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At least 235 records · Page 13

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NASA NTRS1993

Neutral temperature anomaly in the equatorial thermosphere - A source of vertical winds

Data obtained from the Wind and Temperature Spectrometer on the Dynamics Explorer during high solar activity show new evidence for the presence of vertical winds of a significant magnitude in the equatorial thermosphere. They reveal a latitudinal structure that can be related to the recently discovered equatorial temperature and wind anomaly (ETWA). In the local evening hours, the vertical winds usually are downward around the dip equator and collocated with the temperature minimum of ETWA. In general, they are upward at about 24 deg dip latitude away from the dip equator and are collocated with the ETWA temperature crests. The magnitude of the vertical winds is in the 10-40 m/s range. It is proposed that the temperature and pressure ridges, formed by the excess ion drag on the zonal winds around the two crests and ordered by the relatively lower ion drag at the trough of the well known equatorial ionization anomaly, drive a new wind system in the meridional plane and that the measured vertical winds form part of this wind system.

Raghavarao, R.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Symmetric Galerkin boundary formulations employing curved elements

Accounts of the symmetric Galerkin approach to boundary element analysis (BEA) have recently been published. This paper attempts to add to the understanding of this method by addressing a series of fundamental issues associated with its potential computational efficiency. A new symmetric Galerkin theoretical formulation for both the (harmonic) heat conduction and the (biharmonic) elasticity problem that employs regularized singular and hypersingular boundary integral equations (BIEs) is presented. The novel use of regularized BIEs in the Galerkin context is shown to allow straightforward incorporation of curved, isoparametric elements. A symmetric reusable intrinsic sample point (RISP) numerical integration algorithm is shown to produce a Galerkin (i.e., double) integration strategy that is competitive with its counterpart (i.e., singular) integration procedure in the collocation BEA approach when the time saved in the symmetric equation solution phase is also taken into account. This new formulation is shown to be capable of employing hypersingular BIEs while obviating the requirement of C 1 continuity, a fact that allows the employment of the popular continuous element technology. The behavior of the symmetric Galerkin BEA method with regard to both direct and iterative equation solution operations is also addressed. A series of example problems are presented to quantify the performance of this symmetric approach, relative to the more conventional unsymmetric BEA, in terms of both accuracy and efficiency. It is concluded that appropriate implementations of the symmetric Galerkin approach to BEA indeed have the potential to be competitive with, if not superior to, collocation-based BEA, for large-scale problems.

Kane, J. H.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Numerical derivative techniques for trajectory optimization

The adoption of robust numerical optimization techniques in trajectory simulation programs has resulted in powerful design and analysis tools. These trajectory simulation/optimization programs are widely used, and a representative list includes the GTS system, the POST program, and newer collocation methods such as OTIS and FONPAC. All of these programs rely on optimization algorithms which require objective function and constraint gradient data during the iteration process. However, most trajectory optimization problems lack simple analytical expressions for these derivatives. In the general case a function evaluation involves integrating aerodynamic, propulsive, and gravity forces over multiple trajectory phases with complex control models. With the newer collocation methods, the integration is replaced by defect constraints and cubic approximations for the state. While analytic gradient expressions can sometimes be derived for trajectory optimization problems, the derivation is cumbersome, time consuming, and prone to mistakes. Fortunately, an alternate method exists for the gradient evaluation, namely finite difference approximations. In this paper some finite difference gradient techniques developed for use with the GTS system are presented. These techniques include methods for computing first and second partial derivatives of single and multiple sets of functions. A key feature of these methods is an error control mechanism which automatically adjusts the perturbation size to obtain accurate derivative values.

Hallman, Wayne P.↗

NASA NTRS1993

The Chebyshev-Legendre method: Implementing Legendre methods on Chebyshev points

We present a new collocation method for the numerical solution of partial differential equations. This method uses the Chebyshev collocation points, but because of the way the boundary conditions are implemented, it has all the advantages of the Legendre methods. In particular, L2 estimates can be obtained easily for hyperbolic and parabolic problems.

Don, Wai Sun↗

NASA NTRS1994

Spectral solution of the viscous blunt body problem. 2: Multidomain approximation

We present steady solutions of high speed viscous flows over blunt bodies using a multidomain Chebyshev spectral collocation method. The region with the shock layer is divided into subdomains so that internal layers can be well-resolved. In the interiors of the subdomains, the solution is approximated by Chebyshev collocation. At interfaces between subdomains, the advective terms are upwinded and the viscous terms are treated by a penalty method. The method is applied to five flows, the Mach number range 5-25 and Reynolds number range 2,000 - 83,000, based on nose radius. Results are compared to experimental data and to a finite difference result.

Kopriva, David A.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Relationship between ice water path and downward longwave radiation for clouds optically thin in the infrared: Observations and model calculations

A vertically pointing 3.2-cm radar is used to observe altostratus and cirrus clouds as they pass overhead. Radar reflectivities are used in combination with an empirical Z(sub i)-IWC (ice water content) relationship developed by Sassen (1987) to parameterize IWC, which is then integrated to obtain estimates of ice water path (IWP). The observed dataset is segregated into all-ice and mixed-phase periods using measurements of integrated liquid water paths (LWP) detected by a collocated, dual-channel microwave radiometer. The IWP values for the all ice periods are compared to measurements of infrared (IR) downward fluxes measured by a collocated narrowband (9.95-11.43 microns) IR radiometer, which results in scattergrams representing the observed dependence of IR fluxes on IWP. A two-stream model is used to calculate the infrared fluxes expected from ice clouds with boundary conditions specified by the actual clouds, and similar curves relating IWP and infrared fluxes are obtained. The model and observational results suggest that IWP is one of the primary controls on infrared thermal fluxes for ice clouds.

Uttal, Taneil↗

NASA NTRS1994

Evaluating the design of an earth radiation budget instrument with system simulations. Part 2: Minimization of instantaneous sampling errors for CERES-I

Much of the new record of broadband earth radiation budget satellite measurements to be obtained during the late 1990s and early twenty-first century will come from the dual-radiometer Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System Instrument (CERES-I) flown aboard sun-synchronous polar orbiters. Simulation studies conducted in this work for an early afternoon satellite orbit indicate that spatial root-mean-square (rms) sampling errors of instantaneous CERES-I shortwave flux estimates will range from about 8.5 to 14.0 W/m on a 2.5 deg latitude and longitude grid resolution. Rms errors in longwave flux estimates are only about 20% as large and range from 1.5 to 3.5 W/sq m. These results are based on an optimal cross-track scanner design that includes 50% footprint overlap to eliminate gaps in the top-of-the-atmosphere coverage, and a 'smallest' footprint size to increase the ratio in the number of observations lying within to the number of observations lying on grid area boundaries. Total instantaneous measurement error also depends on the variability of anisotropic reflectance and emission patterns and on retrieval methods used to generate target area fluxes. Three retrieval procedures from both CERES-I scanners (cross-track and rotating azimuth plane) are used. (1) The baseline Earth Radiaton Budget Experiment (ERBE) procedure, which assumes that errors due to the use of mean angular dependence models (ADMs) in the radiance-to-flux inversion process nearly cancel when averaged over grid areas. (2) To estimate N, instantaneous ADMs are estimated from the multiangular, collocated observations of the two scanners. These observed models replace the mean models in computation of satellite flux estimates. (3) The scene flux approach, conducts separate target-area retrievals for each ERBE scene category and combines their results using area weighting by scene type. The ERBE retrieval performs best when the simulated radiance field departs from the ERBE mean models by less than 10%. For larger perturbations, both the scene flux and collocation methods produce less error than the ERBE retrieval. The scene flux technique is preferable, however, because it involves fewer restrictive assumptions.

Stowe, Larry↗

NASA NTRS1994

Hybrid near-optimal aeroassisted orbit transfer plane change trajectories

In this paper, a hybrid methodology is used to determine optimal open loop controls for the atmospheric portion of the aeroassisted plane change problem. The method is hybrid in the sense that it combines the features of numerical collocation with the analytically tractable portions of the problem which result when the two-point boundary value problem is cast in the form of a regular perturbation problem. Various levels of approximation are introduced by eliminating particular collocation parameters and their effect upon problem complexity and required number of nodes is discussed. The results include plane changes of 10, 20, and 30 degrees for a given vehicle.

Calise, Anthony J.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Development and Validation of a Polar Cloud Algorithm for CERES

The objectives of this project, as described in the original proposal, were to develop an algorithm for diagnosing cloud properties over snow- and ice-covered surfaces, particularly at night, using satellite radiances from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and High-resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS) sensors. Products from this algorithm include a cloud mask and additional cloud properties such as cloud phase, amount, and height. The SIVIS software package, developed as a part of the CERES project, was originally the primary tool used to develop the algorithm, but as it is no longer supported we have had to pursue a new tool to enable the combination and analysis of collocated radiances from AVHRR and HIRS. This turned out to be a much larger endeavor than we expected, but we now have the data sets collocated (with many thanks to B. Baum for the fundamental code) and we have developed a nighttime cloud detection algorithm. Using this algorithm we have also computed realistic-looking cloud fractions from AVHRR brightness temperatures. A method to identify cloud phase has also been implemented. Atmospheric information from the TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) Polar Pathfinder Data Set, which includes temperature and moisture profiles as well as surface information, provides information required for determining cloud-top height.

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NASA NTRS1994

Impact of Clouds on the Shortwave Radiation Budget of the Surface: Atmosphere System for Snow Covered Surfaces

Recent data from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) have raised the question as to whether or not the addition of clouds to the atmospheric column can decrease the top-of-the-atmosphere (TOA) albedo over bright snow-covered surfaces. To address this issue, ERBE shortwave pixel measurements have been collocated with surface insolation measurements made at two snow-covered locations: the South Pole and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Both collocated datasets show a negative correlation (with solar zenith angle variability removed) between TOA albedo and surface insolation. Because increased cloudiness acts to reduce surface insolation, these negative correlations demonstrate that clouds increase the TOA albedo at both snow-covered locations.

Nemesure, Seth↗

NASA NTRS1996

Absorption of Solar Radiation by Clouds: Interpretations of Satellite, Surface, and Aircraft Measurements

To investigate the absorption of shortwave radiation by clouds, we have collocated satellite and surface measurements of shortwave radiation at several locations. Considerable effort has been directed toward understanding and minimizing sampling errors caused by the satellite measurements being instantaneous and over a grid that is much larger than the field of view of an upward facing surface pyranometer. The collocated data indicate that clouds absorb considerably more shortwave radiation than is predicted by theoretical models. This is consistent with the finding from both satellite and aircraft measurements that observed clouds are darker than model clouds. In the limit of thick clouds, observed top-of-the-atmosphere albedos do not exceed a value of 0.7, whereas in models the maximum albedo can be 0.8.

Cess, R. D.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Absorption of Solar Radiation by Clouds: Interpretations of Satellite, Surface, and Aircraft Measurements

Cess, R. D.↗

NASA NTRS2000

The Use of Water Vapor for Detecting Environments that Lead to Convectively Produced Heavy Precipitation and Flash Floods

This Tech Report summarizes years of study and experiences on using GOES Water vapor (6.7 micron and precipitable water) and Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/1) from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) derived Precipitable Water (PNAI) for detecting environments favorable for convectively produced flash floods. An emphasis is on the moisture. upper air flow, and equivalent potential temperature (Theta(sub e)) patterns that lead to devastating flood events. The 15 minute 6.7 micron water vapor imagery is essential for tracking middle to upper tropospheric disturbances that produce upward vertical motion and initiate flash flood producing systems. Water vapor imagery at 6.7 micron is also used to detect surges of upper level moisture (called tropical water vapor plumes) that have been associated with extremely heavy rainfall. Since the water vapor readily depicts lifting mechanisms and upper level moisture, water vapor imagery is often an excellent source of data for recognizing patterns of heavy precipitation and flash floods. In order to analyze the depth of the moisture, the PW aspects of the troposphere must be measured. The collocation (or nearby location) of high values ofP\V and instability are antecedent conditions prior to the flash flood or heavy rainfall events. Knowledge of PW magnitudes have been used as thresholds for impending flash flood events, PW trends are essential in flash flood prediction. Conceptual models and water vapor products are used to study some of the characteristics of convective systems that occurred over the United States of America (USA) during the summer of 1997 and the 1997-1998 El Nino. P\V plumes were associated with most of the \vest coast heavy precipitation events examined during the winter season of 1997 - 1998, In another study, conducted during the summer season of 1997. results showed that the collocation of water vapor (6.7 micron) and P\N' plumes possessed higher correlations with predicted rainfall amounts than when PW plumes occurred by themselves (i.e.. without the presence of 6.7 micron water vapor plumes). Satellite Analysis Branch (SAB) meteorologists use the 6.7 micron water and P\V products for their QPE's (interactive Flash Flood Analyzer (IFFA) and Auto-Estimator precipitation estimates), Outlooks, and heavy precipitation briefings with the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center/National Center for Environmental Prediction.

Scofield, Rod↗

NASA NTRS2000

Aerospace Systems Design in NASA's Collaborative Engineering Environment

Past designs of complex aerospace systems involved an environment consisting of collocated design teams with project managers, technical discipline experts, and other experts (e.g., manufacturing and systems operation). These experts were generally qualified only on the basis of past design experience and typically had access to a limited set of integrated analysis tools. These environments provided less than desirable design fidelity, often lead to the inability of assessing critical programmatic and technical issues (e.g., cost, risk, technical impacts), and generally derived a design that was not necessarily optimized across the entire system. The continually changing, modern aerospace industry demands systems design processes that involve the best talent available (no matter where it resides) and access to the the best design and analysis tools. A solution to these demands involves a design environment referred to as collaborative engineering. The collaborative engineering environment evolving within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a capability that enables the Agency's engineering infrastructure to interact and use the best state-of-the-art tools and data across organizational boundaries. Using collaborative engineering, the collocated team is replaced with an interactive team structure where the team members are geographical distributed and the best engineering talent can be applied to the design effort regardless of physical location. In addition, a more efficient, higher quality design product is delivered by bringing together the best engineering talent with more up-to-date design and analysis tools. These tools are focused on interactive, multidisciplinary design and analysis with emphasis on the complete life cycle of the system, and they include nontraditional, integrated tools for life cycle cost estimation and risk assessment. NASA has made substantial progress during the last two years in developing a collaborative engineering environment. NASA is planning to use this collaborative engineering engineering infrastructure to provide better aerospace systems life cycle design and analysis, which includes analytical assessment of the technical and programmatic aspects of a system from "cradle to grave." This paper describes the recent NASA developments in the area of collaborative engineering, the benefits (realized and anticipated) of using the developed capability, and the long-term plans for implementing this capability across Agency.

Monell, Donald W.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Consistency Study of Enhanced Shortwave Cloud Absorption Using GEBA Data

Under the support of this project, we have obtained the following results:(1) Shortwave radiative fluxes in current atmospheric general circulation models (GCMs) cannot simultaneously match Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) and Global Energy Balance Archive (GEBA) at the surface. This inconsistency of model results with observation is a result of insufficient absorption of solar radiation in the model atmosphere; (2) Current state-of-the art global datasets describing the energy balance of the atmosphere cannot close the atmospheric energy budget if algorithm-derived surface shortwave radiative fluxes are used. The deficient amount of 20 W/sq m is similar to the recently reported enhanced absorption of solar radiation in the atmosphere; (3) We have clarified several sampling problems in the analysis of the collocated monthly GEBA/ERBE data sets which are germane to the interpretation of the clear-sky absorption of shortwave radiation in the atmosphere. As a result, the collocated monthly ERBE/GEBA data can be effectively used to infer enhanced absorption of atmospheric radiation in measurements relative to models, but it cannot be unambiguously used to answer whether the enhanced absorption is in clouds or in clear sky. Other field data are needed to resolve this issue; and (4) Analysis of aircraft measurements during Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Enhanced Shortwave Experiment (ARESE) field campaign supports the enhanced absorption of solar radiation in clouds.

Zhang, Ming-Hua↗

NASA NTRS2001

Internal Consistency of the NVAP Water Vapor Dataset

The NVAP (NASA Water Vapor Project) dataset is a global dataset at 1 x 1 degree spatial resolution consisting of daily, pentad, and monthly atmospheric precipitable water (PW) products. The analysis blends measurements from the Television and Infrared Operational Satellite (TIROS) Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS), the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I), and radiosonde observations into a daily collage of PW. The original dataset consisted of five years of data from 1988 to 1992. Recent updates have added three additional years (1993-1995) and incorporated procedural and algorithm changes from the original methodology. Since each of the PW sources (TOVS, SSM/I, and radiosonde) do not provide global coverage, each of these sources compliment one another by providing spatial coverage over regions and during times where the other is not available. For this type of spatial and temporal blending to be successful, each of the source components should have similar or compatible accuracies. If this is not the case, regional and time varying biases may be manifested in the NVAP dataset. This study examines the consistency of the NVAP source data by comparing daily collocated TOVS and SSM/I PW retrievals with collocated radiosonde PW observations. The daily PW intercomparisons are performed over the time period of the dataset and for various regions.

Suggs, Ronnie J.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Aerospace Systems Design in NASA's Collaborative Engineering Environment

Past designs of complex aerospace systems involved an environment consisting of collocated design teams with project managers, technical discipline experts, and other experts (e.g. manufacturing and systems operations). These experts were generally qualified only on the basis of past design experience and typically had access to a limited set of integrated analysis tools. These environments provided less than desirable design fidelity, often lead to the inability of assessing critical programmatic and technical issues (e.g., cost risk, technical impacts), and generally derived a design that was not necessarily optimized across the entire system. The continually changing, modern aerospace industry demands systems design processes that involve the best talent available (no matter where it resides) and access to the best design and analysis tools. A solution to these demands involves a design environment referred to as collaborative engineering. The collaborative engineering environment evolving within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a capability that enables the Agency's engineering infrastructure to interact and use the best state-of-the-art tools and data across organizational boundaries. Using collaborative engineering, the collocated team is replaced with an interactive team structure where the team members are geographically distributed and the best engineering talent can be applied to the design effort regardless of physical location. In addition, a more efficient, higher quality design product is delivered by bringing together the best engineering talent with more up-to-date design and analysis tools. These tools are focused on interactive, multidisciplinary design and analysis with emphasis on the complete life cycle of the system, and they include nontraditional, integrated tools for life cycle cost estimation and risk assessment. NASA has made substantial progress during the last two years in developing a collaborative engineering environment. NASA is planning to use this collaborative engineering infrastructure to provide better aerospace systems life cycle design and analysis, which includes analytical assessment of the technical and programmatic aspects of a system from "cradle to grave." This paper describes the recent NASA developments in the area of collaborative engineering, the benefits (realized and anticipated) of using the developed capability, and the long-term plans for implementing this capability across the Agency.

Monell, Donald W.↗

NASA NTRS2006

Polarimetric Microwave Remote Sensing of Hurricane Ocean Winds

We presented the analysis of Windsat data for hurricanes Isabel and Fabian in 2003. The polarimetric third and fourth Stokes parameter observations from the Windsat 10, 18 and 37 GHz channels were collocated with the ocean surface winds from the Holland wind model, the QuikSCAT wind vectors and the Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS) operated by the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). The collocated data were binned as a function of wind speed and wind direction, and were expanded by sinusoidal series of the relative azimuth angles between wind and observation directions. The coefficients of the sinusoidal series, corrected for atmospheric attenuation, have been used to develop an empirical geophysical model function (GMF). The Windsat GMF for extreme high wind compares very well with the aircraft radiometer and radar measurements.

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