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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1985

Geometric effects of global lateral heterogeneity on long-period surface wave propagation

The present investigation has the objective to document examples of anomalous long-period surface wave amplitude behavior and to provide a preliminary appraisal of the effects of global lateral heterogeneity on surface wave propagation from a ray theory perspective. Attention is given to remarkable long-period surface wave anomalies described in literature, an equidistance azimuthal plot centered on the Iranian source region, Rayleigh wave and Love wave spectra for the 256-s period arrivals for the Tabas earthquake, constrained moment tensor and fault model inversion solutions ofr Iranian earthquakes, aspects of surface wave ray tracing, and a table of Rayleigh wave amplitude anomalies for Iranian earthquakes. Surface wave ray-tracing calculations for models of global phase velocity variations proposed by Nakanishi and Anderson (1984) are found to show that large-amplitude anomalies will be observed for Love and Rayleigh waves with periods of 100-250 s.

Lay, T.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Resonance absorption of magnetohydrodynamic surface waves Physical discussion

It is shown how the phenomenon of MHD surface wave resonance absorption can be described in simple terms, both physically and mathematically, by applying the 'thin flux tube equations' to the finite-thickness transition layer which supports the surface wave. The thin flux tubes support incompressible slow-mode waves that are driven by fluctuations in the total pressure which exist due to the presence of the surface wave. It is shown that the equations for the slow-mode waves can be reduced to a simple equation, equivalent to a driven harmonic oscillator. Certain field lines within the transition layer are equivalent to a harmonic oscillator driven at resonance, and neighboring field lines are effectively driven at resonance as long as a given condition is satisfied. Thus, a layer which secularly extracts energy from the surface wave develops. The analysis indicates that nonlinear effects may destroy the resonance which is crucial to the whole effect.

Hollweg, Joseph V.↗
NASA NTRS1969

Surface waves in hot plasmas.

Surface wave terms found in long wavelength limit during solution of initial value problem for semiinfinite hot plasma

Guernsey, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Reflections, diffractions, and surface waves for an interior impedance wedge of arbitrary angle

The asymptotic-impedance wedge solution for plane-wave illumination at normal incidence is examined for interior wedge diffraction. An efficient method for calculating the diffraction coefficient for arbitrary wedge angle is presented. The asymptotic solution isolates the incident, singly reflected, multiply reflected, diffracted, surface-wave, and associated-surface-wave transition fields. Multiply reflected fields (of any order) from the exact solution arise as ratios of auxiliary Maliuzhinets functions; however, by using properties of these functions, the representation can be reduced to products of reflection coefficients, much more efficient for calculation. A surface-wave transition field is added to the surface wave to retain continuity of the total field at the surface wave boundaries. This formulation is equally valid for both exterior and interior wedges with uniform but different impedances on each face, for both soft and hard polarizations.

Griesser, Timothy↗
NASA NTRS1982

Collisional damping of surface waves in the solar corona

The damping of surface waves by viscosity and heat conduction is evaluated. For the solar corona, it is found that surface waves dissipate efficiently only if their periods are shorter than a few tens of seconds and only if the background magnetic field is less than about 10 Gauss. Heating of quiet coronal regions is possible if the coronal waves have short periods, but they cannot heat regions of strong magnetic field, such as coronal active region loops.

Gordon, B. E.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Wave-current interaction near the Gulf Stream during the surface wave dynamics experiment

This paper presents a case study on the wave-current interaction near the local curvature of a Gulf Stream meander. The wave data were obtained from in situ measurements by a pitch-roll discus buoy during the Surface Wave Dynamics Experiment (SWADE) conducted off Wallops Island, Virginia, from October 1990 to March 1991. Owing to the advection of the Gulf Stream by the semidiurnal tide, the discus buoy was alternately located outside and inside the Gulf Stream. The directional wave measurements from the buoy show the changes in wave direction, wave energy, and directional spreading when waves encountered the current in the Gulf Stream meanders. A wave refraction model, using the ray-tracing method with an estimated Gulf Stream velocity field and meandering condition, was used to simulate wave refraction patterns and to estimate wave parameters at relative locations corresponding to buoy measurements. The numerical simulation shows that a focusing zone of wave rays was formed near the boundary and behind the crest of a simulated Gulf Stream meander. The focusing of wave rays causes changes in wave direction, increases in wave energy, and decreases in wave directional spreading, which are in good agreement with the results from the buoy measurements.

Wang, David W.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The Surface Wave Dynamics Experiment (SWADE)

The Surface Wave Dynamics Experiment is designed to provide the basic data needed to understand the wind-wave interactions in the open ocean. During the period of October 1990 through March 1991 two discus, four meteorological buoys, and several other specialized buoys will collect continuous in-situ data. During three intensive periods of study, several aircraft and an airship will collect synoptic data from the study area in the Atlantic east of the Wallops Flight Facility. Data from the buoys will be collected by aircraft and ARGOS data links. Instrumentation descriptions as well as preliminary data from the first intensive study period are presented.

Mollo-Christensen, Erik↗
NASA NTRS1994

Orbital velocities induced by surface waves

During the third intensive observational period of the Surface Wave Dynamics Experiment (SWADE), an aircraft-based experiment was conducted on 5 March 1991 by deploying slow-fall airborne expendable current profilers (AXCPs) and airborne expendable bathythermographs (AXBTs) during a scanning radar altimeter (SRA) flight on the NASA NP-3A research aircraft. As the Gulf Stream (GS) moved into the SWADE domain in late February, maximum upper-layer currents of 1.98 m/s were observed in the core of the baroclinic jet where the vertical current shears were O(10(exp -2)/s). The SRA concurrently measured the sea surface topography, which was transformed into two-dimensional directional wave spectra at 5-6-km intervals along the flight tracks. The wave spectra indicated a local wave field with wavelengths of 40-60 m propagating southward between 120 deg and 180 deg, and a northward-moving swell field from 300 deg to 70 deg associated with significant wave heights of 2-4 m. As the AXCP descended through the upper ocean, the profiler sensed orbital velocity amplitudes of 0.2-0.5 m/s due to low-frequency surface waves. These orbital velocities were isolated by fitting the observed current profiles to the three-layer model based on a monochromatic surface wave, including the steady and current shear terms within each layer. The depth-integrated differences between the observed and modeled velocity profiles were typically less than 3 cm/s. For 17 of the 21 AXCP drop sites, the rms orbital velocity amplitudes, estimated by integrating the wave spectra over direction and frequency, were correlated at a level of 0.61 with those derived from the current profiles. The direction of wave propagation inferred from the AXCP-derived orbital velocities was in the same direction observed by the SRA. These mean wave directions were highly correlated (0.87) and differed only by about 5 deg.

Shay, Lynn K.↗
NASA NTRS1993

A solar dynamo surface wave at the interface between convection and nonuniform rotation

A simple dynamo surface wave is presented to illustrate the basic principles of a dynamo operating in the thin layer of shear and suppressed eddy diffusion beneath the cyclonic convection in the convection zone of the sun. It is shown that the restriction of the shear delta(Omega)/delta(r) to a region below the convective zone provides the basic mode with a greatly reduced turbulent diffusion coefficient in the region of strong azimuthal field. The dynamo takes on the character of a surface wave tied to the lower surface z = 0 of the convective zone. There is a substantial body of evidence suggesting a fibril state for the principal flux bundles beneath the surface of the sun, with fundamental implications for the solar dynamo.

Parker, E. N.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Spread spectrum communication link using surface wave devices

A fast lock-up, 8-MHz bandwidth 8,000 bit per second data rate spread spectrum communication link breadboard is described that is implemented using surface wave devices as the primary signal generators and signal processing elements. It uses surface wave tapped delay lines in the transmitter to generate the signals and in the receiver to detect them. The breadboard provides a measured processing gain for Gaussian noise of 31.5 dB which is within one dB of the theoretical optimum. This development demonstrates that spread spectrum receivers implemented with surface wave devices have sensitivities and complexities comparable to those of serial correlation receivers, but synchronization search times which are two to three orders of magnitude smaller.

Hunsinger, B. J.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Gaussian beams for surface waves in laterally slowly-varying media

Asymptotic ray theory is applied to surface waves in a medium where the lateral variations of structure are very smooth. The elastodynamic equations of motion in ray-centered coordinates are derived, and a laterally slowly-varying approximation for elastodynamic equations is obtained. Parabolic equations for Love and Rayleigh waves are studied and solved, and the properties of Gaussian beams of seismic surface waves are examined.

Yomogida, K.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Resonance absorption of magnetohydrodynamic surface waves - Viscous effects

The effects of viscosity on the resonance absorption of incompressible MHD surface waves, which occurs when the waves are supported by a thin 'transition layer' rather than by a discontinuous surface, are considered. The behavior of the plasma and fields inside the transition layer is considered, allowing for classical viscosity. An inhomogeneous Airy equation for the velocity component along the propagative direction is obtained in the vicinity of the resonant field line. The viscous stress tensor for a magnetized plasma is considered, and a simple algebraic steady state equation is obtained for the velocity component along the background magnetic field. The net heating rate is evaluated and found to be independent of the viscosity coefficient, and to correspond to the surface wave 'decay rate' obtained from ideal MHD equations.

Hollweg, Joseph V.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Incompressible magnetohydrodynamic surface waves - Nonlinear aspects

The nonlinear properties of MHD surface waves in the solar atmosphere are investigated analytically, assuming that the fluid is incompressible and that the waves are confined to a single surface, with semiinfinite regions on both sides. The governing equations are derived in detail, and qualitative results are presented in a graph. For propagating waves, second-order terms in the wave amplitude are found to lead to wave steepening at leading or trailing edges, the steepening rate becoming very large as the threshold for the linear Kelvin-Helmholtz instability is approached. Second-order effects on standing waves include crest and trough sharpening (increasing with time), a current independent of distance on the surface but decreasing exponentially with distance from the surface, and pressure-field fluctuations of infinite extent. It is suggested that these effects could account for a large fraction of solar-atmosphere heating.

Hollweg, Joseph V.↗