Dynamical evolution of the Neptunian system.
Neptunian planet-satellite system, discussing orbital motion of Triton
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Lunar and Planetary Science XXVIII
The present conference discusses such topics as density crossovers in lunar picrites, the geology of the Cassini impact basin, Mars, nanobacteria in carbonates, the properties of shocked aerogels, a chemical model of Comet Halley, lunar mascons, the impact evolution of icy regoliths, the geology of the Venera 8 landing site, the photogeologic mapping of northern Venus, HST observations of Mars, observational constraints on the rotational dynamics of Mars, and primordial magnetic field measurements from the moon. Also discussed are models of the S2 fluorescence spectra of comets, Martian crater ejecta, the heights of Venusian steep-sided domes, cloud-climate interactions on Venus, the Humorum basin geology from Clementine data, an early Amazonian lake in the Gale crater of Mars, nebular fractionations and Mn-Cr systematics, the Rock Chipper planetary surface sample collection, Mariner 10 stereo images of Mercury, remote and local stresses and Calderas on Mars, the electrostatic charging of saltating particles, SO2 detected on Callisto, the Mars Explorer Planetary Data System, an assessment of explosive venting on Europa, the sequential faulting history of the Mars Valles Marineris, a search for Martian sediments, the composition and internal structure of Europa, long-term and 'diurnal' tidal stresses on Europa, and episodic greenhouse climates on Mars.
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A model of the energetic ion environment of Mars
Because Mars has a weak intrinsic magnetic field and a substantial atmosphere, instruments on orbiting spacecraft should detect a population of energetic heavy planetary ions which result from comet-like ion pickup in the solar wind and magnetosheath convection electric fields, in addition to those that might result from processes internal to a Martian 'magnetosphere.' Although this ion exosphere has been previously discussed in the literature, detailed predictions that might be directly applied to the interpretation of data are not available. Here a test particle model is used to construct a global picture of Martian pickup ions in the Mars environment. The model makes use of the recent Nagy and Cravens (1988) model of the Martian exosphere and Spreiter and Stahara's (1980) gas dynamic model of the magnetosheath. The pickup of ions originating at Phobos is also considered. Notable properties of the resulting ion distributions include their near-monoenergetic spectra, pancake pitch angle distributions, and large gyroradii compared to the planetary scale.
Luhmann, J. G.↗
Analysis and design of a capsule landing system and surface vehicle control system for Mars exploration
Investigation of problems related to control of a mobile planetary vehicle according to a systematic plan for the exploration of Mars has been undertaken. Problem areas receiving attention include: (1) overall systems analysis; (2) vehicle configuration and dynamics; (3) toroidal wheel design and evaluation; (4) on-board navigation systems; (5) satellite-vehicle navigation systems; (6) obstacle detection systems; (7) terrain sensing, interpretation and modeling; (8) computer simulation of terrain sensor-path selection systems; and (9) chromatographic systems design concept studies. The specific tasks which have been undertaken are defined and the progress which has been achieved during the period July 1, 1971 to December 31, 1971 is summarized.
Frederick, D. K.↗
Computational design of the basic dynamical processes of the UCLA general circulation model
The 12-layer UCLA general circulation model encompassing troposphere and stratosphere (and superjacent 'sponge layer') is described. Prognostic variables are: surface pressure, horizontal velocity, temperature, water vapor and ozone in each layer, planetary boundary layer (PBL) depth, temperature, moisture and momentum discontinuities at PBL top, ground temperature and water storage, and mass of snow on ground. Selection of space finite-difference schemes for homogeneous incompressible flow, with/without a free surface, nonlinear two-dimensional nondivergent flow, enstrophy conserving schemes, momentum advection schemes, vertical and horizontal difference schemes, and time differencing schemes are discussed.
Arakawa, A.↗
PMP-2 Report: Equatorial Wave Dynamics
The activities of the pre-MAP project 2 (PMP-2) from 1978 through 1981 are described. The following topics relating to the equatorial middle atmosphere are discussed briefly: (1) the semi-annual oscillation and Kelvin waves; (2) planetary Rossby waves; (3) upper mesospheric waves; and (4) gravity waves.
Hirota, I.↗
Gravito-electrodynamics and the structure of planetary ring systems
Recent spacecraft observations of the Saturnian and Jovian ring systems have highlighted a plethora of interesting new phenomena associated with those regions containing fine (micron and sub-micron sized) dust. Recognizing that these dust grains, by virtue of being immersed within the planetary magnetospheres, are electrostatically charged to the point that they experience comparable gravitational and electric forces, a new 'gravito-electrodynamic' theory has been developed to describe their dynamics. This theory has been successful in explaining all these phenomena in a systematic way. In this review, the basic model and its range of validity are outlined, and its application to the Saturnian and Jovian ring systems are discussed.
Mendis, D. A.↗
Conjecture on superrotation in planetary atmospheres - A diffusion model with mixing length theory
The component of rigid shell superrotation on Venus is discussed in the context of comparative planetary atmospheres. A simplified, heuristic analysis, utilizing mixed length theory to describe the small scale nonlinear advections of energy and angular momentum, thereby providing a closure of the dynamic system, is presented, on the basis of which a crude estimate of zonal velocity is made. The rigid shell (global average) component on Venus was calculated to be 105 m/sec.
Mayr, H. G.↗
Surface dynamics of observed maritime fronts
The importance of various dynamical processes in the surface fronts over the ocean is investigated using the unique data set supplied by the Seasat-A satellite scatterometer, in conjunction with a planetary boundary layer model. The governing equations are presented, and a similarity model that includes the effects of shear and the effects of shear and deformation on an Ekman solution is derived. It is shown that surface friction is important in frontal processes through its role in determining the dissipation and the ageostrophic terms in the vorticity and divergence equations; the former normally acts to weaken a front while the latter acts to strengthen it. The magnitude and importance of these terms vary considerably at different stages and with stratification, thermal advection, and the deformation and shear forcing.
Levy, Gad↗
The coupling of the troposphere and stratosphere
A linear, time-dependent, primitive-equation, 3D numerical model is used to investigate the dynamical coupling between the troposphere and stratosphere through the vertical propagation of planetry waves. Attention is given to the roles of the tropopause in affecting the propagation of planetary waves and to the extent to which the stratosphere can determine its own wave driving, i.e., the sensitivity of the generation of the wave activity in the troposphere to the change of zonal wind in the stratosphere. Two maxima in Eliassen-Palm (EP) flux convergence are found for wave 1 in high latitudes, one in the upper stratosphere and the other in the upper troposphere. For wave 2 there is a third maximum north of the zero wind line in the tropical stratosphere. The formation of the maximum in EP-flux convergence in the upper troposphere is related to the dissipation of non-WKBJ waves near a local maximum of the refractive index. The existence of the local maximum in refractive index at the tropopause is a result of the great gradient of the buoyancy frequency as well as the vertical shear of the zonal flow there.
Chen, Ping↗
Laser Technology in Interplanetary Exploration: The Past and the Future
Laser technology has been used in planetary exploration for many years but it has only been in the last decade that laser altimeters and ranging systems have been selected as flight instruments alongside cameras, spectrometers, magnetometers, etc. Today we have an active laser system operating at Mars and another destined for the asteroid Eros. A few years ago a laser ranging system on the Clementine mission changed much of our thinking about the moon and in a few years laser altimeters will be on their way to Mercury, and also to Europa. Along with the increased capabilities and reliability of laser systems has came the realization that precision ranging to the surface of planetary bodies from orbiting spacecraft enables more scientific problems to be addressed, including many associated with planetary rotation, librations, and tides. In addition, new Earth-based laser ranging systems working with similar systems on other planetary bodies in an asynchronous transponder mode will be able to make interplanetary ranging measurements at the few cm level and will advance our understanding of solar system dynamics and relativistic physics.
Smith, David E.↗
Experiments with Test Case Generation and Runtime Analysis
Software testing is typically an ad hoc process where human testers manually write many test inputs and expected test results, perhaps automating their execution in a regression suite. This process is cumbersome and costly. This paper reports preliminary results on an approach to further automate this process. The approach consists of combining automated test case generation based on systematically exploring the program's input domain, with runtime analysis, where execution traces are monitored and verified against temporal logic specifications, or analyzed using advanced algorithms for detecting concurrency errors such as data races and deadlocks. The approach suggests to generate specifications dynamically per input instance rather than statically once-and-for-all. The paper describes experiments with variants of this approach in the context of two examples, a planetary rover controller and a space craft fault protection system.
Artho, Cyrille↗
The Herschel DUNES Open Time Key Programme
We will use the unique photometric capabilities provided by Herschel to perform a deep and systematic survey for faint, cold debris disks around nearby stars. Our sensitivity-limited Open Time Key Programme (OTKP) aims at finding and characterizing faint extrasolar analogues to the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt (EKB) in an unbiased, statistically significant sample of nearby FGK main-sequence stars. Our target set spans a broad range of stellar ages (from 0.1 to 10 Gyr) and is volume-limited (distances < 20 pc). All stars with known extrasolar planets within this distance are included; additionally, some M- and A-type stars will be observed in collaboration with the Herschel DEBRIS OTKP, so that the entire sample covers a decade in stellar mass, from 0.2 to 2 solar masses. We will perform PACS and SPIRE photometric observations covering the wavelength range from 70 to 500 microns. The PACS observations at 100 microns have been designed to detect the stellar photospheres down to the confusion limit with a signal-to-noise ratio > 5. The observations in the other Herschel bands will allow us to characterize, model, and constrain the disks. As a result, it will be possible for us to reach fractional dust luminosities of a few times 10-7, close to the EKB level in the Solar System. This will provide an unprecedented lower limit to the fractional abundance of planetesimal systems and allow us to assess the presence of giant planets, which would play dynamical roles similar to those played by Jupiter and Neptune in the Solar System. The proposed observations will provide new and unique evidence for the presence of mature planetary systems in the solar neighbourhood and, in turn, will address the universality of planet/planetary system formation in disks around young stars.
Danchi, William C.↗
The View From Out Here: The Solar System Planets as Exoplanet Analogs
As we begin to characterize planets orbiting other stars, one of the most important tools available to us is the collection of disk-integrated solar system observations. To date, these have been limited in how they match up with expected exoplanet observations in terms of wavelength, time, viewing geometry, and separations. The Interstellar Probe mission could push the boundaries of planetary science by providing a much-needed and unique dataset for the solar system viewed as an extrasolar system in advance of the next generation of ground and space-based telescopes. Viewing the solar system at large separations over a long period serves several purposes. It acts as a practical test directly analogous to exoplanet observations under realistic conditions, including such effects as zodiacal dust (e.g., Roberge et al., 2012). Secondly, it allows for both the validation of forward models (that is, simulating a planet and generating spectra) and retrievals (where some of the planetary properties are not known) (e.g., Robinson et al., 2011; Agarwal and Wettlaufer, 2017). Third, the mission pro le would be able to collect data at both high- and low-phase angles, which are lacking for most of the solar system planets (e.g., Mallama and Hilton, 2018). Lastly, the long duration of the proposed mission would allow not only snapshots, but time resolved observations using the same instrument, highlighting the dynamic nature of the planets (e.g., seasonality, storms). The planets need not be resolved to make these observations, which eases instrumentation requirements. Here, we show simulations of what an Interstellar Probe imager would see, improving on work that was part of a white paper submitted to the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey. The opportunity for multiple full orbits for most of the solar system planets, including a full phase curve of Saturn, is unique and worth pursuing during the development of the Interstellar Probe mission.
Chester Harman↗
Observations and Numerical Modeling of the Jovian Ribbon
Multiple wavelength observations made by the Hubble Space Telescope in early 2007 show the presence of a wavy, high-contrast feature in Jupiter's atmosphere near 30 degrees North. The "Jovian Ribbon," best seen at 410 nanometers, irregularly undulates in latitude and is time-variable in appearance. A meridional intensity gradient algorithm was applied to the observations to track the Ribbon's contour. Spectral analysis of the contour revealed that the Ribbon's structure is a combination of several wavenumbers ranging from k equals 8-40. The Ribbon is a dynamic structure that has been observed to have spectral power for dominant wavenumbers which vary over a time period of one month. The presence of the Ribbon correlates with periods when the velocity of the westward jet at the same location is highest. We conducted numerical simulations to investigate the stability of westward jets of varying speed, vertical shear, and background static stability to different perturbations. A Ribbon-like morphology was best reproduced with a 35 per millisecond westward jet that decreases in amplitude for pressures greater than 700 hectopascals and a background static stability of N equals 0.005 per second perturbed by heat pulses constrained to latitudes south of 30 degrees North. Additionally, the simulated feature had wavenumbers that qualitatively matched observations and evolved throughout the simulation reproducing the Jovian Ribbon's dynamic structure.
Saturnian Ribbon↗
New Perspective on Slosh Dynamics in High-Gravity Regimes for Lunar Missions
Slosh dynamics particularly in high gravity regime is of high interest to the NASA Human Landing Systems program, which aims to return humans to the Moon. This paper reexamines the commonly accepted equivalence between pendulum and massspring-damper mechanical analogies, demonstrating the differences through simulations and their impact on design and analysis. This study re-derives equations of motion for these mechanical models including mass-spring-damper (MSD) and pendulum by relaxing simplifying assumptions that had been typically applied to large launch vehicles and may be violated for lunar and planetary landing applications. The newly-derived equations uncover potential modeling gaps when applying the pendulum and MSD models, and the need for additional considerations in their application. Finally, the newly-derived equations are validated using MathWorks® Simscape™ Multibody™ dynamics toolbox simulation.
Pendulum↗
Preliminary results on ocean dynamics from Skylab and their implications for future spacecraft
The instrument aboard Skylab designated S193 - a combined passive and active microwave radar system acting as a radiometer, scatterometer, and altimeter - is used to measure the surface vector wind speeds in the planetary boundary layer over the oceans. Preliminary results corroborate the hypothesis that sea surface winds in the planetary boundary layer can be determined from satellite data. Future spacecraft plans for measuring a geoid with an accuracy up to 10 cm are discussed.
Hayes, J.↗
Magnetic field experiment for Voyagers 1 and 2
The magnetic field experiments of the Voyager program involve studies of the planetary fields of Jupiter, Saturn, possibly Uranus, and several satellites; the solar wind and satellite interactions with the planetary fields, as well as large- and micro-scale features of the interplanetary magnetic field will also be investigated. Dual low field and high field magnetometer systems with dynamic ranges of + or - 0.5 G and + or - 20 G respectively provide high reliability for the missions and permit the separation of the spacecraft and ambient fields. Quantization uncertainty, rms noise levels and data compaction schemes of the magnetometer systems are also mentioned.
Behannon, K. W.↗