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At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1984

Feasibility of determining cloud-top heights using the backscattered ultraviolet satellite observation technique

A technique for determining cloud-top height by means of backscattered ultraviolet (BUV) solar radiation is presented. Cloud-top heights can be inferred using this technique of both the BUV radiance and its degree of polarization are measured by a spacecraft and compared with theoretical values. The cases of satellites with high-inclination orbits and geosynchronous satellites are discussed here. Based on calculations of radiance and polarization, the resolutions of cloud-top height determinations are roughly estimated in both cases. The estimates show that inference is possible as long as the angle between the direction of the sun and the satellite from the point of interest in the atmosphere is larger than about 10 deg. The estimates also indicate that the cloud-top-height resolution depends on solar zenith angle theta(0) in the case of nadir observation by satellites in nonequatorial orbits: The resolution is about 0.5 km for theta(0) = 30 and about 0.3 km for larger theta(0). On the other hand, when observations are made by geosynchronous satellites, the resolution depends strongly on the latitude of the point of interest, alpha(1); a resolution within 0.4 km can be achieved for alpha(1) less than or equal to 65 deg (0.2 km resolution can be obtained for middle latitudes). Resolution becomes rapidly worse with increasing latitude, and alpha(1) = about 70 deg seems to be the limit of observations with this technique.

Aruga, T.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Extended active space CASSCF/MRSD CI calculations of the barrier height for the reaction: O + H2 yields OH + H

The convergence of the barrier height for the O + H2 yields OH + H reaction was studied as a function of the size of the active space and basis set completeness. The barrier height is rapidly convergent with respect to expansion of the active space. Addition of 2p yields 2p' correlation terms to the active space lowers the barrier to the O + H2 reaction by about 2.0 kcal/mole, but addition of 3d and other terms has little additional effect. Multireference singles and doubles contracted CI plus Davidson's correction calculations using a (5s5p3d2f1g/4s3p2d1f) basis set with a 5 sigma 2 pi active space lead to a barrier height of 12.7 kcal/mole. Including an estimate of the CI contraction error and basis set superposition error leads to 12.4 kcal/mole as the best estimate of the barrier height.

Walch, Stephen P.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Response of the GLA fourth order model to changes in horizontal resolution and terrain heights

The effects the selection of the orographic data for the boundary conditions has on results of simulations with the NASA-Goddard Laboratory for Atmospherics fourth order GCM were examined. Two different lower boundary conditions were compared in generating preliminary weather forecasts: mean areally averaged heights, and an enhanced significant height orography for rugged terrain. The latter condition was developed to emphasize the effects the tallest peaks in a given region have on the atmospheric flow by considering only the highest 1/3 of the 1 deg x 1 deg values in the averaging process. Simulations were carried out for five 10 day forecasts with a 4 deg lat x 5 deg long resolution and six with a horizontal grid resolution of 2 deg lat by 2.5 deg long, three with each boundary condition. The rms errors of the sea level pressure and the 500 mb geopotential heights were calculated. The mean errors decreased after the second or third day with the enhanced significant height orography.

Pfaendtner, J.↗
NASA NTRS1987

The end height of fireball as a function of their residual kinetic energy

Previous analyses of meteoroid compositional groupings have utilized the end height of fireballs as a diagnostic tool. From an observational perspective this definition is straight forward, but from a theoretical viewpoint there are problems with using this operational definition. In order to realistically assess the estimated geometric uncertainty of + 1 km in the observed end height, a theoretical definition of the end height of meteoritic fireballs is proposed using the results from the integral radiation efficiency model of ReVelle. Three photographed and recovered meteorites are used as a calibration for this proposed definition. This definition was used to evaluate the end height of all fireballs that were deduced by Wetherill and ReVelle as being meteoritic. In almost all cases the theoretical values are lower than the observed values, in some cases as much as 5 km lower. A preliminary summary of results are given.

Revelle, D. O.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Imaging observations of lower thermospheric O(1S) and O2 airglow emissions from STS 9 - Implications of height variations

The lower thermospheric nightglow in the Southern Hemisphere was observed with the Atmospheric Emissions Photometric Imager during the Spacelab 1 mission in December, 1983. Observations of emission from O(1S) at 2972 and 5577A, O2 at 7620 A, OH near 6300 A, and the combined emission from the three upper states of O2 which lead to the Herzberg I and II and Chamberlain band emissions in B and near UV are discussed. The altitudes of peak emission heights are determined, showing that the peak heights are not constant with latitude. It is found that airglow heights varied with latitude by as much as 8 km. The observed airglow height pattern near the equator is similar to that of Wasser and Donahue (1979).

Swenson, G. R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Stratocumulus cloud height variations determined from surface and satellite observations

Determination of cloud-top heights from satellite-inferred cloud-top temperatures is a relatively straightforward procedure for a well-behaved troposphere. The assumption of a monotonically decreasing temperature with increasing altitude is commonly used to assign a height to a given cloud-top temperature. In the hybrid bispectral threshold method, or HBTM, Minnis et al. (1987) assume that the lapse rate for the troposphere is -6.5/Kkm and that the surface temperature which calibrated this lapse rate is the 24 hour mean of the observed or modeled clear-sky, equivalent blackbody temperature. The International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) algorithm (Rossow et al., 1988) attempts a more realistic assignment of height by utilizing interpolations of analyzed temperature fields from the National Meteorological Center (NMC) to determine the temperature at a given level over the region of interest. Neither these nor other techniques have been tested to any useful extent. The First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE) Intensive Field Observations (IFO) provide an excellent opportunity to assess satellite-derived cloud height results because of the availability of both direct and indirect cloud-top altitude data of known accuracy. The variations of cloud-top altitude during the Marine Stratocumulus IFO (MSIFO, June 29 to July 19, 1987) derived from surface, aircraft, and satellite data are examined.

Minnis, Patrick↗
NASA NTRS1990

Interannual differences of Geosat altimeter heights and sea level - The importance of a datum

Sea surface height data from the Geosat altimeter are compared with island sea level data from 18 gages in the western and central tropical Pacific during December 1986 to November 1987. Care was taken to ensure that the two data sets are referenced to the same mean surface. This was done by requiring that both data sets have a zero mean sea level over the period April 1985 to April 1986. When the annual means are computed at each station in the later time period, it is found that the annual mean sea surface height values have drifted away from the corresponding sea level values by as much as 16 cm. Further, the pattern of differences that develop between the two data sets is not random but is spatially coherent with a strong east-west gradient. These observations illustrate the necessity for sea surface height data to be referred to a well-defined zero point, a datum, in order to reliably monitor interannual changes in the sea surface topography. Until these differences can be eliminated, it will be necessary to use tide gage data as benchmarks for the altimeter sea surface height data.

Wyrtki, Klaus↗
NASA NTRS1990

Automated cloud base height determination from high resolution Landsat data - A Hough transform approach

A direct method for determining the cloud base height derived from the displacement of the shadow from the cloud, and the solar azimuth and zenith angle is presented. Cumulus cloud scenes over land from Landsat MSS imagery are considered. The clouds are first matched with the corresponding shadows; the pixel distance of a reference point in the cloud is computed from the corresponding reference point in the shadow; and then the solar zenith angle is used to compute the cloud base height. Observations indicate that the cloud base height appears to be size-dependent with larger clouds generally associated with higher cloud bases and that clouds within the same size range and within the same scene region are approximately of the same height.

Sengupta, S. K.↗
NASA NTRS1954

Design and Test of Mixed-flow Impellers IV : Experimental Results for Impeller Models MFI-1 and MFI-2 with Changes in Blade Height

Modifications A and B of impeller model MFI-1 and A, B, and C of impeller model MFI-2 were investigated experimentally in an attempt to determine what allowance in blade height should be made for boundary layer and viscous losses in an impeller designed for isentropic compressible flow. A gradual increase in blade height was arbitrarily made from inlet to outlet in anticipation of a gradual build-up of boundary layer. Apparently there was a rapid build-up of boundary layer near the inlet in the experimental case rather than a gradual one. Therefore, the proper allowance for boundary layer cannot be described from the data obtained. Decreasing the pressure gradient along the shroud by reducing the blade height allowance apparently did little to increase the overall efficiency. At the design speed of 1400 feet per second, the overall adiabatic efficiency was increased from 0.83 for the MFI-1A to 0.85 for the MFI-1B with reduction in height; however, it is indicated from the theoretical velocity distribution and outlet surveys that the increase was due to a change from decelerating to accelerating flow along the hub rather than from any change along the shroud. It is further indicated that the consequences of a thickened or separated boundary layer depend not only on the design velocity gradients but also on the shape of the passage.

Hamrick, Joseph T↗
NASA NTRS1993

Development of methods for inferring cloud thickness and cloud-base height from satellite radiance data

Cloud-top height is a major factor determining the outgoing longwave flux at the top of the atmosphere. The downwelling radiation from the cloud strongly affects the cooling rate within the atmosphere and the longwave radiation incident at the surface. Thus, determination of cloud-base temperature is important for proper calculation of fluxes below the cloud. Cloud-base altitude is also an important factor in aircraft operations. Cloud-top height or temperature can be derived in a straightforward manner using satellite-based infrared data. Cloud-base temperature, however, is not observable from the satellite, but is related to the height, phase, and optical depth of the cloud in addition to other variables. This study uses surface and satellite data taken during the First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE) Phase-2 Intensive Field Observation (IFO) period (13 Nov. - 7 Dec. 1991, to improve techniques for deriving cloud-base height from conventional satellite data.

Smith, William L., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Apron heights around stepped massifs in the Cydonia Mensae region: Do they record the local paleobathymetry of Oceanus Borealis?

The use of photoclinometry and shadow measurements to determine the basin volume without linking the measurements to a global datum is described. Since the boundary, or shoreline, of the basin cannot be tied to the datum and typically has no useful local relative height to measure, what is needed is a number of measurements of the height of the paleoshorelines distributed across the basin. Photoclinometric profiles are being compiled from Viking Orbiter images of the Cydonia Mensae region, which includes images with high sun elevations, necessary to avoid shadows, and images with low sun elevations, to enable the use of shadow measurements as an independent check, at high resolution (40 to 100 m/pixel). Both asymmetric and symmetric photoclinometric profile models are being used, and the results cross checked with one another to minimize errors. An apron-height map, potentially a paleobathymetric map of part of the margin of Oceanus Borealis, can be compiled from this data to determine whether variations in apron height are consistent with a lacustrine interpretation.

Parker, T. J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Ozone and stratospheric height waves for opposite phases of the QBO

The stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) provides an important source of interannual variations in the Northern Hemisphere. O'sullivan and Salby (1990) related extra-tropical eddy transport with the phase of the tropical QBO. When the tropical wind is easterly, the zero wind line is shifted into the winter hemisphere. Enhanced wave activity in middle latitudes acts to weaken the polar vortex. When the tropical wind is in the westerly phase the situation reverses. Heights at 30 mb and ozone configurations are contrasted in this paper for these two QBO phases. When the winter vortex deforms due to the amplification of planetary waves 1 and 2, extends westward and equatorward, the complementary band of low vorticity air spirals in toward the pole from lower latitudes. Sometimes, these planetary waves break (Juckes and McIntyre, 1987) and an irreversible mixing of air takes place between high and mid-latitudes. Global ozone patterns, as obtained form satellite observations, appear to be affected by planetary wave breaking (Leovy et al. 1985). This mixing results on regions with uniform ozone and potential vorticity. In the Southern Hemisphere (SH), Newman and Randel (1988) using Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data and the NMC analyses have found strong spatial correlation between the October mean temperature in the lower stratosphere and total ozone for the 1979 through 1986 years. Recently Nogues-Paegle et al.(1992) analyzed SH ozone and height data from 1986 to 1989. They found that leading empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) for both ozone and 50 mb heights exhibit zonal wave 1 and 2 and that the correlations between ozone and 50 mb principal components (PCs) are high. The results were found to be consistent with a linear planetary wave advecting a passive tracer. In this paper, the dominant patterns of variability for 30 mb NMC heights and TOMS total ozone are obtained for the winter to summer transition (January to May) in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) for the years 1987-1990.

Mo, Kingtse C.↗
NASA NTRS1995

An atlas of monthly mean distributions of SSMI surface wind speed, AVHRR/2 sea surface temperature, AMI surface wind velocity, TOPEX/POSEIDON sea surface height, and ECMWF surface wind velocity during 1993

The following monthly mean global distributions for 1993 are presented with a common color scale and geographical map: 10-m height wind speed estimated from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSMI) on a United States (U.S.) Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft; sea surface temperature estimated from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR/2) on a U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite; 10-m height wind speed and direction estimated from the Active Microwave Instrument (AMI) on the European Space Agency (ESA) European Remote Sensing (ERS-1) satellite; sea surface height estimated from the joint U.S.-France Topography Experiment (TOPEX)/POSEIDON spacecraft; and 10-m height wind speed and direction produced by the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF). Charts of annual mean, monthly mean, and sampling distributions are displayed.

Halpern, D.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Height and altitude distribution of large volcanoes on Venus

Magellan data reveal 156 large volcanoes on Venus (greater than 100 km in diameter) which range in height from 300 m to 5.55 km, with an average height of 1.42 km. On the basis of theory it has been predicted that the development of neutral buoyancy zones (NBZ) on Venus and thus the resulting volcanic deposits are strongly influenced by the altitude-controlled variations in surface pressure. The distribution and height of these large volcanoes as a function of altitude was examined to begin to test these predications. Although large volcanoes are relatively uniformly distributed in altitude, there may be a slight paucity of volcanoes at the lowest elevations and a slight surplus at mid-altitudes. In addition, it is observed that the volcanoes at the highest altitudes tend to be the tallest. The observed distributions at low-mid altitudes is consistent with the prediction of NBZ theory. The high altitude distribution and heights, however, emphasize the necessity of considering other factors, such as tectonic setting, edifice age, magma supply, and thermal gradient, in describing the location and development of large volcanoes on Venus.

Keddie, S. T.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Primary and Secondary Controls on Measurements of Forest Height Using Large-Footprint Lidar at the Hubbard Brook LTER

On September 26, 1999, we mapped canopy structure over 90% of the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire, using the Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS). This airborne instrument was configured to emulate data expected from the Vegetation Canopy Lidar (VCL) space mission. We compared above ground heights of the tallest surfaces detected by lidar with average forest canopy heights estimated from tree-based measurements in or near 346 0.05 ha plots (made in autumn of 1997 and 1998). Vegetation heights had by far the predominant influence on lidar top heights, but with this large data set we were able to measure two significant secondary effects: those of steepness or slope of the underlying terrain and of tree crown form. The size of the slope effect was intermediate between that expected from models of homogeneous canopy layers and for solitary tree crowns. The first detected surfaces were also proportionately taller for plots with more basal area in broad leaved northern hardwoods than for mostly coniferous plots. We expected this because of the contrast between the shapes of cumulative distributions of surface area for elliptical or hemi-elliptical tree crowns and those for conical crowns. Correcting for these secondary effects, when appropriate data are available for calibration, may improve vegetation structure estimates in regional studies using VCL or similar lidar data sources.

Knox, Robert G.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Measurement of Geopotential Heights by GPS Radio Occultation

Geopotential heights of constant pressure surfaces are retrieved from global positioning system (GPS) radio occultation data. In order to assess accuracy a subset of data obtained by GPS/MET during spring 1995 and summer 1995 are compared to the output of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) global model. The root-mean-square measurement error is 20 m throughout the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Furthermore, the ECMWF global model contains enhanced errors in the southeast Pacific. In probing the data for potential utility in climate studies, a Bayesian interpolation technique is used to map the geopotential height fields in the upper troposphere during the summer. Despite limitations of the GPS/MET data set the global average 300-mbar geopotential height over a 2-week period in summer 1995 is determined with an accuracy of 7 m. By obtaining greater coverage and partially resolving synoptic variability, a future constellation of 16 orbiting receivers could obtain global average geopotential height estimates in the upper troposphere with an accuracy of 1 m each day. Accuracy would be somewhat worse for regional studies, except in the tropics where synoptic variability is depressed.

Leroy, Stephen S.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Volcanic Plume Heights on Mars: Limits of Validity for Convective Models

Previous studies have overestimated volcanic plume heights on Mars. In this work, we demonstrate that volcanic plume rise models, as currently formulated, have only limited validity in any environment. These limits are easily violated in the current Mars environment and may also be violated for terrestrial and early Mars conditions. We indicate some of the shortcomings of the model with emphasis on the limited applicability to current Mars conditions. Specifically, basic model assumptions are violated when (1) vertical velocities exceed the speed of sound, (2) radial expansion rates exceed the speed of sound, (3) radial expansion rates approach or exceed the vertical velocity, or (4) plume radius grossly exceeds plume height. All of these criteria are violated for the typical Mars example given here. Solutions imply that the convective rise, model is only valid to a height of approximately 10 kilometers. The reason for the model breakdown is hat the current Mars atmosphere is not of sufficient density to satisfy the conservation equations. It is likely that diffusion and other effects governed by higher-order differential equations are important within the first few kilometers of rise. When the same criteria are applied to eruptions into a higher-density early Mars atmosphere, we find that eruption rates higher than 1.4 x 10(exp 9) kilograms per second also violate model assumptions. This implies a maximum extent of approximately 65 kilometers for convective plumes on early Mars. The estimated plume heights for both current and early Mars are significantly lower than those previously predicted in the literature. Therefore, global-scale distribution of ash seems implausible.

Glaze, Lori S.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Imaging Laser Altimetry in the Amazon: Mapping Large Areas of Topography, Vegetation Height and Structure, and Biomass

A flight mission of NASA GSFC's Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS) is planned for June-August 2003 in the Amazon region of Brazil. The goal of this flight mission is to map the vegetation height and structure and ground topography of a large area of the Amazon. This data will be used to produce maps of true ground topography, vegetation height, and estimated above-ground biomass and for comparison with and potential calibration of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. Approximately 15,000 sq. km covering various regions of the Amazon will be mapped. The LVIS sensor has the unique ability to accurately sense the ground topography beneath even the densest of forest canopies. This is achieved by using a high signal-to-noise laser altimeter to detect the very weak reflection from the ground that is available only through small gaps in between leaves and between tree canopies. Often the amount of ground signal is 1% or less of the total returned echo. Once the ground elevation is identified, that is used as the reference surface from which we measure the vertical height and structure of the vegetation. Test data over tropical forests have shown excellent correlation between LVIS measurements and biomass, basal area, stem density, ground topography, and canopy height. Examples of laser altimetry data over forests and the relationships to biophysical parameters will be shown. Also, recent advances in the LVIS instrument will be discussed.

Blair, J. Bryan↗