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NASA NTRS1995

Studies of planetary scale waves and instabilities in support of the geophysical fluid flow cell experiment on USML-2

High resolution numerical simulations of thermal convection in a rapidly rotating channel with gravity perpendicular to the rotation vector are described. The convecting columns are subject to a beta-effect resulting from cross-channel topographic vortex stretching. The symmetries of the problem allow many invariant wavenumber sets, and this property is associated with the existence of stable multiple-equilibria at modest supercriticality. The transition to chaotic behavior involves the production of intermittent unstable orbits off a two-torus in energy space. At very high Rayleigh number (of order 10(exp 6) to 10(exp 7)) the motion can be turbulent, depending on the size of beta. However, the turbulence is usually characterized by an almost-periodic formation of patches of small scale convection that cause regular pulsations in the accompanying strong zonal jets. The processes maintaining these flows may be related to those responsible for the zonal currents on Jupiter and for cyclic variability on the Sun.

Hart, J. E.↗

NASA NTRS1972

Some remarks on elastic crack-tip stress fields.

It is shown that if the displacement field and stress intensity factor are known as functions of crack length for any symmetrical load system acting on a linear elastic body in plane strain, then the stress intensity factor for any other symmetrical load system whatsoever on the same body may be directly determined. The result is closely related to Bueckner's (1970) weight function, through which the stress intensity factor is expressed as a sum of work-like products between applied forces and values of the weight function at their points of application. An example of the method is given wherein the solution for a crack in a remotely uniform stress field is used to generate the expression for the stress intensity factor due to an arbitrary traction distribution on the faces of a crack. A corresponding theory is developed in an appendix for three-dimensional crack problems, although this appears to be directly useful chiefly for problems in which there is axial symmetry.

Rice, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS1991

External calibration of polarimetric radars using point and distributed targets

Polarimetric calibration algorithms using combinations of point targets and reciprocal distributed targets are developed. From the reciprocity relations of distributed targets, and equivalent point target response is derived. Then the problem of polarimetric calibration using two point targets and one distributed target reduces to that using three point targets, which has been previously solved. For calibration using one point target and one reciprocal distributed target, two cases are analyzed with the point target being a trihedral reflector or a polarimetric active radar calibrator (PARC). For both cases, the general solutions of the system distortion matrices are written as a product of a particular solution and a matrix with one free parameter. For the trihedral-reflector case, this free parameter is determined by assuming azimuthal symmetry for the distributed target. For the PARC case, knowledge of one ratio of two covariance matrix elements of the distributed target is required to solve for the free parameter. Numerical results are simulated to demonstrate the usefulness of the developed algorithms.

Yueh, S. H.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Asymmetry in the Diurnal Variation of Surface Albedo

Remote sensing of surface properties and estimation of clear-sky and surface albedo generally assumes that the albedo depends only on the solar zenith angle. The effects of dew, frost, and precipitation as well as evaporation and wind can lead to some systematic diurnal variability resulting in an asymmetric diurnal cycle of albedo. This paper examines the symmetry of both surface-observed albedos and top-of-the-atmosphere (TOA) albedos derived from satellite data. Broadband and visible surface albedos were measured at the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Southern Great Plains Central Facility, at some fields near the ARM site, and over a coniferous forest in eastern Virginia. Surface and wind conditions are available for most cases. GOES-8 satellite radiance data are converted to broadband albedo using bidirectional reflectance functions and an empirical narrowband-to-broadband relationship. The initial results indicate that surface moisture has a significant effect and can change the albedo in the afternoon by 20% relative to its morning counterpart. Such effects may need to be incorporated in mesoscale and even large-scale models of atmospheric processes.

Mayor, S.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Concerted hydrogen atom exchange between three HF molecules

We have investigated the termolecular reaction involving concerted hydrogen exchange between three HF molecules, with particular emphasis on the effects of correlation at the various stationary points along the reaction. Using an extended basis, we have located the geometries of the stable hydrogen-bonded trimer, which is of C(sub 3h) symmetry, and the transition state for hydrogen exchange, which is of D(sub 3h) symmetry. The energies of the exchange reation were then evaluated at the correlated level, using a large atomic natural orbital basis and correlating all valence electrons. Several correlation treatments were used, namely, configration interaction with single and double excitations, coupled-pair functional, and coupled-cluster methods. We are thus able to measure the effect of accounting for size-extensivity. Zero-point corrections to the correlated level energetics were determined using analytic second derivative techniques at the SCF level. Our best calculations, which include the effects of connected triple excitations in the coupled-cluster procedure, indicate that the trimer is bound by 9 +/- 1 kcal/mol relative to three separate monomers, in excellent agreement with previous estimates. The barrier to concerted hydrogen exchange is 15 kcal/mol above the trimer, or only 4.7 kcal/mol above three separated monomers. Thus the barrier to hydrogen exchange between HF molecules via this termolecular process is very low.

Komornicki, Andrew↗

NASA NTRS1994

Kelvin waves in total column ozone

Tropical Kelvin waves have been observed previously in ozone mixing ratio data from the SBUV (Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet) and LIMS (Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere) instruments on board the Nimbus-7 satellite. The present study investigates Kelvin wave features in total column ozone, using version 6 data from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument (also on Nimbus-7). Results show eastward-propagating zonal waves 1-2 with periods approx. 5-15 days, amplitudes approx. 3-5 Dobson Units (1-2% of the time mean), and latitudinal symmetry typical of Kelvin waves. The analyses and a linear model in this study suggest that the primary source of the perturbations is slow Kelvin waves in the lower-to-middle stratosphere. Maximum Kelvin wave signatures occur in conjunction with westward lower-to-middle stratospheric equatorial zonal winds (a quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) wind modulation effect). The significance of these results is that the TOMS data are shown to be useful for investigations with global coverage of a major component of tropical stratospheric dynamics, Kelvin waves. The TOMS data set with its excellent coverage and high quality should be useful in validating model studies in the relatively data sparse and dynamically difficult tropical region.

Ziemke, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Thermal structure and dynamics of the Jovian Atmosphere. 1: The Great Red Spot

Temperatures and thermal winds, derived from Voyager infrared spectroscopy (IRIS) data over the Great Red Spot (GRS) and its environs, are presented. The atmosphere over the GRS is characterized by a tropopause which is cold relative to its environment and an upper stratosphere which is relatively warm. The cold tropopause implies a decrease in anticyclonic vorticity with height above 500 mb through the lower stratosphere. IRIS observations at 5 microns indicate little emission from the GRS itself, but enhanced emission in a ring about it, in agreement with recent ground based results. The behavior of the tropopause and 5 micron temperatures can be consistently interpreted as resulting from a circulation which rises within the GRS and subsides in the area around it. The explanation of the upper stratospheric temperatures is not so straightforward. A previous suggestion that they may be a manifestation of the linear vertical propagation of Rossby waves appears inconsistent with the gross east-west symmetry in the stratospheric temperatures over the GRS. The implications of the present results for various theoretical models of the GRS are examined, and the possibility that latent heat release drives the GRS is discussed.

Flasar, F. M.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Results of a zonally truncated three-dimensional model of the Venus middle atmosphere

Although the equatorial rotational speed of the solid surface of Venus is only 4 m s(exp-1), the atmospheric rotational speed reaches a maximum of approximately 100 m s(exp-1) near the equatorial cloud top level (65 to 70 km). This phenomenon, known as superrotation, is the central dynamical problem of the Venus atmosphere. We report here the results of numerical simulations aimed at clarifying the mechanism for maintaining the equatorial cloud top rotation. Maintenance of an equatorial rotational speed maximum above the surface requires waves or eddies that systematically transport angular momentum against its zonal mean gradient. The zonally symmetric Hadley circulation is driven thermally and acts to reduce the rotational speed at the equatorial cloud top level; thus wave or eddy transport must counter this tendency as well as friction. Planetary waves arising from horizontal shear instability of the zonal flow (barotropic instability) could maintain the equatorial rotation by transporting angular momentum horizontally from midlatitudes toward the equator. Alternatively, vertically propagating waves could provide the required momentum source. The relative motion between the rotating atmosphere and the pattern of solar heating, which as a maximum where solar radiation is absorbed near the cloud tops, drives diurnal and semidiurnal thermal tides that propagate vertically away from the cloud top level. The effect of this wave propagation is to transport momentum toward the cloud top level at low latitudes and accelerate the mean zonal flow there. We employ a semispectral primitive equation model with a zonal mean flow and zonal wavenumbers 1 and 2. These waves correspond to the diurnal and semidiurnal tides, but they can also be excited by barotropic or baroclinic instability. Waves of higher wavenumbers and interactions between the waves are neglected. Symmetry about the equator is assumed, so the model applies to one hemisphere and covers the altitude range 30 to 110 km. Horizontal resolution is 1.5 deg latitude, and vertical resolution is 1.5 km. Solar and thermal infrared heating, based on Venus observations and calculations drive the model flow. Dissipation is accomplished mainly by Rayleigh friction, chosen to produce strong dissipation above 85 km in order to absorb upward propagating waves and limit extreme flow velocities there, yet to give very weak Rayleigh friction below 70 km; results in the cloud layer do not appear to be sensitive to the Rayleigh friction. The model also has weak vertical diffusion, and very weak horizontal diffusion, which has a smoothing effect on the flow only at the two grid points nearest the pole.

Newman, M.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Hydrogen and related materials at high density: Physics, chemistry and planetary implications

Recent studies of low-Z molecular materials including hydrogen to multimegabar pressures (less than 300 GPa) have uncovered a range of phenomena relevant to understanding the nature of the interiors of the outer planets and their satellites. Synchrotron x ray diffraction measurements (to 42 GPa) have been used to determine the crystal structure of the solid (hexagonal-close packed) and equation of state. Sound velocities in fluid and solid hydrogen (to 24 GPa) have been inverted to obtain elastic constants and aggregate bulk and shear moduli. In addition, an improved intermolecular potential has been determined which fits both static and shock-wave data. Use of the new potential for the molecular envelope of Jupiter suggests the need for major revisions of existing Jovian models or a reanalysis of reported free oscillations for the planet. Studies at higher pressures (greater than 100 GPa) reveal a sequence of pressure-induced symmetry-breaking transitions in molecular hydrogen, giving rise to three high-pressure phases (1, 2, and 3). Phase 1 is the rotationally disordered hcp phase which persists from low pressure to well above 100 GPa at high temperature (e.g., 300 K). Phase 2 is a low-temperature, high-pressure phase (transition at 100 GPa and 77 K in H2) with spectral features indicative of partial rotational ordering and crystallographic distortion. The transition to Phase 3 at 150 GPa is accompanied by a weakening of the molecular bond, gradual changes in orientational ordering, strong enhancement of the infrared intramolecular vibrational absorption, and strong intermolecular interactions similar to those of ambient-pressure network solids. Studies of the phase diagram reveal a triple point near 130 K and 160 GPa. Higher pressure measurements of vibrational spectra place a lower bound of approximately 250 GPa on the predicted transition pressure for dissociation of molecular hydrogen to form a monatomic metal.

Hemley, R. J.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Large Scale Variability of Phytoplankton Blooms in the Arctic and Peripheral Seas: Relationships with Sea Ice, Temperature, Clouds, and Wind

Spatially detailed satellite data of mean color, sea ice concentration, surface temperature, clouds, and wind have been analyzed to quantify and study the large scale regional and temporal variability of phytoplankton blooms in the Arctic and peripheral seas from 1998 to 2002. In the Arctic basin, phytoplankton chlorophyll displays a large symmetry with the Eastern Arctic having about fivefold higher concentrations than those of the Western Arctic. Large monthly and yearly variability is also observed in the peripheral seas with the largest blooms occurring in the Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, and the Barents Sea during spring. There is large interannual and seasonal variability in biomass with average chlorophyll concentrations in 2002 and 2001 being higher than earlier years in spring and summer. The seasonality in the latitudinal distribution of blooms is also very different such that the North Atlantic is usually most expansive in spring while the North Pacific is more extensive in autumn. Environmental factors that influence phytoplankton growth were examined, and results show relatively high negative correlation with sea ice retreat and strong positive correlation with temperature in early spring. Plankton growth, as indicated by biomass accumulation, in the Arctic and subarctic increases up to a threshold surface temperature of about 276-277 degree K (3-4 degree C) beyond which the concentrations start to decrease suggesting an optimal temperature or nutrient depletion. The correlation with clouds is significant in some areas but negligible in other areas, while the correlations with wind speed and its components are generally weak. The effects of clouds and winds are less predictable with weekly climatologies because of unknown effects of averaging variable and intermittent physical forcing (e.g. over storm event scales with mixing and upwelling of nutrients) and the time scales of acclimation by the phytoplankton.

Comiso, Josefino C.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Oxgen-burning hydrodynamics. 1: Steady shell burning

With new hydrodynamic techniques, the relatively fast evolutionary stages of a star prior to core collapse may be explicitly computed in two spatial dimensions, with a treatment of the microphysics (e.g., nuclear reactions, equation of state, neutrino cooling) which is comparable to typical one-dimensional simulations. The nature of shell oxygen burning in a massive star, prior to core collapse, is used as a first example; it is of particular interest because it is (1) the region in which Ni-56 will be produced by the supernova shock, (2) the region of the 'mass cut', which will separate the collapsed core from the ejected mantle, (3) the site of much of the explosive nucleosynthesis, and (4) a suggested source of symmetry breaking to drive mixing instabilities which were observed in SN 1987A. The nature of the shell burning affects the size of the core which will collapse. The method is illustrated on this test case, and the character of the convection is examined.

Arnett, David↗

NASA NTRS1996

An NMR Study of Microvoids in Polymers

An understanding of polymer defect structures, like microvoids in polymeric matrices, is most crucial to their fabrication and application potential. In this project guest atoms are introduced into the microvoids in PMR-15 and NMR is used to determine microvoid sizes and locations. Xenon is a relatively inert probe that would normally not be found naturally in polymer or in NMR probe materials. There are two NMR active Xenon isotopes, Xe-129 and Xe-131. The Xe atom has a very high polarizability, which makes it sensitive to the intracrystalline environment of polymers. Interactions between the Xe atoms and the host matrix perturb and Xe electron cloud, deshielding the nuclei, and thereby expanding the range of the observed NMR chemical shifts. This chemical shift range which may be as large as 5000 ppm, permits subtle structural and chemical effects to be studied with high sensitivity. The Xe-129-NMR line shape has been found to vary in response to changes in the pore symmetry of the framework hosts in Zeolites and Clathrasil compounds. Before exposure to Xe gas, the PMR-15 samples were dried in a vacuum oven at 150 C for 48 hours. The samples were then exposed to Xe gas at 30 psi for 72 hours and sealed in glass tubes with 1 atmosphere of Xenon gas. Xenon gas at 1 atmosphere was used to tune up the spectrometer and to set up the appropriate NMR parameters. A series of spectra were obtained interspersed with applications of vacuum and heating to drive out the adsorbed Xe and determine the role of Xe-Xe interactions in the observed chemical shift.

Toy, James↗

NASA NTRS1993

Relief of some small landforms on Venus

Three sets of radar images have been acquired under different viewing conditions by the Magellan synthetic aperture radar: (1) left-looking with varied incidence angles (cycle 1); (2) right-looking with nearly constant incidence angles (cycle 2); and (3) left-looking with varied incidence angles, most of which were smaller than those in (1) except for those acquired on passes across Maxwell Montes with incidence angles larger than those in (1) (cycle 3). Image displacements in the radar images that are caused by the relief of landforms provide several methods of estimating this relief: (1) monoscopic measurements of foreshortening of landforms that are symmetrical in the plane of the look-direction of the radar (includes radial symmetry); (2) stereoscopic measurements of parallax in same-side image pairs (cycles 1-2 and 3); and (3) measurements of parallax in opposite-side image pairs (cycles 1-2 and/or 2-3). Success in methods 2 and 3 (especially 3) depends on identifying conjugate image points in the two images. Here, we report our preliminary results for five impact craters, seven small volcanic edifices, and two lava flows. The three methods mentioned above lead to the interesting result that Venusian impact craters have depth-diameter ratios like those on Mars rather than those on Earth, but some appear partly filled. Our results for de Lalande and Melba also suggest filling, but there may be other causes for their relatively small depth-diameter ratios. A host of small volcanic edifices have relief that can be crudely estimated using the above methods. Relief/diameter ratios for our cratered cones are about the same as those of Icelandic lava shields; some Venusian cones resemble the Martian shields of Mareotis-Tempe and Ceraunius Fossae, but the Venusian relief diameter ratios are larger. The smallest cratered dome is similar in size and profile to a Martian dome north of Uranius Patera; the smallest cratered cone resembles one in Chryse Planitia. Lava flows on Venus that are thick enough to measure are rare, but we have applied methods 1 and 3 to the huge flow of Ovda Regio and flows of an unusual volcano, Mahuea Tholus.

Moore, H. J.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Combustion Of Moving Droplets And Of Droplets Suspended Within A Convective Environment: Transient Numerical Results

The problem considered is that of a single-component liquid fuel (n-heptane) droplet undergoing evaporation and combustion in a hot, convective, low pressure, zero-gravity environment of infinite expanse. For a moving droplet, the relative velocity (U(sub infinity)) between the droplet and freestream is subject to change due to the influence of the drag force on the droplet. For a suspended droplet, the relative velocity is kept constant. The governing equations for the gas-phase and the liquid-phase consist of the unsteady, axisymmetric equations of mass, momentum, species (gas-phase only) and energy conservation. Interfacial conservation equations are employed to couple the two phases. Variable properties are used in the gas- and liquid-phase. Multicomponent diffusion in the gas-phase is accounted for by solving the Stefan-Maxwell equations for the species diffusion velocities. A one-step overall reaction is used to model the combustion. The governing equations are discretized using the finite volume and SIMPLEC methods. A colocated grid is adopted. Hyperbolic tangent stretching functions are used to concentrate grid points near the fore and aft lines of symmetry and at the droplet surface in both the gas- and liquid-phase. The discretization equations are solved using the ADI method with the TDMA used on each line of the two alternating directions. Iterations are performed within each time-step until convergence is achieved. The grid spacing, size of the computational domain and time-step were tested to ensure that all solutions are independent of these parameters. A detailed discussion of the numerical model is given.

Gogos, George↗

NASA NTRS1973

Precise measurement of charged defects in III-V compounds (supplement 2)

Experimental methods and related theory which will permit the measurement of low concentrations of vacancies and other defects in III-V compound semiconductors are discussed. Once the nature of these defects has been determined, this information can be incorporated into a transport theory for devices constructed from these materials, and experiments conducted to test the theory. The vacancies and other defects in the III-V compounds are detected by measurement of the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) line width. Most of the III-V compounds have at least one isotope with a nuclear quadrupole moment. In a crystal with a cubic crystal field (characteristic of most III-V compounds) there is no quadrupole splitting of the Zeeman resonance line. However, a defect removes the cubic symmetry locally and causes splitting which result in a change of the NMR width. This change can be used to detect the presence of vacancies.

Soest, J. F.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Steps toward interstellar silicate dust mineralogy

One of the most certain facts on interstellar dust is that it contains grains with silicon oxygen tetrahedra (SOT), the internal vibrations of which cause the well known silicate bands at 10 and 18 microns. The broad and almost structureless appearance of them demonstrates lack of translation symmetry in these solids that must be considered amorphous or glassy silicates. There is no direct information on the cations in these interstellar silicates and on the number of bridging oxygens per tetrahedron (NBO). Comparing experimental results gained on amorphous silicates, e.g., silicate glasses, of cosmically most abundant metals (Mg, Fe, Ca, Al) with the observations is the only way to investigate interstellar silicate dust mineralogy (cf, Dorschner and Henning, 1986). At Jena University Observatory IR spectra of submicrometer-sized grains of pyroxene glasses (SSG) were studied. Pyroxenes are common minerals in asteroids, meteorites, interplanetary, and supposedly also cometary dust particles. Pyroxenes consist of linearly connected SOT (NBO=2). In the vitreous state reached by quenching melted minerals, the SOT remain nearly undistorted (Si-O bond length unchanged); the Si-O-Si angles at the bridging oxygens of pyroxenes, however, scatter statistically. Therefore, the original cation oxygen symmetry of the crystal (octahedral and hexahedral coordination by O) is completely lost. The blended bands at 10 and 18 microns lose their diagnostic differences and become broad and structureless. This illustrates best the basic problem of interstellar silicate mineral diagnostics. Optical data of glasses of enstatite, bronzite, hypersthene, diopside, salite, and hedenbergite have been derived. Results of enstatite (E), bronzite (B), and hypersthene (H) show very good agreement with the observed silicate features in the IR spectra of evolutionarily young objects that show P-type silicate signature according to the classification by Gurtler and Henning (1986). Compositional parameters and main characteristics of experimental SSG spectra in IR for the glasses E, B, and H are shown in tabular form. Results fit excellently the relations derived by Koike and Hasegawa (1987) and suggest that the band ratio of the astronomical silicate by Draine and Lee (1984) is too low.

Dorschner, J.↗

NASA NTRS1951

Analysis of plane-plastic stress problems with axial symmetry in strain-hardening range

A simple method is developed for solving plane-plastic-stress problems with axial symmetry in the strain-hardening range which is based on the deformation theory of plasticity employing the finite-strain concept. The equations defining the problems are first reduced to two simultaneous nonlinear differential equations involving two dependent variables: (a) the octahedral shear strain, and (b) a parameter indicating the ratio of principal stresses. By multiplying the load and dividing the radius by an arbitrary constant, it is possible to solve these problems without iteration for any value of the modified load. The constant is determined by the boundary condition. This method is applied to a circular membrane under pressure, a rotating disk without and with a central hole, and an infinite plate with a circular hole. Two materials, inconel x and 16-25-6, the octahedral shear stress-strain relations of which do not follow the power law, are used. Distributions of octahedral shear strain, as well as of principal stresses and strains, are obtained. These results are compared with the results of the same problems in the elastic range.

Wu, M H Lee↗

NASA NTRS2004

Testing the Predictive Capability of the High-Fidelity Generalized Method of Cells Using an Efficient Reformulation

The High-Fidelity Generalized Method of Cells is a new micromechanics model for unidirectionally reinforced periodic multiphase materials that was developed to overcome the original model's shortcomings. The high-fidelity version predicts the local stress and strain fields with dramatically greater accuracy relative to the original model through the use of a better displacement field representation. Herein, we test the high-fidelity model's predictive capability in estimating the elastic moduli of periodic composites characterized by repeating unit cells obtained by rotation of an infinite square fiber array through an angle about the fiber axis. Such repeating unit cells may contain a few or many fibers, depending on the rotation angle. In order to analyze such multi-inclusion repeating unit cells efficiently, the high-fidelity micromechanics model's framework is reformulated using the local/global stiffness matrix approach. The excellent agreement with the corresponding results obtained from the standard transformation equations confirms the new model's predictive capability for periodic composites characterized by multi-inclusion repeating unit cells lacking planes of material symmetry. Comparison of the effective moduli and local stress fields with the corresponding results obtained from the original Generalized Method of Cells dramatically highlights the original model's shortcomings for certain classes of unidirectional composites.

Arnold, Steven M.↗