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At least 55 records · Page 3

An Update on Oceanic Precipitation Rate and its Zonal Distribution in Light of Advanced Observations from Space

This study contributes to the estimation of the global mean and zonal distribution of oceanic precipitation rate using complementary information from advanced precipitation measuring sensors and provides an independent reference to assess current precipitation products. Precipitation estimates from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) precipitation radar (PR) and CloudSat cloud profiling radar (CPR) were merged, as the two complementary sensors yield an unprecedented range of sensitivity to quantify rainfall from drizzle through the most intense rates. At higher latitudes, where TRMM PR does not exist, precipitation estimates from Aqua's Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) complemented CloudSat CPR to capture intense precipitation rates. The high sensitivity of CPR allows estimation of snow rate, an important type of precipitation at high latitudes, not directly observed in current merged precipitation products. Using the merged precipitation estimate from the CloudSat, TRMM, and Aqua platforms (this estimate is abbreviated to MCTA), the authors' estimate for 3-yr (2007-09) nearglobal (80degS-80degN) oceanic mean precipitation rate is approx. 2.94mm/day. This new estimate of mean global ocean precipitation is about 9% higher than that of the corresponding Climate Prediction Center (CPC) Merged Analysis of Precipitation (CMAP) value (2.68mm/day) and about 4% higher than that of the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP; 2.82mm/day). Furthermore, MCTA suggests distinct differences in the zonal distribution of precipitation rate from that depicted in GPCPand CMAP, especially in the Southern Hemisphere.

profiling radar↗

CloudSat Bias on Falling Snow Estimates Over the Daylight Only Operational Period (2012-2019)

Falling snow is a key component for the global atmospheric, hydrological and energy cycles, and its retrieval from space-based observations represents the best current capability to evaluate it globally. The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission Core Observatory, launched in 2014, together with its constellation sensors, can provide quasi-global precipitation estimates every 30 minutes (for level 3 products). Evaluation and validation efforts for such products are crucial, and for global evaluations, one of the most suitable instruments is the Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) on board CloudSat, which is sensitive to light rain and falling snow. However, due to a battery anomaly in 2011, during its period of overlapping observations with GPM the CPR has operated in a Daylight Only Operations mode (DO-Op) in which it makes measurements primarily during only the daylit portion of its orbit. The goal of this work is to estimate biases inherent in global snowfall amounts derived from CPR measurements due to this shift to DO-Op mode. We use CloudSat's snowfall measurements during its Full Operations (Full-Op) period from 2006 to 2010 to evaluate the impact DO-Op mode would have had during this period. Results indicate that omitting the nocturnal component of the diurnal cycle of snowfall has nonnegligible impact on snowfall amounts in some regions. The lack of nighttime data during DO-Op biases the latitudinally averaged mean snowfall rates as well as some regional values. Hemispheric differences in bias may be due to more pronounced diurnal variability in the northern hemisphere owing to more prevalent land surface versus the southern hemisphere. The results highlight the need to sample consistently with the CloudSat observations or to adjust snowfall estimates derived from CloudSat when using DO-Op data to evaluate other precipitation products.

Milani, Lisa↗

Biases in CloudSat Falling Snow Estimates Resulting from Daylight-Only Operations

Falling snow is a key component of the Earth’s water cycle, and space-based observations provide the best current capability to evaluate it globally. The Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) on board CloudSat is sensitive to snowfall, and other satellite missions and climatological models have used snowfall properties measured by it for evaluating and comparing against their snowfall products. Since a battery anomaly in 2011, the CPR has operated in a Daylight-Only Operations (DO-Op) mode, in which it makes measurements primarily during only the daylit portion of its orbit. This work provides estimates of biases inherent in global snowfall amounts derived from CPR measurements due to this shift to DO-Op mode. We use CloudSat’s snowfall measurements during its Full Operations (Full-Op) period prior to the battery anomaly to evaluate the impact of the DO-Op mode sampling. For multi-year global mean values, the snowfall fraction during DO-Op changes by −10.16% and the mean snowfall rate changes by −8.21% compared with Full-Op. These changes are driven by the changes in sampling in DO-Op and are very little influenced by changes in meteorology between the Full-Op and DO-Op periods. The results highlight the need to sample consistently with the CloudSat observations or to adjust snowfall estimates derived from CloudSat when using DO-Op data to evaluate other precipitation products.

Lisa Milani↗

Scalability analysis of heavy-duty gas turbines using data-driven machine learning

With the increasing integration of variable renewable energy sources into power systems, the role of flexible power generation technologies like gas turbines (GT) in rapid grid balancing remains crucial. This sustained importance underscores the need for scaled and precise modeling of GT to ensure effective integration within evolving energy frameworks. While physics-driven GT models integrate thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, and combustion principles, they often rely on approximate mathematical representations to accommodate scaling that may not capture the actual complex dynamics for GTs and inertial effects associated to GTs with different ratings. In this study, a data-driven model is proposed using machine learning (ML) techniques to conduct GT scalability analysis and performance evaluation with high accuracy. The ML model, trained on data from various operating conditions and performance parameters, aims to uncover intricate relationships and patterns, resembling GT characteristics at different scales (ratings). The model is developed to capture complex system interaction and to adapt to changing operational scenarios at different capacities, providing valuable insights of power system dynamics. In this study, the real-time digital simulator platform was employed to generate training data for the ML model and assess its dynamic characteristics. The ultimate objective was to develop a detailed modeling framework based on governing equations and data-driven ML capable of predicting key performance indicators, in thermal systems such as GTs, including power output, speed, fuel consumption, and exhaust temperature under diverse operating conditions at different scales. The developed ML framework demonstrated high accuracy, with mean relative errors for GT power prediction, reference speed, exhaust temperature, and compressor pressure ratio (CPR) parameters consistently below 0.1% across typical load fluctuation scenarios. Maximum deviations were limited to approximately 0.5 K for exhaust temperature and 0.009 for CPR, underscoring the model’s ability to replicating dynamic GT behavior with high precision. The adaptability of the ML model enables its application across diverse operational conditions and its extension to other thermal systems. By leveraging advanced ML techniques, this study presents a robust and scalable modeling framework that enhances GT simulation precision, facilitating improved integration into evolving power systems.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Strontium Tris(cyclopentadienyl) Complexes: Isostructural f0/d0 Analogues of Divalent Lanthanides

Isostructural, diamagnetic diluents are commonly used in magnetic investigations to eliminate interactions between neighboring electron spins. For divalent lanthanides, these diluents are currently limited to closed-shell ytterbium(II) complexes; ytterbium(II), however, is a poor size-match for the large early- and mid-lanthanides, precluding access to certain ligand frameworks. To aid in the study of lanthanide(II) complexes with unconventional electronic structures and magnetic properties, three strontium tris-cyclopentadienyl complexes, [K(2.2.2-cryptand)][SrCpR3], with common substituted cyclopentadienyl ligands, CpR = C5Me4H (Cptet), C5H4(SiMe3) (Cp'), and C5H3(SiMe3)2 (Cp″) were synthesized, characterized, and examined as diamagnetic diluents. En route to their synthesis, two new Sr metallocenes, [SrCpR2] CpR = Cptet, Cp', were also prepared. [K(2.2.2-cryptand)][SrCptet3] was used to dilute the new complex [K(2.2.2-cryptand)][EuIICptet3], and the EPR spectra of the diluted material shows narrower linewidths than those of pure [K(2.2.2-cryptand)][EuIICptet3], suggesting an increase in the spin-spin relaxation time that enables determination of the europium hyperfine coupling constant.

Zlotnikov, Samuel B↗

Measurements of nitric oxide and total reactive nitrogen in the Antarctic stratosphere - Observations and chemical implications

Results are presented on measurements of NO and the sum of reactive nitrogen species, NO(y), which include NO, NO2, NO3, N2O5, HNO3, and ClONO2 (in addition to ClO, O3, H2O, and N2O measurements), obtained aboard the NASA ER-2 aircraft flying over the Antarctica between the latitudes of 53 and 72 deg S during the Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment. The boundary of the chemically perturbed region (CPR), as indicated by a sharp increase in the level of ClO, occurred near 66 deg S; outside or equatorward of the CPR, the NO(y) mixing ratios ranged between 6 and 12 ppbv, with values decreasing poleward and reaching total NO(y) levels of 4 ppbv or less within 5-deg poleward of the boundary. Data presented in this paper clearly associate the Antarctic ozone decrease with perturbed conditions of ClO, NO(y), and H2O, which are in turn associated with processes defined as nonstandard heterogeneous chemistry, denitrification, and dehydration, respectively.

Fahey, D. W.↗

The continuous plankton recorder survey: A long-term, basin-scale oceanic time series

In the 1920s, before the advent of echo sounders, fishery biologists were greatly concerned with assisting the fisherman to locate schools of pelagic fish. One of the approaches they developed was to relate the distribution of the planktonic food organisms to the presence of the schools of predators such as herring (Clupea harengus). The British planktologist, Alister Hardy, who had already carried out extensive studies on the feeding preferences of herring (Hardy, 1926a), initiated a program to examine the fishermen's contention that herring schools avoided 'green', i.e., phytoplankton-rich, water but could be correlated with high concentrations of zooplankton. This practical program was centered on the use of a specially developed instrument, the 'Plankton Indicator', designed to be used by the fisherman to assist in the search for suitable waters. It had limited success in its main aim but, as a collecting device, it embodied several profoundly important features. It was a simple instrument which was robust enough to be deployed and recovered by the crew of commercial vessels (in this case fishing vessels) while they were underway. The Indicator however, was no more than a high speed net which integrated the plankton over the area of sampling, but Hardy had also become interested in describing the patchiness of planktonic populations. He thus developed the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) where he substituted the fixed filter screen of the Indicator by a continually moving length of silk mesh. The screen traversed at constant speed across the path of the incoming water and the trapped organisms were retained in place by sandwiching beneath an additional second mesh screen. Thus, knowing the speed of the towing vessel and the shooting and hauling positions, the spatial patterns of the plankton could be determined. Hardy took the first CPR to the Antarctic where he used it in the Southern Atlantic (Hardy, 1926b) and later deployed it in the North Sea to make some of the earliest contiguous records of plankton patchiness.

Gamble, John C.↗

Planetary Regolith Microstructure: An Unexpected Opposition Effect Result

The Opposition Effect (OE) is the non-linear increase in the intensity of light scattered from a surface as phase angle approaches 0 deg. It is seen in laboratory experiments and in remote sensing observations of planetary surfaces. Understanding the OE is a requirement to fitting photometric models which will produce meaningful results about regolith texture. Our previous laboratory studies are consistent with the hypothesis that the OE in particulate materials is due to two processes, Shadow Hiding (SHOE) and Coherent Backscattering (CBOE). SHOE arises because, as phase angle approaches zero, shadows cast by regolith grains on other grains become invisible to the observer. CBOE results from constructive interference between rays traveling the same path but in opposite directions. In this study we measured the angular scattering properties of 9 mixtures of Aluminum Oxide and Boron Carbide powders of the same particle diameter (25 microns). The reflectance of the materials ranged from 7% (pure B4C) to 91% (pure Al2O3). Along with the reflectance phase curve we measured the circular polarization ratio (CPR) - the ratio of the intensity of the light returned with the same helicity as the incident light to that with the opposite helicity. An increase in CPR with decreasing phase angle indicates increased multiple scattering and is consistent with CBOE (Hapke, 1993). Popular conceptions of CBOE (Belskaya et al, 2003) hold that materials of higher albedo would exhibit increased multiple scattering and that the contribution of CBOE to the OE would increase as albedo increases. Remarkably, we find the highest albedo samples did not have the strongest CBOE opposition peaks. Instead, the maximum CBOE contribution is observed in samples with reflectance between 15 and 40%.

Nelson, R. M.↗

NASA flight controllers - Meeting cultural and leadership challenges on the critical path to mission success

As part of its preparation for missions to the Moon and Mars, NASA has identified high priority critical path roadmap (CPR) questions, two of which focus on the performance of mission control personnel. NASA flight controllers have always worked in an incredibly demanding setting, but the International Space Station poses even more challenges than prior missions. We surveyed 14 senior ISS flight controllers and a contrasting sample of 12 more junior controllers about the management and cultural challenges they face and the most effective strategies for addressing them. There was substantial consensus among participants on some issues, such as the importance of building a personal relationship with Russian colleagues. Responses from junior and senior controllers differed in some areas, such as training. We frame the results in terms of two CPR questions. We aim to use our results to improve flight controller training.

Clement, James L., Jr.↗

Cloudsat Radar Instrument Design and Development Status

The Cloud Profiling Radar is the key science instrument for the CloudSat Mission to acquire a global data set of vertical atmospheric cloud structure and its variability. CPR is a 94 GHz nadir-looking radar that measures the power backscattered by clouds as a function of distance from the radar. This sensor is expected to provide cloud measurements at a 500-m vertical resolution and a 1.5-km horizontal resolution. CPR will operate in a short pulse mode and will yield measurements at a minimum detectable sensitivity of -28 dBZ.

CloudSat radar↗

CloudSat: the Cloud Profiling Radar Mission

The Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR), the primary science instrument of the CloudSat Mission, is a 94-GHz nadir-looking radar that measures the power backscattered by clouds as a function of distance from the radar. This instrument will acquire a global time series of vertical cloud structure at 500-m vertical resolution and 1.4-km horizontal resolution. CPR will operate in a short-pulse mode and will yield measurements at a minimum detectable sensitivity of -28 dBZ.

percipitation↗

Initial Observations of Lunar Impact Melts and Ejecta Flows with the Mini-RF Radar

The Mini-RF radar on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's spacecraft has revealed a great variety of crater ejecta flow and impact melt deposits, some of which were not observed in prior radar imaging. The craters Tycho and Glushko have long melt flows that exhibit variations in radar backscatter and circular polarization ratio along the flow. Comparison with optical imaging reveals that these changes are caused by features commonly seen in terrestrial lava flows, such as rafted plates, pressure ridges, and ponding. Small (less than 20 km) sized craters also show a large variety of features, including melt flows and ponds. Two craters have flow features that may be ejecta flows caused by entrained debris flowing across the surface rather than by melted rock. The circular polarization ratios (CPRs) of the impact melt flows are typically very high; even ponded areas have CPR values between 0.7-1.0. This high CPR suggests that deposits that appear smooth in optical imagery may be rough at centimeter- and decimeter- scales. In some places, ponds and flows are visible with no easily discernable source crater. These melt deposits may have come from oblique impacts that are capable of ejecting melted material farther downrange. They may also be associated with older, nearby craters that no longer have a radar-bright proximal ejecta blanket. The observed morphology of the lunar crater flows has implications for similar features observed on Venus. In particular, changes in backscatter along many of the ejecta flows are probably caused by features typical of lava flows.

Carter, Lynn M.↗

A-Train Observations of Deep Convective Storm Tops

The paper highlights simultaneous observations of tops of deep convective clouds from several space-borne instruments including the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) of the Aqua satellite, Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) of the CloudSat satellite, and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) flown on the CALIPSO satellite. These satellites share very close orbits, thus together with several other satellites they are referred to as the "A-Train" constellation. Though the primary responsibility of these satellites and their instrumentation is much broader than observations of fine-scale processes atop convective storms, in this study we document how data from the A-Train can contribute to a better understanding and interpretation of various storm-top features, such as overshooting tops, cold-U/V and cold ring features with their coupled embedded warm areas, above anvil ice plumes and jumping cirrus. The relationships between MODIS multi-spectral brightness temperature difference (BTD) fields and cloud top signatures observed by the CPR and CALIOP are also examined in detail to highlight the variability in BTD signals across convective storm events.

Setvak, Martin↗

Next-Generation Spaceborne Cloud Profiling Radars

One of the instruments recommended for deployment on the Aerosol/Cloud/Echosystems (ACE) mission is a new advanced Cloud Profiling Radar (ACE-CPR). The atmospheric sciences community has initiated the effort to define the scientific requirements for this instrument. Initial studies focusing on system configuration, performance and feasibility start from the successful experience of the Cloud Profiling Radar on CloudSat Mission (CS-CPR), the first 94-GHz nadir-looking spaceborne radar which has been acquiring global time series of vertical cloud structure since June 2, 2006. In this paper we address the significance of CloudSat's accomplishments in regards to the design and development of radars for future cloud profiling missions such as EarthCARE and ACE.

CloudSat↗

Evaluation of an Impedance Threshold Device as a VIIP Countermeasure

Visual Impairment /Intracranial Pressure (VIIP) is a top human spaceflight risk for which NASA does not currently have a proven mitigation strategy. Thigh cuffs (Braslets) and lower body negative pressure (LBNP; Chibis) devices have been or are currently being evaluated as a means to reduce VIIP signs and symptoms, but these methods alone may not provide sufficient relief of cephalic venous congestion and VIIP symptoms. Additionally, current LBNP devices are too large and cumbersome for their systematic use as a countermeasure. Therefore, a novel approach is needed that is easy to implement and provides specific relief of symptoms. This investigation will evaluate an impedance threshold device (ITD) as a VIIP countermeasure. The ITD works by providing up to 7 cm H2O (approximately 5 mmHg) resistance to inspiratory air flow, effectively turning the thorax into a vacuum pump upon each inhalation which lowers the intrathoracic pressure (ITP) and facilitates venous return to the heart. The ITD is FDA-approved and was developed to augment venous return to the central circulation and increase cardiac output during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and in patients with hypotension. While the effect of ITD on CPR survival outcomes is controversial, the ITD's ability to lower ITP with a concomitant decrease in intracranial pressure (ICP) is well documented. A similar concept that creates negative ITP during exhalation (intrathoracic pressure regulator; ITPR) decreased ICP in 16 of 20 patients with elevated ICP in a hospital pilot study. ITP and central venous pressure (CVP) have been shown to decrease in microgravity however ITP drops more than CVP, indicating an increased transmural CVP. This could explain the paradoxical distention of jugular veins (JV) in microgravity despite lower absolute CVP and also suggests that JV transmural pressure is not dramatically elevated. Use of an ITD may lower JV pressure enough to remove or relieve cephalic venous congestion. During spaceflight experiments with Braslet thigh cuffs and modified (open-glottis) Mueller maneuvers, Braslets alone reduced cardiac preload but only reduced the internal JV (IJV) cross sectional area by 23%. The addition of Mueller maneuvers resulted in an IJV area reduction of 48%. This project will test if ITD essentially applies a Mueller maneuver with added negative ITP in every respiratory cycle, acting to: 1) reduce venous congestion in the neck and 2) potentially lower ICP. The expected mechanism of action is that in microgravity (or an analog) blood is relocated toward the heart from vasculature in the head and neck. Once validated, the ITD would be an exceptionally easy countermeasure to deploy and test on the ISS. Dosage could be altered though 1) duration of application and 2) inspiratory resistance set point. Effects could be additionally enhanced through co-application with other countermeasures such as thigh cuffs or LBNP.

Ebert, D.↗

Evaluation of an Impedance Threshold Device as a VIIP Countermeasure

Visual Impairment/Intracranial Pressure (VIIP) is a top human spaceflight risk for which NASA does not currently have a proven mitigation strategy. Thigh cuffs (Braslets) and lower body negative pressure (LBNP; Chibis) devices have been or are currently being evaluated as a means to reduce VIIP signs and symptoms, but these methods alone may not provide sufficient relief of cephalic venous congestion and VIIP symptoms. Additionally, current LBNP devices are too large and cumbersome for their systematic use as a countermeasure. Therefore, a novel approach is needed that is easy to implement and provides specific relief of symptoms. This investigation will evaluate an impedance threshold device (ITD) as a VIIP countermeasure. The ITD works by providing up to 7 cm H2O (approximately 5 mmHg) resistance to inspiratory air flow, effectively turning the thorax into a vacuum pump upon each inhalation which lowers the intrathoracic pressure (ITP) and facilitates venous return to the heart. The ITD is FDA-approved and was developed to augment venous return to the central circulation and increase cardiac output during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and in patients with hypotension. While the effect of ITD on CPR survival outcomes is controversial, the ITD's ability to lower ITP with a concomitant decrease in intracranial pressure (ICP) is well documented. A similar concept that creates negative ITP during exhalation (intrathoracic pressure regulator; ITPR) decreased ICP in 16 of 20 patients with elevated ICP in a hospital pilot study. ITP and central venous pressure (CVP) have been shown to decrease in microgravity however ITP drops more than CVP, indicating an increased transmural CVP. This could explain the paradoxical distention of jugular veins (JV) in microgravity despite lower absolute CVP and also suggests that JV transmural pressure is not dramatically elevated. Use of an ITD may lower JV pressure enough to remove or relieve cephalic venous congestion. During spaceflight experiments with Braslet thigh cuffs and modified (open-glottis) Mueller maneuvers, Braslets alone reduced cardiac preload but only reduced the internal JV (IJV) cross sectional area by 23%. The addition of Mueller maneuvers resulted in an IJV area reduction of 48%. This project will test if ITD essentially applies a Mueller maneuver with added negative ITP in every respiratory cycle, acting to: 1) reduce venous congestion in the neck and 2) potentially lower ICP. The expected mechanism of action is that in microgravity (or an analog) blood is relocated toward the heart from vasculature in the head and neck. Once validated, the ITD would be an exceptionally easy countermeasure to deploy and test on the ISS. Dosage could be altered though 1) duration of application and 2) inspiratory resistance set point. Effects could be additionally enhanced through co-application with other countermeasures such as thigh cuffs or LBNP.

Ebert, Douglas↗

Radar concepts for the next generation of spaceborne observations of cloud and precipitation processes

Two decades of spaceborne cloud and precipitation radar data provided by the TRMM’s Precipitation Radar (PR) [1], CloudSat’s Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) [2,3] and GPM’s Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) [4] have enabled unprecedented advancements in the global mapping of occurrence and vertical structure of most types of meteorological events. After the immense success of these radars, two new spaceborne atmospheric radars, the EarthCARE Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) [5], and the Radar in a CubeSat (RainCube) [6] have been developed and will be launched in the upcoming years, and several new radar concepts have been developed and are being considered for a variety of mission concepts. For example, spaceborne precipitation and cloud radars operating at multiple frequencies (e.g., Ku-, Ka- and W-band simultaneously) with a single antenna, and that provide scanning, polarimetric and Doppler capabilities at all frequencies; extremely compact radar architectures that enable accommodation of this category of radars in spacecrafts as small as a 6U CubeSats, as well as Doppler-capable millimeter-wave weather radars for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) or Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites, are being defined and developed. These new instrument concepts are intended to fill the current observational gaps in the advancement of weather and climate models, and leverage on the TRMM, GPM and CloudSat experiences.

Sanchez-Barbetty, Mauricio↗