SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “MOLECULAR ABSORPTION”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

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

At least 109 records · Page 6

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1976

Radiation in the earth's atmosphere - Its radiance, polarization, and ellipticity

A matrix operator method for a model of the real atmosphere is used to calculate the complete radiation field of the atmosphere. The radiance, direction and amount of polarization, and ellipticity are obtained at the top and bottom of the atmosphere for three values of the surface albedo (0, 0.15, 0.90) and five solar zenith angles, taking account of molecular absorption and scattering (including by ozone) together with the variation of the density of these molecules with height.

Hitzfelder, S. J.↗

NASA NTRS1977

A review of current procedures for normalizing aircraft flyover noise data to reference meteorological conditions

Procedures that are currently used to normalize raw aircraft noise data to reference weather conditions are reviewed. These procedures sometimes result in calculated values of molecular absorption which differ from measured values, especially at higher frequencies. An explanation is offered for this discrepancy, and its effect on normalized sound levels and on calculations of effective perceived noise level is examined.

Deloach, R.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Theory for microwave thermal emission from a layer of cloud or rain

Microwave thermal emission from a layer of cloud or rain consisting of spherical particles has been investigated. Scattering effects are studied in great detail with both numerical and analytical approaches. In the absence of ground emission, it is found that scattering induces brightening for optically thin layers and vice versa for optically thick layers. As a function of observation angle, brightening occurs near nadir, while darkening occurs at large angles in the case of small optical thickness. For large optical thickness, darkening occurs at all angles because of backscattering effects. When the layer of cloud or rain is above an air layer and an ocean surface at a higher temperature, it is found that the darkening effect at large optical thickness is much more pronounced. The darkening effect is also larger for vertical polarizations because the ocean emits more vertically polarized components. The effect of thermal emission and molecular absorption by atmospheric gases is also taken into account. Results obtained from analytical formulas under single-scattering assumptions are compared and illustrated.

Tsang, L.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Photoabsorption cross sections of methane and ethane, 1380-1600 A, at T equals 295 K and T equals 200 K

Photoabsorption cross sections of methane and ethane have been determined in the wavelength range from 1380 to 1600 A at room (295 K) and dry-ice (200 K) temperatures. It is found that the room-temperature ethane data are in excellent agreement with the older measurements of Okabe and Becker (1963) rather than with more recent determinations and that a small systematic blueshift occurs at the foot of the molecular absorption edges of both gases as the gases are cooled from room temperature to 200 K, a value close to the actual temperature of the Jovian atmosphere. It is concluded that methane photoabsorption will dominate until its cross section is about 0.01 that of ethane, which occurs at about 1440 A, and that ethane should be the dominant photoabsorber in the Jovian atmosphere in the region from above 1440 A to not farther than 1575 A.

Mount, G. H.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Detection of Jupiter's ring at 2.2 microns

Reflected sunlight from the Jovian ring discovered by the Voyager spacecraft was detected at 2.2 microns. A chopping secondary photometric system and an indium antimonide photovoltaic apparatus were used in the detection. The search for the ring was conducted at 2.2 microns because at this wavelength scattered radiation from the planetary disk is reduced by the strong molecular absorption features in Jupiter's atmosphere.

Becklin, E. E.↗

NASA NTRS1981

NASA progress in aircraft noise prediction

Langley Research Center efforts to develop a methodology for predicting the effective perceived noise level (EPNL) produced by jet-powered CTOL aircraft to an accuracy of + or - 1.5 dB are summarized with emphasis on the aircraft noise prediction program (ANOPP) which contains a complete set of prediction methods for CTOL aircraft including propulsion system noise sources, aerodynamic or airframe noise sources, forward speed effects, a layered atmospheric model with molecular absorption, ground impedance effects including excess ground attenuation, and a received noise contouring capability. The present state of ANOPP is described and its accuracy and applicability to the preliminary aircraft design process is assessed. Areas are indicated where further theoretical and experimental research on noise prediction are needed. Topics covered include the elements of the noise prediction problem which are incorporated in ANOPP, results of comparisons of ANOPP calculations with measured noise levels, and progress toward treating noise as a design constraint in aircraft system studies.

Raney, J. P.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Thermal Structure of Jupiter and Saturn

Temperatures in the sensible regions of the atmospheres of the outer planets are quite cold. The temperature structures for Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, derived from the equilibrium models are presented in preparation. The vertical temperature profiles for Jupiter and Saturn, the molecular spectroscopic data which form the basis for this type of analysis, and the problems involved with these models for molecular absorption and with the recovery technique in general, are discussed. Results for Jupiter and Saturn from the Pioneer and Voyager infrared experiments are also presented.

Orton, G.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Spatially resolved reflectivities of Saturn - 3000-6000 A

Absolute reflectivity reductions are presented for spectrophotometric observations of seven spatially-resolved regions on the disk of Saturn in the 3000-6000 A region. An asymmetry is found between northern and southern hemisphere data, in the equivalent width of the CH4, 5430-A band and in the continuum reflectivity. In addition, the spectra are found not to include the 4700 A reflectivity peak found by Bergstralh et al (1981), and to exhibit general agreement with the Podolack and Danielson (1977) model. The blue and visual spectral region continuum reflectivity of a planetary atmosphere provides constraints for determining aerosol particle single-scattering albedo and vertical distribution, which are in turn important to an understanding of planetary energy balance, atmospheric dynamics, and planetary molecular absorption spectrum interpretation.

Cochran, W. D.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Meteorological effects on laser propagation for power transmission

An examination of possible laser operating parameters for power transmission to earth from solar power satellites is presented, with particular attention paid to assuring optimal delivery at midlatitudes. The degradation of beam efficiency due to molecular scattering, molecular absorption, aerosol scattering, and aerosol absorption during beam propagation through the atmosphere can be alleviated by judicious choice of wavelength windows, elevating the receptor sites, using a vertical propagation path, or by hole boring, i.e., vaporizing the aerosol particles in the beam path. Analyses are given for the beam propagation through fog, haze, clouds, and snow using various transitions. Only weapons-quality lasers are seen as being capable of boring through clouds and aerosols, employing a CW beam with superimposed pulses at high power densities. It is concluded that further short wavelength transmission experiments be performed to demonstrate transmission feasibility with the CW/pulsed mode of beam propagation.

Beverly, R. E., III↗

NASA NTRS1982

Infrared standard stars

The results of an observational program aimed at setting up a network of faint near-infrared standards of sufficient accuracy are reported. The network covers both northern and southern hemispheres and includes standards red enough to provide at least a limited check on color transformations. The standards are set up at J (1.2 micron), H (1.6 micron), K (2.2 microns), and L (3.5 microns), and their H2O and CO molecular absorption indices are determined. The problem of color transformations between observatories is discussed briefly. All magnitudes presented are transformed to the natural system defined by the CIT observations.

Elias, J. H.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Calculations of atmospheric transmittance in the 11 micrometer window for estimating skin temperature from VISSR infrared brightness temperatures

An algorithm for calculating the atmospheric transmittance in the 10 to 20 micro m spectral band from a known temperature and dewpoint profile, and then using this transmittance to estimate the surface (skin) temperature from a VISSR observation in the 11 micro m window is presented. Parameterizations are drawn from the literature for computing the molecular absorption due to the water vapor continuum, water vapor lines, and carbon dioxide lines. The FORTRAN code is documented for this application, and the sensitivity of the derived skin temperature to variations in the model's parameters is calculated. The VISSR calibration uncertainties are identified as the largest potential source of error.

Chesters, D.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Atmospheric effects on coherent lidar systems

Atmospheric effects on lidar systems at 10.6 micron wavelength involving molecular absorption, aerosol scattering and refractive turbulence effects are discussed. Work on the combined effects of beam truncation and atmospheric refractive turbulence on the system performance are discussed, as well as the modeling of backscattering characteristics of atmospheric aerosols.

Murty, R.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Carbon Stars: There Is No Such Thing as a Dead Leg

The spectra of carbon stars is discussed. Spectral flux curves, molecular bands, molecular absorptions, stellar temperatures, and comparison of emission features in various carbon stars are among the topics considered.

Goebel, J. H.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Middle Atmosphere Program. Handbook for MAP, volume 8

Various investigations relative to middle atmosphere research are discussed. Atmospheric warming periods in 1982-83, atmospheric composition, the comparison of irradiance measurement calibration, and molecular absorption processes related to the penetration of ultraviolet solar radiation into the middle atmosphere, are among the topics discussed.

Sechrist, C. F., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Remote sensing of cloud-top pressure using reflected solar radiation in the oxygen A-band

An algorithm has been developed for using the reflection of solar radiation in the oxygen A-band to determine cloud-top altitude. Because of multiple scattering and molecular absorption inside the cloud, the reflection of clouds is substantially modified in comparison with a mirror cloud, which is assumed to have a 100 percent reflection. To infer true cloud-top altitude, therefore, it is necessary to accurately estimate the amount of 'photon penetration'. Theoretical calculations indicate that the amount of photon penetration depends on the altitude, the scaled volume scattering coefficient, and the scaled optical thickness of the cloud. Algorithms using the reflection in the oxygen A-band to determine the cloud-top pressure have been applied to an aircraft field experiment in conjunction with CCOPE, 1981. Results of this study are very encouraging, especially for extended clouds.

Wu, M.-L. C.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Radiative interactions in transient energy transfer in gaseous systems

Analyses and numerical procedures are presented to investigate the radiative interactions in transient energy transfer processes in gaseous systems. The nongray radiative formulations are based on the wide-band model correlations for molecular absorption. Various relations for the radiative flux are developed; these are useful for different flow conditions and physical problems. Specific plans for obtaining extensive results for different cases are presented. The methods presented in this study can be extended easily to investigate the radiative interactions in realistic flows of hydrogen-air species in the scramjet engine.

Tiwari, S. N.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Far-ultraviolet fluorescence of carbon monoxide in the red giant Arcturus. II - Analysis of high-dispersion IUE spectra

Faint, diffuse emissions near 1380 A in deeply exposed IUE spectrograms of the red giant Arcturus very likely are associated with bands of the A-X fourth-positive system of carbon monoxide, fluoresced by multiplet UV2 of neutral oxygen near 1305 A. Numerical simulations indicate that the strength of the CO bands is exceedingly sensitive, in the best available one-dimensional model of the chromosphere of Arcturus, to a delicate balance between the rapid inward attenuation of the oxygen radiation field and the rapid outward decline of the molecular absorptivity. The fortuitous character of the overlap region in the single-component model argues that one should also consider the possibility that the pumping occurs in a highly inhomogeneous chromosphere, of the type proposed in previous studies of Arcturus based on observations of the infrared absorption bands of CO.

Ayres, T. R.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Flow diagnostics in unseeded air

Several approaches are presented for the quantitative measurement of flowfield parameters in high-speed flows. The techniques are developed for the study of air flows in the Mach 2 to Mach 3 regime and can be extended to the hypersonic and subsonic regimes in a straightforward manner. Instantaneous two-dimensional cross-sectional images of the density using UV Rayleigh scattering and the measurement of velocity profiles using the RELIEF technique are shown. The RELIEF technique employs two high-powered lasers separated in frequency by the vibrational frequency of oxygen molecules to write lines across the flowfield by stimulated Raman scattering. The preliminary results indicate that the UV Rayleigh scattering may also be extended to the measurement of velocity and temperature fields by using an atomic or molecular absorption filter window, and that the RELIEF technique can be extended to marking shaped volumetric points or arrays of points in the flowfield for velocity and vorticity measurements.

Miles, R.↗