Differential response of surface temperature and atmospheric temperature to the biogeophysical effects of deforestation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winckler, J.; Reick, C. H.; Lejeune, Q.; Pongratz, J.

2017-12-01

Deforestation influences temperature locally by changing the water, energy and momentum balance. While most observation-based studies and some modeling studies focused on the effects on surface temperature, other studies focused on the effects on near-surface air temperature. However, these two variables may respond differently to deforestation because changes in albedo and surface roughness may alter the land-atmosphere coupling and thus the vertical temperature distribution. Thus it is unclear whether it is possible to compare studies that assess the impacts of deforestation on these two different variables. Here, we analyze the biogeophysical effects of global-scale deforestation in the climate model MPI-ESM separately for surface temperature, 2m-air temperature and temperature the lowest atmospheric model layer. We investigate why the response of these variables differs by isolating the effects of only changing surface albedo and only changing surface roughness and by separating effects that are induced at the location of deforestation (local effects) from effects that are induced by advection and changes in circulation (nonlocal effects). Concerning surface temperature, we find that the local effects of deforestation lead to a global mean warming which is overcompensated by the nonlocal effects (up to 0.1K local warming versus -0.3K nonlocal cooling). The surface warming in the local effects is largely driven by the change in surface roughness while the cooling in the nonlocal effects is largely driven by the change in surface albedo. The nonlocal effects are largely consistent across surface temperature, 2m-air temperature, and the temperature of the lowest atmospheric layer. However, the local effects strongly differ across the three considered variables. The local effects are strong for surface temperature, but substantially weaker in the 2m-air temperature and largely absent in the lowest atmospheric layer. We conclude that studies focusing on the deforestation effects on surface temperature should not be compared to studies focusing on the effects on air temperature. While the local effects on surface temperature are useful for model evaluation, they might be less relevant for local adaptation and mitigation than previously thought because they might largely be absent in the atmosphere.

Sea surface temperature measurements with AIRS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aumann, H.

2003-01-01

The comparison of global sea surface skin temperature derived from cloud-free AIRS super window channel at 2616 cm-1 (sst2616) with the Real-Time Global Sea Surface Temperature for September 2002 shows surprisingly small standard deviation of 0.44K.

Comparison of Near-Surface Air Temperatures and MODIS Ice-Surface Temperatures at Summit, Greenland (2008-2013)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shuman, Christopher A.; Hall, Dorothy K.; DiGirolamo, Nicolo E.; Mefford, Thomas K.; Schnaubelt, Michael J.

2014-01-01

We have investigated the stability of the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) infrared-derived ice surface temperature (IST) data from Terra for use as a climate quality data record. The availability of climate quality air temperature data (TA) from a NOAA Global Monitoring Division observatory at Greenlands Summit station has enabled this high temporal resolution study of MODIS ISTs. During a 5 year period (July 2008 to August 2013), more than 2500 IST values were compared with 3-minute average TA values derived from the 1-minute data from NOAAs primary 2 m air temperature sensor. These data enabled an expected small offset between air and surface temperatures at this the ice sheet location to be investigated over multiple annual cycles.

Temperature Mapping of Air Film-Cooled Thermal Barrier Coated Surfaces Using Phosphor Thermometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eldridge, Jeffrey I.

2016-01-01

While the effects of thermal barrier coating (TBC) thermal protection and air film cooling effectiveness for jet engine components are usually studied separately, their contributions to combined cooling effectiveness are interdependent and are not simply additive. Therefore, combined cooling effectiveness must be measured to achieve an optimum balance between TBC thermal protection and air film cooling. Phosphor thermometry offers several advantages for mapping temperatures of air film cooled surfaces. While infrared thermography has been typically applied to study air film cooling effectiveness, temperature accuracy depends on knowing surface emissivity (which may change) and correcting for effects of reflected radiation. Because decay time-based full-field phosphor thermometry is relatively immune to these effects, it can be applied advantageously to temperature mapping of air film-cooled TBC-coated surfaces. In this presentation, an overview will be given of efforts at NASA Glenn Research Center to perform temperature mapping of air film-cooled TBC-coated surfaces in a burner rig test environment. The effects of thermal background radiation and flame chemiluminescence on the measurements are investigated, and the strengths and limitations of this method for studying air film cooling effectiveness are discussed.

Improving the Performance of Temperature Index Snowmelt Model of SWAT by Using MODIS Land Surface Temperature Data

PubMed Central

Yang, Yan; Onishi, Takeo; Hiramatsu, Ken

2014-01-01

Simulation results of the widely used temperature index snowmelt model are greatly influenced by input air temperature data. Spatially sparse air temperature data remain the main factor inducing uncertainties and errors in that model, which limits its applications. Thus, to solve this problem, we created new air temperature data using linear regression relationships that can be formulated based on MODIS land surface temperature data. The Soil Water Assessment Tool model, which includes an improved temperature index snowmelt module, was chosen to test the newly created data. By evaluating simulation performance for daily snowmelt in three test basins of the Amur River, performance of the newly created data was assessed. The coefficient of determination (R 2) and Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) were used for evaluation. The results indicate that MODIS land surface temperature data can be used as a new source for air temperature data creation. This will improve snow simulation using the temperature index model in an area with sparse air temperature observations. PMID:25165746

Near Surface Thermal Stratification during Summer at Summit, Greenland, and its Impact on MODIS-derived Surface Temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adolph, A. C.; Albert, M. R.; Hall, D. K.

2017-12-01

As rapid warming of the Arctic occurs, it is imperative that we monitor climate parameters such as temperature over large areas to understand and predict the extent of climate changes. Temperatures are often tracked using in-situ 2 m air temperatures, but in remote locations such as on the Greenland Ice Sheet, temperature can be studied more comprehensively using remote sensing techniques. Because of the presence of surface-based temperature inversions in ice-covered areas, differences between 2 m air temperature and skin temperature can be significant and are particularly relevant when considering validation and application of remote sensing temperature data. We present results from a field campaign at Summit Station in Greenland to study surface temperature using the following measurements: skin temperature measured by IR sensors, thermochrons, and thermocouples; 2 m air temperature measured by a NOAA meteorological station; and two different MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) surface temperature products. We confirm prior findings that in-situ 2 m air temperature is often significantly higher in the summer than in-situ skin temperature when incoming solar radiation and wind speed are low. This inversion may account for biases in previous MODIS surface temperature studies that used 2 m air temperature for validation. As compared to the in-situ IR skin temperature measurements, the MOD/MYD11 Collection 6 surface-temperature standard product has an RMSE of 1.0°C, and that the MOD29 Collection 6 product has an RMSE of 1.5°C, spanning a range of temperatures from -35°C to -5°C. For our study area and time series, MODIS surface temperature products agree with skin temperatures better than many previous studies have indicated, especially at temperatures below -20°C where other studies found a significant cold bias. Further investigation at temperatures below -35°C is warranted to determine if this bias does indeed exist.

Evolution of surface sensible heat over the Tibetan Plateau under the recent global warming hiatus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Lihua; Huang, Gang; Fan, Guangzhou; Qu, Xia; Zhao, Guijie; Hua, Wei

2017-10-01

Based on regular surface meteorological observations and NCEP/DOE reanalysis data, this study investigates the evolution of surface sensible heat (SH) over the central and eastern Tibetan Plateau (CE-TP) under the recent global warming hiatus. The results reveal that the SH over the CE-TP presents a recovery since the slowdown of the global warming. The restored surface wind speed together with increased difference in ground-air temperature contribute to the recovery in SH. During the global warming hiatus, the persistent weakening wind speed is alleviated due to the variation of the meridional temperature gradient. Meanwhile, the ground surface temperature and the difference in ground-air temperature show a significant increasing trend in that period caused by the increased total cloud amount, especially at night. At nighttime, the increased total cloud cover reduces the surface effective radiation via a strengthening of atmospheric counter radiation and subsequently brings about a clear upward trend in ground surface temperature and the difference in ground-air temperature. Cloud-radiation feedback plays a significant role in the evolution of the surface temperature and even SH during the global warming hiatus. Consequently, besides the surface wind speed, the difference in ground-air temperature becomes another significant factor for the variation in SH since the slowdown of global warming, particularly at night.

Response of water temperatures and stratification to changing climate in three lakes with different morphometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Magee, Madeline R.; Wu, Chin H.

2017-12-01

Water temperatures and stratification are important drivers for ecological and water quality processes within lake systems, and changes in these with increases in air temperature and changes to wind speeds may have significant ecological consequences. To properly manage these systems under changing climate, it is important to understand the effects of increasing air temperatures and wind speed changes in lakes of different depths and surface areas. In this study, we simulate three lakes that vary in depth and surface area to elucidate the effects of the observed increasing air temperatures and decreasing wind speeds on lake thermal variables (water temperature, stratification dates, strength of stratification, and surface heat fluxes) over a century (1911-2014). For all three lakes, simulations showed that epilimnetic temperatures increased, hypolimnetic temperatures decreased, the length of the stratified season increased due to earlier stratification onset and later fall overturn, stability increased, and longwave and sensible heat fluxes at the surface increased. Overall, lake depth influences the presence of stratification, Schmidt stability, and differences in surface heat flux, while lake surface area influences differences in hypolimnion temperature, hypolimnetic heating, variability of Schmidt stability, and stratification onset and fall overturn dates. Larger surface area lakes have greater wind mixing due to increased surface momentum. Climate perturbations indicate that our larger study lakes have more variability in temperature and stratification variables than the smaller lakes, and this variability increases with larger wind speeds. For all study lakes, Pearson correlations and climate perturbation scenarios indicate that wind speed has a large effect on temperature and stratification variables, sometimes greater than changes in air temperature, and wind can act to either amplify or mitigate the effect of warmer air temperatures on lake thermal structure depending on the direction of local wind speed changes.

Frost Growth and Densification in Laminar Flow Over Flat Surfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kandula, Max

2011-01-01

One-dimensional frost growth and densification in laminar flow over flat surfaces has been theoretically investigated. Improved representations of frost density and effective thermal conductivity applicable to a wide range of frost circumstances have been incorporated. The validity of the proposed model considering heat and mass diffusion in the frost layer is tested by a comparison of the predictions with data from various investigators for frost parameters including frost thickness, frost surface temperature, frost density and heat flux. The test conditions cover a range of wall temperature, air humidity ratio, air velocity, and air temperature, and the effect of these variables on the frost parameters has been exemplified. Satisfactory agreement is achieved between the model predictions and the various test data considered. The prevailing uncertainties concerning the role air velocity and air temperature on frost development have been elucidated. It is concluded that that for flat surfaces increases in air velocity have no appreciable effect on frost thickness but contribute to significant frost densification, while increase in air temperatures results in a slight increase the frost thickness and appreciable frost densification.

Identifying anthropogenic anomalies in air, surface and groundwater temperatures in Germany.

PubMed

Benz, Susanne A; Bayer, Peter; Blum, Philipp

2017-04-15

Human activity directly influences ambient air, surface and groundwater temperatures. The most prominent phenomenon is the urban heat island effect, which has been investigated particularly in large and densely populated cities. This study explores the anthropogenic impact on the thermal regime not only in selected urban areas, but on a countrywide scale for mean annual temperature datasets in Germany in three different compartments: measured surface air temperature, measured groundwater temperature, and satellite-derived land surface temperature. Taking nighttime lights as an indicator of rural areas, the anthropogenic heat intensity is introduced. It is applicable to each data set and provides the difference between measured local temperature and median rural background temperature. This concept is analogous to the well-established urban heat island intensity, but applicable to each measurement point or pixel of a large, even global, study area. For all three analyzed temperature datasets, anthropogenic heat intensity grows with increasing nighttime lights and declines with increasing vegetation, whereas population density has only minor effects. While surface anthropogenic heat intensity cannot be linked to specific land cover types in the studied resolution (1km×1km) and classification system, both air and groundwater show increased heat intensities for artificial surfaces. Overall, groundwater temperature appears most vulnerable to human activity, albeit the different compartments are partially influenced through unrelated processes; unlike land surface temperature and surface air temperature, groundwater temperatures are elevated in cultivated areas as well. At the surface of Germany, the highest anthropogenic heat intensity with 4.5K is found at an open-pit lignite mine near Jülich, followed by three large cities (Munich, Düsseldorf and Nuremberg) with annual mean anthropogenic heat intensities >4K. Overall, surface anthropogenic heat intensities >0K and therefore urban heat islands are observed in communities down to a population of 5000. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Projected change in characteristics of near surface temperature inversions for southeast Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Fei; Evans, Jason Peter; Di Luca, Alejandro; Jiang, Ningbo; Olson, Roman; Fita, Lluis; Argüeso, Daniel; Chang, Lisa T.-C.; Scorgie, Yvonne; Riley, Matt

2018-05-01

Air pollution has significant impacts on human health. Temperature inversions, especially near surface temperature inversions, can amplify air pollution by preventing convective movements and trapping pollutants close to the ground, thus decreasing air quality and increasing health issues. This effect of temperature inversions implies that trends in their frequency, strength and duration can have important implications for air quality. In this study, we evaluate the ability of three reanalysis-driven high-resolution regional climate model (RCM) simulations to represent near surface inversions at 9 sounding sites in southeast Australia. Then we use outputs of 12 historical and future RCM simulations (each with three time periods: 1990-2009, 2020-2039, and 2060-2079) from the NSW/ACT (New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory) Regional Climate Modelling (NARCliM) project to investigate changes in near surface temperature inversions. The results show that there is a substantial increase in the strength of near surface temperature inversions over southeast Australia which suggests that future inversions may intensify poor air quality events. Near surface inversions and their future changes have clear seasonal and diurnal variations. The largest differences between simulations are associated with the driving GCMs, suggesting that the large-scale circulation plays a dominant role in near surface inversion strengths.

Quantifying the impact of human activity on temperatures in Germany

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benz, Susanne A.; Bayer, Peter; Blum, Philipp

2017-04-01

Human activity directly influences ambient air, surface and groundwater temperatures. Alterations of surface cover and land use influence the ambient thermal regime causing spatial temperature anomalies, most commonly heat islands. These local temperature anomalies are primarily described within the bounds of large and densely populated urban settlements, where they form so-called urban heat islands (UHI). This study explores the anthropogenic impact not only for selected cities, but for the thermal regime on a countrywide scale, by analyzing mean annual temperature datasets in Germany in three different compartments: measured surface air temperature (SAT), measured groundwater temperature (GWT), and satellite-derived land surface temperature (LST). As a universal parameter to quantify anthropogenic heat anomalies, the anthropogenic heat intensity (AHI) is introduced. It is closely related to the urban heat island intensity, but determined for each pixel (for satellite-derived LST) or measurement point (for SAT and GWT) of a large, even global, dataset individually, regardless of land use and location. Hence, it provides the unique opportunity to a) compare the anthropogenic impact on temperatures in air, surface and subsurface, b) to find main instances of anthropogenic temperature anomalies within the study area, in this case Germany, and c) to study the impact of smaller settlements or industrial sites on temperatures. For all three analyzed temperature datasets, anthropogenic heat intensity grows with increasing nighttime lights and declines with increasing vegetation, whereas population density has only minor effects. While surface anthropogenic heat intensity cannot be linked to specific land cover types in the studied resolution (1 km × 1 km) and classification system, both air and groundwater show increased heat intensities for artificial surfaces. Overall, groundwater temperature appears most vulnerable to human activity; unlike land surface temperature and surface air temperature, groundwater temperatures are elevated in cultivated areas as well. At the surface of Germany, the highest anthropogenic heat intensity with 4.5 K is found at an open-pit lignite mine near Jülich, followed by three large cities (Munich, Düsseldorf and Nuremberg) with annual mean anthropogenic heat intensities > 4 K. Overall, surface anthropogenic heat intensities > 0 K and therefore urban heat islands are observed in communities down to a population of 5,000.

Comparison of MODIS-derived land surface temperature with air temperature measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Georgiou, Andreas; Akçit, Nuhcan

2017-09-01

Air surface temperature is an important parameter for a wide range of applications such as agriculture, hydrology and climate change studies. Air temperature data is usually obtained from measurements made in meteorological stations, providing only limited information about spatial patterns over wide areas. The use of remote sensing data can help overcome this problem, particularly in areas with low station density, having the potential to improve the estimation of air surface temperature at both regional and global scales. Land Surface (skin) Temperatures (LST) derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor aboard the Terra and Aqua satellite platforms provide spatial estimates of near-surface temperature values. In this study, LST values from MODIS are compared to groundbased near surface air (Tair) measurements obtained from 14 observational stations during 2011 to 2015, covering coastal, mountainous and urban areas over Cyprus. Combining Terra and Aqua LST-8 Day and Night acquisitions into a mean monthly value, provide a large number of LST observations and a better overall agreement with Tair. Comparison between mean monthly LSTs and mean monthly Tair for all sites and all seasons pooled together yields a very high correlation and biases. In addition, the presented high standard deviation can be explained by the influence of surface heterogeneity within MODIS 1km2 grid cells, the presence of undetected clouds and the inherent difference between LST and Tair. However, MODIS LST data proved to be a reliable proxy for surface temperature and mostly for studies requiring temperature reconstruction in areas with lack of observational stations.

Observations of the convective plume of a lake under cold-air advective conditions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bill, R. G., Jr.; Sutherland, R. A.; Bartholic, J. F.; Chen, E.

1978-01-01

Moderating effects of Lake Apopka, Florida, on downwind surface temperatures were evaluated under cold-air advective conditions. Point temperature measurements north and south of the lake and data obtained from a thermal scanner flown at 1.6 km indicate that surface temperatures directly downwind may be higher than surrounding surface temperatures by as much as 5 C under conditions of moderate winds (about 4 m/s). No substantial temperature effects were observed with surface wind speed less than 1 m/s. Fluxes of sensible and latent heat from Lake Apopka were calculated from measurements of lake temperature, net radiation, relative humidity, and air temperature above the lake. Bulk transfer coefficients and the Bowen ratio were calculated and found to be in agreement with reported data for nonadvective conditions.

Comparison between AVHRR surface temperature data and in-situ weather station temperatures over the Greenland Ice Sheet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rezvanbehbahani, S.; Csatho, B. M.; Comiso, J. C.; Babonis, G. S.

2011-12-01

Advanced Very-High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) images have been exhaustively used to measure surface temperature time series of the Greenland Ice sheet. The purpose of this study is to assess the accuracy of monthly average ice sheet surface temperatures, derived from thermal infrared AVHRR satellite imagery on a 6.25 km grid. In-situ temperature data sets are from the Greenland Collection Network (GC-Net). GC-Net stations comprise sensors monitoring air temperature at 1 and 2 meter above the snow surface, gathered at every 60 seconds and monthly averaged to match the AVHRR temporal resolution. Our preliminary results confirm the good agreement between satellite and in-situ temperature measurements reported by previous studies. However, some large discrepancies still exist. While AVHRR provides ice surface temperature, in-situ stations measure air temperatures at different elevations above the snow surface. Since most in-situ data on ice sheets are collected by Automatic Weather Station (AWS) instruments, it is important to characterize the difference between surface and air temperatures. Therefore, we compared and analyzed average monthly AVHRR ice surface temperatures using data collected in 2002. Differences between these temperatures correlate with in-situ temperatures and GC-Net station elevations, with increasing differences at lower elevations and higher temperatures. The Summit Station (3199 m above sea level) and the Swiss Camp (1176 m above sea level) results were compared as high altitude and low altitude stations for 2002, respectively. Our results show that AVHRR derived temperatures were 0.5°K warmer than AWS temperature at the Summit Station, while this difference was 2.8°K in the opposite direction for the Swiss Camp with surface temperatures being lower than air temperatures. The positive bias of 0.5°K at the high altitude Summit Station (surface warmer than air) is within the retrieval error of AVHRR temperatures and might be in part due to atmospheric inversion. The large negative bias of 2.8°K at the low altitude Swiss Camp (surface colder than the air) could be caused by a combination of different factors including local effects such as more windy circumstances above the snow surface and biases introduced by the cloud-masking applied on the AVHRR images. Usually only satellite images acquired in clear-sky conditions are used for deriving monthly AVHRR average temperatures. Since cloud-free days are usually warmer, satellite derived temperatures tend to underestimate the real average temperatures, especially regions with frequent cloud cover, such as Swiss Camp. Therefore, cautions must be exercised while using ice surface temperatures derived from satellite imagery for glaciological applications. Eliminating the cloudy day's' temperature from the in-situ data prior to the comparison with AVHRR derived temperatures will provide a better assessment of AVHRR surface temperature measurement accuracy.

An analysis of spatial representativeness of air temperature monitoring stations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Suhua; Su, Hongbo; Tian, Jing; Wang, Weizhen

2018-05-01

Surface air temperature is an essential variable for monitoring the atmosphere, and it is generally acquired at meteorological stations that can provide information about only a small area within an r m radius ( r-neighborhood) of the station, which is called the representable radius. In studies on a local scale, ground-based observations of surface air temperatures obtained from scattered stations are usually interpolated using a variety of methods without ascertaining their effectiveness. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate the spatial representativeness of ground-based observations of surface air temperature before conducting studies on a local scale. The present study used remote sensing data to estimate the spatial distribution of surface air temperature using the advection-energy balance for air temperature (ADEBAT) model. Two target stations in the study area were selected to conduct an analysis of spatial representativeness. The results showed that one station (AWS 7) had a representable radius of about 400 m with a possible error of less than 1 K, while the other station (AWS 16) had the radius of about 250 m. The representable radius was large when the heterogeneity of land cover around the station was small.

Surface air temperature in a maritime metropolitan region

Treesearch

J. D. McTaggart-Cowen; J. W. S. Young

1977-01-01

In investigations of the micrometeorology of any area, one of the basic parameters required is the spatial and temporal distribution of the surface air temperature. A mobile instrument mounted on an automobile was used for measuring temperatures within the surface mixed layer. Details are presented of a case study at Saint John, New Brunswick, in a summer period. The...

Low clouds suppress Arctic air formation and amplify high-latitude continental winter warming.

PubMed

Cronin, Timothy W; Tziperman, Eli

2015-09-15

High-latitude continents have warmed much more rapidly in recent decades than the rest of the globe, especially in winter, and the maintenance of warm, frost-free conditions in continental interiors in winter has been a long-standing problem of past equable climates. We use an idealized single-column atmospheric model across a range of conditions to study the polar night process of air mass transformation from high-latitude maritime air, with a prescribed initial temperature profile, to much colder high-latitude continental air. We find that a low-cloud feedback--consisting of a robust increase in the duration of optically thick liquid clouds with warming of the initial state--slows radiative cooling of the surface and amplifies continental warming. This low-cloud feedback increases the continental surface air temperature by roughly two degrees for each degree increase of the initial maritime surface air temperature, effectively suppressing Arctic air formation. The time it takes for the surface air temperature to drop below freezing increases nonlinearly to ∼ 10 d for initial maritime surface air temperatures of 20 °C. These results, supplemented by an analysis of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 climate model runs that shows large increases in cloud water path and surface cloud longwave forcing in warmer climates, suggest that the "lapse rate feedback" in simulations of anthropogenic climate change may be related to the influence of low clouds on the stratification of the lower troposphere. The results also indicate that optically thick stratus cloud decks could help to maintain frost-free winter continental interiors in equable climates.

Low clouds suppress Arctic air formation and amplify high-latitude continental winter warming

PubMed Central

Cronin, Timothy W.; Tziperman, Eli

2015-01-01

High-latitude continents have warmed much more rapidly in recent decades than the rest of the globe, especially in winter, and the maintenance of warm, frost-free conditions in continental interiors in winter has been a long-standing problem of past equable climates. We use an idealized single-column atmospheric model across a range of conditions to study the polar night process of air mass transformation from high-latitude maritime air, with a prescribed initial temperature profile, to much colder high-latitude continental air. We find that a low-cloud feedback—consisting of a robust increase in the duration of optically thick liquid clouds with warming of the initial state—slows radiative cooling of the surface and amplifies continental warming. This low-cloud feedback increases the continental surface air temperature by roughly two degrees for each degree increase of the initial maritime surface air temperature, effectively suppressing Arctic air formation. The time it takes for the surface air temperature to drop below freezing increases nonlinearly to ∼10 d for initial maritime surface air temperatures of 20 °C. These results, supplemented by an analysis of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 climate model runs that shows large increases in cloud water path and surface cloud longwave forcing in warmer climates, suggest that the “lapse rate feedback” in simulations of anthropogenic climate change may be related to the influence of low clouds on the stratification of the lower troposphere. The results also indicate that optically thick stratus cloud decks could help to maintain frost-free winter continental interiors in equable climates. PMID:26324919

Effects of wintertime atmospheric river landfalls on surface air temperatures in the Western US: Analyses and model evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, J.; Guan, B.; Waliser, D. E.; Ferraro, R.

2016-12-01

Landfalling atmospheric rivers (ARs) affect the wintertime surface air temperatures as shown in earlier studies. The AR-related surface air temperatures can exert significant influence on the hydrology in the US Pacific coast region especially through rainfall-snowfall partitioning and the snowpack in high elevation watersheds as they are directly related with the freezing-level altitudes. These effects of temperature perturbations can in turn affect hydrologic events of various time scales such as flash flooding by the combined effects of rainfall and snowmelt, and the warm season runoff from melting snowpack, especially in conjunction with the AR effects on winter precipitation and rain-on-snow events in WUS. Thus, understanding the effects of AR landfalls on the surface temperatures and examining the capability of climate models in simulating these effects are an important practical concern for WUS. This study aims to understand the effects of AR landfalls on the characteristics of surface air temperatures in WUS, especially seasonal means and PDFs and to evaluate the fidelity of model data produced in the NASA downscaling experiment for the 10 winters from Nov. 1999 to Mar. 2010 using an AR-landfall chronology based on the vertically-integrated water vapor flux calculated from the MERRA2 reanalysis. Model skill is measured using metrics including regional means, a skill score based on correlations and mean-square errors, the similarity between two PDF shapes, and Taylor diagrams. Results show that the AR landfalls are related with higher surface air temperatures in WUS, especially in inland regions. The AR landfalls also reduce the range of surface air temperature PDF, largely by reducing the events in the lower temperature range. The shift in the surface air temperature PDF is consistent with the positive anomalies in the winter-mean temperature. Model data from the NASA downscaling experiment reproduce the AR effects on the temperature PDF, at least qualitatively; however, the skill in representing the spatial variations in the temperature anomalies is low. The skill of these model data also varies according to regions and the configuration of simulations. It was also found that the variations in model skill in simulating the spatial variability according to the model resolution is not systematic.

Understanding Arctic surface temperature differences in reanalyses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cullather, R. I.; Zhao, B.; Shuman, C. A.; Nowicki, S.

2017-12-01

Reanalyses in the Arctic are widely used for model evaluation and for understanding contemporary climate change. Nevertheless, differences among reanalyses in fundamental meteorological variables including surface air temperature are large. For example, the 1980-2009 mean surface air temperature for the north polar cap (70°N-90°N) among global reanalyses span a range of 2.4 K, which approximates the average warming trend from these reanalyses over the 30-year period of 2.1 K. Understanding these differences requires evaluation over the three principal surface domains of the Arctic: glaciated land, the unglaciated terrestrial surface, and sea ice/ocean. An examination is conducted of contemporary global reanalyses of the ECMWF Interim project, NASA MERRA, MERRA-2, JRA-55, and NOAA CFSR using available in situ data and assessments of the surface energy budget. Overly-simplistic representations of the Greenland Ice Sheet surface are found to be associated with local warm air temperature biases in winter. A review of progress made in the development of the MERRA-2 land-ice representation is presented. Large uncertainty is also found in temperatures over the Arctic tundra and boreal forest zone. But a key focus of temperature differences for northern high latitudes is the Arctic Ocean. Near-surface air temperature differences over the Arctic Ocean are found to be related to discrepancies in sea ice and sea surface temperature boundary data, which are severely compromised in current reanalyses. Issues with the modeled representation of sea ice cover are an additional factor in reanalysis temperature trends. Differences in the representation of the surface energy budget among the various reanalyses are also reviewed.

Understanding Arctic Surface Temperature Differences in Reanalyses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cullather, Richard; Zhao, Bin; Shuman, Christopher; Nowicki, Sophie

2017-01-01

Reanalyses in the Arctic are widely used for model evaluation and for understanding contemporary climate change. Nevertheless, differences among reanalyses in fundamental meteorological variables including surface air temperature are large. For example, the 1980-2009 mean surface air temperature for the north polar cap (70ÂdegN-90ÂdegN) among global reanalyses span a range of 2.4 K, which approximates the average warming trend from these reanalyses over the 30-year period of 2.1 K. Understanding these differences requires evaluation over the three principal surface domains of the Arctic: glaciated land, the unglaciated terrestrial surface, and sea ice/ocean. An examination is conducted of contemporary global reanalyses of the ECMWF Interim project, NASA MERRA, MERRA-2, JRA-55, and NOAA CFSR using available in situ data and assessments of the surface energy budget. Overly-simplistic representations of the Greenland Ice Sheet surface are found to be associated with local warm air temperature biases in winter. A review of progress made in the development of the MERRA-2 land-ice representation is presented. Large uncertainty is also found in temperatures over the Arctic tundra and boreal forest zone. But a key focus of temperature differences for northern high latitudes is the Arctic Ocean. Near-surface air temperature differences over the Arctic Ocean are found to be related to discrepancies in sea ice and sea surface temperature boundary data, which are severely compromised in current reanalyses. Issues with the modeled representation of sea ice cover are an additional factor in reanalysis temperature trends. Differences in the representation of the surface energy budget among the various reanalyses are also reviewed.

Analysis of The Surface Radiative Budget Using ATLAS Data for San Juan, Puerto Rico

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luvall, Jeffrey C.; Rickman, D. L.; Gonzalez, J.; Comarazamy, Daniel; Picon, Ana

2007-01-01

The additional beating of the air over the city is the result of the replacement of naturally vegetated surfaces with those composed of asphalt, concrete, rooftops and other man-made materials. The temperatures of these artificial surfaces can be 20 to 40 C higher than vegetated surfaces. This produces a dome of elevated air temperatures 5 to 8 C greater over the city, compared to the air temperatures over adjacent rural areas. Urban landscapes are a complex mixture of vegetated and nonvegetated surfaces. It is difficult to take enough temperature measurements over a large city area to characterize the complexity of urban radiant surface temperature variability. The NASA Airborne Thermal and Land Applications Sensor (ATLAS) operates in the visual and IR bands was used in February 2004 to collect data from San Juan, Puerto Rico with the main objective of investigating the Urban Heat Island (UHI) in tropical cities.

Impacts of spectral nudging on the simulated surface air temperature in summer compared with the selection of shortwave radiation and land surface model physics parameterization in a high-resolution regional atmospheric model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Jun; Hwang, Seung-On

2017-11-01

The impact of a spectral nudging technique for the dynamical downscaling of the summer surface air temperature in a high-resolution regional atmospheric model is assessed. The performance of this technique is measured by comparing 16 analysis-driven simulation sets of physical parameterization combinations of two shortwave radiation and four land surface model schemes of the model, which are known to be crucial for the simulation of the surface air temperature. It is found that the application of spectral nudging to the outermost domain has a greater impact on the regional climate than any combination of shortwave radiation and land surface model physics schemes. The optimal choice of two model physics parameterizations is helpful for obtaining more realistic spatiotemporal distributions of land surface variables such as the surface air temperature, precipitation, and surface fluxes. However, employing spectral nudging adds more value to the results; the improvement is greater than using sophisticated shortwave radiation and land surface model physical parameterizations. This result indicates that spectral nudging applied to the outermost domain provides a more accurate lateral boundary condition to the innermost domain when forced by analysis data by securing the consistency with large-scale forcing over a regional domain. This consequently indirectly helps two physical parameterizations to produce small-scale features closer to the observed values, leading to a better representation of the surface air temperature in a high-resolution downscaled climate.

Temporal Changes in the Observed Relationship between Cloud Cover and Surface Air Temperature.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Bomin; Groisman, Pavel Ya.; Bradley, Raymond S.; Keimig, Frank T.

2000-12-01

The relationship between cloud cover and near-surface air temperature and its decadal changes are examined using the hourly synoptic data for the past four to six decades from five regions of the Northern Hemisphere: Canada, the United States, the former Soviet Union, China, and tropical islands of the western Pacific. The authors define the normalized cloud cover-surface air temperature relationship, NOCET or dT/dCL, as a temperature anomaly with a unit (one-tenth) deviation of total cloud cover from its average value. Then mean monthly NOCET time series (night- and daytime, separately) are area-averaged and parameterized as functions of surface air humidity and snow cover. The day- and nighttime NOCET variations are strongly anticorrelated with changes in surface humidity. Furthermore, the daytime NOCET changes are positively correlated to changes in snow cover extent. The regionally averaged nighttime NOCET varies from 0.05 K tenth1 in the wet Tropics to 1.0 K tenth1 at midlatitudes in winter. The daytime regional NOCET ranges from 0.4 K tenth1 in the Tropics to 0.7 K tenth1 at midlatitudes in winter.The authors found a general strengthening of a daytime surface cooling during the post-World War II period associated with cloud cover over the United States and China, but a minor reduction of this cooling in higher latitudes. Furthermore, since the 1970s, a prominent increase in atmospheric humidity has significantly weakened the effectiveness of the surface warming (best seen at nighttime) associated with cloud cover.The authors apportion the spatiotemporal field of interactions between total cloud cover and surface air temperature into a bivariate relationship (described by two equations, one for daytime and one for nighttime) with surface air humidity and snow cover and two constant factors. These factors are invariant in space and time domains. It is speculated that they may represent empirical estimates of the overall cloud cover effect on the surface air temperature.

Improved Surface and Tropospheric Temperatures Determined Using Only Shortwave Channels: The AIRS Science Team Version-6 Retrieval Algorithm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Susskind, Joel; Blaisdell, John; Iredell, Lena

2011-01-01

The Goddard DISC has generated products derived from AIRS/AMSU-A observations, starting from September 2002 when the AIRS instrument became stable, using the AIRS Science Team Version-5 retrieval algorithm. The AIRS Science Team Version-6 retrieval algorithm will be finalized in September 2011. This paper describes some of the significant improvements contained in the Version-6 retrieval algorithm, compared to that used in Version-5, with an emphasis on the improvement of atmospheric temperature profiles, ocean and land surface skin temperatures, and ocean and land surface spectral emissivities. AIRS contains 2378 spectral channels covering portions of the spectral region 650 cm(sup -1) (15.38 micrometers) - 2665 cm(sup -1) (3.752 micrometers). These spectral regions contain significant absorption features from two CO2 absorption bands, the 15 micrometers (longwave) CO2 band, and the 4.3 micrometers (shortwave) CO2 absorption band. There are also two atmospheric window regions, the 12 micrometer - 8 micrometer (longwave) window, and the 4.17 micrometer - 3.75 micrometer (shortwave) window. Historically, determination of surface and atmospheric temperatures from satellite observations was performed using primarily observations in the longwave window and CO2 absorption regions. According to cloud clearing theory, more accurate soundings of both surface skin and atmospheric temperatures can be obtained under partial cloud cover conditions if one uses observations in longwave channels to determine coefficients which generate cloud cleared radiances R(sup ^)(sub i) for all channels, and uses R(sup ^)(sub i) only from shortwave channels in the determination of surface and atmospheric temperatures. This procedure is now being used in the AIRS Version-6 Retrieval Algorithm. Results are presented for both daytime and nighttime conditions showing improved Version-6 surface and atmospheric soundings under partial cloud cover.

Variability of Winter Air Temperature in Mid-Latitude Europe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Otterman, J.; Ardizzone, J.; Atlas, R.; Bungato, D.; Cierniewski, J.; Jusem, J. C.; Przybylak, R.; Schubert, S.; Starr, D.; Walczewski, J.

2002-01-01

The aim of this paper is to report extreme winter/early-spring air temperature (hereinafter temperature) anomalies in mid-latitude Europe, and to discuss the underlying forcing to these interannual fluctuations. Warm advection from the North Atlantic in late winter controls the surface-air temperature, as indicated by the substantial correlation between the speed of the surface southwesterlies over the eastern North Atlantic (quantified by a specific Index Ina) and the 2-meter level air temperatures (hereinafter Ts) over Europe, 45-60 deg N, in winter. In mid-March and subsequently, the correlation drops drastically (quite often it is negative). This change in the relationship between Ts and Ina marks a transition in the control of the surface-air temperature: absorption of insolation replaces the warm advection as the dominant control. This forcing by maritime-air advection in winter was demonstrated in a previous publication, and is re-examined here in conjunction with extreme fluctuations of temperatures in Europe. We analyze here the interannual variability at its extreme by comparing warm-winter/early-spring of 1989/90 with the opposite scenario in 1995/96. For these two December-to-March periods the differences in the monthly mean temperature in Warsaw and Torun, Poland, range above 10 C. Short-term (shorter than a month) fluctuations of the temperature are likewise very strong. We conduct pentad-by-pentad analysis of the surface-maximum air temperature (hereinafter Tmax), in a selected location, examining the dependence on Ina. The increased cloudiness and higher amounts of total precipitable water, corollary effects to the warm low-level advection. in the 1989/90 winter, enhance the positive temperature anomalies. The analysis of the ocean surface winds is based on the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) dataset; ascent rates, and over land wind data are from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF); maps of 2-m temperature, cloud cover and precipitable water are from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Reanalysis.

ARIMA representation for daily solar irradiance and surface air temperature time series

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kärner, Olavi

2009-06-01

Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models are used to compare long-range temporal variability of the total solar irradiance (TSI) at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) and surface air temperature series. The comparison shows that one and the same type of the model is applicable to represent the TSI and air temperature series. In terms of the model type surface air temperature imitates closely that for the TSI. This may mean that currently no other forcing to the climate system is capable to change the random walk type variability established by the varying activity of the rotating Sun. The result should inspire more detailed examination of the dependence of various climate series on short-range fluctuations of TSI.

Characterization of the thermal structure inside an urban canyon: field measurements and validation of a simple model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giovannini, Lorenzo; Zardi, Dino; de Franceschi, Massimiliano

2013-04-01

The results of measurement campaigns are analyzed to investigate the thermal structure in an urban canyon, and to validate a simplified model simulating the air and surface temperatures from surface energy budgets. Starting from measurements at roof-top level, the model provides time series of air and surface temperatures, as well as surface fluxes. Two campaigns were carried out in summer 2007 and in winter 2008/09 in a street of the city of Trento (Italy). Temperature sensors were placed at various levels near the walls flanking the canyon and on a traffic light in the street center. Furthermore, the atmosphere above the mean roof-top level was monitored by a weather station on top of a tower located nearby. Air temperatures near the walls, being strongly influenced by direct solar radiation, display considerable contrasts between the opposite sides of the canyon. On the other hand, when solar radiation is weak or absent, the temperature field remains rather homogeneous.Moreover, air temperature inside the canyon is generally higher than above roof level, with larger differences during summertime. Air temperatures from the above street measurements are well simulated by the model in both seasons. Furthermore, the modeled surface temperatures are tested against a dataset of wall surface temperatures from the Advanced Tools for Rational Energy Use Towards Sustainability-Photocatalytic Innovative Coverings Applications for Depollution (ATREUS-PICADA) experiment, and a very good agreement is found. Results suggest that themodel is a reliable and convenient tool for simplified assessment of climatic conditions occurring in urban canyons under various weather situations.

Effect of Substrate and Process Parameters on the Gas-Substrate Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient During Cold Spraying

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahdavi, Amirhossein; McDonald, André

2018-02-01

The final quality of cold-sprayed coatings can be significantly influenced by gas-substrate heat exchange, due to the dependence of the deposition efficiency of the particles on the substrate temperature distribution. In this study, the effect of the air temperature and pressure, as process parameters, and surface roughness and thickness, as substrate parameters, on the convective heat transfer coefficient of the impinging air jet was investigated. A low-pressure cold spraying unit was used to generate a compressed air jet that impinged on a flat substrate. A comprehensive mathematical model was developed and coupled with experimental data to estimate the heat transfer coefficient and the surface temperature of the substrate. The effect of the air total temperature and pressure on the heat transfer coefficient was studied. It was found that increasing the total pressure would increase the Nusselt number of the impinging air jet, while total temperature of the air jet had negligible effect on the Nusslet number. It was further found that increasing the roughness of the substrate enhanced the heat exchange between the impinging air jet and the substrate. As a result, higher surface temperatures on the rough substrate were measured. The study of the effect of the substrate thickness on the heat transfer coefficient showed that the Nusselt number that was predicted by the model was independent of the thickness of the substrate. The surface temperature profile, however, decreased in increasing radial distances from the stagnation point of the impinging jet as the thickness of the substrate increased. The results of the current study were aimed to inform on the influence and effect of substrate and process parameters on the gas-substrate heat exchange and the surface temperature of the substrate on the final quality of cold-sprayed coatings.

Design and evaluation of an inexpensive radiation shield for monitoring surface air temperatures

Treesearch

Zachary A. Holden; Anna E. Klene; Robert F. Keefe; Gretchen G. Moisen

2013-01-01

Inexpensive temperature sensors are widely used in agricultural and forestry research. This paper describes a low-cost (~3 USD) radiation shield (radshield) designed for monitoring surface air temperatures in harsh outdoor environments. We compared the performance of the radshield paired with low-cost temperature sensors at three sites in western Montana to several...

Air and Ground Surface Temperature Relations in a Mountainous Basin, Wolf Creek, Yukon Territory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roadhouse, Emily A.

The links between climate and permafrost are well known, but the precise nature of the relationship between air and ground temperatures remains poorly understood, particularly in complex mountain environments. Although previous studies indicate that elevation and potential incoming solar radiation (PISR) are the two leading factors contributing to the existence of permafrost at a given location, additional factors may also contribute significantly to the existence of mountain permafrost, including vegetation cover, snow accumulation and the degree to which individual mountain landscapes are prone to air temperature inversions. Current mountain permafrost models consider only elevation and aspect, and have not been able to deal with inversion effects in a systematic fashion. This thesis explores the relationship between air and ground surface temperatures and the presence of surface-based inversions at 27 sites within the Wolf Creek basin and surrounding area between 2001 and 2006, as a first step in developing an improved permafrost distribution TTOP model. The TTOP model describes the relationship between the mean annual air temperature and the temperature at the top of permafrost in terms of the surface and thermal offsets (Smith and Riseborough, 2002). Key components of this model are n-factors which relate air and ground climate by establishing the ratio between air and surface freezing (winter) and thawing (summer) degree-days, thus summarizing the surface energy balance on a seasonal basis. Here we examine (1) surface offsets and (2) freezing and thawing n-factor variability at a number of sites through altitudinal treeline in the southern Yukon. Thawing n-factors (nt) measured at individual sites remained relatively constant from one year to the next and may be related to land cover. During the winter, the insulating effect of a thick snow cover results in higher surface temperatures, while thin snow cover results in low surface temperatures more closely related to the winter air temperatures. The application of n-factor modeling techniques within the permafrost region, and the verification of these techniques for a range of natural surfaces, is essential to the determination of the thermal and physical response to potential climate warming in permafrost regions. The presence of temperature inversions presents a unique challenge to permafrost probability mapping in mountainous terrain. While elsewhere the existence of permafrost can be linearly related to elevation, the presence of frequent inversions challenges this assumption, affecting permafrost distribution in ways that the current modeling techniques cannot accurately predict. At sites across the Yukon, inversion-prone sites were predominantly situated in U-shaped valleys, although open slopes, mid-slope ridges and plains were also identified. Within the Wolf Creek basin and surrounding area, inversion episodes have a measurable effect on local air temperatures, occurring during the fall and winter seasons along the Mount Sima trail, and year-round in the palsa valley. Within the discontinuous permafrost zone, where average surface temperatures are often close to zero, even a relatively small change in temperature in the context of future climate change could have a widespread impact on permafrost distribution.

Characterization of Air and Ground Temperature Relationships within the CMIP5 Historical and Future Climate Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García-García, A.; Cuesta-Valero, F. J.; Beltrami, H.; Smerdon, J. E.

2017-12-01

The relationships between air and ground surface temperatures across North America are examined in the historical and future projection simulations from 32 General Circulation Models (GCMs) included in the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). The covariability between surface air (2 m) and ground surface temperatures (10 cm) is affected by simulated snow cover, vegetation cover and precipitation through changes in soil moisture at the surface. At high latitudes, the differences between air and ground surface temperatures, for all CMIP5 simulations, are related to the insulating effect of snow cover and soil freezing phenomena. At low latitudes, the differences between the two temperatures, for the majority of simulations, are inversely proportional to leaf area index and precipitation, likely due to induced-changes in latent and sensible heat fluxes at the ground surface. Our results show that the transport of energy across the air-ground interface differs from observations and among GCM simulations, by amounts that depend on the components of the land-surface models that they include. The large variability among GCMs and the marked dependency of the results on the choice of the land-surface model, illustrate the need for improving the representation of processes controlling the coupling of the lower atmosphere and the land surface in GCMs as a means of reducing the variability in their representation of weather and climate phenomena, with potentially important implications for positive climate feedbacks such as permafrost and soil carbon stability.

Effect of atmosphere on the surface tension and viscosity of molten LiNbO 3 measured using the surface laser-light scattering method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagasaka, Yuji; Kobayashi, Yusuke

2007-09-01

The surface tension and the viscosity of molten LiNbO 3 (LN) having the congruent composition have been measured simultaneously in a temperature range from 1537 to 1756 K under argon gas and dry-air atmospheres. The present measurement technique involves surface laser-light scattering (SLLS) that detects nanometer-order-amplitude surface waves usually regarded as ripplons excited by thermal fluctuations. This technique's non-invasive nature allows it to avoid the experimental difficulties of conventional techniques resulting from the insertion of an actuator in the melt. The results of surface tension measurement obtained under a dry-air atmosphere are about 5% smaller than those obtained under an argon atmosphere near the melting temperature, and the temperature dependence of the surface tension under a dry-air atmosphere is twice that under an argon atmosphere. The uncertainty of surface tension measurement is estimated to be ±2.6% under argon and ±1.9% under dry air. The temperature dependence of viscosity can be well correlated with the results of Arrhenius-type equations without any anomalous behavior near the melting point. The viscosities obtained under a dry-air atmosphere were slightly smaller than those obtained under an argon atmosphere. The uncertainty of viscosity measurement is estimated to be ±11.1% for argon and ±14.3% for dry air. Moreover, we observed the real-time dynamic behavior of the surface tension and the viscosity of molten LN in response to argon and dry-air atmospheres.

Interaction between Soil Moisture and Air Temperature in the Mississippi River Basin

EPA Science Inventory

Increasing air temperatures are expected to continue in the future. The relation between soil moisture and near surface air temperature is significant for climate change and climate extremes. Evaluation of the relations between soil moisture and temperature was performed by devel...

Spatial and Temporal Inter-Relationships between Anomalies and Trends of Temperature, Moisture, Cloud Cover, and OLR as Observed by AIRS/AMSU on Aqua

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Susskind, Joel

2008-01-01

AIRS/AMSU is the advanced IR/MW atmospheric sounding system launched on EOS Aqua in May 2002. Products derived from AIRS/AMSU by the AIRS Science Team include surface skin temperature and atmospheric temperature profiles; atmospheric humidity profiles, fractional cloud cover and cloud top pressure, and OLR. Products covering the period September 2002 through the present have been derived from AIRS/AMSU using the AIRS Science Team Version 5 retrieval algorithm. In this paper, we will show results covering the time period September 2006 - November 2008. This time period is marked by a substantial warming trend of Northern Hemisphere Extratropical land surface skin temperatures, as well as pronounced El Nino - La Nina episodes. These both influence the spatial and temporal anomaly patterns of atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles, as well as of cloud cover and Clear sky and All Sky OLR. The relationships between temporal and spatial anomalies of these parameters over this time period, as determined from AIRS/AMSU observations, will be shown, with particular emphasis on which contribute significantly to OLR anomalies in each of the tropics and extra-tropics. Results will also be shown to validate the anomalies and trends of temperature profiles and OLR as determined from analysis of AIRS/AMSU data. Global and regional trends during the 6 1/3 year period are not necessarily indicative of what has happened in the past, or what may happen in the future. Nevertheless, the inter-relationships of spatial and temporal anomalies of atmospheric geophysical parameters with those of surface skin temperature are indicative of climate processes, and can be used to test the performance of climate models when driven by changes in surface temperatures.

Spatial and Temporal Inter-Relationship between Anomalies and Trends of Temperature, Moisture, Cloud Cover and OLR as Observed by AIRS/AMSU on Aqua

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Susskind, Joel; Molnar, Gyula

2009-01-01

AIRS/AMSU is the advanced IR/MW atmospheric sounding system launched on EOS Aqua in May 2002. Products derived from AIRS/AMSU by the AIRS Science Team include surface skin temperature and atmospheric temperature profiled; atmospheric humidity profiles, fractional cloud clover and cloud top pressure, and OLR. Products covering the period September 2002 through the present have been derived from AIRS/AMSU using the AIRS Science Team Version 5 retrieval algorithm. In this paper, we will show results covering the time period September 2006 - November 2008. This time period is marked by a substantial warming trend of Northern Hemisphere Extra-tropical land surface skin temperatures, as well as pronounced El Nino - La Nina episodes. These both influence the spatial and temporal anomaly patterns of atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles, as well as of cloud cover and Clear Sky and All Sky OLR. The relationships between temporal and spatial anomalies of these parameters over this time period, as determined from AIRS/AMSU observations, will be shown with particular emphasis on which contribute significantly to OLR anomalies in each of the tropics and extra-tropics. Results will also be shown to evaluate the anomalies and trends of temperature profiles and OLR as determined from analysis of AIRS/AMSU data. Global and regional trends during the 6 1/3 year time period are not necessarily indicative of what has happened in the past, or what may happen in the future. Nevertheless, the inter-relationships of spatial and temporal anomalies of atmospheric geophysical parameters with those of surface skin temperature are indicative of climate processes, and can be used to test the performance of climate models when driven by changes in surface temperatures.

An Integrated Approach to Estimate Instantaneous Near-Surface Air Temperature and Sensible Heat Flux Fields during the SEMAPHORE Experiment.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bourras, Denis; Eymard, Laurence; Liu, W. Timothy; Dupuis, Hélène

2002-03-01

A new technique was developed to retrieve near-surface instantaneous air temperatures and turbulent sensible heat fluxes using satellite data during the Structure des Echanges Mer-Atmosphere, Proprietes des Heterogeneites Oceaniques: Recherche Experimentale (SEMAPHORE) experiment, which was conducted in 1993 under mainly anticyclonic conditions. The method is based on a regional, horizontal atmospheric temperature advection model whose inputs are wind vectors, sea surface temperature fields, air temperatures around the region under study, and several constants derived from in situ measurements. The intrinsic rms error of the method is 0.7°C in terms of air temperature and 9 W m2 for the fluxes, both at 0.16° × 0.16° and 1.125° × 1.125° resolution. The retrieved air temperature and flux horizontal structures are in good agreement with fields from two operational general circulation models. The application to SEMAPHORE data involves the First European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-1) wind fields, Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) SST fields, and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) air temperature boundary conditions. The rms errors obtained by comparing the estimations with research vessel measurements are 0.3°C and 5 W m2.

The cold and atmospheric-pressure air surface barrier discharge plasma for large-area sterilization applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang Dacheng; Department of Aeronautics, Fujian Key Laboratory for Plasma and Magnetic Resonance, School of Physics and Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005; Zhao Di

2011-04-18

This letter reports a stable air surface barrier discharge device for large-area sterilization applications at room temperature. This design may result in visually uniform plasmas with the electrode area scaled up (or down) to the required size. A comparison for the survival rates of Escherichia coli from air, N{sub 2} and O{sub 2} surface barrier discharge plasmas is presented, and the air surface plasma consisting of strong filamentary discharges can efficiently kill Escherichia coli. Optical emission measurements indicate that reactive species such as O and OH generated in the room temperature air plasmas play a significant role in the sterilizationmore » process.« less

Spatial Correlations of Anomaly Time Series of AIRS Version-6 Land Surface Skin Temperatures with the Nino-4 Index

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Susskind, Joel; Lee, Jae N.; Iredell, Lena

2013-01-01

The AIRS Science Team Version-6 data set is a valuable resource for meteorological studies. Quality Controlled earth's surface skin temperatures are produced on a 45 km x 45 km spatial scale under most cloud cover conditions. The same retrieval algorithm is used for all surface types under all conditions. This study used eleven years of AIRS monthly mean surface skin temperature and cloud cover products to show that land surface skin temperatures have decreased significantly in some areas and increased significantly in other areas over the period September 2002 through August 2013. These changes occurred primarily at 1:30 PM but not at 1:30 AM. Cooling land areas contained corresponding increases in cloud cover over this time period, with the reverse being true for warming land areas. The cloud cover anomaly patterns for a given month are affected significantly by El Nino/La Nina activity, and anomalies in cloud cover are a driving force behind anomalies in land surface skin temperature.

Accuracy of sea ice temperature derived from the advanced very high resolution radiometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yu, Y.; Rothrock, D. A.; Lindsay, R. W.

1995-01-01

The accuracy of Arctic sea ice surface temperatures T(sub s) dericed from advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) thermal channels is evaluated in the cold seasons by comparing them with surface air temperatures T(sub air) from drifting buoys and ice stations. We use three different estimates of satellite surface temperatures, a direct estimate from AVHRR channel 4 with only correction for the snow surface emissivity but not for the atmosphere, a single-channel regression of T(sub s) with T(sub air), and Key and Haefliger's (1992) polar multichannel algorithm. We find no measurable bias in any of these estimates and few differences in their statistics. The similar performance of all three methods indicates that an atmospheric water vapor correction is not important for the dry winter atmosphere in the central Arctic, given the other sources of error that remain in both the satellite and the comparison data. A record of drifting station data shows winter air temperature to be 1.4 C warmer than the snow surface temperature. `Correcting' air temperatures to skin temperature by subtracting this amount implies that satellite T(sub s) estimates are biased warm with respect to skin temperature by about this amount. A case study with low-flying aircraft data suggests that ice crystal precipitation can cause satellite estimates of T(sub s) to be several degrees warmer than radiometric measurements taken close to the surface, presumably below the ice crystal precipitation layer. An analysis in which errors are assumed to exist in all measurements, not just the satellite measurements, gives a standard deviation in the satellite estimates of 0.9 C, about half the standard deviation of 1.7 C estimated by assigning all the variation between T(sub s) and T(sub air) to errors in T(sub s).

America's Urban Forests: Keeping Our Cities Cool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luvall, Jeffrey C.; Quattrochi, Dale A.

1997-01-01

The additional heating of the air over the city is the result of the replacement of naturally vegetated surfaces with those composed of asphalt, concrete, rooftops and other man-made materials. The temperatures of these artificial surfaces can be 20 to 40 C higher than vegetated surfaces. Materials such as asphalt store much of the sun's energy and remains hot long after sunset. This produces a dome of elevated air temperatures 5 to 8 C greater over the city, compared to the air temperatures over adjacent rural areas. This effect is called the "urban heat island". Tree canopies can reduce the urban heat island effect by dissipating the solar energy received by transpiring water from leaf surfaces which cools the air by taking "heat" from the air to evaporate the water and by shading surfaces like asphalt, roofs, and concrete parking lots which prevents initial heating and storage of heat. It is difficult to take enough temperature measurements over a large city area to characterize the surface temperature variability and quantify the temperature reduction effects of tree canopies. However, the use of remotely sensed thermal data from airborne scanners are ideal for the task. In a study funded by NASA, a series of flights over Huntsville AL were performed in September 1994 and over Atlanta in May 1997. In this article we will examine the techniques of analyzing remotely sensed data for measuring the effect of tree canopies in reducing the urban heat island effect.

Differences between near-surface equivalent temperature and temperature trends for the Eastern United States. Equivalent temperature as an alternative measure of heat content

USGS Publications Warehouse

Davey, C.A.; Pielke, R.A.; Gallo, K.P.

2006-01-01

There is currently much attention being given to the observed increase in near-surface air temperatures during the last century. The proper investigation of heating trends, however, requires that we include surface heat content to monitor this aspect of the climate system. Changes in heat content of the Earth's climate are not fully described by temperature alone. Moist enthalpy or, alternatively, equivalent temperature, is more sensitive to surface vegetation properties than is air temperature and therefore more accurately depicts surface heating trends. The microclimates evident at many surface observation sites highlight the influence of land surface characteristics on local surface heating trends. Temperature and equivalent temperature trend differences from 1982-1997 are examined for surface sites in the Eastern U.S. Overall trend differences at the surface indicate equivalent temperature trends are relatively warmer than temperature trends in the Eastern U.S. Seasonally, equivalent temperature trends are relatively warmer than temperature trends in winter and are relatively cooler in the fall. These patterns, however, vary widely from site to site, so local microclimate is very important. ?? 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Observations of the microclimate of a lake under cold air advective conditions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bill, R. G., Jr.; Sutherland, R. A.; Bartholic, J. F.

1977-01-01

The moderating effects of Lake Apopka, Florida, on downwind surface temperatures were evaluated under cold air advective conditions. Point temperature measurements north and south of the lake and data obtained from the NOAA satellite and a thermal scanner flown at 1.6 km, indicate that, under conditions of moderate winds (approximately 4m/sec), surface temperatures directly downwind may be higher than surrounding surface temperatures by as much as 5 C. With surface wind speed less than 1m/sec, no substantial temperature effects were observed. Results of this study are being used in land use planning, lake level control and in agriculture for selecting planting sites.

A High-Latitude Winter Continental Low Cloud Feedback Suppresses Arctic Air Formation in Warmer Climates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cronin, T.; Tziperman, E.; Li, H.

2015-12-01

High latitude continents have warmed much more rapidly in recent decades than the rest of the globe, especially in winter, and the maintenance of warm, frost-free conditions in continental interiors in winter has been a long-standing problem of past equable climates. It has also been found that the high-latitude lapse rate feedback plays an important role in Arctic amplification of climate change in climate model simulations, but we have little understanding of why lapse rates at high latitudes change so strongly with warming. To better understand these problems, we study Arctic air formation - the process by which a high-latitude maritime air mass is advected over a continent during polar night, cooled at the surface by radiation, and transformed into a much colder continental polar air mass - and its sensitivity to climate warming. We use a single-column version of the WRF model to conduct two-week simulations of the cooling process across a wide range of initial temperature profiles and microphysics schemes, and find that a low cloud feedback suppresses Arctic air formation in warmer climates. This cloud feedback consists of an increase in low cloud amount with warming, which shields the surface from radiative cooling, and increases the continental surface air temperature by roughly two degrees for each degree increase of the initial maritime surface air temperature. The time it takes for the surface air temperature to drop below freezing increases nonlinearly to ~10 days for initial maritime surface air temperatures of 20 oC. Given that this is about the time it takes an air mass starting over the Pacific to traverse the north American continent, this suggests that optically thick stratus cloud decks could help to maintain frost-free winter continental interiors in equable climates. We find that CMIP5 climate model runs show large increases in cloud water path and surface cloud longwave forcing in warmer climates, consistent with the proposed low-cloud feedback. The suppression of Arctic air formation with warming may act as a significant amplifier of climate change at high latitudes, and offers a mechanistic perspective on the high-latitude "lapse rate feedback" diagnosed in climate models.

Soil water content and evaporation determined by thermal parameters obtained from ground-based and remote measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reginato, R. J.; Idso, S. B.; Jackson, R. D.; Vedder, J. F.; Blanchard, M. B.; Goettelman, R.

1976-01-01

Soil water contents from both smooth and rough bare soil were estimated from remotely sensed surface soil and air temperatures. An inverse relationship between two thermal parameters and gravimetric soil water content was found for Avondale loam when its water content was between air-dry and field capacity. These parameters, daily maximum minus minimum surface soil temperature and daily maximum soil minus air temperature, appear to describe the relationship reasonably well. These two parameters also describe relative soil water evaporation (actual/potential). Surface soil temperatures showed good agreement among three measurement techniques: in situ thermocouples, a ground-based infrared radiation thermometer, and the thermal infrared band of an airborne multispectral scanner.

Refining surface net radiation estimates in arid and semi-arid climates of Iran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golkar, Foroogh; Rossow, William B.; Sabziparvar, Ali Akbar

2018-06-01

Although the downwelling fluxes exhibit space-time scales of dependency on characteristic of atmospheric variations, especially clouds, the upward fluxes and, hence the net radiation, depends on the variation of surface properties, particularly surface skin temperature and albedo. Evapotranspiration at the land surface depends on the properties of that surface and is determined primarily by the net surface radiation, mostly absorbed solar radiation. Thus, relatively high spatial resolution net radiation data are needed for evapotranspiration studies. Moreover, in more arid environments, the diurnal variations of surface (air and skin) temperature can be large so relatively high (sub-daily) time resolution net radiation is also needed. There are a variety of radiation and surface property products available but they differ in accuracy, space-time resolution and information content. This situation motivated the current study to evaluate multiple sources of information to obtain the best net radiation estimate with the highest space-time resolution from ISCCP FD dataset. This study investigates the accuracy of the ISCCP FD and AIRS surface air and skin temperatures, as well as the ISCCP FD and MODIS surface albedos and aerosol optical depths as the leading source of uncertainty in ISCCP FD dataset. The surface air temperatures, 10-cm soil temperatures and surface solar insolation from a number of surface sites are used to judge the best combinations of data products, especially on clear days. The corresponding surface skin temperatures in ISCCP FD, although they are known to be biased somewhat high, disagreed more with AIRS measurements because of the mismatch of spatial resolutions. The effect of spatial resolution on the comparisons was confirmed using the even higher resolution MODIS surface skin temperature values. The agreement of ISCCP FD surface solar insolation with surface measurements is good (within 2.4-9.1%), but the use of MODIS aerosol optical depths as an alternative was checked and found to not improve the agreement. The MODIS surface albedos differed from the ISCCP FD values by no more than 0.02-0.07, but because these differences are mostly at longer wavelengths, they did not change the net solar radiation very much. Therefore to obtain the best estimate of surface net radiation with the best combination of spatial and temporal resolution, we developed a method to adjust the ISCCP FD surface longwave fluxes using the AIRS surface air and skin temperatures to obtain the higher spatial resolution of the latter (45 km), while retaining the 3-h time intervals of the former. Overall, the refinements reduced the ISCCP FD longwave flux magnitudes by about 25.5-42.1 W/m2 RMS (maximum difference -27.5 W/m2 for incoming longwave radiation and -59 W/m2 for outgoing longwave radiation) with the largest differences occurring at 9:00 and 12:00 UTC near local noon. Combining the ISCCP FD net shortwave radiation data and the AIRS-modified net longwave radiation data changed the total net radiation for summertime by 4.64 to 61.5 W/m2 and for wintertime by 1.06 to 41.88 W/m2 (about 11.1-39.2% of the daily mean).

Do we understand the temperature profile of air-water interface?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Solcerova, A.; van Emmerik, T. H. M.; Uittenbogaard, R.; van de Ven, F. H. M.; Van De Giesen, N.

2017-12-01

Lakes and reservoirs exchange energy with the atmosphere through long-wave radiation and turbulent heat fluxes. Calculation of those fluxes often depend on the surface temperature. Several recent studies used high resolution Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) to measure the temperature of air-water interface. We present results of three of such studies conducted on three different locations with three different climates (Ghana, Israel, The Netherland). Measurements from all presented studies show a distinct temperature drop close to the water surface during daytime. We provide several possible explanations for existence of such deviation of temperature, and discuss the plausibility of each. Explaining the measured temperature drop is crucial for a better understanding of the energy balance of lake surface, and estimation of the surface energy balance.

Utilization of Satellite Data in Land Surface Hydrology: Sensitivity and Assimilation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lakshmi, Venkataraman; Susskind, Joel

1999-01-01

This paper investigates the sensitivity of potential evapotranspiration to input meteorological variables, viz- surface air temperature and surface vapor pressure. The sensitivity studies have been carried out for a wide range of land surface variables such as wind speed, leaf area index and surface temperatures. Errors in the surface air temperature and surface vapor pressure result in errors of different signs in the computed potential evapotranspiration. This result has implications for use of estimated values from satellite data or analysis of surface air temperature and surface vapor pressure in large scale hydrological modeling. The comparison of cumulative potential evapotranspiration estimates using ground observations and satellite observations over Manhattan, Kansas for a period of several months shows very little difference between the two. The cumulative differences between the ground based and satellite based estimates of potential evapotranspiration amounted to less that 20mm over a 18 month period and a percentage difference of 15%. The use of satellite estimates of surface skin temperature in hydrological modeling to update the soil moisture using a physical adjustment concept is studied in detail including the extent of changes in soil moisture resulting from the assimilation of surface skin temperature. The soil moisture of the surface layer is adjusted by 0.9mm over a 10 day period as a result of a 3K difference between the predicted and the observed surface temperature. This is a considerable amount given the fact that the top layer can hold only 5mm of water.

Quantification of Local Warming Trend: A Remote Sensing-Based Approach

PubMed Central

Rahaman, Khan Rubayet; Hassan, Quazi K.

2017-01-01

Understanding the warming trends at local level is critical; and, the development of relevant adaptation and mitigation policies at those levels are quite challenging. Here, our overall goal was to generate local warming trend map at 1 km spatial resolution by using: (i) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-based 8-day composite surface temperature data; (ii) weather station-based yearly average air temperature data; and (iii) air temperature normal (i.e., 30 year average) data over the Canadian province of Alberta during the period 1961–2010. Thus, we analysed the station-based air temperature data in generating relationships between air temperature normal and yearly average air temperature in order to facilitate the selection of year-specific MODIS-based surface temperature data. These MODIS data in conjunction with weather station-based air temperature normal data were then used to model local warming trends. We observed that almost 88% areas of the province experienced warming trends (i.e., up to 1.5°C). The study concluded that remote sensing technology could be useful for delineating generic trends associated with local warming. PMID:28072857

A rotary drum dryer for palm sterilization: preliminary study of flow and heat transfer using CFD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanifarianty, S.; Legwiriyakul, A.; Alimalbari, A.; Nuntadusit, C.; Theppaya, T.; Wae-Hayee, M.

2018-01-01

Preliminary study in this article, the flow and the heat transfer of rotary drum dryer were simulated by using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). A 3D modelling of rotary drum dryer including ambient air was created by considering transient simulation. The temperature distributions on rotary drum dryer surfaces of experimental setup during heating detected by using infrared camera were given to be boundary conditions of modelling. The average temperature at the surface of the drum lids was 80°C, and the average temperature on the heated surface of the drum was 130°C. The results showed that the internal temperature of air in drum modelling was increased relating on time dependent. The final air temperature inside the drum modelling was similar to the measurement results.

Diagnostic and model dependent uncertainty of simulated Tibetan permafrost area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, W.; Rinke, A.; Moore, J. C.; Cui, X.; Ji, D.; Li, Q.; Zhang, N.; Wang, C.; Zhang, S.; Lawrence, D. M.; McGuire, A. D.; Zhang, W.; Delire, C.; Koven, C.; Saito, K.; MacDougall, A.; Burke, E.; Decharme, B.

2015-03-01

We perform a land surface model intercomparison to investigate how the simulation of permafrost area on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) varies between 6 modern stand-alone land surface models (CLM4.5, CoLM, ISBA, JULES, LPJ-GUESS, UVic). We also examine the variability in simulated permafrost area and distribution introduced by 5 different methods of diagnosing permafrost (from modeled monthly ground temperature, mean annual ground and air temperatures, air and surface frost indexes). There is good agreement (99-135 x 104 km2) between the two diagnostic methods based on air temperature which are also consistent with the best current observation-based estimate of actual permafrost area (101 x 104 km2). However the uncertainty (1-128 x 104 km2) using the three methods that require simulation of ground temperature is much greater. Moreover simulated permafrost distribution on TP is generally only fair to poor for these three methods (diagnosis of permafrost from monthly, and mean annual ground temperature, and surface frost index), while permafrost distribution using air temperature based methods is generally good. Model evaluation at field sites highlights specific problems in process simulations likely related to soil texture specification and snow cover. Models are particularly poor at simulating permafrost distribution using definition that soil temperature remains at or below 0°C for 24 consecutive months, which requires reliable simulation of both mean annual ground temperatures and seasonal cycle, and hence is relatively demanding. Although models can produce better permafrost maps using mean annual ground temperature and surface frost index, analysis of simulated soil temperature profiles reveals substantial biases. The current generation of land surface models need to reduce biases in simulated soil temperature profiles before reliable contemporary permafrost maps and predictions of changes in permafrost distribution can be made for the Tibetan Plateau.

Surface chemistry of rare-earth oxide surfaces at ambient conditions: reactions with water and hydrocarbons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Külah, Elçin; Marot, Laurent; Steiner, Roland; Romanyuk, Andriy; Jung, Thomas A.; Wäckerlin, Aneliia; Meyer, Ernst

2017-03-01

Rare-earth (RE) oxide surfaces are of significant importance for catalysis and were recently reported to possess intrinsic hydrophobicity. The surface chemistry of these oxides in the low temperature regime, however, remains to a large extent unexplored. The reactions occurring at RE surfaces at room temperature (RT) in real air environment, in particular, in presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), were not addressed until now. Discovering these reactions would shed light onto intermediate steps occurring in automotive exhaust catalysts before reaching the final high operational temperature and full conversion of organics. Here we first address physical properties of the RE oxide, nitride and fluoride surfaces modified by exposure to ambient air and then we report a room temperature reaction between PAH and RE oxide surfaces, exemplified by tetracene (C18H12) on a Gd2O3. Our study evidences a novel effect - oxidation of higher hydrocarbons at significantly lower temperatures (~300 K) than previously reported (>500 K). The evolution of the surface chemical composition of RE compounds in ambient air is investigated and correlated with the surface wetting. Our surprising results reveal the complex behavior of RE surfaces and motivate follow-up studies of reactions between PAH and catalytic surfaces at the single molecule level.

Effectiveness of Different Urban Heat Island Mitigation Methods and Their Regional Impacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, N.

2017-12-01

Cool roofs and green roofs are two popular methods to mitigate urban heat island and improve urban climate. The effectiveness of different urban heat island mitigation strategies in the summer of 2013 in the Yangtze River Delta, China is investigated using the WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) model coupled with a physically based urban canopy model. The modifications to the roof surface changed the urban surface radiation balance and then modified the local surface energy budget. Both cool roofs and green roofs led to lower surface skin temperature and near-surface air temperature. Increasing the roof albedo to 0.5 caused a similar effectiveness as covering 25% of urban roofs with vegetation; increasing roof albedo to 0.7 caused a similar near-surface air temperature decrease as 75% green roof coverage. The near-surface relative humidity increased in both cool roof and green roof experiments because of the combination of the impacts of increases in specific humidity and decreases in air temperature. The regional impacts of cool roofs and green roofs were evaluated using the regional effect index. The regional effect could be found in both near-surface air temperature and surface specific/relative humidity when the percentage of roofs covered with high albedo materials or green roofs reached a higher fraction (greater than 50%). The changes in the vertical profiles of temperature cause a more stable atmospheric boundary layer over the urban area; at the same time, the crossover phenomena occurred above the boundary layer due to the decrease in vertical wind speed.

Documentation for Program SOILSIM: A computer program for the simulation of heat and moisture flow in soils and between soils, canopy and atmosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Field, Richard T.

1990-01-01

SOILSIM, a digital model of energy and moisture fluxes in the soil and above the soil surface, is presented. It simulates the time evolution of soil temperature and moisture, temperature of the soil surface and plant canopy the above surface, and the fluxes of sensible and latent heat into the atmosphere in response to surface weather conditions. The model is driven by simple weather observations including wind speed, air temperature, air humidity, and incident radiation. The model intended to be useful in conjunction with remotely sensed information of the land surface state, such as surface brightness temperature and soil moisture, for computing wide area evapotranspiration.

Investigation of atomic oxygen-surface interactions related to measurements with dual air density explorer satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wood, B. J.; Ablow, C. M.; Wise, H.

1973-01-01

For a number of candidate materials of construction for the dual air density explorer satellites the rate of oxygen atom loss by adsorption, surface reaction, and recombination was determined as a function of surface and temperature. Plain aluminum and anodized aluminum surfaces exhibit a collisional atom loss probability alpha .01 in the temperature range 140 - 360 K, and an initial sticking probability. For SiO coated aluminum in the same temperature range, alpha .001 and So .001. Atom-loss on gold is relatively rapid alpha .01. The So for gold varies between 0.25 and unity in the temperature range 360 - 140 K.

Measuring surface temperature and grading pathological changes of airway tissue in a canine model of inhalational thermal injury.

PubMed

Zhao, Ran; Di, La-na; Zhao, Xiao-zhuo; Wang, Cheng; Zhang, Guo-an

2013-06-01

Airway tissue shows unexpected invulnerability to heated air. The mechanisms of this phenomenon are open to debate. This study was designed to measure the surface temperatures at different locations of the airway, and to explore the relationship between the tissue's surface temperature and injury severity. Twenty dogs were randomly divided into four groups, including three experimental groups (six dogs in each) to inhale heated air at 70-80 °C (group I), 150-160 °C (group II) and 310-320 °C (group III) and a control group (two dogs, only for histological observation). Injury time was 20 min. Mucosal surface temperatures of the epiglottis (point A), cricoid cartilage (point B) and lower trachea (point C) were measured. Dogs in group I-III were divided into three subgroups (two in each), to be assayed at 12, 24 and 36 h after injury, respectively. For each dog, four tissue parts (epiglottis, larynx, lower trachea and terminal bronchiole) were microscopically observed and graded according to an original pathological scoring system (score range: 0-27). Surface temperatures of the airway mucosa increased slowly to 40.60±3.29 °C, and the highest peak temperature was 48.3 °C (group III, point A). The pathological score of burned tissues was 4.12±4.94 (0.0-18.0), suggesting slight to moderate injuries. Air temperature and airway location both influenced mucosal temperature and pathological scores very significantly, and there was a very significant positive correlation between tissue temperature and injury severity. Compared to the inhalational air hyperthermia, airway surface temperature was much lower, but was still positively correlated with thermal injury severity. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

Cold Spots in the Martian Polar Regions: Evidence of Carbon Dioxide Depletion?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weiss, Benjamin P.; Ingersoll, Andrew P.

2000-01-01

Regions of very low, rapidly varying brightness temperatures have been observed near the martian winter poles by several spacecraft. One possibility is that the CO2 condensation temperature is lowered by depletion of CO2 in the air at the surface. We estimate the rate at which this low-molecular-weight air would disperse into the high-molecular-weight air above and show that it is generally faster than the rate of supply. This dispersal could be prevented if there is a strong temperature inversion (warm air above colder air) near the surface. Without an inversion, the entire atmospheric column could become depleted. However, depleted columns take a long time to form, and they are inconsistent with the rapid fluctuations in the cold spot locations and temperatures. Because low-altitude temperature inversions cannot be ruled out by existing observations, CO2 depletion is still a viable explanation for the martian cold spots.

Bibliography on aircraft fire hazards and safety. Volume 1: Hazards. Part 1: Key numbers 1 to 817

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pelouch, J. J., Jr. (Compiler); Hacker, P. T. (Compiler)

1974-01-01

Ignition temperatures of n-hexane, n-octane, n-decane, JP-6 jet fuel, and aircraft engine oil MIL-7-7808 (0-60-18) were determined in air using heated Pyrex cylinders and Nichrome wires, rods, or tubes. Ignition temperature varied little with fuel-air ratio, but increased as the size of the heat source was decreased. Expressions are given which define the variation of the hot surface ignition temperatures of these combustibles with the radius and the surface area of the heat source. The expressions are applicable to stagnant or low velocity flow conditions (less than 0.2 in./sec.). In addition, the hot gas ignition temperatures of the combustible vapor-air mixtures were determined with jets of hot air. These ignition temperatures also varied little with fuel-air ratio and increased as the diameter of the heat sources was decreased.

External tank chill effect on the space transportation system launch pad environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ahmad, R. A.; Boraas, S.

1991-01-01

The external tank (ET) of the STS contains liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as oxidizer and fuel for the SSMEs. Once the cryogen have been loaded into the ET, the temperature of the air surrounding the STS is chilled by the cold outer surface of the ET. This paper describes a two-dimensional flow and thermal analysis to determine this chill effect on the STS launch pad environment subsequent to the ET loading operation. The analysis was done assuming winter conditions and a northwest wind direction. An existing CFD code, PHOENICS '81, was used in the study. The results are presented as local and average values of the heat transfer coefficient, the Nusselt number, and the surface temperature around the redesigned solid rocket motors (RSRMs) and the ET. The temperature depression caused by the ET chilling of the air in the vicinity of the RSRMs was calculated to be 3 F below the ambient. This compares with the observed 1-2 F RSRM surface temperature depression based upon measurements made prior to the winter flight of STS-29. Since the surface temperature would be expected to be slightly higher than the local air temperature, the predicted temperature depression of the air appears to be substantiated.

Reduction of the Livestock Ammonia Emission under the Changing Temperature during the Initial Manure Nitrogen Biomineralization

PubMed Central

Bagdonienė, Indrė; Baležentienė, Ligita

2013-01-01

Experimental data were applied for the modelling optimal cowshed temperature environment in laboratory test bench by a mass-flow method. The principal factor affecting exponent growth of ammonia emission was increasing air and manure surface temperature. With the manure temperature increasing from 4°C to 30°C, growth in the ammonia emission grew fourfold, that is, from 102 to 430 mg m−2h−1. Especial risk emerges when temperature exceeds 20°C: an increase in temperature of 1°C contributes to the intensity of ammonia emission by 17 mg m−2h−1. The temperatures of air and manure surface as well as those of its layers are important when analysing emission processes from manure. Indeed, it affects the processes occurring on the manure surface, namely, dehydration and crust formation. To reduce ammonia emission from cowshed, it is important to optimize the inner temperature control and to manage air circulation, especially at higher temperatures, preventing the warm ambient air from blowing direct to manure. Decrease in mean annual temperature of 1°C would reduce the annual ammonia emission by some 5.0%. The air temperature range varied between −15°C and 30°C in barns. The highest mean annual temperature (14.6°C) and ammonia emission (218 mg m−2h−1) were observed in the semideep cowshed. PMID:24453912

Nocturnal Near-Surface Temperature, but not Flow Dynamics, can be Predicted by Microtopography in a Mid-Range Mountain Valley

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pfister, Lena; Sigmund, Armin; Olesch, Johannes; Thomas, Christoph K.

2017-11-01

We investigate nocturnal flow dynamics and temperature behaviour near the surface of a 170-m long gentle slope in a mid-range mountain valley. In contrast to many existing studies focusing on locations with significant topographic variations, gentle slopes cover a greater spatial extent of the Earth's surface. Air temperatures were measured using the high-resolution distributed-temperature-sensing method within a two-dimensional fibre-optic array in the lowest metre above the surface. The main objectives are to characterize the spatio-temporal patterns in the near-surface temperature and flow dynamics, and quantify their responses to the microtopography and land cover. For the duration of the experiment, including even clear-sky nights with weak winds and strong radiative forcing, the classical cold-air drainage predicted by theory could not be detected. In contrast, we show that the airflow for the two dominant flow modes originates non-locally. The most abundant flow mode is characterized by vertically-decoupled layers featuring a near-surface flow perpendicular to the slope and strong stable stratification, which contradicts the expectation of a gravity-driven downslope flow of locally produced cold air. Differences in microtopography and land cover clearly affect spatio-temporal temperature perturbations. The second most abundant flow mode is characterized by strong mixing, leading to vertical coupling with airflow directed down the local slope. Here variations of microtopography and land cover lead to negligible near-surface temperature perturbations. We conclude that spatio-temporal temperature perturbations, but not flow dynamics, can be predicted by microtopography, which complicates the prediction of advective-heat components and the existence and dynamics of cold-air pools in gently sloped terrain in the absence of observations.

Lessons Learned from AIRS: Improved Determination of Surface and Atmospheric Temperatures Using Only Shortwave AIRS Channels

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Susskind, Joel

2011-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the use of shortwave channels available to the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) to improve the determination of surface and atmospheric temperatures. The AIRS instrument is compared with the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on-board the MetOp-A satellite. The objectives of the AIRS/AMSU were to (1) provide real time observations to improve numerical weather prediction via data assimilation, (2) Provide observations to measure and explain interannual variability and trends and (3) Use of AIRS product error estimates allows for QC optimized for each application. Successive versions in the AIRS retrieval methodology have shown significant improvement.

Observing changes in atmospheric heat content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balcerak, Ernie

2011-10-01

Globally, air temperatures near the surface over land have been rising in recent decades, and this has been presented as solid evidence of global warming. However, some scientists have argued that total heat content (energy), rather than temperature, should be used as a metric of warming trends. Surface air temperature is only one component of the energy content of the surface atmosphere—kinetic energy and latent heat also contribute. Peterson et al. present the first study to use observational data to estimate global changes in surface energy of the atmosphere over time. They include temperature, kinetic energy, and latent heat in their analysis. The authors found that total global surface atmospheric energy and heat content have increased since the 1970s, even though kinetic energy decreased slightly and in some regions latent heat declined while temperature increased.

The impact of different cooling strategies on urban air temperatures: the cases of Campinas, Brazil and Mendoza, Argentina

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alchapar, Noelia Liliana; Pezzuto, Claudia Cotrim; Correa, Erica Norma; Chebel Labaki, Lucila

2017-10-01

This paper describes different ways of reducing urban air temperature and their results in two cities: Campinas, Brazil—a warm temperate climate with a dry winter and hot summer (Cwa), and Mendoza, Argentina—a desert climate with cold steppe (BWk). A high-resolution microclimate modeling system—ENVI-met 3.1—was used to evaluate the thermal performance of an urban canyon in each city. A total of 18 scenarios were simulated including changes in the surface albedo, vegetation percentage, and the H/W aspect ratio of the urban canyons. These results revealed the same trend in behavior for each of the combinations of strategies evaluated in both cities. Nevertheless, these strategies produce a greater temperature reduction in the warm temperate climate (Cwa). Increasing the vegetation percentage reduces air temperatures and mean radiant temperatures in all scenarios. In addition, there is a greater decrease of urban temperature with the vegetation increase when the H/W aspect ratio is lower. Also, applying low albedo on vertical surfaces and high albedo on horizontal surfaces is successful in reducing air temperatures without raising the mean radiant temperature. The best combination of strategies—60 % of vegetation, low albedos on walls and high albedos on pavements and roofs, and 1.5 H/W—could reduce air temperatures up to 6.4 °C in Campinas and 3.5 °C in Mendoza.

Thermal behaviour of an urban lake during summer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Solcerova, Anna; van de Ven, Frans

2015-04-01

One of the undesirable effects of urbanisation is higher summer air temperatures in cites compared to rural areas. One of the most important self-cooling mechanism of cities is presence of water. Comparative studies showed that from all urban land-use types open water is the most efficient in reducing the heat in its surrounding. Urban water bodies vary from small ponds to big lakes and rivers, but already the presence of a swimming pool in a garden resulted in lower temperatures in the area. Moving and still water both exhibit slightly different patterns with respect to the environment. While ponds tend to respond more to air temperature changes, faster flowing rivers are expected to have more stable temperature over time. There are two major components of cooling effect of a surface water:(1) through evaporation, and (2) by storing heat and increasing its own temperature. This study shows results from a detailed temperature measurements, using Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS), in an urban lake in Delft (The Netherlands). A two meter tall construction measuring temperature with 2 mm vertical spatial resolution was placed partly in the water, reaching all the way to the muddy underlayer, and partly in the air. Data from continuous two month measurement campaign show the development of water temperature with respect to solar radiation, air temperature, rain and inflow of rainwater from surrounding streets, etc. Most interesting is the 1-2 cm thick layer of colder air right above the water surface. This layer reaches values lower than both the air and the water, which suggests that certain part of the potential cooling capacity of open water is restricted by a small layer of air just above its surface.

Climate mitigation from vegetation biophysical feedbacks during the past three decades

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zeng, Zhenzhong; Piao, Shilong; Li, Laurent Z. X.

The surface air temperature response to vegetation changes has been studied for the extreme case of land-cover change; yet, it has never been quantified for the slow but persistent increase in leaf area index (LAI) observed over the past 30 years (Earth greening). We isolate the fingerprint of increasing LAI on surface air temperature using a coupled land–atmosphere global climate model prescribed with satellite LAI observations. Furthermore, we found that the global greening has slowed down the rise in global land-surface air temperature by 0.09 ± 0.02 °C since 1982. This net cooling effect is the sum of cooling frommore » increased evapotranspiration (70%), changed atmospheric circulation (44%), decreased shortwave transmissivity (21%), and warming from increased longwave air emissivity (-29%) and decreased albedo (-6%). The global cooling originated from the regions where LAI has increased, including boreal Eurasia, Europe, India, northwest Amazonia, and the Sahel. Increasing LAI did not, but, significantly change surface air temperature in eastern North America and East Asia, where the effects of large-scale atmospheric circulation changes mask local vegetation feedbacks. Overall, the sum of biophysical feedbacks related to the greening of the Earth mitigated 12% of global land-surface warming for the past 30 years.« less

Atmospheric Models For Over-Ocean Propagation Loss

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-08-24

Radiosonde balloons are launched daily at selected loca- tions, and measure temperature, dew point temperature, and air pressure as they ascend. Radiosondes...different times of year and locations. The result was used to estimate high-reliability SHF/EHF air -to-surface radio link performance in a maritime...environment. I. INTRODUCTION Air -to-surface radio links differ from typical satellite com- munications links in that the path elevation angles are lower

Permian paleoclimate data from fluid inclusions in halite

USGS Publications Warehouse

Benison, K.C.; Goldstein, R.H.

1999-01-01

This study has yielded surface water paleotemperatures from primary fluid inclusions in mid Permian Nippewalla Group halite from western Kansas. A 'cooling nucleation' method is used to generate vapor bubbles in originally all-liquid primary inclusions. Then, surface water paleotemperatures are obtained by measuring temperatures of homogenization to liquid. Homogenization temperatures ranged from 21??C to 50??C and are consistent along individual fluid inclusion assemblages, indicating that the fluid inclusions have not been altered by thermal reequilibration. Homogenization temperatures show a range of up to 26??C from base to top of individual cloudy chevron growth bands. Petrographic and fluid inclusion evidence indicate that no significant pressure correction is needed for the homogenization temperature data. We interpret these homogenization temperatures to represent shallow surface water paleotemperatures. The range in temperatures from base to top of single chevron bands may reflect daily temperatures variations. These Permian surface water temperatures fall within the same range as some modern evaporative surface waters, suggesting that this Permian environment may have been relatively similar to its modern counterparts. Shallow surface water temperatures in evaporative settings correspond closely to local air temperatures. Therefore, the Permian surface water temperatures determined in this study may be considered proxies for local Permian air temperatures.

Empirical modeling of spatial and temporal variation in warm season nocturnal air temperatures in two North Idaho mountain ranges, USA

Treesearch

Zachery A. Holden; Michael A. Crimmins; Samuel A. Cushman; Jeremy S. Littell

2010-01-01

Accurate, fine spatial resolution predictions of surface air temperatures are critical for understanding many hydrologic and ecological processes. This study examines the spatial and temporal variability in nocturnal air temperatures across a mountainous region of Northern Idaho. Principal components analysis (PCA) was applied to a network of 70 Hobo temperature...

Understanding Climate Variability of Urban Ecosystems Through the Lens of Citizen Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ripplinger, J.; Jenerette, D.; Wang, J.; Chandler, M.; Ge, C.; Koutzoukis, S.

2017-12-01

The Los Angeles megacity is vulnerable to climate warming - a process that locally exacerbates the urban heat island effect as it intensifies with size and density of the built-up area. We know that large-scale drivers play a role, but in order to understand local-scale climate variation, more research is needed on the biophysical and sociocultural processes driving the urban climate system. In this study, we work with citizen scientists to deploy a high-density network of microsensors across a climate gradient to characterize geographic variation in neighborhood meso- and micro-climates. This research asks: How do urbanization, global climate, and vegetation interact across multiple scales to affect local-scale experiences of temperature? Additionally, citizen scientist-led efforts generated research questions focused on examining microclimatic differences among yard groundcover types (rock mulch vs. lawn vs. artificial turf) and also on variation in temperature related to tree cover. Combining sensor measurements with Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) spatial models and satellite-based temperature, we estimate spatially-explicit maps of land surface temperature and air temperature to illustrate the substantial difference between surface and air urban heat island intensities and the variable degree of coupling between land surface and air temperature in urban areas. Our results show a strong coupling between air temperature variation and landcover for neighborhoods, with significant detectable signatures from tree cover and impervious surface. Temperature covaried most strongly with urbanization intensity at nighttime during peak summer season, when daily mean air temperature ranged from 12.8C to 30.4C across all groundcover types. The combined effects of neighborhood geography and vegetation determine where and how temperature and tree canopy vary within a city. This citizen science-enabled research shows how large-scale climate drivers and urbanization intensity jointly influence the nature and magnitude of coupling between air temperature and tree cover, and demonstrate how urban vegetation provides an important ecosystem service in cities by decreasing the intensity of local urban heat islands.

Temperature Mapping of Air Film-Cooled Thermal Barrier Coated Surfaces Using Cr-Doped GdAlO3 Phosphor Thermography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eldridge, Jeffrey I.; Shyam, Vikram; Wroblewski, Adam C.; Zhu, Dongming; Cuy, Michael D.; Wolfe, Douglas E.

2016-01-01

It has been recently shown that the high luminescence intensity from a Cr-doped GdAlO3 (Cr:GdAlO3) thermographic phosphor enables non-rastered full-field temperature mapping of thermal barrier coating (TBC) surfaces to temperatures above 1000C. In this presentation, temperature mapping by Cr:GdAlO3 based phosphor thermometry of air film-cooled TBC-coated surfaces is demonstrated for both scaled-up cooling hole geometries as well as for actual components in a burner rig test environment. The effects of thermal background radiation and flame chemiluminescence on the measurements are investigated, and advantages of this method over infrared thermography as well as the limitations of this method for studying air film cooling are discussed.

Heat transfer from high-temperature surfaces to fluids II : correlation of heat-transfer and friction data for air flowing in inconel tube with rounded entrance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lowdermilk, Warren H; Grele, Milton D

1949-01-01

A heat transfer investigation, which was an extension of a previously reported NACA investigation, was conducted with air flowing through an electrically heated inconel tube with a rounded entrance,an inside diameter of 0.402 inch, and a length of 24 inches over a range of conditions, which included Reynolds numbers up to 500,000, average surface temperatures up to 2050 degrees R, and heat-flux densities up to 150,000 Btu per hour per square foot. Conventional methods of correlating heat-transfer data wherein properties of the air were evaluated at the average bulk, film, and surface temperatures resulted in reductions of Nusselt number of about 38, 46, and 53 percent, respectively, for an increase in surface temperature from 605 degrees to 2050 degrees R at constant Reynolds number. A modified correlation method in which the properties of air were based on the surface temperature and the Reynolds number was modified by substituting the product of the density at the inside tube wall and the bulk velocity for the conventional mass flow per unit cross-sectional area, resulted in a satisfactory correlation of the data for the extended ranges of conditions investigated.

Effects of air temperature and discharge on Upper Mississippi River summer water temperatures

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gray, Brian R.; Robertson, Dale M.; Rogala, James T.

2018-01-01

Recent interest in the potential effects of climate change has prompted studies of air temperature and precipitation associations with water temperatures in rivers and streams. We examined associations between summer surface water temperatures and both air temperature and discharge for 5 reaches of the Upper Mississippi River during 1994–2011. Water–air temperature associations at a given reach approximated 1:1 when estimated under an assumption of reach independence but declined to approximately 1:2 when water temperatures were permitted to covary among reaches and were also adjusted for upstream air temperatures. Estimated water temperature–discharge associations were weak. An apparently novel feature of this study is that of addressing changes in associations between water and air temperatures when both are correlated among reaches.

A physically based analytical spatial air temperature and humidity model

Treesearch

Yang Yang; Theodore A. Endreny; David J. Nowak

2013-01-01

Spatial variation of urban surface air temperature and humidity influences human thermal comfort, the settling rate of atmospheric pollutants, and plant physiology and growth. Given the lack of observations, we developed a Physically based Analytical Spatial Air Temperature and Humidity (PASATH) model. The PASATH model calculates spatial solar radiation and heat...

Frost Growth and Densification on a Flat Surface in Laminar Flow with Variable Humidity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kandula, M.

2012-01-01

Experiments are performed concerning frost growth and densification in laminar flow over a flat surface under conditions of constant and variable humidity. The flat plate test specimen is made of aluminum-6031, and has dimensions of 0.3 mx0.3 mx6.35 mm. Results for the first variable humidity case are obtained for a plate temperature of 255.4 K, air velocity of 1.77 m/s, air temperature of 295.1 K, and a relative humidity continuously ranging from 81 to 54%. The second variable humidity test case corresponds to plate temperature of 255.4 K, air velocity of 2.44 m/s, air temperature of 291.8 K, and a relative humidity ranging from 66 to 59%. Results for the constant humidity case are obtained for a plate temperature of 263.7 K, air velocity of 1.7 m/s, air temperature of 295 K, and a relative humidity of 71.6 %. Comparisons of the data with the author's frost model extended to accommodate variable humidity suggest satisfactory agreement between the theory and the data for both constant and variable humidity.

High-Temperature, Dual-Atmosphere Corrosion of Solid-Oxide Fuel Cell Interconnects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gannon, Paul; Amendola, Roberta

2012-12-01

High-temperature corrosion of ferritic stainless steel (FSS) surfaces can be accelerated and anomalous when it is simultaneously subjected to different gaseous environments, e.g., when separating fuel (hydrogen) and oxidant (air) streams, in comparison with single-atmosphere exposures, e.g., air only. This so-called "dual-atmosphere" exposure is realized in many energy-conversion systems including turbines, boilers, gasifiers, heat exchangers, and particularly in intermediate temperature (600-800°C) planar solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stacks. It is generally accepted that hydrogen transport through the FSS (plate or tube) and its subsequent integration into the growing air-side surface oxide layer can promote accelerated and anomalous corrosion—relative to single-atmosphere exposure—via defect chemistry changes, such as increased cation vacancy concentrations, decreased oxygen activity, and steam formation within the growing surface oxide layers. Establishment of a continuous and dense surface oxide layer on the fuel side of the FSS can inhibit hydrogen transport and the associated effects on the air side. Minor differences in FSS composition, microstructure, and surface conditions can all have dramatic influences on dual-atmosphere corrosion behaviors. This article reviews high-temperature, dual-atmosphere corrosion phenomena and discusses implications for SOFC stacks, related applications, and future research.

[Comparison of shaft temperature related treatment efficacy between "air-cooled" microwave coagulation and traditional microwave coagulation].

PubMed

Zheng, Yun; Li, Jin-Qing; Chen, Min-Shan; Zhang, Yao-Jun; Zhang, Ya-Qi

2004-11-01

The application and development of traditional percutaneous microwave coagulation therapy (PMCT) has been limited by high shaft temperature. The "air-cooled" PMCT is the newest advancement. This study was to compare shaft temperature related treatment efficacy between "air-cooled" PMCT and traditional PMCT. Two pigs underwent traditional PMCT, and "air-cooled" PMCT at 80 W for 10 min separately. Skin injury, surface temperature of guide-needle, charring tissue sticking to the shaft, and lesion shape in 2 pigs were compared. Five patients with liver tumor received traditional PMCT, and 8 patients with liver tumor received "air-cooled" PMCT. Feeling of pain, skin injury, charring tissue sticking to the shaft, local therapeutic efficacy, and recurrence of these 2 groups of patients were compared. In the pig underwent traditional PMCT, surface temperature of guide-needle reached 119-160 Centigrade; skin burn around puncture points was serious; charring tissue stuck to the front of electrodes; a trail sign was observed in coagulated lesion. In the pig underwent "air-cooled" PMCT, surface temperature of guide-needle was 28.8-39.9 Centigrade; no skin injury was found around puncture points; no charring tissue stuck to the front of electrodes; no obvious trail sign was observed in coagulated lesion. In 5 patients received traditional PMCT, 3 had skin injury; 2 had charring tissue stuck to the front of electrode; all felt moderate or serious epigastric pain lasted for 1-8 weeks; 4 had complete coagulation; 1 had local recurrence. In 8 patients received "air-cooled" PMCT, no one had skin injury, and charring tissue stuck to "air-cooled" electrode; 4 felt slight epigastric pain within 1 week; all had complete coagulation; no local recurrence was found. The technique of "air-cooled" electrode may decrease temperature of shaft safely and reliably, and eliminate side effects arose from high temperature of shaft. Treatment efficacy of "air-cooled" PMCT is better than that of traditional PMCT.

Improved Surface Parameter Retrievals using AIRS/AMSU Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Susskind, Joel; Blaisdell, John

2008-01-01

The AIRS Science Team Version 5.0 retrieval algorithm became operational at the Goddard DAAC in July 2007 generating near real-time products from analysis of AIRS/AMSU sounding data. This algorithm contains many significant theoretical advances over the AIRS Science Team Version 4.0 retrieval algorithm used previously. Two very significant developments of Version 5 are: 1) the development and implementation of an improved Radiative Transfer Algorithm (RTA) which allows for accurate treatment of non-Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (non-LTE) effects on shortwave sounding channels; and 2) the development of methodology to obtain very accurate case by case product error estimates which are in turn used for quality control. These theoretical improvements taken together enabled a new methodology to be developed which further improves soundings in partially cloudy conditions. In this methodology, longwave C02 channel observations in the spectral region 700 cm(exp -1) to 750 cm(exp -1) are used exclusively for cloud clearing purposes, while shortwave C02 channels in the spectral region 2195 cm(exp -1) 2395 cm(exp -1) are used for temperature sounding purposes. This allows for accurate temperature soundings under more difficult cloud conditions. This paper further improves on the methodology used in Version 5 to derive surface skin temperature and surface spectral emissivity from AIRS/AMSU observations. Now, following the approach used to improve tropospheric temperature profiles, surface skin temperature is also derived using only shortwave window channels. This produces improved surface parameters, both day and night, compared to what was obtained in Version 5. These in turn result in improved boundary layer temperatures and retrieved total O3 burden.

Spatiotemporal investigation of long-term seasonal temperature variability in Libya

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elsharkawy, S. G.; Elmallah, E. S.

2016-09-01

Throughout this work, spatial and temporal variations of seasonal surface air temperature have been investigated. Moreover, the effects of relative internal (teleconnection) and external (solar) forcing on surface air temperature variability have been examined. Seasonal temperature time series covering 30 different meteorological locations and lasting over the last century are considered. These locations are classified into two groups based on their spatial distribution. One represents Coast Libya Surface Air Temperature (CLSAT), contains 19 locations, and the other represents Desert Libya Surface Air Temperature (DLSAT), contains 11 locations. Average temperature departure test is applied to investigate the nature of temperature variations. Temperature trends are analyzed using the nonparametric Mann-Kendall test and their coefficients are calculated using Sen's slope estimate. Cross-correlation and spectral analysis techniques are also applied. Our results showed temperature deviation from average within a band of ± 2°C at coast region, while ± 4°C at desert region. Extreme behavior intensions between summer and winter temperatures at coast region are noticed. Segmentation process declared reversal cooling/warming behavior within temperature records for all seasons. Desert region shows warming trend for all seasons with higher coefficients than obtained at coast region. Results obtained for spectral analysis show different short and medium signals and concluded that not only the spectral properties are different for different geographical regions but also different for different climatic seasons on regional scale as well. Cross-correlation results showed that highest influence for Rz upon coastal temperature is always in conjunction with highest influence of NAO upon coastal temperature during the period 1981-2010. Desert region does not obey this phenomenon, where highest temperature-NAO correlations at desert during autumn and winter seasons are not accompanied with highest correlations for temperature-Rz.

Morphological variation of stimuli-responsive polypeptide at air-water interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shin, Sungchul; Ahn, Sungmin; Cheng, Jie; Chang, Hyejin; Jung, Dae-Hong; Hyun, Jinho

2016-12-01

The morphological variation of stimuli-responsive polypeptide molecules at the air-water interface as a function of temperature and compression was described. The surface pressure-area (π-A) isotherms of an elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) monolayer were obtained under variable external conditions, and Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) monolayers were deposited onto a mica substrate for characterization. As the compression of the ELP monolayer increased, the surface pressure increased gradually, indicating that the ELP monolayer could be prepared with high stability at the air-water interface. The temperature in the subphase of the ELP monolayer was critical in the preparation of LB monolayers. The change in temperature induced a shift in the π-A isotherms as well as a change in ELP secondary structures. Surprisingly, the compression of the ELP monolayer influenced the ELP secondary structure due to the reduction in the phase transition temperature with decreasing temperature. The change in the ELP secondary structure formed at the air-water interface was investigated by surface-enhanced Raman scattering. Moreover, the morphology of the ELP monolayer was subsequently imaged using atomic force microscopy. The temperature responsive behavior resulted in changes in surface morphology from relatively flat structures to rugged labyrinth structures, which suggested conformational changes in the ELP monolayers.

AIRS Observations of DomeC in Antarctica and Comparison with Automated Weather Stations (AWS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aumann, Hartmut H.; Gregorich, Dave; Broberg, Steve

2006-01-01

We compare the surface temperatures at Dome Concordia (DomeC) deduced from AIRS data and two Automatic Weather Stations at Concordia Station: AWS8989 , which has been in operation since December 1996, and AWS.it, for which data are available between January and November 2005. The AWS8989 readings are on average 3 K warmer than the AWS.it readings, with a warmer bias in the Antarctic summer than in the winter season. Although AIRS measures the skin brightness temperature, while the AWS reports the temperature of the air at 3 meter above the surface, the AIRS measurements agree well with the AWS.it readings for all data and separately for the summer and winter seasons, if data taken in the presence of strong surface inversions are filtered out. This can be done by deducing the vertical temperature gradient above the surface directly from the AIRS temperature sounding channels or indirectly by noting that extreme vertical gradients near the surface are unlikely if the wind speed is more than a few meters per second. Since the AIRS measurements are very well calibrated, the agreement with AWS.it is very encouraging. The warmer readings of AWS8989 are likely due to thermal contamination of the AWS8989 site by the increasing activity at Concordia Station. Data from an AWS.it quality station could be used for the evaluation of radiometric accuracy and stability of polar orbiting sounders at low temperatures. Unfortunately, data from AWS.it was available only for a limited time. The thermal contamination of the AWS8989 data makes long-term trends deduced from AWS8989 and possibly results about the rapid Antarctic warming deduced from other research stations on Antarctica suspect. AIRS is the first hyperspectral infrared sounder designed in support of weather forecasting and climate research. It was launched in May 2002 on the EOS Aqua spacecraft into a 704 km altitude polar sun-synchronous orbit. The lifetime of AIRS, estimated before launch to be at least 5 years is, based on the latest evaluation, limited by the amount of attitude control gas on the EOS Aqua spacecraft, which is expected to last through 2015.

Startup of air-cooled condensers and dry cooling towers at low temperatures of the cooling air

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milman, O. O.; Ptakhin, A. V.; Kondratev, A. V.; Shifrin, B. A.; Yankov, G. G.

2016-05-01

The problems of startup and performance of air-cooled condensers (ACC) and dry cooling towers (DCT) at low cooling air temperatures are considered. Effects of the startup of the ACC at sub-zero temperatures are described. Different options of the ACC heating up are analyzed, and examples of existing technologies are presented (electric heating, heating up with hot air or steam, and internal and external heating). The use of additional heat exchanging sections, steam tracers, in the DCT design is described. The need for high power in cases of electric heating and heating up with hot air is noted. An experimental stand for research and testing of the ACC startup at low temperatures is described. The design of the three-pass ACC unit is given, and its advantages over classical single-pass design at low temperatures are listed. The formation of ice plugs inside the heat exchanging tubes during the start-up of ACC and DCT at low cooling air temperatures is analyzed. Experimental data on the effect of the steam flow rate, steam nozzle distance from the heat-exchange surface, and their orientation in space on the metal temperature were collected, and test results are analyzed. It is noted that the surface temperature at the end of the heat up is almost independent from its initial temperature. Recommendations for the safe start-up of ACCs and DCTs are given. The heating flow necessary to sufficiently heat up heat-exchange surfaces of ACCs and DCTs for the safe startup is estimated. The technology and the process of the heat up of the ACC with the heating steam external supply are described by the example of the startup of the full-scale section of the ACC at sub-zero temperatures of the cooling air, and the advantages of the proposed start-up technology are confirmed.

Air and ground temperatures along elevation and continentality gradients in Southern Norway

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farbrot, Herman; Hipp, Tobias; Etzelmüller, Bernd; Humlum, Ole; Isaksen, Ketil; Strand Ødegârd, Rune

2010-05-01

The modern southern boundary for Scandinavian permafrost is located in the mountains of Southern Norway. Permafrost and seasonal frost are considered key components of the cryosphere, and the climate-permafrost relation has acquired added importance with the increasing awareness and concern of rising air temperatures. The three-year research project CRYOLINK ("Permafrost and seasonal frost in southern Norway") aims at improving knowledge on past and present ground temperatures, seasonal frost, and distribution of mountain permafrost in Southern Norway by addressing the fundamental problem of heat transfer between the atmosphere and the ground surface. Hence, several shallow boreholes have been drilled, and a monitoring program to measure air and ground temperatures was started August 2008. The borehole areas (Juvvass, Jetta and Tron) are situated along a west-east transect and, hence, a continentality gradient, and each area provides boreholes at different elevations. Here we present the first year of air and ground temperatures from these sites and discuss the influence of air temperature and ground surface charcteristics (snow conditions, sediments/bedrock, vegetation) on ground temperatures.

The role of land surface fluxes in Saudi-KAU AGCM: Temperature climatology over the Arabian Peninsula for the period 1981-2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashfaqur Rahman, M.; Almazroui, Mansour; Nazrul Islam, M.; O'Brien, Enda; Yousef, Ahmed Elsayed

2018-02-01

A new version of the Community Land Model (CLM) was introduced to the Saudi King Abdulaziz University Atmospheric Global Climate Model (Saudi-KAU AGCM) for better land surface component representation, and so to enhance climate simulation. CLM replaced the original land surface model (LSM) in Saudi-KAU AGCM, with the aim of simulating more accurate land surface fluxes globally, but especially over the Arabian Peninsula. To evaluate the performance of Saudi-KAU AGCM, simulations were completed with CLM and LSM for the period 1981-2010. In comparison with LSM, CLM generates surface air temperature values that are closer to National Centre for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) observations. The global annual averages of land surface air temperature are 9.51, 9.52, and 9.57 °C for NCEP, CLM, and LSM respectively, although the same atmospheric radiative and surface forcing from Saudi-KAU AGCM are provided to both LSM and CLM at every time step. The better temperature simulations when using CLM can be attributed to the more comprehensive plant functional type and hierarchical tile approach to the land cover type in CLM, along with better parameterization of upward land surface fluxes compared to LSM. At global scale, CLM exhibits smaller annual and seasonal mean biases of temperature with respect to NCEP data. Moreover, at regional scale, CLM demonstrates reasonable seasonal and annual mean temperature over the Arabian Peninsula as compared to the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) data. Finally, CLM generated better matches to single point-wise observations of surface air temperature and surface fluxes for some case studies.

Globally-Gridded Interpolated Night-Time Marine Air Temperatures 1900-2014

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Junod, R.; Christy, J. R.

2016-12-01

Over the past century, climate records have pointed to an increase in global near-surface average temperature. Near-surface air temperature over the oceans is a relatively unused parameter in understanding the current state of climate, but is useful as an independent temperature metric over the oceans and serves as a geographical and physical complement to near-surface air temperature over land. Though versions of this dataset exist (i.e. HadMAT1 and HadNMAT2), it has been strongly recommended that various groups generate climate records independently. This University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) study began with the construction of monthly night-time marine air temperature (UAHNMAT) values from the early-twentieth century through to the present era. Data from the International Comprehensive Ocean and Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) were used to compile a time series of gridded UAHNMAT, (20S-70N). This time series was homogenized to correct for the many biases such as increasing ship height, solar deck heating, etc. The time series of UAHNMAT, once adjusted to a standard reference height, is gridded to 1.25° pentad grid boxes and interpolated using the kriging interpolation technique. This study will present results which quantify the variability and trends and compare to current trends of other related datasets that include HadNMAT2 and sea-surface temperatures (HadISST & ERSSTv4).

Measurement and prediction of indoor air quality using a breathing thermal manikin.

PubMed

Melikov, A; Kaczmarczyk, J

2007-02-01

The analyses performed in this paper reveal that a breathing thermal manikin with realistic simulation of respiration including breathing cycle, pulmonary ventilation rate, frequency and breathing mode, gas concentration, humidity and temperature of exhaled air and human body shape and surface temperature is sensitive enough to perform reliable measurement of characteristics of air as inhaled by occupants. The temperature, humidity, and pollution concentration in the inhaled air can be measured accurately with a thermal manikin without breathing simulation if they are measured at the upper lip at a distance of <0.01 m from the face. Body surface temperature, shape and posture as well as clothing insulation have impact on the measured inhaled air parameters. Proper simulation of breathing, especially of exhalation, is needed for studying the transport of exhaled air between occupants. A method for predicting air acceptability based on inhaled air parameters and known exposure-response relationships established in experiments with human subjects is suggested. Recommendations for optimal simulation of human breathing by means of a breathing thermal manikin when studying pollution concentration, temperature and humidity of the inhaled air as well as the transport of exhaled air (which may carry infectious agents) between occupants are outlined. In order to compare results obtained with breathing thermal manikins, their nose and mouth geometry should be standardized.

Satellite Estimation of Daily Land Surface Water Vapor Pressure Deficit from AMSR- E

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, L. A.; Kimball, J. S.; McDonald, K. C.; Chan, S. K.; Njoku, E. G.; Oechel, W. C.

2007-12-01

Vapor pressure deficit (VPD) is a key variable for monitoring land surface water and energy exchanges, and estimating plant water stress. Multi-frequency day/night brightness temperatures from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer on EOS Aqua (AMSR-E) were used to estimate daily minimum and average near surface (2 m) air temperatures across a North American boreal-Arctic transect. A simple method for determining daily mean VPD (Pa) from AMSR-E air temperature retrievals was developed and validated against observations across a regional network of eight study sites ranging from boreal grassland and forest to arctic tundra. The method assumes that the dew point and minimum daily air temperatures tend to equilibrate in areas with low night time temperatures and relatively moist conditions. This assumption was tested by comparing the VPD algorithm results derived from site daily temperature observations against results derived from AMSR-E retrieved temperatures alone. An error analysis was conducted to determine the amount of error introduced in VPD estimates given known levels of error in satellite retrieved temperatures. Results indicate that the assumption generally holds for the high latitude study sites except for arid locations in mid-summer. VPD estimates using the method with AMSR-E retrieved temperatures compare favorably with site observations. The method can be applied to land surface temperature retrievals from any sensor with day and night surface or near-surface thermal measurements and shows potential for inferring near-surface wetness conditions where dense vegetation may hinder surface soil moisture retrievals from low-frequency microwave sensors. This work was carried out at The University of Montana, at San Diego State University, and at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Influence of Lake Stratification Onset on Summer Surface Water Temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woolway, R. I.; Merchant, C. J.

2016-12-01

Summer lake surface water temperatures (LSSWT) are sensitive to climatic warming and have previously been shown to increase at a faster rate than surface air temperatures in some lakes, as a response to thermal stratification occurring earlier in spring. We explore this relationship using a combination of in situ, satellite derived, and simulated temperatures from 144 lakes. Our results demonstrate that LSSWTs of high-latitude and large deep lakes are particularly sensitive to changes in stratification onset and can be expected to display an amplified response to climatic changes in summer air temperature. Climatic modification of LSSWT has numerous consequences for water quality and lake ecosystems, so quantifying this amplified response is important.

Global Surface Temperature Change and Uncertainties Since 1861

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shen, Samuel S. P.; Lau, William K. M. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The objective of this talk is to analyze the warming trend and its uncertainties of the global and hemi-spheric surface temperatures. By the method of statistical optimal averaging scheme, the land surface air temperature and sea surface temperature observational data are used to compute the spatial average annual mean surface air temperature. The optimal averaging method is derived from the minimization of the mean square error between the true and estimated averages and uses the empirical orthogonal functions. The method can accurately estimate the errors of the spatial average due to observational gaps and random measurement errors. In addition, quantified are three independent uncertainty factors: urbanization, change of the in situ observational practices and sea surface temperature data corrections. Based on these uncertainties, the best linear fit to annual global surface temperature gives an increase of 0.61 +/- 0.16 C between 1861 and 2000. This lecture will also touch the topics on the impact of global change on nature and environment. as well as the latest assessment methods for the attributions of global change.

Diagnostic and model dependent uncertainty of simulated Tibetan permafrost area

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wang, A.; Moore, J.C.; Cui, Xingquan; Ji, D.; Li, Q.; Zhang, N.; Wang, C.; Zhang, S.; Lawrence, D.M.; McGuire, A.D.; Zhang, W.; Delire, C.; Koven, C.; Saito, K.; MacDougall, A.; Burke, E.; Decharme, B.

2016-01-01

 We perform a land-surface model intercomparison to investigate how the simulation of permafrost area on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) varies among six modern stand-alone land-surface models (CLM4.5, CoLM, ISBA, JULES, LPJ-GUESS, UVic). We also examine the variability in simulated permafrost area and distribution introduced by five different methods of diagnosing permafrost (from modeled monthly ground temperature, mean annual ground and air temperatures, air and surface frost indexes). There is good agreement (99 to 135  ×  104 km2) between the two diagnostic methods based on air temperature which are also consistent with the observation-based estimate of actual permafrost area (101  × 104 km2). However the uncertainty (1 to 128  ×  104 km2) using the three methods that require simulation of ground temperature is much greater. Moreover simulated permafrost distribution on the TP is generally only fair to poor for these three methods (diagnosis of permafrost from monthly, and mean annual ground temperature, and surface frost index), while permafrost distribution using air-temperature-based methods is generally good. Model evaluation at field sites highlights specific problems in process simulations likely related to soil texture specification, vegetation types and snow cover. Models are particularly poor at simulating permafrost distribution using the definition that soil temperature remains at or below 0 °C for 24 consecutive months, which requires reliable simulation of both mean annual ground temperatures and seasonal cycle, and hence is relatively demanding. Although models can produce better permafrost maps using mean annual ground temperature and surface frost index, analysis of simulated soil temperature profiles reveals substantial biases. The current generation of land-surface models need to reduce biases in simulated soil temperature profiles before reliable contemporary permafrost maps and predictions of changes in future permafrost distribution can be made for the Tibetan Plateau.

Diagnostic and model dependent uncertainty of simulated Tibetan permafrost area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, W.; Rinke, A.; Moore, J. C.; Cui, X.; Ji, D.; Li, Q.; Zhang, N.; Wang, C.; Zhang, S.; Lawrence, D. M.; McGuire, A. D.; Zhang, W.; Delire, C.; Koven, C.; Saito, K.; MacDougall, A.; Burke, E.; Decharme, B.

2016-02-01

We perform a land-surface model intercomparison to investigate how the simulation of permafrost area on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) varies among six modern stand-alone land-surface models (CLM4.5, CoLM, ISBA, JULES, LPJ-GUESS, UVic). We also examine the variability in simulated permafrost area and distribution introduced by five different methods of diagnosing permafrost (from modeled monthly ground temperature, mean annual ground and air temperatures, air and surface frost indexes). There is good agreement (99 to 135 × 104 km2) between the two diagnostic methods based on air temperature which are also consistent with the observation-based estimate of actual permafrost area (101 × 104 km2). However the uncertainty (1 to 128 × 104 km2) using the three methods that require simulation of ground temperature is much greater. Moreover simulated permafrost distribution on the TP is generally only fair to poor for these three methods (diagnosis of permafrost from monthly, and mean annual ground temperature, and surface frost index), while permafrost distribution using air-temperature-based methods is generally good. Model evaluation at field sites highlights specific problems in process simulations likely related to soil texture specification, vegetation types and snow cover. Models are particularly poor at simulating permafrost distribution using the definition that soil temperature remains at or below 0 °C for 24 consecutive months, which requires reliable simulation of both mean annual ground temperatures and seasonal cycle, and hence is relatively demanding. Although models can produce better permafrost maps using mean annual ground temperature and surface frost index, analysis of simulated soil temperature profiles reveals substantial biases. The current generation of land-surface models need to reduce biases in simulated soil temperature profiles before reliable contemporary permafrost maps and predictions of changes in future permafrost distribution can be made for the Tibetan Plateau.

Tropical Storm Ernesto over Cuba

NASA Image and Video Library

2006-08-28

This infrared image shows Tropical Storm Ernesto over Cuba, from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder AIRS on NASA Aqua satellite in August, 2006. Because infrared radiation does not penetrate through clouds, AIRS infrared images show either the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of the storm. In cloud-free areas the AIRS instrument will receive the infrared radiation from the surface of the Earth, resulting in the warmest temperatures (orange/red). http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00510

Typhoon Ioke in the Western Pacific

NASA Image and Video Library

2006-08-29

This infrared image shows Typhoon Ioke in the Western Pacific, from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder AIRS on NASA Aqua satellite in August, 2006. Because infrared radiation does not penetrate through clouds, AIRS infrared images show either the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of the storm. In cloud-free areas the AIRS instrument will receive the infrared radiation from the surface of the Earth, resulting in the warmest temperatures (orange/red). http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00511

Hurricane Ileana in the Eastern Pacific

NASA Image and Video Library

2006-08-22

This is an infrared image of Hurricane Ileana in the Eastern Pacific, from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite on August 22, 2006. This AIRS image shows the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of the storm. The infrared signal does not penetrate through clouds. Where there are no clouds the AIRS instrument reads the infrared signal from the surface of the Earth, revealing warmer temperatures (red). http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00509

Impact of fire on global land surface air temperature and energy budget for the 20th century due to changes within ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Fang; Lawrence, David M.; Bond-Lamberty, Ben

2017-04-01

Fire is a global phenomenon and tightly interacts with the biosphere and climate. This study provides the first quantitative assessment and understanding of fire’s influence on the global annual land surface air temperature and energy budget through its impact on terrestrial ecosystems. Fire impacts are quantified by comparing fire-on and fire-off simulations with the Community Earth System Model (CESM). Results show that, for the 20th century average, fire-induced changes in terrestrial ecosystems significantly increase global land annual mean surface air temperature by 0.18 °C, decrease surface net radiation and latent heat flux by 1.08 W m-2 and 0.99 W m-2, respectively, and have limited influence on sensible heat flux (-0.11 W m-2) and ground heat flux (+0.02 W m-2). Fire impacts are most clearly seen in the tropical savannas. Our analyses suggest that fire increases surface air temperature predominantly by reducing latent heat flux, mainly due to fire-induced damage to the vegetation canopy, and decreases net radiation primarily because fire-induced surface warming significantly increases upward surface longwave radiation. This study provides an integrated estimate of fire and induced changes in ecosystems, climate, and energy budget at a global scale, and emphasizes the importance of a consistent and integrated understanding of fire effects.

The Use of ATLAS Data to Quantify Surface Radiative Budgets in Four US Cities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luvall, Jeffrey; Gonzalez, Jorge; Rickman, Douglas; Quattrochi, Dale; Schiller, Steve; Comarazamy, Daniel; Estes, Maury

2011-01-01

The additional heating of the air over the city is the result of the replacement of naturally vegetated surfaces with those composed of asphalt, concrete, rooftops and other manmade materials. The temperatures of these artificial surfaces can be 20 to 40 C higher than vegetated surfaces. This produces a dome of elevated air temperatures 5 to 8 C greater over the city, compared to the air temperatures over adjacent rural areas. This effect is called the "urban heat island". Urban landscapes are a complex mixture of vegetated and non-vegetated surfaces. It is difficult to take enough temperature measurements over a large city area to. The use of remotely sensed data from airborne scanners is ideal to characterize the complexity of urban albedo and radiant surface temperatures. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Airborne Thermal and Land Applications Sensor (ATLAS) operates in the visual and IR bands was used to collect data from Salt Lake City, UT, Sacramento, CA, Baton Rouge, LA. And San Juan, Puerto Rico with the main objective of investigating the Urban Heat Island (UHI). In this presentation we will examine the techniques of analyzing remotely sensed data for measuring the effect of various urban surfaces on their contribution to the urban heat island effect.

Sea Ice Surface Temperature Product from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, Dorothy K.; Key, Jeffrey R.; Casey, Kimberly A.; Riggs, George A.; Cavalieri, Donald J.

2003-01-01

Global sea ice products are produced from the Earth Observing System (EOS) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board both the Terra and Aqua satellites. Daily sea ice extent and ice-surface temperature (IST) products are available at 1- and 4-km resolution. Validation activities have been undertaken to assess the accuracy of the MODIS IST product at the South Pole station in Antarctica and in the Arctic Ocean using near-surface air-temperature data from a meteorological station and drifting buoys. Results from the study areas show that under clear skies, the MODIS ISTs are very close to those of the near-surface air temperatures with a bias of -1.1 and -1.2 K, and an uncertainty of 1.6 and 1.7 K, respectively. It is shown that the uncertainties would be reduced if the actual temperature of the ice surface were reported instead of the near-surface air temperature. It is not possible to get an accurate IST from MODIS in the presence of even very thin clouds or fog, however using both the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSR-E) and the MODIS on the Aqua satellite, it may be possible to develop a relationship between MODIS-derived IST and ice temperature derived from the AMSR-E. Since the AMSR-E measurements are generally unaffected by cloud cover, they may be used to complement the MODIS IST measurements.

Seasonal Ice Zone Reconnaissance Surveys Coordination

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-30

sea surface temperature (SST), sea level atmospheric pressure ( SLP ), and velocity (Steele), and dropsonde measurements of atmospheric properties...aircraft), cloud top/base heights UpTempO buoys for understanding and prediction…. Steele UpTempO buoy drops for SLP , SST, SSS, & surface velocity...reflectance, skin temperature, visible imagery AXCTD= Air Expendable CTD, AXCP= Air Expendable Current Profiler, SLP = Sea Level atmospheric

Comparison of forced-air warming systems with lower body blankets using a copper manikin of the human body.

PubMed

Bräuer, A; English, M J M; Lorenz, N; Steinmetz, N; Perl, T; Braun, U; Weyland, W

2003-01-01

Forced-air warming has gained high acceptance as a measure for the prevention of intraoperative hypothermia. However, data on heat transfer with lower body blankets are not yet available. This study was conducted to determine the heat transfer efficacy of six complete lower body warming systems. Heat transfer of forced-air warmers can be described as follows:[1]Qdot;=h.DeltaT.A where Qdot; = heat transfer [W], h = heat exchange coefficient [W m-2 degrees C-1], DeltaT = temperature gradient between blanket and surface [ degrees C], A = covered area [m2]. We tested the following forced-air warmers in a previously validated copper manikin of the human body: (1) Bair Hugger and lower body blanket (Augustine Medical Inc., Eden Prairie, MN); (2) Thermacare and lower body blanket (Gaymar Industries, Orchard Park, NY); (3) WarmAir and lower body blanket (Cincinnati Sub-Zero Products, Cincinnati, OH); (4) Warm-Gard(R) and lower body blanket (Luis Gibeck AB, Upplands Väsby, Sweden); (5) Warm-Gard and reusable lower body blanket (Luis Gibeck AB); and (6) WarmTouch and lower body blanket (Mallinckrodt Medical Inc., St. Luis, MO). Heat flux and surface temperature were measured with 16 calibrated heat flux transducers. Blanket temperature was measured using 16 thermocouples. DeltaT was varied between -10 and +10 degrees C and h was determined by a linear regression analysis as the slope of DeltaT vs. heat flux. Mean DeltaT was determined for surface temperatures between 36 and 38 degrees C, because similar mean skin temperatures have been found in volunteers. The area covered by the blankets was estimated to be 0.54 m2. Heat transfer from the blanket to the manikin was different for surface temperatures between 36 degrees C and 38 degrees C. At a surface temperature of 36 degrees C the heat transfer was higher (between 13.4 W to 18.3 W) than at surface temperatures of 38 degrees C (8-11.5 W). The highest heat transfer was delivered by the Thermacare system (8.3-18.3 W), the lowest heat transfer was delivered by the Warm-Gard system with the single use blanket (8-13.4 W). The heat exchange coefficient varied between 12.5 W m-2 degrees C-1 and 30.8 W m-2 degrees C-1, mean DeltaT varied between 1.04 degrees C and 2.48 degrees C for surface temperatures of 36 degrees C and between 0.50 degrees C and 1.63 degrees C for surface temperatures of 38 degrees C. No relevant differences in heat transfer of lower body blankets were found between the different forced-air warming systems tested. Heat transfer was lower than heat transfer by upper body blankets tested in a previous study. However, forced-air warming systems with lower body blankets are still more effective than forced-air warming systems with upper body blankets in the prevention of perioperative hypothermia, because they cover a larger area of the body surface.

Effects of cold front passage on turbulent fluxes over a large inland water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Q.; Liu, H.

2011-12-01

Turbulent fluxes of sensible and latent heat over a large inland water in southern USA were measured using the eddy covariance method through the year of 2008. In addition, net radiation, air temperatures and relative humidity, and water temperature in different depths were also measured. The specific objective of this study is to examine effects of a cold front passage on the surface energy fluxes. For the typical cold front event selected from April 11 to 14, air temperature decreased by 16°C, while surface temperature only dropped 6°C. Atmospheric vapor pressure decreased by 1.6 kPa, while that in the water-air interface dropped 0.7 kPa. The behavior difference in the water-air interface was caused by the passage of cold, dry air masses immediately behind the cold front. During the cold front event, sensible heat and latent heat flux increased by 171 W m-2 and 284 W m-2, respectively. Linear aggression analysis showed that the sensible heat flux was proportional to the product of wind speed and the temperature gradient of water-air interface, with a correlation coefficient of 0.95. Latent heat flux was proportional to the product of wind speed and vapor pressure difference between the water surface and overlaying atmosphere, with a correlation coefficient of 0.81. Also, the correlations between both fluxes and the wind speed were weak. This result indicated that the strong wind associated with the cold front event contributed to the turbulent mixing, which indirectly enhanced surface energy exchange between the water surface and the atmosphere. The relationship between the water heat storage energy and turbulent fluxes was also examined.

Experimental Investigation of a Temperature-Controlled Car Seat Powered by an Exhaust Thermoelectric Generator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, H.; Wang, Y. P.; Yuan, X. H.; Deng, Y. D.; Su, C. Q.

2016-03-01

To improve the riding comfort and rational utilization of the electrical energy captured by an automotive thermoelectric generator (ATEG), a temperature-controlled car seat was constructed to adjust the temperature of the car seat surface. Powered by the ATEG and the battery, the seat-embedded air conditioner can improve the riding comfort using a thermoelectric device to adjust the surface temperature of the seat, with an air duct to regulate the cold side and hot side of the thermoelectric device. The performance of the thermoelectric cooler (TEC) and theoretical analysis on the optimum state of the TEC device are put forward. To verify the rationality of the air duct design and to ensure sufficient air supply, the velocity field of the air duct system was obtained by means of the finite element method. To validate the reliability of the numerical simulation, the air velocity around the thermoelectric device was measured by a wind speed transmitter. The performance of the temperature-controlled car seat has been validated and is in good agreement with bench tests and real vehicle tests.

Impacts of interactive dust and its direct radiative forcing on interannual variations of temperature and precipitation in winter over East Asia: Impacts of Dust on IAVs of Temperature

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lou, Sijia; Russell, Lynn M.; Yang, Yang

We used 150-year pre-industrial simulations of the Community Earth System Model (CESM) to quantify the impacts of interactively-modeled dust emissions on the interannual variations of temperature and precipitation over East Asia during the East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM) season. The simulated December-January-February dust column burden and dust optical depth are lower over northern China in the strongest EAWM years than those of the weakest years, with regional mean values lower by 38.3% and 37.2%, respectively. The decrease in dust over the dust source regions (the Taklamakan and Gobi Deserts) and the downwind region (such as the North China Plain) leadsmore » to an increase in direct radiative forcing (RF) both at the surface and top of atmosphere by up to 1.5 and 0.75 W m-2, respectively. The effects of EAWM-related variations in surface winds, precipitation and their effects on dust emissions and wet removal contribute about 67% to the total dust-induced variations of direct RF at the surface and partly offset the cooling that occurs with the EAWM strengthening by heating the surface. The variations of surface air temperature induced by the changes in wind and dust emissions increase by 0.4-0.6 K over eastern coastal China, northeastern China, and Japan, which weakens the impact of EAWM on surface air temperature by 3–18% in these regions. The warming results from the combined effects of changes in direct RF and easterly wind anomalies that bring warm air from the ocean to these regions. Moreover, the feedback of the changes in wind on dust emissions weakens the variations of the sea level pressure gradient on the Siberian High while enhancing the Maritime Continent Low. Therefore, cold air is prevented from being transported from Siberia, Kazakhstan, western and central China to the western Pacific Ocean and decreases surface air temperature by 0.6 K and 2 K over central China and the Tibetan Plateau, respectively. Over eastern coastal China, the variations of large-scale precipitation induced by the feedback of EAWM-related changes in wind on dust emissions increase by 10-30% in winter because of the increase in surface air temperature and the anomalous circulation.« less

Seasonality of change: Summer warming rates do not fully represent effects of climate change on lake temperatures

USGS Publications Warehouse

Winslow, Luke; Read, Jordan S.; Hansen, Gretchen J. A.; Rose, Kevin C.; Robertson, Dale M.

2017-01-01

Responses in lake temperatures to climate warming have primarily been characterized using seasonal metrics of surface-water temperatures such as summertime or stratified period average temperatures. However, climate warming may not affect water temperatures equally across seasons or depths. We analyzed a long-term dataset (1981–2015) of biweekly water temperature data in six temperate lakes in Wisconsin, U.S.A. to understand (1) variability in monthly rates of surface- and deep-water warming, (2) how those rates compared to summertime average trends, and (3) if monthly heterogeneity in water temperature trends can be predicted by heterogeneity in air temperature trends. Monthly surface-water temperature warming rates varied across the open-water season, ranging from 0.013 in August to 0.073°C yr−1 in September (standard deviation [SD]: 0.025°C yr−1). Deep-water trends during summer varied less among months (SD: 0.006°C yr−1), but varied broadly among lakes (–0.056°C yr−1 to 0.035°C yr−1, SD: 0.034°C yr−1). Trends in monthly surface-water temperatures were well correlated with air temperature trends, suggesting monthly air temperature trends, for which data exist at broad scales, may be a proxy for seasonal patterns in surface-water temperature trends during the open water season in lakes similar to those studied here. Seasonally variable warming has broad implications for how ecological processes respond to climate change, because phenological events such as fish spawning and phytoplankton succession respond to specific, seasonal temperature cues.

NARSTO EPA SS ST LOUIS AIR CHEM PM MET DATA

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-04-09

... Winds Precipitation Amount Surface Pressure Solar Radiation Surface Air Temperature Particulates Trace Metals ... Earth Related Data:  Environmental Protection Agency Supersites St. Louis SCAR-B Block:  ...

Investigation of the effect of sealed surfaces on local climate in urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weihs, Philipp; Hasel, Stefan; Mursch-Radlgruber, Erich; Gützer, Christian; Krispel, Stefan; Peyerl, Martin; Trimmel, Heidi

2015-04-01

Local climate is driven by the interaction between energy balance and energy transported by advected air. Short-wave and long-wave radiation are major components in this interaction. Some few studies (e.g. Santamouris et al.) showed that adjusting the grade of reflection of surfaces is an efficient way to influence temperature. The present study investigates the influence of high albedo concrete surfaces on local climate. The first step of the study consisted of experimental investigations: routine measurements of the short and longwave radiation balance, of the ground and of the air temperature and humidity at different heights above 6 different types of sealed surfaces were performed. During this measurement campaign the above mentioned components were measured over a duration of 4 months above two conventional asphalt surfaces, one conventional concrete and three newly developed concrete surfaces with increased reflectances. Measured albedo values amounted to 0.12±0.02 for the asphalt surfaces and to maximum values of 0.56 for high albedo concrete. The maximum difference in surface temperature between the asphalt surfaces and the high albedo concrete surfaces amounted to 15°C. In addition the emission constants of the different sealed surfaces were also determined and were compared to values from literature.. In a second step the urban energy balance model Envi_Met was used to simulate the surface temperature of the six surfaces. The simulated surface temperatures were compared to the measured surface temperatures and statements as to uncertainties of the model simulations were made In a third step, Envi_Met was used to simulate the local climate of an urban district in Vienna. The surface and air temperature and the SW, LW fluxes were calculated for different types of sealed surfaces. By performing calculations of thermal stress indices (UTCI, PMV), statements as to the influence of the type of sealed surface on thermal stress on humans was made.

Recent changes in solar irradiance and infrared irradiance related with air temperature and cloudiness at the King Sejong Station, Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, Y.; Kim, J.; Cho, H.; Lee, B.

2006-12-01

The polar region play a critical role in the surface energy balance and the climate system of the Earth. The important question in the region is that what is the role of the Antarctic atmospheric heat sink of global climate. Thus, this study shows the trends of global solar irradiance, infrared irradiance, air temperature and cloudiness measured at the King Sejong station, Antarctica, during the period of 1996-2004 and determines their relationship and variability of the surface energy balance. Annual average of solar radiation and cloudiness is 81.8 Wm-2 and 6.8 oktas and their trends show the decrease of -0.24 Wm-2yr-1(-0.30 %yr-1) and 0.02 oktas yr-1(0.30 %yr-1). The change of solar irradiance is directly related to change of cloudiness and decrease of solar irradiance presents radiative cooling at the surface. Monthly mean infrared irradiance, air temperature and specific humidity shows the decrease of -2.11 Wm^{- 2}yr-1(-0.75 %yr-1), -0.07 'Cyr-1(-5.15 %yr-1) and -0.044 gkg-1yr-1(-1.42 %yr-1), respectively. Annual average of the infrared irradiance is 279.9 Wm-2 and correlated with the air temperature, specific humidity and cloudiness. A multiple regression model for estimation of the infrared irradiance using the components has been developed. Effects of the components on the infrared irradiance changes show 52 %, 19 % and 10 % for air temperature, specific humidity and cloudiness, respectively. Among the components, air temperature has a great influence on infrared irradiance. Despite the increase of cloudiness, the decrease in the infrared irradiance is due to the decrease of air temperature and specific humidity which have a cooling effect. Therefore, the net radiation of the surface energy balance shows radiative cooling of negative 11-24 Wm^{- 2} during winter and radiative warming of positive 32-83 Wm-2 during the summer. Thus, the amount of shortage and surplus at the surface is mostly balanced by turbulent flux of sensible and latent heat.

Evaluation of CMIP5 Ability to Reproduce 20th Century Regional Trends in Surface Air Temperature and Precipitation over CONUS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J.; Waliser, D. E.; Lee, H.; Loikith, P. C.; Kunkel, K.

2017-12-01

Monitoring temporal changes in key climate variables, such as surface air temperature and precipitation, is an integral part of the ongoing efforts of the United States National Climate Assessment (NCA). Climate models participating in CMIP5 provide future trends for four different emissions scenarios. In order to have confidence in the future projections of surface air temperature and precipitation, it is crucial to evaluate the ability of CMIP5 models to reproduce observed trends for three different time periods (1895-1939, 1940-1979, and 1980-2005). Towards this goal, trends in surface air temperature and precipitation obtained from the NOAA nClimGrid 5 km gridded station observation-based product are compared during all three time periods to the 206 CMIP5 historical simulations from 48 unique GCMs and their multi-model ensemble (MME) for NCA-defined climate regions during summer (JJA) and winter (DJF). This evaluation quantitatively examines the biases of simulated trends of the spatially averaged temperature and precipitation in the NCA climate regions. The CMIP5 MME reproduces historical surface air temperature trends for JJA for all time period and all regions, except the Northern Great Plains from 1895-1939 and Southeast during 1980-2005. Likewise, for DJF, the MME reproduces historical surface air temperature trends across all time periods over all regions except the Southeast from 1895-1939 and the Midwest during 1940-1979. The Regional Climate Model Evaluation System (RCMES), an analysis tool which supports the NCA by providing access to data and tools for regional climate model validation, facilitates the comparisons between the models and observation. The RCMES Toolkit is designed to assist in the analysis of climate variables and the procedure of the evaluation of climate projection models to support the decision-making processes. This tool is used in conjunction with the above analysis and results will be presented to demonstrate its capability to access observation and model datasets, calculate evaluation metrics, and visualize the results. Several other examples of the RCMES capabilities can be found at https://rcmes.jpl.nasa.gov.

High-frequency fluctuations of surface temperatures in an urban environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christen, Andreas; Meier, Fred; Scherer, Dieter

2012-04-01

This study presents an attempt to resolve fluctuations in surface temperatures at scales of a few seconds to several minutes using time-sequential thermography (TST) from a ground-based platform. A scheme is presented to decompose a TST dataset into fluctuating, high-frequency, and long-term mean parts. To demonstrate the scheme's application, a set of four TST runs (day/night, leaves-on/leaves-off) recorded from a 125-m-high platform above a complex urban environment in Berlin, Germany is used. Fluctuations in surface temperatures of different urban facets are measured and related to surface properties (material and form) and possible error sources. A number of relationships were found: (1) Surfaces with surface temperatures that were significantly different from air temperature experienced the highest fluctuations. (2) With increasing surface temperature above (below) air temperature, surface temperature fluctuations experienced a stronger negative (positive) skewness. (3) Surface materials with lower thermal admittance (lawns, leaves) showed higher fluctuations than surfaces with high thermal admittance (walls, roads). (4) Surface temperatures of emerged leaves fluctuate more compared to trees in a leaves-off situation. (5) In many cases, observed fluctuations were coherent across several neighboring pixels. The evidence from (1) to (5) suggests that atmospheric turbulence is a significant contributor to fluctuations. The study underlines the potential of using high-frequency thermal remote sensing in energy balance and turbulence studies at complex land-atmosphere interfaces.

Strong Dependence of U.S. Summertime Air Quality on the Decadal Variability of Atlantic Sea Surface Temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Lu; Mickley, Loretta J.; Leibensperger, Eric M.; Li, Mingwei

2017-12-01

We find that summertime air quality in the eastern U.S. displays strong dependence on North Atlantic sea surface temperatures, resulting from large-scale ocean-atmosphere interactions. Using observations, reanalysis data sets, and climate model simulations, we further identify a multidecadal variability in surface air quality driven by the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). In one-half cycle ( 35 years) of the AMO from cold to warm phase, summertime maximum daily 8 h ozone concentrations increase by 1-4 ppbv and PM2.5 concentrations increase by 0.3-1.0 μg m-3 over much of the east. These air quality changes are related to warmer, drier, and more stagnant weather in the AMO warm phase, together with anomalous circulation patterns at the surface and aloft. If the AMO shifts to the cold phase in future years, it could partly offset the climate penalty on U.S. air quality brought by global warming, an effect which should be considered in long-term air quality planning.

Response of seasonal soil freeze depth to climate change across China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Xiaoqing; Zhang, Tingjun; Frauenfeld, Oliver W.; Wang, Kang; Cao, Bin; Zhong, Xinyue; Su, Hang; Mu, Cuicui

2017-05-01

The response of seasonal soil freeze depth to climate change has repercussions for the surface energy and water balance, ecosystems, the carbon cycle, and soil nutrient exchange. Despite its importance, the response of soil freeze depth to climate change is largely unknown. This study employs the Stefan solution and observations from 845 meteorological stations to investigate the response of variations in soil freeze depth to climate change across China. Observations include daily air temperatures, daily soil temperatures at various depths, mean monthly gridded air temperatures, and the normalized difference vegetation index. Results show that soil freeze depth decreased significantly at a rate of -0.18 ± 0.03 cm yr-1, resulting in a net decrease of 8.05 ± 1.5 cm over 1967-2012 across China. On the regional scale, soil freeze depth decreases varied between 0.0 and 0.4 cm yr-1 in most parts of China during 1950-2009. By investigating potential climatic and environmental driving factors of soil freeze depth variability, we find that mean annual air temperature and ground surface temperature, air thawing index, ground surface thawing index, and vegetation growth are all negatively associated with soil freeze depth. Changes in snow depth are not correlated with soil freeze depth. Air and ground surface freezing indices are positively correlated with soil freeze depth. Comparing these potential driving factors of soil freeze depth, we find that freezing index and vegetation growth are more strongly correlated with soil freeze depth, while snow depth is not significant. We conclude that air temperature increases are responsible for the decrease in seasonal freeze depth. These results are important for understanding the soil freeze-thaw dynamics and the impacts of soil freeze depth on ecosystem and hydrological process.

Can air temperatures be used to project influences of climate change on stream temperatures?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arismendi, I.; Safeeq, M.; Dunham, J.; Johnson, S. L.

2013-12-01

The lack of available in situ stream temperature records at broad spatiotemporal scales have been recognized as a major limiting factor in the understanding of thermal behavior of stream and river systems. This has motivated the promotion of a wide variety of models that use surrogates for stream temperatures including a regression approach that uses air temperature as the predictor variable. We investigate the long-term performance of widely used linear and non-linear regression models between air and stream temperatures to project the latter in future climate scenarios. Specifically, we examine the temporal variability of the parameters that define each of these models in long-term stream and air temperature datasets representing relatively natural and highly human-influenced streams. We selected 25 sites with long-term records that monitored year-round daily measurements of stream temperature (daily mean) in the western United States (California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and Alaska). Surface air temperature data from each site was not available. Therefore, we calculated daily mean surface air temperature for each site in contiguous US from a 1/16-degree resolution gridded surface temperature data. Our findings highlight several limitations that are endemic to linear or nonlinear regressions that have been applied in many recent attempts to project future stream temperatures based on air temperature. Our results also show that applications over longer time periods, as well as extrapolation of model predictions to project future stream temperatures are unlikely to be reliable. Although we did not analyze a broad range of stream types at a continental or global extent, our analysis of stream temperatures within the set of streams considered herein was more than sufficient to illustrate a number of specific limitations associated with statistical projections of stream temperature based on air temperature. Radar plots of Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) values for the two correlation models in regulated (n=14; lower panel) and unregulated (n=11; upper panel) streams. Solid lines represent average × SD of the NSE estimated for different time periods every 5-year. Dotted line at each plot indicates a NSE = 0.7. Symbols outside of the dotted line at each plot represent a satisfactory level of accuracy of the model

Optimization of intermittent microwave–convective drying using response surface methodology

PubMed Central

Aghilinategh, Nahid; Rafiee, Shahin; Hosseinpur, Soleiman; Omid, Mahmoud; Mohtasebi, Seyed Saeid

2015-01-01

In this study, response surface methodology was used for optimization of intermittent microwave–convective air drying (IMWC) parameters with employing desirability function. Optimization factors were air temperature (40–80°C), air velocity (1–2 m/sec), pulse ratio) PR ((2–6), and microwave power (200–600 W) while responses were rehydration ratio, bulk density, total phenol content (TPC), color change, and energy consumption. Minimum color change, bulk density, energy consumption, maximum rehydration ratio, and TPC were assumed as criteria for optimizing drying conditions of apple slices in IMWC. The optimum values of process variables were 1.78 m/sec air velocity, 40°C air temperature, PR 4.48, and 600 W microwave power that characterized by maximum desirability function (0.792) using Design expert 8.0. The air temperature and microwave power had significant effect on total responses, but the role of air velocity can be ignored. Generally, the results indicated that it was possible to obtain a higher desirability value if the microwave power and temperature, respectively, increase and decrease. PMID:26286706

Overstory removal and residue treatments affect soil surface, air, and soil temperature: implications for seedling survival

Treesearch

Roger D. Hungerford; Ronald E. Babbitt

1987-01-01

Potentially lethal ground surface temperatures were measured at three locations in the Northern Rocky Mountains but occurred more frequently under treatments with greater overstory removal. Observed maximum and minimum temperatures of exposed surfaces are directly related to the thermal properties of the surface materials. Survival of planted seedlings was consistent...

High Temperatures Health Monitoring of the Condensed Water Height in Steam Pipe Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lih, Shyh-Shiuh; Bar-Cohen, Yoseph; Lee, Hyeong Jae; Badescu, Mircea; Bao, Xiaoqi; Sherrit, Stewart; Takano, Nobuyuki; Ostlund, Patrick; Blosiu, Julian

2013-01-01

Ultrasonic probes were designed, fabricated and tested for high temperature health monitoring system. The goal of this work was to develop the health monitoring system that can determine the height level of the condensed water through the pipe wall at high temperature up to 250 deg while accounting for the effects of surface perturbation. Among different ultrasonic probe designs, 2.25 MHz probes with air backed configuration provide satisfactory results in terms of sensitivity, receiving reflections from the target through the pipe wall. A series of tests were performed using the air-backed probes under irregular conditions, such as surface perturbation and surface disturbance at elevated temperature, to qualify the developed ultrasonic system. The results demonstrate that the fabricated air-backed probes combined with advanced signal processing techniques offer the capability of health monitoring of steam pipe under various operating conditions.

The Interrelationship Between Temperature Changes in the Free Atmosphere and Sea Surface Temperature Changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Newell, Reginald E.; Wu, Zhong-Xiang

1992-03-01

Fields of sea surface temperature anomalies from the Global Ocean Surface Temperature Atlas (GOSTA) and microwave sounding measurements (MSU) of temperature in the troposphere are examined separately and together for the 1979-1988 period. Global correlation patterns of both sets of fields are investigated at a range of leads and lags up to 6 months and exhibit a wide range of correlation structure. There are regions, such as the tropical eastern Pacific, where sea surface temperature anomalies persist for several months and are associated with local air temperature anomalies; in this particular example, about 0.7°C air temperature change is associated with a 1.0°C sea temperature change. By contrast, some ocean regions and many atmospheric regions, mostly in middle and high latitude, show only local spatial correlations that disappear completely in a month or two. The most persistent and extensive spatial correlation patterns are quite different for the sea and the air. In the sea the "butterfly" pattern of the Pacific is the most important and reverses sign between the eastern equatorial Pacific and the western Pacific and subtropics. In the warm phase the temperature anomalies associated with this pattern are similar to the correlation pattern. For the atmosphere the main correlation pattern is an equatorial belt with no sign changes in the tropics; this pattern is linked to the oceanic El Niño mode. In the warm phase the temperature anomalies show peak values on both sides of the equator in the eastern and central Pacific. Based mainly on the results from the spatial patterns, certain regions are selected for intercomparison of time series. In the tropical eastern Pacific the sea leads the air by about a month while in the Gulf Stream and Kuroshio regions the sequence is reversed.

Global Distribution and Variability of Surface Skin and Surface Air Temperatures as Depicted in the AIRS Version-6 Data Set

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Susskind, Joel; Lee, Jae N.; Iredell, Lena

2014-01-01

In this presentation, we will briefly describe the significant improvements made in the AIRS Version-6 retrieval algorithm, especially as to how they affect retrieved surface skin and surface air temperatures. The global distribution of seasonal 1:30 AM and 1:30 PM local time 12 year climatologies of Ts,a will be presented for the first time. We will also present the spatial distribution of short term 12 year anomaly trends of Ts,a at 1:30 AM and 1:30 PM, as well as the spatial distribution of temporal correlations of Ts,a with the El Nino Index. It will be shown that there are significant differences between the behavior of 1:30 AM and 1:30 PM Ts,a anomalies in some arid land areas.

Investigation of Effectiveness of Air-Heating a Hollow Steel Propeller for Protection Against Icing. 3: 25% Partitioned Blades

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mulholland, Donald R.; Perkins, Porter J.

1948-01-01

The icing protection obtained from an internally air-heated propeller blade partitioned to confine the heated air forward of 25-percent chord was investigated in the NACA Cleveland icing research tunnel. A production-model hollow steel propeller was modified with an Internal radial partition at 25-percent chord and with shank and tip openings to admit and exhaust the heated air. Temperatures were measured on the blade surfaces and in the heated-air system during tunnel icing conditions. Heat-exchanger effectiveness and photographs of Ice formations on the blades were obtained. Surface temperature measurements indicated that confining the heated air forward of the 25-percent chord gave.a more economical distribution of the applied heat as compared with unpartitioned and 50-percent partitioned blades, by dissipating a greater percentage of the available heat at the leading edge. At a propeller speed of 850 rpm, a heating rate of 7000 Btu per hour per blade at a shank air temperature of 400 F provided adequate Icing protection at ambient-air temperatures of 23 F but not at temperatures as low as 15 F. With the heating rate used, a heat-exchanger effectiveness of 77 percent was obtained as compared to 56 percent for 50-percent partitioned and 47 percent for unpartitioned blades.

System and method for air temperature control in an oxygen transport membrane based reactor

DOEpatents

Kelly, Sean M

2016-09-27

A system and method for air temperature control in an oxygen transport membrane based reactor is provided. The system and method involves introducing a specific quantity of cooling air or trim air in between stages in a multistage oxygen transport membrane based reactor or furnace to maintain generally consistent surface temperatures of the oxygen transport membrane elements and associated reactors. The associated reactors may include reforming reactors, boilers or process gas heaters.

Tropical Depression 6 Florence in the Atlantic

NASA Image and Video Library

2006-09-03

This infrared image shows Tropical Depression 6 Florence in the Atlantic, from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder AIRS on NASA Aqua satellite in September, 2006. Because infrared radiation does not penetrate through clouds, AIRS infrared images show either the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of the storm. In cloud-free areas the AIRS instrument will receive the infrared radiation from the surface of the Earth, resulting in the warmest temperatures (orange/red). http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00512

Cross-scale modeling of surface temperature and tree seedling establishment inmountain landscapes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dingman, John; Sweet, Lynn C.; McCullough, Ian M.; Davis, Frank W.; Flint, Alan L.; Franklin, Janet; Flint, Lorraine E.

2013-01-01

Abstract: Introduction: Estimating surface temperature from above-ground field measurements is important for understanding the complex landscape patterns of plant seedling survival and establishment, processes which occur at heights of only several centimeters. Currently, future climate models predict temperature at 2 m above ground, leaving ground-surface microclimate not well characterized. Methods: Using a network of field temperature sensors and climate models, a ground-surface temperature method was used to estimate microclimate variability of minimum and maximum temperature. Temperature lapse rates were derived from field temperature sensors and distributed across the landscape capturing differences in solar radiation and cold air drainages modeled at a 30-m spatial resolution. Results: The surface temperature estimation method used for this analysis successfully estimated minimum surface temperatures on north-facing, south-facing, valley, and ridgeline topographic settings, and when compared to measured temperatures yielded an R2 of 0.88, 0.80, 0.88, and 0.80, respectively. Maximum surface temperatures generally had slightly more spatial variability than minimum surface temperatures, resulting in R2 values of 0.86, 0.77, 0.72, and 0.79 for north-facing, south-facing, valley, and ridgeline topographic settings. Quasi-Poisson regressions predicting recruitment of Quercus kelloggii (black oak) seedlings from temperature variables were significantly improved using these estimates of surface temperature compared to air temperature modeled at 2 m. Conclusion: Predicting minimum and maximum ground-surface temperatures using a downscaled climate model coupled with temperature lapse rates estimated from field measurements provides a method for modeling temperature effects on plant recruitment. Such methods could be applied to improve projections of species’ range shifts under climate change. Areas of complex topography can provide intricate microclimates that may allow species to redistribute locally as climate changes.

Cooling Effectiveness Measurements for Air Film Cooling of Thermal Barrier Coated Surfaces in a Burner Rig Environment Using Phosphor Thermometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eldridge, Jeffrey I.; Shyam, Vikram; Wroblewski, Adam C.; Zhu, Dongming; Cuy, Michael D.; Wolfe, Douglas E.

2016-01-01

While the effects of thermal barrier coating (TBC) thermal protection and air film cooling effectiveness are usually studied separately, their contributions to combined cooling effectiveness are interdependent and are not simply additive. Therefore, combined cooling effectiveness must be measured to achieve an optimum balance between TBC thermal protection and air film cooling. In this investigation, surface temperature mapping was performed using recently developed Cr-doped GdAlO3 phosphor thermometry. Measurements were performed in the NASA GRC Mach 0.3 burner rig on a TBC-coated plate using a scaled up cooling hole geometry where both the mainstream hot gas temperature and the blowing ratio were varied. Procedures for surface temperature and cooling effectiveness mapping of the air film-cooled TBC-coated surface are described. Applications are also shown for an engine component in both the burner rig test environment as well as an engine afterburner environment. The effects of thermal background radiation and flame chemiluminescence on the measurements are investigated, and advantages of this method over infrared thermography as well as the limitations of this method for studying air film cooling are discussed.

The Extremely Warm Early Winter 2000 in Europe: What is the Forcing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Otterman, J.; Angell, J. K.; Atlas, R.; Ardizzone, J.; Demaree, G.; Jusem, J. C.; Koslowsky, D.; Terry, J.; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

High variability characterizes the winter climate of central Europe: interannual fluctuations in the surface-air temperature as large as 18 C over large areas are fairly common. The extraordinary early-winter 2000 in Europe appears to be a departure to an unprecedented extreme of the existing climate patterns. Such anomalous events affect agriculture, forestry, fuel consumption, etc., and thus deserve in-depth analysis. Our analysis indicates that the high anomalies of the surface-air temperature are predominantly due to the southwesterly flow from the eastern North Atlantic, with a weak contribution by southerly flow from the western Mediterranean. Backward trajectories based on the SSM/I and NCEP Reanalysis datasets traced from west-central Europe indicate that the warm air masses flowing into Europe originate in the southern North Atlantic, where the surface-air temperatures exceed by 15c or more the climatic norms in Europe for late-November or early-December. Because such large ocean-to-continent temperature differences characterize the winter conditions, we refer to this episode which started in late November as occurring in the early winter. In this season, with the sun low over the horizon in Europe, absorption of insolation by the surface has little significance. The effect of cloudiness, a corollary to the low-level maritime-air advection, is a warming by a reduction of heat loss (greenhouse effect). In contrast, in the summer, clouds, by reducing absorption of insolation, produce a cooling, effect at the surface.

Investigation of the crater-like microdefects induced by laser shock processing with aluminum foil as absorbent layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Y. X.; Xuan, T.; Lian, Z. C.; Feng, Y. Y.; Hua, X. J.

2015-06-01

This paper reports that 3D crater-like microdefects form on the metal surface when laser shock processing (LSP) is applied. LSP was conducted on pure copper block using the aluminum foil as the absorbent material and water as the confining layer. There existed the bonding material to attach the aluminum foil on the metal target closely. The surface morphologies and metallographs of copper surfaces were characterized with 3D profiler, the optical microscopy (OM) or the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Temperature increases of metal surface due to LSP were evaluated theoretically. It was found that, when aluminum foil was used as the absorbent material, and if there existed air bubbles in the bonding material, the air temperatures within the bubbles rose rapidly because of the adiabatic compression. So at the locations of the air bubbles, the metal materials melted and micromelting pool formed. Then under the subsequent expanding of the air bubbles, a secondary shock wave was launched against the micromelting pool and produced the crater-like microdefects on the metal surface. The temperature increases due to shock heat and high-speed deformation were not enough to melt the metal target. The temperature increase induced by the adiabatic compression of the air bubbles may also cause the gasification of the metal target. This will also help form the crater-like microdefects. The results of this paper can help to improve the surface quality of a metal target during the application of LSP. In addition, the results provide another method to fabricate 3D crater-like dents on metal surface. This has a potential application in mechanical engineering.

Plant temperatures and heat flux in a Sonoran Desert ecosystem.

PubMed

Gibbs, Joan G; Patten, D T

1970-09-01

In the extreme desert environment the potential energy load is high, consequently high temperatures might be a limiting factor for plant survival. Field measurements of plant temperatures in a Sonoran Desert ecosystem were made using fine thermocouples. Temperatures of six desert species were measured: Opuntia engelmannii, Opuntia bigelovii, Opuntia acanthocarpa, Echinocereus engelmannii, Larrea tridentata and Franseria deltoidea. Daily temperature profiles were used to compare the different responses of cacti and shrubs to the desert heat load and also to compare spring and summer responses. Leaf temperature of shrubs was at or near air temperature during both the mild, spring season and the hotter dry season. The cacti, on the other hand, absorbed and stored heat, thus temperatures were often above air temperature. The energy absorbed is determined largely by plant orientation and surface area exposed to the sun. Actual energy absorbed by the plants was estimated from energy diagrams.The flat stem pads of Opuntia engelmannii plants are oriented to receive maximum sunlight without long periods of continuous heating. Opuntia bigelovii spines reflect and absorb much of the environmental energy load, thereby protecting the thick, succulent stems from overheating. The smaller stems of Opuntia acanthocarpa dissipate heat more effectively by their large surface area exposed to convective air currents. Leaves on desert shrubs remain nearer to air temperature than do succulent stems of cacti, because their very large surface to volume ratio allows them to dissipate much heat by convection.

Spatial and Temporal Inter-Relationships Between Anomalies of Temperature, Moisture, Cloud Cover, and OLR as Observed by AIRS/AMSU on Aqua

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Susskind, Joel

2008-01-01

AIRS/AMSU is the advanced IR/MW atmospheric sounding system launched on EOS Aqua in May 2002. Products derived from AIRS/AMSU include surface skin temperature and atmospheric temperature profiles; atmospheric humidity profiles, percent cloud cover and cloud top pressure, and OLR. Near real time products, stating with September 2002, have been derived from AIRS/AMSU using the AIRS Science Team Version 5 retrieval algorithm. Results in this paper included products through April 2008. The time period studied is marked by a substantial warming trend of Northern Hemisphere Extropical land surface skin temperatures, as well as pronounced El Nino - La Nina episodes. These both influence the spatial and temporal anomaly patterns of atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles, as well as of cloud cover and Clear Sky and All Sky OLR The relationships between temporal and spatial anomalies of these parameters over this time period, as determined from AIRS/AMSU observations, are shown below, with particular emphasis on which contribute significantly to OLR anomalies in each of the tropics and extra-tropics. The ability to match this data represents a good test of a model's response to El Nino.

Simulating air temperature in an urban street canyon in all weather conditions using measured data at a reference meteorological station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erell, E.; Williamson, T.

2006-10-01

A model is proposed that adapts data from a standard meteorological station to provide realistic site-specific air temperature in a city street exposed to the same meso-scale environment. In addition to a rudimentary description of the two sites, the canyon air temperature (CAT) model requires only inputs measured at standard weather stations; yet it is capable of accurately predicting the evolution of air temperature in all weather conditions for extended periods. It simulates the effect of urban geometry on radiant exchange; the effect of moisture availability on latent heat flux; energy stored in the ground and in building surfaces; air flow in the street based on wind above roof height; and the sensible heat flux from individual surfaces and from the street canyon as a whole. The CAT model has been tested on field data measured in a monitoring program carried out in Adelaide, Australia, in 2000-2001. After calibrating the model, predicted air temperature correlated well with measured data in all weather conditions over extended periods. The experimental validation provides additional evidence in support of a number of parameterisation schemes incorporated in the model to account for sensible heat and storage flux.

Air - water temperature relationships in the trout streams of southeastern Minnesota’s carbonate - sandstone landscape

USGS Publications Warehouse

Krider, Lori A.; Magner, Joseph A.; Perry, Jim; Vondracek, Bruce C.; Ferrington, Leonard C.

2013-01-01

Carbonate-sandstone geology in southeastern Minnesota creates a heterogeneous landscape of springs, seeps, and sinkholes that supply groundwater into streams. Air temperatures are effective predictors of water temperature in surface-water dominated streams. However, no published work investigates the relationship between air and water temperatures in groundwater-fed streams (GWFS) across watersheds. We used simple linear regressions to examine weekly air-water temperature relationships for 40 GWFS in southeastern Minnesota. A 40-stream, composite linear regression model has a slope of 0.38, an intercept of 6.63, and R2 of 0.83. The regression models for GWFS have lower slopes and higher intercepts in comparison to surface-water dominated streams. Regression models for streams with high R2 values offer promise for use as predictive tools for future climate conditions. Climate change is expected to alter the thermal regime of groundwater-fed systems, but will do so at a slower rate than surface-water dominated systems. A regression model of intercept vs. slope can be used to identify streams for which water temperatures are more meteorologically than groundwater controlled, and thus more vulnerable to climate change. Such relationships can be used to guide restoration vs. management strategies to protect trout streams.

Infrared thermal measurements of laser soft tissue ablation as a function of air/water coolant for Nd:YAG and diode lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gekelman, Diana; Yamamoto, Andrew; Oto, Marvin G.; White, Joel M.

2003-06-01

The purpose of this investigation was to measure the maximum temperature at the Nd:YAG and Diode lasers fiberoptic tips as a function of air/water coolant, during soft tissue ablation in pig jaws. A pulsed Nd:YAG laser (1064nm) and a Diode laser (800-830 nm) were used varying parameters of power, conditioning or not of the fiber tip, under 4 settings of air/water coolant. The maximum temperature at the fiber tip was measured using an infra-red camera and the interaction of the fiber with the porcine soft tissue was evaluated. A two-factor ANOVA was used for statistical analysis (p<=0.05). Nd:YAG laser interaction with soft tissues produced temperatures levels directly proportional to power increase, but the conditioning of the fiber tip did not influence the temperature rise. On the other hand, conditioning of the fiber tip did influence the temperature rise for Diode laser. The addition of air/water coolant, for both lasers, did not promote temperature rise consistent with cutting and coagulation of porcine soft tissue. Laser parameters affect the fiberoptic surface temperature, and the addition of air/water coolant significantly lowered surface temperature on the fiberoptic tip for all lasers and parameters tested.

Land Surface Process and Air Quality Research and Applications at MSFC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quattrochi, Dale; Khan, Maudood

2007-01-01

This viewgraph presentation provides an overview of land surface process and air quality research at MSFC including atmospheric modeling and ongoing research whose objective is to undertake a comprehensive spatiotemporal analysis of the effects of accurate land surface characterization on atmospheric modeling results, and public health applications. Land use maps as well as 10 meter air temperature, surface wind, PBL mean difference heights, NOx, ozone, and O3+NO2 plots as well as spatial growth model outputs are included. Emissions and general air quality modeling are also discussed.

Transient liquid-crystal technique used to produce high-resolution convective heat-transfer-coefficient maps

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hippensteele, Steven A.; Poinsatte, Philip E.

1993-01-01

In this transient technique the preheated isothermal model wall simulates the classic one-dimensional, semi-infinite wall heat transfer conduction problem. By knowing the temperature of the air flowing through the model, the initial temperature of the model wall, and the surface cooling rate measured at any location with time (using the fast-response liquid-crystal patterns recorded on video tape), the heat transfer coefficient can be calculated for the color isothermal pattern produced. Although the test was run transiently, the heat transfer coefficients are for the steady-state case. The upstream thermal boundary condition was considered to be isothermal. This transient liquid-crystal heat-transfer technique was used in a transient air tunnel in which a square-inlet, 3-to-1 exit transition duct was placed. The duct was preheated prior to allowing room temperature air to be suddenly drawn through it. The resulting isothermal contours on the duct surfaces were revealed using a surface coating of thermochromic liquid crystals that display distinctive colors at particular temperatures. A video record was made of the temperature and time data for all points on the duct surfaces during each test. The duct surfaces were uniformly heated using two heating systems: the first was an automatic temperature-controlled heater blanket completely surrounding the test duct like an oven, and the second was an internal hot-air loop through the inside of the test duct. The hot-air loop path was confined inside the test duct by insulated heat dams located at the inlet and exit ends of the test duct. A recirculating fan moved hot air into the duct inlet, through the duct, out of the duct exit, through the oven, and back to the duct inlet. The temperature nonuniformity of the test duct model wall was held very small. Test results are reported for two inlet Reynolds numbers of 200,000 and 1,150,000 (based on the square-inlet hydraulic diameter) and two free-stream turbulence intensities of about 1 percent, which is typical of wind tunnels, and up to 20 percent (using a grid), which is typical of real engine conditions.

Air-sea interactions during strong winter extratropical storms

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nelson, Jill; He, Ruoying; Warner, John C.; Bane, John

2014-01-01

A high-resolution, regional coupled atmosphere–ocean model is used to investigate strong air–sea interactions during a rapidly developing extratropical cyclone (ETC) off the east coast of the USA. In this two-way coupled system, surface momentum and heat fluxes derived from the Weather Research and Forecasting model and sea surface temperature (SST) from the Regional Ocean Modeling System are exchanged via the Model Coupling Toolkit. Comparisons are made between the modeled and observed wind velocity, sea level pressure, 10 m air temperature, and sea surface temperature time series, as well as a comparison between the model and one glider transect. Vertical profiles of modeled air temperature and winds in the marine atmospheric boundary layer and temperature variations in the upper ocean during a 3-day storm period are examined at various cross-shelf transects along the eastern seaboard. It is found that the air–sea interactions near the Gulf Stream are important for generating and sustaining the ETC. In particular, locally enhanced winds over a warm sea (relative to the land temperature) induce large surface heat fluxes which cool the upper ocean by up to 2 °C, mainly during the cold air outbreak period after the storm passage. Detailed heat budget analyses show the ocean-to-atmosphere heat flux dominates the upper ocean heat content variations. Results clearly show that dynamic air–sea interactions affecting momentum and buoyancy flux exchanges in ETCs need to be resolved accurately in a coupled atmosphere–ocean modeling framework.

Role of a single shield in thermocouple measurements in hot air flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Hongwei; Shi, Lei; Tian, Yangtao

2017-12-01

To investigate the role of a single shield on steady temperature measurement using thermocouples in hot air flow, a methodology for solving convection, conduction, and radiation in one single model is provided. In order to compare with the experimental results, a cylindrical computational domain is established, which is the same size with the hot calibration wind-tunnel. In the computational domain, two kinds of thermocouples, the bare-bead and the single-shielded thermocouples, are simulated respectively. Surface temperature distribution and the temperature measurement bias of the two typical thermocouples are compared. The simulation results indicate that: 1) The existence of the shield reduces bead surface heat flux and changes the direction of wires inner heat conduction in a colder surrounding; 2) The existence of the shield reduces the temperature measurement bias both by improving bead surface temperature and by reducing surface temperature gradient; 3) The shield effectively reduces the effect of the ambient temperature on the temperature measurement bias; 4) The shield effectively reduces the influence of airflow velocity on the temperature measurement bias.

Interactive short-term effects of equivalent temperature and air pollution on human mortality in Berlin and Lisbon.

PubMed

Burkart, Katrin; Canário, Paulo; Breitner, Susanne; Schneider, Alexandra; Scherber, Katharina; Andrade, Henrique; Alcoforado, Maria João; Endlicher, Wilfried

2013-12-01

There is substantial evidence that both temperature and air pollution are predictors of mortality. Thus far, few studies have focused on the potential interactive effects between the thermal environment and different measures of air pollution. Such interactions, however, are biologically plausible, as (extreme) temperature or increased air pollution might make individuals more susceptible to the effects of each respective predictor. This study investigated the interactive effects between equivalent temperature and air pollution (ozone and particulate matter) in Berlin (Germany) and Lisbon (Portugal) using different types of Poisson regression models. The findings suggest that interactive effects exist between air pollutants and equivalent temperature. Bivariate response surface models and generalised additive models (GAMs) including interaction terms showed an increased risk of mortality during periods of elevated equivalent temperatures and air pollution. Cold effects were mostly unaffected by air pollution. The study underscores the importance of air pollution control in mitigating heat effects. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exchange of Groundwater and Surface-Water Mediated by Permafrost Response to Seasonal and Long Term Air Temperature Variation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ge, Shemin; McKenzie, Jeffrey; Voss, Clifford; Wu, Qingbai

2011-01-01

Permafrost dynamics impact hydrologic cycle processes by promoting or impeding groundwater and surface water exchange. Under seasonal and decadal air temperature variations, permafrost temperature changes control the exchanges between groundwater and surface water. A coupled heat transport and groundwater flow model, SUTRA, was modified to simulate groundwater flow and heat transport in the subsurface containing permafrost. The northern central Tibet Plateau was used as an example of model application. Modeling results show that in a yearly cycle, groundwater flow occurs in the active layer from May to October. Maximum groundwater discharge to the surface lags the maximum subsurface temperature by two months. Under an increasing air temperature scenario of 3?C per 100 years, over the initial 40-year period, the active layer thickness can increase by three-fold. Annual groundwater discharge to the surface can experience a similar three-fold increase in the same period. An implication of these modeling results is that with increased warming there will be more groundwater flow in the active layer and therefore increased groundwater discharge to rivers. However, this finding only holds if sufficient upgradient water is available to replenish the increased discharge. Otherwise, there will be an overall lowering of the water table in the recharge portion of the catchment.

Potential Predictability of U.S. Summer Climate with "Perfect" Soil Moisture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yang, Fanglin; Kumar, Arun; Lau, K.-M.

2004-01-01

The potential predictability of surface-air temperature and precipitation over the United States continent was assessed for a GCM forced by observed sea surface temperatures and an estimate of observed ground soil moisture contents. The latter was obtained by substituting the GCM simulated precipitation, which is used to drive the GCM's land-surface component, with observed pentad-mean precipitation at each time step of the model's integration. With this substitution, the simulated soil moisture correlates well with an independent estimate of observed soil moisture in all seasons over the entire US continent. Significant enhancements on the predictability of surface-air temperature and precipitation were found in boreal late spring and summer over the US continent. Anomalous pattern correlations of precipitation and surface-air temperature over the US continent in the June-July-August season averaged for the 1979-2000 period increased from 0.01 and 0.06 for the GCM simulations without precipitation substitution to 0.23 and 0.3 1, respectively, for the simulations with precipitation substitution. Results provide an estimate for the limits of potential predictability if soil moisture variability is to be perfectly predicted. However, this estimate may be model dependent, and needs to be substantiated by other modeling groups.

Changes in canopy cover alter surface air and forest floor temperature in a high-elevation red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) forest

Treesearch

Johnny L. Boggs; Steven G. McNulty

2010-01-01

The objective of this study is to describe winter and summer surface air and forest floor temperature patterns and diurnal fluctuations in high-elevation red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) forests with different levels of canopy cover. In 1988, a series of 10- x 10-meter plots (control, low nitrogen [N] addition, and high nitrogen addition) were...

Hurricane Frances as Observed by NASA Spaceborne Atmospheric Infrared Sounder AIRS and SeaWinds Scatterometer

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-08-30

This image shows Hurricane Frances in August 2004 as captured by instruments onboard two different NASA satellites: the AIRS infrared instrument onboard Aqua, and the SeaWinds scatterometer onboard QuikSCAT. Both are JPL-managed instruments. AIRS data are used to create global three-dimensional maps of temperature, humidity and clouds, while scatterometers measure surface wind speed and direction over the ocean. The red vectors in the image show Frances' surface winds as measured by SeaWinds on QuikSCAT. The background colors show the temperature of clouds and surface as viewed in the infrared by AIRS, with cooler areas pushing to purple and warmer areas are pushing to red. The color scale on the right gives the temperatures in degrees Kelvin. (The top of the scale, 320 degrees Kelvin, corresponds to 117 degrees Fahrenheit, and the bottom, 180 degrees K is -135 degrees F.) The powerful circulation of this storm is evident from the combined data as well as the development of a clearly-defined central "eye." The infrared signal does not penetrate through clouds, so the light blue areas reveal the cold clouds tops associated with strong thunderstorms embedded within the storm. In cloud-free areas the infrared signal comes from Earth's surface, revealing warmer temperatures. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00435

Evaluation of East Asian climatology as simulated by seven coupled models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Dabang; Wang, Huijun; Lang, Xianmei

2005-07-01

Using observation and reanalysis data throughout 1961 1990, the East Asian surface air temperature, precipitation and sea level pressure climatology as simulated by seven fully coupled atmosphere-ocean models, namely CCSR/NIES, CGCM2, CSIRO-Mk2, ECHAM4/OPYC3, GFDL-R30, HadCM3, and NCAR-PCM, are systematically evaluated in this study. It is indicated that the above models can successfully reproduce the annual and seasonal surface air temperature and precipitation climatology in East Asia, with relatively good performance for boreal autumn and annual mean. The models’ ability to simulate surface air temperature is more reliable than precipitation. In addition, the models can dependably capture the geographical distribution pattern of annual, boreal winter, spring and autumn sea level pressure in East Asia. In contrast, relatively large simulation errors are displayed when simulated boreal summer sea level pressure is compared with reanalysis data in East Asia. It is revealed that the simulation errors for surface air temperature, precipitation and sea level pressure are generally large over and around the Tibetan Plateau. No individual model is best in every aspect. As a whole, the ECHAM4/OPYC3 and HadCM3 performances are much better, whereas the CGCM2 is relatively poorer in East Asia. Additionally, the seven-model ensemble mean usually shows a relatively high reliability.

Soil moisture sensing with aircraft observations of the diurnal range of surface temperature

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schmugge, T. J.; Blanchard, B.; Anderson, A.; Wang, V.

1977-01-01

Aircraft observations of the surface temperature were made by measurements of the thermal emission in the 8-14 micrometers band over agricultural fields around Phoenix, Arizona. The diurnal range of these surface temperature measurements were well correlated with the ground measurement of soil moisture in the 0-2 cm layer. The surface temperature observations for vegetated fields were found to be within 1 or 2 C of the ambient air temperature indicating no moisture stress. These results indicate that for clear atmospheric conditions remotely sensed surface temperatures are a reliable indicator of soil moisture conditions and crop status.

Comparison of AIRS Version-6 OLR Climatologies and Anomaly Time Series with Those of CERES and MERRA-2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Susskind, Joel; Lee, Jae; Iredell, Lena

2016-01-01

RCs of AIRS and MERRA-2 500 mb specific humidity agree very well in terms of spatial patterns, but MERRA-2 ARCs are larger in magnitude and show a spurious moistening globally and over Central Africa. AIRS and MERRA-2 fractional cloud cover ARCs agree less well with each other. MERRA-2 shows a spurious global mean increase in cloud cover that is not found in AIRS, including a large spurious cloud increase in Central Africa. AIRS and MERRA-2 ARCs of surface skin and surface air temperatures are all similar to each other in patterns. AIRS shows a small global warming over the 13 year period, while MERRA-2 shows a small global cooling. This difference results primarily from spurious MERRA-2 temperature trends at high latitudes and over Central Africa. These differences all contribute to the spurious negative global MERRA-2 OLR trend. AIRS Version-6 confirms that 2015 is the warmest year on record and that the Earth's surface is continuing to warm.

AIRS Data Subsetting Service at the Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) DISC/DAAC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vicente, Gilberto A.; Qin, Jianchun; Li, Jason; Gerasimov, Irina; Savtchenko, Andrey

2004-01-01

The AIRS mission, as a combination of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) and the Humidity Sounder for Brazil (HSB), brings climate research and weather prediction into 21st century. From NASA' Aqua spacecraft, the AIRS/AMSU/HSB instruments measure humidity, temperature, cloud properties and the amounts of greenhouse gases. The AIRS also reveals land and sea- surface temperatures. Measurements from these three instruments are analyzed . jointly to filter out the effects of clouds from the IR data in order to derive clear-column air-temperature profiles and surface temperatures with high vertical resolution and accuracy. Together, they constitute an advanced operational sounding data system that have contributed to improve global modeling efforts and numerical weather prediction; enhance studies of the global energy and water cycles, the effects of greenhouse gases, and atmosphere-surface interactions; and facilitate monitoring of climate variations and trends. The high data volume generated by the AIRS/AMSU/HSB instruments and the complexity of its data format (Hierarchical Data Format, HDF) are barriers to AIRS data use. Although many researchers are interested in only a fraction of the data they receive or request, they are forced to run their algorithms on a much larger data set to extract the information of interest. In order to better server its users, the GES DISC/DAAC, provider of long-term archives and distribution services as well science support for the AIRS/AMSU/HSB data products, has developed various tools for performing channels, variables, parameter, spatial and derived products subsetting, resampling and reformatting operations. This presentation mainly describes the web-enabled subsetting services currently available at the GES DISC/DAAC that provide subsetting functions for all the Level 1B and Level 2 data products from the AIRS/AMSU/HSB instruments.

Nest temperatures in a loggerhead nesting beach in Turkey is more determined by sea surface than air temperature.

PubMed

Girondot, Marc; Kaska, Yakup

2015-01-01

While climate change is now fully recognised as a reality, its impact on biodiversity is still not completely understood. To predict its impact, proxies coherent with the studied ecosystem or species are thus required. Marine turtles are threatened worldwide (though some populations are recovering) as they are particularly sensitive to temperature throughout their entire life cycle. This is especially true at the embryo stage when temperature affects both growth rates and sex determination. Nest temperature is thus of prime importance to understand the persistence of populations in the context of climate change. We analysed the nest temperature of 21 loggerheads (Caretta caretta) originating from Dalyan Beach in Turkey using day-lagged generalised mixed models with autocorrelation. Surprisingly, the selected model for nest temperature includes an effect for sea surface temperature 4-times higher than for air temperature. We also detected a very significant effect of metabolic heating during development compatible with what is already known about marine turtle nests. Our new methodology allows the prediction of marine turtle nest temperatures with good precision based on a combination of air temperature measured at beach level and sea surface temperature in front of the beach. These data are available in public databases for most of the beaches worldwide. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thermal Management Techniques for Oil-Free Turbomachinery Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Radil, Kevin; DellaCorte, Chris; Zeszotek, Michelle

2006-01-01

Tests were performed to evaluate three different methods of utilizing air to provide thermal management control for compliant journal foil air bearings. The effectiveness of the methods was based on bearing bulk temperature and axial thermal gradient reductions during air delivery. The first method utilized direct impingement of air on the inner surface of a hollow test journal during operation. The second, less indirect method achieved heat removal by blowing air inside the test journal to simulate air flowing axially through a hollow, rotating shaft. The third method emulated the most common approach to removing heat by forcing air axially through the bearing s support structure. Internal bearing temperatures were measured with three, type K thermocouples embedded in the bearing that measured general internal temperatures and axial thermal gradients. Testing was performed in a 1 atm, 260 C ambient environment with the bearing operating at 60 krpm and supporting a load of 222 N. Air volumetric flows of 0.06, 0.11, and 0.17 cubic meters per minute at approximately 150 to 200 C were used. The tests indicate that all three methods provide thermal management but at different levels of effectiveness. Axial cooling of the bearing support structure had a greater effect on bulk temperature for each air flow and demonstrated that the thermal gradients could be influenced by the directionality of the air flow. Direct air impingement on the journal's inside surface provided uniform reductions in both bulk temperature and thermal gradients. Similar to the direct method, indirect journal cooling had a uniform cooling effect on both bulk temperatures and thermal gradients but was the least effective of the three methods.

Simulating the moderating effect of a lake on downwind temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bill, R. G., Jr.; Chen, E.; Sutherland, R. A.; Bartholic, J. F.

1979-01-01

A steady-state, two-dimensional numerical model is used to simulate air temperatures and humidity downwind of a lake at night. Thermal effects of the lake were modelled for the case of moderate and low surface winds under the cold-air advective conditions that occur following the passage of a cold front. Surface temperatures were found to be in good agreement with observations. A comparison of model results with thermal imagery indicated the model successfully predicts the downwind distance for which thermal effects due to the lake are significant.

Direct measurements of sample heating by a laser-induced air plasma in pre-ablation spark dual-pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS).

PubMed

Register, Janna; Scaffidi, Jonathan; Angel, S Michael

2012-08-01

Direct measurements of temperature changes were made using small thermocouples (TC), placed near a laser-induced air plasma. Temperature changes up to ~500 °C were observed. From the measured temperature changes, estimates were made of the amount of heat absorbed per unit area. This allowed calculations to be made of the surface temperature, as a function of time, of a sample heated by the air plasma that is generated during orthogonal pre-ablation spark dual-pulse (DP) LIBS measurements. In separate experiments, single-pulse (SP) LIBS emission and sample ablation rate measurements were performed on nickel at sample temperatures ranging from room temperature to the maximum surface temperature that was calculated using the TC measurement results (500 °C). A small, but real sample temperature-dependent increase in both SP LIBS emission and the rate of sample ablation was found for nickel samples heated up to 500 °C. Comparison of DP LIBS emission enhancement values for bulk nickel samples at room temperature versus the enhanced SP LIBS emission and sample ablation rates observed as a function of increasing sample temperature suggests that sample heating by the laser-induced air plasma plays only a minor role in DP LIBS emission enhancement.

An Updated Global Grid Point Surface Air Temperature Anomaly Data Set: 1851-1990 (revised 1991) (NDP-020)

DOE Data Explorer

Jones, P. D. [University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom; Raper, S. C.B. [University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom; Cherry, B. S.G. [University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom; Goodess, C. M. [University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom; Wigley, T. M. L. [University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom; Santer, B. [University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom; Kelly, P. M. [University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom; Bradley, R. S. [University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts (USA); Diaz, H. F. [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Environmental Research Laboratories, Boulder, CO (United States).

1991-01-01

This NDP presents land-based monthly surface-air-temperature anomalies (departures from a 1951-1970 reference period mean) on a 5° latitude by 10° longitude global grid. Monthly surface-air-temperature anomalies (departures from a 1957-1975 reference period mean) for the Antarctic (grid points from 65°S to 85°S) are presented in a similar way as a separate data set. The data were derived primarily from the World Weather Records and from the archives of the United Kingdom Meteorological Office. This long-term record of temperature anomalies may be used in studies addressing possible greenhouse-gas-induced climate changes. To date, the data have been employed in producing regional, hemispheric, and global time series for determining whether recent (i.e., post-1900) warming trends have taken place. The present updated version of this data set is identical to the earlier version for all records from 1851-1978 except for the addition of the Antarctic surface-air-temperature anomalies beginning in 1957. Beginning with the 1979 data, this package differs from the earlier version in several ways. Erroneous data for some sites have been corrected after a review of the actual station temperature data, and inconsistencies in the representation of missing values have been removed. For some grid locations, data have been added from stations that had not contributed to the original set. Data from satellites have also been used to correct station records where large discrepancies were evident. The present package also extends the record by adding monthly surface-air-temperature anomalies for the Northern (grid points from 85°N to 0°) and Southern (grid points from 5°S to 60°S) Hemispheres for 1985-1990. In addition, this updated package presents the monthly-mean-temperature records for the individual stations that were used to produce the set of gridded anomalies. The periods of record vary by station. Northern Hemisphere data have been corrected for inhomogeneities, while Southern Hemisphere data are presented in uncorrected form.

Daily Cycle of Air Temperature and Surface Temperature in Stone Forest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, K.; Li, Y.; Wang, X.; Yuan, M.

2013-12-01

Urbanization is one of the most profound human activities that impact on climate change. In cities, where are highly artificial areas, the conflict between human activity and natural climate is particularly prominent. Urban areas always have the larger area of impervious land, the higher consumption of greenhouse gases, more emissions of anthropogenic heat and air pollution, all contribute to the urban warming phenomena. Understanding the mechanisms causing a variety of phenomena involved in the urban warming is critical to distinguish the anthropogenic effect and natural variation in the climate change. However, the exact dynamics of urban warming were poorly understood, and effective control strategies are not available. Here we present a study of the daily cycle of air temperature and surface temperature in Stone Forest. The specific heat of the stones in the Stone Forest and concrete of the man-made structures within the cities are approximate. Besides, the height of the Stone Forest and the height of buildings within the city are also similar. As a scenic area, the Stone Forest is being preserved and only opened for sightseeing. There is no anthropogenic heat, as well air pollution within the Stone Forest. The thermal environment in Stone Forest can be considered to be a simulation of thermal environment in the city, which can reveal the effect of man-made structures on urban thermal environment. We conducted the field studies and numerical analysis in the Stone Forest for 4 typical urban morphology and environment scenarios, including high-rise compact cities, low-rise sparse cities, garden cities and isolated single stone. Air temperature and relative humidity were measured every half an hour in 15 different locations, which within different spatial distribution of stones and can represent the four urban scenarios respectively. At the same time, an infrared camera was used to take thermal images and get the hourly surface temperatures of stones and vegetation in the measurement area. The differences of the daily cycle of air temperature and surface temperature in these four scenarios show a significant impact of urban man-made structures on the dynamics of urban thermal environment.

On the Current Trend of Tropical Cyclone Activity and the Lengthening of the Tropical Cyclone Season in the North Atlantic Basin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, Robert M.

2013-01-01

In this TP, the trend in North Atlantic basin TC activity, especially as related to the determination of the length of season (LOS) and its possible association with warming surface-air and sea-surface temperature, is revisited. In particular, examined are: (1) the trend in TC activity for the yearly intervals 1945-1965, 1966-1994, and 1995-2012 for TCs having duration NSD greater or equal to 0.25 day, less than 2 days, greater than or equal to 2 days, greater than or equal to 4 days, and greater than or equal to 8 days; (2) the latitudinal and longitudinal genesis locations of the short-lived TC (defined herein as those TCs having duration NSD less than 2 days) for the three yearly intervals; (3) the first storm day (FSD), last storm day (LSD), and LOS based on TCs having duration NSD greater than or equal to 0.25 day and NSD greater than or equal to 2 days; (4) the relationship between FSD, LSD, and LOS for TCs having duration NSD greater than or equal to 0.25 day and NSD greater than or equal to 2 days; (5) the surface-air and sea-surface temperature, wind, and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) during the interval 1945-2012; (6) the relationship of FSD, LSD, and LOS against surface-air and sea-surface temperature, wind, and the NAO; (7) the relationship of TC activity against surface-air and sea-surface temperature, wind, and the NAO; and (8) the relationship of TC activity against FSD and LOS. This TP represents an update to an earlier study by Wilson concerning the length of the yearly hurricane season.

The Effect of Elevation Bias in Interpolated Air Temperature Data Sets on Surface Warming in China During 1951-2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Tingting; Sun, Fubao; Ge, Quansheng; Kleidon, Axel; Liu, Wenbin

2018-02-01

Although gridded air temperature data sets share much of the same observations, different rates of warming can be detected due to different approaches employed for considering elevation signatures in the interpolation processes. Here we examine the influence of varying spatiotemporal distribution of sites on surface warming in the long-term trend and over the recent warming hiatus period in China during 1951-2015. A suspicious cooling trend in raw interpolated air temperature time series is found in the 1950s, and 91% of which can be explained by the artificial elevation changes introduced by the interpolation process. We define the regression slope relating temperature difference and elevation difference as the bulk lapse rate of -5.6°C/km, which tends to be higher (-8.7°C/km) in dry regions but lower (-2.4°C/km) in wet regions. Compared to independent experimental observations, we find that the estimated monthly bulk lapse rates work well to capture the elevation bias. Significant improvement can be achieved in adjusting the interpolated original temperature time series using the bulk lapse rate. The results highlight that the developed bulk lapse rate is useful to account for the elevation signature in the interpolation of site-based surface air temperature to gridded data sets and is necessary for avoiding elevation bias in climate change studies.

Amplification of warming due to intensification of zonal circulation in the mid-latitudes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alekseev, Genrikh; Ivanov, Nikolai; Kharlanenkova, Natalia; Kuzmina, Svetlana

2015-04-01

We propose a new index to evaluate the impact of atmospheric zonal transport oscillations on inter-annual variability and trends of average air temperature in mid-latitudes, Northern Hemisphere and globe. A simple model of mid-latitude channel "ocean-land-atmosphere" was used to produce the analytic relationship between the zonal circulation and the land-ocean temperature contrast which was used as a basis for index. An inverse relationship was found between indexes and average mid-latitude, hemisphere and global temperatures during the cold half of year and opposite one in summer. These relationships keep under 400 mb height. In winter relationship describes up to 70, 50 and 40 % of surface air temperature inter-annual variability of these averages, respectively. The contribution of zonal circulation to the increase in the average surface air temperature during warming period 1969-2008 reaches 75% in the mid-latitudes and 40% in the Northern Hemisphere. Proposed mid-latitude index correlates negatively with surface air temperature in the Arctic except summer. ECHAM4 projections with the A1B scenario show that increase of zonal circulation defines more than 74% of the warming in the Northern Hemisphere for 2001-2100. Our analysis confirms that the proposed index is an effective indicator of the climate change caused by variations of the zonal circulation that arise due to anthropogenic and/or natural global forcing mechanisms.

Trends in Surface Temperature from AIRS.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruzmaikin, A.; Aumann, H. H.

2014-12-01

To address possible causes of the current hiatus in the Earth's global temperature we investigate the trends and variability in the surface temperature using retrievals obtained from the measurements by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and its companion instrument, the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), onboard of Aqua spacecraft in 2002-2014. The data used are L3 monthly means on a 1x1degree spatial grid. We separate the land and ocean temperatures, as well as temperatures in Artic, Antarctic and desert regions. We find a monotonic positive trend for the land temperature but not for the ocean temperature. The difference in the regional trends can help to explain why the global surface temperature remains almost unchanged but the frequency of occurrence of the extreme events increases under rising anthropogenic forcing. The results are compared with the model studies. This work was supported by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Temperature dependent optical properties of (002) oriented ZnO thin film using surface plasmon resonance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saha, Shibu; Mehan, Navina; Sreenivas, K.; Gupta, Vinay

2009-08-01

Temperature dependent optical properties of c-axis oriented ZnO thin film were investigated using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique. SPR data for double layer (prism-Au-ZnO-air) and single layer (prism-Au-air) systems were taken over a temperature range (300-525 K). Dielectric constant at optical frequency and real part of refractive index of the ZnO film shows an increase with temperature. The bandgap of the oriented ZnO film was found to decrease with rise in temperature. The work indicates a promising application of the system as a temperature sensor and highlights an efficient scientific tool to study optical properties of thin film under varying ambient conditions.

Recent Global Warming as Observed by AIRS and Depicted in GISSTEMP and MERRA-2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Susskind, Joel; Lee, Jae; Iredell, Lena

2017-01-01

AIRS Version-6 monthly mean level-3 surface temperature products confirm the result, depicted in the GISSTEMP dataset, that the earth's surface temperature has been warming since early 2015, though not before that. AIRS is at a higher spatial resolution than GISSTEMP, and produces sharper spatial features which are otherwise in excellent agreement with those of GISSTEMP. Version-6 AO Ts anomalies are consistent with those of Version-6 AIRS/AMSU. Version-7 AO anomalies should be even more accurate, especially at high latitudes. ARCs of MERRA-2 Ts anomalies are spurious as a result of a discontinuity which occurred somewhere between 2007 and 2008. This decreases global mean trends.

Temperature Dependence of Lithium Reactions with Air

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sherrod, Roman; Skinner, C. H.; Koel, Bruce

2016-10-01

Liquid lithium plasma facing components (PFCs) are being developed to handle long pulse, high heat loads in tokamaks. Wetting by lithium of its container is essential for this application, but can be hindered by lithium oxidation by residual gases or during tokamak maintenance. Lithium PFCs will experience elevated temperatures due to plasma heat flux. This work presents measurements of lithium reactions at elevated temperatures (298-373 K) when exposed to natural air. Cylindrical TZM wells 300 microns deep with 1 cm2 surface area were filled with metallic lithium in a glovebox containing argon with less than 1.6 ppm H20, O2, and N2. The wells were transferred to a hot plate in air, and then removed periodically for mass gain measurements. Changes in the surface topography were recorded with a microscope. The mass gain of the samples at elevated temperatures followed a markedly different behavior to that at room temperature. One sample at 373 K began turning red indicative of lithium nitride, while a second turned white indicative of lithium carbonate formation. Data on the mass gain vs. temperature and associated topographic changes of the surface will be presented. Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship funded by Department of Energy.

Opportunities for Saving Energy and Improving Air Quality in Urban Heat Islands

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Akbari, Hashem

2007-07-01

World energy use is the main contributor to atmospheric CO2. In 2002, about 7.0 giga metric tons of carbon (GtC) were emitted internationally by combustion of gas, liquid, and solid fuels (CDIAC, 2006), 2 to 5 times the amount contributed by deforestation (Brown et al., 1988). The share of atmospheric carbon emissions for the United States from fossil fuel combustion was 1.6 GtC. Increasing use of fossil fuel and deforestation together have raised atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentration some 25% over the last 150 years. According to global climate models and preliminary measurements, these changes in the composition of the atmospheremore » have already begun raising the Earth's average temperature. If current energy trends continue, these changes could drastically alter the Earth's temperature, with unknown but potentially catastrophic physical and political consequences. During the last three decades, increased energy awareness has led to conservation efforts and leveling of energy consumption in the industrialized countries. An important byproduct of this reduced energy use is the lowering of CO{sub 2} emissions. Of all electricity generated in the United States, about one-sixth is used to air-condition buildings. The air-conditioning use is about 400 tera-watt-hours (TWh), equivalent to about 80 million metric tons of carbon (MtC) emissions, and translating to about $40 billion (B) per year. Of this $40 B/year, about half is used in cities that have pronounced 'heat islands'. The contribution of the urban heat island to the air-conditioning demand has increased over the last 40 years and it is currently at about 10%. Metropolitan areas in the United States (e.g., Los Angeles, Phoenix, Houston, Atlanta, and New York City) have typically pronounced heat islands that warrant special attention by anyone concerned with broad-scale energy efficiency (HIG, 2006). The ambient air is primarily heated through three processes: direct absorption of solar radiation, convection of heat from hot surfaces, and man-made heat (exhaust from cars, buildings, etc.). Air is fairly transparent to light--the direct absorption of solar radiation in atmospheric air only raises the air temperature by a small amount. Typically about 90% of solar radiation reaches the Earth's surface and then is either absorbed or reflected. The absorbed radiation on the surface increases the surface temperature. And in turn the hot surfaces heat the air. This convective heating is responsible for the majority of the diurnal temperature range. The contribution of man-made heat (e.g., air conditioning, cars) is very small, compared to the heating of air by hot surfaces, except for the downtown high-rise areas.« less

Improving Simulations of Precipitation Phase and Snowpack at a Site Subject to Cold Air Intrusions: Snoqualmie Pass, WA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wayand, N. E.; Stimberis, J.; Zagrodnik, J.; Mass, C.; Lundquist, J. D.

2016-12-01

Low-level cold air from eastern Washington state often flows westward through mountain passes in the Washington Cascades, creating localized inversions and locally reducing climatological temperatures. The persistence of this inversion during a frontal passage can result in complex patterns of snow and rain that are difficult to predict. Yet, these predictions are critical to support highway avalanche control, ski resort operations, and modeling of headwater snowpack storage. In this study we used observations of precipitation phase from a disdrometer and snow depth sensors across Snoqualmie Pass, WA, to evaluate surface-air-temperature-based and mesoscale-model-based predictions of precipitation phase during the anomalously warm 2014-2015 winter. The skill of surface-based methods was greatly improved by using air temperature from a nearby higher-elevation station, which was less impacted by low-level inversions. Alternatively, we found a hybrid method that combines surface-based predictions with output from the Weather Research and Forecasting mesoscale model to have improved skill over both parent models. These results suggest that prediction of precipitation phase in mountain passes can be improved by incorporating observations or models from above the surface layer.

City landscape changes effects on land surface temperature in Bucharest metropolitan area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Savastru, Dan M.; Zoran, Maria A.; Savastru, Roxana S.; Dida, Adrian I.

2017-10-01

This study investigated the influences of city land cover changes and extreme climate events on land surface temperature in relationship with several biophysical variables in Bucharest metropolitan area of Romania through satellite and in-situ monitoring data. Remote sensing data from IKONOS, Landsat TM/ETM+ and time series MODIS Terra/Aqua and NOAA AVHRR sensors have been used to assess urban land cover- temperature interactions over 2000 - 2016 period. Time series Thermal InfraRed (TIR) satellite remote sensing data in synergy with meteorological data (air temperatureAT, precipitations, wind, solar radiation, etc.) were applied mainly for analyzing land surface temperature (LST) pattern and its relationship with surface landscape characteristics, assessing urban heat island (UHI), and relating urban land cover temperatures (LST). The land surface temperature, a key parameter for urban thermal characteristics analysis, was also analyzed in relation with the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) at city level. Results show that in the metropolitan area ratio of impervious surface in Bucharest increased significantly during investigated period, the intensity of urban heat island and heat wave events being most significant. The correlation analyses revealed that, at the pixel-scale, LST and AT possessed a strong positive correlation with percent impervious surfaces and negative correlation with vegetation abundances at metropolitan scale respectively. The NDVI was significantly correlated with precipitation. The spatial average air temperatures in urban test areas rise with the expansion of the urban size.

Physical Mechanisms of Rapid Lake Warming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lenters, J. D.

2016-12-01

Recent studies have shown significant warming of inland water bodies around the world. Many lakes are warming more rapidly than the ambient surface air temperature, and this is counter to what is often expected based on the lake surface energy balance. A host of reasons have been proposed to explain these discrepancies, including changes in the onset of summer stratification, significant loss of ice cover, and concomitant changes in winter air temperature and/or summer cloud cover. A review of the literature suggests that no single physical mechanism is primarily responsible for the majority of these changes, but rather that the large heterogeneity in regional climate trends and lake geomorphometry results in a host of potential physical drivers. In this study, we discuss the variety of mechanisms that have been proposed to explain rapid lake warming and offer an assessment of the physical plausibility for each potential contributor. Lake Superior is presented as a case study to illustrate the "perfect storm" of factors that can cause a deep, dimictic lake to warm at rate that exceeds the rate of global air temperature warming by nearly an order of magnitude. In particular, we use a simple mixed-layer model to show that spatially variable trends in Lake Superior surface water temperature are determined, to first order, by variations in bathymetry and winter air temperature. Summer atmospheric conditions are often of less significance, and winter ice cover may simply be a correlate. The results highlight the importance of considering the full range of factors that can lead to trends in lake surface temperature, and that conventional wisdom may often not be the best guide.

Influence of drying time and temperature on bond strength of contemporary adhesives to dentine.

PubMed

Garcia, Fernanda C P; Almeida, Júlio C F; Osorio, Raquel; Carvalho, Ricardo M; Toledano, Manuel

2009-04-01

To evaluate the bond strength (microTBS) of self-etching adhesives in different solvent evaporation conditions. Flat dentine surfaces from extracted human third molars were bonded with: (1) 2 two-steps self-etching adhesives (Clearfil SE Bond-CSEB); (Protect Bond-PB) and (2) 2 one-step self-etch systems (Adper Prompt L Pop-ADPLP); (Xeno III-XIII). Bonded dentine surfaces were air-dried for 5s, 20s, 30s or 40s at either 21 degrees C or 38 degrees C. Composite build-ups were constructed incrementally. After storage in water for 24h at 37 degrees C, the specimens were prepared for microtensile bond strength testing. Data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA and Student-Newman-Keuls at alpha=0.05. CSEB and PB performed better at warm temperature with only 20s of air-blowing. The bond strength increased when XIII was performed at warm temperature at 40s air-blowing. Extended air-blowing not affect the performance of ADPLP, except at 30s air-blowing time at warm temperature. The use of a warm air-dry stream seems to be a clinical tool to improve the bond strength to self-etching adhesives.

Relationships between nocturnal winter road slipperiness, cloud cover and surface temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grimbacher, T.; Schmid, W.

2003-04-01

Ice and Snow are important risks for road traffic. In this study we show several events of slipperiness in Switzerland, mainly caused by rain or snow falling on a frozen surface. Other reasons for slippery conditions are frost or freezing dew in clear nights and nocturnal clearing after precipitation, which goes along with radiative cooling. The main parameters of road weather forecasts are precipitation, cloudiness and surface temperature. Precipitation is well predictable with weather radars and radar nowcasting algorithms. Temperatures are often taken from numerical weather prediction models, but because of changes in cloud cover these model values are inaccurate in terms of predicting the onset of freezing. Cloudiness, especially the advection, formation and dissipation of clouds and their interaction with surface temperatures, is one of the major unsolved problems of road weather forecasts. Cloud cover and the temperature difference between air and surface temperature are important parameters of the radiation balance. In this contribution, we show the relationship between them, proved at several stations all over Switzerland. We found a quadratic correlation coefficient of typically 60% and improved it considering other meteorological parameters like wind speed and surface water. The acquired relationship may vary from one station to another, but we conclude that temperature difference is a signature for nocturnal cloudiness. We investigated nocturnal cloudiness for two cases from winters 2002 and 2003 in the canton of Lucerne in central Switzerland. There, an ultra-dense combination of two networks with together 55 stations within 50x50 km^2 is operated, measuring air and surface temperature, wind and other road weather parameters. With the aid of our equations, temperature differences detected from this network were converted into cloud maps. A comparison between precipitation seen by radar, cloud maps and surface temperatures shows that there are similar structures in all data. Depending on the situation, we also identified additional effects influencing the temperature differences, for instance the advection of could air or the influence of melting heat at or after a snow event. All these findings help to further understand the phenomena, and hence will contribute to a better predictability of winter road slipperiness.

The variability of California summertime marine stratus: impacts on surface air temperatures

USGS Publications Warehouse

Iacobellis, Sam F.; Cayan, Daniel R.

2013-01-01

This study investigates the variability of clouds, primarily marine stratus clouds, and how they are associated with surface temperature anomalies over California, especially along the coastal margin. We focus on the summer months of June to September when marine stratus are the dominant cloud type. Data used include satellite cloud reflectivity (cloud albedo) measurements, hourly surface observations of cloud cover and air temperature at coastal airports, and observed values of daily surface temperature at stations throughout California and Nevada. Much of the anomalous variability of summer clouds is organized over regional patterns that affect considerable portions of the coast, often extend hundreds of kilometers to the west and southwest over the North Pacific, and are bounded to the east by coastal mountains. The occurrence of marine stratus is positively correlated with both the strength and height of the thermal inversion that caps the marine boundary layer, with inversion base height being a key factor in determining their inland penetration. Cloud cover is strongly associated with surface temperature variations. In general, increased presence of cloud (higher cloud albedo) produces cooler daytime temperatures and warmer nighttime temperatures. Summer daytime temperature fluctuations associated with cloud cover variations typically exceed 1°C. The inversion-cloud albedo-temperature associations that occur at daily timescales are also found at seasonal timescales.

Enhanced thermal shock resistance of ceramics through biomimetically inspired nanofins.

PubMed

Song, Fan; Meng, Songhe; Xu, Xianghong; Shao, Yingfeng

2010-03-26

We propose here a new method to make ceramics insensitive to thermal shock up to their melting temperature. In this method the surface of ceramics was biomimetically roughened into nanofinned surface that creates a thin air layer enveloping the surface of the ceramics during quenching. This air layer increases the heat transfer resistance of the surface of the ceramics by about 10,000 times so that the strong thermal gradient and stresses produced by the steep temperature difference in thermal shock did not occur both on the actual surface and in the interior of the ceramics. This method effectively extends the applications of existing ceramics in the extreme thermal environments.

Exchange of groundwater and surface-water mediated by permafrost response to seasonal and long term air temperature variation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ge, S.; McKenzie, J.; Voss, C.; Wu, Q.

2011-01-01

Permafrost dynamics impact hydrologic cycle processes by promoting or impeding groundwater and surface water exchange. Under seasonal and decadal air temperature variations, permafrost temperature changes control the exchanges between groundwater and surface water. A coupled heat transport and groundwater flow model, SUTRA, was modified to simulate groundwater flow and heat transport in the subsurface containing permafrost. The northern central Tibet Plateau was used as an example of model application. Modeling results show that in a yearly cycle, groundwater flow occurs in the active layer from May to October. Maximum groundwater discharge to the surface lags the maximum subsurface temperature by two months. Under an increasing air temperature scenario of 3C per 100 years, over the initial 40-year period, the active layer thickness can increase by three-fold. Annual groundwater discharge to the surface can experience a similar three-fold increase in the same period. An implication of these modeling results is that with increased warming there will be more groundwater flow in the active layer and therefore increased groundwater discharge to rivers. However, this finding only holds if sufficient upgradient water is available to replenish the increased discharge. Otherwise, there will be an overall lowering of the water table in the recharge portion of the catchment. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.

Spatiotemporal variations in the difference between satellite-observed daily maximum land surface temperature and station-based daily maximum near-surface air temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lian, Xu; Zeng, Zhenzhong; Yao, Yitong; Peng, Shushi; Wang, Kaicun; Piao, Shilong

2017-02-01

There is an increasing demand to integrate land surface temperature (LST) into climate research due to its global coverage, which requires a comprehensive knowledge of its distinctive characteristics compared to near-surface air temperature (Tair). Using satellite observations and in situ station-based data sets, we conducted a global-scale assessment of the spatial and seasonal variations in the difference between daily maximum LST and daily maximum Tair (δT, LST - Tair) during 2003-2014. Spatially, LST is generally higher than Tair over arid and sparsely vegetated regions in the middle-low latitudes, but LST is lower than Tair in tropical rainforests due to strong evaporative cooling, and in the high-latitude regions due to snow-induced radiative cooling. Seasonally, δT is negative in tropical regions throughout the year, while it displays a pronounced seasonality in both the midlatitudes and boreal regions. The seasonality in the midlatitudes is a result of the asynchronous responses of LST and Tair to the seasonal cycle of radiation and vegetation abundance, whereas in the boreal regions, seasonality is mainly caused by the change in snow cover. Our study identified substantial spatial heterogeneity and seasonality in δT, as well as its determinant environmental drivers, and thus provides a useful reference for monitoring near-surface air temperature changes using remote sensing, particularly in remote regions.

Effects of Northern Hemisphere Sea Surface Temperature Changes on the Global Air Quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yi, K.; Liu, J.

2017-12-01

The roles of regional sea surface temperature (SST) variability on modulating the climate system and consequently the air quality are investigated using the Community Earth System Model (CESM). Idealized, spatially uniform SST anomalies of +/- 1 °C are superimposed onto the North Pacific, North Atlantic, and North Indian Oceans individually. Ignoring the response of natural emissions, our simulations suggest large seasonal and regional variability of surface O3 and PM2.5 concentrations in response to SST anomalies, especially during boreal summers. Increasing the SST by 1 °C in one of the oceans generally decreases the surface O3 concentrations from 1 to 5 ppbv while increases the anthropogenic PM2.5 concentrations from 0.5 to 3 µg m-3. We implement the integrated process rate (IPR) analysis in CESM and find that meteorological transport in response to SST changes is the key process causing air pollutant perturbations in most cases. During boreal summers, the increase in tropical SST over different ocean basins enhances deep convection, which significantly increases the air temperature over the upper troposphere and trigger large-scale subsidence over nearby and remote regions. These processes tend to increase tropospheric stability and suppress rainfall at lower mid-latitudes. Consequently, it reduces the vertical transport of O3 to the surface while facilitating the accumulation of PM2.5 concentrations over most regions. In addition, this regional SST warming may also considerably suppress intercontinental transport of air pollution as confirmed with idealized CO-like tracers. Our findings indicate a robust linkage between basin-scale SST variability and regional air quality, which can help local air quality management.

Multitechnique characterisation of 304L surface states oxidised at high temperature in steam and air atmospheres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mamede, Anne-Sophie; Nuns, Nicolas; Cristol, Anne-Lise; Cantrel, Laurent; Souvi, Sidi; Cristol, Sylvain; Paul, Jean-François

2016-04-01

In case of a severe accident occurring in a nuclear reactor, surfaces of the reactor coolant system (RCS), made of stainless steel (304L) rich in Cr (>10%) and Ni (8-12%), are oxidised. Fission products (FPs) are released from melt fuel and flow through the RCS. A part of them is deposited onto surfaces either by vapour condensation or by aerosol deposition mechanisms. To be able to understand the nature of interactions between these FPs and the RCS surfaces, a preliminary step is to characterize the RSC surface states in steam and air atmosphere at high temperatures. Pieces of 304L stainless steel have been treated in a flow reactor at two different temperatures (750 °C and 950 °C) for two different exposition times (24 h and 72 h). After surfaces analysing by a unique combination of surface analysis techniques (XPS, ToF-SIMS and LEIS), for 304L, the results show a deep oxide scale with multi layers and the outer layer is composed of chromium and manganese oxides. Oxide profiles differ in air or steam atmosphere. Fe2O3 oxide is observed but in minor proportion and in all cases no nickel is detected near the surface. Results obtained are discussed and compared with the literature data.

An overview of mainland China temperature change research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Guoyu; Ding, Yihui; Tang, Guoli

2017-02-01

There has been significant effort devoted to investigating long-term trends in land surface air temperature over mainland China by Chinese scientists over the past 50 years, and much progress has been made in understanding dynamics of the changes. This review highlights research conducted by early Chinese climatologists, and particularly Professor Shaowu Wang from Peking University, with special focus on systematic work that has been conducted since the mid to late 1970s. We also discuss major issues that remain unresolved in past and current studies. The most recent analyses indicate that the country-average annual mean surface air temperature rose by 1.12°C over the past 115 years (1901-2015), with a rate of increase of about 0.10°C decade-1. Temperatures have risen more rapidly since the 1950s, with the rate of increase of more than 0.25°C decade-1. However, the recent increase in temperatures is in large part due to contamination by systematically biased data. These data are influenced by unprecedented urbanization in China, with a contribution of urbanization to the overall increase of annual mean temperatures in mainland China of about one third over the past half a century. If the bias is corrected, the rate of increase for the country-average annual mean surface air temperature is 0.17°C decade-1 over the last 50-60 years, which is approximately the same as global and Northern Hemispheric averages in recent decades. Future efforts should be focused towards the recovery and digitization of early-year observational records, the homogenization of observational data, the evaluation and adjustment of urbanization bias in temperature data series from urban stations, the analysis of extreme temperatures over longer periods including the first half of the 20th century, and the investigation of the observed surface air temperature change mechanisms in mainland China.

Near-continuous thermal monitoring of a diverse tropical forest canopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pau, S.; Still, C. J.; Kim, Y.; Detto, M.

2015-12-01

Tropical species may be highly sensitive to temperature increases associated with climate change because of their narrow thermal tolerances. Recent work has highlighted the importance of temperature in tropical forest function, however most studies use air temperature measurements from sparse meteorological stations even though surface temperatures are known to deviate from air temperatures. Tropical organisms exist in microclimates that are highly variable in space and time and not easily measured in natural environments. This is in part because of the complex structure of tropical forests and the potential for organisms themselves to modify their own environment. In the case of plants, leaf temperature is linked to the water and surface energy balance of their microenvironment. Here we present results from near-continuous thermal camera monitoring of the forest canopy in Barro Colorado Island, Panama (5-minute intervals for approximately 9 months). We compare daytime (maximum) vs. nighttime (minimum) differences between canopy temperature and air temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, and precipitation. On average, canopy temperatures are consistently ~2 degrees Celsius higher than air temperatures. These data can paired with flux tower data on-site and used to advance understanding of temperature controls on the structure and function of tropical forests, such as carbon assimilation, phenology, and habitat monitoring, and can be integrated into models to improve predictions of tropical forest response to future climate change.

Can Aerosol Offset Urban Heat Island Effect?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, M. S.; Shepherd, J. M.

2009-12-01

The Urban Heat Island effect (UHI) refers to urban skin or air temperature exceeding the temperatures in surrounding non-urban regions. In a warming climate, the UHI may intensify extreme heat waves and consequently cause significant health and energy problems. Aerosols reduce surface insolation via the direct effect, namely, scattering and absorbing sunlight in the atmosphere. Combining the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) observations over large cities together with Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) simulations, we find that the aerosol direct reduction of surface insolation range from 40-100 Wm-2, depending on seasonality and aerosol loads. As a result, surface skin temperature can be reduced by 1-2C while 2-m surface air temperature by 0.5-1C. This study suggests that the aerosol direct effect is a competing mechanism for the urban heat island effect (UHI). More importantly, both aerosol and urban land cover effects must be adequately represented in meteorological and climate modeling systems in order to properly characterize urban surface energy budgets and UHI.

Microclimatic conditions in different land-use systems in Sumatra, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meijide, Ana; Tiralla, Nina; Sabajo, Clifton; Panferov, Oleg; Gunawan, Dodo; Knohl, Alexander

2015-04-01

Over the last decades, Indonesia has experienced an unprecedented transformation of the land surface through deforestation and conversion from forest to other land-uses such as oil palm and rubber plantations. These transformations are expected to affect not only biodiversity and carbon storage, but also the biophysical conditions of the land surface, i.e. air and surface temperature, surface albedo, air humidity, and soil moisture. There is, however, a lack of quantitative information characterizing these differences with a systematic experimental design. We report results from micrometeorological measurements in four different land-use types (forest, rubber plantation, jungle rubber, and oil palm plantation, n=4) in two different landscapes in Jambi Province in Sumatra/Indonesia as well as remote sensing data from Landsat. Preliminary results show differences on the average within-canopy air temperature, with lowest values in the forest (24.70°C ± 0.01°C) and highest in oil palm and rubber plantations (25.45°C ± 0.02°C and 25.55°C ± 0.01°C respectively). The temperature ranges also varied between different land uses, from 6.27°C in the forest and up to 9.40 °C in oil palm between the 5 and 95% percentile. Relative air humidity followed an inverse trend to air temperature, with rubber and oil palm plantations being on average 6.29 and 5.37 % drier than the forest. Soil temperature was up to 1°C warmer in oil palm than in forest plots, while soil moisture was more influenced by the soil type in the different landscapes than by the land uses. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that land transformation in Indonesia results in distinctly different microclimatic conditions across land-use types.

Tropical Storm Ernesto over Cuba

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2006-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Microwave Image

These infrared, microwave, and visible images were created with data retrieved by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite.

Infrared Image Because infrared radiation does not penetrate through clouds, AIRS infrared images show either the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of the storm. In cloud-free areas the AIRS instrument will receive the infrared radiation from the surface of the Earth, resulting in the warmest temperatures (orange/red).

Microwave Image In the AIRS microwave imagery, deep blue areas in storms show where the most precipitation occurs, or where ice crystals are present in the convective cloud tops. Outside of these storm regions, deep blue areas may also occur over the sea surface due to its low radiation emissivity. On the other hand, land appears much warmer due to its high radiation emissivity.

Microwave radiation from Earth's surface and lower atmosphere penetrates most clouds to a greater or lesser extent depending upon their water vapor, liquid water and ice content. Precipitation, and ice crystals found at the cloud tops where strong convection is taking place, act as barriers to microwave radiation. Because of this barrier effect, the AIRS microwave sensor detects only the radiation arising at or above their location in the atmospheric column. Where these barriers are not present, the microwave sensor detects radiation arising throughout the air column and down to the surface. Liquid surfaces (oceans, lakes and rivers) have 'low emissivity' (the signal isn't as strong) and their radiation brightness temperature is therefore low. Thus the ocean also appears 'low temperature' in the AIRS microwave images and is assigned the color blue. Therefore deep blue areas in storms show where the most precipitation occurs, or where ice crystals are present in the convective cloud tops. Outside of these storm regions, deep blue areas may also occur over the sea surface due to its low radiation emissivity. Land appears much warmer due to its high radiation emissivity.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Experiment, with its visible, infrared, and microwave detectors, provides a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather. Working in tandem, the three instruments can make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-D map of atmospheric temperature and humidity and provides information on clouds, greenhouse gases, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS Infrared Sounder Experiment flies onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Temperature Anomalies from the AIRS Product in Giovanni for the Climate Community

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ding, Feng; Hearty, Thomas J.; Wei, Jennifer; Theobald, Michael; Vollmer, Bruce; Seiler, Edward; Meyer, David

2018-01-01

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) mission began with the launch of Aqua in 2002. Over 15 years of AIRS products have been used by the climate research and application communities. The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC), in collaboration with NASA Sounder Team at JPL, provides processing, archiving, and distribution services for NASA sounders: the present Aqua AIRS mission and the succeeding Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (SNPP) Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) mission. We generated a Multi-year Monthly Mean and Anomaly product using 14 years of AIRS standard monthly product. The product includes Air Temperature at the Surface and Surface Skin Temperature, both in Ascending/Daytime and Descending/Nighttime mode. The temperature variables and their anomalies are deployed to Giovanni, a Web-based application developed by the GES DISC. Giovanni provides a simple and intuitive way to visualize, analyze, and access vast amounts of Earth science remote sensing data without having to download the data. It is also a powerful tool that stakeholders can use for decision support in planning and preparing for increased climate variability. In this presentation, we demonstrate the functions in Giovanni with use cases employing AIRS Multi-year Monthly Mean and Anomaly variables.

Ocean Surface Observations of the Diurnal Cycle of Turbulence with ASIP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ward, Brian; Sutherland, Graig; Reverdin, Gilles; Marie, Louis; Christensen, Kai; Brostrom, Goran; Harcourt, Ramsey; Breivik, Oyvind

2015-04-01

The STRASSE field experiment was conducted in August/September 2012 as part of the Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study (SPURS) campaign. The average conditions during STRASSE were low wind and high insolation, which are typical for the generation of near-surface diurnal warming. We deployed the Air-Sea Interaction Profiler (ASIP), an autonomous upwardly-rising microstructure instrument capable of resolving small-scale processes close to the air-sea interface. ASIP provides direct estimates of the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy, temperature, salinity, and PAR at timescales suitable for the study of diurnal processes. In combination with the ASIP data, we had shipboard meteorological data for calculation of atmospheric forcing, and a surface mounted Lagrangian ADCP for determination of the near-surface velocity. There was a strong diurnal cycle of temperature and dissipation (from ASIP) and shear (from an ADCP). As air-sea fluxes are driven by turbulence immediately at the air-sea interface, the presence of this enhanced shear-induced turbulence will enhance fluxes.

Analysis of spatial patterns underlying the linkage between solar irradiance and near-surface air temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balling, Robert C.; Roy, Shouraseni Sen

2005-06-01

Many scientists have noted that global temperature anomalies were highly correlated with solar irradiance values until sometime in the 1970s, but since that time, the pronounced warming in the near-surface temperature record is not explained by variations or trends in solar receipt. In this investigation, spatial dimensions are explored in the relationship between irradiance and near-surface air temperatures. At the scale of individual 5° by 5° grid cells, the solar control on annual temperature variations is not statistically significant. When the temperature data are aggregated by 5° latitudinal bands, the solar - temperature connect is generally significant, and in every band, there is substantial evidence that a non-solar control has become dominant in recent decades. The buildup of greenhouse gases and/or some other global-scale feedback, such as widespread changes in atmospheric water vapor, emerge as potential explanations for the recent residual warming found in all latitudinal bands.

Observed Screen (Air) and GCM Surface/Screen Temperatures: Implications for Outgoing Longwave Fluxes at the Surface.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garratt, J. R.

1995-05-01

There is direct evidence that excess net radiation calculated in general circulation models at continental surfaces [of about 11-17 W m2 (20%-27%) on an annual ~1 is not only due to overestimates in annual incoming shortwave fluxes [of 9-18 W m2 (6%-9%)], but also to underestimates in outgoing longwave fluxes. The bias in the outgoing longwave flux is deduced from a comparison of screen-air temperature observations, available as a global climatology of mean monthly values, and model-calculated surface and screen-air temperatures. An underestimate in the screen temperature computed in general circulation models over continents, of about 3 K on an annual basis, implies an underestimate in the outgoing longwave flux, averaged in six models under study, of 11-15 W m2 (3%-4%). For a set of 22 inland stations studied previously, the residual bias on an annual basis (the residual is the net radiation minus incoming shortwave plus outgoing longwave) varies between 18 and 23 W m2 for the models considered. Additional biases in one or both of the reflected shortwave and incoming longwave components cannot be ruled out.

The impact of climatic and non-climatic factors on land surface temperature in southwestern Romania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roşca, Cristina Florina; Harpa, Gabriela Victoria; Croitoru, Adina-Eliza; Herbel, Ioana; Imbroane, Alexandru Mircea; Burada, Doina Cristina

2017-11-01

Land surface temperature is one of the most important parameters related to global warming. It depends mainly on soil type, discontinuous vegetation cover, or lack of precipitation. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between high LST, synoptic conditions and air masses trajectories, vegetation cover, and soil type in one of the driest region in Romania. In order to calculate the land surface temperature and normalized difference vegetation index, five satellite images of LANDSAT missions 5 and 7, covering a period of 26 years (1986-2011), were selected, all of them collected in the month of June. The areas with low vegetation density were derived from normalized difference vegetation index, while soil types have been extracted from Corine Land Cover database. HYSPLIT application was employed to identify the air masses origin based on their backward trajectories for each of the five study cases. Pearson, logarithmic, and quadratic correlations were used to detect the relationships between land surface temperature and observed ground temperatures, as well as between land surface temperature and normalized difference vegetation index. The most important findings are: strong correlation between land surface temperature derived from satellite images and maximum ground temperature recorded in a weather station located in the area, as well as between areas with land surface temperature equal to or higher than 40.0 °C and those with lack of vegetation; the sandy soils are the most prone to high land surface temperature and lack of vegetation, followed by the chernozems and brown soils; extremely severe drought events may occur in the region.

Heat Capacity Mapping Mission (HCMM): Interpretation of imagery over Canada

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cihlar, J. (Principal Investigator); Dixon, R. G.

1981-01-01

Visual analysis of HCMM images acquired over two sites in Canada and supporting aircraft and ground data obtained at a smaller subsite in Alberta show that nightime surface temperature distribution is primarily related to the near-surface air temperature; the effects of topography, wind, and land cover were low or indirect through air temperature. Surface cover and large altitudinal differences were important parameters influencing daytime apparent temperature values. A quantitative analysis of the relationship between the antecedent precipitation index and the satellite thermal IR measurements did not yield statistically significant correlation coefficients, but the correlations had a definite temporal trend which could be related to the increasing uniformity of vegetation cover. The large pixel size (resulting in a mixture of cover types and soil/canopy temperatures measured by the satellite) and high cloud cover frequency found in images covering both Canadian sites and northern U.S. were considered the main deficiencies of the thermal satellite data.

Modeling green infrastructure land use changes on future air ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Green infrastructure can be a cost-effective approach for reducing stormwater runoff and improving water quality as a result, but it could also bring co-benefits for air quality: less impervious surfaces and more vegetation can decrease the urban heat island effect, and also result in more removal of air pollutants via dry deposition with increased vegetative surfaces. Cooler surface temperatures can also decrease ozone formation through the increases of NOx titration; however, cooler surface temperatures also lower the height of the boundary layer resulting in more concentrated pollutants within the same volume of air, especially for primary emitted pollutants (e.g. NOx, CO, primary particulate matter). To better understand how green infrastructure impacts air quality, the interactions between all of these processes must be considered collectively. In this study, we use a comprehensive coupled meteorology-air quality model (WRF-CMAQ) to simulate the influence of planned land use changes that include green infrastructure in Kansas City (KC) on regional meteorology and air quality. Current and future land use data was provided by the Mid-America Regional Council for 2012 and 2040 (projected land use due to population growth, city planning and green infrastructure implementation). These land use datasets were incorporated into the WRF-CMAQ modeling system allowing the modeling system to propagate the changes in vegetation and impervious surface coverage on meteoro

Limitations of using a thermal imager for snow pit temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schirmer, M.; Jamieson, B.

2013-10-01

Driven by temperature gradients, kinetic snow metamorphism is important for avalanche formation. Even when gradients appear to be insufficient for kinetic metamorphism, based on temperatures measured 10 cm apart, faceting close to a~crust can still be observed. Recent studies that visualized small scale (< 10 cm) thermal structures in a profile of snow layers with an infrared (IR) camera produced interesting results. The studies found melt-freeze crusts to be warmer or cooler than the surrounding snow depending on the large scale gradient direction. However, an important assumption within the studies was that a thermal photo of a freshly exposed snow pit was similar enough to the internal temperature of the snow. In this study, we tested this assumption by recording thermal videos during the exposure of the snow pit wall. In the first minute, the results showed increasing gradients with time, both at melt-freeze crusts and at artificial surface structures such as shovel scours. Cutting through a crust with a cutting blade or a shovel produced small concavities (holes) even when the objective was to cut a planar surface. Our findings suggest there is a surface structure dependency of the thermal image, which is only observed at times with large temperature differences between air and snow. We were able to reproduce the hot-crust/cold-crust phenomenon and relate it entirely to surface structure in a temperature-controlled cold laboratory. Concave areas cooled or warmed slower compared with convex areas (bumps) when applying temperature differences between snow and air. This can be explained by increased radiative transfer or convection by air at convex areas. Thermal videos suggest that such processes influence the snow temperature within seconds. Our findings show the limitations of the use of a thermal camera for measuring pit-wall temperatures, particularly in scenarios where large gradients exist between air and snow and the interaction of snow pit and atmospheric temperatures are enhanced. At crusts or other heterogeneities, we were unable to create a sufficiently homogenous snow pit surface and non-internal gradients appeared at the exposed surface. The immediate adjustment of snow pit temperature as it reacts with the atmosphere complicates the capture of the internal thermal structure of a snowpack even with thermal videos. Instead, the shown structural dependency of the IR signal may be used to detect structural changes of snow caused by kinetic metamorphism. The IR signal can also be used to measure near surface temperatures in a homogenous new snow layer.

City ventilation of Hong Kong at no-wind conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Lina; Li, Yuguo

We hypothesize that city ventilation due to both thermally-driven mountain slope flows and building surface flows is important in removing ambient airborne pollutants in the high-rise dense city Hong Kong at no-wind conditions. Both spatial and temporal urban surface temperature profiles are an important boundary condition for studying city ventilation by thermal buoyancy. Field measurements were carried out to investigate the diurnal thermal behavior of urban surfaces (mountain slopes, and building exterior walls and roofs) in Hong Kong by using the infrared thermography. The maximum urban surface temperature was measured in the early noon hours (14:00-15:00 h) and the minimum temperature was observed just before sunrise (5:00 h). The vertical surface temperature of the building exterior wall was found to increase with height at daytime and the opposite occurred at nighttime. The solar radiation and the physical properties of the various urban surfaces were found to be important factors affecting the surface thermal behaviors. The temperature difference between the measured maximum and minimum surface temperatures of the four selected exterior walls can be at the highest of 16.7 °C in the early afternoon hours (15:00 h). Based on the measured surface temperatures, the ventilation rate due to thermal buoyancy-induced wall surface flows of buildings and mountain slope winds were estimated through an integral analysis of the natural convection flow over a flat surface. At no-wind conditions, the total air change rate by the building wall flows (2-4 ACH) was found to be 2-4 times greater than that by the slope flows due to mountain surface (1 ACH) due to larger building exterior surface areas and temperature differences with surrounding air. The results provide useful insights into the ventilation of a high-rise dense city at no-wind conditions.

Retrieval of surface temperature by remote sensing. [of earth surface using brightness temperature of air pollutants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gupta, S. K.; Tiwari, S. N.

1976-01-01

A simple procedure and computer program were developed for retrieving the surface temperature from the measurement of upwelling infrared radiance in a single spectral region in the atmosphere. The program evaluates the total upwelling radiance at any altitude in the region of the CO fundamental band (2070-2220 1/cm) for several values of surface temperature. Actual surface temperature is inferred by interpolation of the measured upwelling radiance between the computed values of radiance for the same altitude. Sensitivity calculations were made to determine the effect of uncertainty in various surface, atmospheric and experimental parameters on the inferred value of surface temperature. It is found that the uncertainties in water vapor concentration and surface emittance are the most important factors affecting the accuracy of the inferred value of surface temperature.

Evaluation of the WRF-Urban Modeling System Coupled to Noah and Noah-MP Land Surface Models Over a Semiarid Urban Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salamanca, Francisco; Zhang, Yizhou; Barlage, Michael; Chen, Fei; Mahalov, Alex; Miao, Shiguang

2018-03-01

We have augmented the existing capabilities of the integrated Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF)-urban modeling system by coupling three urban canopy models (UCMs) available in the WRF model with the new community Noah with multiparameterization options (Noah-MP) land surface model (LSM). The WRF-urban modeling system's performance has been evaluated by conducting six numerical experiments at high spatial resolution (1 km horizontal grid spacing) during a 15 day clear-sky summertime period for a semiarid urban environment. To assess the relative importance of representing urban surfaces, three different urban parameterizations are used with the Noah and Noah-MP LSMs, respectively, over the two major cities of Arizona: Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas. Our results demonstrate that Noah-MP reproduces somewhat better than Noah the daily evolution of surface skin temperature and near-surface air temperature (especially nighttime temperature) and wind speed. Concerning the urban areas, bulk urban parameterization overestimates nighttime 2 m air temperature compared to the single-layer and multilayer UCMs that reproduce more accurately the daily evolution of near-surface air temperature. Regarding near-surface wind speed, only the multilayer UCM was able to reproduce realistically the daily evolution of wind speed, although maximum winds were slightly overestimated, while both the single-layer and bulk urban parameterizations overestimated wind speed considerably. Based on these results, this paper demonstrates that the new community Noah-MP LSM coupled to an UCM is a promising physics-based predictive modeling tool for urban applications.

The Use of ATLAS Data to Quantify Surface Radiative Budget Alteration Through Urbanization for San Juan, Puerto Rico.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luvall, Jeffrey C.; Rickman, Douglas L.; Gonzalez, Jorge; Schiller, Steve

2006-01-01

The additional heating of the air over the city is the result of the replacement of naturally vegetated surfaces with those composed of asphalt, concrete, rooftops and other manmade materials. The temperatures of these artificial surfaces can be 20 to 40 0 C higher than vegetated surfaces. Materials such as asphalt store much of the sun s energy and remains hot long after sunset. This produces a dome of elevated air temperatures 5 to 8 C greater over the city, compared to the air temperatures over adjacent rural areas. This effect is called the "urban heat island". Urban landscapes are a complex mixture of vegetated and nonvegetated surfaces. It is difficult to take enough temperature measurements over a large city area to characterize the complexity of urban radiant surface temperature variability. However, the use of remotely sensed thermal data from airborne scanners are ideal for the task. The NASA Airborne Thermal and Land Applications Sensor (ATLAS) operates in the visual and IR bands was used in February 2004 to collect data from San Juan, Puerto Rico with the main objective of investigating the Urban Heat Island (UHI) in tropical cities. In this presentation we will examine the techniques of analyzing remotely sensed data for measuring the effect of various urban surfaces on their contribution to the urban heat island effect. Results from data collected from other US cities of Sacramento, Salt Lake City and Baton Rouge will be used to compare the "urban fabric" among the cities.

Impacts of peatland forestation on regional climate conditions in Finland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Yao; Markkanen, Tiina; Backman, Leif; Henttonen, Helena M.; Pietikäinen, Joni-Pekka; Laaksonen, Ari

2014-05-01

Climate response to anthropogenic land cover change happens more locally and occurs on a shorter time scale than the global warming due to increased GHGs. Over the second half of last Century, peatlands were vastly drained in Finland to stimulate forest growth for timber production. In this study, we investigate the biophysical effects of peatland forestation on near-surface climate conditions in Finland. For this, the regional climate model REMO, developed in Max Plank Institute (currently in Climate Service Center, Germany), provides an effective way. Two sets of 15-year climate simulations were done by REMO, using the historic (1920s; The 1st Finnish National Forest Inventory) and present-day (2000s; the 10th Finnish National Forest Inventory) land cover maps, respectively. The simulated surface air temperature and precipitation were then analyzed. In the most intensive peatland forestation area in Finland, the differences in monthly averaged daily mean surface air temperature show a warming effect around 0.2 to 0.3 K in February and March and reach to 0.5 K in April, whereas a slight cooling effect, less than 0.2 K, is found from May till October. Consequently, the selected snow clearance dates in model gridboxes over that area are advanced 0.5 to 4 days in the mean of 15 years. The monthly averaged precipitation only shows small differences, less than 10 mm/month, in a varied pattern in Finland from April to September. Furthermore, a more detailed analysis was conducted on the peatland forestation area with a 23% decrease in peatland and a 15% increase in forest types. 11 day running means of simulated temperature and energy balance terms, as well as snow depth were averaged over 15 years. Results show a positive feedback induced by peatland forestation between the surface air temperature and snow depth in snow melting period. This is because the warmer temperature caused by lower surface albedo due to more forest in snow cover period leads to a quicker and earlier snow melting. Meanwhile, surface albedo is reduced and consequently surface air temperature is increased. Additionally, the maximum difference from individual gridboxes in this area over 15 years of 11 day running means of daily mean surface air temperature reaches 2 K, which is four times as much as the maximum difference of 15-year regional average of that. This illustrates that the spring warming effect from peatland forestation in Finland is highly heterogeneous spatially and temporally.

Using LiDAR and remote microclimate loggers to downscale near-surface air temperatures for site-level studies

Treesearch

Andrew D. George; Frank R. Thompson; John. Faaborg

2015-01-01

A spatial mismatch exists between regional climate models and conditions experienced by individual organisms. We demonstrate an approach to downscaling air temperatures for site-level studies using airborne LiDAR data and remote microclimate loggers. In 2012-2013, we established a temperature logger network in the forested region of central Missouri, USA, and obtained...

NARSTO EPA SS NEW YORK AIR CHEM PM MET DATA

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-04-09

NARSTO EPA SS NEW YORK AIR CHEM PM MET DATA Project Title:  NARSTO ... Nitrogen Oxides Ozone Surface Winds Air Temperature Humidity Solar Irradiance Particulate Matter ... Data Guide Documents:  New York Air Chem Guide CPM Summary Report  (PDF) Nitrate ...

Improved Comfort | Efficient Windows Collaborative

Science.gov Websites

temperature; how low the glass temperature drops depends on the window's insulating quality. If people are exposed to the effects of a cold surface, they can experience significant radiant heat loss to that cold surface and they feel uncomfortable, even if the room air temperature is comfortable. When the interior

Surface Temperature variability from AIRS.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruzmaikin, A.; Dang, V. T.; Aumann, H. H.

2015-12-01

To address the existence and possible causes of the climate hiatus in the Earth's global temperature we investigate the trends and variability in the surface temperature using retrievals obtained from the measurements by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and its companion instrument, the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), onboard of Aqua spacecraft in 2002-2014for the day and night conditions. The data used are L3 monthly means on a 1x1degree spatial grid. We separate the land and ocean temperatures, as well as temperatures in Artic, Antarctic and desert regions. We compare the satellite data with the new surface data produced by Karl et al. (2015) who denies the reality of the climate hiatus. The difference in the regional trends can help to explain why the global surface temperature remains almost unchanged but the frequency of occurrence of the extreme events increases under rising anthropogenic forcing. The day-night difference is an indicator of the anthropogenic trend. This work was supported by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Greenland ice sheet surface temperature, melt and mass loss: 2000-06

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hall, D.K.; Williams, R.S.; Luthcke, S.B.; DiGirolamo, N.E.

2008-01-01

A daily time series of 'clear-sky' surface temperature has been compiled of the Greenland ice sheet (GIS) using 1 km resolution moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) land-surface temperature (LST) maps from 2000 to 2006. We also used mass-concentration data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) to study mass change in relationship to surface melt from 2003 to 2006. The mean LST of the GIS increased during the study period by ???0.27??Ca-1. The increase was especially notable in the northern half of the ice sheet during the winter months. Melt-season length and timing were also studied in each of the six major drainage basins. Rapid (<15 days) and sustained mass loss below 2000 m elevation was triggered in 2004 and 2005 as recorded by GRACE when surface melt begins. Initiation of large-scale surface melt was followed rapidly by mass loss. This indicates that surface meltwater is flowing rapidly to the base of the ice sheet, causing acceleration of outlet glaciers, thus highlighting the metastability of parts of the GIS and the vulnerability of the ice sheet to air-temperature increases. If air temperatures continue to rise over Greenland, increased surface melt will play a large role in ice-sheet mass loss.

Experimental und numerical investigations on cooling efficiency of Air-Mist nozzles on steel during continuous casting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arth, G.; Taferner, M.; Bernhard, C.; Michelic, S.

2016-07-01

Cooling strategies in continuous casting of steel can vary from rapid cooling to slow cooling, mainly controlled by adjusting the amount of water sprayed onto the surface of the product. Inadequate adjustment however can lead to local surface undercooling or reheating, leading to surface and inner defects. This paper focuses on cooling efficiency of Air-Mist nozzles on casted steel and the experimental and numerical prediction of surface temperature distributions over the product width. The first part explains the determination of heat transfer coefficients (HTC) on laboratory scale, using a so called nozzle measuring stand (NMS). Based on measured water distributions and determined HTC's for air-mist nozzles using the NMS, surface temperatures are calculated by a transient 2D-model on a simple steel plate, explained in the second part of this paper. Simulations are carried out varying water impact density and spray water distribution, consequently influencing the local HTC distribution over the plate width. Furthermore, these results will be interpreted with regard to their consequence for surface and internal quality of the cast product. The results reveal the difficulty of correct adjustment of the amount of sprayed water, concurrent influencing water distribution and thus changing HTC distribution and surface temperature.

Measuring centimeter-resolution air temperature profiles above land and water using fiber-optic Distributed Temperature Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sigmund, Armin; Pfister, Lena; Olesch, Johannes; Thomas, Christoph K.

2016-04-01

The precise determination of near-surface air temperature profiles is of special importance for the characterization of airflows (e.g. cold air) and the quantification of sensible heat fluxes according to the flux-gradient similarity approach. In contrast to conventional multi-sensor techniques, measuring temperature profiles using fiber-optic Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) provides thousands of measurements referenced to a single calibration standard at much reduced costs. The aim of this work was to enhance the vertical resolution of Raman scatter DTS measurements up to the centimeter-scale using a novel approach for atmospheric applications: the optical fiber was helically coiled around a meshed fabric. In addition to testing the new fiber geometry, we quantified the measurement uncertainty and demonstrated the benefits of the enhanced-resolution profiles. The fiber-optic cable was coiled around a hollow column consisting of white reinforcing fabric supported by plexiglass rings every meter. Data from two columns of this type were collected for 47 days to measure air temperature vertically over 3.0 and 5.1 m over a gently inclined meadow and over and in a small lake, respectively. Both profiles had a vertical resolution of 1 cm in the lower section near the surface and 5 cm in the upper section with an along-fiber instrument-specific averaging of 1.0 m and a temporal resolution of 30 s. Measurement uncertainties, especially from conduction between reinforcing fabric and fiber-optic cable, were estimated by modeling the fiber temperature via a detailed energy balance approach. Air temperature, wind velocity and radiation components were needed as input data and measured separately. The temperature profiles revealed valuable details, especially in the lowest 1 m above surface. This was best demonstrated for nighttime observations when artefacts due to solar heating did not occur. For example, the dynamics of a cold air layer was detected in a clear night with weak wind. In the same night temperature gradients up to 30 K m-1 were determined above the meadow. The water was up to 13 K warmer than the air in this night resulting in a sharp and strong temperature decrease at the water surface and a moderate decrease with gradients up to -9 K m-1 in the air above. The plexiglass rings caused some obvious artefacts and affected data was removed and replaced by linear interpolation. According to the uncertainty estimation performed to date, conduction between fabric and fiber increased fiber temperatures by approximately 0.005 K at 2 m height on a sunny day with weak wind. This effect was deemed negligible as it reflected less than 1 % of the total heating compared to that in the air. The maximum absolute error was approximately 0.9 K at 2 m height on the same day. Ongoing work will demonstrate potential benefits of the enhanced-resolution profiles by quantitatively comparing measured and interpolated temperature profiles with varying resolution (as well as sensible heat fluxes computed according to flux-gradient-similarity).

Solar Cycle and Anthropogenic Forcing of Surface-Air Temperature at Armagh Observatory, Northern Ireland

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, Robert M.

2010-01-01

A comparison of 10-yr moving average (yma) values of Armagh Observatory (Northern Ireland) surface-air temperatures with selected solar cycle indices (sunspot number (SSN) and the Aa geomagnetic index (Aa)), sea-surface temperatures in the Nino 3.4 region, and Mauna Loa carbon dioxide (CO2) (MLCO2) atmospheric concentration measurements reveals a strong correlation (r = 0.686) between the Armagh temperatures and Aa, especially, prior to about 1980 (r = 0.762 over the interval of 1873-1980). For the more recent interval 1963-2003, the strongest correlation (r = 0.877) is between Armagh temperatures and MLCO2 measurements. A bivariate fit using both Aa and Mauna Loa values results in a very strong fit (r = 0.948) for the interval 1963-2003, and a trivariate fit using Aa, SSN, and Mauna Loa values results in a slightly stronger fit (r = 0.952). Atmospheric CO2 concentration now appears to be the stronger driver of Armagh surface-air temperatures. An increase of 2 C above the long-term mean (9.2 C) at Armagh seems inevitable unless unabated increases in anthropogenic atmospheric gases can be curtailed. The present growth in 10-yma Armagh temperatures is about 0.05 C per yr since 1982. The present growth in MLCO2 is about 0.002 ppmv, based on an exponential fit using 10-yma values, although the growth appears to be steepening, thus, increasing the likelihood of deleterious effects attributed to global warming.

Tropical Depression Debbie in the Atlantic

NASA Image and Video Library

2006-08-22

These images show Tropical Depression Debbie in the Atlantic, from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite on August 22, 2006. This AIRS image shows the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of the storm. The infrared signal does not penetrate through clouds. Where there are no clouds the AIRS instrument reads the infrared signal from the surface of the Earth, revealing warmer temperatures (red). At the time the data were taken from which these images were made the eye had not yet opened but the storm is now well organized. The location of the future eye appears as a circle at 275 K brightness temperature in the microwave image just to the SE of the Azores. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00508

Comparison of forced-air warming systems with upper body blankets using a copper manikin of the human body.

PubMed

Bräuer, A; English, M J M; Steinmetz, N; Lorenz, N; Perl, T; Braun, U; Weyland, W

2002-09-01

Forced-air warming with upper body blankets has gained high acceptance as a measure for the prevention of intraoperative hypothermia. However, data on heat transfer with upper body blankets are not yet available. This study was conducted to determine the heat transfer efficacy of eight complete upper body warming systems and to gain more insight into the principles of forced-air warming. Heat transfer of forced-air warmers can be described as follows: Qdot;=h. DeltaT. A, where Qdot;= heat flux [W], h=heat exchange coefficient [W m-2 degrees C-1], DeltaT=temperature gradient between the blanket and surface [ degrees C], and A=covered area [m2]. We tested eight different forced-air warming systems: (1) Bair Hugger and upper body blanket (Augustine Medical Inc. Eden Prairie, MN); (2) Thermacare and upper body blanket (Gaymar Industries, Orchard Park, NY); (3) Thermacare (Gaymar Industries) with reusable Optisan upper body blanket (Willy Rüsch AG, Kernen, Germany); (4) WarmAir and upper body blanket (Cincinnati Sub-Zero Products, Cincinnati, OH); (5) Warm-Gard and single use upper body blanket (Luis Gibeck AB, Upplands Väsby, Sweden); (6) Warm-Gard and reusable upper body blanket (Luis Gibeck AB); (7) WarmTouch and CareDrape upper body blanket (Mallinckrodt Medical Inc., St. Luis, MO); and (8) WarmTouch and reusable MultiCover trade mark upper body blanket (Mallinckrodt Medical Inc.) on a previously validated copper manikin of the human body. Heat flux and surface temperature were measured with 11 calibrated heat flux transducers. Blanket temperature was measured using 11 thermocouples. The temperature gradient between the blanket and surface (DeltaT) was varied between -8 and +8 degrees C, and h was determined by linear regression analysis as the slope of DeltaT vs. heat flux. Mean DeltaT was determined for surface temperatures between 36 and 38 degrees C, as similar mean skin surface temperatures have been found in volunteers. The covered area was estimated to be 0.35 m2. Total heat flow from the blanket to the manikin was different for surface temperatures between 36 and 38 degrees C. At a surface temperature of 36 degrees C the heat flows were higher (4-26.6 W) than at surface temperatures of 38 degrees C (2.6-18.1 W). The highest total heat flow was delivered by the WarmTouch trade mark system with the CareDrape trade mark upper body blanket (18.1-26.6 W). The lowest total heat flow was delivered by the Warm-Gard system with the single use upper body blanket (2.6-4 W). The heat exchange coefficient varied between 15.1 and 36.2 W m-2 degrees C-1, and mean DeltaT varied between 0.5 and 3.3 degrees C. We found total heat flows of 2.6-26.6 W by forced-air warming systems with upper body blankets. However, the changes in heat balance by forced-air warming systems with upper body blankets are larger, as these systems are not only transferring heat to the body but are also reducing heat losses from the covered area to zero. Converting heat losses of approximately 37.8 W to heat gain, results in a 40.4-64.4 W change in heat balance. The differences between the systems result from different heat exchange coefficients and different mean temperature gradients. However, the combination of a high heat exchange coefficient with a high mean temperature gradient is rare. This fact offers some possibility to improve these systems.

Retrieval of air temperatures from crowd-sourced battery temperatures of cell phones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Overeem, Aart; Robinson, James; Leijnse, Hidde; Uijlenhoet, Remko; Steeneveld, Gert-Jan; Horn, Berthold K. P.

2013-04-01

Accurate air temperature observations are important for urban meteorology, for example to study the urban heat island and adverse effects of high temperatures on human health. The number of available temperature observations is often relatively limited. A new development is presented to derive temperature information for the urban canopy from an alternative source: cell phones. Battery temperature data were collected by users of an Android application for cell phones (opensignal.com). The application automatically sends battery temperature data to a server for storage. In this study, battery temperatures are averaged in space and time to obtain daily averaged battery temperatures for each city separately. A regression model, which can be related to a physical model, is employed to retrieve daily air temperatures from battery temperatures. The model is calibrated with observed air temperatures from a meteorological station of an airport located in or near the city. Time series of air temperatures are obtained for each city for a period of several months, where 50% of the data is for independent verification. Results are presented for Buenos Aires, London, Los Angeles, Paris, Mexico City, Moscow, Rome, and Sao Paulo. The evolution of the retrieved air temperatures often correspond well with the observed ones. The mean absolute error of daily air temperatures is less than 2 degrees Celsius, and the bias is within 1 degree Celsius. This shows that monitoring air temperatures employing an Android application holds great promise. Since 75% of the world's population has a cell phone, 20% of the land surface of the earth has cellular telephone coverage, and 500 million devices use the Android operating system, there is a huge potential for measuring air temperatures employing cell phones. This could eventually lead to real-time world-wide temperature maps.

Thermoelectric as recovery and harvesting of waste heat from portable generator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mustafa, S. N.; Kamarrudin, N. S.; Hashim, M. S. M.; Bakar, S. A.; Razlan, Z. M.; Harun, A.; Ibrahim, I.; Faizi, M. K.; Saad, M. A. M.; Zunaidi, I.; Wan, W. K.; Desa, H.

2017-10-01

Generation of waste heat was ineluctable especially during energy producing process. Waste heat falls into low temperature grade make it complicated to utilize. Thermoelectric generator (TEG) offers opportunity to harvest any temperature grade heat into useful electricity. This project is covered about recovery and utilizing waste heat from portable electric generator by using a TEG which placed at exhaust surface. Temperature difference at both surfaces of TEG was enhanced with supplying cold air from a wind blower. It is found that, even at low air speed, the TEG was successfully produced electricity with aid from DC-DC booster. Results shows possibility to harvest low temperature grade heat and still exist areas for continual improvement.

An updated global grid point surface air temperature anomaly data set: 1851--1990

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sepanski, R.J.; Boden, T.A.; Daniels, R.C.

1991-10-01

This document presents land-based monthly surface air temperature anomalies (departures from a 1951--1970 reference period mean) on a 5{degree} latitude by 10{degree} longitude global grid. Monthly surface air temperature anomalies (departures from a 1957--1975 reference period mean) for the Antarctic (grid points from 65{degree}S to 85{degree}S) are presented in a similar way as a separate data set. The data were derived primarily from the World Weather Records and the archives of the United Kingdom Meteorological Office. This long-term record of temperature anomalies may be used in studies addressing possible greenhouse-gas-induced climate changes. To date, the data have been employed inmore » generating regional, hemispheric, and global time series for determining whether recent (i.e., post-1900) warming trends have taken place. This document also presents the monthly mean temperature records for the individual stations that were used to generate the set of gridded anomalies. The periods of record vary by station. Northern Hemisphere station data have been corrected for inhomogeneities, while Southern Hemisphere data are presented in uncorrected form. 14 refs., 11 figs., 10 tabs.« less

Extending the potential of evaporative cooling for heat-stress relief.

PubMed

Berman, A

2006-10-01

Factors were analyzed that limit the range of environmental conditions in which stress from heat may be relieved by evaporative cooling in shaded animals. Evaporative cooling reduces air temperature (Ta), but increases humidity. Equations were developed to predict Ta reduction as a function of ambient temperature and humidity and of humidity in cooled air. Predictions indicated that a reduction of Ta becomes marginal at humidities beyond 45%. A reduction of Ta lessens with rising ambient Ta. The impact of increasing humidity on respiratory heat loss (Hre) was estimated from existing data published on Holstein cattle. Respiratory heat loss is reduced by increased humidity up to 45%, but is not affected by higher humidity. Skin evaporative and sensible heat losses are determined not only by the humidity and temperature gradient, but also by air velocity close to the body surface. At higher Ta, the reduction in sensible heat loss is compensated for by an increased demand for Hre. High Hre may become a stressor when panting interferes with resting and rumination. Effects of temperature, humidity, air velocity, and body surface exposure to free air on Hre were estimated by a thermal balance model for lactating Holstein cows yielding 35 kg/d. The predictions of the simulations were supported by respiratory rate observations. The Hre was assumed to act as a stressor when exceeding 50% of the maximal capacity. When the full body surface was exposed to a 1.5 m/s air velocity, humidity (15 to 75%) had no significant predicted effect on Hre. For an air velocity of 0.3 m/s, Hre at 50% of the maximum rate was predicted at 34, 32.5, and 31.5 degrees C for relative humidities of 55, 65, and 75%, respectively. Similar results were predicted for an animal with two-thirds of its body surface exposed to 1.5 m/s air velocity. If air velocity was reduced for such animals to 0.3 m/s, the rise in Hre was expected to occur at approximately 25 degrees C and 50% relative humidity. Maximal rates of Hre were estimated at 27 to 30 degrees C when ambient humidity was 55% relative humidity and higher. High humidity may stress animals in evaporative cooling systems. Humidity stress may be prevented by a higher air velocity on the body surface of the animal, particularly in sheltered areas in which the exposed body surface is reduced, such as mangers and stalls. This may extend the use of evaporative cooling to less dry environments.

Sea Fog Forecasting with Lagrangian Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, J. M.

2014-12-01

In 1913, G. I. Taylor introduced us to a Lagrangian view of sea fog formation. He conducted his study off the coast of Newfoundland in the aftermath of the Titanic disaster. We briefly review Taylor's classic work and then apply these same principles to a case of sea fog formation and dissipation off the coast of California. The resources used in this study consist of: 1) land-based surface and upper-air observations, 2) NDBC (National Data Buoy Center) observations from moored buoys equipped to measure dew point temperature as well as the standard surface observations at sea (wind, sea surface temperature, pressure, and air temperature), 3) satellite observations of cloud, and 4) a one-dimensional (vertically directed) boundary layer model that tracks with the surface air motion and makes use of sophisticated turbulence-radiation parameterizations. Results of the investigation indicate that delicate interplay and interaction between the radiation and turbulence processes makes accurate forecasts of sea fog onset unlikely in the near future. This pessimistic attitude stems from inadequacy of the existing network of observations and uncertainties in modeling dynamical processes within the boundary layer.

Comparison of Blackbody Sources for Low-Temperature IR Calibration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ljungblad, S.; Holmsten, M.; Josefson, L. E.; Klason, P.

2015-12-01

Radiation thermometers are traditionally mostly used in high-temperature applications. They are, however, becoming more common in different applications at room temperature or below, in applications such as monitoring frozen food and evaluating heat leakage in buildings. To measure temperature accurately with a pyrometer, calibration is essential. A problem with traditional, commercially available, blackbody sources is that ice is often formed on the surface when measuring temperatures below 0°C. This is due to the humidity of the surrounding air and, as ice does not have the same emissivity as the blackbody source, it biases the measurements. An alternative to a traditional blackbody source has been tested by SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden. The objective is to find a cost-efficient method of calibrating pyrometers by comparison at the level of accuracy required for the intended use. A disc-shaped blackbody with a surface pyramid pattern is placed in a climatic chamber with an opening for field of view of the pyrometer. The temperature of the climatic chamber is measured with two platinum resistance thermometers in the air in the vicinity of the disc. As a rule, frost will form only if the deposition surface is colder than the surrounding air, and, as this is not the case when the air of the climatic chamber is cooled, there should be no frost or ice formed on the blackbody surface. To test the disc-shaped blackbody source, a blackbody cavity immersed in a conventional stirred liquid bath was used as a reference blackbody source. Two different pyrometers were calibrated by comparison using the two different blackbody sources, and the results were compared. The results of the measurements show that the disc works as intended and is suitable as a blackbody radiation source.

Combined effects of wind and solar irradiance on the spatial variation of midday air temperature over a mountainous terrain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Soo-Ock; Kim, Jin-Hee; Kim, Dae-Jun; Shim, Kyo Moon; Yun, Jin I.

2015-08-01

When the midday temperature distribution in a mountainous region was estimated using data from a nearby weather station, the correction of elevation difference based on temperature lapse caused a large error. An empirical approach reflecting the effects of solar irradiance and advection was suggested in order to increase the reliability of the results. The normalized slope irradiance, which was determined by normalizing the solar irradiance difference between a horizontal surface and a sloping surface from 1100 to 1500 LST on a clear day, and the deviation relationship between the horizontal surface and the sloping surface at the 1500 LST temperature on each day were presented as simple empirical formulas. In order to simulate the phenomenon that causes immigrant air parcels to push out or mix with the existing air parcels in order to decrease the solar radiation effects, an advection correction factor was added to exponentially reduce the solar radiation effect with an increase in wind speed. In order to validate this technique, we estimated the 1500 LST air temperatures on 177 clear days in 2012 and 2013 at 10 sites with different slope aspects in a mountainous catchment and compared these values to the actual measured data. The results showed that this technique greatly improved the error bias and the overestimation of the solar radiation effect in comparison with the existing methods. By applying this technique to the Korea Meteorological Administration's 5-km grid data, it was possible to determine the temperature distribution at a 30-m resolution over a mountainous rural area south of Jiri Mountain National Park, Korea.

Oxidation characteristics of MgF2 in air at high temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, H. K.; Jie, Y. Y.; Chang, L.

2017-02-01

High temperature oxidation properties of MgF2 in air were studied. The changes of phase composition, macro surface morphology, weight and elemental composition of MgF2 samples with temperature were investigated by using XRD, EDS and gravimetric analyses. The results show that the oxidation reaction of MgF2 converted to MgO occurred at high temperature, and the reaction was accelerated by the increase of temperature and the presence of impurities. This result clarifies the understanding of the high temperature oxidation behavior of MgF2 in air, and provides a theoretical basis for the reasonable application of MgF2 in optical coating materials, electronic ceramic materials and magnesium melt protection.

HIGH REACTIVITY SORBENTS FOR SO2 CONTROL

EPA Science Inventory

The paper discusses studies, relating to air pollution control from coal-fired utility boilers, that show that the primary variable affecting sorbent reactivity at high temperature or at low temperature with water droplets is surface area. For the development of high surface area...

Airflow analyses using thermal imaging in Arizona's Meteor Crater as part of METCRAX II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grudzielanek, A. Martina; Vogt, Roland; Cermak, Jan; Maric, Mateja; Feigenwinter, Iris; Whiteman, C. David; Lehner, Manuela; Hoch, Sebastian W.; Krauß, Matthias G.; Bernhofer, Christian; Pitacco, Andrea

2016-04-01

In October 2013 the second Meteor Crater Experiment (METCRAX II) took place at the Barringer Meteorite Crater (aka Meteor Crater) in north central Arizona, USA. Downslope-windstorm-type flows (DWF), the main research objective of METCRAX II, were measured by a comprehensive set of meteorological sensors deployed in and around the crater. During two weeks of METCRAX II five infrared (IR) time lapse cameras (VarioCAM® hr research & VarioCAM® High Definition, InfraTec) were installed at various locations on the crater rim to record high-resolution images of the surface temperatures within the crater from different viewpoints. Changes of surface temperature are indicative of air temperature changes induced by flow dynamics inside the crater, including the DWF. By correlating thermal IR surface temperature data with meteorological sensor data during intensive observational periods the applicability of the IR method of representing flow dynamics can be assessed. We present evaluation results and draw conclusions relative to the application of this method for observing air flow dynamics in the crater. In addition we show the potential of the IR method for METCRAX II in 1) visualizing airflow processes to improve understanding of these flows, and 2) analyzing cold-air flows and cold-air pooling.

Prediction of aerodynamic heating and pressures on Shuttle Entry Air Data System (SEADS) nose cap and comparison with STS-61C flight data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ting, Paul C.; Rochelle, William C.; Curry, Donald M.

1988-01-01

Results are presented from predictions of aerothermodynamic heating rates, temperatures, and pressures on the surface of the Shuttle Entry Air Data System (SEADS) nosecap during Orbiter reentry. These results are compared with data obtained by the first actual flight of the SEADS system aboard STS-61C. The data also used to predict heating rates and surface temperatures for a hypothetical Transatlantic Abort Landing entry trajectory, whose analysis involved ascertaining the increases in heating rate as the airstream flowed across regions of the lower surface catalycity carbon/carbon composite to the higher surface catalycity columbium pressure ports.

Development of high-resolution (250 m) historical daily gridded air temperature data using reanalysis and distributed sensor networks for the US northern Rocky Mountains

Treesearch

Zachary A. Holden; Alan Swanson; Anna E. Klene; John T. Abatzoglou; Solomon Z. Dobrowski; Samuel A. Cushman; John Squires; Gretchen G. Moisen; Jared W. Oyler

2016-01-01

Gridded temperature data sets are typically produced at spatial resolutions that cannot fully resolve fine-scale variation in surface air temperature in regions of complex topography. These data limitations have become increasingly important as scientists and managers attempt to understand and plan for potential climate change impacts. Here, we describe the...

Regulation of Heat Exchange across the Hornbill Beak: Functional Similarities with Toucans?

PubMed

van de Ven, T M F N; Martin, R O; Vink, T J F; McKechnie, A E; Cunningham, S J

2016-01-01

Beaks are increasingly recognised as important contributors to avian thermoregulation. Several studies supporting Allen's rule demonstrate how beak size is under strong selection related to latitude and/or air temperature (Ta). Moreover, active regulation of heat transfer from the beak has recently been demonstrated in a toucan (Ramphastos toco, Ramphastidae), with the large beak acting as an important contributor to heat dissipation. We hypothesised that hornbills (Bucerotidae) likewise use their large beaks for non-evaporative heat dissipation, and used thermal imaging to quantify heat exchange over a range of air temperatures in eighteen desert-living Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills (Tockus leucomelas). We found that hornbills dissipate heat via the beak at air temperatures between 30.7°C and 41.4°C. The difference between beak surface and environmental temperatures abruptly increased when air temperature was within ~10°C below body temperature, indicating active regulation of heat loss. Maximum observed heat loss via the beak was 19.9% of total non-evaporative heat loss across the body surface. Heat loss per unit surface area via the beak more than doubled at Ta > 30.7°C compared to Ta < 30.7°C and at its peak dissipated 25.1 W m-2. Maximum heat flux rate across the beak of toucans under comparable convective conditions was calculated to be as high as 61.4 W m-2. The threshold air temperature at which toucans vasodilated their beak was lower than that of the hornbills, and thus had a larger potential for heat loss at lower air temperatures. Respiratory cooling (panting) thresholds were also lower in toucans compared to hornbills. Both beak vasodilation and panting threshold temperatures are potentially explained by differences in acclimation to environmental conditions and in the efficiency of evaporative cooling under differing environmental conditions. We speculate that non-evaporative heat dissipation may be a particularly important mechanism for animals inhabiting humid regions, such as toucans, and less critical for animals residing in more arid conditions, such as Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills. Alternatively, differences in beak morphology and hardness enforced by different diets may affect the capacity of birds to use the beak for non-evaporative heat loss.

Application of Artificial Neural Networks to the Development of Improved Multi-Sensor Retrievals of Near-Surface Air Temperature and Humidity Over Ocean

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roberts, J. Brent; Robertson, Franklin R.; Clayson, Carol Anne

2012-01-01

Improved estimates of near-surface air temperature and air humidity are critical to the development of more accurate turbulent surface heat fluxes over the ocean. Recent progress in retrieving these parameters has been made through the application of artificial neural networks (ANN) and the use of multi-sensor passive microwave observations. Details are provided on the development of an improved retrieval algorithm that applies the nonlinear statistical ANN methodology to a set of observations from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) and the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU-A) that are currently available from the NASA AQUA satellite platform. Statistical inversion techniques require an adequate training dataset to properly capture embedded physical relationships. The development of multiple training datasets containing only in-situ observations, only synthetic observations produced using the Community Radiative Transfer Model (CRTM), or a mixture of each is discussed. An intercomparison of results using each training dataset is provided to highlight the relative advantages and disadvantages of each methodology. Particular emphasis will be placed on the development of retrievals in cloudy versus clear-sky conditions. Near-surface air temperature and humidity retrievals using the multi-sensor ANN algorithms are compared to previous linear and non-linear retrieval schemes.

On the Trend of the Annual Mean, Maximum, and Minimum Temperature and the Diurnal Temperature Range in the Armagh Observatory, Northern Ireland, Dataset, 1844 -2012

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, Robert M.

2013-01-01

Examined are the annual averages, 10-year moving averages, decadal averages, and sunspot cycle (SC) length averages of the mean, maximum, and minimum surface air temperatures and the diurnal temperature range (DTR) for the Armagh Observatory, Northern Ireland, during the interval 1844-2012. Strong upward trends are apparent in the Armagh surface-air temperatures (ASAT), while a strong downward trend is apparent in the DTR, especially when the ASAT data are averaged by decade or over individual SC lengths. The long-term decrease in the decadaland SC-averaged annual DTR occurs because the annual minimum temperatures have risen more quickly than the annual maximum temperatures. Estimates are given for the Armagh annual mean, maximum, and minimum temperatures and the DTR for the current decade (2010-2019) and SC24.

Roles of Urban Tree Canopy and Buildings in Urban Heat Island Effects: Parameterization and Preliminary Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Loughner, Christopher P.; Allen, Dale J.; Zhang, Da-Lin; Pickering, Kenneth E.; Dickerson, Russell R.; Landry, Laura

2012-01-01

Urban heat island (UHI) effects can strengthen heat waves and air pollution episodes. In this study, the dampening impact of urban trees on the UHI during an extreme heat wave in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, metropolitan area is examined by incorporating trees, soil, and grass into the coupled Weather Research and Forecasting model and an urban canopy model (WRF-UCM). By parameterizing the effects of these natural surfaces alongside roadways and buildings, the modified WRF-UCM is used to investigate how urban trees, soil, and grass dampen the UHI. The modified model was run with 50% tree cover over urban roads and a 10% decrease in the width of urban streets to make space for soil and grass alongside the roads and buildings. Results show that, averaged over all urban areas, the added vegetation decreases surface air temperature in urban street canyons by 4.1 K and road-surface and building-wall temperatures by 15.4 and 8.9 K, respectively, as a result of tree shading and evapotranspiration. These temperature changes propagate downwind and alter the temperature gradient associated with the Chesapeake Bay breeze and, therefore, alter the strength of the bay breeze. The impact of building height on the UHI shows that decreasing commercial building heights by 8 m and residential building heights by 2.5 m results in up to 0.4-K higher daytime surface and near-surface air temperatures because of less building shading and up to 1.2-K lower nighttime temperatures because of less longwave radiative trapping in urban street canyons.

Field-calibrated model of melt, refreezing, and runoff for polar ice caps: Application to Devon Ice Cap

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morris, Richard M.; Mair, Douglas W. F.; Nienow, Peter W.; Bell, Christina; Burgess, David O.; Wright, Andrew P.

2014-09-01

Understanding the controls on the amount of surface meltwater that refreezes, rather than becoming runoff, over polar ice masses is necessary for modeling their surface mass balance and ultimately for predicting their future contributions to global sea level change. We present a modified version of a physically based model that includes an energy balance routine and explicit calculation of near-surface meltwater refreezing capacity, to simulate the evolution of near-surface density and temperature profiles across Devon Ice Cap in Arctic Canada. Uniquely, our model is initiated and calibrated using high spatial resolution measurements of snow and firn densities across almost the entire elevation range of the ice cap for the summer of 2004 and subsequently validated with the same type of measurements obtained during the very different meteorological conditions of summer 2006. The model captures the spatial variability across the transect in bulk snowpack properties although it slightly underestimates the flow of meltwater into the firn of previous years. The percentage of meltwater that becomes runoff is similar in both years; however, the spatial pattern of this melt-runoff relationship is different in the 2 years. The model is found to be insensitive to variation in the depth of impermeable layers within the firn but is very sensitive to variation in air temperature, since the refreezing capacity of firn decreases with increasing temperature. We highlight that the sensitivity of the ice cap's surface mass balance to air temperature is itself dependent on air temperature.

Sensitivity of the sea ice concentration over the Kara-Barents Sea in autumn to the winter temperature variability over East Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, K. H.; Chang, E. C.

2017-12-01

In this study, we performed sensitivity experiments by utilizing the Global/Regional Integrated Model system with different conditions of the sea ice concentration over the Kara-Barents (KB) Sea in autumn, which can affect winter temperature variability over East Asia. Prescribed sea ice conditions are 1) climatological autumn sea ice concentration obtained from 1982 to 2016, 2) reduced autumn sea ice concentration by 50% of the climatology, and 3) increased autumn sea ice concentration by 50% of climatology. Differently prescribed sea ice concentration changes surface albedo, which affects surface heat fluxes and near-surface air temperature. The reduced (increased) sea ice concentration over the KB sea increases (decreases) near-surface air temperature that leads the lower (higher) sea level pressure in autumn. These patterns are maintained from autumn to winter season. Furthermore, it is shown that the different sea ice concentration over the KB sea has remote effects on the sea level pressure patterns over the East Asian region. The lower (higher) sea level pressure over the KB sea by the locally decreased (increased) ice concentration is related to the higher (lower) pressure pattern over the Siberian region, which induces strengthened (weakened) cold advection over the East Asian region. From these sensitivity experiments it is clarified that the decreased (increased) sea ice concentration over the KB sea in autumn can lead the colder (warmer) surface air temperature over East Asia in winter.

Possible rainfall reduction through reduced surface temperatures due to overgrazing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Otterman, J.

1975-01-01

Surface temperature reduction in terrain denuded of vegetation (as by overgrazing) is postulated to decrease air convection, reducing cloudiness and rainfall probability during weak meteorological disturbances. By reducing land-sea daytime temperature differences, the surface temperature reduction decreases daytime circulation of thermally driven local winds. The described desertification mechanism, even when limited to arid regions, high albedo soils, and weak meteorological disturbances, can be an effective rainfall reducing process in many areas including most of the Mediterranean lands.

Controlled Atmosphere High Temperature SPM for electrochemical measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vels Hansen, K.; Sander, C.; Koch, S.; Mogensen, M.

2007-03-01

A new controlled atmosphere high temperature SPM has been designed and build for the purpose of performing electrochemical measurements on solid oxide fuel cell materials. The first tests show that images can be obtained at a surface temperature of 465°C in air with a standard AFM AC probe. The aim is to produce images at a surface temperature of 800°C with electrically conducting ceramic probes as working electrodes that can be positioned at desired locations at the surface for electrochemical measurements.

Using GPS radio occultations to infer the water vapor feedback

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vergados, Panagiotis; Mannucci, Anthony J.; Ao, Chi O.; Fetzer, Eric J.

2016-11-01

The air refractive index at L-band frequencies depends on the air's water vapor content and density. Exploiting this relationship, we derive for the first time a theoretical model to infer the specific humidity response to surface temperature variations, dq/dTs, given knowledge of how the air refractive index and temperature vary with surface temperature. We validate this model by using 1.2-1.6 GHz Global Positioning System Radio Occultation (GPS RO) observations from 2007 to 2010 at 250 hPa, where the water vapor feedback on surface warming is strongest. The dq/dTs estimation from GPS RO observations shows excellent agreement with previously published results and the responses estimated by using the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder and the NASA's Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications data sets. Because of their high sensitivity to fractional changes in water vapor, current and future GPS RO observations show great promise in monitoring climate feedback and their trends.

The interfacial structure of water droplets in a hydrophobic liquid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smolentsev, Nikolay; Smit, Wilbert J.; Bakker, Huib J.; Roke, Sylvie

2017-05-01

Nanoscopic and microscopic water droplets and ice crystals embedded in liquid hydrophobic surroundings are key components of aerosols, rocks, oil fields and the human body. The chemical properties of such droplets critically depend on the interfacial structure of the water droplet. Here we report the surface structure of 200 nm-sized water droplets in mixtures of hydrophobic oils and surfactants as obtained from vibrational sum frequency scattering measurements. The interface of a water droplet shows significantly stronger hydrogen bonds than the air/water or hexane/water interface and previously reported planar liquid hydrophobic/water interfaces at room temperature. The observed spectral difference is similar to that of a planar air/water surface at a temperature that is ~50 K lower. Supercooling the droplets to 263 K does not change the surface structure. Below the homogeneous ice nucleation temperature, a single vibrational mode is present with a similar mean hydrogen-bond strength as for a planar ice/air interface.

Fusion of vesicles with the air-water interface: the influence of polar head group, salt concentration, and vesicle size.

PubMed

Gugliotti, M; Chaimovich, H; Politi, M J

2000-02-15

Fusion of vesicles with the air-water interface and consequent monolayer formation has been studied as a function of temperature. Unilamellar vesicles of DMPC, DPPC, and DODAX (X=Cl(-), Br(-)) were injected into a subphase containing NaCl, and the surface pressure (tension) was recorded on a Langmuir Balance (Tensiometer) using the Wilhelmy plate (Ring) method. For the zwitterionic vesicles, plots of the initial surface pressure increase rate (surface tension decrease rate) as a function of temperature show a peak at the phase transition temperature (T(m)) of the vesicles, whereas for ionic ones they show a sharp rise. At high concentrations of NaCl, ionic DODA(Cl) vesicles seem to behave like zwitterionic ones, and the rate of fusion is higher at the T(m). The influence of size was studied comparing large DODA(Cl) vesicles with small sonicated ones, and no significant changes were found regarding the rate of fusion with the air-water interface.

Heat waves measured with MODIS land surface temperature data predict changes in avian community structure

Treesearch

Thomas P. Albright; Anna M. Pidgeon; Chadwick D. Rittenhouse; Murray K. Clayton; Curtis H. Flather; Patrick D. Culbert; Volker C. Radeloff

2011-01-01

Heat waves are expected to become more frequent and severe as climate changes, with unknown consequences for biodiversity. We sought to identify ecologically-relevant broad-scale indicators of heat waves based on MODIS land surface temperature (LST) and interpolated air temperature data and assess their associations with avian community structure. Specifically, we...

Core and body surface temperatures of nesting leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea).

PubMed

Burns, Thomas J; McCafferty, Dominic J; Kennedy, Malcolm W

2015-07-01

Leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) are the largest species of marine turtle and the fourth most massive extant reptile. In temperate waters they maintain body temperatures higher than surrounding seawater through a combination of insulation, physiological, and behavioural adaptations. Nesting involves physical activity in addition to contact with warm sand and air, potentially presenting thermal challenges in the absence of the cooling effect of water, and data are lacking with which to understand their nesting thermal biology. Using non-contact methods (thermal imaging and infrared thermometry) to avoid any stress-related effects, we investigated core and surface temperature during nesting. The mean±SE core temperature was 31.4±0.05°C (newly emerged eggs) and was not correlated with environmental conditions on the nesting beach. Core temperature of leatherbacks was greater than that of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) nesting at a nearby colony, 30.0±0.13°C. Body surface temperatures of leatherbacks showed regional variation, the lateral and dorsal regions of the head were warmest while the carapace was the coolest surface. Surface temperature increased during the early nesting phases, then levelled off or decreased during later phases with the rates of change varying between body regions. Body region, behavioural phase of nesting and air temperature were found to be the best predictors of surface temperature. Regional variation in surface temperature were likely due to alterations in blood supply, and temporal changes in local muscular activity of flippers during the different phases of nesting. Heat exchange from the upper surface of the turtle was dominated by radiative heat loss from all body regions and small convective heat gains to the carapace and front flippers. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Visible and Thermal Imaging of Sea Ice and Open Water from Coast Guard Arctic Domain Awareness Flights

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-30

dropsondes, micro- aircraft), cloud top/base heights Arctic Ocean Surface Temperature project Steele Buoy drops for SLP , SST, SSS, & surface velocity...Colón & Vancas (NIC) Drop buoys for SLP , temperature and surface velocity Waves & Fetch in the MIZ Thompson SWIFTS buoys measuring wave energy...Expendable CTD, AXCP= Air Expendable Current Profiler, SLP = Sea Level atmospheric Pressure, SST= Seas Surface Temperature, A/C= aircraft, FSD= Floe Size Distribution, SIC=Sea Ice Concentration

Impact of soil moisture initialization on boreal summer subseasonal forecasts: mid-latitude surface air temperature and heat wave events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seo, Eunkyo; Lee, Myong-In; Jeong, Jee-Hoon; Koster, Randal D.; Schubert, Siegfried D.; Kim, Hye-Mi; Kim, Daehyun; Kang, Hyun-Suk; Kim, Hyun-Kyung; MacLachlan, Craig; Scaife, Adam A.

2018-05-01

This study uses a global land-atmosphere coupled model, the land-atmosphere component of the Global Seasonal Forecast System version 5, to quantify the degree to which soil moisture initialization could potentially enhance boreal summer surface air temperature forecast skill. Two sets of hindcast experiments are performed by prescribing the observed sea surface temperature as the boundary condition for a 15-year period (1996-2010). In one set of the hindcast experiments (noINIT), the initial soil moisture conditions are randomly taken from a long-term simulation. In the other set (INIT), the initial soil moisture conditions are taken from an observation-driven offline Land Surface Model (LSM) simulation. The soil moisture conditions from the offline LSM simulation are calibrated using the forecast model statistics to minimize the inconsistency between the LSM and the land-atmosphere coupled model in their mean and variability. Results show a higher boreal summer surface air temperature prediction skill in INIT than in noINIT, demonstrating the potential benefit from an accurate soil moisture initialization. The forecast skill enhancement appears especially in the areas in which the evaporative fraction—the ratio of surface latent heat flux to net surface incoming radiation—is sensitive to soil moisture amount. These areas lie in the transitional regime between humid and arid climates. Examination of the extreme 2003 European and 2010 Russian heat wave events reveal that the regionally anomalous soil moisture conditions during the events played an important role in maintaining the stationary circulation anomalies, especially those near the surface.

Thermotransduction and heat stress in dental structures during orthodontic debonding : Effectiveness of various cooling strategies.

PubMed

Kley, Philipp; Frentzen, Matthias; Küpper, Katharina; Braun, Andreas; Kecsmar, Susann; Jäger, Andreas; Wolf, Michael

2016-05-01

Recent studies have indicated possible thermal damage to pulpal tissue during orthodontic debonding. This study aimed to analyze the thermal loads acting upon dental structures and their transfer to the pulp during orthodontic debonding. Specific goals were to analyze temperature changes in local dental tissues, thermotransduction to the pulp cavity, and the effectiveness of common cooling strategies and of simulated intrapulpal circulation. Metal brackets were bonded to five extracted human molars and subsequently removed. While a carbide bur was applied to debond the residual composite from the tooth surface, various cooling strategies (no/air/water cooling) were employed with or without simulated intrapulpal circulation, accompanied by temperature measurements with a thermographic infrared camera on the enamel surface and with measuring probes in the pulp cavity. Appropriate evaluation software was used to calculate the enamel-to-pulp temperature gradients and for statistical analysis. Significant differences in temperature rise and heat development over time, both on the enamel surfaces and in the pulp cavities were found. The mean temperature rises associated with no/air/water cooling were 90.7/46.6/9.2 °C on the enamel surface versus 9/8/4.6 °C inside the pulp. However, thermotransduction from enamel to pulp remained below 10 % of the surface measurements in all groups. Simulated intrapulpal microcirculation was found to significantly reduce intrapulpal temperature levels. During debonding of residual bracket adhesives, provided that a carbide bur is properly used, our data indicate a low risk of reaching critical intrapulpal temperatures even in the absence of dedicated cooling and no risk if the instrumentation is accompanied by air or water cooling.

Impact of aerodynamic resistance formulations used in two-source modeling of energy exchange from the soil and vegetation using land surface temperature

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Application of the Two-Source Energy Balance (TSEB) Model using land surface temperature (LST) requires aerodynamic resistance parameterizations for the flux exchange above the canopy layer, within the canopy air space and at the soil/substrate surface. There are a number of aerodynamic resistance f...

Spread in the magnitude of climate model interdecadal global temperature variability traced to disagreements over high-latitude oceans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, Patrick T.; Li, Wenhong; Jiang, Jonathan H.; Su, Hui

2016-12-01

Unforced variability in global mean surface air temperature can obscure or exaggerate global warming on interdecadal time scales; thus, understanding both the magnitude and generating mechanisms of such variability is of critical importance for both attribution studies as well as decadal climate prediction. Coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (climate models) simulate a wide range of magnitudes of unforced interdecadal variability in global mean surface air temperature (UITglobal), hampering efforts to quantify the influence of UITglobal on contemporary global temperature trends. Recently, a preliminary consensus has emerged that unforced interdecadal variability in local surface temperatures (UITlocal) over the tropical Pacific Ocean is particularly influential on UITglobal. Therefore, a reasonable hypothesis might be that the large spread in the magnitude of UITglobal across climate models can be explained by the spread in the magnitude of simulated tropical Pacific UITlocal. Here we show that this hypothesis is mostly false. Instead, the spread in the magnitude of UITglobal is linked much more strongly to the spread in the magnitude of UITlocal over high-latitude regions characterized by significant variability in oceanic convection, sea ice concentration, and energy flux at both the surface and the top of the atmosphere. Thus, efforts to constrain the climate model produced range of UITglobal magnitude would be best served by focusing on the simulation of air-sea interaction at high latitudes.

Modeling of microclimatic characteristics of highland area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sitdikova, Iuliia; Rusin, Igor

2013-04-01

Microclimatic characteristics of highlands may vary considerably over distances of a few meters depending on slope and aspect. There is a problem of estimation of components of surface energy balance based on observation of single stations for description of microclimate highlands. The aim of this paper is to develop a method that would restore microclimatic characteristics of terrain, based on observations of the single station, by physical extrapolation. The input parameters to obtain the microclimatic characteristics are as follows: air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed on two vertical levels, air pressure, surface temperature, direct and diffused solar radiation and surface albedo. The recent version of the Meteorological Radiation Model (MRM) has been used to calculate a solar radiation over the area and to estimate an influence of cloudiness amounts. The height, slope and aspect were accounted at each point with using a digital elevation model. Have been supposed that air temperature and specific humidity vary with altitude only. Net radiation was calculated at all points of the area. Supposed that the difference between the surface temperature and the air temperature is a linear function of net radiation. The empirical coefficient, which depends on wind speed with adjustment of given area. Latent and sensible fluxes are calculated by using the modified Bowen ratio, which varies on the area. Method was tested on field research in Krasnodar region (RF). The meteorological observations were made every three hour on actinometric and gradient sites. The editional gradient site with different orientation of the slope was organized from 400 meters of the main site. Topographic survey of area was made 1x1,3 km in size for a digital elevation model constructing. At all points of the area of radiation and heat balance were calculated. The results of researches are the maps of surface temperature, net radiation, latent and sensible fluxes. The calculations showed that the average value of components of heat balance by area differ significantly from the data observed on meteorological station.

Simulation of seasonal US precipitation and temperature by the nested CWRF-ECHAM system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Ligang; Liang, Xin-Zhong; DeWitt, David; Samel, Arthur N.; Wang, Julian X. L.

2016-02-01

This study investigates the refined simulation skill that results when the regional Climate extension of the Weather Research and Forecasting (CWRF) model is nested in the ECMWF Hamburg version 4.5 (ECHAM) atmospheric general circulation model over the United States during 1980-2009, where observed sea surface temperatures are used in both models. Over the contiguous US, for each of the four seasons from winter to fall, CWRF reduces the root mean square error of the ECHAM seasonal mean surface air temperature simulation by 0.19, 0.82, 2.02 and 1.85 °C, and increases the equitable threat score of seasonal mean precipitation by 0.18, 0.11, 0.09 and 0.12. CWRF also simulates much more realistically daily precipitation frequency and heavy precipitation events, typically over the Central Great Plains, Cascade Mountains and Gulf Coast States. These CWRF skill enhancements are attributed to the increased spatial resolution and physics refinements in representing orographic, terrestrial hydrology, convection, and cloud-aerosol-radiation effects and their interactions. Empirical orthogonal function analysis of seasonal mean precipitation and surface air temperature interannual variability shows that, in general, CWRF substantially improves the spatial distribution of both quantities, while temporal evolution (i.e. interannual variability) of the first 3 primary patterns is highly correlated with that of the driving ECHAM (except for summer precipitation), and they both have low temporal correlations against observations. During winter, when large-scale forcing dominates, both models also have similar responses to strong ENSO signals where they successfully capture observed precipitation composite anomalies but substantially fail to reproduce surface air temperature anomalies. When driven by the ECMWF Reanalysis Interim, CWRF produces a very realistic interannual evolution of large-scale precipitation and surface air temperature patterns where the temporal correlations with observations are significant. These results indicate that CWRF can greatly improve mesoscale regional climate structures but it cannot change interannual variations of the large-scale patterns, which are determined by the driving lateral boundary conditions.

Design of a Helium Vapor Shroud for Liquid Hydrogen Fueling of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cavender, K.; Evans, C.; Haney, J.; Leachman, J.

2017-12-01

Filling a vehicular liquid hydrogen fuel tank presents the potential for flammable mixtures due to oxygen concentration from liquid air condensation. Current liquid hydrogen tank designs utilize insulating paradigms such as aerogel/fiberglass materials, vacuum jackets, or inert gas purge systems to keep the outer surface from reaching the condensation temperature of air. This work examines the heat transfer at the refuelling connection of the tank to identify potential areas of condensation, as well as the surface temperature gradient. A shrouded inert gas purge was designed to minimize vehicle weight and refuelling time. The design of a shrouded inert gas purge system is presented to displace air preventing air condensation. The design investigates 3D printed materials for an inert gas shroud, as well as low-temperature sealing designs. Shroud designs and temperature profiles were measured and tested by running liquid nitrogen through the filling manifold. Materials for the inert gas shroud are discussed and experimental results are compared to analytical model predictions. Suggestions for future design improvements are made.

Seasonal variation of air temperature at the Mendel Station, James Ross Island in the period of 2006-2009

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laska, Kamil; Prošek, Pavel; Budík, Ladislav

2010-05-01

Key words: air temperature, seasonal variation, James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula Recently, significant role of the atmospheric and oceanic circulation variation on positive trend of near surface air temperature along the Antarctic Peninsula has been reported by many authors. However, small number of the permanent meteorological stations located on the Peninsula coast embarrasses a detail analysis. It comprises analysis of spatiotemporal variability of climatic conditions and validation of regional atmospheric climate models. However, geographical location of the Czech Johann Gregor Mendel Station (hereafter Mendel Station) newly established on the northern ice-free part of the James Ross Island provides an opportunity to fill the gap. There are recorded important meteorological characteristics which allow to evaluate specific climatic regime of the region and their impact on the ice-shelf disintegration and glacier retreat. Mendel Station (63°48'S, 57°53'W) is located on marine terrace at the altitude of 7 m. In 2006, a monitoring network of several automatic weather stations was installed at different altitudes ranging from the seashore level up to mesas and tops of glaciers (514 m a.s.l.). In this contribution, a seasonal variation of near surface air temperature at the Mendel Station in the period of 2006-2009 is presented. Annual mean air temperature was -7.2 °C. Seasonal mean temperature ranged from +1.4 °C (December-February) to -17.7 °C (June-August). Frequently, the highest temperature occurred in the second half of January. It reached maximum of +8.1 °C. Sudden changes of atmospheric circulation pattern during winter caused a large interdiurnal variability of air temperature with the amplitude of 30 °C.

Evidence of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation driving multi-decadal variability of summertime surface air quality in the eastern United States: Implications for air quality management in the coming decades

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, L.; Mickley, L. J.

2016-12-01

Atlantic sea surface temperatures have a significant influence on the summertime meteorology and air quality in the eastern United States. In this study, we investigate the effect of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) on two key air pollutants, surface ozone and PM2.5, over the eastern United States. The shift of AMO from cold to warm phase increases surface air temperatures by 0.5 K across the East and reduces precipitation, resulting in a warmer and drier summer. By applying observed, present-day relationships between these pollutants and meteorological variables to a variety of observations and historical reanalysis datasets, we calculate the impacts of AMO on U.S. air quality. Our study reveals a multidecadal variability in mean summertime (JJA) maximum daily 8-hour (MDA8) ozone and surface PM2.5 concentrations in the eastern United States. In one-half cycle ( 30 years) of the AMO from negative to positive phase with constant anthropogenic emissions, JJA MDA8 ozone concentrations increase by 1-3 ppbv in the Northeast and 2-5 ppbv in the Great Plains; JJA PM2.5 concentrations increase by 0.8-1.2 μg m-3 in the Northeast and Southeast. The resulting impact on mortality rates is 4000 excess deaths per half cycle of AMO. We suggest that a complete picture of air quality management in coming decades requires consideration of the AMO influence.

Comparison of Surface Mountain Climate With Equivalent Free Air Parameters Extracted From NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis: Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pepin, N. C.; Hardy, D.; Duane, W.; Losleben, M.

2007-12-01

It is difficult to predict future climate changes in areas of complex relief, since mountains generate their own climates distinct from the free atmosphere. Thus trends in climate at the mountain surface are different from those in the free air. We compare surface climate (temperature and vapour pressure) measured at seven elevations on the south-western slope of Kilimanjaro, the tallest free standing mountain in Africa, with equivalent observations in the free atmosphere from NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data for September 2004 to January 2006. Correlations between daily surface and free air temperature anomalies are greatest at low elevations below 2500 metres, meaning that synoptic (inter-diurnal) variability is the major control here. However, temperatures and moisture on the higher slopes above the treeline (3000 m) are decoupled from the free atmosphere, showing intense heating/cooling by day/night and import of moisture from lower elevations during the day. The lower forested slopes thus act as a moisture source, with large vapour pressure excesses reported in comparison with the free atmosphere (>5 hPa) which move upslope during daylight and subside downslope at night. Strong seasonal contrasts are shown in the vigour of the montane thermal circulation, but interactions with free air circulation (as represented by flow indices developed from reanalysis wind components) are complex. Upper air flow strength and direction (at 500 mb) have limited influence on surface heating and upslope moisture advection, which are dominated by the diurnal cycle rather than inter-diurnal synoptic controls. Thus local changes in surface characteristics (e.g. deforestation) could have a direct influence on the mountain climate of Kilimanjaro, making the upper slopes somewhat divorced from larger scale advective changes associated with global warming.

Radiocarbon in Ecosystem Respiration and Soil Pore-Space CO2 with Surface Gas Flux, Air Temperature, and Soil Temperature and Moisture, Barrow, Alaska, 2012-2014

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lydia Vaughn; Margaret Torn; Rachel Porras

Dataset includes Delta14C measurements made from CO2 that was collected and purified in 2012-2014 from surface soil chambers, soil pore space, and background atmosphere. In addition to 14CO2 data, dataset includes co-located measurements of CO2 and CH4 flux, soil and air temperature, and soil moisture. Measurements and field samples were taken from intensive study site 1 areas A, B, and C, and the site 0 and AB transects, from specified positions in high-centered, flat-centered, and low centered polygons.

Thermal Inactivation of Aerosolized Bacillus subtilis var. niger Spores

PubMed Central

Mullican, Charles L.; Buchanan, Lee M.; Hoffman, Robert K.

1971-01-01

A hot-air sterilizer capable of exposing airborne microorganisms to elevated temperatures with an almost instantaneous heating time was developed and evaluated. With this apparatus, aerosolized Bacillus subtilis var. niger spores were killed in about 0.02 sec when exposed to temperatures above 260 C. This is about 500 times faster than killing times reported by others. Extrapolation and comparison of data on the time and temperature required to klll B. subtilis var. niger spores on surfaces show that approximately the same killing time is required as is necessary for spores in air, if corrections are made for the heating time of the surface. PMID:5002138

Precipitation and temperature changes in the major Chinese river basins during 1957-2013 and links to sea surface temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Qing; Prange, Matthias; Merkel, Ute

2016-05-01

The variation characteristics of precipitation and temperature in the three major Chinese river basins (Yellow River, Yangtze River and Pearl River) in the period of 1957-2013 were analyzed on an annual and seasonal basis, as well as their links to sea surface temperature (SST) variations in the tropical Pacific and Indian Ocean on both interannual and decadal time scales. Annual mean temperature of the three river basins increased significantly overall since 1957, with an average warming rate of about 0.19 °C/10a, but the warming was characterized by a staircase form with steps around 1987 and 1998. The significant increase of annual mean temperature could mostly be attributed to the remarkable warming trend in spring, autumn and winter. Warming rates in the northern basins were generally much higher than in the southern basins. However, both the annual precipitation and seasonal mean precipitation of the three river basins showed little change in the study area average, but distinct interannual variations since 1957 and clear regional differences. An overall warming-wetting tendency was found in the northwestern and southeastern river basins in 1957-2013, while the central regions tended to become warmer and drier. Results from a Maximum Covariance Analysis (MCA) showed that the interannual variations of seasonal mean precipitation and surface air temperature over the three river basins were both associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) since 1957. ENSO SST patterns affected precipitation and surface air temperature variability throughout the year, but with very different response patterns in the different seasons. For instance, temperature in most of the river basins was positively correlated with central-eastern equatorial Pacific SST in winter and spring, but negatively correlated in summer and autumn. On the decadal time scale, the seasonal mean precipitation and surface air temperature variations were strongly associated with the Pacific Quasi-Decadal Oscillation.

Hybrid response surface methodology-artificial neural network optimization of drying process of banana slices in a forced convective dryer.

PubMed

Taheri-Garavand, Amin; Karimi, Fatemeh; Karimi, Mahmoud; Lotfi, Valiullah; Khoobbakht, Golmohammad

2018-06-01

The aim of the study is to fit models for predicting surfaces using the response surface methodology and the artificial neural network to optimize for obtaining the maximum acceptability using desirability functions methodology in a hot air drying process of banana slices. The drying air temperature, air velocity, and drying time were chosen as independent factors and moisture content, drying rate, energy efficiency, and exergy efficiency were dependent variables or responses in the mentioned drying process. A rotatable central composite design as an adequate method was used to develop models for the responses in the response surface methodology. Moreover, isoresponse contour plots were useful to predict the results by performing only a limited set of experiments. The optimum operating conditions obtained from the artificial neural network models were moisture content 0.14 g/g, drying rate 1.03 g water/g h, energy efficiency 0.61, and exergy efficiency 0.91, when the air temperature, air velocity, and drying time values were equal to -0.42 (74.2 ℃), 1.00 (1.50 m/s), and -0.17 (2.50 h) in the coded units, respectively.

Air temperature thresholds to evaluate snow melting at the surface of Alpine glaciers by T-index models: the case study of Forni Glacier (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Senese, A.; Maugeri, M.; Vuillermoz, E.; Smiraglia, C.; Diolaiuti, G.

2014-03-01

The glacier melt conditions (i.e.: null surface temperature and positive energy budget) can be assessed by analyzing meteorological and energy data acquired by a supraglacial Automatic Weather Station (AWS). In the case this latter is not present the assessment of actual melting conditions and the evaluation of the melt amount is difficult and simple methods based on T-index (or degree days) models are generally applied. These models require the choice of a correct temperature threshold. In fact, melt does not necessarily occur at daily air temperatures higher than 273.15 K. In this paper, to detect the most indicative threshold witnessing melt conditions in the April-June period, we have analyzed air temperature data recorded from 2006 to 2012 by a supraglacial AWS set up at 2631 m a.s.l. on the ablation tongue of the Forni Glacier (Italian Alps), and by a weather station located outside the studied glacier (at Bormio, a village at 1225 m a.s.l.). Moreover we have evaluated the glacier energy budget and the Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) values during this time-frame. Then the snow ablation amount was estimated both from the surface energy balance (from supraglacial AWS data) and from T-index method (from Bormio data, applying the mean tropospheric lapse rate and varying the air temperature threshold) and the results were compared. We found that the mean tropospheric lapse rate permits a good and reliable reconstruction of glacier air temperatures and the major uncertainty in the computation of snow melt is driven by the choice of an appropriate temperature threshold. From our study using a 5.0 K lower threshold value (with respect to the largely applied 273.15 K) permits the most reliable reconstruction of glacier melt.

Temperature influences on water permeability and chlorpyrifos uptake in aquatic insects with differing respiratory strategies.

PubMed

Buchwalter, David B; Jenkins, Jeffrey J; Curtis, Lawrence R

2003-11-01

Aquatic insects have evolved diverse respiratory strategies that range from breathing atmospheric air to breathing dissolved oxygen. These strategies result in vast morphological differences among taxa in terms of exchange epithelial surface areas that are in direct contact with the surrounding water that, in turn, affect physiological processes. This paper examines the effects of acute temperature shifts on water permeability and chlorpyrifos uptake in aquatic insects with different respiratory strategies. While considerable differences existed in water permeability among the species tested, acute temperature shifts raised water influx rates similarly in air-breathing and gill-bearing taxa. This contrasts significantly with temperature-shift effects on chlorpyrifos uptake. Temperature shifts of 4.5 degrees C increased 14C-chlorpyrifos accumulation rates in the gill-bearing mayfly Cinygma sp. and in the air-breathing hemipteran Sigara washingtonensis. However, the temperature-induced increase in 14C-chlorpyrifos uptake after 8 h of exposure was 2.75-fold higher in Cinygma than in Sigara. Uptake of 14C-chlorpyrifos was uniformly higher in Cinygma than in Sigara in all experiments. These findings suggest that organisms with relatively large exchange epithelial surface areas are potentially more vulnerable to both osmoregulatory distress as well as contaminant accumulation. Temperature increases appear more likely to impact organisms that have relatively large exchange epithelial surface areas, both as an individual stressor and in combination with additional stressors such as contaminants.

Impacts of urbanization and agricultural development on observed changes in surface air temperature over mainland China from 1961 to 2006

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Songjun; Tang, Qiuhong; Xu, Di; Yang, Zhiyong

2018-03-01

A large proportion of meteorological stations in mainland China are located in or near either urban or agricultural lands that were established throughout the period of rapid urbanization and agricultural development (1961-2006). The extent of the impacts of urbanization and agricultural development on observed air temperature changes across different climate regions remains elusive. This study evaluates the surface air temperature trends observed by 598 meteorological stations in relation to the urbanization and agricultural development over the arid northwest, semi-arid intermediate, and humid southeast regions of mainland China based on linear regressions of temperature trends on the fractions of urban and cultivated land within a 3-km radius of the stations. In all three regions, the stations surrounded by large urban land tend to experience rapid warming, especially at minimum temperature. This dependence is particularly significant in the southeast region, which experiences the most intense urbanization. In the northwest and intermediate regions, stations surrounded by large cultivated land encounter less warming during the main growing season, especially at the maximum temperature changes. These findings suggest that the observed surface warming has been affected by urbanization and agricultural development represented by urban and cultivated land fractions around stations in with land cover changes in their proximity and should thus be considered when analyzing regional temperature changes in mainland China.

Temperature influences on water permeability and chlorpyrifos uptake in aquatic insects with differing respiratory strategies

USGS Publications Warehouse

Buchwalter, D.B.; Jenkins, J.J.; Curtis, L.R.

2003-01-01

Aquatic insects have evolved diverse respiratory strategies that range from breathing atmospheric air to breathing dissolved oxygen. These strategies result in vast morphological differences among taxa in terms of exchange epithelial surface areas that are in direct contact with the surrounding water that, in turn, affect physiological processes. This paper examines the effects of acute temperature shifts on water permeability and chlorpyrifos uptake in aquatic insects with different respiratory strategies. While considerable differences existed in water permeability among the species tested, acute temperature shifts raised water influx rates similarly in air-breathing and gill-bearing taxa. This contrasts significantly with temperature-shift effects on chlorpyrifos uptake. Temperature shifts of 4.5??C increased 14C-chlorpyrifos accumulation rates in the gill-bearing mayfly Cinygma sp. and in the air-breathing hemipteran Sigara washingtonensis. However, the temperature-induced increase in 14C-chlorpyrifos uptake after 8 h of exposure was 2.75-fold higher in Cinygma than in Sigara. Uptake of 14C-chlorpyrifos was uniformly higher in Cinygma than in Sigara in all experiments. These findings suggest that organisms with relatively large exchange epithelial surface areas are potentially more vulnerable to both osmoregulatory distress as well as contaminant accumulation. Temperature increases appear more likely to impact organisms that have relatively large exchange epithelial surface areas, both as an individual stressor and in combination with additional stressors such as contaminants.

Oxide modified air electrode surface for high temperature electrochemical cells

DOEpatents

Singh, Prabhakar; Ruka, Roswell J.

1992-01-01

An electrochemical cell is made having a porous cermet electrode (16) and a porous lanthanum manganite electrode (14), with solid oxide electrolyte (15) between them, where the lanthanum manganite surface next to the electrolyte contains a thin discontinuous layer of high surface area cerium oxide and/or praseodymium oxide, preferably as discrete particles (30) in contact with the air electrode and electrolyte.

Mechanical properties of anodized coatings over molten aluminum alloy

DOE PAGES

Grillet, Anne M.; Gorby, Allen D.; Trujillo, Steven M.; ...

2007-10-22

A method to measure interfacial mechanical properties at high temperatures and in a controlled atmosphere has been developed to study anodized aluminum surface coatings at temperatures where the interior aluminum alloy is molten. This is the first time that the coating strength has been studied under these conditions. In this study, we have investigated the effects of ambient atmosphere, temperature, and surface finish on coating strength for samples of aluminum alloy 7075. Surprisingly, the effective Young's modulus or strength of the coating when tested in air was twice as high as when samples were tested in an inert nitrogen ormore » argon atmosphere. Additionally, the effective Young's modulus of the anodized coating increased with temperature in an air atmosphere but was independent of temperature in an inert atmosphere. The effect of surface finish was also examined. Sandblasting the surface prior to anodization was found to increase the strength of the anodized coating with the greatest enhancement noted for a nitrogen atmosphere. Lastly, machining marks were not found to significantly affect the strength.« less

Effects of future land use and ecosystem changes on boundary-layer meteorology and air quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tai, A. P. K.; Wang, L.; Sadeke, M.

2017-12-01

Land vegetation plays key roles shaping boundary-layer meteorology and air quality via various pathways. Vegetation can directly affect surface ozone via dry deposition and biogenic emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Transpiration from land plants can also influence surface temperature, soil moisture and boundary-layer mixing depth, thereby indirectly affecting surface ozone. Future changes in the distribution, density and physiology of vegetation are therefore expected to have major ramifications for surface ozone air quality. In our study, we examine two aspects of potential vegetation changes using the Community Earth System Model (CESM) in the fully coupled land-atmosphere configuration, and evaluate their implications on meteorology and air quality: 1) land use change, which alters the distribution of plant functional types and total leaf density; and 2) ozone damage on vegetation, which alters leaf density and physiology (e.g., stomatal resistance). We find that, following the RCP8.5 scenario for 2050, global cropland expansion induces only minor changes in surface ozone in tropical and subtropical regions, but statistically significant changes by up to +4 ppbv in midlatitude North America and East Asia, mostly due to higher surface temperature that enhances biogenic VOC emissions, and reduced dry deposition to a lesser degree. These changes are in turn to driven mostly by meteorological changes that include a shift from latent to sensible heat in the surface energy balance and reduced soil moisture, reflecting not only local responses but also a northward expansion of the Hadley Cell. On the other hand, ozone damage on vegetation driven by rising anthropogenic emissions is shown to induce a further enhancement of ozone by up to +6 ppbv in midlatitude regions by 2050. This reflects a strong localized positive feedback, with severe ozone damage in polluted regions generally inducing stomatal closure, which in turn reduces transpiration, increases surface temperature, and thus enhances biogenic VOC emissions and surface ozone. Our findings demonstrate the importance of considering meteorological responses to vegetation changes in future air quality assessment, and call for greater coordination among land use, ecosystem and air quality management efforts.

An analysis of the dissipation of heat in conditions of icing from a section of the wing of the C-46 airplane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hardy, J K

1945-01-01

A method is given for calculating the temperature that a surface, heated internally by air, will assume in specified conditions of icing. The method can be applied generally to predict the performance, under conditions of icing, of the thermal system for protecting aircraft. Calculations have been made for a section of the wing of the C-46 airplane, and the results agree closely with the temperature measured. The limit of protection when the temperature of the surface reaches 32 degrees F., has been predicted for the leading edge. The temperature of the surface in conditions of icing with air at 0 degree F. also has been calculated. The effect of kinetic heating and the effect of the concentration of free water and size of droplet in the cloud are demonstrated.

Heat Transfer in a Superelliptic Transition Duct

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Poinsatte, Philip; Thurman, Douglas; Hippensteele, Steven

2008-01-01

Local heat transfer measurements were experimentally mapped using a transient liquid-crystal heat transfer technique on the surface of a circular-to-rectangular transition duct. The transition duct had a length-to-diameter ratio of 1.5 and an exit-plane aspect ratio of 3. The crosssectional geometry was defined by the equation of a superellipse. The cross-sectional area was the same at the inlet and exit but varied up to 15 percent higher through the transition. The duct was preheated to a uniform temperature (nominally 64 C) before allowing room temperature air to be suddenly drawn through it. As the surface cooled, the resulting isothermal contours on the duct surface were revealed using a surface coating of thermochromic liquid crystals that display distinctive colors at particular temperatures. A video record was made of the surface temperature and time data for all points on the duct surfaces during each test. Using this surface temperature-time data together with the temperature of the air flowing through the model and the initial temperature of the model wall, the heat transfer coefficient was calculated by employing the classic one-dimensional, semi-infinite wall heat transfer conduction model. Test results are reported for inlet diameter-based Reynolds numbers ranging from 0.4x106 to 2.4x106 and two grid-generated freestream turbulence intensities of about 1 percent, which is typical of wind tunnels, and up to 16 percent, which may be more typical of real engine conditions.

Skin Temperature Analysis and Bias Correction in a Coupled Land-Atmosphere Data Assimilation System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bosilovich, Michael G.; Radakovich, Jon D.; daSilva, Arlindo; Todling, Ricardo; Verter, Frances

2006-01-01

In an initial investigation, remotely sensed surface temperature is assimilated into a coupled atmosphere/land global data assimilation system, with explicit accounting for biases in the model state. In this scheme, an incremental bias correction term is introduced in the model's surface energy budget. In its simplest form, the algorithm estimates and corrects a constant time mean bias for each gridpoint; additional benefits are attained with a refined version of the algorithm which allows for a correction of the mean diurnal cycle. The method is validated against the assimilated observations, as well as independent near-surface air temperature observations. In many regions, not accounting for the diurnal cycle of bias caused degradation of the diurnal amplitude of background model air temperature. Energy fluxes collected through the Coordinated Enhanced Observing Period (CEOP) are used to more closely inspect the surface energy budget. In general, sensible heat flux is improved with the surface temperature assimilation, and two stations show a reduction of bias by as much as 30 Wm(sup -2) Rondonia station in Amazonia, the Bowen ratio changes direction in an improvement related to the temperature assimilation. However, at many stations the monthly latent heat flux bias is slightly increased. These results show the impact of univariate assimilation of surface temperature observations on the surface energy budget, and suggest the need for multivariate land data assimilation. The results also show the need for independent validation data, especially flux stations in varied climate regimes.

Microwave thermoreflectometry for detection of rebar corrosion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spicer, Jane W.; Osiander, Robert; Aamodt, Leonard C.; Givens, R. Ben

1998-03-01

A microwave-based approach under development for detecting corrosion of rebar is described. The rebar inside the concrete is heated with an induction heater and then the surface temperature of the rebar inside the concrete is probed using a microwave reflectance method. This is in contrast to infrared thermographic approaches which monitor the surface temperature of the concrete and are dependent on waiting for considerable lengths of time for heat flow from the rebar to the concrete surface. Results will be presented for a series of test specimens produced by deliberately corroding rebar inside concrete in the laboratory. Microwave thermoreflectance measurements made in a 5 second measurement time are compared with conventional thermographic measurements of the temperature distribution at the concrete surface which require a 10 minute measurement time. Theoretical results are also presented of the predicted temperature versus time curves expected for rebar inside concrete with and without air defects at the rebar-concrete interface. These results predict that a rebar-concrete interface could be distinguished from a rebar-air interface with only 1 second of heating. The theoretical results further show that the presence of an air layer of finite thickness between rebar and concrete after about 2 seconds could be detected with a 2 second heating time.

Fabrication of High-Temperature Heat Exchangers by Plasma Spraying Exterior Skins on Nickel Foams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hafeez, P.; Yugeswaran, S.; Chandra, S.; Mostaghimi, J.; Coyle, T. W.

2016-06-01

Thermal-sprayed heat exchangers were tested at high temperatures (750 °C), and their performances were compared to the foam heat exchangers made by brazing Inconel sheets to their surface. Nickel foil was brazed to the exterior surface of 10-mm-thick layers of 10 and 40 PPI nickel foam. A plasma torch was used to spray an Inconel coating on the surface of the foil. A burner test rig was built to produce hot combustion gases that flowed over exposed face of the heat exchanger. Cooling air flowed through the foam heat exchanger at rates of up to 200 SLPM. Surface temperature and air inlet/exit temperature were measured. Heat transfer to air flowing through the foam was significantly higher for the thermally sprayed heat exchangers than for the brazed heat exchangers. On an average, thermally sprayed heat exchangers show 36% higher heat transfer than conventionally brazed foam heat exchangers. At low flow rates, the convective resistance is large (~4 × 10-2 m2 K/W), and the effect of thermal contact resistance is negligible. At higher flow rates, the convective resistance decreases (~2 × 10-3 m2 K/W), and the lower contact resistance of the thermally sprayed heat exchanger provides better performance than the brazed heat exchangers.

Parameter variation effects on temperature elevation in a steady-state, one-dimensional thermal model for millimeter wave exposure of one- and three-layer human tissue.

PubMed

Kanezaki, Akio; Hirata, Akimasa; Watanabe, Soichi; Shirai, Hiroshi

2010-08-21

The present study describes theoretical parametric analysis of the steady-state temperature elevation in one-dimensional three-layer (skin, fat and muscle) and one-layer (skin only) models due to millimeter-wave exposure. The motivation of this fundamental investigation is that some variability of warmth sensation in the human skin has been reported. An analytical solution for a bioheat equation was derived by using the Laplace transform for the one-dimensional human models. Approximate expressions were obtained to investigate the dependence of temperature elevation on different thermal and tissue thickness parameters. It was shown that the temperature elevation on the body surface decreases monotonically with the blood perfusion rate, heat conductivity and heat transfer from the body to air. Also revealed were the conditions where maximum and minimum surface temperature elevations were observed for different thermal and tissue thickness parameters. The surface temperature elevation in the three-layer model is 1.3-2.8 times greater than that in the one-layer model. The main reason for this difference is attributed to the adiabatic nature of the fat layer. By considering the variation range of thermal and tissue thickness parameters which causes the maximum and minimum temperature elevations, the dominant parameter influencing the surface temperature elevation was found to be the heat transfer coefficient between the body surface and air.

Thermal performance of a Concrete Cool Roof under different climatic conditions of Mexico

DOE PAGES

Hernández-Pérez, I.; Álvarez, G.; Gilbert, H.; ...

2014-11-27

A cool roof is an ordinary roof with a reflective coating on the exterior surface which has a high solar reflectance and high thermal emittance. These properties let the roof keep a lower temperature than a standard roof under the same conditions. In this work, the thermal performance of a concrete roof with and without insulation and with two colors has been analyzed using the finite volume method. The boundary conditions of the external roof surface were taken from hourly averaged climatic data of four cities. For the internal surface, it is considered that the building is air-conditioned and themore » inside air has a constant temperature. The interior surface temperature and the heat flux rates into the roofs were obtained for two consecutive days in order to assess the benefits of a cool roofs in different climates.« less

GSOD Based Daily Global Mean Surface Temperature and Mean Sea Level Air Pressure (1982-2011)

DOE Data Explorer

Xuan Shi, Dali Wang

2014-05-05

This data product contains all the gridded data set at 1/4 degree resolution in ASCII format. Both mean temperature and mean sea level air pressure data are available. It also contains the GSOD data (1982-2011) from NOAA site, contains station number, location, temperature and pressures (sea level and station level). The data package also contains information related to the data processing methods

Color, bioactive compounds and morphological characteristics of encapsulated Asian pear juice powder during spray drying.

PubMed

Lee, Chang-Gon; Ahmed, Maruf; Jiang, Gui-Hun; Eun, Jong-Bang

2017-08-01

Encapsulated Asian pear juice powder was produced through spray drying using three maltodextrin levels (15, 20, and 25% w/v) and three inlet air temperatures (130, 150, and 170 °C). The impact of maltodextrin concentrations and inlet air temperatures on color, bioactive compounds, and morphological characteristics of encapsulated Asian pear juice powder were investigated. Maltodextrin concentrations and inlet air temperatures significantly influenced L * and b * values of encapsulated Asian pear juice powder. Increasing inlet air temperatures increased total phenolic content, whereas the vitamin C content decreased. Vitamin C content was strongly correlated with particle size, inlet air temperature, and maltodextrin concentration. ABTS + radical-scavenging activity was highly correlated with total phenol content while DPPH radical-scavenging activity was highly correlated with vitamin C content. Encapsulated powders made with higher inlet air temperature and higher maltodextrin concentration had lowest median particle diameter with a smoother, more regular and rounded outer surface than those of encapsulated powders produced with lower inlet air temperature and lower maltodextrin concentration. Therefore, the results demonstrate that high-quality encapsulated Asian pear juice powder could be manufactured by adding 15% (w/v) maltodextrin and spray-drying at 170 °C.

CO2 CH4 flux Air temperature Soil temperature and Soil moisture, Barrow, Alaska 2013 ver. 1

DOE Data Explorer

Margaret Torn

2015-01-14

This dataset consists of field measurements of CO2 and CH4 flux, as well as soil properties made during 2013 in Areas A-D of Intensive Site 1 at the Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments (NGEE) Arctic site near Barrow, Alaska. Included are i) measurements of CO2 and CH4 flux made from June to September (ii) Calculation of corresponding Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) and CH4 exchange (transparent minus opaque) between atmosphere and the ecosystem (ii) Measurements of Los Gatos Research (LGR) chamber air temperature made from June to September (ii) measurements of surface layer depth, type of surface layer, soil temperature and soil moisture from June to September.

Expanding NevCAN capabilities: monitoring cold air drainage flow along a narrow wash within a Montane to PJ ecotone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bird, B. M.; Devitt, D.

2012-12-01

Cold air drainage flows are a naturally occurring physical process of mountain systems. Plant communities that exist in cold air drainage basins respond to these localized cold air trends, and have been shown to be decoupled from larger global climate weather systems. The assumption that air temperature decreases with altitude is violated within these systems and climate model results based on this assumption would ultimately be inaccurate. In arid regions, high radiation loads lead to significant long wave radiation being emitted from the ground later in the day. As incoming radiation ceases, the surface very quickly loses energy through radiative processes, leading to surface inversions and enhanced cold air drainage opportunities. This study is being conducted in the Mojave desert on Sheep Mountain located between sites 3 and 4 of the NSF EPSCoR network. Monitoring of cold air drainage was initiated in September of 2011within a narrow ravine located between the 2164 and 2350 meter elevation. We have installed 25 towers (5 towers per location situated at the central low point in a ravine and at equal distances up the sides of the ravine on both the N and S facing slopes) to assess air temperatures from 0.1 meters to a height of 3 meters at 25m intervals. Our goal is to better understand the connection between cold air movement and plant physiological response. The species monitored in this study include: Pinus ponderosa (common name: Ponderosa Pine), Pinus pinyon (Pinyon Pine), Juniperus osteosperma (Utah juniper), Cercocarpus intricatus (Mountain Mahogany) and Symphoricarpos (snowberry). Hourly air temperature measurements within the wash are being captured from 100 ibuttons placed within PVC solar radiation shields. We are also developing a modeling approach to assess the three dimensional movement of cold air over time by incorporating wind vectors captured from 5 2D sonic anemometers. Wind velocities will be paired with air temperatures to better understand the thermal dynamics of cold air drainage. Granier probes were installed in the five test species to monitor transpirational flow relative to cold air movement. Mid day soil - plant - water measurements are also being taken on a monthly basis during the growing season at all locations. Measurements include: leaf xylem water potential, stomata conductance, chlorophyll index readings, canopy minus ambient temperatures and surface soil moisture contents. To date the monitoring system has revealed cold air drainage occurring during periods of every month. We will report the physiological response of the five plant species, with emphasis on assessing the linkages with cold air movement.

Hurricane Dean

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2007-01-01

Location: The coast of Mexico from Manzanillo to Mazatlan Categorization: Tropical Depression Sustained Winds: 35 mph (56 km/hr)

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Infrared ImageMicrowave Image

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Click on the image to access AIRS Weather Snapshot for Hurricane Dean

Infrared Images Because infrared radiation does not penetrate through clouds, AIRS infrared images show either the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of the storm. In cloud-free areas the AIRS instrument will receive the infrared radiation from the surface of the Earth, resulting in the warmest temperatures (orange/red).

Microwave Images In the AIRS microwave imagery, deep blue areas in storms show where the most precipitation occurs, or where ice crystals are present in the convective cloud tops. Outside of these storm regions, deep blue areas may also occur over the sea surface due to its low radiation emissivity. On the other hand, land appears much warmer due to its high radiation emissivity.

Microwave radiation from Earth's surface and lower atmosphere penetrates most clouds to a greater or lesser extent depending upon their water vapor, liquid water and ice content. Precipitation, and ice crystals found at the cloud tops where strong convection is taking place, act as barriers to microwave radiation. Because of this barrier effect, the AIRS microwave sensor detects only the radiation arising at or above their location in the atmospheric column. Where these barriers are not present, the microwave sensor detects radiation arising throughout the air column and down to the surface. Liquid surfaces (oceans, lakes and rivers) have 'low emissivity' (the signal isn't as strong) and their radiation brightness temperature is therefore low. Thus the ocean also appears 'low temperature' in the AIRS microwave images and is assigned the color blue. Therefore deep blue areas in storms show where the most precipitation occurs, or where ice crystals are present in the convective cloud tops. Outside of these storm regions, deep blue areas may also occur over the sea surface due to its low radiation emissivity. Land appears much warmer due to its high radiation emissivity.

Visible/Near-Infrared Images The AIRS instrument suite contains a sensor that captures radiation in four bands of the visible/near-infrared portion of the electromagetic spectrum. Data from three of these bands are combined to create 'visible' images similar to a snapshot taken with your camera.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Experiment, with its visible, infrared, and microwave detectors, provides a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather. Working in tandem, the three instruments can make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-D map of atmospheric temperature and humidity and provides information on clouds, greenhouse gases, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS Infrared Sounder Experiment flies onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Hurricane Felix

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2007-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Microwave Image

These infrared and microwave images were created with data retrieved by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite, and show the remnants of the former Hurricane Felix over Central America.

Infrared Images Because infrared radiation does not penetrate through clouds, AIRS infrared images show either the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of the storm. In cloud-free areas the AIRS instrument will receive the infrared radiation from the surface of the Earth, resulting in the warmest temperatures (orange/red).

Microwave Images In the AIRS microwave imagery, deep blue areas in storms show where the most precipitation occurs, or where ice crystals are present in the convective cloud tops. Outside of these storm regions, deep blue areas may also occur over the sea surface due to its low radiation emissivity. On the other hand, land appears much warmer due to its high radiation emissivity.

Microwave radiation from Earth's surface and lower atmosphere penetrates most clouds to a greater or lesser extent depending upon their water vapor, liquid water and ice content. Precipitation, and ice crystals found at the cloud tops where strong convection is taking place, act as barriers to microwave radiation. Because of this barrier effect, the AIRS microwave sensor detects only the radiation arising at or above their location in the atmospheric column. Where these barriers are not present, the microwave sensor detects radiation arising throughout the air column and down to the surface. Liquid surfaces (oceans, lakes and rivers) have 'low emissivity' (the signal isn't as strong) and their radiation brightness temperature is therefore low. Thus the ocean also appears 'low temperature' in the AIRS microwave images and is assigned the color blue. Therefore deep blue areas in storms show where the most precipitation occurs, or where ice crystals are present in the convective cloud tops. Outside of these storm regions, deep blue areas may also occur over the sea surface due to its low radiation emissivity. Land appears much warmer due to its high radiation emissivity.

Visible/Near-Infrared Images The AIRS instrument suite contains a sensor that captures radiation in four bands of the visible/near-infrared portion of the electromagetic spectrum. Data from three of these bands are combined to create 'visible' images similar to a snapshot taken with your camera.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Experiment, with its visible, infrared, and microwave detectors, provides a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather. Working in tandem, the three instruments can make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-D map of atmospheric temperature and humidity and provides information on clouds, greenhouse gases, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS Infrared Sounder Experiment flies onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Validation of Atmospheric Forcing Data for PIPS 3

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-09-30

members shortly. RESULTS Surface Temperature: Figure 1 shows a comparison of surface air temperatures from the NOGAPS model , the IABP and the NCEP...with some 8,000 daily velocity observations from the IABP buoys shows that the sea-ice model performs better when driven with NOGAPS surface stresses...forcing variables, surface radiative fluxes, surface winds, and precipitation estimates to be used in the development and operation of the PIPS 3.0 model

Total ozone and surface temperature correlations during 1972 - 1981

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parsons, C. L.

1983-01-01

Ten years of Dobson spectrophotometer total ozone measurements and surface temperature observations were used to construct monthly mean values of the two parameters. The variability of both parameters is greatest in the months of January and February. Indeed, in January there is an apparent correlation between high total ozone values and abnormally low surface temperatures. However, the correlation does not hold in February. By reviewing the history of stratospheric warmings during this period, it is argued that the ozone and surface temperature correlation is influenced by the advection or lack of advection of ozone rich arctic air resulting from sudden stratospheric warmings.

NARSTO PAC2001 GOLDEN EARS GAS PM DATA

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-04-09

... Parameters:  Atmospheric Pressure Measurements Air Temperature Humidity Ozone Aerosol Particle Properties Surface ... Data:  Spatial Coverage: Canada Pacific 2001 Air Quality Study SCAR-B Block:  SCAR-B ...

NARSTO PAC2001 LANGLEY GAS PM MET DATA

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-04-09

... Parameters:  Atmospheric Pressure Measurements Air Temperature Humidity Surface Winds Ozone Aerosol Particle ... Data:  Spatial Coverage: Canada Pacific 2001 Air Quality Study SCAR-B Block:  SCAR-B ...

AIRS Data Service at NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services (GES DISC) and Its Application to Climate Change Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Won, Young-In; Vollimer, Bruce; Theobald, Mike; Hua, Xin-Min

2008-01-01

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument suite is designed to observe and characterize the entire atmospheric column from the surface to the top of the atmosphere in terms of surface emissivity and temperature, atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles, cloud amount and height, and the spectral outgoing infrared radiation on a global scale. The AIRS Data Support Team at the GES DISC provides data support to assist others in understanding, retrieving and extracting information from the AIRS/AMSU/HSB data products. Because a number of years has passed since its operation started, the amount of data has reached a certain level of maturity where we can address the climate change study utilizing AIRS data, In this presentation we will list various service we provide and to demonstrate how to utilize/apply the existing service to long-term and short-term variability study.

The Impact of Cloud Properties on Young Sea Ice during Three Winter Storms at N-ICE2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murphy, S. Y.; Walden, V. P.; Cohen, L.; Hudson, S. R.

2017-12-01

The impact of clouds on sea ice varies significantly as cloud properties change. Instruments deployed during the Norwegian Young Sea Ice field campaign (N-ICE2015) are used to study how differing cloud properties influence the cloud radiative forcing at the sea ice surface. N-ICE2015 was the first campaign in the Arctic winter since SHEBA (1997/1998) to study the surface energy budget of sea ice and the associated effects of cloud properties. Cloud characteristics, surface radiative and turbulent fluxes, and meteorological properties were measured throughout the field campaign. Here we explore how cloud macrophysical and microphysical properties affect young, thin sea ice during three winter storms from 31 January to 15 February 2015. This time period is of interest due to the varying surface and atmospheric conditions, which showcase the variety of conditions the newly-formed sea ice can experience during the winter. This period was characterized by large variations in the ice surface and near-surface air temperatures, with highs near 0°C when warm, moist air was advected into the area and lows reaching -40°C during clear, calm periods between storms. The advection of warm, moist air into the area influenced the cloud properties and enhanced the downwelling longwave flux. For most of the period, downwelling longwave flux correlates closely with the air temperature. However, at the end of the first storm, a drop in downwelling longwave flux of about 50 Wm-2 was observed, independent of any change in surface or air temperature or cloud fraction, indicating a change in cloud properties. Lidar data show an increase in cloud height during this period and a potential shift in cloud phase from ice to mixed-phase. This study will describe the cloud properties during the three winter storms and discuss their impacts on surface energy budget.

Air pollution removal by urban forests in Canada and its effect on air quality and human health

Treesearch

David J. Nowak; Satoshi Hirabayashi; Marlene Doyle; Mark McGovern; Jon Pasher

2018-01-01

Urban trees perform a number of ecosystem services including air pollution removal, carbon sequestration, cooling air temperatures and providing aesthetic beauty to the urban landscape. Trees remove air pollution by intercepting particulate matter on plant surfaces and absorbing gaseous pollutants through the leaf stomata. Computer simulations with local environmental...

Extreme Winter/Early-Spring Temperature Anomalies in Central Europe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Otterman, Joseph; Atlas, Robert; Ardizzone, Joseph; Brakke, Thomas; Chou, Shu-Hsien; Jusem, Juan Carlos; Glantz, Michael; Rogers, Jeff; Sud, Yogesh; Susskind, Joel

2000-01-01

Extreme seasonal fluctuations of the surface-air temperature characterize the climate of central Europe, 45-60 deg North Temperature difference between warm 1990 and cold 1996 in the January-March period, persisting for more than two weeks at a time, amounted to 18 C for extensive areas. These anomalies in the surface-air temperature stem in the first place from differences in the low level flow from the eastern North-Atlantic: the value of the Index 1na of southwesterlies over the eastern North-Atlantic was 8.0 m/s in February 1990, but only 2.6 m/ s in February 1996. The primary forcing by warm advection to positive anomalies in monthly mean surface temperature produced strong synoptic-scale uplift at the 700 mb level over some regions in Europe. The strong uplift contributed in 1990 to a much larger cloud-cover over central Europe, which reduced heat-loss to space (greenhouse effect). Thus, spring arrived earlier than usual in 1990, but later than usual in 1996.

Improved Determination of Surface and Atmospheric Temperatures Using Only Shortwave AIRS Channels

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Susskind,Joel

2009-01-01

AIRS was launched on EOS Aqua on May 4, 2002, together with AMSU-A and HSB, to form a next generation polar orbiting infrared and microwave atmospheric sounding system. AIRS is a grating spectrometer with a number of linear arrays of detectors with each detector sensitive to outgoing radiation in a characteristic frequency v(sub i) with a spectral band pass delta v(sub i) of roughly v(sub i) /1200. AIRS contains 2378 spectral channels covering portions of the spectral region 650 cm(exp -1) (15.38 gm) - 2665 cm(exp -1)' (3.752 micrometers). These spectral regions contain significant absorption features from two CO2 absorption bands, the 15 micrometer (longwave) CO2 band, and the 4.3 micrometer (shortwave) CO, absorption band. There are also two atmospheric window regions, the 12 micrometerm - 8 micrometer (longwave) window, and the 4.17 micrometer - 3.75 micrometer (shortwave) window. Historically, determination of surface and atmospheric temperatures from satellite observations was performed using primarily observations in the longwave window and CO2 absorption regions. One reason for this was concerns about the effects, during the day, of reflected sunlight and non-Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (non-LTE) on the observed radiances in the shortwave portion of the spectrum. According to cloud clearing theory, more accurate soundings of both surface skin and atmospheric temperatures can be obtained under partial cloud cover conditions if one uses the longwave channels to determine cloud cleared radiances R(sub i) for all channels, and uses R(sub i) only from shortwave channels in the determination of surface and atmospheric temperatures. This procedure is now being used by the AIRS Science Team in preparation for the AIRS Version 6 Retrieval Algorithm. This paper describes how the effects on the radiances of solar radiation reflected by clouds and the Earth's surface, and also of non-LTE, are accounted for in the analysis of the data. Results are presented for both daytime and nighttime conditions showing improved surface and atmospheric soundings under partial cloud cover resulted from not using R(sub i) in the retrieval process for any longwave channels sensitive to cloud effects. This improvement is made possible because AIRS NEDT in the shortwave portion of the spectrum is extremely low.

Characteristics of Winter Surface Air Temperature Anomalies in Moscow in 1970-2016 under Conditions of Reduced Sea Ice Area in the Barents Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shukurov, K. A.; Semenov, V. A.

2018-01-01

On the basis of observational data on daily mean surface air temperature (SAT) and sea ice concentration (SIC) in the Barents Sea (BS), the characteristics of strong positive and negative winter SAT anomalies in Moscow have been studied in comparison with BS SIC data obtained in 1949-2016. An analysis of surface backward trajectories of air-particle motions has revealed the most probable paths of both cold and warm air invasions into Moscow and located regions that mostly affect strong winter SAT anomalies in Moscow. Atmospheric circulation anomalies that cause strong winter SAT anomalies in Moscow have been revealed. Changes in the ways of both cold and warm air invasions have been found, as well as an increase in the frequency of blocking anticyclones in 2005-2016 when compared to 1970-1999. The results suggest that a winter SIC decrease in the BS in 2005-2016 affects strong winter SAT anomalies in Moscow due to an increase in the frequency of occurrence of blocking anticyclones to the south of and over the BS.

Compilation of Local Fallout Data from Test Detonations 1945-1962 Extracted from DASA 1251. Volume I. Continental U.S. Tests

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-05-01

fallout patterns by "dot-dash" lines. The time lines are intended to give only a rough average arrival time in hours as estimated from the wind reports and...by interpolation between the H-lI and H+11 hour values. 4. The surface air pressure was 13.10 psi, the temperature -2.O°C and the relative humidity...surface air pressure was 13.04 psi, the temperature -2.8 0 C, and the relative humidity 87%. 17 i’ 17 I

Correlation of Water Frost Porosity in Laminar Flow over Flat Surfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kandula, Max

2011-01-01

A dimensionless correlation has been proposed for water frost porosity expressing its dependence on frost surface temperature and Reynolds number for laminar forced flow over a flat surface. The correlation is presented in terms of a dimensionless frost surface temperature scaled with the cold plate temperature, and the freezing temperature. The flow Reynolds number is scaled with reference to the critical Reynolds number for laminar-turbulent transition. The proposed correlation agrees satisfactorily with the simultaneous measurements of frost density and frost surface temperature covering a range of plate temperature, ambient air velocity, humidity, and temperature. It is revealed that the frost porosity depends primarily on the frost surface and the plate temperatures and the flow Reynolds number, and is only weakly dependent on the relative humidity. The results also point out the general character of frost porosity displaying a decrease with an increase in flow Reynolds number.

Assimilation of Goes-Derived Skin Temperature Tendencies into Mesoscale Models to Improve Forecasts of near Surface Air Temperature and Mixing Ratio

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lapenta, William M.; McNider, Richard T.; Suggs, Ron; Jedlovec, Gary; Robertson, Franklin R.

1998-01-01

A technique has been developed for assimilating GOES-FR skin temperature tendencies into the surface energy budget equation of a mesoscale model so that the simulated rate of temperature chance closely agrees with the satellite observations. A critical assumption of the technique is that the availability of moisture (either from the soil or vegetation) is the least known term in the model's surface energy budget. Therefore, the simulated latent heat flux, which is a function of surface moisture availability, is adjusted based upon differences between the modeled and satellite-observed skin temperature tendencies. An advantage of this technique is that satellite temperature tendencies are assimilated in an energetically consistent manner that avoids energy imbalances and surface stability problems that arise from direct assimilation of surface shelter temperatures. The fact that the rate of change of the satellite skin temperature is used rather than the absolute temperature means that sensor calibration is not as critical. An advantage of this technique for short-range forecasts (0-48 h) is that it does not require a complex land-surface formulation within the atmospheric model. As a result, the need to specify poorly known soil and vegetative characteristics is eliminated. The GOES assimilation technique has been incorporated into the PSU/NCAR MM5. Results will be presented to demonstrate the ability of the assimilation scheme to improve short- term (0-48h) simulations of near-surface air temperature and mixing ratio during the warm season for several selected cases which exhibit a variety of atmospheric and land-surface conditions. In addition, validation of terms in the simulated surface energy budget will be presented using in situ data collected at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) Cloud And Radiation Testbed (CART) site as part of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurements Program (ARM).

NARSTO PAC2001 SLOCAN PARK GAS PM MET DATA

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-04-09

... Parameters:  Atmospheric Pressure Measurements Air Temperature Humidity Surface Winds Ozone Aerosol Particle ... Data:  Spatial Coverage: Canada Pacific 2001 Air Quality Study SCAR-B Block:  SCAR-B ...

Intercomparison of Air-Sea Fluxes in the Bay of Bengal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buckley, J.; Weller, R. A.; Farrar, J. T.; Tandon, A.

2016-02-01

Heat and momentum exchange between the air and sea in the Bay of Bengal is an important driver of atmospheric convection during the Asian Monsoon. Warm sea surface temperatures resulting from salinity stratified shallow mixed layers trigger widespread showers and thunderstorms. In this study, we compare atmospheric reanalysis flux products to air-sea flux values calculated from shipboard observations from four cruises and an air-sea flux mooring in the Bay of Bengal as part of the Air-Sea Interactions in the Northern Indian Ocean (ASIRI) experiment. Comparisons with months of mooring data show that most long timescale reanalysis error arises from the overestimation of longwave and shortwave radiation. Ship observations and select data from the air-sea flux mooring reveals significant errors on shorter timescales (2-4 weeks) which are greatly influenced by errors in shortwave radiation and latent and sensible heat. During these shorter periods, the reanalyses fail to properly show sharp decreases in air temperature, humidity, and shortwave radiation associated with mesoscale convective systems. Simulations with the Price-Weller-Pinkel (PWP) model show upper ocean mixing and deepening mixed layers during these events that effect the long term upper ocean stratification. Mesoscale convective systems associated with cloudy skies and cold and dry air can reduce net heat into the ocean for minutes to a few days, significantly effecting air-sea heat transfer, upper ocean stratification, and ocean surface temperature and salinity.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McNesby, Kevin L.; Homan, Barrie E.; Benjamin, Richard A.

Here, the techniques presented in this paper allow for mapping of temperature, pressure, chemical species, and energy deposition during and following detonations of explosives, using high speed cameras as the main diagnostic tool. Additionally, this work provides measurement in the explosive near to far-field (0-500 charge diameters) of surface temperatures, peak air-shock pressures, some chemical species signatures, shock energy deposition, and air shock formation.

Empirical Analysis of the Influence of Forest Extent on Annual and Seasonal Surface Temperatures for the Continental United States

EPA Science Inventory

Most scenario‐based climate modeling studies indicate that replacing temperate forest with cropland will promote cooling by reducing surface air temperatures. These results are inconsistent with fieldbased microclimate studies that have found that forests are cooler, wetter, and...

An Examination of Intertidal Temperatures Through Remotely Sensed Satellite Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lakshmi, V.

2010-12-01

MODIS Aqua and Terra satellites produce both land surface temperatures and sea surface temperatures using calibrated algorithms. In this study, the land surface temperatures were retrieved during clear-sky (non-cloudy) conditions at a 1 km2 resolution (overpass time at 10:30 am) whereas the sea surface temperatures are also retrieved during clear-sky conditions at approximately 4 km resolution (overpass time at 1:30 pm). The purpose of this research was to examine remotely sensed sea surface (SST), intertidal (IST), and land surface temperatures (LST), in conjunction with observed in situ mussel body temperatures, as well as associated weather and tidal data. In Strawberry Hill, Oregon, it was determined that intertidal surface temperatures are similar to but distinctly different from land surface temperatures although influenced by sea surface temperatures. The air temperature and differential heating throughout the day, as well as location in relation to the shore, can greatly influence the remotely sensed surface temperatures. Therefore, remotely sensed satellite data is a very useful tool in examining intertidal temperatures for regional climatic changes over long time periods and may eventually help researchers forecast expected climate changes and help determine associated biological implications.

Inversion Build-Up and Cold-Air Outflow in a Small Alpine Sinkhole

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lehner, Manuela; Whiteman, C. David; Dorninger, Manfred

2017-06-01

Semi-idealized model simulations are made of the nocturnal cold-air pool development in the approximately 1-km wide and 100-200-m deep Grünloch basin, Austria. The simulations show qualitatively good agreement with vertical temperature and wind profiles and surface measurements collected during a meteorological field expedition. A two-layer stable atmosphere forms in the basin, with a very strong inversion in the lowest part, below the approximate height of the lowest gap in the surrounding orography. The upper part of the stable layer is less strongly stratified and extends to the approximate height of the second-lowest gap. The basin atmosphere cools most strongly during the first few hours of the night, after which temperatures decrease only slowly. An outflow of air forms through the lowest gap in the surrounding orography. The outflow connects with a weak inflow of air through a gap on the opposite sidewall, forming a vertically and horizontally confined jet over the basin. Basin cooling shows strong sensitivity to surface-layer characteristics, highlighting the large impact of variations in vegetation and soil cover on cold-air pool development, as well as the importance of surface-layer parametrization in numerical simulations of cold-air-pool development.

Sensitivity of glacier mass balance and equilibrium line altitude to climatic change on King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Falk, Ulrike; Lopez, Damian; Silva-Busso, Adrian

2017-04-01

The South Shetland Islands are located at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula which is among the fastest warming regions on Earth. Surface air temperature increases (ca. 3 K in 50 years) are concurrent with retreating glacier fronts, an increase in melt areas, ice surface lowering and rapid break-up and disintegration of ice shelves. Observed surface air temperature lapse rates show a high variability during winter months (standard deviations up to ±1.0 K/100 m), and a distinct spatial heterogeneity reflecting the impact of synoptic weather patterns especially during winter glacial mass accumulation periods. The increased mesocyclonic activity during the winter time in the study area results in intensified advection of warm, moist air with high temperatures and rain, and leads to melt conditions on the ice cap, fixating surface air temperatures to the melting point. The impact on winter accumulation results in even more negative mass balance estimates. Six years of glaciological measurements on mass balance stake transects are used with a glacier melt model to assess changes in melt water input to the coastal waters, glacier surface mass balance and the equilibrium line altitude. The average equilibrium line altitude (ELA) calculated from own glaciological observations for KGI over the time period 2010 - 2015 amounts to ELA=330±100 m. Published studies suggest rather stable condition slightly negative glacier mass balance until the mid 80's with an ELA of approx. 150 m. The calculated accumulation area ratio suggests rather dramatic changes in extension of the inland ice cap for the South Shetland Islands until an equilibrium with concurrent climate conditions is reached.

Local climate change induced by groundwater overexploitation in a high Andean arid watershed, Laguna Lagunillas basin, northern Chile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scheihing, Konstantin; Tröger, Uwe

2018-05-01

The Laguna Lagunillas basin in the arid Andes of northern Chile exhibits a shallow aquifer and is exposed to extreme air temperature variations from 20 to -25 °C. Between 1991 and 2012, groundwater levels in the Pampa Lagunillas aquifer fell from near-surface to 15 m below ground level (bgl) due to severe overexploitation. In the same period, local mean monthly minimum temperatures started a declining trend, dropping by 3-8 °C relative to a nearby reference station. Meanwhile, mean monthly maximum summer temperatures shifted abruptly upwards by 2.7 °C on average in around 1996. The observed air temperature downturns and upturns are in accordance with detected anomalies in land-surface temperature imagery. Two major factors may be causing the local climate change. One is related to a water-table decline below the evaporative energy potential extinction depth of 2 m bgl, which causes an up-heating of the bare soil surface and, in turn, influences the lower atmosphere. At the same time, the removal of near-surface groundwater reduces the thermal conductivity of the upper sedimentary layer, which consequently diminishes the heat exchange between the aquifer (constant heat source of 10 °C) and the lower atmosphere during nights, leading to a severe dropping of minimum air temperatures. The observed critical water-level drawdown was 2-3 m bgl. Future and existing water-production projects in arid high Andean basins with shallow groundwater should avoid a decline of near-surface groundwater below 2 m bgl and take groundwater-climate interactions into account when identifying and monitoring potential environmental impacts.

Ectotherm thermal stress and specialization across altitude and latitude.

PubMed

Buckley, Lauren B; Miller, Ethan F; Kingsolver, Joel G

2013-10-01

Gradients of air temperature, radiation, and other climatic factors change systematically but differently with altitude and latitude. We explore how these factors combine to produce altitudinal and latitudinal patterns of body temperature, thermal stress, and seasonal overlap that differ markedly from patterns based solely on air temperature. We use biophysical models to estimate body temperature as a function of an organism's phenotype and environmental conditions (air and surface temperatures and radiation). Using grasshoppers as a case study, we compare mean body temperatures and the incidence of thermal extremes along altitudinal gradients both under past and current climates. Organisms at high elevation can experience frequent thermal stress despite generally cooler air temperatures due to high levels of solar radiation. Incidences of thermal stress have increased more rapidly than have increases in mean conditions due to recent climate change. Increases in air temperature have coincided with shifts in cloudiness and solar radiation, which can exacerbate shifts in body temperature. We compare altitudinal thermal gradients and their seasonality between tropical and temperate mountains to ask whether mountain passes pose a greater physiological barrier in the tropics (Janzen's hypothesis). We find that considering body temperature rather than air temperature generally increases the amount of overlap in thermal conditions along gradients in elevation and thus decreases the physiological barrier posed by tropical mountains. Our analysis highlights the limitations of predicting thermal stress based solely on air temperatures, and the importance of considering how phenotypes influence body temperatures.

Sensitivity of Global Sea-Air CO2 Flux to Gas Transfer Algorithms, Climatological Wind Speeds, and Variability of Sea Surface Temperature and Salinity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McClain, Charles R.; Signorini, Sergio

2002-01-01

Sensitivity analyses of sea-air CO2 flux to gas transfer algorithms, climatological wind speeds, sea surface temperatures (SST) and salinity (SSS) were conducted for the global oceans and selected regional domains. Large uncertainties in the global sea-air flux estimates are identified due to different gas transfer algorithms, global climatological wind speeds, and seasonal SST and SSS data. The global sea-air flux ranges from -0.57 to -2.27 Gt/yr, depending on the combination of gas transfer algorithms and global climatological wind speeds used. Different combinations of SST and SSS global fields resulted in changes as large as 35% on the oceans global sea-air flux. An error as small as plus or minus 0.2 in SSS translates into a plus or minus 43% deviation on the mean global CO2 flux. This result emphasizes the need for highly accurate satellite SSS observations for the development of remote sensing sea-air flux algorithms.

Tropical Depression 6 (Florence) in the Atlantic

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2006-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Microwave ImageVisible Light Image

These infrared, microwave, and visible images were created with data retrieved by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite.

Infrared Image Because infrared radiation does not penetrate through clouds, AIRS infrared images show either the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of the storm. In cloud-free areas the AIRS instrument will receive the infrared radiation from the surface of the Earth, resulting in the warmest temperatures (orange/red).

Microwave Image AIRS data used to create the microwave images come from the microwave radiation emitted by Earth's atmosphere which is then received by the instrument. It shows where the heaviest rainfall is taking place (in blue) in the storm. Blue areas outside of the storm, where there are either some clouds or no clouds, indicate where the sea surface shines through.

Vis/NIR Image The AIRS instrument suite contains a sensor that captures light in the visible/near-infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. These 'visible' images are similar to a snapshot taken with your camera.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Experiment, with its visible, infrared, and microwave detectors, provides a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather. Working in tandem, the three instruments can make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-D map of atmospheric temperature and humidity and provides information on clouds, greenhouse gases, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS Infrared Sounder Experiment flies onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

NARSTO EPA SS BALTIMORE JHU MET DATA

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2018-04-09

... Meteorological Station Instrument:  Temperature Probe Humidity Probe Cup Anemometer Rain Gauge Sonic ...   E arthdata Search Parameters:  Air Temperature Humidity Surface Winds Precipitation Amount Heat Flux ...

Implement a Sub-grid Turbulent Orographic Form Drag in WRF and its application to Tibetan Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, X.; Yang, K.; Wang, Y.; Huang, B.

2017-12-01

Sub-grid-scale orographic variation exerts turbulent form drag on atmospheric flows. The Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) includes a turbulent orographic form drag (TOFD) scheme that adds the stress to the surface layer. In this study, another TOFD scheme has been incorporated in WRF3.7, which exerts an exponentially decaying drag on each model layer. To investigate the effect of the new scheme, WRF with the old and new one was used to simulate the climate over the complex terrain of the Tibetan Plateau. The two schemes were evaluated in terms of the direct impact (on wind) and the indirect impact (on air temperature, surface pressure and precipitation). Both in winter and summer, the new TOFD scheme reduces the mean bias in the surface wind, and clearly reduces the root mean square error (RMSEs) in comparisons with the station measurements (Figure 1). Meanwhile, the 2-m air temperature and surface pressure is also improved (Figure 2) due to the more warm air northward transport across south boundary of TP in winter. The 2-m air temperature is hardly improved in summer but the precipitation improvement is more obvious, with reduced mean bias and RMSEs. This is due to the weakening of water vapor flux (at low-level flow with the new scheme) crossing the Himalayan Mountains from South Asia.

Improving simulations of precipitation phase and snowpack at a site subject to cold air intrusions: Snoqualmie Pass, WA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wayand, Nicholas E.; Stimberis, John; Zagrodnik, Joseph P.; Mass, Clifford F.; Lundquist, Jessica D.

2016-09-01

Low-level cold air from eastern Washington often flows westward through mountain passes in the Washington Cascades, creating localized inversions and locally reducing climatological temperatures. The persistence of this inversion during a frontal passage can result in complex patterns of snow and rain that are difficult to predict. Yet these predictions are critical to support highway avalanche control, ski resort operations, and modeling of headwater snowpack storage. In this study we used observations of precipitation phase from a disdrometer and snow depth sensors across Snoqualmie Pass, WA, to evaluate surface-air-temperature-based and mesoscale-model-based predictions of precipitation phase during the anomalously warm 2014-2015 winter. Correlations of phase between surface-based methods and observations were greatly improved (r2 from 0.45 to 0.66) and frozen precipitation biases reduced (+36% to -6% of accumulated snow water equivalent) by using air temperature from a nearby higher-elevation station, which was less impacted by low-level inversions. Alternatively, we found a hybrid method that combines surface-based predictions with output from the Weather Research and Forecasting mesoscale model to have improved skill (r2 = 0.61) over both parent models (r2 = 0.42 and 0.55). These results suggest that prediction of precipitation phase in mountain passes can be improved by incorporating observations or models from above the surface layer.

Typhoon Ioke in the Western Pacific

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2006-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Microwave ImageVisible Light Image

These infrared, microwave, and visible images were created with data retrieved by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite.

Infrared Image Because infrared radiation does not penetrate through clouds, AIRS infrared images show either the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of the storm. In cloud-free areas the AIRS instrument will receive the infrared radiation from the surface of the Earth, resulting in the warmest temperatures (orange/red).

Microwave Image In the AIRS microwave imagery, deep blue areas in storms show where the most precipitation occurs, or where ice crystals are present in the convective cloud tops. Outside of these storm regions, deep blue areas may also occur over the sea surface due to its low radiation emissivity. On the other hand, land appears much warmer due to its high radiation emissivity.

In the AIRS microwave imagery, deep blue areas in storms show where the most precipitation occurs, or where ice crystals are present in the convective cloud tops. Outside of these storm regions, deep blue areas may also occur over the sea surface due to its low radiation emissivity. On the other hand, land appears much warmer due to its high radiation emissivity.

Microwave radiation from Earth's surface and lower atmosphere penetrates most clouds to a greater or lesser extent depending upon their water vapor, liquid water and ice content. Precipitation, and ice crystals found at the cloud tops where strong convection is taking place, act as barriers to microwave radiation. Because of this barrier effect, the AIRS microwave sensor detects only the radiation arising at or above their location in the atmospheric column. Where these barriers are not present, the microwave sensor detects radiation arising throughout the air column and down to the surface. Liquid surfaces (oceans, lakes and rivers) have 'low emissivity' (the signal isn't as strong) and their radiation brightness temperature is therefore low. Thus the ocean also appears 'low temperature' in the AIRS microwave images and is assigned the color blue. Therefore deep blue areas in storms show where the most precipitation occurs, or where ice crystals are present in the convective cloud tops. Outside of these storm regions, deep blue areas may also occur over the sea surface due to its low radiation emissivity. Land appears much warmer due to its high radiation emissivity.

Vis/NIR Image The AIRS instrument suite contains a sensor that captures radiation in four bands of the visible/near-infrared portion of the electromagetic spectrum. Data from three of these bands are combined to create 'visible' images similar to a snapshot taken with your camera.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Experiment, with its visible, infrared, and microwave detectors, provides a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather. Working in tandem, the three instruments can make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-D map of atmospheric temperature and humidity and provides information on clouds, greenhouse gases, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS Infrared Sounder Experiment flies onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Full-field measurement of surface topographies and thin film stresses at elevated temperatures by digital gradient sensing method.

PubMed

Zhang, Changxing; Qu, Zhe; Fang, Xufei; Feng, Xue; Hwang, Keh-Chih

2015-02-01

Thin film stresses in thin film/substrate systems at elevated temperatures affect the reliability and safety of such structures in microelectronic devices. The stresses result from the thermal mismatch strain between the film and substrate. The reflection mode digital gradient sensing (DGS) method, a real-time, full-field optical technique, measures deformations of reflective surface topographies. In this paper, we developed this method to measure topographies and thin film stresses of thin film/substrate systems at elevated temperatures. We calibrated and compensated for the air convection at elevated temperatures, which is a serious problem for optical techniques. We covered the principles for surface topography measurements by the reflection mode DGS method at elevated temperatures and the governing equations to remove the air convection effects. The proposed method is applied to successfully measure the full-field topography and deformation of a NiTi thin film on a silicon substrate at elevated temperatures. The evolution of thin film stresses obtained by extending Stoney's formula implies the "nonuniform" effect the experimental results have shown.

A numerical study of diurnally varying surface temperature on flow patterns and pollutant dispersion in street canyons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Zijing; Dong, Jingliang; Xiao, Yimin; Tu, Jiyuan

2015-03-01

The impacts of the diurnal variation of surface temperature on street canyon flow pattern and pollutant dispersion are investigated based on a two-dimensional street canyon model under different thermal stratifications. Uneven distributed street temperature conditions and a user-defined wall function representing the heat transfer between the air and the street canyon are integrated into the current numerical model. The prediction accuracy of this model is successfully validated against a published wind tunnel experiment. Then, a series of numerical simulations representing four time scenarios (Morning, Afternoon, Noon and Night) are performed at different Bulk Richardson number (Rb). The results demonstrate that uneven distributed street temperature conditions significantly alters street canyon flow structure and pollutant dispersion characteristics compared with conventional uniform street temperature assumption, especially for the morning event. Moreover, air flow patterns and pollutant dispersion are greatly influenced by diurnal variation of surface temperature under unstable stratification conditions. Furthermore, the residual pollutant in near-ground-zone decreases as Rb increases in noon, afternoon and night events under all studied stability conditions.

Analysis of Upper Air, Ground and Remote Sensing Data for the ATLAS Field Campaign in San Juan, Puerto Rico

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gonzalez, Jorge E.; Luvall, Jeff; Rickman, Douglas; Comarazamy, Daniel; Picon, Ana J.

2005-01-01

The Atlas San Juan Mission was conducted in February 2004 with the main objectives of observing the Urban Heat Island of San Juan, providing high resolution data of the land use for El Yunque Rain Forest and for calibrating remote sensors. The mission was coordinated with NASA staff members at Marsha& Stennis, Goddard, and Glenn. The Airborne Thermal and Land Applications Sensor (ATLAS) from NASA/Stennis, that operates in the visual and IR bands, was used as the main sensor and was flown over Puerto Rico in a Lear 23 jet plane. To support the data gathering effort by the ATLAS sensor, remote sensing observations and upper air soundings were conducted along with the deployment of a number of ground based weather stations and temperature sensors. This presentation focuses in the analysis of this complementary data for the Atlas San Juan Mission. Upper air data show that during the days of the mission the Caribbean mid and high atmospheres were relatively dry and highly stable reflecting positive surface lifted index, a necessary condition to conduct this suborbital campaign. Surface wind patterns at levels below 850mb were dominated by the easterly trades, while the jet stream at the edge of the troposphere dominated the westerly wind at levels above 500mb. The jet stream remained at high latitudes reducing the possibility of fronts. In consequence, only 8.4 mm of precipitation were reported during the entire mission. Observation of soundings located about 150 km apart reflected minimum variations of the boundary layer across the Island for levels below 850 meters and a uniform atmosphere for higher levels. The weather stations and the temperature sensors were placed at strategic locations to observe variations across the urban and rural landscapes. Time series plot of the stations' data show that heavily urbanized commercial areas have higher air temperatures than urban and suburban residential areas, and much higher temperatures than rural areas. Temperature differences [dT(U-R)] were obtained by subtracting the values of several stations h m a reference urban station, located m the commercial area of San Juan. These time series show that the UHI peaks during the morning between 10:00am and noon to an average of 4.5 C, a temporal pattern not previously observed in similar studies for continental cities. It is also observed a high variability of the UHI with the precipitation patterns even for short events. These results may be a reflection of a large land use density by low level buildings with an apparent absence of significant heat storage effects in the urban areas, and the importance of the surrounding soil and vegetation moisture in controlling the urban tropical climate. The ATLAS data was used to determine albedo and surface temperature patterns on a 10m scale for the study area. These data were used to calibrate the spatial distribution of the surface temperature when using remote sensing images from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectradiometer). Surface temperatures were estimated using the land surface temperature product MODII-L2 distributed by the Land Process Distributed Active Archive Center(LP DAAC). These results show the maximum, minimum and average temperatures in San Juan and in the entire Island at a resolution of 1 km. The information retrieved from MODIS for land surface temperatures reflected similar temporal and spatial variations as the weather stations and ATLAS measurements with a highest absolute offset of about 5 C due to the differences between surface and air temperatures.

Analysis of Upper Air, Ground and Remote Sensing Data For the ATLAS Field Campaign in San Juan, Puerto Rico

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gonzalez, J. E.; Luvall, J. C.; Rickman, D.; Comarazamy, D. E.; Picon, A.

2004-01-01

The Atlas San Juan Mission was conducted in February 2004 with the main objectives of observing the Urban Heat Island of San Juan, providing high resolution data of the land use for El Yunque Rain Forest and for calibrating remote sensors. The mission was coordinated with NASA staff members at Marshall, Stennis, Goddard, and Glenn. The Airborne Thermal and Land Applications Sensor (ATLAS) from NASA/Stennis, that operates in the visual and IR bands, was used as the main sensor and was flown over Puerto Rico in a Lear 23 jet plane. To support the data gathering effort by the ATLAS sensor, remote sensing observations and upper air soundings were conducted along with the deployment of a number of ground based weather stations and temperature sensors. This presentation focuses in the analysis of this complementary data for the Atlas San Juan Mission. Upper air data show that during the days of the mission the Caribbean mid and high atmospheres were relatively dry and highly stable reflecting positive surface lifted index, a necessary condition to conduct this suborbital campaign. Surface wind patterns at levels below 850mb were dominated by the easterly trades, while the jet stream at the edge of the troposphere dominated the westerly wind at levels above 500mb. The jet stream remained at high latitudes reducing the possibility of fronts. In consequence, only 8.4 mm of precipitation were reported during the entire mission. Observation of soundings located about 150 km apart reflected minimum variations of the boundary layer across the island for levels below 850 meters and a uniform atmosphere for higher levels. The weather stations and the temperature sensors were placed at strategic locations to observe variations across the urban and rural landscapes. Time series plot of the stations' data show that heavily urbanized commercial areas have higher air temperatures than urban and suburban residential areas, and much higher temperatures than rural areas. Temperature differences [dT(U-R)] were obtained by subtracting the values of several stations from a reference urban station, located in the commercial area of San Juan. These time series show that the UHI peaks during the morning between 10:00am and noon to an average of 4.5 C, a temporal pattern not previously observed in similar studies for continental cities. It is also observed a high variability of the UHI with the precipitation patterns even for short events. These results may be a reflection of a large land use density by low level buildings with an apparent absence of significant heat storage effects in the urban areas, and the importance of the surrounding soil and vegetation moisture in controlling the urban tropical climate. The ATLAS data was used to determine albedo and surface temperature patterns on a 10m scale for the study area. These data were used to calibrate the spatial distribution of the surface temperature when using remote sensing images from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer). Surface temperatures were estimated using the land surface temperature product MOD11_L2 distributed by the Land Process Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC). These results show the maximum, minimum and average temperatures in San Juan and in the entire Island at a resolution of 1 km. The information retrieved from MODIS for land surface temperatures reflected similar temporal and spatial variations as the weather stations and ATLAS measurements with a highest absolute offset of about 5 C due to the differences between surface and air temperatures.

The experimental investigation of the ignition petrol mechanism at high temperature metal single particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zakharevich, Arkadiy V.; Osotova, Diana S.

2015-01-01

The flammable substance by single "hot" metallic particle ignition mechanism are experimentally investigated. On the basis experimental data it is established that the gasoline ignition occurs only with interaction of the mixture of its vapors with air and "hot" particle with the vapors concentrations, which correspond to the evaporating the gasoline conditions at room temperatures. The probability of gasoline vapors mixture with air igniting rapidly is reduced in proportion to their withdrawal from the evaporation surface. Ignition occurs neither in the vapor phase nor on the gasoline surface, even if particle is immersed in it in full or in partly, if the particle temperature is lower than the critical.

Catalytic combustion of hydrogen-air mixtures in stagnation flows

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ikeda, H.; Libby, P.A.; Williams, F.A.

1993-04-01

The interaction between heterogeneous and homogeneous reactions arising when a mixture of hydrogen and air impinges on a platinum plate at elevated temperature is studied. A reasonably complete description of the kinetic mechanism for homogeneous reactions is employed along with a simplified model for heterogeneous reactions. Four regimes are identified depending on the temperature of the plate, on the rate of strain imposed on the flow adjacent to the plate and on the composition and temperature of the reactant stream: (1) surface reaction alone; (2) surface reaction inhibiting homogeneous reaction; (3) homogeneous reaction inhibiting surface reaction; and (4) homogeneous reactionmore » alone. These regimes are related to those found earlier for other chemical systems and form the basis of future experimental investigation of the chemical system considered in the present study.« less

Performance Enhancement of a High Speed Jet Impingement System for Nonvolatile Residue Removal

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klausner, James F.; Mei, Renwei; Near, Steve; Stith, Rex

1996-01-01

A high speed jet impingement cleaning facility has been developed to study the effectiveness of the nonvolatile residue removal. The facility includes a high pressure air compressor which charges the k-bottles to supply high pressure air, an air heating section to vary the temperature of the high pressure air, an air-water mixing chamber to meter the water flow and generate small size droplets, and a converging- diverging nozzle to deliver the supersonic air-droplet mixture flow to the cleaning surface. To reliably quantify the cleanliness of the surface, a simple procedure for measurement and calibration is developed to relate the amount of the residue on the surface to the relative change in the reflectivity between a clean surface and the greased surface. This calibration procedure is economical, simple, reliable, and robust. a theoretical framework is developed to provide qualitative guidance for the design of the test and interpretation of the experimental results. The result documented in this report support the theoretical considerations.

Predictive Model of Supercooled Water Droplet Pinning/Repulsion Impacting a Superhydrophobic Surface: The Role of the Gas-Liquid Interface Temperature.

PubMed

Mohammadi, Morteza; Tembely, Moussa; Dolatabadi, Ali

2017-02-28

Dynamical analysis of an impacting liquid drop on superhydrophobic surfaces is mostly carried out by evaluating the droplet contact time and maximum spreading diameter. In this study, we present a general transient model of the droplet spreading diameter developed from the previously defined mass-spring model for bouncing drops. The effect of viscosity was also considered in the model by definition of a dash-pot term extracted from experiments on various viscous liquid droplets on a superhydrophobic surface. Furthermore, the resultant shear force of the stagnation air flow was also considered with the help of the classical Homann flow approach. It was clearly shown that the proposed model predicts the maximum spreading diameter and droplet contact time very well. On the other hand, where stagnation air flow is present in contradiction to the theoretical model, the droplet contact time was reduced as a function of both droplet Weber numbers and incoming air velocities. Indeed, the reduction in the droplet contact time (e.g., 35% at a droplet Weber number of up to 140) was justified by the presence of a formed thin air layer underneath the impacting drop on the superhydrophobic surface (i.e., full slip condition). Finally, the droplet wetting model was also further developed to account for low temperature through the incorporation of classical nucleation theory. Homogeneous ice nucleation was integrated into the model through the concept of the reduction of the supercooled water drop surface tension as a function of the gas-liquid interface temperature, which was directly correlated with the Nusselt number of incoming air flow. It was shown that the experimental results was qualitatively predicted by the proposed model under all supercooling conditions (i.e., from -10 to -30 °C).

Physical Retrieval of Surface Emissivity Spectrum from Hyperspectral Infrared Radiances

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Li, Jun; Weisz, Elisabeth; Zhou, Daniel K.

2007-01-01

Retrieval of temperature, moisture profiles and surface skin temperature from hyperspectral infrared (IR) radiances requires spectral information about the surface emissivity. Using constant or inaccurate surface emissivities typically results in large retrieval errors, particularly over semi-arid or arid areas where the variation in emissivity spectrum is large both spectrally and spatially. In this study, a physically based algorithm has been developed to retrieve a hyperspectral IR emissivity spectrum simultaneously with the temperature and moisture profiles, as well as the surface skin temperature. To make the solution stable and efficient, the hyperspectral emissivity spectrum is represented by eigenvectors, derived from the laboratory measured hyperspectral emissivity database, in the retrieval process. Experience with AIRS (Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder) radiances shows that a simultaneous retrieval of the emissivity spectrum and the sounding improves the surface skin temperature as well as temperature and moisture profiles, particularly in the near surface layer.

Surface-atmosphere decoupling limits accumulation at Summit, Greenland.

PubMed

Berkelhammer, Max; Noone, David C; Steen-Larsen, Hans Christian; Bailey, Adriana; Cox, Christopher J; O'Neill, Michael S; Schneider, David; Steffen, Konrad; White, James W C

2016-04-01

Despite rapid melting in the coastal regions of the Greenland Ice Sheet, a significant area (~40%) of the ice sheet rarely experiences surface melting. In these regions, the controls on annual accumulation are poorly constrained owing to surface conditions (for example, surface clouds, blowing snow, and surface inversions), which render moisture flux estimates from myriad approaches (that is, eddy covariance, remote sensing, and direct observations) highly uncertain. Accumulation is partially determined by the temperature dependence of saturation vapor pressure, which influences the maximum humidity of air parcels reaching the ice sheet interior. However, independent proxies for surface temperature and accumulation from ice cores show that the response of accumulation to temperature is variable and not generally consistent with a purely thermodynamic control. Using three years of stable water vapor isotope profiles from a high altitude site on the Greenland Ice Sheet, we show that as the boundary layer becomes increasingly stable, a decoupling between the ice sheet and atmosphere occurs. The limited interaction between the ice sheet surface and free tropospheric air reduces the capacity for surface condensation to achieve the rate set by the humidity of the air parcels reaching interior Greenland. The isolation of the surface also acts to recycle sublimated moisture by recondensing it onto fog particles, which returns the moisture back to the surface through gravitational settling. The observations highlight a unique mechanism by which ice sheet mass is conserved, which has implications for understanding both past and future changes in accumulation rate and the isotopic signal in ice cores from Greenland.

Surface-atmosphere decoupling limits accumulation at Summit, Greenland

PubMed Central

Berkelhammer, Max; Noone, David C.; Steen-Larsen, Hans Christian; Bailey, Adriana; Cox, Christopher J.; O’Neill, Michael S.; Schneider, David; Steffen, Konrad; White, James W. C.

2016-01-01

Despite rapid melting in the coastal regions of the Greenland Ice Sheet, a significant area (~40%) of the ice sheet rarely experiences surface melting. In these regions, the controls on annual accumulation are poorly constrained owing to surface conditions (for example, surface clouds, blowing snow, and surface inversions), which render moisture flux estimates from myriad approaches (that is, eddy covariance, remote sensing, and direct observations) highly uncertain. Accumulation is partially determined by the temperature dependence of saturation vapor pressure, which influences the maximum humidity of air parcels reaching the ice sheet interior. However, independent proxies for surface temperature and accumulation from ice cores show that the response of accumulation to temperature is variable and not generally consistent with a purely thermodynamic control. Using three years of stable water vapor isotope profiles from a high altitude site on the Greenland Ice Sheet, we show that as the boundary layer becomes increasingly stable, a decoupling between the ice sheet and atmosphere occurs. The limited interaction between the ice sheet surface and free tropospheric air reduces the capacity for surface condensation to achieve the rate set by the humidity of the air parcels reaching interior Greenland. The isolation of the surface also acts to recycle sublimated moisture by recondensing it onto fog particles, which returns the moisture back to the surface through gravitational settling. The observations highlight a unique mechanism by which ice sheet mass is conserved, which has implications for understanding both past and future changes in accumulation rate and the isotopic signal in ice cores from Greenland. PMID:27386509

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Donald, Scott B.; Siekhaus, Wigbert J.; Nelson, Art J.

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in combination with secondary ion mass spectrometry depth profiling were used to investigate the surface and interfacial chemistry of C + ion implanted polycrystalline uranium subsequently oxidized in air for over 10 years at ambient temperature. The original implantation of 33 keV C + ions into U 238 with a dose of 4.3 × 10 17 cm –3 produced a physically and chemically modified surface layer that was characterized and shown to initially prevent air oxidation and corrosion of the uranium after 1 year in air at ambient temperature. The aging of the surface and interfacial layersmore » were examined by using the chemical shift of the U 4f, C 1s, and O 1s photoelectron lines. In addition, valence band spectra were used to explore the electronic structure of the aged carbide surface and interface layer. Moreover, the time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry depth profiling results for the aged sample confirmed an oxidized uranium carbide layer over the carbide layer/U metal interface.« less

Trends of urban surface temperature and heat island characteristics in the Mediterranean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benas, Nikolaos; Chrysoulakis, Nektarios; Cartalis, Constantinos

2017-11-01

Urban air temperature studies usually focus on the urban canopy heat island phenomenon, whereby the city center experiences higher near surface air temperatures compared to its surrounding non-urban areas. The Land Surface Temperature (LST) is used instead of urban air temperature to identify the Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI). In this study, the nighttime LST and SUHI characteristics and trends in the seventeen largest Mediterranean cities were investigated, by analyzing satellite observations for the period 2001-2012. SUHI averages and trends were based on an innovative approach of comparing urban pixels to randomly selected non-urban pixels, which carries the potential to better standardize satellite-derived SUHI estimations. A positive trend for both LST and SUHI for the majority of the examined cities was documented. Furthermore, a 0.1 °C decade-1 increase in urban LST corresponded to an increase in SUHI by about 0.04 °C decade-1. A longitudinal differentiation was found in the urban LST trends, with higher positive values appearing in the eastern Mediterranean. Examination of urban infrastructure and development factors during the same period revealed correlations with SUHI trends, which can be used to explain differences among cities. However, the majority of the cities examined show considerably increased trends in terms of the enhancement of SUHI. These findings are considered important so as to promote sustainable urbanization, as well as to support the development of heat island adaptation and mitigation plans in the Mediterranean.

An Examination of Body Temperature for the Rocky Intertidal Mussel species, Mytilus californianus, Using Remotely Sensed Satellite Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Price, J.; Liff, H.; Lakshmi, V.

2012-12-01

Temperature is considered to be one of the most important physical factors in determining organismal distribution and physiological performance of species in rocky intertidal ecosystems, especially the growth and survival of mussels. However, little is known about the spatial and temporal patterns of temperature in intertidal ecosystems or how those patterns affect intertidal mussel species because of limitations in data collection. We collected in situ temperature at Strawberry Hill, Oregon USA using mussel loggers embedded among the intertidal mussel species, Mytilus californianus. Remotely sensed surface temperatures were used in conjunction with in situ weather and ocean data to determine if remotely sensed surface temperatures can be used as a predictor for changes in the body temperature of a rocky intertidal mussel species. The data used in this study was collected between January 2003 and December 2010. The mussel logger temperatures were compared to in situ weather data collected from a local weather station, ocean data collected from a NOAA buoy, and remotely sensed surface temperatures collected from NASA's sun-synchronous Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aboard the Earth Observing System Aqua and EOS Terra satellites. Daily surface temperatures were collected from four pixel locations which included two sea surface temperature (SST) locations and two land surface temperature (LST) locations. One of the land pixels was chosen to represent the intertidal surface temperature (IST) because it was located within the intertidal zone. As expected, all surface temperatures collected via satellite were significantly correlated to each other and the associated in situ temperatures. Examination of temperatures from the off-shore NOAA buoy and the weather station provide evidence that remotely sensed temperatures were similar to in situ temperature data and explain more variability in mussel logger temperatures than the in situ temperatures. Our results suggest that temperatures (surface temperature and air temperature) are similar across larger spatial scales even when the type of data collection is different. Mussel logger temperatures were strongly correlated to SSTs and were not significantly different than SSTs. Sea surface temperature collected during the Aqua overpass explained 67.1% of the variation in mean monthly mussel logger temperature. When SST, LST, and IST were taken into consideration, nearly 73% of the variation in mussel logger temperature was explained. While in situ monthly air temperature and water temperature explained only 28-33% of the variation in mussel logger temperature. Our results suggests that remotely sensed surface temperatures are reliable and important measurements that can be used to better understand the effects temperature may have on intertidal mussel species in Strawberry Hill, Oregon. Remotely sensed surface temperature could act as a relative indicator of change and may be used to predict general habitat trends and drivers that could directly affect organism body temperature.

Statistics of surface divergence and their relation to air-water gas transfer velocity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asher, William E.; Liang, Hanzhuang; Zappa, Christopher J.; Loewen, Mark R.; Mukto, Moniz A.; Litchendorf, Trina M.; Jessup, Andrew T.

2012-05-01

Air-sea gas fluxes are generally defined in terms of the air/water concentration difference of the gas and the gas transfer velocity,kL. Because it is difficult to measure kLin the ocean, it is often parameterized using more easily measured physical properties. Surface divergence theory suggests that infrared (IR) images of the water surface, which contain information concerning the movement of water very near the air-water interface, might be used to estimatekL. Therefore, a series of experiments testing whether IR imagery could provide a convenient means for estimating the surface divergence applicable to air-sea exchange were conducted in a synthetic jet array tank embedded in a wind tunnel. Gas transfer velocities were measured as a function of wind stress and mechanically generated turbulence; laser-induced fluorescence was used to measure the concentration of carbon dioxide in the top 300 μm of the water surface; IR imagery was used to measure the spatial and temporal distribution of the aqueous skin temperature; and particle image velocimetry was used to measure turbulence at a depth of 1 cm below the air-water interface. It is shown that an estimate of the surface divergence for both wind-shear driven turbulence and mechanically generated turbulence can be derived from the surface skin temperature. The estimates derived from the IR images are compared to velocity field divergences measured by the PIV and to independent estimates of the divergence made using the laser-induced fluorescence data. Divergence is shown to scale withkLvalues measured using gaseous tracers as predicted by conceptual models for both wind-driven and mechanically generated turbulence.

Synergy between air pollution and urban meteorological changes through aerosol-radiation-diffusion feedback―A case study of Beijing in January 2013

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kajino, Mizuo; Ueda, Hiromasa; Han, Zhiwei; Kudo, Rei; Inomata, Yayoi; Kaku, Hidenori

2017-12-01

The interactions of aerosol-radiation-stratification-turbulence-cloud processes during a severe haze event in Beijing in January 2013 were studied using a numerical model. For the clear days, solar radiation flux was reduced by approximately 15% and surface temperature was slightly decreased from 0 to 0.5 K throughout the day and night, except for a 1.4 K decrease around sunrise when fog was presented. The longwave radiation cooling was intensified by the fog or drizzle droplets near the top of the fog layer. Thus, in Beijing, both in the daytime and at night, the surface air temperature was decreased by air pollutants. In the presence of the low-level stratus and light precipitation, the modification of meteorology by aerosols was amplified and changed the wind speed and direction much more significantly compared to clear days. The non-linear effect (or positive feedback) of pollutant emission control on the surface air concentration was newly assessed―severe air pollution leads to the intensification of stable stratification near the surface at night and delays the evolution of the mixing layer, which in turn causes more severe air pollution. The non-linear effect was not significant for the current emission levels in the current case, approximately 10%. In another word, the mixing ratio of aerosols became higher by 10% due to their radiation effects.

Seasonal Ice Zone Reconnaissance Surveys Coordination

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-30

profiler (AXCP) ocean velocity shear (Morison), UpTempO buoy measurements of sea surface temperature (SST), sea level atmospheric pressure ( SLP ), and...and prediction…. Steele UpTempO buoy drops for SLP , SST, SSS, & surface velocity Visible and Thermal Images of the SIZ from the Coast Guard...Expendable CTD, AXCP= Air Expendable Current Profiler, SLP = Sea Level atmospheric Pressure, SST= Seas Surface Temperature, A/C= aircraft, SIC=Sea Ice

Using Machine learning method to estimate Air Temperature from MODIS over Berlin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marzban, F.; Preusker, R.; Sodoudi, S.; Taheri, H.; Allahbakhshi, M.

2015-12-01

Land Surface Temperature (LST) is defined as the temperature of the interface between the Earth's surface and its atmosphere and thus it is a critical variable to understand land-atmosphere interactions and a key parameter in meteorological and hydrological studies, which is involved in energy fluxes. Air temperature (Tair) is one of the most important input variables in different spatially distributed hydrological, ecological models. The estimation of near surface air temperature is useful for a wide range of applications. Some applications from traffic or energy management, require Tair data in high spatial and temporal resolution at two meters height above the ground (T2m), sometimes in near-real-time. Thus, a parameterization based on boundary layer physical principles was developed that determines the air temperature from remote sensing data (MODIS). Tair is commonly obtained from synoptic measurements in weather stations. However, the derivation of near surface air temperature from the LST derived from satellite is far from straight forward. T2m is not driven directly by the sun, but indirectly by LST, thus T2m can be parameterized from the LST and other variables such as Albedo, NDVI, Water vapor and etc. Most of the previous studies have focused on estimating T2m based on simple and advanced statistical approaches, Temperature-Vegetation index and energy-balance approaches but the main objective of this research is to explore the relationships between T2m and LST in Berlin by using Artificial intelligence method with the aim of studying key variables to allow us establishing suitable techniques to obtain Tair from satellite Products and ground data. Secondly, an attempt was explored to identify an individual mix of attributes that reveals a particular pattern to better understanding variation of T2m during day and nighttime over the different area of Berlin. For this reason, a three layer Feedforward neural networks is considered with LMA algorithm. Considering the different relationships between T2m and LST for different land types enable us to improve better parameterization for determination of the best non-linear relation between LST and T2m over Berlin during day and nighttime. The results of the study will be presented and discussed.

Tropical Storm Erin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2007-01-01

Location: The Atlantic Ocean 210 miles south of Galveston, Texas Categorization: Tropical Storm Sustained Winds: 40 mph (60 km/hr)

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Infrared ImageMicrowave Image

Infrared Images Because infrared radiation does not penetrate through clouds, AIRS infrared images show either the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of the storm. In cloud-free areas the AIRS instrument will receive the infrared radiation from the surface of the Earth, resulting in the warmest temperatures (orange/red).

Microwave Images In the AIRS microwave imagery, deep blue areas in storms show where the most precipitation occurs, or where ice crystals are present in the convective cloud tops. Outside of these storm regions, deep blue areas may also occur over the sea surface due to its low radiation emissivity. On the other hand, land appears much warmer due to its high radiation emissivity.

Microwave radiation from Earth's surface and lower atmosphere penetrates most clouds to a greater or lesser extent depending upon their water vapor, liquid water and ice content. Precipitation, and ice crystals found at the cloud tops where strong convection is taking place, act as barriers to microwave radiation. Because of this barrier effect, the AIRS microwave sensor detects only the radiation arising at or above their location in the atmospheric column. Where these barriers are not present, the microwave sensor detects radiation arising throughout the air column and down to the surface. Liquid surfaces (oceans, lakes and rivers) have 'low emissivity' (the signal isn't as strong) and their radiation brightness temperature is therefore low. Thus the ocean also appears 'low temperature' in the AIRS microwave images and is assigned the color blue. Therefore deep blue areas in storms show where the most precipitation occurs, or where ice crystals are present in the convective cloud tops. Outside of these storm regions, deep blue areas may also occur over the sea surface due to its low radiation emissivity. Land appears much warmer due to its high radiation emissivity.

Visible/Near-Infrared Images The AIRS instrument suite contains a sensor that captures radiation in four bands of the visible/near-infrared portion of the electromagetic spectrum. Data from three of these bands are combined to create 'visible' images similar to a snapshot taken with your camera.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Experiment, with its visible, infrared, and microwave detectors, provides a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather. Working in tandem, the three instruments can make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-D map of atmospheric temperature and humidity and provides information on clouds, greenhouse gases, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS Infrared Sounder Experiment flies onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Regulation of Heat Exchange across the Hornbill Beak: Functional Similarities with Toucans?

PubMed Central

Martin, R. O.; Vink, T. J. F.; McKechnie, A. E.; Cunningham, S. J.

2016-01-01

Beaks are increasingly recognised as important contributors to avian thermoregulation. Several studies supporting Allen’s rule demonstrate how beak size is under strong selection related to latitude and/or air temperature (Ta). Moreover, active regulation of heat transfer from the beak has recently been demonstrated in a toucan (Ramphastos toco, Ramphastidae), with the large beak acting as an important contributor to heat dissipation. We hypothesised that hornbills (Bucerotidae) likewise use their large beaks for non-evaporative heat dissipation, and used thermal imaging to quantify heat exchange over a range of air temperatures in eighteen desert-living Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills (Tockus leucomelas). We found that hornbills dissipate heat via the beak at air temperatures between 30.7°C and 41.4°C. The difference between beak surface and environmental temperatures abruptly increased when air temperature was within ~10°C below body temperature, indicating active regulation of heat loss. Maximum observed heat loss via the beak was 19.9% of total non-evaporative heat loss across the body surface. Heat loss per unit surface area via the beak more than doubled at Ta > 30.7°C compared to Ta < 30.7°C and at its peak dissipated 25.1 W m-2. Maximum heat flux rate across the beak of toucans under comparable convective conditions was calculated to be as high as 61.4 W m-2. The threshold air temperature at which toucans vasodilated their beak was lower than that of the hornbills, and thus had a larger potential for heat loss at lower air temperatures. Respiratory cooling (panting) thresholds were also lower in toucans compared to hornbills. Both beak vasodilation and panting threshold temperatures are potentially explained by differences in acclimation to environmental conditions and in the efficiency of evaporative cooling under differing environmental conditions. We speculate that non-evaporative heat dissipation may be a particularly important mechanism for animals inhabiting humid regions, such as toucans, and less critical for animals residing in more arid conditions, such as Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills. Alternatively, differences in beak morphology and hardness enforced by different diets may affect the capacity of birds to use the beak for non-evaporative heat loss. PMID:27192218

Measuring Thermal Characteristics of Urban Landscapes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luvall, Jeffrey C.; Quattrochi, Dale A.; Rickman, Doug L.

1999-01-01

The additional heating of the air over the city is the result of the replacement of naturally vegetated surfaces with those composed of asphalt, concrete, rooftops and other man-made materials. The temperatures of these artificial surfaces can be 20 to 40 C higher than vegetated surfaces. Materials such as asphalt store much of the sun's energy and remains hot long after sunset. This produces a dome of elevated air temperatures 5 to 8 C greater over the city, compared to the air temperatures over adjacent rural areas. This effect is called the "urban heat island". Urban landscapes are a complex mixture of vegetated and nonvegetated surfaces. It is difficult to take enough temperature measurements over a large city area to characterize the complexity of urban radiant surface temperature variability. However, the use of remotely sensed thermal data from airborne scanners are ideal for the task. In a study funded by NASA, a series of flights over Huntsville, Alabama were performed in September 1994 and over Atlanta, Georgia in May 1997. Analysis of thermal energy responses for specific or discrete surfaces typical of the urban landscape (e.g., asphalt, building rooftops, vegetation) requires measurements at a very fine spatial scale (i.e., <15 m) to adequately resolve these surfaces and their attendant thermal energy regimes. Additionally, very fine scale spatial resolution thermal infrared data, such as that obtained from aircraft, are very useful for demonstrating to planning officials, policy makers, and the general populace, what the benefits are of the urban forest in both mitigating the urban heat island effect, in making cities more aesthetically pleasing and more habitable environments, and in overall cooling of the community. In this presentation we will examine the techniques of analyzing remotely sensed data for measuring the effect of various urban surfaces on their contribution to the urban heat island effect.

Oceanographic, Air-sea Interaction, and Environmental Aspects of Artificial Upwelling Produced by Wave-Inertia Pumps for Potential Hurricane Intensity Mitigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soloviev, A.; Dean, C.

2017-12-01

The artificial upwelling system consisting of the wave-inertia pumps driven by surface waves can produce flow of cold deep water to the surface. One of the recently proposed potential applications of the artificial upwelling system is the hurricane intensity mitigation. Even relatively small reduction of intensity may provide significant benefits. The ocean heat content (OHC) is the "fuel" for hurricanes. The OHC can be reduced by mixing of the surface layer with the cold water produced by wave-inertia pumps. Implementation of this system for hurricane mitigation has several oceanographic and air-sea interaction aspects. The cold water brought to the surface from a deeper layer has higher density than the surface water and, therefore, tends to sink back down. The mixing of the cold water produced by artificial upwelling depends on environmental conditions such as stratification, regional ocean circulation, and vertical shear. Another aspect is that as the sea surface temperature drops below the air temperature, the stable stratification develops in the atmospheric boundary layer. The stable atmospheric stratification suppresses sensible and latent heat air-sea fluxes and reduces the net longwave irradiance from the sea surface. As a result, the artificial upwelling may start increasing the OHC (though still reducing the sea surface temperature). In this work, the fate of the cold water in the stratified environment with vertical shear has been studied using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools. A 3D large eddy simulation model is initialized with observational temperature, salinity, and current velocity data from a sample location in the Straits of Florida. A periodic boundary condition is set along the direction of the current, which allows us to simulate infinite fetch. The model results indicate that the cold water brought to the sea surface by a wave-inertia pump forms a convective jet. This jet plunges into the upper ocean mixed layer and penetrates the thermocline. On the way down, the jet partially mixes with the surrounding water reducing the temperature of the upper ocean. The OHC thus can either reduce or increase, depending on the wave-inertia pump parameters. Based on the model results, we discuss feasibility of the implementation of the artificial upwelling system for hurricane intensity mitigation.

Impacts of land cover changes on climate trends in Jiangxi province China.

PubMed

Wang, Qi; Riemann, Dirk; Vogt, Steffen; Glaser, Rüdiger

2014-07-01

Land-use/land-cover (LULC) change is an important climatic force, and is also affected by climate change. In the present study, we aimed to assess the regional scale impact of LULC on climate change using Jiangxi Province, China, as a case study. To obtain reliable climate trends, we applied the standard normal homogeneity test (SNHT) to surface air temperature and precipitation data for the period 1951-1999. We also compared the temperature trends computed from Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) datasets and from our analysis. To examine the regional impacts of land surface types on surface air temperature and precipitation change integrating regional topography, we used the observation minus reanalysis (OMR) method. Precipitation series were found to be homogeneous. Comparison of GHCN and our analysis on adjusted temperatures indicated that the resulting climate trends varied slightly from dataset to dataset. OMR trends associated with surface vegetation types revealed a strong surface warming response to land barrenness and weak warming response to land greenness. A total of 81.1% of the surface warming over vegetation index areas (0-0.2) was attributed to surface vegetation type change and regional topography. The contribution of surface vegetation type change decreases as land cover greenness increases. The OMR precipitation trend has a weak dependence on surface vegetation type change. We suggest that LULC integrating regional topography should be considered as a force in regional climate modeling.

Single-footprint retrievals of temperature, water vapor and cloud properties from AIRS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irion, Fredrick W.; Kahn, Brian H.; Schreier, Mathias M.; Fetzer, Eric J.; Fishbein, Evan; Fu, Dejian; Kalmus, Peter; Wilson, R. Chris; Wong, Sun; Yue, Qing

2018-02-01

Single-footprint Atmospheric Infrared Sounder spectra are used in an optimal estimation-based algorithm (AIRS-OE) for simultaneous retrieval of atmospheric temperature, water vapor, surface temperature, cloud-top temperature, effective cloud optical depth and effective cloud particle radius. In a departure from currently operational AIRS retrievals (AIRS V6), cloud scattering and absorption are in the radiative transfer forward model and AIRS single-footprint thermal infrared data are used directly rather than cloud-cleared spectra (which are calculated using nine adjacent AIRS infrared footprints). Coincident MODIS cloud data are used for cloud a priori data. Using single-footprint spectra improves the horizontal resolution of the AIRS retrieval from ˜ 45 to ˜ 13.5 km at nadir, but as microwave data are not used, the retrieval is not made at altitudes below thick clouds. An outline of the AIRS-OE retrieval procedure and information content analysis is presented. Initial comparisons of AIRS-OE to AIRS V6 results show increased horizontal detail in the water vapor and relative humidity fields in the free troposphere above the clouds. Initial comparisons of temperature, water vapor and relative humidity profiles with coincident radiosondes show good agreement. Future improvements to the retrieval algorithm, and to the forward model in particular, are discussed.

Regional climates in the GISS general circulation model: Surface air temperature

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hewitson, Bruce

1994-01-01

One of the more viable research techniques into global climate change for the purpose of understanding the consequent environmental impacts is based on the use of general circulation models (GCMs). However, GCMs are currently unable to reliably predict the regional climate change resulting from global warming, and it is at the regional scale that predictions are required for understanding human and environmental responses. Regional climates in the extratropics are in large part governed by the synoptic-scale circulation and the feasibility of using this interscale relationship is explored to provide a way of moving to grid cell and sub-grid cell scales in the model. The relationships between the daily circulation systems and surface air temperature for points across the continental United States are first developed in a quantitative form using a multivariate index based on principal components analysis (PCA) of the surface circulation. These relationships are then validated by predicting daily temperature using observed circulation and comparing the predicted values with the observed temperatures. The relationships predict surface temperature accurately over the major portion of the country in winter, and for half the country in summer. These relationships are then applied to the surface synoptic circulation of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) GCM control run, and a set of surface grid cell temperatures are generated. These temperatures, based on the larger-scale validated circulation, may now be used with greater confidence at the regional scale. The generated temperatures are compared to those of the model and show that the model has regional errors of up to 10 C in individual grid cells.

Greenland coastal air temperatures linked to Baffin Bay and Greenland Sea ice conditions during autumn through regional blocking patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ballinger, Thomas J.; Hanna, Edward; Hall, Richard J.; Miller, Jeffrey; Ribergaard, Mads H.; Høyer, Jacob L.

2018-01-01

Variations in sea ice freeze onset and regional sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in Baffin Bay and Greenland Sea are linked to autumn surface air temperatures (SATs) around coastal Greenland through 500 hPa blocking patterns, 1979-2014. We find strong, statistically significant correlations between Baffin Bay freeze onset and SSTs and SATs across the western and southernmost coastal areas, while weaker and fewer significant correlations are found between eastern SATs, SSTs, and freeze periods observed in the neighboring Greenland Sea. Autumn Greenland Blocking Index values and the incidence of meridional circulation patterns have increased over the modern sea ice monitoring era. Increased anticyclonic blocking patterns promote poleward transport of warm air from lower latitudes and local warm air advection onshore from ocean-atmosphere sensible heat exchange through ice-free or thin ice-covered seas bordering the coastal stations. Temperature composites by years of extreme late freeze conditions, occurring since 2006 in Baffin Bay, reveal positive monthly SAT departures that often exceed 1 standard deviation from the 1981-2010 climate normal over coastal areas that exhibit a similar spatial pattern as the peak correlations.

Lubricant-infused micro/nano-structured surfaces with tunable dynamic omniphobicity at high temperatures

DOE PAGES

Daniel, Daniel; Mankin, Max N.; Belisle, Rebecca A.; ...

2013-06-10

Omniphobic surfaces that can repel fluids at temperatures higher than 100 °C are rare. Most state-of- the-art liquid-repellent materials are based on the lotus effect, where a thin air layer is maintained throughout micro/nanotextures leading to high mobility of liquids. However, such behavior eventually fails at elevated temperatures when the surface tension of test liquids decreases significantly. Here, we demonstrate a class of lubricant-infused structured surfaces that can maintain a robust omniphobic state even for low-surface-tension liquids at temperatures up to at least 200 °C. We also demonstrate how liquid mobility on such surfaces can be tuned by a factormore » of 1000.« less

Assessing the ability of mechanistic volatilization models to simulate soil surface conditions: a study with the Volt'Air model.

PubMed

Garcia, L; Bedos, C; Génermont, S; Braud, I; Cellier, P

2011-09-01

Ammonia and pesticide volatilization in the field is a surface phenomenon involving physical and chemical processes that depend on the soil surface temperature and water content. The water transfer, heat transfer and energy budget sub models of volatilization models are adapted from the most commonly accepted formalisms and parameterizations. They are less detailed than the dedicated models describing water and heat transfers and surface status. The aim of this work was to assess the ability of one of the available mechanistic volatilization models, Volt'Air, to accurately describe the pedo-climatic conditions of a soil surface at the required time and space resolution. The assessment involves: (i) a sensitivity analysis, (ii) an evaluation of Volt'Air outputs in the light of outputs from a reference Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere Transfer model (SiSPAT) and three experimental datasets, and (iii) the study of three tests based on modifications of SiSPAT to establish the potential impact of the simplifying assumptions used in Volt'Air. The analysis confirmed that a 5 mm surface layer was well suited, and that Volt'Air surface temperature correlated well with the experimental measurements as well as with SiSPAT outputs. In terms of liquid water transfers, Volt'Air was overall consistent with SiSPAT, with discrepancies only during major rainfall events and dry weather conditions. The tests enabled us to identify the main source of the discrepancies between Volt'Air and SiSPAT: the lack of gaseous water transfer description in Volt'Air. They also helped to explain why neither Volt'Air nor SiSPAT was able to represent lower values of surface water content: current classical water retention and hydraulic conductivity models are not yet adapted to cases of very dry conditions. Given the outcomes of this study, we discuss to what extent the volatilization models can be improved and the questions they pose for current research in water transfer modeling and parameterization. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PERSPECTIVE Working towards a community-wide understanding of satellite skin temperature observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shreve, Cheney

2010-12-01

With more than sixty free and publicly available high-quality datasets, including ecosystem variables, radiation budget variables, and land cover products, the MODIS instrument and the MODIS scientific team have contributed significantly to scientific investigations of ecosystems across the globe. The MODIS instrument, launched in December 1999, has 36 spectral bands, a viewing swath of 2330 km, and acquires data at 250 m, 500 m, and 1000 m spatial resolution every one to two days. Radiation budget variables include surface reflectance, skin temperature, emissivity, and albedo, to list a few. Ecosystem variables include several vegetation indices and productivity measures. Land cover characteristics encompass land cover classifications as well as model parameters and vegetation classifications. Many of these products are instrumental in constraining global climate models and climate change studies, as well as monitoring events such as the recent flooding in Pakistan, the unprecedented oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, or phytoplankton bloom in the Barents Sea. While product validation efforts by the MODIS scientific team are both vigorous and continually improving, validation is unquestionably one of the most difficult tasks when dealing with remotely derived datasets, especially at the global scale. The quality and availability of MODIS data have led to widespread usage in the scientific community that has further contributed to validation and development of the MODIS products. In their recent paper entitled 'Land surface skin temperature climatology: benefitting from the strengths of satellite observations', Jin and Dickinson review the scientific theory behind, and demonstrate application of, a MODIS temperature product: surface skin temperature. Utilizing datasets from the Global Historical Climatological Network (GHCN), daily skin and air temperature from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program, and MODIS products (skin temperature, albedo, land cover, water vapor, cloud cover), they show that skin temperature is clearly a different physical parameter from air temperature and varies from air temperature in magnitude, response to atmospheric conditions, and diurnal phase. Although the accuracy of skin temperature (Tskin) algorithms has improved to within 0.5-1°C for field measurements and clear-sky satellite observations (Becker and Li 1995, Goetz et al 1995, Wan and Dozier 1996), general confusion regarding the physical definition of 'surface temperature' and how it can be used for climate studies has persisted throughout the scientific community and limited the applications of these data (Jin and Dickinson 2010). For example, satellite sea surface temperature was used as evidence of global climate change instead of skin temperature in the IPCC 2001 and 2007 reports (Jin and Dickinson 2010). This work provides clarity in the theoretical definition of temperature variables, demonstrates the difference between air and skin temperature, and aids the understanding of the MODIS Tskin product, which could be very beneficial for future climate studies. As outlined by Jin and Dickinson, 'surface temperature' is a vague term commonly used in reference to air temperature, aerodynamic temperature, and skin temperature. Air temperature (Tair), or thermodynamic temperature, is measured by an in situ instrument usually 1.5-2 m above the ground. Aerodynamic temperature (Taero) refers to the temperature at the height of the roughness length of heat. Satellite derived skin temperature (Tskin) is the radiometric temperature derived from the inverse of Planck's function. While these different temperature variables are typically correlated, they differ as a result of environmental conditions (e.g. land cover and sky conditions; Jin and Dickinson 2010). With an extensive network of Tair measurements, some have questioned the benefits of using Tskin at all (Peterson et al 1997, 1998). Tskin and Tair can vary depending on land cover or sky conditions and variations may be large, e.g., for sparsely vegetated areas where net radiation is largely balanced by sensible heat flux (Hall et al 1992, Sun and Mahrt 1995, Jin et al 1997). Tskin can be higher than Taero at midday and lower at night (Sun and Mahrt 1995) and some models use Taero to approximate surface radiative temperature (Hubband and Monteith 1986). One of the strengths of the MODIS instrument is the simultaneous collection of surface and atmospheric conditions. By incorporating a range of MODIS variables in their comparison to Tskin, the authors examine the relationship of Tskin to atmospheric and surface conditions. Results from their global evaluation of Tskin highlight its variability on an inter-annual basis, its variation with solar zenith angle, and diurnal variations, which are not achievable with Tair measurements. Comparison with land cover type illustrates the seasonality of Tskin for different land covers. Comparison with the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) suggests more vegetation reduces skin temperature. Using the MODIS albedo, they demonstrate a clear relationship between yearly averaged Tskin and land surface albedo. Lastly, their examination of water vapor and cloud cover in comparison to Tskin suggests similar seasonality between these two variables. The MODIS Tskin product is not without uncertainty; retrieving Tskin requires a calculation of radiative transfer to account for atmospheric emission and molecular absorption, which is time and resource intensive (Jin and Dickinson 2010). Additionally, surface emissivity, instrument noise, and view angle geometry contribute to error in Tskin estimations (Jin and Dickinson 2010). The transparency of the scientific theory underlying this work, and the clear demonstration of the distinction between temperature measures on varying scales, demonstrates the usefulness of Tskin despite the uncertainties. Perhaps equally as important is the tone; in a time when the controversy surrounding climate change is peaking and the very ethics of the scientific community are being questioned, it is more critical than ever to be transparent in one's work and to assist the scientific community in understanding the tools we have available to us for investigating climate change. References Becker F and Li Z-L 1995 Surface temperature and emissivity at different scales: definition, measurement and related problems Remote Sensing Rev. 12 225-53 Goetz S J, Halthore R, Hall F G and Markham B L 1995 Surface temperature retrieval in a temperate grassland with multi-resolution sensors J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 100 25397-410 Hall F G, Huemmrich K F, Goetz P J, Sellers P J and Nickeson J E 1992 Satellite remote sensing of the surface energy balance: success, failures and unresolved issues in FIFE J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 97 19061-90 Jin M and Dickinson R E 2010 Land surface skin temperature climatology: benefitting from the strengths of satellite observations Environ. Res. Lett. 5 044004 Jin M, Dickinson R E and Vogelmann A M 1997 A comparison of CCM2/BATS skin temperature and surface-air temperature with satellite and surface observations J. Climate 10 1505-24 Hubband N D S and Monteith J L 1986 Radiative surface temperature and energy balance of a wheat canopy Boundary Layer Meteorol. 36 107-16 Peterson T C and Vose R S 1997 An overview of the Global Historical Climatology Network temperature data base Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 78 2837-49 Peterson T C, Karl T R, Jamason P F, Knight R and Easterling D R 1998 The first difference method: maximizing station density for the calculation of long-term global temperature change J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 103 25967-74 Sun J and Mahrt L 1995 Determination of surface fluxes from the surface radiative temperature Atmos. Sci. 52 1096-106 Wan Z and Dozier J 1996 A generalized split-window algorithm for retrieving land-surface temperature from space IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing 34 892-905

Version 2 Goddard Satellite-Based Surface Turbulent Fluxes (GSSTF2)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chou, Shu-Hsien; Nelkin, Eric; Ardizzone, Joe; Atlas, Robert M.; Shie, Chung-Lin; Starr, David O'C. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Information on the turbulent fluxes of momentum, moisture, and heat at the air-sea interface is essential in improving model simulations of climate variations and in climate studies. We have derived a 13.5-year (July 1987-December 2000) dataset of daily surface turbulent fluxes over global oceans from the Special Sensor Mcrowave/Imager (SSM/I) radiance measurements. This dataset, version 2 Goddard Satellite-based Surface Turbulent Fluxes (GSSTF2), has a spatial resolution of 1 degree x 1 degree latitude-longitude and a temporal resolution of 1 day. Turbulent fluxes are derived from the SSM/I surface winds and surface air humidity, as well as the 2-m air and sea surface temperatures (SST) of the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis, using a bulk aerodynamic algorithm based on the surface layer similarity theory.

Can uncertainties in sea ice albedo reconcile patterns of data-model discord for the Pliocene and 20th/21st centuries?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Howell, Fergus W.; Haywood, Alan M.; Dolan, Aisling M.; Dowsett, Harry J.; Francis, Jane E; Hill, Daniel J.; Pickering, Steven J.; Pope, James O.; Salzmann, Ulrich; Wade, Bidget S

2014-01-01

General Circulation Model simulations of the mid-Pliocene warm period (mPWP, 3.264 to 3.025 Myr ago) currently underestimate the level of warming that proxy data suggest existed at high latitudes, with discrepancies of up to 11°C for sea surface temperature estimates and 17°C for surface air temperature estimates. Sea ice has a strong influence on high-latitude climates, partly due to the albedo feedback. We present results demonstrating the effects of reductions in minimum sea ice albedo limits in general circulation model simulations of the mPWP. While mean annual surface air temperature increases of up to 6°C are observed in the Arctic, the maximum decrease in model-data discrepancies is just 0.81°C. Mean annual sea surface temperatures increase by up to 2°C, with a maximum model-data discrepancy improvement of 1.31°C. It is also suggested that the simulation of observed 21st century sea ice decline could be influenced by the adjustment of the sea ice albedo parameterization.

Characteristics of early winter high Arctic atmospheric boundary layer profiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wickström, Siiri; Vihma, Timo; Nygård, Tiina; Kramer, Daniel; Palo, Timo; Jonassen, Marius

2017-04-01

For a large part of the year, the Arctic climate system is characterised by a stably stratified atmospheric boundary layer, with strong temperature inversions isolating the surface from the air aloft. These nversions are typically driven by longwave radiative cooling, warm-air advection aloft, or subsidence. All these mechanisms are affected by the synoptic sate of the atmosphere in the high Arctic. In this study we present data from an intensive measurement campaign in Svalbard in October 2014, when atmospheric profiles were measured with a tethered balloon in Adventdalen and Hornsund. In addition radiosonde soundings from Ny-Ålesund were analysed. A total of 115 individual profiles were analysed, almost all of them showing a surface-based temperature inversion. Our preliminary results show that the strongest and deepest inversions are observed at the beginning of a warm-air advection event, but as the temperature, wind and cloudiness increase the inversion strength and depth decrease rapidly. The inversion curvature parameter seems to be strongly dependent on the longwave radiative balance with the highest curvatures (strongest vertical temperature gradient close to the surface) associated with strong longwave radiative heat loss from the surface. The different processes affecting the stable atmospheric boundary layer during a low-pressure passage are determined, and the effects of the synoptic scale changes are isolated from those caused by local topographic forcing.

XPS and SIMS study of the surface and interface of aged C + implanted uranium

DOE PAGES

Donald, Scott B.; Siekhaus, Wigbert J.; Nelson, Art J.

2016-09-08

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in combination with secondary ion mass spectrometry depth profiling were used to investigate the surface and interfacial chemistry of C + ion implanted polycrystalline uranium subsequently oxidized in air for over 10 years at ambient temperature. The original implantation of 33 keV C + ions into U 238 with a dose of 4.3 × 10 17 cm –3 produced a physically and chemically modified surface layer that was characterized and shown to initially prevent air oxidation and corrosion of the uranium after 1 year in air at ambient temperature. The aging of the surface and interfacial layersmore » were examined by using the chemical shift of the U 4f, C 1s, and O 1s photoelectron lines. In addition, valence band spectra were used to explore the electronic structure of the aged carbide surface and interface layer. Moreover, the time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry depth profiling results for the aged sample confirmed an oxidized uranium carbide layer over the carbide layer/U metal interface.« less

Surface temperatures and temperature gradient features of the US Gulf Coast waters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huh, O. K.; Rouse, L. J., Jr.; Smith, G. W.

1977-01-01

Satellite thermal infrared data on the Gulf of Mexico show that a seasonal cycle exists in the horizontal surface temperature structure. In the fall, the surface temperatures of both coastal and deep waters are nearly uniform. With the onset of winter, atmospheric cold fronts, which are accompanied by dry, low temperature air and strong winds, draw heat from the sea. A band of cooler water forming on the inner shelf expands, until a thermal front develops seaward along the shelf break between the cold shelf waters and the warmer deep waters of the Gulf. Digital analysis of the satellite data was carried out in an interactive mode using a minicomputer and software. A time series of temperature profiles illustrates the temporal and spatial changes in the sea-surface temperature field.

System and method for temperature control in an oxygen transport membrane based reactor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kelly, Sean M.

A system and method for temperature control in an oxygen transport membrane based reactor is provided. The system and method involves introducing a specific quantity of cooling air or trim air in between stages in a multistage oxygen transport membrane based reactor or furnace to maintain generally consistent surface temperatures of the oxygen transport membrane elements and associated reactors. The associated reactors may include reforming reactors, boilers or process gas heaters.

A Novel Method making direct use of AIRS and IASI Calibrated Radiances for Measuring Trends in Surface Temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aumann, H. H.; Ruzmaikin, A.

2014-12-01

Making unbiased measurements of trends in the surface temperatures, particularly on a gobal scale, is challenging: While the non-frozen oceans temperature measurements are plentiful and accurate, land and polar areas are much less accurately or fairly sampled. Surface temperature deduced from infrared radiometers on polar orbiting satellites (e.g. the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) at 1:30PM, the Interferometer Atmosphere Sounding Interferometer (IASI) at 9:30 AM and the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) at 1:30PM), can produce what appear to be well sampled data, but dealing with clouds either by cloud filtering (MODIS, IASI) or cloud-clearing (AIRS) can create sampling bias. We use a novel method: Random Nadir Sampling (RNS) combined with Probability Density Function (PDF) analysis. We analyze the trend in the PDF of st1231, the water vapor absorption corrected brightness temperatures measured in the 1231 cm-1 atmospheric window channel. The advantage of this method is that trends can be directly traced to the known, less than 3 mK/yr trend for AIRS, in st1231. For this study we created PDFs from 22,000 daily RNS from the AIRS and IASI data. We characterized the PDFs by its daily 90%tile value, st1231p90, and analysed the statistical properties of the this time series between 2002 and 2014. The method was validated using the daily NOAA SST (RTGSST) from the non-frozen oceans: The mean, seasonal variability and anomaly trend of st1231p90 agree with the corrsponding values from the RTGSST and the anomaly correlation is larger than 0.9. Preliminary results (August 2014) confirm the global hiatus in the increase of the globally averaged surface temperatures between 2002 and 2014, with a change of less than 10 mK/yr. This uncertainty is dominated by the large interannual variability related to El Niño events. Further insite is gained by analyzing land/ocean, day/night, artic and antarctic trends. We observe a massive warming trend in the Artic between 2002 and 2007, which has since level off, but no significant trend in the Antarctic. The AIRS results since 2002 are confirmed by IASI data since 2007. This work was supported by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Effects of a Circulating-water Garment and Forced-air Warming on Body Heat Content and Core Temperature

PubMed Central

Taguchi, Akiko; Ratnaraj, Jebadurai; Kabon, Barbara; Sharma, Neeru; Lenhardt, Rainer; Sessler, Daniel I.

2005-01-01

Background: Forced-air warming is sometimes unable to maintain perioperative normothermia. We therefore compared heat transfer, regional heat distribution, and core rewarming of forced-air warming with a novel circulating-water garment. Methods: Nine volunteers were each evaluated on two randomly ordered study days. They were anesthetized and cooled to a core temperature near 34°C. The volunteers were subsequently warmed for 2.5 hours with either a circulating-water garment or forced-air cover. Overall, heat balance was determined from the difference between cutaneous heat loss (thermal flux transducers) and metabolic heat production (oxygen consumption). Average arm and leg (peripheral) tissue temperatures were determined from 18 intramuscular needle thermocouples, 15 skin thermal flux transducers, and “deep” arm and foot thermometers. Results: Heat production (≈ 60 kcal/h) and loss (≈45 kcal/h) were similar with each treatment before warming. The increase in heat transfer across anterior portions of the skin surface was similar with each warming system (≈65 kcal/h). Forced-air warming had no effect on posterior heat transfer whereas circulating-water transferred 21 ± 9 kcal/h through the posterior skin surface after a half hour of warming. Over 2.5 h, circulating-water thus increased body heat content 56% more than forced air. Core temperatures thus increased faster than with circulating water than forced air, especially during the first hour, with the result that core temperature was 1.1 ± 0.7°C greater after 2.5 h (P < 0.001). Peripheral tissue heat content increased twice as much as core heat content with each device, but the core-to-peripheral tissue temperature gradient remained positive throughout the study. Conclusions: The circulating-water system transferred more heat than forced air, with the difference resulting largely from posterior heating. Circulating water rewarmed patients 0.4°C/h faster than forced air. A substantial peripheral-to-core tissue-temperature gradient with each device indicated that peripheral tissues insulated the core, thus slowing heat transfer. PMID:15114200

Rapid warming of the world's lakes: Interdecadal variability and long-term trends from 1910-2009 using in situ and remotely sensed data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lenters, J. D.; Read, J. S.; Sharma, S.; O'Reilly, C.; Hampton, S. E.; Gray, D.; McIntyre, P. B.; Hook, S. J.; Schneider, P.; Soylu, M. E.; Barabás, N.; Lofton, D. D.

2014-12-01

Global and regional changes in climate have important implications for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Recent studies, for example, have revealed significant warming of inland water bodies throughout the world. To better understand the global patterns, physical mechanisms, and ecological implications of lake warming, an initiative known as the "Global Lake Temperature Collaboration" (GLTC) was started in 2010, with the objective of compiling and analyzing lake temperature data from numerous satellite and in situ records dating back at least 20-30 years. The GLTC project has now assembled data from over 300 lakes, with some in situ records extending back more than 100 years. Here, we present an analysis of the long-term warming trends, interdecadal variability, and a direct comparison between in situ and remotely sensed lake surface temperature for the 3-month summer period July-September (January-March for some lakes). The overall results show consistent, long-term trends of increasing summer-mean lake surface temperature across most but not all sites. Lakes with especially long records show accelerated warming in the most recent two to three decades, with almost half of the lakes warming at rates in excess of 0.5 °C per decade during the period 1985-2009, and a few even exceeding 1.0 °C per decade. Both satellite and in situ data show a similar distribution of warming trends, and a direct comparison at lake sites that have both types of data reveals a close correspondence in mean summer water temperature, interannual variability, and long-term trends. Finally, we examine standardized lake surface temperature anomalies across the full 100-year period (1910-2009), and in conjunction with similar timeseries of air temperature. The results reveal a close correspondence between summer air temperature and lake surface temperature on interannual and interdecadal timescales, but with many lakes warming more rapidly than the ambient air temperature over 25- to 100-year periods.

Diffusion of volatile organics through porous snow: impact of surface adsorption and grain boundaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartels-Rausch, T.; Wren, S. N.; Schreiber, S.; Riche, F.; Schneebeli, M.; Ammann, M.

2013-07-01

Release of trace gases from surface snow on earth drives atmospheric chemistry, especially in the polar regions. The gas-phase diffusion of methanol and of acetone through the interstitial air of snow was investigated in a well-controlled laboratory study in the temperature range of 223 to 263 K. The aim of this study was to evaluate how the structure of the snowpack, the interaction of the trace gases with the snow surface, and the grain boundaries influence the diffusion on timescales up to 1 h. The diffusive loss of these two volatile organics into packed snow samples was measured using a chemical ionization mass spectrometer. The structure of the snow was analysed by means of X-ray-computed micro-tomography. The observed diffusion profiles could be well described based on gas-phase diffusion and the known structure of the snow sample at temperatures ≥ 253 K. At colder temperatures, surface interactions start to dominate the diffusive transport. Parameterizing these interactions in terms of adsorption to the solid ice surface, i.e. using temperature-dependent air-ice partitioning coefficients, better described the observed diffusion profiles than the use of air-liquid partitioning coefficients. No changes in the diffusive fluxes were observed by increasing the number of grain boundaries in the snow sample by a factor of 7, indicating that for these volatile organic trace gases, uptake into grain boundaries does not play a role on the timescale of diffusion through porous surface snow. For this, a snow sample with an artificially high amount of ice grains was produced and the grain boundary surface measured using thin sections. In conclusion, we have shown that the diffusivity can be predicted when the structure of the snowpack and the partitioning of the trace gas to solid ice is known.

Unusually high soil nitrogen oxide emissions influence air quality in a high-temperature agricultural region

PubMed Central

Oikawa, P. Y.; Ge, C.; Wang, J.; Eberwein, J. R.; Liang, L. L.; Allsman, L. A.; Grantz, D. A.; Jenerette, G. D.

2015-01-01

Fertilized soils have large potential for production of soil nitrogen oxide (NOx=NO+NO2), however these emissions are difficult to predict in high-temperature environments. Understanding these emissions may improve air quality modelling as NOx contributes to formation of tropospheric ozone (O3), a powerful air pollutant. Here we identify the environmental and management factors that regulate soil NOx emissions in a high-temperature agricultural region of California. We also investigate whether soil NOx emissions are capable of influencing regional air quality. We report some of the highest soil NOx emissions ever observed. Emissions vary nonlinearly with fertilization, temperature and soil moisture. We find that a regional air chemistry model often underestimates soil NOx emissions and NOx at the surface and in the troposphere. Adjusting the model to match NOx observations leads to elevated tropospheric O3. Our results suggest management can greatly reduce soil NOx emissions, thereby improving air quality. PMID:26556236

DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF A NEW AIR POLLUTION MODELING SYSTEM. PART III: AEROSOL-PHASE SIMULATIONS (R823186)

EPA Science Inventory

Result from a new air pollution model were tested against data from the Southern California Air Quality Study (SCAQS) period of 26-29 August 1987. Gross errors for sulfate, sodium, light absorption, temperatures, surface solar radiation, sulfur dioxide gas, formaldehyde gas, and ...

A Study on the Characteristics of Design Variables for IRSS Diffuser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Yong-Jin; Ko, Dae-Eun

2017-11-01

In modern naval ships, infrared signature suppression systems (IRSS) are installed to decrease the temperature of waste gas generated in propulsion engine and the metallic surface temperature of heated exhaust pipes. Generally, IRSS is composed of eductor, mixing tube, and diffuser. Diffuser serves to reduce the temperature by creating an air film using the pressure difference between internal gas and external air. In this study, design variables were selected by analyzing the diffuser and the characteristics of design variables that affect the performance of diffuser were examined using Taguchi experiment method. For the diffuser performance analysis, a heat flow analysis technique established in previous research was used. The IRSS performance evaluation was carried out based on the average area value of the metal surface temperature and the temperature of the exhaust gas at the outlet of the diffuser, which are variables directly related to the intensity of infrared signature in naval ships. It was verified that the exhaust gas temperature is greatly affected by changes in the diameter of the diffuser outlet, and the metal surface temperature of diffuser is greatly affected by changes in the number of diffuser rings.

Impact of land cover data on the simulation of urban heat island for Berlin using WRF coupled with bulk approach of Noah-LSM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Huidong; Wolter, Michael; Wang, Xun; Sodoudi, Sahar

2017-09-01

Urban-rural difference of land cover is the key determinant of urban heat island (UHI). In order to evaluate the impact of land cover data on the simulation of UHI, a comparative study between up-to-date CORINE land cover (CLC) and Urban Atlas (UA) with fine resolution (100 and 10 m) and old US Geological Survey (USGS) data with coarse resolution (30 s) was conducted using the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) coupled with bulk approach of Noah-LSM for Berlin. The comparison between old data and new data partly reveals the effect of urbanization on UHI and the historical evolution of UHI, while the comparison between different resolution data reveals the impact of resolution of land cover on the simulation of UHI. Given the high heterogeneity of urban surface and the fine-resolution land cover data, the mosaic approach was implemented in this study to calculate the sub-grid variability in land cover compositions. Results showed that the simulations using UA and CLC data perform better than that using USGS data for both air and land surface temperatures. USGS-based simulation underestimates the temperature, especially in rural areas. The longitudinal variations of both temperature and land surface temperature show good agreement with urban fraction for all the three simulations. To better study the comprehensive characteristic of UHI over Berlin, the UHI curves (UHIC) are developed for all the three simulations based on the relationship between temperature and urban fraction. CLC- and UA-based simulations show smoother UHICs than USGS-based simulation. The simulation with old USGS data obviously underestimates the extent of UHI, while the up-to-date CLC and UA data better reflect the real urbanization and simulate the spatial distribution of UHI more accurately. However, the intensity of UHI simulated by CLC and UA data is not higher than that simulated by USGS data. The simulated air temperature is not dominated by the land cover as much as the land surface temperature, as air temperature is also affected by air advection.

Investigation of Effectiveness of Air-Heating a Hollow Steel Propeller for Protection Against Icing. 2: 50% Impartitioned Blades

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perkins, Porter J.; Mulholland, Donald R.

1948-01-01

The icing protection afforded an internal air-heated propeller blade by radial partitioning at 50-percent chord to confine the heated air to the forward half of the blade was determined in the NACA Cleveland icing research tunnel. A modified production-model hollow steel propeller, was used for the investigation. Temperatures of the blade surfaces for several heating rates were measured under various tunnel Icing' conditions. Photographic observations of ice formations on blade surfaces and blade heat-exchanger effectiveness were obtained. With 50-percent partitioning of the blades, adequate icing protection at 1050 rpm was obtained with a heating rate of 26,000 Btu per hour per blade at the blade shank using an air temperature of 400 F with a flow rate of 280 pounds per hour per blade, which is one-third less heat than was found necessary for similar Ice protection with unpartitioned blades. The chordwise distribution of the applied heat, as determined by surface temperature measurements, was considered unsatisfactory with much of the heat dissipated well back of the leading edge. Heat-exchanger effectiveness of approximately 56 percent also Indicated poor utilization of available heat. This effectiveness was, however, 9 percent greater than that obtained from unpartitioned blades.

Surface temperature and thermal penetration depth of Nd:YAG laser applied to enamel and dentin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, Joel M.; Neev, Joseph; Goodis, Harold E.; Berns, Michael W.

1992-06-01

The determination of the thermal effects of Nd:YAG laser energy on enamel and dentin is critical in understanding the clinical applications of caries removal and surface modification. Recently extracted non-carious third molars were sterilized with gamma irradiation. Calculus and cementum were removed using scaling instruments and 600 grit sand paper. The smear layer produced by sanding was removed with a solution of 0.5 M EDTA (pH 7.4) for two minutes. Enamel and dentin surfaces were exposed to a pulsed Nd:YAG laser with 150 microsecond(s) pulse duration. Laser energy was delivered to the teeth with a 320 micrometers diameter fiberoptic delivery system, for exposure times of 1, 10 and 30 seconds. Laser parameters varied from 0.3 to 3.0 W, 10 to 30 Hz and 30 to 150 mJ/pulse. Other conditions included applications of hot coffee, carbide bur in a dental air-cooled turbine drill and soldering iron. Infrared thermography was used to measure the maximum surface temperature on, and thermal penetration distance into enamel and dentin. Thermographic data were analyzed with a video image processor to determine the diameter of maximum surface temperature and thermal penetration distance of each treatment. Between/within statistical analysis of variance (p

Noble Gas Temperature Proxy for Climate Change

EPA Science Inventory

Noble gases in groundwater appear to offer a practical approach for quantitatively determining past surface air temperatures over recharge areas for any watershed. The noble gas temperature (NGT) proxy should then permit a paleothermometry of a region over time. This terrestria...

Micro-environmental control for efficient local cooling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kong, Meng; Dang, Thong Q.; Zhang, Jianshun

Micro-environment is hereby defined as the air space and environment around a person that directly impacts his/her thermal sensation. Most existing HVAC systems condition the air of the entire room including the unoccupied space, which leaves a big potential to save energy. This study aims at evaluating the performance of three existing air terminal devices (ATDs) to locally remove enough heat from the micro-environment to manage the thermal balance so as not to sacrifice thermal comfort when the ambient unoccupied space temperature is increased by 2.2 °C from 23.9 °C to 26.1 °C in the summer to reduce the externalmore » cooling load. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed, validated by full-scale chamber tests and applied to evaluate different configurations of the ATDs for local cooling. Results show that the predicted performance agreed well with the measurements, and the selected ATD, with only 50 W cooling power, was always able to remove a sufficient amount of heat from the microenvironment in a room of raised temperature, when the manikin was moved inside a semicircle movement range. The cooling performance of the jet was increased more by increasing the supply air flow rate than reducing the supply temperature and was highly dependent on the shooting angle. Finally, the heat flux from the manikin surface is very sensitive to the surface temperature and furniture placement, and proper specification of the surface temperature is crucial for the CFD simulation to match the measured results.« less

Micro-environmental control for efficient local cooling

DOE PAGES

Kong, Meng; Dang, Thong Q.; Zhang, Jianshun; ...

2017-06-01

Micro-environment is hereby defined as the air space and environment around a person that directly impacts his/her thermal sensation. Most existing HVAC systems condition the air of the entire room including the unoccupied space, which leaves a big potential to save energy. This study aims at evaluating the performance of three existing air terminal devices (ATDs) to locally remove enough heat from the micro-environment to manage the thermal balance so as not to sacrifice thermal comfort when the ambient unoccupied space temperature is increased by 2.2 °C from 23.9 °C to 26.1 °C in the summer to reduce the externalmore » cooling load. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed, validated by full-scale chamber tests and applied to evaluate different configurations of the ATDs for local cooling. Results show that the predicted performance agreed well with the measurements, and the selected ATD, with only 50 W cooling power, was always able to remove a sufficient amount of heat from the microenvironment in a room of raised temperature, when the manikin was moved inside a semicircle movement range. The cooling performance of the jet was increased more by increasing the supply air flow rate than reducing the supply temperature and was highly dependent on the shooting angle. Finally, the heat flux from the manikin surface is very sensitive to the surface temperature and furniture placement, and proper specification of the surface temperature is crucial for the CFD simulation to match the measured results.« less

High-Resolution Fibre-Optic Temperature Sensing: A New Tool to Study the Two-Dimensional Structure of Atmospheric Surface-Layer Flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, Christoph K.; Kennedy, Adam M.; Selker, John S.; Moretti, Ayla; Schroth, Martin H.; Smoot, Alexander R.; Tufillaro, Nicholas B.; Zeeman, Matthias J.

2012-02-01

We present a novel approach based on fibre-optic distributed temperature sensing (DTS) to measure the two-dimensional thermal structure of the surface layer at high resolution (0.25 m, ≈0.5 Hz). Air temperature observations obtained from a vertically-oriented fibre-optics array of approximate dimensions 8 m × 8 m and sonic anemometer data from two levels were collected over a short grass field located in the flat bottom of a wide valley with moderate surface heterogeneity. The objectives of the study were to evaluate the potential of the DTS technique to study small-scale processes in the surface layer over a wide range of atmospheric stability, and to analyze the space-time dynamics of transient cold-air pools in the calm boundary layer. The time response and precision of the fibre-based temperatures were adequate to resolve individual sub-metre sized turbulent and non-turbulent structures, of time scales of seconds, in the convective, neutral, and stable surface layer. Meaningful sensible heat fluxes were computed using the eddy-covariance technique when combined with vertical wind observations. We present a framework that determines the optimal environmental conditions for applying the fibre-optics technique in the surface layer and identifies areas for potentially significant improvements of the DTS performance. The top of the transient cold-air pool was highly non-stationary indicating a superposition of perturbations of different time and length scales. Vertical eddy scales in the strongly stratified transient cold-air pool derived from the DTS data agreed well with the buoyancy length scale computed using the vertical velocity variance and the Brunt-Vaisala frequency, while scales for weak stratification disagreed. The high-resolution DTS technique opens a new window into spatially sampling geophysical fluid flows including turbulent energy exchange.

Impact of air and water vapor environments on the hydrophobicity of surfaces.

PubMed

Weisensee, Patricia B; Neelakantan, Nitin K; Suslick, Kenneth S; Jacobi, Anthony M; King, William P

2015-09-01

Droplet wettability and mobility play an important role in dropwise condensation heat transfer. Heat exchangers and heat pipes operate at liquid-vapor saturation. We hypothesize that the wetting behavior of liquid water on microstructures surrounded by pure water vapor differs from that for water droplets in air. The static and dynamic contact angles and contact angle hysteresis of water droplets were measured in air and pure water vapor environments inside a pressure vessel. Pressures ranged from 60 to 1000 mbar, with corresponding saturation temperatures between 36 and 100°C. The wetting behavior was studied on four hydrophobic surfaces: flat Teflon-coated, micropillars, micro-scale meshes, and nanoparticle-coated with hierarchical micro- and nanoscale roughness. Static advancing contact angles are 9° lower in the water vapor environment than in air on a flat surface. One explanation for this reduction in contact angles is water vapor adsorption to the Teflon. On microstructured surfaces, the vapor environment has little effect on the static contact angles. In all cases, variations in pressure and temperature do not influence the wettability and mobility of the water droplets. In most cases, advancing contact angles increase and contact angle hysteresis decreases when the droplets are sliding or rolling down an inclined surface. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Effects of land use type on diurnal dynamics of environment microclimate in Karst zone].

PubMed

Li, Sheng; Ren, Hua-Dong; Yao, Xiao-Hua; Zhang, Shou-Gong

2009-02-01

In June 2007, the diurnal dynamics of light intensity, air temperature, air relative humidity, soil temperature, and surface soil (0-5 cm) water content of five land use types in the typical Karst zone of Lingyun City in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region were observed. The results showed that different land use types altered the composition, coverage, and height of aboveground vegetation, which in turn changed the environment microclimate to different degree. The microclimate quality was in the order of forestland > shrub land > grassland > farmland > rock land. On rock land, the light intensity, air temperature, air relative humidity, soil temperature, and soil water content were higher, and the diurnal variation of the five climatic factors was notable, with the microclimatic conditions changed towards drier and hotter. Compared with those on rock land, the light intensity on forestland, shrub land, grassland, and farmland decreased by 96.4%, 52.0%, 17.0% and 44.2%, air temperature decreased by 30.1%, 20.2%, 12.7% and 17.8%, air relative humidity increased by 129.2%, 57.2%, 18.0% and 41.2%, soil temperature decreased by 11.5%, 8%, 2.5% and 5.5%, and soil water content increased by 42.6%, 33.2%, 15.7% and 14.0%, respectively. The five climatic factors on forestland and shrub land had lesser fluctuation, with the microclimate tended to cool and wet. Light intensity, air temperature, and soil temperature correlated positively with each other, and had negative correlations with air relative humidity and soil water content. A positive correlation was observed between air temperature and soil water content.

Estimating changes in heat energy stored within a column of wetland surface water and factors controlling their importance in the surface energy budget

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shoemaker, W. Barclay; Sumner, David M.; Castillo, Adrian

2005-01-01

Changes in heat energy stored within a column of wetland surface water can be a considerable component of the surface energy budget, an attribute that is demonstrated by comparing changes in stored heat energy to net radiation at seven sites in the wetland areas of southern Florida, including the Everglades. The magnitude of changes in stored heat energy approached the magnitude of net radiation more often during the winter dry season than during the summer wet season. Furthermore, the magnitude of changes in stored heat energy in wetland surface water generally decreased as surface energy budgets were upscaled temporally. A new method was developed to estimate changes in stored heat energy that overcomes an important data limitation, namely, the limited spatial and temporal availability of water temperature measurements. The new method is instead based on readily available air temperature measurements and relies on the convolution of air temperature changes with a regression‐defined transfer function to estimate changes in water temperature. The convolution‐computed water temperature changes are used with water depths and heat capacity to estimate changes in stored heat energy within the Everglades wetland areas. These results likely can be adapted to other humid subtropical wetlands characterized by open water, saw grass, and rush vegetation type communities.

Human influence on sub-regional surface air temperature change over India.

PubMed

Dileepkumar, R; AchutaRao, Krishna; Arulalan, T

2018-06-12

Human activities have been implicated in the observed increase in Global Mean Surface Temperature. Over regional scales where climatic changes determine societal impacts and drive adaptation related decisions, detection and attribution (D&A) of climate change can be challenging due to the greater contribution of internal variability, greater uncertainty in regionally important forcings, greater errors in climate models, and larger observational uncertainty in many regions of the world. We examine the causes of annual and seasonal surface air temperature (TAS) changes over sub-regions (based on a demarcation of homogeneous temperature zones) of India using two observational datasets together with results from a multimodel archive of forced and unforced simulations. Our D&A analysis examines sensitivity of the results to a variety of optimal fingerprint methods and temporal-averaging choices. We can robustly attribute TAS changes over India between 1956-2005 to anthropogenic forcing mostly by greenhouse gases and partially offset by other anthropogenic forcings including aerosols and land use land cover change.

Molecular Insight into the Slipperiness of Ice.

PubMed

Weber, Bart; Nagata, Yuki; Ketzetzi, Stefania; Tang, Fujie; Smit, Wilbert J; Bakker, Huib J; Backus, Ellen H G; Bonn, Mischa; Bonn, Daniel

2018-05-16

Measurements of the friction coefficient of steel-on-ice over a large temperature range reveal very high friction at low temperatures (-100 °C) and a steep decrease in the friction coefficient with increasing temperature. Very low friction is only found over the limited temperature range typical for ice skating. The strong decrease in the friction coefficient with increasing temperature exhibits Arrhenius behavior with an activation energy of E a ≈ 11.5 kJ mol -1 . Remarkably, molecular dynamics simulations of the ice-air interface reveal a very similar activation energy for the mobility of surface molecules. Weakly hydrogen-bonded surface molecules diffuse over the surface in a rolling motion, their number and mobility increasing with increasing temperature. This correlation between macroscopic friction and microscopic molecular mobility indicates that slippery ice arises from the high mobility of its surface molecules, making the ice surface smooth and the shearing of the weakly bonded surface molecules easy.

Evidence of Lunar Phase Influence on Global Surface Air Temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anyamba, Ebby; Susskind, Joel

2000-01-01

Intraseasonal oscillations appearing in a newly available 20-year record of satellite-derived surface air temperature are composited with respect to the lunar phase. Polar regions exhibit strong lunar phase modulation with higher temperatures occurs near full moon and lower temperatures at new moon, in agreement with previous studies. The polar response to the apparent lunar forcing is shown to be most robust in the winter months when solar influence is minimum. In addition, the response appears to be influenced by ENSO events. The highest mean temperature range between full moon and new moon in the polar region between 60 deg and 90 deg latitude was recorded in 1983, 1986/87, and 1990/91. Although the largest lunar phase signal is in the polar regions, there is a tendency for meridional equatorward progression of anomalies in both hemispheres so that the warning in the tropics occurs at the time of the new moon.

Predicting the Dominant Patterns of Subseasonal Variability of Wintertime Surface Air Temperature in Extratropical Northern Hemisphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Hai

2018-05-01

Skillfully predicting persistent extreme temperature anomalies more than 10 days in advance remains a challenge although it is of great value to the society. Here the two leading modes of subseasonal variability of surface air temperature over the extratropical Northern Hemisphere in boreal winter are identified with pentad (5 days) averaged data. They are well separated geographically, dominating temperature variability in North America and Eurasia, respectively. There exists a two-pentad lagged correlation between these two modes, implying an intercontinental link of temperature variability. Forecast skill of these two modes is evaluated based on three operational subseasonal prediction models. The results show that useful forecasts of the Eurasian mode (EOF2) can be achieved four pentads in advance, which is more skillful than the North American mode (EOF1). EOF2 is found to benefit from the Madden-Julian Oscillation signal in the initial condition.

The influence of surface versus free-air decoupling on temperature trend patterns in the western United States

Treesearch

N.C. Pepin; C. Daly; J. Lundquist

2011-01-01

We analyzed temperature trends from 460 GHCNv2 weather stations in the western United States for 1948¨C2006 to determine whether the extent of decoupling of surface temperatures from the free atmosphere influences past change. At each location we derived monthly indices representative of anticyclonicity using NCEP/NCAR 700 hPa reanalysis pressure fields. The number of...

Temperature Calculations in the Coastal Modeling System

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-04-01

tide) and river discharge at model boundaries, wave radiation stress, and wind forcing over a model computational domain. Physical processes calculated...calculated in the CMS using the following meteorological parameters: solar radiation, cloud cover, air temperature, wind speed, and surface water temperature...during a clear (i.e., cloudless) sky (Wm-2); CLDC is the cloud cover fraction (0-1.0); SWR is the surface reflection coefficient; and SHDf is the

Topoclimatological survey of Switzerland

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Winiger, M. (Principal Investigator)

1982-01-01

The application of Heat Capacity Mapping Mission data to subsynoptic climate analysis of Switzerland was examined. The data included the surface temperature distributions of urban heat islands and the Swiss Alps. Analog and digital data evaluation procedures are described as well as the ground truth acquisition and comparison program. The dependence of the temperature distributions on topography and surface coverage types is assessed. The results indicate that air temperature inversion zones are detectable.

Global mean sea level - Indicator of climate change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robock, A.; Hansen, J.; Gornitz, V.; Lebedeff, S.; Moore, E.; Etkins, R.; Epstein, E.

1983-01-01

A critical discussion is presented on the use by Etkins and Epstein (1982) of combined surface air temperature and sea level time series to draw conclusions concerning the discharge of the polar ice sheets. It is objected by Robock that they used Northern Hemisphere land surface air temperature records which are unrepresentative of global sea surface temperature, and he suggests that externally imposed volcanic dust and CO2 forcings can adequately account for observed temperature changes over the last century, with global sea level changing in passive response to sea change as a result of thermal expansion. Hansen et al. adduce evidence for global cooling due to ice discharge that has not exceeded a few hundredths of a degree centigrade in the last century, precluding any importance of this phenomenon in the interpretation of global mean temperature trends for this period. Etkins and Epstein reply that since their 1982 report additional evidence has emerged for the hypothesis that the polar ice caps are diminishing. It is reasserted that each of the indices discussed, including global mean sea surface temperature and sea level, polar ice sheet mass balance, water mass characteristics, and the spin rate and axis of rotation displacement of the earth, are physically linked and can be systematically monitored, as is currently being planned under the auspices of the National Climate Program.

Characterization of freezing precipitation events through other meteorological variables and their recent changes over Northern Extratropics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groisman, P. Y.; Yin, X.; Bulygina, O.

2017-12-01

Freezing precipitation events intertwine with agriculture, recreation, energy consumption, and seasonal transportation cycles of human activities. Using supplementary synoptic reports at 1,500 long-term stations of North America and Northern Eurasia, we created climatology of freezing precipitation near the surface and found significant changes (increases) in these occurrences in the past decade at high latitudes/elevations (Groisman et al. 2016; updated). Firstly, we document narrow boundaries of near surface temperature and humidity fields when freezing precipitation events occur; these are necessary but insufficient conditions of their occurrence. Secondly, using the upper air data at the sites collocated with in situ observations of freezing events, we quantify the typical pattern of lower troposphere temperature anomalies during freezing events: At the same locations and Julian days, the presence of freezing event at the surface is associated with significantly warmer temperatures in the lower troposphere; comparison of temperatures at nearest days before and after the freezing events with days during these events also shows statistically significant positive temperature anomalies in the lower troposphere to 500 hPa (on average, +3 to 4 °C) In the days with freezing events, vertical air temperature gradients between surface and 850 hPa become less than usual with frequent inversions, when the tropospheric air is warmer than at the surface. The above features of the lower tropospheric temperature, near-surface temperature and humidity represent a combination of weather conditions conducive for precipitation, if it happens, falling in the freezing rain form. The in situ reports of freezing events at synoptic stations allow us to estimate temporary and spatial distributions of such "special weather conditions". Thus, a posteriori high probability of freezing events under these weather conditions invokes similar probabilities of freezing rain over the ungauged terrain, where we do not have special synoptic reports but can reproduce these "special weather conditions" from less sophisticated observational networks and/or reanalyses. Reference: Groisman et al. 2016: Recent changes in the frequency of freezing precipitation in North America and Northern Eurasia. Environ Res Lett 11 045007.

Mechanisms and kinetics of granulated sewage sludge combustion.

PubMed

Kijo-Kleczkowska, Agnieszka; Środa, Katarzyna; Kosowska-Golachowska, Monika; Musiał, Tomasz; Wolski, Krzysztof

2015-12-01

This paper investigates sewage sludge disposal methods with particular emphasis on combustion as the priority disposal method. Sewage sludge incineration is an attractive option because it minimizes odour, significantly reduces the volume of the starting material and thermally destroys organic and toxic components of the off pads. Additionally, it is possible that ashes could be used. Currently, as many as 11 plants use sewage sludge as fuel in Poland; thus, this technology must be further developed in Poland while considering the benefits of co-combustion with other fuels. This paper presents the results of experimental studies aimed at determining the mechanisms (defining the fuel combustion region by studying the effects of process parameters, including the size of the fuel sample, temperature in the combustion chamber and air velocity, on combustion) and kinetics (measurement of fuel temperature and mass changes) of fuel combustion in an air stream under different thermal conditions and flow rates. The combustion of the sludge samples during air flow between temperatures of 800 and 900°C is a kinetic-diffusion process. This process determines the sample size, temperature of its environment, and air velocity. The adopted process parameters, the time and ignition temperature of the fuel by volatiles, combustion time of the volatiles, time to reach the maximum temperature of the fuel surface, maximum temperature of the fuel surface, char combustion time, and the total process time, had significant impacts. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contemporary sand wedge development in seasonally frozen ground and paleoenvironmental implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolfe, Stephen A.; Morse, Peter D.; Neudorf, Christina M.; Kokelj, Steven V.; Lian, Olav B.; O'Neill, H. Brendan

2018-05-01

Contemporary sand wedges and sand veins are active in seasonally frozen ground within the extensive discontinuous permafrost zone in Northwest Territories, Canada. The region has a subarctic continental climate with 291 mm a-1 precipitation, -4.1 °C mean annual air temperature, warm summers (July mean 17.0 °C), and cold winters (January mean -26.6 °C). Five years of continuous observations indicate that interannual variation of the ground thermal regime is dominantly controlled by winter air temperature and snow cover conditions. At sandy sites, thin snow cover and high thermal conductivity promote rapid freezing, high rates of ground cooling, and low near-surface ground temperatures (-15 to -25 °C), resulting in thermal contraction cracking to depths of 1.2 m. Cracking potentials are high in sandy soils when air temperatures are <-30 °C on successive days, mean freezing season air temperatures are ≤-17 °C, and snow cover is <0.15 m thick. In contrast, surface conditions in peatlands maintain permafrost, but thermal contraction cracking does not occur because thicker snow cover and the thermal properties of peat prolong freezeback and maintain higher winter ground temperatures. A combination of radiocarbon dating, optical dating, and stratigraphic observations were used to differentiate sand wedge types and formation histories. Thermal contraction cracks that develop in the sandy terrain are filled by surface (allochthonous) and/or host (autochthonous) material during the thaw season. Epigenetic sand wedges infilled with allochthonous sand develop within former beach sediments beneath an active eolian sand sheet. Narrower and deeper syngenetic wedges developed within aggrading eolian sand sheets, whereas wider and shallower antisyngenetic wedges developed in areas of active erosion. Thermal contraction cracking beneath vegetation-stabilized surfaces leads to crack infilling by autochthonous host and overlying organic material, with resultant downturning and subsidence of adjacent strata. Sand wedge development in seasonally frozen ground with limited surface sediment supply can result in stratigraphy similar to ice-wedge and composite-wedge pseudomorphs. Therefore, caution must be exercised when interpreting this suite of forms and inferring paleoenvironments.

Northern Russian chironomid-based modern summer temperature data set and inference models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nazarova, Larisa; Self, Angela E.; Brooks, Stephen J.; van Hardenbroek, Maarten; Herzschuh, Ulrike; Diekmann, Bernhard

2015-11-01

West and East Siberian data sets and 55 new sites were merged based on the high taxonomic similarity, and the strong relationship between mean July air temperature and the distribution of chironomid taxa in both data sets compared with other environmental parameters. Multivariate statistical analysis of chironomid and environmental data from the combined data set consisting of 268 lakes, located in northern Russia, suggests that mean July air temperature explains the greatest amount of variance in chironomid distribution compared with other measured variables (latitude, longitude, altitude, water depth, lake surface area, pH, conductivity, mean January air temperature, mean July air temperature, and continentality). We established two robust inference models to reconstruct mean summer air temperatures from subfossil chironomids based on ecological and geographical approaches. The North Russian 2-component WA-PLS model (RMSEPJack = 1.35 °C, rJack2 = 0.87) can be recommended for application in palaeoclimatic studies in northern Russia. Based on distinctive chironomid fauna and climatic regimes of Kamchatka the Far East 2-component WAPLS model (RMSEPJack = 1.3 °C, rJack2 = 0.81) has potentially better applicability in Kamchatka.

A global database of lake surface temperatures collected by in situ and satellite methods from 1985–2009

PubMed Central

Sharma, Sapna; Gray, Derek K; Read, Jordan S; O’Reilly, Catherine M; Schneider, Philipp; Qudrat, Anam; Gries, Corinna; Stefanoff, Samantha; Hampton, Stephanie E; Hook, Simon; Lenters, John D; Livingstone, David M; McIntyre, Peter B; Adrian, Rita; Allan, Mathew G; Anneville, Orlane; Arvola, Lauri; Austin, Jay; Bailey, John; Baron, Jill S; Brookes, Justin; Chen, Yuwei; Daly, Robert; Dokulil, Martin; Dong, Bo; Ewing, Kye; de Eyto, Elvira; Hamilton, David; Havens, Karl; Haydon, Shane; Hetzenauer, Harald; Heneberry, Jocelyne; Hetherington, Amy L; Higgins, Scott N; Hixson, Eric; Izmest’eva, Lyubov R; Jones, Benjamin M; Kangur, Külli; Kasprzak, Peter; Köster, Olivier; Kraemer, Benjamin M; Kumagai, Michio; Kuusisto, Esko; Leshkevich, George; May, Linda; MacIntyre, Sally; Müller-Navarra, Dörthe; Naumenko, Mikhail; Noges, Peeter; Noges, Tiina; Niederhauser, Pius; North, Ryan P; Paterson, Andrew M; Plisnier, Pierre-Denis; Rigosi, Anna; Rimmer, Alon; Rogora, Michela; Rudstam, Lars; Rusak, James A; Salmaso, Nico; Samal, Nihar R; Schindler, Daniel E; Schladow, Geoffrey; Schmidt, Silke R; Schultz, Tracey; Silow, Eugene A; Straile, Dietmar; Teubner, Katrin; Verburg, Piet; Voutilainen, Ari; Watkinson, Andrew; Weyhenmeyer, Gesa A; Williamson, Craig E; Woo, Kara H

2015-01-01

Global environmental change has influenced lake surface temperatures, a key driver of ecosystem structure and function. Recent studies have suggested significant warming of water temperatures in individual lakes across many different regions around the world. However, the spatial and temporal coherence associated with the magnitude of these trends remains unclear. Thus, a global data set of water temperature is required to understand and synthesize global, long-term trends in surface water temperatures of inland bodies of water. We assembled a database of summer lake surface temperatures for 291 lakes collected in situ and/or by satellites for the period 1985–2009. In addition, corresponding climatic drivers (air temperatures, solar radiation, and cloud cover) and geomorphometric characteristics (latitude, longitude, elevation, lake surface area, maximum depth, mean depth, and volume) that influence lake surface temperatures were compiled for each lake. This unique dataset offers an invaluable baseline perspective on global-scale lake thermal conditions as environmental change continues. PMID:25977814

A global database of lake surface temperatures collected by in situ and satellite methods from 1985-2009.

PubMed

Sharma, Sapna; Gray, Derek K; Read, Jordan S; O'Reilly, Catherine M; Schneider, Philipp; Qudrat, Anam; Gries, Corinna; Stefanoff, Samantha; Hampton, Stephanie E; Hook, Simon; Lenters, John D; Livingstone, David M; McIntyre, Peter B; Adrian, Rita; Allan, Mathew G; Anneville, Orlane; Arvola, Lauri; Austin, Jay; Bailey, John; Baron, Jill S; Brookes, Justin; Chen, Yuwei; Daly, Robert; Dokulil, Martin; Dong, Bo; Ewing, Kye; de Eyto, Elvira; Hamilton, David; Havens, Karl; Haydon, Shane; Hetzenauer, Harald; Heneberry, Jocelyne; Hetherington, Amy L; Higgins, Scott N; Hixson, Eric; Izmest'eva, Lyubov R; Jones, Benjamin M; Kangur, Külli; Kasprzak, Peter; Köster, Olivier; Kraemer, Benjamin M; Kumagai, Michio; Kuusisto, Esko; Leshkevich, George; May, Linda; MacIntyre, Sally; Müller-Navarra, Dörthe; Naumenko, Mikhail; Noges, Peeter; Noges, Tiina; Niederhauser, Pius; North, Ryan P; Paterson, Andrew M; Plisnier, Pierre-Denis; Rigosi, Anna; Rimmer, Alon; Rogora, Michela; Rudstam, Lars; Rusak, James A; Salmaso, Nico; Samal, Nihar R; Schindler, Daniel E; Schladow, Geoffrey; Schmidt, Silke R; Schultz, Tracey; Silow, Eugene A; Straile, Dietmar; Teubner, Katrin; Verburg, Piet; Voutilainen, Ari; Watkinson, Andrew; Weyhenmeyer, Gesa A; Williamson, Craig E; Woo, Kara H

2015-01-01

Global environmental change has influenced lake surface temperatures, a key driver of ecosystem structure and function. Recent studies have suggested significant warming of water temperatures in individual lakes across many different regions around the world. However, the spatial and temporal coherence associated with the magnitude of these trends remains unclear. Thus, a global data set of water temperature is required to understand and synthesize global, long-term trends in surface water temperatures of inland bodies of water. We assembled a database of summer lake surface temperatures for 291 lakes collected in situ and/or by satellites for the period 1985-2009. In addition, corresponding climatic drivers (air temperatures, solar radiation, and cloud cover) and geomorphometric characteristics (latitude, longitude, elevation, lake surface area, maximum depth, mean depth, and volume) that influence lake surface temperatures were compiled for each lake. This unique dataset offers an invaluable baseline perspective on global-scale lake thermal conditions as environmental change continues.

A global database of lake surface temperatures collected by in situ and satellite methods from 1985–2009

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sharma, Sapna; Gray, Derek; Read, Jordan S.; O'Reilly, Catherine; Schneider, Philipp; Qudrat, Anam; Gries, Corinna; Stefanoff, Samantha; Hampton, Stephanie; Hook, Simon; Lenters, John; Livingstone, David M.; McIntyre, Peter B.; Adrian, Rita; Allan, Mathew; Anneville, Orlane; Arvola, Lauri; Austin, Jay; Bailey, John E.; Baron, Jill S.; Brookes, Justin D; Chen, Yuwei; Daly, Robert; Ewing, Kye; de Eyto, Elvira; Dokulil, Martin; Hamilton, David B.; Havens, Karl; Haydon, Shane; Hetzenaeur, Harald; Heneberry, Jocelyn; Hetherington, Amy; Higgins, Scott; Hixson, Eric; Izmest'eva, Lyubov; Jones, Benjamin M.; Kangur, Kulli; Kasprzak, Peter; Kraemer, Benjamin; Kumagai, Michio; Kuusisto, Esko; Leshkevich, George; May, Linda; MacIntyre, Sally; Dörthe Müller-Navarra,; Naumenko, Mikhail; Noges, Peeter; Noges, Tiina; Pius Niederhauser,; North, Ryan P.; Andrew Paterson,; Plisnier, Pierre-Denis; Rigosi, Anna; Rimmer, Alon; Rogora, Michela; Rudstam, Lars G.; Rusak, James A.; Salmaso, Nico; Samal, Nihar R.; Daniel E. Schindler,; Geoffrey Schladow,; Schmidt, Silke R.; Tracey Schultz,; Silow, Eugene A.; Straile, Dietmar; Teubner, Katrin; Verburg, Piet; Voutilainen, Ari; Watkinson, Andrew; Weyhenmeyer, Gesa A.; Craig E. Williamson,; Kara H. Woo,

2015-01-01

Global environmental change has influenced lake surface temperatures, a key driver of ecosystem structure and function. Recent studies have suggested significant warming of water temperatures in individual lakes across many different regions around the world. However, the spatial and temporal coherence associated with the magnitude of these trends remains unclear. Thus, a global data set of water temperature is required to understand and synthesize global, long-term trends in surface water temperatures of inland bodies of water. We assembled a database of summer lake surface temperatures for 291 lakes collected in situ and/or by satellites for the period 1985–2009. In addition, corresponding climatic drivers (air temperatures, solar radiation, and cloud cover) and geomorphometric characteristics (latitude, longitude, elevation, lake surface area, maximum depth, mean depth, and volume) that influence lake surface temperatures were compiled for each lake. This unique dataset offers an invaluable baseline perspective on global-scale lake thermal conditions as environmental change continues.

Surface Hydrological Processes of Rock Glaciated Basins in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mateo, E. I.

2017-12-01

Glaciers in the western United States have been examined in terms of their summer meltwater contributions to regional hydrological systems. In the San Juan Mountains of Colorado where glaciers do not and cannot exist due to a rising zero-degree isotherm, rock glaciers take the place of valley glaciers during the summer runoff period. Most of the rock glaciers in Colorado are located on a northerly slope aspect, however, there are multiple in the southwest region of the state that occur on different aspects. This study asked how slope aspect and rising air temperatures influenced the hydrological processes of streams below rock glaciers in the San Juan Mountains during the 2016 summer season. This project focused on three basins, Yankee Boy basin, Blue Lakes basin, and Mill Creek basin, which are adjacent to each other and share a common peak, Gilpin Peak. Findings of this one-season study showed that air temperature significantly influenced stream discharge below each rock glacier. Discharge and air temperature patterns indicate a possible air temperature threshold during late summer when rock glacier melt increased at a greater rate. The results also suggest that slope aspect of rock glacier basins influences stream discharge, but temperature and precipitation are likely larger components of the melt regimes. The continuation of data collection during the 2017 summer season has allowed for more detailed analysis of the relationship between air temperature and rock glacier melt. This continual expansion of the original dataset is crucial for understanding the hydrological processes of surface runoff below rock glaciers.

Tropical Storm Blas off the Pacific Coast of Mexico

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-07-14

Tropical Storm Blas as observed by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder AIRS onboard NASA Aqua in the year 2004. The major contribution to radiation (infrared light) that AIRS channels sense comes from different levels in the atmosphere, depending upon the channel wavelength. To create the movie, a set of AIRS channels were selected which probe the atmosphere at progressively deeper levels. If there were no clouds, the color in each frame would be nearly uniform until the Earth's surface is encountered. The tropospheric air temperature warms at a rate of 6 K (about 11 F) for each kilometer of descent toward the surface. Thus the colors would gradually change from cold to warm as the movie progresses. Clouds block the infrared radiation. Thus wherever there are clouds we can penetrate no deeper in infrared. The color remains fixed as the movie progresses, for that area of the image is "stuck" to the cloud top temperature. The coldest temperatures around 220 K (about -65 F) come from altitudes of about 10 miles. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00436

Methane flux across the air-water interface - Air velocity effects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sebacher, D. I.; Harriss, R. C.; Bartlett, K. B.

1983-01-01

Methane loss to the atmosphere from flooded wetlands is influenced by the degree of supersaturation and wind stress at the water surface. Measurements in freshwater ponds in the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge, Florida, demonstrated that for the combined variability of CH4 concentrations in surface water and air velocity over the water surface, CH4 flux varied from 0.01 to 1.22 g/sq m/day. The liquid exchange coefficient for a two-layer model of the gas-liquid interface was calculated as 1.7 cm/h for CH4 at air velocity of zero and as 1.1 + 1.2 v to the 1.96th power cm/h for air velocities from 1.4 to 3.5 m/s and water temperatures of 20 C.

Do Aphids Alter Leaf Surface Temperature Patterns During Early Infestation?

PubMed Central

Cahon, Thomas; Caillon, Robin

2018-01-01

Arthropods at the surface of plants live in particular microclimatic conditions that can differ from atmospheric conditions. The temperature of plant leaves can deviate from air temperature, and leaf temperature influences the eco-physiology of small insects. The activity of insects feeding on leaf tissues, may, however, induce changes in leaf surface temperatures, but this effect was only rarely demonstrated. Using thermography analysis of leaf surfaces under controlled environmental conditions, we quantified the impact of presence of apple green aphids on the temperature distribution of apple leaves during early infestation. Aphids induced a slight change in leaf surface temperature patterns after only three days of infestation, mostly due to the effect of aphids on the maximal temperature that can be found at the leaf surface. Aphids may induce stomatal closure, leading to a lower transpiration rate. This effect was local since aphids modified the configuration of the temperature distribution over leaf surfaces. Aphids were positioned at temperatures near the maximal leaf surface temperatures, thus potentially experiencing the thermal changes. The feedback effect of feeding activity by insects on their host plant can be important and should be quantified to better predict the response of phytophagous insects to environmental changes. PMID:29538342

Characterization of the LTC catalyst: Performance against common air pollutants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Collins, Marcia F.

1987-04-01

One of the important qualities of the Low-Temperature Catalyst (LTC) is the rapid oxidation of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide under a wide variety of conditions. The catalytic material is a palladium-copper activated complex which reacts with various contaminant molecules through a continuous oxidation/reduction cycle. The alumina substrate enhances LTC activity with its favorable surface chemistry and very high surface area. About 10 percent surface water is necessary to facilitate the oxidation of CO. This reaction shows a log-log dependence on contact time, suggesting a Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism. In the tube tests, LTC removed 90 to 100 percent of contaminating carbon monoxide in the temperature region of 20 to 4000 C, and at ambient over a range of 25 to 65 percent relative humidity. In contrast, NO2 is chemisorbed by the LTC/alumina material--the amount strongly dependent on temperature increases but independent of humidity. The LTC catalyst has demonstrated excellent capability to remove an important variety of hazardous pollutant gases which are common factors to poor indoor air quality. The Instapure Air Filtration System incorporates the LTC catalyst in a 50:50 mixture with activated carbon to effectively remove particulate, odors, and hazardous gases at room temperature and humidities. The ability to remove hazardous gases is unique for the category of portable air filtration equipment. The wide variety of pollutant gases that LTC removes suggests that catalytic technology is adaptable to a considerable range of commercial and industrial applications.

Characterization of the LTC catalyst: Performance against common air pollutants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collins, Marcia F.

1987-01-01

One of the important qualities of the Low-Temperature Catalyst (LTC) is the rapid oxidation of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide under a wide variety of conditions. The catalytic material is a palladium-copper activated complex which reacts with various contaminant molecules through a continuous oxidation/reduction cycle. The alumina substrate enhances LTC activity with its favorable surface chemistry and very high surface area. About 10 percent surface water is necessary to facilitate the oxidation of CO. This reaction shows a log-log dependence on contact time, suggesting a Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism. In the tube tests, LTC removed 90 to 100 percent of contaminating carbon monoxide in the temperature region of 20 to 4000 C, and at ambient over a range of 25 to 65 percent relative humidity. In contrast, NO2 is chemisorbed by the LTC/alumina material--the amount strongly dependent on temperature increases but independent of humidity. The LTC catalyst has demonstrated excellent capability to remove an important variety of hazardous pollutant gases which are common factors to poor indoor air quality. The Instapure Air Filtration System incorporates the LTC catalyst in a 50:50 mixture with activated carbon to effectively remove particulate, odors, and hazardous gases at room temperature and humidities. The ability to remove hazardous gases is unique for the category of portable air filtration equipment. The wide variety of pollutant gases that LTC removes suggests that catalytic technology is adaptable to a considerable range of commercial and industrial applications.

Thermal equilibrium of Nellore cattle in tropical conditions: an investigation of circadian pattern.

PubMed

de Melo Costa, Cíntia Carol; Campos Maia, Alex Sandro; Brown-Brandl, Tami M; Chiquitelli Neto, Marcos; de França Carvalho Fonsêca, Vinicius

2018-05-01

The aim of this work was to evaluate the diurnal patterns of physiological responses and the thermal regulation of adult Nellore bulls. Six 30-mo-old Nellore bulls (669 ± 65 kg BW) were randomly assigned to four 6-h periods in a Latin Square design such that measurements of each animal cover a 24-h cycle. Meteorological variables (air temperature, relative humidity, local solar irradiance, ultraviolet radiation, wind speed and black globe temperature) were recorded at regular one-minute intervals with an automated weather station. Respiratory rate, ventilation rate, oxygen, carbon dioxide, methane, saturation pressure, air temperature of the exhaled air, saturation pressure in the air leaving the ventilated capsule placed over the animal surface, hair coat, skin surface and rectal temperature were assessed. The thermal equilibrium was determined according to the principles of the first law of thermodynamics using biophysical equations. Animals were evaluated in an area which was protected from solar radiation, rain, and had a range of ambient air temperature between 20.57 ± 0.07 and 30.86 ± 0.07 °C. Percentage of O 2 and CO 2 in the exhaled air changed moderately (P < 0.0001) throughout the 24 h, which resulted in an average metabolic heat production of 151.45 ± 13.60 W m -2 . At the largest thermal gradient (T S - T A ; from 24:00-07:00 h), heat transferred by long wave radiation and surface convection corresponded to near 60% of the metabolism. At 11:00 h the ambient temperature approached 29 °C and latent heat became the main way to cool the body. From this time until 17:00 h, cutaneous evaporation represented approximately 53% of total heat loss. In conclusion, results of the present study seem to be a good indicator of lower energy expenditure for body thermal regulation, high heat tolerance and adaptation of Nellore cattle to the tropical environment. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of the surface heat balance over the world ocean

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Esbenson, S. K.

1981-01-01

The net surface heat fluxes over the global ocean for all calendar months were evaluated. To obtain a formula in the form Qs = Q2(T*A - Ts), where Qs is the net surface heat flux, Ts is the sea surface temperature, T*A is the apparent atmospheric equilibrium temperature, and Q2 is the proportionality constant. Here T*A and Q2, derived from the original heat flux formulas, are functions of the surface meteorological parameters (e.g., surface wind speed, air temperature, dew point, etc.) and the surface radiation parameters. This formulation of the net surface heat flux together with climatological atmospheric parameters provides a realistic and computationally efficient upper boundary condition for oceanic climate modeling.

High Temperature Ceramic Guide Vane Temperature and Pressure Distribution Calculation for Flow with Cooling Jets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Srivastava, Rakesh

2004-01-01

A ceramic guide vane has been designed and tested for operation under high temperature. Previous efforts have suggested that some cooling flow may be required to alleviate the high temperatures observed near the trailing edge region. The present report describes briefly a three-dimensional viscous analysis carried out to calculate the temperature and pressure distribution on the blade surface and in the flow path with a jet of cooling air exiting from the suction surface near the trailing edge region. The data for analysis was obtained from Dr. Craig Robinson. The surface temperature and pressure distribution along with a flowfield distribution is shown in the results. The surface distribution is also given in a tabular form at the end of the document.

Local Versus Remote Contributions of Soil Moisture to Near-Surface Temperature Variability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koster, R.; Schubert, S.; Wang, H.; Chang, Y.

2018-01-01

Soil moisture variations have a straightforward impact on overlying air temperatures, wetter soils can induce higher evaporative cooling of the soil and thus, locally, cooler temperatures overall. Not known, however, is the degree to which soil moisture variations can affect remote air temperatures through their impact on the atmospheric circulation. In this talk we describe a two-pronged analysis that addresses this question. In the first segment, an extensive ensemble of NASA/GSFC GEOS-5 atmospheric model simulations is analyzed statistically to isolate and quantify the contributions of various soil moisture states, both local and remote, to the variability of air temperature at a given local site. In the second segment, the relevance of the derived statistical relationships is evaluated by applying them to observations-based data. Results from the second segment suggest that the GEOS-5-based relationships do, at least to first order, hold in nature and thus may provide some skill to forecasts of air temperature at subseasonal time scales, at least in certain regions.

Modelling dengue fever risk in the State of Yucatan, Mexico using regional-scale satellite-derived sea surface temperature.

PubMed

Laureano-Rosario, Abdiel E; Garcia-Rejon, Julian E; Gomez-Carro, Salvador; Farfan-Ale, Jose A; Muller-Karger, Frank E

2017-08-01

Accurately predicting vector-borne diseases, such as dengue fever, is essential for communities worldwide. Changes in environmental parameters such as precipitation, air temperature, and humidity are known to influence dengue fever dynamics. Furthermore, previous studies have shown how oceanographic variables, such as El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-related sea surface temperature from the Pacific Ocean, influences dengue fever in the Americas. However, literature is lacking on the use of regional-scale satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) to assess its relationship with dengue fever in coastal areas. Data on confirmed dengue cases, demographics, precipitation, and air temperature were collected. Incidence of weekly dengue cases was examined. Stepwise multiple regression analyses (AIC model selection) were used to assess which environmental variables best explained increased dengue incidence rates. SST, minimum air temperature, precipitation, and humidity substantially explained 42% of the observed variation (r 2 =0.42). Infectious diseases are characterized by the influence of past cases on current cases and results show that previous dengue cases alone explained 89% of the variation. Ordinary least-squares analyses showed a positive trend of 0.20±0.03°C in SST from 2006 to 2015. An important element of this study is to help develop strategic recommendations for public health officials in Mexico by providing a simple early warning capability for dengue incidence. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Directional satellite thermal IR measurements and modeling of a forest in winter and their relationship to air temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balick, Lee K.; Ballard, Jerrell R., Jr.; Smith, James A.; Goltz, Stewart M.

2002-01-01

Data assimilation methods applied to hydrologic models can incorporate spatially distributed maps of near surface temperature, especially if such measurements can be reliably inferred from satellite observations. Uncalibrated thermal IR imagery sometimes is scaled to temperature units to obtain such observations using the assumption that dense forest canopies are close to air temperature. For fully leafed deciduous forest canopies in the summer, this approximation is usually valid within 2C. In a leafless canopy, however, the materials views are thick boles and branches and the forest floor, which can store heat and yield significantly higher variations. Winter coniferous forests are intermediate with needles and branches being the predominant viewed materials. The US Dept of Energy's Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI) is an experimental satellite with the capability to perform quantitative scene measurements in the reflective and thermal infrared region respectively. Its multispectral thermal IR capability enables quantitative surface temperature retrieval if pixel emissivity is known. MTI is pointable and targets multiple times in the winter and spring of 2001 at the Howland, Maine AmeriFlux research site operated by the University of Maine. Supporting meteorological and optical depth measurements also were made from three towers at the site. Directional thermal models of forest woody materials and needles are driver by the surface measurements and compared to satellite data to help evaluate the relationship between air temperature and satellite thermal measurements as a function of look angles, day and night.

Research on Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation in CRIEPI (Part 2 Concrete Cask Storage)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Koji Shirai; Jyunichi Tani; Taku Arai

2008-10-01

Concrete cask storage has been implemented in the world. At a later stage of storage period, the containment of the canister may deteriorate due to stress corrosion cracking phenomena in a salty air environment. High resistant stainless steels against SCC have been tested as compared with normal stainless steel. Taking account of the limited time-length of environment with certain level of humidity and temperature range, the high resistant stainless steels will survive from SCC damage. In addition, the adhesion of salt from salty environment on the canister surface will be further limited with respect to the canister temperature and anglemore » of the canister surface against the salty air flow in the concrete cask. Optional countermeasure against SCC with respect to salty air environment has been studied. Devices consisting of various water trays to trap salty particles from the salty air were designed to be attached at the air inlet for natural cooling of the cask storage building. Efficiency for trapping salty particles was evaluated. Inspection of canister surface was carried out using an optical camera inserted from the air outlet through the annulus of a concrete cask that has stored real spent fuel for more than 15 years. The camera image revealed no gross degradation on the surface of the canister. Seismic response of a full-scale concrete cask with simulated spent fuel assemblies has been demonstrated. The cask did not tip over, but laterally moved by the earthquake motion. Stress generated on the surface of the spent fuel assemblies during the earthquake motion were within the elastic region.« less

On estimating total daily evapotranspiration from remote surface temperature measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carlson, Toby N.; Buffum, Martha J.

1989-01-01

A method for calculating daily evapotranspiration from the daily surface energy budget using remotely sensed surface temperature and several meteorological variables is presented. Vaules of the coefficients are determined from simulations with a one-dimensional boundary layer model with vegetation cover. Model constants are obtained for vegetation and bare soil at two air temperature and wind speed levels over a range of surface roughness and wind speeds. A different means of estimating the daily evapotranspiration based on the time rate of increase of surface temperature during the morning is also considered. Both the equations using our model-derived constants and field measurements are evaluated, and a discussion of sources of error in the use of the formulation is given.

An Indirect Data Assimilation Scheme for Deep Soil Temperature in the Pleim-Xiu Land Surface Model

EPA Science Inventory

The Pleim-Xiu land surface model (PX LSM) has been improved by the addition of a 2nd indirect data assimilation scheme. The first, which was described previously, is a technique where soil moisture in nudged according to the biases in 2-m air temperature and relative humidity be...

Design of a global soil moisture initialization procedure for the simple biosphere model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liston, G. E.; Sud, Y. C.; Walker, G. K.

1993-01-01

Global soil moisture and land-surface evapotranspiration fields are computed using an analysis scheme based on the Simple Biosphere (SiB) soil-vegetation-atmosphere interaction model. The scheme is driven with observed precipitation, and potential evapotranspiration, where the potential evapotranspiration is computed following the surface air temperature-potential evapotranspiration regression of Thomthwaite (1948). The observed surface air temperature is corrected to reflect potential (zero soil moisture stress) conditions by letting the ratio of actual transpiration to potential transpiration be a function of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and runoff data are generated on a daily basis for a 10-year period, January 1979 through December 1988, using observed precipitation gridded at a 4 deg by 5 deg resolution.

Evapotranspiration and remote sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schmugge, T. J.; Gurney, R.

1982-01-01

There are three things required for evapotranspiration to occur: (1) energy (580 cal/gm) for the change of phase of the water; (2) a source of the water, i.e., adequate soil moisture in the surface layer or in the root zone of the plant; and (3) a sink for the water, i.e., a moisture deficit in the air above the ground. Remote sensing can contribute information to the first two of these conditions by providing estimates of solar insolation, surface albedo, surface temperature, vegetation cover, and soil moisture content. In addition there have been attempts to estimate precipitation and shelter air temperature from remotely sensed data. The problem remains to develop methods for effectively using these sources of information to make large area estimates of evapotranspiration.

Impact of Arctic sea-ice retreat on the recent change in cloud-base height during autumn

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, K.; Inoue, J.; Kodama, Y.; Overland, J. E.

2012-12-01

Cloud-base observations over the ice-free Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in autumn were conducted using a shipboard ceilometer and radiosondes during the 1999-2010 cruises of the Japanese R/V Mirai. To understand the recent change in cloud base height over the Arctic Ocean, these cloud-base height data were compared with the observation data under ice-covered situation during SHEBA (the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean project in 1998). Our ice-free results showed a 30 % decrease (increase) in the frequency of low clouds with a ceiling below (above) 500 m. Temperature profiles revealed that the boundary layer was well developed over the ice-free ocean in the 2000s, whereas a stable layer dominated during the ice-covered period in 1998. The change in surface boundary conditions likely resulted in the difference in cloud-base height, although it had little impact on air temperatures in the mid- and upper troposphere. Data from the 2010 R/V Mirai cruise were investigated in detail in terms of air-sea temperature difference. This suggests that stratus cloud over the sea ice has been replaced as stratocumulus clouds with low cloud fraction due to the decrease in static stability induced by the sea-ice retreat. The relationship between cloud-base height and air-sea temperature difference (SST-Ts) was analyzed in detail using special section data during 2010 cruise data. Stratus clouds near the sea surface were predominant under a warm advection situation, whereas stratocumulus clouds with a cloud-free layer were significant under a cold advection situation. The threshold temperature difference between sea surface and air temperatures for distinguishing the dominant cloud types was 3 K. Anomalous upward turbulent heat fluxes associated with the sea-ice retreat have likely contributed to warming of the lower troposphere. Frequency distribution of the cloud-base height (km) detected by a ceilometer/lidar (black bars) and radiosondes (gray bars), and profiles of potential temperature (K) for (a) ice-free cases (R/V Mirai during September) and (b) ice-covered case (SHEBA during September 1998). (c) Vertical profiles of air temperature from 1000 hPa to 150 hPa (solid lines: observations north of 75°N, and dashed lines: the ERA-Interim reanalysis over 75-82.5°N, 150-170°W). Green, blue, and red lines denote profiles derived from observations by NP stations (the 1980s), SHEBA (1998), and the R/V Mirai (the 2000s), respectively. (d) Temperature trend calculated by the ERA-Interim reanalysis over the area.

Observational Constraints on the Water Vapor Feedback Using GPS Radio Occultations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vergados, P.; Mannucci, A. J.; Ao, C. O.; Fetzer, E. J.

2016-12-01

The air refractive index at L-band frequencies depends on the air's density and water vapor content. Exploiting these relationships, we derive a theoretical model to infer the specific humidity response to surface temperature variations, dq/dTs, given knowledge of how the air refractive index and temperature vary with surface temperature. We validate this model using 1.2-1.6 GHz Global Positioning System Radio Occultation (GPS RO) observations from 2007 to 2010 at 250 hPa, where the water vapor feedback on surface warming is strongest. Current research indicates that GPS RO data sets can capture the amount of water vapor in very dry and very moist air more efficiently than other observing platforms, possibly suggesting larger water vapor feedback than previously known. Inter-comparing the dq/dTs among different data sets will provide us with additional constraints on the water vapor feedback. The dq/dTs estimation from GPS RO observations shows excellent agreement with previously published results and the responses estimated using Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and NASA's Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) data sets. In particular, the GPS RO-derived dq/dTs is larger by 6% than that estimated using the AIRS data set. This agrees with past evidence that AIRS may be dry-biased in the upper troposphere. Compared to the MERRA estimations, the GPS RO-derived dq/dTs is 10% smaller, also agreeing with previous results that show that MERRA may have a wet bias in the upper troposphere. Because of their high sensitivity to fractional changes in water vapor, and their inherent long-term accuracy, current and future GPS RO observations show great promise in monitoring climate feedbacks and their trends.

Shallow bedrock limits groundwater seepage-based headwater climate refugia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Briggs, Martin A.; Lane, John W.; Snyder, Craig D.; White, Eric A.; Johnson, Zachary; Nelms, David L.; Hitt, Nathaniel P.

2018-01-01

Groundwater/surface-water exchanges in streams are inexorably linked to adjacent aquifer dynamics. As surface-water temperatures continue to increase with climate warming, refugia created by groundwater connectivity is expected to enable cold water fish species to survive. The shallow alluvial aquifers that source groundwater seepage to headwater streams, however, may also be sensitive to seasonal and long-term air temperature dynamics. Depth to bedrock can directly influence shallow aquifer flow and thermal sensitivity, but is typically ill-defined along the stream corridor in steep mountain catchments. We employ rapid, cost-effective passive seismic measurements to evaluate the variable thickness of the shallow colluvial and alluvial aquifer sediments along a headwater stream supporting cold water-dependent brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in Shenandoah National Park, VA, USA. Using a mean depth to bedrock of 2.6 m, numerical models predicted strong sensitivity of shallow aquifer temperature to the downward propagation of surface heat. The annual temperature dynamics (annual signal amplitude attenuation and phase shift) of potential seepage sourced from the shallow modeled aquifer were compared to several years of paired observed stream and air temperature records. Annual stream water temperature patterns were found to lag local air temperature by ∼8–19 d along the stream corridor, indicating that thermal exchange between the stream and shallow groundwater is spatially variable. Locations with greater annual signal phase lag were also associated with locally increased amplitude attenuation, further suggestion of year-round buffering of channel water temperature by groundwater seepage. Numerical models of shallow groundwater temperature that incorporate regional expected climate warming trends indicate that the summer cooling capacity of this groundwater seepage will be reduced over time, and lower-elevation stream sections may no longer serve as larger-scale climate refugia for cold water fish species, even with strong groundwater discharge.

New Technology-Large-Area Three- Dimensional Surface Profiling Using Only Focused Air-Coupled Ultrasound-Given 1999 R&D 100 Award

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roth, Don J.; Kautz, Harold E.; Abel, Phillip B.; Whalen, Mike F.; Hendricks, J. Lynne; Bodis, James R.

2000-01-01

Surface topography, which significantly affects the performance of many industrial components, is normally measured with diamond-tip profilometry over small areas or with optical scattering methods over larger areas. To develop air-coupled surface profilometry, the NASA Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field initiated a Space Act Agreement with Sonix, Inc., through two Glenn programs, the Advanced High Temperature Engine Materials Program (HITEMP) and COMMTECH. The work resulted in quantitative surface topography profiles obtained using only high-frequency, focused ultrasonic pulses in air. The method is nondestructive, noninvasive, and noncontact, and it does not require light-reflective surfaces. Air surface profiling may be desirable when diamond-tip or laserbased methods are impractical, such as over large areas, when a significant depth range is required, or for curved surfaces. When the configuration is optimized, the method is reasonably rapid and all the quantitative analysis facilities are online, including two- and three-dimensional visualization, extreme value filtering (for faulty data), and leveling.

On the importance of radiative heat exchange during nocturnal flight in birds.

PubMed

Léger, Jérôme; Larochelle, Jacques

2006-01-01

Many migratory flights take place during cloudless nights, thus under conditions where the sky temperature can commonly be 20 degrees C below local air temperature. The sky then acts as a radiative sink, leading objects exposed to it to have a lower surface temperature than unexposed ones because less infrared energy is received from the sky than from the surfaces that are isothermic to air. To investigate the significance of this effect for heat dissipation during nocturnal flight in birds, we built a wind tunnel with the facility to control wall temperature (TASK) and air temperature (TAIR) independently at air speeds (UWIN) comparable to flying speeds. We used it to measure the influence of TASK, TAIR and UWIN on plumage and skin temperatures in pigeons having to dissipate a thermal load while constrained at rest in a flight posture. Our results show that the temperature of the flight and insulation plumages exposed to a radiative sink can be accurately described by multiple regression models (r2>0.96) based only on TAIR, TASK and UWIN. Predictions based on these models indicate that while convection dominates heat loss for a plumage exposed to air moving at flight speed in a thermally uniform environment, radiation may dominate in the presence of a radiative sink comparable to a clear sky. Our data also indicate that reducing TASK to a temperature 20 degrees C below TAIR can increase the temperature difference across the exposed plumage by at least 13% and thus facilitate heat flow through the main thermal resistance to the loss of internally produced heat in birds. While extrapolation from our experimentally constrained conditions to free flight in the atmosphere is difficult, our results suggest that the sky temperature has been a neglected factor in determining the range of TAIR over which prolonged flight is possible.

Precipitation and Air Temperature Impact on Seasonal Variations of Groundwater Levels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vitola, Ilva; Vircavs, Valdis; Abramenko, Kaspars; Lauva, Didzis; Veinbergs, Arturs

2012-12-01

The aim of this study is to clarify seasonal effects of precipitation and temperature on groundwater level changes in monitoring stations of the Latvia University of Agriculture - Mellupīte, Bērze and Auce. Groundwater regime and level fluctuations depend on climatic conditions such as precipitation intensity, evapotranspiration, surface runoff and drainage, as well as other hydrological factors. The relationship between precipitation, air temperature and groundwater level fluctuations could also lead and give different perspective of possible changes in groundwater quality. Using mathematical statistics and graphic-analytic methods it is concluded that autumn and winter precipitation has the dominant impact on groundwater level fluctuations, whereas spring and summer season fluctuations are more dependent on the air temperature.

Tropical Convective Outflow and Near Surface Equivalent Potential Temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Folkins, Ian; Oltmans, Samuel J.; Thompson, Anne M.; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

We use clear sky heating rates to show that convective outflow in the tropics decreases rapidly with height between the 350 K and 360 K potential temperature surfaces (or between roughly 13 and 15 km). There is also a rapid fall-off in the pseudoequivalent potential temperature probability distribution of near surface air parcels between 350 K and 360 K. This suggests that the vertical variation of convective outflow in the upper tropical troposphere is to a large degree determined by the distribution of sub cloud layer entropy.

Modeling the effects of urban vegetation on air pollution

Treesearch

David J. Nowak; Patrick J. McHale; Myriam Ibarra; Daniel Crane; Jack C. Stevens; Chris J. Luley

1998-01-01

Urban vegetation can directly and indirectly affect local and regional air quality by altering the urban atmospheric environment. Trees affect local air temperature by transpiring water through their leaves, by blocking solar radiation (tree shade), which reduces radiation absorption and heat storage by various anthropogenic surfaces (e.g., buildings, roads), and by...

Recent trends of groundwater temperatures in Austria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benz, Susanne A.; Bayer, Peter; Winkler, Gerfried; Blum, Philipp

2018-06-01

Climate change is one of if not the most pressing challenge modern society faces. Increasing temperatures are observed all over the planet and the impact of climate change on the hydrogeological cycle has long been shown. However, so far we have insufficient knowledge on the influence of atmospheric warming on shallow groundwater temperatures. While some studies analyse the implication climate change has for selected wells, large-scale studies are so far lacking. Here we focus on the combined impact of climate change in the atmosphere and local hydrogeological conditions on groundwater temperatures in 227 wells in Austria, which have in part been observed since 1964. A linear analysis finds a temperature change of +0.7 ± 0.8 K in the years from 1994 to 2013. In the same timeframe surface air temperatures in Austria increased by 0.5 ± 0.3 K, displaying a much smaller variety. However, most of the extreme changes in groundwater temperatures can be linked to local hydrogeological conditions. Correlation between groundwater temperatures and nearby surface air temperatures was additionally analysed. They vary greatly, with correlation coefficients of -0.3 in central Linz to 0.8 outside of Graz. In contrast, the correlation of nationwide groundwater temperatures and surface air temperatures is high, with a correlation coefficient of 0.83. All of these findings indicate that while atmospheric climate change can be observed in nationwide groundwater temperatures, individual wells are often primarily dominated by local hydrogeological conditions. In addition to the linear temperature trend, a step-wise model was also applied that identifies climate regime shifts, which were observed globally in the late 70s, 80s, and 90s. Hinting again at the influence of local conditions, at most 22 % of all wells show these climate regime shifts. However, we were able to identify an additional shift in 2007, which was observed by 37 % of all wells. Overall, the step-wise representation provides a slightly more accurate picture of observed temperatures than the linear trend.

[Characteristics of mercury exchange flux between soil and atmosphere under the snow retention and snow melting control].

PubMed

Zhang, Gang; Wang, Ning; Ai, Jian-Chao; Zhang, Lei; Yang, Jing; Liu, Zi-Qi

2013-02-01

Jiapigou gold mine, located in the upper Songhua River, was once the largest mine in China due to gold output, where gold extraction with algamation was widely applied to extract gold resulting in severe mercury pollution to ambient environmental medium. In order to study the characteristics of mercury exchange flux between soil (snow) and atmosphere under the snow retention and snow melting control, sampling sites were selected in equal distances along the slope which is situated in the typical hill-valley terrain unit. Mercury exchange flux between soil (snow) and atmosphere was determined with the method of dynamic flux chamber and in all sampling sites the atmosphere concentration from 0 to 150 cm near to the earth in the vertical direction was measured. Furthermore, the impact factors including synchronous meteorology, the surface characteristics under the snow retention and snow melting control and the mercury concentration in vertical direction were also investigated. The results are as follows: During the period of snow retention and melting the air mercury tends to gather towards valley bottom along the slope and an obvious deposit tendency process was found from air to the earth's surface under the control of thermal inversion due to the underlying surface of cold source (snow surface). However, during the period of snow melting, mercury exchange flux between the soil and atmosphere on the surface of the earth with the snow being melted demonstrates alternative deposit and release processes. As for the earth with snow covered, the deposit level of mercury exchange flux between soil and atmosphere is lower than that during the period of snow retention. The relationship between mercury exchange flux and impact factors shows that in snow retention there is a remarkable negative linear correlation between mercury exchange flux and air mercury concentration as well as between the former and the air temperature. In addition, in snow melting mercury exchange flux is remarkably negatively linearly correlated to air mercury concentration and positively linearly correlated to air temperature. Furthermore, there is a general positive linear correlation between mercury exchange flux and soil temperature on the surface of earth after snow melting.

The Breath of Planet Earth: Atmospheric Circulation. Assimilation of Surface Wind Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Atlas, Robert; Bloom, Stephen; Otterman, Joseph

2000-01-01

Differences in air pressure are a major cause of atmospheric circulation. Because heat excites the movement of atoms, warm temperatures cause, air molecules to expand. Because those molecules now occupy a larger space, the pressure that their weight exerts is decreased. Air from surrounding high-pressure areas is pushed toward the low-pressure areas, creating circulation. This process causes a major pattern of global atmosphere movement known as meridional circulation. In this form of convection, or vertical air movement, heated equatorial air rises and travels through the upper atmosphere toward higher latitudes. Air just above the equator heads toward the North Pole, and air just below the equator moves southward. This air movement fills the gap created where increased air pressure pushes down cold air. The ,cold air moves along the surface back toward the equator, replacing the air masses that rise there. Another influence on atmospheric. circulation is the Coriolis force. Because of the Earth's rotation, large-scale wind currents move in the direction of this axial spin around low-pressure areas. Wind rotates counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. just as the Earth's rotation affects airflow, so too does its surface. In the phenomenon of orographic lifting, elevated topographic features such as mountain ranges lift air as it moves up their surface.

High Temperature Corrosion and Heat Transfer Studies of Zirconium-Silicide Coatings for Light Water Reactor Cladding Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeom, Hwasung

Experimental results investigating the feasibility of zirconium-silicide coating for accident tolerance of LWR fuel cladding coating was presented. The oxidation resistance of ZrSi2 appeared to be superior to bare Zircaloy-4 in high temperature air. It was shown that micro- and nanostructures consisting of alternating SiO2 and ZrO2 evolved during transient oxidation of ZrSi2, which was explained by spinodal phase decomposition of Zr-Si-O oxide. Coating optimization regarding oxidation resistance was performed mainly using magnetron sputter deposition method. ZrSi 2 coatings ( 3.9 microm) showed improvement of almost two orders of magnitude when compared to bare Zircaloy-4 after air-oxidation at 700 °C for 20-hours. Pre-oxidation of ZrSi2 coating at 700 °C for 5 h significantly mitigated oxygen diffusion in air-oxidation tests at 1000 °C for 1-hour and 1200 °C for 10-minutes. The ZrSi2 coating with the pre-oxidation was found to be the best condition to prevent oxide formation in Zircaloy-4 substrate in the steam condition even if the top surface of the coating was degraded by formation of zirconium-rich oxide layer. Only the ZrSiO4 phase, formed by exposing the ZrSi2 coating at 1400 °C in air, allowed for immobilization of silicon species in the oxide scale in the aqueous environments. A quench test facility was designed and built to study transient boiling heat transfer of modified Zircaloy-4 surfaces (e.g., roughened surfaces, oxidized surfaces, ZrSi2 coated surfaces) at various system conditions (e.g., elevated pressures and water subcooling). The minimum film boiling temperature increased with increasing system pressure and water subcooling, consistent with past literature. Quenching behavior was affected by the types of surface modification regardless of the environmental conditions. Quenching heat transfer was improved by the ZrSi 2 coating, a degree of surface oxidation (deltaox = 3 to 50 microm), and surface roughening (Ra 20 microm). A plausible hypothesis based on transient heat conduction models for liquid-solid contact in quenching process was proposed to explain the enhanced quenching performance. The theoretical model incorporated localized temperature behavior on superheated surface and elucidated bubble dynamics qualitatively, and predicts minimum film boiling temperature of oxidized Zirc-4 surfaces, which were in good agreement with experimental data.

Multi-Index Attribution of Beijing's 2013 "Airpocalypse"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Callahan, C.; Diffenbaugh, N. S.; Horton, D. E.

2017-12-01

Poor air quality causes 2 to 4 million premature deaths per year globally. Individual high-impact events, like Beijing's January 2013 "airpocalypse," have drawn significant attention, as they have demonstrated that short-lived air quality events can have outsized effects on public health and economic vitality. Poor air quality events are the result of emission of pollutants and the meteorological conditions favorable to their accumulation in the near-surface environment. Accumulation occurs when pollutants are not dispersed or scavenged from the atmosphere. The most important meteorological precursors of these conditions include lack of precipitation, low wind speeds, and vertical temperature inversions. Recent reports of extreme air quality, in conjunction with projected future changes in some meteorological air quality indices, raise the question: have the meteorological conditions that shape air quality changed in frequency, intensity, or duration over the observational era? Here we assess whether anthropogenic climate change has altered meteorological conditions conducive to poor air quality. To gain a more complete picture of the effect of anthropogenic change on air quality, we use three indices that quantify poor air quality: the Pollution Potential Index (Zou et al, 2017), which measures temperature inversions and surface wind speeds, the Haze Weather Index (Cai et al, 2017), which measures temperature inversions and mid-level wind speeds, and the Air Stagnation Index (Horton et al, 2014), which measures precipitation, surface wind speeds, and mid-level wind speeds. Drawing on the attribution methods of Diffenbaugh et al (2017), we assess the contribution of observed meteorological trends to the magnitude of air quality events, the return interval of events in the observational record, historical simulated climate, and pre-industrial simulated climate, and the probability of the observed trend in historical and pre-industrial simulated climates. Particular attention is paid to Beijing's January 2013 event, but we also analyze air quality meteorology on a global scale. This work provides a framework for both further understanding the role of climate change in particular air quality events and for expanding the scope of extreme event attribution beyond its current applications.

Experimental study of a passive thermal management system for high-powered lithium ion batteries using porous metal foam saturated with phase change materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, W. Q.; Qu, Z. G.; He, Y. L.; Tao, Y. B.

2014-06-01

A highly efficient thermal strategy to manage a high-powered Li-ion battery package within the required safe temperature range is of great demand for electric vehicles (EVs) applications. A sandwiched cooling structure using copper metal foam saturated with phase change materials was designed. The thermal efficiency of the system was experimentally evaluated and compared with two control cases: a cooling mode with pure phase change materials and an air-cooling mode. The results showed that the thermal management with air natural convection cannot fulfill the safety demand of the Li-ion battery. The use of pure PCM can dramatically reduce the surface temperature and maintain the temperature within an allowable range due to the latent heat absorption and the natural convection of the melted PCM during the melting process. The foam-paraffin composite further reduced the battery's surface temperature and improved the uniformity of the temperature distribution caused by the improvement of the effective thermal conductivity. Additionally, the battery surface temperature increased with an increase in the porosity and the pore density of the metal foam.

Climate change: overview of data sources, observed and predicted temperature changes, and impacts on public and environmental health

Treesearch

David H. Levinson; Christopher J. Fettig

2014-01-01

This chapter addresses the societal and the environmental impacts of climate change related to increasing surface temperatures on air quality and forest health. Increasing temperatures at and near the earth’s surface, due to both a warming climate and urban heat island effects, have been shown to increase ground-level ozone concentrations in cities across the U.S. In...

Climatic data for the Cottonwood Lake area, Stutsman County, North Dakota 1982

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sturrock, A.M.; Hanson, B.A.; Scarborough, J.L.; Winter, T.C.

1986-01-01

Research on the hydrology of the Cottonwood Lake area, Stutsman County, North Dakota, includes study of evaporation. Presented here are those climatic data needed for energy-budget and mass-transfer evaporation studies, including: water-surface temperature, sediment temperature dry-bulb and wet-bulb air temperatures, vapor pressure at and above the water surface, wind speed, and short- and long-wave radiation. Data were collected at raft and land stations.

Climatic data for the Cottonwood Lake area, Stutsman County, North Dakota, 1983

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sturrock, A.M.; Hanson, B.A.; Scarborough, J.L.; Winter, T.C.

1987-01-01

Research on the hydrology of the Cottonwood Lake area, Stutsman County, North Dakota, includes study of evaporation. Climatic data needed for energy-budget and mass-transfer evaporation studies that were collected during 1983 include water-surface temperature, sediment temperature, dry-bulb and wet-bulb air temperature, vapor pressure at and above the water surface, wind speed, and short-and long-wave radiation. Data are collected at raft and land stations. (USGS)

Experimental and modeling study of thermal exposure of a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).

PubMed

Donnelly, Michelle K; Yang, Jiann C

2015-08-01

An experimental apparatus designed to study firefighter safety equipment exposed to a thermal environment was developed. The apparatus consisted of an elevated temperature flow loop with the ability to heat the air stream up to 200°C. The thermal and flow conditions at the test section were characterized using thermocouples and bi-directional probes. The safety equipment examined in this study was a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), including a facepiece and an air cylinder. The SCBA facepiece was placed on a mannequin headform and coupled to a breathing simulator that was programmed with a prescribed breathing pattern. The entire SCBA assembly was placed in the test section of the flow loop for these thermal exposure experiments. Three air stream temperatures, 100°C, 150°C, and 200°C, were used with the average air speed at the test section set at 1.4m/s and thermal exposure durations up to 1200 s. Measurements were made using type-K bare-bead thermocouples located in the mannequin's mouth and on the outer surface of the SCBA cylinder. The experimental results indicated that increasing the thermal exposure severity and duration increased the breathing air temperatures supplied by the SCBA. Temperatures of breathing air from the SCBA cylinder in excess of 60°C were observed over the course of the thermal exposure conditions used in most of the experiments. A mathematical model for transient heat transfer was developed to complement the thermal exposure experimental study. The model took into consideration forced convective heat transfer, quasi-steady heat conduction through the composite layers of the SCBA cylinder wall, the breathing pattern and action of the breathing simulator, and predicted air temperatures from the thermally exposed SCBA cylinder and temperatures at the outer surface of the SCBA cylinder. Model predictions agreed reasonably well with the experimental measurements. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Diffusion of volatile organics through porous snow: impact of surface adsorption and grain boundaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartels-Rausch, T.; Wren, S. N.; Schreiber, S.; Riche, F.; Schneebeli, M.; Ammann, M.

2013-03-01

Release of trace gases from surface snow on Earth drives atmospheric chemistry, especially in the polar regions. The gas-phase diffusion of methanol and of acetone through the interstitial air of snow was investigated in a well-controlled laboratory study in the temperature range of 223 to 263 K. The aim of this study was to evaluate how the structure of the snowpack, the interaction of the trace gases with the snow surface, and the grain boundaries influence the diffusion on timescales up to 1 h. The diffusive loss of these two volatile organics into packed snow samples was measured using a chemical ionization mass spectrometer. The structure of the snow was analyzed by means of X-ray computed micro-tomography. The observed diffusion profiles could be well described based on gas-phase diffusion and the known structure of the snow sample at temperatures ≥ 253 K. At colder temperatures surface interactions start to dominate the diffusive transport. Parameterizing these interactions in terms of adsorption to the solid ice surface, i.e. using temperature dependent air-ice partitioning coefficients, better described the observed diffusion profiles than the use of air-liquid partitioning coefficients. No changes in the diffusive fluxes were observed by increasing the number of grain boundaries in the snow sample by a factor of 7, indicating that for these volatile organic trace gases, uptake into grain boundaries does not play a role on the timescale of diffusion through porous surface snow. In conclusion, we have shown that the diffusivity can be predicted when the structure of the snowpack and the partitioning of the trace gas to solid ice is known.

Estimating Turbulent Surface Fluxes from Small Unmanned Aircraft: Evaluation of Current Abilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Boer, G.; Lawrence, D.; Elston, J.; Cassano, J. J.; Mack, J.; Wildmann, N.; Nigro, M. A.; Ivey, M.; Wolfe, D. E.; Muschinski, A.

2014-12-01

Heat transfer between the atmosphere and Earth's surface represents a key component to understanding Earth energy balance, making it important in understanding and simulating climate. Arguably, the oceanic air-sea interface and Polar sea-ice-air interface are amongst the most challenging in which to measure these fluxes. This difficulty results partially from challenges associated with infrastructure deployment on these surfaces and partially from an inability to obtain spatially representative values over a potentially inhomogeneous surface. Traditionally sensible (temperature) and latent (moisture) fluxes are estimated using one of several techniques. A preferred method involves eddy-correlation where cross-correlation between anomalies in vertical motion (w) and temperature (T) or moisture (q) is used to estimate heat transfer. High-frequency measurements of these quantities can be derived using tower-mounted instrumentation. Such systems have historically been deployed over land surfaces or on ships and buoys to calculate fluxes at the air-land or air-sea interface, but such deployments are expensive and challenging to execute, resulting in a lack of spatially diverse measurements. A second ("bulk") technique involves the observation of horizontal windspeed, temperature and moisture at a given altitude over an extended time period in order to estimate the surface fluxes. Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) represent a unique platform from which to derive these fluxes. These sUAS can be small ( 1 m), lightweight ( 700 g), low cost ( $2000) and relatively easy to deploy to remote locations and over inhomogeneous surfaces. We will give an overview of the ability of sUAS to provide measurements necessary for estimating surface turbulent fluxes. This discussion is based on flights in the vicinity of the 1000 ft. Boulder Atmospheric Observatory (BAO) tower, and over the US Department of Energy facility at Oliktok Point, Alaska. We will present initial comparisons between UAS-derived turbulent fluxes and those derived from tower-based instrumentation and discuss differences in the context of sensor technology and flight patterns employed to collect data.

Seasonal Prediction of Regional Surface Air Temperature and First-flowering Date in South Korea using Dynamical Downscaling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahn, J. B.; Hur, J.

2015-12-01

The seasonal prediction of both the surface air temperature and the first-flowering date (FFD) over South Korea are produced using dynamical downscaling (Hur and Ahn, 2015). Dynamical downscaling is performed using Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) v3.0 with the lateral forcing from hourly outputs of Pusan National University (PNU) coupled general circulation model (CGCM) v1.1. Gridded surface air temperature data with high spatial (3km) and temporal (daily) resolution are obtained using the physically-based dynamical models. To reduce systematic bias, simple statistical correction method is then applied to the model output. The FFDs of cherry, peach and pear in South Korea are predicted for the decade of 1999-2008 by applying the corrected daily temperature predictions to the phenological thermal-time model. The WRF v3.0 results reflect the detailed topographical effect, despite having cold and warm biases for warm and cold seasons, respectively. After applying the correction, the mean temperature for early spring (February to April) well represents the general pattern of observation, while preserving the advantages of dynamical downscaling. The FFD predictabilities for the three species of trees are evaluated in terms of qualitative, quantitative and categorical estimations. Although FFDs derived from the corrected WRF results well predict the spatial distribution and the variation of observation, the prediction performance has no statistical significance or appropriate predictability. The approach used in the study may be helpful in obtaining detailed and useful information about FFD and regional temperature by accounting for physically-based atmospheric dynamics, although the seasonal predictability of flowering phenology is not high enough. Acknowledgements This work was carried out with the support of the Rural Development Administration Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science and Technology Development under Grant Project No. PJ009953 and Project No. PJ009353, Republic of Korea. Reference Hur, J., J.-B. Ahn, 2015. Seasonal Prediction of Regional Surface Air Temperature and First-flowering Date over South Korea, Int. J. Climatol., DOI: 10.1002/joc.4323.

1/f model for long-time memory of the ocean surface temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fraedrich, Klaus; Luksch, Ute; Blender, Richard

2004-09-01

The 1/f spectrum of the ocean surface temperature in the Atlantic and Pacific midlatitudes is explained by a simple vertical diffusion model with a shallow mixed layer on top of a deep ocean. The model is forced at the air-sea interface with the total surface heat flux from a 1000 year climate simulation. The analysis reveals the role of ocean advection and substantiates estimates of internal thermal diffusivities.

Comparison of evaporative fluxes from porous surfaces resolved by remotely sensed and in-situ temperature and soil moisture data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wallen, B.; Trautz, A.; Smits, K. M.

2014-12-01

The estimation of evaporation has important implications in modeling climate at the regional and global scale, the hydrological cycle and estimating environmental stress on agricultural systems. In field and laboratory studies, remote sensing and in-situ techniques are used to collect thermal and soil moisture data of the soil surface and subsurface which is then used to estimate evaporative fluxes, oftentimes using the sensible heat balance method. Nonetheless, few studies exist that compare the methods due to limited data availability and the complexity of many of the techniques, making it difficult to understand flux estimates. This work compares different methods used to quantify evaporative flux based on remotely sensed and in-situ temperature and soil moisture data. A series of four laboratory experiments were performed under ambient and elevated air temperature conditions with homogeneous and heterogeneous soil configurations in a small two-dimensional soil tank interfaced with a small wind tunnel apparatus. The soil tank and wind tunnel were outfitted with a suite of sensors that measured soil temperature (surface and subsurface), air temperature, soil moisture, and tank weight. Air and soil temperature measurements were obtained using infrared thermography, heat pulse sensors and thermistors. Spatial and temporal thermal data were numerically inverted to obtain the evaporative flux. These values were then compared with rates of mass loss from direct weighing of the samples. Results demonstrate the applicability of different methods under different surface boundary conditions; no one method was deemed most applicable under every condition. Infrared thermography combined with the sensible heat balance method was best able to determine evaporative fluxes under stage 1 conditions while distributed temperature sensing combined with the sensible heat balance method best determined stage 2 evaporation. The approaches that appear most promising for determining the surface energy balance incorporates soil moisture rate of change over time and atmospheric conditions immediately above the soil surface. An understanding of the fidelity regarding predicted evaporation rates based upon stages of evaporation enables a more deliberate selection of the suite of sensors required for data collection.

Outdoor surface temperature measurement: ground truth or lie?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skauli, Torbjorn

2004-08-01

Contact surface temperature measurement in the field is essential in trials of thermal imaging systems and camouflage, as well as for scene modeling studies. The accuracy of such measurements is challenged by environmental factors such as sun and wind, which induce temperature gradients around a surface sensor and lead to incorrect temperature readings. In this work, a simple method is used to test temperature sensors under conditions representative of a surface whose temperature is determined by heat exchange with the environment. The tested sensors are different types of thermocouples and platinum thermistors typically used in field trials, as well as digital temperature sensors. The results illustrate that the actual measurement errors can be much larger than the specified accuracy of the sensors. The measurement error typically scales with the difference between surface temperature and ambient air temperature. Unless proper care is taken, systematic errors can easily reach 10% of this temperature difference, which is often unacceptable. Reasonably accurate readings are obtained using a miniature platinum thermistor. Thermocouples can perform well on bare metal surfaces if the connection to the surface is highly conductive. It is pointed out that digital temperature sensors have many advantages for field trials use.

Evaluation of WRF Simulations With Different Selections of Subgrid Orographic Drag Over the Tibetan Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, X.; Beljaars, A.; Wang, Y.; Huang, B.; Lin, C.; Chen, Y.; Wu, H.

2017-09-01

Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) simulations with different selections of subgrid orographic drag over the Tibetan Plateau have been evaluated with observation and ERA-Interim reanalysis. Results show that the subgrid orographic drag schemes, especially the turbulent orographic form drag (TOFD) scheme, efficiently reduce the 10 m wind speed bias and RMS error with respect to station measurements. With the combination of gravity wave, flow blocking and TOFD schemes, wind speed is simulated more realistically than with the individual schemes only. Improvements are also seen in the 2 m air temperature and surface pressure. The gravity wave drag, flow blocking drag, and TOFD schemes combined have the smallest station mean bias (-2.05°C in 2 m air temperature and 1.27 hPa in surface pressure) and RMS error (3.59°C in 2 m air temperature and 2.37 hPa in surface pressure). Meanwhile, the TOFD scheme contributes more to the improvements than the gravity wave drag and flow blocking schemes. The improvements are more pronounced at low levels of the atmosphere than at high levels due to the stronger drag enhancement on the low-level flow. The reduced near-surface cold bias and high-pressure bias over the Tibetan Plateau are the result of changes in the low-level wind components associated with the geostrophic balance. The enhanced drag directly leads to weakened westerlies but also enhances the a-geostrophic flow in this case reducing (enhancing) the northerlies (southerlies), which bring more warm air across the Himalaya Mountain ranges from South Asia (bring less cold air from the north) to the interior Tibetan Plateau.

Tropical Depression Debbie in the Atlantic

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2006-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Microwave ImageVisible Light Image

Infrared Image These images show Tropical Depression Debbie in the Atlantic, from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite on August 22, 2006. This AIRS image shows the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of the storm. The infrared signal does not penetrate through clouds. Where there are no clouds the AIRS instrument reads the infrared signal from the surface of the Earth, revealing warmer temperatures (red). At the time the data were taken from which these images were made the eye had not yet opened but the storm is now well organized. The location of the future eye appears as a circle at 275 K brightness temperature in the microwave image just to the SE of the Azores.

Microwave Image The microwave image is created from microwave radiation emitted by Earth's atmosphere and received by the instrument. It shows where the heaviest rainfall is taking place (in blue) in the storm. Blue areas outside of the storm where there are either some clouds or no clouds, indicate where the sea surface shines through.

Vis/NIR Image Tropical Depression Debbie captured by the visible light/near-infrared sensor on the AIRS instrument.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Experiment, with its visible, infrared, and microwave detectors, provides a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather. Working in tandem, the three instruments can make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-D map of atmospheric temperature and humidity and provides information on clouds, greenhouse gases, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS Infrared Sounder Experiment flies onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Air cooling of disk of a solid integrally cast turbine rotor for an automotive gas turbine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gladden, H. J.

1977-01-01

A thermal analysis is made of surface cooling of a solid, integrally cast turbine rotor disk for an automotive gas turbine engine. Air purge and impingement cooling schemes are considered and compared with an uncooled reference case. Substantial reductions in blade temperature are predicted with each of the cooling schemes studied. It is shown that air cooling can result in a substantial gain in the stress-rupture life of the blade. Alternatively, increases in the turbine inlet temperature are possible.

Assessment of urban heat Island for Craiova from satellite-based LST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Udristioiu, Mihaela Tinca; Velea, Liliana; Bojariu, Roxana; Sararu, Silviu Constantin

2017-12-01

The urban heat island is defined as an excess of heating in urban areas compared with surrounding rural zones which is illustrated by higher surface and air temperatures in the inner part of the cities. The aim of this study is to identify the UHI effect for Craiova - the largest city in the South-Western part of Romania - and to assess its intensity during summer. To this end, MODIS Land surface temperature (LST) for day and night for summer months (June, July, August), in the interval 2002-2017, as well as yearly Land Cover Type (LCT) data also from MODIS were employed. Furthermore, measurements of air and soil temperature from meteorological station Craiova, available from the National Meteorological Administration database, were used to investigate their relation with LST. The analysis shows that in the urban area of Craiova the long-term summer mean LST is about 4 °C (2 °C), higher than in the rural area during daytime (nighttime). During high temperatures episodes, the mean daytime LST reaches 45-47 °C in the city, while the difference from the rural surrounding area is of 2-3 °C. A high correlation (0.77-0.83) is found between LST and air temperature for all land-use types in the area considered. Both LST and 2m-air temperature time-series manifest an increasing linear tendency over the period considered, being more pronounced during the day.

Porosity control in nanoporous carbide-derived carbon by oxidation in air and carbon dioxide

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Osswald, S.; Portet, C.; Gogotsi, Y., E-mail: gogotsi@drexel.ed

2009-07-15

Carbide-derived carbons (CDC) allow a precise control over the pore size through the selection of the carbide precursor and varying of the synthesis conditions. However, their pore volume is limited by the carbide stoichiometry. While activation of carbons derived from various organic precursors has been widely studied, this process may similarly be able to increase the pore volume and specific surface area of CDC. Oxidation of carbide-derived carbon in air and CO{sub 2} at different temperatures and times allows for significant increase in pore volume and specific surface area as well as control over average pore size with subnanometer accuracy.more » The effect of activation and associated changes in the pore volume and surface area on the hydrogen uptake are also discussed. - Graphical abstract: Carbide-derived carbons (CDC) provide great potential for sorption of toxicants and gas storage applications. Activation of CDC in air and CO{sub 2} at different temperatures and times is applied in order to maximize pore volume and specific surface area, and control the average pore size with subnanometer accuracy.« less

Invited Article: Quantitative imaging of explosions with high-speed cameras

DOE PAGES

McNesby, Kevin L.; Homan, Barrie E.; Benjamin, Richard A.; ...

2016-05-31

Here, the techniques presented in this paper allow for mapping of temperature, pressure, chemical species, and energy deposition during and following detonations of explosives, using high speed cameras as the main diagnostic tool. Additionally, this work provides measurement in the explosive near to far-field (0-500 charge diameters) of surface temperatures, peak air-shock pressures, some chemical species signatures, shock energy deposition, and air shock formation.

Breathable and Stretchable Temperature Sensors Inspired by Skin.

PubMed

Chen, Ying; Lu, Bingwei; Chen, Yihao; Feng, Xue

2015-06-22

Flexible electronics attached to skin for healthcare, such as epidermal electronics, has to struggle with biocompatibility and adapt to specified environment of skin with respect to breath and perspiration. Here, we report a strategy for biocompatible flexible temperature sensors, inspired by skin, possessing the excellent permeability of air and high quality of water-proof by using semipermeable film with porous structures as substrate. We attach such temperature sensors to underarm and forearm to measure the axillary temperature and body surface temperature respectively. The volunteer wears such sensors for 24 hours with two times of shower and the in vitro test shows no sign of maceration or stimulation to the skin. Especially, precise temperature changes on skin surface caused by flowing air and water dropping are also measured to validate the accuracy and dynamical response. The results show that the biocompatible temperature sensor is soft and breathable on the human skin and has the excellent accuracy compared to mercury thermometer. This demonstrates the possibility and feasibility of fully using the sensors in long term body temperature sensing for medical use as well as sensing function of artificial skin for robots or prosthesis.

NASA AIRS Movies Show Evolution of U.S. 2011 Heat Wave

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-26

NASA Aqua spacecraft has illustrated surface air and skin temperature for the period from July 16-24, showing movement of a dome of heat across the eastern two-thirds of the country. See More Details for the movies.

Toward the Active Control of Heat Transfer in the Hot Gas Path of Gas Turbines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oertling, Jeremiah E.

2003-01-01

The work at NASA this summer has focused on assisting the Professor's project, namely "Toward the Active Control of Heat Transfer in the Hot Gas Path of Gas Turbines." The mode of controlling the Heat Transfer that the project focuses on is film cooling. Film cooling is used in high temperature regions of a gas turbine and extends the life of the components exposed to these extreme temperatures. A "cool" jet of air is injected along the surface of the blade and this layer of cool air shields the blade from the high temperatures. Cool is a relative term. The hot gas path temperatures reach on the order of 1500 to 2000 K. The "coo" air is on the order of 700 to 1000 K. This cooler air is bled off of an appropriate compressor stage. The next parameter of interest is the jet s position and orientation in the flow-field.

Observational analysis of air-sea fluxes and sea water temperature offshore South China Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bi, X.; Huang, J.; Gao, Z.; Liu, Y.

2017-12-01

This paper investigates the air-sea fluxes (momentum flux, sensible heat flux and latent heat flux) from eddy covariance method based on data collected at an offshore observation tower in the South China Sea from January 2009 to December 2016 and sea water temperature (SWT) on six different levels based on data collected from November 2011 to June 2013. The depth of water at the tower over the sea averages about 15 m. This study presents the in-situ measurements of continuous air-sea fluxes and SWT at different depths. Seasonal and diurnal variations in air-sea fluxes and SWT on different depths are examined. Results show that air-sea fluxes and all SWT changed seasonally; sea-land breeze circulation appears all the year round. Unlike winters where SWT on different depths are fairly consistent, the difference between sea surface temperature (SST) and sea temperature at 10 m water depth fluctuates dramatically and the maximum value reaches 7 °C during summer.

Climate responses to SATIRE and SIM-based spectral solar forcing in a 3D atmosphere-ocean coupled GCM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wen, Guoyong; Cahalan, Robert F.; Rind, David; Jonas, Jeffrey; Pilewskie, Peter; Wu, Dong L.; Krivova, Natalie A.

2017-03-01

We apply two reconstructed spectral solar forcing scenarios, one SIM (Spectral Irradiance Monitor) based, the other the SATIRE (Spectral And Total Irradiance REconstruction) modeled, as inputs to the GISS (Goddard Institute for Space Studies) GCMAM (Global Climate Middle Atmosphere Model) to examine climate responses on decadal to centennial time scales, focusing on quantifying the difference of climate response between the two solar forcing scenarios. We run the GCMAM for about 400 years with present day trace gas and aerosol for the two solar forcing inputs. We find that the SIM-based solar forcing induces much larger long-term response and 11-year variation in global averaged stratospheric temperature and column ozone. We find significant decreasing trends of planetary albedo for both forcing scenarios in the 400-year model runs. However the mechanisms for the decrease are very different. For SATIRE solar forcing, the decreasing trend of planetary albedo is associated with changes in cloud cover. For SIM-based solar forcing, without significant change in cloud cover on centennial and longer time scales, the apparent decreasing trend of planetary albedo is mainly due to out-of-phase variation in shortwave radiative forcing proxy (downwelling flux for wavelength >330 nm) and total solar irradiance (TSI). From the Maunder Minimum to present, global averaged annual mean surface air temperature has a response of 0.1 °C to SATIRE solar forcing compared to 0.04 °C to SIM-based solar forcing. For 11-year solar cycle, the global surface air temperature response has 3-year lagged response to either forcing scenario. The global surface air 11-year temperature response to SATIRE forcing is about 0.12 °C, similar to recent multi-model estimates, and comparable to the observational-based evidence. However, the global surface air temperature response to 11-year SIM-based solar forcing is insignificant and inconsistent with observation-based evidence.

Cloud Masking and Surface Temperature Distribution in the Polar Regions Using AVHRR and other Satellite Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Comiso, Joey C.

1995-01-01

Surface temperature is one of the key variables associated with weather and climate. Accurate measurements of surface air temperatures are routinely made in meteorological stations around the world. Also, satellite data have been used to produce synoptic global temperature distributions. However, not much attention has been paid on temperature distributions in the polar regions. In the polar regions, the number of stations is very sparse. Because of adverse weather conditions and general inaccessibility, surface field measurements are also limited. Furthermore, accurate retrievals from satellite data in the region have been difficult to make because of persistent cloudiness and ambiguities in the discrimination of clouds from snow or ice. Surface temperature observations are required in the polar regions for air-sea-ice interaction studies, especially in the calculation of heat, salinity, and humidity fluxes. They are also useful in identifying areas of melt or meltponding within the sea ice pack and the ice sheets and in the calculation of emissivities of these surfaces. Moreover, the polar regions are unique in that they are the sites of temperature extremes, the location of which is difficult to identify without a global monitoring system. Furthermore, the regions may provide an early signal to a potential climate change because such signal is expected to be amplified in the region due to feedback effects. In cloud free areas, the thermal channels from infrared systems provide surface temperatures at relatively good accuracies. Previous capabilities include the use of the Temperature Humidity Infrared Radiometer (THIR) onboard the Nimbus-7 satellite which was launched in 1978. Current capabilities include the use of the Advance Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) aboard NOAA satellites. Together, these two systems cover a span of 16 years of thermal infrared data. Techniques for retrieving surface temperatures with these sensors in the polar regions have been developed. Errors have been estimated to range from 1K to 5K mainly due to cloud masking problems. With many additional channels available, it is expected that the EOS-Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) will provide an improved characterization of clouds and a good discrimination of clouds from snow or ice surfaces.

Impact of fire on global land surface air temperature and energy budget for the 20th century due to changes within ecosystems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Fang; Lawrence, David M.; Bond-Lamberty, Ben

Fire is a global phenomenon and tightly interacts with the biosphere and climate. This study provides the first quantitative assessment of fire’s influence on the global land air temperature during the 20th century through its impact on terrestrial ecosystems. We quantify the impact of fire by comparing 20th century fire-on and fire-off simulations with the Community Earth System Model (CESM) as the model platform. Here, results show that fire-induced changes in terrestrial ecosystems increased global land surface air temperature by 0.04 °C. Such changes significantly warmed the tropical savannas and southern Asia mainly by reducing latent heat flux, but cooledmore » Southeast China by enhancing the East Asian winter monsoon. 20% of the early 20th century global land warming can be attributed to fire-induced changes in terrestrial ecosystems, providing a new mechanism for explaining the poorly-understood climate change.« less

Impact of fire on global land surface air temperature and energy budget for the 20th century due to changes within ecosystems

DOE PAGES

Li, Fang; Lawrence, David M.; Bond-Lamberty, Ben

2017-04-03

Fire is a global phenomenon and tightly interacts with the biosphere and climate. This study provides the first quantitative assessment of fire’s influence on the global land air temperature during the 20th century through its impact on terrestrial ecosystems. We quantify the impact of fire by comparing 20th century fire-on and fire-off simulations with the Community Earth System Model (CESM) as the model platform. Here, results show that fire-induced changes in terrestrial ecosystems increased global land surface air temperature by 0.04 °C. Such changes significantly warmed the tropical savannas and southern Asia mainly by reducing latent heat flux, but cooledmore » Southeast China by enhancing the East Asian winter monsoon. 20% of the early 20th century global land warming can be attributed to fire-induced changes in terrestrial ecosystems, providing a new mechanism for explaining the poorly-understood climate change.« less

Winter to Spring Transition in Europe 48-45 degrees N: From Temperature Control by Advection to Control by Insolation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Otterman, J.; Ardizzone, J.; Atlas, R.; Hu, H.; Jusem, J. C.; Starr, D.

1999-01-01

As established in previous studies, and analyzed further herein for the years 1988-1998, warm advection from the North Atlantic is the predominant control of the surface-air temperature in northern-latitude Europe in late winter. This thesis is supported by the substantial correlation Cti between the speed of the southwesterly surface winds over the eastern North Atlantic, as quantified by a specific Index Ina, and the 2-meter level temperature Ts over central Europe (48-54 deg N; 5-25 deg E), for January, February and early March. In mid-March and subsequently, the correlation Cti drops drastically (quite often it is negative). The change in the relationship between Ts and Ina marks a transition in the control of the surface-air temperature. As (a) the sun rises higher in the sky, (b) the snows melt (the surface absorptivity can increase by a factor of 3.0), (c) the ocean-surface winds weaken, and (d) the temperature difference between land and ocean (which we analyze) becomes small, absorption of insolation replaces the warm advection as the dominant control of the continental temperature. We define the onset of spring by this transition, which evaluated for the period of our study occurs at pentad 16 (Julian Date 76, that is, March 16). The control by insolation means that the surface is cooler under cloudy conditions than under clear skies. This control produces a much smaller interannual variability of the surface temperature and of the lapse rate than prevailing in winter, when the control is by advection. Regional climatic data would be of greatest value for agriculture and forestry if compiled for well-defined seasons. For continental northern latitudes, analysis presented here of factors controlling the surface temperature appears an appropriate tool for this task.

Heat Transfer in Metal Foam Heat Exchangers at High Temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hafeez, Pakeeza

Heat transfer though open-cell metal foam is experimentally studied for heat exchanger and heat shield applications at high temperatures (˜750°C). Nickel foam sheets with pore densities of 10 and 40 pores per linear inch (PPI), have been used to make the heat exchangers and heat shields by using thermal spray coating to deposit an Inconel skin on a foam core. Heat transfer measurements were performed on a test rig capable of generating hot gas up to 1000°C. The heat exchangers were tested by exposing their outer surface to combustion gases at a temperature of 550°C and 750°C while being cooled by air flowing through them at room temperature at velocities up to 5 m/s. The temperature rise of the air, the surface temperature of the heat exchangers and the air temperature inside the heat exchanger were measured. The volumetric heat transfer coefficient and Nusselt number were calculated for different velocities. The heat transfer performance of the 40PPI sample brazed with the foil is found to be the most efficient. Pressure drop measurements were also performed for 10 and 40PPI metal foam. Thermographic measurements were done on 40PPI foam heat exchangers using a high temperature infrared camera. A high power electric heater was used to produce hot air at 300°C that passed over the foam heat exchanger while the cooling air was blown through it. Heat shields were made by depositing porous skins on metal foam and it was observed that a small amount of coolant leaking through the pores notably reduces the heat transfer from the hot gases. An analytical model was developed based assuming local thermal non-equilibrium that accounts for the temperature difference between solid and fluid phase. The experimental results are found to be in good agreement with the predicted values of the model.

Ice-atmosphere interactions in the Canadian High Arctic: Implications for the thermo-mechanical evolution of terrestrial ice masses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wohlleben, Trudy M. H.

Canadian High Arctic terrestrial ice masses and the polar atmosphere evolve codependently, and interactions between the two systems can lead to feedbacks, positive and negative. The two primary positive cryosphere-atmosphere feedbacks are: (1) The snow/ice-albedo feedback (where area changes in snow and/or ice cause changes in surface albedo and surface air temperatures, leading to further area changes in snow/ice); and (2) The elevation - mass balance feedback (where thickness changes in terrestrial ice masses cause changes to atmospheric circulation and precipitation patterns, leading to further ice thickness changes). In this thesis, numerical experiments are performed to: (1) quantify the magnitudes of the two feedbacks for chosen Canadian High Arctic terrestrial ice masses; and (2) to examine the direct and indirect consequences of surface air temperature changes upon englacial temperatures with implications for ice flow, mass flux divergence, and topographic evolution. Model results show that: (a) for John Evans Glacier, Ellesmere Island, the magnitude of the terrestrial snow/ice-albedo feedback can locally exceed that of sea ice on less than decadal timescales, with implications for glacier response times to climate perturbations; (b) although historical air temperature changes might be the direct cause of measured englacial temperature anomalies in various glacier and ice cap accumulation zones, they can also be the indirect cause of their enhanced diffusive loss; (c) while the direct result of past air temperature changes has been to cool the interior of John Evans Glacier, and its bed, the indirect result has been to create and maintain warm (pressure melting point) basal temperatures in the ablation zone; and (d) for Devon Ice Cap, observed mass gains in the northwest sector of the ice cap would be smaller without orographic precipitation and the mass balance---elevation feedback, supporting the hypothesis that this feedback is playing a role in the evolution of the ice cap.

Effect of different conventional melt quenching technique on purity of lithium niobate (LiNbO3) nano crystal phase formed in lithium borate glass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kashif, Ismail; Soliman, Ashia A.; Sakr, Elham M.; Ratep, Asmaa

2012-01-01

The glass system (45Li2O + 45B2O3 + 10Nb2O5) was fabricated by the conventional melt quenching technique poured in water, at air, between two hot plates and droplets at the cooled surface. The glass and glass ceramics were studied by differential thermal analysis (DTA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The as quenched samples poured in water and between two hot plates were amorphous. The samples poured at air and on cooled surface were crystalline as established via X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) studies. Differential thermal analysis was measured. The glass transition temperature (Tg) and the crystallization temperatures were calculated. Lithium niobate (LiNbO3) was the main phase in glass ceramic poured at air, droplets at the cooled surface and the heat treated glass sample at 500, 540 and 580 °C in addition to traces from LiNb3O8. Crystallite size of the main phases determined from the X-ray diffraction peaks is in the range of <100 nm. The fraction of crystalline (LiNbO3) phase decreases with increase in the heat treatment temperature.

The numerical modeling the sensitivity of coastal wind and ozone concentration to different SST forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Hyun-Jung; Lee, Hwa Woon; Jeon, Won-Bae; Lee, Soon-Hwan

2012-01-01

This study evaluated an atmospheric and air quality model of the spatial variability in low-level coastal winds and ozone concentration, which are affected by sea surface temperature (SST) forcing with different thermal gradients. Several numerical experiments examined the effect of sea surface SST forcing on the coastal atmosphere and air quality. In this study, the RAMS-CAMx model was used to estimate the sensitivity to two different resolutions of SST forcing during the episode day as well as to simulate the low-level coastal winds and ozone concentration over a complex coastal area. The regional model reproduced the qualitative effect of SST forcing and thermal gradients on the coastal flow. The high-resolution SST derived from NGSST-O (New Generation Sea Surface Temperature Open Ocean) forcing to resolve the warm SST appeared to enhance the mean response of low-level winds to coastal regions. These wind variations have important implications for coastal air quality. A higher ozone concentration was forecasted when SST data with a high resolution was used with the appropriate limitation of temperature, regional wind circulation, vertical mixing height and nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) near coastal areas.

Numerical Studies of Thermal Conditions in Cities - Systematic Model Simulations of Idealized Urban Domains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heene, V.; Buchholz, S.; Kossmann, M.

2016-12-01

Numerical studies of thermal conditions in cities based on model simulations of idealized urban domains are carried out to investigate how changes in the characteristics of urban areas influence street level air temperatures. The simulated modifications of the urban characteristics represent possible adaptation measures for heat reduction in cities, which are commonly used in urban planning. Model simulations are performed with the thermodynamic version of the 3-dimensional micro-scale urban climate model MUKLIMO_3. The simulated idealized urban areas are designed in a simplistic way, i. e. defining homogeneous squared cities of one settlement type, without orography and centered in the model domain. To assess the impact of different adaptation measures the characteristics of the urban areas have been systematically modified regarding building height, albedo of building roof and impervious surfaces, fraction of impervious surfaces between buildings, and percentage of green roofs. To assess the impact of green and blue infrastructure in cities, different configurations for parks and lakes have been investigated - e. g. varying size and distribution within the city. The experiments are performed for different combinations of typical German settlement types and surrounding rural types under conditions of a typical summer day in July. The adaptation measures implemented in the experiments show different impacts for different settlement types mainly due to the differences in building density, building height or impervious surface fraction. Parks and lakes implemented as adaptation measure show strong potential to reduce daytime air temperature, with cooling effects on their built-up surroundings. At night lakes generate negative and positive effects on air temperature, depending on water temperature. In general, all adaptation measures implemented in experiments reveal different impacts on day and night air temperature.

Seasonal dynamics of methane emissions from a subarctic fen in the Hudson Bay Lowlands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanis, K. L.; Tenuta, M.; Amiro, B. D.; Papakyriakou, T. N.

2013-07-01

Ecosystem-scale methane (CH4) flux (FCH4) over a subarctic fen at Churchill, Manitoba, Canada was measured to understand the magnitude of emissions during spring and fall shoulder seasons, and the growing season in relation to physical and biological conditions. FCH4 was measured using eddy covariance with a closed-path analyser in four years (2008-2011). Cumulative measured annual FCH4 (shoulder plus growing seasons) ranged from 3.0 to 9.6 g CH4 m-2 yr-1 among the four study years, with a mean of 6.5 to 7.1 g CH4 m-2 yr-1 depending upon gap-filling method. Soil temperatures to depths of 50 cm and air temperature were highly correlated with FCH4, with near-surface soil temperature at 5 cm most correlated across spring, fall, and the shoulder and growing seasons. The response of FCH4 to soil temperature at the 5 cm depth and air temperature was more than double in spring to that of fall. Emission episodes were generally not observed during spring thaw. Growing season emissions also depended upon soil and air temperatures but the water table also exerted influence, with FCH4 highest when water was 2-13 cm below and lowest when it was at or above the mean peat surface.

Seasonal dynamics of methane emissions from a subarctic fen in the Hudson Bay Lowlands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanis, K. L.; Tenuta, M.; Amiro, B. D.; Papakyriakou, T. N.

2013-03-01

Ecosystem-scale methane (CH4) flux (FCH4) over a subarctic fen at Churchill, Manitoba, Canada was measured to understand the magnitude of emissions during spring and fall shoulder seasons, and the growing season in relation to physical and biological conditions. FCH4 was measured using eddy covariance with a closed-path analyzer in four years (2008-2011). Cumulative measured annual FCH4 (shoulder plus growing seasons) ranged from 3.0 to 9.6 g CH4 m-2 yr-1 among the four study years, with a mean of 6.5 to 7.1 g CH4 m-2 yr-1 depending upon gap-filling method. Soil temperatures to depths of 50 cm and air temperature were highly correlated with FCH4, with near surface soil temperature at 5 cm most correlated across spring, fall, and the whole season. The response of FCH4 to soil temperature at the 5 cm depth and air temperature was more than double in spring to that of fall. Emission episodes were generally not observed during spring thaw. Growing season emissions also depended upon soil and air temperatures but water table also exerted influence with FCH4 highest when water was 2-13 cm below and least when it was at or above the mean peat surface.

Novel insights into the dynamics of cold-air drainage and pooling on a gentle slope from fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pfister, Lena; Sigmund, Armin; Olesch, Johannes; Thomas, Christoph

2016-04-01

Urban climate can benefit from cold-air drainage as it may help alleviate the urban heat island. In contrast, stable cold-air pools can damage plants especially in rural areas. In this study, we examined the dynamics of cold-air drainage and pooling in a peri-urban setting over a period of 47 days along a 170 m long slope with an inclination of 1.3° located in the Ecological Botany Gardens of the University of Bayreuth. Air and soil temperatures were measured using distributed temperature sensing of an 2-dimensional fiber-optic array at six heights (-2 cm to 100 cm) along the slope sampling every 1 min and every 1 m. Ancillary measurements of winds, turbulence intensity and momentum exchange were collected using two ultrasonic anemometers installed at 0.1 m and 17 m height at the center of the transect. We hypothesized that cold-air drainage, here defined as a gravity-driven density flow near the bottom originating from local radiative cooling of the surface, is decoupled from non-local flows and can thus be predicted from the local topography. The nocturnal data were stratified by classes of longwave radiation balance, wind speed, and wind direction at 0.1 m agl. The four most abundant classes were tested further for decoupling of wind velocities and directions between 17 and 0.1 m. We further computed the vertical and horizontal temperature perturbations of the fiber-optic array as evaluated for these cases, as well as subject the temperature data to a multiresolution decomposition to investigate the spatial two-point correlation coefficient along the transect. Finally, the cold pool intensity was calculated. The results revealed none of the four most abundant classes followed classical textbook knowledge of locally produced cold-air drainage. Instead, we found that the near-surface flow was strongly forced by two possibly competing non-local flow modes. The first mode caused weak (< 0.4 ms-1) near-surface winds directed perpendicular to the local slope and showed strong vertical decoupling of wind velocities and directions. The vertical and horizontal perturbation of the temperature as well as the cold-pool intensity was high and the two-point correlation coefficient decorrelated fast with increasing distance. In contrast, for the second mode the wind was aligned with the local slope and the wind velocities and directions agreed vertically. However, momentum exchange was much enhanced leading to intense shear-generated mixing and almost vanishing temperature perturbations, higher spatial coherence indicated by slower spatial decorrelations, and a cold-pool intensity of close to zero. In conclusion, the first mode was interpreted as a relatively weak non-local valley-scale cold-air drainage modulating the close to stationary cold-air pool filling the shallow depression the Botanical Gardens are located in. Here, the deeper cold-air drainage causes only weak local movements at the surface as both layers are largely decoupled. The second mode is possibly caused by a recirculation of a stronger valley-scale flow with sufficient synoptic forcing. Our findings challenge the common practice to predict cold-air dynamics solely based on micro-topographic analysis.

SFG and AFM Studies of Polymer Surface Monolayers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Somorjai, Gabor A.

2003-03-01

Sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy techniques were utilized to study the structure and composition of polymer surfaces ranging from polyethylene and polypropylene to copolymers of polyurethane and polystyrene. The surface methyl groups aligned perpendicular to the surface above the glass transition temperature of polypropylene. Large side groups such as the phenyl group on polystyrene is also near the surface normal at the polymer-air interface. At the air interface hydrophobic groups are dominant on the polymer surface while at solid-water interface hydrophilic groups segregate to the surface. Minimizing surface energy is the cause of readjusting the surface composition at polymer-water interfaces as compared to polymer-air interfaces. Upon stretching the soft component of two-component polymer systems segregates to the surface and both the surface structure and the surface composition undergo reversible or irreversible changes depending on the magnitude of the stretch. Since the heart beat forces bio-polymers to stretch over 40 million times a year the molecular behavior due to stretching has important physiological consequences.

Evaluation of the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) air temperature data products

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ji, Lei; Senay, Gabriel B.; Verdin, James P.

2015-01-01

There is a high demand for agrohydrologic models to use gridded near-surface air temperature data as the model input for estimating regional and global water budgets and cycles. The Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) developed by combining simulation models with observations provides a long-term gridded meteorological dataset at the global scale. However, the GLDAS air temperature products have not been comprehensively evaluated, although the accuracy of the products was assessed in limited areas. In this study, the daily 0.25° resolution GLDAS air temperature data are compared with two reference datasets: 1) 1-km-resolution gridded Daymet data (2002 and 2010) for the conterminous United States and 2) global meteorological observations (2000–11) archived from the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN). The comparison of the GLDAS datasets with the GHCN datasets, including 13 511 weather stations, indicates a fairly high accuracy of the GLDAS data for daily temperature. The quality of the GLDAS air temperature data, however, is not always consistent in different regions of the world; for example, some areas in Africa and South America show relatively low accuracy. Spatial and temporal analyses reveal a high agreement between GLDAS and Daymet daily air temperature datasets, although spatial details in high mountainous areas are not sufficiently estimated by the GLDAS data. The evaluation of the GLDAS data demonstrates that the air temperature estimates are generally accurate, but caution should be taken when the data are used in mountainous areas or places with sparse weather stations.

Arctic tundra shrub invasion and soot deposition: Consequences for spring snowmelt and near-surface air temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strack, John E.

Invasive shrubs and soot pollution both have the potential to alter the surface energy balance and timing of snow melt in the Arctic. Shrubs reduce the amount of snow lost to sublimation on the tundra during the winter leading to a deeper end-of-winter snowpack. The shrubs also enhance the absorption of energy by the snowpack during the melt season, by converting incoming solar radiation to longwave radiation and sensible heat. This results in a faster rate of snow melt, warmer near-surface air temperatures, and a deeper boundary layer. Soot deposition lowers the albedo of the snow allowing it to more effectively absorb incoming solar radiation and thus melt faster. This study uses the Colorado State University Regional Atmospheric Modeling System version 4.4 (CSU-RAMS 4.4), equipped with an enhanced snow model, to investigate the effects of shrub encroachment and soot deposition on the atmosphere and snowpack in the Kuparuk Basin of Alaska during the May-June melt period. The results of the simulations suggest that a complete invasion of the tundra by shrubs leads to a 1.5 degree C warming of 2-m air temperatures, 17 watts per meter square increase in surface sensible heat flux, and a 108 m increase in boundary layer depth during the melt period. The snow free-date also occurred 11 days earlier despite having a larger initial snowpack. The results also show that a decrease in the snow albedo of 0.1, due to soot pollution, caused the snow-free date to occur five days earlier. The soot pollution caused a 0.5 degree C warming of 2-m air temperatures and a 2 watts per meter square increase in surface sensible heat flux. In addition, the boundary layer averaged 25 m deeper in the polluted snow simulation.

Effects of post-fire logging on forest surface air temperatures in the Siskiyou Mountains, Oregon, USA

Treesearch

Joseph B. Fontaine; Daniel C. Donato; John L. Campbell; Jonathan G. Martin; Beverley E. Law

2010-01-01

Following stand-replacing wildfire, post-fire (salvage) logging of fire-killed trees is a widely implemented management practice in many forest types. A common hypothesis is that removal of fire-killed trees increases surface temperatures due to loss of shade and increased solar radiation, thereby influencing vegetation establishment and possibly stand development. Six...

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tam, M.S.; Antal, M.J. Jr.

A novel, three-step process for the production of high-quality activated carbons from macadamia nut shell and coconut shell charcoals is described. In this process the charcoal is (1) heated to a high temperature (carbonized), (2) oxidized in air following a stepwise heating program from low (ca. 450 K) to high (ca. 660 K) temperatures (oxygenated), and (3) heated again in an inert environment to a high temperature (activated). By use of this procedure, activated carbons with surface areas greater than 1,000 m{sub 2}/g are manufactured with an overall yield of 15% (based on the dry shell feed). Removal of carbonmore » mass by the development of mesopores and macropores is largely responsible for increases in the surface area of the carbons above 600 m{sub 2}/g. Thus, the surface area per gram of activated carbon can be represented by an inverse function of the yield for burnoffs between 15 and 60%. These findings are supported by mass-transfer calculations and pore-size distribution measurements. A kinetic model for gasification of carbon by oxygen, which provides for an Eley-Rideal type reaction of a surface oxide with oxygen in air, fits the measured gasification rates reasonably well over the temperature range of 550--660 K.« less

Spatiotemporal Variations in the Difference between Satellite-observed Land Surface Temperature and Station-based Near-surface Air Temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lian, X.

2016-12-01

There is an increasing demand to integrate land surface temperature (LST) into climate research due to its global coverage, which requires a comprehensive knowledge of its distinctive characteristics compared to near-surface air temperature ( ). Using satellite observations and in-situ station-based datasets, we conducted a global-scale assessment of the spatial, seasonal, and interannual variations in the difference between daytime maximum LST and daytime maximum ( , LST - ) during 2003-2014. Spatially, LST is generally higher than over arid and sparsely vegetated regions in the mid-low latitudes, but LST is lower than in the tropical rainforests due to strong evaporative cooling, and in the high-latitude regions due to snow-induced radiative cooling. Seasonally, is negative in tropical regions throughout the year, while it displays a pronounced seasonality in both the mid-latitudes and boreal regions. The seasonality in the mid-latitudes is a result of the asynchronous responses of LST and to the seasonal cycle of radiation and vegetation abundance, whereas in the boreal regions, seasonality is mainly caused by the change in snow cover. At an interannual scale, only a small proportion of the land surface displays a statistically significant trend (P <0.05) due to the short time span of current measurements. Our study identified substantial spatial heterogeneity and seasonality in , as well as its determinant environmental drivers, and thus provides a useful reference for monitoring near-surface temperature changes using remote sensing, particularly in remote regions.

The Modern Near-Surface Martian Climate: A Review of In-Situ Meteorological Data from Viking to Curiosity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martinez, G. M.; Newman, C. N.; De Vicente-Retortillo, A.; Fischer, E.; Renno, N. O.; Richardson, M. I.; Fairén, A. G.; Genzer, M.; Guzewich, S. D.; Haberle, R. M.;

Change in diurnal variations of meteorological variables induced by anthropogenic aerosols over the North China Plain in summer 2008

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Yi; Zhang, Meigen; Liu, Xiaohong; Wang, Lili

2016-04-01

This study investigates the impacts of all anthropogenic aerosols and anthropogenic black carbon (BC) on the diurnal variations of meteorological variables in the atmospheric boundary layer over the North China Plain (NCP) during June to August 2008, using a coupled meteorology and chemistry model (WRF-Chem). The results of the ensemble numerical experiments show that surface air temperature decreases by about 0.6 to 1.2 K with the maximum decrease over the Beijing urban area and the southern part of Hebei province, and the surface relative humidity (RH) increases by 2-4 % owing to all anthropogenic aerosols. On the contrary, anthropogenic BC induces a small change of temperature and RH at surface. Averaged for Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei province (BTH region) and High Particle Concentration (HPC) periods when PM2.5 surface concentration is more than 60 μg m-3 and daily AOD is more than 0.9, all anthropogenic aerosols decrease air temperature under 850 hPa and increase it between 500 and 850 hPa, while anthropogenic BC increases it for whole atmosphere. The maximum changes occur at 08:00-20:00 (local time). Aerosol-induced surface energy and diabatic heating change leads to a cooling at the surface and in the lower atmosphere and a warming in the middle troposphere at 08:00-17:00, with reversed effects at 20:00-05:00. BC cools the atmosphere at the surface and warms the atmosphere above for the whole day. As a result, the equivalent potential temperature profile change shows that the lower atmosphere is more stable at 08:00 and 14:00. All anthropogenic aerosols decrease the surface wind speed by 20-60 %, while anthropogenic BC decreases the wind speed by 10-40 % over the NCP with the maximum decrease at 08:00. The aerosol-induced stabilization of the lower atmosphere favors the accumulation of air pollutants and thus contributes to deterioration of visibility and fog-haze events.

Gaseous oxygen cooling of the Space Transportation System launch pad environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmad, R. A.; Mathias, E. C.; Boraas, S.

1991-12-01

The external tank (ET) of the Space Transportation System (STS) contains liquid oxygen and hydrogen as oxidizer and fuel for the Space Shuttle main engines (SSMEs). During and subsequent to the loading of the ET prior to the launch of an STS, the cryogens boil in the near atmospheric conditions existing within their respective tanks. The gaseous oxygen (GOX) formed as a result of this boiling is vented overboard, mixes with air, and may, under certain wind conditions, be transported toward the STS to cause a cooling of its environment. This paper describes a two-dimensional computational fliud dynamics analysis to determine the magnitude of this cooling effect by determining the temperature depression and stratification caused by this GOX/air mixture in the region around the east redesigned solid rocket motor (RSRM), the ET, and below the STS assembly. For a severe wintertime launch temperature of -4.44 C, the maximum local temperature depression of the mixture was calculated to be 32.22 C in the inboard region next to the ET surface, and a surface temperature on the east RSRM was found to be as much as 13.89 C colder than ambient. The computed average surface temperatures on either side of the RSRM were in excellent agreement with a temperature determined from a correlation of prelaunch temperature measurements.

Two-layer thermal barrier coating for turbine airfoils - furnace and burner rig test results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stecura, S.

1976-01-01

A simple, two-layer plasma-sprayed thermal barrier coating system was developed which has the potential for protecting high temperature air-cooled gas turbine components. Of those coatings initially examined, the most promising system consisted of a Ni-16Cr-6Al-0.6Y (in wt%) thermal barrier coating (about 0.005 to 0.010 cm thick) and a ZrO2-12Y2O3 (in wt%) thermal barrier coating (about 0.025 to 0.064 cm thick). This thermal barrier substantially lowered the metal temperature of an air-cooled airfoil. The coating withstood 3,200 cycles (80 sec at 1,280 C surface temperature) and 275 cycles (1 hr at 1,490 C surface temperature) without cracking or spalling. No separation of the thermal barrier from the bond coating or the bond coating from the substrate was observed.

Quantifying energy and mass transfer in crop canopies: sensors for measurement of temperature and air velocity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bugbee, B.; Monje, O.; Tanner, B.

1996-01-01

Here we report on the in situ performance of inexpensive, miniature sensors that have increased our ability to measure mass and energy fluxes from plant canopies in controlled environments: 1. Surface temperature. Canopy temperature measurements indicate changes in stomatal aperture and thus latent and sensible heat fluxes. Infrared transducers from two manufacturers (Exergen Corporation, Newton, MA; and Everest Interscience, Tucson, AZ, USA) have recently become available. Transducer accuracy matched that of a more expensive hand-held infrared thermometer. 2. Air velocity varies above and within plant canopies and is an important component in mass and energy transfer models. We tested commercially-available needle, heat-transfer anemometers (1 x 50 mm cylinder) that consist of a fine-wire thermocouple and a heater inside a hypodermic needle. The needle is heated and wind speed determined from the temperature rise above ambient. These sensors are particularly useful in measuring the low wind speeds found within plant canopies. 3. Accurate measurements of air temperature adjacent to plant leaves facilitates transport phenomena modeling. We quantified the effect of radiation and air velocity on temperature rise in thermocouples from 10 to 500 micrometers. At high radiation loads and low wind speeds, temperature errors were as large as 7 degrees C above air temperature.

Time lag between the tropopause height and the levels of 7Be concentration in near surface air

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ioannidou, A.; Vasileiadis, A.; Melas, D.

2012-04-01

The concentration of 7Be at near surface air has been determined over 2009, a year of a deep solar minimum, in the region of Thessaloniki, Greece at 40°62' N, 22°95'E. In geomagnetic latitudes over 40° N, the elevation of the tropopause during the warm summer months and the vertical exchange of air masses within the troposphere cause greater mixture of the air masses resulting in higher concentration levels for 7Be in surface air. The positive correlation between the monthly activity concentration of 7Be and the tropopause height (0.94, p < 0.0001), and also between 7Be concentration and the temperature T (°C) (R = 0.97, p < 0.001), confirm that the increased rate of vertical transport within the troposphere, especially during warmer summer months, has as a result the descent to surface of air masses enriched in 7Be. However, the 7Be concentration levels in near surface air are not expected to respond immediately to the change of elevation of the tropopause. It was found that there's a time lag of ~ 3 days between the change in the daily surface concentrations of 7Be the change in the elevation of the tropopause.

Contribution of Modis Satellite Image to Estimate the Daily Air Temperature in the Casablanca City, Morocco

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bahi, Hicham; Rhinane, Hassan; Bensalmia, Ahmed

2016-10-01

Air temperature is considered to be an essential variable for the study and analysis of meteorological regimes and chronics. However, the implementation of a daily monitoring of this variable is very difficult to achieve. It requires sufficient of measurements stations density, meteorological parks and favourable logistics. The present work aims to establish relationship between day and night land surface temperatures from MODIS data and the daily measurements of air temperature acquired between [2011-20112] and provided by the Department of National Meteorology [DMN] of Casablanca, Morocco. The results of the statistical analysis show significant interdependence during night observations with correlation coefficient of R2=0.921 and Root Mean Square Error RMSE=1.503 for Tmin while the physical magnitude estimated from daytime MODIS observation shows a relatively coarse error with R2=0.775 and RMSE=2.037 for Tmax. A method based on Gaussian process regression was applied to compute the spatial distribution of air temperature from MODIS throughout the city of Casablanca.

Hurricane Isabel, AIRS Infrared and SeaWinds Scatterometer Data Combined

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-09-20

These two images show Hurricane Isabel as viewed by AIRS and SeaWinds scatterometers on NASA ADEOS-2 and QuikScat satellites in September, 2003. AIRS data are used to create global three-dimensional maps of temperature, humidity and clouds, while scatterometers measure surface wind speed and direction. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00429

Investigating the influence of photocatalytic cool wall adoption on meteorology and air quality in the Los Angeles basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, J.; Tang, X.; Levinson, R.; Destaillats, H.; Mohegh, A.; Li, Y.; Tao, W.; Liu, J.; Ban-Weiss, G. A.

2017-12-01

Solar reflective "cool materials" can be used to lower urban temperatures, useful for mitigating the urban heat island effect and adapting to the local impacts of climate change. While numerous past studies have investigated the climate impacts of cool surfaces, few studies have investigated their effects on air pollution. Meteorological changes from increases in surface albedo can lead to temperature and transport induced modifications in air pollutant concentrations. In an effort to maintain high albedos in polluted environments, cool surfaces can also be made using photocatalytic "self-cleaning" materials. These photocatalytic materials can also remove NOx from ambient air, with possible consequences on ambient gas and particle phase pollutant concentrations. In this research, we investigate the impact of widespread deployment of cool walls on urban meteorology and air pollutant concentrations in the Los Angeles basin. Both photocatalytic and standard (not photocatalytic) high albedo wall materials are investigated. Simulations using a coupled meteorology-chemistry model (WRF-Chem) show that cool walls could effectively decrease urban temperatures in the Los Angeles basin. Preliminary results indicate that meteorology-induced changes from adopting standard cool walls could lead to ozone concentration reductions of up to 0.5 ppb. NOx removal induced by photocatalytic materials was modeled by modifying the WRF-Chem dry deposition scheme, with deposition rates informed by laboratory measurements of various commercially available materials. Simulation results indicate that increased deposition of NOx by photocatalytic materials could increase ozone concentrations, analogous to the ozone "weekend effect" in which reduced weekend NOx emissions can lead to increases in ozone. The impacts of cool walls on particulate matter concentrations are also discussed. Changes in particulate matter concentrations are found to be driven by albedo-induced changes in air pollutant transport in the basin, temperature induced changes in photochemistry and aerosol phase partitioning, and changes to secondary organic aerosol.

Dynamic measurements of the spreading of liquid metals in controlled atmospheres with in situ surface preparation and analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peebles, D. E.; Peebles, H. C.; Ohlhausen, J. A.; Hurst, M. J.

1996-02-01

A specially designed ultrahigh vacuum in situ surface analysis and wetting system has been constructed to study the spreading of liquid metal solders on carefully prepared and well-characterized solid substrates. The system consists of a standard ultrahigh vacuum surface analysis chamber linked to a reaction chamber for wetting or other experiments at pressures up to atmospheric. A sophisticated video system allows real-time monitoring of the spreading of the liquid metal through both side and top views. An infrared imaging system allows accurate remote temperature measurements. Sample surfaces are prepared and spreading experiments performed without intermediate exposure of the surfaces to the contaminating atmospheres. Solder spreading is performed under 50 Torr of highly purified helium gas to allow for adequate thermal coupling between the solder and the substrate. Initial studies have been completed for the spreading of pure tin solder on copper substrates in the absence of any fluxing agent. Three types of copper substrate surfaces were investigated in these experiments: the sputter-cleaned, air-exposed, and the as-received surface. Surface chemical analysis by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed the air-exposed surface to consist of about 3 nm of Cu2O, while the as-received surface consisted of about 8 nm of Cu2O. The sputter-cleaned surface contained less than one monolayer (0.3 nm) of Cu2O. Spreading experiments utilizing a linear temperature ramp show that pure tin solder spreads readily on oxidized copper surfaces at elevated temperatures. The initiation temperature for rapid tin spreading on the as-received copper surface was 325 °C. Decreasing the thickness of the oxide on the surface lowered the observed temperature for the initiation of spreading and increased the rate of spreading. On the sputter-cleaned copper surface, rapid solder spreading was observed immediately upon melting of the solder.

Crowdsourcing urban air temperatures from smartphone battery temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Overeem, Aart; Robinson, James C. R.; Leijnse, Hidde; Steeneveld, Gert-Jan; Horn, Berthold K. P.; Uijlenhoet, Remko

2014-05-01

Accurate air temperature observations in urban areas are important for meteorology and energy demand planning. They are indispensable to study the urban heat island effect and the adverse effects of high temperatures on human health. However, the availability of temperature observations in cities is often limited. Here we show that relatively accurate air temperature information for the urban canopy layer can be obtained from an alternative, nowadays omnipresent source: smartphones. In this study, battery temperatures were collected by an Android application for smartphones. It has been shown that a straightforward heat transfer model can be employed to estimate daily mean air temperatures from smartphone battery temperatures for eight major cities around the world. The results demonstrate the enormous potential of this crowdsourcing application for real-time temperature monitoring in densely populated areas. Battery temperature data were collected by users of an Android application for cell phones (opensignal.com). The application automatically sends battery temperature data to a server for storage. In this study, battery temperatures are averaged in space and time to obtain daily averaged battery temperatures for each city separately. A regression model, which can be related to a physical model, is employed to retrieve daily air temperatures from battery temperatures. The model is calibrated with observed air temperatures from a meteorological station of an airport located in or near the city. Time series of air temperatures are obtained for each city for a period of several months, where 50% of the data is for independent verification. The methodology has been applied to Buenos Aires, London, Los Angeles, Paris, Mexico City, Moscow, Rome, and Sao Paulo. The evolution of the retrieved air temperatures often correspond well with the observed ones. The mean absolute error of daily air temperatures is less than 2 degrees Celsius, and the bias is within 1 degree Celsius. This shows that monitoring air temperatures employing an Android application holds great promise. This study will particularly focus on new results: The methodology has been applied to data from three cities in the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht) for the period June - August 2013. It is shown that on average 282 battery temperature readings per day are already sufficient to accurately estimate daily-averaged air temperatures. Results clearly deteriorate when on average only 80 battery temperature readings are available. Since 75% of the world's population has a cell phone, 20% of the land surface of the earth has cellular telephone coverage, and 500 million devices use the Android operating system, there is a huge potential for measuring air temperatures employing cell phones. This could eventually lead to real-time world-wide temperature maps over the continents.

Mountain Permafrost in the Yukon Territory, Canada: Mapping and Modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewkowicz, A. G.; Bonnaventure, P.; Schultz, E.; Etzelmuller, B.

2006-12-01

The distribution and characteristics of mountain permafrost in North America are poorly known compared to lowland permafrost, and predictions of climatic change impacts are therefore subject to a higher degree of uncertainty. Recent DC resistivity soundings in association with borehole temperature information in the Yukon Territory, show the wide range of permafrost conditions that can exist at sites separated by short distances. To provide baseline information for future modelling, efforts are underway to produce a detailed map of permafrost probability in the mountains of the southern half of the Yukon Territory (60-65°N), an area greater than 200 x 103km2. The methodology is based on the Basal Temperature of Snow (BTS) technique, first developed in the European Alps. Ground surface temperatures measured at the base of snow > 80 cm thick in late winter are an indicator of permafrost presence or absence. We have used this method successfully in three study areas of about 200 km2: first, Wolf Creek basin near Whitehorse (Lewkowicz and Ednie, 2004) and now the western side of the Ruby Range adjacent to Kluane Lake, and the Haines Summit area in northwestern British Columbia. In each area, (1) we installed miniature temperature loggers at the ground surface and in the air to check on the timing of the BTS measurements; (2) we measured BTS values in the elevation zone across which permafrost was expected to become widespread; (3) we modelled the BTS spatial field using elevation (from a 30 m DEM) and potential incoming solar radiation (PISR) as the independent variables; and (4) we used logistic regression to compare the modelled BTS values with pit observations made in late-summer of the presence or absence of frozen ground. Both elevation and PISR were significant in the Wolf Creek and Ruby Range sites which have relatively continental climates and fall within the Upper Yukon-Stikine Basin climatic region (Wahl et al., 1987). For the Haines Summit area, however, PISR was not significant, likely reflecting the much more maritime climate of this area and the frequent fogs that are present. More than 50 new air and ground temperature monitoring stations were installed in spring 2006 as the first step to extend the modelling to the remaining mountainous parts of the Yukon Territory. We selected sites within the four climatic regions encompassing discontinuous permafrost that we had not previously sampled: the Faro area (Central Yukon Basin region, extensive discontinuous zone), Johnson's Crossing (Pelly-Cassiar Mountains region, sporadic discontinuous zone), Sa Dena Hes mine (Liard Basin region, extensive discontinuous zone) and the Keno area (Ogilvie-Mackenzie Mountains region, extensive discontinuous zone). Each of the stations is equipped to measure air temperature, ground surface temperature, ground temperature at a depth of 1 m (to evaluate the thermal offset), and snow depth (interpreted from I-button miniature loggers installed on a stake). These measurements will not only be used for permafrost modelling but will generate a unique data-set of air and ground surface temperatures which will be employed to investigate the frequency of air temperature inversions, their relation to topography and their effect on permafrost. The first complete monthly results (July 2006) demonstrate the expected wide variability in air and ground surface temperatures at both regional and local scales that makes modelling mountain permafrost so challenging.

Satellite-derived, melt-season surface temperature of the Greenland Ice Sheet (2000-2005) and its relationship to mass balance

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hall, D.K.; Williams, R.S.; Casey, K.A.; DiGirolamo, N.E.; Wan, Z.

2006-01-01

Mean, clear-sky surface temperature of the Greenland Ice Sheet was measured for each melt season from 2000 to 2005 using Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)–derived land-surface temperature (LST) data-product maps. During the period of most-active melt, the mean, clear-sky surface temperature of the ice sheet was highest in 2002 (−8.29 ± 5.29°C) and 2005 (−8.29 ± 5.43°C), compared to a 6-year mean of −9.04 ± 5.59°C, in agreement with recent work by other investigators showing unusually extensive melt in 2002 and 2005. Surface-temperature variability shows a correspondence with the dry-snow facies of the ice sheet; a reduction in area of the dry-snow facies would indicate a more-negative mass balance. Surface-temperature variability generally increased during the study period and is most pronounced in the 2005 melt season; this is consistent with surface instability caused by air-temperature fluctuations.

Modeling apple surface temperature dynamics based on weather data.

PubMed

Li, Lei; Peters, Troy; Zhang, Qin; Zhang, Jingjin; Huang, Danfeng

2014-10-27

The exposure of fruit surfaces to direct sunlight during the summer months can result in sunburn damage. Losses due to sunburn damage are a major economic problem when marketing fresh apples. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a model for simulating fruit surface temperature (FST) dynamics based on energy balance and measured weather data. A series of weather data (air temperature, humidity, solar radiation, and wind speed) was recorded for seven hours between 11:00-18:00 for two months at fifteen minute intervals. To validate the model, the FSTs of "Fuji" apples were monitored using an infrared camera in a natural orchard environment. The FST dynamics were measured using a series of thermal images. For the apples that were completely exposed to the sun, the RMSE of the model for estimating FST was less than 2.0 °C. A sensitivity analysis of the emissivity of the apple surface and the conductance of the fruit surface to water vapour showed that accurate estimations of the apple surface emissivity were important for the model. The validation results showed that the model was capable of accurately describing the thermal performances of apples under different solar radiation intensities. Thus, this model could be used to more accurately estimate the FST relative to estimates that only consider the air temperature. In addition, this model provides useful information for sunburn protection management.

Modeling Apple Surface Temperature Dynamics Based on Weather Data

PubMed Central

Li, Lei; Peters, Troy; Zhang, Qin; Zhang, Jingjin; Huang, Danfeng

2014-01-01

The exposure of fruit surfaces to direct sunlight during the summer months can result in sunburn damage. Losses due to sunburn damage are a major economic problem when marketing fresh apples. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a model for simulating fruit surface temperature (FST) dynamics based on energy balance and measured weather data. A series of weather data (air temperature, humidity, solar radiation, and wind speed) was recorded for seven hours between 11:00–18:00 for two months at fifteen minute intervals. To validate the model, the FSTs of “Fuji” apples were monitored using an infrared camera in a natural orchard environment. The FST dynamics were measured using a series of thermal images. For the apples that were completely exposed to the sun, the RMSE of the model for estimating FST was less than 2.0 °C. A sensitivity analysis of the emissivity of the apple surface and the conductance of the fruit surface to water vapour showed that accurate estimations of the apple surface emissivity were important for the model. The validation results showed that the model was capable of accurately describing the thermal performances of apples under different solar radiation intensities. Thus, this model could be used to more accurately estimate the FST relative to estimates that only consider the air temperature. In addition, this model provides useful information for sunburn protection management. PMID:25350507

Comparative Perspectives on Recent Trends in Land Surface Dynamics in the Grasslands of North and South America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henebry, G. M.; Valle De Carvalho E Oliveira, P.; Zheng, B.; de Beurs, K.; Owsley, B.

2015-12-01

In our current era of intensive earth observation the time is ripe to shift away from studies relying on single sensors or single products to the synergistic use of multiple sensors and products at complementary spatial, temporal, and spectral scales. The use of multiple time series can not only reveal hotspots of change in land surface dynamics, but can indicate plausible proximate causes of the changes and suggest their possible consequences. Here we explore recent trends in the land surface dynamics of exemplary semi-arid grasslands in the western hemisphere, including the shortgrass prairie of eastern Colorado and New Mexico, the sandhills prairie of Nebraska, the "savana gramineo-lenhosa" variety of cerrado in central Brazil, and the pampas of Argentina. Observational datasets include (1) NBAR-based vegetation indices, land surface temperature, and evapotranspiration from MODIS, (2) air temperature, water vapor, and vegetation optical depth from AMSR-E and AMSR2, (3) surface air temperature, water vapor, and relative humidity from AIRS, and (4) surface shortwave, longwave, and total net flux from CERES. The spatial resolutions of these nested data include 500 m, 1000 m, 0.05 degree, 25 km, and 1 degree. We apply the nonparametric Seasonal Kendall trend test to each time series independently to identify areas of significant change. We then examine polygons of co-occurrence of significant change in two or more types of products using the surface radiation and energy budgets as guides to interpret the multiple changes. Changes occurring across broad areas are more likely to be of climatic origin; whereas, changes that are abrupt in space and time and of limited area are more likely anthropogenic. Results illustrate the utility of considering multiple remote sensing products as complementary views of land surface dynamics.

Leveraging Oceanic and Surface Intensive Field Campaign Data Sets for Validation and Improvement of Recent Hyperspectral IR Satellite Data Products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joseph, E.; Nalli, N. R.; Oyola, M. I.; Morris, V. R.; Sakai, R.

2014-12-01

An overview is given of research to validate or improve the retrieval of environmental data records (EDRs) from recently deployed hyperspectral IR satellite sensors such as Suomi NPP Cross-track Infrared Microwave Sounder Suite (CrIMSS). The effort centers around several surface field intensive campaigns that are designed or leveraged for EDR validation. These data include ship-based observations of upper air ozone, pressure, temperature and relative humidity soundings; aerosol and cloud properties; and sea surface temperature. Similar intensive data from two land-based sites are also utilized as well. One site, the Howard University Beltsville site, is at a single point location but has a comprehensive array of observations for an extended period of time. The other land site, presently being deployed by the University at Albany, is under development with limited upper air soundings but will have regionally distributed surface based microwave profiling of temperature and relative humidity on the scale of 10 - 50 km and other standard meteorological observations. Combined these observations provide data that are unique in their wide range including, a variety of meteorological conditions and atmospheric compositions over the ocean and urban-suburban environments. With the distributed surface sites the variability of atmospheric conditions are captured concurrently across a regional spatial scale. Some specific examples are given of comparisons of moisture and temperature correlative EDRs from the satellite sensors and surface based observations. An additional example is given of the use of this data to correct sea surface temperature (SST) retrieval biases from the hyperspectral IR satellite observations due to aerosol contamination.

Cloud and boundary layer interactions over the Arctic sea ice in late summer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shupe, M. D.; Persson, P. O. G.; Brooks, I. M.; Tjernström, M.; Sedlar, J.; Mauritsen, T.; Sjogren, S.; Leck, C.

2013-09-01

Observations from the Arctic Summer Cloud Ocean Study (ASCOS), in the central Arctic sea-ice pack in late summer 2008, provide a detailed view of cloud-atmosphere-surface interactions and vertical mixing processes over the sea-ice environment. Measurements from a suite of ground-based remote sensors, near-surface meteorological and aerosol instruments, and profiles from radiosondes and a helicopter are combined to characterize a week-long period dominated by low-level, mixed-phase, stratocumulus clouds. Detailed case studies and statistical analyses are used to develop a conceptual model for the cloud and atmosphere structure and their interactions in this environment. Clouds were persistent during the period of study, having qualities that suggest they were sustained through a combination of advective influences and in-cloud processes, with little contribution from the surface. Radiative cooling near cloud top produced buoyancy-driven, turbulent eddies that contributed to cloud formation and created a cloud-driven mixed layer. The depth of this mixed layer was related to the amount of turbulence and condensed cloud water. Coupling of this cloud-driven mixed layer to the surface boundary layer was primarily determined by proximity. For 75% of the period of study, the primary stratocumulus cloud-driven mixed layer was decoupled from the surface and typically at a warmer potential temperature. Since the near-surface temperature was constrained by the ocean-ice mixture, warm temperatures aloft suggest that these air masses had not significantly interacted with the sea-ice surface. Instead, back-trajectory analyses suggest that these warm air masses advected into the central Arctic Basin from lower latitudes. Moisture and aerosol particles likely accompanied these air masses, providing necessary support for cloud formation. On the occasions when cloud-surface coupling did occur, back trajectories indicated that these air masses advected at low levels, while mixing processes kept the mixed layer in equilibrium with the near-surface environment. Rather than contributing buoyancy forcing for the mixed-layer dynamics, the surface instead simply appeared to respond to the mixed-layer processes aloft. Clouds in these cases often contained slightly higher condensed water amounts, potentially due to additional moisture sources from below.

Warm layer and cool skin corrections for bulk water temperature measurements for air-sea interaction studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alappattu, Denny P.; Wang, Qing; Yamaguchi, Ryan; Lind, Richard J.; Reynolds, Mike; Christman, Adam J.

2017-08-01

The sea surface temperature (SST) relevant to air-sea interaction studies is the temperature immediately adjacent to the air, referred to as skin SST. Generally, SST measurements from ships and buoys are taken at depths varies from several centimeters to 5 m below the surface. These measurements, known as bulk SST, can differ from skin SST up to O(1°C). Shipboard bulk and skin SST measurements were made during the Coupled Air-Sea Processes and Electromagnetic ducting Research east coast field campaign (CASPER-East). An Infrared SST Autonomous Radiometer (ISAR) recorded skin SST, while R/V Sharp's Surface Mapping System (SMS) provided bulk SST from 1 m water depth. Since the ISAR is sensitive to sea spray and rain, missing skin SST data occurred in these conditions. However, SMS measurement is less affected by adverse weather and provided continuous bulk SST measurements. It is desirable to correct the bulk SST to obtain a good representation of the skin SST, which is the objective of this research. Bulk-skin SST difference has been examined with respect to meteorological factors associated with cool skin and diurnal warm layers. Strong influences of wind speed, diurnal effects, and net longwave radiation flux on temperature difference are noticed. A three-step scheme is established to correct for wind effect, diurnal variability, and then for dependency on net longwave radiation flux. Scheme is tested and compared to existing correction schemes. This method is able to effectively compensate for multiple factors acting to modify bulk SST measurements over the range of conditions experienced during CASPER-East.

Fluid insulation to prevent ice formation in heat exchangers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coffinberry, G. A.

1973-01-01

Heat transfer surfaces were insulated to maintain air side surface temperature above freezing. Double wall tubes, with annular space between tubes, were filled with static liquid hydrogen. Low thermal conductivity of this hydrogen provided thermal resistance.

Novel Approach for Modeling of Nonuniform Slag Layers and Air Gap in Continuous Casting Mold

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xudong; Kong, Lingwei; Yao, Man; Zhang, Xiaobing

2017-02-01

Various kinds of surface defects on the continuous casting slab usually originate from nonuniform heat transfer and mechanical behavior, especially during the initial solidification inside the mold. In this article, a model-coupled inverse heat transfer problem incorporating the effect of slag layers and air gap is developed to study the nonuniform distribution of liquid slag, solid slag, and air gap layers. The model considers not only the formation and evolution of slag layers and air gap but also the temperatures in the mold copper as measured by thermocouples. The simulation results from the model and the measured temperatures from experiments are shown to be in good agreement with each other. At the casting speed of 0.65 m/min, the liquid slag film disappears and transforms into solid slag entirely at about 400 mm away from meniscus, and an air gap begins to form. Until the mold exit, the maximum thickness of the solid slag layer and air gap gradually increases to 1.34 and 0.056 mm, respectively. The results illustrate that the magnitude and nonuniform distribution of the slag layers and air gap along the cross direction, correlating with heat flux between the shell and mold, eventually determine the temperature profiles of the mold hot face and slab surface. The proposed model may provide a convenient approach for analyzing nonuniform heat transfer and mechanical behaviors between the mold and slab in the real casting process.

Modification of Bushing Test Rig and Research of Variable Inlet Guide Vane Bushings For Further Development of PM304 Bushings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yanke, Anne

2004-01-01

PS304 is a high temperature solid lubricant coating comprised of a nickel-chrome binder, chrome oxide hardener, barium-calcium fluoride high temperature lubricant, and silver as the low temperature lubricant. This coating is used to lubricate Oil-Free Foil Air Bearings as they experience friction and wear during start up and shut down. The coating deposition process begins with undercutting the shaft. This area is then sandblasted to provide a rough surface for the coating to adhere to. The coating powder is then sent through the plasma spray gun and a reasonably thick layer is applied to the undercut area of the shaft. The coating is then ground down even with the surface of the shaft and gets a nice polished finish. The foil air bearings use the solid lubricant, as mentioned above, during start up and shut down. During normal operating conditions, generally above 2000RPM, the bearings utilize air as their lubricant. Foil air bearings are comprised of a thin top foil and a corrugated bump foil. They have an interference fit with the shaft before operation. As the air gets "trapped" between the top foil and the shaft, it presses the top foil against the bump foil, in turn compressing the bumps. As the bumps compress, it allows for the air to separate the top foil from the shaft, therefore, utilizing the trapped air as its lubricant.

Trapping of hydrogen atoms in X-irradiated salts at room temperature and the decay kinetics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

May, C. E.; Philipp, W. H.; Marsik, S. J.

1974-01-01

The salts (hypophosphites, formates, a phosphite, a phosphate, and an oxalate) were X-irradiated, whereby hydrogen formed chemically by a radiolytic process becomes trapped in the solid. By room temperature vacuum extraction, the kinetics for the evolution of this trapped hydrogen was studied mass spectrometrically. All salts except two exhibited second-order kinetics. The two exceptions (NaH2PO2(H2O) and K2HPO4) showed first-order kinetics. Based on experimental results, the escape of hydrogen involves three steps: the diffusion of hydrogen atoms from the bulk to the surface, association of these atoms on the surface (rate controlling step for second-order hydrogen evolution), and the desorption of molecular hydrogen from the surface. The hydrogen does not escape if the irradiated salt is stored in air, apparently because adsorbed air molecules occupy surface sites required in the escape mechanism.

Internal-liquid-film-cooling Experiments with Air-stream Temperatures to 2000 Degrees F. in 2- and 4-inch-diameter Horizontal Tubes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kinney, George R; Abramson, Andrew E; Sloop, John L

1952-01-01

Report presents the results of an investigation conducted to determine the effectiveness of liquid-cooling films on the inner surfaces of tubes containing flowing hot air. Experiments were made in 2- and 4-inch-diameter straight metal tubes with air flows at temperatures from 600 degrees to 2000 degrees F. and diameter Reynolds numbers from 2.2 to 14 x 10(5). The film coolant, water, was injected around the circumference at a single axial position on the tubes at flow rates from 0.02 to .24 pound per second per foot of tube circumference (0.8 to 12 percent of the air flow). Liquid-coolant films were established and maintained around and along the tube wall in concurrent flow with the hot air. The results indicated that, in order to film cool a given surface area with as little coolant flow as possible, it may be necessary to limit the flow of coolant introduced at a single axial position and to introduce it at several axial positions. The flow rate of inert coolant required to maintain liquid-film cooling over a given area of tube surface can be estimated when the gas-flow conditions are known by means of a generalized plot of the film-cooling data.

A Coupled Surface Nudging Scheme for use in Retrospective ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

A surface analysis nudging scheme coupling atmospheric and land surface thermodynamic parameters has been implemented into WRF v3.8 (latest version) for use with retrospective weather and climate simulations, as well as for applications in air quality, hydrology, and ecosystem modeling. This scheme is known as the flux-adjusting surface data assimilation system (FASDAS) developed by Alapaty et al. (2008). This scheme provides continuous adjustments for soil moisture and temperature (via indirect nudging) and for surface air temperature and water vapor mixing ratio (via direct nudging). The simultaneous application of indirect and direct nudging maintains greater consistency between the soil temperature–moisture and the atmospheric surface layer mass-field variables. The new method, FASDAS, consistently improved the accuracy of the model simulations at weather prediction scales for different horizontal grid resolutions, as well as for high resolution regional climate predictions. This new capability has been released in WRF Version 3.8 as option grid_sfdda = 2. This new capability increased the accuracy of atmospheric inputs for use air quality, hydrology, and ecosystem modeling research to improve the accuracy of respective end-point research outcome. IMPACT: A new method, FASDAS, was implemented into the WRF model to consistently improve the accuracy of the model simulations at weather prediction scales for different horizontal grid resolutions, as wel

Improving Forecast Skill by Assimilation of AIRS Temperature Soundings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Susskind, Joel; Reale, Oreste

2010-01-01

AIRS was launched on EOS Aqua on May 4, 2002, together with AMSU-A and HSB, to form a next generation polar orbiting infrared and microwave atmospheric sounding system. The primary products of AIRS/AMSU-A are twice daily global fields of atmospheric temperature-humidity profiles, ozone profiles, sea/land surface skin temperature, and cloud related parameters including OLR. The AIRS Version 5 retrieval algorithm, is now being used operationally at the Goddard DISC in the routine generation of geophysical parameters derived from AIRS/AMSU data. A major innovation in Version 5 is the ability to generate case-by-case level-by-level error estimates delta T(p) for retrieved quantities and the use of these error estimates for Quality Control. We conducted a number of data assimilation experiments using the NASA GEOS-5 Data Assimilation System as a step toward finding an optimum balance of spatial coverage and sounding accuracy with regard to improving forecast skill. The model was run at a horizontal resolution of 0.5 deg. latitude X 0.67 deg longitude with 72 vertical levels. These experiments were run during four different seasons, each using a different year. The AIRS temperature profiles were presented to the GEOS-5 analysis as rawinsonde profiles, and the profile error estimates delta (p) were used as the uncertainty for each measurement in the data assimilation process. We compared forecasts analyses generated from the analyses done by assimilation of AIRS temperature profiles with three different sets of thresholds; Standard, Medium, and Tight. Assimilation of Quality Controlled AIRS temperature profiles significantly improve 5-7 day forecast skill compared to that obtained without the benefit of AIRS data in all of the cases studied. In addition, assimilation of Quality Controlled AIRS temperature soundings performs better than assimilation of AIRS observed radiances. Based on the experiments shown, Tight Quality Control of AIRS temperature profile performs best on the average from the perspective of improving Global 7 day forecast skill.

Urban Surface Radiative Energy Budgets Determined Using Aircraft Scanner Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luvall, Jeffrey C.; Quattrochi, Dale A.; Rickman, Doug L.; Estes, Maury G.; Arnold, James E. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

It is estimated that by the year 2025, 80% of the world's population will live in cities. The extent of these urban areas across the world can be seen in an image of city lights from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. In many areas of North America and Europe, it is difficult to separate individual cities because of the dramatic growth and sprawl of urbanized areas. This conversion of the natural landscape vegetation into man-made urban structures such as roads and buildings drastically alter the regional surface energy budgets, hydrology, precipitation patterns, and meteorology. One of the earliest recognized and measured phenomena of urbanization is the urban heat island (UHI) which was reported as early as 1833 for London and 1862 for Paris. The urban heat island results from the energy that is absorbed by man-made materials during the day and is released at night resulting in the heating of the air within the urban area. The magnitude of the air temperature difference between the urban and surrounding countryside is highly dependent on the structure of the urban area, amount of solar immolation received during the day, and atmospheric conditions during the night. These night time air temperature differences can be in the range of 2 to 5 C. or greater. Although day time air temperature differences between urban areas and the countryside exists during the day, atmospheric mixing and stability reduce the magnitude. This phenomena is not limited to large urban areas, but also occurs in smaller metropolitan areas. The UHI has significant impacts on the urban air quality, meteorology, energy use, and human health. The UPI can be mitigated through increasing the amount of vegetation and modification of urban surfaces using high albedo materials for roofs and paved surfaces. To understand why the urban heat island phenomenon exists it is useful to define the surface in terms of the surface energy budget. Surface temperature and albedo is a major component of the surface energy budget. Knowledge of it is important in any attempt to describe the radiative and mass fluxes which occur at the surface. Use of energy terms in modeling surface energy budgets allows the direct comparison of various land surfaces encountered in a urban landscape, from vegetated (forest and herbaceous) to non-vegetated (bare soil, roads, and buildings). These terms are also easily measured using remote sensing from aircraft or satellite platforms allowing one to examine the spacial variability. The partitioning of energy budget terms depends on the surface type. In natural landscapes, the partitioning is dependent on canopy biomass, leaf area index, aerodynamic roughness, and moisture status, all of which are influenced by the development stage of the ecosystem. In urban landscapes, coverage by man-made materials substantially alters the surface face energy budget. The remotely sensed data obtained from aircraft and satellites, when properly calibrated allows the measurement of important terms in the radiative surface energy budget a urban landscape scale.

Quantifying the Impact of Land Cover Composition on Intra-Urban Air Temperature Variations at a Mid-Latitude City

PubMed Central

Yan, Hai; Fan, Shuxin; Guo, Chenxiao; Hu, Jie; Dong, Li

2014-01-01

The effects of land cover on urban-rural and intra-urban temperature differences have been extensively documented. However, few studies have quantitatively related air temperature to land cover composition at a local scale which may be useful to guide landscape planning and design. In this study, the quantitative relationships between air temperature and land cover composition at a neighborhood scale in Beijing were investigated through a field measurement campaign and statistical analysis. The results showed that the air temperature had a significant positive correlation with the coverage of man-made surfaces, but the degree of correlation varied among different times and seasons. The different land cover types had different effects on air temperature, and also had very different spatial extent dependence: with increasing buffer zone size (from 20 to 300 m in radius), the correlation coefficient of different land cover types varied differently, and their relative impacts also varied among different times and seasons. At noon in summer, ∼37% of the variations in temperature were explained by the percentage tree cover, while ∼87% of the variations in temperature were explained by the percentage of building area and the percentage tree cover on summer night. The results emphasize the key role of tree cover in attenuating urban air temperature during daytime and nighttime in summer, further highlighting that increasing vegetation cover could be one effective way to ameliorate the urban thermal environment. PMID:25010134

Coherent changes of wintertime surface air temperatures over North Asia and North America.

PubMed

Yu, Bin; Lin, Hai

2018-03-29

The surface temperature variance and its potential change with global warming are most prominent in winter over Northern Hemisphere mid-high latitudes. Consistent wintertime surface temperature variability has been observed over large areas in Eurasia and North America on a broad range of time scales. However, it remains a challenge to quantify where and how the coherent change of temperature anomalies occur over the two continents. Here we demonstrate the coherent change of wintertime surface temperature anomalies over North Asia and the central-eastern parts of North America for the period from 1951 to 2015. This is supported by the results from the empirical orthogonal function analysis of surface temperature and temperature trend anomalies over the Northern Hemisphere extratropical lands and the timeseries analysis of the regional averaged temperature anomalies over North Asia and the Great Plains and Great Lakes. The Asian-Bering-North American (ABNA) teleconnection provides a pathway to connect the regional temperature anomalies over the two continents. The ABNA is also responsible for the decadal variation of the temperature relationship between North Asia and North America.

Haze over eastern China

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-26

On October 17, 2015, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image of a thick haze hanging over eastern China. In the north, the large city of Beijing is completely obscured from view, as is much of the landscape. The haze thins slightly over the Bohai Sea. Further south, sediment pours into the East China Sea near the city of Shanghai. Heavy haze is common in this region, and tends to worsen in October through January, when cold, heavy air traps pollutants near the surface of the Earth. It is likely that this scene was caused by such a temperature inversion. Normally, air is warmest near the surface of the Earth. But sometimes a mass of warm air will move the cooler air, so the atmosphere actually warms with the altitude. Cool air does not have energy to rise through the warm air, vertical circulation slows and air becomes trapped near the surface. Any pollution that is emitted into the cooler air will also get trapped, increasing low-level air pollution and haze. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team

Retrievals of Surface Air Temperature Using Multiple Satellite Data Combinations over Complex Terrain in the Korean Peninsula

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jang, K.; Won, M.; Yoon, S.; Lim, J.

2016-12-01

Surface air temperature (Tair) is a fundamental factor for terrestrial environments and plays a major role in the fields of applied meteorology, climatology, and ecology. The satellite remotely sensed data offers the opportunity to estimate Tair on the earth's surface with high spatial and temporal resolutions. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) provides effective Tair retrievals although restricted to clear sky condition. MODIS Tair over complex terrain can result in significant retrieval errors due to the retrieval height mismatch to the elevation of local weather stations. In this study, we propose the methodology to estimate Tair over complex terrain for all sky conditions using multiple satellite data fusion based on the pixel-wise regression method. The combination of synergistic information from MODIS Tair and the brightness temperature (Tb) retrievals at 37 GHz frequency from the satellite microwave sensor were used for analysis. The air temperature lapse rate was applied to estimate the near-surface Tair considering the complex terrain such as mountainous regions. The retrieval results produced from this study showed a good agreement (RMSE < 2.5 K) with weather measurements from the Korea Forest Service (KFS) for mountain regions and the Korea Meteorology Administration (KMA). The gaps in the MODIS Tair data due to cloud contamination were successfully filled using the proposed method which yielded similar accuracy as retrievals of clear sky. The results of this study indicate that the satellite data fusion can continuously produce Tair retrievals with reasonable accuracy and that the application of the temperature lapse rate can lead to improvement of the reliability over complex terrains such as the Korean Peninsula.

Evaluation of the most suitable threshold value for modelling snow glacier melt through T- index approach: the case study of Forni Glacier (Italian Alps)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Senese, Antonella; Maugeri, Maurizio; Vuillermoz, Elisa; Smiraglia, Claudio; Diolaiuti, Guglielmina

2014-05-01

Glacier melt occurs whenever the surface temperature is null (273.15 K) and the net energy budget is positive. These conditions can be assessed by analyzing meteorological and energy data acquired by a supraglacial Automatic Weather Station (AWS). In the case this latter is not present at the glacier surface the assessment of actual melting conditions and the evaluation of melt amount is difficult and degree-day (also named T-index) models are applied. These approaches require the choice of a correct temperature threshold. In fact, melt does not necessarily occur at daily air temperatures higher than 273.15 K, since it is determined by the energy budget which in turn is only indirectly affected by air temperature. This is the case of the late spring period when ablation processes start at the glacier surface thus progressively reducing snow thickness. In this study, to detect the most indicative air temperature threshold witnessing melt conditions in the April-June period, we analyzed air temperature data recorded from 2006 to 2012 by a supraglacial AWS (at 2631 m a.s.l.) on the ablation tongue of the Forni Glacier (Italy), and by a weather station located nearby the studied glacier (at Bormio, 1225 m a.s.l.). Moreover we evaluated the glacier energy budget (which gives the actual melt, Senese et al., 2012) and the snow water equivalent values during this time-frame. Then the ablation amount was estimated both from the surface energy balance (MEB from supraglacial AWS data) and from degree-day method (MT-INDEX, in this latter case applying the mean tropospheric lapse rate to temperature data acquired at Bormio changing the air temperature threshold) and the results were compared. We found that the mean tropospheric lapse rate permits a good and reliable reconstruction of daily glacier air temperature conditions and the major uncertainty in the computation of snow melt from degree-day models is driven by the choice of an appropriate air temperature threshold. Then, to assess the most suitable threshold, we firstly analyzed hourly MEB values to detect if ablation occurs and how long this phenomenon takes (number of hours per day). The largest part of the melting (97.7%) resulted occurring on days featuring at least 6 melting hours thus suggesting to consider their minimum average daily temperature value as a suitable threshold (268.1 K). Then we ran a simple T-index model applying different threshold values. The threshold which better reproduces snow melting results the value 268.1 K. Summarizing using a 5.0 K lower threshold value (with respect to the largely applied 273.15 K) permits the best reconstruction of glacier melt and it results in agreement with findings by van den Broeke et al. (2010) in Greenland ice sheet. Then probably the choice of a 268 K value as threshold for computing degree days amount could be generalized and applied not only on Greenland glaciers but also on Mid latitude and Alpine ones. This work was carried out under the umbrella of the SHARE Stelvio Project funded by the Lombardy Region and managed by FLA and EvK2-CNR Committee.

Specifics of soil temperature under winter oilseed rape canopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krčmářová, Jana; Středa, Tomáš; Pokorný, Radovan

2014-09-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the course of soil temperature under the winter oilseed rape canopy and to determine relationships between soil temperature, air temperature and partly soil moisture. In addition, the aim was to describe the dependence by means of regression equations usable for pests and pathogens prediction, crop development, and yields models. The measurement of soil and near the ground air temperatures was performed at the experimental field Žabiče (South Moravia, the Czech Republic). The course of temperature was determined under or in the winter oilseed rape canopy during spring growth season in the course of four years (2010 - 2012 and 2014). In all years, the standard varieties (Petrol, Sherpa) were grown, in 2014 the semi-dwarf variety PX104 was added. Automatic soil sensors were positioned at three depths (0.05, 0.10 and 0.20 m) under soil surface, air temperature sensors in 0.05 m above soil surfaces. The course of soil temperature differs significantly between standard (Sherpa and Petrol) and semi-dwarf (PX104) varieties. Results of the cross correlation analysis showed, that the best interrelationships between air and soil temperature were achieved in 2 hours delay for the soil temperature in 0.05 m, 4 hour delay for 0.10 m and 7 hour delay for 0.20 m for standard varieties. For semi-dwarf variety, this delay reached 6 hour for the soil temperature in 0.05 m, 7 hour delay for 0.10 m and 11 hour for 0.20 m. After the time correction, the determination coefficient (R2) reached values from 0.67 to 0.95 for 0.05 m, 0.50 to 0.84 for 0.10 m in variety Sherpa during all experimental years. For variety PX104 this coefficient reached values from 0.51 to 0.72 in 0.05 m depth and from 0.39 to 0.67 in 0.10 m depth in the year 2014. The determination coefficient in the 0.20 m depth was lower for both varieties; its values were from 0.15 to 0.65 in variety Sherpa. In variety PX104 the values of R2 from 0.23 to 0.57 were determined. When using multiple regressions with quadratic spacing (modelling of hourly soil temperature based on the hourly near surface air temperature and hourly soil moisture in the 0.10-0.40 m profile), the difference between the measured and modelled soil temperatures in the depth of 0.05 m was -3.92 to 3.99°C. The regression equation paired with alternative agrometeorological instruments enables relatively accurate modelling of soil temperatures (R2 = 0.95).

Changes in duration of dry and wet spells associated with air temperatures in Russia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Hengchun

2018-03-01

This study uses daily precipitation records from 517 Russian stations (1966-2010) to examine the relationships between continuous dry and wet day duration and surface air temperature for all four seasons. The study found that both mean and extreme durations of dry periods increase with air temperature at about 7.0% (0.24 day/°C) and 7.7% (0.86 day/°C) respectively, while those of wet periods decrease at about 1.3% (-0.02 day/°C) and 2.2% (-0.10 day/°C) respectively averaged over the entire study region during summer. An increase in the duration of dry periods with higher air temperature is also found in other seasons at locations with a mean seasonal air temperature of about -5 °C or higher. Opposite relationships of shorter durations of dry periods and longer wet periods associated with higher air temperature are observed over the northern part of the study region in winter. The changes in durations of both dry and wet periods have significant correlations with the changes in total dry and wet days but are about 2.5 times higher for dry periods and 0.5 times lower for wet periods. The study also found that locations with longer durations of dry periods experience faster rates of increase in air temperature, suggesting the likelihood of exacerbating drought severity in drier and/or warmer locations for all seasons.

Analysis of the Intra-City Variation of Urban Heat Island and its Relation to Land Surface/cover Parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gerçek, D.; Güven, İ. T.; Oktay, İ. Ç.

2016-06-01

Along with urbanization, sealing of vegetated land and evaporation surfaces by impermeable materials, lead to changes in urban climate. This phenomenon is observed as temperatures several degrees higher in densely urbanized areas compared to the rural land at the urban fringe particularly at nights, so-called Urban Heat Island. Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect is related with urban form, pattern and building materials so far as it is associated with meteorological conditions, air pollution, excess heat from cooling. UHI effect has negative influences on human health, as well as other environmental problems such as higher energy demand, air pollution, and water shortage. Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect has long been studied by observations of air temperature from thermometers. However, with the advent and proliferation of remote sensing technology, synoptic coverage and better representations of spatial variation of surface temperature became possible. This has opened new avenues for the observation capabilities and research of UHIs. In this study, "UHI effect and its relation to factors that cause it" is explored for İzmit city which has been subject to excess urbanization and industrialization during the past decades. Spatial distribution and variation of UHI effect in İzmit is analysed using Landsat 8 and ASTER day & night images of 2015 summer. Surface temperature data derived from thermal bands of the images were analysed for UHI effect. Higher temperatures were classified into 4 grades of UHIs and mapped both for day and night. Inadequate urban form, pattern, density, high buildings and paved surfaces at the expanse of soil ground and vegetation cover are the main factors that cause microclimates giving rise to spatial variations in temperatures across cities. These factors quantified as land surface/cover parameters for the study include vegetation index (NDVI), imperviousness (NDISI), albedo, solar insolation, Sky View Factor (SVF), building envelope, distance to sea, and traffic space density. These parameters that cause variation in intra-city temperatures were evaluated for their relationship with different grades of UHIs. Zonal statistics of UHI classes and variations in average value of parameters were interpreted. The outcomes that highlight local temperature peaks are proposed to the attention of the decision makers for mitigation of Urban Heat Island effect in the city at local and neighbourhood scale.

Climatic data for Mirror Lake, West Thornton, New Hampshire, 1984

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sturrock, A.M.; Buso, D.C.; Scarborough, J.L.; Winter, T.C.

1986-01-01

Research on the hydrology of Mirror lake, (north-central) New Hampshire includes study of evaporation. Presented here are those climatic data needed for energy-budget and mass-transfer studies, including: temperature of lake water surface; dry-bulb and wet-bulb air temperatures; wind speed at 3 levels above the water surface; and solar and atmospheric radiation. Data are collected at raft and land stations. (USGS)

Two-dimensional heat flow analysis applied to heat sterilization of ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir square timbers

Treesearch

William T. Simpson

2004-01-01

Equations for a two-dimensional finite difference heat flow analysis were developed and applied to ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir square timbers to calculate the time required to heat the center of the squares to target temperature. The squares were solid piled, which made their surfaces inaccessible to the heating air, and thus surface temperatures failed to attain...

Critical analysis of the condensation of water vapor at external surface of the duct

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Dileep; Memon, Rizwan Ahmed; Memon, Abdul Ghafoor; Ali, Intizar; Junejo, Awais

2018-01-01

In this paper, the effects of contraction of the insulation of the air duct of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is investigated. The compression of the insulation contracts it at joint, turn and other points of the duct. The energy loss and the condensation resulted from this contraction are also estimated. A mathematical model is developed to simulate the effects of this contraction on the heat gain, supply air temperature and external surface temperature of the duct. The simulation uses preliminary data obtained from an HVAC system installed in a pharmaceutical company while varying the operating conditions. The results reveal that insulation thickness should be kept greater than 30 mm and the volume flow rate of the selected air distribution system should be lower than 1.4m3/s to subside condensation on the external surface of the duct. Additionally, the optimum insulation thickness was determined by considering natural gas as an energy source and fiberglass as an insulation material. The optimum insulation thickness determined for different duct sizes varies from 28 to 45 mm, which is greater than the critical insulation thickness. Therefore, the chances of condensation on the external surface of the duct could be avoided at an optimum insulation thickness. Moreover, the effect of pressure loss coefficient of the duct fitting of air distribution system is estimated. The electricity consumption in air handling unit (AHU) decreases from 2.1 to 1.5 kW by decreasing the pressure loss coefficient from 1.5 to 0.5.

Critical analysis of the condensation of water vapor at external surface of the duct

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Dileep; Memon, Rizwan Ahmed; Memon, Abdul Ghafoor; Ali, Intizar; Junejo, Awais

2018-07-01

In this paper, the effects of contraction of the insulation of the air duct of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is investigated. The compression of the insulation contracts it at joint, turn and other points of the duct. The energy loss and the condensation resulted from this contraction are also estimated. A mathematical model is developed to simulate the effects of this contraction on the heat gain, supply air temperature and external surface temperature of the duct. The simulation uses preliminary data obtained from an HVAC system installed in a pharmaceutical company while varying the operating conditions. The results reveal that insulation thickness should be kept greater than 30 mm and the volume flow rate of the selected air distribution system should be lower than 1.4m3/s to subside condensation on the external surface of the duct. Additionally, the optimum insulation thickness was determined by considering natural gas as an energy source and fiberglass as an insulation material. The optimum insulation thickness determined for different duct sizes varies from 28 to 45 mm, which is greater than the critical insulation thickness. Therefore, the chances of condensation on the external surface of the duct could be avoided at an optimum insulation thickness. Moreover, the effect of pressure loss coefficient of the duct fitting of air distribution system is estimated. The electricity consumption in air handling unit (AHU) decreases from 2.1 to 1.5 kW by decreasing the pressure loss coefficient from 1.5 to 0.5.

Evaluation of energy fluxes in the NCEP climate forecast system version 2.0 (CFSv2)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rai, Archana; Saha, Subodh Kumar

2018-01-01

The energy fluxes at the surface and top of the atmosphere (TOA) from a long free run by the NCEP climate forecast system version 2.0 (CFSv2) are validated against several observation and reanalysis datasets. This study focuses on the annual mean energy fluxes and tries to link it with the systematic cold biases in the 2 m air temperature, particularly over the land regions. The imbalance in the long term mean global averaged energy fluxes are also evaluated. The global averaged imbalance at the surface and at the TOA is found to be 0.37 and 6.43 Wm-2, respectively. It is shown that CFSv2 overestimates the land surface albedo, particularly over the snow region, which in turn contributes to the cold biases in 2 m air temperature. On the other hand, surface albedo is highly underestimated over the coastal region around Antarctica and that may have contributed to the warm bias over that oceanic region. This study highlights the need for improvements in the parameterization of snow/sea-ice albedo scheme for a realistic simulation of surface temperature and that may have implications on the global energy imbalance in the model.

Evaluation of surface energy and radiation balance systems for FIFE

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fritschen, Leo J.; Qian, Ping

1988-01-01

The energy balance and radiation balance components were determined at six sites during the First International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project Field Experiment (FIFE) conducted south of Manhattan, Kansas during the summer of 1987. The objectives were: to determine the effect of slope and aspect, throughout a growing season, on the magnitude of the surface energy balance fluxes as determined by the Energy Balance Method (EBM); to investigate the calculation of the soil heat flux density at the surface as calculated from the heat capacity and the thermal conductivity equations; and to evaluate the performance of the Surface Energy and Radiation Balance System (SERBS). A total of 17 variables were monitored at each site. They included net, solar (up and down), total hemispherical (up and down), and diffuse radiation, soil temperature and heat flux density, air and wet bulb temperature gradients, wind speed and direction, and precipitation. A preliminary analysis of the data, for the season, indicate that variables including net radiation, air temperature, vapor pressure, and wind speed were quite similar at the sites even though the sites were as much as 16 km apart and represented four cardinal slopes and the top of a ridge.

Biophysical control of leaf temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, N.; Prentice, I. C.; Wright, I. J.

2014-12-01

In principle sunlit leaves can maintain their temperatures within a narrower range than ambient temperatures. This is an important and long-known (but now overlooked) prediction of energy balance theory. Net radiation at leaf surface in steady state (which is reached rapidly) must be equal to the combination of sensible and latent heat exchanges with surrounding air, the former being proportional to leaf-to-air temperature difference (ΔT), the latter to the transpiration rate. We present field measurements of ΔT which confirm the existence of a 'crossover temperature' in the 25-30˚C range for species in a tropical savanna and a tropical rainforest environment. This finding is consistent with a simple representation of transpiration as a function of net radiation and temperature (Priestley-Taylor relationship) assuming an entrainment factor (ω) somewhat greater than the canonical value of 0.26. The fact that leaves in tropical forests are typically cooler than surrounding air, often already by solar noon, is consistent with a recently published comparison of MODIS day-time land-surface temperatures with air temperatures. Theory further predicts a strong dependence of leaf size (which is inversely related to leaf boundary-layer conductance, and therefore to absolute magnitude of ΔT) on moisture availability. Theoretically, leaf size should be determined by either night-time constraints (risk of frost damage to active leaves) or day-time constraints (risk of heat stress damage),with the former likely to predominate - thereby restricting the occurrence of large leaves - at high latitudes. In low latitudes, daytime maximum leaf size is predicted to increase with temperature, provided that water is plentiful. If water is restricted, however, transpiration cannot proceed at the Priestley-Taylor rate, and it quickly becomes advantageous for plants to have small leaves, which do not heat up much above the temperature of their surroundings. The difference between leaf and air temperature is generally neglected in terrestrial ecosystem and carbon cycle models. This is a significant omission that could lead to an over-estimation of the heat-stress vulnerability of carbon uptake in the wet tropics. Leaf energy balance theory is well established, and should be included in the next generation of models.

Effect of Water Vapor and Surface Morphology on the Low Temperature Response of Metal Oxide Semiconductor Gas Sensors

PubMed Central

Maier, Konrad; Helwig, Andreas; Müller, Gerhard; Hille, Pascal; Eickhoff, Martin

2015-01-01

In this work the low temperature response of metal oxide semiconductor gas sensors is analyzed. Important characteristics of this low-temperature response are a pronounced selectivity to acid- and base-forming gases and a large disparity of response and recovery time constants which often leads to an integrator-type of gas response. We show that this kind of sensor performance is related to the trend of semiconductor gas sensors to adsorb water vapor in multi-layer form and that this ability is sensitively influenced by the surface morphology. In particular we show that surface roughness in the nanometer range enhances desorption of water from multi-layer adsorbates, enabling them to respond more swiftly to changes in the ambient humidity. Further experiments reveal that reactive gases, such as NO2 and NH3, which are easily absorbed in the water adsorbate layers, are more easily exchanged across the liquid/air interface when the humidity in the ambient air is high. PMID:28793583

Estimation of Monthly Near Surface Air Temperature Using Geographically Weighted Regression in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, M. M.; He, G. J.; Zhang, Z. M.; Zhang, Z. J.; Liu, X. G.

2018-04-01

Near surface air temperature (NSAT) is a primary descriptor of terrestrial environment conditions. The availability of NSAT with high spatial resolution is deemed necessary for several applications such as hydrology, meteorology and ecology. In this study, a regression-based NSAT mapping method is proposed. This method is combined remote sensing variables with geographical variables, and uses geographically weighted regression to estimate NSAT. The altitude was selected as geographical variable; and the remote sensing variables include land surface temperature (LST) and Normalized Difference vegetation index (NDVI). The performance of the proposed method was assessed by predict monthly minimum, mean, and maximum NSAT from point station measurements in China, a domain with a large area, complex topography, and highly variable station density, and the NSAT maps were validated against the meteorology observations. Validation results with meteorological data show the proposed method achieved an accuracy of 1.58 °C. It is concluded that the proposed method for mapping NSAT is very operational and has good precision.

Aerosol optical properties over the midcontinental United States

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halthore, Rangasayi N.; Markham, Brian L.; Ferrare, Richard A.; Aro, Theo. O.

1992-01-01

Solar and sky radiation measurements were analyzed to obtain aerosol properties such as the optical thickness and the size distribution. The measurements were conducted as part of the First International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project Field Experiment during the second intensive field campaign (IFC) from June 25 to July 14, 1987, and the fifth IFC from July 25 to August 12, 1989, on the Konza Prairie near Manhattan, Kansas. Correlations with climatological and meteorological parameters show that during the period of observations in 1987, two types of air masses dominated the area: an air mass with low optical thickness and low temperature air associated with a northerly breeze, commonly referred to as the continental air, and an air mass with a higher optical thickness and higher temperature air associated with a southerly wind which we call 'Gulf air'. The size distributions show a predominance of the larger size particles in 'Gulf air'. Because of the presence of two contrasting air masses, correlations with parameters such as relative humidity, specific humidity, pressure, temperature, and North Star sky radiance reveal some interesting aspects. In 1989, clear distinctions between continental and Gulf air cannot be made; the reason for this will be discussed.

Influence of metallic vapours on thermodynamic and transport properties of two-temperature air plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Linlin; Wang, Xiaohua; Cressault, Yann; Teulet, Philippe; Rong, Mingzhe

2016-09-01

The metallic vapours (i.e., copper, iron, and silver in this paper) resulting from walls and/or electrode surfaces can significantly affect the characteristics of air plasma. Different from the previous works assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium, this paper investigates the influence of metallic vapours on two-temperature (2 T) air plasma. The 2 T compositions of air contaminated by Cu, Fe, and Ag are first determined based on Saha's and Guldberg-Waage's laws. The thermodynamic properties (including mass density, specific enthalpy, and specific heat) are then calculated according to their definitions. After determining the collision integrals for each pair of species in air-metal mixtures using the newly published methods and source data, the transport coefficients (including electrical conductivity, viscosity, and thermal conductivity) are calculated for air-Cu, air-Fe, and air-Ag plasmas with different non-equilibrium degree θ (Te/Th). The influences of metallic contamination as well as non-equilibrium degree are discussed. It is found that copper, iron, and silver exist mainly in the form of Cu2, FeO, and AgO at low temperatures. Generally, the metallic vapours increase mass density at most temperatures, reduce the specific enthalpy and specific heat in the whole temperature range, and affect the transport properties remarkably from 5000 K to 20 000 K. The effect arising from the type of metals is little except for silver at certain temperatures. Besides, the departure from thermal equilibrium results in the delay of dissociation and ionization reactions, leading to the shift of thermodynamic and transport properties towards a higher temperature.

HCMM energy budget data as a model input for assessing regions of high potential groundwater pollution. [South Dakota

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, D. G. (Principal Investigator); Heilman, J. L.

1980-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Day thermal data were analyzed to assess depth to groundwater in the test site. HCMM apparent temperature was corrected for atmospheric effects using lake temperature of the Oahe Reservoir in central South Dakota. Soil surface temperatures were estimated using an equation developed for ground studies. A significant relationship was found between surface soil temperature and depth to groundwater, as well as between the surface soil-maximum air temperature differential and soil water content (% of field capacity) in the 0 cm and 4 cm layer of the profile. Land use for the data points consisted of row crops, small grains, stubble, and pasture.

Recent Climate Changes in Northwestern Qaidam Basin Inferred from Geothermal Gradients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, J.; Zhang, T.

2014-12-01

Temperature perturbations under the ground surface are direct thermal response to ground surface temperature changes. Thus ground surface temperature history can be reconstructed from borehole temperature measurements using borehole paleothermometry inversion method. In this study, we use seven borehole temperature profiles to reconstruct the ground surface temperature variation of the past 500 years of the Qaidam basin, northwestern China. Borehole transient temperature measurement from seven sites in northwestern Qaidam basin were separated from geothermal gradients and analyzed by functional space inversion method to determine past ground surface temperature variations in this region. All temperature profiles show the effects of recent climatic disturbances. Inversion shows an overall increase in ground surface temperature by an averaged 1.2℃ (-0.11~2.21℃) during the last 500 years. Clear signs of a cold period between 1500 and 1900 A.D., corresponding to the Little Ice Age, have been found. Its coldest period was between 1780~1790 A.D. with the ground surface temperature of 5.4℃. During the 19th and the 20th century, reconstructed ground surface temperature shows a rising trend, and in the late 20th century, the temperature started to decrease. However, the highest temperature in 1990s broke the record of the past 500 years. This reconstructed past ground surface temperature variation is verified by the simulated annual surface air temperature computed by EdGCM and the cooling trend is also confirmed by other reconstruction of winter half year minimum temperatures using tree rings on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau.

The Burden of COPD Morbidity Attributable to the Interaction between Ambient Air Pollution and Temperature in Chengdu, China.

PubMed

Qiu, Hang; Tan, Kun; Long, Feiyu; Wang, Liya; Yu, Haiyan; Deng, Ren; Long, Hu; Zhang, Yanlong; Pan, Jingping

2018-03-11

Evidence on the burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) morbidity attributable to the interaction between ambient air pollution and temperature has been limited. This study aimed to examine the modification effect of temperature on the association of ambient air pollutants (including particulate matter (PM) with aerodynamic diameter <10 μm (PM 10 ) and <2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), carbon monoxide (CO) and ozone (O₃)) with risk of hospital admissions (HAs) for COPD, as well as the associated morbidity burden in urban areas of Chengdu, China, from 2015 to 2016. Based on the generalized additive model (GAM) with quasi-Poisson link, bivariate response surface model and stratification parametric model were developed to investigate the potential interactions between ambient air pollution and temperature on COPD HAs. We found consistent interactions between ambient air pollutants (PM 2.5 , PM 10 and SO₂) and low temperature on COPD HAs, demonstrated by the stronger associations between ambient air pollutants and COPD HAs at low temperatures than at moderate temperatures. Subgroup analyses showed that the elderly (≥80 years) and males were more vulnerable to this interaction. The joint effect of PM and low temperature had the greatest impact on COPD morbidity burden. Using WHO air quality guidelines as reference concentration, about 17.30% (95% CI: 12.39%, 22.19%) and 14.72% (95% CI: 10.38%, 19.06%) of COPD HAs were attributable to PM 2.5 and PM 10 exposures on low temperature days, respectively. Our findings suggested that low temperature significantly enhanced the effects of PM and SO₂ on COPD HAs in urban Chengdu, resulting in increased morbidity burden. This evidence has important implications for developing interventions to reduce the risk effect of COPD morbidity.

Extreme Maximum Land Surface Temperatures.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garratt, J. R.

1992-09-01

There are numerous reports in the literature of observations of land surface temperatures. Some of these, almost all made in situ, reveal maximum values in the 50°-70°C range, with a few, made in desert regions, near 80°C. Consideration of a simplified form of the surface energy balance equation, utilizing likely upper values of absorbed shortwave flux (1000 W m2) and screen air temperature (55°C), that surface temperatures in the vicinity of 90°-100°C may occur for dry, darkish soils of low thermal conductivity (0.1-0.2 W m1 K1). Numerical simulations confirm this and suggest that temperature gradients in the first few centimeters of soil may reach 0.5°-1°C mm1 under these extreme conditions. The study bears upon the intrinsic interest of identifying extreme maximum temperatures and yields interesting information regarding the comfort zone of animals (including man).

Research on the operation control strategy of the cooling ceiling combined with fresh air system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Tao; Li, Hao

2018-03-01

The cooling ceiling combined with independent fresh air system was built by TRNSYS. And the cooling effects of the air conditioning system of an office in Beijing in a summer typical day were simulated. Based on the “variable temperature” control strategy, the operation strategy of “variable air volume auxiliary adjustment” was put forward. The variation of the indoor temperature, the indoor humidity, the temperature of supplying water and the temperature of returning water were simulated under the two control strategies. The energy consumption of system during the whole summer was compared by utilizing the two control strategies, and the indoor thermal comfort was analyzed. The optimal control strategy was proposed under the condition that the condensation on the surface of the cooling ceiling is not occurred and the indoor thermal comfort is satisfied.

Effects of a ceramic coating on metal temperatures of an air-cooled turbine vane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gladden, H. J.; Liebert, C. H.

1980-02-01

The metal temperatures of air cooled turbine vanes both uncoated and coated with the NASA thermal barrier system were studied experimentally. Current and advanced gas turbine engine conditions were simulated at reduced temperatures and pressures. Airfoil metal temperatures were significantly reduced, both locally and on the average, by use of the the coating. However, at low gas Reynolds number, the ceramic coating tripped a laminar boundary layer on the suction surface, and the resulting higher heat flux increased the metal temperatures. Simulated coating loss was also investigated and shown to increase local metal temperatures. However, the metal temperatures in the leading edge region remained below those of the uncoated vane tested at similar conditions. Metal temperatures in the trailing edge region exceeded those of the uncoated vane.

Effects of a ceramic coating on metal temperatures of an air-cooled turbine vane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gladden, H. J.; Liebert, C. H.

1980-01-01

The metal temperatures of air cooled turbine vanes both uncoated and coated with the NASA thermal barrier system were studied experimentally. Current and advanced gas turbine engine conditions were simulated at reduced temperatures and pressures. Airfoil metal temperatures were significantly reduced, both locally and on the average, by use of the the coating. However, at low gas Reynolds number, the ceramic coating tripped a laminar boundary layer on the suction surface, and the resulting higher heat flux increased the metal temperatures. Simulated coating loss was also investigated and shown to increase local metal temperatures. However, the metal temperatures in the leading edge region remained below those of the uncoated vane tested at similar conditions. Metal temperatures in the trailing edge region exceeded those of the uncoated vane.

A Multidisciplinary Approach to Assessing the Causal Components of Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gosnold, W. D.; Todhunter, P. E.; Dong, X.; Rundquist, B.; Majorowicz, J.; Blackwell, D. D.

2004-05-01

Separation of climate forcing by anthropogenic greenhouse gases from natural radiative climate forcing is difficult because the composite temperature signal in the meteorological and multi-proxy temperature records cannot be resolved directly into radiative forcing components. To address this problem, we have initiated a large-scale, multidisciplinary project to test coherence between ground surface temperatures (GST) reconstructed from borehole T-z profiles, surface air temperatures (SAT), soil temperatures, and solar radiation. Our hypothesis is that radiative heating and heat exchange between the ground and the air directly control the ground surface temperature. Consequently, borehole T-z measurements at multi-year intervals spanning time periods when solar radiation, soil and air temperatures have been recorded should enable comparison of the thermal energy stored in the ground to these quantities. If coherence between energy storage, solar radiation, GST, SAT and multi-proxy temperature data can be discerned for a one or two decade scale, synthesis of GST and multi-proxy data over the past several centuries may enable us to separately determine the anthropogenic and natural forcings of climate change. The data we are acquiring include: (1) New T-z measurements in boreholes previously used in paleoclimate and heat flow research in Canada and the United States from the 1970's to the present. (2) Meteorological data from the US Historical Climatology Network and the Automated Weather Data Network of the High Plains Regional Climate Center, and Environment Canada. (3) Direct and remotely sensed data on land use, environment, and soil properties at selected borehole and meteorological sites for the periods between borehole observations. The project addresses three related questions: What is the coherence between the GST, SAT, soil temperatures and solar radiation? Have microclimate changes at borehole sites and climate stations affected temperature trends? If good coherence is obtained, can the coherence between thermal energy stored in the ground and radiative forcing during the time between T-z measurements be extended several centuries into the past?

Multi-year analysis of distributed glacier mass balance modelling and equilibrium line altitude on King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Falk, Ulrike; López, Damián A.; Silva-Busso, Adrián

2018-04-01

The South Shetland Islands are located at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP). This region was subject to strong warming trends in the atmospheric surface layer. Surface air temperature increased about 3 K in 50 years, concurrent with retreating glacier fronts, an increase in melt areas, ice surface lowering and rapid break-up and disintegration of ice shelves. The positive trend in surface air temperature has currently come to a halt. Observed surface air temperature lapse rates show a high variability during winter months (standard deviations up to ±1.0 K (100 m)-1) and a distinct spatial heterogeneity reflecting the impact of synoptic weather patterns. The increased mesocyclonic activity during the wintertime over the past decades in the study area results in intensified advection of warm, moist air with high temperatures and rain and leads to melt conditions on the ice cap, fixating surface air temperatures to the melting point. Its impact on winter accumulation results in the observed negative mass balance estimates. Six years of continuous glaciological measurements on mass balance stake transects as well as 5 years of climatological data time series are presented and a spatially distributed glacier energy balance melt model adapted and run based on these multi-year data sets. The glaciological surface mass balance model is generally in good agreement with observations, except for atmospheric conditions promoting snow drift by high wind speeds, turbulence-driven snow deposition and snow layer erosion by rain. No drift in the difference between simulated mass balance and mass balance measurements can be seen over the course of the 5-year model run period. The winter accumulation does not suffice to compensate for the high variability in summer ablation. The results are analysed to assess changes in meltwater input to the coastal waters, specific glacier mass balance and the equilibrium line altitude (ELA). The Fourcade Glacier catchment drains into Potter cove, has an area of 23.6 km2 and is glacierized to 93.8 %. Annual discharge from Fourcade Glacier into Potter Cove is estimated to q ¯ = 25±6 hm3 yr-1 with the standard deviation of 8 % annotating the high interannual variability. The average ELA calculated from our own glaciological observations on Fourcade Glacier over the time period 2010 to 2015 amounts to 260±20 m. Published studies suggest rather stable conditions of slightly negative glacier mass balance until the mid-1980s with an ELA of approx. 150 m. The calculated accumulation area ratio suggests dramatic changes in the future extent of the inland ice cap for the South Shetland Islands.

Meteorological data for four sites at surface-disruption features in Yucca Flat, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada, 1985-86

USGS Publications Warehouse

Carman, Rita L.

1994-01-01

Surface-disruption features, or craters, resulting from underground nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site may increase the potential for ground-water recharge in an area that would normally produce little, if any, recharge. This report presents selected meteorological data resulting from a study of two surface-disruption features during May 1985 through June 1986. The data were collected at four adjacent sites in Yucca Flat, about 56 kilometers north of Mercury, Nevada. Three sites (one in each of two craters and one at an undisturbed site at the original land surface) were instrumented to collect meteorological data for calculating bare-soil evaporation. These data include (1) long-wave radiation, (2) short-wave radiation, (3) net radiation, (4) air temperae, and (5) soil surface temperature. Meteorological data also were collected at a weather station at an undisturbed site near the study craters. Data collected at this site include (1) air temperature, (2) relative humidity, (3) wind velocity, and (4) wind direction.

An improved model for soil surface temperature from air temperature in permafrost regions of Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau of China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Guojie; Wu, Xiaodong; Zhao, Lin; Li, Ren; Wu, Tonghua; Xie, Changwei; Pang, Qiangqiang; Cheng, Guodong

2017-08-01

Soil temperature plays a key role in hydro-thermal processes in environments and is a critical variable linking surface structure to soil processes. There is a need for more accurate temperature simulation models, particularly in Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau (QXP). In this study, a model was developed for the simulation of hourly soil surface temperatures with air temperatures. The model incorporated the thermal properties of the soil, vegetation cover, solar radiation, and water flux density and utilized field data collected from Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau (QXP). The model was used to simulate the thermal regime at soil depths of 5 cm, 10 cm and 20 cm and results were compared with those from previous models and with experimental measurements of ground temperature at two different locations. The analysis showed that the newly developed model provided better estimates of observed field temperatures, with an average mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), and the normalized standard error (NSEE) of 1.17 °C, 1.30 °C and 13.84 %, 0.41 °C, 0.49 °C and 5.45 %, 0.13 °C, 0.18 °C and 2.23 % at 5 cm, 10 cm and 20 cm depths, respectively. These findings provide a useful reference for simulating soil temperature and may be incorporated into other ecosystem models requiring soil temperature as an input variable for modeling permafrost changes under global warming.

On the Interaction between Marine Boundary Layer Cellular Cloudiness and Surface Heat Fluxes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kazil, J.; Feingold, G.; Wang, Hailong

2014-01-02

The interaction between marine boundary layer cellular cloudiness and surface uxes of sensible and latent heat is investigated. The investigation focuses on the non-precipitating closed-cell state and the precipitating open-cell state at low geostrophic wind speed. The Advanced Research WRF model is used to conduct cloud-system-resolving simulations with interactive surface fluxes of sensible heat, latent heat, and of sea salt aerosol, and with a detailed representation of the interaction between aerosol particles and clouds. The mechanisms responsible for the temporal evolution and spatial distribution of the surface heat fluxes in the closed- and open-cell state are investigated and explained. Itmore » is found that the horizontal spatial structure of the closed-cell state determines, by entrainment of dry free tropospheric air, the spatial distribution of surface air temperature and water vapor, and, to a lesser degree, of the surface sensible and latent heat flux. The synchronized dynamics of the the open-cell state drives oscillations in surface air temperature, water vapor, and in the surface fluxes of sensible and latent heat, and of sea salt aerosol. Open-cell cloud formation, cloud optical depth and liquid water path, and cloud and rain water path are identified as good predictors of the spatial distribution of surface air temperature and sensible heat flux, but not of surface water vapor and latent heat flux. It is shown that by enhancing the surface sensible heat flux, the open-cell state creates conditions by which it is maintained. While the open-cell state under consideration is not depleted in aerosol, and is insensitive to variations in sea-salt fluxes, it also enhances the sea-salt flux relative to the closed-cell state. In aerosol-depleted conditions, this enhancement may replenish the aerosol needed for cloud formation, and hence contribute to the perpetuation of the open-cell state as well. Spatial homogenization of the surface fluxes is found to have only a small effect on cloud properties in the investigated cases. This indicates that sub-grid scale spatial variability in the surface flux of sensible and latent heat and of sea salt aerosol may not be required in large scale and global models to describe marine boundary layer cellular cloudiness.« less

Numerical simulation of the world ocean circulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Takano, K.; Mintz, Y.; Han, Y. J.

1973-01-01

A multi-level model, based on the primitive equations, is developed for simulating the temperature and velocity fields produced in the world ocean by differential heating and surface wind stress. The model ocean has constant depth, free slip at the lower boundary, and neglects momentum advection; so that there is no energy exchange between the barotropic and baroclinic components of the motion, although the former influences the latter through temperature advection. The ocean model was designed to be coupled to the UCLA atmospheric general circulation model, for the study of the dynamics of climate and climate changes. But here, the model is tested by prescribing the observed seasonally varying surface wind stress and the incident solar radiation, the surface air temperature and humidity, cloudiness and the surface wind speed, which, together with the predicted ocean surface temperature, determine the surface flux of radiant energy, sensible heat and latent heat.

Effect of oxygen vacancies and phases on catalytic properties of hydrogen-treated nanoceria particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lan, Yuan-Pei; Sohn, Hong Yong

2018-03-01

Nanoceria powder was treated by hydrogen or air at different temperatures and atmospheres, and the phases, oxygen vacancies, catalytic properties of the treated samples were investigated. After treating, the crystallites on the ceria surface were fused, and the SEM and TEM images indicated that the particle size increased with treatment temperature. Both Raman and XPS spectra showed the oxygen vacancies in nanoceria increased with treatment temperature in hydrogen, and at the same temperature CeO2 treated in hydrogen had a higher Ce3+ fraction than that treated in air. The nanoceria after being treated in hydrogen at 900 °C contained the Ce2O3 phase together with CeO2 which was revealed by XRD and TEM results. Oxygen vacancies were found to enhance CO conversion, but the high temperature needed to generate the oxygen vacancies caused the fusion of the crystallites on the ceria surface and thus its area decreased, which resulted in lower catalytic activity. The catalytic activity of nanoceria treated in hydrogen at 900 °C measured higher than that of the ceria powders treated at 700 °C in hydrogen or 900 °C in air, which indicated that the Ce2O3 phase present in the treated nanoceria particles enhanced the catalytic activity.