Engineering topics

Leovy, C. B.

Publications and source records attributed to Leovy, C. B..

54 records · Page 3

NASA NTRS1973

Rotation of the upper atmosphere of Venus.

A fundamental aspect of the Venus wind system is discussed that has apparently escaped notice. If Venus has a negligible meridional gradient of surface pressure, as the Venera data suggest, but has a small decrease in the average temperature from the equator to both poles, then the pressure surfaces at high elevations are likely to display an equatorial bulge. The pressure force associated with the bulge can only be balanced by an excess centrifugal force due to a rotation rate that increases with height. The implications of this aspect are investigated.

Leovy, C. B.↗

NASA NTRS1973

Atmospheric Phenomena Working Group

Atmospheric processes on Mars are reported based on atmospheric observations from Mariner 9. Topics discussed include: atmospheric temperature and wind, cloud processes, minor constituents, global dust storm, and surface pressure distribution.

Leovy, C. B.↗

NASA NTRS1973

Mars atmosphere during the Mariner 9 extended mission: Television results

Data from the Mariner 9 extended mission provide a record of seasonally varying processes from mid-spring to early summer in the Northern Hemisphere of Mars. Atmospheric phenomena observed by the television cameras during this period are: (1) A faint shelf of brightness near 20 km in height; (2) condensate clouds over Hellas in the early morning, (3) wave clouds over the south polar region indicating strong west to east winds; (4) faint wave clouds over the north polar cap indicating northeast to southwest flow off the cap; and (5) clouds over the major vocanos and Tithonius Lacus which show remarkable repeatability, strong topographic control, and, in some cases, evidence for convective structure.

Leovy, C. B.↗

NASA NTRS1973

Mars atmosphere during the Mariner 9 Extended Mission - Television results.

The Extended Mission of Mariner 9 provided data from 23 revolutions and recorded seasonal changes in the atmosphere of Mars during northern spring and early summer. The visibility of the surface was exceptional, indicating atmospheric clarity greater than that previously observed by Mariner 9 or by Mariner 6 and 7. Cloud systems were observed over both polar regions and indicated westerly winds in the -45 to -65 deg latitude zone (southern winter) and easterly winds in the vicinity of +75 deg (northern summer). The puzzling brightening phenomena that recur seasonally and diurnally over Tharsis, Amazonis, and Nix Olympica were seen to be clouds of a generally diffuse character but with some indications of convective activity. These clouds show a remarkable degree of topographic control, and their large-scale patterns are closely duplicated from day to day.

Leovy, C. B.↗

NASA NTRS1973

Mechanisms for Mars dust storms.

Characteristics of the Mars global dust storm are reviewed. At the Mariner 9 encounter, the dust consisted of highly absorbing particles distributed rather uniformly up to great height (about 50 km). These observations together with temperature distributions inferred from the Mariner 9 IRIS by Hanel et al. (1972) are used to estimate global wind systems during the dust storm. The global distribution and direction of light surface streaks indicate that the axisymmetric circulation was a dominant part of flow during the dust storm. The axisymmetric winds may become strong enough to raise dust over wide areas of Mars' tropics under unusual conditions: the incoming solar radiation must be near its seasonal maximum, the static stability must be low, and the atmosphere must be able to absorb and re-emit a sizeable fraction of the incoming radiation. Strong winds around the periphery of the retreating south polar cap would be driven by the temperature gradient at the cap edge and by the mass outflow due to subliming CO2. These polar winds could generate local dust storms, raising the general level of dustiness, and providing the conditions necessary for onset of a global dust storm.

Leovy, C. B.↗

NASA NTRS1973

A first look at atmospheric dynamics and temperature variations on Titan.

Pollack (1973) has used a radiative equilibrium model to match radiometric data for Titan and infers the atmospheric mass, composition, opacity, and gross vertical thermal structure. These results are used to estimate the atmospheric temperature variations by means of scaling analysis, taking into account dynamics both for a baroclinic wave regime and for an axially symmetric circulation regime. Horizontal temperature variations of the atmosphere and surface are found to be very small, and the circulation is found to be weak and probably axially symmetric. The small temperature variations appear to preclude the storage of volatiles in polar caps, so that the present atmospheric methane content may be due to a balance between outgassing and photodissociation.

Leovy, C. B.↗

NASA NTRS1973

Exchange of water vapor between the atmosphere and surface of Mars.

A model for exchange of water from the atmosphere to condensing CO2 caps is developed. The rate of water condensation in the caps is assumed to be proportional to the meridional heat flux. It follows that the amount of water condensed in the caps varies inversely with the amount of CO2 condensed. The seasonal phase of the release of water from the caps is not consistent with observed variations in the abundance of atmospheric water. Seasonal variations of atmospheric water abundance are most consistent with vapor exchange between the atmosphere and permafrost in the subtropics.

Leovy, C. B.↗

NASA NTRS1972

The Martian atmosphere - Mariner 9 television experiment progress report.

Atmospheric phenomena appearing in the Mariner 9 television pictures are discussed in detail. The surface of the planet was heavily obscured by a global dust storm during the first month in orbit. Brightness data during this period can be fitted by a semi-infinite scattering and absorbing atmosphere model with a single-scattering albedo in the range 0.70-0.85. This low value suggests that the mean radius of the particles responsible for the obscuration was at least 10 microns. By the end of the second month, this dust storm had largely dissipated, leaving a residual optical depth of about 0.1. Much of the region north of 45 deg N was covered by variable clouds comprising the north polar hood.

Leovy, C. B.↗

NASA NTRS1972

Meteorology experiments - The Viking Mars Lander.

The purposes, procedures, and nature of the planned meteorology experiment of Viking, 1976 are described. The elements to be measured are pressure, temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and water vapor content of the atmosphere. The interactions with other Viking experiments are outlined and candidate sensors are described.

Hess, S. L.↗

NASA NTRS1971

Mariner Mars 1969 - Atmospheric results

Mars atmospheric data from Mariner flights, discussing north polar haze, bright surface features morphology, multiring structures and water vapor exchange

Leighton, R. B.↗

NASA NTRS1971

The atmospheres of Mars and Venus

Mars, Venus and earth atmospheres, considering abundance of volatiles such as carbon dioxide, water, oxygen, nitrogen, argon, carbon monoxide, chlorine and fluorine

Ingersoll, A. P.↗

NASA NTRS1969