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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1985

Dynamical roles of planetary waves on the winter anomaly in the middle and lower latitudes

The winter anomaly of radio wave absorption in the ionospheric D region (65 to 90 km), caused by a factor of about ten increase in electron density, has been considered to be due to a factor of about ten increase of the nitric oxide concentration and/or a few tens of degrees Kelvin temperature rise due to a strong temperature dependency of the conversion rate of molecular ions to cluster ions. In order to investigate the mechanism of the winter anomaly, the processes that brought about these changes are identified. It is well known that stratospheric warmings sometimes accompany the winter anomaly in middle latitudes. The present study concentrates on the winter anomaly which occurred simultaneously during a sudden warming of the 1967 to 1968 winter, from middle December 1967 to middle January 1968. Variations of geophysical and ionospheric parameters are shown.

Kawahira, K.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Dynamical Evolution of Planetary Embryos

During the past decade, progress has been made by relating the 'standard model' for the formation of planetary systems to computational and observational advances. A significant contribution to this has been provided by this grant. The consequence of this is that the rigor of the physical modeling has improved considerably. This has identified discrepancies between the predictions of the standard model and recent observations of extrasolar planets. In some cases, the discrepancies can be resolved by recognition of the stochastic nature of the planetary formation process, leading to variations in the final state of a planetary system. In other cases, it seems more likely that there are major deficiencies in the standard model, requiring our identifying variations to the model that are not so strongly constrained to our Solar System.

Wetherill, George W.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Ring dynamics

Theoretical models of planetary-ring dynamics are discussed in a detailed analytical review and illustrated with graphs and diagrams. The streamline concept is introduced, and the phenomena associated with the transport of angular momentum are described. Particular attention is then given to (1) broad rings like those of Saturn (shepherding, density-wave excitation, gaps, bending-wave excitation, multiringlet structures, inner-edge shepherding, and the possibility of polar rings around Neptune), (2) narrow rings like those of Uranus (shepherding, ring shapes, and a self-gravity model of rigid precession), and (3) ring arcs like those seen in stellar-occultation observations of Neptune.

Borderies, Nicole↗
NASA NTRS1985

Studies of Planetary Rings

Dynamic processes in ring structures (spiral density waves; shepherding processes; and erosional transport and global redistribution of ring materials) and planetary ring observations (Jupiter's ring; the nature of the F ring; and the irregular structure of Saturn's B ring) were examined.

Cuzzi, J. N.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Spatially resolved reflectivities of Saturn - 3000-6000 A

Absolute reflectivity reductions are presented for spectrophotometric observations of seven spatially-resolved regions on the disk of Saturn in the 3000-6000 A region. An asymmetry is found between northern and southern hemisphere data, in the equivalent width of the CH4, 5430-A band and in the continuum reflectivity. In addition, the spectra are found not to include the 4700 A reflectivity peak found by Bergstralh et al (1981), and to exhibit general agreement with the Podolack and Danielson (1977) model. The blue and visual spectral region continuum reflectivity of a planetary atmosphere provides constraints for determining aerosol particle single-scattering albedo and vertical distribution, which are in turn important to an understanding of planetary energy balance, atmospheric dynamics, and planetary molecular absorption spectrum interpretation.

Cochran, W. D.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Dynamics of planetesimal formation and planetary accretion

The paper reviews the dynamical processes by which condensed matter in the solar nebula accumulates into planets. The basic processes are: (1) gravitational instability; (2) conversion of the radial gradient of orbital motion into random motion between planetesimals; and (3) collisions, which damp the random motion and result in aggregation and/or fragmentation of planetesimals. Each of these processes is defined analytically, and models, based on these results, of planetary growth, axial rotation rates, and formation of satellite systems are formulated.

Harris, A. W.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Torsional vibrations and dynamic loads in a basic planetary gear system

An iterative method has been developed for analyzing dynamic loads in a light weight basic planetary gear system. The effects of fixed, semi-floating, and fully-floating sun gear conditions have been emphasized. The load dependent variable gear mesh stiffness were incorporated into a practical torsional dynamic model of a planetary gear system. The dynamic model consists of input and output units, shafts, and a planetary train. In this model, the sun gear has three degrees of freedom; two transverse and one rotational. The planets, ring gear, and the input and output units have one degree of freedom, (rotation) thus giving a total of nine degrees of freedoms for the basic system. The ring gear has a continuous radial support. The results indicate that the fixed sun gear arrangement with accurate or errorless gearing offers in general better performance than the floating sun gear system.

August, R.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Dynamics and structure of planetary rings

Recent research efforts were directed towards sharpening the understanding of kinematical and dynamical properties of the Uranian rings, with the combination of Earth-based and Voyager observations, and in obtaining and interpreting new observations of the Saturn system from the remarkable stellar occultation of 3 Jul. 1989. Some of the highlights studied include: (1) a detailed comparison of structure and dynamics of the Uranus rings from joint analysis of high quality Earth-based data and the complete set of Voyager occultation measurements; (2) a comprehensive search for weak normal modes excited in the Uranian rings, analogous to the m = 2 and m = 0 normal modes previously identified for the delta and gamma rings; (3) an ongoing search for faint rings and ring arcs of Uranus, using both Voyager images of the rings and Earth-based and spacecraft stellar occultation data; (4) a comparison of upper stratospheric temperatures of Uranus inferred from Voyager ultraviolet occultations with results of ground-based occultation observations; and (5) observations of the 3 Jul. 1989 Saturn occultation of 28 Sgr.

French, R. G.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Dynamic characteristics of observed sudden warmings

The planetary wave dynamics of stratospheric sudden warmings in the Northern Hemisphere for a large number of observed events that occurred during winters from 1970 to 1975 and 1978 to 1981 are investigated. The analysis describes wave propagation and zonal flow interaction from the troposphere upwards to near 50 km, and in some years to near 80 km. Three primary topics are covered here: (1) the interaction of zonally propagating and quasi-stationary planetary waves during warming events; (2) planetary wave influence on zonal flow near the stratopause; and (3) planetary wave propagation to near 80 km as seen from Stratospheric and Mesospheric Sounder (SAMS) data.

Dartt, D. G.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Dynamical modeling of a planetary wave mechanism for a Martian polar warming

The mechanisms involved in the global dust storm and polar warming seen in the Martian atmosphere by the Viking IRTM during the winter solstice of 1977 are investigated theoretically by means of numerical simulations. A two-component dynamical model (based on the combined action of a zonally symmetric 'Hadley' circulation at low and middle latitudes and a planetary-wave circulation at middle and high latitudes) is constructed by analogy to the model of Holton and Mass (1976) for terrestrial sudden stratospheric warmings. The Viking data and simulation results are presented in extensive graphs and characterized in detail. It is demonstrated that a planetary-wave mechanism, based primarily on wavenumber 1 and including a high degree of topographical or thermal wave forcing, can reproduce the observed polar warming. The roles of radiative damping, dissipation, and the transport of dust and water are explored.

Barnes, Jeffrey R.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The nature of the interior of Uranus based on studies of planetary ices at high dynamic pressure

Data from the Voyager II spacecraft showed that Uranus has a large magnetic field with geometry similar to an offset tilted dipole. To interpret the origin of the magnetic field, measurements were made of electrical conductivity and equation-of-state data of the planetary 'ices' ammonia, methane, and 'synthetic Uranus' at shock pressures and temperatures up to 75 gigapascals and 5000 K. These pressures and temperatures correspond to conditions at the depths at which the surface magnetic field is generated. Above 40 gigapascals the conductivities of synthetic Uranus, water, and ammonia plateau at about 20/(ohm-cm), providing an upper limit for the electrical conductivity used in kinematic or dynamo calculations. The nature of materials at the extreme conditions in the interior is discussed.

Nellis, W. J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Dynamic modeling and simulation of planetary rovers

This paper documents a preliminary study into the dynamic modeling and computer simulation of wheeled surface vehicles. The research centered on the feasibility of using commercially available multibody dynamics codes running on engineering workstations to perform the analysis. The results indicated that physically representative vehicle mechanics can be modeled and simulated in state-of-the-art Computer Aided Engineering environments, but at excessive cost in modeling and computation time. The results lead to the recommendation for the development of an efficient rover mobility-specific software system. This system would be used for vehicle design and simulation in planetary environments; controls prototyping, design, and testing; as well as local navigation simulation and expectation planning.

Lindemann, Randel A.↗
NASA NTRS2023

Constraining the Venus Interior Structure With Future VERITAS Measurements of the Gravitational Atmospheric Loading

The complex dynamics of the Venus atmosphere produces a periodic mass redistribution pattern that creates a time-variable modulation of the gravity field of Venus. This gravity signal depends on the net transport of mass across the globe and on the response of the solid body to the normal loading of its crust imparted by the atmosphere. In this work, we explore the possibility of measuring this phenomenon with VERITAS, a NASA Discovery-class mission. By simulating the gravity science experiment, we explore the possibility of measuring the response of Venus to the atmospheric loading, parametrized by the loading Love numbers ( 𝑘 𝑙 ' ), and assess the dependence of these parameters on fundamental interior structure properties. Using the most recent models of Venus' interior, we compute the Venus Love numbers in a compressible viscoelastic setting and compare them with the predicted uncertainty of the VERITAS measurements. We show that VERITAS will measure 𝑘 2 ' at the 4% level and that this measurement could possibly help to distinguish between different equally plausible interior structure models, especially allowing us to distinguish different rheological laws. We also show that a measurement campaign such as the VERITAS gravity science investigation has the potential of measuring 𝑘 2 ' not only at the loading forcing frequency, but also at the tidal frequency, ultimately providing a way to probe the response of the planet at different forcing periods.

Atmospheric tides↗
NASA NTRS2002

Dynamics and Structure of Planetary Rings

We developed a novel technique to determine the macroscopic particle size distribution of Saturn's rings by exploiting diffraction effects during stellar occultations. This was a major undertaking, and resulted in two publications now in press. In the latter paper, we derived power-law particle size distributions for each of Saturn's main ring regions, using observations of the 3 July 1989 stellar occultation of 28 Sgr from Palomar, McDonald, and Lick Observatories. We used the Voyager PPS delta Sco optical depth profile to estimate and then remove the directly transmitted signal from the 28 Sgr observations, leaving high SNR scattered light profiles at wavelengths of 3.9, 2.1, and 0.9 micrometers. The angular distribution of this diffracted signal depends on the ring particle size distribution: the sharpness of the forward lobe is set by the largest particles, while the overall breadth and amplitude of the scattered signal reflects the abundance of smaller, cm-sized particles. We developed both a simple one-dimensional scattering model and a more realistic 2-D model. We assumed for simplicity a single power law particle size distribution for each major ring region, and determined the index q and lower and upper size cutoffs a(sub min) and a(sub max) that provide the best match to all three data sets in each region. Our results in the A and C Rings are fairly consistent with values of q and a(sub max) derived from Voyager radio occultation (RSS) measurements. We extended their results by determining lower limits to the particle size distributions and by probing the B Ring. This technique is applicable to imaging observations of the rings during the Cassini mission.

French, Richard G.↗