Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Volcano”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 361 records · Page 20
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2018

Wildfire-driven Thunderstorms Cause a Volcano-Like Stratospheric Injection of Smoke

Intense heating by wildfires can generate deep, smoke-infused thunderstorms, known as pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb), which can release a large quantity of smoke particles above jet aircraft cruising altitudes. Injections of pyroCb smoke into the lower stratosphere have gained increasing attention over the past 15 years due to the rapid proliferation of satellite remote sensing tools. Impacts from volcanic eruptions and other troposphere-to-stratosphere exchange processes on stratospheric radiative and chemical equilibrium are well recognized and monitored. However, the role of pyroCb smoke in the climate system has yet to be acknowledged. Here, we show that the mass of smoke aerosol particles injected into the lower stratosphere from five near-simultaneous intense pyroCbs occurring in western North America on 12 August 2017 was comparable to that of a moderate volcanic eruption, and an order of magnitude larger than previous benchmarks for extreme pyroCb activity. The resulting stratospheric plume encircled the Northern Hemisphere over several months. By characterizing this event, we conclude that pyroCb activity, considered as either large singular events, or a full fire season inventory, significantly perturb the lower stratosphere in a manner comparable with infrequent volcanic intrusions.

Pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb)↗
NASA NTRS1997

Temperature and Area Constraints of the South Volund Volcano on IO from the NIMS and SSI instruments during the Galileo G1 Orbit

Analysis of data from darkside and eclipse observations of Io by the NIMS and SSI instruments show that the South Volund hot spot is a manifestation of high temperature active silicate volcanism. The NIMS data are fitted with a two temperature model (developed from modelling terrestrial lavas) which yields a better fit to the data than a single temperature fit.

Eclipes↗
NASA NTRS2020

VolKilau: Volcano Rapid Response Balloon Campaign During the 2018 Kilauea Eruption

After nearly 35 years of stable activity, the Kilauea volcanic system in Hawaiʽi, went through sudden changes in May 2018 with the emergence of 20 volcanic fissures along the Lower Eastern Rift Zone(LERZ) destroying 700 homes in Leilani Estates and forcing more than 2000 people to evacuate. Volcanic emissions lasted for several months between June and September 2018 leading to low visibility and poor air quality in Hawaiʽi and across the Western Pacific. The NASA-funded VolKilau mission was rapidly mounted and conducted between 11-18 June 2018 to: i) Profile volcanic emissions with SO2and aerosol measurements, ii) Validate satellite observations and iii) Be prepared for the next large volcanic eruption. Through a series of balloon-borne measurements with tethered and free released launches, we measured SO2 concentration, aerosol concentration and optical properties 60 to 80km downwind from the volcanic fissures using gas sensors, optical particle counters, backscatter sondes, and an aerosol impactor. While most of measurements made during the Kilauea eruption were ground-based, the VolKilau mission represented a unique opportunity to characterize plume properties, constrain emission profiles, study early chemistry involving the conversion of SO2 into sulfuric acid and understand the influence of water clouds in the removal of SO2. Our team continues to be better prepared for deploying in the event of a major volcanic eruption

J-P Vernier↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Heat-death by volcano - how Venus went rogue?

The idea of a habitable Venus epoch has gained traction in recent years via 1-D and 3-D General Circulation Modeling (GCM) efforts [1,2,3]. Although recent work has supported an alternative permanent hot and dry scenario [4]. However, the habitable scenario presents us with a conundrum - how does a terrestrial planet transform from temperate to hot-house? For decades it was proposed that the gradual brightening of the sun was the probable cause [5]. Yet 4 billion years ago Venus was receiving nearly 1.4 times the insolation that Earth receives today, and many studies have put Earth at the inner boundary of the habitable zone today [6]. The newer 3-D GCM efforts have demonstrated that if Venus had an early habitable period, that the cloud-albedo feedback responsible for maintaining temperate surface conditions [7] could still be in operation today. From this perspective increasing insolation through time cannot be an answer to the transition from habitable to hot-house. We propose that the 'Great Climate Transition' (GCT) was trigged by simultaneous large igneous provinces (LIPs) akin to those like the Siberian Traps responsible for the End Permian [8]. We have taken the most up to date LIP database for Earth [9] and characterized their distribution through time as random or nearly random. Next we initiate a large suite of Monte Carlo simulations based on this record and generate the likelihood for simultaneous, or environmentally overlapping events in this hypothetical setup. We find the probability of such events to be quite high, a probable cause for Venus' GCT, and a possible harbinger of things to come for Earth.

Venus↗
NASA NTRS2020

Space Ground Sensorwebs for Volcano Monitoring

Increased space and ground sensing is enabling dramatic new measurements of a wide range of Earth Science and Applied Earth Science phenomena, including: volcanism, flooding, wildfires, weather, and many other phenomena. New Space ventures have produced significantly greater access to data and miniaturization of sensing has enabled cubesats and smallsats to deliver data of outstanding resolution. The advent of the internet of things has produced incredible amounts of relevant terrestrial data as well. Artificial Intelligence offers the potential to automate both data interpretation and resource allocation to best allocate sensing assets. We describe efforts to build and experiment with such “sensorweb” systems and offer some direction for the future sensorweb observation systems.

Zuleta, Ignacio↗