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At least 1,297 records · Page 72

Studies of the sea using HF radio scatter

Radio signals of decameter wavelength resonantly scattered from waves on the sea surface are used to measure precisely the wavelength, frequency, and direction of travel of those waves. These measurements are not only important in themselves, but are also used to deduce currents, winds, and perhaps wind stress at the sea surface. Techniques for obtaining these measurements, as well as experiments to evaluate these techniques are discussed. Finally, scatter has been used to produce the first high-resolution measurements of the directional distribution of large ocean waves, measurements of ocean surface currents at ranges of 20 km, and of surface winds at ranges of 3000 km.

Teague, C. C.↗

Are there echoes of gravitational waves?

In several approaches to evading the information paradox, the semiclassical black hole is replaced by an Exotic Compact Object (ECO). It has been conjectured that gravitational waves emitted by the merger of ECOs can reflect off the ECOs and produce a detectable ‘echo’. We argue that while a part of the wave can indeed reflect off the surface of an ECO, this reflected wave will get trapped by a new closed trapped surface produced by its own backreaction. Thus, no detectable signal of the echo will emerge to infinity. The only assumption in this analysis is that causality is maintained to leading order in gently curved spacetime. Thus, if echoes are actually detected, then we would face a profound change in our understanding of physics.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗

Accuracy Study of the Space-Time CE/SE Method for Computational Aeroacoustics Problems Involving Shock Waves

The space-time conservation element and solution element(CE/SE) method is used to study the sound-shock interaction problem. The order of accuracy of numerical schemes is investigated. The linear model problem.govemed by the 1-D scalar convection equation, sound-shock interaction problem governed by the 1-D Euler equations, and the 1-D shock-tube problem which involves moving shock waves and contact surfaces are solved to investigate the order of accuracy of numerical schemes. It is concluded that the accuracy of the CE/SE numerical scheme with designed 2nd-order accuracy becomes 1st order when a moving shock wave exists. However, the absolute error in the CE/SE solution downstream of the shock wave is on the same order as that obtained using a fourth-order accurate essentially nonoscillatory (ENO) scheme. No special techniques are used for either high-frequency low-amplitude waves or shock waves.

Wang, Xiao Yen↗

Validity condition for the local sheath impedance boundary condition and a nonlocal generalization

ICRF sheaths can cause unwanted interactions of high-power RF waves with material surfaces in magnetic fusion devices. In previous work, a local RF sheath impedance boundary condition (BC) was derived for use in ICRF codes together with a microscale (i.e., Debye or sheath width scale) model for obtaining the sheath impedance used in that BC. This local RF sheath BC matches the normal component of current and electrostatic potential across the sheath-plasma interface. Collapsing the matching conditions at the sheath-plasma interface to a BC depends on the assumption of scale separation, which can be violated when conditions along the local radius of curvature of the surface vary sufficiently rapidly. The validity condition is explored in this contribution, with special attention to the case where the magnetic field approaches being tangent to the surface. When the local sheath BC no longer applies, a non-local sheath BC is developed under the assumption of a more relaxed scale separation assumption. It is shown that the non-local sheath BC reduces to the previous local sheath BC under appropriate conditions. Furthermore, a surface-integrated sheath admittance parameter describes the 2D physics in the new BC.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Observations of Sea Surface Mean Square Slope During the Southern Ocean Waves Experiment

For the Southern Ocean Waves Experiment (SOWEX), conducted in June 1992 out of Hobart, Tasmania, the 36 GHz (8.3 mm) NASA Scanning Radar Altimeter (SRA) was shipped to Australia and installed on a CSIRO Fokker F-27 research aircraft instrumented to make comprehensive surface layer measurements of air-sea interaction fluxes. The sea surface mean square slope (mss), which is predominantly caused by the short waves, was determined from the backscattered power falloff with incidence angle measured by the SRA in the plane normal to the aircraft heading. On each flight, data were acquired at 240 m altitude while the aircraft was in a 7 deg roll attitude, interrogating off-nadir incidence angles from -15 deg through nadir to +29 deg. The aircraft turned azimuthally through 810 deg in this attitude, mapping the azimuthal dependence of the backscattered power falloff with incidence angle. Two sets of turning data were acquired on each day, before and after the aircraft measured wind stress at low altitude (12 m to 65 m). Wave topography and backscattered power for mss were also acquired during those level flight segments whenever the aircraft altitude was above the SRA minimum range of 35 m. A unique feature of this experiment was the use of a nadir-directed low-gain horn antenna (35 deg beamwidth) to acquire azimuthally integrated backscattered power data versus incidence angle before and after the turn data.

Walsh, E. J.↗

Surface Pressures and Heat Transfer on Unswept Blunt Plates in Helium at High Mach Numbers

Pressure distributions and local convective heat-transfer coefficients on a flat plate at zero angle of attack were measured in helium. Data were obtained with various amounts of leading-edge bluntness at Mach numbers of 12.5 and 14.7. The pressures on a sharp leading-edged plate were not influenced by the leading edge and were predicted by the first-order, hypersonic, weak-interaction theory. Pressures on blunt plates were correlated by introducing the leading-edge Reynolds number as a parameter. Measured heat-transfer coefficients on the sharp plate agreed with predictions obtained form existing exact solutions for hear transfer across the laminar boundary layer. For the blunt plates a comparison of theory with experiment indicated that more knowledge of the flow field between the sock wave and plate surface is necessary before an adequate prediction of convective heat transfer can be made. Shock-wave shapes for the blun plates at a Mach number 12.5 and zero angle of attack were measured. At distances between 2 and 60 leading-edge thicknesses from the shock vertex, the shock-wave shapes were found to be represented by a modified form of the blast-wave analogy.

Marvin, Joseph G.↗

Axial focusing of impact energy in the Earth's interior: Proof-of-principle tests of a new hypothesis

A causal link between major impact events and global processes would probably require a significant change in the thermal state of the Earth's interior, presumably brought about by coupling of impact energy. One possible mechanism for such energy coupling from the surface to the deep interior would be through focusing due to axial symmetry. Antipodal focusing of surface and body waves from earthquakes is a well-known phenomenon which has previously been exploited by seismologists in studies of the Earth's deep interior. Antipodal focusing from impacts on the Moon, Mercury, and icy satellites has also been invoked by planetary scientists to explain unusual surface features opposite some of the large impact structures on these bodies. For example, 'disrupted' terrains have been observed antipodal to the Caloris impact basis on Mercury and Imbrium Basin on the Moon. Very recently there have been speculations that antipodal focusing of impact energy within the mantle may lead to flood basalt and hotspot activity, but there has not yet been an attempt at a rigorous model. A new hypothesis was proposed and preliminary proof-of-principle tests for the coupling of energy from major impacts to the mantle by axial focusing of seismic waves was performed. Because of the axial symmetry of the explosive source, the phases and amplitudes are dependent only on ray parameter (or takeoff angle) and are independent of azimuthal angle. For a symmetric and homogeneous Earth, all the seismic energy radiated by the impact at a given takeoff angle will be refocused (minus attenuation) on the axis of symmetry, regardless of the number of reflections and refractions it has experienced. Mantle material near the axis of symmetry will experience more strain cycles with much greater amplitude than elsewhere and will therefore experience more irreversible heating. The situation is very different than for a giant earthquake, which in addition to having less energy, has an asymmetric focal mechanism and a larger area. Two independent proof-of-principle approaches were used. The first makes use of seismic simulations, which are being performed with a realistic Earth model to determine the degree of focusing along the axis and to estimate the volume of material, if any, that experiences significant irreversible heating. The second involves two-dimensional hydrodynamic code simulations to determine the stress history, internal energy, and temperature rise as a function of radius along the axis.

Boslough, M. B.↗

Non-Intrusive Sensor for In-Situ Measurement of Recession Rate of Ablative and Eroding Materials

A non-intrusive sensor for in-situ measurement of recession rate of heat shield ablatives. An ultrasonic wave source is carried in the housing. A microphone is also carried in the housing, for collecting the reflected ultrasonic waves from an interface surface of the ablative material. A time phasing control circuit is also included for time-phasing the ultrasonic wave source so that the waves reflected from the interface surface of the ablative material focus on the microphone, to maximize the acoustic pressure detected by the microphone and to mitigate acoustic velocity variation effects through the material through a de-coupling process that involves a software algorithm. A software circuit for computing the location off of which the ultrasonic waves scattered to focus back at the microphone is also included, so that the recession rate of the heat shield ablative may be monitored in real-time through the scan-focus approach.

Papadopoulos, George↗

Equatorial long waves in geostationary satellite observations and in a multichannel sea surface temperature analysis

Geostationary satellite observations of a zonally oriented sea surface temperature front in the eastern equatorial Pacific were made between 1975 and 1981. Long waves appeared along the front mainly during the summer and fall, except during 1976, the year of an El Nino. The waves have averaged periods of 25 days and wavelengths of 1000 km. At the end of 1981, the long waves also were detected in a new sea surface temperature analysis based on multichannel infrared measurements from a polar-orbiting satellite. This quantitative analysis may improve the ability to resolve low-frequency equatorial wave motions from satellite observations.

Legeckis, R.↗

Application of the extended boundary condition method to Monte Carlo simulations of scattering of waves by two-dimensional random rough surfaces

The extended boundary condition method is applied to Monte Carlo simulations of two-dimensional random rough surface scattering. The numerical results are compared with one-dimensional random rough surfaces obtained from the finite-element method. It is found that the mean scattered intensity from two-dimensional rough surfaces differs from that of one dimension for rough surfaces with large slopes.

Tsang, L.↗

Squeezing in phase-conjugated resonance fluorescence

Emission of resonance fluorescence by an atom near the surface of a four-wave mixing phase conjugator is considered. The dipole radiation field, regarded as a Heisenberg-operator field, is decomposed into plane waves with the aid of Weyl's representation of the Green's function for the wave equation. Each plane-wave component which is incident on the surface of the nonlinear medium, is reflected as its phase-conjugate image. Summation of all reflected plane waves then yields the phase conjugate replica of the incident dipole radiation. This field adds to the radiation which is emitted by the atom into the direction away from the medium. The condition under which squeezing occurs in the emitted resonance fluorescence is investigated.

Arnoldus, Henk F.↗