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NASA NTRS1985

Entrainment region phenomena for a large plane shear layer

The subatmospheric test section of the present free shear layer facility allows the entrainment air to be introduced with a negligible disturbance level. The very low frequency oscillations, which are prominently observed in the entrainment stream and which are present throughout the shear layer, are attributed to an inherent instability in the transition from a boundary layer to a free shear layer state. The basic features of the disturbance field are documented herein.

Ali, S. K.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Task I: A Computational Model for Short Wavelength Stall Inception and Development In Multi-Stage Compressors

A computational model is presented for simulating axial compressor stall inception and development via disturbances with length scales on the order of several (typically about three) blade pitches. The model was designed for multi-stage compressors in which stall is initiated by these short wavelength disturbances, also referred to as spikes. The inception process described is fundamentally nonlinear, in contrast to the essentially linear behavior seen in so-called modal stall inception . The model was able to capture the following experimentally observed phenomena: (1) development of rotating stall via short wavelength disturbances, (2) formation and evolution of localized short wavelength stall cells in the first stage of a mismatched compressor, (3) the switch from long to short wavelength stall inception resulting from the re-staggering of the inlet guide vane, (4) the occurrence of rotating stall inception on the negatively sloped portion of the compressor characteristic. Parametric investigations indicated that (1) short wavelength disturbances were supported by the rotor blade row, (2) the disturbance strength was attenuated within the stators, and (3) the reduction of inter-blade row gaps can suppress the growth of short wavelength disturbances. It is argued that each local component group (rotor plus neighboring stators) has its own instability point (i.e. conditions at which disturbances are sustained) for short wavelength disturbances, with the instability point for the compressor set by the most unstable component group.

Suder, Kenneth↗

NASA NTRS1974

Propagation of solar disturbances in interplanetary space

Time-dependent solutions of a one-fluid model of the interplanetary medium are investigated. This set of unsteady hydrodynamic equations has been written in conservation form in order to apply the Lax-Wendroff method for the solution of this problem. The initial condition is specified by a pulse at 1 solar radius. The equilibrium condition is chosen to be the steady solution of a quiet solar wind. The specified solar disturbances in this calculation are allowed to be both sub- and supersonic by the present theoretical formulation. The results are presented in terms of density, velocity, and temperature profiles of the interplanetary gas flow at heliocentric distances up to about 10 AU at any particular time. The trajectories of disturbances for various initial pulses are shown. Some 1972 solar-flare observational data are compared with these theoretical calculations. From these calculations, the effects on the interplanetary environment, due to the propagation of solar disturbances, can be determined.

Wu, S. T.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Correlated variations of UV and radio emissions during an outstanding Jovian auroral event

An exceptional Jovian aurora was detected in the FUV on December 21, 1990, by means of Vilspa and Goddard Space Flight Center (GFSC) International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) observations. This event included intensification by a factor of three between December 20 and 21, leading to the brightest aurora identified in the IUE data analyzed, and, in the north, to a shift of the emission peak towards larger longitudes. The Jovian radio emission simultaneously recorded at decameter wavelengths in Nancay also exhibits significant changes, from a weak and short-duration emission on December 20 to a very intense one, lasting several hours, on December 21. Confirmation of this intense radio event is also found in the observations at the University of Florida on December 21. The emissions are identified as right-handed Io-independent 'A' (or 'non Io-A') components from the northern hemisphere. The radio source region deduced from the Nancay observations lies, for both days, close to the UV peak emission, exhibiting in particular a similar shift of the source region toward larger longitudes from one day to the next. A significant broadening of the radio source was also observed and it is shown that on both days, the extent of the radio source closely followed the longitude range for which the UV brightness exceeds a given threshold. The correlated variations, both in intensity and longitude, strongly suggest that a common cause triggered the variation of the UV and radio emissions during this exceptional event. On one hand, the variation of the UV aurora could possibly be interpreted according to the Prange and Elkhamsi (1991) model of diffuse multicomponent auroral precipitation (electron and ion): it would arise from an increase in the precipitation rate of ions together with an inward shift of their precipitation locus from L approximately equal 10 to L approximately equal 6. On the other hand, the analysis of Ulysses observations in the upstream solar wind suggests that a significant disturbance in the solar wind, involving the generation of an interplanetary shock and the presence of a CME have interacted with the Jovian magnetosphere at about the time of the auroral event. Both arguments suggest that we may have observed for the first time a magnetic storm-type interaction in an outer planet magnetosphere, affecting simultaneously several auroral processes. Conversely, the observed relationship between the level of UV auroral activity and the detection of decameter emission (DAM), if it were a typical feature, might argue in favour of a more direct and permanent association between the auroral processes leading to UV and radio aurorae, possibly related to 'discrete-arc'-like activity and electron precipitation.

Prange, R.↗

NASA NTRS1974

The aurora as a source of planetary-scale waves in the middle atmosphere

Photographs of global scale auroral forms taken by scanning radiometers onboard weather satellites in 1972 show that auroral bands exhibit well organized wave motion with typical zonal wave number of 5 or so. The scale size of these waves is in agreement with that of well organized neutral wind fields in the 150- to 200-km region during the geomagnetic storm of May 27, 1967. Further, the horizontal scale size revealed by these observations are in agreement with that of high altitude traveling ionospheric disturbances. It is conjectured that the geomagnetic storm is a source of planetary and synoptic scale neutral atmospheric waves in the middle atmosphere. Although there is, at present, no observation of substorm related waves of this scale size at mesospheric and stratospheric altitudes, the possible existence of a new source of waves of the proper scale size to trigger instabilities in middle atmospheric circulation systems may be significant in the study of lower atmospheric response to geomagnetic activity.

Chiu, Y. T.↗

NASA NTRS1972

On the tidal effects in the motion of earth satellites and the love parameters of the earth

The tidal effects in the motion of artificial satellites are studied to determine the elastic properties of the earth as they are observed from extraterrestrial space. Considering Love numbers, the disturbing potential is obtained as the analytical continuation of the tidal potential from the surface of the earth into-outer space, with parameters which characterize the earth's elastic response to tidal attraction by the moon and the sun. It is concluded that the tidal effects represent a superposition of a large number of periodic terms, and the rotation of the lunar orbital plane produces a term of 18 years period in tidal perturbations of the ascending node of the satellite's orbit.

Musen, P.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Statistical equilibrium in cometary C2. I

Swan-band emission from the C2 molecule provides important information for a study of the physical processes occurring in comets. It is, therefore, a disturbing factor that many quantitative Swan-band observations are in clear contradiction of predictions of resonance fluorescence excitation of the Swan bands. A description is presented of an investigation involving an application of resonance fluorescence theory to C2. The investigation takes into account all important electronic transitions which determine the population distribution of the lowest energy states. It is found that the previous discrepancy for the brighter band sequences disappears.

Swamy, K. S. K.↗

NASA NTRS1981

On the seat of the solar cycle

A discussion of some of the issues raised in connection with the seat of the solar cycle are presented. Is the cycle controlled by a strictly periodic oscillator that operates in the core, or is it a turbulent dynamo confined to the convection zone and possibly a thin boundary layer beneath it? Sunspot statistics are discussed, with a view to ascertaining the length of the memory of the cycle, without drawing a definitive conclusion. Also discussed are some of the processes that might bring about variations delta L and delta R in the luminosity and the radius of the photosphere. It appears that the ratio W = delta lnR/delta lnL increases with the depth of the disturbance that produces the variations, so that imminent observations might determine whether or not the principal dynamical processes are confined to only the outer layers of the Sun.

Gough, D.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Solar variability and quasi-stationary planetary wave behavior

A steady state analysis of winter winds shows that the speed of the upper atmospheric polar vortex approaches and occasionally exceeds the value required to reflect externally forced planetary wave 1 energy back towards the surface of the earth. Historical observations suggest that solar UV variability and geomagnetic disturbances are two primary forces which modulate the planetary wave trapping mechanism. Through the solar-terrestrial process described, small changes in the sun's behavior can be physically linked to both shortand long-term changes in tropospheric weather patterns.

Springer, B. D.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Influence of meteorological conditions on aerosol vertical distribution and composition off the northeast American coastline

The size distribution and composition of lower tropospheric aerosols were measured off the northeast American coastline under clear air and disturbed meteorological conditions. Under the clear air conditions observed on 5 August 1982, with air flow from west to east, sulfate-rich stratified layers are the dominant feature of aerosol distribution in the lowest 3000 m of the troposphere. The encroachment of a warm frontal system over the study area on 9 August 1982 resulted in dramatic changes in aerosol distribution and composition prior to any precipitation, probably due to increased vertical mixing and dilution of pollutant aerosols. Chloride becomes the dominant water soluble anion in the lower 3000 m, primarily due to a several fold decrease in sulfate. Although these results are limited to only two sets of measurements, the data indicate the variability which can occur in the tropospheric vertical aerosol distributions at remote locations. A knowledge of the structure and stability of these stratified layers is of particular importance to studies of the ocean-troposphere chemistry problem.

Sebacher, D. I.↗

NASA NTRS1986

SAM II measurements of Antarctic PSC's and aerosols

Measurements by the SAM II satellite instrument show that polar stratospheric clouds (PSC's) are a regular feature of the austral winter season in either nonvolcanically or volcanically disturbed periods. The tops of these clouds are observed above 20 km in early winter and descend in altitude over the course of the season to heights near 15 km in mid September. Typically, PSC's persist in the lowest stratospheric altitudes throughout September. Subsequently, October always represents a relative annual minimum in aerosol extinction above 15 km and in stratospheric column amount. In addition, volcanically produced aerosols in Antarctica peaked in early 1983 and, if linearly related to ozone losses, are probably not a contributing factor to the continued loss of total ozone in the Antarctic spring in 1984 and 1985.

Mccormick, M. P.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Improvements in ERBS attitude determination without gyros

Previous papers have described the modification of the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) Attitude Determination System (ADS) to overcome the impact of on board gyro degradation and failure on attitude ground support of the mission. Two approaches were taken: implementing a Kalman filter in place of the batch-least-squares attitude estimator to account for the propagation error produced by high-noise gyro data, and modeling the ERBS attitude dynamics to restore rate information in the case of gyro failure. Both of these methods had shortcomings. In practice, the filter attitude diverged without complete sensor observability, and accurate dynamics modeling required knowledge of disturbance torque parameters that had to be determined manually. These difficulties have been overcome by improved tuning of the filter and by incorporating dynamics parameter estimation into the ERBS ADS.

Chu, D.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Computational fluid mechanics

Two papers are included in this progress report. In the first, the compressible Navier-Stokes equations have been used to compute leading edge receptivity of boundary layers over parabolic cylinders. Natural receptivity at the leading edge was simulated and Tollmien-Schlichting waves were observed to develop in response to an acoustic disturbance, applied through the farfield boundary conditions. To facilitate comparison with previous work, all computations were carried out at a free stream Mach number of 0.3. The spatial and temporal behavior of the flowfields are calculated through the use of finite volume algorithms and Runge-Kutta integration. The results are dominated by strong decay of the Tollmien-Schlichting wave due to the presence of the mean flow favorable pressure gradient. The effects of numerical dissipation, forcing frequency, and nose radius are studied. The Strouhal number is shown to have the greatest effect on the unsteady results. In the second paper, a transition model for low-speed flows, previously developed by Young et al., which incorporates first-mode (Tollmien-Schlichting) disturbance information from linear stability theory has been extended to high-speed flow by incorporating the effects of second mode disturbances. The transition model is incorporated into a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes solver with a one-equation turbulence model. Results using a variable turbulent Prandtl number approach demonstrate that the current model accurately reproduces available experimental data for first and second-mode dominated transitional flows. The performance of the present model shows significant improvement over previous transition modeling attempts.

Hassan, H. A.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Structure of Microgravity Transitional and Pulsed Jet Diffusion Flames

This paper describes results obtained in a study of pulsed gas jet diffusion flames to better characterize the recently observed vortex/flame interactions in microgravity transitional and turbulent diffusion flames, and to improve the understanding of large-scale structures in corresponding normal-gravity flames. In preparation for a space experiment, tests were conducted in the 5.18-Second Zero-Gravity Facility of the NASA Lewis Research Center. Both unpulsed and pulsed laminar flames were studied and numerical modeling of these flames was carried out for data comparison and model validation. In addition, complementary tests for a series of unpulsed flames were conducted on-board the NASA KC-135 research aircraft. The microgravity transitional and turbulent gas-jet diffusion flames have been observed to be dominated by large-scale disturbances, or structures. These structures first appear intermittently in the flame at Reynolds numbers (based on the cold jet injection properties) of about 2100. With increase in injection Reynolds number, the rate of intermittent disturbances increases until the generation becomes continuous at Reynolds numbers of 3000 and higher. The behavior of these structures depends upon the velocity and temperature characteristics of the jet/flame shear layer. These characteristics are different in normal gravity and microgravity.

Bahadori, M. Yousef↗

NASA NTRS1997

The solar minimum X2.6/1B flare and CME of 9 July 1996: Propagation - Pt 2

The interplanetary propagation aspects of the first X-class solar flare and coronal mass ejection are discussed. The solar data relevant to this event are summarized. Data from WIND and charge element and isotope analysis system (CELIAS) show solar wind plasma and interplanetary magnetic field disturbances early on 12 July 1996. It was observed that the extrapolation of the coronal mass ejection back to the flare time suggests a close association between them. Moreover, the coronal mass ejection speed is similar to the type two shock's speed. The results suggest that the coronal mass ejection is intimately related to the shock itself.

Dryer, M.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Space motion sickness medications: interference with biomedical parameters

The possibility that drugs administered to Skylab 3 (SL-3) and 4 (SL-4) crewmen for space motion sickness may have interfered with their biomedical evaluation in space was investigated. Healthy volunteers received combinations of Scopolamine/Dexedrine for four days in regimens similar to those used in these missions. Urine samples, heart rate, body temperature, mood and performance were analyzed for drug-related changes. Twenty-four hour urine samples were analyzed by the same procedures as those used to analyze the flight samples. Hormone concentrations determined included cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine, aldosterone and antidiuretic hormone (ADH). In addition, volume, specific gravity, osmolarity, sodium (Na), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), chloride (Cl), inorganic phosphate, uric acid and creatinine were measured. Performance was not affected by the Scopolamine/Dexedrine. The drug combination increased daily mean heart rate (HR) significantly in all the subjects and daily mean rectal temperature (RT) in some of the subjects. A 2-4 hr phase shift in the HR circadian rhythm was also observed which indicates that internal circadian synchrony was disturbed by the drugs. Psychological and subjective evaluation indicated that the subjects could usually identify which days they were given the drugs by an increase in tension and anxiety, decreased patience, restlessness, decreased appetite, difficulty in sleeping and feelings of increased heart rate and body temperature. Urinary electrolytes were not changed significantly by the drug, but marked and significant changes occurred in urine volume and hormone excretion patterns. Scopolamine/Dexedrine caused consistent elevations in urinary cortisol and epinephrine and a transient elevation in ADH. Norepinephrine excretion was decreased, but there was no significant change in aldosterone excretion or in 24 hr urine volume. A comparison of these findings with the first four days of inflight data from the SL-3 and SL-4 missions leads to the conclusion that the dramatic increases in aldosterone excretion during the first three days of spaceflight probably can be directly attributed to weightlessness, whereas the antimotion sickness medication could have substantially contributed to the early increased excretion of epinephrine and cortisol during these missions.

manned↗

NASA NTRS2008

An Automatic Cloud Mask Algorithm Based on Time Series of MODIS Measurements

Quality of aerosol retrievals and atmospheric correction depends strongly on accuracy of the cloud mask (CM) algorithm. The heritage CM algorithms developed for AVHRR and MODIS use the latest sensor measurements of spectral reflectance and brightness temperature and perform processing at the pixel level. The algorithms are threshold-based and empirically tuned. They don't explicitly address the classical problem of cloud search, wherein the baseline clear-skies scene is defined for comparison. Here, we report on a new CM algorithm which explicitly builds and maintains a reference clear-skies image of the surface (refcm) using a time series of MODIS measurements. The new algorithm, developed as part of the Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm for MODIS, relies on fact that clear-skies images of the same surface area have a common textural pattern, defined by the surface topography, boundaries of rivers and lakes, distribution of soils and vegetation etc. This pattern changes slowly given the daily rate of global Earth observations, whereas clouds introduce high-frequency random disturbances. Under clear skies, consecutive gridded images of the same surface area have a high covariance, whereas in presence of clouds covariance is usually low. This idea is central to initialization of refcm which is used to derive cloud mask in combination with spectral and brightness temperature tests. The refcm is continuously updated with the latest clear-skies MODIS measurements, thus adapting to seasonal and rapid surface changes. The algorithm is enhanced by an internal dynamic land-water-snow classification coupled with a surface change mask. An initial comparison shows that the new algorithm offers the potential to perform better than the MODIS MOD35 cloud mask in situations where the land surface is changing rapidly, and over Earth regions covered by snow and ice.

Lyapustin, Alexei↗

NASA NTRS2013

Effects of Spacecraft Landings on the Moon

The rocket exhaust of spacecraft landing on the Moon causes a number of observable effects that need to be quantified, including: disturbance of the regolith and volatiles at the landing site; damage to surrounding hardware such as the historic Apollo sites through the impingement of high-velocity ejecta; and levitation of dust after engine cutoff through as-yet unconfirmed mechanisms. While often harmful, these effects also beneficially provide insight into lunar geology and physics. Research results from the past 10 years is summarized and reviewed here.

Metzger, P. T.↗