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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

Magnetized stimulated scattering in pulsar winds

The effects of stimulated scattering on a collimated high brightness temperature beam of photons traversing a relativistically streaming magnetized plasma are studied. Under the assumption that the center of the photon beam is parallel to the bulk motion, we calculate the scattering rate as a function of the angular spread of the beam and the Lorentz factor gamma. Magnetization changes the photon recoil, without which stimulated scattering has no effect. It also introduces a strong dependence on frequency and polarization: if the photon frequency matches the electron cyclotron frequency, the scattering rate of photons polarized perpendicular to the magnetic field can be substantially enhanced relative to Thomson, and if the photon frequency is much less than the cyclotron frequency, the scattering is suppressed. Applying these calculations to pulsars, we find that stimulated scattering of the radio beam in the magnetized wind believed to exist outside the light cylinder can substantially alter the spectrum and polarization state of the radio signal. We suggest that the scattering rate is so high in some pulsars that the ability of the radio signal to penetrate the pulsar magnetosphere requires modification of either the conventional model of the magnetosphere or assumptions about the effects of stimulated scattering upon a beam.

Sincell, Mark W.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Protein crystal growth

Proteins account for 50% or more of the dry weight of most living systems and play a crucial role in virtually all biological processes. Since the specific functions of essentially all biological molecules are determined by their three-dimensional structures, it is obvious that a detailed understanding of the structural makeup of a protein is essential to any systematic research pertaining to it. At the present time, protein crystallography has no substitute, it is the only technique available for elucidating the atomic arrangements within complicated biological molecules. Most macromolecules are extremely difficult to crystallize, and many otherwise exciting and promising projects have terminated at the crystal growth stage. There is a pressing need to better understand protein crystal growth, and to develop new techniques that can be used to enhance the size and quality of protein crystals. There are several aspects of microgravity that might be exploited to enhance protein crystal growth. The major factor that might be expected to alter crystal growth processes in space is the elimination of density-driven convective flow. Another factor that can be readily controlled in the absence of gravity is the sedimentation of growing crystal in a gravitational field. Another potential advantage of microgravity for protein crystal growth is the option of doing containerless crystal growth. One can readily understand why the microgravity environment established by Earth-orbiting vehicles is perceived to offer unique opportunities for the protein crystallographer. The near term objectives of the Protein Crystal Growth in a Microgravity Environment (PCG/ME) project is to continue to improve the techniques, procedures, and hardware systems used to grow protein crystals in Earth orbit.

Bugg, Charles E.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Absorption of Solar Radiation by Clouds: A Second Look at Irradiance Measurements

A decade ago, Stephens and Tsay provided an overview of the subject of absorption of solar radiation by clouds in the earth's atmosphere. They summarized the available evidence that pointed to disagreements between theoretical and observed values of cloud absorption (and reflection). At that time, a theoretician's approach (assuming perfect flux measurements) was adopted to test the model uncertainty under various hypotheses, such as the omitted large drops, excess absorbing aerosols, enhanced water vapor continuum absorption, and cloud inhomogeneity. Since then, several advances in theoretical work have been made, but a satisfactory answer for the discrepancy is still lacking. Now, we offer an experimentalist's approach (focusing on field, not laboratory) to examine the observational uncertainty under numerous field factors, such as the temperature dependence, attitude control, and sampling strategy in the spatial and spectral domain. Examples from recent field campaigns have pointed out that these sources of error may be responsible for the unacceptable level of uncertainty (e.g., as large as 20 W/square m). We give examples of each, discuss their contribution to overall uncertainty in shortwave absorption, and suggest a coordinated approach to their solution.

Tsay, Si-Chee↗
DOE OSTI2021

Oxidation and Associated Pore Structure Modification During Experimental Alteration of Granite

Weathering plays a crucial role in a number of environmental processes, and the microstructure and evolution of multi-scale pore space is a critically important factor in the weathering of geological formations. In igneous rocks the infiltration of meteoric water into initially relatively dry material can cause the rock to begin to disaggregate, increasing porosity and surface area, and allowing further disaggregation and weathering to occur. These processes, in turn, allow biota to colonize the rock, further enhancing the weathering rate. In some igneous rocks this may be driven by oxidation of primary minerals. One such mineral, biotite, has been repeatedly mentioned as a cause of cracking during oxidation. However, the scale-dependence of the processes by which this occurs are poorly understood. We cannot, therefore, accurately extrapolate laboratory reaction rates to the field in predictive numerical models. In order to better understand the effects of oxidation and test the hypothesis that fracture and disaggregation are initiated by swelling of oxidizing biotites, we reacted granite cores in a selenic acid-rich aqueous solution at 200°C for up to 438 days. Elevated temperatures and selenic acid were used to provide relatively fast reaction rates and highly oxidizing conditions in sealed reaction vessels. These experiments were analyzed using a combination of imaging, X-ray diffraction, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and small- and ultra-small angle neutron scattering to interrogate porosity and microfracture formation. The experimental results show little observable biotite swelling, but significant transport and growth of iron oxides and/or clays along grain boundaries throughout the sample. Significant increases in porosity were also observed at the sample rim, likely associated with feldspar alteration. Fractures and transport were observed throughout the core, suggesting that stresses due to crystallization pressures caused by the growing iron phases may be the initiating factors in granite weathering, possibly followed by biotite swelling after sufficient permeability is achieved.

Anovitz, Lawrence M.↗
DOE OSTI2020

2020 Annual Report of Available Drawdowns for Each Oil Storage Cavern in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

The Department of Energy maintains an up-to-date documentation of the number of available full drawdowns of each of the caverns owned by the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). This information is important for assessing the SPR's ability to deliver oil to domestic oil companies expeditiously if national or world events dictate a rapid sale and deployment of the oil reserves. Sandia was directed to develop and implement a process to continuously assess and report the evolution of drawdown capacity, the subject of this report. A cavern has an available drawdown if after that drawdown, the long-term stability of the cavern, the cavern field, or the oil quality are not compromised. Thus, determining the number of available drawdowns requires the consideration of several factors regarding cavern and wellbore integrity and stability, including stress states caused by cavern geometry and operations, salt damage caused by dilatant and tensile stresses, the effect of enhanced creep on wellbore integrity, and the sympathetic stress effect of operations on neighboring caverns. A consensus has now been built regarding the assessment of drawdown capabilities and risks for the SPR caverns. The process involves an initial assessment of the pillar-to-diameter (P/D) ratio for each cavern with respect to neighboring caverns. A large pillar thickness between adjacent caverns should be strong enough to withstand the stresses induced by closure of the caverns due to salt creep. The first evaluation of P/D includes a calculation of the evolution of P/D after a number of full cavern drawdowns. The most common storage industry standard is to keep this value greater than 1.0, which should ensure a pillar thick enough to prevent loss of fluids to the surrounding rock mass. However, many of the SPR caverns currently have a P/D less than 1.0 or will likely have a low P/D after one or two full drawdowns. For these caverns, it is important to examine the structural integrity with more detail using geomechanical models. Finite-element geomechanical models have been used to determine the stress states in the pillars following successive drawdowns. By computing the tensile and dilatant stresses in the salt, areas of potential structural instability can be identified that may represent "red flags" for additional drawdowns. These analyses have found that many caverns will maintain structural integrity even when grown via drawdowns to dimensions resulting in a P/D of less than 1.0. The analyses have also confirmed that certain caverns should only be completely drawn down one time. As the SPR caverns are utilized and partial drawdowns are performed to remove oil from the caverns (e.g., for occasional oil sales authorized by the Congress or the President), the changes to the cavern caused by these procedures must be tracked and accounted for so that an ongoing assessment of the cavern's drawdown capacity may be continued. A proposed methodology for assessing and tracking the available drawdowns for each cavern was presented in Sobolik et al. (2018). This report includes an update to the baseline drawdowns for each cavern, and provides an initial assessment of the evolution of drawdown expenditure for several caverns

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2021

Available Drawdowns for Each Oil Storage Cavern in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (2021 Annual Report)

The Department of Energy maintains an up-to-date documentation of the number of available full drawdowns of each of the caverns owned by the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). This information is important for assessing the SPRs ability to deliver oil to domestic oil companies expeditiously if national or world events dictate a rapid sale and deployment of the oil reserves. Sandia was directed to develop and implement a process to continuously assess and report the evolution of drawdown capacity, the subject of this report. A cavern has an available drawdown if after that drawdown, the long-term stability of the cavern, the cavern field, or the oil quality are not compromised. Thus, determining the number of available drawdowns requires the consideration of several factors regarding cavern and wellbore integrity and stability, including stress states caused by cavern geometry and operations, salt damage caused by dilatant and tensile stresses, the effect of enhanced creep on wellbore integrity, and the sympathetic stress effect of operations on neighboring caverns. A consensus has now been built regarding the assessment of drawdown capabilities and risks for the SPR caverns (Sobolik et al., 2014; Sobolik 2016). The process involves an initial assessment of the pillar - to - diameter (P/D) ratio for each cavern with respect to neighboring caverns. A large pillar thickness between adjacent caverns should be strong enough to withstand the stresses induced by closure of the caverns due to salt creep. The first evaluation of P/D includes a calculation of the evolution of P/D after a number of full cavern drawdowns. The most common storage industry standard is to keep this value greater than 1.0, which should ensure a pillar thick enough to prevent loss of fluids to the surrounding rock mass. However, many of the SPR caverns currently have a P/D less than 1.0 or will likely have a low P/D after one or two full drawdowns. For these caverns, it is important to examine the structural integrity with more detail using geomechanical models. Finite-element geomechanical models have been used to determine the stress states in the pillars following successive drawdowns. By computing the tensile and dilatant stresses in the salt, areas of potential structural instability can be identified that may represent red flags for additional drawdowns. These analyses have found that many caverns will maintain structural integrity even when grown via drawdowns to dimensions resulting in a P/D of less than 1.0. The analyses have also confirmed that certain caverns should only be completely drawn down one time. As the SPR caverns are utilized and partial drawdowns are performed to remove oil from the caverns (e.g., for occasional oil sales , purchases, or exchanges authorized by the Congress or the President), the changes to the cavern caused by these procedures must be tracked and accounted for so that an ongoing assessment of the caverns drawdown capacity may be continued. A proposed methodology for assessing and tracking the available drawdowns for each cavern was presented in Sobolik et al. (2018). This report is the latest in a series of annual reports, and it includes the baseline available drawdowns for each cavern, and the most recent assessment of the evolution of drawdown expenditure for several caverns .

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2023

2023 Annual Report of Available Drawdowns for Each Oil Storage Cavern in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

DOE maintains an up-to-date documentation of the number of available full drawdowns of each of the caverns at the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). This information is important for assessing the SPR’s ability to deliver oil to domestic oil companies expeditiously if national or world events dictate a rapid sale and deployment of the oil reserves. Sandia was directed to develop and implement a process to continuously assess and report the evolution of drawdown capacity, the subject of this report. This report covers impacts on drawdown availability due to SPR operations during Calendar Year 2022. A cavern has an available drawdown if, after that drawdown, the long-term stability of the cavern, the cavern field, or the oil quality are not compromised. Thus, determining the number of available drawdowns requires the consideration of several factors regarding cavern and wellbore integrity and stability, including stress states caused by cavern geometry and operations, salt damage caused by dilatant and tensile stresses, the effect of enhanced creep on wellbore integrity, and the sympathetic stress effect of operations on neighboring caverns. Finite-element geomechanical models have been used to determine the stress states in the pillars following successive drawdowns. By computing the tensile and dilatant stresses in the salt, areas of potential structural instability can be identified that may represent red flags for additional drawdowns. These analyses have found that many caverns will maintain structural integrity even when grown via drawdowns to dimensions resulting in a pillar-to-diameter ratio of less than 1.0. The analyses have also confirmed that certain caverns should only be completely drawn down one time. As the SPR caverns are utilized and partial drawdowns are performed to remove oil from the caverns (e.g., for oil sales, purchases, or exchanges authorized by the Congress or the President), the changes to the cavern caused by these procedures must be tracked and accounted for so that an ongoing assessment of the cavern’s drawdown capacity may be continued. A methodology for assessing and tracking the available drawdowns for each cavern is reiterated. This report is the latest in a series of annual reports, and it includes the baseline available drawdowns for each cavern, and the most recent assessment of the evolution of drawdown expenditures. A total of 222 million barrels of oil were released in calendar-year 2022. A nearly-equal amount of raw water was injected, resulting in an estimated 34 million barrels of cavern leaching. Twenty caverns have now expended a full drawdown. Cavern BC 18 has expended all its baseline available drawdowns, and has no drawdowns remaining. Cavern BM 103 has expended one of its two baseline drawdowns, and is now a single-drawdown cavern. All other caverns with an expenditure went from at-least-5 to at-least-4 remaining drawdowns.

02 PETROLEUM↗
NASA NTRS1990

Large scale excitation of the ISM in NGC 1068

Researchers have shown that photoionization by the continuum of the hidden Seyfert I nucleus in NGC 1068 can have a significant effect on the ionization state and energetics of this disk's Interstellar Medium (ISM). Photoionization models with appropriate power law spectra can produce (NII) lambda lambda 6538, 6584/H alpha line ratios of 1.25 for ionization parameters Q approx. 10 (exp -12). However the data indicate large regions where the (NII)/H alpha ratio is 1 to 3. Since the abundances are known to be solar, there must be additional heating sources. Hardening of the incident radiation field by intervening absorption should be able to raise T sub e, thereby raising the (NII)/H alpha ratio. Heating with moderate efficiency by the intense starburst ring should also be a significant factor in raising the temperature of the ISM. The photoionization models with additional heating predict enhanced emission from other forbidden lines including (OII) lambda 3727 and (SII) lambda 6731.

Sokolowski, J.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Scaling Containment on a Large Centrifuge

Containment science concerns the trapping or leakage of radioactive cavity gases from underground nuclear explosions (UNEs). The most physically relevant data for validation of containment science comes from legacy UNE testing or large field-scale chemical explosions. Field-scale tests can inform on the degree of residual stress imparted to host geology and possible formation of an accompanying gas-containing “stress cage”, for example, as a function of chemical explosion yield. However, field testing can be expensive, difficult to conduct, and challenging to instrument with limitations on data coverage (i.e., the number of boreholes; difficult coring through damage zones). Small-scale laboratory tests are typically simpler to conduct and more thoroughly characterize, but may not include the right scale of containment processes for stress-cage or chimney formation. This report presents the theory and fundamentals of large centrifuge physical modeling, including a history of explosive or similar testing relevant to containment science investigations on centrifuges. Subscale models with embedded chemical explosives in the enhanced gravity of a large centrifuge can represent hundreds of meters of depth and large explosions not otherwise attainable in the laboratory as based on scaling of length, energy, and other processes by the g-factor of the centrifuge (i.e., the number of times larger the centrifugal force is than the gravitational force on the Earth’s surface). The centrifuge uniquely joins the simplicity and exhaustiveness of laboratory-scale characterization with the physics of field-scale processes. This report is part of Sandia National Laboratories’ (SNL’s) effort to prepare for physical modeling with approximately one-meter tall geologic models of stress cage and/or chimney formation on its 29-foot [8.84 m] radius centrifuge with a load capacity of 1.6 million 𝑔-pounds [726 𝑔-ton]. The scaling relationships herein will inform model design decisions and performance requirements for in-flight sensors.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Improved temporal resolution in ultrafast electron diffraction measurements through THz compression and time-stamping

We present an experimental demonstration of ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) with THz-driven electron bunch compression and time-stamping that enables UED probes with improved temporal resolution. Through THz-driven longitudinal bunch compression, a compression factor of approximately four is achieved. Moreover, the time-of-arrival jitter between the compressed electron bunch and a pump laser pulse is suppressed by a factor of three. Simultaneously, the THz interaction imparts a transverse spatiotemporal correlation on the electron distribution, which we utilize to further enhance the precision of time-resolved UED measurements. We use this technique to probe single-crystal gold nanofilms and reveal transient oscillations in the THz near fields with a temporal resolution down to 50 fs. These oscillations were previously beyond reach in the absence of THz compression and time-stamping.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Available Drawdowns for Each Oil Storage Cavern in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (2022 Annual Report)

The Department of Energy maintains an up-to-date documentation of the number of available full drawdowns of each of the caverns owned by the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). This information is important for assessing the SPR's ability to deliver oil to domestic oil companies expeditiously if national or world events dictate a rapid sale and deployment of the oil reserves. Sandia was directed to develop and implement a process to continuously assess and report the evolution of drawdown capacity, the subject of this report. A cavern has an available drawdown if after that drawdown, the long-term stability of the cavern, the cavern field, or the oil quality are not compromised. Thus, determining the number of a vailable drawdowns requires the consideration of several factors regarding cavern and wellbore integrity and stability, including stress states caused by cavern geometry and operations, salt damage caused by dilatant and tensile stresses, the effect of enhanced creep on wellbore integrity, and the sympathetic stress effect of operations on neighboring caverns. A consensus has now been built regarding the assessment of drawdown capabilities and risks for the SPR caverns (Sobolik et al., 2014; Sobolik 2016). The process involves an initial assessment of the pillar-to-diameter (P/D) ratio for each cavern with respect to neighboring caverns. A large pillar thickness between adjacent caverns should be strong enough to withstand the stresses induced by closure of the caverns due to salt creep. The first evaluation of P/D includes a calculation of the evolution of P/D after a number of full cavern drawdowns. The most common storage industry standard is to keep this value greater than 1.0, which should ensure a pillar thick enough to prevent loss of fluids to the surrounding rock mass. However, many of the SPR caverns currently have a P/D less than 1.0 or will likely have a low P/D after one or two full drawdowns. For these caverns, it is important to examine the s tructural integrity with more detail using geomechanical models. Finite - element geomechanical models have been used to determine the stress states in the pillars following successive drawdowns. By computing the tensile and dilatant stresses in the salt, areas of potential structural instability can be identified that may represent "red flags" for additional drawdowns. These analyses have found that many caverns will maintain structural integrity even when grown via drawdowns to dimensions resulting in a P/D of less than 1.0. The analyses have also confirmed that certain caverns should only be completely drawn down one time. As the SPR caverns are utilized and partial drawdowns are performed to remove oil from the caverns (e.g., for occasional oil sales , purchases, or exchanges authorized by the Congress or the President), the changes to the cavern caused by these procedures must be tracked and accounted for so that an ongoing assessment of the cavern's drawdown capacity may be continued. A proposed methodology for assessing and tracking the available drawdowns for each cavern was presented in Sobolik et al. (2018). This report is the latest in a series of annual reports, and it includes the baseline available drawdowns for each cavern, and the most recent assessment of the evolution of drawdown expenditure for several caverns.

02 PETROLEUM↗
NASA NTRS2001

Field Enhancement Properties of Nanotubes in a Field Emission Set-Up

This slide presentation reviews the mechanisms of emission of nanotubes. The field enhancement properties of carbon nanotubes, involved in the emission of electrons, is investigated theoretically for various single-wall (SWNT) and multi-wall nanotubes (MWNT). The presentation points out big differences between (n,0) and (n,n) nanotubes, and propose phenomenological laws for the variations of the enhancement factor with length and diameter

Adessi, Ch.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Neutrinos as Dark Matter

Active neutrinos in standard cosmology were ruled out as a dark matter candidate in the 1980's. The reason is twofold: they are too light to account for the observed energy density of dark matter in the Universe, and their relativistic nature would spoil structure formation. In this note we suggest that an enhanced density of cold Standard Model active neutrinos today could behave effectively as dark matter, avoiding constraints from recombination and structure formation. Such an enhancement could be produced, for instance, by late-time decays of a light scalar field that is not in thermal equilibrium with the plasma. This mechanism is testable through the detection of the Cosmic Neutrino Background (C$\nu$B), which could have an average cosmological energy density a factor of $\sim 100-200$ times larger than expected in $\Lambda$CDM. The postulated light neutrinophilic scalar field may be observable, with Yukawa couplings in the range $y \sim 5 \times 10^{-16}-10^{-12}$. A scenario preferred by structure formation constraints is that the scalar is a Majoron, and the neutrinos have an inverted mass hierarchy.

Cline, James M. [McGill U.] (ORCID:000000017437419↗
DOE OSTI2024

Transverse Momentum Distributions from Lattice QCD without Wilson Lines

The transverse-momentum-dependent distributions (TMDs), which are defined by gauge-invariant 3D parton correlators with staple-shaped lightlike Wilson lines, can be calculated from quark and gluon correlators fixed in the Coulomb gauge on a Euclidean lattice. These quantities can be expressed gauge invariantly as the correlators of Coulomb-gauge-dressed fields, which reduce to the standard TMD correlators under principal-value prescription in the infinite boost limit. In the framework of large-momentum effective theory, a quasi-TMD defined from such correlators in a large-momentum hadron state can be matched to the TMD via a factorization formula, whose exact form is derived using soft collinear effective theory and verified at one-loop order. Compared to the currently used gauge-invariant correlators, this new method can substantially improve statistical precision and simplify renormalization for the time-reversal-even TMDs, which will greatly enhance the predicative power of lattice QCD in the nonperturbative region.

Effective field theory↗
DOE OSTI2025

Plasmon-enhanced ultralow-threshold solid-state triplet fusion upconversion

Triplet fusion upconversion has potential applications in solar cells, photoredox catalysis, additive manufacturing and bioimaging. However, solid-state upconversion systems have struggled to measure up to their solution-phase counterparts, often requiring enormous optical power densities to operate at the maximum efficiency. Here we substantially improve the performance of upconversion films through excitation with surface plasmons that propagate along a planar silver-film interface, leading to an absorption enhancement that reduces the intensity threshold I th by a factor of 19 and enhances the external quantum efficiency by a factor of 17. From this, we achieve I th values as low as 3.4 mW cm −2 and an external quantum efficiency up to 0.094%. To demonstrate real-world viability, we couple the upconversion film to plasmons generated by the near-field of excitons in an organic light-emitting diode. As a result, this scheme is then used to fabricate a white-emitting organic light-emitting diode where blue emission sources from plasmon-excited upconversion, achieving a high colour rendering index of 86.2 and setting precedent for blue emission in the absence of high-energy polarons or triplets.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Enhanced thermoelectric performance via quantum confinement in a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor for thermal management

Abstract The performance of thermoelectric devices is gauged by the dimensionless figure of merit $${{{{{\boldsymbol{ZT}}}}}}$$ ZT . Improving $${{{{{\boldsymbol{ZT}}}}}}$$ ZT has proven to be a formidable challenge given the interdependence of its constitutive quantities, namely Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and temperature. Here, we use quantum confinement to decouple Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity to demonstrate an order of magnitude quantum-based enhancement to the thermoelectric figure of merit $${{{{{\boldsymbol{ZT}}}}}}$$ ZT in complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors. While most quantum-based enhancement is done through physical confinement using two-dimensional materials, our approach uses electrical confinement. Because of this, our device is more robust than the two-dimensional materials currently used. We further articulate that improvement by as much as a factor of 50 could be achieved in a practical setting. Our approach further provides a path for monolithic integration of on-chip coolers and energy scavengers with virtually no deviation from the fabrication flow of standard electronics.

Oxandale, Samuel W. (ORCID:0000000207484066)↗
NASA NTRS1994

The effect of wave-particle interactions on the polar winds O(+)

The escape of the polar wind plasma is an important element in the ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling. Both theory and observations indicate that the wave-particle interactions (WPI) play a significant role in the dynamics of ion outflow along open geomagnetic field lines. A Monte Carlo simulation was developed in order to include the effect of the WPI in addition to the factors that are traditionally included in the 'classical' polar wind (i.e. gravity, electrostatic field, and divergence of geomagnetic field lines). The ion distribution function (f(sub j)), as well as the profiles of its moments (density, drift velocity, temperature, etc.) were found for different levels of WPI, that is, for different values of the normalized diffusion rate in the velocity space (D(tilde) (sub j perpendicular). Although the model included O(=), H(+) and eletrons, we presented only the results related to the O(+) ion. We found that (1) both the density and drift velocity of O(+) increased with the WPI strength, and consequently, the O(+) escape flux was enhanced by a factor of up to 10(exp 5), (2) The O(+) ions could be energized up to a few electron volts; (3) for moderate and high levels of WPI D(tilde) (sub perpendicular) (O(+) greater than (tilde) 1, the distribution function f(O(+)) displayed very pronounced conic features at altitudes around 3 R(sub e). Finally, the interplay between the downward body force, the upward mirror force, and the perpendicular heating resulted in the formation of the 'pressure cooker' effect. This phenomena explained some interesting features of our solution, such as, the peak in the O(=) temperature, and the formation of 'ears' and conics for f(O(+)) around 2.5 R(sub e).

Barakat, A. R.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Field line draping about fast coronal mass ejecta - A source of strong out-of-the-ecliptic interplanetary magnetic fields

Fast coronal mass ejecta interact strongly with the ambient interplanetary plasma and magnetic field into which they propagate. A shock forms in front of an ejection, and the slower moving ambient plasma ahead is accelerated and deflected from its path. It is argued that such flow accelerations and deflections of the ambient plasma must produce a draping of the ambient interplanetary magnetic field about the ejected material similar to that which occurs in the magnetosheath surrounding the earth's magnetosphere. The draping pattern should depend upon the overall size and shape of the ejection, its speed relative to the ambient plasma ahead, the orientation of the ambient magnetic field, and the position where the shocked plasma is sampled. At some locations upstream from an ejection draping leads to an enhancement of the out-of-the-ecliptic field component B(Z) at the expense of the ecliptic components. It is suggested that draping plays an important role in producing intervals of strong and prolonged negative B(Z) in the ecliptic plane at 1 AU, and thus may be an important factor in stimulating geomagnetic activity.

Gosling, J. T.↗