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Nakamura, Y.

Publications and source records attributed to Nakamura, Y..

At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1979

Martian wind activity detected by a seismometer at Viking lander 2 site

Since the Viking lander 2 seismometer (Anderson et al., 1977) located on top of the lander is extremely sensitive to Martian winds, it can provide a record of Martian wind activity. The seismograph continuously samples the wind-induced lander vibration, and its output complements meteorological data. Some pertinent seismic data are presented along with results of a preliminary spectral analysis of the data. Attention is given to wind speed/seismic noise correlation, and to long-term variation and periodicity. The results indicate that wind variations on Mars are very regular in the summer and winter seasons. Winds are light in summer and exhibit a strong diurnal periodicity, the strongest winds occurring in the early afternoon. Winds become stronger and more irregular in autumn. In all seasons nighttime conditions are usually very quiet. The high wind season correlates with the global dust storm duration. Spring is characterized by very strong though variable wind activity. Other details are also presented.

Nakamura, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Field Measurements of Penetrator Seismic Coupling in Sediments and Volcanic Rocks

Field experiments were conducted to determine how well a seismometer installed using a penetrator would be coupled to the ground. A dry-lake bed and a lava bed were chosen as test sites to represent geological environments of two widely different material properties. At each site, two half-scale penetrators were fired into the ground, a three-component geophone assembly was mounted to the aft end of each penetrator, and dummy penetrators were at various distances to generate seismic signals. These signals were detected by the penetrator-mounted geophone assembly and by a reference geophone assembly buried or anchored to surface rock and 1-m from the penetrator. The recorded signals were digitized, and cross-spectral analyses were performed to compare the observed signals in terms of power spectral density ratio, coherence, and phase difference. The analyses indicate that seismometers deployed by penetrators will be as well coupled to the ground as are seismometers installed by conventional methods for the frequency range of interest in earthquake seismology.

Nakamura, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1979

The Apollo passive seismic experiment

The completed data set obtained from the 4-station Apollo seismic network includes signals from approximately 11,800 events of various types. Four data sets for use by other investigators, through the NSSDC, are in preparation. Some refinement of the lunar model based on seismic data can be expected, but its gross features remain as presented two years ago. The existence of a small, molten core remains dependent upon the analysis of signals from a single, far-side impact. Analysis of secondary arrivals from other sources may eventually resolve this issue, as well as continued refinement of the magnetic field measurements. Evidence of considerable lateral heterogeneity within the moon continues to build. The mystery of the much meteoroid flux estimate derived from lunar seismic measurements, as compared with earth-based estimates, remains; although, significant correlations between terrestrial and lunar observations are beginning to emerge.

Latham, G. V.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Alsep data processing: How we processed Apollo Lunar Seismic Data

The Apollo lunar seismic station network gathered data continuously at a rate of 3 x 10 to the 8th power bits per day for nearly eight years until the termination in September, 1977. The data were processed and analyzed using a PDP-15 minicomputer. On the average, 1500 long-period seismic events were detected yearly. Automatic event detection and identification schemes proved unsuccessful because of occasional high noise levels and, above all, the risk of overlooking unusual natural events. The processing procedures finally settled on consist of first plotting all the data on a compressed time scale, visually picking events from the plots, transferring event data to separate sets of tapes and performing detailed analyses using the latter. Many problems remain especially for automatically processing extraterrestrial seismic signals.

Latham, G. V.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Field measurement of penetrator seismic coupling in sediments and volcanic rocks

Field experiments were conducted to determine experimentally how well a seismometer installed using a penetrator would be coupled to the ground. A dry lake bed and a lava bed were chosen as test sites to represent geological environments of two widely different material properties. At each site, two half-scale penetrators were fired into the ground, a three-component geophone assembly was mounted to the aft end of each penetrator, and dummy penetrators were fired at various distances to generate seismic signals. The recorded signals were digitized, and cross-spectral analyses were performed to compare the observed signals in terms of power spectral density ratio, coherence and phase difference. The analyses indicate that seismometers deployed by penetrators will be as well coupled to the ground as are seismometers installed by conventional methods for the frequency range of interest in earthquake seismology, although some minor differences were observed at frequencies near the upper limit of the frequency band.

Nakamura, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Shallow moonquakes - Depth, distribution and implications as to the present state of the lunar interior

The observed seismic amplitudes of HFT (high-frequency teleseismic) events do not vary with distance as expected for surface sources, but are consistent with sources in the upper mantle of the moon. Thus, the upper mantle of the moon is the only zone where tectonic stresses deriving from differential thermal contraction and expansion of the lunar interior are presently high enough to cause moonquakes. The distribution of shallow moonquake epicenters suggests a possible correlation with impact basins, implying a lasting tectonic influence of impact basins long after their formation. The finite depths now assigned to these shallow moonquakes necessitate further revision to the seismic structural model of the lunar interior.

Nakamura, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Improved methods for calculating the thickness noise

Advanced methods to compute the rotor thickness noise which is predominant in the case of high speed rotor were developed. These methods were deduced from a previous method by transforming the integral coordinate, commuting the order of integration and differential, and/or performing chordwise integration analytically with some adequate assumption. The necessary computational times and waveforms obtained by the previous and three advanced methods were compared. It was then concluded that the advanced methods could save the computational time compared with the previous method with the same accuracy.

Nakamura, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1978

A1 moonquakes - Source distribution and mechanism

Two novel analysis techniques have been used to study focal mechanisms of A1 moonquakes, which occur at the most active of the 80 deep-moonquake source regions identified to date. The first is the cross-spectral analysis of matching signal waveforms. Cross phase spectra clearly show relative polarity of signals and give precise time relationships between signals, thus enabling accurate detemination of relative source locations within the source region. The second is the analysis of amplitude ratios, which reveal the patterns of P- and S-wave radiations around the source region. A1 moonquake foci are found to be concentrated in a nearly horizontal planar region less than 1 km in diameter. Their focal mechanism may be described by slippages along a horizontal plane with the slip direction rotating with and predominantly controlled by the shifting tidal stress field. Thus, A1 moonquakes represent a process of simple storage and release of tidal energy with no evidence for a release of accumulated tectonic stress.

Nakamura, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Passive seismic experiment - A summary of current status

The data set obtained from the four-station Apollo seismic network including signals from approximately 11,800 events, is surveyed. Some refinement of the lunar model will result, but its gross features remain the same. Attention is given to the question of a small, molten lunar core, the answer to which remains dependent on analysis of signals from a far side impact. Seventy three sources of repeating, deep moonquakes have been identified, thirty nine of which have been accurately located. Concentrated at depths from 800 to 1000 km, the periodicities of these events have led to the hypothesis that they are generated by tidal stresses. Lunar seismic data has also indicated that the meteoroid population is ten times lower than originally determined from earth based observations. Lunar seismic activity is much lower and mountainous masses show no sign of sinking, in contrast to earth, as a result of the lunar crust being four times thicker. While much work remains to be done, significant correlation between terrestrial and lunar observations can be seen.

Latham, G. V.↗
NASA NTRS1978

On the time-varying properties of the lunar seismic meteoroid population

Strong short-term fluctuations of meteroid impact rates are evident in a list of 1557 events derived from Apollo lunar seismic data. Times of fall and seismic signal amplitudes are considered in relation to the possible orbits and identification of the impacting objects. The entire lunar surface is the effective collector and the Apollo network data, gathered between 1970 and 1977, reflect the recognized abundance of large meteorite falls from early April through July. There is also some indication that briefly increased counts represent fragments of about 100 g or greater belonging to several meteor streams: Quadrantids, Aquarids, Perseids, Orionids, Leonids, Geminids, and possibly others as well.

Dorman, J.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Seismology on Mars

High-quality data (uncontaminated by lander or wind noise) obtained with a three-axis short-period seismometer operating on Mars in the Utopia Planitia region are analyzed. No large events have been detected during the first five months of operation covered in the present paper. This indicates that Mars is less seismically active than the earth. Winds, and therefore a seismic background, began to intrude into the nighttime hours, starting with sol 119 (sol is a Martian day). The seismic background correlates well with wind velocity, and is proportional to the square of the wind velocity, as is appropriate for turbulent flow. A local seismic event of a magnitude of 3 and a distance of 110 km was detected on sol 80. It is interpreted as a natural seismic event.

Anderson, D. L.↗
NASA NTRS1977

HFT events - Shallow moonquakes

A few large distant seismic events of distinctly high signal frequency, designated HFT (high-frequency teleseismic) events, are observed yearly by the Apollo lunar seismic network. Their sources are located on or near the surface of the moon, leaving a large gap in seismic activity between the zones of HFT sources and deep moonquakes. No strong regularities are found in either their spatial or temporal distributions. Several working hypotheses for the identity of these sources have advanced, but many characteristics of the events seem to favor a hypothesis that they are shallow moonquakes. Simultaneous observations of other lunar phenomena may eventually enable the determination of their true identity.

Nakamura, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Seismic energy transmission in an intensively scattering environment

In order to account for some special features of lunar seismograms, namely, the gradual build-up of the signal, the extremely prolonged tail, and the lack of apparent coherence among three orthogonal components of ground motion, a statistical approach is proposed for describing transmission of seismic energy through a medium in which strong scattering takes place. A seismic diffusion theory is presented for a medium with randomly distributed scatterers of a given size distribution. A solution of the resulting diffusion equation for an impulsive energy source gives a curve which fairly closely reproduces the envelope of typical lunar impact seismograms. Since the model is based on constant diffusivity, long-range transmission will require a combination of diffusion and wave propagation treatments for accurate description.

Nakamura, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Results from the Apollo passive seismic experiment

Recent results from the Apollo Seismic Network suggest that primitive differentiation occurred in the outer shell of the moon to a depth of approximately 300 km and the central region of the moon is presently molten to a radius of between 200 and 300 km. If early melting to a depth of 300 to 400 km was a consequence of accretional energy, very short accretion times are required. It was shown that the best model for the zone of original differentiation is a crust 40 to 80 km thick, ranging in composition from anorthositic gabbro to gabbro, and overlying an ultramafic cumulate about 250 km thick. The best candidate for the molten core appears to be iron or iron sulphide. A new class of seismic signals recently were identified that may correspond to shallow moonquakes. These are rare, but much more energetic than the more numerous, deep moonquakes.

Latham, G.↗
NASA NTRS1976

The Viking seismic experiment

A three-axis short-period seismometer is now operating on Mars in the Utopia Planitia region. The noise background correlates well with wind gusts. Although no quakes have been detected in the first 60 days of observation, it is premature to draw any conclusions about the seismicity of Mars. The instrument is expected to return data for at least 2 years.

Anderson, D. L.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Structure of the lunar mantle

The structure of the lunar mantle is examined by using data on the decay of shear wave amplitude with distance and the relative arrival times of P and S waves. The new analysis confirms a previous lunar model based primarily upon travel times and more closely defines certain properties of the lunar mantle. A negative shear wave velocity gradient of 0.0013 (km/s)/km, shear wave Q of 4000, and Poisson's ratio of 0.250 plus or minus 0.025 are found for the upper mantle, which lies between the depths of 60 and 300 km. A rapid decrease of shear wave velocity with increasing depth is observed starting at around a 300-km depth, associated with a lower Q for shear waves. Poisson's ratio in the lower part of the middle mantle, which extends to a depth of about 1000 km, is estimated to be 0.36 plus or minus 0.02.

Nakamura, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Meteoroid storms detected on the moon

Seismometers on the moon have detected several brief periods of enhanced meteoroid-impact activity, believed to represent encounters of the moon with 'clouds' of objects in the kilogram range. The latest and most active encounter, in June 1975, is interpreted as a meteoroid cloud of diameter 0.1 astronomical unit and total mass 10 to the 13th power to 10 to the 14th power grams.

Duennebier, F. K.↗