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NASA NTRS1983

Latitudinal variation of tropospheric ozone in a photochemical model

A zonally, vertically, and annually averaged numerical model of trace gases in the troposphere is used to examine the variation of ozone as a function of latitude. Processes included in the ozone budget are a source due to downward transport of ozone from the stratosphere, deposition at earth's surface, north-south diffusive transport, and photochemical reactions. Sensitivity of calculated ozone concentrations to the latitude variation and magnitude of the stratospheric source is presented. The model indicates a net photochemical source of ozone in the Northern Hemisphere and a net chemical sink in the tropical latitudes. Calculated variation of ozone concentration with latitude is in qualitative agreement with observations.

Hameed, S.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Transient thermal modeling of the nonscanning ERBE detector

A numerical model to predict the transient thermal response of the ERBE nonscanning wide field of view total radiometer channel was developed. The model, which uses Monte Carlo techniques to characterize the radiative component of heat transfer, is described and a listing of the computer program is provided. Application of the model to simulate the actual blackbody calibration procedure is discussed. The use of the model to establish a real time flight data interpretation strategy is recommended. Modification of the model to include a simulated Earth radiation source field and a filter dome is indicated.

Mahan, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Programming a hillslope water movement model on the MPP

A physically based numerical model was developed of heat and moisture flow within a hillslope on a parallel architecture computer, as a precursor to a model of a complete catchment. Moisture flow within a catchment includes evaporation, overland flow, flow in unsaturated soil, and flow in saturated soil. Because of the empirical evidence that moisture flow in unsaturated soil is mainly in the vertical direction, flow in the unsaturated zone can be modeled as a series of one dimensional columns. This initial version of the hillslope model includes evaporation and a single column of one dimensional unsaturated zone flow. This case has already been solved on an IBM 3081 computer and is now being applied to the massively parallel processor architecture so as to make the extension to the one dimensional case easier and to check the problems and benefits of using a parallel architecture machine.

Devaney, J. E.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Models of ring galaxies. II - Extended starbursts

Numerical models of the development of star-formation bursts in collisional ring galaxies are presented. To extend the work of Appleton and Struck-Marcell (1987) target disks which have relatively high mean cloud mass and gas density are emphasized. In such cases, even relatively low mass intruder galaxies are capable of triggering intense star-formation bursts in the density waves. Although the bursts are very short-lived in any individual gas element, pressure effects stimulate neighboring gas elements to burst, which can result in a sustained enhancement in the net star-formation rate. The results are capable of explaining the high far-infrared fluxes observed in righ galaxies and provide clues to the development of starburst activity in other colliding galaxies.

Struck-Marcell, Curtis↗

NASA NTRS1993

A coupled subsurface-boundary layer model of water on Mars

A 1D numerical model of the exchange of H2O between the atmosphere and subsurface of Mars through the PBL is employed to explore the mechanisms of H2O exchange and to elucidate the role played by the regolith in the local H2O budget. The atmospheric model includes effects of Coriolis, pressure gradient, and frictional forces for momentum: radiation, sensible heat flux, and advection for heat. It is suggested that in most cases, the flux through the Martian surface reverses twice in the course of each sol. The effects of surface albedo, thermal inertia, solar declination, atmospheric optical depth, and regolith pore structure are explored. It is proposed that higher thermal inertia forces more H2O into the atmosphere because the regolith is warmer at depth.

Zent, Aaron P.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Pulsed Inductive Thruster (PIT): Modeling and Validation Using the MACH2 Code

Numerical modeling of the Pulsed Inductive Thruster exercising the magnetohydrodynamics code, MACH2 aims to provide bilateral validation of the thruster's measured performance and the code's capability of capturing the pertinent physical processes. Computed impulse values for helium and argon propellants demonstrate excellent correlation to the experimental data for a range of energy levels and propellant-mass values. The effects of the vacuum tank wall and massinjection scheme were investigated to show trivial changes in the overall performance. An idealized model for these energy levels and propellants deduces that the energy expended to the internal energy modes and plasma dissipation processes is independent of the propellant type, mass, and energy level.

Schneider, Steven↗

NASA NTRS2004

Non-Newtonian Convection and Compositional Buoyancy: Advances in Modeling Convection and Dome Formation on Europa

Numerical modeling of non-Newtonian convection in ice shows that convection controlled by grain boundary sliding rheology may occur in Europa. This modeling confirms that thermal convection alone cannot produce significant dome elevations. Domes may instead be produced by diapirs initiated by thermal convection that in turn induces compositional segregation. Exclusion of impurities from warm upwellings would allow sufficient buoyancy for icy plumes to account for the observed approximately 100 m topography of domes, provided the ice shell has a small effective elastic thickness (approximately 0.2 to 0.5 km) and contains low eutectic-point impurities at the few percent level.

Pappalardo, R. T.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Vibration-translation energy transfer in vibrationally excited diatomic molecules

A semiclassical collision model is applied to the study of energy transfer rates between a vibrationally excited diatomic molecule and a structureless atom. The molecule is modeled as an anharmonic oscillator with a multitude of dynamically coupled vibrational states. Three main aspects in the prediction of vibrational energy transfer rates are considered. The applicability of the semiclassical model to an anharmonic oscillator is first evaluated for collinear encounters. Second, the collinear semiclassical model is applied to obtain numerical predictions of the vibrational energy transfer rate dependence on the initial vibrational state quantum number. Thermally averaged vibration-translation rate coefficients are predicted and compared with CO-He experimental values for both ground and excited initial states. The numerical model is also used as a basis for evaluating several less complete but analytic models. Third, the role of rational motion in the dynamics of vibrational energy transfer is examined. A three-dimensional semiclassical collision model is constructed with coupled rotational motion included. Energy transfer within the molecule is shown to be dominated by vibration-rotation transitions with small changes in angular momentum. The rates of vibrational energy transfer in molecules with rational frequencies that are very small in comparison to their vibrational frequency are shown to be adequately treated by the preceding collinear models.

Mckenzie, R. L.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Radiative transfer in circumstellar 1612 MHz OH masers

A detailed investigation of radiative transfer in the 1612 MHz OH maser in the expanding envelopes around evolved stars is made in the context of the standard model in which the mass outflow is windlike. The most sensitive diagnostic of the models is the maser emission at the velocity of the star for which VLA and MERLIN data exist. Fully saturated models are analytically eliminated. Detailed numerical modeling also eliminates partially saturated models. The need to examine alternative models for the mass outflow is suggested by this conclusion. A model for the mass outflow from these stars is advocated in which all mass is lost by the ejection of blobs of material. These blobs, acted on by radiation pressure on grains, evolve into platelike structures in the OH maser region. It is shown that the peculiar difficulties of the standard model for the OH masers do not occur in this picture.

Alcock, C.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Dynamics of planetary atmospheres

The overall goal is to illuminate the mechanisms that control weather and climate on the Earth and other planets. Each planet presents its own puzzling behavior - the stability of jets and vortices in Jupiter's otherwise turbulent atmosphere, the superrotation of the Venus atmosphere, the interplay of dust, polar volatiles, and climate change in Mars, the supersonic meteorology of Io, and the counterintuitive equator-to-pole temperature gradients on the outer planets. The data sets are generally those obtained from spacecraft - cloud-tracked winds, radiometrically inferred temperatures, and the results of in situ observations where appropriate. The approach includes both data analysis and modeling, ranging from analytic modeling to time-dependent numerical modeling of atmospheric dynamics. The latter approach involves the use of supercomputers such as the San Diego Cray. Progress is generally made when a model with a small number of free parameters either fits a data set that has a large number of independent observations or applies to several planets at once.

Ingersoll, Andrew P.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Regional and Global CO and Aerosol Correlations: An Integrated Approach of Surface, Satellite, and Aircraft Measurements and Model Simulations

We investigate regional and global CO and fine mode aerosol correlations by combining GOCART model simulations with various measurements from surface (CMDL /CO and AERONET / aerosol), satellite (MOPl3T / CO and MODIS / aerosol), and aircraft. CO mixing ratios and aerosol concentrations are examined using surface and aircraft measurements on several representative regions. Satellite observations provide the comparisons of CO column and aerosol fine model AOD at global scale. Numerical model simulation allows us to compare CO and aerosol properties without temporal and spatial limitation and with the capability to trace emissions by isolating different somces. Our zonal mean comparisons confirm the previous researches that the variations of CO and aerosol properties are out of phase by several month. over northern hemisphere middle latitudes where anthropogenic emissions dominate. Over the biomass burning dominating regions, such as southern hemisphere (SH) extra-tropical zone, the concentration and column properties of CO and aerosol show more agreement. Long- term transport and local chemistry drive the biggest phase shift of CO and aerosol properties over remote SH ocean regions. There are much more complicated relationships CO and aerosol properties over stations and small regions due to emission, transport, and local chemistry.

Bian-Hui-Sheng↗

NASA NTRS1992

Investigation of the flight mechanics simulation of a hovering helicopter

The flight mechanics simulation of a hovering helicopter is investigated by comparing the results of two different numerical models with flight test data for a hovering AH-64 Apache. The two models are the U.S. Army BEMAP and the Technion model. These nonlinear models are linearized by applying a numerical linearization procedure. The results of the linear models are compared with identification results in terms of eigenvalues, stability and control derivatives, and frequency responses. Detailed time histories of the responses of the complete nonlinear models, as a result of various pilots' inputs, are compared with flight test results. In addition the sensitivity of the models to various effects are also investigated. The results are discussed and problematic aspects of the simulation are identified.

Chaimovich, M.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Assimilation of Microwave Observations in the Rainbands of Tropical Cyclones

We propose a novel Bayesian Monte Carlo Integration (BMCI) technique to retrieve the profiles of temperature, water vapor, and cloud liquid/ice water content from microwave cloudy measurements in the presence of tropical cyclones (TC). These retrievals then can either be directly used by meteorologists to analyze the structure of TCs or be assimilated into numerical models to provide accurate initial conditions for the NWP (Numerical Weather Prediction) models. The BMCI technique is applied to the data from the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) onboard Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Microwave Imager (GMI). The retrieved profiles are then assimilated into Hurricane WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) using the GSI (Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation) data assimilation system.

Moradi, Isaac↗

NASA NTRS1981

The three dimensional spherical model for the AGCE

The development of accurate numerical model of the atmospheric general circulation experiment (AGCE) is discussed. The model will serve both as a design and diagnostic tool for the AGCE, as well as for conducting numerical experiments which otherwise cannot be performed by AGCE. The code in its final form will solve the complete three dimensional nonlinear Navier-Stokes energy equations with the Boussinesq approximation. The code will allow for any thermal boundary conditions and any external forcing in the form of rotation and body forces and will allow for variable thermodynamic coefficients.

Antar, B. N.↗

NASA NTRS2021

An Evaluation of Size-Resolved Cloud Microphysics Scheme Numerics for use with Radar Observations Part II: Condensation and Evaporation

Accurate numerical modeling of clouds and precipitation is essential for weather forecasting and climate change research. While size-resolved (bin) cloud microphysics models predict particle size distributions without imposing shapes, results are subject to artificial size distribution broadening owing to numerical diffusion associated with various processes. Whereas Part 1 addressed collision-coalescence, here we investigate numerical diffusion that occurs in solving condensation and evaporation. In a parcel model framework, all of the numerical schemes examined converge to one solution of condensation and evaporation as the mass grid is refined, and the advection-based schemes are recommended over the reassigning schemes. Including Eulerian vertical advection in a column limits the convergence to some extent, but that limitation occurs at a sufficiently fine mass grid, and the number of iterations in solving vertical advection should be minimized to reduce numerical diffusion. Insubstantial numerical diffusion in solving condensation can be amplified if collision-coalescence is also active, which in turn can be substantially diminished if turbulence effects on collision are incorporated. Large-eddy simulations of a drizzling stratocumulus field reveal that changes in moments of Doppler spectra obtained using different mass grids are consistent with those obtained from the simplified framework, and that spectral moments obtained using a mass grid designed to effectively reduce numerical diffusion are generally closer to observations. Notable differences between the simulations and observations still exist, and our results suggest a need to consider whether factors other than numerical diffusion in the fundamental process schemes employed can cause such differences.

Cloud microphysics↗

NASA NTRS2015

Development and Execution of the RUNSAFE Runway Safety Bayesian Belief Network Model

One focus area of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is to improve aviation safety. Runway safety is one such thrust of investigation and research. The two primary components of this runway safety research are in runway incursion (RI) and runway excursion (RE) events. These are adverse ground-based aviation incidents that endanger crew, passengers, aircraft and perhaps other nearby people or property. A runway incursion is the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and take-off of aircraft; one class of RI events simultaneously involves two aircraft, such as one aircraft incorrectly landing on a runway while another aircraft is taking off from the same runway. A runway excursion is an incident involving only a single aircraft defined as a veer-off or overrun off the runway surface. Within the scope of this effort at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC), generic RI, RE and combined (RI plus RE, or RUNSAFE) event models have each been developed and implemented as a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN). Descriptions of runway safety issues from the literature searches have been used to develop the BBN models. Numerous considerations surrounding the process of developing the event models have been documented in this report. The event models were then thoroughly reviewed by a Subject Matter Expert (SME) panel through multiple knowledge elicitation sessions. Numerous improvements to the model structure (definitions, node names, node states and the connecting link topology) were made by the SME panel. Sample executions of the final RUNSAFE model have been presented herein for baseline and worst-case scenarios. Finally, a parameter sensitivity analysis for a given scenario was performed to show the risk drivers. The NASA and LaRC research in runway safety event modeling through the use of BBN technology is important for several reasons. These include: 1) providing a means to clearly understand the cause and effect patterns leading to safety issues, incidents and accidents, 2) enabling the prioritization of specialty areas needing more attention to improve aviation safety, and 3) enabling the identification of gaps within NASA's Aviation Safety funding portfolio

Green, Lawrence L.↗

NASA NTRS1986

On the flight dynamics of aeroelastic vehicles

The nonlinear equations of motion for an elasic airplane are developed from first principles. Lagrange's Equation and the Principle of Virtual Work are used to generate the equations of motion and strip theory is then employed to obtain closed form integral expressions for the generalized forces. The inertial coupling is minimized by appropriate choice of the body reference axes and by making use of free vibration modes of the body. In addition, particular attention is paid to the simplifying assumptions used during the development of the equations of motion. A unique aspect of this modeling process is that since the generalized aerodynamic forces are determined from closed form, analytic expressions, this method can be used to gain insight into the effects of parameter variations not easily obtained from numerical models. A numerical example is also presented in which the modeling method is applied to a representative elastic aircraft. The model is used to address the effects of aerodynamic coupling which occurs between the rigid body degrees of freedom and the elastic degrees of freedom. Finally, model simplification is addressed and two methods are evaluated. The resulting frequency responses are compared.

Schmidt, D. K.↗

NASA NTRS1985

A computational model for a regenerator

This paper concerns a numerical model of a regenerator running at very low temperatures. The model consists of the usual three equations for a compressible fluid with an additional equation for a matrix temperature. The main difficulty with the model is the very low Mach number (approximately 1.E-3). The divergence of the velocity is not small, the pressure divergence is small, and the pressure fluctuation in time is not small. An asymptotic expansion based on the bounded derivative method of Kreiss is used to give a reduced model which eliminates acoustic waves. The velocity is then determined by a two-point boundary value problem which does not contain a time derivative. The solution obtained from the reduced system is compared with the numerical solution of the original system.

Gary, J.↗