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Alvarez, J. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Alvarez, J. M..

16 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2006

Calibration Technique for Polarization-Sensitive Lidars

Polarization-sensitive lidars have proven to be highly effective in discriminating between spherical and non-spherical particles in the atmosphere. These lidars use a linearly polarized laser and are equipped with a receiver that can separately measure the components of the return signal polarized parallel and perpendicular to the outgoing beam. In this work we describe a technique for calibrating polarization-sensitive lidars that was originally developed at NASA s Langley Research Center (LaRC) and has been used continually over the past fifteen years. The procedure uses a rotatable half-wave plate inserted into the optical path of the lidar receiver to introduce controlled amounts of polarization cross-talk into a sequence of atmospheric backscatter measurements. Solving the resulting system of nonlinear equations generates the system calibration constants (gain ratio, G, and offset angle, theta) required for deriving calibrated measurements of depolarization ratio from the lidar signals. In addition, this procedure also determines the mean depolarization ratio within the region of the atmosphere that is analyzed. Simulations and error propagation studies show the method to be both reliable and well behaved. Operational details of the technique are illustrated using measurements obtained as part of Langley Research Center s participation in the First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE).

Alvarez, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1998

A Radar Safety Device for Lidars Probing the Atmosphere

Lasers have been used for important atmospheric research almost since their inception. Present day lidar systems continue this serious work and lasers are currently being used in increasingly sophisticated ways to expand our knowledge of atmospheric processes. Langley Research Center, for example, has been performing airborne and ground-based stratospheric volcanic-aerosol lidar measurements for the past 27 years and the University of Utah has been measuring cirrus cloud radiative properties with lidar for the past 20 years. Although the widespread use of lasers probing the atmosphere is too voluminous to cite in an extended abstract, one critical fact must be noted: atmospheric lidar measurements must increasingly be performed wherever they are needed and thus the problems associated with the operation of lidars and aircraft in the same airspace are becoming increasingly vexatious. The lidar community is quite sensitive to this issue and procedures such as the issuance of Notices to Airmen (NOTAMS), informing the FAA of lidar operations, and use of ground-based aircraft observers are already being widely utilized. Current measures, however, depend largely on pilots receiving the NOTAM and acting on it or approach control vectoring the aircraft away from the lidar site. Perhaps a better approach is to provide the lidar site with an autonomous capability to automatically interrupt laser operations while any aircraft is close-by. This abstract describes our efforts to develop and test an inexpensive radar system for use as an aircraft proximity warning and laser shut-down device during atmospheric lidar operations.

Alvarez, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1997

High Resolution UV Emission Cross Section for Analysis of Satellite Observations of Aurora and Dayglow of Planetary Atmosphere

A new generation of high resolution UV imaging spacecraft (Polar, Galileo, HST) are studying the airglow and aurora of the Earth and the Jovian planets. To keep pace with these technological improvements we have developed a laboratory program to provide electron collision cross sections of the major molecular planetary gases (H (sub 2) , H, O, N (sub 2) , CO (sub 2) , SO (sub 2) , O (sub 2) , H (sub 2) O, and CO).

Polar Galileo airglow aurora Earth Jovian planets.↗
NASA NTRS1993

A numerical technique for the calculation of cloud optical extinction from lidar

A simple numerical algorithm which calculates optical extinction from cloud lidar data is presented. The method assumes a two-component atmosphere consisting of 'clear air' and cloud particulates. 'Clear air' may consist of either molecules only or a mix of molecules and atmospheric aerosols. For certain clouds, the method may be utilized to provide an estimate of the cloud-atmospheric parameter defined as the ratio of the cloud volume backscatter coefficient to the cloud extinction coefficient divided by the atmospheric volume backscatter coefficient at a given altitude. The cloud-atmospheric parameter may be estimated only from cloud data from which the optical thickness may reliably be used as a constraint on the numerical solution. This constraint provides the additional information necessary to obtain the cloud-atmospheric parameter. Conversely, the method may be applied to obtain cloud extinction and optical thickness from lidar cloud soundings if an estimate of the cloud-atmospheric parameter is available.

Alvarez, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Intercomparison of standard resolution and high resolution TOVS soundings with radiosonde, lidar, and surface temperature/humidity data

One objective of the FIRE Cirrus IFO is to characterize relationships between cloud properties inferred from satellite observations at various scales to those obtained directly or inferred from very high resolution measurements. Satellite derived NOAA-9 high and standard resolution Tiros Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) soundings are compared with directly measured lidar, surface temperature, humidity, and vertical radiosonde profiles associated with the Ft. McCoy site. The results of this intercomparison should be useful in planning future cloud experiments.

Wheeler, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Manmade orbital debris studies at NASA Langley

In the past, flight experiments to define the meteoroid environment near the Earth and in interplanetary space were undertaken. The effectiveness of meteoroid bumpers was investigated. These flight experiments were aboard Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, and Explorer 46. Hypervelocity impact tests were conducted in the laboratory to study protective structures and the composition of meteoroids from the hundreds of meteor spectra obtained. It was also found that manmade debris presented a similar hazard to spacecraft near the Earth. An assessment of that hazard is made in this paper. An analysis of the collision probability problem with much attention given to the population of small untrackable fragments created during explosions is presented.

Humes, D. H.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Inversion technique for IR heterodyne sounding of stratospheric constituents from space platforms

The techniques which have been employed for inversion of IR heterodyne measurements for remote sounding of stratospheric trace constituents usually rely on either geometric effects based on limb-scan observations (i.e., onion peel techniques) or spectral effects by using weighting functions corresponding to different frequencies of an IR spectral line. An experimental approach and inversion technique are discussed which optimize the retrieval of concentration profiles by combining the geometric and the spectral effects in an IR heterodyne receiver. The results of inversions of some synthetic CIO spectral lines corresponding to solar occultation limb scans of the stratosphere are presented, indicating considerable improvement in the accuracy of the retrieved profiles. The effects of noise on the accuracy of retrievals are discussed for realistic situations.

Abbas, M. M.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Spectral line inversion for sounding of stratospheric minor constituents by infrared heterodyne technique from balloon altitudes

A combination of two different techniques for the inversion of infrared laser heterodyne measurements of tenuous gases in the stratosphere by solar occulation is presented which incorporates the advantages of each technique. An experimental approach and inversion technique are developed which optimize the retrieval of concentration profiles by incorporating the onion peel collection scheme into the spectral inversion technique. A description of an infrared heterodyne spectrometer and the mode of observations for solar occulation measurement is presented, and the results of inversions of some synthetic ClO spectral lines corresponding to solar occulation limb-scans of the stratosphere are examined. A comparison between the new techniques and one of the current techniques indicates that considerable improvement in the accuracy of the retrieved profiles can be achieved. It is found that noise affects the accuracy of both techniques but not in a straightforward manner since there is interaction between the noise level, noise propagation through inversion, and the number of scans leading to an optimum retrieval.

Abbas, M. M.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Impact of Saturn ring particles on Pioneer 11

The detection of particles near the rings of Saturn by the meteoroid detection instrument on board Pioneer 11 is discussed. The instrument consists of 234 penetration detectors, distributed between two independent data channels each of which is designed to become inhibited for a period of 77 min after the registration of a penetration event in that channel. At least four particles penetrated the detectors in the 4.5 h period around Saturn periapsis at radial distances between 1.36 and 3.1 Saturn radii, a radial distribution inconsistent with the gravitational focusing of meteoroids. The detection of particles which may have been part of the E ring before the crossing of the ring plane suggests that this ring may be 1800 km thick, with an optical thickness greater than 10 to the -8th.

Humes, D. H.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Interplanetary dust between 1 and 5 AU

Analyses of data from the Meteoroid Detection Experiment (MDE) and the Imaging Photopolarimeter (IPP) aboard Pioneer 10 and 11 have led to contradictory conclusions. While the MDE indicates a significant particle environment in the outer solar system (out to at least 5 AU), the IPP sees no zodiacal light (therefore implying no small particles) past 3.3 AU. These two results are reconciled by noting that the spectral index p (relating particle radius and particle concentration) is not a constant in the solar system but changes from less than 2 near 1 AU to more than 2.5 at 5 AU for particles in the range of 10 microns.

Stanley, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Pioneer 11 meteoroid detection experiment - Preliminary results

The concentration of meteoroids of mass about 0.01 microgram in interplanetary space, in the asteroid belt, and near Jupiter has been measured. The data confirm the Pioneer 10 observation that the asteroid belt is not highly populated with small meteoroids, suggest that the high concentration of small particles around Jupiter is the result of gravitational focusing, and provide an indication of the mass distribution of meteoroids in interplanetary space.

Humes, D. H.↗
NASA NTRS1974

The interplanetary and near-Jupiter meteoroid environments

The meteoroid penetration detectors on the Pioneer 10 spacecraft recorded 67 meteoroid penetrations through the 25-micron stainless steel test material while the spacecraft was between 1.0 and 5.1 AU. Ten of these penetrations occurred during the encounter with Jupiter. The cumulative spatial density of meteoroids with masses greater than 2 nanograms has been calculated from these data for interplanetary space and for the near-Jupiter space. The spatial density is found to be essentially constant in interplanetary space between 1 and 5 AU, approximately 1 meteoroid per cubic km, and 1-2 orders of magnitude greater near Jupiter. There was no increase in the spatial density of meteoroids in the asteroid belt and hence no evidence that there is a significant asteroidal component of 2-nanogram meteoroids. It is uncertain whether the meteoroids detected near Jupiter were in orbit about Jupiter or were gravitationally focused toward the planet from solar orbits.

Humes, D. H.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Interplanetary and near-Jupiter meteoroid environments - Preliminary results from the meteoroid detection experiment

Data on interplanetary and near-Jupiter micrometer-sized particle encounters from the meteoroid-detection experiment on Pioneer 10 indicate that Jupiter is much 'dustier' than interplanetary space. Whereas the near-earth particulate flux showed very little increase over the interplanetary flux, the near-Jupiter penetration flux was over two orders of magnitude higher than the interplanetary flux.

Kinard, W. H.↗