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At least 163 records · Page 9

ULF waves in the magnetosphere

Research efforts in the area of magnetospheric ULF waves in the 1987-1990 period are reviewed. Attention is given to externally excited hydromagnetic waves including field line resonance, the global cavity mode, bow-shock-associated upstream waves, and Kelvin-Helmholtz waves. Consideration is given to internally excited Pc 4-5 pulsations and the role of these pulsations in the diffusion of ring-current ions based on the observed properties of the pulsations.

Takahashi, Kazue↗

Physical Parameters of Space Mission Asteroid Targets

Ground-based characterization of asteroids that are planned or potential targets of space missions provides important data on their physical parameters and properties. Knowledge of the properties of mission targets is important especially during mission preparation and planning, as it serves to select best or suitable targets for specific purpose of a given mission, to prepare mission plans, to constrain possible mission scenarios, and to design mission experiments. Such characterization efforts may be particularly critical for flyby missions that take only limited data during the high-speed flybys of their target asteroids, but they also provide very crucial data for targets of rendezvous missions. Moreover, long-term observations taken from Earth also allows the modelling of, or constraining, processes acting on the asteroids over extended time scales. Over the past years and decades we have obtained rich data on physical parameters of 82 asteroids that are planned or potential targets of space missions. Our primary observing technique is time-resolved (lightcurve) photometry, but we use also data obtained with other techniques, such as spectroscopy, thermal or radar observations. 15 of the 82 characterized asteroids are planned or possible targets of several space missions that are in flight or preparation, such as ESA’s Hera, RAMSES and PRIAMOS, NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX, JAXA’s Hayabusa2#, DESTINY+ and Next Generation Sample Return (NGSR), the Emirates Mission to Asteroids (EMA), and Karman+’s High Frontier, but we have also characterized 67 asteroids that are potential targets of space missions for their low delta-V’s and were announced as being “of interest to NASA” in the Small-Bodies-Observations- NASA mailing list or listed on the NHATS page of “Accessible NEAs”. The sample of asteroid targets span 3 orders of magnitude in size, with absolute magnitudes H from 12.57 to 26.8, corresponding to diameters from about 10 m to about 10 km. The sample contains a variety of taxonomic types and physically or dynamically interesting objects. Among them, we have identified 5 binary asteroids and 20 tumblers (i.e., asteroids in excited, non-principal axis rotation states). Rotation periods of the characterized asteroids range from 1.45 min to 280 h, reflecting diversity of their properties and formation/evolution paths. We will present an overview of the data set and highlight several representative cases.

Petr Pravec↗

Polar motion spectra based upon Doppler IPMS and BIH data

In comparing polar motion spectra, an oscillation was found at 1.3 cpy which might be due to an Eulerian motion of the solid inner core. An extended 15-year data set was filtered and analyzed to yield a Chandler peak with a period 430.8 solar days and a full width at half-maximum of 0.7 days (Q-600). The data was reanalyzed in overlapping 3-year segments and indicates that the excitation of the Chandler wobble is a discrete process and that periods as long as three years occur in which the driving mechanism is essentially quiescent.

Graber, M. A.↗

Model of Semidiurnal Pseudo Tide in the High-Latitude Upper Mesosphere

We present numerical results for the m = 1 meridional winds of semi diurnal oscillations in the high-latitude upper mesosphere, which are generated in the Numerical Spectral Model (NSM) without solar excitations of the tides. Identified with heuristic computer runs, the pseudo tides attain amplitudes that are, at times, as large as the non-migrating tides produced with standard solar forcing. Under the influence of parameterized gravity waves, the nonlinear NSM generates internal oscillations like the quasi-biennial oscillation, that are produced with periods favored by the dynamical properties of the system. The Coriolis force would favor at polar latitudes the excitation of the 12-hour periodicity. This oscillation may help explain the large non-migrating semidiurnal tides that are observed in the region with ground-based and satellite measurements.

Talaat, E. R.↗

Ocean tidal excitation of polar motion

An investigation was conducted to ascertain the response of the rotational motion of the earth to forcing functions produced by the water mass redistribution due to the ocean tides. In particular, the components of displacement of the rotation axis at the surface of the Earth were obtained. The investigation also addressed the larger question concerning the possibility of excitation of the Chandler wobble of the earth. In general, the results show the existence of a polar wobble as a response to each of the components of the ocean tides. The magnitude of the polar displacement depends on two factors: the amplitude of the tidal component and its period. The maximum periodic contributions are: the Doodson's component number 055.565 with a period of 18.613 years and 50 cm of polar displacement, the annual component 056.544 with 37 cm of polar displacement and the semi-annual 057.555 with 32 cm. The tidal components with daily and semi-daily periods yield very small polar displacements of the order of 0.01 cm. The combined effect of all the periodic components can yield as much as 90 cm of pole displacements. The changes produced by the ocean tides in the products of inertia are periodic and regular, therefore, they cannot be the source of excitation of the Chandler wobble.

Sanchez, B. V.↗

The Explorer's Guide to the Universe: A Reading List for Planetary and Space Science

During the last decade, both scientists and the public have been engulfed by a flood of discoveries and information from outer space. Distant worlds have become familiar landscapes. Instruments in space have shown us a different Sun by the "light" of ultraviolet radiation and X-rays. Beyond the solar system, we have detected a strange universe of unsuspected violence, unexplained objects, and unimaginable energies. We are completely remarking our picture of the universe around us, and scientists and the general public alike are curious and excited about what we see. The public has participated in this period of exploration and discovery to an extent never possible before. In real time, TV screens show moonwalks, the sands of Mars, the volcanoes of Io, and the rings of Saturn. But after the initial excitement, it is hard for the curious non-scientist to learn more details or even to stay in touch with what is going on. Each space mission or new discovery is quickly skimmed over by newspapers and TV and then preserved in technical journals that are neither accessible nor easily read by the average reader. This reading list is an attempt to bridge the gap between the people who make discoveries in space and the people who would like to read about them. The aim has been to provide to many different people--teachers, students, scientists, other professionals, and curious citizens of all kinds--a list of readings where they can find out what the universe is like and what we have learned about it. We have included sections on the objects that seem to be of general interest--the Moon, the planets, the Sun, comets, and the universe beyond. We have also included material on related subjects that people are interested in--the history of space exploration, space habitats, extraterrestrial life, and U F O ' s . The list is intended to be self-contained; it includes both general references to supply background and more specific sources for new discoveries. Although the list can be used by a wide range of people, it has been compiled with the non-scientist specifically in mind. A s a general rule, we have not included technical symposia or the special issues of

French, Bevan M.↗

Recent observations of the OI 8446 A emission over Millstone Hill

Evening twilight spectra of the OI 8446 A emission were obtained during May and June of 1993 using a single-etalon, pressure scanning, Fabry-Perot interferometer located in the Millstone Hill Optical Facility. The goals of this work are to positively identify the 8446 A emission in the twilight airglow and to determine the intensity decay as a function of solar depression angle. Also, a study of the relative triplet line strengths is performed in hopes of establishing the importance of the primary excitation mechanisms (photoelectron impact or Bowen fluorescence) during the twilight period. Although absent in most of the data, a distinct auroral influence is also found to contribute considerably, on occasion, to the emission over Millstone Hill. The ratio of the combined 8446.26 A and 8446.38 A intensities to the 8446.76 A intensity varies as 0.13 +/- 0.03 per degree of solar depression angle, indicating that secondary excitation mechanisms are becoming increasingly important as evening twilight progresses. Bowen fluorescence is not found to be the primary excitation mechanism at any time during twilight, contributing just a few Rayleighs at most. These observations are an important first step toward a better characterization of highly variable thermospheric oxygen concentrations through ground-based measurements of the OI 8446 A emission.

Lancaster, R. S.↗

Velocity structure in long period variable star atmospheres

A regression analysis of the dependence of absorption line velocities on wavelength, line strength, excitation potential, and ionization potential is presented. The method determines the region of formation of the absorption lines for a given data and wavelength region. It is concluded that the scatter which is frequently found in velocity measurements of absorption lines in long period variables is probably the result of a shock of moderate amplitude located in or near the reversing layer and that the frequently observed correlation of velocity with excitation and ionization are a result of the velocity gradients produced by this shock in the atmosphere. A simple interpretation of the signs of the coefficients of the regression analysis is presented in terms of preshock, post shock, or across the shock, together with criteria for evaluating the validity of the fit. The amplitude of the reversing layer shock is estimated from an analysis of a series of plates for four long period variable stars along with the most probable stellar velocity for these stars.

Pilachowski, C.↗

Analysis and improvement of the vector quantization in SELP (Stochastically Excited Linear Prediction)

The Stochastically Excited Linear Prediction (SELP) algorithm is described as a speech coding method employing a two-stage vector quantization. The first stage uses an adaptive codebook which efficiently encodes the periodicity of voiced speech, and the second stage uses a stochastic codebook to encode the remainder of the excitation signal. The adaptive codebook performs well when the pitch period of the speech signal is larger than the frame size. An extension is introduced, which increases its performance for the case that the frame size is longer than the pitch period. The performance of the stochastic stage, which improves with frame length, is shown to be best in those sections of the speech signal where a high level of short-term correlations is present. It can be concluded that the SELP algorithm performs best during voiced speech where the pitch period is longer than the frame length.

Kleijn, W. B.↗

Excitation study of the Lageos-derived Chandler wobble

Euler (1765) has deduced that any nonspherical rigid body which is rotating about some axis that is not its principal moment of inertia axis will experience a wobble as it rotates. The earth's wobble predicted by Euler was actually detected by Chandler (1891). The present paper is concerned with this wobble which is now known as the Chandler wobble. The Chandler wobble has now been under observation for more than 80 years. During part of this time, the amplitude of the wobble has actually been seen to grow. It follows that there must be some mechanisms operating to maintain (or excite) the Chandler wobble preventing it from decaying. Possible excitation mechanisms considered include earthquakes and meteorological variations. In this paper, an analysis is conducted of Lageos polar motion data for the period 1977-1983 to find out what can be learned from these data about the excitation mechanisms.

Gross, R. S.↗

Transmission line inversion and synthesis from the point of view of transient response

The transmission line inversion problem is applied to the speech communication process. The problem involves acquiring information necessary for synthesis of speech and for making models of the speech production mechanism. Formulation for the problem is derived from an analysis of the human vocal tract functions. It is known that speech sounds are produced by acoustic excitation of the tract by means of quasi-periodic pulses from the vocal cords during vowel sounds and turbulent air flow at various points along the tract during fricative sounds. By assuming plane wave propagation, differential equations are obtained relating the cross sectional area of the tract, the pressure, and the volume velocity. By replacing the pressure factor with a voltage factor and the volume velocity by current, the problem becomes a transmission line problem.

Sondhi, M. M.↗

Quadrupole mass filter with means to generate a noise spectrum exclusive of the resonant frequency of the desired ions to deflect stable ions

A mass spectrometer for the separation or separate indication of ions of different specific electric charges is reported. The instrument uses a periodically varying electric field in its analyzing section to excite the injected ions into oscillations while traveling along their trajectories which are either stable or unstable depending on specific parameters. Only stable trajectory ions pass through the electric field to the collector for indication.

Langmuir, R. V.↗

Analysis of active control by surface heating

The excitation of boundary-layer disturbances by active, localized periodic heating of the flow surfaces is investigated analytically. A triple-deck model is used in the matched-asymptotics approach, and the incompressible case with small temperature variations, a linearized 3-deck problem, is considered. This case corresponds to the experimental (water-tunnel) conditions of Liepmann et al. (1982), who demonstrated that the induced disturbances can be used to enhance or suppress the Tollmien-Schlichting waves. Here the energy equation is uncoupled from the momentum and continuity equations to permit definition of the thermal-sublayer temperature profile by superposition of canonical solutions, which are presented in an appendix. A diagram of the 3-deck structure and graphs of calculated results are included.

Maestrello, L.↗

Periodic response of nonlinear systems

A procedure is developed to determine approximate periodic solutions of autonomous and non-autonomous systems. The trignometric collocation method (TCM) is formalized to allow for the analysis of relatively small order systems directly in physical coordinates. The TCM is extended to large order systems by utilizing modal analysis in a component mode synthesis strategy. The procedure was coded and verified by several check cases. Numerical results for two small order mechanical systems and one large order rotor dynamic system are presented. The method allows for the possibility of approximating periodic responses for large order forced and self-excited nonlinear systems.

Nataraj, C.↗

Instabilities in a three-level coherently pumped laser

A theory for a coherently pumped, homogeneously broadened laser is developed which predicts instability at excitations 1.6 times threshold. The system exhibits a period-doubling sequence, chaos, and a period-three window.

Ryan, J. C.↗

The Space Science Enterprise Strategic Plan

It is a pleasure to present our new Space Science Strategic Plan. It represents contributions by hundreds of members of the space science community, including researchers, technologists, and educators, working with staff at NASA, over a period of nearly two years. Our time is an exciting one for space science. Dramatic advances in cosmology, planetary research, and solar-terrestrial science form a backdrop for this ambitious plan. Our program boldly addresses the most fundamental questions that science can ask: (1) how the universe began and is changing, (2) what are the past and future of humanity, and (3) whether we are alone. In taking up these questions, researchers and the general public--for we are all seekers in this quest--will draw upon all areas of science and the technical arts. Our Plan outlines how we will communicate our findings to interested young people and adults. The program that you will read about in this Plan includes forefront research and technology development on the ground as well as development and operation of the most complex spacecraft conceived. The proposed flight program is a balanced portfolio of small missions and larger spacecraft. Our goal is to obtain the best science at the lowest cost, taking advantage of the most advanced technology that can meet our standards for expected mission success. In driving hard to achieve this goal, we experienced some very disappointing failures in 1999. But NASA, as a research and development agency, makes progress by learning also from mistakes, and we have learned from these.

Source record↗

Observing and Modeling Long-Period Tidal Variations in Polar Motion

By exchanging angular momentum with the solid Earth, ocean tides cause the Earth's rotation to change. While hydrodynamic tide models have been used to study the effect of ocean tides on polar motion, it is shown here that none of the published models can fully account for the observed variations. An empirical ocean tide model is therefore determined by fitting periodic terms at the tidal frequencies to polar motion excitation observations, from which atmospheric and non-tidal oceanic effects were removed. While the empirical ocean tide model does fully account for allof the observed tidal power, tests indicate that the model may not have completely converged. So better models of the effects of ocean tides on polar motion are still needed, both dynamical and empirical.

tides↗

What Did We Think Could Be Learned About Earth From Lagrange Point Observations?

The scientific excitement surrounding the NASA Lagrange point mission Triana, now called DSCOVR, tended to be forgotten in the brouhaha over other aspects of the mission. Yet a small band of scientists in 1998 got very excited about the possibilities offered by the Lagrange-point perspective on our planet. As one of the original co-investigators on the Triana mission, I witnessed that scientific excitement firsthand. I will bring to life the early period, circa 1998 to 2000, and share the reasons that we thought the Lagrange-point perspective on Earth would be scientifically revolutionary.

Wiscombe, Warren↗