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At least 811 records · Page 45
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1977

Observation of beam-generated VLF hiss in a large laboratory plasma

The paper describes a lab experiment on a beam-plasma instability under conditions for which the theory of VLF hiss is applicable. An energetic electron beam is injected into a cold, dense, almost collisionless magnetoplasma. Beam and plasma dimensions are so large that oblique whistler wave propagation and growth are readily observable. The observations of frequency and wave number spectra, growth rate, and instability level are consistent with theory and satellite observation in regions of electron precipitation.

Stenzel, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Viscous characteristics analysis

Program considers combustion and diffusive effects in analysis of supersonic, combustion-flow fields with imbedded subsonic regions. Effects of finite-rate chemistry, mixing, and wave propagation are linked together. Program handles up to 20 simultaneous shock waves. Some chemistry terms are computed for seven-species, eight-mechanism, hydrogen-and-air reaction scheme. Program is aid for supersonic-combustor development studies and is written in FORTRAN IV for batch execution on CYBER 175.

Jenkins, R. V.↗
NASA NTRS1982

NDE of simulated Space Shuttle tile disbonds

A technique which involves the use of ultrasonic Lamb waves for assaying the structural integrity of adhesive bonds between layered materials on thin metal plates, particularly with regard to the Shuttle TPS, is presented. The Lamb waves are generated by a pulse impact, resulting in surface waves propagating radially at 2.4 mm/microsec. Trials were performed with the sound waves applied to samples, of aluminum similar to the Orbiter external skin, which were coated with Teflon and a RTV silicone screed. The goal was to detect localized debonded areas or potentially debonded areas, which, during reentry, could result in blistering of the aluminum skin. The ultrasonic probes are described, noting the usage of broadband ultrasonic harmonics and a minicomputer processor. The testing system was found to accurately identify weakened bonds by the ratio of high and low frequency component areas of the received signal of the Lamb waves sent across the surface.

Ahlberg, L.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Hydromagnetic wave dissipation in molecular clouds

The damping of long wavelength, hydromagnetic waves in molecular cloud environments is studied with the aim of determining whether the supersonic motions observed in such clouds are likely to be due to the waves. It is found that Alfven waves propagating parallel to the average magnetic field are the longest lived wave modes. Such waves can typically survive for as long as one-million years if the wavelength is as long as a few tenths of a pc and the magnetic field is 0.1-1 milligauss. Nonlinear steepening of the waves followed by ion-neutral friction in the steepened wave profiles appears to be the most effective damping mechanism.

Zweibel, E. G.↗
NASA NTRS1988

An investigation of the temperature dependence of the ultrasonic properties of AS4/lexan and XAS/lexan composites

An investigation of the temperature dependence of the ultrasonic properties of AS4/lexan and XAS/lexan composites is summarized. In particular, a technique for determination of velocity and attenuation as a function of temperature, for both the matrix and composite materials is determined. The separation of contributions of the matrix and fiber to ultrasonic propagation and scattering is discussed. Work begun on the characterization of wave propagation in graphite fiber/polymer matrix composites is described.

Smith, B. T.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Proceedings of the Thirteenth NASA Propagation Experimenters Meeting (NAPEX 13)

The NASA Propagation Experimenters Meeting (NAPEX), supported by the NASA Propagation Program, is convened annually to discuss studies made on radio wave propagation by investigators from domestic and international organizations. The meeting was organized into three technical sessions: the first focused on mobile satellite propagation; the second examined the propagation effects for frequencies above 10 GHz; and the third addressed studies devoted exclusively to the Olympus/Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) Program.

Davarian, Faramaz↗
NASA NTRS1990

Asymptotic boundary conditions for dissipative waves: General theory

An outstanding issue in the computational analysis of time dependent problems is the imposition of appropriate radiation boundary conditions at artificial boundaries. Accurate conditions are developed which are based on the asymptotic analysis of wave propagation over long ranges. Employing the method of steepest descents, dominant wave groups are identified and simple approximations to the dispersion relation are considered in order to derive local boundary operators. The existence of a small number of dominant wave groups may be expected for systems with dissipation. Estimates of the error as a function of domain size are derived under general hypotheses, leading to convergence results. Some practical aspects of the numerical construction of the asymptotic boundary operators are also discussed.

Hagstrom, Thomas↗
NASA NTRS1990

Proceedings of the Fourteenth NASA Propagation Experimenters Meeting (NAPEX 14) and the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) Propagation Studies Miniworkshop

The NASA Propagation Experimenters Meeting (NAPEX), supported by the NASA Propagation Program, is convened annually to discuss studies made on radio wave propagation by investigators from domestic and international organizations. NAPEX XIV was held on May 11, 1990, at the Balcones Research Centers, University of Texas, Austin, Texas. The meeting was organized into two technical sessions: Satellite (ACTS) and the Olympus Spacecraft, while the second focused on the fixed and mobile satellite propagation studies and experiments. Following NAPEX XIV, the ACTS Miniworkshop was held at the Hotel Driskill, Austin, Texas, on May 12, 1990, to review ACTS propagation activities since the First ACTS Propagation Studies Workshop was held in Santa Monica, California, on November 28 and 29, 1989.

Davarian, Faramaz↗
NASA NTRS1991

Asymptotic boundary conditions for dissipative waves - General theory

An outstanding issue in computational analysis of time dependent problems is the imposition of appropriate radiation boundary conditions at artificial boundaries. Accurate conditions are developed which are based on the asymptotic analysis of wave propagation over long ranges. Employing the method of steepest descents, dominant wave groups are identified and simple approximations to the dispersion relation are considered in order to derive local boundary operators. The existence of a small number of dominant wave groups may be expected for systems with dissipation. Estimates of the error as a function of domain size are derived under general hypotheses, leading to convergence results. Some practical aspects of the numerical construction of the asymptotic boundary operators are also discussed.

Hagstrom, Thomas↗
NASA NTRS1992

Proceedings of the 16th NASA Propagation Experimenters Meeting (NAPEX 16) and the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) Propagation Studies Miniworkshop

The NASA Propagation Experimenters Meeting (NAPEX), supported by the NASA Propagation Program, is convened annually to discuss studies made on radio wave propagation by investigators from domestic and international organizations. NAPEX 16 was held on May 29, 1992 in Houston, Texas. The meeting was organized into two technical sessions. The first session was dedicated to slant path propagation studies and measurements. The second session focused on Olympus propagation measurements and results. Following NAPEX 16, the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) Miniworkshop was held to review ACTS propagation activities with emphasis on ACTS hardware development and experiment planning. Eight technical papers were presented by contributors from government agencies, private industry, and university research establishments.

Davarian, Faramaz↗
NASA NTRS1991

Proceedings of the Fifteenth NASA Propagation Experimenters Meeting (NAPEX 15) and the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) Propagation Studies Miniworkshop

The NASA Propagation Experimenters Meeting (NAPEX), supported by the NASA Propagation Program, is convened annually to discuss studies made on radio wave propagation by investigators from domestic and international organizations. The meeting was organized into three technical sessions. The first session was dedicated to Olympus and ACTS studies and experiments, the second session was focused on the propagation studies and measurements, and the third session covered computer-based propagation model development. In total, sixteen technical papers and some informal contributions were presented. Following NAPEX 15, the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) miniworkshop was held on 29 Jun. 1991, to review ACTS propagation activities, with emphasis on ACTS hardware development and experiment planning. Five papers were presented.

Davarian, Faramaz↗
NASA NTRS1994

Proceedings of the Eighteenth NASA Propagation Experimenters Meeting (NAPEX 18) and the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) Propagation Studies Miniworkshop

The NASA Propagation Experimenters Meeting (NAPEX), supported by the NASA Propagation Program, is convened annually to discuss studies made on radio wave propagation by investigators from domestic and international organizations. Participants included representatives from Canada, the Netherlands, England, and the United States, including researchers from universities, government agencies, and private industry. The meeting was organized into two technical sessions. The first session was dedicated to slant path propagation studies and experiments. The second session focused on propagation studies for mobile, personal, and sound broadcast systems. In total, 14 technical papers and some informal contributions were presented. Preceding NAPEX_17, the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) Propagation Studies Miniworkshop was held to review ACTS propagation activities.

Davarian, Faramaz↗
NASA NTRS1995

Proceedings of the 19th NASA Propagation Experimenters Meeting (NAPEX 19) and the 7th Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) Propagation Studies Workshop (APSW 7)

The NASA Propagation Experimenters Meeting (NAPEX), supported by the NASA Propagation Program, is convened annually to discuss studies made on radio wave propagation by investigators from domestic and international organizations. NAPEX 19 was held on 14 Jun. 1995, in Fort Collins, Colorado. Participants included representatives from Canada, Japan, and the United States, including researchers from universities, government agencies, and private industry. The meeting focused on mobile personal satellite systems and the use of 20/30-GHz band for fixed and mobile satellite applications. In total, 18 technical papers were presented. Following NAPEX 19, the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) Propagation Studies Workshop 7 (APSW 7) was held on 15-16 Jun. 1995, to review ACTS propagation activities with emphasis on the experimenters' status reports and dissemination of propagation data to industry.

Davarian, Faramaz↗
NASA NTRS1995

Observations of the solar wind speed near the sun

Two-antenna scintillation (IPS) observations can provide accurate measurements of the velocity with which electron density fluctuations drift past the line of sight. We will present recent IPS measurements made with the EISCAT and VLBA arrays. It is common, particularly during declining activity. for the line of sight to pass through plasma with a wide range of speed. Therefore it is important to account for the line of sight integration. It is clear from ULYSSES measurements that the speed is bimodal in nature, i.e., either 'fast' or 'slow.' Thus it is not necessary to model a continuous velocity distribution - one need only locate the 'fast-slow' interface. In addition one must consider the possibility that the density fluctuations are moving with respect to the flow of particles. Alfven waves propagating through field-aligned density fluctuations can mimic a sound wave in this respect, so the apparent IPS velocity can be the flow speed plus the Alfven speed. In modeling the IPS it is important that the scattering be 'weak,' because the weak scattering model requires only 1 spatial parameter instead of 3. Furthermore the effect of multiple velocities in much more distinct in weak scattering. EISCAT can only operate near 933 MHz, which limits the observations to outside of 17R(solar mass). The VLBA is the only facility with the combination of high frequency operation and long baselines required to observe inside of 15R(solar mass). A simple bimodal model has been successfully used to interpret our IPS observations near the sun. Farther out interaction regions have built up significantly and a two speed model is no longer valid. An apparent deceleration in the fast polar wind is sometimes evident when compared to the ULYSSES observation. The density variance delta N(exp 2)e in the fast wind appears to decrease from equator to pole.

Grall, R. R.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Nonstationary Gravity Wave Forcing of the Stratospheric Zonal Mean Wind

The role of gravity wave forcing in the zonal mean circulation of the stratosphere is discussed. Starting from some very simple assumptions about the momentum flux spectrum of nonstationary (non-zero phase speed) waves at forcing levels in the troposphere, a linear model is used to calculate wave propagation through climatological zonal mean winds at solstice seasons. As the wave amplitudes exceed their stable limits, a saturation criterion is imposed to account for nonlinear wave breakdown effects, and the resulting vertical gradient in the wave momentum flux is then used to estimate the mean flow forcing per unit mass. Evidence from global, assimilated data sets are used to constrain these forcing estimates. The results suggest the gravity-wave-driven force is accelerative (has the same sign as the mean wind) throughout most of the stratosphere above 20 km. The sense of the gravity wave forcing in the stratosphere is thus opposite to that in the mesosphere, where gravity wave drag is widely believed to play a principal role in decelerating the mesospheric jets. The forcing estimates are further compared to existing gravity wave parameterizations for the same climatological zonal mean conditions. Substantial disagreement is evident in the stratosphere, and we discuss the reasons for the disagreement. The results suggest limits on typical gravity wave amplitudes near source levels in the troposphere at solstice seasons. The gravity wave forcing in the stratosphere appears to have a substantial effect on lower stratospheric temperatures during southern hemisphere summer and thus may be relevant to climate.

Alexander, M. J.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Towards a Theory of Tropical/Midlatitude Mass Exchange from the Earth's Surface through the Stratosphere

The main findings of this research project have been the following: (1) there is a significant feedback from the stratosphere on tropospheric dynamics, and (2) a detailed analysis of the interaction between tropical and polar wave breaking in controlling stratospheric mixing. Two papers are were written and are included. The first paper is titled, "A New Perspective on the Dynamical Link Between the Stratosphere and Troposphere." Atmospheric processes of tropospheric origin can perturb the stratosphere, but direct feedback in the opposite direction is usually assumed to be negligible, despite the troposphere's sensitivity to changes in the release of wave activity into the stratosphere. Here, however, we present evidence that such a feedback exists and can be significant. We find that if the wintertime Arctic polar stratospheric vortex is distorted, either by waves propagating upward from the troposphere or by eastward-travelling stratospheric waves, then there is a concomitant redistribution of stratospheric potential vorticity that induces perturbations in key meteorological fields in the upper troposphere. The feedback is large despite the much greater mass of the troposphere: it can account for up to half of the geopotential height anomaly at the tropopause. Although the relative strength of the feedback is partly due to a cancellation between contributions to these anomalies from lower altitudes, our results imply that stratospheric dynamics and its feedback on the troposphere are more significant for climate modelling and data assimilation than was previously assumed. The second article is titled "Diagnosing the Polar Excitation of Subtropical Waves in the Stratosphere". The poleward migration of planetary scale tongues of subtropical air has often been associated with intense polar vortex disturbances in the stratosphere. This question of vortex influence is reexamined from a potential vorticity (PV) perspective. Anomalous geopotential height and wind fields associated solely with vortex PV anomalies are derived and their impact on the stratospheric subtropical circulation is evaluated. Combined PV inversion and Contour Advection (CA) calculations indicate that transient large scale disturbances of the polar vortex do have a far reaching impact that extends beyond the midlatitude surf zone all the way to the subtropics. This vortex influence is clearly non-local so that even simple wave 2 distortions that leave the vortex well confined within the midlatitudes are observed to excite subtropical waves. Treating subtropical PV as active tracers also showed that upon entrainment, these large scale tongues of low PV air also influenced the dynamics of their own poleward migration.

Hartley, Dana↗
NASA NTRS2000

Solar Spicules: A Review of Recent Models and Targets for Future Observations

Since their discovery over 100 years ago, there have been many suggestions for the origin and development of solar spicules. Because the velocities of spicules are comparable to the sound and Alfven speeds of the low chromosphere, linear theory cannot fully describe them. Consequently, detailed tests of theoretical ideas had to await the development of computing power that only became available during the 1970s. This work reviews theories for spicules and spicule-like features over approximately the past 25 years, with an emphasis on the models based on nonlinear numerical simulations. These models have given us physical insight into wave propagation in the solar atmosphere, and have helped elucidate how such waves, and associated shock waves, may be capable of creating motions and structures on magnetic flux tubes in the lower solar atmosphere. So far, however, it has been difficult to reproduce the most- commonly -quoted parameters for spicules with these models, using what appears to be the most suitable input parameters. A key impediment to developing satisfactory models has been the lack of reliable observational information, which is a consequence of the small angular size and transient lifetime of spicules. I close with a list of key observational questions to be addressed with space-based satellites, such as the currently operating TRACE satellite, and especially the upcoming Solar-B mission. Answers to these questions will help determine which, if any, of the current models correctly explains spicules.

Sterling, Alphonse C.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Solar Spicules: A Review of Recent Models and Targets for Future Observations

Since their discovery over 100 years ago, there have been many suggestions for the origin and development of solar spicules. Because the velocities of spicules are comparable to the sound and Alfven speeds of the low chromosphere, linear theory cannot fully describe them. Consequently, detailed tests of theoretical ideas had to await the development of computing power that only became available during the 1970s. This work reviews theories for spicules and spicule-like features over approximately the past 25 years, with an emphasis an the models based on nonlinear numerical simulations. These models have given us physical insight into wave propagation in the solar atmosphere and have helped elucidate how such waves, and associated shock waves, may be capable of creating motions and structures on magnetic flux tubes in the lower solar atmosphere. So far, however, it has been difficult to reproduce the most commonly quoted parameters for spicules with these models, using what appears to be the most suitable input parameters. A key impediment to developing satisfactory models has been the lack of reliable observational information, which is a consequence of the small angular size and transient lifetime of spicules. I close with a list of key observational questions to be addressed with space-based satellites, such as the currently operating Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) satellite, and especially the upcoming Solar-B mission. Answers to these questions will help determine which, if any, of the current models correctly explains spicules.

Sterling, Alphonse C.↗