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At least 1,405 records · Page 78
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NASA NTRS1993

Atmospheric moisture fields derived by satellite observations over the tropical Pacific Ocean

Values of precipitable water are retrieved over the tropical and subtropical Pacific Ocean from TOVS infrared and microwave channel brightness temperature and OLR observations by means of stepwise linear regression. The most useful temperature and moisture sensing channels are pre-selected from sensitivity tests of a radiative transfer model. Numerous models are developed and tested against collocated radiosonde observations and Nimbus-7 SMMR precipitable water estimates. For RAOB comparisons, the best estimator used 15 TOVS predictors and captured 71.1 deg percent of the variance (+0.62 g/sq cm standard error) for column precipitable water; for precipitable water of 700-500 mb bulk layer, these values were 71.7 percent and +/- 0.17 g/sq cm. Little skill of estimated precipitable water was obtained for moisture above 500 mb. Regressions were less skillful against SMMR, unless collocation parameters were tightly controlled; SMMR was less acceptable than RAOB's because of observational drift and errors. Generally, the most skillful predictors were boundary layer brightness temperatures of TOVS channels and satellite estimated stability indices. 'Moisture channels' were hardly useful except for estimating middle and upper tropospheric moisture. Additional regression models were constructed testing the sensitivity to different observational and meteorological characteristics. Models which used some in situ observations surface observations or stabilities calculated from RAOB, were the most successful. The best of these explained 87.5 percent of the variance but the regression selected almost no TOVS channels, relying instead on conventional RAOB and surface observations. A set of four regression models were developed, stratifying atmospheric characteristics on the basis of collocated OLR values. These models improved the variance explained by 5.0 percent; the model associated with the highest OLR values (275 W/sq m less than or equal to OLR; that is, no cloud) showed only marginal skill. Precipitable water fields were generated from the best TOVS-only model for seven days in January 1983 and compared with SMMR-estimated fields. OLR fields and ECMWF precipitable water analysis. The TOVS regression model compared favorably to the SMMR analysis in amplitudes and features. It revealed more evolving synoptic signal than the ECMWF analysis. In synoptically active regions, it differed with respect to the OLR analysis, primarily because of actual differences in the vertical distribution of water vapor.

Chung, Hyosang↗
NASA NTRS1994

A trajectory modeling investigation of the biomass burning-tropical ozone relationship

The hypothesis that tropical total O3 maxima seen by the TOMS satellite derive from African biomass burning has been tested using isentropic trajectory analyses with global meteorological data fields. Two case studies from the 1989 biomass burning season demonstrate that a large fraction of the air arriving at the location of TOMS O3 maxima passed over regions of intense burning. Other trajectories initiated at a series of points over Africa and the Atlantic suggest flight strategies for field studies to be conducted in September 1992.

Pickering, Kenneth E.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Large-scale circulation patterns associated with high concentrations of tropospheric ozone in the tropical South Atlantic Ocean

Several years of satellite observations indicate the presence of enhanced amounts of tropospheric ozone over the tropical South Atlantic during the austral springs. Wide-spread biomass burning is prevalent over Africa and South America during the same time of the year. Another recent satellite technique has identified the locations of fires over the continents. In this study, we present an analysis of the prevailing meteorological conditions when the highest amounts of tropospheric ozone are present.

Fakhruzzaman, K. M.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Vertical distribution of CH4 and N2O over the tropical site Hyderabad

Vertical distribution profiles of N2O and CH4 have been measured from Hyderabad, India using a balloon-borne cryogenic air sampler. The samples have been analyzed using gas chromatographic techniques. Results for two balloon flights made in 1987 and 1990 show effects of tropical characteristics like higher tropopause and upwelling motion due to Hadley circulation. These profiles also exhibit perturbations around 25 km height, which are likely to be due to dynamical effects. A comparison with the SAMS data show that the SAMS values for both these gases are higher by a factor of about 1.5 to 2 around 30 km height.

Lal, Shyam↗
NASA NTRS1994

On the laminated structure of ozone in the sub-tropical atmosphere

Ozone data recorded by balloon-borne sondes released at various sites around the world revealed that frequently the vertical ozone distribution in the stratosphere is remarkably laminated. Recently, measurements of ozone profiles near the winter polar vortex have shown strong laminae close to the vortex boundary. Also, a statistical study published recently has shown that laminae are most commonly found between 12 and 18 km at high latitudes in winter and spring in both hemispheres but they are not found in the tropics and are rarely observed in the subtropics. Ozonesonde ascents performed in Athens (37.9 deg N, 23.8 deg E) during the winter 1991-1992 in the framework of the European Arctic Stratospheric Ozone Experiment (EASOE) have shown that the lamination phenomenon was very frequently present in our region which is in contradiction with previous measurements at our latitudes. The characteristic minimum of ozone at 15 km has been also detected. Finally, the correlation of the occurrence of these two phenomena in relation with the circulation of air masses showed that the laminated profiles are connected in the lower stratosphere while the appearance of the ozone minimum around 15 km is connected with the influence of the subtropical jet-stream.

Varotsos, Costas↗
NASA NTRS1994

Landsat Pathfinder tropical forest information management system

A Tropical Forest Information Management System_(TFIMS) has been designed to fulfill the needs of HTFIP in such a way that it tracks all aspects of the generation and analysis of the raw satellite data and the derived deforestation dataset. The system is broken down into four components: satellite image selection, processing, data management and archive management. However, as we began to think of how the TFIMS could also be used to make the data readily accessible to all user communities we realized that the initial system was too project oriented and could only be accessed locally. The new system needed development in the areas of data ingest and storage, while at the same time being implemented on a server environment with a network interface accessible via Internet. This paper summarizes the overall design of the existing prototype (version 0) information management system and then presents the design of the new system (version 1). The development of version 1 of the TFIMS is ongoing. There are no current plans for a gradual transition from version 0 to version 1 because the significant changes are in how the data within the HTFIP will be made accessible to the extended community of scientists, policy makers, educators, and students and not in the functionality of the basic system.

Salas, W.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Long Duration Exposure Facility post-flight data as it influences the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) is an earth observing satellite that will be in a low earth orbit (350 kilometers) during the next period of maximum solar activity. The TRMM observatory is expected to experience an atomic oxygen fluence of 8.9 x 10(exp 22) atoms per square centimeter. This fluence is ten times higher than the atomic oxygen impingement incident to the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). Other environmental concerns on TRMM include: spacecraft glow, silicon oxide contaminant build-up, severe spacecraft material degradation, and contamination deposition resulting from molecular interactions with the dense ambient atmosphere. Because of TRMM's predicted harsh environment, TRMM faces many unique material concerns and subsystem design issues. The LDEF data has influenced the design of TRMM and the TRMM material selection process.

Straka, Sharon A.↗
NASA NTRS1994

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) is a cooperative effort between National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan and NASA of the USA. TRMM is designed to measure rain rates from space using a combination of high resolution radar, passive microwave radiometer and visible-infrared radiometer measurements from a spacecraft in a rapid precession, 350 km orbit inclined at 35 deg. These measurements, averaged over a 500 km grid for a month, are expected to provide monthly mean rainfall to an accuracy of 10 to 15 percent. TRMM will also make it possible to analyze the diurnal component of the rainfall and to derive the vertical distribution of latent heating. An accurate measure of the oceanic rainfall distribution will provide unprecedented insight into the halocline distribution and the stability of the oceanic surface layers. A status of the program is presented.

Theon, John S.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Tropical intraseasonal oscillation, super cloud clusters, and cumulus convection schemes

A new framework for interpreting the origin of the tropical intraseasonal oscillation (TISO), which avoids the speed and scale selection problems in the previous theories, is proposed in this study. In this interpretation TISO is viewed as an oscillation driven by an eastward moving convective region. This convective region consists of one or more super cloud clusters originating in the Indian Ocean and terminating in mid-Pacific, and is then followed by another convective region arising in the Indian Ocean in a period of 40-50 days. Additionally, a formal analogy is pointed out between super cloud clusters and the middle-latitude baroclinic wave packets. This study includes a simulation of TISO in a 2D model to support our interpretation. Experiments were conducted with four different convection schemes. The authors advocate that the successful simulation of TISO depends on the successful simulation of super clouds cluster, which in turn depends on the successful simulation of the life cycle of cloud clusters, which further in turn depends on the choice of cumulus convection scheme. What makes a cumulus convection scheme successful in simulating TISO is discussed.

Chao, Winston C.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Tropical cloud feedbacks and natural variability of climate

Simulations of natural variability by two general circulation models (GCMs) are examined. One GCM is a sector model, allowing relatively rapid integration without simplification of the model physics, which would potentially exclude mechanisms of variability. Two mechanisms are found in which tropical surface temperature and sea surface temperature (SST) vary on interannual and longer timescales. Both are related to changes in cloud cover that modulate SST through the surface radiative flux. Over the equatorial ocean, SST and surface temperature vary on an interannual timescale, which is determined by the magnitude of the associated cloud cover anomalies. Over the subtropical ocean, variations in low cloud cover drive SST variations. In the sector model, the variability has no preferred timescale, but instead is characterized by a 'red' spectrum with increasing power at longer periods. In the terrestrial GCM, SST variability associated with low cloud anomalies has a decadal timescale and is the dominant form of global temperature variability. Both GCMs are coupled to a mixed layer ocean model, where dynamical heat transports are prescribed, thus filtering out El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and thermohaline circulation variability. The occurrence of variability in the absence of dynamical ocean feedbacks suggests that climatic variability on long timescales can arise from atmospheric processes alone.

Miller, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1994

The tropical water and energy cycles in a cumulus ensemble model. Part 1: Equilibrium climate

A cumulus ensemble model is used to study the tropical water and energy cycles and their role in the climate system. The model includes cloud dynamics, radiative processes, and microphysics that incorporate all important production and conversion processes among water vapor and five species of hydrometeors. Radiative transfer in clouds is parameterized based on cloud contents and size distributions of each bulk hydrometeor. Several model integrations have been carried out under a variety of imposed boundary and large-scale conditions. In Part 1 of this paper, the primary focus is on the water and heat budgets of the control experiment, which is designed to simulate the convective - radiative equilibrium response of the model to an imposed vertical velocity and a fixed sea surface temperature at 28 C. The simulated atmosphere is conditionally unstable below the freezing level and close to neutral above the freezing level. The equilibrium water budget shows that the total moisture source, M(sub s), which is contributed by surface evaporation (0.24 M(sub s)) and the large-scale advection (0.76 M(sub s)), all converts to mean surface precipitation bar-P(sub s). Most of M(sub s) is transported verticaly in convective regions where much of the condensate is generated and falls to surface (0.68 bar-P(sub s)). The remaining condensate detrains at a rate of 0.48 bar-P(sub s) and constitutes 65% of the source for stratiform clouds above the melting level. The upper-level stratiform cloud dissipates into clear environment at a rate of 0.14 bar-P(sub s), which is a significant moisture source comparable to the detrained water vapor (0.15 bar-P(sub s)) to the upper troposphere from convective clouds. In the lower troposphere, stratiform clouds evaporate at a rate of 0.41 bar-P(sub s), which is a more dominant moisture source than surface evaporation (0.22 bar-P(sub s)). The precipitation falling to the surface in the stratiform region is about 0.32 bar-P(sub s). The associated latent heating in the water cycle is the dominant source in the heat budget that generates a net upward motion in convective regions, upper stratiform regions (above the freezing level), and a downward motion in the lower stratiform regions. The budgets reveal a cycle of water and energy resulted from radiation-dynamic-convection interactions that maintain equilibrium of the atmosphere.

Sui, C. H.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Albedo as a modulator of climate response to tropical deforestation

An atmospheric general circulation model with land surface properties represented by the simplified Simple Biosphere model is used to investigate the effects on local climate due to tropical deforestation for the Amazon basin. One control and three anomaly integrations of 4 years' duration are performed. In the anomaly integrations, rain forest in South America is replaced by degraded grassland. The anomaly integrations differ only in the optical properties of the grassland vegetation, with net surface albedos ranging from the same as to 0.09 lighter than that of rain forest. It is found that the change in climate, particularly rainfall, is strongly dependent on the change in surface albedo that accompanies deforestation. Replacement of forest by grass causes a reduction in transpiration and reduces frictional convergence by decreasing surface roughness. However, precipitation averaged over the deforested area is not necessarily reduced. Average precipitation decreases when the increase in albedo is greater than 0.03. If surface albedo is not increased appreciably as a result of deforestation, moisture flux convergence driven by the increase in surface temperature can offset the other effects, and average precipitation increases. As albedo is increased, surface temperature does not change, but surface latent and sensible heat flux decreases due to reduced radiational energy absorbed at the surface, resulting in a reduction in convection and precipitation. A change in the distribution of precipitation due to deforestation that appears to be independent of the albedo is observed.

Dirmeyer, Paul A.↗
NASA NTRS1994

The tropical semiannual oscillations in temperature and ozone as observed my the MLS

The first two years of Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) temperature and ozone data are used to examine the tropical upper-stratospheric semiannual oscillation (SAO). Time series analysis revealed that the strongest amplitudes of the SAO occurred near the equator at 2 mb for temperature and 5 mb for ozone, consistent with previous observations. The first cycle of each calendar year was observed to have a much higher amplitude than the second cycle except for the warm phase in late 1991. Interannual variability in the strength of the SAO, such as the much stronger warm phase of late 1991 as compared to late 1992, was significant and could be partly attributed to the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) in zonal wind.

Ray, Eric A.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Rainfall variability over the tropical Pacific from July 1987 through December 1991 as inferred via monthly estimates from SSM/I

Estimates of monthly rainfall have been computed over the tropical Pacific using passive microwave satellite observations from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) for the preiod from July 1987 through December 1991. The monthly estimates were calibrated using measurements from a network of Pacific atoll rain gauges and compared to other satellite-based rainfall estimation techniques. Based on these monthly estimates, an analysis of the variability of large-scale features over intraseasonal to interannual timescales has been performed. While the major precipitation features as well as the seasonal variability distributions show good agreement with expected values, the presence of a moderately intense El Nino during 1986-87 and an intense La Nina during 1988-89 highlights this time period.

Berg, Wesley↗
NASA NTRS1994

The roles of vertical mixing, solar radiation, and wind stress in a model simulation of the sea surface temperature seasonal cycle in the tropical Pacfic Ocean

The climatological seasonal cycle of sea surface temperature (SST) in the tropical Pacific is simulated using a newly developed upper ocean model. The roles of vertical mixing, solar radiation, and wind stress are investigated in a hierarchy of numerical experiments with various combinations of vertical mixing algorithms and surface-forcing products. It is found that the large SST annual cycle in the eastern equatorial Pacific is, to a large extent, controlled by the annually varying mixed layer depth which, in turn, is mainly determined by the competing effects of solar radiation and wind forcing. With the application of our hybrid vertical mixing scheme the model-simulated SST annual cycle is much improved in both amplitude and phase as compared to the case of a constant mixed layer depth. Beside the strong effects on vertical mixing, solar radiation is the primary heating term in the surface layer heat budget, and wind forcing influences SST by driving oceanic advective processes that redistribute heat in the upper ocean. For example, the SST seasonal cycle in the western Pacific basically follows the semiannual variation of solar heating, and the cycle in the central equatorial region is significantly affected by the zonal advective heat flux associated with the seasonally reversing South Equatorial Current. It has been shown in our experiments that the amount of heat flux modification needed to eliminate the annual mean SST errors in the model is, on average, no larger than the annual mean uncertainties among the various surface flux products used in this study. Whereas a bias correction is needed to account for remaining uncertainties in the annual mean heat flux, this study demonstrates that with proper treatment of mixed layer physics and realistic forcing functions the seasonal variability of SST is capable of being simulated successfully in response to external forcing without relying on a relaxation or damping formulation for the dominant surface heat flux contributions.

Chen, Dake↗
NASA NTRS1995

Evaluation of monthly rainfall estimates derived from the special sensor microwave/imager (SSM/I) over the tropical Pacific

Estimates of monthly rainfall have been computed over the tropical Pacific using passive microwave satellite observations from the special sensor microwave/imager (SSM/I) for the period from July 1987 through December 1990. These monthly estimates are calibrated using data from a network of Pacific atoll rain gauges in order to account for systematic biases and are then compared with several visible and infrared satellite-based rainfall estimation techniques for the purpose of evaluating the performance of the microwave-based estimates. Although several key differences among the various techniques are observed, the general features of the monthly rainfall time series agree very well. Finally, the significant error sources contributing to uncertainties in the monthly estimates are examined and an estimate of the total error is produced. The sampling error characteristics are investigated using data from two SSM/I sensors and a detailed analysis of the characteristics of the diurnal cycle of rainfall over the oceans and its contribution to sampling errors in the monthly SSM/I estimates is made using geosynchronous satellite data. Based on the analysis of the sampling and other error sources the total error was estimated to be of the order of 30 to 50% of the monthly rainfall for estimates averaged over 2.5 deg x 2.5 deg latitude/longitude boxes, with a contribution due to diurnal variability of the order of 10%.

Berg, Wesley↗
NASA NTRS1993

Measurements of halogenated organic compounds near the tropical tropopause

The amount of organic chlorine and bromine entering the stratosphere have a direct influence on the magnitude of chlorine and bromine catalyzed ozone losses. Twelve organic chlorine species and five organic bromine species were measured from 12 samples collected near the tropopause between 23.8 deg N and 25.3 deg N during AASE 2. The average mixing ratios of total organic chlorine and total organic bromine were 3.50 +/- 0.06 ppbv and 21.1 +/- 0.8 pptv, respectively. CH3Cl represented 15.1% of the total organic chlorine, with CFC 11 (CCl3F) and CFC 12 (CCl2F2) accounting for 22.6% and 28.2%, respectively, with the remaining 34.1% primarily from CCl4, CH3CCl3, and CFC 113 (CCl2FCClF2). CH3Br represented 54% of the total organic bromine. The 95% confidence intervals of the mixing ratios of all but four of the individual compounds were within the range observed in low and mid-latitude mid-troposphere samples. The four compounds with significantly lower mixing ratios at the tropopause were CHCl3, CH2Cl2, CH2Br2, and CH3CCl3. The lower mixing ratios may be due to entrainment of southern hemisphere air during vertical transport in the tropical region and/or to exchange of air across the tropopause between the lower stratosphere and upper troposphere.

Schauffler, S. M.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Influence of plumes from biomass burning on atmospheric chemistry over the equatorial and tropical South Atlantic during CITE 3

During all eight flights conducted over the equatorial and tropical South Atlantic in the course of the Chemical Instrumentation Test and Evaluation (CITE 3) experiment, we observed haze layers with elevated concentrations of aerosols, O3, CO, and other trace gases related to biomass burning emissions. They occurred at altitudes between 1000 and 5200 m and were usually only some 100-300 m thick. These layers extended horizontally over several 100 km and were marked by the presence of visible brownish haze. Air mass trajectories indicate that these layers originate in the biomass burning regions of Africa and South America and typically have aged at least 10 days since the time of emission. In the haze layers, O3 and CO concentrations up to 90 and 210 ppb were observed, respectively. The two species were highly correlated. The ratio concentrations in plume minus background concentrations of O3/CO is typically in the range 0.2-0.7, much higher than the ratios in the less aged plumes investigated previously in Amazonia. In most cases, aerosol (0.12-3 micrometer diameter) number concentrations were also elevated by up to 400/cu cm in the layers; aerosol enrichments were also strongly correlated with elevated CO levels. Clear correlations between CO and NO(x) enrichments were not apparent due to the age of the plumes, in which most NO(x) would have already reacted away within 1-2 days. Only in some of the plumes could clear correlations between NO(y) and CO be identified; the absence of a general correlation between NO(y) and CO may be due to instrumental limitations and to variable sinks for NO(y). The average enrichment of the ratio concentrations in plume minus background concentrations of NO(y)/CO was quite high, consistent with the efficient production of ozone observed in the plumes. The chemical characteristics of the haze layers, together with remote sensing information and trajectory calculations, suggest that fire emissions (in Africa and/or South America) are the primary source of the haze layer components.

Andreae, M. O.↗