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NASA NTRS1986

Colorado wind profilers

The Wave Propagation Laboratory (WPL) has operated a network of wind profiling radars in Colorado. The current configuration of the network is described. All radars operate continuously and unattended to supply hourly-averaged wind profiles to a central computer in Boulder in real time. The hardware and software changes made to improve reliability are discussed. This research network will continue to be used to provide wind profiles for operational and research meteorologists and the performance of various wavelength systems will be evaluated.

Strauch, R. G.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Wind profiler demonstration system

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has started procurement of a 30-station demonstration network of Doppler radar wind profilers to be deployed in the central United States by 1989. The purposes of this demonstration network are: (1) to assess the impact of a large wind profiler network on meteorological forecasting; (2) to test wind profiler hardware designed specifically for commercial production and widespread deployment; and (3) to provide wind data for research programs involving weather phenomena in the central United States.

Chadwick, R. B.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Fe II emission line profiles in spectra of high luminosity non-coronal stars

The results of a program to study the winds of noncoronal late-type giant and supergiant stars with IUE are presented. The primary data for this study are profiles, fluxes, and velocities of the Fe II emission lines which occur throughout the 2200 to 3230 A region of the IUE long wavelength spectrographs. The apparent dependence of the Fe II profiles on stellar luminosity (surface gravity) and intrinsic line strength is discussed. The discovery of significant changes in the Fe II profiles in spectra of Gamma Crucis (M3 III), during the period 1978 to 1985, that suggest a substantial change in its outer atmosphere is noted.

Carpenter, Kenneth G.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Comet Halley neutral gas density profile along the Vega 1 trajectory measured by NGE

Data from the Vega 1 permitted the determination of the total neutral gas density profile along the spacecraft trajectory. Discounting small fluctuations, the field ionization source instrument measured a density profile which varied approximately as the inverse radial distance squared. Data from the electron impact ionization instrument yielded a series of calibration points; e.g., the neutral density at 100,000 km is 10,000/cc. The combined data provide a calibrated total density profile, and imply a neutral production rate of 10 to the 30th power molecules/sec.

Curtis, C. C.↗

NASA NTRS1986

QSO emission line profiles from Keplerian cloud ensembles

Quasar broad emission line profile calculations are presented for spherically symmetric ensembles of flattened broad-line clouds in elliptical Keplerian orbits. In general, it is found that high eccentricity monoenergetic orbital ensembles tend to provide more acceptable profiles than low eccentricity monoenergetic ensembles. The investigation of elliptical cloud orbits evolving under the influence of Poynting-Robertson drag or drag from an intercloud media shows that acceptable line profiles naturally result from the decay of initially monoenergetic, high eccentricity ensembles independent of the assumed emission anisotropy, provided the drag is not so great as to cause the immediate capture or disruption of the clouds.

Bradley, S. E.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Solar chromospheric modeling based on submillimeter limb brightness profile

A method of modeling the solar chromosphere is developed, based on submillimeter continuum observations of the solar limb. Submillimeter radiation from the solar limb emanates from the chromosphere in local thermodynamic equilibrium, making it an important chromospheric diagnostic. Also, the use of high-resolution limb profiles allows for atmospheric modeling independent of gravitational hydrostatic equilibrium. The chromospheric model is constructed to match high-resolution solar limb profiles at 30, 50, 100, and 200 microns, determined by an occultation of the solar limb observed from the Kuiper Airborne Observatory during the total solar eclipse of July 31, 1981. This matching is achieved by 'stretching' the solar model atmosphere of Vernazza, Avrett, and Loesser (1981) vertically out of hydrostatic equilibrium, while maintainingn its vertical temperature-optical depth profile.

Hermans, L. M.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Balmer profiles in the geocorona and interstellar space. I - Asymmetries due to fine structure

While the Doppler profiles of Balmer-alpha and -beta are in principle analyzable in order to derive orbital data concerning both escaping and satellite geocoronal particles, interpretations are in practice hampered by a lack of understanding of profile properties apart from such geocoronal features as an asymmetry, caused by the absence of escape velocity-exceeding, downward-directed particles. Attention is accordingly given to the profiles of H atoms which, while emitting radiation from a complete Maxwellian distribution, also exhibit an H-alpha fine structure-generated asymmetry which is a predictable function of the excitation mechanism.

Chamberlain, Joseph W.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Simultaneous measurement of stratospheric O3, H2O, CH4, and N2O profiles from infrared limb thermal emissions

Thermal emission measurements of the earth's stratospheric limb were made with a cryogenically cooled high-resolution Michelson interferometer on a balloon flight launched from Palestine, TX, on Nov. 6, 1984. Infrared spectra for complete limb sequences were obtained over portions of the 700-1940/cm range with an unapodized spectral resolution of 0.03/cm for tangent heights varying from 13 to 39 km. The observed data from 1125 to 1425/cm have been analyzed for simultaneous measurement of O3, H2O, CH4, and N2O profiles. The analysis employs line-by-line and layer-by-layer radiative-transfer calculations, including curvature and refraction effects. The optimum use of geometric and spectral effects is made to obtain sharply peaked weighting functions. Contributions from stratospheric aerosol are included by measuring the light extinction within the window regions of the observed spectra. The retrieved constituent profiles are compared with measurements made with a variety of techniques by other groups. The comparison shows good agreement with the published data for all gases, indicating the capability of retrieving trace gas profiles from high-resolution thermal emission limb measurements.

Abbas, M. M.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Forbidden line and H-alpha profiles in T Tauri star spectra - A probe of anisotropic mass outflows and circumstellar disks

The results of a high-resolution spectroscopic study of 10 T Tauri stars (TTS) and two Herbig emission stars are presented based on red echelle spectra including the lines of forbidden O I 6300 A, forbidden N II 6584 A, forbidden S II 6716, 6731 A, as well as H-alpha. The forbidden lines display a continuous progression of profile types. The velocity structure in the forbidden lines is critically examined and compared to computed line profiles for a number of different wind models. Constant velocity spherical or conical winds fail to reproduce the observed line profiles, which are better explained by a wind with a latitude-dependent velocity field. A prediction of the wind model correlating the velocity of the reversal at H-alpha and the forbidden line velocity structure as a function of the view angle to the star is explored. Estimates of the average densities and sizes for the TTS forbidden emission regions are presented, and mass-loss rates are computed. IRAS far-IR fluxes are used to estimate the disk sizes.

Edwards, Suzan↗

NASA NTRS1987

Soft X-ray line profiles in the impulsive phase of electron-heated solar flares

Using a model of the hydrodynamic response of a flare loop to energy input in the form of a nonthermal electron beam, the predicted line profile of the Ca XIX resonance line at 3.177 A is computed. The results are compared with observations and are shown to generally agree, both qualitatively and quantitatively, with these observations. The model does, however, predict an overall blueshift in the line profile, a result which differs with earlier interpretations of the observations, and which remains to be tested by absolutely calibrated measurements of the Ca XIX spectrum. It is concluded that electron-heated models of solar flares quite naturally predict the observed features in the Ca XIX line profile, without the need to introduce nonthermal motions or an artificial division of the flare plasma into two distinct components, as suggested by previous authors.

Emslie, Gordon A.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Fermi acceleration at shocks with arbitrary velocity profiles

Diffusive particle acceleration in modified shock fronts is considered. A method by means of which to obtain the resulting particle spectrum for an arbitrary flow profile is outlined; this method is based on a reformulation of the transport equation as a nonlinear first-order equation. Besides the shape of the flow profile, the spectral index of particles depends on the Peclet number of the shock. Results are given for some sample profiles.

Schneider, Peter↗

NASA NTRS1987

The derivation of vector magnetic fields from Stokes profiles - Integral versus least squares fitting techniques

The results of two methods for deriving photospheric vector magnetic fields from the Zeeman effect, as observed in the Fe I line at 6302.5 A at high spectral resolution (45 mA), are compared. The first method does not take magnetooptical effects into account, but determines the vector magnetic field from the integral properties of the Stokes profiles. The second method is an iterative least-squares fitting technique which fits the observed Stokes profiles to the profiles predicted by the Unno-Rachkovsky solution to the radiative transfer equation. For sunspot fields above about 1500 gauss, the two methods are found to agree in derived azimuthal and inclination angles to within about + or - 20 deg.

Ronan, R. S.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Fe II emission line profiles in the ultraviolet spectrum of cool, luminous stars

The differences between the outer atmospheres of the coronal and noncoronal cool stars and the importance of massive stellar winds to the latter group are summarized. The utility of Fe II as a probe of such winds is indicated and a brief review of previous observations of Fe II in these stars is given. The early results of a current IUE program to study the chromospheres and winds of the noncoronal, late-type stars are presented, including evidence of a strong dependence of the mid-UV Fe II profiles on stellar luminosity. In addition, the dependence of the Fe II profiles on intrinsic line strength in spectra of Alpha Ori and the discovery of a variation of the Fe II profiles with time in spectra of Gamma Cru are discussed.

Carpenter, Kenneth G.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Retrieval of water vapor profiles from microwave radiometric measurements at 183 and 92 GHz

Microwave radiometric measurements made from an aircraft altitude of 20 km at 183.3 + or - 2, 183.3 + or - 5, and 183.3 + or - GHz, and at 92 GHz were used to retrieve the atmospheric water vapor profiles. Retrieval techniques shown to function properly in cloudfree conditions, were improved and extended to profile water vapor under moderate cloud cover conditions. The retrieved water vapor profiles compare favorably with those of rawinsonde observations at times nearly concurrent with the radiometric measurements.

Wang, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Dynamical models of highly flattened oblate elliptical galaxies with De Vaucouleurs' surface-brightness profiles

Two surveys of dynamical models of E6 elliptical galaxies were constructed with de Vaucouleurs'surface-brightness distributions. One set of models has a constant mass-to-light ratio. The other set consists of models embedded in oblate isothermal gravitational potentials. In both sets, the observed axis ratio of the models is 0.55 when viewed edge-on. When viewed edge-on, it is possible to construct models in either potential that have velocity-dispersion profiles that increase or decrease with radius along either or both principal axes. The observational data seem to indicate that dispersion profiles decrease or remain constant as function of radius. The most surprising result of this work is that in order for a model to have velocity-dispersion profiles that decrease with radius out to 1.5 r(e) along both principal axes, it must be dominated by fairly thin-walled tube orbits at large radii. This is very different from the spherical case, where radial orbits dominate at large radii.

Fillmore, James A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

SAGE II aerosol correlative observations - Profile measurements

Profiles of the aerosol extinction measurements from the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) II are compared with profiles from five correlative experiments between November 1984 and July 1986. The correlative profiles were derived from six-channel dustsonde measurements and two-wavelength lidar backscatter data. The correlation between the dustsonde- and lidar-derived measurements and the SAGE II data is good, validating the SAGE II lower stratospheric aerosol extinction measurements.

Osborn, M. T.↗

NASA NTRS1989

The winds of O-stars. I - An analysis of the UV line profiles with the SEI method

The theoretical UV P Cygni profiles of the UV resonance lines for C IV, N V, Si IV, C III, and N IV of 26 O-type stars and one B star were calculated using the SEI method described by Lamers et al. (1987), taking into account the effects of turbulence in the wind, limb darkening, photospheric lines, and interstellar Ly alpha. The results were compared with profiles observed with the IUE satellite. The profile fits were found to be very accurate, showing significant improvement over previously obtained fits with the Sobolev (1958) method. The SEI method and the line fitting analysis are described and the results are presented in terms of the column densities and distributions of absorbing atoms, and the velocity laws.

Groenewegen, M. A. T.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Airborne and spaceborne lidar measurements of water vapor profiles - A sensitivity analysis

This paper presents an evaluation of the random and systematic error sources associated with differential absorption lidar (DIAL) measurements of tropospheric water vapor profiles from airborne and spaceborne platforms. The results of this analysis are used in the development and performance evaluation of the Lidar Atmospheric Sensing Experiment (LASE) H2O DIAL system presently under development at the NASA Langley Research Center for operation on a high altitude ER-2 aircraft. The analysis shows that a less than 10-percent H2O profile measurement accuracy is possible for the LASE system with a vertical and horizontal resolution of 200 m and 10 km, respectively, at night and 300 m and 20 km during the day. Global measurements of H2O profiles from spaceborne DIAL systems can be made to a similar accuracy with a vertical resolution of 500 m and a horizontal resolution of 100 km.

Ismail, Syed↗