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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 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1982

Climate in Earth history

Complex atmosphere-ocean-land interactions govern the climate system and its variations. During the course of Earth history, nature has performed a large number of experiments involving climatic change; the geologic record contains much information regarding these experiments. This information should result in an increased understanding of the climate system, including climatic stability and factors that perturb climate. In addition, the paleoclimatic record has been demonstrated to be useful in interpreting the origin of important resources-petroleum, natural gas, coal, phosphate deposits, and many others.

Berger, W. H.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Sensitivity studies with a coupled ice-ocean model of the marginal ice zone

An analytical coupled ice-ocean model is considered which is forced by a specified wind stress acting on the open ocean as well as the ice. The analysis supports the conjecture that the upwelling dynamics at ice edges can be understood by means of a simple analytical model. In similarity with coastal problems it is shown that the ice edge upwelling is determined by the net mass flux at the boundaries of the considered region. The model is used to study the sensitivity of the upwelling dynamics in the marginal ice zone to variation in the controlling parameters. These parameters consist of combinations of the drag coefficients used in the parameterization of the stresses on the three interfaces atmosphere-ice, atmosphere-ocean, and ice-ocean. The response is shown to be sensitive to variations in these parameters in that one set of parameters may give upwelling while a slightly different set of parameters may give downwelling.

Roed, L. P.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Multisensor satellites and data systems for earth observations

The applications of multisensor satellites for earth sciences studies in the next two decades are discussed in terms of instrumentation and expected technology developments. Passive microwave and IR sounders with better resolution than currently available are forecast for the mid- to late-1980's, enabling improved understanding of the coupling between the atmosphere, ocean, land, and the biosphere. The global troposphere will be examined for sources, sinks, and fluxes of its chemistry, and interactions among radiation, chemistry, and dynamics in the upper atmosphere. The Landsat 4 Thematic Mapper, along with imagers, radars, and spectrometers carried aloft on the Shuttle are being used and tested to characterize the relative utility of various parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Hydrologic studies with spacecraft imagery have led to the development of moisture models that will give improved predictive ability to soil moisture, snow cover variations, and the distribution and magnitude of global precipitation and evapotranspiration.

Thome, P. G.↗
NASA NTRS1982

The OSTA-1 mission - Overview of the goals, mission parameters and instrumentation for the first Shuttle scientific payload

Aspects of the second Space Shuttle flight, which carried the first payload of scientific instruments for remote sensing of the earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land areas, are discussed. The development and integration of the payload, the mission simulations and end-to-end testing, the launch, the payload mission operations, the landing, data removal, and payload removal, the scientific results, and some planned experiments using the Shuttle are addressed. Summaries of the experimental results are presented, including those for the imaging radar, infrared radiometer, ocean color experiment, air pollution measurements, feature identification and location experiment, night/day optical lightning survey, and bioengineering test. The availability of data and science reports is also covered.

Taranik, J. V.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Observing ocean-atmosphere exchanges with space-borne sensors, appendix C

At present, space-borne sensors cannot give accurate measurements of net longwave radiation and sensible heat flux at ocean surface. The variability of ocean surface net insolation was successfully estimated from observations using geostationary satellites. Global coverages of the low frequency variation of major atmosphere-ocean exchanges, momentum, latent heat, and insolation are within reach. Data from research and defense satellites should be made available in useful form to the user community. High quality in-situ measurements are required to calibrate space-borne sensors and numerical models are needed to integrate satellite and in-situ data as well as interpolate both in space and time. Techniques that can resolve boundary layer parameters should be developed.

Liu, W. T.↗
NASA NTRS1983

The faint young sun-climate paradox - Crustal influences

The various mechanisms which have been proposed to compensate for the climatic effects of a 30 percent increase in the solar constant during the past 4.5 billion years are examined. Mechanisms besides the greenhouse effect could have provided significant compensation during the second half of this period. It is proposed that the development of continents during the past 2.5 billion years caused a secular evolution of the atmosphere-ocean heat transport system. As a result, past climates were less susceptible to complete freeze-over. The lower albedo of water would be another factor in this effect insofar as the early earth had smaller land masses. A complete or nearly complete freeze-over may have occurred as past glaciations were widespread. Climate models then suggest that the earth would have remained frozen through the present epoch and into a distant future. It is suggested that volcanic influences could allow a passage from the frozen branch onto the unfrozen branch of climate models should conditions on earth be suitable for that climate change. A broad equatorial belt of volcanic ash is one scenario which would allow a transfer from the frozen earth state into the unfrozen one.

Schatten, K. H.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Research and technology: Fiscal year 1984 report

Topics covered include extraterrestrial physics, high energy astrophysics, astronomy, solar physics, atmospheres, oceans, terrestrial physics, space technology, sensors, techniques, user space data systems, space communications and navigation, and system and software engineering.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1984

A review of the Southern Oscillation - Oceanic-atmospheric circulation changes and related rainfall anomalies

The region of South America is emphasized in the present consideration of the Southern Oscillation (SO) oceanic and atmospheric circulation changes. The persistence of climate anomalies associated with El Nino-SO events is due to strong atmosphere-ocean coupling. Once initiated, the SO follows a certain sequence of events with clearly defined effects on tropical and subtropical rainfall. Excessive rainfall related to the SO in the central and eastern Pacific, Peru, Ecuador, and southern Brazil, are complemented by drought in Australia, Indonesia, India, West Africa, and northeast Brazil. El Nino-SO events are also associated with dramatic changes in the tropospheric flow pattern over a broad area of both hemispheres.

Kousky, V. E.↗
NASA NTRS1985

A theory for El Nino and the Southern Oscillation

A coupled atmosphere-ocean model is presented for El Nino and the Southern Oscillation that reproduces its major features, including its recurrence at irregular intervals. The interannual El Nino-Southern Oscillation cycle is maintained by deterministic interactions in the tropical Pacific region. Ocean dynamics alter sea-surface temperature, changing the atmospheric heating; the resulting changes in surface wind alter the ocean dynamics. Annually varying mean conditions largely determine the spatial pattern and temporal evolution of El Nino events.

Cane, M. A.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Polar platform payload requirements in the 1990's

NASA's Earth Orbiting System (EOS) and NOAA's operational payloads represent two of the major users of the Space Station Polar Platform capabilities. The EOS program will be designed for Shuttle launch, servicing and on-orbit augmentation, while the NOAA's payload will be designed for the operational monitoring of the earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land masses. An overview is given of both the EOS and NOAA platform programs as well as the implied platform requirements. It is concluded that the generic platform design must be capable of operating at altitudes ranging from Shuttle altitudes to NOAA altitudes (approximately 850 km). In addition, it must be able to accommodate approximately 5000 kg of payload mass, provide 5000 W of continuous power and up to 13 kW of peak power for short durations, and store and transmit data at rates up to 300 Mbps.

Vane, D.↗
NASA NTRS1986

A hybrid model of the CO2 geochemical cycle and its application to large impact events

The effects of a large asteriod or comet impact on modern and ancient marine biospheres are analyzed. A hybrid model of the carbonate-silicate geochemical cycle, which is capable of calculating the concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, ocean, and sedimentary rocks, is described. The differences between the Keir and Berger (1983) model and the hybrid model are discussed. Equilibrium solutions are derived for the preindustrial atmosphere/ocean system and for a system similar to that of the late Cretaceous Period. The model data reveal that globl darkening caused by a stratospheric dust veil could destroy the existing phytoplankton within a period of several weeks or months, nd the dissolution of atmospheric NO(x) compounds would lower the pH of ocean surface waters and release CO2 into the atmosphere. It is noted that the surface temperatures could be increased by several degrees and surface oceans would be uninhabitable for calcaerous organisms for approximately 20 years.

Kasting, J. F.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Predicting the earth's future

The development of earth system models that will simulate the past and present and provide predictions of future conditions is essential now that human activities have the potential to induce changes in the planetary environment. Critical aspects of global change include its pervasiveness and ubiquity, its distribution in several distinct time-scale bands, and the interactions between the atmosphere, ocean, land surface, and the terrestrial and marine biospheres. A model of the earth system on the scale of decades to centuries, developed by the Earth System Science Committee (NASA) with the strategy of dividing by time scale rather than discipline, is presented and the requirements for observations to support the implementation of the model are reviewed.

Dutton, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Theoretical constraints on oxygen and carbon dixoide concentrations in the Precambrian atmosphere

Theoretical arguments which bear on the time histories of atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide during the Precambrian are reviewed and extended. It is shown that reasonably tight constraints can be placed on atmospheric pCO2 during the early and late Proterozoic, based on the observation that parts of the earth were glaciated at those times. It is demonstrated that an upper bound on early Proterozoic pO2 can be derived from a simple box model of the atmosphere-ocean system.

Kasting, James F.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

High-Resolution Global Ocean Simulation in the SWOT ERA: Introducing ECCO Llc4320v2

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission is opening up new opportunities to evaluate and drive improvement in km-scale global ocean and atmosphere-ocean models via its simultaneous swath observations of sea-surface height, wind speed, and significant wave height down to 2 km scales globally. Motivated by this, we have initiated a collaborative effort at NASA Ames to run a new global ocean-sea-ice simulation in MITgcm at a nominal 1/48-deg resolution of the year 2023 that enables direct comparisons with SWOT observations. New features relative to a prior simulation at a similar resolution of the year 2012 include much more realistic tidal forcing, thermodynamic coupling in ice-shelf cavities, high-frequency hourly atmospheric forcing, much improved river runoff, double the vertical resolution in the deep ocean (173 vs 90 levels), updated bathymetry including improvements in finescale bathymetry derived from SWOT, and updated vertical mixing scheme parameters that improve the equatorial Pacific circulation.

ECCO↗
DOE OSTI2025

Environmental Conditions Affecting Global Mesoscale Convective System Occurrence

Abstract The ERA5 environments of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), tracked from satellite observations, are assessed over a 20-yr period. The use of a large set of MCS tracks allows us to robustly test the sensitivity of the results to factors such as region, latitude, and diurnal cycle. We aim to provide novel information on environments of observed MCSs for assessments of global atmospheric models and to improve their ability to simulate MCSs. Statistical analysis of all tracked MCSs is performed in two complementary ways. First, we investigate the environments when an MCS has occurred at different spatial scales before and after MCS formation. Several environmental variables are found to show marked changes before MCS initiation, particularly over land. The vertically integrated moisture flux convergence shows a robust signal across different regions and when considering MCS initiation diurnal cycle. We also found spatial scale dependence of the environments between 200 and 500 km, providing new evidence of a natural length scale for use with MCS parameterization. In the second analysis, the likelihood of MCS occurrence for given environmental conditions is evaluated, by considering all environments and determining the probability of being in an MCS core or shield region. These are compared to analogous non-MCS environments, allowing discrimination between conditions suitable for MCS and non-MCS occurrence. Three environmental variables are found to be useful predictors of MCS occurrence: total column water vapor, midlevel relative humidity, and total column moisture flux convergence. Such relations could be used as trigger conditions for the parameterization of MCSs, thereby strengthening the dependence of the MCS scheme on the environment. Significance Statement Large storm systems called mesoscale convective systems form across Earth. These are collections of thunderstorms, with associated high-level clouds that produce substantial, lighter rainfall and modulate Earth’s energy balance. They produce hazardous weather conditions, such as floods and high winds, and are responsible for a high percentage of rainfall in many regions globally. We investigate the environmental conditions under which they form, so that we can understand the spatial extent of the environment which is important for their formation, and also where and when the effects of these storms might be felt. The novel information generated here should help improve the representation of these storms in weather and climate models, improving the prediction of rainfall, thunderclouds, and high-level clouds.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Changes in the Regional Water Cycle and Their Impact on Societies

ABSTRACT Changes in “blue water”, which is the total supply of fresh water available for human extraction over land, are quite closely related to changes in runoff or equivalently precipitation minus evaporation, . This article examines how climate change‐driven recent past and future changes in the regional water cycle relate to blue water availability and changes in human blue water demand. Although at the largest scales theoretical and numerical model predictions are in broad agreement with observations, at continental scales and below models predict large ranges of possible future and runoff especially at the scale of individual river catchments and for shorter timescale subseasonal floods and droughts. Nevertheless, it is expected that the occurrence and severity of floods will increase and that of droughts may increase, possibly compounded by human‐driven non‐climatic changes such as changes in land use, dam water impoundment, irrigation and extraction of groundwater. Contemporary assessments predict that increases in 21st century human water extraction in many highly‐populated regions are unlikely to be sustainable given projections of future . To reduce uncertainty in future predictions, there is an urgent need to improve modeling of atmospheric, land surface and human processes and how these components are coupled. This should be supported by maintaining the observing network and expanding it to improve measurements of land surface, oceanic and atmospheric variables. This includes the development of satellite observations stable over multiple decades and suitable for building reanalysis datasets appropriate for model evaluation.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Impacts of Mean State Ocean Heat Transport on Climate and Its Response to CO 2 Forcing

Simulations of the slab ocean configuration of the coupled Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) were used to isolate the role of poleward ocean heat transport (OHT) in shaping the climate and its response to CO 2 forcing. Imposed changes to mean-state OHT produce compensating changes in atmospheric heat transport (AHT) that are mediated by changes in surface evaporation. A reduction of maximum OHT by 0.56 PW (32%) reduces the global mean surface air temperature by 3.6°C. However, this cooler mean state exhibits 1.2°C more warming under CO 2 quadrupling, with the largest differences occurring at high latitudes. The amplified warming arises from stronger surface albedo and lapse rate feedbacks in polar regions and a shortwave cloud feedback in the southern midlatitudes. These results highlight the critical role of mean-state OHT in modulating mean-state climate, the partitioning between the OHT and AHT, and climate sensitivity.

Atmosphere-ocean-ice interactions↗
DOE OSTI2025

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation’s Response to CO2 Increase: Assessing the Roles of Surface Flux and Oceanic Advection Feedbacks

Abstract The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is projected to slow down in climate models due to greenhouse gas emissions. However, the physical mechanisms determining the rate of the projected AMOC slowdown remain unclear. Accordingly, this study isolates the roles of oceanic advection and surface flux feedbacks that might accelerate or decelerate the AMOC’s weakening using carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) quadrupling simulations in the CESM1.2 model. Surface flux feedbacks are isolated in partially coupled experiments in which either all surface flux components or the momentum flux responses to AMOC’s weakening that might provide feedback are suppressed, while a tracer decomposition of ocean density anomalies isolates the advection feedbacks. Comparing the ocean density components in the experiments shows that the AMOC’s response is initially determined by CO 2 -induced anomalous surface heat fluxes, and afterward, feedbacks determine its response. In the fully coupled case, surface heat flux feedback strongly promotes AMOC slowdown and causes its near shutdown, while a weaker but active AMOC is maintained when the surface flux feedback is inhibited in the partially coupled case. The positive surface heat flux feedback works by canceling out the negative oceanic heat advection feedback on deep-water formation in the subpolar North Atlantic (SPNA). With the heat advection feedback thus reduced, the positive salinity advection feedback becomes the dominant contributor to SPNA density changes and deep-water formation. In the partially coupled case, negative ocean heat advection feedback and the CO 2 -induced subtropical Atlantic saline anomalies imported into the SPNA play a stabilizing role. The results highlight the importance of SPNA salinity gradients and gyre circulation strength in determining the AMOC’s response rate or recovery.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗