Engineering topics

Johnson, Donald

Publications and source records attributed to Johnson, Donald.

3 records

NASA NTRS2007

Chemical Data Assimilation Estimates of Continental US Ozone and Nitrogen Budgets during INTEX-A

Global ozone analyses, based on assimilation of stratospheric profile and ozone column measurements, and NOy predictions from the Real-time Air Quality Modeling System (RAQMS) are used to estimate the ozone and NOy budget over the Continental US during the July-August 2004 Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment-North America (INTEX-A). Comparison with aircraft, satellite, surface, and ozonesonde measurements collected during the INTEX-A show that RAQMS captures the main features of the global and Continental US distribution of tropospheric ozone, carbon monoxide, and NOy with reasonable fidelity. Assimilation of stratospheric profile and column ozone measurements is shown to have a positive impact on the RAQMS upper tropospheric/lower stratosphere ozone analyses, particularly during the period when SAGE III limb scattering measurements were available. Eulerian ozone and NOy budgets during INTEX-A show that the majority of the Continental US export occurs in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere poleward of the tropopause break, a consequence of convergence of tropospheric and stratospheric air in this region. Continental US photochemically produced ozone was found to be a minor component of the total ozone export, which was dominated by stratospheric ozone during INTEX-A. The unusually low photochemical ozone export is attributed to anomalously cold surface temperatures during the latter half of the INTEX-A mission, which resulted in net ozone loss during the first 2 weeks of August. Eulerian NOy budgets are shown to be very consistent with previously published estimates. The NOy export efficiency was estimated to be 24 percent, with NOx+PAN accounting for 54 percent of the total NOy export during INTEX-A.

Pierce, Robert B.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Digital Averaging Phasemeter for Heterodyne Interferometry

A digital averaging phasemeter has been built for measuring the difference between the phases of the unknown and reference heterodyne signals in a heterodyne laser interferometer. This phasemeter performs well enough to enable interferometric measurements of distance with accuracy of the order of 100 pm and with the ability to track distance as it changes at a speed of as much as 50 cm/s. This phasemeter is unique in that it is a single, integral system capable of performing three major functions that, heretofore, have been performed by separate systems: (1) measurement of the fractional-cycle phase difference, (2) counting of multiple cycles of phase change, and (3) averaging of phase measurements over multiple cycles for improved resolution. This phasemeter also offers the advantage of making repeated measurements at a high rate: the phase is measured on every heterodyne cycle. Thus, for example, in measuring the relative phase of two signals having a heterodyne frequency of 10 kHz, the phasemeter would accumulate 10,000 measurements per second. At this high measurement rate, an accurate average phase determination can be made more quickly than is possible at a lower rate.

Johnson, Donald↗

NASA NTRS1987

Systematic stratospheric-tropospheric exchange viewed from isentropic coordinates

Within the atmosphere's stratification, stratospheric-tropospheric exchange of mass and other properties occurs primarily through quasi-horizontal transport processes within baroclinic wave regimes and through diabatic processes either in the form of deep convection or through systematic meridional variation of incoming and outgoing radiation. These exchange processes include both extrusions of stratospheric air into the troposphere and intrusions of tropospheric air into the stratosphere. The physical processes that govern both meridional and vertical exchange processes within isentropic coordinates are summarized for the global circulation.

Johnson, Donald↗