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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 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2012

Computation of Solar Radiative Fluxes by 1D and 3D Methods Using Cloudy Atmospheres Inferred from A-train Satellite Data

The main point of this study was to use realistic representations of cloudy atmospheres to assess errors in solar flux estimates associated with 1D radiative transfer models. A scene construction algorithm, developed for the EarthCARE satellite mission, was applied to CloudSat, CALIPSO, and MODIS satellite data thus producing 3D cloudy atmospheres measuring 60 km wide by 13,000 km long at 1 km grid-spacing. Broadband solar fluxes and radiances for each (1 km)2 column where then produced by a Monte Carlo photon transfer model run in both full 3D and independent column approximation mode (i.e., a 1D model).

Barker, Howard W.↗
NASA NTRS1998

CloudSat: Status and Prospects

CloudSat is a proposed space mission to measure the vertical strucure of clouds. Current spaceborne observational systems only characterize the uppermost cloud layer.

CloudSat Clouds Radar microwave radiometer spectra↗
NASA NTRS2004

The EOS-Aura Mission

The EOS-Aura atmospheric chemistry mission is scheduled for launch in June 2004. Aura is the third of the large EOS observatories. The spacecraft carries an international instrument payload that has a planned six year lifetime. The Aura mission will collect data to help answer stratospheric and tropospheric atmospheric chemistry questions. The mission has the following four major objectives: 1) Track the ozone layer to determine if it is recovering as predicted. The four Aura instruments, HIRDLS, OMI, MLS, and TES will measure ozone, key source, radical, reservoir, tracer gases, and aerosols. Aura's unique design allows for major ozone controlling gases to be measured within the same air mass within a few minutes. The OMI instrument will continue the trends fiom NASA's TOMS series. 2) Track tropospheric pollutant sources and measure tropospheric ozone precursors. Major pollution sources include urban, industrial and biomass burning regions. Tropospheric trace gases will be measured, using TES and OMI, at an average spatial resolution of about approximately 15 km with near global coverage. 3) Measure key upper tropospheric atmospheric constituents that influence climate. The Aura instruments will monitor O3, H2O, CO, cirrus ice, and aerosols. EOS-Aura will fly in a sun-synchronous polar orbit about 15 minutes behind Aqua and make near coincident and synergistic measurements with the EOS- Aqua, Cloudsat, OCO, PARASOL and Calipso missions. Aura launched July 15,2004.

Schoeberl, Mark R.↗
NASA NTRS2005

The EOS-Aura Mission

The EOS-Aura atmospheric chemistry mission is scheduled for launch in June 2004. Aura is the third of the large EOS observatories. The spacecraft carries an international instrument payload that has a planned six year lifetime. The Aura mission will collect data to help answer stratospheric and tropospheric atmospheric chemistry questions. The mission has the following four major objectives: 1) Track the ozone layer to determine if it is recovering as predicted. The four Aura instruments, HIRDLS, OMI, MLS, and TES will measure ozone, key source, radical, reservoir, tracer gases, and aerosols. Aura's unique design allows for major ozone controlling gases to be measured within the same air mass within a few minutes. The OMI instrument will continue the trends from NASA's TOMS series. 2) Track tropospheric pollutant sources and measure tropospheric ozone precursors. Major pollution sources include urban, industrial and biomass burning regions. Tropospheric trace gases will be measured, using TES and OMI, at an average spatial resolution of about approx. 15 km with near global coverage. 3) Measure key upper tropospheric atmospheric constituents that influence climate. The Aura instruments will monitor O3, H2O, CO, cirrus ice, and aerosols. EOS-Aura will fly in a sun-synchronous polar orbit about 15 minutes behind Aqua and make near coincident and synergistic measurements with the EOS-Aqua, Cloudsat, OCO, PARASOL and Calipso missions. Aura launched July 15,2004.

Schoeberl, Mark R.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Different Features of Cloud Macrophysical Changes Observed by MODIS, CALIPSO, and CloudSat for the 11-Year Period

From the A-train satellite mission, more than 11 years of Cloud–Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO), and CloudSat satellite measurements are available from 2007 to 2017. In this study, we examine cloud macrophysical changes from a passive sensor, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and two active sensors, CALIPSO and CloudSat (CALCS). MODIS and CALCS capture common features of the cloud changes related to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, i.e., increase of low clouds during La Niña and increase of mid and high clouds during El Niño over the eastern Pacific. However, optically thin cirrus clouds are well detected by CALCS while these are often missed by MODIS. As a result, MODIS shows much flatter distributions of cloud top heights. In addition, compared to MODIS, CALCS cloud volume anomalies are better correlated with relative humidity anomalies. The differences between MODIS and CALCS appear in low cloud variations. Particularly, fluctuations in MODIS low cloud anomalies are larger than CALCS, and MODIS low cloud anomalies are anticorrelated with mid/high cloud anomalies. This is because of the limitation in detecting underlying clouds by MODIS passive sensor. Also, the layer thickness of MODIS mid/high clouds is thinner than that from CALCS, less affecting cloud amounts at 0-3 km altitude.

Cloud↗
DOE OSTI2025

Orbital-Radar v1.0.0: a tool to transform suborbital radar observations to synthetic EarthCARE cloud radar data

The Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) satellite developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched in May 2024 carries a novel 94 GHz cloud profiling radar (CPR) with Doppler capability. This work describes the open-source instrument simulator Orbital-Radar, which transforms high-resolution radar data from field observations or forward simulations of numerical models to CPR primary measurements and uncertainties. The transformation accounts for sampling geometry and surface effects. We demonstrate Orbital-Radar's ability to provide realistic CPR views of typical cloud and precipitation scenes. The presented case studies show small-scale convection, marine stratus clouds, and Arctic mixed-phase cloud cases. These results provide valuable insights into the capabilities and challenges of the EarthCARE CPR mission and its advantages over the CloudSat CPR. Finally, Orbital-Radar allows for evaluating kilometre-scale numerical weather prediction models with EarthCARE CPR observations. So, Orbital-Radar can generate calibration and validation (Cal/Val) data sets already pre-launch. Nevertheless, an evaluation of synthetic CPR output data to accurate EarthCARE CPR data is missing.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2014

Maintaining Aura's Orbit Requirements While Performing Orbit Maintenance Maneuvers Containing an Orbit Normal Delta-V Component

The Earth Observing System (EOS) Afternoon Constellation consists of five member missions (GCOM-W1, Aqua, CALIPSO, CloudSat, and Aura), each of which maintain a frozen, sun-synchronous orbit with a 16-day repeating ground track that follows the Worldwide Reference System-2 (WRS-2). Under nominal science operations for Aura, the propulsion system is oriented such that the resultant thrust vector is aligned 13.493 degrees away from the velocity vector along the yaw axis. When performing orbit maintenance maneuvers, the spacecraft performs a yaw slew to align the thrust vector in the appropriate direction. A new Drag Make Up (DMU) maneuver operations scheme has been implemented for Aura alleviating the need for the 13.493 degree yaw slew. The focus of this investigation is to assess the impact that no-slew DMU maneuver operations will have on Aura's Mean Local Time (MLT) which drives the required along track separation between Aura and the constellation members, as well as Aura's frozen orbit properties, eccentricity and argument of perigee. Seven maneuver strategies were analyzed to determine the best operational approach. A mirror pole strategy, with maneuvers alternating at the North and South poles, was implemented operationally to minimize impact to the MLT. Additional analysis determined that the mirror pole strategy could be further modified to include frozen orbit maneuvers and thus maintain both MLT and the frozen orbit properties under noslew operations.

Aqua↗
NASA NTRS2014

Maintaining Aura's Orbit Requirements Under New Maneuver Operations

The Earth Observing System (EOS) Afternoon Constellation consists of five member missions (GCOM-W1, Aqua, CALIPSO, CloudSat, and Aura), each of which maintain a frozen, sun-synchronous orbit with a 16-day repeating ground track that follows the Worldwide Reference System-2 (WRS-2). Under nominal science operations for Aura, the propulsion system is oriented such that the resultant thrust vector is aligned 13.493 degrees away from the velocity vector along the yaw axis. When performing orbit maintenance maneuvers, the spacecraft performs a yaw slew to align the thrust vector in the appropriate direction. A new Drag Make Up (DMU) maneuver operations scheme has been implemented for Aura alleviating the need for the 13.493 degree yaw slew. The focus of this investigation is to assess the impact that no-slew DMU maneuver operations will have on Auras Mean Local Time (MLT) which drives the required along track separation between Aura and the constellation members, as well as Auras frozen orbit properties, eccentricity and argument of perigee. Seven maneuver strategies were analyzed to determine the best operational approach. A mirror pole strategy, with maneuvers alternating at the North and South poles, was implemented operationally to minimize impact to the MLT. Additional analysis determined that the mirror pole strategy could be further modified to include frozen orbit maneuvers and thus maintain both MLT and the frozen orbit properties under no-slew operations

aura↗
NASA NTRS2014

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↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

TPSAS-NF1676L-27419-DND

Overview of CALIPSO Mission Launched: April 28, 2006 with CloudSat Satellite Instruments: CALIOP Lidar, Imaging Infrared Radiometer, Wide-Field Camera CALIOP: provides lidar measurements of aerosols and clouds Operational Achievements: - Long term measurements: CALIOP collected more than 10 years of measurements so far; - Observations during day/night and for all seasons - Data publicly available - CALIOP Adds the Vertical Dimension

Xiaomei Lu↗
NASA NTRS2011

The NASA Decadal Survey Aerosol, Cloud, Ecosystems Mission

In 2007, the National Academy of Sciences delivered a Decadal Survey (Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond) for NASA, NOAA, and USGS, which is a prioritization of future satellite Earth observations. The recommendations included 15 missions (13 for NASA, two for NOAA), which were prioritized into three groups or tiers. One of the second tier missions is the Aerosol, Cloud, (ocean) Ecosystems (ACE) mission, which focuses on climate forcing, cloud and aerosol properties and interactions, and ocean ecology, carbon cycle science, and fluxes. The baseline instruments recommended for ACE are a cloud radar, an aerosol/cloud lidar, an aerosol/cloud polarimeter, and an ocean radiometer. The instrumental heritage for these measurements are derived from the Cloudsat, CALIPSO, Glory, SeaWiFS and Aqua (MODIS) missions. In 2008, NASA HQ, lead by Hal Maring and Paula Bontempi, organized an interdisciplinary science working group to help formulate the ACE mission by refining the science objectives and approaches, identifying measurement (satellite and field) and mission (e.g., orbit, data processing) requirements, technology requirements, and mission costs. Originally, the disciplines included the cloud, aerosol, and ocean biogeochemistry communities. Subsequently, an ocean-aerosol interaction science working group was formed to ensure the mission addresses the broadest range of science questions possible given the baseline measurements, The ACE mission is a unique opportunity for ocean scientists to work closely with the aerosol and cloud communities. The science working groups are collaborating on science objectives and are defining joint field studies and modeling activities. The presentation will outline the present status of the ACE mission, the science questions each discipline has defined, the measurement requirements identified to date, the current ACE schedule, and future opportunities for broader community participation.

McClain, Charles R.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Evaluating the Performance of Single and Double Moment Microphysics Schemes During a Synoptic-Scale Snowfall Event

Increases in computing resources have allowed for the utilization of high-resolution weather forecast models capable of resolving cloud microphysical and precipitation processes among varying numbers of hydrometeor categories. Several microphysics schemes are currently available within the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, ranging from single-moment predictions of precipitation content to double-moment predictions that include a prediction of particle number concentrations. Each scheme incorporates several assumptions related to the size distribution, shape, and fall speed relationships of ice crystals in order to simulate cold-cloud processes and resulting precipitation. Field campaign data offer a means of evaluating the assumptions present within each scheme. The Canadian CloudSat/CALIPSO Validation Project (C3VP) represented collaboration among the CloudSat, CALIPSO, and NASA Global Precipitation Measurement mission communities, to observe cold season precipitation processes relevant to forecast model evaluation and the eventual development of satellite retrievals of cloud properties and precipitation rates. During the C3VP campaign, widespread snowfall occurred on 22 January 2007, sampled by aircraft and surface instrumentation that provided particle size distributions, ice water content, and fall speed estimations along with traditional surface measurements of temperature and precipitation. In this study, four single-moment and two double-moment microphysics schemes were utilized to generate hypothetical WRF forecasts of the event, with C3VP data used in evaluation of their varying assumptions. Schemes that incorporate flexibility in size distribution parameters and density assumptions are shown to be preferable to fixed constants, and that a double-moment representation of the snow category may be beneficial when representing the effects of aggregation. These results may guide forecast centers in optimal configurations of their forecast models for winter weather and identify best practices present within these various schemes.

Molthan, Andrew L.↗
NASA NTRS2021

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↗
NASA NTRS2006

What does Reflection from Cloud Sides tell us about Vertical Distribution of Cloud Droplet Sizes?

Cloud development, the onset of precipitation and the effect of aerosol on clouds depend on the structure of the cloud profiles of droplet size and phase. Aircraft measurements of cloud profiles are limited in their temporal and spatial extent. Satellites were used to observe cloud tops not cloud profiles with vertical profiles of precipitation-sized droplets anticipated from CloudSat. The recently proposed CLAIM-3D satellite mission (cloud aerosol interaction mission in 3-D) suggests to measure profiles of cloud microphysical properties by retrieving them from the solar and infrared radiation reflected or emitted from cloud sides. Inversion of measurements from the cloud sides requires rigorous understanding of the 3-dimentional(3-D) properties of clouds. Here we discuss the reflected sunlight from the cloud sides and top at two wavelengths: one nonabsorbing to solar radiation (0.67 microns) and one with liquid water efficient absorption of solar radiation (2.1 microns). In contrast to the plane-parallel approximation, a conventional approach to all current operational retrievals, 3-D radiative transfer is used for interpreting the observed reflectances. General properties of the radiation reflected from the sides of an isolated cloud are discussed. As a proof of concept, the paper shows a few examples of radiation reflected from cloud fields generated by a simple stochastic cloud model with the prescribed vertically resolved microphysics. To retrieve the information about droplet sizes, we propose to use the probability density function of the droplet size distribution and its first two moments instead of the assumption about fixed values of the droplet effective radius. The retrieval algorithm is based on the Bayesian theorem that combines prior information about cloud structure and microphysics with radiative transfer calculations.

Marshak, A.↗
NASA NTRS2005

What Does Reflection from Cloud Sides Tell Us About Vertical Distribution of Cloud Droplet Sizes?

Cloud development, the onset of precipitation and the effect of aerosol on clouds depend on the structure of the cloud profiles of droplet size and phase. Aircraft measurements of cloud profiles are limited in their temporal and spatial extent. Satellites were used to observe cloud tops not cloud profiles with vertical profiles of precipitation-sized droplets anticipated from Cloudsat. The recently proposed CLAIM-3D satellite mission (cloud aerosol interaction mission in 3D) suggests to measure profiles of cloud microphysical properties by retrieving them from the solar and infrared radiation reflected or emitted from cloud sides. Inversion of measurements from the cloud sides requires rigorous understanding of the 3-dimensional (3D) properties of clouds. Here we discuss the reflected sunlight from the cloud sides and top at two wavelengths: one nonabsorbing to solar radiation (0.67 micrometers) and one with liquid water efficient absorption of solar radiation (2.1 micrometers). In contrast to the plane-parallel approximation, a conventional approach to all current operational retrievals, 3D radiative transfer is used for interpreting the observed reflectances. General properties of the radiation reflected from the sides of an isolated cloud are discussed. As a proof of concept, the paper shows a few examples of radiation reflected from cloud fields generated by a simple stochastic cloud model with the prescribed vertically resolved microphysics. To retrieve the information about droplet sizes, we propose to use the probability density function of the droplet size distribution and its first two moments instead of the assumption about fixed values of the droplet effective radius. The retrieval algorithm is based on the Bayesian theorem that combines prior information about cloud structure and microphysics with radiative transfer calculations.

Marshak, Alexander↗
NASA NTRS2013

Collaborative Platforms Aid Emergency Decision Making

Terra. Aqua. Cloudsat. Landsat. NASA runs and partners in many missions dedicated to monitoring the Earth, and the tools used in these missions continuously return data on everything from shifts in temperature to cloud formation to pollution levels over highways. The data are of great scientific value, but they also provide information that can play a critical role in decision making during times of crisis. Real-time developments in weather, wind, ocean currents, and numerous other conditions can have a significant impact on the way disasters, both natural and human-caused, unfold. "NASA has long recognized the need to make its data from real-time sources compatible and accessible for the purposes of decision making," says Michael Goodman, who was Disasters Program manager at NASA Headquarters from 2009-2012. "There are practical applications of NASA Earth science data, and we d like to accelerate the use of those applications." One of the main obstacles standing in the way of eminently practical data is the fact that the data from different missions are collected, formatted, and stored in different ways. Combining data sets in a way that makes them useful for decision makers has proven to be a difficult task. And while the need for a collaborative platform is widely recognized, very few have successfully made it work. Dave Jones, founder and CEO of StormCenter Communications Inc., which consults with decision makers to prepare for emergencies, says that "when I talk to public authorities, they say, If I had a nickel for every time someone told me they had a common operating platform, I d be rich. But one thing we ve seen over the years is that no one has been able to give end users the ability to ingest NASA data sets and merge them with their own."

Source record↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

TPSAS-NF1676L-17867-DND

In response to the exponential growth in science data analysis and visualization capabilities, data centers have been developing new processes to package and deliver large volumes of aggregated subsets of archived data. New standards are evolving to help data providers and application programmers manage the growing needs of the science community. These standards evolve from the best practices gleaned from new products and capabilities. The NASA Atmospheric Sciences Data Center (ASDC) has developed and deployed production provider-specific search and subset web applications for the CALIPSO, CERES, TES, and MOPITT missions. This presentation explores a CERES CCCM (CALIPSO, CloudSat, CERES, MODIS) data validation use case that leverages aggregated subset results from CERES CCCM (Level2), CERES SSF (Level2), and CALIPSO LIDAR (Level) datasets. Additionally, it examines the standards and formats that ASDC developers have applied to the delivered files as well as the implementation strategies for subsetting and processing the aggregated products.

Walter E Baskin↗