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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1972

Wind velocity profiles measured by the smoke-trail method at the Eastern Test Range, 1964

Twenty-six detailed wind profiles measured by the smoke trail technique at the Eastern Test Range during the first seven months of 1964 are presented as plots of west-to-east and south-to-north velocity components at height intervals of 25 meters. The overall altitude ranges of the profiles vary from about 2.6 to 19.1 km. The wind measurements, which were made under a variety of conditions, include velocities in excess of the 90- and 95-percent highest values for the Eastern Test Range. The report also includes a listing of the wind profiles, their maximum velocities and direction of the maximum velocities, measured by the smoke trail method at the Eastern Test Range from 1962 to 1964.

Manning, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Wind velocity profiles measured by the smoke-trail method at Wallops Island, Virginia, 1965 - 1969

Thirty-nine detailed wind profiles measured by the smoke-trail method at the Wallops Island Test Range during the years 1965 through 1969 are presented as west-to-east and south-to-north velocity components at height intervals of 25 meters. The overall altitude range of the wind profile data varies from about 1 to 23 km. The wind measurements, which were made under a variety of conditions, include velocities in excess of the annual 99-percent highest wind value (the wind value which will not be exceeded 99 percent of the time) for the Wallops Island Test Range. The report also includes a listing of the wind soundings and their maximum velocities and direction of the maximum velocities measured at Wallops Island from 1959 through 1969. Results of smoke-trail enhancement experiments are also indicated.

Rhyne, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Flow field measurement and visualization using projected smoke trails

A new, simple method is described for measuring and visualizing air flows. The method involves projecting a small heated metal pellet through the air at a speed greater than the flow. The pellet burns as it moves through the air and leaves a wake of very fine, visible, metal oxide particles. The position of this visible smoke trail is then photographed at a sequence of times. The displacement of the trail can be used to provide a plot of the normal component of velocity as a function of distance. Examples are given for very low speed thermal convection (less than about 1 m/sec) and low speed flow over airfoils and cylinders (less than about 10 m/sec). Comparisons of the method to pulsed smoke-wire, spark-tracer and laser fluorescence methods, which give similar information, are discussed.

Steinhoff, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS1961

The Smoke-Trail Method for Obtaining Detailed Measurements of the Vertical Wind Profile for Application to Missile-Dynamic-Response Problems

Detailed measurements of the vertical profile of the wind are urgently needed f o r studies of the response of rising missiles, but conventional wind-measuring systems cannot provide the accuracy and detail required over the necessary range of altitudes. A method is presented for obtaining a detailed, accurate profile over a large altitude range. The method utilizes photogrammetric measurement of successive positions of the t rail of an ascending rocket. Construction of a rocketborne smoke generator is discussed and the photography, film reading, and data-reduction procedures are described. The accuracy of the method i s examined and error equations are derived. Finally, some examples of wind profiles measured by this method are shown, and their implications for missile response are indicated.

Henry, Robert M.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Measured Changes in C-Band Radar Reflectivity of Clear Air Caused by Aircraft Wake Vortices

Wake vortices from a C-130 airplane were observed at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility with a ground-based, monostatic C-band radar and an antenna-mounted boresight video camera. The airplane wake was viewed from a distance of approximately 1 km, and radar scanning was adjusted to cross a pair of marker smoke trails generated by the C-130. For each airplane pass, changes in radar reflectivity were calculated by subtracting the signal magnitudes during an initial clutter scan from the signal magnitudes during vortex-plus-clutter scans. The results showed both increases and decreases in reflectivity on and near the smoke trails in a characteristic sinusoidal pattern of heightened reflectivity in the center and lessened reflectivity at the sides. Reflectivity changes in either direction varied from -131 to -102 dBm(exp -1); the vortex-plus-clutter to noise ratio varied from 20 to 41 dB. The radar recordings lasted 2.5 min each; evidence of wake vortices was found for up to 2 min after the passage of the airplane. Ground and aircraft clutter were eliminated as possible sources of the disturbance by noting the occurrence of vortex signatures at different positions relative to the ground and the airplane. This work supports the feasibility of vortex detection by radar, and it is recommended that future radar vortex detection be done with Doppler systems.

Mackenzie, Anne I.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Merging of aircraft vortex trails - Similarities to magnetic field merging

This paper discusses the phenomenological and formal similarities between the merging of aircraft vortex trails and the merging of magnetic field lines in a plasma. High-resolution photographs are shown of smoke trails from the wing tips of an airplane. These photographs show that the two vortex trails merge together downstream of the aircraft in a way similar to the merging of oppositely directed magnetic field lines in a plasma. Although there are some differences, this correspondence is apparently related to the fact that the vorticity equation in a fluid has the same mathematical form as the magnetic field equation in an MHD plasma. In both cases the merging proceeds at a rate considerably faster than would be predicted from classical estimates of the viscosity and resistivity. The enhanced merging rate in the fluid case appears to result from turbulence that increases the diffusion rate in the merging region.

Gurnett, Donald A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

High resolution evidence for the Garrett-Munk spectrum of stratospheric gravity waves

Vertical profiles of scalar horizontal winds have been measured at high resolution (10 m) in the 13 to 37 km region of the stratosphere. This resolution (at that range of altitude) represents the state-of-the-art, and is unique. The technique used smoke trails laid by rockets in the stratosphere, and were taken by AFGL at Wallops Island, VA, White Sands Missile Range, NM, and Ft. Churchill, Canada, in the 1977-78 time period. Two or three cameras were used to give the time-lapse photographs. The goal was to ascertain whether or not the internal waves of the stratosphere behave consistently with the Garrett-Munk model which was originally created for oceanic internal waves. Five profiles of horizontal wind are presented. It is concluded: (1) stratospheric internal waves obey the Garrett-Munk model for vertical wave numbers; (2) there is not statistically significant evidence for a break in the curve at high wave numbers when due allowance is made for aliasing effects; and (3) the power density level of the spectra are almost equal on a log-log scale in spite of the difference in time, season, and geographical location.

Dewan, E. M.↗