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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 271 records · Page 15
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1994

Distribution of ozone between 60 deg North and 60 deg South

The distribution of total column ozone is investigated, using data from the TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) experiment aboard the US Nimbus 7 satellite. The region of interest extends from 60 North to 60 South, encircling the earth. Data for several years have been used in order to assess the long-term variations in the distribution of total column ozone. First results are presented on the seasonal variability of total column ozone in each hemisphere. The effects of the seasons are strongest at the highest latitudes but can still be discerned at the equator. While the variations are similar in the two hemispheres, ozone levels in the north are larger than in the south. Strong similarities are also found in the drift patterns of total column ozone in the two hemispheres. These drift patterns are compared to meteorological phenomena. We find an almost stationary ozone distribution drifts eastward in both hemispheres and this drift shows a seasonal variation. At very high latitudes (70 deg and higher) during spring in the southern hemisphere the ozone distribution is once again almost stationary, indicating that these regions are inside the polar vortex.

Mravlag, E.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Review of magnetospheric boundary layer phenomena and relations to current theories

Recent observations on the magnetopause and boundary layer are reviewed. A region with magnetosheath-like plasma is found in an entry layer inside the magnetopause, at least partly on closed field lines. There is no enhanced flow near the magnetopause, in contrast to what would be expected on the basis of reconnection theories. Inside the magnetopause there is a boundary layer, which must be polarized. Parallel electric fields and currents are involved, thus invalidating the mapping of the electric field along magnetic field lines. Access to the entry layer must be impulsive or diffusive in nature.

Heikkila, W. J.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Aerothermodynamic heating and performance analysis of a high-lift aeromaneuvering AOTV concept

The thermal-control requirements for design-optimized aeromaneuvering performance are determined for space-based applications and low-earth orbit sorties involving large, multiple plane-inclination changes. The leading-edge heating analysis is the most advanced developed for hypersonic-rarefied flow over lifting surfaces at incidence. The effects of leading-edge bluntness, low-density viscous phenomena, and finite-rate flow-field chemistry and surface catalysis are accounted for. The predicted aerothermodynamic heating characteristics are correlated with thermal-control and flight-performance capabilities. The mission payload capability for delivery, retrieval, and combined operations is determined for round-trip sorties extending to polar orbits. Recommendations are given for future design refinements. The results help to identify technology issues required to develop prototype operational systems.

Menees, G. P.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Design and performance analysis of an aero-maneuvering orbital-transfer vehicle concept

Systems requirements for design-optimized, lateral-turn performance were determined for reusable, space-based applications and low-Earth orbits involving large multiple plane-inclination changes. The aerothermodynamic analysis is the most advanced available for rarefield-hypersonic flow over lifting surfaces at incidence. The effects of leading-edge bluntness, low-density viscous phenomena, and finite-rate flow-field chemistry and surface catalysis are accounted for. The predicted aerothermal heating characteristics are correlated with thermal-control and flight-performance capabilities. The mission payload capacity for delivery, retrieval, and combined operations was determined for round-trip sorties extending to polar orbits. Recommendations are given for future design refinements. The results help to identify technology issues required to develop prototype operational vehicles.

Menees, G. P.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Design and performance analysis of an aeromaneuvering orbital-transfer vehicle concept

Systems requirements for design-optimized, lateral-turn performance were determined for reusable, space-based applications and low-earth orbits involving large multiple plane-inclination changes. The aerothermodynamic analysis is the most advanced available for rarefied-hypersonic flow over lifting surfaces at incidence. The effects of leading-edge bluntness, low-density viscous phenomena, and finite-rate flow-field chemistry and surface catalysis are accounted for. The predicted aerothermal heating characteristics are correlated with thermal-control and flight-performance capabilities. The mission payload capacity for delivery, retrieval, and combined operations was determined for round-trip sorties extending to polar orbits. Recommendations are given for future design refinements. The results help to identify technology issues required to develop prototype operational vehicles.

Menees, G. P.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Radar Scan Strategies for the Patrick Air Force Base Weather Surveillance Radar, Model-74C, Replacement

The 45th Weather Squadron (45 WS) is replacing the Weather Surveillance Radar, Model 74C (WSR-74C) at Patrick Air Force Base (PAFB), with a Doppler, dual polarization radar, the Radtec 43/250. A new scan strategy is needed for the Radtec 43/250, to provide high vertical resolution data over the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) launch pads, while taking advantage of the new radar's advanced capabilities for detecting severe weather phenomena associated with convection within the 45 WS area of responsibility. The Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) developed several scan strategies customized for the operational needs of the 45 WS. The AMU also developed a plan for evaluating the scan strategies in the period prior to operational acceptance, currently scheduled for November 2008.

Short, David↗
NASA NTRS1995

Acceleration phenomena of high-speed wind observed at 0.1-0.3 AU with interplanetary scintillation

The radial distance dependence of solar wind speeds, which were measured by interplanetary scintillation method, has been studied especially for a high-speed solar wind, and large increase of the IPS speeds (300 km/s) was observed at the distance range of 0.1 - 0.3 AU. When the streams are mapped back onto the source surface, they distribute in polar coronal holes or their boundaries. Since the IPS measurement can be biased by several effects such as of line-of-sight integration, strong scattering and random velocities, we examined these biasing effects and have found difficulty to explain the large IPS speed increase with the biasing effects.

Kojima, M.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Giant Pulse Phenomena in a High Gain Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier

High gain Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers (EDFAs), while revolutionizing optical communications, remain vulnerable to optical damage when unseeded, e.g. due to nonlinear effects that produce random pulses with high peak power, i.e. giant pulses. Giant pulses can damage the components in a high gain EDFA or external components and systems coupled to the EDFA. We explore the conditions under which a reflective, polarization-maintaining (PM), core-pumped high gain EDFA generates giant pulses, provide details on conditions under which normal pulses evolve into giant pulses, and provide results on the transient effects of giant pulses on amplifier's fused-fiber couplers, an effect which we call Fiber Overload Induced Leakage (FOIL). While FOIL's effect on fused-fiber couplers is temporary, its damage to forward pump lasers in a high gain EDFA can be permanent.

Li, Stephen X.↗
NASA NTRS1972

The interplanetary magnetic field

Large-scale properties of the interplanetary magnetic field as determined by the solar wind velocity structure are examined. The various ways in which magnetic fields affect phenomena in the solar wind are summarized. The dominant role of high and low velocity solar wind streams that persist, with fluctuations and evolution, for weeks or months is emphasized. It is suggested that for most purposes the sector structure is better identified with the stream structure than with the magnetic polarity and that the polarity does not necessarily change from one velocity sector to the next. Several mechanisms that might produce the stream structure are considered. The interaction of the high and low velocity streams is analyzed in a model that is steady state when viewed in a frame that corotates with the sun.

Davis, L., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1986

The association of chromospheric and coronal phenomena with the evolution of the quiet sun magnetic fields

Using daily full-disk magnetograms and He I 10830 spectroheliograms to study the count and surface distribution of ephemeral regions over the solar cycle, Harvey (1985) concluded that the small dark structures seen in 10830, thought to correspond to X-ray bright points, were more often associated with magnetic bipoles that appeared to result from an encounter of already existing opposite polarity magentic flux than with emerging small magnetic bipoles (ephemeral regions). Such encounters would be more likely to occur in areas of mixed polarity. The fractional area of the sun covered by mixed polarity fields varies anti-correlated with the solar cycle leading to a possible explanation for the 180 degrees out of phase solar cycle variation of X-ray bright points. To establish the validity of this suggestion, a detailed study of time-sequence magnetic field, He I wavelength 10830, Ha, C IV, and Si II observations of selected areas of the quiet sun was initiated about 2 years ago. The preliminary results of this study are reported.

Harvey, Karen L.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Giant Pulse Phenomena in a High Gain Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier

High gain Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers (EDFAs) are vulnerable to optical damage when unseeded, e.g. due to nonlinear effects that produce random, spontaneous Q-switched (SQS) pulses with high peak power, i.e. giant pulses. Giant pulses can damage either the components within a high gain EDFA or external components and systems coupled to the EDFA. We explore the conditions under which a reflective, polarization-maintaining (PM), core-pumped high gain EDFA generates giant pulses, provide details on the evolution of normal pulses into giant pulses, and provide results on the transient effects of giant pulses on an amplifier's fused-fiber couplers, an effect which we call Fiber Overload Induced Leakage (FOIL). While FOIL's effect on fused-fiber couplers is temporary, its damage to forward pump lasers in a high gain EDFA can be permanent.

Li, Stephen X.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Ceratopteris richardii: a productive model for revealing secrets of signaling and development

Ceratopteris richardii is an aquatic fern grown in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It is proven to be a productive model system for studies in the genetics, biochemistry, and cell biology of basic biologic processes that occur in early gametophytic development. It provides several advantages to biologists, especially those interested in gravitational biology, polarity development, and in the genetics of sexual development. It is easy to culture, has a relatively short life cycle, and offers an array of attractive features that facilitate genetic studies. The germination and early development of large populations of genetically identical spores are easy to synchronize, and both the direction of polarity development and cell-level gravity responses can be measured and readily manipulated within the first 24 h of spore development. Although there is no reliable transformation system available yet in Ceratopteris, recent studies suggest that the technique of RNA interference can be used to block translation of specific genes in a related fern, Marsilea, and current studies will soon reveal the applicability of this approach, as well as of other transformation approaches, in Ceratopteris. A recently completed expressed sequence tag (EST) sequencing project makes available the partial sequence of more than 2000 cDNAs, representing a significant percentage of the genes being expressed during the first 24 h of spore germination, when many developmentally interesting processes are occurring. A microarray of these ESTs is being constructed, so especially for those scientists interested in basic cellular phenomena that occur early in spore germination, the availability of the ESTs and of the microarray will make Ceratopteris an even more attractive model system.

NASA Discipline Plant Biology↗
NASA NTRS1994

Qualitative study of the behavior of minor species during a stratospheric warming with a 3-D model

It is well-known that the behavior of the ozone layer depends upon the coupling between several processes in the atmosphere. Natural or anthropogenic pollutants emitted from the surface or injected directly at high altitude may affect this layer. Assessment studies for long-term changes of the ozone layer are conducted with the aid of various two-dimensional models. These models describe the long-term and seasonal evolution of minor constituents and take into account the interaction between all processes. However, many limitations affect the self-consistency of these models e.g., the circulation in these models is only meridional and vertical and is not able to represent all types of motion in the atmosphere. During a perturbed winter in the north polar regions, the vortex is displaced from the pole to lower latitude so that wind may be reversed at a given location. Perturbed air masses are transported outside the darkened regions and may mix with local air masses. Three-dimensional models are the only tools which can describe correctly these sporadic phenomena.

Ramaroson, R.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Soft X-Ray Emissions from Planets and Moons

The soft x-ray energy band (less than 4 keV) is an important spectral regime for planetary remote sensing, as a wide variety of solar system objects are now known to shine at these wavelengths. These include Earth, Jupiter, comets, moons, Venus, and the Sun. Earth and Jupiter, as magnetic planets, are observed to emanate strong x-ray emissions from their auroral (polar) regions, thus providing vital information on the nature of precipitating particles and their energization processes in planetary magnetospheres. X rays from low latitudes have also been observed on these planets, resulting largely from atmospheric scattering and fluorescence of solar x-rays. Cometary x-rays are now a well established phenomena, more than a dozen comets have been observed at soft x-ray energies, with the accepted production mechanism being charge-exchange between heavy solar wind ions and cometary neutrals. Also, Lunar x-rays have been observed and are thought to be produced by scattering and fluorescence of solar x-rays from the Moon's surface. With the advent of sophisticated x-ray observatories, e.g., Chandra and XMM-Newton, the field of planetary x-ray astronomy is advancing at a much faster pace. The Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO) has recently captured soft x-rays from Venus. Venusian x-rays are most likely produced through fluorescence of solar x-rays by C and O atoms in the upper atmosphere. Very recently, using CXO we have discovered soft x-rays from the moons of Jupiter-Io, Europa, and probably Ganymede. The plausible source of the x-rays from the Galilean satellites is bombardment of their surfaces by energetic (greater than 10 KeV) ions from the inner magnetosphere of Jupiter. The Io plasma Torus (IPT) is also discovered by CXO to be a source of soft x-rays by CXO have revealed a mysterious pulsating (period approx. 45 minutes) x-ray hot spot is fixed in magnetic latitude and longitude and is magnetically connected to a region in the outer magnetosphere of Jupiter. These surprising results have called into question our understanding of Jovian auroral x-rays. In this paper, we will present a comparative view of the x-ray observations on planets, comets, and moons, with emphasis on recent results from CXO, and discuss the proposed source mechanisms.

Bhardwaj, A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

A three dimensional gasdynamic model for solar wind flow past nonaxisymmetric magnetospheres - Application to Jupiter and Saturn

The gasdynamic convected magnetic field model of Spreiter et al. (1966) and Spreiter and Stahara (1985) for predicting solar wind flow past a planetary magnetoionopause obstacle is extended to three dimensions and applied to Jupiter and Saturn, in which the effects of rapid spin, large size, and ring current phenomena are believed to result in broadening of their magnetospheres near the planetary equatorial plane. The computational procedures of the model are described, and the calculated results are presented for a number of magnetospheres of elliptic cross sections with values ranging from 1 to 2 for the ratio a/b between the major (equatorial) and minor (polar) axes. For Jupiter, the results indicate a broadening to a/b of about 1.754, a value consistent with previous estimates determined from independent calculations. For Saturn, a smaller broadening to a/b of about 1.25 is indicated.

Stahara, S. S.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Upstream waves at Mars - Phobos observations

The region upstream from the Mars subsolar bow shock is surveyed for the presence of MHD wave phenomena using the high temporal resolution data from the Magma magnetometer. Strong turbulence is observed when the magnetic field is connected to the Mars bow shock in such a way as to allow diffuse ions to reach the spacecraft. Also weak waves are observed at the proton gyro frequency. These waves are left-hand elliptically polarized and may be associated with the pick-up of protons from the Mars hydrogen exosphere.

Russell, C. T.↗
NASA NTRS1992

A numerical investigation of East Coast cyclogenesis during the cold-air damming event of 27-28 February 1982. II - Importance of physical mechanisms

This study presents a series of numerical experiments designed to examine the role of several physical processes on the evolution of and interaction between atmospheric phenomena having different scales, each of which contributed to the development of the storm of February 27-28, 1982 along a Carolina coastal front. The physical processes include: the role of diabatic heating associated with convective and grid-scale precipitation, the role of a thermally direct transverse circulation about the entrance region of a strong polar jet streak, and modification of the marine planetary boundary layer by fluxes of heat and moisture over the Gulf Stream. The diabatic heating associated with precipitation is found to have the most significant impact on storm development. Without latent heating, cyclogenesis does not occur along the Carolina coastal front despite the presence of strong low-level baroclinicity and cyclonic vorticity. A less dramatic but still important relationship is found between storm formation and the other two physical mechanisms.

Lapenta, William M.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Multiple-spacecraft and correlated riometer study of magnetospheric substorm phenomena

Double-spacecraft observations presented suggest that growth phase phenomena are widespread in the outer magnetosphere and can occur simultaneously at nightside locations 4-5 hours apart in local time. Evidence is also adduced from multiple-spacecraft data and comprehensive magnetometer and riometer data against the concept that growth phase features are not generally due to substorm activity at other locations in the auroral or polar regions. A close relationship is noted between putative energy input to the magnetosphere and the sensitive response of the magnetic field and energetic particles at pre- and near-midnight geostationary orbit locations. This relationship is shown explicitly for the cases of three event periods. Data are also presented which suggest that growth phase features at synchronous orbit can be strictly controlled by IMF orientations.

Baker, D. N.↗