Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “timescale”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 235 records · Page 13
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1995

Decadal variability of the Tropical Atlantic Ocean Surface Temperature in shipboard measurements and in a Global Ocean-Atmosphere model

Sea surface temperature (SST) variability was investigated in a 200-yr integration of a global model of the coupled oceanic and atmospheric general circulations developed at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL). The second 100 yr of SST in the coupled model's tropical Atlantic region were analyzed with a variety of techniques. Analyses of SST time series, averaged over approximately the same subregions as the Global Ocean Surface Temperature Atlas (GOSTA) time series, showed that the GFDL SST anomalies also undergo pronounced quasi-oscillatory decadal and multidecadal variability but at somewhat shorter timescales than the GOSTA SST anomalies. Further analyses of the horizontal structures of the decadal timescale variability in the GFDL coupled model showed the existence of two types of variability in general agreement with results of the GOSTA SST time series analyses. One type, characterized by timescales between 8 and 11 yr, has high spatial coherence within each hemisphere but not between the two hemispheres of the tropical Atlantic. A second type, characterized by timescales between 12 and 20 yr, has high spatial coherence between the two hemispheres. The second type of variability is considerably weaker than the first. As in the GOSTA time series, the multidecadal variability in the GFDL SST time series has approximately opposite phases between the tropical North and South Atlantic Oceans. Empirical orthogonal function analyses of the tropical Atlantic SST anomalies revealed a north-south bipolar pattern as the dominant pattern of decadal variability. It is suggested that the bipolar pattern can be interpreted as decadal variability of the interhemispheric gradient of SST anomalies. The decadal and multidecadal timescale variability of the tropical Atlantic SST, both in the actual and in the GFDL model, stands out significantly above the background 'red noise' and is coherent within each of the time series, suggesting that specific sets of processes may be responsible for the choice of the decadal and multidecadal timescales. Finally, it must be emphasized that the GFDL coupled ocean-atmosphere model generates the decadal and multidecadal timescale variability without any externally applied force, solar or lunar, at those timescales.

Mehta, Vikram M.↗
NASA NTRS2018

The Impact of Stellar Variability on the Detection of Transiting Earth-like Planets

Stellar variability represents a key limitation on the detectability of weak transit signatures of small, Earth-size planets with space-based missions such as NASA's Kepler Mission or ESA's PLATO Mission. The expectations for the performance of the Kepler Mission in the face of solar-like variability were predicated on observations of the Sun with the Variability of Solar Irradiance and Gravity Oscillations (VIRGO) instrument aboard NASA and ESA's joint Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission, which was launched in December 1995. Analyses of SOHO data indicated that solar-like variability would contribute approx.10 ppm to Kepler's noise budget at 6.5 ours, a typical grazing transit timescale. This proved to be optimistic as the typical 12th mag G2V star in the Kepler field of view exhibited 20 ppm of stellar variability-related noise at 6.5 hours, making the detection of true Earth-Sun analogs more difficult. While the consequent increase in the total noise at 6.5 hours from 20 ppm to 30 ppm could have been overcome by extending the mission to a total duration of 7 to 8 years. Unfortunately, a second reaction wheel failed in May 2013, ending the Kepler primary mission. Nevertheless, Kepler proved to be a veritable cornucopia of science results, both for exoplanets and for astrophysics. The phenomenal photometric precision and continuous observations required in order to identify small, rocky transiting planets enables the study of a large range of phenomena contributing to stellar variability for many thousands of solar-like stars in Kepler's field of view in exquisite detail. These effects range from less than 1 ppm acoustic oscillations on timescales from a few minutes and longward, to flares on timescales of hours, to spot-induced modulation on timescales of days to weeks to activity cycles on timescales of months to years. Kepler discovered over 2600 validated and confirmed exoplanets, and measured the pressure-mode oscillations of over 15000 stars over the course of its mission and the reconstituted K2 mission. We present the adaptive, wavelet-based matched filter used for both the Kepler and the TESS missions, and discuss the connections between this detection algorithm and fundamental detection theory, which allows the detector to function as a noise characterization engine. This provides a dynamical measurement of the photometric noise at transit timescales and thus, a key performance metric for missions like PLATO and Kepler. We give an overview of the stellar variability we see across the full range of spectral types observed by Kepler, from the cool, small red M stars to the hot, large late A stars, both in terms of amplitude as well as timescale.

transit surveys↗
NASA NTRS2018

The Impact of Stellar Variability on the Detection of Transiting Earth-Like Planets

Stellar variability represents a key limitation on the detectability of weak transit signatures of small, Earth-size planets with space-based missions such as NASA's Kepler Mission or ESA's PLATO Mission. The expectations for the performance of the Kepler Mission in the face of solar-like variability were predicated on observations of the Sun with the Variability of Solar Irradiance and Gravity Oscillations (VIRGO) instrument aboard NASA and ESA's joint Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission, which was launched in December 1995. Analyses of SOHO data indicated that solar-like variability would contribute ~10 ppm to Kepler's noise budget at 6.5 ours, a typical grazing transit timescale. This proved to be optimistic as the typical 12th mag G2V star in the Kepler field of view exhibited 20 ppm of stellar variability-related noise at 6.5 hours, making the detection of true Earth-Sun analogs more difficult. While the consequent increase in the total noise at 6.5 hours from 20 ppm to 30 ppm could have been overcome by extending the mission to a total duration of 7 to 8 years. Unfortunately, a second reaction wheel failed in May 2013, ending the Kepler primary mission. Nevertheless, Kepler proved to be a veritable cornucopia of science results, both for exoplanets and for astrophysics. The phenomenal photometric precision and continuous observations required in order to identify small, rocky transiting planets enables the study of a large range of phenomena contributing to stellar variability for many thousands of solar-like stars in Kepler's field of view in exquisite detail. These effects range from <1 ppm acoustic oscillations on timescales from a few minutes and longward, to flares on timescales of hours, to spot-induced modulation on timescales of days to weeks to activity cycles on timescales of months to years. Kepler discovered over 2600 validated and confirmed exoplanets, and measured the pressure-mode oscillations of over 15000 stars over the course of its mission and the reconstituted K2 mission. We present the adaptive, wavelet-based matched filter used for both the Kepler and the TESS missions, and discuss the connections between this detection algorithm and fundamental detection theory, which allows the detector to function as a noise characterization engine. This provides a dynamical measurement of the photometric noise at transit timescales and thus, a key performance metric for missions like PLATO and Kepler. We give an overview of the stellar variability we see across the full range of spectral types observed by Kepler, from the cool, small red M stars to the hot, large late A stars, both in terms of amplitude as well as timescale.

exoplanets↗
DOE OSTI2023

Outer Radiation Belt Flux and Phase Space Density Response to Sheath Regions: Van Allen Probes and GPS Observations

Turbulent and compressed sheath regions preceding interplanetary coronal mass ejections strongly impact electron dynamics in the outer radiation belt. Changes in electron flux can occur on timescales of tens of minutes, which are unlikely to be captured by a two-satellite mission. The recently released Global Positioning System (GPS) data set generally has shorter revisit times (at L ~ 4–8) owing to the large number of satellites in the constellation equipped with energetic particle detectors. Investigating electron fluxes at energies from 140 keV to 4 MeV and sheaths observed in 2012–2018, we show that the flux response to sheaths on a timescale of 6 hr, previously reported from Van Allen Probes (RBSP) data, is reproduced by GPS measurements. Furthermore, GPS data enables derivation of the response on a timescale of 30 min, which further confirms that the energy and L-shell dependent changes in electron flux are associated with the impact of the sheath. Sheath-driven loss is underestimated over longer timescales as the electrons recover during the ejecta. We additionally show the response of electron phase space density (PSD), which is a key quantity in identifying non-adiabatic loss from the system and electron energization through wave-particle interactions. The PSD response is calculated from both RBSP and GPS data for the 6 hr timescale, as well as from GPS data for the 30 min timescale. The response is divided based on the geoeffectiveness of the sheaths revealing that electrons are effectively accelerated only during geoeffective sheaths, while loss commonly occurs during all sheaths.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Multiscale Temporal Variability of the Global Air‐Sea CO 2 Flux Anomaly

Abstract The global air‐sea CO 2 flux (F) impacts and is impacted by a plethora of climate‐related processes operating at multiple time scales. In bulk mass transfer formulations, F is driven by physico‐ and bio‐chemical factors such as the air‐sea partial pressure difference (∆pCO 2 ), gas transfer velocity, sea surface temperature, and salinity–all varying at multiple time scales. To de‐convolve the impact of these factors on variability in F at different time scales, time‐resolved estimates of F were computed using a global data set assembled between 1988 and 2015. The F anomalies were defined as temporal deviations from the 28‐year time‐averaged value. Spectral analysis revealed four dominant timescales of variability in F–subseasonal, seasonal, interannual, and decadal with relative amplitude differences varying across regions. A second‐order Taylor series expansion was then conducted along these four timescales to separate drivers across differing regions. The analysis showed that on subseasonal timescales, wind speed variability explains some 66% of the global F anomaly and is the dominant driver. On seasonal, interannual, and decadal timescales, the ∆pCO 2 effect controlled by the ∆pCO 2 anomaly, explained much of the F anomaly. On decadal timescales, the F anomaly was almost entirely governed by the ∆pCO 2 effect with large contributions from high latitudes. The main drivers across timescales also dominate the regional F anomaly, particularly in the mid‐high latitude regions. Finally, the driver of the ∆pCO 2 effect was closely connected with the relative strength of atmospheric pCO 2 and the nonthermal component of oceanic pCO 2 anomaly associated with dissolved inorganic carbon and alkalinity.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗
DOE OSTI2025

Capacitive response of biological membranes

We present a minimal model to analyze the capacitive response of a biological membrane subjected to a step voltage via blocking electrodes. Through a perturbative analysis of the underlying electrolyte transport equations, we show that the leading-order relaxation of the transmembrane potential is governed by a capacitive timescale, τ_{C}=λ_{D}L/D(2+Γδ^{M}/L/4+Γδ^{M}/λ_{D}), where λ_{D} is the Debye screening length, L is the electrolyte width, Γ is the ratio of the permittivity of the electrolyte to the membrane, δ^{M} is the membrane thickness, and D is the ionic diffusivity. This timescale is considerably shorter than the traditional RC timescale λ_{D}L/D for a bare electrolyte due to the membrane's low permittivity and finite thickness. Beyond the linear regime, however, salt diffusion in the bulk electrolyte drives a secondary, nonlinear relaxation process of the transmembrane potential over a longer timescale τ_{L}=L^{2}/4π^{2}D. A simple equivalent-circuit model accurately captures the linear behavior, and the perturbation expansion remains applicable across the entire range of observed physiological transmembrane potentials. Together, these findings underscore the importance of the faster capacitive timescale and nonlinear effects on the bulk diffusion timescale in determining transmembrane potential dynamics for a range of biological systems.

Farhadi, Jafar↗
DOE OSTI2024

Mercury’s Chaotic Secular Evolution as a Subdiffusive Process

Abstract Mercury’s orbit can destabilize, generally resulting in a collision with either Venus or the Sun. Chaotic evolution can causeg 1 to decrease to the approximately constant value ofg 5 and create a resonance. Previous work has approximated the variation ing 1 as stochastic diffusion, which leads to a phenomological model that can reproduce the Mercury instability statistics of secular andN-body models on timescales longer than 10 Gyr. Here we show that the diffusive model significantly underpredicts the Mercury instability probability on timescales less than 5 Gyr, the remaining lifespan of the solar system. This is becauseg 1 exhibits larger variations on short timescales than the diffusive model would suggest. To better model the variations on short timescales, we build a new subdiffusive phenomological model forg 1 . Subdiffusion is similar to diffusion but exhibits larger displacements on short timescales and smaller displacements on long timescales. We choose model parameters based on the behavior of theg 1 trajectories in theN-body simulations, leading to a tuned model that can reproduce Mercury instability statistics from 1–40 Gyr. This work motivates fundamental questions in solar system dynamics: why does subdiffusion better approximate the variation ing 1 than standard diffusion? Why is there an upper bound ong 1 , but not a lower bound that would prevent it from reachingg 5 ?

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
NASA NTRS1994

Gamma-ray bursts are time-asymmetric

A simple test for time asymmetry is devised and carried out on the brightest gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) on board the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. We show evidence that individual bursts are time-asymmetric on all timescales tested, from a timescale shorter than that of pulses which compose GRBs to a timescale similar to a greater envelope that contains these pulses. We also find bursts which manifest significant asymmetry only on timescales comparable to the duration of burst, and bursts for which no clear asymmetry on any timescale is present. The sense of the asymmetry is that bursts and/or component structures rise in a shorter time than they decay. We also find that our whole sample of bursts taken together is time-asymmetric, in that there are sifnificantly more bursts and pulses where the rise is more rapid than the decay, on all timescales tested and for all energy bands tested. When our whole GRB sample is binned at 64 ms and integrated over all BATSE energies, the statistical significance is at the 6 sigma level. Models that predict time symmetry are therefore excluded.

Nemiroff, R. J.↗