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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 289 records · Page 16

Research on Earth's rotation and the effect of atmospheric pressure on vertical deformation and sea level variability

The work done under NASA grant NAG5-485 included modelling the deformation of the earth caused by variations in atmospheric pressure. The amount of deformation near coasts is sensitive to the nature of the oceanic response to the pressure. The PSMSL (Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level) data suggest the response is inverted barometer at periods greater than a couple months. Green's functions were constructed to describe the perturbation of the geoid caused by atmospheric and oceanic loading and by the accompanying load-induced deformation. It was found that perturbation of up to 2 cm are possible. Ice mass balance data was used for continental glaciers to look at the glacial contributions to time-dependent changes in polar motion, the lod, the earth's gravitational field, the position of the earth's center-of-mass, and global sea level. It was found that there can be lateral, non-hydrostatic structure inside the fluid core caused by gravitational forcing from the mantle, from the inner core, or from topography at the core/mantle or inner core/outer core boundaries. The nutational and tidal response of a non-hydrostatic earth with a solid inner core was modeled. Monthly, global tide gauge data from PSMSL was used to look at the 18.6-year ocean tide, the 14-month pole tide, the oceanic response to pressure, the linear trend and inter-annual variability in the earth's gravity field, the global sea level rise, and the effects of post glacial rebound. The effects of mantle anelasticity on nutations, earth tides, and tidal variation in the lod was modeled. Results of this model can be used with Crustal Dynamics observations to look at the anelastic dissipation and dispersion at tidal periods. The effects of surface topography on various components of crustal deformation was also modeled, and numerical models were developed of post glacial rebound.

Wahr, John↗

Hydrokinetic tidal energy resource assessment following international electrotechnical commission guidelines

Marine renewable energy can be used as a viable energy source to alleviate the impact of the climate crisis and have a carbon-free electricity sector in the future. Especially the energetic tidal streams are an attractive source of clean energy due to the periodic occurrence of high tidal flows daily. However, before any deployment of tidal turbine farms, it is essential to perform a resource assessment depending on the scope and scale of the project. Here, the International Electrotechnical Commission has developed a technical standard for assessing the tidal stream resource "IEC 62600-201 TS" to aid in this effort: determine a particular site's feasibility and perform the project layout design. In this study, we implemented and validated a high-resolution three-dimensional numerical model and provided results following the IEC TS for a project layout design in a highly energetic tidal channel, Tacoma Narrows of Puget Sound, in the State of Washington, USA. Implementation of the guidelines has helped adequately identify the undisturbed theoretical and technical resources with less bias, where the latter included energy extraction from the flow field arranging a hypothetical tidal energy converter (TEC) array. Also, following the standard, we carefully assessed the changes to channel flow properties from TECs, such as the kinetic energy flux and annual energy production (AEP), to provide the detailed information required for a larger project layout design. Ultimately, this work has shown the important role of IEC TS in tidal stream resource assessment, which can simultaneously act as a benchmark for other studies worldwide.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

The influence of coastal fronts on the movement and dispersion of oil slicks

The author has identified the following significant results. LANDSAT, aircraft, and boats were used successfully to study estuarine and coastal fronts or boundaries. Horizontal salinity gradients of 4% in one meter and convergence velocities of the order of 0.1 m/sec were observed. Visibility improved from one meter to two meters as certain boundaries were crossed. Fronts near the mouth of the bay are associated with the tidal exchange with shelf water. By capturing and holding oil slicks, these frontal systems also significantly influence the movement and dispersion of oil slicks in Delaware Bay. Recent oil slick tracking experiments conducted to verify a predictive oil dispersion and movement model have shown that during certain parts of the tidal cycle the oil slicks tend to line up along boundaries.

Klemas, V.↗

Estuarine Sediment Deposition during Wetland Restoration: A GIS and Remote Sensing Modeling Approach

Restoration of the industrial salt flats in the San Francisco Bay, California is an ongoing wetland rehabilitation project. Remote sensing maps of suspended sediment concentration, and other GIS predictor variables were used to model sediment deposition within these recently restored ponds. Suspended sediment concentrations were calibrated to reflectance values from Landsat TM 5 and ASTER using three statistical techniques -- linear regression, multivariate regression, and an Artificial Neural Network (ANN), to map suspended sediment concentrations. Multivariate and ANN regressions using ASTER proved to be the most accurate methods, yielding r2 values of 0.88 and 0.87, respectively. Predictor variables such as sediment grain size and tidal frequency were used in the Marsh Sedimentation (MARSED) model for predicting deposition rates for three years. MARSED results for a fully restored pond show a root mean square deviation (RMSD) of 66.8 mm (<1) between modeled and field observations. This model was further applied to a pond breached in November 2010 and indicated that the recently breached pond will reach equilibrium levels after 60 months of tidal inundation.

Newcomer, Michelle↗

Evidence for Excitation of Polar Motion by Fortnightly Ocean Tides

The second-degree zonal tide raising potential, which is responsible for tidal changes in the Earth's rotation rate and length-of-day, is symmetric about the polar axis and hence can excite the Earth's polar motion only through its action upon nonaxisymmetric features of the Earth such as the oceans. Ocean tidal excitation of polar motion in the diurnal and semidiurnal tidal bands has been previously detected and examined. Here, the detection of ocean tidal excitation of polar motion in the long-period tidal band, specifically at the Mf' (13.63-day) and Mf (13.66-day) tidal frequencies, is reported. Spectra of the SPACE94 polar motion excitation series exhibit peaks at the prograde and retrograde fortnightly tidal periods. After removing effects of atmospheric wind and pressure changes, an empirical model for the effect of the fortnightly ocean tides upon polar motion excitation is obtained by least-squares fitting periodic terms at the Mf and Mf' tidal frequencies to the residual polar motion excitation series. The resulting empirical model is then compared with the predictions of two hydrodynamic ocean tide models.

Gross, Richard S.↗

Planetary Seismology

Of the many geophysical means that can be used to probe a planet's interior, seismology remains the most direct. In addition to Earth, seismometers have been installed on Venus, Mars, and the Moon. Given that the seismic data gathered on the Moon (now over 40 years ago) revolutionized our understanding of the Moon and are still being used today to produce new insight into the state of the lunar interior, it is no wonder that many future missions, both real and conceptual, plan to take seismometers to other planets. To best facilitate the return of high-quality data from these instruments, as well as to further our understanding of the dynamic processes that modify a planet's interior, various modeling approaches are used to quantify parameters such as the amount and distribution of seismicity, tidal deformation, and seismic structure of the terrestrial planets. In addition, recent advances in wavefield modeling have permitted a renewed look at seismic energy transmission and the effects of attenuation and scattering, as well as the presence and effect of a core, on recorded seismograms. In this talk I will discuss some of these methods and review the history of planetary seismology.

planetary seismology↗

Mars mesosphere and thermosphere coupling - Semidiurnal tides

The Mars thermospheric general circulation model (MTGCM) is modified to examine the impact of a prescribed semidiurnal tidal wave upon Martian thermospheric fields corresponding to near solar minimum (Mariner 9) and solar maximum (Mariner 6-7) observational periods. The effects of upward propagating tides are introduced into the Mars Thermospheric General circulation Model (MTGCM) by appropriately specifying its lower boundary condition according to classical tidal theory. Estimates of the amplitude and phase of the likely dominant semidiurnal (2,2) mode at the mesopause (about 100 km) are specified for a range of possible lower atmosphere dust conditions. MTGCM simulations contrasting tidally driven fields with solar-only forced ones exhibit a dramatic change in the horizontal and vertical wind patterns, whereby the global temperature and oxygen distributions are also modified significantly.

Bougher, S. W.↗

The problem of split comets in review

Cometary splitting is investigated from the dynamical and physical standpoints. A simple two-parameter model is proposed in which the rate of recession of the fragments is determined by the momentum from outgassing, so that the net differential force is of the same nature as the nongravitational perturbations detected in the motions of unsplit comets; the two parameters of the model are the differential radial acceleration and the time of splitting. It is shown that the model successfully represents the positional observations of nearly all the 21 known split comets. The following candidate triggering mechanisms for cometary splitting are considered: tidal forces, rotation, dust-mantle dumping, and radioactive heating. A model that fits the dynamical data and physical characteristics is presented which suggests that most fragments must be appreciably nonspherical and rapidly precessing.

Sekanina, Z.↗

Development of an Optimal Variable-Pitch Controller for Floating Axial-Flow Marine Hydrokinetic Turbines

This article discusses the development of an optimal variable-pitch controller for floating, axial-flow marine turbines. Recently, OpenFAST, an open-source wind turbine modeling tool, has been extended to model marine turbines. A controller is necessary to simulate marine turbines for different load cases using OpenFAST, which greatly impacts the performance of the energy system. Previous studies have designed controllers using a linearized model of the marine turbine, which can be time-consuming and require the expertise of a control engineer. In this study, we use an automated approach that uses generic models of the marine turbine to identify the controller gains, which can expedite the process of designing a controller. Using an optimizer to identify the control system parameters can additionally improve the controller's performance. The optimal controller tuned using such an approach results in a 20% reduction in the tower-base damage equivalent loading and better tracking of the rated generator speed and power.

axial flow↗

Tidal Disruption of Phobos as the Cause of Surface Fractures

Phobos, the innermost satellite of Mars, displays an extensive system of grooves that are mostly symmetric about its sub-Mars point. Phobos is steadily spiraling inward due to the tides it raises on Mars lagging behind Phobos' orbital position and will suffer tidal disruption before colliding with Mars in a few tens of millions of years. We calculate the surface stress field of the deorbiting satellite and show that the first signs of tidal disruption are already present on its surface. Most of Phobos' prominent grooves have an excellent correlation with computed stress orientations. The model requires a weak interior that has very low rigidity on the tidal evolution time scale, overlain by an approximately 10-100 m exterior shell that has elastic properties similar to lunar regolith as described by Horvath et al. (1980).

Hurford, T. A.↗

Dynamic ocean-tide effects on Earth's rotation

This article develops 'broad-band' Liouville equations which are capable of determining the effects on the rotation of the Earth of a periodic excitation even at frequencies as high as semi-diurnal; these equations are then used to predict the rotational effects of altimetric, numerical and 32-constituent spherical harmonic ocean-tide models. The rotational model includes a frequency-dependent decoupled core, the effects of which are especially marked near retrograde diurnal frequencies; and a fully dynamic oceanic response, whose effects appear to be minor despite significant frequency dependence. The model also includes solid-earth effects which are frequency dependent as the result of both anelasticity at long periods and the fluid-core resonance at nearly diurnal periods. The effects of both tidal inertia and relative angular momentum on Earth rotation (polar motion, length of day, 'nutation' and Universal Time) are presented for 32 long- and short-period ocean tides determined as solutions to the author's spherical harmonic tide theory. The lengthening of the Chandler wobble period by the pole tide is also re-computed using the author's full theory. Additionally, using the spherical harmonic theory, tidal currents and their effects on rotation are determined for available numerical and altimetric tide height models. For all models, we find that the effects of tidal currents are at least as important as those of tide height for diurnal and semi-diurnal constituents.

Dickman, S. R.↗

Improvements in VLBI Data Analysis for Advanced in Geodesy

I will provide an overview of advances in VLBI data analysis implemented at NASA GSFC. That include the use of B-splines for modeling non-linear station position evolution, the use of all non-tidal mass loadings in data reduction, the use of slant a priori path delays from the output of numerical weather models, the use of B-splines for evaluation of the Earth orientation parameters as a continuous function, the use of elevation-dependent weighting, processing both 24 hr and 1 hr experiments in a single least square solutions and other innovations. I will show how this changes in data analysis affect space geodesy results, such as estimation of station positions, Earth orientation parameters, and source coordinates.

Leonid Petrov↗

Fortnightly Ocean Tides, Earth Rotation, and Mantle Anelasticity

The fortnightly Mf ocean tide is the largest of the long-period tides (periods between 1 week and 18.6 years), but Mf is still very small, generally 2 cm or less. All long-period tides are thought to be near equilibrium with the astronomical tidal potential, with an almost pure zonal structure. However, several lines of evidence point to Mf having a significant dynamic response to forcing. We use a combination of numerical modeling, satellite altimetry, and observations of polar motion to determine the Mf ocean tide and to place constraints on certain global properties, such as angular momentum. Polar motion provides the only constraints on Mf tidal currents. With a model of the Mf ocean tide in hand, we use it to remove the effects of the ocean from estimates of fortnightly variations in length-of-day. The latter is dominated by the earth's body tide, but a small residual allows us to place new constraints on the anelasticity of the earth's mantle. The result gives the first experimental confirmation of theoretical predictions made by Wahr and Bergen in 1986.

Ray, Richard↗

Analysis of Salinity Intrusion in the San Francisco Bay-Delta using a GA- Optimized Neural Net, and Application of the Model to Prediction in the Elkhorn Slough Habitat

The San Francisco Bay Delta is a large hydrodynamic complex that incorporates the Sacramento and San Joaquin Estuaries, the Burman Marsh, and the San Francisco Bay proper. Competition exists for the use of this extensive water system both from the fisheries industry, the agricultural industry, and from the marine and estuarine animal species within the Delta. As tidal fluctuations occur, more saline water pushes upstream allowing fish to migrate beyond the Burman Marsh for breeding and habitat occupation. However, the agriculture industry does not want extensive salinity intrusion to impact water quality for human and plant consumption. The balance is regulated by pumping stations located alone the estuaries and reservoirs whereby flushing of fresh water keeps the saline intrusion at bay. The pumping schedule is driven by data collected at various locations within the Bay Delta and by numerical models that predict the salinity intrusion as part of a larger model of the system. The Interagency Ecological Program (IEP) for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary collects, monitors, and archives the data, and the Department of Water Resources provides a numerical model simulation (DSM2) from which predictions are made that drive the pumping schedule. A problem with this procedure is that the numerical simulation takes roughly 16 hours to complete a C:~ prediction. We have created a neural net, optimized with a genetic algorithm, that takes as input the archived data from multiple stations and predicts stage, salinity, and flow at the Carquinez Straits (at the downstream end of the Burman Marsh). This model seems to be robust in its predictions and operates much faster than the current numerical DSM2 model. Because the system is strongly tidal driven, we used both Principal Component Analysis and Fast Fourier Transforms to discover dominant features within the IEP data. We then filtered out the dominant tidal forcing to discover non-primary tidal effects, and used this to enhance the neural network by mapping input-output relationships in a more efficient manner. Furthermore, the neural network implicitly incorporates both the hydrodynamic and water quality models into a single predictive system. Although our model has not yet been enhanced to demonstrate improve pumping schedules, it has the possibility to support better decision-making procedures that may then be implemented by State agencies if desired. Our intention is now to use this model in the smaller Elkhorn Slough complex near Monterey Bay where no such hydrodynamic model currently exists. At the Elkhorn Slough, we are fusing the neural net model of tidally-driven flow with in situ flow data and airborne and satellite remote sensation data. These further constrain the behavior of the model in predicting the longer-term health and future of this vital estuary.

Thompson, David E.↗

Modeling Approaches in Planetary Seismology

Of the many geophysical means that can be used to probe a planet's interior, seismology remains the most direct. Given that the seismic data gathered on the Moon over 40 years ago revolutionized our understanding of the Moon and are still being used today to produce new insight into the state of the lunar interior, it is no wonder that many future missions, both real and conceptual, plan to take seismometers to other planets. To best facilitate the return of high-quality data from these instruments, as well as to further our understanding of the dynamic processes that modify a planet's interior, various modeling approaches are used to quantify parameters such as the amount and distribution of seismicity, tidal deformation, and seismic structure on and of the terrestrial planets. In addition, recent advances in wavefield modeling have permitted a renewed look at seismic energy transmission and the effects of attenuation and scattering, as well as the presence and effect of a core, on recorded seismograms. In this chapter, we will review these approaches.

Weber, Renee↗

Passage through resonance

Gravitational and tidal torque effects on Mercury spin rate as model of passage through resonance

Kyner, W. T.↗

Verification by remote sensing of an oil slick movement prediction model

The author has identified the following significant results. LANDSAT, aircraft, ships, and air-dropped current drogues were deployed to determine current circulation and to track oil slick movement on four different dates in Delaware Bay. The results were used to verify a predictive model for oil slicks given their size, location, tidal stage (current), weather (wind), and nature of crude. Both LANDSAT satellites provided valuable data on gross circulation patterns and convergent coastal fronts which by capturing oil slicks significantly influence their movement and dispersion.

Klemas, V.↗

Internal stresses in Phobos and other triaxial bodies

The unusual dynamical behavior of Phobos, its strange appearance, and its mysterious network of grooves all make it an intriguing object. Geophysical studies, though, have been hampered by the lack of suitable theories applicable to nonspherical bodies. In this paper the Martian satellites are modeled as homogeneous, elastic triaxial ellipsoids subject to tidal, rotational, and self-gravitational stresses. A novel semianalytical treatment then gives the stress and strain fields throughout their interiors. Yield phenomena and their possible surface expressions are also investigated. The results indicate that Phobos and Deimos have always been stable with respect to tidal fracture or disruption, but that Phobos will probably break up before colliding with Mars. Applications of the new formulation to other nonspherical bodies in the solar system are also discussed.

Dobrovolskis, A. R.↗