First Liquid Layer Inertial Confinement Fusion Implosions at the National Ignition Facility

DOE PAGES

Olson, R. E.; Leeper, R. J.; Kline, J. L.; ...

2016-12-07

The first cryogenic deuterium and deuterium-tritium liquid layer implosions at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) demonstrate D 2 and DT layer Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) implosions that can access low-to-moderate hot spot convergence ratio (1230) DT ice layer implosions. Although high CR is desirable in an idealized 1D sense, it amplifies the deleterious effects of asymmetries. To date, these asymmetries prevented the achievement of ignition at the NIF and are the major cause of simulation-experiment disagreement. In the initial liquid layer experiments, high neutron yields were achieved with CR’s of 12-17, and the hot spot formation is well understood, demonstratedmore » by good agreement between the experimental data and the radiation hydrodynamic simulations. These initial experiments open a new NIF experimental capability that provides an opportunity to explore the relationship between hot-spot convergence ratio and the robustness of hot-spot formation during ICF implosions.« less

First Liquid Layer Inertial Confinement Fusion Implosions at the National Ignition Facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olson, R. E.; Leeper, R. J.; Kline, J. L.; Zylstra, A. B.; Yi, S. A.; Biener, J.; Braun, T.; Kozioziemski, B. J.; Sater, J. D.; Bradley, P. A.; Peterson, R. R.; Haines, B. M.; Yin, L.; Berzak Hopkins, L. F.; Meezan, N. B.; Walters, C.; Biener, M. M.; Kong, C.; Crippen, J. W.; Kyrala, G. A.; Shah, R. C.; Herrmann, H. W.; Wilson, D. C.; Hamza, A. V.; Nikroo, A.; Batha, S. H.

2016-12-01

The first cryogenic deuterium and deuterium-tritium liquid layer implosions at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) demonstrate D2 and DT layer inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions that can access a low-to-moderate hot-spot convergence ratio (12 30 ) DT ice layer implosions. Although high CR is desirable in an idealized 1D sense, it amplifies the deleterious effects of asymmetries. To date, these asymmetries prevented the achievement of ignition at the NIF and are the major cause of simulation-experiment disagreement. In the initial liquid layer experiments, high neutron yields were achieved with CRs of 12-17, and the hot-spot formation is well understood, demonstrated by a good agreement between the experimental data and the radiation hydrodynamic simulations. These initial experiments open a new NIF experimental capability that provides an opportunity to explore the relationship between hot-spot convergence ratio and the robustness of hot-spot formation during ICF implosions.

First Liquid Layer Inertial Confinement Fusion Implosions at the National Ignition Facility.

PubMed

Olson, R E; Leeper, R J; Kline, J L; Zylstra, A B; Yi, S A; Biener, J; Braun, T; Kozioziemski, B J; Sater, J D; Bradley, P A; Peterson, R R; Haines, B M; Yin, L; Berzak Hopkins, L F; Meezan, N B; Walters, C; Biener, M M; Kong, C; Crippen, J W; Kyrala, G A; Shah, R C; Herrmann, H W; Wilson, D C; Hamza, A V; Nikroo, A; Batha, S H

2016-12-09

The first cryogenic deuterium and deuterium-tritium liquid layer implosions at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) demonstrate D_{2} and DT layer inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions that can access a low-to-moderate hot-spot convergence ratio (1230) DT ice layer implosions. Although high CR is desirable in an idealized 1D sense, it amplifies the deleterious effects of asymmetries. To date, these asymmetries prevented the achievement of ignition at the NIF and are the major cause of simulation-experiment disagreement. In the initial liquid layer experiments, high neutron yields were achieved with CRs of 12-17, and the hot-spot formation is well understood, demonstrated by a good agreement between the experimental data and the radiation hydrodynamic simulations. These initial experiments open a new NIF experimental capability that provides an opportunity to explore the relationship between hot-spot convergence ratio and the robustness of hot-spot formation during ICF implosions.

Numerical modeling of the sensitivity of x-ray driven implosions to low-mode flux asymmetries.

PubMed

Scott, R H H; Clark, D S; Bradley, D K; Callahan, D A; Edwards, M J; Haan, S W; Jones, O S; Spears, B K; Marinak, M M; Town, R P J; Norreys, P A; Suter, L J

2013-02-15

The sensitivity of inertial confinement fusion implosions, of the type performed on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [1], to low-mode flux asymmetries is investigated numerically. It is shown that large-amplitude, low-order mode shapes (Legendre polynomial P(4), resulting from low-order flux asymmetries, cause spatial variations in capsule and fuel momentum that prevent the deuterium and tritium (DT) "ice" layer from being decelerated uniformly by the hot spot pressure. This reduces the transfer of implosion kinetic energy to internal energy of the central hot spot, thus reducing the neutron yield. Furthermore, synthetic gated x-ray images of the hot spot self-emission indicate that P(4) shapes may be unquantifiable for DT layered capsules. Instead the positive P(4) asymmetry "aliases" itself as an oblate P(2) in the x-ray images. Correction of this apparent P(2) distortion can further distort the implosion while creating a round x-ray image. Long wavelength asymmetries may be playing a significant role in the observed yield reduction of NIF DT implosions relative to detailed postshot two-dimensional simulations.

Cryogenic Target-Implosion Experiments on OMEGA

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

Harding, D.R.; Meyerhofer, D.D.; Sangster, T.C.

The University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics has been imploding thick cryogenic targets for six years. Improvements in the Cryogenic Target Handling System and the ability to accurately design laser pulse shapes that properly time shocks and minimize electron preheat, produced high fuel areal densities in deuterium cryogenic targets (202+/-7 mg/cm^2). The areal density was inferred from the energy loss of secondary protons in the fuel (D2) shell. Targets were driven on a low final adiabat (alpha = 2) employing techniques to radially grade the adiabat (the highest adiabat at the ablation surface). The ice layer meets the target-designmore » toughness specification for DT ice of 1-um rms (all modes), while D2 ice layers average 3.0-um-rms roughness. The implosion experiments and the improvements in the quality and understanding of cryogenic targets are presented.« less

GPS-derived estimates of surface mass balance and ocean-induced basal melt for Pine Island Glacier ice shelf, Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shean, David E.; Christianson, Knut; Larson, Kristine M.; Ligtenberg, Stefan R. M.; Joughin, Ian R.; Smith, Ben E.; Stevens, C. Max; Bushuk, Mitchell; Holland, David M.

2017-11-01

In the last 2 decades, Pine Island Glacier (PIG) experienced marked speedup, thinning, and grounding-line retreat, likely due to marine ice-sheet instability and ice-shelf basal melt. To better understand these processes, we combined 2008-2010 and 2012-2014 GPS records with dynamic firn model output to constrain local surface and basal mass balance for PIG. We used GPS interferometric reflectometry to precisely measure absolute surface elevation (zsurf) and Lagrangian surface elevation change (Dzsurf/ Dt). Observed surface elevation relative to a firn layer tracer for the initial surface (zsurf - zsurf0') is consistent with model estimates of surface mass balance (SMB, primarily snow accumulation). A relatively abrupt ˜ 0.2-0.3 m surface elevation decrease, likely due to surface melt and increased compaction rates, is observed during a period of warm atmospheric temperatures from December 2012 to January 2013. Observed Dzsurf/ Dt trends (-1 to -4 m yr-1) for the PIG shelf sites are all highly linear. Corresponding basal melt rate estimates range from ˜ 10 to 40 m yr-1, in good agreement with those derived from ice-bottom acoustic ranging, phase-sensitive ice-penetrating radar, and high-resolution stereo digital elevation model (DEM) records. The GPS and DEM records document higher melt rates within and near features associated with longitudinal extension (i.e., transverse surface depressions, rifts). Basal melt rates for the 2012-2014 period show limited temporal variability despite large changes in ocean temperature recorded by moorings in Pine Island Bay. Our results demonstrate the value of long-term GPS records for ice-shelf mass balance studies, with implications for the sensitivity of ice-ocean interaction at PIG.

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

Smalyuk, V. A.; Robey, H. F.; Casey, D. T.

Several new platforms have been developed to experimentally measure hydrodynamic instabilities in all phases of indirect-drive, inertial confinement fusion implosions on National Ignition Facility. At the ablation front, instability growth of pre-imposed modulations was measured with a face-on, x-ray radiography platform in the linear regime using the Hydrodynamic Growth Radiography (HGR) platform. Modulation growth of "native roughness" modulations and engineering features (fill tubes and capsule support membranes) were measured in conditions relevant to layered DT implosions. A new experimental platform was developed to measure instability growth at the ablator-ice interface. Here in the deceleration phase of implosions, several experimental platformsmore » were developed to measure both low-mode asymmetries and high-mode perturbations near peak compression with x-ray and nuclear techniques. In one innovative technique, the self-emission from the hot spot was enhanced with argon dopant to "self-backlight" the shell in-flight. To stabilize instability growth, new "adiabat-shaping" techniques were developed using the HGR platform and applied in layered DT implosions.« less

Mix and hydrodynamic instabilities on NIF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smalyuk, V. A.; Robey, H. F.; Casey, D. T.; Clark, D. S.; Döppner, T.; Haan, S. W.; Hammel, B. A.; MacPhee, A. G.; Martinez, D.; Milovich, J. L.; Peterson, J. L.; Pickworth, L.; Pino, J. E.; Raman, K.; Tipton, R.; Weber, C. R.; Baker, K. L.; Bachmann, B.; Berzak Hopkins, L. F.; Bond, E.; Caggiano, J. A.; Callahan, D. A.; Celliers, P. M.; Cerjan, C.; Dixit, S. N.; Edwards, M. J.; Felker, S.; Field, J. E.; Fittinghoff, D. N.; Gharibyan, N.; Grim, G. P.; Hamza, A. V.; Hatarik, R.; Hohenberger, M.; Hsing, W. W.; Hurricane, O. A.; Jancaitis, K. S.; Jones, O. S.; Khan, S.; Kroll, J. J.; Lafortune, K. N.; Landen, O. L.; Ma, T.; MacGowan, B. J.; Masse, L.; Moore, A. S.; Nagel, S. R.; Nikroo, A.; Pak, A.; Patel, P. K.; Remington, B. A.; Sayre, D. B.; Spears, B. K.; Stadermann, M.; Tommasini, R.; Widmayer, C. C.; Yeamans, C. B.; Crippen, J.; Farrell, M.; Giraldez, E.; Rice, N.; Wilde, C. H.; Volegov, P. L.; Gatu Johnson, M.

2017-06-01

Several new platforms have been developed to experimentally measure hydrodynamic instabilities in all phases of indirect-drive, inertial confinement fusion implosions on National Ignition Facility. At the ablation front, instability growth of pre-imposed modulations was measured with a face-on, x-ray radiography platform in the linear regime using the Hydrodynamic Growth Radiography (HGR) platform. Modulation growth of "native roughness" modulations and engineering features (fill tubes and capsule support membranes) were measured in conditions relevant to layered DT implosions. A new experimental platform was developed to measure instability growth at the ablator-ice interface. In the deceleration phase of implosions, several experimental platforms were developed to measure both low-mode asymmetries and high-mode perturbations near peak compression with x-ray and nuclear techniques. In one innovative technique, the self-emission from the hot spot was enhanced with argon dopant to "self-backlight" the shell in-flight. To stabilize instability growth, new "adiabat-shaping" techniques were developed using the HGR platform and applied in layered DT implosions.

Mix and hydrodynamic instabilities on NIF

DOE PAGES

Smalyuk, V. A.; Robey, H. F.; Casey, D. T.; ...

2017-06-01

Several new platforms have been developed to experimentally measure hydrodynamic instabilities in all phases of indirect-drive, inertial confinement fusion implosions on National Ignition Facility. At the ablation front, instability growth of pre-imposed modulations was measured with a face-on, x-ray radiography platform in the linear regime using the Hydrodynamic Growth Radiography (HGR) platform. Modulation growth of "native roughness" modulations and engineering features (fill tubes and capsule support membranes) were measured in conditions relevant to layered DT implosions. A new experimental platform was developed to measure instability growth at the ablator-ice interface. Here in the deceleration phase of implosions, several experimental platformsmore » were developed to measure both low-mode asymmetries and high-mode perturbations near peak compression with x-ray and nuclear techniques. In one innovative technique, the self-emission from the hot spot was enhanced with argon dopant to "self-backlight" the shell in-flight. To stabilize instability growth, new "adiabat-shaping" techniques were developed using the HGR platform and applied in layered DT implosions.« less

A High-Resolution Integrated Model of the National Ignition Campaign Cryogenic Layered Experiments

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

Jones, O. S.; Callahan, D. A.; Cerjan, C. J.

A detailed simulation-based model of the June 2011 National Ignition Campaign (NIC) cryogenic DT experiments is presented. The model is based on integrated hohlraum-capsule simulations that utilize the best available models for the hohlraum wall, ablator, and DT equations of state and opacities. The calculated radiation drive was adjusted by changing the input laser power to match the experimentally measured shock speeds, shock merger times, peak implosion velocity, and bangtime. The crossbeam energy transfer model was tuned to match the measured time-dependent symmetry. Mid-mode mix was included by directly modeling the ablator and ice surface perturbations up to mode 60.more » Simulated experimental values were extracted from the simulation and compared against the experiment. The model adjustments brought much of the simulated data into closer agreement with the experiment, with the notable exception of the measured yields, which were 15-40% of the calculated yields.« less

A High-Resolution Integrated Model of the National Ignition Campaign Cryogenic Layered Experiments

DOE PAGES

Jones, O. S.; Callahan, D. A.; Cerjan, C. J.; ...

2012-05-29

A detailed simulation-based model of the June 2011 National Ignition Campaign (NIC) cryogenic DT experiments is presented. The model is based on integrated hohlraum-capsule simulations that utilize the best available models for the hohlraum wall, ablator, and DT equations of state and opacities. The calculated radiation drive was adjusted by changing the input laser power to match the experimentally measured shock speeds, shock merger times, peak implosion velocity, and bangtime. The crossbeam energy transfer model was tuned to match the measured time-dependent symmetry. Mid-mode mix was included by directly modeling the ablator and ice surface perturbations up to mode 60.more » Simulated experimental values were extracted from the simulation and compared against the experiment. The model adjustments brought much of the simulated data into closer agreement with the experiment, with the notable exception of the measured yields, which were 15-40% of the calculated yields.« less

Towards an Integrated Model of the NIC Layered Implosions

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

Jones, O S; Callahan, D A; Cerjan, C J

A detailed simulation-based model of the June 2011 National Ignition Campaign (NIC) cryogenic DT experiments is presented. The model is based on integrated hohlraum-capsule simulations that utilize the best available models for the hohlraum wall, ablator, and DT equations of state and opacities. The calculated radiation drive was adjusted by changing the input laser power to match the experimentally measured shock speeds, shock merger times, peak implosion velocity, and bangtime. The crossbeam energy transfer model was tuned to match the measured time-dependent symmetry. Mid-mode mix was included by directly modeling the ablator and ice surface perturbations up to mode 60.more » Simulated experimental values were extracted from the simulation and compared against the experiment. The model adjustments brought much of the simulated data into closer agreement with the experiment, with the notable exception of the measured yields, which were 15-45% of the calculated yields.« less

In-situ GPS records of surface mass balance, firn compaction rates, and ice-shelf basal melt rates for Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shean, D. E.; Christianson, K.; Larson, K. M.; Ligtenberg, S.; Joughin, I. R.; Smith, B.; Stevens, C.

2016-12-01

In recent decades, Pine Island Glacier (PIG) has experienced marked retreat, speedup and thinning due to ice-shelf basal melt, internal ice-stream instability and feedbacks between these processes. In an effort to constrain recent ice-stream dynamics and evaluate potential causes of retreat, we analyzed 2008-2010 and 2012-2014 GPS records for PIG. We computed time series of horizontal velocity, strain rate, multipath-based antenna height, surface elevation, and Lagrangian elevation change (Dh/Dt). These data provide validation for complementary high-resolution WorldView stereo digital elevation model (DEM) records, with sampled DEM vertical error of 0.7 m. The GPS antenna height time series document a relative surface elevation increase of 0.7-1.0 m/yr, which is consistent with estimated surface mass balance (SMB) of 0.7-0.9 m.w.e./yr from RACMO2.3 and firn compaction rates from the IMAU-FDM dynamic firn model. An abrupt 0.2-0.3 m surface elevation decrease due to surface melt and/or greater near-surface firn compaction is observed during a period of warm atmospheric temperatures from December 2012 to January 2013. Observed surface Dh/Dt for all PIG shelf sites is highly linear with trends of -1 to -4 m/yr and <0.4 m residuals. Similar Dh/Dt estimates with reduced variability are obtained after removing expected downward GPS pole base velocity from observed GPS antenna Dh/Dt. Estimated Dh/Dt basal melt rates are 10 to 40 m/yr for the outer PIG shelf and 4 m/yr for the South shelf. These melt rates are similar to those derived from ice-bottom acoustic ranging, phase-sensitive ice-penetrating radar, and high-resolution stereo DEM records. The GPS/DEM records document higher melt rates within and near transverse surface depressions and rifts associated with longitudinal extension. Basal melt rates for the 2012-2014 period show limited temporal variability, despite significant change in ocean heat content. This suggests that sub-shelf melt rates are less sensitive to ocean heat content than previously reported, at least for these locations and time periods.

High Resolution Integrated Hohlraum-Capsule Simulations for Virtual NIF Ignition Campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, O. S.; Marinak, M. M.; Cerjan, C. J.; Clark, D. S.; Edwards, M. J.; Haan, S. W.; Langer, S. H.; Salmonson, J. D.

2009-11-01

We have undertaken a virtual campaign to assess the viability of the sequence of NIF experiments planned for 2010 that will experimentally tune the shock timing, symmetry, and ablator thickness of a cryogenic ignition capsule prior to the first ignition attempt. The virtual campaign consists of two teams. The ``red team'' creates realistic simulated diagnostic data for a given experiment from the output of a detailed radiation hydrodynamics calculation that has physics models that have been altered in a way that is consistent with probable physics uncertainties. The ``blue team'' executes a series of virtual experiments and interprets the simulated diagnostic data from those virtual experiments. To support this effort we have developed a capability to do very high spatial resolution integrated hohlraum-capsule simulations using the Hydra code. Surface perturbations for all ablator layer surfaces and the DT ice layer are calculated explicitly through mode 30. The effects of the fill tube, cracks in the ice layer, and defects in the ablator are included in models extracted from higher resolution calculations. Very high wave number mix is included through a mix model. We will show results from these calculations in the context of the ongoing virtual campaign.

Deuterium-Tritium Beta-Layering Within a National Ignition Facility Scale Polymer Target in the LANL Cryogenic Pressure Loader

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

Ebey, Peter S.; Dole, James M.; Geller, Drew A.

2005-11-15

Beta-layering, the process of beta-decay heat-driven mass redistribution, has been demonstrated in a deuterium-tritium (D-T)-filled polymer sphere of the type required for fusion ignition experiments at the National Ignition Facility. This is the first report, to the best of the authors' knowledge, of a D-T layer formed in a permeation-filled sphere. The 2-mm-diam sphere was filled with D-T by permeation; cooled to cryogenic temperatures while in the high-pressure permeation vessel; and, while cold, removed to an optical axis where the D-T was frozen, melted, and beta-layered in a series of experiments over several weeks' time. This work was performed inmore » the Los Alamos National Laboratory cryogenic pressure loader system. The beta-layering time constant was 24.0 {+-} 2.5 min, less than the theoretical value of 26.8 min, and not showing the significant increase due to build-up of {sup 3}He often observed in beta-layered samples. Supercooling of the liquid D-T was observed. Neither the polymer target nor its tenting material showed visual signs of degradation after 5 weeks of exposure to D-T. Small external thermal gradients were used to shift the D-T material back and forth within the sphere.« less

Growth rate of crystalline ice and the diffusivity of supercooled water from 126 to 262 K

DOE PAGES

Xu, Yuntao; Petrik, Nikolay G.; Smith, R. Scott; ...

2016-12-12

Understanding deeply supercooled water is key to unraveling many of water’s anomalous properties. However, this has proven difficult due to rapid and uncontrolled crystallization. Using a pulsed laser heating technique, we measure the growth rate of crystalline ice, G(T), for 180 K < T < 262 K, i.e. deep within water’s “no man’s land.” The self-diffusion of supercooled liquid water, D(T), is obtained from G(T) using the Wilson-Frenkel model of crystal growth. For T > 237 K, G(T) and D(T) have super-Arrhenius (“fragile”) temperature dependences, but both crossover to Arrhenius (“strong”) behavior with a large activation energy in “no man’smore » land.” The fact that G(T) and D(T) are smoothly varying rules out the hypothesis that liquid water’s properties have a singularity at or near 228 K. However the results are consistent with a previous prediction for D(T) that assumed no thermodynamic transitions occur in “no man’s land.« less

Fusion energy with lasers, direct drive targets, and dry wall chambers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sethian, J. D.; Friedman, M.; Lehmberg, R. H.; Myers, M.; Obenschain, S. P.; Giuliani, J.; Kepple, P.; Schmitt, A. J.; Colombant, D.; Gardner, J.; Hegeler, F.; Wolford, M.; Swanekamp, S. B.; Weidenheimer, D.; Welch, D.; Rose, D.; Payne, S.; Bibeau, C.; Baraymian, A.; Beach, R.; Schaffers, K.; Freitas, B.; Skulina, K.; Meier, W.; Latkowski, J.; Perkins, L. J.; Goodin, D.; Petzoldt, R.; Stephens, E.; Najmabadi, F.; Tillack, M.; Raffray, R.; Dragojlovic, Z.; Haynes, D.; Peterson, R.; Kulcinski, G.; Hoffer, J.; Geller, D.; Schroen, D.; Streit, J.; Olson, C.; Tanaka, T.; Renk, T.; Rochau, G.; Snead, L.; Ghoneim, N.; Lucas, G.

2003-12-01

A coordinated, focused effort is underway to develop Laser Inertial Fusion Energy. The key components are developed in concert with one another and the science and engineering issues are addressed concurrently. Recent advances include: target designs have been evaluated that show it could be possible to achieve the high gains (>100) needed for a practical fusion system.These designs feature a low-density CH foam that is wicked with solid DT and over-coated with a thin high-Z layer. These results have been verified with three independent one-dimensional codes, and are now being evaluated with two- and three-dimensional codes. Two types of lasers are under development: Krypton Fluoride (KrF) gas lasers and Diode Pumped Solid State Lasers (DPSSL). Both have recently achieved repetitive 'first light', and both have made progress in meeting the fusion energy requirements for durability, efficiency, and cost. This paper also presents the advances in development of chamber operating windows (target survival plus no wall erosion), final optics (aluminium at grazing incidence has high reflectivity and exceeds the required laser damage threshold), target fabrication (demonstration of smooth DT ice layers grown over foams, batch production of foam shells, and appropriate high-Z overcoats), and target injection (new facility for target injection and tracking studies).

First liquid-layer implosion experiments at the NIF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zylstra, Alex

2017-10-01

Replacing the standard ice layer in an ignition design with a liquid layer allows fielding the target with a higher central vapor pressure, leading to reduced implosion convergence ratio (CR). At lower CR, the implosions are expected to be more robust to instabilities and asymmetries than standard ice-layer designs, and are also unique in that the hot spot can be primarily formed from material originating in the central fuel vapor. The first liquid-layer implosions on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) have been performed by wicking the liquid fuel into a supporting foam that lines the inside surface of the capsule. A series of shots has been conducted between CR of 12 and 20 using a HDC ablator driven by a 3-shock pulse in a near-vacuum Au hohlraum. At the lowest CR the implosion performance is well predicted by 2-D radiation-hydrodynamics calculations. However, as the CR is increased the nominal simulations do not capture the experimentally observed trends. Data-based models suggest that the hot spot formation is unexpectedly suppressed at higher convergence. The data could be explained by reduced hydrodynamic coupling efficiency, or an anomalously enhanced thermal conductivity in the mixed DT/foam material. We show that the latter hypothesis can explain observed trends in several experimental metrics, including the yield, ion temperature, and burn duration. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. DoE by LANL under contract DE-AC52-06NA52396.

Foam shell cryogenic ICF target

DOEpatents

Darling, Dale H.

1987-01-01

A uniform cryogenic layer of DT fuel is maintained in a fusion target having a low density, small pore size, low Z rigid foam shell saturated with liquid DT fuel. Capillary action prevents gravitational slumping of the fuel layer. The saturated shell may be cooled to produce a solid fuel layer.

Energetic particle-driven compressional Alfvén eigenmodes and prospects for ion cyclotron emission studies in fusion plasmas

DOE PAGES

Gorelenkov, N. N.

2016-10-01

As a fundamental plasma oscillation the compressional Alfvén waves (CAW) are interesting for plasma scientists both academically and in applications for fusion plasmas. They are believed to be responsible for the ion cyclotron emission (ICE) observed in many tokamaks. The theory of CAW and ICE was significantly advanced at the end of 20th century in particular motivated by first DT experiments on TFTR and subsequent JET DT experimental studies. More recently, ICE theory was advanced by ST (or spherical torus) experiments with the detailed theoretical and experimental studies of the properties of each instability signal. There the instability responsible formore » ICE signals previously indistinguishable in high aspect ratio tokamaks became the subjects of experimental studies. We discuss further the prospects of ICE theory and its applications for future burning plasma (BP) experiments such as the ITER tokamak-reactor prototype being build in France where neutrons and gamma rays escaping the plasma create extremely challenging conditions for fusion alpha particle diagnostics.a« less

Methods and apparatus for producing cryogenic inertially driven fusion targets

DOEpatents

Miller, John R.

1981-01-01

A new technique for producing uniform layers of solid DT on microballoon surfaces. Local heating of the target, typically by means of a focused laser, within an isothermal freezing cell containing a low pressure cryogenic exchange gas such as helium, vaporizes the DT fuel. Removal of the laser heating source causes the DT gas to rapidly condense and freeze in a layer which exhibits a good degree of uniformity.

A high-resolution integrated model of the National Ignition Campaign cryogenic layered experiments

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

Jones, O. S.; Cerjan, C. J.; Marinak, M. M.

A detailed simulation-based model of the June 2011 National Ignition Campaign cryogenic DT experiments is presented. The model is based on integrated hohlraum-capsule simulations that utilize the best available models for the hohlraum wall, ablator, and DT equations of state and opacities. The calculated radiation drive was adjusted by changing the input laser power to match the experimentally measured shock speeds, shock merger times, peak implosion velocity, and bangtime. The crossbeam energy transfer model was tuned to match the measured time-dependent symmetry. Mid-mode mix was included by directly modeling the ablator and ice surface perturbations up to mode 60. Simulatedmore » experimental values were extracted from the simulation and compared against the experiment. Although by design the model is able to reproduce the 1D in-flight implosion parameters and low-mode asymmetries, it is not able to accurately predict the measured and inferred stagnation properties and levels of mix. In particular, the measured yields were 15%-40% of the calculated yields, and the inferred stagnation pressure is about 3 times lower than simulated.« less

Apparatus for producing cryogenic inertially driven fusion targets

DOEpatents

Miller, John R.

1981-01-01

A new technique for producing uniform layers of solid DT on microballoon surfaces. Local heating of the target, typically by means of a focused laser, within an isothermal freezing cell containing a low pressure cryogenic exchange gas such as helium, vaporizes the DT fuel contained within the microballoon. Removal of the laser heating source causes the DT gas to rapidly condense and freeze in a layer which exhibits a good degree of uniformity.

Thickening and Thinning of Antarctic Ice Shelves and Tongues and Mass Balance Estimates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zwally, H. Jay; Li, Jun; Giovinetto, Mario; Robbins, John; Saba, Jack L.; Yi, Donghui

2011-01-01

Previous analysis of elevation changes for 1992 to 2002 obtained from measurements by radar altimeters on ERS-l and 2 showed that the shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) and along the coast of West Antarctica (WA), including the eastern part of the Ross Ice Shelf, were mostly thinning and losing mass whereas the Ronne Ice shelf also in WA was mostly thickening. The estimated total mass loss for the floating ice shelves and ice tongues from ice draining WA and the AP was 95 Gt/a. In contrast, the floating ice shelves and ice tongues from ice draining East Antarctica (EA), including the Filchner, Fimbul, Amery, and Western Ross, were mostly thickening with a total estimated mass gain of 142 Gt/a. Data from ICESat laser altimetry for 2003-2008 gives new surface elevation changes (dH/dt) with some similar values for the earlier and latter periods, including -27.6 and -26.9 cm a-Ion the West Getz ice shelf and -42.4 and - 27.2 cm/a on the East Getz ice shelf, and some values that indicate more thinning in the latter period, including -17.9 and -36.2 cm/a on the Larsen C ice shelf, -35.5 and -76.0 cm/a on the Pine Island Glacier floating, -60.5 and -125.7 .cm/a on the Smith Glacier floating, and -34.4 and -108.9 cm/a on the Thwaites Glacier floating. Maps of measured dH/dt and estimated thickness change are produced along with mass change estimates for 2003 - 2008.

Growth rate of crystalline ice and the diffusivity of supercooled water from 126 to 262 K

PubMed Central

Xu, Yuntao; Smith, R. Scott; Kay, Bruce D.

2016-01-01

Understanding deeply supercooled water is key to unraveling many of water’s anomalous properties. However, developing this understanding has proven difficult due to rapid and uncontrolled crystallization. Using a pulsed-laser–heating technique, we measure the growth rate of crystalline ice, G(T), for 180 K < T < 262 K, that is, deep within water’s “no man’s land” in ultrahigh-vacuum conditions. Isothermal measurements of G(T) are also made for 126 K ≤ T ≤ 151 K. The self-diffusion of supercooled liquid water, D(T), is obtained from G(T) using the Wilson–Frenkel model of crystal growth. For T > 237 K and P ∼ 10−8 Pa, G(T) and D(T) have super-Arrhenius (“fragile”) temperature dependences, but both cross over to Arrhenius (“strong”) behavior with a large activation energy in no man’s land. The fact that G(T) and D(T) are smoothly varying rules out the hypothesis that liquid water’s properties have a singularity at or near 228 K at ambient pressures. However, the results are consistent with a previous prediction for D(T) that assumed no thermodynamic transitions occur in no man’s land. PMID:27956609

Indications of flow near maximum compression in layered deuterium-tritium implosions at the National Ignition Facility

DOE PAGES

Gatu Johnson, M.; Knauer, J. P.; Cerjan, C. J.; ...

2016-08-15

Here, an accurate understanding of burn dynamics in implosions of cryogenically layered deuterium (D) and tritium (T) filled capsules, obtained partly through precision diagnosis of these experiments, is essential for assessing the impediments to achieving ignition at the National Ignition Facility. We present measurements of neutrons from such implosions. The apparent ion temperatures T ion are inferred from the variance of the primary neutron spectrum. Consistently higher DT than DD T ion are observed and the difference is seen to increase with increasing apparent DT T ion. The line-of-sight rms variations of both DD and DT T ion are small,more » ~150eV, indicating an isotropic source. The DD neutron yields are consistently high relative to the DT neutron yields given the observed T ion. Spatial and temporal variations of the DT temperature and density, DD-DT differential attenuation in the surrounding DT fuel, and fluid motion variations contribute to a DT Tion greater than the DD T ion, but are in a one-dimensional model insufficient to explain the data. We hypothesize that in a three-dimensional interpretation, these effects combined could explain the results.« less

Indications of flow near maximum compression in layered deuterium-tritium implosions at the National Ignition Facility

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

Gatu Johnson, M.; Knauer, J. P.; Cerjan, C. J.

Here, an accurate understanding of burn dynamics in implosions of cryogenically layered deuterium (D) and tritium (T) filled capsules, obtained partly through precision diagnosis of these experiments, is essential for assessing the impediments to achieving ignition at the National Ignition Facility. We present measurements of neutrons from such implosions. The apparent ion temperatures T ion are inferred from the variance of the primary neutron spectrum. Consistently higher DT than DD T ion are observed and the difference is seen to increase with increasing apparent DT T ion. The line-of-sight rms variations of both DD and DT T ion are small,more » ~150eV, indicating an isotropic source. The DD neutron yields are consistently high relative to the DT neutron yields given the observed T ion. Spatial and temporal variations of the DT temperature and density, DD-DT differential attenuation in the surrounding DT fuel, and fluid motion variations contribute to a DT Tion greater than the DD T ion, but are in a one-dimensional model insufficient to explain the data. We hypothesize that in a three-dimensional interpretation, these effects combined could explain the results.« less

On the Existence of Our Metals-Based Civilization: I. Phase Space Analysis

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

D.D. Macdonald

2005-06-22

The stability of the barrier layers of bilayer passive films that form on metal and alloy surfaces, when in contact with oxidizing aqueous environments, is explored within the framework of the Point Defect Model (PDM) using phase-space analysis (PSA), in which the rate of growth of the barrier layer into the metal, (dL{sup +}/dt), and the barrier layer dissolution rate, (dL{sup -}/dt), are plotted simultaneously against the barrier layer thickness. A point of intersection of dL{sup -}/dt with dL{sup +}/dt indicates the existence of a metastable barrier layer with a steady state thickness greater than zero. If dL{sup -}/dt >more » (dL{sup +}/dt){sub L=0}, where the latter quantity is the barrier layer growth rate at zero barrier layer thickness, the barrier layer cannot exist, even as a metastable phase, as the resulting thickness would be negative. Under these conditions, the surface is depassivated and the metal may corrode at a rapid rate. Depassivation may result from a change in the oxidation state of the cation upon dissolution of the barrier layer, such that the dissolution rate becomes highly potential dependent (as in the case of transpassive dissolution of chromium-containing alloys, for example, in which the reaction Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} + 5H{sub 2}O {yields} 2CrO{sub 4}{sup 2-} + 10H {sup +} + 6e{sup -} results in the destruction of the film), or by the action of some solution-phase species (e.g., H{sup +}, Cl{sup -}) that enhances the dissolution rate to the extent that dL{sup -}/dt > (dL{sup +}/dt){sub L=0}. The boundaries for depassivation may be plotted in potential-pH space to develop Kinetic Stability Diagrams (KSDs) as alternatives to the classical Pourbaix diagrams for describing the conditions under which metals or alloys exist in contact with an aqueous environment. The advantage of KSDs is that they provide kinetic descriptions of the state of a metal or alloy that is in much closer concert with the kinetic phenomenon of passivity and depassivation than are equilibrium thermodynamic diagrams. Thus, KSDs more accurately account for the limits of passivity in highly acidic systems, where acid depassivation occurs, and at high potentials, where transition to the transpassive state may occur in some systems. In any event, phase space analysis of the PDM permits specification of the conditions over which reactive metals will remain passive in contact with aqueous systems and hence of the conditions that must be met for the existence of our metals-based civilization.« less

Hot-spot mix in ignition-scale implosions on the NIF [Hot-spot mix in ignition-scale implosions on the National Ignition Facility (NIF)

DOE PAGES

Regan, S. P.; Epstein, R.; Hammel, B. A.; ...

2012-03-30

Ignition of an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) target depends on the formation of a central hot spot with sufficient temperature and areal density. Radiative and conductive losses from the hot spot can be enhanced by hydrodynamic instabilities. The concentric spherical layers of current National Ignition Facility (NIF) ignition targets consist of a plastic ablator surrounding 2 a thin shell of cryogenic thermonuclear fuel (i.e., hydrogen isotopes), with fuel vapor filling the interior volume. The Rev. 5 ablator is doped with Ge to minimize preheat of the ablator closest to the DT ice caused by Au M-band emission from the hohlraummore » x-ray drive. Richtmyer–Meshkov and Rayleigh–Taylor hydrodynamic instabilities seeded by high-mode (50 < t < 200) ablator-surface perturbations can cause Ge-doped ablator to mix into the interior of the shell at the end of the acceleration phase. As the shell decelerates, it compresses the fuel vapor, forming a hot spot. K-shell line emission from the ionized Ge that has penetrated into the hot spot provides an experimental signature of hot-spot mix. The Ge emission from tritium–hydrogen–deuterium (THD) and DT cryogenic targets and gas-filled plastic shell capsules, which replace the THD layer with a massequivalent CH layer, was examined. The inferred amount of hot-spot mix mass, estimated from the Ge K-shell line brightness using a detailed atomic physics code, is typically below the 75 ng allowance for hot-spot mix. Furthermore, predictions of a simple mix model, based on linear growth of the measured surface-mass modulations, are consistent with the experimental results.« less

Hot-spot mix in ignition-scale implosions on the NIF [Hot-spot mix in ignition-scale implosions on the National Ignition Facility (NIF)

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

Regan, S. P.; Epstein, R.; Hammel, B. A.

Ignition of an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) target depends on the formation of a central hot spot with sufficient temperature and areal density. Radiative and conductive losses from the hot spot can be enhanced by hydrodynamic instabilities. The concentric spherical layers of current National Ignition Facility (NIF) ignition targets consist of a plastic ablator surrounding 2 a thin shell of cryogenic thermonuclear fuel (i.e., hydrogen isotopes), with fuel vapor filling the interior volume. The Rev. 5 ablator is doped with Ge to minimize preheat of the ablator closest to the DT ice caused by Au M-band emission from the hohlraummore » x-ray drive. Richtmyer–Meshkov and Rayleigh–Taylor hydrodynamic instabilities seeded by high-mode (50 < t < 200) ablator-surface perturbations can cause Ge-doped ablator to mix into the interior of the shell at the end of the acceleration phase. As the shell decelerates, it compresses the fuel vapor, forming a hot spot. K-shell line emission from the ionized Ge that has penetrated into the hot spot provides an experimental signature of hot-spot mix. The Ge emission from tritium–hydrogen–deuterium (THD) and DT cryogenic targets and gas-filled plastic shell capsules, which replace the THD layer with a massequivalent CH layer, was examined. The inferred amount of hot-spot mix mass, estimated from the Ge K-shell line brightness using a detailed atomic physics code, is typically below the 75 ng allowance for hot-spot mix. Furthermore, predictions of a simple mix model, based on linear growth of the measured surface-mass modulations, are consistent with the experimental results.« less

Lake Michigan Storm: Wave and Water Level Modeling

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-11-01

does appear the ice implementation does well to replicate either iced (flagged for ice coverage), or for a low wave energy environment. Granted there...Jensen, D.T. Resio, R.A. Luettich, C. Dawson, V.J. Cardone , A.T. Cox, M.D. Powell, H.J. Westerink, and H.J. Roberts. (2010). “A high resolution coupled...coast,” In Preparation, US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, MS. ERDC/CHL TR-12-26 310 Jensen, R.E., V.J. Cardone , and A.T

Icing detection from geostationary satellite data using machine learning approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J.; Ha, S.; Sim, S.; Im, J.

2015-12-01

Icing can cause a significant structural damage to aircraft during flight, resulting in various aviation accidents. Icing studies have been typically performed using two approaches: one is a numerical model-based approach and the other is a remote sensing-based approach. The model based approach diagnoses aircraft icing using numerical atmospheric parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, and vertical thermodynamic structure. This approach tends to over-estimate icing according to the literature. The remote sensing-based approach typically uses meteorological satellite/ground sensor data such as Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) and Dual-Polarization radar data. This approach detects icing areas by applying thresholds to parameters such as liquid water path and cloud optical thickness derived from remote sensing data. In this study, we propose an aircraft icing detection approach which optimizes thresholds for L1B bands and/or Cloud Optical Thickness (COT) from Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite-Meteorological Imager (COMS MI) and newly launched Himawari-8 Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) over East Asia. The proposed approach uses machine learning algorithms including decision trees (DT) and random forest (RF) for optimizing thresholds of L1B data and/or COT. Pilot Reports (PIREPs) from South Korea and Japan were used as icing reference data. Results show that RF produced a lower false alarm rate (1.5%) and a higher overall accuracy (98.8%) than DT (8.5% and 75.3%), respectively. The RF-based approach was also compared with the existing COMS MI and GOES-R icing mask algorithms. The agreements of the proposed approach with the existing two algorithms were 89.2% and 45.5%, respectively. The lower agreement with the GOES-R algorithm was possibly due to the high uncertainty of the cloud phase product from COMS MI.

Simulations of carbon sputtering in fusion reactor divertor plates

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

Marian, J; Zepeda-Ruiz, L A; Gilmer, G H

2005-10-03

The interaction of edge plasma with material surfaces raises key issues for the viability of the International Thermonuclear Reactor (ITER) and future fusion reactors, including heat-flux limits, net material erosion, and impurity production. After exposure of the graphite divertor plate to the plasma in a fusion device, an amorphous C/H layer forms. This layer contains 20-30 atomic percent D/T bonded to C. Subsequent D/T impingement on this layer produces a variety of hydrocarbons that are sputtered back into the sheath region. We present molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of D/T impacts on amorphous carbon layer as a function of ion energymore » and orientation, using the AIREBO potential. In particular, energies are varied between 10 and 150 eV to transition from chemical to physical sputtering. These results are used to quantify yield, hydrocarbon composition and eventual plasma contamination.« less

The importance of the tropopause inversion layer in double tropopause formation, an observational analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peevey, T. R.; Gille, J. C.

2012-12-01

Over the past decade the tropopause inversion layer (TIL), a layer of enhanced stability above the thermal tropopause, has been studied in earnest. This atmospheric feature is located within the upper troposphere lower stratosphere (UTLS) region of the atmosphere, a region of key importance for the Earth's radiative budget and hence the climate system. Another atmospheric feature of similar interest to the UTLS community is the double tropopause (DT). A recent modeling studied looked at the development of the DT during the LC1 and LC2 lifecycles and found that the DT would not form without the presence of the TIL and that as the TIL increased in strength so did the DT frequency. This study builds on that recent work by analyzing this relationship using observations to first see if the relationship exists and then to understand why it does exist. For this study HIRDLS temperature data is primarily used and shows that as the strength/stability of the TIL increases in the extratropics so does the frequency of DTs. Other datasets, such as COSMIC and WACCM, are also used in this work to verify these results since HIRDLS could miss shallow (<1 km) TIL layers. The relationship between the TIL and the DT is analyzed further by examining vertical profiles within specified latitude regions and by examining events that specifically highlight their relationship. Further research is already planned which will expand upon this study using model simulations to track air movement within these UTLS structures.

Technique for Forming Solid D2 and D-T Layers for Shock Timing Experiments at the National Ignition Facility

DOE PAGES

Sater, J. D.; Espinosa-Loza, F.; Kozioziemski, B.; ...

2016-07-11

Capsule implosion experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) are driven with a carefully tailored laser pulse that delivers a sequence of shocks to the ablator and fuel. In order to ensure the shocks converge at the desired position, the shock strength and velocity are measured in experimental platforms referred to as keyhole targets. We made shock measurements on capsules completely filled with liquid deuterium for the solid deuterium tritide (D-T) layer campaigns. Modeling has been used to extend these results to form an estimate of the shock properties in solid D-T layers. Furthermore, to verify and improve the surrogacymore » of the liquid-filled keyhole measurements, we have developed a technique to form a solid layer inside the keyhole capsule. The layer is typically uniform over a 400-μm-diameter area. This is sufficient to allow direct measurement of the shock velocity. This layering technique has been successfully applied to 13 experiments on the NIF. The technique may also be applicable to fast-igniter experiments since some proposed designs resemble keyhole targets. We discuss our method in detail and give representative results.« less

Energetic particle-driven compressional Alfvén eigenmodes and prospects for ion cyclotron emission studies in fusion plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorelenkov, N. N.

2016-10-01

As a fundamental plasma oscillation the compressional Alfvén waves (CAWs) are interesting for plasma scientists both academically and in applications for fusion plasmas. They are believed to be responsible for the ion cyclotron emission (ICE) observed in many tokamaks. The theory of CAW and ICE was significantly advanced at the end of 20th century in particular motivated by first DT experiments on TFTR and subsequent JET DT experimental studies. More recently, ICE theory was advanced by ST (or spherical torus) experiments with the detailed theoretical and experimental studies of the properties of each instability signal. There the instability responsible for ICE signals previously indistinguishable in high aspect ratio tokamaks became the subjects of experimental studies. We discuss further the prospects of ICE theory and its applications for future burning plasma experiments such as the ITER tokamak-reactor prototype being build in France where neutrons and gamma rays escaping the plasma create extremely challenging conditions for fusion alpha particle diagnostics. This manuscript has been authored by Princeton University under Contract Number DE-AC02-09CH11466 with the US Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes.

Use of 41Ar production to measure ablator areal density in NIF beryllium implosions

DOE PAGES

Wilson, Douglas Carl; Cassata, W. S.; Sepke, S. M.; ...

2017-02-06

For the first time, 41Ar produced by the (n,Υ) reaction from 40Ar in the beryllium shell of a DT filled Inertial Confinement Fusion capsule has been measured. Ar is co-deposited with beryllium in the sputter deposition of the capsule shell. Combined with a measurement of the neutron yield, the radioactive 41Ar then quantifies the areal density of beryllium during the DT neutron production. Here, the measured 1.15 ± 0.17 × 10 +8 atoms of 41Ar are 2.5 times that from the best post-shot calculation, suggesting that the Ar and Be areal densities are correspondingly higher than those calculated. Possible explanationsmore » are that (1) the beryllium shell is compressed more than calculated, (2) beryllium has mixed into the cold DT ice, or more likely (3) less beryllium is ablated than calculated. Since only one DT filled beryllium capsule has been fielded at NIF, these results can be confirmed and expanded in the future.« less

Effect of spatial nonuniformity of heating on compression and burning of a thermonuclear target under direct multibeam irradiation by a megajoule laser pulse

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

Bel’kov, S. A.; Bondarenko, S. V.; Vergunova, G. A.

Direct-drive fusion targets are considered at present as an alternative to targets of indirect compression at a laser energy level of about 2 MJ. In this approach, the symmetry of compression and ignition of thermonuclear fuel play the major role. We report on the results of theoretical investigation of compression and burning of spherical direct-drive targets in the conditions of spatial nonuniformity of heating associated with a shift of the target from the beam center of focusing and possible laser radiation energy disbalance in the beams. The investigation involves numerous calculations based on a complex of 1D and 2D codesmore » RAPID, SEND (for determining the target illumination and the dynamics of absorption), DIANA, and NUT (1D and multidimensional hydrodynamics of compression and burning of targets). The target under investigation had the form of a two-layer shell (ablator made of inertial material CH and DT ice) filled with DT gas. We have determined the range of admissible variation of compression and combustion parameters of the target depending on the variation of the spatial nonuniformity of its heating by a multibeam laser system. It has been shown that low-mode (long-wavelength) perturbations deteriorate the characteristics of the central region due to less effective conversion of the kinetic energy of the target shell into the internal energy of the center. Local initiation of burning is also observed in off-center regions of the target in the case of substantial asymmetry of irradiation. In this case, burning is not spread over the entire volume of the DT fuel as a rule, which considerably reduces the thermonuclear yield as compared to that in the case of spherical symmetry and central ignition.« less

Looking Into and Through the Ross Ice Shelf - ROSETTA-ICE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bell, R. E.

2015-12-01

Our current understanding of the structure and stability of the Ross Ice Shelf is based on satellite studies of the ice surface and the 1970's RIGGS program. The study of the flowlines evident in the MODIS imagery combined with surface geophysics has revealed a complex history with ice streams Mercer, Whillans and Kamb changing velocity over the past 1000 years. Here, we present preliminary IcePod and IceBridge radar data acquired in December 2014 and November 2013 across the Ross Ice Shelf that show clearly, for the first time, the structure of the ice shelf and provide insights into ice-ocean interaction. The three major layers of the ice shelf are (1) the continental meteoric ice layer), ice formed on the grounded ice sheet that entered the ice shelf where ice streams and outlet glaciers crossed the grounding line (2) the locally accumulating meteoric ice layer, ice and snow that forms from snowfall on the floating ice shelf and (3) a basal marine ice layer. The locally accumulating meteoric ice layer contains well-defined internal layers that are generally parallel to the ice surface and thickens away from the grounding line and reaches a maximum thickness of 220m along the line crossing Roosevelt Island. The continental meteoric layer is located below a broad irregular internal reflector, and is characterized by irregular internal layers. These internal layers are often folded, likely a result of deformation as the ice flowed across the grounding line. The basal marine ice layer, up to 50m thick, is best resolved in locations where basal crevasses are present, and appears to thicken along the flow at rates of decimeters per year. Each individual flowband of the ice shelf contains layers that are distinct in their structure. For example, the thickness of the locally accumulated layer is a function of both the time since crossing the grounding line and the thickness of the incoming ice. Features in the meteoric ice, such as distinct folds, can be traced between the two IceBridge lines located 47 km apart. The ROSETTA-ICE program will begin a systematic mapping of the Ross Ice Shelf and sub-ice topography using the IcePod system beginning in 2015. Together the new gravity-derived bathymetry and the mapping of the ice shelf structure will provide key insights into the stability of the ice shelf.

A simple magic cup to inject excitement and curiosity in physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amir, Nazir

2018-05-01

This article highlights a simple demonstration kit that can be easily fabricated in Design & Technology (D&T) workshops to inject excitement and curiosity into students’ learning of physics concepts such as density and optics. Using an ice cream cup from a fast food restaurant and a transparent circular acrylic piece, students can be guided to make a ‘magic’ cup, while at the same time get inquisitive about the physics behind the magic. The project highlights a way of linking physics to D&T in a feasible manner which can motivate and engage students.

Effect of Tritium-Induced Damage on Plastic Targets from High-Density DT Permeation

DOE PAGES

Wittman, M. D.; Bonino, M. J.; Edgell, D. H.; ...

2017-11-28

Direct-drive inertial fusion experiments conducted at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics implode 860-μm-diam, 8-μm-thick glow-discharge polymer (GDP) capsules that have a solid, uniform, 60- to 80-μm-thick layer of an equimolar mixture of deuterium and tritium (DT) on their interior. The DT is permeated through the capsule’s wall up to pressures of 1000 atm in small pressure steps to prevent buckling; this occurs over many hours. The capsule is then cooled, the DT is solidified, and the uniform layer is formed using thermal gradients produced by heat deposited from beta decay of the tritium. Thermal contraction of the capsule from coolingmore » is expected to be ~1% of the diameter. Capsules permeated with DT do not exhibit this contraction and retain their room-temperature diameter after cooling. Sources of error in the imaging system were explored, and a systematic 3 μm over measurement of the diameter was revealed and corrected. However, both GDP capsules permeated with only deuterium and polystyrene capsules permeated with DT do exhibit thermal contraction. The highly cross-linked GDP shell is under compressive stress after fabrication and experiences bond breakage when exposed to high-density DT during permeation. It is speculated that some of this compressive stress is relieved during bond cleavage and the capsule’s wall swells, which counteracts contraction during cooling. In addition, mass spectrometry of the DT gas in the permeation system has revealed the presence of hydrocarbons and other carbon-containing species that increase with time, confirming the radio-degradation of the polymer.« less

Effect of Tritium-Induced Damage on Plastic Targets from High-Density DT Permeation

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

Wittman, M. D.; Bonino, M. J.; Edgell, D. H.

Direct-drive inertial fusion experiments conducted at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics implode 860-μm-diam, 8-μm-thick glow-discharge polymer (GDP) capsules that have a solid, uniform, 60- to 80-μm-thick layer of an equimolar mixture of deuterium and tritium (DT) on their interior. The DT is permeated through the capsule’s wall up to pressures of 1000 atm in small pressure steps to prevent buckling; this occurs over many hours. The capsule is then cooled, the DT is solidified, and the uniform layer is formed using thermal gradients produced by heat deposited from beta decay of the tritium. Thermal contraction of the capsule from coolingmore » is expected to be ~1% of the diameter. Capsules permeated with DT do not exhibit this contraction and retain their room-temperature diameter after cooling. Sources of error in the imaging system were explored, and a systematic 3 μm over measurement of the diameter was revealed and corrected. However, both GDP capsules permeated with only deuterium and polystyrene capsules permeated with DT do exhibit thermal contraction. The highly cross-linked GDP shell is under compressive stress after fabrication and experiences bond breakage when exposed to high-density DT during permeation. It is speculated that some of this compressive stress is relieved during bond cleavage and the capsule’s wall swells, which counteracts contraction during cooling. In addition, mass spectrometry of the DT gas in the permeation system has revealed the presence of hydrocarbons and other carbon-containing species that increase with time, confirming the radio-degradation of the polymer.« less

Ice Age Sea Level Change on a Dynamic Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Austermann, J.; Mitrovica, J. X.; Latychev, K.; Rovere, A.; Moucha, R.

2014-12-01

Changes in global mean sea level (GMSL) are a sensitive indicator of climate variability during the current ice age. Reconstructions are largely based on local sea level records, and the mapping to GMSL is computed from simulations of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) on 1-D Earth models. We argue, using two case studies, that resolving important, outstanding issues in ice age paleoclimate requires a more sophisticated consideration of mantle structure and dynamics. First, we consider the coral record from Barbados, which is widely used to constrain global ice volume changes since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ~21 ka). Analyses of the record using 1-D viscoelastic Earth models have estimated a GMSL change since LGM of ~120 m, a value at odds with analyses of other far field records, which range from 130-135 m. We revisit the Barbados case using a GIA model that includes laterally varying Earth structure (Austermann et al., Nature Geo., 2013) and demonstrate that neglecting this structure, in particular the high-viscosity slab in the mantle linked to the subduction of the South American plate, has biased (low) previous estimates of GMSL change since LGM by ~10 m. Our analysis brings the Barbados estimate into accord with studies from other far-field sites. Second, we revisit estimates of GMSL during the mid-Pliocene warm period (MPWP, ~3 Ma), which was characterized by temperatures 2-3°C higher than present. The ice volume deficit during this period is a source of contention, with estimates ranging from 0-40 m GMSL equivalent. We argue that refining estimates of ice volume during MPWP requires a correction for mantle flow induced dynamic topography (DT; Rowley et al., Science, 2013), a signal neglected in previous studies of ice age sea level change. We present estimates of GIA- and DT-corrected elevations of MPWP shorelines from the U.S. east coast, Australia and South Africa in an attempt to reconcile these records with a single GMSL value.

Cryogenic THD and DT layer implosions with high density carbon ablators in near-vacuum hohlraums

DOE PAGES

Meezan, N. B.; Berzak Hopkins, L. F.; Le Pape, S.; ...

2015-06-02

High Density Carbon (HDC or diamond) is a promising ablator material for use in near-vacuum hohlraums, as its high density allows for ignition designs with laser pulse durations of <10 ns. A series of Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) experiments in 2013 on the National Ignition Facility [E. I. Moses et al., Phys. Plasmas 16, 041006 (2009)] culminated in a DT layered implosion driven by a 6.8 ns, 2-shock laser pulse. This paper describes these experiments and comparisons with ICF design code simulations. Backlit radiography of a THD layered capsule demonstrated an ablator implosion velocity of 385 km/s with a slightlymore » oblate hot spot shape. Other diagnostics suggested an asymmetric compressed fuel layer. A streak camera-based hot spot self-emission diagnostic (SPIDER) showed a double-peaked history of the capsule self-emission. Simulations suggest that this is a signature of low quality hot spot formation. Changes to the laser pulse and pointing for a subsequent DT implosion resulted in a higher temperature, prolate hot spot and a thermonuclear yield of 1.8 x 10¹⁵ neutrons, 40% of the 1D simulated yield.« less

Detecting ice lenses and melt-refreeze crusts using satellite passive microwaves (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montpetit, B.; Royer, A.; Roy, A.

2013-12-01

With recent winter climate warming in high latitude regions, rain-on-snow and melt-refreeze events are more frequent creating ice lenses or ice crusts at the surface or even within the snowpack through drainage. These ice layers create an impermeable ice barrier that reduces vegetation respiration and modifies snow properties due to the weak thermal diffusivity of ice. Winter mean soil temperatures increase due to latent heat being released during the freezing process. When ice layers freeze at the snow-soil interface, they can also affect the feeding habits of the northern wild life. Ice layers also significantly affect satellite passive microwave signals that are widely used to monitor the spatial and temporal evolution of snow. Here we present a method using satellite passive microwave brightness temperatures (Tb) to detect ice lenses and/or ice crusts within a snowpack. First the Microwave Emission Model for Layered Snowpacks (MEMLS) was validated to model Tb at 10.7, 19 and 37 GHz using in situ measurements taken in multiple sub-arctic environments where ice layers where observed. Through validated modeling, the effects of ice layer insertion were studied and an ice layer index was developed using the polarization ratio (PR) at all three frequencies. The developed ice index was then applied to satellite passive microwave signals for reported ice layer events.

Sensitivity of simulated englacial isochrones to uncertain subglacial boundary conditions in central West Antarctica: Implications for detecting changes in ice dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muldoon, Gail; Jackson, Charles S.; Young, Duncan A.; Quartini, Enrica; Cavitte, Marie G. P.; Blankenship, Donald D.

2017-04-01

Information about the extent and dynamics of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet during past glaciations is preserved inside ice sheets themselves. Ice cores are capable of retrieving information about glacial history, but they are spatially sparse. Ice-penetrating radar, on the other hand, has been used to map large areas of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and can be correlated to ice core chronologies. Englacial isochronous layers observed in ice-penetrating radar are the result of variations in ice composition, fabric, temperature and other factors. The shape of these isochronous surfaces is expected to encode information about past and present boundary conditions and ice dynamics. Dipping of englacial layers, for example, may reveal the presence of rapid ice flow through paleo ice streams or high geothermal heat flux. These layers therefore present a useful testbed for hypotheses about paleo ice sheet conditions. However, hypothesis testing requires careful consideration of the sensitivity of layer shape to the competing forces of ice sheet boundary conditions and ice dynamics over time. Controlled sensitivity tests are best completed using models, however ice sheet models generally do not have the capability of simulating layers in the presence of realistic boundary conditions. As such, modeling 3D englacial layers for comparison to observations is difficult and requires determination of a 3D ice velocity field. We present a method of post-processing simulated 3D ice sheet velocities into englacial isochronous layers using an advection scheme. We then test the sensitivity of layer geometry to uncertain boundary conditions, including heterogeneous subglacial geothermal flux and bedrock topography. By identifying areas of the ice sheet strongly influenced by boundary conditions, it may be possible to isolate the signature of paleo ice dynamics in the West Antarctic ice sheet.

Report on the B-Fields at NIF Workshop Held at LLNL October 12-13, 2015

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

Fournier, K. B.; Moody, J. D.

2015-12-13

A national ICF laboratory workshop on requirements for a magnetized target capability on NIF was held by NIF at LLNL on October 12 and 13, attended by experts from LLNL, SNL, LLE, LANL, GA, and NRL. Advocates for indirect drive (LLNL), magnetic (Z) drive (SNL), polar direct drive (LLE), and basic science needing applied B (many institutions) presented and discussed requirements for the magnetized target capabilities they would like to see. 30T capability was most frequently requested. A phased operation increasing the field in steps experimentally can be envisioned. The NIF management will take the inputs from the scientific communitymore » represented at the workshop and recommend pulse-powered magnet parameters for NIF that best meet the collective user requests. In parallel, LLNL will continue investigating magnets for future generations that might be powered by compact laser-B-field generators (Moody, Fujioka, Santos, Woolsey, Pollock). The NIF facility engineers will start to analyze compatibility of the recommended pulsed magnet parameters (size, field, rise time, materials) with NIF chamber constraints, diagnostic access, and final optics protection against debris in FY16. The objective of this assessment will be to develop a schedule for achieving an initial Bfield capability. Based on an initial assessment, room temperature magnetized gas capsules will be fielded on NIF first. Magnetized cryo-ice-layered targets will take longer (more compatibility issues). Magnetized wetted foam DT targets (Olson) may have somewhat fewer compatibility issues making them a more likely choice for the first cryo-ice-layered target fielded with applied Bz.« less

Hot spot temperature measurements in DT layered implosions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patel, Pravesh; Ma, T.; Macphee, A.; Callahan, D.; Chen, H.; Cerjan, C.; Clark, D.; Edgell, D.; Hurricane, O.; Izumi, N.; Khan, S.; Jarrott, L.; Kritcher, A.; Springer, P.

2015-11-01

The temperature of the burning DT hot spot in an ICF implosion is a crucial parameter in understanding the thermodynamic conditions of the fuel at stagnation and and the performance of the implosion in terms of alpha-particle self-heating and energy balance. The continuum radiation spectrum emitted from the hot spot provides an accurate measure of the emissivity-weighted electron temperature. Absolute measurements of the emitted radiation are made with several independent instruments including spatially-resolved broadband imagers, and space- and time-integrated monochromatic detectors. We present estimates of the electron temperature in DT layered implosions derived from the radiation spectrum most consistent with the available measurements. The emissivity-weighted electron temperatures are compared to the neutron-averaged apparent ion temperatures inferred from neutron time-of-flight detectors. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

Radar Detection of Layering in Ice: Experiments on a Constructed Layered Ice Sheet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carter, L. M.; Koenig, L.; Courville, Z.; Ghent, R. R.; Koutnik, M. R.

2016-12-01

The polar caps and glaciers of both Earth and Mars display internal layering that preserves a record of past climate. These layers are apparent both in optical datasets (high resolution images, core samples) and in ground penetrating radar (GPR) data. On Mars, the SHARAD (Shallow Radar) radar on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows fine layering that changes spatially and with depth across the polar caps. This internal layering has been attributed to changes in fractional dust contamination due to obliquity-induced climate variations, but there are other processes that can lead to internal layers visible in radar data. In particular, terrestrial sounding of ice sheets compared with core samples have revealed that ice density and composition differences account for the majority of the radar reflectors. The large cold rooms and ice laboratory facility at the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) provide us a unique opportunity to construct experimental ice sheets in a controlled setting and measure them with radar. In a CRREL laboratory, we constructed a layered ice sheet that is 3-m deep with a various snow and ice layers with known dust concentrations (using JSC Mars-1 basaltic simulant) and density differences. These ice sheets were profiled using a commercial GPR, at frequencies of 200, 400 and 900 MHz, to determine how the radar profile changes due to systematic and known changes in snow and ice layers, including layers with sub-wavelength spacing. We will report results from these experiments and implications for interpreting radar-detected layering in ice on Earth and Mars.

Ice flow in the Weddell Sea sector of West Antarctica as elucidated by radar-imaged internal layering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bingham, R. G.; Rippin, D. M.; Karlsson, N. B.; Corr, H.; Ferraccioli, F.; Jordan, T. A.; Le Brocq, A.; Ross, N.; Wright, A.; Siegert, M. J.

2012-12-01

Radio-echo sounding (RES) across polar ice sheets reveals extensive, isochronous internal layers, whose stratigraphy, and especially their degree of continuity over multi-km distances, can inform us about both present ice flow and past ice-flow histories. Here, we bring together for the first time two recent advances in this field of cryospheric remote sensing to analyse ice flow into the Weddell Sea sector of West Antarctica. Firstly, we have developed a new quantitative routine for analysing the continuity of internal layers obtained over large areas of ice by airborne RES surveys - we term this routine the "Internal-Layering Continuity-Index (ILCI)". Secondly, in the austral season 2010-11 we acquired, by airborne RES survey, the first comprehensive dataset of deep internal layering across Institute and Möller Ice Streams, two of the more significant feeders of ice into the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf. Applying the ILCI to SAR-processed (migrated) RES profiles across Institute Ice Stream's catchment reveals two contrasting regions of internal-layering continuity behaviour. In the western portion of the catchment, where ice-stream tributaries incise deeply through the Ellsworth Subglacial Highlands, the continuity of internal layers is most disrupted across the present ice streams. We therefore interpret the ice-flow configuration in this western region as predominantly spatially stable over the lifetime of the ice. Further east, towards Möller Ice Stream, and towards the interior of the ice sheet, the ILCI does not closely match the present ice flow configuration, while across most of present-day Möller Ice Stream itself, the continuity of internal layers is generally low. We propose that the variation in continuity of internal layering across eastern Institute Ice Stream and the neighbouring Möller results primarily from two factors. Firstly, the noncorrespondence of some inland tributaries with internal-layering continuity acts as evidence for past spatial migration of those tributaries, with likely consequences for the relative positions of Institute and Möller Ice Streams over recent history. Secondly, the subglacial roughness, in part a function of the underlying geology across the region, imposes a strong influence on the continuity of the overlying deep internal layers, though whether it controls, or is a function of, ice flow, remains undetermined. We conclude that in the subglacially mountainous Ellsworth Subglacial Highlands sector, there is long-term stability in the spatial configuration of ice flow, but that elsewhere across Insitute and Möller Ice Streams, the ice-flow configuration has the potential to switch.

The double tropopause and its dynamical relationship to the tropopause inversion layer in storm track regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peevey, T. R.; Gille, J. C.; Homeyer, C. R.; Manney, G. L.

2014-09-01

Using High Resolution Dynamic Limb Sounder observations and ERA-Interim reanalysis this study demonstrates that the warm conveyor belt (WCB) is a mechanism responsible for the relationship between the double tropopause (DT) and the tropopause inversion layer (TIL), a relationship recently suggested in the literature based on idealized model simulations of baroclinic disturbances. Using these data sets, spatial and temporal characteristics of the DT-TIL relationship are examined over a 3 year period, 2005-2008. In the extratropics, results from satellite data show that as the TIL increases in strength, so does the frequency of the DT, regardless of season or hemisphere. The inverse relationship is found in the tropics. Using only DT profiles, zonal composites of wind, relative vorticity, and temperature from reanalysis data show that as the TIL increases in strength, the upper tropospheric circulation switches from cyclonic to anticyclonic, and the upward vertical motion increases. This result suggests the WCB as a mechanism since it is on the anticyclonic side of the jet and is characterized by the movement of tropical air poleward and upward from the surface. To verify this relationship, the vertical and horizontal development of a synoptic-scale baroclinic system is analyzed over a 4 day period. Results show the equatorward extension of the polar tropopause, and thus the formation of the DT, due to the strengthening of the TIL in the region of vertical motion associated with the WCB. Moreover, this result suggests that air movement within the DT could originate from high latitudes when associated with a baroclinic disturbance.

Radar-imaged internal layering in the Weddell Sea sector of West Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bingham, Robert G.; Rippin, David M.; Karlsson, Nanna B.; Corr, Hugh F. J.; Ferraccioli, Fausto; Jordan, Tom A.; Le Brocq, Anne M.; Ross, Neil; Wright, Andrew P.; Siegert, Martin J.

2013-04-01

Radio-echo sounding (RES) across polar ice sheets reveals extensive, isochronous internal layers, whose stratigraphy, and especially their degree of continuity over multi-km distances, can inform us about both present ice flow and past ice-flow histories. Here, we bring together for the first time two recent advances in this field of cryospheric remote sensing to analyse ice flow into the Weddell Sea sector of West Antarctica. Firstly, we have developed a new quantitative routine for analysing the continuity of internal layers obtained over large areas of ice by airborne RES surveys - we term this routine the "Internal-Layering Continuity-Index (ILCI)". Secondly, in the austral season 2010-11 we acquired, by airborne RES survey, the first comprehensive dataset of deep internal layering across Institute and Möller Ice Streams, two of the more significant feeders of ice into the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf. Applying the ILCI to SAR-processed (migrated) RES profiles across Institute Ice Stream's catchment reveals two contrasting regions of internal-layering continuity behaviour. In the western portion of the catchment, where ice-stream tributaries incise deeply through the Ellsworth Subglacial Highlands, the continuity of internal layers is most disrupted across the present ice streams. We therefore interpret the ice-flow configuration in this western region as predominantly spatially stable over the lifetime of the ice. Further east, towards Möller Ice Stream, and towards the interior of the ice sheet, the ILCI does not closely match the present ice flow configuration, while across most of present-day Möller Ice Stream itself, the continuity of internal layers is generally low. We propose that the variation in continuity of internal layering across eastern Institute Ice Stream and the neighbouring Möller results primarily from two factors. Firstly, the noncorrespondence of some inland tributaries with internal-layering continuity acts as evidence for past spatial migration of those tributaries, with likely consequences for the relative positions of Institute and Möller Ice Streams over recent history. Secondly, the subglacial roughness, in part a function of the underlying geology across the region, imposes a strong influence on the continuity of the overlying deep internal layers, though whether it controls, or is a function of, ice flow, remains undetermined. We conclude that in the subglacially mountainous Ellsworth Subglacial Highlands sector, there is long-term stability in the spatial configuration of ice flow, but that elsewhere across Insitute and Möller Ice Streams, the ice-flow configuration is not stable.

Influences of Ocean Thermohaline Stratification on Arctic Sea Ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toole, J. M.; Timmermans, M.-L.; Perovich, D. K.; Krishfield, R. A.; Proshutinsky, A.; Richter-Menge, J. A.

2009-04-01

The Arctic Ocean's surface mixed layer constitutes the dynamical and thermodynamical link between the sea ice and the underlying waters. Wind stress, acting directly on the surface mixed layer or via wind-forced ice motion, produce surface currents that can in turn drive deep ocean flow. Mixed layer temperature is intimately related to basal sea ice growth and melting. Heat fluxes into or out of the surface mixed layer can occur at both its upper and lower interfaces: the former via air-sea exchange at leads and conduction through the ice, the latter via turbulent mixing and entrainment at the layer base. Variations in Arctic Ocean mixed layer properties are documented based on more than 16,000 temperature and salinity profiles acquired by Ice-Tethered Profilers since summer 2004 and analyzed in conjunction with sea ice observations from Ice Mass Balance Buoys and atmospheric heat flux estimates. Guidance interpreting the observations is provided by a one-dimensional ocean mixed layer model. The study focuses attention on the very strong density stratification about the mixed layer base in the Arctic that, in regions of sea ice melting, is increasing with time. The intense stratification greatly impedes mixed layer deepening by vertical convection and shear mixing, and thus limits the flux of deep ocean heat to the surface that could influence sea ice growth/decay. Consistent with previous work, this study demonstrates that the Arctic sea ice is most sensitive to changes in ocean mixed layer heat resulting from fluxes across its upper (air-sea and/or ice-water) interface.

Ultra High Mode Mix in NIF NIC Implosions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scott, Robbie; Garbett, Warren

2017-10-01

This work re-examines a sub-set of the low adiabat implosions from the National Ignition Campaign in an effort to better understand potential phenomenological sources of `excess' mix observed experimentally. An extensive effort has been made to match both shock-timing and backlit radiography (Con-A) implosion data in an effort to reproduce the experimental conditions as accurately as possible. Notably a 30% reduction in ablation pressure at peak drive is required to match the experimental data. The reduced ablation pressure required to match the experimental data allows the ablator to decompress, in turn causing the DT ice-ablator interface to go Rayleigh-Taylor unstable early in the implosion acceleration phase. Post-processing the runs with various mix models indicates high-mode mix from the DT ice-ablator interface may penetrate deep into the hotspot. This work offers a potential explanation of why these low-adiabat implosions exhibited significantly higher levels of mix than expected from high-fidelity multi-dimensional simulations. Through this new understanding, a possible route forward for low-adiabat implosions on NIF is suggested.

Observing the seasonal cycle of the upper ocean in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, with autonomous profiling floats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porter, D. F.; Springer, S. R.; Padman, L.; Fricker, H. A.; Bell, R. E.

2017-12-01

The upper layers of the Southern Ocean where it meets the Antarctic ice sheet undergoes a large seasonal cycle controlled by surface radiation and by freshwater fluxes, both of which are strongly influenced by sea ice. In regions where seasonal sea ice and icebergs limit use of ice-tethered profilers and conventional moorings, autonomous profiling floats can sample the upper ocean. The deployment of seven Apex floats (by sea) and six ALAMO floats (by air) provides unique upper ocean hydrographic data in the Ross Sea close to the Ross Ice Shelf front. A novel choice of mission parameters - setting parking depth deeper than the seabed - limits their drift, allowing us to deploy the floats close to the ice shelf front, while sea ice avoidance algorithms allow the floats to to sample through winter under sea ice. Hydrographic profiles show the detailed development of the seasonal mixed layer close to the Ross front, and interannual variability of the seasonal mixed layer and deeper water masses on the central Ross Sea continental shelf. After the sea ice breakup in spring, a warm and fresh surface mixed layer develops, further warming and deepening throughout the summer. The mixed layer deepens, with maximum temperatures exceeding 0ºC in mid-February. By March, the surface energy budget becomes negative and sea ice begins to form, creating a cold, saline and dense surface layer. Once these processes overcome the stable summer stratification, convection erodes the surface mixed layer, mixing some heat downwards to deeper layers. There is considerable interannual variability in the evolution and strength of the surface mixed layer: summers with shorter ice-free periods result in a cooler and shallower surface mixed layer, which accumulates less heat than the summers with longer ice-free periods. Early ice breakup occurred in all floats in 2016/17 summer, enhancing the absorbed solar flux leading to a warmer surface mixed layer. Together, these unique measurements from autonomous profilers provide insight into the hydrographic state of the Ross Sea at the start of the spring period of sea-ice breakup, and how ocean mixing and sea ice interact to initiate the summer open-water season.

Scaling magnetized liner inertial fusion on Z and future pulsed-power accelerators

DOE PAGES

Slutz, Stephen A.; Stygar, William A.; Gomez, Matthew R.; ...

2016-02-04

In this study, the MagLIF (Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion) concept [S. A. Slutz et al., Phys. Plasmas 17, 056303 (2010)] has demonstrated fusion–relevant plasma conditions [M. R. Gomez et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 155003 (2014)] on the Z accelerator with a peak drive current of about 18 MA. We present 2D numerical simulations of the scaling of MagLIF on Z as a function of drive current, preheat energy, and applied magnetic field. The results indicate that deuterium-tritium (DT) fusion yields greater than 100 kJ could be possible on Z when all of these parameters are at the optimum values:more » i.e., peak current = 25 MA, deposited preheat energy = 5 kJ, and B z = 30 T. Much higher yields have been predicted [S. A. Slutz and R. A. Vesey, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 025003 (2012)] for MagLIF driven with larger peak currents. Two high performance pulsed-power accelerators (Z300 and Z800) based on linear-transformer-driver technology have been designed [W. A. Stygar et al., Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 18, 110401 (2015)]. The Z300 design would provide 48 MA to a MagLIF load, while Z800 would provide 65 MA. Parameterized Thevenin-equivalent circuits were used to drive a series of 1D and 2D numerical MagLIF simulations with currents ranging from what Z can deliver now to what could be achieved by these conceptual future pulsed-power accelerators. 2D simulations of simple MagLIF targets containing just gaseous DT have yields of 18 MJ for Z300 and 440 MJ for Z800. The 2D simulated yield for Z800 is increased to 7 GJ by adding a layer of frozen DT ice to the inside of the liner.« less

Scaling magnetized liner inertial fusion on Z and future pulsed-power accelerators

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

Slutz, Stephen A.; Stygar, William A.; Gomez, Matthew R.

In this study, the MagLIF (Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion) concept [S. A. Slutz et al., Phys. Plasmas 17, 056303 (2010)] has demonstrated fusion–relevant plasma conditions [M. R. Gomez et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 155003 (2014)] on the Z accelerator with a peak drive current of about 18 MA. We present 2D numerical simulations of the scaling of MagLIF on Z as a function of drive current, preheat energy, and applied magnetic field. The results indicate that deuterium-tritium (DT) fusion yields greater than 100 kJ could be possible on Z when all of these parameters are at the optimum values:more » i.e., peak current = 25 MA, deposited preheat energy = 5 kJ, and B z = 30 T. Much higher yields have been predicted [S. A. Slutz and R. A. Vesey, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 025003 (2012)] for MagLIF driven with larger peak currents. Two high performance pulsed-power accelerators (Z300 and Z800) based on linear-transformer-driver technology have been designed [W. A. Stygar et al., Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 18, 110401 (2015)]. The Z300 design would provide 48 MA to a MagLIF load, while Z800 would provide 65 MA. Parameterized Thevenin-equivalent circuits were used to drive a series of 1D and 2D numerical MagLIF simulations with currents ranging from what Z can deliver now to what could be achieved by these conceptual future pulsed-power accelerators. 2D simulations of simple MagLIF targets containing just gaseous DT have yields of 18 MJ for Z300 and 440 MJ for Z800. The 2D simulated yield for Z800 is increased to 7 GJ by adding a layer of frozen DT ice to the inside of the liner.« less

Scaling magnetized liner inertial fusion on Z and future pulsed-power accelerators

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

Slutz, S. A.; Stygar, W. A.; Gomez, M. R.

The MagLIF (Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion) concept [S. A. Slutz et al., Phys. Plasmas 17, 056303 (2010)] has demonstrated fusion–relevant plasma conditions [M. R. Gomez et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 155003 (2014)] on the Z accelerator with a peak drive current of about 18 MA. We present 2D numerical simulations of the scaling of MagLIF on Z as a function of drive current, preheat energy, and applied magnetic field. The results indicate that deuterium-tritium (DT) fusion yields greater than 100 kJ could be possible on Z when all of these parameters are at the optimum values: i.e., peak current = 25 MA, deposited preheatmore » energy = 5 kJ, and B{sub z} = 30 T. Much higher yields have been predicted [S. A. Slutz and R. A. Vesey, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 025003 (2012)] for MagLIF driven with larger peak currents. Two high performance pulsed-power accelerators (Z300 and Z800) based on linear-transformer-driver technology have been designed [W. A. Stygar et al., Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 18, 110401 (2015)]. The Z300 design would provide 48 MA to a MagLIF load, while Z800 would provide 65 MA. Parameterized Thevenin-equivalent circuits were used to drive a series of 1D and 2D numerical MagLIF simulations with currents ranging from what Z can deliver now to what could be achieved by these conceptual future pulsed-power accelerators. 2D simulations of simple MagLIF targets containing just gaseous DT have yields of 18 MJ for Z300 and 440 MJ for Z800. The 2D simulated yield for Z800 is increased to 7 GJ by adding a layer of frozen DT ice to the inside of the liner.« less

Particle Size Control for PIV Seeding Using Dry Ice

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-03-01

in flight actually being carried out, the observations, drawings and notes of Leonardo da Vinci showed an analytical process to develop a way for...theoretical particle response: dvp dt = −C(vp − U) C = 18µ ρpd2p 86 87 Bibliography 1. Linscott, R. N. and Da Vinci , L., The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci

Extraction of Ice Sheet Layers from Two Intersected Radar Echograms Near Neem Ice Core in Greenland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, S.; Muller, J.-P.

2016-06-01

Accumulation of snow and ice over time result in ice sheet layers. These can be remotely sensed where there is a contrast in electromagnetic properties, which reflect variations of the ice density, acidity and fabric orientation. Internal ice layers are assumed to be isochronous, deep beneath the ice surface, and parallel to the direction of ice flow. The distribution of internal layers is related to ice sheet dynamics, such as the basal melt rate, basal elevation variation and changes in ice flow mode, which are important parameters to model the ice sheet. Radar echo sounder is an effective instrument used to study the sedimentology of the Earth and planets. Ice Penetrating Radar (IPR) is specific kind of radar echo sounder, which extends studies of ice sheets from surface to subsurface to deep internal ice sheets depending on the frequency utilised. In this study, we examine a study site where folded ice occurs in the internal ice sheet south of the North Greenland Eemian ice drilling (NEEM) station, where two intersected radar echograms acquired by the Multi-channel Coherent Radar Depth Sounder (MCoRDS) employed in the NASA's Operation IceBridge (OIB) mission imaged this folded ice. We propose a slice processing flow based on a Radon Transform to trace and extract these two sets of curved ice sheet layers, which can then be viewed in 3-D, demonstrating the 3-D structure of the ice folds.

Two-phase convection in Ganymede's high-pressure ice layer - Implications for its geological evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalousová, Klára; Sotin, Christophe; Choblet, Gaël; Tobie, Gabriel; Grasset, Olivier

2018-01-01

Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, has a fully differentiated interior with a layer of high-pressure (HP) ice between its deep ocean and silicate mantle. In this paper, we study the dynamics of this layer using a numerical model of two-phase ice-water mixture in two-dimensional Cartesian geometry. While focusing on the generation of water at the silicate/HP ice interface and its upward migration towards the ocean, we investigate the effect of bottom heat flux, the layer thickness, and the HP ice viscosity and permeability. Our results suggest that melt can be generated at the silicate/HP ice interface for small layer thickness ( ≲ 200 km) and high values of heat flux ( ≳ 20 mW m-2) and viscosity ( ≳ 1015 Pa s). Once generated, the water is transported through the layer by the upwelling plumes. Depending on the vigor of convection, it stays liquid or it may freeze before melting again as the plume reaches the temperate (partially molten) layer at the boundary with the ocean. The thickness of this layer as well as the amount of melt that is extracted from it is controlled by the permeability of the HP ice. This process constitutes a means of transporting volatiles and salts that might have dissolved into the melt present at the silicate/HP ice interface. As the moon cools down, the HP ice layer becomes less permeable because the heat flux from the silicates decreases and the HP ice layer thickens.

Determination of Ice Water Path in Ice-over-Water Cloud Systems Using Combined MODIS and AMSR-E Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huang, Jianping; Minnis, Patrick; Lin, Bing; Yi, Yuhong; Fan, T.-F.; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Ayers, J. K.

2006-01-01

To provide more accurate ice cloud properties for evaluating climate models, the updated version of multi-layered cloud retrieval system (MCRS) is used to retrieve ice water path (IWP) in ice-over-water cloud systems over global ocean using combined instrument data from the Aqua satellite. The liquid water path (LWP) of lower layer water clouds is estimated from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) measurements. With the lower layer LWP known, the properties of the upper-level ice clouds are then derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer measurements by matching simulated radiances from a two-cloud layer radiative transfer model. Comparisons with single-layer cirrus systems and surface-based radar retrievals show that the MCRS can significantly improve the accuracy and reduce the over-estimation of optical depth and ice water path retrievals for ice over-water cloud systems. During the period from December 2004 through February 2005, the mean daytime ice cloud optical depth and IWP for overlapped ice-over-water clouds over ocean from Aqua are 7.6 and 146.4 gm(sup -2), respectively, significantly less than the initial single layer retrievals of 17.3 and 322.3 gm(sup -2). The mean IWP for actual single-layer clouds was 128.2 gm(sup -2).

On the formation of vortex rings in coaxial tubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gan, Lian

2011-11-01

The formation of vortex rings within coaxial tubes of different diameter is investigated experimentally and numerically. PIV measurements were carried out in a water tank equipped with a piston-cylinder apparatus used to generate vortex rings inside a series of coaxial tubes with tube to piston diameter ratios, DT / D , ranging from 4 to 1.5. In order to distinguish between the effect confinement has on the formation of isolated vortex rings from those formed with a trailing jet flow, non- dimensional stroke ratios below and above the formation number were investigated, L / D = 2 . 5 and 10 respectively. For DT / D > 2 and L / D s below the formation number the kinematics of the vortex rings follow classical inviscid theory in so much as their self-induced velocity decreases linearly with decreasing tube diameter in accordance with the image theorem. For DT / D <= 2 boundary layer separation along the tube wall begins to interfere with the vortex during its roll-up phase. For vortex rings below the formation number, the vortex core is briefly arrested upon completion of the piston stroke. On the other hand, long L / D s give rise to even more complex dynamics. When DT / D = 2 the interaction between boundary layer and the starting jet acts to suppress vortex ring formation altogether. However, as confinement is increased further to DT / D = 1 . 5 the formation of a lead vortex ring re-appears but with a circulation lower than the formation number before rapidly decaying.

Observations of the UTLS: An analysis of the double tropopause and its relationship to Rossby waves and the tropopause inversion layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peevey, Tanya

The upper troposphere lower stratosphere (UTLS) is a region of minimum temperatures that contains the tropopause. As a transition region between the troposphere and the stratosphere, the UTLS contains various processes that facilitate stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) which can redistribute radiatively important species such as water vapor or ozone. One potential marker for STE is the double tropopause (DT). Therefore this study seeks to further understand how DTs form and how they could enhance the current understanding of some STE processes in the UTLS. Using data from the High Resolution Dynamic Limb Sounder (HIRDLS), a data set with high vertical and horizontal resolution, newly discovered DT structures are found over the Pacific and Atlantic oceans that suggest a relationship between the DT and both storm tracks and Rossby waves. The association between DTs and storm tracks is examined by further analyzing the recently discovered and unexpected relationship between the DT and the tropopause inversion layer (TIL) in a developing baroclinic disturbance. Results show an increase in the number of DTs when the lapse rate of the extratropical TIL is less than -2°C/km, i.e. when the TIL is stronger and the local stability is higher. Composites of ERA-Interim DT profiles for three different TIL strengths shows that the vertical motion and relative vorticity both decrease as the TIL increases, which suggests the warm conveyor belt as a mechanism. This is investigated further with a case study analysis of a developing extratropical cyclone in the Pacific Ocean. Additionally, an analysis of DTs in relation to the large scale flow responsible for storm development shows a strong correlation between monthly Rossby wave activity, ozone laminae and DT variability. Further examination shows that if these waves break a DT will be found with a wave breaking event about 30% of the time in the eastern Pacific and eastern Atlantic oceans, both regions of poleward wave breaking. These results highlight a new and more complicated DT structure that is a product of both large scale dynamics and small scale vertical motions, thus adding new information to the current understanding of the UTLS.

Forming Uniform Deuterium-Ice Layers in Cryogenic Targets: Experiences Using the OMEGA Cryogenic Target Handling System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harding, D. R.; Wittman, M. D.; Elasky, L.; Iwan, L. S.; Lund, L.

2001-10-01

The OMEGA Cryogenic Target Handling System (OCTHS) allows variable-thickness ice layers (nominal 100-μm) to be formed inside OMEGA-size (1-mm-diam., 3-μm-wall) plastic shells. The OCTHS design provides the most straightforward thermal environment for layering targets: permeation filled spherical targets are in a spherical isothermal environment. The layered target can be rotated 360^o to acquire multiple views of the ice layer. However, the capability of providing cryogenic targets for implosion experiments imposes constraints that do not exist in test systems dedicated to ice-layering studies. Most affected is the ability to characterize the target: space constraints and the need for multiple sets of windows limit the viewing access to f/5 optics, which affects the image quality. With these features, the OCTS provides the most relevant test system, to date, for layering targets and quantifying the overall ice roughness. No single layering protocol provides repeatable ice smoothness. All techniques require extensive operator interaction, and the layering process is lengthy. Typical ice rms smoothness varied from 5 to 10 μm for all targets studied. Characterizing the ice layer from different views shows a ~30% variation in the ice rms smoothness and a greater difference in the power spectra, depending on the view axis. This work was supported by the U.S. DOE Office of Inertial Confinement Fusion under Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC03-92SF19460.

Change Detection of Remote Sensing Images by Dt-Cwt and Mrf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ouyang, S.; Fan, K.; Wang, H.; Wang, Z.

2017-05-01

Aiming at the significant loss of high frequency information during reducing noise and the pixel independence in change detection of multi-scale remote sensing image, an unsupervised algorithm is proposed based on the combination between Dual-tree Complex Wavelet Transform (DT-CWT) and Markov random Field (MRF) model. This method first performs multi-scale decomposition for the difference image by the DT-CWT and extracts the change characteristics in high-frequency regions by using a MRF-based segmentation algorithm. Then our method estimates the final maximum a posterior (MAP) according to the segmentation algorithm of iterative condition model (ICM) based on fuzzy c-means(FCM) after reconstructing the high-frequency and low-frequency sub-bands of each layer respectively. Finally, the method fuses the above segmentation results of each layer by using the fusion rule proposed to obtain the mask of the final change detection result. The results of experiment prove that the method proposed is of a higher precision and of predominant robustness properties.

The effects of mixed layer dynamics on ice growth in the central Arctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kitchen, Bruce R.

1992-09-01

The thermodynamic model of Thorndike (1992) is coupled to a one dimensional, two layer ocean entrainment model to study the effect of mixed layer dynamics on ice growth and the variation in the ocean heat flux into the ice due to mixed layer entrainment. Model simulations show the existence of a negative feedback between the ice growth and the mixed layer entrainment, and that the underlying ocean salinity has a greater effect on the ocean beat flux than does variations in the underlying ocean temperature. Model simulations for a variety of surface forcings and initial conditions demonstrate the need to include mixed layer dynamics for realistic ice prediction in the arctic.

Firn structure of Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula, from in-situ geophysical surveys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kulessa, B.; Brisbourne, A.; Kuipers Munneke, P.; Bevan, S. L.; Luckman, A. J.; Hubbard, B. P.; Ashmore, D.; Holland, P.; Jansen, D.; King, E. C.; O'Leary, M.; McGrath, D.

2015-12-01

Rising surface temperatures have been causing firn layers on Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves to compact, a process that is strongly implicated in ice shelf disintegration. Firn compaction is expected to warm the ice column and given sufficiently wet and compacted firn layers, to allow meltwater to penetrate into surface crevasses and thus enhance the potential for hydrofracture. On Larsen C Ice Shelf a compacting firn layer has previously been inferred from airborne radar and satellite data, with strongly reduced air contents in Larsen C's north and north-west. The hydrological processes governing firn compaction, and the detailed firn structures they produce, have so far remained uncertain however. Using integrated seismic refraction, MASW (Multi-Channel Analysis of Surface Waves), seismoelectric and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data, we reveal vertical and horizontal changes in firn structure across Larsen C Ice Shelf. Particular attention is paid to the spatial prevalence of refrozen meltwaters within firn, such as the massive subsurface ice layer discovered recently by the NERC-funded MIDAS project in Cabinet Inlet in Larsen C's extreme northwest. Such ice layers or lenses are particularly dramatic manifestations of increased ice shelf densities and temperatures, and contrast sharply with the relatively uncompacted firn layers present in the ice shelf's southeast. We consider our observations in the context of a one-dimensional firn model for Larsen C Ice Shelf that includes melt percolation and refreezing, and discuss temporal changes in firn layer structures due to surface melt and ponding.

Influences of sediment redistribution on sea-level changes along the U.S. Atlantic margin since the mid-Pliocene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Q.; Ferrier, K.; Austermann, J.; Mitrovica, J. X.

2017-12-01

The Orangeburg Scarp is a paleo-shoreline formed along the southeastern U.S. Atlantic coast during the mid-Pliocene warm period (MPWP; 3.3 - 2.9 Ma). The MPWP is a time of interest because it is often cited as an analog for modern climate and thus an important target for understanding sea-level responses to climate change. The present Orangeburg Scarp exhibits 40-meter variations in elevation along its length, implying that it has been warped since its formation, which complicates efforts to infer global ice volume at the MPWP. Previous studies have shown that the effects of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) and dynamic topography (DT) on sea level can explain a significant fraction of the observed variability in elevation along the Orangeburg Scarp. Here we build on these studies by using a gravitationally self-consistent ice age sea-level model to compute the effects of sediment loading and unloading on paleo-shoreline elevation since the mid-Pliocene. To constrain the sediment loading history in this region, we present a new compilation of erosion and deposition rates along the U.S. Atlantic margin, from which we generate a range of sediment redistribution scenarios since the MPWP. We simultaneously drive the sea-level model with these sediment redistribution histories and existing ice and dynamic topography histories. Our results show that sediment loading and unloading is capable of warping the elevation of this paleo-shoreline by 20 meters since its formation, similar in magnitude to the contributions from GIA and DT over the same time period. These results demonstrate that sediment redistribution can induce significant perturbations in sea-level markers from the MPWP, and thus accounting for its influence will improve reconstructions of sea level and global ice volume during the MPWP and perhaps other periods of relative ice age warmth.

Large eddy simulation of heat entrainment under Arctic sea ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramudu, Eshwan; Gelderloos, Renske; Yang, Di; Meneveau, Charles; Gnanadesikan, Anand

2017-11-01

Sea ice cover in the Arctic has declined rapidly in recent decades. To better understand ice loss through bottom melting, we choose to study the Canada Basin of the Arctic Ocean, which is characterized by a perennial anomalously warm Pacific Summer Water (PSW) layer residing at the base of the mixed layer and a summertime Near-Surface Temperature Maximum (NSTM) layer trapping heat from solar radiation. The interaction of these warm layers with a moving ice basal surface is investigated using large eddy simulation. We find that the presence of the NSTM enhances heat entrainment from the mixed layer. Another conclusion from our work is that there is no heat entrained from the PSW layer, even at the largest ice-drift velocity of 0.3 m s-1 considered. We propose a scaling law for the heat flux at the ice basal surface which depends on the initial temperature anomaly in the NSTM layer and the ice-drift velocity. A case study of `The Great Arctic Cyclone of 2012' gives a turbulent heat flux from the mixed layer that is approximately 70% of the total ocean-to-ice heat flux estimated from the PIOMAS model often used for short-term predictions. Present results highlight the need for large-scale climate models to account for the NSTM layer. We acknowledge funding from NOAA Grant NA15OAR4310172, the NSF, and the University of Houston start-up fund.

Distinct bacterial assemblages reside at different depths in Arctic multiyear sea ice.

PubMed

Hatam, Ido; Charchuk, Rhianna; Lange, Benjamin; Beckers, Justin; Haas, Christian; Lanoil, Brian

2014-10-01

Bacterial communities in Arctic sea ice play an important role in the regulation of nutrient and energy dynamics in the Arctic Ocean. Sea ice has vertical gradients in temperature, brine salinity and volume, and light and UV levels. Multiyear ice (MYI) has at least two distinct ice layers: old fresh ice with limited permeability, and new saline ice, and may also include a surface melt pond layer. Here, we determine whether bacterial communities (1) differ with ice depth due to strong physical and chemical gradients, (2) are relatively homogenous within a layer, but differ between layers, or (3) do not vary with ice depth. Cores of MYI off northern Ellesmere Island, NU, Canada, were subsectioned in 30-cm intervals, and the bacterial assemblage structure was characterized using 16S rRNA gene pyrotag sequencing. Assemblages clustered into three distinct groups: top (0-30 cm); middle (30-150 cm); and bottom (150-236 cm). These layers correspond to the occurrence of refrozen melt pond ice, at least 2-year-old ice, and newly grown first-year ice at the bottom of the ice sheet, respectively. Thus, MYI houses multiple distinct bacterial assemblages, and in situ conditions appear to play a less important role in structuring microbial assemblages than the age or conditions of the ice at the time of formation. © 2014 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. All rights reserved.

History and anatomy of subsurface ice on Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schorghofer, Norbert; Forget, Francois

2012-08-01

Ice buried beneath a thin layer of soil has been revealed by neutron spectroscopy and explored by the Phoenix Mars Lander. It has also been exposed by recent impacts. This subsurface ice is thought to lose and gain volume in response to orbital variations (Milankovitch cycles). We use a powerful numerical model to follow the growth and retreat of near-surface ice as a result of regolith-atmosphere exchange continuously over millions of years. If a thick layer of almost pure ice has been deposited recently, it has not yet reached equilibrium with the atmospheric water vapor and may still remain as far equatorward as 43°N, where ice has been revealed by recent impacts. A potentially observable consequence is present-day humidity output from the still retreating ice. We also demonstrate that in a sublimation environment, subsurface pore ice can accumulate in two ways. The first mode, widely known, is the progressive filling of pores by ice over a range of depths. The second mode occurs on top of an already impermeable ice layer; subsequent ice accumulates in the form of pasted on horizontal layers such that beneath the ice table, the pores are completely full with ice. Most or all of the pore ice on Mars today may be of the second type. At the Phoenix landing site, where such a layer is also expected to exist above an underlying ice sheet, it may be extremely thin, due to exceptionally small variations in ice stability over time.

Performance of High-Convergence, Layered DT Implosions on Power-Scaling Experiments at National Ignition Facility

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

Smalyuk, V. A.; Atherton, L. J.; Benedetti, L. R.

The radiation-driven, low-adiabat, cryogenic DT layered plastic capsule implosions were carried out on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to study the sensitivity of performance to peak power and drive duration. An implosion with extended drive and at reduced peak power of 350 TW achieved the highest compression with fuel areal density of ~1.3±0.1 g/cm 2, representing a significant step from previously measured ~1.0 g/cm 2 toward a goal of 1.5 g/cm 2. Moreover, for future experiments will focus on understanding and mitigating hydrodynamic instabilities and mix, and improving symmetry required to reach the threshold for thermonuclear ignition on NIF.

Performance of High-Convergence, Layered DT Implosions on Power-Scaling Experiments at National Ignition Facility

DOE PAGES

Smalyuk, V. A.; Atherton, L. J.; Benedetti, L. R.; ...

2013-10-19

The radiation-driven, low-adiabat, cryogenic DT layered plastic capsule implosions were carried out on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to study the sensitivity of performance to peak power and drive duration. An implosion with extended drive and at reduced peak power of 350 TW achieved the highest compression with fuel areal density of ~1.3±0.1 g/cm 2, representing a significant step from previously measured ~1.0 g/cm 2 toward a goal of 1.5 g/cm 2. Moreover, for future experiments will focus on understanding and mitigating hydrodynamic instabilities and mix, and improving symmetry required to reach the threshold for thermonuclear ignition on NIF.

Evidence of unfrozen liquids and seismic anisotropy at the base of the polar ice sheets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wittlinger, Gérard; Farra, Véronique

2015-03-01

We analyze seismic data from broadband stations located on the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets to determine polar ice seismic velocities. P-to-S converted waves at the ice/rock interface and inside the ice sheets and their multiples (the P-receiver functions) are used to estimate in-situ P-wave velocity (Vp) and P-to-S velocity ratio (Vp/Vs) of polar ice. We find that the polar ice sheets have a two-layer structure; an upper layer of variable thickness (about 2/3 of the total thickness) with seismic velocities close to the standard ice values, and a lower layer of approximately constant thickness with standard Vp but ∼25% smaller Vs. The lower layer ceiling corresponds approximately to the -30 °C isotherm. Synthetic modeling of P-receiver functions shows that strong seismic anisotropy and low vertical S velocity are needed in the lower layer. The seismic anisotropy results from the preferred orientation of ice crystal c-axes toward the vertical. The low vertical S velocity may be due to the presence of unfrozen liquids resulting from premelting at grain joints and/or melting of chemical solutions buried in the ice. The strongly preferred ice crystal orientation fabric and the unfrozen fluids may facilitate polar ice sheet basal flow.

Hypervelocity impacts into ice-topped layered targets: Investigating the effects of ice crust thickness and subsurface density on crater morphology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harriss, Kathryn H.; Burchell, Mark J.

2017-07-01

Many bodies in the outer solar system are theorized to have an ice shell with a different subsurface material below, be it chondritic, regolith, or a subsurface ocean. This layering can have a significant influence on the morphology of impact craters. Accordingly, we have undertaken laboratory hypervelocity impact experiments on a range of multilayered targets, with interiors of water, sand, and basalt. Impact experiments were undertaken using impact speeds in the range of 0.8-5.3 km s-1, a 1.5 mm Al ball bearing projectile, and an impact incidence of 45°. The surface ice crust had a thickness between 5 and 50 mm, i.e., some 3-30 times the projectile diameter. The thickness of the ice crust as well as the nature of the subsurface layer (liquid, well consolidated, etc.) have a marked effect on the morphology of the resulting impact crater, with thicker ice producing a larger crater diameter (at a given impact velocity), and the crater diameter scaling with impact speed to the power 0.72 for semi-infinite ice, but with 0.37 for thin ice. The density of the subsurface material changes the structure of the crater, with flat crater floors if there is a dense, well-consolidated subsurface layer (basalt) or steep, narrow craters if there is a less cohesive subsurface (sand). The associated faulting in the ice surface is also dependent on ice thickness and the substrate material. We find that the ice layer (in impacts at 5 km s-1) is effectively semi-infinite if its thickness is more than 15.5 times the projectile diameter. Below this, the crater diameter is reduced by 4% for each reduction in ice layer thickness equal to the impactor diameter. Crater depth is also affected. In the ice thickness region, 7-15.5 times the projectile diameter, the crater shape in the ice is modified even when the subsurface layer is not penetrated. For ice thicknesses, <7 times the projectile diameter, the ice layer is breached, but the nature of the resulting crater depends heavily on the subsurface material. If the subsurface is noncohesive (loose) material, a crater forms in it. If it is dense, well-consolidated basalt, no crater forms in the exposed subsurface layer.

The association of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba with the under-ice habitat.

PubMed

Flores, Hauke; van Franeker, Jan Andries; Siegel, Volker; Haraldsson, Matilda; Strass, Volker; Meesters, Erik Hubert; Bathmann, Ulrich; Wolff, Willem Jan

2012-01-01

The association of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba with the under-ice habitat was investigated in the Lazarev Sea (Southern Ocean) during austral summer, autumn and winter. Data were obtained using novel Surface and Under Ice Trawls (SUIT), which sampled the 0-2 m surface layer both under sea ice and in open water. Average surface layer densities ranged between 0.8 individuals m(-2) in summer and autumn, and 2.7 individuals m(-2) in winter. In summer, under-ice densities of Antarctic krill were significantly higher than in open waters. In autumn, the opposite pattern was observed. Under winter sea ice, densities were often low, but repeatedly far exceeded summer and autumn maxima. Statistical models showed that during summer high densities of Antarctic krill in the 0-2 m layer were associated with high ice coverage and shallow mixed layer depths, among other factors. In autumn and winter, density was related to hydrographical parameters. Average under-ice densities from the 0-2 m layer were higher than corresponding values from the 0-200 m layer collected with Rectangular Midwater Trawls (RMT) in summer. In winter, under-ice densities far surpassed maximum 0-200 m densities on several occasions. This indicates that the importance of the ice-water interface layer may be under-estimated by the pelagic nets and sonars commonly used to estimate the population size of Antarctic krill for management purposes, due to their limited ability to sample this habitat. Our results provide evidence for an almost year-round association of Antarctic krill with the under-ice habitat, hundreds of kilometres into the ice-covered area of the Lazarev Sea. Local concentrations of postlarval Antarctic krill under winter sea ice suggest that sea ice biota are important for their winter survival. These findings emphasise the susceptibility of an ecological key species to changing sea ice habitats, suggesting potential ramifications on Antarctic ecosystems induced by climate change.

The Association of Antarctic Krill Euphausia superba with the Under-Ice Habitat

PubMed Central

Flores, Hauke; van Franeker, Jan Andries; Siegel, Volker; Haraldsson, Matilda; Strass, Volker; Meesters, Erik Hubert; Bathmann, Ulrich; Wolff, Willem Jan

2012-01-01

The association of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba with the under-ice habitat was investigated in the Lazarev Sea (Southern Ocean) during austral summer, autumn and winter. Data were obtained using novel Surface and Under Ice Trawls (SUIT), which sampled the 0–2 m surface layer both under sea ice and in open water. Average surface layer densities ranged between 0.8 individuals m−2 in summer and autumn, and 2.7 individuals m−2 in winter. In summer, under-ice densities of Antarctic krill were significantly higher than in open waters. In autumn, the opposite pattern was observed. Under winter sea ice, densities were often low, but repeatedly far exceeded summer and autumn maxima. Statistical models showed that during summer high densities of Antarctic krill in the 0–2 m layer were associated with high ice coverage and shallow mixed layer depths, among other factors. In autumn and winter, density was related to hydrographical parameters. Average under-ice densities from the 0–2 m layer were higher than corresponding values from the 0–200 m layer collected with Rectangular Midwater Trawls (RMT) in summer. In winter, under-ice densities far surpassed maximum 0–200 m densities on several occasions. This indicates that the importance of the ice-water interface layer may be under-estimated by the pelagic nets and sonars commonly used to estimate the population size of Antarctic krill for management purposes, due to their limited ability to sample this habitat. Our results provide evidence for an almost year-round association of Antarctic krill with the under-ice habitat, hundreds of kilometres into the ice-covered area of the Lazarev Sea. Local concentrations of postlarval Antarctic krill under winter sea ice suggest that sea ice biota are important for their winter survival. These findings emphasise the susceptibility of an ecological key species to changing sea ice habitats, suggesting potential ramifications on Antarctic ecosystems induced by climate change. PMID:22384073

Under-ice melt ponds and the oceanic mixed layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flocco, D.; Smith, N.; Feltham, D. L.

2017-12-01

Under-ice melt ponds are pools of freshwater beneath the Arctic sea ice that form when melt from the surface of the sea ice percolates down through the porous sea ice. Through double diffusion, a sheet of ice can form at the interface between the ocean and the under-ice melt pond, completely isolating the pond from the mixed layer below and forming a false bottom to the sea ice. As such, they insulate the sea ice from the ocean below. It has been estimated that these ponds could cover between 5 and 40 % of the base of the Arctic sea ice, and so could have a notable impact on the mass balance of the sea ice. We have developed a one-dimensional model to calculate the thickness and thermodynamic properties of a slab of sea ice, an under-ice melt pond, and a false bottom, as these layers evolve. Through carrying out sensitivity studies, we have identified a number of interesting ways that under-ice melt ponds affect the ice above them and the rate of basal ablation. We found that they result in thicker sea ice above them, due to their insulation of the ice, and have found a possible positive feedback cycle in which less ice will be gained due to under-ice melt ponds as the Arctic becomes warmer. More recently, we have coupled this model to a simple Kraus-Turner type model of the oceanic mixed layer to investigate how these ponds affect the ocean water beneath them. Through altering basal ablation rates and ice thickness, they change the fresh water and salt fluxes into the mixed layer, as well as incoming radiation. Multi-year simulations have, in particular, shown how these effects work on longer time-scales.

Determination of ice water path in ice-over-water cloud systems using combined MODIS and AMSR-E measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Jianping; Minnis, Patrick; Lin, Bing; Yi, Yuhong; Fan, T.-F.; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Ayers, J. K.

2006-11-01

To provide more accurate ice cloud microphysical properties, the multi-layered cloud retrieval system (MCRS) is used to retrieve ice water path (IWP) in ice-over-water cloud systems globally over oceans using combined instrument data from Aqua. The liquid water path (LWP) of lower-layer water clouds is estimated from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) measurements. The properties of the upper-level ice clouds are then derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) measurements by matching simulated radiances from a two-cloud-layer radiative transfer model. The results show that the MCRS can significantly improve the accuracy and reduce the over-estimation of optical depth and IWP retrievals for ice-over-water cloud systems. The mean daytime ice cloud optical depth and IWP for overlapped ice-over-water clouds over oceans from Aqua are 7.6 and 146.4 gm-2, respectively, down from the initial single-layer retrievals of 17.3 and 322.3 gm-2. The mean IWP for actual single-layer clouds is 128.2 gm-2.

Ice sublimation and rheology - Implications for the Martian polar layered deposits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hofstadter, M. D.; Murray, B. C.

1990-04-01

If the sublimation and creep of water ice are important processes in the Martian polar layered deposits, ice-rich scenario formation and evolution schemes must invoke a mechanism for the inhibition of sublimation, such as a dust layer derived from the residue of the sublimating deposits. This layer could be of the order of 1 m in thickness. If the deposits are ice-rich, flows of more than 1 km should have occurred. It is noted that the dust particles in question may be cemented by such ice that may be present, but that impurities may also have served to cement dust particles together even in the absence of ice.

Ice sublimation and rheology - Implications for the Martian polar layered deposits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hofstadter, Mark D.; Murray, Bruce C.

1990-01-01

If the sublimation and creep of water ice are important processes in the Martian polar layered deposits, ice-rich scenario formation and evolution schemes must invoke a mechanism for the inhibition of sublimation, such as a dust layer derived from the residue of the sublimating deposits. This layer could be of the order of 1 m in thickness. If the deposits are ice-rich, flows of more than 1 km should have occurred. It is noted that the dust particles in question may be cemented by such ice that may be present, but that impurities may also have served to cement dust particles together even in the absence of ice.

Devon island ice cap: core stratigraphy and paleoclimate.

PubMed

Koerner, R M

1977-04-01

Valuable paleoclimatic information can be gained by studying the distribution of melt layers in deep ice cores. A profile representing the percentage of ice in melt layers in a core drilled from the Devon Island ice cap plotted against both time and depth shows that the ice cap has experienced a period of very warm summers since 1925, following a period of colder summers between about 1600 and 1925. The earlier period was coldest between 1680 and 1730. There is a high correlation between the melt-layer ice percentage and the mass balance of the ice cap. The relation between them suggests that the ice cap mass balance was zero (accumulation equaled ablation) during the colder period but is negative in the present warmer one. There is no firm evidence of a present cooling trend in the summer conditions on the ice cap. A comparison with the melt-layer ice percentage in cores from the other major Canadian Arctic ice caps shows that the variation of summer conditions found for the Devon Island ice cap is representative for all the large ice caps for about 90 percent of the time. There is also a good correlation between melt-layer percentage and summer sea-ice conditions in the archipelago. This suggests that the search for the northwest passage was influenced by changing climate, with the 19th-century peak of the often tragic exploration coinciding with a period of very cold summers.

An automated approach for annual layer counting in ice cores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winstrup, M.; Svensson, A.; Rasmussen, S. O.; Winther, O.; Steig, E.; Axelrod, A.

2012-04-01

The temporal resolution of some ice cores is sufficient to preserve seasonal information in the ice core record. In such cases, annual layer counting represents one of the most accurate methods to produce a chronology for the core. Yet, manual layer counting is a tedious and sometimes ambiguous job. As reliable layer recognition becomes more difficult, a manual approach increasingly relies on human interpretation of the available data. Thus, much may be gained by an automated and therefore objective approach for annual layer identification in ice cores. We have developed a novel method for automated annual layer counting in ice cores, which relies on Bayesian statistics. It uses algorithms from the statistical framework of Hidden Markov Models (HMM), originally developed for use in machine speech recognition. The strength of this layer detection algorithm lies in the way it is able to imitate the manual procedures for annual layer counting, while being based on purely objective criteria for annual layer identification. With this methodology, it is possible to determine the most likely position of multiple layer boundaries in an entire section of ice core data at once. It provides a probabilistic uncertainty estimate of the resulting layer count, hence ensuring a proper treatment of ambiguous layer boundaries in the data. Furthermore multiple data series can be incorporated to be used at once, hence allowing for a full multi-parameter annual layer counting method similar to a manual approach. In this study, the automated layer counting algorithm has been applied to data from the NGRIP ice core, Greenland. The NGRIP ice core has very high temporal resolution with depth, and hence the potential to be dated by annual layer counting far back in time. In previous studies [Andersen et al., 2006; Svensson et al., 2008], manual layer counting has been carried out back to 60 kyr BP. A comparison between the counted annual layers based on the two approaches will be presented and their differences discussed. Within the estimated uncertainties, the two methodologies agree. This shows the potential for a fully automated annual layer counting method to be operational for data sections where the annual layering is unknown.

Evolution of Titan's High-Pressure Ice layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sotin, C.; Kalousova, K.

2016-12-01

Constraints on the present interior structure of Titan come from the gravity science experiment onboard the Cassini spacecraft and from the interpretation of the Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) wave observed by the Huygens probe [1, 2]. From the surface to the center, Titan would be composed of 4 layers: an icy crust, a global salty ocean, a layer of high-pressure ice (HP ice) and a core made of hydrated silicates [2, 3, 4]. The presence of a large amount of 40Ar in Titan's atmosphere argues for a geologically recent exchange process between the silicate core, where 40Ar is produced by the decay of 40K, and the atmosphere. Argon must then be able to be transported from the silicate core to the surface. This study investigates how volatiles can be transported through the HP ice layer.Recent numerical simulations [5] have demonstrated that the dynamics of the HP ice layer is controlled by convection processes in a two-phase material (water and high-pressure ice). The silicate / HP ice interface is maintained at the melting temperature, which might allow for the incorporation of volatiles such as 40Ar into the convecting HP ice. Above the hot thermal boundary layer, the temperature of the convecting HP ice is below the melting temperature, except for the upwelling plumes when they approach the cold thermal boundary layer. The upper part of the HP ice layer is at the melting point and permeable for water transport, providing a path for the transfer of volatiles trapped in the ice towards the ocean.Scaling laws are inferred from the numerical simulations [5]. They are then used to model the evolution of the HP ice layer. Specifically, we look at the effect of (i) ice viscosity, (ii) heat flux at the silicate/HP ice interface, and (iii) presence of anti-freeze compounds in the ocean, on the thickness of the HP ice layer. In addition, our results provide insights on possible resurfacing processes that could explain the geologically young age of Titan's surface. This work has been performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract to NASA. [1] Iess et al. (2012) Science, 337, 457-461. [2] Beghin et al. (2012) Icarus, 1028-1042. [3] Mitri et al. (2014) Icarus, 236, 169-177. [4] Castillo and Lunine (2010) Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L20205. [5] Kalousova et al. (2015) Fall AGU, P31C-2078.

The ocean mixed layer under Southern Ocean sea-ice: Seasonal cycle and forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pellichero, Violaine; Sallée, Jean-Baptiste; Schmidtko, Sunke; Roquet, Fabien; Charrassin, Jean-Benoît

2017-02-01

The oceanic mixed layer is the gateway for the exchanges between the atmosphere and the ocean; in this layer, all hydrographic ocean properties are set for months to millennia. A vast area of the Southern Ocean is seasonally capped by sea-ice, which alters the characteristics of the ocean mixed layer. The interaction between the ocean mixed layer and sea-ice plays a key role for water mass transformation, the carbon cycle, sea-ice dynamics, and ultimately for the climate as a whole. However, the structure and characteristics of the under-ice mixed layer are poorly understood due to the sparseness of in situ observations and measurements. In this study, we combine distinct sources of observations to overcome this lack in our understanding of the polar regions. Working with elephant seal-derived, ship-based, and Argo float observations, we describe the seasonal cycle of the ocean mixed-layer characteristics and stability of the ocean mixed layer over the Southern Ocean and specifically under sea-ice. Mixed-layer heat and freshwater budgets are used to investigate the main forcing mechanisms of the mixed-layer seasonal cycle. The seasonal variability of sea surface salinity and temperature are primarily driven by surface processes, dominated by sea-ice freshwater flux for the salt budget and by air-sea flux for the heat budget. Ekman advection, vertical diffusivity, and vertical entrainment play only secondary roles. Our results suggest that changes in regional sea-ice distribution and annual duration, as currently observed, widely affect the buoyancy budget of the underlying mixed layer, and impact large-scale water mass formation and transformation with far reaching consequences for ocean ventilation.

Icy Layers and Climate Fluctuations near the Martian North Pole

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-03-31

The Martian north polar layered deposits are an ice sheet much like the Greenland ice sheet on the Earth in this image from NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This Martian ice sheet contains many layers that record variations in the Martian climate.

A glimpse beneath Antarctic sea ice: observation of platelet-layer thickness and ice-volume fraction with multifrequency EM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoppmann, Mario; Hunkeler, Priska A.; Hendricks, Stefan; Kalscheuer, Thomas; Gerdes, Rüdiger

2016-04-01

In Antarctica, ice crystals (platelets) form and grow in supercooled waters below ice shelves. These platelets rise, accumulate beneath nearby sea ice, and subsequently form a several meter thick, porous sub-ice platelet layer. This special ice type is a unique habitat, influences sea-ice mass and energy balance, and its volume can be interpreted as an indicator of the health of an ice shelf. Although progress has been made in determining and understanding its spatio-temporal variability based on point measurements, an investigation of this phenomenon on a larger scale remains a challenge due to logistical constraints and a lack of suitable methodology. In the present study, we applied a lateral constrained Marquardt-Levenberg inversion to a unique multi-frequency electromagnetic (EM) induction sounding dataset obtained on the ice-shelf influenced fast-ice regime of Atka Bay, eastern Weddell Sea. We adapted the inversion algorithm to incorporate a sensor specific signal bias, and confirmed the reliability of the algorithm by performing a sensitivity study using synthetic data. We inverted the field data for sea-ice and platelet-layer thickness and electrical conductivity, and calculated ice-volume fractions within the platelet layer using Archie's Law. The thickness results agreed well with drillhole validation datasets within the uncertainty range, and the ice-volume fraction yielded results comparable to other studies. Both parameters together enable an estimation of the total ice volume within the platelet layer, which was found to be comparable to the volume of landfast sea ice in this region, and corresponded to more than a quarter of the annual basal melt volume of the nearby Ekström Ice Shelf. Our findings show that multi-frequency EM induction sounding is a suitable approach to efficiently map sea-ice and platelet-layer properties, with important implications for research into ocean/ice-shelf/sea-ice interactions. However, a successful application of this technique requires a break with traditional EM sensor calibration strategies due to the need of absolute calibration with respect to a physical forward model.

The effects of convergence ratio on the implosion behavior of DT layered inertial confinement fusion capsules

DOE PAGES

Haines, Brian M.; Yi, S. A.; Olson, R. E.; ...

2017-07-10

The wetted foam capsule design for inertial confinement fusion capsules, which includes a foam layer wetted with deuterium-tritium liquid, enables layered capsule implosions with a wide range of hot-spot convergence ratios (CR) on the National Ignition Facility. In this paper, we present a full-scale wetted foam capsule design that demonstrates high gain in one-dimensional simulations. In these simulations, increasing the convergence ratio leads to an improved capsule yield due to higher hot-spot temperatures and increased fuel areal density. High-resolution two-dimensional simulations of this design are presented with detailed and well resolved models for the capsule fill tube, support tent, surfacemore » roughness, and predicted asymmetries in the x-ray drive. Our modeling of these asymmetries is validated by comparisons with available experimental data. In 2D simulations of the full-scale wetted foam capsule design, jetting caused by the fill tube is prevented by the expansion of the tungsten-doped shell layer due to preheat. While the impacts of surface roughness and predicted asymmetries in the x-ray drive are enhanced by convergence effects, likely underpredicted in 2D at high CR, simulations predict that the capsule is robust to these features. Nevertheless, the design is highly susceptible to the effects of the capsule support tent, which negates all of the one-dimensional benefits of increasing the convergence ratio. Indeed, when the support tent is included in simulations, the yield decreases as the convergence ratio is increased for CR > 20. Finally and nevertheless, the results suggest that the full-scale wetted foam design has the potential to outperform ice layer capsules given currently achievable levels of asymmetries when fielded at low convergence ratios (CR < 20).« less

The effects of convergence ratio on the implosion behavior of DT layered inertial confinement fusion capsules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haines, Brian M.; Yi, S. A.; Olson, R. E.; Khan, S. F.; Kyrala, G. A.; Zylstra, A. B.; Bradley, P. A.; Peterson, R. R.; Kline, J. L.; Leeper, R. J.; Shah, R. C.

2017-07-01

The wetted foam capsule design for inertial confinement fusion capsules, which includes a foam layer wetted with deuterium-tritium liquid, enables layered capsule implosions with a wide range of hot-spot convergence ratios (CR) on the National Ignition Facility. We present a full-scale wetted foam capsule design that demonstrates high gain in one-dimensional simulations. In these simulations, increasing the convergence ratio leads to an improved capsule yield due to higher hot-spot temperatures and increased fuel areal density. High-resolution two-dimensional simulations of this design are presented with detailed and well resolved models for the capsule fill tube, support tent, surface roughness, and predicted asymmetries in the x-ray drive. Our modeling of these asymmetries is validated by comparisons with available experimental data. In 2D simulations of the full-scale wetted foam capsule design, jetting caused by the fill tube is prevented by the expansion of the tungsten-doped shell layer due to preheat. While the impacts of surface roughness and predicted asymmetries in the x-ray drive are enhanced by convergence effects, likely underpredicted in 2D at high CR, simulations predict that the capsule is robust to these features. Nevertheless, the design is highly susceptible to the effects of the capsule support tent, which negates all of the one-dimensional benefits of increasing the convergence ratio. Indeed, when the support tent is included in simulations, the yield decreases as the convergence ratio is increased for CR > 20. Nevertheless, the results suggest that the full-scale wetted foam design has the potential to outperform ice layer capsules given currently achievable levels of asymmetries when fielded at low convergence ratios (CR < 20).

Is Ceres' deep interior ice-rich? Constraints from crater morphology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bland, M. T.; Raymond, C. A.; Fu, R.; Marchi, S.; Castillo, J. C.; King, S. D.; Schenk, P.; Preusker, F.; Park, R. S.; Russell, C. T.

2016-12-01

Determining the composition and internal structure of Ceres is critical to understanding its origin and evolution. Analysis of the depths of Ceres' largest impact craters [Bland et al. 2016] and global shape [Fu et al. 2016] using data returned by NASA's Dawn spacecraft indicate that the dwarf planet's subsurface contains no more than 30% water ice by volume, with the other 70% consisting of salts (hydrated and/or anhydrous), clathrates, and phyllosilicates. Despite these findings, Ceres is unlikely to be ice-free. The GRaND instrument has detected probable water ice at decimeter depths (with strong latitudinal variations) [Prettyman et al. 2016], water ice has been detected in fresh [Combe et al. 2016] and permanently shadowed craters [Schorghofer et al. 2016], and the simple-complex morphologic transition diameter is consistent with a weak (icy) surface layer [Schenk et al. 2016]. Furthermore, a cryovolcanic origin for Ahuna Mons requires a source of water-rich material [Ruesch et al. 2016]. Here we use numerical simulations of the viscous relaxation of impact craters to provide new constraints on the water ice content of Ceres as a function of depth that enable a more complete understanding of the thickness and composition of its outer layer. These new simulations include three rheological layers: a high-viscosity near-surface layer, a weaker (possibly ice-rich layer), and an essentially immobile rocky layer at depth. Results are latitude (temperature) dependent; however, we generally find that retaining crater topography requires a high-viscosity (ice-poor) layer with a thickness of 50% the crater radius. For example, retaining a 100-km diameter crater at latitudes below 50o requires a high-viscosity (103x water ice) layer at least 30 km thick, if the underlying layer is pure ice. Deep, low-latitude craters 150 km in diameter are observed on Ceres [Bland et al. 2016], so the high-viscosity layer is likely >40 km thick. However, our results do not exclude the existence of a reservoir enriched in water ice at the base of Ceres' outer layer. We also find that the unique morphology of Ceres' largest crater, Kerwan, may result from viscous relaxation in a thin outer layer, potentially providing a constraint on the local thickness of Ceres outer shell.

Demonstration of High Performance in Layered Deuterium-Tritium Capsule Implosions in Uranium Hohlraums at the National Ignition Facility.

PubMed

Döppner, T; Callahan, D A; Hurricane, O A; Hinkel, D E; Ma, T; Park, H-S; Berzak Hopkins, L F; Casey, D T; Celliers, P; Dewald, E L; Dittrich, T R; Haan, S W; Kritcher, A L; MacPhee, A; Le Pape, S; Pak, A; Patel, P K; Springer, P T; Salmonson, J D; Tommasini, R; Benedetti, L R; Bond, E; Bradley, D K; Caggiano, J; Church, J; Dixit, S; Edgell, D; Edwards, M J; Fittinghoff, D N; Frenje, J; Gatu Johnson, M; Grim, G; Hatarik, R; Havre, M; Herrmann, H; Izumi, N; Khan, S F; Kline, J L; Knauer, J; Kyrala, G A; Landen, O L; Merrill, F E; Moody, J; Moore, A S; Nikroo, A; Ralph, J E; Remington, B A; Robey, H F; Sayre, D; Schneider, M; Streckert, H; Town, R; Turnbull, D; Volegov, P L; Wan, A; Widmann, K; Wilde, C H; Yeamans, C

2015-07-31

We report on the first layered deuterium-tritium (DT) capsule implosions indirectly driven by a "high-foot" laser pulse that were fielded in depleted uranium hohlraums at the National Ignition Facility. Recently, high-foot implosions have demonstrated improved resistance to ablation-front Rayleigh-Taylor instability induced mixing of ablator material into the DT hot spot [Hurricane et al., Nature (London) 506, 343 (2014)]. Uranium hohlraums provide a higher albedo and thus an increased drive equivalent to an additional 25 TW laser power at the peak of the drive compared to standard gold hohlraums leading to higher implosion velocity. Additionally, we observe an improved hot-spot shape closer to round which indicates enhanced drive from the waist. In contrast to findings in the National Ignition Campaign, now all of our highest performing experiments have been done in uranium hohlraums and achieved total yields approaching 10^{16} neutrons where more than 50% of the yield was due to additional heating of alpha particles stopping in the DT fuel.

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

Robey, H. F.; MacGowan, B. J.; Landen, O. L.

Indirectly driven capsule implosions on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [Moses et al., Phys. Plasmas 16, 041006 (2009)] are being performed with the goal of compressing a layer of cryogenic deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel to a sufficiently high areal density (ρR) to sustain the self-propagating burn wave that is required for fusion power gain greater than unity. These implosions are driven with a temporally shaped laser pulse that is carefully tailored to keep the DT fuel on a low adiabat (ratio of fuel pressure to the Fermi degenerate pressure). In this report, the impact of variations in the laser pulse shapemore » (both intentionally and unintentionally imposed) on the in-flight implosion adiabat is examined by comparing the measured shot-to-shot variations in ρR from a large ensemble of DT-layered ignition target implosions on NIF spanning a two-year period. A strong sensitivity to variations in the early-time, low-power foot of the laser pulse is observed. It is shown that very small deviations (∼0.1% of the total pulse energy) in the first 2 ns of the laser pulse can decrease the measured ρR by 50%.« less

Demonstration of High Performance in Layered Deuterium-Tritium Capsule Implosions in Uranium Hohlraums at the National Ignition Facility

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

Döppner, T.; Callahan, D. A.; Hurricane, O. A.

We report on the first layered deuterium-tritium (DT) capsule implosions indirectly driven by a “highfoot” laser pulse that were fielded in depleted uranium hohlraums at the National Ignition Facility. Recently, high-foot implosions have demonstrated improved resistance to ablation-front Rayleigh-Taylor instability induced mixing of ablator material into the DT hot spot [Hurricane et al., Nature (London) 506, 343 (2014)]. Uranium hohlraums provide a higher albedo and thus an increased drive equivalent to an additional 25 TW laser power at the peak of the drive compared to standard gold hohlraums leading to higher implosion velocity. Additionally, we observe an improved hot-spot shapemore » closer to round which indicates enhanced drive from the waist. In contrast to findings in the National Ignition Campaign, now all of our highest performing experiments have been done in uranium hohlraums and achieved total yields approaching 10 16 neutrons where more than 50% of the yield was due to additional heating of alpha particles stopping in the DT fuel.« less

Demonstration of High Performance in Layered Deuterium-Tritium Capsule Implosions in Uranium Hohlraums at the National Ignition Facility

DOE PAGES

Döppner, T.; Callahan, D. A.; Hurricane, O. A.; ...

2015-07-28

We report on the first layered deuterium-tritium (DT) capsule implosions indirectly driven by a “highfoot” laser pulse that were fielded in depleted uranium hohlraums at the National Ignition Facility. Recently, high-foot implosions have demonstrated improved resistance to ablation-front Rayleigh-Taylor instability induced mixing of ablator material into the DT hot spot [Hurricane et al., Nature (London) 506, 343 (2014)]. Uranium hohlraums provide a higher albedo and thus an increased drive equivalent to an additional 25 TW laser power at the peak of the drive compared to standard gold hohlraums leading to higher implosion velocity. Additionally, we observe an improved hot-spot shapemore » closer to round which indicates enhanced drive from the waist. In contrast to findings in the National Ignition Campaign, now all of our highest performing experiments have been done in uranium hohlraums and achieved total yields approaching 10 16 neutrons where more than 50% of the yield was due to additional heating of alpha particles stopping in the DT fuel.« less

Observation of a brine layer on an ice surface with an environmental scanning electron microscope at higher pressures and temperatures.

PubMed

Krausko, Ján; Runštuk, Jiří; Neděla, Vilém; Klán, Petr; Heger, Dominik

2014-05-20

Observation of a uranyl-salt brine layer on an ice surface using backscattered electron detection and ice surface morphology using secondary-electron detection under equilibrium conditions was facilitated using an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) at temperatures above 250 K and pressures of hundreds of Pa. The micrographs of a brine layer over ice grains prepared by either slow or shock freezing provided a complementary picture of the contaminated ice grain boundaries. Fluorescence spectroscopy of the uranyl ions in the brine layer confirmed that the species exists predominately in the solvated state under experimental conditions of ESEM.

A glimpse beneath Antarctic sea ice: observation of platelet-layer thickness and ice-volume fraction with multi-frequency EM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hendricks, S.; Hoppmann, M.; Hunkeler, P. A.; Kalscheuer, T.; Gerdes, R.

2015-12-01

In Antarctica, ice crystals (platelets) form and grow in supercooled waters below ice shelves. These platelets rise and accumulate beneath nearby sea ice to form a several meter thick sub-ice platelet layer. This special ice type is a unique habitat, influences sea-ice mass and energy balance, and its volume can be interpreted as an indicator for ice - ocean interactions. Although progress has been made in determining and understanding its spatio-temporal variability based on point measurements, an investigation of this phenomenon on a larger scale remains a challenge due to logistical constraints and a lack of suitable methodology. In the present study, we applied a lateral constrained Marquardt-Levenberg inversion to a unique multi-frequency electromagnetic (EM) induction sounding dataset obtained on the ice-shelf influenced fast-ice regime of Atka Bay, eastern Weddell Sea. We adapted the inversion algorithm to incorporate a sensor specific signal bias, and confirmed the reliability of the algorithm by performing a sensitivity study using synthetic data. We inverted the field data for sea-ice and sub-ice platelet-layer thickness and electrical conductivity, and calculated ice-volume fractions from platelet-layer conductivities using Archie's Law. The thickness results agreed well with drill-hole validation datasets within the uncertainty range, and the ice-volume fraction also yielded plausible results. Our findings imply that multi-frequency EM induction sounding is a suitable approach to efficiently map sea-ice and platelet-layer properties. However, we emphasize that the successful application of this technique requires a break with traditional EM sensor calibration strategies due to the need of absolute calibration with respect to a physical forward model.

Ikaite crystal distribution in Arctic winter sea ice and implications for CO2 system dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rysgaard, S.; Søgaard, D. H.; Cooper, M.; Pućko, M.; Lennert, K.; Papakyriakou, T. N.; Wang, F.; Geilfus, N. X.; Glud, R. N.; Ehn, J.; McGinnnis, D. F.; Attard, K.; Sievers, J.; Deming, J. W.; Barber, D.

2012-12-01

The precipitation of ikaite (CaCO3·6H2O) in polar sea ice is critical to the efficiency of the sea ice-driven carbon pump and potentially important to the global carbon cycle, yet the spatial and temporal occurrence of ikaite within the ice is poorly known. We report unique observations of ikaite in unmelted ice and vertical profiles of ikaite abundance and concentration in sea ice for the crucial season of winter. Ice was examined from two locations: a 1 m thick land-fast ice site and a 0.3 m thick polynya site, both in the Young Sound area (74° N, 20° W) of NE Greenland. Ikaite crystals, ranging in size from a few µm to 700 µm were observed to concentrate in the interstices between the ice platelets in both granular and columnar sea ice. In vertical sea-ice profiles from both locations, ikaite concentration determined from image analysis, decreased with depth from surfaceice values of 700-900 µmol kg-1 ice (~ 25 × 106 crystals kg-1) to bottom-layer values of 100-200 µmol kg-1 ice (1-7 × 106 kg-1), all of which are much higher (4-10 times) than those reported in the few previous studies. Direct measurements of total alkalinity (TA) in surface layers fell within the same range as ikaite concentration whereas TA concentrations in bottom layers were twice as high. This depth-related discrepancy suggests interior ice processes where ikaite crystals form in surface sea ice layers and partly dissolved in bottom layers. From these findings and model calculations we relate sea ice formation and melt to observed pCO2 conditions in polar surface waters, and hence, the air-sea CO2 flux.

Why is there evidence for flowing ice at mid-latitudes on Mars but not at the poles?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, I. B.

2017-12-01

Ice has been detected on Mars in many places, from the polar caps, to mid-latitudes. In many locations there exists evidence for glacial flow. This raises the possibility of flow for the polar layered deposits (PLD). Since the >2000 m thick ice deposits were first observed, speculation about their flow status have persisted. Several stratigraphic predictions regarding flow have been made (Figure 1), but these predictions are not supported with observational data (Smith and Holt 2015) The disagreement between model and observations has led to a general consensus that the polar ice flows more slowly than other processes acting on the PLD, but the reasoning is not understood. Here I posit that the polar layered deposits do not act as a single, generic ice sheet. Instead, they act as a stack of thin ice sheets, where each layer is separated by a boundary of dust, and all layers flow individually. The layers act as barriers to vertical flow, so the viscosity of the cold ice can only be expressed through lateral expansion. I plan to present a simple experiment demonstrating the multi-layer, stacked flow hypothesis. I will demonstrate that the layers themselves flow but do not deform the entire ice sheet, as previously predicted. This allows for the PLD to retain their steep slopes and prevents many of the predicted flow features to form. The major component of this hypothesis is that the dust layers hinder flow. Thus, constraining the friction coefficient, viscosity, tensile strength and compressibility of the dust layers becomes an important next step for testing the stacked, multi-layer flow scenario. Acknowledgements: Thanks to Eric Larour and David Goldsby for helpful comments.

Novel two-step laser ablation and ionization mass spectrometry (2S-LAIMS) of actor-spectator ice layers: Probing chemical composition of D{sub 2}O ice beneath a H{sub 2}O ice layer

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

Yang, Rui, E-mail: ryang73@ustc.edu; Gudipati, Murthy S., E-mail: gudipati@jpl.nasa.gov

2014-03-14

In this work, we report for the first time successful analysis of organic aromatic analytes imbedded in D{sub 2}O ices by novel infrared (IR) laser ablation of a layered non-absorbing D{sub 2}O ice (spectator) containing the analytes and an ablation-active IR-absorbing H{sub 2}O ice layer (actor) without the analyte. With these studies we have opened up a new method for the in situ analysis of solids containing analytes when covered with an IR laser-absorbing layer that can be resonantly ablated. This soft ejection method takes advantage of the tenability of two-step infrared laser ablation and ultraviolet laser ionization mass spectrometry,more » previously demonstrated in this lab to study chemical reactions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in cryogenic ices. The IR laser pulse tuned to resonantly excite only the upper H{sub 2}O ice layer (actor) generates a shockwave upon impact. This shockwave penetrates the lower analyte-containing D{sub 2}O ice layer (spectator, a non-absorbing ice that cannot be ablated directly with the wavelength of the IR laser employed) and is reflected back, ejecting the contents of the D{sub 2}O layer into the vacuum where they are intersected by a UV laser for ionization and detection by a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Thus, energy is transmitted from the laser-absorbing actor layer into the non-absorbing spectator layer resulting its ablation. We found that isotope cross-contamination between layers was negligible. We also did not see any evidence for thermal or collisional chemistry of PAH molecules with H{sub 2}O molecules in the shockwave. We call this “shockwave mediated surface resonance enhanced subsurface ablation” technique as “two-step laser ablation and ionization mass spectrometry of actor-spectator ice layers.” This method has its roots in the well-established MALDI (matrix assisted laser desorption and ionization) method. Our method offers more flexibility to optimize both the processes—ablation and ionization. This new technique can thus be potentially employed to undertake in situ analysis of materials imbedded in diverse media, such as cryogenic ices, biological samples, tissues, minerals, etc., by covered with an IR-absorbing laser ablation medium and study the chemical composition and reaction pathways of the analyte in its natural surroundings.« less

Ion cyclotron emission studies: Retrospects and prospects

DOE PAGES

Gorelenkov, N. N.

2016-06-05

Ion cyclotron emission (ICE) studies emerged in part from the papers by A.B. Mikhailovskii published in the 1970s. Among the discussed subjects were electromagnetic compressional Alfv,nic cyclotron instabilities with the linear growth rate similar ~ √(n α/n e) driven by fusion products, -particles which draw a lot of attention to energetic particle physics. The theory of ICE excited by energetic particles was significantly advanced at the end of the 20th century motivated by first DT experiments on TFTR and subsequent JET experimental studies which we highlight. Recently ICE theory was advanced by detailed theoretical and experimental studies on spherical torusmore » (ST) fusion devices where the instability signals previously indistinguishable in high aspect ratio tokamaks due to high toroidal magnetic field became the subjects of experiments. Finally, we discuss prospects of ICE theory applications for future burning plasma (BP) experiments such as those to be conducted in ITER device in France, where neutron and gamma rays escaping the plasma create extremely challenging conditions fusion alpha particle diagnostics.« less

Ion cyclotron emission studies: Retrospects and prospects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorelenkov, N. N.

2016-05-01

Ion cyclotron emission (ICE) studies emerged in part from the papers by A.B. Mikhailovskii published in the 1970s. Among the discussed subjects were electromagnetic compressional Alfvénic cyclotron instabilities with the linear growth rate √ {n_α /n_e } driven by fusion products, -particles which draw a lot of attention to energetic particle physics. The theory of ICE excited by energetic particles was significantly advanced at the end of the 20th century motivated by first DT experiments on TFTR and subsequent JET experimental studies which we highlight. More recently ICE theory was advanced by detailed theoretical and experimental studies on spherical torus (ST) fusion devices where the instability signals previously indistinguishable in high aspect ratio tokamaks due to high toroidal magnetic field became the subjects of experiments. We discuss further prospects of ICE theory applications for future burning plasma (BP) experiments such as those to be conducted in ITER device in France, where neutron and gamma rays escaping the plasma create extremely challenging conditions fusion alpha particle diagnostics.

Insights into the effects of patchy ice layers on water balance heterogeneity in peatlands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dixon, Simon; Kettridge, Nicholas; Devito, Kevin; Petrone, Rich; Mendoza, Carl; Waddington, Mike

2017-04-01

Peatlands in boreal and sub-arctic settings are characterised by a high degree of seasonality. During winter soils are frozen and snow covers the surface preventing peat moss growth. Conversely, in summer, soils unfreeze and rain and evapotranspiration drive moss productivity. Although advances have been made in understanding growing season water balance and moss dynamics in northern peatlands, there remains a gap in knowledge of inter-seasonal water balance as layers of ice break up during the spring thaw. Understanding the effects of ice layers on spring water balance is important as this coincides with periods of high wildfire risk, such as the devastating Fort McMurrary wildfire of May, 2016. We hypothesise that shallow layers of ice disconnect the growing surface of moss from a falling water table, and prevent water from being supplied from depth. A disconnect between the evaporating surface and deeper water storage will lead to the drying out of the surface layer of moss and a greater risk of severe spring wildfires. We utilise the unsaturated flow model Hydrus 2D to explore water balance in peat layers with an impermeable layer representing ice. Additionally we create models to represent the heterogeneous break up of ice layers observed in Canadian boreal peatlands; these models explore the ability of breaks in an ice layer to connect the evaporating surface to a deeper water table. Results show that peatlands with slower rates of moss growth respond to dry periods by limiting evapotranspiration and thus maintain moist conditions in the sub-surface and a water table above the ice layer. Peatlands which are more productive continue to grow moss and evaporate during dry periods; this results in the near surface mosses drying out and the water table dropping below the level of the ice. Where there are breaks in the ice layer the evaporating surface is able to maintain contact with a falling water table, but connectivity is limited to above the breaks, with limited lateral transfer of water above the ice. Conceptually this means that peatlands which tend to have lower rates of growth are largely unaffected by the presence of a shallow ice layer in the early growing season, and are able to maintain moist sub-surface conditions in the absence of precipitation. They will thus be more resistant to severe wildfire. Conversely, peatlands which tend towards higher levels of moss productivity are able to maintain moss growth during dry periods. In the presence of an ice layer this greater productivity leads to a disconnection from deep water sources, extensive drying out of moss above the ice, and a greater susceptibility to severe wildfires. Our study gives important insights into the mechanisms behind heterogeneity in burning and depth of burn in northern peatland wildfires, as well as into burn heterogeneity within peatland microtopography.

Modeling the processing of interstellar ices by energetic particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalvāns, J.; Shmeld, I.

2013-06-01

Context. Interstellar ice is the main form of metal species in dark molecular clouds. Experiments and observations have shown that the ice is significantly processed after the freeze-out of molecules onto grains. The processing is caused by cosmic-ray particles and cosmic-ray-induced UV photons. These transformations are included in current astrochemical models only to a very limited degree. Aims: We aim to establish a model of the "cold" chemistry in interstellar ices and to evaluate its general impact on the composition of interstellar ices. Methods: The ice was treated as consisting of two layers - the surface and the mantle (or subsurface) layer. Subsurface chemical processes are described with photodissociation of ice species and binary reactions on the surfaces of cavities inside the mantle. Hydrogen atoms and molecules can diffuse between the layers. We also included deuterium chemistry. Results: The modeling results show that the content of chemically bound H is reduced in subsurface molecules by about 30% on average. This promotes the formation of more hydrogen-poor species in the ice. The enrichment of ice molecules with deuterium is significantly reduced by the subsurface processes. On average, it follows the gas-phase atomic D/H abundance ratio, with a delay. The delay produced by the model is on the order of several Myr. Conclusions: The processing of ice may place new constraints on the production of deuterated species on grains. In a mantle with a two-layer structure the upper layer (CO) should be processed substantially more intensively than the lower layer (H2O). Chemical explosions in interstellar ice might not be an important process. They destroy the structure of the mantle, which forms over long timescales. Besides, ices may lack the high radical content needed for the explosions.

Importance of deep mixing and silicic acid in regulating phytoplankton biomass and community in the iron-limited Antarctic Polar Front region in summer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheah, Wee; Soppa, Mariana A.; Wiegmann, Sonja; Ossebaar, Sharyn; Laglera, Luis M.; Strass, Volker H.; Santos-Echeandía, Juan; Hoppema, Mario; Wolf-Gladrow, Dieter; Bracher, Astrid

2017-04-01

Phytoplankton community structure and their physiological response in the vicinity of the Antarctic Polar Front (APF; 44°S to 53°S, centred at 10°E) were investigated as part of the ANT-XXVIII/3 Eddy-Pump cruise conducted in austral summer 2012. Our results show that under iron-limited (< 0.3 μmolm-3) conditions, high total chlorophyll-a (TChl-a) concentrations (> 0.6 mgm-3) can be observed at stations with deep mixed layer (> 60 m) across the APF. In contrast, light was excessive at stations with shallower mixed layer and phytoplankton were producing higher amounts of photoprotective pigments, diadinoxanthin (DD) and diatoxanthin (DT), at the expense of TChl-a, resulting in higher ratios of (DD+DT)/TChl-a. North of the APF, significantly lower silicic acid (Si(OH)4) concentrations (< 2 mmolm-3) lead to the domination of nanophytoplankton consisting mostly of haptophytes, which produced higher ratios of (DD+DT)/TChl-a under relatively low irradiance conditions. The Si(OH)4 replete (> 5 mmolm-3) region south of the APF, on the contrary, was dominated by microphytoplankton (diatoms and dinoflagellates) with lower ratios of (DD+DT)/TChl-a, despite having been exposed to higher levels of irradiance. The significant correlation between nanophytoplankton and (DD+DT)/TChl-a indicates that differences in taxon-specific response to light are also influencing TChl-a concentration in the APF during summer. Our results reveal that provided mixing is deep and Si(OH)4 is replete, TChl-a concentrations higher than 0.6 mgm-3 are achievable in the iron-limited APF waters during summer.

The ocean mixed layer under Southern Ocean sea-ice: seasonal cycle and forcing.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Violaine, P.; Sallee, J. B.; Schmidtko, S.; Roquet, F.; Charrassin, J. B.

2016-02-01

The mixed-layer at the surface of the ocean is the gateway for all exchanges between air and sea. A vast area of the Southern Ocean is however seasonally capped by sea-ice, which alters this gateway and the characteristic the ocean mixed-layer. The interaction between the ocean mixed-layer and sea-ice plays a key role for water-mass formation and circulation, carbon cycle, sea-ice dynamics, and ultimately for the climate as a whole. However, the structure and characteristics of the mixed layer, as well as the processes responsible for its evolution, are poorly understood due to the lack of in-situ observations and measurements. We urgently need to better understand the forcing and the characteristics of the ocean mixed-layer under sea-ice if we are to understand and predict the world's climate. In this study, we combine a range of distinct sources of observation to overcome this lack in our understanding of the Polar Regions. Working on Elephant Seal-derived data as well as ship-based observations and Argo float data, we describe the seasonal cycle of the characteristics and stability of the ocean mixed layer over the entire Southern Ocean (South of 40°S), and specifically under sea-ice. Mixed-layer budgets of heat and freshwater are used to investigate the main forcings of the mixed-layer seasonal cycle. The seasonal variability of sea surface salinity and temperature are primarily driven by surface processes, dominated by sea-ice freshwater flux for the salt budget, and by air-sea flux for the heat budget. Ekman advection, vertical diffusivity and vertical entrainment play only secondary role.Our results suggest that changes in regional sea-ice distribution or sea-ice seasonal cycle duration, as currently observed, would widely affect the buoyancy budget of the underlying mixed-layer, and impacts large-scale water-mass formation and transformation.

Fossil Shorelines Record Multiple Sea Level Highstands and Surface Deformation on Million Year Timescales at Cape Range National Park, Northwestern Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sandstrom, R. M.; O'Leary, M.; Barham, M.; Cai, Y.; Jacome, A. P.; Raymo, M. E.

2015-12-01

Correcting fossil shorelines for vertical displacement subsequent to deposition is a vital consideration in estimating sea level and ice volume during past warm periods. Field observations of paleo-sea level indicators must be adjusted for local tectonic deformation, subsequent sediment loading, dynamic topography (DT), and glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA). Dynamic topography is often the most difficult of these corrections to determine, especially on million year timescales, but is essential when providing constraints on sea level and ice volume changes. GIA effects from high latitude ice sheets minimally impact northwestern Australia, making this region well suited for observing surface displacement due to mantle and tectonic processes. This study presents centimeter accuracy paleo-shoreline data from four distinct marine terraces in the Cape Range National Park, Australia, which document vertical displacement history along 100 kilometers of coastline. The mapped region has an anticlinal structure in the center that has been slowly uplifting the three older reef complexes over the Neogene, constraining the timing of deformation. These neotectonics are probably caused by reactivation of ancient fault zones normal to the principal horizontal compressive stress, resulting in the warping of overlaying units. The elevation data also suggests minimal vertical displacement since the last interglacial highstand. Well-preserved fossil coral were collected from each terrace and will be geochemically dated using Sr isotope and U-series dating methods. This dataset provides a better understanding of DT and neotectonic deformation in this region (useful for improving mantle viscosity models), and offers a means for improving past sea level reconstructions in northwestern Australia.

Influence of Sea Ice Crack Formation on the Spatial Distribution of Nutrients and Microalgae in Flooded Antarctic Multiyear Ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nomura, Daiki; Aoki, Shigeru; Simizu, Daisuke; Iida, Takahiro

2018-02-01

Cracks are common and natural features of sea ice formed in the polar oceans. In this study, a sea ice crack in flooded, multiyear, land-fast Antarctic sea ice was examined to assess its influence on biological productivity and the transport of nutrients and microalgae into the upper layers of neighboring sea ice. The water inside the crack and the surrounding host ice were characterized by a strong discoloration (brown color), an indicator of a massive algal bloom. Salinity and oxygen isotopic ratio measurements indicated that 64-84% of the crack water consisted of snow meltwater supplied during the melt season. Measurements of nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations within the slush layer pool (the flooded layer at the snow-ice interface) revealed the intrusion of water from the crack, likely forced by mixing with underlying seawater during the tidal cycle. Our results suggest that sea ice crack formation provides conditions favorable for algal blooms by directly exposing the crack water to sunlight and supplying nutrients from the under-ice water. Subsequently, constituents of the crack water modified by biological activity were transported into the upper layer of the flooded sea ice. They were then preserved in the multiyear ice column formed by upward growth of sea ice caused by snow ice formation in areas of significant snow accumulation.

The Role of Late Summer Melt Pond Water Layers in the Ocean Mixed Layer on Enhancing Ice/Ocean Albedo Feedbacks in the Arctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stanton, T. P.; Shaw, W. J.

2016-02-01

Drainage of surface melt pond water into the top of the ocean mixed layer is seen widely in the Arctic ice pack in later summer (for example Gallaher et al 2015). Under calm conditions, this fresh water forms a thin, stratified layer immediately below the ice which is dynamically decoupled from the thicker, underlying seasonal mixed layer by the density difference between the two layers. The ephemeral surface layer is significantly warmer than the underlying ocean water owing to the higher freezing temperature of the fresh melt water. How the presence of this warm ephemeral layer enhances basal melt rate and speeds the destruction of the floes is investigated. High resolution timeseries measurements of T/S profiles in the 2m of the ocean immediately below the ice, and eddy-correlation fluxes of heat, salt and momentum 2.5m below the ice were made from an Autonomous Ocean Flux Buoy over a 2 month interval in later summer of 2015 as a component of the ONR Marginal Ice Zone project. The stratification and turbulent forcing observations are used with a 1 D turbulence closure model to understand how momentum and incoming radiative energy are stored and redistributed within the ephemeral layer. Under low wind forcing conditions both turbulent mixing energy and the water with high departure from freezing are trapped in the ephemeral layer by the strong density gradient at the base of the layer, resulting in rapid basal melting. This case is contrasted with model runs where the ephemeral layer heat is allowed to mix across the seasonal mixed layer, which results in slower basal melt rates. Consequently, the salinity-trapped warm ephemeral layer results in the formation of more open water earlier in the summer season, in turn resulting in increased cumulative heating of the ocean mixed layer, enhancing ice/ocean albedo feedbacks.

High-Capacity Conductive Nanocellulose Paper Sheets for Electrochemically Controlled Extraction of DNA Oligomers

PubMed Central

Razaq, Aamir; Nyström, Gustav; Strømme, Maria; Mihranyan, Albert; Nyholm, Leif

2011-01-01

Highly porous polypyrrole (PPy)-nanocellulose paper sheets have been evaluated as inexpensive and disposable electrochemically controlled three-dimensional solid phase extraction materials. The composites, which had a total anion exchange capacity of about 1.1 mol kg−1, were used for extraction and subsequent release of negatively charged fluorophore tagged DNA oligomers via galvanostatic oxidation and reduction of a 30–50 nm conformal PPy layer on the cellulose substrate. The ion exchange capacity, which was, at least, two orders of magnitude higher than those previously reached in electrochemically controlled extraction, originated from the high surface area (i.e. 80 m2 g−1) of the porous composites and the thin PPy layer which ensured excellent access to the ion exchange material. This enabled the extractions to be carried out faster and with better control of the PPy charge than with previously employed approaches. Experiments in equimolar mixtures of (dT)6, (dT)20, and (dT)40 DNA oligomers showed that all oligomers could be extracted, and that the smallest oligomer was preferentially released with an efficiency of up to 40% during the reduction of the PPy layer. These results indicate that the present material is very promising for the development of inexpensive and efficient electrochemically controlled ion-exchange membranes for batch-wise extraction of biomolecules. PMID:22195031

Improvements in the chronology, geochemistry and correlation techniques of tephra in Antarctic ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iverson, N. A.; Dunbar, N. W.; McIntosh, W. C.; Pearce, N. J.; Kyle, P. R.

2013-12-01

Visible and crypto tephra layers found in West Antarctic ice provide an excellent record of Antarctic volcanism over the past 100ka. Tephra layers are deposited almost instantaneously across wide areas creating horizons that, if found in several locations, provide 'pinning points' to adjust ice time scales that may otherwise be lacking detailed chronology. Individual tephra layers can have distinct chemical fingerprints allowing them to correlate over great distances. Advances in sample preparation, geochemical analyses (major and trace elements) of fine grained tephra and higher precision 40Ar/39Ar dating of young (<100ka) proximal volcanic deposits are improving an already established tephra record in West Antarctica. Forty three of the potential hundreds of silicate layers found in a recently drilled deep West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide core (WDC06A) have been analyzed for major elements and a subset for trace elements. Of these layers, at least 16 are homogenous tephra that could be correlated to other ice cores (e.g. Siple Dome, SDMA) and/or to source volcanoes found throughout Antarctica and even extra-continental eruptions (e.g. Sub-Antarctic islands and South America). Combining ice core tephra with those exposed in blue ice areas provide more locations to correlate widespread eruptions. For example, a period of heightened eruptive activity at Mt. Berlin, West Antarctica between 24 and 28ka produced a set of tephra layers that are found in WDC06A and SDMA ice cores, as well as at a nearby blue ice area at Mt. Moulton (BIT-151 and BIT-152). Possible correlative tephra layers are found at ice ages of 26.4, 26.9 and 28.8ka in WDC06A and 26.5, 27.0, and 28.7ka in SDMA cores. The geochemical similarities of major elements in these layers mean that ongoing trace element analyses will be vital to decipher the sequence of events during this phase of activity at Mt. Berlin. Sample WDC06A-2767.117 (ice age of 28.6×1.0ka) appears to correlate to blue ice tephra BIT-152 and to tephra layer SDMA-5683 (ice age of 28.5ka). This tephra layer also appears to be present in blue ice at Mt. Terra Nova on Ross Island, 1400km away, suggesting that it may be a possible to link ice cores in East Antarctica (e.g. Talos Dome and Law Dome). The amount of feldspar in ice core tephra is typically too small to be directly dated by 40Ar/39Ar method, making it very important to geochemically correlate these layers to proximal deposits where more and larger feldspar can be sampled. The correlation of WDC06A-2767.117 to the coarse, proximal BIT-152 provides one such link. The New Mexico Geochronology Research Lab (NMGRL) has two new multi-collector ARGUS VI mass spectrometers that can provide single crystal laser fusion ages that are approximately an order of magnitude more precise than the previous determinations. With these advancements in analytical technology, we hope to improve precision on 'pinning points' in the deep ice cores where annual layer counting becomes less precise.

Phreatomagmatic eruptions under the West Antarctic Ice Sheet: potential hazard for ice sheet stability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iverson, N. A.; Dunbar, N. W.; Lieb-Lappen, R.; Kim, E. J.; Golden, E. J.; Obbard, R. W.

2014-12-01

Volcanic tephra layers have been seen in most ice cores in Antarctica. These tephra layers are deposited almost instantaneously across wide areas of ice sheets, creating horizons that can provide "pinning points" to adjust ice time scales that may otherwise be lacking detailed chronology. A combination of traditional particle morphology characterization by SEM with new non-destructive X-ray micro-computed tomography (Micro-CT) has been used to analyze selected coarse grained tephra in the West Antarctica Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide WDC06A ice core. Micro-CT has the ability to image particles as small as 50µm in length (15µm resolution), quantifying both particle shape and size. The WDC06A contains hundreds of dusty layers of which 36 have so far been identified as primary tephra layers. Two of these tephra layers have been characterized as phreatomagmatic eruptions based on SEM imagery and are blocky and platy in nature, with rare magmatic particles. These layers are strikingly different in composition from the typical phonolitic and trachytic tephra produced from West Antarctic volcanoes. These two layers are coarser in grain size, with many particles (including feldspar crystals) exceeding 100µm in length. One tephra layer found at 3149.138m deep in the ice core is a coarse ~1mm thick basanitic tephra layer with a WDC06-7 ice core age of 45,381±2000yrs. The second layer is a ~1.3 cm thick zoned trachyandesite to trachydacite tephra found at 2569.205m deep with an ice core age 22,470±835yrs. Micro-CT analysis shows that WDC06A-3149.138 has normal grading with the largest particles at the bottom of the sample (~160μm). WDC06A-2569.205 has a bimodal distribution of particles with large particles at the top and bottom of the layer. These large particles are more spherical in shape at the base and become more irregular and finer grained higher in the layer, likely showing changes in eruption dynamics. The distinct chemistry as well as the blocky and large grain size of the two tephra lead us to believe that these eruptions are from volcanoes proximal to WAIS Divide and did not transport far because neither tephra was observed in the Byrd core (<100km away). It is likely that these tephra are sourced from volcanoes beneath the WAIS and have since been buried and if they were to erupt again, may contribute to ice sheet instability.

Stratospheric effects on trends of mesospheric ice clouds (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luebken, F.; Baumgarten, G.; Berger, U.

2009-12-01

Ice layers in the summer mesosphere at middle and polar latitudes appear as `noctilucent clouds' (NLC) and `polar mesosphere clouds'(PMC) when observed by optical methods from the ground or from satellites, respectively. A newly developed model of the atmosphere called LIMA (Leibniz Institute Middle Atmosphere Model) nicely reproduces the mean conditions of the summer mesopause region and is used to study the ice layer morphology (LIMA/ice). LIMA nudges to ECMWF data in the troposphere and lower stratosphere which influences the background conditions in the mesosphere and ice cloud morphology. Since ice layer formation is very sensitive to the thermal structure of the mesopause region the morphology of NLC and PMC is frequently discussed in terms of long term variations. Model runs of LIMA/ice are now available for 1961 until 2008. A strong correlation between temperatures and PMC altitudes is observed. Applied to historical measurements this gives negligible temperature trends at PMC altitudes (approximately 0.01-0.02 K/y). Trace gas concentrations are kept constant in LIMA except for water vapor which is modified by variable solar radiation. Still, long term trends in temperatures and ice layer parameters are observed, consistent with observations. We present results regarding inter-annual variability of upper mesosphere temperatures, water vapor, and ice clouds, and also long term variations. We compare our model results with satellite borne and lidar observations including some record high NLC parameters measured in the summer season of 2009. The latitudinal dependence of trends and ice layer parameters is discussed, including a NH/SH comparison. We will present an explanation of the trends in the background atmosphere and ice layer parameters.

Raman lidar measurement of water vapor and ice clouds associated with Asian dust layer over Tsukuba, Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sakai, Tetsu; Nagai, Tomohiro; Nakazato, Masahisa; Matsumura, Takatsugu

2004-03-01

The vertical distributions of particle extinction, backscattering, depolarization, and water vapor mixing ratio were measured using a Raman lidar over Tsukuba (36.1°N, 140.1°E), Japan, on 23-24 April 2001. Ice clouds associated with the Asian dust layer were observed at an altitude of ~6-9 km. The relative humidities in the cloud layer were close to the ice saturation values and the temperature at the top of the cloud layer was ~-35°C, suggesting that the Asian dust acted as ice nuclei at the high temperatures. The meteorological analysis suggested that the ice-saturated region was formed near the top of the dust layer where the moist air ascended in slantwise fashion above the cold-frontal zone associated with extratropical cyclone.

The effect of under-ice melt ponds on their surroundings in the Arctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feltham, D. L.; Smith, N.; Flocco, D.

2016-12-01

In the summer months, melt water from the surface of the Arctic sea ice can percolate down through the ice and flow out of its base. This water is relatively warm and fresh compared to the ocean water beneath it, and so it floats between the ice and the oceanic mixed layer, forming pools of melt water called under-ice melt ponds. Sheets of ice, known as false bottoms, can subsequently form via double diffusion processes at the under-ice melt pond interface with the ocean, trapping the pond against the ice and completely isolating it from the ocean below. This has an insulating effect on the parent sea ice above the trapped pond, altering its rate of basal ablation. A one-dimensional, thermodynamic model of Arctic sea ice has been adapted to study the evolution of under-ice melt ponds and false bottoms over time. Comparing simulations of sea ice evolution with and without an under-ice melt pond provides a measure of how an under-ice melt pond affects the mass balance of the sea ice above it. Sensitivity studies testing the response of the model to a range of uncertain parameters have been performed, revealing some interesting implications of under-ice ponds during their life cycle. By changing the rate of basal ablation of the parent sea ice, and so the flux of fresh water and salt into the ocean, under-ice melt ponds affect the properties of the mixed layer beneath the sea ice. Our model of under-ice melt pond refreezing has been coupled to a simple oceanic mixed layer model to determine the effect on mixed layer depth, salinity and temperature.

Massive subsurface ice formed by refreezing of ice-shelf melt ponds

PubMed Central

Hubbard, Bryn; Luckman, Adrian; Ashmore, David W.; Bevan, Suzanne; Kulessa, Bernd; Kuipers Munneke, Peter; Philippe, Morgane; Jansen, Daniela; Booth, Adam; Sevestre, Heidi; Tison, Jean-Louis; O'Leary, Martin; Rutt, Ian

2016-01-01

Surface melt ponds form intermittently on several Antarctic ice shelves. Although implicated in ice-shelf break up, the consequences of such ponding for ice formation and ice-shelf structure have not been evaluated. Here we report the discovery of a massive subsurface ice layer, at least 16 km across, several kilometres long and tens of metres deep, located in an area of intense melting and intermittent ponding on Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica. We combine borehole optical televiewer logging and radar measurements with remote sensing and firn modelling to investigate the layer, found to be ∼10 °C warmer and ∼170 kg m−3 denser than anticipated in the absence of ponding and hitherto used in models of ice-shelf fracture and flow. Surface ponding and ice layers such as the one we report are likely to form on a wider range of Antarctic ice shelves in response to climatic warming in forthcoming decades. PMID:27283778

Testing low-mode symmetry control with low-adiabat, extended pulse-lengths in BigFoot implosions on the National Ignition Facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hohenberger, Matthias; Casey, D. T.; Thomas, C. A.; Baker, K. L.; Spears, B. K.; Khan, S. F.; Hurricane, O. A.; Callahan, D.

2017-10-01

The Bigfoot approach to indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) has been developed as a compromise trading high-convergence and areal densities for high implosion velocities, large adiabats and hydrodynamic stability. Shape control and predictability are maintained by using relatively short laser pulses and merging the shocks within the DT-ice layer. These design choices ultimately limit the theoretically achievable performance, and one strategy to increase the 1-D performance is to reduce the shell adiabat by extending the pulse shape. However, this can result in loss of low-mode symmetry control, as the hohlraum ``bubble,'' the high-Z material launched by the outer-cone beams during the early part of the laser pulse, has more time to expand and will eventually intercept inner-cone beams preventing them from reaching the hohlraum waist, thus losing equatorial capsule drive. We report on experimental results exploring shape control and predictability with extended pulse shapes in BigFoot implosions. Prepared by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

MRI Volume Fusion Based on 3D Shearlet Decompositions.

PubMed

Duan, Chang; Wang, Shuai; Wang, Xue Gang; Huang, Qi Hong

2014-01-01

Nowadays many MRI scans can give 3D volume data with different contrasts, but the observers may want to view various contrasts in the same 3D volume. The conventional 2D medical fusion methods can only fuse the 3D volume data layer by layer, which may lead to the loss of interframe correlative information. In this paper, a novel 3D medical volume fusion method based on 3D band limited shearlet transform (3D BLST) is proposed. And this method is evaluated upon MRI T2* and quantitative susceptibility mapping data of 4 human brains. Both the perspective impression and the quality indices indicate that the proposed method has a better performance than conventional 2D wavelet, DT CWT, and 3D wavelet, DT CWT based fusion methods.

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

Yang, Fan; Ovchinnikov, Mikhail; Shaw, Raymond A.

Lagrangian ice particle tracking is applied in both a 3-D time dependent velocity field produced by a Large Eddy Simulation cloud model and in a 2-D idealized field. It is found that more than 10% of ice particles have lifetimes longer than 1.5 hours, much longer than the large eddy turnover time or the time for a crystal to fall through the depth of a non-turbulent cloud. An analysis of trajectories in a 2-D idealized field shows that there are two types of long lifetime ice particles: quasi-steady and recycled growth. For quasi-steady growth, ice particles are suspended in themore » updraft velocity region for a long time. For recycled growth, ice particles are trapped in the large-eddy structures, and whether ice particles grow or evaporate depends on the ice relative humidity profile within the boundary layer. Some ice particles can grow after each cycle in the trapping region, until they are too large to be trapped, and thus have long lifetimes. The relative contribution of the recycled ice particles to the cloud mean ice water content depends on both the dynamic and thermodynamic properties of the mixing layer. In particular, the total ice water content of a mixed phase cloud in a decoupled boundary layer can be much larger than that in a fully coupled boundary layer.« less

Thermal evolution of the high-pressure ice layers beneath a buried ocean within Titan and Ganymede

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choblet, G.; Tobie, G.

2015-12-01

Deep interiors of massive icy satellites such as Titan and Ganymede probably harbor a buried ocean above high-pressure (HP) ice layers. The nature and location of the lower interface of the ocean is ultimately controlled by the amount of heat transferred through the surface ice Ih layer but it also involves equilibration of heat and melt transfer in the HP ices. While the Rayleigh number associated to such HP ice layers is most probably supercritical, classical subsolidus convection might not be a viable mechanism as the radial temperature gradient in the cold boundary layer is likely to exceed the slope of the melting curve. A significant part of the heat transfer could be achieved via the mass flux of warm liquid through this cold boundary layer up to the global phase boundary, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as heat-pipe mechanism. We present 3D spherical simulations of thermal convection in these HP ice layers that address for the first time this complex interplay. First, scaling relationships are proposed to describe this configuration for a large range of Rayleigh numbers and solidus curves. We then focus on a more realistic set-up where a prescribed basal heat flux is considered in a plausible range for the thermal history of Ganymede or Titan together with the expected viscosity law for HP ices.

Inferring Firn Permeability from Pneumatic Testing: A Case Study on the Greenland Ice Sheet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sommers, Aleah N.; Rajaram, Harihar; Weber, Eliezer P.; MacFerrin, Michael J.; Colgan, William T.; Stevens, C. Max

2017-03-01

Across the accumulation zone of the Greenland ice sheet, summer temperatures can be sufficiently warm to cause widespread melting, as was the case in July 2012 when the entire ice sheet experienced a brief episode of enhanced surface ablation. The resulting meltwater percolates into the firn and refreezes, to create ice lenses and layers within the firn column. This is an important process to consider when estimating the surface mass balance of the ice sheet. The rate of meltwater percolation depends on the permeability of the firn, a property that is not well constrained in the presence of refrozen ice layers and lenses. We present a novel, inexpensive method for measuring in-situ firn permeability using pneumatic testing, a well-established technique used in environmental engineering and hydrology. To illustrate the capabilities of this method, we estimate both horizontal and vertical permeability from pilot tests at six sites on the Greenland ice sheet: KAN-U, DYE-2, EKT, NASA-SE, Saddle, and EastGRIP. These sites cover a range of conditions from mostly dry firn (EastGRIP), to firn with several ice layers and lenses from refrozen meltwater (Saddle, NASA-SE, EKT), to firn with extensive ice layers (DYE-2 and KAN-U). The estimated permeability in firn without refrozen ice layers at EastGRIP agrees well with the range previously reported using an air permeameter to measure permeability through firn core samples at Summit, Greenland. At sites with ice lenses or layers, we find high degrees of anisotropy, with vertical permeability much lower than horizontal permeability. Pneumatic testing is a promising and low-cost technique for measuring firn permeability, particularly as meltwater production increases in the accumulation zone and ice layers and lenses from refrozen melt layers become more prevalent. In these initial proof-of-concept tests, the estimated permeabilities represent effective permeability at the meter scale. With appropriately higher vacuum pressures and more detailed monitoring, effective permeabilities over a larger scale may be quantified reliably, and multiple measurements during a season and across multiple years could improve understanding of the evolving firn structure and permeability. The technique is also suitable for broad application in Antarctica and other glaciers and ice caps.

How Gas Carves Channels

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-01-24

NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spies a layer of dry ice covering Mars south polar layer. In the spring, gas created from heating of the dry ice escapes through ruptures in the overlying seasonal ice, entraining material from the ground below. The gas erodes channels in the surface, generally exploiting weaker material. The ground likely started as polygonal patterned ground (common in water-ice-rich surfaces), and then escaping gas widened the channels. Fans of dark material are bits of the surface carried onto the top of the seasonal ice layer and deposited in a direction determined by local winds. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11706

An Expanded Analysis of Nitrogen Ice Convection in Sputnik Planum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Umurhan, Orkan M.; Lyra, Wladimir; Wong, Teresa; McKinnon, William B.; Nimmo, Francis; Howard, Alan D.; Moore, Jeffrey M.; Binzel, Richard; White, Oliver; Stern, S. Alan; Ennico, Kimberly; Olkin, Catherine B.; Weaver, Harold A.; Young, Leslie; New Horizons Geology and Geophysics Science Team

2016-10-01

The New Horizons close-encounter flyby of Pluto revealed 20-35 km scale ovoid patterns on the informally named Sputnik Planum. These features have been recently interpreted and shown to arise from the action of solid-state convection of (predominantly) nitrogen ice driven by Pluto's geothermal gradient. One of the major uncertainties in the convection physics centers on the temperature and grain-size dependency of nitrogen ice rheology, which has strong implications for the overturn times of the convecting ice. Assuming nitrogen ice in Sputnik Planum rests on a passive water ice bedrock that conducts Pluto's interior heat flux, and, given the uncertainty of the grain-size distribution of the nitrogen ice in Sputnik Planum, we examine a suite of two-dimensional convection models that take into account the thermal contact between the nitrogen ice layer and the conducting water-ice bedrock for a given emergent geothermal flux. We find for nitrogen ice layers several km deep, the emerging convection efficiently cools the nitrogen-ice water-ice bedrock interface resulting in temperature differences across the convecting layer of 10-20 K (at most) regardless of layer depth. For grain sizes ranging from 0.01 mm to 5 mm the resulting horizontal size to depth ratios of the emerging convection patterns go from 4:1 up to 6:1, suggesting that the nitrogen ice layer in Sputnik Planum may be anywhere between 3.5 and 8 km deep. Such depths are consistent with Sputnik Planum being a large impact basin (in a relative sense) analogous to Hellas on Mars. In this grain-size range we also find, (i) the calculated cell overturn times are anywhere from 1e4 to 5e5 yrs and, (ii) there is a distinct transition from steady state to time dependent convection.

Molecular simulations of heterogeneous ice nucleation. II. Peeling back the layers.

PubMed

Cox, Stephen J; Kathmann, Shawn M; Slater, Ben; Michaelides, Angelos

2015-05-14

Coarse grained molecular dynamics simulations are presented in which the sensitivity of the ice nucleation rate to the hydrophilicity of a graphene nanoflake is investigated. We find that an optimal interaction strength for promoting ice nucleation exists, which coincides with that found previously for a face centered cubic (111) surface. We further investigate the role that the layering of interfacial water plays in heterogeneous ice nucleation and demonstrate that the extent of layering is not a good indicator of ice nucleating ability for all surfaces. Our results suggest that to be an efficient ice nucleating agent, a surface should not bind water too strongly if it is able to accommodate high coverages of water.

Rapid Water Transport through Organic Layers on Ice.

PubMed

Kong, Xiangrui; Toubin, Céline; Habartova, Alena; Pluharova, Eva; Roeselova, Martina; Pettersson, Jan B C

2018-05-31

Processes involving atmospheric aerosol and cloud particles are affected by condensation of organic compounds that are omnipresent in the atmosphere. On ice particles, organic compounds with hydrophilic functional groups form hydrogen bonds with the ice and orient their hydrophobic groups away from the surface. The organic layer has been expected to constitute a barrier to gas uptake, but recent experimental studies suggest that the accommodation of water molecules on ice is only weakly affected by condensed short-chain alcohol layers. Here, we employ molecular dynamics simulations to study the water interactions with n-butanol covered ice at 200 K and show that the small effect of the condensed layer is due to efficient diffusion of water molecules along the surface plane while seeking appropriate sites to penetrate, followed by penetration driven by the combined attractive forces from butanol OH groups and water molecules within the ice. The water molecules that penetrate through the n-butanol layer become strongly bonded by approximately three hydrogen bonds at the butanol-ice interface. The obtained accommodation coefficient (0.81 ± 0.03) is in excellent agreement with results from previous environmental molecular beam experiments, leading to a picture where an adsorbed n-butanol layer does not alter the apparent accommodation coefficient but dramatically changes the detailed molecular dynamics and kinetics.

One hundred years of Arctic ice cover variations as simulated by a one-dimensional, ice-ocean model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hakkinen, S.; Mellor, G. L.

1990-09-01

A one-dimensional ice-ocean model consisting of a second moment, turbulent closure, mixed layer model and a three-layer snow-ice model has been applied to the simulation of Arctic ice mass and mixed layer properties. The results for the climatological seasonal cycle are discussed first and include the salt and heat balance in the upper ocean. The coupled model is then applied to the period 1880-1985, using the surface air temperature fluctuations from Hansen et al. (1983) and from Wigley et al. (1981). The analysis of the simulated large variations of the Arctic ice mass during this period (with similar changes in the mixed layer salinity) shows that the variability in the summer melt determines to a high degree the variability in the average ice thickness. The annual oceanic heat flux from the deep ocean and the maximum freezing rate and associated nearly constant minimum surface salinity flux did not vary significantly interannually. This also implies that the oceanic influence on the Arctic ice mass is minimal for the range of atmospheric variability tested.

Calculation of the effects of ice on the backscatter of a ground plane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lambert, K. M.; Peters, L., Jr.

1988-01-01

Described is a technique for examining the effect of a rough ice layer on the backscatter of a ground plane. The technique is applied to the special case of a rough ice layer that is periodic in space. By assuming that the roughness is periodic, the backscatter of the ground plane can be found from the backscatter of a single period. Backscatter calculations are presented for a single period in which the thickness of the ice layer has a Gaussian shape.

A comprehensive interpretation of the NEEM basal ice build-up using a multi-parametric approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goossens, Thomas; Sapart, Célia J.; Dahl-Jensen, Dorthe; Popp, Trevor; El Amri, Saïda; Tison, Jean-Louis

2016-03-01

Basal ice is a common expression to describe bottom ice layers of glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets in which the ice is primarily conditioned by processes operating at the bed. It is chemically and/or physically distinct from the ice above and can be characterized by a component of basally derived sediments. The study of basal ice properties provides a rare opportunity to improve our understanding of subglacial environments and processes and to refine ice sheet behaviour modelling. Here, we present and discuss the results of water stable isotopes (δ18O and δD), ice fabrics, debris weight/size distribution and gas content of the basal part of the NEEM (North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling Project) ice core. Below a depth of 2533.85 m, almost 10 m of basal debris-rich material was retrieved from the borehole, and regular occurrence of frozen sediments with only interstitial ice lenses in the bottom 5 m suggest that the ice-bedrock interface was reached. The sequence is composed of an alternation of three visually contrasting types of ice: clear ice with specks (very small amounts) of particulate inclusions, stratified debris-rich layers and ice containing dispersed debris. The use of water stable isotope signatures (δ18O and δD), together with other parameters, allows discrimination between the different types of ice and to unravel the processes involved in their formation and transformation. The basal debris-rich material presents δ18O values [-39.9 ‰; -34.4 ‰] within the range of the above last 300 m of unaltered meteoric ice [-44.9 ‰; -30.6 ‰] spanning a glacial-interglacial range of values. This rules out the hypothesis of a basal ice layer originating from pre-ice sheet ice overridden by the growing ice sheet, as previously suggested e.g. in the case of GRIP (Greenland Ice Core Project). We show that clear basal ice with specks corresponds to altered meteoric glacial ice where some of the climatic signal could have been preserved. However, the stratified debris-rich layers and the ice containing dispersed debris layers respectively express an "open" or "closed" system melting/refreezing signature, somewhat blurred by mixing processes in the upper part of the sequence. Climatic reconstruction is therefore prohibited from these ice types. We propose a first interpretative framework for the build-up of the NEEM basal ice sequence, based on the origin of the various ice types.

The influence of meridional ice transport on Europa's ocean stratification and heat content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Peiyun; Manucharyan, Georgy E.; Thompson, Andrew F.; Goodman, Jason C.; Vance, Steven D.

2017-06-01

Jupiter's moon Europa likely hosts a saltwater ocean beneath its icy surface. Geothermal heating and rotating convection in the ocean may drive a global overturning circulation that redistributes heat vertically and meridionally, preferentially warming the ice shell at the equator. Here we assess the previously unconstrained influence of ocean-ice coupling on Europa's ocean stratification and heat transport. We demonstrate that a relatively fresh layer can form at the ice-ocean interface due to a meridional ice transport forced by the differential ice shell heating between the equator and the poles. We provide analytical and numerical solutions for the layer's characteristics, highlighting their sensitivity to critical ocean parameters. For a weakly turbulent and highly saline ocean, a strong buoyancy gradient at the base of the freshwater layer can suppress vertical tracer exchange with the deeper ocean. As a result, the freshwater layer permits relatively warm deep ocean temperatures.

The influence of meridional ice transport on Europa's ocean stratification and heat content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, P.; Manucharyan, G.; Thompson, A. F.; Goodman, J. C.; Vance, S.

2017-12-01

Jupiter's moon Europa likely hosts a saltwater ocean beneath its icy surface. Geothermal heating and rotating convection in the ocean may drive a global overturning circulation that redistributes heat vertically and meridionally, preferentially warming the ice shell at the equator. Here we assess thepreviously unconstrained influence of ocean-ice coupling on Europa's ocean stratification and heat transport. We demonstrate that a relatively fresh layer can form at the ice-ocean interface due to a meridional ice transport forced by the differential ice shell heating between the equator and the poles. We provide analytical and numerical solutions for the layer's characteristics, highlighting their sensitivity to critical ocean parameters. For a weakly turbulent and highly saline ocean, a strong buoyancy gradient at the base of the freshwater layer can suppress vertical tracer exchange with the deeper ocean. As a result, the freshwater layer permits relatively warm deep ocean temperatures.

Multiple Experimental Platform Consistency at NIF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benedetti, L. R.; Barrios, M. A.; Bradley, D. K.; Eder, D. C.; Khan, S. F.; Izumi, N.; Jones, O. S.; Ma, T.; Nagel, S. R.; Peterson, J. L.; Rygg, J. R.; Spears, B. K.; Town, R. P.

2013-10-01

ICF experiments at NIF utilize several platforms to assess different metrics of implosion quality. In addition to the point design-a target capsule of DT ice inside a thin plastic ablator-notable platforms include: (i) Symmetry Capsules(SymCaps), mass-adjusted CH capsules filled with DT gas for similar hydrodynamic performance without the need for a DT crystal; (ii) D:3He filled SymCaps, designed for low neutron yield implosions to accommodate a variety of x-ray and optical diagnostics; and (iii) Convergent Ablators, SymCaps coupled with x-radiography to assess in-flight velocity and symmetry of the implosion over ~1 ns before stagnation and burn. These platforms are expected to be good surrogates for one another, and their hohlraum and implosion performance variations have been simulated in detail. By comparing results of similar experiments, we isolate platform-specific variations. We focus on the symmetry, convergence, and timing of x-ray emission as observed in each platform as this can be used to infer stagnation pressure and temperature. This work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Dept. of Energy by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. LLNL-ABS-640865.

Fundamental Research on Heat Transfer Characteristics in Shell & Tube Type Ice Forming Cold Energy Storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saito, Akio; Utaka, Yoshio; Okawa, Seiji; Ishibashi, Hiroaki

Investigation of heat transfer characteristics in an ice making cold energy storage using a set of horizontal cooling pipes was carried out experimentally. Cooling pipe arrangement, number of pipes used and initial water temperature were varied, and temperature distribution in the tank and the volume of ice formed around the pipe were measured. Natural convection was also observed visually. During the experiment, two kinds of layers were observed. One is the layer where ice forming is interfered by natural convection and its temperature decreases rapidly with an almost uniform temperature distribution, and the other is the layer where ice forms steadily under a stagnant water condition. The former was called that the layer is under a cooling process and the latter that the layer is under an ice forming process. The effect of the experimental parameters, such as the arrangement of the cooling pipes, the number of pipes, the initial water temperature and the flow rate of the cooling medium, on the cooling process and the ice forming process were discussed. Approximate analysis was also carried out and compared with the experimental results. Finally, the relationship between the ice packing factor, which is significant in preventing the blockade, and experimental parameters was discussed.

Onset and localisation of convection during transient growth of mushy sea ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wells, Andrew; Hitchen, Joe

2017-11-01

More than 20 million square kilometres of the polar oceans freeze over each year to form sea ice. Sea ice is a mushy layer: a reactive, porous, multiphase material consisting of ice crystals bathed in liquid brine. Atmospheric cooling generates a density gradient in the interstitial brine, which can drive convection and rejection of brine from the sea ice to force ocean circulation and mixing. We use linear stability analysis and nonlinear numerical simulations to consider the convection in a transiently growing mushy layer. An initial salt water layer is cooled from above via a linearised thermal exchange with the atmosphere, and generates a growing mushy layer with the porosity varying in space and time. We determine how the critical porous-medium Rayleigh number for the onset of convection varies with the surface cooling rate, and the initial temperature and salinity of the solidifying salt water. Differences in the cooling conditions modify the structure of the ice and the resulting convection cells. Weak cooling leads to full-depth convection through ice with slowly varying porosity, whilst stronger cooling leads to localised convection confined to a highly permeable basal layer. These results provide insight into the onset of convective brine drainage from growing sea ice.

Fluorinated benzothiadiazole-based conjugated polymers for high-performance polymer solar cells without any processing additives or post-treatments.

PubMed

Wang, Ning; Chen, Zheng; Wei, Wei; Jiang, Zhenhua

2013-11-13

Thanks to their many favorable advantages, polymer solar cells exhibit great potential for next-generation clean energy sources. Herein, we have successfully designed and synthesized a series of new fluorinated benzothiadiazole-based conjugated copolymers PBDT(TEH)-DT(H)BTff (P1), PBDT(TEH)-DT(EH)BTff (P2), and PBDT(HDO)-DT(H)BTff (P3). The power conversion efficiencies of 4.46, 6.20, and 8.30% were achieved for P1-, P2-, and P3-based devices within ~100 nm thickness active layers under AM 1.5G illumination without any processing additives or post-treatments, respectively. The PCE of 8.30% for P3 is the highest value for the reported traditional single-junction polymer solar cells via a simple fabrication architecture without any additives or post-treatments. In addition, it is noteworthy that P3 also allows making high efficient polymer solar cells with high PCEs of 7.27 and 6.56% under the same condition for ~200 and ~300 nm thickness active layers, respectively. Excellent photoelectric properties and good solubility make polymer P3 become an alternative material for high-performance polymer solar cells.

Modeling of Ice Flow and Internal Layers Along a Flow Line Through Swiss Camp in West Greenland

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, W. L.; Zwally, H. Jay; Abdalati, W.; Luo, S.; Koblinsky, Chester J. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

An anisotropic ice flow line model is applied to a flow line through Swiss Camp (69.57 N, 49.28 W) in West Greenland to estimate the dates of internal layers detected by Radio-Echo Sounding measurements. The effect of an anisotropic ice fabric on ice flow is incorporated into the steady state flow line model. The stress-strain rate relationship for anisotropic ice is characterized by an enhancement factor based on the laboratory observations of ice deformation under combined compression and shear stresses. By using present-day data of accumulation rate, surface temperature, surface elevation and ice thickness along the flow line as model inputs, a very close agreement is found between the isochrones generated from the model and the observed internal layers with confirmed dates. The results indicate that this part of Greenland ice sheet is primarily in steady state.

Multidiscipline Optimization of Aircraft Structures for FAA Certification.

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-09-01

Remote Services Br wser UNIX Workstatigo Lcpwrl e lients --- Intenet , CADIGOLDI/MIDAS - ~ ~A HAplir MDO IPT Clients 4~A Dt’I4P SHA plir Figure 5...Once the technology and general shape of the structure is selected, trade off studies are used to select the best affordable architecture. Trade -offs...architecture Make trade -oft, Define diagnostics SYSTEMS ENGINEERING MDO ENGINEERING LSypprt •MANAGEMENT SCIENCES’ LOCKHEED-MARTIN’S REALITY TOOLSET PR ICE

A Large Eddy Simulation Study of Heat Entrainment under Sea Ice in the Canadian Arctic Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramudu, E.; Yang, D.; Gelderloos, R.; Meneveau, C. V.; Gnanadesikan, A.

2016-12-01

Sea ice cover in the Arctic has declined rapidly in recent decades. The much faster than projected retreat suggests that climate models may be missing some key processes, or that these processes are not accurately represented. The entrainment of heat from the mixed layer by small-scale turbulence is one such process. In the Canadian Basin of the Arctic Ocean, relatively warm Pacific Summer Water (PSW) resides at the base of the mixed layer. With an increasing influx of PSW, the upper ocean in the Canadian Basin has been getting warmer and fresher since the early 2000s. While studies show a correlation between sea ice reduction and an increase in PSW temperature, others argue that PSW intrusions in the Canadian Basin cannot affect sea ice thickness because the strongly-stratified halocline prevents heat from the PSW layer from being entrained into the mixed layer and up to the basal ice surface. In this study, we try to resolve this conundrum by simulating the turbulent entrainment of heat from the PSW layer to a moving basal ice surface using large eddy simulation (LES). The LES model is based on a high-fidelity spectral approach on horizontal planes, and includes a Lagrangian dynamic subgrid model that reduces the need for empirical inputs for subgrid-scale viscosities and diffusivities. This LES tool allows us to investigate physical processes in the mixed layer at a very fine scale. We focus our study on summer conditions, when ice is melting, and show for a range of ice-drift velocities, halocline temperatures, and halocline salinity gradients characteristic of the Canadian Basin how much heat can be entrained from the PSW layer to the sea ice. Our results can be used to improve parameterizations of vertical heat flux under sea ice in coarse-grid ocean and climate models.

Modeling the interplay between sea ice formation and the oceanic mixed layer: Limitations of simple brine rejection parameterizations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barthélemy, Antoine; Fichefet, Thierry; Goosse, Hugues; Madec, Gurvan

2015-02-01

The subtle interplay between sea ice formation and ocean vertical mixing is hardly represented in current large-scale models designed for climate studies. Convective mixing caused by the brine release when ice forms is likely to prevail in leads and thin ice areas, while it occurs in models at the much larger horizontal grid cell scale. Subgrid-scale parameterizations have hence been developed to mimic the effects of small-scale convection using a vertical distribution of the salt rejected by sea ice within the mixed layer, instead of releasing it in the top ocean layer. Such a brine rejection parameterization is included in the global ocean-sea ice model NEMO-LIM3. Impacts on the simulated mixed layers and ocean temperature and salinity profiles, along with feedbacks on the sea ice cover, are then investigated in both hemispheres. The changes are overall relatively weak, except for mixed layer depths, which are in general excessively reduced compared to observation-based estimates. While potential model biases prevent a definitive attribution of this vertical mixing underestimation to the brine rejection parameterization, it is unlikely that the latter can be applied in all conditions. In that case, salt rejections do not play any role in mixed layer deepening, which is unrealistic. Applying the parameterization only for low ice-ocean relative velocities improves model results, but introduces additional parameters that are not well constrained by observations.

Modelling the interplay between sea ice formation and the oceanic mixed layer: limitations of simple brine rejection parameterizations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barthélemy, Antoine; Fichefet, Thierry; Goosse, Hugues; Madec, Gurvan

2015-04-01

The subtle interplay between sea ice formation and ocean vertical mixing is hardly represented in current large-scale models designed for climate studies. Convective mixing caused by the brine release when ice forms is likely to prevail in leads and thin ice areas, while it occurs in models at the much larger horizontal grid cell scale. Subgrid-scale parameterizations have hence been developed to mimic the effects of small-scale convection using a vertical distribution of the salt rejected by sea ice within the mixed layer, instead of releasing it in the top ocean layer. Such a brine rejection parameterization is included in the global ocean--sea ice model NEMO-LIM3. Impacts on the simulated mixed layers and ocean temperature and salinity profiles, along with feedbacks on the sea ice cover, are then investigated in both hemispheres. The changes are overall relatively weak, except for mixed layer depths, which are in general excessively reduced compared to observation-based estimates. While potential model biases prevent a definitive attribution of this vertical mixing underestimation to the brine rejection parameterization, it is unlikely that the latter can be applied in all conditions. In that case, salt rejections do not play any role in mixed layer deepening, which is unrealistic. Applying the parameterization only for low ice--ocean relative velocities improves model results, but introduces additional parameters that are not well constrained by observations.

Treatment of TNT red water by layer melt crystallization.

PubMed

Jo, Jeong-Hyeon; Ernest, Takyi; Kim, Kwang-Joo

2014-09-15

Treatment of the red water, which is wastewater of 2,4,6- trinitrotoluene (TNT) manufacturing process has been explored using ice crystallization. This study focuses on the formation of ice crystals from the red water in a layer crystallizer under various operating conditions. Among the parameters which affect layer crystallization, attention was given to cooling rate, cooling temperature, sweating rate and concentration of the red water. The study highlights the effect of subcooling and growth rate on purity of the ice crystalline layers produced. After sweating, the COD value of crystalline ice layer was significantly reduced from 10,000 mg/L to below 20mg/L. Most organic contaminants were removed in sweating fractions of 0.5. Eventually, the red water was treated by layer crystallization combined with the sweating process. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Influence of Subglacial Hydrology on Ice Stream Velocity in a Physical Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagman, B. M.; Catania, G.; Buttles, J. L.

2011-12-01

We use a physical model to investigate how changes in subglacial hydrology affect ice motion in ice streams found in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Ice streams are modeled using silicone polymer placed over a thin water layer to simulate ice flow dominated by basal sliding. Dynamic similarity between modeled and natural ice streams is achieved through direct comparison of the glacier force balance using the conditions on Whillans Ice Stream (WIS) as our goal.This ice stream has a force balance that has evolved through time due to increased basal resistance. Currently, between 50-90% of the driving stress is supported by the ice stream shear margins [Stearns et al., JGlac 2005]. A similar force balance can be achieved in our model with a surface slope of 0.025. We test two hypotheses; 1) the distribution and thickness of the subglacial water layer influences the ice flow speed and thus the force balance and can reproduce the observed slowdown of WIS and; 2) shear margins are locations where transitions in water layer thickness occur.

The influence of Lifshitz forces and gas on premelting of ice within porous materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boström, M.; Malyi, O. I.; Thiyam, P.; Berland, K.; Brevik, I.; Persson, C.; Parsons, D. F.

2016-07-01

Premelting of ice within pores in earth materials is shown to depend on the presence of vapor layers. For thick vapor layers between ice and pore surfaces, a nanosized water sheet can be formed due to repulsive Lifshitz forces. In the absence of vapor layers, ice is inhibited from melting near pore surfaces. In between these limits, we find an enhancement of the water film thickness in silica and alumina pores. In the presence of metallic surface patches in the pore, the Lifshitz forces can dramatically widen the water film thickness, with potential complete melting of the ice surface.

Multi-Decadal Averages of Basal Melt for Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica Using Airborne Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Das, I.; Bell, R. E.; Tinto, K. J.; Frearson, N.; Kingslake, J.; Padman, L.; Siddoway, C. S.; Fricker, H. A.

2017-12-01

Changes in ice shelf mass balance are key to the long term stability of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Although the most extensive ice shelf mass loss currently is occurring in the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica, many other ice shelves experience changes in thickness on time scales from annual to ice age cycles. Here, we focus on the Ross Ice Shelf. An 18-year record (1994-2012) of satellite radar altimetry shows substantial variability in Ross Ice Shelf height on interannual time scales, complicating detection of potential long-term climate-change signals in the mass budget of this ice shelf. Variability of radar signal penetration into the ice-shelf surface snow and firn layers further complicates assessment of mass changes. We investigate Ross Ice Shelf mass balance using aerogeophysical data from the ROSETTA-Ice surveys using IcePod. We use two ice-penetrating radars; a 2 GHz unit that images fine-structure in the upper 400 m of the ice surface and a 360 MHz radar to identify the ice shelf base. We have identified internal layers that are continuous along flow from the grounding line to the ice shelf front. Based on layer continuity, we conclude that these layers must be the horizons between the continental ice of the outlet glaciers and snow accumulation once the ice is afloat. We use the Lagrangian change in thickness of these layers, after correcting for strain rates derived using modern day InSAR velocities, to estimate multidecadal averaged basal melt rates. This method provides a novel way to quantify basal melt, avoiding the confounding impacts of spatial and short-timescale variability in surface accumulation and firn densification processes. Our estimates show elevated basal melt rates (> -1m/yr) around Byrd and Mullock glaciers within 100 km from the ice shelf front. We also compare modern InSAR velocity derived strain rates with estimates from the comprehensive ground-based RIGGS observations during 1973-1978 to estimate the potential magnitude of strain-driven thickness changes over four decades. Combining maps of basal melt rate with radar derived basal reflectivity, we identify regions that are undergoing melting and freezing and provide a comprehensive understanding of how ocean processes may be changing the base of Ross Ice Shelf in recent decades.

Satellite Data Analysis of Impact of Anthropogenic Air Pollution on Ice Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Y.; Liou, K. N.; Zhao, B.; Jiang, J. H.; Su, H.

2017-12-01

Despite numerous studies about the impact of aerosols on ice clouds, the role of anthropogenic aerosols in ice processes, especially over pollution regions, remains unclear and controversial, and has not been considered in a regional model. The objective of this study is to improve our understanding of the ice process associated with anthropogenic aerosols, and provide a comprehensive assessment of the contribution of anthropogenic aerosols to ice nucleation, ice cloud properties, and the consequent regional radiative forcing. As the first attempt, we evaluate the effects of different aerosol types (mineral dust, air pollution, polluted dust, and smoke) on ice cloud micro- and macro-physical properties using satellite data. We identify cases with collocated CloudSat, CALIPSO, and Aqua observations of vertically resolved aerosol and cloud properties, and process these observations into the same spatial resolution. The CALIPSO's aerosol classification algorithm determines aerosol layers as one of six defined aerosol types by taking into account the lidar depolarization ratio, integrated attenuated backscattering, surface type, and layer elevation. We categorize the cases identified above according to aerosol types, collect relevant aerosol and ice cloud variables, and determine the correlation between column/layer AOD and ice cloud properties for each aerosol type. Specifically, we investigate the correlation between aerosol loading (indicated by the column AOD and layer AOD) and ice cloud microphysical properties (ice water content, ice crystal number concentration, and ice crystal effective radius) and macro-physical properties (ice water path, ice cloud fraction, cloud top temperature, and cloud thickness). By comparing the responses of ice cloud properties to aerosol loadings for different aerosol types, we infer the role of different aerosol types in ice nucleation and the evolution of ice clouds. Our preliminary study shows that changes in the ice crystal effective radius with respect to AOD over Eastern Asia for the aerosol types of polluted continental and mineral dust look similar, implying that both air pollution and mineral dust could affect the microphysical properties of ice clouds.

Antarctic ice sheet thickness estimation using the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio method with single-station seismic ambient noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Peng; Li, Zhiwei; Li, Fei; Yang, Yuande; Hao, Weifeng; Bao, Feng

2018-03-01

We report on a successful application of the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (H / V) method, generally used to investigate the subsurface velocity structures of the shallow crust, to estimate the Antarctic ice sheet thickness for the first time. Using three-component, five-day long, seismic ambient noise records gathered from more than 60 temporary seismic stations located on the Antarctic ice sheet, the ice thickness measured at each station has comparable accuracy to the Bedmap2 database. Preliminary analysis revealed that 60 out of 65 seismic stations on the ice sheet obtained clear peak frequencies (f0) related to the ice sheet thickness in the H / V spectrum. Thus, assuming that the isotropic ice layer lies atop a high velocity half-space bedrock, the ice sheet thickness can be calculated by a simple approximation formula. About half of the calculated ice sheet thicknesses were consistent with the Bedmap2 ice thickness values. To further improve the reliability of ice thickness measurements, two-type models were built to fit the observed H / V spectrum through non-linear inversion. The two-type models represent the isotropic structures of single- and two-layer ice sheets, and the latter depicts the non-uniform, layered characteristics of the ice sheet widely distributed in Antarctica. The inversion results suggest that the ice thicknesses derived from the two-layer ice models were in good concurrence with the Bedmap2 ice thickness database, and that ice thickness differences between the two were within 300 m at almost all stations. Our results support previous finding that the Antarctic ice sheet is stratified. Extensive data processing indicates that the time length of seismic ambient noise records can be shortened to two hours for reliable ice sheet thickness estimation using the H / V method. This study extends the application fields of the H / V method and provides an effective and independent way to measure ice sheet thickness in Antarctica.

Effects of Hot-Spot Geometry on Backscattering and Down-Scattering Neutron Spectra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohamed, Z. L.; Mannion, O. M.; Forrest, C. J.; Knauer, J. P.; Anderson, K. S.; Radha, P. B.

2017-10-01

The measured neutron spectrum produced by a fusion experiment plays a key role in inferring observable quantities. One important observable is the areal density of an implosion, which is inferred by measuring the scattering of neutrons. This project seeks to use particle-transport simulations to model the effects of hot-spot geometry on backscattering and down-scattering neutron spectra along different lines of sight. Implosions similar to those conducted at the Laboratory of Laser Energetics are modeled by neutron transport through a DT plasma and a DT ice shell using the particle transport codes MCNP and IRIS. Effects of hot-spot geometry are obtained by ``detecting'' scattered neutrons along different lines of sight. This process is repeated for various hot-spot geometries representing known shape distortions between the hot spot and the shell. This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration under Award Number DE-NA0001944.

A GCM Recent History of Northern Martian Polar Layered Deposits: Contribution from Past Equatorial Ice Reservoirs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levrard, B.; Laskar, J.; Montmessin, F.; Forget, F.

2005-01-01

Polar layered deposits are exposed in the walls of the troughs cutting the north polar cap of Mars. They consist of alternating ice and dust layers or layers of an ice-dust mixture with varying proportions and are found throughout the cap. Layers thickness ranges from meters to several tens of meters with an approximately 30 meter dominant wavelength. Although their formation processes is not known, they are presumed to reflect changes in ice and dust stability over orbital and axial variations. Intensive 3-D LMD GCM simulations of the martian water cycle have been thus performed to determine the annual rates of exchange of surface ice between the northern cap and tropical areas for a wide range of obliquity and orbital parameters values.These rates have been employed to reconstruct an history of the northern cap and test simple models of dust-ice layers formation over the last 10 Ma orbital variations. We use the 3-D water cycle model simulated by the 3-D LMD GCM with an intermediate grid resolution (7.5 longitude x 5.625 latitude) and 25 vertical levels. The dust opacity is constant and set to 0,15. No exchange of ice with regolith is allowed. The evolution of the northern cap over obliquity and orbital changes (eccentricity, Longitude of perihelion) has been recently described with this model. High summer insolation favors transfer of ice from the northern pole to the Tharsis and Olympus Montes, while at low obliquity, unstable equatorial ice is redeposited in high-latitude and polar areas of both hemisphere. The disappearance of the equatorial ice reservoir leads to a poleward recession of icy high latitude reservoirs, providing an additional source for the cap accumulation during each obliquity or orbital cycle. Furthering the efforts, a quantitative evolution of ice reservoirs is here investigated for various astronomical conditions.

The impact of aerosol vertical distribution on aerosol optical depth retrieval using CALIPSO and MODIS data: Case study over dust and smoke regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Yerong; de Graaf, Martin; Menenti, Massimo

2017-08-01

Global quantitative aerosol information has been derived from MODerate Resolution Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MODIS) observations for decades since early 2000 and widely used for air quality and climate change research. However, the operational MODIS Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) products Collection 6 (C6) can still be biased, because of uncertainty in assumed aerosol optical properties and aerosol vertical distribution. This study investigates the impact of aerosol vertical distribution on the AOD retrieval. We developed a new algorithm by considering dynamic vertical profiles, which is an adaptation of MODIS C6 Dark Target (C6_DT) algorithm over land. The new algorithm makes use of the aerosol vertical profile extracted from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) measurements to generate an accurate top of the atmosphere (TOA) reflectance for the AOD retrieval, where the profile is assumed to be a single layer and represented as a Gaussian function with the mean height as single variable. To test the impact, a comparison was made between MODIS DT and Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) AOD, over dust and smoke regions. The results show that the aerosol vertical distribution has a strong impact on the AOD retrieval. The assumed aerosol layers close to the ground can negatively bias the retrievals in C6_DT. Regarding the evaluated smoke and dust layers, the new algorithm can improve the retrieval by reducing the negative biases by 3-5%.

Arctic springtime observations of volatile organic compounds during the OASIS-2009 campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hornbrook, Rebecca S.; Hills, Alan J.; Riemer, Daniel D.; Abdelhamid, Aroob; Flocke, Frank M.; Hall, Samuel R.; Huey, L. Gregory; Knapp, David J.; Liao, Jin; Mauldin, Roy L.; Montzka, Denise D.; Orlando, John J.; Shepson, Paul B.; Sive, Barkley; Staebler, Ralf M.; Tanner, David. J.; Thompson, Chelsea R.; Turnipseed, Andrew; Ullmann, Kirk; Weinheimer, Andrew J.; Apel, Eric C.

2016-08-01

Gas-phase volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured at three vertical levels between 0.6 m and 5.4 m in the Arctic boundary layer in Barrow, Alaska, for the Ocean-Atmosphere-Sea Ice-Snowpack (OASIS)-2009 field campaign during March-April 2009. C4-C8 nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) and oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs), including alcohols, aldehydes, and ketones, were quantified multiple times per hour, day and night, during the campaign using in situ fast gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Three canister samples were also collected daily and subsequently analyzed for C2-C5 NMHCs. The NMHCs and aldehydes demonstrated an overall decrease in mixing ratios during the experiment, whereas acetone and 2-butanone showed increases. Calculations of time-integrated concentrations of Br atoms, ∫[Br]dt, yielded values as high as (1.34 ± 0.27) × 1014 cm-3 s during the longest observed ozone depletion event (ODE) of the campaign and were correlated with the steady state Br calculated at the site during this time. Both chlorine and bromine chemistry contributed to the large perturbations on the production and losses of VOCs. Notably, acetaldehyde, propanal, and butanal mixing ratios dropped below the detection limit of the instrument (3 parts per trillion by volume (pptv) for acetaldehyde and propanal, 2 pptv for butanal) during several ODEs due to Br chemistry. Chemical flux calculations of OVOC production and loss are consistent with localized high Cl-atom concentrations either regionally or within a very shallow surface layer, while the deeper Arctic boundary layer provides a continuous source of precursor alkanes to maintain the OVOC mixing ratios.

Surface Texturing-Plasma Nitriding Duplex Treatment for Improving Tribological Performance of AISI 316 Stainless Steel

PubMed Central

Lin, Naiming; Liu, Qiang; Zou, Jiaojuan; Guo, Junwen; Li, Dali; Yuan, Shuo; Ma, Yong; Wang, Zhenxia; Wang, Zhihua; Tang, Bin

2016-01-01

Surface texturing-plasma nitriding duplex treatment was conducted on AISI 316 stainless steel to improve its tribological performance. Tribological behaviors of ground 316 substrates, plasma-nitrided 316 (PN-316), surface-textured 316 (ST-316), and duplex-treated 316 (DT-316) in air and under grease lubrication were investigated using a pin-on-disc rotary tribometer against counterparts of high carbon chromium bearing steel GCr15 and silicon nitride Si3N4 balls. The variations in friction coefficient, mass loss, and worn trace morphology of the tested samples were systemically investigated and analyzed. The results showed that a textured surface was formed on 316 after electrochemical processing in a 15 wt % NaCl solution. Grooves and dimples were found on the textured surface. As plasma nitriding was conducted on a 316 substrate and ST-316, continuous and uniform nitriding layers were successfully fabricated on the surfaces of the 316 substrate and ST-316. Both of the obtained nitriding layers presented thickness values of more than 30 μm. The nitriding layers were composed of iron nitrides and chromium nitride. The 316 substrate and ST-316 received improved surface hardness after plasma nitriding. When the tribological tests were carried out under dry sliding and grease lubrication conditions, the tested samples showed different tribological behaviors. As expected, the DT-316 samples revealed the most promising tribological properties, reflected by the lowest mass loss and worn morphologies. The DT-316 received the slightest damage, and its excellent tribological performance was attributed to the following aspects: firstly, the nitriding layer had high surface hardness; secondly, the surface texture was able to capture wear debris, store up grease, and then provide continuous lubrication. PMID:28773996

Modelling ion cyclotron emission from KSTAR tokamak and LHD helical device plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dendy, Richard; Chapman, Ben; Reman, Bernard; Chapman, Sandra; Akiyama, Tsuyoshi; Yun, Gunsu

2017-10-01

New high quality measurements of ion cyclotron emission (ICE) from KSTAR and LHD greatly extend the scope and diversity of plasma conditions under which ICE is observed. Variables include the origin (fusion reactions or neutral beam injection) and energy (sub- or super-Alfvénic) of the minority energetic ions that drive ICE; the composition of the bulk plasma (hydrogen or deuterium) which supports the modes excited; plasma density in the emitting region, and the timescale on which it changes; and toroidal magnetic field geometry (tokamak or helical device). Future exploitation of ICE as a diagnostic for energetic ion populations in JET D-T plasmas and in ITER rests on quantitative understanding of the physics of the emission. This is tested and extended by current KSTAR and LHD measurements of ICE. We report progress on direct numerical simulation using full orbit ion kinetic codes that solve the Maxwell-Lorentz equations for hundreds of millions of particles. In the saturated regime, these simulations yield excited field spectra that correspond directly to the measured ICE spectra under diverse KSTAR and LHD regimes. At early times, comparison of simulation outputs with linear analytical theory confirms the magnetoacoustic cyclotron instability as the basic driver of ICE. Supported by RCUK Energy Programme Grant EP/P012450/1, NRF Korea Grant 2014M1A7A1A03029881, NIFS budget ULHH029 and Euratom.

Are annual layers preserved in NorthGRIP Eemian ice?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kettner, E.; Bigler, M.; Nielsen, M. E.; Steffensen, J. P.; Svensson, A.

2009-04-01

A newly developed setup for continuous flow analysis (CFA) of ice cores in Copenhagen is optimized for high resolution analysis of four components: Soluble sodium (mainly deriving from sea salt), soluble ammonium (related to biological processes and biomass burning events), insoluble dust particles (basically transported from Asian deserts to Greenland), and the electrolytic melt water conductivity (which is a bulk signal for all ionic constituents). Furthermore, we are for the first time implementing a flow cytometer to obtain high quality dust concentration and size distribution profiles based on individual dust particle measurements. Preliminary measurements show that the setup is able to resolve annual layers of 1 cm thickness. Ice flow models predict that annual layers in the Eemian section of the Greenland NorthGRIP ice core (130-115 ka BP) have a thickness of around 1 cm. However, the visual stratigraphy of the ice core indicates that the annual layering in the Eemian section may be disturbed by micro folds and rapid crystal growth. In this case study we will measure the impurity content of an Eemian segment of the NorthGRIP ice core with the new CFA setup. This will allow for a comparison to well-known impurity levels of the Holocene in both Greenland and Antarctic ice and we will attempt to determine if annual layers are still present in the ice.

Aerosol-cloud interactions in Arctic mixed-phase stratocumulus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Solomon, A.

2017-12-01

Reliable climate projections require realistic simulations of Arctic cloud feedbacks. Of particular importance is accurately simulating Arctic mixed-phase stratocumuli (AMPS), which are ubiquitous and play an important role in regional climate due to their impact on the surface energy budget and atmospheric boundary layer structure through cloud-driven turbulence, radiative forcing, and precipitation. AMPS are challenging to model due to uncertainties in ice microphysical processes that determine phase partitioning between ice and radiatively important cloud liquid water. Since temperatures in AMPS are too warm for homogenous ice nucleation, ice must form through heterogeneous nucleation. In this presentation we discuss a relatively unexplored source of ice production-recycling of ice nuclei in regions of ice subsaturation. AMPS frequently have ice-subsaturated air near the cloud-driven mixed-layer base where falling ice crystals can sublimate, leaving behind IN. This study provides an idealized framework to understand feedbacks between dynamics and microphysics that maintain phase-partitioning in AMPS. In addition, the results of this study provide insight into the mechanisms and feedbacks that may maintain cloud ice in AMPS even when entrainment of IN at the mixed-layer boundaries is weak.

Ice electrode electrolytic cell

DOEpatents

Glenn, D.F.; Suciu, D.F.; Harris, T.L.; Ingram, J.C.

1993-04-06

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for removing heavy metals from waste water, soils, or process streams by electrolytic cell means. The method includes cooling a cell cathode to form an ice layer over the cathode and then applying an electric current to deposit a layer of the heavy metal over the ice. The metal is then easily removed after melting the ice. In a second embodiment, the same ice-covered electrode can be employed to form powdered metals.

Ice electrode electrolytic cell

DOEpatents

Glenn, David F.; Suciu, Dan F.; Harris, Taryl L.; Ingram, Jani C.

1993-01-01

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for removing heavy metals from waste water, soils, or process streams by electrolytic cell means. The method includes cooling a cell cathode to form an ice layer over the cathode and then applying an electric current to deposit a layer of the heavy metal over the ice. The metal is then easily removed after melting the ice. In a second embodiment, the same ice-covered electrode can be employed to form powdered metals.

Large Eddy Simulation of Heat Entrainment Under Arctic Sea Ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramudu, Eshwan; Gelderloos, Renske; Yang, Di; Meneveau, Charles; Gnanadesikan, Anand

2018-01-01

Arctic sea ice has declined rapidly in recent decades. The faster than projected retreat suggests that free-running large-scale climate models may not be accurately representing some key processes. The small-scale turbulent entrainment of heat from the mixed layer could be one such process. To better understand this mechanism, we model the Arctic Ocean's Canada Basin, which is characterized by a perennial anomalously warm Pacific Summer Water (PSW) layer residing at the base of the mixed layer and a summertime Near-Surface Temperature Maximum (NSTM) within the mixed layer trapping heat from solar radiation. We use large eddy simulation (LES) to investigate heat entrainment for different ice-drift velocities and different initial temperature profiles. The value of LES is that the resolved turbulent fluxes are greater than the subgrid-scale fluxes for most of our parameter space. The results show that the presence of the NSTM enhances heat entrainment from the mixed layer. Additionally there is no PSW heat entrained under the parameter space considered. We propose a scaling law for the ocean-to-ice heat flux which depends on the initial temperature anomaly in the NSTM layer and the ice-drift velocity. A case study of "The Great Arctic Cyclone of 2012" gives a turbulent heat flux from the mixed layer that is approximately 70% of the total ocean-to-ice heat flux estimated from the PIOMAS model often used for short-term predictions. Present results highlight the need for large-scale climate models to account for the NSTM layer.

Thermal Convection in High-Pressure Ice Layers Beneath a Buried Ocean within Titan and Ganymede

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tobie, G.; Choblet, G.; Dumont, M.

2014-12-01

Deep interiors of large icy satellites such as Titan and Ganymede probably harbor a buried ocean sandwiched between low pressure ice and high-pressure ice layers. The nature and location of the lower interface of the ocean involves equilibration of heat and melt transfer in the HP ices and is ultimately controlled by the amount heat transferred through the surface ice Ih layer. Here, we perform 3D simulations of thermal convection, using the OEDIPUS numerical tool (Choblet et al. GJI 2007), to determine the efficiency of heat and mass transfer through these HP ice mantles. In a first series of simulations with no melting, we show that a significant fraction of the HP layer reaches the melting point. Using a simple description of water production and transport, our simulations demonstrate that the melt generation in the outermost part of the HP ice layer and its extraction to the overlying ocean increase the efficiency of heat transfer and reduce strongly the internal temperature. structure and the efficiency of the heat transfer. Scaling relationships are proposed to describe the cooling effect of melt production/extraction and used to investigate the consequences of internal melting on the thermal history of Titan and Ganymede's interior.

Convection in a volatile nitrogen-ice-rich layer drives Pluto's geological vigour

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKinnon, William B.; Nimmo, Francis; Wong, Teresa; Schenk, Paul M.; White, Oliver L.; Roberts, J. H.; Moore, J. M.; Spencer, J. R.; Howard, A. D.; Umurhan, O. M.; Stern, S. A.; Weaver, H. A.; Olkin, C. B.; Young, L. A.; Smith, K. E.; Moore, J. M.; McKinnon, W. B.; Spencer, J. R.; Beyer, R.; Buie, M.; Buratti, B.; Cheng, A.; Cruikshank, D.; Dalle Ore, C.; Gladstone, R.; Grundy, W.; Howard, A.; Lauer, T.; Linscott, I.; Nimmo, F.; Olkin, C.; Parker, J.; Porter, S.; Reitsema, H.; Reuter, D.; Roberts, J. H.; Robbins, S.; Schenk, P. M.; Showalter, M.; Singer, K.; Strobel, D.; Summers, M.; Tyler, L.; Weaver, H.; White, O. L.; Umurhan, O. M.; Banks, M.; Barnouin, O.; Bray, V.; Carcich, B.; Chaikin, A.; Chavez, C.; Conrad, C.; Hamilton, D.; Howett, C.; Hofgartner, J.; Kammer, J.; Lisse, C.; Marcotte, A.; Parker, A.; Retherford, K.; Saina, M.; Runyon, K.; Schindhelm, E.; Stansberry, J.; Steffl, A.; Stryk, T.; Throop, H.; Tsang, C.; Verbiscer, A.; Winters, H.; Zangari, A.; New Horizons Geology, Geophysics and Imaging Theme Team

2016-06-01

The vast, deep, volatile-ice-filled basin informally named Sputnik Planum is central to Pluto's vigorous geological activity. Composed of molecular nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide ices, but dominated by nitrogen ice, this layer is organized into cells or polygons, typically about 10 to 40 kilometres across, that resemble the surface manifestation of solid-state convection. Here we report, on the basis of available rheological measurements, that solid layers of nitrogen ice with a thickness in excess of about one kilometre should undergo convection for estimated present-day heat-flow conditions on Pluto. More importantly, we show numerically that convective overturn in a several-kilometre-thick layer of solid nitrogen can explain the great lateral width of the cells. The temperature dependence of nitrogen-ice viscosity implies that the ice layer convects in the so-called sluggish lid regime, a unique convective mode not previously definitively observed in the Solar System. Average surface horizontal velocities of a few centimetres a year imply surface transport or renewal times of about 500,000 years, well under the ten-million-year upper-limit crater retention age for Sputnik Planum. Similar convective surface renewal may also occur on other dwarf planets in the Kuiper belt, which may help to explain the high albedos shown by some of these bodies.

Convection in a volatile nitrogen-ice-rich layer drives Pluto's geological vigour.

PubMed

McKinnon, William B; Nimmo, Francis; Wong, Teresa; Schenk, Paul M; White, Oliver L; Roberts, J H; Moore, J M; Spencer, J R; Howard, A D; Umurhan, O M; Stern, S A; Weaver, H A; Olkin, C B; Young, L A; Smith, K E

2016-06-02

The vast, deep, volatile-ice-filled basin informally named Sputnik Planum is central to Pluto's vigorous geological activity. Composed of molecular nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide ices, but dominated by nitrogen ice, this layer is organized into cells or polygons, typically about 10 to 40 kilometres across, that resemble the surface manifestation of solid-state convection. Here we report, on the basis of available rheological measurements, that solid layers of nitrogen ice with a thickness in excess of about one kilometre should undergo convection for estimated present-day heat-flow conditions on Pluto. More importantly, we show numerically that convective overturn in a several-kilometre-thick layer of solid nitrogen can explain the great lateral width of the cells. The temperature dependence of nitrogen-ice viscosity implies that the ice layer convects in the so-called sluggish lid regime, a unique convective mode not previously definitively observed in the Solar System. Average surface horizontal velocities of a few centimetres a year imply surface transport or renewal times of about 500,000 years, well under the ten-million-year upper-limit crater retention age for Sputnik Planum. Similar convective surface renewal may also occur on other dwarf planets in the Kuiper belt, which may help to explain the high albedos shown by some of these bodies.

Converging flow and anisotropy cause large-scale folding in Greenland's ice sheet.

PubMed

Bons, Paul D; Jansen, Daniela; Mundel, Felicitas; Bauer, Catherine C; Binder, Tobias; Eisen, Olaf; Jessell, Mark W; Llorens, Maria-Gema; Steinbach, Florian; Steinhage, Daniel; Weikusat, Ilka

2016-04-29

The increasing catalogue of high-quality ice-penetrating radar data provides a unique insight in the internal layering architecture of the Greenland ice sheet. The stratigraphy, an indicator of past deformation, highlights irregularities in ice flow and reveals large perturbations without obvious links to bedrock shape. In this work, to establish a new conceptual model for the formation process, we analysed the radar data at the onset of the Petermann Glacier, North Greenland, and created a three-dimensional model of several distinct stratigraphic layers. We demonstrate that the dominant structures are cylindrical folds sub-parallel to the ice flow. By numerical modelling, we show that these folds can be formed by lateral compression of mechanically anisotropic ice, while a general viscosity contrast between layers would not lead to folding for the same boundary conditions. We conclude that the folds primarily form by converging flow as the mechanically anisotropic ice is channelled towards the glacier.

Converging flow and anisotropy cause large-scale folding in Greenland's ice sheet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bons, Paul D.; Jansen, Daniela; Mundel, Felicitas; Bauer, Catherine C.; Binder, Tobias; Eisen, Olaf; Jessell, Mark W.; Llorens, Maria-Gema; Steinbach, Florian; Steinhage, Daniel; Weikusat, Ilka

2016-04-01

The increasing catalogue of high-quality ice-penetrating radar data provides a unique insight in the internal layering architecture of the Greenland ice sheet. The stratigraphy, an indicator of past deformation, highlights irregularities in ice flow and reveals large perturbations without obvious links to bedrock shape. In this work, to establish a new conceptual model for the formation process, we analysed the radar data at the onset of the Petermann Glacier, North Greenland, and created a three-dimensional model of several distinct stratigraphic layers. We demonstrate that the dominant structures are cylindrical folds sub-parallel to the ice flow. By numerical modelling, we show that these folds can be formed by lateral compression of mechanically anisotropic ice, while a general viscosity contrast between layers would not lead to folding for the same boundary conditions. We conclude that the folds primarily form by converging flow as the mechanically anisotropic ice is channelled towards the glacier.

Pleistocene ice-rich yedoma in Interior Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanevskiy, M. Z.; Shur, Y.; Jorgenson, T. T.; Sturm, M.; Bjella, K.; Bray, M.; Harden, J. W.; Dillon, M.; Fortier, D.; O'Donnell, J.

2011-12-01

Yedoma, or the ice-rich syngenetic permafrost with large ice wedges, widely occurs in parts of Alaska that were unglaciated during the last glaciation including Interior Alaska, Foothills of Brooks Range and Seward Peninsula. A thick layer of syngenetic permafrost was formed by simultaneous accumulation of silt and upward permafrost aggradation. Until recently, yedoma has been studied mainly in Russia. In Interior Alaska, we have studied yedoma at several field sites (Erickson Creek area, Boot Lake area, and several sites around Fairbanks, including well-known CRREL Permafrost tunnel). All these locations are characterized by thick sequences of ice-rich silt with large ice wedges up to 30 m deep. Our study in the CRREL Permafrost tunnel and surrounding area revealed a yedoma section up to 18 m thick, whose formation began about 40,000 yr BP. The volume of wedge-ice (about 10-15%) is not very big in comparison with other yedoma sites (typically more than 30%), but soils between ice wedges are extremely ice-rich - an average value of gravimetric moisture content of undisturbed yedoma silt with micro-cryostructures is about 130%. Numerous bodies of thermokarst-cave ice were detected in the tunnel. Geotechnical investigations along the Dalton Highway near Livengood (Erickson Creek area) provided opportunities for studies of yedoma cores from deep boreholes. The radiocarbon age of sediments varies from 20,000 to 45,000 yr BP. Most of soils in the area are extremely ice-rich. Thickness of ice-rich silt varies from 10 m to more than 26 m, and volume of wedge-ice reaches 35-45%. Soil between ice wedges has mainly micro-cryostructures and average gravimetric moisture content from 80% to 100%. Our studies have shown that the top part of yedoma in many locations was affected by deep thawing during the Holocene, which resulted in formation of the layer of thawed and refrozen soils up to 6 m thick on top of yedoma deposits. Thawing of the upper permafrost could be related to climate changes during Holocene or to wildfires, or both. The ice-poor layer of thawed and refrozen sediments (gravimetric moisture content usually does not exceed 40%) was encountered in many boreholes below the thin ice-rich intermediate layer (gravimetric moisture content usually exceeds 100%). These two layers separate ice wedges from the active layer and protect them from further thawing. Such structure of the upper permafrost at different yedoma sites of Interior Alaska can explain a relatively rare occurrence of surface features related to yedoma degradation such as thermokarst mounds and erosional gullies developed along ice wedges.

Convection Models for Ice-Water System: Dynamical Investigation of Phase Transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allu Peddinti, D.; McNamara, A. K.

2012-12-01

Ever since planetary missions of Voyager and Galileo revealed a dynamically altered surface of the icy moon Europa, a possible subsurface ocean under an icy shell has been speculated and surface features have been interpreted from an interior dynamics perspective. The physics of convection in a two phase water-ice system is governed by a wide set of physical parameters that include melting viscosity of ice, the variation of viscosity due to pressure and temperature, temperature contrast across and tidal heating within the system, and the evolving thickness of each layer. Due to the extreme viscosity contrast between liquid water and solid ice, it is not feasible to model the entire system to study convection. However, using a low-viscosity proxy (higher viscosity than the liquid water but much lower than solid ice) for the liquid phase provides a convenient approximation of the system, and allows for a relatively realistic representation of convection within the ice layer while also providing a self-consistent ice layer thickness that is a function of the thermal state of the system. In order to apply this method appropriately, we carefully examine the upper bound of viscosity required for the low-viscosity proxy to adequately represent the liquid phase. We identify upper bounds on the viscosity of the proxy liquid such that convective dynamics of the ice are not affected by further reductions of viscosity. Furthermore, we investigate how the temperature contrast across the system and viscosity contrast between liquid and ice control ice layer thickness. We also investigate ice shell thickening as a function of cooling, particularly how viscosity affects the conduction-to-convection transition within the ice shell. Finally, we present initial results that investigate the effects that latent heat of fusion (due to the ice-water phase transition) has on ice convection.

Spring Slide

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-10-30

The North Polar region of Mars is capped with layers of water ice and dust, called the polar layered deposits. This permanent polar cap is covered in the winter with a layer of seasonal carbon dioxide ice as seen by NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Preservation of layered paleodeposits in high-latitude pedestal craters on Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kadish, Seth J.; Head, James W.

2011-06-01

An outstanding question in Mars' climate history is whether or not pedestal craters represent the armored remnants of ice-rich paleodeposits. We address this question using new high-resolution images; in a survey of several hundred high-latitude pedestal craters, we have identified 12 examples in which visible and/or topographically expressed layers are exposed on the marginal scarp of the pedestal. One example, located on the south polar layered deposits, preserves ice-rich layers that have otherwise been completely removed from the polar cap. These observations provide empirical evidence that the pedestal crater formation mechanism is capable of armoring and preserving ice-rich layered paleodeposits. Although layered exposures have not yet been observed in mid-latitude pedestal craters, high-latitude instances of discontinuous, partially covered layers suggest that layers can be readily concealed, likely through mantling and/or mass wasting processes along the marginal scarp. This interpretation is supported by the observation that high-latitude pedestals with exposed layers along their margins are, on average, taller than mid-latitude examples, and have larger, steeper marginal scarps, which may help to maintain layer exposures. These observations favor the interpretation that mid- to high-latitude pedestal craters represent the armored remnants of ice- and dust-rich paleodeposits, which occurred transiently due to changes in the climate regime. Preservation of fine-scale layering of ice and dust at these latitudes implies that the climate change did not involve regional melting conditions.

The role of ice nuclei recycling in the maintenance of cloud ice in Arctic mixed-phase stratocumulus

DOE PAGES

Solomon, Amy; Feingold, G.; Shupe, M. D.

2015-09-25

This study investigates the maintenance of cloud ice production in Arctic mixed-phase stratocumulus in large eddy simulations that include a prognostic ice nuclei (IN) formulation and a diurnal cycle. Balances derived from a mixed-layer model and phase analyses are used to provide insight into buffering mechanisms that maintain ice in these cloud systems. We find that, for the case under investigation, IN recycling through subcloud sublimation considerably prolongs ice production over a multi-day integration. This effective source of IN to the cloud dominates over mixing sources from above or below the cloud-driven mixed layer. Competing feedbacks between dynamical mixing andmore » recycling are found to slow the rate of ice lost from the mixed layer when a diurnal cycle is simulated. Furthermore, the results of this study have important implications for maintaining phase partitioning of cloud ice and liquid that determine the radiative forcing of Arctic mixed-phase clouds.« less

The role of ice nuclei recycling in the maintenance of cloud ice in Arctic mixed-phase stratocumulus

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

Solomon, Amy; Feingold, G.; Shupe, M. D.

This study investigates the maintenance of cloud ice production in Arctic mixed-phase stratocumulus in large eddy simulations that include a prognostic ice nuclei (IN) formulation and a diurnal cycle. Balances derived from a mixed-layer model and phase analyses are used to provide insight into buffering mechanisms that maintain ice in these cloud systems. We find that, for the case under investigation, IN recycling through subcloud sublimation considerably prolongs ice production over a multi-day integration. This effective source of IN to the cloud dominates over mixing sources from above or below the cloud-driven mixed layer. Competing feedbacks between dynamical mixing andmore » recycling are found to slow the rate of ice lost from the mixed layer when a diurnal cycle is simulated. Furthermore, the results of this study have important implications for maintaining phase partitioning of cloud ice and liquid that determine the radiative forcing of Arctic mixed-phase clouds.« less

Sea ice melting in the marginal ice zone.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Josberger, E.G.

1983-01-01

The heat and salt flux boundary conditions together with the freezing curve relationship are a necessary component of any ice- sea water thermodynamic model. A neutral two-layer oceanic planetary boundary layer model that incorporates these boundary conditions is used. The results are discussed. -from Author

Discharge of water and sediment from ice-streams on the southeastern Laurentide Ice Sheet during Heinrich events: timing and magnitude

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rashid, H.; Piper, D.

2017-12-01

Several ice-streams on the southeastern sector of the Laurentide Ice Sheet discharged icebergs, meltwater, and fine-grained sediments into the North Atlantic during Heinrich (H) events. The principal contribution was through Hudson Strait, which is the only source clearly identified in H ice-rafted layers in the central North Atlantic. The role of direct supply of meltwater in modifying the Atlantic meridional circulation generally has been regarded as secondary. The relative chronology of discharge in different ice-streams is poorly known. Here, we re-assess these questions using continental margin cores constrained by high-resolution seismic profiles and multibeam bathymetry data. Relative importance of ice streams likely scales with cross-sectional area of their erosional troughs. On that basis, the Hudson Strait ice stream was twice as large as that in the Laurentian Channel and 3-4 times larger than smaller troughs. Several ice streams supplied petrographically and geochemically distinct sediment including black shales from Cumberland Sound, limestone and dolomite in particular proportions from Frobisher Bay and Hudson Strait, and red sandstones and shales ± carbonates from NE Newfoundland and Laurentian Channel. In several cases, detrital carbonate H layers derived predominantly from Hudson Strait are preceded by enhanced IRD deposition from smaller ice streams, e.g. deposits from Cumberland Sound on the Labrador slope, from NE Newfoundland in Orphan Basin, and from Laurentian Channel on the Nova Scotian margin. Gravel petrology indicates that Hudson Strait sources make up >90% of the ice-rafted component of distal H layers. H layers proximal to the Hudson Strait ice-streams are 4 to 12 meters thick compared to a few centimeters thick seaward of the Trinity Trough and Laurentian ice-streams, comparable to the thickness of the North Atlantic. This underscores the great importance of meltwater and suspended sediment close to ice stream outlets. Morphological features and plume deposits show that meltwater becomes much more abundant in more southerly ice streams and some local plume deposits contribute to the thickness of H layers. The contribution of freshwater from melting icebergs and from direct meltwater discharge are approximately similar during H events.

Establishing a Reliable Depth-Age Relationship for the Denali Ice Core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wake, C. P.; Osterberg, E. C.; Winski, D.; Ferris, D.; Kreutz, K. J.; Introne, D.; Dalton, M.

2015-12-01

Reliable climate reconstruction from ice core records requires the development of a reliable depth-age relationship. We have established a sub-annual resolution depth-age relationship for the upper 198 meters of a 208 m ice core recovered in 2013 from Mt. Hunter (3,900 m asl), Denali National Park, central Alaska. The dating of the ice core was accomplished via annual layer counting of glaciochemical time-series combined with identification of reference horizons from volcanic eruptions and atmospheric nuclear weapons testing. Using the continuous ice core melter system at Dartmouth College, sub-seasonal samples have been collected and analyzed for major ions, liquid conductivity, particle size and concentration, and stable isotope ratios. Annual signals are apparent in several of the chemical species measured in the ice core samples. Calcium and magnesium peak in the spring, ammonium peaks in the summer, methanesulfonic acid (MSA) peaks in the autumn, and stable isotopes display a strong seasonal cycle with the most depleted values occurring during the winter. Thin ice layers representing infrequent summertime melt were also used to identify summer layers in the core. Analysis of approximately one meter sections of the core via nondestructive gamma spectrometry over depths from 84 to 124 m identified a strong radioactive cesium-137 peak at 89 m which corresponds to the 1963 layer deposited during extensive atmospheric nuclear weapons testing. Peaks in the sulfate and chloride record have been used for the preliminary identification of volcanic signals preserved in the ice core, including ten events since 1883. We are confident that the combination of robust annual layers combined with reference horizons provides a timescale for the 20th century that has an error of less than 0.5 years, making calibrations between ice core records and the instrumental climate data particularly robust. Initial annual layer counting through the entire 198 m suggests the Denali Ice Core record will span the past 1000 years.

Subsurface volatile content of martian double-layer ejecta (DLE) craters

USGS Publications Warehouse

Viola, Donna; McEwen, Alfred S.; Dundas, Colin M.; Byrne, Shane

2017-01-01

Excess ice is widespread throughout the martian mid-latitudes, particularly in Arcadia Planitia, where double-layer ejecta (DLE) craters also tend to be abundant. In this region, we observe the presence of thermokarstically-expanded secondary craters that likely form from impacts that destabilize a subsurface layer of excess ice, which subsequently sublimates. The presence of these expanded craters shows that excess ice is still preserved within the adjacent terrain. Here, we focus on a 15-km DLE crater that contains abundant superposed expanded craters in order to study the distribution of subsurface volatiles both at the time when the secondary craters formed and, by extension, remaining today. To do this, we measure the size distribution of the superposed expanded craters and use topographic data to calculate crater volumes as a proxy for the volumes of ice lost to sublimation during the expansion process. The inner ejecta layer contains craters that appear to have undergone more expansion, suggesting that excess ice was most abundant in that region. However, both of the ejecta layers had more expanded craters than the surrounding terrain. We extrapolate that the total volume of ice remaining within the entire ejecta deposit is as much as 74 km3 or more. The variation in ice content between the ejecta layers could be the result of (1) volatile preservation from the formation of the DLE crater, (2) post-impact deposition in the form of ice lenses; or (3) preferential accumulation or preservation of subsequent snowfall. We have ruled out (2) as the primary mode for ice deposition in this location based on inconsistencies with our observations, though it may operate in concert with other processes. Although none of the existing DLE formation hypotheses are completely consistent with our observations, which may merit a new or modified mechanism, we can conclude that DLE craters contain a significant quantity of excess ice today.

Remote sensing of Earth terrain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kong, Jin AU

1987-01-01

Earth terrain covers were modeled as random media characterized by different dielectric constants and correlation functions. In order to model sea ice with brine inclusions and vegetation with row structures, the random medium is assumed to be anisotropic. A three layer model is used to simulate a vegetation field or a snow covered ice field with the top layer being snow or leaves, the middle layer being ice or trunks, and the bottom layer being sea water or ground. The strong fluctuation theory with the distorted Born approximation is applied to the solution of the radar backscattering coefficients.

The geochemical record in rock glaciers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Steig, E.J.; Fitzpatrick, J.J.; Potter, N.; Clark, D.H.

1998-01-01

A 9.5 m ice core was extracted from beneath the surficial debris cover of a rock glacier at Galena Creek, northwestern Wyoming. The core contains clean, bubble-rich ice with silty debris layers spaced at roughly 20 cm intervals. The debris layers are similar in appearance to those in typical alpine glaciers, reflecting concentration of debris by melting at the surface during the summer ablation season. Profiles of stable isotope concentrations and electrical conductivity measurements provide independent evidence for melting in association with debris layers. These observations are consistent with a glacial origin for the ice, substantiating the glacigenic model for rock glacier formation. The deuterium excess profile in the ice indicates that the total depth of meltwater infiltration is less than the thickness of one annual layer, suggesting that isotope values and other geochemical signatures are preserved at annual resolution. This finding demonstrates the potential for obtaining useful paleoclimate information from rock glacier ice.

An Assessment of Southern Ocean Water Masses and Sea Ice During 1988-2007 in a Suite of Interannual CORE-II Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Downes, Stephanie M.; Farneti, Riccardo; Uotila, Petteri; Griffies, Stephen M.; Marsland, Simon J.; Bailey, David; Behrens, Erik; Bentsen, Mats; Bi, Daohua; Biastoch, Arne;

Methodological synergies for glaciological constraints to find Oldest Ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eisen, Olaf

2017-04-01

The Beyond EPICA - Oldest Ice (BE-OI) consortium and its international partners unite a globally unique concentration of scientific expertise and infrastructure for ice-core investigations. It delivers the technical, scientific and financial basis for a comprehensive plan to retrieve an ice core up to 1.5 million years old. The consortium takes care of the pre-site surveys for site selection around Dome C and Dome Fuji, both potentially appropriate regions in East Antarctica. Other science consortia will investigate other regions under the umbrella of the International Partnerships in Ice Core Sciences (IPICS). Of major importance to obtain reliable estimates of the age of the ice in the basal layers of the ice sheet are the physical boundary conditions and ice-flow dynamics: geothermal heat flux, advection and layer integrity to avoid layer overturning and the formation of folds. The project completed the first field season at both regions of interest. This contribution will give an overview how the combined application of various geophysical, geodetical and glaciological methods applied in the field in combination with ice-flow modelling can constrain the glaciological boundary conditions and thus age at depth.

The Influence of Ice-Ocean Interactions on Europa's Overturning Circulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, P.; Manucharyan, G. E.; Thompson, A. F.; Goodman, J. C.; Vance, S.

2016-12-01

Jupiter's moon Europa appears to have a global liquid ocean, which is located beneath an ice shell that covers the moon's entire surface. Linking ocean dynamics and ice-ocean interactions is crucial to understanding observed surface features on Europa as well as other satellite measurements. Ocean properties and circulation may also provide clues as to whether the moon has the potential to support extraterrestrial life through chemical transport governed by ice-ocean interactions. Previous studies have identified a Hadley cell-like overturning circulation extending from the equator to mid latitudes. However, these model simulations do not consider ice-ocean interactions. In this study, our goal is to investigate how the ocean circulation may be affected by ice. We study two ice-related processes by building idealized models. One process is horizontal convection driven by an equator-to-pole buoyancy difference due to latitudinal ice transport at the ocean surface, which is found to be much weaker than the convective overturning circulation. The second process we consider is the freshwater layer formed by ice melting at the equator. A strong buoyancy contrast between the freshwater layer and the underlying water suppresses convection and turbulent mixing, which may modify the surface heat flux from the ocean to the bottom of the ice. We find that the salinity of the ocean below the freshwater layer tends to be homogeneous both vertically and horizontally with the presence of an overturning circulation. Critical values of circulation strength constrain the freshwater layer depth, and this relationship is sensitive to the average salinity of the ocean. Further coupling of temperature and salinity of the ice and the ocean that includes mutual influences between the surface heat flux and the freshwater layer may provide additional insights into the ice-ocean feedback, and its influence on the latitudinal difference of heat transport.

Interannual Variability in Amundsen Sea Ice-Shelf Height Change Linked to ENSO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paolo, F. S.; Fricker, H. A.; Padman, L.

2015-12-01

Atmospheric and sea-ice conditions around Antarctica, particularly in the Amundsen and Bellingshausen seas, respond to climate dynamics in the tropical Pacific Ocean on interannual time scales including the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). It has been hypothesized that the mass balance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, including its floating ice shelves, also responds to this climate signal; however, this has not yet been unambiguously demonstrated. We apply multivariate singular spectrum analysis (MSSA) to our 18-year (1994-2012) time series of ice-shelf height in the Amundsen Sea (AS) region. This advanced spectral method distinguishes between regular deterministic behavior ("cycles") at sub-decadal time scale and irregular behavior ("noise") at shorter time scales. Although the long-term trends of AS ice-shelf height changes are much larger than the range of interannual variability, the short-term rate of change dh/dt can vary about the trend by more than 50%. The mode of interannual variability in the AS ice-shelf height is strongly correlated with the low-frequency mode of ENSO (periodicity of ~4.5 years) as represented by the Southern Oscillation Index. The ice-shelf height in the AS is expected to respond to changes in precipitation and inflows of warm subsurface Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) into the ocean cavities under the ice shelves, altering basal melt rates. Since both of these processes affecting ice-shelf mass balance respond to changes in wind fields for different ENSO states, we expect some correlation between them. We will describe the spatial structure of AS ice-shelf height response to ENSO, and attempt to distinguish the precipitation signal from basal mass balance due to changing CDW inflows.

Diffusion model validation and interpretation of stable isotopes in river and lake ice

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ferrick, M.G.; Calkins, D.J.; Perron, N.M.; Cragin, J.H.; Kendall, C.

2002-01-01

The stable isotope stratigraphy of river- and lake-ice archives winter hydroclimatic conditions, and can potentially be used to identify changing water sources or to provide important insights into ice formation processes and growth rates. However, accurate interpretations rely on known isotopic fractionation during ice growth. A one-dimensional diffusion model of the liquid boundary layer adjacent to an advancing solid interface, originally developed to simulate solute rejection by growing crystals, has been used without verification to describe non-equilibrium fractionation during congelation ice growth. Results are not in agreement, suggesting the presence of important uncertainties. In this paper we seek validation of the diffusion model for this application using large-scale laboratory experiments with controlled freezing rates and frequent sampling. We obtained consistent, almost constant, isotopic boundary layer thicknesses over a representative range of ice growth rates on both quiescent and well-mixed water. With the 18O boundary layer thickness from the laboratory, the model successfully quantified reduced river-ice growth rates relative to those of a nearby lake. These results were more representative and easier to obtain than those of a conventional thermal ice-growth model. This diffusion model validation and boundary layer thickness determination provide a powerful tool for interpreting the stable isotope stratigraphy of floating ice. The laboratory experiment also replicated successive fractionation events in response to a freeze-thaw-refreeze cycle, providing a mechanism for apparent ice fractionation that exceeds equilibrium. Analysis of the composition of snow ice and frazil ice in river and lake cores indicated surprising similarities between these ice forms. Published in 2002 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Radiative habitable zones in martian polar environments.

PubMed

Córdoba-Jabonero, Carmen; Zorzano, María-Paz; Selsis, Franck; Patel, Manish R; Cockell, Charles S

2005-06-01

The biologically damaging solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation (quantified by the DNA-weighted dose) reaches the martian surface in extremely high levels. Searching for potentially habitable UV-protected environments on Mars, we considered the polar ice caps that consist of a seasonally varying CO2 ice cover and a permanent H2O ice layer. It was found that, though the CO2 ice is insufficient by itself to screen the UV radiation, at approximately 1 m depth within the perennial H2O ice the DNA-weighted dose is reduced to terrestrial levels. This depth depends strongly on the optical properties of the H2O ice layers (for instance snow-like layers). The Earth-like DNA-weighted dose and Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) requirements were used to define the upper and lower limits of the northern and southern polar Radiative Habitable Zone (RHZ) for which a temporal and spatial mapping was performed. Based on these studies we conclude that photosynthetic life might be possible within the ice layers of the polar regions. The thickness varies along each martian polar spring and summer between approximately 1.5 and 2.4 m for H2O ice-like layers, and a few centimeters for snow-like covers. These martian Earth-like radiative habitable environments may be primary targets for future martian astrobiological missions. Special attention should be paid to planetary protection, since the polar RHZ may also be subject to terrestrial contamination by probes. c2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The role of feedbacks in Antarctic sea ice change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feltham, D. L.; Frew, R. C.; Holland, P.

2017-12-01

The changes in Antarctic sea ice over the last thirty years have a strong seasonal dependence, and the way these changes grow in spring and decay in autumn suggests that feedbacks are strongly involved. The changes may ultimately be caused by atmospheric warming, the winds, snowfall changes, etc., but we cannot understand these forcings without first untangling the feedbacks. A highly simplified coupled sea ice -mixed layer model has been developed to investigate the importance of feedbacks on the evolution of sea ice in two contrasting regions in the Southern Ocean; the Amundsen Sea where sea ice extent has been decreasing, and the Weddell Sea where it has been expanding. The change in mixed layer depth in response to changes in the atmosphere to ocean energy flux is implicit in a strong negative feedback on ice cover changes in the Amundsen Sea, with atmospheric cooling leading to a deeper mixed layer resulting in greater entrainment of warm Circumpolar Deep Water, causing increased basal melting of sea ice. This strong negative feedback produces counter intuitive responses to changes in forcings in the Amundsen Sea. This feedback is absent in the Weddell due to the complete destratification and strong water column cooling that occurs each winter in simulations. The impact of other feedbacks, including the albedo feedback, changes in insulation due to ice thickness and changes in the freezing temperature of the mixed layer, were found to be of secondary importance compared to changes in the mixed layer depth.

Backscatter from ice growing on shallow tundra lakes near Barrow, Alaska, winter 1991-1992

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jeffries, M. O.; Wakabayashi, H.; Weeks, W. F.; Morris, K.

1993-01-01

The timing of freeze-up and break-up of Arctic lake ice is a potentially useful environmental indicator that could be monitored using SAR. In order to do this, it is important to understand how the properties and structure of the ice during its growth and decay affect radar backscatter and thus lake ice SAR signatures. The availability of radiometrically and geometrically calibrated digital SAR data time series from the Alaska SAR Facility has made it possible for the first time to quantify lake ice backscatter intensity (sigma(sup o)) variations. This has been done for ice growing on shallow tundra lakes near Barrow, NW Alaska, from initial growth in September 1991 until thawing and decay in June 1992. Field and laboratory observations and measurements of the lake ice were made in late April 1992. The field investigations of the coastal lakes near Barrow confirmed previous findings that, (1) ice frozen to the lake bottom had a dark signature in SAR images, indicating weak backscatter, while, (2) ice that was floating had a bright signature, indicating strong backscatter. At all sites, regardless of whether the ice was grounded or floating, there was a layer of clear, inclusion-free ice overlaying a layer of ice with dense concentrations of vertically oriented tubular bubbles. At some sites, there was a third layer of porous, snow-ice overlaying the clear ice.

What Lies Below a Martian Ice Cap

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2008-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Click on image for larger annotated version

This image (top) taken by the Shallow Radar instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveals the layers of ice, sand and dust that make up the north polar ice cap on Mars. It is the most detailed look to date at the insides of this ice cap. The colored map below the radar picture shows the topography of the corresponding Martian terrain (red and white represent higher ground, and green and yellow lower).

The radar image reveals four never-before-seen thick layers of ice and dust separated by layers of nearly pure ice. According to scientists, these thick ice-free layers represent approximately one-million-year-long cycles of climate change on Mars caused by variations in the planet's tilted axis and its eccentric orbit around the sun. Adding up the entire stack of ice gives an estimated age for the north polar ice cap of about 4 million years a finding that agrees with previous theoretical estimates. The ice cap is about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) thick.

The radar picture also shows that the boundary between the ice layers and the surface of Mars underneath is relatively flat (bottom white line on the right). This implies that the surface of Mars is not sagging, or bending, under the weight of the ice cap and this, in turn, suggests that the planet's lithosphere, a combination of the crust and the strong parts of the upper mantle, is thicker than previously thought.

A thicker lithosphere on Mars means that temperatures increase more gradually with depth toward the interior. Temperatures warm enough for water to be liquid are therefore deeper than previously thought. Likewise, if liquid water does exist in aquifers below the surface of Mars, and if there are any organisms living in that water, they would have to be located deeper in the planet.

The topography data are from Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, which was flown on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor mission.

NPLD stands for the north polar layered deposits.

BU stands for basal unit, an ice-sand deposit that lies beneath parts of the north polar layered deposits.

The Shallow Radar instrument was provided by the Italian Space Agency. Its operations are led by the University of Rome and its data are analyzed by a joint U.S.-Italian science team. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

The effect of a non-volatile dust mantle on the energy balance of cometary surface layers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koemle, Norbert I.; Steiner, Gerhard

1992-01-01

It is likely that large parts of a cometary surface layer consist of porous ices, which are covered by a thin layer of non-volatile debris, whose structure is also fluffy and porous. In this paper the results of model calculations are presented. The calculations show the effect of ice and dust pore sizes and of the dust mantle thickness upon the thermal behavior of such a dust-ice system, when it is irradiated by the sun. In particular, it is found that the average pore size of the ice and the dust material has a large influence both on the dust surface temperature and on the temperature at the dust-ice interface.

Exploring the ground ice recharge near permafrost table on the central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau using chemical and isotopic data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Weihua; Wu, Tonghua; Zhao, Lin; Li, Ren; Zhu, Xiaofan; Wang, Wanrui; Yang, Shuhua; Qin, Yanhui; Hao, Junmin

2018-05-01

Thawing permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) has great impacts on the local hydrological process by way of causing ground ice to thaw. Until now there is little knowledge on ground ice hydrology near permafrost table under a warming climate. This study applied stable tracers (isotopes and chloride) and hydrograph separation model to quantify the sources of ground ice near permafrost table in continuous permafrost regions of the central QTP. The results indicated that the ground ice near permafrost table was mainly supplied by active layer water and permafrost water, accounting for 58.9 to 87.0% and 13.0 to 41.1%, respectively, which implying that the active layer was the dominant source. The contribution rates from the active layer to the ground ice in alpine meadow (59 to 69%) was less than that in alpine steppe (70 to 87%). It showed well-developed hydrogeochemical depth gradients, presenting depleted isotopes and positive chemical gradients with depth within the soil layer. The effects of evaporation and freeze-out fractionation on the soil water and ground ice were evident. The results provide additional insights into ground ice sources and cycling near permafrost table in permafrost terrain, and would be helpful for improving process-based detailed hydrologic models under the occurring global warming.

Isochronal Ice Sheet Model: a New Approach to Tracer Transport by Explicitly Tracing Accumulation Layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Born, A.; Stocker, T. F.

2014-12-01

The long, high-resolution and largely undisturbed depositional record of polar ice sheets is one of the greatest resources in paleoclimate research. The vertical profile of isotopic and other geochemical tracers provides a full history of depositional and dynamical variations. Numerical simulations of this archive could afford great advances both in the interpretation of these tracers as well as to help improve ice sheet models themselves, as show successful implementations in oceanography and atmospheric dynamics. However, due to the slow advection velocities, tracer modeling in ice sheets is particularly prone to numerical diffusion, thwarting efforts that employ straightforward solutions. Previous attemps to circumvent this issue follow conceptually and computationally extensive approaches that augment traditional Eulerian models of ice flow with a semi-Lagrangian tracer scheme (e.g. Clarke et al., QSR, 2005). Here, we propose a new vertical discretization for ice sheet models that eliminates numerical diffusion entirely. Vertical motion through the model mesh is avoided by mimicking the real-world ice flow as a thinning of underlying layers (see figure). A new layer is added to the surface at equidistant time intervals (isochronally). Therefore, each layer is uniquely identified with an age. Horizontal motion follows the shallow ice approximation using an implicit numerical scheme. Vertical diffusion of heat which is physically desirable is also solved implicitly. A simulation of a two-dimensional section through the Greenland ice sheet will be discussed.

Thermodynamical effects accompanied freezing of two water layers separated by sea ice sheet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bogorodsky, Petr; Marchenko, Aleksey

2014-05-01

The process of melt pond freezing is very important for generation of sea ice cover thermodynamic and mass balance during winterperiod. However, due to significant difficulties of field measurements the available data of model estimations still have no instrumental confirmation. In May 2009 the authors carried out laboratory experiment on freezing of limited water volume in the University Centre in Svalbard ice tank. In the course of experiment fresh water layer of 27.5 cm thickness at freezing point poured on the 24 cm sea ice layer was cooled during 50 hours at the temperature -10º C and then once again during 60 hours at -20º C. For revealing process typical characteristics the data of continuous measurements of temperature and salinity in different phases were compared with data of numerical computations obtained with thermodynamic model which was formulated in the frames of 1-D equation system (infinite extension of water freezing layer) and adapted to laboratory conditions. The known surprise of the experiment became proximity of calculated and measured estimates of process dynamics that confirmed the adequacy of the problem mathematical statement (excluding probably process finale stage). This effect can be explained by formation of cracks on the upper layer of ice at sharp decreases of air temperature, which temporary compensated hydrostatic pressure growth during freezing of closed water volume. Another compensated mechanism can be migration of brine through the lower layer of ice under influence of vertical pressure gradient and also rejection of gas dissolved in water which increased its compressibility. During 110 hours cooling thickness of water layer between ice layers reduced approximately to 2 cm. According to computations this layer is not chilled completely but keeps as thin brine interlayer within ice body whose thickness (about units of mm) is determined by temperature fluctuations of cooled surface. Nevertheless, despite good coincidence of experimental and model estimates the question of existence of liquid phase under actual conditions is still open and can be clarified in a continuous laboratory experiment. This work was supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project # 14-05-00677).

Two-phase convection in the high-pressure ice layer of the large icy moons: geodynamical implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalousova, K.; Sotin, C.; Tobie, G.; Choblet, G.; Grasset, O.

2015-12-01

The H2O layers of large icy satellites such as Ganymede, Callisto, or Titan probably include a liquid water ocean sandwiched between the deep high-pressure ice layer and the outer ice I shell [1]. It has been recently suggested that the high-pressure ice layer could be decoupled from the silicate core by a salty liquid water layer [2]. However, it is not clear whether accumulation of liquids at the bottom of the high-pressure layer is possible due to positive buoyancy of water with respect to high-pressure ice. Numerical simulation of this two-phase (i.e. ice and water) problem is challenging, which explains why very few studies have self-consistently handled the presence and transport of liquids within the solid ice [e.g. 3]. While using a simplified description of water production and transport, it was recently showed in [4] that (i) a significant fraction of the high-pressure layer reaches the melting point and (ii) the melt generation and its extraction to the overlying ocean significantly influence the global thermal evolution and interior structure of the large icy moons.Here, we treat the high-pressure ice layer as a compressible mixture of solid ice and liquid water [5]. Several aspects are investigated: (i) the effect of the water formation on the vigor of solid-state convection and its influence on the amount of heat that is transferred from the silicate mantle to the ocean; (ii) the fate of liquids within the upper thermal boundary layer - whether they freeze or reach the ocean; and (iii) the effect of salts and volatile compounds (potentially released from the rocky core) on the melting/freezing processes. Investigation of these aspects will allow us to address the thermo-chemical evolution of the internal ocean which is crucial to evaluate the astrobiological potential of large icy moons. This work has been performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract to NASA. [1] Hussmann et al. (2007), Treatise of Geophysics, 10.15, 509-539. [2] Vance et al. (2014), Planet. Space Sci., 96, 62-70. [3] Kalousova et al. (2014), J. Geophys. Res. Planets, 119(3), 532-549. [4] Tobie et al. (2014), AGU, P43C-3999. [5] Soucek et al. (2014), Geophys. Astro. Fluid, 108(6), 639-666.

Layered Ice Near the South Pole of Mars

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-12

The two largest ice sheets in the inner solar system are here on Earth, Antarctica and Greenland. The third largest is at the South Pole of Mars and a small part of it is shown in this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Much like the terrestrial examples, this ice sheet is layered and scientists refer to it as the South Polar layered deposits. The ice layers contain information about past climates on Mars and deciphering this record has been a major goal of Mars science for decades. This slope, near the ice sheet's edge, shows the internal layers that have this climate record. With stereo images, we can tell the heights of these layers so we can measure their thickness and try to unravel the climatic information they contain. (Be sure to view the digital terrain model for this observation.) The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 25.0 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 75 centimeters (29.5 inches) across are resolved.] North is up. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22125

Water generation and transport through the high-pressure ice layers of Titan and Ganymede

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalousova, K.; Sotin, C.; Choblet, G.; Tobie, G.; Grasset, O.

2017-09-01

We investigate the generation and transport of water through the high-pressure (HP) ice layers of Ganymede and Titan using a numerical model of two-phase convection in 2D geometry. Our results suggest that water can be generated at the silicate/HP ice interface for small to intermediate values of Rayleigh number (Ra 1.e8-1.e10) while no melt is generated for the higher values (Ra 1.e11). If generated, water is transported through the layer by the upwelling plumes and, depending on the vigor of convection, it stays liquid (smaller Ra) or it may freeze (intermediate Ra) before melting again as the plume reaches the temperate layer at the interface with the ocean. The thickness of this layer as well as the amount of melt that is extracted from it is controlled by the HP ice permeability. This process may enable the transfer of volatiles and salts that might have been leached from silicates by the meltwater. Since the HP ice layer is much thinner on Titan than on Ganymede, it is probably more permeable for volatiles and salts leached from the silicate core.

Fans on Crater Rims

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-12-14

Gas under pressure will choose an easy escape route. In this image, the terrain is covered with a seasonal layer of dry ice. The weak spots, for gas sublimating from the bottom of the seasonal ice layer to escape, appear to be around craters, where the surface was broken and pulverized by an impact. Fans of surface material deposited on top of the seasonal ice layer show where the escape vents are. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21271

Formation of the Double Tropopause in midlatitudes: an analysis using both observations and models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peevey, Tanya; Konopka, Paul; Homeyer, Cameron; Mueller, Rolf

2014-05-01

The double tropopause (DT) is defined using the thermal definition of the tropopause, is found in the upper troposphere lower stratosphere (UTLS) region of the atmosphere, and forms primarily poleward of the subtropical jets. Studies have shown that this thermal structure is associated with the poleward transport of upper tropospheric air into the lower stratosphere during Rossby wave breaking events. The potential for subsequent mixing of radiatively important species in the lower stratosphere highlights the potential importance of the DT in further understanding the dynamics and structure of the UTLS. A few recent studies have drawn attention to this by showing that our knowledge of the DT is not complete. These efforts specifically show that the origin of air within the DT is still under debate since there are currently three different answers to the same question: low latitudes, midlatitudes and high latitudes. Additionally, one of these studies also shows that the DT can not form with out the tropopause inversion layer (TIL) and that as the strength of the TIL increases so does the DT frequency of occurrence. This is interesting because those results emphasis a current gap in knowledge in our understanding of the DT and, consequently, the UTLS. The focus of this work is to address some of these current open questions. This study utilizes both observations from HIRDLS, a satellite instrument funded by NASA, and model output from CLaMS, a Lagrangian model developed at Forschungzentrum Juelich. Initially the DT is analysed within the baroclinic system to understand its relationship to the TIL. Results from a case study, which examines a baroclinic disturbance over the Pacific Ocean, shows that as the disturbance develop the DT extends equatorward as the TIL forms and increases in strength. The work presented here explores this further by investigating the movement of air within the DT as it expands and contracts meridionally during the growth and decay of this system using CLaMS and HIRDLS data. This is done by examining horizontal and vertical changes in the mean age of air and both tropospheric and stratospheric tracers, such as CO and O3, within the system as it grows and dissipates. Other synoptic-scale systems in the midlatitudes are also examined in a similar way using the same data sets to gain a more extensive understanding of the DT-TIL relationship and, potentially, the variations in the origin of air within the DT.

Thermohaline variability and Antarctic bottom water formation at the Ross Sea shelf break

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Budillon, Giorgio; Castagno, Pasquale; Aliani, Stefano; Spezie, Giancarlo; Padman, Laurie

2011-10-01

We use hydrological and current meter data collected in the Ross Sea, Antarctica between 1995 and 2006 to describe the spatial and temporal variability of water masses involved in the production of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW). Data were collected in two regions of known outflows of dense shelf water in this region; the Drygalski Trough (DT) and the Glomar-Challenger Trough (GCT). Dense shelf water just inshore of the shelf break is dominated by High Salinity Shelf Water (HSSW) in the DT and Ice Shelf Water (ISW) in the GCT. The HSSW in the northern DT freshened by ˜0.06 in 11 y, while the ISW in the northern GCT freshened by ˜0.04 in 8 y and warmed by ˜0.04 °C in 11 y, dominated by a rapid warming during austral summer 2001/02. The Antarctic Slope Front separating the warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) from the shelf waters is more stable near GCT than near DT, with CDW and mixing products being found on the outer DT shelf but not on the outer GCT shelf. The different source waters and mixing processes at the two sites lead to production of AABW with different thermohaline characteristics in the central and western Ross Sea. Multi-year time series of hydrography and currents at long-term moorings within 100 km of the shelf break in both troughs confirm the interannual signals in the dense shelf water and reveal the seasonal cycle of water mass properties. Near the DT the HSSW salinities experienced maxima in March/April and minima in September/October. The ISW in the GCT is warmest in March/April and coolest between August and October. Mooring data also demonstrate significant high-frequency variability associated with tides and other processes. Wavelet analysis of near-bottom moored sensors sampling the dense water cascade over the continental slope west of the GCT shows intermittent energetic pulses of cold, dense water with periods from ˜32 h to ˜5 days.

The principles of cryostratigraphy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

French, Hugh; Shur, Yuri

2010-08-01

Cryostratigraphy adopts concepts from both Russian geocryology and modern sedimentology. Structures formed by the amount and distribution of ice within sediment and rock are termed cryostructures. Typically, layered cryostructures are indicative of syngenetic permafrost while reticulate and irregular cryostructures are indicative of epigenetic permafrost. 'Cryofacies' can be defined according to patterns of sediment characterized by distinct ice lenses and layers, volumetric ice content and ice-crystal size. Cryofacies can be subdivided according to cryostructure. Where a number of cryofacies form a distinctive cryostratigraphic unit, these are termed a 'cryofacies assemblage'. The recognition, if present, of (i) thaw unconformities, (ii) other ice bodies such as vein ice (ice wedges), aggradational ice and thermokarst-cave ('pool') ice, and (iii) ice, sand and gravelly pseudomorphs is also important in determining the nature of the freezing process, the conditions under which frozen sediment accumulates, and the history of permafrost.

Vertical thermodynamic structure of the troposphere during the Norwegian young sea ICE expedition (N-ICE2015)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kayser, Markus; Maturilli, Marion; Graham, Robert M.; Hudson, Stephen R.; Rinke, Annette; Cohen, Lana; Kim, Joo-Hong; Park, Sang-Jong; Moon, Woosok; Granskog, Mats A.

2017-10-01

The Norwegian young sea ICE (N-ICE2015) expedition was designed to investigate the atmosphere-snow-ice-ocean interactions in the young and thin sea ice regime north of Svalbard. Radiosondes were launched twice daily during the expedition from January to June 2015. Here we use these upper air measurements to study the multiple cyclonic events observed during N-ICE2015 with respect to changes in the vertical thermodynamic structure, moisture content, and boundary layer characteristics. We provide statistics of temperature inversion characteristics, static stability, and boundary layer extent. During winter, when radiative cooling is most effective, we find the strongest impact of synoptic cyclones. Changes to thermodynamic characteristics of the boundary layer are associated with transitions between the radiatively "clear" and "opaque" atmospheric states. In spring, radiative fluxes warm the surface leading to lifted temperature inversions and a statically unstable boundary layer. Further, we compare the N-ICE2015 static stability distributions to corresponding profiles from ERA-Interim reanalysis, from the closest land station in the Arctic North Atlantic sector, Ny-Ålesund, and to soundings from the SHEBA expedition (1997/1998). We find similar stability characteristics for N-ICE2015 and SHEBA throughout the troposphere, despite differences in location, sea ice thickness, and snow cover. For Ny-Ålesund, we observe similar characteristics above 1000 m, while the topography and ice-free fjord surrounding Ny-Ålesund generate great differences below. The long-term radiosonde record (1993-2014) from Ny-Ålesund indicates that during the N-ICE2015 spring period, temperatures were close to the climatological mean, while the lowest 3000 m were 1-3°C warmer than the climatology during winter.

Exposed water ice on the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

PubMed

Filacchione, G; De Sanctis, M C; Capaccioni, F; Raponi, A; Tosi, F; Ciarniello, M; Cerroni, P; Piccioni, G; Capria, M T; Palomba, E; Bellucci, G; Erard, S; Bockelee-Morvan, D; Leyrat, C; Arnold, G; Barucci, M A; Fulchignoni, M; Schmitt, B; Quirico, E; Jaumann, R; Stephan, K; Longobardo, A; Mennella, V; Migliorini, A; Ammannito, E; Benkhoff, J; Bibring, J P; Blanco, A; Blecka, M I; Carlson, R; Carsenty, U; Colangeli, L; Combes, M; Combi, M; Crovisier, J; Drossart, P; Encrenaz, T; Federico, C; Fink, U; Fonti, S; Ip, W H; Irwin, P; Kuehrt, E; Langevin, Y; Magni, G; McCord, T; Moroz, L; Mottola, S; Orofino, V; Schade, U; Taylor, F; Tiphene, D; Tozzi, G P; Beck, P; Biver, N; Bonal, L; Combe, J-Ph; Despan, D; Flamini, E; Formisano, M; Fornasier, S; Frigeri, A; Grassi, D; Gudipati, M S; Kappel, D; Mancarella, F; Markus, K; Merlin, F; Orosei, R; Rinaldi, G; Cartacci, M; Cicchetti, A; Giuppi, S; Hello, Y; Henry, F; Jacquinod, S; Reess, J M; Noschese, R; Politi, R; Peter, G

2016-01-21

Although water vapour is the main species observed in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and water is the major constituent of cometary nuclei, limited evidence for exposed water-ice regions on the surface of the nucleus has been found so far. The absence of large regions of exposed water ice seems a common finding on the surfaces of many of the comets observed so far. The nucleus of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko appears to be fairly uniformly coated with dark, dehydrated, refractory and organic-rich material. Here we report the identification at infrared wavelengths of water ice on two debris falls in the Imhotep region of the nucleus. The ice has been exposed on the walls of elevated structures and at the base of the walls. A quantitative derivation of the abundance of ice in these regions indicates the presence of millimetre-sized pure water-ice grains, considerably larger than in all previous observations. Although micrometre-sized water-ice grains are the usual result of vapour recondensation in ice-free layers, the occurrence of millimetre-sized grains of pure ice as observed in the Imhotep debris falls is best explained by grain growth by vapour diffusion in ice-rich layers, or by sintering. As a consequence of these processes, the nucleus can develop an extended and complex coating in which the outer dehydrated crust is superimposed on layers enriched in water ice. The stratigraphy observed on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is therefore the result of evolutionary processes affecting the uppermost metres of the nucleus and does not necessarily require a global layering to have occurred at the time of the comet's formation.

Holocene Accumulation and Ice Flow near the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide Ice Core Site

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koutnik, Michelle R.; Fudge, T.J.; Conway, Howard; Waddington, Edwin D.; Neumann, Thomas A.; Cuffey, Kurt M.; Buizert, Christo; Taylor, Kendrick C.

2016-01-01

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide Core (WDC) provided a high-resolution climate record from near the Ross-Amundsen Divide in Central West Antarctica. In addition, radar-detected internal layers in the vicinity of the WDC site have been dated directly from the ice core to provide spatial variations in the age structure of the region. Using these two data sets together, we first infer a high-resolution Holocene accumulation-rate history from 9.2 thousand years of the ice-core timescale and then confirm that this climate history is consistent with internal layers upstream of the core site. Even though the WDC was drilled only 24 kilometers from the modern ice divide, advection of ice from upstream must be taken into account. We evaluate histories of accumulation rate by using a flowband model to generate internal layers that we compare to observed layers. Results show that the centennially averaged accumulation rate was over 20 percent lower than modern at 9.2 thousand years before present (B.P.), increased by 40 percent from 9.2 to 2.3 thousand years B.P., and decreased by at least 10 percent over the past 2 thousand years B.P. to the modern values; these Holocene accumulation-rate changes in Central West Antarctica are larger than changes inferred from East Antarctic ice-core records. Despite significant changes in accumulation rate, throughout the Holocene the regional accumulation pattern has likely remained similar to today, and the ice-divide position has likely remained on average within 5 kilometers of its modern position. Continent-scale ice-sheet models used for reconstructions of West Antarctic ice volume should incorporate this accumulation history.

Converging flow and anisotropy cause large-scale folding in Greenland's ice sheet

PubMed Central

Bons, Paul D.; Jansen, Daniela; Mundel, Felicitas; Bauer, Catherine C.; Binder, Tobias; Eisen, Olaf; Jessell, Mark W.; Llorens, Maria-Gema; Steinbach, Florian; Steinhage, Daniel; Weikusat, Ilka

2016-01-01

The increasing catalogue of high-quality ice-penetrating radar data provides a unique insight in the internal layering architecture of the Greenland ice sheet. The stratigraphy, an indicator of past deformation, highlights irregularities in ice flow and reveals large perturbations without obvious links to bedrock shape. In this work, to establish a new conceptual model for the formation process, we analysed the radar data at the onset of the Petermann Glacier, North Greenland, and created a three-dimensional model of several distinct stratigraphic layers. We demonstrate that the dominant structures are cylindrical folds sub-parallel to the ice flow. By numerical modelling, we show that these folds can be formed by lateral compression of mechanically anisotropic ice, while a general viscosity contrast between layers would not lead to folding for the same boundary conditions. We conclude that the folds primarily form by converging flow as the mechanically anisotropic ice is channelled towards the glacier. PMID:27126274

Effect of surface reaction layer on grindability of cast titanium alloys.

PubMed

Ohkubo, Chikahiro; Hosoi, Toshio; Ford, J Phillip; Watanabe, Ikuya

2006-03-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the cast surface reaction layer on the grindability of titanium alloys, including free-machining titanium alloy (DT2F), and to compare the results with the grindability of two dental casting alloys (gold and Co-Cr). All titanium specimens (pure Ti, Ti-6Al-4V and DT2F) were cast using a centrifugal casting machine in magnesia-based investment molds. Two specimen sizes were used to cast the titanium metals so that the larger castings would be the same size as the smaller gold and Co-Cr alloy specimens after removal of the surface reaction layer (alpha-case). Grindability was measured as volume loss ground from a specimen for 1 min using a handpiece engine with a SiC abrasive wheel at 0.1 kgf and four circumferential wheel speeds. For the titanium and gold alloys, grindability increased as the rotational speed increased. There was no statistical difference (p>0.05) in grindability for all titanium specimens either with or without the alpha-case. Of the titanium metals tested, Ti-6 Al-4V had the greatest grindability at higher speeds, followed by DT2F and CP Ti. The grindability of the gold alloy was similar to that of Ti-6 Al-4V, whereas the Co-Cr alloy had the lowest grindability. The results of this study indicated that the alpha-case did not significantly affect the grindability of the titanium alloys. The free-machining titanium alloy had improved grindability compared to CP Ti.

Stability of Water Ice Beneath Porous Dust Layers of the Martian South Polar Terrain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keller, H. U.; Skorov, Yu. V.; Markiewicz, W. J.; Basilevsky, A. T.

2000-08-01

The analysis of the Viking Infrared Thermal Mapper (IRTM) data show that the surface layers of the Mars south polar layered deposits have very low thermal inertia between 75 and 125 J/(sq m)(s-1/2)(K-1). This is consistent with the assumption that the surface is covered by a porous layer of fine dust. Paige and Keegan determined a slightly higher value based on a thermal model similar to that of Kieffer et al. In this model the heat transfer equation is used to estimate the thickness of the layer that protects the ground ice from seasonal and diurnal temperature variations. The physical properties of the layer are unimportant as long as it has a low thermal inertia and conductivity and keeps the temperature at the ice boundary low enough to prevent sublimation. A thickness between 20 and 4 cm was estimated. This result can be considered to be an upper limit. We assume the surface to be covered by a porous dust layer and consider the gas diffusion through it, from the ground ice and from the atmosphere. Then the depth of the layer is determined by the mass flux balance of subliming and condensing water and not by the temperature condition. The dust particles in the atmosphere are of the order 1 gm. On the surface we can expect larger grains (up to sand size). Therefore assuming an average pore size of 10 gm, a volume porosity of 0.5, a heat capacity of 1300 J/(kg-1)(K-1) leads to a thermal inertia of approx. 80 J/(sq m)(s-1/2)(K-1). With these parameters a dust layer of only 5 mm thickness is found to establish the flux balance at the ice-dust interface during spring season in the southern hemisphere at high latitudes (where Mars Polar Lander arrived). The diurnal temperature variation at the ice-dust surface is shown. The maximum of 205 K well exceeds the sublimation temperature of water ice at 198 K under the atmospheric conditions. The corresponding vapour flux during the last day is shown together with the flux condensing from the atmosphere. The calculations show that the sub-surface ice on Mars can be thermodynamically and dynamically stable even if it is protected by a porous dust layer of only a few millimetres in thickness.

The Effect of Prophylactic Polishing Pastes on Surface Roughness of Indirect Restorative Materials

PubMed Central

Can Say, Esra; Yurdagüven, Haktan; Malkondu, Özlem; Ünlü, Nimet; Soyman, Mübin; Kazazoğlu, Ender

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of prophylactic polishing pastes (PPP; Detartrine (DT), Topex (TP)) on surface roughness (R a) of indirect composites (IRC; Tescera (TES), Gradia (GRD), and Estenia C&B (EST)), a glass ceramic (Empress 2 layering (E2)), and a leucite reinforced glass ceramic (Empress Esthetic (EE)) with two different (glazed (G); polished (P)) surface preparations. A total of 90 IRC and 120 ceramic discs, 8 mm in diameter and 2 mm thick, were prepared. E2 and EE specimens were randomly divided into two groups (n = 30). One group was glazed (GE2; GEE), while the other group was polished (PE2; PEE) the same as the IRCs. The specimens in each group were subsequently divided into three subgroups: control (C), DT, and TP. R a (μm) was evaluated with a profilometer. Data were analyzed by Kruskal Wallis, followed by the Dunn's multiple comparison tests (P < 0.05). DT and TP resulted in significant surface roughening for TES, GRD, and EST, while no significant differences were detected between DT and TP (P > 0.05). PE2 and PEE were not affected by DT or TP (P > 0.05), while GE2 and GEE exhibited significant roughening after TP (P < 0.05). Surface roughness of IRCs and glazed ceramics can be affected by PPP applications. PMID:24729757

Slush Fund: Modeling the Multiphase Physics of Oceanic Ices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buffo, J.; Schmidt, B. E.

2016-12-01

The prevalence of ice interacting with an ocean, both on Earth and throughout the solar system, and its crucial role as the mediator of exchange between the hydrosphere below and atmosphere above, have made quantifying the thermodynamic, chemical, and physical properties of the ice highly desirable. While direct observations of these quantities exist, their scarcity increases with the difficulty of obtainment; the basal surfaces of terrestrial ice shelves remain largely unexplored and the icy interiors of moons like Europa and Enceladus have never been directly observed. Our understanding of these entities thus relies on numerical simulation, and the efficacy of their incorporation into larger systems models is dependent on the accuracy of these initial simulations. One characteristic of seawater, likely shared by the oceans of icy moons, is that it is a solution. As such, when it is frozen a majority of the solute is rejected from the forming ice, concentrating in interstitial pockets and channels, producing a two-component reactive porous media known as a mushy layer. The multiphase nature of this layer affects the evolution and dynamics of the overlying ice mass. Additionally ice can form in the water column and accrete onto the basal surface of these ice masses via buoyancy driven sedimentation as frazil or platelet ice. Numerical models hoping to accurately represent ice-ocean interactions should include the multiphase behavior of these two phenomena. While models of sea ice have begun to incorporate multiphase physics into their capabilities, no models of ice shelves/shells explicitly account for the two-phase behavior of the ice-ocean interface. Here we present a 1D multiphase model of floating oceanic ice that includes parameterizations of both density driven advection within the `mushy layer' and buoyancy driven sedimentation. The model is validated against contemporary sea ice models and observational data. Environmental stresses such as supercooling and melting events will be discussed for terrestrial ice. The impact of fluid motion within the mushy layer on nutrient transport and habitability will be discussed. Results from the model's application to icy moon environments will be presented, highlighting ice shell composition, thickness, thermodynamics, and role in potential habitability.

Winter ocean-ice interactions under thin sea ice observed by IAOOS platforms during N-ICE2015: Salty surface mixed layer and active basal melt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koenig, Zoé; Provost, Christine; Villacieros-Robineau, Nicolas; Sennéchael, Nathalie; Meyer, Amelie

2016-10-01

IAOOS (Ice Atmosphere Arctic Ocean Observing System) platforms, measuring physical parameters at the atmosphere-snow-ice-ocean interface deployed as part of the N-ICE2015 campaign, provide new insights on winter conditions North of Svalbard. The three regions crossed during the drifts, the Nansen Basin, the Sofia Deep, and the Svalbard northern continental slope featured distinct hydrographic properties and ice-ocean exchanges. In the Nansen Basin, the quiescent warm layer was capped by a stepped halocline (60 and 110 m) and a deep thermocline (110 m). Ice was forming and the winter mixed layer salinity was larger by ˜0.1 g/kg than previously observed. Over the Svalbard continental slope, the Atlantic Water (AW) was very shallow (20 m from the surface) and extended offshore from the 500 m isobath by a distance of about 70 km, sank along the slope (40 m from the surface) and probably shed eddies into the Sofia Deep. In the Sofia Deep, relatively warm waters of Atlantic origin extended from 90 m downward. Resulting from different pathways, these waters had a wide range of hydrographic characteristics. Sea-ice melt was widespread over the Svalbard continental slope and ocean-to-ice heat fluxes reached values of 400 W m-2 (mean of ˜150 W m-2 over the continental slope). Sea-ice melt events were associated with near 12 h fluctuations in the mixed-layer temperature and salinity corresponding to the periodicity of tides and near-inertial waves potentially generated by winter storms, large barotropic tides over steep topography, and/or geostrophic adjustments.

Physical modeling of the influence of bedrock topography and ablation on ice flow and meteorite concentration in Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corti, Giacomo; Zeoli, Antonio; Belmaggio, Pietro; Folco, Luigi

2008-03-01

Three-dimensional laboratory physical experiments have been used to investigate the influence of bedrock topography and ablation on ice flow. Different models were tested in a Plexiglas box, where a transparent silicone simulating ice in nature was allowed to flow. Experimental results show how the flow field (in terms of both flow lines and velocity) and variations in the topography of the free surface and internal layers of the ice are strongly influenced by the presence and height of bedrock obstacles. In particular, the buttressing effect forces the ice to slow down, rise up, and avoid the obstacle; the higher the bedrock barrier, the more pronounced the process. Only limited uplift of internal layers is observed in these experiments. In order to exhume deep material embedded in the ice, ablation (simulated by physically removing portions of silicone from the model surface to maintain a constant topographic depression) must be included in the physical models. In this case, the analogue ice replenishes the area of material removal, thereby allowing deep layers to move vertically to the surface and severely altering the local ice flow pattern. This process is analogous to the ice flow model proposed in the literature for the origin of meteorite concentrations in blue ice areas of the Antarctic plateau.

Timing and Distribution of Single-Layered Ejecta Craters Imply Sporadic Preservation of Tropical Subsurface Ice on Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirchoff, Michelle R.; Grimm, Robert E.

2018-01-01

Determining the evolution of tropical subsurface ice is a key component to understanding Mars's climate and geologic history. Study of an intriguing crater type on Mars—layered ejecta craters, which likely form by tapping subsurface ice—may provide constraints on this evolution. Layered ejecta craters have a continuous ejecta deposit with a fluidized-flow appearance. Single-layered ejecta (SLE) craters are the most common and dominate at tropical latitudes and therefore offer the best opportunity to derive new constraints on the temporal evolution of low-latitude subsurface ice. We estimate model formation ages of 54 SLE craters with diameter (D) ≥ 5 km using the density of small, superposed craters with D < 1 km on their continuous ejecta deposits. These model ages indicate that SLE craters have formed throughout the Amazonian and at a similar rate expected for all Martian craters. This suggests that tropical ice has remained at relatively shallow depths at least where these craters formed. In particular, the presence of equatorial SLE craters with D 1 km indicates that ice could be preserved as shallow as 100 m or less at those locations. Finally, there is a striking spatial mixing in an area of highlands near the equator of layered and radial (lunar-like ballistic) ejecta craters; the latter form where there are insufficient concentrations of subsurface ice. This implies strong spatial heterogeneity in the concentration of tropical subsurface ice.

Design, fabrication, and testing of an ultrasonic de-icing system for helicopter rotor blades

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palacios, Jose Luis

A low-power, non-thermal ultrasonic de-icing system is introduced as a possible substitute for current electro-thermal systems. The system generates delaminating ultrasonic transverse shear stresses at the interface of accreted ice. A PZT-4 disk driven at 28.5 KHz (radial resonance of the disk) instantaneously de-bonds 2 mm thick freezer ice layers. The ice layers are accreted to a 0.7 mm thick, 30.4 cm x 30.4 cm steel plate at an environment temperature of -20°C. A power input of 50 Watts is applied to the actuator (50 V, 19.6 KV/m), which translates to a de-icing power of 0.07 W/cm2. A finite element model of the actuator bonded to the isotropic plate is used to guide the design of the system, and predicts the transverse shear stresses at the ice interface. Wind tunnel icing tests were conducted to demonstrate the potential use of the proposed system under impact icing conditions. Both glaze ice and rime ice were generated on steel and composite plates by changing the cloud conditions of the wind tunnel. Continuous ultrasonic vibration prevented impact ice formation around the actuator location at an input power not exceeding 0.18 W/cm 2 (1.2 W/in2). As ice thickness reached a critical thickness of approximately 1.2 mm, shedding occurred on those locations where ultrasonic transverse shear stresses exceeded the shear adhesion strength of the ice. Finite element transverse shear stress predictions correlate with observed experimental impact ice de-bonding behavior. To increase the traveling distance of propagating ultrasonic waves, ultrasonic shear horizontal wave modes are studied. Wave modes providing large modal interface transverse shear stress concentration coefficients (ISCC) between the host structure (0.7 mm thick steel plate) and accreted ice (2.5 mm thick ice layer) are identified and investigated for a potential increase in the wave propagation distance. Ultrasonic actuators able to trigger these optimum wave modes are designed and fabricated. Despite exciting wave modes with high ISCC values, instantaneous ice de-bonding is not observed at input powers under 100 Watts. The two triggered ultrasonic wave modes of the structure occur at high excitation frequencies, 202 KHz and 500 KHz respectively. At these frequencies, the ultrasonic actuators do not provide large enough transverse shear stresses to exceed the shear adhesion strength of the ice layer. Neither the actuator exciting the SH1 mode (202 KHz), nor the actuator triggering the SH2 mode (500 KHz) instantaneously de-bonds ice layers with an input power under 100 Watts.

On the Formation of Planetesimals: Radial Contraction of the Dust Layer Interacting with the Protoplanetary Disk Gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makalkin, A. B.; Artyushkova, M. E.

2017-11-01

Radial contraction of the dust layer in the midplane of a gas-dust protoplanetary disk that consists of large dust aggregates is modeled. Sizes of aggregates vary from centimeters to meters assuming the monodispersion of the layer. The highly nonlinear continuity equation for the solid phase of the dust layer is solved numerically. The purpose of the study is to identify the conditions under which the solid matter is accumulated in the layer, which contributes to the formation of planetesimals as a result of gravitational instability of the dust phase of the layer. We consider the collective interaction of the layer with the surrounding gas of the protoplanetary disk: shear stresses act on the gas in the dust layer that has a higher orbital velocity than the gas outside the layer, this leads to a loss of angular momentum and a radial drift of the layer. The stress magnitude is determined by the turbulent viscosity, which is represented as the sum of the α-viscosity associated with global turbulence in the disk and the viscosity associated with turbulence that is localized in a thin equatorial region comprising the dust layer and is caused by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. The evaporation of water ice and the continuity of the mass flux of the nonvolatile component on the ice line is also taken into account. It is shown that the accumulation of solid matter on either side of the ice line and in other regions of the disk is determined primarily by the ratio of the radii of dust aggregates on either side of the ice line. If after the ice evaporation the sizes (or density) of dust aggregates decrease by an order of magnitude or more, the density of the solid phase of the layer's matter in the annular zone adjacent to the ice line from the inside increases sharply. If, however, the sizes of the aggregates on the inner side of the ice line are only a few times smaller than behind the ice line, then in the same zone there is a deficit of mass at the place of the modern asteroid belt. We have obtained constraints on the parameters at which the layer compaction is possible: the global turbulence viscosity parameter (α < 10-5), the initial radial distribution of the surface density of the dust layer, and the distribution of the gas surface density in the disk. Restrictions on the surface density depend on the size of dust aggregates. It is shown that the timescale of radial contraction of a dust layer consisting of meter-sized bodies is two orders of magnitude and that of decimeter ones, an order of magnitude greater than the timescale of the radial drift of individual particles if there is no dust layer.

Antarctic Ice-Sheet Mass Balance from Satellite Altimetry 1992 to 2001

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zwally, H. Jay; Brenner, Anita C.; Cornejo, Helen; Giovinetto, Mario; Saba, Jack L.; Yi, Donghui

2003-01-01

A major uncertainty in understanding the causes of the current rate of sea level rise is the potential contributions from mass imbalances of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Estimates of the current mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet are derived from surface- elevation changes obtained from 9 years of ERS - 1 & 2 radar altimeter data. Elevation time-series are created from altimeter crossovers among 90-day data periods on a 50 km grid to 81.5 S. The time series are fit with a multivariate linear/sinusoidal function to give the average rate of elevation change (dH/dt). On the major Rome-Filchner, Ross, and Amery ice shelves, the W d t are small or near zero. In contrast, the ice shelves of the Antarctic Peninsula and along the West Antarctic coast appear to be thinning significantly, with a 23 +/- 3 cm per year surface elevation decrease on the Larsen ice shelf and a 65 +/- 4 cm per year decrease on the Dotson ice shelf. On the grounded ice, significant elevation decreases are obtained over most of the drainage basins of the Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers in West Antarctica and inland of Law Dome in East Antarctica. Significant elevation increases are observed within about 200 km of the coast around much of the rest of the ice sheet. Farther inland, the changes are a mixed pattern of increases and decreases with increases of a few centimeters per year at the highest elevations of the East Antarctic plateau. The derived elevation changes are combined with estimates of the bedrock uplift from several models to provide maps of ice thickness change. The ice thickness changes enable estimates of the ice mass balances for the major drainage basins, the overall mass balance, and the current contribution of the ice sheet to global sea level change.

The interaction between sea ice and salinity-dominated ocean circulation: implications for halocline stability and rapid changes of sea-ice cover

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jensen, M. F.; Nilsson, J.; Nisancioglu, K. H.

2016-02-01

In this study, we develop a simple conceptual model to examine how interactions between sea ice and oceanic heat and freshwater transports affect the stability of an upper-ocean halocline in a semi-enclosed basin. The model represents a sea-ice covered and salinity stratified ocean, and consists of a sea-ice component and a two-layer ocean; a cold, fresh surface layer above a warmer, more saline layer. The sea-ice thickness depends on the atmospheric energy fluxes as well as the ocean heat flux. We introduce a thickness-dependent sea-ice export. Whether sea ice stabilizes or destabilizes against a freshwater perturbation is shown to depend on the representation of the vertical mixing. In a system where the vertical diffusivity is constant, the sea ice acts as a positive feedback on a freshwater perturbation. If the vertical diffusivity is derived from a constant mixing energy constraint, the sea ice acts as a negative feedback. However, both representations lead to a circulation that breaks down when the freshwater input at the surface is small. As a consequence, we get rapid changes in sea ice. In addition to low freshwater forcing, increasing deep-ocean temperatures promote instability and the disappearance of sea ice. Generally, the unstable state is reached before the vertical density difference disappears, and small changes in temperature and freshwater inputs can provoke abrupt changes in sea ice.

Use of manometric temperature measurements (MTM) to characterize the freeze-drying behavior of amorphous protein formulations.

PubMed

Johnson, Robert E; Oldroyd, Megan E; Ahmed, Saleem S; Gieseler, Henning; Lewis, Lavinia M

2010-06-01

The freeze-drying behavior and cake morphology of a model protein in an amorphous formulation were studied at varying protein concentrations using conservative (-25 degrees C) and aggressive (+25 degrees C) shelf temperatures at constant chamber pressure during primary drying. The two cycles were characterized by manometric temperature measurements (MTM) in a SMART freeze dryer that estimates the sublimation rate (dm/dt), product temperature at the freeze-drying front (T(p-MTM)) and product resistance (R(p)) during a run. The calculated sublimation rates (dm/dt) were 3-4 times faster in the aggressive cycle compared to the conservative cycle. For conservatively dried cakes R(p) increased with both dry layer thickness and protein concentration. For aggressively dried cakes (where freeze-drying occurs at the edge of microcollapse), R(p) also increased with protein concentration but was independent of the dry layer thickness. The sublimation rate was influenced by R(p), dry layer thickness and T(p-MTM) in the conservative cycle, but was governed mainly by T(p-MTM) in the aggressive cycle, where R(p) is independent of the dry layer thickness. The aggressively dried cakes had a more open and porous structure compared to their conservatively dried counterparts. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association

Cryogenic tritium-hydrogen-deuterium and deuterium-tritium layer implosions with high density carbon ablators in near-vacuum hohlraums

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

Meezan, N. B., E-mail: meezan1@llnl.gov; Hopkins, L. F. Berzak; Pape, S. Le

2015-06-15

High Density Carbon (or diamond) is a promising ablator material for use in near-vacuum hohlraums, as its high density allows for ignition designs with laser pulse durations of <10 ns. A series of Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) experiments in 2013 on the National Ignition Facility [Moses et al., Phys. Plasmas 16, 041006 (2009)] culminated in a deuterium-tritium (DT) layered implosion driven by a 6.8 ns, 2-shock laser pulse. This paper describes these experiments and comparisons with ICF design code simulations. Backlit radiography of a tritium-hydrogen-deuterium (THD) layered capsule demonstrated an ablator implosion velocity of 385 km/s with a slightly oblate hot spot shape.more » Other diagnostics suggested an asymmetric compressed fuel layer. A streak camera-based hot spot self-emission diagnostic (SPIDER) showed a double-peaked history of the capsule self-emission. Simulations suggest that this is a signature of low quality hot spot formation. Changes to the laser pulse and pointing for a subsequent DT implosion resulted in a higher temperature, prolate hot spot and a thermonuclear yield of 1.8 × 10{sup 15} neutrons, 40% of the 1D simulated yield.« less

Full two-dimensional transient solutions of electrothermal aircraft blade deicing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Masiulaniec, K. C.; Keith, T. G., Jr.; Dewitt, K. J.; Leffel, K. L.

1985-01-01

Two finite difference methods are presented for the analysis of transient, two-dimensional responses of an electrothermal de-icer pad of an aircraft wing or blade with attached variable ice layer thickness. Both models employ a Crank-Nicholson iterative scheme, and use an enthalpy formulation to handle the phase change in the ice layer. The first technique makes use of a 'staircase' approach, fitting the irregular ice boundary with square computational cells. The second technique uses a body fitted coordinate transform, and maps the exact shape of the irregular boundary into a rectangular body, with uniformally square computational cells. The numerical solution takes place in the transformed plane. Initial results accounting for variable ice layer thickness are presented. Details of planned de-icing tests at NASA-Lewis, which will provide empirical verification for the above two methods, are also presented.

The Subsurface Ice Probe (SIPR): A Low-Power Thermal Probe for the Martian Polar Layered Deposits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cardell, G.; Hecht, M. H.; Carsey, F. D.; Engelhardt, H.; Fisher, D.; Terrell, C.; Thompson, J.

2004-01-01

The distinctive layering visible in images from Mars Global Surveyor of the Martian polar caps, and particularly in the north polar cap, indicates that the stratigraphy of these polar layered deposits may hold a record of Martian climate history covering millions of years. On Earth, ice sheets are cored to retrieve a pristine record of the physical and chemical properties of the ice at depth, and then studied in exacting detail in the laboratory. On the Martian north polar cap, coring is probably not a practical method for implementation in an autonomous lander. As an alternative, thermal probes that drill by melting into the ice are feasible for autonomous operation, and are capable of reasonable approximations to the scientific investigations performed on terrestrial cores, while removing meltwater to the surface for analysis. The Subsurface Ice Probe (SIPR) is such a probe under development at JPL. To explore the dominant climate cycles, it is postulated that tens of meters of depth should be profiled, as this corresponds to the vertical separation of the major layers visible in the MOC images [1]. Optical and spectroscopic analysis of the layers, presumably demarcated by embedded dust and possibly by changes in the ice properties, would contribute to the construction of a chronology. Meltwater analysis may be used to determine the soluble chemistry of the embedded dust, and to monitor gradients of atmospheric gases, particularly hydrogen and oxygen, and isotopic variations that reflect atmospheric conditions at the time the layer was deposited. Thermal measurements can be used to determine the geothermal gradient and the bulk mechanical properties of the ice.

Forecasting and modelling ice layer formation on the snowpack due to freezing precipitations in the Pyrenees

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quéno, Louis; Vionnet, Vincent; Cabot, Frédéric; Vrécourt, Dominique; Dombrowski-Etchevers, Ingrid

2017-04-01

In the Pyrenees, freezing precipitations in altitude occur at least once per winter, leading to the formation of a pure ice layer on the surface of the snowpack. It may lead to accidents and fatalities among mountaineers and skiers, with sometimes a higher human toll than avalanches. Such events are not predicted by the current operational systems for snow and avalanche hazard forecasting. A crowd-sourced database of surface ice layer occurrences is first built up, using reports from Internet mountaineering and ski-touring communities, to mitigate the lack of observations from conventional observation networks. A simple diagnostic of freezing precipitation is then developed, based on the cloud water content and screen temperature forecast by the Numerical Weather Prediction model AROME, operating at 2.5-km resolution. The performance of this diagnostic is assessed for the event of 5-6 January 2012, with a good representation of altitudinal and spatial distributions of the ice layer. An evaluation of the diagnostic for major events over five winters gives good skills of detection compared to the occurrences reported in the observation database. A new modelling of ice formation on the surface of the snowpack due to impinging supercooled water is added to the detailed snowpack model Crocus. It is combined to the atmospheric diagnostic of freezing precipitations and resulting snowpack simulations over a winter season capture well the formation of the main ice layers. Their influence on the snowpack stratigraphy is also realistically simulated. These simple methods enable to forecast the occurrence of surface ice layer formations with good confidence and to simulate their evolution within the snowpack, even if an accurate estimation of freezing precipitation amounts remains the main challenge.

Detailed high-resolution three-dimensional simulations of OMEGA separated reactants inertial confinement fusion experiments

DOE PAGES

Haines, Brian Michael; Grim, Gary P.; Fincke, James R.; ...

2016-07-29

Here, we present results from the comparison of high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) simulations with data from the implosions of inertial confinement fusion capsules with separated reactants performed on the OMEGA laser facility. Each capsule, referred to as a “CD Mixcap,” is filled with tritium and has a polystyrene (CH) shell with a deuterated polystyrene (CD) layer whose burial depth is varied. In these implosions, fusion reactions between deuterium and tritium ions can occur only in the presence of atomic mix between the gas fill and shell material. The simulations feature accurate models for all known experimental asymmetries and do not employmore » any adjustable parameters to improve agreement with experimental data. Simulations are performed with the RAGE radiation-hydrodynamics code using an Implicit Large Eddy Simulation (ILES) strategy for the hydrodynamics. We obtain good agreement with the experimental data, including the DT/TT neutron yield ratios used to diagnose mix, for all burial depths of the deuterated shell layer. Additionally, simulations demonstrate good agreement with converged simulations employing explicit models for plasma diffusion and viscosity, suggesting that the implicit sub-grid model used in ILES is sufficient to model these processes in these experiments. In our simulations, mixing is driven by short-wavelength asymmetries and longer-wavelength features are responsible for developing flows that transport mixed material towards the center of the hot spot. Mix material transported by this process is responsible for most of the mix (DT) yield even for the capsule with a CD layer adjacent to the tritium fuel. Consistent with our previous results, mix does not play a significant role in TT neutron yield degradation; instead, this is dominated by the displacement of fuel from the center of the implosion due to the development of turbulent instabilities seeded by long-wavelength asymmetries. Through these processes, the long-wavelength asymmetries degrade TT yield more than the DT yield and thus bring DT/TT neutron yield ratios into agreement with experiment. Finally, we present a detailed comparison of the flows in 2D and 3D simulations.« less

Detailed high-resolution three-dimensional simulations of OMEGA separated reactants inertial confinement fusion experiments

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

Haines, Brian M., E-mail: bmhaines@lanl.gov; Fincke, James R.; Shah, Rahul C.

We present results from the comparison of high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) simulations with data from the implosions of inertial confinement fusion capsules with separated reactants performed on the OMEGA laser facility. Each capsule, referred to as a “CD Mixcap,” is filled with tritium and has a polystyrene (CH) shell with a deuterated polystyrene (CD) layer whose burial depth is varied. In these implosions, fusion reactions between deuterium and tritium ions can occur only in the presence of atomic mix between the gas fill and shell material. The simulations feature accurate models for all known experimental asymmetries and do not employ anymore » adjustable parameters to improve agreement with experimental data. Simulations are performed with the RAGE radiation-hydrodynamics code using an Implicit Large Eddy Simulation (ILES) strategy for the hydrodynamics. We obtain good agreement with the experimental data, including the DT/TT neutron yield ratios used to diagnose mix, for all burial depths of the deuterated shell layer. Additionally, simulations demonstrate good agreement with converged simulations employing explicit models for plasma diffusion and viscosity, suggesting that the implicit sub-grid model used in ILES is sufficient to model these processes in these experiments. In our simulations, mixing is driven by short-wavelength asymmetries and longer-wavelength features are responsible for developing flows that transport mixed material towards the center of the hot spot. Mix material transported by this process is responsible for most of the mix (DT) yield even for the capsule with a CD layer adjacent to the tritium fuel. Consistent with our previous results, mix does not play a significant role in TT neutron yield degradation; instead, this is dominated by the displacement of fuel from the center of the implosion due to the development of turbulent instabilities seeded by long-wavelength asymmetries. Through these processes, the long-wavelength asymmetries degrade TT yield more than the DT yield and thus bring DT/TT neutron yield ratios into agreement with experiment. Finally, we present a detailed comparison of the flows in 2D and 3D simulations.« less

Detailed high-resolution three-dimensional simulations of OMEGA separated reactants inertial confinement fusion experiments

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

Haines, Brian Michael; Grim, Gary P.; Fincke, James R.

Here, we present results from the comparison of high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) simulations with data from the implosions of inertial confinement fusion capsules with separated reactants performed on the OMEGA laser facility. Each capsule, referred to as a “CD Mixcap,” is filled with tritium and has a polystyrene (CH) shell with a deuterated polystyrene (CD) layer whose burial depth is varied. In these implosions, fusion reactions between deuterium and tritium ions can occur only in the presence of atomic mix between the gas fill and shell material. The simulations feature accurate models for all known experimental asymmetries and do not employmore » any adjustable parameters to improve agreement with experimental data. Simulations are performed with the RAGE radiation-hydrodynamics code using an Implicit Large Eddy Simulation (ILES) strategy for the hydrodynamics. We obtain good agreement with the experimental data, including the DT/TT neutron yield ratios used to diagnose mix, for all burial depths of the deuterated shell layer. Additionally, simulations demonstrate good agreement with converged simulations employing explicit models for plasma diffusion and viscosity, suggesting that the implicit sub-grid model used in ILES is sufficient to model these processes in these experiments. In our simulations, mixing is driven by short-wavelength asymmetries and longer-wavelength features are responsible for developing flows that transport mixed material towards the center of the hot spot. Mix material transported by this process is responsible for most of the mix (DT) yield even for the capsule with a CD layer adjacent to the tritium fuel. Consistent with our previous results, mix does not play a significant role in TT neutron yield degradation; instead, this is dominated by the displacement of fuel from the center of the implosion due to the development of turbulent instabilities seeded by long-wavelength asymmetries. Through these processes, the long-wavelength asymmetries degrade TT yield more than the DT yield and thus bring DT/TT neutron yield ratios into agreement with experiment. Finally, we present a detailed comparison of the flows in 2D and 3D simulations.« less

Detailed high-resolution three-dimensional simulations of OMEGA separated reactants inertial confinement fusion experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haines, Brian M.; Grim, Gary P.; Fincke, James R.; Shah, Rahul C.; Forrest, Chad J.; Silverstein, Kevin; Marshall, Frederic J.; Boswell, Melissa; Fowler, Malcolm M.; Gore, Robert A.; Hayes-Sterbenz, Anna C.; Jungman, Gerard; Klein, Andreas; Rundberg, Robert S.; Steinkamp, Michael J.; Wilhelmy, Jerry B.

2016-07-01

We present results from the comparison of high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) simulations with data from the implosions of inertial confinement fusion capsules with separated reactants performed on the OMEGA laser facility. Each capsule, referred to as a "CD Mixcap," is filled with tritium and has a polystyrene (CH) shell with a deuterated polystyrene (CD) layer whose burial depth is varied. In these implosions, fusion reactions between deuterium and tritium ions can occur only in the presence of atomic mix between the gas fill and shell material. The simulations feature accurate models for all known experimental asymmetries and do not employ any adjustable parameters to improve agreement with experimental data. Simulations are performed with the RAGE radiation-hydrodynamics code using an Implicit Large Eddy Simulation (ILES) strategy for the hydrodynamics. We obtain good agreement with the experimental data, including the DT/TT neutron yield ratios used to diagnose mix, for all burial depths of the deuterated shell layer. Additionally, simulations demonstrate good agreement with converged simulations employing explicit models for plasma diffusion and viscosity, suggesting that the implicit sub-grid model used in ILES is sufficient to model these processes in these experiments. In our simulations, mixing is driven by short-wavelength asymmetries and longer-wavelength features are responsible for developing flows that transport mixed material towards the center of the hot spot. Mix material transported by this process is responsible for most of the mix (DT) yield even for the capsule with a CD layer adjacent to the tritium fuel. Consistent with our previous results, mix does not play a significant role in TT neutron yield degradation; instead, this is dominated by the displacement of fuel from the center of the implosion due to the development of turbulent instabilities seeded by long-wavelength asymmetries. Through these processes, the long-wavelength asymmetries degrade TT yield more than the DT yield and thus bring DT/TT neutron yield ratios into agreement with experiment. Finally, we present a detailed comparison of the flows in 2D and 3D simulations.

High-resolution measurements of the DT neutron spectrum using new CD foils in the Magnetic Recoil neutron Spectrometer (MRS) on the National Ignition Facility

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

Gatu Johnson, M., E-mail: gatu@psfc.mit.edu; Frenje, J. A.; Li, C. K.

2016-11-15

The Magnetic Recoil neutron Spectrometer (MRS) on the National Ignition Facility measures the DT neutron spectrum from cryogenically layered inertial confinement fusion implosions. Yield, areal density, apparent ion temperature, and directional fluid flow are inferred from the MRS data. This paper describes recent advances in MRS measurements of the primary peak using new, thinner, reduced-area deuterated plastic (CD) conversion foils. The new foils allow operation of MRS at yields 2 orders of magnitude higher than previously possible, at a resolution down to ∼200 keV FWHM.

High-resolution measurements of the DT neutron spectrum using new CD foils in the Magnetic Recoil neutron Spectrometer (MRS) on the National Ignition Facility

DOE PAGES

Gatu Johnson, M.; Frenje, J. A.; Bionta, R. M.; ...

2016-08-09

The Magnetic Recoil neutron Spectrometer (MRS) on the National Ignition Facility measures the DT neutron spectrum from cryogenically layered inertial confinement fusion implosions. Yield, areal density, apparent ion temperature, and directional fluid flow are inferred from the MRS data. Here, this paper describes recent advances in MRS measurements of the primary peak using new, thinner, reduced-area deuterated plastic (CD) conversion foils. The new foils allow operation of MRS at yields 2 orders of magnitude higher than previously possible, at a resolution down to ~200 keV FWHM.

High-resolution measurements of the DT neutron spectrum using new CD foils in the Magnetic Recoil neutron Spectrometer (MRS) on the National Ignition Facility.

PubMed

Gatu Johnson, M; Frenje, J A; Bionta, R M; Casey, D T; Eckart, M J; Farrell, M P; Grim, G P; Hartouni, E P; Hatarik, R; Hoppe, M; Kilkenny, J D; Li, C K; Petrasso, R D; Reynolds, H G; Sayre, D B; Schoff, M E; Séguin, F H; Skulina, K; Yeamans, C B

2016-11-01

The Magnetic Recoil neutron Spectrometer (MRS) on the National Ignition Facility measures the DT neutron spectrum from cryogenically layered inertial confinement fusion implosions. Yield, areal density, apparent ion temperature, and directional fluid flow are inferred from the MRS data. This paper describes recent advances in MRS measurements of the primary peak using new, thinner, reduced-area deuterated plastic (CD) conversion foils. The new foils allow operation of MRS at yields 2 orders of magnitude higher than previously possible, at a resolution down to ∼200 keV FWHM.

Regular network model for the sea ice-albedo feedback in the Arctic.

PubMed

Müller-Stoffels, Marc; Wackerbauer, Renate

2011-03-01

The Arctic Ocean and sea ice form a feedback system that plays an important role in the global climate. The complexity of highly parameterized global circulation (climate) models makes it very difficult to assess feedback processes in climate without the concurrent use of simple models where the physics is understood. We introduce a two-dimensional energy-based regular network model to investigate feedback processes in an Arctic ice-ocean layer. The model includes the nonlinear aspect of the ice-water phase transition, a nonlinear diffusive energy transport within a heterogeneous ice-ocean lattice, and spatiotemporal atmospheric and oceanic forcing at the surfaces. First results for a horizontally homogeneous ice-ocean layer show bistability and related hysteresis between perennial ice and perennial open water for varying atmospheric heat influx. Seasonal ice cover exists as a transient phenomenon. We also find that ocean heat fluxes are more efficient than atmospheric heat fluxes to melt Arctic sea ice.

Gas transport processes in sea ice: How convection and diffusion processes might affect biological imprints, a challenge for modellers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tison, J.-L.; Zhou, J.; Thomas, D. N.; Rysgaard, S.; Eicken, H.; Crabeck, O.; Deleu, F.; Delille, B.

2012-04-01

Recent data from a year-round survey of landfast sea ice growth in Barrow (Alaska) have shown how O2/N2 and O2/Ar ratios could be used to pinpoint primary production in sea ice and derive net productivity rates from the temporal evolution of the oxygen concentration at a given depth within the sea ice cover. These rates were however obtained surmising that neither convection, nor diffusion had affected the gas concentration profiles in the ice between discrete ice core collections. This paper discusses examples from three different field surveys (the above-mentioned Barrow experiment, the INTERICE IV tank experiment in Hamburg and a short field survey close to the Kapisilit locality in the South-East Greenland fjords) where convection or diffusion processes have clearly affected the temporal evolution of the gas profiles in the ice, therefore potentially affecting biological signatures. The INTERICE IV and Barrow experiment show that the initial equilibrium dissolved gas entrapment within the skeletal layer basically governs most of the profiles higher up in the sea ice cover during the active sea ice growth. However, as the ice layers age and cool down under the temperature gradient, bubble nucleation occurs while the concentration in the ice goes well above the theoretical one, calculated from brine equilibrium under temperature and salinity changes and observed brine volumes. This phase change locks the gases within the sea ice structure, preventing "degassing" of the ice, as is observed for salts under the mushy layer brine convection process. In some cases, mainly in the early stages of the freezing process (first 10-20 cm) where temperature gradients are strong and the ice still permeable on its whole thickness, repeated convection and bubble nucleation can actually increase the gas concentration in the ice above the one initially acquired within the skeletal layer. Convective processes will also occur on ice decay, when ice permeability is restored and the Rayleigh number reaches a critical value. The Barrow data set shows that these events, can be strong enough to redistribute the gases within the sea ice cover, including in the gaseous form. Diffusive processes will become dominant once internal melting is strong enough to stratify the brine network within the ice. In the Kapisilit case, the regular decrease of an internal gas peak intensity due to external forcing during ice growth (change of water type) has allowed us to deduce gas diffusivities from the temporal evolution of the peak. The values fit to the few previous estimates from experimental work, and lie close to diffusivity values in water. Finally, at the end of the decay phase, when the temperature profile is isothermal, the whole ice cover returns to ice concentrations equivalent to those calculated using gas solubility in water and observed brine volumes, to the exception of the very surface layer, generally for textural reasons.

The stability of ground ice in the equatorial region of Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clifford, S. M.; Hillel, D.

1983-01-01

The lifetime of an unreplenished layer of ground ice lying within 30 deg of the Martian equator was examined within the context of the existing data base on Martian regolith and climate. Data on the partial pressure of H2O in the Martian atmosphere and the range of mean annual temperatures indicated the ground ice would be restricted to latitudes poleward of 40 deg. However, the ground ice near the poles may be a relic from early Martian geologic times held in place by a thin layer of regolith. Consideration of twelve model pore size distributions, similar to silt- and clay-type earth soils, was combined with a parallel pore model of gaseous diffusion to calculate the flux of H2O molecules escaping from the subsurface ground ice layer. Martian equatorial ground ice was found to be influenced by the soil structure, the magnitude of the geothermal gradient, the climatic desorption of CO2 from the regolith. It is concluded that equatorial ground ice is present on Mars only if a process of replenishment is active.

Nanoscale deicing by molecular dynamics simulation.

PubMed

Xiao, Senbo; He, Jianying; Zhang, Zhiliang

2016-08-14

Deicing is important to human activities in low-temperature circumstances, and is critical for combating the damage caused by excessive accumulation of ice. The aim of creating anti-icing materials, surfaces and applications relies on the understanding of fundamental nanoscale ice adhesion mechanics. Here in this study, we employ all-atom modeling and molecular dynamics simulation to investigate ice adhesion. We apply force to detach and shear nano-sized ice cubes for probing the determinants of atomistic adhesion mechanics, and at the same time investigate the mechanical effect of a sandwiched aqueous water layer between ice and substrates. We observe that high interfacial energy restricts ice mobility and increases both ice detaching and shearing stresses. We quantify up to a 60% decrease in ice adhesion strength by an aqueous water layer, and provide atomistic details that support previous experimental studies. Our results contribute quantitative comparison of nanoscale adhesion strength of ice on hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces, and supply for the first time theoretical references for understanding the mechanics at the atomistic origins of macroscale ice adhesion.

Investigation of 2-Dimensional Isotropy of Under-Ice Roughness in the Beaufort Gyre and Implications for Mixed Layer Ocean Turbulence

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-01

this roughness is important for numerical modeling and prediction of the Arctic air-ice-ocean system, which will play a significant role as the US Navy...is important for numerical modeling and prediction of the Arctic air-ice-ocean system, which will play a significant role as the US Navy increases... Model 1 is based on a sequence of plane parallel layers each with a constant gradient whereas Model 2 is based on a series of flat layers of

Solar cycle and long term variations of mesospheric ice layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lübken, Franz-Josef; Berger, Uwe; Kiliani, Johannes; Baumgarten, Gerd; Fiedler, Jens; Gerding, Michael

2010-05-01

Ice layers in the summer mesosphere at middle and polar latitudes, frequently called `noctilucent clouds' (NLC) or `polar mesosphere clouds'(PMC), are considered to be sensitive indicators of long term changes in the middle atmosphere. We present a summary of long term observations from the ground and from satellites and compare with results from the LIMA model (Leibniz Institute Middle Atmosphere Model). LIMA nicely reproduces mean conditions of the summer mesopause region and also mean characteristics of ice layers. LIMA nudges to ECMWF data in the troposphere and lower stratosphere which influences the background conditions in the mesosphere and thereby the morphology of ice clouds. A strong correlation between temperatures and PMC altitudes is observed. Applied to historical measurements this give s negligible temperature trends at PMC altitudes (approximately 0.01-0.02 K/y). Trace gas concentrations are kept constant in LIMA except for water vapor which is modified by variable solar radiation. Still, long term trends in temperatures and ice layer parameters are observed, consistent with observations. As will be shown, these trends originate in the stratosphere. Solar cycle effects are expected in ice layers due to variations in background temperatures and water paper. We will present results from LIMA regarding solar cycle variations and compare with NLC observations at our lidar stations in Kühlungsborn (54°N) and ALOMAR (69°N), and also with satellite measurements.

Greenland Ice Sheet in 3D Cutaway

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

Peering into the thousands of frozen layers inside Greenland’s ice sheet is like looking back in time. Each layer provides a record of what Earth’s climate was like at the dawn of civilization, or during the last ice age, or during an ancient period of warmth similar to the one we experience today. Scientists using ice-penetrating radar data collected by NASA’s Operation IceBridge and earlier airborne campaigns have built the first-ever comprehensive map of layers deep inside the Greenland Ice Sheet. View the full video: youtu.be/u0VbPE0TOtQ Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Convective forcing of mercury and ozone in the Arctic boundary layer induced by leads in sea ice.

PubMed

Moore, Christopher W; Obrist, Daniel; Steffen, Alexandra; Staebler, Ralf M; Douglas, Thomas A; Richter, Andreas; Nghiem, Son V

2014-02-06

The ongoing regime shift of Arctic sea ice from perennial to seasonal ice is associated with more dynamic patterns of opening and closing sea-ice leads (large transient channels of open water in the ice), which may affect atmospheric and biogeochemical cycles in the Arctic. Mercury and ozone are rapidly removed from the atmospheric boundary layer during depletion events in the Arctic, caused by destruction of ozone along with oxidation of gaseous elemental mercury (Hg(0)) to oxidized mercury (Hg(II)) in the atmosphere and its subsequent deposition to snow and ice. Ozone depletion events can change the oxidative capacity of the air by affecting atmospheric hydroxyl radical chemistry, whereas atmospheric mercury depletion events can increase the deposition of mercury to the Arctic, some of which can enter ecosystems during snowmelt. Here we present near-surface measurements of atmospheric mercury and ozone from two Arctic field campaigns near Barrow, Alaska. We find that coastal depletion events are directly linked to sea-ice dynamics. A consolidated ice cover facilitates the depletion of Hg(0) and ozone, but these immediately recover to near-background concentrations in the upwind presence of open sea-ice leads. We attribute the rapid recoveries of Hg(0) and ozone to lead-initiated shallow convection in the stable Arctic boundary layer, which mixes Hg(0) and ozone from undepleted air masses aloft. This convective forcing provides additional Hg(0) to the surface layer at a time of active depletion chemistry, where it is subject to renewed oxidation. Future work will need to establish the degree to which large-scale changes in sea-ice dynamics across the Arctic alter ozone chemistry and mercury deposition in fragile Arctic ecosystems.

Winter ocean-ice interactions under thin sea ice observed by IAOOS platforms during NICE2015:salty surface mixed layer and active basal melt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Provost, C.; Koenig, Z.; Villacieros-Robineau, N.; Sennechael, N.; Meyer, A.; Lellouche, J. M.; Garric, G.

2016-12-01

IAOOS platforms, measuring physical parameters at the atmosphere-snow-ice-ocean interface deployed as part of the N-ICE2015 campaign, provide new insights on winter conditions North of Svalbard. The three regions crossed during the drifts, the Nansen Basin, the Sofia Deep and the Svalbard northern continental slope featured distinct hydrographic properties and ice-ocean exchanges. In the Nansen Basin the quiescent warm layer was capped by a stepped halocline (60 and 110 m) and a deep thermocline (110 m). Ice was forming and the winter mixed layer salinity was larger by 0.1 g/kg than previously observed. Over the Svalbard continental slope, the Atlantic Water (AW) was very shallow (20 m from the surface) and extended offshore from the 500 m isobath by a distance of about 70 km, sank along the slope (40 m from the surface) and probably shedded eddies into the Sofia Deep. In the Sofia Deep, relatively warm waters of Atlantic origin extended from 90 m downward. Resulting from different pathways, these waters had a wide range of hydrographic characteristics. Sea-ice melt was widespread over the Svalbard continental slope and ocean-to-ice heat fluxes reached values of 400 Wm-2 (mean of 150 Wm-2 over the continentalslope). Sea-ice melt events were associated with near 12-hour fluctuations in the mixed-layer temperature and salinity corresponding to the periodicity of tides and near-inertial waves potentially generated by winter storms, large barotropic tides over steep topography and/or geostrophic adjustments.

Contribution of mycosporine-like amino acids and colored dissolved and particulate matter to sea ice optical properties and ultraviolet attenuation

PubMed Central

Uusikivi, Jari; Vähätalo, Anssi V.; Granskog, Mats A.; Sommaruga, Ruben

2010-01-01

In the Baltic Sea ice, the spectral absorption coefficients for particulate matter (PM) were about two times higher at ultraviolet wavelengths than at photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) wavelengths. PM absorption spectra included significant absorption by mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) between 320 and 345 nm. In the surface ice layer, the concentration of MAAs (1.37 μg L−1) was similar to that of chlorophyll a, resulting in a MAAs-to-chlorophyll a ratio as high as 0.65. Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) intensity and the ratio of UVR to PAR had a strong relationship with MAAs concentration (R2 = 0.97, n = 3) in the ice. In the surface ice layer, PM and especially MAAs dominated the absorption (absorption coefficient at 325 nm: 0.73 m−1). In the columnar ice layers, colored dissolved organic matter was the most significant absorber in the UVR (< 380 nm) (absorption coefficient at 325 nm: 1.5 m−1). Our measurements and modeling of UVR and PAR in Baltic Sea ice show that organic matter, both particulate and dissolved, influences the optical properties of sea ice and strongly modifies the UVR exposure of biological communities in and under snow-free sea ice. PMID:20585592

Teleseismic Earthquake Signals Observed on an Ice Shelf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, M. G.; Aster, R. C.; Anthony, R. E.; Wiens, D.; Nyblade, A.; Bromirski, P. D.; Stephen, R. A.; Gerstoft, P.

2015-12-01

The West Antarctic Rift System (WARS) is one of Earth's largest continental extension zones. Study of the WARS is complicated by the presence of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, the Ross Ice Shelf, and the Ross Sea. Recent deployments of broadband seismographs in the POLENET project have allowed passive seismic techniques, such as receiver function analysis and surface wave dispersion, to be widely utilized to infer crustal and mantle velocity structure across much of the WARS and West Antarctica. However, a large sector of the WARS lies beneath the Ross Ice Shelf. In late 2014, 34 broadband seismographs were deployed atop the ice shelf to jointly study deep Earth structure and the dynamics of the ice shelf. Ice shelf conditions present strong challenges to broadband teleseismic imaging: 1) The presence of complicating signals in the microseism through long-period bands due to the influence of ocean gravity waves; 2) The strong velocity contrasts at the ice-water and water-sediment interfaces on either side of the water layer give rise to large amplitude reverberations; 3) The water layer screens S-waves or P-to-S phases originating from below the water layer. We present an initial analysis of the first teleseismic earthquake arrivals collected on the ice shelf at the end of the 2014 field season from a limited subset of these stations.

Ice-flow reorganization in West Antarctica 2.5 kyr ago dated using radar-derived englacial flow velocities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kingslake, Jonathan; Martín, Carlos; Arthern, Robert J.; Corr, Hugh F. J.; King, Edward C.

2016-09-01

We date a recent ice-flow reorganization of an ice divide in the Weddell Sea Sector, West Antarctica, using a novel combination of inverse methods and ice-penetrating radars. We invert for two-dimensional ice flow within an ice divide from data collected with a phase-sensitive ice-penetrating radar while accounting for the effect of firn on radar propagation and ice flow. By comparing isochronal layers simulated using radar-derived flow velocities with internal layers observed with an impulse radar, we show that the divide's internal structure is not in a steady state but underwent a disturbance, potentially implying a regional ice-flow reorganization, 2.5 (1.8-2.9) kyr B.P. Our data are consistent with slow ice flow in this location before the reorganization and the ice divide subsequently remaining stationary. These findings increase our knowledge of the glacial history of a region that lacks dated constraints on late-Holocene ice-sheet retreat and provides a key target for models that reconstruct and predict ice-sheet behavior.

Role of ground ice dynamics and ecological feedbacks in recent ice wedge degradation and stabilization

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mark Torre Jorgenson,; Mikhail Kanevskiy,; Yuri Shur,; Natalia Moskalenko,; Dana Brown,; Wickland, Kimberly P.; Striegl, Robert G.; Koch, Joshua C.

2015-01-01

Ground ice is abundant in the upper permafrost throughout the Arctic and fundamentally affects terrain responses to climate warming. Ice wedges, which form near the surface and are the dominant type of massive ice in the Arctic, are particularly vulnerable to warming. Yet processes controlling ice wedge degradation and stabilization are poorly understood. Here we quantified ice wedge volume and degradation rates, compared ground ice characteristics and thermal regimes across a sequence of five degradation and stabilization stages and evaluated biophysical feedbacks controlling permafrost stability near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Mean ice wedge volume in the top 3 m of permafrost was 21%. Imagery from 1949 to 2012 showed thermokarst extent (area of water-filled troughs) was relatively small from 1949 (0.9%) to 1988 (1.5%), abruptly increased by 2004 (6.3%) and increased slightly by 2012 (7.5%). Mean annual surface temperatures varied by 4.9°C among degradation and stabilization stages and by 9.9°C from polygon center to deep lake bottom. Mean thicknesses of the active layer, ice-poor transient layer, ice-rich intermediate layer, thermokarst cave ice, and wedge ice varied substantially among stages. In early stages, thaw settlement caused water to impound in thermokarst troughs, creating positive feedbacks that increased net radiation, soil heat flux, and soil temperatures. Plant growth and organic matter accumulation in the degraded troughs provided negative feedbacks that allowed ground ice to aggrade and heave the surface, thus reducing surface water depth and soil temperatures in later stages. The ground ice dynamics and ecological feedbacks greatly complicate efforts to assess permafrost responses to climate change.

Role of ground ice dynamics and ecological feedbacks in recent ice wedge degradation and stabilization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jorgenson, M. T.; Kanevskiy, M.; Shur, Y.; Moskalenko, N.; Brown, D. R. N.; Wickland, K.; Striegl, R.; Koch, J.

2015-11-01

Ground ice is abundant in the upper permafrost throughout the Arctic and fundamentally affects terrain responses to climate warming. Ice wedges, which form near the surface and are the dominant type of massive ice in the Arctic, are particularly vulnerable to warming. Yet processes controlling ice wedge degradation and stabilization are poorly understood. Here we quantified ice wedge volume and degradation rates, compared ground ice characteristics and thermal regimes across a sequence of five degradation and stabilization stages and evaluated biophysical feedbacks controlling permafrost stability near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Mean ice wedge volume in the top 3 m of permafrost was 21%. Imagery from 1949 to 2012 showed thermokarst extent (area of water-filled troughs) was relatively small from 1949 (0.9%) to 1988 (1.5%), abruptly increased by 2004 (6.3%) and increased slightly by 2012 (7.5%). Mean annual surface temperatures varied by 4.9°C among degradation and stabilization stages and by 9.9°C from polygon center to deep lake bottom. Mean thicknesses of the active layer, ice-poor transient layer, ice-rich intermediate layer, thermokarst cave ice, and wedge ice varied substantially among stages. In early stages, thaw settlement caused water to impound in thermokarst troughs, creating positive feedbacks that increased net radiation, soil heat flux, and soil temperatures. Plant growth and organic matter accumulation in the degraded troughs provided negative feedbacks that allowed ground ice to aggrade and heave the surface, thus reducing surface water depth and soil temperatures in later stages. The ground ice dynamics and ecological feedbacks greatly complicate efforts to assess permafrost responses to climate change.

Tropospheric characteristics over sea ice during N-ICE2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kayser, Markus; Maturilli, Marion; Graham, Robert; Hudson, Stephen; Cohen, Lana; Rinke, Annette; Kim, Joo-Hong; Park, Sang-Jong; Moon, Woosok; Granskog, Mats

2017-04-01

Over recent years, the Arctic Ocean region has shifted towards a younger and thinner sea-ice regime. The Norwegian young sea ICE (N-ICE2015) expedition was designed to investigate the atmosphere-snow-ice-ocean interactions in this new ice regime north of Svalbard. Here we analyze upper-air measurements made by radiosondes launched twice daily together with surface meteorology observations during N-ICE2015 from January to June 2015. We study the multiple cyclonic events observed during N-ICE2015 with respect to changes in the vertical thermodynamic structure, sudden increases in moisture content and temperature, temperature inversions and boundary layer dynamics. The influence of synoptic cyclones is strongest under polar night conditions, when radiative cooling is most effective and the moisture content is low. We find that transitions between the radiatively clear and opaque state are the largest drivers of changes to temperature inversion and stability characteristics in the boundary layer during winter. In spring radiative fluxes warm the surface leading to lifted temperature inversions and a statically unstable boundary layer. The unique N-ICE2015 dataset is used for case studies investigating changes in the vertical structure of the atmosphere under varying synoptic conditions. The goal is to deepen our understanding of synoptic interactions within the Arctic climate system, to improve model performance, as well as to identify gaps in instrumentation, which precludes further investigations.

Backlighting Direct-Drive Cryogenic DT Implosions on OMEGA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stoeckl, C.

2016-10-01

X-ray backlighting has been frequently used to measure the in-flight characteristics of an imploding shell in both direct- and indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion implosions. These measurements provide unique insight into the early time and stagnation stages of an implosion and guide the modeling efforts to improve the target designs. Backlighting a layered DT implosion on OMEGA is a particular challenge because the opacity of the DT shell is low, the shell velocity is high, the size and wall thickness of the shell is small, and the self-emission from the hot core at the onset of burn is exceedingly bright. A framing-camera-based crystal imaging system with a Si Heα backlighter at 1.865keV driven by 10-ps short pulses from OMEGA EP was developed to meet these radiography challenges. A fast target inserter was developed to accurately place the Si backlighter foil at a distance of 5 mm to the implosion target following the removal of the cryogenic shroud and an ultra-stable triggering system was implemented to reliably trigger the framing camera coincident with the arrival of the OMEGA EP pulse. This talk will report on a series of implosions in which the DT shell is imaged for a range of convergence ratios and in-flight aspect ratios. The images acquired have been analyzed for low-mode shape variations, the DT shell thickness, the level of ablator mixing into the DT fuel (even 0.1% of carbon mix can be reliably inferred), the areal density of the DT shell, and the impact of the support stalk. The measured implosion performance will be compared with hydrodynamic simulations that include imprint (up to mode 200), cross-beam energy transfer, nonlocal thermal transport, and initial low-mode perturbations such as power imbalance and target misalignment. This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration under Award Number DE-NA0001944.

Ice Layer Spreading along a Solid Substrate during Solidification of Supercooled Water: Experiments and Modeling.

PubMed

Schremb, Markus; Campbell, James M; Christenson, Hugo K; Tropea, Cameron

2017-05-16

The thermal influence of a solid wall on the solidification of a sessile supercooled water drop is experimentally investigated. The velocity of the initial ice layer propagating along the solid substrate prior to dendritic solidification is determined from videos captured using a high-speed video system. Experiments are performed for varying substrate materials and liquid supercooling. In contrast to recent studies at moderate supercooling, in the case of metallic substrates only a weak influence of the substrate's thermal properties on the ice layer velocity is observed. Using the analytical solution of the two-phase Stefan problem, a semiempirical model for the ice layer velocity is developed. The experimental data are well described for all supercooling levels in the entire diffusion limited solidification regime. For higher supercooling, the model overestimates the freezing velocity due to kinetic effects during molecular attachment at the solid-liquid interface, which are not accounted for in the model. The experimental findings of the present work offer a new perspective on the design of anti-icing systems.

Spring in Inca City I

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-11-13

Every winter a layer of carbon dioxide ice-or, dry ice-condenses in the Southern polar region, forming a seasonal polar cap less than 1 meter deep. Early in the spring the ice layer begins to sublimate (going directly from a solid to gas) from the top and bottom of the ice layer. Under the ice gas pressure builds up until a weak spot in the ice layer ruptures. The gas rushes out and as it escapes it erodes a bit of the surface. Fine particles are carried by the gas to the top of the ice and then fall out in fan-shaped deposits. The direction of the fan shows the direction either of the wind or down the slope. If the wind is not blowing a dark blotch settles around the spot the gas escaped. This region is known informally as Inca City, and it has a series of distinctive ridges. On the floor between the ridges are radially organized channels, known colloquially as spiders, more formally called "araneiforms." The channels have been carved in the surface over many years by the escaping pressurized gas. Every spring they widen just a bit. This was the first image to be acquired by NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter after the sun rose on Inca City, marking the end to polar night. A few fans are visible emerging from the araneiforms. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA18892

Microwave properties of ice from The Great Lakes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vickers, R. S.

1975-01-01

The increasing use of radar systems as remote sensors of ice thickness has revealed a lack of basic data on the microwave properties of fresh-water ice. A program, in which the complex dielectric constant was measured for a series of ice samples taken from the Great Lakes, is described. The measurements were taken at temperatures of -5, -10, and -15 C. It is noted that the ice has considerable internal layered structure, and the effects of the layering are examined. Values of 3.0 to 3.2 are reported for the real part of the dielectric constant, with an error bar of + or - 0.01.

(abstract) A Polarimetric Model for Effects of Brine Infiltrated Snow Cover and Frost Flowers on Sea Ice Backscatter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nghiem, S. V.; Kwok, R.; Yueh, S. H.

1995-01-01

A polarimetric scattering model is developed to study effects of snow cover and frost flowers with brine infiltration on thin sea ice. Leads containing thin sea ice in the Artic icepack are important to heat exchange with the atmosphere and salt flux into the upper ocean. Surface characteristics of thin sea ice in leads are dominated by the formation of frost flowers with high salinity. In many cases, the thin sea ice layer is covered by snow, which wicks up brine from sea ice due to capillary force. Snow and frost flowers have a significant impact on polarimetric signatures of thin ice, which needs to be studied for accessing the retrieval of geophysical parameters such as ice thickness. Frost flowers or snow layer is modeled with a heterogeneous mixture consisting of randomly oriented ellipsoids and brine infiltration in an air background. Ice crystals are characterized with three different axial lengths to depict the nonspherical shape. Under the covering multispecies medium, the columinar sea-ice layer is an inhomogeneous anisotropic medium composed of ellipsoidal brine inclusions preferentially oriented in the vertical direction in an ice background. The underlying medium is homogeneous sea water. This configuration is described with layered inhomogeneous media containing multiple species of scatterers. The species are allowed to have different size, shape, and permittivity. The strong permittivity fluctuation theory is extended to account for the multispecies in the derivation of effective permittivities with distributions of scatterer orientations characterized by Eulerian rotation angles. Polarimetric backscattering coefficients are obtained consistently with the same physical description used in the effective permittivity calculation. The mulitspecies model allows the inclusion of high-permittivity species to study effects of brine infiltrated snow cover and frost flowers on thin ice. The results suggest that the frost cover with a rough interface significantly increases the backscatter from thin saline ice and the polarimetric signature becomes closer to the isotropic characteristics. The snow cover also modifies polarimetric signatures of thin sea ice depending on the snow mixture and the interface condition.

Formation of a Tropopause Cirrus Layer Observed over Florida during CRYSTAL-FACE

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jensen, Eric; Pfister, Leonhard; Bui, Thaopaul; Weinheimer, Andrew; Weinstock, Elliot; Smith, Jessica; Pittman, Jasna; Baumgardner, Darrel; Lawson, Paul; McGill, Matthew J.

2005-01-01

On July 13, 2002 a widespread, subvisible tropopause cirrus layer occurred over the Florida region. This cloud was observed in great detail with the NASA Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers-Florida Area Cirrus Experiment (CRYSTAL-FACE) instrumentation, including in situ measurements with the WB-57 aircraft. In this paper, we use the 13 July cloud as a case study to evaluate the physical processes controlling the formation and evolution of tropopause cirrus layers. Microphysics measurements indicate that ice crystal diameters in the cloud layer ranged from about 7 to 50 microns, and the peak number mode was about 10-25 microns. In situ water vapor and temperature measurements in the cloud indicated supersaturation with respect to ice throughout, with ice saturation ratios as large as 1.8. Even when the ice surface area density was as high as about 500 sq microns/cu cm, ice supersaturations of 20-30% were observed. Trajectory analysis shows that the air sampled near the tropopause on this day generally came from the north and cooled considerably during the previous few days. Examination of infrared satellite imagery along air parcel back trajectories from the WB-57 flight track indicates that the tropopause cloud layer formation was, in general, not simply left over ice from recently generated anvil cirrus. Simulations of cloud formation using time-height curtains of temperature along the trajectory paths show that the cloud could have formed in situ near the tropopause as the air was advected into the south Florida region and cooled to unusually low temperatures. If we assume a high threshold for ice nucleation via homogeneous freezing of aqueous sulfate aerosols, the model reproduces the observed cloud structure, ice crystal size distributions, and ice supersaturation statistics. Inclusion of observed gravity wave temperature perturbations in the simulations is essential to reproduce the observed cloud properties. Without waves, crystal number densities are too low, crystal sizes are too large, and the crystals fall out too fast, leaving very little cloud persisting at the end of the simulations. In the cloud simulations, coincidence of high supersaturations and high surface areas can be produced by either recent nucleation or sedimentation of crystals into supersaturated layers. The agreement between model results and observed supersaturations is improved somewhat if we assume that the steady state relative humidity within cirrus at T<200 K is enhanced by about 30%. The WB-57 measurements and the model results suggest that the cloud layer irreversibly dehydrated air near the tropopause.

Geomorphic Evidence for Martian Ground Ice and Climate Change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kanner, L. C.; Allen, C. C.; Bell, M. S.

2004-01-01

Recent results from gamma-ray and neutron spectrometers on Mars Odyssey indicate the presence of a hydrogen-rich layer tens of centimeters thick in the uppermost meter in high latitudes (>60 ) on Mars. This hydrogen-rich layer correlates to regions of ice stability. Thus, the subsurface hydrogen is thought to be water ice constituting 35+/- 15% by weight near the north and south polar regions. We refine the location of subsurface ice deposits at a < km scale by combining existing spectroscopy data with surface features indicative of subsurface ice. A positive correlation between spectroscopy data and geomorphic ice indicators has been previously suggested for high latitudes. Here we expand the comparative study to northern mid latitudes (30 deg.N- 65 deg.N).

First High-Convergence Cryogenic Implosion in a Near-Vacuum Hohlraum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berzak Hopkins, L. F.; Meezan, N. B.; Le Pape, S.; Divol, L.; Mackinnon, A. J.; Ho, D. D.; Hohenberger, M.; Jones, O. S.; Kyrala, G.; Milovich, J. L.; Pak, A.; Ralph, J. E.; Ross, J. S.; Benedetti, L. R.; Biener, J.; Bionta, R.; Bond, E.; Bradley, D.; Caggiano, J.; Callahan, D.; Cerjan, C.; Church, J.; Clark, D.; Döppner, T.; Dylla-Spears, R.; Eckart, M.; Edgell, D.; Field, J.; Fittinghoff, D. N.; Gatu Johnson, M.; Grim, G.; Guler, N.; Haan, S.; Hamza, A.; Hartouni, E. P.; Hatarik, R.; Herrmann, H. W.; Hinkel, D.; Hoover, D.; Huang, H.; Izumi, N.; Khan, S.; Kozioziemski, B.; Kroll, J.; Ma, T.; MacPhee, A.; McNaney, J.; Merrill, F.; Moody, J.; Nikroo, A.; Patel, P.; Robey, H. F.; Rygg, J. R.; Sater, J.; Sayre, D.; Schneider, M.; Sepke, S.; Stadermann, M.; Stoeffl, W.; Thomas, C.; Town, R. P. J.; Volegov, P. L.; Wild, C.; Wilde, C.; Woerner, E.; Yeamans, C.; Yoxall, B.; Kilkenny, J.; Landen, O. L.; Hsing, W.; Edwards, M. J.

2015-05-01

Recent experiments on the National Ignition Facility [M. J. Edwards et al., Phys. Plasmas 20, 070501 (2013)] demonstrate that utilizing a near-vacuum hohlraum (low pressure gas-filled) is a viable option for high convergence cryogenic deuterium-tritium (DT) layered capsule implosions. This is made possible by using a dense ablator (high-density carbon), which shortens the drive duration needed to achieve high convergence: a measured 40% higher hohlraum efficiency than typical gas-filled hohlraums, which requires less laser energy going into the hohlraum, and an observed better symmetry control than anticipated by standard hydrodynamics simulations. The first series of near-vacuum hohlraum experiments culminated in a 6.8 ns, 1.2 MJ laser pulse driving a 2-shock, high adiabat (α ˜3.5 ) cryogenic DT layered high density carbon capsule. This resulted in one of the best performances so far on the NIF relative to laser energy, with a measured primary neutron yield of 1.8 ×1015 neutrons, with 20% calculated alpha heating at convergence ˜27 × .

Analysis of iced wings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cebeci, T.; Chen, H. H.; Kaups, K.; Schimke, S.; Shin, J.

1992-01-01

A method for computing ice shapes along the leading edge of a wing and a method for predicting its aerodynamic performance degradation due to icing is described. Ice shapes are computed using an extension of the LEWICE code which was developed for airfoils. The aerodynamic properties of the iced wing are determined with an interactive scheme in which the solutions of the inviscid flow equations are obtained from a panel method and the solutions of the viscous flow equations are obtained from an inverse three-dimensional finite-difference boundary-layer method. A new interaction law is used to couple the inviscid and viscous flow solutions. The application of the LEWICE wing code to the calculation of ice shapes on a MS-317 swept wing shows good agreement with measurements. The interactive boundary-layer method is applied to a tapered ice wing in order to study the effect of icing on the aerodynamic properties of the wing at several angles of attack.

Ice Cloud Properties in Ice-Over-Water Cloud Systems Using TRMM VIRS and TMI Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Minnis, Patrick; Huang, Jianping; Lin, Bing; Yi, Yuhong; Arduini, Robert F.; Fan, Tai-Fang; Ayers, J. Kirk; Mace, Gerald G.

2007-01-01

A multi-layered cloud retrieval system (MCRS) is updated and used to estimate ice water path in maritime ice-over-water clouds using Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS) and TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) measurements from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission spacecraft between January and August 1998. Lookup tables of top-of-atmosphere 0.65- m reflectance are developed for ice-over-water cloud systems using radiative transfer calculations with various combinations of ice-over-water cloud layers. The liquid and ice water paths, LWP and IWP, respectively, are determined with the MCRS using these lookup tables with a combination of microwave (MW), visible (VIS), and infrared (IR) data. LWP, determined directly from the TMI MW data, is used to define the lower-level cloud properties to select the proper lookup table. The properties of the upper-level ice clouds, such as optical depth and effective size, are then derived using the Visible Infrared Solar-infrared Split-window Technique (VISST), which matches the VIRS IR, 3.9- m, and VIS data to the multilayer-cloud lookup table reflectances and a set of emittance parameterizations. Initial comparisons with surface-based radar retrievals suggest that this enhanced MCRS can significantly improve the accuracy and decrease the IWP in overlapped clouds by 42% and 13% compared to using the single-layer VISST and an earlier simplified MW-VIS-IR (MVI) differencing method, respectively, for ice-over-water cloud systems. The tropical distribution of ice-over-water clouds is the same as derived earlier from combined TMI and VIRS data, but the new values of IWP and optical depth are slightly larger than the older MVI values, and exceed those of single-layered layered clouds by 7% and 11%, respectively. The mean IWP from the MCRS is 8-14% greater than that retrieved from radar retrievals of overlapped clouds over two surface sites and the standard deviations of the differences are similar to those for single-layered clouds. Examples of a method for applying the MCRS over land without microwave data yield similar differences with the surface retrievals. By combining the MCRS with other techniques that focus primarily on optically thin cirrus over low water clouds, it will be possible to more fully assess the IWP in all conditions over ocean except for precipitating systems.

Under-ice melt ponds in the Arctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Naomi; Flocco, Daniela; Feltham, Daniel

2017-04-01

In the summer months, melt water from the surface of the Arctic sea ice can percolate down through the ice and flow out of its base. This water is relatively warm and fresh compared to the ocean water beneath it, and so it floats between the ice and the oceanic mixed layer, forming pools of melt water called under-ice melt ponds. Double diffusion can lead to the formation of a sheet of ice, which is called a false bottom, at the interface between the fresh water and the ocean. These false bottoms isolate under-ice melt ponds from the ocean below, trapping the fresh water against the sea ice. These ponds and false bottoms have been estimated to cover between 5 and 40% of the base of the sea ice. [Notz et al. Journal of Geophysical Research 2003] We have developed a one-dimensional thermodynamic model of sea ice underlain by an under-ice melt pond and false bottom. Not only has this allowed us to simulate the evolution of under-ice melt ponds over time, identifying an alternative outcome than previously observed in the field, but sensitivity studies have helped us to estimate the impact that these pools of fresh water have on the mass-balance sea ice. We have also found evidence of a possible positive feedback cycle whereby increasingly less ice growth is seen due to the presence of under-ice melt ponds as the Arctic warms. Since the rate of basal ablation is affected by these phenomena, their presence alters the salt and freshwater fluxes from the sea ice into the ocean. We have coupled our under-ice melt pond model to a simple model of the oceanic mixed layer to determine how this affects mixed layer properties such as temperature, salinity, and depth. In turn, this changes the oceanic forcing reaching the sea ice.

Contrasting sea-ice and open-water boundary layers during melt and freeze-up seasons: Some result from the Arctic Clouds in Summer Experiment.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tjernström, Michael; Sotiropoulou, Georgia; Sedlar, Joseph; Achtert, Peggy; Brooks, Barbara; Brooks, Ian; Persson, Ola; Prytherch, John; Salsbury, Dominic; Shupe, Matthew; Johnston, Paul; Wolfe, Dan

2016-04-01

With more open water present in the Arctic summer, an understanding of atmospheric processes over open-water and sea-ice surfaces as summer turns into autumn and ice starts forming becomes increasingly important. The Arctic Clouds in Summer Experiment (ACSE) was conducted in a mix of open water and sea ice in the eastern Arctic along the Siberian shelf during late summer and early autumn 2014, providing detailed observations of the seasonal transition, from melt to freeze. Measurements were taken over both ice-free and ice-covered surfaces, offering an insight to the role of the surface state in shaping the lower troposphere and the boundary-layer conditions as summer turned into autumn. During summer, strong surface inversions persisted over sea ice, while well-mixed boundary layers capped by elevated inversions were frequent over open-water. The former were often associated with advection of warm air from adjacent open-water or land surfaces, whereas the latter were due to a positive buoyancy flux from the warm ocean surface. Fog and stratus clouds often persisted over the ice, whereas low-level liquid-water clouds developed over open water. These differences largely disappeared in autumn, when mixed-phase clouds capped by elevated inversions dominated in both ice-free and ice-covered conditions. Low-level-jets occurred ~20-25% of the time in both seasons. The observations indicate that these jets were typically initiated at air-mass boundaries or along the ice edge in autumn, while in summer they appeared to be inertial oscillations initiated by partial frictional decoupling as warm air was advected in over the sea ice. The start of the autumn season was related to an abrupt change in atmospheric conditions, rather than to the gradual change in solar radiation. The autumn onset appeared as a rapid cooling of the whole atmosphere and the freeze up followed as the warm surface lost heat to the atmosphere. While the surface type had a pronounced impact on boundary-layer structure in summer, the surface was often warmer than the atmosphere in autumn, regardless of surface type. Hence the autumn boundary-layer structure was more dependent on synoptic scale meteorology.

Detecting Near-Surface Ice Formation Over Time Using the Kennaugh Elements Approach From TerraSAR-X

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandes, L.

2016-12-01

The summer melting has increased substantially at higher elevations on the Canadian Arctic ice caps. The resulting meltwater percolates into the upper layers of snow and firn and then refreeze, building massive ice bodies. It seems likely that these within-firn ice bodies now limit meltwater penetration into the firn and may be creating a feedback whereby the fraction of melt that runs off to the ocean is increasing. Although changes in firn structure as presence of ice layers and ice bodies are well documented over the Devon ice cap, the firm has shown that it exerts a crucial role to predict more accurately the contribution of small ice caps to the sea level rise. However it is still challenging to assess the extent of these features within the shallow subsurface using ice cores and GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) data collected along a limited number of linear transects. Studying changes in the distribution of ice bodies' formation over time has the potential to provide information about how the growth of ice bodies in the firn is affecting the pattern of water flow in the firn layer. The objective is investigate the potential of Kennaugh Elements (KE) derived from x-band SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) for mapping the distribution and growth of large ice bodies within the firn and the evolution of their distribution over time. The evaluation of this method could reveal a new approach suitable for other glacierized regions that would reduce the costs and amount of field work for studying such properties.

Frost flowers on young Arctic sea ice: The climatic, chemical, and microbial significance of an emerging ice type

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barber, D. G.; Ehn, J. K.; Pućko, M.; Rysgaard, S.; Deming, J. W.; Bowman, J. S.; Papakyriakou, T.; Galley, R. J.; Søgaard, D. H.

2014-10-01

Ongoing changes in Arctic sea ice are increasing the spatial and temporal range of young sea ice types over which frost flowers can occur, yet the significance of frost flowers to ocean-sea ice-atmosphere exchange processes remains poorly understood. Frost flowers form when moisture from seawater becomes available to a cold atmosphere and surface winds are low, allowing for supersaturation of the near-surface boundary layer. Ice grown in a pond cut in young ice at the mouth of Young Sound, NE Greenland, in March 2012, showed that expanding frost flower clusters began forming as soon as the ice formed. The new ice and frost flowers dramatically changed the radiative and thermal environment. The frost flowers were about 5°C colder than the brine surface, with an approximately linear temperature gradient from their base to their upper tips. Salinity and δ18O values indicated that frost flowers primarily originated from the surface brine skim. Ikaite crystals were observed to form within an hour in both frost flowers and the thin pond ice. Average ikaite concentrations were 1013 µmol kg-1 in frost flowers and 1061 µmol kg-1 in the surface slush layer. Chamber flux measurements confirmed an efflux of CO2 at the brine-wetted sea ice surface, in line with expectations from the brine chemistry. Bacteria concentrations generally increased with salinity in frost flowers and the surface slush layer. Bacterial densities and taxa indicated that a selective process occurred at the ice surface and confirmed the general pattern of primary oceanic origin versus negligible atmospheric deposition.

Ice Cloud Formation and Dehydration in the Tropical Tropopause Layer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jensen, Eric; Pfister, Leonhard; Gore, Warren J. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Stratospheric water vapor is important not only for its greenhouse forcing, but also because it plays a significant role in stratospheric chemistry. several recent studies have focused on the potential for dehydration due to ice cloud formation in air rising slowly through the tropical tropopause layer. Holton and Gettelman showed that temperature variations associated with horizontal transport of air in the tropopause layer can drive ice cloud formation and dehydration, and Gettelman et al. recently examined the cloud formation and dehydration along kinematic trajectories using simple assumptions about the cloud properties. In this study, we use a Lagrangian, one-dimensional cloud model to further investigate cloud formation and dehydration as air is transported horizontally and vertically through the tropical tropopause layer. Time-height curtains of temperature are extracted from meteorological analyses. The model tracks the growth and sedimentation of individual cloud particles. The regional distribution of clouds simulated in the model is comparable to the subvisible cirrus distribution indicated by SAGE II. The simulated cloud properties depend strongly on the assumed ice supersaturation threshold for ice nucleation. with effective nuclei present (low supersaturation threshold), ice number densities are high (0.1--10 cm(circumflex)-3), and ice crystals do not grow large enough to fall very far, resulting in limited dehydration. With higher supersaturation thresholds, ice number densities are much lower (less than 0.01 cm(circumflex)-3), and ice crystals grow large enough to fall substantially; however, supersaturated air often crosses the tropopause without cloud formation. The clouds typically do not dehydrate the air along trajectories down to the temperature minimum saturation mixing ratio. Rather the water vapor mixing ratio crossing the tropopause along trajectories is typically 10-50% larger than the saturation mixing ratio.

Towards a new common Greenland Ice Core Chronology for the last 5000 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winstrup, Mai; Olander Rasmussen, Sune; Møllesøe Vinther, Bo; Cook, Eliza; Svensson, Anders; McConnell, Joe; Steffensen, Jørgen Peder

2017-04-01

Since the development of the Greenland Ice Core Chronology 2005 (GICC05), it has been widely used as a reference chronology in paleoclimate research. However, recent research (Sigl et al, 2015) demonstrated that this timescale has small, but significant, issues over historical time. These discrepancies was found by counting annual layers in high-resolution chemistry records from the NEEM S1 shallow core, and confirmed by linking via 10Be marker horizons to the layer-counted WAIS Divide ice core, Antarctica, and accurately-dated tree-ring series. This work showed that a revision of GICC05 is required prior to 1250AD. We here refine and extend this work. Layer-counting in a single core will always involve some uncertainty, and we hence use data from multiple Greenland ice cores, for which high-resolution impurity records recently have been measured. These ice cores have been synchronized using volcanic marker horizons, and the layer-counting is performed automatically using the StratiCounter algorithm (Winstrup et al, 2012), while ensuring that the number of layers between volcanic horizons are the same in all cores. Based on this extended multiple-core data set, we are further able to extend the new Greenland timescale another few thousand years back in time. This will, among others, provide a new ice-core date for the catastrophic volcanic eruption ( 1600 BC) that destroyed the Greek Minoan culture, an important time marker in Greek history.

The high velocity, high adiabat, ``Bigfoot'' campaign and tests of indirect-drive implosion scaling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casey, Daniel

2017-10-01

To achieve hotspot ignition, inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions must achieve high hotspot internal energy that is inertially confined by a dense shell of DT fuel. To accomplish this, implosions are designed to achieve high peak implosion velocity, good energy coupling between the hotspot and imploding shell, and high areal-density at stagnation. However, experiments have shown that achieving these simultaneously is extremely challenging, partly because of inherent tradeoffs between these three interrelated requirements. The Bigfoot approach is to intentionally trade off high convergence, and therefore areal-density, in favor of high implosion velocity and good coupling between the hotspot and shell. This is done by intentionally colliding the shocks in the DT ice layer. This results in a short laser pulse which improves hohlraum symmetry and predictability while the reduced compression improves hydrodynamic stability. The results of this campaign will be reviewed and include demonstrated low-mode symmetry control at two different hohlraum geometries (5.75 mm and 5.4 mm diameters) and at two different target scales (5.4 mm and 6.0 mm hohlraum diameters) spanning 300-430 TW in laser power and 0.8-1.7 MJ in laser energy. Results of the 10% scaling between these designs for the hohlraum and capsule will be presented. Hydrodynamic instability growth from engineering features like the capsule fill tube are currently thought to be a significant perturbation to the target performance and a major factor in reducing its performance compared to calculations. Evidence supporting this hypothesis as well as plans going forward will be presented. Ongoing experiments are attempting to measure the impact on target performance from increase in target scale, and the preliminary results will also be discussed. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

Formation of hexagonal and cubic ice during low-temperature growth

PubMed Central

Thürmer, Konrad; Nie, Shu

2013-01-01

From our daily life we are familiar with hexagonal ice, but at very low temperature ice can exist in a different structure––that of cubic ice. Seeking to unravel the enigmatic relationship between these two low-pressure phases, we examined their formation on a Pt(111) substrate at low temperatures with scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic force microscopy. After completion of the one-molecule-thick wetting layer, 3D clusters of hexagonal ice grow via layer nucleation. The coalescence of these clusters creates a rich scenario of domain-boundary and screw-dislocation formation. We discovered that during subsequent growth, domain boundaries are replaced by growth spirals around screw dislocations, and that the nature of these spirals determines whether ice adopts the cubic or the hexagonal structure. Initially, most of these spirals are single, i.e., they host a screw dislocation with a Burgers vector connecting neighboring molecular planes, and produce cubic ice. Films thicker than ∼20 nm, however, are dominated by double spirals. Their abundance is surprising because they require a Burgers vector spanning two molecular-layer spacings, distorting the crystal lattice to a larger extent. We propose that these double spirals grow at the expense of the initially more common single spirals for an energetic reason: they produce hexagonal ice. PMID:23818592

Layering in Spallanzani Crater

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-04-22

In this image from NASA Mars Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, we can see quite a spectacular layering pattern inside an impact crater called Spallanzani. Seeing layering is always exciting to geologists because it implies that the region has experienced multiple climatic conditions or geologic processes through time. The study of layering is so important in geology that it has its own dedicated branch of study: stratigraphy! Commonly, layering implies different lithologies (i.e., rock types). However, sometimes the layers could be of very similar composition but formed in different periods of time. This could happen for example in the case of annual flood deposits from rivers, multiple volcanic eruptions, or annual or periodic deposition of ice-rich material. We can also see in this image another feature called terracing, which happens when the layers form distinctive planes on top of one another like terraces. This could imply that the layers are being eroded with time but some of the layers are being eroded quicker than others because they are less resistant to erosion. So what is the composition of these layers? Spallanzani Crater lies in the high latitudes of the Southern hemisphere (around 60 degrees in latitude) so there is a good possibility that the deposits are ice-rich. If we look more closely we will notice fractured mounds, which sometimes indicate the presence of subsurface ice. Another interesting observation is the presence of grooves in the shaded slopes of some of the layers. Perhaps these grooves formed because of the sublimation (the direct transfer of solid ice to water vapor) of ice from these slopes since slopes tend to get warmer than the surrounding terrains. A close inspection of this image may help answer this question and investigate the multiple cycles in which these deposits were laid down as well as the duration of these individual cycles. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19367

First results from a new interdisciplinary robotic vehicle for under-ice research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nicolaus, M.; Katlein, C.; Schiller, M.

2016-12-01

Research at the ice-water interface below drifting sea-ice is crucial for the investigation of the fluxes of energy, momentum and matter across the atmosphere-ice-ocean boundary. Transmission of solar energy through the ice and snow layers causes warming of the upper ocean and melting of the ice itself. It is also a key factor for in and under-ice primary production, supplying the ice associated food-chain and causing carbon export to deeper water layers and the sea floor. The complex geometry of sea ice does not only cause a large spatial variability in optical properties of the ice cover, but also influences biomass accumulations and especially the hydrodynamic interaction between the ice cover and the uppermost layers of the ocean. Access to the ice underside is however still sparse, as diving operations are risky and logistically challenging. In the last decade, robotic underwater technologies have evolved significantly and enabled the first targeted large-scale observations by remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles. A new remotely operated vehicle was commissioned for under ice research at the Alfred Wegener Institute supported by the FRAM infrastructure program of the Helmholtz-Society. Apart from proven under-ice navigation and operation capabilities, the vehicle provides an extended interdisciplinary sensor platform supporting oceanographic, biological, biogeochemical and physical sea-ice research. Here we present the first preliminary data obtained with the new vehicle during the PS101 expedition of the German icebreaker RV Polarstern to the Central Arctic in September and October 2016. Apart from measurements of spectral light transmittance of sea ice during the autumn freeze-up, we show vertical profiles of the bio-optical and oceanographic properties of the upper water column. This data is combined with under-ice topography obtained from upward-looking multibeam sonar, still imagery and HD-video material.

Tephra layers in the Siple Dome and Taylor Dome ice cores, Antarctica: Sources and correlations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dunbar, Nelia W.; Zielinski, Gregory A.; Voisins, Daniel T.

2003-08-01

Volcanic ash, or tephra layers, are found in the Taylor Dome, Siple Dome A, and Siple Dome B ice cores. Significant shard concentrations are found at a number of depths in all three cores. Electron and ion microprobe analyses indicate that the geochemical composition of most layers is basaltic, basanitic, or trachytic, and the geochemical signatures of the layers suggest derivation from the Pleiades volcanic center, Mt. Melbourne volcano, or small mafic centers, probably in the Royal Society Range area. Presence of tephra layers suggests an episode of previously unrecognized Antarctic volcanic activity between 1776 and 1805 A.D., from at least two volcanic centers. A strong geochemical correlation (D = 3.49 and 3.97 with a value of 4 considered identical) is observed between tephra layers at depth of 79.2 m in the Taylor Dome ice core, and layers between 97.2 and 97.7 m depth in the Siple B core. This correlation, and the highly accurate depth-age scale of the Siple B core suggest that the age of this horizon in the Taylor Dome ice core presented by [1998a, 2000] should be revised downward, to the younger age of 675 ± 25 years before 1995. This revised chronology is consistent with vertical strain measurements presented by [2003].

Weathering and erosion of the polar layered deposits on Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Herkenhoff, K. E.

1990-01-01

The Martial polar layered deposits are widely believed to be composed of water ice and silicates, but the relative amount of each component is unknown. The conventional wisdom among Mars researchers is that the deposits were formed by periodic variations in the deposition of dust and ice caused by climate changes over the last 10 to 100 million years. It is assumed here that water ice is an important constituent of the layered deposits, that the deposits were formed by eolian processes, and that the origin and evolution of the north and south polar deposits were similar. Weathering of the layered deposits by sublimation of water ice can account for the geologic relationships in the polar regions. The nonvolatile components of the layered deposits appears to consist mainly of bright red dust, with small amounts of dark dust or sand. Dark dust, perhaps similar to the magnetic material found at the Viking Lander sites, may perferentially form filamentary residue particles upon weathering of the deposits. Once eroded, these particles may saltate to form the dark dunes found in both polar regions.

Pathways of basal meltwater from Antarctic ice shelves: A model study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kusahara, Kazuya; Hasumi, Hiroyasu

2014-09-01

We investigate spreading pathways of basal meltwater released from all Antarctic ice shelves using a circumpolar coupled ice shelf-sea ice-ocean model that reproduces major features of the Southern Ocean circulation, including the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). Several independent virtual tracers are used to identify detailed pathways of basal meltwaters. The spreading pathways of the meltwater tracers depend on formation sites, because the meltwaters are transported by local ambient ocean circulation. Meltwaters from ice shelves in the Weddell and Amundsen-Bellingshausen Seas in surface/subsurface layers are effectively advected to lower latitudes with the ACC. Although a large portion of the basal meltwaters is present in surface and subsurface layers, a part of the basal meltwaters penetrates into the bottom layer through active dense water formation along the Antarctic coastal margins. The signals at the seafloor extend along the topography, showing a horizontal distribution similar to the observed spreading of Antarctic Bottom Water. Meltwaters originating from ice shelves in the Weddell and Ross Seas and in the Indian sector significantly contribute to the bottom signals. A series of numerical experiments in which thermodynamic interaction between the ice shelf and ocean is neglected regionally demonstrates that the basal meltwater of each ice shelf impacts sea ice and/or ocean thermohaline circulation in the Southern Ocean. This article was corrected on 10 OCT 2014. See the end of the full text for details.

Evaporation of ice in planetary atmospheres: Ice-covered rivers on Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wallace, D.; Sagan, C.

1978-01-01

The evaporation rate of water ice on the surface of a planet with an atmosphere involves an equilibrium between solar heating and radiative and evaporative cooling of the ice layer. The thickness of the ice is governed principally by the solar flux which penetrates the ice layer and then is conducted back to the surface. Evaporation from the surface is governed by wind and free convection. In the absence of wind, eddy diffusion is caused by the lower density of water vapor in comparison to the density of the Martian atmosphere. For mean martian insolations, the evaporation rate above the ice is approximately 10 to the minus 8th power gm/sq cm/s. Evaporation rates are calculated for a wide range of frictional velocities, atmospheric pressures, and insolations and it seems clear that at least some subset of observed Martian channels may have formed as ice-chocked rivers. Typical equilibrium thicknesses of such ice covers are approximately 10m to 30 m; typical surface temperatures are 210 to 235 K.

Geothermal Flux, Basal Melt Rates, and Subglacial Lakes in Central East Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carter, S. P.; Blankenship, D. D.; Morse, D. L.

2002-12-01

The lakes beneath the East Antarctic ice sheet represent a unique environment on Earth, entirely untouched by human interference. Life forms which survive in this cold, lightless, high pressure environment may resemble the life forms which survived through "snowball earth" and evolved into the life forms we know today (Kirchvink, 2000). Recent airborne radar surveys over Dome C and the South Pole regions allow us to assess where these lakes are most likely to exist and infer melting and freezing rates at base of the ice sheet. Lakes appear as strong, flat basal reflectors in airborne radar sounding data. In order to determine the absolute strength of the reflector it is important to accurately estimate signal loss due to absorption by the ice. As this quantity is temperature sensitive, especially in regions where liquid water is likely to exist, we have developed a one dimensional heat transfer model, incorporating surface temperature, accumulation, ice sheet thickness, and geothermal flux. Of the four quantities used for our temperature model, geothermal flux has usually proven to be the most difficult to asses, due to logistical difficulties. A technique developed by Fahnestock et al 2001 is showing promise for inferring geothermal flux, with airborne radar data. This technique assumes that internal reflectors, which result from varying electrical properties within the ice column, can be approximated as constant time horizons. Using ice core data from our study area, we can place dates upon these internal layers and develop an age versus depth relationship for the surveyed region, with margin of error of +- 50 m for each selected layer. Knowing this relationship allows us to infer the vertical strain response of the ice to the stress of vertical loading by snow accumulation. When ice is frozen to the bed the deeper ice will accommodate the increased stress of by deforming and thinning (Patterson 1994). This thinning of deeper layers occurs throughout most of our study area. However, analysis of dated internal layers over several bright, flat, "lake-like" reflectors reveals a very different age versus depth relationship in which deeper layers actually thicken with depth. This thickening of deep layers results from ice flowing in from the sides to accommodate significant liquid water production at the base of the ice sheet. This melt is occurring today and can be quantified. With our knowledge of melt rates we can begin to estimate inputs and assess hydrologic parameters for the subglacial lake systems of East Antarctica.

Peculiarities of the Bound Water and Water Ice Seasonal Variations in the Martian Surface Layer of the Regolith.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuzmin, R. O.; Zabalueva, E. V.; Evdokimova, N. A.; Christensen, P. H.; Mitrofanov, I. G.; Litvak, M. L.

2008-09-01

Introduction: The processes of the hydration/ dehydration of salt minerals within the Martian soil and the condensation/sublimation of water ice (and frost) in the surficial soil layer and on the polar cap surface play great significance in the modern water cycle on Mars and directly affect the redistribution of the water phases and forms in the system "atmosphere/regolith/polar caps" [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The processes are reversible in time and their intensity is strongly dependent on such time-variable climatic parameters as atmospheric and surface temperature, atmospheric water vapour content and specific features of atmospheric seasonal circulation [6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. In the work we report the study results of the seasonal variations of the chemically bound water (BW) spectral signature (based on the TES and OMEGA data), estimation and mapping of the winterand spring-time water ice increase within the Martian surface soil (based on the TES and HEND data). Analysis and results: Regional and global mapping of the BW spectral index distribution as function of the seasons was conducted by using of the 6.1 μm emission pick from the TES dataset and the 1.91 μm absorption band from reflectance spectra of the OMEGA data. The study of the seasonal redistribution of the water ice (and frost) within the thin surficial soil layer was conducted based on the TES thermal inertia (TI) data and the HEND neutrons flux mapping data. Bound water mapping: The mapping of the TES 6.1 μm BW index distributions was conducted at the time steps from 30° to 60° of Ls [11]. The mapping results show remarkable changes of the BW index values from one season to other one at notable latitudinal dependence of the index (Fig.1). At that, the higher BW index values are disposed mostly within the peripheral zone near the edge of the perennial and seasonal polar caps (cooler, wetter areas), while the lower BW index values are observed at low latitudes (warmer, drier areas). Between the Nspring (Ls=0°-90°) and winter (Ls=270°-360°) the zone with maximum values of BW index is shifting gradually from high latitudes to middle latitudes (20°- 30°N), being mostly disappearing in the period of Ls=150°-210°. Mapping results demonstrates that intensity of the TES 6.1 μm BW index correlates well with albedo, being higher in the brighter dusty areas and lower in the darker areas on Mars. Nevertheless, the seasonal variations of the BW index are characteristic for both bright and dark surfaces. The distinct hemispherical asymmetry of the BW index distribution is observed during the N-summer, while during the S-summer the asymmetry is much less visible. The observing time range from hydrated to dehydrated states of surface materials corresponds to the Ls range from 15° to 30° (from ~1 to 2 months). The time scale may to be conforming to the rate of the hydration/dehydration process for the Mg- and Fesulfates, composing part of the Martian soil [12, 13]. The BW index based on 1.91μm band has been mapped for spring and summer by using the OMEGA data of the first and second Martian year observations. As well in the case of the TES BW index, the mapping results of the 1.91 μm BW index also shown remarkable difference in the bound water distribution between spring and summer seasons (Fig.2). Seasonal water ice increase in the surface regolith: To define the order of the winter-time increase of the water ice within the Martian surface layer corresponding to the daily thermal skin depth (3- 10 cm in thickness) we compared the difference between the TI values mapped separately for the Nsummer- (Ls=120°-150°) and the N-winter (Ls=300°- 310°) in the latitude range ±50° out of the seasonal CO2 ice cover. We consider the summer-time and the winter-time TI values as characteristic of the dry and icy soils correspondingly. To estimate the possible water ice amount increase in the soil during winter we definition based on relationship between TI dry soil_ and TI icy soil (computed for different soil's ice content from 0% to 10%)._Following to the estimations, the zonally averaged (in 5°-latitude belts) winter-time TI values are consistent with a soil's ice content from 2-8 vol. % in the latitude ranges 30°-50°N and 40°-50°S to < 1 vol. % (and up to dry soil) at a lower latitudes 0-30° S/N. The water ice volume part was estimated for all coincided summer and winter TES TI surface footprints by solving of the quadratic equation, received at inclusion of the thermal parameters for two-component mixture (soil+ice) into formula of thermal inertia [15]. The estimated winter-time amount of water ice in the Martian soil was globally mapped and the received result is shown on Figure 3. The described method we also applied for estimation and mapping of the water ice within surficial soil in the peripheral zone of the retreating seasonal CO2 ice cap, where the polar water ice annulus (~5° circular belt) has been observed recently [16,17]. In our report we will discuss the character of the soil's water ice amount dynamics in the belt as function of the Ls and latitude. Example of the water ice amount mapping within the surficial soil in the circular belt for Ls=0-40° is shown on figure 4. As one can see from the map, the ice amount in the soil layer (with thickness 3-10cm) within the belt is varies from 3 to 11 vol. %. The seasonal variations of the water amount within thicker surface layer (up to depth 20-30 cm), we had analyzed [18] based on the HEND fast neutrons flux data (with energy range 2.5-10 Mev (FN2)) collected during two Martian years [19]. We found that distribution of the water equivalent on Mars shows notable annual differences (Fig.5). At that, the picture of the winter-time (in both hemispheres) water equivalent distribution has visible similarity with trend of the winter-time distribution of the water ice (frost) derived from the TES TI data. Conclusion: The received results of the joint analysis of the TES, HEND and OMEGA data demonstrates existence of the strong seasonal effect of the bound water and water ice amount variations in the surficial soil layer with thickness from a hundreds microns up to 20-30 cm. Appearance of the water ice in the surficial soil layer around of receding CO2 ice cap serves as direct conformation of the seasonal permafrost layer formation on Mars. Our results shown that mapped amount of the soil's water ice (involved in the seasonal redistribution) exceed notably the content of the atmospheric water. This means that the role of the regolith in the modern water cycle on Mars may to be much significant than it was suggested before. References: [1] Fanale F.P. et al., (1986), Icarus, 68, 1- 18 ; [2] Zent A.P. et al, (1995), JGR, 100, 5341-5349 ; [3] Zolotov M. Yu. (1989), LPSC XX, 1257-1258 ; [4] Mohlmann D.T.F. (2004), Icarus, 168, 318-323 ; [5] Tokano T. (2003), Icarus, 164, 50-78 ; [6] Mellon M.T. and Jakosky B.M. (1995), JGR, 100, 11781-11799 ; [7] Bottger H.M. et al., (2004), JGL, 31,L22702; [8] Smith M.D. (2004), Icarus, 167, 148-165 ; [9] Bish D.L. et al., (2003), Icarus, 164, 96- 103 ; [10] Kuzmin R.O. et al., (2007), Solar System Reseach, 41, 99-102 ; [11] Kuzmin R.O. et al., (2006), LPSC XXXVII, #1846 ; [12] Chipera S.J., Vaniman D.T. (2007), Geoch. et Cosmoch. Acta, 71, 241-250 ; [13] Chou I-M, R.R. Seal II (2007), JGR, 112, E11004, doi : 10.1029/2007JE002898 ; [14] Kuzmin R.O. et al., (2007) 7th Mars Conf., #3022; [15] Kuzmin R.O. et al., (2007), Europian Mars Science and Exploration Conference : Mars Express & ExoMars, # 1120023 ;[16] Titus, T.N. (2005), Lunar. Planet. Sci.XXXVI, Abstract #1993; [17] Wagstaff, K.L., T.N. Titus, A.B. Ivanov, R. Castano, J.L.Bandfield. (2008), Planetary and Space Science, 56, 256-265;[18] Kuzmin R.O. et al., (2007), Brown-Vernadsky Microsymp. 46th (www.planetology.ru/micro.php.); [19] Litvak M.L. et al., (2007), Solar System Reseach, 41,5, 385-397. used the nomogram [14], created for ice content

Peculiarities of the Bound Water and Water Ice Seasonal Variations in the Martian Surface Layer of the Regolith.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuzmin, R. O.; Zabalueva, E. V.; Evdokimova, N. A.; Christensen, P. H.; Mitrofanov, I. G.; Litvak, M. L.

2008-09-01

Introduction: The processes of the hydration/ dehydration of salt minerals within the Martian soil and the condensation/sublimation of water ice (and frost) in the surficial soil layer and on the polar cap surface play great significance in the modern water cycle on Mars and directly affect the redistribution of the water phases and forms in the system "atmosphere/regolith/polar caps" [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The processes are reversible in time and their intensity is strongly dependent on such time-variable climatic parameters as atmospheric and surface temperature, atmospheric water vapour content and specific features of atmospheric seasonal circulation [6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. In the work we report the study results of the seasonal variations of the chemically bound water (BW) spectral signature (based on the TES and OMEGA data), estimation and mapping of the winterand spring-time water ice increase within the Martian surface soil (based on the TES and HEND data). Analysis and results: Regional and global mapping of the BW spectral index distribution as function of the seasons was conducted by using of the 6.1 μm emission pick from the TES dataset and the 1.91 μm absorption band from reflectance spectra of the OMEGA data. The study of the seasonal redistribution of the water ice (and frost) within the thin surficial soil layer was conducted based on the TES thermal inertia (TI) data and the HEND neutrons flux mapping data. Bound water mapping: The mapping of the TES 6.1 μm BW index distributions was conducted at the time steps from 30° to 60° of Ls [11]. The mapping results show remarkable changes of the BW index values from one season to other one at notable latitudinal dependence of the index (Fig.1). At that, the higher BW index values are disposed mostly within the peripheral zone near the edge of the perennial and seasonal polar caps (cooler, wetter areas), while the lower BW index values are observed at low latitudes (warmer, drier areas). Between the Nspring (Ls=0°-90°) and winter (Ls=270°-360°) the zone with maximum values of BW index is shifting gradually from high latitudes to middle latitudes (20°- 30°N), being mostly disappearing in the period of Ls=150°-210°. Mapping results demonstrates that intensity of the TES 6.1 μm BW index correlates well with albedo, being higher in the brighter dusty areas and lower in the darker areas on Mars. Nevertheless, the seasonal variations of the BW index are characteristic for both bright and dark surfaces. The distinct hemispherical asymmetry of the BW index distribution is observed during the N-summer, while during the S-summer the asymmetry is much less visible. The observing time range from hydrated to dehydrated states of surface materials corresponds to the Ls range from 15° to 30° (from ~1 to 2 months). The time scale may to be conforming to the rate of the hydration/dehydration process for the Mg- and Fesulfates, composing part of the Martian soil [12, 13]. The BW index based on 1.91μm band has been mapped for spring and summer by using the OMEGA data of the first and second Martian year observations. As well in the case of the TES BW index, the mapping results of the 1.91 μm BW index also shown remarkable difference in the bound water distribution between spring and summer seasons (Fig.2). Seasonal water ice increase in the surface regolith: To define the order of the winter-time increase of the water ice within the Martian surface layer corresponding to the daily thermal skin depth (3- 10 cm in thickness) we compared the difference between the TI values mapped separately for the Nsummer- (Ls=120°-150°) and the N-winter (Ls=300°- 310°) in the latitude range ±50° out of the seasonal CO2 ice cover. We consider the summer-time and the winter-time TI values as characteristic of the dry and icy soils correspondingly. To estimate the possible water ice amount increase in the soil during winter we used the nomogram [14], created for ice content definition based on relationship between TI dry soil_ and TI icy soil (computed for different soil's ice content from 0% to 10%)._Following to the estimations, the zonally averaged (in 5°-latitude belts) winter-time TI values are consistent with a soil's ice content from 2-8 vol. % in the latitude ranges 30°-50°N and 40°-50°S to < 1 vol. % (and up to dry soil) at a lower latitudes 0-30° S/N. The water ice volume part was estimated for all coincided summer and winter TES TI surface footprints by solving of the quadratic equation, received at inclusion of the thermal parameters for two-component mixture (soil+ice) into formula of thermal inertia [15]. The estimated winter-time amount of water ice in the Martian soil was globally mapped and the received result is shown on Figure 3. The described method we also applied for estimation and mapping of the water ice within surficial soil in the peripheral zone of the retreating seasonal CO2 ice cap, where the polar water ice annulus (~5° circular belt) has been observed recently [16,17]. In our report we will discuss the character of the soil's water ice amount dynamics in the belt as function of the Ls and latitude. Example of the water ice amount mapping within the surficial soil in the circular belt for Ls=0-40° is shown on figure 4. As one can see from the map, the ice amount in the soil layer (with thickness 3-10cm) within the belt is varies from 3 to 11 vol. %. The seasonal variations of the water amount within thicker surface layer (up to depth 20-30 cm), we had analyzed [18] based on the HEND fast neutrons flux data (with energy range 2.5-10 Mev (FN2)) collected during two Martian years [19]. We found that distribution of the water equivalent on Mars shows notable annual differences (Fig.5). At that, the picture of the winter-time (in both hemispheres) water equivalent distribution has visible similarity with trend of the winter-time distribution of the water ice (frost) derived from the TES TI data. Conclusion: The received results of the joint analysis of the TES, HEND and OMEGA data demonstrates existence of the strong seasonal effect of the bound water and water ice amount variations in the surficial soil layer with thickness from a hundreds microns up to 20-30 cm. Appearance of the water ice in the surficial soil layer around of receding CO2 ice cap serves as direct conformation of the seasonal permafrost layer formation on Mars. Our results shown that mapped amount of the soil's water ice (involved in the seasonal redistribution) exceed notably the content of the atmospheric water. This means that the role of the regolith in the modern water cycle on Mars may to be much significant than it was suggested before. References: [1] Fanale F.P. et al., (1986), Icarus, 68, 1- 18 ; [2] Zent A.P. et al, (1995), JGR, 100, 5341-5349 ; [3] Zolotov M. Yu. (1989), LPSC XX, 1257-1258 ; [4] Mohlmann D.T.F. (2004), Icarus, 168, 318-323 ; [5] Tokano T. (2003), Icarus, 164, 50-78 ; [6] Mellon M.T. and Jakosky B.M. (1995), JGR, 100, 11781-11799 ; [7] Bottger H.M. et al., (2004), JGL, 31,L22702; [8] Smith M.D. (2004), Icarus, 167, 148-165 ; [9] Bish D.L. et al., (2003), Icarus, 164, 96- 103 ; [10] Kuzmin R.O. et al., (2007), Solar System Reseach, 41, 99-102 ; [11] Kuzmin R.O. et al., (2006), LPSC XXXVII, #1846 ; [12] Chipera S.J., Vaniman D.T. (2007), Geoch. et Cosmoch. Acta, 71, 241-250 ; [13] Chou I-M, R.R. Seal II (2007), JGR, 112, E11004, doi : 10.1029/2007JE002898 ; [14] Kuzmin R.O. et al., (2007) 7th Mars Conf., #3022; [15] Kuzmin R.O. et al., (2007), Europian Mars Science and Exploration Conference : Mars Express & ExoMars, # 1120023 ;[16] Titus, T.N. (2005), Lunar. Planet. Sci.XXXVI, Abstract #1993; [17] Wagstaff, K.L., T.N. Titus, A.B. Ivanov, R. Castano, J.L.Bandfield. (2008), Planetary and Space Science, 56, 256-265;[18] Kuzmin R.O. et al., (2007), Brown-Vernadsky Microsymp. 46th (www.planetology.ru/micro.php.); [19] Litvak M.L. et al., (2007), Solar System Reseach, 41,5, 385-397.

Thinner retinal layers are associated with changes in the visual pathway: A population-based study.

PubMed

Mutlu, Unal; Ikram, Mohammad K; Roshchupkin, Gennady V; Bonnemaijer, Pieter W M; Colijn, Johanna M; Vingerling, Johannes R; Niessen, Wiro J; Ikram, Mohammad A; Klaver, Caroline C W; Vernooij, Meike W

2018-06-23

Increasing evidence shows that thinner retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell layer (GCL), assessed on optical coherence tomography (OCT), are reflecting global brain atrophy. Yet, little is known on the relation of these layers with specific brain regions. Using voxel-based analysis, we aimed to unravel specific brain regions associated with these retinal layers. We included 2,235 persons (mean age: 67.3 years, 55% women) from the Rotterdam Study (2007-2012) who had gradable retinal OCT images and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, including diffusion tensor (DT) imaging. Thicknesses of peripapillary RNFL and perimacular GCL were measured using an automated segmentation algorithm. Voxel-based morphometry protocols were applied to process DT-MRI data. We investigated the association between retinal layer thickness with voxel-wise gray matter density and white matter microstructure by performing linear regression models. We found that thinner RNFL and GCL were associated with lower gray matter density in the visual cortex, and with lower fractional anisotropy and higher mean diffusivity in white matter tracts that are part of the optic radiation. Furthermore, thinner GCL was associated with lower gray matter density of the thalamus. Thinner RNFL and GCL are associated with gray and white matter changes in the visual pathway suggesting that retinal thinning on OCT may be specifically associated with changes in the visual pathway rather than with changes in the global brain. These findings may serve as a basis for understanding visual symptoms in elderly patients, patients with Alzheimer's disease, or patients with posterior cortical atrophy. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Ikaite crystals in melting sea ice - implications for pCO2 and pH levels in Arctic surface waters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rysgaard, S.; Glud, R. N.; Lennert, K.; Cooper, M.; Halden, N.; Leakey, R. J. G.; Hawthorne, F. C.; Barber, D.

2012-08-01

A major issue of Arctic marine science is to understand whether the Arctic Ocean is, or will be, a source or sink for air-sea CO2 exchange. This has been complicated by the recent discoveries of ikaite (a polymorph of CaCO3·6H2O) in Arctic and Antarctic sea ice, which indicate that multiple chemical transformations occur in sea ice with a possible effect on CO2 and pH conditions in surface waters. Here, we report on biogeochemical conditions, microscopic examinations and x-ray diffraction analysis of single crystals from a melting 1.7 km2 (0.5-1 m thick) drifting ice floe in the Fram Strait during summer. Our findings show that ikaite crystals are present throughout the sea ice but with larger crystals appearing in the upper ice layers. Ikaite crystals placed at elevated temperatures disintegrated into smaller crystallites and dissolved. During our field campaign in late June, melt reduced the ice floe thickness by 0.2 m per week and resulted in an estimated 3.8 ppm decrease of pCO2 in the ocean surface mixed layer. This corresponds to an air-sea CO2 uptake of 10.6 mmol m-2 sea ice d-1 or to 3.3 ton km-2 ice floe week-1. This is markedly higher than the estimated primary production within the ice floe of 0.3-1.3 mmol m-2 sea ice d-1. Finally, the presence of ikaite in sea ice and the dissolution of the mineral during melting of the sea ice and mixing of the melt water into the surface oceanic mixed layer accounted for half of the estimated pCO2 uptake.

An Ultra-Wideband, Microwave Radar for Measuring Snow Thickness on Sea Ice and Mapping Near-Surface Internal Layers in Polar Firn

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Panzer, Ben; Gomez-Garcia, Daniel; Leuschen, Carl; Paden, John; Rodriguez-Morales, Fernando; Patel, Azsa; Markus, Thorsten; Holt, Benjamin; Gogineni, Prasad

2013-01-01

Sea ice is generally covered with snow, which can vary in thickness from a few centimeters to >1 m. Snow cover acts as a thermal insulator modulating the heat exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere, and it impacts sea-ice growth rates and overall thickness, a key indicator of climate change in polar regions. Snow depth is required to estimate sea-ice thickness using freeboard measurements made with satellite altimeters. The snow cover also acts as a mechanical load that depresses ice freeboard (snow and ice above sea level). Freeboard depression can result in flooding of the snow/ice interface and the formation of a thick slush layer, particularly in the Antarctic sea-ice cover. The Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) has developed an ultra-wideband, microwave radar capable of operation on long-endurance aircraft to characterize the thickness of snow over sea ice. The low-power, 100mW signal is swept from 2 to 8GHz allowing the air/snow and snow/ ice interfaces to be mapped with 5 c range resolution in snow; this is an improvement over the original system that worked from 2 to 6.5 GHz. From 2009 to 2012, CReSIS successfully operated the radar on the NASA P-3B and DC-8 aircraft to collect data on snow-covered sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic for NASA Operation IceBridge. The radar was found capable of snow depth retrievals ranging from 10cm to >1 m. We also demonstrated that this radar can be used to map near-surface internal layers in polar firn with fine range resolution. Here we describe the instrument design, characteristics and performance of the radar.

Impact crater morphology and the Central Pit/Dome of Occator: Ceres as an Ice-rich Body

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schenk, P.; Marchi, S.; O'Brien, D. P.; Platz, T.; Bland, M. T.; Buczkowski, D.; Scully, J. E. C.; Ammannito, E.; Raymond, C. A.; Russell, C. T.

2016-12-01

Pristine crater morphologies on Ceres (at D <40 km) are astonishingly similar to those on midsize icy bodies (e.g., moons of Saturn) but very different from those on silicate-rich Vesta. All these bodies have similar gravity and broadly similar impact velocities, and these patterns reveal that the upper 10s of km of Ceres are much weaker than on silicate-rich Vesta. This stands in contrast to the lack of viscous relaxation (Bland et al., 2016), which implies an upper layer on Ceres capable of resisting flow despite the relatively high surface temperatures. This can be explained as distinct responses of an outer layer partially composed of weak ices and strong silicates that fail during high-strain impact processes (which are apparently controlled by the weak phase) but does not flow under low-strain creep (which is apparently controlled more by the strong phase). Furthermore, comparison with Martian craters indicates that, in contrast to Ceres, the amount of water ice in the crust of Mars results in hybrid morphologies only midway between silicate and ice worlds, indicating that the upper layers of Ceres must have more ice than does Mars. The presence of apparent impact melt deposits and central pits in larger craters (D>40 km and D>75 km, respectively) on Ceres implies either warmer conditions than at Saturn, or the presence of a deeper layer enriched in (weaker) ice at comparable depths, also consistent with partial relaxation in larger craters. The formation of a fractured dome 3-km-wide and 0.75-km-high within recently formed Occator crater may be due to refreezing of a water zone melted after impact, or mobilization of carbonates or ice in the crater center, possibly from such deeper layers.

The role of the integument as a barrier to penetration of ice into overwintering hatchlings of the painted turtle (Chrysemys picta).

PubMed

Willard, R; Packard, G C; Packard, M J; Tucker, J K

2000-11-01

Hatchlings of the North American painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) spend their first winter of life inside a shallow, subterranean hibernaculum (the natal nest) where they may be exposed for extended periods to ice and cold. Hatchlings seemingly survive exposure to such conditions by becoming supercooled (i.e., by remaining unfrozen at temperatures below the equilibrium freezing point for body fluids), so we investigated the role of their integument in preventing ice from penetrating into body compartments from surrounding soil. We first showed that hatchlings whose epidermis has been damaged are more likely to be penetrated by growing crystals of ice than are turtles whose cutaneous barrier is intact. We next studied integument from a forelimb by light microscopy and discovered that the basal part of the alpha-keratin layer of the epidermis contains a dense layer of lipid. Skin from the forelimb of other neonatal turtles lacks such a layer of lipid in the epidermis, and these other turtles also are highly susceptible to inoculative freezing. Moreover, epidermis from the neck of hatchling painted turtles lacks the lipid layer, and this region of the skin is readily penetrated by growing crystals of ice. We therefore conclude that the resistance to inoculation imposed by skin on the limbs of hatchling painted turtles results from the presence of lipids in the alpha-keratin layer of the epidermis. Neonates apparently are able to avoid freezing during winter by drawing much of the body inside the shell, leaving only the ice-resistant integument of the limbs exposed to ice in the environment. The combination of behavior and skin morphology enables overwintering hatchlings to exploit an adaptive strategy based on supercooling. Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Treatment of ice cover and other thin elastic layers with the parabolic equation method.

PubMed

Collins, Michael D

2015-03-01

The parabolic equation method is extended to handle problems involving ice cover and other thin elastic layers. Parabolic equation solutions are based on rational approximations that are designed using accuracy constraints to ensure that the propagating modes are handled properly and stability constrains to ensure that the non-propagating modes are annihilated. The non-propagating modes are especially problematic for problems involving thin elastic layers. It is demonstrated that stable results may be obtained for such problems by using rotated rational approximations [Milinazzo, Zala, and Brooke, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 101, 760-766 (1997)] and generalizations of these approximations. The approach is applied to problems involving ice cover with variable thickness and sediment layers that taper to zero thickness.

A Burst of Spring

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-03-10

In the winter a layer of carbon dioxide ice dry ice covers the north polar sand dunes as shown by NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. In the spring the sublimation of the ice going directly from ice to gas causes a host of uniquely Martian phenomena.

Distribution of Arctic and Pacific copepods and their habitat in the northern Bering and Chukchi seas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sasaki, Hiroko; Matsuno, Kohei; Fujiwara, Amane; Onuka, Misaki; Yamaguchi, Atsushi; Ueno, Hiromichi; Watanuki, Yutaka; Kikuchi, Takashi

2016-08-01

The advection of warm Pacific water and the reduction in sea ice in the western Arctic Ocean may influence the abundance and distribution of copepods, a key component of food webs. To quantify the factors affecting the abundance of copepods in the northern Bering and Chukchi seas, we constructed habitat models explaining the spatial patterns of large and small Arctic and Pacific copepods separately. Copepods were sampled using NORPAC (North Pacific Standard) nets. The structures of water masses indexed by principle component analysis scores, satellite-derived timing of sea ice retreat, bottom depth and chlorophyll a concentration were integrated into generalized additive models as explanatory variables. The adequate models for all copepods exhibited clear continuous relationships between the abundance of copepods and the indexed water masses. Large Arctic copepods were abundant at stations where the bottom layer was saline; however they were scarce at stations where warm fresh water formed the upper layer. Small Arctic copepods were abundant at stations where the upper layer was warm and saline and the bottom layer was cold and highly saline. In contrast, Pacific copepods were abundant at stations where the Pacific-origin water mass was predominant (i.e. a warm, saline upper layer and saline and a highly saline bottom layer). All copepod groups showed a positive relationship with early sea ice retreat. Early sea ice retreat has been reported to initiate spring blooms in open water, allowing copepods to utilize more food while maintaining their high activity in warm water without sea ice and cold water. This finding indicates that early sea ice retreat has positive effects on the abundance of all copepod groups in the northern Bering and Chukchi seas, suggesting a change from a pelagic-benthic-type ecosystem to a pelagic-pelagic type.

"Solid State" Chemistry in Titan Ice Particles

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-09-20

Scientists from NASA's Cassini mission suggested in a 2016 paper that the appearance of a cloud of dicyanoacetylene (C4N2) ice in Titan's stratosphere may be explained by "solid-state" chemistry taking place inside ice particles. The particles have an inner layer of cyanoacetylene (HC3N) ice coated with an outer layer of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) ice. Left: When a photon of light penetrates the outer shell, it can interact with the HC3N, producing C3N and H. Center: The C3N then reacts with HCN to yield C4N2 and H (shown at right). Another reaction that also yields C4N2 ice and H also is possible, but the researchers think it is less likely. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20715

Geomorphic Evidence for Martian Ground Ice and Climate Change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kanner, L. C.; Allen, C. C.; Bell, M. S.

2004-01-01

Recent results from gamma-ray and neutron spectrometers on Mars Odyssey indicate the presence of a hydrogen-rich layer tens of centimeters thick in the uppermost meter in high latitudes (greater than 60) on Mars. This hydrogen-rich layer correlates to regions of ice stability. Thus, the subsurface hydrogen is thought to be water ice constituting 35 plus or minus 15% by weight near the north and south polar regions. We refine the location of subsurface ice deposits at a less than km scale by combining existing spectroscopy data with surface features indicative of subsurface ice. A positive correlation between spectroscopy data and geomorphic ice indicators has been previously suggested for high latitudes. Here we expand the comparative study to northern mid latitudes (30 degrees N- 65 degrees N).

Icing Frequencies Experienced During Climb and Descent by Fighter-Interceptor Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perkins, Porter J.

1958-01-01

Data and analyses are presented on the relative frequencies of occurrence and severity of icing cloud layers encountered by jet aircraft in the climb and descent phases of flights to high altitudes. Fighter-interceptor aircraft operated by the Air Defense Command (USAF) at bases in the Duluth and Seattle areas collected the data with icing meters installed for a l-year period. The project was part of an extensive program conducted by the NACA to collect Icing cloud data for evaluating the icing problem relevant to routine operations. The average frequency of occurrence of icing was found to be about 5 percent of the number of climbs and descents during 1 year of operations The icing encounters were predominantly in the low and middle cloud layers, decreasing above 15,000 feet to practically none above 25,000 feet. The greatest thickness of ice that would accumulate on any aircraft component (as indicated by the accretion on a small object) was measured with the icing meters. The ice thicknesses on a small sensing probe averaged less than 1/32 inch and did not exceed 1/2 inch. Such accumulations are relatively small when compared with those that can form during horizontal flight in icing clouds. The light accretions resulted from relatively steep angles of flight through generally thin cloud layers. Because of the limited statistical reliability of the results, an analysis was made using previous statistics on icing clouds below an altitude of 20,000 feet to determine the general icing severity probabilities. The calculations were made using adiabatic lifting as a basis to establish the liquid-water content. Probabilities of over-all ice accretions on a small object as a function of airspeed and rate of climb were computed from the derived water contents. These results were then combined with the probability of occurrence of icing in order to give the icing severity that can be expected for routine aircraft operations.

Do Europa's Mountains Have Roots? Erosion of Topography at the Ice-Water Interface via the "Ice Pump"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goodman, J. C.

2016-12-01

Are topographic features on the surface of Europa and other icy worlds isostatically compensated by variations in shell thickness (Airy isostasy)? This is only possible if variations in shell thickness can remain stable over geologic time. Here we show that melting and freezing driven by the pressure dependence of the melting point of water - the "ice pump" - can rapidly erase topography at the ice/water interface. We consider ice pumps driven by both tidal action and buoyancy-driven flow. We first show that as tidal action drives the ocean up and down along a sloping interface, ice will be melted from areas where it's thickest and deposited where the ice is thinnest. We show that this process causes the ice interface topography to relax according to a simple "diffusion" linear partial differential equation. We estimate that a 10-km-wide topographic feature would be erased by the tidal ice pump in 3000 years if Europa's tidal current amplitude is 1 cm/s; however, this timescale is inversely proportional to the cube of the tidal velocity! Next, we consider an ice pump powered by ascent of meltwater along a sloping ice-water interface. We consider layer-averaged budgets for heat, mass, and momentum, along with turbulent mixing of the meltwater layer with underlying seawater via a Richardson number dependent entrainment process, and use these to estimate the thickness and mass flux of the meltwater layer. From this we estimate the rate of melting and freezing at the interface. These two ice pump processes combine with the glacial flow of warm basal ice to rapidly flatten out any variations in the height of the ice-water interface: Europa's ice/water interface may be perfectly flat! If so, topography at Europa's surface can only be supported by variations in density of the shell or the strength of the brittle surface ice.

Impact of ice-shelf sediment content on the dynamics of plumes under melting ice shelves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wells, A.

2015-12-01

When a floating ice shelf melts into an underlying warm salty ocean, the resulting fresh meltwater can rise in a buoyant Ice-Shelf-Water plume under the ice. In certain settings, ice flowing across the grounding line carries a basal layer of debris rich ice, entrained via basal freezing around till in the upstream ice sheet. Melting of this debris-laden ice from floating ice shelves provides a flux of dense sediment to the ocean, in addition to the release of fresh buoyant meltwater. This presentation considers the impact of the resulting suspended sediment on the dynamics of ice shelf water plumes, and identifies two key flow regimes depending on the sediment concentration frozen into the basal ice layer. For large sediment concentration, melting of the debris-laden ice shelf generates dense convectively unstable waters that drive convective overturning into the underlying ocean. For lower sediment concentration, the sediment initially remains suspended in a buoyant meltwater plume rising along the underside of the ice shelf, before slowly depositing into the underlying ocean. A theoretical plume model is used to evaluate the significance of the negatively buoyant sediment on circulation strength and the feedbacks on melting rate, along with the expected depositional patterns under the ice shelf.

Remote Sensing Observations and Numerical Simulation for Martian Layered Ejecta Craters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, L.; Yue, Z.; Zhang, C.; Li, D.

2018-04-01

To understand past Martian climates, it is important to know the distribution and nature of water ice on Mars. Impact craters are widely used ubiquitous indicators for the presence of subsurface water or ice on Mars. Remote sensing observations and numerical simulation are powerful tools for investigating morphological and topographic features on planetary surfaces, and we can use the morphology of layered ejecta craters and hydrocode modeling to constrain possible layering and impact environments. The approach of this work consists of three stages. Firstly, the morphological characteristics of the Martian layered ejecta craters are performed based on Martian images and DEM data. Secondly, numerical modeling layered ejecta are performed through the hydrocode iSALE (impact-SALE). We present hydrocode modeling of impacts onto targets with a single icy layer within an otherwise uniform basalt crust to quantify the effects of subsurface H2O on observable layered ejecta morphologies. The model setup is based on a layered target made up of a regolithic layer (described by the basalt ANEOS), on top an ice layer (described by ANEOS equation of H2O ice), in turn on top of an underlying basaltic crust. The bolide is a 0.8 km diameter basaltic asteroid hitting the Martian surface vertically at a velocity of 12.8 km/s. Finally, the numerical results are compared with the MOLA DEM profile in order to analyze the formation mechanism of Martian layered ejecta craters. Our simulations suggest that the presence of an icy layer significantly modifies the cratering mechanics, and many of the unusual features of SLE craters may be explained by the presence of icy layers. Impact cratering on icy satellites is significantly affected by the presence of subsurface H2O.

Variability in radar returns from Martian debris-covered glaciers attributed to surface debris layer roughness and composition: implications for the regional distribution of massive subsurface ice and near-surface pore-filling ice.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petersen, E.; Holt, J. W.; Levy, J. S.; Lalich, D.

2017-12-01

Lobate debris aprons, lineated valley fill, and concentric crater fill are a class of Martian landform thought to be glaciers blanketed by a lithic debris layer. They are found in the mid latitudes (roughly 30-50°N and S) where surface ice is presently unstable. Shallow Radar (SHARAD) sounder observations are in many cases able to resolve the basal contact between the glacier and underlying bedrock, showing that the bulk composition of these features is water ice with < 20% lithic debris; they are thus often referred to as debris-covered glaciers (DCG). The basal contact of candidate glaciers is not always present in SHARAD radargrams, and variable reflection power between glacier sites suggests that non-detections may be due to a reduction of echo power below the noise floor. A likely candidate for signal loss is the variable roughness of different glacial surface textures. We test this mechanism of signal reduction via analysis of SHARAD reflections augmented by surface roughness analyses generated from HiRISE stereo DEMs. This method provides a means of constraining the electrical properties of the surface debris. We show that measured surface roughness is sufficient to explain basal reflection signal loss for five glacier sites in the region of Deuteronilus/Protonilus Mensae (R2 = 0.90), with the dielectric constant for the surface debris layer constrained to 4.9 ± 0.3. Assuming debris formed of basalt rock, this value is consistent with a porous debris layer containing up to 64% ice, or an ice-free debris layer with porosity of 28-34%. From this work, we conclude that (1) weak or non-existent basal reflections at these sites are due to roughness-induced radar signal loss and not due to differing properties of the basal interface, (2) all DCG candidates in this study exhibit similar bulk compositions of relatively pure water ice, and (3) the surface debris layer is formed of porous lithic debris which may contain a significant fraction of pore ice.

A balanced water layer concept for subglacial hydrology in large scale ice sheet models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goeller, S.; Thoma, M.; Grosfeld, K.; Miller, H.

2012-12-01

There is currently no doubt about the existence of a wide-spread hydrological network under the Antarctic ice sheet, which lubricates the ice base and thus leads to increased ice velocities. Consequently, ice models should incorporate basal hydrology to obtain meaningful results for future ice dynamics and their contribution to global sea level rise. Here, we introduce the balanced water layer concept, covering two prominent subglacial hydrological features for ice sheet modeling on a continental scale: the evolution of subglacial lakes and balance water fluxes. We couple it to the thermomechanical ice-flow model RIMBAY and apply it to a synthetic model domain inspired by the Gamburtsev Mountains, Antarctica. In our experiments we demonstrate the dynamic generation of subglacial lakes and their impact on the velocity field of the overlaying ice sheet, resulting in a negative ice mass balance. Furthermore, we introduce an elementary parametrization of the water flux-basal sliding coupling and reveal the predominance of the ice loss through the resulting ice streams against the stabilizing influence of less hydrologically active areas. We point out, that established balance flux schemes quantify these effects only partially as their ability to store subglacial water is lacking.

Influence of Saharan dust on cloud glaciation in southern Morocco during the Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ansmann, A.; Tesche, M.; Althausen, D.; Müller, D.; Seifert, P.; Freudenthaler, V.; Heese, B.; Wiegner, M.; Pisani, G.; Knippertz, P.; Dubovik, O.

2008-02-01

Multiwavelength lidar, Sun photometer, and radiosonde observations were conducted at Ouarzazate (30.9°N, 6.9°W, 1133 m above sea level, asl), Morocco, in the framework of the Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment (SAMUM) in May-June 2006. The field site is close to the Saharan desert. Information on the depolarization ratio, backscatter and extinction coefficients, and lidar ratio of the dust particles, estimates of the available concentration of atmospheric ice nuclei at cloud level, profiles of temperature, humidity, and the horizontal wind vector as well as backward trajectory analysis are used to study cases of cloud formation in the dust with focus on heterogeneous ice formation. Surprisingly, most of the altocumulus clouds that form at the top of the Saharan dust layer, which reaches into heights of 4-7 km asl and has layer top temperatures of -8°C to -18°C, do not show any ice formation. According to the lidar observations the presence of a high number of ice nuclei (1-20 cm-3) does not automatically result in the obvious generation of ice particles, but the observations indicate that cloud top temperatures must typically reach values as low as -20°C before significant ice production starts. Another main finding is that liquid clouds are obviously required before ice crystals form via heterogeneous freezing mechanisms, and, as a consequence, that deposition freezing is not an important ice nucleation process. An interesting case with cloud seeding in the free troposphere above the dust layer is presented in addition. Small water clouds formed at about -30°C and produced ice virga. These virga reached water cloud layers several kilometers below the initiating cloud cells and caused strong ice production in these clouds at temperatures as high as -12°C to -15°C.

Interpreting Electromagnetic Reflections In Glaciology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eisen, O.; Nixdorf, U.; Wilhelms, F.; Steinhage, D.; Miller, H.

Electromagnetic reflection (EMR) measurements are active remote sensing methods that have become a major tool for glaciological investigations. Although the basic pro- cesses are well understood, the unambiguous interpretation of EMR data, especially internal layering, still requires further information. The Antacrtic ice sheet provides a unique setting for investigating the relation between physical­chemical properties of ice and EMR data. Cold ice, smooth surface topography, and low accumulation facilitates matters to use low energy ground penetrating radar (GPR) devices to pene- trate several tens to hundreds of meters of ice, covering several thousands of years of snow deposition history. Thus, sufficient internal layers, primarily of volcanic origin, are recorded to enable studies on a local and regional scale. Based on dated ice core records, GPR measurements at various frequencies, and airborne radio-echo sound- ing (RES) from Dronning Maud Land (DML), Antarctica, combined with numerical modeling techniques, we investigate the influence of internal layering characteristics and properties of the propagating electromagnetic wave on EMR data.

Ikaite crystal distribution in winter sea ice and implications for CO2 system dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rysgaard, S.; Søgaard, D. H.; Cooper, M.; Pućko, M.; Lennert, K.; Papakyriakou, T. N.; Wang, F.; Geilfus, N. X.; Glud, R. N.; Ehn, J.; McGinnis, D. F.; Attard, K.; Sievers, J.; Deming, J. W.; Barber, D.

2013-04-01

The precipitation of ikaite (CaCO3 ⋅ 6H2O) in polar sea ice is critical to the efficiency of the sea ice-driven carbon pump and potentially important to the global carbon cycle, yet the spatial and temporal occurrence of ikaite within the ice is poorly known. We report unique observations of ikaite in unmelted ice and vertical profiles of ikaite abundance and concentration in sea ice for the crucial season of winter. Ice was examined from two locations: a 1 m thick land-fast ice site and a 0.3 m thick polynya site, both in the Young Sound area (74° N, 20° W) of NE Greenland. Ikaite crystals, ranging in size from a few μm to 700 μm, were observed to concentrate in the interstices between the ice platelets in both granular and columnar sea ice. In vertical sea ice profiles from both locations, ikaite concentration determined from image analysis, decreased with depth from surface-ice values of 700-900 μmol kg-1 ice (~25 × 106 crystals kg-1) to values of 100-200 μmol kg-1 ice (1-7 × 106 crystals kg-1) near the sea ice-water interface, all of which are much higher (4-10 times) than those reported in the few previous studies. Direct measurements of total alkalinity (TA) in surface layers fell within the same range as ikaite concentration, whereas TA concentrations in the lower half of the sea ice were twice as high. This depth-related discrepancy suggests interior ice processes where ikaite crystals form in surface sea ice layers and partly dissolve in layers below. Melting of sea ice and dissolution of observed concentrations of ikaite would result in meltwater with a pCO2 of <15 μatm. This value is far below atmospheric values of 390 μatm and surface water concentrations of 315 μatm. Hence, the meltwater increases the potential for seawater uptake of CO2.

Water ice is water ice: some applications and limitations of Earth analogues to Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koutnik, M.; Pathare, A.; Waddington, E. D.; Winebrenner, D. P.

2017-12-01

Quantitative and qualitative analyses of ice on Mars have advanced with the acquisition of abundant topography, imagery, and radar data, which have enabled the planetary-science community to tackle sophisticated questions about the martian cryosphere. Over the past decades, many studies have applied knowledge of terrestrial ice-sheet and glacier flow to improve understanding of ice behavior on Mars. A key question for both planets is how we can robustly interpret past climate from glaciological and glacial geomorphological features. Doing this requires deciphering how the history of accumulation, ablation, dust/debris deposition, and flow led to the shape and internal structure of present-day ice. Terrestrial glaciology and glacial geomorphology provide physical relationships that can be extended across environmental conditions to characterize related processes that may act at different rates or on different timescales. However, there remain fundamental unknowns about martian ice rheology and history that often limit our ability to directly apply understanding of ice dynamics learned from Antarctica, Greenland, terrestrial glaciers, and laboratory ice experiments. But the field is rich with opportunity because the constitutive relationship for water ice depends on quantities that can typically be reasonably estimated; water ice is water ice. We reflect on progress to understand the history of the ice-rich North Polar Layered Deposits (NPLD) and of select mid-latitude Lobate Debris Aprons (LDAs), and the utility of terrestrial ice-sheet and glacier analogues for these problems. Our work on Earth and Mars has focused on constraining surface accumulation/ablation patterns and ice-flow histories from topography and radar observations. We present on the challenge of interpreting internal-layer shapes when both accumulation/ablation and ice-flow histories are unknown, and how this non-uniqueness can be broken only by making assumptions about one or the other. In particular, we discuss why internal layers alone are not a diagnostic test for ice flow. We also present progress in applying models of debris-covered glacier flow to LDAs where dynamic debris cover, ice flow, and accumulation/ablation act to shape the ice-mass surface.

Application of theoretical models to active and passive remote sensing of saline ice

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Han, H. C.; Kong, J. A.; Shin, R. T.; Nghiem, S. V.; Kwok, R.

1992-01-01

The random medium model is used to interpret the polarimetric active and passive measurements of saline ice. The ice layer is described as a host ice medium embedded with randomly distributed inhomogeneities, and the underlying sea water is considered as a homogeneous half-space. The scatterers in the ice layer are modeled with an ellipsoidal correlation function. The orientation of the scatterers is vertically aligned and azimuthally random. The strong permittivity fluctuation theory is used to calculate the effective permittivity and the distorted Born approximation is used to obtain the polarimetric scattering coefficients. Thermal emissions based on the reciprocity and energy conservation principles are calculated. The effects of the random roughness at the air-ice, and ice-water interfaces are explained by adding the surface scattering to the volume scattering return incoherently. The theoretical model, which has been successfully applied to analyze the radar backscatter data of first-year sea ice, is used to interpret the measurements performed in the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory's CRRELEX program.

Fabric and texture at Siple Dome, Antarctica

USGS Publications Warehouse

Diprinzio, C.L.; Wilen, Lawrence A.; Alley, R.B.; Fitzpatrick, J.J.; Spencer, M.K.; Gow, A.J.

2005-01-01

Preferred c-axis orientations are present in the firn at Siple Dome, West Antarctica, and recrystallization begins as shallow as 200 m depth in ice below -20??C, based on digital analysis of c-axis fabrics, grain-sizes and other characteristics of 52 vertical thin sections prepared in the field from the kilometer-long Siple Dome ice core. The shallowest section analyzed, from 22 m, shows clustering of c axes toward the vertical. By 200 m depth, girdle fabric and other features of recrystallized ice are evident in layers (or regions), separated by layers (regions) of typically finer-grained ice lacking evidence of recrystallization. Ice from about 700-780 m depth, which was deposited during the last ice age, is especially fine-grained, with strongly vertical c axes, but deeper ice shows much larger crystals and strong evidence of recrystallization. Azimuthal asymmetry of some c-axis fabrics, trends in grain-size, and other indicators reveal additional information on processes and history of ice flow at Siple Dome.

Fire beneath the ice

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

Monastersky, R.

1993-02-13

A volcano discovered six years ago by researchers Blankenship and Bell under Antarctica poses questions about a potential climatic catastrophe. The researchers claim that the volcano is still active, erupting occasionally and growing. A circular depression on the surface of the ice sheet has ice flowing into it and is used to provide a portrait of the heat source. The volcano is on a critical transition zone within West Antarctica with fast flowing ice streams directly downhill. Work by Blankenship shows that a soft layer of water-logged sediments called till provide the lubricating layer on the underside of the icemore » streams. Volcanos may provide the source of this till. The ice streams buffer the thick interior ice from the ocean and no one know what will happen if the ice streams continue to shorten. These researchers believe their results indicate that the stability of West Antarctica ultimately depends less on the current climate than on the location of heat and sediments under the ice and the legacy of past climatic changes.« less

Cloud-Scale Numerical Modeling of the Arctic Boundary Layer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krueger, Steven K.

1998-01-01

The interactions between sea ice, open ocean, atmospheric radiation, and clouds over the Arctic Ocean exert a strong influence on global climate. Uncertainties in the formulation of interactive air-sea-ice processes in global climate models (GCMs) result in large differences between the Arctic, and global, climates simulated by different models. Arctic stratus clouds are not well-simulated by GCMs, yet exert a strong influence on the surface energy budget of the Arctic. Leads (channels of open water in sea ice) have significant impacts on the large-scale budgets during the Arctic winter, when they contribute about 50 percent of the surface fluxes over the Arctic Ocean, but cover only 1 to 2 percent of its area. Convective plumes generated by wide leads may penetrate the surface inversion and produce condensate that spreads up to 250 km downwind of the lead, and may significantly affect the longwave radiative fluxes at the surface and thereby the sea ice thickness. The effects of leads and boundary layer clouds must be accurately represented in climate models to allow possible feedbacks between them and the sea ice thickness. The FIRE III Arctic boundary layer clouds field program, in conjunction with the SHEBA ice camp and the ARM North Slope of Alaska and Adjacent Arctic Ocean site, will offer an unprecedented opportunity to greatly improve our ability to parameterize the important effects of leads and boundary layer clouds in GCMs.

To determine ice layer thickness of Europa by high energy neutrino

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shoji, D.; Kurita, K.; Tanaka, H. K.

2010-12-01

Europa, the second closest Galilean satellite is one of the targets which are suspected to have an internal ocean. Detection and characterization of the internal ocean is one of the main subjects for Europa orbiter exploration. Although the gravitational data has shown the thickness of the surface H2O layer of 80-170km[1], it can not determine the phase of H2O. The variations in the magnetic field associated with the induced current in the internal ocean can determine the thickness of the layer of ice if satellite's orbits satisfy the required conditions. Observations of tidal amplitude forced by Jupiter can also resolve the thickness of the surface lithosphere[2]. At moment because of the lack of observational constraints there exist two contrasting models:thick ice layer model and thin model. Here we propose new method to detect the ocean directly based on the radiation by high energy neutrino interacted with matter. Schaefer et al[3] have proposed a similar method to determine ice layer thickness. We will focus on the detection of internal ocean for Europa and present the method is suitable for actual situations of Europa exploration by numerical simulations. Neutrino is famous for its traveling at long distance without any interaction with matter. When high energy neutrinos traverse in Europa hadronic showers are produced by the weak interaction with the nucleons that makes the body of Europa. These hadronic showers induces excess electrons. Because of these excess electrons, Cherenkov photons are emitted. When this radiation occurs in the ice layer, radiations whose wave length is over 10cm should be coherent because the scale of the shower becomes small (a few cm) in the ice, which is called as Askaryan effect[3]. Thus, the intensity of the radiation whose frequency is a few GHz should be enhanced. Since ice has a much longer attenuation length than water, the radiations which occur in the surface ice layer could be detected by the antenna outside Europa but those which occur in the internal ocean can not be detected. Difference in the photon flux produced by this effect is expected for different thickness of the ice layer. In the presentation we show the results by simulation on the interaction of high energy neutrinos with Europa by JULIeT, which is the simulation software for neutrino propagation developed by Chiba University[5]. We assume homogeneous flux of high energy neutrino(10^19 eV) and calculate induced radiations. By using the antenna of m^2, a remarkable difference in number of radiation observed up to ice layer of 15km. References [1] Anderson et al. (1998), Europa's Differentiated Internal Structure: Inferences from Four Galileo Encounters, Science, 281, 2019-2022 [2] Hussmann et al. (2010), Measuring tidal deformation at Europa’s surface, Advance in Space Research [3] Schaefer et al. (2009), AN INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING ICE THICKNESS ON EUROPA, Synergistic Science & Instrument Poster Abstracts Europa Jupiter System Mission Instrument Workshop, pp 38 [4] Askar'yan. (1962), Excess Negative Charge of an Electron-Photon Shower and Its Coherent, JETP, 14, 441-443 [5] Ishibashi et al. JULIeT Users Manual Version 3.3,http://www.ppl.phys.chiba-u.jp/JULIeT/manual/manual.pdf

New experimental capability to investigate the hypervelocity micrometeoroid bombardment of cryogenic surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelson, Andrew Oakleigh; Dee, Richard; Gudipati, Murthy S.; Horányi, Mihály; James, David; Kempf, Sascha; Munsat, Tobin; Sternovsky, Zoltán; Ulibarri, Zach

2016-02-01

Ice is prevalent throughout the solar system and beyond. Though the evolution of many of these icy surfaces is highly dependent on associated micrometeoroid impact phenomena, experimental investigation of these impacts has been extremely limited, especially at the impactor speeds encountered in space. The dust accelerator facility at the Institute for Modeling Plasmas, Atmospheres, and Cosmic Dust (IMPACT) of NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute has developed a novel cryogenic system that will facilitate future study of hypervelocity impacts into ice and icy regolith. The target consists of a copper block, cooled by liquid nitrogen, upon which layers of vapor-deposited ice, pre-frozen ice, or icy regolith can be built in a controlled and quantifiable environment. This ice can be grown from a variety of materials, including H2O, CH3OH, NH3, and slurries containing nanophase iron. Ice temperatures can be varied between 96 K and 150 K and ice thickness greater than 150 nm can be accurately measured. Importantly, the composition of ion plumes created during micrometeoroid impacts onto these icy layers can be measured even in trace amounts by in situ time-of-flight mass spectroscopy. In this paper, we present the fundamental design components of the cryogenic target chamber at IMPACT and proof-of-concept results from target development and from first impacts into thick layers of water ice.

'Scaling' analysis of the ice accretion process on aircraft surfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keshock, E. G.; Tabrizi, A. H.; Missimer, J. R.

1982-01-01

A comprehensive set of scaling parameters is developed for the ice accretion process by analyzing the energy equations of the dynamic freezing zone and the already frozen ice layer, the continuity equation associated with supercooled liquid droplets entering into and impacting within the dynamic freezing zone, and energy equation of the ice layer. No initial arbitrary judgments are made regarding the relative magnitudes of each of the terms. The method of intrinsic reference variables in employed in order to develop the appropriate scaling parameters and their relative significance in rime icing conditions in an orderly process, rather than utilizing empiricism. The significance of these parameters is examined and the parameters are combined with scaling criteria related to droplet trajectory similitude.

Ice Particle Growth Under Conditions of the Upper Troposphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peterson, Harold S.; Bailey, Matthew; Hallett, John

2010-01-01

Atmospheric conditions for growth of ice crystals (temperature and ice supersaturation) are often not well constrained and it is necessary to simulate such conditions in the laboratory to investigate such growth under well controlled conditions over many hours. The growth of ice crystals from the vapour in both prism and basal planes was observed at temperatures of -60 C and -70 C under ice supersaturation up to 100% (200% relative humidity) at pressures derived from the standard atmosphere in a static diffusion chamber. Crystals grew outward from a vertical glass filament, thickening in the basal plane by addition of macroscopic layers greater than 2 microns, leading to growth in the prism plane by passing of successive layers conveniently viewed by time lapse video.

Ice Particle Growth Rates Under Upper Troposphere Conditions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peterson, Harold; Bailey, Matthew; Hallett, John

2010-01-01

Atmospheric conditions for growth of ice crystals (temperature and ice supersaturation) are often not well constrained and it is necessary to simulate such conditions in the laboratory to investigate such growth under well controlled conditions over many hours. The growth of ice crystals from the vapour in both prism and basal planes was observed at temperatures of -60 C and -70 C under ice supersaturation up to 100% (200% relative humidity) at pressures derived from the standard atmosphere in a static diffusion chamber. Crystals grew outward from a vertical glass filament, thickening in the basal plane by addition of macroscopic layers greater than 2 m, leading to growth in the prism plane by passing of successive layers conveniently viewed by time lapse video.

Ice Crystal Growth Rates Under Upper Troposphere Conditions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peterson, Harold S.; Bailey, Matthew; Hallett, John

2010-01-01

Atmospheric conditions for growth of ice crystals (temperature and ice supersaturation) are often not well constrained and it is necessary to simulate such conditions in the laboratory to investigate such growth under well controlled conditions over many hours. The growth of ice crystals from the vapour in both prism and basal planes was observed at temperatures of -60 C and -70 C under ice supersaturation up to 100% (200% relative humidity) at pressures derived from the standard atmosphere in a static diffusion chamber. Crystals grew outward from a vertical glass filament, thickening in the basal plane by addition of macroscopic layers greater than 2 m, leading to growth in the prism plane by passing of successive layers conveniently viewed by time lapse video.

Distribution of rock, metals, and ices in Callisto.

PubMed

Anderson, J D; Schubert, G; Jacobson, R A; Lau, E L; Moore, W B; Sjogren, W L

1998-06-05

Radio Doppler data from a single encounter (C3) of the Galileo spacecraft with Callisto, the outermost Galilean moon of Jupiter, indicated that Callisto was probably undifferentiated. Now, similar data from a second encounter (C9) corroborate this conclusion, but more accurate data from a third encounter (C10) indicate that the rock and ice within Callisto have partially, but not completely, separated. Callisto may be differentiated into a rock-metal core less than 25 percent of Callisto's radius, an outer layer of clean ice less than 350 km thick, and a middle layer of mixed rock and ice. Models in which ice and rock are mixed all the way to the center of Callisto are also consistent with the data.

Thickness of a Europan ice shell from impact crater simulations.

PubMed

Turtle, E P; Pierazzo, E

2001-11-09

Several impact craters on Jupiter's satellite Europa exhibit central peaks. On the terrestrial planets, central peaks consist of fractured but competent rock uplifted during cratering. Therefore, the observation of central peaks on Europa indicates that an ice layer must be sufficiently thick that the impact events did not completely penetrate it. We conducted numerical simulations of vapor and melt production during cratering of water ice layers overlying liquid water to estimate the thickness of Europa's icy crust. Because impacts disrupt material well beyond the zone of partial melting, our simulations put a lower limit on ice thickness at the locations and times of impact. We conclude that the ice must be more than 3 to 4 kilometers thick.

Floating Ice-Algal Aggregates below Melting Arctic Sea Ice

PubMed Central

Assmy, Philipp; Ehn, Jens K.; Fernández-Méndez, Mar; Hop, Haakon; Katlein, Christian; Sundfjord, Arild; Bluhm, Katrin; Daase, Malin; Engel, Anja; Fransson, Agneta; Granskog, Mats A.; Hudson, Stephen R.; Kristiansen, Svein; Nicolaus, Marcel; Peeken, Ilka; Renner, Angelika H. H.; Spreen, Gunnar; Tatarek, Agnieszka; Wiktor, Jozef

2013-01-01

During two consecutive cruises to the Eastern Central Arctic in late summer 2012, we observed floating algal aggregates in the melt-water layer below and between melting ice floes of first-year pack ice. The macroscopic (1-15 cm in diameter) aggregates had a mucous consistency and were dominated by typical ice-associated pennate diatoms embedded within the mucous matrix. Aggregates maintained buoyancy and accumulated just above a strong pycnocline that separated meltwater and seawater layers. We were able, for the first time, to obtain quantitative abundance and biomass estimates of these aggregates. Although their biomass and production on a square metre basis was small compared to ice-algal blooms, the floating ice-algal aggregates supported high levels of biological activity on the scale of the individual aggregate. In addition they constituted a food source for the ice-associated fauna as revealed by pigments indicative of zooplankton grazing, high abundance of naked ciliates, and ice amphipods associated with them. During the Arctic melt season, these floating aggregates likely play an important ecological role in an otherwise impoverished near-surface sea ice environment. Our findings provide important observations and measurements of a unique aggregate-based habitat during the 2012 record sea ice minimum year. PMID:24204642

Floating ice-algal aggregates below melting arctic sea ice.

PubMed

Assmy, Philipp; Ehn, Jens K; Fernández-Méndez, Mar; Hop, Haakon; Katlein, Christian; Sundfjord, Arild; Bluhm, Katrin; Daase, Malin; Engel, Anja; Fransson, Agneta; Granskog, Mats A; Hudson, Stephen R; Kristiansen, Svein; Nicolaus, Marcel; Peeken, Ilka; Renner, Angelika H H; Spreen, Gunnar; Tatarek, Agnieszka; Wiktor, Jozef

2013-01-01

During two consecutive cruises to the Eastern Central Arctic in late summer 2012, we observed floating algal aggregates in the melt-water layer below and between melting ice floes of first-year pack ice. The macroscopic (1-15 cm in diameter) aggregates had a mucous consistency and were dominated by typical ice-associated pennate diatoms embedded within the mucous matrix. Aggregates maintained buoyancy and accumulated just above a strong pycnocline that separated meltwater and seawater layers. We were able, for the first time, to obtain quantitative abundance and biomass estimates of these aggregates. Although their biomass and production on a square metre basis was small compared to ice-algal blooms, the floating ice-algal aggregates supported high levels of biological activity on the scale of the individual aggregate. In addition they constituted a food source for the ice-associated fauna as revealed by pigments indicative of zooplankton grazing, high abundance of naked ciliates, and ice amphipods associated with them. During the Arctic melt season, these floating aggregates likely play an important ecological role in an otherwise impoverished near-surface sea ice environment. Our findings provide important observations and measurements of a unique aggregate-based habitat during the 2012 record sea ice minimum year.

Requirements and Capabilities for Fielding Cryogenic DT-Containing Fill-Tube Targets for Direct-Drive Experiments on OMEGA

DOE PAGES

Harding, D. R.; Ulreich, J.; Wittman, M. D.; ...

2017-12-06

Improving the performance of direct-drive cryogenic targets at the Omega Laser Facility requires the development of a new cryogenic system to (i) field non permeable targets with a fill tube, and (ii) provide a clean environment around the target. This capability is to demonstrate that imploding a scaled-down version of the direct-drive–ignition target for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) on the OMEGA laser will generate the hot-spot pressure that is needed for ignition; this will justify future cryogenic direct-drive experiments on the NIF. The paper describes the target, the cryogenic equipment that is being constructed to achieve this goal, andmore » the proposed target delivery process. Thermal calculations, fill-tube–based target designs, and structural/vibrational analyses are provided to demonstrate the credibility of the design. This new design will include capabilities not available (or possible) with the existing OMEGA cryogenic system, with the emphasis being to preserve a pristinely clean environment around the target, and to provide upgraded diagnostics to characterize both the ice layer and the target’s surface. The conceptual design is complete and testing of prototypes and subcomponents is underway. The rationale and capabilities of the new design are discussed.« less

Requirements and Capabilities for Fielding Cryogenic DT-Containing Fill-Tube Targets for Direct-Drive Experiments on OMEGA

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

Harding, D. R.; Ulreich, J.; Wittman, M. D.

Improving the performance of direct-drive cryogenic targets at the Omega Laser Facility requires the development of a new cryogenic system to (i) field non permeable targets with a fill tube, and (ii) provide a clean environment around the target. This capability is to demonstrate that imploding a scaled-down version of the direct-drive–ignition target for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) on the OMEGA laser will generate the hot-spot pressure that is needed for ignition; this will justify future cryogenic direct-drive experiments on the NIF. The paper describes the target, the cryogenic equipment that is being constructed to achieve this goal, andmore » the proposed target delivery process. Thermal calculations, fill-tube–based target designs, and structural/vibrational analyses are provided to demonstrate the credibility of the design. This new design will include capabilities not available (or possible) with the existing OMEGA cryogenic system, with the emphasis being to preserve a pristinely clean environment around the target, and to provide upgraded diagnostics to characterize both the ice layer and the target’s surface. The conceptual design is complete and testing of prototypes and subcomponents is underway. The rationale and capabilities of the new design are discussed.« less

Sensitivity of Cirrus Bidirectional Reflectance at MODIS Bands to Vertical Inhomogeneity of Ice Crystal Habits and Size Distribution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yang, P.; Gao, B.-C.; Baum, B. A.; Wiscombe, W.; Hu, Y.; Nasiri, S. L.; Soulen, P. F.; Heymsfield, A. J.; McFarquhar, G. M.; Miloshevich, L. M.

2000-01-01

A common assumption in satellite imager-based cirrus retrieval algorithms is that the radiative properties of a cirrus cloud may be represented by those associated with a specific ice crystal shape (or habit) and a single particle size distribution. However, observations of cirrus clouds have shown that the shapes and sizes of ice crystals may vary substantially with height within the clouds. In this study we investigate the sensitivity of the top-of-atmosphere bidirectional reflectances at two MODIS bands centered at 0.65 micron and 2.11 micron to the cirrus models assumed to be either a single homogeneous layer or three distinct but contiguous, layers. First, we define the single- and three-layer cirrus cloud models with respect to ice crystal habit and size distribution on the basis of in situ replicator data acquired during the First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE-II), held in Kansas during the fall of 1991. Subsequently, fundamental light scattering and radiative transfer theory is employed to determine the single scattering and the bulk radiative properties of the cirrus cloud. Regarding the radiative transfer computations, we present a discrete form of the adding/doubling principle by introducing a direct transmission function, which is computationally straightforward and efficient an improvement over previous methods. For the 0.65 micron band, at which absorption by ice is negligible, there is little difference between the bidirectional reflectances calculated for the one- and three-layer cirrus models, suggesting that the vertical inhomogeneity effect is relatively unimportant. At the 2.11 micron band, the bidirectional reflectances computed for both optically thin (tau = 1) and thick (tau = 10) cirrus clouds show significant differences between the results for the one- and three-layer models. The reflectances computed for the three-layer cirrus model are substantially larger than those computed for the single-layer cirrus. Finally, we find that cloud reflectance is very sensitive to the optical properties of the small crystals that predominate in the top layer of the three-layer cirrus model. It is critical to define the most realistic geometric shape for the small "quasi-spherical" ice crystals in the top layer for obtaining reliable single-scattering parameters and bulk radiative properties of cirrus.

Visual-Stratigraphic Dating of the GISP2 Ice Core: Basis, Reproducibility, and Application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alley, R. B.; Shuman, C. A.; Meese, D. A.; Gow, A. J.; Taylor, K. C.; Cuffey, K. M.; Fitzpatrick, J. J.; Grootes, P. M.; Zielinski, G. A.; Ram, M.;

Visual-stratigraphic dating of the GISP2 ice core: Basis, reproducibility, and application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alley, R. B.; Shuman, C. A.; Meese, D. A.; Gow, A. J.; Taylor, K. C.; Cuffey, K. M.; Fitzpatrick, J. J.; Grootes, P. M.; Zielinski, G. A.; Ram, M.; Spinelli, G.; Elder, B.

1997-11-01

Annual layers are visible in the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 ice core from central Greenland, allowing rapid dating of the core. Changes in bubble and grain structure caused by near-surface, primarily summertime formation of hoar complexes provide the main visible annual marker in the Holocene, and changes in "cloudiness" of the ice correlated with dustiness mark Wisconsinan annual cycles; both markers are evident and have been intercalibrated in early Holocene ice. Layer counts are reproducible between different workers and for one worker at different times, with 1% error over century-length times in the Holocene. Reproducibility is typically 5% in Wisconsinan ice-age ice and decreases with increasing age and depth. Cumulative ages from visible stratigraphy are not significantly different from independent ages of prominent events for ice older than the historical record and younger than approximately 50,000 years. Visible observations are not greatly degraded by "brittle ice" or many other core-quality problems, allowing construction of long, consistently sampled time series. High accuracy requires careful study of the core by dedicated observers.

Dynamic ikaite production and dissolution in sea ice - control by temperature, salinity and pCO2 conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rysgaard, S.; Wang, F.; Galley, R. J.; Grimm, R.; Lemes, M.; Geilfus, N.-X.; Chaulk, A.; Hare, A. A.; Crabeck, O.; Else, B. G. T.; Campbell, K.; Papakyriakou, T.; Sørensen, L. L.; Sievers, J.; Notz, D.

2013-12-01

Ikaite is a hydrous calcium carbonate mineral (CaCO3 · 6H2O). It is only found in a metastable state, and decomposes rapidly once removed from near-freezing water. Recently, ikaite crystals have been found in sea ice and it has been suggested that their precipitation may play an important role in air-sea CO2 exchange in ice-covered seas. Little is known, however, of the spatial and temporal dynamics of ikaite in sea ice. Here we present evidence for highly dynamic ikaite precipitation and dissolution in sea ice grown at an out-door pool of the Sea-ice Environmental Research Facility (SERF). During the experiment, ikaite precipitated in sea ice with temperatures below -3 °C, creating three distinct zones of ikaite concentrations: (1) a mm to cm thin surface layer containing frost flowers and brine skim with bulk concentrations of > 2000 μmol kg-1, (2) an internal layer with concentrations of 200-400 μmol kg-1 and (3) a~bottom layer with concentrations of < 100 μmol kg-1. Snowfall events caused the sea ice to warm, dissolving ikaite crystals under acidic conditions. Manual removal of the snow cover allowed the sea ice to cool and brine salinities to increase, resulting in rapid ikaite precipitation. The modeled (FREZCHEM) ikaite concentrations were in the same order of magnitude as observations and suggest that ikaite concentration in sea ice increase with decreasing temperatures. Thus, varying snow conditions may play a key role in ikaite precipitation and dissolution in sea ice. This will have implications for CO2 exchange with the atmosphere and ocean.

Temporal dynamics of ikaite in experimental sea ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rysgaard, S.; Wang, F.; Galley, R. J.; Grimm, R.; Notz, D.; Lemes, M.; Geilfus, N.-X.; Chaulk, A.; Hare, A. A.; Crabeck, O.; Else, B. G. T.; Campbell, K.; Sørensen, L. L.; Sievers, J.; Papakyriakou, T.

2014-08-01

Ikaite (CaCO3 · 6H2O) is a metastable phase of calcium carbonate that normally forms in a cold environment and/or under high pressure. Recently, ikaite crystals have been found in sea ice, and it has been suggested that their precipitation may play an important role in air-sea CO2 exchange in ice-covered seas. Little is known, however, of the spatial and temporal dynamics of ikaite in sea ice. Here we present evidence for highly dynamic ikaite precipitation and dissolution in sea ice grown at an outdoor pool of the Sea-ice Environmental Research Facility (SERF) in Manitoba, Canada. During the experiment, ikaite precipitated in sea ice when temperatures were below -4 °C, creating three distinct zones of ikaite concentrations: (1) a millimeter-to-centimeter-thin surface layer containing frost flowers and brine skim with bulk ikaite concentrations of >2000 μmol kg-1, (2) an internal layer with ikaite concentrations of 200-400 μmol kg-1, and (3) a bottom layer with ikaite concentrations of <100 μmol kg-1. Snowfall events caused the sea ice to warm and ikaite crystals to dissolve. Manual removal of the snow cover allowed the sea ice to cool and brine salinities to increase, resulting in rapid ikaite precipitation. The observed ikaite concentrations were on the same order of magnitude as modeled by FREZCHEM, which further supports the notion that ikaite concentration in sea ice increases with decreasing temperature. Thus, varying snow conditions may play a key role in ikaite precipitation and dissolution in sea ice. This could have a major implication for CO2 exchange with the atmosphere and ocean that has not been accounted for previously.

Ice shelf structure derived from dispersion curve analysis of ambient seismic noise, Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diez, A.; Bromirski, P. D.; Gerstoft, P.; Stephen, R. A.; Anthony, R. E.; Aster, R. C.; Cai, C.; Nyblade, A.; Wiens, D. A.

2016-05-01

An L-configured, three-component short period seismic array was deployed on the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica during November 2014. Polarization analysis of ambient noise data from these stations shows linearly polarized waves for frequency bands between 0.2 and 2 Hz. A spectral peak at about 1.6 Hz is interpreted as the resonance frequency of the water column and is used to estimate the water layer thickness below the ice shelf. The frequency band from 4 to 18 Hz is dominated by Rayleigh and Love waves propagating from the north that, based on daily temporal variations, we conclude were generated by field camp activity. Frequency-slowness plots were calculated using beamforming. Resulting Love and Rayleigh wave dispersion curves were inverted for the shear wave velocity profile within the firn and ice to ˜150 m depth. The derived density profile allows estimation of the pore close-off depth and the firn-air content thickness. Separate inversions of Rayleigh and Love wave dispersion curves give different shear wave velocity profiles within the firn. We attribute this difference to an effective anisotropy due to fine layering. The layered structure of firn, ice, water and the seafloor results in a characteristic dispersion curve below 7 Hz. Forward modelling the observed Rayleigh wave dispersion curves using representative firn, ice, water and sediment structures indicates that Rayleigh waves are observed when wavelengths are long enough to span the distance from the ice shelf surface to the seafloor. The forward modelling shows that analysis of seismic data from an ice shelf provides the possibility of resolving ice shelf thickness, water column thickness and the physical properties of the ice shelf and underlying seafloor using passive-source seismic data.

Update to the conventional model for rotational deformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ries, J. C.; Desai, S.

2017-12-01

Rotational deformation (also called the "pole tide") is the deformation resulting from the centrifugal effect of polar motion on the solid earth and ocean, which manifests itself as variations in ocean heights, in the gravity field and in surface displacements. The model for rotational deformation assumes a primarily elastic response of the Earth to the centrifugal potential at the annual and Chandler periods and applies body tide Love numbers to the polar motion after removing the mean pole. The original model was conceived when the mean pole was moving (more or less) linearly, largely in response to glacial isostatic adjustment. In light of the significant variations in the mean pole due to present-day ice mass losses, an `appropriately' filtered mean pole was adopted for the conventional model, so that the longer period variations in the mean pole were not included in the rotational deformation model. However, the elastic Love numbers should be applicable to longer period variations as well, and only the secular (i.e. linear) mean pole should be removed. A model for the linear mean pole is recommended based on a linear fit to the IERS C01 time series spanning 1900 to 2015: in milliarcsec, Xp = 55.0+1.677*dt and Yp = 320.5+3.460*dt where dt=(t-t0), t0=2000.0 and assuming a year=365.25 days. The consequences of an updated model for rotational deformation for site motion and the gravity field are illustrated.

Terrestrial Ice Sheets: Studies of Climate History, Internal Structure, Surface, and Bedrock

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thorsteinsson, Th.; Kipfstuhl, J.; Nixdorf, U.; Oerter, H.; Miller, H.; Fritsche, D.; Jung-Rothenhaeusler, F.; Mayer, C.; Schwager, M.; Wilhelms, F.; Steinhage, D.; Goektas, F.

1998-01-01

Recently drilled deep ice cores from Central Greenland (GRIP and GISP2) provide the most detailed results available on climatic variation in the northern hemisphere during the last 100,000 years, a period that includes the Holocene (0-11.5 ka) and most of the Wisconsin glacial period. Summer-winter variation in various physical and chemical properties of polar ice allows dating of ice cores by annual layer counting. Several such methods are currently being employed on an ice core drilled by the new North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP), which is aimed at extending the Greenland ice palaeoclimatic record through the last interglacial, the Eemian. Two examples will be presented: (1) visual and photographic studies of seasonal variation in stratigraphic layering, crystal size, air bubble and clathrate concentration, and (2) studies of electric stratigraphy, using the method of dielectric profiling (DEP). This method records the AC conductivity of ice cores, which is negatively correlated with the concentration of airborne dust in the ice but positively correlated with volcanic and marine aerosols. Comprehensive surface traverse programs, which include shallow coring and ice velocity measurements, have recently been carried out by the Alfred Wegener Institute in previously little-investigated regions of Greenland and Antarctica. Serving partly as reconnaissance prior to deep drilling projects, such studies also help to reduce considerable uncertainties in the mass balance of the two large polar ice sheets and thus in their estimated response to climate change. Main results of a recent traverse in North Greenland include the following: (1) A new map of the accumulation distribution on the ice sheet indicates a large low-accumulation region in Northeast-Greenland; (2) North Greenland records show significantly greater climatic variability during the last 500 yr than corresponding records from the southern part of the ice sheet; and (3) data on variation in accumulation rates do not indicate a definite trend in the region during this century. The Alfred Wegener Institute has in recent years employed both airborne and ground-penetrating ice radar systems to map the bedrock around deep drilling sites in Central and North Greenland, as well as in a planned Antarctic site in Dronning Maud Land. The radar also records shallow and deep internal echoes, caused by rapid variation in density and ice acidity in layers of certain ages, allowing isochrones to be traced over wide reaches of the ice sheet. Disturbances in regular stratigraphic layering, due to ice flow over an irregular bed, were observed in the lowest 200-300 m of the GRIP and GISP2 ice cores. Since the aim of the new NGRIP coring program is to obtain an ice core reaching further back in time than the Central Greenland cores, this site was chosen in a region where the bedrock is relatively flat. Echo-sounding surveys between GRIP and NGREP show that the isochrones lie 100-200 in higher above the bed at NGRIP, indicating that the Eemian layer is unlikely to have been disturbed by ice flow at this location. Due to the flow pattern of ice sheets, layers forming a vertical sequence in the interior regions of an ice sheet can, under favorable conditions, be traced on horizontal profiles at the margins. Some meaningful correlations have already been established between Greenland deep ice core climatic records and corresponding records from ice margins. In these regions, a clear contrast is observed between ice of Holocene origin and significantly darker-looking ice dating from the Wisconsin glacial period, which displays summertime ablation rates 2-4x higher than the Holocene ice. This difference is due to higher concentrations of dust and other impurities in the Wisconsin ice, by 1-2 orders of magnitude, leading to reduced albedo. Furthermore, smaller crystal sizes in the Wisconsin ice lead to a more homogeneous distribution of impurities on the surface, which probably contributes to lowering the albedo. Comprehensive studies of ice crystal size and c-axis orientations on the GRIP and NGRIP deep cores provide detailed information on recrystallization processes in polar ice sheets. Based on the GRIP results, the Central-Greenland ice sheet can be vertically divided into three different recrystallization regimes: (1) normal grain growth regime (0-700 in), in which the average crystal size increases steadily to 4mm diameter; (2) polygonization regime (700-2800m), in which crystals are subdivided due to increasing strain and no further increase in crystal size is observed; and (3) migration recrystallization regime (2800-3050m), where higher temperatures (-10C) cause rapid crystal growth with average diameters increasing to 30 mm in the bottom layers. Higher impurity content in ice dating from glacial periods is seen to exert a strong inhibitive effect on crystal growth. The data on c-axis fabrics demonstrate the development of crystalline anisotropy with depth, leading to significant variation in flow properties. In particular, strong rheological contrasts are observed between glacial and interglacial ice, with fine-grained ice dating from glacial periods deforming more rapidly under conditions of simple shear than more coarse-grained interglacial ice. When the dynamics of ice masses are addressed by modeling, special attention must be given to the transition zone between ice resting on bedrock and floating ice shelves. One application for numerical ice-dynamics models that deal with such transition zones is the investigation of areas with special mass balance characteristics, like ice streams entering ice shelves or ice sheet areas over subglacial lakes. Recent results from a model applied to the ice above Lake Vostok in East Antarctica indicate that comparatively strong basal melting and adjacent refreezing occur close to the western shore of the lake.

Crystalline embryos at ice-vapor interfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bartley, D. L.

1976-01-01

The nucleation of small monolayer ice-like clusters at the basal and prism ice-vapor interfaces is considered. It is found that the basal surfaces prefer triangular embryos with an orientation that reverses from layer to layer, whereas the most stable clusters on the prism surfaces are rectangular in configuration. At any given saturation ratio, the preferred prism clusters are found to have a critical energy of formation significantly lower than that of the basal clusters, basically because of differences in cluster corner free energies.

Vertical distribution of the sound-scattering layer in the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Hyungbeen; La, Hyoung Sul; Kang, Donhyug; Lee, SangHoon

2018-03-01

Mid-trophic level at high-latitude coastal water in the Southern Ocean reside unique geographical condition with sea ice, coastal polynya, and ice shelf. To investigate the regional differences in their vertical distribution during summer, we examined acoustic backscatter data from scientific echo sounder, collected in the three representative regions in the Amundsen Sea: pack ice zone, coastal polynya zone, and ice shelf zone. The weighted mean depths (WMDs) representing zooplankton were calculated with the high resolution acoustic backscatter (1-m depth) to identify the vertical variability of the sound-scattering layer (SSL). WMDs were mainly distributed between 50 and 130 m exhibiting clear regional differences. The WMDs were detected in the shallow depth ranged between 48 and 84 m within the pack ice and coastal polynya, whereas they were observed at deeper depths around near ice shelf ranged between 117 and 126 m. WMDs varied with changing the stratification of water column structure representing strong linear relationship with the mixed layer depth (r = 0.69). This finding implies that understanding the essential forcing of zooplankton behavior will improve our ability to assess the coastal ecosystem in the Southern Ocean facing dramatic change.

Aerial Surveys of the Beaufort Sea Seasonal Ice Zone in 2012-2014

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dewey, S.; Morison, J.; Andersen, R.; Zhang, J.

2014-12-01

Seasonal Ice Zone Reconnaissance Surveys (SIZRS) of the Beaufort Sea aboard U.S. Coast Guard Arctic Domain Awareness flights were made monthly from May 2012 to October 2012, June 2013 to August 2013, and June 2014 to October 2014. In 2012 sea ice extent reached a record minimum and the SIZRS sampling ranged from complete ice cover to open water; in addition to its large spatial coverage, the SIZRS program extends temporal coverage of the seasonal ice zone (SIZ) beyond the traditional season for ship-based observations, and is a good set of measurements for model validation and climatological comparison. The SIZ, where ice melts and reforms annually, encompasses the marginal ice zone (MIZ). Thus SIZRS tracks interannual MIZ conditions, providing a regional context for smaller-scale MIZ processes. Observations with Air eXpendable CTDs (AXCTDs) reveal two near-surface warm layers: a locally-formed surface seasonal mixed layer and a layer of Pacific origin at 50-60m. Temperatures in the latter differ from the freezing point by up to 2°C more than climatologies. To distinguish vertical processes of mixed layer formation from Pacific advection, vertical heat and salt fluxes are quantified using a 1-D Price-Weller-Pinkel (PWP) model adapted for ice-covered seas. This PWP simulates mixing processes in the top 100m of the ocean. Surface forcing fluxes are taken from the Marginal Ice Zone Modeling and Assimilation System MIZMAS. Comparison of SIZRS observations with PWP output shows that the ocean behaves one-dimensionally above the Pacific layer of the Beaufort Gyre. Despite agreement with the MIZMAS-forced PWP, SIZRS observations remain fresher to 100m than do outputs from MIZMAS and ECCO.2. The shapes of seasonal cycles in SIZRS salinity and temperature agree with MIZMAS and ECCO.2 model outputs despite differences in the values of each. However, the seasonal change of surface albedo is not high enough resolution to accurately drive the PWP. Use of ice albedo observations to scale shortwave radiation and salt fluxes improves agreement between observations and PWP outputs. Sensitivity analyses suggest that these are the two most impactful surface parameters on PWP output and that better knowledge of their seasonal changes—as well as better characterization of horizontal Pacific inflow—is imperative for future modeling.

Degradation and stabilization of ice wedges: Implications for assessing risk of thermokarst in northern Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanevskiy, Mikhail; Shur, Yuri; Jorgenson, Torre; Brown, Dana R. N.; Moskalenko, Nataliya; Brown, Jerry; Walker, Donald A.; Raynolds, Martha K.; Buchhorn, Marcel

2017-11-01

Widespread degradation of ice wedges has been observed during the last decades in numerous areas within the continuous permafrost zone of Eurasia and North America. To study ice-wedge degradation, we performed field investigations at Prudhoe Bay and Barrow in northern Alaska during 2011-2016. In each study area, a 250-m transect was established with plots representing different stages of ice-wedge degradation/stabilization. Field work included surveying ground- and water-surface elevations, thaw-depth measurements, permafrost coring, vegetation sampling, and ground-based LiDAR scanning. We described cryostratigraphy of frozen soils and stable isotope composition, analyzed environmental characteristics associated with ice-wedge degradation and stabilization, evaluated the vulnerability and resilience of ice wedges to climate change and disturbances, and developed new conceptual models of ice-wedge dynamics that identify the main factors affecting ice-wedge degradation and stabilization and the main stages of this quasi-cyclic process. We found significant differences in the patterns of ice-wedge degradation and stabilization between the two areas, and the patterns were more complex than those previously described because of the interactions of changing topography, water redistribution, and vegetation/soil responses that can interrupt or reinforce degradation. Degradation of ice wedges is usually triggered by an increase in the active-layer thickness during exceptionally warm and wet summers or as a result of flooding or disturbance. Vulnerability of ice wedges to thermokarst is controlled by the thickness of the intermediate layer of the upper permafrost, which overlies ice wedges and protects them from thawing. In the continuous permafrost zone, degradation of ice wedges rarely leads to their complete melting; and in most cases wedges eventually stabilize and can then resume growing, indicating a somewhat cyclic and reversible process. Stabilization of ice wedges after their partial degradation makes them better protected than before degradation because the intermediate layer is usually 2 to 3 times thicker on top of stabilized ice wedges than on top of initial ice wedges in undisturbed conditions. As a result, the likelihood of formation of large thaw lakes in the continuous permafrost zone triggered by ice-wedge degradation alone is very low.

Designing of the 14 MeV neutron moderator for BNCT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Dao-Wen; Lu, Jing-Bin; Yang, Dong; Liu, Yu-Min; Wang, Hui-Dong; Ma, Ke-Yan

2012-09-01

In boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), the ratio of the fast neutron flux to the neutron flux in the tumor (RFNT) must be less than 3%. If a D-T neutron generator is used in BNCT, the 14 MeV neutron moderator must be optimized to reduce the RFNT. Based on the neutron moderation theory and the simulation results, tungsten, lead and diamond were used to moderate the 14 MeV neutrons. Satisfying RFNT of less than 3%, the maximum neutron flux in the tumor was achieved with a three-layer moderator comprised of a 3 cm thick tungsten layer, a 14 cm thick lead layer and a 21 cm thick diamond layer.

Ice Versus Rock

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rule, Audrey C.; Olson, Eric A.; Dehm, Janet

2005-01-01

During a snow bank exploration, students noticed "ice caves," or pockets, in some of the larger snow banks, usually below darker layers. Most of these caves had many icicles hanging inside. Students offered reasonable explanations of ice cave formation--squirrels, kids, snow blowers--and a few students came close to the true ice cave-formation…

Airborne thickness and freeboard measurements over the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica, and implications for ice density

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rack, Wolfgang; Haas, Christian; Langhorne, Pat J.

2013-11-01

We present airborne measurements to investigate the thickness of the western McMurdo Ice Shelf in the western Ross Sea, Antarctica. Because of basal accretion of marine ice and brine intrusions conventional radar systems are limited in detecting the ice thickness in this area. In November 2009, we used a helicopter-borne laser and electromagnetic induction sounder (EM bird) to measure several thickness and freeboard profiles across the ice shelf. The maximum electromagnetically detectable ice thickness was about 55 m. Assuming hydrostatic equilibrium, the simultaneous measurement of ice freeboard and thickness was used to derive bulk ice densities ranging from 800 to 975 kg m-3. Densities higher than those of pure ice can be largely explained by the abundance of sediments accumulated at the surface and present within the ice shelf, and are likely to a smaller extent related to the overestimation of ice thickness by the electromagnetic induction measurement related to the presence of a subice platelet layer. The equivalent thickness of debris at a density of 2800 kg m-3 is found to be up to about 2 m thick. A subice platelet layer below the ice shelf, similar to what is observed in front of the ice shelf below the sea ice, is likely to exist in areas of highest thickness. The thickness and density distribution reflects a picture of areas of basal freezing and supercooled Ice Shelf Water emerging from below the central ice shelf cavity into McMurdo Sound.

Optical properties of melting first-year Arctic sea ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Light, Bonnie; Perovich, Donald K.; Webster, Melinda A.; Polashenski, Christopher; Dadic, Ruzica

2015-11-01

The albedo and transmittance of melting, first-year Arctic sea ice were measured during two cruises of the Impacts of Climate on the Eco-Systems and Chemistry of the Arctic Pacific Environment (ICESCAPE) project during the summers of 2010 and 2011. Spectral measurements were made for both bare and ponded ice types at a total of 19 ice stations in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. These data, along with irradiance profiles taken within boreholes, laboratory measurements of the optical properties of core samples, ice physical property observations, and radiative transfer model simulations are employed to describe representative optical properties for melting first-year Arctic sea ice. Ponded ice was found to transmit roughly 4.4 times more total energy into the ocean, relative to nearby bare ice. The ubiquitous surface-scattering layer and drained layer present on bare, melting sea ice are responsible for its relatively high albedo and relatively low transmittance. Light transmittance through ponded ice depends on the physical thickness of the ice and the magnitude of the scattering coefficient in the ice interior. Bare ice reflects nearly three-quarters of the incident sunlight, enhancing its resiliency to absorption by solar insolation. In contrast, ponded ice absorbs or transmits to the ocean more than three-quarters of the incident sunlight. Characterization of the heat balance of a summertime ice cover is largely dictated by its pond coverage, and light transmittance through ponded ice shows strong contrast between first-year and multiyear Arctic ice covers.

Atmospheric boundary layer modification in the marginal ice zone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bennett, Theodore J., Jr.; Hunkins, Kenneth

1986-01-01

A case study of the Andreas et al. (1984) data on atmospheric boundary layer modification in the marginal ice zone is made. The model is a two-dimensional, multilevel, linear model with turbulence, lateral and vertical advection, and radiation. Good agreement between observed and modeled temperature cross sections is obtained. In contrast to the hypothesis of Andreas et al., the air flow is found to be stable to secondary circulations. Adiabatic lifting and, at long fetches, cloud top longwave cooling, not an air-to-surface heat flux, dominate the cooling of the boundary layer. The accumulation with fetch over the ice of changes in the surface wind field is shown to have a large effect on estimates of the surface wind stress. It is speculated that the Andreas et al. estimates of the drag coefficient over the compact sea ice are too high.

Density of Mars' south polar layered deposits.

PubMed

Zuber, Maria T; Phillips, Roger J; Andrews-Hanna, Jeffrey C; Asmar, Sami W; Konopliv, Alexander S; Lemoine, Frank G; Plaut, Jeffrey J; Smith, David E; Smrekar, Suzanne E

2007-09-21

Both poles of Mars are hidden beneath caps of layered ice. We calculated the density of the south polar layered deposits by combining the gravity field obtained from initial results of radio tracking of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter with existing surface topography from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft and basal topography from the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding on the Mars Express spacecraft. The results indicate a best-fit density of 1220 kilograms per cubic meter, which is consistent with water ice that has approximately 15% admixed dust. The results demonstrate that the deposits are probably composed of relatively clean water ice and also refine the martian surface-water inventory.

CO2 snow depth and subsurface water-ice abundance in the northern hemisphere of Mars.

PubMed

Mitrofanov, I G; Zuber, M T; Litvak, M L; Boynton, W V; Smith, D E; Drake, D; Hamara, D; Kozyrev, A S; Sanin, A B; Shinohara, C; Saunders, R S; Tretyakov, V

2003-06-27

Observations of seasonal variations of neutron flux from the high-energy neutron detector (HEND) on Mars Odyssey combined with direct measurements of the thickness of condensed carbon dioxide by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) on Mars Global Surveyor show a latitudinal dependence of northern winter deposition of carbon dioxide. The observations are also consistent with a shallow substrate consisting of a layer with water ice overlain by a layer of drier soil. The lower ice-rich layer contains between 50 and 75 weight % water, indicating that the shallow subsurface at northern polar latitudes on Mars is even more water rich than that in the south.

South Polar Layers

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-08-25

Southern hemisphere spring has arrived at the south polar cap. The ice layers that make up the cap are easily seen in this image from NASA 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. Southern hemisphere spring has arrived at the south polar cap. The ice layers that make up the cap are easily seen in this VIS image. Orbit Number: 64531 Latitude: -86.6334 Longitude: 97.7916 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-07-01 06:55 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20972

The fast-ice growth and freezing of the bottom in the Braganzavagen Gulf (Van Mijenfjorden, Svalbard)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bogorodsky, Petr; Marchenko, Aleksey; Pnyushkov, Andrey; Filchuk, Kirill; Morozov, Yevgenii; Ryzhov, Ivan

2017-04-01

The results of oceanographic and sea ice studies in the shallow Braganzavågen Gulf (Van Mijenfjorden, Svalbard) in March 2016 are presented. These studies are a continuation of observational efforts initiated by UNIS (Svalbard, Norway) in 2014. 2016 field campaign includes instrumental measurements of snow and ice properties in the fjord (e.g., ice thicknesses, temperatures, and salinities), as well as high-resolution CTD measurements within the under-ice water column. Collected observations were accompanied by freezing simulations of adjacent water and bottom ground layers performed with a one-dimensional thermodynamic model (Bogorodskii and Pnyushkov, 2015). The model uses two methods to reproduce phase transition areas - a "classic" (frontal) method for the fast ice, and transition in the continuous media (mushy zone) for the bottom sediments. Meteorological observations during the winter 2015-16 at Sveagruva (northwest coast) were used in these simulations as the atmospheric forcing. Numerical experiments were carried out for the initial salinity of 35 psu and 2 m water depth. The simulations start with the beginning of water freezing determined by a steady air temperature transition through the freezing point. The start of freezing was also verified by comparison with sea ice charts available for the Van Mijenfjorden for the period of simulations. Model simulations showed that the growth of sea ice in shallow (<1 m) areas of the basin significantly increases water salinity in the under-ice layer. For instance, at a 0.5 m depth the salinity in the under ice water layer exceeds 160 psu, which corresponds to the freezing temperature below -9C. In fact, the water salinity does not reach high values because of the horizontal mixing. However, available hydrological observations showed relatively small (0.2-0.5 m) amplitudes of tides - the major contributor to the horizontal exchange in this area. These small amplitudes likely suggest small advective salt fluxes induced by tides, and thus their little effect on the rate of ice formation at seasonal time scales. As expected, substantial water cooling in the under-ice layer leads to freezing of the bottom ground, mostly evident in areas with small depths. For example, during the cold season this freezing may be as large as 1 m at a fjord part with typical depths of 0.5 m. In general, the model shows a relativity good agreement with direct observations of fast ice properties. However, due to uncertainty in the thermodynamic properties of the ground, the quantitative description of the heat transfer processes in this layer is still incomplete and required additional clarification in the specially targeted field experiments.

Concentric crater fill on Mars - An aeolian alternative to ice-rich mass wasting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zimbelman, J. R.; Clifford, S. M.; Williams, S. H.

1989-01-01

Concentric crater fill, a distinctive martian landform represented by a concentric pattern of surface undulations confined within a crater rim, has been interpreted as an example of ice-enhanced regolith creep at midlatitudes (e.g., Squyres and Carr, 1986). Theoretical constraints on the stability and mobility of ground ice limit the applicability of an ice-rich soil in effectively mobilizing downslope movement at latitudes poleward of + or - 30 deg, where concentric crater fill is observed. High-resolution images of concentric crater fill material in the Utopia Planitia region (45 deg N, 271 deg W) show it to be an eroded, multiple-layer deposit. Layering should not be preserved if the crater fill material moved by slow deformation throughout its thickness, as envisioned in the ice-enhanced creep model. Multiple layers are also exposed in the plains material surrounding the craters, indicating a recurrent depositional process that was at least regional in extent. Mantling layers are observed in high-resolution images of many other locations around Mars, suggesting that deposition occurred on a global scale and was not limited to the Utopia Planitia region. It is suggested that an aeolian interpretation for the origin and modification of concentric crater fill material is most consistent with morphologic and theoretical constraints.

Observing Physical and Biological Drivers of pH and O2 in a Seasonal Ice Zone in the Ross Sea Using Profiling Float Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Briggs, E.; Martz, T. R.; Talley, L. D.; Mazloff, M. R.

2015-12-01

Ice cover has strong influence over gas exchange, vertical stability, and biological production which are critical to understanding the Southern Ocean's central role in oceanic biogeochemical cycling and heat and carbon uptake under a changing climate. However the relative influence of physical versus biological processes in this hard-to-study region is poorly understood due to limited observations. Here we present new findings from a profiling float equipped with biogeochemical sensors in the seasonal ice zone of the Ross Sea capturing, for the first time, under-ice pH profile data over a two year timespan from 2014 to the present. The relative influence of physical (e.g. vertical mixing and air-sea gas exchange) and biological (e.g. production and respiration) drivers of pH and O2 within the mixed layer are explored during the phases of ice formation, ice cover, and ice melt over the two seasonal cycles. During the austral fall just prior to and during ice formation, O2 increases as expected due to surface-layer undersaturation and enhanced gas exchange. A small increase in pH is also observed during this phase, but without a biological signal in accompanying profiling float chlorophyll data, which goes against common reasoning from both a biological and physical standpoint. During the phase of ice cover, gas exchange is inhibited and a clear respiration signal is observed in pH and O2 data from which respiration rates are calculated. In the austral spring, ice melt gives rise to substantial ice edge phytoplankton blooms indicated by O2 supersaturation and corresponding increase in pH and large chlorophyll signal. The influence of the duration of ice cover and mixed layer depth on the magnitude of the ice edge blooms is explored between the two seasonal cycles.

Passive microwave mapping of ice thickness. Final Report. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Apinis, J. J.; Peake, W. H.

1976-01-01

Basic calculations are presented for evaluating the feasibility of a scanning microwave radiometer system for mapping the thickness of lake ice. An analytical model for the apparent brightness temperature as a function of ice thickness has been developed, and elaborated to include such variables as galactic and atmospheric noise, aspect angle, polarization, temperature gradient in the ice, the presence of transition layers such as snow, slush, and water, increased loss due to air inclusions in the ice layer, and the presence of multiple ice thicknesses within the antenna footprint. It was found that brightness temperature measurements at six or seven frequencies in the range of 0.4 to 0.7 GHz were required to obtain unambiquous thickness estimates. A number of data processing methods were examined. The effects of antenna beamwidth, scanning rate, receiver bandwidth, noise figure, and integration time were studied.

First high-convergence cryogenic implosion in a near-vacuum hohlraum

DOE PAGES

Berzak Hopkins, L.  F.; Meezan, N.  B.; Le Pape, S.; ...

2015-04-29

Recent experiments on the National Ignition Facility [M. J. Edwards et al., Phys. Plasmas 20, 070501 (2013)] demonstrate that utilizing a near-vacuum hohlraum (low pressure gas-filled) is a viable option for high convergence cryogenic deuterium-tritium (DT) layered capsule implosions. This is made possible by using a dense ablator (high-density carbon), which shortens the drive duration needed to achieve high convergence: a measured 40% higher hohlraum efficiency than typical gas-filled hohlraums, which requires less laser energy going into the hohlraum, and an observed better symmetry control than anticipated by standard hydrodynamics simulations. The first series of near-vacuum hohlraum experiments culminated inmore » a 6.8 ns, 1.2 MJ laser pulse driving a 2-shock, high adiabat (α ~ 3.5) cryogenic DT layered high density carbon capsule. This resulted in one of the best performances so far on the NIF relative to laser energy, with a measured primary neutron yield of 1.8 X 10¹⁵ neutrons, with 20% calculated alpha heating at convergence ~27X.« less

Superposition of polarized waves at layered media: theoretical modeling and measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finkele, Rolf; Wanielik, Gerd

1997-12-01

The detection of ice layers on road surfaces is a crucial requirement for a system that is designed to warn vehicle drivers of hazardous road conditions. In the millimeter wave regime at 76 GHz the dielectric constant of ice and conventional road surface materials (i.e. asphalt, concrete) is found to be nearly similar. Thus, if the layer of ice is very thin and thus is of the same shape of roughness as the underlying road surface it cannot be securely detected using conventional algorithmic approaches. The method introduced in this paper extents and applies the theoretical work of Pancharatnam on the superposition of polarized waves. The projection of the Stokes vectors onto the Poincare sphere traces a circle due to the variation of the thickness of the ice layer. The paper presents a method that utilizes the concept of wave superposition to detect this trace even if it is corrupted by stochastic variation due to rough surface scattering. Measurement results taken under real traffic conditions prove the validity of the proposed algorithms. Classification results are presented and the results discussed.

Anatomy of Heinrich Layer 1 and its role in the last deglaciation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hodell, David A.; Nicholl, Joseph A.; Bontognali, Tomaso R. R.; Danino, Steffan; Dorador, Javier; Dowdeswell, Julian A.; Einsle, Joshua; Kuhlmann, Holger; Martrat, Belen; Mleneck-Vautravers, Maryline J.; Rodríguez-Tovar, Francisco Javier; Röhl, Ursula

2017-03-01

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) core scanning and X-ray computed tomography data were measured every 1 mm to study the structure of Heinrich Event 1 during the last deglaciation at International Ocean Discovery Program Site U1308. Heinrich Layer 1 comprises two distinct layers of ice-rafted detritus (IRD), which are rich in detrital carbonate (DC) and poor in foraminifera. Each DC layer consists of poorly sorted, coarse-grained clasts of IRD embedded in a dense, fine-grained matrix of glacial rock flour that is partially cemented. The radiocarbon ages of foraminifera at the base of the two layers indicate a difference of 1400 14C years, suggesting that they are two distinct events, but the calendar ages depend upon assumptions made for surface reservoir ages. The double peak indicates at least two distinct stages of discharge of the ice streams that drained the Laurentide Ice Sheet through Hudson Strait during HE1 or, alternatively, the discharge of two independent ice streams containing detrital carbonate. Heinrich Event 1.1 was the larger of the two events and began at 16.2 ka (15.5-17.1 ka) when the polar North Atlantic was already cold and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) weakened. The younger peak (H1.2) at 15.1 ka (14.3 to 15.9 ka) was a weaker event than H1.1 that was accompanied by minor cooling. Our results support a complex history for Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1) with reduction in AMOC during the early part ( 20-16.2 ka) possibly driven by melting of European ice sheets, whereas the Laurentide Ice Sheet assumed a greater role during the latter half ( 16.2-14.7 ka).

Stratospheric and solar cycle effects on long-term variability of mesospheric ice clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lübken, F.-J.; Berger, U.; Baumgarten, G.

2009-11-01

Model results of mesospheric ice layers and background conditions at 69°N from 1961 to 2008 are analyzed. The model nudges to European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts data below ˜45 km. Greenhouse gas concentrations in the mesosphere are kept constant. At polar mesospheric cloud (PMC) altitudes (83 km) temperatures decrease until the mid 1990s by -0.08 K/yr resulting in trends of PMC brightness, occurrence rates, and, to a lesser extent, in PMC altitudes (-0.0166 km/yr). Ice layer trends are consistent with observations by ground-based and satellite instruments. Water vapor increases at PMC heights and decreases above due to increased freeze-drying caused by the temperature trend. Temperature trends in the mesosphere mainly come from shrinking of the stratosphere and from dynamical effects. A solar cycle modulation of H2O is observed in the model consistent with satellite observations. The effect on ice layers is reduced because of redistribution of H2O by freeze-drying. The accidental coincidence of low temperatures and solar cycle minimum in the mid 1990s leads to an overestimation of solar effects on ice layers. A strong correlation between temperatures and PMC altitudes is observed. Applied to historical measurements this gives negligible temperature trends at PMC altitudes (˜0.01-0.02 K/yr). Strong correlations between PMC parameters and background conditions deduced from the model confirm the standard scenario of PMC formation. The PMC sensitivity on temperatures, water vapor, and Ly-α is investigated. PMC heights show little variation with background parameters whereas brightness and occurrence rates show large variations. None of the background parameters can be ignored regarding its influence on ice layers.

Stratospheric and solar cycle effects on long-term variability of mesospheric ice clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lübken, F.-J.; Berger, U.; Baumgarten, G.

2009-01-01

Model results of mesospheric ice layers and background conditions at 69°N from 1961 to 2008 are analyzed. The model nudges to European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts data below ˜45 km. Greenhouse gas concentrations in the mesosphere are kept constant. At polar mesospheric cloud (PMC) altitudes (83 km) temperatures decrease until the mid 1990s by -0.08 K/yr resulting in trends of PMC brightness, occurrence rates, and, to a lesser extent, in PMC altitudes (-0.0166 km/yr). Ice layer trends are consistent with observations by ground-based and satellite instruments. Water vapor increases at PMC heights and decreases above due to increased freeze-drying caused by the temperature trend. Temperature trends in the mesosphere mainly come from shrinking of the stratosphere and from dynamical effects. A solar cycle modulation of H2O is observed in the model consistent with satellite observations. The effect on ice layers is reduced because of redistribution of H2O by freeze-drying. The accidental coincidence of low temperatures and solar cycle minimum in the mid 1990s leads to an overestimation of solar effects on ice layers. A strong correlation between temperatures and PMC altitudes is observed. Applied to historical measurements this gives negligible temperature trends at PMC altitudes (˜0.01-0.02 K/yr). Strong correlations between PMC parameters and background conditions deduced from the model confirm the standard scenario of PMC formation. The PMC sensitivity on temperatures, water vapor, and Ly-α is investigated. PMC heights show little variation with background parameters whereas brightness and occurrence rates show large variations. None of the background parameters can be ignored regarding its influence on ice layers.

Solar heating of a stratified ocean in the presence of a static ice cover

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perovich, Donald K.; Maykut, Gary A.

1990-10-01

Conductivity, temperature, and depth measurements were carried out in an isolated transverse lead in static, shorefast ice in Mould Bay, Prince Patrick Island, Northwest Territories, during a 3-week period at the height of the melt season. Currents beneath the ice appeared to be weak and largely tidal in nature. Initially, the water was vertically uniform and at the salinity-determined freezing point down to a depth of at least 20 m. By the end of the experiment the water column consisted of three distinct layers: a well-mixed, nearly fresh surface meltwater layer; a very stable half-meter-thick halocline centered somewhat below the bottom of the ice; and a thermally stratified layer of constant salinity extending down to at least 25 m. The halocline was characterized by a temperature maximum that was about 2°C warmer than the surrounding water. This temperature maximum in the pycnocline effectively trapped shortwave energy absorbed in the lower layer and prevented it from melting the overlying ice. Theoretical calculations demonstrate that the thermal structure observed beneath the pycnocline was controlled by the input of shortwave radiation and that vertical heat transport was largely the result of diffusive processes. The presence of leads drastically increases the amount of energy stored in the water. In regions where leads are common, it is likely that this energy will significantly accelerate the decay and removal of the ice once it becomes mobile and once the pycnocline is erased.

Observations of the northern seasonal polar cap on Mars: I. Spring sublimation activity and processes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hansen, C.J.; Byrne, S.; Portyankina, G.; Bourke, M.; Dundas, C.; McEwen, A.; Mellon, M.; Pommerol, A.; Thomas, N.

2013-01-01

Spring sublimation of the seasonal CO2 northern polar cap is a dynamic process in the current Mars climate. Phenomena include dark fans of dune material propelled out onto the seasonal ice layer, polygonal cracks in the seasonal ice, sand flow down slipfaces, and outbreaks of gas and sand around the dune margins. These phenomena are concentrated on the north polar erg that encircles the northern residual polar cap. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been in orbit for three Mars years, allowing us to observe three northern spring seasons. Activity is consistent with and well described by the Kieffer model of basal sublimation of the seasonal layer of ice applied originally in the southern hemisphere. Three typical weak spots have been identified on the dunes for escape of gas sublimed from the bottom of the seasonal ice layer: the crest of the dune, the interface of the dune with the interdune substrate, and through polygonal cracks in the ice. Pressurized gas flows through these vents and carries out material entrained from the dune. Furrows in the dunes channel gas to outbreak points and may be the northern equivalent of southern radially-organized channels (“araneiform” terrain), albeit not permanent. Properties of the seasonal CO2 ice layer are derived from timing of seasonal events such as when final sublimation occurs. Modification of dune morphology shows that landscape evolution is occurring on Mars today, driven by seasonal activity associated with sublimation of the seasonal CO2 polar cap.

Buried CO2 Ice traces in South Polar Layered Deposits of Mars detected by radar sounder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castaldo, L.; Mège, D.; Orosei, R.; Séjourné, A.

2014-12-01

SHARAD (SHAllow RADar) is the subsurface sounding radar provided by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) as a facility instrument to NASA's 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The Reduced Data Record of SHARAD data covering the area of the South Polar Layered Deposits (SPLD), has been used. The elaboration and interpretation of the data, aimed to estimate electromagnetic properties of surface layers, has been performed in terms of permittivity. The theory of electromagnetic scattering from fractal surfaces, and the estimation of geometric parameters from topographic data by Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) which was one of five instruments on board the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft, has been used. A deep analysis of inversion has been made on all Mars and extended to the South Polar Caps in order to extract the area with a permittivity constant of CO2 ice. Several corrections have been applied to the data, moreover the calibration of the signal requires the determination of a constant that takes into account the power gain due to the radar system and the surface in order to compensate the power losses due to the orbitographic phenomena. The determination of regions with high probability of buried CO2 ice in the first layer of the Martian surface, is obtained extracting the real part of the permittivity constant of the CO2 ice (~2), estimated by other means. The permittivity of CO2ice is extracted from the Global Permittivity Map of Mars using the global standard deviation of itself as following: ɛCO2ice=ɛCO2ice+ Σ (1)where Σ=±std(ɛMapMars)/2Figure 1(a) shows the south polar areas where the values of the permittivity point to the possibility of a CO2 ice layer. Figure 1(b) is the corresponding geologic map. The comparison between the two maps indicates that the area with probable buried CO2 overlaps Hesperian and Amazonian polar units (Hp, Hesperian plains-forming deposits marked by narrow sinuous, anabranching ridges and irregular depressions, and Apu, Amazonian layered plateaus). From this analysis, the south polar cap could be covered by a thin frozen carbon dioxide coating. The perennial south polar cap is probably made of frozen carbon dioxide ca. 8 meters thick.

Extensive massive basal-ice structures in West Antarctica relate to ice-sheet anisotropy and ice-flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ross, N.; Bingham, R. G.; Corr, H. F. J.; Siegert, M. J.

2016-12-01

Complex structures identified within both the East Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are thought to be generated by the action of basal water freezing to the ice-sheet base, evolving under ice flow. Here, we use ice-penetrating radar to image an extensive series of similarly complex basal ice facies in West Antarctica, revealing a thick (>500 m) tectonised unit in an area of cold-based and relatively slow-flowing ice. We show that major folding and overturning of the unit perpendicular to ice flow elevates deep, warm ice into the mid ice-sheet column. Fold axes align with present ice flow, and axis amplitudes increase down-ice, suggesting long-term consistency in the direction and convergence of flow. In the absence of basal water, and the draping of the tectonised unit over major subglacial mountain ranges, the formation of the unit must be solely through the deformation of meteoric ice. Internal layer radar reflectivity is consistently greater parallel to flow compared with the perpendicular direction, revealing ice-sheet crystal anisotropy is associated with the folding. By linking layers to the Byrd ice-core site, we show the basal ice dates to at least the last glacial cycle and may be as old as the last interglacial. Deformation of deep-ice in this sector of WAIS, and potentially elsewhere in Antarctica, may be caused by differential shearing at interglacial-glacial boundaries, in a process analogous to that proposed for interior Greenland. The scale and heterogeneity of the englacial structures, and their subsequent impact on ice sheet rheology, means that the nature of ice flow across the bulk of West Antarctica must be far more complex that is currently accounted for by any numerical ice sheet model.

The structure of ice crystallized from supercooled water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murray, Benjamin

2013-03-01

The freezing of water to ice is fundamentally important to fields as diverse as cloud formation to cryopreservation. Traditionally ice was thought to exist in two well-crystalline forms: stable hexagonal ice and metastable cubic ice. It has recently been shown, using X-ray diffraction data, that ice which crystallizes homogeneously and heterogeneously from supercooled water is neither of these phases. The resulting ice is disordered in one dimension and therefore possesses neither cubic nor hexagonal symmetry and is instead composed of randomly stacked layers of cubic and hexagonal sequences. We refer to this ice as stacking-disordered ice I (ice Isd) . This result is consistent with a number of computational studies of the crystallization of water. Review of the literature reveals that almost all ice that has been identified as cubic ice in previous diffraction studies and generated in a variety of ways was most likely stacking-disordered ice I with varying degrees of stacking disorder, which raises the question of whether cubic ice exists. New data will be presented which shows significant stacking disorder (or stacking faults on the order of 1 in every 100 layers of ice Ih) in droplets which froze heterogeneously as warm as 257 K. The identification of stacking-disordered ice from heterogeneous ice nucleation supports the hypothesis that the structure of ice that initially crystallises from supercooled water is stacking-disordered ice I, independent of nucleation mechanism, but this ice can relax to the stable hexagonal phase subject to the kinetics of recrystallization. The formation and persistence of stacking disordered ice in the Earth's atmosphere will also be discussed. Funded by the European Research Council (FP7, 240449 ICE)

A prelanding assessment of the ice table depth and ground ice characteristics in Martian permafrost at the Phoenix landing site

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mellon, M.T.; Boynton, W.V.; Feldman, W.C.; Arvidson, R. E.; Titus, Joshua T.N.; Bandfield, L.; Putzig, N.E.; Sizemore, H.G.

2009-01-01

We review multiple estimates of the ice table depth at potential Phoenix landing sites and consider the possible state and distribution of subsurface ice. A two-layer model of ice-rich material overlain by ice-free material is consistent with both the observational and theoretical lines of evidence. Results indicate ground ice to be shallow and ubiquitous, 2-6 cm below the surface. Undulations in the ice table depth are expected because of the thermodynamic effects of rocks, slopes, and soil variations on the scale of the Phoenix Lander and within the digging area, which can be advantageous for analysis of both dry surficial soils and buried ice-rich materials. The ground ice at the ice table to be sampled by the Phoenix Lander is expected to be geologically young because of recent climate oscillations. However, estimates of the ratio of soil to ice in the ice-rich subsurface layer suggest that that the ice content exceeds the available pore space, which is difficult to reconcile with existing ground ice stability and dynamics models. These high concentrations of ice may be the result of either the burial of surface snow during times of higher obliquity, initially high-porosity soils, or the migration of water along thin films. Measurement of the D/H ratio within the ice at the ice table and of the soil-to-ice ratio, as well as imaging ice-soil textures, will help determine if the ice is indeed young and if the models of the effects of climate change on the ground ice are reasonable. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.

Response of mixed-phase boundary layer clouds with rapid and slow ice nucleation processes to cloud-top temperature trend

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fridlind, A. M.; Avramov, A.; Ackerman, A. S.; Alpert, P. A.; Knopf, D. A.; DeMott, P. J.; Brooks, S. D.; Glen, A.

2015-12-01

It has been argued on the basis of some laboratory data sets, observed mixed-phase cloud systems, and numerical modeling studies that weakly active or slowly consumed ice forming nuclei (IFN) may be important to natural cloud systems. It has also been argued on the basis of field measurements that ice nucleation under mixed-phase conditions appears to occur predominantly via a liquid-phase mechanism, requiring the presence of liquid droplets prior to substantial ice nucleation. Here we analyze the response of quasi-Lagrangian large-eddy simulations of mixed-phase cloud layers to IFN operating via a liquid-phase mode using assumptions that result in either slow or rapid depletion of IFN from the cloudy boundary layer. Using several generalized case studies that do not exhibit riming or drizzle, based loosely on field campaign data, we vary environmental conditions such that the cloud-top temperature trend varies. One objective of this work is to identify differing patterns in ice formation intensity that may be distinguishable from ground-based or satellite platforms.

Geological evidence for solid-state convection in Europa's ice shell.

PubMed

Pappalardo, R T; Head, J W; Greeley, R; Sullivan, R J; Pilcher, C; Schubert, G; Moore, W B; Carr, M H; Moore, J M; Belton, M J; Goldsby, D L

1998-01-22

The ice-rich surface of the jovian satellite Europa is sparsely cratered, suggesting that this moon might be geologically active today. Moreover, models of the satellite's interior indicate that tidal interactions with Jupiter might produce enough heat to maintain a subsurface liquid water layer. But the mechanisms of interior heat loss and resurfacing are currently unclear, as is the question of whether Europa has (or had at one time) a liquid water ocean. Here we report on the morphology and geological interpretation of distinct surface features-pits, domes and spots-discovered in high-resolution images of Europa obtained by the Galileo spacecraft. The features are interpreted as the surface manifestation of diapirs, relatively warm localized ice masses that have risen buoyantly through the subsurface. We find that the formation of the features can be explained by thermally induced solid-state convection within an ice shell, possibly overlying a liquid water layer. Our results are consistent with the possibility that Europa has a liquid water ocean beneath a surface layer of ice, but further tests and observations are needed to demonstrate this conclusively.

Geological evidence for solid-state convection in Europa's ice shell

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pappalardo, R.T.; Head, J.W.; Greeley, R.; Sullivan, R.J.; Pilcher, C.; Schubert, G.; Moore, W.B.; Carr, M.H.; Moore, Johnnie N.; Belton, M.J.S.; Goldsby, D.L.

1998-01-01

The ice-rich surface of the jovian satellite Europa is sparsely cratered, suggesting that this moon might be geologically active today. Moreover, models of the satellite's interior indicate that tidal interactions with Jupiter might produce enough heat to maintain a subsurface liquid water layer. But the mechanisms of interior heat loss and resurfacing are currently unclear, as is the question of whether Europa has (or had at one time) a liquid water ocean. Here we report on the morphology and geological interpretation of distinct surface features-pits, domes and spots-discovered in high-resolution images of Europa obtained by the Galileo spacecraft. The features are interpreted as the surface manifestation of diapirs, relatively warm localized ice masses that have risen buoyantly through the subsurface. We find that the formation of the features can be explained by thermally induced solid-state convection within an ice shell, possibly overlying a liquid water layer. Our results are consistent with the possibility that Europa has a liquid water ocean beneath a surface layer of ice, but further tests and observations are needed to demonstrate this conclusively.

Variability of Mars' North Polar Water Ice Cap: I. Analysis of Mariner 9 and Viking Orbiter Imaging Data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bass, Deborah S.; Herkenhoff, Kenneth; Paige, David A.

2000-01-01

Previous studies interpreted differences in ice coverage between Mariner 9 and Viking Orbiter observations of Mars' north residual polar cap as evidence of interannual variability of ice deposition on the cap. However, these investigators did not consider the possibility that there could be significant changes in the ice coverage within the northern residual cap over the course of the summer season. Our more comprehensive analysis of Mariner 9 and Viking Orbiter imaging data shows that the appearance of the residual cap does not show large-scale variance on an interannual basis. Rather we find evidence that regions that were dark at the beginning of summer look bright by the end of summer and that this seasonal variation of the cap repeats from year to year. Our results suggest that this brightening was due to the deposition of newly formed water ice on the surface. We find that newly formed ice deposits in the summer season have the same red-to-violet band image ratios as permanently bright deposits within the residual cap. We believe the newly formed ice accumulates in a continuous layer. To constrain the minimum amount of deposited ice, we used observed albedo data in conjunction with calculations using Mie theory for single scattering and a delta-Eddington approximation of radiative transfer for multiple scattering. The brightening could have been produced by a minimum of (1) a ~35-μm-thick layer of 50-μm-sized ice particles with 10% dust or (2) a ~14-μm-thick layer of 10-μm-sized ice particles with 50% dust.

Insights into Interactions of Water Ice with Regolith under Simulated Martian Conditions.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chittenden, Julie; Chevrier, V.; Sears, D. W.; Roe, L. A.; Bryson, K.; Billingsly, L.; Hanley, J.

2006-09-01

In order to understand the diffusion process of water vapor through regolith, we have investigated the sublimation process of subsurface ice under varying depths of JSC Mars-1 soil simulant under martian conditions. Measurements were made at 0oC and 5.25 Torr in a CO2 atmosphere. We corrected for variations in temperature of the ice and the difference in gravity of Mars in relation to the Earth. Our results show that for depths up to 40 mm the process is mainly diffusion controlled and that for thicker regolith layers, desorption becomes the main process. After correction for the effect of desorption, we observed a decrease in sublimation rate from 0.625 ± 0.073 mm.h-1 at 5 mm of soil to 0.187 ± 0.093 mm.h-1 for 200 mm of soil. To characterize the diffusion process, we use the Farmer model (1976), which hypothesizes that the sublimation rate is equal to the diffusion coefficient divided by the soil depth. The derived diffusion coefficient from this data is 2.52 ± 0.55 mm2.h-1, or 7.0 ± 1.5 x 10-10 m2.s-1. Knowing the diffusion coefficient in the regolith, we can calculate the survival time, κ, of a layer of ice under a regolith layer which is given by τ = liceL/D, where lice is the thickness of the ice layer. Using this equation, we find that a 10 cm-thick layer of ice buried under 1 m of regolith would last for more than 4 years at 0oC. Therefore, our study indicates that the transport of water through a regolith layer is a complex multi-faceted process that is readily quantified by laboratory investigations. This is especially important in interpreting previous theoretical models and in understanding in situ observations to be performed by martian landers such as Phoenix. The W.M. Keck Foundation funded this research.

Wetted foam liquid fuel ICF target experiments

DOE PAGES

Olson, R. E.; Leeper, R. J.; Yi, S. A.; ...

2016-05-26

We are developing a new NIF experimental platform that employs wetted foam liquid fuel layer ICF capsules. We will use the liquid fuel layer capsules in a NIF sub-scale experimental campaign to explore the relationship between hot spot convergence ratio (CR) and the predictability of hot spot formation. DT liquid layer ICF capsules allow for flexibility in hot spot CR via the adjustment of the initial cryogenic capsule temperature and, hence, DT vapor density. Our hypothesis is that the predictive capability of hot spot formation is robust and 1D-like for a relatively low CR hot spot (CR~15), but will becomemore » less reliable as hot spot CR is increased to CR>20. Simulations indicate that backing off on hot spot CR is an excellent way to reduce capsule instability growth and to improve robustness to low-mode x-ray flux asymmetries. In the initial experiments, we will test our hypothesis by measuring hot spot size, neutron yield, ion temperature, and burn width to infer hot spot pressure and compare to predictions for implosions with hot spot CR's in the range of 12 to 25. Larger scale experiments are also being designed, and we will advance from sub-scale to full-scale NIF experiments to determine if 1D-like behavior at low CR is retained as the scale-size is increased. The long-term objective is to develop a liquid fuel layer ICF capsule platform with robust thermonuclear burn, modest CR, and significant α-heating with burn propagation.« less

Aerogeophysical evidence for active volcanism beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blankenship, Donald D.; Bell, Robin E.; Hodge, Steven M.; Brozena, John M.; Behrendt, John C.

1993-01-01

Although it is widely understood that the collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) would cause a global sea-level rise of 6 m, there continues to be considerable debate about the response of this ice sheet to climate change. The stability of the WAIS, which is characterized by a bed grounded well below sea level, may depend on geologically controlled conditions at the base, which are independent of climate. Ice streams moving up to 750 m/yr disperse material from the interior through to the oceans. As these ice streams tend to buffer the reservoir of slow-moving inland ice from exposure to oceanic degradation, understanding the ice-streaming process is important for evaluating WAIS stability. There is strong evidence that ice streams slide on a lubricating layer of water-saturated till. Development of this basal layer requires both water and easily eroded sediments. Active lithospheric extension may elevate regional heat flux, increase basal melting, and trigger ice streaming. If a geologically defined boundary with a sharp contrast in geothermal flux exists beneath the WAIS, ice streams may only be capable of operating as a buffer over a restricted region. Should ocean waters penetrate beyond this boundary, the ice-stream buffer would disappear, possibly triggering a collapse of the inland ice reservoir. Aerogeophysical evidence for active volcanism and elevated heat flux beneath the WAIS near the critical region where ice streaming begins is presented.

Thin Sea-Ice Thickness as Inferred from Passive Microwave and In Situ Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Naoki, Kazuhiro; Ukita, Jinro; Nishio, Fumihiko; Nakayama, Masashige; Comiso, Josefino C.; Gasiewski, Al

2007-01-01

Since microwave radiometric signals from sea-ice strongly reflect physical conditions of a layer near the ice surface, a relationship of brightness temperature with thickness is possible especially during the early stages of ice growth. Sea ice is most saline during formation stage and as the salinity decreases with time while at the same time the thickness of the sea ice increases, a corresponding change in the dielectric properties and hence the brightness temperature may occur. This study examines the extent to which the relationships of thickness with brightness temperature (and with emissivity) hold for thin sea-ice, approximately less than 0.2 -0.3 m, using near concurrent measurements of sea-ice thickness in the Sea of Okhotsk from a ship and passive microwave brightness temperature data from an over-flying aircraft. The results show that the brightness temperature and emissivity increase with ice thickness for the frequency range of 10-37 GHz. The relationship is more pronounced at lower frequencies and at the horizontal polarization. We also established an empirical relationship between ice thickness and salinity in the layer near the ice surface from a field experiment, which qualitatively support the idea that changes in the near-surface brine characteristics contribute to the observed thickness-brightness temperature/emissivity relationship. Our results suggest that for thin ice, passive microwave radiometric signals contain, ice thickness information which can be utilized in polar process studies.

Tree recovery from ice storm injury

Treesearch

Kevin T. Smith

2015-01-01

Ice storms are part of nature, particularly in northeastern North America. The combination of air and surface temperatures, precipitation, and wind that result in damaging layers of ice is very specific, occurring infrequently at any given location. Across the region however, damaging ice is formed in fragmented areas every year. Occasionally as in December 2013 and...

Mass Changes of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets and Shelves and Contributions to Sea-level Rise: 1992-2002

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zwally, H. Jay; Giovinetto, Mario B.; Li, Jun; Cornejo, Helen G.; Beckley, Matthew A.; Brenner, Anita C.; Saba, Jack L.; Yi, Donghui

2005-01-01

Changes in ice mass are estimated from elevation changes derived from 10.5 years (Greenland) and 9 years (Antarctica) of satellite radar altimetry data from the European Remote-sensing Satellites ERS-1 and -2. For the first time, the dH/dt values are adjusted for changes in surface elevation resulting from temperature-driven variations in the rate of fun compaction. The Greenland ice sheet is thinning at the margins (-42 plus or minus 2 Gta(sup -1) below the equilibrium line altitude (ELA)) and growing inland (+53 plus or minus 2 Gt a(sup -1)above the ELA) with a small overall mass gain (+11 plus or minus 3 Gt a(sup -1); -0.03 mm a(sup -1) SLE (sea level equivalent)). The ice sheet in West Antarctica (WA) is losing mass (-47 (dot) 4 GT a(sup -1) and the ice sheet in East Antarctica (EA) shows a small mass gain (+16 plus or minus 11 Gt a(sup -1) for a combined net change of -31 plus or minus 12 Gt a(sup -1) (+0.08 mm a(sup -1) SLE)). The contribution of the three ice sheets to sea level is +0.05 plus or minus 0.03 mm a(sup -1). The Antarctic ice shelves show corresponding mass changes of -95 (dot) 11 Gt a(sup -1) in WA and +142 plus or minus 10 Gt a(sup -1) in EA. Thinning at the margins of the Greenland ice sheet and growth at higher elevations is an expected response to increasing temperatures and precipitation in a warming climate. The marked thinnings in the Pine Island and Thwaites Glacier basins of WA and the Totten Glacier basin in EA are probably ice-dynamic responses to long-term climate change and perhaps past removal of their adjacent ice shelves. The ice growth in the southern Antarctic Peninsula and parts of EA may be due to increasing precipitation during the last century.

Application of theoretical models to active and passive remote sensing of saline ice

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Han, H. C.; Kong, Jin AU; Shin, Robert T.; Nghiem, Son V.; Kwok, R.

1992-01-01

The random medium model is used to interpret the polarimetric active and passive measurements of saline ice. The ice layer is described as a host ice medium embedded with randomly distributed inhomogeneities, and the underlying sea water is considered as a homogeneous half-space. The scatterers in the ice layer are modeled with an ellipsoidal correlation function. The orientation of the scatterers is vertically aligned and azimuthally random. The strong permittivity fluctuation theory is employed to calculate the effective permittivity and the distorted Born approximation is used to obtain the polarimetric scattering coefficients. We also calculate the thermal emissions based on the reciprocity and energy conservation principles. The effects of the random roughness at the air-ice, and ice-water interfaces are accounted for by adding the surface scattering to the volume scattering return incoherently. The above theoretical model, which has been successfully applied to analyze the radar backscatter data of the first-year sea ice near Point Barrow, AK, is used to interpret the measurements performed in the CRRELEX program.

Recent progress in the analysis of iced airfoils and wings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cebeci, Tuncer; Chen, Hsun H.; Kaups, Kalle; Schimke, Sue

1992-01-01

Recent work on the analysis of iced airfoils and wings is described. Ice shapes for multielement airfoils and wings are computed using an extension of the LEWICE code that was developed for single airfoils. The aerodynamic properties of the iced wing are determined with an interactive scheme in which the solutions of the inviscid flow equations are obtained from a panel method and the solutions of the viscous flow equations are obtained from an inverse three-dimensional finite-difference boundary-layer method. A new interaction law is used to couple the inviscid and viscous flow solutions. The newly developed LEWICE multielement code is amplified to a high-lift configuration to calculate the ice shapes on the slat and on the main airfoil and on a four-element airfoil. The application of the LEWICE wing code to the calculation of ice shapes on a MS-317 swept wing shows good agreement with measurements. The interactive boundary-layer method is applied to a tapered iced wing in order to study the effect of icing on the aerodynamic properties of the wing at several angles of attack.

Volcanic ash layers in blue ice fields (Beardmore Glacier Area, Antarctica): Iridium enrichments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koeberl, Christian

1988-01-01

Dust bands on blue ice fields in Antarctica have been studied and have been identified to originate from two main sources: bedrock debris scraped up from the ground by the glacial movement (these bands are found predominantly at fractures and shear zones in the ice near moraines), and volcanic debris deposited on and incorporated in the ice by large-scale eruptions of Antarctic (or sub-Antractic) volcanoes. Ice core studies have revealed that most of the dust layers in the ice cores are volcanic (tephra) deposits which may be related to some specific volcanic eruptions. These eruptions have to be related to some specific volcanic eruptions. These eruptions have to be relatively recent (a few thousand years old) since ice cores usually incorporate younger ice. In contrast, dust bands on bare blue ice fields are much older, up to a few hundred thousand years, which may be inferred from the rather high terrestrial age of meteorites found on the ice and from dating the ice using the uranium series method. Also for the volcanic ash layers found on blue ice fields correlations between some specific volcanoes (late Cenozoic) and the volcanic debris have been inferred, mainly using chemical arguments. During a recent field expedition samples of several dust bands found on blue ice fields at the Lewis Cliff Ice Tongue were taken. These dust band samples were divided for age determination using the uranium series method, and chemical investigations to determine the source and origin of the dust bands. The investigations have shown that most of the dust bands found at the Ice Tongue are of volcanic origin and, for chemical and petrological reasons, may be correlated with Cenozoic volcanoes in the Melbourne volcanic province, Northern Victoria Land, which is at least 1500 km away. Major and trace element data have been obtained and have been used for identification and correlation purposes. Recently, some additional trace elements were determined in some of the dust band samples, including Ir. Iridium determinations were made using INAA, with synthetical and natural (meteorite) standards. These findings are discussed.

Numerical Simulations of Martian Fog Formation in the Low Latitudes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inada, A.

2002-09-01

The formation of Martian surface fog is simulated by a one-dimensional model including the micro-physical processes of heterogeneous nucleation, condensation, and sublimation. The model includes diurnal cycle of water vapor in the 1 km surface layer which is spatially resolved. The results show that the column density of water ice in fog strongly depends on the water vapor density near the surface. If the mixing ratio of water vapor is 300 ppm near the surface, the simulations show that a thin fog layer appears with a maximum column density of 0.145 precipitable microns. If the mixing ratio is 600 ppm, the value measured by the Mars Pathfinder, the column density of water ice reaches 0.75 precipitable microns. It is also found that if the boundary layer is strongly turbulent the total amount of ice formed is small, since the ice particles are transported to the unsaturated higher atmospheric layers and sublimate there. Fog particles, which are large enough to precipitate to the lower atmosphere play a significant role in determining the altitude distribution of water vapor. It is noteworthy that the size distribution of all of the aerosols has two peaks once fog appears. This is because nucleation on large dust particles is so much faster than on the small ones, that the small dust particles are hardly coated by ice. The simulations assume an initial dust distribution with effective radius of 1.6 microns. Once fog forms this peak remains and is populated with particles with little water ice. A secondary peak is formed at about 10 microns corresponding to particles which are mostly water ice. This research was carried out under the partial support of JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships for Research Abroad.

Degradation pathway and field-scale DT50 determination of Boscalid in a sandy Soil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karlsson, Anneli S.; Weihermüller, Lutz; Tappe, Wolfgang; Mukherjee, Santanu; Spielvogel, Sandra

2016-04-01

The research on environmental fate of pesticides has received increasing attention within the last decades and the persistence of several compounds in soil matrices is well documented. However, the fate of the new fungicide Boscalid (introduced in 2003) is not yet completely investigated. The aim of this study was to analyze the environmental fate of Boscalid in a sandy soil. Three years after the second application on a cropland site in Kaldenkirchen, Germany, 65 undisturbed soil samples from the plough layer were derived. Boscalid residues were extracted using Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE) and measured with UPLC-MS/MS. The Boscalid residues ranged between 0.12 and 0.53 μg kg-1with a field mean of 0.20 ± 0.09 μg kg-1. These results differed considerably from the predicted field concentration of 16.89 μg kg-1 (calculated from the application rate) and half-lives (DT50) of 104-182 days compared to 345 days reported in literature. Adjusting the extraction efficiency to 20% could not explain the large difference. Therefore, an incubation study with 14C-labeled Boscalid was conducted to measure the DT50 under controlled conditions. Here, the DT50 values were in the range of values stated in literature (297-337 days compared to 345 days) but still much larger than the DT50 based on the field-study values (104-182 days). Our results indicate that Boscalid dissipation under field conditions is much faster at agricultural sites with sandy soil type as expected from laboratory incubation experiments. Future experiments with Boscalid will be conducted in two different soils with different particle size. A laboratory experiment with uniformly 13C-labeled Boscalid will provide insight into the uptake and incorporation in microbial biomass.

Dissected Mantle Terrain on Mars: Formation Mechanisms and the Implications for Mid- latitude Near-surface Ground Ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Searls, M. L.; Mellon, M. T.

2008-12-01

Determining the present and past distribution of surface and subsurface ice on Mars is critical for understanding the volatile inventory and climatic history of the planet. An analysis of a latitude-dependent layer of surface material known as the dissected mantle terrain can provide valuable insight into the distribution of ice in the recent past. The dissected mantle terrain is a surface unit that occurs globally in the mid-latitude of Mars. This unit is characterized by a smooth mantle of uniform thickness and albedo that is draped over the existing topography. This smooth mantle is disaggregated and dissected in places resulting in a hummocky pitted appearance. We propose that the mid-latitude dissected terrain results from collapse of a dusty mantle into the void left from desiccation of an underlying ice-rich (pure or dirty ice) layer. During period(s) of high obliquity, it is possible for ice to become stable at lower latitudes. Due to lack of direct solar insolation, surface ice deposits will preferentially accumulate on pole-ward facing slopes first. A mantle of dust and dirt is then deposited on top of these ice-rich deposits. As the climate changes, desiccation of the now buried ice leads to collapse of the overlying dusty layer resulting in a hummocky pitted appearance. This theory is supported by the pole-ward preference for the dissection pits as well an increase in dissection with increasing latitude. A study of the global distribution of the mid-latitude dissected terrain can provide invaluable clues towards unlocking the distribution of ice in the recent past. An analysis of HiRISE images and MOLA data indicate that the distribution of dissection pits varies from one region to the next. Knowing the distribution of ice in conjunction with ice stability modeling can provide a global view of the climate and orbital history of Mars at the time these features formed.

Amazonian mid- to high-latitude glaciation on Mars: Supply-limited ice sources, ice accumulation patterns, and concentric crater fill glacial flow and ice sequestration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fastook, James L.; Head, James W.

2014-02-01

Concentric crater fill (CCF) occurs in the interior of impact craters in mid- to high latitudes on Mars and is interpreted to have formed by glacial ice flow and debris covering. We use the characteristics and orientation of deposits comprising CCF, the thickness of pedestal deposits in mid- to high-latitude pedestal craters (Pd), the volumes of the current polar caps, and information about regional slopes and ice rheology to address questions about (1) the maximum thickness of regional ice deposits during the Late Amazonian, (2) the likelihood that these deposits flowed regionally, (3) the geological regions and features most likely to induce ice-flow, and (4) the locations and environments in which ice is likely to have been sequestered up to the present. We find that regional ice flow under Late Amazonian climate conditions requires ice thicknesses exceeding many hundreds of meters for slopes typical of the vast majority of the surface of Mars, a thickness for the mid-latitudes that is well in excess of the total volume available from polar ice reservoirs. This indicates that although conditions for mid- to high-latitude glaciation may have persisted for tens to hundreds of millions of years, the process is “supply limited”, with a steady state reached when the polar ice cap water ice supply becomes exhausted. Impact craters are by far the most abundant landform with associated slopes (interior wall and exterior rim) sufficiently high to induce glacial ice flow under Late Amazonian climate conditions, and topographic slope data show that Amazonian impact craters have been clearly modified, undergoing crater interior slope reduction and floor shallowing. We show that these trends are the predictable response of ice deposition and preferential accumulation and retention in mid- to high-latitude crater interiors during episodes of enhanced spin-axis obliquity. We demonstrate that flow from a single episode of an inter-crater terrain layer comparable to Pedestal Crater deposit thicknesses (~50 m) cannot fill the craters in a time period compatible with the interpreted formation times of the Pedestal Crater mantled ice layers. We use a representative obliquity solution to drive an ice flow model and show that a cyclical pattern of multiply recurring layers can both fill the craters with a significant volume of ice, as well as transport debris from the crater walls out into the central regions of the craters. The cyclical pattern of waxing and waning mantling layers results in a rippled pattern of surface debris extending out into the crater interiors that would manifest itself as an observable concentric pattern, comparable in appearance to concentric crater fill. In this scenario, the formation of mantling sublimation till layers seals the accumulating ice and sequesters it from significant temperature variations at diurnal, annual and spin-axis/orbital cycle time scales, to produce ancient ice records preserved today below CCF crater floors. Lack of meltwater features associated with concentric crater fill provides evidence that the Late Amazonian climate did not exceed the melting temperature in the mid- to high-latitudes for any significant period of time. Continued sequestration of ice with time in CCF and related deposits (lobate debris aprons and lineated valley fill) further reduces the already supply-limited polar ice sources, suggesting that there has been a declining reservoir of available ice with each ensuing glacial period. Together, these deposits represent a candidate library of climate chemistry and global change dating from the Late Amazonian, and a non-polar water resource for future exploration.

Notable increases in nutrient concentrations in a shallow lake during seasonal ice growth.

PubMed

Fang, Yang; Changyou, Li; Leppäranta, Matti; Xiaonghong, Shi; Shengnan, Zhao; Chengfu, Zhang

2016-12-01

Nutrients may be eliminated from ice when liquid water is freezing, resulting in enhanced concentrations in the unfrozen water. The nutrients diluted from the ice may contribute to accumulated concentrations in sediment during winter and an increased risk of algae blooms during the following spring and summer. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of ice cover on nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations in the water and sediment of a shallow lake, through an examination of Ulansuhai Lake, northern China, from the period of open water to ice season in 2011-2013. The N and P concentrations were between two and five times higher, and between two and eight times higher, than in unfrozen lakes, respectively. As the ice thickness grew, contents of total N and total P showed C-shaped profiles in the ice, and were lower in the middle layer and higher in the bottom and surface layers. Most of the nutrients were released from the ice to liquid water. The results confirm that ice can cause the nutrient concentrations in water and sediment during winter to increase dramatically, thereby significantly impacting on processes in the water environment of shallow lakes.

Progress on wave-ice interactions: satellite observations and model parameterizations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ardhuin, Fabrice; Boutin, Guillaume; Dumont, Dany; Stopa, Justin; Girard-Ardhuin, Fanny; Accensi, Mickael

2017-04-01

In the open ocean, numerical wave models have their largest errors near sea ice, and, until recently, virtually no wave data was available in the sea ice to. Further, wave-ice interaction processes may play an important role in the Earth system. In particular, waves may break up an ice layer into floes, with significant impact on air-sea fluxes. With thinner Arctic ice, this process may contribut to the growing similarity between Arctic and Antarctic sea ice. In return, the ice has a strong damping impact on the waves that is highly variable and not understood. Here we report progress on parameterizations of waves interacting with a single ice layer, as implemented in the WAVEWATCH III model (WW3 Development Group, 2016), and based on few in situ observations, but extensive data derived from Synthetic Aperture Radars (SARs). Our parameterizations combine three processes. First a parameterization for the energy-conserving scattering of waves by ice floes (assuming isotropic back-scatter), which has very little effect on dominant waves of periods larger than 7 s, consistent with the observed narrow directional spectra and short travel times. Second, we implemented a basal friction below the ice layer (Stopa et al. The Cryosphere, 2016). Third, we use a secondary creep associated with ice flexure (Cole et al. 1998) adapted to random waves. These three processes (scattering, friction and creep) are strongly dependent on the maximum floe size. We have thus included an estimation of the potential floe size based on an ice flexure failure estimation adapted from Williams et al. (2013). This combination of dissipation and scattering is tested against measured patterns of wave height and directional spreading, and evidence of ice break-up, all obtained from SAR imagery (Ardhuin et al. 2017), and some in situ data (Collins et al. 2015). The combination of creep and friction is required to reproduce a strong reduction in wave attenuation in broken ice as observed by Collins et al. (2015). Ongoing developments include the coupling of WAVEWATCH III to the NEMO-LIM3 and NEMO-CICE models using the OASIS3-MCT communicator. This coupled system will provide a meaningful memory of the ice floe sizes, as the ice is advected. It will also make possible the investigation of feedback processes on the ice.

Chasma Boreale in the North Polar Region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2006-01-01

This images shows a Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) full-resolution 'targeted image' of the edge of Mars' north polar cap. The region in the image, Chasma Boreale, is a valley several kilometers or miles deep that cuts about 400 kilometers (about 250 miles) into the edge of the cap.

This image was acquired at 0851 UTC (4:51 a.m. EDT) on Oct. 1, 2006, near 84.6 degrees north latitude, 3.6 degrees east longitude. It covers an area about 13 kilometers (8 miles) long and, at the narrowest point, about 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) wide. At the center of the image the spatial resolution is as good as 18 meters (60 feet) per pixel. The image was taken in 544 colors covering wavelengths of 0.36 to 3.92 micrometers. Two renderings of the data are shown here, both draped over topography without vertical exaggeration, and then viewed from a perspective diagonally above the site. The top view is an approximately true-color representation. The bottom view, constructed from infrared wavelengths, shows strength of the spectral signature of ice. Brighter areas are rich in ice, and dark areas have little ice.

The polar cap has long been recognized to contain layers composed of dust and ice, and hence has been named the polar layered deposit. This sits atop an underlying 'basal unit.' The upper part of the basal unit is dark at visible wavelengths and steeply sloped, whereas the lower part of the basal unit is brighter, redder, and layered like the polar layered deposits. The chasma floor is cratered, and in the foreground it is covered by dunes that are outliers of a north polar sand sea that surrounds the polar cap. The polar layered deposits and the basal unit form a steeply sloping scarp about 1.1 kilometers (0.7 miles) high.

CRISM's image of this region shows a number of previously unrecognized characteristics of the polar layered deposits and the basal unit. First, the ice-rich polar layered deposits exhibit coherent banding both at visible and infrared wavelengths. This banding shows a history of differences in the abundance of dust that accumulated in polar ice, differences in ice grain size, or both. Second, both parts of the basal unit are depleted in ice, except for triangle-shaped regions on the side of the scarp. Third, the spectral properties of the brighter, layered lower basal unit resemble those of the polar layered deposits. In contrast, the upper basal unit is distinct from both of them. Finally, spectral properties of the foreground dunes closely resemble those of the darkest layers within the upper basal unit, and may be debris from it.

CRISM is one of six science instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Led by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, the CRISM team includes expertise from universities, government agencies and small businesses in the United States and abroad.

CRISM's mission: Find the spectral fingerprints of aqueous and hydrothermal deposits and map the geology, composition and stratigraphy of surface features. The instrument will also watch the seasonal variations in Martian dust and ice aerosols, and water content in surface materials -- leading to new understanding of the climate.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission for the NASA Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor and built the spacecraft.

Ceres’ impact craters: probes of near-surface internal structure and composition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bland, Michael T.; Raymond, Carol; Park, Ryan; Schenk, Paul; McCord, Tom; Reddy, Vishnu; King, Scott; Sykes, Mark; Russell, Chris

2015-11-01

Dawn Framing Camera images of Ceres have revealed the existence of a heavily cratered surface. Shape models derived from these images indicate that most (though not all) large craters are quite deep: up to 6 km for craters larger than 100 km in diameter. The retention of deep craters is not consistent with a simple differentiated internal structure consisting of an outer layer composed solely of pure water ice (covered with a rocky lag) overlying a rocky core. Here we use finite element simulations to show that, for Ceres’ relatively warm surface temperatures, the timescale required to completely flatten a crater 60-km in diameter (or greater) is less than 100 Myr, assuming a relatively pure outer ice layer (for ice grain sizes ≤ 1 cm). Preserving substantial topography requires that the viscosity of Ceres’ outer-most layer (25-50 km thick) is substantially greater than that of pure water ice. A factor of ten increase in viscosity can be achieved by assuming the layer is a 50/50 ice-rock mixture by volume; however, our simulations show that such an increase is insufficient to prevent substantial relaxation over timescales of 1 Gyr. Only particulate volume fractions greater than 50% provide an increase in viscosity sufficient to prevent large-scale, rapid relaxation. Such volume fractions suggest an outer layer composed of frozen soil/regolith (i.e., more rock than ice by volume), a very salt-rich layer, or both. Notably, while most basins appear quite deep, a few relatively shallow basins have been observed (e.g., Coniraya), suggesting that relaxation may be occurring over very long timescales (e.g., 4 Ga), that Ceres’ interior is compositionally and spatial heterogeneous, and/or that temporal evolution of the interior structure and composition has occurred. If these shallow basins are in fact the result of relaxation, it places an upper limit on the viscosity of Ceres’ outer-most interior layer, implying at least some low-viscosity material is present and likely eliminating the possibility of a purely rocky (homogeneous, low density, high porosity) interior.

Under-ice turbulent microstructure and upper ocean vertical fluxes in the Makarov and Eurasian basins, Arctic Ocean, during late spring and late summer / autumn in 2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rabe, Benjamin; Janout, Markus; Graupner, Rainer; Hoelemann, Jens; Hampe, Hendrik; Hoppmann, Mario; Horn, Myriel; Juhls, Bennet; Korhonen, Meri; Nikolopoulos, Anna; Pisarev, Sergey; Randelhoff, Achim; Savy, Jean-Philippe; Villacieros Robineau, Nicolas

2017-04-01

The Arctic Ocean is generally assumed to be fairly quiescent when compared to many other oceans. The sea-ice cover, a strong halocline and a shallow, cold mixed-layer prevents much of the ocean to be affected by atmospheric conditions and properties of the ocean mixed-layer. In turn, the mixed-layer and the sea-ice is largely isolated from the warm layer of Atlantic origin below by the lower halocline. Yet, the content of heat, freshwater and biologically important nutrients differs strongly between these different layers. Hence, it is crucial to be able to estimate vertical fluxes of salt, heat and nutrients to understand variability in the upper Arctic Ocean and the sea-ice, including the ecosystem. Yet, it is difficult to obtain direct flux measurements, and estimates are sparse. We present several sets of under-ice turbulent microstructure profiles in the Eurasian and Makarov Basin of the Arctic Ocean from two expeditions, in 2015. These cover melt during late spring north of Svalbard and freeze-up during late summer / autumn across the Eurasian and Makarov basins. Our results are presented against a background of the anomalously warm atmospheric conditions during summer 2015 followed by unusually low temperatures in September. 4 - 24 h averages of the measurements generally show elevated dissipation rates at the base of the mixed-layer. We found highest levels of dissipation near the Eurasian continental slope and smaller peaks in the profiles where Bering Sea Summer Water (sBSW) lead to additional stratification within the upper halocline in the Makarov Basin. The elevated levels of dissipation associated with sBSW and the base of the mixed-layer were associated with the relatively low levels of vertical eddy diffusivity. We discuss these findings in the light of the anomalous conditions in the upper ocean, sea-ice and the atmosphere during 2015 and present estimates of vertical fluxes of heat, salt and other dissolved substances measured in water samples.

Cryogenic target formation using cold gas jets

DOEpatents

Hendricks, Charles D.

1981-01-01

A method and apparatus using cold gas jets for producing a substantially uniform layer of cryogenic materials on the inner surface of hollow spherical members having one or more layers, such as inertially imploded targets. By vaporizing and quickly refreezing cryogenic materials contained within a hollow spherical member, a uniform layer of the materials is formed on an inner surface of the spherical member. Basically the method involves directing cold gas jets onto a spherical member having one or more layers or shells and containing the cryogenic material, such as a deuterium-tritium (DT) mixture, to freeze the contained material, momentarily heating the spherical member so as to vaporize the contained material, and quickly refreezing the thus vaporized material forming a uniform layer of cryogenic material on an inner surface of the spherical member.

Cryogenic target formation using cold gas jets

DOEpatents

Hendricks, Charles D. [Livermore, CA

1980-02-26

A method and apparatus using cold gas jets for producing a substantially uniform layer of cryogenic materials on the inner surface of hollow spherical members having one or more layers, such as inertially imploded targets. By vaporizing and quickly refreezing cryogenic materials contained within a hollow spherical member, a uniform layer of the materials is formed on an inner surface of the spherical member. Basically the method involves directing cold gas jets onto a spherical member having one or more layers or shells and containing the cryogenic material, such as a deuterium-tritium (DT) mixture, to freeze the contained material, momentarily heating the spherical member so as to vaporize the contained material, and quickly refreezing the thus vaporized material forming a uniform layer of cryogenic material on an inner surface of the spherical member.

Physical conditions at the base of a fast moving antarctic ice stream.

PubMed

Engelhardt, H; Humphrey, N; Kamb, B; Fahnestock, M

1990-04-06

Boreholes drilled to the bottom of ice stream B in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet reveal that the base of the ice stream is at the melting point and the basal water pressure is within about 1.6 bars of the ice overburden pressure. These conditions allow the rapid ice streaming motion to occur by basal sliding or by shear deformation of unconsolidated sediments that underlie the ice in a layer at least 2 meters thick. The mechanics of ice streaming plays a role in the response of the ice sheet to climatic change.

Ignition of deuterium-trtium fuel targets

DOEpatents

Musinski, Donald L.; Mruzek, Michael T.

1991-01-01

A method of igniting a deuterium-tritium ICF fuel target to obtain fuel burn in which the fuel target initially includes a hollow spherical shell having a frozen layer of DT material at substantially uniform thickness and cryogenic temperature around the interior surface of the shell. The target is permitted to free-fall through a target chamber having walls heated by successive target ignitions, so that the target is uniformly heated during free-fall to at least partially melt the frozen fuel layer and form a liquid single-phase layer or a mixed liquid/solid bi-phase layer of substantially uniform thickness around the interior shell surface. The falling target is then illuminated from exteriorly of the chamber while the fuel layer is at substantially uniformly single or bi-phase so as to ignite the fuel layer and release energy therefrom.

Ignition of deuterium-tritium fuel targets

DOEpatents

Musinski, D.L.; Mruzek, M.T.

1991-08-27

Disclosed is a method of igniting a deuterium-tritium ICF fuel target to obtain fuel burn in which the fuel target initially includes a hollow spherical shell having a frozen layer of DT material at substantially uniform thickness and cryogenic temperature around the interior surface of the shell. The target is permitted to free-fall through a target chamber having walls heated by successive target ignitions, so that the target is uniformly heated during free-fall to at least partially melt the frozen fuel layer and form a liquid single-phase layer or a mixed liquid/solid bi-phase layer of substantially uniform thickness around the interior shell surface. The falling target is then illuminated from exteriorly of the chamber while the fuel layer is at substantially uniformly single or bi-phase so as to ignite the fuel layer and release energy therefrom. 5 figures.

Uniform hydrogen fuel layers for inertial fusion targets by microgravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parks, P. B.; Fagaly, Robert L.

1994-01-01

A critical concern in the fabrication of targets for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is ensuring that the hydrogenic (D(sub 2) or DT) fuel layer maintains spherical symmetry. Solid layered targets have structural integrity, but lack the needed surface smoothness. Liquid targets are inherently smooth, but suffer from gravitationally induced sagging. One method to reduce the effective gravitational field environment is freefall insertion into the target chamber. Another method to counterbalance field gravitational force is to use an applied magnetic field combined with a gradient field to induce a magnetic dipole force on the liquid fuel layer. Based on time dependent calculations of the dynamics of the liquid fuel layer in microgravity environments, we show that it may be possible to produce a liquid layered ICF target that satisfies both smoothness and symmetry requirements.

Transient and asymptotic behavior in a regular network model for the ice-albedo feedback under thermal forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mueller-Stoffels, M.; Wackerbauer, R.

2010-12-01

The Arctic ocean and sea ice form a feedback system which plays an important role in the global climate. Variations of the global ice and snow distribution have a significant effect on the planetary albedo which governs the absorption of shortwave radiation. The complexity of highly parametrized GCMs makes it very difficult to assess single feedback processes in the climate system without the concurrent use of simple models where the physics are understood [1][2][3]. We introduce a complex systems model to investigate thermodynamic feedback processes in an Arctic ice-ocean layer. The ice-ocean layer is represented as a regular network of coupled cells. The state of each cell is determined by its energy content, which also defines the phase of the cell. The energy transport between cells is described with nonlinear and heterogeneous diffusion constants. And the time-evolution of the ice-ocean is driven by shortwave, longwave and lateral oceanic and atmospheric thermal forcing. This model is designed to study the stability of an ice cover under various heat intake scenarios. The network structure of the model allows to easily introduce albedo heterogeneities due to aging ice, wind blown snow cover, and ice movement to explore the time-evolution and pattern formation (melt ponds) processes in the Arctic sea ice. The solely thermodynamic model exhibits two stable states; one in the perennially ice covered domain and one in the perennially open water domain. Their existence is due to the temperature dependence of the longwave radiative budget. Transition between these states can be forced via lateral heat fluxes. During the transition from the ice covered to the open water stable state the ice albedo feedback effects are manifested as an increased warming rate of the ice cover together with enhanced seasonal energy oscillations. In the current model realization seasonal ice cover is present as a transient state only. Furthermore, the model exhibits hysteresis between the ice covered and the open water state when varying the lateral atmospheric (or oceanic) heat intake. Once the ice-ocean layer has transitioned from the ice covered to the open water stable state significant cooling (reduction of lateral fluxes) is necessary to return to the ice covered stable state. We also find that ocean heat fluxes are more efficient than atmospheric heat fluxes to melt Arctic sea ice; only small portions of heat entering from the bottom of the ice-ocean layer induce already a transition to the stable asymptotic state with perennial open water. This indicates that ocean currents, understood as heat conveyors, can play a significant role in melting continuous ice covers. This is consistent with the findings of Shimada et al. for the Canada basin [4]. References: [1] S. Bony et al., How well do we understand and evaluate climate change feedback processes?, J of Climate 19, 3445 (2006). [2]I. Eisenman and J.S. Wettlaufer, Nonlinear threshold behavior during the loss of Arctic sea ice, PNAS 106, 28 (2009). [3]A.S. Thorndike, A Toy Model Linking Atmospheric and Thermal Radiation and Sea Ice Growth, JGR 97, 9401 (1992). [4] K. Shimada et al., Paci[|#12#|]c Ocean inflow: Influence on catastrophic reduction of sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean, GRL 33, L08605 (2006).

The effect of sea ice on the solar energy budget in the astmosphere-sea ice-ocean system: A model study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jin, Z.; Stamnes, Knut; Weeks, W. F.; Tsay, Si-Chee

1994-01-01

A coupled one-dimensional multilayer and multistream radiative transfer model has been developed and applied to the study of radiative interactions in the atmosphere, sea ice, and ocean system. The consistent solution of the radiative transfer equation in this coupled system automatically takes into account the refraction and reflection at the air-ice interface and allows flexibility in choice of stream numbers. The solar radiation spectrum (0.25 micron-4.0 micron) is divided into 24 spectral bands to account adequately for gaseous absorption in the atmosphere. The effects of ice property changes, including salinity and density variations, as well as of melt ponds and snow cover variations over the ice on the solar energy distribution in the entire system have been studied quantitatively. The results show that for bare ice it is the scattering, determined by air bubbles and brine pockets, in just a few centimeters of the top layer of ice that plays the most important role in the solar energy absorption and partitioning in the entire system. Ice thickness is important to the energy distribution only when the ice is thin, while the absorption in the atmosphere is not sensitive to ice thickness exceeds about 70 cm. The presence of clouds moderates all the sensitivities of the absorptive amounts in each layer to the variations in the ice properties and ice thickness. Comparisons with observational spectral albedo values for two simple ice types are also presented.

Icy Layers in Craters

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-02-20

In this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Rover (MRO) we can see the edge of a mound of ice in one of these mid-latitude craters. Some of it has already been removed, so we can see layering that used to be in the crater's interior. Scientists use ice deposits like these to figure out how the climate has changed on Mars. Another upside of recognizing this ice is that future astronauts will have plenty of drinking water. Scientists now realize that ice is very common on the Martian surface. It often fills up craters and valleys in the mid-latitudes in older climates, although when it's covered in dust it can be hard to recognize. Today the climate on Mars makes this ice unstable and some of it has evaporated away. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22255

Channelized ice melting in the ocean boundary layer beneath Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica.

PubMed

Stanton, T P; Shaw, W J; Truffer, M; Corr, H F J; Peters, L E; Riverman, K L; Bindschadler, R; Holland, D M; Anandakrishnan, S

2013-09-13

Ice shelves play a key role in the mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheets by buttressing their seaward-flowing outlet glaciers; however, they are exposed to the underlying ocean and may weaken if ocean thermal forcing increases. An expedition to the ice shelf of the remote Pine Island Glacier, a major outlet of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet that has rapidly thinned and accelerated in recent decades, has been completed. Observations from geophysical surveys and long-term oceanographic instruments deployed down bore holes into the ocean cavity reveal a buoyancy-driven boundary layer within a basal channel that melts the channel apex by 0.06 meter per day, with near-zero melt rates along the flanks of the channel. A complex pattern of such channels is visible throughout the Pine Island Glacier shelf.

A turbulence model for iced airfoils and its validation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shin, Jaiwon; Chen, Hsun H.; Cebeci, Tuncer

1992-01-01

A turbulence model based on the extension of the algebraic eddy viscosity formulation of Cebeci and Smith developed for two dimensional flows over smooth and rough surfaces is described for iced airfoils and validated for computed ice shapes obtained for a range of total temperatures varying from 28 to -15 F. The validation is made with an interactive boundary layer method which uses a panel method to compute the inviscid flow and an inverse finite difference boundary layer method to compute the viscous flow. The interaction between inviscid and viscous flows is established by the use of the Hilbert integral. The calculated drag coefficients compare well with recent experimental data taken at the NASA-Lewis Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) and show that, in general, the drag increase due to ice accretion can be predicted well and efficiently.

What Happens Where the Water and the Rock Touch in Small Space Bodies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Byrne, P. K.; Regensburger, P. V.; Klimczak, C.; Bohnenstiehl, D. R.; Dombard, A. J.; Hauck, S. A., II

2017-12-01

There are several small space bodies that go around bigger worlds that might have a layer of water under a layer of ice. Lots of study has been done to understand the outside ice layer of these small space bodies, because the ice can tells us important things about the big water layer under it. Some of these small space bodies are very interesting because the right things for life—water, hot rock, and food—might be at the bottom of the water layer, where it touches the top of the next layer down, which is made of rock. But it is very hard to understand what this rock at the bottom of the water is like, because we can't see it. So, we are imagining what this rock is like by thinking about what the rock is like under the water layer on our own world. If hot rock comes out of the rock layer through cracks under the water, the cold of the water makes the hot rock go very cold very fast, and it makes funny rolls as it does so. This might happen on some small space bodies that are hot enough on the inside to make hot rock. We know that on our own world the rock layer under the water is wet to as far down as cracks can go, so it makes sense that this is true for small space bodies, too. We did some thinking about numbers and found out that the cracks can go a few ten hundred steps into the rock layer on small space bodies, but for bigger (well, not quite so small) space bodies, the cracks can go at least tens of ten hundred steps into the rock layer. This means that water goes into the rock layer this much, too. But get this: some small bodies are not really that small—one of them is bigger than the first world from the Sun! And on a few of these big (small) bodies, the layer of water is so heavy that the bottom of that water is pushed together from all sides and turns into a type of hot ice. This means that, for these big (small) worlds, the water can't get into the rock layer through cracks (since there is a layer of hot ice in the way), and so these bodies are not such good places to think about where life might be.

Core drilling through the ross ice shelf (antarctica) confirmed Basal freezing.

PubMed

Zotikov, I A; Zagorodnov, V S; Raikovsky, J V

1980-03-28

New techniques that have been used to obtain a continuous ice core through the whole 416-meter thickness of the Ross Ice Shelf at Camp J-9 have demonstrated that the bottom 6 meters of the ice shelf consists of sea ice. The rate of basal freezing that is forming this ice is estimated by different methods to be 2 centimeters of ice per year. The sea ice is composed of large vertical crystals, which form the waffle-like lower boundary of the shelf. A distinct alignment of the crystals throughout the sea ice layer suggests the presence of persistent long-term currents beneath the ice shelf.

Thermomechanical Ablation

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-09-01

Ice, and Camphor (Summarized from Ref 11) . . . . . . . 16 3 Boundary Layer Edge Velocity Normalized by Free Stream Velocity for a Sphere and a...function of environmental conditions for water ice, dry ice, and camphor which are summarized in Figure 2. A low turbulence subsonic free jet was chosen

On the Method of Efficient Ice Cold Energy Storage Using a Heat Transfer of Direct Contact Phase Change and a Natural Circulation of a Working Medium in an Enclosure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Utaka, Yoshio; Saito, Akio; Nakata, Naoki

The objectives of this report are to propose a new method of the high performance cold energy storage using ice as a phase change material and to clarify the heat transfer characteristics of the apparatus of ice cold energy storage based on the proposed principle. A working medium vapor layer a water layer and a working medium liquid layer stratified in this order from the top were kept in an enclosure composed of a condenser, an evaporator and a condensate receiver-and-return tube. The direct contact heat transfers between water or ice and a working medium in an enclosure were applied for realizing the high performance cold energy storage and release. In the storage and release processes, water changes the phase between the liquid and the solid, and the working medium cnanges between the vapor and the liquid with a natural circulation. Experimental apparatus was manufactured and R12 and R114 were selected as working media in the thermal energy storage enclosure. It was confirmed by the measurements that the efficient formation and melting of ice were achieved. Then, th e heat transfer characteristics were clarified for the effects of the initial water height, the initial height of woking medium liquid layer and the inlet coolant temperature.

Reflective properties of melt ponds on sea ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malinka, Aleksey; Zege, Eleonora; Istomina, Larysa; Heygster, Georg; Spreen, Gunnar; Perovich, Donald; Polashenski, Chris

2018-06-01

Melt ponds occupy a large part of the Arctic sea ice in summer and strongly affect the radiative budget of the atmosphere-ice-ocean system. In this study, the melt pond reflectance is considered in the framework of radiative transfer theory. The melt pond is modeled as a plane-parallel layer of pure water upon a layer of sea ice (the pond bottom). We consider pond reflection as comprising Fresnel reflection by the water surface and multiple reflections between the pond surface and its bottom, which is assumed to be Lambertian. In order to give a description of how to find the pond bottom albedo, we investigate the inherent optical properties of sea ice. Using the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation approach to light scattering by non-spherical particles (brine inclusions) and Mie solution for spherical particles (air bubbles), we conclude that the transport scattering coefficient in sea ice is a spectrally independent value. Then, within the two-stream approximation of the radiative transfer theory, we show that the under-pond ice spectral albedo is determined by two independent scalar values: the transport scattering coefficient and ice layer thickness. Given the pond depth and bottom albedo values, the bidirectional reflectance factor (BRF) and albedo of a pond can be calculated with analytical formulas. Thus, the main reflective properties of the melt pond, including their spectral dependence, are determined by only three independent parameters: pond depth z, ice layer thickness H, and transport scattering coefficient of ice σt.The effects of the incident conditions and the atmosphere state are examined. It is clearly shown that atmospheric correction is necessary even for in situ measurements. The atmospheric correction procedure has been used in the model verification. The optical model developed is verified with data from in situ measurements made during three field campaigns performed on landfast and pack ice in the Arctic. The measured pond albedo spectra were fitted with the modeled spectra by varying the pond parameters (z, H, and σt). The coincidence of the measured and fitted spectra demonstrates good performance of the model: it is able to reproduce the albedo spectrum in the visible range with RMSD that does not exceed 1.5 % for a wide variety of melt pond types observed in the Arctic.

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.

2013-05-01

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 airmasses advected into the central Arctic Basin from lower latitudes. Moisture and aerosol particles likely accompanied these airmasses, 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.

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.

Subsurface Structure in the Martian Polar Layered Deposits: The Deep Space 2 Impact Accelerometry Experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moersch, J. E.; Lorenz, R. D.

1998-01-01

While primarily a technology demonstration mission, the New Millenium Mars Microprobes (also known as Deep Space 2, or simply DS2)will also provide the first in situ science measurements of the martian subsurface. The DS2 impact accelerometry experiment will provide both engineering data about the depth of probe emplacement and science data about the physical nature of the subsurface at the probes' landing sites. Little is known about the detailed physical properties or small-scale vertical structure of the subsurface at the DS2 landing site in the southern martian polar layered deposits. Imaging data from the Viking Orbiters and Mars Global Surveyor reveal alternating bands of light and dark material in this region with thicknesses at least as small as the limit of resolution, about 10 m. The overall composition of these layers is poorly constrained, but generally thought to be a mixture of dust and ice with the layers being caused by variations in the dust/ice ratio, or perhaps by dust deposits of different densities. Low thermal inertias in the region suggest that the top few centimeters of the surface are composed of a mantling of fine-grained dust. However, 3.5-cm radar returns indicate that the maximum depth of this dust is not greater than a few tens of centimeters. Thermal models generally agree that, while the layered deposits do provide a potential near-surface reservoir for ice, the uppermost few centimeters to meters in these regions are likely to be ice-free because of sublimation losses. Finally, while it is generally agreed that the layered deposits are the product of variations in the martian climate, no direct correlation has been made between band sequences and specific climate changes. Our intention is to shed light on some of these questions about the martian polar layered deposits by using the DS2 accelerometry experiment to determine the physical nature of the layered deposits, and to detect the presence of any subsurface layering of dust, ice, and/or rock. In the process, we will also determine the final resting depth of the two microprobes, an important parameter in the interpretation of other DS2 experiments.

High-gain magnetized inertial fusion.

PubMed

Slutz, Stephen A; Vesey, Roger A

2012-01-13

Magnetized inertial fusion (MIF) could substantially ease the difficulty of reaching plasma conditions required for significant fusion yields, but it has been widely accepted that the gain is not sufficient for fusion energy. Numerical simulations are presented showing that high-gain MIF is possible in cylindrical liner implosions based on the MagLIF concept [S. A. Slutz et al Phys. Plasmas 17, 056303 (2010)] with the addition of a cryogenic layer of deuterium-tritium (DT). These simulations show that a burn wave propagates radially from the magnetized hot spot into the surrounding much denser cold DT given sufficient hot-spot areal density. For a drive current of 60 MA the simulated gain exceeds 100, which is more than adequate for fusion energy applications. The simulated gain exceeds 1000 for a drive current of 70 MA.

Caching strategies for improving performance of web-based Geographic applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, M.; Brodzik, M.; Collins, J. A.; Lewis, S.; Oldenburg, J.

2012-12-01

The NASA Operation IceBridge mission collects airborne remote sensing measurements to bridge the gap between NASA's Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) mission and the upcoming ICESat-2 mission. The IceBridge Data Portal from the National Snow and Ice Data Center provides an intuitive web interface for accessing IceBridge mission observations and measurements. Scientists and users usually do not have knowledge about the individual campaigns but are interested in data collected in a specific place. We have developed a high-performance map interface to allow users to quickly zoom to an area of interest and see any Operation IceBridge overflights. The map interface consists of two layers: the user can pan and zoom on the base map layer; the flight line layer that overlays the base layer provides all the campaign missions that intersect with the current map view. The user can click on the flight campaigns and download the data as needed. The OpenGIS® Web Map Service Interface Standard (WMS) provides a simple HTTP interface for requesting geo-registered map images from one or more distributed geospatial databases. Web Feature Service (WFS) provides an interface allowing requests for geographical features across the web using platform-independent calls. OpenLayers provides vector support (points, polylines and polygons) to build a WMS/WFS client for displaying both layers on the screen. Map Server, an open source development environment for building spatially enabled internet applications, is serving the WMS and WFS spatial data to OpenLayers. Early releases of the portal displayed unacceptably poor load time performance for flight lines and the base map tiles. This issue was caused by long response times from the map server in generating all map tiles and flight line vectors. We resolved the issue by implementing various caching strategies on top of the WMS and WFS services, including the use of Squid (www.squid-cache.org) to cache frequently-used content. Our presentation includes the architectural design of the application, and how we use OpenLayers, WMS and WFS with Squid to build a responsive web application capable of efficiently displaying geospatial data to allow the user to quickly interact with the displayed information. We describe the design, implementation and performance improvement of our caching strategies, and the tools and techniques developed to assist our data caching strategies.

Water-rich planets: How habitable is a water layer deeper than on Earth?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noack, L.; Höning, D.; Rivoldini, A.; Heistracher, C.; Zimov, N.; Journaux, B.; Lammer, H.; Van Hoolst, T.; Bredehöft, J. H.

2016-10-01

Water is necessary for the origin and survival of life as we know it. In the search for life-friendly worlds, water-rich planets therefore are obvious candidates and have attracted increasing attention in recent years. The surface H2O layer on such planets (containing a liquid water ocean and possibly high-pressure ice below a specific depth) could potentially be hundreds of kilometres deep depending on the water content and the evolution of the proto-atmosphere. We study possible constraints for the habitability of deep water layers and introduce a new habitability classification relevant for water-rich planets (from Mars-size to super-Earth-size planets). A new ocean model has been developed that is coupled to a thermal evolution model of the mantle and core. Our interior structure model takes into account depth-dependent thermodynamic properties and the possible formation of high-pressure ice. We find that heat flowing out of the silicate mantle can melt an ice layer from below (in some cases episodically), depending mainly on the thickness of the ocean-ice shell, the mass of the planet, the surface temperature and the interior parameters (e.g. radioactive mantle heat sources). The high pressure at the bottom of deep water-ice layers could also impede volcanism at the water-mantle boundary for both stagnant lid and plate tectonics silicate shells. We conclude that water-rich planets with a deep ocean, a large planet mass, a high average density or a low surface temperature are likely less habitable than planets with an Earth-like ocean.

The Effect of Seasonal Variability of Atlantic Water on the Arctic Sea Ice Cover

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivanov, V. V.; Repina, I. A.

2018-01-01

Under the influence of global warming, the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean (AO) is expected to reduce with a transition toward a seasonal ice cover by the end of this century. A comparison of climate-model predictions with measurements shows that the actual rate of ice cover decay in the AO is higher than the predicted one. This paper argues that the rapid shrinking of the Arctic summer ice cover is due to its increased seasonality, while seasonal oscillations of the Atlantic origin water temperature create favorable conditions for the formation of negative anomalies in the ice-cover area in winter. The basis for this hypothesis is the fundamental possibility of the activation of positive feedback provided by a specific feature of the seasonal cycle of the inflowing Atlantic origin water and the peaking of temperature in the Nansen Basin in midwinter. The recently accelerated reduction in the summer ice cover in the AO leads to an increased accumulation of heat in the upper ocean layer during the summer season. The extra heat content of the upper ocean layer favors prerequisite conditions for winter thermohaline convection and the transfer of heat from the Atlantic water (AW) layer to the ice cover. This, in turn, contributes to further ice thinning and a decrease in ice concentration, accelerated melting in summer, and a greater accumulation of heat in the ocean by the end of the following summer. An important role is played by the seasonal variability of the temperature of AW, which forms on the border between the North European and Arctic basins. The phase of seasonal oscillation changes while the AW is moving through the Nansen Basin. As a result, the timing of temperature peak shifts from summer to winter, additionally contributing to enhanced ice melting in winter. The formulated theoretical concept is substantiated by a simplified mathematical model and comparison with observations.

Time Series of Greenland Ice-Sheet Elevations and Mass Changes from ICESat 2003-2009

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zwally, H. J.; Li, J.; Medley, B.; Robbins, J. W.; Yi, D.

2015-12-01

We follow the repeat-track analysis (RTA) of ICESat surface-elevation data by a second stage that adjusts the measured elevations on repeat passes to the reference track taking into account the cross-track slope (αc), in order to construct elevation time series. αc are obtained from RTA simultaneous solutions for αc, dh/dt, and h0. The height measurements on repeat tracks are initially interpolated to uniform along-track reference points (every 172 m) and times (ti) giving the h(xi,ti) used in the RTA solutions. The xi are the cross-track spacings from the reference track and i is the laser campaign index. The adjusted elevation measurements at the along-track reference points are hr(ti) = h(xi,ti) - xi tan(αc) - h0. The hr(ti) time series are averaged over 50 km cells creating H(ti) series and further averaged (weighted by cell area) to H(t) time series over drainage systems (DS), elevation bands, regions, and the entire ice sheet. Temperature-driven changes in the rate of firn compaction, CT(t), are calculated for 50 km cells with our firn-compaction model giving I(t) = H(t) - CT(t) - B(t) where B(t) is the vertical motion of the bedrock. During 2003 to 2009, the average dCT(t)/dt in the accumulation zone is -5 cm/yr, which amounts to a -75 km3/yr correction to ice volume change estimates. The I(t) are especially useful for studying the seasonal cycle of mass gains and losses and interannual variations. The H(t) for the ablation zone are fitted with a multi-variate function with a linear component describing the upward component of ice flow plus winter accumulation (fall through spring) and a portion of a sine function describing the superimposed summer melting. During fall to spring the H(t) indicate that the upward motion of the ice flow is at a rate of 1 m/yr, giving an annual mass gain of 180 Gt/yr in the ablation zone. The summer loss from surface melting in the high-melt summer of 2005 is 350 Gt/yr, giving a net surface loss of 170 Gt/yr from the ablation zone for 2005. During 2003-2008, the H(t) for the ablation zone show accelerations of the mass losses in the northwest DS8 and in the west-central DS7 (including Jacobshavn glacier) and offsetting decelerations of the mass losses in the east-central DS3 and southeast DS4, much of which occurred in 2008 possibly due to an eastward shift in the surface mass balance.

Experimental and theoretical evidence for bilayer-by-bilayer surface melting of crystalline ice

PubMed Central

Sánchez, M. Alejandra; Kling, Tanja; Ishiyama, Tatsuya; van Zadel, Marc-Jan; Mezger, Markus; Jochum, Mara N.; Cyran, Jenée D.; Smit, Wilbert J.; Bakker, Huib J.; Shultz, Mary Jane; Morita, Akihiro; Donadio, Davide; Nagata, Yuki; Bonn, Mischa; Backus, Ellen H. G.

2017-01-01

On the surface of water ice, a quasi-liquid layer (QLL) has been extensively reported at temperatures below its bulk melting point at 273 K. Approaching the bulk melting temperature from below, the thickness of the QLL is known to increase. To elucidate the precise temperature variation of the QLL, and its nature, we investigate the surface melting of hexagonal ice by combining noncontact, surface-specific vibrational sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy and spectra calculated from molecular dynamics simulations. Using SFG, we probe the outermost water layers of distinct single crystalline ice faces at different temperatures. For the basal face, a stepwise, sudden weakening of the hydrogen-bonded structure of the outermost water layers occurs at 257 K. The spectral calculations from the molecular dynamics simulations reproduce the experimental findings; this allows us to interpret our experimental findings in terms of a stepwise change from one to two molten bilayers at the transition temperature. PMID:27956637

Exposure of Water Ice in the Northern Mid-lattitudes of Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allen, Carlton C.; Kanner, Lisa C.

2007-01-01

Water ice is exposed in the martian north polar cap, and is occasionally exposed beyond the cap boundary. Orbital gamma ray spectrometry data strongly imply the presence of water ice within meters of the surface at latitudes north of approximately 60 deg. We have examined midlatitude areas of the northern plains displaying evidence of residual ice-rich layers, and report possible present-day exposures of ice. These exposures, if confirmed, could constrain the latitudinal and temporal stability of surface ice on Mars.

Effects of Mixed Layer Shear on Vertical Heat Flux

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-01

correlation of ice speed to heat flux (r = .312, p < .001). Relationships between ice speed and shear (r = .107, p < .001), ice speed and inverse ...Richardson number (r = .035, p = .256), inverse Richardson number and heat flux (r = .3, p < .001), heat content and heat flux (r = .084, p < .001) were...correlation of ice speed to heat flux (r = .312, p < .001). Relationships between ice speed and shear (r = .107, p < .001), ice speed and inverse Richardson

Combining laboratory results, numerical modeling, and in situ measurements to investigate the relative contributions of homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation to ice formation in the tropical tropopause layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jensen, E. J.; Karcher, B.; Ueyama, R.; Pfister, L.; Bui, T. V.; Diskin, G. S.; DiGangi, J. P.; Woods, S.; Lawson, P.; Froyd, K. D.; Murphy, D. M.

2017-12-01

Laboratory experiments over the past decade have advanced our understanding of the physical state and ice nucleation efficacy of aerosols with atmospherically-relevant compositions at low temperatures. We use these laboratory results along with measurements of upper-tropospheric aerosol composition to develop a parameterization if the ice nuclei number, and activity dependence on ice supersaturation and temperature in the cold tropical tropopause layer (TTL, 13-18 km). We show that leading candidates for aerosol types serving as effective ice nuclei are glassy organic-containing aerosols, crystalline ammonium sulfate, and mineral dust. We apply the low-temperature heterogeneous ice nucleation parameterization in a detailed model of TTL transport and cirrus formation. The model treats heterogeneous ice nucleation and homogeneous freezing of aqueous aerosols, deposition growth and sublimation of ice crystals, and sedimentation of ice crystals. The model is driven by meteorological fields with high-frequency waves superimposed, and simulated cirrus microphysical properties are statistically compared with recent measurements of TTL cirrus microphysical properties and ice supersaturation from recent high-altitude aircraft campaigns. We show that effective ice nuclei concentrations on the order of 50-100/L can dominate over homogeneous freezing production of TTL cirrus ice crystals. Glassy organic-containing aerosols or crystalline ammonium sulfate could conceivably provide more abundant sources of ice nuclei, but the simulations indicate that high concentrations of effective IN would prevent observed occurrence of large supersaturations and high ice concentrations. We will also show the impact of heterogeneous ice nuclei on TTL cirrus microphysical properties and occurrence frequencies.

Helicopter rotor noise investigation during ice accretion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Baofeng

An investigation of helicopter rotor noise during ice accretion is conducted using experimental, theoretical, and numerical methods. This research is the acoustic part of a joint helicopter rotor icing physics, modeling, and detection project at The Pennsylvania State University Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence (VLRCOE). The current research aims to provide acoustic insight and understanding of the rotor icing physics and investigate the feasibility of detecting rotor icing through noise measurements, especially at the early stage of ice accretion. All helicopter main rotor noise source mechanisms and their change during ice accretion are discussed. Changes of the thickness noise, steady loading noise, and especially the turbulent boundary layer - trailing edge (TBL-TE) noise due to ice accretion are identified and studied. The change of the discrete frequency noise (thickness noise and steady loading noise) due to ice accretion is calculated by using PSU-WOPWOP, an advanced rotorcraft acoustic prediction code. The change is noticeable, but too small to be used in icing detection. The small thickness noise change is due to the small volume of the accreted ice compared to that of the entire blade, although a large iced airfoil shape is used. For the loading noise calculation, two simplified methods are used to generate the loading on the rotor blades, which is the input for the loading noise calculation: 1) compact loading from blade element momentum theory, icing effects are considered by increasing the drag coefficient; and 2) pressure loading from the 2-D CFD simulation, icing effects are considered by using the iced airfoil shape. Comprehensive rotor broadband noise measurements are carried out on rotor blades with different roughness sizes and rotation speeds in two facilities: the Adverse Environment Rotor Test Stand (AERTS) facility at The Pennsylvania State University, and The University of Maryland Acoustic Chamber (UMAC). In both facilities the measured high-frequency broadband noise increases significantly with increasing surface roughness heights, which indicates that it is feasible to quantify helicopter rotor ice-induced surface roughness through acoustic measurements. Comprehensive broadband noise measurements based on different accreted ice roughness at AERTS are then used to form the data base from which a correlation between the ice-induced surface roughness and the broadband noise level is developed. Two parameters, the arithmetic average roughness height, Ra, and the averaged roughness height, based on the integrated ice thickness at the blade tip, are introduced to describe the ice-induced surface roughness at the early stage of the ice accretion. The ice roughness measurements are correlated to the measured broadband noise level. Strong correlations (absolute mean deviations of 9.3% and 11.2% for correlation using Ra and the averaged roughness height respectively) between the ice roughness and the broadband noise level are obtained, which can be used as a tool to determine the accreted ice roughness in the AERTS facility through acoustic measurement. It might be possible to use a similar approach to develop an early ice accretion detection tool for helicopters, as well as to quantify the ice-induced roughness at the early stage of rotor ice accretion. Rotor broadband noise source identification is conducted and the broadband noise related to ice accretion is argued to be turbulent boundary layer - trailing edge (TBL-TE) noise. Theory suggests TBL-TE noise scales with Mach number to the fifth power, which is also observed in the experimental data. The trailing edge noise theories developed by Ffowcs Williams and Hall, and Howe both identify two important parameters: boundary layer thickness and turbulence intensity. Numerical studies of 2-D airfoils with different ice-induced surface roughness heights are conducted to investigate the extent that surface roughness impacts the boundary layer thickness and turbulence intensity (and ultimately the TBL-TE noise). The results show that boundary layer thickness and turbulence intensity at the trailing edge increase with the increased roughness height. Using Howe's trailing edge noise model, the increased sound pressure level (SPL) of the trailing edge noise due to the increased displacement thickness and normalized integrated turbulence intensity are 6.2 dB and 1.6 dB for large and small accreted ice roughness heights, respectively. The estimated increased SPL values agree well with the experimental results, which are 5.8 dB and 2.6 dB for large and small roughness height, respectively. Finally a detailed broadband noise spectral scaling for all measured broadband noise in both AERTS and UMAC facilities is conducted. The magnitude and the frequency spectrum of the measured broadband noise are scaled on characteristic velocity and length. The peak of the laminar boundary layer - vortex shedding (LBL-VS) noise coalesces well on the Strouhal scaling in those cases. For the measured broadband noise from a rotor with relatively large roughness heights, no contribution of the LBL-VS noise is observed. The velocity scaling shows that the TBL-TE noise, which is the dominant source mechanism, scales with Mach number to the fifth power based on the absolute frequency. The length scaling shows that the TBL-TE noise scales well on the absolute roughness height based on Howe's TE noise theory.

Prospecting for Martian Ice from Orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kanner, L. C.; Bell, M. S.; Allen, C. C.

2003-01-01

Recent data from the Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (GRS) on Mars Odyssey indicate the presence of a hydrogen-rich layer tens of centimeters thick in high latitudes on Mars. This hydrogen-rich layer correlates to previously determined regions of ice stability. It has been suggested that the subsurface hydrogen is ice and constitutes 35 plus or minus 15% by weight near the north and south polar regions. This study constrains the location of subsurface ice deposits on the scale of kilometers or smaller by combining GRS data with surface features indicative of subsurface ice. The most recognizable terrestrial geomorphic indicators of subsurface ice, formed in permafrost and periglacial environments, include thermokarst pits, pingos, pseudocraters and patterned ground. Patterned ground features have geometric forms such as circles, polygons, stripes and nets. This study focuses on the polygonal form of patterned ground, selected for its discernable shape and subsurface implications. Polygonal features are typically demarcated by troughs, beneath which grow vertical ice-wedges. Ice-wedges form in thermal contraction cracks in ice-rich soil and grow with annual freezing and thawing events repeated over tens of years. Ice wedges exist below the depth of seasonal freeze-thaw. Terrestrial ice wedges can be several meters deep and polygons can be tens of meters apart, and, on rare occasions, up to 1 km. The crack spacing of terrestrial polygons is typically 3 to 10 times the crack depth.

Enhancement of Photovoltaic Performance by Utilizing Readily Accessible Hole Transporting Layer of Vanadium(V) Oxide Hydrate in a Polymer-Fullerene Blend Solar Cell.

PubMed

Jiang, Youyu; Xiao, Shengqiang; Xu, Biao; Zhan, Chun; Mai, Liqiang; Lu, Xinhui; You, Wei

2016-05-11

Herein, a successful application of V2O5·nH2O film as hole transporting layer (HTL) instead of PSS in polymer solar cells is demonstrated. The V2O5·nH2O layer was spin-coated from V2O5·nH2O sol made from melting-quenching sol-gel method by directly using vanadium oxide powder, which is readily accessible and cost-effective. V2O5·nH2O (n ≈ 1) HTL is found to have comparable work function and smooth surface to that of PSS. For the solar cell containing V2O5·nH2O HTL and the active layer of the blend of a novel polymer donor (PBDSe-DT2PyT) and the acceptor of PC71BM, the PCE was significantly improved to 5.87% with a 30% increase over 4.55% attained with PSS HTL. Incorporation of V2O5·nH2O as HTL in the polymer solar cell was found to enhance the crystallinity of the active layer, electron-blocking at the anode and the light-harvest in the wavelength range of 400-550 nm in the cell. V2O5·nH2O HTL improves the charge generation and collection and suppress the charge recombination within the PBDSe-DT2PyT:PC71BM solar cell, leading to a simultaneous enhancement in Voc, Jsc, and FF. The V2O5·nH2O HTL proposed in this work is envisioned to be of great potential to fabricate highly efficient PSCs with low-cost and massive production.

Laboratory studies of cometary ice analogues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmitt, B.; Espinasse, S.; Grim, R. J. A.; Greenberg, J. M.; Klinger, J.

1989-12-01

Laboratory studies were performed in order to simulate the physico-chemical processes that are likely to occur in the near surface layers of short and intermediate period comets. Pure H2O ice as well as CO:H2O, CO2:H2O, CH4:H2O, CO:CO2:H2O, and NH3:H2O ice mixtures were studied in the temperature range between 10 and 180 K. The evolution of the composition of ice mixtures, the crystallization of H2O ice as well as the formation and decompostion of clathrate hydrate by different processes were studied as a function of temperature and time. Using the results together with numerical modeling, predictions are made about the survival of amorphous ice, CO, CO2, CH4, and NH3 in the near surface layers of short period comets. The likeliness of finding clathrate and molecular hydrates is discussed. It is proposed that the analytical methods developed here could be fruitfully adapted to the analysis of returned comet samples.

Freezing, melting and structure of ice in a hydrophilic nanopore.

PubMed

Moore, Emily B; de la Llave, Ezequiel; Welke, Kai; Scherlis, Damian A; Molinero, Valeria

2010-04-28

The nucleation, growth, structure and melting of ice in 3 nm diameter hydrophilic nanopores are studied through molecular dynamics simulations with the mW water model. The melting temperature of water in the pore was T(m)(pore) = 223 K, 51 K lower than the melting point of bulk water in the model and in excellent agreement with experimental determinations for 3 nm silica pores. Liquid and ice coexist in equilibrium at the melting point and down to temperatures as low as 180 K. Liquid water is located at the interface of the pore wall, increasing from one monolayer at the freezing temperature, T(f)(pore) = 195 K, to two monolayers a few degrees below T(m)(pore). Crystallization of ice in the pore occurs through homogeneous nucleation. At the freezing temperature, the critical nucleus contains approximately 75 to 100 molecules, with a radius of gyration similar to the radius of the pore. The critical nuclei contain features of both cubic and hexagonal ice, although stacking of hexagonal and cubic layers is not defined until the nuclei reach approximately 150 molecules. The structure of the confined ice is rich in stacking faults, in agreement with the interpretation of X-ray and neutron diffraction experiments. Though the presence of cubic layers is twice as prevalent as hexagonal ones, the crystals should not be considered defective Ic as sequences with more than three adjacent cubic (or hexagonal) layers are extremely rare in the confined ice.

Ice nucleation and dehydration in the Tropical Tropopause Layer.

PubMed

Jensen, Eric J; Diskin, Glenn; Lawson, R Paul; Lance, Sara; Bui, T Paul; Hlavka, Dennis; McGill, Matthew; Pfister, Leonhard; Toon, Owen B; Gao, Rushan

2013-02-05

Optically thin cirrus near the tropical tropopause regulate the humidity of air entering the stratosphere, which in turn has a strong influence on the Earth's radiation budget and climate. Recent high-altitude, unmanned aircraft measurements provide evidence for two distinct classes of cirrus formed in the tropical tropopause region: (i) vertically extensive cirrus with low ice number concentrations, low extinctions, and large supersaturations (up to ∼70%) with respect to ice; and (ii) vertically thin cirrus layers with much higher ice concentrations that effectively deplete the vapor in excess of saturation. The persistent supersaturation in the former class of cirrus is consistent with the long time-scales (several hours or longer) for quenching of vapor in excess of saturation given the low ice concentrations and cold tropical tropopause temperatures. The low-concentration clouds are likely formed on a background population of insoluble particles with concentrations less than 100 L(-1) (often less than 20 L(-1)), whereas the high ice concentration layers (with concentrations up to 10,000 L(-1)) can only be produced by homogeneous freezing of an abundant population of aqueous aerosols. These measurements, along with past high-altitude aircraft measurements, indicate that the low-concentration cirrus occur frequently in the tropical tropopause region, whereas the high-concentration cirrus occur infrequently. The predominance of the low-concentration clouds means cirrus near the tropical tropopause may typically allow entry of air into the stratosphere with as much as ∼1.7 times the ice saturation mixing ratio.

Ice Nucleation and Dehydration in the Tropical Tropopause Layer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jensen, Eric J.; Diskin, Glenn S.; Lawson, R Paul; Lance, Sara; Bui, Thaopaul Van; Hlavka, Dennis L.; Mcgill, Matthew J.; Pfister, Leonhard; Toon, Owen B.; Gao, Rushan

2013-01-01

Optically thin cirrus near the tropical tropopause regulate the humidity of air entering the stratosphere, which in turn has a strong influence on the Earth's radiation budget and climate. Recent highaltitude, unmanned aircraft measurements provide evidence for two distinct classes of cirrus formed in the tropical tropopause region: (i) vertically extensive cirrus with low ice number concentrations, low extinctions, and large supersaturations (up to approx. 70%) with respect to ice; and (ii) vertically thin cirrus layers with much higher ice concentrations that effectively deplete the vapor in excess of saturation. The persistent supersaturation in the former class of cirrus is consistent with the long time-scales (several hours or longer) for quenching of vapor in excess of saturation given the low ice concentrations and cold tropical tropopause temperatures. The low-concentration clouds are likely formed on a background population of insoluble particles with concentrations less than 100 L-1 (often less than 20 L-1), whereas the high ice concentration layers (with concentrations up to 10,000 L-1) can only be produced by homogeneous freezing of an abundant population of aqueous aerosols. These measurements, along with past high-altitude aircraft measurements, indicate that the low-concentration cirrus occur frequently in the tropical tropopause region, whereas the high-concentration cirrus occur infrequently. The predominance of the low-concentration clouds means cirrus near the tropical tropopause may typically allow entry of air into the stratosphere with as much as approx. 1.7 times the ice saturation mixing ratio.

Monitoring ice thickness and elastic properties from the measurement of leaky guided waves: A laboratory experiment.

PubMed

Moreau, Ludovic; Lachaud, Cédric; Théry, Romain; Predoi, Mihai V; Marsan, David; Larose, Eric; Weiss, Jérôme; Montagnat, Maurine

2017-11-01

The decline of Arctic sea ice extent is one of the most spectacular signatures of global warming, and studies converge to show that this decline has been accelerating over the last four decades, with a rate that is not reproduced by climate models. To improve these models, relying on comprehensive and accurate field data is essential. While sea ice extent and concentration are accurately monitored from microwave imagery, an accurate measure of its thickness is still lacking. Moreover, measuring observables related to the mechanical behavior of the ice (such as Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, etc.) could provide better insights in the understanding of sea ice decline, by completing current knowledge so far acquired mostly from radar and sonar data. This paper aims at demonstrating on the laboratory scale that these can all be estimated simultaneously by measuring seismic waves guided in the ice layer. The experiment consisted of leaving a water tank in a cold room in order to grow an ice layer at its surface. While its thickness was increasing, ultrasonic guided waves were generated with a piezoelectric source, and measurements were subsequently inverted to infer the thickness and mechanical properties of the ice with very good accuracy.

Ice Nucleation in the Tropical Tropopause Layer: Implications for Cirrus Occurrence, Cirrus Microphysical Properties, and Dehydration of Air Entering the Stratosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jensen, Eric; Kaercher, Bernd; Ueyama, Rei; Pfister, Leonhard

2017-01-01

Recent laboratory experiments have advanced our understanding of the physical properties and ice nucleating abilities of aerosol particles atlow temperatures. In particular, aerosols containing organics will transition to a glassy state at low temperatures, and these glassy aerosols are moderately effective as ice nuclei. These results have implications for ice nucleation in the cold Tropical Tropopause Layer (TTL; 13-19 km). We have developed a detailed cloud microphysical model that includes heterogeneous nucleation on a variety of aerosol types and homogeneous freezing of aqueous aerosols. This model has been incorporated into one-dimensional simulations of cirrus and water vapor driven by meteorological analysis temperature and wind fields. The model includes scavenging of ice nuclei by sedimenting ice crystals. The model is evaluated by comparing the simulated cloud properties and water vapor concentrations with aircraft and satellite measurements. In this presentation, I will discuss the relative importance of homogeneous and heterogeneous ice nucleation, the impact of ice nuclei scavenging as air slowly ascends through the TTL, and the implications for the final dehydration of air parcels crossing the tropical cold-point tropopause and entering the tropical stratosphere.

Effects of van der Waals forces and salt ions on the growth of water films on ice and the detachment of CO2 bubbles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thiyam, P.; Lima, E. R. A.; Malyi, O. I.; Parsons, D. F.; Buhmann, S. Y.; Persson, C.; Boström, M.

2016-02-01

We study the effect of salts on the thickness of wetting films on melting ice and interactions acting on CO2 bubble near ice-water and vapor-water interfaces. Governing mechanisms are the Lifshitz and the double-layer interactions in the respective three-layer geometries. We demonstrate that the latter depend on the Casimir-Polder interaction of the salt ions dissolved in water with the respective ice, vapor and CO2 interfaces, as calculated using different models for their effective polarizability in water. Significant variation in the predicted thickness of the equilibrium water film is observed for different salt ions and when using different models for the ions' polarizabilities. We find that CO2 bubbles are attracted towards the ice-water interface and repelled from the vapor-water interface.

Review of levoglucosan in glacier snow and ice studies: Recent progress and future perspectives.

PubMed

You, Chao; Xu, Chao

2018-03-01

Levoglucosan (LEV) in glacier snow and ice layers provides a fingerprint of fire activity, ranging from modern air pollution to ancient fire emissions. In this study, we review recent progress in our understanding and application of LEV in glaciers, including analytical methods, transport and post-depositional processes, and historical records. We firstly summarize progress in analytical methods for determination of LEV in glacier snow and ice. Then, we discuss the processes influencing the records of LEV in snow and ice layers. Finally, we make some recommendations for future work, such as assessing the stability of LEV and obtaining continuous records, to increase reliability of the reconstructed ancient fire activity. This review provides an update for researchers working with LEV and will facilitate the further use of LEV as a biomarker in paleo-fire studies based on ice core records. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Water Ice Clouds and Dust in the Martian Atmosphere Observed by Mars Climate Sounder

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benson, Jennifer L.; Kass, David; Heavens, Nicholas; Kleinbohl, Armin

2011-01-01

The water ice clouds are primarily controlled by the temperature structure and form at the water condensation level. Clouds in all regions presented show day/night differences. Cloud altitude varies between night and day in the SPH and tropics: (1) NPH water ice opacity is greater at night than day at some seasons (2) The diurnal thermal tide controls the daily variability. (3) Strong day/night changes indicate that the amount of gas in the atmosphere varies significantly. See significant mixtures of dust and ice at the same altitude planet-wide (1) Points to a complex radiative and thermal balance between dust heating (in the visible) and ice heating or cooling in the infrared. Aerosol layering: (1) Early seasons reveal a zonally banded spatial distribution (2) Some localized longitudinal structure of aerosol layers (3) Later seasons show no consistent large scale organization

Boundary Waves on the Ice Surface Created by Currents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naito, K.; Izumi, N.; Yokokawa, M.; Yamada, T.; de Lima, A. C.

2013-12-01

The formation of periodic boundary waves, e.g. antidunes and cyclic steps (Parker & Izumi 2000) has been known to be caused by instabilities between flow and bed (e.g. Engelund 1970), and are observed not only on river beds or ocean floors but also on ice surfaces, such as the surface of glaciers and underside of river ice (Carey 1966). In addition, owing to recent advancements of remote sensing technology, it has been found that the surfaces of the polar ice caps on Mars as well as on the Earth have step-like formations (Smith & Holt 2010) which are assumed to be boundary waves, because they are generated perpendicularly to the direction of the currents. These currents acting on the polar ice caps are density airflow, i.e. katabatic wind (Howard et al 2000). The comprehension of the formation process of the Martian polar ice caps may reveal climate changes which have occurred on Mars. Although the formation of boundary waves on river beds or ocean floors has been studied by a number of researchers, there are few works on their formation on ice surfaces. Yokokawa et al (2013) suggested that the temperature distribution of the ambient air, fluid and ice is a factor which determines the direction of migration of boundary waves formed on ice surfaces through their experiments. In this study, we propose a mathematical model in order to describe the formation process of the boundary waves and the direction of their migration. We consider that a liquid is flowing through a flume filled with a flat ice layer on the bottom. The flow is assumed to be turbulent and its temperature is assumed to merge with the ambient temperature at the flow surface and with the melting point of ice at the bottom (ice surface). The ice surface evolution is dependent on the unbalance between the interfacial heat flux of the liquid and ice, and we employ the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equation, the continuity equation, heat transfer equations for the liquid and ice, and a heat balance equation at the flow-ice interface. It is assumed that the interfacial heat fluxes of the liquid and ice are determined by the temperature profile, and the Reynolds stress and the turbulent heat flux are expressed by the eddy diffusivity of momentum and the eddy diffusivity of heat, respectively. In addition, the liquid can be divided into two layers; viscous sublayer and turbulent layer. In order to determine the velocity and temperature profile in the liquid, we employ the Prandtl-Taylor analogy which assumes that the velocity profile follows a linear law in the viscous sublayer and a logarithmic law in the turbulent layer, and the eddy diffusivity of heat is described by the eddy diffusivity of momentum and Prandtl number of the liquid. Finally, we obtain the temperature profiles (because the heat transfer equation for the ice reduces to the Laplace equation, the temperature profile in the ice can be easily estimated) and interfacial heat fluxes.

Brine rejection from freezing salt solutions: a molecular dynamics study.

PubMed

Vrbka, Lubos; Jungwirth, Pavel

2005-09-30

The atmospherically and technologically very important process of brine rejection from freezing salt solutions is investigated with atomic resolution using molecular dynamics simulations. The present calculations allow us to follow the motion of each water molecule and salt ion and to propose a microscopic mechanism of brine rejection, in which a fluctuation (reduction) of the ion density in the vicinity of the ice front is followed by the growth of a new ice layer. The presence of salt slows down the freezing process, which leads to the formation of an almost neat ice next to a disordered brine layer.

Optical properties of sea ice doped with black carbon - an experimental and radiative-transfer modelling comparison

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marks, Amelia A.; Lamare, Maxim L.; King, Martin D.

2017-12-01

Radiative-transfer calculations of the light reflectivity and extinction coefficient in laboratory-generated sea ice doped with and without black carbon demonstrate that the radiative-transfer model TUV-snow can be used to predict the light reflectance and extinction coefficient as a function of wavelength. The sea ice is representative of first-year sea ice containing typical amounts of black carbon and other light-absorbing impurities. The experiments give confidence in the application of the model to predict albedo of other sea ice fabrics. Sea ices, ˜ 30 cm thick, were generated in the Royal Holloway Sea Ice Simulator ( ˜ 2000 L tanks) with scattering cross sections measured between 0.012 and 0.032 m2 kg-1 for four ices. Sea ices were generated with and without ˜ 5 cm upper layers containing particulate black carbon. Nadir reflectances between 0.60 and 0.78 were measured along with extinction coefficients of 0.1 to 0.03 cm-1 (e-folding depths of 10-30 cm) at a wavelength of 500 nm. Values were measured between light wavelengths of 350 and 650 nm. The sea ices generated in the Royal Holloway Sea Ice Simulator were found to be representative of natural sea ices. Particulate black carbon at mass ratios of ˜ 75, ˜ 150 and ˜ 300 ng g-1 in a 5 cm ice layer lowers the albedo to 97, 90 and 79 % of the reflectivity of an undoped clean sea ice (at a wavelength of 500 nm).

Frazil-ice growth rate and dynamics in mixed layers and sub-ice-shelf plumes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rees Jones, David W.; Wells, Andrew J.

2018-01-01

The growth of frazil or granular ice is an important mode of ice formation in the cryosphere. Recent advances have improved our understanding of the microphysical processes that control the rate of ice-crystal growth when water is cooled beneath its freezing temperature. These advances suggest that crystals grow much faster than previously thought. In this paper, we consider models of a population of ice crystals with different sizes to provide insight into the treatment of frazil ice in large-scale models. We consider the role of crystal growth alongside the other physical processes that determine the dynamics of frazil ice. We apply our model to a simple mixed layer (such as at the surface of the ocean) and to a buoyant plume under a floating ice shelf. We provide numerical calculations and scaling arguments to predict the occurrence of frazil-ice explosions, which we show are controlled by crystal growth, nucleation, and gravitational removal. Faster crystal growth, higher secondary nucleation, and slower gravitational removal make frazil-ice explosions more likely. We identify steady-state crystal size distributions, which are largely insensitive to crystal growth rate but are affected by the relative importance of secondary nucleation to gravitational removal. Finally, we show that the fate of plumes underneath ice shelves is dramatically affected by frazil-ice dynamics. Differences in the parameterization of crystal growth and nucleation give rise to radically different predictions of basal accretion and plume dynamics, and can even impact whether a plume reaches the end of the ice shelf or intrudes at depth.

How ice shelf morphology controls basal melting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Little, Christopher M.; Gnanadesikan, Anand; Oppenheimer, Michael

2009-12-01

The response of ice shelf basal melting to climate is a function of ocean temperature, circulation, and mixing in the open ocean and the coupling of this external forcing to the sub-ice shelf circulation. Because slope strongly influences the properties of buoyancy-driven flow near the ice shelf base, ice shelf morphology plays a critical role in linking external, subsurface heat sources to the ice. In this paper, the slope-driven dynamic control of local and area-integrated melting rates is examined under a wide range of ocean temperatures and ice shelf shapes, with an emphasis on smaller, steeper ice shelves. A 3-D numerical ocean model is used to simulate the circulation underneath five idealized ice shelves, forced with subsurface ocean temperatures ranging from -2.0°C to 1.5°C. In the sub-ice shelf mixed layer, three spatially distinct dynamic regimes are present. Entrainment of heat occurs predominately under deeper sections of the ice shelf; local and area-integrated melting rates are most sensitive to changes in slope in this "initiation" region. Some entrained heat is advected upslope and used to melt ice in the "maintenance" region; however, flow convergence in the "outflow" region limits heat loss in flatter portions of the ice shelf. Heat flux to the ice exhibits (1) a spatially nonuniform, superlinear dependence on slope and (2) a shape- and temperature-dependent, internally controlled efficiency. Because the efficiency of heat flux through the mixed layer decreases with increasing ocean temperature, numerical simulations diverge from a simple quadratic scaling law.

Sea ice breakup and marine melt of a retreating tidewater outlet glacier in northeast Greenland (81°N).

PubMed

Bendtsen, Jørgen; Mortensen, John; Lennert, Kunuk; K Ehn, Jens; Boone, Wieter; Galindo, Virginie; Hu, Yu-Bin; Dmitrenko, Igor A; Kirillov, Sergei A; Kjeldsen, Kristian K; Kristoffersen, Yngve; G Barber, David; Rysgaard, Søren

2017-07-10

Rising temperatures in the Arctic cause accelerated mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet and reduced sea ice cover. Tidewater outlet glaciers represent direct connections between glaciers and the ocean where melt rates at the ice-ocean interface are influenced by ocean temperature and circulation. However, few measurements exist near outlet glaciers from the northern coast towards the Arctic Ocean that has remained nearly permanently ice covered. Here we present hydrographic measurements along the terminus of a major retreating tidewater outlet glacier from Flade Isblink Ice Cap. We show that the region is characterized by a relatively large change of the seasonal freshwater content, corresponding to ~2 m of freshwater, and that solar heating during the short open water period results in surface layer temperatures above 1 °C. Observations of temperature and salinity supported that the outlet glacier is a floating ice shelf with near-glacial subsurface temperatures at the freezing point. Melting from the surface layer significantly influenced the ice foot morphology of the glacier terminus. Hence, melting of the tidewater outlet glacier was found to be critically dependent on the retreat of sea ice adjacent to the terminus and the duration of open water.

Detection of cryogenic water ice contaminants and the IR AI&T environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lynch, David K.; Russell, Ray W.

2000-12-01

Several remote sensing/infrared space surveillance programs in the midst of assembly, integration and test have recently experienced delays when water vapor was deposited as ice on cold surfaces in a sensor under test or calibration. When these surfaces were at critical locations, the sensitivity or response of the sensor decreased significantly because the ice absorbed the incoming signal. The source of water vapor could be from a chamber leak or outgassing from the sensor system or the vacuum chamber itself. In order to quantify the effects of ice deposits on signals in various spectral bands, published optical constants for amorphous and crystalline water ice have been used to calculate the transmission of water ice films as a function of wavelength from 1 to 20 microns. The results are presented in two ways: spectra of the physical thickness of a layer of ice whose absorption optical depth is unity, and transmission spectra for several characteristic layer thicknesses. These tools can be used in estimating the amount of ice - and by inference water vapor - present in the system. Related calculations can also be used to assess the probability that a given hardware setup or resulting data set is showing signs of degradation of response due to ice absorption, and the implications for those trying to interpret the results.

Improved Upper Ocean/Sea Ice Modeling in the GISS GCM for Investigating Climate Change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This project built on our previous results in which we highlighted the importance of sea ice in overall climate sensitivity by determining that for both warming and cooling climates, when sea ice was not allowed to change, climate sensitivity was reduced by 35-40%. We also modified the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) 8 deg x lO deg atmospheric General Circulation Model (GCM) to include an upper-ocean/sea-ice model involving the Semtner three-layer ice/snow thermodynamic model, the Price et al. (1986) ocean mixed layer model and a general upper ocean vertical advection/diffusion scheme for maintaining and fluxing properties across the pycnocline. This effort, in addition to improving the sea ice representation in the AGCM, revealed a number of sensitive components of the sea ice/ocean system. For example, the ability to flux heat through the ice/snow properly is critical in order to resolve the surface temperature properly, since small errors in this lead to unrestrained climate drift. The present project, summarized in this report, had as its objectives: (1) introducing a series of sea ice and ocean improvements aimed at overcoming remaining weaknesses in the GCM sea ice/ocean representation, and (2) performing a series of sensitivity experiments designed to evaluate the climate sensitivity of the revised model to both Antarctic and Arctic sea ice, determine the sensitivity of the climate response to initial ice distribution, and investigate the transient response to doubling CO2.

Improved Upper Ocean/Sea Ice Modeling in the GISS GCM for Investigating Climate Change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

This project built on our previous results in which we highlighted the importance of sea ice in overall climate sensitivity by determining that for both warming and cooling climates, when sea ice was not allowed to change, climate sensitivity was reduced by 35-40%. We also modified the GISS 8 deg x lO deg atmospheric GCM to include an upper-ocean/sea-ice model involving the Semtner three-layer ice/snow thermodynamic model, the Price et al. (1986) ocean mixed layer model and a general upper ocean vertical advection/diffusion scheme for maintaining and fluxing properties across the pycnocline. This effort, in addition to improving the sea ice representation in the AGCM, revealed a number of sensitive components of the sea ice/ocean system. For example, the ability to flux heat through the ice/snow properly is critical in order to resolve the surface temperature properly, since small errors in this lead to unrestrained climate drift. The present project, summarized in this report, had as its objectives: (1) introducing a series of sea ice and ocean improvements aimed at overcoming remaining weaknesses in the GCM sea ice/ocean representation, and (2) performing a series of sensitivity experiments designed to evaluate the climate sensitivity of the revised model to both Antarctic and Arctic sea ice, determine the sensitivity of the climate response to initial ice distribution, and investigate the transient response to doubling CO2.

Modeling ocean wave propagation under sea ice covers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xin; Shen, Hayley H.; Cheng, Sukun

2015-02-01

Operational ocean wave models need to work globally, yet current ocean wave models can only treat ice-covered regions crudely. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of ice effects on wave propagation and different research methodology used in studying these effects. Based on its proximity to land or sea, sea ice can be classified as: landfast ice zone, shear zone, and the marginal ice zone. All ice covers attenuate wave energy. Only long swells can penetrate deep into an ice cover. Being closest to open water, wave propagation in the marginal ice zone is the most complex to model. The physical appearance of sea ice in the marginal ice zone varies. Grease ice, pancake ice, brash ice, floe aggregates, and continuous ice sheet may be found in this zone at different times and locations. These types of ice are formed under different thermal-mechanical forcing. There are three classic models that describe wave propagation through an idealized ice cover: mass loading, thin elastic plate, and viscous layer models. From physical arguments we may conjecture that mass loading model is suitable for disjoint aggregates of ice floes much smaller than the wavelength, thin elastic plate model is suitable for a continuous ice sheet, and the viscous layer model is suitable for grease ice. For different sea ice types we may need different wave ice interaction models. A recently proposed viscoelastic model is able to synthesize all three classic models into one. Under suitable limiting conditions it converges to the three previous models. The complete theoretical framework for evaluating wave propagation through various ice covers need to be implemented in the operational ocean wave models. In this review, we introduce the sea ice types, previous wave ice interaction models, wave attenuation mechanisms, the methods to calculate wave reflection and transmission between different ice covers, and the effect of ice floe breaking on shaping the sea ice morphology. Laboratory experiments, field measurements and numerical simulations supporting the fundamental research in wave-ice interaction models are discussed. We conclude with some outlook of future research needs in this field.

Calculations of electric currents in Europa

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Colburn, D. S.; Reynolds, R. T.

1986-01-01

Electrical currents should flow in the Galilean satellite, Europa, because it is located in Jupiter's corotating magnetosphere. The possible magnitudes of these currents are calculated by assuming that Europa is a differentiated body consisting of an outer H2O layer and a silicate core. Two types of models are considered here: one in which the water is completely frozen and a second in which there is an intermediate liquid layer. For the transverse electric mode (eddy currents), the calculated current density in a liquid layer is approximately 10 to the -5/Am. For the transverse magnetic mode (unipolar generator), the calculated current density in the liquid is severely constrained by the ice layer to a range of only 10 to the -10 to -11th power/ Am, for a total H2O thickness of 100 km, provided that neither layer is less than 4 km thick. The current density is less for a completely frozen H2O layer. If transient cracks were to appear in the ice layer, thereby exposing liquid, the calculated current density could rise to a range of 10 to the -6 to 10 to the -5/Am, depending on layer thicknesses, which would require an exposed area of 10 to the -9 to 10 to the -8 of the Europa surface. The corresponding total current of 2.3x10 to the 5th power A could in 1 yr. electrolyze 7x10 to the 5th power kg of water (and more if the cells were in series), and thereby store up to 10 the 8th power J of energy, but it is not clear how electrolysis can take place in the absence of suitable electrodes. Electrical heating would be significant only if the ice-layer thickness were on the order of 1 m, such as might occur if an exposed liquid surface were to freeze over; the heating under this condition could hinder the thickening of the ice layer.

Dynamics of Permafrost Associated Methane Hydrate in Response to Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

You, K.; Flemings, P. B.

2014-12-01

The formation and melting of methane hydrate and ice are intertwined in permafrost regions. A shortage of methane supply leads to formation of hydrate only at depth, below the base of permafrost. We consider a system with the ground surface initially at 0 oC with neither ice nor hydrate present. We abruptly decrease the temperature from 0 to -10 oC to simulate the effect of marine regression/ global cooling. A low methane supply rate of 0.005 kg m-2 yr-1 from depth leads to distinct ice and hydrate layers: a 100 m continuous hydrate layer is present beneath 850 m at 80 k.y.. However, a high methane supply rate of 0.1 kg m-2 yr-1 leads to 50 m ice-bonded methane hydrate at the base of permafrost, and the hydrate layer distributes between the depth of 350 and 700 m at 80 k.y.. We apply our model to illuminate future melting of hydrate at Mallik, a known Arctic hydrate accumulation. We assume a 600 m thick ice saturated (average 90%) layer extending downward from the ground surface. We increase the surface temperature linearly from -6 to 0 oC for 300 yr and then keep the surface temperature at 0 oC to reflect future climate warming caused by doubling of CO2. Hydrate melting is initiated at the base of the hydrate layer after 15 k.y.. Methane gas starts to vent to the atmosphere at 38 k.y. with an average flux of ~ 0.35 g m-2 yr-1. If the 600 m thick average ice saturation is decreased to half (45%) (or to zero), methane gas starts to vent to the atmosphere at 29 k.y. (or at 20 k.y.) with the same average flux. These results are found by a newly-developed fully-coupled multiphase multicomponent fluid flow and heat transport model. Our thermodynamic equilibrium-based model emphasizes the role of salinity in both ice and hydrate dynamics.

Cryogenic target formation using cold gas jets

DOEpatents

Hendricks, C.D.

1980-02-26

A method and apparatus using cold gas jets for producing a substantially uniform layer of cryogenic materials on the inner surface of hollow spherical members having one or more layers, such as inertially imploded targets are disclosed. By vaporizing and quickly refreezing cryogenic materials contained within a hollow spherical member, a uniform layer of the materials is formed on an inner surface of the spherical member. Basically the method involves directing cold gas jets onto a spherical member having one or more layers or shells and containing the cryogenic material, such as a deuterium-tritium (DT) mixture, to freeze the contained material, momentarily heating the spherical member so as to vaporize the contained material, and quickly refreezing the thus vaporized material forming a uniform layer of cryogenic material on an inner surface of the spherical member. 4 figs.

Pluto's Polygonal Terrain Places Lower Limit on Planetary Heat Flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trowbridge, A.; Steckloff, J. K.; Melosh, H., IV; Freed, A. M.

2015-12-01

During its recent flyby of Pluto, New Horizons imaged an icy plains region (Sputnik Planum) whose surface is divided into polygonal blocks, ca. 20-30 km across, bordered by what appear to be shallow troughs. The lack of craters within these plains suggests they are relatively young, implying that the underlying material is recently active. The scale of these features argues against an origin by cooling and contraction. Here we investigate the alternative scenario that they are the surface manifestation of shallow convection in a thick layer of nitrogen ice. Typical Rayleigh-Bernard convective cells are approximately three times wider than the depth of the convecting layer, implying a layer depth of ca. 7-10 km. Our convection hypothesis requires that the Rayleigh number exceed a minimum of about 1000 in the nitrogen ice layer. We coupled a parameterized convection model with a temperature dependent rheology of nitrogen ice (Yamashita, 2008), finding a Rayleigh number 1500 to 7500 times critical for a plausible range of heat flows for Pluto's interior. The computed range of heat flow (3.5-5.2 mW/m2) is consistent with the radiogenic heat generated by a carbonaceous chondrite (CC) core implied by Pluto's bulk density. The minimum heat flow at the critical Rayleigh number is 0.13 mW/m2. Our model implies a core temperature of 44 K in the interior of the convecting layer. This is very close to the exothermic β-α phase transition in nitrogen ice at 35.6 K (for pure N2 ice; dissolved CO can increase this, depending on its concentration), suggesting that the warm cores of the rising convective cells may be β phase, whereas the cooler sinking limbs may be α phase. This transition may thus be observable due to the large difference in their spectral signature. Further applying our model to Pluto's putative water ice mantle, the heat flow from CC is consistent with convection in Pluto's mantle and the activity observed on its surface.

Martian neutron leakage spectra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drake, D. M.; Feldman, W. C.; Jakosky, B. M.

1988-06-01

A high-energy nucleon-meson transport code is used to calculate energy spectra of Martian leakage neutrons. Four calculations are used to simulate a uniform surface layer containing various amounts of water, different burial depths of a 50 percent water layer underneath a 1 percent water layer, changing atmospheric pressure, and a thick carbon dioxide ice sheet overlying a "dirty" water ice sheet. Calculated spectra at energies less than about 1000 eV were fitted by a superposition of thermal and epithermal functions having four free parameters, two of which (thermal and epithermal amplitudes) were found to vary systematically and to specify uniquely the configuration in each of the series. Parameter variations depend on the composition of the assumed surface layers through the average atomic mass and the macroscopic scattering and absorption cross sections. It is concluded that measurements of leakage neutron spectra should allow determination of the hydrogen content of surface layers buried to depths up to about 100 g/sq. cm and determination of the thickness of a polar dry ice cap up to a thickness of about 250 g/sq. cm.

Kinetic physics in ICF: present understanding and future directions

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

Rinderknecht, Hans G.; Amendt, P. A.; Wilks, S. C.

Kinetic physics has the potential to impact the performance of indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments. Systematic anomalies in the National Ignition Facility implosion dataset have been identified in which kinetic physics may play a role, including inferred missing energy in the hohlraum, drive asymmetry in near-vacuum hohlraums, low areal density and high burn-averaged ion temperatures (T i ) compared with mainline simulations, and low ratios of the DD-neutron and DT-neutron yields and inferred T i . Several components of ICF implosions are likely to be influenced or dominated by kinetic physics: laser-plasma interactions in the LEH and hohlraum interior;more » the hohlraum wall blowoff, blowoff/gas and blowoff/ablator interfaces; the ablator and ablator/ice interface; and the DT fuel all present conditions in which kinetic physics can significantly affect the dynamics. This review presents the assembled experimental data and simulation results to date, which indicate that the effects of long mean-free-path plasma phenomena and self-generated electromagnetic fields may have a significant impact in ICF targets. Finally, simulation and experimental efforts are proposed to definitively quantify the importance of these effects at ignition-relevant conditions, including priorities for ongoing study.« less

Kinetic physics in ICF: present understanding and future directions

DOE PAGES

Rinderknecht, Hans G.; Amendt, P. A.; Wilks, S. C.; ...

2018-03-19

Kinetic physics has the potential to impact the performance of indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments. Systematic anomalies in the National Ignition Facility implosion dataset have been identified in which kinetic physics may play a role, including inferred missing energy in the hohlraum, drive asymmetry in near-vacuum hohlraums, low areal density and high burn-averaged ion temperatures (T i ) compared with mainline simulations, and low ratios of the DD-neutron and DT-neutron yields and inferred T i . Several components of ICF implosions are likely to be influenced or dominated by kinetic physics: laser-plasma interactions in the LEH and hohlraum interior;more » the hohlraum wall blowoff, blowoff/gas and blowoff/ablator interfaces; the ablator and ablator/ice interface; and the DT fuel all present conditions in which kinetic physics can significantly affect the dynamics. This review presents the assembled experimental data and simulation results to date, which indicate that the effects of long mean-free-path plasma phenomena and self-generated electromagnetic fields may have a significant impact in ICF targets. Finally, simulation and experimental efforts are proposed to definitively quantify the importance of these effects at ignition-relevant conditions, including priorities for ongoing study.« less

Kinetic physics in ICF: present understanding and future directions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rinderknecht, Hans G.; Amendt, P. A.; Wilks, S. C.; Collins, G.

2018-06-01

Kinetic physics has the potential to impact the performance of indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments. Systematic anomalies in the National Ignition Facility implosion dataset have been identified in which kinetic physics may play a role, including inferred missing energy in the hohlraum, drive asymmetry in near-vacuum hohlraums, low areal density and high burn-averaged ion temperatures (〈Ti 〉) compared with mainline simulations, and low ratios of the DD-neutron and DT-neutron yields and inferred 〈Ti 〉. Several components of ICF implosions are likely to be influenced or dominated by kinetic physics: laser-plasma interactions in the LEH and hohlraum interior; the hohlraum wall blowoff, blowoff/gas and blowoff/ablator interfaces; the ablator and ablator/ice interface; and the DT fuel all present conditions in which kinetic physics can significantly affect the dynamics. This review presents the assembled experimental data and simulation results to date, which indicate that the effects of long mean-free-path plasma phenomena and self-generated electromagnetic fields may have a significant impact in ICF targets. Simulation and experimental efforts are proposed to definitively quantify the importance of these effects at ignition-relevant conditions, including priorities for ongoing study.

Durability of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells Operated at Subfreezing Temperatures

DOE PAGES

Macauley, Natalia; Lujan, Roger W.; Spernjak, Dusan; ...

2016-09-15

The structure, composition, and interfaces of membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) and gas-diffusion layers (GDLs) have a significant effect on the performance of single-proton-exchange-membrane (PEM) fuel cells operated isothermally at subfreezing temperatures. During isothermal constant-current operation at subfreezing temperatures, water forming at the cathode initially hydrates the membrane, then forms ice in the catalyst layer and/or GDL. This ice formation results in a gradual decay in voltage. High-frequency resistance initially decreases due to an increase in membrane water content and then increases over time as the contact resistance increases. The water/ice holding capacity of a fuel cell decreases with decreasing subfreezingmore » temperature (-10°C vs. -20°C vs. -30°C) and increasing current density (0.02 A cm -2 vs. 0.04 A cm -2). Ice formation monitored using in-situ high-resolution neutron radiography indicated that the ice was concentrated near the cathode catalyst layer at low operating temperatures (≈-20°C) and high current densities (0.04 A cm -2). Significant ice formation was also observed in the GDLs at higher subfreezing temperatures (≈-10°C) and lower current densities (0.02 A cm -2). These results are in good agreement with the long-term durability observations that show more severe degradation at lower temperatures (-20°C and -30°C).« less

Polarimetric scattering from layered media with multiple species of scatterers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nghiem, S. V.; Kwok, R.; Yueh, S. H.; Kong, J. A.; Hsu, C. C.; Tassoudji, M. A.; Shin, R. T.

1995-01-01

Geophysical media are usually heterogeneous and contain multiple species of scatterers. In this paper a model is presented to calculate effective permittivities and polarimetric backscattering coefficients of multispecies-layered media. The same physical description is consistently used in the derivation of both permittivities and scattering coefficients. The strong permittivity fluctuation theory is extended to account for the multiple species of scatterers with a general ellipsoidal shape whose orientations are randomly distributed. Under the distorted Born approximation, polarimetric scattering coefficients are obtained. These calculations are applicable to the special cases of spheroidal and spherical scatterers. The model is used to study effects of scatterer shapes and multispecies mixtures on polarimetric signatures of heterogeneous media. The multispecies model accounts for moisture content in scattering media such as snowpack in an ice sheet. The results indicate a high sensitivity of backscatter to moisture with a stronger dependence for drier snow and ice grain size is important to the backscatter. For frost-covered saline ice, model results for bare ice are compared with measured data at C band and then the frost flower formation is simulated with a layer of fanlike ice crystals including brine infiltration over a rough interface. The results with the frost cover suggest a significant increase in scattering coefficients and a polarimetric signature closer to isotropic characteristics compared to the thin saline ice case.

Anti-alias filter in AORSA for modeling ICRF heating of DT plasmas in ITER

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berry, L. A.; Batchelor, D. B.; Jaeger, E. F.; RF SciDAC Team

2011-10-01

The spectral wave solver AORSA has been used extensively to model full-field, ICRF heating scenarios for DT plasmas in ITER. In these scenarios, the tritium (T) second harmonic cyclotron resonance is positioned near the magnetic axis, where fast magnetosonic waves are efficiently absorbed by tritium ions. In some cases, a fundamental deuterium (D) cyclotron layer can also be located within the plasma, but close to the high field boundary. In this case, the existence of multiple ion cyclotron resonances presents a serious challenge for numerical simulation because short-wavelength, mode-converted waves can be excited close to the plasma edge at the ion-ion hybrid layer. Although the left hand circularly polarized component of the wave field is partially shielded from the fundamental D resonance, some power penetrates, and a small fraction (typically <10%) can be absorbed by the D ions. We find that an anti-aliasing filter is required in AORSA to calculate this fraction correctly while including up-shift and down-shift in the parallel wave spectrum. Work supported by U.S. DOE under Contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle, LLC.

Wind-driven Sea-Ice Changes Intensify Subsurface Warm Water Intrusion into the West Antarctic Land Ice Front

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, X.; Gille, S. T.; shang-Ping, X.; Xie, S. P.; Holland, D. M.; Holland, M. M.

2016-12-01

The climate change observed around Antarctica in recent decades is characterized by distinct zonally asymmetric patterns, with the strongest changes over West Antarctica. These changes are marked by strong land ice melting and sea ice redistribution around West Antarctica. This is associated with temperature and circulation anomalies in the ocean and atmosphere around the same area. In this study, we comprehensively examine the coherency between these changes using a combination of observations and numerical simulations. Results show that the atmospheric circulation changes distinctly drive the changes in ocean circulation and sea ice distribution. In addition, the atmospheric circulation induced sea ice changes play an important role in lifting the subsurface ocean temperature and salinity around the West Antarctica. During recent decades, the Amundsen Sea Low (ASL) has deepened, especially in austral autumn and winter. This deepened ASL has intensified the offshore wind near the coastal regions of the Ross Sea. Driven by these atmospheric changes, more sea ice has formed near West Antarctica in winter. In contrast, more sea ice melts during the summer. This strengthened sea ice seasonality has been observed and successfully reproduced in the model simulation. The wind-driven sea ice changes causes a surface freshening over the Ross and Amundsen Seas, with a subsurface salinity increase over the Ross Sea. The additional fresh/salt water fluxes thus further change the vertical distribution of salinity and strengthen the stratification in the Ross and Amundsen Seas. As a result of the above ice-ocean process, the mixed-layer depth around the Ross and Amundsen Seas shallows. By weakening the vertical heat transport near the surface layer, and inducing an upward movement of the circumpolar deep water (CDW), this process freshened and cooled the surface layer, while the salinity and temperature in the sub-surface ocean are increased, extending from 150 meters to >700 meters. Around the Amundsen Sea, warm water touches the continent, which could potentially contribute to the accelerated land ice melting over this area.

Role of stacking disorder in ice nucleation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lupi, Laura; Hudait, Arpa; Peters, Baron; Grünwald, Michael; Gotchy Mullen, Ryan; Nguyen, Andrew H.; Molinero, Valeria

2017-11-01

The freezing of water affects the processes that determine Earth’s climate. Therefore, accurate weather and climate forecasts hinge on good predictions of ice nucleation rates. Such rate predictions are based on extrapolations using classical nucleation theory, which assumes that the structure of nanometre-sized ice crystallites corresponds to that of hexagonal ice, the thermodynamically stable form of bulk ice. However, simulations with various water models find that ice nucleated and grown under atmospheric temperatures is at all sizes stacking-disordered, consisting of random sequences of cubic and hexagonal ice layers. This implies that stacking-disordered ice crystallites either are more stable than hexagonal ice crystallites or form because of non-equilibrium dynamical effects. Both scenarios challenge central tenets of classical nucleation theory. Here we use rare-event sampling and free energy calculations with the mW water model to show that the entropy of mixing cubic and hexagonal layers makes stacking-disordered ice the stable phase for crystallites up to a size of at least 100,000 molecules. We find that stacking-disordered critical crystallites at 230 kelvin are about 14 kilojoules per mole of crystallite more stable than hexagonal crystallites, making their ice nucleation rates more than three orders of magnitude higher than predicted by classical nucleation theory. This effect on nucleation rates is temperature dependent, being the most pronounced at the warmest conditions, and should affect the modelling of cloud formation and ice particle numbers, which are very sensitive to the temperature dependence of ice nucleation rates. We conclude that classical nucleation theory needs to be corrected to include the dependence of the crystallization driving force on the size of the ice crystallite when interpreting and extrapolating ice nucleation rates from experimental laboratory conditions to the temperatures that occur in clouds.

Examining Differences in Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nghiem, S. V.; Rigor, I. G.; Clemente-Colon, P.; Neumann, G.; Li, P.

2015-12-01

The paradox of the rapid reduction of Arctic sea ice versus the stability (or slight increase) of Antarctic sea ice remains a challenge in the cryospheric science research community. Here we start by reviewing a number of explanations that have been suggested by different researchers and authors. One suggestion is that stratospheric ozone depletion may affect atmospheric circulation and wind patterns such as the Southern Annular Mode, and thereby sustaining the Antarctic sea ice cover. The reduction of salinity and density in the near-surface layer may weaken the convective mixing of cold and warmer waters, and thus maintaining regions of no warming around the Antarctic. A decrease in sea ice growth may reduce salt rejection and upper-ocean density to enhance thermohalocline stratification, and thus supporting Antarctic sea ice production. Melt water from Antarctic ice shelves collects in a cool and fresh surface layer to shield the surface ocean from the warmer deeper waters, and thus leading to an expansion of Antarctic sea ice. Also, wind effects may positively contribute to Antarctic sea ice growth. Moreover, Antarctica lacks of additional heat sources such as warm river discharge to melt sea ice as opposed to the case in the Arctic. Despite of these suggested explanations, factors that can consistently and persistently maintains the stability of sea ice still need to be identified for the Antarctic, which are opposed to factors that help accelerate sea ice loss in the Arctic. In this respect, using decadal observations from multiple satellite datasets, we examine differences in sea ice properties and distributions, together with dynamic and thermodynamic processes and interactions with land, ocean, and atmosphere, causing differences in Arctic and Antarctic sea ice change to contribute to resolving the Arctic-Antarctic sea ice paradox.

Adsorption of naphthalene and ozone on atmospheric air/ice interfaces coated with surfactants: a molecular simulation study.

PubMed

Liyana-Arachchi, Thilanga P; Valsaraj, Kalliat T; Hung, Francisco R

2012-03-15

The adsorption of gas-phase naphthalene and ozone molecules onto air/ice interfaces coated with different surfactant species (1-octanol, 1-hexadecanol, or 1-octanal) was investigated using classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Naphthalene and ozone exhibit a strong preference to be adsorbed at the surfactant-coated air/ice interfaces, as opposed to either being dissolved into the bulk of the quasi-liquid layer (QLL) or being incorporated into the ice crystals. The QLL becomes thinner when the air/ice interface is coated with surfactant molecules. The adsorption of both naphthalene and ozone onto surfactant-coated air/ice interfaces is enhanced when compared to bare air/ice interface. Both naphthalene and ozone tend to stay dissolved in the surfactant layer and close to the QLL, rather than adsorbing on top of the surfactant molecules and close to the air region of our systems. Surfactants prefer to orient at a tilted angle with respect to the air/ice interface; the angular distribution and the most preferred angle vary depending on the hydrophilic end group, the length of the hydrophobic tail, and the surfactant concentration at the air/ice interface. Naphthalene prefers to have a flat orientation on the surfactant coated air/ice interface, except at high concentrations of 1-hexadecanol at the air/ice interface; the angular distribution of naphthalene depends on the specific surfactant and its concentration at the air/ice interface. The dynamics of naphthalene molecules at the surfactant-coated air/ice interface slow down as compared to those observed at bare air/ice interfaces. The presence of surfactants does not seem to affect the self-association of naphthalene molecules at the air/ice interface, at least for the specific surfactants and the range of concentrations considered in this study.

Role of stacking disorder in ice nucleation.

PubMed

Lupi, Laura; Hudait, Arpa; Peters, Baron; Grünwald, Michael; Gotchy Mullen, Ryan; Nguyen, Andrew H; Molinero, Valeria

2017-11-08

The freezing of water affects the processes that determine Earth's climate. Therefore, accurate weather and climate forecasts hinge on good predictions of ice nucleation rates. Such rate predictions are based on extrapolations using classical nucleation theory, which assumes that the structure of nanometre-sized ice crystallites corresponds to that of hexagonal ice, the thermodynamically stable form of bulk ice. However, simulations with various water models find that ice nucleated and grown under atmospheric temperatures is at all sizes stacking-disordered, consisting of random sequences of cubic and hexagonal ice layers. This implies that stacking-disordered ice crystallites either are more stable than hexagonal ice crystallites or form because of non-equilibrium dynamical effects. Both scenarios challenge central tenets of classical nucleation theory. Here we use rare-event sampling and free energy calculations with the mW water model to show that the entropy of mixing cubic and hexagonal layers makes stacking-disordered ice the stable phase for crystallites up to a size of at least 100,000 molecules. We find that stacking-disordered critical crystallites at 230 kelvin are about 14 kilojoules per mole of crystallite more stable than hexagonal crystallites, making their ice nucleation rates more than three orders of magnitude higher than predicted by classical nucleation theory. This effect on nucleation rates is temperature dependent, being the most pronounced at the warmest conditions, and should affect the modelling of cloud formation and ice particle numbers, which are very sensitive to the temperature dependence of ice nucleation rates. We conclude that classical nucleation theory needs to be corrected to include the dependence of the crystallization driving force on the size of the ice crystallite when interpreting and extrapolating ice nucleation rates from experimental laboratory conditions to the temperatures that occur in clouds.

Characterizing near-surface firn from the scattered signal component of glacier surface reflections detected in airborne radio-echo sounding measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rutishauser, A.; Grima, C.; Sharp, M. J.; Blankenship, D. D.; Young, D. A.; Cawkwell, F.; Dowdeswell, J. A.

2016-12-01

With recent summer warming, surface melt on Canadian Arctic ice caps has intensified and extended to higher elevations in ice cap accumulation areas. Consequently, more meltwater percolates into the near-surface firn, and refreezes as ice layers where firn temperatures are below freezing. This process can increase firn densification rates, causing a lowering of the glacier surface height even in the absence of mass changes. Thus, knowledge of spatio-temporal variations in the near-surface firn stratigraphy is important for interpreting altimetrically-derived estimates of ice cap mass balance. We investigate the use of the scattering signal component of glacier surface reflections in airborne radio-echo sounding (RES) measurements to characterize the near-surface firn stratigraphy. The scattering signal distribution over Devon Ice Cap is compared to firn stratigraphy derived from ground-based radar data. We identify three distinct firn facies zones at different elevation ranges. The scattered signal component changes significantly between the different firn facies zones: low scattering correlates to laterally homogeneous firn containing thin, flat and continuous ice layers at elevations above 1800 m and below 1200 m, where firn consists mainly of ice. Higher scattering values are found from 1200-1800 m where the firn contains discrete, undulating ice layers. No correlation was found between the scattering component and surface roughness. Modelled scattering values for the measured roughness were significantly less than the observed values, and did not reproduce their observed spatial distribution. This indicates that the scattering component is determined mainly by the structure of near-surface firn. Our results suggest that the scattering component of surface reflections from airborne RES measurements has potential for characterizing heterogeneity in the spatial structure of firn that is affected by melting and refreezing processes.

Temperature and ice layer trends in the summer middle atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lübken, F.-J.; Berger, U.

2012-04-01

We present results from our LIMA model (Leibniz Institute Middle Atmosphere Model) which nicely reproduces mean conditions of the summer mesopause region and also mean characteristics of ice layers known as noctilucent clouds. LIMA nudges to ECMWF data in the troposphere and lower stratosphere which influences the background conditions in the mesosphere. We study temperature trends in the mesosphere at middle and polar latitudes and compared with temperature trends from satellites, lidar, and phase height observations. For the first time large observed temperature trends in the summer mesosphere can be reproduced and explained by a model. As will be shown, stratospheric ozone has a major impact on temperature trends in the summer mesosphere. The temperature trend is not uniform in time: it is moderate from 1961 (the beginning of our record) until the beginning of the 1980s. Thereafter, temperatures decrease much stronger until the mid 1990s. Thereafter, temperatures are nearly constant or even increase with time. As will be shown, trends in ozone and carbon dioxide explain most of this behavior. Ice layers in the summer mesosphere are very sensitive to background conditions and are therefore considered to be appropriate tracers for long term variations in the middle atmosphere. We use LIMA background conditions to determine ice layer characteristics in the mesopause region. We compare our results with measurements, for example with albedos from the SBUV satellites, and show that we can nicely reproduce observed trends. It turns out that temperature trends are positive (negative) in the upper (lower) part of the ice layer regime. This complicates an interpretation of NLC long term variations in terms of temperature trends.

A New Methodology for Simultaneous Multi-layer Retrievals of Ice and Liquid Water Cloud Properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sourdeval, O.; Labonnote, L.; Baran, A. J.; Brogniez, G.

2014-12-01

It is widely recognized that the study of clouds has nowadays become one of the major concern of the climate research community. Consequently, a multitude of retrieval methodologies have been developed during the last decades in order to obtain accurate retrievals of cloud properties that can be supplied to climate models. Most of the current methodologies have proven to be satisfactory for separately retrieving ice or liquid cloud properties, but very few of them have attempted simultaneous retrievals of these two cloud types. Recent studies nevertheless show that the omission of one of these layers can have strong consequences on the retrievals and their accuracy. In this study, a new methodology that simultaneously retrieves the properties of ice and liquid clouds is presented. The optical thickness and the effective radius of up to two liquid cloud layers and the ice water path of one ice cloud layer are simultaneously retrieved, along with an accurate estimation of their uncertainties. Radiometric measurements ranging from the visible to the thermal infrared are used for performing the retrievals. In order to quantify the capabilities and limitations of our methodology, the results of a theoretical information content analysis are first presented. This analysis allows obtaining an a priori understanding of how much information should be expected on each of the retrieval parameters in different atmospheric conditions, and which set of channels is likely to provide this information. After such theoretical considerations, global retrievals corresponding to several months of A-Train data are presented. Comparisons of our retrievals with operational products from active and passive instruments are effectuated and show good global agreements. These comparisons are useful for validating our retrievals but also for testing how operational products can be influenced by multi-layer configurations.

Near-Surface Profiles of Water Stable Isotope Components and Indicated Transitional History of Ice-Wedge Polygons Near Barrow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iwahana, G.; Wilson, C.; Newman, B. D.; Heikoop, J. M.; Busey, R.

2017-12-01

Wetlands associated with ice-wedge polygons are commonly distributed across the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska, a region underlain by continuous permafrost. Micro-topography of the ice-wedge polygons controls local hydrology, and the micro-topography could be altered due to factors such like surface vegetation, wetness, freeze-thaw cycles, and permafrost degradation/aggradation under climate change. Understanding status of the wetlands in the near future is important because it determines biogeochemical cycle, which drives release of greenhouse gases from the ground. However, transitional regime of the ice-wedge polygons under the changing climate is not fully understood. In this study, we analyzed geochemistry of water extracted from frozen soil cores sampled down to about 1m depth in 2014 March at NGEE-Arctic sites in the Barrow Environmental Observatory. The cores were sampled from troughs/rims/centers of five different low-centered or flat-centered polygons. The frozen cores are divided into 5-10cm cores for each location, thawed in sealed plastic bags, and then extracted water was stored in vials. Comparison between the profiles of geochemistry indicated connection of soil water in the active layer at different location in a polygon, while it revealed that distinctly different water has been stored in permafrost layer at troughs/rims/centers of some polygons. Profiles of volumetric water content (VWC) showed clear signals of freeze-up desiccation in the middle of saturated active layers as low VWC anomalies at most sampling points. Water in the active layer and near-surface permafrost was classified into four categories: ice wedge / fresh meteoric / transitional / highly fractionated water. The overall results suggested prolonged separation of water in the active layer at the center of low-centered polygons without lateral connection in water path in the past.

Crevasse detection with GPR across the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delaney, A.; Arcone, S.

2005-12-01

We have used 400-MHz ground penetrating radar (GPR) to detect crevasses within a shear zone on the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica, to support traverse operations. The transducer was attached to a 6.5-m boom and pushed ahead of an enclosed tracked vehicle. Profile speeds of 4.8-11.3 km / hr allowed real-time crevasse image display and a quick, safe stop when required. Thirty-two crevasses were located with radar along the 4.8 km crossing. Generally, crevasse radar images were characterized by dipping reflections above the voids, high-amplitude reflections originating from ice layers at the base of the snow-bridges, and slanting, diffracting reflections from near-vertical crevasse walls. New cracks and narrow crevasses (<50 cm width) show no distinct snow bridge structure, few diffractions, and a distinct band where pulse reflections are absent. Wide (0.5-5.0 m), vertical wall crevasses show distinct dipping snow bridge layering and intense diffractions from ice layers near the base of the snow bridge. Pulse reflections are absent from voids beneath the snow bridges. Old, wide (3.0-8.0 m) and complexly shaped crevasses show well-developed, broad, dipping snow-bridge layers and a high-amplitude, complex, diffraction pattern. The crevasse mitigation process, which included hot-water drilling, destroying the bridges with dynamite, and back-filling with bulldozed snow, afforded an opportunity to ground-truth GPR interpretations by comparing void size and snow-bridge geometry with the radar images. While second and third season radar profiles collected along the identical flagged route confirmed stability of the filled crevasses, those profiles also identified several new cracks opened by ice extension. Our experiments demonstrate capability of high-frequency GPR in a cold-snow environment for both defining snow layers and locating voids.

String-like collective motion and diffusion in the interfacial region of ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xinyi; Tong, Xuhang; Zhang, Hao; Douglas, Jack F.

2017-11-01

We investigate collective molecular motion and the self-diffusion coefficient Ds of water molecules in the mobile interfacial layer of the secondary prismatic plane (11 2 ¯ 0 ) of hexagonal ice by molecular dynamics simulation based on the TIP4P/2005 water potential and a metrology of collective motion drawn from the field of glass-forming liquids. The width ξ of the mobile interfacial layer varies from a monolayer to a few nm as the temperature is increased towards the melting temperature Tm, in accordance with recent simulations and many experimental studies, although different experimental methods have differed in their precise estimates of the thickness of this layer. We also find that the dynamics within this mobile interfacial ice layer is "dynamically heterogeneous" in a fashion that has many features in common with glass-forming liquids and the interfacial dynamics of crystalline Ni over the same reduced temperature range, 2/3 < T/Tm < 1. In addition to exhibiting non-Gaussian diffusive transport, decoupling between mass diffusion and the structural relaxation time, and stretched exponential relaxation, we find string-like collective molecular exchange motion in the interfacial zone within the ice interfacial layer and colored noise fluctuations in the mean square molecular atomic displacement 〈u2〉 after a "caging time" of 1 ps, i.e., the Debye-Waller factor. However, while the heterogeneous dynamics of ice is clearly similar in many ways to molecular and colloidal glass-forming materials, we find distinct trends between the diffusion coefficient activation energy Ea for diffusion Ds and the interfacial width ξ from the scale of collective string-like motion L than those found in glass-forming liquids.

Present-day Exposures of Water Ice in the Northern Mid-latitudes of Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allen, Carlton C.; Kanner, Lisa C.

2007-01-01

Water ice is exposed in the martian north polar cap, but is rarely exposed beyond the cap boundary. Orbital gamma ray spectrometry data strongly imply the presence of water ice within meters of the surface at latitudes north of approximately 60deg. We have examined mid-latitude areas of the northern plains displaying residual ice-rich layers, and report evidence of present-day surface exposures of water ice. These exposures, if confirmed, could con-strain the latitudinal and temporal stability of surface ice on Mars.

Preliminary studies of electromagnetic sounding of cometary nuclei

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gabriel, A.; Warne, L.; Bednarczyk, S.; Elachi, C.

1978-01-01

The internal structure of a comet could be determined with a spacecraft borne electromagnetic sounder. A dielectric profile of the comet could be produced in direct analogy with terrestrial glacier and ice sheet sounding experiments. This profile would allow the detection of a rocky core or ice layers if they exist, just as layers in the ice and the bedrock interface have been clearly observed through the Greenland ice sheet. It would also provide a gross estimate of the amount of dust in the icy region. Models for the response of the nucleus and cometary plasma to electromagnetic sounding are developed and used to derive experimental parameters. A point system design was completed. Preliminary engineering study results indicate that the sounder is well within the bounds of current space technology.

Growth characteristics of (100)HgCdTe layers in low-temperature MOVPE with ditertiarybutyltelluride

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yasuda, K.; Hatano, H.; Ferid, T.; Minamide, M.; Maejima, T.; Kawamoto, K.

1996-09-01

Low-temperature growth of (100)HgCdTe (MCT) layers in MOVPE has been studied using ditertiarybutyltelluride (DtBTe), dimethylcadmium (DMCd), and elementary mercury as precursors. MCT layers were grown at 275°C on (100)GaAs substrates. Growths were carried out in a vertical growth cell which has a narrow spacing between the substrate and cell ceiling. Using the growth cell, the Cd-composition ( x) of MCT layers was controlled over a wide range from 0 to 0.98 by the DMCd flow. The growth rate of the MCT layers was constant at 5 μm h -1 for the increased DMCd flow. Preferential Cd-incorporation into MCT layers and an increase of the growth rate were observed in the presence of mercury vapor. The growth characteristics were considered to be due to the alkyl-exchange reaction between DMCd and mercury. The electrical properties and crystallinity of grown layers were also evaluated, which showed that layers with high quality can be grown at 275°C.

Abundance of fluorescent biological aerosol particles at temperatures conducive to the formation of mixed-phase and cirrus clouds

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

Twohy, Cynthia H.; McMeeking, Gavin R.; DeMott, Paul J.

Some types of biological particles are known to nucleate ice at warmer temperatures than mineral dust, with the potential to influence cloud microphysical properties and climate. However, the prevalence of these particle types above the atmospheric boundary layer is not well known. Many types of biological particles fluoresce when exposed to ultraviolet light, and the Wideband Integrated Bioaerosol Sensor takes advantage of this characteristic to perform real-time measurements of fluorescent biological aerosol particles (FBAPs). This instrument was flown on the National Center for Atmospheric Research Gulfstream V aircraft to measure concentrations of fluorescent biological particles from different potential sources andmore » at various altitudes over the US western plains in early autumn. Clear-air number concentrations of FBAPs between 0.8 and 12 µm diameter usually decreased with height and generally were about 10–100 L -1 in the continental boundary layer but always much lower at temperatures colder than 255 K in the free troposphere. At intermediate temperatures where biological ice-nucleating particles may influence mixed-phase cloud formation (255 K ≤ T ≤ 270 K), concentrations of fluorescent particles were the most variable and were occasionally near boundary-layer concentrations. Predicted vertical distributions of ice-nucleating particle concentrations based on FBAP measurements in this temperature regime sometimes reached typical concentrations of primary ice in clouds but were often much lower. If convection was assumed to lift boundary-layer FBAPs without losses to the free troposphere, better agreement between predicted ice-nucleating particle concentrations and typical ice crystal concentrations was achieved. Ice-nucleating particle concentrations were also measured during one flight and showed a decrease with height, and concentrations were consistent with a relationship to FBAPs established previously at the forested surface site below. The vertical distributions of FBAPs measured on five flights were also compared with those for bacteria, fungal spores, and pollen predicted from the EMAC global chemistry–climate model for the same geographic region.« less

Abundance of fluorescent biological aerosol particles at temperatures conducive to the formation of mixed-phase and cirrus clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Twohy, Cynthia H.; McMeeking, Gavin R.; DeMott, Paul J.; McCluskey, Christina S.; Hill, Thomas C. J.; Burrows, Susannah M.; Kulkarni, Gourihar R.; Tanarhte, Meryem; Kafle, Durga N.; Toohey, Darin W.

2016-07-01

Some types of biological particles are known to nucleate ice at warmer temperatures than mineral dust, with the potential to influence cloud microphysical properties and climate. However, the prevalence of these particle types above the atmospheric boundary layer is not well known. Many types of biological particles fluoresce when exposed to ultraviolet light, and the Wideband Integrated Bioaerosol Sensor takes advantage of this characteristic to perform real-time measurements of fluorescent biological aerosol particles (FBAPs). This instrument was flown on the National Center for Atmospheric Research Gulfstream V aircraft to measure concentrations of fluorescent biological particles from different potential sources and at various altitudes over the US western plains in early autumn. Clear-air number concentrations of FBAPs between 0.8 and 12 µm diameter usually decreased with height and generally were about 10-100 L-1 in the continental boundary layer but always much lower at temperatures colder than 255 K in the free troposphere. At intermediate temperatures where biological ice-nucleating particles may influence mixed-phase cloud formation (255 K ≤ T ≤ 270 K), concentrations of fluorescent particles were the most variable and were occasionally near boundary-layer concentrations. Predicted vertical distributions of ice-nucleating particle concentrations based on FBAP measurements in this temperature regime sometimes reached typical concentrations of primary ice in clouds but were often much lower. If convection was assumed to lift boundary-layer FBAPs without losses to the free troposphere, better agreement between predicted ice-nucleating particle concentrations and typical ice crystal concentrations was achieved. Ice-nucleating particle concentrations were also measured during one flight and showed a decrease with height, and concentrations were consistent with a relationship to FBAPs established previously at the forested surface site below. The vertical distributions of FBAPs measured on five flights were also compared with those for bacteria, fungal spores, and pollen predicted from the EMAC global chemistry-climate model for the same geographic region.

Investigation of Martian H2O and CO2 via gamma-ray spectroscopy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Squyres, Steven W.; Evans, Larry G.

1987-01-01

The evolution and present state of water and carbon dioxide on Mars are discussed. Researchers wished to determine how effectively questions regarding the distribution of water and carbon dioxide on Mars may be addressed with orbital gamma ray spectrometer data. Several simple, multi-layer models of the Martian surface were formulated to address problems such as the ice/dust ratio of layered deposits; the distribution, depth and concentration of ground ice; the thickness of north polar perennial ice; the thickness of the carbon dioxide layer over the south polar cap; the thickness of the seasonal carbon dioxide frost cap; and the water content of the seasonal frost cap. The results indicate that the Mars Observer gamma ray spectrometer will be a powerful tool for investigating the distribution and stratigraphy of volatiles on Mars.

Using absolute x-ray spectral measurements to infer stagnation conditions in ICF implosions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patel, Pravesh; Benedetti, L. R.; Cerjan, C.; Clark, D. S.; Hurricane, O. A.; Izumi, N.; Jarrott, L. C.; Khan, S.; Kritcher, A. L.; Ma, T.; Macphee, A. G.; Landen, O.; Spears, B. K.; Springer, P. T.

2016-10-01

Measurements of the continuum x-ray spectrum emitted from the hot-spot of an ICF implosion can be used to infer a number thermodynamic properties at stagnation including temperature, pressure, and hot-spot mix. In deuterium-tritium (DT) layered implosion experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) we field a number of x-ray diagnostics that provide spatial, temporal, and spectrally-resolved measurements of the radiated x-ray emission. We report on analysis of these measurements using a 1-D hot-spot model to infer thermodynamic properties at stagnation. We compare these to similar properties that can be derived from DT fusion neutron measurements. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

Constraints on the properties of Pluto's nitrogen-ice rich layer from convection simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, T.; McKinnon, W. B.; Schenk, P.

2016-12-01

Pluto's Sputnik Planum basin (informally named) displays regular cellular patterns strongly suggesting that solid-state convection is occurring in a several-kilometers-deep nitrogen-ice rich layer (McKinnon et al., Convection in a volatile nitrogen-ice-rich layer drives Pluto's geological vigour, Nature 534, 82-85, 2016). We investigate the behavior of thermal convection in 2-D that covers a range of parameters applicable to the nitrogen ice layer to constrain its properties such that these long-wavelength surface features can be explained. We perform a suite of numerical simulations of convection with basal heating and temperature-dependent viscosity in either exponential form or Arrhenius form. For a plausible range of Rayleigh numbers and viscosity contrasts for solid nitrogen, convection can occur in all possible regimes: sluggish lid, transitional, or stagnant lid, or the layer could be purely conducting. We suggest the range of depth and temperature difference across the layer for convection to occur. We observe that the plume dynamics can be widely different in terms of the aspect ratio of convecting cells, or the width and spacing of plumes, and also in the lateral movement of plumes. These differences depend on the regime of convection determined by the Rayleigh number and the actual viscosity contrast across the layer, but is not sensitive to whether the viscosity is in Arrhenius or exponential form. The variations in plume dynamics result in different types of dynamic topography, which can be compared with the observed horizontal and vertical scales of the cells in Sputnik Planum. Based on these simulations we suggest several different possibilities for the formation and evolution of Sputnik Planum, which may be a consequence of the time-dependent behavior of thermal convection.

Habitability constraints on water-rich exoplanets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noack, Lena; Höning, Dennis; Rivoldini, Attilio; Heistracher, Clemens; Zimov, Nastasia; Journaux, Baptiste; Lammer, Helmut; Van Hoolst, Tim; Hendrik Bredehöft, Jan

2016-04-01

This research addresses the characterization, modelling, thermal evolution and possible habitability of water-rich exoplanets. Water is necessary for the origin and survival of life as we know it. In the search for habitable worlds, water-rich planets therefore seem obvious candidates. The water layer on such planets could be hundreds of kilometers deep. Depending on the temperature profile and the pressure gradient, it is likely that at great depths a significant part of the water layer is solid high pressure ice. Whether the solid ice layer extends to the bottom of the water layer, or if a shallow lower ocean forms above the silicate mantle, depends amongst others on the thermal state of the planet. We therefore model the thermal evolution of water-rich planets with a 1D parameterized model. Depth-dependent profiles for thermodynamic properties as well as pressure and gravity are obtained by solving the Poisson equation for the gravity and the hydrostatic pressure equation for pre-defined mass and composition (in terms of iron, silicates and water) [1]. For density, equations of state are applied. For the simulation of the thermal evolution of water-rich planets, several parameters (as initial temperatures or layer thicknesses) are unknown. We therefore employ a quantitatve study with more than 20'000 simulations, where we investigated which parameters have the largest influence on the appearance of a lower ocean, i.e. the possible melting of high-pressure ice by heat flowing out of the silicate mantle [2]. We find that the surface temperature has the largest influence on the thickness of water layers, for which a lower ocean can still form between the high-pressure ice layer and the silicate mantle. For higher surface temperatures, not only entirely liquid oceans are possible for deeper water shells, also a liquid ocean can form under high-pressure ice layers of hundreds of kilometer thickness (for a 1 Earth-mass planet). Deeper down, the lower ocean can still appear episodically at the water-mantle boundary (WMB). We also investigated the main paramters influencing the existence of volcanic activity and silicate crust formation. Under deep water layers, the high pressure from the overlying water layer can inhibit melting in the mantle. The main parameters influencing the maximal water layer depth, for which melting is still possible, are indeed the parameters influencing the mantle energy budget, which are the amount of radioactive heat sources and the initial upper mantle temperature. Plate tectonics also has a strong influence on the existence of volcanism. Crustal parameters (initial thickness or heat sources enrichment factor) as well as the ice rheology (i.e. the isolating effect of the ice shell on the mantle) have only a small influence on melting processes in the interior and the formation of crust. [1] L. Noack, A. Rivoldini and T. Van Hoolst 2015: CHIC - Coupling Habitability, Interior and Crust: A new Code for Modeling the Thermal Evolution of Planets and Moons. INFOCOMP 2015, ISSN 2308-3484, ISBN 978-1-61208-416-9, pp. 84-90, IARIA, 2015. [2] L. Noack, D. Höning, A. Rivoldini, C. Heistracher, N. Zimov, B. Journaux, H. Lammer, T. Van Hoolst and J.H. Bredehöft: Water-rich planets: how habitable is a water layer deeper than on Earth? Submitted to Icarus.

Distribution of Arctic and Pacific copepods and their habitat in the northern Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sasaki, H.; Matsuno, K.; Fujiwara, A.; Onuka, M.; Yamaguchi, A.; Ueno, H.; Watanuki, Y.; Kikuchi, T.

2015-11-01

The advection of warm Pacific water and the reduction of sea-ice extent in the western Arctic Ocean may influence the abundance and distribution of copepods, i.e., a key component in food webs. To understand the factors affecting abundance of copepods in the northern Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea, we constructed habitat models explaining the spatial patterns of the large and small Arctic copepods and the Pacific copepods, separately, using generalized additive models. Copepods were sampled by NORPAC net. Vertical profiles of density, temperature and salinity in the seawater were measured using CTD, and concentration of chlorophyll a in seawater was measured with a fluorometer. The timing of sea-ice retreat was determined using the satellite image. To quantify the structure of water masses, the magnitude of pycnocline and averaged density, temperature and salinity in upper and bottom layers were scored along three axes using principal component analysis (PCA). The structures of water masses indexed by the scores of PCAs were selected as explanatory variables in the best models. Large Arctic copepods were abundant in the water mass with high salinity water in bottom layer or with cold/low salinity water in upper layer and cold/high salinity water in bottom layer, and small Arctic copepods were abundant in the water mass with warm/saline water in upper layer and cold/high salinity water in bottom layers, while Pacific copepods were abundant in the water mass with warm/saline in upper layer and cold/high salinity water in bottom layer. All copepod groups were abundant in areas with deeper depth. Although chlorophyll a in upper and bottom layers were selected as explanatory variables in the best models, apparent trends were not observed. All copepod groups were abundant where the sea-ice retreated at earlier timing. Our study might indicate potential positive effects of the reduction of sea-ice extent on the distribution of all groups of copepods in the Arctic Ocean.

A Prototype Ice-Melting Probe for Collecting Biological Samples from Cryogenic Ice at Low Pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, Ashley

2017-08-01

In the Solar System, the surface of an icy moon is composed of irregular ice formations at cryogenic temperatures (<200 K), with an oxidized surface layer and a tenuous atmosphere at very low pressure (<10-6 atm). A lander mission, whose aim is to collect and analyze biological samples from the surface ice, must contain a device that collects samples without refreezing liquid and without sublimation of ice. In addition, if the samples are biological in nature, then precautions must be taken to ensure the samples do not overheat or mix with the oxidized layer. To achieve these conditions, the collector must maintain temperatures close to maintenance or growth conditions of the organism (<293 K), and it must separate or neutralize the oxidized layer and be physically gentle. Here, we describe a device that addresses these requirements and is compatible with low atmospheric pressure while using no pumps. The device contains a heated conical probe with a central orifice, which is forced into surface ice and directs the meltwater upward into a reservoir. The force on the probe is proportional to the height of meltwater (pressure) obtained in the system and allows regulation of the melt rate and temperature of the sample. The device can collect 5-50 mL of meltwater from the surface of an ice block at 233-208 K with an environmental pressure of less than 10-2 atm while maintaining a sample temperature between 273 and 293 K. These conditions maintain most biological samples in a pristine state and maintain the integrity of most organisms' structure and function.

Physical and Biological Drivers of Biogeochemical Tracers Within the Seasonal Sea Ice Zone of the Southern Ocean From Profiling Floats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Briggs, Ellen M.; Martz, Todd R.; Talley, Lynne D.; Mazloff, Matthew R.; Johnson, Kenneth S.

2018-02-01

Here we present initial findings from nine profiling floats equipped with pH, O2, NO3-, and other biogeochemical sensors that were deployed in the seasonal ice zone (SIZ) of the Southern Ocean in 2014 and 2015 through the Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modelling (SOCCOM) project. A large springtime phytoplankton bloom was observed that coincided with sea ice melt for all nine floats. We argue this bloom results from a shoaling of the mixed layer depth, increased vertical stability, and enhanced nutrient and light availability as the sea ice melts. This interpretation is supported by the absence of a springtime bloom when one of the floats left the SIZ in the second year of observations. During the sea ice covered period, net heterotrophic conditions were observed. The rate of uptake of O2 and release of dissolved inorganic carbon (derived from pH and estimated total alkalinity) and NO3- is reminiscent of biological respiration and is nearly Redfieldian for the nine floats. A simple model of mixed layer physics was developed to separate the physical and biological components of the signal in pH and O2 over one annual cycle for a float in the Ross Sea SIZ. The resulting annual net community production suggests that seasonal respiration during the ice covered period of the year nearly balances the production in the euphotic layer of up to 5 mol C m-2 during the ice free period leading to a net of near zero carbon exported to depth for this one float.

Characteristics of Airborne Lidar Profiles of the Arctic Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Churnside, J. H.; Marchbanks, R.

2016-02-01

In July, 2014, we flew the NOAA oceanographic lidar more than 6000 km over the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas around northern Alaska. The most obvious feature in the lidar returns was sea ice, which blocked any return from below and saturated our receivers. The flights were designed to measure profiles with varying degrees of ice cover, from open water to nearly completely covered water. Thin phytoplankton layers were also prevalent, both in open water and within the pack ice. These layers were generally deeper (20 m vs. 16 m averages) and stronger (27 times the background level vs. 9 times) in open water than in the ice. The average layer thicknesses were similar in open water and in the ice (3.8 m vs. 3.4 m). The diffuse attenuation coefficient measured by the lidar did not depend strongly on ice cover. It was generally higher near the coast than farther off shore. Fish were present in a few of the returns, but these were not very numerous. More common were the sediment plumes generated by gray whales feeding on crustaceans on the bottom. Data from these flights show a high level of spatial variability that is difficult to measure from a surface vessel and significant vertical structure that is impossible to obtain from satellite ocean-color instruments. One application of this type of lidar data is to estimate primary productivity in the Arctic Ocean. It is clear that productivity is increasing, largely as a result of decreased ice cover, but many details remain uncertain.

Cross Flow Effects on Glaze Ice Roughness Formation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tsao, Jen-Ching

2004-01-01

The present study examines the impact of large-scale cross flow on the creation of ice roughness elements on the leading edge of a swept wing under glaze icing conditions. A three-dimensional triple-deck structure is developed to describe the local interaction of a 3 D air boundary layer with ice sheets and liquid films. A linear stability analysis is presented here. It is found that, as the sweep angle increases, the local icing instabilities enhance and the most linearly unstable modes are strictly three dimensional.

Ice elevation change from Swath Processing of CryoSat SARIn Mode Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foresta, Luca; Gourmelen, Noel; Shepherd, Andrew; Muir, Alan; Nienow, Pete

2015-04-01

Reference and repeat-observations of Glacier and Ice Sheet Margin (GISM) topography are critical to identify changes in ice elevation, provide estimates of mass gain or loss and thus quantify the contribution of the cryosphere to sea level rise (e.g. McMillan et al., 2014). The Synthetic Interferometric Radar Altimeter (SIRAL) onboard the ESA radar altimetry CryoSat (CS) mission has collected ice elevation measurements since 2010. The corresponding SARIn mode of operation, activated over GISM areas, provides high spatial resolution in the along-track direction while resolving the angular origin of echoes (i.e. across-track). The current ESA SARIn processor calculates the elevation of the Point Of Closest Approach (POCA) within each waveform and maps of elevation change in Antarctica and Greenland have been produced using the regular CS height product (McMillan et al., 2014; Helm et al., 2014). Data from the CS-SARIn mode has also been used to produce measurements of ice elevation beyond the POCA, also known as swath elevation (Hawley et al. 2009; Gray et al., 2013; ESA-STSE CryoTop project). Here we use the swath processing approach to generate maps of ice elevation change from selected regions around the margins of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets. We discuss the impact of the swath processing on the spatial resolution and precision of the resulting ice elevation field and compare our results to current dh/dt estimates. References: ESA STSE CryoTop project - http://www.stse-cryotop.org/ Gray L., Burgess D., Copland L., Cullen R., Galin N., Hawley R. and Helm V. Interferometric swath processing of Cryosat data for glacial ice topography. The Cryosphere, 7(6):1857-1867, December 2013. Hawley R.L., Shepherd A., Cullen R., Helm V. and WIngham D.J. Ice-sheet elevations from across-track processing of airborne interferometric radar altimetry. Geophysical Research Letters, 36(22):L22501, November 2009. Helm V., Humbert A. and Miller H. Elevation and elevation change of Greenland and Antarctica derived from CryoSat-2. The Cryosphere, 8(4):1539-1559, August 2014. McMillan M., Shepherd A., Sundal A., Briggs K., Muir A., Ridout A., Hogg A. and Wingham D. Increased ice losses from Antarctica detected by CryoSat-2. Geophysical Research Letters, pages 3899-3905, 2014.

Modeling the heating and melting of sea ice through light absorption by microalgae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeebe, Richard E.; Eicken, Hajo; Robinson, Dale H.; Wolf-Gladrow, Dieter; Dieckmann, Gerhard S.

1996-01-01

In sea ice of polar regions, high concentrations of microalgae are observed during the spring. Algal standing stocks may attain peak values of over 300 mg chl a m-2 in the congelation ice habitat. As of yet, the effect of additional heating of sea ice through conversion of solar radiation into heat by algae has not been investigated in detail. Local effects, such as a decrease in albedo, increasing melt rates, and a decrease of the physical strength of ice sheets may occur. To investigate the effects of microalgae on the thermal regime of sea ice, a time-dependent, one-dimensional thermodynamic model of sea ice was coupled to a bio-optical model. A spectral one-stream model was employed to determine spectral attenuation by snow, sea ice, and microalgae. Beer's law was assumed to hold for every wavelength. Energy absorption was obtained by calculating the divergence of irradiance in every layer of the model (Δz = 1 cm). Changes in sea ice temperature profiles were calculated by solving the heat conduction equation with a finite difference scheme. Model results indicate that when algal biomass is concentrated at the bottom of congelation ice, melting of ice resulting from the additional conversion of solar radiation into heat may effectively destroy the algal habitat, thereby releasing algal biomass into the water column. An algal layer located in the top of the ice sheet induced a significant increase in sea ice temperature (ΔT > 0.3 K) for snow depths less than 5 cm and algal standing stocks higher than 150 mg chl a m-2. Furthermore, under these conditions, brine volume increased by 21% from 181 to 219 parts per thousand, which decreased the physical strength of the ice.

Evolution of the Marginal Ice Zone: Adaptive Sampling with Autonomous Gliders

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-30

kinetic energy (ε). Gliders also sampled dissolved oxygen, optical backscatter ( chlorophyll and CDOM fluorescence) and multi-spectral downwelling...Fig. 2). In the pack, Pacific Summer Water and a deep chlorophyll maximum form distinct layers at roughly 60 m and 80 m, respectively, which become...Sections across the ice edge just prior to recovery, during freeze-up, reveal elevated chlorophyll fluorescence throughout the mixed layer (Fig. 4

Evolution of a Western Arctic Ice Ocean Boundary Layer and Mixed Layer Across a Developing Thermodynamically Forced Marginal Ice Zone

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY from the NAVAL POSTGRADUATE...SCHOOL September 2016 Approved by: Timothy P. Stanton William J. Shaw Research Professor of Research Associate Professor Oceanography of... Oceanography Dissertation Committee Chair Timour Radko Andrew Roberts Associate Professor of Research Assistant Professor Oceanography of Oceanography

The growth process of first water layer and crystalline ice on the Rh(111) surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beniya, Atsushi; Sakaguchi, Yuji; Narushima, Tetsuya; Mukai, Kozo; Yamashita, Yoshiyuki; Yoshimoto, Shinya; Yoshinobu, Jun

2009-01-01

The adsorption states and growth process of the first layer and multilayer of water (D2O) on Rh(111) above 135K were investigated using infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRAS), temperature programed desorption, spot-profile-analysis low-energy electron diffraction, and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). At the initial stage, water molecules form commensurate (√3×√3)R30° islands, whose size is limited for several hexagonal units; the average diameter is ˜2.5nm. This two-dimensional (2D) island includes D-down species, and free OD species exist at the island edge. With increasing coverage, the D-up species starts to appear in IRAS. At higher coverages, the 2D islands are connected in STM images. By the titration of Xe adsorption we estimated that the D-down domain occupies about 55% on Rh(111) at the saturation coverage. Further adsorption of water molecules forms three-dimensional ice crystallites on the first water layer; thus, the growth mode of crystalline water layers on Rh(111) is a Stranski-Krastanov type. We have found that an ice crystallite starts to grow on D-down domains and the D-down species do not reorient upon the formation of a crystalline ice.

Response of Antarctic cryoconite microbial communities to light.

PubMed

Bagshaw, Elizabeth A; Wadham, Jemma L; Tranter, Martyn; Perkins, Rupert; Morgan, Alistair; Williamson, Christopher J; Fountain, Andrew G; Fitzsimons, Sean; Dubnick, Ashley

2016-06-01

Microbial communities on polar glacier surfaces are found dispersed on the ice surface, or concentrated in cryoconite holes and cryolakes, which are accumulations of debris covered by a layer of ice for some or all of the year. The ice lid limits the penetration of photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) to the sediment layer, since the ice attenuates up to 99% of incoming radiation. This suite of field and laboratory experiments demonstrates that PAR is an important control on primary production in cryoconite and cryolake ecosystems. Increased light intensity increased efficiency of primary production in controlled laboratory incubations of debris from the surface of Joyce Glacier, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. However, when light intensity was increased to levels near that received on the ice surface, without the protection of an ice lid, efficiency decreased and measurements of photophysiology showed that the communities suffered light stress. The communities are therefore well adapted to low light levels. Comparison with Arctic cryoconite communities, which are typically not covered by an ice lid for the majority of the ablation season, showed that these organisms were also stressed by high light, so they must employ strategies to protect against photodamage. © FEMS 2016.

Response of Antarctic cryoconite microbial communities to light

PubMed Central

Bagshaw, Elizabeth A.; Wadham, Jemma L.; Tranter, Martyn; Perkins, Rupert; Morgan, Alistair; Williamson, Christopher J.; Fountain, Andrew G.; Fitzsimons, Sean; Dubnick, Ashley

2016-01-01

Microbial communities on polar glacier surfaces are found dispersed on the ice surface, or concentrated in cryoconite holes and cryolakes, which are accumulations of debris covered by a layer of ice for some or all of the year. The ice lid limits the penetration of photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) to the sediment layer, since the ice attenuates up to 99% of incoming radiation. This suite of field and laboratory experiments demonstrates that PAR is an important control on primary production in cryoconite and cryolake ecosystems. Increased light intensity increased efficiency of primary production in controlled laboratory incubations of debris from the surface of Joyce Glacier, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. However, when light intensity was increased to levels near that received on the ice surface, without the protection of an ice lid, efficiency decreased and measurements of photophysiology showed that the communities suffered light stress. The communities are therefore well adapted to low light levels. Comparison with Arctic cryoconite communities, which are typically not covered by an ice lid for the majority of the ablation season, showed that these organisms were also stressed by high light, so they must employ strategies to protect against photodamage. PMID:27095815

Implications of fractured Arctic perennial ice cover on thermodynamic and dynamic sea ice processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asplin, Matthew G.; Scharien, Randall; Else, Brent; Howell, Stephen; Barber, David G.; Papakyriakou, Tim; Prinsenberg, Simon

2014-04-01

Decline of the Arctic summer minimum sea ice extent is characterized by large expanses of open water in the Siberian, Laptev, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas, and introduces large fetch distances in the Arctic Ocean. Long waves can propagate deep into the pack ice, thereby causing flexural swell and failure of the sea ice. This process shifts the floe size diameter distribution smaller, increases floe surface area, and thereby affects sea ice dynamic and thermodynamic processes. The results of Radarsat-2 imagery analysis show that a flexural fracture event which occurred in the Beaufort Sea region on 6 September 2009 affected ˜40,000 km2. Open water fractional area in the area affected initially decreased from 3.7% to 2.7%, but later increased to ˜20% following wind-forced divergence of the ice pack. Energy available for lateral melting was assessed by estimating the change in energy entrainment from longwave and shortwave radiation in the mixed-layer of the ocean following flexural fracture. 11.54 MJ m-2 of additional energy for lateral melting of ice floes was identified in affected areas. The impact of this process in future Arctic sea ice melt seasons was assessed using estimations of earlier occurrences of fracture during the melt season, and is discussed in context with ocean heat fluxes, atmospheric mixing of the ocean mixed layer, and declining sea ice cover. We conclude that this process is an important positive feedback to Arctic sea ice loss, and timing of initiation is critical in how it affects sea ice thermodynamic and dynamic processes.

Initial results from geophysical surveys and shallow coring of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vallelonga, P.; Christianson, K.; Alley, R. B.; Anandakrishnan, S.; Christian, J. E. M.; Dahl-Jensen, D.; Gkinis, V.; Holme, C.; Jacobel, R. W.; Karlsson, N. B.; Keisling, B. A.; Kipfstuhl, S.; Kjær, H. A.; Kristensen, M. E. L.; Muto, A.; Peters, L. E.; Popp, T.; Riverman, K. L.; Svensson, A. M.; Tibuleac, C.; Vinther, B. M.; Weng, Y.; Winstrup, M.

2014-07-01

The Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS) is the sole interior Greenlandic ice stream. Fast flow initiates near the summit dome, and the ice stream terminates approximately 1000 km downstream in three large outlet glaciers that calve into the Greenland Sea. To better understand this important system, in the summer of 2012 we drilled a 67 m firn core and conducted ground-based radio-echo sounding (RES) and active-source seismic surveys at a site approximately 150 km downstream from the onset of streaming flow (NEGIS firn core, 75°37.61' N, 35°56.49' W). The site is representative of the upper part of the ice stream, while also being in a crevasse-free area for safe surface operations. Annual cycles were observed for insoluble dust, sodium and ammonium concentrations and for electrolytic conductivity, allowing a seasonally resolved chronology covering the past 400 yr. Annual layer thicknesses averaged 0.11 m ice equivalent (i.e.) for the period 1607-2011, although accumulation varied between 0.08 and 0.14 m i.e., likely due to flow-related changes in surface topography. Tracing of RES layers from the NGRIP (North Greenland Ice Core Project) ice core site shows that the ice at NEGIS preserves a climatic record of at least the past 51 kyr. We demonstrate that deep ice core drilling in this location can provide a reliable Holocene and late-glacial climate record, as well as helping to constrain the past dynamics and ice-lithosphere interactions of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Cryogenci DT and D2 Targets for Inertial Confinement Fusion

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

Sangster, T.C.; Betti, R.; Craxton, R.S.

Ignition target designs for inertial confinement fusion on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) are based on a spherical ablator containing a solid, cryogenic-fuel layer of deuterium and tritium. The need for solid-fuel layers was recognized more than 30 years ago and considerable effort has resulted in the production of cryogenic targets that meet most of the critical fabrication tolerances for ignition on the NIf. Significant progress with the formation and characterization of cryogenic targets for both direct and x-ray drive will be described. Results from recent cryogenic implosions will also be presented.

A coupled ice-ocean model of ice breakup and banding in the marginal ice zone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smedstad, O. M.; Roed, L. P.

1985-01-01

A coupled ice-ocean numerical model for the marginal ice zone is considered. The model consists of a nonlinear sea ice model and a two-layer (reduced gravity) ocean model. The dependence of the upwelling response on wind stress direction is discussed. The results confirm earlier analytical work. It is shown that there exist directions for which there is no upwelling, while other directions give maximum upwelling in terms of the volume of uplifted water. The ice and ocean is coupled directly through the stress at the ice-ocean interface. An interesting consequence of the coupling is found in cases when the ice edge is almost stationary. In these cases the ice tends to break up a few tenths of kilometers inside of the ice edge.

Quasi-Liquid Layer Formation on Ice under Stratospheric Conditions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McNeill, V. Faye; Loerting, Thomas; Trout, Bernhardt L.; Molina, Luisa T.; Molina, Mario J.

2004-01-01

Characterization of the interaction of hydrogen chloride (HCl) with ice is essential to understanding at a molecular level the processes responsible for ozone depletion involving polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) particles. To explain the catalytic role PSC particle surfaces play during chlorine activation, we proposed previously that HCl induces the formation of a disordered region on the ice surface, a quasi-liquid layer (QLL), at stratospheric conditions. The QLL is known to exist in pure ice crystals at temperatures near the melting point, but its existence at stratospheric temperatures (-85 C to -70 C) had not been reported yet. We studied the interaction of HCl with ice under stratospheric conditions using the complementary approach of a) ellipsometry to directly monitor the ice surface, using chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS) to monitor the gas phase species present in the ellipsometry experiments, and b) flow-tube experiments with CIMS detection. Here we show that trace amounts of HCl induce QLL formation at stratospheric temperatures, and that the QLL enhances the chlorine-activation reaction of HCl with chlorine nitrate (ClONO2), and also enhances acetic acid (CH3COOH) adsorption.

Origin of the outer layer of martian low-aspect ratio layered ejecta craters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boyce, Joseph M.; Wilson, Lionel; Barlow, Nadine G.

2015-01-01

Low-aspect ratio layered ejecta (LARLE) craters are one of the most enigmatic types of martian layered ejecta craters. We propose that the extensive outer layer of these craters is produced through the same base surge mechanism as that which produced the base surge deposits generated by near-surface, buried nuclear and high-explosive detonations. However, the LARLE layers have higher aspect ratios compared with base surge deposits from explosion craters, a result of differences in thicknesses of these layers. This characteristics is probably caused by the addition of large amounts of small particles of dust and ice derived from climate-related mantles of snow, ice and dust in the areas where LARLE craters form. These deposits are likely to be quickly stabilized (order of a few days to a few years) from eolian erosion by formation of duricrust produced by diffusion of water vapor out of the deposits.

Dissipation in the deep interiors of Ganymede and Europa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hussmann, Hauke; Shoji, Daigo; Steinbruegge, Gregor; Stark, Alexander; Sohl, Frank

2017-04-01

Jupiter's satellites are subject to strong tidal forces which result in variations of the gravitational potential and deformations of the satellites' surfaces on the diurnal tidal cycle. Tidal flexing in the deep interiors can be a significant heat source for the satellites' thermal-orbital evolution. Whereas typical structure models of Europa consist of a core, a silicate mantle, an ocean and an outer ice-I shell [1], pressures inside Ganymede are sufficient for high-pressure ice phases to occur between the silicate mantle and the ocean [2]. With current data it is unknown whether the deep interiors (i.e., Europa's silicate shell and Ganymede's silicate mantle and/or high-pressure ice layer) are dissipative. Other possibilities would be that the dissipation rates are in general very low (unlikely at least for Europa due to recent observations) or that dissipative processes are mainly occurring in the ice-I shell and/or ocean. Thus, for evaluations of the heating state of these satellites, it is important to measure the magnitude of the interior dissipation. However, observation of the interior layers such as high-pressure ice layers is more challenging than that of the surface ice-I layer. Here we suggest a method to constrain the dissipation states of the deep interiors of Ganymede and Europa by altimetry and gravity measurements from an orbiting or multi-flyby spacecraft. Tidal variations are generally described by the Love numbers k2 and h2 for the tide-induced potential variation due to internal mass redistribution and the radial surface displacement, respectively. The phase-lags of these complex numbers contain information about the rheological and dissipative states of the satellites. For the satellites we assume a decoupling of the outer ice-shell from the deep interior by a liquid subsurface water ocean. We show that, in this case, the phase-lag difference between the lags of k2 and h2 can provide information on the rheological and thermal state of the deep interiors if the viscosities of the deeper layers are small (the phase-lag difference is almost independent of the dissipation in the surface layer). In case of Ganymede, phase-lag differences can reach values of a few degrees for high-pressure ice viscosities of 1e13-1e14 Pa s (around the lower boundary at its melting temperature) and would indicate a highly dissipative state of the deep interior. In this case, in contrast to the phase lags itself, the phase-lag difference is dominated by dissipation in the high-pressure ice layer rather than dissipation within the ice-I shell. These phase lags would be detectable from spacecraft in orbit around the satellite [3]. For Europa the phase-lag difference could reach values exceeding 20 deg if the silicate mantle contains melt and phase-lag measurements could help distinguish between (1) a hot dissipative (melt-containing) silicate mantle which would in thermal equilibrium correspond to a very thin outer ice-I shell and (2) a cold deep interior implying that dissipation would mainly occur in a thick (several tens of km) outer ice-I shell. These measurements are highly relevant for ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) and NASA's Europa Multiple Flyby Mission, both targeted for the Jupiter system. References: [1] Schubert, G., F. Sohl and H. Hussmann 2009. Interior of Europa. In: Europa, (R.T. Pappalardo, W.B. McKinnon, K. Khurana, Eds.), University of Arizona Press, pp. 353 - 368. [2] Schubert G., J. D. Anderson, T. Spohn, and W. B. McKinnon 2004. Interior composition, structure, and dynamics of the Galilean satellites. In: F. Bagenal, T. E. Dowling, and W. B. McKinnon (eds.) Jupiter. The Planet, Satellites, and Magnetosphere, pp. 281-306. Cambridge University Press. [3] Hussmann, H., D. Shoji, G. Steinbrügge, A. Stark, F. Sohl 2016. Constraints on dissipation in the deep interiors of Ganymede and Europa from tidal phase-lags. Cel. Mech. Dyn. Astr. 126, 131 - 144.

Ikaite crystals in melting sea ice - implications for pCO2 and pH levels in Arctic surface waters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rysgaard, S.; Glud, R. N.; Lennert, K.; Cooper, M.; Halden, N.; Leakey, R. J. G.; Hawthorne, F. C.; Barber, D.

2012-03-01

A major issue of Arctic marine science is to understand whether the Arctic Ocean is, or will be, a source or sink for air-sea CO2 exchange. This has been complicated by the recent discoveries of ikaite (CaCO3·6H2O) in Arctic and Antarctic sea ice, which indicate that multiple chemical transformations occur in sea ice with a possible effect on CO2 and pH conditions in surface waters. Here we report on biogeochemical conditions, microscopic examinations and x-ray diffraction analysis of single crystals from an actively melting 1.7 km2 (0.5-1 m thick) drifting ice floe in the Fram Strait during summer. Our findings show that ikaite crystals are present throughout the sea ice but with larger crystals appearing in the upper ice layers. Ikaite crystals placed at elevated temperatures gradually disintegrated into smaller crystallites and dissolved. During our field campaign in late June, melt reduced the ice flow thickness by ca. 0.2 m per week and resulted in an estimated 1.6 ppm decrease of pCO2 in the ocean surface mixed layer. This corresponds to an air-sea CO2 uptake of 11 mmol m-2 sea ice d-1 or to 3.5 ton km-2 ice floe week-1.

Radon and radium in the ice-covered Arctic Ocean, and what they reveal about gas exchange in the sea ice zone.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loose, B.; Kelly, R. P.; Bigdeli, A.; Moran, S. B.

2014-12-01

The polar sea ice zones are regions of high primary productivity and interior water mass formation. Consequently, the seasonal sea ice cycle appears important to both the solubility and biological carbon pumps. To estimate net CO2 transfer in the sea ice zone, we require accurate estimates of the air-sea gas transfer velocity. In the open ocean, the gas transfer velocity is driven by wind, waves and bubbles - all of which are strongly altered by the presence of sea ice, making it difficult to translate open ocean estimates of gas transfer to the ice zone. In this study, we present profiles of 222Rn and 226Ra throughout the mixed-layer and euphotic zone. Profiles were collected spanning a range of sea ice cover conditions from 40 to 100%. The profiles of Rn/Ra can be used to estimate the gas transfer velocity, but the 3.8 day half-life of 222Rn implies that mixed layer radon will have a memory of the past ~20 days of gas exchange forcing, which may include a range of sea ice cover conditions. Here, we compare individual estimates of the gas transfer velocity to the turbulent forcing conditions constrained from shipboard and regional reanalysis data to more appropriately capture the time history upper ocean Rn/Ra.

Lost Impacts (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schultz, P. H.; Stickle, A. M.

2009-12-01

The absence of a clearly identified crater (or craters) for the proposed YDB impact has raised questions concerning the reality of such an event. Geologic studies have identified impact deposits well before recognizing a causative crater (e.g., Chicxulub and Chesapeake Bay); some have yet to be discovered (e.g., Australasian tektite strewnfields). The absence of a crater, therefore, cannot be used as an argument against the reality of the YDB impact (and its possible consequences). The study here addresses how a large on-land impact during the late Pleistocene or early Holocene could avoid easy detection today. It does not argue the case for a YDB impact, since such evidence must come from the rock record. During the late Pleistocene, the receding Laurentide ice sheet still covered a significant portion of Canada. While a large (1km) body impacting vertically (90°) would penetrate such a low-impedance ice layer and excavate the substrate, an oblique impact couples more of its energy into the surface layer, thereby partially shielding the substrate. Three approaches address the effectiveness of this flak-jacket effect. First, hypervelocity impact experiments at the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range investigated the effectiveness of low-impedance layers of different thicknesses for mitigating substrate damage. Second, selected experiments were compared with hydrocode models (see Stickle and Schultz, this volume) and extended to large scales. Third, comparisons were made with relict craters found in eroding sediment and ice covers on Mars. Oblique impacts (30 degrees) into soft particulates (no. 24 sand) covering a solid substrate (aluminum) have no effect on the final crater diameter for layer thicknesses exceeding a projectile diameter and result in only plastic deformation in the substrate. In contrast, a vertical impact requires a surface layer at least 3 times the projectile diameter to achieve the same diameter (with significant substrate damage). Oblique impacts into ice and plasticene layers over clear acrylic blocks allow assessing internal damage. These experiments reveal that low-impedance surface layers approaching 1 to 2 projectile diameters effectively shield the substrate from shock damage for impact angles less than 30 degrees. Missing craters (and relict crater roots) within ice-rich deposits on Mars illustrate the rapid erasure the impact record. Numerous small pedestal craters (crater diameter < 5km) occur at high latitudes and reflect the cyclic expansion and disappearance of polar ice/dust deposits up to 0.5 km thick. Much larger examples (> 50km), however, occur at low latitudes but are localized in certain regions where even thicker deposits (locally >2km) have been removed, uncovering a preserved Noachian landscape. Crater statistics further document this missing cratering record. Thick Pleistocene ice sheets on Earth would have played a similar role for the removal of terrestrial cratering record. We calculate that a crater as large as 15km in diameter formed by an oblique impact could have been effectively erased, except for dispersed ejecta containing shocked impactor relicts and a disturbed substrate. While plausible, evidence for specific missing events (e.g., the proposed YB impact) must be found in still-preserved ice layers and sediments.

Meltwater-induced changes in the structure and behavior of Greenland's firn

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacFerrin, M. J.; Machguth, H.; van As, D.; Charalampidis, C.; Heilig, A.; Vandecrux, B.; Stevens, C.; Abdalati, W.

2017-12-01

As surface melt increases across the Greenland ice sheet in a warming climate, Greenland's accumulation zone has absorbed a progressively greater volume of water. In low-accumulation regions lacking perennial aquifers, this meltwater has refrozen into subsurface ice, which is now fundamentally altering the structure of near-surface firn layers. Here we present an extensive collection of firn cores, in situ radar, NASA IceBridge radar, thermistor string measurements, in situ FirnCover compaction data and regional climate model results to illustrate several distinct ways that Greenland's percolation zone is being fundamentally altered by increasing surface melt. The bulk density of the top 20 meters' firn in the wet-snow facies has increased by up to 40% in the past 50 years, due primarily to an up to six-fold increase in firn ice content. Firn compaction rates have changed both in their annual magnitude and have been delayed in their seasonal phase by up to three months, driven primarily by an increased release of latent heat as water refreezes at depth. When firn exceeds a threshold of excess melt in which seasonal snow can no longer accommodate summer melt, individual refrozen ice layers at depth have annealed together to form low-permeability ice slabs (LPISs). These multi-meter thick layers of ice perched over porous firn block percolation to depth and increase the size of the runoff zone. LPISs are a type of "hybrid facies" capable both of running water off the surface, while continuing to slowly compact porous firn at depth. Currently LPISs cover approximately 5% of Greenland's current accumulation zone, but we project them to extend across 15-50% of the accumulation zone by 2100 under different forcing scenarios. These observed changes in the structure and behavior of Greenland's firn have serious implications for future runoff of the ice sheet. Additionally, they challenge modern assumptions which we use to quantify the mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet from airborne and space-borne measurements.

User's manual for the NASA Lewis ice accretion/heat transfer prediction code with electrothermal deicer input

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Masiulaniec, Konstanty C.; Wright, William B.

1994-01-01

A version of LEWICE has been developed that incorporates a recently developed electrothermal deicer code, developed at the University of Toledo by William B. Wright. This was accomplished, in essence, by replacing a subroutine in LEWICE, called EBAL, which balanced the energies at the ice surface, with a subroutine called UTICE. UTICE performs this same energy balance, as well as handles all the time-timperature transients below the ice surface, for all of the layers of a composite blade as well as the ice layer itself. This new addition is set up in such a fashion that a user may specify any number of heaters, any heater chordwise length, and any heater gap desired. The heaters may be fired in unison, or they may be cycled with periods independent of each other. The heater intensity may also be varied. In addition, the user may specify any number of layers and thicknesses depthwise into the blade. Thus, the new addition has maximum flexibility in modeling virtually any electrothermal deicer installed into any airfoil. It should be noted that the model simulates both shedding and runback. With the runback capability, it can simulate the anti-icing mode of heater performance, as well as detect icing downstream of the heaters due to runback in unprotected portions of the airfoil. This version of LEWICE can be run in three modes. In mode 1, no conduction heat transfer is modeled (which would be equivalent to the original version of LEWICE). In mode 2, all heat transfer is considered due to conduction but no heaters are firing. In mode 3, conduction heat transfer where the heaters are engaged is modeled, with subsequent ice shedding. When run in the first mode, there is virtually identical agreement with the original version of LEWICE in the prediction of accreted ice shapes. The code may be run in the second mode to determine the effects of conduction on the ice accretion process.

A FIRE-ACE/SHEBA Case Study of Mixed-Phase Arctic Boundary Layer Clouds: Entrainment Rate Limitations on Rapid Primary Ice Nucleation Processes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fridlin, Ann; vanDiedenhoven, Bastiaan; Ackerman, Andrew S.; Avramov, Alexander; Mrowiec, Agnieszka; Morrison, Hugh; Zuidema, Paquita; Shupe, Matthew D.

2012-01-01

Observations of long-lived mixed-phase Arctic boundary layer clouds on 7 May 1998 during the First International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) Regional Experiment (FIRE)Arctic Cloud Experiment (ACE)Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) campaign provide a unique opportunity to test understanding of cloud ice formation. Under the microphysically simple conditions observed (apparently negligible ice aggregation, sublimation, and multiplication), the only expected source of new ice crystals is activation of heterogeneous ice nuclei (IN) and the only sink is sedimentation. Large-eddy simulations with size-resolved microphysics are initialized with IN number concentration N(sub IN) measured above cloud top, but details of IN activation behavior are unknown. If activated rapidly (in deposition, condensation, or immersion modes), as commonly assumed, IN are depleted from the well-mixed boundary layer within minutes. Quasi-equilibrium ice number concentration N(sub i) is then limited to a small fraction of overlying N(sub IN) that is determined by the cloud-top entrainment rate w(sub e) divided by the number-weighted ice fall speed at the surface v(sub f). Because w(sub c)< 1 cm/s and v(sub f)> 10 cm/s, N(sub i)/N(sub IN)<< 1. Such conditions may be common for this cloud type, which has implications for modeling IN diagnostically, interpreting measurements, and quantifying sensitivity to increasing N(sub IN) (when w(sub e)/v(sub f)< 1, entrainment rate limitations serve to buffer cloud system response). To reproduce observed ice crystal size distributions and cloud radar reflectivities with rapidly consumed IN in this case, the measured above-cloud N(sub IN) must be multiplied by approximately 30. However, results are sensitive to assumed ice crystal properties not constrained by measurements. In addition, simulations do not reproduce the pronounced mesoscale heterogeneity in radar reflectivity that is observed.

The role of membrane-like stresses in determining the stability and sensitivity of the Antarctic ice sheets: back pressure and grounding line motion.

PubMed

Hindmarsh, Richard C A

2006-07-15

Membrane stresses act along thin bodies which are relatively well lubricated on both surfaces. They operate in ice sheets because the bottom is either sliding, or is much less viscous than the top owing to stress and heat softening of the basal ice. Ice streams flow over very well lubricated beds, and are restrained at their sides. The ideal of the perfectly slippery bed is considered in this paper, and the propagation of mechanical effects along an ice stream considered by applying spatially varying horizontal body forces. Propagation distances depend sensitively on the rheological index, and can be very large for ice-type rheologies.A new analytical solution for ice-shelf profiles and grounded tractionless stream profiles is presented, which show blow up of the profile in a finite distance upstream at locations where the flux is non-zero. This is a feature of an earlier analytical solution for a floating shelf.The length scale of decay of membrane stresses from the grounding line is investigated through scale analysis. In ice sheets, such effects decay over distances of several tens of kilometres, creating a vertical boundary layer between sheet flow and shelf flow, where membrane stresses adjust. Bounded, physically reasonable steady surface profiles only exist conditionally in this boundary layer. Where bounded steady profiles exist, adjacent profile equilibria for the whole ice sheet corresponding to different grounded areas occur (neutral equilibrium). If no solution in the boundary layer can exist, the ice-sheet profile must change.The conditions for existence can be written in terms of whether the basal rate factor (sliding or internal deformation) is too large to permit a steady solution. The critical value depends extremely sensitively on ice velocity and the back stress applied at the grounding line. High ice velocity and high stress both favour the existence of solutions and stability. Changes in these parameters can cause the steady solution existence criterion to be traversed, and the ice-sheet dynamics to change.A finite difference model which represents both neutral equilibrium and the dynamical transition is presented, and preliminary investigations into its numerical sensitivity are carried out. Evidence for the existence of a long wavelength instability is presented through the solution of a numerical eigenproblem, which will hamper predictability.

An optical model for the microwave properties of sea ice

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gloersen, P.; Larabee, J. K.

1981-01-01

The complex refractive index of sea ice is modeled and used to predict the microwave signatures of various sea ice types. Results are shown to correspond well with the observed values of the complex index inferred from dielectic constant and dielectric loss measurements performed in the field, and with observed microwave signatures of sea ice. The success of this modeling procedure vis a vis modeling of the dielectric properties of sea ice constituents used earlier by several others is explained. Multiple layer radiative transfer calculations are used to predict the microwave properties of first-year sea ice with and without snow, and multiyear sea ice.

Impact of wave mixing on the sea ice cover

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rynders, Stefanie; Aksenov, Yevgeny; Madec, Gurvan; Nurser, George; Feltham, Daniel

2017-04-01

As information on surface waves in ice-covered regions becomes available in ice-ocean models, there is an opportunity to model wave-related processes more accurate. Breaking waves cause mixing of the upper water column and present mixing schemes in ocean models take this into account through surface roughness. A commonly used approach is to calculate surface roughness from significant wave height, parameterised from wind speed. We present results from simulations using modelled significant wave height instead, which accounts for the presence of sea ice and the effect of swell. The simulations use the NEMO ocean model coupled to the CICE sea ice model, with wave information from the ECWAM model of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The new waves-in-ice module allows waves to propagate in sea ice and attenuates waves according to multiple scattering and non-elastic losses. It is found that in the simulations with wave mixing the mixed layer depth (MLD) under ice cover is reduced, since the parameterisation from wind speed overestimates wave height in the ice-covered regions. The MLD change, in turn, affects sea ice concentration and ice thickness. In the Arctic, reduced MLD in winter translates into increased ice thicknesses overall, with higher increases in the Western Arctic and decreases along the Siberian coast. In summer, shallowing of the mixed layer results in more heat accumulating in the surface ocean, increasing ice melting. In the Southern Ocean the meridional gradient in ice thickness and concentration is increased. We argue that coupling waves with sea ice - ocean models can reduce negative biases in sea ice cover, affecting the distribution of nutrients and, thus, biological productivity and ecosystems. This coupling will become more important in the future, when wave heights in a large part of the Arctic are expected to increase due to sea ice retreat and a larger wave fetch. Therefore, wave mixing constitutes a possible positive feedback mechanism.

Microtopographic Evidence of Hillslope Susceptibility to Active Layer Detachments and Rapid Soil Erosion in Permafrost-dominated Watersheds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rowland, J. C.; Shelef, E.; Sutfin, N. A.; Piliouras, A.; Andresen, C. G.; Wilson, C. J.

2017-12-01

Movement and storage rates of soil and carbon along permafrost-dominated hillslopes may vary dramatically from long-term steady creeping, at centimeters per year, to rapid gullying, land sliding, and active layer detachments of meter to decimeter sized portions of hillslopes. The rate and drivers of hillslope soil processes may have strong feedbacks on microtopography and hydrology that in turn strongly influence vegetation dynamics and biogeochemistry within watersheds. We observed evidence of both steady soil creep and more catastrophic soil erosion processes occurring across three small watersheds in the southern Seward Peninsula, AK. In these watersheds, we inferred active soil creep processes from the occurrence of solifluction lobes with partially buried shrubs and tilted survey benchmarks on slopes lacking lobes. More dramatic and rapid erosion of soils was evidenced by active layer detachments, extensional cracks in the tundra vegetation, gullying, and both small- and large-scale soil failure scarps. The margins and heads of valley hollows exhibited failure scars up to 4m in height. The spatial distribution of actively eroding areas suggests that some portions of hilllslopes may be more susceptible to rapid erosion. Coring of hillslope soils suggests a possible association between more actively eroding areas and the presence of an ice-rich layer (> 50%) at depths of approximately 90 cm down to the inferred top of bedrock at depths at 170 to 200 cm. We observed that the surface of these hillslope regions appears to have greater microtopographic roughness with a more chaotic and "lumpy" surface than portions of the hillslope were no massive ice layers were encountered. We hypothesize that the extensional cracking and chaotic surface roughness may arise from small-scale soil failures triggered when the seasonal thaw depth intersects the ice-rich layer. It may be possible to identify hillslope regions underlain by ice-rich layers with greater susceptibility for localized erosion and deformation based on a quantitative characterization of the hillslope microtopography. Using drone-based LiDAR topographic data to be acquired in late summer of 2017, we will quantitatively explore the relationship between microtopography and hillslope ice-content.

Using nuclear magnetic resonance and transient electromagnetics to characterise water distribution beneath an ice covered volcanic crater: the case of Sherman Crater Mt. Baker Washington.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Irons, Trevor P.; Martin, Kathryn; Finn, Carol A.; Bloss, Benjamin; Horton, Robert J.

2014-01-01

Surface and laboratory Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) measurements combined with transient electromagnetic (TEM) data are powerful tools for subsurface water detection. Surface NMR (sNMR) and TEM soundings, laboratory NMR, complex resistivity, and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis were all conducted to characterise the distribution of water within Sherman Crater on Mt. Baker, WA. Clay rich rocks, particularly if water saturated, can weaken volcanoes, thereby increasing the potential for catastrophic sector collapses that can lead to far-travelled, destructive debris flows. Detecting the presence and volume of shallow groundwater is critical for evaluating these landslide hazards. The TEM data identified a low resistivity layer (<10 ohm-m), under 60 m of glacial ice related to water saturated clays. The TEM struggles to resolve the presence or absence of a plausible thin layer of bulk liquid water on top of the clay. The sNMR measurements did not produce any observable signal, indicating the lack of substantial accumulated bulk water below the ice. Laboratory analysis on a sample from the crater wall that likely represented the clays beneath the ice confirmed that the controlling factor for the lack of sNMR signal was the fine-grained nature of the media. The laboratory measurements further indicated that small pores in clays detected by the XRD contain as much as 50% water, establishing an upper bound on the water content in the clay layer. Forward modelling of geologic scenarios revealed that bulk water layers as thin as ½ m between the ice and clay layer would have been detectable using sNMR. The instrumentation conditions which would allow for sNMR detection of the clay layer are investigated. Using current instrumentation the combined analysis of the TEM and sNMR data allow for valuable characterisation of the groundwater system in the crater. The sNMR is able to reduce the uncertainty of the TEM in regards to the presence of a bulk water layer, a valuable piece of information in hazard assessment.

Cryogenic target system for hydrogen layering

DOE PAGES

Parham, T.; Kozioziemski, B.; Atkinson, D.; ...

2015-11-24

Here, a cryogenic target positioning system was designed and installed on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) target chamber. This instrument incorporates the ability to fill, form, and characterize the NIF targets with hydrogen isotopes needed for ignition experiments inside the NIF target bay then transport and position them in the target chamber. This effort brought to fruition years of research in growing and metrologizing high-quality hydrogen fuel layers and landed it in an especially demanding operations environment in the NIF facility. D-T (deuterium-tritium) layers for NIF ignition experiments have extremely tight specifications and must be grown in a very highlymore » constrained environment: a NIF ignition target inside a cryogenic target positioner inside the NIF target bay. Exquisite control of temperature, pressure, contaminant level, and thermal uniformity are necessary throughout seed formation and layer growth to create an essentially-groove-free single crystal layer.« less

IceBridge Provides Novel Evidence for Thick Units of Basal Freeze-on Ice Along Petermann Glacier, Greenland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bell, R. E.; Tinto, K. J.; Wolovick, M.; Block, A. E.; Frearson, N.; Das, I.; Abdi, A.; Creyts, T. T.; Cochran, J. R.; Csatho, B. M.; Babonis, G. S.

2011-12-01

The Petermann Glacier, one of the major outlet glaciers in Greenland, drains six percent of the Greenland ice from a basin largely below sea level. Petermann Glacier and its large ice shelf may be susceptible to increased change as the waters along the Greenland margin warm. The 2010 and 2011 Operation IceBridge mission, acquired a comprehensive aerogeophysical data set over the Petermann Glacier that provides insights into the ice sheet structure. This analysis employs most of the data streams acquired by the Icebridge platform including ice-penetrating radar, laser altimetry, gravity and magnetics. An orthogonal 10 km grid extends from 60 km upstream of the grounding line to 240 km inland. The ice velocities in the region range from <50m/yr to >200m/yr. On the interior lines the internal layers are pulled down over 2-3 km wide regions. Up to 400m of ice from the base of the ice sheet appears to be absent in these regions. We interpret these pulled down regions as basal melt. These melt regions are mainly located along the upstream side of a 80 km wide east-west trending topographic ridge that separates the interior ice from the Petermann Fjord. The IceBridge magnetic data indicates that this broad flat ridge is the boundary between the Franklinian Basins and the Ellsmerian Foldbelt to the north. Downstream of these pull-down layers we have identified 4 distinct packages of ice that thicken downstream and are characterized by a strong upper reflector. These packages develop at the base of the ice sheet and reach thicknesses of 500-700m over distances of 10-20 km. These basal packages can be traced for 30-100 km following the direction of flow, and may be present close to the grounding line. These basal reflectors deflect the overlying internal layers upward indicating the addition of ice to the base of the ice sheet. The IceBridge gravity data indicates that these features are probably not off-nadir topography since these would show up as around 30mGal anomalies in the gravity data, and no such signature exists. We interpret these basal features in the radar data as ice. The geometry of these packages is very similar to the frozen-on ice packages imaged along the margins of the Gamburtsev Mountains, East Antarctica. We have interpreted these packages as bodies of accreted ice sourced from the upstream melting. Similar packages of basal ice up to 1200m thick are found throughout the margins of the Greenland ice sheet north of 70°N. The accretion process is modifying the base of the ice sheet in the onset regions of Petermann and other outlet glaciers in Greenland. Any change in rheology between basal and meteoric ice is likely to influence ice flow fostering enhanced melting and deformation of the basal ice. These frozen-on basal ice packages may be more susceptible to melt when ice sheet goes afloat and may be the origin of the elongate melt channels in the ice shelf. Accretion may influence both ice flow in outlet glaciers and melt rates at the grounding line and the adjacent ice shelves.

Ice shelf structure from dispersion curve analysis of passive-source seismic data, Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diez, A.; Bromirski, P. D.; Gerstoft, P.; Stephen, R. A.; Anthony, R. E.; Aster, R. C.; Cai, C.; Nyblade, A.; Wiens, D.

2015-12-01

An L-shaped array of three-component short period seismic stations was deployed at the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica approximately 100 km south of the ice edge, near 180° longitude, from November 18 through 28, 2014. Polarization analysis of data from these stations clearly shows propagating waves from below the ice shelf for frequencies below 2 Hz. Energy above 2 Hz is dominated by Rayleigh and Love waves propagating from the north. Frequency-slowness plots were calculated using beamforming. Resulting Love and Rayleigh wave dispersion curves were inverted for the shear wave velocity profile, from which we derive a density profile. The derived shear wave velocity profiles differ within the firn for the inversions using Rayleigh and Love wave dispersion curves. This difference is attributed to an effective anisotropy due to fine layering. The layered structure of firn, ice, water, and ocean floor results in a characteristic dispersion curve pattern below 7 Hz. We investigate the observed structures in more detail by forward modeling of Rayleigh wave dispersion curves for representative firn, ice, water, sediment structures. Rayleigh waves are observed when wavelengths are long enough to span the distance from the ice shelf surface to the seafloor. Our results show that the analysis of high frequency Rayleigh waves on an ice shelf has the ability to resolve ice shelf thickness, water column thickness, and the physical properties of the underlying ocean floor using passive-source seismic data.

Upper Ocean Evolution Across the Beaufort Sea Marginal Ice Zone from Autonomous Gliders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Craig; Rainville, Luc; Perry, Mary Jane

2016-04-01

The observed reduction of Arctic summertime sea ice extent and expansion of the marginal ice zone (MIZ) have profound impacts on the balance of processes controlling sea ice evolution, including the introduction of several positive feedback mechanisms that may act to accelerate melting. Examples of such feedbacks include increased upper ocean warming though absorption of solar radiation, elevated internal wave energy and mixing that may entrain heat stored in subsurface watermasses (e.g., the relatively warm Pacific Summer (PSW) and Atlantic (AW) waters), and elevated surface wave energy that acts to deform and fracture sea ice. Spatial and temporal variability in ice properties and open water fraction impact these processes. To investigate how upper ocean structure varies with changing ice cover, and how the balance of processes shift as a function of ice fraction and distance from open water, four long-endurance autonomous Seagliders occupied sections that extended from open water, through the marginal ice zone, deep into the pack during summer 2014 in the Beaufort Sea. Sections reveal strong fronts where cold, ice-covered waters meet waters that have been exposed to solar warming, and O(10 km) scale eddies near the ice edge. In the pack, Pacific Summer Water and a deep chlorophyll maximum form distinct layers at roughly 60 m and 80 m, respectively, which become increasingly diffuse as they progress through the MIZ and into open water. The isopynal layer between 1023 and 1024 kgm-3, just above the PSW, consistently thickens near the ice edge, likely due to mixing or energetic vertical exchange associated with strong lateral gradients in this region. This presentation will discuss the upper ocean variability, its relationship to sea ice extent, and evolution over the summer to the start of freeze up.

Upper Ocean Evolution Across the Beaufort Sea Marginal Ice Zone from Autonomous Gliders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, C.; Rainville, L.; Perry, M. J.

2016-02-01

The observed reduction of Arctic summertime sea ice extent and expansion of the marginal ice zone (MIZ) have profound impacts on the balance of processes controlling sea ice evolution, including the introduction of several positive feedback mechanisms that may act to accelerate melting. Examples of such feedbacks include increased upper ocean warming though absorption of solar radiation, elevated internal wave energy and mixing that may entrain heat stored in subsurface watermasses (e.g., the relatively warm Pacific Summer (PSW) and Atlantic (AW) waters), and elevated surface wave energy that acts to deform and fracture sea ice. Spatial and temporal variability in ice properties and open water fraction impact these processes. To investigate how upper ocean structure varies with changing ice cover, and how the balance of processes shift as a function of ice fraction and distance from open water, four long-endurance autonomous Seagliders occupied sections that extended from open water, through the marginal ice zone, deep into the pack during summer 2014 in the Beaufort Sea. Sections reveal strong fronts where cold, ice-covered waters meet waters that have been exposed to solar warming, and O(10 km) scale eddies near the ice edge. In the pack, Pacific Summer Water and a deep chlorophyll maximum form distinct layers at roughly 60 m and 80 m, respectively, which become increasingly diffuse as they progress through the MIZ and into open water. The isopynal layer between 1023 and 1024 kg m-3, just above the PSW, consistently thickens near the ice edge, likely due to mixing or energetic vertical exchange associated with strong lateral gradients in this region. This presentation will discuss the upper ocean variability, its relationship to sea ice extent, and evolution over the summer to the start of freeze up.

Can Subglacial Meltwater Films Carve Into the till Beneath? Insights from a Coupled Till-Water Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kasmalkar, I.; Mantelli, E.; Suckale, J.

2017-12-01

Networks of water channels are known to exist beneath regions of the continental ice sheets such as Antarctica and Greenland. These channels are fed by meltwater and form along the interface between the ice and the underlying till layer. Their presence localizes basal strength by reducing pore pressure and hence alters the resistance to ice slip provided by the till. Subglacial channels thus play a major role in determining the rate of ice flow for glaciers and ice streams. It is unclear whether subglacial meltwater can evolve from a thin film into a network of distributed channels by erosion of the sediment bed. Models that involve hard-rock beds can only account for water channels that carve into the ice and not the till. Alternative approaches that include erodible sediment mostly assume viscous behavior in the till layer, which is not well supported by laboratory experiments of till failure. To better understand the physical processes that govern channelization, we couple water flow in a thin film with sediment transport to capture the dynamic interactions between water and till. We present a two-dimensional model which consists of a thin subglacial water film that is in the laminar regime and an erodible till layer that obeys the Shield's criterion. We use analytic techniques to study the long-term behavior of perturbations of the water-till interface. We discuss the stability of the system under such perturbations in the context of channel formation.

Enhanced Heterogeneous Nitrates Photolysis on Ice and Potential Impacts on NOx Emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ayotte, P.; Marcotte, G.; Pronovost, S.; Marchand, P.; Laffon, C.; Parent, P.

2015-12-01

Nitrates photolysis plays a key role in the chemistry of the polar boundary layer and of the lower troposphere over snow-covered areas (1). Using a combination of vibrational (2) and photo-absorption spectroscopies (3), we show that nitric acid is mostly dissociated upon its adsorption onto, and its dissolution within ice at temperatures as low 20K. Using amorphous solid water as a model substrate for the disordered surface layer at the interstitial air-ice interface, UV irradiation in the environmentally relevant n-π* transition uncovers the fact that the photolysis rates are significantly higher for surface-bound nitrates compared to those dissolved within the bulk. The complex coupled interfacial transport and reaction kinetics result in the formation of a thin photochemically active layer at the surface of ice which may magnify the impact of surface-enhanced nitrates photolysis rates on ice thereby providing a significant contribution to the intense photochemical NOxfluxes observed to emanate from the sunlit snowpack upon polar sunrise.(4) (1) F. Dominé, P.B. Shepson, Science, 297, 1506-1510 (2002).(2) P. Marchand, G. Marcotte, and P. Ayotte, Spectroscopic Study of HNO3 Dissociation on Ice, J. Phys. Chem. A 116, 12112-12122 (2012).(3) G. Marcotte, P. Ayotte, A. Bendounan, F. Sirotti, C. Laffon and P. Parent, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 4, 2643-2648 (2013).(4) G. Marcotte, P. Marchand, S. Pronovost, P. Ayotte, C. Laffon and P. Parent, J. Phys. Chem. A 119, 1996-2005 (2015).

Measurements of upper troposheric humidity at low temperatures during CRYSTAL-FACE

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Herman, Robert L.; Heymsfield, Andrew J.; Ridley, Brian A.; Bui, Paul T.

2003-01-01

Aircraft condensation trails (contrails) and thin cirrus were studied by instruments on the NASA WB-57F high-altitude aircraft during contrails and optically thing cirrus are contrasted by different levels of supersaturation with respect to ice. During the July 13, 2002, flight of the WB-57F aircraft intercepted visible contrails produced by both the WB-57F and ER-2 aircraft. These contrails were located immediately below the local tropopause, where ambient temperatures were very low (-76 degree C). The contrails were clearly indicated by an abrupt increase in NO and a simultaneous, abrupt decrease in ice supersaturation. With in the contrail, the relative humidity was close to 130% with respect to ice, higher than expected from theory. Outside the contrails was a persistent layer of subvisible currus extending from approximately 13 to 15 km altitude. This layer was characterized y significant supersaturations because the ambient concentrations of ice particles were insufficient to significantly deplete the ice supersaturation. We will discuss in situ measurements and models simulations of humidity.

Observed microphysical structure of nimbostratus in northeast cold vortex over China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Zhen; Lei, Hengchi

2014-06-01

Airborne measurements were collected during a stepwise ascent within a nimbostratus cloud associated with a northeast cold vortex in Jilin Province over China on 20 June 2005 to study cloud structure and ice particle spectra. The microphysical structure of the nimbostratus was elucidated by King liquid water probe and Particle Measuring Systems (PMS) probes aboard the research aircraft. The PMS 2D images provide detailed information on crystal habits. A thick layer of supercooled cloud is observed and Hallett-Mossop ice multiplication process is used to explain very high ice particle concentrations in the temperature region between - 3 °C and - 6 °C. From near cloud top to melting layer, ice crystals shape in the form of columns, needles, aggregations and plates. In addition, significant horizontal variability was evident on the scale of few hundred meters. Ice particle spectra in this cloud were adequately described by exponential relationships. Relationship between the intercept (N0) and slope (λ) parameters of an exponential size distribution was well characterized by a power law.

Subannual layer variability in Greenland firn cores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kjær, Helle Astrid; Vallelonga, Paul; Vinther, Bo; Winstrup, Mai; Simonsen, Marius; Maffezzoli, Niccoló; Jensen, Camilla Marie

2017-04-01

Ice cores are used to infer information about the past and modern techniques allow for high resolution (< cm) continuous flow analysis (CFA) of the ice. Such analysis is often used to inform on annual layers to constrain dating of ice cores, but can also be extended to provide information on sub-annual deposition patterns. In this study we use available high resolution data from multiple shallow cores around Greenland to investigate the seasonality and trends in the most often continuously measured components sodium, insoluble dust, calcium, ammonium and conductivity (or acidity) from 1800 AD to today. We evaluate the similarities and differences between the records and discuss the causes from different sources and transport to deposition and post-deposition effects over differences in measurement set up. Further we add to the array of cores already published with measurements from the newly drilled ReCAP ice core from a coastal ice cap in eastern Greenland and from a shallow core drilled at the high accumulation site at the Greenland South Dome.

Reconciling estimates of the ratio of heat and salt fluxes at the ice-ocean interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keitzl, T.; Mellado, J. P.; Notz, D.

2016-12-01

The heat exchange between floating ice and the underlying ocean is determined by the interplay of diffusive fluxes directly at the ice-ocean interface and turbulent fluxes away from it. In this study, we examine this interplay through direct numerical simulations of free convection. Our results show that an estimation of the interface flux ratio based on direct measurements of the turbulent fluxes can be difficult because the flux ratio varies with depth. As an alternative, we present a consistent evaluation of the flux ratio based on the total heat and salt fluxes across the boundary layer. This approach allows us to reconcile previous estimates of the ice-ocean interface conditions. We find that the ratio of heat and salt fluxes directly at the interface is 83-100 rather than 33 as determined by previous turbulence measurements in the outer layer. This can cause errors in the estimated ice-ablation rate from field measurements of up to 40% if they are based on the three-equation formulation.

‘Column on column’ structures as indicators of lava/ice interaction, Ruapehu andesite volcano, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spörli, K. B.; Rowland, J. V.

2006-10-01

Lava flows of the Mangawhero Formation (ca. 15-60 ka) on Ruapehu volcano erupted during the last glaciation. In a distal flow lobe at Tukino, on the east side of the mountain, small secondary columns (10-20 cm thick) have formed on the sides of large, rectangular, primary (0.5-3 m thick) cooling columns. Thick (10 m+) zones of such small columns form a lateral and basal outer rind of the lobe. As they do not mark glassy zones of quenching, these secondary columns are interpreted as being formed by a second cooling event at temperatures below the boundary between the low creep and elastic regimes (˜ 600 °C) by rapid influx of copious amounts of water. Temperature drops deduced from extensional strains of the two sets of columns were used to gauge the viability of such a two-stage process. Absence of reliable data on andesite contraction coefficients was overcome by using a sliding scale to assess a large range of values. The estimates indicate that two-stage chilling is feasible. After flowing across relatively ice-poor terrain, the lava flow must have interacted with a valley glacier that provided water for further chilling the already formed primary columns and formation of the outer rind small columns. Given this evidence for lava/ice interaction, it is likely that prominent, thick flows elsewhere in the Mangawhero Formation may have been constrained to their ridge-top locations by ice conditions similar to those described by Lescinsky and Sisson [Lescinsky, D.T., Sisson, T.W., 1998. Ridge-forming, ice-bounded lava flows at Mount Rainier, Washington. Geology, 26, 351-354].

Impact of micro-porous layer on liquid water distribution at the catalyst layer interface and cell performance in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tabe, Yutaka; Aoyama, Yusuke; Kadowaki, Kazumasa; Suzuki, Kengo; Chikahisa, Takemi

2015-08-01

In polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, a gas diffusion layer (GDL) with a micro-porous layer (MPL) gives better anti-flooding performance than GDLs without an MPL. To investigate the function and mechanism of the MPL to suppress water flooding, the liquid water distribution at the cathode catalyst layer (CL) surface are observed by a freezing method; in the method liquid water is immobilized in ice form by rapid freezing, followed by disassembling the cell for observations. The ice covered area is quantified by image processing and cells with and without an MPL are compared. The results show that the MPL suppresses water accumulation at the interface due to smaller pore size and finer contact with the CL, and this results in less water flooding. Investigation of ice formed after -10 °C cold start shutdowns and the temporary performance deterioration at ordinary temperatures also indicates a significant influence of the liquid water accumulating at the interface. The importance of the fine contact between CL and MPL, the relative absence of gaps, is demonstrated by a gas diffusion electrode (GDE) which is directly coated with catalyst ink on the surface of the MPL achieving finer contact of the layers.

Ganymede's internal structure including thermodynamics of magnesium sulfate oceans in contact with ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vance, Steve; Bouffard, Mathieu; Choukroun, Mathieu; Sotin, Christophe

2014-06-01

The large icy moons of Jupiter contain vast quantities of liquid water, a key ingredient for life. Ganymede and Callisto are weaker candidates for habitability than Europa, in part because of the model-based assumption that high-pressure ice layers cover their seafloors and prevent significant water-rock interaction. Water-rock interactions may occur, however, if heating at the rock-ice interface melts the high pressure ice. Highly saline fluids would be gravitationally stable, and might accumulate under the ice due to upward migration, refreezing, and fractionation of salt from less concentrated liquids. To assess the influence of salinity on Ganymede's internal structure, we use available phase-equilibrium data to calculate activity coefficients and predict the freezing of water ice in the presence of aqueous magnesium sulfate. We couple this new equation of state with thermal profiles in Ganymede's interior-employing recently published thermodynamic data for the aqueous phase-to estimate the thicknesses of layers of ice I, III, V, and VI. We compute core and silicate mantle radii consistent with available constraints on Ganymede's mass and gravitational moment of inertia. Mantle radii range from 800 to 900 km for the values of salt and heat flux considered here (4-44 mW m-2 and 0 to 10 wt% MgSO4). Ocean concentrations with salinity higher than 10 wt% have little high pressure ice. Even in a Ganymede ocean that is mostly liquid, achieving such high ocean salinity is permissible for the range of likely S/Si ratios. However, elevated salinity requires a smaller silicate mantle radius to satisfy mass and moment-of-inertia constraints, so ice VI is always present in Ganymede's ocean. For lower values of heat flux, oceans with salinity as low as 3 wt% can co-exist with ice III. Available experimental data indicate that ice phases III and VI become buoyant for salinity higher than 5 wt% and 10 wt%, respectively. Similar behavior probably occurs for ice V at salinities higher than 10 wt%. Flotation can occur over tens of kilometers of depth, indicating the possibility for upward ‘snow’ or other exotic modes of heat and material transport. We assess Ganymede's interior structure for oceans with magnesium sulfate. New activity models predict freezing of ice in magnesium sulfate solutions. High ocean salinities are permitted by constraints on Ganymede's sulfur content. Stability under high pressure ice implies water rock contact and layered oceans. Upward ‘snow’ of high-pressure ices occurs in the lower depths of salty oceans.