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At least 289 records · Page 16

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NASA NTRS1981

The Schwarzschild criterion for convection in the presence of a magnetic field

The Schwarzschild criterion governing the onset of convective instability has been modified to include magnetic field. This may be of importance for solar variability. The revised condition suggests that the underside of field layers are stabilizing and the upper side destabilizing. Absolute instability can be reached to achieve conventional magnetic buoyancy. This may explain the inverse correlation between the time intervals between sunspot minima and sunspot maxima with the maximum values of sunspot number, which is found to be significant at the 5.5 sigma level.

Schatten, K. H.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Use of ordination and classification procedures to evaluate phytoplankton communities during Superflux II

Cluster analysis and an ordination procedure were performed on two data matrices to investigate real and environmental spatial relationships. Multiple regression analysis was used to relate the measured environmental variables to the phytoplankton community changes. Qualitative type phytoplankton data proved to be less structured in both of these spaces, relative to the biomass data. The salinity gradients of the northern transects covaried significantly with the phytoplankton association changes. In the southern transects the light variable was most important in explaining the variance in the ordination axes. These data suggest the close relationships between phytoplankton community changes and the physical hydrology of the area.

Rutledge, C. K.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Estimating the Lifetimes of Nickel/Cadmium Cells

Equation based on model of flaw growth. Model assumes cell fails by growth of preexisting flaws. Flaws described by three important quantities: total number of flaws, distribution of flaw sizes and rate of flaw growth. When flaw reaches critical size failure occurs. Flaw concept, in addition to providing ready explanation for reduced lifetime, predicts two important charateristics: statistical variability of lifetime data and dependence of lifetime on volume of sample.

Fedors, R. F.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Should helicopter noise be measured differently from other aircraft noise? A review of the psychoacoustic literature

A review of 34 studies indicates that several factors or variables might be important in providing a psychoacoustic foundation for measurements of the noise from helicopters. These factors are phase relations, tail rotor noise, repetition rate, crest level, and generic differences between conventional aircraft and helicopters. Particular attention was given to the impulsive noise known as blade slap. Analysis of the evidence for and against each factor reveals that, for the present state of scientific knowledge, none of these factors should be regarded as the basis for a significant noise measurement correction due to impulsive blade slap. The current method of measuring effective perceived noise level for conventional aircraft appears to be adequate for measuring helicopter noise as well.

Molino, J. A.↗

NASA NTRS1982

IUE observations of cataclysmic variables

The four years of IUE operation have revealed that the ultraviolet region of the spectrum contributes a dominant share of the emerging energy from cataclysmic variables and provides important clues to the physical nature of these systems. The implications of the continuum flux distributions and line spectra for the determination of the accretion rates and mass loss rats are considered.

Szkody, P.↗

NASA NTRS1983

An infrared study of the eclipsing dwarf nova U Geminorum

One series of data comprising the present J, H, K broadband IR photometry of the cataclysmic binary system U Geminorum over the course of two orbital cycles was obtained several days before an outburst, while a second was gathered when the system had almost completely returned to quiescence from that outburst. In quiescence, the M4-M5.5 red dwarf star supplies most of the IR luminosity of the system, while the light curves at this time are tidally induced ellipsoidal variations of the red dwarf which exhibit an amplitude such that the red dwarf must fill, or nearly fill, its Roche lobe. This shows directly that Roche lobe overflow is important in cataclysmic variable stars. The range of the disk IR colors after outbursts suggest that cool and optically thick gas, together with optically thin gas, supply most of the IR light of the disk.

Berriman, G.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Response of earth and Venus ionospheres to corotating solar wind stream of 3 July 1979

Corotating solar wind stream interactions are examined for the earth and Venus in light of data from the plasma detectors aboard ISEE-3, the Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO), and Helios-A, as well as in situ ion composition measurements taken by the mass spectrometers aboard the PVO and Atmosphere Explorer-E spacecraft. During May-July 1979, a sequence of distinct, recurrent coronal regions developed at the sun; their analysis indicates a corresponding sequence of corotating streams. Although the planetary environments are distinctly different, it is noted that pronounced and analogous ionospheric responses to the stream passage were observed at both the earth and Venus. The response to the intercepted stream is consistent with independent investigations showing the importance of the variability of the solar wind momentum flux in the solar wind-ionosphere interaction at both planets.

Taylor, H. A., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1987

The stratosphere - Climatologies of the radiative heating and cooling rates and the diabatically diagnosed net circulation fields

Stratospheric solar, IR, and net radiative heating are calculated on a monthly basis using solar and IR radiative codes and satellite derived distributions of ozone, water vapor, and temperature. Divergence-free, zonally averaged, advective fields are diagnosed using the calculated diabatic heating; associated stream functions are derived. The stratospheric transport of inert tracers is studied. Analysis of the diagnosed advective fields reveal that: (1) entry into the mid- to upper stratosphere of tropospheric air is mainly from altitude regions of + or - 10 deg at the equatorial tropopause; (2) at latitudes poleward of + or - 15 deg, tracers transported from the troposphere into the stratosphere are transported toward the pole and then downward and out of the stratosphere; and (3) the presence of net cooling cells in the lower stratospheric polar regions is important. The interannual variability of the diabatic circulation is estimated using heating and advection fields derived from LIMS data.

Callis, Linwood B.↗

NASA NTRS1987

The correspondence of surface climate parameters with satellite and terrain data

One of the goals of the research was to develop a ground sampling stragegy for calibrating remotely sensed measurements of surface climate parameters. The initial sampling strategy involved the stratification of the terrain based on important ancillary surface variables such as slope, exposure, insolation, geology, drainage, fire history, etc. For a spatially heterogeneous population, sampling error is reduced and efficiency increased by stratification of the landscape into more homogeneous sub-areas and by employing periodic random spacing of samples. These concepts were applied in the initial stratification of the study site for the purpose of locating and allocating instrumentation.

Dozier, Jeff↗

NASA NTRS1987

Research relative to angular distribution of snow reflectance/snow cover characterization and microwave emission

Remote sensing has been applied in recent years to monitoring snow cover properties for applications in hydrologic and energy balance modeling. In addition, snow cover has been recently shown to exert a considerable local influence on weather variables. Of particular importance is the potential of sensors to provide data on the physical properties of snow with high spatial and temporal resolution. Visible and near-infrared measurements of upwelling radiance can be used to infer near-surface properties through the calculation of albedo. Microwave signals usually come from deeper within the snow pack and thus provide depth-integrated information, which can be measured through clouds and does not relay on solar illumination.Fundamental studies examining the influence of snow properties on signals from various parts of the electromagnetic spectrum continue in part because of the promise of new remote sensors with higher spectral and spatial accuracy. Information in the visible and near-infrared parts of the spectrum comprise nearly all available data with high spatial resolution. Current passive microwave sensors have poor spatial resolution and the data are problematic where the scenes consist of mixed landscape features, but they offer timely observations that are independent of cloud cover and solar illumination.

Dozier, Jeff↗

NASA NTRS1990

Climate of the Kennedy Space Center and vicinity

Climate plays a large role in determining the biota of a region. Summary data are presented for climate variables of ecological importance including precipitation, temperature, evapotranspiration, wind, isolation, lightning, and humidity. The John F. Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and surrounding area are sampled intensively for climatic conditions; data are presented for the barrier island, Merritt Island, and the mainland, which represents the range of conditions in the local area. Climatic figures, database listings, and historic data (pre-1931) are presented in the appendix.

Mailander, Joseph L.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Optimizing tuning masses for helicopter rotor blade vibration reduction including computed airloads and comparison with test data

The development and validation of an optimization procedure to systematically place tuning masses along a rotor blade span to minimize vibratory loads are described. The masses and their corresponding locations are the design variables that are manipulated to reduce the harmonics of hub shear for a four-bladed rotor system without adding a large mass penalty. The procedure incorporates a comprehensive helicopter analysis to calculate the airloads. Predicting changes in airloads due to changes in design variables is an important feature of this research. The procedure was applied to a one-sixth, Mach-scaled rotor blade model to place three masses and then again to place six masses. In both cases the added mass was able to achieve significant reductions in the hub shear. In addition, the procedure was applied to place a single mass of fixed value on a blade model to reduce the hub shear for three flight conditions. The analytical results were compared to experimental data from a wind tunnel test performed in the Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel. The correlation of the mass location was good and the trend of the mass location with respect to flight speed was predicted fairly well. However, it was noted that the analysis was not entirely successful at predicting the absolute magnitudes of the fixed system loads.

Pritchard, Jocelyn I.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Transverse injection into Mach 2 flow behind a rearward-facing step - A 3-D, compressible flow test case for hypersonic combustor CFD validation

A spatially-complete data set of the important primitive flow variables is presented for the complex, nonreacting, 3D unit combustor flow field employing transverse injection into a Mach 2 flow behind a rearward-facing step. A unique wind tunnel facility providing the capability for iodine seeding was built specifically for these measurements. Two optical techniques based on laser-induced-iodine fluorescence were developed and utilized for nonintrusive, in situ flow field measurements. LDA provided both mean and fluctuating velocity component measurements. A thermographic phosphor wall temperature measurement technique was developed and employed. Data from the 2D flow over a rearward-facing step and the complex 3D mixing flow with injection are reported.

Mcdaniel, James C.↗

NASA NTRS1991

An aeroelastic analysis with a generalized dynamic wake

An aeroelastic model with generalized dynamic wake is developed for application in the integration of aerodynamic, dynamic, and structural optimization of a rotor blade. The investigation is carried out with special attention to efficiency and accuracy of aeroelastic modeling. Each blade is assumed to be an elastic beam undergoing flap bending, lead-lag bending, elastic twist and axial deflections. The nonuniform blade is discretized into finite beam elements, each of which consists of twelve degrees of freedom. Such important blade design variables as pretwist, and chordwise offsets of the blade center of gravity and of the aerodynamic center from the elastic axis have been included in the analysis. Aerodynamic loads are computed from unsteady blade element theory where the rotor three-dimensional unsteady wake is modeled using a generalized dynamic wake theory. The noncirculatory loads based on unsteady thin airfoil theory are also included.

He, Cheng J.↗

NASA NTRS1994

An evaluation with the Fourier Amplitude Sensitivity Test (FAST) of which land-surface parameters are of greatest importance in atmospheric modeling

Land-surface parameterizations based on a statistical-dynamical have been suggested recently to improve the representation of the surface forcing from heterogeneous land in atmospheric models. With this approach, land-surface characteristics are prescribed by probability density functions (PDFs) rather than single 'representative' values as in 'big-leaf' parameterizations. Yet the use of many PDFs results in an increased computational burden and requires the complex problem of representing covariances between PDFs to be addressed. In this study, a sensitivity analysis of a land-surface parameterization for atmospheric modeling was performed to evaluate the surface parameters most important to the variability of surface heat fluxes. The Fourier amplitude sensitivity test (FAST) used for this analysis determines the relative contribution of individual input parameters to the variance of energy fluxes resulting from a heterogeneous surface. By simultaneously varying all parameters according to their individual probability density functions, the number of computations needed is very much reduced by this technique. This analysis demonstrates that most of the variability of surface heat fluxes may be described by the distributions of relative stomatal conductance and surface roughness. Thus, the statistical-dynamical approach may be simplified by the use of only these two probability density functions.

Collins, Dan C.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Development and initial test of the University of Wisconsin global isentropic-sigma model

The description of a global version of the University of Wisconsin (UW) hybrid isentropic-sigma (theta-sigma) model and the results from an initial numerical weather prediction experiment are presented in this paper. The main objectives of this initial test are to (1) discuss theta-sigma model development and computer requirements, (2) demonstrate the ability of the UW theta-sigma model for global numerical weather prediction using realistic orography and parameterized physical processes, and (3) compare the transport of an inert trace constituent against a nominally 'identical' sigma coordinate model. Initial and verifying data for the 5-day simulations presented in this work were supplied by the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS-1) data assimilation system. The time period studied is 1-6 February 1985. This validation experiment demonstrates that the global UW theta-sigma model produces a realistic 5-day simulation of the mass and momentum distributions when compared to both the identical sigma model and GEOS-1 verification. Root-mean-square errors demonstrate that the theta-sigma model is slightly more accurate than the nominally identical sigma model with respect to standard synoptic variables. Of particular importance, the UW theta-sigma model displays a distinct advantage over the conventional sigma model with respect to the prognostic simulation of inert trace constituent transport in amplifying baroclinic waves of the extratropics. This is especially true in the upper troposphere and stratosphere where the spatial integrity and conservation of an inert trace constituent is severely compromised in the sigma model compared to the theta-sigma model.

Zapotocny, Tom H.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Photoproduction of carbonyl sulfide in south Pacific Ocean waters as a function of irradiation wavelength

Carbonly sulfide (OCS) photoproduction rates were measured at selected wavelengths of ultraviolet light between 297 and 405 nm in sea water samples from the southern Pacific Ocean. Near-surface and column production rate spectra for natural sunlit waters were calculated using sea-surface sunlight data measured near the austral summer solstice. These plots show that photoproduction rates are at a maximum at 313 nm in tropical waters and at 336 nm in Antarctic waters. Tropical surface and column rates were found to be 68 pM/day and 360 nmol/sq m/day, respectively, and Antarctic surface and column rates were found to be 101 pM/day and 620 nmol/sq m/day, respectively. A high degree of variability was observed between photoproduction rates from different ocean regions, with coastal rates being the highest, suggesting that natural environmental variability is an important factor. Photoproduction rates at 297 nm were found to be constant at individual locations with increasing irradiation time. Relative photoproduction rates from this work are compared to previously measured rates from coastal sea water.

Weiss, Peter S.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Model studies of the beam-filling error for rain-rate retrieval with microwave radiometers

Low-frequency (less than 20 GHz) single-channel microwave retrievals of rain rate encounter the problem of beam-filling error. This error stems from the fact that the relationship between microwave brightness temperature and rain rate is nonlinear, coupled with the fact that the field of view is large or comparable to important scales of variability of the rain field. This means that one may not simply insert the area average of the brightness temperature into the formula for rain rate without incurring both bias and random error. The statistical heterogeneity of the rain-rate field in the footprint of the instrument is key to determining the nature of these errors. This paper makes use of a series of random rain-rate fields to study the size of the bias and random error associated with beam filling. A number of examples are analyzed in detail: the binomially distributed field, the gamma, the Gaussian, the mixed gamma, the lognormal, and the mixed lognormal ('mixed' here means there is a finite probability of no rain rate at a point of space-time). Of particular interest are the applicability of a simple error formula due to Chiu and collaborators and a formula that might hold in the large field of view limit. It is found that the simple formula holds for Gaussian rain-rate fields but begins to fail for highly skewed fields such as the mixed lognormal. While not conclusively demonstrated here, it is suggested that the notionof climatologically adjusting the retrievals to remove the beam-filling bias is a reasonable proposition.

Ha, Eunho↗