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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Systematic Errors in Simulated L-Band Brightness Temperature in the SMAP Level-4 Soil Moisture Analysis

The NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission has been providing L-band (1.4 GHz) brightness temperature (Tb) observations since April 2015. By assimilating the Tb observations into the NASA Catchment land surface model using a spatially distributed ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF), the SMAP Level-4 Soil Moisture (L4_SM) product provides global, 3-hourly, 9-km resolution estimates of surface (0-5 cm) and root-zone (0-100 cm) soil moisture with ~2.5-day latency for use in research and applications. The EnKF-based L4_SM analysis assumes unbiased forecast errors. Consequently, the seasonally varying bias between the model forecast Tb and the observed values is removed prior to the assimilation of the SMAP Tb observations. The L4_SM system is thus designed to only correct errors in synoptic-scale and interannual variations from the long-term mean seasonal cycle while maintaining the model’s (possibly wrong) climatology. In this paper, we examine the Tb observation-minus-forecast (O-F) residuals from the L4_SM Version 7 product (computed after rescaling the Tb observations to the mean seasonal cycle of the simulated Tb). The long-term average of the Tb O-F residuals has a global mean of only 0.13 K and locally small values, ranging from -1 to 3 K. The model forecast Tb, however, still exhibits undesirable systematic errors relative to the (rescaled) Tb observations. At some locations, the time-average Tb O-F values strongly depend on surface soil moisture (SM). At the Yanco SMAP core validation site, for example, the Tb O-F residuals typically range from 5 to 15 K under dry soil moisture conditions (SM < 0.15 m3 m-3) yet are predominantly negative under wet soil moisture conditions (SM > 0.25 m3 m-3), with values ranging from 0 to -40 K. This results in soil moisture analysis increments that persistently make the soil drier under dry SM conditions and persistently make the soil wetter under wet SM conditions, suggesting an error in the dynamic range of the simulated Tb, soil moisture or soil temperature. In this paper, we describe the higher-order systematic Tb forecast errors in more detail, examine their impact on the L4_SM product quality, and explore potential avenues to improve the L4_SM algorithm.

Rolf Reichle↗
NASA NTRS1972

Closed-loop Dynamics of In-core Thermionic Reactor Systems

Using a point model of an in-core thermionic converter, alternative schemes for providing closed loop reactor control were investigated. It was found that schemes based on variable gain power regulation buffers which use the reactor current as the control variable provide complete protection from thermionic burnout and also provide a virtually constant voltage to the user. A side benefit is that the emitter temperature transients are small-even for a complete electric load drop the emitter temperature transient is less than 100 deg K. The current regulation scheme was selected for further study with a distributed parameter model which was developed to account for variations in thermionic and heat transfer properties along the length of a cylindrical converter. It was found that even though the emitter temperature distribution is about 200 deg K along the converter length, the dynamic properties are unchanged when using the current control scheme.

Sawyer, C. D.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Stratwarm Effects in the Ionospheric D Region Wind Field

An analysis is made of the wind field structure in the strato-thermosphere over Eastern Siberia during the winter stratwarms of 1975-1977. It is found that coupling between dynamical processes in the stratosphere and lower thermosphere is effected through changes of the temperature regime of the atmosphere. The circulation regime both in the stratosphere and lower thermosphere depends on location of the source of perturbations that cause stratospheric warmings. The effect of warming-induced perturbations on the dynamics of above- and underlying layers and the meridional extent of the processes are determined by the altitude and region where anti-cyclones originate. In conditions of a warmer stratosphere, there is a considerable loss of wind stability in the ionospheric D-region. A time delay of 1 to 2 days of lower-thermosphere processes is found to occur with respect to stratospheric processes of temperature variation at 30 mb level.

Vergasova, G. V.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Elastomer Compatible With Oxygen

Artificial rubber resists ignition on impact and seals at low temperatures. Filled fluoroelastomer called "Katiflex" developed for use in seals of vessels holding cold liquid and gaseous oxygen. New material more compatible with liquid oxygen than polytetrafluoroethylene. Provides dynamic seal at -196 degrees C with only 4 times seal stress required at room temperature. In contrast, conventional rubber seals burn or explode on impact in high-pressure oxygen, and turn hard or even brittle at liquid-oxygen temperatures, do not seal reliably, also see (MFS-28124).

Martin, Jon W.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Air pollutant transport in a coastal environment. Part 1: Two-dimensional simulations of sea-breeze and mountain effects

Over the southern California coastal region, observations of the vertical distributions of pollutants show that maximum concentrations can occur within temperature inversion layers well above the surface. A mesoscale model is used to study the dynamical phenomena that cause such layers, including sea breezes and mountain flows, and to study the characteristics of air pollutant transport in a coastal environment capped by a temperature inversion. The mathematical and physical structure of the model is described. Two-dimensional simulations corresponding to four configurations of coastal plains and mountains are discussed. The simulations reveal that pollutant transport over a coastal plain is strongly influenced by the topographic configuration, including the height of coastal mountains and their distance from the coastline. Sea breezes induced by land-sea thermal contrasts, as well as upslope winds induced along mountain flanks, both create vertical transport that can lead to the formation of elevated pollution layers. The sea-breeze circulation generates pollution layers by undercutting the mixed layer and lofting pollutants into the stable layer. Heating of mountain slopes acts to vent pollutants above the mountain ridge during the day; during the evening, pollutants can be injected directly into the inversion layer from the decaying upslope flows. In a land-sea configuration with mountains close to the coastline, the sea breeze and heated-mountain flow are strongly coupled. In the afternoon, this interaction can produce upslope flow from which polluted air is detrained into the inversion layer as a return circulation. When the mountains lie farther inland, however, pollutants may be trapped aloft when the mixed layer stabilizes in the late afternoon. As the nocturnal boundary layer forms over the coast in the evening, polluted mixed-layer air is effectively left behind in the inversion layer. In the Los Angeles Basin, the formation mechanism for elevated polluted layers is most similar to our cases with inland mountains.

Lu, Rong↗
NASA NTRS1996

Early Results from Solar Dynamic Space Power System Testing

A government/industry team designed, built and tested a 2-kWe solar dynamic space power system in a large thermal vacuum facility with a simulated Sun at the NASA Lewis Research Center. The Lewis facility provides an accurate simulation of temperatures, high vacuum and solar flux as encountered in low-Earth orbit. The solar dynamic system includes a Brayton power conversion unit integrated with a solar receiver which is designed to store energy for continuous power operation during the eclipse phase of the orbit. This paper reviews the goals and status of the Solar Dynamic Ground Test Demonstration project and describes the initial testing, including both operational and performance data. System testing to date has accumulated over 365 hours of power operation (ranging from 400 watts to 2.0-W(sub e)), including 187 simulated orbits, 16 ambient starts and 2 hot restarts. Data are shown for an orbital startup, transient and steady-state orbital operation and shutdown. System testing with varying insolation levels and operating speeds is discussed. The solar dynamic ground test demonstration is providing the experience and confidence toward a successful flight demonstration of the solar dynamic technologies on the Space Station Mir in 1997.

Shaltens, Richard K.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Multidimensional aspects: Ozone, temperature and transport

The capability for obtaining four-dimensional data on stratospheric structure, dynamics, and zone is discussed. Progress in the development of multidimensional models of the stratosphere is reported. The discussion of multidimensional aspects of the stratosphere is divided into four major sections: observations, analysis and interpretation, modeling, and transport of trace species.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1972

The high Reynolds number cryogenic wind tunnel.

Theoretical considerations indicate that cooling the wind-tunnel test gas to cryogenic temperatures will provide a large increase in test Reynolds number with no increase in dynamic pressure while reducing the tunnel drive-power requirements. Studies have been made to determine the expected variations of Reynolds number and other parameters over wide ranges of Mach number, pressure, and temperature with due regard to avoiding liquefaction and adverse real-gas effects. Practical operational procedures have been developed in a low-speed prototype cryogenic wind tunnel. Aerodynamic experiments in the facility have demonstrated the theoretically predicted variations in Reynolds number and drive power. Force and moment measurements on a wing model mounted on a water-jacketed strain-gage sting balance have demonstrated the feasibility of operation of such balances in a cryogenic environment.

Goodyer, M. J.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Mantle plumes - A boundary layer approach for Newtonian and non-Newtonian temperature-dependent rheologies

Stress is placed on the temperature dependence of both a linear Newtonian rheology and a nonlinear olivine rheology in accounting for narrow mantle flow structures. The boundary-layer theory developed incorporates an arbitrary temperature-dependent power-law rheology for the medium, in order to facilitate the study of mantle plume dynamics under real conditions. Thermal, kinematic, and dynamic structures of mantle plumes are modelled by a two-dimensional natural-convection boundary layer rising in a fluid with a temperature-dependent power-law relationship between shear stress and strain rate. An analytic similarity solution is arrived at for upwelling adjacent to a vertical isothermal stress-free plane. Newtonian creep as a deformation mechanism, thermal anomalies resulting from chemical heterogeneity, the behavior of plumes in non-Newtonian (olivine) mantles, and differences in the dynamics of wet and dry olivine are discussed.

Yuen, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Thermal Design and Analysis of a Multi-Stage 30K Radiative Cooling System for EPIC

The Experimental Probe of Inflationary Cosmology (EPIC) is an implementation of the NASA Einstein Inflation Probe mission, to answer questions about the physics of Inflation in the early Universe by measuring the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The mission relies on a passive cooling system to cool the enclosure of a telescope to 30 K; a cryocooler then cools this enclosure to 18 K and the telescope to 4 K. Subsequently, an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator further cools a large focal plane to approx.100 mK. For this mission, the telescope has an aperture of 1.4 m, and the spacecraft's symmetry axis is oriented approx. 45 degrees relative to the direction of the sun. The spacecraft will be spun at approx. 0.5 rpm around this axis, which then precesses on the sky at 1 rph. The passive system must both supply the necessary cooling power for the cryocooler and meet demanding temperature stability requirements. We describe the thermal design of a passive cooling system consisting of four V-groove radiators for shielding of solar radiation and cooling the telescope to 30 K. The design realizes loads of 20 and 68 mW at the 4 K and 18 K stages on the cooler, respectively. A lower cost option for reaching 40 K with three V-groove radiators is also described. The analysis includes radiation coupling between stages of the radiators and sunshields, and parasitic conduction in the bipod support, harnesses, and ADR leads. Dynamic effects are also estimated, including the very small variations in temperature due to the scan motion of the spacecraft.

Space↗
NASA NTRS1989

Conjugate (solid/fluid) computational fluid dynamics analysis of the space shuttle solid rocket motor nozzle/case and case field joints

Three-dimensional, conjugate (solid/fluid) heat transfer analyses of new designs of the Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) nozzle/case and case field joints are described. The main focus was to predict the consequences of multiple rips (or debonds) in the ambient cure adhesive packed between the nozzle/case joint surfaces and the bond line between the mating field joint surfaces. The models calculate the transient temperature responses of the various materials neighboring postulated flow/leakpaths into, past, and out from the nozzle/case primary O-ring cavity and case field capture O-ring cavity. These results were used to assess if the design was failsafe (i.e., no potential O-ring erosion) and reusable (i.e., no excessive steel temperatures). The models are adaptions and extensions of the general purpose PHOENICS fluid dynamics code. A non-orthogonal coordinate system was employed and 11,592 control cells for the nozzle/case and 20,088 for the case field joints are used with non-uniform distribution. Physical properties of both fluid and solids are temperature dependent. A number of parametric studies were run for both joints with results showing temperature limits for reuse for the steel case on the nozzle joint being exceeded while the steel case temperatures for the field joint were not. O-ring temperatures for the nozzle joint predicted erosion while for the field joint they did not.

Doran, D.↗
NASA NTRS1981

The Fabry-Perot Interferometer on Dynamics Explorer

The Fabry-Perot Interferometer (FPI) on Dynamics Explorer is a remote sensing instrument designed to measure the temperature, meridional wind and density of the metastable atoms O(1S) and O(1D), and the ion O(plus)(2P) in the thermosphere. The measurements are made with a stable, high resolution Fabry-Perot etalon, which performs a wavelength analysis on the light detected from the thermospheric emission features by spatially scanning the interference fringe plane with a multichannel array detector. The wavelength analysis characterizes the Doppler line profile of the emitting species. A sequential altitude scan, performed by a commandable horizon scan mirror, provides a cross-sectional view of the thermodynamic and dynamic state of the thermosphere below the orbit of the Dynamics Explorer B satellite.

Hays, P. B.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Combustion Dynamic Characteristics Identification in a 9-point LDI Combustor Under Choked Outlet Boundary Conditions

Combustion dynamics data were collected at the NASA Glenn Research Center's CE-5 flame tube test facility under combustor outlet choked conditions. Two 9-point Swirl-Venturi Lean Direct Injection (SV-LDI) configurations were tested in a rectangular cuboid combustor geometry. Combustion dynamic data were measured at different engine operational conditions up to inlet air pressure and temperature of 24.13 bar and 828 K, respectively. In this study, the effects of acoustic cavity resonance, precessing vortex core (PVC), and non-uniform thermal expansion on the dynamic noise spectrum are identified by comparing the dynamic data that collected at various combustor inlet conditions along with combustor geometric calculations. The results show that the acoustic cavity resonance noises were seen in the counter-rotating pilot configuration but not in the co-rotating pilot configuration. Dynamic pressure noise band at around 0.9 kHz was only detected at the P'41 location (9.8 cm after fuel injector face) but not at the P'42 location (29 cm after the fuel injector face); the amplitude of this noise band depended on the thermal expansion ratio (T4/T3). The noise band at around 1.8 kHz was found to depend on the inlet air pressure or the air density inside the combustor. The PVC frequency was not observed in these two configurations.

lean direct injection↗
NASA NTRS1994

CO2 cooling in terrestrial planet thermospheres

We examine the recent progress in the debate on the CO2-O relaxation rate, its temperature dependence, and its corresponding impact on the thermospheric heat budgets of Venus, Earth, and Mars. This comparative approach provides the broadest range of conditions under which a common CO2-O relaxation rate should provide consistent results. New global mean calculations are presented for the heat budgets of these three planets using large CO2-O relaxation rates that have been inferred recently from Earth CO2 radiance measurements and laboratory studies. Results indicate that available Venus and Mars data constrain the CO2-O relaxation rate to be 2-4 x 10(exp -12)/cu cm/s at 300 K. For Venus, this strong cooling serves as an effective thermostat that gives rise to a small variation of thermospheric temperatures over the solar cycle, just as observed. Conversely, CO2 cooling does not appear to be dominant in the dayside heat budget of the Mars thermosphere over most of the solar cycle. For the Earth, this strong cooling implies that the lower thermosphere does not typically require significant eddy diffusion or heat conduction. However, global-scale dynamics or an additional heating mechanism may be needed to restore calculated temperatures to observed values when relaxation rates exceeding 2 x 10(exp -12)/cu cm/s are employed.

Bougher, S. W.↗
NASA NTRS1994

On the sources of interplanetary shocks at 0.72 AU

In order to understand the solar cycle variation of interplanetary shocks and their driving source at 0.72 AU, a survey of Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO) magnetometer and plasma data from 1979-1988 has been conducted. Known shock drivers at 1.0 AU include coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and fast/slow stream interactions. In our analysis, CMEs were identified by a decrease in plasma temperature to background or below accompanied by an increase in plasma density and dynamic pressure. It was also required that the magnetic field exhibit a coherent rotation over about a day and an increase and decline in magnitude on a timescale of hours to days. Stream interactions were identified by a characteristic increase in ion temperature and velocity coincident with a decrease in density and a coincident increase in the total magnetic field magnitude. These signatures were usually preceded within 24 hours by a change in flow angle. In all, 45 shocks were identified: 36 driven by CMEs, 6 resulting from fast/slow stream interactions, and 3 with sources that could not be defined. The shocks driven by CMEs show a solar cycle variation that roughly follows the sunspot number. These shocks all have normals consistent with radial propagation of the shock fronts from the sun. In contrast, the few stream interaction related shocks show a tendency to occur later in the solar cycle and have a broader distribution of shock normals.

Lindsay, G. M.↗
NASA NTRS2011

CO2 Insulation for Thermal Control of the Mars Science Laboratory

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is sending a large (>850 kg) rover as part of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission to Mars in 2011. The rover's primary power source is a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) that generates roughly 2000 W of heat, which is converted to approximately 110 W of electrical power for use by the rover electronics, science instruments, and mechanism-actuators. The large rover size and extreme thermal environments (cold and hot) for which the rover is designed for led to a sophisticated thermal control system to keep it within allowable temperature limits. The pre-existing Martian atmosphere of low thermal conductivity CO2 gas (8 Torr) is used to thermally protect the rover and its components from the extremely cold Martian environment (temperatures as low as -130 deg C). Conventional vacuum based insulation like Multi Layer Insulation (MLI) is not effective in a gaseous atmosphere, so engineered gaps between the warm rover internal components and the cold rover external structure were employed to implement this thermal isolation. Large gaps would lead to more thermal isolation, but would also require more of the precious volume available within the rover. Therefore, a balance of the degree of thermal isolation achieved vs. the volume of rover utilized is required to reach an acceptable design. The temperature differences between the controlled components and the rover structure vary from location to location so each gap has to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to arrive at an optimal thickness. For every configuration and temperature difference, there is a critical thickness below which the heat transfer mechanism is dominated by simple gaseous thermal conduction. For larger gaps, the mechanism is dominated by natural convection. In general, convection leads to a poorer level of thermal isolation as compared to conduction. All these considerations play important roles in the optimization process. A three-step process was utilized to design this insulation. The first step is to come up with a simple, textbook based, closed-form equation assessment of gap thickness vs. resultant thermal isolation achieved. The second step is a more sophisticated numerical assessment using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software to investigate the effect of complicated geometries and temperature contours along them to arrive at the effective thermal isolation in a CO2 atmosphere. The third step is to test samples of representative geometries in a CO2 filled chamber to measure the thermal isolation achieved. The results of these assessments along with the consistency checks across these methods leads to the formulation of design-guidelines for gap implementation within the rover geometry. Finally, based on the geometric and functional constraints within the real rover system, a detailed design that accommodates all these factors is arrived at. This paper will describe in detail this entire process, the results of these assessments and the final design that was implemented.

CO2↗
NASA NTRS1995

Large-scale structure of solar wind as observed on the Prognoz 7 satellite

Properties of different solar wind streams depend on the large scale structure of coronal magnetic field and dynamical phenomena in the solar atmosphere. We present average values and distributions of MHD parameters (density, velocity, temperature, fluxes of mass, momentum and energy, ratio of thermal and magnetic pressures, as well as helium abundance) as observed on board the Prognoz 7 satellite in the different types of the solar wind streams connected with solar corona structure and phenomena: (1) heliospheric current sheet, (2) streams from coronal holes, (3) streams from coronal streamers, (4) plasma disturbed by interplanetary shocks, and (5) coronal mass ejections. As for quasistationary streams of solar wind, maximum mass flux is recorded in the streams emanating from the coronal streamers while maximum thermal and kinetic energy fluxes are observed in the streams from the coronal holes. The momentum fluxes are equal in both types of streams. Maximum ratio of thermal and magnetic pressures is observed in heliospheric current sheet. The maximum helium abundance is observed in coronal mass ejection, it is higher in streams from coronal holes than in streams from streamers, and its dependences on density and mass flux are different in different types of the streams. Dynamics of alpha-particle velocity and temperature relative to protons in different streams is discussed.

Yermolaev, Yu. I.↗