Far-infrared measurements of trace gases
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New series of reports: First report lists data from combustion of ASTM Jet A fuel and dry air; second report presents tables and figures for combustion-gas properties of natural-gas fuel and dry air, and equivalent ratios.
Water table for hydraulic-flow research yields valuable information about gas flow at transonic speeds. Used to study fuel and oxidizer flow in high-pressure rocket engines. Method applied to gas flows in such equipment as furnaces, nozzles, and chemical lasers. Especially suitable when wall contours nonuniform, discontinuous, or unusually shaped. Wall shapes changed quickly for study and evaluated on spot. Method used instead of computer simulation when computer models unavailable, inaccurate, or costly to run.
The long term objective of the experiment is to observe the dissolution of isolated, immobile gas bubbles of specified size and composition in a solvent liquid of known concentration in the reduced gravity environment of earth orbit. Preliminary bubble dissolution experiment conducted both in the NASA Lewis 2.2 sec drop tower and in normal gravity using SO2 - Toluene system were not completely successful in their objective. The method of gas injection and lack of bubble interface stabiliy experienced due to the extreme solubility of SO in Toluene has the effects of changing the problem from that of bubble dissolution to one of bubble formation stability and subsequent dissolution in a liquid of unknown initial solute concentration. Current work involves further experimentation in order to refine the bubble injection system and to investigate the concept of having a bubble with a critical radius in a state of unstable equilibrium.
The purpose of this combustion science investigation is to determine the effect of zero, fractional, and super gravity on the flammability limits of a premixed methane air flame in a standard 51 mm diameter flammability tube and to determine, if possible, the fluid flow associated with flame passage under zero-g conditions and the density (and hence, temperature) profiles associated with the flame under conditions of incipient extinction. This is accomplished by constructing an appropriate apparatus for placement in NASA's Lewis Research Center Lear Jet facility and flying the prescribed g-trajectories while the experiment is being performed. Data is recorded photographically using the visible light of the flame. The data acquired is: (1) the shape and propagation velocity of the flame under various g-conditions for methane compositions that are inside the flammable limits, and (2) the effect of gravity on the limits. Real time accelerometer readings for the three orthogonal directions are displayed in full view of the cameras and the framing rate of the cameras is used to measure velocities.
Spherical, cylindrical, and conical shock waves are optically analogous to gas lenses. The geometrical optics of these shock configurations are analyzed as they pertain to flow visualization instruments, particularly the rainbow schlieren apparatus and single-pass interferometers. It is proposed that a lens or mirror formed by gas compressed between plastic sheets has potential as a fluid visualization test object; as the objective mirror in a very large space-based telescope, communication antenna, or energy collector; as the objective mirror in inexpensive commercial telescopes; and as a component in fluid visualization apparatuses.
The state of knowledge of the upper atmosphere was assessed as of January 1986. The physical, chemical, and radiative processes which control the spatial and temporal distribution of ozone in the atmosphere; the predicted magnitude of ozone perturbations and climate changes for a variety of trace gas scenarios; and the ozone and temperature data used to detect the presence or absence of a long term trend were discussed. This assessment report was written by a small group of NASA scientists, was peer reviewed, and is based primarily on the comprehensive international assessment document entitled Atmospheric Ozone 1985: Assessment of Our Understanding of the Processes Controlling Its Present Distribution and Change, to be published as the World Meteorological Organization Global Ozone Research and Monitoring Project Report No. 16.
The N determination in mg sized mineral separates from lunar soils by static mass spectrometry is an experimental break-through likely to contribute to the deciphering of the records left in the mineral grains by the exposure to the solar wind. In this discussion some comparisons of the results of N and noble gas analyses of the 71501 bulk soil and an ilmenite separate thereof are focussed on. Conclusions from noble gas data obtained on mineral separates from some 20 soils are summarized in a companion paper and are also discussed herein.
The concentrations of cosmogenic nuclides were studied as a function of shielding on samples from a cross section of the 293 kg main fragment of the L5 chondrite Knyahinya. The stone broke into two nearly symmetrical parts upon its fall in 1866. The planar cross section has diameters between 40 and 55 cm. He, Ne, and Ar were measured on about 20 samples by mass spectrometry and the 10-Be activities on aliquots of 10 selected samples were determined by AMS. The 10-Be data are presented and the abundances of spallogenic nuclides are compared with the model calculations reported by Reedy for spherical L chondrites. The 10-Be production rates in Knyahinya are shown versus the shielding parameter 22-Ne/21-Ne.
This program exists to provide support for the balloon stratospheric remote sensing program. Its purpose is to provide laboratory data and engineering support for the remote sensing effort. The goals and efforts are chosen in reponse to both short term and long term needs of the lidar effort. Progress was made on interfacing a Fizeau wave meter to a microcomputer in a way that is compatible with the electronics of the stratospheric balloon system. Installation was begun on a low divergence excimer laser system.
Concentrations of the halocarbons CCl3F (F-11), CCl2F2 (F-12), CCl4, and CH3CCl3, methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) over the decade between 1975 and 1985 are reported, based on measurements taken every January at the South Pole and in the Pacific Northwest. The concentrations of F-11, F-12, and CH3CCl3 in both hemispheres are now more than twice their concentrations 10 years ago. However, the annual rates of increase of F-11, F-12, and CH3CCl3 are now considerably slower than earlier in the decade, reflecting in part the effects of a ban on their nonessential uses. Continued increases in these trace gas concentrations may warm the earth and deplete the stratospheric ozone layer, which may cause widespread climatic changes and affect global habitability.
Assuming solar initial elemental and isotopic ratios and a determination of the degree of fractionation occurring by competition between gravitational binding and escape, a model is developed for selective noble gas loss through escape during the growth of planetesimals to form the terrestrial planets. Of the two classes of planetesimals that can form on a time scale that is consistent with modern accretion models, one is depleted in neon while the other is neon-rich. The mechanism is noted to be capable of accounting for all known properties of the noble gas volatiles on the terrestrial planets, with only one exception, namely the Ar-36/Ar-38 ratios for Mars and the earth, which are much lower than observed.
Two samples of Shergotty and a sample of EETA 79001's lithology A have been analyzed for N, He, Ne, and Ar abundances and isotopic composition. After correcting for spallogenic nitrogen, the nitrogen isotopic ratios were found to be close to that of the terrestrial atmosphere. The spallogenic noble gas data are consistent with cosmic ray irradiation of both Shergotty and EETA 79001 at shallow shielding depths. Cosmic ray exposure ages were estimated to be in the range of 0.5-0.8 Myr for EETA 79001, and of 2.0-5.2 Myr for Shergotty, depending on the choice of object size and shielding. Among the two Shergotty samples, the contents of Ar-40 differed by a factor of 3. This difference can be attributed to either a small-scale mineralogical inhomogeneity or a significant variation in the degree of degassing of minerals during shock, although the presence of trapped argon with a high Ar-40/Ar-36 ratio and its heterogeneous distribution cannot be ruled out.
Temperature, density, and pressure at selected point in low-temperature, turbulent gaseous flow measured simultaneously by pulsed laser-induced fluorescence (LIF). Measurements made with spatial and temporal resolution. LIF measurements nonintrusive and constitute first alternative means of measuring turbulent fluctuations in temperature and density that compares with conventional hot-wire-anemometer data. Laser beams focused to small spots in wind tunnel and reference cell induce fluorescence in nitric oxide, small amount s mixed with main gas flow. Fluorescence radiation depends on main-gas temperature, pressure, and density and measured to deduce these quantities.
Trace gas concentrations in the atmosphere reflect in part the overall metabolism of the biosphere, and in part the broad range of human activities such as agriculture, production of industrial chemicals, and combustion of fossil fuels and biomass. There is compelling evidence that the composition of the atmosphere is now changing. Observed trends in trace gas levels are reviewed and implications for the chemistry of the atmosphere are discussed. Throughout the discussion, particular emphasis is given to those species which are now increasing in the atmosphere.