Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Solar Dynamic”

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.

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

At least 1,351 records · Page 75

Characterizing the Small-Scale Dynamical, Ice Microphysical, and Residual Aerosol Properties of Mid-Latitude Cold Clouds: A Pilot Study (Final Report)

Our understanding of cirrus clouds has been advancing rapidly due to improvements in measurements made inside clouds, computer cloud models, and laboratory experimentation. This advancement in knowledge has made it clear that cirrus are complicated systems where the intricate interactions among dynamic air motions, solar and terrestrial radiation, ice crystal growth, and water and air chemistry can substantially influence cirrus structure and evolution. Measurements made inside clouds have shown that cirrus crystals are often complex with shapes that are often unclassifiable, especially at small sizes. Laboratory measurements have revealed that the ice crystal surface is complex, even at small sizes. Recent laboratory and satellite studies show that this surface complexity modifies the radiative properties of cirrus clouds in important ways. Moreover, observations and computer cloud modeling work show that the larger and smaller scale properties of cirrus are sensitive to the interplay between small-scale air motions and the aerosol articles upon which cirrus ice crystals form. Taken together, these studies indicate that accurately accounting for the radiative properties of cirrus clouds requires knowing the air motions and aerosol properties that influence the number concentration and crystal size, along with an understanding of the surface properties of vapor grown ice. Although this prior work has been illuminating, there have been few studies that provide detailed shape and surface complexity measurements for the small ice crystals that often compose cirrus clouds.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Unlocking the Sun's Secrets: Laboratory Insights into the Sun's Outer Atmosphere

The Sun’s corona, its outermost and hottest atmospheric layer, emits brightly in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and X-rays. This emission comes from atoms that have been highly ionized by the high temperature, forming a plasma of atomic ions and free electrons. By studying this light, scientists learn about the complex and dynamic drivers of solar activity. Many past, current, and future solar observatories focus on measuring EUV spectra from the Fe IX ion, as this ion provides powerful diagnostics for solar physics. Using Fe IX spectra, solar physicists can measure the plasma temperature, density, elemental abundances, and flow velocities in the corona. However, atomic data uncertainties concerning spectral line identification and plasma density diagnostics are a major problem for the accurate interpretation of these spectra.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Scientific exploration of the moon and planets

Dynamical development of solar system, rotation of planets, and planetary interiors and magnetic fields discussed in relation to scientific exploration of moon and planets

PLANETARY EXPLORATION↗

Interplanetary gas. XIV.

Super-Alfvenic point or distance of effective corotation for loss of angular momentum in solar wind plasma

SOLAR ROTATION↗

Magnetic field and electric current structure in the chromosphere

The three-dimensional vector magnetic field structure in the chromosphere above an active region is deduced by using high-resolution H-alpha filtergrams together with a simultaneous digital magnetogram. An analog model of the field is made with 400 metal wires representing field lines that outline the H-alpha structure. The height extent of the field is determined from vertical field-gradient observations around sunspots, from observed fibril heights, and from an assumption that the sources of the field are largely local. The computed electric currents (typically 10 mA/sq m) are found to flow in patterns not similar to observed features and not parallel to magnetic fields. Force structures correspond to observed solar features; the dynamics to be expected include: downward motion in bipolar areas in the lower chromosphere, an outflow of the outer chromosphere into the corona with radially outward flow above bipolar plage regions, and motion of arch filament systems.

Dravins, D.↗

New horizons

The contribution of space exploration and space related research to the future of man and the accomplishments of the space program are assessed. Topics discussed include: the role of applications satellites in crop surveillance, land use surveys, weather forecasting, education, communications, and pollution monitoring; planetary studies which examine the origin and evolution of the solar system, including dynamic processes that bear directly on earth's environment; and fuel conservation and development of new energy sources.

Source record↗

NASA's search for the solar connection. II

A survey of future space missions planned to investigate the sun and how its events affect the earth is presented. The International Solar-Polar mission, scheduled for 1983, is designed to investigate the three-dimensional structure of the solar-wind flow and to study the corona from above the sun's poles. The Spacelab mission will make major contributions to solar study by employing a 1.25 m telescope for observations from the near violet to the near infrared wavelengths with an angular resolution of 0.1 arc sec, and will be capable of resolving features on the sun 72 km across. Other missions, including the International Sun-Earth Explorer and the solar cycle and dynamic mission, which is designed to study the global oscillations of the sun, are also discussed.

Chapman, R. W.↗

Acousto-optic spectrometer for radio astronomy

Recent developments in acousto-optic techniques and in photodetector arrays have made feasible a new type of RF spectrometer, offering the advantages of wide bandwidth, high resolution, large number of channels in compact, lightweight, energy efficient, and relatively low cost systems. Such a system employs an acousto-optic diffraction cell which serves the key role of converting RF signals to ultrasonic traveling-waves modulating the optical index of the cell. The cell is illuminated across its aperture by a monochromatic laser beam. A fraction of the light is diffracted by the acoustic waves. A focusing lens follows the cell and essentially performs a Fourier transform of the RF signal into a far-field intensity pattern. CSIRO in Australia and the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory in Japan have taken the lead in using acousto-optic techniques in astronomical applications. The first practical device was successfully made at CSIRO for obtaining dynamical spectrographs of solar radio emission.

Chin, G.↗

A modern control approach to the design of the SPS control system

The structural dynamics of the solar power satellite were considered. The requirements on the vibration of the microwave antenna and the possibility of thermal induced vibration and severe structural-thermal interactions were considered. The possibility of using an active control system and modern control methods to mitigate structural problems is discussed.

Gran, R.↗

Flares and dynamic aspects

Theory of the dynamic nature of solar flares, eruptive prominences, and coronal transients is surveyed. Two types of flare are considered: compact eruptions (small flares) which are probably loops, and large eruptions of double filament flares. The physical sense of this classification is justified, using solar observations. Even leaving the question unanswered of whether a coronal transient is a loop of ejected matter or a shock wave, the important, perhaps fundamental, role of mass motion in flare physics is evidenced.

Hanssen, E. T.↗

A climate hypothesis describing the solar-terrestrial system as a frequency domain with specific response characteristics

A climatological model of the earth-sun system based on an analogy to Planck's law of quantum mechanics is developed. The role of the diabatically important trace gases O3, H2O, and CO2 in the complex processes by which solar cycles affect tropospheric-stratospheric stability, and the value of the resonance concept in understanding these phenomena are examined. Consideration is given to climate complexity and the Laplace transform of the solar cycle, direct versus indirect solar signals, intense convection in coupled dynamics, the basic mechanisms of solar-terrestrial interaction, and the Planck's-law analog. The quantum approach, taking complexity into account, is shown to be more appropriate for evaluating the effects of anthropogenic modifications of the atmosphere (e.,g., increasing CO2) than the linear bulk-heating approaches usually applied.

Paine, D. A.↗

Hydromagnetic waves, turbulence, and collisionless processes in the interplanetary medium

An extended discussion is conducted concerning the origin and evolution of interplanetary hydromagnetic waves and turbulence, and their influence on the large scale dynamics of the solar wind. The solar wind is at present the preeminent medium for the study of hydromagnetic waves and turbulence, providing an opportunity for advancement of understanding of the most fundamental processes of the astrophysical plasmas. All interplanetary fluctuations whose time scale is observed to be greater than 1 sec can be regarded as hydromagnetic fluctuations. It has been found to be simplest, and generally very satisfactory, to model interplanetary variations as fluctuations in an MHD fluid. Attention is given to the classification of wave modes, geometrical hydromagnetics, Alfven wave pressure, rugged invariants, and the kinetic theory of collisionless processes.

Barnes, A.↗

Broadening of the Interplanetary Helium Cone Structure Due to Elastic Collisions of LISM Helium Atoms with Solar Wind Ions

Neutral interstellar particles penetrating into the heliosphere, besides being subject there to specific loss processes, suffer elastic collisions with KeV-solar wind ions. The momentum transfer to the neutrals connected with these collisions leads to a loss of angular momentum with respect to the Sun and to a fractional compensation of the effective solar gravity. The dynamical particle trajectories hence are changed into non-Keplerians leading to density and temperature distributions differing from those calculated in the past. This is found from a solution of the Boltzmann equation that linearizes the effect of this additional force. It is shown that the HeI-584A resonance glow of the heliospheric helium cone lead to substantially lower interstellar helium temperatures if re-interpreted on the basis of this revised theory. These temperatures now seem to be in accordance with the derived temperatures for interstellar hydrogen.

Fahr, H. J.↗

Global Geospace Science Programme

The Global Geospace Science (GGS) Program, an element of the international Solar Terrestrial Physics Program dedicated to the study of the global plasma dynamics of the solar-terrestrial environment, is discussed. Past research on the injection of solar wind ions into the magnetosphere and on the detection of ions in the terrestrial ring current of both solar wind and ionospheric origins is reviewed, showing its relevance for the GGS program. Research on the interplanetary magnetic field, the auroral electrojet, the outer magnetosphere, the geomagnetic tail, the ionospheric electric field and the related electron precipitation is also addressed. The results demonstrate that the solar wind and the ionsophere both contribute to the magnetospheric particle population. Unanswered questions regarding hot plasma sources, transport processes, energy storage in the magnetic field, and energization of plasmas are discussed. The relevant mission strategy, instrumentation, theory and modeling, and data collection are addressed.

Parks, George↗

Nonlinear twist-kink instability of a coronal loop

Three-dimensional magnetoinductive particle simulations are used to demonstrate that the mechanical twisting motion applied to a magnetized plasma column induces a current aligned to the external magnetic field direction, pinches the plasma and magnetic fields, and stores the energy in poloidal magnetic fields. As the twist motion continues, the field lines locally begin to wrap around the plasma more than one revolution. A strong MHD instability sets in that is a mixture of kink and ballooning modes, releasing the magnetic energy and causing destruction of coherent column structure and flows of turbulent plasma. A similar episode ensues, exhibiting relaxation oscillations. The buildup of poloidal fields and structure and its sudden release driven by the twist motion may be a model for the solar coronal loop dynamics which exhibits a slow energy buildup with some photospheric motion and a sudden energy release by flares.

Zaidman, E. G.↗