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At least 163 records · Page 9

Nonlinear Propagation of Planet-Generated Tidal Waves

The propagation and evolution of planet-generated density waves in protoplanetary disks is considered. The evolution of waves, leading to shock formation and wake dissipation, is followed in the weakly nonlinear regime. The 2001 local approach of Goodman and Rafikov is extended to include the effects of surface density and temperature variations in the disk as well as the disk cylindrical geometry and nonuniform shear. Wave damping due to shocks is demonstrated to be a nonlocal process spanning a significant fraction of the disk. Torques induced by the planet could be significant drivers of disk evolution on timescales of approx. 10(exp 6)-10(exp 7) yr, even in the absence of strong background viscosity. A global prescription for angular momentum deposition is developed that could be incorporated into the study of gap formation in a gaseous disk around the planet.

Rafikov, R. R.↗

Statistical problems of wind-generated gravity waves arising in microwave remote sensing of surface winds

The basic geometric features of a developed sea surface affecting the accuracy of wind speed measurements by satellite instruments are reviewed. Error trends in the satellite winds are shown to be correlated with various measures of wave development. For a developed sea, the influence of the equilibrium range parameters characterizing the spectrum of wind-generated waves are derived and compared with field observations. Fluctuations in the actual number of steep wavelet events which occur within a finite surface area are shown to be an important factor of the radar backscatter if the surface area, i.e., the resolution cell, is much smaller than 1 sq km. The inner scale of the equilibrium range caused by energy dissipation by breaking waves is considered to be a major factor in determining the surface's statistical geometry and, hence, its microwave returns for all satellite sensors.

Glazman, Roman E.↗

Measurement of Oblique Impact-generated Shear Waves

Experimental strain measurements reveal that oblique impacts can generate shear waves with displacements as large as those in the P-wave. Large oblique impacts may thus be more efficient sources of surface disruption than vertical impacts. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Dahl, J. M.↗

Three-function signal generator

Variable-frequency circuit develops sine square and triangular waveforms. Three-function generator used variable-rate integrator to generate triangular wave and zero-crossing detector to develop square wave. Sine wave generator uses diode matrix to operate on triangular wave, thus with design harmonic distortion in output is less then one percent. By changing values of outboard resistors and capacitors, same design can be used at higher frequencies.

Kopp, G. F.↗

Inception length to a fully-developed fin-generated shock wave boundary-layer interaction

An experimental study of fin-generated shock wave turbulent boundary-layer interactions confirmed previous observations that, sufficiently far from the fin apex, such interactions become conical. The inception length to conical symmetry was found to increase weakly with Mach number for Mach numbers from 2.5 to 4 and fin angles from 4 to 22 deg. For the range of interactions examined, the inception length was found to depend primarily upon the inviscid shock angle, this angle ranging from 21 to 40 deg. The behavior of the inception length with shock angle can be broadly divided into two categories. For 'weak' interactions with shock angles less than about 35 deg, the inception length decreased as the shock angle increased. For 'strong' interactions with shock angles greater than about 35 deg, the inception region was small and was approximately constant at three boundary-layer thicknesses in length. In the latter, strong interaction case, the inception length was an order of magnitude smaller than that found in the weakest interactions examined, to the extent that strong interactions were practically fully-developed from the apex.

Lu, Frank K.↗

Unsteady heat transfer in turbine blade ducts: Focus on combustor sources

Thermal waves generated by either turbine rotor blades cutting through nonuniform combustor temperature fields or unsteady burning could lead to thermal fatigue cracking in the blades. To determine the magnitude of the thermal oscillation in blades with complex shapes and material compositions, a finite element Galerkin formulation has been developed to study combustor generated thermal wave propagation in a model two-dimensional duct with a uniform plug flow profile. The reflection and transmission of the thermal waves at the entrance and exit boundaries are determined by coupling the finite element solutions at the entrance and exit to the eigenfunctions of an infinitely long adiabatic duct. Example solutions are presented. In general, thermal wave propagation from an air passage into a metallic blade wall is small and not a problem. However, if a thermal barrier coating is applied to a metallic surface under conditions of a high heat transfer, a good impedance match is obtained and a significant portion of the thermal wave can pass into the blade material.

Baumeister, Kenneth J.↗

Unsteady heat transfer in turbine blade ducts - Focus on combustor sources

Thermal waves generated by either turbine rotor blades cutting through nonuniform combustor temperature fields or unsteady burning could lead to thermal fatigue cracking in the blades. To determine the magnitude of the thermal oscillation in blades with complex shapes and material compositions, a finite element Galerkin formulation has been developed to study combustor generated thermal wave propagation in a model two-dimensional duct with a uniform plug flow profile. The reflection and transmission of the thermal waves at the entrance and exit boundaries are determined by coupling the finite element solutions at the entrance and exit to the eigenfunctions of an infinitely long adiabatic duct. Example solutions are presented. In general, thermal wave propagation from an air passage into a metallic blade wall is small and not a problem. However, if a thermal barrier coating is applied to a metallic surface under conditions of a high heat transfer, a good impedance match is obtained and a significant portion of the thermal wave can pass into the blade material.

Baumeister, K. J.↗

Airborne lidar research

The planetary boundary layer (PBL) is the lowest layer of the atmosphere in contact with the Earth's surface. It plays an important role in atmospheric circulation and dynamics by influencing surface fluxes of moisture, heat, and momentum. The PBL is characterized by its turbulence structure. Organized convection within the PBL may generate gravity waves within the free troposphere. These waves can propagate vertically, modifying global circulation. Remote sensing of the PBL using a downward-looking lidar is providing new insight into dynamic processes of this important layer and its connection with wave generation. An airborne lidar is an ideal tool to study the PBL. The lidar is installed on the NASA Electra aircraft. It consists of a frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser aligned with a 40 cm diameter telescope. As the laser beam propagates downward from the aircraft toward the surface, it is scattered by the aerosols and molecules in the atmosphere. Generally, there is a sharp gradient of aerosol scattering associated with the PBL top, with high aerosol scattering from within the PBL, and generally very low scattering from the free atmosphere above. It is this gradient in aerosol scattering that is used to visualize the structure of the PBL. A small portion of the scattered radiation is collected by the telescope, filtered, detected by a photomultiplier, and digitized at 100 nsec rate. The horizontal resolution is typically around 13 m, using a 10 Hz laser and a nominal aircraft moves, the resolution of features in the atmosphere below the aircraft is about 15 x 13 m. Results from several studies are presented and discussed.

Melfi, S. Harvey↗

Wave properties near the subsolar magnetopause - Pc 1 waves in the sheath transition layer

We study the waves in the frequency range of Pc 1 in the sheath transition layer of the magnetopause from the ISEE 1 and 2 observations. The waves are enhanced in the sheath transition layer, although they are scattered into the magnetosheath when the outer edge of the sheath transition layer is not sharp. The wave frequency is proportional to, and equal to, about 44 percent of the ion gyrofrequency. The waves are left-handed polarized for southward IMF, but linearly polarized for northward IMF. The direction of maximum variation is perpendicular to both the background field and the gradients of the field and density for northward IMF; for southward IMF, the waves are more turbulent. Wave generation mechanisms may depend on IMF orientations rather than the shock geometry. To investigate the free energy generating the waves for northward IMF, a method is developed combining the measurements from the fast plasma experiment and Lepedea to obtain a high time resolution estimate of the temperature anisotropy for strongly northward IMF. The estimated ion temperature anisotropy is enhanced, up to a factor of 2, within the sheath transition layer for northward IMF.

Song, P.↗

End-to-End Study of the Transfer of Energy from Magnetosheath Ion Precipitation to the Ionospheric Cusp and Resulting Ion Outflow to the Magnetosphere

We will show results from an end-to-end study of the energy transfer from injected magnetosheath plasmas to the near-Earth magnetospheric and ionospheric plasmas and the resulting ion outflow to the magnetosphere. This study includes modeling of the evolution of the magnetosheath precipitation in the cusp using a kinetic code with a realistic magnetic field configuration. These evolved, highly non-Maxwellian distributions are used as input to a 2D PIC code to analyze the resulting wave generation. The wave analysis is used in the kinetic code as input to the cold ionospheric ions to study the transfer of energy to these ions and their outflow to the magnetosphere. Observations from the Thermal Ion Dynamics Experiment (TIDE) and other instruments on the Polar Spacecraft will be compared to the modeling.

Coffey, Victoria↗

On the observation of a flare-generated shock wave at 9.7 AU by Pioneer 10

An apparent solar-flare-generated shock wave detected by Pioneer-10 at 9.7 AU on April 9, 1976 is discussed. The shock wave may be correlated with a radio emission burst from Jupiter not associated with Io (March 30). The fact that solar flares observed on March 20 were at the central meridian with respect to Jupiter and Pioneer-10 and the fact that solar activity was very low before March 20 contribute to the argument that a shock wave had propagated to the region of the spacecraft.

Dryer, M.↗

Wave Dynamics and Transport in the Stratosphere

The report discusses: (1) Gravity waves generated by tropical convection: A study in which a two-dimensional cloud-resolving model was used to examine the possible role of gravity waves generated by a simulated tropical squall line in forcing the quasi-biennial oscillation was completed. (2) Gravity wave ray tracing studies:It was developed a linear ray tracing model of gravity wave propagation to extend the nonlinear storm model results into the mesosphere and thermosphere. (3) tracer filamentation: Vertical soundings of stratospheric ozone often exhibit laminated tracer structures characterized by strong vertical tracer gradients. (4) Mesospheric gravity wave modeling studies: Although our emphasis in numerical simulation of gravity waves generated by convection has shifted from simulation of idealized two-dimensional squall lines to the most realistic (and complex) study of wave generation by three-dimensional storms. (5) Gravity wave climatology studies: Mr. Alexander applied a linear gravity wave propagation model together with observations of the background wind and stability fields to compute climatologies of gravity wave activity for comparison to observations. (6) Convective forcing of gravity waves: Theoretical study of gravity wave forcing by convective heat sources has completed. (7) Gravity waves observation from UARS: The objective of this work is to apply ray tracing, and other model technique, in order to determine to what extend the horizontal and vertical variation in satellite observed distribution of small-scale temperature variance can be attributed to gravity waves from particular sources. (8) The annual and interannual variations in temperature and mass flux near the tropical tropopause. and (9) Three dimensional cloud model.

Holton, James R.↗

One-Hertz Waves at Mars: MAVEN Observations

We perform a survey of 1-Hz waves at Mars utilizing Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft observations for a Martian year. We find that the 1-Hz wave occurrence rate shows an apparent variation caused by masking of the waves by background turbulence during the times when the background turbulence levels are high. To correct for this turbulence masking, we select waves that occur in time intervals where the background turbulence levels are low. We find that the extreme ultraviolet flux does not affect the wave occurrence rate significantly, suggesting that the newly born pickup ions originating in the Mars's exosphere contribute minimally to the 1-Hz wave generation. We find that the wave occurrence rates are higher for low Mach numbers and low beta values than for high Mach numbers and high beta values. Further, we find that a high percentage of 1-Hz waves satisfy the group-standing condition, which suggests that a high percentage of the waves seen as monochromatic waves in the spacecraft frame can be broadband waves in the solar wind frame that have group velocities nearly equal and opposite to the solar wind velocity. We infer that the wave occurrence rate trends with the Mach number and proton beta are a consequence of how the Mach numbers and beta values influence the wave generation and damping or how those parameters affect the group-standing condition. Finally, we find that the 1-Hz waves are equally likely to be found in both the quasi-parallel and the quasi-perpendicular foreshock regions.

Waves↗

Are Ring Current Ions Lost in Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron Wave Dispersion Relation?

Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves are widely observed in the inner and outer magnetosphere, at geostationary orbit, at high latitudes along the plasmapause, and at the ionospheric altitudes. Interaction of the Ring Current (RC) ions and EMIC waves causes ion scattering into the loss cone and leads to decay of the RC, especially during the main phase of storms when the RC decay times of about one hour or less are observed. The oblique EMIC waves damp due to Landau resonance with the thermal plasmaspheric electrons, and subsequent transport of the dissipating wave energy into the ionosphere below causes an ionosphere temperature enhancement. Induced scattering of these waves by the plasmaspheric thermal ions leads to ion temperature enhancement, and forms a so-called hot zone near the plasmapause where the temperature of core plasma ions can reach tens of thousands of degrees. Relativistic electrons in the outer radiation belt also interact well with the EMIC waves, and during the main and/or recovery phases of the storms these electrons can easily be scattered into the loss cone over a time scale from several hours to a day. The plasma density distribution in the magnetosphere and the ion content play a critical role in EMIC wave generation and propagation, but the wave dispersion relation in the known RC-EMIC wave interaction models is assumed to be determined by the thermal plasma distribution only. In these models, the modification of the EMIC wave dispersion relation caused by the RC ions is not taken into account, and the RC ions are only treated as a source of free energy in order to generate EMIC waves. At the same time, the RC ions can dominate the thermal magnetospheric content in the night MLT sector at great L shells during the main and/or recovery storm phase. In this study, using our self-consistent RC-EMIC wave model [Khazanov et al., 2006], we simulate the May 1998 storm in order to quantify the global EMIC wave redistribution caused by taking into account the RC ions in the EMIC wave dispersion relation. The dramatic wave pattern redistribution is observed in the postdusk-predawn MLT sector (night sector) for L greater than 5. We found the intense EMIC waves (about a few nT) there during the main and early recovery phases of the storm. The observed wave generation in this sector is caused by taking into account the EMIC wave dispersion change due to the RC ions. There are no waves at these locations in our model if the RC ions are taken into account in the wave growth rate only, and the wave dispersion relation is only governed by the thermal plasmaspheric model.

Khazanov, G. V.↗