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NASA NTRS1988

Extinction and backscatter measurements of Antarctic PSC's, 1987: Implications for particle and vapor removal

The temperature dependence is examined of optical properties measured in the Antarctic during 1987 at the 70 mb level (near 18 km), a level chosen to correlate the results with in situ measurements made from the NASA-Ames ER-2 aircraft during the 1987 Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment (AAOE). The data set consists of extinction measurements by Sam 2 inside the Antarctic polar vortex from May to October 1987; and backscatter measurements by the UV-DIAL (Ultraviolet Differential Absorption Lidar) system aboard the Ames DC-8 aircraft during selected AAOE flights. Observed trends are compared with results from a revised version of Pole and McCormick's model to classify the PSC observations by Type (1 or 2) and infer the temporal behavior of the ambient aerosol and ambient vapor mixing ratios. The sample figures show monthly ensembles of the 70-mb Sam 2 extinction ratio (the ratio of aerosol or PSC extinction to molecule extinction) as a function of NMC temperature at the beginning (June) and (October) of the 1987 Antarctic winter. Both ensembles show two rather distinct clusters of points: one oriented in the near vertical direction which depicts the change with temperature of the ambient aerosol extinction ratio; and a second cluster oriented in the near horizontal direction whose position on the vertical scale marks a change in particle phase (i.e., PSC formation) and whose length (the extinction enhancement related to that of the ambient aerosol) is an indicator of PSC type.

Poole, L. R.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Limitations on K-T mass extinction theories based upon the vertebrate record

Theories of extinction are only as good as the patterns of extinction that they purport to explain. Often such patterns are ignored. For the terminal Cretaceous events, different groups of organisms in different environments show different patterns of extinction that to date cannot be explained by a single causal mechanism. Several patterns of extinction (and/or preservational bias) can be observed for the various groups of vertebrates from the uppermost Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation and lower Paleocene Tullock Formation in eastern Montana. The taxonomic level at which the percentage of survivals (or extinctions) is calculated will have an effect upon the perception of faunal turnover. In addition to the better known mammals and better publicized dinosaurs, there are almost 60 additional species of reptiles, birds, amphibians, and fish in the HELL Creek Formation. Simple arithmetic suggests only 33 percent survival of these vertebrates from the Hell Creek Fm. into the Tullock Fm. A more critical examination of the data shows that almost all Hell Creek species not found in the Tullock are represented in one of the following categories; extremely rare forms, elasmobranch fish that underwent rapid speciation taxa that although not known or rare in the Tullock, are found elsewhere. Each of the categories is largely the result of the following biases: taphonomy, ecological differences, taxonomic artifact paleogeography. The two most important factors appear to be the possible taphonomic biases and the taxonomic artifacts. The extinction patterns among the vertebrates do not appear to be attributable to any single cause, catastrophic or otherwise.

Archibald, J. David↗

NASA NTRS1988

Abrupt climate change and extinction events

There is a growing body of theoretical and empirical support for the concept of instabilities in the climate system, and indications that abrupt climate change may in some cases contribute to abrupt extinctions. Theoretical indications of instabilities can be found in a broad spectrum of climate models (energy balance models, a thermohaline model of deep-water circulation, atmospheric general circulation models, and coupled ocean-atmosphere models). Abrupt transitions can be of several types and affect the environment in different ways. There is increasing evidence for abrupt climate change in the geologic record and involves both interglacial-glacial scale transitions and the longer-term evolution of climate over the last 100 million years. Records from the Cenozoic clearly show that the long-term trend is characterized by numerous abrupt steps where the system appears to be rapidly moving to a new equilibrium state. The long-term trend probably is due to changes associated with plate tectonic processes, but the abrupt steps most likely reflect instabilities in the climate system as the slowly changing boundary conditions caused the climate to reach some threshold critical point. A more detailed analysis of abrupt steps comes from high-resolution studies of glacial-interglacial fluctuations in the Pleistocene. Comparison of climate transitions with the extinction record indicates that many climate and biotic transitions coincide. The Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction is not a candidate for an extinction event due to instabilities in the climate system. It is quite possible that more detailed comparisons and analysis will indicate some flaws in the climate instability-extinction hypothesis, but at present it appears to be a viable candidate as an alternate mechanism for causing abrupt environmental changes and extinctions.

Crowley, Thomas J.↗

NASA NTRS1988

The end-triassic mass extinction event

The end-Triassic is the least studied of the five major episodes of mass extinction recognized in the Phanerozoic, and the Triassic-Jurassic boundary is not precisely defined in most parts of the world, with a paucity of good marine sections and an insufficiency of biostratigraphically valuable fossils. Despite these limitations it is clear that there was a significant episode of mass extinction, affecting many groups, in the Late Norian and the existing facts are consistent with it having taken place at the very end of the period. The best record globally comes from marine strata. There was an almost complete turnover of ammonites across the T-J boundary, with perhaps no more than one genus surviving. About half the bivalve genera and most of the species went extinct, as did many archaeogastropods. Many Paleozoic-dominant brachiopods also disappeared, as did the last of the conodonts. There was a major collapse and disappearance of the Alpine calcareous sponge. Among terrestrial biota, a significant extinction event involving tetrapods was recognized. With regard to possible environmental events that may be postulated to account for the extinctions, there is no evidence of any significant global change of climate at this time. The existence of the large Manicouagan crater in Quebec, dated as about late or end-Triassic, has led to the suggestion that an impact event might be implicated, but so far despite intensive search no unequivocal iridium anomaly or shocked quartz was discovered. On the other hand there is strong evidence for significant marine regression in many parts of the world. It is proposed therefore that the likeliest cause of the marine extinctions is severe reduction in habitat area caused either by regression of epicontinental seas, subsequent widespread anoxia during the succeeding transgression, or a combination of the two.

Hallam, A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

An experimental study of opposed flow diffusion flame extinction over a thin fuel in microgravity

The flame spread and flame extinction characteristics of a thin fuel burning in a low-speed forced convective environment in microgravity were examined. The flame spread rate was observed to decrease both with decreasing ambient oxygen concentration as well as decreasing free stream velocity. A new mode of flame extinction was observed, caused by either of two means: keeping the free stream velocity constant and decreasing the oxygen concentration, or keeping the oxygen concentration constant and decreasing the free stream velocity. This extinction is called quenching extinction. By combining this data together with a previous microgravity quiescent flame study and normal-gravity blowoff extinction data, a flammability map was constructed with molar percentage oxygen and characteristic relative velocity as coordinates. The Damkohler number is not sufficient to predict flame spread and extinction in the near quench limit region.

Ferkul, Paul V.↗

NASA NTRS1989

IR emission and UV extinction in two open clusters

Recent models of interstellar extinction have shown the importance of understanding both the UV and IR properties of interstellar dust grains. IRAS data have shown variations in 60 and 100 micron emissions presumably due to the presence of IR cirrus, while recent observations in the UV by Fitzpatrick and Massa have identified components in the UV extinction curve which vary in different star regions. A Draine and Anderson model connects these results by proposing that different size variations in interstellar grains would cause distinct changes in both the IR emission and the UV extinction. In order to test this model it is necessary to make observations in well defined locations away from peculiar extinction regions. In the infrared this means looking away from the galactic plane so as to limit non-local sources of IR radiation. Two open clusters that are out of the galactic plane and which contain a number of late B and early A stars suitable for UV extinction studies, and whose IRAS data show variations in the 60/100 micron ratio were studied. Based on the Drain and Anderson model, variations were expected in their UV extinction curves that correlate with the IR cirrus emission.

Hackwell, James A.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Supernovae and mass extinctions

Shklovsky and others have suggested that some of the major extinctions in the geological record might have been triggered by explosions of nearby supernovae. The frequency of such extinction events will depend on the galactic supernova frequency and on the distance up to which a supernova explosion will produce lethal effects upon terrestrial life. In the present note it will be assumed that a killer supernova has to occur so close to Earth that it will be embedded in a young, active, supernova remnant. Such young remnants typically have radii approximately less than 3 pc (1 x 10(exp 19) cm). Larger (more pessimistic?) killer radii have been adopted by Ruderman, Romig, and by Ellis and Schramm. From observations of historical supernovae, van den Bergh finds that core-collapse (types Ib and II) supernovae occur within 4 kpc of the Sun at a rate of 0.2 plus or minus 0.1 per century. Adopting a layer thickness of 0.3 kpc for the galacitc disk, this corresponds to a rate of approximately 1.3 x 10(exp -4) supernovae pc(exp -3) g.y.(exp -1). Including supernovae of type Ia will increase the total supernovae rate to approximately 1.5 x 10(exp -4) supernovae pc(exp -3) g.y.(exp -1). For a lethal radius of R pc the rate of killer events will therefore be 1.7 (R/3)(exp 3) x 10(exp -2) supernovae per g.y. However, a frequency of a few extinctions per g.y. is required to account for the extinctions observed during the phanerozoic. With R (extinction) approximately 3 pc, the galactic supernova frequency is therefore too low by 2 orders of magnitude to account for the major extinctions in the geological record.

Vandenbergh, S.↗

NASA NTRS1996

The Extinction Properties of Heavily-Reddened Lines of Sight in the Galaxy

Recent studies of the 3.4 micron C-H stretch absorption feature indicate a strong correlation between it and the 10 micron silicate band over a wide range of extinctions (A(sub v) = 3.9-31 magnitudes), but the relationships between their optical depths and the visual extinction are particularly poorly constrained at intermediate extinctions between 15 and 20 magnitudes. The objective prism survey published by Stephenson may help to alleviate this difficulty. It lists more than 400 extremely red stars lacking molecular absorption bands, suggesting that these are hot blue stars reddened by long path lengths of the Galactic ISM. The intrinsic properties of these stars are unfortunately only loosely constrained, and JHK photometry therefore does not accurately determine the interstellar extinction. Using the POSS I plates, we have attempted to produce self-consistent spectral types, luminosity classes and extinctions for the stars which Stephenson claims to be most heavily reddened. 14 out of 25 sources studied are consistent with OB supergiants. The results are highly sensitive to upper limits in the blue plate, and are not always consistent with Stephenson's claims of much higher reddening than that of a typical member of the Cygnus OB2 association. For the most heavily-reddened sources studied, a B-magnitude based on the faintest measurable value on the blue plate yielded a lower limit of about 9 magnitudes on the extinction.

Rawlings, M. G.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Information Retrieval from SAGE II and MFRSR Multi-Spectral Extinction Measurements

Direct beam spectral extinction measurements of solar radiation contain important information on atmospheric composition in a form that is essentially free from multiple scattering contributions that otherwise tend to complicate the data analysis and information retrieval. Such direct beam extinction measurements are available from the solar occultation satellite-based measurements made by the Stratospheric and Aerosol Gas Experiment (SAGE II) instrument and by ground-based Multi-Filter Shadowband Radiometers (MFRSRs). The SAGE II data provide cross-sectional slices of the atmosphere twice per orbit at seven wavelengths between 385 and 1020 nm with approximately 1 km vertical resolution, while the MFRSR data provide atmospheric column measurements at six wavelengths between 415 and 940 nm but at one minute time intervals. We apply the same retrieval technique of simultaneous least-squares fit to the observed spectral extinctions to retrieve aerosol optical depth, effective radius and variance, and ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and water vapor amounts from the SAGE II and MFRSR measurements. The retrieval technique utilizes a physical model approach based on laboratory measurements of ozone and nitrogen dioxide extinction, line-by-line and numerical k-distribution calculations for water vapor absorption, and Mie scattering constraints on aerosol spectral extinction properties. The SAGE II measurements have the advantage of being self-calibrating in that deep space provides an effective zero point for the relative spectral extinctions. The MFRSR measurements require periodic clear-day Langley regression calibration events to maintain accurate knowledge of instrument calibration.

Lacis, Andrew A.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Extinction from a paleontological perspective

Extinction of widespread species is common in evolutionary time (millions of years) but rare in ecological time (hundreds or thousands of years). In the fossil record, there appears to be a smooth continuum between background and mass extinction; and the clustering of extinctions at mass extinctions cannot be explained by the chance coincidence of independent events. Although some extinction is selective, much is apparently random in that survivors have no recognizable superiority over victims. Extinction certainly plays an important role in evolution, but whether it is constructive or destructive has not yet been determined.

Review↗

NASA NTRS1989

Evolution and extinction in the marine realm: some constraints imposed by phytoplankton

The organic and mineralized remains of planktonic algae provide a rich record of microplankton evolution extending over nearly half of the preserved geological record. In general, Phanerozoic patterns of phytoplankton radiation and extinction parallel those documented for skeletonized marine invertebrates, both augmenting and constraining thought about evolution in the oceans. Rapidly increasing knowledge of Proterozoic plankton is making possible the recognition of additional episodes of diversification and extinction that antedate the Ediacaran radiation of macroscopic animals. In contrast to earlier phytoplankton history, the late Mesozoic and Cainozoic record is documented in sufficient detail to constrain theories of mass extinction in more than a general way. Broad patterns of diversity change in planktonic algae show similarities across the Cretaceous-Tertiary and Eocene-Oligocene boundaries, but detailed comparisons of origination and extinction rates in calcareous nannoplankton, as well as other algae and skeletonized protozoans, suggest that the two episodes were quite distinct. Common causation appears unlikely, casting doubt on monolithic theories of mass extinction, whether periodic or not. Studies of mass extinction highlight a broader class of insights that paleontologists can contribute to evolutionary biology: the evaluation of evolutionary change in the context of evolving Earth-surface environments.

NASA Discipline Number 52-30↗

NASA NTRS1995

Selectivity of end-Cretaceous marine bivalve extinctions

Analyses of the end-Cretaceous or Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction show no selectivity of marine bivalve genera by life position (burrowing versus exposed), body size, bathymetric position on the continental shelf, or relative breadth of bathymetric range. Deposit-feeders as a group have significantly lower extinction intensities than suspension-feeders, but this pattern is due entirely to low extinction in two groups (Nuculoida and Lucinoidea), which suggests that survivorship was not simply linked to feeding mode. Geographically widespread genera have significantly lower extinction intensities than narrowly distributed genera. These results corroborate earlier work suggesting that some biotic factors that enhance survivorship during times of lesser extinction intensities are ineffectual during mass extinctions.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗

NASA NTRS1994

Extinction and the fossil record

The author examines evidence of mass extinctions in the fossil record and searches for reasons for such large extinctions. Five major mass extinctions eliminated at least 40 percent of animal genera in the oceans and from 65 to 95 percent of ocean species. Questions include the occurrence of gradual or catastrophic extinctions, causes, environment, the capacity of a perturbation to cause extinctions each time it happens, and the possibility and identification of complex events leading to a mass extinction.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗

NASA NTRS2004

Rapid recovery from the Late Ordovician mass extinction

Understanding the evolutionary role of mass extinctions requires detailed knowledge of postextinction recoveries. However, most models of recovery hinge on a direct reading of the fossil record, and several recent studies have suggested that the fossil record is especially incomplete for recovery intervals immediately after mass extinctions. Here, we analyze a database of genus occurrences for the paleocontinent of Laurentia to determine the effects of regional processes on recovery and the effects of variations in preservation and sampling intensity on perceived diversity trends and taxonomic rates during the Late Ordovician mass extinction and Early Silurian recovery. After accounting for variation in sampling intensity, we find that marine benthic diversity in Laurentia recovered to preextinction levels within 5 million years, which is nearly 15 million years sooner than suggested by global compilations. The rapid turnover in Laurentia suggests that processes such as immigration may have been particularly important in the recovery of regional ecosystems from environmental perturbations. However, additional regional studies and a global analysis of the Late Ordovician mass extinction that accounts for variations in sampling intensity are necessary to confirm this pattern. Because the record of Phanerozoic mass extinctions and postextinction recoveries may be compromised by variations in preservation and sampling intensity, all should be reevaluated with sampling-standardized analyses if the evolutionary role of mass extinctions is to be fully understood.

Evolution↗

NASA NTRS2005

Improvement of Raman lidar algorithm for quantifying aerosol extinction

Aerosols are particles of different composition and origin and influence the formation of clouds which are important in atmospheric radiative balance. At the present there is high uncertainty on the effect of aerosols on climate and this is mainly due to the fact that aerosol presence in the atmosphere can be highly variable in space and time. Monitoring of the aerosols in the atmosphere is necessary to better understanding many of these uncertainties. A lidar (an instrument that uses light to detect the extent of atmospheric aerosol loading) can be particularly useful to monitor aerosols in the atmosphere since it is capable to record the scattered intensity as a function of altitude from molecules and aerosols. One lidar method (the Raman lidar) makes use of the different wavelength changes that occur when light interacts with the varying chemistry and structure of atmospheric aerosols. One quantity that is indicative of aerosol presence is the aerosol extinction which quantifies the amount of attenuation (removal of photons), due to scattering, that light undergoes when propagating in the atmosphere. It can be directly measured with a Raman lidar using the wavelength dependence of the received signal. In order to calculate aerosol extinction from Raman scattering data it is necessary to evaluate the rate of change (derivative) of a Raman signal with respect to altitude. Since derivatives are defined for continuous functions, they cannot be performed directly on the experimental data which are not continuous. The most popular technique to find the functional behavior of experimental data is the least-square fit. This procedure allows finding a polynomial function which better approximate the experimental data. The typical approach in the lidar community is to make an a priori assumption about the functional behavior of the data in order to calculate the derivative. It has been shown in previous work that the use of the chi-square technique to determine the most likely functional behavior of the data prior to actually calculating the derivative eliminates the need for making a priori assumptions. We note that the a priori choice of a model itself can lead to larger uncertainties as compared to the method that is validated here. In this manuscript, the chi-square technique that determines the most likely functional behavior is validated through numerical simulation and by application to a large body of Raman lidar measurements. In general, we show that the chi-square approach to evaluate aerosol extinction yields lower extinction uncertainty than the traditional technique. We also use the technique to study the feasibility of developing a general characterization of the extinction uncertainty that could permit the uncertainty in Raman lidar aerosol extinction measurements to be estimated accurately without the use of the chi-square technique.

Russo, Felicita↗

NASA NTRS2007

SAGE III Aerosol Extinction Validation in the Arctic Winter: Comparisons with SAGE II and POAM III

The use of SAGE III multiwavelength aerosol extinction coefficient measurements to infer PSC type is contingent on the robustness of both the extinction magnitude and its spectral variation. Past validation with SAGE II and other similar measurements has shown that the SAGE III extinction coefficient measurements are reliable though the comparisons have been greatly weighted toward measurements made at mid-latitudes. Some aerosol comparisons made in the Arctic winter as a part of SOLVE II suggested that SAGE III values, particularly at longer wavelengths, are too small with the implication that both the magnitude and the wavelength dependence are not reliable. Comparisons with POAM III have also suggested a similar discrepancy. Herein, we use SAGE II data as a common standard for comparison of SAGE III and POAM III measurements in the Arctic winters of 2002/2003 through 2004/2005. During the winter, SAGE II measurements are made infrequently at the same latitudes as these instruments. We have mitigated this problem through the use potential vorticity as a spatial coordinate and thus greatly increased the number of coincident events. We find that SAGE II and III extinction coefficient measurements show a high degree of compatibility at both 1020 nm and 450 nm except a 10-20% bias at both wavelengths. In addition, the 452 to 1020-nm extinction ratio shows a consistent bias of approx. 30% throughout the lower stratosphere. We also find that SAGE II and POAM III are on average consistent though the comparisons show a much higher variability and larger bias than SAGE II/III comparisons. In addition, we find that the two data sets are not well correlated below 18 km. Overall, we find both the extinction values and the spectral dependence from SAGE III are robust and we find no evidence of a significant defect within the Arctic vortex.

Thomason, L. W.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Cool-flame Extinction During N-Alkane Droplet Combustion in Microgravity

Recent droplet combustion experiments onboard the International Space Station (ISS) have revealed that large n-alkane droplets can continue to burn quasi-steadily following radiative extinction in a low-temperature regime, characterized by negative-temperaturecoefficient (NTC) chemistry. In this study we report experimental observations of n-heptane, n-octane, and n-decane droplets of varying initial sizes burning in oxygen/nitrogen/carbon dioxide and oxygen/helium/nitrogen environments at 1.0, 0.7, and 0.5 atmospheric pressures. The oxygen concentration in these tests varied in the range of 14% to 25% by volume. Large n-alkane droplets exhibited quasi-steady low-temperature burning and extinction following radiative extinction of the visible flame while smaller droplets burned to completion or disruptively extinguished. A vapor-cloud formed in most cases slightly prior to or following the "cool flame" extinction. Results for droplet burning rates in both the hot-flame and cool-flame regimes as well as droplet extinction diameters at the end of each stage are presented. Time histories of radiant emission from the droplet captured using broadband radiometers are also presented. Remarkably the "cool flame" extinction diameters for all the three n-alkanes follow a trend reminiscent of the ignition delay times observed in previous studies. The similarities and differences among the n-alkanes during "cool flame" combustion are discussed using simplified theoretical models of the phenomenon

microgravity combustion↗

NASA NTRS2018

The Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Limb Profiler (LP) Version 1 Aerosol Extinction Retrieval Algorithm: Theoretical Basis

The theoretical basis of the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Limb Profiler (LP) Version 1 aerosol extinction retrieval algorithm is presented. The algorithm uses an assumed bimodal lognormal aerosol size distribution to retrieve aerosol extinction profiles at 675 nm from OMPS LP radiance measurements. A first-guess aerosol extinction profile is updated by iteration using the Chahine nonlinear relaxation method, based on comparisons between the measured radiance profile at 675 nm and the radiance profile calculated by the Gauss Seidel limb-scattering (GSLS) radiative transfer model for a spherical-shell atmosphere. This algorithm is discussed in the context of previous limb-scattering aerosol extinction retrieval algorithms, and the most significant error sources are enumerated. The retrieval algorithm is limited primarily by uncertainty about the aerosol phase function. Horizontal variations in aerosol extinction, which violate the spherical-shell atmosphere assumed in the version 1 algorithm, may also limit the quality of the retrieved aerosol extinction profiles significantly.

Loughman, Robert↗