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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 NTRS1995

Analytical model for the density distribution in the Io plasma torus

An analytical model is developed for the diffusive equilibrium plasma density distribution in the Io plasma torus. The model has been employed successfully to follow the ray path of plasma waves in the multi-ion Jovian magnetosphere; it would also be valuable for other studies of the Io torus that require a smooth and continuous description of the plasma density and its gradients. Validity of the analytical treatment requires that the temperature of thermal electrons be much lower than the ion temperature and that superthermal electrons be much less abundant than the thermal electrons; these two conditions are satisfied in the warm outer region of the Io torus from L = 6 to L = 10. The analytical solutions agree well with exact numerical calculations for the most dense portion of the Io torus within 30 deg of the equator.

Mei, YI↗
NASA NTRS1997

Electron density distribution in the magnetosphere

Eight months of differential potential measurements from the POLAR satellite were used to study the electron density distribution in the magnetosphere and its dependence on the level of geomagnetic activity identified by the Kp index. The differential potential measurement is directly proportional to the electron density, and this technique can be used for detecting fast electron density variation in low-density plasmas with a good accuracy. The inner magnetospheric regions are particularly investigated in this study. The cusp is found to be denser during low Km, and it moves equator-ward with increasing Km. The plasmapause is quite asymmetric, as expected. In particular, on the nightside, the plasmapause is compressed closer to the earth with increasing Kp. While the density gradients at the dayside plasmapause are usually not very steep, they can be quite large at other time sectors. A particularly pronounced sharpening of the plasmapause occurs at the dusk sector with increasing Kp. The density in the region between the dayside plasmapause and magnetopause is relatively high during all Kp levels; the average densities are several electrons per cubic meter. During disturbed periods, the density in the near-earth plasma sheet near midnight increases and becomes higher than the densities towards the flanks of the plasma sheet.

Laakso, H.↗
NASA NTRS1980

1.0 Mm Maps and Radial Density Distributions of Southern Hii/molecular Cloud Complexes

Several 1.0 continuum mapping observations were made of seven southern hemisphere h12/molecular cloud complexes with 65 arcsec resolution. The radial density distribution of the clouds with central luminosity sources was determined observationally. Strong similarities in morphology and general physical conditions were found to exist among all of the southern clouds in the sample.

Cheung, L. H.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Experimental probability density distributions for optical and infrared cross-beam units

A series of cross beam experiments for measuring meteorological parameters was conducted. Both optical and infrared sensors were tested for comparison. The test configuration and experiment identification are provided. A data report is presented for an approximate analysis of the probability density distributions of the signals from both the optical and the infared units. Two runs representing each of the two types of cross-beam units were selected for analysis. Probability density functions are also presented for the instantaneous product of the signals for each of the runs.

Huff, L. L.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Electron density distributions in the high-latitude magnetosphere

Electron density profiles were constructed to study the plasma density depletions in the nightside auroral zone and the density variations with increasing altitude in the polar cap, using electric field spectrum measurements from the plasma wave instrument on DE-1. Sharply defined regions of depleted plasma densities were commonly observed on nightside auroral field lines, in which electron densities were strongly depleted in relation to the adjacent plasmaspheric and polar densities, forming a low-density cavity at about 70 deg invariant latitude. A correlation was found between low auroral plasma densities, upflowing ion distributions, and an energetic precipitating electron population, indicating that electron density depletions in the nightside auroral zone are directly associated with auroral acceleration processes.

Persoon, Ann M.↗
NASA NTRS1994

The coronal electron density distribution determined from dual-frequency ranging measurements during the 1991 solar conjunction of the Ulysses spacecraft

Dual-frequency ranging and Doppler measurements were conducted in support of the Ulysses Solar Corona Experiment (SCE) at and around the spacecraft's first solar conjunction in 1991 August. The differential group delay time between range codes on the two downlink carrier signals at the wavelengths 13.1 and 3.6 cm, a direct measure of the total electron content between spacecraft and ground station, was used to derive the electron density distribution in the solar corona. Linear power-law representations of the coronal electron density were derived for the range of solar distances from 4 solar radii to 40 solar radii on both sides of the Sun. The corona was found to be very nearly symmetric; the radial falloff exponent being 2.54 +/- 0.05 for occultation ingress (east solar limb) and 2.42 +/- 0.05 for egress (west limb), respectively. The departure of these exponents from the inverse equare relation implies that significant solar wind acceleration is occurring within the radial range of the observations. The electron density level was found to be considerably lower than that observed during the 1988 December solar occultation of Voyager 2. Although the smoothed sunspot number R(sub z) (a standard indicator of solar activity) was almost the same in 1988 December and 1991 August, the mean electron density at 20 solar radii was found to be 1.7 +/- 0.1 x 10(exp 3)/cu cm during the Ulysses conjunction, a decline by almost a factor of 4 from the value obtained during the Voyager conjunction.

Bird, M. K.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Time delay occultation data of the Helios spacecraft for probing the electron density distribution in the solar corona

S-band time delay measurements were collected from the spacecraft Helios A and B during three solar occultations in 1975/76 within heliocentric distances of about 3 and 215 earth radius in terms of range, Doppler frequency shift, and electron content. Characteristic features of measurement and data processing are described. Typical data sets are discussed to probe the electron density distribution near the sun (west and east limb as well) including the outer and extended corona. Steady-state and dynamical aspects of the solar corona are presented and compared with earth-bound-K-coronagraph measurements. Using a weighted least squares estimation, parameters of an average coronal electron density profile are derived in a preliminary analysis to yield electron densities at r = 3, 65, 215 earth radius. Transient phenomena are discussed and a velocity of propagation v is nearly equal to 900 km/s is determined for plasma ejecta from a solar flare observed during an extraordinary set of Helios B electron content measurements.

Edenhofer, P.↗
NASA NTRS1961

On the Electron Density Distribution Above the F2 Peak

The distribution of free electrons in an isothermal upper ionosphere consisting of a binary ion mixture (O+ and H+) is discussed. It is shown that for diffusive equilibrium, which should prevail at altitudes well above the F2 peak, measurements of the electron density distribution permit the determination of other structural parameters of the upper atmosphere, such as the temperature and the concentration of oxygen ions and protons.

Bauer, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Unit-Sphere Anisotropic Multiaxial Stochastic-Strength Model Probability Density Distribution for the Orientation of Critical Flaws

Models that predict the failure probability of monolithic glass and ceramic components under multiaxial loading have been developed by authors such as Batdorf, Evans, and Matsuo. These "unit-sphere" failure models assume that the strength-controlling flaws are randomly oriented, noninteracting planar microcracks of specified geometry but of variable size. This report develops a formulation to describe the probability density distribution of the orientation of critical strength-controlling flaws that results from an applied load. This distribution is a function of the multiaxial stress state, the shear sensitivity of the flaws, the Weibull modulus, and the strength anisotropy. Examples are provided showing the predicted response on the unit sphere for various stress states for isotropic and transversely isotropic (anisotropic) materials--including the most probable orientation of critical flaws for offset uniaxial loads with strength anisotropy. The author anticipates that this information could be used to determine anisotropic stiffness degradation or anisotropic damage evolution for individual brittle (or quasi-brittle) composite material constituents within finite element or micromechanics-based software

Nemeth, Noel↗
NASA NTRS1980

1.0 millimeter maps and radial density distributions of Southern H II/molecular cloud complexes

Measurements of the 1.0-mm continuum emission from seven Southern Hemisphere H II region/molecular cloud complexes located in the inner part of the Galaxy near the galactic plane are presented. The sources were mapped based on observations made by a remote-controlled prime focus infrared photometer on the Cerro Tololo 4-m telescope at a resolution of 65 arcsec. The morphologies and physical characteristics of the sources investigated are found to be similar, with dust column densities of 0.006-0.030 g/sq cm, linear extents of 1.5-3 pc, total masses of 20,000-100,000 solar masses and infrared luminosities between 2 and 4 x 10 to the 6th solar luminosities. In all cases, the dense, extended dust envelopes are observed to be singly peaked and centered about one or more compact near-infrared sources, with a radial density distribution around the central peak proportional to the -1.5 power of the radius as in other extended 1.0-mm continuum sources.

Cheung, L. H.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Probability density distribution of velocity differences at high Reynolds numbers

Recent understanding of fine-scale turbulence structure in high Reynolds number flows is mostly based on Kolmogorov's original and revised models. The main finding of these models is that intrinsic characteristics of fine-scale fluctuations are universal ones at high Reynolds numbers, i.e., the functional behavior of any small-scale parameter is the same in all flows if the Reynolds number is high enough. The only large-scale quantity that directly affects small-scale fluctuations is the energy flux through a cascade. In dynamical equilibrium between large- and small-scale motions, this flux is equal to the mean rate of energy dissipation epsilon. The pdd of velocity difference is a very important characteristic for both the basic understanding of fully developed turbulence and engineering problems. Hence, it is important to test the findings: (1) the functional behavior of the tails of the probability density distribution (pdd) represented by P(delta(u)) is proportional to exp(-b(r) absolute value of delta(u)/sigma(sub delta(u))) and (2) the logarithmic decrement b(r) scales as b(r) is proportional to r(sup 0.15) when separation r lies in the inertial subrange in high Reynolds number laboratory shear flows.

Praskovsky, Alexander A.↗
NASA NTRS1994

CS multitransitional study of density distribution in star-forming regions. 2: The S140 region

The S140 molecular cloud was observed in five transitions of CS with resolutions of 11 to 45 arcsec. The data were analyzed with both the LVG and microturbulent models of radiative transfer to derive the density structure. It was found that the CS emission comes from three components of gas: a spherical component centered on the infrared cluster, an arc component along the ionization front between the S140 H II region and the dense molecular cloud core, and a high-velocity component from the dense part of a molecular outflow. The spherical component contributes most to the CS emission and was analyzed in more detail than the other components. Using a temperature distribution derived from an analysis of the dust emission from S140, we fit a power-law density distribution of n(r) = n(sub i)(r/r(sub i))(exp -alpha) to the spherical component. The best fit was for n(sub i) = 1.4 x 10(exp 6) (density at r(sub i) = 0.026 pc) and alpha = 0.8. The density (n(sub i)) was found to be greater than or equal to the density required to account for the dust emission, depending on the dust opacity laws adopted. The presence of optical emission (Dinerstein, Lester, & Rank 1979) suggests a clumpy structure for the dense gas. Considerations of the virial mass and the lowest amount of column density required to produce dust emission put the volume filling factor (f(sub nu)) of the dense gas at approximately 0.14-0.5. We compared S140 with other regions of star formation where the density structure has been derived from excitation analysis. Source-source variations in density gradients and clumpiness clearly exist, ranging from alpha = 2 and f(sub nu) approximately 1 in B335 to alpha approximately 0, f(sub nu) approximately 0.1 in M17. There is a tendency for more massive star-forming regions to have a flatter density distribution, a more clumpy structure, and a large number of young stars. The implications of this tendency are discussed.

Zhou, Shudong↗
NASA NTRS2001

New Data on the Topside Electron Density Distribution

The existing uncertainties about the electron density profiles in the topside ionosphere, i.e., in the height region from hmF2 to approx. 2000 km, require the search for new data sources. The ISIS and Alouette topside sounder satellites from the sixties to the eighties recorded millions of ionograms and most were not analyzed in terms of electron density profiles. In recent years an effort started to digitize the analog recordings to prepare the ionograms for computerized analysis. As of November 2001 about 350,000 ionograms have been digitized from the original 7-track analog tapes. These data are available in binary and CDF format from the anonymous ftp site of the National Space Science Data Center. A search site and browse capabilities on CDAWeb assist the scientific usage of these data. All information and access links can be found at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/isis/isis-status.html. This paper describes the ISIS data restoration effort and shows how the digital ionograms are automatically processed into electron density profiles from satellite orbit altitude (1400 km for ISIS-2) down to the F peak. Because of the large volume of data an automated processing algorithm is imperative. The automatic topside ionogram scaler with true height algorithm TOPIST software developed for this task is successfully scaling approx.70 % of the ionograms. An 'editing process' is available to manually scale the more difficult ionograms. The automated processing of the digitized ISIS ionograms is now underway, producing a much-needed database of topside electron density profiles for ionospheric modeling covering more than one solar cycle. The ISIS data restoration efforts are supported through NASA's Applied Systems and Information Research Program.

Huang, Xue-Qin↗