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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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At least 577 records · Page 32
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1993

The X-ray-emitting trail of the nearby pulsar PSR1929 + 10

The paper reports the detection by the Rosat satellite of a nebula associated with the nearby pulsar PSR1929 + 10, which is of a type different from the pulsar-wind nebulae produced by direct interaction of the relativistic wind from older pulsars with the interstellar medium (ISM) (Blandorf et al., 1973). The PSR1929 + 10 nebula appears as a linear diffuse X-ray feature in the direction opposite to the pulsar's proper motion, with the pulsar wind confined by the ram-pressure arising from the high velocity of the pulsar through the ISM. This results in a trail of relativistic electrons with enhanced emissions of synchrotron radiation.

Wang, Q. D.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The meteorology of Titan

Current knowledge of Titan's meteorology is reviewed, including diagnostic inferences of the large scale wind field and prognostic studies of thermal and momentum balances. Titan's winds were largely inferred from temperature maps whose spatial coverage is incomplete. The inferred winds are cyclostrophic, approximately 75 m/s in the upper stratosphere. The direction of the winds is ambiguous from the temperature data, but arguments based on the spin up of a planetary atmosphere from an initial state of rest strongly suggest that Titan's winds blow predominantly in the direction of the planetary rotation. Stratospheric temperatures exhibit a north-south asymmetry, suggesting that seasonal variations are controlled by a dynamical inertia associated with the need to transport angular momentum as well as heat. A consideration of the global angular momentum balance indicates that the zonally averaged winds near the surface are approximately 0.3 m/s.

Flasar, F. M.↗
NASA NTRS1976

The nature of multiple solutions for surface wind speed over the oceans from scatterometer measurements

The satellite SEASAT-A will carry a radar scatterometer in order to measure microwave backscatter from the sea surface. From pairs of radar measurements at angles separated by 90 deg in azimuth the surface wind speed and direction may be inferred, though not uniquely. In this paper the character of the solutions for wind speed and direction is displayed, as well as the nature of the ambiguities of these solutions. An economical procedure for handling such data is described, plus a criterion for the need for conventional (surface) data in order to resolve the ambiguities of solutions.

Price, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1964

New anemometer has fast response, measures dynamic pressure directly

A simple anemometer having a fast response to high frequency wind fluctuations by direct measurement of two drag-force components in orthogonal planes is described. It may be used to determine wind profiles to extensive heights and would be helpful in takeoff and landing of light planes.

Lynch, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Ionospheric plasma cloud dynamics

Measurements of the thermospheric neutral wind and ionospheric drift made at Eglin AFB, Florida and Kwajalein Atoll are discussed. The neutral wind measurements at Eglin had little variation over a period of four years for moderate magnetic activity (Kp 4); the ionospheric drifts are small. Evidence is presented that indicates that increased magnetic activity has a significant effect on the neutral wind magnitude and direction at this midlatitude station. The neutral wind at dusk near the equator is generally small although in one case out of seven it was significantly larger. It is described how observations of large barium releases can be used to infer the degree of electrodynamic coupling of ion clouds to the background ionosphere. Evidence is presented that indicates that large barium releases are coupled to the conjugate ionosphere at midlatitudes.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1997

Ulysses and WIND simultaneous observations of the radio emission associated with the 6-7 January 1997 coronal mass ejection

The three dimensional source location of interplanetary type 2 radio bursts is intended to be determined from two spacecraft observations, performed by the radio receivers onboard the WIND and Ulysses spacecraft and associated with the interplanetary coronal mass ejection detected by the large advanced spectrometer coronagraph (LASCO) from the SOHO spacecraft. The intensity time profiles recorded by WIND and Ulysses were compared and their directivity is found to vary from one component of radio emission to another. The three dimensional location was obtained by radio triangulation and was deduced from the direction measured at WIND and the difference of the arrival times measured at both spacecraft. The sensitivity of both determination methods to wave scattering and refraction was discussed.

Hoang, S.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Correlations between neutral meridional winds and ion densities observed on AE-E

The southward directed neutral meridional wind and the nighttime ion density simultaneously measured on AE-E for altitudes from 250 to 290 km are compared and found to correlate when the magnetic field inclination is negative and anticorrelate when the inclination is positive. This effect is attributed to neutral winds transporting the ions up or down a field line depending upon the sign of the field-aligned wind and the inclination. Model calculations for the ion density in the presence of a field-aligned wind and ambipolar diffusion are presented. Six examples of this ionospheric response are analyzed and found to be in qualitative and approximate quantitative agreement with the theoretical results.

Wharton, L. E.↗
NASA NTRS1977

The SeaSat-A satellite scatterometer

This paper describes the methods used to develop performance requirements and design characteristics for the microwave scatterometer (SASS) ocean-surface wind sensor on the NASA SeaSat-A satellite. Wind vector measurement requirements from the SeaSat user community (wind speed and direction accuracy, resolution cell size, grid spacing, and swath width) define instrument characteristics. The resulting scatterometer is designed for 14.6 GHz using four fan beam antennas to measure wind speed and direction over a 1000-km swath width with a resolution cell size 50 x 50 km. Results show scatterometer accuracy satisfies user requirements for wind speed from 4 m/s to greater than 24 m/s for the nominal SeaSat-A orbit of 790 km altitude, 108 deg inclination, and 0.001 eccentricity.

Grantham, W. L.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Simulation of lunar carbon chemistry. II - Lunar winds contribution

Simulation experiments, computations, and analysis of glassy agglutinates show that a directly condensed lunar wind vapor phase is strongly depleted in carbon and sulfur compounds and may recrystallize rapidly in the lunar thermal cycle and separate from host crystals. Factors preventing identification of low-energy species implanted from the lunar atmosphere are discussed. Computational results indicate that the implanted lunar winds carbon originates both from the vapor phases injected into the lunar atmosphere during thermal metamorphism of mature lunar soil grains and from direct volatization of impacting micrometeorites. It is suggested that microglass splashes and tiny crystalline grains possibly attached to the surface of coarser grains do not affect the characteristics of solar wind carbon chemistry in the lunar soil.

Bibring, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Definition and preliminary design of the LAWS (Laser Atmospheric Wind Sounder), volume 2, phase 2

Accurate knowledge of winds is critical to our understanding of the earth's climate and to our ability to predict climate change. Winds are a fundamental component of highly nonlinear interactions between oceans, land surfaces, and the atmosphere. Interactions at these interfaces are the focus of much climate change research. Although wind information is critical for advancing our understanding, currently most of our description of atmospheric motion is obtained indirectly - i.e., derived from observations of temperature and moisture through geostrophic relationships. Direct measurement of winds over the globe is limited to land-based rawinsonde surface stations and a few ship/aircraft reports. Cloud track winds using satellite imagery are calculated but must be used with great care. The LAWS mission objective, therefore, is to provide diurnal and global direct observations of winds - an observation that will incrementally enhance our knowledge of the earth's climate and physical processes responsible for its change. This document is Volume 2 of the LAWS Phase 2 Final Study Report and describes the definition and preliminary design of the LAWS instrument, together with details of the laser breadboard program conducted during the last 18 months of the program.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2000

Wind Measurements with a 355 nm Molecular Doppler Lidar

A Doppler lidar system based on the molecular double edge technique is described. The system is mounted in a modified van to allow deployment in field operations. The lidar operates with a tripled Nd:YAG laser at 355 nm, a 45cm aperture telescope and a matching azimuth-over-elevation scanner to allow full sky access. Validated atmospheric wind profiles have been measured from 1.8 km to 35 km with a 178 m vertical resolution. The range dependent rms deviation of the horizontal wind speed is 0.4 - 6 m/s. The results of wind speed and direction are in good agreement with balloon sonde wind measurements made simultaneously at the same location.

Gentry, Bruce M.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Dust Devil Tracks and Wind Streaks in the North Polar Region of Mars: A Study of the 2007 Phoenix Mars Lander Sites

The 65-72 latitude band of the North Polar Region of Mars, where the 2007 Phoenix Mars Lander will land, was studied using satellite images from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera Narrow-Angle (MOC-NA) camera. Dust devil tracks (DDT) and wind streaks (WS) were observed and recorded as surface evidence for winds. No active dust devils (DDs) were observed. 162 MOC-NA images, 10.3% of total images, contained DDT/WS. Phoenix landing Region C (295-315W) had the highest concentration of images containing DDT/WS per number of available images (20.9%); Region D (130-150W) had the lowest (3.5%). DDT and WS direction were recorded for Phoenix landing regions A (110-130W), B (240-260W), and C to infer local wind direction. Region A showed dominant northwest-southeast DDT/WS, Region B showed dominant north-south, east-west and northeast-southwest DDT/WS, and region C showed dominant west/northwest - east/southeast DDT/ WS. Results indicate the 2007 Phoenix Lander has the highest probability of landing near DDT/WS in landing Region C. Based on DDT/WS linearity, we infer Phoenix would likely encounter directionally consistent background wind in any of the three regions.

Mars↗
NASA NTRS1974

A wind-tunnel investigation of parameters affecting helicopter directional control at low speeds in ground effect

An investigation was conducted in the Langley full-scale tunnel to measure the performance of several helicopter tail-rotor/fin configurations with regard to directional control problems encountered at low speeds in ground effect. Tests were conducted at wind azimuths of 0 deg to 360 deg in increments of 30 deg and 60 deg and at wind speeds from 0 to 35 knots. The results indicate that at certain combinations of wind speed and wind azimuth, large increases in adverse fin force require correspondingly large increases in the tail-rotor thrust, collective pitch, and power required to maintain yaw trim. Changing the tail-rotor direction of rotation to top blade aft for either a pusher tail rotor (tail-rotor wake blowing away from fin) or a tractor tail rotor (tail-rotor wake blowing against fin) will alleviate this problem. For a pusher tail rotor at 180 deg wind azimuth, increases in the fin/tail-rotor gap were not found to have any significant influence on the overall vehicle directional control capability. Changing the tail rotor to a higher position was found to improve tail-rotor performance for a fin-off configuration at a wind azimuth of 180 deg. A V-tail configuration with a pusher tail rotor with top blade aft direction of rotation was found to be the best configuration with regard to overall directional control capability.

Yeager, W. T., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Near-Nadiral Normalized Radar Cross Section of the SEA Surface at Ku, Ka, and W-Bands: Comparison of Measurements and Models

Understanding the relationship between wind speed and direction and the near-nadiral normalized radar cross section (NRCS) of the sea surface is important in many oceanographic and atmospheric remote sensing applications: (1) wind speed retrievals in traditional altimeter systems (2) assistance in calibration and path integrated attenuation processing for atmospheric profiling radars The desired wind speed (and direction in some cases) retrieval requires a clear understanding of the relationship between the relevant geophysical quantities and the observed NRCS Such understanding is available from existing electromagnetic models, but the presence of many such models, as well as implicit descriptions of the sea surface, motivates continued evaluation of model performance.

CloudSat↗
NASA NTRS1980

Comparison of theoretically predicted lateral-directional aerodynamic characteristics with full-scale wind tunnel data on the ATLIT airplane

An analytical method is presented for predicting lateral-directional aerodynamic characteristics of light twin engine propeller-driven airplanes. This method is applied to the Advanced Technology Light Twin Engine airplane. The calculated characteristics are correlated against full-scale wind tunnel data. The method predicts the sideslip derivatives fairly well, although angle of attack variations are not well predicted. Spoiler performance was predicted somewhat high but was still reasonable. The rudder derivatives were not well predicted, in particular the effect of angle of attack. The predicted dynamic derivatives could not be correlated due to lack of experimental data.

Griswold, M.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Experimental results of a continuous wave laser radar system

A 1.06 micron CW laser radar system was used to establish the feasibility of remotely measuring sea surface wind magnitude and direction. Simultaneous correlation of collected laser data with the environment was established by using meteorological instruments. The experimental system and methods of analysis are summarized. Results of the experiments, including wind magnitude and direction correlation, are reported. Results are compared with theoretical predictions.

Petri, K. J.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Short-term spectral variability in AB Aurigae - Clues for activity in Herbig Ae stars. I - The ultraviolet lines of Mg II and Fe II

IUE satellite monitoring of the Herbig Ae star AB Aur in 1982 and 1984, with attention to the variability of both the Mg II 2795 A wind profile and a number of Fe II UV lines, has indicated temporal variations in the Mg II blue wing velocity by 30-50 percent at both epochs. By contrast, the Fe II spectrum was constant in 1982, but variable in 1984. There is no evidence of photometric variability in AB Aur during either period. An analysis of the Mg II blue wing velocity vs time shows that the variability can be fitted with a sine curve of period 45 + or - 6 yr, which is interpreted to be the stellar rotation period. The observed rotational modulation of the blue wing velocity of Mg II 2795 A in AB Aur's wind is the first direct evidence of a nonaxisymmetric wind in an A-type premain sequence object.

Praderie, F.↗