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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 NTRS1995

HCl Vapour Pressures and Reaction Probabilities for ClONO2 + HCl on Liquid H2SO4-HNO3-HCl-H20 Solutions

Henry's Law solubility constants for HCl have been measured for liquid H2SO4-HNO3-HCl-H2O solutions; the results are in good agreement with predictions from published semiempirical models. The ClONO2 + HCl reaction on the surfaces of such solutions with compositions simulating those of stratospheric aerosols has been investigated; as the composition changes following the temperature drop characteristic of the high-latitude stratosphere the reaction probability gamma increases rapidly. Furthermore, the gamma values remain essentially unchanged when HN03 uptake is neglected; the controlling factor appears to be the solubility of HCl. These results corroborate our earlier suggestion that supercooled liquid sulfate aerosols promote chlorine activation at low temperatures as efficiently as solid polar stratospheric cloud particles.

Elrod, M. J.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

166 GHz Ice Scattering Signal in Cold-Season Precipitating Cloud Systems

Surface snowfall can be produced by a variety of forcing mechanisms that are accompanied by different in-cloud physical processes and microphysical composition. For instance, shallow cumuliform snowfall forced by marine cold air outbreaks shows distinct geographic and seasonal signatures and plays in important role in annual snowfall production in many regions worldwide. Coincident CloudSat-CALIPSO observations confirm that oceanic regions exhibiting frequent shallow cumuliform snow are typically composed of mixed-phase cloud and precipitation particles and display passive microwave brightness temperature behavior that is dominated by cloud liquid water emission, while combined Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) radiometer and surface radar studies of intense shallow cumuliform events indicate significant ice particle scattering signals at the highest GPM radiometer frequencies. Passive microwave imager channels in the 37 to 89 GHz range have long been used to detect precipitation-sized ice particle scattering signatures in clouds. Dual polarization plays an important role in distinguishing between scattering signatures and other background variability. The GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) is the first satellite radiometer to possess dual-polarized channels at 166 GHz. These high-frequency channels are more susceptible to emission and attenuation by cloud liquid water and water vapor than lower-frequency channels, but are also more sensitive to ice scattering. This research studies the ice scattering information contained in the 166 GHz channels compared to the historically used 85/89 GHz channels on previous sensors. A 166 GHz scattering index (SI) will be developed to understand how its correlation with non-precipitating ice scattering at higher altitudes also affects the 166 GHz scattering signature in cold-season precipitating cloud systems. The 166 GHz SI will be used to possibly isolate precipitation scattering signature for different snowfall modes (shallow convective vs. deep stratiform). The supercooled liquid water affecting shallow convective systems and drastically reducing the scattering signal could be detected and quantified, providing additional information for convective snow detection and quantification in solid precipitation retrieval algorithms.

Lisa Milani↗
NASA NTRS2009

Clogging of Joule-Thomson Devices in Liquid Hydrogen Handling

Experiments conducted at the NASA Glenn Research Center indicate that Joule-Thomson devices become clogged when transferring liquid hydrogen (LH2), operating at a temperature range from 20.5 to 24.4 K. Blockage does not exist under all test conditions but is found to be sensitive to the inlet temperature of the LH2. At a subcooled inlet temperature of 20.5 K blockage consistently appears but is dissipated when the fluid temperature is raised above 24.5 K. Clogging steadily reduced flow rate through the orifices, eventually resulting in complete blockage. This tendency poses a threat to spacecraft cryogenic propulsion systems that would utilize passive thermal control systems. We propose that this clogging is due to trace amounts of neon in the regular LH2 supply. Neon freezes at 24.5 K at one atmosphere pressure. It is postulated that between 20.5 and 24.5 K, neon remains in a meta-stable, supercooled liquid state. When impacting the face of an orifice, liquid neon droplets solidify and accumulate, blocking flow over time. The purpose of this test program was to definitively quantify the phenomena experimentally by obtaining direct visual evidence of orifice clogging by accretion from neon contaminates in the LH2 flow stream, utilizing state of the art imaging technology. Tests were conducted with LH2 flowing in the temperature range of 20.5 to 24.4 K. Additional imaging was also done at LH2 temperatures with no flow to verify clear view through the orifice.

Jurns, John M.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Theoretical study of production of unique glasses in space

Analytical functional relationships describing homogeneous nucleation and crystallization in various supercooled liquids were developed. The time and temperature dependent relationships of nucleation and crystallization (intrinsic properties) are being used to relate glass forming tendency to extrinsic parameters such as cooling rate through computer simulation. Single oxide systems are being studied initially to aid in developing workable kinetic models and to indicate the primary materials parameters affecting glass formation. The theory and analytical expressions developed for simple systems is then extended to complex oxide systems. A thorough understanding of nucleation and crystallization kinetics of glass forming systems provides a priori knowledge of the ability of a given system to form a glass.

Larsen, D. C.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Improved Facility for Producing Silicon Web

Growth of continuous silicon dendritic web that is up to 5 cm wide instead on only 1.3 cm is formed by freezing of supercooled liquid silicon between two needlelike dendritic crystals. Growth takes place in a work chamber filled with argon gas. As web grows, it is drawn out of chamber through a duct and guided to a storage reel.

Duncan, C. S.↗
NASA NTRS1980

On the barrier to crystal nucleation in lunar glasses

The paper describes an analytical method for calculating in detail the size distributions of small crystallites and nuclei in supercooled liquids as they are being quenched to form a glass and subsequently reheated above the glass transition to produce crystallization. This method is applied to experiments performed using differential thermal analysis (DTA) to estimate the barriers to crystal nucleation and the cooling rates required to form glasses or bodies with various degrees of crystallinity. DTA data and derived nucleation barriers are reported for anorthite and for the following lunar compositions: 15498, 15418, matrix and intrusion compositions of breccia 15286, Apollo 15 green glass, Luna 24 highland basalt, and 65016.

Yinnon, H.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Effect of hydrogen bonding on the vibrational dephasing time in glycerol

The vibrational dephasing of the methyl CH2 symmetric stretch mode in glycerol was directly measured over an extended temperature range using picosecond coherent Raman pump and probe spectroscopy. The dephasing time was found to increase dramatically as the temperature of the supercooled liquid was lowered. This observation is attributed to the increased hydrogen bonding with decreasing temperature which hinders the dephasing of the CH2 vibration by reducing molecular motions.

Dorsinville, R.↗
NASA NTRS1982

'Scaling' analysis of the ice accretion process on aircraft surfaces

A comprehensive set of scaling parameters is developed for the ice accretion process by analyzing the energy equations of the dynamic freezing zone and the already frozen ice layer, the continuity equation associated with supercooled liquid droplets entering into and impacting within the dynamic freezing zone, and energy equation of the ice layer. No initial arbitrary judgments are made regarding the relative magnitudes of each of the terms. The method of intrinsic reference variables in employed in order to develop the appropriate scaling parameters and their relative significance in rime icing conditions in an orderly process, rather than utilizing empiricism. The significance of these parameters is examined and the parameters are combined with scaling criteria related to droplet trajectory similitude.

Keshock, E. G.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Aircraft microwave observations and simulations of deep convection from 18 to 183 GHz. II - Model results

In this June 29, 1986 case study, a radiative transfer model is used to simulate the aircraft multichannel microwave brightness temperatures presented in the Adler et al. (1990) paper and to study the convective storm structure. Ground-based radar data are used to derive hydrometeor profiles of the storm, based on which the microwave upwelling brightness temperatures are calculated. Various vertical hydrometeor phase profiles and the Marshall and Palmer (M-P, 1948) and Sekhon and Srivastava (S-S, 1970) ice particle size distributions are experimented in the model. The results are compared with the aircraft radiometric data. The comparison reveals that the M-P distribution well represents the ice particle size distribution, especially in the upper tropospheric portion of the cloud; the S-S distribution appears to better simulate the ice particle size at the lower portion of the cloud, which has a greater effect on the low-frequency microwave upwelling brightness temperatures; and that, in deep convective regions, significant supercooled liquid water (about 0.5 g/cu m) may be present up to the -30 C layer, while in less convective areas, frozen hydrometeors are predominant above -10 C level.

Yeh, Hwa-Young M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

MMIC Receiver For Water-Vapor Radiometer

MMIC receiver puts out signal, frequency of which proportioned to brightness temperature of sky at input frequency of 31 GHz. Miniaturization enhances thermal stability and stability of calibration of water-vapor radiometer. Potential for mass production at relatively low cost. Facilitating widespread use of MMIC water vapor radiometers in meteorology and aviation, deployed at several global sites to improve capability of general circulation models and at airports to monitor icing conditions by measuring supercooled liquid water in clouds.

Sukamto, Lin M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Infrared spectroscopy of homogeneously nucleated hydrazine aerosols - Disordered and crystalline phases

It is shown that aerosols generated at low temperatures and high condensation rate spontaneously form in a highly crystalline state. The resonant absorption bands in the IR spectra of these highly crystalline particles are much sharper than any reported previously in the bulk, and reveal details in the N-H vibrational bands that have not been previously observed. A disordered phase is also observed at somewhat higher temperatures. These results are consistent with this being a supercooled liquid. The fact that the spectra associated with these two aerosol phases are quite different is important to any future attempts at detecting hydrazine aerosols in planetary atmospheres by remote sensing techniques.

Dunder, T.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Thermal processing of omicron-terphenyl - A Raman study

Raman spectra from omicron-terphenyl sealed in glass capillary tubes were acquired over temperatures ranging from 233 to 343 K. Over this temperature range, omicron-terphenyl can exist in the solid-crystalline, molten, supercooled-liquid, and amorphous-glassy states. Representative structure-sensitive spectra are presented along with a qualitative description. The lattice spectral feature occurring at a Raman shift of 123/cm displays abrupt changes in profile and intensity as melting and glass transition occur. The intensity ratio of the C-C stretching 996/cm line and C-H stretching line at 1008/cm displays a change related to the transformation of the ordered-crystalline phase to the disordered-liquid or glassy state. At a Raman shift of 1162/cm the solid-crystalline state shows a splitting due to the effect of the crystal field. The possibility of using these structure-sensitive Raman characteristics for in situ diagnostics during materials processing is discussed.

Biswas, A.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Deep cumulonimbus cloud systems in the tropics with and without lightning

The thunderstorm frequency over the oceans during the Global Atmospheric Research Program Atlantic Tropical Experiment is quantified by examination of over 20,000 surface hourly observations from research ships. The overall thunderstorm frequency is one thunderstorm day per ship per month. There were many examples of intense mesoscale systems, such as squall lines, passing over the ships, extending to 13-17 km in altitude, but that nevertheless produce few reports of lightning. This reinforces the idea, based on data from other tropical ocean regions and from global satellite data, that in spite of the ubiquitous 'hot towers' over tropical oceans, marine cumulonimbus produce little lightning. Climatological data from the monsoon regions of the Tropics are analyzed to reveal that during periods of onshore flow and heavy rainfall the oceanic regime of high rainfall but little lightning moves onshore. A rain-thunderstorm ratio is defined and used to characterize convective rainfall regimes as continental (relatively little) or maritime (relatively great) rainfall compared to the number of thunderstorm days. In regions such as West Africa and south Asia, the seasonal rainfall peak is actually accompanied by a thunderstorm minimum. It is further suggested that the data support the idea, not original here, that vertical velocities in oceanic cumulonimbus clouds tend to be low compared with continental clouds. It is hypothesized that most oceanic storms have updrafts weaker than a posssible threshold value, below which the supercooled liquid water, large ice particles, and ice-ice collisions are not present in the mixed-phase region in sufficient concentrations for electrification leading to lightning.

Zipser, Edward J.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Comparison of lightning observations from the KSC LDAR system with radar observations from the NCAR CP-2 radar

This grant supported observations of thunderstorms at Kennedy Space Center during the summer of 1995. In particular, we obtained detailed observations of lightning-producing storms over KSC with the CP2 radar of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), for the purpose of comparing these with observations from KSC's Lightning Detection and Ranging (LDAR) system. The NCAR radar was a special purpose dual-polarization system for studying the development of precipitation in storms and was at KSC for another project, the Small Cumulus Microphysics Study - SCMS. We used the radar on a non-interference basis to obtain the desired observations. In addition we recorded the electrostatic field change of the lightning discharges at two locations. Subsequent to the field observational period we compared the LDAR lightning observations with the storm structure as indicated by the radar. The results obtained to date are summarized briefly as follows: (1) The initial lightning sequence in a small developing storm was observed to occur in a region of the storm where supercooled raindrops had frozen within the previous few minutes. This is consistent with the idea that the storm electrification is produced by interactions between ice particles. (2) The lightning discharges tended to avoid regions of supercooled liquid raindrops, possibly indicating that corona from the drops reduces any electrification in the vicinity of the drops. (3) 'Bilevel' lightning discharges within storms have been confirmed to be between the level of negative charge at mid-levels in the storm and the upper storm level. This is consistent with and expands upon our understanding that storms have a basic dipolar charge structure. (4) The upward channels of the intracloud lightning discharges are often aligned with shafts of strong precipitation, and often begin just above the upper extent of 40 dBZ reflectivity in the precipitation shaft. This is consistent with a precipitation-based mechanism of electrification.

Krehbiel, Paul↗
NASA NTRS2004

A Real-Time Satellite-Based Icing Detection System

Aircraft icing is one of the most dangerous weather conditions for general aviation. Currently, model forecasts and pilot reports (PIREPS) constitute much of the database available to pilots for assessing the icing conditions in a particular area. Such data are often uncertain or sparsely available. Improvements in the temporal and areal coverage of icing diagnoses and prognoses would mark a substantial enhancement of aircraft safety in regions susceptible to heavy supercooled liquid water clouds. The use of 3.9 microns data from meteorological satellite imagers for diagnosing icing conditions has long been recognized (e.g., Ellrod and Nelson, 1996) but to date, no explicit physically based methods have been implemented. Recent advances in cloud detection and cloud property retrievals using operational satellite imagery open the door for real-time objective applications of those satellite datasets for a variety of weather phenomena. Because aircraft icing is related to cloud macro- and microphysical properties (e.g., Cober et al. 1995), it is logical that the cloud properties from satellite data would be useful for diagnosing icing conditions. This paper describes the a prototype realtime system for detecting aircraft icing from space.

Minnis, Patrick↗
NASA NTRS2006

Comparison of Balloonsonde and Remote Sensing Atmospheric Measurements

As part of its aircraft icing research program, the NASA Glenn Research Center is conducting a program to develop technologies for the remote sensing of atmospheric conditions. A suite of instruments, currently ground-based, are used to identify a region of supercooled liquid water which is labeled as hazardous if its liquid water content is sufficiently high. During the recently completed Alliance Icing Research Study (AIRS II), these instruments were deployed in conjunction with those of other U.S. and Canadian researchers at the Mirabel Airport near Montreal. As part of the study, balloonsondes were employed to provide in-situ measurement of the atmospheric conditions that were being concurrently remotely sensed. Balloonsonde launches occurred daily at 1200 GMT to provide AIRS forecasters with local data and additionally when research aircraft were present in the airspace. In this paper, we compare the processed data from the NASA remote sensing instruments, which included an X-band radar, lidar and two radiometers, to the data gathered from the 70 soundings conducted while the NASA instruments were active. Among the parameters compared are cloud upper and lower boundaries, temperature and humidity profiles and freezing levels.

Brinker, David J.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Progress Towards the Remote Sensing of Aircraft Icing Hazards

NASA has teamed with the FAA, DoD, industry, and academia for research into the remote detection and measurement of atmospheric conditions leading to aircraft icing hazards. The ultimate goal of this effort is to provide pilots, controllers, and dispatchers sufficient information to allow aircraft to avoid or minimize their exposure to the hazards of in-flight icing. Since the hazard of in-flight icing is the outcome of aircraft flight through clouds containing supercooled liquid water and strongly influenced by the aircraft s speed and configuration and by the length of exposure, the hazard cannot be directly detected, but must be inferred based upon the measurement of conducive atmospheric conditions. Therefore, icing hazard detection is accomplished through the detection and measurement of liquid water in regions of measured sub-freezing air temperatures. The icing environment is currently remotely measured from the ground with a system fusing radar, lidar, and multifrequency microwave radiometer sensors. Based upon expected ice accretion severity for the measured environment, a resultant aircraft hazard is then calculated. Because of the power, size, weight, and view angle constraints of airborne platforms, the current ground-based solution is not applicable for flight. Two current airborne concepts are based upon the use of either multifrequency radiometers or multifrequency radar. Both ground-based and airborne solutions are required for the future since groundbased systems can provide hazard detection for all aircraft in airport terminal regions while airborne systems will be needed to provide equipped aircraft with flight path coverage between terminal regions.

Reehorst, Andrew↗
NASA NTRS2010

Radiometers Optimize Local Weather Prediction

Radiometrics Corporation, headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, engaged in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) agreements with Glenn Research Center that resulted in a pencil-beam radiometer designed to detect supercooled liquid along flight paths -- a prime indicator of dangerous icing conditions. The company has brought to market a modular radiometer that resulted from the SBIR work. Radiometrics' radiometers are used around the world as key tools for detecting icing conditions near airports and for the prediction of weather conditions like fog and convective storms, which are known to produce hail, strong winds, flash floods, and tornadoes. They are also employed for oceanographic research and soil moisture studies.

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