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At least 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1982

Vector magnetic field evolution, energy storage, and associated photospheric velocity shear within a flare-productive active region

Sheared photospheric velocity fields inferred from spot motions for April 5-7, 1980, are compared with both transverse magnetic field orientation changes and with the region's flare history. Rapid spot motions and high inferred velocity shear coincide with increased field alignment along the longitudinal neutral line and with increased flare activity, while a later decrease in velocity shear precedes a more relaxed magnetic configuration and decrease in flare activity. It is estimated that magnetic reconfiguration produced by the relative velocities of the spots could cause storage of about 10 to the 32nd erg/day, while flares occurring during this time expended no more than about 10 to the 31st erg/day.

Krall, K. R.↗
NASA NTRS1981

The photospheric vector magnetic field of a sunspot and its vertical gradient

The results of direct comparisons of photospheric and transition region line-of-sight field observations of sunspots using the SMM UV spectrometer and polarimeter are reported. The analysis accompanying the data is concentrated on demonstrating that the sunspot concentrated magnetic field extends into the transition region. An observation of a sunspot on Oct. 23, 1980 at the S 18 E 03 location is used as an example. Maximum field strengths ranged from 2030-2240 gauss for large and small umbrae viewed and inclination of the field to the line-of-sight was determined for the photosphere and transition region. The distribution of the magnetic field over the sunspot and variation of the line-of-sight gradient are discussed, as are the magnitudes and gradients of the photospheric field across the penumbral-photospheric boundaries.

Hagyard, M. J.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Ion acceleration at shocks in interplanetary space - A brief review of recent observations

An assessment is presented of recent observations providing insights into the collisionless shock ion acceleration process as it is observed near the earth's bow shock and near interplanetary shocks generated by solar activity, with emphasis on the way in which the ion acceleration process appears to be the same for both types of shocks. The observed differences in energetic particle distributions found near these shocks appear to be related to the seed populations available for acceleration, the shock's extent, radius of curvature, and the angle beween the local shock normal and the magnetic field vector, the time of field line connection to the shock, and possibly the shock Mach number.

Gosling, J. T.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Trends in measurement of solar vector magnetic fields using the Zeeman effect

Trends in spectropolarimetry as applied to the problem of Zeeman effect measurement are discussed. The use of detector arrays to improve observing efficiency is obtained. Which required new polarization modulation schemes that match the time required to read detector arrays. Another significant trend is narrowband filters, to improve angular and temporal coverage, and to Fourier transform spectrometers, to improve spectral coverage and precision. Low-polarization designs and improved methods for compensating instrumental polarization were developed. A requirement for high angular resolution suggests using adaptive optical devices to subdue the effects of bad seeing. The ultimate strategy to beat the seeing is to loft the telescope above the atmosphere such as is planned with a 30-cm telescope in 1985 and a 1250-cm telescope in 1990.

Harvey, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Vector magnetic field observations with the Haleakala polarimeter

Several enhancements were recently made to the Haleakala polarimeter. Linear array detectors provide simultaneous resolution over a 3-A wavelength range, with spectral resolution of 40 mA. Optical fibers are now used to carry the intensity-modulated light from the rotating quarter-wave plate polarimeter to the echelle spectrometer, permitting its removal from the spar to a more stable environment. These changes, together with improved quarter-wave plates, reduced systematic errors to a few parts in 10,000 for routine observations. Examples of Stokes profiles and derived magnetic field maps are presented.

Mickey, D. L.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Observations of vector magnetic fields with a magneto-optic filter

The use of the magnetooptic filter to observe solar magnetic fields in the potassium line at 7699 A is described. The filter has been used in the Big Bear videomagnetograph since October 23. It gives a high sensitivity and dynamic range for longitudnal magnetic fields and enables measurement of transverse magnetic fields using the sigma component. Examples of the observations are presented.

Cacciani, Alessandro↗
NASA NTRS1994

Vector magnetic field changes associated with X-class flares

We present high-resolution transverse and longitudinal magnetic field measurements bracketing five X-class solar flares. We show that the magnetic shear, defined as the angular difference between the measured field and calculated potential field, actually increases after all of these flares. In each case, the shear is shown to increase along a substantial portion of the magnetic neutral line. For two of the cases, we have excellent time resolution, on the order of several minutes, and we demonstrate that the shear increase is impulsive. We briefly discuss the theoretical implications of our results.

Wang, Haimin↗
NASA NTRS2012

Interpretation of Vector Electric Field Measurements of Bursty Langmuir Waves in the Cusp

An analysis of auroral Langmuir waves in the cusp observed by two high-frequency electric field instruments on the TRICE high-flyer sounding rocket shows many examples of Langmuir wave bursts modulated at approximately 10 kHz. Previous studies have explained these and similar observations as the result of beating between waves with very close frequencies near the Langmuir cutoff, resulting from either wave-wave interactions or independent linear excitations. The unique three-dimensional (3-D) data set provided by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center TAEFWD instrument shows that up to 25% of waveforms selected from the most intense bursts exhibit anisotropic modulations, i.e., the beat nulls and peaks are not aligned in time across the three perpendicular electric field components. Modulations of this type arise when superposed wave normal modes possess differing polarizations, and simulations using wave modes calculated with the J-WHAMP numerical dispersion code show (1) that waves with differing polarizations can exist in conditions like those observed by TRICE-High and (2) that superpositions of such waves can produce anisotropic modulation. Fourier analysis of the 3-D waveform data suggests that both linear and elliptically polarized waves are present near the Langmuir cutoff at these times. These observations illustrate how 3-D measurements can give valuable insight into the nature of wave interactions in the auroral plasma environment.

Dombrowski, M. P.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Off disk-center potential field calculations using vector magnetograms

A potential field calculation for off disk-center vector magnetograms that uses all the three components of the measured field is investigated. There is neither any need for interpolation of grid points between the image plane and the heliographic plane nor for an extension or a truncation to a heliographic rectangle. Hence, the method provides the maximum information content from the photospheric field as well as the most consistent potential field independent of the viewing angle. The introduction of polarimetric noise produces a less tolerant extrapolation procedure than using the line-of-sight extrapolation, but the resultant standard deviation is still small enough for the practical utility of this method.

Venkatakrishnan, P.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Magsat: A satellite for measuring near earth magnetic fields

Magsat, designed for making measurements of the geomagnetic vector field, is evaluated. For accurate vector measurements the attitude of the fluxgate magnetometer will be determined to about 15 arc-seconds. Expected measurement accuracy will be 6 (gamma) in each component and 3 in magnitude. The Magsat data will be applied to solid earth studies including modeling of the Earth's main magnetic field, delineation of regional magnetic anomalies of crustal origin, and interpretation of those anomalies in terms of geologic and geophysical models. An opportunity will be presented to the scientific community to participate in data use investigations.

Langel, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Large sounding rockets as a base for probing the distant magnetosphere

The Echo program's use of large sounding rockets to inject electron beams into the outer trapping region where the earth's plasma sheet interacts with the inner magnetosphere is discussed. The beams pass through the plasma sheet and the trapping region, reflect at the southern hemisphere conjugate point and return to the vicinity of the rocket where they are detected and analyzed for acceleration and diffusion processes which may also be responsible for the radiation belts. The motion of electron beams in the magnetosphere is discussed from the standpoint of single particle motion, and the trajectories of electrons injected with known energy, known angle between the electron velocity vector and the local magnetic field vector, and known position are examined. The interaction between the rocket motion and the electron drift motion is described, and the advantages and drawbacks of beam detection by optical methods and by throwaway detectors are compared. Planned Echo experiments using the Space Shuttle are discussed

Winckler, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Remote sensing as a research tool

The application of aircraft and spacecraft remote sensing techniques to sea ice surveillance is evaluated. The effects of ice in the air-sea-ice system are examined. The measurement principles and characteristics of remote sensing methods for aircraft and spacecraft surveillance of sea ice are described. Consideration is given to ambient visible light, IR, passive microwave, active microwave, and laser altimeter and sonar systems. The applications of these systems to sea ice surveillance are discussed and examples are provided. Particular attention is placed on the use of microwave data and the relation between ice thickness and sea ice interactions. It is noted that spacecraft and aircraft sensing techniques can successfully measure snow cover; ice thickness; ice type; ice concentration; ice velocity field; ocean temperature; surface wind vector field; and air, snow, and ice surface temperatures.

Carsey, F. D.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Field-Aligned Poynting Flux Observations in the High-Latitude Ionosphere

We have used data from Dynamics Explorer 2 to investigate the rate of conversion of electromagnetic energy into both thermal and bulk flow particle kinetic energy in the high-latitude ionosphere. The flux tube integrated conversion rate E(dot)J can be determined from spacecraft measurements of the electric and magnetic field vectors by deriving the field-aligned Poynting flux, S(parallel) = S(dot)B(sub 0), where B(sub 0) is in the direction of the geomagnetic field. Determination of the Poynting flux from satellite observations is critically dependent upon the establishment of accurate values of the fields and is especially sensitive to errors in the baseline (unperturbed) geomagnetic field. We discuss our treatment of the data in some detail, particularly in regard to systematically correcting the measured magnetic field to account for attitude changes and model deficiencies. S(parallel) can be used to identify the relative strengths of the magnetosphere and thermospheric winds as energy drivers and we present observations demonstrating the dominance of each of these. Dominance of the magnetospheric driver is indicated by S(parallel) directed into the ionosphere. Electromagnetic energy is delivered to and dissipated within the region. Dominance of the neutral wind requires that the conductivity weighted neutral wind speed in the direction of the ion drift be larger than the ion drift, resulting in observations of an upward directed Poynting flux. Electromagnetic energy is generated within the ionospheric region in this case. We also present observations of a case where the neutral atmosphere motion may be reaching a state of sustained bulk flow velocity as evidenced by very small Poynting flux in the presence of large electric fields.

Slavin, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Electromagnetic potential vectors and the Lagrangian of a charged particle

Maxwell's equations can be shown to imply the existence of two independent three-dimensional potential vectors. A comparison between the potential vectors and the electric and magnetic field vectors, using a spatial Fourier transformation, reveals six independent potential components but only four independent electromagnetic field components for each mode. Although the electromagnetic fields determined by Maxwell's equations give a complete description of all possible classical electromagnetic phenomena, potential vectors contains more information and allow for a description of such quantum mechanical phenomena as the Aharonov-Bohm effect. A new result is that a charged particle Lagrangian written in terms of potential vectors automatically contains a 'spontaneous symmetry breaking' potential.

Shebalin, John V.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Cosmic ray anisotropies observed late in the decay phase of solar flare events

Data was obtained from instrumentation on Explorers 34 and 41 on cosmic-ray anisotropy and magnetic field vectors during five solar flare events. The analysis was conducted in the energy range from 0.7 to 7.6 MeV, of the late decay phase, to evaluate the dependence of net cosmic-ray anisotropy vector amplitude and direction on the magnetic field azimuth. Results showed that in the late decay phase the direction of the net cosmic-ray anisotropy vector was invariant in relation to the direction of the magnetic field, particle energy, and species. Within the statistical error of the available data the invariant direction was perpendicular to the mean magnetic field direction.

Allum, F. R.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Observations of a large-scale vortex-like structure in the deep-tail plasma sheet boundary layer

ISEE-3 observations of a large-scale vortexlike structure in the deep tail of the magnetosphere at X(GSM) = -217 earth radii are reported. The structure is characterized by two clockwise rotations of the energetic-ion anisotropy vector. Variations in the magnetic-field vector approximately 180 deg out of phase with the ion variations are observed. This structure is most likely the signature within the magnetosphere of a surface wave at the magnetopause driven by a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. Conditions inside and outside of the magnetosphere, as observed by ISEE-3 and ISEE-2, respectively, are examined; these conditions suggest that the surface wave is most likely propagating in the slow mode.

Sanderson, T. R.↗
NASA NTRS1988

3-D LDA study of a rectangular jet

The flow field of a rectangular jet with a 2:1 aspect ratio was studied at an axial Reynolds number of 100,000 (Mach number 0.09) using three-dimensional laser Doppler velocimetry. The flow field survey resulted in mean velocity vector field plots and contour plots of the Reynolds stress tensor components. This paper presents contour plots in the planes of the jet minor and major axes at different axial locations. These data contribute substantially to currently available data of jet flow fields and will provide a valuable database for three-dimensional modeling.

Morrison, Gerald L.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Solar magnetic fields measurements with a magneto-optical filter

The presence of a magnetic field at different levels inside the sun has crucial implications for helioseismology. The solar oscillation observing program carried out since 1983 at Mt. Wilson with Cacciani magneto-optical filter has recently been modified to acquire full-disk magnetograms with 2 arcsec spatial resolution. A method for the correct determination of magnetic maps which are free of contamination by velocity signal is presented. It is shown that no cross-talk exists between the Doppler and Zeeman shifts of the Na D lines, provided that instrumental polarization effects are taken into account. The observed line-of-sight photospheric field was used to map the vector field in the inner corona, above active regions, in the current free approximation.

Cacciani, A.↗