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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.

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At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2021

The Brewer–Dobson Circulation in CMIP6

The Brewer–Dobson circulation (BDC) is a key feature of the stratosphere that models need to accurately represent in order to simulate surface climate variability and change adequately. For the first time, the Climate Model Intercomparison Project includes in its phase 6 (CMIP6) a set of diagnostics that allow for careful evaluation of the BDC. Here, the BDC is evaluated against observations and reanalyses using historical simulations. CMIP6 results confirm the well-known inconsistency in the sign of BDC trends between observations and models in the middle and upper stratosphere. Nevertheless, the large uncertainty in the observational trend estimates opens the door to compatibility. In particular, when accounting for the limited sampling of the observations, model and observational trend error bars overlap in 40 % of the simulations with available output. The increasing CO2 simulations feature an acceleration of the BDC but reveal a large spread in the middle-to-upper stratospheric trends, possibly related to the parameterized gravity wave forcing. The very close connection between the shallow branch of the residual circulation and surface temperature is highlighted, which is absent in the deep branch. The trends in mean age of air are shown to be more robust throughout the stratosphere than those in the residual circulation.

Brewer–Dobson circulation↗
NASA NTRS1992

Numerical simulation and analysis of a prefrontal squall line. I - Observations and basic simulation results. II - Propagation of the squall line as an internal gravity wave

Results of an observational and numerical study of the squall line that occurred on June 17-18, 1978, are presented. This squall line was initially triggered by the strong surface convergence along a cold front and stretched from Illinois to the Texas Panhandle. The squall line was aligned with the surface front during its initial development, but then propagated faster than the front, resulting in a separation of approximately 200 km by 0300 UTC and 300-400 km by 0600 UTC. The Colorado State University Regional Atmospheric Modeling System is used to model the squall-line development and propagation. Results are described from several experiments that tested the sensitivity to the use of the Kuo-type cumulus parameterization scheme and grid-scale microphysical processes. The movement of the squall line in the model is shown to be due to the propagation of a deep tropospheric internal gravity wave in a CISK-like process. The thermal and dynamic perturbations associated with the hypothesized wave are shown to be consistent with internal gravity wave theory.

Cram, Jennifer M.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Laboratory investigations related to microwaves

The investigation in a laboratory controlled environment was of the structure of the water surface and the immediate layers above and below the surface. The scope included: (1) the investigation of the capillary waves and their interaction with gravity waves, (2) the formation of whitecaps at different wind speeds and the influence of gravity waves on whitecaps, and (3) the wind-generated spray under different wind and wave conditions.

Shemdin, O. H.↗
NASA NTRS1980

An investigation of the modulation of capillary and short gravity waves in the open ocean

A preliminary investigation of the modulation of capillary and gravity waves by long ocean waves is described. A pressure transducer is used to obtain water surface displacements, and a high-response laser-optical system is used to detect short-wave slopes. Analytical techniques are developed to account for the orbital motion of long waves. The local mean squared wave slope is found to be maximum leeward of the long-wave crests. For the long waves studied here and for short waves from 1 cm to 1 m, the longer a short-wave component is, the more leeward its maximum tends to occur. Also, the shortest waves tend to modulate least. The modulation of short waves is found to be strong enough to be an important component of the synthetic aperture radar image formation mechanism for long ocean waves.

Evans, D. D.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Properties of thermospheric gravity waves on earth, Venus and Mars

A spectral model with spherical harmonics and Fourier components that can simulate atmospheric perturbations in the global geometry of a multiconstituent atmosphere is presented. The boundaries are the planetary surface where the transport velocities vanish and the exobase where molecular heat conduction and viscosity dominate. The time consuming integration of the conservation equations is reduced to computing the transfer function (TF) which describes the dynamic properties of the medium divorced from the complexities in the temporal and horizontal variations of the excitation source. Given the TF, the atmospheric response to a chosen source distribution is then obtained in short order. Theoretical studies are presented to illuminate some properties of gravity waves on earth, Venus and Mars.

Mayr, H. G.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Convectively Generated Gravity Waves In The Tropical Stratosphere: Case Studies And Importance For The Circulation Of The Middle Atmosphere

The advent of high altitude aircraft measurements in the stratosphere over tropical convective systems has made it possible to observe the mesoscale disturbances in the temperature field that these systems excite. Such measurements show that these disturbances have horizontal scales comparable to those of the underlying anvils (about 50-100 km) with peak to peak theta surface variations of about 300-400 meters. Moreover, correlative wind measurements from the tropical phase of the Stratosphere-Troposphere Exchange Project (STEP) clearly show that these disturbances are gravity waves. We present two case studies of anvil-scale gravity waves over convective systems. Using steady and time-dependent linear models of gravity wave propagation in the stratosphere, we show: (1) that the underlying convective systems are indeed the source of the observed phenomena; and (2) that their generating mechanism can be crudely represented as flow over a time-dependent mountain. We will then discuss the effects gravity waves of the observed amplitudes have on the circulation of the middle atmosphere, particularly the quasi-biennial, and semiannual oscillations.

Pfister, Leonhard↗
DOE OSTI2022

Numerical algorithms for water waves with background flow over obstacles and topography

Abstract We present two accurate and efficient algorithms for solving the incompressible, irrotational Euler equations with a free surface in two dimensions with background flow over a periodic, multiply connected fluid domain that includes stationary obstacles and variable bottom topography. One approach is formulated in terms of the surface velocity potential while the other evolves the vortex sheet strength. Both methods employ layer potentials in the form of periodized Cauchy integrals to compute the normal velocity of the free surface, are compatible with arbitrary parameterizations of the free surface and boundaries, and allow for circulation around each obstacle, which leads to multiple-valued velocity potentials but single-valued stream functions. We prove that the resulting second-kind Fredholm integral equations are invertible, possibly after a physically motivated finite-rank correction. In an angle-arclength setting, we show how to avoid curve reconstruction errors that are incompatible with spatial periodicity. We use the proposed methods to study gravity-capillary waves generated by flow around several elliptical obstacles above a flat or variable bottom boundary. In each case, the free surface eventually self-intersects in a splash singularity or collides with a boundary. We also show how to evaluate the velocity and pressure with spectral accuracy throughout the fluid, including near the free surface and solid boundaries. To assess the accuracy of the time evolution, we monitor energy conservation and the decay of Fourier modes and compare the numerical results of the two methods to each other. We implement several solvers for the discretized linear systems and compare their performance. The fastest approach employs a graphics processing unit (GPU) to construct the matrices and carry out iterations of the generalized minimal residual method (GMRES).

Ambrose, David M.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Effect of Gravity Waves from Small Islands in the Southern Ocean on the Southern Hemisphere Atmospheric Circulation

The effect of small islands in the Southern Ocean on the atmospheric circulation in the Southern Hemisphere is considered with a series of simulations using the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System Chemistry-Climate Model in which the gravity wave stress generated by these islands is increased to resemble observed values. The enhanced gravity wave drag leads to a 2 K warming of the springtime polar stratosphere, partially ameliorating biases in this region. Resolved wave drag declines in the stratospheric region in which the added orographic gravity waves deposit their momentum, such that changes in gravity waves are partially compensated by changes in resolved waves, though resolved wave drag increases further poleward. The orographic drag from these islands has impacts for surface climate, as biases in tropospheric jet position are also partially ameliorated. These results suggest that these small islands are likely contributing to the missing drag near 60 degrees S in the upper stratosphere evident in many data assimilation products.

chemistry-climate models↗
DOE OSTI2020

Photometric detection of internal gravity waves in upper main-sequence stars

Massive stars are predicted to excite internal gravity waves (IGWs) by turbulent core convection and from turbulent pressure fluctuations in their near-surface layers. These IGWs are extremely efficient at transporting angular momentum and chemical species within stellar interiors, but they remain largely unconstrained observationally. In this work, we aim to characterise the photometric detection of IGWs across a large number of O and early-B stars in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram, and explain the ubiquitous detection of stochastic variability in the photospheres of massive stars. Furthermore, we combined high-precision time-series photometry from the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite with high-resolution ground-based spectroscopy of 70 stars with spectral types O and B to probe the relationship between the photometric signatures of IGWs and parameters such as spectroscopic mass, luminosity, and macroturbulence.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Two-dimensional simulations of internal gravity waves in a $\mathrm{5M_⊙}$ zero-age-main-sequence model

Main-sequence intermediate-mass stars present a radiative envelope that supports internal gravity waves (IGWs). Excited at the boundary with the convective core, IGWs propagate towards the stellar surface and are suspected to impact physical processes such as rotation and chemical mixing. Using the fully compressible time-implicit code MUSIC, we study IGWs in two-dimensional simulations of a zero-age-main-sequence 5 solar mass star model up to 91 percent of the stellar radius with different luminosity and radiative diffusivity enhancements. Our results show that low-frequency waves excited by core convection are strongly impacted by radiative effects as they propagate. This impact depends on the radial profile of radiative diffusivity which increases by almost 5 orders of magnitude between the centre of the star and the top of the simulation domain. In the upper layers of the simulation domain, we observe an increase of the temperature. Our study suggests that this is due to heat added in these layers by IGWs damped by radiative diffusion. We show that non-linear effects linked to large amplitude IGWs may be relevant just above the convective core. Both these effects are intensified by the artificial enhancement of the luminosity and radiative diffusivity, with enhancement factors up to 10 4 times the realistic values. Our results also highlight that direct comparison between numerical simulations with enhanced luminosity and observations must be made with caution. Finally, our work suggests that thermal effects linked to the damping of IGWs could have a non-negligible impact on stellar structure.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1972

The composite scattering model for radar sea return

A composite scattering model, suitable for explaining the behavior of measured scattering cross sections of the ocean surface, is presented. Furthermore, utilizing this scattering model, the spectrums of the small gravity, gravity-capillary, waves will be predicted for MSA/MSC, 13.3 GHz Scatterometer data.

Krishen, K.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Earth physics, overview

Satellite applications in earth and ocean dynamic studies are considered for: earthquake hazard assessment and alleviation; prediction of general ocean circulation, surface currents, and heat transport; monitoring of transient phenomena of the ocean surface, such as sea state and wave conditions, wind-surface interactions and storm searches; and refinement of the global geoid, the gravity and magnetic fields of the earth.

Vonbun, F. O.↗
NASA NTRS1976

A global reference atmospheric model for surface to orbital altitudes

An empirical atmospheric model has been developed which generates values for pressure, density, temperature and winds from surface levels to orbital altitudes. The output parameters consist of components for: (1) latitude, longitude, and altitude dependent monthly means; (2) quasi-biennial oscillations; and (3) random perturbations to partially simulate the variability due to synoptic, diurnal, planetary wave and gravity wave variations. The monthly mean models consist of: NASA's four dimensional worldwide model for height, latitude, and longitude dependent monthly means from the surface to 25 km; and a newly developed latitude-longitude dependent model which is an extension of the Groves latitude dependent model for the region between 25 and 90 km. The Jacchia 1970 model is used above 90 km and is faired with the modified Groves values between 90 and 115 km. Quasi-biennial and random variation perturbations are computed from parameters determined from various empirical studies, and are added to the monthly mean values.

Justus, C. G.↗
NASA NTRS1998

On Pulsating and Cellular Forms of Hydrodynamic Instability in Liquid-Propellant Combustion

An extended Landau-Levich model of liquid-propellant combustion, one that allows for a local dependence of the burning rate on the (gas) pressure at the liquid-gas interface, exhibits not only the classical hydrodynamic cellular instability attributed to Landau but also a pulsating hydrodynamic instability associated with sufficiently negative pressure sensitivities. Exploiting the realistic limit of small values of the gas-to-liquid density ratio p, analytical formulas for both neutral stability boundaries may be obtained by expanding all quantities in appropriate powers of p in each of three distinguished wave-number regimes. In particular, composite analytical expressions are derived for the neutral stability boundaries A(sub p)(k), where A, is the pressure sensitivity of the burning rate and k is the wave number of the disturbance. For the cellular boundary, the results demonstrate explicitly the stabilizing effect of gravity on long-wave disturbances, the stabilizing effect of viscosity (both liquid and gas) and surface tension on short-wave perturbations, and the instability associated with intermediate wave numbers for negative values of A(sub p), which is characteristic of many hydroxylammonium nitrate-based liquid propellants over certain pressure ranges. In contrast, the pulsating hydrodynamic stability boundary is insensitive to gravitational and surface-tension effects but is more sensitive to the effects of liquid viscosity because, for typical nonzero values of the latter, the pulsating boundary decreases to larger negative values of A(sub p) as k increases through O(l) values. Thus, liquid-propellant combustion is predicted to be stable (that is, steady and planar) only for a range of negative pressure sensitivities that lie below the cellular boundary that exists for sufficiently small negative values of A(sub p) and above the pulsating boundary that exists for larger negative values of this parameter.

Margolis, Stephen B.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Three-dimensional spacecraft angular momentum fluctuations due to gravity jitter excited slosh waves in liquid propellant system

The paper investigates the dynamical behavior of fluids affected by asymmetric gravity jitter oscillations, in particular the effect of surface tension on partially filled rotating fluids (cryogenic liquid helium and helium vapor) in a subscale Gravity Probe-B spacecraft propellant dewar tank imposed by time-dependent variation in the direction of the background gravity environment. It is shown that lower frequency gravity jitter imposed on the time-dependent variation in the direction of background gravity induced a greater amplitude of oscillations and a stronger degree of asymmetry in liquid-vapor interface geometry than that made by the higher frequency gravity jitter. Fluctuations of angular momentum and spacecraft moment caused by slosh wave excitation are also studied. Slosh-wave-induced fluctuations in angular momentum and moment are important factors in spacecraft dynamics, guidance, and attitude controls.

Hung, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1981

The damping of ocean surface waves by a monomolecular film measured by wave staffs and microwave radars

Open ocean and wave tank experiments were carried out with the aim of studying the damping of capillary and gravity waves by a monomolecular film. These films of biogenic origin influence air-sea interaction processes and thereby affect the use of remote sensing techniques in oceanography. Measurement was carried out by wave staffs, by a coherent X band microwave scatterometer mounted on a sea-based platform, and by an incoherent K band microwave scatterometer carried by an aircraft under moderate wind conditions. A wave attenuation of about 40-60% is observed in the frequency range between 3.2 and 16 Hz. Tank experiments show that a direct influence of oleyl alcohol surface films on wave damping is confined to frequencies equal to or greater than 2 Hz; a further indirect effect of films on the damping of ocean waves in the frequency range between 0.12 and 0.7 Hz (by modifying the wind input and wave-wave interaction mechanisms) is also indicated

Huehnerfuss, H.↗
DOE OSTI2022

IMS observations of infrasound and acoustic-gravity waves produced by the January 2022 volcanic eruption of Hunga, Tonga: A global analysis

The 15 January 2022 Hunga, Tonga, volcano's explosive eruption produced the most powerful blast recorded in the last century, with an estimated equivalent TNT yield of 100–200 megatons. The blast energy was propagated through the atmosphere as various wave types. The most prominent wave was a long-period (>2000 s) surface-guided Lamb wave with energy comparable to that of the 1883 Krakatoa Lamb wave; both were clearly observed by pressure sensors (barometers) worldwide. Internal gravity, acoustic-gravity, and infrasound waves were captured in great detail by the entire infrasound component of the International Monitoring System (IMS). For instance, infrasound waves (<300 s period) were seen to circumnavigate Earth up to eight times. Atmospheric waves captured by the IMS infrasound network and selected barometers near the source provide insight on Earth's impulse response at planetary scales.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗