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Interaction of oxygen atoms with solid surfaces for interpretation of mass spectrometer signals to determine composition of upper atmosphere
An active experiment for the study of wave particle interaction in the presence of a perpendicular beam type distribution is considered. The experiment involves the injection of a beam perpendicular to the magnetic field. Beam parameters can then be varied while local plasma parameters and associated wave phenomena are measured. Such an experiment was conducted as part of the Porcupine project. The present investigation has the objective to explain theoretically and by means of plasma particle simulations, some of the wave observations obtained. In the experiment, a main rocket payload and four subpayloads were employed. The subpayloads were ejected radially in different directions at an altitude of 240 km. One of the spinning subpayloads contained a plasma gun which emitted a beam of 200 eV xenon ions toward the main payload. The data recorded on the main payload revealed the existence of electrostatic waves with peaks at hydrogen gyroharmonics. A series of computer simulations approximating the xenon experiment was performed. The interpretation of the data is discussed.
The role of streamwise-spanwise vorticity interactions that occur in turbulent shear flows on flame/vortex interactions is examined by means of asymptotic analysis and numerical simulation in the limit of small Mach number. An idealized model is employed to describe the interaction process. The model consists of a one-step, irreversible Arrhenius reaction between initially unmixed species occupying adjacent half-planes which are then allowed to mix and react in the presence of a streamwise vortex embedded in a shear flow. It is found that the interaction of the streamwise vortex with shear gives rise to small-scale velocity oscillations which increase in magnitude with shear strength. These oscillations give rise to regions of strong temperature gradients via viscous heating, which can lead to multiple ignition points and substantially decrease ignition times. The evolution in time of the temperature and mass-fraction fields is followed, and emphasis is placed on the ignition time and structure as a function of vortex and shear strength.
The state of the art in multidimensional combustor modeling as evidenced by the level of sophistication employed in terms of modeling and numerical accuracy considerations, is also dictated by the available computer memory and turnaround times afforded by present-day computers. With the aim of advancing the current multi-dimensional computational tools used in the design of advanced technology combustors, a solution procedure is developed that combines the novelty of the coupled CFD/spray/scalar Monte Carlo PDF (Probability Density Function) computations on unstructured grids with the ability to run on parallel architectures. In this approach, the mean gas-phase velocity and turbulence fields are determined from a standard turbulence model, the joint composition of species and enthalpy from the solution of a modeled PDF transport equation, and a Lagrangian-based dilute spray model is used for the liquid-phase representation. The gas-turbine combustor flows are often characterized by a complex interaction between various physical processes associated with the interaction between the liquid and gas phases, droplet vaporization, turbulent mixing, heat release associated with chemical kinetics, radiative heat transfer associated with highly absorbing and radiating species, among others. The rate controlling processes often interact with each other at various disparate time 1 and length scales. In particular, turbulence plays an important role in determining the rates of mass and heat transfer, chemical reactions, and liquid phase evaporation in many practical combustion devices.
We present a validation of the Aeroplanets/Aerochemistry model (Gronoff et al. 2012; Airapetian et al. 2016), a one-dimensional photochemistry model, with another one-dimensional photochemistry model implemented in Hu et al. 2016. Results from a simulation of the atmosphere of present-day Earth from both models were used in the validation. Realistic initial conditions and concentrations were used in the validation, including surface emissions of CO, CH4, NH3, N2O, NO, SO2, OCS, H2S, and H2SO4. As part of the validation, we compare the vertical profile of concentration of key chemical species, including O3, N2O, NO, NO2, HNO3, HO2, OH, and CH4. Our model was able to create vertical concentration profiles of these species that closely matched the results from Hu et al. 2016. With the successful validation, we plan to use the Aeroplanets model to explore the role of ions and aerosols, formed the interaction of solar energetic particles and the atmosphere of early Earth, in generating key greenhouse gas species and gas species that support the formation of molecules crucial for life.
An approximate technique for diurnally time-averaging atmospheric photochemical-dynamical models which eliminates the need for a detailed numerical resolution of sunrise and sunset transitions is developed. The scheme is equivalent to scaling certain chemical rate constants and photodissociation coefficients by appropriate aeronomical factors. To calculate the scaling factors, diurnal variations are parameterized with a step-function behavior, assuming that each species has a constant day-time and night-time concentration whose ratio can be determined by analyzing the chemical interactions occurring after sunset. The solution accounts for the effects of night-time reactions on the 24 h average values of species abundances, and on the average daily rates of the catalytic processes consuming ozone in the stratosphere. The accuracy of the technique is demonstrated by comparing its predictions to those of a full diurnal simulation; typically, the precision is better than 10%. By contrast, it is shown that the use of some other well-known computational schemes can result in significantly larger predictive errors.
A new solution procedure has been developed to analyze the flowfield properties in the vicinity of the Inertial Upper Stage/Spacecraft during the 1st stage (SRMI) burn. Continuum methods are used to compute the nozzle flow and the exhaust plume flowfield as far as the boundary where the breakdown of translational equilibrium leaves these methods invalid. The Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method is applied everywhere beyond this breakdown boundary. The flowfield distributions of density, velocity, temperature, relative abundance, surface flux density, and pressure are discussed for each species for 2 sets of boundary conditions: vacuum and freestream. The interaction of the exhaust plume and the freestream with the spacecraft and the 2-stream direct interaction are discussed. The results show that the low density, high velocity, counter flowing free-stream substantially modifies the flowfield properties and the flux density incident on the spacecraft. A freestream bow shock is observed in the data, located forward of the high density region of the exhaust plume into which the freestream gas does not penetrate. The total flux density incident on the spacecraft, integrated over the SRM1 burn interval is estimated to be of the order of 10 to the 22nd per sq m (about 1000 atomic layers).
When a ceramic is brought into contact with a ceramic, a polymer, or a metal, strong bond forces can develop between the materials. The bonding forces will depend upon the state of the surfaces, cleanliness and the fundamental properties of the two solids, both surface and bulk. Adhesion between a ceramic and another solid are discussed from a theoretical consideration of the nature of the surfaces and experimentally by relating bond forces to interface resulting from solid state contact. Surface properties of ceramics correlated with adhesion include, orientation, reconstruction and diffusion as well as the chemistry of the surface specie. Where a ceramic is in contact with a metal their interactive chemistry and bond strength is considered. Bulk properties examined include elastic and plastic behavior in the surficial regions, cohesive binding energies, crystal structures and crystallographic orientation. Materials examined with respect to interfacial adhesive interactions include silicon carbide, nickel zinc ferrite, manganese zinc ferrite, and aluminum oxide. The surfaces of the contacting solids are studied both in the atomic or molecularly clean state and in the presence of selected surface contaminants.
When a ceramic is brought into contact with a ceramic, a polymer, or a metal, strong bond forces can develop between the materials. The bonding forces will depend upon the state of the surfaces, cleanliness and the fundamental properties of the two solids, both surface and bulk. Adhesion between a ceramic and another solid are discussed from a theoretical consideration of the nature of the surfaces and experimentally by relating bond forces to interface resulting from solid state contact. Surface properties of ceramics correlated with adhesion include, orientation, reconstruction and diffusion as well as the chemistry of the surface specie. Where a ceramic is in contact with a metal their interactive chemistry and bond strength is considered. Bulk properties examined include elastic and plastic behavior in the surficial regions, cohesive binding energies, crystal structures and crystallographic orientation. Materials examined with respect to interfacial adhesive interactions include silicon carbide, nickel zinc ferrite, manganese zinc ferrite, and aluminum oxide. The surfaces of the contacting solids are studied both in the atomic or molecularly clean state and in the presence of selected surface contaminants.
A maximum a posteriori Bayesian classifier for multifrequency polarimetric SAR data is used to perform a supervised classification of forest types in the floodplains of Alaska. The image classes include white spruce, balsam poplar, black spruce, alder, non-forests, and open water. The authors investigate the effect on classification accuracy of changing environmental conditions, and of frequency and polarization of the signal. The highest classification accuracy (86 percent correctly classified forest pixels, and 91 percent overall) is obtained combining L- and C-band frequencies fully polarimetric on a date where the forest is just recovering from flooding. The forest map compares favorably with a vegetation map assembled from digitized aerial photos which took five years for completion, and address the state of the forest in 1978, ignoring subsequent fires, changes in the course of the river, clear-cutting of trees, and tree growth. HV-polarization is the most useful polarization at L- and C-band for classification. C-band VV (ERS-1 mode) and L-band HH (J-ERS-1 mode) alone or combined yield unsatisfactory classification accuracies. Additional data acquired in the winter season during thawed and frozen days yield classification accuracies respectively 20 percent and 30 percent lower due to a greater confusion between conifers and deciduous trees. Data acquired at the peak of flooding in May 1991 also yield classification accuracies 10 percent lower because of dominant trunk-ground interactions which mask out finer differences in radar backscatter between tree species. Combination of several of these dates does not improve classification accuracy. For comparison, panchromatic optical data acquired by SPOT in the summer season of 1991 are used to classify the same area. The classification accuracy (78 percent for the forest types and 90 percent if open water is included) is lower than that obtained with AIRSAR although conifers and deciduous trees are better separated due to the presence of leaves on the deciduous trees. Optical data do not separate black spruce and white spruce as well as SAR data, cannot separate alder from balsam poplar, and are of course limited by the frequent cloud cover in the polar regions. Yet, combining SPOT and AIRSAR offers better chances to identify vegetation types independent of ground truth information using a combination of NDVI indexes from SPOT, biomass numbers from AIRSAR, and a segmentation map from either one.
The photoreactions of halorhodopsin are complicated by the fact that the parent pigment and its photoproducts interact with chloride. Thus, in any photoreaction scheme at least four species have to be accounted for: HR565 and HR578 Cl-, as well as HR640 and HR520 Cl-. A photocycle scheme proposed earlier places the two main photointermediates of halorhodopsin, HR520 Cl- and HR640, into a single photocycle, with a chloride-dependent equilibrium between them [Oesterhelt, D., Hegemann, P., & Tittor, J. (1985) EMBO J. 4, 2351-2356]. This scheme, with the additional feature of direct photoproduction of HR640 from HR565, was tested in this work by using numerical solutions of the appropriate differential equations to simulate flash-induced absorption changes at 500 nm (production of HR520 Cl-) and at 660 nm (production of HR640). The time scale of the simulation was ms following the flash. Comparison of the simulated curves with experimental traces yielded a unique set of three rate constants. The proposed photocycle scheme and these rate constants predict well the shapes and amplitudes of flash traces at various chloride concentrations. It appears from the photocycle scheme, and the numerical values of rate constants, that chloride is bound with high affinity to the parent halorhodopsin molecule, but with much lower affinity to its main photointermediate. This may be the consequence of the fact that in the parent halorhodopsin in the retinal configuration is all-trans, but in the two photointermediates it is 13-cis.
A systematic survey of 57 different paragenetic modes distributed among 5659 mineral species reveals patterns in the diversity and distribution of minerals related to their evolving formational environments. The earliest minerals in stellar, nebular, asteroid, and primitive Earth contexts were dominated by relatively abundant chemical elements, notably H, C, O, Mg, Al, Si, S, Ca, Ti, Cr, and Fe. Significant mineral diversification subsequently occurred via two main processes, first through gradual selection and concentration of rarer elements by fluid-rock interactions (for example, in hydrothermal metal deposits, complex granite pegmatites, and agpaitic rocks), and then through near-surface biologically mediated oxidation and weathering. We find that 3349 mineral species (59.2%) are known from only one paragenetic context, whereas another 1372 species (24.2%) are associated with two paragenetic modes. Among the most genetically varied minerals are pyrite, albite, hornblende, corundum, magnetite, calcite, hematite, rutile, and baryte, each with 15 or more known modes of formation. Among the most common paragenetic modes of minerals are near-surface weathering/oxidation (1998 species), subsurface hydrothermal deposition (859 species), and condensation at volcanic fumaroles (459 species). In addition, many species are associated with compositionally extreme environments of highly differentiated igneous lithologies, including agpaitic rocks (726 species), complex granite pegmatites (564 species), and carbonatites and related carbonate-bearing magmas (291 species). Biological processes lead to at least 2707 mineral species, primarily as a consequence of oxidative weathering but also through coal-related and other taphonomic minerals (597 species), as well as anthropogenic minerals, for example as byproducts of mining (603 minerals). However, contrary to previous estimates, we find that only ~34% of mineral species form exclusively as a consequence of biological processes. By far the most significant factor in enhancing Earth’s mineral diversity has been its dynamic hydrological cycle. At least 4583 minerals—81% of all species—arise through water-rock interactions. A timeline for mineral-forming events suggests that much of Earth’s mineral diversity was established within the first 250 million years. If life is rare in the universe, then this view of a mineralogically diverse early Earth provides many more plausible reactive pathways over a longer timespan than previous models. If, however, life is a cosmic imperative that emerges on any mineral- and water-rich world, then these findings support the hypothesis that life on Earth developed rapidly in the early stages of planetary evolution
Summary: Ultracold atomic gases provide a unique tool for exploring the quantum nature of matter and for probing the foundations of modern physics. Researchers with NASA’s Cold Atom Lab (CAL) have now simultaneously produced gases of two atomic species (rubidium and potassium) in a uniquely quantum (wave-like) phase of matter called a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) for the first time in space. CAL scientists are using the unique micro gravity environment onboard the International Space Station to study interactions, molecule formation, and the emergence of structure and complexity in these coexisting dual-species gases at unprecedented low temperatures, for long times in free fall, and specifically in the absence of the perturbing force of gravity.
Reaction kinetics associated with oxygen atoms interaction with platinum foil under simulated upper atmosphere conditions
A computationally-viable model describing the interaction between fluid-mechanical turbulence and finite-rate combustion reactions, principally in high-speed flows was developed. Chemical kinetic mechanisms, complete and global, were developed describing the finite rate reaction of fuels of interest to NASA. These fuels included principally hydrogen and silane, although a limited amount of work involved hydrocarbon fuels as well.
The case of a chemically unreactive species flowing downward through the stratosphere and troposphere with a constant flux is presently treated by a one-dimensional Jovian atmosphere model which encompasses the coupling between a rapidly mixed troposphere and a stagnant stratosphere, so that the contrast between the peak stratosphere and tropopause concentrations is reflective of the variation between the lower stratosphere and upper troposphere eddy diffusion coefficients. Numerical simulations of unreactive CO and C2H6 species indicate that upper troposphere abundances may possess a substantial photochemical contribution. The implications of these modeling results for higher spectral resolution observations are noted.
Possible interactions among drugs contemplated for use during manned spaceflights have been studied in several animal species. The following seven drugs were investigated: nitrofurantoin, chloral hydrate, hexobarbital, phenobarbital, flurazepam, diphenoxylate, and phenazopyridine. Particular combinations included: chloral hydrate, hexobarbital or flurazepam with nitrofurantoin; phenobarbital or flurazepam with phenazopyridine; and diphenoxylate with two dose formulations of nitrofurantoin. The mechanism of action and an explanation of the interaction between diphenoxylate and nitrofurantoin still remains unclear. In man, the interaction does not appear to be significant, affecting only two subjects out of six and with only one dose formulation (Furadantin).
The two-dimensional, elliptic Navier-Stokes equations are used to investigate supersonic flows with nonequilibrium chemistry and thermodynamics, coupled with radiation, for hydrogen-air systems. The chemistry source term in the species equation is treated implicitly to alleviate the stiffness associated with fast reactions. The explicit, unsplit MacCormack finite-difference scheme is used to advance the governing equations in time, until convergence is achieved. The specific problem considered is the premixed, expanding flow in a supersonic nozzle. The reacting flow consists of seven species, one of which is the inert N2 molecule. The thermal state of the gas is modeled with one translational-rotational temperature and five vibrational temperatures. The harmonic oscillator model is used in the formulation for vibrational relaxation. The tangent slab approximation is used in the radiative flux formulation. A pseudo-gray model is used to represent the absorption-emission characteristics of the participating species. Results obtained for specific conditions indicate the presence of nonequilibrium in the expansion region. This reduces the radiative interactions and can have a significant influence on the flowfield.