Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “LaF”

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.

Mineralogy of nakhlite Martian meteorites: Implications for their relative burial depths

Nakhlites are Martian cumulate rocks mainly composed of augite with variable amounts of olivine and groundmass (mesostasis). Currently seven samples are known: Nakhla (Nak), Governador Valadares (GV), Lafayette (Laf), NWA817, Y000593 (Y), NWA998 and MIL03346 (MIL). All the nakhlites show a similar unbrecciated cumulate texture, and their identical crystallization and exposure ages suggest that they originated from the same igneous body on Mars and were ejected by the same impact event. It is important to study difference of their mineralogy to reconstruct the igneous body from which nakhlites originated. Augite grains in all nakhlites have a nearly identical core composition (En39Fs22Wo39) and have thin Fe-rich rims. These Fe-rich rims are zoned to Ca-poor pyroxene compositions and the degree of chemical zoning varies from one sample to another. NWA998 has the most Mg-rich edge composition. The edge composition becomes more Fe-rich in the order of Laf, Nak/GV, Y and NWA817. Unlike other samples, the Fe-rich edge of MIL augite is zoned to the hedenbergite composition. Olivine grains in all samples except Laf and NWA998 show extensive chemical zoning whose degree is clearly related to the chemical zoning of pyroxenes. MIL and NWA817 have the widest compositional ranges (Fa54-93). Y has a slightly narrower compositional range of Fa58-85. Nak and GV have even narrower ranges (Fa58-72). In contrast to these samples, olivines in Laf and NWA998 are homogeneous (Fa66-67 and Fa61-62, respectively). Such chemical zoning (Fa and Ca) can be used to quantitatively estimate their cooling rates (burial depths) because it was clearly formed by interaction with the intercumulus melt. The obtained burial depths are 1-2 m for NWA817, 4 m for MIL, 7 m for Y, approx.10 m for Nak and GV, and >30 m for Laf and NWA998. This order is clearly related to the degree of pyroxene chemical zoning. The abundance and mineralogy of nakhlite groundmass are also consistent with this order. In Nak, GV and Laf, the groundmass abundance is about 7-8%. Y and NWA998 have a slightly higher abundance (10%), while NWA817 and MIL have much higher abundance (20-24%). The groundmass texture is also related to its abundance. The groundmass of Nak, GV, Laf and Y is mainly composed of feldspar laths. In contrast, NWA817 and MIL have glassy mesostasis without feldspar crystals. In NWA998, feldspar is a large blocky crystal with clear twinning, suggesting that it is even deeper than Laf.

Mikouchi, T.↗

Lagged average forecasting, an alternative to Monte Carlo forecasting

A 'lagged average forecast' (LAF) model is developed for stochastic dynamic weather forecasting and used for predictions in comparison with the results of a Monte Carlo forecast (MCF). The technique involves the calculation of sample statistics from an ensemble of forecasts, with each ensemble member being an ordinary dynamical forecast (ODF). Initial conditions at a time lagging the start of the forecast period are used, with varying amounts of time for the lags. Forcing by asymmetric Newtonian heating of the lower layer is used in a two-layer, f-plane, highly truncated spectral model in a test forecasting run. Both the LAF and MCF are found to be more accurate than the ODF due to ensemble averaging with the MCF and the LAF. When a regression filter is introduced, all models become more accurate, with the LAF model giving the best results. The possibility of generating monthly or seasonal forecasts with the LAF is discussed.

Hoffman, R. N.↗

Application of lagged averaged forecasting to medium range forecasting

The lagged average forecast (LAF) method for predicting and compensating for forecast error growth is applied to two 100 day samples of 10 day forecasts at the 500 mb altitude for winter-summer 1980-81. The LAF parameterizes the forecast error growth in order to weight the forecast with regression calculations. A 5 day LAF forecast was generated for a 10 day forecast made with a 1681 d.o.f. model which produced predictions using a truncated spherical harmonic expansion. A 100 day data set was employed, with the first 90 days serving for LAF forecasts for the model forecast. Significant improvements were obtained in the model forecast when the LAF weightings were introduced into the model variables.

Dalcher, A.↗

Medium range lagged average forecasts

In this work, the application of the lagged average forecasting (LAF) technique to operational forecasts of the ECMWF is reported. The ECMWF data consist of two 100-day samples of 10-day forecasts of 500-mb geopotential height for winter 1980/81 and summer 1981. the LAF ensemble includes the latest operational forecast, and also forecast for the same verification time started one or more days earlier than the latest one. The focus is on the following two issues: (1) does ensemble averaging improve forecast skill and (2) is the dispersion of the ensemble useful in predicting forecast skill. The LAF technique was used to produce 3, 5, 7, 8, and 9 day forecasts of the 500-mb height field. The results show that the statistically filtered LAF is a marked improvment upon the operational forecast after 5 days. It is found that on a global scale, forecast skill is weakly correlated with the dispersion of the ensemble, as measured by the rms difference between the operational forecast and the statistically filtered LAF.

Dalcher, Amnon↗

Lagged average forecasting, some operational considerations

The Lagged Average Forecast (LAF) method differs from the Monte Carlo Forecast (MCF) method in the definition of the ensemble of initial states which are used to generate the ensemble of forecasts. The LAF initial states are the current analysis and the forecasts made from previous analyses verifying the current time. Thus the LAF ensemble is composed of forecasts which are made by a regular operational system of numerical weather prediction and the LAF method is therefore operationally attractive. The application of the authors' previous ideas and results to an operational model requires the resolution of what might be called the degrees of freedom problem, i.e., how to obtain a homogeneous sample large enough to calculate stable statistics. It is suggested that this problem may be solved by carefully modeling the required statistics in terms of a small set of parameters and then estimating only these few parameters from the data. It is noted that there may be considerable information in each initial ensemble relating to the predictability of each particular case, and that this information may be incorporated in the model of the statistics.

Hoffman, R. N.↗

Relative Burial Depths of Nakhlites: An Update

Nakhlites are augite-rich cumulate rocks with variable amounts of olivine and groundmass plus minor Fe, Ti oxides [e.g., 1]. Our previous studies revealed that nakhlites showed correlated petrography and mineralogy that could be explained by different locations (burial depths) in a common cooling cumulate pile [e.g., 2]. We so far analyzed six of the seven currently known nakhlites, Nakhla (Nak), Governador Valadares (GV), Lafayette (Laf), NWA817, Y000593 (Y) and MIL03346 (MIL) [e.g., 2,3] and calculated cooling rates of four nakhlites (Nak, GV, Laf, and NWA817) by using chemical zoning of olivine [e.g., 4]. In this abstract, we complete our examination of petrographic and mineralogical variation of all currently known nakhlites by adding petrology and mineralogy of NWA998. We also report results of cooling calculations for Y, MIL and NWA998. Then, we update our model of the nakhlite igneous body in terms of relative burial depth of each sample.

Mikouchi, T.↗

Improved insulator layer for MIS devices

Insulating layer of supersonic conductor such as LaF sub 3 has been shown able to impart improved electrical properties to photoconductive detectors and promises to improve other metal/insulator/semiconductor (MIS) devices, e.g., MOSFET and integrated circuits.

Miller, W. E.↗

Error Growth in Operational 10-day Forecasts

The rate of growth of forecast errors has been estimated previously, using as data base 100 consecutive 10-day operational forecasts from the European Center for Medium Range Forecasting (ECMWF). The growth of the difference between two model forecasts verifying the same day was parameterized. This parameterization of error growth was extended by including the effect of model deficiencies as well as their scale dependence. In this way the forecaster are able to fit real forecast error growth and determine the scale dependence of the derived parameters (rate of error growth, external error source due to model errors, and saturation levels). This work is a necessary step in the application of the Lagged Average Forecasting (LAF) technique to the ECMWF 10-day forecasts. It is found that for both the analyses and the forecasts, there is an approximate equipartition of energy between all the zonal wavenumbers m corresponding to the same total wavenumber n.

Kalnay, E.↗

Speckle noise reduction of 1-look SAR imagery

Speckle noise is inherent to synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery. Since the degradation of the image due to this noise results in uncertainties in the interpretation of the scene and in a loss of apparent resolution, it is desirable to filter the image to reduce this noise. In this paper, an adaptive algorithm based on the calculation of the local statistics around a pixel is applied to 1-look SAR imagery. The filter adapts to the nonstationarity of the image statistics since the size of the blocks is very small compared to that of the image. The performance of the filter is measured in terms of the equivalent number of looks (ENL) of the filtered image and the resulting resolution degradation. The results are compared to those obtained from different techniques applied to similar data. The local adaptive filter (LAF) significantly increases the ENL of the final image. The associated loss of resolution is also lower than that for other commonly used speckle reduction techniques.

Nathan, Krishna S.↗

First Detection of the Hatchett-McCray Effect in the High-Mass X-ray Binary

The orbital modulation of stellar wind UV resonance line profiles as a result of ionization of the wind by the X-ray source has been observed in the high-mass X-ray binary 4U1700-37/HD 153919 for the first time. Far-UV observations (905-1180 Angstrom, resolution 0.05 Angstroms) were made at the four quadrature points of the binary orbit with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) in 2003 April and August. The O6.5 laf primary eclipses the X-ray source (neutron star or black hole) with a 3.41-day period. Orbital modulation of the UV resonance lines, resulting from X-ray photoionization of the dense stellar wind, the so-called Hatchett-McCray (HM) effect, was predicted for 4U1700-37/HD153919 (Hatchett 8 McCray 1977, ApJ, 211, 522) but was not seen in N V 1240, Si IV 1400, or C IV 1550 in IUE and HST spectra. The FUSE spectra show that the P V 1118-1128 and S IV 1063-1073 P-Cygni lines appear to vary as expected for the HM effect, weakest at phase 0.5 (X-ray source conjunction) and strongest at phase 0.0 (X-ray source eclipse). The phase modulation of the O VI 1032-1037 lines, however, is opposite to P V and S IV, implying that O VI may be a byproduct of the wind's ionization by the X-ray source. Such variations were not observed in N V, Si IV, and C IV because of their high optical depth. Due to their lower cosmic abundance, the P V and S IV wind lines are unsaturated, making them excellent tracers of the ionization conditions in the O star's wind.

Sonneborn, G.↗

Effects of Gravity on ZBLAN Glass Crystallization

The effects of gravity on the crystallization of ZrF(4)-BaF(2)-LaF(3)-AIF(3)-NaF glasses have been studied using the NASA KC-135 and a sounding rocket. Fibers and cylinders of ZBLAN glass were heated to the crystallization temperature in unit and reduced gravity. When processed in unit gravity the glass crystallized, but when processed in reduced gravity, crystallization was suppressed. A possible explanation involving shear thinning is presented to explain these results.

Gravitation↗