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At least 667 records · Page 37

Tropospheric processes: Observations and interpretation

Three aspects of tropospheric chemical processes imposed by manmade emission of source gases will be discussed. First, the implications for the OH distribution and thereby for the lifetime of source gases which are controlled by reactions with OH in the troposphere (e.g., CH4 and HCFC) are investigated. This is of importance for stratosphere ozone and climate. Second, we will study the impact of source gas emission on tropospheric ozone and discuss the possibility to estimate indirect climate effects from the changes in ozone and other climate gases. Finally, the degradation of HFC and HCFC's is discussed.

Isaksen, Ivar S. A.↗

A deficiency of O III in the Io plasma torus

Evidence for a deficiency of O III ions in the Io plasma torus is reported and implications of this deficiency for the physical processes controlling the plasma are considered. Observations of the O III 5007-A as well as Cl III and S III emissions from the Io plasma torus were made by a ground-based echelle spectrograph and intensified Reticon detector in February and May, 1981. The O III observations allow an upper limit of 4/cu cm to be placed on torus O III abundance, which is inconsistent with expectations for a low density plasma controlled by electron collisions. The inclusion of ion-ion and ion-atom charge exchange reactions and a depleted high energy electron component in the model is found to suppress O III levels, however observed limiting values are only achieved if it is assumed that the O III is kinetically hot. In addition, the charge-exchange model developed is inconsistent with previous observations of the kinetics of the S II-S III system. The present observations also establish upper limits of 2 R on 5518-A and 5538-A Cl III emission, and an emission rate of 58 + or - 40 R for the S III 6312-A line in the hot torus.

Brown, R. A.↗

Ion-implantation effect on time-dependent breakdown in SiO2

It was experimentally demonstrated that the field emission of positive ions from the metal SiO2 interface in MOS structures can be controlled by introducing a positive charge in a small ion-implantation dose to a shallow depth below the metal electrode. Considerable improvement of time-dependent breakdown was noted in structures implanted in this manner as opposed to nonimplanted ones. This experiment confirms the model proposed by Li and Maserjian (1975) for radiation effect on time-dependent breakdown.

Li, S. P.↗

Space station thermal control surfaces

Mission planning documents were used to analyze the radiator design and thermal control surface requirements for both space station and 25-kW power module, to analyze the missions, and to determine the thermal control technology needed to satisfy both sets of requirements. Parameters such as thermal control coating degradation, vehicle attitude, self eclipsing, variation in solar constant, albedo, and Earth emission are considered. Four computer programs were developed which provide a preliminary design and evaluation tool for active radiator systems in LEO and GEO. Two programs were developed as general programs for space station analysis. Both types of programs find the radiator-flow solution and evaluate external heat loads in the same way. Fortran listings are included.

Maag, C. R.↗

The clumpy circumstellar medium around young supernova remnants

Each of the youngest supernova remnants known in the Milky Way, Cas A, Kepler's SNR, and Tycho's SNR, shows a different morphological structure caused by different conditions in the progenitor stars and their surroundings. In all three cases, however, the observed shells have a thickness of about 1/4 the radius, a sharp outer edge, and significant brightness irregularities. These features require that the circumstellar medium be highly clumped. To investigate the phenomenon, models of the expansion have been constructed using a one-dimensional spherical hydrodynamic code. As a supernova shock moves down the external density gradient of the star, material behind the shock begins to go into free expansion. Then as surrounding material is encountered a reverse shock moving back into the ejectum will be formed. Until the expansion has swept up about eight times the ejected mass when the situation can be considered as a point explosion in its surroundings, the dynamics are controlled by conditions between the shocks. The region is also where the synchrotron radio emission from relativistic electrons trapped in magnetic fields arises. Initial particles and fields are accelerated and amplified by eddy motion at the interface between the ejected and swept-up material and at the boundaries of clumps. Polarimetry shows that these SNR have a net radial orientation of their magnetic fields apparently from stretching by Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities at the contact surfaces. Without clumps the observed shell is much too narrow and steep on the inside.

Dickel, J. R.↗

Experimental determination of plume properties in full-scale hydrogen-oxygen rockets

An IR emission/absorption technique for determining radial profiles of static temperature and species partial pressure for cylindrically symmetric combustion gases typical of the effluent of turbine engines and liquid-propellant rockets is described. In the technique, the IR plume radiance and absorption is measured using a 1 x 256-element platinum silicide detector array which is filtered to obtain plume emission measurements in the H2O band near 3.0 microns. A minicomputer is employed to control data acquisition and reduction.

Brown, D. G.↗

Regional Chemistry from Global CTMs with EC-Modeled Met-fields for the TRACE-P Mission

The UC Irvine project for Trace-P (PI: Prather) is a collaboration with Frontier-Japan (Wild and Akimoto) and U. Oslo (Sundet and Isaksen) to make high-resolution global T63 CTM simulations of trace gases and the oxidant budgets for the Trace-P period. Research at FRS and Oslo is not funded by GTE/TRACE-P. Completed control runs for the Trace-P period at T63L40 resolution using the standard emissions with the two related, but independent CTMs at Frontier-UCI and at U. Oslo. Preliminary diagnosis of the impact of Asian emissions on ozone and oxidant budgets is completed. A series of sensitivity runs is beginning to analyze where uncertainty in emissions is related to better simulation of the Trace-P observations.

Prather, Michael J.↗

Wireless Phone Threat Assessment for Aircraft Communication and Navigation Radios

Emissions in aircraft communication and navigation bands are measured for the latest generation of wireless phones. The two wireless technologies considered, GSM/GPRS and CDMA2000, are the latest available to general consumers in the U.S. A base-station simulator is used to control the phones. The measurements are conducted using reverberation chambers, and the results are compared against FCC and aircraft installed equipment emission limits. The results are also compared against baseline emissions from laptop computers and personal digital assistant devices that are currently allowed to operate on aircraft.

Nguyens, T. X.↗

International Space Station Acoustics - A Status Report

It is important to control acoustic noise aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to provide a satisfactory environment for voice communications, crew productivity, and restful sleep, and to minimize the risk for temporary and permanent hearing loss. Acoustic monitoring is an important part of the noise control process on ISS, providing critical data for trend analysis, noise exposure analysis, validation of acoustic analysis and predictions, and to provide strong evidence for ensuring crew health and safety, thus allowing Flight Certification. To this purpose, sound level meter (SLM) measurements and acoustic noise dosimetry are routinely performed. And since the primary noise sources on ISS include the environmental control and life support system (fans and airflow) and active thermal control system (pumps and water flow), acoustic monitoring will indicate changes in hardware noise emissions that may indicate system degradation or performance issues. This paper provides the current acoustic levels in the ISS modules and sleep stations, and is an update to the status presented in 20031. Many new modules, and sleep stations have been added to the ISS since that time. In addition, noise mitigation efforts have reduced noise levels in some areas. As a result, the acoustic levels on the ISS have improved.

Allen, Christopher S.↗

International Space Station Acoustics - A Status Report

It is important to control acoustic noise aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to provide a satisfactory environment for voice communications, crew productivity, alarm audibility, and restful sleep, and to minimize the risk for temporary and permanent hearing loss. Acoustic monitoring is an important part of the noise control process on ISS, providing critical data for trend analysis, noise exposure analysis, validation of acoustic analyses and predictions, and to provide strong evidence for ensuring crew health and safety, thus allowing Flight Certification. To this purpose, sound level meter (SLM) measurements and acoustic noise dosimetry are routinely performed. And since the primary noise sources on ISS include the environmental control and life support system (fans and airflow) and active thermal control system (pumps and water flow), acoustic monitoring will reveal changes in hardware noise emissions that may indicate system degradation or performance issues. This paper provides the current acoustic levels in the ISS modules and sleep stations and is an update to the status presented in 2011. Since this last status report, many payloads (science experiment hardware) have been added and a significant number of quiet ventilation fans have replaced noisier fans in the Russian Segment. Also, noise mitigation efforts are planned to reduce the noise levels of the T2 treadmill and levels in Node 3, in general. As a result, the acoustic levels on the ISS continue to improve.

Allen, Christopher S.↗

Isotopically Tracking Nitrogen Oxides, Nitrous Acid, And Nitric Acid, Particulate Nitrate from Wildfire During FIREX-AQ

Wildfires are an important source of reactive nitrogen species including nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2) and nitrous acid (HONO), as well as products such as nitric acid (HNO3) and particulate nitrate (p-NO3-). These species have strongly influence air quality and climate. In summer of 2019 (July 25 —August 21), as part of the FIREX-AQ ground mission, we drove ~3000 miles and sampled smoke of different ages in both daytime and nighttime from 5 different wildfires in the western US. Using recently developed methods that have been validated in both laboratory and field settings, we conducted high time resolution collection of NOx, NO2, HONO, HNO3, and p-NO3- for off-line characterization of isotopic composition δ15N, δ18O and Δ17O (=δ17O−0.52 δ18O). δ15N serves as a potential tracer for tracking sources and reactive nitrogen cycling pathways, δ18O and Δ17O provide key information about oxidation pathways (i.e. O3 versus RO2). Our measured δ15N for HONO ranges from -4.9‰ to +5.2‰ and -8‰ to +5.2‰ respectively, in the majority overlapping with our prior lab controlled burning results, which suggests the capability of δ15N for tracing the biomass burning emissions against other sources including vehicular emissions and soil emissions. In addition, our measurements show δ18O and Δ17O for NO2 and HONO vary significantly day vs night, as well as in young smoke vs aged smoke, likely reflecting different oxidizing mechanisms under different smoke conditions. Preliminary results of isotopic signatures of all the above reactive nitrogen species will be presented, and their relationships will be explored to identify wildfire derived reactive nitrogen source signatures and to constrain atmospheric processing pathways (e.g. secondary formation of HONO) for different fires under various smoke conditions depending on fuel types, fire conditions and meteorological conditions.

Jiajue Chai↗

International Space Station Acoustics – A Status Report

It is important to control acoustic noise aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to provide a satisfactory environment for voice communications, alarm audibility, and restful sleep, and to minimize the risk for hearing loss. Acoustic monitoring is an important part of the noise control process on ISS, providing critical data for trend analysis, noise exposure analysis, validation of acoustic analyses and predictions, and to provide strong evidence for ensuring crew health and safety, thus allowing Flight Certification. And since the primary noise sources on ISS include the environmental control and life support system’s air revitalization system (fans and airflow) and active thermal control system (pumps and water flow), acoustic monitoring will indicate changes in hardware noise emissions that may indicate system degradation or performance issues. This paper provides the current acoustic levels in the ISS modules and sleep stations, and is an update to the status presented in 2018. Since this last status report, noise levels have remained consistent, but issues with stalled fan noise and unexplained low frequency spectral peaks have caused some exceedances to requirements. Noise levels in the Russian Segment have either remained consistent or have been reduced slightly, except for the new Multipurpose Laboratory Module, which has some significant noise exceedances.

Christopher S Allen↗

A permafrost implementation in the simple carbon-climate model Hector v.2.3.pf

Permafrost currently stores more than a fourth of global soil carbon. A warming climate makes this carbon increasingly vulnerable to decomposition and release into the atmosphere in the form of greenhouse gases. The resulting climate feedback can be estimated using land surface models, but the high complexity and computational cost of these models make it challenging to use them for estimating uncertainty, exploring novel scenarios, and coupling with other models. We have added a representation of permafrost to the simple, open-source global carbon–climate model Hector, calibrated to be consistent with both historical data and 21st century Earth system model projections of permafrost thaw. We include permafrost as a separate land carbon pool that becomes available for decomposition into both methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) once thawed; the thaw rate is controlled by region-specific air temperature increases from a preindustrial baseline. We found that by 2100 thawed permafrost carbon emissions increased Hector’s atmospheric CO2 concentration by 5 %–7 % and the atmospheric CH4 concentration by 7 %–12 %, depending on the future scenario, resulting in 0.2–0.25 ∘C of additional warming over the 21st century. The fraction of thawed permafrost carbon available for decomposition was the most significant parameter controlling the end-of-century temperature change in the model, explaining around 70 % of the temperature variance, and was distantly followed by the initial stock of permafrost carbon, which contributed to about 10 % of the temperature variance. The addition of permafrost in Hector provides a basis for the exploration of a suite of science questions, as Hector can be cheaply run over a wide range of parameter values to explore uncertainty and can be easily coupled with integrated assessment and other human system models to explore the economic consequences of warming from this feedback.

Dawn L. Woodard↗

Global Land Surface Emissivity Retrieved From Satellite Ultraspectral IR Measurements

Ultraspectral resolution infrared (IR) radiances obtained from nadir observations provide information about the atmosphere, surface, aerosols, and clouds. Surface spectral emissivity (SSE) and surface skin temperature from current and future operational satellites can and will reveal critical information about the Earth s ecosystem and land-surface-type properties, which might be utilized as a means of long-term monitoring of the Earth s environment and global climate change. In this study, fast radiative transfer models applied to the atmosphere under all weather conditions are used for atmospheric profile and surface or cloud parameter retrieval from ultraspectral and/or hyperspectral spaceborne IR soundings. An inversion scheme, dealing with cloudy as well as cloud-free radiances observed with ultraspectral IR sounders, has been developed to simultaneously retrieve atmospheric thermodynamic and surface or cloud microphysical parameters. This inversion scheme has been applied to the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI). Rapidly produced SSE is initially evaluated through quality control checks on the retrievals of other impacted surface and atmospheric parameters. Initial validation of retrieved emissivity spectra is conducted with Namib and Kalahari desert laboratory measurements. Seasonal products of global land SSE and surface skin temperature retrieved with IASI are presented to demonstrate seasonal variation of SSE.

Zhou, D. K.↗

The effects of interactions on spiral galaxies. II - Disk star-formation rates

H-alpha emission-line and IRAS far-IR observations of interacting spiral and irregular galaxies are here used to assess the influence of interactions on their global star-formation rates. Two samples of interacting galaxies were observed: a complete sample of close pairs, and an Arp atlas sample of peculiar systems. When compared to a control sample of single galaxies, both samples of interacting systems exhibit systematically higher levels of H-alpha and infrared emission on average, and a larger dispersion in emission properties. Emission levels in the very active system are much more strongly correlated with the properties of the interaction than with the internal properties of the galaxies themselves. Strong disk emission is almost always accompanied by unusually strong nuclear activity. Simple star-formation burst models can reproduce the observed H-alpha equivalent widths and broadband colors of most of the galaxies. The bursts are relatively short (few times 10 million yr) and rarely involve more than 1-2 percent of a galaxy's total mass.

Kennicutt, Robert C., Jr.↗

Surface analysis of space telescope material specimens

Qualitative and quantitative data on Space Telescope materials which were exposed to low Earth orbital atomic oxygen in a controlled experiment during the 41-G (STS-17) mission were obtained utilizing the experimental techniques of Rutherford backscattering (RBS), particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE), and ellipsometry (ELL). The techniques employed were chosen with a view towards appropriateness for the sample in question, after consultation with NASA scientific personnel who provided the material specimens. A group of eight samples and their controls selected by NASA scientists were measured before and after flight. Information reported herein include specimen surface characterization by ellipsometry techniques, a determination of the thickness of the evaporated metal specimens by RBS, and a determination of trace impurity species present on and within the surface by PIXE.

Fromhold, A. T.↗

Emissions Overview

The Emissions Reduction Project is working in close partnership with the U.S. aircraft engine manufacturers and academia to develop technologies to reduce NO, emissions by 70 percent over the LTO cycle from 1996 ICAO standards with no increase in other emission constituents (carbon monoxide, smoke, and unburned hydrocarbons) and with comparable NO, reduction during cruise operations. These technologies cannot impact the overall combustor and fuel delivery system operability, affordability or maintainability. These new combustion concepts and technologies will include lean burning combustors with higher operating gas temperatures and pressures, fuel staging, ceramic matrix composite material liners with reduced cooling air and possibly advanced controls. Improved physics-based analysis tool will be developed and validated and some longer term technologies that are more revolutionary will be assessed. These improved computational codes will provide improved design tools to increase design confidence and cut the development time to achieve major reductions in NO, emissions. Longer term, revolutionary technologies like active combustion controls, combustion from a large array of micro-injectors, electrostatic fuel injectors, fuel additives and others will be investigated and assessed through proof-of-concept testing.

Rohde, John↗

Advanced supersonic propulsion study, phase 4

Installation characteristics for a Variable Stream Control Engine (VSCE) were studied for three advanced supersonic airplane designs. Sensitivity of the VSCE concept to change in technology projections was evaluated in terms of impact on overall installed performance. Based on these sensitivity results, critical technology requirements were reviewed, resulting in the reaffirmation of the following requirements: low-noise nozzle system; a high performance, low emissions duct burner and main burner; hot section technology; variable geometry components; and propulsion integration features, including an integrated electronic control system.

Howlett, R. A.↗