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At least 217 records · Page 12

Creep-fatigue behavior of NiCoCrAlY coated PWA 1480 superalloy single crystals

Single crystal specimens of a Ni base superalloy, PWA 1480, with a low pressure plasma sprayed NiCoCrAlY coating were tested in various 0.1 Hz fatigue and creep fatigue cycles both at 1015 and 1050 C. Creep fatigue tests of the cp, pc, and cc types were conducted with various constant total strain ranges employing creep dwells at various constant stresses. Considerable cyclic softening occurred as was evidenced particularly by rapidly increasing creep rates in the creep fatigue tests. The cycle time in the creep fatigue tests typically decreased by more than 80 percent at 0.5 N sub f. Though cyclic life did correlate with delta epsilon sub in a better correlation existed with sub f for both the fatigue and creep fatigue tests, and poor correlations were observed with either sigma sub max or the average cycle time. A model containing both delta sigma and delta sigma (sub in), N sub f = alpha delta sigma (sub in) beta delta sigma gamma, with best fit values of sigma for each cycle type, but the same values of beta and gamam, was found to provide good correlations. Life lines were not greatly different among the cycle types, differing only by a factor of about three. The cp cycle life line was lowest for both test temperatures, however among the other three cycle types there was no consistent ranking. For all test types failure occurred predominately by multiple internal cracking originating at pores. The strong correlation of life with delta sigma may reflect a significant crack growth period in the life of the specimens.

Miner, R. V.↗

Creep-fatigue behavior of NiCoCrAlY coated PWA 1480 superalloy single crystals

Single crystal specimens of a Ni base superalloy, PWA 1480, with a low pressure plasma sprayed NiCoCrAlY coating were tested in various 0.1 Hz fatigue and creep fatigue cycles both at 1015 and 1050 C. Creep fatigue tests of the cp, pc, and cc types were conducted with various constant total strain ranges employing creep dwells at various constant stresses. Considerable cyclic softening occurred as was evidenced particularly by rapidly increasing creep rates in the creep fatigue tests. The cycle time in the creep fatigue tests typically decreased by more than 80 percent at 0.5 N sub f. Though cyclic life did correlate with delta epsilon sub in a better correlation existed with sub f for both the fatigue and creep fatigue tests, and poor correlations were observed with either sigma sub max or the average cycle time. A model containing both delta sigma and delta sigma (sub in), N sub f = alpha delta sigma (sub in) beta delta sigma gamma, with best fit values of sigma for each cycle type, but the same values of beta and gamam, was found to provide good correlations. Life lines were not greatly different among the cycle types, differing only by a factor of about three. The cp cycle life line was lowest for both test temperatures, however among the other three cycle types there was no consistent ranking. For all test types failure occurred predominately by multiple internal cracking originating at pores. The strong correlation of life with delta sigma may reflect a significant crack growth period in the life of the specimens.

Miner, R. V.↗

Relationships between pigment composition variation and reflectance for plant species from a coastal savannah in California

Advances in imaging spectroscopy have indicated that remotely sensed reflectance measurements of the plant canopy may be used to identify and qualify some classes of canopy biochemicals; however, the manner in which differences in biochemical compositions translate into differences is not well understood. Most frequently, multiple linear regression routines have been used to correlate narrow band reflectance values with measured biochemical concentrations. Although some success has been achieved with such methods for given data sets, the bands selected by multiple regression are not consistent between data sets, nor is it always clear what physical or biological basis underlies the correlation. To examine the relationship between biochemical concentration and leaf reflectance signal we chose to focus on the visible spectrum where the primary biochemical absorbances are due to photosynthetic pigments. Pigments provide a range of absorbance features, occur over a range of concentrations in natural samples, and are ecophysiologically important. Concentrations of chlorophyll, for example, have been strongly correlated to foliar nitrogen levels within a species and to photosynthetic capacity across many species. In addition pigments effectively absorb most of the photosynthetically active radiation between 400-700 nm, a spectral region for which silicon detectors have good signal/noise characteristics. Our strategy has been to sample a variety of naturally occurring species to measure leaf reflectance and pigment compositions. We hope to extend our understanding of pigment reflectance effects to interpret small overlapping absorbances of other biochemicals in the infrared region. For this reason, selected samples were also tested to determine total nitrogen, crude protein, cellulose, and lignin levels. Leaf reflectance spectra measured with AVIRIS bandwidths and wavelengths were compared between species and within species and for differences between seasons, for changes in the the shape of the spectra. We attempt to statistically correlate these shape changes with differences in pigment compositions. In parallel with our comparisons of pigment composition and leaf reflectance, we have modified the PROSPECT leaf reflectance model to test the contributions of pigments or pigment group concentrations. PROSPECT considers a leaf as a multi-layer dielectric plane with an uneven surface. Jacquemoud adapted the basic analysis of Allen for surface effects, a leaf thickness factor, and the absorption of water and chlorophyll (actually all pigments) and the plant matrix. Our modifications to PROSPECT in the forward direction include breaking out the pigment concentration parameter into separate components for chlorophyll a and b and a number of xanthophylls and carotenes, and introducing a shift and convolution function to model the spread and shift from their in vitro measurements to their in vivo state. Further, we have considered how the matrix elements (i.e., all biochemicals and structural effects not modeled explicity) vary with species.

Ustin, Susan L.↗

Influence of plumes from biomass burning on atmospheric chemistry over the equatorial and tropical South Atlantic during CITE 3

During all eight flights conducted over the equatorial and tropical South Atlantic in the course of the Chemical Instrumentation Test and Evaluation (CITE 3) experiment, we observed haze layers with elevated concentrations of aerosols, O3, CO, and other trace gases related to biomass burning emissions. They occurred at altitudes between 1000 and 5200 m and were usually only some 100-300 m thick. These layers extended horizontally over several 100 km and were marked by the presence of visible brownish haze. Air mass trajectories indicate that these layers originate in the biomass burning regions of Africa and South America and typically have aged at least 10 days since the time of emission. In the haze layers, O3 and CO concentrations up to 90 and 210 ppb were observed, respectively. The two species were highly correlated. The ratio concentrations in plume minus background concentrations of O3/CO is typically in the range 0.2-0.7, much higher than the ratios in the less aged plumes investigated previously in Amazonia. In most cases, aerosol (0.12-3 micrometer diameter) number concentrations were also elevated by up to 400/cu cm in the layers; aerosol enrichments were also strongly correlated with elevated CO levels. Clear correlations between CO and NO(x) enrichments were not apparent due to the age of the plumes, in which most NO(x) would have already reacted away within 1-2 days. Only in some of the plumes could clear correlations between NO(y) and CO be identified; the absence of a general correlation between NO(y) and CO may be due to instrumental limitations and to variable sinks for NO(y). The average enrichment of the ratio concentrations in plume minus background concentrations of NO(y)/CO was quite high, consistent with the efficient production of ozone observed in the plumes. The chemical characteristics of the haze layers, together with remote sensing information and trajectory calculations, suggest that fire emissions (in Africa and/or South America) are the primary source of the haze layer components.

Andreae, M. O.↗

A cheaper, faster, better way to detect water of hydration on Solar System bodies

The 3.0-micrometers water of hydration absorption feature observed in the IR photometry of many low-albedo and some medium-albedo asteroids strongly correlates with the 0.7-micrometers Fe(+2) to Fe(+3) oxidized iron absorption feature observed in narrowband spectrophotometry of these asteroids. Using this relationship, an empirical algorithm for predicting the presence of water of hydration in the surface material of a Solar System body using photometry obtained through the Eight-Color Asteroid Survey nu (0.550 micrometers), w (0.701 micrometers), and x (0.853 micrometers) filters was developed and applied to the ECAS photometry of asteroids and outer planet satellites. The percentage of objects in low-albedo, outer main-belt asteroid classes that test positively for water of hydration increases from P to B to C to G class and correlates linearly with the increasing mean albedos of those objects testing positively. The medium-albedo M-class asteroids do not test positively in large number using this algorithm. Aqueously altered asteroids dominate the Solar System population between heliocentric distances of 2.6 to 3.5 AU, bracketing the Solar System region where the aqueous alteration mechanism operated most strongly. One jovian satellite, J VI Himalia, and one saturnian satellite. Phoebe, tested positively for water of hydration, supporting the hypothesis that these may be captured C-class asteroids from a postaccretional dispersion. The proposed testing technique could be applied to an Earth-based survey of asteroids or a space-probe study of an asteroid's surface characteristic in order to identify a potential water source.

Vilas, Faith↗

Cross-polar cap potential drop and the energy coupling function

A numerical model is formulated for correlations between the cross polar cap potential, the solar wind, and the AI index and compared with satellite data. The conductivity model was devised from empirically defined relationships between the Hall and Pedersen conductivities and the measured magnitude of the horizontal magnetic disturbance near College, AK. An instantaneous conductivity distribution was generated from data gathered at, e.g., six IMS meridian chain stations. A strong correlation appeared between an energy coupling function (ECF) and the polar cap potential drop. The ECF was derived from the chain station data, implying that potential drop estimates can be made from ground-based magnetometer data.

Ahn, B.-H.↗

How Have Hydrological Extremes Changed Over the Past 20 Years?

Severe floods and droughts, including their back-to-back occurrences (weather whiplash), have been increasing in frequency and severity around the world. Improved understanding of systematic changes in hydrological extremes is essential for preparation and adaptation. In this study, we identified and quantified extreme wet and dry events globally by applying a clustering algorithm to terrestrial water storage (TWS) data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and GRACE Follow-On (FO). The most intense events, ranked using an intensity metric, often reflect impacts of large-scale oceanic oscillations such as El Niño–Southern Oscillation and consequences of climate change. The severity of both wet and dry events, represented by standardized TWS anomalies, increased significantly in most cases, likely associated with intensification of wet and dry weather regimes in a warmer world, and consequently, exhibited strongest correlation with global temperature. In the Dry climate, the number of wet events decreased while the number of dry events increased significantly, suggesting a drying trend that may be attributed to climate variability and possible increases in irrigation and reliance on groundwater. In the Continental climate where temperature has risen faster than global average, dry events increased significantly. Characteristics of extreme events often showed strong correlations with global temperature, especially when averaged over all climates. These results suggest changes in hydrological extremes and underscore the importance of quantifying total water storage changes when studying hydrological extremes. Extending the GRACE/FO record, which spans 2002 to the present, is essential to continuously tracking changes in TWS and hydrological extremes.

Bailing Li↗

El Nino-Southern Oscillation Correlated Aerosol Angstrom Exponent Anomaly Over the Tropical Pacific Discovered in Satellite Measurements

El Nino.Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the dominant mode of interannual variability in the tropical atmosphere. ENSO could potentially impact local and global aerosol properties through atmospheric circulation anomalies and teleconnections. By analyzing aerosol properties, including aerosol optical depth (AOD) and Angstrom exponent (AE; often used as a qualitative indicator of aerosol particle size) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer, the Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer and the Sea ]viewing Wide Field ]of ]view Sensor for the period 2000.2011, we find a strong correlation between the AE data and the multivariate ENSO index (MEI) over the tropical Pacific. Over the western tropical Pacific (WTP), AE increases during El Nino events and decreases during La Nina events, while the opposite is true over the eastern tropical Pacific (ETP). The difference between AE anomalies in the WTP and ETP has a higher correlation coefficient (>0.7) with the MEI than the individual time series and could be considered another type of ENSO index. As no significant ENSO correlation is found in AOD over the same region, the change in AE (and hence aerosol size) is likely to be associated with aerosol composition changes due to anomalous meteorological conditions induced by the ENSO. Several physical parameters or mechanisms that might be responsible for the correlation are discussed. Preliminary analysis indicates surface wind anomaly might be the major contributor, as it reduces sea ]salt production and aerosol transport during El Nino events. Precipitation and cloud fraction are also found to be correlated with tropical Pacific AE. Possible mechanisms, including wet removal and cloud shielding effects, are considered. Variations in relative humidity, tropospheric ozone concentration, and ocean color during El Nino have been ruled out. Further investigation is needed to fully understand this AE ]ENSO covariability and the underlying physical processes responsible for it.

Li, Jing↗

Observed Correlation Between Local Topography and Passive Neutron Measurements from the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) Instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover

The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover primarily measures neutrons that have undergone interactions with rocks and materials in the rover's local environment. As the rover ascends Aeolis Mons, it may encounter more extreme local topography (e.g., cliffs, gullies, canyons). We present three parts of the rover's traverse in which local topography, expressed as the average local relief relative to the rover, is moderately to strongly correlated with an increase in passive thermal neutron count rates. These increases in count rates are consistent with results from radiation transport models of the instrument's performance near simulated topographic features. Additional DAN measurements in areas of high average local relief (>0.25 m) within 5 m of the instrument could bolster this correlation. DAN's sensitivity to topography in its passive mode could be utilized as a new measurement capability and has implications for the operation of future landed missions carrying neutron spectrometers (e.g., VIPER, MoonRanger, Lunar-VISE).

Steven D Dibb↗

A quantitative comparison of simultaneous BOLD fMRI and NIRS recordings during functional brain activation

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been used to noninvasively monitor adult human brain function in a wide variety of tasks. While rough spatial correspondences with maps generated from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have been found in such experiments, the amplitude correspondences between the two recording modalities have not been fully characterized. To do so, we simultaneously acquired NIRS and blood-oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI data and compared Delta(1/BOLD) (approximately R(2)(*)) to changes in oxyhemoglobin, deoxyhemoglobin, and total hemoglobin concentrations derived from the NIRS data from subjects performing a simple motor task. We expected the correlation with deoxyhemoglobin to be strongest, due to the causal relation between changes in deoxyhemoglobin concentrations and BOLD signal. Instead we found highly variable correlations, suggesting the need to account for individual subject differences in our NIRS calculations. We argue that the variability resulted from systematic errors associated with each of the signals, including: (1) partial volume errors due to focal concentration changes, (2) wavelength dependence of this partial volume effect, (3) tissue model errors, and (4) possible spatial incongruence between oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin concentration changes. After such effects were accounted for, strong correlations were found between fMRI changes and all optical measures, with oxyhemoglobin providing the strongest correlation. Importantly, this finding held even when including scalp, skull, and inactive brain tissue in the average BOLD signal. This may reflect, at least in part, the superior contrast-to-noise ratio for oxyhemoglobin relative to deoxyhemoglobin (from optical measurements), rather than physiology related to BOLD signal interpretation.

Non-NASA Center↗

Algorithm Development and Validation of CDOM Properties for Estuarine and Continental Shelf Waters Along the Northeastern U.S. Coast

An extensive set of field measurements have been collected throughout the continental margin of the northeastern U.S. from 2004 to 2011 to develop and validate ocean color satellite algorithms for the retrieval of the absorption coefficient of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (aCDOM) and CDOM spectral slopes for the 275:295 nm and 300:600 nm spectral range (S275:295 and S300:600). Remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) measurements computed from in-water radiometry profiles along with aCDOM() data are applied to develop several types of algorithms for the SeaWiFS and MODIS-Aqua ocean color satellite sensors, which involve least squares linear regression of aCDOM() with (1) Rrs band ratios, (2) quasi-analytical algorithm-based (QAA based) products of total absorption coefficients, (3) multiple Rrs bands within a multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis, and (4) diffuse attenuation coefficient (Kd). The relative error (mean absolute percent difference; MAPD) for the MLR retrievals of aCDOM(275), aCDOM(355), aCDOM(380), aCDOM(412) and aCDOM(443) for our study region range from 20.4-23.9 for MODIS-Aqua and 27.3-30 for SeaWiFS. Because of the narrower range of CDOM spectral slope values, the MAPD for the MLR S275:295 and QAA-based S300:600 algorithms are much lower ranging from 9.9 and 8.3 for SeaWiFS, respectively, and 8.7 and 6.3 for MODIS, respectively. Seasonal and spatial MODIS-Aqua and SeaWiFS distributions of aCDOM, S275:295 and S300:600 processed with these algorithms are consistent with field measurements and the processes that impact CDOM levels along the continental shelf of the northeastern U.S. Several satellite data processing factors correlate with higher uncertainty in satellite retrievals of aCDOM, S275:295 and S300:600 within the coastal ocean, including solar zenith angle, sensor viewing angle, and atmospheric products applied for atmospheric corrections. Algorithms that include ultraviolet Rrs bands provide a better fit to field measurements than algorithms without the ultraviolet Rrs bands. This suggests that satellite sensors with ultraviolet capability could provide better retrievals of CDOM. Because of the strong correlations between CDOM parameters and DOM constituents in the coastal ocean, satellite observations of CDOM parameters can be applied to study the distributions, sources and sinks of DOM, which are relevant for understanding the carbon cycle, modeling the Earth system, and to discern how the Earth is changing.

CDOM Properties↗

Long-term ozone and temperature correlations above SANAE, Antarctica

A significant decline in Antarctic total column ozone and upper air temperatures has been observed in recent years. Furthermore, high correlations between monthly mean values of ozone and stratospheric temperature have been measured above Syowa, Antarctica. For the observations reported here, data from TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) aboard the Nimbus 7 satellite have been used to examine the 1980 to 1990 decrease in total column ozone above the South African Antarctic base of SANAE (70 deg 18 min S, 2 deg 21 min W). The cooling of the Antarctic stratosphere above SANAE during this period has been investigated by examining upper air temperatures at the 150, 100, 70, 50, and 30 hPa levels obtained from daily radiosonde balloon launches. Furthermore, these two data sets have been used to examine long-term, medium-term, and short-term correlations between total column ozone and the temperatures at each of the five levels. The trend in SANAE total column ozone has been found to be -4.9 DU/year, while upper air temperatures have been found to decrease at around 0.3 C/year. An analysis of monthly average SANAE total column ozone has shown the decrease to be most severe during the month of September with a trend of -7.7 DU/year. A strong correlation (r(exp 2) = 0.92) has been found between yearly average total column ozone and temperature at the 100 hPa level. Daily ozone and temperature correlations show high values from September to November, at a time when the polar vortex is breaking down.

Bodeker, Gregory E.↗

Flow-aligned jets in the magnetospheric cusp: Results from the Geospace Environment Modeling Pilot program

The extended flight of the Airborne Ionospheric Observatory during the Geospace Environment Modeling (GEM) Pilot program on January 16, 1990, allowed continuous all-sky monitoring of the two-dimensional ionospheric footprint of the northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) cusp in several wavelengths. Especially important in determining the locus of magnetosheath electron precipitation was the 630.0-nm red line emission. The most striking morphological change in the images was the transient appearance of zonally elongated regions of enhanced 630.0-nm emission which resembled 'rays' emanating from the centroid of the precipitation. The appearance of these rays was strongly correlated with the Y component of the IMF: when the magnitude of B(sub y) was large compared to B(sub z), the rays appeared; otherwise, the distribution was relatively unstructured. Late in the flight the field of view of the imager included the field of view of flow measurements from the European incoherent scatter radar (EISCAT). The rays visible in 630.0-nm emission exactly aligned with the position of strong flow jets observed by EISCAT. We attribute this correspondence to the requirement of quasi-neutrality; namely, the soft electrons have their largest precipitating fluxes where the bulk of the ions precipitate. The ions, in regions of strong convective flow, are spread out farther along the flow path than in regions of weaker flow. The occurrence and direction of these flow bursts are controlled by the IMF in a manner consistent with newly opened flux tubes; i.e., when absolute value of B(sub y) greater than absolute value of B(sub z), tension in the reconnected field lines produce east-west flow regions downstream of the ionospheric projection of the x line. We interpret the optical rays (flow bursts), which typically last between 5 and 15 min, as evidence of periods of enhanced dayside (or lobe) reconnection when absolute value of B(sub y) greater than absolute value of B(sub z). The length of the reconnection pulse is difficult to determine, however, since strong zonal flows would be expected to persist until the tension force in the field line has decayed, even if the duration of the enhanced reconnection was relatively short.

Weiss, L. A.↗

Snow Cover, Snowmelt Timing and Stream Power in the Wind River Range, Wyoming

Earlier onset of springtime weather, including earlier snowmelt, has been documented in the western United States over at least the last 50 years. Because the majority (is greater than 70%) of the water supply in the western U.S. comes from snowmelt, analysis of the declining spring snowpack (and shrinking glaciers) has important implications for the management of streamflow. The amount of water in a snowpack influences stream discharge which can also influence erosion and sediment transport by changing stream power, or the rate at which a stream can do work, such as move sediment and erode the stream bed. The focus of this work is the Wind River Range (WRR) in west-central Wyoming. Ten years of Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) snow-cover, cloud-gap-filled (CGF) map products and 30 years of discharge and meteorological station data are studied. Streamflow data from streams in WRR drainage basins show lower annual discharge and earlier snowmelt in the decade of the 2000s than in the previous three decades, though no trend of either lower streamflow or earlier snowmelt was observed within the decade of the 2000s. Results show a statistically-significant trend at the 95% confidence level (or higher) of increasing weekly maximum air temperature (for three out of the five meteorological stations studied) in the decade of the 1970s, and also for the 40-year study period as a whole. The extent of snow-cover (percent of basin covered) derived from the lowest elevation zone (2500-3000 m) of the WRR, using MODIS CGF snow-cover maps, is strongly correlated with maximum monthly discharge on 30 April, where Spearman's Rank correlation, rs,=0.89 for the decade of the 2000s. We also investigated stream power for Bull Lake Creek above Bull Lake; and found a trend (significant at the 90% confidence level) toward reduced stream power from 1970 to 2009. Observed changes in streamflow and stream power may be related to increasing weekly maximum air temperature measured during the 40-year study period, possibly contributing to a reduction in snow cover. In addition, the strong relationship between percent of basin that was snow covered, and maximum monthly streamflow indicates that MODIS snow-cover maps are useful for predicting streamflow, and can be used to improve management of water resources in the drought-prone western United States.

MODIS↗

TRMM-TMI Satellite Observed Soil Moisture and Vegetation Density (1998-2005) Show Strong Connection with El Nino in Eastern Australia

Spatiotemporal patterns in soil moisture and vegetation water content across mainland Australia were investigated from 1998 through 2005, using TRMMITMI passive microwave observations. The Empirical Orthogonal Function technique was used to extract dominant spatial and temporal patterns in retrieved estimates of moisture content for the top 1-cm of soil (theta) and vegetation moisture content (via optical depth tau). The dominant temporal theta and tau patterns were strongly correlated to El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in spring (3 = 0.90), and to a progressively lesser extent autumn, summer and winter. The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) index also explained part of the variation in spring 8 and z. Cluster analysis suggested that the regions most affected by ENS0 are mainly located in eastern Australia. The results suggest that the drought conditions experienced in eastern Australia since 2000 an clearly expressed in these satellite observations have a strong connection with ENSO patterns.

Liu, Yi↗

Photoelectric spectrophotometry of radio galaxies

The absolute energy distributions from 3200 to 10,000 A of 26 3CR radio galaxies are determined on the basis of spectrophotometric observations with the multichannel spectrometer of the Hale 5-m telescope. It is found that there is a continuous range of emission-line characteristics and UV excess in the sample and that a strong correlation exists between the nonthermal component luminosity and hydrogen emission, which favors the hypothesis that direct photoionization by the nuclear radiation is responsible for the emission lines observed. Calculations are performed which show that in almost all cases the power-law component model provides sufficient UV photons to produce the observed H-beta line. Indications are obtained that the optical nuclear component is related to the radio emission in some complex manner and that strong radio galaxies tend to be accompanied by UV excess and emission lines.

Yee, H. K. C.↗

Far-infrared observations of galactic nuclei

Measurements of far-infrared continuum emission from the central regions of 30 late-type galaxies, 24 of which were previously unreported, are given. Photometry covering wavelengths from 40 to 160 microns has been obtained, yielding information on luminosities, temperatures, and dust masses for most. Good correlations of the far-infrared luminosity with blue colors, reddening, and molecular line radiation are found, supporting the identification of the sources with the molecular cloud component in these galaxies, and strengthening the identification of the energy sources as the young massive stars formed from those clouds. Comparisons with 10-micron data indicate that such data are useful for statistical studies, but have too much scatter to use directly in the analysis of individual sources. Strong correlation with nonthermal radio continuum emission and radio-to-optical flux ratios suggest that massive star formation underlies a wide range of galactic activity.

Rickard, L. J.↗

On the Relationship Between the Brewer-Dobson Circulation and the Southern Annular Mode During Austral Summer in Couple Chemistry-Climate Model Simulations

The Brewer-Dobson circulation (BDC) is the mean transport circulation in the stratosphere. It consists of an upwelling branch in the tropics, poleward flows from the tropics to the extratropics, and downward flows in the extratropics. The BDC plays a crucial role in the distribution of important stratospheric trace gases, such as ozone and water vapor. Therefore changes in the strength of the BDC under global warming could have significant impact on stratospheric ozone depletion and recovery. For example, all climate models that are used by the World Meteorological Organization to predict ozone evolution in the 21 st century project a strengthening of the BDC that leads to ozone superrecovery in the mid-latitudes. On the other hand, ozone changes could also affect the strength of the BDC. This work investigates an outstanding question: whether and how changes in the Brewer-Dobson circulation are connected to climate change in the troposphere, in particular, the annular modes. The annular modes are the leading variability in the extratropical troposphere, which describes a seesaw pattern of circulation fluctuations between the polar and middle latitudes. Using simulations from the Goddard Earth Observing System Coupled Chemistry Climate Model (GEOS CCM), we found the strengthening of the BDC in the summer Southern Hemisphere is strongly correlated with a shift of the Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode (SAM) toward its positive phase for the last 4 decades of the 20th century. This relationship is only present in model runs that simulate the stratospheric ozone depletion. Therefore it is concluded that the BDC-SAM relationship is driven by Antarctic ozone depletion. The ozone hole significantly cools the Antarctic stratosphere in late spring/early summer, which leads to a delayed breakdown of the polar vortex: strong circumpolar eastward flows that usually shift to westward winds in late spring. The prolonged persistence of stratospheric eastward flow enhances upward propagation of tropospheric waves into the stratosphere and strengthens the BDC. The increased wave flux in the stratosphere in turn drives a SAM trend toward its positive phase. Our results also show that the BDC-SAM relationship is robust on the interannual timescale

Li, Feng↗