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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 1,225 records · Page 68
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2017

The North Pacific Summer Jet and Climate Extremes over North America: Mechanisms and Model Biases

The North Pacific summer jet (NPSJ) plays a critical role as a waveguide for weather systems and other sub-seasonal Rossby waves entering North America and therefore has a controlling influence on the warm season weather and climate extremes over much of the continent. In particular, much of the warm season precipitation that occurs over the central United States depends on subseasonal transients that are able to tap moisture from the Gulf of Mexico as they propagate across the continent. The GEOS-5 atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM), like many AGCMs, is deficient in the simulation of the NPSJ. It is shown that the deficiency is composed of: 1) a stunted jet in which the strongest winds are confined to the Asian continent, failing to extend across the North Pacific into the Gulf of Alaska as observed, and 2) a zonally symmetric poleward shift in the jet. These biases combine to impede the eastward propagation of the weather systems into the continent (the stunted jet), and deprive those systems that do enter the continent access to the moisture from the Gulf (the northward shift), leading to a dry bias over the central US. It is shown that the stunted jet bias is the result of too strong heating that occurs just south of the jet core over and near Tibet. Furthermore, it is shown that the poleward shift of the NPSJ can be corrected in the current GEOS-5 AGCM by increasing the vertical resolution. The implications of these results for improving warm season forecasts of extreme events will be discussed.

NPS↗
NASA NTRS1983

A program of research in environmental modeling

A theoretical framework for the interpretation of satellite measurements of stratospheric temperature and trace gases is provided. This problem is quite complicated since the distributions of trace gases are dependent on dynamics and photochemistry. Therefore, the problem was attacked with models employing varying degrees of photochemical and dynamical complexity. The relationship between dynamics and trace gas transport and wave transience, dissipation and critical levels and the net (permanent) transport of trace gases, the role of photochemistry in trace gas transport, photochemistry and dynamics and altering the mean-zonal distribution of stratospheric ozone, and approximations to simplify the interpretation of observations and General Circulation Models are discussed.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1993

Session on modeling of radiative transfer processes

The session on modeling of radiative transfer processes is reviewed. Six critical issues surfaced in the discussion concerning scale-interactive radiative processes relevent to the mesoscale convective systems (MCS's). These issues are the need to expand basic knowledge of how MCS's influence climate through extensive cloud shields and increased humidity in the upper troposphere; to improve radiation parameterizations used in mesoscale and General Circulation Model (GCM) models; to improve our basic understanding of the influence of radiation on MCS dynamics due to diabatic heating, production of condensate, and vertical and horizontal heat fluxes; to quantify our understanding of radiative impacts of MCS's on the surface and free atmosphere energy budgets; to quantify and identify radiative and microphysical processes important in the evolution of MCS's; and to improve the capability to remotely sense MCS radiative properties from space and ground-based systems.

Flatau, Piotr↗
DOE OSTI2016

Effects of Southeastern Pacific Sea Surface Temperature on the Double-ITCZ Bias in NCAR CESM1

The double intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) is a long-standing bias in the climatology of coupled general circulation models (CGCMs). The warm biases in southeastern Pacific (SEP) sea surface temperature (SST) are also evident in many CGCMs. In this study, the role of SEP SST in the double ITCZ is investigated by prescribing the observed SEP SST in the Community Earth System Model, version 1 (CESM1). Both the double ITCZ and dry equator problems are significantly improved with SEP SST prescribed. Both atmospheric and oceanic processes are involved in the improvements. The colder SST over the SEP decreases the precipitation, which enhances the southeasterly winds outside the prescribed SST region, cooling the ocean via increased evaporation. The enhanced descending motion over the SEP strengthens the Walker circulation. The easterly winds over the equatorial Pacific enhance upwelling and shoal the thermocline over the eastern Pacific. The changes of surface wind and wind curl lead to a weaker South Equatorial Countercurrent and stronger South Equatorial Current, preventing the warm water from expanding eastward, thereby improving both the double ITCZ and dry equator. The enhanced Walker circulation also increases the low-level wind convergence and reduces the wind speed in the tropical western Pacific, leading to warmer SST and stronger convection there. The stronger convection in turn leads to more cloud and reduces the incoming solar radiation, cooling the SST. These competing effects between radiative heat flux and latent heat flux make the atmospheric heat flux secondary to the ocean dynamics in the western Pacific warming.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2012

Coupling Mars' Dust and Water Cycles: Effects on Dust Lifting Vigor, Spatial Extent and Seasonality

The dust cycle is an important component of Mars' current climate system. Airborne dust affects the radiative balance of the atmosphere, thus greatly influencing the thermal and dynamical state of the atmosphere. Dust raising events on Mars occur at spatial scales ranging from meters to planet-wide. Although the occurrence and season of large regional and global dust storms are highly variable from one year to the next, there are many features of the dust cycle that occur year after year. Generally, a low-level dust haze is maintained during northern spring and summer, while elevated levels of atmospheric dust occur during northern autumn and winter. During years without global-scale dust storms, two peaks in total dust loading were observed by MGS/TES: one peak occurred before northern winter solstice at Ls 200-240, and one peak occurred after northern winter solstice at L(sub s) 305-340. These maxima in dust loading are thought to be associated with transient eddy activity in the northern hemisphere, which has been observed to maximize pre- and post-solstice. Interactive dust cycle studies with Mars General Circulation Models (MGCMs) have included the lifting, transport, and sedimentation of radiatively active dust. Although the predicted global dust loadings from these simulations capture some aspects of the observed dust cycle, there are marked differences between the simulated and observed dust cycles. Most notably, the maximum dust loading is robustly predicted by models to occur near northern winter solstice and is due to dust lifting associated with down slope flows on the flanks of the Hellas basin. Thus far, models have had difficulty simulating the observed pre- and post- solstice peaks in dust loading. Interactive dust cycle studies typically have not included the formation of water ice clouds or their radiative effects. Water ice clouds can influence the dust cycle by scavenging dust from atmosphere and by interacting with solar and infrared radiation, thereby modifying the thermal structure of the atmosphere and its circulation. Results presented in other papers at this workshop show that including the radiative effects of water ice clouds greatly influence the water cycle and the vigor of weather systems in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Our goal is to investigate the effects of fully coupling the dust and water cycles on the dust cycle. We show that including water ice clouds and their radiative effects greatly affect the magnitude, spatial extent and seasonality of dust lifting and the season of maximum atmospheric dust loading.

Kahre, M. A.↗
NASA NTRS2020

The Impact of Planetary Rotation Rate on the Reflectance and Thermal Emission Spectrum of Terrestrial Exoplanets around Sunlike Stars

Robust atmospheric and radiative transfer modeling will be required to properly interpret reflected-light and thermal emission spectra of terrestrial exoplanets. This will help break observational degeneracies between the numerous atmospheric, planetary, and stellar factors that drive planetary climate. Here, we simulate the climates of earthlike worlds around the Sun with increasingly slow rotation periods, from earthlike to fully Sun-synchronous, using the ROCKE-3D general circulation model. We then provide these results as input to the Spectral Planet Model, which employs the Spectral Mapping Atmospheric Radiative Transfer model to simulate the spectra of a planet as it would be observed from a future space-based telescope. We find that the primary observable effects of slowing planetary rotation rate are the altered cloud distributions, altitudes, and opacities that subsequently drive many changes to the spectra by altering the absorption band depths of biologically relevant gas species(e.g.,HO2,O2, andO3). We also identify a potentially diagnostic feature of synchronously rotating worlds in mid-infraredHO2absorption/emission lines.

Exoplanet atmospheres↗
DOE OSTI2024

Agent-Based Model of Combined Community- and Jail-Based Take-Home Naloxone Distribution

Importance Opioid-related overdose accounts for almost 80 000 deaths annually across the US. People who use drugs leaving jails are at particularly high risk for opioid-related overdose and may benefit from take-home naloxone (THN) distribution. Objective To estimate the population impact of THN distribution at jail release to reverse opioid-related overdose among people with opioid use disorders. Design, Setting, and Participants This study developed the agent-based Justice-Community Circulation Model (JCCM) to model a synthetic population of individuals with and without a history of opioid use. Epidemiological data from 2014 to 2020 for Cook County, Illinois, were used to identify parameters pertinent to the synthetic population. Twenty-seven experimental scenarios were examined to capture diverse strategies of THN distribution and use. Sensitivity analysis was performed to identify critical mediating and moderating variables associated with population impact and a proxy metric for cost-effectiveness (ie, the direct costs of THN kits distributed per death averted). Data were analyzed between February 2022 and March 2024. Intervention Modeled interventions included 3 THN distribution channels: community facilities and practitioners; jail, at release; and social network or peers of persons released from jail. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was the percentage of opioid-related overdose deaths averted with THN in the modeled population relative to a baseline scenario with no intervention. Results Take-home naloxone distribution at jail release had the highest median (IQR) percentage of averted deaths at 11.70% (6.57%-15.75%). The probability of bystander presence at an opioid overdose showed the greatest proportional contribution (27.15%) to the variance in deaths averted in persons released from jail. The estimated costs of distributed THN kits were less than $\$$15 000 per averted death in all 27 scenarios. Conclusions and Relevance This study found that THN distribution at jail release is an economical and feasible approach to substantially reducing opioid-related overdose mortality. Training and preparation of proficient and willing bystanders are central factors in reaching the full potential of this intervention.

Tatara, Eric [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), A↗
DOE OSTI2019

Parallel Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM) using global arrays

The Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM) code was parallelized for distributed memory computers using Global Arrays (GA). To analyze parallel performance, DHSVM was used to simulate two significantly sized river basins located in northwest continental United States and southwest Canada at 90~m resolution: (1) Clearwater (25,000~km2) and (2) Columbia (668,000~km2). Meteorological forcing applied to both basins was dynamically down-scaled from a global circulation model using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and read into DHSVM as 2D maps each time step. We report parallel code speed up was significant. Run times for 1-year simulations were reduced by an order of magnitude for both test basins. A maximum speed up of 105 was attained with 480 processors while simulating the Columbia basin. Speed up was limited by input dominated tasks, particularly the input of meteorological forcing data.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Precipitation in Northeast Mexico Primarily Controlled by the Relative Warming of Atlantic SSTs

Abstract Reconstructing hydroclimate over the Common Era is essential for understanding the dominant mechanisms of precipitation change and improving climate model projections, which currently suggest Northeast Mexico will become drier in the future. Tree‐ring reconstructions have suggested regional rainfall is primarily controlled by Pacific sea‐surface temperatures (SSTs). However, tree ring records tend to reflect winter‐spring rainfall, and thus may not accurately record total annual precipitation. Using the first multiproxy speleothem record spanning the last millennium, combined with results from an atmospheric general circulation model, we demonstrate mean annual rainfall in Northeast Mexico is highly sensitive to Atlantic SST variability. Our findings suggest future precipitation in Northeast Mexico is more dependent upon the warming of Tropical Atlantic SSTs relative to the Tropical Pacific.

Wright, Kevin T.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Biophysical model of eelgrass and water quality in Coos Bay, OR shows greater mitigation potential for ocean acidification than hypoxia

Seagrass beds provide important ecosystem services and are valued, in part, for their potential to mediate stressors such as ocean acidification and hypoxia (OAH) for sensitive species. However, the susceptibility of seagrasses to anthropogenic impacts and recent declines motivate the need to better understand the drivers of seagrass and the water quality consequences that occur with variation in seagrass abundance. To meet this need, we leveraged existing monitoring data (water quality and seagrass), hydrodynamic circulation model, and biogeochemical model framework with seagrass submodel, to produce a biophysical model of Coos Bay estuary, Oregon, U.S. The model includes biogeochemical processes involving water quality, plankton, seagrass, and sediment-water interactions. Ecosystem models like this are useful for evaluating complex estuarine systems because they allow us to extend our understanding of system dynamics beyond existing observations and perform experiments to identify the processes driving observed patterns. We used the biophysical model of Coos Bay to evaluate the dynamics of water quality and native eelgrass (Zostera marina) under three eelgrass abundance scenarios (zero eelgrass, current extent, and maximum observed extent) to elucidate the relationship between eelgrass and OAH. Including eelgrass in the Coos Bay model produced results that more closely resembled water quality observations - dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH were more dynamic in simulations with eelgrass, often having both higher highs and lower lows. While there were some areas of the estuary where DO improved with the addition of eelgrass to the model there was overall a small net increase in harmful DO conditions (based on a salmon physiological threshold). In contrast, ocean acidification conditions, pH and calcium carbonate saturation state for aragonite (Ω), were improved (based on oyster requirements) with the addition of eelgrass - although the magnitude of improvement differed seasonally and spatially. Our new model represents a useful tool - one which accounts for and controls the relevant physical and biogeochemical processes - to evaluate conditions that confer resilience or enhance vulnerability to OAH in an important Pacific Northwest coastal estuary and results can inform the OAH-related dynamics occurring in other eastern boundary current estuaries.

FVCOM-ICM↗
DOE OSTI2019

The Effect of QBO Phase on the Atmospheric Response to Projected Arctic Sea Ice Loss in Early Winter

Recent modeling studies have shown an important role for stratosphere-troposphere coupling in the large-scale atmospheric response to Arctic sea ice loss. Evidence is growing that the Quasi-biennial Oscillation (QBO) can contribute to or even mitigate teleconnections from surface forcing. Here, the influence of QBO phase on the atmospheric response to projected Arctic sea ice loss is examined using an atmospheric general circulation model with a well-resolved stratosphere and a QBO prescribed from observations. The role of the QBO is determined by compositing seasons with easterly phase (QBO-E) separately from seasons with westerly phase (QBO-W). In response to the sea ice forcing in early winter, the polar vortex during QBO-E weakens with strong stratosphere-troposphere wave-1 coupling and a negative Northern Annular Mode-type response. At the surface, this results in more severe Siberian cold spells. For QBO-W, the polar vortex strengthens in response to the sea ice forcing.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2007

MODIS Aerosol Observations used to Constrain Dust Distributions and Lifecycle in the NASA GEOS-5 Model

Approximately 240 Tg of mineral dust aerosol are transported annually from Saharan Africa to the Atlantic Ocean. Dust affects the Earth radiation budget, and plays direct (through scattering and absorption of radiation) and indirect (through modification of cloud properties and environment) roles in climate. Deposition of dust to the surface provides an important nutrient source to terrestrial and oceanic ecosystems. Dust is additionally a contributor to adverse air quality. Among the tools toward understanding the lifecycle and impacts of mineral dust aerosols are numerical models. Important constraints on these models come from quantitative satellite observations, like those from the space-based Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). In particular, Kauhan et al. [2005] used MODIS aerosol observations to infer transport and deposition fluxes of Saharan dust over the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Amazonian basins. Those observations are used here to constrain the transport of dust and its interannual variability simulated in the NASA GEOS-5 general circulation model and data assimilation system. Significant uncertainty exists in the MODIS-derived fluxes, however, due to uncertainty in the wind fields provided by meteorological analyses in this region. That same uncertainty in the wind fields is manifest in our GEOS-5 simulations of dust distributions. Here we use MODIS observations to investigate the seasonality and location of the Saharan dust plume and explore through sensitivity analysis of our model the meteorological controls on the dust distribution, including dust direct radiative effects and sub-gridscale source and sink processes.

Colarco, P.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Improving Mars-GRAM: Increasing the Accuracy of Sensitivity Studies at Large Optical Depths

Extensively utilized for numerous mission applications, the Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model (Mars-GRAM) is an engineering-level atmospheric model. In a Monte-Carlo mode, Mars-GRAM's perturbation modeling capability is used to perform high fidelity engineering end-to-end simulations for entry, descent, and landing (EDL). Mars-GRAM has been found to be inexact when used during the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) site selection process for sensitivity studies for MapYear=0 and large optical depth values such as tau=3. Mars-GRAM is based on the NASA Ames Mars General Circulation Model (MGCM) from the surface to 80 km altitude. Mars-GRAM with the MapYear parameter set to 0 utilizes results from a MGCM run with a fixed value of tau=3 at all locations for the entire year. Imprecise atmospheric density and pressure at all altitudes is a consequence of this use of MGCM with tau=3. Density factor values have been determined for tau=0.3, 1 and 3 as a preliminary fix to this pressure-density problem. These factors adjust the input values of MGCM MapYear 0 pressure and density to achieve a better match of Mars-GRAM MapYear 0 with Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) observations for MapYears 1 and 2 at comparable dust loading. These density factors are fixed values for all latitudes and Ls and are included in Mars-GRAM Release 1.3. Work currently being done, to derive better multipliers by including variations with latitude and/or Ls by comparison of MapYear 0 output directly against TES limb data, will be highlighted in the presentation. The TES limb data utilized in this process has been validated by a comparison study between Mars atmospheric density estimates from Mars-GRAM and measurements by Mars Global Surveyor (MGS). This comparison study was undertaken for locations on Mars of varying latitudes, Ls, and LTST. The more precise density factors will be included in Mars-GRAM 2005 Release 1.4 and thus improve the results of future sensitivity studies done for large optical depths.

Justh, Hilary L.↗
NASA NTRS2003

The Polar Regions and Martian Climate: Studies with a Global Climate Model

Much of the interest in the polar regions centers on the fact that they likely contain the best record of Martian climate change on time scales from years to eons. This expectation is based upon the observed occurrence of weathering product deposits and volatile reservoirs that are coupled to the climate. Interpretation and understanding of these records requires understanding of the mechanisms that involve the exchange of dust, water, and carbon dioxide between the surface and atmosphere, and the atmospheric redistribution of these species. We will summarize our use of the GFDL Mars general circulation model (MGCM), to exploration aspects of the interaction between the global climate and the polar regions. For example, our studies have shown that while the northern polar cap is the dominant seasonal source for water, it can act as a net annual source or sink for water, depending upon the cap temperatures and the bulk humidity of the atmosphere. This behavior regulates the annual and global average humidity of the atmosphere, as the cap acts as a sink if the atmosphere is too wet and a source if it is too dry. We will then focus our presentation on the ability of the MGCM to simulate the observed diurnal variations of surface temperature. We are particularly interested in assessing the influence of dust aerosol and water ice clouds on simulated surface temperature and the comparison with observations. Surface thermal inertia and albedo are critical boundary inputs for MGCM simulations. Thermal inertia is also of intrinsic interest as it may be related to properties of the surface such as particle size and surface character.

Wilson, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Sensitivity of Assimilated Tropical Tropospheric Ozone to the Meteorological Analyses

Tropical tropospheric ozone fields from two different experiments performed with an off-line ozone assimilation system developed in NASA's Data Assimilation Office (DAO) are examined. Assimilated ozone fields from the two experiments are compared with the collocated ozone profiles from the Southern Hemispheric Additional Ozonesondes (SHADOZ) network. Results are presented for 1998. The ozone assimilation system includes a chemistry-transport model, which uses analyzed winds from the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) Data Assimilation System (DAS). The two experiments use wind fields from different versions of GEOS DAS: an operational version of the GEOS-2 system and a prototype of the GEOS-4 system. While both versions of the DAS utilize the Physical-space Statistical Analysis System and use comparable observations, they use entirely different general circulation models and data insertion techniques. The shape of the annual-mean vertical profile of the assimilated ozone fields is sensitive to the meteorological analyses, with the GEOS-4-based ozone being closest to the observations. This indicates that the resolved transport in GEOS-4 is more realistic than in GEOS-2. Remaining uncertainties include quantification of the representation of sub-grid-scale processes in the transport calculations, which plays an important role in the locations and seasons where convection dominates the transport.

Hayashi, Hiroo↗
NASA NTRS2020

The Impact of Planetary Rotation Rate on the Reflectance and Thermal Emission Spectrum of Terrestrial Exoplanets Around Sun-L ike Stars

Robust atmospheric and radiative transfer modeling will be required to properly interpret reflected light and thermal emission spectra of terrestrial exoplanets. This will help break observational degeneracies between the numerous atmospheric, planetary, and stellar factors that drive planetary climate. Here we simulate the climates of Earth-like worlds around the Sun with increasingly slow rotation periods, from Earth-like to fully Sun-synchronous, using the ROCKE-3D general circulation model. We then provide these results as input to the Spectral Planet Model (SPM), which employs the SMART radiative transfer model to simulate the spectra of a planet as it would be observed from a future space-based telescope. We find that the primary observable effects of slowing planetary rotation rate are the altered cloud distributions, altitudes, and opacities which subsequently drive many changes to the spectra by altering the absorption band depths of biologically-relevant gas species (e.g., H2O, O2, and O3). We also identify a potentially diagnostic feature of synchronously rotating worlds in mid-infrared H2O absorption/emission lines.

Scott D Guzewich↗
NASA NTRS1999

Stratospheric Temperature Changes: Observations and Model Simulations

This paper reviews observations of stratospheric temperatures that have been made over a period of several decades. Those observed temperatures have been used to assess variations and trends in stratospheric temperatures. A wide range of observation datasets have been used, comprising measurements by radiosonde (1940s to the present), satellite (1979 - present), lidar (1979 - present) and rocketsonde (periods varying with location, but most terminating by about the mid-1990s). In addition, trends have also been assessed from meteorological analyses, based on radiosonde and/or satellite data, and products based on assimilating observations into a general circulation model. Radiosonde and satellite data indicate a cooling trend of the annual-mean lower stratosphere since about 1980. Over the period 1979-1994, the trend is 0.6K/decade. For the period prior to 1980, the radiosonde data exhibit a substantially weaker long-term cooling trend. In the northern hemisphere, the cooling trend is about 0.75K/decade in the lower stratosphere, with a reduction in the cooling in mid-stratosphere (near 35 km), and increased cooling in the upper stratosphere (approximately 2 K per decade at 50 km). Model simulations indicate that the depletion of lower stratospheric ozone is the dominant factor in the observed lower stratospheric cooling. In the middle and upper stratosphere both the well-mixed greenhouse gases (such as CO) and ozone changes contribute in an important manner to the cooling.

Ramaswamy, V.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Technical report series on global modeling and data assimilation. Volume 4: Documentation of the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) data assimilation system, version 1

This report describes the analysis component of the Goddard Earth Observing System, Data Assimilation System, Version 1 (GEOS-1 DAS). The general features of the data assimilation system are outlined, followed by a thorough description of the statistical interpolation algorithm, including specification of error covariances and quality control of observations. We conclude with a discussion of the current status of development of the GEOS data assimilation system. The main components of GEOS-1 DAS are an atmospheric general circulation model and an Optimal Interpolation algorithm. The system is cycled using the Incremental Analysis Update (IAU) technique in which analysis increments are introduced as time independent forcing terms in a forecast model integration. The system is capable of producing dynamically balanced states without the explicit use of initialization, as well as a time-continuous representation of non- observables such as precipitation and radiational fluxes. This version of the data assimilation system was used in the five-year reanalysis project completed in April 1994 by Goddard's Data Assimilation Office (DAO) Data from this reanalysis are available from the Goddard Distributed Active Center (DAAC), which is part of NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). For information on how to obtain these data sets, contact the Goddard DAAC at (301) 286-3209, EMAIL daac@gsfc.nasa.gov.

Suarez, Max J.↗