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Full-Text Articles in Atmospheric Sciences
A Comparative Study Of Vinti-Based Orbit Propagation And Estimation For Cubesats In Very Low Earth Orbits, Ethan Michael Senecal
A Comparative Study Of Vinti-Based Orbit Propagation And Estimation For Cubesats In Very Low Earth Orbits, Ethan Michael Senecal
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in CubeSats and very low Earth orbit (VLEO) space missions. Mission SeaLion, a collaborative CubeSat mission between Old Dominion University, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology, planned to launch a 3U CubeSat into VLEO. The VLEO mission is a particularly challenging environment for navigation and orbit propagation because drag introduces a significant perturbation for orbit models such as SGP4. Additionally, mission requirements left no capacity for attitude determination or control, further reducing knowledge of drag behavior of the satellite in flight. This deficiency is a …
A New Method For Estimating The Physical Characteristics Of Martian Dust Devils, Shelly Cahoon Mann
A New Method For Estimating The Physical Characteristics Of Martian Dust Devils, Shelly Cahoon Mann
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations
Critical to the future exploration of Mars is having a detailed understanding of the atmospheric environment and its potential dangers. The dust devil is one of these potential dangers. The transport of dust through saltation is believed to be the driving mechanism responsible for Martian weather patterns. The two primary mechanisms for dust transport are dust storms and dust devils. Dust devils on Mars are a frequent occurrence with one in five so called giant dust devils being large enough to leave scars on the surface that are visible from space. Due to the thin atmosphere, winds of 60 mph …
Balloon Borne Mars Research Platforms, Sean Michael Hancock
Balloon Borne Mars Research Platforms, Sean Michael Hancock
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations
Aerial platforms can fill a measurement gap between orbiters and rovers, providing planetary scale high resolution in situ measurements, access to scientifically interesting terrain that is either inaccessible or hazardous to rovers, and serve as a planet-wide delivery platforms to deploy surface probes and rovers to areas inaccessible given existing entry, descent, and landing systems. A permanent robotic outpost on the Martian surface can utilize locally-derived hydrogen as a lifting gas for balloon systems deployed from Mars. That approach can simplify the inflation and launch of aerial vehicles while allowing for a long duration deployment campaign that is not constrained …
Inversion And Analysis Of Remotely Sensed Atmospheric Water Vapor Measurements At 940nm, Jack Cutler Larsen
Inversion And Analysis Of Remotely Sensed Atmospheric Water Vapor Measurements At 940nm, Jack Cutler Larsen
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations
The understanding and acceptance of remotely sensed atmospheric data depends strongly on the steps taken to characterize experiment error and validate observations through comparisons to other independent measurements. A formal error analysis of the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II (SAGE II) water vapor operational inversion algorithm is performed and compared to previous results. Random measurement errors were characterized by segmented least-squares profile fitting of the slant path absorption which found the error to be uncorrelated in the stratosphere with estimated variances significantly smaller than expected from 18-30 km. Estimates of null space error were developed from radiosonde hygrometers in …