Recombination and transport in the nighttime f layer of the ionosphere.
Recombination, coefficients vertical diffusion and transport velocities calculated for ionospheric F layer
IONOSPHERIC SOUNDING↗
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Atmospheric soundings during the Washita 1992 campaign
During the period June 9 through June 18, 1992, an intensive radiosounding program was conducted to measure atmospheric profiles of the wind velocity, the temperature and the specific humidity. The launch site was located near site MS000 in the northeastern part of the catchment of the Little Washita River; this location was selected in order to ensure that the measured profiles would reflect the catchment's surface features for the prevailing southwesterly winds during this time of the year. The launch times of the rawinsondes are shown.
Brutsaert, W.↗
The Structure of Titan's Atmosphere from Cassini Radio Occultations
We present results from the two radio occultations of the Cassini spacecraft by Titan in 2006, which probed mid-southern latitudes. Three of the ingress and egress soundings occurred within a narrow latitude range, 31.34 deg S near the surface, and the fourth at 52.8 deg S. Temperature - altitude profiles for all four occultation soundings are presented, and compared with the results of the Voyager 1 radio occultation (Lindal et al., 1983), the HASI instrument on the Huygens descent probe (Fulchignoni et al., 2005), and Cassini CIRS results (Flasar et al., 2005; Achterberg et al., 2008b). Sources of error in the retrieved temperature - altitude profiles are also discussed, and a major contribution is from spacecraft velocity errors in the reconstructed ephemeris. These can be reduced by using CIRS data at 300 km to make along-track adjustments of the spacecraft timing. The occultation soundings indicate that the temperatures just above the surface at 31-34 deg S are about 93 K, while that at 53 deg S is about 1 K colder. At the tropopause, the temperatures at the lower latitudes are all about 70 K, while the 53 deg S profile is again 1 K colder. The temperature lapse rate in the lowest 2 km for the two ingress (dawn) profiles at 31 and 33 deg S lie along a dry adiabat except within approximately 200m of the surface, where a small stable inversion occurs. This could be explained by turbulent mixing with low viscosity near the surface. The egress profile near 34 deg S shows a more complex structure in the lowest 2 km, while the egress profile at 53 deg S is more stable.
Schinder, Paul J.↗
Correlation of flight effects on centerline velocity decay for cold-flow acoustically excited jets
Acoustic excitation can influence the large scale shear layer structure of jet flow, thereby causing the jet centerline velocity to decay more rapidly. this phenomena has numerous practical applications, such as the reduction of jet/flap impingement velocity in order to reduce flap structural loads for under-the-wing STOL aircraft concepts. Cold flow centerline velocity decay data obtained with acoustic excitation of the jet exhaust flow are correlated with and without flight effects. Initially, static data are correlated in terms of an acoustic parameter involving the threshold sound level needed to initiate acoustic excitation of the jet plume. It is shown that for a given flight speed, the same acoustic excitation parameter as that developed for the static condition is valid. Finally, an aerodynamic flight effects parameter is included to correlate the static and flight centerline velocity decay data with and without acoustic excitation.
Vonglahn, U. H.↗
Comparisons of the Vertical Development of Deep Tropical Convection and Associated Lightning Activity on a Global Basis
Simultaneous radar (13.8 Ghz) and lightning (Lightning Imaging Sensor) observations from the NASA TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) spacecraft afford a new opportunity to examine differences in tropical continental and oceanic convection on a global basis, The 250 meter vertical resolution of the radar data and the approximately 17 dBZ sensitivity are well suited to providing vertical profiles of radar reflectivity over the entire tropical belt. The reflectivity profile has been shown in numerous local ground-based studies to be a good indicator of both updraft velocity and electrical activity. The radar and lightning observations for multiple satellite orbits have been integrated to produce global CAPPI's for various altitudes. At 7 km altitude, where mixed phase microphysics is known to be active, the mean reflectivity in continental convection is 10-15 dB greater than the value in oceanic convection. These results provide a sound physical basis for the order-of-magnitude contrast in lightning counts between continental and oceanic convection. These observations still beg the question, however, about the contrast in updraft velocity in these distinct convective regimes.
Williams, E.↗
The cosmological evolution of self-interacting dark matter
We study the evolution of cosmological perturbations in dark-matter models with elastic and velocity-independent self interactions. Such interactions are imprinted in the matter-power spectrum as dark acoustic oscillations, which can be experimentally explored to determine the strength of the self scatterings. Models with self interactions have similarities to warm dark matter, as they lead to suppression of power on small scales when the dark-matter velocity dispersion is sizable. Nonetheless, both the physical origin and the extent of the suppression differ for self-interacting dark matter from conventional warm dark matter, with a dark sound horizon controlling the reduction of power in the former case, and a free-streaming length in the latter. We thoroughly analyze these differences by performing computations of the linear power spectrum using a newly developed Boltzmann code. We find that while current Lyman-α data disfavor conventional warm dark matter with a mass less than 5.3 keV, when self interactions are included at their maximal value consistent with bounds from the Bullet Cluster, the limits are relaxed to 4.4 keV. Lastly, we make use of our analysis to set novel bounds on light scalar singlet dark matter.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
A Case Study of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model Applied to the Joint Urban 2003 Tracer Field Experiment. Part 1. Wind and Turbulence
We found that numerical-weather-prediction models are often used to supply the mean wind and turbulence fields for atmospheric transport and dispersion plume models as they provide dense horizontally- and vertically-resolved geographic coverage in comparison to typically sparse monitoring networks. Here, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was run over the month-long period of the Joint Urban 2003 field campaign conducted in Oklahoma City and the simulated fields important to transport and dispersion models were compared to measurements from a number of sodars, tower-based sonic anemometers, and balloon soundings located in the greater metropolitan area. Time histories of computed wind speed, wind direction, turbulent kinetic energy (e), friction velocity (u* ), and reciprocal Obukhov length (1 / L) were compared to measurements over the 1-month field campaign. Vertical profiles of wind speed, potential temperature (θ ), and e were compared during short intensive operating periods. The WRF model was typically able to replicate the measured diurnal variation of the wind fields, but with an average absolute wind direction and speed difference of 35° and 1.9 m s -1 , respectively. Then, using the Mellor-Yamada-Janjic (MYJ) surface-layer scheme, the WRF model was found to generally underpredict surface-layer TKE but overpredict u* that was observed above a suburban region of Oklahoma City. The TKE-threshold method used by the WRF model’s MYJ surface-layer scheme to compute the boundary-layer height (h) consistently overestimated h derived from a θ gradient method whether using observed or modelled θ profiles.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
ANGULAR MOMENTUM TRANSPORT BY ACOUSTIC MODES GENERATED IN THE BOUNDARY LAYER. I. HYDRODYNAMICAL THEORY AND SIMULATIONS
The nature of angular momentum transport in the boundary layers of accretion disks has been one of the central and long-standing issues of accretion disk theory. In this work we demonstrate that acoustic waves excited by supersonic shear in the boundary layer serve as an efficient mechanism of mass, momentum, and energy transport at the interface between the disk and the accreting object. We develop the theory of angular momentum transport by acoustic modes in the boundary layer, and support our findings with three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations, using an isothermal equation of state. Our first major result is the identification of three types of global modes in the boundary layer. We derive dispersion relations for each of these modes that accurately capture the pattern speeds observed in simulations to within a few percent. Second, we show that angular momentum transport in the boundary layer is intrinsically nonlocal, and is driven by radiation of angular momentum away from the boundary layer into both the star and the disk. The picture of angular momentum transport in the boundary layer by waves that can travel large distances before dissipating and redistributing angular momentum and energy to the disk and star is incompatible with the conventional notion of local transport by turbulent stresses. Our results have important implications for semianalytical models that describe the spectral emission from boundary layers.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Full waveform inversion for time-distance helioseismology
Inferring interior properties of the Sun from photospheric measurements of the seismic wavefield constitutes the helioseismic inverse problem. Deviations in seismic measurements (such as wave travel times) from their fiducial values estimated for a given model of the solar interior imply that the model is inaccurate. Contemporary inversions in local helioseismology assume that properties of the solar interior are linearly related to measured travel-time deviations. It is widely known, however, that this assumption is invalid for sunspots and active regions and is likely for supergranular flows. Here, we introduce nonlinear optimization, executed iteratively, as a means of inverting for the subsurface structure of large-amplitude perturbations. Defining the penalty functional as the L {sub 2} norm of wave travel-time deviations, we compute the total misfit gradient of this functional with respect to the relevant model parameters at each iteration around the corresponding model. The model is successively improved using either steepest descent, conjugate gradient, or the quasi-Newton limited-memory Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno algorithm. Performing nonlinear iterations requires privileging pixels (such as those in the near field of the scatterer), a practice that is not compliant with the standard assumption of translational invariance. Measurements for these inversions, although similar in principle to those used in time-distance helioseismology, require some retooling. For the sake of simplicity in illustrating the method, we consider a two-dimensional inverse problem with only a sound-speed perturbation.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Inflation in Flatland
We investigate the symmetry structure of inflation in 2+1 dimensions. In particular, we show that the asymptotic symmetries of three-dimensional de Sitter space are in one-to-one correspondence with cosmological adiabatic modes for the curvature perturbation. In 2+1 dimensions, the asymptotic symmetry algebra is infinite-dimensional, given by two copies of the Virasoro algebra, and can be traced to the conformal symmetries of the two-dimensional spatial slices of de Sitter. We study the consequences of this infinite-dimensional symmetry for inflationary correlation functions, finding new soft theorems that hold only in 2+1 dimensions. Expanding the correlation functions as a power series in the soft momentum q , these relations constrain the traceless part of the tensorial coefficient at each order in q in terms of a lower-point function. As a check, we verify that the O( q {sup 2}) identity is satisfied by inflationary correlation functions in the limit of small sound speed.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
THE SOLAR ABUNDANCE PROBLEM: THE EFFECT OF THE TURBULENT KINETIC FLUX ON THE SOLAR ENVELOPE MODEL
Recent three-dimensional (3D) simulations have shown that the turbulent kinetic flux (TKF) is significant. We discuss the effects of TKF on the size of the convection zone and find that the TKF may help solve the solar abundance problem. The solar abundance problem is that, with new abundances, the solar convection zone depth, the sound speed in the radiative interior, the helium abundance, and the density in the convective envelope are not in agreement with helioseismic inversions. We have performed Monte Carlo simulations on solar convective envelope models with different profiles of TKF to test its effects. The solar abundance problem is revealed in the standard solar convective envelope model with AGSS09 composition, which shows significant differences (∼10)) in density from the helioseismic inversions, but the differences in the model with the old composition GN93 is small (∼0.5)). In the testing models with a different TKF imposed, it is found that the density profile is sensitive to the value of TKF at the base of the convective envelope and insensitive to the structure of TKF in the convection zone. The required value of turbulent kinetic luminosity at the base is about –13% to – 19% L {sub ☉}. Comparing with the 3D simulations, this value is plausible. This study is for the solar convective envelope only. Evolutionary solar models with TKF are required to investigat the effects of TKF on the solar interior structure below the convection zone and the whole solar abundance problem, but the profile of the TKF in the overshoot region is necessary.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Attenuation of waves in a viscoelastic peridynamic medium
The effect of spatial nonlocality on the decay of waves in a dissipative material is investigated. The propagation and decay of waves in a one-dimensional, viscoelastic peridynamic medium is analyzed. Both the elastic and damping terms in the material model are nonlocal. Waves produced by a source with constant amplitude applied at one end of a semi-infinite bar decay exponentially with distance from the source. The model predicts a cutoff frequency that is influenced by the nonlocal parameters. A method for computing the attenuation coefficient explicitly as a function of material properties and source frequency is presented. Here, the theoretical results are compared with direct numerical simulations in the time domain. The relationship between the attenuation coefficient and the group velocity is derived. It is shown that in the limit of long waves (or small peridynamic horizon), Stokes’ law of sound attenuation is recovered.
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
Attenuation of waves in a visoelastic peridynamic medium
The propagation and decay of waves in a nonlocal, one-dimensional, viscoelastic medium is analyzed. Waves emanating from a source with constant amplitude applied at one end of a semi-infinite bar decay exponentially with distance from the source. A method for computing the attenuation coefficient explicitly as a function of material properties and source frequency is presented. The results are compared with direct numerical simulations. The relationship between the attenuation coefficient and the group velocity is investigated. It is shown that in the limit of long waves (or small peridynamic horizon), Stokes' law of sound attenuation is recovered.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Application of finite difference techniques to noise propagation in jet engine ducts
A finite difference formulation is presented for wave propagation in a rectangular two-dimensional duct without steady flow. The difference technique, which should be useful in the study of acoustically treated inlet and exhausts ducts used in turbofan engines, can readily handle acoustical flow field complications such as axial variations in wall impedance and cross section area. In the numerical analysis, the continuous acoustic field is lumped into a series of grid points in which the pressure and velocity at each grid point are separated into real and imaginary terms. An example calculation is also presented for the sound attenuation in a two-dimensional straight soft-walled suppressor.
Baumeister, K. J.↗
Application of finite difference techniques to noise propagation in jet engine ducts
A finite difference formulation is presented for wave propagation in a rectangular two-dimensional duct without steady flow. The difference technique, which should be used in the study of acoustically treated inlet and exhausts ducts used in turbofan engines, can readily handle acoustical flow field complications such as axial variations in wall impedance and cross-section area. In the numerical analysis, the continuous acoustic field is lumped into a series of grid points in which the pressure and velocity at each grid point are separated into real and imaginary terms. An example calculation is also presented for the sound attenuation in a two-dimensional straight soft-walled suppressor.
Baumeister, K. J.↗
Fluid dynamic aspects of jet noise generation
The location of the noise sources within jet flows, their relative importance to the overall radiated field, and the mechanisms by which noise generation occurs, are studied by detailed measurements of the level and spectral composition of the radiated sound in the far field. Directional microphones are used to isolate the contribution to the radiated sound of small regions of the flow, and for cross-correlation between the radiated acoustic field and either the velocity fluctuations or the pressure fluctuations in the source field. Acquired data demonstrate the supersonic convection of the acoustic field and the resulting limited upstream influence of the signal source, as well as a possible increase of signal strength as it propagates toward the centerline of the flow.
Source record↗
Study of stratospheric-ionospheric coupling during thunderstorms and tornadoes
A continuous-wave-spectrum high-frequency Doppler sounder array with three transmitters at each of three sites was used to observe the dynamics of the coupling of energy between the stratosphere and the ionosphere. During times of severe weather activity wavelike disturbances have been detected on ground-based ionospheric sounding records as perturbations in electron densities. Infrasonic waves with wave periods of 3-7 min and with horizontal phase velocities of 600-800 m/s were observed when there was thunderstorm activity; gravity waves with wave periods of 10-15 min and horizontal phase velocities of 100-200 m/s were detected when there was tornado activity. Both triangulations from the cross correlation functions of the Doppler records based on an assumption of no background wind shear and ray-tracing computations including an assumed background wind shear indicate that the waves originated in the vicinity of the thunderstorms and tornadoes. A comparison of the wavelengths of the infrasonic and gravity waves observed at ionospheric heights and those in cloud-top pictures from satellites show that they are all of the order of 100-300 km.
Hung, R. J.↗
Extreme Radio-wave Scattering Associated with Hot Stars
We use data on extreme radio scintillation to demonstrate that this phenomenon is associated with hot stars in the solar neighborhood. The ionized gas responsible for the scattering is found at distances up to 1.75 pc from the host star, and on average must comprise ∼10{sup 5} distinct structures per star. We detect azimuthal velocities of the plasma, relative to the host star, up to 9.7 km s{sup −1}, consistent with warm gas expanding at the sound speed. The circumstellar plasma structures that we infer are similar in several respects to the cometary knots seen in the Helix and in other planetary nebulae. There the ionized gas appears as a skin around tiny molecular clumps. Our analysis suggests that molecular clumps are ubiquitous circumstellar features, unrelated to the evolutionary state of the star. The total mass in such clumps is comparable to the stellar mass.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗