Impact of Arctic sea-ice retreat on the recent change in cloud-base height during autumn

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, K.; Inoue, J.; Kodama, Y.; Overland, J. E.

2012-12-01

Cloud-base observations over the ice-free Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in autumn were conducted using a shipboard ceilometer and radiosondes during the 1999-2010 cruises of the Japanese R/V Mirai. To understand the recent change in cloud base height over the Arctic Ocean, these cloud-base height data were compared with the observation data under ice-covered situation during SHEBA (the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean project in 1998). Our ice-free results showed a 30 % decrease (increase) in the frequency of low clouds with a ceiling below (above) 500 m. Temperature profiles revealed that the boundary layer was well developed over the ice-free ocean in the 2000s, whereas a stable layer dominated during the ice-covered period in 1998. The change in surface boundary conditions likely resulted in the difference in cloud-base height, although it had little impact on air temperatures in the mid- and upper troposphere. Data from the 2010 R/V Mirai cruise were investigated in detail in terms of air-sea temperature difference. This suggests that stratus cloud over the sea ice has been replaced as stratocumulus clouds with low cloud fraction due to the decrease in static stability induced by the sea-ice retreat. The relationship between cloud-base height and air-sea temperature difference (SST-Ts) was analyzed in detail using special section data during 2010 cruise data. Stratus clouds near the sea surface were predominant under a warm advection situation, whereas stratocumulus clouds with a cloud-free layer were significant under a cold advection situation. The threshold temperature difference between sea surface and air temperatures for distinguishing the dominant cloud types was 3 K. Anomalous upward turbulent heat fluxes associated with the sea-ice retreat have likely contributed to warming of the lower troposphere. Frequency distribution of the cloud-base height (km) detected by a ceilometer/lidar (black bars) and radiosondes (gray bars), and profiles of potential temperature (K) for (a) ice-free cases (R/V Mirai during September) and (b) ice-covered case (SHEBA during September 1998). (c) Vertical profiles of air temperature from 1000 hPa to 150 hPa (solid lines: observations north of 75°N, and dashed lines: the ERA-Interim reanalysis over 75-82.5°N, 150-170°W). Green, blue, and red lines denote profiles derived from observations by NP stations (the 1980s), SHEBA (1998), and the R/V Mirai (the 2000s), respectively. (d) Temperature trend calculated by the ERA-Interim reanalysis over the area.

Synoptic analyses, 5-, 2-, and 0.4-millibar surfaces for July 1974 through June 1976

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

Meteorological rocketsonde and satellite radiance data were employed for analyses of a continuing series of high altitude constant pressure charts. The methods of processing, the various types of data utilized and the analysis procedure are described. Broad-scale analyses of temperature and geopotential height for the Northern Hemisphere 5, 2, and 0.4 mb surfaces are presented for each week of the period July 1974 through June 1976. Brief discussions of the variations of the temperature and height fields throughout the two year period are also given.

Evaluation of urban surface parameterizations in the WRF model using measurements during the Texas Air Quality Study 2006 field campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, S.-H.; Kim, S.-W.; Angevine, W. M.; Bianco, L.; McKeen, S. A.; Senff, C. J.; Trainer, M.; Tucker, S. C.; Zamora, R. J.

2010-10-01

The impact of urban surface parameterizations in the WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) model on the simulation of local meteorological fields is investigated. The Noah land surface model (LSM), a modified LSM, and a single-layer urban canopy model (UCM) have been compared, focusing on urban patches. The model simulations were performed for 6 days from 12 August to 17 August during the Texas Air Quality Study 2006 field campaign. Analysis was focused on the Houston-Galveston metropolitan area. The model simulated temperature, wind, and atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) height were compared with observations from surface meteorological stations (Continuous Ambient Monitoring Stations, CAMS), wind profilers, the NOAA Twin Otter aircraft, and the NOAA Research Vessel Ronald H. Brown. The UCM simulation showed better results in the comparison of ABL height and surface temperature than the LSM simulations, whereas the original LSM overestimated both the surface temperature and ABL height significantly in urban areas. The modified LSM, which activates hydrological processes associated with urban vegetation mainly through transpiration, slightly reduced warm and high biases in surface temperature and ABL height. A comparison of surface energy balance fluxes in an urban area indicated the UCM reproduces a realistic partitioning of sensible heat and latent heat fluxes, consequently improving the simulation of urban boundary layer. However, the LSMs have a higher Bowen ratio than the observation due to significant suppression of latent heat flux. The comparison results suggest that the subgrid heterogeneity by urban vegetation and urban morphological characteristics should be taken into account along with the associated physical parameterizations for accurate simulation of urban boundary layer if the region of interest has a large fraction of vegetation within the urban patch. Model showed significant discrepancies in the specific meteorological conditions when nocturnal low-level jets exist and a thermal internal boundary layer over water forms.

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

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

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

2012-01-01

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

Arctic PBL Cloud Height and Motion Retrievals from MISR and MINX

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, Dong L.

2012-01-01

How Arctic clouds respond and feedback to sea ice loss is key to understanding of the rapid climate change seen in the polar region. As more open water becomes available in the Arctic Ocean, cold air outbreaks (aka. off-ice flow from polar lows) produce a vast sheet of roll clouds in the planetary boundary layer (PBl). The cold air temperature and wind velocity are the critical parameters to determine and understand the PBl structure formed under these roll clouds. It has been challenging for nadir visible/IR sensors to detect Arctic clouds due to lack of contrast between clouds and snowy/icy surfaces. In addition) PBl temperature inversion creates a further problem for IR sensors to relate cloud top temperature to cloud top height. Here we explore a new method with the Multiangle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (MISR) instrument to measure cloud height and motion over the Arctic Ocean. Employing a stereoscopic-technique, MISR is able to measure cloud top height accurately and distinguish between clouds and snowy/icy surfaces with the measured height. We will use the MISR INteractive eXplorer (MINX) to quantify roll cloud dynamics during cold-air outbreak events and characterize PBl structures over water and over sea ice.

The Effects of Temperature and CO2-induced Acidification on Skeletal Morphology of the Tropical Reef-building Coral Siderastrea siderea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cobleigh, K.

2016-02-01

Coral reefs are threatened by increasing sea surface temperatures and decreasing surface seawater pH. Although numerous experimental studies have examined the effects of these global scale stressors on corals, few have quantified the effects of temperature and acidification on coral skeletal morphology. We conducted controlled laboratory experiments to investigate the effects of temperature (25, 28, 32°C) and CO2-induced ocean acidification (pCO2 = 324, 477, 604, 2553 µatm) on skeletal morphology of the highly resilient Caribbean reef-building coral Siderastrea siderea over a 95-day interval. Post-treatment S. siderea corallites from nearshore, backreef, and forereef colonies were imaged via stereo microscopy to evaluate impact of warming and acidification on corallite height and infilling. Both an increase and decrease in temperature relative to the control (i.e., near-present-day temperatures) resulted in increased corallite height but decreased skeletal infilling. In contrast, corals reared under the lowest (i.e., pre-industrial) and highest pCO2 treatments (i.e., extreme pCO2) exhibited both decreased corallite height and skeletal infilling relative to the control. We observed no difference in corallite height or infilling across reef zones, either within or across treatments. Interestingly, the warming projected for the end of the 21st century (32°C) resulted in increased corallite height and reduced corallite infilling. Acidification projected for the same interval (pCO2 = 604 µatm) also resulted in increased corallite height and decreased infilling. Collectively, our results suggest that these two global stressors will result in S. siderea corallites that are taller yet less infilled by the end of the 21st century. Changes in S. siderea arising from warming and acificiation may exacerbate observed declines in coral health across Caribbean reef systems.

A comparative analysis of rawinsonde and NIMBUS 6 and TIROS N satellite profile data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scoggins, J. R.; Carle, W. E.; Knight, K.; Moyer, V.; Cheng, N. M.

1981-01-01

Comparisons are made between rawinsonde and satellite profiles in seven areas for a wide range of surface and weather conditions. Variables considered include temperature, dewpoint temperature, thickness, precipitable water, lapse rate of temperature, stability, geopotential height, mixing ratio, wind direction, wind speed, and kinematic parameters, including vorticity and the advection of vorticity and temperature. In addition, comparisons are made in the form of cross sections and synoptic fields for selected variables. Sounding data from the NIMBUS 6 and TIROS N satellites were used. Geostrophic wind computed from smoothed geopotential heights provided large scale flow patterns that agreed well with the rawinsonde wind fields. Surface wind patterns as well as magnitudes computed by use of the log law to extrapolate wind to a height of 10 m agreed with observations. Results of this study demonstrate rather conclusively that satellite profile data can be used to determine characteristics of large scale systems but that small scale features, such as frontal zones, cannot yet be resolved.

Step-induced deconstruction and step-height evolution of the Au(110) surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romahn, U.; von Blanckenhagen, P.; Kroll, C.; Göpel, W.

1993-05-01

We use temperature-dependent high-resolution low-energy electron diffraction and spot-profile analysis low-energy electron diffraction to study the Au(110) surface at room temperature up to 786 K. The experimental data were analyzed within the framework of the kinematic theory. Oscillations were determined of the positions of half order and fundamental Bragg peaks as well as of the full width at half maximum of the specular peak as a function of perpendicular momentum transfer. Evidence of mono- atomic steps occurring in the [001] direction was found below and around the (2×1)-->(1×1) transition at Tc. Above Tc, the surface gets smoother in the [001] direction; at the roughening temperature, TR, the evolution of multiple-height steps starts in both symmetry directions.

Seasonal variability of the Red Sea, from GRACE time-variable gravity and altimeter sea surface height measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wahr, John; Smeed, David; Leuliette, Eric; Swenson, Sean

2014-05-01

Seasonal variability of sea surface height and mass within the Red Sea, occurs mostly through the exchange of heat with the atmosphere and wind-driven inflow and outflow of water through the strait of Bab el Mandab that opens into the Gulf of Aden to the south. The seasonal effects of precipitation and evaporation, of water exchange through the Suez Canal to the north, and of runoff from the adjacent land, are all small. The flow through the Bab el Mandab involves a net mass transfer into the Red Sea during the winter and a net transfer out during the summer. But that flow has a multi-layer pattern, so that in the summer there is actually an influx of cool water at intermediate (~100 m) depths. Thus, summer water in the southern Red Sea is warmer near the surface due to higher air temperatures, but cooler at intermediate depths (especially in the far south). Summer water in the northern Red Sea experiences warming by air-sea exchange only. The temperature profile affects the water density, which impacts the sea surface height but has no effect on vertically integrated mass. Here, we study this seasonal cycle by combining GRACE time-variable mass estimates, altimeter (Jason-1, Jason-2, and Envisat) measurements of sea surface height, and steric sea surface height contributions derived from depth-dependent, climatological values of temperature and salinity obtained from the World Ocean Atlas. We find good consistency, particularly in the northern Red Sea, between these three data types. Among the general characteristics of our results are: (1) the mass contributions to seasonal SSHT variations are much larger than the steric contributions; (2) the mass signal is largest in winter, consistent with winds pushing water into the Red Sea through the Strait of Bab el Mandab in winter, and out during the summer; and (3) the steric signal is largest in summer, consistent with summer sea surface warming.

Comparison of hydrogen and deuterium adsorption on Pd(100).

PubMed

Gladys, M J; Kambali, I; Karolewski, M A; Soon, A; Stampfl, C; O'Connor, D J

2010-01-14

Low energy ion recoil spectroscopy is a powerful technique for the determination of adsorbate position on metal surfaces. In this study, this technique is employed to compare the adsorption sites of hydrogen and deuterium on Pd(100) by detection of either H or D recoil ions produced by Ne(+) bombardment. Comparisons of experimental and Kalypso simulated azimuthal yield distributions show that, at room temperature, both hydrogen isotopes are adsorbed in the fourfold hollow site of Pd(100), however, at different heights above the surface (H-0.20 A and D-0.25 A). The adsorbates remain in the hollow site at all temperatures up to 383 K even though they move up to 0.40-0.45 A above the surface. Density functional theory calculations show a similar coverage dependent adsorption height for both H and D and confirm a real difference between the H and D adsorption heights based on zero point energies.

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

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

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

2013-01-01

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

Mechanism of nucleation and growth of catalyst-free self-organized GaN columns by MOVPE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xue; Li, Shunfeng; Fündling, Sönke; Wehmann, Hergo-H.; Strassburg, Martin; Lugauer, Hans-Jürgen; Steegmüller, Ulrich; Waag, Andreas

2013-05-01

The growth mechanism of catalyst-free self-organized GaN nuclei and three-dimensional columns on sapphire by metal organic vapour phase epitaxy (MOVPE) is investigated. Temperature- and time-dependent growth is performed. The growth behaviour can be characterized by two different kinetic regimes: mass-transport-limited growth and thermodynamically limited growth. The sum of activation energies for thermodynamic barrier of nucleation and for surface diffusion/mass-transport limitation, i.e. Whet +Ed, is 0.57 eV in the ‘low’-temperature region and 2.43 eV in the ‘high’-temperature region. GaN columns grown under the same conditions have very comparable height, which is not dependent on their diameter or the distance to other columns. Therefore, the growth rate is presumably limited by the incorporation rate on the top surface of columns. The height and diameter at the top of the GaN columns increase linearly with time and no height limit is observed. The GaN columns can reach more than 40 µm in height. Moreover, the investigated GaN columns are Ga-polar.

Onset temperature for Si nanostructure growth on Si substrate during high vacuum electron beam annealing.

PubMed

Fang, F; Markwitz, A

2009-05-01

Silicon nanostructures, called Si nanowhiskers, are successfully synthesized on Si(100) substrate by high vacuum electron beam annealing. The onset temperature and duration needed for the Si nanowhiskers to grow was investigated. It was found that the onset and growth morphology of Si nanowhiskers strongly depend on the annealing temperature and duration applied in the annealing cycle. The onset temperature for nanowhisker growth was determined as 680 degrees C using an annealing duration of 90 min and temperature ramps of +5 degrees C s(-1) for heating and -100 degrees C s(-1) for cooling. Decreasing the annealing time at peak temperature to 5 min required an increase in peak temperature to 800 degrees C to initiate the nanowhisker growth. At 900 degrees C the duration for annealing at peak temperature can be set to 0 s to grow silicon nanowhiskers. A correlation was found between the variation in annealing temperature and duration and the nanowhisker height and density. Annealing at 900 degrees C for 0 s, only 2-3 nanowhiskers (average height 2.4 nm) grow on a surface area of 5 x 5 microm, whereas more than 500 nanowhiskers with an important average height of 4.6 nm for field emission applications grow on the same surface area for a sample annealed at 970 degrees C for 0 s. Selected results are presented showing the possibility of controlling the density and height of Si nanowhisker growth for field emission applications by applying different annealing temperature and duration.

Kinetic Roughening and Energetics of Tetragonal Lysozyme Crystal Growth: A Preliminary Atomic Force Microscopy Investigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gorti, Sridhar; Forsythe, Elizabeth L.; Pusey, Marc L.

2004-01-01

We examined particulars of crystal growth from measurements obtained at both microscopic and molecular levels. The crystal growth measurements performed at the microscopic level are well characterized by a model that balances the flux of macromolecules towards the crystal surface with the flux of the crystal surface. Numerical evaluation of model with measurements of crystal growth, in time, provided accurate estimates for the average growth velocities. Growth velocities thus obtained were also interpreted using well-established phenomenological theories. Moreover, we find that microscopic measurements of growth velocity measurements obtained as a function of temperature best characterizes changes in crystal growth modes, when present. We also examined the possibility of detecting a change in crystal growth modes at the molecular level using atomic force microscopy, AFM. From preliminary AFM measurements performed at various supersaturations, we find that magnitude of surface height fluctuations, h(x), increases with supersaturation. Further examination of surface height fluctuations using methods established for fluctuation spectroscopy also enabled the discovery of the existence of a characteristic length, c, which may possibly determine the mode of crystal growth. Although the results are preliminary, we establish the non- critical divergence of 5 and the root-mean-square (rms) magnitude of height-height fluctuations as the kinetic roughening transition temperatures are approached. Moreover, we also examine approximate models for interpreting the non-critical behavior of both 6 and rms magnitude of height-height fluctuations, as the solution supersaturation is increased towards the kinetic roughening supersaturation.

Investigating the Impact of Surface Heterogeneity on the Convective Boundary Layer Over Urban Areas Through Coupled Large-Eddy Simulation and Remote Sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dominguez, Anthony; Kleissl, Jan P.; Luvall, Jeffrey C.

2011-01-01

Large-eddy Simulation (LES) was used to study convective boundary layer (CBL) flow through suburban regions with both large and small scale heterogeneities in surface temperature. Constant remotely sensed surface temperatures were applied at the surface boundary at resolutions of 10 m, 90 m, 200 m, and 1 km. Increasing the surface resolution from 1 km to 200 m had the most significant impact on the mean and turbulent flow characteristics as the larger scale heterogeneities became resolved. While previous studies concluded that scales of heterogeneity much smaller than the CBL inversion height have little impact on the CBL characteristics, we found that further increasing the surface resolution (resolving smaller scale heterogeneities) results in an increase in mean surface heat flux, thermal blending height, and potential temperature profile. The results of this study will help to better inform sub-grid parameterization for meso-scale meteorological models. The simulation tool developed through this study (combining LES and high resolution remotely sensed surface conditions) is a significant step towards future studies on the micro-scale meteorology in urban areas.

Verification and transfer of thermal pollution model. Volume 4: User's manual for three-dimensional rigid-lid model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, S. S.; Nwadike, E. V.; Sinha, S. E.

1982-01-01

The theory of a three dimensional (3-D) mathematical thermal discharge model and a related one dimensional (1-D) model are described. Model verification at two sites, a separate user's manual for each model are included. The 3-D model has two forms: free surface and rigid lid. The former allows a free air/water interface and is suited for significant surface wave heights compared to mean water depth, estuaries and coastal regions. The latter is suited for small surface wave heights compared to depth because surface elevation was removed as a parameter. These models allow computation of time dependent velocity and temperature fields for given initial conditions and time-varying boundary conditions. The free surface model also provides surface height variations with time.

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

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-30

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

Recent Climate Variability in Antarctica from Satellite-derived Temperature Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schneider, David P.; Steig, Eric J.; Comiso, Josefino C.

2004-01-01

Recent Antarctic climate variability on month-to-month to interannual time scales is assessed through joint analysis of surface temperatures from satellite thermal infrared observations (T(sub IR)) and passive microwave brightness temperatures (T(sub B)). Although Tw data are limited to clear-sky conditions and T(sub B) data are a product of the temperature and emissivity of the upper approx. 1m of snow, the two data sets share significant covariance. This covariance is largely explained by three empirical modes, which illustrate the spatial and temporal variability of Antarctic surface temperatures. T(sub B) variations are damped compared to TIR variations, as determined by the period of the temperature forcing and the microwave emission depth; however, microwave emissivity does not vary significantly in time. Comparison of the temperature modes with Southern Hemisphere (SH) 500-hPa geopotential height anomalies demonstrates that Antarctic temperature anomalies are predominantly controlled by the principal patterns of SH atmospheric circulation. The leading surface temperature mode strongly correlates with the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) in geopotential height. The second temperature mode reflects the combined influences of the zonal wavenumber-3 and Pacific South American (PSA) patterns in 500-hPa height on month-to-month timescales. ENSO variability projects onto this mode on interannual timescales, but is not by itself a good predictor of Antarctic temperature anomalies. The third temperature mode explains winter warming trends, which may be caused by blocking events, over a large region of the East Antarctic plateau. These results help to place recent climate changes in the context of Antarctica's background climate variability and will aid in the interpretation of ice core paleoclimate records.

Temperature dependent barrier height and ideality factor of electrodeposited n-CdSe/Cu Schottky barrier diode

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

Mahato, S., E-mail: som.phy.ism@gmail.com; Shiwakoti, N.; Kar, A. K.

2015-06-24

This article reports the measurement of temperature-dependent barrier height and ideality factor of n-CdSe/Cu Schottky barrier diode. The Cadmium Selenide (CdSe) thin films have been deposited by simple electrodeposition technique. The XRD measurements ravels the deposited single phase CdSe films are highly oriented on (002) plane and the average particle size has been calculated to be ~18 nm. From SEM characterization, it is clear that the surface of CdSe thin films are continuous, homogeneous and the film is well adhered to the substrate and consists of fine grains which are irregular in shape and size. Current-Voltage characteristics have been measured atmore » different temperatures in the range (298 K – 353 K). The barrier height and ideality factor are found to be strongly temperature dependent. The inhomogenious barrier height increases and ideality factor decreases with increase in temperature. The expectation value has been calculated and its value is 0.30 eV.« less

Marginal sea surface temperature variation as a pre-cursor of heat waves over the Korean Peninsula

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ham, Yoo-Geun; Na, Hye-Yun

2017-11-01

This study examines the role of the marginal sea surface temperature (SST) on heat waves over Korea. It is found that sea surface warming in the south sea of Korea/Japan (122-138°E, 24- 33°N) causes heat waves after about a week. Due to the frictional force, the positive geopotential height anomalies associated with the south sea warming induce divergent flows over the boundary layer. This divergent flow induces the southerly in Korea, which leads to a positive temperature advection. On the other hand, over the freeatmosphere, the geostrophic wind around high-pressure anomalies flows in a westerly direction over Korea during the south sea warming, which is not effective in temperature advection. Therefore, the positive temperature advection in Korea due to the south sea warming decreases with height. This reduces the vertical potential temperature gradient, which indicates a negative potential vorticity (PV) tendency over Korea. Therefore, the high-pressure anomaly over the south sea of Korea is propagated northward, which results in heat waves due to more incoming solar radiation.

Height Dependence of Plasma Properties of a Dark Lane and a Cool Loop in a Solar Limb Active Region Observed by Hinode/EIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, K.; Imada, S.; Moon, Y.; Lee, J.

2013-12-01

We investigate spectral properties of a cool loop and a dark lane over a limb active region on 2007 March 14 by the Hinode/EUV Imaging Spectrometer. The cool loop is clearly seen in the spectral lines formed at the transition region temperature. The dark lane is characterized by an elongated faint structure in coronal spectral lines and rooted on a bright point. We determine their electron densities, Doppler velocities, and non-thermal velocities with height over the limb. We derived electron densities using the density sensitive line pairs of Mg VII, Si X, Fe XII, Fe XIII and Fe XIV spectra. Under the hydrostatic equilibrium and isothermal assumption, we determine their temperatures from the density scale height. Comparing the scale height temperatures to the peak formation temperatures of the spectral lines, we note that the scale height temperature of the cool loop is consistent with a peak formation temperature of the Fe XII and the scale height temperatures of the dark lane from each spectral lines are much lower than their peak formation temperatures. The non-thermal velocity in the cool loop slightly decreases along the loop while that in the dark lane sharply falls off with height. The variation of non-thermal velocity with height in the cool loop and the dark lane is contrast to that in off-limb polar coronal holes which are considered as source of the solar wind. Such a decrease in the non-thermal velocity may be explained by wave damping near the solar surface or turbulence due to magnetic reconnection near the bright point.

The effects of cloud inhomogeneities upon radiative fluxes, and the supply of a cloud truth validation dataset

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Welch, Ronald M.

1993-01-01

A series of cloud and sea ice retrieval algorithms are being developed in support of the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Science Team objectives. These retrievals include the following: cloud fractional area, cloud optical thickness, cloud phase (water or ice), cloud particle effective radius, cloud top heights, cloud base height, cloud top temperature, cloud emissivity, cloud 3-D structure, cloud field scales of organization, sea ice fractional area, sea ice temperature, sea ice albedo, and sea surface temperature. Due to the problems of accurately retrieving cloud properties over bright surfaces, an advanced cloud classification method was developed which is based upon spectral and textural features and artificial intelligence classifiers.

Wind-Tunnel Simulation of Weakly and Moderately Stable Atmospheric Boundary Layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hancock, Philip E.; Hayden, Paul

2018-07-01

The simulation of horizontally homogeneous boundary layers that have characteristics of weakly and moderately stable atmospheric flow is investigated, where the well-established wind engineering practice of using `flow generators' to provide a deep boundary layer is employed. Primary attention is given to the flow above the surface layer, in the absence of an overlying inversion, as assessed from first- and second-order moments of velocity and temperature. A uniform inlet temperature profile ahead of a deep layer, allowing initially neutral flow, results in the upper part of the boundary layer remaining neutral. A non-uniform inlet temperature profile is required but needs careful specification if odd characteristics are to be avoided, attributed to long-lasting effects inherent of stability, and to a reduced level of turbulent mixing. The first part of the wind-tunnel floor must not be cooled if turbulence quantities are to vary smoothly with height. Closely horizontally homogeneous flow is demonstrated, where profiles are comparable or closely comparable with atmospheric data in terms of local similarity and functions of normalized height. The ratio of boundary-layer height to surface Obukhov length, and the surface heat flux, are functions of the bulk Richardson number, independent of horizontal homogeneity. Surface heat flux rises to a maximum and then decreases.

Wind-Tunnel Simulation of Weakly and Moderately Stable Atmospheric Boundary Layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hancock, Philip E.; Hayden, Paul

2018-02-01

The simulation of horizontally homogeneous boundary layers that have characteristics of weakly and moderately stable atmospheric flow is investigated, where the well-established wind engineering practice of using `flow generators' to provide a deep boundary layer is employed. Primary attention is given to the flow above the surface layer, in the absence of an overlying inversion, as assessed from first- and second-order moments of velocity and temperature. A uniform inlet temperature profile ahead of a deep layer, allowing initially neutral flow, results in the upper part of the boundary layer remaining neutral. A non-uniform inlet temperature profile is required but needs careful specification if odd characteristics are to be avoided, attributed to long-lasting effects inherent of stability, and to a reduced level of turbulent mixing. The first part of the wind-tunnel floor must not be cooled if turbulence quantities are to vary smoothly with height. Closely horizontally homogeneous flow is demonstrated, where profiles are comparable or closely comparable with atmospheric data in terms of local similarity and functions of normalized height. The ratio of boundary-layer height to surface Obukhov length, and the surface heat flux, are functions of the bulk Richardson number, independent of horizontal homogeneity. Surface heat flux rises to a maximum and then decreases.

Occultation Experiment: Results of the First Direct Measurement of Mars's Atmosphere and Ionosphere.

PubMed

Kliore, A; Cain, D L; Levy, G S; Eshleman, V R; Fjeldbo, G; Drake, F D

1965-09-10

Changes in the frequency, phase, and amplitude of the Mariner IV radio signal, caused by passage through the atmosphere and ionosphere of Mars, were observed immediately before and after occultation by the planet. Preliminary analysis of these effects has yielded estimates of the refractivity and density of the atmosphere near the surface, the scale height in the atmosphere, and the electron density profile of the Martian ionosphere. The atmospheric density, temperature, and scale height are lower than previously predicted, as are the maximum density, temperature, scale height, and altitude of the ionosphere.

A Community Terrain-Following Ocean Modeling System (ROMS)

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-30

funded NOPP project titled: Toward the Development of a Coupled COAMPS-ROMS Ensemble Kalman filter and adjoint with a focus on the Indian Ocean and the...surface temperature and surface salinity daily averages for 31-Jan-2014. Similarly, Figure 3 shows the sea surface height averaged solution for 31-Jan... temperature (upper panel; Celsius) and surface salinity (lower panel) for 31-Jan-2014. The refined solution for the Hudson Canyon grid is overlaid on

An atlas of monthly mean distributions of SSMI surface wind speed, ARGOS buoy drift, AVHRR/2 sea surface temperature, and ECMWF surface wind components during 1990

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halpern, D.; Knauss, W.; Brown, O.; Wentz, F.

1993-01-01

The following monthly mean global distributions for 1990 are proposed with a common color scale and geographical map: 10-m height wind speed estimated from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSMI) on a United States (US) Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft; sea surface temperature estimated from the advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR/2) on a U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) spacecraft; Cartesian components of free drifting buoys which are tracked by the ARGOS navigation system on NOAA satellites; and Cartesian components on the 10-m height wind vector computed by the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF). Charts of monthly mean value, sampling distribution, and standard deviation values are displayed. Annual mean distributions are displayed.

An atlas of monthly mean distributions of SSMI surface wind speed, ARGOS buoy drift, AVHRR/2 sea surface temperature, and ECMWF surface wind components during 1991

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halpern, D.; Knauss, W.; Brown, O.; Wentz, F.

1993-01-01

The following monthly mean global distributions for 1991 are presented with a common color scale and geographical map: 10-m height wind speed estimated from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSMI) on a United States Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft; sea surface temperature estimated from the advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR/2) on a U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) spacecraft; Cartesian components of free-drifting buoys which are tracked by the ARGOS navigation system on NOAA satellites; and Cartesian components of the 10-m height wind vector computed by the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF). Charts of monthly mean value, sampling distribution, and standard deviation value are displayed. Annual mean distributions are displayed.

Change of Martian surface height associated with polar cold spots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ford, P. G.; Pettengill, G. H.

2003-12-01

For the past 30 years, orbiting microwave radiometers have observed anomalously low emission temperatures during Martian polar winters. While the physical surface temperature cannot drop significantly below 148K---the point at which CO2 starts to condense---radiometric temperatures of 110K or lower at 25μ wavelength are commonly found in isolated ``cold spots'' throughout both northern and southern polar winters. These form roughly circular patches, tens to hundreds of km in diameter, and persist for no more than a few days. Three models have been proposed to account for them: (a) an atmospheric effect that accompanies CO2 snowfall; (b) fresh surface deposits of CO2 snow; or (c) a change in the properties of CO2 slab ice. Following the success of Smith et al.1 in using the MOLA laser altimeter aboard Mars Global Surveyor to directly measure the growth of the winter polar caps, we have applied the same technique to ask whether cold spots are accompanied by a sudden change in surface height. To identify the cold spots, we first examined all polar observations made by the TES radiometer that was co-boresited with MOLA, and made gridded images of ∂ T / ∂ λ , the derivative of the brightness temperature wrt wavelength, 20μ <= λ <= 25μ , over 5o ranges in Ls. A total of 169 cold spots were readily located in the 3 winters (one northern, two southern) during which MOLA operated, and their times of first appearance were noted. We then examined the individual MOLA tracks that crossed these regions from 30 days before, to 30 days after, the cold spot appearances. Three sets of crossing points were assembled: (a) both pairs of tracks were made before the cold spot appearance, (b) both after the appearance, and (c) one before and the other after. For each crossing point, the surface height was interpolated from the 3 nearest altimeter footprints in each of the two tracks. The difference between the resulting pair of heights was averaged over all crossing points, and the RMS variance of the height differences was used as a measure of the statistical error in the measurement. Preliminary results show small height differences before the appearance of a cold spot, as expected, but no abrupt jump in surface height immediately after one appears. This suggests that the cold spots are not formed by deep (>50cm) CO2 snow deposits, but it cannot help us decide between the alternatives of CO2 snowfall or a change in slab ice properties. 1 Smith, Zuber, and Neumann, Science, {294}, 2141-2146, 2001.

Verification and transfer of thermal pollution model. Volume 3: Verification of 3-dimensional rigid-lid model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, S. S.; Sengupta, S.; Nwadike, E. V.; Sinha, S. K.

1982-01-01

The six-volume report: describes the theory of a three dimensional (3-D) mathematical thermal discharge model and a related one dimensional (1-D) model, includes model verification at two sites, and provides a separate user's manual for each model. The 3-D model has two forms: free surface and rigid lid. The former, verified at Anclote Anchorage (FL), allows a free air/water interface and is suited for significant surface wave heights compared to mean water depth; e.g., estuaries and coastal regions. The latter, verified at Lake Keowee (SC), is suited for small surface wave heights compared to depth (e.g., natural or man-made inland lakes) because surface elevation has been removed as a parameter. These models allow computation of time-dependent velocity and temperature fields for given initial conditions and time-varying boundary conditions. The free-surface model also provides surface height variations with time.

Improved Modeling of Surface Layer Parameters in a AGCM Using Refined Vertical Resolution in the Surface Layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shin, H. H.; Zhao, M.; Ming, Y.; Chen, X.; Lin, S. J.

2017-12-01

Surface layer (SL) parameters in atmospheric models - such as 2-m air temperature (T2), 10-m wind speed (U10), and surface turbulent fluxes - are computed by applying the Monin-Obukhov Similarity Theory (MOST) to the lowest model level height (LMH) in the models. The underlying assumption is that LMH is within surface layer height (SLH), but most AGCMs hardly meet the condition in stable boundary layers (SBLs) over land. To assess the errors in modeled SL parameters caused by this, offline computations of the MOST are performed with different LMHs from 1 to 100 m, for an idealized SBL case with prescribed surface parameters (surface temperature, roughness length and Obukhov length), and vertical profiles of temperature and winds. The results show that when LMH is higher than SLH, T2 and U10 are underestimated by O(1 K) and O(1 m/s), respectively, and the biases increase as LMH increases. Based on this, the refined vertical resolution with an additional layer in the SL is applied to the GFDL AGCM, and it reduces the systematic cold biases in T2 and the systematic underestimation of U10.

Seasonal Ice Zone Reconnaissance Surveys Coordination

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-30

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

The response of the SSM/I to the marine environment. I - An analytic model for the atmospheric component of observed brightness temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petty, Grant W.; Katsaros, Kristina B.

1992-01-01

A detailed parameterization is developed for the contribution of the nonprecipitating atmosphere to the microwave brightness temperatures observed by the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I). The atmospheric variables considered include the viewing angle, the integrated water vapor amount and scale height, the effective tropospheric lapse rate and near-surface temperature, the total cloud liquid water, the effective cloud height, and the surface pressure. The dependence of the radiative variables on meteorological variables is determined for each of the SSM/I frequencies 19.35, 22.235, 37.0, and 85.5 GHz, based on the values computed from 16,893 maritime temperature and humidity profiles representing all latitude belts and all seasons. A comparison of the predicted brightness temperatures with brightness temperatures obtained by direct numerical integration of the radiative transfer equation for the radiosonde-profile dataset yielded rms differences well below 1 K for all four SSM/I frequencies.

Remote sensing tools to study ocean biogeochemistry: state of the art

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carr, M. E.

2001-01-01

Remote sensing of the world ocean presently provides measurements of sea-surface temperature, sea surface height, wind speed and direction, and ocean color, from which chlorophyll concentration and aerosol optical thickness are obtained.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Junod, R.; Christy, J. R.

2016-12-01

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

Quasi-decadal variations in total ozone content, wind velocity, temperature, and geopotential height over the Arosa station (Switzerland)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Visheratin, K. N.

2016-01-01

We present the results of the analysis of the phase relationships between the quasi-decadal variations (QDVs) (in the range from 8 to 13 years) in the total ozone content (TOC) at the Arosa station for 1932-2012 and a number of meteorological parameters: monthly mean values of temperature, meridional and zonal components of wind velocity, and geopotential heights for isobaric surfaces in the layer of 10-925 hPa over the Arosa station using the Fourier methods and composite and cross-wavelet analysis. It has been shown that the phase relationships of the QDVs in the TOC and meteorological parameters with an 11-year cycle of solar activity change in time and height; starting with cycle 24 of solar activity (2008-2010), the variations in the TOC and a number of meteorological parameters occur in almost counter phase with the variations in solar activity. The periods of the maximum growth rate of the temperature at isobaric surfaces 50-100 hPa nearly correspond to the TOC's maximum periods, and the periods of the maximum temperature correspond the periods of the decrease of the peak TOC rate. The highest correlation coefficients between the meridional wind velocity and temperature are observed at 50 hPa at positive and negative delays of ~27 months. The times of the maxima (minima) of the QDVs in the meridional wind velocity nearly correspond to the periods of the maximum amplification (attenuation) rate of the temperature of the QDVs. The QDVs in the geopotential heights of isobaric surfaces fall behind the variations in the TOC by an average of 1.5 years everywhere except in the lower troposphere. In general, the periods of variations in the TOC and meteorological parameters in the range of 8-13 years are smaller than the period of variations in the level of solar activity.

Effects of tip-substrate gap, deposition temperature, holding time, and pull-off velocity on dip-pen lithography investigated using molecular dynamics simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Cheng-Da; Fang, Te-Hua; Lin, Jen-Fin

2012-05-01

The process parameters in the dip-pen nanolithography process, including tip-substrate gap, deposition temperature, holding time, and pull-off velocity are evaluated in terms of the mechanism of molecular transference, alkanethiol meniscus characteristic, surface adsorbed energy, and pattern formation using molecular dynamics simulations. The simulation results clearly show that the optimum deposition occurs at a smaller tip-substrate gap, a slower pull-off velocity, a higher temperature, and a longer holding time. The pattern area increases with decreasing tip-substrate gap and increasing deposition temperature and holding time. With an increase in deposition temperature, the molecular transfer ability significantly increases. Pattern height is a function of meniscus length. When the pull-off velocity is decreased, the pattern height increases. The height of the neck in meniscus decreases and the neck width increases with holding time. Meniscus size increases with increasing deposition temperature and holding time.

Estimating Planetary Boundary Layer Heights from NOAA Profiler Network Wind Profiler Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Molod, Andrea M.; Salmun, H.; Dempsey, M

2015-01-01

An algorithm was developed to estimate planetary boundary layer (PBL) heights from hourly archived wind profiler data from the NOAA Profiler Network (NPN) sites located throughout the central United States. Unlike previous studies, the present algorithm has been applied to a long record of publicly available wind profiler signal backscatter data. Under clear conditions, summertime averaged hourly time series of PBL heights compare well with Richardson-number based estimates at the few NPN stations with hourly temperature measurements. Comparisons with clear sky reanalysis based estimates show that the wind profiler PBL heights are lower by approximately 250-500 m. The geographical distribution of daily maximum PBL heights corresponds well with the expected distribution based on patterns of surface temperature and soil moisture. Wind profiler PBL heights were also estimated under mostly cloudy conditions, and are generally higher than both the Richardson number based and reanalysis PBL heights, resulting in a smaller clear-cloudy condition difference. The algorithm presented here was shown to provide a reliable summertime climatology of daytime hourly PBL heights throughout the central United States.

Tropical Convective Outflow and Near Surface Equivalent Potential Temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Folkins, Ian; Oltmans, Samuel J.; Thompson, Anne M.; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

We use clear sky heating rates to show that convective outflow in the tropics decreases rapidly with height between the 350 K and 360 K potential temperature surfaces (or between roughly 13 and 15 km). There is also a rapid fall-off in the pseudoequivalent potential temperature probability distribution of near surface air parcels between 350 K and 360 K. This suggests that the vertical variation of convective outflow in the upper tropical troposphere is to a large degree determined by the distribution of sub cloud layer entropy.

Boundary Layer Transition Protuberance Tests at NASA JSC Arc-Jet Facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Larin, M. E.; Marichalar, J. J.; Kinder, G. R.; Campbell, C. H.; Riccio, J. R.; Nquyen, T. Q.; DelPapa, S. V.; Pulsonetti, M. V.

2009-01-01

A series of arc-jet tests in support of the Shuttle Orbiter Boundary Layer Transition flight experiment was conducted in the Channel Nozzle of the NASA Johnson Space Center Atmospheric Reentry Materials and Structures Facility. The boundary layer trip was a protrusion of a certain height and geometry fabricated as part of a 6"x6" tile insert, a special test article made of the Boeing Rigid Insulation tile material and coated with the Reaction Cured Glass used for the bottom fuselage tiles of the Space Shuttle Orbiter. A total of five such tile inserts were manufactured: four with the 0.25-in. trip height, and one with the 0.35-in. trip height. The tile inserts were interchangeably installed in the center of the 24"x24" variable configuration tile array mounted in the 24"x24" test section of the channel nozzle. The objectives of the test series were to demonstrate that the boundary layer trip can safely withstand the Space Shuttle Orbiter flight-like re-entry environments and provide temperature data on the protrusion surface, surfaces of the nearby tiles upstream and downstream of the trip, as well as the bond line between the tiles and the structure. The targeted test environments were defined for the tip of the protrusion, away from the nominal surface of the tile array. The arc jet test conditions were approximated in order to produce the levels of the free stream total enthalpy at the protrusion height similar to those expected in flight. The test articles were instrumented with surface, sidewall and bond line thermocouples. Additionally, Tempilaq temperature-indicating paint was applied to the nominal tiles of the tile array in locations not interfering with the protrusion trip. Five different grades of paint were used that disintegrate at different temperatures between 1500 and 2000 deg F. The intent of using the paint was to gauge the RCG-coated tile surface temperature, as well as determine its usefulness for a flight experiment. This paper provides an overview of the channel nozzle arc jet, test articles and test conditions, as well as the results of the arc-jet tests including the measured temperature response of the test articles, their pre- and post-test surface scans, condition of the thermal paint, and continents on the protrusion tip heating achieved in tests compared to the computational fluid dynamics predictions.

High Temperature Monitoring the Height of Condensed Water in Steam Pipes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bar-Cohen, Yoseph; Lih, Shyh-Shiuh; Badescu, Mircea; Bao, Xiaoqi; Sherrit, Stewart; Widholm, Scott; Ostlund, Patrick; Blosiu, Julian

2011-01-01

An in-service health monitoring system is needed for steam pipes to track through their wall the condensation of water. The system is required to measure the height of the condensed water inside the pipe while operating at temperatures that are as high as 250 deg. C. The system needs to be able to make real time measurements while accounting for the effects of cavitation and wavy water surface. For this purpose, ultrasonic wave in pulse-echo configuration was used and reflected signals were acquired and auto-correlated to remove noise from the data and determine the water height. Transmitting and receiving the waves is done by piezoelectric transducers having Curie temperature that is significantly higher than 250 deg. C. Measurements were made at temperatures as high as 250 deg. C and have shown the feasibility of the test method. This manuscript reports the results of this feasibility study.

The ionosphere of Europa from Galileo radio occultations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kliore, A. J.; Hinson, D. P.; Flasar, F. M.; Nagy, A. F.; Cravens, T. E.

1997-01-01

The Galileo spacecraft performed six radio occultation observations of Jupiter's Galilean satellite Europa during its tour of the jovian system. In five of the six instances, these occultations revealed the presence of a tenuous ionosphere on Europa, with an average maximum electron density of nearly 10(4) per cubic centimeter near the surface and a plasma scale height of about 240 +/- 40 kilometers from the surface to 300 kilometers and of 440 +/- 60 kilometers above 300 kilometers. Such an ionosphere could be produced by solar photoionization and jovian magnetospheric particle impact in an atmosphere having a surface density of about 10(8) electrons per cubic centimeter. If this atmosphere is composed primarily of O2, then the principal ion is O2+ and the neutral atmosphere temperature implied by the 240-kilometer scale height is about 600 kelvin. If it is composed of H2O, the principal ion is H3O+ and the neutral temperature is about 340 kelvin. In either case, these temperatures are much higher than those observed on Europa's surface, and an external heating source from the jovian magnetosphere is required.

The ionosphere of Europa from Galileo radio occultations.

PubMed

Kliore, A J; Hinson, D P; Flasar, F M; Nagy, A F; Cravens, T E

1997-07-18

The Galileo spacecraft performed six radio occultation observations of Jupiter's Galilean satellite Europa during its tour of the jovian system. In five of the six instances, these occultations revealed the presence of a tenuous ionosphere on Europa, with an average maximum electron density of nearly 10(4) per cubic centimeter near the surface and a plasma scale height of about 240 +/- 40 kilometers from the surface to 300 kilometers and of 440 +/- 60 kilometers above 300 kilometers. Such an ionosphere could be produced by solar photoionization and jovian magnetospheric particle impact in an atmosphere having a surface density of about 10(8) electrons per cubic centimeter. If this atmosphere is composed primarily of O2, then the principal ion is O2+ and the neutral atmosphere temperature implied by the 240-kilometer scale height is about 600 kelvin. If it is composed of H2O, the principal ion is H3O+ and the neutral temperature is about 340 kelvin. In either case, these temperatures are much higher than those observed on Europa's surface, and an external heating source from the jovian magnetosphere is required.

Airborne Sea-Surface Topography in an Absolute Reference Frame

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brozena, J. M.; Childers, V. A.; Jacobs, G.; Blaha, J.

2003-12-01

Highly dynamic coastal ocean processes occur at temporal and spatial scales that cannot be captured by the present generation of satellite altimeters. Space-borne gravity missions such as GRACE also provide time-varying gravity and a geoidal msl reference surface at resolution that is too coarse for many coastal applications. The Naval Research Laboratory and the Naval Oceanographic Office have been testing the application of airborne measurement techniques, gravity and altimetry, to determine sea-surface height and height anomaly at the short scales required for littoral regions. We have developed a precise local gravimetric geoid over a test region in the northern Gulf of Mexico from historical gravity data and recent airborne gravity surveys. The local geoid provides a msl reference surface with a resolution of about 10-15 km and provides a means to connect airborne, satellite and tide-gage observations in an absolute (WGS-84) framework. A series of altimetry reflights over the region with time scales of 1 day to 1 year reveal a highly dynamic environment with coherent and rapidly varying sea-surface height anomalies. AXBT data collected at the same time show apparent correlation with wave-like temperature anomalies propagating up the continental slope of the Desoto Canyon. We present animations of the temporal evolution of the surface topography and water column temperature structure down to the 800 m depth of the AXBT sensors.

Stability diagrams for the surface patterns of GaN(0001bar) as a function of Schwoebel barrier height

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krzyżewski, Filip; Załuska-Kotur, Magdalena A.

2017-01-01

Height and type of Schwoebel barriers (direct or inverse) decides about the character of the surface instability. Different surface morphologies are presented. Step bunches, double steps, meanders, mounds and irregular patterns emerge at the surface as a result of step (Schwoebel) barriers at some temperature or miscut values. The study was carried out on the two-component kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) model of GaN(0001bar) surface grown in nitrogen rich conditions. Diffusion of gallium adatoms over N-polar surface is slow and nitrogen adatoms are almost immobile. We show that in such conditions surfaces remain smooth when gallium adatoms diffuse in the presence of low inverse Schwoebel barrier. It is illustrated by adequate stability diagrams for surface morphologies.

Evaluation of the operational Aerosol Layer Height retrieval algorithm for Sentinel-5 Precursor: application to O2 A band observations from GOME-2A

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanders, A. F. J.; de Haan, J. F.; Sneep, M.; Apituley, A.; Stammes, P.; Vieitez, M. O.; Tilstra, L. G.; Tuinder, O. N. E.; Koning, C. E.; Veefkind, J. P.

2015-06-01

An algorithm setup for the operational Aerosol Layer Height product for TROPOMI on the Sentinel-5 Precursor mission is described and discussed, applied to GOME-2A data, and evaluated with lidar measurements. The algorithm makes a spectral fit of reflectance at the O2 A band in the near-infrared and the fit window runs from 758 to 770 nm. The aerosol profile is parameterized by a scattering layer with constant aerosol volume extinction coefficient and aerosol single scattering albedo and with a fixed pressure thickness. The algorithm's target parameter is the height of this layer. In this paper, we apply the algorithm to observations from GOME-2A in a number of systematic and extensive case studies and we compare retrieved aerosol layer heights with lidar measurements. Aerosol scenes cover various aerosol types, both elevated and boundary layer aerosols, and land and sea surfaces. The aerosol optical thicknesses for these scenes are relatively moderate. Retrieval experiments with GOME-2A spectra are used to investigate various sensitivities, in which particular attention is given to the role of the surface albedo. From retrieval simulations with the single-layer model, we learn that the surface albedo should be a fit parameter when retrieving aerosol layer height from the O2 A band. Current uncertainties in surface albedo climatologies cause biases and non-convergences when the surface albedo is fixed in the retrieval. Biases disappear and convergence improves when the surface albedo is fitted, while precision of retrieved aerosol layer pressure is still largely within requirement levels. Moreover, we show that fitting the surface albedo helps to ameliorate biases in retrieved aerosol layer height when the assumed aerosol model is inaccurate. Subsequent retrievals with GOME-2A spectra confirm that convergence is better when the surface albedo is retrieved simultaneously with aerosol parameters. However, retrieved aerosol layer pressures are systematically low (i.e., layer high in the atmosphere) to the extent that retrieved values are not realistically representing actual extinction profiles anymore. When the surface albedo is fixed in retrievals with GOME-2A spectra, convergence deteriorates as expected, but retrieved aerosol layer pressures become much higher (i.e., layer lower in atmosphere). The comparison with lidar measurements indicates that retrieved aerosol layer heights are indeed representative of the underlying profile in that case. Finally, subsequent retrieval simulations with two-layer aerosol profiles show that a model error in the assumed profile (two layers in the simulation but only one in the retrieval) is partly absorbed by the surface albedo when this parameter is fitted. This is expected in view of the correlations between errors in fit parameters and the effect is relatively small for elevated layers (less than 100 hPa). In case one of the scattering layers is near the surface (boundary layer aerosols), the effect becomes surprisingly large such that the retrieved height of the single layer is above the two-layer profile. Furthermore, we find that the retrieval solution, once retrieval converges, hardly depends on the starting values for the fit. Sensitivity experiments with GOME-2A spectra also show that aerosol layer height is indeed relatively robust against inaccuracies in the assumed aerosol model, even when the surface albedo is not fitted. We show spectral fit residuals, which can be used for further investigations. Fit residuals may be partly explained by spectroscopic uncertainties, which is suggested by an experiment showing the improvement of convergence when the absorption cross section is scaled in agreement with Butz et al. (2012) and Crisp et al. (2012) and a temperature offset to the a priori ECMWF temperature profile is fitted. Retrieved temperature offsets are always negative and quite large (ranging between -4 and -8 K), which is not expected if temperature offsets absorb remaining inaccuracies in meteorological data. Other sensitivity experiments investigate fitting of stray light and fluorescence emissions. We find negative radiance offsets and negative fluorescence emissions, also for non-vegetated areas, but from the results it is not clear whether fitting these parameters improves the retrieval. Based on the present results, the operational baseline for the Aerosol Layer Height product currently will not fit the surface albedo. The product will be particularly suited for elevated, optically thick aerosol layers. In addition to its scientific value in climate research, anticipated applications of the product for TROPOMI are providing aerosol height information for aviation safety and improving interpretation of the Absorbing Aerosol Index.

Evaluation of the operational Aerosol Layer Height retrieval algorithm for Sentinel-5 Precursor: application to O2 A band observations from GOME-2A

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanders, A. F. J.; de Haan, J. F.; Sneep, M.; Apituley, A.; Stammes, P.; Vieitez, M. O.; Tilstra, L. G.; Tuinder, O. N. E.; Koning, C. E.; Veefkind, J. P.

2015-11-01

An algorithm setup for the operational Aerosol Layer Height product for TROPOMI on the Sentinel-5 Precursor mission is described and discussed, applied to GOME-2A data, and evaluated with lidar measurements. The algorithm makes a spectral fit of reflectance at the O2 A band in the near-infrared and the fit window runs from 758 to 770 nm. The aerosol profile is parameterised by a scattering layer with constant aerosol volume extinction coefficient and aerosol single scattering albedo and with a fixed pressure thickness. The algorithm's target parameter is the height of this layer. In this paper, we apply the algorithm to observations from GOME-2A in a number of systematic and extensive case studies, and we compare retrieved aerosol layer heights with lidar measurements. Aerosol scenes cover various aerosol types, both elevated and boundary layer aerosols, and land and sea surfaces. The aerosol optical thicknesses for these scenes are relatively moderate. Retrieval experiments with GOME-2A spectra are used to investigate various sensitivities, in which particular attention is given to the role of the surface albedo. From retrieval simulations with the single-layer model, we learn that the surface albedo should be a fit parameter when retrieving aerosol layer height from the O2 A band. Current uncertainties in surface albedo climatologies cause biases and non-convergences when the surface albedo is fixed in the retrieval. Biases disappear and convergence improves when the surface albedo is fitted, while precision of retrieved aerosol layer pressure is still largely within requirement levels. Moreover, we show that fitting the surface albedo helps to ameliorate biases in retrieved aerosol layer height when the assumed aerosol model is inaccurate. Subsequent retrievals with GOME-2A spectra confirm that convergence is better when the surface albedo is retrieved simultaneously with aerosol parameters. However, retrieved aerosol layer pressures are systematically low (i.e., layer high in the atmosphere) to the extent that retrieved values no longer realistically represent actual extinction profiles. When the surface albedo is fixed in retrievals with GOME-2A spectra, convergence deteriorates as expected, but retrieved aerosol layer pressures become much higher (i.e., layer lower in atmosphere). The comparison with lidar measurements indicates that retrieved aerosol layer heights are indeed representative of the underlying profile in that case. Finally, subsequent retrieval simulations with two-layer aerosol profiles show that a model error in the assumed profile (two layers in the simulation but only one in the retrieval) is partly absorbed by the surface albedo when this parameter is fitted. This is expected in view of the correlations between errors in fit parameters and the effect is relatively small for elevated layers (less than 100 hPa). If one of the scattering layers is near the surface (boundary layer aerosols), the effect becomes surprisingly large, in such a way that the retrieved height of the single layer is above the two-layer profile. Furthermore, we find that the retrieval solution, once retrieval converges, hardly depends on the starting values for the fit. Sensitivity experiments with GOME-2A spectra also show that aerosol layer height is indeed relatively robust against inaccuracies in the assumed aerosol model, even when the surface albedo is not fitted. We show spectral fit residuals, which can be used for further investigations. Fit residuals may be partly explained by spectroscopic uncertainties, which is suggested by an experiment showing the improvement of convergence when the absorption cross section is scaled in agreement with Butz et al. (2013) and Crisp et al. (2012), and a temperature offset to the a priori ECMWF temperature profile is fitted. Retrieved temperature offsets are always negative and quite large (ranging between -4 and -8 K), which is not expected if temperature offsets absorb remaining inaccuracies in meteorological data. Other sensitivity experiments investigate fitting of stray light and fluorescence emissions. We find negative radiance offsets and negative fluorescence emissions, also for non-vegetated areas, but from the results it is not clear whether fitting these parameters improves the retrieval. Based on the present results, the operational baseline for the Aerosol Layer Height product currently will not fit the surface albedo. The product will be particularly suited for elevated, optically thick aerosol layers. In addition to its scientific value in climate research, anticipated applications of the product for TROPOMI are providing aerosol height information for aviation safety and improving interpretation of the Absorbing Aerosol Index.

Regional climate model assessment of the urban land-surface forcing over central Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huszar, P.; Halenka, T.; Belda, M.; Zak, M.; Sindelarova, K.; Miksovsky, J.

2014-07-01

For the purpose of qualifying and quantifying the climate impact of cities and urban surfaces in general on climate of central Europe, the surface parameterization in regional climate model RegCM4 has been extended with the Single Layer Urban Canopy Model (SLUCM). A set of experiments was performed over the period of 2005-2009 for central Europe, either without considering urban surfaces or with the SLUCM treatment. Results show a statistically significant impact of urbanized surfaces on temperature (up to 1.5 K increase in summer) as well as on the boundary layer height (increases up to 50 m). Urbanization further influences surface wind with a winter decrease up to -0.6 m s-1, though both increases and decreases were detected in summer depending on the location relative to the cities and daytime (changes up to 0.3 m s-1). Urban surfaces significantly reduce evaporation and thus the humidity over the surface. This impacts the simulated summer precipitation rate, showing decrease over cities up to -2 mm day-1. Significant temperature increases are simulated over higher elevations as well, not only within the urban canopy layer. With the urban parameterization, the climate model better describes the diurnal temperature variation, reducing the cold afternoon and evening bias of RegCM4. Sensitivity experiments were carried out to quantify the response of the meteorological conditions to changes in the parameters specific to the urban environment such as street width, building height, albedo of the roofs and anthropogenic heat release. The results proved to be rather robust and the choice of the key SLUCM parameters impacts them only slightly (mainly temperature, boundary layer height and wind velocity). Statistically significant impacts are modeled not only over large urbanized areas, but the influence of the cities is also evident over rural areas without major urban surfaces. It is shown that this is the result of the combined effect of the distant influence of the cities and the influence of the minor local urban surface coverage.

Regional climate model assessment of the urban land-surface forcing over central Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huszar, P.; Halenka, T.; Belda, M.; Zak, M.; Sindelarova, K.; Miksovsky, J.

2014-11-01

For the purpose of qualifying and quantifying the climate impact of cities and urban surfaces in general on climate of central Europe, the surface parameterization in regional climate model RegCM4 has been extended with the Single-layer Urban Canopy Model (SLUCM). A set of experiments was performed over the period of 2005-2009 for central Europe, either without considering urban surfaces or with the SLUCM treatment. Results show a statistically significant impact of urbanized surfaces on temperature (up to 1.5 K increase in summer) as well as on the boundary layer height (increases up to 50 m). Urbanization further influences surface wind with a winter decrease up to -0.6 m s-1, though both increases and decreases were detected in summer depending on the location relative to the cities and daytime (changes up to 0.3 m s-1). Urban surfaces significantly reduce the humidity over the surface. This impacts the simulated summer precipitation rate, showing a decrease over cities of up to -2 mm day-1. Significant temperature increases are simulated over higher altitudes as well, not only within the urban canopy layer. With the urban parameterization, the climate model better describes the diurnal temperature variation, reducing the cold afternoon and evening bias of RegCM4. Sensitivity experiments were carried out to quantify the response of the meteorological conditions to changes in the parameters specific to the urban environment, such as street width, building height, albedo of the roofs and anthropogenic heat release. The results proved to be rather robust and the choice of the key SLUCM parameters impacts them only slightly (mainly temperature, boundary layer height and wind velocity). Statistically significant impacts are modelled not only over large urbanized areas, but the influence of the cities is also evident over rural areas without major urban surfaces. It is shown that this is the result of the combined effect of the distant influence of the cities and the influence of the minor local urban surface coverage.

Planetary Boundary Layer Dynamics over Reno, Nevada in Summer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liming, A.; Sumlin, B.; Loria Salazar, S. M.; Holmes, H.; Arnott, W. P.

2014-12-01

Quantifying the height of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) is important to understand the transport behavior, mixing, and surface concentrations of air pollutants. In Reno, NV, located in complex, mountainous terrain with high desert climate, the daytime boundary layer can rise to an estimated 3km or more on a summer day due to surface heating and convection. The nocturnal boundary layer, conversely, tends to be much lower and highly stable due to radiative cooling from the surface at night and downslope flow of cool air from nearby mountains. With limited availability of radiosonde data, current estimates of the PBL height at any given time or location are potentially over or underestimated. To better quantify the height and characterize the PBL physics, we developed portable, lightweight sensors that measure CO2 concentrations, temperature, pressure, and humidity every 5 seconds. Four of these sensors are used on a tethered balloon system to monitor CO2 concentrations from the surface up to 300m. We will combine this data with Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS) data that measures vertical profiles of wind speed, temperature, and humidity from 40m to 400m. This experiment will characterize the diurnal evolution of CO2 concentrations at multiple heights in the PBL, provide insight into PBL physics during stability transition periods at sunrise and sunset, and estimate the nighttime PBL depth during August in Reno. Further, we expect to gain a better understanding of the impact of mixing volume changes (i.e., PBL height) on air quality and pollution concentrations in Reno. The custom portable sensor design will also be presented. It is expected that these instruments can be used for indoor or outdoor air quality studies, where lightness, small size, and battery operation can be of benefit.

Surface morphological, electrical and transport properties of rapidly annealed double layers Ru/Cr Schottky structure on n-type InP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shanthi Latha, K.; Rajagopal Reddy, V.

2017-07-01

The electrical and transport properties of a fabricated bilayer Ru/Cr/ n-InP Schottky diode (SD) have been investigated at different annealing temperatures. Atomic force microscopy results have showed that the overall surface morphology of the Ru/Cr/ n-InP SD is fairly smooth at elevated temperatures. High barrier height is achieved for the diode annealed at 300 °C compared to the as-deposited, annealed at 200 and 400 °C diodes. The series resistance and shunt resistance of the Ru/Cr/ n-InP SD are estimated by current-voltage method at different annealing temperatures. The barrier heights and series resistance are also determined by Cheung's and modified Norde functions. The interface state density of the Ru/Cr/ n-InP SD is found to be decreased after annealing at 300 °C and then slightly increased upon annealing at 400 °C. The difference between barrier heights obtained from current-voltage and capacitance-voltage is also discussed. Experimental results have showed that the Poole-Frenkel emission is found to be dominant in the lower bias region whereas Schottky emission is dominant in the higher bias region for the Ru/Cr/ n-InP SDs irrespective of annealing temperatures.

Characteristics of surface roughness associated with leading edge ice accretion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shin, Jaiwon

1994-01-01

Detailed size measurements of surface roughness associated with leading edge ice accretions are presented to provide information on characteristics of roughness and trends of roughness development with various icing parameters. Data was obtained from icing tests conducted in the Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) at NASA Lewis Research Center (LeRC) using a NACA 0012 airfoil. Measurements include diameters, heights, and spacing of roughness elements along with chordwise icing limits. Results confirm the existence of smooth and rough ice zones and that the boundary between the two zones (surface roughness transition region) moves upstream towards stagnation region with time. The height of roughness grows as the air temperature and the liquid water content increase, however, the airspeed has little effect on the roughness height. Results also show that the roughness in the surface roughness transition region grows during a very early stage of accretion but reaches a critical height and then remains fairly constant. Results also indicate that a uniformly distributed roughness model is only valid at a very initial stage of the ice accretion process.

Seasonal Ice Zone Reconnaissance Surveys Coordination and Ocean Profiles

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-30

Morison), UpTempO buoy measurements of sea surface temperature (SST), sea level atmospheric pressure ( SLP ), and velocity (Steele), and dropsonde...dropsondes, micro-aircraft), cloud top/base heights UpTempO buoys for understanding and prediction…. Steele UpTempO buoy drops for SLP , SST, SSS...Air Expendable Current Profiler, SLP = Sea Level atmospheric Pressure, SST= Seas Surface Temperature, A/C= aircraft, SIC=Sea Ice Concentration We

Measuring the rebound resilience of a bouncing ball

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wadhwa, Ajay

2012-09-01

Some balls which are made of high-quality rubber (an elastomeric) material, such as tennis or squash balls, could be used for the determination of an important property of such materials called resilience. Since a bouncing ball involves a single impact we call this property 'rebound resilience' and express it as the ratio of the rebound height to the initial drop height of the ball. We determine the rebound resilience for three different types of ball by calculating the coefficient of restitution of the ball-surface combination from the experimentally measurable physical quantities, such as initial drop height and time interval between successive bounces. Using these we also determine the contact time of balls with the surface of impact. For measurements we have used audio, motion and surface-temperature sensors that were interfaced through a USB port with a computer.

Long-term stability of Cu surface nanotips

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jansson, V.; Baibuz, E.; Djurabekova, F.

2016-07-01

Sharp nanoscale tips on the metal surfaces of electrodes enhance locally applied electric fields. Strongly enhanced electric fields trigger electron field emission and atom evaporation from the apexes of nanotips. Together, these processes may explain electric discharges in the form of small local arcs observed near metal surfaces in the presence of electric fields, even in ultra-high vacuum conditions. In the present work, we investigate the stability of nanoscale tips by means of computer simulations of surface diffusion processes on copper, the main material used in high-voltage electronics. We study the stability and lifetime of thin copper (Cu) surface nanotips at different temperatures in terms of diffusion processes. For this purpose we have developed a surface kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) model where the jump processes are described by tabulated precalculated energy barriers. We show that tall surface features with high aspect ratios can be fairly stable at room temperature. However, the stability was found to depend strongly on the temperature: 13 nm nanotips with the major axes in the < 110> crystallographic directions were found to flatten down to half of the original height in less than 100 ns at temperatures close to the melting point, whereas no significant change in the height of these nanotips was observed after 10 {{μ }}{{s}} at room temperature. Moreover, the nanotips built up along the < 110> crystallographic directions were found to be significantly more stable than those oriented in the < 100> or < 111> crystallographic directions. The proposed KMC model has been found to be well-suited for simulating atomic surface processes and was validated against molecular dynamics simulation results via the comparison of the flattening times obtained by both methods. We also note that the KMC simulations were two orders of magnitude computationally faster than the corresponding molecular dynamics calculations.

The influence of ice sheets on temperature during the past 38 million years inferred from a one-dimensional ice sheet-climate model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stap, Lennert B.; van de Wal, Roderik S. W.; de Boer, Bas; Bintanja, Richard; Lourens, Lucas J.

2017-09-01

Since the inception of the Antarctic ice sheet at the Eocene-Oligocene transition (˜ 34 Myr ago), land ice has played a crucial role in Earth's climate. Through feedbacks in the climate system, land ice variability modifies atmospheric temperature changes induced by orbital, topographical, and greenhouse gas variations. Quantification of these feedbacks on long timescales has hitherto scarcely been undertaken. In this study, we use a zonally averaged energy balance climate model bidirectionally coupled to a one-dimensional ice sheet model, capturing the ice-albedo and surface-height-temperature feedbacks. Potentially important transient changes in topographic boundary conditions by tectonics and erosion are not taken into account but are briefly discussed. The relative simplicity of the coupled model allows us to perform integrations over the past 38 Myr in a fully transient fashion using a benthic oxygen isotope record as forcing to inversely simulate CO2. Firstly, we find that the results of the simulations over the past 5 Myr are dependent on whether the model run is started at 5 or 38 Myr ago. This is because the relation between CO2 and temperature is subject to hysteresis. When the climate cools from very high CO2 levels, as in the longer transient 38 Myr run, temperatures in the lower CO2 range of the past 5 Myr are higher than when the climate is initialised at low temperatures. Consequently, the modelled CO2 concentrations depend on the initial state. Taking the realistic warm initialisation into account, we come to a best estimate of CO2, temperature, ice-volume-equivalent sea level, and benthic δ18O over the past 38 Myr. Secondly, we study the influence of ice sheets on the evolution of global temperature and polar amplification by comparing runs with ice sheet-climate interaction switched on and off. By passing only albedo or surface height changes to the climate model, we can distinguish the separate effects of the ice-albedo and surface-height-temperature feedbacks. We find that ice volume variability has a strong enhancing effect on atmospheric temperature changes, particularly in the regions where the ice sheets are located. As a result, polar amplification in the Northern Hemisphere decreases towards warmer climates as there is little land ice left to melt. Conversely, decay of the Antarctic ice sheet increases polar amplification in the Southern Hemisphere in the high-CO2 regime. Our results also show that in cooler climates than the pre-industrial, the ice-albedo feedback predominates the surface-height-temperature feedback, while in warmer climates they are more equal in strength.

Spectroscopic Study of a Dark Lane and a Cool Loop in a Solar Limb Active Region by Hinode/EIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Kyoung-Sun; Imada, S.; Moon, Y.-J.; Lee, Jin-Yi

2014-01-01

We investigated a cool loop and a dark lane over a limb active region on 2007 March 14 using the Hinode/EUV Imaging Spectrometer. The cool loop is clearly seen in the spectral lines formed at the transition region temperature. The dark lane is characterized by an elongated faint structure in the coronal spectral lines and is rooted on a bright point. We examined their electron densities, Doppler velocities, and nonthermal velocities as a function of distance from the limb. We derived electron densities using the density sensitive line pairs of Mg VII, Si X, Fe XII, Fe XIII, and Fe XIV spectra. We also compared the observed density scale heights with the calculated scale heights from each peak formation temperatures of the spectral lines under the hydrostatic equilibrium. We noted that the observed density scale heights of the cool loop are consistent with the calculated heights, with the exception of one observed cooler temperature; we also found that the observed scale heights of the dark lane are much lower than their calculated scale heights. The nonthermal velocity in the cool loop slightly decreases along the loop, while nonthermal velocity in the dark lane sharply falls off with height. Such a decrease in the nonthermal velocity may be explained by wave damping near the solar surface or by turbulence due to magnetic reconnection near the bright point.

A scheme for computing surface layer turbulent fluxes from mean flow surface observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoffert, M. I.; Storch, J.

1978-01-01

A physical model and computational scheme are developed for generating turbulent surface stress, sensible heat flux and humidity flux from mean velocity, temperature and humidity at some fixed height in the atmospheric surface layer, where conditions at this reference level are presumed known from observations or the evolving state of a numerical atmospheric circulation model. The method is based on coupling the Monin-Obukov surface layer similarity profiles which include buoyant stability effects on mean velocity, temperature and humidity to a force-restore formulation for the evolution of surface soil temperature to yield the local values of shear stress, heat flux and surface temperature. A self-contained formulation is presented including parameterizations for solar and infrared radiant fluxes at the surface. Additional parameters needed to implement the scheme are the thermal heat capacity of the soil per unit surface area, surface aerodynamic roughness, latitude, solar declination, surface albedo, surface emissivity and atmospheric transmissivity to solar radiation.

Regional 500 mb heights and U.S. 1 000-500 mb thickness prior to the radiosonde era

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michaels, P. J.; Sappington, D. E.; Stooksbury, D. E.; Hayden, B. P.

1990-09-01

We developed a statistical model relating cyclone track eigenvectors over the U.S., southern Canada, and nearby oceans to a record of mean annual 500 mb heights. The length of the cyclone track record allowed us to calculate mean heights back to 1885. Use of mean annual surface pressure data allowed us to estimate the mean 1 000-500 mb thickness, which was related to mean annual temperature. This temperature calculation is unique in that it cannot suffer from urban or site bias. We find a warming of 1.5°C from the late 19th century to 1955, followed by a drop of 0.7° to 1980. By 1987, the calculated temperatures were 0.3° above the mean for 103 years of record. As an example of regional application, we examine results over the southwestern U.S.

Intrinsic inhomogeneous barrier height at the n-TiO2/p-Si hole-blocking junction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Mohit; Singh, Ranveer; Som, Tapobrata

2018-01-01

Using Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) and temperature-dependent current-voltage characteristics, we study the charge transport across an n-TiO2/p-Si heterojunction. In particular, the KPFM result shows a variation in the work function at the TiO2 surface. On the other hand, temperature-dependent current-voltage characteristics depict a non-ideal hole-blocking behaviour of the same. In addition, the measured barrier height is found to decrease with temperature and does not follow the thermionic emission theory, strongly suggesting an inhomogeneous nature of the barrier. The observed barrier inhomogeneity is attributed to the nanoscale height modulation, arising due to the growth dynamics of TiO2 and corroborates well with the KPFM map. The presented results will open a new avenue to understand the charge transport in TiO2-based nanoscale devices.

FLASHFlux Info

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-05-20

... Surface Emissivity Cloud Area Fraction Cloud Effective Pressure Cloud Effective Temperature Cloud Effective Height Cloud Top Pressure Cloud Base Pressure Cloud Particle Phase Liquid Water Path Ice Water Path Water Particle Radius Ice Particle ...

AATSR Based Volcanic Ash Plume Top Height Estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Virtanen, Timo H.; Kolmonen, Pekka; Sogacheva, Larisa; Sundstrom, Anu-Maija; Rodriguez, Edith; de Leeuw, Gerrit

2015-11-01

The AATSR Correlation Method (ACM) height estimation algorithm is presented. The algorithm uses Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) satellite data to detect volcanic ash plumes and to estimate the plume top height. The height estimate is based on the stereo-viewing capability of the AATSR instrument, which allows to determine the parallax between the satellite's nadir and 55◦ forward views, and thus the corresponding height. AATSR provides an advantage compared to other stereo-view satellite instruments: with AATSR it is possible to detect ash plumes using brightness temperature difference between thermal infrared (TIR) channels centered at 11 and 12 μm. The automatic ash detection makes the algorithm efficient in processing large quantities of data: the height estimate is calculated only for the ash-flagged pixels. Besides ash plumes, the algorithm can be applied to any elevated feature with sufficient contrast to the background, such as smoke and dust plumes and clouds. The ACM algorithm can be applied to the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR), scheduled for launch at the end of 2015.

Validation of satellite-retrieved MBL cloud properties using DOE ARM AMF measurements at the Azores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xi, B.; Dong, X.; Minnis, P.; Sun-Mack, S.

2013-05-01

Marine Boundary Layer (MBL) cloud properties derived for the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) Project using Terra and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data are compared with observations taken at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) AMF AZORES site from June 2009 through December 2010. Retrievals from ARM surface-based data were averaged over a 1-hour interval centered at the time of each satellite overpass, and the CERES-MODIS Ed4 cloud properties were averaged within a 30-km x 30-km box centered on the ARM AZORES site. Two datasets were analyzed: all of the single-layered unbroken decks (SL) and those cases without temperature inversions. The CERES-MODIS cloud top/base heights were determined from cloud top/base temperature by using a lapse rate method normalized to the 24-h mean surface air temperature. The preliminary results show: for all SL MBL at daytime, they are, on average, 0.148 km (cloud top) and 0.087 km (cloud base) higher than the ARM radar-lidar observed cloud top and base, respectively. At nighttime, they are 0.446 km (cloud top) and 0.334 km (cloud base). For those cases without temperature inversions, the comparisons are close to their SL counterparts. For cloud temperatures, the MODIS-derived cloud-top and -base temperatures are 1.6 K lower and 0.4 K higher than the surface values with correlations of 0.92 during daytime. At nighttime, the differences are slightly larger and correlations are lower than daytime comparisons. Variations in the height difference are mainly caused by uncertainties in the surface air temperatures and lapse rates. Based on a total of 61 daytime and 87 nighttime samples (ALL SL cases), the temperature inversion layers occur about 72% during daytime and 83% during nighttime. The difference of surface-observed lapse rate and the satellite derived lapse rate can be 1.6 K/km for daytime and 3.3K/km for nighttime. From these lapse rates, we can further analyze the surface air temperature difference that used to calculate these lapse rate, which are ~3K difference between surface-observed and the satellite derived during the daytime and 5.1 K during nighttime. Further studies of the cause of the temperature inversions that may help the cloud heights retrievals by satellite. The preliminary comparisons in MBL microphysical properties have shown that the averaged CERES-MODIS derived MBL cloud-droplet effective radius is only 1.5 μm larger than ARM retrieval (13.2 μm), and LWP values are also very close to each other (112 vs. 124 gm-2) with a relative large difference in optical depth (10.6 vs. 14.4).

Pacific Dictates Droughts and Drenchings

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-01-30

The latest remote sensing data from NASA's Jason satellite show that the equatorial Pacific sea surface levels are higher, indicating warmer sea surface temperatures in the central and west Pacific Ocean. This pattern has the appearance of La Niña rather than El Niño. This contrasts with the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska and U.S. West Coast where lower-than-normal sea surface levels and cool ocean temperatures continue (indicated by blue and purple areas). The image above is a global map of sea surface height, accurate to within 30 millimeters. The image represents data collected and composited over a 10-day period, ending on Jan 23, 2004. The height of the water relates to the temperature of the water. As the ocean warms, its level rises; and as it cools, its level falls. Yellow and red areas indicate where the waters are relatively warmer and have expanded above sea level, green indicates near normal sea level, and blue and purple areas show where the waters are relatively colder and the surface is lower than sea level. The blue areas are between 5 and 13 centimeters (2 and 5 inches) below normal, whereas the purple areas range from 14 to 18 centimeters (6 to 7 inches) below normal. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05071

Long-Wave Radiation Divergence over Water and Land from Measurement and Calculation (Die Langwellige Strahlungsdivergenz ueber Wasser und ueber dem Festen Boden nach Messung und Rechnung),

DTIC Science & Technology

surface temperature field. If these are eliminated, which is relatively simple over a water surface, the differences between calculated and measured...divergences at these levels is less than 20%, on the average. The relative variation of the divergence with height is somewhat greater over water than over land, due to the different temperature profiles. (Author)

CERES-MISR Info

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-05-20

... Surface Albedo Cloud Area Fraction Cloud Effective Pressure Cloud Effective Temperature Cloud Effective Height Cloud Top Pressure Cloud Base Pressure Cloud Particle Phase Liquid Water Path Ice Water Path Water Particle Radius Ice Particle ...

Temperature-Dependent Nanofabrication on Silicon by Friction-Induced Selective Etching.

PubMed

Jin, Chenning; Yu, Bingjun; Xiao, Chen; Chen, Lei; Qian, Linmao

2016-12-01

Friction-induced selective etching provides a convenient and practical way for fabricating protrusive nanostructures. A further understanding of this method is very important for establishing a controllable nanofabrication process. In this study, the effect of etching temperature on the formation of protrusive hillocks and surface properties of the etched silicon surface was investigated. It is found that the height of the hillock produced by selective etching increases with the etching temperature before the collapse of the hillock. The temperature-dependent selective etching rate can be fitted well by the Arrhenius equation. The etching at higher temperature can cause rougher silicon surface with a little lower elastic modulus and hardness. The contact angle of the etched silicon surface decreases with the etching temperature. It is also noted that no obvious contamination can be detected on silicon surface after etching at different temperatures. As a result, the optimized condition for the selective etching was addressed. The present study provides a new insight into the control and application of friction-induced selective nanofabrication.

The Association Between Fog and Temperature Inversions from Ground and Radiosonde Observations in East Greenland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gilson, G.; Jiskoot, H.

2016-12-01

Many Arctic glaciers terminate along coasts where temperature inversions and sea fog are frequent during summer. Both can influence glacier ablation, but the effects of fog may be complex. To understand fog's physical and radiative properties and its association to temperature inversions it is important to determine accurate Arctic coastal fog climatologies In previous research we determined that fog in East Greenland peaks in the melt season and can be spatially extensive over glacierized terrain. In this study we aim to understand which environmental factors influence fog occurrence in East Greenland; understand the association between fog and temperature inversions; and quantify fog height. We analyzed fog observations and other weather data from coastal synoptic weather stations, and extracted temperature inversions from the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive radiosonde profiles. Fog height was calculated from radiosonde profiles, based on a method developed for radiation fog which we expanded to include advection and steam fog. Our results show that Arctic coastal fog requires sea ice breakup and a sea breeze with wind speed between 1-4 m/s. Fog is mostly advective, occurring under stable synoptic conditions characterized by deep and strong low-level temperature inversions. Steam fog may occur 5-30% of the time. Fog can occur under near-surface subsidence, with a subsaturated inversion base, or a saturated inversion base. We classified five types of fog based on their vertical sounding characteristics: only at the surface, below an inversion, capped by an inversion, inside a surface-based inversion, or inside a low-level inversion. Fog is commonly 100-400 m thick, often reaching the top of the boundary layer. Fog height is greater at northern stations, where daily fog duration is longer and relative humidity lower. Our results will be included in glacier energy-balance models to account for the influence of fog and temperature inversions on glacier melt.

A Mostly Quiet Pacific

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-11-18

Some climate forecast models indicate there is an above average chance that there could be a weak to borderline El Niño by the end of November 2003. However, the trade winds, blowing from east to west across the equatorial Pacific Ocean, remain strong. Thus, there remains some uncertainty among climate scientists as to whether the warm temperature anomaly will form again this year. The latest remote sensing data from NASA's Jason satellite show near normal conditions across the equatorial Pacific. There are currently no visible signs in sea surface height of an impending El Niño. This equatorial quiet contrasts with the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska and U.S. West Coast where lower-than-normal sea surface levels and cool ocean temperatures continue (indicated by blue and purple areas). The image above is a global map of sea surface height, accurate to within 30 millimeters. The image represents data collected and composited over a 10-day period, ending on Nov. 3, 2003. The height of the water relates to the temperature of the water. As the ocean warms, its level rises; and as it cools, its level falls. Yellow and red areas indicate where the waters are relatively warmer and have expanded above sea level, green indicates near normal sea level, and blue and purple areas show where the waters are relatively colder and the surface is lower than sea level. The blue areas are between 5 and 13 centimeters (2 and 5 inches) below normal, whereas the purple areas range from 14 to 18 centimeters (6 to 7 inches) below normal. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04878

Warm and Humid Air Blowing over Cold Water - Grand Banks Fog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, P.; Weng, W.

2016-12-01

The condensation of water vapour into droplets and the formation of fog in the Earth's atmospheric boundary layer involves a complex balance between horizontal advection and vertical turbulent mixing of heat and water vapour, cloud microphysical processes and radiative transfers of heat, plus the impact of water droplets, and sometimes ice crystals, on visibility. It is a phenomenon which has been studied for many years in a variety of contexts. On land, surface cooling of the ground via long wave radiation at night is often the trigger and a number of 1-D (height and time dependent) radiative fog models have been developed. Over the waters offshore from Newfoundland a key factor is the advection of moist air from over warm gulf stream waters to colder Labrador current water - an internal boundary-layer problem. Some basic properties can be learned from a steady state 2-D (x-z) model.The WTS (Weng, Taylor and Salmon, 2010, J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 98, 121-132 ) model of flow above changes in surface conditions has been used to investigate planetary boundary-layer flow over water with spatial changes in temperature, and to investigate situations leading to saturation and fog formation. Our turbulence closure includes the turbulent kinetic energy equation but we prefer to specify a height, surface roughness, Rossby number and local stability dependent, "master" length scale instead of a somewhat empirical dissipation or similar equation. Results show that fog can develop and extent to heights of order 100m in some conditions, depending on upstream profiles of wind, temperature and mixing ratio, and on solar radiation and the horizontal variations in water surface temperature.Next steps will involve validation against data being collected (by AMEC-Foster Wheeler in the Hibernia Management and Development Company Metocean project) over the Grand Banks and an interface with WRF and high resolution sea surface temperature data for forecasting fog conditions over the Grand Banks.

CERES SSF Current Info

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2013-05-17

... Surface Albedo Cloud Area Fraction Cloud Effective Pressure Cloud Effective Temperature Cloud Effective Height Cloud Top Pressure Cloud Base Pressure Cloud Particle Phase Liquid Water Path Ice Water Path Water Particle Radius Ice Particle ...

Thermocouple Boundary Layer Rake

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hwang, Danny P. (Inventor); Will, Herbert A. (Inventor); Fralick, Gustave C. (Inventor)

2002-01-01

Apparatus and method for providing a velocity flow profile near a reference surface. A measuring device utilizes a plurality of thermojunction pairs to provide the velocity flow profile in accordance with behavior of a gas relative to a constant thickness strut which stands vertically from the reference surface such that the span is normal to the surface, and the chord is parallel to the surface along the initial flow direction. Each thermojunction is carried on either side of a heater formed on a measuring surface in a constant thickness portion of a strut. Additionally, each thermojunction of a given pair is located at a predetermined height from the reference surface. Gas velocity data obtained from temperature differentials from one side of the heater to the other at each successive height is utilized to generate the velocity and turbulence level profiles.

Influence of land-surface evapotranspiration on the earth's climate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shukla, J.; Mintz, Y.

1982-01-01

Land-surface evapotranspiration is shown to strongly influence global fields of rainfall, temperature and motion by calculations using a numerical model of the atmosphere, confirming the general belief in the importance of evapotranspiration-producing surface vegetation for the earth's climate. The current version of the Goddard Laboratory atmospheric general circulation model is used in the present experiment, in which conservation equations for mass, momentum, moisture and energy are expressed in finite-difference form for a spherical grid to calculate (1) surface pressure field evolution, and (2) the wind, temperature, and water vapor fields at nine levels between the surface and a 20 km height.

A Sensitivity Analysis of the Nocturnal Boundary-Layer Properties to Atmospheric Emissivity Formulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siqueira, Mario B.; Katul, Gabriel G.

2010-02-01

A one-dimensional model for the mean potential temperature within the nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) was used to assess the sensitivity of three NBL properties (height, thermal stratification strength, and near-surface cooling) to three widely used atmospheric emissivity formulations. The calculations revealed that the NBL height is robust to the choice of the emissivity function, though this is not the case for NBL Richardson number and near-surface cooling rate. Rather than endorse one formulation, our analysis highlights the importance of atmospheric emissivity in modelling the radiative properties of the NBL especially for clear-sky conditions.

MELIFT - A new device for accurate measurements in a snow rich environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dorninger, M.

2012-04-01

A deep snow pack, remote locations, no external power supply and very low temperatures are often the main ingredients when it comes to the deployment of meteorological stations in mountainous terrain. The accurate position of the sensor related to the snow surface is normally not known. A new device called METLIFT overcomes the problems. WMO recommends a height between 1.2 m and 2 m above ground level for the measurement of air temperature and humidity. The height above ground level is specified to take care of the possible strong vertical temperature and humidity gradients at the lowest layers in the atmosphere. Especially in snow rich and remote locations it may be hardly possible to follow this advice. Therefore most of the meteorological stations in mountainous terrain are situated at mountain tops where strong winds will blow off the snow or in valleys where a daily inspection of the sensors is possible. In other unpopulated mountainous areas, e.g. basins, plateaus, the distance of the sensor to the snow surface is not known or the sensor will be snow-covered. A new device was developed to guarantee the sensor height above surface within the WMO limits in harsh and remote environments. An ultrasonic snow height sensor measures the distance to the snow surface. If it exceeds certain limits due to snow accumulation or snow melt the lift adapts its height accordingly. The prototype of METLIFT has been installed in Lower Austria at an altitude of 1000m. The lift is 6 m high and can pull out for another 4 m. Sensor arms are mounted every meter to allow the connection of additional sensors or to measure a profile of a certain parameter of the lowest 5 m above surface. Sensors can be added easily since cable wiring is provided to each sensor arm. Horizontal winds are measured at 7 m height above surface. METLIFT is independent of external power supply. Three lead gel accumulators recharged by three solar panels provide the energy necessary for the sensors, the data loggers, the data transmission components and for the electromotor to lift the system. METLIFT is energy optimised to keep the energy consumption at low levels. The components of the lift device consist of a 12V electromotor with a worm gear with a transmission rate of 2856:1. This means that the lift moves extremely slow. The data logger can be programmed via the GSM connection from remote locations, the data flow is also conducted via this connection. First results of the winter campaign 2011/2012 will be presented at the conference.

Global Validation of MODIS Atmospheric Profile-Derived Near-Surface Air Temperature and Dew Point Estimates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Famiglietti, C.; Fisher, J.; Halverson, G. H.

2017-12-01

This study validates a method of remote sensing near-surface meteorology that vertically interpolates MODIS atmospheric profiles to surface pressure level. The extraction of air temperature and dew point observations at a two-meter reference height from 2001 to 2014 yields global moderate- to fine-resolution near-surface temperature distributions that are compared to geographically and temporally corresponding measurements from 114 ground meteorological stations distributed worldwide. This analysis is the first robust, large-scale validation of the MODIS-derived near-surface air temperature and dew point estimates, both of which serve as key inputs in models of energy, water, and carbon exchange between the land surface and the atmosphere. Results show strong linear correlations between remotely sensed and in-situ near-surface air temperature measurements (R2 = 0.89), as well as between dew point observations (R2 = 0.77). Performance is relatively uniform across climate zones. The extension of mean climate-wise percent errors to the entire remote sensing dataset allows for the determination of MODIS air temperature and dew point uncertainties on a global scale.

Wind Tunnel Experiments to Study Chaparral Crown Fires.

PubMed

Cobian-Iñiguez, Jeanette; Aminfar, AmirHessam; Chong, Joey; Burke, Gloria; Zuniga, Albertina; Weise, David R; Princevac, Marko

2017-11-14

The present protocol presents a laboratory technique designed to study chaparral crown fire ignition and spread. Experiments were conducted in a low velocity fire wind tunnel where two distinct layers of fuel were constructed to represent surface and crown fuels in chaparral. Chamise, a common chaparral shrub, comprised the live crown layer. The dead fuel surface layer was constructed with excelsior (shredded wood). We developed a methodology to measure mass loss, temperature, and flame height for both fuel layers. Thermocouples placed in each layer estimated temperature. A video camera captured the visible flame. Post-processing of digital imagery yielded flame characteristics including height and flame tilt. A custom crown mass loss instrument developed in-house measured the evolution of the mass of the crown layer during the burn. Mass loss and temperature trends obtained using the technique matched theory and other empirical studies. In this study, we present detailed experimental procedures and information about the instrumentation used. The representative results for the fuel mass loss rate and temperature filed within the fuel bed are also included and discussed.

Measurement of frost characteristics on heat exchanger fins. Part 1: Test facility and instrumentation

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

Thomas, L.; Chen, H.; Besant, R.W.

1999-07-01

A special test facility was developed to characterize frost growing on heat exchanger fins where the cold surfaces and the air supply conditions were similar to those experienced in freezers, i.e., cold surface temperatures ranging from {minus}35 C to {minus}40 C, air supply temperatures from {minus}10 C to {minus}20 C, and 80% to 100% relative humidity (RH). This test facility included a test section with removable fins to measure the frost height and mass concentration. Frost height on heat exchanger fins was measured using a new automated laser scanning system to measure the height of frost and its distribution onmore » selected fins. The increase in air pressure loss resulting from frost growth on the fins was measured directly in the test loop. The frost mass accumulation distribution was measured for each test using special pre-etched fins that could be easily subdivided and weighed. The total heat rate was measured using a heat flux meter. These frost-measuring instruments were calibrated and the uncertainty of each is stated.« less

Spectroscopic study of a dark lane and a cool loop in a solar limb active region by Hinode/EIS

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

Lee, Kyoung-Sun; Imada, S.; Moon, Y.-J.

2014-01-10

We investigated a cool loop and a dark lane over a limb active region on 2007 March 14 using the Hinode/EUV Imaging Spectrometer. The cool loop is clearly seen in the spectral lines formed at the transition region temperature. The dark lane is characterized by an elongated faint structure in the coronal spectral lines and is rooted on a bright point. We examined their electron densities, Doppler velocities, and nonthermal velocities as a function of distance from the limb. We derived electron densities using the density sensitive line pairs of Mg VII, Si X, Fe XII, Fe XIII, and Femore » XIV spectra. We also compared the observed density scale heights with the calculated scale heights from each peak formation temperatures of the spectral lines under the hydrostatic equilibrium. We noted that the observed density scale heights of the cool loop are consistent with the calculated heights, with the exception of one observed cooler temperature; we also found that the observed scale heights of the dark lane are much lower than their calculated scale heights. The nonthermal velocity in the cool loop slightly decreases along the loop, while nonthermal velocity in the dark lane sharply falls off with height. Such a decrease in the nonthermal velocity may be explained by wave damping near the solar surface or by turbulence due to magnetic reconnection near the bright point.« less

Evaluation of an atmospheric model with surface and ABL meteorological data for energy applications in structured areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Triantafyllou, A. G.; Kalogiros, J.; Krestou, A.; Leivaditou, E.; Zoumakis, N.; Bouris, D.; Garas, S.; Konstantinidis, E.; Wang, Q.

2018-03-01

This paper provides the performance evaluation of the meteorological component of The Air Pollution Model (TAPM), a nestable prognostic model, in predicting meteorological variables in urban areas, for both its surface layer and atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) turbulence parameterizations. The model was modified by incorporating four urban land surface types, replacing the existing single urban surface. Control runs were carried out over the wider area of Kozani, an urban area in NW Greece. The model was evaluated for both surface and ABL meteorological variables by using measurements of near-surface and vertical profiles of wind and temperature. The data were collected by using monitoring surface stations in selected sites as well as an acoustic sounder (SOnic Detection And Ranging (SODAR), up to 300 m above ground) and a radiometer profiler (up to 600 m above ground). The results showed the model demonstrated good performance in predicting the near-surface meteorology in the Kozani region for both a winter and a summer month. In the ABL, the comparison showed that the model's forecasts generally performed well with respect to the thermal structure (temperature profiles and ABL height) but overestimated wind speed at the heights of comparison (mostly below 200 m) up to 3-4 ms-1.

Spectroscopic Study of a Dark Lane and a Cool Loop in a Solar Limb Active Region by Hinode/EIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, K.; Imada, S.; Moon, Y.; Lee, J.

2012-12-01

We investigate a cool loop and a dark lane over a limb active region on 2007 March 14 by the Hinode/EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). The cool loop is clearly seen in the EIS spectral lines formed at the transition region temperature (log T = 5.8). The dark lane is characterized by an elongated faint structure in coronal spectral lines (log T = 5.8 - 6.1) and rooted on a bright point. We examine their electron densities, Doppler velocities, and non-thermal velocities as a function of distance from the limb using the spectral lines formed at different temperatures (log T = 5.4 - 6.4). The electron densities of the cool loop and the dark lane are derived from the density sensitive line pairs of Mg VII, Fe XII, and Fe XIV spectra. Under the hydrostatic equilibrium and isothermal assumption, we determine their temperatures from the density scale height. Comparing the scale height temperatures to the peak formation temperatures of the spectral lines, we note that the scale height temperature of the cool loop is consistent with a peak formation temperature of the Mg VII (log T = 5.8) and the scale height temperature of the dark lane is close to a peak formation temperature of the Fe XII and Fe XIII (log T = 6.1 - 6.2). It is interesting to note that the structures of the cool loop and the dark lane are most visible in these temperature lines. While the non-thermal velocity in the cool loop slightly decreases (less than 7 km {s-1}) along the loop, that in the dark lane sharply falls off with height. The variation of non-thermal velocity with height in the cool loop and the dark lane is contrast to that in off-limb polar coronal holes which are considered as source of the fast solar wind. Such a decrease in the non-thermal velocity may be explained by wave damping near the solar surface or turbulence due to magnetic reconnection near the bright point.

Correlations among ocular surface temperature difference value, the tear meniscus height, Schirmer's test and fluorescein tear film break up time.

PubMed

Su, Tai Yuan; Ho, Wei Ting; Lu, Chien Yi; Chang, Shu Wen; Chiang, Huihua Kenny

2015-04-01

To report the use of a thermographer for measuring ocular surface temperature, and to evaluate the correlation among the obtained temperature difference values (TDVs) and dry eye parameters (tear meniscus height (TMH); Schirmer's test results; fluorescent tear breakup time (FTBUT)). Forty-three participants (age 40.2±14.7 years; range 21-67 years) from Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, Taiwan were recruited for the study. The surface temperature was measured at the centre of the ocular surface for 4 s after blinking. TDV was defined as the change in corneal surface temperature relative to that of the preceding eye opening, where TDV01, TDV02, TDV03, and TDV04 represent the values obtained 1, 2, 3, and 4 s after blinking, respectively. Anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) was employed to measure the lower TMH. Schirmer's test with topical anaesthetic was conducted to measure the basal tear secretion. The FTBUT was recorded using a digital camera. TDV measurement exhibited high reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.91). TDV03 exhibited the highest significance and strongest positive correlation with the TMH (r=0.52, p=0.0003) and Schirmer's test value (r=0.39, p=0.008), whereas the TDV03-FTBUT correlation was non-significant. Age correlated negatively and significantly with the TDV (r= -0.35, p=0.021), TMH (r= -0.33, p=0.031), and Schirmer's test value (r= -0.31, p=0.044). TDV03 remained significantly correlated with the TMH and Schirmer's test value after adjustment for age. The thermographer was effective in capturing temperature changes in the ocular surface. The temperature difference 3 s after blinking appears to be correlated with lower TMH and Schirmer test values. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

The effect of channel height on bubble nucleation in superhydrophobic microchannels due to subcritical heating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cowley, Adam; Maynes, Daniel; Crockett, Julie; Iverson, Brian

2017-11-01

This work experimentally investigates the effects of heating on laminar flow in high aspect ratio superhydrophobic (SH) microchannels. When water that is saturated with dissolved air is used, the unwetted cavities of the SH surfaces act as nucleation sites and air effervesces out of solution onto the surfaces. The microchannels consist of a rib/cavity structured SH surface, that is heated, and a glass surface that is utilized for flow visualization. Two channel heights of nominally 183 and 366 μm are considered. The friction factor-Reynolds product (fRe) is obtained via pressure drop and volumetric flow rate measurements and the temperature profile along the channel is obtained via thermocouples embedded in an aluminum block below the SH surface. Five surface types/configurations are investigated: smooth hydrophilic, smooth hydrophobic, SH with ribs perpendicular to the flow, SH with ribs parallel to the flow, and SH with both ribs parallel to the flow and sparse ribs perpendicular to the flow. Depending on the surface type/configuration, large bubbles can form and adversely affect fRe and lead to higher temperatures along the channel. Once bubbles grow large enough, they are expelled from the channel. The channel size greatly effects the residence time of the bubbles and consequently fRe and the channel temperature. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (Grant No. CBET-1235881) and the Utah NASA Space Grant Consortium (NASA Grant NNX15A124H).

Estimation of Land Surface Energy Balance Using Satellite Data of Spatial Reduced Resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vintila, Ruxandra; Radnea, Cristina; Savin, Elena; Poenaru, Violeta

2010-12-01

The paper presents preliminary results concerning the monitoring at national level of several geo-biophysical variables retrieved by remote sensing, in particular those related to drought or aridisation. The study, which is in progress, represents also an exercise for to the implementation of a Land Monitoring Core Service for Romania, according to the Kopernikus Program and in compliance with the INSPIRE Directive. The SEBS model has been used to retrieve land surface energy balance variables, such as turbulent heat fluxes, evaporative fraction and daily evaporation, based on three information types: (1) surface albedo, emissivity, temperature, fraction of vegetation cover (fCover), leaf area index (LAI) and vegetation height; (2) air pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed at the planetary boundary layer (PBL) height; (3) downward solar radiation and downward longwave radiation. AATSR and MERIS archived reprocessed images have provided several types of information. Thus, surface albedo, emissivity, and land surface temperature have been retrieved from AATSR, while LAI and fCover have been estimated from MERIS. The vegetation height has been derived from CORINE Land Cover and PELCOM Land Use databases, while the meteorological information at the height of PBL have been estimated from the measurements provided by the national weather station network. Other sources of data used during this study have been the GETASSE30 digital elevation model with 30" spatial resolution, used for satellite image orthorectification, and the SIGSTAR-200 geographical information system of soil resources of Romania, used for water deficit characterisation. The study will continue by processing other AATSR and MERIS archived images, complemented by the validation of SEBS results with ground data collected on the most important biomes for Romania at various phenological stages, and the transformation of evaporation / evapotranspiration into a drought index using the soil texture data. It is also foreseen to develop procedures for processing near-real time AATSR and MERIS images from the rolling archives, as well as procedures for dealing with SENTINEL 3 images in the future, for timely delivery of reliable information to authorities and planning for drought to reduce its effects on citizens.

Gulf of Mexico Imagery - Satellite Products and Services Division/Office of

Science.gov Websites

Satellite and Product Operations Skip Navigation Link NESDIS banner image and link to NESDIS Home Page Default Office of Satellite and Product Operations banner image and link to OSPO DOC / NOAA Bleaching -- Ocean Color -- Sea/Lake Ice -- Sea Surface Height -- Sea Surface Temperatures -- Tropical

Southwest U.S. Imagery (GOES-WEST) - Satellite Services Division / Office

Science.gov Websites

of Satellite Data Processing and Distribution Skip Navigation Link NESDIS banner image and link Information Service Home Page Default Office of Satellite and Product Operations banner image and link to OSPO Color -- Sea/Lake Ice -- Sea Surface Height -- Sea Surface Temperatures -- Tropical Systems Product List

Tropical Pacific Imagery - Satellite Products and Services Division/Office

Science.gov Websites

of Satellite and Product Operations Skip Navigation Link NESDIS banner image and link to NESDIS Home Page Default Office of Satellite and Product Operations banner image and link to OSPO DOC / NOAA Bleaching -- Ocean Color -- Sea/Lake Ice -- Sea Surface Height -- Sea Surface Temperatures -- Tropical

Tropical Atlantic Imagery - Satellite Products and Services Division/Office

Science.gov Websites

of Satellite and Product Operations Skip Navigation Link NESDIS banner image and link to NESDIS Home Page Default Office of Satellite and Product Operations banner image and link to OSPO DOC / NOAA Bleaching -- Ocean Color -- Sea/Lake Ice -- Sea Surface Height -- Sea Surface Temperatures -- Tropical

Verification and transfer of thermal pollution model. Volume 2: User's manual for 3-dimensional free-surface model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, S. S.; Sengupta, S.; Tuann, S. Y.; Lee, C. R.

1982-01-01

The six-volume report: describes the theory of a three-dimensional (3-D) mathematical thermal discharge model and a related one-dimensional (1-D) model, includes model verification at two sites, and provides a separate user's manual for each model. The 3-D model has two forms: free surface and rigid lid. The former, verified at Anclote Anchorage (FL), allows a free air/water interface and is suited for significant surface wave heights compared to mean water depth; e.g., estuaries and coastal regions. The latter, verified at Lake Keowee (SC), is suited for small surface wave heights compared to depth. These models allow computation of time-dependent velocity and temperature fields for given initial conditions and time-varying boundary conditions.

Thermodynamic Conditions Favorable to Superlative Thunderstorm Updraft, Mixed Phase Microphysics and Lightning Flash Rate. Revised

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, E.; Mushtak, V.; Rosenfeld, D.; Goodman, S.; Boccippio, D.

2004-01-01

Satellite observations of lightning flash rate have been merged with proximal surface station thermodynamic observations toward improving the understanding of the response of the updraft and lightning activity in the tropical atmosphere to temperature. The tropical results have led in turn to an examination of thermodynamic climatology over the continental United States in summertime and its comparison with exceptional electrical conditions documented in earlier studies. The tropical and mid-latitude results taken together support an important role for cloud base height in regulating the transfer of Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) to updraft kinetic energy in thunderstorms. In the tropics, cloud base height is dominated by the dry bulb temperature over the wet bulb temperature as the lightning-regulating temperature in regions characterized by moist convection. In the extratropics, an elevated cloud base height may enable larger cloud water concentrations in the mixed phase region, a favorable condition for the positive charging of large ice particles that may result in thunderclouds with a reversed polarity of the main cloud dipole. The combined requirements of instability and cloud base height serve to confine the region of superlative electrification to the vicinity of the ridge in moist entropy in the western Great Plains.

On heat transfer in squish gaps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spurk, J. H.

1986-06-01

Attention is given to the heat transfer characteristics of a squish gap in an internal combustion engine cylinder, when the piston is nearing top dead center (TDC) on the compression stroke. If the lateral extent of the gap is much larger than its height, the inviscid flow is similar to the stagnation point flow. Surface temperature and pressure histories during compression and expansion are studied. Surface temperature has a maximum near TDC, then drops and rises again during expansion; higher values are actually achieved during expansion than during compression.

Summary of aircraft results for 1978 southeastern Virginia urban plume measurement study of ozone, nitrogen oxides, and methane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gregory, G. L.; Wornom, D. E.; Mathis, J. J., Jr.; Sebacher, D. I.

1980-01-01

Ozone production was determined from aircraft and surface in situ measurements, as well as from an airborne laser absorption spectrometer. Three aircraft and approximately 10 surface stations provided air-quality data. Extensive meteorological, mixing-layer-height, and ozone-precursor data were also measured. Approximately 50 hrs (9 flight days) of data from the aircraft equipped to monitor ozone, nitrogen oxides, dewpoint temperature, and temperature are presented. In addition, each experiment conducted is discussed.

TOPEX/El Nino Watch - El Nino Warm Water Pool Decreasing, Jan, 08, 1998

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

This image of the Pacific Ocean was produced using sea surface height measurements taken by the U.S.-French TOPEX/Poseidon satellite. The image shows sea surface height relative to normal ocean conditions on Jan. 8, 1998, and sea surface height is an indicator of the heat content of the ocean. The volume of the warm water pool related to the El Nino has decreased by about 40 percent since its maximum in early November, but the area of the warm water pool is still about one and a half times the size of the continental United States. The volume measurements are computed as the sum of all the sea surface height changes as compared to normal ocean conditions. In addition, the maximum water temperature in the eastern tropical Pacific, as measured by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is still higher than normal. Until these high temperatures diminish, the El Nino warm water pool still has great potential to disrupt global weather because the high water temperatures directly influence the atmosphere. Oceanographers believe the recent decrease in the size of the warm water pool is a normal part of El Nino's natural rhythm. TOPEX/Poseidon has been tracking these fluctuations of the El Nino warm pool since it began in early 1997. These sea surface height measurements have provided scientists with their first detailed view of how El Nino's warm pool behaves because the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite measures the changing sea surface height with unprecedented precision. In this image, the white and red areas indicate unusual patterns of heat storage; in the white areas, the sea surface is between 14 and 32 centimeters (6 to 13 inches) above normal; in the red areas, it's about 10 centimeters (4 inches) above normal. The green areas indicate normal conditions, while purple (the western Pacific) means at least 18 centimeters (7 inches) below normal sea level.

The El Nino phenomenon is thought to be triggered when the steady westward blowing trade winds weaken and even reverse direction. This change in the winds allows a large mass of warm water (the red and white area) that is normally located near Australia to move eastward along the equator until it reaches the coast of South America. The displacement of so much warm water affects evaporation, where rain clouds form and, consequently, alters the typical atmospheric jet stream patterns around the world. Using these global data, limited regional measurements from buoys and ships, and a forecasting model of the ocean-atmosphere system, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, (NOAA), has issued an advisory indicating the presence of a strong El Nino condition throughout the winter.

For more information, please visit the TOPEX/Poseidon project web page at http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov

Comparison of mean climate trends in the Northern Hemisphere between National Centers for Environmental Prediction and two atmosphere-ocean model forced runs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lucarini, Valerio; Russell, Gary L.

2002-08-01

Results are presented for two greenhouse gas experiments of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies atmosphere-ocean model (AOM). The computed trends of surface pressure; surface temperature; 850, 500, and 200 mbar geopotential heights; and related temperatures of the model for the time frame 1960-2000 are compared with those obtained from the National Centers for Enviromental Prediction (NCEP) observations. The domain of interest is the Northern Hemisphere because of the higher reliability of both the model results and the observations. A spatial correlation analysis and a mean value comparison are performed, showing good agreement in terms of statistical significance for most of the variables considered in the winter and annual means. However, the 850 mbar temperature trends do not show significant positive correlation, and the surface pressure and 850 mbar geopotential height mean trends confidence intervals do not overlap. A brief general discussion about the statistics of trend detection is presented. The accuracy that this AOM has in describing the regional and NH mean climate trends inferred from NCEP through the atmosphere suggests that it may be reliable in forecasting future climate changes.

Second Law Violations by Means of a Stratification of Temperature Due to Force Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trupp, Andreas

2002-11-01

In 1868 J.C. Maxwell proved that a perpetual motion machine of the second kind would become possible, if the equilibrium temperature in a vertical column of gas subject to gravity were a function of height. However, Maxwell had claimed that the temperature had to be the same at all points of the column. So did Boltzmann. Their opponent was Loschmidt. He claimed that the equilibrium temperature declined with height, and that a perpetual motion machine of the second kind operating by means of such column was compatible with the second law of thermodynamics. Extending the general idea behind Loschmidt's concept to other force fields, gravity can be replaced by molecular forces acting on molecules that try to escape from the surface of a liquid into the vapor space. Experiments proving the difference of temperature between the liquid and the vapor phase were conducted in the 19th century already.

Tropical continental downdraft characteristics: mesoscale systems versus unorganized convection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schiro, Kathleen A.; Neelin, J. David

2018-02-01

Downdrafts and cold pool characteristics for strong mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) and isolated, unorganized deep precipitating convection are analyzed using multi-instrument data from the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) GoAmazon2014/5 campaign. Increases in column water vapor (CWV) are observed leading convection, with higher CWV preceding MCSs than for isolated cells. For both MCSs and isolated cells, increases in wind speed, decreases in surface moisture and temperature, and increases in relative humidity occur coincidentally with system passages. Composites of vertical velocity data and radar reflectivity from a radar wind profiler show that the downdrafts associated with the sharpest decreases in surface equivalent potential temperature (θe) have a probability of occurrence that increases with decreasing height below the freezing level. Both MCSs and unorganized convection show similar mean downdraft magnitudes and probabilities with height. Mixing computations suggest that, on average, air originating at heights greater than 3 km must undergo substantial mixing, particularly in the case of isolated cells, to match the observed cold pool θe, implying a low typical origin level. Precipitation conditionally averaged on decreases in surface equivalent potential temperature (Δθe) exhibits a strong relationship because the most negative Δθe values are associated with a high probability of precipitation. The more physically motivated conditional average of Δθe on precipitation shows that decreases in θe level off with increasing precipitation rate, bounded by the maximum difference between surface θe and its minimum in the profile aloft. Robustness of these statistics observed across scales and regions suggests their potential use as model diagnostic tools for the improvement of downdraft parameterizations in climate models.

49 CFR 173.247 - Bulk packaging for certain elevated temperature materials.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... constructed of carbon steel which is in elevated temperature material service is excepted from § 178.345-7(d... constructed such that the stress in the packaging does not exceed one fourth (0.25) of the ultimate strength... kettle tires; CG height is measured perpendicular from the road surface). (2) High stability kettles. (i...

Correlation of film morphology and defect content with the charge-carrier transport in thin-film transistors based on ZnO nanoparticles

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

Polster, S.; Jank, M. P. M.; Frey, L.

2016-01-14

The correlation of defect content and film morphology with the charge-carrier transport in field-effect devices based on zinc oxide nanoparticles was investigated. Changes in the defect content and the morphology were realized by annealing and sintering of the nanoparticle thin films. Temperature-dependent electrical measurements reveal that the carrier transport is thermally activated for both the unsintered and sintered thin films. Reduced energetic barrier heights between the particles have been determined after sintering. Additionally, the energetic barrier heights between the particles can be reduced by increasing the drain-to-source voltage and the gate-to-source voltage. The changes in the barrier height are discussedmore » with respect to information obtained by scanning electron microscopy and photoluminescence measurements. It is found that a reduction of surface states and a lower roughness at the interface between the particle layer and the gate dielectric lead to lower barrier heights. Both surface termination and layer morphology at the interface affect the barrier height and thus are the main criteria for mobility improvement and device optimization.« less

Inventory of File nam.t00z.hawaiinest.hiresf06.tm00.gr

Science.gov Websites

Water Equivalent [kg/m^2/s] 628 surface NCPCP 3-6 hour acc Large-Scale Precipitation (non-convective [non-dim] 010 1 hybrid level HGT 6 hour fcst Geopotential Height [gpm] 011 1 hybrid level TMP 6 hour [non-dim] 056 50 mb HGT 6 hour fcst Geopotential Height [gpm] 057 50 mb TMP 6 hour fcst Temperature [K

Inventory of File nam.t00z.firewxnest.hiresf06.tm00.gr

Science.gov Websites

Water Equivalent [kg/m^2/s] 628 surface NCPCP 5-6 hour acc Large-Scale Precipitation (non-convective [non-dim] 010 1 hybrid level HGT 6 hour fcst Geopotential Height [gpm] 011 1 hybrid level TMP 6 hour [non-dim] 056 50 mb HGT 6 hour fcst Geopotential Height [gpm] 057 50 mb TMP 6 hour fcst Temperature [K

Inventory of File nam.t00z.alaskanest.hiresf06.tm00.gr

Science.gov Websites

Water Equivalent [kg/m^2/s] 628 surface NCPCP 3-6 hour acc Large-Scale Precipitation (non-convective [non-dim] 010 1 hybrid level HGT 6 hour fcst Geopotential Height [gpm] 011 1 hybrid level TMP 6 hour [non-dim] 056 50 mb HGT 6 hour fcst Geopotential Height [gpm] 057 50 mb TMP 6 hour fcst Temperature [K

Inventory of File nam.t00z.conusnest.hiresf06.tm00.gri

Science.gov Websites

Water Equivalent [kg/m^2/s] 628 surface NCPCP 3-6 hour acc Large-Scale Precipitation (non-convective [non-dim] 010 1 hybrid level HGT 6 hour fcst Geopotential Height [gpm] 011 1 hybrid level TMP 6 hour [non-dim] 056 50 mb HGT 6 hour fcst Geopotential Height [gpm] 057 50 mb TMP 6 hour fcst Temperature [K

Mineral Surface Rearrangement at High Temperatures: Implications for Extraterrestrial Mineral Grain Reactivity.

PubMed

King, Helen E; Plümper, Oliver; Putnis, Christine V; O'Neill, Hugh St C; Klemme, Stephan; Putnis, Andrew

2017-04-20

Mineral surfaces play a critical role in the solar nebula as a catalytic surface for chemical reactions and potentially acted as a source of water during Earth's accretion by the adsorption of water molecules to the surface of interplanetary dust particles. However, nothing is known about how mineral surfaces respond to short-lived thermal fluctuations that are below the melting temperature of the mineral. Here we show that mineral surfaces react and rearrange within minutes to changes in their local environment despite being far below their melting temperature. Polished surfaces of the rock and planetary dust-forming silicate mineral olivine ((Mg,Fe) 2 SiO 4 ) show significant surface reorganization textures upon rapid heating resulting in surface features up to 40 nm in height observed after annealing at 1200 °C. Thus, high-temperature fluctuations should provide new and highly reactive sites for chemical reactions on nebula mineral particles. Our results also may help to explain discrepancies between short and long diffusion profiles in experiments where diffusion length scales are of the order of 100 nm or less.

Locust displacing winds in eastern Australia reassessed with observations from an insect monitoring radar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hao, Zhenhua; Drake, V. Alistair; Sidhu, Leesa; Taylor, John R.

2017-12-01

Based on previous investigations, adult Australian plague locusts are believed to migrate on warm nights (with evening temperatures >25 °C), provided daytime flight is suppressed by surface winds greater than the locusts' flight speed, which has been shown to be 3.1 m s-1. Moreover, adult locusts are believed to undertake briefer `dispersal' flights on nights with evening temperature >20 °C. To reassess the utility of these conditions for forecasting locust flight, contingency tests were conducted comparing the nights selected on these bases (predicted nights) for the months of November, January, and March and the nights when locust migration were detected with an insect monitoring radar (actual nights) over a 7-year period. In addition, the wind direction distributions and mean wind directions on all predicted nights and actual nights were compared. Observations at around 395 m above ground level (AGL), the height at which radar observations have shown that the greatest number of locusts fly, were used to determine the actual nights. Tests and comparisons were also made for a second height, 990 m AGL, as this was used in the previous investigation. Our analysis shows that the proposed criteria are successful from predicting migratory flight only in March, when the surface temperature is effective as a predicting factor. Surface wind speed has no predicting power. It is suggested that a strong daytime surface wind speed requirement should not be considered and other meteorological variables need to be added to the requirement of a warm surface temperature around dusk for the predictions to have much utility.

Scanning tunneling microscope study of GaAs(001) surfaces grown by migration enhanced epitaxy

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

Kim, J.; Gallagher, M.C.; Willis, R.F.

We report an investigation of the morphology of p-type GaAs(001) surfaces using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The substrates were prepared using two methods: migration enhanced epitaxy (MEE) and standard molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE). The STM measurements were performed ex situ using As decapping. Analysis indicates that the overall step density of the MEE samples decreases as the growth temperature is increased. Nominally flat samples grown at 300{degrees}C exhibited step densities of 10.5 steps/1000 {Angstrom} along [ 110] dropping to 2.5 steps at 580{degrees}C. MEE samples exhibited a lower step density than MBE samples. However as-grown surfaces exhibited a larger distribution ofmore » step heights. Annealing the samples reduced the step height distribution exposing fewer atomic layers. Samples grown by MEE at 580{degrees}C and annealed for 2 min displayed the lowest step density and the narrowest step height distribution. All samples displayed an anisotropic step density. We found a ratio of A-type to B-type steps of between 2 and 3 which directly reflects the difference in the incorporation energy at steps. The aspect ratio increased slightly with growth temperature. We found a similar aspect ratio on samples grown by MBE. This indicates that anisotropic growth during MEE, like MBE, is dominated by incorporation kinetics. MEE samples grown at 580{degrees}C and capped immediately following growth exhibited a number of {open_quotes}holes{close_quotes} in the surface. The holes could be eliminated by annealing the surface prior to quenching. 20 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.« less

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

USGS Publications Warehouse

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

2013-01-01

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

Regional and Coastal Prediction with the Relocatable Ocean Nowcast/Forecast System

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

and those that may be resolved with a suite of satellite altimeters when several are present and operational (~ 100 km). The altimeter data provide...September 2014 47 The observational data used for assimilation include satellite sea surface temperature (SST), satellite altimeter sea surface height...anomaly (SSHA), satellite microwave-derived sea ice concentration, and in situ surface and profile data from sensors on ships; drifters; fixed buoys

Noninvasive Dry Eye Assessment Using High-Technology Ophthalmic Examination Devices.

PubMed

Yamaguchi, Masahiko; Sakane, Yuri; Kamao, Tomoyuki; Zheng, Xiaodong; Goto, Tomoko; Shiraishi, Atsushi; Ohashi, Yuichi

2016-11-01

Recently, the number of dry eye cases has dramatically increased. Thus, it is important that easy screening, exact diagnoses, and suitable treatments be available. We developed 3 original and noninvasive assessments for this disorder. First, a DR-1 dry eye monitor was used to determine the tear meniscus height quantitatively by capturing a tear meniscus digital image that was analyzed by Meniscus Processor software. The DR-1 meniscus height value significantly correlated with the fluorescein meniscus height (r = 0.06, Bland-Altman analysis). At a cutoff value of 0.22 mm, sensitivity of the dry eye diagnosis was 84.1% with 90.9% specificity. Second, the Tear Stability Analysis System was used to quantitatively measure tear film stability using a topographic modeling system corneal shape analysis device. Tear film stability was objectively and quantitatively evaluated every second during sustained eye openings. The Tear Stability Analysis System is currently installed in an RT-7000 autorefractometer and topographer to automate the diagnosis of dry eye. Third, the Ocular Surface Thermographer uses ophthalmic thermography for diagnosis. The decrease in ocular surface temperature in dry eyes was significantly greater than that in normal eyes (P < 0.001) at 10 seconds after eye opening. Decreased corneal temperature correlated significantly with the tear film breakup time (r = 0.572; P < 0.001). When changes in the ocular surface temperature of the cornea were used as indicators for dry eye, sensitivity was 0.83 and specificity was 0.80 after 10 seconds. This article describes the details and potential of these 3 noninvasive dry eye assessment systems.

Inter-Relationship Between Subtropical Pacific Sea Surface Temperature, Arctic Sea Ice Concentration, and the North Atlantic Oscillation in Recent Summers and Winters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lim, Young-Kwon; Cullather, Richard I.; Nowicki, Sophie M.; Kim, Kyu-Myong

2017-01-01

The inter-relationship between subtropical western-central Pacific sea surface temperatures (STWCPSST), sea ice concentration in the Beaufort Sea (SICBS), and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) are investigated for the last 37 summers and winters (1980-2016). Lag-correlation of the STWCPSST×(-1) in spring with the NAO phase and SICBS in summer increases over the last two decades, reaching r = 0.4-0.5 with significance at 5 percent, while winter has strong correlations in approximately 1985-2005. Observational analysis and the atmospheric general circulation model experiments both suggest that STWCPSST warming acts to increase the Arctic geopotential height and temperature in the following season. This atmospheric response extends to Greenland, providing favorable conditions for developing the negative phase of the NAO. SIC and surface albedo tend to decrease over the Beaufort Sea in summer, linked to the positive surface net shortwave flux. Energy balance considering radiative and turbulent fluxes reveal that available energy that can heat surface is larger over the Arctic and Greenland and smaller over the south of Greenland, in response to the STWCPSST warming in spring. XXXX Arctic & Atlantic: Positive upper-level height/T anomaly over the Arctic and Greenland, and a negative anomaly over the central-eastern Atlantic, resembling the (-) phase of the NAO. Pacific: The negative height/T anomaly over the mid-latitudes, along with the positive anomaly over the STWCP, where 1degC warming above climatology is prescribed. Discussion: It is likely that the Arctic gets warm and the NAO is in the negative phase in response to the STWCP warming. But, there are other factors (e.g., internal variability) that contribute to determination of the NAO phase: not always the negative phase of the NAO in the event of STWCP warming (e.g.: recent winters and near neutral NAO in 2017 summer).

Modeling Green Infrastructure Land Use Changes on Future Air Quality—Case Study in Kansas City

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Y.; Bash, J. O.; Roselle, S. J.; Gilliland, A. B.; Shatas, A.; DeYoung, R.; Piziali, J.

2016-12-01

Green infrastructure can be a cost-effective approach for reducing stormwater runoff and improving water quality as a result, but it could also bring co-benefits for air quality: less impervious surfaces and more vegetation can decrease the urban heat island effect, and also result in more removal of air pollutants via dry deposition with increased vegetative surfaces. Cooler surface temperatures can also decrease ozone formation through the increases of NOx titration; however, cooler surface temperatures also lower the height of the boundary layer resulting in more concentrated pollutants within the same volume of air, especially for primary emitted pollutants (e.g. NOx, CO, primary particulate matter). To better understand how green infrastructure impacts air quality, the interactions between all of these processes must be considered collectively. In this study, we use a comprehensive coupled meteorology-air quality model (WRF-CMAQ) to simulate the influence of planned land use changes that include green infrastructure in Kansas City (KC) on regional meteorology and air quality. Current and future land use data was provided by the Mid-America Regional Council for 2012 and 2040 (projected land use due to population growth, city planning and green infrastructure implementation). We found that the average 2-meter temperatures (T2) during summer (June, July and August) are projected to slightly decrease over the downtown of KC and slightly increase over the newly developed regions surrounding the urban core. The planetary boundary layer (PBL) height changes are consistent with the T2 changes: the PBL height is somewhat lowered over the downtown and raised over the newly developed areas. We also saw relatively small decreases in O3 in the downtown area for the mean of all hours as well as for the maximum 8 hour average (MDA8), corresponding with the changes in T2 and PBL height. However, we also found relatively small PM2.5 concentration increases over KC, especially over the downtown areas, with the largest contribution from components of organic carbon, elementary carbon, non-anion dust, and unspeciated PM. More diagnostic analysis is needed to further investigate how these land use changes affect different processes (such as the dry deposition).

Estimating Vegetation Height from WorldView-02 and ArcticDEM Data for Broad Ecological Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meddens, A. J.; Vierling, L. A.; Eitel, J.; Jennewein, J. S.; White, J. C.; Wulder, M.

2017-12-01

Boreal and arctic regions are warming at an unprecedented rate, and at a rate higher than in other regions across the globe. Ecological processes are highly responsive to temperature and therefore substantial changes in these northern ecosystems are expected. Recently, NASA initiated the Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE), which is a large-scale field campaign that aims to gain a better understanding of how the arctic responds to environmental change. High-resolution data products that quantify vegetation structure and function will improve efforts to assess these environmental change impacts. Our objective was to develop and test an approach that allows for mapping vegetation height at a 5m grid cell resolution across the ABoVE domain. To accomplish this, we selected three study areas across a north-south gradient in Alaska, representing an area of approximately 130 km2. We developed a RandomForest modeling approach for predicting vegetation height using the ArcticDEM (a digital surface model produced across the Arctic by the Polar Geospatial Center) and high-resolution multispectral satellite data (WorldView-2) in conjunction with aerial lidar data for calibration and validation. Vegetation height was successfully predicted across the three study areas and evaluated using an independent dataset, with R2 ranging from 0.58 to 0.76 and RMSEs ranging from 1.8 to 2.4 m. This predicted vegetation height dataset also led to the development of a digital terrain model using the ArcticDEM digital surface model by removing canopy heights from the surface heights. Our results show potential to establish a high resolution pan-arctic vegetation height map, which will provide useful information to a broad range of ongoing and future ecological research in high northern latitudes.

The interannual variation in monthly temperature over Northeast China during summer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Wei; Lu, Riyu

2014-05-01

The interannual variations of summer surface air temperature over Northeast China (NEC) were investigated through a month-to-month analysis from May to August. The results suggested that the warmer temperature over NEC is related to a local positive 500-hPa geopotential height anomaly for all four months. However, the teleconnection patterns of atmospheric circulation anomalies associated with the monthly surface air temperature over NEC behave as a distinguished subseasonal variation, although the local positive height anomaly is common from month to month. In May and June, the teleconnection pattern is characterized by a wave train in the upper and middle troposphere from the Indian Peninsula to NEC. This wave train is stronger in June than in May, possibly due to the positive feedback between the wave train and the South Asian rainfall anomaly in June, when the South Asian summer monsoon has been established. In July and August, however, the teleconnection pattern associated with the NEC temperature anomalies is characterized by an East Asia/Pacific (EAP) or Pacific/Japan (PJ) pattern, with the existence of precipitation anomalies over the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea. This pattern is much clearer in July corresponding to the stronger convection over the Philippine Sea compared to that in August.

An experimental study of the atmospheric boundary layer modified by a change in surface roughness and surface temperature

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tieleman, H. W.; Derrington, D. B., Jr.

1977-01-01

Turbulent flow, resembling an on-shore flow from the ocean crossing the beach at an oblique angle, is investigated. Measurements of this flow have been taken at high sample rates and include measurements at various heights, high enough to describe the portion of the mean wind and temperature profiles and fluxes that are of interest for the solution of practical engineering problems. These problems could include air pollution (fumigation and plume trapping), operation of low flying aircraft, crop-spraying and crop-dusting operations.

Characterization technique for inhomogeneous 4H-SiC Schottky contacts: A practical model for high temperature behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brezeanu, G.; Pristavu, G.; Draghici, F.; Badila, M.; Pascu, R.

2017-08-01

In this paper, a characterization technique for 4H-SiC Schottky diodes with varying levels of metal-semiconductor contact inhomogeneity is proposed. A macro-model, suitable for high-temperature evaluation of SiC Schottky contacts, with discrete barrier height non-uniformity, is introduced in order to determine the temperature interval and bias domain where electrical behavior of the devices can be described by the thermionic emission theory (has a quasi-ideal performance). A minimal set of parameters, the effective barrier height and peff, the non-uniformity factor, is associated. Model-extracted parameters are discussed in comparison with literature-reported results based on existing inhomogeneity approaches, in terms of complexity and physical relevance. Special consideration was given to models based on a Gaussian distribution of barrier heights on the contact surface. The proposed methodology is validated by electrical characterization of nickel silicide Schottky contacts on silicon carbide (4H-SiC), where a discrete barrier distribution can be considered. The same method is applied to inhomogeneous Pt/4H-SiC contacts. The forward characteristics measured at different temperatures are accurately reproduced using this inhomogeneous barrier model. A quasi-ideal behavior is identified for intervals spanning 200 °C for all measured Schottky samples, with Ni and Pt contact metals. A predictable exponential current-voltage variation over at least 2 orders of magnitude is also proven, with a stable barrier height and effective area for temperatures up to 400 °C. This application-oriented characterization technique is confirmed by using model parameters to fit a SiC-Schottky high temperature sensor's response.

Use of Ocean Remote Sensing Data to Enhance Predictions with a Coupled General Circulation Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rienecker, Michele M.

1999-01-01

Surface height, sea surface temperature and surface wind observations from satellites have given a detailed time sequence of the initiation and evolution of the 1997/98 El Nino. The data have beet complementary to the subsurface TAO moored data in their spatial resolution and extent. The impact of satellite observations on seasonal prediction in the tropical Pacific using a coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model will be presented.

Recovery of atmospheric refractivity profiles from simulated satellite-to-satellite tracking data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murray, C. W., Jr.; Rangaswamy, S.

1975-01-01

Techniques for recovering atmospheric refractivity profiles from simulated satellite-to-satellite tracking data are documented. Examples are given using the geometric configuration of the ATS-6/NIMBUS-6 Tracking Experiment. The underlying refractivity model for the lower atmosphere has the spherically symmetric form N = exp P(s) where P(s) is a polynomial in the normalized height s. For the simulation used, the Herglotz-Wiechert technique recovered values which were 0.4% and 40% different from the input values at the surface and at a height of 33 kilometers, respectively. Using the same input data, the model fitting technique recovered refractivity values 0.05% and 1% different from the input values at the surface and at a height of 50 kilometers, respectively. It is also shown that if ionospheric and water vapor effects can be properly modelled or effectively removed from the data, pressure and temperature distributions can be obtained.

A Computer-Based Atlas of Global Instrumental Climate Data (DB1003)

DOE Data Explorer

Bradley, Raymond S.; Ahern, Linda G.; Keimig, Frank T.

1994-01-01

Color-shaded and contoured images of global, gridded instrumental data have been produced as a computer-based atlas. Each image simultaneously depicts anomaly maps of surface temperature, sea-level pressure, 500-mbar geopotential heights, and percentages of reference-period precipitation. Monthly, seasonal, and annual composites are available in either cylindrical equidistant or northern and southern hemisphere polar projections. Temperature maps are available from 1854 to 1991, precipitation from 1851 to 1989, sea-level pressure from 1899 to 1991, and 500-mbar heights from 1946 to 1991. The source of data for the temperature images is Jones et al.'s global gridded temperature anomalies. The precipitation images were derived from Eischeid et al.'s global gridded precipitation percentages. Grids from the Data Support Section, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) were the sources for the sea-level-pressure and 500-mbar geopotential-height images. All images are in GIF files (1024 × 822 pixels, 256 colors) and can be displayed on many different computer platforms. Each annual subdirectory contains 141 images, each seasonal subdirectory contains 563 images, and each monthly subdirectory contains 1656 images. The entire atlas requires approximately 340 MB of disk space, but users may retrieve any number of images at one time.

Commercial applications of satellite oceanography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Montgomery, D. R.

1981-01-01

It is shown that in the next decade the oceans' commercial users will require an operational oceanographic satellite system or systems capable of maximizing real-time coverage over all ocean areas. Seasat studies suggest that three spacecraft are required to achieve this. Here, the sensor suite would measure surface winds, wave heights (and spectral energy distribution), ice characteristics, sea-surface temperature, ocean colorimetry, height of the geoid, salinity, and subsurface thermal structure. The importance of oceanographic data being distributed to commercial users within two hours of observation time is stressed. Also emphasized is the importance of creating a responsive oceanographic satellite data archive. An estimate of the potential dollar benefits of such an operational oceanographic satellite system is given.

Verification and transfer of thermal pollution model. Volume 5: Verification of 2-dimensional numerical model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, S. S.; Sengupta, S.; Nwadike, E. V.

1982-01-01

The six-volume report: describes the theory of a three dimensional (3-D) mathematical thermal discharge model and a related one dimensional (1-D) model, includes model verification at two sites, and provides a separate user's manual for each model. The 3-D model has two forms: free surface and rigid lid. The former, verified at Anclote Anchorate (FL), allows a free air/water interface and is suited for significant surface wave heights compared to mean water depth; e.g., estuaries and coastal regions. The latter, verified at Lake Keowee (SC), is suited for small surface wave heights compared to depth (e.g., natural or man-made inland lakes) because surface elevation has been removed as a parameter. These models allow computation of time dependent velocity and temperature fields for given initial conditions and time-varying boundary conditions.

Do Assimilated Drifter Velocities Improve Lagrangian Predictability in an Operational Ocean Model?

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-05-01

extended Kalman filter . Molcard et al. (2005) used a statistical method to cor- relate model and drifter velocities. Taillandier et al. (2006) describe the... temperature and salinity observations. Trajectory angular differ- ences are also reduced. 1. Introduction The importance of Lagrangian forecasts was seen... Temperature , salinity, and sea surface height (SSH, measured along-track by satellite altimeters) observa- tions are typically assimilated in

Annealing temperature effect on self-assembled Au droplets on Si (111).

PubMed

Sui, Mao; Li, Ming-Yu; Kim, Eun-Soo; Lee, Jihoon

2013-12-13

We investigate the effect of annealing temperature on self-assembled Au droplets on Si (111). The annealing temperature is systematically varied while fixing other growth parameters such as deposition amount and annealing duration clearly to observe the annealing temperature effect. Self-assembled Au droplets are fabricated by annealing from 50°C to 850°C with 2-nm Au deposition for 30 s. With increased annealing temperatures, Au droplets show gradually increased height and diameter while the density of droplets progressively decreases. Self-assembled Au droplets with fine uniformity can be fabricated between 550°C and 800°C. While Au droplets become much larger with increased deposition amount, the extended annealing duration only mildly affects droplet size and density. The results are systematically analyzed with cross-sectional line profiles, Fourier filter transform power spectra, height histogram, surface area ratio, and size and density plots. This study can provide an aid point for the fabrication of nanowires on Si (111).

Seasonal MLT-region nightglow intensities, temperatures, and emission heights at a Southern Hemisphere midlatitude site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reid, Iain M.; Spargo, Andrew J.; Woithe, Jonathan M.; Klekociuk, Andrew R.; Younger, Joel P.; Sivjee, Gulamabas G.

2017-04-01

We consider 5 years of spectrometer measurements of OH(6-2) and O2(0-1) airglow emission intensities and temperatures made near Adelaide, Australia (35° S, 138° E), between September 2001 and August 2006 and compare them with measurements of the same parameters from at the same site using an airglow imager, with the intensities of the OH(8-3) and O(1S) emissions made with a filter photometer, and with 2 years of Aura MLS (Microwave Limb Sounder) v3.3 temperatures and 4.5 years of TIMED SABER (Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry) v2.0 temperatures for the same site. We also consider whether we can recover the actual emission heights from the intercomparison of the ground-based and satellite observations. We find a significant improvement in the correlation between the spectrometer OH and SABER temperatures by interpolating the latter to constant density surfaces determined using a meteor radar.

Optimisation of Substrate Angles for Multi-material and Multi-functional Inkjet Printing.

PubMed

Vaithilingam, Jayasheelan; Saleh, Ehab; Wildman, Ricky D; Hague, Richard J M; Tuck, Christopher J

2018-06-13

Three dimensional inkjet printing of multiple materials for electronics applications are challenging due to the limited material availability, inconsistencies in layer thickness between dissimilar materials and the need to expose the printed tracks of metal nanoparticles to temperature above 100 °C for sintering. It is envisaged that instead of printing a dielectric and a conductive material on the same plane, by printing conductive tracks on an angled dielectric surface, the required number of silver layers and consequently, the exposure of the polymer to high temperature and the build time of the component can be significantly reduced. Conductive tracks printed with a fixed print height (FH) showed significantly better resolution for all angles than the fixed slope (FS) sample where the print height varied to maintain the slope length. The electrical resistance of the tracks remained under 10Ω up to 60° for FH; whereas for the FS samples, the resistance remained under 10Ω for samples up to 45°. Thus by fixing the print height to 4 mm, precise tracks with low resistance can be printed at substrate angles up to 60°. By adopting this approach, the build height "Z" can be quickly attained with less exposure of the polymer to high temperature.

Warm Ocean Temperatures Blanket the Far-Western Pacific

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-03-28

Data taken during a 10-day collection cycle ending March 9, 2001, show that above-normal sea-surface heights and warmer ocean temp. red and white areas still blanket the far-western tropical Pacific and much of the north and south mid-Pacific.

Spatial inhomogeneous barrier heights at graphene/semiconductor Schottky junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomer, Dushyant

Graphene, a semimetal with linear energy dispersion, forms Schottky junction when interfaced with a semiconductor. This dissertation presents temperature dependent current-voltage and scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/S) measurements performed on graphene Schottky junctions formed with both three and two dimensional semiconductors. To fabricate Schottky junctions, we transfer chemical vapor deposited monolayer graphene onto Si- and C-face SiC, Si, GaAs and MoS2 semiconducting substrates using polymer assisted chemical method. We observe three main type of intrinsic spatial inhomogeneities, graphene ripples, ridges and semiconductor steps in STM imaging that can exist at graphene/semiconductor junctions. Tunneling spectroscopy measurements reveal fluctuations in graphene Dirac point position, which is directly related to the Schottky barrier height. We find a direct correlation of Dirac point variation with the topographic undulations of graphene ripples at the graphene/SiC junction. However, no such correlation is established at graphene/Si and Graphene/GaAs junctions and Dirac point variations are attributed to surface states and trapped charges at the interface. In addition to graphene ripples and ridges, we also observe atomic scale moire patterns at graphene/MoS2 junction due to van der Waals interaction at the interface. Periodic topographic modulations due to moire pattern do not lead to local variation in graphene Dirac point, indicating that moire pattern does not contribute to fluctuations in electronic properties of the heterojunction. We perform temperature dependent current-voltage measurements to investigate the impact of topographic inhomogeneities on electrical properties of the Schottky junctions. We observe temperature dependence in junction parameters, such as Schottky barrier height and ideality factor, for all types of Schottky junctions in forward bias measurements. Standard thermionic emission theory which assumes a perfect smooth interface fails to explain such behavior, hence, we apply a modified emission theory with Gaussian distribution of Schottky barrier heights. The modified theory, applicable to inhomogeneous interfaces, explains the temperature dependent behavior of our Schottky junctions and gives a temperature independent mean barrier height. We attribute the inhomogeneous barrier height to the presence of graphene ripples and ridges in case of SiC and MoS2 while surface states and trapped charges at the interface is dominating in Si and GaAs. Additionally, we observe bias dependent current and barrier height in reverse bias regime also for all Schottky junctions. To explain such behavior, we consider two types of reverse bias conduction mechanisms; Poole-Frenkel and Schottky emission. We find that Poole-Frenkel emission explains the characteristics of graphene/SiC junctions very well. However, both the mechanism fails to interpret the behavior of graphene/Si and graphene/GaAs Schottky junctions. These findings provide insight into the fundamental physics at the interface of graphene/semiconductor junctions.

Estimation of bare soil evaporation for different depths of water table in the wind-blown sand area of the Ordos Basin, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Li; Wang, Wenke; Zhang, Zaiyong; Wang, Zhoufeng; Wang, Qiangmin; Zhao, Ming; Gong, Chengcheng

2018-04-01

Soil surface evaporation is a significant component of the hydrological cycle, occurring at the interface between the atmosphere and vadose zone, but it is affected by factors such as groundwater level, soil properties, solar radiation and others. In order to understand the soil evaporation characteristics in arid regions, a field experiment was conducted in the Ordos Basin, central China, and high accuracy sensors of soil moisture, moisture potential and temperature were installed in three field soil profiles with water-table depths (WTDs) of about 0.4, 1.4 and 2.2 m. Soil-surface-evaporation values were estimated by observed data combined with Darcy's law. Results showed that: (1) soil-surface-evaporation rate is linked to moisture content and it is also affected by air temperature. When there is sufficient moisture in the soil profile, soil evaporation increases with rising air temperature. For a WTD larger than the height of capillary rise, the soil evaporation is related to soil moisture content, and when air temperature is above 25 °C, the soil moisture content reduces quickly and the evaporation rate lowers; (2) phreatic water contributes to soil surface evaporation under conditions in which the WTD is within the capillary fringe. This indicates that phreatic water would not participate in soil evaporation for a WTD larger than the height of capillary rise. This finding developed further the understanding of phreatic evaporation, and this study provides valuable information on recognized soil evaporation processes in the arid environment.

Navy High-Strength Steel Corrosion-Fatigue Modeling Program

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-10-01

interest. In the global analysis, the axial loading and residual stress (via the temperature profile discussed in the previous section) were applied to...developed based on observa- tions from analyses of axial load components with sinusoidally varying surface geometries. These observations indicated that...profile parameters (height and wavelength in each surface direction) and the applied axial loading . Stress Varies Sinusoidally 180° Out of Phase

Warm Ocean Temperatures Blanket the Far-Western Pacific

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

These data, taken during a 10-day collection cycle ending March 9, 2001, show that above-normal sea-surface heights and warmer ocean temperatures(indicated by the red and white areas) still blanket the far-western tropical Pacific and much of the north (and south) mid-Pacific. Red areas are about 10centimeters (4 inches) above normal; white areas show the sea-surface height is between 14 and 32 centimeters (6 to 13 inches) above normal.

This build-up of heat dominating the Western Pacific was first noted by TOPEX/Poseidon oceanographers more than two years ago and has outlasted the El Nino and La Nina events of the past few years. See: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/elnino/990127.html . This warmth contrasts with the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska and tropical Pacific where lower-than-normal sea levels and cool ocean temperatures continue (indicated by blue areas). The blue areas are between 5 and 13centimeters (2 and 5 inches) below normal, whereas the purple areas range from 14 to 18 centimeters (6 to 7 inches) below normal. Actually, the near-equatorial ocean cooled through the fall of 2000 and into mid-winter and continues almost La Nina-like.

Looking at the entire Pacific basin, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation's warm horseshoe and cool wedge pattern still dominates this sea-level height image. Most recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sea-surface temperature data also clearly illustrate the persistence of this basin-wide pattern. They are available at http://psbsgi1.nesdis.noaa.gov:8080/PSB/EPS/SST/climo.html

The U.S.-French TOPEX/Poseidon mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. For more information on the TOPEX/Poseidon project, see: http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov

Pacific Decadal Oscillation Still Rules in Pacific; No Niño Anytime Soon

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-08-27

These data, taken during a 10-day collection cycle ending August 18, 2001, show that above-normal sea-surface heights and warmer ocean temperatures still blanket the far-western tropical Pacific and much of the north and south mid-Pacific.

NIMBUS-5 sounder data processing system. Part 2: Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, W. L.; Woolf, H. M.; Hayden, C. M.; Shen, W. C.

1975-01-01

The Nimbus-5 spacecraft carries infrared and microwave radiometers for sensing the temperature distribution of the atmosphere. Methods developed for obtaining temperature profiles from the combined set of infrared and microwave radiation measurements are described. Algorithms used to determine (a) vertical temperature and water vapor profiles, (b) cloud height, fractional coverage, and liquid water content, (c) surface temperature, and (d) total outgoing longwave radiation flux are described. Various meteorological results obtained from the application of the Nimbus-5 sounding data processing system during 1973 and 1974 are presented.

Method and system for gas flow mitigation of molecular contamination of optics

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

Delgado, Gildardo; Johnson, Terry; Arienti, Marco

A computer-implemented method for determining an optimized purge gas flow in a semi-conductor inspection metrology or lithography apparatus, comprising receiving a permissible contaminant mole fraction, a contaminant outgassing flow rate associated with a contaminant, a contaminant mass diffusivity, an outgassing surface length, a pressure, a temperature, a channel height, and a molecular weight of a purge gas, calculating a flow factor based on the permissible contaminant mole fraction, the contaminant outgassing flow rate, the channel height, and the outgassing surface length, comparing the flow factor to a predefined maximum flow factor value, calculating a minimum purge gas velocity and amore » purge gas mass flow rate from the flow factor, the contaminant mass diffusivity, the pressure, the temperature, and the molecular weight of the purge gas, and introducing the purge gas into the semi-conductor inspection metrology or lithography apparatus with the minimum purge gas velocity and the purge gas flow rate.« less

On the urban land-surface impact on climate over Central Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huszar, Peter; Halenka, Tomas; Belda, Michal; Zemankova, Katerina; Zak, Michal

2014-05-01

For the purpose of qualifying and quantifying the impact of cities and in general the urban surfaces on climate over central Europe, the surface parameterization in regional climate model RegCM4 has been extended with the Single Layer Urban Canopy Model (SLUCM) for urban and suburban land surface. This can be used both in dynamic scale within BATS scheme and in a more detailed SUBBATS scale to treat the surface processes on a higher resolution subgrid. A set of experiments was performed over the period of 2005-2009 over central Europe, either without considering urban surfaces and with the SLUCM treatment. Results show a statistically significant impact of urbanized surfaces on temperature (up to 1.5 K increase in summer), on the boundary layer height (ZPBL, increases up to 50 m). Urbanization further influences surface wind with a winter decrease up to -0,6 m s-1 and both increases and decreases in summer depending the location with respect to cities and daytime (changes up to 0.3 ms-1). Urban surfaces significantly reduce evaporation and thus the humidity over the surface. This impacts in our simulations the summer precipitation rate showing decrease over cities up to - 2 mm day-1. We further showed, that significant temperature increases are not limited to the urban canopy layer but spawn the whole boundary layer. Above that, a small but statistically significant temperature decrease is modeled. The comparison with observational data showed significant improvement in modeling the monthly surface temperatures in summer and the models better describe the diurnal temperature variation reducing the afternoon and evening bias due to the UHI development, which was not captured by the model if one does not apply the urban parameterization. Sensitivity experiments were carried out as well to quantify the response of the meteorological conditions to changes in the parameters specific to the urban environment such as street width, building height, albedo of the roofs, anthropogenic heat release etc. and showed that the results are rather robust and the choice of the key SLUCM parameters impacts the results only slightly (mainly temperature, ZPBL and wind velocity). Further, the important conclusion is that statistically significant impacts are modeled not only over large urbanized areas (cities), but the influence of cities is evident over remote rural areas as well with minor or without any urban surfaces. We show that this is the result of the combined effect of the distant influence of surrounding cities and the influence of the minor local urban surface coverage.

Calculations of microwave brightness temperature of rough soil surfaces: Bare field

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mo, T.; Schmugge, T. J.; Wang, J. R.

1985-01-01

A model for simulating the brightness temperatures of soils with rough surfaces is developed. The surface emissivity of the soil media is obtained by the integration of the bistatic scattering coefficients for rough surfaces. The roughness of a soil surface is characterized by two parameters, the surface height standard deviation sigma and its horizontal correlation length l. The model calculations are compared to the measured angular variations of the polarized brightness temperatures at both 1.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequences. A nonlinear least-squares fitting method is used to obtain the values of delta and l that best characterize the surface roughness. The effect of shadowing is incorporated by introducing a function S(theta), which represents the probability that a point on a rough surface is not shadowed by other parts of the surface. The model results for the horizontal polarization are in excellent agreement with the data. However, for the vertical polarization, some discrepancies exist between the calculations and data, particularly at the 1.4 GHz frequency. Possible causes of the discrepancy are discussed.

Determination of stratospheric temperature and height gradients from nimbus 3 radiation data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nicholas, G. W.; Hovland, D. N.; Belmont, A. D.

1971-01-01

To improve the specification of stratospheric horizontal temperature and geopotential height fields from satellite radiation data, needed for high flying aircraft, a technique was derived to estimate data between satellite tracks using interpolated IRIS 15-micron data from Nimbus III. The interpolation is based on the observed gradients of the MRIR 15-micron radiances between subsatellite tracks. The technique was verified with radiosonde data taken within 6 hours of the satellite data. The sample varied from 1126 pairs at low levels to 383 pairs at 10 mb using northern hemisphere data for June 15 to July 20, 1969. The data were separated into five latitude bands. The Rms temperature differences were generally from 2 to 5 C for all levels above 300 mb. From 500 to 300 mb RMS differences vary from 4 to 9C except at high latitudes which show values near 3C. The RMS differences between radiosonde heights and those calculated hydrostatically from the surface were from 30 to 280 meters increasing from the surface to 10 mb. Integration starting at 100 mb reduced the RMS difference in the stratosphere to 20 to 120 meters from 70 to 10 mb. From a comparison with actual operational maps at 50 and 10 mb, it appears the techniques developed produce analyses in general agreement with those from radiosonde data. In addition, they are able to indicate details over areas of sparse data not shown by conventional techniques.

Comparison of CERES-MODIS stratus cloud properties with ground-based measurements at the DOE ARM Southern Great Plains site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Xiquan; Minnis, Patrick; Xi, Baike; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Chen, Yan

2008-02-01

Overcast stratus cloud properties derived for the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) project using Terra and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data are compared with observations taken at the Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains site from March 2000 through December 2004. Retrievals from ARM surface-based data were averaged over a 1-h interval centered at the time of each satellite overpass, and the CERES-MODIS cloud properties were averaged within a 30 km × 30 km box centered on the ARM SGP site. Two data sets were analyzed: all of the data (ALL), which include multilayered, single-layered, and slightly broken stratus decks and a subset, single-layered unbroken decks (SL). The CERES-MODIS effective cloud heights were determined from effective cloud temperature using a lapse rate method with the surface temperature specified as the 24-h mean surface air temperature. For SL stratus, they are, on average, within the ARM radar-lidar estimated cloud boundaries and are 0.534 ± 0.542 km and 0.108 ± 0.480 km lower than the cloud physical tops and centers, respectively, and are comparable for day and night observations. The mean differences and standard deviations are slightly larger for ALL data, but not statistically different to those of SL data. The MODIS-derived effective cloud temperatures are 2.7 ± 2.4 K less than the surface-observed SL cloud center temperatures with very high correlations (0.86-0.97). Variations in the height differences are mainly caused by uncertainties in the surface air temperatures, lapse rates, and cloud top height variability. The biases are mainly the result of the differences between effective and physical cloud top, which are governed by cloud liquid water content and viewing zenith angle, and the selected lapse rate, -7.1 K km-1. On the basis of a total of 43 samples, the means and standard deviations of the differences between the daytime Terra and surface retrievals of effective radius re, optical depth, and liquid water path for SL stratus are 0.1 ± 1.9 μm (1.2 ± 23.5%), -1.3 ± 9.5 (-3.6 ± 26.2%), and 0.6 ± 49.9 gm-2 (0.3 ± 27%), respectively, while the corresponding correlation coefficients are 0.44, 0.87, and 0.89. For Aqua, they are 0.2 ± 1.9 μm (2.5 ± 23.4%), 2.5 ± 7.8 (7.8 ± 24.3%), and 28.1 ± 52.7 gm-2 (17.2 ± 32.2%), as well as 0.35, 0.96, and 0.93 from a total of 21 cases. The results for ALL cases are comparable. Although a bias in re was expected because the satellite retrieval of effective radius only represents the top of the cloud, the surface-based radar retrievals revealed that the vertical profile of re is highly variable with smaller droplets occurring at cloud top in some cases. The larger bias in optical depth and liquid water path for Aqua is due, at least partially, to differences in the Terra and Aqua MODIS visible channel calibrations. Methods for improving the cloud top height and microphysical property retrievals are suggested.

Comparison of CERES-MODIS Stratus Cloud Properties with Ground-Based Measurements at the DOE ARM Southern Great Plains Site

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dong, Xiquan; Minnis Patrick; Xi, Baike; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Chen, Yan

2008-01-01

Overcast stratus cloud properties derived for the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy system (CERES) Project using Terra and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data are compared with observations taken at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains site from March 2000 through December 2004. Retrievals from ARM surface-based data were averaged over a 1-hour interval centered at the time of each satellite overpass, and the CERES-MODIS cloud properties were averaged within a 30-km x 30 km box centered on the ARM SGP site. Two datasets were analyzed: all of the data (ALL) which include multilayered, single-layered, and slightly broken stratus decks and a subset, single-layered unbroken decks (SL). The CERES-MODIS effective cloud heights were determined from effective cloud temperature using a lapse rate method with the surface temperature specified as the 24-h mean surface air temperature. For SL stratus, they are, on average, within the ARM radar-lidar estimated cloud boundaries and are 0.534 +/- 0.542 km and 0.108 +/- 0.480 km lower than the cloud physical tops and centers, respectively, and are comparable for day and night observations. The mean differences and standard deviations are slightly larger for ALL data, but not statistically different to those of SL data. The MODIS-derived effective cloud temperatures are 2.7 +/- 2.4 K less than the surface-observed SL cloud center temperatures with very high correlations (0.86-0.97). Variations in the height differences are mainly caused by uncertainties in the surface air temperatures, lapse rates, and cloud-top height variability. The biases are mainly the result of the differences between effective and physical cloud top, which are governed by cloud liquid water content and viewing zenith angle, and the selected lapse rate, -7.1 K km(exp -1). Based on a total of 43 samples, the means and standard deviations of the differences between the daytime Terra and surface retrievals of effective radius r(sub e), optical depth, and liquid water path for SL stratu are 0.1 +/- 1.9 micrometers (1.2 +/- 23.5%), -1.3 +/- 9.5 (-3.6 +/-26.2%), and 0.6 +/- 49.9 gm (exp -2) (0.3 +/- 27%), respectively, while the corresponding correlation coefficients are 0.44, 0.87, and 0.89. For Aqua, they are 0.2 +/- 1.9 micrometers (2.5 +/- 23.4%), 2.5 +/- 7.8 (7.8 +/- 24.3%), and 28.1 +/- 52.7 gm (exp -2) (17.2 +/- 32.2%), as well as 0.35, 0.96, and 0.93 from a total of 21 cases. The results for ALL cases are comparable. Although a bias in R(sub e) was expected because the satellite retrieval of effective radius only represents the top of the cloud, the surface-based radar retrievals revealed that the vertical profile of r(sub e) is highly variable with smaller droplets occurring at cloud top in some cases. The larger bias in optical depth and liquid water path for Aqua is due, at least partially, to differences in the Terra and Aqua MODIS visible channel calibrations. methods for improving the cloud-top height and microphysical property retrievals are suggested.

Defining the Habitat of Pacific Tuna of the Eastern Tropical Pacific from Satellite Imagery, Climatologies, and a Global Circulation Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiefer, D. A.; Hinton, M. G.; Armstrong, E. M.; Harrison, D. P.; Menemenlis, D.; Hu, C.

2016-02-01

With support from NASA's Ecological Forecasting program, we have developed a Tuna Stock Assessment Support System, which merges time series of satellite imagery, a global ocean circulation model, climatology from field surveys, and fisheries data on catch and effort. The purpose of this software is to extract information on the habitat of skipjack, bigeye, and yellowfin tuna in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. The support system is based upon a 50-year record of catch and effort from long-line and purse seine vessels provide by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission. This database, which covers thousands of kilometers of ocean surface, provides monthly information at a 1 degree spatial resolution for the purse seine fleet and 5 degree resolution for the long line fishery. This data is then merged in time and space with satellite imagery of sea surface temperature, chlorophyll, and height, as well as NODC climatologies of oxygen concentration and temperature, and output from NASA's ECCO-2 global circulation model, which provides 3-dimensional simulations of water density, current velocity, mixed layer depth, and sea surface height. Our analyses have yielded a broad range of understanding of the habitat and dynamics both the fish and the fisherman. The purse seine ground, which targets younger tuna, is constrained to waters where the hypoxic layer is shallow. The longline fishery, which targets older tuna, is not constrained by the hypoxic layer and has a much larger distribution. We have characterized the preferences of each species to environmental variables including the depth of the hypoxic layer, the depth of the water column, as well as sea surface height, temperature, and chlorophyll concentration. Finally, the analyses have revealed information on local depletion by fishing, the size distribution of the schools of younger fish, and the impact of ENSO on fishing activities.

Direct numerical simulation of variable surface tension flows using a Volume-of-Fluid method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seric, Ivana; Afkhami, Shahriar; Kondic, Lou

2018-01-01

We develop a general methodology for the inclusion of a variable surface tension coefficient into a Volume-of-Fluid based Navier-Stokes solver. This new numerical model provides a robust and accurate method for computing the surface gradients directly by finding the tangent directions on the interface using height functions. The implementation is applicable to both temperature and concentration dependent surface tension coefficient, along with the setups involving a large jump in the temperature between the fluid and its surrounding, as well as the situations where the concentration should be strictly confined to the fluid domain, such as the mixing of fluids with different surface tension coefficients. We demonstrate the applicability of our method to the thermocapillary migration of bubbles and the coalescence of drops characterized by a different surface tension coefficient.

Substrate Vibrations as Promoters of Chemical Reactivity on Metal Surfaces.

PubMed

Campbell, Victoria L; Chen, Nan; Guo, Han; Jackson, Bret; Utz, Arthur L

2015-12-17

Studies exploring how vibrational energy (Evib) promotes chemical reactivity most often focus on molecular reagents, leaving the role of substrate atom motion in heterogeneous interfacial chemistry underexplored. This combined theoretical and experimental study of methane dissociation on Ni(111) shows that lattice atom motion modulates the reaction barrier height during each surface atom's vibrational period, which leads to a strong variation in the reaction probability (S0) with surface temperature (Tsurf). State-resolved beam-surface scattering studies at Tsurf = 90 K show a sharp threshold in S0 at translational energy (Etrans) = 42 kJ/mol. When Etrans decreases from 42 kJ/mol to 34 kJ/mol, S0 decreases 1000-fold at Tsurf = 90 K, but only 2-fold at Tsurf = 475 K. Results highlight the mechanism for this effect, provide benchmarks for DFT calculations, and suggest the potential importance of surface atom induced barrier height modulation in heterogeneously catalyzed reactions, particularly on structurally labile nanoscale particles and defect sites.

A Revised Thermosphere for the Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model (Mars-GRAM Version 3.4)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Justus, C. G.; Johnson, D. L.; James, B. F.

1996-01-01

This report describes the newly-revised model thermosphere for the Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model (Mars-GRAM, Version 3.4). It also provides descriptions of other changes made to the program since publication of the programmer's guide for Mars-GRAM Version 3.34. The original Mars-GRAM model thermosphere was based on the global-mean model of Stewart. The revised thermosphere is based largely on parameterizations derived from output data from the three-dimensional Mars Thermospheric Global Circulation Model (MTGCM). The new thermospheric model includes revised dependence on the 10.7 cm solar flux for the global means of exospheric temperature, temperature of the base of the thermosphere, and scale height for the thermospheric temperature variations, as well as revised dependence on orbital position for global mean height of the base of the thermosphere. Other features of the new thermospheric model are: (1) realistic variations of temperature and density with latitude and time of day, (2) more realistic wind magnitudes, based on improved estimates of horizontal pressure gradients, and (3) allowance for user-input adjustments to the model values for mean exospheric temperature and for height and temperature at the base of the thermosphere. Other new features of Mars-GRAM 3.4 include: (1) allowance for user-input values of climatic adjustment factors for temperature profiles from the surface to 75 km, and (2) a revised method for computing the sub-solar longitude position in the 'ORBIT' subroutine.

Intraseasonal Characteristics Of North Atlantic Oscillation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bojariu, R.; Gimeno, L..; de La Torre, L.; Nieto, R.

There is evidence of a temporal structure of regional response to the NAO variability in the cold season (e.g. NAO-related climate fluctuations reveal their strongest signal in January). To document the details of NAO intraseasonal characteristics we anal- ysed surface and upper air variables (air surface temperature, sea-ice concentration, sea surface temperature, and sea level pressure and geopotential heights at 700 hPa level) in individual months, from November to April. The data consist of 40 years of monthly reanalyses (1961-2000) extracted from the NCAR-NCEP data set. In ad- dition, snow cover data are used (monthly snow cover frequencies from the Climate Prediction Centre and number of days with snow cover from the Former Soviet Union Hydrological Snow Surveys available at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre). A NAO-related signal with predictive potential has been identified in November air surface temperature over Europe and SLP and geopotential heights over Eurasia. Neg- ative thermal anomalies over the Central Europe and positive geopotential anomalies at 700 hPa over a latitudinal belt from Arabic Peninsula to Pacific Ocean are associated with a high NAO index in the following winter. The November thermal anomalies that seem to be related to the NAO interannual persistence are also linked with the fluctu- ations of snow cover over Europe. Both tropical and high latitude influences may play a role in the onset of the November signal and in further NAO development.

Effects of Planetary Boundary Layer Parameterizations on CWRF Regional Climate Simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, S.; Liang, X.

2011-12-01

Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) parameterizations incorporated in CWRF (Climate extension of the Weather Research and Forecasting model) are first evaluated by comparing simulated PBL heights with observations. Among the 10 evaluated PBL schemes, 2 (CAM, UW) are new in CWRF while the other 8 are original WRF schemes. MYJ, QNSE and UW determine the PBL heights based on turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) profiles, while others (YSU, ACM, GFS, CAM, TEMF) are from bulk Richardson criteria. All TKE-based schemes (MYJ, MYNN, QNSE, UW, Boulac) substantially underestimate convective or residual PBL heights from noon toward evening, while others (ACM, CAM, YSU) well capture the observed diurnal cycle except for the GFS with systematic overestimation. These differences among the schemes are representative over most areas of the simulation domain, suggesting systematic behaviors of the parameterizations. Lower PBL heights simulated by the QNSE and MYJ are consistent with their smaller Bowen ratios and heavier rainfalls, while higher PBL tops by the GFS correspond to warmer surface temperatures. Effects of PBL parameterizations on CWRF regional climate simulation are then compared. The QNSE PBL scheme yields systematically heavier rainfall almost everywhere and throughout the year; this is identified with a much greater surface Bowen ratio (smaller sensible versus larger latent heating) and wetter soil moisture than other PBL schemes. Its predecessor MYJ scheme shares the same deficiency to a lesser degree. For temperature, the performance of the QNSE and MYJ schemes remains poor, having substantially larger rms errors in all seasons. GFS PBL scheme also produces large warm biases. Pronounced sensitivities are also found to the PBL schemes in winter and spring over most areas except the southern U.S. (Southeast, Gulf States, NAM); excluding the outliers (QNSE, MYJ, GFS) that cause extreme biases of -6 to +3°C, the differences among the schemes are still visible (±2°C), where the CAM is generally more realistic. QNSE, MYJ, GFS and BouLac PBL parameterizations are identified as obvious outliers of overall performance in representing precipitation, surface air temperature or PBL height variations. Their poor performance may result from deficiencies in physical formulations, dependences on applicable scales, or trouble numerical implementations, requiring future detailed investigation to isolate the actual cause.

Secondary pool boiling effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kruse, C.; Tsubaki, A.; Zuhlke, C.; Anderson, T.; Alexander, D.; Gogos, G.; Ndao, S.

2016-02-01

A pool boiling phenomenon referred to as secondary boiling effects is discussed. Based on the experimental trends, a mechanism is proposed that identifies the parameters that lead to this phenomenon. Secondary boiling effects refer to a distinct decrease in the wall superheat temperature near the critical heat flux due to a significant increase in the heat transfer coefficient. Recent pool boiling heat transfer experiments using femtosecond laser processed Inconel, stainless steel, and copper multiscale surfaces consistently displayed secondary boiling effects, which were found to be a result of both temperature drop along the microstructures and nucleation characteristic length scales. The temperature drop is a function of microstructure height and thermal conductivity. An increased microstructure height and a decreased thermal conductivity result in a significant temperature drop along the microstructures. This temperature drop becomes more pronounced at higher heat fluxes and along with the right nucleation characteristic length scales results in a change of the boiling dynamics. Nucleation spreads from the bottom of the microstructure valleys to the top of the microstructures, resulting in a decreased surface superheat with an increasing heat flux. This decrease in the wall superheat at higher heat fluxes is reflected by a "hook back" of the traditional boiling curve and is thus referred to as secondary boiling effects. In addition, a boiling hysteresis during increasing and decreasing heat flux develops due to the secondary boiling effects. This hysteresis further validates the existence of secondary boiling effects.

City ventilation of Hong Kong at no-wind conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Lina; Li, Yuguo

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

Estimating the Ocean Flow Field from Combined Sea Surface Temperature and Sea Surface Height Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stammer, Detlef; Lindstrom, Eric (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

This project was part of a previous grant at MIT that was moved over to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) together with the principal investigator. The final report provided here is concerned only with the work performed at SIO since January 2000. The primary focus of this project was the study of the three-dimensional, absolute and time-evolving general circulation of the global ocean from a combined analysis of remotely sensed fields of sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface height (SSH). The synthesis of those two fields was performed with other relevant physical data, and appropriate dynamical ocean models with emphasis on constraining ocean general circulation models by a combination of both SST and SSH data. The central goal of the project was to improve our understanding and modeling of the relationship between the SST and its variability to internal ocean dynamics, and the overlying atmosphere, and to explore the relative roles of air-sea fluxes and internal ocean dynamics in establishing anomalies in SST on annual and longer time scales. An understanding of those problems will feed into the general discussion on how SST anomalies vary with time and the extend to which they interact with the atmosphere.

Contents of the JPL Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) archive, version 2-91

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Elizabeth A. (Editor); Lassanyi, Ruby A. (Editor)

1991-01-01

The Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) archive at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) includes satellite data sets for the ocean sciences and global change research to facilitate multidisciplinary use of satellite ocean data. Parameters include sea surface height, surface wind vector, sea surface temperature, atmospheric liquid water, and surface pigment concentration. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory DAAC is an element of the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) and will be the United States distribution site for the Ocean Topography Experiment (TOPEX)/POSEIDON data and metadata.

Land Surface Process and Air Quality Research and Applications at MSFC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quattrochi, Dale; Khan, Maudood

2007-01-01

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

Study of VTOL in ground-effect flow field including temperature effect

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hill, W. G.; Jenkins, R. C.; Kalemaris, S. G.; Siclari, M. J.

1982-01-01

Detailed pressure, temperature, and velocity data were obtained for twin-fan configurations in-ground-effect and flow models to aid in predicting pressures and upwash forces on aircraft surfaces were developed. For the basic experiments, 49.5 mm-diameter jets were used, oriented normal to a simulated round plane, with pressurized, heated air providing a jet. The experimental data consisted of: (1) the effect of jet height and temperature on the ground, model, and upwash pressures, and temperatures, (2) the effect of simulated aircraft surfaces on the isolated flow field, (3) the jet-induced forces on a three-dimensional body with various strakes, (4) the effects of non-uniform coannular jets. For the uniform circular jets, temperature was varied from room temperature (24 C) to 232 C. Jet total pressure was varied between 9,300 Pascals and 31,500 Pascals. For the coannular jets, intended to represent turbofan engines, fan temperature was maintained at room temperature while core temperature was varied from room temperature to 437 C. Results are presented.

An algorithm to estimate PBL heights from wind profiler data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molod, A.; Salmun, H.

2016-12-01

An algorithm was developed to estimate planetary boundary layer (PBL) heights from hourlyarchived wind profiler data from the NOAA Profiler Network (NPN) sites located throughoutthe central United States from the period 1992-2012. The long period of record allows ananalysis of climatological mean PBL heights as well as some estimates of year to yearvariability. Under clear conditions, summertime averaged hourly time series of PBL heightscompare well with Richardson-number based estimates at the few NPN stations with hourlytemperature measurements. Comparisons with clear sky MERRA estimates show that the windprofiler (WP) and the Richardson number based PBL heights are lower by approximately 250-500 m.The geographical distribution of daily maximum WP PBL heights corresponds well with theexpected distribution based on patterns of surface temperature and soil moisture. Windprofiler PBL heights were also estimated under mostly cloudy conditions, but the WP estimatesshow a smaller clear-cloudy condition difference than either of the other two PBL height estimates.The algorithm presented here is shown to provide a reliable summer, fall and springclimatology of daytime hourly PBL heights throughout the central United States. The reliabilityof the algorithm has prompted its use to obtain hourly PBL heights from other archived windprofiler data located throughout the world.

Optimization of Heat Exchangers with Dimpled Surfaces to Improve the Performance in Thermoelectric Generators Using a Kriging Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Shuai; Wang, Yiping; Wang, Tao; Yang, Xue; Deng, Yadong; Su, Chuqi

2017-05-01

Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) have become a topic of interest for vehicle exhaust energy recovery. Electrical power generation is deeply influenced by temperature differences, temperature uniformity and topological structures of TEGs. When the dimpled surfaces are adopted in heat exchangers, the heat transfer rates can be augmented with a minimal pressure drop. However, the temperature distribution shows a large gradient along the flow direction which has adverse effects on the power generation. In the current study, the heat exchanger performance was studied in a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. The dimple depth, dimple print diameter, and channel height were chosen as design variables. The objective function was defined as a combination of average temperature, temperature uniformity and pressure loss. The optimal Latin hypercube method was used to determine the experiment points as a method of design of the experiment in order to analyze the sensitivity of the design variables. A Kriging surrogate model was built and verified according to the database resulting from the CFD simulation. A multi-island genetic algorithm was used to optimize the structure in the heat exchanger based on the surrogate model. The results showed that the average temperature of the heat exchanger was most sensitive to the dimple depth. The pressure loss and temperature uniformity were most sensitive to the parameter of channel rear height, h 2. With an optimal design of channel structure, the temperature uniformity can be greatly improved compared with the initial exchanger, and the additional pressure loss also increased.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2017-06-01

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

On the Impact of Wind Farms on a Convective Atmospheric Boundary Layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Hao; Porté-Agel, Fernando

2015-10-01

With the rapid growth in the number of wind turbines installed worldwide, a demand exists for a clear understanding of how wind farms modify land-atmosphere exchanges. Here, we conduct three-dimensional large-eddy simulations to investigate the impact of wind farms on a convective atmospheric boundary layer. Surface temperature and heat flux are determined using a surface thermal energy balance approach, coupled with the solution of a three-dimensional heat equation in the soil. We study several cases of aligned and staggered wind farms with different streamwise and spanwise spacings. The farms consist of Siemens SWT-2.3-93 wind turbines. Results reveal that, in the presence of wind turbines, the stability of the atmospheric boundary layer is modified, the boundary-layer height is increased, and the magnitude of the surface heat flux is slightly reduced. Results also show an increase in land-surface temperature, a slight reduction in the vertically-integrated temperature, and a heterogeneous spatial distribution of the surface heat flux.

Regional atmospheric cooling and wetting effect of permafrost thaw-induced boreal forest loss.

PubMed

Helbig, Manuel; Wischnewski, Karoline; Kljun, Natascha; Chasmer, Laura E; Quinton, William L; Detto, Matteo; Sonnentag, Oliver

2016-12-01

In the sporadic permafrost zone of North America, thaw-induced boreal forest loss is leading to permafrost-free wetland expansion. These land cover changes alter landscape-scale surface properties with potentially large, however, still unknown impacts on regional climates. In this study, we combine nested eddy covariance flux tower measurements with satellite remote sensing to characterize the impacts of boreal forest loss on albedo, eco-physiological and aerodynamic surface properties, and turbulent energy fluxes of a lowland boreal forest region in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Planetary boundary layer modelling is used to estimate the potential forest loss impact on regional air temperature and atmospheric moisture. We show that thaw-induced conversion of forests to wetlands increases albedo: and bulk surface conductance for water vapour and decreases aerodynamic surface temperature. At the same time, heat transfer efficiency is reduced. These shifts in land surface properties increase latent at the expense of sensible heat fluxes, thus, drastically reducing Bowen ratios. Due to the lower albedo of forests and their masking effect of highly reflective snow, available energy is lower in wetlands, especially in late winter. Modelling results demonstrate that a conversion of a present-day boreal forest-wetland to a hypothetical homogeneous wetland landscape could induce a near-surface cooling effect on regional air temperatures of up to 3-4 °C in late winter and 1-2 °C in summer. An atmospheric wetting effect in summer is indicated by a maximum increase in water vapour mixing ratios of 2 mmol mol -1 . At the same time, maximum boundary layer heights are reduced by about a third of the original height. In fall, simulated air temperature and atmospheric moisture between the two scenarios do not differ. Therefore, permafrost thaw-induced boreal forest loss may modify regional precipitation patterns and slow down regional warming trends. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Observational Evidence for Desert Amplification Using Multiple Satellite Datasets.

PubMed

Wei, Nan; Zhou, Liming; Dai, Yongjiu; Xia, Geng; Hua, Wenjian

2017-05-17

Desert amplification identified in recent studies has large uncertainties due to data paucity over remote deserts. Here we present observational evidence using multiple satellite-derived datasets that desert amplification is a real large-scale pattern of warming mode in near surface and low-tropospheric temperatures. Trend analyses of three long-term temperature products consistently confirm that near-surface warming is generally strongest over the driest climate regions and this spatial pattern of warming maximizes near the surface, gradually decays with height, and disappears in the upper troposphere. Short-term anomaly analyses show a strong spatial and temporal coupling of changes in temperatures, water vapor and downward longwave radiation (DLR), indicating that the large increase in DLR drives primarily near surface warming and is tightly associated with increasing water vapor over deserts. Atmospheric soundings of temperature and water vapor anomalies support the results of the long-term temperature trend analysis and suggest that desert amplification is due to comparable warming and moistening effects of the troposphere. Likely, desert amplification results from the strongest water vapor feedbacks near the surface over the driest deserts, where the air is very sensitive to changes in water vapor and thus efficient in enhancing the longwave greenhouse effect in a warming climate.

Climatic influences on human body size and proportions: ecological adaptations and secular trends.

PubMed

Katzmarzyk, P T; Leonard, W R

1998-08-01

This study reevaluates the long-standing observation that human morphology varies with climate. Data on body mass, the body mass index [BMI; mass (kg)/stature (m)2], the surface area/body mass ratio, and relative sitting height (RSH; sitting height/stature) were obtained for 223 male samples and 195 female samples derived from studies published since D.F. Roberts' landmark paper "Body weight, race, and climate" in 1953 (Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 11:533-558). Current analyses indicate that body mass varies inversely with mean annual temperature in males (r=-0.27, P < 0.001) and females (r=-0.28, P < 0.001), as does the BMI (males: r=-0.22, P=0.001; females: r=-0.30, P < 0.001). The surface area/body mass ratio is positively correlated with temperature in both sexes (males: r=0.29, P < 0.001; females: r=0.34, P < 0.001), whereas the relationship between RSH and temperature is negative (males: r=-0.37, P < 0.001; females: r=-0.46, P < 0.001). These results are consistent with previous work showing that humans follow the ecological rules of Bergmann and Allen. However, the slope of the best-fit regressions between measures of body mass (i.e., mass, BMI, and surface area/mass) and temperature are more modest than those presented by Roberts. These differences appear to be attributable to secular trends in mass, particularly among tropical populations. Body mass and the BMI have increased over the last 40 years, whereas the surface area/body mass ratio has decreased. These findings indicate that, although climatic factors continue to be significant correlates of world-wide variation in human body size and morphology, differential changes in nutrition among tropical, developing world populations have moderated their influence.

Spaceborne Sensors Track Marine Debris Circulation in the Gulf of Mexico

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reahard, Ross; Mitchell, Brandie; Lee, Lucas; Pezold, Blaise; Brook, Chris; Mallett, Candis; Barrett, Shelby; Albin, Aaron

2011-01-01

Marine debris is a problem for coastal areas throughout the world, including the Gulf of Mexico. To aid the NOAA Marine Debris Program in monitoring marine debris dispersal and regulating marine debris practices, sea surface height and height anomaly data provided by the Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research at the University of Colorado, Boulder, were utilized to help assess trash and other discarded items that routinely wash ashore in southeastern Texas, at Padre Island National Seashore. These data were generated from the NASA radar altimeter satellites TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason 1, and Jason 2, as well as the European altimeter satellites ERS-1, ERS-2 (European Remote Sensing Satellite), and ENVISAT (Environmental Satellite). Sea surface temperature data from MODIS were used to study of the dynamics of the Loop Current. Sea surface height and MODIS data analysis were used to show that warm water in the core of eddies, which periodically separate from the Loop Current, can be as high as 30 cm above the surrounding water. These eddies are known to directly transfer marine debris to the western continental shelf and the elevated area of water can be tracked using satellite radar altimeter data. Additionally, using sea surface height, geostrophic velocity, and particle path data, foretracking and backtracking simulations were created. These simulation runs demonstrated that marine debris on Padre Island National Seashore may arise from a variety of sources, such as commercial fishing/shrimping, the oil and gas industry, recreational boaters, and from rivers that empty into the Gulf of Mexico.

TOPEX/El Niño Watch - Mild La Niña Conditions Developing, November 12, 1999

NASA Image and Video Library

1999-12-01

Unusually warm ocean temperatures off Asia and cool waters in the eastern and equatorial Pacific are signaling La Niña mild return, according to the latest sea-surface heights observed by the joint NASA-French space agency TOPEX/Poseidon satellite.

Preparation and Characterization of High Temperature Superconductor Film Surfaces

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-10-27

Lanthanum Strontium Copper Oxide (LSCO) was also tested as a normal metal overlayer because of its compatibility with the high deposition temperature for...fabricate YBCO/ISCO SEB junctions using a variety of step heights (110 nm - 330 nm) on Neodymium Gallate (NGO) substrates. NGO was chosen as a...substrate because of its excellent lattice match to YBCO and its lack of crystal twinning Twinning had been a drawback of Lanthanum Aluminate (LAO)- L

Experiment on a feedback control of nonlinear thermocapillary convection in a half-zone liquid bridge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kudo, M.; Ueno, I.; Shiomi, J.; Amberg, G.; Kawamura, H.

Under microgravity condition, themocapillarity dominates in material processing. In a half-zone method, two co-axial cylindrical rods hold a liquid bridge by the surface tension. By adding a temperature difference Δ T between the rods, thermocapillary flow is induced in the bridge. The convection changes from two-dimensional steady flow to three-dimensional oscillatory one at a critical Δ T in the case of medium to high Prandtl number (Pr) fluid. In our latest study (Shiomi et al., JFM, 2003), complete damping of the temperature oscillation was not achieved at highly nonlinear regions by a simple cancellation scheme. The excitation of unexpected other azimuthal wave numbers prevented the suppression of the oscillation. The present study aimed to develop a new control scheme with taking into account of spatio-temporal azimuthal temperature distribution. The target geometry was a liquid bridge of 5 mm in diameter and of a unit aspect ratio, Γ g(g= H/R=1, where H and R are the height and the radius of the bridge, respectively). At this aspect ratio, a dominant azimuthal mode was wave number of 2 when the control was absent. Silicone oil of 5 cSt (Pr = 68 at 25C) was employed as a test fluid. The flow field was visualized by suspending polystyrene sphere particles (D =17μ m). The present experiments were performed with 4 sensors located at different azimuthal positions for the evaluation of the azimuthal surface temperature distribution as well as with 2 heaters to suppress its non-uniform distribution. All sensors and heaters were located at the mid-height of the bridge. The present algorithm involved two main features; the first one was the time-dependent estimation of the azimuthal surface temperature distribution at the height of the sensors and heaters. Evaluation of the azimuthal temperature distribution enabled us to cancel the temperature oscillation by local heating effectively. The second one was the time-dependent evaluation of a frequency of the dominant mode number. This scheme enabled us to predict the azimuthal temperature distribution properly. The control was applied to a highly nonlinear flow that exhibited a traveling-wave type oscillatory flow (traveling flow) in the absence of the control. Under the control, the amplitude of temperature measured by each sensor attenuated significantly. The flow visualization exhibited a gradual change of the flow structure from the traveling down to the standing flow with less nonlinearity. We realized the reduction of the amplitude less than half of the initial value without amplifying other azimuthal-wave-number oscillations.

Morphology and phase behavior of ethanol nanodrops condensed on chemically patterned surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Checco, Antonio; Ocko, Benjamin M.

2008-06-01

Equilibrium wetting of ethanol onto chemically patterned nanostripes has been investigated using environmental atomic force microscopy (AFM) in noncontact mode. The chemical patterns are composed of COOH-terminated “wetting” regions and CH3 -terminated “nonwetting” regions. A specially designed environmental AFM chamber allowed for accurate measurements of droplet height as a function of the temperature offset between the substrate and a macroscopic ethanol reservoir. At saturation, the height dependence scales with droplet width according to w1/2 , in excellent agreement with the augmented Young equation (AYE) modeled with dispersive, nonretarded surface potentials. At small under- and oversaturations, the AYE model accurately fits the data if an effective ΔT is used as a fitting parameter. There is a systematic difference between the measured ΔT and the values extracted from the fits to the data. In addition to static measurements, we present time-resolved measurements of the droplet height which enable the study of condensation-evaporation dynamics of nanometer-scale drops.

Relationship between wind, waves and radar backscatter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Katsaros, Kristina B.; Ataktuerk, Serhad S.

1991-01-01

The aim of the research was to investigate the relationship between wind, waves, and radar backscatter from water surface. To this end, three field experiments with periods of 2 to 4 weeks were carried out during summer months in 1988, 1989 and 1990. For these periods, the University of Washington group provided (1) environmental parameters such as wind speed, wind stress, and atmospheric stratification through measurements of surface fluxes (of momentum, sensible heat and latent heat) and of air and water temperatures; and (2) wave height spectra including both the dominant waves and the short gravity-capillary waves. Surface flux measurements were performed by using our well tested instruments: a K-Gill twin propeller-vane anemometer and a fast response thermocouple psychrometer. Wave heights were measured by a resistance wire wave gauge. The University of Kansas group was responsible for the operation of the microwave radars.

Study of thermal and hydraulic efficiency of supersonic tube of temperature stratification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsynaeva, Anna A.; Nikitin, Maxim N.; Tsynaeva, Ekaterina A.

2017-10-01

Efficiency of supersonic pipe for temperature stratification with finned subsonic surface of heat transfer is the major of this paper. Thermal and hydraulic analyses of this pipe were conducted to asses effects from installation of longitudinal rectangular and parabolic fins as well as studs of cylindrical, rectangular and parabolic profiles. The analysis was performed based on refined empirical equations of similarity, dedicated to heat transfer of high-speed gas flow with plain wall, and Kármán equation with Nikuradze constants. Results revealed cylindrical studs (with height-to-diameter ratio of 5:1) to be 1.5 times more efficient than rectangular fins of the same height. At the same time rectangular fins (with height-to-thickness ratio of 5:1) were tend to enhance heat transfer rate up to 2.67 times compared to bare walls from subsonic side of the pipe. Longitudinal parabolic fins have minuscule effect on combined efficiency of considered pipe since extra head losses void any gain of heat transfer. Obtained results provide perspective of increasing efficiency of supersonic tube for temperature stratification. This significantly broadens device applicability in thermostatting systems for equipment, cooling systems for energy converting machinery, turbine blades and aerotechnics.

Daily Cycle of Air Temperature and Surface Temperature in Stone Forest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2013-12-01

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

Thermally tailored gradient topography surface on elastomeric thin films.

PubMed

Roy, Sudeshna; Bhandaru, Nandini; Das, Ritopa; Harikrishnan, G; Mukherjee, Rabibrata

2014-05-14

We report a simple method for creating a nanopatterned surface with continuous variation in feature height on an elastomeric thin film. The technique is based on imprinting the surface of a film of thermo-curable elastomer (Sylgard 184), which has continuous variation in cross-linking density introduced by means of differential heating. This results in variation of viscoelasticity across the length of the surface and the film exhibits differential partial relaxation after imprinting with a flexible stamp and subjecting it to an externally applied stress for a transient duration. An intrinsic perfect negative replica of the stamp pattern is initially created over the entire film surface as long as the external force remains active. After the external force is withdrawn, there is partial relaxation of the applied stresses, which is manifested as reduction in amplitude of the imprinted features. Due to the spatial viscoelasticity gradient, the extent of stress relaxation induced feature height reduction varies across the length of the film (L), resulting in a surface with a gradient topography with progressively varying feature heights (hF). The steepness of the gradient can be controlled by varying the temperature gradient as well as the duration of precuring of the film prior to imprinting. The method has also been utilized for fabricating wettability gradient surfaces using a high aspect ratio biomimetic stamp. The use of a flexible stamp allows the technique to be extended for creating a gradient topography on nonplanar surfaces as well. We also show that the gradient surfaces with regular structures can be used in combinatorial studies related to pattern directed dewetting.

Transport of the Norwegian Atlantic current as determined from satellite altimetry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pistek, Pavel; Johnson, Donald R.

1992-01-01

Relatively warm and salty North Atlantic surface waters flow through the Faeroe-Shetland Channel into the higher latitudes of the Nordic Seas, preserving an ice-free winter environment for much of the exterior coast of northern Europe. This flow was monitored along the Norwegian coast using Geosat altimetry on two ascending arcs during the Exact Repeat Mission in 1987-1989. Concurrent undertrack CTD surveys were used to fix a reference surface for the altimeter-derived SSH anomalies, in effect creating time series of alongtrack surface dynamic height topographies. Climatologic CTD casts were then used, with empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis, to derive relationships between historical surface dynamic heights and vertical temperature and salinity profiles. Applying these EOF relationships to the altimeter signals, mean transports of volume, heat, and salt were calculated at approximately 2.9 Sverdrups, 8.1 x 10 exp 11 KCal/s and 1.0 x 10 exp 8 Kg/s, respectively. Maximum transports occurred in February/March and minimum in July/August.

Numerical Studies of Thermal Conditions in Cities - Systematic Model Simulations of Idealized Urban Domains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heene, V.; Buchholz, S.; Kossmann, M.

2016-12-01

Numerical studies of thermal conditions in cities based on model simulations of idealized urban domains are carried out to investigate how changes in the characteristics of urban areas influence street level air temperatures. The simulated modifications of the urban characteristics represent possible adaptation measures for heat reduction in cities, which are commonly used in urban planning. Model simulations are performed with the thermodynamic version of the 3-dimensional micro-scale urban climate model MUKLIMO_3. The simulated idealized urban areas are designed in a simplistic way, i. e. defining homogeneous squared cities of one settlement type, without orography and centered in the model domain. To assess the impact of different adaptation measures the characteristics of the urban areas have been systematically modified regarding building height, albedo of building roof and impervious surfaces, fraction of impervious surfaces between buildings, and percentage of green roofs. To assess the impact of green and blue infrastructure in cities, different configurations for parks and lakes have been investigated - e. g. varying size and distribution within the city. The experiments are performed for different combinations of typical German settlement types and surrounding rural types under conditions of a typical summer day in July. The adaptation measures implemented in the experiments show different impacts for different settlement types mainly due to the differences in building density, building height or impervious surface fraction. Parks and lakes implemented as adaptation measure show strong potential to reduce daytime air temperature, with cooling effects on their built-up surroundings. At night lakes generate negative and positive effects on air temperature, depending on water temperature. In general, all adaptation measures implemented in experiments reveal different impacts on day and night air temperature.

Development of an Urban Multilayer Radiation Scheme and Its Application to the Urban Surface Warming Potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aoyagi, Toshinori; Takahashi, Shunji

2012-02-01

To investigate how a three-dimensional structure such as an urban canyon can affect urban surface warming, we developed an urban multilayer radiation scheme. The complete consideration of multiple scattering of shortwave and longwave radiation using the radiosity method is an important feature of the present scheme. A brief description of this scheme is presented, followed by evaluations that compare its results with observations of the effective albedo and radiative temperature for urban blocks. Next, we calculate the urban surface warming potential (USWP), defined as the difference between the daily mean radiative temperature of urban surfaces (which are assumed to be black bodies), including their canyon effects and the daily mean temperature of a flat surface with the same material properties, under a radiative equilibrium state. Assuming standard material properties (albedo and emissivity of 0.4 and 0.9, respectively), we studied the sensitivity of the USWP to various aspect ratios of building heights to road widths. The results show that the temporally-averaged surface temperature of an urban area can be higher than that of a flat surface. In addition, we determined the overestimation of the effective temperature of urban surfaces induced by the overestimation of the radiation distribution to the walls when one uses a single-layer scheme for urban block arrays that have a low sky-view factor less than around 0.5.

Alloying Elements Transition Into the Weld Metal When Using an Inventor Power Source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mamadaliev, R. A.; Kuskov, V. N.; Popova, A. A.; Valuev, D. V.

2016-04-01

The temperature distribution over the surface of the welded 12Kh18N10T steel plates using the inventor power source ARC-200 has been calculated. In order to imitate multipass welding when conducting the thermal analysis the initial temperature was changed from 298K up to 798K in 100K increments. It has been determined that alloying elements transition into the weld metal depends on temperature. Using an inventor power source facilitates a uniform distribution of alloying elements along the length and height of the weld seam.

Measurement and modeling of diel variability of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and chlordanes in air.

PubMed

Moeckel, Claudia; Macleod, Matthew; Hungerbühler, Konrad; Jones, Kevin C

2008-05-01

Short-term variability of concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and chlordanes in air at a semirural site in England over a 5 day period is reported. Four-hour air samples were collected during a period dominated by a high pressure system that produced stable diel (24-h) patterns of meteorological conditions such as temperature and atmospheric boundary layer height. PBDE and chlordane concentrations showed clear diel variability with concentrations in the afternoon and evening being 1.9 - 2.7 times higher than in the early morning. The measurements are interpreted using a multimedia mass balance model parametrized with forcing functions representing local temperature, atmospheric boundary layer height, wind speed and hydroxyl radical concentrations. Model results indicate that reversible, temperature-controlled air-surface exchange is the primary driver of the diel concentration pattern observed for chlordanes and PBDE 28. For higher brominated PBDE congeners (47, 99 and 100), the effect of variable atmospheric mixing height in combination with irreversible deposition on aerosol particles is dominant and explains the diel patterns almost entirely. Higher concentrations of chlordanes and PBDEs in air observed at the end of the study period could be related to likely source areas using back trajectory analysis. This is the first study to clearly document diel variability in concentrations of PBDEs in air over a period of several days. Our model analysis indicates that high daytime and low nighttime concentrations of semivolatile organic chemicals can arise from different underlying driving processes, and are not necessarily evidence of reversible air-surface exchange on a 24-h time scale.

Changes of atmospheric properties over Belgrade, observed using remote sensing and in situ methods during the partial solar eclipse of 20 March 2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ilić, L.; Kuzmanoski, M.; Kolarž, P.; Nina, A.; Srećković, V.; Mijić, Z.; Bajčetić, J.; Andrić, M.

2018-06-01

Measurements of atmospheric parameters were carried out during the partial solar eclipse (51% coverage of solar disc) observed in Belgrade on 20 March 2015. The measured parameters included height of the planetary boundary layer (PBL), meteorological parameters, solar radiation, surface ozone and air ions, as well as Very Low Frequency (VLF, 3-30 kHz) and Low Frequency (LF, 30-300 kHz) signals to detect low-ionospheric plasma perturbations. The observed decrease of global solar and UV-B radiation was 48%, similar to the solar disc coverage. Meteorological parameters showed similar behavior at two measurement sites, with different elevations and different measurement heights. Air temperature change due to solar eclipse was more pronounced at the lower measurement height, showing a decrease of 2.6 °C, with 15-min time delay relative to the eclipse maximum. However, at the other site temperature did not decrease; its morning increase ceased with the start of the eclipse, and continued after the eclipse maximum. Relative humidity at both sites remained almost constant until the eclipse maximum and then decreased as the temperature increased. The wind speed decreased and reached minimum 35 min after the last contact. The eclipse-induced decrease of PBL height was about 200 m, with minimum reached 20 min after the eclipse maximum. Although dependent on UV radiation, surface ozone concentration did not show the expected decrease, possibly due to less significant influence of photochemical reactions at the measurement site and decline of PBL height. Air-ion concentration decreased during the solar eclipse, with minimum almost coinciding with the eclipse maximum. Additionally, the referential Line-of-Sight (LOS) radio link was set in the area of Belgrade, using the carrier frequency of 3 GHz. Perturbation of the receiving signal level (RSL) was observed on March 20, probably induced by the solar eclipse. Eclipse-related perturbations in ionospheric D-region were detected based on the VLF/LF signal variations, as a consequence of Lyα radiation decrease.

Validation of the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder Temperature and Geopotential Height Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schwartz, M. J.; Lambert, A.; Manney, G. L.; Read, W. G.; Livesey, N. J.; Froidevaux, L.; Ao, C. O.; Bernath, P. F.; Boone, C. D.; Cofield, R. E.;

Aluminum-based one- and two-dimensional micro fin array structures: high-throughput fabrication and heat transfer testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Primeaux, Philip A.; Zhang, Bin; Zhang, Xiaoman; Miller, Jacob; Meng, W. J.; KC, Pratik; Moore, Arden L.

2017-02-01

Microscale fin array structures were replicated onto surfaces of aluminum 1100 and aluminum 6061 alloy (Al1100/Al6061) sheet metals through room-temperature instrumented roll molding. Aluminum-based micro fin arrays were replicated at room temperature, and the fabrication process is one with high throughput and low cost. One-dimensional (1D) micro fin arrays were made through one-pass rolling, while two-dimensional (2D) micro fin arrays were made by sequential 90° cross rolling with the same roller sleeve. For roll molding of 1D micro fins, fin heights greater than 600 µm were achieved and were shown to be proportional to the normal load force per feature width. At a given normal load force, the fin height was further shown to scale inversely with the hardness of the sheet metal. For sequential 90° cross rolling, morphologies of roll molded 2D micro fin arrays were examined, which provided clues to understand how plastic deformation occurred under cross rolling conditions. A series of pool boiling experiments on low profile Al micro fin array structures were performed within Novec 7100, a widely used commercial dielectric coolant. Results for both horizontal and vertical surface orientations show that roll molded Al micro fin arrays can increase heat flux at fixed surface temperature as compared to un-patterned Al sheet. The present results further suggest that many factors beyond just increased surface area can influence heat transfer performance, including surface finish and the important multiphase transport mechanisms in and around the fin geometry. These factors must also be considered when designing and optimizing micro fin array structures for heat transfer applications.

Impact of El Nino and La Nina on the meteorological elements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaiswal, Rajasri Sen; Subitha, T.; Samuthra, G.; Punitha, M.; Vinotha, R.

2016-05-01

The El Nino and La Nina have been found to influence the weather at a remote place. In this paper, the authors investigate the impact of El Nino & La Nina on the surface temperature and rainfall over few selected locations in India and abroad. The study shows that the ENSO affects the surface rainfall; however, the impact is not the same over all the locations. In order to find out whether such influence is latitude sensitive, the study has been performed over locations located at different latitudes and at a fixed longitude. To check if the El Nino/La Nina leaves any impressions on the upper air meteorological elements, the cloud liquid water (CLW), precipitation water (PW), latent heat (LH), freezing level height (HFL) and the bright band height (BBH) over a few locations have been studied from the Earth's surface up to a height of 18 km above. The CLW, PW and LH values have been obtained from the data product 2A12 of the Tropical Microwave Imager (TMI) onboard the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Satellite (TRMM), while that of the BBH and the HFL are obtained from the data product 2A23 of the precipitation radar (PR) onboard the TRMM.

Simultaneous droplet impingement dynamics and heat transfer on nano-structured surfaces

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

Shen, Jian; Graber, Christof; Liburdy, James

This study examines the hydrodynamics and temperature characteristics of distilled deionized water droplets impinging on smooth and nano-structured surfaces using high speed (HS) and infrared (IR) imaging at We = 23.6 and Re = 1593, both based on initial drop impingement parameters. Results for a smooth and nano-structured surface for a range of surface temperatures are compared. Droplet impact velocity, transient spreading diameter and dynamic contact angle are measured. The near surface average droplet fluid temperatures are evaluated for conditions of evaporative cooling and boiling. Also included are surface temperature results using a gold layered IR opaque surface on silicon.more » Four stages of the impingement process are identified: impact, boiling, near constant surface diameter evaporation, and final dry-out. For the boiling conditions there is initial nucleation followed by severe boiling, then near constant diameter evaporation resulting in shrinking of the droplet height. When a critical contact angle is reached during evaporation the droplet rapidly retracts to a smaller diameter reducing the contact area with the surface. This continues as a sequence of retractions until final dry out. The basic trends are the same for all surfaces, but the nano-structured surface has a lower dissipated energy during impact and enhances the heat transfer for evaporative cooling with a 20% shorter time to achieve final dry out. (author)« less

Index of stations: surface-water data-collection network of Texas, September 1998

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gandara, Susan C.; Barbie, Dana L.

1999-01-01

As of September 30, 1998, the surface-water data-collection network of Texas (table 1) included 313 continuous-recording streamflow stations (D), 22 gage-height record only stations (G), 23 crest-stage partial-record stations (C), 39 flood-hydrograph partial-record stations (H), 25 low-flow partial-record stations (L), 1 continuous-recording temperature station (M1), 25 continuous-recording temperature and conductivity stations (M2), 3 continuous-recording temperature, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen stations (M3), 13 continuous-recording temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and pH stations (M4), 5 daily chemical-quality stations (Qd), 133 periodic chemical-quality stations (Qp), 16 reservoir/lake surveys for water quality (Qs), and 70 continuous or daily reservoir-content stations (R). Plate 1 identifies the major river basins in Texas and shows the location of the stations listed in table 1.

Tracking the Polar Front south of New Zealand using penguin dive data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sokolov, Serguei; Rintoul, Stephen R.; Wienecke, Barbara

2006-04-01

Nearly 36,000 vertical temperature profiles collected by 15 king penguins are used to map oceanographic fronts south of New Zealand. There is good correspondence between Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) front locations derived from temperatures sampled in the upper 150 m along the penguin tracks and front positions inferred using maps of sea surface height (SSH). Mesoscale features detected in the SSH maps from this eddy-rich region are also reproduced in the individual temperature sections based on dive data. The foraging strategy of Macquarie Island king penguins appears to be influenced strongly by oceanographic structure: almost all the penguin dives are confined to the region close to and between the northern and southern branches of the Polar Front. Surface chlorophyll distributions also reflect the influence of the ACC fronts, with the northern branch of the Polar Front marking a boundary between low surface chlorophyll to the north and elevated values to the south.

A balanced Kalman filter ocean data assimilation system with application to the South Australian Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yi; Toumi, Ralf

2017-08-01

In this paper, an Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) based regional ocean data assimilation system has been developed and applied to the South Australian Sea. This system consists of the data assimilation algorithm provided by the NCAR Data Assimilation Research Testbed (DART) and the Regional Ocean Modelling System (ROMS). We describe the first implementation of the physical balance operator (temperature-salinity, hydrostatic and geostrophic balance) to DART, to reduce the spurious waves which may be introduced during the data assimilation process. The effect of the balance operator is validated in both an idealised shallow water model and the ROMS model real case study. In the shallow water model, the geostrophic balance operator eliminates spurious ageostrophic waves and produces a better sea surface height (SSH) and velocity analysis and forecast. Its impact increases as the sea surface height and wind stress increase. In the real case, satellite-observed sea surface temperature (SST) and SSH are assimilated in the South Australian Sea with 50 ensembles using the Ensemble Adjustment Kalman Filter (EAKF). Assimilating SSH and SST enhances the estimation of SSH and SST in the entire domain, respectively. Assimilation with the balance operator produces a more realistic simulation of surface currents and subsurface temperature profile. The best improvement is obtained when only SSH is assimilated with the balance operator. A case study with a storm suggests that the benefit of the balance operator is of particular importance under high wind stress conditions. Implementing the balance operator could be a general benefit to ocean data assimilation systems.

Accounting for habitat when considering climate: has the niche of the Adonis blue butterfly changed in the UK?

PubMed

O'Connor, Rory S; Hails, Rosemary S; Thomas, Jeremy A

2014-04-01

The dramatic recovery of three species of grassland specialist butterfly threatened with extinction at their high latitude range limits in the 1980s has been attributed to two factors: increased grazing on calcareous grassland sites and warmer air temperatures. Both result in the warming of soil surface temperatures, favourable to the larvae of these species. We address the influence of both of these factors on the habitat usage of the butterfly Polyommatus bellargus, undergoing recovery at its northern range edge. We test the hypothesis that the larval niche of P. bellargus has become less constrained in the past three decades, whilst controlling for changes in habitat structure. Once habitat change has been accounted for we find no evidence for a broadening of the larval niche of P. bellargus. Further, we show that coincident with the recovery of P. bellargus there have been drastic reductions in average turf height across UK chalk grasslands, but changes in air temperature have been highly variable. We conclude that changes to soil surface temperatures caused by reducing turf heights will have been a more consistent influence than air temperature increases, and so habitat improvements through increased grazing will have been the major driver of recovery in P. bellargus. We consider the need to account for changes in habitat when exploring the impacts of recent climate change on local habitats in thermophilous species, and emphasise the continued importance of habitat management to support such species under variable local climates.

Atmospheric Drivers of Greenland Surface Melt Revealed by Self-Organizing Maps

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mioduszewski, J. R.; Rennermalm, A. K.; Hammann, A.; Tedesco, M.; Noble, E. U.; Stroeve, J. C.; Mote, T. L.

2016-01-01

Recent acceleration in surface melt on the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) has occurred concurrently with a rapidly warming Arctic and has been connected to persistent, anomalous atmospheric circulation patterns over Greenland. To identify synoptic setups favoring enhanced GrIS surface melt and their decadal changes, we develop a summer Arctic synoptic climatology by employing self-organizing maps. These are applied to daily 500 hPa geopotential height fields obtained from the Modern Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications reanalysis, 1979-2014. Particular circulation regimes are related to meteorological conditions and GrIS surface melt estimated with outputs from the Modèle Atmosphérique Régional. Our results demonstrate that the largest positive melt anomalies occur in concert with positive height anomalies near Greenland associated with wind, temperature, and humidity patterns indicative of strong meridional transport of heat and moisture. We find an increased frequency in a 500 hPa ridge over Greenland coinciding with a 63% increase in GrIS melt between the 1979-1988 and 2005-2014 periods, with 75.0% of surface melt changes attributed to thermodynamics, 17% to dynamics, and 8.0% to a combination. We also confirm that the 2007-2012 time period has the largest dynamic forcing relative of any period but also demonstrate that increased surface energy fluxes, temperature, and moisture separate from dynamic changes contributed more to melt even during this period. This implies that GrIS surface melt is likely to continue to increase in response to an ever warmer future Arctic, regardless of future atmospheric circulation patterns.

Laser-diagnostic mapping of temperature and soot statistics in a 2-m diameter turbulent pool fire

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

Kearney, Sean P.; Grasser, Thomas W.

We present spatial profiles of temperature and soot-volume-fraction statistics from a sooting 2-m base diameter turbulent pool fire, burning a 10%-toluene / 90%-methanol fuel mixture. Dual-pump coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering and laser-induced incandescence are utilized to obtain radial profiles of temperature and soot probability density functions (pdf) as well as estimates of temperature/soot joint statistics at three vertical heights above the surface of the methanol/toluene fuel pool. Results are presented both in the fuel vapor-dome region at ¼ base diameter and in the actively burning region at ½ and ¾ diameters above the fuel surface. The spatial evolution of themore » soot and temperature pdfs is discussed and profiles of the temperature and soot mean and rms statistics are provided. Joint temperature/soot statistics are presented as spatially resolved conditional averages across the fire plume, and in terms of a joint pdf obtained by including measurements from multiple spatial locations.« less

Laser-diagnostic mapping of temperature and soot statistics in a 2-m diameter turbulent pool fire

DOE PAGES

Kearney, Sean P.; Grasser, Thomas W.

2017-08-10

We present spatial profiles of temperature and soot-volume-fraction statistics from a sooting 2-m base diameter turbulent pool fire, burning a 10%-toluene / 90%-methanol fuel mixture. Dual-pump coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering and laser-induced incandescence are utilized to obtain radial profiles of temperature and soot probability density functions (pdf) as well as estimates of temperature/soot joint statistics at three vertical heights above the surface of the methanol/toluene fuel pool. Results are presented both in the fuel vapor-dome region at ¼ base diameter and in the actively burning region at ½ and ¾ diameters above the fuel surface. The spatial evolution of themore » soot and temperature pdfs is discussed and profiles of the temperature and soot mean and rms statistics are provided. Joint temperature/soot statistics are presented as spatially resolved conditional averages across the fire plume, and in terms of a joint pdf obtained by including measurements from multiple spatial locations.« less

Contents of the NASA ocean data system archive, version 11-90

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Elizabeth A. (Editor); Lassanyi, Ruby A. (Editor)

1990-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ocean Data System (NODS) archive at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) includes satellite data sets for the ocean sciences and global-change research to facilitate multidisciplinary use of satellite ocean data. Parameters include sea-surface height, surface-wind vector, sea-surface temperature, atmospheric liquid water, and surface pigment concentration. NODS will become the Data Archive and Distribution Service of the JPL Distributed Active Archive Center for the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) and will be the United States distribution site for Ocean Topography Experiment (TOPEX)/POSEIDON data and metadata.

Crystalline Structure and Vacancy Ordering across a Surface Phase Transition in Sn/Cu(001).

PubMed

Martínez-Blanco, J; Joco, V; Quirós, C; Segovia, P; Michel, E G

2018-01-18

We report a surface X-ray diffraction study of the crystalline structure changes and critical behavior across the (3√2 × √2)R45° → (√2 × √2)R45° surface phase transition at 360 K for 0.5 monolayers of Sn on Cu(100). The phase transition is of the order-disorder type and is due to the disordering of the Cu atomic vacancies present in the low temperature phase. Two different atomic sites for Sn atoms, characterized by two different heights, are maintained across the surface phase transition.

Raman lidar/AERI PBL Height Product

DOE Data Explorer

Ferrare, Richard

2012-12-14

Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) heights have been computed using potential temperature profiles derived from Raman lidar and AERI measurements. Raman lidar measurements of the rotational Raman scattering from nitrogen and oxygen are used to derive vertical profiles of potential temperature. AERI measurements of downwelling radiance are used in a physical retrieval approach (Smith et al. 1999, Feltz et al. 1998) to derive profiles of temperature and water vapor. The Raman lidar and AERI potential temperature profiles are merged to create a single potential temperature profile for computing PBL heights. PBL heights were derived from these merged potential temperature profiles using a modified Heffter (1980) technique that was tailored to the SGP site (Della Monache et al., 2004). PBL heights were computed on an hourly basis for the period January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2011. These heights are provided as meters above ground level.

Determination of surface layer parameters at the edge of a suburban area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Likso, T.; Pandžić, K.

2012-05-01

Vertical wind and air temperature profile related parameters in the surface layer at the edge of suburban area of Zagreb (Croatia) have been considered. For that purpose, adopted Monin-Obukhov similarity theory and a set of observations of wind and air temperature at 2 and 10 m above ground, recorded in 2005, have been used. The root mean square differences (errors) principle has been used as a tool to estimate the effective roughness length as well as standard deviations of wind speed and wind gusts. The results of estimation are effective roughness lengths dependent on eight wind direction sectors unknown before. Gratefully to that achievement, representativeness of wind data at standard 10-m height can be clarified more deeply for an area of at least about 1 km in upwind direction from the observation site. Extrapolation of wind data for lower or higher levels from standard 10-m height are thus properly representative for a wider inhomogeneous suburban area and can be used as such in numerical models, flux and wind energy estimation, civil engineering, air pollution and climatological applications.

Plume Detection and Plume Top Height Estimation using SLSTR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Virtanen, Timo H.; Kolmonen, Pekka; Sogacheva, Larisa; Rodriguez, Edith; Saponaro, Giulia; de Leeuw, Gerrit

2017-04-01

We present preliminary results on ash and desert dust plume detection and plume top height estimates based on satellite data from the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) aboard Sentinel-3, launched in 2016. The methods are based on the previously developed AATSR Correlation Method (ACM) height estimation algorithm, which utilized the data of the preceding similar instrument, Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR). The height estimate is based on the stereo-viewing capability of SLSTR, which allows to determine the parallax between the satellite's 55° backward and nadir views, and thus the corresponding height. The ash plume detection is based on the brightness temperature difference between between thermal infrared (TIR) channels centered at 11 and 12 μm, which show characteristic signals for both desert dust and ash plumes. The SLSTR instrument provides a unique combination of dual-view capability and a wavelength range from visible to thermal infrared, rendering it an ideal instrument for this work. Accurate information on the volcanic ash position is important for air traffic safety. The ACM algorithm can provide valuable data of both horizontal and vertical ash dispersion. These data may be useful for comparisons with other volcanic ash and desert dust retrieval methods and dispersion models. The current work is being carried out as part of the H2020 project EUNADICS-AV ("European Natural Disaster Coordination and Information System for Aviation"), which started in October 2016.

An overview of the NSCAT/N-ROSS program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martin, B. D.; Freilich, Michael H.; Li, F. K.; Callahan, Phillip S.

1986-01-01

The NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) to fly on the U.S. Navy Remote Ocean Sensing System (N-ROSS) mission is presented. The overall N-ROSS mission, the NSCAT flight instrument and groundbased data processing/distribution system, and NASA-supported science and verification activities are described. The N-ROSS system is designed to provide measurements of near-surface wind, ocean topography, wave height, sea-surface temperature, and atmospheric water content over the global oceans. The NSCAT is an improved version of the Seasat scatterometer. It will measure near surface vector winds.

JPL Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC) data availability, version 1-94

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1994-01-01

The Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC) archive at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) includes satellite data sets for the ocean sciences and global-change research to facilitate multidisciplinary use of satellite ocean data. Parameters include sea-surface height, surface-wind vector, sea-surface temperature, atmospheric liquid water, and integrated water vapor. The JPL PO.DAAC is an element of the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) and is the United States distribution site for Ocean Topography Experiment (TOPEX)/POSEIDON data and metadata.

NASA RapidScat Observes El Nino Blowing in the Winds

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-01-21

While El Niño events have a significant impact on the entire Earth System, they are most easily visible in measurements of sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface height (SSH) and ocean winds near the surface. In fact, the precursor and the main driver of El Niño events is manifested in the weakening of the normally westward blowing trade winds, or even their complete reversal to blow from west to east, in the Western and Central tropical Pacific. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20365

Physical Limits on Hmax, the Maximum Height of Glaciers and Ice Sheets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lipovsky, B. P.

2017-12-01

The longest glaciers and ice sheets on Earth never achieve a topographic relief, or height, greater than about Hmax = 4 km. What laws govern this apparent maximum height to which a glacier or ice sheet may rise? Two types of answer appear possible: one relating to geological process and the other to ice dynamics. In the first type of answer, one might suppose that if Earth had 100 km tall mountains then there would be many 20 km tall glaciers. The counterpoint to this argument is that recent evidence suggests that glaciers themselves limit the maximum height of mountain ranges. We turn, then, to ice dynamical explanations for Hmax. The classical ice dynamical theory of Nye (1951), however, does not predict any break in scaling to give rise to a maximum height, Hmax. I present a simple model for the height of glaciers and ice sheets. The expression is derived from a simplified representation of a thermomechanically coupled ice sheet that experiences a basal shear stress governed by Coulomb friction (i.e., a stress proportional to the overburden pressure minus the water pressure). I compare this model to satellite-derived digital elevation map measurements of glacier surface height profiles for the 200,000 glaciers in the Randolph Glacier Inventory (Pfeffer et al., 2014) as well as flowlines from the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets. The simplified model provides a surprisingly good fit to these global observations. Small glaciers less than 1 km in length are characterized by having negligible influence of basal melt water, cold ( -15C) beds, and high surface slopes ( 30 deg). Glaciers longer than a critical distance 30km are characterized by having an ice-bed interface that is weakened by the presence of meltwater and is therefore not capable of supporting steep surface slopes. The simplified model makes predictions of ice volume change as a function of surface temperature, accumulation rate, and geothermal heat flux. For this reason, it provides insights into both past and future global ice volume changes.

Blue and Fin Whale Habitat Modeling from Long-Term Year-Round Passive Acoustic Data from the Southern California Bight

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-30

be used for habitat modeling include sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface height (SSH), chlorophyll a concentration, and primary production...1 DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. Blue and Fin Whale Habitat Modeling from Long-Term Year...predictive, year-round habitat models of the presence of calling blue and fin whales in the Southern California Bight, to facilitate Navy’s operational

Blue and Fin Whale Habitat Modeling from Long-Term Year-Round Passive Acoustic Data from the Southern California Bight

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-30

remotely sensed data to be used for habitat modeling include sea surface temperature (SST), salinity, sea surface height, and chlorophyll a concentration...National Data Buoy Center for the parts of the SCB region with HARP deployments. Figure 1. Sixteen HARP deployment locations ( black squares...throughout the Southern California Bight between 2005 and 2012 from which data are processed for habitat modeling in this study. Light grey line

Habitat of calling blue and fin whales in the Southern California Bight

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sirovic, A.; Chou, E.; Roch, M. A.

2016-02-01

Northeast Pacific blue whale B calls and fin whale 20 Hz calls were detected from passive acoustic data collected over seven years at 16 sites in the Southern California Bight (SCB). Calling blue whales were most common in the coastal areas, during the summer and fall months. Fin whales began calling in fall and continued through winter, in the southcentral SCB. These data were used to develop habitat models of calling blue and fin whales in areas of high and low abundance in the SCB, using remotely sensed variables such as sea surface temperature, sea surface height, chlorophyll a, and primary productivity as model covariates. A random forest framework was used for variable selection and generalized additive models were developed to explain functional relationships, evaluate relative contribution of each significant variable, and investigate predictive abilities of models of calling whales. Seasonal component was an important feature of all models. Additionally, areas of high calling blue and fin whale abundance both had a positive relationship with the sea surface temperature. In areas of lower abundance, chlorophyll a concentration and primary productivity were important variables for blue whale models and sea surface height and primary productivity were significant covariates in fin whale models. Predictive models were generally better for predicting general trends than absolute values, but there was a large degree of variation in year-to-year predictability across different sites.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2015-04-01

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

Statistical Analysis of Hubble /WFC3 Transit Spectroscopy of Extrasolar Planets

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

Fu, Guangwei; Deming, Drake; Knutson, Heather

2017-10-01

Transmission spectroscopy provides a window to study exoplanetary atmospheres, but that window is fogged by clouds and hazes. Clouds and haze introduce a degeneracy between the strength of gaseous absorption features and planetary physical parameters such as abundances. One way to break that degeneracy is via statistical studies. We collect all published HST /WFC3 transit spectra for 1.1–1.65 μ m water vapor absorption and perform a statistical study on potential correlations between the water absorption feature and planetary parameters. We fit the observed spectra with a template calculated for each planet using the Exo-transmit code. We express the magnitude ofmore » the water absorption in scale heights, thereby removing the known dependence on temperature, surface gravity, and mean molecular weight. We find that the absorption in scale heights has a positive baseline correlation with planetary equilibrium temperature; our hypothesis is that decreasing cloud condensation with increasing temperature is responsible for this baseline slope. However, the observed sample is also intrinsically degenerate in the sense that equilibrium temperature correlates with planetary mass. We compile the distribution of absorption in scale heights, and we find that this distribution is closer to log-normal than Gaussian. However, we also find that the distribution of equilibrium temperatures for the observed planets is similarly log-normal. This indicates that the absorption values are affected by observational bias, whereby observers have not yet targeted a sufficient sample of the hottest planets.« less

Statistical Analysis of Hubble/WFC3 Transit Spectroscopy of Extrasolar Planets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Guangwei; Deming, Drake; Knutson, Heather; Madhusudhan, Nikku; Mandell, Avi; Fraine, Jonathan

2018-01-01

Transmission spectroscopy provides a window to study exoplanetary atmospheres, but that window is fogged by clouds and hazes. Clouds and haze introduce a degeneracy between the strength of gaseous absorption features and planetary physical parameters such as abundances. One way to break that degeneracy is via statistical studies. We collect all published HST/WFC3 transit spectra for 1.1-1.65 micron water vapor absorption, and perform a statistical study on potential correlations between the water absorption feature and planetary parameters. We fit the observed spectra with a template calculated for each planet using the Exo-Transmit code. We express the magnitude of the water absorption in scale heights, thereby removing the known dependence on temperature, surface gravity, and mean molecular weight. We find that the absorption in scale heights has a positive baseline correlation with planetary equilibrium temperature; our hypothesis is that decreasing cloud condensation with increasing temperature is responsible for this baseline slope. However, the observed sample is also intrinsically degenerate in the sense that equilibrium temperature correlates with planetary mass. We compile the distribution of absorption in scale heights, and we find that this distribution is closer to log-normal than Gaussian. However, we also find that the distribution of equilibrium temperatures for the observed planets is similarly log-normal. This indicates that the absorption values are affected by observational bias, whereby observers have not yet targeted a sufficient sample of the hottest planets.

Statistical Analysis of Hubble/WFC3 Transit Spectroscopy of Extrasolar Planets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Guangwei; Deming, Drake; Knutson, Heather; Madhusudhan, Nikku; Mandell, Avi; Fraine, Jonathan

2017-10-01

Transmission spectroscopy provides a window to study exoplanetary atmospheres, but that window is fogged by clouds and hazes. Clouds and haze introduce a degeneracy between the strength of gaseous absorption features and planetary physical parameters such as abundances. One way to break that degeneracy is via statistical studies. We collect all published HST/WFC3 transit spectra for 1.1-1.65 μm water vapor absorption and perform a statistical study on potential correlations between the water absorption feature and planetary parameters. We fit the observed spectra with a template calculated for each planet using the Exo-transmit code. We express the magnitude of the water absorption in scale heights, thereby removing the known dependence on temperature, surface gravity, and mean molecular weight. We find that the absorption in scale heights has a positive baseline correlation with planetary equilibrium temperature; our hypothesis is that decreasing cloud condensation with increasing temperature is responsible for this baseline slope. However, the observed sample is also intrinsically degenerate in the sense that equilibrium temperature correlates with planetary mass. We compile the distribution of absorption in scale heights, and we find that this distribution is closer to log-normal than Gaussian. However, we also find that the distribution of equilibrium temperatures for the observed planets is similarly log-normal. This indicates that the absorption values are affected by observational bias, whereby observers have not yet targeted a sufficient sample of the hottest planets.

Data catalog for JPL Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Digby, Susan

1995-01-01

The Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC) archive at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory contains satellite data sets and ancillary in-situ data for the ocean sciences and global-change research to facilitate multidisciplinary use of satellite ocean data. Geophysical parameters available from the archive include sea-surface height, surface-wind vector, surface-wind speed, surface-wind stress vector, sea-surface temperature, atmospheric liquid water, integrated water vapor, phytoplankton pigment concentration, heat flux, and in-situ data. PO.DAAC is an element of the Earth Observing System Data and Information System and is the United States distribution site for TOPEX/POSEIDON data and metadata.

A model for the estimation of the surface fluxes of momentum, heat and moisture of the cloud topped marine atmospheric boundary layer from satellite measurable parameters. M.S. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allison, D. E.

1984-01-01

A model is developed for the estimation of the surface fluxes of momentum, heat, and moisture of the cloud topped marine atmospheric boundary layer by use of satellite remotely sensed parameters. The parameters chosen for the problem are the integrated liquid water content, q sub li, the integrated water vapor content, q sub vi, the cloud top temperature, and either a measure of the 10 meter neutral wind speed or the friction velocity at the surface. Under the assumption of a horizontally homogeneous, well-mixed boundary layer, the model calculates the equivalent potential temperature and total water profiles of the boundary layer along with the boundary layer height from inputs of q sub li, q sub vi, and cloud top temperature. These values, along with the 10m neutral wind speed or friction velocity and the sea surface temperature are then used to estimate the surface fluxes. The development of a scheme to parameterize the integrated water vapor outside of the boundary layer for the cases of cold air outbreak and California coastal stratus is presented.

Understanding Recent Trends in Freezing Level Height over the Tropical Andes Mountains of South America: An Investigation of Reanalysis Products and GEOSCCM Integrations.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaitchik, B. F.; Russell, A.; Gnanadesikan, A.

2015-12-01

As the global climate warms, the height of the 0°C isotherm - aka the freezing level height (FLH) - rises, especially over mountainous regions. Over the past few decades, FLH in the tropical Andes Mountains of South America has been rising at a rate that is 2 to 3 times faster than would be expected considering the zonally-averaged upper troposphere temperature trends and the recent cooling of Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures. Rising FLH could have devastating impacts in this region where most of the dry season runoff comes from seasonal snow melt and glacial melt. Yet, is unclear why FLH is rising so rapidly in this particular area and what the quantitative implications will be for tropical Andean water resources. Reanalysis products tend to disagree on the spatial pattern and strength of FLH changes which confounds the issue by making it difficult to uncover the driving mechanisms of these local changes in FLH. Indeed, there are several possible factors that may be contributing to the unprecedented rise in FLH over the Andes (above and beyond the normally expected effects of greenhouse gases) of which the most likely actors are: changes in the state of the tropical Pacific Ocean, changes in sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean, shifts in the Hadley cell, indirect effects of stratospheric ozone depletion and recent recovery, and local thermodynamic land-atmosphere feedbacks. To better understand the changes in FLH, which will ultimately contribute to the effort to predict effects on Andean water resources, we analyze FLH in several forcing-separated integrations of the Goddard Earth Observing System Chemistry-Climate Model (GEOSCCM). By separating out the various forcings (greenhouse gases, sea surface temperatures, ozone depleting substances, volcanic eruptions, and solar fluctuations), we are able to develop hypotheses for mechanistic drivers of FLH changes which can be rigorously tested. These efforts will contribute to the understanding of climate change over the tropical Andes Mountains, and over South America more generally, while developing techniques and hypotheses that can be applied to the study of cryosphere environments in other mountainous regions.

Growth of AlGaN alloys under excess group III conditions: Formation of vertical nanorods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singha, Chirantan; Sen, Sayantani; Pramanik, Pallabi; Palit, Mainak; Das, Alakananda; Roy, Abhra Shankar; Sen, Susanta; Bhattacharyya, Anirban

2018-01-01

Droplet Epitaxy of AlGaN nanostructures was investigated in this work. Growth was carried out by Plasma Assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy (PA-MBE) under extreme group III rich conditions, where the excess metal remained on the growth surface and formed nanoscale metallic droplets due to the interplay of surface energy, surface diffusion and desorption, all of which are strongly dependent on the relative arrival rates of gallium and aluminum and the substrate temperature. Intermittent exposure of this metallic film to active nitrogen forms various types of nanostructures, whose morphology, composition and luminescence properties were evaluated. Our results indicate that for AlN, the droplet epitaxy process forms random arrays of uniform well oriented [0 0 0 1] nanorods with a height of ∼1 μm and a diameter of 250 nm. For AlGaN grown under excess gallium, and intermittent exposure to the active plasma, structures with diameters of 200 μm to 600 μm and a height of 80 nm were observed. We report the spontaneous formation of lateral concentric heterostructures under these conditions. A single photoluminescence (PL) peak was observed at about 260 nm with a room temperature to 4 K intensity ratio of ∼25%.

Immotile Active Matter: Activity from Death and Reproduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalziqi, Arben; Yanni, David; Thomas, Jacob; Ng, Siu Lung; Vivek, Skanda; Hammer, Brian K.; Yunker, Peter J.

2018-01-01

Unlike equilibrium atomic solids, biofilms—soft solids composed of bacterial cells—do not experience significant thermal fluctuations at the constituent level. However, living cells stochastically reproduce and die, provoking a mechanical response. We investigate the mechanical consequences of cellular death and reproduction by measuring surface-height fluctuations of biofilms containing two mutually antagonistic strains of Vibrio cholerae that kill one another on contact via the type VI secretion system. While studies of active matter typically focus on activity via constituent mobility, here, activity is mediated by reproduction and death events in otherwise immobilized cells. Biofilm surface topography is measured in the nearly homeostatic limit via white light interferometry. Although biofilms are far from equilibrium systems, measured surface-height fluctuation spectra resemble the spectra of thermal permeable membranes but with an activity-mediated effective temperature, as predicted by Risler, Peilloux, and Prost [Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 258104 (2015), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.258104]. By comparing the activity of killer strains of V. cholerae with that of genetically modified strains that cannot kill each other and validating with individual-based simulations, we demonstrate that extracted effective temperatures increase with the amount of death and reproduction and that death and reproduction can fluidize biofilms. Together, these observations demonstrate the unique physical consequences of activity mediated by death and reproduction events.

Immotile Active Matter: Activity from Death and Reproduction.

PubMed

Kalziqi, Arben; Yanni, David; Thomas, Jacob; Ng, Siu Lung; Vivek, Skanda; Hammer, Brian K; Yunker, Peter J

2018-01-05

Unlike equilibrium atomic solids, biofilms-soft solids composed of bacterial cells-do not experience significant thermal fluctuations at the constituent level. However, living cells stochastically reproduce and die, provoking a mechanical response. We investigate the mechanical consequences of cellular death and reproduction by measuring surface-height fluctuations of biofilms containing two mutually antagonistic strains of Vibrio cholerae that kill one another on contact via the type VI secretion system. While studies of active matter typically focus on activity via constituent mobility, here, activity is mediated by reproduction and death events in otherwise immobilized cells. Biofilm surface topography is measured in the nearly homeostatic limit via white light interferometry. Although biofilms are far from equilibrium systems, measured surface-height fluctuation spectra resemble the spectra of thermal permeable membranes but with an activity-mediated effective temperature, as predicted by Risler, Peilloux, and Prost [Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 258104 (2015)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.115.258104]. By comparing the activity of killer strains of V. cholerae with that of genetically modified strains that cannot kill each other and validating with individual-based simulations, we demonstrate that extracted effective temperatures increase with the amount of death and reproduction and that death and reproduction can fluidize biofilms. Together, these observations demonstrate the unique physical consequences of activity mediated by death and reproduction events.

Quantum dots grown in the InSb/GaSb system by liquid-phase epitaxy

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

Parkhomenko, Ya. A.; Dement’ev, P. A.; Moiseev, K. D., E-mail: mkd@iropt2.ioffe.rssi.ru

2016-07-15

The first results of the liquid-phase epitaxial growth of quantum dots in the InSb/GaSb system and atomic-force microscopy data on the structural characteristics of the quantum dots are reported. It is shown that the surface density, shape, and size of nanoislands depend on the deposition temperature and the chemical properties of the matrix surface. Arrays of InSb quantum dots on GaSb (001) substrates are produced in the temperature range T = 450–465°C. The average dimensions of the quantum dots correspond to a height of h = 3 nm and a base dimension of D = 30 nm; the surface densitymore » is 3 × 10{sup 9} cm{sup –2}.« less

An Evaluation of Structural, Topographic, Optical, and Temperature-Dependent Electrical Features of Sol-Gel Spin-Coated p-NiO/n-Si Heterojunction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turgut, Güven; Duman, Songül; Özcelik, Fikriye Şeyma

2017-06-01

p-NiO/n-Si heterodiode was deposited with an easy and cheap sol-gel route using a spin coater. The XRD results revealed that NiO film had polycrystalline cubic bunsenite structure with (200) preferential direction. The AFM and SEM micrographs indicated that the film was composed of homogenously distributed nanoparticles on n-Si surface. The uniform scattering of Ni and O elements was also seen from EDX mapping pictures. The band gap value for NiO sample was found to be 3.74 eV. The current-voltage ( I- V) properties of Ag/p-NiO/n-Si heterojunction were inquired in the temperature range of 80 K to 300 K (-193 °C to 27 °C). The temperature coefficient of barrier height of the Ag/p-NiO/n-Si heterojunction was determined to be 2.6 meV/K. The I- V measurements showed that the barrier height of the heterojunction increased with an increment in the temperature.

Atmospheric model development in support of SEASAT. Volume 2: Analysis models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Langland, R. A.

1977-01-01

As part of the SEASAT program of NASA, two sets of analysis programs were developed for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. One set of programs produce 63 x 63 horizontal mesh analyses on a polar stereographic grid. The other set produces 187 x 187 third mesh analyses. The parameters analyzed include sea surface temperature, sea level pressure and twelve levels of upper air temperature, height and wind analyses. The analysis output is used to initialize the primitive equation forecast models.

Fabrication of IrSi(3)/p-Si Schottky diodes by a molecular beam epitaxy technique

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lin, T. L.; Iannelli, J. M.

1990-01-01

IrSi(3)/p-Si Schottky diodes have been fabricated by a molecular beam epitaxy technique at 630 C. Good surface morphology was observed for IrSi(3) layers grown at temperatures below 680 C, and an increasing tendency to form islands is observed in samples grown at higher temperatures. Good diode current-voltage characteristics were observed and Schottky barrier heights of 0.14-0.18 eV were determined by activation energy analysis and spectral response measurement.

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

Blanchat, Thomas K.; Jernigan, Dann A.

A set of experiments and test data are outlined in this report that provides radiation intensity data for the validation of models for the radiative transfer equation. The experiments were performed with lightly-sooting liquid hydrocarbon fuels that yielded fully turbulent fires 2 m diameter). In addition, supplemental measurements of air flow and temperature, fuel temperature and burn rate, and flame surface emissive power, wall heat, and flame height and width provide a complete set of boundary condition data needed for validation of models used in fire simulations.

Options to Improve Rain Snow Parameterization in Surface Based Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feiccabrino, J. M.

2017-12-01

Precipitation phase determination is of upmost importance in a number of surface based hydrological, ecological, and safety models. However, precipitation phase at Earth's surface is a result of cloud and atmospheric properties not measured by surface weather stations. Nonetheless, they can be inferred from the available surface datum. This study uses 681,620 weather observations with air temperatures between -3 and 5°C and identified precipitation occurring at the time of the observation to determine simple, yet accurate, thresholds for precipitation phase determination schemes (PPDS). This dataset represents 38% and 42% of precipitation observations over a 16 year period for 85 Swedish, and 84 Norwegian weather stations. The misclassified precipitation (error) from PPDS using AT, dew-point temperature (DT) and wet-bulb temperature (WB) thresholds were compared using a single threshold PPDS. The Norwegian observations between -3 and 5°C resulted in 11.64%, 11.21%, and 8.42% error for DT (-0.2°C), AT (1.2°C), and WB (0.3°C) thresholds respectively. Individual station thresholds had a range of -0.7 to 1.2°C, -1.2 to 0.9°C, and -0.1 to 2.5°C for WB, DP, and AT respectively. To address threshold variance while decreasing error, weather stations were grouped into nine landscape categories; windward (WW) ocean, WW coast, WW fjord, WW hill, WW mountain, leeward (LW) mountain, LW hill, LW rolling hills, and LW coast. Landscape classification was based on location relative to the Scandinavian Mountains, and the % water or range of elevation within 15KM. Within landscapes, stations share similar land atmosphere exchanges which differ from other landscapes. These differences change optimal thresholds for PPDS between landscapes. Also tested were threshold temperature affects based on assumed atmospheric differences for the following observation groups; 1.) occurring before and after an air mass boundary, 2.) with different water temperatures and/or NAO phases, 3.) with snow cover, 4.) coupled with higher elevation stations and 5.) with different cloud heights. For example, in Norway, as the unsaturated layer depth beneath clouds increased, AT thresholds warmed. Cloud height adjusted AT thresholds reduced error by 5% before threshold adjustments for landscapes.

Global, Hemispheric, and Zonal Temperature Deviations Derived From a 63-Station Radiosonde Network

DOE Data Explorer

Angell, J. K. [NOAA, Air Resources Laboratory

2011-01-01

Surface temperatures and thickness-derived temperatures from a 63-station, globally distributed radiosonde network have been used to estimate global, hemispheric, and zonal annual and seasonal temperature deviations. Most of the temperature values used were column-mean temperatures, obtained from the differences in height (thickness) between constant-pressure surfaces at individual radiosonde stations. The pressure-height data before 1980 were obtained from published values in Monthly Climatic Data for the World. Between 1980 and 1990, Angell used data from both the Climatic Data for the World and the Global Telecommunications System (GTS) Network received at the National Meteorological Center. Between 1990 and 1995, the data were obtained only from GTS, and since 1995 the data have been obtained from National Center for Atmospheric Research files. The data are evaluated as deviations from the mean based on the interval 1958-1977. The station deviations have been averaged (with equal weighting) to obtain annual and seasonal temperature deviations for the globe, the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and the following latitudinal zones: North (60° N-90° N) and South (60° S-90° S) Polar; North (30° N-60° N) and South (30° S-60° S) Temperate; North (10° N-30° N) and South (10° S-30° S) Subtropical; Tropical(30° S-30° N); and Equatorial (10° S-10° N). The seasonal calculations are for the standard meteorological seasons (i.e., winter is defined as December, January, and February; spring is March, April, and May, etc.) and the annual calculations are for December through the following November (i.e., for the four meteorological seasons). For greater details, see Angell and Korshover (1983) and Angell (1988, 1991)

Planetary boundary layer height over the Indian subcontinent: Variability and controls with respect to monsoon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sathyanadh, Anusha; Prabhakaran, Thara; Patil, Chetana; Karipot, Anandakumar

2017-10-01

Planetary boundary layer (PBL) height characteristics over the Indian sub-continent at diurnal to seasonal scales and its controlling factors in relation to monsoon are investigated. The reanalysis (Modern Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, MERRA) PBL heights (PBLH) used for the study are validated against those derived from radiosonde observations and radio occultation air temperature and humidity profiles. The radiosonde observations include routine India Meteorological Department observations at two locations (coastal and an inland) for one full year and campaign based early afternoon radiosonde observations at six inland locations over the study region for selected days from May-September 2011. The temperature and humidity profiles from radio occultations spread over the sub-continent at irregular timings during the year 2011. The correlations and root mean square errors are in the range 0.74-0.83 and 407 m-643 m, respectively. Large pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon variations in PBL maximum height (1000 m-4000 m), time of occurrence of maximum height (11:00 LST-17:00 LST) and growth rate (100 to 400 m h- 1) are noted over the land, depending on geographical location and more significantly on the moisture availability which influences the surface sensible and latent heat fluxes. The PBLH variations associated with active-break intra-seasonal monsoon oscillations are up to 1000 m over central Indian locations. Inter relationship between the PBLH and the controlling factors, i.e. Evaporative Fraction, net radiation, friction velocity, surface Richardson number, and scalar diffusivity fraction, show significant variation between dry and wet PBL regimes, which also varies with geographical location. Evaporative fraction has dominant influence on the PBLH over the region. Enhanced entrainment during monsoon contributes to reduction in PBLH, whereas the opposite effect is noted during dry period. Linear regression, cross wavelet and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) methods are used to elucidate the role of controlling factors and interactions on PBLH in relation to monsoon.

Controlled irrigation of a structured packing as a method for increasing the efficiency of liquid mixture separation in the distillation column

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pavlenko, A. N.; Zhukov, V. E.; Pecherkin, N. I.; Nazarov, A. D.; Li, X.; Li, H.; Gao, X.; Sui, H.

2017-09-01

The use of modern structured packing in the distillation columns allows much more even distribution of the liquid film over the packing surface, but it does not completely solve the problem of uniform distribution of flow parameters over the entire height of the packing. Negative stratification of vapor along the packing height caused by different densities of vapor mixture components and higher temperature in the lower part of the column leads to formation of large-scale maldistributions of temperature and mixture composition over the column cross-section even under the conditions of uniform irrigation of packing with liquid. In these experiments, the idea of compensatory action of liquid distributor on the large-scale maldistribution of mixture composition over the column cross-section was implemented. The experiments were carried out in the distillation column with the diameter of 0.9 m on 10 layers of the Mellapak 350Y packing with the total height of 2.1 m. The mixture of R-21 and R-114 was used as the working mixture. To irrigate the packing, the liquid distributorr with 126 independently controlled solenoid valves overlapping the holes with the diameter of 5 mm, specially designed by the authors, was used. Response of the column to the action of liquid distributor was observed in real time according to the indications of 3 groups of thermometers mounted in 3 different cross-sections of the column. The experiments showed that the minimal correction of the drip point pattern in the controlled liquid distributor can significantly affect the pattern of flow parameter distribution over the cross-section and height of the mass transfer surface and increase separation efficiency of the column within 20%.

Prominent metallic surface conduction and the singular magnetic response of topological Dirac fermion in three-dimensional topological insulator Bi1.5Sb0.5Te1.7Se1.3.

PubMed

Dutta, Prithwish; Pariari, Arnab; Mandal, Prabhat

2017-07-07

We report semiconductor to metal-like crossover in the temperature dependence of resistivity (ρ) due to the switching of charge transport from bulk to surface channel in three-dimensional topological insulator Bi 1.5 Sb 0.5 Te 1.7 Se 1.3 . Unlike earlier studies, a much sharper drop in ρ(T) is observed below the crossover temperature due to the dominant surface conduction. Remarkably, the resistivity of the conducting surface channel follows a rarely observable T 2 dependence at low temperature, as predicted theoretically for a two-dimensional Fermi liquid system. The field dependence of magnetization shows a cusp-like paramagnetic peak in the susceptibility (χ) at zero field over the diamagnetic background. The peak is found to be robust against temperature and χ decays linearly with the field from its zero-field value. This unique behavior of the χ is associated with the spin-momentum locked topological surface state in Bi 1.5 Sb 0.5 Te 1.7 Se 1.3 . The reconstruction of the surface state with time is clearly reflected through the reduction of the peak height with the age of the sample.

30 CFR 7.67 - Construction test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... § 7.66. (a) Test procedures. (1) The blasting unit shall be dropped 20 times from a height of 3 feet... each time in an attempt to have a different surface, corner, or edge strike the floor first for each... shall be submerged in 1 foot of water for 1 hour in each of 3 tests. The water temperature shall be...

The structure of the stably stratified internal boundary layer in offshore flow over the sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garratt, J. R.; Ryan, B. F.

1989-04-01

Observations obtained mainly from a research aircraft are presented of the mean and turbulent structure of the stably stratified internal boundary layer (IBL) over the sea formed by warm air advection from land to sea. The potential temperature and humidity fields reveal the vertical extent of the IBL, for fetches out to several hundred of kilometres, geostrophic winds of 20 25 m s-1, and potential temperature differences between undisturbed continental air and the sea surface of 7 to 17 K. The dependence of IBL depth on these external parameters is discussed in the context of the numerical results of Garratt (1987), and some discrepancies are noted. Wind observations show the development of a low-level wind maximum (wind component normal to the coast) and rotation of the wind to smaller cross-isobar flow angles. Potential temperature (θ) profiles within the IBL reveal quite a different structure to that found in the nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) over land. Over the sea, θ profiles have large positive curvature with vertical gradients increasing monotonically with height; this reflects the dominance of turbulent cooling within the layer. The behaviour is consistent with known behaviour in the NBL over land where curvature becomes negative (vertical gradients of θ decreasing with height) as radiative cooling becomes dominant. Turbulent properties are discussed in terms of non-dimensional quantities, normalised by the surface friction velocity, as functions of normalised height using the IBL depth. Vertical profiles of these and the normalised wavelength of the spectral maximum agree well with known results for the stable boundary layer over land (Caughey et al., 1979).

The Influence of the Solar Coronal Radiation on Coronal Plasma Structures, I: Determination of the Incident Coronal Radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, Gerrard M.; Labrosse, Nicolas

2018-02-01

Coronal structures receive radiation not only from the solar disc, but also from the corona. This height-dependent incident radiation plays a crucial role in the excitation and the ionisation of the illuminated plasma. The aim of this article is to present a method for computing the detailed incident radiation coming from the solar corona, which is perceived at a point located at an arbitrary height. The coronal radiation is calculated by integrating the radiation received at a point in the corona over all of the corona visible from this point. The emission from the corona at all wavelengths of interest is computed using atomic data provided by CHIANTI. We obtain the spectrum illuminating points located at varying heights in the corona at wavelengths between 100 and 912 Å when photons can ionise H or He atoms and ions in their ground states. As expected, individual spectral lines will contribute most at the height within the corona where the local temperature is closest to their formation temperature. As there are many spectral lines produced by many ions, the coronal intensity cannot be assumed to vary in the same way at all wavelengths and so must be calculated for each separate height that is to be considered. This code can be used to compute the spectrum from the corona illuminating a point at any given height above the solar surface. This brings a necessary improvement to models where an accurate determination of the excitation and ionisation states of coronal plasma structures is crucial.

On geoid heights derived from GEOS 3 altimeter data along the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Watts, A. B.

1979-01-01

The geoid heights derived from preliminary GEOS 3 satellite radar altimeter data over the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain are examined. Two objectives are pursued: (1) to evaluate the contribution of the topography of the seamount chain and its compensation to the marine geoid; and (2) to determine whether geoid heights derived from GEOS 3 altimeter data can be used to provide information on isostasy at geological features such as the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain which formed as relatively young loads on the oceanic lithosphere. Short-wavelength geoid highs of 5-12 m over the crest of the seamount chain and geoid lows over flanking regions are observed. The geological undulations can be explained by a simple model in which the seamount-chain load is supported by a strong rigid lithospheric plate. The elastic thickness estimates agree with values based on surface ship gravity and bathymetry observations, and provide further support to the hypothesis that the elastic thickness acquired at a surface load depends on the temperature gradient of the lithosphere at the time of loading.

Quantitative tests for plate tectonics on Venus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaula, W. M.; Phillips, R. J.

1981-01-01

Quantitative comparisons are made between the characteristics of plate tectonics on the earth and those which are possible on Venus. Considerations of the factors influencing rise height and relating the decrease in rise height to plate velocity indicate that the rate of topographic dropoff from spreading centers should be about half that on earth due to greater rock-fluid density contrast and lower temperature differential between the surface and interior. Statistical analyses of Pioneer Venus radar altimetry data and global earth elevation data is used to identify 21,000 km of ridge on Venus and 33,000 km on earth, and reveal Venus ridges to have a less well-defined mode in crest heights and a greater concavity than earth ridges. Comparison of the Venus results with the spreading rates and associated heat flow on earth reveals plate creation rates on Venus to be 0.7 sq km/year or less and indicates that not more than 15% of Venus's energy is delivered to the surface by plate tectonics, in contrast to values of 2.9 sq km a year and 70% for earth.

Intra-annual height increment of Pinus sylvestris at high latitudes in Finland.

PubMed

Salminen, Hannu; Jalkanen, Risto

2007-09-01

Intra-annual height growth of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in four stands was followed for up to four growing seasons (2000-2003) in the northern boreal zone in Lapland. Elongation of the leader shoot correlated with temperature sum expressed as degree-days. Total length of the leader shoot correlated with growth rate but not with duration of the height-growth period. The longer the annual shoot at the end of the season, the greater the height increment per degree- and growing day. Height-growth cessation was defined as the date when 95% of the total shoot length was achieved. In all stands and all years, height growth ceased when, on average, 41% of the relative temperature sum of the site was achieved (range of variation 38-43%). The relative temperature sum was calculated by dividing the actual temperature sum by the long-term mean for the site. Our results suggest that annual height growth is finished when a location-specific temperature sum threshold is attained.

Analysis of oxidation of self-baking electrodes (Soederberg electrodes) by means of three-dimensional model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pashnin, S. V.

2017-10-01

The paper presents the methodology and results of the development of the temperature dependence of the oxidation speed of the self-baking electrode (Soederberg Electrodes) in the ore-thermal furnaces. For the study of oxidation, the working ends of the self-baking electrodes, which were taken out from the ore-thermal furnaces after their scabbings, were used. The temperature of the electrode surface by its height was calculated with the help of the mathematical model of heat work of self-baking electrode. The comparison of electrode surface temperatures with the speed of oxidation of the electrode allowed one to obtain the temperature dependency of the oxidation of the lateral electrode surface. Comparison of the experimental data, obtained in the laboratory by various authors, showed their qualitative coincidence with results of calculations of the oxidation rate presented in this article. With the help of the mathematical model of temperatures fields of electrode, the calculations of the sizes of the cracks, appearing after burnout ribs, were performed. Calculations showed that the sizes of the cracks after the ribs burnout, calculated by means of the obtained temperature dependence, coincide with the experimental data with sufficient accuracy.

Impact of Cubic Pin Finned Surface Structure Geometry upon Spray Cooling Heat Transfer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Silk, Eric A.; Kim, Jungho; Kiger, Ken

2005-01-01

Experiments were conducted to study the effects of enhanced surface structures on heat flux using spray cooling. The surface enhancements consisted of cubic pin fins machined on the top surface of copper heater blocks. The structure height, pitch, and width were parametrically vaned. Each copper block had a projected cross-sectional area of 2.0 sq cm. Measurements were also obtained on a heater block with a flat surface for baseline comparison purposes. A 2 x 2 nozzle array was used with PF-5060 as the working fluid. Thermal performance data were obtained under nominally degassed (chamber pressure of 41.4 kPa) and gassy conditions (chamber with N2 gas at 100.7 kPa) with a bulk fluid temperature of 20.5 C. Results for both the degassed and gassy cases show that structure width and separation distance have a dominant effect upon the heat transfer for the size ranges used. Cubic pin fin height had little impact upon heat flux. The maximum critical heat flux (CHF) attained for any of the surfaces was 121 W/sq cm, giving an enhancement of 51% relative to the flat surface case under nominally degassed conditions. The gassy case had a maximum CHF of 149 W/sq cm, giving an enhancement of 38% relative to the flat surface case.

Wind tunnel simulation of a wind turbine wake in neutral, stable and unstable wind flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hancock, P. E.; Zhang, S.; Pascheke, F.; Hayden, P.

2014-12-01

Measurements of mean velocity, Reynolds stresses, temperature and heat flux have been made in the wake of a model wind turbine in the EnFlo meteorology wind tunnel, for three atmospheric boundary layer states: the base-line neutral case, stable and unstable. The full-to-model scale is approximately 300:1. Primary instrumentation is two-component LDA combine with cold-wire thermometry to measure heat flux. In terms of surface conditions, the stratified cases are weak, but there is a strong 'imposed' condition in the stable case. The measurements were made between 0.5D and 10D, where D is the turbine disk diameter. In the stable case the velocity deficit decreases more slowly; more quickly in the unstable case. Heights at which quantities are maximum or minimum are greater in the unstable case and smaller in the stable case. In the stable case the wake height is suppressed but the width is increased, while in the unstable case the height is increased and the width (at hub height) reaches a maximum and then decreases. The turbulence in the wake behaves in a complex way. Further work needs to be done, to cover stronger levels of surface condition, requiring more extensive measurements to properly capture the wake development.

High Temperature Ultrasonic Probe and Pulse-Echo Probe Mounting Fixture for Testing and Blind Alignment on Steam Pipes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lih, Shyh-Shiuh (Inventor); Takano, Nobuyuki (Inventor); Lee, Hyeong Jae (Inventor); Bao, Xiaoqi (Inventor); Badescu, Mircea (Inventor); Bar-Cohen, Yoseph (Inventor); Sherrit, Stewart (Inventor); Ostlund, Patrick N. (Inventor)

2017-01-01

A high temperature ultrasonic probe and a mounting fixture for attaching and aligning the probe to a steam pipe using blind alignment. The high temperature ultrasonic probe includes a piezoelectric transducer having a high temperature. The probe provides both transmitting and receiving functionality. The mounting fixture allows the high temperature ultrasonic probe to be accurately aligned to the bottom external surface of the steam pipe so that the presence of liquid water in the steam pipe can be monitored. The mounting fixture with a mounted high temperature ultrasonic probe are used to conduct health monitoring of steam pipes and to track the height of condensed water through the wall in real-time.

Estimating the relationship between urban 3D morphology and land surface temperature using airborne LiDAR and Landsat-8 Thermal Infrared Sensor data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J. H.

2015-12-01

Urban forests are known for mitigating the urban heat island effect and heat-related health issues by reducing air and surface temperature. Beyond the amount of the canopy area, however, little is known what kind of spatial patterns and structures of urban forests best contributes to reducing temperatures and mitigating the urban heat effects. Previous studies attempted to find the relationship between the land surface temperature and various indicators of vegetation abundance using remote sensed data but the majority of those studies relied on two dimensional area based metrics, such as tree canopy cover, impervious surface area, and Normalized Differential Vegetation Index, etc. This study investigates the relationship between the three-dimensional spatial structure of urban forests and urban surface temperature focusing on vertical variance. We use a Landsat-8 Thermal Infrared Sensor image (acquired on July 24, 2014) to estimate the land surface temperature of the City of Sacramento, CA. We extract the height and volume of urban features (both vegetation and non-vegetation) using airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and high spatial resolution aerial imagery. Using regression analysis, we apply empirical approach to find the relationship between the land surface temperature and different sets of variables, which describe spatial patterns and structures of various urban features including trees. Our analysis demonstrates that incorporating vertical variance parameters improve the accuracy of the model. The results of the study suggest urban tree planting is an effective and viable solution to mitigate urban heat by increasing the variance of urban surface as well as evaporative cooling effect.

Climate and infectious disease: use of remote sensing for detection of Vibrio cholerae by indirect measurement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lobitz, B.; Beck, L.; Huq, A.; Wood, B.; Fuchs, G.; Faruque, A. S.; Colwell, R.

2000-01-01

It has long been known that cholera outbreaks can be initiated when Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera, is present in drinking water in sufficient numbers to constitute an infective dose, if ingested by humans. Outbreaks associated with drinking or bathing in unpurified river or brackish water may directly or indirectly depend on such conditions as water temperature, nutrient concentration, and plankton production that may be favorable for growth and reproduction of the bacterium. Although these environmental parameters have routinely been measured by using water samples collected aboard research ships, the available data sets are sparse and infrequent. Furthermore, shipboard data acquisition is both expensive and time-consuming. Interpolation to regional scales can also be problematic. Although the bacterium, V. cholerae, cannot be sensed directly, remotely sensed data can be used to infer its presence. In the study reported here, satellite data were used to monitor the timing and spread of cholera. Public domain remote sensing data for the Bay of Bengal were compared directly with cholera case data collected in Bangladesh from 1992-1995. The remote sensing data included sea surface temperature and sea surface height. It was discovered that sea surface temperature shows an annual cycle similar to the cholera case data. Sea surface height may be an indicator of incursion of plankton-laden water inland, e.g., tidal rivers, because it was also found to be correlated with cholera outbreaks. The extensive studies accomplished during the past 25 years, confirming the hypothesis that V. cholerae is autochthonous to the aquatic environment and is a commensal of zooplankton, i.e., copepods, when combined with the findings of the satellite data analyses, provide strong evidence that cholera epidemics are climate-linked.

Atomic scale study of strain relaxation in Sn islands on Sn-induced Si(111)-(2√3 ×2√3 ) surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, L. L.; Ma, X. C.; Ning, Y. X.; Ji, S. H.; Fu, Y. S.; Jia, J. F.; Kelly, K. F.; Xue, Q. K.

2009-04-01

Surface structure of the Sn islands 5 ML high, prepared on Si(111)-(2√3 ×2√3 )-Sn substrate, is investigated by low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy. Due to the elastic strain relaxation in the islands, the in-plane unit cell structure distorts and the apparent height of the surface atoms varies regularly to form an overall modulated strip structure. The quantum well states are observed to depend on the relative position within this structure, which implies the change of the surface chemical potential induced by the elastic strain relaxation as well.

Temperature/pressure and water vapor sounding with microwave spectroscopy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Muhleman, D. O.; Janssen, M. A.; Clancy, R. T.; Gulkis, S.; Mccleese, D. J.; Zurek, R.; Haberle, R. M.; Frerking, M.

1992-01-01

Two intense microwave spectra lines exist in the martian atmosphere that allow unique sounding capabilities: water vapor at 183 GHz and the (2-1) rotational line of CO at 230 GHz. Microwave spectra line sounding is a well-developed technique for the Earth's atmosphere for sounding from above from spacecraft and airplanes, and from below from fixed surface sites. Two simple instruments for temperature sounding on Mars (the CO line) and water vapor measurements are described. The surface sounder proposed for the MESUR sites is designed to study the boundary layer water vapor distribution and the temperature/pressure profiles with vertical resolution of 0.25 km up to 1 km with reduced resolution above approaching a scale height. The water channel will be sensitive to a few tenths of a micrometer of water and the temperature profile will be retrieved to an accuracy between 1 and 2 K. The latter is routinely done on the Earth using oxygen lines near 60 GHz. The measurements are done with a single-channel heterodyne receiver looking into a 10-cm mirror that is canned through a range of elevation angles plus a target load. The frequency of the receiver is sweep across the water and CO lines generating the two spectra at about 1-hr intervals throughout the mission. The mass and power for the proposed instrument are 2 kg and 5-8 W continuously. The measurements are completely immune to the atmospheric dust and ice particle loads. It was felt that these measurements are the ultimate ones to properly study the martian boundary layer from the surface to a few kilometers. Sounding from above requires an orbiting spacecraft with multichannel microwave spectrometers such as the instrument proposed for MO by a subset of the authors, a putative MESUR orbiter, and a proposed Discovery mission called MOES. Such an instrument can be built with less than 10 kg and use less than 15 W. The obvious advantage of this approach is that the entire atmosphere can be sounded for temperature and water vapor in a few hours with somewhat better than a scale height resolution. If a bigger mirror is used (greater than 30 cm) limb sounding geometry can be employed and half scale height resolution achieved to altitudes up to at least 60 km. Again, the measurements are immune to dust and ice loads. Water vapor sensitivity of 0.1 micrometer can be achieved (even with a nadir instrument) and temperature profiles retrieved to an accuracy of better than 2 K from the surface to about 60 km. Winds can be measured from the doppler shifts of CO lines in the limb sounding mode.

Spectral Behavior of a Linearized Land-Atmosphere Model: Applications to Hydrometeorology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gentine, P.; Entekhabi, D.; Polcher, J.

2008-12-01

The present study develops an improved version of the linearized land-atmosphere model first introduced by Lettau (1951). This model is used to investigate the spectral response of land-surface variables to a daily forcing of incoming radiation at the land-surface. An analytical solution of the problem is found in the form of temporal Fourier series and gives the atmospheric boundary-layer and soil profiles of state variables (potential temperature, specific humidity, sensible and latent heat fluxes). Moreover the spectral dependency of surface variables is expressed as function of land-surface parameters (friction velocity, vegetation height, aerodynamic resistance, stomatal conductance). This original approach has several advantages: First, the model only requires little data to work and perform well: only time series of incoming radiation at the land-surface, mean specific humidity and temperature at any given height are required. These inputs being widely available over the globe, the model can easily be run and tested under various conditions. The model will also help analysing the diurnal shape and frequency dependency of surface variables and soil-ABL profiles. In particular, a strong emphasis is being placed on the explanation and prediction of Evaporative Fraction (EF) and Bowen Ratio diurnal shapes. EF is shown to remain a diurnal constant under restricting conditions: fair and dry weather, with strong solar radiation and no clouds. Moreover, the EF pseudo-constancy value is found and given as function of surface parameters, such as aerodynamic resistance and stomatal conductance. Then, application of the model for the conception of remote-sensing tools, according to the temporal resolution of the sensor, will also be discussed. Finally, possible extensions and improvement of the model will be discussed.

The effect of radiometer placement and view on inferred directional and hemispheric radiometric temperatures of an urban canopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adderley, C.; Christen, A.; Voogt, J. A.

2015-07-01

Any radiometer at a fixed location has a biased view when observing a convoluted, three-dimensional surface such as an urban canopy. The goal of this contribution is to determine the bias of various sensors views observing a simple urban residential neighbourhood (nadir, oblique, hemispherical) over a 24 hour cycle under clear weather conditions. The error in measuring a longwave radiation flux density (L) and/or inferring surface temperatures (T0) is quantified for different times over a diurnal cycle. Panoramic time-sequential thermography (PTST) data were recorded by a thermal camera on a hydraulic mast above a residential canyon in Vancouver, BC. The data set resolved sub-facet temperature variability of all representative urban facets in a 360° swath repetitively over a 24-hour cycle. This data set is used along with computer graphics and vision techniques to project measured fields of L for a given time and pixel onto texture sheets of a three-dimensional urban surface model at a resolution of centimetres. The resulting data set attributes L of each pixel on the texture sheets to different urban facets and associates facet location, azimuth, slope, material, and sky view factor. The texture sheets of L are used to calculate the complete surface temperature (T0,C) and to simulate the radiation in the field of view (FOV) of narrow and hemispheric radiometers observing the same urban surface (in absence of emissivity and atmospheric effects). The simulated directional (T0,d) and hemispheric (T0,h) radiometric temperatures inferred from various biased views are compared to T0,C. For a range of simulated off-nadir (φ) and azimuth (Ω) angles, T0,d(φ,Ω) and T0,C differ between -2.6 and +2.9 K over the course of the day. The effects of effective anisotropy are highest in the daytime, particularly around sunrise and sunset when different views can lead to differences in T0,d(φ,Ω) that are as high as 3.5 K. For a sensor with a narrow FOV in the nadir of the urban surface, T0,d(φ=0) differs from T0,C by +1.9 K (day) and by -1.6 K (night). Simulations of the FOV of hemispherical, downward-facing pyrgeometers at 270 positions show considerable variations in the measured L and inferred hemispherical radiometeric temperature T0,h as a function of both horizontal placement and height. The root mean squared error (RMSE) between different horizontal positions in retrieving outgoing longwave emittance L↑ decreased exponentially with height, and was 11.2, 6.3 and 2.0 W m-2 at 2, 3, and 5 times the mean building height zb. Generally, above 3.5zb the horizontal positional error is less than the typical accuracy of common pyrgeometers. The average T0,h over 24 h determined from the hemispherical radiometer sufficiently above an urban surface is in close agreement with the average T0,C. However, over the course of the day, the difference between T0,h and T0,C shows an RMSE of 1.7 K (9.4 W m-2) because the relative contributions of facets within the projected FOV of a pyrgeometer do not correspond to their fractions of the complete urban surface.

The effect of radiometer placement and view on inferred directional and hemispheric radiometric temperatures of a urban canopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adderley, C.; Christen, A.; Voogt, J. A.

2015-02-01

Any radiometer at a fixed location has a biased view when observing a convoluted, three dimensional surface such as an urban canopy. The goal of this contribution is to determine the bias of various sensors views observing a simple urban residential neighbourhood (nadir, oblique, hemispherical) over a 24 h cycle under clear weather conditions. The error in measuring longwave radiance (L) and/or inferring surface temperatures (T0) is quantified for different times over a diurnal cycle. Panoramic time-sequential thermography (PTST) data was recorded by a thermal camera on a hydraulic mast above a residential canyon in Vancouver, BC. The dataset resolved sub-facet temperature variability of all representative urban facets in a 360° swath repetitively over a 24 h cycle. This dataset is used along with computer graphics and vision techniques to project measured fields of L for a given time and pixel onto texture sheets of a three-dimensional urban surface model at a resolution of centimetres. The resulting dataset attributes L of each pixel on the texture sheets to different urban facets and associates facet location, azimuth, slope, material, and sky view factor. The texture sheets of L are used to calculate the complete surface temperature (T0,C) and to simulate the instantaneous field of view (IFOV) of narrow and hemispheric radiometers observing the same urban surface (in absence of emissivity and atmospheric effects). The simulated directional (T0,d) and hemispheric (T0,h) radiometric temperatures inferred from various biased views are compared to T0,C. For a range of simulated off-nadir (ϕ) and azimuth (Ω) angles, T0,d (ϕ, Ω) and T0,C differ between -2.7 and +2.9 K over the course of the day. The effects of effective anisotropy are highest in the daytime, particularly around sunrise and sunset when different views can lead to differences in T0,d (ϕ, Ω) that are as high as 3.5 K. For a sensor with a narrow IFOV in the nadir of the urban surface, T0,d (ϕ = 0°) differs from T0,C by -2.2 K (day) and by +1.6 K (night). Simulations of the IFOV of hemispherical, downward-facing pyrgeometers at 270 positions show considerable variations in the measured L and inferred hemispherical radiometeric temperature T0,h as a function of both horizontal placement and height. The root mean squared error (RMSE) between different horizontal positions in retrieving outgoing longwave emittance L↑ decreased exponentially with height, and was 11.2, 6.3 and 2.0 W m-2 at 2, 3, and 5 times the mean building height zb. Generally, above 3.5 zb the horizontal positional error is less than the typical accuracy of common pyrgeometers. The average T0,h over 24 h determined from the hemispherical radiometer sufficiently above an urban surface is in close agreement with the average T0,C. However, over the course of the day, the difference between T0,h and T0,C shows an RMSE of 1.8 K (9.9 W m-2) because the relative contributions of facets within the projected IFOV of a pyrgeometer do not correspond to their fractions of the complete urban surface.

Subtropical Gyre Variability Observed by Ocean Color Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McClain, Charles R.; Signorini, Sergio R.; Christian, James R.

2002-01-01

The subtropical gyres of the world are extensive, coherent regions that occupy about 40% of the surface of the earth. Once thought to be homogeneous and static habitats, there is increasing evidence that mid-latitude gyres exhibit substantial physical and biological variability on a variety of time scales. While biological productivity within these oligotrophic regions may be relatively small, their immense size makes their total contribution significant. Global distributions of dynamic height derived from satellite altimeter data, and chlorophyll concentration derived from satellite ocean color data, show that the dynamic center of the gyres, the region of maximum dynamic height where the thermocline is deepest, does not coincide with the region of minimum chlorophyll concentration. The physical and biological processes by which this distribution of ocean properties is maintained, and the spatial and temporal scales of variability associated with these processes, are analyzed using global surface chlorophyll-a concentrations, sea surface height, sea surface temperature and surface winds from operational satellite and meteorological sources, and hydrographic data from climatologies and individual surveys. Seasonal and interannual variability in the areal extent of the subtropical gyres are examined using 8 months (November 1996 - June 1997) of OCTS and nearly 5 years (September 1997 - June 02) of SeaWiFS ocean color data and are interpreted in the context of climate variability and measured changes in other ocean properties (i.e., wind forcing, surface currents, Ekman pumping, and vertical mixing). The North Pacific and North Atlantic gyres are observed to be shrinking over this period, while the South Pacific, South Atlantic, and South Indian Ocean gyres appear to be expanding.

[Retrieval of the Optical Thickness and Cloud Top Height of Cirrus Clouds Based on AIRS IR High Spectral Resolution Data].

PubMed

Cao, Ya-nan; Wei, He-li; Dai, Cong-ming; Zhang, Xue-hai

2015-05-01

A study was carried out to retrieve optical thickness and cloud top height of cirrus clouds from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) high spectral resolution data in 1070~1135 cm-1 IR band using a Combined Atmospheric Radiative Transfer model (CART) by brightness temperature difference between model simulation and AIRS observation. The research is based on AIRS LIB high spectral infrared observation data combined with Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) cloud product data. Brightness temperature spectra based, on the retrieved cirrus optical thickness and cloud top height were simulated and compared with brightness temperature spectra of AIRS observation in the 650~1150 cm-1 band. The cirrus optical thickness and cloud top height retrieved were compared with brightness temperature of AIRS for channel 760 (900.56 cm-1, 11. 1 µm) and cirrus reflectance of MODIS cloud product. And cloud top height retrieved was compared with cloud top height from MODIS. Results show that the brightness temperature spectra simulated were basically consistent with AIRS observation under the condition of retrieval in the 650~1150 cm-1 band. It means that CART can be used to simulate AIRS brightness temperature spectra. The retrieved cirrus parameters are consistent with brightness temperature of AIRS for channel 11. 1 µm with low brightness temperature corresponding to large cirrus optical thickness and high cloud top height. And the retrieved cirrus parameters are consistent with cirrus reflectance of MODIS cloud product with high cirrus reflectance corresponding to large cirrus optical thickness and high cloud top height. Correlation coefficient of brightness temperature between retrieved cloud top height and MODIS cloud top height was relatively high. They are mostly located in the range of 8. 5~11.5 km, and their probability distribution trend is approximately identical. CART model is feasible to retrieve cirrus properties, and the retrieval is reliable.

(abstract) Satellite Physical Oceanography Data Available From an EOSDIS Archive

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Digby, Susan A.; Collins, Donald J.

1996-01-01

The Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory archives and distributes data as part of the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). Products available from JPL are largely satellite derived and include sea-surface height, surface-wind speed and vectors, integrated water vapor, atmospheric liquid water, sea-surface temperature, heat flux, and in-situ data as it pertains to satellite data. Much of the data is global and spans fourteen years.There is email access, a WWW site, product catalogs, and FTP capabilities. Data is free of charge.

Pacific Decadal Oscillation Influences Drought (June 27, 2004)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

Recent sea level height data from the U.S./France Jason altimetric satellite during a 10-day cycle ending June 27, 2004, shows that Pacific equatorial surface ocean heights and temperatures are near neutral, but perhaps tending towards a mild La Nina for this summer and into the fall. 'In the U.S. we are still under the influence of the larger than El Nino and La Nina Pacific Decadal Oscillation shift in Pacific Ocean heat content and temperature patterns.' Much of the nation's western farmland and forests are really dry as we continue to struggle with a severe 6-year drought. The reality is that the atmosphere is acting as though La Nina is present. This continuing oceanic pattern in the Pacific and atmospheric pattern over the western U.S. is also a precursor for an active hurricane season for the East and Gulf coasts for our coming summer and fall,' said JPL oceanographer Dr. Bill Patzert.

These images show sea surface height anomalies with the seasonal cycle (the effects of summer, fall, winter, and spring) removed. The differences between what we see and what is normal for different times and regions are called anomalies, or residuals. When oceanographers and climatologists view these 'anomalies' they can identify unusual patterns and can tell us how heat is being stored in the ocean to influence future planetary climate events. Each image is a 10-day average of data, ending on the date indicated.

Pacific Decadal Oscillation Influences Drought (June 15, 2004)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

Recent sea level height data from the U.S./France Jason altimetric satellite during a 10-day cycle ending June 15, 2004, shows that Pacific equatorial surface ocean heights and temperatures are near neutral, but perhaps tending towards a mild La Nina for this summer and into the fall. 'In the U.S. we are still under the influence of the larger than El Nino and La Nina Pacific Decadal Oscillation shift in Pacific Ocean heat content and temperature patterns.' Much of the nation's western farmland and forests are really dry as we continue to struggle with a severe 6-year drought. The reality is that the atmosphere is acting as though La Nina is present. This continuing oceanic pattern in the Pacific and atmospheric pattern over the western U.S. is also a precursor for an active hurricane season for the East and Gulf coasts for our coming summer and fall,' said JPL oceanographer Dr. Bill Patzert.

These images show sea surface height anomalies with the seasonal cycle (the effects of summer, fall, winter, and spring) removed. The differences between what we see and what is normal for different times and regions are called anomalies, or residuals. When oceanographers and climatologists view these 'anomalies' they can identify unusual patterns and can tell us how heat is being stored in the ocean to influence future planetary climate events. Each image is a 10-day average of data, ending on the date indicated.

Estimation of daily minimum land surface air temperature using MODIS data in southern Iran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Didari, Shohreh; Norouzi, Hamidreza; Zand-Parsa, Shahrokh; Khanbilvardi, Reza

2017-11-01

Land surface air temperature (LSAT) is a key variable in agricultural, climatological, hydrological, and environmental studies. Many of their processes are affected by LSAT at about 5 cm from the ground surface (LSAT5cm). Most of the previous studies tried to find statistical models to estimate LSAT at 2 m height (LSAT2m) which is considered as a standardized height, and there is not enough study for LSAT5cm estimation models. Accurate measurements of LSAT5cm are generally acquired from meteorological stations, which are sparse in remote areas. Nonetheless, remote sensing data by providing rather extensive spatial coverage can complement the spatiotemporal shortcomings of meteorological stations. The main objective of this study was to find a statistical model from the previous day to accurately estimate spatial daily minimum LSAT5cm, which is very important in agricultural frost, in Fars province in southern Iran. Land surface temperature (LST) data were obtained using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard Aqua and Terra satellites at daytime and nighttime periods with normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data. These data along with geometric temperature and elevation information were used in a stepwise linear model to estimate minimum LSAT5cm during 2003-2011. The results revealed that utilization of MODIS Aqua nighttime data of previous day provides the most applicable and accurate model. According to the validation results, the accuracy of the proposed model was suitable during 2012 (root mean square difference ( RMSD) = 3.07 °C, {R}_{adj}^2 = 87 %). The model underestimated (overestimated) high (low) minimum LSAT5cm. The accuracy of estimation in the winter time was found to be lower than the other seasons ( RMSD = 3.55 °C), and in summer and winter, the errors were larger than in the remaining seasons.

Electrical Characterization of Graphite/InP Schottky Diodes by I-V-T and C-V Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tiagulskyi, Stanislav; Yatskiv, Roman; Grym, Jan

2018-02-01

A rectifying junction was prepared by casting a drop of colloidal graphite on the surface of an InP substrate. The electrophysical properties of graphite/InP junctions were investigated in a wide temperature range. Temperature-dependent I-V characteristics of the graphite/InP junctions are explained by the thermionic emission mechanism. The Schottky barrier height (SBH) and the ideality factor were found to be 0.9 eV and 1.47, respectively. The large value of the SBH and its weak temperature dependence are explained by lateral homogeneity of the junction, which is related to the structure of the graphite layer. The moderate disagreement between the current-voltage and capacitance-voltage measurements is attributed to the formation of interfacial native oxide film on the InP surface.

Sensitivity analysis of upwelling thermal radiance in presence of clouds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Subramanian, S. V.; Tiwari, S. N.; Suttles, J. T.

1981-01-01

Total upwelling radiance at the top of the atmosphere is evaluated theoretically in the presence of clouds. The influence of cloud heights, thicknesses and different cloud covers on the upwelling radiance is also investigated. The characteristics of the two cloud types considered in this study closely correspond to altocumulus and cirrus with the cloud emissivity as a function of its liquid water (or ice) content. For calculation of the integrated transmittance of atmospheric gases such as, H2O, CO2, O3, and N2O, the Quasi Random Band (QRB) model approach is adopted. Results are obtained in three different spectral ranges and are compared with the clearsky radiance results. It is found that the difference between the clearsky and cloudy radiance increases with increasing cloud height and liquid water content. This difference also decreases as the surface temperature approaches the value of the cloud top temperature.

Innovative measurement within the atmosphere of Venus.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ekonomov, Alexey; Linkin, Vyacheslav; Manukin, Anatoly; Makarov, Vladislav; Lipatov, Alexander

The results of Vega project experiments with two balloons flew in the cloud layer of the atmosphere of Venus are analyzed as to the superrotation nature and local dynamic and thermodynamic characteristics of the atmosphere. These balloons in conjunction with measurements of temperature profiles defined by the Fourier spectrometer measurements from the spacecraft Venera 15 allow us to offer a mechanism accelerating the atmosphere to high zonal velocities and supporting these speeds, the atmosphere superrotation in general. Spectral measurements with balloons confirm the possibility of imaging the planet's surface from a height of not more than 55 km. Promising experiments with balloons in the atmosphere of Venus are considered. In particular, we discuss the possibility of measuring the geopotential height, as Venus no seas and oceans to vertical positioning of the temperature profiles. As an innovative research facilities within the atmosphere overpressure balloon with a lifetime longer than 14 Earth days and vertical profile microprobes are considered.

Differences in oral temperature and body shape in two populations with different propensities for obesity.

PubMed

Vozarova, B; Weyer, C; Bogardus, C; Ravussin, E; Tataranni, P A

2002-06-01

Body temperature is a function of heat production and heat dissipation. Substantial interindividual variability has been reported in healthy humans. We hypothesized that Pima Indians, a population with a high prevalence of abdominal obesity, may have a lower surface area relative to volume, that is, lower radiating area, and therefore a higher body temperature compared to Caucasians. Body composition, including volume (hydrodensitometry), and oral temperature were assessed in 69 nondiabetic Caucasian [age, 30 +/- 7 years; body fat, 21 +/- 8% (mean +/- SD)] and 115 Pima Indian males [age, 27 +/- 6 years; body fat, 28 +/- 6%]. Surface area was estimated from height, weight, and waist circumference (Bouchard's equation). In 47 Pima Indians, measures of insulin sensitivity (M, hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp) were available. Compared to Caucasians, Pima Indians had a higher oral temperature [36.4 +/- 0.3 degrees C vs. 36.3 +/- 0.3 degrees C (mean +/- SD), p < 0.04] and lower surface area relative to volume (2.19 +/- 0.05 vs. 2.23 +/- 0.26 m(2), p < 0.0001). Surface area relative to volume was negatively correlated with oral temperature (r = -0.14, p < 0.05), but in a multiple linear regression model it did not entirely explain the ethnic difference in oral temperature. Oral temperature was inversely correlated with M (r = -0.28, p < 0.05). Conclusions-Pima Indians have higher oral temperature and lower surface area relative to volume than Caucasians. The ethnic difference in temperature does not seem to be entirely explained by differences in body composition and body shape. Interestingly, higher oral temperature was associated with insulin resistance, a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.

Micropattern array with gradient size (µPAGS) plastic surfaces fabricated by PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) mold-based hot embossing technique for investigation of cell-surface interaction.

PubMed

Choi, Min Jin; Park, Ju Young; Cha, Kyoung Je; Rhie, Jong-Won; Cho, Dong-Woo; Kim, Dong Sung

2012-12-01

Recently, it was found that the variations of physical environment significantly affect cell behaviors including cell proliferation, migration and differentiation. Through a plastic surface with controlled mechanical properties such as stiffness, one can change the orientation and migration of cells in a particular direction, thereby determining cell behaviors. In this study, we demonstrate a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) mold-based hot embossing technique for rapid, simple and low-cost replication of polystyrene (PS) surfaces having micropatterns. The PDMS mold was fabricated by UV-photolithography followed by PDMS casting; the elastomeric properties of PDMS enabled us to obtain conformal contact of the PDMS mold to a PS surface and to create high transcription quality of micropatterns on the PS surface. Two different types of circular micropillar and microwell arrays were successfully replicated on the PS surfaces based on the suggested technique. The micropatterns were designed to have various diameters (2-150 µm), spacings (2-160 µm) and heights (1.4, 2.4, 8.2 and 14.9 µm), so as to generate the gradient of physical properties on the surface. Experimental parametric studies indicated that (1) the embossing temperature became a critical processing parameter as the aspect ratio of micropattern increased and (2) the PDMS mold-based hot embossing could successfully replicate micropatterns, even having an aspect ratio of 2.7 for micropattern diameter of 6 µm, with an optimal processing condition (embossing pressure and temperature of 0.4 MPa and 130 °C, respectively) in this study. We carried out cell experiments with adipose-derived stem cells on the replicated PS surface with the height of 1.4 µm to investigate cellular behaviors in response to the micropattern array with gradient size. Cellular experiment results showed that the micropillar-arrayed surface improved cell proliferation as compared with the microwell-arrayed surface. We could also estimate the ranges of pattern sizes having the desired effects on the cellular behaviors.

Defect characterization by inductive heated thermography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noethen, Matthias; Meyendorf, Norbert

2012-05-01

During inductive-thermographic inspection, an eddy current of high intensity is induced into the inspected material and the thermal response is detected by an infrared camera. Anomalies in the surface temperature during and after inductive heating correspond to inhomogeneities in the material. A finite element simulation of the surface crack detection process using active thermography with inductive heating has been developed. The simulation model is based on the finite element software ANSYS. The simulation tool was tested and used for investigations on steel components with different longitudinal orientated cracks, varying in shape, width and height. This paper focuses on surface connected longitudinal orientated cracks in austenitic steel. The results show that depending on the excitation frequency the temperature distribution of the material under test are different and a possible way to measure the depth of the crack will be discussed.

Aerothermal Test of Thermal Protection Systems for X-33 Reusable Launch Vehicle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sawyer, James Wayne; Hodge, Jefferson; Moore, Brad; Snyder, Kevin

1999-01-01

An array of metallic Thermal Protection System (TPS) panels developed for the windward surface of the X-33 vehicle was tested in the 8-Foot High Temperature Tunnel at the NASA Langley Research Center. These tests were the first aerothermal tests of an X-33 TPS array and the test results will be used to validate the TPS for the X-33 flight program. Specifically, the tests evaluated the structural and thermal performance of the TPS, the effectiveness of the high temperature seals between adjacent panels and the durability of the TPS under realistic aerothermal flight conditions. The effect of varying panel-to-panel step heights, intentional damage to the seals between adjacent panels, and the use of secondary seals were also investigated during the test program. The metallic TPS developed for the windward surface of the X-33, the blanket TPS developed to protect the leeward surfaces of the X-33, and the test program in the 8-Foot High Temperature Tunnel are presented and discussed.

Defect-free erbium silicide formation using an ultrathin Ni interlayer.

PubMed

Choi, Juyun; Choi, Seongheum; Kang, Yu-Seon; Na, Sekwon; Lee, Hoo-Jeong; Cho, Mann-Ho; Kim, Hyoungsub

2014-08-27

An ultrathin Ni interlayer (∼1 nm) was introduced between a TaN-capped Er film and a Si substrate to prevent the formation of surface defects during thermal Er silicidation. A nickel silicide interfacial layer formed at low temperatures and incurred uniform nucleation and the growth of a subsequently formed erbium silicide film, effectively inhibiting the generation of recessed-type surface defects and improving the surface roughness. As a side effect, the complete transformation of Er to erbium silicide was somewhat delayed, and the electrical contact property at low annealing temperatures was dominated by the nickel silicide phase with a high Schottky barrier height. After high-temperature annealing, the early-formed interfacial layer interacted with the growing erbium silicide, presumably forming an erbium silicide-rich Er-Si-Ni mixture. As a result, the electrical contact property reverted to that of the low-resistive erbium silicide/Si contact case, which warrants a promising source/drain contact application for future high-performance metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors.

Graphene/semicrystalline-carbon derived from amylose films for supercapacitor application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deraman, M.; Sazali, N. E. S.; Hanappi, M. F. Y. M.; Tajuddin, N. S. M.; Hamdan, E.; Suleman, M.; Othman, M. A. R.; Omar, R.; Hashim, M. A.; Basri, N. H.; Nor, N. S. M.; Dolah, B. N. M.; Noor, A. M.; Jasni, M. R. M.

2016-08-01

Graphene/semicrystalline-carbon in the form of carbon flakes is produced by carbonization up to 600, 700, 800, 900 and 1000°C, respectively, of the amylose films prepared by a casting method on copper foil substrate. The carbon flakes are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) method to determine their microcrystallite interlayer spacing, width and stack-height; and Raman spectroscopy (RS) method to obtain structural information from the D-, D2- and G-bands peak-intensities. The XRD results show that increase in carbonization temperature lead to ~(1-3%), ~85% and ~30%increase in the microcrystallites interlayer spacing, width and stack-height, respectively, indicating that a larger growth of microcrytallite of carbon flakes occurs in the direction parallel to (001) plane or film planar surface. The specific surface area of carbon flakes estimated from the XRD results in decreases from ~4400 to ~3400 m2/g, corresponding to the specific capacitance between ~500 to ~400 F/g, which are well within the range of specific capacitance for typical electrodes carbon for supercapacitor application. The RS results show that the multilayer graphene co-exist with semicrystalline- carbon within the carbon flakes, with the multilayer graphene relative quantities increase with increasing carbonization temperature.

Scale Properties of Anisotropic and Isotropic Turbulence in the Urban Surface Layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Hao; Yuan, Renmin; Mei, Jie; Sun, Jianning; Liu, Qi; Wang, Yu

2017-11-01

The scale properties of anisotropic and isotropic turbulence in the urban surface layer are investigated. A dimensionless anisotropic tensor is introduced and the turbulent tensor anisotropic coefficient, defined as C, where C = 3d3 + 1 (d3 is the minimum eigenvalue of the tensor) is used to characterize the turbulence anisotropy or isotropy. Turbulence is isotropic when C ≈ 1, and anisotropic when C ≪ 1. Three-dimensional velocity data collected using a sonic anemometer are analyzed to obtain the anisotropic characteristics of atmospheric turbulence in the urban surface layer, and the tensor anisotropic coefficient of turbulent eddies at different spatial scales calculated. The analysis shows that C is strongly dependent on atmospheric stability ξ = (z-zd)/L_{{it{MO}}}, where z is the measurement height, zd is the displacement height, and L_{{it{MO}}} is the Obukhov length. The turbulence at a specific scale in unstable conditions (i.e., ξ < 0) is closer to isotropic than that at the same scale under stable conditions. The maximum isotropic scale of turbulence is determined based on the characteristics of the power spectrum in three directions. Turbulence does not behave isotropically when the eddy scale is greater than the maximum isotropic scale, whereas it is horizontally isotropic at relatively large scales. The maximum isotropic scale of turbulence is compared to the outer scale of temperature, which is obtained by fitting the temperature fluctuation spectrum using the von Karman turbulent model. The results show that the outer scale of temperature is greater than the maximum isotropic scale of turbulence.

Temperature and Relative Humidity Vertical Profiles within Planetary Boundary Layer in Winter Urban Airshed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bendl, Jan; Hovorka, Jan

2017-12-01

The planetary boundary layer is a dynamic system with turbulent flow where horizontal and vertical air mixing depends mainly on the weather conditions and geomorphology. Normally, air temperature from the Earth surface decreases with height but inversion situation may occur, mainly during winter. Pollutant dispersion is poor during inversions so air pollutant concentration can quickly rise, especially in urban closed valleys. Air pollution was evaluated by WHO as a human carcinogen (mostly by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and health effects are obvious. Knowledge about inversion layer height is important for estimation of the pollution impact and it can give us also information about the air pollution sources. Temperature and relative humidity vertical profiles complement ground measurements. Ground measurements were conducted to characterize comprehensively urban airshed in Svermov, residential district of the city of Kladno, about 30 km NW of Prague, from the 2nd Feb. to the 3rd of March 2016. The Svermov is an air pollution hot-spot for long time benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) limit exceedances, reaching the highest B[a]P annual concentration in Bohemia - west part of the Czech Republic. Since the Svermov sits in a shallow valley, frequent vertical temperature inversion in winter and low emission heights of pollution sources prevent pollutant dispersal off the valley. Such orography is common to numerous small settlements in the Czech Republic. Ground measurements at the sports field in the Svermov were complemented by temperature and humidity vertical profiles acquired by a Vaisala radiosonde positioned at tethered He-filled balloon. Total number of 53 series of vertical profiles up to the height of 300 m was conducted. Meteorology parameters were acquired with 4 Hz frequency. The measurements confirmed frequent early-morning and night formation of temperature inversion within boundary layer up to the height of 50 m. This rather shallow inversion had significant influence on air quality due to inversion cap over the valley. Nevertheless, formation of an inversion showed strong diurnal variability. For example, on the 18th Feb. early morning shallow inversion quickly disappeared within less than 2 hours. According to this study tethered balloon measurements has proved to be a good tool for completion comprehensive ground air quality measurements.

The effects of atmospheric processes on tehran smog forming.

PubMed

Mohammadi, H; Cohen, D; Babazadeh, M; Rokni, L

2012-01-01

Air pollution is one of the most important problems in urban areas that always threaten citizen's health. Photochemical smog is one of the main factors of air pollution in large cities like Tehran. Usually smog is not only a part of nature, but is being analyzed as an independent matter, which highly affects on the nature. It has been used as relationship between atmospheric elements such as temperature, pressure, relative humidity, wind speed with inversion in the time of smog forming and weather map in 500 Hpa level during 9 years descriptive static by using correlation coefficient in this analyze. Results show that there is a meaningful correlation between atmospheric elements and smog forming. This relation is seen between monthly average of these elements and monthly average of smog forming. However, when temperature decreases, corresponding pressure will increase and result of this will be smog forming. Usually smog increases in cold months of year due to enter cold high pressure air masses in Iran during December and January that is simultaneous with decreasing temperature and air pressure increases and inversion height distance decreases from the earth surface which cause to integrate air pollution under its surface, will cause to form smog in Tehran. It shows a meaningful and strong relation, based on resultant relations by correlation coefficient from inversion height and smog forming, so that obtained figure is more than 60% .

10-Year Observations of Cloud and Surface Longwave Radiation at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeo, H.; Kim, S. W.; Kim, B. M.; Kim, J. H.; Shiobara, M.; Choi, T. J.; Son, S. W.; Kim, M. H.; Jeong, J. H.; Kim, S. J.

2015-12-01

Arctic clouds play a key role in surface radiation budget and may influence sea ice and snow melting. In this study, 10-year (2004-2013) observations of cloud from Micro-Pulse Lidar (MPL) and surface longwave (LW) radiation at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard are analyzed to investigate cloud radiative effect. The cloud fraction (CF) derived from MPL shows distinct monthly variation, having higher CF (0.90) in summer and lower CF (0.79) in winter. Downward longwave radiation (DLW) during wintertime (Nov., Dec., Jan., and Feb.) decreases as cloud base height (CBH) increases. The DLW for CBH < 1km (264.7±35.4 W m-2) is approximately 1.46 times larger than that for cloud-free (181.8±25.8 W m-2) conditions. The temperature difference (ΔT) and DLW difference (ΔDLW), which are calculated as the difference of monthly mean temperature and DLW between all-sky and cloud-free conditions, are positively correlated (R2 = 0.83). This implies that an increase of DLW may influence surface warming, which can result in snow and sea ice melting. However, dramatic changes in surface temperature, cloud and DLW are observed with a time scale of a few days. The averaged surface temperature on the presence of low-level clouds (CBH < 2km) and under cloud-free conditions are estimated to be -6.9±6.1°C and -14.5±5.7°C, respectively. The duration of low-level clouds, showing relatively high DLW and high surface temperature, is about 2.5 days. This suggests that DLW induced by low-level clouds may not have a critical effect on surface temperature rising and sea ice melting.

Microclimatic modeling of the desert in the United Arab Emirates

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

Khalil, A.K.; Abdrabboh, M.A.; Kamel, K.A.

1996-10-01

The present study is concerned with the prediction of the weather parameters in the microclimate layer (less than 2 m above the ground surface) in the desert and sparsely vegetated areas in the United Arab Emirates. A survey was made of the weather data in these regions including solar radiation, wind speed, screen temperatures and relative humidity. Additionally, wind speed data were obtained at heights below two meters and surface albedo was recorded for various soil and vegetation conditions. A survey was also carried out for the different plant species in various areas of the U.A.E. Data on soil andmore » surface temperature were then analyzed. An energy balance model was formulated including incident short- and long-wave length radiation between earth and sky, convective heat transfer to/from earth surface, surface reflection of solar radiation and soil/plant evapotranspiration. An explicit one dimensional finite difference scheme was adapted to solve the resulting algebraic finite difference equations. The equation for surface nodes included thermal radiation as well as convection effects. The heat transfer coefficient was evaluated on the basis of wind speed and surface roughness at the site where the energy balance was set. Theoretical predictions of air and soil temperatures were accordingly compared to experimental measurements in selected sites, where reasonable agreements were observed.« less

A Comparison of Five Numerical Weather Prediction Analysis Climatologies in Southern High Latitudes.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Connolley, William M.; Harangozo, Stephen A.

2001-01-01

In this paper, numerical weather prediction analyses from four major centers are compared-the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABM), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction-National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP-NCAR), and The Met. Office (UKMO). Two of the series-ECMWF reanalysis (ERA) and NCEP-NCAR reanalysis (NNR)-are `reanalyses'; that is, the data have recently been processed through a consistent, modern analysis system. The other three-ABM, ECMWF operational (EOP), and UKMO-are archived from operational analyses.The primary focus in this paper is on the period of 1979-93, the period used for the reanalyses, and on climatology. However, ABM and NNR are also compared for the period before 1979, for which the evidence tends to favor NNR. The authors are concerned with basic variables-mean sea level pressure, height of the 500-hPa surface, and near-surface temperature-that are available from the basic analysis step, rather than more derived quantities (such as precipitation), which are available only from the forecast step.Direct comparisons against station observations, intercomparisons of the spatial pattern of the analyses, and intercomparisons of the temporal variation indicate that ERA, EOP, and UKMO are best for sea level pressure;that UKMO and EOP are best for 500-hPa height; and that none of the analyses perform well for near-surface temperature.

Cloud and boundary layer structure over San Nicolas Island during FIRE

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Albrecht, Bruce A.; Fairall, Christopher W.; Syrett, William J.; Schubert, Wayne H.; Snider, Jack B.

1990-01-01

The temporal evolution of the structure of the marine boundary layer and of the associated low-level clouds observed in the vicinity of the San Nicolas Island (SNI) is defined from data collected during the First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE) Marine Stratocumulus Intense Field Observations (IFO) (July 1 to 19). Surface, radiosonde, and remote-sensing measurements are used for this analysis. Sounding from the Island and from the ship Point Sur, which was located approximately 100 km northwest of SNI, are used to define variations in the thermodynamic structure of the lower-troposphere on time scales of 12 hours and longer. Time-height sections of potential temperature and equivalent potential temperature clearly define large-scale variations in the height and the strength of the inversion and periods where the conditions for cloud-top entrainment instability (CTEI) are met. Well defined variations in the height and the strength of the inversion were associated with a Cataline Eddy that was present at various times during the experiment and with the passage of the remnants of a tropical cyclone on July 18. The large-scale variations in the mean thermodynamic structure at SNI correlate well with those observed from the Point Sur. Cloud characteristics are defined for 19 days of the experiment using data from a microwave radiometer, a cloud ceilometer, a sodar, and longwave and shortwave radiometers. The depth of the cloud layer is estimated by defining inversion heights from the sodar reflectivity and cloud-base heights from a laser ceilometer. The integrated liquid water obtained from NOAA's microwave radiometer is compared with the adiabatic liquid water content that is calculated by lifting a parcel adiabatically from cloud base. In addition, the cloud structure is characterized by the variability in cloud-base height and in the integrated liquid water.

Uncertainties in derived temperature-height profiles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Minzner, R. A.

1974-01-01

Nomographs were developed for relating uncertainty in temperature T to uncertainty in the observed height profiles of both pressure p and density rho. The relative uncertainty delta T/T is seen to depend not only upon the relative uncertainties delta P/P or delta rho/rho, and to a small extent upon the value of T or H, but primarily upon the sampling-height increment Delta h, the height increment between successive observations of p or delta. For a fixed value of delta p/p, the value of delta T/T varies inversely with Delta h. No limit exists in the fineness of usable height resolution of T which may be derived from densities, while a fine height resolution in pressure-height data leads to temperatures with unacceptably large uncertainties.

Atmospheric pressure and temperature profiling using near IR differential absorption lidar

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Korb, C. L.; Schwemmer, G. K.; Dombrowski, M.; Weng, C. Y.

1983-01-01

The present investigation is concerned with differential absorption lidar techniques for remotely measuring the atmospheric temperature and pressure profile, surface pressure, and cloud top pressure-height. The procedure used in determining the pressure is based on the conduction of high-resolution measurements of absorption in the wings of lines in the oxygen A band. Absorption with respect to these areas is highly pressure sensitive in connection with the mechanism of collisional line broadening. The method of temperature measurement utilizes a determination of the absorption at the center of a selected line in the oxygen A band which originates from a quantum state with high ground state energy.

3D Surface Temperature Measurement of Plant Canopies Using Photogrammetry Techniques From A UAV.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irvine, M.; Lagouarde, J. P.

2017-12-01

Surface temperature of plant canopies and within canopies results from the coupling of radiative and energy exchanges processes which govern the fluxes at the interface soil-plant-atmosphere. As a key parameter, surface temperature permits the estimation of canopy exchanges using processes based modeling methods. However detailed 3D surface temperature measurements or even profile surface temperature measurements are rarely made as they have inherent difficulties. Such measurements would greatly improve multi-level canopy models such as NOAH (Chen and Dudhia 2001) or MuSICA (Ogée and Brunet 2002, Ogée et al 2003) where key surface temperature estimations, at present, are not tested. Additionally, at larger scales, canopy structure greatly influences satellite based surface temperature measurements as the structure impacts the observations which are intrinsically made at varying satellite viewing angles and solar heights. In order to account for these differences, again accurate modeling is required such as through the above mentioned multi-layer models or with several source type models such as SCOPE (Van der Tol 2009) in order to standardize observations. As before, in order to validate these models, detailed field observations are required. With the need for detailed surface temperature observations in mind we have planned a series of experiments over non-dense plant canopies to investigate the use of photogrammetry techniques. Photogrammetry is normally used for visible wavelengths to produce 3D images using cloud point reconstruction of aerial images (for example Dandois and Ellis, 2010, 2013 over a forest). From these cloud point models it should be possible to establish 3D plant surface temperature images when using thermal infrared array sensors. In order to do this our experiments are based on the use of a thermal Infrared camera embarked on a UAV. We adapt standard photogrammetry to account for limits imposed by thermal imaginary, especially the low image resolution compared with standard RGB sensors. At the session B081, we intend to present first results of our thermal photogrammetric experiments with 3D surface temperature plots in order to discuss and adapt our methods to the modelling community's needs.

Fabrication of single Ga-doped ZnS nanowires as high-gain photosensors by focused ion beam deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yen, Shih-Hsiang; Hung, Yu-Chen; Yeh, Ping-Hung; Su, Ya-Wen; Wang, Chiu-Yen

2017-09-01

ZnS nanowires were synthesized via a vapor-liquid-solid mechanism and then fabricated into a single-nanowire field-effect transistor by focused ion beam (FIB) deposition. The field-effect electrical properties of the FIB-fabricated ZnS nanowire device, namely conductivity, mobility and hole concentration, were 9.13 Ω-1 cm-1, 13.14 cm2 V-1 s-1and 4.27 × 1018 cm-3, respectively. The photoresponse properties of the ZnS nanowires were studied and the current responsivity, current gain, response time and recovery time were 4.97 × 106 A W-1, 2.43 × 107, 9 s and 24 s, respectively. Temperature-dependent I-V measurements were used to analyze the interfacial barrier height between ZnS and the FIB-deposited Pt electrode. The results show that the interfacial barrier height is as low as 40 meV. The energy-dispersive spectrometer elemental line scan shows the influence of Ga ions on the ZnS nanowire surface on the FIB-deposited Pt contact electrodes. The results of temperature-dependent I-V measurements and the elemental line scan indicate that Ga ions were doped into the ZnS nanowire, reducing the barrier height between the FIB-deposited Pt electrodes and the single ZnS nanowire. The small barrier height results in the FIB-fabricated ZnS nanowire device acting as a high-gain photosensor.

Estimating the atmospheric boundary layer height over sloped, forested terrain from surface spectral analysis during BEARPEX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, W.; Faloona, I. C.; McKay, M.; Goldstein, A. H.; Baker, B.

2010-11-01

In this study the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) height (zi) over complex, forested terrain is estimated based on the power spectra and the integral length scale of horizontal winds obtained from a three-axis sonic anemometer during the BEARPEX (Biosphere Effects on Aerosol and Photochemistry) Experiment. The zi values estimated with this technique showed very good agreement with observations obtained from balloon tether sonde (2007) and rawinsonde (2009) measurements under unstable conditions (z/L < 0) at the coniferous forest in the California Sierra Nevada. The behavior of the nocturnal boundary layer height (h) and power spectra of lateral winds and temperature under stable conditions (z/L > 0) is also presented. The nocturnal boundary layer height is found to be fairly well predicted by a recent interpolation formula proposed by Zilitinkevich et al. (2007), although it was observed to only vary from 60-80 m during the experiment. Finally, significant directional wind shear was observed during both day and night with winds backing from the prevailing west-southwesterlies in the ABL (anabatic cross-valley circulation) to consistent southerlies in a layer ~1 km thick just above the ABL before veering to the prevailing westerlies further aloft. We show that this is consistent with the forcing of a thermal wind driven by the regional temperature gradient directed due east in the lower troposphere.

Validation of Local-Cloud Model Outputs With the GOES Satellite Imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malek, E.

2005-05-01

Clouds (visible aggregations of minute droplets of water or tiny crystals of ice suspended in the air) affect the radiation budget of our planet by reflecting, absorbing and scattering solar radiation, and the re-emission of terrestrial radiation. They affect the weather and climate by positive or negative feedbacks. Many researchers have worked on the parameterization of clouds and their effects on the radiation budget. There is little information about ground-based approaches for continuous evaluation of cloud, such as cloud base height, cloud base temperature, and cloud coverage, at local and regional scales. This present article deals with the development of an algorithm for continuous (day and night) evaluation of cloud base temperature, cloud base height and percent of skies covered by cloud at local scale throughout the year. The Vaisala model CT-12K laser beam ceilometer is used at the Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS) to measure the cloud base height and report the sky conditions on an hourly basis or at shorter intervals. This laser ceilometer is a fixed-type whose transmitter and receiver point straight up at the cloud (if any) base. It is unable to measure clouds that are not above the sensor. To report cloudiness at the local scale, many of these type of ceilometers are needed. This is not a perfect method for cloud measurement. A single cloud hanging overhead the sensor will cause overcast readings, whereas, a hole in the clouds could cause a clear reading to be reported. To overcome this problem, we have set up a ventilated radiation station at Logan-Cache airport, Utah, U.S.A., since 1995, which is equipped with one of the above-mentioned ceilometers. This radiation station (composed of pyranometers, pyrgeometers and net radiometer) provides continuous measurements of incoming and outgoing shortwave and longwave radiation and the net radiation throughout the year. We have also measured the surface temperature and pressure, the 2-m air temperature and humidity, precipitation, and the 3-m wind and direction at this station. Having the air temperature, moisture, and the measured cloudless incoming longwave (atmospheric) radiation during 1999 through 2004, based upon the ASOS and the algorithm data, we found the appropriate formula (among four reported approaches) for computation of the cloudless-skies atmospheric emissivity. Considering the additional longwave radiation captured by the facing-up pyrgeometer during the cloudy skies, coming from the cloud in the wave band which the gaseous emission lacks (from 8-13 ìm), we developed an algorithm which provides the continuous 20-min cloud information (cloud base height, cloud base temperature, and percent of skies covered by cloud) over the Cache Valley during day and night throughout the year. The comparisons between the ASOS and the algorithm data during the period of 8-12 June, 2004 are reported in this article. The proposed algorithm is a promising approach for evaluation of the cloud base temperature, cloud base height, and percent of skies covered by cloud at the local scale throughout the year. It also reports the comparison between model outputs and GOES 10 satellite images.

Mature thunderstorm cloud top structure - Three-dimensional numerical simulation versus satellite observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schlesinger, R. E.

1982-01-01

Preliminary results of four runs with a three-dimensional model of the effects of vertical wind shear on cloud top height/temperature structure and the internal properties of isolate midlatitude thunderstorms are reported. The model is being developed as an aid to analyses of GEO remote sensing satellite data. The grid is a 27 x 27 x 20 mesh with 2 km horizontal resolution and 0.9 vertical resolution. The total grid is 54 km on a side and 18 km deep. A second-order Crowley scheme for advecting momentum is extended with a third-order correction for spatial truncation error, and the earth-relative horizontal surface wind components are decreased to 50 percent of their values at 0.45 km. A temperature increase with height is included, together with an initial impulse consisting of a nonrotating cylindrical weak buoyant updraft 10 km in radius. The results of the runs are discussed in terms of the time variation of the vertical velocity extrema, the effects of strong and weak shear on a storm, the cloud top height, the Lagrangian dynamics of a thermal couplet, and data from a real storm.

Time lag between the tropopause height and the levels of 7Be concentration in near surface air

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ioannidou, A.; Vasileiadis, A.; Melas, D.

2012-04-01

The concentration of 7Be at near surface air has been determined over 2009, a year of a deep solar minimum, in the region of Thessaloniki, Greece at 40°62' N, 22°95'E. In geomagnetic latitudes over 40° N, the elevation of the tropopause during the warm summer months and the vertical exchange of air masses within the troposphere cause greater mixture of the air masses resulting in higher concentration levels for 7Be in surface air. The positive correlation between the monthly activity concentration of 7Be and the tropopause height (0.94, p < 0.0001), and also between 7Be concentration and the temperature T (°C) (R = 0.97, p < 0.001), confirm that the increased rate of vertical transport within the troposphere, especially during warmer summer months, has as a result the descent to surface of air masses enriched in 7Be. However, the 7Be concentration levels in near surface air are not expected to respond immediately to the change of elevation of the tropopause. It was found that there's a time lag of ~ 3 days between the change in the daily surface concentrations of 7Be the change in the elevation of the tropopause.

The sodium and potassium atmosphere of the moon and its interaction with the surface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sprague, A. L.; Kozlowski, R. W. H.; Hunten, D. M.; Wells, W. K.; Grosse, F. A.

1992-01-01

Results are presented from Apollo satellite observations (from May 1988 to July 1991) of sodium and potassium in the lunar atmosphere. The observations of Na and K show a wide range of scale heights, single-component temperatures, and surface number densities, while the column abundances remain within a factor of 3. The observed trends can be explained using a model of competing release mechanisms with different dependences on solar zenith angle and resulting two-component atmospheres. The theory is applied to the budget of atomic oxygen.

Discovery of sodium and potassium vapor in the atmosphere of the moon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Potter, A. E.; Morgan, T. H.

1988-01-01

A ground-based telescopic study of the lunar surface with high resolution spectroscopy has led to the discovery of sodium and potassium vapor 'atmospheres'. The scale height for the sodium atmosphere is 120 + or - 42 km, and for potassium 90 + or - 20 km; these values imply that the effective temperature of the two elements closely approximates that of the lunar surface. The sodium density at the south polar region is similar to that at the subsolar point, indicating widespread distribution of the vapor. The ratio of sodium to potassium densities, at 6 (+ or - 3):1, is close to the lunar surface ratio and suggests that the atmosphere originated in the vaporization of surface minerals.

Development of clay liquid detergent for Islamic cleansing and the stability study.

PubMed

Angkatavanich, J; Dahlan, W; Nimmannit, U; Sriprasert, V; Sulongkood, N

2009-04-01

Clay liquid detergents (CLDs) were developed for cleansing religiously-prohibited dirt ('najis') according to Islamic law. Four types of clay were selected: marl, kaolin, bentonite and veegum. After product development trials, five CLD formulations with varying combinations of clays were qualified for stability testing. Three exaggerated temperature conditions were considered: 4 degrees C for 24 h, 50 degrees C for 7 days, and 40 degrees C for 1 month. The CLDs were also evaluated at 30, 60 and 90 days after production, while being stored at room temperature (RT30, RT60 and RT90). Physical and chemical characteristics including pH, colour, viscosity, surface tension, foam tests and sensory liking scores were evaluated. Our results showed that the kaolin-based formula, F2, had an optimal pH (closest to skin pH) of 5.08. The other formulas ranged from pH 6 to 8. Colour shades of the CLDs ranged from white, to creamy white, to mildly greenish-white. The foaming properties of the CLDs, the means +/- SD of foam heights at 0 and 5 min, using the Ross-Miles test, were 19.13 +/- 0.25 to 20.88 +/- 0.45 cm at RT90 and were comparable with those of commercial detergents. Foam stability of all CLDs was high, as shown from the foam heights between 0 and 5 min being not significantly different (P > 0.05). The surface tensions, means +/- SD, of CLD solutions were between 27.94 +/- 0.08 and 28.72 +/- 0.04 mN m(-1), which were slightly better than the surface tension of 29.08 +/- 0.04 mN m(-1) for sodium lauryl sulphate. There was a weak negative relationship between surface activity and foam height, based on the pooled data of the CLDs (R(2) = 0.209, P < 0.01). The viscosity of four CLDs ranged from 16 317 to 49 036 mPa s. In conclusion, CLDs can be formulated with good stability. F2 (kaolin-based, with a white, creamy texture) was the best CLD formula. It had the highest surface activity, moderate lathering and pleasant physical appearance.

Microtopographic control on the ground thermal regime in ice wedge polygons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abolt, Charles J.; Young, Michael H.; Atchley, Adam L.; Harp, Dylan R.

2018-06-01

The goal of this research is to constrain the influence of ice wedge polygon microtopography on near-surface ground temperatures. Ice wedge polygon microtopography is prone to rapid deformation in a changing climate, and cracking in the ice wedge depends on thermal conditions at the top of the permafrost; therefore, feedbacks between microtopography and ground temperature can shed light on the potential for future ice wedge cracking in the Arctic. We first report on a year of sub-daily ground temperature observations at 5 depths and 9 locations throughout a cluster of low-centered polygons near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and demonstrate that the rims become the coldest zone of the polygon during winter, due to thinner snowpack. We then calibrate a polygon-scale numerical model of coupled thermal and hydrologic processes against this dataset, achieving an RMSE of less than 1.1 °C between observed and simulated ground temperature. Finally, we conduct a sensitivity analysis of the model by systematically manipulating the height of the rims and the depth of the troughs and tracking the effects on ice wedge temperature. The results indicate that winter temperatures in the ice wedge are sensitive to both rim height and trough depth, but more sensitive to rim height. Rims act as preferential outlets of subsurface heat; increasing rim size decreases winter temperatures in the ice wedge. Deeper troughs lead to increased snow entrapment, promoting insulation of the ice wedge. The potential for ice wedge cracking is therefore reduced if rims are destroyed or if troughs subside, due to warmer conditions in the ice wedge. These findings can help explain the origins of secondary ice wedges in modern and ancient polygons. The findings also imply that the potential for re-establishing rims in modern thermokarst-affected terrain will be limited by reduced cracking activity in the ice wedges, even if regional air temperatures stabilize.

Numerical experiments on evaporation and explosive boiling of ultra-thin liquid argon film on aluminum nanostructure substrate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Weidong; Zhang, Haiyan; Tian, Conghui; Meng, Xiaojie

2015-04-01

Evaporation and explosive boiling of ultra-thin liquid film are of great significant fundamental importance for both science and engineering applications. The evaporation and explosive boiling of ultra-thin liquid film absorbed on an aluminum nanostructure solid wall are investigated by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The simulated system consists of three regions: liquid argon, vapor argon, and an aluminum substrate decorated with nanostructures of different heights. Those simulations begin with an initial configuration for the complex liquid-vapor-solid system, followed by an equilibrating system at 90 K, and conclude with two different jump temperatures, including 150 and 310 K which are far beyond the critical temperature. The space and time dependences of temperature, pressure, density number, and net evaporation rate are monitored to investigate the phase transition process on a flat surface with and without nanostructures. The simulation results reveal that the nanostructures are of great help to raise the heat transfer efficiency and that evaporation rate increases with the nanostructures' height in a certain range.

Numerical experiments on evaporation and explosive boiling of ultra-thin liquid argon film on aluminum nanostructure substrate.

PubMed

Wang, Weidong; Zhang, Haiyan; Tian, Conghui; Meng, Xiaojie

2015-01-01

Evaporation and explosive boiling of ultra-thin liquid film are of great significant fundamental importance for both science and engineering applications. The evaporation and explosive boiling of ultra-thin liquid film absorbed on an aluminum nanostructure solid wall are investigated by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The simulated system consists of three regions: liquid argon, vapor argon, and an aluminum substrate decorated with nanostructures of different heights. Those simulations begin with an initial configuration for the complex liquid-vapor-solid system, followed by an equilibrating system at 90 K, and conclude with two different jump temperatures, including 150 and 310 K which are far beyond the critical temperature. The space and time dependences of temperature, pressure, density number, and net evaporation rate are monitored to investigate the phase transition process on a flat surface with and without nanostructures. The simulation results reveal that the nanostructures are of great help to raise the heat transfer efficiency and that evaporation rate increases with the nanostructures' height in a certain range.

Ground level air convection produces frost damage patterns in turfgrass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ackerson, Bruce J.; Beier, Richard A.; Martin, Dennis L.

2015-11-01

Frost injury patterns are commonly observed on the warm-season turfgrass species bermudagrass ( Cynodon species Rich.), zoysiagrass ( Zoysia species Willd.), and buffalograss [ Bouteloua dactyloides (Nutt.) J.T. Columbus] in cool-temperate and subtropical zones. Qualitative observations of these injury patterns are presented and discussed. A model for the formation of such patterns based on thermal instability and convection of air is presented. The characteristic length scale of the observed frost pattern injury requires a temperature profile that decreases with height from the soil to the turfgrass canopy surface followed by an increase in temperature with height above the turfgrass canopy. This is justified by extending the earth temperature theory to include a turf layer with atmosphere above it. Then the theory for a thermally unstable layer beneath a stable region by Ogura and Kondo is adapted to a turf layer to include different parameter values for pure air, as well as for turf, which is treated as a porous medium. The earlier porous medium model of Thompson and Daniels proposed to explain frost injury patterns is modified to give reasonable agreement with observed patterns.

Ground level air convection produces frost damage patterns in turfgrass.

PubMed

Ackerson, Bruce J; Beier, Richard A; Martin, Dennis L

2015-11-01

Frost injury patterns are commonly observed on the warm-season turfgrass species bermudagrass (Cynodon species Rich.), zoysiagrass (Zoysia species Willd.), and buffalograss [Bouteloua dactyloides (Nutt.) J.T. Columbus] in cool-temperate and subtropical zones. Qualitative observations of these injury patterns are presented and discussed. A model for the formation of such patterns based on thermal instability and convection of air is presented. The characteristic length scale of the observed frost pattern injury requires a temperature profile that decreases with height from the soil to the turfgrass canopy surface followed by an increase in temperature with height above the turfgrass canopy. This is justified by extending the earth temperature theory to include a turf layer with atmosphere above it. Then the theory for a thermally unstable layer beneath a stable region by Ogura and Kondo is adapted to a turf layer to include different parameter values for pure air, as well as for turf, which is treated as a porous medium. The earlier porous medium model of Thompson and Daniels proposed to explain frost injury patterns is modified to give reasonable agreement with observed patterns.

Project Fog Drops. Part 1: Investigations of warm fog properties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pilie, R. J.; Eadie, W.; Mack, E. J.; Rogers, C.; Kocmond, W. C.

1972-01-01

A detailed study was made of the micrometeorological and microphysical characteristics of eleven valley fogs occurring near Elmira, New York. Observations were made of temperature, dew point, wind speed and direction, dew deposition, vertical wind velocity, and net radiative flux. In fog, visibility was continuously recorded and periodic measurements were made of liquid water content and drop-size distribution. The observations were initiated in late evening and continued until the time of fog dissipation. The vertical distribution of temperature in the lowest 300 meters and cloud nucleus concentration at several heights were measured from an aircraft before fog nucleus concentrations at several heights were measured from an aircraft before fog formation. A numerical model was developed to investigate the life cycle of radiation fogs. The model predicts the temporal evolution of the vertical distributions of temperature, water vapor, and liquid water as determined by the turbulent transfer of heat and moisture. The model includes the nocturnal cooling of the earth's surface, dew formation, fog drop sedimentation, and the absorption of infrared radiation by fog.

Air pollution potential: Regional study in Argentina

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

Gassmann, M.I.; Mazzeo, N.A.

2000-04-01

Air pollution potential is a measure of the atmospheric conditions that are unable to transport and dilute pollutants into the air, independently of the existence of sources. This potential can be determined from two atmospheric parameters; mixing height and transport wind. In this paper a statistical analysis of the mixing height and transport wind, in order to determine the areas with high or poor atmospheric ventilation in Argentina, is presented. In order to achieve this, meteorological data registered during 1979--1982 at eight meteorological stations were used. Daily values of the maximum mixing height were calculated from observations of daily temperaturesmore » at different heights and maximum surface temperature. At the same time as the maximum mixing height, the values of the transport wind were determined from the surface windspeed and the characteristics of the ground in the surroundings of each meteorological station. The mean seasonal values for both parameters were obtained. Isopleths of the mean seasonal of the maximum mixing heights were drawn. The percentage of seasonal frequencies of poor ventilation conditions were calculated and the frequency isopleths were also drawn to determine areas with minor and major relative frequencies. It was found that the northeastern and central-eastern regions of Argentina had a high air pollution potential during the whole year. Unfavorable atmospheric ventilation conditions were also found in the central-western side of the country during the cold seasons (37.5% in autumn and 56.9% in winter). The region with the greatest atmospheric ventilation is located south of 40{degree}S, where the frequency of poor ventilation varies between 8.0% in summer and 10.8% in winter.« less

Deep Ocean Warming Assessed from Altimeters, GRACE, 3 In-situ Measurements, and a Non-Boussinesq OGCM

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Song, Y. Tony; Colberg, Frank

2011-01-01

Observational surveys have shown significant oceanic bottom water warming, but they are too spatially and temporally sporadic to quantify the deep ocean contribution to the present-day sea level rise (SLR). In this study, altimetry sea surface height (SSH), Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) ocean mass, and in situ upper ocean (0-700 m) steric height have been assessed for their seasonal variability and trend maps. It is shown that neither the global mean nor the regional trends of altimetry SLR can be explained by the upper ocean steric height plus the GRACE ocean mass. A non-Boussinesq ocean general circulation model (OGCM), allowing the sea level to rise as a direct response to the heat added into the ocean, is then used to diagnose the deep ocean steric height. Constrained by sea surface temperature data and the top of atmosphere (TOA) radiation measurements, the model reproduces the observed upper ocean heat content well. Combining the modeled deep ocean steric height with observational upper ocean data gives the full depth steric height. Adding a GRACE-estimated mass trend, the data-model combination explains not only the altimetry global mean SLR but also its regional trends fairly well. The deep ocean warming is mostly prevalent in the Atlantic and Indian oceans, and along the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, suggesting a strong relation to the oceanic circulation and dynamics. Its comparison with available bottom water measurements shows reasonably good agreement, indicating that deep ocean warming below 700 m might have contributed 1.1 mm/yr to the global mean SLR or one-third of the altimeter-observed rate of 3.11 +/- 0.6 mm/yr over 1993-2008.

Exploring Ag(111) Substrate for Epitaxially Growing Monolayer Stanene: A First-Principles Study

PubMed Central

Gao, Junfeng; Zhang, Gang; Zhang, Yong-Wei

2016-01-01

Stanene, a two-dimensional topological insulator composed of Sn atoms in a hexagonal lattice, is a promising contender to Si in nanoelectronics. Currently it is still a significant challenge to achieve large-area, high-quality monolayer stanene. We explore the potential of Ag(111) surface as an ideal substrate for the epitaxial growth of monolayer stanene. Using first-principles calculations, we study the stability of the structure of stanene in different epitaxial relations with respect to Ag(111) surface, and also the diffusion behavior of Sn adatom on Ag(111) surface. Our study reveals that: (1) the hexagonal structure of stanene monolayer is well reserved on Ag(111) surface; (2) the height of epitaxial stanene monolayer is comparable to the step height of the substrate, enabling the growth to cross the surface step and achieve a large-area stanene; (3) the perfect lattice structure of free-standing stanene can be achieved once the epitaxial stanene monolayer is detached from Ag(111) surface; and finally (4) the diffusion barrier of Sn adatom on Ag(111) surface is found to be only 0.041 eV, allowing the epitaxial growth of stanene monolayer even at low temperatures. Our above revelations strongly suggest that Ag(111) surface is an ideal candidate for growing large-area, high-quality monolayer stanene. PMID:27373464

Temperature dependent electrical transport behavior of InN/GaN heterostructure based Schottky diodes

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

Roul, Basanta; Kumar, Mahesh; Central Research Laboratory, Bharat Electronics, Bangalore 560013

InN/GaN heterostructure based Schottky diodes were fabricated by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The temperature dependent electrical transport properties were carried out for InN/GaN heterostructure. The barrier height and the ideality factor of the Schottky diodes were found to be temperature dependent. The temperature dependence of the barrier height indicates that the Schottky barrier height is inhomogeneous in nature at the heterostructure interface. The higher value of the ideality factor and its temperature dependence suggest that the current transport is primarily dominated by thermionic field emission (TFE) other than thermionic emission (TE). The room temperature barrier height obtained by using TEmore » and TFE models were 1.08 and 1.43 eV, respectively.« less

Simulation of Flow Fluid in the BOF Steelmaking Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lv, Ming; Zhu, Rong; Guo, Ya-Guang; Wang, Yong-Wei

2013-12-01

The basic oxygen furnace (BOF) smelting process consists of different chemical reactions among oxygen, slag, and molten steel, which engenders a vigorous stirring process to promote slagging, dephosphorization, decarbonization, heating of molten steel, and homogenization of steel composition and temperature. Therefore, the oxygen flow rate, lance height, and slag thickness vary during the smelting process. This simulation demonstrated a three-dimensional mathematical model for a 100 t converter applying four-hole supersonic oxygen lance and simulated the effect of oxygen flow rate, lance height, and slag thickness on the flow of molten bath. It is found that as the oxygen flow rate increases, the impact area and depth increases, which increases the flow speed in the molten bath and decreases the area of dead zone. Low oxygen lance height benefits the increase of impact depth and accelerates the flow speed of liquid steel on the surface of the bath, while high oxygen lance height benefits the increase of impact area, thereafter enhances the uniform distribution of radial velocity in the molten steel and increases the flow velocity of molten steel at the bottom of furnace hearth. As the slag thickness increases, the diameter of impinging cavity on the slag and steel surface decreases. The radial velocity of liquid steel in the molten bath is well distributed when the jet flow impact on the slag layer increases.

Three-dimensional scanning force/tunneling spectroscopy at room temperature.

PubMed

Sugimoto, Yoshiaki; Ueda, Keiichi; Abe, Masayuki; Morita, Seizo

2012-02-29

We simultaneously measured the force and tunneling current in three-dimensional (3D) space on the Si(111)-(7 × 7) surface using scanning force/tunneling microscopy at room temperature. The observables, the frequency shift and the time-averaged tunneling current were converted to the physical quantities of interest, i.e. the interaction force and the instantaneous tunneling current. Using the same tip, the local density of states (LDOS) was mapped on the same surface area at constant height by measuring the time-averaged tunneling current as a function of the bias voltage at every lateral position. LDOS images at negative sample voltages indicate that the tip apex is covered with Si atoms, which is consistent with the Si-Si covalent bonding mechanism for AFM imaging. A measurement technique for 3D force/current mapping and LDOS imaging on the equivalent surface area using the same tip was thus demonstrated.

Are we near the predictability limit of tropical Indo-Pacific sea surface temperatures?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Newman, Matthew; Sardeshmukh, Prashant D.

2017-08-01

The predictability of seasonal anomalies worldwide rests largely on the predictability of tropical sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies. Tropical forecast skill is also a key metric of climate models. We find, however, that despite extensive model development, the tropical SST forecast skill of the operational North American Multi-Model Ensemble (NMME) of eight coupled atmosphere-ocean models remains close both regionally and temporally to that of a vastly simpler linear inverse model (LIM) derived from observed covariances of SST, sea surface height, and wind fields. The LIM clearly captures the essence of the predictable SST dynamics. The NMME and LIM skills also closely track and are only slightly lower than the potential skill estimated using the LIM's forecast signal-to-noise ratios. This suggests that the scope for further skill improvement is small in most regions, except in the western equatorial Pacific where the NMME skill is currently much lower than the LIM skill.

Morning Martian Atmospheric Temperature Gradients and Fluctuations Observed by Mars Pathfinder

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mihalov, John D.; Haberle, R. M.; Murphy, J. R.; Seiff, A.; Wilson, G. R.

1999-01-01

We have studied the most prominent atmospheric temperature fluctuations observed during Martian mornings by Mars Pathfinder and have concluded, based on comparisons with wind directions, that they appear to be a result of atmospheric heating associated with the Lander spacecraft. Also, we have examined the morning surface layer temperature lapse rates, which are found to decrease as autumn approaches at the Pathfinder location, and which have mean (and median) values as large as 7.3 K/m in the earlier portions of the Pathfinder landed mission. It is plausible that brief isolated periods with gradients twice as steep are associated with atmospheric heating adjacent to Lander air bag material. In addition, we have calculated the gradient with height of the structure function obtained with Mars Pathfinder, for Mars' atmospheric temperatures measured within about 1.3 m from the surface, assuming a power law dependence, and have found that these gradients superficially resemble those reported for the upper region of the terrestrial stable boundary layer.

Vertical profiles of selected mean and turbulent characteristics of the boundary layer within and above a large banana screenhouse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tanny, Josef; Lukyanov, Victor; Neiman, Michael; Cohen, Shabtai; Teitel, Meir

2017-04-01

The area of agricultural crops covered by screens is constantly increasing worldwide. While irrigation requirements for open canopies are well documented, corresponding information for covered crops is scarce. Therefore much effort in recent years has focused on measuring and modeling evapotranspiration of screen-covered crops. One model that can be utilized for such estimations is the mixing length model. As a first step towards future application of this model, selected mean and turbulent properties of the boundary layer above and below a shading screen were measured and analyzed. Experiments were carried out in a large banana plantation, covered by a light-weight horizontal shading screen deployed 5.5 m high. During the measurement period, plant height increased from 2.5 to 4.1 m. A 3D ultrasonic anemometer and temperature and humidity sensors were mounted on a lifting tower with a manual crank that could measure between 2.8 and 10.2 m height, i.e., both below and above the screen. In each profile, the sensors measured at different heights during consecutive time intervals of about 15 min each. Vertical profiles were measured around noon when external meteorological conditions were relatively stable. An additional stationary tower installed within the screenhouse about 20 m to the north of the lifting tower, continuously measured corresponding reference values at 4.5 m height. Footprint analysis shows that out of the 62 measured time intervals, only in 4 cases the 90% flux contribution originated from outside the screenhouse. Both horizontal air velocity, Uh, and normalized horizontal air velocity increased with height. Air temperature generally decreased with height, indicating that the boundary layer was statically unstable. Specific humidity decreased with height, as is typical for a well irrigated crop. Friction velocity, u∗, was higher above than below the screen, illustrating the role of the screen as a momentum sink. The mean ratio between friction velocity below and above the screen was 0.55. Vertical profiles of the surface drag coefficientCd = (u∗/U h)2 showed a consistent decease of √Cd-with height, mainly above the screen. This result is expected since, with a constant flux layer, the surface drag is bound to decrease with height. The energy spectrum of each velocity component, both below and above the screen, was calculated separately and their sum, the 3D spectrum (Tennekes and Lumely, 1972), was plotted as a function of frequency. Slopes of linear fits to the spectra ranged between -1.42 and -1.68, with a mean value of -1.59±0.04. These slopes are close to -5/3 (-1.67), the value typical of the inertial subrange in steady state turbulent boundary layers (Stull, 1988).

Analysis of high reverse currents of 4H-SiC Schottky-barrier diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okino, Hiroyuki; Kameshiro, Norifumi; Konishi, Kumiko; Shima, Akio; Yamada, Ren-ichi

2017-12-01

Nickel (Ni), titanium (Ti), and molybdenum (Mo) 4H-silicon carbide Schottky-barrier diodes (SiC SBDs) were fabricated and used to investigate the relation between forward and reverse currents. Temperature dependence of reverse current follows a theory that includes tunneling in regard to thermionic emission, namely, temperature dependence is weak at low temperature but strong at high temperatures. On the other hand, the reverse currents of the Ni and Mo SBDs are higher than their respective currents calculated from their Schottky barrier heights (SBHs), whereas the reverse current of the Ti SBD agrees well with that calculated from its SBH. The cause of the high reverse currents was investigated from the viewpoints of low barrier patch, Gaussian distribution of barrier height (GD), thin surface barrier, and electron effective mass. The high reverse current of the Ni and Mo SBDs can be explained not in terms of a low-barrier patch, GD, or thin surface barrier but in terms of small effective masses. Investigation of crystal structures at the Schottky interface revealed a large lattice mismatch between the metals (Ni, Ti, or Mo) and SiC for the Ni and Mo SBDs. The small effective mass is possibly attributed to the large lattice mismatch, which might generate transition layers at the Schottky interface. It is concluded from these results that the lattice constant as well as the work function is an important factor in selecting the metal species as the Schottky metal for wide band-gap SBDs, for which tunneling current dominates reverse current.

Effect of Melt Temperature on Surface Films Formed on Molten AZ91D Alloy Protected by Graphite Powder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Weihong; Zhou, Jixue; Ma, Baichang; Wang, Jinwei; Wu, Jianhua; Yang, Yuansheng

2017-12-01

Graphite powder was adopted to prevent AZ91D alloy from oxidizing during melting and casting. The microstructure of the resultant surface films, formed at 933 K, 973 K, 1013 K, and 1053 K (660 °C, 700 °C, 740 °C, and 780 °C) for 30 minutes, was investigated by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometer, and X-ray diffraction, and the phase composition of the surface films was analyzed by the standard Gibbs free energy change of the reactions between the graphite powder, the alloy melt, and the ambient atmosphere. The effect and mechanism of melt temperature on the resultant surface films were also discussed. The results indicated that the surface films, of which the surface morphology comprised folds and wrinkles, were composed of a protective layer and MgF2 particles. The protective layer was contributive to the prevention of the molten alloy from oxidizing, and consisted of magnesium, oxygen, fluorine, carbon, and a small amount of aluminium existing in the form of MgO, MgF2, C, and MgAl2O4. The layer thickness was 200 to 900 nm. The melt temperature may affect the surface films through the increased interaction between the graphite powder, the melt, and the ambient atmosphere. The oxygen content and thickness of the protective layer decreased and then increased, while the height of the folds increased with melt temperature.

Experimental investigation of biomimetic self-pumping and self-adaptive transpiration cooling.

PubMed

Jiang, Pei-Xue; Huang, Gan; Zhu, Yinhai; Xu, Ruina; Liao, Zhiyuan; Lu, Taojie

2017-09-01

Transpiration cooling is an effective way to protect high heat flux walls. However, the pumps for the transpiration cooling system make the system more complex and increase the load, which is a huge challenge for practical applications. A biomimetic self-pumping transpiration cooling system was developed inspired by the process of trees transpiration that has no pumps. An experimental investigation showed that the water coolant automatically flowed from the water tank to the hot surface with a height difference of 80 mm without any pumps. A self-adaptive transpiration cooling system was then developed based on this mechanism. The system effectively cooled the hot surface with the surface temperature kept to about 373 K when the heating flame temperature was 1639 K and the heat flux was about 0.42 MW m -2 . The cooling efficiency reached 94.5%. The coolant mass flow rate adaptively increased with increasing flame heat flux from 0.24 MW m -2 to 0.42 MW m -2 while the cooled surface temperature stayed around 373 K. Schlieren pictures showed a protective steam layer on the hot surface which blocked the flame heat flux to the hot surface. The protective steam layer thickness also increased with increasing heat flux.

Retrieving Temperature Anomaly in the Global Subsurface and Deeper Ocean From Satellite Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Hua; Li, Wene; Yan, Xiao-Hai

2018-01-01

Retrieving the subsurface and deeper ocean (SDO) dynamic parameters from satellite observations is crucial for effectively understanding ocean interior anomalies and dynamic processes, but it is challenging to accurately estimate the subsurface thermal structure over the global scale from sea surface parameters. This study proposes a new approach based on Random Forest (RF) machine learning to retrieve subsurface temperature anomaly (STA) in the global ocean from multisource satellite observations including sea surface height anomaly (SSHA), sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA), sea surface salinity anomaly (SSSA), and sea surface wind anomaly (SSWA) via in situ Argo data for RF training and testing. RF machine-learning approach can accurately retrieve the STA in the global ocean from satellite observations of sea surface parameters (SSHA, SSTA, SSSA, SSWA). The Argo STA data were used to validate the accuracy and reliability of the results from the RF model. The results indicated that SSHA, SSTA, SSSA, and SSWA together are useful parameters for detecting SDO thermal information and obtaining accurate STA estimations. The proposed method also outperformed support vector regression (SVR) in global STA estimation. It will be a useful technique for studying SDO thermal variability and its role in global climate system from global-scale satellite observations.

A two-concentric-loop iterative method in estimation of displacement height and roughness length for momentum and sensible heat.

PubMed

Zhao, Wenguang; Qualls, Russell J; Berliner, Pedro R

2008-11-01

A two-concentric-loop iterative (TCLI) method is proposed to estimate the displacement height and roughness length for momentum and sensible heat by using the measurements of wind speed and air temperature at two heights, sensible heat flux above the crop canopy, and the surface temperature of the canopy. This method is deduced theoretically from existing formulae and equations. The main advantage of this method is that data measured not only under near neutral conditions, but also under unstable and slightly stable conditions can be used to calculate the scaling parameters. Based on the data measured above an Acacia Saligna agroforestry system, the displacement height (d0) calculated by the TCLI method and by a conventional method are compared. Under strict neutral conditions, the two methods give almost the same results. Under unstable conditions, d0 values calculated by the conventional method are systematically lower than those calculated by the TCLI method, with the latter exhibiting only slightly lower values than those seen under strictly neutral conditions. Computation of the average values of the scaling parameters for the agroforestry system showed that the displacement height and roughness length for momentum are 68% and 9.4% of the average height of the tree canopy, respectively, which are similar to percentages found in the literature. The calculated roughness length for sensible heat is 6.4% of the average height of the tree canopy, a little higher than the percentages documented in the literature. When wind direction was aligned within 5 degrees of the row direction of the trees, the average displacement height calculated was about 0.6 m lower than when the wind blew across the row direction. This difference was statistically significant at the 0.0005 probability level. This implies that when the wind blows parallel to the row direction, the logarithmic profile of wind speed is shifted lower to the ground, so that, at a given height, the wind speeds are faster than when the wind blows perpendicular to the row direction.

Temperature dependent structural properties and bending rigidity of pristine and defective hexagonal boron nitride

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, Siby; Ajith, K. M.; Chandra, Sharat; Valsakumar, M. C.

2015-08-01

Structural and thermodynamical properties of monolayer pristine and defective boron nitride sheets (h-BN) have been investigated in a wide temperature range by carrying out atomistic simulations using a tuned Tersoff-type inter-atomic empirical potential. The temperature dependence of lattice parameter, radial distribution function, specific heat at constant volume, linear thermal expansion coefficient and the height correlation function of the thermally excited ripples on pristine as well as defective h-BN sheet have been investigated. Specific heat shows considerable increase beyond the Dulong-Petit limit at high temperatures, which is interpreted as a signature of strong anharmonicity present in h-BN. Analysis of the height fluctuations, < {{h}2}> , shows that the bending rigidity and variance of height fluctuations are strongly temperature dependent and this is explained using the continuum theory of membranes. A detailed study of the height-height correlation function shows deviation from the prediction of harmonic theory of membranes as a consequence of the strong anharmonicity in h-BN. It is also seen that the variance of the height fluctuations increases with defect concentration.

Microphysical modeling of cirrus. 2: Sensitivity studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jensen, Eric J.; Toon, Owen B.; Westphal, Douglas L.; Kinne, Stefan; Heymsfield, Andrew J.

1994-01-01

The one-dimensional cirrus model described in part 1 of this issue has been used to study the sensitivity of simulated cirrus microphysical and radiative properties to poorly known model parameters, poorly understood physical processes, and environmental conditions. Model parameters and physical processes investigated include nucleation rate, mode of nucleation (e.g., homogeneous freezing of aerosols and liquid droplets or heterogeneous deposition), ice crystal shape, and coagulation. These studies suggest that the leading sources of uncertainty in the model are the phase change (liquid-solid) energy barrier and the ice-water surface energy which dominate the homogeneous freezing nucleation rate and the coagulation sticking efficiency at low temperatures which controls the production of large ice crystals (radii greater than 100 mcirons). Environmental conditions considered in sensitivity tests were CN size distribution, vertical wind speed, and cloud height. We found that (unlike stratus clouds) variations in the total number of condensation nuclei (NC) have little effect on cirrus microphysical and radiative properties, since nucleation occurs only on the largest CN at the tail of the size distribution. The total number of ice crystals which nucleate has little or no relationship to the number of CN present and depends primarily on the temperature and the cooling rate. Stronger updrafts (more rapid cooling) generate higher ice number densities, ice water content, cloud optical depth, and net radiative forcing. Increasing the height of the clouds in the model leads to an increase in ice number density, a decrease in effective radius, and a decrease in ice water content. The most prominent effect of increasing cloud height was a rapid increase in the net cloud radiative forcing which can be attributed to the change in cloud temperature as well as change in cloud ice size distributions. It has long been recognized that changes in cloud height or cloud area have the greatest potential for causing feedbacks on climate change. Our results suggest that variations in vertical velocity or cloud microphysical changes associatd with cloud height changes may also be important.

Dependence of Lunar Surface Charging on Solar Wind Plasma Conditions and Solar Irradiation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stubbs, T. J.; Farrell, W. M.; Halekas, J. S.; Burchill, J. K.; Collier, M. R.; Zimmerman, M. I.; Vondrak, R. R.; Delory, G. T.; Pfaff, R. F.

2014-01-01

The surface of the Moon is electrically charged by exposure to solar radiation on its dayside, as well as by the continuous flux of charged particles from the various plasma environments that surround it. An electric potential develops between the lunar surface and ambient plasma, which manifests itself in a near-surface plasma sheath with a scale height of order the Debye length. This study investigates surface charging on the lunar dayside and near-terminator regions in the solar wind, for which the dominant current sources are usually from the pohotoemission of electrons, J(sub p), and the collection of plasma electrons J(sub e) and ions J(sub i). These currents are dependent on the following six parameters: plasma concentration n(sub 0), electron temperature T(sub e), ion temperature T(sub i), bulk flow velocity V, photoemission current at normal incidence J(sub P0), and photo electron temperature T(sub p). Using a numerical model, derived from a set of eleven basic assumptions, the influence of these six parameters on surface charging - characterized by the equilibrium surface potential, Debye length, and surface electric field - is investigated as a function of solar zenith angle. Overall, T(sub e) is the most important parameter, especially near the terminator, while J(sub P0) and T(sub p) dominate over most of the dayside.

The tropopause cold trap in the Australian Monsoon during STEP/AMEX 1987

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Selkirk, Henry B.

1993-01-01

The relationship between deep convection and tropopause cold trap conditions is examined for the tropical northern Australia region during the 1986-87 summer monsoon season, emphasizing the Australia Monsoon Experiment (AMEX) period when the NASA Stratosphere-Troposphere Exchange Project (STEP) was being conducted. The factors related to the spatial and temporal variability of the cold point potential temperature (CPPT) are investigated. A framework is developed for describing the relationships among surface average equivalent potential temperature in the surface layer (AEPTSL) the height of deep convection, and stratosphere-troposphere exchange. The time-mean pattern of convection, large-scale circulation, and surface AEPTSL in the Australian monsoon and the evolution of the convective environment during the monsoon period and the extended transition season which preceded it are described. The time-mean fields of cold point level variables are examined and the statistical relationships between mean CPPT, surface AEPTSL, and deep convection are described. Day-to-day variations of CPPT are examined in terms of these time mean relationships.

Killing to Fluctuate, or: How Death and Reproduction Drive a Fluctuation-Response Relation in Biofilms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalziqi, Arben; Yunker, Peter; Thomas, Jacob

Unlike equilibrium atomic solids, biofilms do not experience significant thermal fluctuations at the constituent level. However, cells inside the biofilm stochastically die and reproduce, provoking a mechanical response. We investigate the mechanical response of biofilms to the death and reproduction of cells by measuring surface-height fluctuations of biofilms with two mutual predator strains of Vibrio cholerae which kill one another on contact via the Type VI Secretion System. Biofilm surface topography is measured in the homeostatic limit, wherein cell division and death occur at roughly the same rate, via white light interferometry. Although biofilms are far from equilibrium systems, measured height correlation functions line up with expectations from a generalized fluctuation-response relation derived from replication and death events, as predicted by Risler et al. (PRL 2015). Using genetically modified strains of V. cholerae which cannot kill, we demonstrate that extracted effective temperatures increase with the amount of death and reproduction. Thus, high-precision measurement of surface topography reveals the physical consequences of death and reproduction within a biofilm, providing a new approach to studying interactions between bacteria and cells.

Time evolution of atmospheric parameters and their influence on sea level pressure over the head Bay of Bengal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patra, Anindita; Bhaskaran, Prasad K.; Jose, Felix

2018-06-01

A zonal dipole in the observed trends of wind speed and significant wave height over the Head Bay of Bengal region was recently reported in the literature attributed due to the variations in sea level pressure (SLP). The SLP in turn is governed by prevailing atmospheric conditions such as local temperature, humidity, rainfall, atmospheric pressure, wind field distribution, formation of tropical cyclones, etc. The present study attempts to investigate the inter-annual variability of atmospheric parameters and its role on the observed zonal dipole trend in sea level pressure, surface wind speed and significant wave height. It reports on the aspects related to linear trend as well as its spatial variability for several atmospheric parameters: air temperature, geopotential height, omega (vertical velocity), and zonal wind, over the head Bay of Bengal, by analyzing National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Reanalysis 2 dataset covering a period of 38 years (1979-2016). Significant warming from sea level to 200 mb pressure level and thereafter cooling above has been noticed during all the seasons. Warming within the troposphere exhibits spatial difference between eastern and western side of the domain. This led to fall in lower tropospheric geopotential height and its east-west variability, exhibiting a zonal dipole pattern across the Head Bay. In the upper troposphere, uplift in geopotential height was found as a result of cooling in higher levels (10-100 mb). Variability in omega also substantiated the observed variations in geopotential height. The study also finds weakening in the upper level westerlies and easterlies. Interestingly, a linear trend in lower tropospheric u-wind component also reveals an east-west dipole pattern over the study region. Further, the study corroborates the reported dipole in trends of sea level pressure, wind speed and significant wave height by evaluating the influence of atmospheric variability on these parameters.

Evaluation of urban surface parameterizations in the WRF model using measurements during the Texas Air Quality Study 2006 field campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, S.-H.; Kim, S.-W.; Angevine, W. M.; Bianco, L.; McKeen, S. A.; Senff, C. J.; Trainer, M.; Tucker, S. C.; Zamora, R. J.

2011-03-01

The performance of different urban surface parameterizations in the WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) in simulating urban boundary layer (UBL) was investigated using extensive measurements during the Texas Air Quality Study 2006 field campaign. The extensive field measurements collected on surface (meteorological, wind profiler, energy balance flux) sites, a research aircraft, and a research vessel characterized 3-dimensional atmospheric boundary layer structures over the Houston-Galveston Bay area, providing a unique opportunity for the evaluation of the physical parameterizations. The model simulations were performed over the Houston metropolitan area for a summertime period (12-17 August) using a bulk urban parameterization in the Noah land surface model (original LSM), a modified LSM, and a single-layer urban canopy model (UCM). The UCM simulation compared quite well with the observations over the Houston urban areas, reducing the systematic model biases in the original LSM simulation by 1-2 °C in near-surface air temperature and by 200-400 m in UBL height, on average. A more realistic turbulent (sensible and latent heat) energy partitioning contributed to the improvements in the UCM simulation. The original LSM significantly overestimated the sensible heat flux (~200 W m-2) over the urban areas, resulting in warmer and higher UBL. The modified LSM slightly reduced warm and high biases in near-surface air temperature (0.5-1 °C) and UBL height (~100 m) as a result of the effects of urban vegetation. The relatively strong thermal contrast between the Houston area and the water bodies (Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico) in the LSM simulations enhanced the sea/bay breezes, but the model performance in predicting local wind fields was similar among the simulations in terms of statistical evaluations. These results suggest that a proper surface representation (e.g. urban vegetation, surface morphology) and explicit parameterizations of urban physical processes are required for accurate urban atmospheric numerical modeling.

Simplification and Validation of a Spectral-Tensor Model for Turbulence Including Atmospheric Stability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chougule, Abhijit; Mann, Jakob; Kelly, Mark; Larsen, Gunner C.

2018-06-01

A spectral-tensor model of non-neutral, atmospheric-boundary-layer turbulence is evaluated using Eulerian statistics from single-point measurements of the wind speed and temperature at heights up to 100 m, assuming constant vertical gradients of mean wind speed and temperature. The model has been previously described in terms of the dissipation rate ɛ , the length scale of energy-containing eddies L, a turbulence anisotropy parameter Γ, the Richardson number Ri, and the normalized rate of destruction of temperature variance η _θ ≡ ɛ _θ /ɛ . Here, the latter two parameters are collapsed into a single atmospheric stability parameter z / L using Monin-Obukhov similarity theory, where z is the height above the Earth's surface, and L is the Obukhov length corresponding to Ri,η _θ. Model outputs of the one-dimensional velocity spectra, as well as cospectra of the streamwise and/or vertical velocity components, and/or temperature, and cross-spectra for the spatial separation of all three velocity components and temperature, are compared with measurements. As a function of the four model parameters, spectra and cospectra are reproduced quite well, but horizontal temperature fluxes are slightly underestimated in stable conditions. In moderately unstable stratification, our model reproduces spectra only up to a scale ˜ 1 km. The model also overestimates coherences for vertical separations, but is less severe in unstable than in stable cases.

Sidewalk Landscape Structure and Thermal Conditions for Child and Adult Pedestrians

PubMed Central

Kim, Young-Jae; Lee, Chanam; Kim, Jun-Hyun

2018-01-01

Walking is being promoted for health and transportation purposes across all climatic regions in the US and beyond. Despite this, an uncomfortable microclimate condition along sidewalks is one of the major deterrents of walking, and more empirical research is needed to determine the risks of heat exposure to pedestrians while walking. This study examined the effect of street trees and grass along sidewalks on air temperatures. A series of thermal images were taken at the average heights of adults and children in the US to objectively measure the air temperatures of 10 sidewalk segments in College Station, TX, USA. After controlling the other key physical environmental conditions, sidewalks with more trees or wider grass buffer areas had lower air temperatures than those with less vegetation. Children were exposed to higher temperatures due to the greater exposure or proximity to the pavement surface, which tends to have higher radiant heat. Multivariate regression analysis suggested that the configuration of trees and grass buffers along the sidewalks helped to promote pleasant thermal conditions and reduced the differences in ambient air temperatures measured at child and adult heights. This study suggests that street trees and vegetated ground help reduce the air temperatures, leading to more thermally comfortable environments for both child and adult pedestrians in warm climates. The thermal implications of street landscape require further attention by researchers and policy makers that are interested in promoting outdoor walking. PMID:29346312

Convective Enhancement of Icing Roughness Elements in Stagnation Region Flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hughes, Michael T.; McClain, Stephen T.; Vargas, Mario; Broeren, Andy

2015-01-01

To improve existing ice accretion simulation codes, more data regarding ice roughness and its effects on convective heat transfer are required. To build on existing research on this topic, this study used the Vertical Icing Studies Tunnel (VIST) at NASA Glenn Research to model realistic ice roughness in the stagnation region of a NACA 0012 airfoil. Using the VIST, a test plate representing the leading 2% chord of the airfoil was subjected to flows of 7.62 m/s (25 ft/s), 12.19 m/s (40 ft/s), and 16.76 m/s (55 ft/s). The test plate was fitted with 3 surfaces, each with a different representation of ice roughness: 1) a control surface with no ice roughness, 2) a surface with ice roughness with element height scaled by 10x and streamwise rough zone width from the stagnation point scaled by 10x, and 3) a surface with ice roughness with element height scaled by 10x and streamwise rough zone width from the stagnation point scaled by 25x. Temperature data from the tests were recorded using an infrared camera and thermocouples imbedded in the test plate. From the temperature data, a convective heat transfer coefficient map was created for each case. Additional testing was also performed to validate the VIST's flow quality. These tests included five-hole probe and hot-wire probe velocity traces to provide flow visualization and to study boundary layer formation on the various test surfaces. The knowledge gained during the experiments will help improve ice accretion codes by providing heat transfer coefficient validation data and by providing flow visualization data helping understand current and future experiments performed in the VIST.

Impact of Conifer Forest Litter on Microwave Emission at L-Band

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kurum, Mehmet; O'Neill, Peggy E.; Lang, Roger H.; Cosh, Michael H.; Joseph, Alicia T.; Jackson, Thomas J.

2011-01-01

This study reports on the utilization of microwave modeling, together with ground truth, and L-band (1.4-GHz) brightness temperatures to investigate the passive microwave characteristics of a conifer forest floor. The microwave data were acquired over a natural Virginia Pine forest in Maryland by a ground-based microwave active/passive instrument system in 2008/2009. Ground measurements of the tree biophysical parameters and forest floor characteristics were obtained during the field campaign. The test site consisted of medium-sized evergreen conifers with an average height of 12 m and average diameters at breast height of 12.6 cm. The site is a typical pine forest site in that there is a surface layer of loose debris/needles and an organic transition layer above the mineral soil. In an effort to characterize and model the impact of the surface litter layer, an experiment was conducted on a day with wet soil conditions, which involved removal of the surface litter layer from one half of the test site while keeping the other half undisturbed. The observations showed detectable decrease in emissivity for both polarizations after the surface litter layer was removed. A first-order radiative transfer model of the forest stands including the multilayer nature of the forest floor in conjunction with the ground truth data are used to compute forest emission. The model calculations reproduced the major features of the experimental data over the entire duration, which included the effects of surface litter and ground moisture content on overall emission. Both theory and experimental results confirm that the litter layer increases the observed canopy brightness temperature and obscure the soil emission.

Winds over Japan.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plumley, William J.

1994-01-01

Before World War II, weather forecasters had little knowledge of upper-air wind patterns above 20000 feet. Data were seldom avai able at these heights, and the need was not great because commercial aircraft seldom flew at these altitudes. The war in the Pacific changed all that. Wind forecasts for 30000 feet plus became urgent to support the XXI Bomber Command in its bombing mission over Japan.The U.S. Army Air Force Pacific Ocean Area (AAFPOA) placed a Weather Central in the Marianas Islands in 1944 (Saipan in 1944 and Guam in 1945) to provide forecasting support for this mission. A forecasting procedure was put into operation that combined the elements known as "single-station forecasting" and an advanced procedure that used "altirmeter corrections" to analyze upper-airdata and make prognoses. Upper-air charts were drawn for constant pressure surfaces rather than constant height surfaces. The constant pressure surfaces were tied together by means of the atmospheric temperature field represented by specific temperature anomalies between pressure surfaces. Wind forecasts over the Marianas-Japan route made use of space cross sections that provided the data to forecast winds at each 5000-ft level to 35000 ft along the mission flight path. The new procedures allowed the forecaster to construct internally consistent meteorological charts in three dimensions in regions of sparse data.Army air force pilots and their crews from the Marianas were among the first to experience the extreme wind conditions now known as the "jet stream". Air force forecasters demonstrated that, with experience, such winds could reasonably be forecast under difficult operational conditions.

An Experimental Real-Time Ocean Nowcast/Forecast System for Intra America Seas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ko, D. S.; Preller, R. H.; Martin, P. J.

2003-04-01

An experimental real-time Ocean Nowcast/Forecast System has been developed for the Intra America Seas (IASNFS). The area of coverage includes the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Straits of Florida. The system produces nowcast and up to 72 hours forecast the sea level variation, 3D ocean current, temperature and salinity fields. IASNFS consists an 1/24 degree (~5 km), 41-level sigma-z data-assimilating ocean model based on NCOM. For daily nowcast/forecast the model is restarted from previous nowcast. Once model is restarted it continuously assimilates the synthetic temperature/salinity profiles generated by a data analysis model called MODAS to produce nowcast. Real-time data come from satellite altimeter (GFO, TOPEX/Poseidon, ERS-2) sea surface height anomaly and AVHRR sea surface temperature. Three hourly surface heat fluxes, including solar radiation, wind stresses and sea level air pressure from NOGAPS/FNMOC are applied for surface forcing. Forecasts are produced with available NOGAPS forecasts. Once the nowcast/forecast are produced they are distributed through the Internet via the updated web pages. The open boundary conditions including sea surface elevation, transport, temperature, salinity and currents are provided by the NRL 1/8 degree Global NCOM which is operated daily. An one way coupling scheme is used to ingest those boundary conditions into the IAS model. There are 41 rivers with monthly discharges included in the IASNFS.

Origins of the Solar Wind

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Warren, Harry; Gurman, Joseph (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

This paper presented the differential emission measure analysis of SUMER observations of a coroner streamer. We found that: The coroner streamer is isothermal at all heights. This suggests that the loops comprising the streamer must have very flat temperature profiles. The coroner streamer is "overdense" relative to the predictions of hydrostatic equilibrium at most heights. At the lowest heights the streamer is actually "underdense". The SUMER temperature measurements are not consistent with those derived from simultaneous SXT observations. SXT indicates systematically higher temperatures as well as a strong temperature gradient. These SUMER measurements yield somewhat lower temperatures and no gradient in the temperature with height. Previous work has suggested that there may be a hot component to the streamer that is preferentially observed with SXT. Our analysis shows that high temperature emission lines would be observed with SUMER if this were true and thus discounts this possibility. We suggested that scattered light in SXT might produce spurious temperature measurements. The temperature and density structure of this coroner streamer are very similar to "TRACE" active region loops (flat temperature profiles, overdense relative to uniform heating, and relatively cool temperatures).

Assimilating NOAA SST data into BSH operational circulation model for North and Baltic Seas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Losa, Svetlana; Schroeter, Jens; Nerger, Lars; Janjic, Tijana; Danilov, Sergey; Janssen, Frank

A data assimilation (DA) system is developed for BSH operational circulation model in order to improve forecast of current velocities, sea surface height, temperature and salinity in the North and Baltic Seas. Assimilated data are NOAA sea surface temperature (SST) data for the following period: 01.10.07 -30.09.08. All data assimilation experiments are based on im-plementation of one of the so-called statistical DA methods -Singular Evolutive Interpolated Kalman (SEIK) filter, -with different ways of prescribing assumed model and data errors statis-tics. Results of the experiments will be shown and compared against each other. Hydrographic data from MARNET stations and sea level at series of tide gauges are used as independent information to validate the data assimilation system. Keywords: Operational Oceanography and forecasting

Single-step fabrication of homoepitaxial silicon nanocones by molecular beam epitaxy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Colniţă, Alia; Marconi, Daniel; Brătfălean, Radu Tiberiu; Turcu, Ioan

2018-04-01

The purpose of this work was to optimize a single-step fabrication process of silicon (Si) cones-like nanostructures on Si(111) reconstructed substrates. The substrate temperature is the most important parameter in the Si/Si growth, due to its high influence over the surface nanostructuring and the occurrence of well defined nanocones. We investigate the effect of different substrate temperatures on the density and size distributions of Si nanocones formed during the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) deposition of Si/Si(111) 7 × 7 reconstructed surfaces. The nanocones were characterized using scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and the height and the bottom area distributions of the Si nanocones were assessed. It was found that the obtained distributions are interrelated suggesting the self-similarity of the nanostructures grown during the deposition protocol.

Seasonal and intraseasonal variations in evaporation and surface energy budget from eddy covariance measurements over an open water surface in Mississippi, U.S.A.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, H.; Zhang, Y.; Williams, Q. L.; Jiang, H.; Sheng, L.

2008-12-01

Understanding seasonal and intraseasonal variations in evaporation over lake/reservoir is important for water resource management as well as predicting variations in hydrology as a result of climate change. Since August of 2007, we have conducted a long-term eddy covariance measurement of evaporation and the surface energy budget over Ross Barnett Reservoir (32o26'N, 90o02'W) in Mississippi, USA. The fetch for eddy covariance system exceeds 2 km in all directions and the water depth is about 4 m around the flux tower. The tower with its height of 4 m stands over a stationary wood platform with its size of 3 m × 3 m and height of about 1 m above the water surface. Along with sensible and latent heat fluxes, microclimate data are also measured, including wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity, solar radiation, net radiation, air temperature at four levels, water surface temperature, and water temperature at eight depths down to about 4 m. Mississippi is subject to frequent influences of different synoptic weather systems in a year around. Incursions of these different systems bring in air masses with different properties in temperature and moisture. Cold fronts, for example, carry them with cold and dry air from north while warm fronts with warm and moist air. Our results indicate that synoptic weather variations play an important role in controlling evaporations and the surface energy budget. For example, daily H and LE (i.e., evaporation) during the passages of cold fronts are around 2-4 times those of normal days and these cold front events lead to an increase in the seasonal H by approximately 420 and LE by 160%. However, the warm weather systems suppress largely the turbulent exchanges of sensible and latent heat, leading to very small evaporation and sensible heat fluxes (even negative). These results imply that future potential changes in cold front activities (intensity, frequency, and duration) as a result of climate change may lead to substantial shifts in regional energy budget and hydrological balance in the southern regions with an abundance of open water bodies (e.g., lakes, reservoirs, swamps etc). Using these datasets, the daytime and nighttime evaporation rates are also analyzed and nighttime evaporative water losses are substantial, contributing a significant portion to the total evaporative water loss.

Temperature Dependence of Factors Controlling Isoprene Emissions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duncan, Bryan N.; Yoshida, Yasuko; Damon, Megan R.; Douglass, Anne R.; Witte, Jacquelyn C.

2009-01-01

We investigated the relationship of variability in the formaldehyde (HCHO) columns measured by the Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) to isoprene emissions in the southeastern United States for 2005-2007. The data show that the inferred, regional-average isoprene emissions varied by about 22% during summer and are well correlated with temperature, which is known to influence emissions. Part of the correlation with temperature is likely associated with other causal factors that are temperature-dependent. We show that the variations in HCHO are convolved with the temperature dependence of surface ozone, which influences isoprene emissions, and the dependence of the HCHO column to mixed layer height as OMI's sensitivity to HCHO increases with altitude. Furthermore, we show that while there is an association of drought with the variation in HCHO, drought in the southeastern U.S. is convolved with temperature.

Climatologies at high resolution for the earth’s land surface areas

PubMed Central

Karger, Dirk Nikolaus; Conrad, Olaf; Böhner, Jürgen; Kawohl, Tobias; Kreft, Holger; Soria-Auza, Rodrigo Wilber; Zimmermann, Niklaus E.; Linder, H. Peter; Kessler, Michael

2017-01-01

High-resolution information on climatic conditions is essential to many applications in environmental and ecological sciences. Here we present the CHELSA (Climatologies at high resolution for the earth’s land surface areas) data of downscaled model output temperature and precipitation estimates of the ERA-Interim climatic reanalysis to a high resolution of 30 arc sec. The temperature algorithm is based on statistical downscaling of atmospheric temperatures. The precipitation algorithm incorporates orographic predictors including wind fields, valley exposition, and boundary layer height, with a subsequent bias correction. The resulting data consist of a monthly temperature and precipitation climatology for the years 1979–2013. We compare the data derived from the CHELSA algorithm with other standard gridded products and station data from the Global Historical Climate Network. We compare the performance of the new climatologies in species distribution modelling and show that we can increase the accuracy of species range predictions. We further show that CHELSA climatological data has a similar accuracy as other products for temperature, but that its predictions of precipitation patterns are better. PMID:28872642

Climatologies at high resolution for the earth's land surface areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karger, Dirk Nikolaus; Conrad, Olaf; Böhner, Jürgen; Kawohl, Tobias; Kreft, Holger; Soria-Auza, Rodrigo Wilber; Zimmermann, Niklaus E.; Linder, H. Peter; Kessler, Michael

2017-09-01

High-resolution information on climatic conditions is essential to many applications in environmental and ecological sciences. Here we present the CHELSA (Climatologies at high resolution for the earth's land surface areas) data of downscaled model output temperature and precipitation estimates of the ERA-Interim climatic reanalysis to a high resolution of 30 arc sec. The temperature algorithm is based on statistical downscaling of atmospheric temperatures. The precipitation algorithm incorporates orographic predictors including wind fields, valley exposition, and boundary layer height, with a subsequent bias correction. The resulting data consist of a monthly temperature and precipitation climatology for the years 1979-2013. We compare the data derived from the CHELSA algorithm with other standard gridded products and station data from the Global Historical Climate Network. We compare the performance of the new climatologies in species distribution modelling and show that we can increase the accuracy of species range predictions. We further show that CHELSA climatological data has a similar accuracy as other products for temperature, but that its predictions of precipitation patterns are better.

Effect of temperature on compact layer of Pt electrode in PEMFCs by first-principles molecular dynamics calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Yang; Chen, Changfeng; Yu, Haobo; Lu, Guiwu

2017-01-01

Formation of the double-layer electric field and capacitance of the water-metal interface is of significant interest in physicochemical processes. In this study, we perform first- principles molecular dynamics simulations on the water/Pt(111) interface to investigate the temperature dependence of the compact layer electric field and capacitance based on the calculated charge densities. On the Pt (111) surface, water molecules form ice-like structures that exhibit more disorder along the height direction with increasing temperature. The Osbnd H bonds of more water molecules point toward the Pt surface to form Ptsbnd H covalent bonds with increasing temperature, which weaken the corresponding Osbnd H bonds. In addition, our calculated capacitance at 300 K is 15.2 mF/cm2, which is in good agreement with the experimental results. As the temperature increases from 10 to 450 K, the field strength and capacitance of the compact layer on Pt (111) first increase and then decrease slightly, which is significant for understanding the water/Pt interface from atomic level.

Self-assembled growth of Au islands on a Mo(110) surface.

PubMed

Wawro, A; Sobańska, M; Petroutchik, A; Baczewski, L T; Pankowski, P

2010-08-20

The self-assembled growth of epitaxial Au(111) islands on a Mo(110) buffer layer has been investigated as a function of growth temperature and amount of deposited material by reflection high energy electron diffraction and atomic force microscopy. At the growth temperature of 385 degrees C the dendrite-shaped islands coexist with the compact ones. The uniform islands formed at 500 degrees C adopt mostly a shape of truncated pyramids with a well developed (111) top plane and {111} and {100} side facets. As the growth temperature reaches 800 degrees C the Au islands take less regular shapes due to occurrence of coalescence. The averaged area and height of the islands increase with the deposition temperature and the amount of deposited material. The surface density of the islands decreases with increasing temperature. The epitaxial relations at the interface between the Au islands and the Mo buffer determined from the angular dependence of the electron diffraction pattern favour the Nishiyama-Wassermann growth mode. Factors responsible for the island-like growth and possible mechanisms of diffusion are discussed in details.

Greenland ice sheet melt from MODIS and associated atmospheric variability.

PubMed

Häkkinen, Sirpa; Hall, Dorothy K; Shuman, Christopher A; Worthen, Denise L; DiGirolamo, Nicolo E

2014-03-16

Daily June-July melt fraction variations over the Greenland ice sheet (GIS) derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) (2000-2013) are associated with atmospheric blocking forming an omega-shape ridge over the GIS at 500 hPa height. Blocking activity with a range of time scales, from synoptic waves breaking poleward (<5 days) to full-fledged blocks (≥5 days), brings warm subtropical air masses over the GIS controlling daily surface temperatures and melt. The temperature anomaly of these subtropical air mass intrusions is also important for melting. Based on the years with the greatest melt (2002 and 2012) during the MODIS era, the area-average temperature anomaly of 2 standard deviations above the 14 year June-July mean results in a melt fraction of 40% or more. Though the summer of 2007 had the most blocking days, atmospheric temperature anomalies were too small to instigate extreme melting. Short-term atmospheric blocking over Greenland contributes to melt episodesAssociated temperature anomalies are equally important for the meltDuration and strength of blocking events contribute to surface melt intensity.

On the reduction of splash-back

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dickerson, Andrew; Stephen, Jeremy

2017-11-01

The reduction of splash height following the impact of a solid body on a liquid surface is relevant to multiple sectors including military missile entry, industrial processing, and visits to public restrooms. While most studies have viewed splashes in the context of control of impactor shape and surface properties, we here consider the effects of splash height following modification of a liquid surface by surfactants and thin fabrics. Smooth, hydrophilic, free-falling spheres are allowed to impact a quiescent liquid surface of modified surface conditions while filmed with a high-speed camera. We measure splash heights and cavity depths formed by impacting spheres across Froude numbers 3 - 6.5. As expected, lowering the surface tension of the liquid increased splash height with respect to pure water. The introduction of fabric to the surface has an more unpredictable effect. With respect to unaltered impact conditions, ample inclusion of fabric on the surface reduces splash height, while a meager amount of fabric amplifies splashing due to the augmentation of cavity formation preceding a Worthington jet.

The dissociative chemisorption of water on Ni(111): Mode- and bond-selective chemistry on metal surfaces

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

Farjamnia, Azar; Jackson, Bret, E-mail: jackson@chem.umass.edu

A fully quantum approach based on an expansion in vibrationally adiabatic eigenstates is used to explore the dissociative chemisorption of H{sub 2}O, HOD, and D{sub 2}O on Ni(111). For this late barrier system, excitation of both the bending and stretching modes significantly enhances dissociative sticking. The vibrational efficacies vary somewhat from mode-to-mode but are all relatively close to one, in contrast to methane dissociation, where the behavior is less statistical. Similar to methane dissociation, the motion of lattice atoms near the dissociating molecule can significantly modify the height of the barrier to dissociation, leading to a strong variation in dissociativemore » sticking with substrate temperature. Given a rescaling of the barrier height, our results are in reasonable agreement with measurements of the dissociative sticking of D{sub 2}O on Ni(111), for both laser-excited molecules with one or two quanta of excitation in the antisymmetric stretch and in the absence of laser excitation. Even without laser excitation, the beam contains vibrationally excited molecules populated at the experimental source temperature, and these make significant contributions to the sticking probability. At high collision energies, above the adiabatic barrier heights, our results correlate with these barrier heights and mode softening effects. At lower energies, dissociative sticking occurs primarily via vibrationally nonadiabatic pathways. We find a preference for O–H over O–D bond cleavage for ground state HOD molecules at all but the highest collision energies, and excitation of the O–H stretch gives close to 100% O–H selectivity at lower energies. Excitation of the O–D stretch gives a lower O–D cleavage selectivity, as the interaction with the surface leads to energy transfer from the O–D stretch into the O–H bond, when mode softening makes these vibrations nearly degenerate.« less

New figuring model based on surface slope profile for grazing-incidence reflective optics

DOE PAGES

Zhou, Lin; Huang, Lei; Bouet, Nathalie; ...

2016-08-09

Surface slope profile is widely used in the metrology of grazing-incidence reflective optics instead of surface height profile. Nevertheless, the theoretical and experimental model currently used in deterministic optical figuring processes is based on surface height, not on surface slope. This means that the raw slope profile data from metrology need to be converted to height profile to perform the current height-based figuring processes. The inevitable measurement noise in the raw slope data will introduce significant cumulative error in the resultant height profiles. As a consequence, this conversion will degrade the determinism of the figuring processes, and will have anmore » impact on the ultimate surface figuring results. To overcome this problem, an innovative figuring model is proposed, which directly uses the raw slope profile data instead of the usual height data as input for the deterministic process. In this article, first the influence of the measurement noise on the resultant height profile is analyzed, and then a new model is presented; finally a demonstration experiment is carried out using a one-dimensional ion beam figuring process to demonstrate the validity of our approach.« less

A one-layer satellite surface energy balance for estimating evapotranspiration rates and crop water stress indexes.

PubMed

Barbagallo, Salvatore; Consoli, Simona; Russo, Alfonso

2009-01-01

Daily evapotranspiration fluxes over the semi-arid Catania Plain area (Eastern Sicily, Italy) were evaluated using remotely sensed data from Landsat Thematic Mapper TM5 images. A one-source parameterization of the surface sensible heat flux exchange using satellite surface temperature has been used. The transfer of sensible and latent heat is described by aerodynamic resistance and surface resistance. Required model inputs are brightness, temperature, fractional vegetation cover or leaf area index, albedo, crop height, roughness lengths, net radiation, air temperature, air humidity and wind speed. The aerodynamic resistance (r(ah)) is formulated on the basis of the Monin-Obukhov surface layer similarity theory and the surface resistance (r(s)) is evaluated from the energy balance equation. The instantaneous surface flux values were converted into evaporative fraction (EF) over the heterogeneous land surface to derive daily evapotranspiration values. Remote sensing-based assessments of crop water stress (CWSI) were also made in order to identify local irrigation requirements. Evapotranspiration data and crop coefficient values obtained from the approach were compared with: (i) data from the semi-empirical approach "K(c) reflectance-based", which integrates satellite data in the visible and NIR regions of the electromagnetic spectrum with ground-based measurements and (ii) surface energy flux measurements collected from a micrometeorological tower located in the experiment area. The expected variability associated with ET flux measurements suggests that the approach-derived surface fluxes were in acceptable agreement with the observations.

Mars global reference atmosphere model (Mars-GRAM)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Justus, C. G.; James, Bonnie F.

1992-01-01

Mars-GRAM is an empirical model that parameterizes the temperature, pressure, density, and wind structure of the Martian atmosphere from the surface through thermospheric altitudes. In the lower atmosphere of Mars, the model is built around parameterizations of height, latitudinal, longitudinal, and seasonal variations of temperature determined from a survey of published measurements from the Mariner and Viking programs. Pressure and density are inferred from the temperature by making use of the hydrostatic and perfect gas laws relationships. For the upper atmosphere, the thermospheric model of Stewart is used. A hydrostatic interpolation routine is used to insure a smooth transition from the lower portion of the model to the Stewart thermospheric model. Other aspects of the model are discussed.

The mean sea surface height and geoid along the Geosat subtrack from Bermuda to Cape Cod

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelly, Kathryn A.; Joyce, Terrence M.; Schubert, David M.; Caruso, Michael J.

1991-07-01

Measurements of near-surface velocity and concurrent sea level along an ascending Geosat subtrack were used to estimate the mean sea surface height and the Earth's gravitational geoid. Velocity measurements were made on three traverses of a Geosat subtrack within 10 days, using an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP). A small bias in the ADCP velocity was removed by considering a mass balance for two pairs of triangles for which expendable bathythermograph measurements were also made. Because of the large curvature of the Gulf Stream, the gradient wind balance was used to estimate the cross-track component of geostrophic velocity from the ADCP vectors; this component was then integrated to obtain the sea surface height profile. The mean sea surface height was estimated as the difference between the instantaneous sea surface height from ADCP and the Geosat residual sea level, with mesoscale errors reduced by low-pass filtering. The error estimates were divided into a bias, tilt, and mesoscale residual; the bias was ignored because profiles were only determined within a constant of integration. The calculated mean sea surface height estimate agreed with an independent estimate of the mean sea surface height from Geosat, obtained by modeling the Gulf Stream as a Gaussian jet, within the expected errors in the estimates: the tilt error was 0.10 m, and the mesoscale error was 0.044 m. To minimize mesoscale errors in the estimate, the alongtrack geoid estimate was computed as the difference between the mean sea level from the Geosat Exact Repeat Mission and an estimate of the mean sea surface height, rather than as the difference between instantaneous profiles of sea level and sea surface height. In the critical region near the Gulf Stream the estimated error reduction using this method was about 0.07 m. Differences between the geoid estimate and a gravimetric geoid were not within the expected errors: the rms mesoscale difference was 0.24 m rms.

Observing the Vertical Dimensions of Singapore's Urban Heat Island

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chow, W. T. L.; Ho, D. X. Q.

2015-12-01

In numerous cities, measurements of urban warmth in most urban heat island (UHI) studies are generally constrained towards surface or near-surface (<2 m above ground) levels across horizontal variations in land use and land cover. However, there has been hitherto limited attention towards the measurement of vertical temperature profiles extending from the urban surface through to the urban boundary layer. Knowledge of these profiles, through how they vary over different local urban morphologies, and develop with respect to synoptic meteorological conditions, are important towards several aspects of UHI research; these include validating modelling urban canopy lapse rate profiles or estimating the growth of urban plumes. In this study, we utilised temperature sensors attached onto remote controlled aerial quadcopter platforms to measure urban temperature and humidity profiles in Singapore, which is a rapidly urbanizing major tropical metropolis. These profiles were measured from the surface to ~100 m above ground level, a height which includes all of the urban canopy and parts of the urban boundary layer. Initial results indicate significant variations in stability measured over different land uses (e.g. urban park, high-rise residential, commercial); these profiles are also temporally dynamic, depending on the time of day and larger-scale weather conditions.

Performance of RF sputtered p-Si/n-ZnO nanoparticle thin film heterojunction diodes in high temperature environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Satyendra Kumar; Hazra, Purnima

2017-04-01

In this article, temperature-dependent current-voltage characteristics of n-ZnO/p-Si nanoparticle thin film heterojunction diode grown by RF sputtering technique are analyzed in the temperature range of 300-433 k to investigate the performance of the device in high temperature environment. The microstructural, morphological, optical and temptrature dependent electrical properties of as-grown nanoparticle thin film were characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emmision scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), variable angle ellipsometer and semiconductor device analyzer. XRD spectra of as-grown ZnO films are exhibited that highly c-axis oriented ZnO nanostructures are grown on p- Si〈100〉 substrate whereas AFM and FESEM images confirm the homogeneous deposition of ZnO nanoparticles on surface of Si substratewith minimum roughness.The optical propertiesof as-grown ZnO nanoparticles have been measured in the spectral range of 300-800 nm using variable angle ellipsometer.To measure electrical parameters of the device prototype in the temperature range of room temperature (300 K) to 433 K, large area ohmic contacts were fabricated on both side of the ZnO/Si heterostructure. From the current-voltage charcteristics of ZnO/Si heterojunction device, it is observed that the device exhibits rectifing nature at room temperature. However, with increase in temperature, reverse saturation current and barrier height are found to increase, whereas ideality factor is started decreasing. This phenomenon confirms that barrier inhomogeneities are present at the interface of ZnO/Si heterojunction, as a result of lattice constant and thermal coefficient mismatch between Si and ZnO. Therefore, a modified value of Richardson constant [33.06 Acm-2K-2] has been extracted from the temperature-dependent electrical characteristics after assuming the Gaussian distribution of special barrier height inhomogeneities across the Si/ZnO interface which is close to its theoretical value [32 Acm-2K-2]. This result indicates that regardless of presence of barrier height inmogeneities, ZnO/Si heterojunction diode still hasability to perform well in high temperature environment.

REMOTE SENSING IN OCEANOGRAPHY.

DTIC Science & Technology

remote sensing from satellites. Sensing of oceanographic variables from aircraft began with the photographing of waves and ice. Since then remote measurement of sea surface temperatures and wave heights have become routine. Sensors tested for oceanographic applications include multi-band color cameras, radar scatterometers, infrared spectrometers and scanners, passive microwave radiometers, and radar imagers. Remote sensing has found its greatest application in providing rapid coverage of large oceanographic areas for synoptic and analysis and

Fundamental Studies of Surfaces Processes and Trace Analysis Using Solid Electrodes.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-08-10

ism of the catalysis of formic acid electrooxidation by underpotentially deposited species, b) modelling the interaction of mass transport and light...and many monolayer thick electrodeposited and electrosorbed films. The effect of solution temperature and viscosity, and height of liquid above the...carrier stream to produce nitric oxide and iodine, and both are electrooxidized at the gold electrode. The detection limit was 30 pg of nitrite ion

Hydrological and Dynamical Characteristics of Summertime Droughts over U.S. Great Plains.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Fong-Chiau; Smith, Eric A.

2001-05-01

A drought pattern and its time evolution over the U.S. Great Plains are investigated from time series of climate divisional monthly mean surface air temperature and total precipitation anomalies. The spatial pattern consists of correlated occurrences of high (low) surface air temperature and deficit (excess) rainfall. The center of maximum amplitude in rain fluctuation is around Kansas City; that of temperature is over South Dakota. Internal consistency between temperature and precipitation variability is the salient feature of the drought pattern. A drought index is used to quantify drought severity for the period 1895-1996. The 12 severest drought months (in order) during this period are June 1933, June 1988, July 1936, August 1983, July 1934, July 1901, June 1931, August 1947, July 1930, June 1936, July 1954, and August 1936. Hydrological conditions are examined using National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis precipitable water (PW) and monthly surface observations from Kansas City, Missouri, and Bismarck, North Dakota, near the drought centers. This analysis explains why droughts exhibit negative surface relative humidity anomalies accompanied by larger than normal monthly mean daily temperature ranges and why maximum PWs are confined to a strip of about 10° longitude from New Mexico and Arizona into the Dakotas and Minnesota.Dynamical conditions are examined using NCEP reanalysis sea level pressures and 500- and 200-mb geopotential heights. The analysis indicates a midtroposphere wave train with positive centers situated over the North Pacific, North America, and the North Atlantic, with negative centers in the southeastern Gulf of Alaska and Davis Strait. Above-normal sea level pressures over New Mexico, the North Atlantic, and the subtropical Pacific along with below-normal sea level pressures over the Gulf of Alaska eastward to Canada, Davis Strait, and Greenland are present during drought periods. The most prominent feature is the strong anticyclone over central North America.On a regional scale, midtropospheric westerly winds are weakened (or become easterly) south of a thermal heat low centered in South Dakota during drought episodes because of the north-south temperature reversal perturbation. The associated westward displaced Bermuda high leads to enhanced low-level warm flow into the Dakotas, thus helping to maintain the reversal in the meridional temperature gradient and the concomitant thermal wind reversal. Enhanced moisture transport from the Gulf of California into the western plains (part of the Great Basin monsoon process) results from the large-scale perturbation pressure pattern. Middle-upper level convergence maintains the water vapor strip east of the Rocky Mountains, while the Mississippi valley undergoes moisture cutoff from both this process and the westward shift in the Bermuda high. The strip of maximum PW then undergoes enhanced solar and infrared absorption that feeds back on the thermal heat low. Surface air temperatures warm while sinking motion balances middle-upper level radiative cooling around the Kansas City area. This is the dynamical coupling that leads to reduced surface relative humidities. The centers of high surface air temperature and deficit rainfall are dynamically consistent with patterns in geopotential heights, vertical velocities, and water vapor amounts.

Optimization of electrothermal atomization parameters for simultaneous multielement atomic absorption spectrometry

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harnly, J.M.; Kane, J.S.

1984-01-01

The effect of the acid matrix, the measurement mode (height or area), the atomizer surface (unpyrolyzed and pyrolyzed graphite), the atomization mode (from the wall or from a platform), and the atomization temperature on the simultaneous electrothermal atomization of Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, V, and Zn was examined. The 5% HNO3 matrix gave rise to severe irreproducibility using a pyrolyzed tube unless the tube was properly "prepared". The 5% HCl matrix did not exhibit this problem, and no problems were observed with either matrix using an unpyrolized tube or a pyrolyzed platform. The 5% HCl matrix gave better sensitivities with a pyrolyzed tube but the two matrices were comparable for atomization from a platform. If Mo and V are to be analyzed with the other seven elements, a high atomization temperature (2700??C or greater) is necessary regardless of the matrix, the measurement mode, the atomization mode, or the atomizer surface. Simultaneous detection limits (peak height with pyrolyzed tube atomization) were comparable to those of conventional atomic absorption spectrometry using electrothermal atomization above 280 nm. Accuracies and precisions of ??10-15% were found in the 10 to 120 ng mL-1 range for the analysis of NBS acidified water standards.

CRYOLINK: Monitoring of permafrost and seasonal frost in southern Norway

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2010-05-01

The modern southern boundary for Scandinavian permafrost is located in the mountains of Southern Norway. Permafrost and seasonal frost are considered key components of the cryosphere, and the climate-permafrost relation has acquired added importance with the increasing awareness and concern of rising air temperatures. The three-year research project CRYOLINK ("Permafrost and seasonal frost in southern Norway") aims at improving knowledge on past and present ground temperatures, seasonal frost, and distribution of mountain permafrost in Southern Norway by addressing the fundamental problem of heat transfer between the atmosphere and the ground surface. Hence, several shallow boreholes have been drilled in August 2008 in three areas (Juvvass, Jetta and Tron) situated along a west-east transect. On most borehole sites air and ground temperatures are measured. Further, vertical arrays of Miniature Temperature Dataloggers (MTDs; Thermochron iBottons®) at fixed heights above the ground surface have been installed to roughly determine the snow depths at the sites, which is also indicated by digital cameras providing daily pictures of snow and weather conditions. In addition individual MTDs have been placed out to measure ground surface temperature at different aspects and snow settings. This presentation will focus on the field set up and give examples of data obtained from the sites.

Microscopic description of a drop on a solid surface.

PubMed

Ruckenstein, Eli; Berim, Gersh O

2010-06-14

Two approaches recently suggested for the treatment of macro- or nanodrops on smooth or rough, planar or curved, solid surfaces, based on fluid-fluid and fluid-solid interaction potentials are reviewed. The first one employs the minimization of the total potential energy of a drop by assuming that the drop has a well defined profile and a constant liquid density in its entire volume with the exception of the monolayer nearest to the surface where the density has a different value. As a result, a differential equation for the drop profile as well as the necessary boundary conditions are derived which involve the parameters of the interaction potentials and do not contain such macroscopic characteristics as the surface tensions. As a consequence, the macroscopic and microscopic contact angles which the drop profile makes with the surface can be calculated. The macroscopic angle is obtained via the extrapolation of the circular part of the drop profile valid at some distance from the surface up to the solid surface. The microscopic angle is formed at the intersection of the real profile (which is not circular near the surface) with the surface. The theory provides a relation between these two angles. The ranges of the microscopic parameters of the interaction potentials for which (i) the drop can have any height (volume), (ii) the drop can have a restricted height but unrestricted volume, and (iii) a drop cannot be formed on the surface were identified. The theory was also extended to the description of a drop on a rough surface. The second approach is based on a nonlocal density functional theory (DFT), which accounts for the inhomogeneity of the liquid density and temperature effects, features which are missing in the first approach. Although the computational difficulties restrict its application to drops of only several nanometers, the theory can be applied indirectly to macrodrops by calculating the surface tensions and using the Young equation to determine the contact angle. Employing the canonical ensemble version of the DFT, nanodrops on smooth and rough solid surfaces could be investigated and their characteristics, such as the drop profile, contact angle, as well as the fluid density distribution inside the drop can be determined as functions of the parameters of the interaction potentials and temperature. It was found that the contact angle of the drop has a simple (quasi)universal dependence on the energy parameter epsilon(fs) of the fluid-solid interaction potential and temperature. The main feature of this dependence is the existence of a fixed value theta(0) of the contact angle theta which separates the solid substrates (characterized by the energy parameter epsilon(fs) of the fluid-solid interaction potential) into two classes with respect to their temperature dependence. For theta>theta(0) the contact angle monotonously increases and for theta

Troposphere-stratosphere (surface-55 km) monthly general circulation statistics for the Northern Hemisphere-four year averages

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, M. F.; Geller, M. A.; Olson, J. G.; Gelman, M. E.

1984-01-01

This report presents four year averages of monthly mean Northern Hemisphere general circulation statistics for the period from 1 December 1978 through 30 November 1982. Computations start with daily maps of temperature for 18 pressure levels between 1000 and 0.4 mb that were supplied by NOAA/NMC. Geopotential height and geostrophic wind are constructed using the hydrostatic and geostrophic formulae. Fields presented in this report are zonally averaged temperature, mean zonal wind, and amplitude and phase of the planetary waves in geopotential height with zonal wavenumbers 1-3. The northward fluxes of heat and eastward momentum by the standing and transient eddies along with their wavenumber decomposition and Eliassen-Palm flux propagation vectors and divergences by the standing and transient eddies along with their wavenumber decomposition are also given. Large annual and interannual variations are found in each quantity especially in the stratosphere in accordance with the changes in the planetary wave activity. The results are shown both in graphic and tabular form.

Optical and heat transfer performance of a novel non-imaging concentrator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sellami, Nazmi; Meng, Xian-long; Xia, Xin-Lin; Knox, Andrew R.; Mallick, Tapas K.

2015-09-01

In this study, the Crossed Compound Parabolic Concentrator CCPC is modified to demonstrate for the first time a new generation of solar concentrators working simultaneously as an electricity generator and thermal collector. It is designed to have two complementary surfaces, one reflective and one absorptive, and is called an absorptive/reflective CCPC (AR-CCPC). Usually, the height of the CCPC is truncated with a minor sacrifice of the geometric concentration. These truncated surfaces rather than being eliminated are instead replaced with absorbent surfaces to collect heat from solar radiation. The optical, thermal and total efficiency of the AR-CCPC was simulated and compared for different geometric concentration ratios varying from 3.6x to 4x. It was found that the combined electrical and thermal efficiency of the AR-CCPC 3.6x/4x remains constant and high all day long and the overall efficiency reach up to 94%. In addition, the temperature distributions of AR-CCPC surfaces and the assembled solar cell were simulated based on those heat flux boundary conditions. It shows that the adding of thermal absorbent surface can apparently increase the wall temperature.

A Real-time 1/16° Global Ocean Nowcast/Forecast System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shriver, J. F.; Rhodes, R. C.; Hurlburt, H. E.; Wallcraft, A. J.; Metzger, E. J.; Smedstad, O. M.; Kara, A. B.

2001-05-01

A 1/16° eddy-resolving global ocean prediction system that uses the NRL Layered Ocean Model (NLOM) has been transitioned to the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVO), Stennis Space Center, MS. The system gives a real time view of the ocean down to the 50-100 mile scale of ocean eddies and the meandering of ocean currents and fronts, a view with unprecedented resolution and clarity, and demonstrated forecast skill for a month or more for many ocean features. It has been running in real time at NAVO since 19 Oct 2000 with assimilation of real-time altimeter sea surface height (SSH) data (currently ERS-2, GFO and TOPEX/POSEIDON) and sea surface temperature (SST). The model is updated daily and 4-day forecasts are made daily. 30-day forecasts are made once a week. Nowcasts and forecasts using this model are viewable on the web, including SSH, SST and 30-day forecast verification statistics for many zoom regions. The NRL web address is http://www7320.nrlssc.navy.mil/global_nlom/index.html. The NAVO web address is: http://www.navo.navy.mil. Click on "Operational Products", then "Product Search Form", then "Product Type View", then select "Model Navy Layered Ocean Model" and a region and click on "Submit Query". This system is used at NAVO for ocean front and eddy analyses and predictions and to provide accurate sea surface height for use in computing synthetic temperature and salinity profiles, among other applications.

Estimating ocean-air heat fluxes during cold air outbreaks by satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chou, S. H.; Atlas, D.

1981-01-01

Nomograms of mean column heating due to surface sensible and latent heat fluxes were developed. Mean sensible heating of the cloud free region is related to the cloud free path (CFP, the distance from the shore to the first cloud formation) and the difference between land air and sea surface temperatures, theta sub 1 and theta sub 0, respectively. Mean latent heating is related to the CFP and the difference between land air and sea surface humidities q sub 1 and q sub 0 respectively. Results are also applicable to any path within the cloud free region. Corresponding heat fluxes may be obtained by multiplying the mean heating by the mean wind speed in the boundary layer. The sensible heating estimated by the present method is found to be in good agreement with that computed from the bulk transfer formula. The sensitivity of the solutions to the variations in the initial coastal soundings and large scale subsidence is also investigated. The results are not sensitive to divergence but are affected by the initial lapse rate of potential temperature; the greater the stability, the smaller the heating, other things being equal. Unless one knows the lapse rate at the shore, this requires another independent measurement. For this purpose the downwind slope of the square of the boundary layer height is used, the mean value of which is also directly proportional to the mean sensible heating. The height of the boundary layer should be measurable by future spaceborn lidar systems.

Local Heat Transfer for Finned-Tube Heat Exchangers using Oval Tubes

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

O'Brien, James Edward; Sohal, Manohar Singh

2000-08-01

This paper presents the results of an experimental study of forced convection heat transfer in a narrow rectangular duct fitted with either a circular tube or an elliptical tube in crossflow. The duct was designed to simulate a single passage in a fin-tube heat exchanger. Heat transfer measurements were obtained using a transient technique in which a heated airflow is suddenly introduced to the test section. High-resolution local fin-surface temperature distributions were obtained at several times after initiation of the transient using an imaging infrared camera. Corresponding local fin-surface heat transfer coefficient distributions were then calculated from a locally appliedmore » one-dimensional semi-infinite inverse heat conduction model. Heat transfer results were obtained over an airflow rate ranging from 1.56 x 10-3 to 15.6 x 10-3 kg/s. These flow rates correspond to a duct-height Reynolds number range of 630 – 6300 with a duct height of 1.106 cm and a duct width-toheight ratio, W/H, of 11.25. The test cylinder was sized such that the diameter-to-duct height ratio, D/H is 5. The elliptical tube had an aspect ratio of 3:1 and a/H equal to 4.33. Results presented in this paper reveal visual and quantitative details of local fin-surface heat transfer distributions in the vicinity of circular and oval tubes and their relationship to the complex horseshoe vortex system that forms in the flow stagnation region. Fin surface stagnation-region Nusselt numbers are shown to be proportional to the square-root of Reynolds number.« less

Estimating Mixing Heights Using Microwave Temperature Profiler

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nielson-Gammon, John; Powell, Christina; Mahoney, Michael; Angevine, Wayne

2008-01-01

A paper describes the Microwave Temperature Profiler (MTP) for making measurements of the planetary boundary layer thermal structure data necessary for air quality forecasting as the Mixing Layer (ML) height determines the volume in which daytime pollution is primarily concentrated. This is the first time that an airborne temperature profiler has been used to measure the mixing layer height. Normally, this is done using a radar wind profiler, which is both noisy and large. The MTP was deployed during the Texas 2000 Air Quality Study (TexAQS-2000). An objective technique was developed and tested for estimating the ML height from the MTP vertical temperature profiles. In order to calibrate the technique and evaluate the usefulness of this approach, estimates from a variety of measurements during the TexAQS-2000 were compared. Estimates of ML height were used from radiosondes, radar wind profilers, an aerosol backscatter lidar, and in-situ aircraft measurements in addition to those from the MTP.

Prediction and Optimization of Phase Transformation Region After Spot Continual Induction Hardening Process Using Response Surface Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Xunpeng; Gao, Kai; Zhu, Zhenhua; Chen, Xuliang; Wang, Zhou

2017-09-01

The spot continual induction hardening (SCIH) process, which is a modified induction hardening, can be assembled to a five-axis cooperating computer numerical control machine tool to strengthen more than one small area or relatively large area on complicated component surface. In this study, a response surface method was presented to optimize phase transformation region after the SCIH process. The effects of five process parameters including feed velocity, input power, gap, curvature and flow rate on temperature, microstructure, microhardness and phase transformation geometry were investigated. Central composition design, a second-order response surface design, was employed to systematically estimate the empirical models of temperature and phase transformation geometry. The analysis results indicated that feed velocity has a dominant effect on the uniformity of microstructure and microhardness, domain size, oxidized track width, phase transformation width and height in the SCIH process while curvature has the largest effect on center temperature in the design space. The optimum operating conditions with 0.817, 0.845 and 0.773 of desirability values are expected to be able to minimize ratio (tempering region) and maximize phase transformation width for concave, flat and convex surface workpieces, respectively. The verification result indicated that the process parameters obtained by the model were reliable.

Super Clausius-Clapeyron scaling of extreme hourly precipitation and its relation to large-scale atmospheric conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lenderink, Geert; Barbero, Renaud; Loriaux, Jessica; Fowler, Hayley

2017-04-01

Present-day precipitation-temperature scaling relations indicate that hourly precipitation extremes may have a response to warming exceeding the Clausius-Clapeyron (CC) relation; for The Netherlands the dependency on surface dew point temperature follows two times the CC relation corresponding to 14 % per degree. Our hypothesis - as supported by a simple physical argument presented here - is that this 2CC behaviour arises from the physics of convective clouds. So, we think that this response is due to local feedbacks related to the convective activity, while other large scale atmospheric forcing conditions remain similar except for the higher temperature (approximately uniform warming with height) and absolute humidity (corresponding to the assumption of unchanged relative humidity). To test this hypothesis, we analysed the large-scale atmospheric conditions accompanying summertime afternoon precipitation events using surface observations combined with a regional re-analysis for the data in The Netherlands. Events are precipitation measurements clustered in time and space derived from approximately 30 automatic weather stations. The hourly peak intensities of these events again reveal a 2CC scaling with the surface dew point temperature. The temperature excess of moist updrafts initialized at the surface and the maximum cloud depth are clear functions of surface dew point temperature, confirming the key role of surface humidity on convective activity. Almost no differences in relative humidity and the dry temperature lapse rate were found across the dew point temperature range, supporting our theory that 2CC scaling is mainly due to the response of convection to increases in near surface humidity, while other atmospheric conditions remain similar. Additionally, hourly precipitation extremes are on average accompanied by substantial large-scale upward motions and therefore large-scale moisture convergence, which appears to accelerate with surface dew point. This increase in large-scale moisture convergence appears to be consequence of latent heat release due to the convective activity as estimated from the quasi-geostrophic omega equation. Consequently, most hourly extremes occur in precipitation events with considerable spatial extent. Importantly, this event size appears to increase rapidly at the highest dew point temperature range, suggesting potentially strong impacts of climatic warming.

Effect of Surface Roughness on Characteristics of Spherical Shock Waves

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huber, Paul W.; McFarland, Donald R.

1959-01-01

Measurements of peak overpressure and Mach stem height were made at four burst heights. Data were obtained with instrumentation capable of directly observing the variation of shock wave movement with time. Good similarity of free air shock peak overpressure with larger scale data was found to exist. The net effect of surface roughness on shock peak overpressures slightly. Surface roughness delayed the Mach stem formation at the greatest charge height and lowered the growth at all burst heights. A similarity parameter was found which approximately correlates the triple point path at different burst heights.

The Tropospheric cooling and the Stratospheric warming at Tirunelveli during the Annular Solar Eclipse of 15 January, 2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelli, Narendra Reddy; Choudhary, Raj Kumar; Rao, Kusuma

The UTLS region, a transition region between the troposphere and the stratosphere is of concern to climate scientists as its temperature variations are crucial in determining the water vapour and the other trace gases transport between the two regions, which inturn determine the radiative warming and cooling of the troposphere and the stratosphere. To examine, the temperature variations from surface to lower stratosphere,a major experiment facility was set up for upper air and surface measurements during the Annular Solar Eclipse (ASE) of January 15, 2010 at Tirunelveli (8.72 N, 77.81 E) located in 94% eclipse path in the southern peninsular India. The instruments,namely, 1. high resolution GPS radiosonde system, 2. an instrumented 15 m high Mini Boundary Layer Mast, 3. an instrumented 1 m high Near Surface Mast (NSM), radiation and other ground sensors were operated during the period 14-19 Jan, 2010. The ASE of January 15, 2010 was unique being the longest in duration (9 min, 15.3 sec) among the similar ones that occurred in the past. The major inference from an analysis of surface and upper air measurements is the occurrence of troposphere cooling during the eclipse with the peak cooling of 5 K at 15 km height with respect to no-eclispe conditions. Also, intense warming in the stratosphere is observed with the peak warming of 7 K at 19 km height.Cooling of the Troposphere as the eclipse advanced and the revival to its normal temperature is clearly captured in upper air measurements. The downward vertical velocities observed at 100 hPa in NCEP Re-analyses, consistent with the tropospheric cooling during the ASE window, may be causing the stratospheric warming. Partly, these vertical velocities could be induced by the mesoscale circulation associated with the mesoscale convective system that prevailed parallel to the eclipse path as described in METEOSAT imageries of brightness temperatures from IR channel. Further analysis is being carried out to quantify the variations in turbulent parameters during ASE window using the high resolution GPS Radiosonde data.

Atmospheric parameterization schemes for satellite cloud property retrieval during FIRE IFO 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Titlow, James; Baum, Bryan A.

1993-01-01

Satellite cloud retrieval algorithms generally require atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles to determine such cloud properties as pressure and height. For instance, the CO2 slicing technique called the ratio method requires the calculation of theoretical upwelling radiances both at the surface and a prescribed number (40) of atmospheric levels. This technique has been applied to data from, for example, the High Resolution Infrared Radiometer Sounder (HIRS/2, henceforth HIRS) flown aboard the NOAA series of polar orbiting satellites and the High Resolution Interferometer Sounder (HIS). In this particular study, four NOAA-11 HIRS channels in the 15-micron region are used. The ratio method may be applied to various channel combinations to estimate cloud top heights using channels in the 15-mu m region. Presently, the multispectral, multiresolution (MSMR) scheme uses 4 HIRS channel combination estimates for mid- to high-level cloud pressure retrieval and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data for low-level (is greater than 700 mb) cloud level retrieval. In order to determine theoretical upwelling radiances, atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles must be provided as well as profiles of other radiatively important gas absorber constituents such as CO2, O3, and CH4. The assumed temperature and humidity profiles have a large effect on transmittance and radiance profiles, which in turn are used with HIRS data to calculate cloud pressure, and thus cloud height and temperature. For large spatial scale satellite data analysis, atmospheric parameterization schemes for cloud retrieval algorithms are usually based on a gridded product such as that provided by the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) or the National Meteorological Center (NMC). These global, gridded products prescribe temperature and humidity profiles for a limited number of pressure levels (up to 14) in a vertical atmospheric column. The FIRE IFO 2 experiment provides an opportunity to investigate current atmospheric profile parameterization schemes, compare satellite cloud height results using both gridded products (ECMWF) and high vertical resolution sonde data from the National Weather Service (NWS) and Cross Chain Loran Atmospheric Sounding System (CLASS), and suggest modifications in atmospheric parameterization schemes based on these results.

Synoptic analyses, 5-, 2-, and 0.4-millibar surfaces, July 1973 - June 1974

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

Satellite radiance measurements and data from meteorological rocketsondes were employed to analyze a series of high-altitude constant pressure charts. The methods of processing the various types of data and the analysis procedure used are described. Broad-scale analyses for the Northern Hemisphere 5-, 2-, and 0.4-mb surfaces are presented for each week of the period from September through April, and on a once-per-month basis for July, August, May, and June. A brief discussion of the variations of the temperature and height fields throughout the year is also given.

Reflections on a Bouncing Ball

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rohr, Jim; Lopez, Veronica; Rohr, Tyler

2014-01-01

While observing the bounce heights of various kinds of sports balls dropped from different heights onto a variety of surfaces, we thought of the following question: Could measurements of drop and bounce heights of balls of different diameters, but of the same material, falling from different heights, but on the same surface, be expressed by a…

Brain structure mediates the association between height and cognitive ability.

PubMed

Vuoksimaa, Eero; Panizzon, Matthew S; Franz, Carol E; Fennema-Notestine, Christine; Hagler, Donald J; Lyons, Michael J; Dale, Anders M; Kremen, William S

2018-05-11

Height and general cognitive ability are positively associated, but the underlying mechanisms of this relationship are not well understood. Both height and general cognitive ability are positively associated with brain size. Still, the neural substrate of the height-cognitive ability association is unclear. We used a sample of 515 middle-aged male twins with structural magnetic resonance imaging data to investigate whether the association between height and cognitive ability is mediated by cortical size. In addition to cortical volume, we used genetically, ontogenetically and phylogenetically distinct cortical metrics of total cortical surface area and mean cortical thickness. Height was positively associated with general cognitive ability and total cortical volume and cortical surface area, but not with mean cortical thickness. Mediation models indicated that the well-replicated height-general cognitive ability association is accounted for by individual differences in total cortical volume and cortical surface area (highly heritable metrics related to global brain size), and that the genetic association between cortical surface area and general cognitive ability underlies the phenotypic height-general cognitive ability relationship.

An analysis of the errors associated with the determination of atmospheric temperature from atmospheric pressure and density data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Minzner, R. A.

1976-01-01

A graph was developed for relating delta T/T, the relative uncertainty in atmospheric temperature T, to delta p/p, the relative uncertainty in the atmospheric pressure p, for situations, when T is derived from the slope of the pressure-height profile. A similar graph relates delta T/T to delta roh/rho, the relative uncertainty in the atmospheric density rho, for those cases when T is derived from the downward integration of the density-height profile. A comparison of these two graphs shows that for equal uncertainties in the respective basic parameters, p or rho, smaller uncertainties in the derived temperatures are associated with density-height rather than with pressure-height data. The value of delta T/T is seen to depend not only upon delta p or delta rho, and to a small extent upon the value of T or the related scale height H, but also upon the inverse of delta h, the height increment between successive observations of p or rho. In the case of pressure-height data, delta T/T is dominated by 1/delta h for all values of delta h; for density-height data, delta T/T is dominated by delta rho/rho for delta h smaller than about 5 km. In the case of T derived from density-height data, this inverse relationship between delta T/T and delta h applies only for large values of delta h, that is, for delta h 35 km. No limit exists in the fineness of usable height resolution of T which may be derived from densities, while a fine height resolution in pressure-height data leads to temperature with unacceptably large uncertainties.

Height Control and Deposition Measurement for the Electron Beam Free Form Fabrication (EBF3) Process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hafley, Robert A. (Inventor); Seufzer, William J. (Inventor)

2017-01-01

A method of controlling a height of an electron beam gun and wire feeder during an electron freeform fabrication process includes utilizing a camera to generate an image of the molten pool of material. The image generated by the camera is utilized to determine a measured height of the electron beam gun relative to the surface of the molten pool. The method further includes ensuring that the measured height is within the range of acceptable heights of the electron beam gun relative to the surface of the molten pool. The present invention also provides for measuring a height of a solid metal deposit formed upon cooling of a molten pool. The height of a single point can be measured, or a plurality of points can be measured to provide 2D or 3D surface height measurements.

Meteorological Automatic Weather Station (MAWS) Instrument Handbook

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

Holdridge, Donna J; Kyrouac, Jenni A

The Meteorological Automatic Weather Station (MAWS) is a surface meteorological station, manufactured by Vaisala, Inc., dedicated to the balloon-borne sounding system (BBSS), providing surface measurements of the thermodynamic state of the atmosphere and the wind speed and direction for each radiosonde profile. These data are automatically provided to the BBSS during the launch procedure and included in the radiosonde profile as the surface measurements of record for the sounding. The MAWS core set of measurements is: Barometric Pressure (hPa), Temperature (°C), Relative Humidity (%), Arithmetic-Averaged Wind Speed (m/s), and Vector-Averaged Wind Direction (deg). The sensors that collect the core variablesmore » are mounted at the standard heights defined for each variable.« less

The role of Amundsen-Bellingshausen Sea anticyclonic circulation in forcing marine air intrusions into West Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emanuelsson, B. Daniel; Bertler, Nancy A. N.; Neff, Peter D.; Renwick, James A.; Markle, Bradley R.; Baisden, W. Troy; Keller, Elizabeth D.

2018-01-01

Persistent positive 500-hPa geopotential height anomalies from the ECMWF ERA-Interim reanalysis are used to quantify Amundsen-Bellingshausen Sea (ABS) anticyclonic event occurrences associated with precipitation in West Antarctica (WA). We demonstrate that multi-day (minimum 3-day duration) anticyclones play a key role in the ABS by dynamically inducing meridional transport, which is associated with heat and moisture advection into WA. This affects surface climate variability and trends, precipitation rates and thus WA ice sheet surface mass balance. We show that the snow accumulation record from the Roosevelt Island Climate Evolution (RICE) ice core reflects interannual variability of blocking and geopotential height conditions in the ABS/Ross Sea region. Furthermore, our analysis shows that larger precipitation events are related to enhanced anticyclonic circulation and meridional winds, which cause pronounced dipole patterns in air temperature anomalies and sea ice concentrations between the eastern Ross Sea and the Bellingshausen Sea/Weddell Sea, as well as between the eastern and western Ross Sea.

Filler bar heating due to stepped tiles in the shuttle orbiter thermal protection system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petley, D. H.; Smith, D. M.; Edwards, C. L. W.; Patten, A. B.; Hamilton, H. H., II

1983-01-01

An analytical study was performed to investigate the excessive heating in the tile to tile gaps of the Shuttle Orbiter Thermal Protection System due to stepped tiles. The excessive heating was evidence by visible discoloration and charring of the filler bar and strain isolation pad that is used in the attachment of tiles to the aluminum substrate. Two tile locations on the Shuttle orbiter were considered, one on the lower surface of the fuselage and one on the lower surface of the wing. The gap heating analysis involved the calculation of external and internal gas pressures and temperatures, internal mass flow rates, and the transient thermal response of the thermal protection system. The results of the analysis are presented for the fuselage and wing location for several step heights. The results of a study to determine the effectiveness of a half height ceramic fiber gap filler in preventing hot gas flow in the tile gaps are also presented.

Estimating the atmospheric boundary layer height over sloped, forested terrain from surface spectral analysis during BEARPEX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, W.; Faloona, I. C.; McKay, M.; Goldstein, A. H.; Baker, B.

2011-07-01

The atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) height (zi) over complex, forested terrain is estimated based on the power spectra and the integral length scale of cross-stream winds obtained from a three-axis sonic anemometer during the two summers of the BEARPEX (Biosphere Effects on Aerosol and Photochemistry) Experiment. The zi values estimated with this technique show very good agreement with observations obtained from balloon tether sondes (2007) and rawinsondes (2009) under unstable conditions (z/L < 0) at the coniferous forest in the California Sierra Nevada. On the other hand, the low frequency behavior of the streamwise upslope winds did not exhibit significant variations and was therefore not useful in predicting boundary layer height. The behavior of the nocturnal boundary layer height (h) with respect to the power spectra of the v-wind component and temperature under stable conditions (z/L > 0) is also presented. The nocturnal boundary layer height is found to be fairly well predicted by a recent interpolation formula proposed by Zilitinkevich et al. (2007), although it was observed to only vary from 60-80 m during the 2009 experiment in which it was measured. Finally, significant directional wind shear was observed during both day and night soundings. The winds were found to be consistently backing from the prevailing west-southwesterlies within the ABL (the anabatic cross-valley circulation) to southerlies in a layer ~1-2 km thick just above the ABL before veering to the prevailing westerlies further aloft. This shear pattern is shown to be consistent with the forcing of a thermal wind driven by the regional temperature gradient directed east-southeast in the lower troposphere.

Local heat transfer distribution in a square channel with 90 continuous, 90 saw tooth profiled and 60 broken ribs

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

Gupta, Abhishek; SriHarsha, V.; Prabhu, S.V.

2008-02-15

Internal channel cooling is employed in advanced gas turbines blade to allow high inlet temperatures so as to achieve high thrust/weight ratios and low specific fuel consumption. The objective of the present study is to measure the local heat transfer distributions in a double wall ribbed square channel with 90 continuous, 90 saw tooth profiled and 60 V-broken ribs. Comparison is made between the 90 continuous ribs (P/e = 7 and 10 for a e/D = 0.15) and 90 saw tooth profiled rib configurations (P/e = 7 for an e/D = 0.15) for the same rib height to the hydraulicmore » diameter ratio (e/D). The effect of pitch to rib height ratio (P/e = 7.5,10 and 12) of 60 V-broken ribbed channel with a constant rib height to hydraulic diameter ratio (e/D) of 0.0625 on the local heat transfer distribution is studied. The Reynolds number based on duct hydraulic diameter is ranging from 10,000 to 30,000. A thin stainless steel foil of 0.05 mm thickness is used as heater and infrared thermography technique is used to obtain the local temperature distribution on the surface. The images are captured in the periodically fully developed region of the channel. It is observed that the heat transfer augmentations in the channel with 90 saw tooth profiled ribs are comparable with those of 90 continuous ribs. The enhancements caused by 60 V-broken ribs are higher than those of 90 continuous ribs. The effect of pitch to the rib height ratio (P/e) is not significant for channel with 60 V-broken ribs for a given rib height to hydraulic diameter ratio (e/D = 0.0625). (author)« less

Retrieval of Atmospheric Water Vapor Profiles from the Special Sensor Microwave TEMPERATURE-2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Khalaf, Abdulrahman Khal

1995-01-01

Radiometric measurements from the Special Sensor Microwave/Temperature-2 (SSM/T-2) instrument are used to retrieve atmospheric water vapor profiles over ocean, land, coast, and ice/snow backgrounds. These measurements are used to retrieve vertical distribution of integrated water vapor (IWV) and total integrated water vapor (TIWV) using a physical algorithm. The algorithm infers the presence of cloud at a given height from super-saturation of the retrieved humidity at that height then the algorithm estimate the cloud liquid water content. Retrievals of IWV over five different layers are validated against available ground truth such as global radiosondes and ECMWF analyses. Over ocean, the retrieved total integrated water vapor (TIWV) and IWV close to the surface compare quite well, with those from radiosonde observations and the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) analyses. However, comparisons to radiosonde results are better than (ECMWF) analyses. TIWV root mean square (RMS) difference was 5.95 mm and TWV RMS difference for the lowest layer (SFC-850 mb) was 2.8 mm for radiosonde comparisons. Water vapor retrieval over land is less accurate than over ocean due to the low contrast between the surface and the atmosphere near the surface; therefore, land retrievals are more reliable at layers above 700 mb. However, TIWV and IWV at all layers compare appropriately with ground truth. Over coastal areas the agreement between retrieved water vapor profiles and ground truth is quite good for both TIWV and IWV for the five layers. The natural variability and large variations in the surface emissivity over ice and snow fields leads toward poor results. Clouds degrade retrievals over land and coast, improve the retrievals a little over ocean, and improve dramatically over snow/ice. Examples of retrieved relative humidity profiles were shown to illustrate the algorithm performance for the actual profile retrieval. The overall features of the retrieved profiles compared well with those from radiosonde data and ECMWF analyses. However, due to the limited number of channels, the retrieved profiles generally do not reproduce the fine details when a rapid change in relative humidity versus height was observed.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2015-04-01

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

[Spatial variation in diurnal courses of stem temperature of Betula platyphylla and Fraxinus mandshurica and its influencing factors].

PubMed

Li, Yu Ran; Wang, Xing Chang; Wang, Chuan Kuan; Liu, Fan; Zhang, Quan Zhi

2017-10-01

Plant temperature is an important parameter for estimating energy balance and vegetation respiration of forest ecosystem. To examine spatial variation in diurnal courses of stem temperatures (T s ) and its influencing factors, we measured the T s with copper constantan thermocouples at different depths, heights and azimuths within the stems of two broadleaved tree species with contrasting bark and wood properties, Betula platyphylla and Fraxinus mandshurica. The results showed that the monthly mean diurnal courses of the T s largely followed that of air temperature with a 'sinusoi dal' pattern, but the T s lagged behind the air temperature by 0 h at the stem surface to 4 h at 6 cm depth. The daily maximal values and ranges of the diurnal course of T s decreased gradually with increasing measuring depth across the stem and decreasing measuring height along the stem. The circumferential variation in T s was marginal, with slightly higher daily maximal values in the south and west directions during the daytime of the dormant season. Differences in thermal properties (i.e. , specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity) of both bark and wood tissue between the two species contributed to the inter specific variations in the radial variation in T s through influencing the heat exchange between the stem surface and ambient air as well as heat diffusion within the stem. The higher reflectance of the bark of B. platyphylla decreased the influence of solar radiation on T s . The stepwise regression showed that the diurnal courses of T s could be well predicted by the environmental factors (R 2 > 0.85) with an order of influence ranking as air temperature > water vapor pressure > net radiation > wind speed. It is necessary to take the radial, vertical and inter specific varia-tions in T s into account when estimating biomass heat storage and stem CO2 efflux.

Ram-air sample collection device for a chemical warfare agent sensor

DOEpatents

Megerle, Clifford A.; Adkins, Douglas R.; Frye-Mason, Gregory C.

2002-01-01

In a surface acoustic wave sensor mounted within a body, the sensor having a surface acoustic wave array detector and a micro-fabricated sample preconcentrator exposed on a surface of the body, an apparatus for collecting air for the sensor, comprising a housing operatively arranged to mount atop the body, the housing including a multi-stage channel having an inlet and an outlet, the channel having a first stage having a first height and width proximate the inlet, a second stage having a second lower height and width proximate the micro-fabricated sample preconcentrator, a third stage having a still lower third height and width proximate the surface acoustic wave array detector, and a fourth stage having a fourth height and width proximate the outlet, where the fourth height and width are substantially the same as the first height and width.

Estimation of columnar concentrations of absorbing and scattering fine mode aerosol components using AERONET data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Yongjoo; Ghim, Young Sung

2016-11-01

Columnar concentrations of absorbing and scattering components of fine mode aerosols were estimated using Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) data for a site downwind of Seoul. The study period was between March 2012 and April 2013 including the period of the Distributed Regional Aerosol Gridded Observation Networks (DRAGON)-Asia campaign in March to May 2012. The Maxwell Garnett mixing rule was assumed for insoluble components embedded in a host solution, while the volume average mixing rule was assumed for the aqueous solution of soluble components. During the DRAGON-Asia campaign the surface concentrations of major components of fine particles were measured. The columnar mass fractions of black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC), mineral dust (MD), and ammonium sulfate (AS) were 1.5, 5.9, 6.6, and 52%, respectively, which were comparable to the mass fractions measured at the surface for BC, OC, and secondary inorganic aerosols at 2.3, 18, and 55%. The vertical distributions of BC and AS were investigated by employing the concept of a column height. While the column height for BC was similar to the planetary boundary layer (PBL) height, that for AS was 4.4 times higher than the PBL height and increased with air temperature from March to May. The monthly variations of the columnar mass concentrations during the study period were generally well explained in term of meteorology and emission characteristics. However, certain variations of MD were different from those typically observed primarily because only fine mode aerosols were considered.

A new weighted mean temperature model in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jinghong; Yao, Yibin; Sang, Jizhang

2018-01-01

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has been applied in meteorology to monitor the change of Precipitable Water Vapor (PWV) in atmosphere, transformed from Zenith Wet Delay (ZWD). A key factor in converting the ZWD into the PWV is the weighted mean temperature (Tm), which has a direct impact on the accuracy of the transformation. A number of Bevis-type models, like Tm -Ts and Tm -Ts,Ps type models, have been developed by statistics approaches, and are not able to clearly depict the relationship between Tm and the surface temperature, Ts . A new model for Tm , called weighted mean temperature norm model (abbreviated as norm model), is derived as a function of Ts , the lapse rate of temperature, δ, the tropopause height, htrop , and the radiosonde station height, hs . It is found that Tm is better related to Ts through an intermediate temperature. The small effects of lapse rate can be ignored and the tropopause height be obtained from an empirical model. Then the norm model is reduced to a simplified form, which causes fewer loss of accuracy and needs two inputs, Ts and hs . In site-specific fittings, the norm model performs much better, with RMS values reduced averagely by 0.45 K and the Mean of Absolute Differences (MAD) values by 0.2 K. The norm model is also found more appropriate than the linear models to fit Tm in a large area, not only with the RMS value reduced from 4.3 K to 3.80 K, correlation coefficient R2 increased from 0.84 to 0.88, and MAD decreased from 3.24 K to 2.90 K, but also with the distribution of simplified model values to be more reasonable. The RMS and MAD values of the differences between reference and computed PWVs are reduced by on average 16.3% and 14.27%, respectively, when using the new norm models instead of the linear model.

Effects of changing environmental conditions on synthetic aperture radar backscattering coefficient, scattering mechanisms, and class separability in a forest area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahdavi, Sahel; Maghsoudi, Yasser; Amani, Meisam

2017-07-01

Environmental conditions have considerable effects on synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery. Therefore, assessing these effects is important for obtaining accurate and reliable results. In this study, three series of RADARSAT-2 SAR images were evaluated. In each of these series, the sensor configuration was fixed, but the environmental conditions differed. The effects of variable environmental conditions were also investigated on co- and cross-polarized backscattering coefficients, Freeman-Durden scattering contributions, and the pedestal height in different classes of a forest area in Ottawa, Ontario. It was observed that the backscattering coefficient of wet snow was up to 2 dB more than that of dry snow. The absence of snow also caused a decrease of up to 3 dB in the surface scattering of ground and up to 5 dB in that of trees. In addition, the backscatter coefficients of ground vegetation, hardwood species, and softwood species were more similar at temperatures below 0°C than those at temperatures above 0°C. Moreover, the pedestal height was generally greater at temperatures above 0°C than at temperatures below 0°C. Finally, the highest class separability was observed when the temperature was at or above 0°C and there was no snow on the ground or trees.

The influence of a land-lake surface discontinuity on the convective boundary layer flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martinez, Daniel; Bange, Jens; Lang, Andreas

2013-04-01

The current work addresses the effects of surface discontinuities into the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) with free convection using data collected during the STINHO 2002 and LITFASS 2003 experimental campaigns. These field experiments were performed during two consecutive summers in the area of Branderburg, Germany, over a heterogeneous area located around the Meteorological Observatory Lindenberg (MOL) of the German Weather Service (DWD). The terrain can be considered flat with areas of pine forests and agricultural fields, where lakes and villages are irregularly distributed to form a heterogeneous landscape representative of central Europe. Specific measurements collected by the helicopter-borne turbulence probe Helipod were selected to focus on the water-land surface transition over lake Scharnuetzel, a small-scale lake of 10 km x 2 km length scale. Four flights with a similar pattern were performed, with heights that range from 70 to 900 m above ground level (a.g.l.), in order to characterise the vertical extent of the surface discontinuity influence to the turbulent flow. The concepts of blending height and internal boundary layer (IBL) have been applied to the experimental data as a theoretical background. In general, the presence of the lake is reflected in the statistical second-order moments of the time series collected below 100 m a.g.l., specially for those time series related with the potential temperature. However, none of the parametrizations found in the literature related with the blending height or IBL seem to be appropriate for this special case, where a small-scale lake is the responsible of the surface heterogeneity. An analysis of the downstream propagation of the IBL depth shows that it depends on (i) the air stability downwind of the surface discontinuity and (ii) the wind speed in the surface layer. These preliminary results should be confirmed with the performance of new experiments.

Seasonal variations of the atmospheric temperature response in mesosphere and lower thermosphere on solar activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Semenov, A. I.; Shefov, N. N.

2003-04-01

On the basis of the measurement data of temperature by rocket and ground-based spectrophotometric (nightglow emissions of hydroxyl,sodium and atomic oxygen of 557.7 nm) methods obtained during 21 and 22 cycles of solar activity, the distributions with height of mean monthly temperature of an atmosphere for region of altitudes Z from 60 to 100 km have been constructed. The periods of maxima and minima of solar activity (1980 and 1991, F10.7=198 and 208; 1976 and 1986, F10.7=73 and 75) were considered. On the basis of these distributions with height of the seasonal variations of dependence of temperature from solar activity S = deltaT(Z)/deltaF, K/100 sfu have been analyzed. It was revealed, that character of seasonal variations essentially changes with growth of height. Mean annual solar response S at heights lower than 70 km is negative, and at higher heights is positive. This solar response S in mesopause region reaches 3 (sigma=1). Such character of influence of solar activity on temperature of the upper atmosphere is caused by features of mean annual and seasonal variations of its distributions with height. The distributions with height of amplitudes and phases of three harmonics of seasonal variations S are presented. This work was supported by the Grant N 2274 of ISTC.

Molecular dynamics study on evaporation and condensation characteristics of thin film liquid Argon on nanostructured surface in nano-scale confinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasan, Mohammad Nasim; Rabbi, Kazi Fazle; Sabah, Arefiny; Ahmed, Jannat; Kuri, Subrata Kumar; Rakibuzzaman, S. M.

2017-06-01

Investigation of Molecular level phase change phenomena are becoming important in heat and mass transfer research at a very high rate, driven both by the need to understand certain fundamental phenomena as well as by a plethora of new and forthcoming applications in the areas of micro- and nanotechnologies. Molecular dynamics simulation has been carried out to go through the evaporation and condensation characteristics of thin liquid argon film in Nano-scale confinement. In the present study, a cuboid system is modeled for understanding the Nano-scale physics of simultaneous evaporation and condensation. The cuboid system consists of hot and cold parallel platinum plates at the bottom and top ends. The fluid comprised of liquid argon film at the bottom plate and vapor argon in between liquid argon and upper plate of the domain. Three different simulation domains have been created here: (i) Both platinum plates are considered flat, (ii) Upper plate consisting of transverse slots of low height and (iii) Upper plate consisting of transverse slots of bigger height. Considering hydrophilic nature of top and bottom plates, two different high temperatures of the hot wall was set and an observation was made on normal and explosive vaporizations and their impacts on thermal transport. For all the structures, equilibrium molecular dynamics (EMD) was performed to reach equilibrium state at 90 K. Then the lower wall is set to two different temperatures like 110 K and 250 K for all three models to perform non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD). For vaporization, higher temperature of the hot wall led to faster transport of the liquid argon as a cluster moving from hot wall to cold wall. But excessive temperature causes explosive boiling which seems not good for heat transportation because of less phase change. In case of condensation, an observation was made which indicates that the nanostructured transverse slots facilitate condensation. Two factors affect the rate of condensation when nanostructures are there: (i) increased surface area and (ii) the nanostructure height. The variation of temperature and evaporation number with respect to time was monitored for all cases. An estimation of heat fluxes normal to top and bottom walls also was made to focus the effectiveness of heat transfer in hydrophilic confinement.

Effects of Climate Change and Fisheries Bycatch on Shy Albatross (Thalassarche cauta) in Southern Australia

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

The impacts of climate change on marine species are often compounded by other stressors that make direct attribution and prediction difficult. Shy albatrosses (Thalassarche cauta) breeding on Albatross Island, Tasmania, show an unusually restricted foraging range, allowing easier discrimination between the influence of non-climate stressors (fisheries bycatch) and environmental variation. Local environmental conditions (rainfall, air temperature, and sea-surface height, an indicator of upwelling) during the vulnerable chick-rearing stage, have been correlated with breeding success of shy albatrosses. We use an age-, stage- and sex-structured population model to explore potential relationships between local environmental factors and albatross breeding success while accounting for fisheries bycatch by trawl and longline fisheries. The model uses time-series of observed breeding population counts, breeding success, adult and juvenile survival rates and a bycatch mortality observation for trawl fishing to estimate fisheries catchability, environmental influence, natural mortality rate, density dependence, and productivity. Observed at-sea distributions for adult and juvenile birds were coupled with reported fishing effort to estimate vulnerability to incidental bycatch. The inclusion of rainfall, temperature and sea-surface height as explanatory variables for annual chick mortality rate was statistically significant. Global climate models predict little change in future local average rainfall, however, increases are forecast in both temperatures and upwelling, which are predicted to have detrimental and beneficial effects, respectively, on breeding success. The model shows that mitigation of at least 50% of present bycatch is required to offset losses due to future temperature changes, even if upwelling increases substantially. Our results highlight the benefits of using an integrated modeling approach, which uses available demographic as well as environmental data within a single estimation framework, to provide future predictions. Such predictions inform the development of management options in the face of climate change. PMID:26057739

Effects of Climate Change and Fisheries Bycatch on Shy Albatross (Thalassarche cauta) in Southern Australia.

PubMed

Thomson, Robin B; Alderman, Rachael L; Tuck, Geoffrey N; Hobday, Alistair J

2015-01-01

The impacts of climate change on marine species are often compounded by other stressors that make direct attribution and prediction difficult. Shy albatrosses (Thalassarche cauta) breeding on Albatross Island, Tasmania, show an unusually restricted foraging range, allowing easier discrimination between the influence of non-climate stressors (fisheries bycatch) and environmental variation. Local environmental conditions (rainfall, air temperature, and sea-surface height, an indicator of upwelling) during the vulnerable chick-rearing stage, have been correlated with breeding success of shy albatrosses. We use an age-, stage- and sex-structured population model to explore potential relationships between local environmental factors and albatross breeding success while accounting for fisheries bycatch by trawl and longline fisheries. The model uses time-series of observed breeding population counts, breeding success, adult and juvenile survival rates and a bycatch mortality observation for trawl fishing to estimate fisheries catchability, environmental influence, natural mortality rate, density dependence, and productivity. Observed at-sea distributions for adult and juvenile birds were coupled with reported fishing effort to estimate vulnerability to incidental bycatch. The inclusion of rainfall, temperature and sea-surface height as explanatory variables for annual chick mortality rate was statistically significant. Global climate models predict little change in future local average rainfall, however, increases are forecast in both temperatures and upwelling, which are predicted to have detrimental and beneficial effects, respectively, on breeding success. The model shows that mitigation of at least 50% of present bycatch is required to offset losses due to future temperature changes, even if upwelling increases substantially. Our results highlight the benefits of using an integrated modeling approach, which uses available demographic as well as environmental data within a single estimation framework, to provide future predictions. Such predictions inform the development of management options in the face of climate change.

Verification, Validation and Accreditation using AADL

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-03

component h component, c r2 socsr hhh  max. height (surface relative), hsr r1 pwbsra thh  max. height (absolute), ha pwb pwb t c0. Context-Specific...5512 digital oscillatorABC_9230 Warning Module PWB component component, c r2 hhh max. height (surface relative), hsr r1 pwbsra thh  max. height

Temperature dependence of current-and capacitance-voltage characteristics of an Au/4H-SiC Schottky diode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gülnahar, Murat

2014-12-01

In this study, the current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements of an Au/4H-SiC Schottky diode are characterized as a function of the temperature in 50-300 K temperature range. The experimental parameters such as ideality factor and apparent barrier height presents to be strongly temperature dependent, that is, the ideality factor increases and the apparent barrier height decreases with decreasing temperature, whereas the barrier height values increase with the temperature for C-V data. Likewise, the Richardson plot deviates at low temperatures. These anomaly behaviors observed for Au/4H-SiC are attributed to Schottky barrier inhomogeneities. The barrier anomaly which relates to interface of Au/4H-SiC is also confirmed by the C-V measurements versus the frequency measured in 300 K and it is interpreted by both Tung's lateral inhomogeneity model and multi-Gaussian distribution approach. The values of the weighting coefficients, standard deviations and mean barrier height are calculated for each distribution region of Au/4H-SiC using the multi-Gaussian distribution approach. In addition, the total effective area of the patches NAe is obtained at separate temperatures and as a result, it is expressed that the low barrier regions influence meaningfully to the current transport at the junction. The homogeneous barrier height value is calculated from the correlation between the ideality factor and barrier height and it is noted that the values of standard deviation from ideality factor versus q/3kT curve are in close agreement with the values obtained from the barrier height versus q/2kT variation. As a result, it can be concluded that the temperature dependent electrical characteristics of Au/4H-SiC can be successfully commented on the basis of the thermionic emission theory with both models.

Comparative research on activation technique for GaAs photocathodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Liang; Qian, Yunsheng; Chang, Benkang; Chen, Xinlong; Yang, Rui

2012-03-01

The properties of GaAs photocathodes mainly depend on the material design and activation technique. In early researches, high-low temperature two-step activation has been proved to get more quantum efficiency than high-temperature single-step activation. But the variations of surface barriers for two activation techniques have not been well studied, thus the best activation temperature, best Cs-O ratio and best activation time for two-step activation technique have not been well found. Because the surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPS) before activation is only in connection with the body parameters for GaAs photocathode such as electron diffusion length and the spectral response current (SRC) after activation is in connection with not only body parameters but also surface barriers, thus the surface escape probability (SEP) can be well fitted through the comparative research between SPS before activation and SEP after activation. Through deduction for the tunneling process of surface barriers by Schrödinger equation, the width and height for surface barrier I and II can be well fitted through the curves of SEP. The fitting results were well proved and analyzed by quantitative analysis of angle-dependent X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ADXPS) which can also study the surface chemical compositions, atomic concentration percentage and layer thickness for GaAs photocathodes. This comparative research method for fitting parameters of surface barriers through SPS before activation and SRC after activation shows a better real-time in system method for the researches of activation techniques.

The effects of heat treatment on physical properties and surface roughness of red-bud maple (Acer trautvetteri Medw.) wood.

PubMed

Korkut, Derya Sevim; Guller, Bilgin

2008-05-01

Heat treatment is often used to improve the dimensional stability of wood. In this study, the effects of heat treatment on physical properties and surface roughness of red-bud maple (Acer trautvetteri Medw.) wood were examined. Samples obtained from Düzce Forest Enterprises, Turkey, were subjected to heat treatment at varying temperatures and durations. The physical properties of heat-treated samples were compared against controls in order to determine their; oven-dry density, air-dry density, and swelling properties. A stylus method was employed to evaluate the surface characteristics of the samples. Roughness measurements, using the stylus method, were made in the direction perpendicular to the fiber. Three main roughness parameters; mean arithmetic deviation of profile (Ra), mean peak-to-valley height (Rz), and maximum roughness (Rmax) obtained from the surface of wood, were used to evaluate the effect of heat treatment on the surface characteristics of the specimens. Significant differences were determined (p>0.05) between surface roughness parameters (Ra, Rz, Rmax) at three different temperatures and three periods of heat treatment. The results showed that the values of density, swelling and surface roughness decreased with increasing temperature treatment and treatment times. Red-bud maple wood could be utilized successfully by applying proper heat treatment techniques without any losses in investigated parameters. This is vital in areas, such as window frames, where working stability and surface smoothness are important factors.

Response of Solid He-4 to External Stress: Interdigital Capacitor Solid Level Detector and Optical Interferometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fay, J.; Wada, Y.; Masutomi, R.; Elkholy, T.; Kojima, H.

2003-01-01

Two experiments are being conducted to observe the liquid/solid interface of He-4 near 1 K. Interesting instabilities are expected to occur when the solid is non-hydrostatically stressed. (1)A compact interdigital capacitor is used as a level detector to observe solid He-4 to which stresses are applied externally. The capacitor consists of 38 interlaced 50 m wide and 3.8 mm long gold films separated by 50 m and deposited onto a 5 mm by 5 mm sapphire substrate. The capacitor is placed on one flat end wall of a cylindrical chamber (xx mm diameter and xx mm long). The solid is grown to a known height and a stress is applied by a tubular PZT along the cylindrical axis. The observed small change in height of the solid at the wall is linearly proportional to the applied stress. The solid height decreases under compressive stress but does not change under tensile stress. The response of the solid on compressive stress is consistent with the expected quadratic dependence on strain. (2)Interferometric techniques are being developed for observing the solid He-4 surface profile. A laser light source is brought into the low temperature region via single mode optical fiber. The interference pattern is transmitted back out of the low temperature apparatus via optical fiber bundle. The solid He-4 growth chamber will be equipped with two PZT's such that stress can be applied from orthogonal directions. Orthogonally applied stress is expected to induce surface instability with island-like deformation on a grid pattern. Apparatus design and progress of its construction are described.

Characteristics of Turbulent Airflow Deduced from Rapid Surface Thermal Fluctuations: An Infrared Surface Anemometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aminzadeh, Milad; Breitenstein, Daniel; Or, Dani

2017-12-01

The intermittent nature of turbulent airflow interacting with the surface is readily observable in fluctuations of the surface temperature resulting from the thermal imprints of eddies sweeping the surface. Rapid infrared thermography has recently been used to quantify characteristics of the near-surface turbulent airflow interacting with the evaporating surfaces. We aim to extend this technique by using single-point rapid infrared measurements to quantify properties of a turbulent flow, including surface exchange processes, with a view towards the development of an infrared surface anemometer. The parameters for the surface-eddy renewal (α and β ) are inferred from infrared measurements of a single-point on the surface of a heat plate placed in a wind tunnel with prescribed wind speeds and constant mean temperatures of the surface. Thermally-deduced parameters are in agreement with values obtained from standard three-dimensional ultrasonic anemometer measurements close to the plate surface (e.g., α = 3 and β = 1/26 (ms)^{-1} for the infrared, and α = 3 and β = 1/19 (ms)^{-1} for the sonic-anemometer measurements). The infrared-based turbulence parameters provide new insights into the role of surface temperature and buoyancy on the inherent characteristics of interacting eddies. The link between the eddy-spectrum shape parameter α and the infrared window size representing the infrared field of view is investigated. The results resemble the effect of the sampling height above the ground in sonic anemometer measurements, which enables the detection of larger eddies with higher values of α . The physical basis and tests of the proposed method support the potential for remote quantification of the near-surface momentum field, as well as scalar-flux measurements in the immediate vicinity of the surface.

Comparison of Mean Climate Trends in the Northern Hemisphere Between N.C.E.P. and Two Atmosphere-Ocean Model Forced Runs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lucarini, Valerio; Russell, Gary L.; Hansen, James E. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Results are presented for two greenhouse gas experiments of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies Atmosphere-Ocean Model (AOM). The computed trends of surface pressure, surface temperature, 850, 500 and 200 mb geopotential heights and related temperatures of the model for the time frame 1960-2000 are compared to those obtained from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction observations. A spatial correlation analysis and mean value comparison are performed, showing good agreement. A brief general discussion about the statistics of trend detection is presented. The domain of interest is the Northern Hemisphere (NH) because of the higher reliability of both the model results and the observations. The accuracy that this AOM has in describing the observed regional and NH climate trends makes it reliable in forecasting future climate changes.

Lidar measurements of thermal structure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jenkins, D. B.; Wareing, D. P.; Thomas, L.; Vaughan, G.

1986-01-01

Rayleigh backscatter observations at 532 nm and 355 nm of relative atmospheric density above Aberystwyth on a total of 93 nights between Dec. 1982 and Feb. 1985 were used to derive the height variation of temperature in the upper stratosphere and mesosphere. Preliminary results for height up to about 25 km were also obtained from observations of Raman backscattering from nitrogen molecules. Comparisons were carried out for stratospheric heights with satellite borne measurements; good agreement was found between equivalent black body temperatures derived from the lidar observations and those obtained from nadir measurements in three channels of the stratosphere sounder units on NOAA satellites; the lidar based atmospheric temperatures have shown general agreement with but a greater degree of structure than the limb sounding measurements obtained using the SAMS experiment on the NOAA-7 satellite. In summer, stratospheric and mesospheric temperatures showed a smooth height variation similar to that of the CIRA model atmosphere. In contrast, the winter data showed a great variability with height, and marked temperature changes both from night to night and within a given night.

Brazed Diamond Micropowder Bur Fabricated by Supersonic Frequency Induction Heating for Precision Machining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Bojiang; Lou, Jianpeng; Pang, Qian

2014-04-01

The common brazed diamond micropowder bur fabricated in a vacuum furnace produces an even brazing alloy surface. The small brazed diamond grits show low outcropping from the brazing alloy surface, and the chip space between them is small. The bur shows a low grinding efficiency and poor heat dissipation. In this study, a brazed diamond micropowder bur was fabricated by supersonic frequency induction heating. The method afforded a fluctuant surface on the brazing alloy. The brazed diamond grits with an outcropping height distributed uniformly on the fluctuant surface. The fluctuant surface showed a certain chip space. These characteristics of the tool increased the grinding efficiency and decreased the temperature of the grinding arc area. The roughness R a of the ceramic tile surface trimmed by the tool cylinder was between 0.09 and 0.12 μm. In the first 90 min, the decrease in the weight of the ceramic tile ground by the tool cylinder was higher than that ground by the tool fabricated in a vacuum furnace. When the ceramic tile was cylindrically ground, the temperature of the grinding arc area measured using a thermocouple remained below 70 °C.

Thermal maps of young women and men

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chudecka, Monika; Lubkowska, Anna

2015-03-01

The objective was to use thermal imaging (ThermaCAM SC500) as an effective tool in establishing a thermal map of young participants, with a high diagnostic value for medicine, physiotherapy and sport. A further aim was to establish temperature distributions and ranges on the body surface of the young women and men as standard temperatures for the examined age group, taking into account BMI, body surface area and selected parameters of body fat distribution. The participants included young, healthy and physically active women (n = 100) and men (n = 100). In the women and men, the highest Tmean temperatures were found on the trunk. The warmest were the chest and upper back, then the lower back and abdomen. The lowest Tmean were found in the distal parts of the body, especially on the lower limbs. The results showed that only in the area of the chest was Tmean significantly higher in women than in men. In the areas of the hands (front and back) Tmean were similar for women and men. In the other analyzed body surface areas, Tmean were significantly lower in women. Research showed significant differences in body surface temperature between the women and men. Among the analyzed characteristics, Tmean in the chest, upper back, abdomen, lower back (both in women and men) were mainly correlated with BMI and PBF; the correlations were negative. Difficulties in interpreting changes in temperature in selected body areas in people with various conditions can be associated with the lack of studies on large and representative populations of healthy individuals with normal weight/height parameters. Therefore, it seems that this presented research is a significant practical and cognitive contribution to knowledge on thermoregulation, and may therefore be used as a reference for other studies using thermal imaging in the evaluation of changes in body surface temperatures.

Post-fledging dispersal of king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) from two breeding sites in the South Atlantic.

PubMed

Pütz, Klemens; Trathan, Phil N; Pedrana, Julieta; Collins, Martin A; Poncet, Sally; Lüthi, Benno

2014-01-01

Most studies concerning the foraging ecology of marine vertebrates are limited to breeding adults, although other life history stages might comprise half the total population. For penguins, little is known about juvenile dispersal, a period when individuals may be susceptible to increased mortality given their naïve foraging behaviour. Therefore, we used satellite telemetry to study king penguin fledglings (n = 18) from two sites in the Southwest Atlantic in December 2007. The two sites differed with respect to climate and proximity to the Antarctic Polar Front (APF), a key oceanographic feature generally thought to be important for king penguin foraging success. Accordingly, birds from both sites foraged predominantly in the vicinity of the APF. Eight king penguins were tracked for periods greater than 120 days; seven of these (three from the Falkland Islands and four from South Georgia) migrated into the Pacific. Only one bird from the Falkland Islands moved into the Indian Ocean, visiting the northern limit of the winter pack-ice. Three others from the Falkland Islands migrated to the eastern coast of Tierra del Fuego before travelling south. Derived tracking parameters describing their migratory behaviour showed no significant differences between sites. Nevertheless, generalized linear habitat modelling revealed that juveniles from the Falkland Islands spent more time in comparatively shallow waters with low sea surface temperature, sea surface height and chlorophyll variability. Birds from South Georgia spent more time in deeper waters with low sea surface temperature and sea surface height, but high concentrations of chlorophyll. Our results indicate that inexperienced king penguins, irrespective of the location of their natal site in relation to the position of the APF, develop their foraging skills progressively over time, including specific adaptations to the environment around their prospective breeding site.

Post-Fledging Dispersal of King Penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) from Two Breeding Sites in the South Atlantic

PubMed Central

Pütz, Klemens; Trathan, Phil N.; Pedrana, Julieta; Collins, Martin A.; Poncet, Sally; Lüthi, Benno

2014-01-01

Most studies concerning the foraging ecology of marine vertebrates are limited to breeding adults, although other life history stages might comprise half the total population. For penguins, little is known about juvenile dispersal, a period when individuals may be susceptible to increased mortality given their naïve foraging behaviour. Therefore, we used satellite telemetry to study king penguin fledglings (n = 18) from two sites in the Southwest Atlantic in December 2007. The two sites differed with respect to climate and proximity to the Antarctic Polar Front (APF), a key oceanographic feature generally thought to be important for king penguin foraging success. Accordingly, birds from both sites foraged predominantly in the vicinity of the APF. Eight king penguins were tracked for periods greater than 120 days; seven of these (three from the Falkland Islands and four from South Georgia) migrated into the Pacific. Only one bird from the Falkland Islands moved into the Indian Ocean, visiting the northern limit of the winter pack-ice. Three others from the Falkland Islands migrated to the eastern coast of Tierra del Fuego before travelling south. Derived tracking parameters describing their migratory behaviour showed no significant differences between sites. Nevertheless, generalized linear habitat modelling revealed that juveniles from the Falkland Islands spent more time in comparatively shallow waters with low sea surface temperature, sea surface height and chlorophyll variability. Birds from South Georgia spent more time in deeper waters with low sea surface temperature and sea surface height, but high concentrations of chlorophyll. Our results indicate that inexperienced king penguins, irrespective of the location of their natal site in relation to the position of the APF, develop their foraging skills progressively over time, including specific adaptations to the environment around their prospective breeding site. PMID:24828545

The impacts of urban surface characteristics on radiation balance and meteorological variables in the boundary layer around Beijing in summertime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Ruiting; Han, Zhiwei; Wu, Jian; Hu, Yonghong; Li, Jiawei

2017-11-01

In this study, some key geometric and thermal parameters derived from recent field and satellite observations in Beijing were collected and incorporated into WRF-UCM (Weather Research and Forecasting) model instead of previous default ones. A series of sensitivity model simulations were conducted to investigate the influences of these parameters on radiation balance, meteorological variables, turbulence kinetic energy (TKE), as well as planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) in regions around Beijing in summer 2014. Model validation demonstrated that the updated parameters represented urban surface characteristics more realistically and the simulations of meteorological variables were evidently improved to be closer to observations than the default parameters. The increase in building height tended to increase and slightly decrease surface air temperature at 2 m (T2) at night and around noon, respectively, and to reduce wind speed at 10 m (WS10) through a day. The increase in road width led to significant decreases in T2 and WS10 through the whole day, with the maximum changes in early morning and in evening, respectively. Both lower surface albedo and inclusion of anthropogenic heat (AH) resulted in increases in T2 and WS10 over the day, with stronger influence from AH. The vertical extension of the impact of urban surface parameters was mainly confined within 300 m at night and reached as high as 1600 m during daytime. The increase in building height tended to increase TKE and PBLH and the TKE increase was larger at night than during daytime due to enhancements of both mechanical and buoyant productions. The increase in road width generally reduced TKE and PBLH except for a few hours in the afternoon. The lower surface albedo and the presence of AH consistently resulted in increases of TKE and PBLH through both day and night. The increase in building height induced a slight divergence by day and a notable convergence at night, whereas the increase in road width led to a remarkable divergence through the entire day. Both AH and lower surface albedo induced a wind convergence over the day, which tended to strengthen nighttime mountain downslope wind and daytime southerly wind to the south of Beijing, but to weaken daytime upslope wind in mountain areas.

Numerical simulations of inductive-heated float-zone growth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chan, Y. T.; Choi, S. K.

1992-01-01

The present work provides an improved fluid flow and heat-transfer modeling of float-zone growth by introducing a RF heating model so that an ad hoc heating temperature profile is not necessary. Numerical simulations were carried out to study the high-temperature float-zone growth of titanium carbide single crystal. The numerical results showed that the thermocapillary convection occurring inside the molten zone tends to increase the convexity of the melt-crystal interface and decrease the maximum temperature of the molten zone, while the natural convection tends to reduce the stability of the molten zone by increasing its height. It was found that the increase of induced heating due to the increase of applied RF voltage is reduced by the decrease of zone diameter. Surface tension plays an important role in controlling the amount of induced heating. Finally, a comparison of the computed shape of the free surface with a digital image obtained during a growth run showed adequate agreement.

A multivariate variational objective analysis-assimilation method. Part 1: Development of the basic model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Achtemeier, Gary L.; Ochs, Harry T., III

1988-01-01

The variational method of undetermined multipliers is used to derive a multivariate model for objective analysis. The model is intended for the assimilation of 3-D fields of rawinsonde height, temperature and wind, and mean level temperature observed by satellite into a dynamically consistent data set. Relative measurement errors are taken into account. The dynamic equations are the two nonlinear horizontal momentum equations, the hydrostatic equation, and an integrated continuity equation. The model Euler-Lagrange equations are eleven linear and/or nonlinear partial differential and/or algebraic equations. A cyclical solution sequence is described. Other model features include a nonlinear terrain-following vertical coordinate that eliminates truncation error in the pressure gradient terms of the horizontal momentum equations and easily accommodates satellite observed mean layer temperatures in the middle and upper troposphere. A projection of the pressure gradient onto equivalent pressure surfaces removes most of the adverse impacts of the lower coordinate surface on the variational adjustment.

An Optimal Estimation Method to Obtain Surface Layer Turbulent Fluxes from Profile Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, D.

2015-12-01

In the absence of direct turbulence measurements, the turbulence characteristics of the atmospheric surface layer are often derived from measurements of the surface layer mean properties based on Monin-Obukhov Similarity Theory (MOST). This approach requires two levels of the ensemble mean wind, temperature, and water vapor, from which the fluxes of momentum, sensible heat, and water vapor can be obtained. When only one measurement level is available, the roughness heights and the assumed properties of the corresponding variables at the respective roughness heights are used. In practice, the temporal mean with large number of samples are used in place of the ensemble mean. However, in many situations the samples of data are taken from multiple levels. It is thus desirable to derive the boundary layer flux properties using all measurements. In this study, we used an optimal estimation approach to derive surface layer properties based on all available measurements. This approach assumes that the samples are taken from a population whose ensemble mean profile follows the MOST. An optimized estimate is obtained when the results yield a minimum cost function defined as a weighted summation of all error variance at each sample altitude. The weights are based one sample data variance and the altitude of the measurements. This method was applied to measurements in the marine atmospheric surface layer from a small boat using radiosonde on a tethered balloon where temperature and relative humidity profiles in the lowest 50 m were made repeatedly in about 30 minutes. We will present the resultant fluxes and the derived MOST mean profiles using different sets of measurements. The advantage of this method over the 'traditional' methods will be illustrated. Some limitations of this optimization method will also be discussed. Its application to quantify the effects of marine surface layer environment on radar and communication signal propagation will be shown as well.

Towards the Consideration of Surface and Environment variables for a Microwave Precipitation Algorithm Over Land

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, N. Y.; You, Y.; Ferraro, R. R.; Guch, I.

2014-12-01

Microwave satellite remote sensing of precipitation over land is a challenging problem due to the highly variable land surface emissivity, which, if not properly accounted for, can be much greater than the precipitation signal itself, especially in light rain/snow conditions. Additionally, surfaces such as arid land, deserts and snow cover have brightness temperatures characteristics similar to precipitation Ongoing work by NASA's GPM microwave radiometer team is constructing databases for the GPROF algorithm through a variety of means, however, there is much uncertainty as to what is the optimal information needed for the wide array of sensors in the GPM constellation, including examination of regional conditions. The at-launch database focuses on stratification by emissivity class, surface temperature and total precipitable water (TPW). We'll perform sensitivity studies to determine the potential role of environmental factors such as land surface temperature, surface elevation, and relative humidity and storm morphology such as storm vertical structure, height, and ice thickness to improve precipitation estimation over land, including rain and snow. In other words, what information outside of the satellite radiances can help describe the background and subsequent departures from it that are active precipitating regions? It is likely that this information will be a function of the various precipitation regimes. Statistical methods such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) will be utilized in this task. Databases from a variety of sources are being constructed. They include existing satellite microwave measurements of precipitating and non-precipitating conditions, ground radar precipitation rate estimates, surface emissivity climatology from satellites, surface temperature and TPW from NWP reanalysis. Results from the analysis of these databases with respect to the microwave precipitation sensitivity to the variety of environmental conditions in different climate regimes will be discussed.

Amendment to "Analytical Solution for the Convectively-Mixed Atmospheric Boundary Layer": Inclusion of Subsidence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ouwersloot, H. G.; de Arellano, J. Vilà-Guerau

2013-09-01

In Ouwersloot and Vilà-Guerau de Arellano (Boundary-Layer Meteorol. doi: 10.1007/s10546-013-9816-z , 2013, this issue), the analytical solutions for the boundary-layer height and scalar evolutions are derived for the convective boundary layer, based on the prognostic equations of mixed-layer slab models without taking subsidence into account. Here, we include and quantify the added effect of subsidence if the subsidence velocity scales linearly with height throughout the atmosphere. This enables analytical analyses for a wider range of observational cases. As a demonstration, the sensitivity of the boundary-layer height and the potential temperature jump to subsidence and the free tropospheric stability is graphically presented. The new relations show the importance of the temporal distribution of the surface buoyancy flux in determining the evolution if there is subsidence.

Thermal Infrared Hot Spot and Dependence on Canopy Geometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, James A.; Ballard, Jerrell R., Jr.; Smith, David E. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

We perform theoretical calculations of the canopy thermal infrared (TIR) hot spot using a first principles 3-D model described earlier. Various theoretical canopies of varying leaf size and for differing canopy height are used to illustrate the magnitude of the TIR effect. Our results are similar to predicted behavior in the reflective hot spot as a function of canopy geometry and comparable to TIR measurements from the literature and our own simple ground experiments. We apply the MODTRAN atmospheric code to estimate the at-sensor variation in brightness temperature with view direction in the solar principal plane. For simple homogeneous canopies, we predict canopy thermal infrared hot spot variations of 2 degrees C at the surface with respect to nadir viewing. Dependence on leaf size is weak as long as the ratio of leaf size to canopy height is maintained. However, the angular width of the hot spot increases as the ratio of leaf diameter to canopy height increases. Atmospheric effects minimize but do not eliminate the TIR hot spot at satellite altitudes.

Isotopic composition of ice core air reveals abrupt Antarctic warming during and after Heinrich Event 1a

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morgan, J. D.; Bereiter, B.; Baggenstos, D.; Kawamura, K.; Shackleton, S. A.; Severinghaus, J. P.

2017-12-01

Antarctic temperature variations during Heinrich events, as recorded by δ18O­ice­, generally show more gradual changes than the abrupt warmings seen in Greenland ice. However, quantitative temperature interpretation of the water isotope temperature proxy is difficult as the relationship between δ18Oice and temperature is not constant through time. Fortunately, ice cores offer a second temperature proxy based on trapped gases. During times of surface warming, thermal fractionation of gases in the column of unconsolidated snow (firn) on top of the ice sheet results in isotopically heavier nitrogen (N2) and argon (Ar) being trapped in the ice core bubbles. During times of surface cooling, isotopically lighter gases are trapped. Measurements of δ15N and δ40Ar can therefore be used, in combination with a model for the height of the column of firn, to quantitatively reconstruct surface temperatures. In the WAIS Divide Ice Core, the two temperature proxies show a brief disagreement during Heinrich Stadial 1. Despite δ18Oice recording relatively constant temperature, the nitrogen and argon isotopes imply an abrupt warming between 16 and 15.8 kyr BP, manifest as an abrupt 1.25oC increase in the firn temperature gradient. To our knowledge, this would be the first evidence that such abrupt climate change has been recorded in an Antarctic climate proxy. If confirmed by more detailed studies, this event may represent warming due to an extreme southward shift of the Earth's thermal equator (and the southern hemisphere westerly wind belt), caused by the 16.1 ka Heinrich Event.

Observational constraints on Arctic boundary-layer clouds, surface moisture and sensible heat fluxes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, D. L.; Boisvert, L.; Klaus, D.; Dethloff, K.; Ganeshan, M.

2016-12-01

The dry, cold environment and dynamic surface variations make the Arctic a unique but difficult region for observations, especially in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). Spaceborne platforms have been the key vantage point to capture basin-scale changes during the recent Arctic warming. Using the AIRS temperature, moisture and surface data, we found that the Arctic surface moisture flux (SMF) had increased by 7% during 2003-2013 (18 W/m2 equivalent in latent heat), mostly in spring and fall near the Arctic coastal seas where large sea ice reduction and sea surface temperature (SST) increase were observed. The increase in Arctic SMF correlated well with the increases in total atmospheric column water vapor and low-level clouds, when compared to CALIPSO cloud observations. It has been challenging for climate models to reliably determine Arctic cloud radiative forcing (CRF). Using the regional climate model HIRHAM5 and assuming a more efficient Bergeron-Findeisen process with generalized subgrid-scale variability for total water content, we were able to produce a cloud distribution that is more consistent with the CloudSat/CALIPSO observations. More importantly, the modified schemes decrease (increase) the cloud water (ice) content in mixed-phase clouds, which help to improve the modeled CRF and energy budget at the surface, because of the dominant role of the liquid water in CRF. Yet, the coupling between Arctic low clouds and the surface is complex and has strong impacts on ABL. Studying GPS/COSMIC radio occultation (RO) refractivity profiles in the Arctic coldest and driest months, we successfully derived ABL inversion height and surface-based inversion (SBI) frequency, and they were anti-correlated over the Arctic Ocean. For the late summer and early fall season, we further analyzed Japanese R/V Mirai ship measurements and found that the open-ocean surface sensible heat flux (SSHF) can explain 10 % of the ABL height variability, whereas mechanisms such as cloud-driven turbulence appear to be dominant. Contrary to previous speculation, the efficiency of turbulent heat exchange is low. The SSHF contribution to ABL mixing is significant during the uplift (low-pressure) followed by the highly stable (stratus cloud) regime.

Evaluating the Governing Factors of Variability in Nocturnal Boundary Layer Height Based on Elastic Lidar in Wuhan.

PubMed

Wang, Wei; Mao, Feiyue; Gong, Wei; Pan, Zengxin; Du, Lin

2016-11-01

The atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), an atmospheric region near the Earth's surface, is affected by surface forcing and is important for studying air quality, climate, and weather forecasts. In this study, long-term urban nocturnal boundary layers (NBLs) were estimated by an elastic backscatter light detection and ranging (LiDAR) with various methods in Wuhan (30.5° N, 114.4° E), a city in Central China. This study aims to explore two ABL research topics: (1) the relationship between NBL height (NBLH) and near-surface parameters (e.g., sensible heat flux, temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity) to elucidate meteorological processes governing NBL variability; and (2) the influence of NBLH variations in surface particulate matter (PM) in Wuhan. We analyzed the nocturnal ABL-dilution/ABL-accumulation effect on surface particle concentration by using a typical case. A long-term analysis was then performed from 5 December 2012-17 June 2016. Results reveal that the seasonal averages of nocturnal (from 20:00 to 05:00 next day, Chinese standard time) NBLHs are 386 ± 161 m in spring, 473 ± 154 m in summer, 383 ± 137 m in autumn, and 309 ± 94 m in winter. The seasonal variations in NBLH, AOD, and PM 2.5 display a deep (shallow) seasonal mean NBL, consistent with a small (larger) seasonal mean PM 2.5 near the surface. Seasonal variability of NBLH is partly linearly correlated with sensible heat flux at the surface (R = 0.72). Linear regression analyses between NBLH and other parameters show the following: (1) the positive correlation (R = 0.68) between NBLH and surface temperature indicates high (low) NBLH corresponding to warm (cool) conditions; (2) the slight positive correlation (R = 0.52) between NBLH and surface relative humidity in Wuhan; and (3) the weak positive correlation (R = 0.38) between NBLH and wind speed inside the NBL may imply that the latter is not an important direct driver that governs the seasonal variability of NBLH.

Turbulence structure of the marine stable boundary layer over the Baltic Sea

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

Smedman, A.S.; Hoegstroem, U.

For more than half of the year the land surfaces surrounding the Baltic Sea is warmer than the sea surface, and the marine boundary layer over the Baltic is stable. Observations, at various sites in the Baltic Sea area during the last decade. also indicate frequent occurrence of low-level jets at the top of the stable boundary layer. In many cases the marine jet can be considered as an analogy in space to the evolution of the nocturnal jet with time. The frictional decoupling occurs when warm air over the land is flowing out over the sea. Data from twomore » areas together with model simulations are used in this study to characterize turbulence structure in the marine boundary layer. The measurements include profiles of wind and temperature on towers situated at two isolated islands, together with turbulence recordings and aircraft measurements. Also wave height and water surface temperature have been measured. The model simulations are performed with a second-order closure model.« less

Spontaneous formation of linearly arranged microcraters on sol-gel-derived silica-poly(vinylpyrrolidone) hybrid films induced by Bénard-Marangoni convection.

PubMed

Uchiyama, Hiroaki; Mantani, Yuto; Kozuka, Hiromitsu

2012-07-10

Complex, sophisticated surface patterns on micrometer and nanometer scales are obtained when solvent evaporates from solutions containing nonvolatile solutes dropped on a solid substrate. Such evaporation-driven pattern formation has been utilized as a fabrication process of highly ordered patterns in thin films. Here, we suggested the spontaneous pattern formation induced by Bénard-Marangoni convection triggered by solvent evaporation as a novel patterning process of sol-gel-derived organic-inorganic hybrid films. Microcraters of 1.0-1.5 μm in height and of 100-200 μm in width were spontaneously formed on the surface of silica-poly(vinylpyrrolidone) hybrid films prepared via temperature-controlled dip-coating process, where the surface patterns were linearly arranged parallel to the substrate withdrawal direction. Such highly ordered micropatterns were achieved by Bénard-Marangoni convection activated at high temperatures and the unidirectional flow of the coating solution on the substrate during dip-coating.

Performance of LI-1542 reusable surface insulation system in a hypersonic stream

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hunt, L. R.; Shideler, J. L.; Weinstein, I.

1976-01-01

The thermal and structural performance LI-1542 reusable surface insulation (RSI) tiles was investigated. The test panel was designed to represent part of the surface structure on a space shuttle orbiter fuselage along a 1250 K isotherm. Aerothermal tests were conducted at a free-stream Mach number of 6.6, a total temperature of 1820 K, Reynolds numbers of 2 millon and 5 million per meter, and dynamic pressures of 26 and 65 kPa. The RSI tiles demonstrated good thermal protection and structural integrity. High temperatures were caused by misalinement in tile height, offset the tile longitudinal alinement, and leakage around thermal seals when differential pressure existed across the panel. The damage tolerance of LI-1542 RSI appeared high. The tile coating crazed early in the test program, but this did not effect the tile integrity. Erosion of the tile edges occurred at forward-facing steps and at the ends of longitudinal gaps because of particle impacts and flow shear.

Comparing Geophysical Methods for Determining the Thickness of Arctic Sea Ice: Is There a Correlation Between Thickness and Surface Temperature?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robertson, R.; Bowman, T.; Eagle, J. L.; Fisher, L.; Mankowski, K.; McGrady, N.; Schrecongost, N.; Voll, H.; Zulfiqar, A.; Herman, R. B.

2016-12-01

Several small geophysical surveys were conducted on the Chukchi Sea ice just offshore from the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory near Barrow, Alaska, in March, 2016. The goal was to investigate a possible correlation between the surface temperature and the thickness of the sea ice, as well as to test a potential new method for more accurately determining ice thickness. Surveys were conducted using a capacitively coupled resistivity array, a custom built thermal sensor array sled, ground penetrating radar (GPR), and an ice drill. The thermal sensor array was based on an Arduino microcontroller. It used an infrared (IR) sensor to determine surface temperature, and thermistor-based sensors to determine vertical air temperatures at 6 evenly spaced heights up to a maximum of 1.5 meters. Surface temperature (IR) data show possible correlations with ice drill, resistivity, and GPR data. The vertical air sensors showed almost no variation for any survey line which we postulate is due to the constant wind during each survey. Ice drill data show ice thickness along one 200 meter line varied from 79-95 cm, with an average of 87 cm. The thickness appears to be inversely correlated to surface temperatures. Resistivity and IR data both showed abrupt changes when crossing from the shore to the sea ice along a 400 meter line. GPR and IR data showed similar changes along a separate 900 meter line, suggesting that surface temperature and subsurface composition are related. Resistivity data were obtained in two locations by using the array in an expanding dipole-dipole configuration with 2.5 meter dipoles. The depth to the ice/water boundary was calculated using a "cumulative resistivity" plot and matched the depths obtained via the ice drill to within 2%. This has initiated work to develop a microcontroller-based resistivity array specialized for thickness measurements of thin ice.

Discovering Parameters for Ancient Mars Atmospheric Profiles by Modeling Volcanic Eruptions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meyer, A.; Clarke, A. B.; Van Eaton, A. R.; Mastin, L. G.

2017-12-01

Evidence of explosive volcanic deposits on Mars motivates questions about the behavior of eruption plumes in the Ancient and current Martian atmosphere. Early modeling studies suggested that Martian plumes may rise significantly higher than their terrestrial equivalents (Wilson and Head, 1994, Rev. Geophys., 32, 221-263). We revisit the issue using a steady-state 1-D model of volcanic plumes (Plumeria: Mastin, 2014, JGR, doi:10.1002/2013JD020604) along with a range of reasonable temperature and pressures. The model assumes perfect coupling of particles with the gas phase in the plume, and Stokes number analysis indicates that this is a reasonable assumption for particle diameters less than 5 mm to 1 micron. Our estimates of Knudsen numbers support the continuum assumption. The tested atmospheric profiles include an estimate of current Martian atmosphere based on data from voyager mission (Seif, A., Kirk, D.B., (1977) Geophys., 82,4364-4378), a modern Earth-like atmosphere, and several other scenarios based on variable tropopause heights and near-surface atmospheric density estimates from the literature. We simulated plume heights using mass eruption rates (MER) ranging from 1 x 103 to 1 x 1010 kg s-1 to create a series of new theoretical MER-plume height scaling relationships that may be useful for considering plume injection heights, climate impacts, and global-scale ash dispersal patterns in Mars' recent and ancient geological past. Our results show that volcanic plumes in a modern Martian atmosphere may rise up to three times higher than those on Earth. We also find that the modern Mars atmosphere does not allow eruption columns to collapse, and thus does not allow for the formation of column-collapse pyroclastic density currents, a phenomenon thought to have occurred in Mars' past based on geological observations. The atmospheric density at the surface, and especially the height of the tropopause, affect the slope of the MER-plume height curve and control whether or not column-collapse is possible.

Improved vertical displacements induced by a refined thermal expansion model and its quantitative analysis in GPS height time series

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Kaihua; Chen, Hua; Jiang, Weiping; Li, Zhao; Ma, Yifang; Deng, Liansheng

2018-04-01

There are apparent seasonal variations in GPS height time series, and thermal expansion is considered to be one of the potential geophysical contributors. The displacements introduced by thermal expansion are usually derived without considering the annex height and underground part of the monument (e.g. located on roof or top of the buildings), which may bias the geophysical explanation of the seasonal oscillation. In this paper, the improved vertical displacements are derived by a refined thermal expansion model where the annex height and underground depth of the monument are taken into account, and then 560 IGS stations are adopted to validate the modeled thermal expansion (MTE) displacements. In order to evaluate the impact of thermal expansion on GPS heights, the MTE displacements of 80 IGS stations with less data discontinuities are selected to compare with their observed GPS vertical (OGV) displacements with the modeled surface loading (MSL) displacements removed in advance. Quantitative analysis results show the maximum annual and semiannual amplitudes of the MTE are 6.65 mm (NOVJ) and 0.51 mm (IISC), respectively, and the maximum peak-to-peak oscillation of the MTE displacements can be 19.4 mm. The average annual amplitude reductions are 0.75 mm and 1.05 mm respectively after removing the MTE and MSL displacements from the OGV, indicating the seasonal oscillation induced by thermal expansion is equivalent to >75% of the impact of surface loadings. However, there are rarely significant reductions for the semiannual amplitude. Given the result in this study that thermal expansion can explain 17.3% of the annual amplitude in GPS heights on average, it must be precisely modeled both in GPS precise data processing and GPS time series analysis, especially for those stations located in the middle and high latitudes with larger annual temperature oscillation, or stations with higher monument.

Influence of carbon dioxide clouds on early martian climate.

PubMed

Mischna, M A; Kasting, J F; Pavlov, A; Freedman, R

2000-06-01

Recent studies have shown that clouds made of carbon dioxide ice may have warmed the surface of early Mars by reflecting not only incoming solar radiation but upwelling IR radiation as well. However, these studies have not treated scattering self-consistently in the thermal IR. Our own calculations, which treat IR scattering properly, confirm these earlier calculations but show that CO2 clouds can also cool the surface, especially if they are low and optically thick. Estimating the actual effect of CO2 clouds on early martian climate will require three-dimensional models in which cloud location, height, and optical depth, as well as surface temperature and pressure, are determined self-consistently. Our calculations further confirm that CO2 clouds should extend the outer boundary of the habitable zone around a star but that there is still a finite limit beyond which above-freezing surface temperatures cannot be maintained by a CO2-H2O atmosphere. For our own Solar System, the absolute outer edge of the habitable zone is at approximately 2.4 AU.

A new look at deep-sea video

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chezar, H.; Lee, J.

1985-01-01

A deep-towed photographic system with completely self-contained recording instrumentation and power can obtain color-video and still-photographic transects along rough terrane without need for a long electrically conducting cable. Both the video- and still-camera systems utilize relatively inexpensive and proven off-the-shelf hardware adapted for deep-water environments. The small instrument frame makes the towed sled an ideal photographic tool for use on ship or small-boat operations. The system includes a temperature probe and altimeter that relay data acoustically from the sled to the surface ship. This relay enables the operator to monitor simultaneously water temperature and the precise height off the bottom. ?? 1985.

Depth-dependent and surface damages in MgAl 2O 4 and MgO irradiated with energetic iodine ions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aruga, T.; Katano, Y.; Ohmichi, T.; Okayasu, S.; Kazumata, Y.; Jitsukawa, S.

2002-11-01

Samples of polycrystalline ceramics of MgAl 2O 4 irradiated at the ambient temperature with 85 MeV I 7+ iodine ions to doses up to 1×10 19 m -2 is observed to be amorphized up to depths around 6 μm from the ion-incident surface for a dose of 1.2×10 19 m -2, through a cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. A step height of 1 μm is formed across the border between the masked and irradiated regions of the surface. The height of the step is observed to increase sharply from the irradiated area towards the edge at the border, forming a peak as tall as 1.5 μm. A glossy, silver-gray film with a thickness less than 0.1 μm is unexpectedly observed to have formed on the surface of samples of MgAl 2O 4 and MgO, in about 3.5 years aging after the irradiation to 1.2×10 19 m -2, being left untouched in the air. The film is easily peeled off along grain boundaries and found to be amorphous from the electron diffraction pattern. The film from MgAl 2O 4 sample contains Al, Mg and Si. Silicon, which is one of impurities, is found to be enriched noticeably at the surface.

[New methods for determining the relative load due to physical effort of the human body].

PubMed

Szubert, Józef; Szubert, Sławomir; Koszada-Włodarczyk, Wiesława; Bortkiewicz, Alicja

2014-01-01

The relative physical load (% VO2max) is the quotient of oxygen uptake (Vo2) during physical effort and maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) by the human body. For this purpose the stress test must be performed. The relative load shows a high correlation with minute ventilation, cardiac output, heart rate, stroke volume, increased concentrations of catecholamines in the blood, inner temperature, weight, height and human body surface area. The relative load is a criterion for the maximum workloads admissible for healthy and sick workers. Besides, the classification of effort can be more precise when based on the relative load than on the energy output. Based on our own and international empirical evidence and the laws of heat transfer and fluid mechanics, a model of temperature control system has been developed, involving the elements of human cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Using this model, we have been able to develop our own methods of determining the relative load, applying only the body core temperature (Tw) or heart rate within one minute (HR), body mass (m), height (H), and body surface area (AD) instead of VO,max. The values of the relative physical load (% VO2max) obtained by using our own methods do not differ significantly from those obtained by other methods and by other researchers. The developed methods for determining the relative physical load (% VO2max) do not require the exercise test to be performed, therefore, they may be considered (after verification in an experimental study) a feasible alternative to current methods.

The urban heat island in the city of Poznań as derived from Landsat 5 TM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Majkowska, Agnieszka; Kolendowicz, Leszek; Półrolniczak, Marek; Hauke, Jan; Czernecki, Bartosz

2017-05-01

To study urban heat island (UHI), Landsat 5 TM data and in situ measurements of air temperature from nine points in Poznań (Poland) for the period June 2008-May 2013 were used. Based on data from measurement points located in different types of land use, the surface urban heat island (SUHI) maps were created. All available and quality-controlled Landsat 5 TM images from 15 unique days were used to obtain the characteristics of land surface temperature (LST) and UHI intensity. In addition, spatial analysis of UHI was conducted on the basis of Corine Land Cover 2006 dataset. In situ measurements at a height of 2 m above ground level show that the UHI is a common occurrence in Poznań with a mean annual intensity of 1.0 °C. The UHI intensity is greater during the warm half of the year. Moreover, results based on the remote sensing data and the Corine Land Cover 2006 indicate that the highest value of the mean LST anomalies (3.4 °C) is attained by the continuous urban fabric, while the lowest value occurs within the broad-leaved forests (-3.1 °C). To re-count from LST to the air temperature at a height of 2 m above ground level ( T agl), linear and non-linear regression models were created. For both models, coefficients of determination equal about 0.80, with slightly higher value for the non-linear approach, which was applied to estimate the T agl spatial variability over the city of Poznań.

Sensitivity analysis of WRF model PBL schemes in simulating boundary-layer variables in southern Italy: An experimental campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avolio, E.; Federico, S.; Miglietta, M. M.; Lo Feudo, T.; Calidonna, C. R.; Sempreviva, A. M.

2017-08-01

The sensitivity of boundary layer variables to five (two non-local and three local) planetary boundary-layer (PBL) parameterization schemes, available in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale meteorological model, is evaluated in an experimental site in Calabria region (southern Italy), in an area characterized by a complex orography near the sea. Results of 1 km × 1 km grid spacing simulations are compared with the data collected during a measurement campaign in summer 2009, considering hourly model outputs. Measurements from several instruments are taken into account for the performance evaluation: near surface variables (2 m temperature and relative humidity, downward shortwave radiation, 10 m wind speed and direction) from a surface station and a meteorological mast; vertical wind profiles from Lidar and Sodar; also, the aerosol backscattering from a ceilometer to estimate the PBL height. Results covering the whole measurement campaign show a cold and moist bias near the surface, mostly during daytime, for all schemes, as well as an overestimation of the downward shortwave radiation and wind speed. Wind speed and direction are also verified at vertical levels above the surface, where the model uncertainties are, usually, smaller than at the surface. A general anticlockwise rotation of the simulated flow with height is found at all levels. The mixing height is overestimated by all schemes and a possible role of the simulated sensible heat fluxes for this mismatching is investigated. On a single-case basis, significantly better results are obtained when the atmospheric conditions near the measurement site are dominated by synoptic forcing rather than by local circulations. From this study, it follows that the two first order non-local schemes, ACM2 and YSU, are the schemes with the best performance in representing parameters near the surface and in the boundary layer during the analyzed campaign.

Oscillation of Surface PM2.5 Concentration Resulting from an Alternation of Easterly and Southerly Winds in Beijing: Mechanisms and Implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Zhaobin; Zhang, Xiaoling; Zhao, Xiujuan; Xia, Xiangao; Miao, Shiguang; Li, Ziming; Cheng, Zhigang; Wen, Wei; Tang, Yixi

2018-04-01

We used simultaneous measurements of surface PM2.5 concentration and vertical profiles of aerosol concentration, temperature, and humidity, together with regional air quality model simulations, to study an episode of aerosol pollution in Beijing from 15 to 19 November 2016. The potential effects of easterly and southerly winds on the surface concentrations and vertical profiles of the PM2.5 pollution were investigated. Favorable easterly winds produced strong upward motion and were able to transport the PM2.5 pollution at the surface to the upper levels of the atmosphere. The amount of surface PM2.5 pollution transported by the easterly winds was determined by the strength and height of the upward motion produced by the easterly winds and the initial height of the upward wind. A greater amount of PM2.5 pollution was transported to upper levels of the atmosphere by upward winds with a lower initial height. The pollutants were diluted by easterly winds from clean ocean air masses. The inversion layer was destroyed by the easterly winds and the surface pollutants and warm air masses were then lifted to the upper levels of the atmosphere, where they re-established a multi-layer inversion. This region of inversion was strengthened by the southerly winds, increasing the severity of pollution. A vortex was produced by southerly winds that led to the convergence of air along the Taihang Mountains. Pollutants were transported from southern-central Hebei Province to Beijing in the boundary layer. Warm advection associated with the southerly winds intensified the inversion produced by the easterly winds and a more stable boundary layer was formed. The layer with high PM2.5 concentration became dee-per with persistent southerly winds of a certain depth. The polluted air masses then rose over the northern Taihang Mountains to the northern mountainous regions of Hebei Province.

TOPEX/El Niño Watch - Satellite shows Pacific Stabilizing, July 11, 1998

NASA Image and Video Library

1998-07-21

Height measurements taken by NASA U.S.-French TOPEX/Poseidon satellite. The image shows sea surface height relative to normal ocean conditions on July 11, 1998; sea surface height is an indicator of the heat content of the ocean.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erell, E.; Williamson, T.

2006-10-01

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

Leaf temperature and stomatal influences on sap velocity diurnal hysteresis in the Amazon rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jardine, K.; Gimenez, B.; Negron Juarez, R. I.; Koven, C.; Powell, T.; Higuchi, N.; Chambers, J.; Varadharajan, C.

2016-12-01

In order to improve our ability to predict terrestrial evapotranspiration fluxes, an understanding of the interactions between plant physiology and environmental conditions is necessary, but remains poorly characterized, especially in tropical ecosystems. In this study we show a tight positive correlation between sap velocity (at 1 m of height) and leaf surface temperature (LST, 20-30 m of height) in canopy dominant trees in two primary rainforest sites in the Amazon basin (Santarém and Manaus, Brazil). As leaf temperatures varied throughout the day, sap velocity responded with little delay (<15 min). Positive sap velocity was often observed at night, but also closely followed night time LSTs. When plotted versus LST, sap velocity showed an exponential increase before reaching a reflection point and a plateau and is characterized as a sigmoidal curve, in all observed trees. Moreover, a clear diurnal hysteresis in sap velocity was evident with morning periods showing higher temperature sensitivities than afternoon and night periods. Diurnal leaf observations showed a morning peak in stomatal conductance ( 10:00-10:30), but a mid-day to afternoon peak in transpiration and leaf temperature (12:00-14:00). Our observations suggest the sap velocity-LST hysteresis pattern arises due to the temporal offset between stomatal conductance and vapor pressure deficits (VPD) and demonstrates the dominating effect of VPD over stomatal conductance in maintaining high transpiration/sap flow rates under elevated temperatures. Our results have important implications for modeling tropical forest transpiration and suggests the possibility of predicting evapotranspiration fluxes at the ecosystem to regional scales based on remote sensed vegetation temperature.

Adhesive behavior of micro/nano-textured surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yuyan; Wang, Xiaoli; Li, Hanqing; Wang, Ben

2015-02-01

A numerical model of the adhesive contact between a rigid smooth sphere and an elastic textured surface based on the Lennard-Jones interatomic potential law and the Hamaker summation method is established. Textures are considered by introducing the texture height distribution into the gap equation. Simulation results show that the pull-off force on textured surfaces decreases compared to that on smooth surfaces. Furthermore, effects of sphere-shaped textures on reducing adhesion are more obvious than cylinder-shaped or cube-shaped textures when the coverage area ratio, maximum height and interval of textures are fixed. For surfaces with sphere-shaped textures, variation trends of the mean pull-off force with texture density are not monotonous, and there exists a certain range of texture densities in which the mean pull-off force is small and its variation is insignificant. In addition, the pull-off force depends also on the maximum height and radius of textures. On one hand, if the texture radius is fixed, larger maximum height results in smaller pull-off force, and if the maximum height is fixed, the pull-off force tends to increase almost linearly with increases in texture radius. On the other hand, if the height-diameter ratio of textures is fixed, the pull-off force reaches a minimum at an optimum texture radius or maximum height.

Using nudging to improve global-regional dynamic consistency in limited-area climate modeling: What should we nudge?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Omrani, Hiba; Drobinski, Philippe; Dubos, Thomas

2015-03-01

Regional climate modelling sometimes requires that the regional model be nudged towards the large-scale driving data to avoid the development of inconsistencies between them. These inconsistencies are known to produce large surface temperature and rainfall artefacts. Therefore, it is essential to maintain the synoptic circulation within the simulation domain consistent with the synoptic circulation at the domain boundaries. Nudging techniques, initially developed for data assimilation purposes, are increasingly used in regional climate modeling and offer a workaround to this issue. In this context, several questions on the "optimal" use of nudging are still open. In this study we focus on a specific question which is: What variable should we nudge? in order to maintain the consistencies between the regional model and the driving fields as much as possible. For that, a "Big Brother Experiment", where a reference atmospheric state is known, is conducted using the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model over the Euro-Mediterranean region. A set of 22 3-month simulations is performed with different sets of nudged variables and nudging options (no nudging, indiscriminate nudging, spectral nudging) for summer and winter. The results show that nudging clearly improves the model capacity to reproduce the reference fields. However the skill scores depend on the set of variables used to nudge the regional climate simulations. Nudging the tropospheric horizontal wind is by far the key variable to nudge to simulate correctly surface temperature and wind, and rainfall. To a lesser extent, nudging tropospheric temperature also contributes to significantly improve the simulations. Indeed, nudging tropospheric wind or temperature directly impacts the simulation of the tropospheric geopotential height and thus the synoptic scale atmospheric circulation. Nudging moisture improves the precipitation but the impact on the other fields (wind and temperature) is not significant. As an immediate consequence, nudging tropospheric wind, temperature and moisture in WRF gives by far the best results with respect to the Big-Brother simulation. However, we noticed that a residual bias of the geopotential height persists due to a negative surface pressure anomaly which suggests that surface pressure is the missing quantity to nudge. Nudging the geopotential has no discernible effect. Finally, it should be noted that the proposed strategy ensures a dynamical consistency between the driving field and the simulated small-scale field but it does not ensure the best "observed" fine scale field because of the possible impact of incorrect driving large-scale field.

Should we care about diurnal temperatures when calculating the precipitation isotope thermometer?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vachon, R.; Kloeckner, D.

2008-12-01

Long records of the concentrations of stable isotopes of precipitation (SIPs) have long been used as proxies for regional and global climates for periods when meteorological measurements were not made. SIPs' longstanding correlation to local surface temperatures (in many locations) and molecular thermal dynamics have lead to many interpretations of variability in SIPs to be changes in local temperatures. In order to create accurate temperature-SIP transfer functions one needs to link modern SIP concentrations to temperatures of when precipitation happened. A well-sited example of complexities in the temperature-SIP relationships - For simplicity one may assume that annual precipitation occurred at the same time of year throughout a long SIP archive, however, it is possible that the timing of precipitation actually shifted from summer to winter months. If the temperature difference between the seasons is large the SIP archive could be wrongly interpreted as a several degree cooling in average annual temperatures. Temperature changes similar in magnitude to seasonal fluctuations are also observed throughout a given day. What would happen if precipitation shifted from mid-afternoon to nighttime events? This line of thinking implies that diurnal effects plausibly should be considered when calculating SIP-transfer functions. This is particularly convincing when precipitation for a region is powered by middle of the day (summer) heat causing convective precipitation or evening cooling increasing relative humidities near the land's surface. This study examines both theoretical and observed (5 locations within North America) surface temperatures at the time of precipitation throughout a day and estimates diurnal effects on SIP-transfer functions. Ultimately, one must ask, how high does condensation form, and what are daily temperature patterns at those heights?

Evaluation of Water Vapor Radiometer on HY-2A Satellite with the Ship-borne GNSS Observations over the India Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Y.; Wu, Z.; Chen, G.; Liu, W.

2016-12-01

HY-2A is the first marine dynamic environment satellite in China. It is used to observe the global sea surface wind field, sea surface height, significant wave heights and sea surface temperature. In order to correct tropospheric delay in the radar altimeter measurements, the calibration microwave radiometer (CMR) is on board satellite. In this paper, a ship-borne GNSS experiment was done to evaluate the accuracy of water vapor content observed from CMR over the India Ocean in 2014. Because the HY-2A satellite orbit is in S-N direction, the ship course was designed in E-W direction to produce the cross-point over the ocean for the calibration. During two months experiment, three cross-points were captured on the 29th April/5th May/13th May. The GNSS data include GPS,GLONASS and BDS, and its sampling rate is 1s. The GNSS observations are processed with the Point Precise Positioning (PPP) algorithm by our software. The Precipitable Water Vapor (PWV) is better than 3mm accuracy, which is consistent with the results from NAVCOM and FUFRO. The GNSS derived PWV are compared with those from HY-2A CMR on the three cross-points. Their differences are -1.68mm,-0.88mm and -2.21mm respectively, and the average is -1.58mm. This result means the CMR derived PWV is good agreement with that from GNSS. It demonstrates that the HY-2A satellite has the ability of high accuracy water vapor measurement. It is quite beneficial to the radar altimeter for sea surface height measurements.

An Investigation of Instantaneous Plume Rise from Rocket Exhaust

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-12-01

METERS) TOP = 2973.48 BASE= 210.62 SIGMAR (AZ) AT THE SURFACE (DEGREES) 13.5054 SIGMER(EL) AT THE SURFACE (DEGREES) 2.9738 MET. WIND WIND LAYER WIND SPEED...SELECTED LAYER HEIGHT- (METERS) TOP = 2973.48 BASE= 210.62 SIGMAR (AZ) AT THE SURFACE (DEGREES) 13.6911 SIGMER(EL) AT THE SURFACE (DEGREES) 2.9738 MET...TIME (SECS) 368.08 FIRST MIXING LAYER HEIGHT- (METERS) TOP = 210.62 BASE= 0.00 SECOND SELECTED LAYER HEIGHT- (METERS) TOP = 2973.48 BASE= 210.62 SIGMAR

Schottky barrier diode based on β-Ga2O3 (100) single crystal substrate and its temperature-dependent electrical characteristics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Qiming; Mu, Wenxiang; Dong, Hang; Long, Shibing; Jia, Zhitai; Lv, Hangbing; Liu, Qi; Tang, Minghua; Tao, Xutang; Liu, Ming

2017-02-01

The Pt/β-Ga2O3 Schottky barrier diode and its temperature-dependent current-voltage characteristics were investigated for power device application. The edge-defined film-fed growth (EFG) technique was utilized to grow the (100)-oriented β-Ga2O3 single crystal substrate that shows good crystal quality characterized by X-ray diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscope. Ohmic and Schottky electrodes were fabricated by depositing Ti and Pt metals on the two surfaces, respectively. Through the current-voltage (I-V) measurement under different temperature and the thermionic emission modeling, the fabricated Pt/β-Ga2O3 Schottky diode was found to show good performances at room temperature, including rectification ratio of 1010, ideality factor (n) of 1.1, Schottky barrier height (ΦB) of 1.39 eV, threshold voltage (Vbi) of 1.07 V, ON-resistance (RON) of 12.5 mΩ.cm2, forward current density at 2 V (J@2V) of 56 A/cm2, and saturation current density (J0) of 2 × 10-16 A/cm2. The effective donor concentration Nd - Na was calculated to be about 2.3 × 1014 cm3. Good temperature dependent performance was also found in the device. The Schottky barrier height was estimated to be about 1.3 eV-1.39 eV at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 150 °C. With increasing temperature, parameters such as RON and J@2V become better, proving that the diode can work well at high temperature. The EFG grown β-Ga2O3 single crystal is a promising material to be used in the power devices.

Atmospheric sensitivity to land surface changes: comparing the impact of albedo, roughness, and evaporative resistance on near-surface air temperature using an idealized land model.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lague, M. M.; Swann, A. L. S.; Bonan, G. B.

2017-12-01

Past studies have demonstrated how changes in vegetation can impact the atmosphere; however, it is often difficult to identify the exact physical pathway through which vegetation changes drive an atmospheric response. Surface properties (such as vegetation color, or height) control surface energy fluxes, which feed back on the atmosphere on both local and global scales by modifying temperatures, cloud cover, and energy gradients. Understanding how land surface properties influence energy fluxes is crucial for improving our understanding of how vegetation change - past, present, and future - impacts the atmosphere, global climate, and people. We explore the sensitivity of the atmosphere to perturbations of three land surface properties - albedo, roughness, and evaporative resistance - using an idealized land model coupled to an Earth System Model. We derive a relationship telling us how large a change in each surface property is required to drive a local 0.1 K change in 2m air temperature. Using this idealized framework, we are able to separate the influence on the atmosphere of each individual surface property. We demonstrate that the impact of each surface property on the atmosphere is spatially variable - that is, a similar change in vegetation can have different climate impacts if made in different locations. This analysis not only improves our understanding of how the land system can influence climate, but also provides us with a set of theoretical limits on the potential climate impact of arbitrary vegetation change (natural or anthropogenic).

Trawling bats exploit an echo-acoustic ground effect

PubMed Central

Zsebok, Sandor; Kroll, Ferdinand; Heinrich, Melina; Genzel, Daria; Siemers, Björn M.; Wiegrebe, Lutz

2013-01-01

A water surface acts not only as an optic mirror but also as an acoustic mirror. Echolocation calls emitted by bats at low heights above water are reflected away from the bat, and hence the background clutter is reduced. Moreover, targets on the surface create an enhanced echo. Here, we formally quantified the effect of the surface and target height on both target detection and -discrimination in a combined laboratory and field approach with Myotis daubentonii. In a two-alternative, forced-choice paradigm, the bats had to detect a mealworm and discriminate it from an inedible dummy (20 mm PVC disc). Psychophysical performance was measured as a function of height above either smooth surfaces (water or PVC) or above a clutter surface (artificial grass). At low heights above the clutter surface (10, 20, or 35 cm), the bats' detection performance was worse than above a smooth surface. At a height of 50 cm, the surface structure had no influence on target detection. Above the clutter surface, also target discrimination was significantly impaired with decreasing target height. A detailed analysis of the bats' echolocation calls during target approach shows that above the clutter surface, the bats produce calls with significantly higher peak frequency. Flight-path reconstruction revealed that the bats attacked an target from below over water but from above over a clutter surface. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that trawling bats exploit an echo-acoustic ground effect, in terms of a spatio-temporal integration of direct reflections with indirect reflections from the water surface, to optimize prey detection and -discrimination not only for prey on the water but also for some range above. PMID:23576990

Inverted Polarity Thunderstorms Linked with Elevated Cloud Base Height

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cummins, K. L.; Williams, E.

2016-12-01

The great majority of thunderstorms worldwide exhibit gross positive dipole structure, produce intracloud lightning that reduces this positive dipole (positive intracloud flashes), and produce negative cloud-to-ground lightning from the lower negative end of this dipole. During the STEPS experiment in 2000 much new evidence for thunderstorms (or cells within multi-cellular storms) with inverted polarity came to light, both from balloon soundings of electric field and from LMA analysis. Many of the storms with inverted polarity cells developed in eastern Colorado. Fleenor et al. (2009) followed up after STEPS to document a dominance of positive polarity CG lightning in many of these cases. In the present study, surface thermodynamic observations (temperature and dew point temperature) have been used to estimate the cloud base heights and temperatures at the time of the Fleenor et al. lightning observations. It was found that when more than 90% of the observed CG lightning polarity within a storm is negative, the cloud base heights were low (2000 m AGL or lower, and warmer, with T>10 C), and when more than 90% of the observed CG lightning within a storm was positive, the cloud base heights were high (3000 m AGL or higher, and colder, with T< 2 C). Multi-cellular storms or temporally-evolving storms with mixed polarity were generally associated with intermediate cloud base heights. These findings on inverted polarity thunderstorms are remarkably consistent with results in other parts of the world where strong instability prevails in the presence of high cloud base height: the plateau regions of China (Liu et al., 1989; Qie et al., 2005), and in pre-monsoon India (Pawar et al., 2016), particularly when mixed polarity cases are excluded. Calculations of adiabatic cloud water content for lifting from near 0 oC cast some doubt on earlier speculation (Williams et al., 2005) that the graupel particles in these inverted polarity storms attain a wet growth condition, and so exhibit positive charging following laboratory experiments. This mechanism will be contrasted with the possibility of positive graupel charging associated with small droplet sizes (consistent with high cloud base) or through involvement of ice nuclei (Pawar et al., 2016) in the semiarid environments that frequently accompany inverted polarity storms.

MGS Radio Science Measurements of Atmospheric Dynamics on Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hinson, D. P.

2001-12-01

The Sun-synchronous, polar orbit of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) provides frequent opportunities for radio occultation sounding of the neutral atmosphere. The basic result of each experiment is a profile of pressure and temperature versus planetocentric radius and geopotential. More than 4000 profiles were obtained during the 687-day mapping phase of the mission, and additional observations are underway. These measurements allow detailed characterization of planetary-scale dynamics, including stationary planetary (or Rossby) waves and transient waves produced by instability. For example, both types of dynamics were observed near 67° S during midwinter of the southern hemisphere (Ls=134° --160° ). Planetary waves are the most prominent dynamical feature in this subset of data. At zonal wave number s=1, both the temperature and geopotential fields tilt westward with increasing height, as expected for vertically-propagating planetary waves forced at the surface. The wave-2 structure is more nearly barotropic. The amplitude in geopotential height at Ls=150° increases from ~200 m near the surface to ~700 m at 10 Pa. The corresponding meridional wind speed increases from ~5 m s-1 near the surface to ~20 m s-1 at 10 Pa. Traveling ``baroclinic'' waves also appear intermittently during this interval. The dominant mode has a period of ~2 sols, s=3, and a peak amplitude of ~7 K at 300 Pa. Stong zonal variations in eddy amplitude signal the presence of a possible ``storm zone'' at 150° --330° E longitude. This talk will include other examples of these phenomena as well as comparisons with computer simulations by a Martian general circulation model (MGCM).

Diagnosing Warm Season Precipitation Over the GCIP Region from a GCM and Reanalysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oglesby, Robert; Marshall, Susan; Roads, John; Robertson, Franklin R.

2000-01-01

A 45 year simulation using a global general circulation model (GCM), the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Climate Model v.3 (CCM3), forced with observed sea surface temperatures (SST), and 39 years of global National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalyses were analyzed to determine Mississippi River basin warm season (May, June, July or MJJ) wet and dry year composites in the water and energy budgets. Years that have increased MJJ soil moisture over the GEWEX (Global Water and Energy Experiment) Continental Interior Project (GCIP) region also have high precipitation, lower surface temperature, decreased Bowen ratio, and reduced 500 hPa geopotential height (essentially reduced MJJ ridging). The reverse is true for years that have reduced MJJ soil moisture. Wet years are also accompanied by a general increase in moisture transport from the Gulf of Mexico into the central U.S. There is some indication (though weaker) that soil moisture may then affect precipitation and other quantities and be affected in turn by 500 hPa geopotential heights. The correlations are somewhat low, however, demonstrating the difficulty in providing definitive physical links between the remote and local effects. Analysis of two individual years with an extreme wet event (1993) and an extreme dry event (1988) yields the same general relationships as with the wet and dry composites. The composites from this study are currently serving as the basis for a series of experiments aimed at determining the predictability of the land surface and remote SST on the Mississippi River basin and other large-scale river basins.

Additions to Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model (MARS-GRAM)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Justus, C. G.; James, Bonnie

1992-01-01

Three major additions or modifications were made to the Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model (Mars-GRAM): (1) in addition to the interactive version, a new batch version is available, which uses NAMELIST input, and is completely modular, so that the main driver program can easily be replaced by any calling program, such as a trajectory simulation program; (2) both the interactive and batch versions now have an option for treating local-scale dust storm effects, rather than just the global-scale dust storms in the original Mars-GRAM; and (3) the Zurek wave perturbation model was added, to simulate the effects of tidal perturbations, in addition to the random (mountain wave) perturbation model of the original Mars-GRAM. A minor modification was also made which allows heights to go 'below' local terrain height and return 'realistic' pressure, density, and temperature, and not the surface values, as returned by the original Mars-GRAM. This feature will allow simulations of Mars rover paths which might go into local 'valley' areas which lie below the average height of the present, rather coarse-resolution, terrain height data used by Mars-GRAM. Sample input and output of both the interactive and batch versions of Mars-GRAM are presented.

Additions to Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model (Mars-GRAM)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Justus, C. G.

1991-01-01

Three major additions or modifications were made to the Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model (Mars-GRAM): (1) in addition to the interactive version, a new batch version is available, which uses NAMELIST input, and is completely modular, so that the main driver program can easily be replaced by any calling program, such as a trajectory simulation program; (2) both the interactive and batch versions now have an option for treating local-scale dust storm effects, rather than just the global-scale dust storms in the original Mars-GRAM; and (3) the Zurek wave perturbation model was added, to simulate the effects of tidal perturbations, in addition to the random (mountain wave) perturbation model of the original Mars-GRAM. A minor modification has also been made which allows heights to go below local terrain height and return realistic pressure, density, and temperature (not the surface values) as returned by the original Mars-GRAM. This feature will allow simulations of Mars rover paths which might go into local valley areas which lie below the average height of the present, rather coarse-resolution, terrain height data used by Mars-GRAM. Sample input and output of both the interactive and batch version of Mars-GRAM are presented.

Barrier height inhomogeneity in electrical transport characteristics of InGaN/GaN heterostructure interfaces

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

Roul, Basanta; Central Research Laboratory, Bharat Electronics, Bangalore 560013; Mukundan, Shruti

2015-03-15

We have grown InGaN/GaN heterostructures using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy and studied the temperature dependent electrical transport characteristics. The barrier height (φ{sub b}) and the ideally factor (η) estimated using thermionic emission model were found to be temperature dependent. The conventional Richardson plot of ln(J{sub s}/T{sup 2}) versus 1/kT showed two temperature regions (region-I: 400–500 K and region-II: 200–350 K) and it provides Richardson constants (A{sup ∗}) which are much lower than the theoretical value of GaN. The observed variation in the barrier height and the presence of two temperature regions were attributed to spatial barrier inhomogeneities at the heterojunctionmore » interface and was explained by assuming a double Gaussian distribution of barrier heights with mean barrier height values 1.61 and 1.21 eV with standard deviation (σ{sub s}{sup 2}) of 0.044 and 0.022 V, respectively. The modified Richardson plot of ln(J{sub s}/T{sup 2}) − (q{sup 2}σ{sub s}{sup 2}/2k{sup 2}T{sup 2}) versus 1/kT for two temperature regions gave mean barrier height values as 1.61 eV and 1.22 eV with Richardson constants (A{sup ∗}) values 25.5 Acm{sup −2}K{sup −2} and 43.9 Acm{sup −2}K{sup −2}, respectively, which are very close to the theoretical value. The observed barrier height inhomogeneities were interpreted on the basis of the existence of a double Gaussian distribution of barrier heights at the interface.« less

Frozen-wave instability in near-critical hydrogen subjected to horizontal vibration under various gravity fields.

PubMed

Gandikota, G; Chatain, D; Amiroudine, S; Lyubimova, T; Beysens, D

2014-01-01

The frozen-wave instability which appears at a liquid-vapor interface when a harmonic vibration is applied in a direction tangential to it has been less studied until now. The present paper reports experiments on hydrogen (H2) in order to study this instability when the temperature is varied near its critical point for various gravity levels. Close to the critical point, a liquid-vapor density difference and surface tension can be continuously varied with temperature in a scaled, universal way. The effect of gravity on the height of the frozen waves at the interface is studied by performing the experiments in a magnetic facility where effective gravity that results from the coupling of the Earth's gravity and magnetic forces can be varied. The stability diagram of the instability is obtained. The experiments show a good agreement with an inviscid model [Fluid Dyn. 21 849 (1987)], irrespective of the gravity level. It is observed in the experiments that the height of the frozen waves varies weakly with temperature and increases with a decrease in the gravity level, according to a power law with an exponent of 0.7. It is concluded that the wave height becomes of the order of the cell size as the gravity level is asymptotically decreased to zero. The interface pattern thus appears as a bandlike pattern of alternate liquid and vapor phases, a puzzling phenomenon that was observed with CO2 and H2 near their critical point in weightlessness [Acta Astron. 61 1002 (2007); Europhys. Lett. 86 16003 (2009)].

Interactions between Shrubs and Permafrost in the Torngat Mountains, Northern Labrador, Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewkowicz, A.; Way, R. G.; Hermanutz, L.; Trant, A.; Siegwart Collier, L.; Whitaker, D.

2017-12-01

Discontinuous permafrost is acutely sensitive to climate warming and vegetation dynamics. Shrub height is positively correlated with accumulation of snow in the tundra resulting in warming of the ground in winter, and greater shading and lower surface temperatures in summer. Rapid greening due to climate warming has been observed throughout northeastern Canada and particularly in the coastal mountainous terrain of the Torngat Mountains National Park. Our research examines how this shrubification in the Torngat Mountains is modifying permafrost characteristics using observations which extend over a 100 km south-north transect from the sporadic zone (Saglek, Torr Bay) to where permafrost is widespread (Nakvak Brook, Kangalaksiorvik Lake) and potentially continuous (Komaktorvik River). We use air and ground temperature monitoring, vegetation surveys, dendrochronology, frost probing and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) to describe the complex interactions between shrub growth, geomorphology, climate and permafrost in a region where climate warming is rapidly altering the landscape. Preliminary analysis of field data shows low resistivity anomalies in the ERT profiles at some sites with thin permafrost, interpreted as unfrozen zones correlated with areas of tall shrubs (Alnus spp., Salix spp. and Betula glandulosa; ranging from prostrate to 2 m). Elsewhere, high resistivities extend to the base of the ERT profiles, indicating thicker permafrost, and no obvious impact of medium to low-prostrate shrubs (Salix spp., Betula glandulosa, Rhododendron spp., and Vaccinium spp.; up to 50 cm). Permafrost is interpreted to be present at most sites with low or prostrate shrubs, except where hydrological conditions favour warmer ground temperatures. We infer that the net impact of increasing shrub heights on the active layer and permafrost depends on antecedent ground temperatures and surficial geology. Increasing shrub heights may cause permafrost degradation at sites where mean ground temperatures are close to 0°C and rising due to climate warming. A deeper active layer or loss of permafrost in turn could affect hydrological conditions, potentially influencing shrub size and species composition.

Interactions between Shrubs and Permafrost in the Torngat Mountains, Northern Labrador, Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewkowicz, A.; Way, R. G.; Hermanutz, L.; Trant, A.; Siegwart Collier, L.; Whitaker, D.

2016-12-01

Discontinuous permafrost is acutely sensitive to climate warming and vegetation dynamics. Shrub height is positively correlated with accumulation of snow in the tundra resulting in warming of the ground in winter, and greater shading and lower surface temperatures in summer. Rapid greening due to climate warming has been observed throughout northeastern Canada and particularly in the coastal mountainous terrain of the Torngat Mountains National Park. Our research examines how this shrubification in the Torngat Mountains is modifying permafrost characteristics using observations which extend over a 100 km south-north transect from the sporadic zone (Saglek, Torr Bay) to where permafrost is widespread (Nakvak Brook, Kangalaksiorvik Lake) and potentially continuous (Komaktorvik River). We use air and ground temperature monitoring, vegetation surveys, dendrochronology, frost probing and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) to describe the complex interactions between shrub growth, geomorphology, climate and permafrost in a region where climate warming is rapidly altering the landscape. Preliminary analysis of field data shows low resistivity anomalies in the ERT profiles at some sites with thin permafrost, interpreted as unfrozen zones correlated with areas of tall shrubs (Alnus spp., Salix spp. and Betula glandulosa; ranging from prostrate to 2 m). Elsewhere, high resistivities extend to the base of the ERT profiles, indicating thicker permafrost, and no obvious impact of medium to low-prostrate shrubs (Salix spp., Betula glandulosa, Rhododendron spp., and Vaccinium spp.; up to 50 cm). Permafrost is interpreted to be present at most sites with low or prostrate shrubs, except where hydrological conditions favour warmer ground temperatures. We infer that the net impact of increasing shrub heights on the active layer and permafrost depends on antecedent ground temperatures and surficial geology. Increasing shrub heights may cause permafrost degradation at sites where mean ground temperatures are close to 0°C and rising due to climate warming. A deeper active layer or loss of permafrost in turn could affect hydrological conditions, potentially influencing shrub size and species composition.

A study on metallic thermal protection system panel for Reusable Launch Vehicle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caogen, Yao; Hongjun, Lü; Zhonghua, Jia; Xinchao, Jia; Yan, Lu; Haigang, Li

2008-07-01

A Ni-based superalloy honeycomb thermal protection system (TPS) panel has been fabricated. And a curved Ni-based superalloy honeycomb sandwich has also been fabricated. The preliminary thermal insulation results of a fabricated Ni-based superalloy honeycomb TPS panel (the areal density of this panel is 6.7 kg /m2 and total height is 32 mm) indicate that the maximum temperature of the lower surfaces of the panel is lower than 150∘ C when the temperature of outer surface is held at 650∘ C for 30 min. The flatwise tensile strength and compressive properties of a fabricated Ni-based superalloy honeycomb sandwich coupon was studied at room temperature. A multilayered coating has been developed on the surface of the superalloy honeycomb TPS panel for environmental protection and thermal control. The oxidation weight-change results show that the weight change of the Ni-based superalloy honeycomb sandwich with the oxidation resistant coating is extremely small at 1100∘ C in air for 10 h. The emittance layer of the multilayered coating imparts an emittance in excess of 0.85 during exposure at 850∘ C, which was at least 14% greater than that of the substrate with oxidation resistant alone.

The numerical modeling the sensitivity of coastal wind and ozone concentration to different SST forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Hyun-Jung; Lee, Hwa Woon; Jeon, Won-Bae; Lee, Soon-Hwan

2012-01-01

This study evaluated an atmospheric and air quality model of the spatial variability in low-level coastal winds and ozone concentration, which are affected by sea surface temperature (SST) forcing with different thermal gradients. Several numerical experiments examined the effect of sea surface SST forcing on the coastal atmosphere and air quality. In this study, the RAMS-CAMx model was used to estimate the sensitivity to two different resolutions of SST forcing during the episode day as well as to simulate the low-level coastal winds and ozone concentration over a complex coastal area. The regional model reproduced the qualitative effect of SST forcing and thermal gradients on the coastal flow. The high-resolution SST derived from NGSST-O (New Generation Sea Surface Temperature Open Ocean) forcing to resolve the warm SST appeared to enhance the mean response of low-level winds to coastal regions. These wind variations have important implications for coastal air quality. A higher ozone concentration was forecasted when SST data with a high resolution was used with the appropriate limitation of temperature, regional wind circulation, vertical mixing height and nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) near coastal areas.

Fashion versus perception: the impact of surface lightness on the perceived dimensions of interior space.

PubMed

Oberfeld, Daniel; Hecht, Heiko

2011-06-01

We compare expert opinion with perceptual judgment regarding the influence of color on the perceived height and width of interior rooms. We hypothesize that contrary to popular belief, ceiling and wall lightness have additive effects on perceived height, whereas the lightness contrast between these surfaces is less important. We assessed the intuitions of architectural experts as to which surface colors maximize apparent height and compared these intuitions with psychophysical height and width estimates for rooms differing in ceiling, floor, and wall lightness. Experiment 1 was a survey of architectural experts and nonexperts. Experiments 2 and 3 presented virtual rooms varying in physical height, physical width, and surface lightness. In Experiment 1, both experts and nonexperts erroneously assumed that the lightness contrast between ceiling and walls influences perceived height Experiment 2 showed that the lightness contrast does not determine apparent height but that ceiling and wall lightness have additive effects. Experiment 3 demonstrated a decrease in perceived width with physical height, whereas the perceived height was not related to physical width. Apparent width was unaffected by ceiling lightness. Light ceiling and light walls make a room appear higher, whereas floor color has a weaker effect. We also found evidence for an asymmetric interaction between height and width. The question of how to color walls and ceiling to maximize the apparent size of a room can be answered empirically. Aesthetic considerations may interfere with the correct assessment of the effects of color in experts.

Detection of subsurface-intensified eddies from observations of the sea-surface: a case study for Mediterranean Water Eddies in a long-term high-resolution simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ciani, Daniele; Carton, Xavier; Barbosa Aguiar, Ana Claudia; Peliz, Alvaro; Bashmachnikov, Igor; Ienna, Federico; Chapron, Bertrand

2017-04-01

Subsurface-intensified eddies are ubiquitous in the world ocean. They can be generated by exchanges of water masses between semi-enclosed evaporation basins and the open ocean or by deep convection. Past and recent studies have shown that these eddies are carriers of large amounts of heat and salt, that they are coherent over inter-annual timescales and that they can migrate for several thousands of miles from their origination areas towards the open ocean. Hence, subsurface-intensified eddies can influence the three-dimensional distribution of oceanic tracers at global scale. The synoptic knowledge of the eddies positions and mean pathways is then crucial for evaluating temperature and salinity budgets in the world ocean. At present day, satellite sensors constitute the ideal tool for the synoptic and global scale observations of the ocean. Since they only provide informations on the oceanic surface, we characterized the signatures that subsurface eddies generate at the sea-surface, to determine the extent to which they can be isolated from the surrounding surface turbulence and be considered as a trace of an underlying eddy. We studied the surface signature of subsurface-intensified anticyclones (Mediterranean Water Eddies - Meddies) in a realistic, long-term (20 years) and high resolution simulation (dx = 3 km) based on the ROMS model. The novelty and advantage of this approach is given by the simultaneous availability of the full 3D eddies characteristics, the ones of the background ocean and of the sea-surface (in terms of sea-surface height, temperature and salinity). This also allowed us to speculate on a synergy between different satellite observations for the automatic detection of subsurface eddies from space. The along trajectory properties and surface signatures of more than 90 long-lived Meddies were analyzed. We showed that the Meddies constantly generate positive anomalies in sea-surface height and that these anomalies are principally related to the Meddy potential vorticity structure at depth (around 1000 m below the sea-surface). Such anomalies were long-lived, mostly migrated exhibiting southwestward trajectories, their intensities were O(10 cm) and extended horizontally up to more than 300 km (around 1.5 times the Meddy diameter). On the other hand, the Meddies thermohaline surface signatures proved to be mostly dominated by the local surface conditions and their structure poorly correlated to the Meddy structure at depth (e.g. the Meddy volume-integrated salt and temperature content). These results point out that satellite altimetry is the most suitable approach to track subsurface-intensified eddies from observations of the sea-surface, also encouraging the use of future high-resolution altimetric observations (e.g. SWOT) to detect subsurface oceanic motions from satellite sensors.

Temperature dependent electrical characteristics of Zn/ZnSe/n-GaAs/In structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sağlam, M.; Güzeldir, B.

2016-04-01

We have reported a study of the I-V characteristics of Zn/ZnSe/n-GaAs/In sandwich structure in a wide temperature range of 80-300 K by a step of 20 K, which are prepared by Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) method. The main electrical parameters, such as ideality factor and zero-bias barrier height determined from the forward bias I-V characteristics were found strongly depend on temperature and when the increased, the n decreased with increasing temperature. The ideality factor and barrier height values as a function of the sample temperature have been attributed to the presence of the lateral inhomogeneities of the barrier height. Furthermore, the series resistance have been calculated from the I-V measurements as a function of temperature dependent.

Direct-write three-dimensional nanofabrication of nanopyramids and nanocones on Si by nanotumefaction using a helium ion microscope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, L.; Heinig, N. F.; Bazargan, S.; Abd-Ellah, M.; Moghimi, N.; Leung, K. T.

2015-06-01

The recently commercialized helium ion microscope (HIM) has already demonstrated its outstanding imaging capabilities in terms of resolution, surface sensitivity, depth of field and ease of charge compensation. Here, we show its exceptional patterning capabilities by fabricating dense lines and three-dimensional (3D) nanostructures on a Si substrate. Small focusing spot size and confined ion-Si interaction volume of a high-energy helium ion beam account for the high resolution in HIM patterning. We demonstrate that a set of resolvable parallel lines with a half pitch as small as 3.5 nm can be achieved. During helium ion bombardment of the Si surface, implantation outperforms milling due to the small mass of the helium ions, which produces tumefaction instead of depression in the Si surface. The Si surface tumefaction is the result of different kinetic processes including diffusion, coalescence and nanobubble formation of the implanted ions, and is found to be very stable structurally at room temperature. Under appropriate conditions, a linear dependence of the surface swollen height on the ion doses can be observed. This relation has enabled us to fabricate nanopyramids and nanocones, thus demonstrating that HIM patterning provides a new ‘bottom-up’ approach to fabricate 3D nanostructures. This surface tumefaction method is direct, both positioning and height accurate, and free of resist, etch, mode and precursor, and it promises new applications in nanoimprint mold fabrication and photomask clear defect reparation.

An investigation of current and future satellite and in-situ data for the remote sensing of the land surface energy balance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Diak, George R.

1994-01-01

This final report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) summarizes a research program designed to improve our knowledge of the water and energy balance of the land surface through the application of remote sensing and in-situ data sources. The remote sensing data source investigations to be detailed involve surface radiometric ('skin') temperatures and also high-spectral-resolution infrared radiance data from atmospheric sounding instruments projected to be available at the end of the decade, which have shown promising results for evaluating the land-surface water and energy budget. The in-situ data types to be discussed are measurements of the temporal changes of the height of the planetary boundary layer and measurements of air temperature within the planetary boundary layer. Physical models of the land surface, planetary boundary layer and free atmosphere have been used as important tools to interpret the in-situ and remote sensing signals of the surface energy balance. A prototype 'optimal' system for combining multiple data sources into a three-dimensional estimate of the surface energy balance was developed and first results from this system will be detailed. Potential new sources of data for this system and suggested continuation research will also be discussed.

Control of spectral transmission enhancement properties of random anti-reflecting surface structures fabricated using gold masking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peltier, Abigail; Sapkota, Gopal; Potter, Matthew; Busse, Lynda E.; Frantz, Jesse A.; Shaw, L. Brandon; Sanghera, Jasbinder S.; Aggarwal, Ishwar D.; Poutous, Menelaos K.

2017-02-01

Random anti-reflecting subwavelength surface structures (rARSS) have been shown to suppress Fresnel reflection and scatter from optical surfaces. The structures effectively function as a gradient-refractive-index at the substrate boundary, and the spectral transmission properties of the boundary have been shown to depend on the structure's statistical properties (diameter, height, and density.) We fabricated rARSS on fused silica substrates using gold masking. A thin layer of gold was deposited on the surface of the substrate and then subjected to a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process at various temperatures. This RTA process resulted in the formation of gold "islands" on the surface of the substrate, which then acted as a mask while the substrate was dry etched in a reactive ion etching (RIE) process. The plasma etch yielded a fused silica surface covered with randomly arranged "rods" that act as the anti-reflective layer. We present data relating the physical characteristics of the gold "island" statistical populations, and the resulting rARSS "rod" population, as well as, optical scattering losses and spectral transmission properties of the final surfaces. We focus on comparing results between samples processed at different RTA temperatures, as well as samples fabricated without undergoing RTA, to relate fabrication process statistics to transmission enhancement values.

The reflectivity, wettability and scratch durability of microsurface features molded in the injection molding process using a dynamic tool tempering system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuhn, Sascha; Burr, August; Kübler, Michael; Deckert, Matthias; Bleesen, Christoph

2011-02-01

In this paper the replication qualities of periodically and randomly arranged micro-features molded in the injection molding process and their effects on surface properties are studied. The features are molded in PC, PMMA and PP at different mold wall temperatures in order to point out the necessity and profitability of a variotherm mold wall temperature control system. A one-dimensional heat conduction model is proposed to predict the cycle times of the variotherm injection molding processes. With regard to these processes, the molding results are compared to the molded surface feature heights using an atomic force microscope. In addition, the effects of the molded surface features on macroscopic surfaces are characterized in terms of light reflection using a spectrometer and in terms of water wettability by measuring the static contact angle. Furthermore, due to the sensitivity of the surface features on the molded parts, their durability is compared in a scratch test with a diamond tip. This leads to successful implementation in applications in which the optical appearance, in terms of gloss and reflection, and the water repellence, in terms of drag flow and adhesion, are of importance.

Thermally induced delay and reversal of liquid film dewetting on chemically patterned surfaces.

PubMed

Kalpathy, Sreeram K; Francis, Lorraine F; Kumar, Satish

2013-10-15

A thin liquid film resting on a solid substrate that is heated or cooled from below experiences surface tension gradients, which lead to Marangoni flows. We explore the behavior of such a film on a chemically patterned substrate which drives film dewetting in order to determine how surface patterning and applied temperature gradients can be designed to influence the behavior of thin-film coatings. A nonlinear partial differential equation for the film height based on lubrication theory is solved numerically for a broad range of problem parameters. Uniform cooling of the substrate is found to significantly delay dewetting that is driven by wettability gradients. Uniform heating speeds up dewetting but can destroy the near-perfect templating imposed by the surface patterning. However, localized heating and cooling together can accelerate dewetting while maintaining templating quality. Localized heating and cooling can also be used to drive liquid onto areas that it would dewet from in the absence of heating. Overall, these results indicate that applied temperature gradients can significantly influence dewetting driven by surface patterning, and suggest strategies for the creation of spatially patterned thin-film coatings and flow control in microfluidic devices. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Plant traits determine forest flammability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zylstra, Philip; Bradstock, Ross

2016-04-01

Carbon and nutrient cycles in forest ecosystems are influenced by their inherent flammability - a property determined by the traits of the component plant species that form the fuel and influence the micro climate of a fire. In the absence of a model capable of explaining the complexity of such a system however, flammability is frequently represented by simple metrics such as surface fuel load. The implications of modelling fire - flammability feedbacks using surface fuel load were examined and compared to a biophysical, mechanistic model (Forest Flammability Model) that incorporates the influence of structural plant traits (e.g. crown shape and spacing) and leaf traits (e.g. thickness, dimensions and moisture). Fuels burn with values of combustibility modelled from leaf traits, transferring convective heat along vectors defined by flame angle and with plume temperatures that decrease with distance from the flame. Flames are re-calculated in one-second time-steps, with new leaves within the plant, neighbouring plants or higher strata ignited when the modelled time to ignition is reached, and other leaves extinguishing when their modelled flame duration is exceeded. The relative influence of surface fuels, vegetation structure and plant leaf traits were examined by comparing flame heights modelled using three treatments that successively added these components within the FFM. Validation was performed across a diverse range of eucalypt forests burnt under widely varying conditions during a forest fire in the Brindabella Ranges west of Canberra (ACT) in 2003. Flame heights ranged from 10 cm to more than 20 m, with an average of 4 m. When modelled from surface fuels alone, flame heights were on average 1.5m smaller than observed values, and were predicted within the error range 28% of the time. The addition of plant structure produced predicted flame heights that were on average 1.5m larger than observed, but were correct 53% of the time. The over-prediction in this case was the result of a small number of large errors, where higher strata such as forest canopy were modelled to ignite but did not. The addition of leaf traits largely addressed this error, so that the mean flame height over-prediction was reduced to 0.3m and the fully parameterised FFM gave correct predictions 62% of the time. When small (<1m) flames were excluded, the fully parameterised model correctly predicted flame heights 12 times more often than could be predicted using surface fuels alone, and the Mean Absolute Error was 4 times smaller. The inadequate consideration of plant traits within a mechanistic framework introduces significant error to forest fire behaviour modelling. The FFM provides a solution to this, and an avenue by which plant trait information can be used to better inform Global Vegetation Models and decision-making tools used to mitigate the impacts of fire.

Definition of Physical Height Systems for Telluric Planets and Moons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tenzer, Robert; Foroughi, Ismael; Sjöberg, Lars E.; Bagherbandi, Mohammad; Hirt, Christian; Pitoňák, Martin

2018-01-01

In planetary sciences, the geodetic (geometric) heights defined with respect to the reference surface (the sphere or the ellipsoid) or with respect to the center of the planet/moon are typically used for mapping topographic surface, compilation of global topographic models, detailed mapping of potential landing sites, and other space science and engineering purposes. Nevertheless, certain applications, such as studies of gravity-driven mass movements, require the physical heights to be defined with respect to the equipotential surface. Taking the analogy with terrestrial height systems, the realization of height systems for telluric planets and moons could be done by means of defining the orthometric and geoidal heights. In this case, however, the definition of the orthometric heights in principle differs. Whereas the terrestrial geoid is described as an equipotential surface that best approximates the mean sea level, such a definition for planets/moons is irrelevant in the absence of (liquid) global oceans. A more natural choice for planets and moons is to adopt the geoidal equipotential surface that closely approximates the geometric reference surface (the sphere or the ellipsoid). In this study, we address these aspects by proposing a more accurate approach for defining the orthometric heights for telluric planets and moons from available topographic and gravity models, while adopting the average crustal density in the absence of reliable crustal density models. In particular, we discuss a proper treatment of topographic masses in the context of gravimetric geoid determination. In numerical studies, we investigate differences between the geodetic and orthometric heights, represented by the geoidal heights, on Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Moon. Our results reveal that these differences are significant. The geoidal heights on Mercury vary from - 132 to 166 m. On Venus, the geoidal heights are between - 51 and 137 m with maxima on this planet at Atla Regio and Beta Regio. The largest geoid undulations between - 747 and 1685 m were found on Mars, with the extreme positive geoidal heights under Olympus Mons in Tharsis region. Large variations in the geoidal geometry are also confirmed on the Moon, with the geoidal heights ranging from - 298 to 461 m. For comparison, the terrestrial geoid undulations are mostly within ± 100 m. We also demonstrate that a commonly used method for computing the geoidal heights that disregards the differences between the gravity field outside and inside topographic masses yields relatively large errors. According to our estimates, these errors are - 0.3/+ 3.4 m for Mercury, 0.0/+ 13.3 m for Venus, - 1.4/+ 125.6 m for Mars, and - 5.6/+ 45.2 m for the Moon.

Improving NOAA's NWLON Through Enhanced Data Inputs from NASA's Ocean Surface Topography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guest, DeNeice C.

2010-01-01

This report assesses the benefit of incorporating NASA's OSTM (Ocean Surface Topography Mission) altimeter data (C- and Ku-band) into NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) NWLON (National Water Level Observation Network) DSS (Decision Support System). This data will enhance the NWLON DSS by providing additional inforrnation because not all stations collect all meteorological parameters (sea-surface height, ocean tides, wave height, and wind speed over waves). OSTM will also provide data where NWLON stations are not present. OSTM will provide data on seasurface heights for determining sea-level rise and ocean circulation. Researchers and operational users currently use satellite altimeter data products with the GSFCOO NASA data model to obtain sea-surface height and ocean circulation inforrnation. Accurate and tirnely inforrnation concerning sea-level height, tide, and ocean currents is needed to irnprove coastal tidal predictions, tsunarni and storm surge warnings, and wetland restoration.

A simple strategy to realize biomimetic surfaces with controlled anisotropic wetting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Dong; Chen, Qi-Dai; Yao, Jia; Guan, Yong-Chao; Wang, Jian-Nan; Niu, Li-Gang; Fang, Hong-Hua; Sun, Hong-Bo

2010-02-01

The study of anisotropic wetting has become one of the most important research areas in biomimicry. However, realization of controlled anisotropic surfaces remains challenging. Here we investigated anisotropic wetting on grooves with different linewidth, period, and height fabricated by laser interference lithography and found that the anisotropy strongly depended on the height. The anisotropy significantly increased from 9° to 48° when the height was changed from 100 nm to 1.3 μm. This was interpreted by a thermodynamic model as a consequence of the increase of free energy barriers versus the height increase. According to the relationship, controlled anisotropic surfaces were rapidly realized by adjusting the grooves' height that was simply accomplished by changing the resin thickness. Finally, the perpendicular contact angle was further enhanced to 131°±2° by surface modification, which was very close to 135°±3° of a common grass leaf.

Large-eddy simulations of surface roughness parameter sensitivity to canopy-structure characteristics

DOE PAGES

Maurer, K. D.; Bohrer, G.; Kenny, W. T.; ...

2015-04-30

Surface roughness parameters, namely the roughness length and displacement height, are an integral input used to model surface fluxes. However, most models assume these parameters to be a fixed property of plant functional type and disregard the governing structural heterogeneity and dynamics. In this study, we use large-eddy simulations to explore, in silico, the effects of canopy-structure characteristics on surface roughness parameters. We performed a virtual experiment to test the sensitivity of resolved surface roughness to four axes of canopy structure: (1) leaf area index, (2) the vertical profile of leaf density, (3) canopy height, and (4) canopy gap fraction.more » We found roughness parameters to be highly variable, but uncovered positive relationships between displacement height and maximum canopy height, aerodynamic canopy height and maximum canopy height and leaf area index, and eddy-penetration depth and gap fraction. We also found negative relationships between aerodynamic canopy height and gap fraction, as well as between eddy-penetration depth and maximum canopy height and leaf area index. We generalized our model results into a virtual "biometric" parameterization that relates roughness length and displacement height to canopy height, leaf area index, and gap fraction. Using a decade of wind and canopy-structure observations in a site in Michigan, we tested the effectiveness of our model-driven biometric parameterization approach in predicting the friction velocity over heterogeneous and disturbed canopies. We compared the accuracy of these predictions with the friction-velocity predictions obtained from the common simple approximation related to canopy height, the values calculated with large-eddy simulations of the explicit canopy structure as measured by airborne and ground-based lidar, two other parameterization approaches that utilize varying canopy-structure inputs, and the annual and decadal means of the surface roughness parameters at the site from meteorological observations. We found that the classical representation of constant roughness parameters (in space and time) as a fraction of canopy height performed relatively well. Nonetheless, of the approaches we tested, most of the empirical approaches that incorporate seasonal and interannual variation of roughness length and displacement height as a function of the dynamics of canopy structure produced more precise and less biased estimates for friction velocity than models with temporally invariable parameters.« less

Large-eddy simulations of surface roughness parameter sensitivity to canopy-structure characteristics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maurer, K. D.; Bohrer, G.; Kenny, W. T.; Ivanov, V. Y.

2015-04-01

Surface roughness parameters, namely the roughness length and displacement height, are an integral input used to model surface fluxes. However, most models assume these parameters to be a fixed property of plant functional type and disregard the governing structural heterogeneity and dynamics. In this study, we use large-eddy simulations to explore, in silico, the effects of canopy-structure characteristics on surface roughness parameters. We performed a virtual experiment to test the sensitivity of resolved surface roughness to four axes of canopy structure: (1) leaf area index, (2) the vertical profile of leaf density, (3) canopy height, and (4) canopy gap fraction. We found roughness parameters to be highly variable, but uncovered positive relationships between displacement height and maximum canopy height, aerodynamic canopy height and maximum canopy height and leaf area index, and eddy-penetration depth and gap fraction. We also found negative relationships between aerodynamic canopy height and gap fraction, as well as between eddy-penetration depth and maximum canopy height and leaf area index. We generalized our model results into a virtual "biometric" parameterization that relates roughness length and displacement height to canopy height, leaf area index, and gap fraction. Using a decade of wind and canopy-structure observations in a site in Michigan, we tested the effectiveness of our model-driven biometric parameterization approach in predicting the friction velocity over heterogeneous and disturbed canopies. We compared the accuracy of these predictions with the friction-velocity predictions obtained from the common simple approximation related to canopy height, the values calculated with large-eddy simulations of the explicit canopy structure as measured by airborne and ground-based lidar, two other parameterization approaches that utilize varying canopy-structure inputs, and the annual and decadal means of the surface roughness parameters at the site from meteorological observations. We found that the classical representation of constant roughness parameters (in space and time) as a fraction of canopy height performed relatively well. Nonetheless, of the approaches we tested, most of the empirical approaches that incorporate seasonal and interannual variation of roughness length and displacement height as a function of the dynamics of canopy structure produced more precise and less biased estimates for friction velocity than models with temporally invariable parameters.

Influence of the 11-year solar cycle on the effects of the equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation, manifesting in the extratropical northern atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sitnov, S. A.

2009-01-01

Using the longest and most reliable ozonesonde data sets grouped for four regions (Japan, Europe, as well as temperate and polar latitudes of Canada) the comparative analysis of regional responses of ozone, temperature, horizontal wind, tropopause and surface pressure on the equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO effects), manifesting in opposite phases of the 11-year solar cycle (11-yr SC) was carried out. The impact of solar cycle is found to be the strongest at the Canadian Arctic, near one of two climatological centres of polar vortex, where in solar maximum conditions the QBO signals in ozone and temperature have much larger amplitudes, embrace greater range of heights, and are maximized much higher than those in solar minimum conditions. The strengthening of the temperature QBO effect during solar maxima can explain why correlation between the 11-yr SC and polar winter stratospheric temperature is reversed in the opposite QBO phases. At the border of polar vortex the 11-yr SC also modulates the QBO effect in zonal wind, strengthening the quasi-biennial modulation of polar vortex during solar maxima that is associated with strong negative correlation between stratospheric QBO signals in zonal wind and temperature. Above Japan the QBO effects of ozone, temperature, and zonal wind, manifesting in solar maxima reveal the downward phase dynamics, reminding similar feature of the zonal wind in the equatorial stratosphere. Above Europe, the QBO effects in solar maxima reveal more similarity with those above Japan, while in solar minima with the effects obtained at the Canadian middle-latitude stations. It is revealed that the 11-yr SC influences regional QBO effects in tropopause height, tropopause temperature and surface pressure. The influence most distinctly manifest itself in tropopause characteristics above Japan. The results of the accompanying analysis of the QBO reference time series testify that in the period of 1965-2006 above 50-hPa level the duration of the QBO cycle in solar maxima is 1-3 months longer than in solar minima. The differences are more distinct at higher levels, but they are diminished with lengthening of the period.

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

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

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

2008-01-01

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

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2016-04-01

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

Arctic (and Antarctic) Observing Experiment - an Assessment of Methods to Measure Temperature over Polar Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rigor, I. G.; Clemente-Colon, P.; Nghiem, S. V.; Hall, D. K.; Woods, J. E.; Henderson, G. R.; Zook, J.; Marshall, C.; Gallage, C.

2014-12-01

The Arctic environment has been undergoing profound changes; the most visible is the dramatic decrease in Arctic sea ice extent (SIE). These changes pose a challenge to our ability to measure surface temperature across the Polar Regions. Traditionally, the International Arctic Buoy Programme (IABP) and International Programme for Antarctic Buoys (IPAB) have measured surface air temperature (SAT) at 2-m height, which minimizes the ambiguity of measurements near of the surface. Specifically, is the temperature sensor measuring open water, snow, sea ice, or air? But now, with the dramatic decrease in Arctic SIE, increase in open water during summer, and the frailty of the younger sea ice pack, the IABP has had to deploy and develop new instruments to measure temperature. These instruments include Surface Velocity Program (SVP) buoys, which are commonly deployed on the world's ice-free oceans and typically measure sea surface temperature (SST), and the new robust Airborne eXpendable Ice Beacons (AXIB), which measure both SST and SAT. "Best Practice" requires that these instruments are inter-compared, and early results showing differences in collocated temperature measurements of over 2°C prompted the establishment of the IABP Arctic Observing Experiment (AOX) buoy test site at the US Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) site in Barrow, Alaska. Preliminary results showed that the color of the hull of SVP buoys introduces a bias due to solar heating of the buoy. Since then, we have recommended that buoys should be painted white to reduce biases in temperature measurements due to different colors of the buoys deployed in different regions of the Arctic or the Antarctic. Measurements of SAT are more robust, but some of the temperature shields are susceptible to frosting. During our presentation we will provide an intercomparison of the temperature measurements at the AOX test site (i.e. high quality DOE/ARM observations compared with unattended buoy measurements, and satellite retrievals). We will also show how these data may be used to improve our record of temperature over polar environments.

Worksheets for computing recommended notebook computer and workstation adjustments.

PubMed

Nanthavanij, Suebsak; Udomratana, Chatkate; Hansawad, Saowalak; Thepkanjana, Jayaporn; Tantasuwan, Wanchalerm

2013-01-01

This paper discusses the design and development of worksheets for helping notebook computer (NBC) users to compute NBC and workstation adjustments so as to assume an appropriate seated posture. The worksheets (one for male users, the other for female ones) require the following information: body height, NBC screen size, work surface height, and seat height. The worksheets contain tables for estimating recommended NBC base angle, NBC screen angle, body-NBC distance, work surface height, and seat height. Additionally, they include flow charts to help NBC users to determine necessary adjustment accessories and their settings.

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

Maurer, K. D.; Bohrer, G.; Kenny, W. T.

Surface roughness parameters, namely the roughness length and displacement height, are an integral input used to model surface fluxes. However, most models assume these parameters to be a fixed property of plant functional type and disregard the governing structural heterogeneity and dynamics. In this study, we use large-eddy simulations to explore, in silico, the effects of canopy-structure characteristics on surface roughness parameters. We performed a virtual experiment to test the sensitivity of resolved surface roughness to four axes of canopy structure: (1) leaf area index, (2) the vertical profile of leaf density, (3) canopy height, and (4) canopy gap fraction.more » We found roughness parameters to be highly variable, but uncovered positive relationships between displacement height and maximum canopy height, aerodynamic canopy height and maximum canopy height and leaf area index, and eddy-penetration depth and gap fraction. We also found negative relationships between aerodynamic canopy height and gap fraction, as well as between eddy-penetration depth and maximum canopy height and leaf area index. We generalized our model results into a virtual "biometric" parameterization that relates roughness length and displacement height to canopy height, leaf area index, and gap fraction. Using a decade of wind and canopy-structure observations in a site in Michigan, we tested the effectiveness of our model-driven biometric parameterization approach in predicting the friction velocity over heterogeneous and disturbed canopies. We compared the accuracy of these predictions with the friction-velocity predictions obtained from the common simple approximation related to canopy height, the values calculated with large-eddy simulations of the explicit canopy structure as measured by airborne and ground-based lidar, two other parameterization approaches that utilize varying canopy-structure inputs, and the annual and decadal means of the surface roughness parameters at the site from meteorological observations. We found that the classical representation of constant roughness parameters (in space and time) as a fraction of canopy height performed relatively well. Nonetheless, of the approaches we tested, most of the empirical approaches that incorporate seasonal and interannual variation of roughness length and displacement height as a function of the dynamics of canopy structure produced more precise and less biased estimates for friction velocity than models with temporally invariable parameters.« less

Interannual coherent variability of SSTA and SSHA in the Tropical Indian Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, J. Q.

2012-01-01

Sea surface height derived from the multiple ocean satellite altimeter missions (TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1, ERS, Envisat et al.) and sea surface temperature from National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) over 1993-2008 are analyzed to investigate the coherent patterns between the interannual variability of the sea surface and subsurface in the Tropical Indian Ocean, by jointly adopting Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) and Extended Associate Pattern Analysis (EAPA) methods. Results show that there are two dominant coherent modes with the nearly same main period of about 3-5 yr, accounting for 86 % of the total covariance in all, but 90° phase difference between them. The primary pattern is characterized by a east-west dipole mode associated with the mature phase of ENSO, and the second presents a sandwich mode having one sign anomalies along Sumatra-Java coast and northeast of Madagascar, whilst an opposite sign between the two regions. The robust correlations of the sea surface height anomaly (SSHA) with sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) in the leading modes indicate a strong interaction between them, though the highest correlation coefficient appears with a time lag. And there may be some physical significance with respect to ocean dynamics implied in SSHA variability. Analyzing results show that the features of oceanic waves with basin scale, of which the Rossby wave is prominent, are apparent in the dominant modes. It is further demonstrated from the EAPA that the equatorial eastward Kelvin wave and off-equatorial westward Rossby wave as well as their reflection in the east and west boundary, respectively, are important dynamic mechanisms in the evolution of the two leading coherent patterns. Results of the present study suggest that the upper ocean thermal variations on the timescale of interannual coherent with the ocean dynamics in spatial structure and temporal evolution are mainly attributed to the ocean waves.

Estimation of sensible and latent heat flux from natural sparse vegetation surfaces using surface renewal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zapata, N.; Martínez-Cob, A.

2001-12-01

This paper reports a study undertaken to evaluate the feasibility of the surface renewal method to accurately estimate long-term evaporation from the playa and margins of an endorreic salty lagoon (Gallocanta lagoon, Spain) under semiarid conditions. High-frequency temperature readings were taken for two time lags ( r) and three measurement heights ( z) in order to get surface renewal sensible heat flux ( HSR) values. These values were compared against eddy covariance sensible heat flux ( HEC) values for a calibration period (25-30 July 2000). Error analysis statistics (index of agreement, IA; root mean square error, RMSE; and systematic mean square error, MSEs) showed that the agreement between HSR and HEC improved as measurement height decreased and time lag increased. Calibration factors α were obtained for all analyzed cases. The best results were obtained for the z=0.9 m ( r=0.75 s) case for which α=1.0 was observed. In this case, uncertainty was about 10% in terms of relative error ( RE). Latent heat flux values were obtained by solving the energy balance equation for both the surface renewal ( LESR) and the eddy covariance ( LEEC) methods, using HSR and HEC, respectively, and measurements of net radiation and soil heat flux. For the calibration period, error analysis statistics for LESR were quite similar to those for HSR, although errors were mostly at random. LESR uncertainty was less than 9%. Calibration factors were applied for a validation data subset (30 July-4 August 2000) for which meteorological conditions were somewhat different (higher temperatures and wind speed and lower solar and net radiation). Error analysis statistics for both HSR and LESR were quite good for all cases showing the goodness of the calibration factors. Nevertheless, the results obtained for the z=0.9 m ( r=0.75 s) case were still the best ones.

Monthly Maps of Sea Surface Height in the North Atlantic and Zonal Indices for the Gulf Stream Using TOPEX/Poseidon Altimeter Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Singh, Sandipa; Kelly, Kathryn A.

1997-01-01

Monthly Maps of sea surface height are constructed for the North Atlantic Ocean using TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter data. Mean sea surface height is reconstructed using a weighted combination of historical, hydrographic data and a synthetic mean obtained by fitting a Gaussian model of the Gulf Stream jet to altimeter data. The resultant mean shows increased resolution over the hydrographic mean, and incorporates recirculation information that is absent in the synthetic mean. Monthly maps, obtained by adding the mean field to altimeter sea surface height residuals, are used to derive a set of zonal indices that describe the annual cycle of meandering as well as position and strength of the Gulf Stream.

Percolation induced heat transfer in deep unsaturated zones

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lu, N.; LeCain, G.D.

2003-01-01

Subsurface temperature data from a borehole located in a desert wash were measured and used to delineate the conductive and advective heat transfer regimes, and to estimate the percolation quantity associated with the 1997-1998 El Ni??no precipitation. In an arid environment, conductive heat transfer dominates the variation of shallow subsurface temperature most of the time, except during sporadic precipitation periods. The subsurface time-varying temperature due to conductive heat transfer is highly correlated with the surface atmospheric temperature variation, whereas temperature variation due to advective heat transfer is strongly correlated with precipitation events. The advective heat transfer associated with precipitation and infiltration is the focus of this paper. Disruptions of the subsurface conductive temperature regime, associated with the 1997-1998 El Ni??no precipitation, were detected and used to quantify the percolation quantity. Modeling synthesis using a one-dimensional coupled heat and unsaturated flow model indicated that a percolation per unit area of 0.7 to 1.3 m height of water in two weeks during February 1998 was responsible for the observed temperature deviations down to a depth of 35.2 m. The reported study demonstrated quantitatively, for the first time, that the near surface temperature variation due to advective heat transfer can be significant at a depth greater than 10 m in unsaturated soils and can be used to infer the percolation amount in thick unsaturated soils.

The implications of basalt in the formation and evolution of mountains on Venus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jull, Matthew G.; Arkani-Hamed, Jafar

1995-06-01

The highland region of Ishtar Terra on Venus has mountains that reach up to 11 km in height and are thought to be basaltic in composition. Assuming that dynamic uplift of crust to this height is unlikely, we examine the topography produced by an isostatically supported thickening basaltic crust. It is found that regardless of whether the crust thickens by crustal shortening or by volcanic construction, the high-density basalt-eclogite phase transition is the limiting factor for producing significant elevation of the mountains. The maximum height attained by basaltic mountains depends on the nature of the basalt-eclogite phase transition. Without a phase transition, a basaltic crust must thicken to greater than 100 km to reach heights over 10 km. An instantaneous phase transition of basalt to eclogite allows a maximum topographic height of less than about 2 km. However, with a time lag of 100 Ma owing to slow rates of solid-state diffusion, our calculations show that the mountains can reach elevations greater than 10 km only if they are less than 25 Ma old. Higher temperatures within the Venusian crust may decrease the extent of the stability fields of high-density basalt phases and allow high topography if the thickening crust melts. This can occur if the radioactive element concentrations measured on the surface of Venus are uniformly distributed throughout the crust, the crust thickens to greater than 65 km, and the thickened crust is older than about 400 Ma. The conflicting results of a young age predicted for high basaltic mountains and an almost uniform surface age of 500 Ma from crater populations, coupled with similarities in bulk physical properties of Venus and Earth, suggest that the basaltic surface composition found at several landing sites on the planet may not be representative of the entire crust. We suggest that Ishtar Terra formed from the collision of continent-like highly silicic cratons over a region of mantle downwelling. Lakshmi Planum resulted from the thickening of a basaltic crust and the peripheral mountain belts formed from the collision of granitic cratons that were pulled toward a downwelling region of mantle.

Effect of inhomogeneous Schottky barrier height of SnO2 nanowires device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amorim, Cleber A.; Bernardo, Eric P.; Leite, Edson R.; Chiquito, Adenilson J.

2018-05-01

The current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of metal–semiconductor junction (Au–Ni/SnO2/Au–Ni) Schottky barrier in SnO2 nanowires were investigated over a wide temperature range. By using the Schottky–Mott model, the zero bias barrier height Φ B was estimated from I–V characteristics, and it was found to increase with increasing temperature; on the other hand the ideality factor (n) was found to decrease with increasing temperature. The variation in the Schottky barrier and n was attributed to the spatial inhomogeneity of the Schottky barrier height. The experimental I–V characteristics exhibited a Gaussian distribution having mean barrier heights {\\overline{{{Φ }}}}B of 0.30 eV and standard deviation σ s of 60 meV. Additionally, the Richardson modified constant was obtained to be 70 A cm‑2 K‑2, leading to an effective mass of 0.58m 0. Consequently, the temperature dependence of I–V characteristics of the SnO2 nanowire devices can be successfully explained on the Schottky–Mott theory framework taking into account a Gaussian distribution of barrier heights.

Use of reflected GNSS SNR data to retrieve either soil moisture or vegetation height from a wheat crop

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Sibo; Roussel, Nicolas; Boniface, Karen; Ha, Minh Cuong; Frappart, Frédéric; Darrozes, José; Baup, Frédéric; Calvet, Jean-Christophe

2017-09-01

This work aims to estimate soil moisture and vegetation height from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) data using direct and reflected signals by the land surface surrounding a ground-based antenna. Observations are collected from a rainfed wheat field in southwestern France. Surface soil moisture is retrieved based on SNR phases estimated by the Least Square Estimation method, assuming the relative antenna height is constant. It is found that vegetation growth breaks up the constant relative antenna height assumption. A vegetation-height retrieval algorithm is proposed using the SNR-dominant period (the peak period in the average power spectrum derived from a wavelet analysis of SNR). Soil moisture and vegetation height are retrieved at different time periods (before and after vegetation's significant growth in March). The retrievals are compared with two independent reference data sets: in situ observations of soil moisture and vegetation height, and numerical simulations of soil moisture, vegetation height and above-ground dry biomass from the ISBA (interactions between soil, biosphere and atmosphere) land surface model. Results show that changes in soil moisture mainly affect the multipath phase of the SNR data (assuming the relative antenna height is constant) with little change in the dominant period of the SNR data, whereas changes in vegetation height are more likely to modulate the SNR-dominant period. Surface volumetric soil moisture can be estimated (R2 = 0.74, RMSE = 0.009 m3 m-3) when the wheat is smaller than one wavelength (˜ 19 cm). The quality of the estimates markedly decreases when the vegetation height increases. This is because the reflected GNSS signal is less affected by the soil. When vegetation replaces soil as the dominant reflecting surface, a wavelet analysis provides an accurate estimation of the wheat crop height (R2 = 0.98, RMSE = 6.2 cm). The latter correlates with modeled above-ground dry biomass of the wheat from stem elongation to ripening. It is found that the vegetation height retrievals are sensitive to changes in plant height of at least one wavelength. A simple smoothing of the retrieved plant height allows an excellent matching to in situ observations, and to modeled above-ground dry biomass.

Biomechanical evaluation of injury severity associated with patient falls from bed.

PubMed

Bowers, Bonnie; Lloyd, John; Lee, W; Powell-Cope, G; Baptiste, A

2008-01-01

This study investigated the severity of injuries associated with falling from bed and the effectiveness of injury-prevention strategies. Injury criteria were calculated for head- and feet-first falls from six bed heights onto a tiled surface and floor mat. These values indicated a 25% chance of experiencing a serious head injury as a result of falling feet-first from a bed height of 97.5 cm onto a tiled surface. Risk of injury increased to 40% when extrapolated for the height added by bedrails. Using a floor mat decreased this risk to less than 1% for bedrail height for feet-first falls. Calculated impact forces indicated a risk of skull fracture when hitting the tiled surface. Floor mats and height-adjustable beds positioned to the lowest height should be used to decrease the risk of injury associated with falling from bed.

A model of the planetary boundary layer over a snow surface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halberstam, I.; Melendez, R.

1979-01-01

A model of the planetary boundary layer over a snow surface has been developed. It contains the vertical heat exchange processes due to radiation, conduction, and atmospheric turbulence. Parametrization of the boundary layer is based on similarity functions developed by Hoffert and Sud (1976), which involve a dimensionless variable, dependent on boundary-layer height and a localized Monin-Obukhov length. The model also contains the atmospheric surface layer and the snowpack itself, where snowmelt and snow evaporation are calculated. The results indicate a strong dependence of surface temperatures, especially at night, on the bursts of turbulence which result from the frictional damping of surface-layer winds during periods of high stability, as described by Businger (1973). The model also shows the cooling and drying effect of the snow on the atmosphere, which may be the mechanism for air mass transformation in sub-Arctic regions.

Observational characteristics of the tropopause inversion layer derived from CHAMP/GRACE radio occultations and MOZAIC aircraft data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmidt, T.; Cammas, J.-P.; Smit, H. G. J.; Heise, S.; Wickert, J.; Haser, A.

2010-12-01

In this study we discuss characteristics of the Northern Hemisphere (NH) midlatitude (40°N-60°N) tropopause inversion layer (TIL) based on two data sets. First, temperature measurements from GPS radio occultation data (CHAMP and GRACE) for the time interval 2001-2009 are used to exhibit seasonal properties of the TIL bottom height defined here as the height of the squared buoyancy frequency minimum N2 below the thermal tropopause, the TIL maximum height as the height of the N2 maximum above the tropopause, and the TIL top height as the height of the temperature maximum above the tropopause. Mean values of the TIL bottom, TIL maximum, and TIL top heights relative to the thermal tropopause for the NH midlatitudes are (-2.08 ± 0.35) km, (0.52 ± 0.10) km and (2.10 ± 0.23) km, respectively. A seasonal cycle of the TIL bottom and TIL top height is observed with values closer to the thermal tropopause during summer. Secondly, high-resolution temperature and trace gas profile measurements on board commercial aircrafts (Measurement of Ozone and Water Vapor by Airbus In-Service Aircraft (MOZAIC) program) from 2001-2008 for the NH midlatitude (40°N-60°N) region are used to characterize the TIL as a mixing layer around the tropopause. Mean TIL bottom, TIL maximum, and TIL top heights based on the MOZAIC temperature (N2) measurements confirm the results from the GPS data, even though most of the MOZAIC profiles used here are available under cyclonic situations. Further, we demonstrate that the mixing ratio gradients of ozone (O3) and carbon monoxide (CO) are suitable parameters for characterizing the TIL structure.

Additional experiments on flowability improvements of aviation fuels at low temperatures, volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stockemer, F. J.; Deane, R. L.

1982-01-01

An investigation was performed to study flow improver additives and scale-model fuel heating systems for use with aviation hydrocarbon fuel at low temperatures. Test were performed in a facility that simulated the heat transfer and temperature profiles anticipated in wing fuel tanks during flight of long-range commercial aircraft. The results are presented of experiments conducted in a test tank simulating a section of an outer wing integral fuel tank approximately full-scale in height, chilled through heat exchange panels bonded to the upper and lower horizontal surfaces. A separate system heated lubricating oil externally by a controllable electric heater, to transfer heat to fuel pumped from the test tank through an oil-to-fuel heat exchanger, and to recirculate the heated fuel back to the test tank.

Temperature dependent current transport of Pd/ZnO nanowire Schottky diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gayen, R. N.; Bhattacharyya, S. R.; Jana, P.

2014-09-01

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowire based Schottky barrier diodes are fabricated by depositing Pd metal contact on top of vertically well-aligned ZnO nanowire arrays. A vertical array of ZnO nanowires on indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrates is synthesized by hybrid wet chemical route. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurement confirm the formation of stoichiometric well-aligned hexagonal (h-ZnO) nanowire arrays with wurtzite structure. Temperature dependent current-voltage (I-V) measurements on palladium-ZnO (Pd/ZnO) nanowire Schottky junctions in the temperature range 303-383 K exhibit excellent rectifying character. From these nonlinear I-V plots, different electrical parameters of diode-like reverse saturation current, barrier height and ideality factor are determined as a function of temperature assuming pure thermionic emission model. The ideality factor is found to decrease while the barrier height increases with the increase in temperature. The series resistance values calculated from Cheung’s functions also show temperature dependency. Such behavior can be attributed to the presence of defects that traps carriers, and barrier height inhomogeneity at the interface of the barrier junction. After barrier height inhomogeneity correction, considering a Gaussian distributed barrier height fluctuation across the Pd/ZnO interface, the estimated values of mean barrier height and modified Richardson constant are more closely matched to the theoretically predicted value for Pd/ZnO Schottky barrier diodes. The variation of density of interface states as a function of interface state energy is also calculated.

Gulf of Mexico Air/Sea Interaction: Measurements and Initial Data Characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacDonald, C.; Huang, C. H.; Roberts, P. T.; Bariteau, L.; Fairall, C. W.; Gibson, W.; Ray, A.

2011-12-01

Corporate, government, and university researchers collaborated to develop an atmospheric boundary layer environmental observations program on an offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The primary goals of this project were to provide data to (1) improve our understanding of boundary layer processes and air-sea interaction over the Gulf of Mexico; (2) improve regional-scale meteorological and air quality modeling; and (3) provide a framework for advanced offshore measurements to support future needs such as emergency response, exploration and lease decisions, wind energy research and development, and meteorological and air quality forecasting. In October 2010, meteorological and oceanographic sensors were deployed for an extended period (approximately 12 months) on a Chevron service platform (ST 52B, 90.5W, 29N) to collect boundary layer and sea surface data sufficient to support these objectives. This project has significant importance given the large industrial presence in the Gulf, sizeable regional population nearby, and the recognized need for precise and timely pollutant forecasts. Observations from this project include surface meteorology; sodar marine boundary layer winds; microwave radiometer profiles of temperature, relative humidity, and liquid water; ceilometer cloud base heights; water temperature and current profiles; sea surface temperature; wave height statistics; downwelling solar and infrared radiation; and air-sea turbulent momentum and heat fluxes. This project resulted in the collection of an unprecedented set of boundary layer measurements over the Gulf of Mexico that capture the range of meteorological and oceanographic interactions and processes that occur over an entire year. This presentation will provide insight into the logistical and scientific issues associated with the deployment and operations of unique measurements in offshore areas and provide results from an initial data analysis of boundary layer processes over the Gulf of Mexico, with a special focus on the relationship among measured and modeled energy fluxes and other oceanographic and atmospheric conditions.

Personal Equipment and Clothing Correction Factors for the Australian Army: A Pilot Survey

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-11-01

Sitting M24 Fit Thigh Clearance M12 Clearance and Fit, DHM Knee Height, Sitting M13 Fit, DHM Popliteal Height M14 Fit, DHM Buttock-Knee Length...Measure Semi-Nude Definition Encumbered Definition EM28 Knee Height, Sitting Footrest surface to Suprapatella ( M13 ). Footrest surface to

Differences of atmospheric boundary layer characteristics between pre-monsoon and monsoon period over the Erhai Lake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Lujun; Liu, Huizhi; Du, Qun; Wang, Lei; Yang, Liu; Sun, Jihua

2018-01-01

The differences in planetary boundary layer characteristics, in particular atmospheric boundary layer height (ABLH), humidity, and local circulations in pre-monsoon and monsoon period over the Erhai Lake, were simulated by the lake-atmosphere coupled model WRF v3.7.1. No lake simulations were also conducted to investigate lake effects over complex topography. During pre-monsoon period, local circulation was fully developed under weak synoptic system. The ABLH ran up to 2300 m or so. During monsoon period, temperature difference between land and lake became smaller, resulting in weaker local circulations. The height of circulation reduced by 500 m, and ABLH ran up to 1100 m during the day. Enhanced soil moisture and low surface temperature due to monsoon rainfalls in July could be the main reason for the slightly lower ABLH over the Erhai Lake area. Specific humidity of the boundary layer increased 8.8 g kg-1 or so during monsoon period. The Erhai Lake enlarged thermal contrast between valley and mountain slope in the Dali Basin. The lake reduced air temperature by 2 3 °C during daytime and increased air temperature by nearly 2 °C in the evening. Due to its small roughness length and large thermal capacity, the Erhai Lake enlarged lake-land temperature difference and local wind speed. A cyclonic circulation was maintained by the combination of mountain breeze and land breeze in the south of the lake. The lake decreased air temperature, increased specific humidity, and reduced ABLH during daytime, whereas the opposite effect is presented at night.

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.

Initial Adsorption of Fe on an Ethanol-Saturated Si(111)7 × 7 Surface: Statistical Analysis in Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Haoyu; Hattori, Ken

2018-03-01

We studied the initial stage of iron deposition on an ethanol-saturated Si(111)7 × 7 surface at room temperature using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The statistical analysis of the Si adatom height at empty states for Si(111)-C2H5OH before and after the Fe deposition showed different types of adatoms: type B (before the deposition) and type B' (after the deposition) assigned to bare adatoms, type D and type D' to C2H5O-terminated adatoms, and type E' to adatoms with Fe. The analysis of the height distribution revealed the protection of the molecule termination for the Fe capture at the initial stage. The analysis also indicated the preferential capture of a single Fe atom to a bare center-adatom rather than a bare corner-adatom which remain after the C2H5OH saturation, but no selectivity was observed in faulted and unfaulted half unit-cells. This is the first STM-based report proving that a remaining bare adatom, but not a molecule-terminated adatom, captures a metal.

Meteorological and associated data collected over agricultural fields in Pinal County, Arizona, 1989 and 1990

USGS Publications Warehouse

Owen-Joyce, Sandra J.; Brown, Paul W.

1995-01-01

Data were collected at temporary meteorological stations installed in agricultural fields in Pinal County, Arizona, to evaluate the spatial and temporal variability of point data and to examine how station location affects ground-based meteorological data and the resulting values of evapotranspiration calculated using remotely sensed multispectral data from satellites. Time-specific data were collected to correspond with satellite overpasses from April to October 1989, and June 27-28, 1990. Meteorological data consisting of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, solar radiation, and net radiation were collected at each station during all periods of the project. Supplementary measurements of soil temperature, soil heat flux density, and surface or canopy temperature were obtained at some locations during certain periods of the project. Additional data include information on data-collection periods, station positions, instrumentation, sensor heights, and field dimensions. Other data, which correspond to the extensive field measurements made in con- junction with satellite overpasses in 1989 and 1990, include crop type, canopy cover, canopy height, irrigation, cultivation, and orientation of rows. Field boundaries and crop types were mapped in a 2- to 3-square-kilometer area surrounding each meteorological station. Field data are presented in tabular and graphic form. Meteorological and supplementary data are available, upon request, in digital form.

Anthropogenic Influence on the Changes of the Subtropical Gyre Circulation in the South Pacific in the 20th Century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albrecht, F.; Pizarro, O.; Montecinos, A.

2016-12-01

The subtropical ocean gyre in the South Pacific is a large scale wind-driven ocean circulation, including the Peru-Chile Current, the westward South Equatorial Current, the East Australian Current, and the eastward South Pacific Current. Large scale ocean circulations play an essential role in the climate of the Earth over long and short term time scales.In the recent years a spin-up of this circulation has been recognized analyzing observations of sea level, temperature and salinity profiles, sea surface temperature and wind. Until now it is not clear whether this spin-up is decadal variability or whether it is a long-term trend introduced by anthropogenic forcing. This study aims to analyze whether and how anthropogenic forcing influences the position and the strength of the gyre in the 20th century. To determine that, yearly means of different variables of an ensemble of CMIP5 models are analyzed. The experiments 'historical' and 'historicalNat' are examined. The 'historical' experiment simulates the climate of the 20th century and the 'historicalNat' experiment covers the same time period, but only includes natural forcings. Comparing the outcomes of these two experiments is supposed to give information about the anthropogenic influence on the subtropical gyre of the South Pacific.The main variable we analyze is sea level change. This is directly related to the gyre circulation. The center of the gyre is characterized by a high pressure zone (high sea level) and the temporal and spatial variability of the sea level height field gives information about changes in the gyre circulation. The CMIP5 databank includes steric and dynamic sea level changes. Steric sea level, that is the contribution of temperature and salinity of the water, describes the major contribution to regional sea level change with respect to the global mean. Density changes contract or expand the water, which also changes the sea surface height. This does not only occur at the surface, but at all layers in the ocean. Sea level change thus integrates ocean variability throughout the depth of the ocean. Sea level simulations of the different experiments are compared using long-term trends, multi-year anomalies and EOF-Analysis. Changes in temperature and salinity in the deeper ocean are used to describe the development of the gyre below the surface.

Assimilation of Satellite Sea Surface Salinity Fields: Validating Ocean Analyses and Identifying Errors in Surface Buoyancy Fluxes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mehra, A.; Nadiga, S.; Bayler, E. J.; Behringer, D.

2014-12-01

Recently available satellite sea-surface salinity (SSS) fields provide an important new global data stream for assimilation into ocean forecast systems. In this study, we present results from assimilating satellite SSS fields from NASA's Aquarius mission into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) operational Modular Ocean Model version 4 (MOM4), the oceanic component of NOAA's operational seasonal-interannual Climate Forecast System (CFS). Experiments on the sensitivity of the ocean's overall state to different relaxation time periods were run to evaluate the importance of assimilating high-frequency (daily to mesoscale) and low-frequency (seasonal) SSS variability. Aquarius SSS data (Aquarius Data Processing System (ADPS) version 3.0), mapped daily fields at 1-degree spatial resolution, were used. Four model simulations were started from the same initial ocean condition and forced with NOAA's daily Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) fluxes, using a relaxation technique to assimilate daily satellite sea surface temperature (SST) fields and selected SSS fields, where, except as noted, a 30-day relaxation period is used. The simulations are: (1) WOAMC, the reference case and similar to the operational setup, assimilating monthly climatological SSS from the 2009 NOAA World Ocean Atlas; (2) AQ_D, assimilating daily Aquarius SSS; (3) AQ_M, assimilating monthly Aquarius SSS; and (4) AQ_D10, assimilating daily Aquarius SSS, but using a 10-day relaxation period. The analysis focuses on the tropical Pacific Ocean, where the salinity dynamics are intense and dominated by El Niño interannual variability in the cold tongue region and by high-frequency precipitation events in the western Pacific warm pool region. To assess the robustness of results and conclusions, we also examine the results for the tropical Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Preliminary validation studies are conducted using observations, such as satellite sea-surface height (SSH) fields and in situ Argo buoy vertical profiles of temperature and salinity, to demonstrate that SSS data assimilation improves ocean state representation of the following variables: ocean heat content (0-300m), dynamic height (0-1000m), mixed-layer depth, sea surface heigh, and surface buoyancy fluxes.

Environmental factors controlling fluxes of dimethyl sulfide in a New Hampshire fen

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Demello, William Zamboni; Hines, Mark E.

1992-01-01

The major environmental factors controlling fluxes of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) in a Sphagnum-dominated peatland were investigated in a poor fen in New Hampshire. DMS emissions from the surface of the peatland varied greatly over 24 hours and seasonally. Maximum DMS emissions occurred in summer with minima in the late fall. Temperature was the major environmental factor controlling these variabilities. There was also some evidence that the changes in water table height might have contributed to the seasonable variability in DMS emission. The influence of the water table was greater during periods of elevated temperature. DMS and MSH were the most abundant dissolved volatile sulfur compound (VSC) in the surface of the water table. Concentrations of dissolved VSC's varied with time and space throughout the fen. Dissolved MDS, MSH, and OCS in the surface of the water table were supersaturated with respect to their concentrations in the atmosphere suggesting that the peat surface was a source of VSC's in the peatland. VCS in peatlands seemed to be produced primarily by microbial processes in the anoxic surface layers of the peat rich in organic matter and inorganic sulfide. Sphagnum mosses were not a direct source of VSC's. However, they increased transport of DMS from the peat surface to the atmosphere.

A New Approach for 3D Ocean Reconstruction from Limited Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, X.

2014-12-01

Satellites can measure ocean surface height and temperature with sufficient spatial and temporal resolution to capture mesoscale features across the globe. Measurements of the ocean's interior, however, remain sparse and irregular, thus the dynamical inference of subsurface flows is necessary to interpret surface measurements. The most common (and accurate) approach is to incorporate surface measurements into a data-assimilating forward ocean model, but this approach is expensive and slow, and thus completely impractical for time-critical needs, such as offering guidance to ship-based observational campaigns. Two recently-developed approaches have made use of the apparent partial consistency of upper ocean dynamics with quasigeostrophic flows that take into account surface buoyancy gradients (i.e. the "surface quasigeostrophic" (SQG) model) to "reconstruct" the interior flow from knowledge of surface height and buoyancy. Here we improve on these methods in three ways: (1) we adopt a modal decomposition that represents the surface and interior dynamics in an efficient way, allowing the separation of surface energy from total energy; (2) we make use of instantaneous vertical profile observations (e.g. from ARGO data) to improve the reconstruction of eddy variables at depth; and (3) we use advanced statistical methods to choose the optimal modes for the reconstruction. The method is tested using a series of high horizontal and vertical resolution quasigeostrophic simulation, with a wide range of surface buoyancy and interior potential vorticity gradient combinations. In addtion, we apply the method to output from a very high resolution primitive equation simulation of a forced and dissipated baroclinic front in a channel. Our new method is systematically compared to the existing methods as well. Its advantages and limitations will be discussed.

Active laser radar (lidar) for measurement of corresponding height and reflectance images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Froehlich, Christoph; Mettenleiter, M.; Haertl, F.

1997-08-01

For the survey and inspection of environmental objects, a non-tactile, robust and precise imaging of height and depth is the basis sensor technology. For visual inspection,surface classification, and documentation purposes, however, additional information concerning reflectance of measured objects is necessary. High-speed acquisition of both geometric and visual information is achieved by means of an active laser radar, supporting consistent 3D height and 2D reflectance images. The laser radar is an optical-wavelength system, and is comparable to devices built by ERIM, Odetics, and Perceptron, measuring the range between sensor and target surfaces as well as the reflectance of the target surface, which corresponds to the magnitude of the back scattered laser energy. In contrast to these range sensing devices, the laser radar under consideration is designed for high speed and precise operation in both indoor and outdoor environments, emitting a minimum of near-IR laser energy. It integrates a laser range measurement system and a mechanical deflection system for 3D environmental measurements. This paper reports on design details of the laser radar for surface inspection tasks. It outlines the performance requirements and introduces the measurement principle. The hardware design, including the main modules, such as the laser head, the high frequency unit, the laser beam deflection system, and the digital signal processing unit are discussed.the signal processing unit consists of dedicated signal processors for real-time sensor data preprocessing as well as a sensor computer for high-level image analysis and feature extraction. The paper focuses on performance data of the system, including noise, drift over time, precision, and accuracy with measurements. It discuses the influences of ambient light, surface material of the target, and ambient temperature for range accuracy and range precision. Furthermore, experimental results from inspection of buildings, monuments and industrial environments are presented. The paper concludes by summarizing results achieved in industrial environments and gives a short outlook to future work.

Adsorption heights and bonding strength of organic molecules on a Pb-Ag surface alloy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stadtmüller, Benjamin; Haag, Norman; Seidel, Johannes; van Straaten, Gerben; Franke, Markus; Kumpf, Christian; Cinchetti, Mirko; Aeschlimann, Martin

2016-12-01

The understanding of the fundamental geometric and electronic properties of metal-organic hybrid interfaces is a key issue on the way to improving the performance of organic electronic and spintronic devices. Here, we studied the adsorption heights of copper-II-phthalocyanine (CuPc) and 3,4,9,10-perylene-tetracarboxylic-dianhydride (PTCDA) on a Pb1Ag2 surface alloy on Ag(111) using the normal-incidence x-ray standing waves technique. We find a significantly larger adsorption height of both molecules on the Pb-Ag surface alloy compared to the bare Ag(111) surface which is caused by the larger size of Pb. This increased adsorption height suppresses the partial chemical interaction of both molecules with Ag surface atoms. Instead, CuPc and PTCDA molecules bond only to the Pb atoms with different interaction strength ranging from a van der Waals-like interaction for CuPc to a weak chemical interaction with additional local bonds for PTCDA. The different adsorption heights for CuPc and PTCDA on Pb1Ag2 are the result of local site-specific molecule-surface bonds mediated by functional molecular groups and the different charge donating and accepting character of CuPc and PTCDA.

Software INCAS (Convective Clouds Indicator to Seeding Activities) to convective clouds class forecast in Mendoza (Argentina).

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pérez, R. C.

2009-09-01

With the objective of to get to forecast and operative determinations tool to seeding of hailstorm in the damage mitigations job that produces its precipitation in Mendoza (Argentina), we developed to software based in on surface and 500 mb. level atmospherics variable. We had used on surface dates because in this level exist to big amount of information, practically it is possible to get its measures continuously; in addition it is the level that data of damages are registered that the hail precipitation produces. The decision to use the level of 500 mb, it must to that it is the height in which the upset one of the air circulation takes place from the Pacific to Mendoza, who produces important changes and instability in the atmosphere of Mendoza, these data were obtained from the radiosonde of Santo Domingo in Santiago (Chile) and El Plumerillo (Mendoza). In the program is integrated the different indices and models obtained in ours works from investigation on the subject of last the five years. Since the October of 2004 to April of 2009 the values have been taken from the variables mentioned every day, hourly during the fight campaigns antihail (October-April). The results have integrated in the program INCAS, whom it is due to enter the surface variables: Temperature in °C, the dew point in °C, the atmospheric pressure in mb., the index of ultraviolet solar radiation, the direction and wind speed; whereas the variables of the level of 500 are due to introduce mb: height of the level of 500 mb in meters, temperature of the level in °C, the direction and wind speed to that height. From the process of these variables the type of convective process is obtained like exit of the program , that is more probable that it appears in Mendoza for these atmospheric conditions; the thresholds that trigger to the stormy processes and their possible severity. This year software was validated in his first version, obtaining itself very good results.

Significant events in low-level flow conditions hazardous to aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alexander, M. B.; Camp, D. W.

1983-01-01

Atmospheric parameters recorded during high surface winds are analyzed to determine magnitude, frequency, duration, and simultaneity of occurrence of low level flow conditions known to be hazardous to the ascent and descent of conventional aircraft and the space shuttle. Graphic and tabular presentations of mean and extreme values and simultaneous occurrences of turbulence (gustiness and a gust factor), wind shear (speed and direction), and vertical motion (updrafts and downdrafts), along with associated temperature inversions are included as function of tower height, layer and/or distance for six 5 sec intervals (one interval every 100 sec) of parameters sampled simultaneously at the rate of 10 speeds, directions and temperatures per second during an approximately 10 min period.

A mechanism for inducing climatic variations through the stratosphere - Screening of cosmic rays by solar and terrestrial magnetic fields

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chamberlain, J. W.

1977-01-01

The ability of heliomagnetic and geomagnetic fields to bring about climatic variations of long period is examined theoretically. A chemical relationship between low-energy cosmic rays and ozone balance in the stratosphere is sought as a crucial clue to historical changes in earth climate. A perturbation analysis is developed to arrive at zone depletion and reduction of stratospheric solar heating resulting from increased NOx concentration; temperature feedback and opacity feedback are allowed for. Modulation of galactic cosmic-radiation fluxes and ozone destruction in the stratosphere, colder surface temperatures associated with reduced magnetic shielding, and redistribution with height of total ozone decrease are explored.

Application of stepwise multiple regression techniques to inversion of Nimbus 'IRIS' observations.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ohring, G.

1972-01-01

Exploratory studies with Nimbus-3 infrared interferometer-spectrometer (IRIS) data indicate that, in addition to temperature, such meteorological parameters as geopotential heights of pressure surfaces, tropopause pressure, and tropopause temperature can be inferred from the observed spectra with the use of simple regression equations. The technique of screening the IRIS spectral data by means of stepwise regression to obtain the best radiation predictors of meteorological parameters is validated. The simplicity of application of the technique and the simplicity of the derived linear regression equations - which contain only a few terms - suggest usefulness for this approach. Based upon the results obtained, suggestions are made for further development and exploitation of the stepwise regression analysis technique.

Rain, temperature, and child-adolescent height among Native Amazonians in Bolivia.

PubMed

Godoy, R; Goodman, E; Reyes-Garcia, V; Eisenberg, D T A; Leonard, W R; Huanca, T; McDade, T W; Tanner, S; Jha, N

2008-01-01

Global climate change and recent studies on early-life origins of well-being suggest that climate events early in life might affect health later in life. The study tested hypotheses about the association between the level and variability of rain and temperature early in life on the height of children and adolescents in a foraging-farming society of native Amazonians in Bolivia (Tsimane'). Measurements were taken for 525 children aged 2-12 and 218 adolescents aged 13-23 in 13 villages in 2005. Log of standing height was regressed on mean annual level and mean intra-annual monthly coefficient of variation (CV) of rain and mean annual level of temperature during gestation, birth year, and ages 2-4. Controls include age, quinquennium and season of birth, parent's attributes, and dummy variables for surveyors and villages. Climate variables were only related with the height of boys age 2-12. The level and CV of rain during birth year and the CV of rain and level of temperature during ages 2-4 were associated with taller stature. There were no secular changes in temperature (1973-2005) or rain (1943-2005). The height of young females and males is well protected from climate events, but protection works less well for boys ages 2-12.

Electrochemical characterization of organosilane-functionalized nanostructured ITO surfaces

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

Pruna, R., E-mail: rpruna@el.ub.edu; Palacio, F.; López, M.

2016-08-08

The electroactivity of nanostructured indium tin oxide (ITO) has been investigated for its further use in applications such as sensing biological compounds by the analysis of redox active molecules. ITO films were fabricated by using electron beam evaporation at different substrate temperatures and subsequently annealed for promoting their crystallization. The morphology of the deposited material was monitored by scanning electron microscopy, confirming the deposition of either thin films or nanowires, depending on the substrate temperature. Electrochemical surface characterization revealed a 45 % increase in the electroactive surface area of nanostructured ITO with respect to thin films, one third lower than themore » geometrical surface area variation determined by atomic force microscopy. ITO surfaces were functionalized with a model organic molecule known as 6-(ferrocenyl)hexanethiol. The chemical attachment was done by means of a glycidoxy compound containing a reactive epoxy group, the so-called 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxy-silane. ITO functionalization was useful for determining the benefits of nanostructuration on the surface coverage of active molecules. Compared to ITO thin films, an increase in the total peak height of 140 % was observed for as-deposited nanostructured electrodes, whereas the same measurement for annealed electrodes resulted in an increase of more than 400 %. These preliminary results demonstrate the ability of nanostructured ITO to increase the surface-to-volume ratio, conductivity and surface area functionalization, features that highly benefit the performance of biosensors.« less

Improved Seasonal Prediction of European Summer Temperatures With New Five-Layer Soil-Hydrology Scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bunzel, Felix; Müller, Wolfgang A.; Dobrynin, Mikhail; Fröhlich, Kristina; Hagemann, Stefan; Pohlmann, Holger; Stacke, Tobias; Baehr, Johanna

2018-01-01

We evaluate the impact of a new five-layer soil-hydrology scheme on seasonal hindcast skill of 2 m temperatures over Europe obtained with the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM). Assimilation experiments from 1981 to 2010 and 10-member seasonal hindcasts initialized on 1 May each year are performed with MPI-ESM in two soil configurations, one using a bucket scheme and one a new five-layer soil-hydrology scheme. We find the seasonal hindcast skill for European summer temperatures to improve with the five-layer scheme compared to the bucket scheme and investigate possible causes for these improvements. First, improved indirect soil moisture assimilation allows for enhanced soil moisture-temperature feedbacks in the hindcasts. Additionally, this leads to improved prediction of anomalies in the 500 hPa geopotential height surface, reflecting more realistic atmospheric circulation patterns over Europe.

Planar edge Schottky barrier-tunneling transistors using epitaxial graphene/SiC junctions.

PubMed

Kunc, Jan; Hu, Yike; Palmer, James; Guo, Zelei; Hankinson, John; Gamal, Salah H; Berger, Claire; de Heer, Walt A

2014-09-10

A purely planar graphene/SiC field effect transistor is presented here. The horizontal current flow over one-dimensional tunneling barrier between planar graphene contact and coplanar two-dimensional SiC channel exhibits superior on/off ratio compared to conventional transistors employing vertical electron transport. Multilayer epitaxial graphene (MEG) grown on SiC(0001̅) was adopted as the transistor source and drain. The channel is formed by the accumulation layer at the interface of semi-insulating SiC and a surface silicate that forms after high vacuum high temperature annealing. Electronic bands between the graphene edge and SiC accumulation layer form a thin Schottky barrier, which is dominated by tunneling at low temperatures. A thermionic emission prevails over tunneling at high temperatures. We show that neglecting tunneling effectively causes the temperature dependence of the Schottky barrier height. The channel can support current densities up to 35 A/m.

Greenland Ice Sheet Melt from MODIS and Associated Atmospheric Variability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hakkinen, Sirpa; Hall, Dorothy K.; Shuman, Christopher A.; Worthen, Denise L.; DiGirolamo, Nicolo E.

2014-01-01

Daily June-July melt fraction variations over the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) derived from the MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) (2000-2013) are associated with atmospheric blocking forming an omega-shape ridge over the GIS at 500hPa height (from NCEPNCAR). Blocking activity with a range of time scales, from synoptic waves breaking poleward ( 5 days) to full-fledged blocks (5 days), brings warm subtropical air masses over the GIS controlling daily surface temperatures and melt. The temperature anomaly of these subtropical air mass intrusions is also important for melting. Based on the largest MODIS melt years (2002 and 2012), the area-average temperature anomaly of 2 standard deviations above the 14-year June-July mean, results in a melt fraction of 40 or more. Summer 2007 had the most blocking days, however atmospheric temperature anomalies were too small to instigate extreme melting.

Influence of hydrophobic and superhydrophobic surfaces on reducing aerodynamic insect residues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krishnan, K. Ghokulla; Milionis, Athanasios; Loth, Eric; Farrell, Thomas E.; Crouch, Jeffrey D.; Berry, Douglas H.

2017-01-01

Insect fouling during takeoff, climb and landing can result in increased drag and fuel consumption for aircrafts with laminar-flow surfaces. This study investigates the effectiveness of various hydrophobic and superhydrophobic surfaces in reducing residue of insects on an aerodynamic surface at relatively high impact speeds (about 45 m/s). An experimental setup consisting of a wind tunnel and a method to inject live flightless fruit flies was used to test the effectiveness of various surfaces against insect fouling. Insect fouling was analyzed based on residue area and height from multiple impacts. In general most of the residue area was due to the hemolymph spreading while most of the residue height was due to adhesion of exoskeleton parts. Hydrophobic and especially superhydrophobic surfaces performed better than a hydrophilic aluminum surface in terms of minimizing the residue area of various insect components (exoskeleton, hemolymph, and red fluid). Surfaces with reduced wettability and short lateral length scales tended to have the smallest residue area. Residue height was not as strongly influenced by surface wettability since even a single exoskeleton adhered to the surface upon impact was enough to produce a residue height of the order of one mm. In general, the results indicate that hemolymph spread needs to be avoided (e.g. by having reduced wettability and short lateral correlation lengths) in order to minimize the residue area, while exoskeleton adherence needs to be avoided (e.g. by having oleophobic properties and micro/nano roughness) in order to minimize the residue height. In particular, two of the superhydrophobic coatings produced substantial reduction in residue height and area, relative to the baseline surface of aluminum. However, the surfaces also showed poor mechanical durability on the high-speed insect impact location. This suggests that although low wettability materials show great insect anti-fouling behavior, their durability needs to be substantially improved in order to withstand harsh aerospace conditions.

Characteristics of Borneo and Sumatra fire plume heights and smoke clouds and their impact on regional El Niño-induced drought

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tosca, Michael; Randerson, James; Zender, Cs; Flanner, Mg; Nelson, Dl; Diner, Dj; Rasch, Pj; Logan, Ja

2010-05-01

During the dry season, anthropogenic fires in tropical forests and peatlands in equatorial Asia produce regionally expansive smoke clouds. We estimated the altitude of smoke clouds from these fires, characterized the sensitivity of these clouds to regional drought and El Niño variability, and investigated their effect on climate. We used the MISR satellite product and MISR INteractive eXplorer (MINX) software to estimate the heights of 382 smoke plumes (smoke with a visible surface source and transport direction) on Borneo and 143 plumes on Sumatra for 2001—2009. In addition, we estimated the altitudes of 10 smoke clouds (opaque regions of smoke with no detectable surface source or transport direction) on Borneo during 2006. Most smoke plumes (84%) were observed during El Niño events (2002, 2004, 2006, and 2009); this is consistent with higher numbers of active fire detections and larger aerosol optical depths observed during El Niño years. Annually averaged plume heights on Borneo were positively correlated to the Oceanic Niño Index (ONI), an indicator of El Niño (r2 = 0.53), and the mean plume height for all El Niño years was 772.5 ± 15.9m, compared to 711.4 ± 28.7m for non-El Niño years. The median altitude of the 10 smoke clouds observed on Borneo during 2006 was 1313m, considerably higher than the median of nearby smoke plumes (787m). The difference in height between individual plumes and regional smoke clouds may be related to deeper planetary boundary layers and injection heights later in the afternoon (after the 10:30am MISR overpass) or other atmospheric mixing processes that occur on synoptic timescales. We investigated the climate response to these expansive smoke clouds using the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM). Climate responses to smoke from two 30 year simulations were compared: one simulation was forced with fire emissions typical of a dry (El Niño) burning year, while the other was forced with emissions typical of a low (La Niña) burning year. Fire aerosols reduced net shortwave radiation at the surface during August-October by an average of 10% in the region encompassing most of Sumatra and Borneo (90°E-120°E, 5° S-5°N). The reductions in net radiation cooled both sea surface temperature (0.5 ± 0.3°C) and land air temperature (0.4 ± 0.2°C) during these months. Tropospheric heating from black carbon (BC) absorption increased substantially (20.5 ± 9.3 W m-2) and was balanced by an overall reduction in latent heating in the mid-troposphere. The combination of decreased SSTs and increased atmospheric heating reduced regional precipitation by 0.9 ± 0.6 mm d-1 (10%). The vulnerability of ecosystems to fire was enhanced because the decreases in precipitation exceeded those for evapotranspiration. Together, the satellite and modeling results imply a possible positive feedback loop in which anthropogenic burning in the region intensifies drought stress during El Niño.

The influence of recent climate change on tree height growth differs with species and spatial environment.

PubMed

Messaoud, Yassine; Chen, Han Y H

2011-02-16

Tree growth has been reported to increase in response to recent global climate change in controlled and semi-controlled experiments, but few studies have reported response of tree growth to increased temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration in natural environments. This study addresses how recent global climate change has affected height growth of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx) and black spruce (Picea mariana Mill B.S.) in their natural environments. We sampled 145 stands dominated by aspen and 82 dominated by spruce over the entire range of their distributions in British Columbia, Canada. These stands were established naturally after fire between the 19th and 20th centuries. Height growth was quantified as total heights of sampled dominant and co-dominant trees at breast-height age of 50 years. We assessed the relationships between 50-year height growth and environmental factors at both spatial and temporal scales. We also tested whether the tree growth associated with global climate change differed with spatial environment (latitude, longitude and elevation). As expected, height growth of both species was positively related to temperature variables at the regional scale and with soil moisture and nutrient availability at the local scale. While height growth of trembling aspen was not significantly related to any of the temporal variables we examined, that of black spruce increased significantly with stand establishment date, the anomaly of the average maximum summer temperature between May-August, and atmospheric CO₂ concentration, but not with the Palmer Drought Severity Index. Furthermore, the increase of spruce height growth associated with recent climate change was higher in the western than in eastern part of British Columbia. This study demonstrates that the response of height growth to recent climate change, i.e., increasing temperature and atmospheric CO₂ concentration, did not only differ with tree species, but also their growing spatial environment.

Midlatitude atmosphere-ocean interaction during El Nino. Part II. The northern hemisphere atmosphere

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

Alexander, M.A.

The influence of midlatitude air-sea interaction on the atmospheric anomalies associated with El Nino is investigated by coupling the Community Climate Model to a mixed-layer ocean model in the North Pacific. Prescribed El Nino conditions, warm sea surface temperatures (SST) in the tropical Pacific, cause a southward displacement and strengthening of the Aleutian Low. This results in enhanced (reduced) advection of cold Asian air over the west-central (northwest) Pacific and northward advection of warm air over the eastern Pacific. Allowing air-sea feedback in the North Pacific slightly modified the El Nino-induced near-surface wind, air temperature, and precipitation anomalies. The anomalousmore » cyclonic circulation over the North Pacific is more concentric and shifted slightly to the east in the coupled simulations. Air-sea feedback also damped the air temperature anomalies over most of the North Pacific and reduced the precipitation rate above the cold SST anomaly that develops in the central Pacific. The simulated North Pacific SST anomalies and the resulting Northern Hemisphere atmospheric anomalies are roughly one-third as large as those related to the prescribed El Nino conditions in a composite of five cases. The composite geopotential height anomalies associated with changes in the North Pacific SSTs have an equivalent barotropic structure and range from -65 m to 50 m at the 200-mb level. Including air-sea feedback in the North Pacific tended to damp the atmospheric anomalies caused by the prescribed El Nino conditions in the tropical Pacific. As a result, the zonally elongated geopotential height anomalies over the West Pacific are reduced and shifted to the east. However, the atmospheric changes associated with the North Pacific SST anomalies vary widely among the five cases.« less

Effect of barrier height on friction behavior of the semiconductors silicon and gallium arsenide in contact with pure metals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mishina, H.; Buckley, D. H.

1984-01-01

Friction experiments were conducted for the semiconductors silicon and gallium arsenide in contact with pure metals. Polycrystalline titanium, tantalum, nickel, palladium, and platinum were made to contact a single crystal silicon (111) surface. Indium, nickel, copper, and silver were made to contact a single crystal gallium arsenide (100) surface. Sliding was conducted both in room air and in a vacuum of 10 to the minus 9th power torr. The friction of semiconductors in contact with metals depended on a Schottky barrier height formed at the metal semiconductor interface. Metals with a higher barrier height on semiconductors gave lower friction. The effect of the barrier height on friction behavior for argon sputtered cleaned surfaces in vacuum was more specific than that for the surfaces containing films in room air. With a silicon surface sliding on titanium, many silicon particles back transferred. In contrast, a large quantity of indium transferred to the gallium arsenide surface.

Analyses of Sea Surface Height, Bottom Pressure and Acoustic Travel Time in the Japan/East Sea

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-01-01

ANALYSES OF SEA SURFACE HEIGHT, BOTTOM PRESSURE AND ACOUSTIC TRAVEL TIME IN THE JAPAN/EAST SEA BY YONGSHENG XU A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL...COVERED 00-00-2006 to 00-00-2006 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Analyses of Sea Surface Height, Bottom Pressure and Acoustic Travel Time in the Japan/East Sea...1999 to July 2001. The PIESs recorded hourly vertical acoustic travel time and pressure, which are respectively good proxies of baroclinic and

Stream Temperature Estimation From Thermal Infrared Images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Handcock, R. N.; Kay, J. E.; Gillespie, A.; Naveh, N.; Cherkauer, K. A.; Burges, S. J.; Booth, D. B.

2001-12-01

Stream temperature is an important water quality indicator in the Pacific Northwest where endangered fish populations are sensitive to elevated water temperature. Cold water refugia are essential for the survival of threatened salmon when events such as the removal of riparian vegetation result in elevated stream temperatures. Regional assessment of stream temperatures is limited by sparse sampling of temperatures in both space and time. If critical watersheds are to be properly managed it is necessary to have spatially extensive temperature measurements of known accuracy. Remotely sensed thermal infrared (TIR) imagery can be used to derive spatially distributed estimates of the skin temperature (top 100 nm) of streams. TIR imagery has long been used to estimate skin temperatures of the ocean, where split-window techniques have been used to compensate for atmospheric affects. Streams are a more complex environment because 1) most are unresolved in typical TIR images, and 2) the near-bank environment of stream corridors may consist of tall trees or hot rocks and soils that irradiate the stream surface. As well as compensating for atmospheric effects, key problems to solve in estimating stream temperatures include both subpixel unmixing and multiple scattering. Additionally, fine resolution characteristics of the stream surface such as evaporative cooling due to wind, and water surface roughness, will effect measurements of radiant skin temperatures with TIR devices. We apply these corrections across the Green River and Yakima River watersheds in Washington State to assess the accuracy of remotely sensed stream surface temperature estimates made using fine resolution TIR imagery from a ground-based sensor (FLIR), medium resolution data from the airborne MASTER sensor, and coarse-resolution data from the Terra-ASTER satellite. We use linear spectral mixture analysis to isolate the fraction of land-leaving radiance originating from unresolved streams. To compensate the data for atmospheric effects we combine radiosonde profiles with a physically based radiative transfer model (MODTRAN) and an in-scene relative correction adapted from the ISAC algorithm. Laboratory values for water emissivities are used as a baseline estimate of stream emissivities. Emitted radiance reflected by trees in the stream near-bank environment is estimated from the height and canopy temperature, using a radiosity model.

Investigation of the Martian environment by infrared spectroscopy on Mariner 9

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Conrath, H. R.; Conrath, B. J.; Novis, W.; Kunde, V. G.; Lowman, P.; Maguire, W.; Pearl, J. C.; Pirraglia, J.; Prabhakara, C.; Schlachman, B.

1972-01-01

Measurements obtained during and after the planet-wide dust storm indicate that large diurnal variations in atmospheric temperature existed up to at least 30 km; winds inferred from the temperature fields show a strong tidal component and significant ageostrophic behavior. With the dissipation of the dust, the daily maximum in the atmospheric temperature field moved from approximately latitude -60 and late afternoon local time to near the subsolar point in latitude and time. Analysis of spectral features due to the atmospheric dust indicates as SIO2 content of 60 ? 10%, implying that substantial geochemical differentiation has occurred. Water vapor estimates indicate abundances of 10 to 20 precipitable micrometers. Between November 1971 and April 1972 no gross latitudinal or temporal dependence in the water vapor distribution was detected from the south polar region to the equator. Water vapor was not detected over the north polar regions. Surface pressure mapping was carried out from which topographic relief of nearly two pressure scale heights is inferred. Extensive regions were found where the surface pressure exceeds the triple point pressure of water.

Developing a Data Record of Lower Troposphere Temperature Profiles for Diurnal Land-Atmosphere Coupling Investigations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Z.; Li, D.

2017-12-01

The lower troposphere, including the planetary boundary layer, is strongly influenced by the land surface at diurnal scales. However, investigations of diurnal land-atmosphere coupling are significantly hindered by the lack of profile measurements that resolve the diurnal cycle. This study aims to bridge this gap by developing a decade-long (from 2007 to 2016) data record of diurnal temperature profiles in the lower troposphere (from the surface to about 4 km above the surface), which is based on the Aircrafts Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) meteorological observations. We first identify the number of profiles within an hour for each airport over the CONUS. At each airport, only data that passed at least level-1 quality check are retained. 40 airports out of 275 are then selected, which have data for more than 12 hours per day. These selected airports are mainly located along the east and west coasts, as expected. Because the data are recorded at irregular heights, we resample each profile in the lowest 4 km or so to pre-defined vertical coordinates. These temperature profiles are further bias-corrected by comparing to collocated radiosonde observations. This consistent data record of diurnal temperature profiles in the lower troposphere can be also used for regional climatology research, short-term weather forecasts, and numerical model evaluation.

Ensemble assimilation of ARGO temperature profile, sea surface temperature, and altimetric satellite data into an eddy permitting primitive equation model of the North Atlantic Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Y.; Barth, A.; Beckers, J. M.; Candille, G.; Brankart, J. M.; Brasseur, P.

2015-07-01

Sea surface height, sea surface temperature, and temperature profiles at depth collected between January and December 2005 are assimilated into a realistic eddy permitting primitive equation model of the North Atlantic Ocean using the Ensemble Kalman Filter. Sixty ensemble members are generated by adding realistic noise to the forcing parameters related to the temperature. The ensemble is diagnosed and validated by comparison between the ensemble spread and the model/observation difference, as well as by rank histogram before the assimilation experiments. An incremental analysis update scheme is applied in order to reduce spurious oscillations due to the model state correction. The results of the assimilation are assessed according to both deterministic and probabilistic metrics with independent/semiindependent observations. For deterministic validation, the ensemble means, together with the ensemble spreads are compared to the observations, in order to diagnose the ensemble distribution properties in a deterministic way. For probabilistic validation, the continuous ranked probability score (CRPS) is used to evaluate the ensemble forecast system according to reliability and resolution. The reliability is further decomposed into bias and dispersion by the reduced centered random variable (RCRV) score in order to investigate the reliability properties of the ensemble forecast system. The improvement of the assimilation is demonstrated using these validation metrics. Finally, the deterministic validation and the probabilistic validation are analyzed jointly. The consistency and complementarity between both validations are highlighted.

A single field of view method for retrieving tropospheric temperature profiles from cloud-contaminated radiance data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hodges, D. B.

1976-01-01

An iterative method is presented to retrieve single field of view (FOV) tropospheric temperature profiles directly from cloud-contaminated radiance data. A well-defined temperature profile may be calculated from the radiative transfer equation (RTE) for a partly cloudy atmosphere when the average fractional cloud amount and cloud-top height for the FOV are known. A cloud model is formulated to calculate the fractional cloud amount from an estimated cloud-top height. The method is then examined through use of simulated radiance data calculated through vertical integration of the RTE for a partly cloudy atmosphere using known values of cloud-top height(s) and fractional cloud amount(s). Temperature profiles are retrieved from the simulated data assuming various errors in the cloud parameters. Temperature profiles are retrieved from NOAA-4 satellite-measured radiance data obtained over an area dominated by an active cold front and with considerable cloud cover and compared with radiosonde data. The effects of using various guessed profiles and the number of iterations are considered.

Analysis of Schottky Barrier Parameters and Current Transport Properties of V/p-Type GaN Schottky Junction at Low Temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asha, B.; Harsha, Cirandur Sri; Padma, R.; Rajagopal Reddy, V.

2018-05-01

The electrical characteristics of a V/p-GaN Schottky junction have been investigated by current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics under the assumption of the thermionic emission (TE) theory in the temperature range of 120-280 K with steps of 40 K. The zero-bias barrier height (ΦB0), ideality factor (n), flat-band barrier height (ΦBF) and series resistance (R S) values were evaluated and were found to be strongly temperature dependent. The results revealed that the ΦB0 values increase, whereas n, ΦFB and R S values decrease, with increasing temperature. Using the conventional Richardson plot, the mean barrier height (0.39 eV) and Richardson constant (8.10 × 10-10 Acm-2 K-2) were attained. The barrier height inhomogeneities were demonstrated by assuming a Gaussian distribution function. The interface state density (N SS) values were found to decrease with increasing temperature. The reverse leakage current mechanism of the V/p-GaN Schottky junction was found to be governed by Poole-Frenkel emission at all temperatures.

Real-Time Eddy-Resolving Ocean Prediction in the Caribbean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hurlburt, H. E.; Smedstad, O. M.; Shriver, J. F.; Townsend, T. L.; Murphy, S. J.

2001-12-01

A {1/16}o eddy-resolving, nearly global ocean prediction system has been developed by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Stennis Space Center, MS. It has been run in real-time by the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVO), Stennis Space Center, MS since 18 Oct 2000 with daily updates for the nowcast and 30-day forecasts performed every Wednesday. The model has ~8 km resolution in the Caribbean region and assimilates real-time altimeter sea surface height (SSH) data from ERS-2, GFO and TOPEX/POSEIDON plus multi-channel sea surface temperature (MCSST) from satellite IR. Real-time and archived results from the system can be seen at web site: http://www7320.nrlssc.navy.mil/global\

Shape of Strained Solid He-4 at Low Temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kojima, Harry

2004-01-01

(1) Interferometer apparatus for measuring surface profile (2) For small strains, the expected linear decrease in height is not seen. (3) For large strains, undulation and irreversible deformations begin to set in, but we cannot yet make clear connection with stress-driven instability theory. Torii and Balibar have observed appearances of deformations beyond threshold stress on He-4 solid surface. The difference of our results from theory real? We are not ready to claim in affirmative. To be able to answer: 1) improve crystal growth techniques; (orientation, annealing, better pressure control) 2) improve homogeneity of stress; (better alignment with vertical, better understanding of interaction between solid He-4 and walls) 4) improve optics.

Mesospheric temperatures estimated from the meteor radar observations at Mohe, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Libo; Liu, Huixin; Le, Huijun; Chen, Yiding; Sun, Yang-Yi; Ning, Baiqi; Hu, Lianhuan; Wan, Weixing; Li, Na; Xiong, Jiangang

2017-02-01

In this work, we report the estimation of mesospheric temperatures at 90 km height from the observations of the VHF all-sky meteor radar operated at Mohe (53.5°N, 122.3°E), China, since August 2011. The kinetic temperature profiles retrieved from the observations of Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) on board the Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics, and Dynamics satellite are processed to provide the temperature (TSABER) and temperature gradient (dT/dh) at 90 km height. Based on the SABER temperature profile data an empirical dT/dh model is developed for the Mohe latitude. First, we derive the temperatures from the meteor decay times (Tmeteor) and the Mohe dT/dh model gives prior information of temperature gradients. Second, the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the meteor height profiles is calculated and further used to deduce the temperatures (TFWHM) based on the strong linear relationship between FWHM and TSABER. The temperatures at 90 km deduced from the decay times (Tmeteor) and from the meteor height distributions (TFWHM) at Mohe are validated/calibrated with TSABER. The temperatures present a considerable annual variation, being maximum in winter and minimum in summer. Harmonic analyses reveal that the temperatures have an annual variation consistent with TSABER. Our work suggests that FWHM has a good performance in routine estimation of the temperatures. It should be pointed out that the slope of FWHM as a function of TSABER is 10.1 at Mohe, which is different from that of 15.71 at King Sejong (62.2°S, 58.8°E) station.

Graphene: A partially ordered non-periodic solid

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

Wei, Dongshan; Wang, Feng, E-mail: fengwang@uark.edu

2014-10-14

Molecular dynamics simulations were performed to study the structural features of graphene over a wide range of temperatures from 50 to 4000 K using the PPBE-G potential [D. Wei, Y. Song, and F. Wang, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 184704 (2011)]. This potential was developed by force matching the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) exchange correlation functional and has been validated previously to provide accurate potential energy surface for graphene at temperatures as high as 3000 K. Simulations with the PPBE‑G potential are the best available approximation to a direct Car-Parrinello Molecular Dynamics study of graphene. One advantage of the PBE-G potential is to allowmore » large simulation boxes to be modeled efficiently so that properties showing strong finite size effects can be studied. Our simulation box contains more than 600 000 C atoms and is one of the largest graphene boxes ever modeled. With the PPBE-G potential, the thermal-expansion coefficient is negative up to 4000 K. With a large box and an accurate potential, the critical exponent for the scaling properties associated with the normal-normal and height-height correlation functions was confirmed to be 0.85. This exponent remains constant up to 4000 K suggesting graphene to be in the deeply cooled regime even close to the experimental melting temperature. The reduced peak heights in the radial distribution function of graphene show an inverse power law dependence to distance, which indicates that a macroscopic graphene sheet will lose long-range crystalline order as predicted by the Mermin-Wagner instability. Although graphene loses long-range translational order, it retains long range orientational order as indicated by its orientational correlation function; graphene is thus partially ordered but not periodic.« less

Non-Genomic Estrogen Regulation of Ion Transport and Airway Surface Liquid Dynamics in Cystic Fibrosis Bronchial Epithelium

PubMed Central

Saint-Criq, Vinciane; Kim, Sung Hoon; Katzenellenbogen, John A.; Harvey, Brian J.

2013-01-01

Male cystic fibrosis (CF) patients survive longer than females and lung exacerbations in CF females vary during the estrous cycle. Estrogen has been reported to reduce the height of the airway surface liquid (ASL) in female CF bronchial epithelium. Here we investigated the effect of 17β-estradiol on the airway surface liquid height and ion transport in normal (NuLi-1) and CF (CuFi-1) bronchial epithelial monolayers. Live cell imaging using confocal microscopy revealed that airway surface liquid height was significantly higher in the non-CF cells compared to the CF cells. 17β-estradiol (0.1–10 nM) reduced the airway surface liquid height in non-CF and CF cells after 30 min treatment. Treatment with the nuclear-impeded Estrogen Dendrimer Conjugate mimicked the effect of free estrogen by reducing significantly the airway surface liquid height in CF and non-CF cells. Inhibition of chloride transport or basolateral potassium recycling decreased the airway surface liquid height and 17β-estradiol had no additive effect in the presence of these ion transporter inhibitors. 17β-estradiol decreased bumetanide-sensitive transepithelial short-circuit current in non-CF cells and prevented the forskolin-induced increase in ASL height. 17β-estradiol stimulated an amiloride-sensitive transepithelial current and increased ouabain-sensitive basolateral short-circuit current in CF cells. 17β-estradiol increased PKCδ activity in CF and non-CF cells. These results demonstrate that estrogen dehydrates CF and non-CF ASL, and these responses to 17β-estradiol are non-genomic rather than involving the classical nuclear estrogen receptor pathway. 17β-estradiol acts on the airway surface liquid by inhibiting cAMP-mediated chloride secretion in non-CF cells and increasing sodium absorption via the stimulation of PKCδ, ENaC and the Na+/K+ATPase in CF cells. PMID:24223826