Engineering topics

Toon, Owen B.

Publications and source records attributed to Toon, Owen B..

At least 91 records · Page 5

NASA NTRS1991

Making Mars habitable

The possibility is considered that the atmosphere and climate of Mars could be altered to allow terrestrial life forms, and possibly human beings, to survive on the surface. Production of CFCs or other greenhouse gases on Mars would warm the surface enough for the regolith and polar caps to release their CO2 and raise atmospheric pressure to 100 mbar. If a large regolith and polar CO2 reservoirs exist, the pressure would continue to rise on its own. If these are absent, additional CO2 would have to be released from carbonate minerals. At this point, perhaps between 100 and 100,000 yrs, Mars might be suitable for plants. If there is a mechanism for sequestering the reduced carbon, these plants could slowly transform the CO2 to produce an O2-rich atmosphere in perhaps 100,000 yrs. If sufficient N2 could be released from putative soil deposits and the CO2 level could be kept low enough, then a human-breathable atmosphere would be produced.

Mckay, Christopher P.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Polar stratospheric clouds and ozone depletion

A review is presented of investigations into the correlation between the depletion of ozone and the formation of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs). Satellite measurements from Nimbus 7 showed that over the years the depletion from austral spring to austral spring has generally worsened. Approximately 70 percent of the ozone above Antarctica, which equals about 3 percent of the earth's ozone, is lost during September and October. Various hypotheses for ozone depletion are discussed including the theory suggesting that chlorine compounds might be responsible for the ozone hole, whereby chlorine enters the atmosphere as a component of chlorofluorocarbons produced by humans. The three types of PSCs, nitric acid trihydrate, slowly cooling water-ice, and rapidly cooling water-ice clouds act as important components of the Antarctic ozone depletion. It is indicated that destruction of the ozone will be more severe each year for the next few decades, leading to a doubling in area of the Antarctic ozone hole.

Toon, Owen B.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Thermal emission spectra of Mars (5.4-10.5 microns) - Evidence for sulfates, carbonates, and hydrates

Spectra of the Martian thermal emission in the 5.4-10.5 micron region are reported. Emission features at 7.8 and 9.7 microns are attributed to surface silicates, and an emission feature at 6.1 micron is attributed to a molecular water component of the surface material. An absorption band at 8.7 micron and a possible one at 9.8 microns is attributed to sulfate or bisulfate anions probably located at a distorted crystalline site, and an absorption band at 6.7 microns is attributed to carbonate or bicarbonate anions located in a distorted crystalline site. Spectral simulations indicate that the sulfate- and carbonate-bearing minerals are contained in the same particles of airborne dust as the dominant silicate minerals, that the dust optical depth is about 0.6 at a reference wavelength of 0.3 micron over the area of the observed spots, and that sulfates and carbonates constitute 10-15 percent and 1-3 percent by volume of the airborne dust, respectively.

Pollack, James B.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Numerical simulations of the decay of Martian global dust storms

The decay of Martian global (great) dust storms is investigated. One-dimensional (vertical, static atmosphere) and two-dimensional (latitude-height, steady state circulation) simulations carried out with an aerosol transport-microphysical model indicate that atmospheric motions play a significant role in the observed decay of global dust storms. Spacecraft observations (Mariner 9, Viking) of the 1971 and the two 1977 planet-encircling dust storms have provided suggestions about some characteristics of storm decay. Specifically, the dust particle size distribution is inferred to have remained essentially unchanged for particles with radii between 1 and 10 microns during decay of the 1971 storm, and surface visible opacity declined quasi-exponentially with time in northern midlatitudes during the decay of the two 1977 storms. The results from this investigation indicate that two- and three-dimensional dynamical processes play a significant role the observed decay features of Martian global dust storms. The most important processes are the lofting of dust by vertical motions in the dust source region of the Southern Hemisphere subtropics and a continuing advective resupply of atmospheric dust into the dust sink regions of the Northern Hemisphere. This work has implications for Viking data analyses and future Mars observer observations and requires that the particle size distribution be treated as a time and latitude dependent quantity.

Murphy, James R.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Preliminary simulations of the large-scale environment during the FIRE cirrus IFO

Large scale forcing (scales greater than 500 km) is the dominant factor in the generation, maintenance, and dissipation of cirrus cloud systems. However, the analyses of data acquired during the first Cirrus IFO have highlighted the importance of mesoscale processes (scales of 20 to 500 km) to the development of cirrus cloud systems. Unfortunately, Starr and Wylie found that the temporal and spatial resolution of the standard and supplemental rawinsonde data were insufficient to allow an explanation of all of the mesoscale cloud features that were present on the 27 to 28 Oct. 1986. It is described how dynamic initialization, or 4-D data assimilation (FDDA) can provide a method to address this problem. The first steps towards application of FDDA to FIRE are also described.

Westphal, Douglas L.↗

NASA NTRS1990

An analysis of lidar observations of polar stratospheric clouds

Lidar observations by Browell et al. (1990) are interpreted using single scattering calculations for nonspherical particles and aerosol microphysical calculations. Many of the lidar observations are consistent with particles containing 10 ppbv of condensed nitric acid vapor and an equivalent mass of water. The lidar observations of these Type 1 clouds identify two subtypes, whose properties are deduced. Type 1b particles are spherical, or nearly spherical, and typically have radii near 0.5 micron; Type 1a particles are not spherical, and have a spherical volume equivalent radius exceeding 1.0 micron. Several factors may cause variations in the size of the particles. The most significant factors are the cooling rate and the degree to which the air parcels cool below the condensation point. Specific examples in which cooling rate and cooling point may have led to variations in particle size are found in the Browell et al. (1990) data set. Condensation of 1 ppmm of water or less is quantitatively sufficient to account for the magnitude of the lidar backscatter observed from water ice clouds. The ice particles are not spherical in shape. The sizes of particles in water ice clouds cannot be determined because they are much larger than the wavelength of the lidar.

Toon, Owen B.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Incorporation of stratospheric acids into water ice

Hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids are absorbed within the water ice lattice at mole fractions maximizing below 0.00001 and 0.0001 in a variety of solid impurity studies. The absorption mechanism may be substitutional or interstitial, leading in either case to a weak permeation of stratospheric ices by the acids at equilibrium. Impurities could also inhabit grain boundaries, and the acid content of atmospheric ice crystals will then depend on details of their surface and internal microstructures. Limited evidence indicates similar properties for the absorption of HNO3. Water ice lattices saturated with acid cannot be a significant local reservoir for HCl in the polar stratosphere.

Elliott, Scott↗

NASA NTRS1990

Denitrification mechanisms in the polar stratospheres

Microphysical simulations suggest that the time required for nitric acid particles to sediment from the stratosphere is comparable to the time required for falling ice particles to incorporate nitric acid vapor from the vapor phase. Since nitric acid particles form earlier in the winter than ice particles, these simulations favor denitrification being a separate process from dehydration, with denitrification being due to nitric acid particles and dehydration due to ice particles. In the simulations, the column abundance of nitric acid is only depleted if temperatures low enough for nitric acid particles to exist extend to the altitude above which the column is measured. Such low temperatures are infrequent in the Arctic lower stratosphere, which may be the main reason that the Arctic stratospheric column shows little loss of nitric acid during winter, while the colder Antarctic stratospheric column shows a substantial loss of nitric acid.

Toon, Owen B.↗

NASA NTRS1990

DC-8 mission planning

A number of tasks needed to be performed to operate the DC-8 aircraft in the Arctic Ozone Expedition during 1989. These included development of improved navigational computer programs and performing advanced planning for flight tracks. The missions required further work in the field to plan flight tracks and to establish a data archive. The DC-8 aircraft was operated during the deployment phase of the Arctic Ozone Expedition. Data were collected revealing the presence of extensive systems of polar stratospheric clouds. The data also showed the evolution of the chlorine and nitrogen chemistry within the Arctic vortex. A navigational computer code was improved so that the DC-8 navigators could perform their function more efficiently.

Toon, Owen B.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Stratospheric dynamics

A global circulation model is being used to study the dynamical behavior of stratospheric planetary waves (waves having horizontal wavelengths of tens of thousands of kilometers) forced by growing cyclonic disturbances of intermediate scale, typically with wavelengths of a few thousand kilometers, which occur in the troposphere. Planetary scale waves are the dominant waves in the stratosphere, and are important for understanding the distribution of atmospheric trace constituents. Planetary wave forcing by intermediate scale tropospheric cyclonic disturbances is important for producing eastward travelling planetary waves of the sort which are prominent in the Southern Hemisphere during winter. The same global circulation model is also being used to simulate and understand the rate of dispersion and possible stratospheric climatic feedbacks of the El Chichon volcanic aerosol cloud. By comparing the results of the model calculation with an established data set now in existence for the volcanic cloud spatial and temporal distribution, stratospheric transport processes will be better understood, and the extent to which the cloud modified stratospheric wind and temperature fields can be assessed.

Young, Richard E.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Studies of stratospheric particulates

A sophisticated computer model of polar stratospheric clouds was developed and used to study the properties of ice clouds. The model has recently been extended to investigate nitric acid clouds and ice clouds as well as their interactions with stratospheric gases. The model is now being applied to interpret data collected during recent expeditions to the Antarctic and the Arctic. Some work has also been done to understand the properties of noctilucent clouds and their implications for the chemistry and dynamics of the upper stratosphere.

Toon, Owen B.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Simulations of the large-scale environment during the FIRE Cirrus IFO

A numerical model that can facilitate the study of cirrus cloud systems is described in an effort to understand the dynamics during the first FIRE IFO. The model has a developed horizontal and vertical structure in the moisture fields with scales of order 200 km that were not found in the NMC analyses, suggesting that the model simulations can be used to describe the large-scale environment in which aircraft, surface, and satellite observations were made. The results of this preliminary simulation warrant application of the model to other case studies, particularly that of October 27-28, 1986.

Westphal, Douglas L.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Heterogeneous physicochemistry of the polar ozone hole

Processes occurring in the polar winter stratosphere, which involve polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs), are investigated using observations from the Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment. In particular, data on the properties of PSCs and their physical chemistry, the microphysical processes and time constants for cloud processes, the heterogeneous chemical processes and their time constants, and nonlinearities in the long-term ozone trend associated with physical and chemical processes are examined. The chemical reactions leading to the depletion of the inert chlorine reservoir in a presence of type I PSCs are established, and it is shown that type II PSCs contribute to chemical processing that sustains the chemical imbalance of the polar stratosphere. It is shown that, using a simple model, the decadal evolution of the Antarctic ozone hole may be understood through nonlinearities in the heterogeneous chemistry, with possible contributing effects of variations in stratospheric temperatures and water vapor concentrations.

Turco, Richard P.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Rapid calculation of radiative heating rates and photodissociation rates in inhomogeneous multiple scattering atmospheres

The solution of the generalized two-stream approximation for radiative transfer in homogeneous multiple scattering atmospheres is extended to vertically inhomogeneous atmospheres in a manner which is numerically stable and computationally efficient. It is shown that solar energy deposition rates, photolysis rates, and infrared cooling rates all may be calculated with the simple modifications of a single algorithm. The accuracy of the algorithm is generally better than 10 percent, so that other uncertainties, such as in absorption coefficients, may often dominate the error in calculation of the quantities of interest to atmospheric studies.

Toon, Owen B.↗

NASA NTRS1989

On the diurnal variation of noctilucent clouds

The relationship between nuctilucent clouds (NLC), which are observed from the ground usually within 2 or 3 hrs of local midnight, and the polar mesospheric clouds (PMC), which are observed by satellites in full daylight, as well as the reason for the differences in their optical properties and their observed heights are investigated. Based on a suggestion that these differences can be attributed to a diurnal variation in the properties of a single type of cloud, two published models of the diurnal and semidiurnal variations of temperature, vertical wind speed, and eddy diffusion coefficient at high latitude to simulate the evolution of ice clouds over a 24-hr period. The results show that the minimum in temperature at about 2000 hours LT causes a sharp maximum in scattered brightness to occur about 1 hour before local midnight, with up to a factor of 7 variation in cloud brightness between noon and midnight. It is noted, however, that considerable uncertainties exist in these tidal models.

Jensen, Eric↗

NASA NTRS1989

Physical processes in polar stratospheric ice clouds

The formulation and evolution of polar stratospheric ice clouds are simulated using a one-dimensional model of cloud microphysics. It is found that the optical thickness and particle size of ice clouds depend on the cooling rate of the air in which the cloud formed. It is necessary that there be an energy barrier to ice nucleation upon the preexisting aerosols in order to account for the cooling rate dependence of the cloud properties.

Toon, Owen B.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Self-limiting physical and chemical effects in volcanic eruption clouds

One-dimensional aerosol microphysical and photochemical models are used to study the chemistry of stratospheric volcanic clouds. The results indicate that the aerosol microphysical processes of condensation and coagulation produce larger particles as the SO2 injection rate is increased. Larger particles have a smaller optical depth per unit mass and settle out of the stratosphere at a faster rate than smaller ones, restricting the total number of particles in the stratosphere. The microphysical processes moderate the impact of volcanic clouds on the earth's radiation budget and climate, suggesting that volcanic effects may be self limiting. It is noted that the injection of HCl into the stratosphere, which could lead to large ozone changes, is limited by a cold trap effect in which HCl and water vapor condense on ash particles in the rising volcanic plume and fall out as ice.

Pinto, Joseph P.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Moist convection on Neptune

A study of methane moist convection on Neptune examines the stability conditions which initiate moist convection of methane clouds. Temperature lapse rates that are unstable to moist convection are subadiabatic by a factor of two or more, while adiabatic and superadiabatic lapse rates are stable. In the observed Neptune temperature structure, vertical velocities greater than 40 m/s are required to lift moist air above the stable region and initiate moist convection. Alternatively, moist convection could be initiated by air that is slightly drier than its surroundings. Moist convective clouds achieve altitudes up to 100 mb, thereby exceeding the temperature minimum and depositing methane in the Neptune stratosphere. At least 2000 such clouds penetrate the Neptune stratosphere/hour.

Stoker, Carol R.↗