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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 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1984

Some aspects of the interannual variation of mean monthly sea level pressure on the Southern Hemisphere

We calculate the seasonal changes that are largely associated with the half-yearly wave, autocorrelation functions, and the mean planetary waves in the monthly mean sea level pressure from two data sources. One covers the period from 1951 to 1958 (from the South African Weather Bureau) and the other the period from 1972 to 1980 (from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology). Thirty years of data from stations over the southern hemisphere are used to assess the reliability of the differences between the two periods that the grid-point data show. These differences are especially large over the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The station data confirm the changes between the two periods and thus the observed differences in the mean waves, which are especially large for wave number 3.

Mo, K. C.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Viscous remanent magnetization model for the Broken Ridge satellite magnetic anomaly

An equivalent source model solution of the satellite magnetic field over Australia obtained by Mayhew et al. (1980) showed that the satellite anomalies could be related to geological features in Australia. When the processing and selection of the Magsat data over the Australian region had progressed to the point where interpretation procedures could be initiated, it was decided to start by attempting to model the Broken Ridge satellite anomaly, which represents one of the very few relatively isolated anomalies in the Magsat maps, with an unambiguous source region. Attention is given to details concerning the Broken Ridge satellite magnetic anomaly, the modeling method used, the Broken Ridge models, modeling results, and characteristics of magnetization.

Johnson, B. D.↗
NASA NTRS1985

A diffuse plate boundary model for Indian Ocean tectonics

It is suggested that motion along the virtually aseismic Owen fracture zone is negligible, so that Arabia and India are contained within a single Indo-Arabian plate divided from the Australian plate by a diffuse boundary. The boundary is a zone of concentrated seismicity and deformation commonly characterized as 'intraplate'. The rotation vector of Australia relative to Indo-Arabia is consistent with the seismologically observed 2 cm/yr of left-lateral strike-slip along the Ninetyeast Ridge, north-south compression in the Central Indian Ocean, and the north-south extension near Chagos.

Wiens, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Interhemispheric interactions

Diagnoses of global data sets are presented that indicate strong coupling between the regions of enhanced tropical convection of the summer hemisphere and subtropical jet stream maxima of the winter hemisphere. One curious aspect of this coupling is that it tends to occur through zones of easterly winds at upper tropospheric levels. This characterizes the El Nino event of 1983, an upper connection of the Asian monsoon to the Australian jet in FGGE and DST data and shorter term transitions during the First Special Observing Period of FGGE. The reasons for the apparent propagation through easterly wind zones remain to be clarified.

Paegle, J.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Historical seismicity near Chagos - A complex deformation zone in the equatorial Indian Ocean

The historical seismicity of the Chagos region of the Indian Ocean is analyzed, using earthquake relocation methods and a moment variance technique to determine the focal mechanisms of quakes occurring before 1964. Moment variance analysis showed a thrust faulting mechanism associated with the earthquake of 1944 near the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge; a strike-slip mechanism was associated with a smaller 1957 event occurring west of the Chagos Bank. The location of the 1944 event, one of the largest intraplate earthquakes known (1.4 x 10 to the 27th dyne/cm), would imply that the Chagos seismicity is due to a zone of tectonic deformation stretching across the equatorial Indian Ocean. The possibility of a slow diffuse boundary extending west of the Central Indian Ridge is also discussed. This boundary is confirmed by recent plate motion studies which suggest that it separates the Australian plate from a single Indo-Arabian plate.

Wiens, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Lunar nodal tide and distance to the moon during the Precambrian

The first direct determination of the lunar distance in the Precambrian is presented. A 23.3 + or - 0.3 yr periodicity preserved in 2500 Myr BP Australian banded iron formation is interpreted as reflecting the climatic influence of the lunar nodal tide, which has been detected with its modern 18.6-yr periodicity in some modern climate records. The lunar distance at 2500 Myr BP would then have been about 52 earth radii. The implied history of precambrian tidal friction is in accord with both the more recent paleontological evidence and the long-term stability of the lunar orbit. The length of the Milankovitch cycles that modulate the ice ages today also evolve with the earth-moon system. Their detection in the Precambrian sedimentary record would then permit an independent determination of the lunar distance.

Walker, J. C. G.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Use of SIR-A and Landsat MSS data in mapping shrub and intershrub vegetation at Koonamore, South Australia

Shrublands cover much of the interior of the Australian continent and support a large grazing industry. Distinguishing the woody perennial vegetation from the smaller herbaceous vegetation and soil-encrusting lichen found between the shrubs is critical for range management but is difficult to do using Landsat data alone. In this study Shuttle Imaging Radar-A (SIR-A) and Landsat data acquired over Koonamore Station are examined together. Given the low topography and fine textured soils at Koonamore, radar return should be primarily determined by the percent area occupied by shrubs. During periods when most of the vegetation was non-vigorous and spectrally homogeneous, SIR-A data, as a surrogate measure of shrub cover, allowed the reflectance due to shrubs in Landsat data to be separated from the reflectance due to the intervening ground. This method allows estimation of the intershrub reflectance properties that are related to herbaceous vegetation, lichen, and bare soil exposures.

Green, G. M.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Quasi-stationary states in the Southern Hemisphere

Pattern correlations between daily anomalies have been used to study the persistence of the Southern Hemisphere circulations. The dataset consists of daily Australian analyses of 500 mb heights and sea level pressure for the period from 1972 to 1983. Compared to the Northern Hemisphere, the pattern correlations are much lower and more variable in the Southern Hemisphere. The mean one-day lag autocorrelation is only 0.57, compared to 0.81 in the Northern Hemisphere. The correlations increase significantly for the filtered anomalies, which consist of the planetary wavenumbers from 0 to 4. Subjective criteria based on the pattern correlations are used to select quasi-stationary events. A series of 5 or more daily maps is defined to be quasi-stationary if the pattern correlations between all pairs of five consecutive maps in this time series are larger than or equal to 0.5. In winter, quasi-stationary events can be classified in terms of wavenumbers. Waves 3 and 4 are by far the dominant waves. More than half of the events have large wave 3 amplitude with geographically fixed orientations.

Mo, K. C.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Further shock tunnel studies of scramjet phenomena

Scramjet phenomena were studied using the shock tunnel T3 at the Australian National University. Simple two dimensional models were used with a combination of wall and central injectors. Silane as an additive to hydrogen fuel was studied over a range of temperatures and pressures to evaluate its effect as an ignition aid. The film cooling effect of surface injected hydrogen was measured over a wide range of equivalence. Heat transfer measurements without injection were repeated to confirm previous indications of heating rates lower than simple flat plate predictions for laminar boundary layers in equilibrium flow. The previous results were reproduced and the discrepancies are discussed in terms of the model geometry and departures of the flow from equilibrium. In the thrust producing mode, attempts were made to increase specific impulse with wall injection. Some preliminary tests were also performed on shock induced ignition, to investigate the possibility in flight of injecting fuel upstream of the combustion chamber, where it could mix but not burn.

Morgan, R. G.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Preliminary geological investigation of AIS data at Mary Kathleen, Queensland, Australia

The Airborne Imaging Spectrometer (AIS) was flown over granitic, volcanic, and calc-silicate terrain around the Mary Kathleen Uranium Mine in Queensland, in a test of its mineralocial mapping capabilities. An analysis strategy and restoration and enhancement techniques were developed to process the 128 band AIS data. A preliminary analysis of one of three AIS flight lines shows that the data contains considerable spectral variation but that it is also contaminated by second-order leakage of radiation from the near-infrared region. This makes the recognition of expected spectral absorption shapes very difficult. The effect appears worst in terrains containing considerable vegetation. Techniques that try to predict this supplementary radiation coupled with the log residual analytical technique show that expected mineral absorption spectra can be derived. The techniques suggest that with additional refinement correction procedures, the Australian AIS data may be revised. Application of the log residual analysis method has proved very successful on the cuprite, Nevada data set, and for highlighting the alunite, linite, and SiOH mineralogy.

Huntington, J. F.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Limb-darkening functions for the earth-atmosphere system over desert scenes

Alongtrack data collected with the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) scanner instrument were used to study an observed limb-darkening phenomenon. A numerical model developed for the longwave exitance as a function of the SZA has agreed well with ERBE data, indicating that the atmosphere is in adiabatic, rather than radiative, equilibrium. A corrected form of the model has been defined for SZA over 60 deg. The model was used to parameterize diurnal data for the Sahara-Saudi and Australian deserts.

Brooks, D. R.↗
NASA NTRS1987

An equivalent layer magnetization model for Australia based on Magsat data

An equivalent layer magnetization model for Australia and adjacent oceanic areas is presented. The model is obtained by linear inversion of Magsat anomaly data measured in the altitude range 325-550 km. The anomaly data set has been isolated from the raw data set by use of models of the core field and very long wavelength external fields, and is internally consistent. Certain major structural features of the Australian continent are geographically associated with magnetization anomalies. A first-order difference is seen between the Tasman Zone and the Precambrian cratonic areas: magnetization anomalies are much more subdued in the former, possibly reflecting a shallowing of the Curie isotherm within the crust. A profile of the vertical integral of magnetization is presented for a crustal section extending from the Gawler Block to the southeast coast. It is shown that the magnetization variations are probably due partly, but not wholly, to depth to Curie isotherm variations; gross magnetization variations among at least three distinct crustal units must be involved.

Mayhew, M. A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Significance of the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) in the energy budget of the Southern Hemisphere tropics

An in-depth investigation of the energetics, including boundary transports, was conducted on four equal-area regions in the tropical Southern Hemisphere during the SOP-1 period in 1979. The regions, each approximately centered on one of the wave axes of maximum warm rising air, include the SPCZ (115 deg W - 155 deg E) and the Australian (155-65 deg E), the African (65 deg E - 25 deg W), and the South American (25-115 deg W) regions. Daily variations of the energy conversions were examined, and time-averaged result of energy contents, conversions, and boundary transports were compiled for January 10-27. Results show that the eddy kinetic energy (KE) exceeds the eddy available potential energy (AE) in all four regions, with the largest excess being in the SPCZ. Of the conversion and flux terms, only the conversion of AE to KE is significant (again, with the greatest value in the SPCZ). An evaluation of boundary fluxes of KE indicates that the only significant transport between regions is a flow of KE from the SPCZ region into the South American region.

Hurrell, James W.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Minimum Energy Routing through Interactive Techniques (MERIT) modeling

The MERIT program is designed to demonstrate the feasibility of fuel savings by airlines through improved route selection using wind observations from their own fleet. After a discussion of weather and aircraft data, manually correcting wind fields, automatic corrections to wind fields, and short-range prediction models, it is concluded that improvements in wind information are possible if a system is developed for analyzing wind observations and correcting the forecasts made by the major models. One data handling system, McIDAS, can easily collect and display wind observations and model forecasts. Changing the wind forecasts beyond the time of the most recent observations is more difficult; an Australian Mesoscale Model was tested with promising but not definitive results.

Wylie, Donald P.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Optical properties of Southern Hemisphere aerosols: Report of the joint CSIRO/NASA study

This study was made in support of the LAWS and GLOBE programs, which aim to design a suitable Doppler lidar system for measuring global winds from a satellite. Observations were taken from 5 deg S to 45 deg S along and off the E and SE Australian coast, thus obtaining representative samples over a large latitude range. Observations were made between 0 and 6 km altitude of aerosol physical and chemical properties in situ from the CSIRO F-27 aircraft; of lidar backscatter coefficients at 10.6 micron wavelength from the F-27 aircraft; of lidar backscatter profiles at 0.694 microns at Sale, SE Australia; and of lidar backscatter profiles at 0.532 microns at Cowley Beach, NE Australia. Both calculations and observations in the free troposphere gave a backscatter coefficient of 1-2 x 10 to the -11/m/sr at 10.6 microns, although the accuracies of the instruments were marginal at this level. Equivalent figures were 2-8 x 10 to the -9/m/sr (aerosol) and 9 x 10 to the -9 to 2 x 10 to the -8/m/sr (lidar) at 0.694 microns wavelength at Sale; and 3.7 x 10 to the -9/m/sr (aerosol) and 10 to the -8 to 10 to the -7/m/sr (lidar) at 0.532 microns wavelength at Cowley Beach. The measured backscatter coefficients at 0.694 and 0.532 microns were consistently higher than the values calculated from aerosol size distributions by factors of typically 2 to 10.

Gras, John L.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Changing styles of crustal growth in Southern Africa: Constraints from geochemical and Sr-Nd isotope studies in Archaean to Pan African terrains

Nd isotopic data was presented for southern Africa in support of episodic crustal growth. Over 50 percent of the continental crust there had formed before 2.5 Ga, and less than 10 percent was produced after about 1.0 Ga. The data imply a mean crustal age of about 2.4 Ga for southern Africa, and a higher rate of crustal growth than that derived from Australian shale data, particularly during the Proterozoic. Isotopic data from Damara metasediments imply that there is no need to invoke decoupling of the Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd systems in the continental crust.

Mcdermott, F.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The petrogenesis of oceanic kimberlites and included mantle megacrysts: The Malaitan alnoite

The study of unambiguous suboceanic mantle was facilitated by the occurrence of anomalous kimberlite-type intrusives on Malaita in the Solomon Islands. The pseudo-kimberlites were termed alnoites, and are basically mica lamprophyres with melilite in the ground mass. Alnoitic magmas were explosively intruded into the Ontong Java Plateau (OJP) 34 Ma ago. The OJP is a vastly overthickened portion of the Pacific plate which now abuts the Indo-Australian plate. Malaita is considered to be the obducted leading edge of the OJP. Initial diapiric upwelling beneath the OJP produced the proto-alnoite magma. After impingement on the rigid lithosphere, megacrysts fractionation occurred, with augites precipitating first, representing the parental magma. Sea water-altered oceanic crust, which underplated the OJP, was assimilated by the proto-alnoite magma during megacrysts fractionation (AFC).

Neal, Clive R.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Hydrogen scramjet with side wall injection

Preliminary results are presented from an experimental evaluation of a hydrogen-burning wall-injection scramjet engine, performed in the free-piston shock tunnel at the Australian National University. The advantages of scramjet propulsion for high-Mach-number high-altitude flight are reviewed, and the need for an alternative to injection struts is indicated. Pressure profiles and heat-transfer measurements for constant-area and diverging ducts are presented graphically and characterized in detail. The ability of the injected flow to shield the chamber wall from the heat of the freestream flow is demonstrated. The extrapolation of the shock-tunnel results to flight conditions, however, is made difficult by the fact that a significant amount of fuel passes through a quenched zone without burning, seriously degrading overall performance.

Morgan, R. G.↗