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Li, L.

Publications and source records attributed to Li, L..

36 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2002

Detecting ocean surface wind using the TRMM precipitation radar

Although designed specifically for the measurement of precipitation in the atmosphere, the Precipitation Radar (PR) onboard the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite alsomeasures the normalized radar cross-section at the Earth's surface. As such, this instrument providesan interesting opportunity to explore an alternative radar configuration in the satellite remote sensingnf ocean winds. In particular, it can measure the strength of the ocean winds in relatively higherspatial resolution as compared to the conventional scatterometer systems presently in use. The addition of wind sensing capability to precipitation radar also complements its rain profiling capabilitynicely and allows coincident wind and rain measurements. In this paper, we discuss the new ocean wind algorithm developed specifically for TRMM PR using maximum likelihood estimation. A uniquefeature of this wind algorithm is its capability to incorporate measurement sensitivity and noiseinformation consistently in both the along-track and cross-track directions. This PR wind algorithm hasbeen tested using data from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) and NASA QuikSCAT scatterometer.Excellent agreement on the retrieved wind strengths is achieved among three sensors.

precipitation radar TRMM GPM CAMEX-4 ocean surface↗
NASA NTRS2002

Rainfall observations by an airbourne dual-fequency precipitation radar during CAMEX-4

The 2d Generation Precipitation Radar is a new design for a dual-frequency (13.4 and 35.6 GHz) spaceborne precipitation radar. An airborne PR-2 simulator has been developed to demonstrate key technologies. This airborne system was flown on the NASA DC-8 aircraft during the 4th Convection and Moisture Experiment in 2001. Data were acquired in Tropical Storms Chantal and Gabrielle, Hurricane Humberto, and in several more localized convective systems. The authors discuss the design of thePR-2 airborne radar and show observations from CAMEX-4. Overall, the observations validated the design of PR-2 and provide an extensive data set for scientific analysis.

precipitation radar TRMM GPM CAMEX-4↗
NASA NTRS1999

Proteolytic dissection of Zab, the Z-DNA-binding domain of human ADAR1

Zalpha is a peptide motif that binds to Z-DNA with high affinity. This motif binds to alternating dC-dG sequences stabilized in the Z-conformation by means of bromination or supercoiling, but not to B-DNA. Zalpha is part of the N-terminal region of double-stranded RNA adenosine deaminase (ADAR1), a candidate enzyme for nuclear pre-mRNA editing in mammals. Zalpha is conserved in ADAR1 from many species; in each case, there is a second similar motif, Zbeta, separated from Zalpha by a more divergent linker. To investigate the structure-function relationship of Zalpha, its domain structure was studied by limited proteolysis. Proteolytic profiles indicated that Zalpha is part of a domain, Zab, of 229 amino acids (residues 133-361 in human ADAR1). This domain contains both Zalpha and Zbeta as well as a tandem repeat of a 49-amino acid linker module. Prolonged proteolysis revealed a minimal core domain of 77 amino acids (positions 133-209), containing only Zalpha, which is sufficient to bind left-handed Z-DNA; however, the substrate binding is strikingly different from that of Zab. The second motif, Zbeta, retains its structural integrity only in the context of Zab and does not bind Z-DNA as a separate entity. These results suggest that Zalpha and Zbeta act as a single bipartite domain. In the presence of substrate DNA, Zab becomes more resistant to proteases, suggesting that it adopts a more rigid structure when bound to its substrate, possibly with conformational changes in parts of the protein.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1993

Gratings and waveguides

Our immediate objective is to understand the limitations of guided-wave and grating coupler devices in their application to optical data storage. Our long-range goal is to develop and validate design codes for integrated optic devices. The principal research activity was in the development of numerical models for the design of a blue wavelength integrated optical source for data storage applications.

Bates, K. A.↗