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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 397 records · Page 22
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2011

A Record-High Ocean Bottom Pressure in the South Pacific Observed by GRACE

In late 2009 to early 2010, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite pair observed a record increase in ocean bottom pressure (OBP) over a large mid-latitude region of the South East Pacific. Its magnitude is substantially larger than other oceanic events in the Southern Hemisphere found in the entire GRACE data records (2003-2010) on multi-month time scales. The OBP data help to understand the nature of a similar signal in sea surface height (SSH) anomaly observed by altimetry: the SSH increase is mainly due to mass convergence. Analysis of the barotropic vorticity equation using scatterometer data, atmospheric reanalysis product, and GRACE and altimeter an atmospheric reanalysis product observations suggests that the observed OBP/SSH signal was primarily caused by wind stress curl associated with a strong and persistent anticyclone in late 2009 in combination with effects of planetary vorticity gradient, bottom topography, and friction

Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)↗
NASA NTRS2015

Contribution of Anthropogenic Warming to California Drought During 2012-2014

A suite of climate data sets and multiple representations of atmospheric moisture demand are used to calculate many estimates of the self-calibrated Palmer Drought Severity Index, a proxy for near-surface soil moisture, across California from 1901 to 2014 at high spatial resolution. Based on the ensemble of calculations, California drought conditions were record breaking in 2014, but probably not record breaking in 2012-2014, contrary to prior findings. Regionally, the 2012-2014 drought was record breaking in the agriculturally important southern Central Valley and highly populated coastal areas. Contributions of individual climate variables to recent drought are also examined, including the temperature component associated with anthropogenic warming. Precipitation is the primary driver of drought variability but anthropogenic warming is estimated to have accounted for 8-27 percent of the observed drought anomaly in 2012-2014 and 5-18 percent in 2014. Although natural variability dominates, anthropogenic warming has substantially increased the overall likelihood of extreme California droughts.

California↗
NASA NTRS2002

Is There Really an Intermittent Biennial Oscillation in the Great Plains Low-Level Jet Over Texas?

In the 15-year GEOS-1 reanalysis data set, a maximum of interannual variance of low- level meridional flow for the warm season (May through August) occurs over southeast Texas. This variance maximum seems to be dominated by a marked biennial oscillation that occurs only during the first 6 (or possibly 8) years of the reanalysis period (1980-85 or possibly 1980-1987) and then completely disappears by the 9th year. This biennial oscillation seems to be associated with interannual fluctuations in ground wetness, surface temperature and surface pressure gradients over Texas. The periods of drier soil lead to warmer surface temperatures, lower surface pressures, stronger pressure gradients between Texas and the Gulf of Mexico and stronger southerly winds. This intermittent biennial oscillation is also evident in corresponding fields for the the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data set for the years 1978-1985 (and possibly from 1978- 1987) and 1995-2000, but not during other periods. There are also obvious biennial oscillations evident during these periods in U.S. Climate Division records for the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) for Texas. Month-by-month correlations of this index with certain el Nino related indices are as high as .45 for the first period and as high as .55 or .6 for the second period for some regions in Texas. The seasonal cycle of the biennial signal in the PDSI and precipitation for the first period suggest that the drought in Texas and Mexico is ended (caused) by a reversal in the sign of anomalies in precipitation rate for the fall/winter season. Analysis of tropical Pacific SST patterns shows a .5 to .75 K biennial oscillation of SSTs along the precipitation-free track to the southwest of the Mexican coast during the fall and winter months of the 1978 to 1985 period that might explain the reversal in precipitation anomalies and hence the entire intermittent biennial oscillation in ground hydrology and low-level flow.

Helfand, H. Mark↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Comparison of Recent Solar Minima Using SABER Data and the Thermosphere Climate Index

The solar minimum at the end of Solar Cycle (SC) 23 was surprisingly long and deep, and it is predicted that the SC 24 minimum will be similar. We present results from analysis of the two most recent solar minima in terms of their duration in time and the degree of cooling that occurs, along with comparisons to the minima of five preceding solar cycles. Measurements of infrared emissions from NO and CO2 made by the Sounding of the Atmosphere Using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) instrument on the NASA Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite for nearly 19 years allow us to see the effects of solar minima in the thermosphere. These data,and products derived from them, including the Thermosphere Climate Index (TCI), provide direct, quantitative information on the state of the upper atmosphere and enable comparisons of different SCs. The TCI extends the SABER record of nitric oxide infrared emission at 5.3 ìm using a linear multiple regression fit of solar and geomagnetic indices to the daily cooling power derived from SABER NO. Thus the TCI provides a 73-year measure of solar variability in Earth’s atmosphere and permits determination of the relative contribution of solar irradiance and geomagnetic processes at solar minimum and throughout the solar cycle. Results of these calculations will be presented to compare solar minima for the six solar cycles included in the TCI time series.

thermosphere↗
NASA NTRS2016

MUlti-SpEctral, MUlti-SpEcies, MUlti-SatEllite (MUSES) Retrieval Algorithm: Towards Extending Multi-Decadal NASA EOS Atmospheric Composition Data Records

Multi-Spectra, Multi-Species, Multi-Sensors (MUSES): Builds off of heritage from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) optimal estimation (OE) algorithm to combine a priori and satellite data, including rigorous error analysis diagnostics and observation operators needed for trend analysis, climate model evaluation, and data assimilation; has generic design to incorporate forward model radiances from hyperspectral measurements from multiple sensors into the joint retrieval algorithm.

Fu, Dejian↗
NASA NTRS2011

Estimation and Validation of Oceanic Mass Circulation from the GRACE Mission

Since the launch of the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) in March 2002, the Earth's surface mass variations have been monitored with unprecedented accuracy and resolution. Compared to the classical spherical harmonic solutions, global high-resolution mascon solutions allows the retrieval of mass variations with higher spatial and temporal sampling (2 degrees and 10 days). We present here the validation of the GRACE global mascon solutions by comparing mass estimates to a set of about 100 ocean bottom pressure (OSP) records, and show that the forward modelling of continental hydrology prior to the inversion of the K-band range rate data allows better estimates of ocean mass variations. We also validate our GRACE results to OSP variations modelled by different state-of-the-art ocean general circulation models, including ECCO (Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean) and operational and reanalysis from the MERCATOR project.

Boy, J.-P.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Climate model postprocessing

The development of new postprocessing software of the climate modeling group is summarized. Code, test, and perform simulations with global general circulation models are described. The models improve understanding and ability to predict the vagaries of weather and climate. To learn from and utilize the model results, it is necessary to create elaborate postprocessing software to allow analysis of the large volume of data produced. The models produce sigma history tapes. The sigma history records are interpolated to pressure history records, which are written on a pressure history tape. The model results are analyzed on pressure surfaces, with snap shots or time averages.

Abeles, J.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Do volcanic eruptions affect climate? Sulfur gases may cause cooling

The relationship between volcanic eruptions on earth and the observed climatic changes is investigated. The results of the comparison and analyses of volcanologic and climatologic data sets for the years between 1880 and 1980 indicate that changes in temperature caused by even of the largest eruptions recorded during this time were about the same as normal variations in temperature. However, when temperature records for several months or years preceding and following a given eruption were analyzed, a statistically significant temperature decrease of 0.2-0.5 C was found for the periods of one to two years immediately following some of the 19th and 20th century explosive events that prodiced large aerosol clouds (e.g., Krakatau and Agung eruptions). It is suggested that the content of sulfur in the erupted magma determines the size of aerosol cloud producing the cooling effect.

Self, Stephen↗
NASA NTRS2000

Science Writers' Guide to TERRA

The launch of NASA's Terra spacecraft marks a new era of comprehensive monitoring of the Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and continents from a single space-based platform. Data from the five Terra instruments will create continuous, long-term records of the state of the land, oceans, and atmosphere. Together with data from other satellite systems launched by NASA and other countries, Terra will inaugurate a new self-consistent data record that will be gathered over the next 15 years. The science objectives of NASAs Earth Observing System (EOS) program are to provide global observations and scientific understanding of land cover change and global productivity, climate variability and change, natural hazards, and atmospheric ozone. Observations by the Terra instruments will: provide the first global and seasonal measurements of the Earth system, including such critical functions as biological productivity of the land and oceans, snow and ice, surface temperature, clouds, water vapor, and land cover; improve our ability to detect human impacts on the Earth system and climate, identify the "fingerprint" of human activity on climate, and predict climate change by using the new global observations in climate models; help develop technologies for disaster prediction, characterization, and risk reduction from wildfires, volcanoes, floods, and droughts, and start long-term monitoring of global climate change and environmental change.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2021

Depletion & Recovery of the O3 Layer Observed from Space Over the Past 50 Years of the Anthropocene

This year we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the launch of the backscatter UV (BUV) instrument on NASA’s Nimbus-4 satellite. Since then 10 more advanced instruments, but based on the same basic measurement principle, have been launched on polar orbiting NASA and NOAA satellites. The datasets produced by these instruments are unique for they have captured the period before the onset of the decline of the ozone layer due to manmade chemicals, the declining period, and the present slow recovery period. This period includes the rapid development of the iconic anthropocene era feature called the “Ozone Hole” . However, stitching together data from 11 separate satellite instruments to create a homogeneous record has presented many challenges. The first two NASA instruments suffered considerable degradation after launch that required the development of novel techniques to characterize their calibration. The next 7 instruments were launched on NOAA’s polar orbiting weather satellites that were not designed for long-term monitoring of climate variables. In particular, they didn’t have the station keeping capabilities needed to maintain a stable equator crossing time. Drifting orbits not only stress the retrieval algorithm and the calibration system of UV instruments but also make the interpretation of data difficult because the upper stratospheric ozone has systematic and complex diurnal variabilities that are comparable to the anthropogenic signal one wants to extract. We will highlight our recent efforts in untangling this knot. Finally, we will discuss the results from the OMPS limb scattering instrument, a recent addition to this constellation, that has been operating on the Suomi NPP satellite since October 2011. It is helping us capture how the ozone layer in the lower stratosphere and troposphere is evolving in response to the climate change and rising chemical pollutants in some parts of the world, while the upper stratosphere slowly recovers due to phaseout of the chemicals that initiated the decline of the ozone layer in the late 70s.

P Bhartia↗
NASA NTRS2020

Satellite Monitoring of Global Surface Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics Using the SMAP Level 4 Carbon Product

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important metric of soil health and the terrestrial carbon balance. Short‐term climate variations affect SOC through changes in temperature and moisture, which control vegetation growth and soil decomposition. We evaluated a satellite data‐driven carbon model, operating under the NASA Soil Moisture Active‐Passive (SMAP) mission, as a means of monitoring global surface SOC dynamics. The SMAP Level 4 Carbon (L4C) product estimates a daily global carbon budget including surface (0‐ to 5‐cm depth) SOC. We found that the L4C mean latitudinal SOC distribution is generally consistent with alternative assessments from static soil inventory records and dynamic global vegetation models (r ≥ 0.89). Within forest systems, based on inventory data, L4C SOC is most similar in magnitude to litterfall but is correlated with coarse woody debris ( urn:x-wiley:jgrg:media:jgrg21790:jgrg21790-math-0001) and total SOC ( urn:x-wiley:jgrg:media:jgrg21790:jgrg21790-math-0002). L4C SOC is sensitive to seasonal and annual climate variability, with mean residence times that range from 1.5 years in the wet tropics to 17 years in the cold tundra. Incorporating soil moisture retrievals from the SMAP L‐band (1.4 GHz) microwave radiometer within the L4C algorithm provides enhanced soil moisture sensitivity under low‐to‐moderate vegetation cover (<5 kg/sq.m vegetation water content). The L‐band soil moisture had the greatest impact on the L4C carbon budget in semiarid regions, which span almost 60% of the globe and account for substantial variability in the terrestrial carbon sink. The L4C operational product enables prognostic investigations into effects of recent climate trends and anomalies (e.g., droughts and pluvials) on shallow soil carbon dynamics.

K. Arthur Endsley↗
NASA NTRS1985

A new NASA/MSFC mission analysis global cloud cover data base

A global cloud cover data set, derived from the USAF 3D NEPH Analysis, was developed for use in climate studies and for Earth viewing applications. This data set contains a single parameter - total sky cover - separated in time by 3 or 6 hr intervals and in space by approximately 50 n.mi. Cloud cover amount is recorded for each grid point (of a square grid) by a single alphanumeric character representing each 5 percent increment of sky cover. The data are arranged in both quarterly and monthly formats. The data base currently provides daily, 3-hr observed total sky cover for the Northern Hemisphere from 1972 through 1977 less 1976. For the Southern Hemisphere, there are data at 6-hr intervals for 1976 through 1978 and at 3-hr intervals for 1979 and 1980. More years of data are being added. To validate the data base, the percent frequency of or = 0.3 and or = 0.8 cloud cover was compared with ground observed cloud amounts at several locations with generally good agreement. Mean or other desired cloud amounts can be calculated for any time period and any size area from a single grid point to a hemisphere. The data base is especially useful in evaluating the consequence of cloud cover on Earth viewing space missions. The temporal and spatial frequency of the data allow simulations that closely approximate any projected viewing mission. No adjustments are required to account for cloud continuity.

Brown, S. C.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Non-Scanning Radiometer Results for Earth Radiation Budget Investigations

The Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) included non-scanning radiometers (Luther, 1986) flown aboard a dedicated mission of Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, and the NOAA-9 and -10 operational meteorological spacecraft (Barkstrom and Smith, 1986). The radiometers first began providing Earth radiation budget data in November 1984 and have remained operational, providing a record of nearly 8 years of data to date for researchers. Although they do not produce measurements with the resolution given by the scanning radiometers, the results from the non-scanning radiometers are extremely useful for climate research involving long-term radiation data sets. This paper discusses the non-scanning radiometers, their stability, the method of analyzing the data, and brief scientific results from the data.

Smith, G. Louis↗
NASA NTRS2002

The 1998-2000 SHADOZ (Southern Hemisphere ADditional OZonesondes) Tropical Ozone Climatology: Stratospheric and Tropospheric Ozone Variability and the Zonal Wave-One - 2

This is the second 'reference' or 'archival' paper for the SHADOZ (Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes) network and is a follow-on to the recently accepted paper with similar first part of title. The latter paper compared SHADOZ total ozone with satellite and ground-based instruments and showed that the equatorial wave-one in total ozone is in the troposphere. The current paper presents details of the wave-one structure and the first overview of tropospheric ozone variability over the southern Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean basins. The principal new result is that signals of climate effects, convection and offsets between biomass burning seasonality and tropospheric ozone maxima suggest that dynamical factors are perhaps more important than pollution in determining the tropical distribution of tropospheric ozone. The SHADOZ data at ( ) are setting records in website visits and are the first time that the zonal view of tropical ozone structure has been recorded - thanks to the distribution of the 10 sites that make up this validation network.

Thompson, Anne M.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Lightning-Generated NO(x) Seen By OMI during NASA's TC-4 Experiment: First Results

We present here case studies identifying upper-tropospheric NO2 produced in convective storms during NASA's Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling Experiment (TC~i)n July and August 2007. DC8 aircraft missions, flown from the mission base in Costa Rica, recorded in situ NO2 profiles near active storms and in relatively quiet areas. We combine these data with measurements from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on the Aura satellite to estimate the amount of NO2 produced by lightning (LN02) above background levels in the regions influenced by storms. In our analysis, improved off-line processing techniques are employed to minimize known artifacts in the OM1 data. Information on lightning flashes (primarily CG) observed by the surface network operated by the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad are examined upwind of regions where OM1 indicates enhanced LNO2. Comparisons of the observed flash data with measurements by the TRMM/LIS satellite instrument are used to obtain the lightning detection efficiency for total flashes. Finally, using the NO/NO2 ratio estimated from DC-8 observations, we estimate the average NO(x) production per lightning flash for each case in this study. The magnitudes of the measured NO(x) enhancements are compared with those observed by the DC-8 and with similar OM1 measurements analyzed in mid-latitude experiments.

Bucsela, Eric↗
NASA NTRS2009

Evaluation of Surface and Near-Surface Melt Characteristics on the Greenland Ice Sheet using MODIS and QuikSCAT Data

The Greenland Ice Sheet has been the focus of much attention recently because of increasing melt in response to regional climate warming. To improve our ability to measure surface melt, we use remote-sensing data products to study surface and near-surface melt characteristics of the Greenland Ice Sheet for the 2007 melt season when record melt extent and runoff occurred. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) daily land-surface temperature (LST), MODIS daily snow albedo, and a special diurnal melt product derived from QuikSCAT (QS) scatterometer data, are all effective in measuring the evolution of melt on the ice sheet. These daily products, produced from different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, are sensitive to different geophysical features, though QS- and MODIS-derived melt generally show excellent correspondence when surface melt is present on the ice sheet. Values derived from the daily MODIS snow albedo product drop in response to melt, and change with apparent grain-size changes. For the 2007 melt season, the QS and MODIS LST products detect 862,769 square kilometers and 766,184 square kilometers of melt, respectively. The QS product detects about 11% greater melt extent than is detected by the MODIS LST product probably because QS is more sensitive to surface melt, and can detect subsurface melt. The consistency of the response of the different products demonstrates unequivocally that physically-meaningful melt/freeze boundaries can be detected. We have demonstrated that these products, used together, can improve the precision in mapping surface and near-surface melt extent on the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Hall, Dorothy K.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Infrared measurements of atmospheric gases above Mauna Loa, Hawaii, in February 1987

The IR absorptions spectra of 13 minor and trace atmospheric gases, recorded by the NOAA's Geophysical Monitoring for Climate Change (GMCC) program station at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, for four days in February 1987, were analyzed to determine simultaneous total vertical column amounts for these gases. Comparisons with other data indicate that the NOAA GMCC surface volume mixing ratios are good measures of the mean volume mixing ratios of these gases in the troposphere and that Mauna Loa is a favorable site for IR monitoring of atmospheric gases. The ozone total columns deduced from the IR spectra agreed with the correlative Umkehr observations.

Rinsland, C. P.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Cloud fraction, layer, and direction of movement results from sky cameras during the FIRE IFO, Coffeyville, Kansas, experiment for the period Nov. 12 through Dec. 9, 1991

Tables and figures are presented which show local site observations of cloud fractions, the number of cloud layers, direction of movement, and precipitation data collected during the FIRE (First ISCCP Regional Experiment) Phase 2 Cirrus Intensive Field Observations (IFO) conducted in Coffeyville, Kansas during November and December, 1991. Selected data are also presented at the times of the TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) satellite overpass. Several major scientific projects have used surface-based observations of clouds to compare directly with those being observed from satellites. Characterizing the physical properties of clouds is extremely useful in obtaining a more accurate analysis of the effect of clouds and their movements on weather and climate. It is the purpose of this paper to report data collected during the FIRE Phase 2 IFO experiment and to provide a brief history of such a surface-based system and the technical information required for recording local cloud parameters.

Gerald C Purgold↗