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NASA NTRS1999

Chemical Vapor Deposition at High Pressure in a Microgravity Environment

In this paper we present an evaluation of critical requirements of organometallic chemical vapor deposition (OMCVD) at elevated pressure for a channel flow reactor in a microgravity environment. The objective of using high pressure is to maintain single-phase surface composition for materials that have high thermal decomposition pressure at their optimum growth temperature. Access to microgravity is needed to maintain conditions of laminar flow, which is essential for process analysis. Based on ground based observations we present an optimized reactor design for OMCVD at high pressure and reduced gravity. Also, we discuss non-intrusive real-time optical monitoring of flow dynamics coupled to homogeneous gas phase reactions, transport and surface processes. While suborbital flights may suffice for studies of initial stages of heteroepitaxy experiments in space are essential for a complete evaluation of steady-state growth.

McCall, Sonya↗

NASA NTRS2015

OSOAA: A Vector Radiative Transfer Model of Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean System for a Rough Sea Surface Application to the Estimates of the Directional Variations of the Water Leaving Reflectance to Better Process Multi-angular Satellite Sensors Data Over the Ocean

In this study, we present a radiative transfer model, so-called OSOAA, that is able to predict the radiance and degree of polarization within the coupled atmosphere-ocean system in the presence of a rough sea surface. The OSOAA model solves the radiative transfer equation using the successive orders of scattering method. Comparisons with another operational radiative transfer model showed a satisfactory agreement within 0.8%. The OSOAA model has been designed with a graphical user interface to make it user friendly for the community. The radiance and degree of polarization are provided at any level, from the top of atmosphere to the ocean bottom. An application of the OSOAA model is carried out to quantify the directional variations of the water leaving reflectance and degree of polarization for phytoplankton and mineral-like dominated waters. The difference between the water leaving reflectance at a given geometry and that obtained for the nadir direction could reach 40%, thus questioning the Lambertian assumption of the sea surface that is used by inverse satellite algorithms dedicated to multi-angular sensors. It is shown as well that the directional features of the water leaving reflectance are weakly dependent on wind speed. The quantification of the directional variations of the water leaving reflectance obtained in this study should help to correctly exploit the satellite data that will be acquired by the current or forthcoming multi-angular satellite sensors.

Ocean surface↗

NASA NTRS1979

Middle atmosphere electrodynamics: Report of the workshop on the Role of the Electrodynamics of the Middle Atmosphere on Solar Terrestrial Coupling

Significant deficiencies exist in the present understanding of the basic physical processes taking place within the middle atmosphere (the region between the tropopause and the mesopause), and in the knowledge of the variability of many of the primary parameters that regulate Middle Atmosphere Electrodynamics (MAE). Knowledge of the electrical properties, i.e., electric fields, plasma characteristics, conductivity and currents, and the physical processes that govern them is of fundamental importance to the physics of the region. Middle atmosphere electrodynamics may play a critical role in the electrodynamical aspects of solar-terrestrial relations. As a first step, the Workshop on the Role of the Electrodynamics of the Middle Atmosphere on Solar-Terrestrial Coupling was held to review the present status and define recommendations for future MAE research.

Maynard, N. C.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Field Effects of Buoyancy on Lean Premixed Turbulent Flames

Buoyancy affects the entire flowfield of steady turbulent flames and this aspect of flame buoyancy coupling is largely unexplored by experiments or by theory. Open flames and flames within large confinements are free to expand and interact with the surrounding environment. In addition to fluid and combustion conditions, their aerodynamic flowfields are determined by the flame brush orientation and geometry, wake of the stabilizer, enclosure size, and of course, the gravitational field. Because the flowfield consists mainly of cold reactants (mostly in the nearfield) and hot products (mostly in the farfield), buoyancy effects are manifested in the farfield region. In upward pointing flames, an obvious effect is a favorable axial pressure gradient that accelerates the products thereby increasing the axial aerodynamic stretch rate. Intrinsic to turbulent flows, changes in mean aerodynamic stretch also couple to the fluctuating pressure field. Consequently, buoyancy can influence the turbulence intensities upstream and downstream of the flame. Flame wrinkling process, and heat release rate are also directly affected. This backward coupling mechanism is the so-called elliptic problem. To resolve the field effects of buoyancy would require the solution of three-dimensional non-linear Navier Stokes equations with full specification of the upstream, wall and downstream boundary conditions.

Cheng, R. K.↗

NASA NTRS1972

Diffusion bonding of IN 718 to VM 350 grade maraging steel

Diffusion bonding studies have been conducted on IN 718, VM 350 and the dissimilar alloy couple, IN 718 to maraging steel. The experimental processing parameters critical to obtaining consistently good diffusion bonds between IN 718 and VM 350 were determined. Interrelationships between temperature, pressure and surface preparation were explored for short bending intervals under vacuum conditions. Successful joining was achieved for a range of bonding cycle temperatures, pressures and surface preparations. The strength of the weaker parent material was used as a criterion for a successful tensile test of the heat treated bond. Studies of VM-350/VM-350 couples in the as-bonded condition showed a greater yielding and failure outside the bond region.

Crosby, S. R.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Cross Scale Coupling of Alfven Turbulence in the Polar Wind Region

Ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling phenomena are extremely complex and diverse, involving a whole series of processes operating over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. One of the fundamental aspects of understanding this coupling is the polar wind, which is a dominant mechanism of mass transport from the ionospheric source region to the magnetosphere and strongly influences the plasma parameters above the F2 density peak. The combined effects of photoelectrons, and the ponderomotive force will be presented based on our polar wind model. The presence of photoelectrons and low frequency oscillations (that create the ponderomotive force) increase ion outflows. It is also demonstrated that large-amplitude low-frequency waves (LFW) may generate lower hybrid waves (LHW) in the auroral zone. The excitation of LHW by a LF wave may lead to the appearance of an additional channel of energy transfer from, for example, Alfven or fast magnetosonic waves, to particles. This process then influences the formation of the plasma distribution function at the expense of acceleration in the tail of the distribution during the collapse of the LHW. The ion energization due to the LHW can be comparable with that produced by the ponderomotive force of the LFW.

Khazanov, George V.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Advanced ACTPol Multichroic Polarimeter Array Fabrication Process for 150 mm Wafers

Advanced ACTPol (AdvACT) is a third-generation cosmic microwave background receiver to be deployed in 2016 on the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). Spanning five frequency bands from 25 to 280 GHz and having just over 5600 transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers, this receiver will exhibit increased sensitivity and mapping speed compared to previously fielded ACT instruments. This paper presents the fabrication processes developed by NIST to scale to large arrays of feedhorn-coupled multichroic AlMn-based TES polarimeters on 150-mm diameter wafers. In addition to describing the streamlined fabrication process which enables high yields of densely packed detectors across larger wafers, we report the details of process improvements for sensor (AlMn) and insulator (SiN(sub x)) materials and microwave structures, and the resulting performance improvements.

Atacama Cosmology Telescope(ACT)↗

NASA NTRS1996

Elliptic Volume Grid Generation for Viscous CFD Parametric Design Studies

This paper presents a robust method for the generation of zonal volume grids of design parametrics for aerodynamic configurations. The process utilizes simple algebraic techniques with parametric splines coupled with elliptic volume grid generation to generate isolated zonal grids for changes in body configuration needed to perform parametric design studies. Speed of the algorithm is maximized through the algebraic methods and reduced number of grid points to be regenerated for each design parametric without sacrificing grid quality and continuity within the volume domain. The method is directly applicable to grid reusability, because it modifies existing ow adapted volume grids and enables the user to restart the CFD solution process with an established flow field. Use of this zonal approach reduces computer usage time to create new volume grids for design parametric studies by an order of magnitude, as compared to current methods which require the regeneration of an entire volume grid. A sample configuration of a proposed Single Stage-to-Orbit Vehicle is used to illustrate an application of this method.

Alter, Stephen J.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Evaluation of an experimental system for spaceborne processing of multispectral image data

An experimental data processing system has been developed to demonstrate the feasibility of processing high speed, multispectral image data on board the spacecraft. The design incorporates real-time processing with adaptable operation in an expandable architecture. The experimental hardware is coupled to test support and computing equipment to provide a laboratory tool for evaluating and demonstrating each of the processing functions as well as the overall system operation. An evaluation of the high speed processor was conducted to ensure that the desired system throughput was achieved without sacrificing processing accuracy. A description of the system is presented along with the results of the test and evaluation activity.

Meredith, B. D.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Charge exchange avalanche at the cometopause

A sharp transition from a solar wind proton dominated flow to a plasma population primarily consisting of relatively cold cometary heavy ions has been observed at a cometocentric distance of about 160,000 km by the VEGA and GIOTTO missions. This boundary (the cometopause) was thought to be related to charge transfer processes, but its location and thickness are inconsistent with conventionally estimated ion - neutral coupling boundaries. In this paper a two-fluid model is used to investigate the major physical processes at the cometopause. By adopting observed comet Halley parameters the model is able to reproduce the location and the thickness of this charge exchange boundary.

Gombosi, Tamas I.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Coherent Pump-Probe Interactions and Terahertz Intersubband Gain in Semiconductor Quantum Wells

In recent years there has been considerable interest in intersubband-transition-based infrared semiconductor quantum well (QW) lasers because of their potential applications. In the mid-infrared range, both electrically-injected quantum cascade lasers [1] and optically-pumped multiple QW lasers [2] have been experimentally realized. In these studies, optical gain is due to population inversion between the lasing subbands. It was also proposed that stimulated Raman scattering in QW systems can produce net infrared optical gain [3j. In such a nonlinear optical scheme, the appearance of optical gain that may lead to intersubband Raman lasers does not rely on the population inversion. Since, in tile resonant Raman process (Raman gain is the largest in this case), the pump field induces population redistribution among subbands in the QW s ystem, it seems that a realistic estimate of the optical gain has to include this effect. Perturbative calculations used in the previous work [3] may overestimate the Raman gain. In this paper we present a nonperturbative calculation of terahertz gain of optically-pumped semiconductor step quantum wells. Limiting optical transitions within the conduction band of QW, we solve the pump-field-induced nonequilibrium distribution function for each subband of the QW system from a set of coupled rate equations. Both intrasubband and intersubband relaxation processes in the quantum well system are included. Taking into account the coherent interactions between pump and THz (signal) waves, we we derive the susceptibility of the QW system for the THz field. For a GaAs/AlGaAs step QW, we calculate the Thz gain spectrum for different pump frequencies and intensities. Under moderately strong pumping (approximately 0.3 MW/sq cm), a significant THz gain (approximately 300/m) is predicted. It is also shown that the coherent wave interactions (resonant stimulated Raman processes) contribute significantly to the THz gain.

Liu, Ansheng↗

NASA NTRS1986

Global change in the geosphere-biosphere: Initial priorities for an IGBP

Some of the factors are outlined that leads one to endorse the concept of focused, international geosphere-biosphere program, whose goal is to understand the interactive physical, chemical, and biological processes that regulate the Earth's unique environment for life, the changes that are occurring in this system, and the manner in which they are influenced by human actions. There is a pressing need to assess the consequence of human activities in the context of natural global change and to provide the body of knowledge necessary to chart a wise course to the future. A number of specific objectives were developed which leads to the conclusion that the need for new programs of observation of the Earth as a planet, a better understanding of the interactive processes that governs its changes, the development of a new generation of coupled modes, and the design of suitable tests to guide the development of these models and the understanding of the processes involved. Some general recommendations are summarized.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1990

Discrepancies in the earth-atmosphere angular momentum budget

Modern geodetic and atmospheric data sets have demonstrated that changes in the solid earth's rotation rate are closely coupled to changes in the atmosphere's angular momentum over a range of subseasonal through interannual time scales. Nevertheless, limits to the correspondence between changes in the momenta of the two bodies exist at both ends of the spectrum resolvable by the data. It is shown that, at high frequencies, changes in the length of day as short as a fortnight can now be attributed almost entirely to atmospheric forcing; more rapid fluctuations in the length of day, however, cannot be shown to coincide with atmospheric behavior, a result blamed mostly on errors remaining in both the geodetic and atmospheric series rather than on the neglect of some other component of the momentum budget. On the decadal time scale, nonatmospheric processes, believed primarily to involve core-mantle coupling, dominate the global momentum budget.

Rosen, Richard D.↗

NASA NTRS2014

The Goddard Cumulus Ensemble Model (GCE): Improvements and Applications for Studying Precipitation Processes

Convection is the primary transport process in the Earth's atmosphere. About two-thirds of the Earth's rainfall and severe floods derive from convection. In addition, two-thirds of the global rain falls in the tropics, while the associated latent heat release accounts for three-fourths of the total heat energy for the Earth's atmosphere. Cloud-resolving models (CRMs) have been used to improve our understanding of cloud and precipitation processes and phenomena from micro-scale to cloud-scale and mesoscale as well as their interactions with radiation and surface processes. CRMs use sophisticated and realistic representations of cloud microphysical processes and can reasonably well resolve the time evolution, structure, and life cycles of clouds and cloud systems. CRMs also allow for explicit interaction between clouds, outgoing longwave (cooling) and incoming solar (heating) radiation, and ocean and land surface processes. Observations are required to initialize CRMs and to validate their results. The Goddard Cumulus Ensemble model (GCE) has been developed and improved at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center over the past three decades. It is amulti-dimensional non-hydrostatic CRM that can simulate clouds and cloud systems in different environments. Early improvements and testing were presented in Tao and Simpson (1993) and Tao et al. (2003a). A review on the application of the GCE to the understanding of precipitation processes can be found in Simpson and Tao (1993) and Tao (2003). In this paper, recent model improvements (microphysics, radiation and land surface processes) are described along with their impact and performance on cloud and precipitation events in different geographic locations via comparisons with observations. In addition, recent advanced applications of the GCE are presented that include understanding the physical processes responsible for diurnal variation, examining the impact of aerosols (cloud condensation nuclei or CCN and ice nuclei or IN) on precipitation processes, utilizing a satellite simulator to improve the microphysics, providing better simulations for satellite-derived latent heating retrieval, and coupling with a general circulation model to improve the representation of precipitation processes.

GCE↗

NASA NTRS2011

Physical Validation of GPM Retrieval Algorithms Over Land: An Overview of the Mid-Latitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E)

The joint NASA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) -- DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E) was conducted from April 22-June 6, 2011, centered on the DOE-ARM Southern Great Plains Central Facility site in northern Oklahoma. GPM field campaign objectives focused on the collection of airborne and ground-based measurements of warm-season continental precipitation processes to support refinement of GPM retrieval algorithm physics over land, and to improve the fidelity of coupled cloud resolving and land-surface satellite simulator models. DOE ARM objectives were synergistically focused on relating observations of cloud microphysics and the surrounding environment to feedbacks on convective system dynamics, an effort driven by the need to better represent those interactions in numerical modeling frameworks. More specific topics addressed by MC3E include ice processes and ice characteristics as coupled to precipitation at the surface and radiometer signals measured in space, the correlation properties of rainfall and drop size distributions and impacts on dual-frequency radar retrieval algorithms, the transition of cloud water to rain water (e.g., autoconversion processes) and the vertical distribution of cloud water in precipitating clouds, and vertical draft structure statistics in cumulus convection. The MC3E observational strategy relied on NASA ER-2 high-altitude airborne multi-frequency radar (HIWRAP Ka-Ku band) and radiometer (AMPR, CoSMIR; 10-183 GHz) sampling (a GPM "proxy") over an atmospheric column being simultaneously profiled in situ by the University of North Dakota Citation microphysics aircraft, an array of ground-based multi-frequency scanning polarimetric radars (DOE Ka-W, X and C-band; NASA D3R Ka-Ku and NPOL S-bands) and wind-profilers (S/UHF bands), supported by a dense network of over 20 disdrometers and rain gauges, all nested in the coverage of a six-station mesoscale rawinsonde network. As an exploratory effort to examine land-surface emissivity impacts on retrieval algorithms, and to demonstrate airborne soil moisture retrieval capabilities, the University of Tennessee Space Institute Piper aircraft carrying the MAPIR L-band radiometer was also flown during the latter half of the experiment in coordination with the ER-2. The observational strategy provided a means to sample the atmospheric column in a redundant framework that enables inter-calibration and constraint of measured and retrieved precipitation characteristics such as particle size distributions, or water contents- all within the umbrella of "proxy" satellite measurements (i.e., the ER-2). Complimenting the precipitation sampling framework, frequent and coincident launches of atmospheric soundings (e.g., 4-8/day) then provided a much larger mesoscale view of the thermodynamic and winds environment, a data set useful for initializing cloud models. The datasets collected represent a variety cloud and precipitation types including isolated cumulus clouds, severe thunderstorms, mesoscale convective systems, and widespread regions of light to moderate stratiform precipitation. We will present the MC3E experiment design, an overview of operations, and a summary of preliminary results.

Petersen, Walter A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Electrodynamics of solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions

The paper presents a coherent picture of fundamental physical processes in three basic elements of the solar-wind/magnetosphere/ionosphere coupling system: (1) the field-aligned potential structure which leads to the formation of auroral arcs, (2) the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling which leads to the onset of magnetospheric substorms, and (3) the solar-wind/magnetosphere dynamo which supplies the power driving various magnetospheric processes. Process (1) is forced into existence by the loss-cone constriction effect when the upward field-aligned current density exceeds the loss-cone thermal flux limit. Substorm onset occurs when the ionosphere responds fully to the enhanced magnetospheric convection driven by the solar wind. Energy is transferred from the solar wind to the magnetosphere by a dynamo process, primarily on open field lines.

Kan, Joseph R.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Preliminary results from the High Speed Airframe Integration Research project

A review is presented of the accomplishment of the near term objectives of developing an analysis system and optimization methods during the first year of the NASA Langley High Speed Airframe Integration Research (HiSAIR) project. The characteristics of a Mach 3 HSCT transport have been analyzed utilizing the newly developed process. In addition to showing more detailed information about the aerodynamic and structural coupling for this type of vehicle, this exercise aided in further refining the data requirements for the analysis process.

Coen, Peter G.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Observations of Solar Wind-Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling and Its Impact on Equatorial Ionospheric Electrodynamics During the March and April 2023 Geomagnetic Storms

The low-latitude ionosphere is effectively shielded from the high latitude convection electric field during geomagnetic quiet times because region-2 field-aligned currents associated with the partial ring current act to oppose the convection electric field associated with region-1 field-aligned currents. However, the low-latitude ionosphere can be directly coupled to the enhanced magnetospheric electric field through prompt penetration of convection electric field during periods of strong solar wind-magnetosphere interaction. The mechanisms that lead to the generation of prompt penetration electric field during enhanced solar wind-magnetosphereionosphere coupling are complex and not fully understood. We study the evolution of field-aligned currents and the equatorial electrojet during the March and April 2023 geomagnetic storm to understand the processes involving solar wind disturbances interacting with the magnetosphere and coupling into the polar ionosphere, and how the low-latitude ionosphere responded to the enhanced magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. We will present the observations in the solar windmagnetosphere-ionosphere system, in particular, field-aligned currents at high latitude ionosphere by Swarm and the equatorial electrojet by Swarm and ground-based magnetometers.

Guan Le↗