Recent contributions to the knowledge of atmospheric structure and composition obtained from direct probing experiments
Atmospheric composition, temperature, pressure, density, and wind data by meteorological probes
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Atmospheric composition, temperature, pressure, density, and wind data by meteorological probes
Freely rising superpressure spherical balloon response characteristics based on wind profile data, showing surface roughness effects on aerodynamic properties
Wind sensor capabilities of several types of balloon, noting expandable neoprene
Wind speeds and transport vector directions obtained by vapor trails from rockets launched at 13 sites throughout the world
Crossed beam monitoring of atmospheric winds and turbulence with two orbiting astronomical telescopes mounted on single spacecraft
Rocket observations of upper atmospheric winds, electron density, electron temperature, and neutral temperature in auroral region with Langmuir probes
A full scale wind tunnel investigation was made to determine the performance characteristics of a 14 ft diameter vertical axis windmill. The parameters measured were wind velocity, shaft torque, shaft rotation rate, along with the drag and yawing moment. A velocity survey of the flow field downstream of the windmill was also made. The results of these tests along with some analytically predicted data are presented in the form of generalized data as a function of tip speed ratio.
Technique uses phase-shift networks at optical and baseband frequencies and, as such, is optical adaptation of previously-existing microwave technology. Application is planned for wind-tunnel velocity measurements. Alternative configuration produces finite fringes that move in one direction or other as measured particle approaches or recedes.
The paper describes turbulence simulation experiments based on the principles of control system theory, that is, the construction of a system characterized by a system function such that upon exciting the system with prescribed noise processes the output of the system is a realization of a random processing the desired statistical attributes of turbulence. An experimental autocorrelation of Jimsphere measurements of wind velocity was approximated to simulate turbulent wind. From the approximate autocorrelation function, the required system function is obtained, and a discrete time system is designed. Another method of simulation is to solve the convolution integral by filter techniques. Other methods include discrete Fourier simulation and self-similar simulation.
Data from the Pioneer Venus radar mapper, combined with measurements of wind velocity and atmospheric composition, suggest that surface erosion on Venus varies with altitude. Calcium- and magnesium-rich weathering products are produced at high altitudes by gas-solid reactions with igneous minerals, then removed into the hotter lowlands by surface winds. These fine-grained weathering products may then rereact with the lower atmosphere and buffer the composition of the observed gases carbon dioxide, water vapor, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen fluoride in some regions of the surface. This process is a plausible mechanism for the establishment in the lowlands of a calcium-rich mineral assemblage, which had previously been found necessary for the buffering of these species.
An eye-safe pulsed coherent laser radar has been developed by using single-frequency Tm,Ho:YAG lasers and heterodyne detection. Returns from a mountainside located 145 km from the laser radar system and the measurement of wind velocity to ranges exceeding 20 km have been demonstrated with transmitted pulse energies of 22 mJ.
The proposed correlation analysis represents an analysis of time sequences of lidar returns from observing points situated at the corners of right angle triangles in horizontal planes, spaced by altitude. The purpose here is to examine the choice of optical correlation techniques for lidar data to increase the number of successful measurements of wind velocity in a wide variety of meteorological conditions.
This report presents the results of an investigation undertaken to determine the feasibility of making glide landings in gusty air. Wind velocities were measured at several stations between the ground and a height of 51 feet, and flight tests were made to determine the actual influence of gusts on an airplane gliding close to the ground.
NASA atmospheric scientists are currently planning active remote sensing missions that will enable global monitoring of atmospheric ozone, water vapor, aerosols and clouds as well as global wind velocity. The measurements of these elements and parameters are important because of the effects they have on climate change, atmospheric chemistry and dynamics, atmospheric transport and, in general, the health of the planet. NASA will make use of Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) and backscatter lidar techniques for active remote sensing of molecular constituents and atmospheric phenomena from advanced high-altitude aircraft and space platforms. This paper provides an overview of NASA Langley Research Center's (LaRC's) development of advanced solid state lasers, harmonic generators, and wave mixing techniques aimed at providing the broad range of wavelengths necessary to meet measurement goals of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise.
The first SeaWinds scatterometer was launched in to space aboard the Quikscat satellite on June 19, 1999 at 7:15 p.m. PDT. Flying in a near polar orbit 800 km above the earth's surface, SeaWinds uses an advanced scatterometer design to measure surface wind velocity over 90 percent of the ice free oceans ever 24 hours. This first SeaWinds mission is designed to replace the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) which ceased providing wind velocity data when the ADEOS I satellite failed. A second SeaWinds is scheduled to be launched late in 2000 aboard ADEOS II. Previous scatterometer assimilation experiments conducted by the NASA Data Assimilation Office, using both ERS and NSCAT wind observations, have demonstrated considerable potential for this type of data to improve both atmospheric analyses and forecasts, however much of the smaller scale information content of the scatterometer data could not be taken into account in the early coarse resolution versions of the Goddard (GEOS) Data Assimilation System (DAS) or in operational data assimilation systems. In this paper, we will describe data assimilation experiments in which the new higher resolution versions of the GOES DAS are used to assimilate SeaWinds scatterometer winds. Following a brief discussion of the SeaWinds design and the methodology used to assimilate scatterometer data in the GOES DAS, the quality of the SeaWinds data and the impact of SeaWinds on GOES analyses and forecasts at different resolutions will be presented.
The development of the Small Deflection Energy Analyzer (SDEA) charged-particle spectrometer for energy and angle distributions responds to a longstanding need to measure the wind velocity vector in Earth s thermosphere, and to obtain the ion-drift vector in the ionosphere. The air and ions above 120 km are endowed with bulk velocities and temperatures just like air near the ground, but with separate spatial and temporal variations. It is important to understand these not only for study of the physics and chemistry of the Sun-Earth connection, but also for spacecraft orbit predictions, and communications through the ionosphere. The SDEA consists of a pair of parallel conducting plates separated by a small distance, with an entrance slit on one end, and an exit slit on the other. A voltage applied to these plates develops an electric field between the plates, and this field deflects ions passing through it. If an ion has too little energy, it will strike one of the plates. If it has too much, it will strike the back wall. An ion with the amount of energy being searched for will have its trajectory bent just enough to exit the back slit. The SDEA units are compact, rectangular, and operate with low voltages. The units can be built up into small arrays. These arrays could be used either to widen the field of view or to sharpen an existing one. This approach can also be used to obtain angular distributions in two planes simultaneously, thus cutting down the ion source power requirements in half. This geometry has enabled a new mass-spectrometer concept that can provide miniaturized mass spectrometers for use in industrial plants, air-pollution monitoring, and noxious-gas detection.
This presentation will give an overview of the 20-plus years of pulsed transmit laser development at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) to enable a coherent Doppler wind lidar to measure global winds from earth orbit. Our group at LaRC has been developing the pulsed laser and other coherent lidar technologies for the global wind mission since the late 1980s. The causal path followed has been from space mission requirements to coherent lidar requirements to component requirements to technology development and finally to ground and aircraft validation. We will describe the development and deployment of Doppler Aerosols Wind Lidar (DAWN) for airborne measurement of wind velocity and direction. The will also present the status of ongoing fully conductively-cooled 2-micron wind lidar transmitter for NASA 3-D winds mission.
Previously measured mean velocity and turbulence intensity profiles in the wake of a 26.8-m long building 3.2 m high and transverse to the wind direction in an atmospheric boundary layer several hundred meters thick were compared with profiles at corresponding stations downstream of a 1/50-scale model on the floor of a large meteorological wind tunnel in a boundary layer 0.61 m in thickness. The validity of using model wake data to predict full scale data was determined. Preliminary results are presented which indicate that disparities result from differences in relative depth of logarithmic layers, surface roughness, and the proximity of upstream obstacles.