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At least 145 records · Page 8
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NASA NTRS1988

Medium range lagged average forecasts

In this work, the application of the lagged average forecasting (LAF) technique to operational forecasts of the ECMWF is reported. The ECMWF data consist of two 100-day samples of 10-day forecasts of 500-mb geopotential height for winter 1980/81 and summer 1981. the LAF ensemble includes the latest operational forecast, and also forecast for the same verification time started one or more days earlier than the latest one. The focus is on the following two issues: (1) does ensemble averaging improve forecast skill and (2) is the dispersion of the ensemble useful in predicting forecast skill. The LAF technique was used to produce 3, 5, 7, 8, and 9 day forecasts of the 500-mb height field. The results show that the statistically filtered LAF is a marked improvment upon the operational forecast after 5 days. It is found that on a global scale, forecast skill is weakly correlated with the dispersion of the ensemble, as measured by the rms difference between the operational forecast and the statistically filtered LAF.

Dalcher, Amnon↗
NASA NTRS2000

LIDAR Measurements During Aerosols99

The Aerosols99 cruise took place during the period from January 14, to February 8 1999 on the R/V Ron Brown. The cruise track was almost a straight line from Norfolk, Va. to Cape Town, South Africa and afforded the opportunity to sample several different aerosol regimes over the North and South Atlantic. A Micro Pulse LIDAR system was used continually during this cruise to profile the aerosol vertical structure. Inversions of this data illustrated a varying vertical structure depending on the dominant air mass. In clean maritime aerosols in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres the aerosols were capped at 1 km. When a Dust event from Africa was encountered the aerosol extinction increased its maximum height to above 2 km. During a period in which the air mass was dominated by biomass burning from Southern Africa, the aerosol layer extended to 4 km. Comparisons of the aerosol optical depth derived from LIDAR inversion and surface sunphotometers showed an agreement within +/- 0.05 RMS Similar comparisons between the extinction measured with a nephelometer and particle soot absorption photometer (at 19 m altitude) and the lowest LIDAR measurement (75 m) showed good agreement (+/- 0.014/km . The LIDAR underestimated surface extinction during periods when an elevated aerosol layer was present over a relatively clean surface layer, but otherwise gave accurate results.

Voss, Kenneth J.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Tropospheric range error parameters: Further studies

Improved parameters are presented for predicting the tropospheric effect on electromagnetic range measurements from surface meteorological data. Parameters are given for computing the dry component of the zenith radio range effect from surface pressure alone with an rms error of 1 to 2 mm, or the total range effect from the dry and wet components of the surface refractivity, N, and a two-part quartic profile model. The parameters were obtained from meteorological balloon data with improved procedures, including the conversion of the geopotential heights of the balloon data to actual or geometric heights before using the data. The revised values of the parameter k show more latitude variation than is accounted for by the variation of g. This excess variation of k indicates a small latitude variation in the mean molecular weight of air and yields information about the latitude-varying water vapor content of air.

Hopfield, H. S.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Correlation of Preston-tube data with laminar skin friction (Log No. J12984)

Preston tube data within laminar boundary layers obtained on a sharp ten-degree cone in the NASA Ames eleven-foot transonic wind tunnel are correlated with the corresponding values of theoretical skin friction. Data were obtained over a Mach number range of 0.30 to 0.95 and unit Reynolds numbers of 9.84, 13.1, and 16.4 million per meter. The rms scatter of skin friction coefficient about the correlation is of the order of one percent, which is comparable to the reported accuracy for calibrations of Preston tubes in incompressible pipe flows. In contrast to previous works on Preston tube/skin friction correlations, which are based on the physical height of the probe's face, this satisfactory correlation for compressible boundary layer flows is achieved by accounting for the effects of a variable "effective" height of the probe. The coefficients, which appear in the correlation, are dependent on the particular tunnel environment. The general procedure can be used to define correlations for other wind tunnels.

Reed, T. D.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Seasat altimeter timing bias estimation

A technique developed for the solution of time lag bias based on the analysis of sea surface height discrepancies at ground track intersections, prompted by the presence of a time calibration bias in Seasat altimeter data that produced measurement errors in excess of 1 m, is shown to yield a separation of the dominant, once-per-revolution ephemeris error amounting to about 1.5 m rms from the timing error signature. The technique does not depend on precise geoid data, and in application to a global Seasat altimeter data set covering July 28-August 9, 1978, has yielded a time lag value of -81.0 + or - 2 msec. This corroborates the -79.4 msec revised value derived from a reexamination of internal instrument time delays.

Marsh, J. G.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Tropospheric range error parameters: Further studies

Improved parameters are presented for predicting the tropospheric effect on electromagnetic range measurements from surface meteorological data. More geographic locations have been added to the earlier list. Parameters are given for computing the dry component of the zenith radio range effect from surface pressure alone with an rms error of 1 to 2 mm, or the total range effect from the dry and wet components of the surface refractivity and a two-part quartic profile model. The new parameters are obtained, as before, from meteorological balloon data but with improved procedures, including the conversion of the geopotential heights of the balloon data to actual or geometric heights before using the data. The revised values of the parameter k (dry component of vertical radio range effect per unit pressure at the surface) show more latitude variation than is accounted for by the variation of g, the acceleration of gravity.

Hopfield, H. S.↗
NASA NTRS1982

The inverse problem of constructing a gravimetric geoid

Computation of a single geoidal height from gravity acceleration data formally requires that the latter be known everywhere on the earth. A computational procedure based on linear inverse theory for estimating geoidal heights from incomplete sets of data is presented. The same scheme can be used to estimate gravity accelerations from altimetry-derived geoids. The systematic error owing to lack of data and the choice of a particular inverse operator is described by using resolution functions and their spherical harmonic expansions. An rms value of this error is also estimated by assuming a spectrum for the unknown geoid. The influence of the size of the data region, the spacing between data, the filtering applied to the data, and the model weighting function chosen are all quantified in a spherical geometry. The examples presented show that when low degree spherical harmonic coefficients are available - from satellite orbit analysis - a band-passed version of the geoid can be constructed from local gravity data, even with a relatively restricted data set.

Zlotnicki, V.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Cloud altitude determination from infrared spectral radiances

The CO2 slicing method is generally recognized as the most accurate means of inferring cloud altitude from passive infrared radiance observations. The method is applicable to semi-transparent and broken clouds. During the cirrus FIRE and COHMEX field experiments, CO2 channel radiance data suitable for cloud altitude specification were achieved from moderate spectral resolution satellite sounders (NOAA-TOVS and GOES-VAS) and from a High spectral resolution Interferometer Spectrometer (HIS) flown on the NASA U2/ER2 aircraft. Also aboard the ER2 was a down-looking active lidar unit capable of providing cloud top pressure verifications with high accuracy. A third instrument, the Multispectral Atmospheric Mapping Sensor (MAMS) provided 50 meter resolution infrared window data which is used wtih radiosonde data to verify the heights of middle and low level clouds. Comparisons of lidar and MAMS/radiosonde ground truth cloud heights are made with those determined from: high resolution (0.5/cm) HIS spectra, HIS spectra degraded to the moderate resolution (15/cm) of the VAS/TOVS instruments, and spectrally averaged HIS radiances for individual pairs of VAS spectral channels. The results show that the best results are achieved from high resolution spectra; the RMS difference with the ground truth is 23 mb. The RMS differences between the infrared radiance determination and ground truth increase by 35 percent when the spectral resolution is degraded to the moderate spectral resolution of the VAS/TOVS instruments and by 52 to 183 percent, depending upon channel combinations, when only two spectral channels at VAS/TOVS spectral resolution are used.

Smith, William L.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Application of Accelerometer Data to Mars Odyssey Aerobraking and Atmospheric Modeling

Aerobraking was an enabling technology for the Mars Odyssey mission even though it involved risk due primarily to the variability of the Mars upper atmosphere. Consequently, numerous analyses based on various data types were performed during operations to reduce these risk and among these data were measurements from spacecraft accelerometers. This paper reports on the use of accelerometer data for determining atmospheric density during Odyssey aerobraking operations. Acceleration was measured along three orthogonal axes, although only data from the component along the axis nominally into the flow was used during operations. For a one second count time, the RMS noise level varied from 0.07 to 0.5 mm/s2 permitting density recovery to between 0.15 and 1.1 kg per cu km or about 2% of the mean density at periapsis during aerobraking. Accelerometer data were analyzed in near real time to provide estimates of density at periapsis, maximum density, density scale height, latitudinal gradient, longitudinal wave variations and location of the polar vortex. Summaries are given of the aerobraking phase of the mission, the accelerometer data analysis methods and operational procedures, some applications to determining thermospheric properties, and some remaining issues on interpretation of the data. Pre-flight estimates of natural variability based on Mars Global Surveyor accelerometer measurements proved reliable in the mid-latitudes, but overestimated the variability inside the polar vortex.

Tolson, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Correlation of Preston-tube data with laminar skin friction

Preston-tube data have been obtained on a sharp ten-degree cone in the NASA Ames Eleven-Foot Transonic Wind Tunnel. Data were obtained over a Mach number range of 0.30 to 0.95 and unit Reynolds numbers of 9.84, 13.1, and 16.4 million per meter. The portions of these data, that were obtained within laminar boundary layers, have been correlated with the corresponding values of theoretical skin friction. The rms scatter of skin-friction coefficient about the correlation is of the order of one percent, which is comparable to the reported accuracy for calibrations of Preston-tubes in incompressible pipe-flows. In contrast to previous works on Preston-tube/skin-friction correlations, which are based on the physical height of the probe's face, this very satisfactory correlation for compressible boundary-layer flows is achieved by accounting for the effects of a variable 'effective' height of the probe. The coefficients, which appear in the correlation, are dependent on the particular tunnel environment. The general procedure can be used to define correlations for other wind tunnels.

Reed, T. D.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Crustal Displacements Due to Continental Water Loading

The effects of long-wavelength (> 100 km), seasonal variability in continental water storage on vertical crustal motions are assessed. The modeled vertical displacements (delta-r(sub M)) have root-mean-square (RMS) values for 1994-1998 as large as 8 mm with ranges up to 30 mm, and are predominantly annual in character. Regional strains are on the order of 20 nanostrain for tilt and 5 nanostrain for horizontal deformation. We compare delta-r(sub M) with observed Global Positioning System (GPS) heights (delta-r(sub O)) (which include adjustments to remove estimated effects of atmospheric pressure and annual tidal and non-tidal ocean loading) for 147 globally distributed sites. When the delta-r(sub O) time series are adjusted by delta-r(sub M), their variances are reduced, on average, by an amount equal to the variance of the delta-r(sub M). Of the delta-r(sub O) time series exhibiting a strong annual signal, more than half are found to have an annual harmonic that is in phase and of comparable amplitude with the annual harmonic in the delta-r(sub M). The delta-r(sub M) time series exhibit long-period variations that could be mistaken for secular tectonic trends or post-glacial rebound when observed over a time span of a few years.

vanDam, T.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Backus-Gilbert theory and its application to retrieval of ozone and temperature profiles

The inversion method provides a quantitative evaluation of the trade-off between vertical resolution of a retrieved profile and formal root-mean-square (rms) error due to measurement noise propagation. The problem of retrieving the top-side ozone profile from backscattered ultraviolet (BUV) measurements is considered. For measurements of the type currently being obtained with the Nimbus 4 and AE-E BUV experiments, it is found that a vertical resolution of approximately 0.75 scale height can be achieved for a formal volume mixing ratio profile error of 10%. Other examples include treatments of the retrieval of temperature profiles from measurements in the 15 micron CO2 absorption band for both the terrestrial and Martian atmospheres. Finally, the method is applied to the problem of retrieving temperature profiles of the Jovian planets from measurements in the far infrared pressure induced H2 lines to be obtained from the Mariner Jupiter/Saturn fly-by missions.

Conrath, B. J.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Verification results for the Spectral Ocean Wave Model (SOWM) by means of significant wave height measurements made by the GEOS-3 spacecraft

Significant wave heights estimated from the shape of the return pulse wave form of the altimeter on GEOS-3 for forty-four orbit segments obtained during 1975 and 1976 are compared with the significant wave heights specified by the spectral ocean wave model (SOWM), which is the presently operational numerical wave forecasting model at the Fleet Numerical Weather Central. Except for a number of orbit segments with poor agreement and larger errors, the SOWM specifications tended to be biased from 0.5 to 1.0 meters too low and to have RMS errors of 1.0 to 1.4 meters. The much fewer larger errors can be attributed to poor wind data for some parts of the Northern Hemisphere oceans. The bias can be attributed to the somewhat too light winds used to generate the waves in the model. Other sources of error are identified in the equatorial and trade wind areas.

Pierson, W. J.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Global mean sea surface computation using GEOS 3 altimeter data

A mean sea surface map has been determined for the global ocean areas between +62 deg and -62 deg latitude using GEOS 3 altimeter data. A grid of laser reference orbits computed using the GEM 10B gravity model has been used to orient the altimeter data in a center of mass coordinate system. The density of the altimeter tracks has enabled the computation of the sea surface heights above the reference ellipsoid on 1 deg x 1 deg grid in most of the oceanic areas. In the northwest Atlantic the dense coverage has enabled computations on a 0.25 deg x 0.25 deg grid. Comparisons of the global surface with an independently computed mean sea surface based upon SEASAT altimeter data indicate an rms agreement of a little over a meter. Comparisons of the regional solution in the northwest Atlantic with SEASAT profiles indicate a precision of a few decimeters in this surface. An analysis of the global crossover differences has indicated the possibility of a timing error in the altimeter data. Timing bias values of within 0.5 msec of 9.2 msec for 1975 and within 0.6 msec of 18.7 msec for 1976 have been recovered from an analysis of the altimeter data.

Marsh, J. G.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Global and regional kinematics with GPS

The inherent precision of the doubly differenced phase measurement and the low cost of instrumentation made GPS the space geodetic technique of choice for regional surveys as soon as the constellation reached acceptable geometry in the area of interest: 1985 in western North America, the early 1990's in most of the world. Instrument and site-related errors for horizontal positioning are usually less than 3 mm, so that the dominant source of error is uncertainty in the reference frame defined by the satellites orbits and the tracking stations used to determine them. Prior to about 1992, when the tracking network for most experiments was globally sparse, the number of fiducial sites or the level at which they could be tied to an SLR or VLBI reference frame usually, set the accuracy limit. Recently, with a global network of over 30 stations, the limit is set more often by deficiencies in models for non-gravitational forces acting on the satellites. For regional networks in the northern hemisphere, reference frame errors are currently about 3 parts per billion (ppb) in horizontal position, allowing centimeter-level accuracies over intercontinental distances and less than 1 mm for a 100 km baseline. The accuracy of GPS measurements for monitoring height variations is generally 2-3 times worse than for horizontal motions. As for VLBI, the primary source of error is unmodeled fluctuations in atmospheric water vapor, but both reference frame uncertainties and some instrument errors are more serious for vertical than horizontal measurements. Under good conditions, daily repeatabilities at the level of 10 mm rms were achieved. This paper will summarize the current accuracy of GPS measurements and their implication for the use of SLR to study regional kinematics.

King, Robert W.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Simultaneous measurements of sunspot umbral oscillations in the photosphere, chromosphere, and transition region

Measurements of umbral oscillations in a sunspot were made simultaneously from space (with the SMM/UVSP instrument) in the C IV transition-region line and from the ground (with the tower telescope at NSO/sunspot) in spectral lines formed in the photosphere and chromosphere. The power spectra of velocity and intensity variations show multiple peaks in the 3 min band (4.5-10 mHz). A strong oscillation at 5.5 mHz is coherent between the chromosphere and transition region. Another strong oscillation mode at 7.5 mHz is coherent between the photosphere and transition region and appears to have a node in the chromosphere. The rms velocity in the 3 min band is a little over 12 km/sec in both the chromosphere and transition region, but the kinetic energy density is lower in the transition region (by a factor of 10 or more) due to the lower mass density there. These measurements of amplitude and phase of the waves at different heights provided a new, independent method of testing or fitting models of the vertical temperature distribution in the umbral chromosphere and transition regions.

Thomas, John H.↗
NASA NTRS1959

Experimental Investigation of the Heat-Transfer Rate to a Series of 20 deg Cones of Various Surface Finishes at a Mach Number of 4.95

The heat-transfer rates were measured on a series of cones of various surface finishes at a Mach number of 4.95 and Reynolds numbers per foot varying from 20 x 10(exp 6) to 100 x 10(exp 6). The range of surface finish was from a very smooth polish to smooth machining with no polish (65 micro inches rms). Some laminar boundary-layer data were obtained, since transition was not artificially tripped. Emphasis, however, is centered on the turbulent boundary layer. The results indicated that the turbulent heat-transfer rate for the highest roughness tested was only slightly greater than that for the smoothest surface. The laminar-sublayer thickness was calculated to be about half the roughness height for the roughest model at the highest value of unit Reynolds number tested.

Jones, Jim J.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Thermal Stability of a 4 Meter Primary Reflector for the Scanning Microwave Limb Sounder

The Scanning Microwave Limb Sounder (SMLS) is a space-borne heterodyne radiometer which will measure pressure, temperature and atmospheric constituents from thermal emission in [180,680] GHz. SMLS, planned for the NRC Decadal Survey's Global Atmospheric Composition Mission, uses a novel toric Cassegrain antenna to perform both elevation and azimuth scanning. This provides better horizontal and temporal resolution and coverage than were possible with elevation-only scanning in the two previous MLS satellite instruments. SMLS is diffraction-limited in the vertical plane but highly astigmatic in the horizontal (beam aspect ratio approx. 1:20). Nadir symmetry ensures that beam shape is nearly invariant over plus or minus 65 deg azimuth. A low-noise receiver FOV is swept over the reflector system by a small azimuth-scanning mirror. We describe the fabrication and thermal-stability test of a composite demonstration primary reflector, having full 4m height and 1/3 the width planned for flight. Using finite-element models of reflectors and structure, we evaluate thermal deformations and optical performance for 4 orbital environments and isothermal soak. We compare deformations with photogrammetric measurements made during soak tests in a chamber. The test temperature range exceeds predicted orbital ranges by large factors, implying in-orbit thermal stability of 0.21 micron rms (root mean square)/C, which meets SMLS requirements.

thermal distortion↗