DLH Measurements During ACCLIP 2021, and Status for 2022
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Polymer degradation under aggressive environmental stressors often develops heterogeneities due to diffusion-limited reaction phenomena. This is well established for diffusion-limited oxidation (DLO), which is known to occur for most polymeric materials at elevated temperatures but has been less summarized for the conditions of diffusion-limited hydrolysis (DLH). Here, an overview of hydrolysis for several materials and a computational model, analogous to the underlying equations for DLO, able to define this diffusion-reaction system is presented. A systematic study of the influence of various parameters, such as water diffusivity, reaction rate and order, and a more in-depth focus on residual isocyanate hydrolysis in a polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (pMDI) based polyurethane (PU) foam is given. For this system, we present experimental data for model ‘input’ parameters and discuss predictions for different conditions. We conceptually compare the behavior of diffusion-limited oxidation to that of diffusion-limited hydrolysis (DLH). With the mathematical framework and key material properties presented herein, any DLH phenomena following Fickian diffusion behavior can be understood, modeled, and predicted.
The NASA Langley / Ames Diode Laser Hygrometer (DLH) was flown aboard the NASA DC-8 during all three arctic deployments of the SOLVE campaign. The DLH measures gas phase H2O in the freestream air between the fuselage and the outer right engine cowling, essentially free from aircraft perturbations. It uses wavelength-modulated near-IR laser radiation at about 1.4 microns to detect the H2O absorption. Calibration is based on short path experiments in the laboratory using a NIST-traceable dewpoint hygrometer with carefully conditioned air at dewpoints between - 10 and + 10 degrees C. The theory of operation of the DLH instrument will be presented, along with a description of the calibration methodology. A simple climatology of H2O observations from SOLVE will be presented.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is well known for its importance as an atmospheric greenhouse gas, with many sources and sinks around the globe. Understanding the fluxes of carbon into and out of the atmosphere is a complex and daunting challenge. One tool applied by scientists to measure the vertical flux of CO2 near the surface uses the eddy covariance technique, most often from towers but also from aircraft flying specific patterns over the study area. In this technique, variations of constituents of interest are correlated with fluctuations in the local vertical wind velocity. Measurement requirements are stringent, particularly with regard to precision, sensitivity to small changes, and temporal sampling rate. In addition, many aircraft have limited payload capability, so instrument size, weight, and power consumption are also important considerations. We report on the development and preliminary application of an airborne sensor for the measurement of atmospheric CO2. The instrument, modeled on the successful DLH (Diode Laser Hygrometer) series of instruments, has been tested in the laboratory and on the NASA DC-8 aircraft. Performance parameters such as accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity, and temporal response are discussed in the context of typical atmospheric variability and suitability for flux measurement applications. On-aircraft, in-flight data have been obtained and are discussed as well. Performance of the instrument has been promising, and continued flight testing is planned during 2016.
Airborne NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) High Spectral Resolution Lidar-2 (HSRL-2) measurements acquired during the recent NASA EVS-3 Aerosol Cloud Meteorology Interactions over the Western Atlantic Experiment (ACTIVATE) revealed enhanced particulate linear depolarization associated with aerosols within the marine boundary layer. These HSRL-2 observations were acquired off the east coast of the United States in February and March 2020 when this lidar was deployed on the NASA LaRC UC-12 aircraft. HSRL-2 measured profiles of aerosol backscattering, extinction,and depolarization at 355 and 532nm and aerosol backscattering and depolarization at 1064nm. Typically HSRL-2 measures low (<5%) linear particulate depolarization associated with marine sea salt aerosols. However, during several ACTIVATE flights, particularly those that occurred with outbreaks of cold, dry air, linear particulate depolarization exceeded 15-20% (532nm) for aerosols within a few hundred meters above the surface. These high values indicated that these particles were nonspherical. Elevated depolarization values were also observed at 355 and 1064 nm. HSRL-2 measured aerosol extinction/backscatter ratio (“lidar ratio”) values around 20-25 sr (355 and 532 nm) that are typically associated with sea salt particles. Coincident measurements of relative humidity from dropsondes released from the UC-12and in situ Diode Laser Hygrometer (DLH) measurements flown on the NASA HU-25 aircraft showed that highest depolarization values of these nonspherical particles were found when the relative humidity (RH)was below 50-60%.These lidar observations of elevated depolarization associated with sea salt aerosol are consistent with previous lidar measurements of sea salt aerosols in dry conditions. We discuss these HSRL-2 measurements also in the context of coincident airborne in situ measurements of particle size and composition acquired on the HU-25 aircraft. We also found that CALIOP satellite measurements observed elevated depolarization during some similar cold air outbreaks. In such cases, the operational CALIOP algorithms attributed the elevated depolarization to nonspherical dust particles rather than the more likely scenario of nonspherical sea salt particles associated with low RH.
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