Engineering topics

Baker, P. L.

Publications and source records attributed to Baker, P. L..

6 records

NASA NTRS1985

Aircraft and satellite measurement of ocean wave directional spectra using scanning-beam microwave radars

A microwave radar technique for remotely measuring the vector wave number spectrum of the ocean surface is described. The technique which employs short-pulse, noncoherent radars in a conical scan mode near vertical incidence, is shown to be suitable for both aircraft and satellite application, the technique was validated at 10 km aircraft altitude, where we have found excellent agreement between buoy and radar-inferred absolute wave height spectra.

Jackson, F. C.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Aircraft and satellite measurement of ocean wave directional spectra using scanning-beam microwave radars

A microwave radar technique for remotely measuring the vector wave number spectrum of the ocean surface is described. The technique, which employs short-pulse, noncoherent radars in a conical scan mode near vertical incidence, is shown to be suitable for both aircraft and satellite application, the technique was validated at 10 km aircraft altitude, where we have found excellent agreement between buoy and radar-inferred absolute wave height spectra.

Jackson, F. C.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Investigation of low-latitude hydrogen emission in terms of a two-component interstellar gas model

High-resolution 21-cm hydrogen line observations at low galactic latitude are analyzed to determine the large-scale distribution of galactic hydrogen. Distribution parameters are found by model fitting, optical depth effects are computed using a two-component gas model suggested by the observations, and calculations are made for a one-component uniform spin-temperature gas model to show the systematic departures between this model and data obtained by incorrect treatment of the optical depth effects. Synthetic 21-cm line profiles are computed from the two-component model, and the large-scale trends of the observed emission profiles are reproduced together with the magnitude of the small-scale emission irregularities. Values are determined for the thickness of the galactic hydrogen disk between half density points, the total observed neutral hydrogen mass of the galaxy, and the central number density of the intercloud hydrogen atoms. It is shown that typical hydrogen clouds must be between 1 and 13 pc in diameter and that optical thinness exists on large-scale despite the presence of optically thin gas.

Baker, P. L.↗

NASA NTRS1974

An experimental test of the homogeneity of the interstellar medium

Observations of nonthermal continuum radio emission at 750 MHz and hydrogen-line emission at 1420 MHz have been compared in order to test the extent to which cosmic-ray electrons, magnetic fields, and hydrogen gas coexist in the interstellar medium. If the interstellar medium is homogeneous in the sense that its constituents are mixed together and can interact, then regions of line and continuum emission should be spatially correlated. The measurements indicate that at most 28% of continuum emission in the Galaxy comes from such a homogeneous medium. The remaining nonthermal emission agrees in magnitude with the residual emission found by Berkhuijsen after subtraction of the polarized component of nonthermal emission. In addition, the data discussed here show that the major filamentary structures found in the two forms of emission rarely coincide spatially. Consequently, both the average and the exceptional structure in the medium indicate that the synchrotron-radiating magnetoplasma and the neutral hydrogen gas are not closely interacting in the present state of the medium.

Baker, P. L.↗

NASA NTRS1974

Fine-scale structure of a cold hydrogen layer

Neutral-hydrogen absorption-line interferometer observations are reported for five continuum radio sources situated behind an extensive layer of cold interstellar H I gas. In contrast to low-spatial-resolution emission-line observations reported earlier which show the large-scale uniformity of the layer, the high-spatial-resolution absorption-line observations reveal variations in the velocity and density within the layer. The new results together with the old indicate the apparent coexistence of a large-scale mechanism for triggering the formation of cold hydrogen and an instability mechanism leading to small-scale irregularities.

Baker, P. L.↗

NASA NTRS1974

The interaction of interstellar gas with stellar density wave packets

We have numerically studied the interaction between interstellar gas and a gravitational perturbation produced by a fluctuation in the stellar mass distribution. For a simple equation of state, shock waves develop even if the gravitational perturbation is aperiodic and transient. In a medium which can change thermal phase, shocks do not form and the gas makes a transition directly to the cold, dense phase. The cold material has an anomalous velocity imparted to it by the gravitational perturbation and it becomes an accretion front moving through the hot gas and capturing it. The accretion fronts trigger thermal phase change on a large scale and can reproduce the extent of observed cold clouds. Furthermore their high mass is favorable to gravitational instability and subsequent star formation.

Baker, P. L.↗