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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1984

Anisotropic models of the upper mantle

Long period Rayleigh wave and Love wave dispersion data, particularly for oceanic areas, were not simultaneously satisfied by an isotropic structure. Available phase and group velocity data are inverted by a procedure which includes the effects of transverse anisotropy, an elastic dispersion, sphericity, and gravity. The resulting models, for the average earth, average ocean and oceanic regions divided according to the age of the ocean floor, are quite different from previous results which ignore the above effects. The models show a low velocity zone with age dependent anisotropy and velocities higher than derived in previous surface wave studies. The correspondence between the anisotropy variation with age and a physical model based on flow aligned olivine is suggested.

Regan, J.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Solvability conditions for dendritic growth in the boundary-layer model with capillary anisotropy

This paper is concerned primarily with the development of an analytic approach to the theory of steady-state velocity selection in the boundary-layer model of dendritic solidification. The two-dimensional version of this model with a fourfold crystalline anisotropy alpha in the surface tension is considered. By extending a WKB method introduced in an earlier paper, the alpha dependence of the selected growth rate is determined in the limit of small alpha; and this rate is studied for large alphas in the limit in which the dimensionless undercooling approaches unity. Portions of the paper are devoted to a reinterpretation of the mathematical structure of the solvability condition in problems of this kind.

Langer, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Anisotropy and shear-velocity heterogeneities in the upper mantle

Long-period surface waves are used to map lateral heterogeneities of velocity and anisotropy in the upper mantle. The dispersion curves are expanded in spherical harmonics up to degree 6 and inverted to find the depth structure. The data are corrected for the effect of surface layers and both Love and Rayleigh waves are used. Shear wave velocity and shear polarization anisotropy can be resolved down to a depth of about 450 km. The shear wave velocity distribution to 200 km depth correlates with surface tectonics, except in a few anomalous regions. Below that depth the correlation vanishes. Cold subducted material shows up weakly at 350 km as fast S-wave anomalies. In the transition region a large scale pattern appears with fast mantle in the South-Atlantic. S-anisotropy at 200 km can resolve uprising or downwelling currents under some ridges and subduction zones. The Pacific shows a NW-SE fabric.

Nataf, H.-C.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Theoretical model applicable to the experimental determination of surface anchoring energies of nematic liquid crystals

For a cell configuration consisting of a thin nematic layer bounded by two parallel plane surfaces, with opposing surfaces suitably treated to produce dissimilar molecular orientations, the elastic continuum theory for nematic liquid crystals was applied to derive an expression relating surface anchoring energies to elastic constants, director orientations at the substrate surfaces, and cell thickness. A numerical comparison with the elastically isotropic result over a range K sub 3 = 1.5 K sub 1 to K sub 3 = 10 K sub 1 showed the effect of elastic anisotropy could be quite significant. Surface anchoring energies calculated for anisotropic of K sub 3 = 2 K sub 1 and K sub 3 + 10 K sub 1 were approximately 50% and 500%, respectively, than the isotropic values.

Wintucky, E. G.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Polarized electromagnetic response of the moon

The strong anisotropy in Apollo 15 Lunar Surface Magnetometer (LSM) signals resulting from electromagnetic induction in the moon, forced by fluctuations of the interplanetary magnetic field, is shown to result from intense polarization of the induced field. Arguments are given to show that the anisotropy cannot be explained wholly by asymmetric lunar induction in the presence of the diamagnetic cavity, but must be related to a regional influence. The weaker Apollo 12 anisotropy may also be associated with a regional influence. The site of Apollo 15 LSM at the edge of the Imbrium Basin suggests a preliminary model for calculations based on the possibility that Imbrium and perhaps Serenitatis are sources of the regional effect. Lastly, since the very low frequency induction seems free of the anisotropy, our earlier estimate of deep conductivity remains unchanged.

Sonett, C. P.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Europa Surface Radiation Environment for Lander Assessment

The Jovian magnetospheric particle environment at Europa's surface is critical to assessment of landed astrobiological experiments in three respects: (1) the landing site must be chosen for the best prospects for detectable organic or inorganic signs of Life, e.g. regions of freshly emergent flows from the subsurface; (2) lander systems must reach the surface through the Jovian magnetospheric environment and operate long enough on the surface to return useful data; (3) lander instrumentation must be capable of detecting signs of life in the context of the local environmental radiation and associated chemistry. The Galileo, Voyager, and Pioneer missions have provided a wealth of data on energetic particle intensities throughout the Jovian magnetosphere including from many flybys of Europa. cumulative radiation dosages for spacecraft enroute to Europa can be well characterized, but knowledge of the surface radiation environment is very limited. Energetic electrons should primarily impact the trailing hemisphere with decreasing intensity towards the center of the leading hemisphere and are the most significant radiation component down to meter depths in the surface regolith due to secondary interactions. Observed surface distribution for sulfates is suggestive of electron irradiation but may have alternative interpretations. Having much-larger magnetic gyroradii than electrons, energetic protons and heavier ions irradiate more of the global surface. The particular orientations of electron, proton, and ion gyromotion would project into corresponding directional (e.g., east-west) anisotropies of particle flu into the surface. Particular topographic features at the landing site may therefore offer shielding from part of the incident radiation.

Cooper, John F.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Azimuthal Anisotropy In Radar Backscatter From The Ocean

Minima offset from nominal crosswind directions. Report describes experimental and theoretical study of azimuthal anisotropy in radar backscatter from surface of ocean. Important objective of this and related studies to enhance ability to sense speed and direction of surface wind remotely by use of airborne or spaceborne radar.

Li, F. K.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Microwave background anisotropy induced by gravitational waves

A cosmological background of gravitational waves induces redshift perturbations in light transversing it. Calculations of this Sachs-Wolfe effect on the microwave background are presented in an Omega = 1 Friedmann universe as a function of angular scale and gravitational wave spectrum. Blurriness of the last-scattering surface can cause nonnegligible dilution of the anisotropy for wavelengths less than about 100 Mpc. The limit implied for the energy density of the gravitational waves is given. A difficulty in associating a linear scale with an angular anisotropy, due to the clumpiness of the universe, is also pointed out.

Linder, Eric V.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Daily MODIS 500 m Reflectance Anisotropy Direct Broadcast (DB) Products for Monitoring Vegetation Phenology Dynamics

Land surface vegetation phenology is an efficient bio-indicator for monitoring ecosystem variation in response to changes in climatic factors. The primary objective of the current article is to examine the utility of the daily MODIS 500 m reflectance anisotropy direct broadcast (DB) product for monitoring the evolution of vegetation phenological trends over selected crop, orchard, and forest regions. Although numerous model-fitted satellite data have been widely used to assess the spatio-temporal distribution of land surface phenological patterns to understand phenological process and phenomena, current efforts to investigate the details of phenological trends, especially for natural phenological variations that occur on short time scales, are less well served by remote sensing challenges and lack of anisotropy correction in satellite data sources. The daily MODIS 500 m reflectance anisotropy product is employed to retrieve daily vegetation indices (VI) of a 1 year period for an almond orchard in California and for a winter wheat field in northeast China, as well as a 2 year period for a deciduous forest region in New Hampshire, USA. Compared with the ground records from these regions, the VI trajectories derived from the cloud-free and atmospherically corrected MODIS Nadir BRDF (bidirectional reflectance distribution function) adjusted reflectance (NBAR) capture not only the detailed footprint and principal attributes of the phenological events (such as flowering and blooming) but also the substantial inter-annual variability. This study demonstrates the utility of the daily 500 m MODIS reflectance anisotropy DB product to provide daily VI for monitoring and detecting changes of the natural vegetation phenology as exemplified by study regions comprising winter wheat, almond trees, and deciduous forest.

Vegetation↗
NASA NTRS1980

Electron angular distributions during charging events

The angular distribution of electrons and ions at times of spacecraft charging were examined for several charging events. Generally it was found that electrons measured perpendicular to the Earth's magnetic field are more intense and more energetic than those measured parallel to the magnetic field during charging events. During the substorm charging injection, the electron spectra harden at all angles to the magnetic field as the evolution of the charging spectra is monitored by the P78-2 satellites. An example of the onset of charging and the changes in the electron distributions is examined. The evolution of the electrons from a 'soft' plasma sheet distribution to a 'hard' charging distribution is compared with the charging of Kapton on the satellite and the spacecraft frame potential. The ions are used to determine the spacecraft potential. Evidence of periodic surface potential variations related to particle anisotropies are presented and discussed.

Fennell, J. F.↗
NASA NTRS1989

A Monte Carlo-finite element model for strain energy controlled microstructural evolution - 'Rafting' in superalloys

This paper presents a specialized microstructural lattice model, MCFET (Monte Carlo finite element technique), which simulates microstructural evolution in materials in which strain energy has an important role in determining morphology. The model is capable of accounting for externally applied stress, surface tension, misfit, elastic inhomogeneity, elastic anisotropy, and arbitrary temperatures. The MCFET analysis was found to compare well with the results of analytical calculations of the equilibrium morphologies of isolated particles in an infinite matrix.

Gayda, J.↗
NASA NTRS1996

The Sensitivity of Large-Eddy Simulation to Local and Nonlocal Drag Coefficients at the Lower Boundary

It was found that the homogeneity of the surface drag coefficient plays an important role in the large scale structure of turbulence in large-eddy simulation of the convective atmospheric boundary layer. Particularly when a ground surface temperature was specified, large horizontal anisotropies occurred when the drag coefficient depended upon local velocities and heat fluxes. This was due to the formation of streamwise roll structures in the boundary layer. In reality, these structures have been found to form when shear is approximately balanced by buoyancy. The present cases, however, were highly convective. The formation was caused by particularly low values of the drag coefficient at the entrance to thermal plume structures.

Schowalter, D. G.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Upper mantle anisotropy - Evidence from free oscillations

There is a growing body of evidence that much of the upper mantle may be anisotropic to the propagation of seismic waves. The present investigation shows that a small amount of anisotropy completely changes the nature of the surface wave and normal mode problem. In particular, the apparent lack of sensitivity of many of the spheroidal modes to the compressional velocity structure is due to the degeneracy in the isotropic case. The normal mode data set appears to be adequate to resolve the five elastic constants of a transversely isotropic upper mantle. Dziewonski and Anderson (1981) have shown that these data can be fitted with anisotropy restricted to the upper 200 km of the mantle.

Anderson, D. L.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Tracing the Cosmological Evolution of Stars and Cold Gas with CMB Spectral Surveys

A full account of galaxy evolution in the context of ΛCDM cosmology requires measurements of the average star-formation rate (SFR) and cold gas abundance across cosmic time. Emission from the CO ladder traces cold gas, and [C II] fine structure emission at 158 μm traces the SFR. Intensity mapping surveys the cumulative surface brightness of emitting lines as a function of redshift, rather than individual galaxies. CMB spectral distortion instruments are sensitive to both the mean and anisotropy of the intensity of redshifted CO and [C II] emission. Large-scale anisotropy is proportional to the product of the mean surface brightness and the line luminosity-weighted bias. The bias provides a connection between galaxy evolution and its cosmological context, and is a unique asset of intensity mapping. Cross-correlation with galaxy redshift surveys allows unambiguous measurements of redshifted line brightness despite residual continuum contamination and interlopers. Measurement of line brightness through cross-correlation also evades cosmic variance and suggests new observation strategies. Galactic foreground emission is ≈10(exp 3) times larger than the expected signals, and this places stringent requirements on instrument calibration and stability. Under a range of assumptions, a linear combination of bands cleans continuum contamination sufficiently that residuals produce a modest penalty over the instrumental noise. For PIXIE, the 2σ sensitivity to CO and [C II] emission scales from »5 ´ 10-2 kJy sr-1 at low redshift to ≈2 kJy sr(exp -1) by reionization.

Switzer, Eric R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Observed cloud reflectivities and liquid water paths: An update

The FIRE microwave radiometer observations of liquid water path from San Nicolas Island and simultaneous NOAA AVHRR observations of cloud reflectivity were used to test a relationship between cloud liquid water path and cloud reflectivity that is often used in general circulation climate models (Stephens, 1978). The results of attempts to improve the data analysis which was described at the previous FIRE Science Team Workshop and elsewhere (Coakley and Snider, 1989) are reported. The improvements included the analysis of additional satellite passes over San Nicolas and sensitivity studies to estimate the effects on the observed reflectivities due to: (1) nonzero surface reflectivities beneath the clouds; (2) the anisotropy of the reflected radiances observed by the AVHRR; (3) small scale spatial structure in the liquid water path; and (4) adjustments to the calibration of AVHRR.

Coakley, James A., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1984

The effect of anisotropic crystal-melt surface tension on grain boundary groove morphology

The shape of a stationary solid-liquid interface in a temperature gradient near a grain boundary in a pure material is calculated for anisotropic crystal-melt surface tension and equal thermal conductivities of crystal and melt. Results are compared with those for the well-known problem of the two-dimensional equilibrium shape of a crystal. For small anisotropy, the resulting interface shapes have continuously turning tangents but differ in detail from the grain boundary groove shapes that have been calculated for isotropic surface tension. For larger anisotropy, the interface shapes have discontinuities in slope as a result of missing orientations.

Voorhees, P. W.↗