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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 127 records · Page 7
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NASA NTRS1999

Regional Climate Simulation Experiments with a Variable Resolution Stretched Grid GCM

The variable resolution stretched grid (SG) version of the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) GCM has been recently developed and tested in a regional climate simulation mode. The SG-approach is an alternative to the widely used nested grid approach introduced a decade ago as a pioneering step to regional climate modeling. The region of interest with a uniform about 60 km resolution used in experiments is a rectangle over the U.S. The results of one annual as well as two-month simulations for the anomalous climate event of the U.S. drought of 1988, are validated against data analysis fields and diagnostics. The efficient regional down-scaling as well as the positive impact of fine regional resolution, are obtained. The SG-concept appeared to be a promising candidate for regional and subregional climate studies and applications.

Takacs, Lawrence L.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Seasonal Predictions with the GEOS GCM

A number of ensembles of seasonal forecasts have recently been completed as part of NASA's Seasonal to Interannual Prediction Project (NSIPP). The focus is on the extratropical response of the atmosphere to observed Surface Sea Temperature (SST) anomalies during boreal winter. The prediction experiments consist of nine forecasts starting from slightly different initial conditions for each year of the 15 year period 1981-95, employing version 2 of the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) atmospheric Global Circulation Models (GCM). The initial conditions are obtained from the NASA GEOS-1 reanalysis data. Comparisons with a companion set of six long-term simulations with observed SST (starting in 1978, so they have no memory of the initial conditions for the periods of interest) are used to assess the relative contributions of the initial conditions and SST anomalies to forecast skill ranging from daily to seasonal time scales. The ensembles are used to isolate the signal, and to assess the nature of the inherent variability (noise) of the forecasts.

Schubert, Siegfried↗
NASA NTRS2000

Diagnosing Warm Season Precipitation Over the GCIP Region from a GCM and Reanalysis

A 45 year simulation using a global general circulation model (GCM), the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Climate Model v.3 (CCM3), forced with observed sea surface temperatures (SST), and 39 years of global National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalyses were analyzed to determine Mississippi River basin warm season (May, June, July or MJJ) wet and dry year composites in the water and energy budgets. Years that have increased MJJ soil moisture over the GEWEX (Global Water and Energy Experiment) Continental Interior Project (GCIP) region also have high precipitation, lower surface temperature, decreased Bowen ratio, and reduced 500 hPa geopotential height (essentially reduced MJJ ridging). The reverse is true for years that have reduced MJJ soil moisture. Wet years are also accompanied by a general increase in moisture transport from the Gulf of Mexico into the central U.S. There is some indication (though weaker) that soil moisture may then affect precipitation and other quantities and be affected in turn by 500 hPa geopotential heights. The correlations are somewhat low, however, demonstrating the difficulty in providing definitive physical links between the remote and local effects. Analysis of two individual years with an extreme wet event (1993) and an extreme dry event (1988) yields the same general relationships as with the wet and dry composites. The composites from this study are currently serving as the basis for a series of experiments aimed at determining the predictability of the land surface and remote SST on the Mississippi River basin and other large-scale river basins.

Oglesby, Robert↗
NASA NTRS2001

Assimilation of MGS Data Into a Coupled GCM-Mesoscale Model of the Martian Atmosphere

The project sought to develop a coupled GCM-mesoscale model and to assimilate Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) data into the coupled model. To achieve the project goals, four specific research activities were proposed. These activities are reiterated for completeness and the progress in each of the activities is noted in future sections of this report.

Rafkin, Scot C. R.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Satellite Remote Sensing of Tropical Precipitation and Ice Clouds for GCM Verification

This project, supported by the NASA New Investigator Program, has primarily been funding a graduate student, Darren McKague. Since August 1999 Darren has been working part time at Raytheon, while continuing his PhD research. Darren is planning to finish his thesis work in May 2001, thus some of the work described here is ongoing. The proposed research was to use GOES visible and infrared imager data and SSM/I microwave data to obtain joint distributions of cirrus cloud ice mass and precipitation for a study region in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. These joint distributions of cirrus cloud and rainfall were to be compared to those from the CSU general circulation model to evaluate the cloud microphysical amd cumulus parameterizations in the GCM. Existing algorithms were to be used for the retrieval of cloud ice water path from GOES (Minnis) and rainfall from SSM/I (Wilheit). A theoretical study using radiative transfer models and realistic variations in cloud and precipitation profiles was to be used to estimate the retrieval errors. Due to the unavailability of the GOES satellite cloud retrieval algorithm from Dr. Minnis (a co-PI), there was a change in the approach and emphasis of the project. The new approach was to develop a completely new type of remote sensing algorithm - one to directly retrieve joint probability density functions (pdf's) of cloud properties from multi-dimensional histograms of satellite radiances. The usual approach is to retrieve individual pixels of variables (i.e. cloud optical depth), and then aggregate the information. Only statistical information is actually needed, however, and so a more direct method is desirable. We developed forward radiative transfer models for the SSM/I and GOES channels, originally for testing the retrieval algorithms. The visible and near infrared ice scattering information is obtained from geometric ray tracing of fractal ice crystals (Andreas Macke), while the mid-infrared and microwave scattering is computed with Mie scattering. The radiative transfer is performed with the Spherical Harmonic Discrete Ordinate Method (developed by the PI), and infrared molecular absorption is included with the correlated k-distribution method. The SHDOM radiances have been validated by comparison to version 2 of DISORT (the community "standard" discrete-ordinates radiative transfer model), however we use SHDOM since it is computationally more efficient.

Evans, K. Franklin↗
NASA NTRS2001

GCM Simulations of Neoproterozoic "Snowball Earth" Conditions: Implications for the Environmental Limits on Terrestrial Metazoans and Their Extraterrestrial Analogues

The Neoproterozoic Snowball Earth intervals provide excellent opportunities to examine the environmental limits on terrestrial metazoans. A series of GCM simulations was run in order to quantify climatic conditions during these intervals. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Sohl, L. E.↗
NASA NTRS2001

GCM Simulations of the Aerosol Indirect Effect: Sensitivity to Cloud Parameterization and Aerosol Burden

We describe the coupling of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) general circulation model (GCM) to an online sulfur chemistry model and source models for organic matter and sea-salt that is used to estimate the aerosol indirect effect. The cloud droplet number concentration is diagnosed empirically from field experiment datasets over land and ocean that observe droplet number and all three aerosol types simultaneously; corrections are made for implied variations in cloud turbulence levels. The resulting cloud droplet number is used to calculate variations in droplet effective radius, which in turn allows us to predict aerosol effects on cloud optical thickness and microphysical process rates. We calculate the aerosol indirect effect by differencing the top-of-the-atmosphere net cloud radiative forcing for simulations with present-day vs. pre-industrial emissions. Both the first (radiative) and second (microphysical) indirect effects are explored. We test the sensitivity of our results to cloud parameterization assumptions that control the vertical distribution of cloud occurrence, the autoconversion rate, and the aerosol scavenging rate, each of which feeds back significantly on the model aerosol burden. The global mean aerosol indirect effect for all three aerosol types ranges from -1.55 to -4.36 W/sq m in our simulations. The results are quite sensitive to the pre-industrial background aerosol burden, with low pre-industrial burdens giving strong indirect effects, and to a lesser extent to the anthropogenic aerosol burden, with large burdens giving somewhat larger indirect effects. Because of this dependence on the background aerosol, model diagnostics such as albedo-particle size correlations and column cloud susceptibility, for which satellite validation products are available, are not good predictors of the resulting indirect effect.

Menon, Surabi↗
NASA NTRS2001

GCM Simulations of the Aerosol Indirect Effect: Sensitivity to Cloud Parameterization and Aerosol Burden

We describe the coupling of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) general circulation model (GCM) to an online sulfur chemistry model and source models for organic matter and sea-salt that is used to estimate the aerosol indirect effect. The cloud droplet number concentration is diagnosed empirically from field experiment datasets over land and ocean that observe droplet number and all three aerosol types simultaneously; corrections are made for implied variations in cloud turbulence levels. The resulting cloud droplet number is used to calculate variations in droplet effective radius, which in turn allows us to predict aerosol effects on cloud optical thickness and microphysical process rates. We calculate the aerosol indirect effect by differencing the top-of-the-atmosphere net cloud radiative forcing for simulations with present-day vs. pre-industrial emissions. Both the first (radiative) and second (microphysical) indirect effects are explored. We test the sensitivity of our results to cloud parameterization assumptions that control the vertical distribution of cloud occurrence, the autoconversion rate, and the aerosol scavenging rate, each of which feeds back significantly on the model aerosol burden. The global mean aerosol indirect effect for all three aerosol types ranges from -1.55 to -4.36 W m(exp -2) in our simulations. The results are quite sensitive to the pre-industrial background aerosol burden, with low pre-industrial burdens giving strong indirect effects, and to a lesser extent to the anthropogenic aerosol burden, with large burdens giving somewhat larger indirect effects. Because of this dependence on the background aerosol, model diagnostics such as albedo-particle size correlations and column cloud susceptibility, for which satellite validation products are available, are not good predictors of the resulting indirect effect.

Menon, Surabi↗
NASA NTRS2002

GCM Simulation of the Large-scale North American Monsoon Including Water Vapor Tracer Diagnostics

In this study, we have applied GCM water vapor tracers (WVT) to simulate the North American water cycle. WVTs allow quantitative computation of the geographical source of water for precipitation that occurs anywhere in the model simulation. This can be used to isolate the impact that local surface evaporation has on precipitation, compared to advection and convection. A 15 year 1 deg, 1.25 deg. simulation has been performed with 11 global and 11 North American regional WVTs. Figure 1 shows the source regions of the North American WVTs. When water evaporates from one of these predefined regions, its mass is used as the source for a distinct prognostic variable in the model. This prognostic variable allows the water to be transported and removed (precipitated) from the system in an identical way that occurs to the prognostic specific humidity. Details of the model are outlined by Bosilovich and Schubert (2002) and Bosilovich (2002). Here, we present results pertaining to the onset of the simulated North American monsoon.

Bosilovich, Michael G.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Performance of Goddard Earth Observing System GCM Column Radiation Models under Heterogeneous Cloud Conditions

We test the performance of the shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) Column Radiation Models (CORAMs) of Chou and collaborators with heterogeneous cloud fields from a global single-day dataset produced by NCAR's Community Atmospheric Model with a 2-D CRM installed in each gridbox. The original SW version of the CORAM performs quite well compared to reference Independent Column Approximation (ICA) calculations for boundary fluxes, largely due to the success of a combined overlap and cloud scaling parameterization scheme. The absolute magnitude of errors relative to ICA are even smaller for the LW CORAM which applies similar overlap. The vertical distribution of heating and cooling within the atmosphere is also simulated quite well with daily-averaged zonal errors always below 0.3 K/d for SW heating rates and 0.6 K/d for LW cooling rates. The SW CORAM's performance improves by introducing a scheme that accounts for cloud inhomogeneity. These results suggest that previous studies demonstrating the inaccuracy of plane-parallel models may have unfairly focused on worst scenario cases, and that current radiative transfer algorithms of General Circulation Models (GCMs) may be more capable than previously thought in estimating realistic spatial and temporal averages of radiative fluxes, as long as they are provided with correct mean cloud profiles. However, even if the errors of the particular CORAMs are small, they seem to be systematic, and the impact of the biases can be fully assessed only with GCM climate simulations.

Oreopoulos, L.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Interannual Atmospheric Variability Simulated by a Mars GCM: Impacts on the Polar Regions

It is often assumed that in the absence of year-to-year dust variations, Mars weather and climate are very repeatable, at least on decadal scales. Recent multi-annual simulations of a Mars GCM reveal however that significant interannual variations may occur with constant dust conditions. In particular, interannual variability (IAV) appears to be associated with the spectrum of atmospheric disturbances that arise due to baroclinic instability. One quantity that shows significant IAV is the poleward heat flux associated with these waves. These variations and their impacts on the polar heat balance will be examined here.

Bridger, Alison F. C.↗
NASA NTRS2003

A GCM Recent History of the Northern Martian Polar Layered Deposits

The polar layered deposits are thought to contain alternate layers of water and dust in different proportions resulting from the astronomical forcing of the martian climate. In particular, longterm variations in the orbital and axial elements of Mars are presumed to generate variations of the latitudes of surface water ice stability and of the amount of water exchanged in the polar areas. At high obliquity, simplified climate models and independent general circulation simulations suggest a transfer of water ice from the north polar region to tropical areas, whereas at lower and present obliquities, water ice is expected to be stable only at the poles. If so, over obliquity cycles, water ice may be redistributed between the surface water reservoirs leading to their incremental building or disintegration depending on the rates of water transfer. If only a relative limited amount of the available water is exchanged on orbital timescales, this may provide an efficient mechanism for the formation of the observed polar deposits. Within this context, GCM simulations of the martian water cycle have been performed for various obliquities ranging from 15 degrees to 45 degrees and for a large set of initial water ice locations to determine the rate of water exchange between the surface water reservoirs as a function of the obliquity. Propagating these rates over the last 10 Ma orbital history gives a possible recent evolution of these reservoirs.

Levrard, B.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Warm Rain Processes Over the Tropical Oceans and Implications on Climate Change: Results from TRMM and GOES GCM

In this talk, we will first show results from TRMM data regarding the characteristics of warm rains over the tropical oceans, and the dependence of rate of warm rain production on sea surface temperature. Results lead to the hypothesis that warm rain production efficiency, i.e., autoconversion, may be increased in a warm climate. We use the GEOS-II GCM to test this hypothesis. Our modeling results show that in a climate with increased rate of autoconversion, the total rain amount is increased, with warm rain contributing to a larger portion of the increase. The abundant rainout of warm precipitation causes a reduction of low and middle cloud amount due to rainout, and reduced high clouds due to less water vapor available for ice-phase convection. However, clod radiation feedback caused by the increased rainfall efficiency, leads to differential vertical heating/cooling producing a more unstable atmosphere, allowing, more intense, but isolated penetrative convection, with contracted anvils to develop. Results also show that increased autoconversion reduces the convective adjustment time scale, resulting in faster recycling of atmospheric water. Most interestingly, the increased low level heating associated with warm rain leads to more energetic Madden and Julian oscillations in the tropics, with well-defined eastward propagation. While reducing the autoconversion leads to an abundant mix of westward and eastward tropical disturbances on daily to weekly time scales. The crucial link of precipitation microphysical processes to climate change including the effects of aerosols will be discussed.

Lau, William K. M.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Warm Rain Processes over the Tropical Oceans and Implications on Climate Change: Results from TRMM and GEOS GCM

In this talk, we will first show results from TRMM data regarding the characteristics of warm rains over the tropical oceans, and the dependence of rate of warm rain production on sea surface temperature. Results lead to the hypothesis that warm rain production efficiency, i.e., autoconversion, may be increased in a warm climate. We use the GEOS-II GCM to test this hypothesis. Our modeling results show that in a climate with increased rate of autoconversion, the total rain amount is increased, with warm rain contributing to larger portion of the increase. The abundant rainout of warm precipitation causes a reduction of low and middle cloud amount due to rainout, and reduced high clouds due to less water vapor available for ice-phase convection. However, clod radiation feedback caused by the increased rainfall efficiency, leads to differential vertical heating/cooling producing a more unstable atmosphere, allowing, more intense, but isolated penetrative convection, with contracted anvils to develop. Results also show that increased autoconversion reduces the convective adjustment time scale, resulting in faster recycling of atmospheric water. Most interestingly, the increased low level heating associated with warm rain leads to more energetic Madden and Julian oscillations in the tropics, with well-defined eastward propagation. While reducing the autoconversion leads to an abundant mix of westward and eastward tropical disturbances on daily to weekly time scales. The crucial link of precipitation microphysical processes to climate change including the effects of aerosols will be discussed.

Lau, William K. M.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Effects of Cloud-Microphysics on Tropical Atmospheric Hydrologic Processes in the GEOS GCM

The sensitivity of tropical atmospheric hydrologic processes to cloud-microphysics is investigated using the NASA GEOS GCM. Results show that a faster autoconversion - rate produces more warm rain and less clouds at all levels. Fewer clouds enhances longwave cooling and reduces shortwave heating in the upper troposphere, while more warm rain produces increased condensation heating in the lower troposphere. This vertical heating differential destablizes the tropical atmosphere, producing a positive feedback resulting in more rain over the tropics. The feedback is maintained via a two-cell secondary circulation. The lower cell is capped by horizontal divergence and maximum cloud detrainment near the melting/freezing, with rising motion in the warm rain region connected to descending motion in the cold rain region. The upper cell is found above the freezing/melting level, with longwave-induced subsidence in the warm rain and dry regions, coupled to forced ascent in the deep convection region. The tropical large scale circulation is found to be very sensitive to the radiative-dynamic effects induced by changes in autoconversion rate. Reduced cloud-radiation processes feedback due to a faster autoconversion rate results in intermittent but more energetic eastward propagating Madden and Julian Oscillations (MJO). Conversely,-a slower autconversion rate, with increased cloud radiation produces MJO's with more realistic westward propagating transients, resembling a supercloud cluster structure. Results suggests that warm rain and associated low and mid level clouds, i.e., cumulus congestus, may play a critical role in regulating the time-intervals of deep convections and hence the fundamental time scales of the MJO.

Lau, K. M.↗
NASA NTRS2005

High LMD GCM Resolution Modeling of the Seasonal Evolution of the Martian Northern Permanent Cap: Comparison with Mars Express OMEGA Observations

Analyses of imaging data from Mariner, Viking and MGS have shown that surface properties (albedo, temperature) of the northern cap present significant differences within the summer season and between Mars years. These observations include differential brightening and/or darkening between polar areas from the end of the spring to midsummer. These differences are attributed to changes in grain size or dust content of surface ice. To better understand the summer behavior of the permanent northern polar cap, we perfomed a high resolution modeling (approximately 1 deg x 1 deg.) of northern cap in the Martian Climate/water cycle as simulated by the Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique (LMD) global climate model. We compare the predicted properties of the surface ice (ice thickness, temperature) with the Mars Express Omega summer observations of the northern cap. albedo and thermal inertia svariations model. In particular, albedo variations could be constrained by OMEGA data. Meteorological predictions of the LMD GCM wil be presented at the conference to interpret the unprecedently resolved OMEGA observations. The specific evolution of regions of interest (cap center, Chasma Boreal...) and the possibility of late summer global cap brightening will be discussed.

Levrard, B.↗
NASA NTRS2005

GCM Simulations of the Tropical Hydrogen Distribution Observed by Mars Odyssey

The age and nature of the tropical hydrogen deposits on Mars remain uncertain. Competing theories suggest that the deposits are composed of either ancient, hydrated minerals or recently emplaced water ice. We use the GFDL Mars GCM with a fully coupled atmosphere-regolith water cycle to explore which of these hypotheses is best supported by model results. Such a conclusion can be drawn from the resultant trends in subsurface ice evolution during various obliquity and polar cap conditions. Our results suggest that the tropical hydrogen distribution is best explained by recent emplacement of ice through either exposure of the south polar ice cap or by burial of tropical surface ice from the most recent high obliquity excursions.

Mischna, M. A.↗