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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records

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NASA NTRS1978

Central swath mapping by a future satellite-borne fan-beam microwave scatterometer for inferring global ocean wind fields

The Seasat-A satellite scatterometer is a microwave sensor designed to provide a capability for mapping the global ocean surface wind speed and direction. Four fan beams whose major axes are oriented at + or - 45 deg and + or - 135 deg to the flight vector cover a swath width of 1900 km, but a central region remains that is inadequately mapped. In this paper, two additional fan beams for a future scatterometer are suggested which provide more complete coverage of the central region.

Tomiyasu, K.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Spacebased Observation of Global Ocean Surface Wind Fields

The ocean and the atmosphere are dynamically coupled by the transport of momentum which is driven by the wind shear at the sea surface. However, in situ wind measurements are relatively sparse over most of the world's ocean and are largely limited to the locations of shipping routes.

Global Ocean Wind Fields Ocean↗

NASA NTRS1996

Ku-Band Ocean Backscatter Functions for Surface Wind Retrieval

For remote sensing of ocean surface wind, Ku-band scatterometer technology has been demonstrated and will be used to monitor global ocean wind fields from spaceborne sensors such as the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT). Algorithms for wind velocity retrieval from scatterometer data utilize absolute radar returns and relative azimuth modulations of backscatter. The NUSCAT-SWADE data base is used.

ocean↗

NASA NTRS1998

NASA Scatterometer Provides Global Ocean-Surface Wind Fields with More Structures than Numerical Weather Prediction

The major differences between monthly-mean ocean-surface wind fields derived from the observations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Scatterometer (NSCAT) and produced by the operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) model of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts are found in coastal and equatorial regions, where the sharp changes are smoothed over in NWP products.

scatterometer ocean surface wind weather predictio↗

NASA NTRS1983

An analysis of monthly mean wind stress over the global ocean

The annual mean and four monthly means are calculated for the global ocean wind stress fields. The main data base was gathered by observations along continental coasts and on shipping routes, expressed in terms of the monthly mean speed, eight direction categories, and the rms of the speeds. The stress fields were estimated by assuming a Gaussian distribution for the speed frequency distribution histogram. The resulting data set is concluded useful for general circulation modeling, although the 5 deg resolution could lead to an underestimation of the curl.

Han, Y.-J.↗

NASA NTRS1985

The WINDSAT concept for measuring the global wind field

The Wave Propagation Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Environmental Research Laboratories has investigated the feasibility of measuring the global wind field by using an infrared coherent laser radar under a joint program with the U.S. Air Force Space Division Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). These studies considered both the analytical and hardware feasibility of a spaceborne global wind measuring coherent laser radar (WINDSAT). Objectives and requirements of the Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program were used in the study. The vertical distributions of the horizontal wind field were required throughout the troposphere with 300 km square horizontal and 1 km vertical resolution with a measurements accuracy of 1 m/s. Complete global coverage was required. The lidar system performance should also be scalable to operational satellite conditions. The analytical studies were performed for both a 300 km altitude Space Shuttle orbit and an operational polar orbit of 800 km altitude (Huffaker, 1978; Huffaker et al., 1980). A hardware definition study was performed for a Space Shuttle demonstration test flight (Lockheed Missiles and Space Co., 1981). Studies have also been conducted to determine the feasibility of mounting a WINDSAT payload on an Advanced TIROS-N spacecraft (RCA Corporation, 1983).

Huffaker, R. Milton↗

NASA NTRS1974

SEASAT-A - A user oriented systems design

The SEASAT-A spacecraft is tentatively scheduled for launch in 1978 into a nearly circular orbit with an altitude of approximately 800 km. The spacecraft is to demonstrate a capability for the global monitoring of wave height and spectra, surface winds, ocean temperature, and current patterns. Other objectives include the charting of ice fields and a mapping of the global geoid. The sensors to be carried by the spacecraft are discussed and a description is given of the satellite system and the subsystems.

Mccandless, S. W., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Global analysis of ocean surface wind and wind stress using a general circulation model and Seasat scatterometer winds

Instantaneous and 15-day time-averaged fields of surface wind, wind stress, curl of the wind stress, and wind divergence are presented. These fields are derived from the Goddard Laboratory for Atmospheres four-dimensional analysis/forecast cycle, for the period September 6-30, 1978, using conventional data, satellite temperature soundings, cloud-track winds, and subjectively dealiased Seasat scatterometer winds.

Kalnay, E.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Seasat-A - An ocean observation satellite

Mission details, onboard equipment, and measurements to be taken are described for the Seasat-A global ocean monitoring satellite. The satellite is designed for mapping the global ocean geoid, charting ice fields and leads, precision measurement of sea surface topography, global monitoring of wave height and wave directional spectra, surface winds and wind direction, current patterns, and ocean temperature. Data handling subsystems, a compressed pulse radar altimeter, coherent synthetic aperture imaging radar, microwave wind scatterometer, scanning visible/IR radiometer, scanning multispectral (5 freq) microwave radiometer mounted on the satellite are described briefly.

Williams, F. L.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Estimating moisture transport over oceans using space-based observations

The moisture transport integrated over the depth of the atmosphere (0) is estimated over oceans using satellite data. The transport is the product of the precipitable water and an equivalent velocity (ue), which, by definition, is the depth-averaged wind velocity weighted by humidity. An artificial neural network is employed to construct a relation between the surface wind velocity measured by the spaceborne scatterometer and coincident ue derived using humidity and wind profiles measured by rawinsondes and produced by reanalysis of operational numerical weather prediction (NWP). On the basis of this relation, 0 fields are produced over global tropical and subtropical oceans (40_N- 40_S) at 0.25_ latitude-longitude and twice daily resolutions from August 1999 to December 2003 using surface wind vector from QuikSCAT and precipitable water from the Tropical Rain Measuring Mission. The derived ue were found to capture the major temporal variability when compared with radiosonde measurements. The average error over global oceans, when compared with NWP data, was comparable with the instrument accuracy specification of space-based scatterometers. The global distribution exhibits the known characteristics of, and reveals more detailed variability than in, previous data.

Artificial Neural Network↗

NASA NTRS2002

Sensitivity of Global Sea-Air CO2 Flux to Gas Transfer Algorithms, Climatological Wind Speeds, and Variability of Sea Surface Temperature and Salinity

Sensitivity analyses of sea-air CO2 flux to gas transfer algorithms, climatological wind speeds, sea surface temperatures (SST) and salinity (SSS) were conducted for the global oceans and selected regional domains. Large uncertainties in the global sea-air flux estimates are identified due to different gas transfer algorithms, global climatological wind speeds, and seasonal SST and SSS data. The global sea-air flux ranges from -0.57 to -2.27 Gt/yr, depending on the combination of gas transfer algorithms and global climatological wind speeds used. Different combinations of SST and SSS global fields resulted in changes as large as 35% on the oceans global sea-air flux. An error as small as plus or minus 0.2 in SSS translates into a plus or minus 43% deviation on the mean global CO2 flux. This result emphasizes the need for highly accurate satellite SSS observations for the development of remote sensing sea-air flux algorithms.

McClain, Charles R.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Intercomparison of Latent Heat Fluxes Over Global Oceans

Turbulent fluxes of momentum, moisture, and heat at the air-sea interface are essential for climate studies. Version 2 Goddard Satellite-based Surface Turbulent Fluxes (GSSTF2) has been derived from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) radiance measurements. This dataset, covering the period July 1987-December 2000 over global oceans, has a spatial resolution of 1 deg x 1 deg lat-long and a temporal resolution of 1 day. Turbulent fluxes are derived from the SSM/I surface winds and surface air humidity, as well as the 2-m air and sea surface temperatures (SST) of the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis, using a bulk aerodynamic algorithm based on the surface layer similarity theory. The GSSTF2 bulk flux model, and retrieved daily wind stress, latent heat flux, wind speed, and surface air humidity validate well with ship observations of ten field experiments over the tropical and midlatitude oceans during 1991-99. The global distributions of 1988-2000 annual- and seasonal-mean turbulent fluxes show reasonable patterns related to the atmospheric general circulation and seasonal variations. Latent heat fluxes and related input parameters over global oceans during 1992-93 have been compared among GSSTF1 (version 1), GSSTF2, HOAPS (Hamburg Ocean Atmosphere Parameters and Fluxes from Satellite Data), NCEP/NCAR reanalysis, and one based on COADS (Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set). Our analyses suggest that the GSSTF2 latent heat flux, surface air humidity, surface wind, and SST are quite realistic compared to the other four flux datasets examined. However, significant differences are found among these five flux datasets. The GSSTF2, available at http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/CAMPAIGN_DOCS/hydrology/hd_gsstf2.O.html, is useful for climate studies.

Chou, Shu-Hsien↗

NASA NTRS1985

Analysis of ocean surface wind fields using SEASAT-A scatterometer data

In addition to the SEASAT forecast impact studies previously conducted with the GLA model, a study was also made of the global analyses of surface wind stress, wind stress curl, and surface sensible and latent heat fluxes, which are generated as a by-product of the assimilation process. Both instantaneous analyses of these quantities and 15-day averages of each of these fields were found to be in good qualitative agreement with published fields.

Kalnay, E.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Effective Use Of Scatterometer Winds In Current and Future GMAO Reanalysis

Scatterometer-derived near-surface ocean vector wind retrievals provide global measurements complementary to the sparse conventional observing system which primarily consists of ships and buoys over water surfaces. The RapidScat instrument was flown on the International Space Station as a quick and low cost replacement of QuikScat and as a continuation of the NASA scatterometry data record. A unique characteristic of RapidScat was that it flew in a non-sun synchronous orbit at an inclination of 51.6 degrees. This orbit allowed for the collocation of measurements with other scatterometers as well as an ability to sample diurnal signals. In the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2) reanalysis, the scatterometry record began with the ESA European Remote Sensing (ERS) scatterometer on 5 Aug 1991 and continued through today with the EUMETSAT Metop Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT). RapidScat, however, was not used in the MERRA-2 system as development had been completed prior to the beginning of its data record. In this presentation, the RapidScat ocean vector winds will be compared to MERRA-2, both in terms of the analysis fields and in the context of its global observing system, to assess the viability of using the data in future reanalysis systems developed by the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Chattopadhyay, Mohar↗

NASA NTRS2000

A Comparison of GPS and Scatterometer Sensing of Ocean Wind Speed and Direction

Initial estimates of ocean surface wind speed and direction based on observations of reflected Global Positioning System (GPS) signals are presented and compared to QuikSCAT wind fields. The two wind speed estimates are generally in agreement to within 2-3 m/s, and under favorable conditions of well developed seas and stable winds, direction estimates agree to within 10 deg. An overview of the GPS technique is presented as well as a presentation and discussion of these first results.

Armatys, Michael↗

NASA NTRS1978

Orbit analysis for Seasat-A

Seasat-A is a NASA earth satellite for measuring global ocean dynamics from space. The instruments on the spacecraft will provide data on wave height and direction, surface wind speed and direction, ice fields, ocean surface topography and atmospheric water content. This paper is concerned with the orbit analysis for Seasat-A. The first topic is the selection of the orbit which best satisfies the measurement objectives of the various instruments. The maintenance of this orbit under drag and other perturbations is also discussed. The second topic is precision orbit determination analysis which is required to achieve ocean topography objectives of the mission.

Cutting, E.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Operator's Manual for SHEBA Powered Tether Balloon System

The Surface Heat and Energy Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) was an intensive field project which took place in the Arctic Ocean from October 1997 through October 1998. Its purpose was to measure as many facets of the Arctic environment as possible so that we would be able to better understand the interaction between the ice, atmosphere, and ocean and their interactions with global climate. One aspect of the atmospheric field component was launching tethered balloons to monitor the profiles of temperature, wind, pressure, and humidity, as well as examine the vertical structure of cloud droplet sizes and distributions. The tethered balloon that we used was one specially designed for use in freezing climates by SPEC Corporation in Boulder, Colorado. A special winch that was able to withstand Arctic temperature and weather became necessary when the testing of simple winch systems used in warmer climates failed under these extreme conditions. The purpose of this manual is to acquaint any new user to the powered tethered balloon system deployed at the The Surface Heat and Energy Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA ice camp. It includes a description of the preparations necessary to get ready for a launch, the mechanics of the actual launch, and an account of the proper procedure for taking down the equipment when finished. It will also include tips on how to minimize potential equipment failures, some trouble shooting, and some safety ideas. This manual is designed so that new operators can use the system with minimal previous training. At the end of this manual, the reader will find a quick checklist.

Lappen, Cara-Lyn↗

NASA NTRS1973

Earth physics, overview

Satellite applications in earth and ocean dynamic studies are considered for: earthquake hazard assessment and alleviation; prediction of general ocean circulation, surface currents, and heat transport; monitoring of transient phenomena of the ocean surface, such as sea state and wave conditions, wind-surface interactions and storm searches; and refinement of the global geoid, the gravity and magnetic fields of the earth.

Vonbun, F. O.↗