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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 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1972

Geomagnetic field distortions and their effects on radiation belt particles.

One of the quadrupole terms in the main geomagnetic field is found to contribute to a north-south 'shear distortion' of the particle-drift shells, whereas one of the octupole components causes a longitude-dependent radial deformation and associated 'drift-shell splitting.' The collective action of all higher multipoles on trapped-particle motion is then used to analyze the 'true' anomalies or distortions of the internal geomagnetic field that are independent of the quadrupole-related eccentricity of the main dipole. These 'true' anomalies must originate in upper-mantle or crustal perturbations that lie relatively near the earth's surface on both sides of the mid-Atlantic ridge; they influence trapped-particle drift shells only where the latter have their closest approach to the earth (South Atlantic and South African areas). The quadrupole and octupole perturbations, on the other hand, obviously originate deep in the earth's core. In the final part of this review, we discuss the effects of external magnetospheric currents. A time-dependent symmetric ring current causes drift shells to be displaced radially, with associated particle acceleration; magnetopause currents introduce a day-night asymmetry, causing shell splitting.

Roederer, J. G.↗
NASA NTRS1973

On the use of drift bottle and seabed drifter data in coastal management

The use of drift bottle and seabed drifter information for use in coastal management is discussed. The drift bottle/seabed drifter portion of VIMS project MACONS (Mid Atlantic Continental Shelf) is described as an example of how a comprehensive survey using drift bottles and seabed drifters provides data useful for coastal management. The data from MACONS are analyzed to answer specific questions of interest to several different coastal managers: a manager siting a deep oil port, one siting a sewage outfall, a manager responsible for setting up emergency beach protection procedures before an accident occurs, and a manager responsible for the environmental quality of a particular small section of coastline.

Welch, C. S.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Random-access technique for modular bathymetry data storage in a continental shelf wave refraction program

A study was conducted of an alternate method for storage and use of bathymetry data in the Langley Research Center and Virginia Institute of Marine Science mid-Atlantic continental-shelf wave-refraction computer program. The regional bathymetry array was divided into 105 indexed modules which can be read individually into memory in a nonsequential manner from a peripheral file using special random-access subroutines. In running a sample refraction case, a 75-percent decrease in program field length was achieved by using the random-access storage method in comparison with the conventional method of total regional array storage. This field-length decrease was accompanied by a comparative 5-percent increase in central processing time and a 477-percent increase in the number of operating-system calls. A comparative Langley Research Center computer system cost savings of 68 percent was achieved by using the random-access storage method.

Poole, L. R.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Study geomorphology, past and present, linear trench, tectonics relationship between Pyrenees and Alps

The author has identified the following significant results. ERTS-1 images obviously show up some large linear features trending N 80 E or N 30 E common to both Alps and Pyrenees. One of them, the Ligurian Fault, had been previously forecast by Laubscher in an interpretation of the Alps by the plate tectonic theory, but it extends westward farthest from the Alps, cutting the Pyrenees axis. These lineaments have been interpreted as reflections of deep seated wrench faults in the surficial part of the sedimentary series. A large set of such lineaments is perceptible in western Europe, such as the Guadalquivir Fault in southern Spain, Ligurian Fault, Insubrian Fault, Northern-Jura Fault, Metz Fault. Perhaps these may be interpreted as transform faults of the mid-Atlantic ridge or of a paleo-rift seated in the Rhine-Rhone graben.

Guillemot, J.↗
NASA NTRS1976

LANDSAT application of remote sensing to shoreline-form analysis

The author has identified the following significant results. Data for Assateague Island and Ocracoke Island show significantly high correlations between coastal orientation and erosion. However, South Hatteras has low correlations, and North Hatteras has low negative correlations. Because all four areas are essentially in the same mid-Atlantic climatic regime, process/response relationships should be similar. Correlations for the four areas may differ considerably because of inadequate assumptions; the key is the mean orientation of the specific coastline being studied. There appears to be an orientation window surrounding due northeast (135 deg north of south) in which this hypothesis holds.

Dolan, R.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Planning and evaluation parameters for offshore complexes

Issues are presented for consideration in the planning and design of offshore artificial complexes. The construction of such complexes, their social, economic, and ecological impacts, and the legal-political-institutional environments within which their development could occur, are discussed. Planning, design, and construction of near-shore complexes located off the Mid-Atlantic coast of the United States is emphasized.

Sincoff, M. Z.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Comparison of remotely sensed continental-shelf wave spectra with spectra computed by using a wave refraction computer model

An initial attempt was made to verify the Langley Research Center and Virginia Institute of Marine Science mid-Atlantic continental-shelf wave refraction model. The model was used to simulate refraction occurring during a continental-shelf remote sensing experiment conducted on August 17, 1973. Simulated wave spectra compared favorably, in a qualitative sense, with the experimental spectra. However, it was observed that most of the wave energy resided at frequencies higher than those for which refraction and shoaling effects were predicted, In addition, variations among the experimental spectra were so small that they were not considered statistically significant. In order to verify the refraction model, simulation must be performed in conjunction with a set of significantly varying spectra in which a considerable portion of the total energy resides at frequencies for which refraction and shoaling effects are likely.

Poole, L. R.↗
NASA NTRS1978

LANDSAT application of remote sensing to shoreline-form analysis

The author has identified the following significant results. Using Assateague Island, Cape Hatteras, and Cape Lookout, significantly high correlations were found for most of the six barrier island sections that were examined. Relationships were not consistent from island to island. It was concluded that coastal vulnerability to storm damage can not be assessed based on coastal orientation alone. When orientation data were combined with erosion data for individual barrier islands, the relationship could be used as a basis for barrier island classification. A method was developed to obtain large amounts of historical data on surface coastal process from aerial photography, which was called the orthogonal grid address system. Data on shoreline change and overwash penetration gathered on over 400 km of the mid-Atlantic coast, are being used by various federal and state agencies for planning purposes.

Dolan, R.↗
NASA NTRS1978

On isostatic geoid anomalies

In regions of slowly varying lateral density changes, the gravity and geoid anomalies may be expressed as power series expansions in topography. Geoid anomalies in isostatically compensated regions can be directly related to the local dipole moment of the density-depth distribution. This relationship is used to obtain theoretical geoid anomalies for different models of isostatic compensation. The classical Pratt and Airy models give geoid height-elevation relationships differing in functional form but predicting geoid anomalies of comparable magnitude. The thermal cooling model explaining ocean floor subsidence away from mid-ocean ridges predicts a linear age-geoid height relationship of 0.16 m/m.y. Geos 3 altimetry profiles were examined to test these theoretical relationships. A profile over the mid-Atlantic ridge is closely matched by the geoid curve derived from the thermal cooling model. The observed geoid anomaly over the Atlantic margin of North America can be explained by Airy compensation. The relation between geoid anomaly and bathymetry across the Bermuda Swell is consistent with Pratt compensation with a 100-km depth of compensation.

Haxby, W. F.↗
NASA NTRS1979

A Geos 3 Orbit determination experiment

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the value of altimetry data in high-precision satellite orbit determination. To accomplish this, software was developed to process laser, C-band, doppler and altimeter data singly or jointly. Initially, orbit determination studies were undertaken using synthetic data to validate the software. As data became available, preliminary experiments were carried out. When all the data became available, an intensive study was made covering a 4-day span in 1976. The results showed that even with sparse altimeter data it was possible to accurately determine the semimajor axis and eccentricity with altimeter data only. When altimeter data was supplemented with (as few as) two C-band passes, high-precision ephemerides were obtained. Using two laser passes to supplement the altimetry data did not achieve that same high precision. This is probably because the geographic location (mid-Atlantic) of the highly accurate laser data were such that they did not ideally complement the available (south Atlantic and Indian Ocean) altimeter data.

Pisacane, V. L.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Total nitrogen content of deep sea basalts

An estimate of the total nitrogen content of the earth's mantle, aimed at furnishing a further constraint for earth atmosphere origin and evolution models, was attempted through thermal neutron activation analysis via N-14(n,p)C-14 for the case of deep sea basalt glasses from the East Pacific Rise, the Mid-Atlantic Rift, and the Juan de Fuca Ridge. The increased nitrogen abundance of matrix material from the same samples as the glasses may be due to the incorporation of chemically-bound nitrogen from sea water, rather than dissolved molecular nitrogen. A discussion is presented of factors affecting observed basalt nitrogen content and its interpretation in terms of mantle nitrogen abundance. A 2 ppm N lower limit is estimated for the mantle.

Norris, T. L.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Methodology for interpretation of SST retrievals using the AVHRR split window algorithm

Intercomparisons of sea surface temperature (SST) products derived from the operational NOAA-7 AVHRR-II algorithm and in situ observations are made. The 1982 data sets consist of ship survey data during the winter from the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB), ship and buoy measurements during April and September in the Gulf of Mexico and shipboard observations during April off the N.W. Spanish coast. The analyses included single pixel comparisons and the warmest pixel technique for 2 x 2 pixel and 10 x 10 pixel areas. The reason for using multi-pixel areas was for avoiding cloud contaminated pixels in the vicinity of the field measurements. Care must be taken when applying the warmest pixel technique near oceanic fronts. The Gulf of Mexico results clearly indicate a persistent degradation in algorithm accuracy due to El Chichon aerosols. The MAB and Spanish data sets indicate that very accurate estimates can be achieved if care is taken to avoid clouds and oceanic fronts.

Barbieri, R. W.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Sensing propagation events and fade statistics at C-band for two over-water, line-of-sight propagation paths over a one year period

We examine signal fading statistics over a year period corresponding to two over-water, line-of-site, propagation links in the mid-Atlantic coast of the US. These links are comprised of a transmitter on a tower at Parramore Island, VA operating at 4.7 GHz sending simultaneous cw signals to two receiver systems located on a lighthouse and a lookout tower on Assateague Beach, VA at distances of 44 and 39 km, respectively. The receiving sites are separated by approximately 5 km. Cumulative fade distributions corresponding to yearly, monthly, and diurnal time scales were derived. Fade duration statistics correspond to sustained attenuation events were also derived. These events, which were arbitrarily defined as having fades relative to free space powers in excess of 20 dB for durations of two hours or more, are believed to be generally due to subrefraction. Analysis of synoptic weather conditions and nearby rawindsonde data during two sustained deep fading periods showed atmospheric conditions consistent with extreme subrefraction, where the refractivity-height profile had a positive lapse rate. The efficacy of employing the links as indicators of real time conditions of atmospheric propagation was also demonstrated by a telephone call-up procedure which enabled displays of time series of the fading at remote locations to be generated.

Goldhirsh, Julius↗
NASA NTRS1992

Rain rate and modeled fade distributions at 20 GHz and 30 GHz derived from five years of network rain gauge measurements

Five years of rain rate and modeled slant path attenuation distributions at 20 GHz and 30 GHz derived from a network of 10 tipping bucket rain gages was examined. The rain gage network is located within a grid 70 km north-south and 47 km east-west in the Mid-Atlantic coast of the United States in the vicinity of Wallops Island, Virginia. Distributions were derived from the variable integration time data and from one minute averages. It was demonstrated that for realistic fade margins, the variable integration time results are adequate to estimate slant path attenuations at frequencies above 20 GHz using models which require one minute averages. An accurate empirical formula was developed to convert the variable integration time rain rates to one minute averages. Fade distributions at 20 GHz and 30 GHz were derived employing Crane's Global model because it was demonstrated to exhibit excellent accuracy with measured COMSTAR fades at 28.56 GHz.

Goldhirsh, Julius↗
NASA NTRS1993

Birds of Wallops Island, Virginia, 1970 - 1992

This Technical Memorandum provides extensive data on birdlife at Wallops Island, a mid-Atlantic barrier island, and home to NASA Wallops Flight Facility's launch range. Variation in the distribution and abundance of many species is considerable in this region, which is centered along the north-south axis of the Delmarva Peninsula. Data (date of occurrence and general abundance) and analysis of the Island's diverse habitat structure are provided. A total of 244 species of birds are recorded; a summary of the records are given in the Species Accounts and the Appendix.

Vaughn, Charles R.↗
NASA NTRS1996

SWADE Data Guide

This is a guide to the data that was collected during the Surface Wave Dynamics Experiment (SWADE) carried out from October 1990 through March 1991. The area studied was the Mid-Atlantic bight. Buoys collected data continuously during this time. Included are three 3-meter discus buoys the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) set in the area for this project, they then later added a fourth 3-meter discus and an experimental coastal buoy. Data from all of the NDBC buoys and stations from New England to Florida have been included in the data set; in addition, several other buoys monitored meteorological and ocean conditions for parts of the experiment. Several times during the project, there were intensive data collection periods. During the third of these, there were 7 aircraft and a ship collecting data. Maps of each mission from the platforms that have shared their data are included. The anonymous FTP site that has been established to make this data public is described.

Oberholtzer, David↗
NASA NTRS1999

Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Characteristics of a Major Tropical Cyclone Tornado Outbreak

It is well known that most tropical cyclones (TCs) that make landfall along the Gulf coast of the United States spawn at least a few tornadoes. Although most landfalling TCs generate fewer than a dozen such tornadoes, a small proportion produce large swarm outbreaks, with as many as 25 or more tornadoes. Usually, these major outbreaks occur in large, intense hurricane-strength TCs, but on 15-17 August 1994 Tropical Storm Beryl spun off 37 tornadoes along its path from the Florida panhandle through the mid-Atlantic states. Some 32 of these tornadoes occurred on 16 August 1994 from eastern Georgia to southern Virginia, with most of these taking place in South Carolina. Beryl's 37 tornadoes moved it into what was at that time fifth place historically in terms of TC tornado productivity. The Beryl outbreak is especially noteworthy in that at least three of the tornadoes achieved peak intensity of F3 on the Fujita damage intensity scale. Although no fatalities resulted from the Beryl outbreak, at least 50 persons suffered injuries, and property damages totalled more than $50 million . The Beryl outbreak is a good example of a TC whose greatest danger to the public is its post-landfall severe weather. In this respect, and in the character of its swarm outbreak of tornadoes, it resembles another large tornado outbreak spawned by a relatively weak TC, Hurricane Danny of 1985). In the Danny outbreak, numerous shallow mini-supercell storms were found to have occurred, and it was noted that, because of the storms' relatively shallow depth, cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning was negligible. Better observations of future TC tornado outbreaks, especially with modern surveillance tools such as Doppler radars and the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN), were recommended. Although the Beryl tornado outbreak is not the first set of TC-spawned tornado storms to be observed with the NLDN, it is one of the largest and likely the most intense such outbreak. The purpose of this paper is to document the NLDN-derived CG lightning characteristics of Beryl's tornadic storms, and to see how they compare with observations of CG lightning activity in other types of severe storms. In particular, we attempt to quantify the CG flash rates of TC tornadic cells, and to discover if there are any characteristics of their CG activity that may be useful to operational forecasters seeking to distinguish which cells are most likely to produce severe weather.

McCaul, Eugene W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Marine Magnetic Anomalies and the Reconstruction of the World

Until the middle of the 20th century little was known about magnetic anomalies in the oceans. Then it was discovered that there are relatively large anomalies in most of the oceans and they were unrelated to any geological structure known at that time. In the early 1950's large anomalies had been found over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and linear anomalies over the eastern continental shelf of North America and, shortly after that, off the west coast. A survey of the ridge south of Iceland showed that the anomalies were linear, parallel to the ridge axis, and symmetrical about the axis. Using the theory that the anomalies were caused by geomagnetic field reversals and seafloor spreading it was possible to greatly extend the time scale of geomagnetic reversals, to determine the velocity of seafloor spreading and estimate the time of opening of the North Atlantic. Lamont had a world-wide collection of marine magnetic profiles. These were used, systematically, to determine the positions of most of the land masses of the world since the beginnings of the world's present oceans.

Heirtzler, James R.↗