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At least 361 records · Page 20

Automated remote sensing of sea ice using synthetic aperture radar

Two techniques for automated sea ice tracking: image pyramids (hierarchical correlation) and feature tracking were applied to a pair of SEASAT SAR sea ice images. The results compare well with each other and manually tracked estimates of the ice velocity field. Refinement of the image pyramid technique should include removal of a small number of erroneous velocity vectors using constraints dependent on correlation coefficient, near neighbor velocities, and velocity gradients. Estimates of sea ice velocity are successfully obtained over limited areas using the boundary segment tracking technique. Refinement of the feature tracking technique should include use of pressure ridge features, constrained search, and relaxation techniques.

Vesecky, J. F.↗

A diagnostic approach to obtaining planetary boundary layer winds using satellite-derived thermal data

The feasibility of using satellite derived thermal data to generate realistic synoptic scale winds within the planetary boundary layer (PBL) is examined. Diagnostic modified Ekman wind equations from the Air Force Global Weather Central (AFGWC) Boundary Layer Model are used to compute winds at seven levels within the PBL transition layer (50 m to 1600 m AGL). Satellite derived winds based on 62 predawn TIROS-N soundings are compared to similarly derived wind fields based on 39 AVE-SESAME II rawinsonde (RAOB) soundings taken 2 h later. Actual wind fields are also used as a basis for comparison. Qualitative and statistical comparisons show that the Ekman winds from both sources are in very close agreement, with an average vector correlation coefficient of 0.815. Best results are obtained at 300 m AGL. Satellite winds tend to be slightly weaker than their RAOB counterparts and exhibit a greater degree of cross-isobaric flow. The modified Ekman winds show a significant improvement over geostrophic values at levels nearest the surface.

Belt, Carol L.↗

Jupiter: New estimates of mean zonal flow at the cloud level

In order to reexamine the magnitude differences of the Jovian atmosphere's jets, as determined by Voyager 1 and 2 images, a novel approach is used to ascertain the zonal mean east-west component of motion. This technique is based on digital pattern matching, and is applied on pairs of mapped images to yield a profile of the mean zonal component that reproduces the exact locations of the easterly and westerly jets between + and 60 deg latitude. Results were obtained for all of the Voyager 1 and 2 cylindrical mosaics; the correlation coefficient between Voyagers 1 and 2 in mean zonal flow between + and - 60 deg latitude, determined from violet filter mosaics, is 0.998.

Limaye, Sanjay S.↗

Calibration of the spin-scan ozone imager aboard the dynamics Explorer 1 satellite

The calibration technique, which contains the calibrated backscattered radiance values necessary for performing the calibrations, is presented. The calibration constants for September to October 1981 to determine total columnar ozone from the Spin-Scan Ozone Imager (SOI), which is a part of the auroral imaging instrumentation aboard the Dynamics Explorer 1 Satellite, are provided. The precision of the SOI-derived total columnar ozone is estimated to be better than 2.4 percent. Linear regression analysis was used to calculate correlation coefficients between total columnar ozone obtained from Dobson ground stations and SOI which indicate that the SOI total columnar ozone determination is equally accurate for clear or cloudy weather conditions.

Bressette, Walter E.↗

Transport of passive scalars in a turbulent channel flow

A direct numerical simulation of a turbulent channel flow with three passive scalars at different molecular Prandtl numbers is performed. Computed statistics including the turbulent Prandtl numbers are compared with existing experimental data. The computed fields are also examined to investigate the spatial structure of the scalar fields. The scalar fields are highly correlated with the streamwise velocity; the correlation coefficient between the temperature and the streamwise velocity is as high as 0.95 in the wall region. The joint probability distributions between the temperature and velocity fluctuations are also examined; they suggest that it might be possible to model the scalar fluxes in the wall region in a manner similar to the Reynolds stresses.

Kim, John↗

Downward longwave surface radiation from sun-synchronous satellite data - Validation of methodology

An extensive study has been carried out to validate a satellite technique for estimating downward longwave radiation at the surface. The technique, mostly developed earlier, uses operational sun-synchronous satellite data and a radiative transfer model to provide the surface flux estimates. The satellite-derived fluxes were compared directly with corresponding ground-measured fluxes at four different sites in the United States for a common one-year period. This provided a study of seasonal variations as well as a diversity of meteorological conditions. Dome heating errors in the ground-measured fluxes were also investigated and were corrected prior to the comparisons. Comparison of the monthly averaged fluxes from the satellite and ground sources for all four sites for the entire year showed a correlation coefficient of 0.98 and a standard error of estimate of 10 W/sq m. A brief description of the technique is provided, and the results validating the technique are presented.

Darnell, W. L.↗

Persistence of solar wind features

Using data from the plasma and magnetometer experiments on board the Voyagers 1 and 2 during the approach to Jupiter, solar wind persistence is investigated over the period from January 1978 (Voyager 1 passing by Voyager 2) through February 1979. The trajectories of both spacecraft provided a unique opportunity to study the radial evolution and variation of the solar wind over about 3 AU, and to analyze the persistence of solar wind features along the radially increasing separation distance of both Voyagers. Some emphasis is placed on a period of DOY (day of year) 152 through 212, 1978, in which the observed propagation delay time of solar wind signatures between both Voyagers significantly deviates from the expected delay time. A decrease in the correlation coefficient of the corresponding Voyager 1 and 2 data profiles indicates a remarkable change of the solar wind flow. This period in question coincides to a great extent with the interval V of June-July 1978, selected by STIP (Study of Travelling Interplanetary Phenomena).

Rucker, H. O.↗

Vertical structure of the wind field during the Special Observing Period I of the Global Weather Experiment

The vertical structure of the global atmosphere is analyzed for selected periods of the Special Observing Period I (SOP-I) for the Global Weather Experiment (GWE). The analysis consists of projection of the stream-function and velocity potential at 200 and 850 mb on spherical harmonics and of the wind and height fields on the normal modes of a linearized form of the primitive equations for a basic state at rest. The kinematic vertical structure is discussed in terms of correlation coefficients of the 200 mb and 850 mb winds and analysis of the internal and external normal modes of the primitive equations. The reliability of the results is checked by applying the same analysis methods to data sets obtained from three different institutions: Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF), and Goddard Laboratory for the Atmospheres (GLA). It is found that, on a global basis, vertically reversing circulations are as important as the equivalent barotropic structures. For the verticaly reversing components, the gravity and mixed Rossby-gravity modes have contributions of the same order of magnitude as those of the Rossby modes in tropical latitudes.

Paegle, J. N.↗

Forest biomass, canopy structure, and species composition relationships with multipolarization L-band synthetic aperture radar data

The effect of forest biomass, canopy structure, and species composition on L-band synthetic aperature radar data at 44 southern Mississippi bottomland hardwood and pine-hardwood forest sites was investigated. Cross-polarization mean digital values for pine forests were significantly correlated with green weight biomass and stand structure. Multiple linear regression with five forest structure variables provided a better integrated measure of canopy roughness and produced highly significant correlation coefficients for hardwood forests using HV/VV ratio only. Differences in biomass levels and canopy structure, including branching patterns and vertical canopy stratification, were important sources of volume scatter affecting multipolarization radar data. Standardized correction techniques and calibration of aircraft data, in addition to development of canopy models, are recommended for future investigations of forest biomass and structure using synthetic aperture radar.

Sader, Steven A.↗

Northwest Airlines flight experiments

An experiment was conducted in which real-time Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data was compared with Northwest Airlines upper air charts. It was demonstrated that the regions of steep gradient in total ozone corresponded with fronts in the upper troposphere, specifically breaks in the tropopause associated with jet streams. Other small scale structures in the ozone could be related to minor trough and ridge lines. This suggests that the relation between total ozone and tropopause height might apply even on relatively small scales, and an analysis produced high correlation coefficients provided that the air mass origin was considered. In a second test, cabin ozone mixing at 37,000 ft. varied from less than 100 ppb (300 DU total ozone) to greater than 300 ppb in a trough (400 DU total ozone). A third analysis showed that clear air turbulence was located where upper air fronts were in rapid motion as suggested by comparison of the 1200 UT synoptic charts and the ozone map taken about six hours later.

Krueger, Arlin J.↗

Predictability of process resource usage: A measurement-based study of UNIX

A probabilistic scheme is developed to predict process resource usage in UNIX. Given the identity of the program being run, the scheme predicts CPU time, file I/O, and memory requirements of a process at the beginning of its life. The scheme uses a state-transition model of the program's resource usage in its past executions for prediction. The states of the model are the resource regions obtained from an off-line cluster analysis of processes run on the system. The proposed method is shown to work on data collected from a VAX 11/780 running 4.3 BSD UNIX. The results show that the predicted values correlate well with the actual. The correlation coefficient between the predicted and actual values of CPU time is 0.84. Errors in prediction are mostly small. Some 82% of errors in CPU time prediction are less than 0.5 standard deviations of process CPU time.

Devarakonda, Murthy V.↗

Lower thermosphere wind regime according to radiometeor measurements in Kazan

Research in dynamic processes in the lower thermosphere has been carried out in Kazan using the meteor radar facilities of the Kazan State University under the MAP-GLOBMET international program. Presented is experimental data on seasonal dependences of the wind for anomalous winter circulation periods, spring and autumn reconstructions and stable summer circulation from observations conducted in 1978 to 1984. Prevailing wind parameters are shown: zonal and meridional component amplitudes and A sub 0 and azimuth of the prevailing wind vector. The values are also presented for semidiurnal zonal and meridional tidal components, their correlation coefficient and zonal component amplitude maximum time.

Sidorov, V. V.↗

Angular radiation models for Earth-atmosphere system. Volume 1: Shortwave radiation

Presented are shortwave angular radiation models which are required for analysis of satellite measurements of Earth radiation, such as those fro the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE). The models consist of both bidirectional and directional parameters. The bidirectional parameters are anisotropic function, standard deviation of mean radiance, and shortwave-longwave radiance correlation coefficient. The directional parameters are mean albedo as a function of Sun zenith angle and mean albedo normalized to overhead Sun. Derivation of these models from the Nimbus 7 ERB (Earth Radiation Budget) and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) data sets is described. Tabulated values and computer-generated plots are included for the bidirectional and directional modes.

Suttles, J. T.↗

Parametric analysis of synthetic aperture radar data for characterization of deciduous forest stands

The SAR sensor parameters that affect the estimation of deciduous forest stand characteristics were examined using data sets for the Gulf Coastal Plain region, acquired by the NASA/JPL multipolarization airborne SAR. In the regression analysis, the mean digital-number values of the three polarization data are used as the independent variables to estimate the average tree height (HT), basal area (BA), and total-tree biomass (TBM). The following results were obtained: (1) in the case of simple regression and using 28 plots, vertical-vertical (VV) polarization yielded the largest correlation coefficients (r) in estimating HT, BA, and TBM; (2) in the case of multiple regression, the horizontal-horizontal (HH) and VV polarization combination yielded the largest r value in estimating HT, while the VH and HH polarization combination yielded the largest r values in estimating BA and TBM. With the addition of a third polarization, the increase in r values is insignificant.

Wu, Shih-Tseng↗

Comparison of shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler and moored current measurements in the Equatorial Pacific

Depth-averaged current shears computed from shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) and moored Savonius rotor and vane vector-averaging current meter (VACM) measurements are compared at 35, 62.5, 100 and 140 m depths within 7 km of each other near 0 deg, 140 deg W during a 12-day interval in November 1984. The agreement between the VACM and ADCP shears was excellent. The average root-mean-square difference of hourly shear values was small, approximately 0.0021/s, and the average correlation coefficient was 0.90. Spectral estimates were equivalent to within a 95 percent significance level and the VACM and ADCP shears were 95 percent statistically coherent with zero phase difference for frequencies below 0.2 cycles per hour.

Chereskin, T. K.↗

Comparison of aerobic fitness and space motion sickness during the Shuttle program

Space motion sickness (SMS) is an important problem for short-duration space flight; 71 percent of STS crewmembers develop SMS symptoms. The search for effective countermeasures and factors that correlate with sensitivity has been extensive. Recently, several investigators have linked aerobic fitness with motion sickness sensitivity in the 1-G or high-G environment. This paper compares the aerobic fitness of 125 Shuttle crewmembers with their SMS symptom category. Aerobic fitness data were obtained from the exercise tolerance test conducted nearest the time of launch. SMS data were derived from the medical debrief summaries. Mean maximum oxygen consumption values for crewmembers in four SMS categories (none, mild, moderate, severe) were 44.55, 44.08, 46.5, and 44.24 ml/kg per min, respectively. Scattergrams with linear regression analysis, comparing aerobic fitness and SMS symptom classification are presented. Correlation coefficients comparing SMS categories vs. aerobic fitness for men and women reveal no definite relationship between the two factors.

Jennings, Richard T.↗

Sulfur dioxide at the Venus cloud tops, 1978-1986

Ultraviolet spectroscopy from the Pioneer Venus Orbiter shows a decline in the cloud top abundance of SO2 from about 100 ppb to about 10 ppb in the period 1978-1986. A consistent decline in polar haze has occurred over the same period, with the correlation coefficient between these two observables of r = 0.8. Star calibrations determine the instrument sensitivity to within 10 percent which rules out the possibility that this is an instrumental effect. Systematic errors could increase the SO2 abundance to twice the inferred values in later orbits. Tracking of SO2 features and power spectral analysis give rotation periods for the longer-lived features of 3.6-5.2 days, consistent with cloud-tracked winds observed at other wavelengths. The behavior of SO2 and polar haze can be plausibly explained by episodic injection of SO2 into the cloud top regions, for example, by active volcanism.

Esposito, Larry W.↗

Transport of passive scalars in a turbulent channel flow

A direct numerical simulation of a turbulent channel flow with three passive scalars at different molecular Prandtl numbers is performed. Computed statistics including the turbulent Prandtl numbers are compared with existing experimental data. The computed fields are also examined to investigate the spatial structure of the scalar fields. The scalar fields are highly correlated with the streamwise velocity; the correlation coefficient between the temperature and the streamwise velocity is as high as 0.95 in the wall region. The joint probability distributions between the temperature and velocity fluctuations are also examined; they suggest that it might be possible to model the scalar fluxes in the wall region in a manner similar to the Reynolds stresses.

Kim, John↗