Engineering topics

Kumer, J. B.

Publications and source records attributed to Kumer, J. B..

At least 37 records · Page 2

NASA NTRS1993

Northern hemisphere mid-stratosphere vortex processes diagnosed from H2O, N2O and potential vorticity

Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) H2O Cryogenic Limb Array Etalon Spectrometer (CLAES) N2O and potential vorticity calculated from UK Meteorological Office data are used to study mid-stratospheric vortex processes in the northern hemisphere winter of 1991-1992. Areas of moist air (at approx. 20 hPa) and N2O-poor air (at approx. 10hPa) are well-correlated with high values of potential vorticity and there is little or no large scale mixing across the vortex edge. We find evidence for the descent of relatively dry mesospheric air to the 840 K (approx. 10 hPa) level, as well as descent of moist air from the upper stratosphere to the 655 K (approx. 20 hPa) level. A reduction in the areas of the vortex and both the moist and H2O-poor regions is observed and there is evidence of moist and N2O-poor air parcels being extruded from the vortex.

Lahoz, W. A.↗

NASA NTRS1993

The cryogenic limb array etalon spectrometer (CLAES) on UARS - Experiment description and performance

The design and the performance of the cryogenic limb array spectrometer (CLAES) aboard the NASA Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite are discussed. CLAES measures altitude profiles of temperature, pressure, O3, H2O, CH4, N2O, NO, NO2, N2O5, HNO3, ClONO2, HCl, CFC 11, CFC 12, and aerosol absorption coefficients for atmospheric layer between 10 and 60 km. Examples of atmospheric spectral emission profiles for a number of constituents are presented as well as responsivity and noise parameters.

Roche, A. E.↗

NASA NTRS1993

CLAES observations of ClONO2 and HNO3 in the Antarctic stratosphere, between June 15 and September 17, 1992

The Cryogenic Array Etalon Spectrometer (CLAES) on the NASA Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) began viewing the stratosphere in October 1991. This paper presents preliminary retrievals of ClONO2 and HNO3 from the CLAES measurements for selected days in June, July, August, and September of 1992 for the Southern Hemisphere. The data shows that by July 10, lower stratospheric ClONO2 and HNO3 have developed high 'collar' regions surrounding the polar vortex, and low values inside the vortex. This general structure is sustained through September 17, although the ClONO2 values inside the vortex increase significantly by this date. The data suggests that substantial sequestration of gaseous HNO3 in polar stratospheric clouds occurs in the early winter Antarctic stratosphere, accompanied by the conversion of ClONO2 to reactive chlorine through heterogeneous processes on the PSCs.

Roche, A. E.↗

NASA NTRS1993

CLAES CH4, N2O and CCL2F2 (F12) global data

Zonal mean comparisons of CH4 (for altitude regions above the 1.35 ppmv contour), of N2O (above the 210 ppbv contour), and of F12 (above the 360 pptv contour) with UARS prelaunch climatology and with recent models shows reasonable agreement, and some interesting differences in the details of equatorial uplift and descent near the winter poles, including apparent north-south differences. Prominent features such as the double peaked uplift structure in the April-May SAMS data are clearly evident in all three CLAES tracers. Contours of SAMS CH4 and N2O occur mostly at higher pressures than in the CLAES data, presumably due in part to increased tropospheric content of these gases, and/or perhaps some dynamic difference associated with the 15 years time difference between the data sets. The CLAES F12 are the first long time base global data sets. These show more tropical uplift than climatology or models. This might suggest a somewhat shorter lifetime of F12 in the stratosphere than is currently accepted.

Kumer, J. B.↗

NASA NTRS1993

CLAES south-looking aerosol observations for 1992

The Cryogenic Limb Etalon Array Spectrometer (CLAES) aboard the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) has made global observations of stratospheric aerosol during 1992. The instrument and measurement technique are briefly discussed. Samples of CLAES aerosol observations for south-looking days through the course of the Antarctic winter showing evolution of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) and the Pinatubo volcanic veil are shown and discussed.

Mergenthaler, J. L.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Resolution-enhanced Mapping Spectrometer

A familiar mapping spectrometer implementation utilizes two dimensional detector arrays with spectral dispersion along one direction and spatial along the other. Spectral images are formed by spatially scanning across the scene (i.e., push-broom scanning). For imaging grating and prism spectrometers, the slit is perpendicular to the spatial scan direction. For spectrometers utilizing linearly variable focal-plane-mounted filters the spatial scan direction is perpendicular to the direction of spectral variation. These spectrometers share the common limitation that the number of spectral resolution elements is given by the number of pixels along the spectral (or dispersive) direction. Resolution enhancement by first passing the light input to the spectrometer through a scanned etalon or Michelson is discussed. Thus, while a detector element is scanned through a spatial resolution element of the scene, it is also temporally sampled. The analysis for all the pixels in the dispersive direction is addressed. Several specific examples are discussed. The alternate use of a Michelson for the same enhancement purpose is also discussed. Suitable for weight constrained deep space missions, hardware systems were developed including actuators, sensor, and electronics such that low-resolution etalons with performance required for implementation would weigh less than one pound.

Kumer, J. B.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Stratospheric Warmings During February and March 1993

Two stratospheric sudden warmings during February and March 1993 are described using UKMO analyses of height, wind and temperature, PV and diabatic heating calculted from these, and N2O from the CLAES instrument on the UARS.

stratospheric↗

NASA NTRS1992

Low earth orbiting Nadir Etalon Sounding Spectrometer instrument concept for temperature, moisture and trace species, LeoNESS

A concept for a low earth orbiting nadir etalon spectrometer sounder (LeoNESS) is described which can achieve retrieval of temperature, H2O, surface, boundary conditions, cloudiness, and trace species with an accuracy that meets or exceeds the AIRS specifications. Options employing 65-K and 30-K detectors are examined; the former may be implemented via passive radiative cooling. The concept, which is derived from the Cryogenic Limb Array Etalon Spectrometer, has the potential for improving the horizontal and vertical resolution.

Kumer, J. B.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Geosynchronous orbiting Nadir Etalon Sounding Spectrometer instrument concept for temperature, moisture and trace species, GeoNESS

The paper describes the salient features of the Geosynchronous orbiting Nadir Etalon Sounding Spectrometer (GeoNESS) designed for applications from geosynchronous orbit for nadir sounding temperature, moisture, and trace species analyses in the troposphere and the lower stratosphere. Particular attention is given to the optics of GeoNESS, the optomechanical design, the cooling systems, the measurement approach used in GeoNESS, the channel selection, and the calibration considerations.

Kumer, J. B.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Concept for obtaining geostationary limb infrared measurements (GEOLIM) and their application

The scientific value and utility of including the capability for spectral earthlimb emission measurements in an advanced geostationary mission is discussed. These measurements are expected to support improved scientific understanding of the atmospheric region extending from the tropospheric cloud tops up to the thermosphere. Specific topics in the science of this region that are addressed by geostationary observations of spectral earthlimb emission are discussed. For many of these topics, nadir sounding measurements are either at great disadvantage or completely inappropriate. A promising approach for acquiring the earthlimb measurements, and a preliminary instrument concept are discussed.

Kumer, J. B.↗

NASA NTRS1989

CLAES focal plane array

The Cryogenic Limb Array Etalon Spectrometer for the NASA Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite uses solid-state focal plane arrays to detect emission from the earth's atmosphere over the IR wavelength range 3.5 to 13 microns. This paper discusses the design of the focal plane detector assembly and compares calculated performance with measurements. Measurements were made of focal plane noise and responsivity as functions of frequency (2 to 500 Hz) and temperature (12 to 19 K), pixel-to-pixel and across-array crosstalk, and linearity over a dynamic range of 100,000. The measurements demonstrate that the arrays satisfy the science requirements, and that, in general, there is reasonable agreement between the measurements and the analytical model.

Roche, A. E.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Model calculations of spectral transmission for the CLAES etalons

This paper describes models for calculating spectral transmission for the Cryogenic-Limb-Array-Etalon-Spectrometer (CLAES) etalons. These models involve a convolution of the Airy function for a given thickness with the distribution of surface thicknesses, the effect of absorption in the substrate, and the field of view broadening as a function of etalon tilt angle. A comparison of model calculations with experimental transmission data for CLAES etalons centered at 3.52, 5.72, 8.0, and 11.86 microns showed that these models are able to provide a good description of the CLAES etalons.

James, T. C.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Concept for Geostationary Experimental Temperature and Moisture Sounder (GETMS)

The concept of the Geostationary Experimental Temperature and Moisture Sounder (GETMS) is described, with special attention given to the system constraints and its performance characteristics. The GETMS concept supports operation in a high-resolution 'nominal experimental mode' that could achieve spectral resolution of the order 0.2/cm in the 4.2-micron region with signal/noise sufficient to achieve temperature profile retrievals with vertical resolution of the order 1 to 2 km and accuracy to 1 K or less. The concept includes a cryogenic module to provide cryogenic cooling of the focal plane. The GETMS functional diagram and diagrams of the GETMS spectrometer and of the cryogenics module are included.

Kumer, J. B.↗

NASA NTRS1986

An assessment of OH airglow interference on the remote sensing of stratospheric HCl via limb sounding in the near-I.R.

Chemiluminescent emission from the formation of vibrationally excited OH at an altitude of approximately 85 km presents a barrier to earth-limb measurements of NIR emissions originating in the stratosphere. High-resolution measured spectra of OH airglow have not been reported, and thus it is difficult to assess its impact on moderately-high-resolution earth-limb spectroscopy capable of looking between strong OH lines. Low-resolution rocketborne spectrometer earth-limb measurements of OH airglow are mathematically inverted to recover vibrational-state populations that are used to simulate a higher resolution spectrum in the neighbourhood of 2843/cm. Implications for remote sensing HCl are presented.

Mergenthaler, J. L.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Stratospheric limb radiance simulations for the HCl channel of CLAES

The earthlimb radiance of the HCl detector array of the CLAES instrument is simulated in order to specify and optimize the free spectral range for the etalon used in this spectral region and to select sampling positions which facilitate the recovery of HCl profiles. Considerations entering into the limb radiance computation of each contributing species are discussed. Simulations are then presented for tangent heights of 15 to 5 km for daytime and nighttime conditions, and their significance for HCl retrievals is addressed. The simulation results indicate that the HCl (P2) feature should be observable in the earth limb emission spectrum, and that an etalon with an FSR of 12.6/cm optimally avoids interference from OH emission lines blended with the HCl feature by adjacent transmission peaks.

Mergenthaler, J. L.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Quality indicators for trace gas concentrations determined from earthlimb emission spectra

Different techniques which can be used to indicate the quality of the mixing ratios retrieved from spectral radiance measurements made by the CLAES instrument for 11 different atmospheric gases are discussed. A key to retrieval from noisy data is the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD), which is described. The use of the SVD with simulated data and radiance measurements from a balloon floating at 30 km is discussed.

Uplinger, W. G.↗

NASA NTRS1986

CLAES blocker filter rejection requirements

Some details of the calculations of out-of-band spectral rejection requirements for the CLAES blocker filters are described. For a particular blocker centered within an etalon bandpass, the signal to be expected when a particular etalon transmission peak is centered at the central wavelength of the blocker filter is calculated. This signal is compared with the total signal arising from all other transmission peaks within the etalon bandpass and all of the radiation from the entire spectrum outside of the etalon bandpass. The results for a few of the blocker filters are listed, and the design goals are compared with theoretical design results.

James, T. C.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Analysis of Stierwalt out-of-band transmission scattering effect for dual infrared filters serially positioned at a focus

Some remote sounding applications require utilization of interference filters with very high out-of-band rejection (OBR) performance. In this paper, the advantages to be gained in achieving high OBR by the use of two serially ganged interference filters mounted in a wedge configuration near a focus are discussed. Degradation of OBR due to scattering effects is examined, and a quantitative technique to estimate such effects in dual wedged filters mounted at a focus is presented. An approach to the design of filter elements to be used in the dual wedged configuration is given that accounts for scatter. An application of this design approach to the CLAES 10.81 micron filter is described.

Kumer, J. B.↗