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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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Cloud band formation due to shear flow induced convective motions associated with large atmospheric boundary layer eddies in form of horizontal roll vortices
Problems in detecting ice and water clouds on Venus
Method for calculating properties of monochromatic radiation through layer of dispersed particles and its application to Venus clouds
Astrophysical evaluation of Venus observations from Mariner II radiometer data, and thermodynamic analyses of planetary atmospheres
Approximation formula describing monochromatic transmission, reflection, and absorption of Venus cloud layer
Two Project High Water experiments producing optical, ELF, RF, and radar data on ionospheric abort of large water quantities and expansion process
Calculation of percentage area covered by convective clouds from moisture convergence
Light reflection and transmission from clouds with various drop size distributions calculated using Monte Carlo technique
Tornado angular momentum as derived from electrostatic motor type action in parent cloud
Small perturbation analysis of observed organized cloud convection for arbitrary unidirectional wind profile
Cloudstreet formation by wind induced vorticity forces equal to buoyancy forces, noting Rayleigh number variation
Eddy coefficients for diffusion and turbulence parameters for dispersion of vapor clouds in lower thermosphere from vapor trail evidence
Nondeepening synoptic scale tropical disturbance showing dependence on in situ development and decay in upper troposphere
Volume backscattering functions and optical extinction coefficients for visible and IR RADIATION and selected cloud models
The properties of interstellar H I are investigated using high-velocity resolution, Arecibo emission-absorption spectra in the direction of 40 radio continuum sources, including 21 at low Galactic latitude. Comparison of the data with the results of previous studies confirms the earlier suggestion that the H I density in the nearest 100 pc is lower than the disk average by about a factor of two and the separation of H I emission into material associated with absorbing 'clouds' and physically independent, not strongly absorbing material. A comparison of lines of sight with different geometries supports the suggestion that spin temperatures are higher far above the Galactic disk. There is little correlation between the properties of the H I emission fluctuations on 3.8 arcmin separations and the properties of either the emission or absorption profiles.
Research into the formation and early evolution of stars is currently an area of great interest and activity. The theoretical and observational foundations for this development are reviewed in this paper. By now, the basic physics governing cloud collapse is well understood, as is the structure of the resulting protostars. However, the theory predicts protostellar luminosities that are greater than those of most infrared sources. Observationally, it is thought that protostars emit powerful winds that push away remnant cloud gas, but both the origin of these winds and the nature of their interaction with ambient gas are controversial. Finally, the theory of pre-main-sequence stars has been modified to incorporate more realistic initial conditions. This improvement helps to explain the distribution of such stars in the H-R diagram. Many important issues, such as the origin of binary stars and stellar clusters, remain as challenges for future research.
The diurnal variation of precipitation processes over the tropics is a well-known phenomenon and has been studied using surface rainfall data, radar reflectivity data, and satellite-derived cloudiness and precipitation. Recently, Sui (1997) analyzed observations from TOGA COARE in the tropical western Pacific ocean to study the relevant mechanisms producing diurnal variation of precipitation. They found that the diurnal SST cycle is important for afternoon showers in the undisturbed periods and diurnal radiative processes for nocturnal rainfall. Takayabu (1996) found a quasi-2-day cycle in precipitation during TOGA COARE and they suggested that inertia-gravity waves may be associated with this 2-day cycle. Chen and Houze (1997), however, suggested that the quasi-2-day oscillation is mainly a function of the time required by the lower-tropospheric moisture field to recover from the drying caused by deep convection. In this study, the Penn State/NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM5) with improved physics (i.e., cloud microphysics, radiation, land-soil-vegetation-surface processes, and TOGA COARE flux scheme) and a multiple level nesting technique will be used to simulate two TOGA COARE convective espisodes, one convectively suppressed phase (mid to late January 1993) and one convectively active phase (mid to late December 1992). We will examine precipitation processes over the open ocean and over land by comparing MM5 simulated rainfall and out-going longwave radiation. By examining the OLR and precipitation, we can determine if there is a temporal lag between the maximum precipitation and the coldest upwelling longwave radiation (the time-lag between stratiform-cirrus and convective towers). The boundary layer response by (or recovery from) precipitation processes will also be shown by examining the PBL thermodynamic structure and the sensible and latent heat fluxes. A preliminary MM5 simulation showed a clear diurnal variation in rainfall over both land and open ocean for the convectively active phase. The results also indicated that a quasi-2-day cycle in precipitation was simulated only over part of the ocean.
Chondritic meteorites and interplanetary dust particles commonly exhibit significant enrichments in deuterium (D) and N-15 relative to terrestrial materials. These anomalies are usually ascribed to low temperature chemical processes occurring in a presolar cold molecular cloud and/or physically similar regions of the outer solar nebula. The sizes of these anomalies vary considerably among different classes of meteorites, in some cases on a microscopic scale, reflecting differing degrees of alteration and dilution of the presolar components owing to parent body processing.