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At least 145 records · Page 8

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NASA NTRS2000

Comparison of Three Wind Measuring Systems for Flight Test

A preliminary field test of the accuracy of wind velocity measurements obtained using global positioning system-tracked rawinsonde balloons has been performed. Wind comparisons have been conducted using global positioning system (GPS) and radio automatic theodolite sounder (RATS) rawinsondes and a high-precision range instrumentation radar-tracked reflector. Wind velocity differences between the GPS rawinsondes and the radar were significantly less than between the RATS rawinsondes and the radar. These limited test results indicate a root-mean-square wind velocity difference from 4.98 kn (2.56 m/sec) for the radar and RATS to 1.09 kn (0.56 m/sec) for the radar and GPS. Differences are influenced by user reporting requirements, data processing techniques, and the inherent tracking accuracies of the system. This brief field test indicates that the GPS sounding system tracking data are more precise than the RATS system. When high-resolution wind data are needed, use of GPS rawinsonde systems can reduce the burden on range radar operations.

Teets, Edward H., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Comparison of Three Wind Measuring Systems for Flight Test

Teets, Edward H., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Wind measurement system

A system for remotely measuring vertical and horizontal winds present in discrete volumes of air at selected locations above the ground is described. A laser beam is optically focused in range by a telescope, and the output beam is conically scanned at an angle about a vertical axis. The backscatter, or reflected light, from the ambient particulates in a volume of air, the focal volume, is detected for shifts in wavelength, and from these, horizontal and vertical wind components are computed.

Cliff, W. C.↗

NASA NTRS1995

WIND measurements of proton and alpha particle flow and number density

We propose to review measurements of the solar wind proton and alpha particle flow velocities and densities made since launch with the WIND SWE instrument. The SWE Faraday cup ion sensors are designed to be able to determine accurately flow vector directions, and thus can be used to detect proton-alpha particle differential flow. Instances of differential flow, and the solar wind features with which they are associated will be discussed. Additionally, the variability of the percentage of alpha particles as a fraction of the total solar wind ion density will be presented.

Steinberg, J. T.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Comparison of LIMS temperatures and geostrophic winds with Berlin radiosonde temperature and wind measurements

The temperature and the derived winds obtained from the LIMS Map Archival Tape data for the period of October 25, 1978, to May 28, 1979, were compared with corresponding data from the Berin (Tempelhof) radiosonde station at several representative levels in the stratosphere, to assess the quality of the LIMS satellite data for use in dynamics and transport studies. It was found, on the basis of this single-station time series comparison, that the synoptically mapped LIMS temperature and wind analyses are of a sufficiently high quality for investigating large-scale dynamics in the stratosphere in conjunction with high-resolution radiosonde measurements.

Grose, W. L.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Instrument remotely measures wind velocities

Doppler-shift spectrometer makes remote satellite measurements of atmospheric wind velocity and temperature at specified altitudes. As in correlation spectrometer, spectrum of gas in reference cell and spectrum of same gas in atmosphere are correlated both in emission and absorption.

Margolis, J. S.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Radiometric correction of scatterometric wind measurements

Use of a spaceborne scatterometer to determine the ocean-surface wind vector requires accurate measurement of radar backscatter from ocean. Such measurements are hindered by the effect of attenuation in the precipitating regions over sea. The attenuation can be estimated reasonably well with the knowledge of brightness temperatures observed by a microwave radiometer. The NASA SeaWinds scatterometer is to be flown on the Japanese ADEOS2. The AMSR multi-frequency radiometer on ADEOS2 will be used to correct errors due to attenuation in the SeaWinds scatterometer measurements. Here we investigate the errors in the attenuation corrections. Errors would be quite small if the radiometer and scatterometer footprints were identical and filled with uniform rain. However, the footprints are not identical, and because of their size one cannot expect uniform rain across each cell. Simulations were performed with the SeaWinds scatterometer (13.4 GHz) and AMSR (18.7 GHz) footprints with gradients of attenuation. The study shows that the resulting wind speed errors after correction (using the radiometer) are small for most cases. However, variations in the degree of overlap between the radiometer and scatterometer footprints affect the accuracy of the wind speed measurements.

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NASA NTRS2005

Direct Detection Doppler Lidar Wind Measurements Obtained During the 2002 International H2O Project (IHOP)

The Goddard Lidar Observatory for Winds (GLOW) is a mobile Doppler lidar system that uses direct detection techniques for profiling winds in the troposphere and lower stratosphere. In May and June of 2002 GLOW was deployed to the Southern Great Plains of the US to participate in the International H2O Project (IHOP). GLOW was located at the Homestead profiling site in the Oklahoma panhandle about 15 km east of the SPOL radar. Several other Goddard lidars, the Scanning Raman Lidar (SRL) and HARLIE, as well as radars and passive instruments were permanently operated from the Homestead site during the IHOP campaign providing a unique cluster of observations. During the IHOP observation period (May 14, 2002 to June 25, 2002) over 240 hours of wind profile measurements were obtained with GLOW. In this paper we will describe the GLOW instrument as it was configured for the IHOP campaign and we will present examples of wind profiles obtained.

Gentry, Bruce↗

NASA NTRS1988

Performance of a scanning pencil-beam spaceborne scatterometer for ocean wind measurements

Simulation results show that a scatterometer design using two pencil beams scanning at different incidence angles measures the near-surface oceanic winds from a satellite better under most conditions than previous designs. The return signals from the ocean surface are much stronger than those from the fan beams used previously. Performance on a polar-orbiting satellite is compared with that of a fan beam spaceborne scatterometer. A wider and continuous swath is covered. The improvement in performance is higher at low wind speeds, so it is particularly suitable for measuring the low-mean-speed tropical wind fields. Performance on a low altitude tropic-orbiting platform such as the Space Station is also shown.

Moore, R. K.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Accuracy of aircraft velocities from inertial navigation systems for application to airborne wind measurements

An experimental assessment was made of two commercially available inertial navigation systems (INS) with regard to their velocity measuring capability for use in wind, shear, and long-wavelength atmospheric turbulence research. The assessment was based on 52 sets of postflight measurements of velocity (error) during a "Schuler cycle" (84 minutes) while the INS was still operating but the airplane was motionless. Four INS units of one type and two units of another were tested over a period of 2 years after routine research flights similar to air-linetype operations of from 1 to 6 hours duration. The maximum postflight errors found for the 52 cases had a root mean square value of 2.82 m/sec with little or no correlation of error magnitude with flight duration. Using an INS for monitoring ground speed during landway in a predicted high wind shear situation could lead to landing speeds which are dangerously high or low.

Rhyne, R. H.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Tropospheric Wind Measurements from Space: The SPARCLE Mission and Beyond

For over 20 years researchers have been investigating the feasibility of profiling tropospheric vector wind velocity from space with a pulsed Doppler lidar. Efforts have included theoretical development, system and mission studies, technology development, and ground-based and airborne measurements. Now NASA plans to take the next logical step towards enabling operational global tropospheric wind profiles by demonstrating horizontal wind measurements from the Space Shuttle in early 2001 using a coherent Doppler wind lidar system.

Kavaya, Michael J.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Tropospheric Wind Measurements From Space: The SPARCLE Mission And Beyond

Kavaya, Michael J.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Wind Measurements with a 355 nm Molecular Doppler Lidar

A Doppler lidar system based on the molecular double edge technique is described. The system is mounted in a modified van to allow deployment in field operations. The lidar operates with a tripled Nd:YAG laser at 355 nm, a 45cm aperture telescope and a matching azimuth-over-elevation scanner to allow full sky access. Validated atmospheric wind profiles have been measured from 1.8 km to 35 km with a 178 m vertical resolution. The range dependent rms deviation of the horizontal wind speed is 0.4 - 6 m/s. The results of wind speed and direction are in good agreement with balloon sonde wind measurements made simultaneously at the same location.

Gentry, Bruce M.↗

NASA NTRS1996

New Microwave Technology for Ocean Wind Measurements

Global mapping of near surface ocean winds is crucial for many meteorological, oceanographic and atmospheric studies. The microwave emission from the ocean surface is elliptically polarized and the degree of polarizationand angle is a function of the surface wind speed and direction...A summary of all the ocean polarimetric data vs. wind speed and incidence angle from three flights in 1994 and eight flights in 1995 is presented.

global mapping ocean winds near surface ocean wind↗

NASA NTRS1988

Ultraviolet Lidar Would Measure Wind Velocity

Incoherent Doppler-shifted scattering from aerosols reveals important weather data. Remote-sensing system in early stage of development makes global measurements of wind velocities along probing beam of ultraviolet light. In aviation system promotes safety through detection of wind shears and clear-air turbulence. System includes range-gated ultraviolet-excimer laser operating at 308 or 353 nm.

Mcdermid, Iain Stuart↗

NASA NTRS1982

Evaluation of SEASAT-A SMMR derived wind speed measurements

Wind speeds derived from versions of the least-squares and regression algorithms developed after the JASIN Workshop were evaluated. The accuracy of scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR) wind retrievals was determined in terms of the intrinsic accuracy of a baseline surface truth data set in favorable conditions. Effects which degrade the wind retrievals or introduce biases were identified and assessed. The performance of the SMMR in storms was ascertained with particular emphasis on the effects of rain.

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NASA NTRS1987

The Cyclone meteor radar system for routine wind measurements in the lower thermosphere

A new meteor wind radar system called Cyclone was devised to extend and update the meteor radar network and for unattended operation. The Cyclone meteor radar system obtains information from four directions simultaneously. To automate data processing a special digital device was developed. An algorithm used to determine the Doppler shifts was adopted, which makes it possible to eliminate selectivity with respect to slow velocity meteor drifts. The operation of the Cyclone system is described.

Lysenko, I. A.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Requirements and Technology Advances for Global Wind Measurement with a Coherent Lidar: A Shrinking Gap

Early concepts to globally measure vertical profiles of vector horizontal wind from space planned on an orbit height of 525 km, a single pulsed coherent Doppler lidar system to cover the full troposphere, and a continuously rotating telescope/scanner that mandated a vertical line of sight wind profile from each laser shot. Under these conditions system studies found that laser pulse energies of approximately 20 J at 10 Hz pulse repetition rate with a rotating telescope diameter of approximately 1.5 m was required. Further requirements to use solid state laser technology and an eyesafe wavelength led to the relatively new 2-micron solid state laser. With demonstrated pulse energies near 20 mJ at 5 Hz, and no demonstration of a rotating telescope maintaining diffraction limited performance in space, the technology gap between requirements and demonstration was formidable. Fortunately the involved scientists and engineers set out to reduce the gap, and through a combination of clever ideas and technology advances over the last 15 years, they have succeeded. This paper will detail the gap reducing factors and will present the current status.

Kavaya, Michael J.↗