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At least 217 records · Page 12

Aircraft wake vortex velocity measurements using a scanning CO2 laser Doppler velocimeter

A CO2 laser Doppler velocimeter was employed in the study of pairs of counterrotating vortices trailing aircraft in an airport air space. A laser positioned on an extended runway centerline scans a vertical plane perpendicular to the centerline. Vortex location, measurement of vortex transport, and measurement of the properties of aircraft wake vortex flow fields are achieved via spectral analysis of the data. Highest amplitude in the spectrum, the associated maximum velocity, the highest velocity above the amplitude threshold, and the total number of frequency (velocity) cells above thresholds are studied as parameters in analysis of the vortex-associated flow field. The profile of the radial variation of tangential velocity is studied, and two special problems are examined: location of the vortex center and error introduced by crosswind.

Dimarzio, C. A.↗

Development of a Molecular Tagging Velocimetry Technique for Non-Intrusive Velocity Measurements in Low-Speed Gas Flows

N2O molecular tagging velocimetry (N2O-MTV) is developed for use in very-high-temperature reactor environments. Tests were carried out to determine the optimum excitation wavelength, tracer concentration, and timing parameters for the laser system. Using NO tracers obtained from photo-dissociation of N2O, velocity profiles are successfully obtained in air, nitrogen, and helium for a large range of parameters: temperature from 295 to 781 K, pressure from 1 to 3 bars, with a velocity precision of 0.01 m/s. Furthermore, by using two read pulses at adjustable time delays, the velocity dynamic range can be increased. An unprecedented dynamic range of 5,000 has been obtained to successfully resolve the flow during a helium blowdown from 1000 m/s down to 0.2 m/s. This technique is also applied to the high-temperature test facility (HTTF) at Oregon State University (OSU) during a depressurized condition cooldown (DCC) event. Details of these measurements are presented in a companion paper. This technique shows a strong potential for fundamental understanding of gas flows in nuclear reactors and to provide benchmark experimental data to validate numerical simulations.

Andre, M. A.↗

Self-consistent analysis of high drift velocity measurements with the STARE system

The use of the STARE and SABRE coherent radar systems as valuable tools for geophysical research has been enhanced by a new technique called the Superimposed-Grid-Point method. This method permits an analysis of E-layer plasma irregularity phase velocity versus flow angle utilizing only STARE or SABRE data. As previous work with STARE has indicated, this analysis has clearly shown that the cosine law assumption breaks down for velocities near and exceeding the local ion acoustic velocities. Use of this method is improving understanding of naturally-occurring plasma irregularities in the E-layer.

Reinleitner, L. A.↗

KEPLER-18b, c, AND d: A SYSTEM OF THREE PLANETS CONFIRMED BY TRANSIT TIMING VARIATIONS, LIGHT CURVE VALIDATION, WARM-SPITZER PHOTOMETRY, AND RADIAL VELOCITY MEASUREMENTS

We report the detection of three transiting planets around a Sun-like star, which we designate Kepler-18. The transit signals were detected in photometric data from the Kepler satellite, and were confirmed to arise from planets using a combination of large transit-timing variations (TTVs), radial velocity variations, Warm-Spitzer observations, and statistical analysis of false-positive probabilities. The Kepler-18 star has a mass of 0.97 M{sub sun}, a radius of 1.1 R{sub sun}, an effective temperature of 5345 K, and an iron abundance of [Fe/H] = +0.19. The planets have orbital periods of approximately 3.5, 7.6, and 14.9 days. The innermost planet 'b' is a 'super-Earth' with a mass of 6.9 {+-} 3.4 M{sub +}, a radius of 2.00 {+-} 0.10 R{sub +}, and a mean density of 4.9 {+-} 2.4 g cm{sup 3}. The two outer planets 'c' and 'd' are both low-density Neptune-mass planets. Kepler-18c has a mass of 17.3 {+-} 1.9 M{sub +}, a radius of 5.49 {+-} 0.26 R{sub +}, and a mean density of 0.59 {+-} 0.07 g cm{sup 3}, while Kepler-18d has a mass of 16.4 {+-} 1.4 M{sub +}, a radius of 6.98 {+-} 0.33 R{sub +} and a mean density of 0.27 {+-} 0.03 g cm{sup 3}. Kepler-18c and Kepler-18d have orbital periods near a 2:1 mean-motion resonance, leading to large and readily detected TTVs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Multiple Explanations for the Single Transit of KIC 5951458 Based on Radial Velocity Measurements Extracted with a Novel Matched-template Technique

Planetary systems that show single-transit events are a critical pathway to increasing the yield of long-period exoplanets from transit surveys. From the primary Kepler mission, KIC 5951458 b (Kepler-456b) was thought to be a single-transit giant planet with an orbital period of 1310 days. However, radial velocity (RV) observations of KIC 5951458 from the HIRES instrument on the Keck telescope suggest that the system is far more complicated. To extract precise RVs for this V≈13 star, we develop a novel matched-template technique that takes advantage of a broad library of template spectra acquired with HIRES. We validate this technique and measure its noise floor to be 4–8 m s{sup −1} (in addition to internal RV error) for most stars that would be targeted for precision RVs. For KIC 5951458, we detect a long-term RV trend that suggests the existence of a stellar companion with an orbital period greater than a few thousand days. We also detect an additional signal in the RVs that is possibly caused by a planetary or brown dwarf companion with mass in the range of 0.6–82 M {sub Jup} and orbital period below a few thousand days. Curiously, from just the data on hand, it is not possible to determine which object caused the single “transit” event. We demonstrate how a modest set of RVs allows us to update the properties of this unusual system and predict the optimal timing for future observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Uncertainties in direct dark matter detection in light of Gaia's escape velocity measurements

Direct detection experiments have set increasingly stringent limits on the cross section for spin-independent dark matter-nucleon interactions. In obtaining such limits, experiments primarily assume the standard halo model (SHM) as the distribution of dark matter in our Milky Way. Three astrophysical parameters are required to define the SHM: the local dark matter escape velocity, the local dark matter density and the circular velocity of the sun around the center of the galaxy. This paper studies the effect of the uncertainties in these three astrophysical parameters on the XENON1T exclusion limits using the publicly available DDCalc code. We compare limits obtained using the widely assumed escape velocity from the RAVE survey and the newly calculated escape velocity by Monari et al. using Gaia data. Our study finds that the astrophysical uncertainties are dominated by the uncertainty in the escape velocity (independent of the best fit value) at dark matter masses below 6 GeV and can lead to a variation of nearly 6 orders of magnitude in the exclusion limits at 4 GeV. Above a WIMP mass of 6 GeV, the uncertainty becomes dominated by the local dark matter density, leading to uncertainties of factors of ~10 (3) at 6 (15) GeV WIMP mass in the exclusion limits. Additionally, this work finds that the updated best fit value for the escape velocity based on Gaia data leads to only very minor changes to the effects of the astrophysical uncertainties on the XENON1T exclusion limits.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Three component velocity measurements in an upper surface blowing configuration

In four recent papers, results of an experimental investigation of a freely expanding coflowing jet as well as a three dimensional wall jet have been presented. A flat plate and a curved wall surface modelling a wing-flap combination in a high lift V/STOL configuration have been documented as to their effects on the flow field. The ratio of the jet exit plane velocity to the free stream velocity was varied from 5.1 to 10.9 to 1. This report continues the documentation of the three dimensional wall jet with special emphasis on the vertical and lateral mean and fluctuating velocities. Additionally, boundary layer profiles over both the flat plate and the flap are presented.

Catalano, G. D.↗

Velocity measurement in rocket exhaust and general aerodynamic flows by photolysis of H2O and laser induced fluorescence of OH

A 'tagging' approach in which the photolysis of H2O by an excimer laser creates a zone of enhanced OH concentration, while a second, pulsed-UV laser detects tagged-zone convection via time-delayed excitation of OH fluorescence, depends on the photodissociation process and the kinetics of OH decay (relative to velocity). For application to the fuel-rich, high supersonic Mach number exhaust flow of the SSME, the detection of OH is being accomplished with either a pulsed narrowband UV dye laser or a tunable XeCl excimer laser for excitation of an OH 0-0 band transition, while the two-photon photolysis of H2O is conducted by focusing an injection-locked KrF excimer laser into the flow.

Boedeker, Laurence R.↗

Interferometric phase velocity measurements in the auroral electrojet

A double-probe electric field detector and two spatially separated fixed-bias Langmuir probes were flown on a Taurus-Tomahawk sounding rocket launched from Poker Flat Research Range in March 1982. Interesting wave data have been obtained from about 10s of the downleg portion of the flight during which the rocket passed through the auroral electrojet. Here the electric field receiver and both density fluctuation (delta-n/n) receivers responded to a broad band of turbulence centered at 105 km-altitude and at frequencies generally below 4 kHz. Closer examination of the two delta-n/n turbulent waveforms reveals that they are correlated; from the phase difference between the two signals, the phase velocity of the waves in the rocket reference frame is inferred. The magnitude and direction of the observed phase velocity are consistent either with waves which travel at the ion sound speed or with waves which travel at the electron drift velocity. The observed phase velocity varies by about 50 percent over a 5 km altitude range, an effect which probably results from shear in the zonal neutral wind, although, unfortunately, no simultaneous neutral wind measurements exist to confirm this.

Labelle, J.↗

Wind velocity measurements in the neutral boundary layer above hilly prairie

The Flint Hills region in eastern Kansas is characterized by a strongly dissected rolling to hilly terrain with an average about 25 m of relief between steep ridges and valleys, and with ridges typically separated by distances of the order of 600 m. Intensive radiosonde observations during summer and fall of 1987 allowed the determination of some aspects of the wind regime in the region. For an assumed ground-surface reference of 330 m above sea level (asl), analysis of neutral profiles yielded a value z(0) of about 1.05 m, approximately. Good agreement was obtained between the values of friction velocity derived from wind profiles and values determined independently from the corresponding humidity profiles.

Sugita, Michiaki↗

Full field flow visualization and computer-aided velocity measurements in a bank of cylinders in a wind tunnel

The full field flow tracking (FFFT) method that is presented in this paper uses a laser-generated, mechanically strobed planar sheet of light, a low luminosity TV camera coupled with a long distance microscope, and a computer-controlled video recorder to study nonintrusively and qualitatively the flow structures in a bank of cylinders that are placed in a wind tunnel. This setup simulates an upscale version of the geometry of internal cooling passageways characteristic of small air-cooled radial turbines. The qualitative images supplied by the FFFT system are processed by means of a computer-integrated image quantification (CIIQ) method into quantitative information, trajectories and velocities, that describe the flow upstream of and within the bank of cylinders. The tracking method is Lagrangian in concept, and permits identification and tracking of the same particle, thus facilitating construction of time dependent trajectories and the calculation of true velocities and accelerations. The error analysis evaluates the accuracy with which the seed particles follow the flow and the errors incurred during the quantitative processing of the raw data derived from the FFFT/CIIQ method.

Braun, M. J.↗

Unseeded Scalar Velocity Measurements for Propulsion Flows

Unseeded molecular tagging methods based on single-photon processes that produce long tag lines (>50 mm) have been recently developed and demonstrated by the Combustion Laser Diagnostics Group (Mechanical Engineering Department) at Vanderbilt University [1,2]. In Ozone Tagging Velocimetry (OTV) a line of ozone (O3) is produced by a single photon from a pulsed narrowband argon fluoride (ArF) excimer laser operating at - 193 nm. After a known time delay, t, the position of the displaced (convected in the flow field) O3 tag line is revealed by photodissociation of O3 and subsequent fluorescence of O2, caused by a pulsed laser sheet from a krypton fluoride (KrF) excimer laser operating at - 248 nm. Intensified CCD camera images of the fluorescence are taken from the initial and final tag line locations thus providing unobtrusive means of establishing a velocity profile in the interrogated flow field. The O3 lines are "written" and subsequently "read" by the following reactions:

Pitz, Robert W.↗

Analysis of vibration induced error in turbulence velocity measurements from an aircraft wing tip boom

The effect of rolling motion of a wing on the magnitude of error induced due to the wing vibration when measuring atmospheric turbulence with a wind probe mounted on the wing tip was investigated. The wing considered had characteristics similar to that of a B-57 Cambera aircraft, and Von Karman's cross spectrum function was used to estimate the cross-correlation of atmospheric turbulence. Although the error calculated was found to be less than that calculated when only elastic bendings and vertical motions of the wing are considered, it is still relatively large in the frequency's range close to the natural frequencies of the wing. Therefore, it is concluded that accelerometers mounted on the wing tip are needed to correct for this error, or the atmospheric velocity data must be appropriately filtered.

Akkari, S. H.↗

DISAPPEARANCE OF A NARROW Mg II ABSORPTION SYSTEM WITH A MEASURED VELOCITY UP TO 166, 000 km s{sup –1}

Quasar J152645.61+193006.7 (z{sub e} = 2.5771) was observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) on 2006 May 31 and again on 2011 April 9. The time interval of the SDSS two observations is 497.4 days at the quasar rest frame. From the spectra of this quasar, we detect a phenomenon of the disappearance of a narrow Mg II λλ2796, 2803 absorption system with a velocity of up to 166, 129 km s{sup –1} with respect to the quasar. This disappearance event can be caused by changes in the ionization state of absorbing gas or by the bulk motion of the absorbing gas across the quasar sightline. The coverage fraction analysis shows that this absorber partially covers the background emission sources with an effective coverage fraction of C{sub f} = 0.40 ± 0.06. The time variation analysis and the coverage fraction analysis imply that this absorber might be intrinsic to the quasar. However, the scenario of a cosmologically separated foreground object located at z = 0.9170 accounting for the phenomenon cannot be ruled out, according to current available data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Principal component analysis of modified gravity using weak lensing and peculiar velocity measurements

We perform a principal component analysis to assess ability of future observations to measure departures from General Relativity in predictions of the Poisson and anisotropy equations on linear scales. In particular, we focus on how the measurements of redshift-space distortions (RSD) observed from spectroscopic galaxy redshift surveys will improve the constraints when combined with lensing tomographic surveys. Assuming a Euclid-like galaxy imaging and redshift survey, we find that adding the 3D information decreases the statistical uncertainty by a factor between 3 and 7 compared to the case when only observables from lensing tomographic surveys are used. We also find that the number of well-constrained modes increases by a factor between 3 and 6. Our study indicates the importance of joint galaxy imaging and redshift surveys such as SuMIRe and Euclid to give more stringent tests of the ΛCDM model and to distinguish between various modified gravity and dark energy models.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗