Flight Test Program (Ref. [10]). The flight test data case are using CN235-100 MPA flight test data during development and Qualification Flight Test Program at Cazaux Airport, France, in June-November 2009 (Ref. [2]).

Ozonometer M-124 calibration for the Ukrainian network: method and results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grytsai, A.; Milinevsky, G.; Evtushevsky, O.; Sosonkin, M.; Kravchenko, V.; Danylevsky, V.

2016-12-01

M-124 filter ozonometers are used for total ozone measuring in Ukraine since 1970s. Recently the need to calibrate several M-124 instruments of the Ukrainian filter ozonometer network is raised to continue ozone observations. The calibration became possible owing to the accurate ozone measurements by Dobson spectrophotometer started in 2010 at the Kyiv-Goloseyev WMO station located at the Main Astronomical Observatory of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. For calibration purposes the simultaneous M-124 and Dobson Direct Sun measurements were carried out during the 2013-2016 period by researchers from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and Main Astronomical Observatory. The M-124 instrument has two spectral channels: first is 305 nm and second is 325 nm. Outgoing signal from M-124 is determined by transparency of the terrestrial atmosphere and filter characteristics. Theoretical description of the solar radiation propagation through the atmosphere is determined by the Bouguer-Lambert-Beer law taking into account ozone absorption, Rayleigh and aerosol scattering. Parameters of the aerosol scattering have been determined from observations with the CIMEL sunphotometer of Aerosol Robotic Network which is also located at the Kyiv-Goloseyev station. The ozonometers optical characteristics were studied after M-124 refurbishment and modernization at the Central Geophysical Observatory of Ukraine that includes a significant part of the whole calibration work. Knowing the spectral dependence of each filter is necessary to calculate signal ratios in two channels. This information allowed solving the inverse problem of determining total ozone content in the terrestrial atmosphere. Comparison of these results with Dobson spectrophotometer data shows their good quality even without an additional correction. These results open a possibility to calibrate M-124 filter ozonometers for future ozone measurements at the observation sites of the Ukraine ozonometer network.

The self-calibration method for multiple systems at the CHARA Array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Brien, David

The self-calibration method, a new interferometric technique at the CHARA Array, has been used to derive orbits for several spectroscopic binaries. This method uses the wide component of a hierarchical triple system to calibrate visibility measurements of the triple's close binary system. At certain baselines and separations, the calibrator in one of these systems can be observed quasi-simultaneously with the target. Depending on the orientation of the CHARA observation baseline relative to the orientation of the wide orbit of the triple system, separated fringe packets may be observed. A sophisticated observing scheme must be put in place to ensure the existence of separated fringe packets on nights of observation. Prior to the onset of this project, the reduction of separated fringe packet data had never included the goal of deriving visibilities for both fringe packets, so new data reduction software has been written. Visibilities obtained with separated fringe packet data for the target close binary are run through both Monte Carlo simulations and grid search programs in order to determine the best-fit orbital elements of the close binary. Several targets have been observed in this fashion, and orbits have been derived for seven targets, including three new orbits. Derivation of the orbit of the close pair in a triple system allows for the calculation of the mutual inclination, which is the angle between the planes of the wide and close orbit. Knowledge of this quantity may give insight into the formation processes that create multiple star systems. INDEX WORDS: Long-baseline interferometry, Self calibration, Separated fringe packets, Triple systems, Close binaries, Multiple systems, Orbital parameters, Near-infrared interferometry

Hot-wire calibration in subsonic/transonic flow regimes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nagabushana, K. A.; Ash, Robert L.

1995-01-01

A different approach for calibrating hot-wires, which simplifies the calibration procedure and reduces the tunnel run-time by an order of magnitude was sought. In general, it is accepted that the directly measurable quantities in any flow are velocity, density, and total temperature. Very few facilities have the capability of varying the total temperature over an adequate range. However, if the overheat temperature parameter, a(sub w), is used to calibrate the hot-wire then the directly measurable quantity, voltage, will be a function of the flow variables and the overheat parameter i.e., E = f(u,p,a(sub w), T(sub w)) where a(sub w) will contain the needed total temperature information. In this report, various methods of evaluating sensitivities with different dependent and independent variables to calibrate a 3-Wire hot-wire probe using a constant temperature anemometer (CTA) in subsonic/transonic flow regimes is presented. The advantage of using a(sub w) as the independent variable instead of total temperature, t(sub o), or overheat temperature parameter, tau, is that while running a calibration test it is not necessary to know the recovery factor, the coefficients in a wire resistance to temperature relationship for a given probe. It was deduced that the method employing the relationship E = f (u,p,a(sub w)) should result in the most accurate calibration of hot wire probes. Any other method would require additional measurements. Also this method will allow calibration and determination of accurate temperature fluctuation information even in atmospheric wind tunnels where there is no ability to obtain any temperature sensitivity information at present. This technique greatly simplifies the calibration process for hot-wires, provides the required calibration information needed in obtaining temperature fluctuations, and reduces both the tunnel run-time and the test matrix required to calibrate hotwires. Some of the results using the above techniques are presented

An Analysis on a Dynamic Amplifier and Calibration Methods for a Pseudo-Differential Dynamic Comparator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paik, Daehwa; Miyahara, Masaya; Matsuzawa, Akira

This paper analyzes a pseudo-differential dynamic comparator with a dynamic pre-amplifier. The transient gain of a dynamic pre-amplifier is derived and applied to equations of the thermal noise and the regeneration time of a comparator. This analysis enhances understanding of the roles of transistor's parameters in pre-amplifier's gain. Based on the calculated gain, two calibration methods are also analyzed. One is calibration of a load capacitance and the other is calibration of a bypass current. The analysis helps designers' estimation for the accuracy of calibration, dead-zone of a comparator with a calibration circuit, and the influence of PVT variation. The analyzed comparator uses 90-nm CMOS technology as an example and each estimation is compared with simulation results.

Coda Calibration Tool

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

Addair, Travis; Barno, Justin; Dodge, Doug

CCT is a Java based application for calibrating 10 shear wave coda measurement models to observed data using a much smaller set of reference moment magnitudes (MWs) calculated from other means (waveform modeling, etc.). These calibrated measurement models can then be used in other tools to generate coda moment magnitude measurements, source spectra, estimated stress drop, and other useful measurements for any additional events and any new data collected in the calibrated region.

Method for in-situ calibration of electrophoretic analysis systems

DOEpatents

Liu, Changsheng; Zhao, Hequan

2005-05-08

An electrophoretic system having a plurality of separation lanes is provided with an automatic calibration feature in which each lane is separately calibrated. For each lane, the calibration coefficients map a spectrum of received channel intensities onto values reflective of the relative likelihood of each of a plurality of dyes being present. Individual peaks, reflective of the influence of a single dye, are isolated from among the various sets of detected light intensity spectra, and these can be used to both detect the number of dye components present, and also to establish exemplary vectors for the calibration coefficients which may then be clustered and further processed to arrive at a calibration matrix for the system. The system of the present invention thus permits one to use different dye sets to tag DNA nucleotides in samples which migrate in separate lanes, and also allows for in-situ calibration with new, previously unused dye sets.

Ratioing methods for in-flight response calibration of space-based spectro-radiometers, operating in the solar spectral region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lobb, Dan

2017-11-01

One of the most significant problems for space-based spectro-radiometer systems, observing Earth from space in the solar spectral band (UV through short-wave IR), is in achievement of the required absolute radiometric accuracy. Classical methods, for example using one or more sun-illuminated diffusers as reflectance standards, do not generally provide methods for monitoring degradation of the in-flight reference after pre-flight characterisation. Ratioing methods have been proposed that provide monitoring of degradation of solar attenuators in flight, thus in principle allowing much higher confidence in absolute response calibration. Two example methods are described. It is shown that systems can be designed for relatively low size and without significant additions to the complexity of flight hardware.

Solar cell and module performance assessment based on indoor calibration methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bogus, K.

A combined space/terrestrial solar cell test calibration method that requires five steps and can be performed indoors is described. The test conditions are designed to qualify the cell or module output data in standard illumination and temperature conditions. Measurements are made of the short-circuit current, the open circuit voltage, the maximum power, the efficiency, and the spectral response. Standard sunlight must be replicated both in earth surface and AM0 conditions; Xe lamps are normally used for the light source, with spectral measurements taken of the light. Cell and module spectral response are assayed by using monochromators and narrow band pass monochromatic filters. Attention is required to define the performance characteristics of modules under partial shadowing. Error sources that may effect the measurements are discussed, as are previous cell performance testing and calibration methods and their effectiveness in comparison with the behaviors of satellite solar power panels.

Transient Method for Determining Indoor Chemical Concentrations Based on SPME: Model Development and Calibration.

PubMed

Cao, Jianping; Xiong, Jianyin; Wang, Lixin; Xu, Ying; Zhang, Yinping

2016-09-06

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is regarded as a nonexhaustive sampling technique with a smaller extraction volume and a shorter extraction time than traditional sampling techniques and is hence widely used. The SPME sampling process is affected by the convection or diffusion effect along the coating surface, but this factor has seldom been studied. This paper derives an analytical model to characterize SPME sampling for semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) as well as for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by considering the surface mass transfer process. Using this model, the chemical concentrations in a sample matrix can be conveniently calculated. In addition, the model can be used to determine the characteristic parameters (partition coefficient and diffusion coefficient) for typical SPME chemical samplings (SPME calibration). Experiments using SPME samplings of two typical SVOCs, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) in sealed chamber and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in ventilated chamber, were performed to measure the two characteristic parameters. The experimental results demonstrated the effectiveness of the model and calibration method. Experimental data from the literature (VOCs sampled by SPME) were used to further validate the model. This study should prove useful for relatively rapid quantification of concentrations of different chemicals in various circumstances with SPME.

Bureau of Mines method of calibrating a primary radon measuring apparatus

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

Holub, R.F.; Stroud, W.P.

1991-04-01

This paper reports on the Bureau of Mines method of calibrating a primary radon measuring apparatus. One requirement for accurate monitoring of radon in working environments, dwellings, and outdoors is to ensure that the measurement instrumentation is properly calibrated against a recognized standard. To achieve this goal, the U.S. Bureau of Mines Radiation Laboratory has participated since 1988 in a program to establish international radon measurement standards. Originally sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the program is also sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency. While the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) radium solutionmore » ampules are acceptable to all participating laboratories as a primary standard, a method of transferring radon from the NIST source into The Bureau's method transfers radon from the primary solution by bubbling 3 L of air through it into a steel cylinder. After homogenizing the radon concentrations in the cylinder, eight alpha-scintillation cells are filled consecutively and measured in a standard counting system. The resulting efficiency is 81.7 {plus minus} 1.2 pct.« less

Method and system for calibrating acquired spectra for use in spectral analysis

DOEpatents

Reber, Edward L.; Rohde, Kenneth W.; Blackwood, Larry G.

2010-09-14

A method for calibrating acquired spectra for use in spectral analysis includes performing Gaussian peak fitting to spectra acquired by a plurality of NaI detectors to define peak regions. A Na and annihilation doublet may be located among the peak regions. A predetermined energy level may be applied to one of the peaks in the doublet and a location of a hydrogen peak may be predicted based on the location of at least one of the peaks of the doublet. Control systems for calibrating spectra are also disclosed.

VIIRS reflective solar bands on-orbit calibration five-year update: extension and improvements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Junqiang; Wang, Menghua

2016-09-01

The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) has been onorbit for almost five years. VIIRS has 22 spectral bands, among which fourteen are reflective solar bands (RSB) covering a spectral range from 0.410 to 2.25 μm. The SNPP VIIRS RSB have performed very well since launch. The radiometric calibration for the RSB has also reached a mature stage after almost five years since its launch. Numerous improvements have been made in the standard RSB calibration methodology. Additionally, a hybrid calibration method, which takes the advantages of both solar diffuser calibration and lunar calibration and avoids the drawbacks of the two methods, successfully finalizes the highly accurate calibration for VIIRS RSB. The successfully calibrated RSB data record significantly impacts the ocean color products, whose stringent requirements are especially sensitive to calibration accuracy, and helps the ocean color products to reach maturity and high quality. Nevertheless, there are still many challenge issues to be investigated for further improvements of the VIIRS sensor data records (SDR). In this presentation, the robust results of the RSB calibrations and the ocean product performance will be presented. The reprocessed SDR is now in more science tests, in addition to the ocean science tests already completed one year ago, readying to be the mission-long operational SDR.

A Novel Nonintrusive Method to Resolve the Thermal Dome Effect of Pyranometers: Radiometric Calibration and Implications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ji. Q.; Tsay, S.-C.; Lau, K. M.; Hansell, R. A.; Butler, J. J.; Cooper, J. W.

2011-01-01

Traditionally the calibration equation for pyranometers assumes that the measured solar irradiance is solely proportional to the thermopile s output voltage; therefore, only a single calibration factor is derived. This causes additional measurement uncertainties because it does not capture sufficient information to correctly account for a pyranometer s thermal effect. In our updated calibration equation, temperatures from the pyranometer's dome and case are incorporated to describe the instrument's thermal behavior, and a new set of calibration constants are determined, thereby reducing measurement uncertainties. In this paper, we demonstrate why a pyranometer's uncertainty using the traditional calibration equation is always larger than a few percent, but with the new approach can become much less than 1% after the thermal issue is resolved. The highlighted calibration results are based on NIST traceable light sources under controlled laboratory conditions. The significance of the new approach lends itself to not only avoiding the uncertainty caused by a pyranometer's thermal effect but also the opportunity to better isolate and characterize other instrumental artifacts, such as angular response and nonlinearity of the thermopile, to further reduce additional uncertainties. We also discuss some of the implications, including an example of how the thermal issue can potentially impact climate studies by evaluating aerosol s direct radiative effect using field measurements with and without considering the pyranometer s thermal effect. The results of radiative transfer model simulation show that a pyranometer s thermal effect on solar irradiance measurements at the surface can be translated into a significant alteration of the calculated distribution of solar energy inside the column atmosphere.

Research on the method of establishing the total radiation meter calibration device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Jianqiang; Xia, Ming; Xia, Junwen; Zhang, Dong

2015-10-01

Pyranometer is an instrument used to measure the solar radiation, according to pyranometer differs as installation state, can be respectively measured total solar radiation, reflected radiation, or with the help of shading device for measuring scattering radiation. Pyranometer uses the principle of thermoelectric effect, inductive element adopts winding plating type multi junction thermopile, its surface is coated with black coating with high absorption rate. Hot junction in the induction surface, while the cold junction is located in the body, the cold and hot junction produce thermoelectric potential. In the linear range, the output signal is proportional to the solar irradiance. Traceability to national meteorological station, as the unit of the national legal metrology organizations, the responsibility is to transfer value of the sun and the earth radiation value about the national meteorological industry. Using the method of comparison, with indoor calibration of solar simulator, at the same location, standard pyranometer and measured pyranometer were alternately measured radiation irradiance, depending on the irradiation sensitivity standard pyranometer were calculated the radiation sensitivity of measured pyranometer. This paper is mainly about the design and calibration method of the pyranometer indoor device. The uncertainty of the calibration result is also evaluated.

Method of calibrating a fluid-level measurement system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woodard, Stanley E. (Inventor); Taylor, Bryant D. (Inventor)

2010-01-01

A method of calibrating a fluid-level measurement system is provided. A first response of the system is recorded when the system's sensor(s) is (are) not in contact with a fluid of interest. A second response of the system is recorded when the system's sensor(s) is (are) fully immersed in the fluid of interest. Using the first and second responses, a plurality of expected responses of the system's sensor(s) is (are) generated for a corresponding plurality of levels of immersion of the sensor(s) in the fluid of interest.

Scatterometer-Calibrated Stability Verification Method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McWatters, Dalia A.; Cheetham, Craig M.; Huang, Shouhua; Fischman, Mark A.; CHu, Anhua J.; Freedman, Adam P.

2011-01-01

The requirement for scatterometer-combined transmit-receive gain variation knowledge is typically addressed by sampling a portion of the transmit signal, attenuating it with a known-stable attenuation, and coupling it into the receiver chain. This way, the gain variations of the transmit and receive chains are represented by this loop-back calibration signal, and can be subtracted from the received remote radar echo. Certain challenges are presented by this process, such as transmit and receive components that are outside of this loop-back path and are not included in this calibration, as well as the impracticality for measuring the transmit and receive chains stability and post fabrication separately, without the resulting measurement errors from the test set up exceeding the requirement for the flight instrument. To cover the RF stability design challenge, the portions of the scatterometer that are not calibrated by the loop-back, (e.g., attenuators, switches, diplexers, couplers, and coaxial cables) are tightly thermally controlled, and have been characterized over temperature to contribute less than 0.05 dB of calibration error over worst-case thermal variation. To address the verification challenge, including the components that are not calibrated by the loop-back, a stable fiber optic delay line (FODL) was used to delay the transmitted pulse, and to route it into the receiver. In this way, the internal loopback signal amplitude variations can be compared to the full transmit/receive external path, while the flight hardware is in the worst-case thermal environment. The practical delay for implementing the FODL is 100 s. The scatterometer pulse width is 1 ms so a test mode was incorporated early in the design phase to scale the 1 ms pulse at 100-Hz pulse repetition interval (PRI), by a factor of 18, to be a 55 s pulse with 556 s PRI. This scaling maintains the duty cycle, thus maintaining a representative thermal state for the RF components. The FODL consists

Application of single-image camera calibration for ultrasound augmented laparoscopic visualization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Xinyang; Su, He; Kang, Sukryool; Kane, Timothy D.; Shekhar, Raj

2015-03-01

Accurate calibration of laparoscopic cameras is essential for enabling many surgical visualization and navigation technologies such as the ultrasound-augmented visualization system that we have developed for laparoscopic surgery. In addition to accuracy and robustness, there is a practical need for a fast and easy camera calibration method that can be performed on demand in the operating room (OR). Conventional camera calibration methods are not suitable for the OR use because they are lengthy and tedious. They require acquisition of multiple images of a target pattern in its entirety to produce satisfactory result. In this work, we evaluated the performance of a single-image camera calibration tool (rdCalib; Percieve3D, Coimbra, Portugal) featuring automatic detection of corner points in the image, whether partial or complete, of a custom target pattern. Intrinsic camera parameters of a 5-mm and a 10-mm standard Stryker® laparoscopes obtained using rdCalib and the well-accepted OpenCV camera calibration method were compared. Target registration error (TRE) as a measure of camera calibration accuracy for our optical tracking-based AR system was also compared between the two calibration methods. Based on our experiments, the single-image camera calibration yields consistent and accurate results (mean TRE = 1.18 ± 0.35 mm for the 5-mm scope and mean TRE = 1.13 ± 0.32 mm for the 10-mm scope), which are comparable to the results obtained using the OpenCV method with 30 images. The new single-image camera calibration method is promising to be applied to our augmented reality visualization system for laparoscopic surgery.

Application of single-image camera calibration for ultrasound augmented laparoscopic visualization

PubMed Central

Liu, Xinyang; Su, He; Kang, Sukryool; Kane, Timothy D.; Shekhar, Raj

2017-01-01

Accurate calibration of laparoscopic cameras is essential for enabling many surgical visualization and navigation technologies such as the ultrasound-augmented visualization system that we have developed for laparoscopic surgery. In addition to accuracy and robustness, there is a practical need for a fast and easy camera calibration method that can be performed on demand in the operating room (OR). Conventional camera calibration methods are not suitable for the OR use because they are lengthy and tedious. They require acquisition of multiple images of a target pattern in its entirety to produce satisfactory result. In this work, we evaluated the performance of a single-image camera calibration tool (rdCalib; Percieve3D, Coimbra, Portugal) featuring automatic detection of corner points in the image, whether partial or complete, of a custom target pattern. Intrinsic camera parameters of a 5-mm and a 10-mm standard Stryker® laparoscopes obtained using rdCalib and the well-accepted OpenCV camera calibration method were compared. Target registration error (TRE) as a measure of camera calibration accuracy for our optical tracking-based AR system was also compared between the two calibration methods. Based on our experiments, the single-image camera calibration yields consistent and accurate results (mean TRE = 1.18 ± 0.35 mm for the 5-mm scope and mean TRE = 1.13 ± 0.32 mm for the 10-mm scope), which are comparable to the results obtained using the OpenCV method with 30 images. The new single-image camera calibration method is promising to be applied to our augmented reality visualization system for laparoscopic surgery. PMID:28943703

Application of single-image camera calibration for ultrasound augmented laparoscopic visualization.

PubMed

Liu, Xinyang; Su, He; Kang, Sukryool; Kane, Timothy D; Shekhar, Raj

2015-03-01

Accurate calibration of laparoscopic cameras is essential for enabling many surgical visualization and navigation technologies such as the ultrasound-augmented visualization system that we have developed for laparoscopic surgery. In addition to accuracy and robustness, there is a practical need for a fast and easy camera calibration method that can be performed on demand in the operating room (OR). Conventional camera calibration methods are not suitable for the OR use because they are lengthy and tedious. They require acquisition of multiple images of a target pattern in its entirety to produce satisfactory result. In this work, we evaluated the performance of a single-image camera calibration tool ( rdCalib ; Percieve3D, Coimbra, Portugal) featuring automatic detection of corner points in the image, whether partial or complete, of a custom target pattern. Intrinsic camera parameters of a 5-mm and a 10-mm standard Stryker ® laparoscopes obtained using rdCalib and the well-accepted OpenCV camera calibration method were compared. Target registration error (TRE) as a measure of camera calibration accuracy for our optical tracking-based AR system was also compared between the two calibration methods. Based on our experiments, the single-image camera calibration yields consistent and accurate results (mean TRE = 1.18 ± 0.35 mm for the 5-mm scope and mean TRE = 1.13 ± 0.32 mm for the 10-mm scope), which are comparable to the results obtained using the OpenCV method with 30 images. The new single-image camera calibration method is promising to be applied to our augmented reality visualization system for laparoscopic surgery.

In situ calibration of inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission and mass spectroscopy

DOEpatents

Braymen, S.D.

1996-06-11

A method and apparatus are disclosed for in situ addition calibration of an inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer or mass spectrometer using a precision gas metering valve to introduce a volatile calibration gas of an element of interest directly into an aerosol particle stream. The present in situ calibration technique is suitable for various remote, on-site sampling systems such as laser ablation or nebulization. 5 figs.

Calibration of resistance factors for drilled shafts for the new FHWA design method.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-01-01

The Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) calibration of deep foundation in Louisiana was first completed for driven piles (LTRC Final Report 449) in May 2009 and then for drilled shafts using 1999 FHWA design method (ONeill and Reese method) (...

In-situ Calibration Methods for Phased Array High Frequency Radars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flament, P. J.; Flament, M.; Chavanne, C.; Flores-vidal, X.; Rodriguez, I.; Marié, L.; Hilmer, T.

2016-12-01

the presence of reflecting structures (buildings, fences), or possibly fractal nature of the wavefronts; (e) amplitudes lack stability in time and azimuth to be usable as a-priori calibrations, confirming the accepted method of re-normalizing amplitudes by the signal of nearby cells prior to beam-forming.

Beyond discrimination: A comparison of calibration methods and clinical usefulness of predictive models of readmission risk.

PubMed

Walsh, Colin G; Sharman, Kavya; Hripcsak, George

2017-12-01

Prior to implementing predictive models in novel settings, analyses of calibration and clinical usefulness remain as important as discrimination, but they are not frequently discussed. Calibration is a model's reflection of actual outcome prevalence in its predictions. Clinical usefulness refers to the utilities, costs, and harms of using a predictive model in practice. A decision analytic approach to calibrating and selecting an optimal intervention threshold may help maximize the impact of readmission risk and other preventive interventions. To select a pragmatic means of calibrating predictive models that requires a minimum amount of validation data and that performs well in practice. To evaluate the impact of miscalibration on utility and cost via clinical usefulness analyses. Observational, retrospective cohort study with electronic health record data from 120,000 inpatient admissions at an urban, academic center in Manhattan. The primary outcome was thirty-day readmission for three causes: all-cause, congestive heart failure, and chronic coronary atherosclerotic disease. Predictive modeling was performed via L1-regularized logistic regression. Calibration methods were compared including Platt Scaling, Logistic Calibration, and Prevalence Adjustment. Performance of predictive modeling and calibration was assessed via discrimination (c-statistic), calibration (Spiegelhalter Z-statistic, Root Mean Square Error [RMSE] of binned predictions, Sanders and Murphy Resolutions of the Brier Score, Calibration Slope and Intercept), and clinical usefulness (utility terms represented as costs). The amount of validation data necessary to apply each calibration algorithm was also assessed. C-statistics by diagnosis ranged from 0.7 for all-cause readmission to 0.86 (0.78-0.93) for congestive heart failure. Logistic Calibration and Platt Scaling performed best and this difference required analyzing multiple metrics of calibration simultaneously, in particular Calibration

A Focusing Method in the Calibration Process of Image Sensors Based on IOFBs

PubMed Central

Fernández, Pedro R.; Lázaro, José L.; Gardel, Alfredo; Cano, Ángel E.; Bravo, Ignacio

2010-01-01

A focusing procedure in the calibration process of image sensors based on Incoherent Optical Fiber Bundles (IOFBs) is described using the information extracted from fibers. These procedures differ from any other currently known focusing method due to the non spatial in-out correspondence between fibers, which produces a natural codification of the image to transmit. Focus measuring is essential prior to carrying out calibration in order to guarantee accurate processing and decoding. Four algorithms have been developed to estimate the focus measure; two methods based on mean grey level, and the other two based on variance. In this paper, a few simple focus measures are defined and compared. Some experimental results referred to the focus measure and the accuracy of the developed methods are discussed in order to demonstrate its effectiveness. PMID:22315526

Effect of the improved accelerometer calibration method on AIUB's GRACE monthly gravity field solution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jean, Yoomin; Meyer, Ulrich; Arnold, Daniel; Bentel, Katrin; Jäggi, Adrian

2017-04-01

The monthly global gravity field solutions derived using the measurements from the GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellites have been continuously improved by the processing centers. One of the improvements in the processing method is a more detailed calibration of the on-board accelerometers in the GRACE satellites. The accelerometer data calibration is usually restricted to the scale factors and biases. It has been assumed that the three different axes are perfectly orthogonal in the GRACE science reference frame. Recently, it was shown by Klinger and Mayer-Gürr (2016) that a fully-populated scale matrix considering the non-orthogonality of the axes and the misalignment of the GRACE science reference frame and the GRACE accelerometer frame improves the quality of the C20 coefficient in the GRACE monthly gravity field solutions. We investigate the effect of the more detailed calibration of the GRACE accelerometer data on the C20 coefficient in the case of the AIUB (Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern) processing method using the Celestial Mechanics Approach. We also investigate the effect of the new calibration parameters on the stochastic parameters in the Celestial Mechanics Approach.

Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus radiometric calibration

USGS Publications Warehouse

Markham, B.L.; Boncyk, Wayne C.; Helder, D.L.; Barker, J.L.

1997-01-01

Landsat-7 is currently being built and tested for launch in 1998. The Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) sensor for Landsat-7, a derivative of the highly successful Thematic Mapper (TM) sensors on Landsats 4 and 5, and the Landsat-7 ground system are being built to provide enhanced radiometric calibration performance. In addition, regular vicarious calibration campaigns are being planned to provide additional information for calibration of the ETM+ instrument. The primary upgrades to the instrument include the addition of two solar calibrators: the full aperture solar calibrator, a deployable diffuser, and the partial aperture solar calibrator, a passive device that allows the ETM+ to image the sun. The ground processing incorporates for the first time an off-line facility, the Image Assessment System (IAS), to perform calibration, evaluation and analysis. Within the IAS, processing capabilities include radiometric artifact characterization and correction, radiometric calibration from the multiple calibrator sources, inclusion of results from vicarious calibration and statistical trending of calibration data to improve calibration estimation. The Landsat Product Generation System, the portion of the ground system responsible for producing calibrated products, will incorporate the radiometric artifact correction algorithms and will use the calibration information generated by the IAS. This calibration information will also be supplied to ground processing systems throughout the world.

Self-calibration method of the inner lever-arm parameters for a tri-axis RINS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Tianxiao; Li, Kui; Sui, Jie; Liu, Zengjun; Liu, Juncheng

2017-11-01

A rotational inertial navigation system (RINS) could improve navigation performance by modulating the inertial sensor errors with rotatable gimbals. When an inertial measurement unit (IMU) rotates, the deviations between the accelerometer-sensitive points and the IMU center will lead to an inner lever-arm effect. In this paper, a self-calibration method of the inner lever-arm parameters for a tri-axis RINS is proposed. A novel rotation scheme with variable angular rate rotation is designed to motivate the velocity errors caused by the inner lever-arm effect. By extending all inner lever-arm parameters as filter states, a Kalman filter with velocity errors as measurement is established to achieve the calibration. The accuracy and feasibility of the proposed method are illustrated by both simulations and experiments. The final results indicate that the inner lever-arm effect is significantly restrained after compensation by the calibration results.

The on-orbit calibration of geometric parameters of the Tian-Hui 1 (TH-1) satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jianrong; Wang, Renxiang; Hu, Xin; Su, Zhongbo

2017-02-01

The on-orbit calibration of geometric parameters is a key step in improving the location accuracy of satellite images without using Ground Control Points (GCPs). Most methods of on-orbit calibration are based on the self-calibration using additional parameters. When using additional parameters, different number of additional parameters may lead to different results. The triangulation bundle adjustment is another way to calibrate the geometric parameters of camera, which can describe the changes in each geometric parameter. When triangulation bundle adjustment method is applied to calibrate geometric parameters, a prerequisite is that the strip model can avoid systematic deformation caused by the rate of attitude changes. Concerning the stereo camera, the influence of the intersection angle should be considered during calibration. The Equivalent Frame Photo (EFP) bundle adjustment based on the Line-Matrix CCD (LMCCD) image can solve the systematic distortion of the strip model, and obtain high accuracy location without using GCPs. In this paper, the triangulation bundle adjustment is used to calibrate the geometric parameters of TH-1 satellite cameras based on LMCCD image. During the bundle adjustment, the three-line array cameras are reconstructed by adopting the principle of inverse triangulation. Finally, the geometric accuracy is validated before and after on-orbit calibration using 5 testing fields. After on-orbit calibration, the 3D geometric accuracy is improved to 11.8 m from 170 m. The results show that the location accuracy of TH-1 without using GCPs is significantly improved using the on-orbit calibration of the geometric parameters.

Using chromatography – desorption method of manufacturing gas mixtures for analytical instruments calibration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Platonov, I. A.; Kolesnichenko, I. N.; Lange, P. K.

2018-05-01

In this paper, the chromatography desorption method of obtaining gas mixtures of known compositions stable for a time sufficient to calibrate analytical instruments is considered. The comparative analysis results of the preparation accuracy of gas mixtures with volatile organic compounds using diffusion, polyabarbotage and chromatography desorption methods are presented. It is shown that the application of chromatography desorption devices allows one to obtain gas mixtures that are stable for 10...60 hours in a dynamic condition. These gas mixtures contain volatile aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons with a concentration error of no more than 7%. It is shown that it is expedient to use such gas mixtures for analytical instruments calibration (chromatographs, spectrophotometers, etc.)

Development and evaluation of a method of calibrating medical displays based on fixed adaptation

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

Sund, Patrik, E-mail: patrik.sund@vgregion.se; Månsson, Lars Gunnar; Båth, Magnus

2015-04-15

Purpose: The purpose of this work was to develop and evaluate a new method for calibration of medical displays that includes the effect of fixed adaptation and by using equipment and luminance levels typical for a modern radiology department. Methods: Low contrast sinusoidal test patterns were derived at nine luminance levels from 2 to 600 cd/m{sup 2} and used in a two alternative forced choice observer study, where the adaptation level was fixed at the logarithmic average of 35 cd/m{sup 2}. The contrast sensitivity at each luminance level was derived by establishing a linear relationship between the ten pattern contrastmore » levels used at every luminance level and a detectability index (d′) calculated from the fraction of correct responses. A Gaussian function was fitted to the data and normalized to the adaptation level. The corresponding equation was used in a display calibration method that included the grayscale standard display function (GSDF) but compensated for fixed adaptation. In the evaluation study, the contrast of circular objects with a fixed pixel contrast was displayed using both calibration methods and was rated on a five-grade scale. Results were calculated using a visual grading characteristics method. Error estimations in both observer studies were derived using a bootstrap method. Results: The contrast sensitivities for the darkest and brightest patterns compared to the contrast sensitivity at the adaptation luminance were 37% and 56%, respectively. The obtained Gaussian fit corresponded well with similar studies. The evaluation study showed a higher degree of equally distributed contrast throughout the luminance range with the calibration method compensated for fixed adaptation than for the GSDF. The two lowest scores for the GSDF were obtained for the darkest and brightest patterns. These scores were significantly lower than the lowest score obtained for the compensated GSDF. For the GSDF, the scores for all luminance levels were

An international marine-atmospheric {sup 222}Rn measurement intercomparison in Bermuda. Part 1: NIST calibration and methodology for standardized sample additions

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

Colle, R.; Unterweger, M.P.; Hodge, P.A.

1996-01-01

As part of an international {sup 222}Rn measurement intercomparison conducted at Bermuda in October 1991, NIST provided standardized sample additions of known, but undisclosed (blind) {sup 222}Rn concentrations that could be related to US national standards. The standardized sample additions were obtained with a calibrated {sup 226}Ra source and a specially-designed manifold used to obtain well-known dilution factors from simultaneous flow-rate measurements. The additions were introduced over sampling periods of several hours (typically 4 h) into a common streamline on a sampling tower used by the participating laboratories for their measurements. The standardized {sup 222}Rn activity concentrations for the intercomparisonmore » ranged from approximately 2.5 Bq {center_dot} m{sup {minus}3} to 35 Bq {center_dot} m{sup {minus}3} (of which the lower end of this range approached concentration levels for ambient Bermudian air) and had overall uncertainties, approximating a 3 standard deviation uncertainty interval, of about 6% to 13%. This paper describes the calibration and methodology for the standardized sample additions.« less

Near surface illumination method to detect particle size information by optical calibration free remission measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stocker, Sabrina; Foschum, Florian; Kienle, Alwin

2017-07-01

A calibration free method to detect particle size information is presented. A possible application for such measurements is the investigation of raw milk since there not only the fat and protein content varies but also the fat droplet size. The newly developed method is sensitive to the scattering phase function, which makes it applicable to many other applications, too. By simulating the light propagation by use of Monte Carlo simulations, a calibration free device can be developed from this principle.

A fast RCS accuracy assessment method for passive radar calibrators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Yongsheng; Li, Chuanrong; Tang, Lingli; Ma, Lingling; Liu, QI

2016-10-01

In microwave radar radiometric calibration, the corner reflector acts as the standard reference target but its structure is usually deformed during the transportation and installation, or deformed by wind and gravity while permanently installed outdoor, which will decrease the RCS accuracy and therefore the radiometric calibration accuracy. A fast RCS accuracy measurement method based on 3-D measuring instrument and RCS simulation was proposed in this paper for tracking the characteristic variation of the corner reflector. In the first step, RCS simulation algorithm was selected and its simulation accuracy was assessed. In the second step, the 3-D measuring instrument was selected and its measuring accuracy was evaluated. Once the accuracy of the selected RCS simulation algorithm and 3-D measuring instrument was satisfied for the RCS accuracy assessment, the 3-D structure of the corner reflector would be obtained by the 3-D measuring instrument, and then the RCSs of the obtained 3-D structure and corresponding ideal structure would be calculated respectively based on the selected RCS simulation algorithm. The final RCS accuracy was the absolute difference of the two RCS calculation results. The advantage of the proposed method was that it could be applied outdoor easily, avoiding the correlation among the plate edge length error, plate orthogonality error, plate curvature error. The accuracy of this method is higher than the method using distortion equation. In the end of the paper, a measurement example was presented in order to show the performance of the proposed method.

A standardized method for the calibration of thermodynamic data for the prediction of gas chromatographic retention times.

PubMed

McGinitie, Teague M; Ebrahimi-Najafabadi, Heshmatollah; Harynuk, James J

2014-02-21

A new method for calibrating thermodynamic data to be used in the prediction of analyte retention times is presented. The method allows thermodynamic data collected on one column to be used in making predictions across columns of the same stationary phase but with varying geometries. This calibration is essential as slight variances in the column inner diameter and stationary phase film thickness between columns or as a column ages will adversely affect the accuracy of predictions. The calibration technique uses a Grob standard mixture along with a Nelder-Mead simplex algorithm and a previously developed model of GC retention times based on a three-parameter thermodynamic model to estimate both inner diameter and stationary phase film thickness. The calibration method is highly successful with the predicted retention times for a set of alkanes, ketones and alcohols having an average error of 1.6s across three columns. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Accuracy of rapid radiographic film calibration for intensity‐modulated radiation therapy verification

PubMed Central

Kulasekere, Ravi; Moran, Jean M.; Fraass, Benedick A.; Roberson, Peter L.

2006-01-01

A single calibration film method was evaluated for use with intensity‐modulated radiation therapy film quality assurance measurements. The single‐film method has the potential advantages of exposure simplicity, less media consumption, and improved processor quality control. Potential disadvantages include cross contamination of film exposure, implementation effort to document delivered dose, and added complication of film response analysis. Film response differences were measured between standard and single‐film calibration methods. Additional measurements were performed to help trace causes for the observed discrepancies. Kodak X‐OmatV (XV) film was found to have greater response variability than extended dose range (EDR) film. We found it advisable for XV film to relate the film response calibration for the single‐film method to a user‐defined optimal calibration geometry. Using a single calibration film exposed at the time of experiment, the total uncertainty of film response was estimated to be <2% (1%) for XV (EDR) film at 50 (100) cGy and higher, respectively. PACS numbers: 87.53.‐j, 87.53.Dq PMID:17533325

Ozone Correction for AM0 Calibrated Solar Cells for the Aircraft Method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Snyder, David B.; Scheiman, David A.; Jenkins, Phillip P.; Lyons, Valerie J. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The aircraft solar cell calibration method has provided cells calibrated to space conditions for 37 years. However, it is susceptible to systematic errors due to ozone concentration in the stratosphere. The present correction procedure applies a 1% increase to the measured Isc values. High band-gap cells are more sensitive to ozone adsorbed wavelengths so it has become important to reassess the correction technique. This paper evaluates the ozone correction to be 1+{O3}sup Fo, where Fo is 29.5x10(exp-6)/d.u. for a Silicon solar cell and 42.2xl0(exp -6)/d.u. for a GaAs cell. Results will be presented for high band-gap cells. A comparison with flight data indicates that this method of correcting for the ozone density improves the uncertainty of AM0 Isc to 0.5%.

Absolute detector calibration using twin beams.

PubMed

Peřina, Jan; Haderka, Ondřej; Michálek, Václav; Hamar, Martin

2012-07-01

A method for the determination of absolute quantum detection efficiency is suggested based on the measurement of photocount statistics of twin beams. The measured histograms of joint signal-idler photocount statistics allow us to eliminate an additional noise superimposed on an ideal calibration field composed of only photon pairs. This makes the method superior above other approaches presently used. Twin beams are described using a paired variant of quantum superposition of signal and noise.

Investigating temporal field sampling strategies for site-specific calibration of three soil moisture-neutron intensity parameterisation methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iwema, J.; Rosolem, R.; Baatz, R.; Wagener, T.; Bogena, H. R.

2015-07-01

The Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensor (CRNS) can provide soil moisture information at scales relevant to hydrometeorological modelling applications. Site-specific calibration is needed to translate CRNS neutron intensities into sensor footprint average soil moisture contents. We investigated temporal sampling strategies for calibration of three CRNS parameterisations (modified N0, HMF, and COSMIC) by assessing the effects of the number of sampling days and soil wetness conditions on the performance of the calibration results while investigating actual neutron intensity measurements, for three sites with distinct climate and land use: a semi-arid site, a temperate grassland, and a temperate forest. When calibrated with 1 year of data, both COSMIC and the modified N0 method performed better than HMF. The performance of COSMIC was remarkably good at the semi-arid site in the USA, while the N0mod performed best at the two temperate sites in Germany. The successful performance of COSMIC at all three sites can be attributed to the benefits of explicitly resolving individual soil layers (which is not accounted for in the other two parameterisations). To better calibrate these parameterisations, we recommend in situ soil sampled to be collected on more than a single day. However, little improvement is observed for sampling on more than 6 days. At the semi-arid site, the N0mod method was calibrated better under site-specific average wetness conditions, whereas HMF and COSMIC were calibrated better under drier conditions. Average soil wetness condition gave better calibration results at the two humid sites. The calibration results for the HMF method were better when calibrated with combinations of days with similar soil wetness conditions, opposed to N0mod and COSMIC, which profited from using days with distinct wetness conditions. Errors in actual neutron intensities were translated to average errors specifically to each site. At the semi-arid site, these errors were below the

A Full-Envelope Air Data Calibration and Three-Dimensional Wind Estimation Method Using Global Output-Error Optimization and Flight-Test Techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taylor, Brian R.

2012-01-01

A novel, efficient air data calibration method is proposed for aircraft with limited envelopes. This method uses output-error optimization on three-dimensional inertial velocities to estimate calibration and wind parameters. Calibration parameters are based on assumed calibration models for static pressure, angle of attack, and flank angle. Estimated wind parameters are the north, east, and down components. The only assumptions needed for this method are that the inertial velocities and Euler angles are accurate, the calibration models are correct, and that the steady-state component of wind is constant throughout the maneuver. A two-minute maneuver was designed to excite the aircraft over the range of air data calibration parameters and de-correlate the angle-of-attack bias from the vertical component of wind. Simulation of the X-48B (The Boeing Company, Chicago, Illinois) aircraft was used to validate the method, ultimately using data derived from wind-tunnel testing to simulate the un-calibrated air data measurements. Results from the simulation were accurate and robust to turbulence levels comparable to those observed in flight. Future experiments are planned to evaluate the proposed air data calibration in a flight environment.

Improved phase-ellipse method for in-situ geophone calibration.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Liu, Huaibao P.; Peselnick, L.

1986-01-01

For amplitude and phase response calibration of moving-coil electromagnetic geophones 2 parameters are needed, namely the geophone natural frequency, fo, and the geophone upper resonance frequency fu. The phase-ellipse method is commonly used for the in situ determination of these parameters. For a given signal-to-noise ratio, the precision of the measurement of fo and fu depends on the phase sensitivity, f(delta PHI/delta PHIf). For some commercial geophones (f(delta PHI/delta PHI) at fu can be an order of magnitude less than the sensitivity at fo. Presents an improved phase-ellipse method with increased precision. Compared to measurements made with the existing phase-ellipse methods, the method shows a 6- and 3-fold improvement in the precision, respectively, on measurements of fo and fu on a commercial geophone.-from Authors

Dew Point Calibration System Using a Quartz Crystal Sensor with a Differential Frequency Method.

PubMed

Lin, Ningning; Meng, Xiaofeng; Nie, Jing

2016-11-18

In this paper, the influence of temperature on quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor response during dew point calibration is investigated. The aim is to present a compensation method to eliminate temperature impact on frequency acquisition. A new sensitive structure is proposed with double QCMs. One is kept in contact with the environment, whereas the other is not exposed to the atmosphere. There is a thermal conductivity silicone pad between each crystal and a refrigeration device to keep a uniform temperature condition. A differential frequency method is described in detail and is applied to calibrate the frequency characteristics of QCM at the dew point of -3.75 °C. It is worth noting that frequency changes of two QCMs were approximately opposite when temperature conditions were changed simultaneously. The results from continuous experiments show that the frequencies of two QCMs as the dew point moment was reached have strong consistency and high repeatability, leading to the conclusion that the sensitive structure can calibrate dew points with high reliability.

Sensitivity and Calibration of Non-Destructive Evaluation Method That Uses Neural-Net Processing of Characteristic Fringe Patterns

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Decker, Arthur J.; Weiland, Kenneth E.

2003-01-01

This paper answers some performance and calibration questions about a non-destructive-evaluation (NDE) procedure that uses artificial neural networks to detect structural damage or other changes from sub-sampled characteristic patterns. The method shows increasing sensitivity as the number of sub-samples increases from 108 to 6912. The sensitivity of this robust NDE method is not affected by noisy excitations of the first vibration mode. A calibration procedure is proposed and demonstrated where the output of a trained net can be correlated with the outputs of the point sensors used for vibration testing. The calibration procedure is based on controlled changes of fastener torques. A heterodyne interferometer is used as a displacement sensor for a demonstration of the challenges to be handled in using standard point sensors for calibration.

Importance of Calibration Method in Central Blood Pressure for Cardiac Structural Abnormalities.

PubMed

Negishi, Kazuaki; Yang, Hong; Wang, Ying; Nolan, Mark T; Negishi, Tomoko; Pathan, Faraz; Marwick, Thomas H; Sharman, James E

2016-09-01

Central blood pressure (CBP) independently predicts cardiovascular risk, but calibration methods may affect accuracy of central systolic blood pressure (CSBP). Standard central systolic blood pressure (Stan-CSBP) from peripheral waveforms is usually derived with calibration using brachial SBP and diastolic BP (DBP). However, calibration using oscillometric mean arterial pressure (MAP) and DBP (MAP-CSBP) is purported to provide more accurate representation of true invasive CSBP. This study sought to determine which derived CSBP could more accurately discriminate cardiac structural abnormalities. A total of 349 community-based patients with risk factors (71±5years, 161 males) had CSBP measured by brachial oscillometry (Mobil-O-Graph, IEM GmbH, Stolberg, Germany) using 2 calibration methods: MAP-CSBP and Stan-CSBP. Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and left atrial dilatation (LAD) were measured based on standard guidelines. MAP-CSBP was higher than Stan-CSBP (149±20 vs. 128±15mm Hg, P < 0.0001). Although they were modestly correlated (rho = 0.74, P < 0.001), the Bland-Altman plot demonstrated a large bias (21mm Hg) and limits of agreement (24mm Hg). In receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses, MAP-CSBP significantly better discriminated LVH compared with Stan-CSBP (area under the curve (AUC) 0.66 vs. 0.59, P = 0.0063) and brachial SBP (0.62, P = 0.027). Continuous net reclassification improvement (NRI) (P < 0.001) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) (P < 0.001) corroborated superior discrimination of LVH by MAP-CSBP. Similarly, MAP-CSBP better distinguished LAD than Stan-CSBP (AUC 0.63 vs. 0.56, P = 0.005) and conventional brachial SBP (0.58, P = 0.006), whereas Stan-CSBP provided no better discrimination than conventional brachial BP (P = 0.09). CSBP is calibration dependent and when oscillometric MAP and DBP are used, the derived CSBP is a better discriminator for cardiac structural abnormalities. © American Journal of Hypertension

Input variable selection and calibration data selection for storm water quality regression models.

PubMed

Sun, Siao; Bertrand-Krajewski, Jean-Luc

2013-01-01

Storm water quality models are useful tools in storm water management. Interest has been growing in analyzing existing data for developing models for urban storm water quality evaluations. It is important to select appropriate model inputs when many candidate explanatory variables are available. Model calibration and verification are essential steps in any storm water quality modeling. This study investigates input variable selection and calibration data selection in storm water quality regression models. The two selection problems are mutually interacted. A procedure is developed in order to fulfil the two selection tasks in order. The procedure firstly selects model input variables using a cross validation method. An appropriate number of variables are identified as model inputs to ensure that a model is neither overfitted nor underfitted. Based on the model input selection results, calibration data selection is studied. Uncertainty of model performances due to calibration data selection is investigated with a random selection method. An approach using the cluster method is applied in order to enhance model calibration practice based on the principle of selecting representative data for calibration. The comparison between results from the cluster selection method and random selection shows that the former can significantly improve performances of calibrated models. It is found that the information content in calibration data is important in addition to the size of calibration data.

Optical Calibration Process Developed for Neural-Network-Based Optical Nondestructive Evaluation Method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Decker, Arthur J.

2004-01-01

A completely optical calibration process has been developed at Glenn for calibrating a neural-network-based nondestructive evaluation (NDE) method. The NDE method itself detects very small changes in the characteristic patterns or vibration mode shapes of vibrating structures as discussed in many references. The mode shapes or characteristic patterns are recorded using television or electronic holography and change when a structure experiences, for example, cracking, debonds, or variations in fastener properties. An artificial neural network can be trained to be very sensitive to changes in the mode shapes, but quantifying or calibrating that sensitivity in a consistent, meaningful, and deliverable manner has been challenging. The standard calibration approach has been difficult to implement, where the response to damage of the trained neural network is compared with the responses of vibration-measurement sensors. In particular, the vibration-measurement sensors are intrusive, insufficiently sensitive, and not numerous enough. In response to these difficulties, a completely optical alternative to the standard calibration approach was proposed and tested successfully. Specifically, the vibration mode to be monitored for structural damage was intentionally contaminated with known amounts of another mode, and the response of the trained neural network was measured as a function of the peak-to-peak amplitude of the contaminating mode. The neural network calibration technique essentially uses the vibration mode shapes of the undamaged structure as standards against which the changed mode shapes are compared. The published response of the network can be made nearly independent of the contaminating mode, if enough vibration modes are used to train the net. The sensitivity of the neural network can be adjusted for the environment in which the test is to be conducted. The response of a neural network trained with measured vibration patterns for use on a vibration isolation

A method to calibrate phase fluctuation in polarization-sensitive swept-source optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Zenghai; Kasaragod, Deepa K.; Matcher, Stephen J.

2011-06-01

A phase fluctuation calibration method is presented for polarization-sensitive swept-source optical coherence tomography (PS-SS-OCT) using continuous polarization modulation. The method consists of the generation of a continuous triggered tone-burst waveform rather than an asynchronous waveform by use of a function generator and the removal of the global phases of the measured Jones matrices by use of matrix normalization. This could remove the use of auxiliary optical components for the phase fluctuation compensation in the system, which reduces the system complexity. Phase fluctuation calibration is necessary to obtain the reference Jones matrix by averaging the measured Jones matrices at sample surfaces. Measurements on an equine tendon sample were made by the PS-SS-OCT system to validate the proposed method.

A Novel Non-Intrusive Method to Resolve the Thermal-Dome-Effect of Pyranometers: Radiometric Calibration and Implications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ji, Qiang; Tsay, Si-Chee; Lau, K. M.; Hansell, R. A.; Butler, J. J.; Cooper, J. W.

2011-01-01

Traditionally the calibration equation for pyranometers assumes that the measured solar irradiance is solely proportional to the thermopile's output voltage; therefore only a single calibration factor is derived. This causes additional measurement uncertainties because it does not capture sufficient information to correctly account for a pyranometer's thermal effect. In our updated calibration equation, temperatures from the pyranometer's dome and case are incorporated to describe the instrument's thermal behavior, and a new set of calibration constants are determined, thereby reducing measurement uncertainties. In this paper, we demonstrate why a pyranometer's uncertainty using the traditional calibration equation is always larger than a-few-percent, but with the new approach can become much less than 1% after the thermal issue is resolved. The highlighted calibration results are based on NIST-traceable light sources under controlled laboratory conditions. The significance of the new approach lends itself to not only avoiding the uncertainty caused by a pyranometer's thermal effect but also the opportunity to better isolate and characterize other instrumental artifacts, such as angular response and non-linearity of the thermopile, to further reduce additional uncertainties. We also discuss some of the implications, including an example of how the thermal issue can potentially impact climate studies by evaluating aerosol's direct-radiative effect using field measurements with and without considering the pyranometer's thermal effect. The results of radiative transfer model simulation show that a pyranometer's thermal effect on solar irradiance measurements at the surface can be translated into a significant alteration of the calculated distribution of solar energy inside the column atmosphere.

An efficient surrogate-based simulation-optimization method for calibrating a regional MODFLOW model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Mingjie; Izady, Azizallah; Abdalla, Osman A.

2017-01-01

Simulation-optimization method entails a large number of model simulations, which is computationally intensive or even prohibitive if the model simulation is extremely time-consuming. Statistical models have been examined as a surrogate of the high-fidelity physical model during simulation-optimization process to tackle this problem. Among them, Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS), a non-parametric adaptive regression method, is superior in overcoming problems of high-dimensions and discontinuities of the data. Furthermore, the stability and accuracy of MARS model can be improved by bootstrap aggregating methods, namely, bagging. In this paper, Bagging MARS (BMARS) method is integrated to a surrogate-based simulation-optimization framework to calibrate a three-dimensional MODFLOW model, which is developed to simulate the groundwater flow in an arid hardrock-alluvium region in northwestern Oman. The physical MODFLOW model is surrogated by the statistical model developed using BMARS algorithm. The surrogate model, which is fitted and validated using training dataset generated by the physical model, can approximate solutions rapidly. An efficient Sobol' method is employed to calculate global sensitivities of head outputs to input parameters, which are used to analyze their importance for the model outputs spatiotemporally. Only sensitive parameters are included in the calibration process to further improve the computational efficiency. Normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) between measured and simulated heads at observation wells is used as the objective function to be minimized during optimization. The reasonable history match between the simulated and observed heads demonstrated feasibility of this high-efficient calibration framework.

Heterodyne interferometry method for calibration of a Soleil-Babinet compensator.

PubMed

Zhang, Wenjing; Zhang, Zhiwei

2016-05-20

A method based on the common-path heterodyne interferometer system is proposed for the calibration of a Soleil-Babinet compensator. In this heterodyne interferometer system, which consists of two acousto-optic modulators, the compensator being calibrated is inserted into the signal path. By using the reference beam as the benchmark and a lock-in amplifier (SR844) as the phase retardation collector, retardations of 0 and λ (one wavelength) can be located accurately, and an arbitrary retardation between 0 and λ can also be measured accurately and continuously. By fitting a straight line to the experimental data, we obtained a linear correlation coefficient (R) of 0.995, which indicates that this system is capable of linear phase detection. The experimental results demonstrate determination accuracies of 0.212° and 0.26° and measurement precisions of 0.054° and 0.608° for retardations of 0 and λ, respectively.

A variable acceleration calibration system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Thomas H.

2011-12-01

A variable acceleration calibration system that applies loads using gravitational and centripetal acceleration serves as an alternative, efficient and cost effective method for calibrating internal wind tunnel force balances. Two proof-of-concept variable acceleration calibration systems are designed, fabricated and tested. The NASA UT-36 force balance served as the test balance for the calibration experiments. The variable acceleration calibration systems are shown to be capable of performing three component calibration experiments with an approximate applied load error on the order of 1% of the full scale calibration loads. Sources of error are indentified using experimental design methods and a propagation of uncertainty analysis. Three types of uncertainty are indentified for the systems and are attributed to prediction error, calibration error and pure error. Angular velocity uncertainty is shown to be the largest indentified source of prediction error. The calibration uncertainties using a production variable acceleration based system are shown to be potentially equivalent to current methods. The production quality system can be realized using lighter materials and a more precise instrumentation. Further research is needed to account for balance deflection, forcing effects due to vibration, and large tare loads. A gyroscope measurement technique is shown to be capable of resolving the balance deflection angle calculation. Long term research objectives include a demonstration of a six degree of freedom calibration, and a large capacity balance calibration.

Radiometric calibration of SPOT 2 HRV - A comparison of three methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Biggar, Stuart F.; Dinguirard, Magdeleine C.; Gellman, David I.; Henry, Patrice; Jackson, Ray D.; Moran, M. S.; Slater, Philip N.

1991-01-01

Three methods for determining an absolute radiometric calibration of a spacecraft optical sensor are compared. They are the well-known reflectance-based and radiance-based methods and a new method based on measurements of the ratio of diffuse-to-global irradiance at the ground. The latter will be described in detail and the comparison of the three approaches will be made with reference to the SPOT-2 HRV cameras for a field campaign 1990-06-19 through 1990-06-24 at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

An accurate system for onsite calibration of electronic transformers with digital output.

PubMed

Zhi, Zhang; Li, Hong-Bin

2012-06-01

Calibration systems with digital output are used to replace conventional calibration systems because of principle diversity and characteristics of digital output of electronic transformers. But precision and unpredictable stability limit their onsite application even development. So fully considering the factors influencing accuracy of calibration system and employing simple but reliable structure, an all-digital calibration system with digital output is proposed in this paper. In complicated calibration environments, precision and dynamic range are guaranteed by A/D converter with 24-bit resolution, synchronization error limit is nanosecond by using the novelty synchronization method. In addition, an error correction algorithm based on the differential method by using two-order Hanning convolution window has good inhibition of frequency fluctuation and inter-harmonics interference. To verify the effectiveness, error calibration was carried out in the State Grid Electric Power Research Institute of China and results show that the proposed system can reach the precision class up to 0.05. Actual onsite calibration shows that the system has high accuracy, and is easy to operate with satisfactory stability.

An accurate system for onsite calibration of electronic transformers with digital output

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

Zhi Zhang; Li Hongbin; State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, Wuhan 430074

Calibration systems with digital output are used to replace conventional calibration systems because of principle diversity and characteristics of digital output of electronic transformers. But precision and unpredictable stability limit their onsite application even development. So fully considering the factors influencing accuracy of calibration system and employing simple but reliable structure, an all-digital calibration system with digital output is proposed in this paper. In complicated calibration environments, precision and dynamic range are guaranteed by A/D converter with 24-bit resolution, synchronization error limit is nanosecond by using the novelty synchronization method. In addition, an error correction algorithm based on the differentialmore » method by using two-order Hanning convolution window has good inhibition of frequency fluctuation and inter-harmonics interference. To verify the effectiveness, error calibration was carried out in the State Grid Electric Power Research Institute of China and results show that the proposed system can reach the precision class up to 0.05. Actual onsite calibration shows that the system has high accuracy, and is easy to operate with satisfactory stability.« less

An accurate system for onsite calibration of electronic transformers with digital output

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhi, Zhang; Li, Hong-Bin

2012-06-01

Calibration systems with digital output are used to replace conventional calibration systems because of principle diversity and characteristics of digital output of electronic transformers. But precision and unpredictable stability limit their onsite application even development. So fully considering the factors influencing accuracy of calibration system and employing simple but reliable structure, an all-digital calibration system with digital output is proposed in this paper. In complicated calibration environments, precision and dynamic range are guaranteed by A/D converter with 24-bit resolution, synchronization error limit is nanosecond by using the novelty synchronization method. In addition, an error correction algorithm based on the differential method by using two-order Hanning convolution window has good inhibition of frequency fluctuation and inter-harmonics interference. To verify the effectiveness, error calibration was carried out in the State Grid Electric Power Research Institute of China and results show that the proposed system can reach the precision class up to 0.05. Actual onsite calibration shows that the system has high accuracy, and is easy to operate with satisfactory stability.

Blind calibration of radio interferometric arrays using sparsity constraints and its implications for self-calibration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiarucci, Simone; Wijnholds, Stefan J.

2018-02-01

Blind calibration, i.e. calibration without a priori knowledge of the source model, is robust to the presence of unknown sources such as transient phenomena or (low-power) broad-band radio frequency interference that escaped detection. In this paper, we present a novel method for blind calibration of a radio interferometric array assuming that the observed field only contains a small number of discrete point sources. We show the huge computational advantage over previous blind calibration methods and we assess its statistical efficiency and robustness to noise and the quality of the initial estimate. We demonstrate the method on actual data from a Low-Frequency Array low-band antenna station showing that our blind calibration is able to recover the same gain solutions as the regular calibration approach, as expected from theory and simulations. We also discuss the implications of our findings for the robustness of regular self-calibration to poor starting models.

Solid matrix transformation and tracer addition using molten ammonium bifluoride salt as a sample preparation method for laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Grate, Jay W; Gonzalez, Jhanis J; O'Hara, Matthew J; Kellogg, Cynthia M; Morrison, Samuel S; Koppenaal, David W; Chan, George C-Y; Mao, Xianglei; Zorba, Vassilia; Russo, Richard E

2017-09-08

Solid sampling and analysis methods, such as laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), are challenged by matrix effects and calibration difficulties. Matrix-matched standards for external calibration are seldom available and it is difficult to distribute spikes evenly into a solid matrix as internal standards. While isotopic ratios of the same element can be measured to high precision, matrix-dependent effects in the sampling and analysis process frustrate accurate quantification and elemental ratio determinations. Here we introduce a potentially general solid matrix transformation approach entailing chemical reactions in molten ammonium bifluoride (ABF) salt that enables the introduction of spikes as tracers or internal standards. Proof of principle experiments show that the decomposition of uranium ore in sealed PFA fluoropolymer vials at 230 °C yields, after cooling, new solids suitable for direct solid sampling by LA. When spikes are included in the molten salt reaction, subsequent LA-ICP-MS sampling at several spots indicate that the spikes are evenly distributed, and that U-235 tracer dramatically improves reproducibility in U-238 analysis. Precisions improved from 17% relative standard deviation for U-238 signals to 0.1% for the ratio of sample U-238 to spiked U-235, a factor of over two orders of magnitude. These results introduce the concept of solid matrix transformation (SMT) using ABF, and provide proof of principle for a new method of incorporating internal standards into a solid for LA-ICP-MS. This new approach, SMT-LA-ICP-MS, provides opportunities to improve calibration and quantification in solids based analysis. Looking forward, tracer addition to transformed solids opens up LA-based methods to analytical methodologies such as standard addition, isotope dilution, preparation of matrix-matched solid standards, external calibration, and monitoring instrument drift against external calibration standards.

Effects of calibration methods on quantitative material decomposition in photon-counting spectral computed tomography using a maximum a posteriori estimator.

PubMed

Curtis, Tyler E; Roeder, Ryan K

2017-10-01

Advances in photon-counting detectors have enabled quantitative material decomposition using multi-energy or spectral computed tomography (CT). Supervised methods for material decomposition utilize an estimated attenuation for each material of interest at each photon energy level, which must be calibrated based upon calculated or measured values for known compositions. Measurements using a calibration phantom can advantageously account for system-specific noise, but the effect of calibration methods on the material basis matrix and subsequent quantitative material decomposition has not been experimentally investigated. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the influence of the range and number of contrast agent concentrations within a modular calibration phantom on the accuracy of quantitative material decomposition in the image domain. Gadolinium was chosen as a model contrast agent in imaging phantoms, which also contained bone tissue and water as negative controls. The maximum gadolinium concentration (30, 60, and 90 mM) and total number of concentrations (2, 4, and 7) were independently varied to systematically investigate effects of the material basis matrix and scaling factor calibration on the quantitative (root mean squared error, RMSE) and spatial (sensitivity and specificity) accuracy of material decomposition. Images of calibration and sample phantoms were acquired using a commercially available photon-counting spectral micro-CT system with five energy bins selected to normalize photon counts and leverage the contrast agent k-edge. Material decomposition of gadolinium, calcium, and water was performed for each calibration method using a maximum a posteriori estimator. Both the quantitative and spatial accuracy of material decomposition were most improved by using an increased maximum gadolinium concentration (range) in the basis matrix calibration; the effects of using a greater number of concentrations were relatively small in

New methods of measuring and calibrating robots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janocha, Hartmut; Diewald, Bernd

1995-10-01

ISO 9283 and RIA R15.05 define industrial robot parameters which are applied to compare the efficiency of different robots. Hitherto, however, no suitable measurement systems have been available. ICAROS is a system which combines photogrammetrical procedures with an inertial navigation system. For the first time, this combination allows the high-precision static and dynamic measurement of the position as well as of the orientation of the robot endeffector. Thus, not only the measuring data for the determination of all industrial robot parameters can be acquired. By integration of a new over-all-calibration procedure, ICAROS also allows the reduction of the absolute robot pose errors to the range of its repeatability. The integration of both system components as well as measurement and calibration results are presented in this paper, using a six-axes robot as example. A further approach also presented here takes into consideration not only the individual robot errors but also the tolerances of workpieces. This allows the adjustment of off-line programs of robots based on inexact or idealized CAD data in any pose. Thus the robot position which is defined relative to the workpiece to be processed, is achieved as required. This includes the possibility to transfer teached robot programs to other devices without additional expenditure. The adjustment is based on the measurement of the robot position using two miniaturized CCD cameras mounted near the endeffector which are carried along by the robot during the correction phase. In the area viewed by both cameras, the robot position is determined in relation to prominent geometry elements, e.g. lines or holes. The scheduled data to be compared therewith can either be calculated in modern off-line programming systems during robot programming, or they can be determined at the so-called master robot if a transfer of the robot program is desired.

Calibration and characterization of UV sensors for water disinfection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larason, T.; Ohno, Y.

2006-04-01

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), USA is participating in a project with the American Water Works Association Research Foundation (AwwaRF) to develop new guidelines for ultraviolet (UV) sensor characteristics to monitor the performance of UV water disinfection plants. The current UV water disinfection standards, ÖNORM M5873-1 and M5873-2 (Austria) and DVGW W294 3 (Germany), on the requirements for UV sensors for low-pressure mercury (LPM) and medium-pressure mercury (MPM) lamp systems have been studied. Additionally, the characteristics of various types of UV sensors from several different commercial vendors have been measured and analysed. This information will aid in the development of new guidelines to address issues such as sensor requirements, calibration methods, uncertainty and traceability. Practical problems were found in the calibration methods and evaluation of spectral responsivity requirements for sensors designed for MPM lamp systems. To solve the problems, NIST is proposing an alternative sensor calibration method for MPM lamp systems. A future calibration service is described for UV sensors intended for low- and medium-pressure mercury lamp systems used in water disinfection applications.

Calibrating page sized Gafchromic EBT3 films

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

Crijns, W.; Maes, F.; Heide, U. A. van der

2013-01-15

Purpose: The purpose is the development of a novel calibration method for dosimetry with Gafchromic EBT3 films. The method should be applicable for pretreatment verification of volumetric modulated arc, and intensity modulated radiotherapy. Because the exposed area on film can be large for such treatments, lateral scan errors must be taken into account. The correction for the lateral scan effect is obtained from the calibration data itself. Methods: In this work, the film measurements were modeled using their relative scan values (Transmittance, T). Inside the transmittance domain a linear combination and a parabolic lateral scan correction described the observed transmittancemore » values. The linear combination model, combined a monomer transmittance state (T{sub 0}) and a polymer transmittance state (T{sub {infinity}}) of the film. The dose domain was associated with the observed effects in the transmittance domain through a rational calibration function. On the calibration film only simple static fields were applied and page sized films were used for calibration and measurements (treatment verification). Four different calibration setups were considered and compared with respect to dose estimation accuracy. The first (I) used a calibration table from 32 regions of interest (ROIs) spread on 4 calibration films, the second (II) used 16 ROIs spread on 2 calibration films, the third (III), and fourth (IV) used 8 ROIs spread on a single calibration film. The calibration tables of the setups I, II, and IV contained eight dose levels delivered to different positions on the films, while for setup III only four dose levels were applied. Validation was performed by irradiating film strips with known doses at two different time points over the course of a week. Accuracy of the dose response and the lateral effect correction was estimated using the dose difference and the root mean squared error (RMSE), respectively. Results: A calibration based on two films was the

A calibration method for patient specific IMRT QA using a single therapy verification film

PubMed Central

Shukla, Arvind Kumar; Oinam, Arun S.; Kumar, Sanjeev; Sandhu, I.S.; Sharma, S.C.

2013-01-01

Aim The aim of the present study is to develop and verify the single film calibration procedure used in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) quality assurance. Background Radiographic films have been regularly used in routine commissioning of treatment modalities and verification of treatment planning system (TPS). The radiation dosimetery based on radiographic films has ability to give absolute two-dimension dose distribution and prefer for the IMRT quality assurance. However, the single therapy verification film gives a quick and significant reliable method for IMRT verification. Materials and methods A single extended dose rate (EDR 2) film was used to generate the sensitometric curve of film optical density and radiation dose. EDR 2 film was exposed with nine 6 cm × 6 cm fields of 6 MV photon beam obtained from a medical linear accelerator at 5-cm depth in solid water phantom. The nine regions of single film were exposed with radiation doses raging from 10 to 362 cGy. The actual dose measurements inside the field regions were performed using 0.6 cm3 ionization chamber. The exposed film was processed after irradiation using a VIDAR film scanner and the value of optical density was noted for each region. Ten IMRT plans of head and neck carcinoma were used for verification using a dynamic IMRT technique, and evaluated using the gamma index method with TPS calculated dose distribution. Results Sensitometric curve has been generated using a single film exposed at nine field region to check quantitative dose verifications of IMRT treatments. The radiation scattered factor was observed to decrease exponentially with the increase in the distance from the centre of each field region. The IMRT plans based on calibration curve were verified using the gamma index method and found to be within acceptable criteria. Conclusion The single film method proved to be superior to the traditional calibration method and produce fast daily film calibration for highly

On-Demand Calibration and Evaluation for Electromagnetically Tracked Laparoscope in Augmented Reality Visualization

PubMed Central

Liu, Xinyang; Plishker, William; Zaki, George; Kang, Sukryool; Kane, Timothy D.; Shekhar, Raj

2017-01-01

Purpose Common camera calibration methods employed in current laparoscopic augmented reality systems require the acquisition of multiple images of an entire checkerboard pattern from various poses. This lengthy procedure prevents performing laparoscope calibration in the operating room (OR). The purpose of this work was to develop a fast calibration method for electromagnetically (EM) tracked laparoscopes, such that calibration can be performed in the OR on demand. Methods We designed a mechanical tracking mount to uniquely and snugly position an EM sensor to an appropriate location on a conventional laparoscope. A tool named fCalib was developed to calibrate intrinsic camera parameters, distortion coefficients, and extrinsic parameters (transformation between the scope lens coordinate system and the EM sensor coordinate system) using a single image that shows an arbitrary portion of a special target pattern. For quick evaluation of calibration result in the OR, we integrated a tube phantom with fCalib and overlaid a virtual representation of the tube on the live video scene. Results We compared spatial target registration error between the common OpenCV method and the fCalib method in a laboratory setting. In addition, we compared the calibration re-projection error between the EM tracking-based fCalib and the optical tracking-based fCalib in a clinical setting. Our results suggested that the proposed method is comparable to the OpenCV method. However, changing the environment, e.g., inserting or removing surgical tools, would affect re-projection accuracy for the EM tracking-based approach. Computational time of the fCalib method averaged 14.0 s (range 3.5 s – 22.7 s). Conclusions We developed and validated a prototype for fast calibration and evaluation of EM tracked conventional (forward viewing) laparoscopes. The calibration method achieved acceptable accuracy and was relatively fast and easy to be performed in the OR on demand. PMID:27250853

Exploring the calibration of a wind forecast ensemble for energy applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heppelmann, Tobias; Ben Bouallegue, Zied; Theis, Susanne

2015-04-01

In the German research project EWeLiNE, Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) and Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology (IWES) are collaborating with three German Transmission System Operators (TSO) in order to provide the TSOs with improved probabilistic power forecasts. Probabilistic power forecasts are derived from probabilistic weather forecasts, themselves derived from ensemble prediction systems (EPS). Since the considered raw ensemble wind forecasts suffer from underdispersiveness and bias, calibration methods are developed for the correction of the model bias and the ensemble spread bias. The overall aim is to improve the ensemble forecasts such that the uncertainty of the possible weather deployment is depicted by the ensemble spread from the first forecast hours. Additionally, the ensemble members after calibration should remain physically consistent scenarios. We focus on probabilistic hourly wind forecasts with horizon of 21 h delivered by the convection permitting high-resolution ensemble system COSMO-DE-EPS which has become operational in 2012 at DWD. The ensemble consists of 20 ensemble members driven by four different global models. The model area includes whole Germany and parts of Central Europe with a horizontal resolution of 2.8 km and a vertical resolution of 50 model levels. For verification we use wind mast measurements around 100 m height that corresponds to the hub height of wind energy plants that belong to wind farms within the model area. Calibration of the ensemble forecasts can be performed by different statistical methods applied to the raw ensemble output. Here, we explore local bivariate Ensemble Model Output Statistics at individual sites and quantile regression with different predictors. Applying different methods, we already show an improvement of ensemble wind forecasts from COSMO-DE-EPS for energy applications. In addition, an ensemble copula coupling approach transfers the time-dependencies of the raw

Multielevation calibration of frequency-domain electromagnetic data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Minsley, Burke J.; Kass, M. Andy; Hodges, Greg; Smith, Bruce D.

2014-01-01

Systematic calibration errors must be taken into account because they can substantially impact the accuracy of inverted subsurface resistivity models derived from frequency-domain electromagnetic data, resulting in potentially misleading interpretations. We have developed an approach that uses data acquired at multiple elevations over the same location to assess calibration errors. A significant advantage is that this method does not require prior knowledge of subsurface properties from borehole or ground geophysical data (though these can be readily incorporated if available), and is, therefore, well suited to remote areas. The multielevation data were used to solve for calibration parameters and a single subsurface resistivity model that are self consistent over all elevations. The deterministic and Bayesian formulations of the multielevation approach illustrate parameter sensitivity and uncertainty using synthetic- and field-data examples. Multiplicative calibration errors (gain and phase) were found to be better resolved at high frequencies and when data were acquired over a relatively conductive area, whereas additive errors (bias) were reasonably resolved over conductive and resistive areas at all frequencies. The Bayesian approach outperformed the deterministic approach when estimating calibration parameters using multielevation data at a single location; however, joint analysis of multielevation data at multiple locations using the deterministic algorithm yielded the most accurate estimates of calibration parameters. Inversion results using calibration-corrected data revealed marked improvement in misfit, lending added confidence to the interpretation of these models.

First in-flight results of Pleiades 1A innovative methods for optical calibration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kubik, Philippe; Lebègue, Laurent; Fourest, Sébastien; Delvit, Jean-Marc; de Lussy, Françoise; Greslou, Daniel; Blanchet, Gwendoline

2017-11-01

The PLEIADES program is a space Earth Observation system led by France, under the leadership of the French Space Agency (CNES). Since it was successfully launched on December 17th, 2011, Pleiades 1A high resolution optical satellite has been thoroughly tested and validated during the commissioning phase led by CNES. The whole system has been designed to deliver submetric optical images to users whose needs were taken into account very early in the design process. This satellite opens a new era in Europe since its off-nadir viewing capability delivers a worldwide 2- days access, and its great agility will make possible to image numerous targets, strips and stereo coverage from the same orbit. Its imaging capability of more than 450 images of 20 km x 20 km per day can fulfill a broad spectrum of applications for both civilian and defence users. For an earth observing satellite with no on-board calibration source, the commissioning phase is a critical quest of wellcharacterized earth landscapes and ground patterns that have to be imaged by the camera in order to compute or fit the parameters of the viewing models. It may take a long time to get the required scenes with no cloud, whilst atmosphere corrections need simultaneous measurements that are not always possible. The paper focuses on new in-flight calibration methods that were prepared before the launch in the framework of the PLEIADES program : they take advantage of the satellite agility that can deeply relax the operational constraints and may improve calibration accuracy. Many performances of the camera were assessed thanks to a dedicated innovative method that was successfully validated during the commissioning period : Modulation Transfer Function (MTF), refocusing, absolute calibration, line of sight stability were estimated on stars and on the Moon. Detectors normalization and radiometric noise were computed on specific pictures on Earth with a dedicated guidance profile. Geometric viewing frame was

Features calibration of the dynamic force transducers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sc., M. Yu Prilepko D.; Lysenko, V. G.

2018-04-01

The article discusses calibration methods of dynamic forces measuring instruments. The relevance of work is dictated by need to valid definition of the dynamic forces transducers metrological characteristics taking into account their intended application. The aim of this work is choice justification of calibration method, which provides the definition dynamic forces transducers metrological characteristics under simulation operating conditions for determining suitability for using in accordance with its purpose. The following tasks are solved: the mathematical model and the main measurements equation of calibration dynamic forces transducers by load weight, the main budget uncertainty components of calibration are defined. The new method of dynamic forces transducers calibration with use the reference converter “force-deformation” based on the calibrated elastic element and measurement of his deformation by a laser interferometer is offered. The mathematical model and the main measurements equation of the offered method is constructed. It is shown that use of calibration method based on measurements by the laser interferometer of calibrated elastic element deformations allows to exclude or to considerably reduce the uncertainty budget components inherent to method of load weight.

Calibration of hydrological models using flow-duration curves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Westerberg, I. K.; Guerrero, J.-L.; Younger, P. M.; Beven, K. J.; Seibert, J.; Halldin, S.; Freer, J. E.; Xu, C.-Y.

2011-07-01

directly to the time series of discharge, it still requires a reasonable representation of the distribution of inputs. Additional constraints might therefore be required in catchments subject to snow and where peak-flow timing at sub-daily time scales is of high importance. The results suggest that the calibration method can be useful when observation time periods for discharge and model input data do not overlap. The method could also be suitable for calibration to regional FDCs while taking uncertainties in the hydrological model and data into account.

Calibration of hydrological models using flow-duration curves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Westerberg, I. K.; Guerrero, J.-L.; Younger, P. M.; Beven, K. J.; Seibert, J.; Halldin, S.; Freer, J. E.; Xu, C.-Y.

2010-12-01

acceptability applied directly to the time series of discharge, it still requires a reasonable representation of the distribution of inputs. Additional constraints might therefore be required in catchments subject to snow. The results suggest that the new calibration method can be useful when observation time periods for discharge and model input data do not overlap. The new method could also be suitable for calibration to regional FDCs while taking uncertainties in the hydrological model and data into account.

On-demand calibration and evaluation for electromagnetically tracked laparoscope in augmented reality visualization.

PubMed

Liu, Xinyang; Plishker, William; Zaki, George; Kang, Sukryool; Kane, Timothy D; Shekhar, Raj

2016-06-01

Common camera calibration methods employed in current laparoscopic augmented reality systems require the acquisition of multiple images of an entire checkerboard pattern from various poses. This lengthy procedure prevents performing laparoscope calibration in the operating room (OR). The purpose of this work was to develop a fast calibration method for electromagnetically (EM) tracked laparoscopes, such that the calibration can be performed in the OR on demand. We designed a mechanical tracking mount to uniquely and snugly position an EM sensor to an appropriate location on a conventional laparoscope. A tool named fCalib was developed to calibrate intrinsic camera parameters, distortion coefficients, and extrinsic parameters (transformation between the scope lens coordinate system and the EM sensor coordinate system) using a single image that shows an arbitrary portion of a special target pattern. For quick evaluation of calibration results in the OR, we integrated a tube phantom with fCalib prototype and overlaid a virtual representation of the tube on the live video scene. We compared spatial target registration error between the common OpenCV method and the fCalib method in a laboratory setting. In addition, we compared the calibration re-projection error between the EM tracking-based fCalib and the optical tracking-based fCalib in a clinical setting. Our results suggest that the proposed method is comparable to the OpenCV method. However, changing the environment, e.g., inserting or removing surgical tools, might affect re-projection accuracy for the EM tracking-based approach. Computational time of the fCalib method averaged 14.0 s (range 3.5 s-22.7 s). We developed and validated a prototype for fast calibration and evaluation of EM tracked conventional (forward viewing) laparoscopes. The calibration method achieved acceptable accuracy and was relatively fast and easy to be performed in the OR on demand.

Dew Point Calibration System Using a Quartz Crystal Sensor with a Differential Frequency Method

PubMed Central

Lin, Ningning; Meng, Xiaofeng; Nie, Jing

2016-01-01

In this paper, the influence of temperature on quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor response during dew point calibration is investigated. The aim is to present a compensation method to eliminate temperature impact on frequency acquisition. A new sensitive structure is proposed with double QCMs. One is kept in contact with the environment, whereas the other is not exposed to the atmosphere. There is a thermal conductivity silicone pad between each crystal and a refrigeration device to keep a uniform temperature condition. A differential frequency method is described in detail and is applied to calibrate the frequency characteristics of QCM at the dew point of −3.75 °C. It is worth noting that frequency changes of two QCMs were approximately opposite when temperature conditions were changed simultaneously. The results from continuous experiments show that the frequencies of two QCMs as the dew point moment was reached have strong consistency and high repeatability, leading to the conclusion that the sensitive structure can calibrate dew points with high reliability. PMID:27869746

Simultaneous auto-calibration and gradient delays estimation (SAGE) in non-Cartesian parallel MRI using low-rank constraints.

PubMed

Jiang, Wenwen; Larson, Peder E Z; Lustig, Michael

2018-03-09

To correct gradient timing delays in non-Cartesian MRI while simultaneously recovering corruption-free auto-calibration data for parallel imaging, without additional calibration scans. The calibration matrix constructed from multi-channel k-space data should be inherently low-rank. This property is used to construct reconstruction kernels or sensitivity maps. Delays between the gradient hardware across different axes and RF receive chain, which are relatively benign in Cartesian MRI (excluding EPI), lead to trajectory deviations and hence data inconsistencies for non-Cartesian trajectories. These in turn lead to higher rank and corrupted calibration information which hampers the reconstruction. Here, a method named Simultaneous Auto-calibration and Gradient delays Estimation (SAGE) is proposed that estimates the actual k-space trajectory while simultaneously recovering the uncorrupted auto-calibration data. This is done by estimating the gradient delays that result in the lowest rank of the calibration matrix. The Gauss-Newton method is used to solve the non-linear problem. The method is validated in simulations using center-out radial, projection reconstruction and spiral trajectories. Feasibility is demonstrated on phantom and in vivo scans with center-out radial and projection reconstruction trajectories. SAGE is able to estimate gradient timing delays with high accuracy at a signal to noise ratio level as low as 5. The method is able to effectively remove artifacts resulting from gradient timing delays and restore image quality in center-out radial, projection reconstruction, and spiral trajectories. The low-rank based method introduced simultaneously estimates gradient timing delays and provides accurate auto-calibration data for improved image quality, without any additional calibration scans. © 2018 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Self-Calibrating and Remote Programmable Signal Conditioning Amplifier System and Method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Medelius, Pedro J. (Inventor); Hallberg, Carl G. (Inventor); Simpson, Howard J., III (Inventor); Thayer, Stephen W. (Inventor)

1998-01-01

A self-calibrating, remote programmable signal conditioning amplifier system employs information read from a memory attached to a measurement transducer for automatic calibration. The signal conditioning amplifier is self-calibrated on a continuous basis through use of a dual input path arrangement, with each path containing a multiplexer and a programmable amplifier. A digital signal processor controls operation of the system such that a transducer signal is applied to one of the input paths, while one or more calibration signals are applied to the second input path. Once the second path is calibrated, the digital signal processor switches the transducer signal to the second path. and then calibrates the first path. This process is continually repeated so that each path is calibrated on an essentially continuous basis. Dual output paths are also employed which are calibrated in the same manner. The digital signal processor also allows the implementation of a variety of digital filters which are either programmed into the system or downloaded by an operator, and performs up to eighth order linearization.

Field calibration of blowfly-derived DNA against traditional methods for assessing mammal diversity in tropical forests.

PubMed

Lee, Ping-Shin; Gan, Han Ming; Clements, Gopalasamy Reuben; Wilson, John-James

2016-11-01

Mammal diversity assessments based on DNA derived from invertebrates have been suggested as alternatives to assessments based on traditional methods; however, no study has field-tested both approaches simultaneously. In Peninsular Malaysia, we calibrated the performance of mammal DNA derived from blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) against traditional methods used to detect species. We first compared five methods (cage trapping, mist netting, hair trapping, scat collection, and blowfly-derived DNA) in a forest reserve with no recent reports of megafauna. Blowfly-derived DNA and mist netting detected the joint highest number of species (n = 6). Only one species was detected by multiple methods. Compared to the other methods, blowfly-derived DNA detected both volant and non-volant species. In another forest reserve, rich in megafauna, we calibrated blowfly-derived DNA against camera traps. Blowfly-derived DNA detected more species (n = 11) than camera traps (n = 9), with only one species detected by both methods. The rarefaction curve indicated that blowfly-derived DNA would continue to detect more species with greater sampling effort. With further calibration, blowfly-derived DNA may join the list of traditional field methods. Areas for further investigation include blowfly feeding and dispersal biology, primer biases, and the assembly of a comprehensive and taxonomically-consistent DNA barcode reference library.

A novel method of strain - bending moment calibration for blade testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greaves, P.; Prieto, R.; Gaffing, J.; van Beveren, C.; Dominy, R.; Ingram, G.

2016-09-01

A new method of interpreting strain data in full scale static and fatigue tests has been implemented as part of the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult's ongoing development of biaxial fatigue testing of wind turbine blades. During bi-axial fatigue tests, it is necessary to be able to distinguish strains arising from the flapwise motion of the blade from strains arising from the edgewise motion. The method exploits the beam-like structure of blades and is derived using the equations of beam theory. It offers several advantages over the current state of the art method of calibrating strain gauges.

A method for calibration of Soleil-Babinet compensator using a spectrophotometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jun; Chen, Lei; Li, Bo; Shi, Lili; Luo, Ting

2010-06-01

A method using a spectrophotometer for calibrating Soleil-Babinet compensator is proposed. It is based on the spectroscopic method which utilizes the relation between transmittance and wavelength to obtain retardation. By placing a multiple order half wave plate behind the Soleil-Babinet compensator, zero-order retardation can be measured, which is difficult to accomplish by spectroscopic method. In the experiment, the retardations of the compensator in the range 0- λ are measured. It is demonstrated that the precision of retardation is 0.45 nm at the position 0 and λ while the maximum error is less than 1 nm between the two positions.

Evaluation of “Autotune” calibration against manual calibration of building energy models

DOE PAGES

Chaudhary, Gaurav; New, Joshua; Sanyal, Jibonananda; ...

2016-08-26

Our paper demonstrates the application of Autotune, a methodology aimed at automatically producing calibrated building energy models using measured data, in two case studies. In the first case, a building model is de-tuned by deliberately injecting faults into more than 60 parameters. This model was then calibrated using Autotune and its accuracy with respect to the original model was evaluated in terms of the industry-standard normalized mean bias error and coefficient of variation of root mean squared error metrics set forth in ASHRAE Guideline 14. In addition to whole-building energy consumption, outputs including lighting, plug load profiles, HVAC energy consumption,more » zone temperatures, and other variables were analyzed. In the second case, Autotune calibration is compared directly to experts’ manual calibration of an emulated-occupancy, full-size residential building with comparable calibration results in much less time. Lastly, our paper concludes with a discussion of the key strengths and weaknesses of auto-calibration approaches.« less

Method and apparatus for calibrating multi-axis load cells in a dexterous robot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wampler, II, Charles W. (Inventor); Platt, Jr., Robert J. (Inventor)

2012-01-01

A robotic system includes a dexterous robot having robotic joints, angle sensors adapted for measuring joint angles at a corresponding one of the joints, load cells for measuring a set of strain values imparted to a corresponding one of the load cells during a predetermined pose of the robot, and a host machine. The host machine is electrically connected to the load cells and angle sensors, and receives the joint angle values and strain values during the predetermined pose. The robot presses together mating pairs of load cells to form the poses. The host machine executes an algorithm to process the joint angles and strain values, and from the set of all calibration matrices that minimize error in force balance equations, selects the set of calibration matrices that is closest in a value to a pre-specified value. A method for calibrating the load cells via the algorithm is also provided.

Digital filtering and model updating methods for improving the robustness of near-infrared multivariate calibrations.

PubMed

Kramer, Kirsten E; Small, Gary W

2009-02-01

Fourier transform near-infrared (NIR) transmission spectra are used for quantitative analysis of glucose for 17 sets of prediction data sampled as much as six months outside the timeframe of the corresponding calibration data. Aqueous samples containing physiological levels of glucose in a matrix of bovine serum albumin and triacetin are used to simulate clinical samples such as blood plasma. Background spectra of a single analyte-free matrix sample acquired during the instrumental warm-up period on the prediction day are used for calibration updating and for determining the optimal frequency response of a preprocessing infinite impulse response time-domain digital filter. By tuning the filter and the calibration model to the specific instrumental response associated with the prediction day, the calibration model is given enhanced ability to operate over time. This methodology is demonstrated in conjunction with partial least squares calibration models built with a spectral range of 4700-4300 cm(-1). By using a subset of the background spectra to evaluate the prediction performance of the updated model, projections can be made regarding the success of subsequent glucose predictions. If a threshold standard error of prediction (SEP) of 1.5 mM is used to establish successful model performance with the glucose samples, the corresponding threshold for the SEP of the background spectra is found to be 1.3 mM. For calibration updating in conjunction with digital filtering, SEP values of all 17 prediction sets collected over 3-178 days displaced from the calibration data are below 1.5 mM. In addition, the diagnostic based on the background spectra correctly assesses the prediction performance in 16 of the 17 cases.

Psychophysical contrast calibration

PubMed Central

To, Long; Woods, Russell L; Goldstein, Robert B; Peli, Eli

2013-01-01

Electronic displays and computer systems offer numerous advantages for clinical vision testing. Laboratory and clinical measurements of various functions and in particular of (letter) contrast sensitivity require accurately calibrated display contrast. In the laboratory this is achieved using expensive light meters. We developed and evaluated a novel method that uses only psychophysical responses of a person with normal vision to calibrate the luminance contrast of displays for experimental and clinical applications. Our method combines psychophysical techniques (1) for detection (and thus elimination or reduction) of display saturating nonlinearities; (2) for luminance (gamma function) estimation and linearization without use of a photometer; and (3) to measure without a photometer the luminance ratios of the display’s three color channels that are used in a bit-stealing procedure to expand the luminance resolution of the display. Using a photometer we verified that the calibration achieved with this procedure is accurate for both LCD and CRT displays enabling testing of letter contrast sensitivity to 0.5%. Our visual calibration procedure enables clinical, internet and home implementation and calibration verification of electronic contrast testing. PMID:23643843

Improved dewpoint-probe calibration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stephenson, J. G.; Theodore, E. A.

1978-01-01

Relatively-simple pressure-control apparatus calibrates dewpoint probes considerably faster than conventional methods, with no loss of accuracy. Technique requires only pressure measurement at each calibration point and single absolute-humidity measurement at beginning of run. Several probes can be calibrated simultaneously and points can be checked above room temperature.

Self-calibration method without joint iteration for distributed small satellite SAR systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Qing; Liao, Guisheng; Liu, Aifei; Zhang, Juan

2013-12-01

The performance of distributed small satellite synthetic aperture radar systems degrades significantly due to the unavoidable array errors, including gain, phase, and position errors, in real operating scenarios. In the conventional method proposed in (IEEE T Aero. Elec. Sys. 42:436-451, 2006), the spectrum components within one Doppler bin are considered as calibration sources. However, it is found in this article that the gain error estimation and the position error estimation in the conventional method can interact with each other. The conventional method may converge to suboptimal solutions in large position errors since it requires the joint iteration between gain-phase error estimation and position error estimation. In addition, it is also found that phase errors can be estimated well regardless of position errors when the zero Doppler bin is chosen. In this article, we propose a method obtained by modifying the conventional one, based on these two observations. In this modified method, gain errors are firstly estimated and compensated, which eliminates the interaction between gain error estimation and position error estimation. Then, by using the zero Doppler bin data, the phase error estimation can be performed well independent of position errors. Finally, position errors are estimated based on the Taylor-series expansion. Meanwhile, the joint iteration between gain-phase error estimation and position error estimation is not required. Therefore, the problem of suboptimal convergence, which occurs in the conventional method, can be avoided with low computational method. The modified method has merits of faster convergence and lower estimation error compared to the conventional one. Theoretical analysis and computer simulation results verified the effectiveness of the modified method.

Model Calibration with Censored Data

DOE PAGES

Cao, Fang; Ba, Shan; Brenneman, William A.; ...

2017-06-28

Here, the purpose of model calibration is to make the model predictions closer to reality. The classical Kennedy-O'Hagan approach is widely used for model calibration, which can account for the inadequacy of the computer model while simultaneously estimating the unknown calibration parameters. In many applications, the phenomenon of censoring occurs when the exact outcome of the physical experiment is not observed, but is only known to fall within a certain region. In such cases, the Kennedy-O'Hagan approach cannot be used directly, and we propose a method to incorporate the censoring information when performing model calibration. The method is applied tomore » study the compression phenomenon of liquid inside a bottle. The results show significant improvement over the traditional calibration methods, especially when the number of censored observations is large.« less

Automatic multi-camera calibration for deployable positioning systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Axelsson, Maria; Karlsson, Mikael; Rudner, Staffan

2012-06-01

Surveillance with automated positioning and tracking of subjects and vehicles in 3D is desired in many defence and security applications. Camera systems with stereo or multiple cameras are often used for 3D positioning. In such systems, accurate camera calibration is needed to obtain a reliable 3D position estimate. There is also a need for automated camera calibration to facilitate fast deployment of semi-mobile multi-camera 3D positioning systems. In this paper we investigate a method for automatic calibration of the extrinsic camera parameters (relative camera pose and orientation) of a multi-camera positioning system. It is based on estimation of the essential matrix between each camera pair using the 5-point method for intrinsically calibrated cameras. The method is compared to a manual calibration method using real HD video data from a field trial with a multicamera positioning system. The method is also evaluated on simulated data from a stereo camera model. The results show that the reprojection error of the automated camera calibration method is close to or smaller than the error for the manual calibration method and that the automated calibration method can replace the manual calibration.

Spectral multivariate calibration without laboratory prepared or determined reference analyte values.

PubMed

Ottaway, Josh; Farrell, Jeremy A; Kalivas, John H

2013-02-05

An essential part to calibration is establishing the analyte calibration reference samples. These samples must characterize the sample matrix and measurement conditions (chemical, physical, instrumental, and environmental) of any sample to be predicted. Calibration usually requires measuring spectra for numerous reference samples in addition to determining the corresponding analyte reference values. Both tasks are typically time-consuming and costly. This paper reports on a method named pure component Tikhonov regularization (PCTR) that does not require laboratory prepared or determined reference values. Instead, an analyte pure component spectrum is used in conjunction with nonanalyte spectra for calibration. Nonanalyte spectra can be from different sources including pure component interference samples, blanks, and constant analyte samples. The approach is also applicable to calibration maintenance when the analyte pure component spectrum is measured in one set of conditions and nonanalyte spectra are measured in new conditions. The PCTR method balances the trade-offs between calibration model shrinkage and the degree of orthogonality to the nonanalyte content (model direction) in order to obtain accurate predictions. Using visible and near-infrared (NIR) spectral data sets, the PCTR results are comparable to those obtained using ridge regression (RR) with reference calibration sets. The flexibility of PCTR also allows including reference samples if such samples are available.

Temporal Analysis and Automatic Calibration of the Velodyne HDL-32E LiDAR System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, T. O.; Lichti, D. D.; Belton, D.

2013-10-01

At the end of the first quarter of 2012, more than 600 Velodyne LiDAR systems had been sold worldwide for various robotic and high-accuracy survey applications. The ultra-compact Velodyne HDL-32E LiDAR has become a predominant sensor for many applications that require lower sensor size/weight and cost. For high accuracy applications, cost-effective calibration methods with minimal manual intervention are always desired by users. However, the calibrations are complicated by the Velodyne LiDAR's narrow vertical field of view and the very highly time-variant nature of its measurements. In the paper, the temporal stability of the HDL-32E is first analysed as the motivation for developing a new, automated calibration method. This is followed by a detailed description of the calibration method that is driven by a novel segmentation method for extracting vertical cylindrical features from the Velodyne point clouds. The proposed segmentation method utilizes the Velodyne point cloud's slice-like nature and first decomposes the point clouds into 2D layers. Then the layers are treated as 2D images and are processed with the Generalized Hough Transform which extracts the points distributed in circular patterns from the point cloud layers. Subsequently, the vertical cylindrical features can be readily extracted from the whole point clouds based on the previously extracted points. The points are passed to the calibration that estimates the cylinder parameters and the LiDAR's additional parameters simultaneously by constraining the segmented points to fit to the cylindrical geometric model in such a way the weighted sum of the adjustment residuals are minimized. The proposed calibration is highly automatic and this allows end users to obtain the time-variant additional parameters instantly and frequently whenever there are vertical cylindrical features presenting in scenes. The methods were verified with two different real datasets, and the results suggest that up to 78

A validated method for the quantitation of 1,1-difluoroethane using a gas in equilibrium method of calibration.

PubMed

Avella, Joseph; Lehrer, Michael; Zito, S William

2008-10-01

1,1-Difluoroethane (DFE), also known as Freon 152A, is a member of a class of compounds known as halogenated hydrocarbons. A number of these compounds have gained notoriety because of their ability to induce rapid onset of intoxication after inhalation exposure. Abuse of DFE has necessitated development of methods for its detection and quantitation in postmortem and human performance specimens. Furthermore, methodologies applicable to research studies are required as there have been limited toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic reports published on DFE. This paper describes a method for the quantitation of DFE using a gas chromatography-flame-ionization headspace technique that employs solventless standards for calibration. Two calibration curves using 0.5 mL whole blood calibrators which ranged from A: 0.225-1.350 to B: 9.0-180.0 mg/L were developed. These were evaluated for linearity (0.9992 and 0.9995), limit of detection of 0.018 mg/L, limit of quantitation of 0.099 mg/L (recovery 111.9%, CV 9.92%), and upper limit of linearity of 27,000.0 mg/L. Combined curve recovery results of a 98.0 mg/L DFE control that was prepared using an alternate technique was 102.2% with CV of 3.09%. No matrix interference was observed in DFE enriched blood, urine or brain specimens nor did analysis of variance detect any significant differences (alpha = 0.01) in the area under the curve of blood, urine or brain specimens at three identical DFE concentrations. The method is suitable for use in forensic laboratories because validation was performed on instrumentation routinely used in forensic labs and due to the ease with which the calibration range can be adjusted. Perhaps more importantly it is also useful for research oriented studies because the removal of solvent from standard preparation eliminates the possibility for solvent induced changes to the gas/liquid partitioning of DFE or chromatographic interference due to the presence of solvent in specimens.

A combined microphone and camera calibration technique with application to acoustic imaging.

PubMed

Legg, Mathew; Bradley, Stuart

2013-10-01

We present a calibration technique for an acoustic imaging microphone array, combined with a digital camera. Computer vision and acoustic time of arrival data are used to obtain microphone coordinates in the camera reference frame. Our new method allows acoustic maps to be plotted onto the camera images without the need for additional camera alignment or calibration. Microphones and cameras may be placed in an ad-hoc arrangement and, after calibration, the coordinates of the microphones are known in the reference frame of a camera in the array. No prior knowledge of microphone positions, inter-microphone spacings, or air temperature is required. This technique is applied to a spherical microphone array and a mean difference of 3 mm was obtained between the coordinates obtained with this calibration technique and those measured using a precision mechanical method.

Multiple independent identification decisions: a method of calibrating eyewitness identifications.

PubMed

Pryke, Sean; Lindsay, R C L; Dysart, Jennifer E; Dupuis, Paul

2004-02-01

Two experiments (N = 147 and N = 90) explored the use of multiple independent lineups to identify a target seen live. In Experiment 1, simultaneous face, body, and sequential voice lineups were used. In Experiment 2, sequential face, body, voice, and clothing lineups were used. Both studies demonstrated that multiple identifications (by the same witness) from independent lineups of different features are highly diagnostic of suspect guilt (G. L. Wells & R. C. L. Lindsay, 1980). The number of suspect and foil selections from multiple independent lineups provides a powerful method of calibrating the accuracy of eyewitness identification. Implications for use of current methods are discussed. ((c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved)

Can the individual calibration be modified when laser fluorescence method is used for caries detection?

PubMed

Reyes, Alessandra; Ferreira, Gisele E; Santos, Joyce; Mendes, Fausto M; Imparato, Jose C P; Braga, Mariana M

2013-03-01

Individual calibration (IC) for caries detection methods based on fluorescence is time-consuming, especially for paediatric dentists, if the calibration has to be performed tooth-by-tooth. However, it is not clear how this calibration actually interfere in laser fluorescence (LF) readings. This in vivo study was to verify the influence of different modes of IC on laser fluorescence (LF) readings. Ninety six occlusal and 95 buccal surfaces of 1st permanent molars were examined using LF device after IC performed on control (no IC), the examined teeth, a permanent incisor, a 1st primary molar or a 2nd primary molar. All modes of IC were performed in the same child. Wilcoxon test and Bland-Altman analysis were used to compare the readings. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated. Laser fluorescence readings without prior calibration were higher than readings performed after any mode of IC and resulted in different values of ICC. After other IC modes, the LF readings were statistically similar. The absence of IC influences LF readings and LF reproducibility, but different IC methods can be considered in clinical practice. © 2012 The Authors. International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry © 2012 BSPD, IAPD and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

[Outlier sample discriminating methods for building calibration model in melons quality detecting using NIR spectra].

PubMed

Tian, Hai-Qing; Wang, Chun-Guang; Zhang, Hai-Jun; Yu, Zhi-Hong; Li, Jian-Kang

2012-11-01

Outlier samples strongly influence the precision of the calibration model in soluble solids content measurement of melons using NIR Spectra. According to the possible sources of outlier samples, three methods (predicted concentration residual test; Chauvenet test; leverage and studentized residual test) were used to discriminate these outliers respectively. Nine suspicious outliers were detected from calibration set which including 85 fruit samples. Considering the 9 suspicious outlier samples maybe contain some no-outlier samples, they were reclaimed to the model one by one to see whether they influence the model and prediction precision or not. In this way, 5 samples which were helpful to the model joined in calibration set again, and a new model was developed with the correlation coefficient (r) 0. 889 and root mean square errors for calibration (RMSEC) 0.6010 Brix. For 35 unknown samples, the root mean square errors prediction (RMSEP) was 0.854 degrees Brix. The performance of this model was more better than that developed with non outlier was eliminated from calibration set (r = 0.797, RMSEC= 0.849 degrees Brix, RMSEP = 1.19 degrees Brix), and more representative and stable with all 9 samples were eliminated from calibration set (r = 0.892, RMSEC = 0.605 degrees Brix, RMSEP = 0.862 degrees).

Beam-based calibrations of the BPM offset at C-ADS Injector II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Wei-Long; Wang, Zhi-Jun; Feng, Chi; Dou, Wei-Ping; Tao, Yue; Jia, Huan; Wang, Wang-Sheng; Liu, Shu-Hui; He, Yuan

2016-07-01

Beam-based BPM offset calibration was carried out for Injector II at the C-ADS demonstration facility at the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP), Chinese Academy of Science (CAS). By using the steering coils integrated in the quadrupoles, the beam orbit can be effectively adjusted and BPM positions recorded at the Medium Energy Beam Transport of the Injector II Linac. The studies were done with a 2 mA, 2.1 MeV proton beam in pulsed mode. During the studies, the “null comparison method” was applied for the calibration. This method is less sensitive to errors compared with the traditional transmission matrix method. In addition, the quadrupole magnet’s center can also be calibrated with this method. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (91426303, 11525523)

Calibration of NASA Turbulent Air Motion Measurement System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barrick, John D. W.; Ritter, John A.; Watson, Catherine E.; Wynkoop, Mark W.; Quinn, John K.; Norfolk, Daniel R.

1996-01-01

A turbulent air motion measurement system (TAMMS) was integrated onboard the Lockheed 188 Electra airplane (designated NASA 429) based at the Wallops Flight Facility in support of the NASA role in global tropospheric research. The system provides air motion and turbulence measurements from an airborne platform which is capable of sampling tropospheric and planetary boundary-layer conditions. TAMMS consists of a gust probe with free-rotating vanes mounted on a 3.7-m epoxy-graphite composite nose boom, a high-resolution inertial navigation system (INS), and data acquisition system. A variation of the tower flyby method augmented with radar tracking was implemented for the calibration of static pressure position error and air temperature probe. Additional flight calibration maneuvers were performed remote from the tower in homogeneous atmospheric conditions. System hardware and instrumentation are described and the calibration procedures discussed. Calibration and flight results are presented to illustrate the overall ability of the system to determine the three-component ambient wind fields during straight and level flight conditions.

One-calibrant kinetic calibration for on-site water sampling with solid-phase microextraction.

PubMed

Ouyang, Gangfeng; Cui, Shufen; Qin, Zhipei; Pawliszyn, Janusz

2009-07-15

The existing solid-phase microextraction (SPME) kinetic calibration technique, using the desorption of the preloaded standards to calibrate the extraction of the analytes, requires that the physicochemical properties of the standard should be similar to those of the analyte, which limited the application of the technique. In this study, a new method, termed the one-calibrant kinetic calibration technique, which can use the desorption of a single standard to calibrate all extracted analytes, was proposed. The theoretical considerations were validated by passive water sampling in laboratory and rapid water sampling in the field. To mimic the variety of the environment, such as temperature, turbulence, and the concentration of the analytes, the flow-through system for the generation of standard aqueous polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) solution was modified. The experimental results of the passive samplings in the flow-through system illustrated that the effect of the environmental variables was successfully compensated with the kinetic calibration technique, and all extracted analytes can be calibrated through the desorption of a single calibrant. On-site water sampling with rotated SPME fibers also illustrated the feasibility of the new technique for rapid on-site sampling of hydrophobic organic pollutants in water. This technique will accelerate the application of the kinetic calibration method and also will be useful for other microextraction techniques.

Determination of Ca content of coral skeleton by analyte additive method using the LIBS technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haider, A. F. M. Y.; Khan, Z. H.

2012-09-01

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopic (LIBS) technique was used to study the elemental profile of coral skeletons. Apart from calcium and carbon, which are the main elemental constituents of coral skeleton, elements like Sr, Na, Mg, Li, Si, Cu, Ti, K, Mn, Zn, Ba, Mo, Br and Fe were detected in the coral skeletons from the Inani Beach and the Saint Martin's island of Bangladesh and the coral from the Philippines. In addition to the qualitative analysis, the quantitative analysis of the main elemental constituent, calcium (Ca), was done. The result shows the presence of (36.15±1.43)% by weight of Ca in the coral skeleton collected from the Inani Beach, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. It was determined by using six calibration curves, drawn for six emission lines of Ca I (428.301 nm, 428.936 nm, 431.865 nm, 443.544 nm, 443.569 nm, and 445.589 nm), by standard analyte additive method. Also from AAS measurement the percentage content of Ca in the same sample of coral skeleton obtained was 39.87% by weight which compares fairly well with the result obtained by the analyte additive method.

Stepwise Regression Analysis of MDOE Balance Calibration Data Acquired at DNW

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DeLoach, RIchard; Philipsen, Iwan

2007-01-01

This paper reports a comparison of two experiment design methods applied in the calibration of a strain-gage balance. One features a 734-point test matrix in which loads are varied systematically according to a method commonly applied in aerospace research and known in the literature of experiment design as One Factor At a Time (OFAT) testing. Two variations of an alternative experiment design were also executed on the same balance, each with different features of an MDOE experiment design. The Modern Design of Experiments (MDOE) is an integrated process of experiment design, execution, and analysis applied at NASA's Langley Research Center to achieve significant reductions in cycle time, direct operating cost, and experimental uncertainty in aerospace research generally and in balance calibration experiments specifically. Personnel in the Instrumentation and Controls Department of the German Dutch Wind Tunnels (DNW) have applied MDOE methods to evaluate them in the calibration of a balance using an automated calibration machine. The data have been sent to Langley Research Center for analysis and comparison. This paper reports key findings from this analysis. The chief result is that a 100-point calibration exploiting MDOE principles delivered quality comparable to a 700+ point OFAT calibration with significantly reduced cycle time and attendant savings in direct and indirect costs. While the DNW test matrices implemented key MDOE principles and produced excellent results, additional MDOE concepts implemented in balance calibrations at Langley Research Center are also identified and described.

SPRT Calibration Uncertainties and Internal Quality Control at a Commercial SPRT Calibration Facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiandt, T. J.

2008-06-01

The Hart Scientific Division of the Fluke Corporation operates two accredited standard platinum resistance thermometer (SPRT) calibration facilities, one at the Hart Scientific factory in Utah, USA, and the other at a service facility in Norwich, UK. The US facility is accredited through National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP), and the UK facility is accredited through UKAS. Both provide SPRT calibrations using similar equipment and procedures, and at similar levels of uncertainty. These uncertainties are among the lowest available commercially. To achieve and maintain low uncertainties, it is required that the calibration procedures be thorough and optimized. However, to minimize customer downtime, it is also important that the instruments be calibrated in a timely manner and returned to the customer. Consequently, subjecting the instrument to repeated calibrations or extensive repeated measurements is not a viable approach. Additionally, these laboratories provide SPRT calibration services involving a wide variety of SPRT designs. These designs behave differently, yet predictably, when subjected to calibration measurements. To this end, an evaluation strategy involving both statistical process control and internal consistency measures is utilized to provide confidence in both the instrument calibration and the calibration process. This article describes the calibration facilities, procedure, uncertainty analysis, and internal quality assurance measures employed in the calibration of SPRTs. Data will be reviewed and generalities will be presented. Finally, challenges and considerations for future improvements will be discussed.

An atlas of selected calibrated stellar spectra

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walker, Russell G.; Cohen, Martin

1992-01-01

Five hundred and fifty six stars in the IRAS PSC-2 that are suitable for stellar radiometric standards and are brighter than 1 Jy at 25 microns were identified. In addition, 123 stars that meet all of our criteria for calibration standards, but which lack a luminosity class were identified. An approach to absolute stellar calibration of broadband infrared filters based upon new models of Vega and Sirius due to Kurucz (1992) is presented. A general technique used to assemble continuous wide-band calibrated infrared spectra is described and an absolutely calibrated 1-35 micron spectrum of alpha(Tau) is constructed and the method using new and carefully designed observations is independently validated. The absolute calibration of the IRAS Low Resolution Spectrometer (LRS) database is investigated by comparing the observed spectrum of alpha(Tau) with that assumed in the original LRS calibration scheme. Neglect of the SiO fundamental band in alpha(Tau) has led to the presence of a specious 'emission' feature in all LRS spectra near 8.5 microns, and to an incorrect spectral slope between 8 and 12 microns. Finally, some of the properties of asteroids that effect their utility as calibration objects for the middle and far infrared region are examined. A technique to determine, from IRAS multiwaveband observations, the basic physical parameters needed by various asteroid thermal models that minimize the number of assumptions required is developed.

New NREL Method Reduces Uncertainty in Photovoltaic Module Calibrations |

Science.gov Websites

calibration traceability to certified test laboratories. This reliable calibration, in turn, determines the of a spire flash simulator, SOMS outdoor test bed, and LACSS continuous simulator. In NREL's Cell and % (k=2 coverage factor). This value is the lowest reported Pmax uncertainty of any accredited test

Calibration of X-Ray Observatories

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weisskopf, Martin C.; L'Dell, Stephen L.

2011-01-01

Accurate calibration of x-ray observatories has proved an elusive goal. Inaccuracies and inconsistencies amongst on-ground measurements, differences between on-ground and in-space performance, in-space performance changes, and the absence of cosmic calibration standards whose physics we truly understand have precluded absolute calibration better than several percent and relative spectral calibration better than a few percent. The philosophy "the model is the calibration" relies upon a complete high-fidelity model of performance and an accurate verification and calibration of this model. As high-resolution x-ray spectroscopy begins to play a more important role in astrophysics, additional issues in accurately calibrating at high spectral resolution become more evident. Here we review the challenges of accurately calibrating the absolute and relative response of x-ray observatories. On-ground x-ray testing by itself is unlikely to achieve a high-accuracy calibration of in-space performance, especially when the performance changes with time. Nonetheless, it remains an essential tool in verifying functionality and in characterizing and verifying the performance model. In the absence of verified cosmic calibration sources, we also discuss the notion of an artificial, in-space x-ray calibration standard. 6th

Iterative Magnetometer Calibration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sedlak, Joseph

2006-01-01

This paper presents an iterative method for three-axis magnetometer (TAM) calibration that makes use of three existing utilities recently incorporated into the attitude ground support system used at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The method combines attitude-independent and attitude-dependent calibration algorithms with a new spinning spacecraft Kalman filter to solve for biases, scale factors, nonorthogonal corrections to the alignment, and the orthogonal sensor alignment. The method is particularly well-suited to spin-stabilized spacecraft, but may also be useful for three-axis stabilized missions given sufficient data to provide observability.

MODIS airborne simulator visible and near-infrared calibration, 1992 ASTEX field experiment. Calibration version: ASTEX King 1.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arnold, G. Thomas; Fitzgerald, Michael; Grant, Patrick S.; King, Michael D.

1994-01-01

Calibration of the visible and near-infrared (near-IR) channels of the MODIS Airborne Simulator (MAS) is derived from observations of a calibrated light source. For the 1992 Atlantic Stratocumulus Transition Experiment (ASTEX) field deployment, the calibrated light source was the NASA Goddard 48-inch integrating hemisphere. Tests during the ASTEX deployment were conducted to calibrate the hemisphere and then the MAS. This report summarizes the ASTEX hemisphere calibration, and then describes how the MAS was calibrated from the hemisphere data. All MAS calibration measurements are presented and determination of the MAS calibration coefficients (raw counts to radiance conversion) is discussed. In addition, comparisons to an independent MAS calibration by Ames personnel using their 30-inch integrating sphere is discussed.

Spitzer/JWST Cross Calibration: IRAC Observations of Potential Calibrators for JWST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carey, Sean J.; Gordon, Karl D.; Lowrance, Patrick; Ingalls, James G.; Glaccum, William J.; Grillmair, Carl J.; E Krick, Jessica; Laine, Seppo J.; Fazio, Giovanni G.; Hora, Joseph L.; Bohlin, Ralph

2017-06-01

We present observations at 3.6 and 4.5 microns using IRAC on the Spitzer Space Telescope of a set of main sequence A stars and white dwarfs that are potential calibrators across the JWST instrument suite. The stars range from brightnesses of 4.4 to 15 mag in K band. The calibration observations use a similar redundancy to the observing strategy for the IRAC primary calibrators (Reach et al. 2005) and the photometry is obtained using identical methods and instrumental photometric corrections as those applied to the IRAC primary calibrators (Carey et al. 2009). The resulting photometry is then compared to the predictions based on spectra from the CALSPEC Calibration Database (http://www.stsci.edu/hst/observatory/crds/calspec.html) and the IRAC bandpasses. These observations are part of an ongoing collaboration between IPAC and STScI investigating absolute calibration in the infrared.

A Single-Vector Force Calibration Method Featuring the Modern Design of Experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parker, P. A.; Morton, M.; Draper, N.; Line, W.

2001-01-01

This paper proposes a new concept in force balance calibration. An overview of the state-of-the-art in force balance calibration is provided with emphasis on both the load application system and the experimental design philosophy. Limitations of current systems are detailed in the areas of data quality and productivity. A unique calibration loading system integrated with formal experimental design techniques has been developed and designated as the Single-Vector Balance Calibration System (SVS). This new concept addresses the limitations of current systems. The development of a quadratic and cubic calibration design is presented. Results from experimental testing are compared and contrasted with conventional calibration systems. Analyses of data are provided that demonstrate the feasibility of this concept and provide new insights into balance calibration.

Linear model correction: A method for transferring a near-infrared multivariate calibration model without standard samples.

PubMed

Liu, Yan; Cai, Wensheng; Shao, Xueguang

2016-12-05

Calibration transfer is essential for practical applications of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy because the measurements of the spectra may be performed on different instruments and the difference between the instruments must be corrected. For most of calibration transfer methods, standard samples are necessary to construct the transfer model using the spectra of the samples measured on two instruments, named as master and slave instrument, respectively. In this work, a method named as linear model correction (LMC) is proposed for calibration transfer without standard samples. The method is based on the fact that, for the samples with similar physical and chemical properties, the spectra measured on different instruments are linearly correlated. The fact makes the coefficients of the linear models constructed by the spectra measured on different instruments are similar in profile. Therefore, by using the constrained optimization method, the coefficients of the master model can be transferred into that of the slave model with a few spectra measured on slave instrument. Two NIR datasets of corn and plant leaf samples measured with different instruments are used to test the performance of the method. The results show that, for both the datasets, the spectra can be correctly predicted using the transferred partial least squares (PLS) models. Because standard samples are not necessary in the method, it may be more useful in practical uses. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Radiation calibration for LWIR Hyperspectral Imager Spectrometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Zhixiong; Yu, Chunchao; Zheng, Wei-jian; Lei, Zhenggang; Yan, Min; Yuan, Xiaochun; Zhang, Peizhong

2014-11-01

The radiometric calibration of LWIR Hyperspectral imager Spectrometer is presented. The lab has been developed to LWIR Interferometric Hyperspectral imager Spectrometer Prototype(CHIPED-I) to study Lab Radiation Calibration, Two-point linear calibration is carried out for the spectrometer by using blackbody respectively. Firstly, calibration measured relative intensity is converted to the absolute radiation lightness of the object. Then, radiation lightness of the object is is converted the brightness temperature spectrum by the method of brightness temperature. The result indicated †that this method of Radiation Calibration calibration was very good.

A Novel Calibration-Minimum Method for Prediction of Mole Fraction in Non-Ideal Mixture.

PubMed

Shibayama, Shojiro; Kaneko, Hiromasa; Funatsu, Kimito

2017-04-01

This article proposes a novel concentration prediction model that requires little training data and is useful for rapid process understanding. Process analytical technology is currently popular, especially in the pharmaceutical industry, for enhancement of process understanding and process control. A calibration-free method, iterative optimization technology (IOT), was proposed to predict pure component concentrations, because calibration methods such as partial least squares, require a large number of training samples, leading to high costs. However, IOT cannot be applied to concentration prediction in non-ideal mixtures because its basic equation is derived from the Beer-Lambert law, which cannot be applied to non-ideal mixtures. We proposed a novel method that realizes prediction of pure component concentrations in mixtures from a small number of training samples, assuming that spectral changes arising from molecular interactions can be expressed as a function of concentration. The proposed method is named IOT with virtual molecular interaction spectra (IOT-VIS) because the method takes spectral change as a virtual spectrum x nonlin,i into account. It was confirmed through the two case studies that the predictive accuracy of IOT-VIS was the highest among existing IOT methods.

Method for in-situ restoration of plantinum resistance thermometer calibration

DOEpatents

Carroll, Radford M.

1989-01-01

A method is provided for in-situ restoration of platinum resistance thermometers (PRT's) that have undergone surface oxide contamination and/or strain-related damage causing decalibration. The method, which may be automated using a programmed computer control arrangement, consists of applying a dc heating current to the resistive sensing element of the PRT of sufficient magnitude to heat the element to an annealing temperature and maintaining the temperature for a specified period to restore the element to a stress-free calibration condition. The process anneals the sensing element of the PRT without subjecting the entire PRT assembly to the annealing temperature and may be used in the periodic maintenance of installed PRT's.

Method for in-situ restoration of platinum resistance thermometer calibration

DOEpatents

Carroll, R.M.

1987-10-23

A method is provided for in-situ restoration of platinum resistance thermometers (PRT's) that have undergone surface oxide contamination and/or stain-related damage causing decalibration. The method, which may be automated using a programmed computer control arrangement, consists of applying a dc heating current to the resistive sensing element of the PRT of sufficient magnitude to heat the element to an annealing temperature and maintaining the temperature for a specified period to restore the element to a stress-free calibration condition. The process anneals the sensing element of the PRT without subjecting the entire PRT assembly to the annealing temperature and may be used in the periodic maintenance of installed PRT's. 1 fig.

In-Flight Calibration Methods for Temperature-Dependent Offsets in the MMS Fluxgate Magnetometers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bromund, K. R.; Plaschke, F.; Strangeway, R. J.; Anderson, B. J.; Huang, B. G.; Magnes, W.; Fischer, D.; Nakamura, R.; Leinweber, H. K.; Russell, C. T.;

In-Flight Calibration Methods for Temperature-Dependendent Offsets in the MMS Fluxgate Magnetometers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bromund, K. R.; Plaschke, F.; Strangeway, R. J.; Anderson, B. J.; Huang, B. G.; Magnes, W.; Fischer, D.; Nakamura, R.; Leinweber, H. K.; Russell, C. T.; Baumjohann, W.; Chutter, M.; Torbert, R. B.; Le, G.; Slavin, J. A.; Kepko, L.

2016-12-01

During the first dayside season of the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, the in-flight calibration process for the Fluxgate magnetometers (FGM) implemented an algorithm that selected a constant offset (zero-level) for each sensor on each orbit. This method was generally able to reduce the amplitude of residual spin tone to less than 0.2 nT within the region of interest. However, there are times when the offsets do show significant short-term variations. These variations are most prominent in the nighttime season (phase 1X), when eclipses are accompanied by offset changes as large as 1 nT. Eclipses are followed by a recovery period as long as 12 hours where the offsets continue to change as temperatures stabilize. Understanding and compensating for these changes will become critical during Phase 2 of the mission in 2017, when the nightside will become the focus of MMS science. Although there is no direct correlation between offset and temperature, the offsets are seen — for the period of any given week — to be well-characterized as function of instrument temperature. Using this property, a new calibration method has been developed that has proven effective in compensating for temperature-dependent offsets during phase 1X of the MMS mission and also promises to further refine calibration quality during the dayside season.

[Evaluation of vaporizers by anesthetic gas monitors corrected with a new method for preparation of calibration gases].

PubMed

Kurashiki, T

1996-11-01

For resolving the discrepancy of concentrations found among anesthetic gas monitors, the author proposed a new method using a vaporizer as a standard anesthetic gas generator for calibration. In this method, the carrier gas volume is measured by a mass flow meter (SEF-510 + FI-101) installed before the inlet of the vaporizer. The vaporized weight of volatile anesthetic agent is simultaneously measured by an electronic force balance (E12000S), on which the vaporizer is placed directly. The molar percent of the anesthetic is calculated using these data and is transformed into the volume percent. These gases discharging from the vaporizer are utilized for calibrating anesthetic gas monitors. These monitors are normalized by the linear equation describing the relationship between concentrations of calibration gases and readings of the anesthetic gas monitors. By using normalized monitors, flow rate-concentration performance curves of several anesthetic vaporizers were obtained. The author concludes that this method can serve as a standard in evaluating anesthetic vaporizers.

Calibration procedure of Hukseflux SR25 to Establish the Diffuse Reference for the Outdoor Broadband Radiometer Calibration

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

Reda, Ibrahim M.; Andreas, Afshin M.

2017-08-01

Accurate pyranometer calibrations, traceable to internationally recognized standards, are critical for solar irradiance measurements. One calibration method is the component summation method, where the pyranometers are calibrated outdoors under clear sky conditions, and the reference global solar irradiance is calculated as the sum of two reference components, the diffuse horizontal and subtended beam solar irradiances. The beam component is measured with pyrheliometers traceable to the World Radiometric Reference, while there is no internationally recognized reference for the diffuse component. In the absence of such a reference, we present a method to consistently calibrate pyranometers for measuring the diffuse component. Themore » method is based on using a modified shade/unshade method and a pyranometer with less than 0.5 W/m2 thermal offset. The calibration result shows that the responsivity of Hukseflux SR25 pyranometer equals 10.98 uV/(W/m2) with +/-0.86 percent uncertainty.« less

A fully automated calibration method for an optical see-through head-mounted operating microscope with variable zoom and focus.

PubMed

Figl, Michael; Ede, Christopher; Hummel, Johann; Wanschitz, Felix; Ewers, Rolf; Bergmann, Helmar; Birkfellner, Wolfgang

2005-11-01

Ever since the development of the first applications in image-guided therapy (IGT), the use of head-mounted displays (HMDs) was considered an important extension of existing IGT technologies. Several approaches to utilizing HMDs and modified medical devices for augmented reality (AR) visualization were implemented. These approaches include video-see through systems, semitransparent mirrors, modified endoscopes, and modified operating microscopes. Common to all these devices is the fact that a precise calibration between the display and three-dimensional coordinates in the patient's frame of reference is compulsory. In optical see-through devices based on complex optical systems such as operating microscopes or operating binoculars-as in the case of the system presented in this paper-this procedure can become increasingly difficult since precise camera calibration for every focus and zoom position is required. We present a method for fully automatic calibration of the operating binocular Varioscope M5 AR for the full range of zoom and focus settings available. Our method uses a special calibration pattern, a linear guide driven by a stepping motor, and special calibration software. The overlay error in the calibration plane was found to be 0.14-0.91 mm, which is less than 1% of the field of view. Using the motorized calibration rig as presented in the paper, we were also able to assess the dynamic latency when viewing augmentation graphics on a mobile target; spatial displacement due to latency was found to be in the range of 1.1-2.8 mm maximum, the disparity between the true object and its computed overlay represented latency of 0.1 s. We conclude that the automatic calibration method presented in this paper is sufficient in terms of accuracy and time requirements for standard uses of optical see-through systems in a clinical environment.

Calibration of X-Ray diffractometer by the experimental comparison method

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

Dudka, A. P., E-mail: dudka@ns.crys.ras.ru

2015-07-15

A software for calibrating an X-ray diffractometer with area detector has been developed. It is proposed to search for detector and goniometer calibration models whose parameters are reproduced in a series of measurements on a reference crystal. Reference (standard) crystals are prepared during the investigation; they should provide the agreement of structural models in repeated analyses. The technique developed has been used to calibrate Xcalibur Sapphire and Eos, Gemini Ruby (Agilent) and Apex x8 and Apex Duo (Bruker) diffractometers. The main conclusions are as follows: the calibration maps are stable for several years and can be used to improve structuralmore » results, verified CCD detectors exhibit significant inhomogeneity of the efficiency (response) function, and a Bruker goniometer introduces smaller distortions than an Agilent goniometer.« less

A formulation of tissue- and water-equivalent materials using the stoichiometric analysis method for CT-number calibration in radiotherapy treatment planning.

PubMed

Yohannes, Indra; Kolditz, Daniel; Langner, Oliver; Kalender, Willi A

2012-03-07

Tissue- and water-equivalent materials (TEMs) are widely used in quality assurance and calibration procedures, both in radiodiagnostics and radiotherapy. In radiotherapy, particularly, the TEMs are often used for computed tomography (CT) number calibration in treatment planning systems. However, currently available TEMs may not be very accurate in the determination of the calibration curves due to their limitation in mimicking radiation characteristics of the corresponding real tissues in both low- and high-energy ranges. Therefore, we are proposing a new formulation of TEMs using a stoichiometric analysis method to obtain TEMs for the calibration purposes. We combined the stoichiometric calibration and the basic data method to compose base materials to develop TEMs matching standard real tissues from ICRU Report 44 and 46. First, the CT numbers of six materials with known elemental compositions were measured to get constants for the stoichiometric calibration. The results of the stoichiometric calibration were used together with the basic data method to formulate new TEMs. These new TEMs were scanned to validate their CT numbers. The electron density and the stopping power calibration curves were also generated. The absolute differences of the measured CT numbers of the new TEMs were less than 4 HU for the soft tissues and less than 22 HU for the bone compared to the ICRU real tissues. Furthermore, the calculated relative electron density and electron and proton stopping powers of the new TEMs differed by less than 2% from the corresponding ICRU real tissues. The new TEMs which were formulated using the proposed technique increase the simplicity of the calibration process and preserve the accuracy of the stoichiometric calibration simultaneously.

Method for radiometric calibration of an endoscope's camera and light source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rai, Lav; Higgins, William E.

2008-03-01

An endoscope is a commonly used instrument for performing minimally invasive visual examination of the tissues inside the body. A physician uses the endoscopic video images to identify tissue abnormalities. The images, however, are highly dependent on the optical properties of the endoscope and its orientation and location with respect to the tissue structure. The analysis of endoscopic video images is, therefore, purely subjective. Studies suggest that the fusion of endoscopic video images (providing color and texture information) with virtual endoscopic views (providing structural information) can be useful for assessing various pathologies for several applications: (1) surgical simulation, training, and pedagogy; (2) the creation of a database for pathologies; and (3) the building of patient-specific models. Such fusion requires both geometric and radiometric alignment of endoscopic video images in the texture space. Inconsistent estimates of texture/color of the tissue surface result in seams when multiple endoscopic video images are combined together. This paper (1) identifies the endoscope-dependent variables to be calibrated for objective and consistent estimation of surface texture/color and (2) presents an integrated set of methods to measure them. Results show that the calibration method can be successfully used to estimate objective color/texture values for simple planar scenes, whereas uncalibrated endoscopes performed very poorly for the same tests.

High accuracy position response calibration method for a micro-channel plate ion detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, R.; Leredde, A.; Bagdasarova, Y.; Fléchard, X.; García, A.; Müller, P.; Knecht, A.; Liénard, E.; Kossin, M.; Sternberg, M. G.; Swanson, H. E.; Zumwalt, D. W.

2016-11-01

We have developed a position response calibration method for a micro-channel plate (MCP) detector with a delay-line anode position readout scheme. Using an in situ calibration mask, an accuracy of 8 μm and a resolution of 85 μm (FWHM) have been achieved for MeV-scale α particles and ions with energies of ∼10 keV. At this level of accuracy, the difference between the MCP position responses to high-energy α particles and low-energy ions is significant. The improved performance of the MCP detector can find applications in many fields of AMO and nuclear physics. In our case, it helps reducing systematic uncertainties in a high-precision nuclear β-decay experiment.

Corner detection and sorting method based on improved Harris algorithm in camera calibration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Ying; Wang, Yonghong; Dan, Xizuo; Huang, Anqi; Hu, Yue; Yang, Lianxiang

2016-11-01

In traditional Harris corner detection algorithm, the appropriate threshold which is used to eliminate false corners is selected manually. In order to detect corners automatically, an improved algorithm which combines Harris and circular boundary theory of corners is proposed in this paper. After detecting accurate corner coordinates by using Harris algorithm and Forstner algorithm, false corners within chessboard pattern of the calibration plate can be eliminated automatically by using circular boundary theory. Moreover, a corner sorting method based on an improved calibration plate is proposed to eliminate false background corners and sort remaining corners in order. Experiment results show that the proposed algorithms can eliminate all false corners and sort remaining corners correctly and automatically.

Calibration of EBT2 film by the PDD method with scanner non-uniformity correction.

PubMed

Chang, Liyun; Chui, Chen-Shou; Ding, Hueisch-Jy; Hwang, Ing-Ming; Ho, Sheng-Yow

2012-09-21

The EBT2 film together with a flatbed scanner is a convenient dosimetry QA tool for verification of clinical radiotherapy treatments. However, it suffers from a relatively high degree of uncertainty and a tedious film calibration process for every new lot of films, including cutting the films into several small pieces, exposing with different doses, restoring them back and selecting the proper region of interest (ROI) for each piece for curve fitting. In this work, we present a percentage depth dose (PDD) method that can accurately calibrate the EBT2 film together with the scanner non-uniformity correction and provide an easy way to perform film dosimetry. All films were scanned before and after the irradiation in one of the two homemade 2 mm thick acrylic frames (one portrait and the other landscape), which was located at a fixed position on the scan bed of an Epson 10 000XL scanner. After the pre-irradiated scan, the film was placed parallel to the beam central axis and sandwiched between six polystyrene plates (5 cm thick each), followed by irradiation of a 20 × 20 cm² 6 MV photon beam. Two different beams on times were used on two different films to deliver a dose to the film ranging from 32 to 320 cGy. After the post-irradiated scan, the net optical densities for a total of 235 points on the beam central axis on the films were auto-extracted and compared with the corresponding depth doses that were calculated through the measurement of a 0.6 cc farmer chamber and the related PDD table to perform the curve fitting. The portrait film location was selected for routine calibration, since the central beam axis on the film is parallel to the scanning direction, where non-uniformity correction is not needed (Ferreira et al 2009 Phys. Med. Biol. 54 1073-85). To perform the scanner non-uniformity calibration, the cross-beam profiles of the film were analysed by referencing the measured profiles from a Profiler™. Finally, to verify our method, the films were

ITER-like antenna capacitors voltage probes: Circuit/electromagnetic calculations and calibrations.

PubMed

Helou, W; Dumortier, P; Durodié, F; Lombard, G; Nicholls, K

2016-10-01

The analyses illustrated in this manuscript have been performed in order to provide the required data for the amplitude-and-phase calibration of the D-dot voltage probes used in the ITER-like antenna at the Joint European Torus tokamak. Their equivalent electrical circuit has been extracted and analyzed, and it has been compared to the one of voltage probes installed in simple transmission lines. A radio-frequency calibration technique has been formulated and exact mathematical relations have been derived. This technique mixes in an elegant fashion data extracted from measurements and numerical calculations to retrieve the calibration factors. The latter have been compared to previous calibration data with excellent agreement proving the robustness of the proposed radio-frequency calibration technique. In particular, it has been stressed that it is crucial to take into account environmental parasitic effects. A low-frequency calibration technique has been in addition formulated and analyzed in depth. The equivalence between the radio-frequency and low-frequency techniques has been rigorously demonstrated. The radio-frequency calibration technique is preferable in the case of the ITER-like antenna due to uncertainties on the characteristics of the cables connected at the inputs of the voltage probes. A method to extract the effect of a mismatched data acquisition system has been derived for both calibration techniques. Finally it has been outlined that in the case of the ITER-like antenna voltage probes can be in addition used to monitor the currents at the inputs of the antenna.

Indirect Correspondence-Based Robust Extrinsic Calibration of LiDAR and Camera

PubMed Central

Sim, Sungdae; Sock, Juil; Kwak, Kiho

2016-01-01

LiDAR and cameras have been broadly utilized in computer vision and autonomous vehicle applications. However, in order to convert data between the local coordinate systems, we must estimate the rigid body transformation between the sensors. In this paper, we propose a robust extrinsic calibration algorithm that can be implemented easily and has small calibration error. The extrinsic calibration parameters are estimated by minimizing the distance between corresponding features projected onto the image plane. The features are edge and centerline features on a v-shaped calibration target. The proposed algorithm contributes two ways to improve the calibration accuracy. First, we use different weights to distance between a point and a line feature according to the correspondence accuracy of the features. Second, we apply a penalizing function to exclude the influence of outliers in the calibration datasets. Additionally, based on our robust calibration approach for a single LiDAR-camera pair, we introduce a joint calibration that estimates the extrinsic parameters of multiple sensors at once by minimizing one objective function with loop closing constraints. We conduct several experiments to evaluate the performance of our extrinsic calibration algorithm. The experimental results show that our calibration method has better performance than the other approaches. PMID:27338416

Multi-projector auto-calibration and placement optimization for non-planar surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Dong; Xie, Jinghui; Zhao, Lu; Zhou, Lijing; Weng, Dongdong

2015-10-01

Non-planar projection has been widely applied in virtual reality and digital entertainment and exhibitions because of its flexible layout and immersive display effects. Compared with planar projection, a non-planar projection is more difficult to achieve because projector calibration and image distortion correction are difficult processes. This paper uses a cylindrical screen as an example to present a new method for automatically calibrating a multi-projector system in a non-planar environment without using 3D reconstruction. This method corrects the geometric calibration error caused by the screen's manufactured imperfections, such as an undulating surface or a slant in the vertical plane. In addition, based on actual projection demand, this paper presents the overall performance evaluation criteria for the multi-projector system. According to these criteria, we determined the optimal placement for the projectors. This method also extends to surfaces that can be parameterized, such as spheres, ellipsoids, and paraboloids, and demonstrates a broad applicability.

Development and validation of multivariate calibration methods for simultaneous estimation of Paracetamol, Enalapril maleate and hydrochlorothiazide in pharmaceutical dosage form

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Veena D.; Daharwal, Sanjay J.

2017-01-01

Three multivariate calibration spectrophotometric methods were developed for simultaneous estimation of Paracetamol (PARA), Enalapril maleate (ENM) and Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) in tablet dosage form; namely multi-linear regression calibration (MLRC), trilinear regression calibration method (TLRC) and classical least square (CLS) method. The selectivity of the proposed methods were studied by analyzing the laboratory prepared ternary mixture and successfully applied in their combined dosage form. The proposed methods were validated as per ICH guidelines and good accuracy; precision and specificity were confirmed within the concentration range of 5-35 μg mL- 1, 5-40 μg mL- 1 and 5-40 μg mL- 1of PARA, HCTZ and ENM, respectively. The results were statistically compared with reported HPLC method. Thus, the proposed methods can be effectively useful for the routine quality control analysis of these drugs in commercial tablet dosage form.

Developing new extension of GafChromic RTQA2 film to patient quality assurance field using a plan-based calibration method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Jiayuan; Zhang, Zhen; Wang, Jiazhou; Xie, Jiang; Chen, Junchao; Hu, Weigang

2015-10-01

GafChromic RTQA2 film is a type of radiochromic film designed for light field and radiation field alignment. The aim of this study is to extend the application of RTQA2 film to the measurement of patient specific quality assurance (QA) fields as a 2D relative dosimeter. Pre-irradiated and post-irradiated RTQA2 films were scanned in reflection mode using a flatbed scanner. A plan-based calibration (PBC) method utilized the mapping information of the calculated dose image and film grayscale image to create a dose versus pixel value calibration model. This model was used to calibrate the film grayscale image to the film relative dose image. The dose agreement between calculated and film dose images were analyzed by gamma analysis. To evaluate the feasibility of this method, eight clinically approved RapidArc cases (one abdomen cancer and seven head-and-neck cancer patients) were tested using this method. Moreover, three MLC gap errors and two MLC transmission errors were introduced to eight Rapidarc cases respectively to test the robustness of this method. The PBC method could overcome the film lot and post-exposure time variations of RTQA2 film to get a good 2D relative dose calibration result. The mean gamma passing rate of eight patients was 97.90%  ±  1.7%, which showed good dose consistency between calculated and film dose images. In the error test, the PBC method could over-calibrate the film, which means some dose error in the film would be falsely corrected to keep the dose in film consistent with the dose in the calculated dose image. This would then lead to a false negative result in the gamma analysis. In these cases, the derivative curve of the dose calibration curve would be non-monotonic which would expose the dose abnormality. By using the PBC method, we extended the application of more economical RTQA2 film to patient specific QA. The robustness of the PBC method has been improved by analyzing the monotonicity of the derivative of the

Accurate and automatic extrinsic calibration method for blade measurement system integrated by different optical sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Wantao; Li, Zhongwei; Zhong, Kai; Shi, Yusheng; Zhao, Can; Cheng, Xu

2014-11-01

Fast and precise 3D inspection system is in great demand in modern manufacturing processes. At present, the available sensors have their own pros and cons, and hardly exist an omnipotent sensor to handle the complex inspection task in an accurate and effective way. The prevailing solution is integrating multiple sensors and taking advantages of their strengths. For obtaining a holistic 3D profile, the data from different sensors should be registrated into a coherent coordinate system. However, some complex shape objects own thin wall feather such as blades, the ICP registration method would become unstable. Therefore, it is very important to calibrate the extrinsic parameters of each sensor in the integrated measurement system. This paper proposed an accurate and automatic extrinsic parameter calibration method for blade measurement system integrated by different optical sensors. In this system, fringe projection sensor (FPS) and conoscopic holography sensor (CHS) is integrated into a multi-axis motion platform, and the sensors can be optimally move to any desired position at the object's surface. In order to simple the calibration process, a special calibration artifact is designed according to the characteristics of the two sensors. An automatic registration procedure based on correlation and segmentation is used to realize the artifact datasets obtaining by FPS and CHS rough alignment without any manual operation and data pro-processing, and then the Generalized Gauss-Markoff model is used to estimate the optimization transformation parameters. The experiments show the measurement result of a blade, where several sampled patches are merged into one point cloud, and it verifies the performance of the proposed method.

A Method of Calibrating Airspeed Installations on Airplanes at Transonic and Supersonic Speeds by the Use of Accelerometer and Attitude-Angle Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zalovick, John A; Lina, Lindsay J; Trant, James P , Jr

1953-01-01

A method is described for calibrating airspeed installation on airplanes at transonic and supersonic speeds in vertical-plane maneuvers in which use is made of measurements of normal and longitudinal accelerations and attitude angle. In this method all the required instrumentation is carried within the airplane. An analytical study of the effects of various sources of error on the accuracy of an airspeed calibration by the accelerometer method indicated that the required measurements can be made accurately enough to insure a satisfactory calibration.

Performance of the air2stream model that relates air and stream water temperatures depends on the calibration method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piotrowski, Adam P.; Napiorkowski, Jaroslaw J.

2018-06-01

A number of physical or data-driven models have been proposed to evaluate stream water temperatures based on hydrological and meteorological observations. However, physical models require a large amount of information that is frequently unavailable, while data-based models ignore the physical processes. Recently the air2stream model has been proposed as an intermediate alternative that is based on physical heat budget processes, but it is so simplified that the model may be applied like data-driven ones. However, the price for simplicity is the need to calibrate eight parameters that, although have some physical meaning, cannot be measured or evaluated a priori. As a result, applicability and performance of the air2stream model for a particular stream relies on the efficiency of the calibration method. The original air2stream model uses an inefficient 20-year old approach called Particle Swarm Optimization with inertia weight. This study aims at finding an effective and robust calibration method for the air2stream model. Twelve different optimization algorithms are examined on six different streams from northern USA (states of Washington, Oregon and New York), Poland and Switzerland, located in both high mountains, hilly and lowland areas. It is found that the performance of the air2stream model depends significantly on the calibration method. Two algorithms lead to the best results for each considered stream. The air2stream model, calibrated with the chosen optimization methods, performs favorably against classical streamwater temperature models. The MATLAB code of the air2stream model and the chosen calibration procedure (CoBiDE) are available as Supplementary Material on the Journal of Hydrology web page.

Linear Calibration of Radiographic Mineral Density Using Video-Digitizing Methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martin, R. Bruce; Papamichos, Thomas; Dannucci, Greg A.

1990-01-01

Radiographic images can provide quantitative as well as qualitative information if they are subjected to densitometric analysis. Using modem video-digitizing techniques, such densitometry can be readily accomplished using relatively inexpensive computer systems. However, such analyses are made more difficult by the fact that the density values read from the radiograph have a complex, nonlinear relationship to bone mineral content. This article derives the relationship between these variables from the nature of the intermediate physical processes, and presents a simple mathematical method for obtaining a linear calibration function using a step wedge or other standard.

Linear Calibration of Radiographic Mineral Density Using Video-Digitizing Methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martin, R. Bruce; Papamichos, Thomas; Dannucci, Greg A.

1990-01-01

Radiographic images can provide quantitative as well as qualitative information if they are subjected to densitometric analysis. Using modern video-digitizing techniques, such densitometry can be readily accomplished using relatively inexpensive computer systems. However, such analyses are made more difficult by the fact that the density values read from the radiograph have a complex, nonlinear relationship to bone mineral content. This article derives the relationship between these variables from the nature of the intermediate physical processes, and presents a simple mathematical method for obtaining a linear calibration function using a step wedge or other standard.

Efficient calibration for imperfect computer models

DOE PAGES

Tuo, Rui; Wu, C. F. Jeff

2015-12-01

Many computer models contain unknown parameters which need to be estimated using physical observations. Furthermore, the calibration method based on Gaussian process models may lead to unreasonable estimate for imperfect computer models. In this work, we extend their study to calibration problems with stochastic physical data. We propose a novel method, called the L 2 calibration, and show its semiparametric efficiency. The conventional method of the ordinary least squares is also studied. Theoretical analysis shows that it is consistent but not efficient. Here, numerical examples show that the proposed method outperforms the existing ones.

Calibrating Laser Gas Measurements by Use of Natural CO2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Webster, Chris

2003-01-01

An improved method of calibration has been devised for instruments that utilize tunable lasers to measure the absorption spectra of atmospheric gases in order to determine the relative abundances of the gases. In this method, CO2 in the atmosphere is used as a natural calibration standard. Unlike in one prior calibration method, it is not necessary to perform calibration measurements in advance of use of the instrument and to risk deterioration of accuracy with time during use. Unlike in another prior calibration method, it is not necessary to include a calibration gas standard (and the attendant additional hardware) in the instrument and to interrupt the acquisition of atmospheric data to perform calibration measurements. In the operation of an instrument of this type, the beam from a tunable diode laser or a tunable quantum-cascade laser is directed along a path through the atmosphere, the laser is made to scan in wavelength over an infrared spectral region that contains one or two absorption spectral lines of a gas of interest, and the transmission (and, thereby, the absorption) of the beam is measured. The concentration of the gas of interest can then be calculated from the observed depth of the absorption line(s), given the temperature, pressure, and path length. CO2 is nearly ideal as a natural calibration gas for the following reasons: CO2 has numerous rotation/vibration infrared spectral lines, many of which are near absorption lines of other gases. The concentration of CO2 relative to the concentrations of the major constituents of the atmosphere is well known and varies slowly and by a small enough amount to be considered constant for calibration in the present context. Hence, absorption-spectral measurements of the concentrations of gases of interest can be normalized to the concentrations of CO2. Because at least one CO2 calibration line is present in every spectral scan of the laser during absorption measurements, the atmospheric CO2 serves

Computerized tomography calibrator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Engel, Herbert P. (Inventor)

1991-01-01

A set of interchangeable pieces comprising a computerized tomography calibrator, and a method of use thereof, permits focusing of a computerized tomographic (CT) system. The interchangeable pieces include a plurality of nestable, generally planar mother rings, adapted for the receipt of planar inserts of predetermined sizes, and of predetermined material densities. The inserts further define openings therein for receipt of plural sub-inserts. All pieces are of known sizes and densities, permitting the assembling of different configurations of materials of known sizes and combinations of densities, for calibration (i.e., focusing) of a computerized tomographic system through variation of operating variables thereof. Rather than serving as a phanton, which is intended to be representative of a particular workpiece to be tested, the set of interchangeable pieces permits simple and easy standardized calibration of a CT system. The calibrator and its related method of use further includes use of air or of particular fluids for filling various openings, as part of a selected configuration of the set of pieces.