Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “ECHO SATELLITE”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 records

Evaluating meteorological data from weather stations, and from satellites and global models for a multi-site epidemiological study

Highlights: • Earth observation data has potential for use in epidemiology but is seldom validated. • The performance of two EO products varied depending on numerous factors. • Epidemiologists should use their own weather stations to record meteorological data. • Daily estimates of meteorological variables are associated with rotavirus infection. • Choice of climate data source should be determined by the research question. Longitudinal and time series analyses are needed to characterize the associations between hydrometeorological parameters and health outcomes. Earth Observation (EO) climate data products derived from satellites and global model-based reanalysis have the potential to be used as surrogates in situations and locations where weather-station based observations are inadequate or incomplete. However, these products often lack direct evaluation at specific sites of epidemiological interest.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

THERMAL AND CHEMICAL STRUCTURE VARIATIONS IN TITAN'S STRATOSPHERE DURING THE CASSINI MISSION

We have developed a line-by-line Atmospheric Radiative Transfer for Titan code that includes the most recent laboratory spectroscopic data and haze descriptions relative to Titan's stratosphere. We use this code to model Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer data taken during the numerous Titan flybys from 2006 to 2012 at surface-intercepting geometry in the 600-1500 cm{sup -1} range for latitudes from 50 Degree-Sign S to 50 Degree-Sign N. We report variations in temperature and chemical composition in the stratosphere during the Cassini mission, before and after the Northern Spring Equinox (NSE). We find indication for a weakening of the temperature gradient with warming of the stratosphere and cooling of the lower mesosphere. In addition, we infer precise concentrations for the trace gases and their main isotopologues and find that the chemical composition in Titan's stratosphere varies significantly with latitude during the 6 years investigated here, with increased mixing ratios toward the northern latitudes. In particular, we monitor and quantify the amplitude of a maximum enhancement of several gases observed at northern latitudes up to 50 Degree-Sign N around mid-2009, at the time of the NSE. We find that this rise is followed by a rapid decrease in chemical inventory in 2010 probably due to a weakening north polar vortex with reduced lateral mixing across the vortex boundary.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Clouds, Aerosols, and Precipitation in the Marine Boundary Layer: An Arm Mobile Facility Deployment

The Clouds, Aerosol, and Precipitation in the Marine Boundary Layer (CAP-MBL) deployment at Graciosa Island in the Azores generated a 21 month (April 2009-December 2010) comprehensive dataset documenting clouds, aerosols and precipitation using the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mobile Facility (AMF). The scientific aim of the deployment is to gain improved understanding of the interactions of clouds, aerosols and precipitation in the marine boundary layer. Graciosa Island straddles the boundary between the subtropics and midlatitudes in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, and consequently experiences a great diversity of meteorological and cloudiness conditions. Low clouds are the dominant cloud type, with stratocumulus and cumulus occurring regularly. Approximately half of all clouds contained precipitation detectable as radar echoes below the cloud base. Radar and satellite observations show that clouds with tops from 1- 11 km contribute more or less equally to surface-measured precipitation at Graciosa. A wide range of aerosol conditions was sampled during the deployment consistent with the diversity of sources as indicated by back trajectory analysis. Preliminary findings suggest important two-way interactions between aerosols and clouds at Graciosa, with aerosols affecting light precipitation and cloud radiative properties while being controlled in part by precipitation scavenging. The data from at Graciosa are being compared with short-range forecasts made a variety of models. A pilot analysis with two climate and two weather forecast models shows that they reproduce the observed time-varying vertical structure of lower-tropospheric cloud fairly well, but the cloud-nucleating aerosol concentrations less well. The Graciosa site has been chosen to be a permanent fixed ARM site that became operational in October 2013.

clouds↗

Shallow- and deep-convection characteristics in the greater Houston, Texas, area using cell tracking methodology

The convective lifecycle, from initiation to maturity and dissipation, is driven by a combination of kinematic, thermodynamic, microphysical, and radiative processes that are strongly coupled and variable in time and space. Weather radars have been traditionally used to provide various convective-cloud characteristics. Here, we analyzed climatological convective-cell radar characteristics to obtain and assess the diurnal cycles of three convective-cell types – shallow, modest deep, and vigorous deep convective cells – that formed in the greater Houston area, using the National Weather Service radar from Houston, Texas, and a multi-cell identification and tracking algorithm. The examined dataset spans 4 years (2018–2021) and covers the warm-season months (June to September) in those years. The analysis showed clear diurnal cycles in cell initiation (CI) consistent with the sea breeze circulation and showed diurnal and normalized lifetime relationships in cell evolution parameters (e.g., maximum reflectivity, echo-top height, Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-16 (GOES-16) channel 13 brightness temperature, and the height of maximum reflectivity). The cell evolution is well represented by relationships between (1) the height and value of the maximum radar reflectivity, (2) the minimum GOES-16 channel 13 brightness temperature and the maximum vertically integrated liquid, (3) the maximum reflectivity and columnar-average reflectivity, and (4) the echo-top ascent rate and cell lifetime. The relationships presented herein help to identify the cell lifecycle stages such as early shallow convection, vigorous vertical development, anvil development, and convective core dissipation. GOES-16 Aerosol Optical Depth values are also used as a proxy for cell initiation aerosol concentrations to investigate any potential relationships between initiation location and aerosol concentration. Overall, no significant relationships between initiation location and aerosol concentration were found for the three cell types investigated, but there are some minor differences in the pre-CI aerosol optical depth for vigorous deep convective cells.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

The weak imprint of environment on the stellar populations of galaxies

ABSTRACT We investigate the environmental dependence of the stellar populations of galaxies in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 (SDSS DR7). Echoing earlier works, we find that satellites are both more metal-rich (<0.1 dex) and older (<2 Gyr) than centrals of the same stellar mass. However, after separating star-forming, green valley, and passive galaxies, we find that the true environmental dependence of both stellar metallicity (<0.03 dex) and age (<0.5 Gyr) is in fact much weaker. We show that the strong environmental effects found when galaxies are not differentiated result from a combination of selection effects brought about by the environmental dependence of the quenched fraction of galaxies, and thus we strongly advocate for the separation of star-forming, green valley, and passive galaxies when the environmental dependence of galaxy properties are investigated. We also study further environmental trends separately for both central and satellite galaxies. We find that star-forming galaxies show no environmental effects, neither for centrals nor for satellites. In contrast, the stellar metallicities of passive and green valley satellites increase weakly (<0.05 and <0.08 dex, respectively) with increasing halo mass, increasing local overdensity and decreasing projected distance from their central; this effect is interpreted in terms of moderate environmental starvation (‘strangulation’) contributing to the quenching of satellite galaxies. Finally, we find a unique feature in the stellar mass–stellar metallicity relation for passive centrals, where galaxies in more massive haloes have larger stellar mass (∼0.1 dex) at constant stellar metallicity; this effect is interpreted in terms of dry merging of passive central galaxies and/or progenitor bias.

Trussler, James↗

First observations of tracking clouds using scanning ARM cloud radars

Tracking clouds using scanning cloud radars can help to document the temporal evolution of cloud properties well before large drop formation (‘‘first echo’’). These measurements complement cloud and precipitation tracking using geostationary satellites and weather radars. Here, two-dimensional (2-D) Along-Wind Range Height Indicator (AW-RHI) observations of a population of shallow cumuli (with and without precipitation) from the 35-GHz scanning ARM cloud radar (SACR) at the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurements (ARM) program Southern Great Plains (SGP) site are presented. Observations from the ARM SGP network of scanning precipitation radars are used to provide the larger scale context of the cloud field and to highlight the advantages of the SACR to detect the numerous, small, non-precipitating cloud elements. A new Cloud Identification and Tracking Algorithm (CITA) is developed to track cloud elements. In CITA, a cloud element is identified as a region having a contiguous set of pixels exceeding a preset reflectivity and size threshold. The high temporal resolution of the SACR 2-D observations (30 sec) allows for an area superposition criteria algorithm to match cloud elements at consecutive times. Following CITA, the temporal evolution of cloud element properties (number, size, and maximum reflectivity) is presented. The vast majority of the designated elements during this cumulus event were short-lived non-precipitating clouds having an apparent life cycle shorter than 15 minutes. The advantages and disadvantages of cloud tracking using an SACR are discussed.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

C-SAPR2 Convective Cell Tracking Database during CACTI

The convective cell tracking database V1 using the ARM CSAPR2 radar data set at the Sierras de C&oacute;rdoba (COR) AMF site in Argentina consists of individually tracked convective cells during the entire CACTI field campaign from 15 October 2018 to 3 March 2019. The cell tracking database is produced by applying an updated version of the FLEXible object TRaKeR (FLEXTRKR) (Feng et al. 2022) to the Cartesian gridded CSAPR2 PPI data set produced by the Taranis radar processing package (Hardin et al. 2020).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Galactic echoes

Gaia has revealed a variety of substructures in the phase space of stars in the Solar neighbourhood, including the vertical ‘Snail’ $(z, v_z)$ in space. Such substructures are often interpreted as the incompletely phase-mixed response of the disc stars to a single perturbation, such as an impulsive encounter with a satellite galaxy. In this paper, we consider the possibility that such structures contain manifestations of phase-space echoes. First established in plasma physics in the 1960s, echoes arise when a collisionless system is perturbed twice: the macroscopic responses to both perturbations mix to small scales in phase space, whereupon they couple non-linearly, producing a third macroscopic ‘echo’ response without the need for a third perturbation. We derive the galactic analogue of the plasma echo theory using angle-action variables and apply it to a one-dimensional model of vertical motion in the Milky Way. We verify the predicted echo behaviour using idealized test particle simulations, both with and without the inclusion of diffusion through orbital scattering off molecular clouds. While we conclude that the Gaia Snail itself is unlikely a (pure) echo effect, the basic physics we uncover is sufficiently generic that we expect phase-space echoes to be common in disc galaxies.

Galaxy: evolution↗

The Detection of Mesoscale Convective Systems by the GPM Ku-Band Spaceborne Radar

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) core observatory satellite launched in 2014 features more extended latitudinal coverage (65 degree S-65 degree N) than its predecessor Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM, 35 degree S-35 degree N). The Ku-band radar onboard of the GPM is known to be capable of characterizing the 3D structure of deep convection globally. In this study, GPM’s capability for detecting mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) is evaluated. Extreme convective echoes seen by GPM are compared against an MCS database based on tracking convective entities over the contiguous US. The tracking is based on geostationary satellite and ground-based Next Generation Radar (NEXRAD) network data obtained during the 2014-2016 warm seasons. Results show that more than 70% of the GPM-detected Deep-Wide Convective Core (DWC) and Wide Convective Core (WCC) objects are part of NEXRAD identified MCSs, indicating that GPM-classified DWCs and WCCs correlate well with typical MCSs containing large convective features. By applying this method to the rest of the world, a global view of MCS distribution is obtained. This work reveals GPM’s potential in MCS detection at the global scale, particularly over remote regions without dense observation network.

3D reflectivity structure↗

High energy physics in cosmic rays

In the first half-century of cosmic ray physics, the primary research focus was on elementary particles; the positron, pi-mesons, mu-mesons, and hyperons were discovered in cosmic rays. Much of this research was carried out at mountain elevations; Pic du Midi in the Pyrenees, Mt. Chacaltaya in Bolivia, and Mt. Evans/Echo Lake in Colorado, among other sites. In the 1960s, claims of the observation of free quarks, and satellite measurements of a significant rise in p-p cross sections, plus the delay in initiating accelerator construction programs for energies above 100 GeV, motivated the Michigan-Wisconsin group to undertake a serious cosmic ray program at Echo Lake. Subsequently, with the succession of higher energy accelerators and colliders at CERN and Fermilab, cosmic ray research has increasingly focused on cosmology and astrophysics, although some groups continue to study cosmic ray particle interactions in emulsion chambers.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Mind-the-gap - Part III: Doppler velocity measurements from space

Convective motions and hydrometeors microphysical properties are highly sought-after parameters for evaluating atmospheric numerical models. With most of the Earth's surface covered by water, space-borne Doppler radars are ideal for acquiring such measurements at a global scale. While these systems have proven to be useful tools for retrieving cloud microphysical and dynamical properties from the ground, their adequacy, and specific requirements for spaceborne operation still need to be evaluated. Comprehensive forward simulations enable us to assess the advantages and drawbacks of six different Doppler radar architectures currently planned or under consideration by space agencies for the study of cloud dynamics. Radar performance is examined against state-of-the-art numerical model simulations of well-characterized shallow and deep, continental, and oceanic convective cases. Mean Doppler velocity (MDV) measurements collected at multiple frequencies (13, 35 and 94 GHz) provide complementary information in deep convective cloud systems. The high penetration capability of the 13-GHz radar enables to obtain a complete, albeit horizontally under-sampled, view of deep convective storms. The smaller instantaneous field of view (IFOV) of the 35-GHz radar captures more precise information about the location and size of convective updrafts above 5-8 km height of most systems which was determined is the portion of storms where the mass flux peak is typically located. Finally, the lower mean Doppler velocity uncertainty of displaced phase center antenna (DPCA) radars makes them an ideal system for studying microphysics in shallow convection and frontal systems, as well as ice and mixed-phase clouds. It is demonstrated that a 94-GHz DCPA system can achieve retrieval errors as low as 0.05-0.15 mm for raindrop volume-weighted mean diameter and 25% for rime fraction (for a -10 dBZ echo).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

INSIGHT INTO THE FORMATION OF THE MILKY WAY THROUGH COLD HALO SUBSTRUCTURE. III. STATISTICAL CHEMICAL TAGGING IN THE SMOOTH HALO

We find that the relative contribution of satellite galaxies accreted at high redshift to the stellar population of the Milky Way's smooth halo increases with distance, becoming observable relative to the classical smooth halo about 15 kpc from the Galactic center. In particular, we determine line-of-sight-averaged [Fe/H] and [{alpha}/Fe] in the metal-poor main-sequence turnoff (MPMSTO) population along every Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE) spectroscopic line of sight. Restricting our sample to those lines of sight along which we do not detect elements of cold halo substructure (ECHOS), we compile the largest spectroscopic sample of stars in the smooth component of the halo ever observed in situ beyond 10 kpc. We find significant spatial autocorrelation in [Fe/H] in the MPMSTO population in the distant half of our sample beyond about 15 kpc from the Galactic center. Inside of 15 kpc however, we find no significant spatial autocorrelation in [Fe/H]. At the same time, we perform SEGUE-like observations of N-body simulations of Milky Way analog formation. While we find that halos formed entirely by accreted satellite galaxies provide a poor match to our observations of the halo within 15 kpc of the Galactic center, we do observe spatial autocorrelation in [Fe/H] in the simulations at larger distances. This observation is an example of statistical chemical tagging and indicates that spatial autocorrelation in metallicity is a generic feature of stellar halos formed from accreted satellite galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A SEARCH FOR INFRARED EMISSION FROM CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVAE AT THE TRANSITIONAL PHASE

Most of the observational studies of supernova (SN) explosions are limited to early phases ( 100 yr) in our Galaxy or very nearby galaxies. SNe at the epoch between these two, which we call the 'transitional' phase, have not been explored in detail except for several extragalactic SNe including SN 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud. We present theoretical predictions for the infrared (IR) dust emissions by several mechanisms; emission from dust formed in the SN ejecta, light echo by circumstellar (CS) and interstellar (IS) dust, and emission from shocked CS dust. We search for IR emission from six core-collapse SNe at the transitional phase in the nearby galaxies NGC 1313, NGC 6946, and M101 by using the data taken with the AKARI satellite and Spitzer. Among six targets, we detect the emission from SN 1978K in NGC 1313. SN 1978K is associated with 1.3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -3} M{sub Sun} of silicate dust. We show that, among several mechanisms, the shocked CS dust is the most probable emission source to explain the IR emission observed for SN 1978K. IR emission from the other five objects is not detected. Our current observations are sensitive to IR luminosity of >10{sup 38} erg s{sup -1}, and the non-detection of SN 1962M excludes the existence of the shocked CS dust for a high gas mass-loss rate of {approx}10{sup -4} M{sub Sun} yr{sup -1}. Observations of SNe at the transitional phase with future IR satellites will fill the gap of IR observations of SNe with the age of 10-100 yr, and give a new opportunity to study the CS and IS environments of the progenitor, and possibly dust formation in SNe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Hydrogen at zinc vacancy of ZnO: An EPR and ESEEM study

An electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum, labeled S1, with small-splitting doublet accompanied by weak satellites is observed in ZnO irradiated with 2 MeV electrons. The obtained structure is shown to be the hyperfine structure due to the dipolar interaction between an unpaired electron spin and a nuclear spin of hydrogen (H). The observation of the nuclear Zeeman frequency of H in electron spin echo envelope modulation experiments further confirmed the presence of a hydrogen atom in S1. From the observed spin-Hamiltonian parameters, S1 is identified to be the partly H-passivated Zn vacancy, V{sub Zn}{sup −}H{sup +}, with the H{sup +} ion making a short O-H bond with only one nearest O neighbor of V{sub Zn} in the basal plane, being off the substitutional site, while the unpaired electron spin, which gives rise to the observed EPR signal, is localized on the p orbital of another O neighbor also in the basal plane.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

A 17 year climatology of the macrophysical properties of convection in Darwin

Abstract. The validation of convective processes in global climate models (GCMs) could benefit from the use of large datasets that provide long-term climatologies of the spatial statistics of convection. To that regard, echo top heights (ETHs), convective areas, and frequencies of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) from 17 years of data from a C-band polarization (CPOL) radar are analyzed in varying phases of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) and northern Australian monsoon in order to provide ample validation statistics for GCM validation. The ETHs calculated using velocity texture and reflectivity provide similar results, showing that the ETHs are insensitive to various techniques that can be used. Retrieved ETHs are correlated with those from cloud top heights retrieved by Multifunctional Transport Satellites (MTSATs), showing that the ETHs capture the relative variability in cloud top heights over seasonal scales. Bimodal distributions of ETH, likely attributable to the cumulus congestus clouds and mature stages of convection, are more commonly observed when the active phase of the MJO is over Australia due to greater mid-level moisture during the active phase of the MJO. The presence of a convectively stable layer at around 5 km altitude over Darwin inhibiting convection past this level can explain the position of the modes at around 2–4 km and 7–9 km. Larger cells were observed during break conditions compared to monsoon conditions, but only during the inactive phase of the MJO. The spatial distributions show that Hector, a deep convective system that occurs almost daily during the wet season over the Tiwi Islands, and sea-breeze convergence lines are likely more common in break conditions. Oceanic MCSs are more common during the night over Darwin. Convective areas were generally smaller and MCSs more frequent during active monsoon conditions. In general, the MJO is a greater control on the ETHs in the deep convective mode observed over Darwin, with higher distributions of ETH when the MJO is active over Darwin.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

An Integrated Approach to Weather Radar Calibration and Monitoring Using Ground Clutter and Satellite Comparisons

Abstract The stability and accuracy of weather radar reflectivity calibration are imperative for quantitative applications, such as rainfall estimation, severe weather monitoring and nowcasting, and assimilation in numerical weather prediction models. Various radar calibration and monitoring techniques have been developed, but only recently have integrated approaches been proposed, that is, using different calibration techniques in combination. In this paper the following three techniques are used: 1) ground clutter monitoring, 2) comparisons with spaceborne radars, and 3) the self-consistency of polarimetric variables. These techniques are applied to a C-band polarimetric radar (CPOL) located in the Australian tropics since 1998. The ground clutter monitoring technique is applied to each radar volumetric scan and provides a means to reliably detect changes in calibration, relative to a baseline. It is remarkably stable to within a standard deviation of 0.1 dB. To obtain an absolute calibration value, CPOL observations are compared to spaceborne radars on board TRMM and GPM using a volume-matching technique. Using an iterative procedure and stable calibration periods identified by the ground echoes technique, we improve the accuracy of this technique to about 1 dB. Finally, we review the self-consistency technique and constrain its assumptions using results from the hybrid TRMM–GPM and ground echo technique. Small changes in the self-consistency parameterization can lead to 5 dB of variation in the reflectivity calibration. We find that the drop-shape model of Brandes et al. with a standard deviation of the canting angle of 12° best matches our dataset.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Linking Synoptic Patterns to Cloud Properties and Local Circulations Over Southeastern Texas

This report classifies meteorological regimes in the southeastern Texas region to identify environmental conditions that favor sea-breeze induced convection. The classification is accomplished using a Self-Organizing Map (SOM) approach. We applied SOM to 10 years of 700-hPa geopotential height anomalies during the summer months from reanalysis data to distinguish three dominant synoptic regimes, with a continuum of transitional states between those. The primary regimes include: (a) a pre-trough regime associated with a synoptic trough, (b) a post-trough regime with upper-level northerly flow, and (c) an anticyclonic regime within the westward extent of the Bermuda High. We project the data from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite and the Next Generation Weather Radar system onto each SOM node to investigate the characteristics of cloud and precipitation properties in different regimes. When southeastern Texas is positioned to the southwest quadrant of a maritime high pressure system, an increased cloud frequency is observed over the region during the afternoon hours due to significant moisture advection. A confluence of synoptic southerly flow and sea-breeze circulation commonly occurs in this regime. When a high pressure system is over southeastern Texas, the area is dominated by large-scale subsidence with weak pressure gradients and moderate precipitable water vapor. This weak synoptic forcing is favorable for the formation of a sea-breeze circulation. This is confirmed by an enhanced onshore flow and a decreased temperature at the surface in the early afternoon, as well as a sharp increase in radar echo top height.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

A STRONGLY MAGNETIZED PULSAR WITHIN THE GRASP OF THE MILKY WAY'S SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE

The center of our Galaxy hosts a supermassive black hole, Sagittarius (Sgr) A*. Young, massive stars within 0.5 pc of Sgr A* are evidence of an episode of intense star formation near the black hole a few million years ago, which might have left behind a young neutron star traveling deep into Sgr A*'s gravitational potential. On 2013 April 25, a short X-ray burst was observed from the direction of the Galactic center. With a series of observations with the Chandra and the Swift satellites, we pinpoint the associated magnetar at an angular distance of 2.4 ± 0.3 arcsec from Sgr A*, and refine the source spin period and its derivative (P = 3.7635537(2) s and P-dot = 6.61(4)×10{sup -12} s s{sup –1}), confirmed by quasi simultaneous radio observations performed with the Green Bank Telescope and Parkes Radio Telescope, which also constrain a dispersion measure of DM = 1750 ± 50 pc cm{sup –3}, the highest ever observed for a radio pulsar. We have found that this X-ray source is a young magnetar at ≈0.07-2 pc from Sgr A*. Simulations of its possible motion around Sgr A* show that it is likely (∼90% probability) in a bound orbit around the black hole. The radiation front produced by the past activity from the magnetar passing through the molecular clouds surrounding the Galactic center region might be responsible for a large fraction of the light echoes observed in the Fe fluorescence features.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗