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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 NTRS1980

Radar altimeter mean return waveforms from near-normal-incidence ocean surface scattering

Under assumptions common in radar altimetry, the mean backscattered return power for a short-pulse radar and near-normal-incidence scattering from a rough ocean surface is given by the convolution of several terms. For a nearly Gaussian transmitted pulse shape scattered from a nearly Gaussian distributed sea surface, a small-argument series expansion of one of the terms within the convolution leads to a several-term power series expansion for the mean return waveform. Specific expressions are given for the first four terms. These results, which require much less computer time than would the otherwise necessary numerical convolution, are useful for data analysis from current or past radar altimeters and for design studies of future systems. Several representative results are presented for an idealized Seasat radar altimeter.

Hayne, G. S.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Short-term climatic fluctuations forced by thermal anomalies

A two level, global, spectral model using pressure as a vertical coordinate was developed. The system of equations describing the model is nonlinear and quasi-geostrophic (linear balance). Static stability is variable in the model. A moisture budget is calculated in the lower layer only. Convective adjustment is used to avoid supercritical temperature lapse rates. The mechanical forcing of topography is introduced as a vertical velocity at the lower boundary. Solar forcing is specified assuming a daily mean zenith angle. The differential diabatic heating between land and sea is paramterized. On land and sea ice surfaces, a steady state thermal energy equation is solved to calculate the surface temperature. On the oceans, the sea surface temperature is specified as the climatological average for January. The model is used to simulate the January, February and March circulations.

Hanna, A. F.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Teleconnection patterns in the Southern Hemisphere

Contemporaneous correlations between geopotential heights on a given pressure surface at widely separated points on Earth, commonly referred to as teleconnections, are calculated from monthly mean sea level pressure and 500 mb geopotential height analyses for the Southern Hemisphere for five-month winter and summer seasons. During summer (November-March), anomalies over the three continents occur out of phase with anomalies over the subtropical oceans and in a wavenumber 3 pattern over the Southern Ocean near 55 deg S. The subtropical part of the pattern appears largely associated with the interannual variation of the seasonal cycle and annual mean. In winter (May-September) 500 mb geopotential heights over Africa exhibit positive correlations with heights over South America and the central South Pacific near New Zealand and negative correlations with height over the Southern Ocean. A striking wavenumber three pattern is apparent which shows the correlation of 500 mb geopotential height anomalies with 500 mb anomalies at 50 deg S, 95 deg E during winter. The strong positive correlations between 50 deg S, 95 E and 58 deg S, 150 deg W and 38 deg S, 15 deg W contrast with negative correlations over Antarctica and in low latitudes. Time variations in a similar pattern in sea level pressure are in phase with variations in the 500 mb pattern, suggesting an equivalent barotropic structure.

Mo, K. C.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Short-term climatic fluctuations forced by thermal anomalies

A two level, global, spectral model using pressure as a vertical coordinate was developed. The system of equations describing the model is nonlinear and quasi-geostrophic (linear balance). Static stability is variable in the model. A moisture budget is calculated in the lower layer only. Convective adjustment is used to avoid supercritical temperature lapse rates. The mechanical forcing of topography is introduced as a vertical velocity at the lower boundary. Solar forcing is specified assuming a daily mean zenith angle. The differential diabatic heating between land and sea is parameterized. On land and sea ice surfaces, a steady state thermal energy equation is solved to calculate the surface temperature. On the oceans, the sea surface temperature is specified as the climatological average for January. The model is used to simulate the January, February and March circulations. Previously announced in STAR as N83-14822

Hanna, A. F.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Short-term climatic fluctuations forced by thermal anomalies

A two level, global, spectral model using pressure as a vertical coordinate was developed. The system of equations describing the model is nonlinear and quasi-geostrophic (linear balance). Static stability is variable in the model. A moisture budget is calculated in the lower layer only. Convective adjustment is used to avoid supercritical temperature lapse rates. The mechanical forcing of topography is introduced as a vertical velocity at the lower boundary. Solar forcing is specified assuming a daily mean zenith angle. The differential diabatic heating between land and sea is parameterized. On land and sea ice surfaces, a steady state thermal energy equation is solved to calculate the surface temperature. On the oceans, the sea surface temperature is specified as the climatological average for January. The model is used to simulate the January, February and March circulations. Previously announced in STAR as N83-14822

Hanna, A. F.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Variability in Ocean Color Associated with Phytoplankton and Terrigenous Matter: Time Series Measurements and Algorithm Development at the FRONT Site on the New England Continental Shelf

Fronts in the coastal ocean describe areas of strong horizontal gradients in both physical and biological properties associated with tidal mixing and freshwater estuarine output (e.g. Simpson, 1981 and O Donnell, 1993). Related gradients in optically important constituents mean that fronts can be observed from space as changes in ocean color as well as sea surface temperature (e.g., Dupouy et al., 1986). This research program is designed to determine which processes and optically important constituents must be considered to explain ocean color variations associated with coastal fronts on the New England continental shelf, in particular the National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP) Front Resolving Observational Network with Telemetry (FRONT) site. This site is located at the mouth of Long Island sound and was selected after the analysis of 12 years of AVHRR data showed the region to be an area of strong frontal activity (Ullman and Cornillon, 1999). FRONT consists of a network of modem nodes that link bottom mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) and profiling arrays. At the center of the network is the Autonomous Vertically Profiling Plankton Observatory (AVPPO) (Thwaites et al. 1998). The AVPPO consists of buoyant sampling vehicle and a trawl-resistant bottom-mounted enclosure, which holds a winch, the vehicle (when not sampling), batteries, and controller. Three sampling systems are present on the vehicle, a video plankton recorder, a CTD with accessory sensors, and a suite of bio-optical sensors including Satlantic OCI-200 and OCR-200 spectral radiometers and a WetLabs ac-9 dual path absorption and attenuation meter. At preprogrammed times the vehicle is released, floats to the surface, and is then winched back into the enclosure with power and data connection maintained through the winch cable. Communication to shore is possible through a bottom cable and nearby surface telemetry buoy, equipped with a mobile modem, giving the capability for near-real time data transmission and interactive sampling control.

Morrison, John R.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Dissecting the Roles of Stability and Dynamic Regimes in Tropical Cloud Feedbacks Simulated from an Upgraded Multiscale Modeling Framework (MMF)

In this study, we analyze the tropical cloud feedback from a 2 K sea surface temperature perturbation experiment performed with a multiscale modeling framework (MMF). We sort the monthly-mean cloud and radiative properties according to circulation and stability regimes. It is found that the dynamic component of cloud feedback for a given dynamic regime dominates the thermodynamic component in terms of the absolute magnitude.

Kuan-Man Xu↗
NASA NTRS2017

Large-Scale Transport Responses to Tropospheric Circulation Changes Using GEOS-5

The mean age since air was last at the Northern Hemisphere midlatitude surface is a fundamental property of tropospheric transport. Recent comparisons among chemistry climate models, however, reveal that there are large differences in the mean age among models and that these differences are most likely related to differences in tropical (parameterized) convection. Here we use aquaplanet simulations of the Goddard Earth Observing System Model Version 5 (GEOS-5) to explore the sensitivity of the mean age to changes in the tropical circulation. Tropical circulation changes are forced by prescribed localized off-equatorial warm sea surface temperature anomalies that (qualitatively) reproduce the convection and circulation differences among the comprehensive models. Idealized chemical species subject to prescribed OH loss are also integrated in parallel in order to illustrate the impact of tropical transport changes on interhemispheric constituent transport.

Orbe, Clara↗
NASA NTRS1995

Cloud-radiative effects on implied oceanic energy transport as simulated by atmospheric general circulation models

This paper summarizes the ocean surface net energy flux simulated by fifteen atmospheric general circulation models constrained by realistically-varying sea surface temperatures and sea ice as part of the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project. In general, the simulated energy fluxes are within the very large observational uncertainties. However, the annual mean oceanic meridional heat transport that would be required to balance the simulated surface fluxes is shown to be critically sensitive to the radiative effects of clouds, to the extent that even the sign of the Southern Hemisphere ocean heat transport can be affected by the errors in simulated cloud-radiation interactions. It is suggested that improved treatment of cloud radiative effects should help in the development of coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models.

Gleckler, P. J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Geosat altimeter observations of the surface circulation of the Southern Ocean

Using Geosat altimeter data for 26 months from November 1986 to December 1988 and a newly developed technique for the analysis of height data, the variability of the sea level and the surface geostrophic currents in the Southern Ocean is investigated. The processed Geosat data are used to examine the relationship between the mesoscale variability and the values of mean circulation, determined from historical hydrographic data. It is shown that the geographical patterns of both the mean flow and the mesoscale variability are correlated. An efficient objective-analysis algorithm for generating smoothed fields from observations randomly distributed in time and two space dimensions is developed and applied to 26 months of Geosat data. The smoothed fields are then used to investigate the large-scale low-frequency variability of the sea level and the surface geostrophic velocity in the Southern Ocean, in order to identify the mode of the observed variations.

Chelton, Dudley B.↗
NASA NTRS1994

The simulated Indian monsoon: A GCM sensitivity study

A series of sensitivity experiments are conducted in an attempt to understand and correct deficiencies in the simulation of the seasonal mean Indian monsoon with a global atmospheric general circulation model. The seasonal mean precipitation is less than half that observed. This poor simulation in seasonal integrations is independent of the choice of initial conditions and global sea surface temperature data used. Experiments are performed to test the sensitivity of the Indian monsoon simulation to changes in orography, vegetation, soil, wetness, and cloudiness. The authors find that the deficiency of the model precipitation simulation may be attributed to the use of an enhanced orography in the integrations. Replacement of this orography with a mean orography results in a much more realistic simulation of Indian monsoon circulation and rainfall. Experiments with a linear primitive equation model on the sphere suggest that this striking improvement is due to modulations of the orographically forced waves in the lower troposphere. This improvement in the monsoon simulation is due to the kinematic and dynamical effects of changing the topography, rather than the thermal effects, which were minimal. The magnitude of the impact on the Indian monsoon of the other sensitivity experiments varied considerably, but was consistently less than the impact of using the mean orography. However, results from the soil moisture sensitivity experiments suggest a possibly important role for soil moisture in simulating tropical precipitation, including that associated with the Indian monsoon.

Fennessy, M. J.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Martian Neutron Energy Spectrometer (MANES)

High energy charged particles of extragalactic, galactic, and solar origin collide with spacecraft structures and planetary atmospheres. These primaries create a number of secondary particles inside the structures or on the surfaces of planets to produce a significant radiation environment. This radiation is a threat to long term inhabitants and travelers for interplanetary missions and produces an increased risk of carcinogenesis, central nervous system (CNS) and DNA damage. Charged particles are readily detected; but, neutrons, being electrically neutral, are much more difficult to monitor. These secondary neutrons are reported to contribute 30-60% of the dose equivalent in the Shuttle and MIR station. The Martian atmosphere has an areal density of 37 g/sq cm primarily of carbon dioxide molecules. This shallow atmosphere presents fewer mean free paths to the bombarding cosmic rays and solar particles. The secondary neutrons present at the surface of Mars will have undergone fewer generations of collisions and have higher energies than at sea level on Earth. Albedo neutrons produced by collisions with the Martian surface material will also contribute to the radiation environment. The increased threat of radiation damage to humans on Mars occurs when neutrons of higher mean energy traverse the thin, dry Martian atmosphere and encounter water in the astronaut's body. Water, being hydrogeneous, efficiently moderates the high energy neutrons thereby slowing them as they penetrate deeply into the body. Consequently, greater radiation doses can be deposited in or near critical organs such as the liver or spleen than is the case on Earth. A second significant threat is the possibility of a high energy heavy ion or neutron causing a DNA double strand break in a single strike.

Maurer, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Predictability of Zonal Means During Boreal Summer

This study examines the predictability of seasonal means during boreal summer. The results are based on ensembles of June-July-August (JJA) simulations (started in mid May) carried out with the NASA Seasonal-to-Interannual Prediction Project (NSIPP-1) atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) forced with observed sea surface temperatures (SSTS) and sea ice for the years 1980-1999. We find that the predictability of the JJA extra-tropical height field is primarily in the zonal mean component of the response to the SST anomalies. This contrasts with the cold season (January-February-March) when the predictability of seasonal means in the boreal extratropics is primarily in the wave component of the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) response. Two patterns dominate the interannual variability of the ensemble mean JJA zonal mean height field. One has maximum variance in the tropical/subtropical upper troposphere, while the other has substantial variance in middle latitudes of both hemispheres. Both are symmetric with respect to the equator. A regression analysis suggests that the tropical/subtropical pattern is associated with SST anomalies in the far eastern tropical Pacific and the Indian Ocean, while the middle latitude pattern is forced by SST anomalies in the tropical Pacific just east of the dateline. The two leading zonal height patterns are reproduced in model runs forced with the two leading JJA SST patterns of variability. A comparison with observations shows a signature of the middle latitude pattern that is consistent with the occurrence of dry and wet summers over the United States. We hypothesize that both patterns, while imposing only weak constraints on extratropical warm season continental-scale climates, may play a role in the predilection for drought or pluvial conditions.

Schubert, Siegfried↗
NASA NTRS1984

The reflection of airborne UV laser pulses from the ocean

It is experimentally shown here for the first time that the normalized laser backscatter cross-section of the sea surface is a function of elevation or height position on teh ocean wave. All data were taken off-nadir, resulting in incidence angles of about 6.5 deg measured relative to the normal to mean sea level (MSL). In the limited data sets analyzed to date, the normalized backscatter cross-section was found to be higher in wave crest regions and lower in wave troughs for a swell-dominated sea over which the wind speed was 5 m/s. The reverse was found to be the case for a sea that was driven by a 14 m/s wind. These isolated results show that the MSL, as measured by an off-nadir and/or multibeam type satellite laser altimeter, will be found above, at, or below the true MSL, depending on the local sea conditions existing in the footprint of the altimeter. Airborne nadir-pointed laser altimeter data for a wide variety of sea conditions are needed before a final determination can be made of the effect of sea state on the backscatter cross-section as measured by a down-looking satellite laser system.

Hoge, F. E.↗
NASA NTRS1985

A theory for El Nino and the Southern Oscillation

A coupled atmosphere-ocean model is presented for El Nino and the Southern Oscillation that reproduces its major features, including its recurrence at irregular intervals. The interannual El Nino-Southern Oscillation cycle is maintained by deterministic interactions in the tropical Pacific region. Ocean dynamics alter sea-surface temperature, changing the atmospheric heating; the resulting changes in surface wind alter the ocean dynamics. Annually varying mean conditions largely determine the spatial pattern and temporal evolution of El Nino events.

Cane, M. A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Consideration of permanent tidal deformation in the orbit determination and data analysis for the Topex/Poseidon mission

The effects of the permanent tidal effects of the Sun and Moon with specific applications to satellite altimeter data reduction are reviewed in the context of a consistent definition of geoid undulations. Three situations are applicable not only for altimeter reduction and geoid definition, but also for the second degree zonal harmonic of the geopotential and the equatorial radius. A recommendation is made that sea surface heights and geoid undulations placed on the Topex/Poseidon geophysical data record should be referred to the mean Earth case (i.e., with the permanent effects of the Sun and Moon included). Numerical constants for a number of parameters, including a flattening and geoid geopotential, are included.

Rapp, Richard H.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Update on the Greenland Ice Sheet Melt Extent: 1979-1999

Analysis of melt extent on the Greenland ice sheet is updated to span the time period 1979-1999 is examined along with its spatial and temporal variability using passive microwave satellite data. In order to acquire the full record, the issue of continuity between previous passive microwave sensors (SMMR, SSM/I F-8, and SSM/I F-11), and the most recent SSM/I F-13 sensor is addressed. The F-13 Cross-polarized gradient ratio (XPGR) melt-classification threshold is determined to be -0.0154. Results show that for the 21-year record, an increasing melt trend of nearly 1 %/yr is observed, and this trend is driven by conditions on in the western portion of the ice sheet, rather than the east, where melt appears to have decreased slightly. Moreover, the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 is likely to have had some impact the melt, but not as much as previously suspected. The 1992 melt anomaly is 1.7 standard deviations from the mean. Finally, the relationship between coastal temperatures and melt extent suggest an increase in surface runoff contribution to sea level of 0.31 mm/yr for a 1 C temperature rise.

Abdalati, Waleed↗