Radiative coupled nonequilibrium flow fields associated with aeroassisted orbital transfer

Development of an algorithm which will allow nonequilibrium flow field codes to be coupled to radiative transfer codes (currently limited to equilibrium applications) was initiated. The algorithm consists of an equation for the prediction of electronic state population fractions (electronic state temperature) and equations for the computation of spectral absorption coefficients and source functions. These expressions represent a thorough treatment in the context of the bandless model which in the past has proven adequate for equilibrium radiative transfer predictions. Perhaps the approach is more than adequate as the current algorithm requires four temperatures for each transition. Clearly, a more sophisticated model can be developed; however, it would require more information, such as rotational temperatures of the electronic levels.