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At least 847 records · Page 47
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NASA NTRS1980

Mars Tharsis region - Volcanotectonic events in the stratigraphic record

It is pointed out that the most recent volcanism and much of the oldest tectonic activity on Mars have apparently occurred within the Tharsis region. Detailed geologic mapping from Viking images has provided new information on the evolutionary history of the region. The eruptive sequence and areal extent of lava flows in the Tharsis region have been defined by stratigraphic studies and crater counts made on individual flow units. Faults and fractures transecting these units provide a record of changing tectonic intensity during the period of high volcanic activity. Volcanism began with the resurfacing of basement rocks early in the history of the region and continued without large interruptions through nine major eruptive episodes. Volcanic centers shifted from place to place but resurgent activity occurred at several volcanoes. Volcanism culminated during the foration of large shield volcanoes along Tharsis Montes and thereafter appears to have gradually declined.

Scott, D. H.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Active region coronal evolution

Scaling relations between coronal base pressure and longitudinal photospheric magnetic field strength are tested for the case of a single active region observed for five solar rotations from Skylab. The evolution of measureable quantities, such as coronal thermal energy content, total longitudinal photospheric magnetic flux, region scale size, and peak energy density, is traced throughout the five rotations observed. The theoretically derived scaling law of Golub et al. (1980) is found to provide an acceptable fit to the data throughout the entire evolutionary history of the region from an age of about 3 days to the fully evolved state in which the mature active region merges into the general large-scale structure of the quiet corona. An alternative scaling law obtained by including the results of Galeev et al. (1981), however, is found to provide a somewhat better fit to the data. The study is seen as providing additional justification for the belief that magnetic field-related heating is the operative mechanism in the solar corona.

Golub, L.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Intense, variable electric fields at ionospheric altitudes in the high latitude regions as observed by DE-2

Intense, variable electric fields have been observed by DE-2 using the double probe technique at ionospheric altitudes in high latitude regions. Measurements are made of both components of the electric field in the orbit plane (90 deg geographic inclination) at a rate of 16 samples/sec (0.5 km spatial resolution). Small scale, spike-like variations with amplitudes of over 100 mV/m are frequently seen in the polar cusp region and, to a lesser degree, also in the nightside auroral oval. Magnitudes up to 240 mV/m have been observed. These variations often occur over scale lengths of a few km or less. The fine structure in the cusp is consistent with the concept of limited regions of direct access within a larger overall region. It would appear that the intense electric fields which are observed at higher altitudes in the magnetosphere may penetrate to lower altitudes more extensively than indicated by previous measurements.

Maynard, N. C.↗
NASA NTRS1981

The 1980 rocket coronagraph measurements of the solar wind acceleration region

Spectroscopic measurements of temperatures, densities and flow velocities in the solar wind acceleration region provide critical empirical constraints on solar stellar wind theory. Preliminary results of an analysis of H I Lyman-alpha and white light measurements made on 16 February 1980 in a polar coronal region are reported. The hydrogen kinetic temperatures in the observed region were found to be nearly constant with T sub HI approximately equals 10 degrees K at heliocentric distances between 1.5 and 4 solar radii. The outflow velocities were found to be subsonic indicating that the critical point in the observed region was located at r approximately greater than 4 solar radii.

Withbroe, G. L.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Dependence of open stellar coronal regions on coronal heating

Models of open regions in hot stellar coronae are presented. For a given star these regions depend on the total amount phi sub Mo of coronal heating and on the characteristic length (L) over which this energy is dissipated. The height of the temperature maximum is mainly determined by L. The coronal temperature, the mass loss rate, and the relative fraction of wind energy losses increase strongly with L as long as L is much smaller than the stellar radius. For large L, however, these quantities are only weak functions of L, while they still increase with increasing phi sub Mo. Thus, if the heating occurs close to the stellar surface, the open coronal regions are cool, and most of the energy is used for radiation. Extended coronal heating, on the other hand, leads to hot coronal regions with small base pressure and predominating energy losses due to stellar wind (for large phi sub Mo and/or outward thermal conduction (for small phi sub Mo).

Hammer, R.↗
NASA NTRS1983

An investigation of coronal active region loop structures using AS&E rocket X-ray images

Simultaneous high spatial resolution observations at 6 cm in soft X-rays, in photospheric magnetograms, and in optical filtergrams were used to compare the most intense sources of centimetric emission in two active regions to coronal loops, sunspots, chromospheric structures, and photospheric magnetic fields. Results show that the majority of the bright microwave components are not associated with sunspots or X-ray emission. A nonthermal mechanism appears necessary to explain the brightest microwave components, discrete regions of continuous particle acceleration may be common in active regions. Studies of the plasma parameters of selected loops imply that the radio emission is consistent with gyro-resonance absorption at the third and fourth harmonic, at least from part of each loop. Results are presented for: (1) X-ray and microwave observations of active regions; (2) comparison of coronal holes observed in soft X-rays and Hel 10830 A spectrosheliograms; and (3) the reappearance of polar coronal holes and the evolution of the solar magnetic field.

Webb, D. F.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Analysis of MAGSAT and surface data of the Indian region

Techniques and significant results of an analysis of MAGSAT and surface data of the Indian region are described. Specific investigative tasks included: (1) use of the multilevel data at different altitudes to develop a model for variation of magnetic anomaly with altitude; (2) development of the regional model for the description of main geomagnetic field for the Indian sub-continent using MAGSAT and observatory data; (3) development of regional mathematical model of secular variations over the Indian sub-continent; and (4) downward continuation of the anomaly field obtained from MAGSAT and its combination with the existing observatory data to produce a regional anomaly map for elucidating tectonic features of the Indian sub-continent.

Agarwal, G. C.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Wave instability in the polar region of Venus

Infrared and radio observations of the upper cloud region of Venus indicate that the north polar region contains features of large thermal contrast. A cold collar, encompassing a region of temperature inversions, lies between latitudes of about 65 and 75 deg, and a pair of warm features, separated by about 180 deg of longitude and centered near 80 deg latitude, rotate about the pole with a period of about 2.9 days. It is shown that the cold temperatures associated with the inversions lead to an enhancement in the mean zonal wind in a localized area near the pole, and that this enhancement makes the mean flow barotropically unstable. Since data for this region are limited, a model for the thermal structure has been used for calculating growth times and phase periods of the unstable modes. Choosing model parameters to agree as closely as possible with available data, it has been determined that the rotating warm features are likely to be manifestations of barotropically unstable waves.

Elson, L. S.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Thorium concentrations in the lunar surface. IV - Deconvolution of the Mare Imbrium, Aristarchus, and adjacent regions

Several fields of orbital gamma ray spectroscopy data have been deconvolved in order to model the distribution of Th over the Mare Imbrium and northern Oceanus Procellarum portions of the Apollo 15 lunar ground track, which in combination with a prior study of the Apenninus region covers a continuous swath from 10 deg E to 60 deg W in the northwest quadrant. The crater of the Aristarchus region dominates the Th distribution, with a concentration of 20 ppm, and substantial enhancements are also found in the mare regions around Brayley and at the ejecta blankets of Timocharis and Lambert. The existence of enhanced Th concentrations in mare basalt regions suggests that reservoirs of some late stage mare basalts incorporated KREEP-rich material during formation or transit.

Etchegaray-Ramirez, M. I.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Ionospheric plasma bubble encounters or F region bottomside traversals?

Data from in situ Atmospheric Explorer (AE) measurements and ground-based ionosonde measurements of the ion composition and concentration in the equatorial plasma bubbles are analyzed. The ionosonde produced data on the bottomside electron density (NE) profiles and aided in ascertaining the satellite measurements as being in the topside or bottomside of the F layer. The AE data were taken during low latitude evening conditions at various altitudes, and revealed ion compositions consistent with plasma bubbles originating at the altitude of the steep F region bottomside ionization gradient. The lifetimes of NO ions were observed to be short even if the ions were dominant in the regions where the bubbles form. Vertical distortions of tens of kilometers in the equatorial F region occurred in the unstable postsunset period to the extent that the bubble formation area and the bottomside plasma region became virtually indistinguishable.

Benson, R. F.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Behavior of transition-region lines during impulsive solar flares

The emissions observed in lines originating in the transition-region plasma, particularly during impulsive flares, are investigated using data collected by the Ultraviolet Spectrometer and Polarimeter on the Solar Maximum Mission. Data concerning lines from ions such as Si II, C IV, Si IV, O V, and Fe XXI are analyzed. Topics examined include the transition region away from sunspots, oscillatory motions above sunspots, the shape of the transition region, the transition region during flares, and O V and Fe XXI during flare flash phases.

Tandberg-Hanssen, E.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Combustion characteristics in the transition region of liquid fuel sprays

A number of important effects were observed in the droplet size transition region in spray combustion systems. In this region, where the mechanism of flame propagation is transformed from diffusive to premixed dominated combustion, the following effects have been observed: (1) maxima in burning velocity; (2) extension of flammability limits; (3) minima in ignition energy; and (4) minima in NO(x) formation. Unfortunately, because of differences in experimental facilities and limitations in the ranges of experimental data, a unified description of these transition region effects is not available at this time. Consequently, a fundamental experimental investigation was initiated to study the effect of droplet size, size distribution, and operating parameters on these transition region phenomena in a single well controlled spray combustion facility.

Cernansky, N. P.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Cosmic rays and the emission line regions of active galactic nuclei

The effects that the synchrotron emitting relativistic electrons could have on the emission line regions which characterize active nuclei are discussed. Detailed models of both the inner, dense, broad line region and the outer, lower density, narrow line region are presented, together with the first models of the optically emitting gas often found within extended radio lobes. If the relativistic gas which produces the synchrotron radio emission is mixed with the emission line region gas then significant changes in the emission line spectrum will result. The effects of the synchrotron emitting electrons on filaments in the Crab Nebula are discussed in an appendix, along with a comparison between the experimental calculations, which employ the mean escape probability formalism, and recent Hubbard and Puetter models.

Ferland, G. J.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Models for the active and quiescent regions on the RS CVN-type system 2 Pegasi (HD 224085)

The IUE observations of the RS CVn binary system II Pegasi obtained during the period 1981 October 1-7 were used to derive the emission measure distributions and to calculate transmission region models of the quiescent and plage (active) regions of II Peg. Active region models were calculated assuming area coverages of 10%, 6%, 3% and 1% of the visible hemisphere. These models are used to provide lower limits to the electron pressure in the quiescent and plage regions, which are compared with the available density diagnostics. The amount of mechanical energy deposition required to account for the observed radiative losses is very large.

Linsky, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1983

The nature of stellar active regions

Observational estimates of chromospheric radiative loss rates in Ca II H and K in main-sequence F, G, and K dwarfs are used to compare stars that span a range of activity levels with each other and with the sun. For stars with spectral types similar to that of the sun, it is found that chromospheric radiative losses in stars with active chromospheres exceed the flux emitted by plages on the sun at solar maximum by about a factor of 6. If this difference is due primarily to a difference in the fraction of the stellar surface covered by plage-like material, and not to a change in the character of the emission-line regions, then more than half of the stellar surface in stars with large chromospheric radiative loss rates must be covered by active regions. It is also possible to show that active regions in young solar-type stars extend at least to latitudes + or - 25 deg from the rotational equator and that a typical individual region contributes no more than 2 percent - 3 percent of the total H and K emission. In Kappa Cet, observations show that the rotational modulation persisted in both phase and amplitude for at least 100 days (12 rotation cycles).

Wolff, S. C.↗
NASA NTRS1984

VLA observations of fine structures in a solar active region at 6 centimeter wavelength

A complex solar active region at 6 cm has been observed with the VLA. Radio images of the region have been constructed and compared with simultaneous optical data from the region. It is found that all radio sources are associated with either sunspots or regions of the corona where strong transverse magnetic fields are likely, that the transverse field sources are brighter than the sunspot sources, and that some of the sunspot sources have a polarized ring structure. The observations are interpreted in terms of thermal gyroresonance emission, with the radiation from the transverse field sources being at the third harmonic of the gyrofrequency and predominantly at the second harmonic from the sunspot sources.

Mcconnell, D.↗
NASA NTRS1984

SMM/UVSP observations of the distribution of transition region oscillations and other properties in a sunspot

Observations of a sunspot in the C IV line at 1548 A formed in the transition region have been analyzed to obtain the time variations and/or mean values of the velocity, intensity, longitudinal magnetic field, and line width. Oscillations with periods between approximately 110 and 200 s are observed only over the umbra where the transition region magnetic field is highest and the line width is smallest. When periodic intensity variations occur at the same frequency as the velocity oscillations, the peak intensities occur slightly before the maximum upward motions. No periodic variations in the transition region magnetic field have been detected. Scatter diagrams are presented which show possible relationships between the flow velocity, emission line intensity, line width, and transition region magnetic field.

Henze, W.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Frequent ultraviolet brightenings observed in a solar active region with solar maximum mission

Observations of the temporal behavior of ultraviolet emission from bright points within an active region of the sun are reported. Frequent and rapid brightenings in Si IV and O IV line emission are seen. The observations suggest that intermittent heating events of modest amplitude are occurring at many sites within an active region. By selecting the brightest site at any given time within an active region and then sampling its behavior in detail within a 120 s interval, it is found that about two-thirds of the samples show variations of the Si IV line intensity. The brightenings typically last about 40-60 s; intensity increases of about 20-100 percent are frequently observed. The results suggest that heating due to magnetic field reconnection within an active region is proceeding almost stochastically. Events involving only a modest release of energy occur the most frequently.

Porter, J. G.↗