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At least 1,171 records · Page 65

How Certain are Temperature Trend Estimates in the Lower Stratosphere?

Many recent studies have shown a clear cooling of the lower stratosphere, which has often been coupled to decreases in the local ozone concentrations as well as increases in well-mixed gases and aerosols. While satellite data are available over about two decades, radiosonde estimates give longer time series for analysis. Trend detection is limited by the long-term stability of the measurement systems and the existence of large interannual variability forced by dynamics. In this paper, both of these issues will be addressed critically, with emphasis on localized changes and how these may relate to disruptions in observation systems and the dynamical forcing mechanisms. The primary dataset for the study are the northern hemispheric analyses from the Free University of Berlin, which will be supplemented by a variety of other sources and some model experiments.

Pawson, Steven↗

Navigating Mars Global Surveyor Through the Martian Atmosphere: Aerobraking 2

The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft was successfully inserted into an elliptical orbit around Mars on 9/12/97, 01:53:49 UTC. This orbit was near polar (inclination=93.26 deg) with an orbital period of 44.993 hours and apoapsis and periapsis altitudes of 54,025.9 km and 262.9 km respectively. After 201 orbits and 196 days after Mars orbit insertion, the first phase of aerobraking (AB), called AB 1, has ended; after the AB 1 termination maneuver, the orbital period was 11.64 hours with apoapsis and periapsis altitudes of 17,870.3 and 170.7 Ian respectively. Thereafter, MGS was in a science phasing orbit (SPO) and acquired data from the science instruments from 3/28/98 to 9/22/98 (orbits 202 through 572). The second phase of aerobraking (AB2) began on 9/23/98 with the first descent into the atmosphere on P574 and ended with the aerobraking termination maneuver (ABX) on 2/4/99 on A 1284. Just prior to ABX, the apoapsis and periapsis altitudes were 456.5 km and 116.7 km respectively with an orbit period of 1.973 hours, a local mean solar time (LMST) at the descending node of 2 hours, 3.6 minutes and an inclination of 92.9 degrees. AB was responsible for circularization of the MGS orbit. However, two additional orbital conditions had to be satisfied simultaneously. These were a) complete AB2 when the LMST at the descending node was close to 2:00 am and b) the inclination was at 93.0 degrees. This paper describes the navigation of MGS throughout AB2; a companion paper describes the strategy and plan for aerobraking. Navigation challenges involved: a) the estimation of an atmospheric density model for every drag pass or periapsis-passage by analyzing doppler tracking data, b) the generation of a short-term, that is over one to several orbits, accurate atmospheric density predictions, c) maintaining the spacecraft's orbit within upper and lower bounds of atmospheric density or dynamic pressure during each periapsis-passage, and d) the prediction of accurate periapsis-passage times (Tp) over one to fifteen orbits. The density estimation and analysis procedure, evaluation of almost 700 atmospheric densities throughout AB2, the variation and accuracy of density predictions, the Tp prediction accuracy and how effectively we terminated AB2 are the basis of this paper and shall be presented in detail. A summary overview of AB2 is given.

Esposito, P.↗

An Aerosol Physical Chemistry Model for the Upper Troposphere

This report is the final report for the Cooperative Agreement NCC2-1000. The tasks outlined in the various proposals are: (1) Development of an aerosol chemistry model; (2) Utilization of satellite measurements of trace gases along with analysis of temperatures and dynamic conditions to understand ice cloud formation, dehydration and sedimentation in the winter polar regions; (3) Comparison of the HALOE and SAGE II time dependencies of the Pinatubo aerosol decay. The publications are attached.

Lin, Jin-Sheng↗

Design and Analysis of Turbomachinery for Space Applications

This presentation provides an overview of CORSAIR, a three dimensional computational fluid dynamics software code for the analysis of turbomachinery components available from NASA, and discusses its potential use in the design of these parts. Topics covered include: time-dependent equations of motion, grid topology, turbulence models, boundary conditions, parallel simulations and miscellaneous capabilities.

Dorney, D.↗

A High-Order, Linear Time-Invariant Model for Application to Higher Harmonic Control and Flight Control System Interaction

This research describes a new methodology for the extraction of a high-order, linear time invariant model, which allows the periodicity of the helicopter response to be accurately captured. This model provides the needed level of dynamic fidelity to permit an analysis and optimization of the AFCS and HHC algorithms. The key results of this study indicate that the closed-loop HHC system has little influence on the AFCS or on the vehicle handling qualities, which indicates that the AFCS does not need modification to work with the HHC system. However, the results show that the vibration response to maneuvers must be considered during the HHC design process, and this leads to much higher required HHC loop crossover frequencies. This research also demonstrates that the transient vibration responses during maneuvers can be reduced by optimizing the closed-loop higher harmonic control algorithm using conventional control system analyses.

Cheng, Rendy P.↗

Biosequence-based approach to analyzing binaries

In a dynamic computing environment, it is a nontrivial task to verify code running in the environment because most approaches to software similarity require extensive and time-consuming analysis of a binary, or the approaches fail to recognize executables that are similar but nonidentical. A biosequence-based method for quantifying similarity of executable binaries is used to identify allowed codes in a real-world multi-user environment.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Biosequence-based approach to analyzing binaries

In a dynamic computing environment, it is a nontrivial task to verify code running in the environment because most approaches to software similarity require extensive and time-consuming analysis of a binary, or the approaches fail to recognize executables that are similar but nonidentical. A biosequence-based method for quantifying similarity of executable binaries is used to identify allowed codes in a real-world multi-user environment.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Finite spatial-grid effects in energy-conserving particle-in-cell algorithms

Finite-grid (or aliasing) instabilities are pervasive in particle-in-cell (PIC) plasma simulation algorithms, and force the modeler to resolve the smallest (Debye) length scale in the problem regardless of dynamical relevance. These instabilities originate in the aliasing of interpolation errors between mesh quantities and particles (which live in the space–time continuum). Recently, strictly energy-conserving PIC (EC-PIC) algorithms have been developed that promise enhanced robustness against aliasing instabilities. In this study, we confirm by analysis that EC-PIC is stable against aliasing instabilities for stationary plasmas. For drifting plasmas, we demonstrate by analysis and numerical experiments that, while EC-PIC algorithms are not free from these instabilities in principle, they feature a benign stability threshold for finite-temperature plasmas that make them usable in practice for a large class of problems (featuring ambipolarity and realistic ion-electron mass ratios) without the need to consider the size of the Debye length. We also demonstrate that this threshold is absent for the popular momentum-conserving PIC algorithms, which are therefore unstable for both drifting and stationary plasmas beyond a threshold in cell size compared to Debye length. Finite-grid (or aliasing) instabilities are pervasive in particle-in-cell (PIC) plasma simulation algorithms, and force the modeler to resolve the smallest (Debye) length scale in the problem regardless of dynamical relevance. These instabilities originate in the aliasing of interpolation errors between mesh quantities and particles (which live in the space–time continuum). Recently, strictly energy-conserving PIC (EC-PIC) algorithms have been developed that promise enhanced robustness against aliasing instabilities. In this study, we confirm by analysis that EC-PIC is stable against aliasing instabilities for stationary plasmas. For drifting plasmas, we demonstrate by analysis and numerical experiments that, while EC-PIC algorithms are not free from these instabilities in principle, they feature a benign stability threshold for finite-temperature plasmas that make them usable in practice for a large class of problems (featuring ambipolarity and realistic ion-electron mass ratios) without the need to consider the size of the Debye length. Finally, we also demonstrate that this threshold is absent for the popular momentum-conserving PIC algorithms, which are therefore unstable for both drifting and stationary plasmas beyond a threshold in cell size compared to Debye length.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Front-End Electron Transfer Dissociation Coupled to a 21 Tesla FT-ICR Mass Spectrometer for Intact Protein Sequence Analysis

High resolution mass spectrometry is a key technology for in-depth protein characterization. High-field Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) enables high-level interrogation of intact proteins in the most detail to date. However, an appropriate complement of fragmentation technologies must be paired with FTMS to provide comprehensive sequence coverage, as well as characterization of sequence variants, and post-translational modifications. Here we describe the integration of front-end electron transfer dissociation (FETD) with a custom-built 21 tesla FT-ICR mass spectrometer, which yields unprecedented sequence coverage for proteins ranging from 2.8 to 29 kDa, without the need for extensive spectral averaging (e.g., ~60% sequence coverage for apo-myoglobin with four averaged acquisitions). The system is equipped with a multipole storage device separate from the ETD reaction device, which allows accumulation of multiple ETD fragment ion fills. Consequently, an optimally large product ion population is accumulated prior to transfer to the ICR cell for mass analysis, which improves mass spectral signal-to-noise ratio, dynamic range, and scan rate. We find a linear relationship between protein molecular weight and minimum number of ETD reaction fills to achieve optimum sequence coverage, thereby enabling more efficient use of instrument data acquisition time. Finally, real-time scaling of the number of ETD reactions fills during method-based acquisition is shown, and the implications for LC-MS/MS top-down analysis are discussed. .

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Surface Chemistry Controls Anomalous Ferroelectric Behavior in Lithium Niobate

Polarization switching in ferroelectric materials underpins a multitude of applications ranging from nonvolatile memories to data storage to ferroelectric lithography. While traditionally considered to be a functionality of the material only, basic theoretical considerations suggest that switching is expected to be intrinsically linked to changes in the electrochemical state of the surface. Hence, the properties and dynamics of the screening charges can affect or control the switching dynamics. Despite being recognized for over 50 years, analysis of these phenomena remained largely speculative. Here, we explore polarization switching on the prototypical LiNbO 3 surface using the combination of contact mode Kelvin probe force microscopy and chemical imaging by time-of-flight mass-spectrometry and demonstrate pronounced chemical differences between the domains. Here, these studies provide a consistent explanation to the anomalous polarization and surface charge behavior observed in LiNbO 3 and point to new opportunities in chemical control of polarization dynamics in thin films and crystals via control of surface chemistry, complementing traditional routes via bulk doping, and substrate-induced strain and tilt systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Full 3D Kinetic Modeling and Quantification of Positive Streamer Evolution in an Azimuthally Swept Pin-to-Plane Wedge Geometry

Cathode-directed streamer evolution in near atmospheric air is modeled in 3D pin-to-plane geometries using a 3D kinetic Particle-In-Cell (PIC) code that simulates particle-particle collisions via the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. Due to the computational challenges associated with a complete 360° volumetric domain, a practical alternative was achieved using a wedge domain and a range of azimuthal angles was explored (5°, 15°, 30°, and 45°) to study possible effects on the streamer growth and propagation due to the finite wedge angle. A DC voltage of 6 kV is administered to a hemispherical anode of radius 100 μm, with a planar cathode held at ground potential, generating an over-volted state with an electric field of 4 MV/m across a 1500 μm gap. The domain is seeded with an initial ion and electron density of 10 18 m -3 at 1 eV temperature confined to a spherical region of radius 100 μm centered at the tip of the anode. The air chemistry model [1] includes standard Townsend breakdown mechanisms (electron-neutral elastic, excitation, ionization, attachment, and detachment collision chemistry and secondary electron emission) as well as streamer mechanisms (photoionization and ion-neutral collisions) via tracking excited state neutrals which can then either quench via collisions or spontaneously emit a photon based on specific Einstein-A coefficients [2, 3]. In this work, positive streamer dynamics are formally quantified for each wedge angle in terms of electron velocity and density as temporal functions of coordinates r, Φ, and z. Applying a random plasma seed for each simulation, particles of interest are tracked with near femtosecond temporal resolution out to 1.4 ns and spatially binned. This process is repeated six times and results are averaged. Prior 2D studies have shown that the reduced electric field, E/n, can significantly impact streamer evolution [4]. We extend the analysis to 3D wedge geometries, to limit computational costs, and examine the wedge angle’s effect on streamer branching, propagation, and velocity. Results indicate that the smallest wedge angle that produced an acceptably converged solution is 30°. The potential effects that a mesh, when under-resolved with respect to the Debye length, can impart on streamer dynamics and numerical heating were not investigated, and we explicitly state here that the smallest cell size was approximately 10 times the minimum λ D in the streamer channel at late times. This constraint on cell size was the result of computational limitations on total mesh count.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Mixed Spin (1, 5/2) Ising Ferromagnetic Blume-Capel Model Under Time-Dependent Sinusoidal Magnetic Field: an Effective-Field Theory Analysis

Non-equilibrium magnetic properties are studied in a two-dimensional mixed spin (1, 5/2) Blume-Capel Ising system under the influence sinusoidal magnetic fields using the effective-field theory based on a decoupling approximation. A dynamic equation of motion has been solved for a square lattice by utilizing a Glauber-type stochastic process. Dynamic phase diagrams are presented in the reduced magnetic field amplitude and reduced temperature plane (h,T) and reduced crystal-field and reduced temperature plane (Δ,T). We observe that the system exhibits dynamic tricritical behaviors. Phase diagrams contain the paramagnetic (p), ferrimagnetic (i), and coexistence or mixed-phase regions, namely the i,p, and i + p, which strongly depend on the crystal-field interaction parameter and oscillating magnetic field frequency. We have found that the system only exhibits a second-order transition line in the higher-frequency region. We have also compared our result with the mean-field prediction in order to indicate the effects of correlations and found that some of the dynamic first-order phase lines disappeared.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Data-driven linear time advance operators for the acceleration of plasma physics simulation

In this study, we demonstrate the application of data-driven linear operator construction for time advance with a goal of accelerating plasma physics simulation. We apply dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) to data produced by the nonlinear SOLPS-ITER (Scrape-off Layer Plasma Simulator - International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) plasma boundary code suite in order to estimate a series of linear operators and monitor their predictive accuracy via online error analysis. We find that this approach defines when these dynamics can be represented by a sequence of approximate linear operators and is essential for providing consistent projections when compared to an unconstrained application. For linear diffusion and advection–diffusion fluid test problems, we construct and apply operators within explicit and implicit time advance schemes, demonstrating that stability can be robustly guaranteed in each case. We further investigate the use of the linear time advance operators within several integration methods including forward Euler, backward Euler, and the matrix exponential. The application of this method to simulation data from SOLPS-ITER, with varying levels of Markov chain Monte Carlo numerical noise, shows that constrained DMD operators yield a capability to identify, extract, and integrate a (slow) subset of the present timescales. Example applications show that for projected speedup factors of [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text], a mean relative error of 3%, 5%, and 8% and maximum relative error less than 20% are achievable, which appears acceptable for typical SOLPS-ITER steady-state simulations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Towards generic memory forensic framework for programmable logic controllers

A Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is a microprocessor-based controller that is used to automate physical processes in critical infrastructure and various other industries and manufacturing sectors. Initially, PLCs were completely isolated from the Internet, and cyber security was not incorporated at the time of development. The introduction of industry 4.0 and the evolution of ICS systems to communicate over public IP addresses from the Internet enhanced productivity and efficiency, but Internet connectivity exposed the systems and their vulnerabilities, which led to an increase in cyber attacks. When a system is sabotaged/compromised, security analysts need to get to the root cause of the attack as quickly as possible to recover the system. To do so, memory forensic analysis is critical to provide a unique insight into the run-time memory activities and extract a reliable source of evidence. In this paper, we analyze the memory structure of the Schneider Electric Modicon M221 PLC. To build a memory profile, we reverse engineer the communication protocol and conduct differential analysis to gain knowledge about the structure of the memory and the low-level representation of control logic instructions. We then identify dynamic and static memory regions by modifying different project fields and conducting differential analysis, which allows us to identify boundaries of critical memory structures and extract important forensic artifacts that can be found in the memory. The Python implementation of the memory profile can help reduce the time and effort required for manual analysis in case of cyber incident or system failure.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Bifurcation and Stability Analysis of the Equilibrium States in Thermodynamic Systems in a Small Vicinity of the Equilibrium Values of Parameters

The dynamic behavior of thermodynamic system, described by one order parameter and one control parameter, in a small neighborhood of ordinary and bifurcation equilibrium values of the system parameters is studied. Using the general methods of investigating the branching (bifurcations) of solutions for nonlinear equations, we performed an exhaustive analysis of the order parameter dependences on the control parameter in a small vicinity of the equilibrium values of parameters, including the stability analysis of the equilibrium states, and the asymptotic behavior of the order parameter dependences on the control parameter (bifurcation diagrams). The peculiarities of the transition to an unstable state of the system are discussed, and the estimates of the transition time to the unstable state in the neighborhood of ordinary and bifurcation equilibrium values of parameters are given. The influence of an external field on the dynamic behavior of thermodynamic system is analyzed, and the peculiarities of the system dynamic behavior are discussed near the ordinary and bifurcation equilibrium values of parameters in the presence of external field. The dynamic process of magnetization of a ferromagnet is discussed by using the general methods of bifurcation and stability analysis presented in the paper.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Coccidioidomycosis Dynamics in Relation to Climate in the Southwestern United States: Cocci. and climate in the SW U.S.

Valley fever is endemic to the southwestern United States. Humans contract this fungal disease by inhaling spores of Coccidioides spp. Changes in the environment can influence the abundance and dispersal of Coccidioides spp., causing fluctuations in valley fever incidence. We combined county-level case records from state health agencies to create a regional valley fever database for the southwestern United States, including Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. We used this data set to explore how environmental factors influenced the spatial pattern and temporal dynamics of valley fever incidence during 2000–2015. We compiled climate and environmental geospatial data sets from multiple sources to compare with valley fever incidence. These variables included air temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, surface dust concentration, normalized difference vegetation index, and cropland area. We found that valley fever incidence was greater in areas with warmer air temperatures and drier soils. The mean annual cycle of incidence varied throughout the southwestern United States and peaked following periods of low precipitation and soil moisture. From year-to-year, however, autumn incidence was higher following cooler, wetter, and productive springs in the San Joaquin Valley of California. In southcentral Arizona, incidence increased significantly through time. By 2015, incidence in this region was more than double the rate in the San Joaquin Valley. Our analysis provides a framework for interpreting the influence of climate change on valley fever incidence dynamics. Our results may allow the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve their estimates of the spatial pattern and intensity of valley fever endemicity.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Atmospheric Diabatic Heating in Different Weather States and the General Circulation

Analysis of multiple global satellite products identifies distinctive weather states of the atmosphere from the mesoscale pattern of cloud properties and quantifies the associated diabatic heating/cooling by radiative flux divergence, precipitation, and surface sensible heat flux. The results show that the forcing for the atmospheric general circulation is a very dynamic process, varying strongly at weather space-time scales, comprising relatively infrequent, strong heating events by ''stormy'' weather and more nearly continuous, weak cooling by ''fair'' weather. Such behavior undercuts the value of analyses of time-averaged energy exchanges in observations or numerical models. It is proposed that an analysis of the joint time-related variations of the global weather states and the general circulation on weather space-time scales might be used to establish useful ''feedback like'' relationships between cloud processes and the large-scale circulation.

Cooling↗