NASA Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports

spatial representation of field-scale brightness temperatures, which may in turn lead to more accurate soil moisture retrieval.
Author
Brightness Temperature; Land Use; Microwave Radiometers; Ultrahigh Frequencies; Agriculture
44
ENERGY PRODUCTION AND CONVERSION
Includes specific energy conversion systems, e.g., fuel cells; and solar, geothermal, windpower, and waterwave conversion systems;
energy storage; and traditional power generators. For technologies related to nuclear energy production see 73 Nuclear Physics. For
related information see also 07 Aircraft Propulsion and Power; 20 Spacecraft Propulsion and Power; and 28 Propellants and Fuels.
20040111056 Los Alamos National Lab., NM, USA
Inner Radiation Belt Representation of the Energetic Electron Environment: Model and Data Synthesis Using the
Salammbo Radiation Belt Transport Code and Los Alamos Geosynchronous and GPS Energetic Particle Data
Friedel, R. H. W.; Bourdarie, S.; Fennell, J.; Kanekal, S.; Cayton, T. E.; 8th Spacecraft Charging Technology Conference;
March 2004; 16 pp.; In English; See also 20040111031
Contract(s)/Grant(s): NASA Order W-19957; No Copyright; Avail: CASI; A03, Hardcopy
The highly energetic electron environment in the inner magnetosphere (GEO inward) has received a lot of research
attention in resent years, as the dynamics of relativistic electron acceleration and transport are not yet fully understood. These
electrons can cause deep dielectric charging in any space hardware in the MEO to GEO region. We use a new and novel
approach to obtain a global representation of the inner magnetospheric energetic electron environment, which can reproduce
the absolute environment (flux) for any spacecraft orbit in that region to within a factor of 2 for the energy range of 100 KeV
to 5 MeV electrons, for any levels of magnetospheric activity. We combine the extensive set of inner magnetospheric energetic
electron observations available at Los Alamos with the physics based Salammbo transport code, using the data assimilation
technique of ‘nudging". This in effect input in-situ data into the code and allows the diffusion mechanisms in the code
to interpolate the data into regions and times of no data availability. We present here details of the methods used, both in the
data assimilation process and in the necessary inter-calibration of the input data used. We will present sample runs of the
model/data code and compare the results to test spacecraft data not used in the data assimilation process.
Author
Electrons; Inner Radiation Belt; Electron Acceleration; Energetic Particles
20040111148 Sinton Consulting, Inc., Boulder, CO, USA
Development of an In-Line Minority-Carrier Lifetime Monitoring Tool for Process Control during Fabrication of
Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells. Annual Subcontractor Report, June 2003
Sinton, R. A.; Mar. 2004; In English
Report No.(s): DE2004-15007016; NREL/SR-520-35884; No Copyright; Avail: National Technical Information Service
(NTIS)
As the production volumes of crystalline silicon manufacturing lines have grown in recent years, the demand for improved
process control and process monitoring in manufacturing has increased. Since 1995, Sinton Consulting Inc. has been providing
several tools to both Universities and industry for their R&D laboratories. For example, over 100 Sinton minority-carrier
lifetime instruments are in use worldwide. The purpose of the work reported here is to adapt these successful R&D instruments
and techniques to be directly applicable to process control and monitoring in production environments. Under the PV
Manufacturing R&D subcontract Development of an In-Line, Minority- Carrier Lifetime Monitoring Tool for Process Control
during Fabrication of Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells, Sinton Consulting developed prototypes for several new instruments for
use in the manufacture of silicon solar cells. These instruments are based on two families of R&D instruments that were
previously available, an illumination vs. opencircuit- voltage technique and the quasi-steady state RF photoconductance
technique for measuring minority-carrier lifetime. Compared to the previous instruments, the new prototypes are about 20
times faster per measurement, and have automated data analysis that does not require user intervention even when confronted
by challenging cases.
NTIS
Solar Cells; Crystallinity; Quasi-Steady States
142