Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1983

The sensitivity of a general circulation model to Saharan dust heating

Evidence is accumulating that tropospheric aerosols, such as Saharan dust, can significantly influence weather and climate. The Climate Model of the Goddard Laboratory for Atmospheric Sciences is presently used to assess the possible effects of Saharan dust on the weather and climate of North Africa and the tropical Atlantic Ocean. The three-dimensional model solves the conservation equations for the horizontal wind vector, potential temperature, water vapor mixing ratio, and surface pressure. Parameterizations are included for turbulent exchange at the earth surface, cumulus convection, large scale saturation, diurnally varying solar radiation, and terrestrial radiation. Realistic simulations are thereby produced for many aspects of the observed climate.

Randall, D.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Seasat--A 25-Year Legacy of Success

Thousands of scientific publications and dozens of textbooks include data from instruments derived from NASA's Seasat. The Seasat mission was launched on June 26, 1978, on an Atlas-Agena rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base. It was the first Earth-orbiting satellite to carry four complementary microwave experiments--the Radar Altimeter (ALT) to measure ocean surface topography by measuring spacecraft altitude above the ocean surface; the Seasat-A Satellite Scatterometer (SASS), to measure wind speed and direction over the ocean; the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) to measure surface wind speed, ocean surface temperature, atmospheric water vapor content, rain rate, and ice coverage; and the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), to image the ocean surface, polar ice caps, and coastal regions. While originally designed for remote sensing of the Earth's oceans, the legacy of Seasat has had a profound impact in many other areas including solid earth science, hydrology, ecology and planetary science.

Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Data Democratization: Challenges and Opportunities

Democratizing Earth data is one of the challenges many organizations around the world face in order to maximize the use of their Earth data for research, applications, education, and societal benefits. For example, at the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC), over 1600 global and regional datasets in several NASA Earth science focus areas, including atmospheric composition, water and energy cycles, and climate variability, are archived and distributed to the public. Giovanni, the Geospatial Interactive Online Visualization and Analysis Infrastructure, was developed by GES DISC to facilitate data access and exploration, especially for novice users of Earth science. With Giovanni, users can analyze and visualize over 2000 Earth science variables (e.g., precipitation, aerosol, surface wind) without downloading data, software, the expert understanding of data formats and structures, and coding skills, lowering the barrier to data analysis/comparison by preprocessing and accessing to the data. Results of data analysis and visualization can be accessed in several popular formats (e.g., NetCDF, CSV). As a result of Giovanni's efforts, more than 3000 referral papers have been published in various fields. In spite of this, Giovanni is still difficult to use for some users. For instance, if one searches for "precipitation," it will return over 150 related variables. The question is, which one to use? Furthermore, variables from different data providers (e.g., satellites and models) are named differently with different units, further confusing users, especially those outside the communities. Data democratization is complex and multifaceted. Challenges include service and data discovery, user experiences, visualization, data quality, trustworthiness, and more. In this presentation, we will examine Giovanni as an example of challenges and opportunities in developing data democratization services.

data democratization↗
NASA NTRS2004

Evaluation of the Harmful Algal Bloom Mapping System (HABMapS) and Bulletin

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Mapping System and Bulletin provide a Web-based geographic information system (GIS) and an e-mail alert system that allow the detection, monitoring, and tracking of HABs in the Gulf of Mexico. NASA Earth Science data that potentially support HABMapS/Bulletin requirements include ocean color, sea surface temperature (SST), salinity, wind fields, precipitation, water surface elevation, and ocean currents. Modeling contributions include ocean circulation, wave/currents, along-shore current regimes, and chlorophyll modeling (coupled to imagery). The most immediately useful NASA contributions appear to be the 1-km Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) chlorophyll and SST products and the (presently used) SeaWinds wind vector data. MODIS pigment concentration and SST data are sufficiently mature to replace imagery currently used in NOAA HAB applications. The large file size of MODIS data is an impediment to NOAA use and modified processing schemes would aid in NOAA adoption of these products for operational HAB forecasting.

Hall, Callie↗
NASA NTRS2004

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS): Observing the Atmosphere, Land, Oceans, and Ice from Space

The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a space-based observing system comprised of a series of satellite sensors by which scientists can monitor the Earth, a Data and Information System (EOSDIS) enabling researchers worldwide to access the satellite data, and an interdisciplinary science research program to interpret the satellite data. During this year, the last of the first series of EOS missions, Aura, was launched. Aura is designed exclusively to conduct research on the composition, chemistry, and dynamics of the Earth's upper and lower atmosphere, employing multiple instruments on a single spacecraft. Aura is the third in a series of major Earth observing satellites to study the environment and climate change and is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. The first and second missions, Terra and Aqua, are designed to study the land, oceans, atmospheric constituents (aerosols, clouds, temperature, and water vapor), and the Earth's radiation budget. The other seven EOS spacecraft include satellites to study (i) land cover & land use change, (ii) solar irradiance and solar spectral variation, (iii) ice volume, (iv) ocean processes (vector wind and sea surface topography), and (v) vertical variations of clouds, water vapor, and aerosols up to and including the stratosphere. Aura's chemistry measurements will also follow up on measurements that began with NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite and continue the record of satellite ozone data collected from the TOMS missions. In this presentation I will describe how scientists are using EOS data to examine the health of the earth's atmosphere, including atmospheric chemistry, aerosol properties, and cloud properties, with a special but not exclusive look at the latest earth observing mission, Aura.

King, Michael D.↗
NASA NTRS2005

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS): Observing the Atmosphere, Land, Oceans, and Ice from Space

The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a space-based observing system comprised of a series of satellite sensors by whch scientists can monitor the Earth, a Data and Information System (EOSDIS) enabling researchers worldwide to access the satellite data, and an interdisciplinary science research program to interpret the satellite data. During this year, the last of the first series of EOS missions, Aura, was launched. Aura is designed exclusively to conduct research on the composition, chemistry, and dynamics of the Earth's upper and lower atmosphere, employing multiple instruments on a single spacecraft. Aura is the third in a series of major Earth observing satellites to study the environment and climate change and is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. The first and second missions, Terra and Aqua, are designed to study the land, oceans, atmospheric constituents (aerosols, clouds, temperature, and water vapor), and the Earth's radiation budget. The other seven EOS spacecraft include satellites to study (i) land cover & land use change, (ii) solar irradiance and solar spectral variation, (iii) ice volume, (iv) ocean processes (vector wind and sea surface topography), and (v) vertical variations of clouds, water vapor, and aerosols up to and including the stratosphere. Aura's chemistry measurements will also follow up on measurements that began with NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite and continue the record of satellite ozone data collected from the TOMS missions. In this presentation I will describe how scientists are using EOS data to examine the health of the earth's atmosphere, including atmospheric chemistry, aerosol properties, and cloud properties, with a special look at the latest earth observing mission, Aura.

King, Michael D.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Data catalog for JPL Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC)

The Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC) archive at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory contains satellite data sets and ancillary in-situ data for the ocean sciences and global-change research to facilitate multidisciplinary use of satellite ocean data. Geophysical parameters available from the archive include sea-surface height, surface-wind vector, surface-wind speed, surface-wind stress vector, sea-surface temperature, atmospheric liquid water, integrated water vapor, phytoplankton pigment concentration, heat flux, and in-situ data. PO.DAAC is an element of the Earth Observing System Data and Information System and is the United States distribution site for TOPEX/POSEIDON data and metadata.

Digby, Susan↗
NASA NTRS1991

International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) geotail mission

The Geotail spacecraft will be provided by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) and will provide a Delta Launch Vehicle, tracking support by the Deep Space Network (DSN), and data processing support by GSFC. In exchange, ISAS will reserve part of the payload for NASA instruments together with a certain number of investigators from the United States. As the solar wind flows toward the Earth, some of the energy is modified by the Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere, and upper atmosphere. This interaction causes the flow to be altered, creating a plasmasphere, plasma sheet, and ring currents in the Earth's Geomagnetic Tail region. The result is a series of distinct regions which affect processes on the Earth. By traversing the tail region to a variety of depths, Geotail will be able to determine the size, position, and other properties of these regions. When correlated with information obtained from the other ISAS spacecraft, Geotail data should help to provide a more complete understanding of how the solar processes affect the Earth's environment. The flight profile is given, and information is presented in tabular form on the following topics: DSN support, frequency assignments, telemetry, command, and tracking support responsibility.

Sanford, R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Triton's plumes - The dust devil hypothesis

Triton's plumes are narrow columns 10 km in height, with tails extending horizontally for distances over 100 km. This structure suggests that the plumes are an atmospheric rather than a surface phenomenon. The closest terrestrial analogs may be dust devils, which are atmospheric vortices originating in the unstable layer close to the ground. Since Triton has such a low surface pressure, extremely unstable layers could develop during the day. Patches of unfrosted ground near the subsolar point could act as sites for dust devil formation because they heat up relative to the surrounding nitrogen frost. The resulting convection would warm the atmosphere to temperatures of 48 k or higher, as observed by the Voyager radio science team. Assuming that velocity scales as the square root of temperature difference times the height of the mixed layer, a velocity of 20 m/sec is derived for the strongest dust devils on Triton. Winds of this speed could raise particles provided they are a factor of 1000 to 10,000 less cohesive than those on earth.

Ingersoll, Andrew P.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Investigating Hydrometeorological Conditions Associated with Increasing Dust Events in Southwestern United States

A recent study (Tong et al. 2017) shows a rapid intensification of dust storm activity over the southwestern United States in the past decades. For example, the frequency of windblown dust storms has increased 240 percent from 1990s to 2000s. Increasing dust storms can worsen air quality in the region. The study also finds that the intensification of dust events has a close connection with a fast-rising infectious disease (valley fever) caused by inhaling soil-dwelling fungi (Coccidioides immitis and C. posadasii) in the southwestern United States. Hydrometeorological conditions play an important role in dust storm activity, including winds, precipitation, soil moisture, atmospheric boundary stability, land surface types, etc. In this presentation, we describe our preliminary results of linking the dust trends to variations of hydrometeorological conditions at regional and global scales, using a number of Earth observations, including products from NLDAS (North American Land Data Assimilation System), TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission), and MERRA (Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications) datasets, from NASA Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC). The GES DISC, one of the 12 NASA data centers, is home to multidisciplinary data archives such as precipitation, hydrology, atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric dynamics, etc. We demonstrate that multidisciplinary datasets and services at GES DISC can be used for interdisciplinary investigation to understand the interactions of Earth system components from an observational perspective.

satellite↗
NASA NTRS1986

Lidar remote sensing from space: NASA's plans in the Earth sciences

A multidisciplinary study of the Earth System to provide a better understanding of the complex interrelated processes involved in the system, the Earth Observing System (EOS), is being developed. Capabilities of the Space Station, both the polar orbiting platform and the lower inclination platforms, will be used to accommodate a number of large active and/or passive sensors. Two lidar instruments being considered as part of the Eos payload are the Lidar Atmospheric Sounder and Altimeter (LASA) and the Laser Atmospheric Wind Sounder (LAWS). The LASA instrument is separable into two portions: the atmospheric sounder component and the retroranging component. The LASA atmospheric sounder will sample the spatial distribution of several atmospheric parameters. The retroranging component will be used to determine the precise three-dimensional position of specifically placed retro-reflectors and to sense how these retro-reflectors change position over monthly to yearly time periods. The LAWS utilizes a lidar system capable of measuring the Doppler shift in the backscattered intensity to determine the wind velocity profile.

Curran, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS2000

QuikSCAT Mission

The QuikSCAT Mission of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is planned for launch in Spring 1999, reducing the data gap in ocean-wind vector created by the loss of the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) on the Japanese Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS) spacecraft. The NSCAT instrument ceased functioning when ADEOS failed on June 30, 1997. The follow-on scatterometer for monitoring ocean winds, called SeaWinds, is scheduled for launch on the Japanese ADEOS-II spacecraft in 2000. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has met the challenge to develop and integrate the instrument, ground system, and launch vehicle in less than a year. QuikSCAT will use pencil-beam-antennas in a conical-scan design which is more compact than the fixed fan-beam design of NSCAT. The antenna will radiate ku-band microwaves at 40 and 46 incident angle and measure the backscatter power across a continuous 1800 km swath. QuikSCAT is capable of providing wind-speed and wind-direction at 25 km resolution over 92 percent of the Earth's ice-free oceans every day, under both clear and cloudy conditions. Standard data products will be delivered to science users within 14-days, and fast data products will be available to operational users within two hours of data acquisition. QuikSCAT will be managed by JPL for the NASA's Office of Earth Science Enterprise. It will be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, aboard a Titan II vehicle. The satellite core-systems was built by Ball Aerospace Systems Division, Boulder, CO. The operation of QuikSCAT is expected to overlap with ERS-2 and SeaWinds. Spaceborne scatterometers have demonstrated a broad spectrum of scientific applications, including weather systems, wind-driven ocean circulation, land vegetation, polar ice morphology and dynamics, and Ocean-atmosphere-ice interaction.

Liu, W. Timothy↗
NASA NTRS2000

Atmosphere of Freedom: Sixty Years at the NASA Ames Research Center

Throughout Ames History, four themes prevail: a commitment to hiring the best people; cutting-edge research tools; project management that gets things done faster, better and cheaper; and outstanding research efforts that serve the scientific professions and the nation. More than any other NASA Center, Ames remains shaped by its origins in the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics). Not that its missions remain the same. Sure, Ames still houses the world's greatest collection of wind tunnels and simulation facilities, its aerodynamicists remain among the best in the world, and pilots and engineers still come for advice on how to build better aircraft. But that is increasingly part of Ames' past. Ames people have embraced two other missions for its future. First, intelligent systems and information science will help NASA use new tools in supercomputing, networking, telepresence and robotics. Second, astrobiology will explore lore the prospects for life on Earth and beyond. Both new missions leverage Ames long-standing expertise in computation and in the life sciences, as well as its relations with the computing and biotechnology firms working in the Silicon Valley community that has sprung up around the Center. Rather than the NACA missions, it is the NACA culture that still permeates Ames. The Ames way of research management privileges the scientists and engineers working in the laboratories. They work in an atmosphere of freedom, laced with the expectation of integrity and responsibility. Ames researchers are free to define their research goals and define how they contribute to the national good. They are expected to keep their fingers on the pulse of their disciplines, to be ambitious yet frugal in organizing their efforts, and to always test their theories in the laboratory or in the field. Ames' leadership ranks, traditionally, are cultivated within this scientific community. Rather than manage and supervise these researchers, Ames leadership merely guided them, represents them to NASA headquarters and the world outside, then steps out of the way before they get run over.

Bugos, Glenn E.↗
NASA NTRS1994

The Earth's Middle Atmosphere: COSPAR Plenary Meeting, 29th, Washington, DC, 28 Aug.-5 Sep., 1992

The conference presented the results from the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) in the areas of wind, temperature, composition, and energy input into the upper atmosphere. Also presented is the current status of validation of the UARS temperature and wind instruments measuring at and above the menopause. The two UARS instruments involved were the High Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI) and the WIND Imaging Interferometer (WINDII). Papers are presented covering almost all aspects of middle atmospheric science, including dynamics, layering in the middle atmosphere, atmospheric composition, solar and geomagnetic effects, electrodynamics, and the ionosphere.

Grosse, W. L.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Arctic Cut-Off High Drives the Poleward Shift of a New Greenland Melting Record

Large-scale atmospheric circulation controls the mass and energy balance of the Greenland ice sheet through its impact on radiative budget, runoff and accumulation. Here, using reanalysis data and the outputs of a regional climate model, we show that the persistence of an exceptional atmospheric ridge, centered over the Arctic Ocean, was responsible for a poleward shift of runoff, albedo and surface temperature records over the Greenland during the summer of 2015. New records of monthly mean zonal winds at 500 hPa and of the maximum latitude of ridge peaks of the 5,700+/-50 m isohypse over the Arctic were associated with the formation and persistency of a cutoff high. The unprecedented (1948-2015) and sustained atmospheric conditions promoted enhanced runoff, increased the surface temperatures and decreased the albedo in northern Greenland, while inhibiting melting in the south, where new melting records were set over the past decade. Subject terms: Earth sciences Atmospheric science Climate science

drainage↗
NASA NTRS2005

Synergy Between probes and Orbiter

There are many ways in which the science return from a planetary mission is considerably enhanced by interactions between entry probes and a mission orbiter. Mission configuration aspects that are desirable include delivery of entry probes by the orbiter, and communication between probe and orbiter. Both of these mission aspects could greatly enhance access to key scientific sites that might not otherwise be accessible using delivery from say, a flyby, or employing direct communication from probes to Earth. Examples for Venus and Jupiter will be discussed. A second class of orbiter-probe interaction could better be termed direct probe-orbiter science collaboration. That would include, determining the global context of the entry probe sites from the orbiter, obtaining ground truth from the probe for remote sensing observations from the orbiter, observing the global and vertical distribution of key atmospheric trace species, and measuring the global and vertical distribution of clouds and winds. The importance of each of these items will be illustrated by particular examples.

Young, Richard E.↗
NASA NTRS2012

The Sun and Earth

Thus the Sun forms the basis for life on Earth via the black body radiation it emits. The Sun also emits mass in the form of the solar wind and the coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Mass emission also occurs in the form of solar energetic particles (SEPs), which happens during CMEs and solar flares. Both the mass and electromagnetic energy output of the Sun vary over a wide range of time scales, thus introducing disturbances on the space environment that extends from the Sun through the entire heliosphere including the magnetospheres and ionospheres of planets and moons of the solar system. Although our habitat is located in the neutral atmosphere of Earth, we are intimately connected to the non-neutral space environment starting from the ionosphere to the magnetosphere and to the vast interplanetary space. The variability of the solar mass emissions results in the interaction between the solar wind plasma and the magnetospheric plasma leading to huge disturbances in the geospace. The Sun ionizes our atmosphere and creates the ionosphere. The ionosphere can be severely disturbed by the transient energy input from solar flares and the solar wind during geomagnetic storms. The complex interplay between Earth's magnetic field and the solar magnetic field carried by the solar wind presents varying conditions that are both beneficial and hazardous to life on earth. This seminar presents some of the key aspects of this Sun-Earth connection that we have learned since the birth of space science as a scientific discipline some half a century ago.

Gopalswamy, Natchimuthuk↗
NASA NTRS2017

Maturation of the Asteroid Threat Assessment Project

As described at IPPW 12 [1], NASA initiated a new research activity focused on Planetary Defense (PD) on October 1, 2014. The overarching function of the Asteroid Threat Assessment Project (ATAP) is to provide capabilities to assess impact damage of any Near-Earth Object (NEO) that could inflict on the Earth. The activity includes four interrelated efforts: Initial Conditions (at the atmospheric entry interface); Entry Modeling (energy deposition in the atmosphere); Hazards (on the surface including winds, over pressures, thermal exposures, craters, tsunami and earthquakes) and Risk (physics-based). This paper outlines progress by ATAP and highlights achievements that are complimentary to activities of interest to the International Planetary Probe community. The ATAPs work is sponsored by NASAs Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), a part of the agency's Science Mission Directorate [1] Arnold, J. O., et. al., Overview of a New NASA Activity Focused on Planetary Defense, IPPW 12 Cologne Germany, June 15-19. 2015.

Entry and Breakup↗