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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 199 records · Page 11
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NASA NTRS1987

Radiative heating-cooling and the energetics of the stratosphere and mesosphere

The principal research activities of the period 1983-1986 directed towards the development of models of middle-atmospheric chemistry and dynamics are described. One of these activities concerns parameterization of IR radiative processes, particularly parameterization for the CO2 15-micron-band emission and absorption, for which various models are discussed. The second line of research centers on the radiative balance in the middle atmosphere and the net radiative drive for the diabatic residual or transport circulation. Finally, theoretical and observational studies of radiative damping of waves propagating through the middle atmosphere, and the parameterization of this process, are discussed.

Strobel, Darrell F.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Global energetics analysis using 3-dimensional normal mode decomposition

The Goddard Laboratory for Atmospheric Sciences (GLAS) analysis of the FGGE observations for a 25-day period in January 1979 is examined using the normal mode energetics scheme. The results from the energetics analysis are compared with the data of Tanaka (1985). Kinetic energy spectra of the barotropic mode in the meridional-mode and frequency domains, and the total diabatic process are studied. It is observed that there are significant differences between GLAS and GFDL analyses results in the barotropic energy of gravity modes and the normal energetics scheme is applicable as a diagnostic tool.

Tanaka, Hiroshi↗
NASA NTRS1986

Characteristics of precipitation regimes during the global weather experiment

Rainfall data were used in conjunction with heating rate values obtained from GLA/NASA to describe large scale heating changes and concurrent circulation fluctuations for weekly averages during the Special Observing Period I (January-March 1979) of the Global Weather Experiment. The GLA diabatic heating rates were obtained as residues of the thermodynamic energy equation during the four-dimensional data assimilation cycle (as described by Kalnay and Baker, 1984). In week one, the heating and rainfall rate profiles display a positive anomaly on the West Pacific in both fields. The anomaly appears to propagate eastward into the East Pacific and South America by the fifth week. By the week four, the negative anomaly over the Indian Ocean becomes positive. These heating patterns are reflected on positive divergent anomalies at 200 mb analyzed for the same periods. The stream-function anomalies display anticyclonic circulations over the heating anomalies.

Ahrens, Glen D.↗
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↗
NASA NTRS1987

Numerical simulations of the subsynoptic features associated with the AVE-SESAME I case. I - The preconvective environment

The extensive diagnostic calculations made possible by the AVE-SESAME I database are used in combination with numerical simulations from the Mesoscale Atmospheric Simulation System (MASS) model to examine the dynamics of the meso-alpha-scale features during the preconvective period from 1130 to 2030 UTC on April 10, 1979. The version of the MASS model used in this investigation is presented, and an overview of the general synoptic conditions present at the time of model initialization is presented along with the data used to initialize the model. The dynamical processes present in the numerical simulations are presented and compared with analyses of the observational data from this and other investigations of this case. The relative importance of the adiabatic and diabatic processes in creating and then initiating the release of the convective instability is discussed.

Zack, John W.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Radiative energy budget estimates for the 1979 southwest summer monsoon

A major objective of the summer monsoon experiment (SMONEX) was the determination of the heat sources and sinks associated with the southwest summer monsoon. The radiative component is presented here. The vertically integrated tropospheric radiation energy budget is negative and varies significantly as a function of monsoon activity. The gradient in the latitudinal mean tropospheric cooling reverses between the winter periods and the late spring/early summer periods. The radiative component of the vertical profile of the diabatic heating is derived. These profiles are a strong function of the stage of the monsoon as well as the geographic region. In general, the surface experiences a net gain of radiative energy during the late spring and early summer periods. During the winter periods, areas northward of 25 N display net surface losses, while the remaining areas exhibit net gains.

Ackerman, Steven A.↗
NASA NTRS1986

The interaction of a surface cold front with a prefrontal thermodynamically well-mixed boundary layer

The dynamics of a surface cold front as it proceeds from sea to shore and interacts with a thermodynamically well-mixed boundary layer are investigated by means of numerical simulations using a modified version of the two-dimensional model of Reeder and Smith (1987). The theoretical basis of the model is explained, and the results are presented graphically and characterized in detail. Good agreement is found with observational data on Australian summer cold fronts, and the transverse frontal circulation is shown to be significantly affected by diabatic heating.

Reeder, Michael J.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Dynamical aspects of stratospheric vacillations in a highly truncated model

The dynamics of stratospheric vacillations in the Holton and Mass (1976) model (HM model) is investigated using an EP flux diagnosis based on the transformed Eulerian-mean equations developed by Andrews and McIntyre (1976). Vacillations in the HM model can be divided into a dynamically active period and an inactive period. It is shown that, during the active period, the mean zonal winds vary vigorously like a stratospheric sudden warming. This variation is mainly due to the wave driving. During the inactive period, the mean zonal wind becomes easterly in the lower layers within 10-30 km. These layers prevent the wave from propagating upward. The mean zonal winds above the layers are accelerated gradually by the Coriolis torque of the 'residual' circulation due to the diabatic heating.

Yoden, Shigeo↗
NASA NTRS1988

Body force circulation and the Antarctic Ozone minimum

A dynamical mechanism, which is relevant to the ozone-depletion problem and which involves a 'body force' circulation discussed by Eliassen (1951), is considered. The body force problem and its application to 'generic' upper-tropospheric wave-driving are discussed theoretically. Following a review of the interhemispheric differences in the winter and early-spring circulation, the elliptic equation governing the residual mean meridional streamfunction is derived, and its analytic-solution properties in negligible shear are discussed. Finally, a numerical solution is derived using the observed August winds under the assumption of radiative equilibrium, and the effect of diabatic heating is discussed.

Dunkerton, Timothy J.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Atmospheric general circulation and its low frequency variance - Radiative influences

The possible effects of radiation on the evolution of the atmosphere on time scales ranging from about a week to about 90 days are examined with reference to the available observational and modeling studies. The clear-sky and cloud radiative processes are shown to exert significant vertical, latitudinal, and longitudinal gradients in the diabatic heating within the troposphere and the stratosphere. The meridional heating gradient, which drives the general circulation, is altered significantly by clouds. The major conclusion of the study is that the observed negative anomalies in the outgoing IR radiation following intense warm episodes of tropicl sea-surface temperature (El Nino) are indeed anomalies in the cloud-radiative forcing.

Ramanathan, V.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Transport circulation deduced from SAMS trace species data

Three years of zonally averaged N2O and CH4 data from the SAMS instrument on Nimbus 7 are utilized to investigate the annual and semiannual cycles in long-lived tracer mixing ratios. The annual and semiannual variations are shown to be approximately antisymmetric and symmetric about the equator, respectively. Using the first three components of the annual cycle to estimate the time tendency, the tracer continuity equation is solved diagnostically to obtain the effective transport velocity (i.e., the meridional circulation that can produce the observed seasonal variations in the tracer fields). The resulting circulation is qualitatively in agreement with the diabatic circulations computed by other workers, but with equinoctial subsidence in the equatorial upper stratosphere.

Holton, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Transport into the south polar vortex in early spring

Estimates of the mean circulation and diffusive transport of ozone and other species into the Antarctic polar vortex during the spring of 1987 are made using data from the Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment. Measurements of long-lived tracers of tropospheric origin remained relatively constant at the levels of the maximum rate of decline of ozone during September. At lower levels in the stratosphere some evidence exists to support intrusions of tropospheric or low latitude air. Given the distribution in latitude and height of these tracers measured from the ER-2 aircraft, it can be inferred that the Lagrangian or diabatic mean circulation was zero or downward over Antarctica during the period of the ozone decline. The observation of a decline in ozone therefore requires a photochemical sink for ozone. The magnitude of the required photochemical sink must be sufficient to offset the transport of ozone into the polar region and produce the observed decline. Quasi-isentropic mixing and downward motion are coupled and are difficult to estimate from a single tracer. The full suite of measured tracers and auxiliary information are brought together to provide an estimate of the rate at which air is cycled through the polar vortex during spring. Estimates of large scale transport of potential vorticity and ozone from previous years are generally consistent with the data from the airborne experiment in suggesting a relatively slow rate of mass flow through the polar vortex in the lower stratosphere during September.

Hartmann, D.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Factors governing water condensation in the Martian atmosphere

Modeling results are presented suggesting a diurnal condensation cycle at high altitudes at some seasons and latitudes. In a previous paper, the use of atmospheric optical depth measurements at the Viking lander site to show diurnal variability of water condensation at different seasons of the Mars year was described. Factors influencing the amount of condensation include latitude, season, atmospheric dust content and water vapor content at the observation site. A one-dimensional radiative-convective model is used herein based on the diabatic heating routines under development for the Mars General Circulation Model. The model predicts atmospheric temperature profiles at any latitude, season, time of day and dust load. From these profiles and an estimate of the water vapor, one can estimate the maximum occurring at an early morning hour (AM) and the minimum in the late afternoon (PM). Measured variations in the atmospheric optical density between AM and PM measurements were interpreted as differences in AM and PM condensation.

Colburn, David S.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Flux of water vapor in the terrestrial stratosphere and in the Martian atmosphere

A summary of the terrestrial satellite data is presented. The observations indicate that at equatorial latitudes, relatively dry air is introduced at the tropopause and carried to the upper stratosphere. At that altitude, any methane present in the ascending air mass is oxidized photochemically into water vapor. This vapor is eventually transported to high latitudes, where it is carried to the lower stratosphere by the descending leg of the diabatic circulation. The Pressure Modulator Infrared Radiometer instrument aboard the Mars Observer should provide a comparable picture of vapor transport in the martian atmosphere.

Leovy, Conway↗
NASA NTRS1988

Full configuration-interaction study of the ionic-neutral curve crossing in LiF

Full configuration-interaction (FCI) calculations are used to assess the relative ability of methods for truncating the n-particle expansion in describing the ionic-neutral curve crossing between the two lowest Sigma(+) states of LiF. While the FCI calculations yield a smooth dipole moment function, MRCI calculations based on CASSCF orbitals optimized for the lowest state at all r values yield a discontinuous dipole moment function. However, when the orbitals are optimized using a state-averaged CASSCF procedure, with equal weights for the ionic and neutral solutions, both the CASSCF and MRCI dipole moment functions are smooth and in reasonable agreement with the FCI. No single-reference-based method is found to work satisfactorily. Potential curves for the lowest two Sigma(+) states are determined in both the adiabatic and diabatic representations using a large atomic natural orbit Gaussian basis set and a state-averaged CASSCF/MRCI treatment of electron correlation.

Bauschlicher, Charles W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Vertical profiles of heating derived from IR-based precipitation estimates during FGGE SOP-1

This paper examines a technique for retrieving from geostationary IR data the vertical profiles of heating and cooling due to moist diabatic processes. First, GOES IR imagery is used to estimate precipitation fields which are independent of fields inferred from residuals in heat budget analysis based on the FGGE level III-b data. Vertical distributions of the associated heating are then obtained using thermodynamic data from the level III-b analysis, one-dimensional cloud models, and the satellite-estimated precipitation. The technique was applied to infer heating in the South Pacific convergence zone during a portion of FGEE SOP-1, and the results were compared with heat-budget calculations made using the ECMWF analyses.

Robertson, Franklin R.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Integration of space and in situ observations to study global climate change

The use of model-based global data sets of atmospheric circulation for studying fundamental dynamical and physical processes is discussed, focusing on limitations of the available model-based data sets. Data from the Global Weather Experiment in 1979 were analyzed by two authorized level IIIb data centers in 1980 and in 1981. The analyses led to difference in data-sparse regions such as the tropics. Study areas which can be addressed by an internally-consistent long-term multivariate data set for the atmospheric circulation are considered, including mean climate, forcing for the ocean models, global hydrological cycle, atmospheric energetics, intraseasonal variability, land surface processes, and structure and variability of vertical velocity, divergence, and diabatic heating. It is concluded that the most comprehensive technique for integrating space and in situ observations to produce this type of data set would be a four-dimensional data assimilation system with a realistic physical model of the type employed in operational numerical weather prediction.

Bengtsson, L.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Zonally symmetric response to atmospheric tidal forcing in the dusty Martian atmosphere

The paper presents a steady state, zonally symmetric response of an atmospheric circulation to the combined effects of the very large zonal-mean diabatic heating and thermotidal forcing thought to exist in the dusty Martian atmosphere during one of its episodic global dust storms. The zonal-mean components of the tidal flux-convergences of momentum and heat are computed using an existing classical atmospheric tidal model constrained by the surface pressure observations at the two Viking Lander sites on Mars. A nearly inviscid two-dimensional model is used to compute the zonally symmetric response to the computed tidal flux-convergences and to the zonal-mean heating of the airborne dust. The results are compared with data from the Viking missions.

Zurek, Richard W.↗