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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Commitment to Active Allyship Is Required to Address the Lack of Hispanic and Latinx Representation in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

In 2021, people of Hispanic and Latinx origin made up 6% of the atmospheric and Earth sciences workforce of the United States, yet they represent 20% of the population. Motivated by this disparity in Hispanic and Latinx representation in the atmospheric and Earth science workforce, this manuscript documents the lack of representation through existing limited demographic data. The analysis presents a clear gap in participation by Hispanic and Latinx people in academic settings, with a widening gap through each education and career stage. Several factors and challenges impacting the representation disparity include the lack of funding for and collaboration with Hispanic-serving institutions, limited opportunities due to immigration status, and limited support for international research collaborations. We highlight the need for actionable steps to address the lack of representation and provide targeted recommendations to federal funding agencies, educational institutions, faculty, and potential employers. While we wait for systemic cultural change from our scientific institutions, grassroots initiatives like those proudly led by the AMS Committee for Hispanic and Latinx Advancement will emerge to address the needs of the Hispanic and Latinx scientific and broader community. We briefly highlight some of those achievements. Lasting cultural change can only happen if our leaders are active allies in the creation of a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive future. Alongside our active allies we will continue to champion for change in our weather, water, and climate enterprise.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
NASA NTRS1987

Voyager 2 at Uranus - A synopsis of atmospheric science results

Knowledge of the Uranian atmosphere took a quantum leap when the Voyager 2 spacecraft made a close approach in January 1986. Among the highlights of the early results are measurements of the atmospheric composition (He mole fraction = 0.15; Ch4 mole fraction = 0.02), rotation period of the deep interior (17.24 h), thermal structure and dynamics (the planet is coldest at midlatitudes; retrograde equatorial winds are inferred), and upper-atmosphere processes (a phenomenon called electroglow is only partly understood and is recognized as an important process n all the major-planet atmospheres examined by Voyager).

West, Robert A.↗
NASA NTRS2010

An Atmospheric Science Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) Environment

An atmospheric sounding mission starts with a wide range of concept designs involving measurement technologies, observing platforms, and observation scenarios. Observing system simulation experiment (OSSE) is a technical approach to evaluate the relative merits of mission and instrument concepts. At Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the OSSE team has developed an OSSE environment that allows atmospheric scientists to systematically explore a wide range of mission and instrument concepts and formulate a science traceability matrix with a quantitative science impact analysis. The OSSE environment virtually creates a multi-platform atmospheric sounding testbed (MAST) by integrating atmospheric phenomena models, forward modeling methods, and inverse modeling methods. The MAST performs OSSEs in four loosely coupled processes, observation scenario exploration, measurement quality exploration, measurement quality evaluation, and science impact analysis.

mission concepts↗
NASA NTRS2003

Atmospheric Science and the JIMO Mission

The Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter mission will intensely study Callisto, Ganymede and Eu- ropa for several years. During its orbital tour, there will be long periods (approximately 300 days) where the spacecraft is spiraling in from one satellite to the next, giving the perfect opportunity to study Jupiter's atmosphere. The obvious question is, 'Why do we need JIMO to do this, after Voyager, Galileo and the Cassini flyby?' Much like the satellite science from these missions, atmospheric science still has many outstanding questions, some of which were raised by these missions. In addition, virtually every measurable quantity on Jupiter varies both spatially and temporally, and previous missions did not supply the coverage needed to address them. The JIMO mission offers an outstanding opportunity for the global and long temporal coverage needed to answer these questions.

Simon-Miller, A. A.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Future Missions to the Giant Planets that Can Advance Atmospheric Science Objectives

Other papers in this special issue have discussed the diversity of planetary atmospheres and some of the key science questions for giant planet atmospheres to be addressed in the future. There are crucial measurements that can only be made by orbiters of giant planets and probes dropped into their atmospheres. To help the community be more effective developers of missions and users of data products, we summarize how NASA and ESA categorize their planetary space missions, and the restrictions and requirements placed on each category. We then discuss the atmospheric goals to be addressed by currently approved giant-planet missions as well as missions likely to be considered in the next few years, such as a joint NASA/ESA Ice Giant orbiter with atmospheric probe. Our focus is on interplanetary spacecraft, but we acknowledge the crucial role to be played by ground-based and near-Earth telescopes, as well as theoretical and laboratory work.

Mark D Hofstadter↗
NASA NTRS2020

Long-duration Venus lander for seismic and atmospheric science

An exciting and novel science mission concept called Seismic and Atmospheric Exploration of Venus (SAEVe) has been developed which uses high-temperature electronics to enable a three-order magnitude increase in expected surface life (120 Earth days) over what has been achieved to date. This enables study of long-term, variable phenomena such as the seismicity of Venus and near surface weather, near surface energy balance and atmospheric chemical composition. SAEVe also serves as a critical pathfinder for more sophisticated landers in the future. For example, first order seismic measurements by SAEVe will allow future missions to deliver better seismometers and systems to support the yet unknown frequency and magnitude of Venus events. SAEVe is focused on science that can be realized with low data volume instruments and will most benefit for temporal operations. The entire mission architecture and operations maximize science while minimizing energy usage and physical size and mass. The entire SAEVe system including its protective entry system is estimated to be around 45 kg and approximately 0.6 m diameter. These features allow SAEVe to be relatively cost effective and be easily integrated onto a Venus orbiter mission. The technologies needed to implement SAEVe are currently in development by several funded activities. Component and system level work is ongoing under NASA’s HOTTech program and by the Long Lived Insitu Solar System Explorer (LLISSE) project. The SAEVe long duration Venus lander promises groundbreaking science and is an ideal complimentary element to many future Venus orbiter missions being proposed or planned today.

Venus↗
NASA NTRS1997

Global Positioning System for the Geosciences: Summary and Proceedings of a Workshop on Improving the GPS Reference Station Infrastructure for Earth, Oceanic, and Atmospheric Science Applications

This report, which represents the results of the workshop, is divided into two sections. Section I includes an executive summary, a chapter introducing the reader to GPS and its usefulness for Earth, oceanic, and atmospheric research, and four chapters summarizing the themes of the workshop presentations, poster papers, and working group discussions. Section II contains the proceedings of the workshop and is divided into five chapters corresponding to the five categories of invited papers written by workshop speakers and authors of poster papers. The appendices contain additional information about the workshop and the Steering Committee.

GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM↗
NASA NTRS1991

Nonlinear dynamics and predictability in the atmospheric sciences

Systematic applications of nonlinear dynamics to studies of the atmosphere and climate are reviewed for the period 1987-1990. Problems discussed include paleoclimatic applications, low-frequency atmospheric variability, and interannual variability of the ocean-atmosphere system. Emphasis is placed on applications of the successive bifurcation approach and the ergodic theory of dynamical systems to understanding and prediction of intraseasonal, interannual, and Quaternary climate changes.

Ghil, M.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

AERACEPT (Aerosol Rapid Analysis Combined Entry Probe/sonde Technology): Enabling Technology for Planetary Atmospheric Science Probes

Aerosols –clouds, hazes, and dusts –are a key part of planetary mass and energy balance, but difficult to study remotely. Current technology limits in situ measurements to once-in-a-lifetime flagship missions, which is not enough to characterize such highly dynamic systems. AERACEPT (AErosol Rapid Analysis Combined Entry Probe/sonde Technology) is an early-stage technology allowing asingle aeroshell body toact as both anentry vehicle and aerosol-samplingpassivedescent sonde, using the aeroshell’sown velocityto drive aerosol capture and separationthrough a series of embedded inlets.It takes advantage ofrecently developed thermal protection materials (3D-CC and 3MDCP)in combination withheritage aerosol sampling technologies fromboth planetary and airborne science (high-speed inlets and particle separation). By eliminating the need for heat shield separation, deployable parachutes, ordescent control, AERACEPT reducesthe mass, volume, and complexity ofplanetary aerosol sampling. Verifying AERACEPT’s performance involves modeling interdependencies between the size and geometry of the sampling inlets, the material response of the hypersonic phase of entry, the thermal conditions throughout the probe’s descent, the subsonic flow and particle sampling efficiency, the needed amount of sample, andthe cadence at which the sample can be analyzed. AERACEPT’s current predictions, using the Nephele Venus cloud mission concept (sampling between 63km to 39km, all subsonic) indicates AERACEPT can obtain >20 μL of particle material (roughly 10x the limit of detection) from droplets larger than 0.2 μm, with sample heating limited to <15 K above ambient. Validation testing for the thermal material response model has recently been performed at the UIUC Plasmatron facility, and for the flow and particle capture models is planned for this fall at the Ames Fluid Mechanics Laboratory.

AERACEPT↗
NASA NTRS1995

Aspects of atmospheric science and instrumentation for martian missions

There are four main reasons which make observations of meteorological phenomena in the Martian atmosphere important: (1) Meteorology as science, (2) Comparative meteorology between the Earth and Mars, (3) Other instruments need information about meteorological parameters, (4) Weather conditions essentially affect planning of safe future landings on Mars. The Earth and Mars have almost equal rotation periods and axial tilts, and hence similarities in the meteorology of these planets are considerable. At present, the number of theoretical modelling results of the Martian atmosphere is much larger than measured data, so measurements are urgently needed. Both in-situ observations on the planetary surface and remote sensing from an orbiter are necessary. The former give important ground-truth data to the latter. This paper outlines some open issues in Martian atmospheric research, and introduces promising capacitive micro sensors developed by the Vaisala Ltd, Finland, to be used in meteorological instrumentation for Mars. Due to the sensors' accuracy, light weight and low power consumption, they are very suitable for planetary exploration purposes.

Harri, A.-M.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Atmospheric science experiments applicable to Space Shuttle Spacelab missions

The present lack of a lower atmosphere research satellite program for the 1980s has prompted consideration of the Space Shuttle/Spacelab system as a means of flying sensor complements geared toward specific research problems, as well as continued instrument development. Three specific examples of possible science questions related to precipitation are discussed: (1) spatial structure of mesoscale cloud and precipitation systems, (2) lightning and storm development, and (3) cyclone intensification over oceanic regions. Examples of space sensors availab le to provide measurements needed in addressing these questions are also presented. Distinctive aspects of low-earth orbit experiments would be high resolution, multispectral sensing of atmospheric phenomena by complements of instruments, and more efficient sensor development through reflights of specific hardware packages.

Wilson, G. S.↗
NASA NTRS1966

Atmospheric sciences for the space age

Space-age research programs to increase knowledge about global atmospheric circulation and to obtain data on changing weather patterns

ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION↗
NASA NTRS2004

First Atmospheric Science Results from the Mars Exploration Rovers Mini-TES

Thermal infrared spectra of the martian atmosphere taken by the Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES) were used to determine the atmospheric temperatures in the planetary boundary layer and the column-integrated optical depth of aerosols. Mini-TES observations show the diurnal variation of the martian boundary layer thermal structure, including a near-surface superadiabatic layer during the afternoon and an inversion layer at night. Upward-looking Mini-TES observations show warm and cool parcels of air moving through the Mini-TES field of view on a time scale of 30 seconds. The retrieved dust optical depth shows a downward trend at both sites.

Mars↗
NASA NTRS1989

Report from upper atmospheric science

Most of the understanding of the thermosphere resulted from the analysis of data accrued through the Atmosphere Explorer satellites, the Dynamics Explorer 2 satellite, and observations from rockets, balloons, and ground based instruments. However, new questions were posed by the data that have not yet been answered. The mesosphere and lower thermosphere have been less thoroughly studied because of the difficulty of accessibility on a global scale, and many rather fundamental characteristics of these regions are not well understood. A wide variety of measurement platforms can be used to implement various parts of a measurement strategy, but the major thrusts of the International Solar Terrestrial Physics Program would require Explorer-class missions. A remote sensing mission to explore the mesosphere and lower thermosphere and one and two Explorer-type spacecraft to enable a mission into the thermosphere itself would provide the essential components of a productive program of exploration of this important region of the upper atomsphere. Theoretical mission options are explored.

Carignan, G. R.↗
DOE OSTI2022

A Primer on Phased Array Radar Technology for the Atmospheric Sciences

The scientific community has expressed interest in the potential of phased array radars (PARs) to observe the atmosphere with finer spatial and temporal scales. Although convergence has occurred between the meteorological and engineering communities, the need exists to increase access of PAR to meteorologists. Here, we facilitate these interdisciplinary efforts in the field of ground-based PARs for atmospheric studies. We cover high-level technical concepts and terminology for PARs as applied to studies of the atmosphere. A historical perspective is provided as context along with an overview of PAR system architectures, technical challenges, and opportunities. Envisioned scan strategies are summarized because they are distinct from traditional mechanically scanned radars and are the most advantageous for high-resolution studies of the atmosphere. Further, open access to PAR data is emphasized as a mechanism to educate the future generation of atmospheric scientists. Finally, a vision for the future of operational networks, research facilities, and expansion into complementary radar wavelengths is provided.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗