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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 19 records

Study of the Brazil and Falkland currents using their images of Nimbus 5 and oceanographic data in 1972 - 1973

The Western Edge of the Sub-tropical Convergence of the South-western Atlantic Ocean, called the Front, which is a thermal discontinuity between the Brazil and Falkland Currents, was studied utilizing the Temperature Humidity Infrared Radiometer (THIR) of Nimbus V in the 10.5 to 12.5 micrometers channel and historical oceanographic data. Some important results obtained are: the oceanographic Front could be detected from Nimbus THIR data; oceanographic charts showed that the transition zone where the Brazil and the Falkland Currents meet was the Front detected from satellite data; ocean current speeds calculated with THIR data were of the same order of magnitude as those calculated oceanographically; fisheries statistics for Pargo Roseo showed that the maximum catches were in September of 1973, in the period when the Front was observed most distinctly and clearly. The results showed the great potentiality of satellite data to study surface thermal structures, surface currents and oceanic fisheries.

Tseng, Y. C.↗

Publication Of Oceanographic Data on CD-ROM

Large collections of oceanographic data and other large collections of data published on CD-ROM's in formats facilitating access and analysis. Involves four major steps: preprocessing, premastering, mastering, and verification. Large capacity, small size, commercial availability, long-life, and standard format of CD-ROM's offer advantages over computer-compatible magnetic tape.

Hilland, Jeffrey E.↗

Autoregressive modeling for the spectral analysis of oceanographic data

Over the last decade there has been a dramatic increase in the number and volume of data sets useful for oceanographic studies. Many of these data sets consist of long temporal or spatial series derived from satellites and large-scale oceanographic experiments. These data sets are, however, often 'gappy' in space, irregular in time, and always of finite length. The conventional Fourier transform (FT) approach to the spectral analysis is thus often inapplicable, or where applicable, it provides questionable results. Here, through comparative analysis with the FT for different oceanographic data sets, the possibilities offered by autoregressive (AR) modeling to perform spectral analysis of gappy, finite-length series, are discussed. The applications demonstrate that as the length of the time series becomes shorter, the resolving power of the AR approach as compared with that of the FT improves. For the longest data sets examined here, 98 points, the AR method performed only slightly better than the FT, but for the very short ones, 17 points, the AR method showed a dramatic improvement over the FT. The application of the AR method to a gappy time series, although a secondary concern of this manuscript, further underlines the value of this approach.

Gangopadhyay, Avijit↗

Integrated support of NASA satellite and in situ oceanographic data via the PO.DAAC

The NASA Physical Oceanography DAAC (PO.DAAC) serves as one of the premier repositories for oceanographic satellite data. More recently, however, it is also increasingly archiving and distributing complementary in situ datasets from NASA-sponsored field campaigns. Here we present an overview of these projects, the complex multivariate data they produce, and some of the data interoperability challenges faced when dealing with such a heterogeneous suite of observations. We summarize the range of online tools and services currently available via the PODAAC, including data discovery services, web-services for subsetting/extraction, compliance checking and visualization. We also preview some new capabilities under development that may feature in future. These efforts are indicative of an evolution of DAAC services in pursuit of our broader vision: a more integrated approach to multi-sensor oceanographic data access and delivery spanning NASA satellite missions and field campaigns in support of science and applications for societal benefit.

Vannan, Suresh↗

Managing and Servicing Physical Oceanographic Data at a NASA Distributed Active Archive Center

The NASA Earth Science Data Information Systems Project funds and operates 12 Distributed Active Archive Center(s) (DAAC) throughout the United States. Of these 12 centers, the Physical Oceanography DAAC (PO.DAAC) is committed to providing long term archival, distribution and stewardship for NASA physical oceanographic data, primarily derived from space-born satellite systems, but also including a growing set of recent and future in situ observations from the SPURS-1 and SPURS-2 campaigns. Notable NASA missions supported include: Seasat, TOPEX/Poseidon, NSCAT, QuikSCAT, ISS-RapidScat, Jason-1, Jason-2/OSTM, GRACE, Aquarius, GHRSST, and MODIS. The following interagency and international missions are also supported by PO.DAAC: AVHRR, Coriolis, DMSP, MetOp-A, MetOp-B, Oceansat-2. The PO.DAAC currently holds 525 datasets in public distribution, spanning the following observational parameters: sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity, ocean color, ocean surface currents, ocean surface wind speed, ocean surface wind direction, sea surface height, significant wave height, ocean water mass/thickness, and sea ice age. A hundred of these datasets are available in near-real-time. Datasets are distributed through a variety of open-source access protocols including FTP, OPeNDAP, and THREDDS. FTP will soon be phased out in favor of a recently introduced HTTPS PO.DAAC Drive interface that supports WebDAV and interoperable machine-to-machine communication. OPeNDAP supports remote data/metadata query, subset, and download. THREDDS provides the features of OPeNDAP with the additional feature of temporal aggregation. PO.DAAC also offers proprietary tools and services to further enhance the data discovery, visualization and analysis experience, including but not limited to: State of the Ocean, Web Services (data/metadata discovery and extraction), HiTIDE Level-2 subsetter, Live Access Server (LAS), Webification (w10nsci), and Rich Site Summary (RSS) Datacasting. To assist with provenance of datasets, PO.DAAC has implemented DOIs for the data it distributes so that they can be properly cited. There is a user forum and helpdesk that contains data recipes and via which users can get guidance. In summary, this presentation aims to provide a general overview of PO.DAAC’s web portal and data holdings along with a set of illustrative examples leading prospective data users into the practical utility of its tools and services.

Moroni, David F.↗

Application of LANDSAT satellite imagery and oceanographic data for verification of an upwelling mathematical model

The author has identified the following significant results. Data obtained during the cruise of the Cabo Frio and from LANDSAT imagery are used to discuss the characteristics of a linear model which simulates wind induced currents calculated from meteorological conditions at the time of the mission. There is a significant correspondance between the model of simulated horizontal water circulation, sea surface temperature, and surface currents observed on LANDSAT imagery. Close approximations were also observed between the simulation of vertical water movement (upwelling) and the oceanographic measurements taken along a series of points of the prevailing currents.

Dejesusparada, N.↗

Seasat-A oceanographic data system and users

The Seasat-A system is reviewed with emphasis on data retrieval, processing and dissemination plans. Attention is paid to the sensors of the Seasat satellite including the compressed pulse radar altimeter, the coherent synthetic aperture imaging radar, the microwave wind scatterometer, and the scanning visible/infrared radiometer. Particular emphasis is placed on a particular set of experiments: the Navy's Fleet Numerical Weather Control will receive Seasat data in real time and process the data into products that will be used in weather and sea condition forecasts.

Mccandless, S. W., Jr.↗

Oceanographic data analysis with NASA's SEAPAK software

The paper presents a case study of the interannual variability of vertical Ekman transport (upwelling) observed in the North Atlantic during the CZCS data collection period in order to illustrate SEAPAK's ancillary data handling functions. The study begins at the entire basin-scale for the North Atlantic and proceeds to a regional scale where much of the observed upwelling variability occurs. The analysis utilizes a variety of output types, including images, horizontal contour plots, time series, cross sections, and vertical profiles, produced on the VAX directly or by commercially available PC software packages. The SEAPAK software can be used just as effectively for global or basin-scale studies as for regional studies.

Firestone, James K.↗

Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Meteorological and Oceanographic Data Sets for 1985 and 1986

The Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Program is a component of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)/International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) World Climate Research Program (WCRP). One of the objectives of TOGA, which began in 1985, is to determine the limits of predictability of monthly mean sea surface temperature variations in tropical regions. The TOGA program created a raison d'etre for an explosive growth of the tropical ocean observing system and a substantial improvement in numerical simulations from atmospheric and oceanic general circulation models. Institutions located throughout the world are involved in the TOGA-distributed active data archive system. The diverse TOGA data sets for 1985 and 1986, including results from general circulation models, are included on a CD-ROM. Variables on the CD-ROM are barometric pressure, surface air temperature, dewpoint temperature Cartesian components of surface wind, surface sensible and latent heat fluxes,Cartesian components of surface wind stress and of an index of surface wind stress, sea level, sea surface temperature, and depth profiles of temperature and current in the upper ocean. Some data sets are global in extent, some are regional and cover portions of an ocean basin. Data on the CD-ROM can be extracted with an Apple Macintosh or an IBM PC.

Halpern, D.↗

Connecting Paleo and Modern Oceanographic Data to Understand Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation Over Decades to Centuries

Modeling is an important tool for understanding AMOC on all timescales. Mechanistic studies of modern AMOC variability have been hampered by a lack of consistency between free-running models and the sensitivity of AMOC to resolution and parameterization. Recent work within the framework of the phase two Coordinated Ocean- Reference Experiments (CORE-II) addresses this issue head on, looking at model differences of AMOC mean state and interannual variability. One consistent feature across the models is that AMOC mean transport is related to mixed layer depths and Labrador Sea salt content, whereas interannual variability is primarily associated with Labrador Sea temperature anomalies. This is consistent with the hypothesized importance of salt balance for AMOC variability on geological timescales. The simulated relationships between AMOC and subsurface temperature anomalies in fully coupled climate models reveal subsurface AMOC fingerprints that could be used to reconstruct historical AMOC variations at low frequency.With the lack of long-term AMOC observations, models of ocean state that assimilate observational data have been explored as a way to reconstruct AMOC, but comparisons between models indicate they are quite variable in their AMOC representations. Karspeck et al. (2015) found that historical reconstructions of AMOC in such models are sensitive to the details of the data assimilation procedure. The ocean data assimilation community continues to address these issues through improved models and methods for estimating and representing error information.Two objectives of paleoclimate modeling are 1) to provide mechanistic information for interpretation of paleoclimate observations, and 2) to test the ability of predictive models to simulate Earth's climate under different background forcing states. In a good example of the first objective, Schmittner and Lund (2015) and Menviel et al. (2014) provided key information about the proxy signals expected under freshwater disturbance of AMOC, which were used to support the paleoclimate observations made by Henry et al. (2016). In an example of the second objective, Muglia and Schmittner (2015) analyzed Third Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project (PMIP3) models of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and found consistently more intense and deeper AMOC transports relative to preindustrial simulations, counter to the paleoclimate consensus of LGM conditions, indicating that some processes are not well represented in the PMIP3 models. One challenge is to find adequate paleo observations against which to test these models. PMIP is now in phase 4 (part of CMIP6), which includes experiments covering five periods in Earth's history: the last millennium, last glacial maximum, last interglacial, and the mid-Pliocene. Newly compiled paleoclimate datasets from the PAGES2k project, more transient simulations, and participation of isotope enabled models planned for CMIP6PMIP4 will enable richer paleo data-model comparisons in the near future.

Kilbourne, Hali↗