The behavior of mean zonal winds and planetary waves during the 1973 sudden warming
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Developed for theoretical studies of lightning requiring estimates of electric fields in clouds, the technique is expected to reduce computation time and improve accuracy.
Report describes statistical study to estimate monthly average humidity of marine surface layer of atmosphere from measurements by radiometers on satellites. Study part of continuing effort to determine flux density of latent heat due to evaporation at ocean surface. Such observations and measurements important because latent-heat flux affects weather and temperature and salinity of upper ocean layers.
Winds data obtained from medium frequency (MF) radars for heights of 60 to 80 km are discussed: locations are Saskatoon (52 N, 107 W), Christchurch (44 S, 173 W), Adelside (35 S, 183 E) and Townsville (20 S, 147 E). Whereas well defined summer easterly jets centered near 70 km develop in summer, no regular buildups and decays are observed in winter at midlatitudes. Part of this variability can be associated with stratospheric warmings, which develop into breakdown of the polar vortex in the Northern Hemisphere. Amplitude and phase profiles of the annual and semiannual oscillations are also presented. The radar winds from Saskatoon are compared and combined with rocket derived winds up to 60 km from Primrose Lake (54 N, 110 W) to give consistent cross sections from 20 to 110 km. The SH radar winds are compared with a model based on rocket winds which extends up to 80 km. The latter evidence considerable smoothing, as no winter variability is evident. The other consistent difference is that heights of the summer easterly maxima for the model are 5 to 10 km lower than the radar winds at all latitudes.
The Urbana Meteor Radar uses a high power pulse transmitter to achieve high echo rates, and an interferometer to spatially locate the individual echoes. The irregularly spaced observations of range, radial velocity, and direction cosines are reduced to a rectangular grid, evenly spaced in time and height, of estimates of the zonal and meridional wind. This is accomplished using the method of GROVES whereby a constant horizontal wind is fitted, using least squares, to all echoes occurring within a fixed time/height interval. This interpolation region is then stepped in time and height. the size of the interpolation region is 2 hours by 5 km, the time step is approximately 11 minutes, and the height step is 2 km. The filtering of high temporal and spatial frequencies is somewhat reduced by weighting the echoes according to their distance from the center of the interpolation box.
The experimental database established by this investigation of the flow in a large rectangular turning duct is of benchmark quality. The experimental Reynolds numbers, Deans numbers and boundary layer characteristics are significantly different from previous benchmark curved-duct experimental parameters. This investigation extends the experimental database to higher Reynolds number and thinner entrance boundary layers. The 5% to 10% thick boundary layers, based on duct half-width, results in a large region of near-potential flow in the duct core surrounded by developing boundary layers with large crossflows. The turbulent entrance boundary layer case at R sub ed = 328,000 provides an incompressible flowfield which approaches real turbine blade cascade characteristics. The results of this investigation provide a challenging benchmark database for computational fluid dynamics code development.
This paper investigates a design method of an active control bearing system with only velocity feedback. The study provides a new quasi-modal control method for a control system design of an active control bearing system in which feedback coefficients are determined on the basis of a modal analysis. Although the number of sensors and actuators is small, this quasi-modal control method produces a control effect close to an ideal modal control.
The effectiveness of apex fences on a 60-deg delta wing at low speeds was experimentally investigated. Resembling highly swept spoilers in appearance, the fences are designed to fold out of the wing apex region upper surface near the leading edges, where they generate a powerful vortex pair. The intense suction of the fence vortices augments lift in the apex region, the resulting positive pitching moment being utilized to trim trailing edge flaps for lift augmentation during approach and landing at relatively low angles of attack. The fences reduce the apex lift at high angles of attack, leading to a desirable nose-down moment. The above projected functions of the apex fence device were validated and quantified through low speed tunnel tests, comprising upper surface pressure surveys on a semispan model and balance measurements on a geometrically similar fully span wing/body configuration. Fence parameters such as area, shape, hinge position and deflection angle were investigated. Typical results are presented indicating the apex fence potential in controlling the longitudinal characteristics of a tail-less delta.
Studies of the quasi-2-day wave show that it is a summertime phenomenon. Long-term measurement of the winds in the 60 to 100 km height range at Adelaide show that the wave appears in the late December but that the peak amplitudes are not reached until mid-January. In the summer of 1983 to 1984 the main phase of the wave appeared as a pulse in mid-January which lasted about 7 cycles (14 days). Little or no amplification with height was observed; peak amplitudes were about 60 m/s for the meridional and 20 m/s for the zonal component. Coincident with the onset of the pulse, a temporary but substantial change occurred throughout a deep layer of the upper mesosphere over a period of about 3 days. A change of more than 10 m/s occurred in the northward flow while the change in the zonal flow (about 30 m/s westward) actually caused a reversal of the prevailing zonal circulation.
Field tests on a horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) have shown that Vortex Generators (VGs) can increase the efficiency of large propeller type (horizontal axis) wind turbines. VGs are devices which are attached to the surfaces of an aerodynamic body to influence the boundary layer behavior. It is pointed out that VGs were originally developed for delaying stall on aircraft wings. An investigation was conducted regarding the possibility to employ VGs also for the improvement of the performance of an intermediate size HAWT with a diameter in the range from 24 to 46 meters. This investigation included wind tunnel tests involving a rotor blade tip section, and field tests. The wind tunnel tests showed that VGs can improve the peak lift capabilities of the section while only slightly increasing the drag. The field tests showed that VGs can increase the rotor power in winds above 6 m/s.
The present paper provides a description of four aspects of scatterometer winds and their uses. The theory of wave generation by the wind is considered along with an analysis of the properties of superobservations, and studies of intermittent versus continuous data assimilation methods for numerical weather predictions which use remotely sensed data. A comparison of the sum of squares versus the maximum likelihood method for recovering the vector winds is also conducted. Questions regarding wind speed, friction velocity, or normal stress are discussed and synoptic scale fields from Seasat-SASS data are examined.
A comparative evaluation is made of recent developments in methods for the reduction of boundary layer drag, encompassing longitudinal surface riblets, 'outer layer' devices, (OLDs) and longitudinal convex surface curvature. The boundary layer of a surface with a longitudinal concave curvature is also studied, to complement the convex case results. The net drag reductions achievable by both riblets and OLDs are noted to be a rather modest 10 percent. Boundary layers exhibit asymmetric response to streamwise surface curvatures, with the response being slower for the case of a concave than a convex curvature.
The responses of a hot film sensor and a pressure probe to acoustic excitation in steady flow up to a Mach number of 0.5 were measured and compared with the responses of a microphone, flush mounted in the wall of the flow duct. When compared in terms of fluctuating pressure, the response of the pressure probe was less than that of the wall microphone by about 2.1 dB or less at the 0.5 Mach number, while the response of the ho film probe was as much as 6.0 dB above that of the wall sensor, at the Mach numbers 0.3 and 0.5. In terms of fluctuating Reynolds number, the response of the hot film probe was greater than that of the wall-mounted sensor by at most 5.0 dB at the same Mach numbers. Removing the response contribution from fluctuating temperature in the hot film mathematical model improved the agreement between the two transducer responses for both comparisons.